And He's Up and Walking!

Finally... Brendan has been making fairly successful attempts at walking for the past week. He is almost 16 months old now. Ryan walked around 16 months and I walked around 13 months so he's bang on given his genes! His walking is resembling more of a run. He has learned if he goes slowly he is more likely to fall before reaching his goal. We keep on encouraging him. :). He has also made some attempts to use a spoon to eat his food.

The last two nights we have made some pretty healthy meals that Brendan has happily eaten. The first night I made some sticky rice (we found that this is the best rice for him to eat with his hands as it clumps when he grabs it) with black beans, peppers, and onion. I am going to add tofu to it next time, I think. He ate it up. Last night I made my own version of the maceroni and cheese from Deceptively Delicious by using brown rice pasta, 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree (very healthy!) instead of squash or cauliflower puree and adding the left over black beans from the night before. Brendan, Ryan and I all enjoyed it. The best part was it only took 15 minutes to make, including prep time and cleaning up after myself as I went. I like many of the recipes in this book and am always looking for ways to add nutritional content to foods that Brendan enjoys. I am delighted to report that he absolutely loves veggie pizza!

Sewing Project for the Wedding

I am thinking about making my own napkins or table cloths for the wedding...but I do not have a sewing machine. I actually know very little about sewing machines and want to buy a fairly basic machine that will be good for small projects. I know that some good quality ones can be upward of $600. Clearly I don't have this kind of money...

Anyone have any suggestions on where to get one at a fairly good price? Brand name suggestions would also be greatly appreciated!!!

Honeymooning in Bruce

In the midst of wedding planning we have also managed to plan a wonderful 4-night 5 day honeymoon in the Bruce Peninsula. When I was younger my parents used to rent a cottage in Sauble Beach on Lake Huron nearly every summer. I loved going there. I haven't been in quite a few years though and Ryan has never been. His one criteria for a honeymoon was a beach... mine was staying local and saving money while having a romantic experience. As you can see above. Sauble Beach has one of the top ten sunsets in the world!...truly amazing. I don't even feel bad in the slightest that we will not be going to some far off grand destination for our honeymoon. Ontario can be quite beautiful and it is all about spending time alone with eachother. Best of all... we're supporting Ontario tourism in this economic recession. I love it!

We are staying at bed and breakfasts for the 4 nights. The first two will be spent the closest to Sauble Beach so we can unwind from the wedding and sit on the beach. This B&B is the most private but also has a nice area outside for a nightly fire where guests can mingle (see below!) The other two B&B's will be further up the peninsula and are eco-friendly! The first one is an Edwardian style home (Same as ours - only much much larger) and we'll have a whirlpool tub and our own private balcony. The last B&B we'll stay at is a farm house that serves local and organic food :) For our meals, breakfast will be covered, we'll have a light lunch - maybe some picnics on the beach or wherever we are and then splurge for some fancy dinners. We usually do this sort of thing on all our vacations.. breakfast in the hotel..pack a lunch and have a very nice dinner. It will definitely be nice just the two of us.

So far our list of activities includes:

- Sunbathing on Sauble Beach

- Golfing

- Hiking the Bruce Trail (we plan on seeing the grotto). Likely we'll do outdoor activities every morning. We usually do when we vacation.

- Touring various historical light houses

- Taking a boat out to see the shipwrecks off Tobermory

- Visiting the Southampton Market

- Going to a drive-in movie (something we always used to do before Brendan)

- Buying some local artwork - a tradition my parents used to do on their anniversaries from Niagara-on-the-Lake or various places they travelled. This is something I'd really love to do with Ryan.

- Finding a live band to enjoy

SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME!

Big Wedding Update

The wedding is in a little over a month and I haven't posted any updates lately.

Firstly, we have been getting many compliments on our homemade invites. Ryan and I spent two whole days crafting them and then several weeks gathering up the addresses, writing personal messages for some and addressing the envelopes. We ended up paying probably the same as a basic wedding invitation made. I can definitely see why most brides leave this to stationers. Never the less... we were quite happy with them too.


Ryan wrapped the ribbon on them so that they looked like little gifts.

Other exciting news.. we got a trial version of our cake in time for Canada Day. For those of you that remember, I was planning on making my own cake but those plans went out the window when I got a job. A collegue of my mom's who just happened to take the same decorating courses as I did is planning on starting up a business on the side and is going to give us a great deal on the cake. Here is the mini version! (chocolate inside - Ryan's request - and thinly rolled fondant on the outside because some people don't like the taste/texture of it but I like the look)



We have picked out the music for the ceremony and I'm quite happy with it. The procession will be the same song that my parents used at their wedding which is meaningful. Also, we asked my grandfather to do one of the readings which he happily agreed to do and then mentioned that he had been hoping to maybe sing a solo at one of his grandchildren's weddings and we happily agreed to having him do so :)

On the attire front, I bought a pair of shoes! My mother wasn't too thrilled they do not have a high heel but really I just wanted something where my feet wouldn't kill me by the end of the night AND most importantly something I could wear again. I have been dying to wear them to several outings this summer but refrained from doing so because it just wouldn't be right. This is a good sign that I will indeed wear them again.


And now, off to sort out Ryan and Brendan's outfits for the big day!

Happy Canada Day!

Oh Canada!!!

From this half of the year on, I plan on blogging way more. I have been so busy with work I have little time for much else. This is part of the reason why I posted this beautiful picture of dawn in the country taken just 20 mins north of Oshawa at 6am one morning while I was driving Ryan to work at a site nearby. I have decided that unless I get the super awesome contract job I have just applied for, isn't worth it to work full-time, away from Brendan and with little time to garden, bake, blog etc. which I really enjoy. 

Latest developments with Brendan:

- Running around behind a walker is his favourite activity. Close seconds are swimming in his kiddie pool, playing in his sandbox (a birthday gift from Ryan's sister) and climbing stairs or anything else he can climb

- His vocabulary consists of - Mama, Dada, Baba (bottle), Car, and Nana (for Banana). He has been trying to repeat many words we say to him.

- He has become the biggest fan of his daddy and sometimes wants nothing to do with his mama!. See evidence below!