Life Lately

Happy Tuesday! We had a long weekend here in Ontario for Family Day, so it feels like a Monday…and then every once in awhile I realize it’s actually one day closer to Friday. Woohoo!

I took a few pictures of Lucy last week when she was all dressed up for Valentine’s Day and I can’t get over how much my sweet baby is growing into a little girl. It feels like just yesterday we brought her home from the hospital and now she’s already 8 months old!

Lately she’s been going through lots of changes. She got her top two middle teeth this month, switched out from the bucket seat to the big car seat, we lowered the crib and she started sitting in the shopping cart seat while we’re out. She is all about trying to stand and good luck trying to get her to sit when you need her to, ha! She is scooting around on her back or belly when she wants to get something (no crawling yet) and loves to feed herself. Her fav foods right now are broccoli, peas, blueberries, pasta, cheese and eggs.

Whiskey came up to investigate our little photo shoot (Cola was too busy playing downstairs). I’d say that Whiskey is still very cautious around her. If Lucy is doing something he’s not too sure about, he’s good to get up and move somewhere else, whereas Cola is right in with whatever she is doing. He loves to bring her his ball for her to “throw”. We’re still working on actually letting go of it when she tries to toss it. Both dogs love to help clean up all the food she drops from the high chair, ha!

Both my parents and Garrett’s parents are dealing with terminal health problems with their dogs and I can’t help but get emotional about Whiskey getting older too. He’s in great health, especially since we had some of his teeth pulled last spring, but I’m all to aware that he’ll be in the double digits soon and someday he’ll be gone. And it hurts to think about it. My little buddy still sleeps at my feet every night, cuddles up beside us on the couch and eagerly runs outside to chase chipmunks. I can only hope that we get some more great years with him too.

I’d love for Lucy to have some good memories of him too. I think spending so much time with our dogs and our parents’ dogs is turning her into a bit of an animal person. She gravitates towards them and I’m sure will be keeping us on our toes as soon as she is walking.

For now, I’m enjoying this stage where I can leave her somewhere and know she’ll be within three feet of where I left her, but it won’t last for long! We’ve already started baby proofing the house in anticipation of what’s to come. She’s a very curious little girl and I’m sure that thirst for knowledge will grow once she’s more mobile.

We had a lovely quiet Valentine’s Day at home this year. Garrett surprised me with my favourite Vermont Nut Free Chocolate truffles and I found a box of some fun red velvet truffles for him too. I made a nice steak dinner – pan fried with this method as our bbq was under over a foot of snow.

I always say I’m going to savour my chocolates, but it’s so hard to resist them. We’d both gone through our whole boxes by the weekend. We’re back to basics this week – lean meats and loads of veggies to make up for all these fun indulgences.

Garrett also gave me the loveliest bunch of colourful flowers. There were even a few varieties in there that we are attempting to grow at Cloverhill Flowers this year – lisianthus and stock. I’ll be sharing a fun DIY project this week using the flowers too!

With all big snow storms we’ve been having lately, my brother and his friends made an igloo at my parents’ place on the river. They’d been skating on the rink and what better place to have some shelter afterwards, than a nice igloo. They didn’t get to finish the top before an ice storm came through and started to collapse it. I’m sure they’re already drafting up plans for the next winter storm. Lucy and I came over to inspect their work and play in the snow a little. She’s finally big enough for her snowsuit, but wasn’t too keen on all the cold wet stuff. I can hardly blame her!

This weekend we had unseasonably warm weather which was quite lovely. Most of the snow and ice started to melt and it was sunny. Oh how I’d missed the sun! Every day it’s lighter for a little bit longer in the evenings and with that comes the promise of spring. I even heard birds chirping one morning! 🙂

We’ve also started the demo work on our powder room renovation. Down came the wobbly old drywall and behind it we unearthed decades of homeowner repairs. I love this retro gingham and fruit wallpaper, with old lathe and plaster underneath it and big wooden planks (with the bark still on!) underneath that. We’ve also found a few more little surprises, but I’ll be sharing a full update next week on our progress.

Yesterday Garrett was busy working on the powder room and wanted us out of the house for the day, so Lucy and I headed to the city to see from friends and family for the holiday Monday. First up was a visit to Casa Loma to see their Beauty and the Beast exhibit for the new live-action movie out next month.

The details in the costumes were unbelievable – Gaston and his sidekick Lefou.

Belle’s costume was layers and layers of cotton.

The servants’ costumes were the most spectacular, with embroidery, lace and beading throughout.

It was fun to see them up close.

The castle’s conservatory was the perfect backdrop for the stunning costumes and one very important movie prop…

…The Enchanted Rose.

My sister and I loved the animated movie when we were kids and I couldn’t help but feel some of that Disney movie magic seeing the rose in real life.

The rest of the castle was decorated as it usually is, but with the new movie’s soundtrack playing throughout. They had a bouncy castle, face painting, storytelling and crafts for kids, ballroom dancing demonstrations, an aerial performer and a behind the scenes movie playing in the old swimming pool. Casa Loma is one of my favourite places to visit in Toronto (it’s lovely there during the holidays too), but it was especially fun to see it done up for the movie. With its secret passageways and underground tunnels, its full of it’s own magical mysteries.

Lucy had a lovely time walking around with all the lights and music, but it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep as we made our way through the castle’s underground tunnel. She had a nice nap in the ring sling and then livened up for an afternoon tea with my siblings at my great aunt’s apartment in the city. It’s good for this little country gal to get out and see the big city sometimes too.

This week I’m starting to work on my spring cleaning. Today it’s clearing out the freezers and kitchen drawers, and tomorrow it’s sorting through our closets for things to donate. (This is the checklist I use). Wish me luck!

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I hope you all had a lovely weekend and that spring weather is on the horizon for you too! If you’ve got any fun plans this week (big or small), share them in the comments below. I’d love to hear what everyone is up to. 🙂