The newest member of the Momtourage

I remember back in the winter, hanging out at Beans when momma Sharon told all of us that she was pregnant again - immediately following the shock of it (her first son Brody was under a year), we were all thrilled and excited to meet the newest member of the Momtourage.

On August 8, the littlest member of the Momtourage came into the world, a beautiful baby boy named Blake Aayden. He is just so sweet! Sharon sure does have her hands full with a toddler and a newborn, but she is handling it incredibly, and has a sweet little boy to snuggle all day long!

Sweet baby Blake

 A few of us moms went to visit her when Blake was a couple weeks old, and it felt just like old times, but there were lots of arms to hold the only newborn, as all the babies from last year are cruising around on their own now. There's nothing quite like that newborn baby smell! I couldn't get enough of him! It was funny, all of us being around a newborn again....it seems so much easier the second time. I know I am infinitely more at ease with wee ones again - I'm pretty sure those first few days alone with A I was pretty shell-shocked. I hope if we ever have another baby I'm as cool, calm, and collected as Sharon is!

Can't wait to snuggle him again!

Just as I feel so lucky to have such an amazing momma support group, I feel lucky that Andrew has this wonderful group of kidlets to grow up with.

I can't wait to watch Blake grow up as I did with the other babes! Congratulations to Sharon, Andy and Brody on the newest addition! 

The Frustaci Family - Sharon and her boys

 Sharon had these photos done with Natalie Higgins of Logan's Photography. Check out her website for more info: http://www.logansphotography.ca/about-me.html

Batterfingers

After the success of our cooking afternoon with Chef Deb, I decided to do a kitchen get-together more suited to me. I am a decent cook, but...baking is really my forte. So I decided to organize something baking-related for the next outing. Like any resourceful momma, I hit Google for ideas, and came onto a company called Batterfingers, who offered cupcake decorating classes in your home.

I contacted Julia at Batterfingers and we set up a date - we were her first mom & baby group! Hosting with Batterfingers was so easy - All I did was cover the table with a plastic tablecloth, lay out aprons for all the moms, and set out some punch and finger foods to nibble on, she did the rest!

Julia getting Sharon and Julie started on their cupcakes

The lesson covered how to colour, shape, and mold fondant, as well as how to roll and decorate with it. Julia brought 3 cupcakes per person, delicious buttercream frosting, colouring, edible ink, rolling pins, and all the other tools necessary to decorate the cupcakes. We also each got a copy of the cupcake and fondant recipe, and she came prepared with boxes for us to take our cupcakes home.

Melinda & Jen 

 Julia was so patient with all the babies. We set up a playroom in my living room so they could hang out and we just left the table periodically to feed, soothe, or play with a fussy baby.

I bought a disposable plastic tablecloth to put down and I was SO happy that I did. If any of you choose to do something like this, it cut down on cleaning time so much, and it was so easy to decorate the cupcakes. No one had to worry about getting fondant or dye on the table. Once we got all Julia's tools into the sink to clean and packaged up our creations, I just folded up the tablecloth and dumped it. Easy peasy!

My finished products - they tasted as pretty as they look!

Jen's finished cupcakes - I love her sparkly cupcake with the daisy!

 If you're interested in having a cupcake class with Julia, get in touch with her here: http://www.batterfingers.com/index.html

Happy 1st Birthday Andrew!

A year ago today, Ryan and I welcomed a tiny new man into our life, and experienced a love that I never knew even existed before that day. After a relatively short natural labour, Andrew was born as a 7 lb, 9 oz bundle of endless energy. He has grown so much...but the endless energy hasn't changed! Instead of bouncing him for hours at night, I spend my days chasing him around the house.

What a journey this past year has been - after MANY sleepless nights (I won't lie, I still occasionally have them), bouncing a screaming colicky baby, I feel like all three of us have come so far. A has a little more patience with us, and we have learned so much about taking care of a baby, ourselves, and even about taking care of each other. I truly believe that having a baby is a delicate balancing act, and is a struggle for most moms - you invest every ounce of your being into this tiny new life, but I eventually came to realize that it is just as important to invest in my relationship with Ryan, and into myself. Sometimes that means having a spa day, and sometimes it just means walking around Target by myself after A goes to sleep for the night. With that being said, I am so incredibly happy with my little family. I feel so blessed.

