Our Anniversary

This week Jim & I celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary and it really meant something to me. I remember 2 years ago being in the British West Indies on an island called Anguilla waking up on our wedding day so incredibly excited to marry this man. I remember running in my wedding dress into his arms and couldn't wait to say "I do." I have never been so sure of anything else in my entire life, I just knew he was the one for me. We met unexpectedly in the summer of 2009 and had a whirlwind romance that makes me get butterflies every time I think about it. I loved every minute of falling in love with my husband and feel beyond blessed that he asked me to be his wife. Everything great and wonderful that has meant the most to me in my life is because of him. He makes waking up every morning fun and exciting and I love daydreaming about what adventures we will have in our lifetime together. I still have to pinch myself that I have found my one and only and that everything has come together the way it has. I love that because of him, I have become a wife and a mother and love these two roles more than I could have imagined. My heart is so full of love for him, Mikaella and our soon-to-be-born daughter, Isla.

"You know you are in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."
Dr Seuss 1904-1991

Tots & Tutus

Yesterday was Mikaella's 1st official Tots & Tutus class. Creation Station is a cute little dance studio in Culver City where they encourage dancing for girls from 18mths through till their teenage years.  For 18mths - 3 year old the class is called, Tots & Tutus and we are now officially a part of it.

Mikaella dances to pretty much any and all types of music and has for a while now. There are times when I don't even realize music is playing in the background but my little muffin has music radar and will be dancing away in her own little world as soon as she hears it. I grew up really loving sports and being a Tomboy so this whole area feels a little foreign to me. My Mom always wanted me to pursue dance and my Dad was always encouraging of music but I had another agenda [playing any & all kinds of sports, wherever I could and preferably with any boys I could find in the neighborhood as they better athletes than the girls I knew]  However, my little mini-me seems to possess interest in both areas which is making her Grandparents very happy.

I have to admit that although I had no desire whatsoever to go to a dance class or anything to do with music when I was growing up, it is pretty darn cute watching how much joy Mikaella derives from the arts already at this young age. In Santa Monica there are a number of outdoor-style shopping areas and since we are blessed with beautiful weather year-round, Mikaella and I frequent these destinations. Mikaella will be holding my hand and will stop abruptly or "put the brakes on" as I refer to it, and start dancing in the middle of the sidewalk because she can hear the sound of the music playing from inside the store out onto the street and she must dance until the song has completely finished before she begins walking again. It cracks me up!! Not once have I done something like this so to me, this is all her. She also can hum the tune of all of her favourite nursery rhymes which blows me away because she is only 18mths old. She is starting to speak but has shown more in terms of her musicality vs her verbal communication skills.

The other day we were at Starbucks and while we were waiting for our order, she heard a song that struck a chord with her and all of a sudden started doing her "slow groove" as we call it in the middle of the store. It was early in the morning and all the other customers were in their busy get to work mode, and they all stopped to watch my little sweetie dance it up. She made people smile that would normally not look twice at a little 18mth old girl during their morning commute but she made it so that you couldn't not stop and giggle. At the end of her dancing which simultaneously was when our order was ready, she turned to everyone and started waving and said, "Byeee" in this cute little upbeat voice. Then reached for my hand and walked out of the store as if her work was done for the day. This is my little Mikaella :)

Thinking of Ojai...

Last weekend, my husband Jim, surprised me with a weekend away for my Birthday/Valentines Day. He didn't tell me any of the details until the morning before we left and I had to pack quickly. {I did know that we weren't flying anywhere, as I really don't enjoy travelling by air when I'm pregnant!} Even when we were packing our SUV, for our adventure he still didn't mention anything. But after almost 2hrs of driving we pulled into the beautiful, quaint little Town of Ojai. It's located about 1.45hrs from LA and is on the way to Santa Barbara. We drove up the PCH and it doesn't matter how many times I do that drive, I still marvel at its beauty.

