Falling asleep through her 'firsts'

A picture is worth a thousand words....so without further ado. 

Our little sleepyhead sleeping through all her firsts!

 ♥ Lindsay

Officially a thrifty Mom

Before we decided to start a family, my hubby and I made the decision to stay in Vancouver instead of moving to the 'burbs like a lot of our friends. I love that we don't need a second car and that I can walk to anything I need in 15 minutes!! There is so much to enjoy about Vancouver....the fabulous restaurants, take-out joints and (thanks to Eat St.) food trucks, BBQs on the beach, walking with a coffee along the seawall.....oh and of course the shopping....which makes it difficult to not put a dent in my maternity income, but I certainly couldn't live without the options I have here! But one of the best things about Vancouver is being so close to sports and concert venues. So when my lovely hubby came home with two tickets to the Vancouver Whitecaps soccer game two weeks after Alexis' birth....I said hey why not? After double checking that Alexis was actually free (yep...til she's two...score!!) and buying some earmuffs to protect our her sensitive hearing, we headed out on a family date night to the Whitecaps game! She was awake for exactly 15 minutes of the game and then she was out....fast asleep in Daddy's arms. I guess the earmuffs worked, but doesn't she know Beckham was playing?? She'll regret falling asleep when she's older I'm sure :) 

We got a few comments about how tiny she is and our seatmate asked if we came straight from the hospital!?! Some people even called us crazy....but we went with no expectations and the understanding that we may have to leave early. Thankfully Alexis was a dream baby and we had so much fun!! I am totally going to check into what other events we can get her into while she's still free.....hockey games, concerts, craft fairs, home shows....the possibilities are endless. Does this make me cheap? I prefer thrifty.....

♥ Lindsay

My new favourite pastime

So I thought I was being pretty reasonable when I set my goal to blog at least twice a month post baby (list item # 16). I knew I was going to be busy so I didn't want to be overly ambitious and feel stressed if I didn't blog daily or weekly....so I figured twice a month was doable. As it turns out I have been a little distracted by my newest pastime; watching the ever changing facial expressions of my baby girl. Is she smiling at me? Or is it gas? 

Either way, it is too cute and melts my heart! 

Her lopsided grin, wide eyes, tiny yawns and adorable furrowed brows make her the cutest baby ever (in my entirely biased opinion of course).

As you can see, it will be difficult to peel myself away from this sweet little face to blog, so I will have to make a conscious effort to get to the computer at least twice a month for the sake of my list! I managed two posts in July and this is post #1 for August....so I am on the right track. 

Hope I can keep it up!

Alexis the 2 week old beach bum!

Well after a long, rainy, June....beach season has finally arrived in Vancouver. And all I can say is thank goodness Alexis likes the outdoors because part two of my list includes plenty of family outings! 

She's pretty comfy with Daddy in the Bjorn at her first beach BBQ to celebrate our friends' birthday (#27....check)

The following day we spent a few hours relaxing at the beach and enjoying some fresh air....I think it made her sleepy! Maybe she wasn't waiting for me to finish the first half of my list after all....my little summer baby was just waiting for the sunshine! 

♥ Lindsay

Welcome to the world Alexis!

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of our beautiful baby girl!

Alexis James Bradley Trudel 

June 27, 2012 at 1:50pm

6lbs 14 oz. 

The Trudel Family is home, happy and enjoying lots of snuggles and cuddles!! 

 ♥ Lindsay

40 weeks + 4 Days....do you think the baby saw my unfinished before baby list?

As much as I have been keeping busy with crafting, yoga, shopping and watching an embarrassing number of Gilmore Girl episodes (and yes, we did go for delicious waffles again at Patisserie Lebeau.....and yes, they are still as delicious as ever) I must admit that since my due date has come and gone with no baby yet..... I am getting pretty anxious. I keep telling myself that this is normal....and really 'due date' is kind of a misnomer anyway....I think it should be called 'guess date' or 'due month'. I must admit I have tried a few of the labour inducing recommendations that can be found all over the internet and everyone knows the internet is always right (haha), but let's be honest....I am pretty sure that these lists just give women something to do while waiting to feel like they are in control of something that they actually have no control over! I have also read some interesting things about releasing fears or blocks that are preventing women from feeling truly ready for baby (either consciously or subconsciously) and I can't help but wonder.....is the baby waiting for me to finish my list? It is called 'things to do before baby' after all, so maybe she is timing her arrival for when I check off those last two items? Interesting theory....no? So tonight I will be crocheting my little heart out to finish that blanket and tomorrow Ty and I will head to the Museum of Anthropology to use our free passes and if my theory is correct....baby will arrive shortly after. Ok, so maybe this is wishful thinking and really just gives me a few more things to keep me busy during this ultimate waiting game but hey it can't hurt right? 

♥ Lindsay

Return of the sunshine!

Dear Vancouver weather Gods....thank you for the sunshine finally! It is officially summer and I am glad to see you are finally acting like it! Although the last few weeks of some very...ahem....un-June-like weather (to put it nicely) has given me the perfect chance to do peruse my favorite DIY blogs and do some fabulous crafty crafts......

My friend Jillian recently started a new blog and her first post was a tutorial for making this bracelet. It is super easy to follow, so check it out! It takes longer than I thought, but her suggestion to do it while watching the Bachelorette makes it much more enjoyable ;) I might even make another one during next weeks episode....if baby hasn't arrived that is! PS: Bachelorette Fans....can you believe what is going down next week?Poor Emily can not catch a break! Arie was my fave!!! Now who can I root for?

So apparently the 'must-have' baby toy (for reasons still unknown to me) is the Sophie the Giraffe squeaky toy. To me it seems more like a dogs chew toy....but I guess babies also like to chew on things too so now that I think about it does makes sense. Either way I have one and they aren't cheap.....so according to all the parenting blogs I must protect it with my life! Dramatic? Maybe so, but like I said babies LOVE these things so to avoid any potential devastation the 'must-have' Sophie accessory is a Sophie leash to tether Sophie to the stroller or car seat. They carry these in various baby stores, but they are charging $12!! Can you believe it? $12?! With scrap fabric and two snaps, I figure I could make one for practically free. So I did. in fact I made 3. With the mark up on these things I could make some serious profit....hmmmm maybe I should start selling them?

And finally I came across this tutorial for the Lululemon Vinyasa Scarf on Hammers and High Heels. I love this scarf but I was having a hard time rationalizing the cost.....I mean, it's $50 for a piece of fabric with some snaps on it? Really? So I googled DIY vinyasa scarf and voila....someone else had the same thought. Check out her site for how to make the scarf and the TON of different ways you can wear it! As I expected it was super easy to make and since I got a fabulous deal on fabric and snaps at Dressew (fabric for 3 scarves was under $20 including 1.5 yards of actual lululemon bamboo fabric and the snaps were on sale for .25¢ for a pack of 10 with the fastener) I was able to make 3 scarves for half the price of a Lululemon one! 






......It was even better to finally get out of the house for a nice long walk. 
Hello sunshine. Welcome back!
♥ Lindsay