I can't believe that a year has flown by already - I feel like it was just yesterday that I was at the hospital meeting A for the first time. In my mind, he is still this big:

On the weekend, we had Andrew's 1st birthday party in the middle of the heat wave, and despite the heat, it was a wonderful time. We had a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme, and I tried to incorporate it wherever I could.

Here are the invitations and the little envelope seals we had made:

I think that the star of the show (other than A, of course) was the cake, which was made by a friend of our family, Maria. I just told her what the theme was and she let her imagination run wild, and did a FANTASTIC job. I was completely blown away when she brought it in!

The level of detail was amazing - the leaves on top (under the caterpillar), the strawberries and pickle even had tiny little detailing on it! There's even a little piece of fondant Swiss cheese on the back that is so perfect but you can't see it in the pictures!

A found the polka dots on the cake fascinating!

For decor, I happened to find wrapping paper at Chapters that was reminiscent of the Hungry Caterpillar dots, so I used that as a backdrop...it didn't work out so great, as the room was so hot (even with AC!) that the tape didn't seem to be holding it too well!

Table Centerpieces

For favours, I decided to make chocolate chip cookies with mini M&M's instead of chocolate chips to give it the same colourful polka dot look, and had labels made to stick on the bags:

The birthday boy even had a decorated highchair, with a banner that I made:

Here are some close-up shots of the cake - can you tell I am still in awe of it a few days later???

Another exciting moment of the party was getting the Momtourage together for a picture with all the babies. Well, I guess I have to say toddlers now, as they are almost all over a year. Just for comparison, here is a shot of the babies the first time we all got together. In this shot, A is only three weeks old, and is second from the right.



We're missing one of the babies in the first shot and have another addition in the second, but the other five pretty much hung out every week for the first year of their lives!

And here is the rowdy crew, at A's birthday! They have all changed so much, and I am so lucky to call these incredible women my friends. They have been such a source of support, entertainment, and laughter over the past year and I look forward to watching our kidlets grow up together.




After pictures and lunch, it was present time! A only opened a few gifts and then got sidetracked by toys!

The Bubble Guppies microphone was a huge hit - Char even came crawling over to get in on the action!

As A has been cruising around constantly lately, we brought his walker so he could cruise on his own and not get cranky. It ended up being perfect, as he zipped around and visited all the tables while burning off energy!

One of the funniest moments of the day was A's first taste of cake. It was delicious, as you can tell from the photos. He couldn't get enough of it!

Andrew was surrounded by love and laughter at his party, and got spoiled rotten! It makes me feel all mushy and sentimental knowing that he is surrounded by such love in his life. What a lucky little man he is. Huge thanks go out to all of our friends and family who love him, encourage him, and support us in this journey.

NOTE: I have had a lot of comments about his little man-tie. I bought it from an awesome local vendor called Eva + Dell. She has tons of adorable clothes and accessories for girls and boys. She is at many mom and baby shows, but you can find her on Etsy and Facebook as well. Her products are very high-quality, and cute as can be. Please take a moment to check her out :) 
https://www.facebook.com/evaanddell?fref=ts
http://www.etsy.com/shop/EvaandDell

Any plans for your little one's birthday? What was the most memorable kids' party that you have been to or thrown? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy Father's Day!

This post is a day early, as tomorrow will be spent showering my wonderful hubby with love, affection, and appreciation for everything that he does around here! I have to give him a little Father's Day shout-out today.

One of the most amazing things in our marriage so far has been watching Ryan grow into the wonderful father that he is. Just when you think you couldn't love a man anymore than you already do, watching him love, play, and protect A just makes me fall in love with him all over again. Watching your husband become a dad really is an incredible thing, isn't it?

I know we both had many fears and apprehensions about becoming parents (who doesn't!?!?) but he has become an awesome daddy. Right from the beginning, he jumped right into fatherhood full-force. From cutting the cord, changing the first diapers in the hospital and staying up many nights rocking and bouncing a colicky baby, he has been amazing with A from the start. Nowadays, I love how the highlight of A's day is seeing Ryan come home, and watching the two of them play and bond, as A babbles away, trying to tell Ryan all about his day.