Once we pulled into Ojai it wasn't long before we turned into Ojai Valley Inn & Spa {http://www.ojairesort.com/} and I was taken away by how breathtaking the resort was. It was a deceivingly large Spanish style resort/hotel nestled into the countryside and mountains that had so much character and wonder. There was everything that a person, couple, family count want in a getaway and I quickly learned that it was a place frequented my many celebrities and residents of LA.

We got settled into our suite and started exploring right away. I didn't have much time because Jim informed me that I had a spa appt for a "Mothers Massage" within the hour and he was going to take Mikaella for a hike and then cuddle and nap with her while I got pampered.

The spa was spectacular! The therapist I had for my treatment was excellent. She was Japanese and had to ask me why I had a Japanese last name {I am getting more and more used to this, as I know I do not look Japanese whatsoever} She continued to give me one of the best massages I've ever had and went on to say that she always takes care of Julia Roberts and Anthony Hopkins whenever they visit the resort. After my massage I made my way to the pool and was surrounded by every latest magazine you could imagine and enjoyed relaxing with my cucumber -infused water and took on a pseudo-celebrity persona for the next hour. 

The funny thing about having time to yourself is that when my days are so busy and I fantasize about having a solo moment when the time comes when I do have a time to relax, I just miss my family and want to race to be with them. So, instead of leisurely laying by the pool and ordering food and drinks for the rest of the afternoon, I basically ran to our suite to join in the cuddling that I was certain was going on.

That night, we went to this small but delicious Italian spot in town and stuffed ourselves silly. Mikaella was in fine form for the evening. Her latest thing is blowing on anything that she thinks is hot. But she hasn't quite picked up on nuances and even though I will say to her, "oh sweetie, it's hot outside we don't need your jacket on" she will continue to blow into the air to try and get it to cool down :) oh, how I love her! After attempting to eat the obscene amount of food that we had ordered, which included a personal kids size pizza as pizza is M's favourite food, we made our way through the restaurant but M had to personally say bye to every table first. She is such a friendly little muffin. I always wonder how much of her sweetness comes with just who we were blessed with, or how much of it is what she picks up from us. We are constantly inundating her with our love and affection and I wonder back to high school when I first learned about the "Nature vs Nurture" debate and now have my own little mini-me where that lecture now takes on a whole new meaning.

The weekend was wonderful and I felt so blessed to have such an amazing husband that would go so out of his way to do something so kind, thoughtful and generous for me. The original plan was to go away with friends of ours for the weekend to Mammoth as my friend also shares a February 14th birthday but since there has been so little snow in the mountains we decided to push it off till March. So Jim concocted this plan in addition to the other weekend that we will enjoy next month. I could go on for many more paragraphs about my love for this man, but I will save that story for another day.

xo

Making Memories

I just hung up the phone with my Mom and she told me that my Papa has just accepted an offer on the family cottage that we all adore. This place holds so many precious childhood moments for me and I can't believe that it will no longer be in our family. Soon after my Nana & Papa came to Canada from Scotland, they had a dream to one day have a cottage on a lake that would be a place for their children, and one day grandchildren, etc to come together. They saved and saved and one day purchased land just outside of Muskoka and began to build our cottage. As a child I remember being so excited to go there in the summers and would happily endure the painful 3 hr drive in an un-air conditioned, tiny hatchback sedan [may I also include, a vehicle that had some sort of plastic material for the back seat that your sweaty leg would stick to it and since I shared the back seat with my 2 brothers [Dave and Andrew], we were basically semi-attached together, in a Siamese-triplet sort of way, for the duration of the road trip AND I should also mention that my parents would bring an incredible amount of stuff so we would have things stacked on the floor by our feet which meant our knees would be at eye level the whole time] but the cottage was well worth it. It was nestled in between beautiful tall evergreen trees and white birch situated on the bay of a medium sized lake that housed so many different types of wildlife. We would catch minnows, swim in the lake, read old books that were left behind by my older cousins, go for boat rides, BBQ every night on our large patio and roast marsh mellows by the fire pit. It was stellar. I LOVED our cottage. I loved the smell of the coffee brewing in the morning and the breakfast my Nana would be cooking and the way that she would pull open the blinds to see what kind of beautiful day was in store for us. We would run around all day long and be so tired at night but we always mustered up some energy to sneak out of our rooms at night and watch my parents and GrandParents play their regular games of Euchre and hoped they would ask us to join in one day when we were older. Needless to say, I have many, many amazing memories of this magical place and although I know a new family is excited to create their own memories there and I'm sure will enjoy it very much, I can't help but feel sad.