For Father's Day, Ryan got celebrated with a week of gifts, a little gift each day (homemade cookies, PJ pants, framed photo of him and A, etc). Tomorrow is the best one, and I can't wait to give it him! I know lots of you are celebrating your husbands' first Fathers Day - any special plans? What have you gotten your dads/husbands for Father's Day? I'm always in need of ideas! Let me know in the comments below. 

Here's a photo I snapped of the two of them reading bedtime stories last week - A is so much like his daddy in so many ways already:

Happy Father's Day Ryan, A and I are so lucky to have you in our lives!

Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there, hope you get spoiled rotten and have an amazing day! What are all of you doing to celebrate Father's Day? 

An Afternoon with Chef Deb

One of the default outings for the Momtourage was lunch out - we didn't have to cook and got to spend a few hours together...perfect! The only downside to that as the babies got a bit older is that it gets a bit trickier. It got to the point where we needed 5 highchairs (couldn't keep them sleeping in the strollers anymore!) and after awhile they wanted to move and explore - in other words, our lunch outings became shorter unless we were at a playplace.

I started trying to think of activities we could do together, and ended up getting in touch with Chef Deb. I have known Chef Deb for a few years, and she has catered a few events for us, including our rehearsal dinner and showers. She is fantastic, and cooks so many different cuisines. My personal favourite is her Greek dinner - chicken souvlaki, homemade tzatziki, yum!!! But I digress - I called Chef Deb and asked her whether she would be willing to host an afternoon cooking class for a few moms at my place. To my delight, she agreed :) We settled on an asian theme, learning to cook a proper stir-fry, and then we could sit down and enjoy our work!

Chef Deb

Mandy working on her knife skills

We got so much more than we bargained for - to start off, Chef Deb taught us proper knife skills. Apparently none of us even knew how to use a knife properly. It takes some practice to get comfortable using knives the way chefs do, but when you get the hang of it, you can chop pretty fast...plus I kinda feel like a contestant on Masterchef...a contestant that Gordon, Joe and Elliott would promptly swear at and throw out of the kitchen.

Jen and Char taking in all the action

Sharon and Brody taking a break from the kitchen

General Tao's Chicken

First up was learning to make General Tao's chicken. I'll be honest, I'm not a very adventurous eater, so I had never actually tried it before. However, I did try it this time and it was delicious! Flavour was amazing, chicken was crispy and perfectly cooked. Hard to believe it came out of my kitchen and not a restaurant!

London taking in the sights from the floor

 Next up was tackling a proper chicken stir-fry. I know we all know how to essentially throw together a stir-fry, but let me tell you...doing it properly makes a HUGE difference. First was learning to cut up vegetables the correct way - doing matchstick veggies makes it look nice and makes it a whole lot easier to cook!

A look at our work in progress

Stir-fry in action!

Both of the recipes were deceptively simple, and I have made them numerous times on my own since then. I haven't quite mastered the General Tao chicken, I don't usually get it quite as crispy, but the stir-fry turns out perfect every time, no fail. I've done it with chicken and beef, and they are both yummy. If you like doing a stir-fry at home, check out Chef Deb's blog (details below), as she has a video on stir-frying. There are some really simple techniques and tricks that make a world of difference in stir-frying.

Cooking with Chef Deb

Chef Deb and A

As always with the Momtourage, it was a fantastic afternoon! We all learned a lot, had a great meal, and spent time with one fantastic chef! A few of us even took cookbooks by Chef Deb home!

Take a few minutes to check out everything Chef Deb has to offer - her blog is witty and entertaining, her cookbooks offer lots of weekday meal ideas, and her catering is phenomenal!

Catering site: http://www.culinarycaravan.com/
Blog: http://thefridgewhisperer.com/fridge/

5 Best Things about Babies

After my last (and very frustrated) post, I did some reflecting on what I love most about babies.

1) Eau du Baby: is there anything better than the smell of a baby? Even after having one, I still don't know where that amazing smell comes from. I could sniff babies' heads forever, it's like an intoxicating drug for me.

2) Watching them learn: One of the most incredible things to watch is when A is exploring and learning new things. You can almost see the wheels turning in his head, and you can watch the amazement in his eyes as he begins to understand new concepts. Babies are amazing little creatures.