I am also thinking of my own family and what kind of traditions and memories we will create. I want our girls to know what it's like to spend summers on the lake and all the joys that come with cottage living. Being in LA now, is so different than being in the small town in Ontario where I grew up that I am trying to think of ways that I can bring a little bit of there, here. I love that Mikaella has spent the first 1.5 years [and counting] growing up by the ocean, I love that she learned to walk in the sand and that she has been hearing the sound of the ocean since she was a tiny little peanut in my tummy. Yet, I still want to include the aspect of "Muskoka Living" for her and her soon-to-be-born sister, Isla. I don't underestimate the importance of creating traditions for your children and am excited to think of ways to bring not only my immediate family but also my brothers, parents and in-laws to them as well.

Happy Love Day! [aka Valentines Day]

So yesterday was my birthday, which is more commonly known as Valentines Day and this year kind of felt different than any other year. I have so much love for my family, more than I think my heart has felt before. The love I have for my husband Jim just grows so much day by day {which I didn't think was possible since I love him beyond words as it is} and in addition to all the feelings I have for him I also have an exuberant amount of love for my daughter, Mikaella. I guess I didn't know my capacity for love but it's really sinking in the older I get. And to add to things, we have just found out that we are having a little girl :) I am so excited to know that there is another cute little sweetie in my tummy and my feelings for her have also started to evolve. I can only imagine what my heart will be like in 12 mths from now once we have met "Little Miss Baby2k" and get to know the person that she is. I also feel so fortunate to truly love my parents and brothers, they are so exceptional.

This picture is of Mikaella and her best bud, Raquel. They are 3 days apart in age and really enjoying being together. The older they get the more affectionate they become and I just love it. Raquel is such a sweet little girl and I'm so happy that Mikaella already at this young of an age, has a friend that I'm sure will be in her life for a long time. She is already learning how to love a friend and be sweet to one another. Raquels Mom is Jacqueline {who is also an amazing person!} and her and I share a lot of similar parenting styles and love to teach the girls to share, hold hands and to be kind to one another. I'm so curious as time goes on, to see they types of girls they grow into and to see how their friendship forms.

There are so many sweet, loving, tender moments that Mikaella has over the course of the day. From here on out, I'll be referring to them as "CMM" {Cute Mikaella Moments} Here are a few things that are top of mind:

• When we tuck her in at night, right before she's about about to fall asleep {this is after, bath time, story time, jam jams, and teeth brushing} she curls up with her blankets that Gramma has made her and right before you leave her room, this little voice says, "Bye!" It is too cute for words. She is not upset about her day coming to an end and is simply saying Good Night to us :)
• She loves to receive Eskimo Kisses! When we are cuddling before bed, she pushes her nose up to mine and waits for me to wiggle my nose back & forth and then does her sign language for "more."
• Mikaella is also understanding when to say, "uh oh" and has it really well timed for when she falls or drops anything
• She also loves to give you a big hug and tap your back as she is in your embrace

Bye for now,
xo

Well, Hello There!

I'm about to have a birthday this week and it prompted me to reflect on all of the wonderful things that have happened this past year and also made me think of all of the things that I am excited for this year. And in doing this, I came to the realization that I needed somewhere that I could come to in order to share my thoughts and feelings. I have typically always had some sort of a diary but I wanted a place where I could also share photos and information in a way that my diary would limit what I could do. So, here is my first attempt at creating and using a blog! I will try to keep you updated on what is going on in our world :) xo