3) Sleepy time: For me, one of the most wonderful moments with A are those few moments before bedtime when he is all sleepy and cuddly, curled up in my arms. I wish I could hold on to those moments forever. I know it doesn't make for good sleep habits to rock him to sleep, but...one very wise mommy once said to me that they are only going to want to be in your arms for so long, so to just enjoy it while I can. So, I'm enjoying it and and taking all the sleepy snuggles and cuddles that I can while he's content to be in my arms.

4) Baby Smiles & Laughs: Nothing has ever tugged at my heard quite like seeing A break out into a big grin, followed by a wide gummy smile. Nothing in the world can cheer me up like hearing his big belly laugh.

5)Hugs & Kisses: The first time little A reached up to give me a hug followed by a sloppy drool-laden kiss, my heart melted. Best. Moment. Ever. Pure bliss!

What are your favourite moments with the babies in your life?

Teething Sucks - Am I Right Mommas?

I have heard it from many moms, but today was so bad that I feel the need to reiterate....teething sucks. There is no silver lining to this cranky, screaming, fever-ridden cloud. And while we're on this topic, there are a few other things about babies that suck too. I love my son wholeheartedly, but there are some things about babies that just plain suck. Let me tell you about a few things that suck about babies that I have found thus far in my journey into mommyhood.

1) Colic: Uncontrollable screaming and crying 24/7. 'Nuff said. It sucks.

2) Sleep Training: There comes a point with your baby when you realize that they should be sleeping longer/in a different place/without feeding (choose whichever applies to your baby). So, you start sleep training. You scour the internet for advice and tips. You stalk sleep experts' blogs and Facebook pages for any ideas and tricks that you haven't found yet (because you hold out hope that you just haven't found that one thing that will work!) Phrases like 'self-soothe', 'Ferberizing', and 'CIO' float around in your dreams. And then, you start training your sweet child in their crib like you're training a puppy. You keep telling yourself that the crying and nights lying on the nursery floor will be worth it. And eventually the sleep will get better. It may not be perfect, but sleep will eventually get better, I promise. But guess what? Sleep training still sucks.

3) Standing in the crib: After months (literally, months) of sleep training, you can put your baby in the crib and they will sleep. They will wake-up but are able to self-soothe. You start to feel like super-mommy - if you can get that wild child to sleep consistently, you can do ANYTHING! But then with a huge swoop, the rug gets pulled out form under you. Your baby learns to stand up in the crib. When you put them in the crib now, they just stand up and shriek, jumping on their crib mattress. Sleep training now starts all over again. F*$&@! This shit sucks.

4) A new permanent start time to your day: You know all new moms tell themselves that they will have a few months of fatigue and minimal sleep, etc. There are those lucky moms who have babies that will sleep until 9am, and more often babies like A that are up and ready to rock by 6:30am daily. But the real kicker is that (for moms that go back to work anyway)....once they start daycare, your early morning wake-up is permanent. Apparently no one sent the baby a memo that weekends exist. Sleeping in until brunch? No longer an option mommas! Waking up to see the sunrise every day sucks.

5) Teething: I was so not prepared for this. Nothing is worse than seeing your baby in pain and not being able to do anything about it. Poor A is just cutting his first teeth (at 11 months - he's kind of a late bloomer!), and is having a rough time. An entire day of crying and fussing, barely eating and drinking, not napping. I'm dreading molars! This sucks. Help me moms and dads! What tricks worked for your teething babies? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day has always been a big day in our household, as we get to celebrate one of the most amazing women I know - my mom! I could write pages and pages about how wonderful she is, but the post would never end. Instead, I want to thank her for the most important thing she taught me - how to be a good mom. I'm nowhere near the mom she is, but she has provided me with a shining example of what I strive to be as a mommy. She has given my sister and I unconditional love, and supported me throughout my life, no matter what shenanigans I got myself into.

My sister, mom and I with the babes back in October

Before I go any further, I want to wish all my momma and momma-to-be friends a very happy Mother's Day! I hope you all got spoiled rotten, because you deserve it! Being a mommy is a wonderful job, but one of the hardest!

I took some time to reflect back on becoming a mom, and I think it was everything and nothing like I was expecting. I knew that I would love my baby with everything I had, but I was completely unprepared for this new, and completely overwhelming love I had for that teeny tiny little boy. He has changed my life in so many ways, and I can't imagine my life without him.

This Mother's Day was particularly important as it was my first! Hubby sure did spoil me. To begin the day, and most importantly, he woke up in the morning with A and let me sleep in. Ahhhh....sleep past 6:30. Heavenly. Although, I'll be honest - I was still up with him at 3:30 to feed. I love my son, but look forward to the night when I can put him down in the evening and not see him again until the morning.

True Love - my man and I in October

After I put A down for his morning nap, my main squeeze made breakfast for me, which was delicious. I'm enjoying the adult-prepared breakfast, as I've heard from some of my friends that have older children that when the kids are old enough to prepare it, breakfast usually consists of something like a yogurt, a cookie, and a half-eaten banana. Served in your bed with crumbs and juice splashed around your duvet. Maybe I'll luck out and A will turn out to be a child prodigy in the kitchen.

Hands down the best moment of the day was when I first came down in the morning - I came down the stairs and my fur-baby beagle named Sookie was waiting for me - I got kisses from her and then went over to see A who was standing at the coffee table. I bent down to see him, he reached his chubby little hands up, wrapped them around my neck and planted a big kiss on me. Best. Moment. Ever.

He spoiled me with flowers, a heartfelt card, and tickets to a Jays game - yeah, that's right, I'm a long-time Jays fan. My love for the blue and white is for baseball, not hockey! We are going to attempt to take A to a Jays game with us. When he was just a wee boy, he received a Jays hat and t-shirt as gifts, so we can't let them go to waste! Have any of you taken your babes to a sporting event? Any hints or tips?

I hope all of you out there have a wonderful Mother's Day! Tell me about it in the comments below - did you get spoiled?

I know as moms we have a tendency to blame ourselves when things don't go as expected with our kids, and we tend to put ourselves last. So moms, I challenge you - spoil yourself today. Do something just for yourself with no regret or hesitation. Because I know you deserve it. Happy Mother's Day!

Happy 1st Birthday Charlotte!

May 1st was a big day in our family - my niece turned 1!

For those of you that have met me, you already know that I absolutely adore my niece. Born only 7 weeks before Andrew, I spent the majority of her first year with her, and I am so thankful for that. Not many aunts get the chance to spend that amount of time with their niece. She is the silliest, prettiest, and most charming little princess that I know...and (unfortunately for my sister) shares my love of attention, sparkles, and anything girly. It's unfortunate for my sister because...well...she doesn't have a love for attention, sparkles, and anything girly. She also doesn't enjoy planning events like I do, which worked out well for me! I became the unofficial planner of Charlotte's first birthday.

I knew that a birthday for a darling princess like Char had to be pretty. It had to have sparkles. And it most definitely had to be pink!

So away we went...it was a busy day, but was so nice to see so many friends and family out celebrating such a special little girl.

Char's cake was made by our family friend Maria - it was gorgeous, delicious, and exactly what I had in mind. Gorgeous!

The birthday girl and I

Char with her cake fit for a princess

A getting ready to party

For favors for the kids, I decided on rock candy sticks. They were pretty and pink, and are kinda sparkly too!

Favors for the kidlets

 The birthday set-up is below. I made the backdrop originally for Jen's baby shower, but it was a perfect fit for Char's birthday. I used foam insulation board, and covered it with huge white flowers that I made out of white paper.

The Birthday Setup

Centrepieces for the tables were inspired by a Pinterest photo. I used little buckets stuffed with floral foam and paper stuffing, then made the marshmallow skewers. I made pink sugar, stuck marshmallows on bamboo skewers, then dipped them in water and then sugar. Not quite as good as my Pinterest inspiration, but not too shabby!

Centerpieces

The Birthday girl with her parents

The day went well and little Miss C got spoiled rotten! Plans are already well underway for A's big day - I can't believe how close it's getting!

Do any of you have plans for your little one's birthday? Seen any awesome and unique ideas? Have you pulled off an incredible party already? Tell me about it in the comments below!