The Final Push
I was fortunate enough to be pregnant at the same time as my best friend. Her little guy came 5 months to the day before Junior and she told us that he was her last one (she has 3 kids earth-side), but I knew that was a lie. Baby number four is on route, arriving in December and she swears this will be her last - but we shall see, haha! This is even funnier because there’s still quite a few people who don’t know she’s pregnant and are extremely surprised when they find out… which was also the case with her last baby! I have no idea how she does it because I was bursting at the seams to tell the world when we were pregnant with Junior! I call her the queen of secret pregnancies and maybe I’ll take some notes from Allie and try to keep our next pregnancy a secret.. or maybe not.
Most people don’t expect a baby shower after their first one, but Allie is a special kind of woman. Not only is she a phenomenal mother who I go to for everything parenting and the best god mother to Junior, but she’s also a pretty badass real estate agent that works full-time WHILE still taking care of her two toddlers full-time (I’m tired just thinking about this). I say this because there’s no one more deserving of being showered with love on multiple occassions than her - so bring on shower number four! I also say this because if you’re looking for a realtor in the HRM who knows how to multi-task - she’s definitely your girl!
Allie had zero idea about the surprise. She was told she needed to drop off one of the coaches post cheer practice (she’s been a coach for years, as are some of her best friends). When she walked in, tears came to her eyes. She was overwhelmed with love and the fact she was genuinely surprised (it’s pretty hard to ever surprise her with things). Mission surprise was complete!
It was a very intimate baby shower (especially because of Covid). We spent the day having brunch, mimosa’s (with virgin ones of course for the soon-to-be mamas), and some laughs. The girls did a such a great job decorating. They made the cutest little mimosa bar and brunch line I’ve seen in a while, full of fruit and waffles that melted in your mouth. We followed brunch with opening presents on one of the nicest fall days we’ve had so far this year. A special shoutout to Victoria for most of these beautiful photos - she did such a good job capturing the day!
Our other best friend is also pregnant and it was the first time I’ve got to see her in person in what feels like forever. Between the two of them, I have major baby fever right now, but I think we’re going to hold off on giving Junior a sibling - at least for a little while!
This was one of those days where I was just very thankful. Thankful for my beautiful friends and our friendships, thankful for all their kiddo’s I get to be a “special aunt” to (you know, the one’s who aren’t really related but blood probably wouldn’t make you any closer"), and especially thankful they keep growing their families so I can just borrow their kids instead of having more of my own right now (joking, kind of). I love my friends and can’t wait for our little ones to all be friends and hang out as they grow.
Photo Credits - IG: @Victoria_Mcdermott
Apple Picking & Thanksgiving Celebrations
I absolutely love fall. The trees changing colours, the cool, crisp air and especially turkey dinner and warm apple pie. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favourite holidays, because I’ve always been so fortunate to spend it surrounded by friends and family. This was the first year we knew thanksgiving would be different for us, because my soon-to-be parents in law were heading out of town and Covid has made seeing friends and family a lot trickier. But, we decided we weren’t going to let that ruin Junior’s second thanksgiving, especially since last year he was a newborn and couldn’t really enjoy it.
Since there would be no dinner at the in-laws, we decided to head to the valley for apple picking since we could turn it into a visit with Marcus’ grandparents as well. We went to the cutest little apple field that offered tractor rides too. We went a little late in the season so most of the apples had already been picked, but we were able to find a tree that had some apples just sitting there, waiting for us to pick them.
It was a nice day, but next thing we knew it was freezing! While Junior had more layers on than usual, half way through our time apple picking the temperature dropped to what felt like winter weather (it was the first day we regretted not bringing his winter jacket - just in case). Usually, this time of year is chilly, but nothing like how cold it was out there on that field. So we wrapped Junior up in a large blanket to keep warm and decided we’d head out shortly.
When we finished apple picking, we stopped to pick up some homemade pie to bring to turkey dinner later at my best friend’s house. I kid you not, she asked me about 5 times where we got the pie because it was melt in your mouth good. I still haven’t gotten the name of the place we picked it up from, and I know she’s reading this thinking “you still haven’t texted me the location!!!”. I thought I’d be able to figure it out by now, but here we are, haha.
After an amazing chicken dinner at Marcus’ grandparents, we headed back to the city. We spent the car ride having sing-a-longs despite our terrible voices and started to get excited to see some friends. After grabbing a few things from home (alcohol included), we headed over to my besties to enjoy a feast I was not expecting. We had a classic turkey dinner with Mac and Cheese, Brussel Sprouts, and so many other delicious things that I ended up being more stuffed than the turkey.
We had some drinks and channeled our younger selves by getting into some Tiktok dances (between us, I’m secretly pissed Tiktok didn’t exist when we were younger.. we had to force our parents to watch our dance routines we had made up, we would’ve killed in the Tiktok world, haha). Marcus headed home with Junior around bedtime so mom could stay and have some much needed girl time - he’s the best.
While we didn’t get to have our traditional thanksgiving dinner with our families, I was so thankful for the way the day turned out. We were still surrounded by loved ones and Junior got to spend some time with some extended family, kids included. I’m thankful for my newly grown family this year and can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for us.
A Day In The Valley
Living in Nova Scotia definitely has it’s perks - from beautiful scenery, to fresh seafood, there’s always some adventure or new place to eat that we can check out relatively close to home. This past weekend, we took Junior up to the valley to visit with family! It was only a day trip, but oh my goodness I forgot how much I love the country!
One thing I hold near and dear to my heart is family. I’ve always been extremely family oriented, especially since I have a bunch of siblings. I literally jump at the chance to visit with any family we don’t get to see often (especially Marcus’ grandparent’s - they’re literally the sweetest souls and just warm my heart so much).
Outfit details can be found below
We enjoyed a beautiful lunch with Junior’s great-grandparents and Junior tried dairy-free ice cream for the first time! We spent a few hours at their place catching up and talking about stories from Marcus’ childhood - It’s funny, because everyone always tells us how cute Junior is, and while I wish I could take credit for it, he is a spitting image of his father as a baby!
Then we headed to the Look-off where you can see miles and miles of land - I kid you not I could stand there all day because it’s absolutely breathtaking. Then we took Junior to meet some old family friends, and while he normally is terrified of new people (Covid baby in a nutshell), y’all he warmed right up to them and I almost cried. There’s something that is so sweet about seeing the older generations interact with the new generation. For me, it’s like time stops and it’s everything good about life put into a still frame - I just love it so much! We finished off our little day trip by taking Junior to the field where he got to see corn growing, horses, and everything else country (including horse manure).
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While we didn’t do a ton (and it was very different with a baby than when we’d go without), it was honestly the perfect day. I love trips like that where you come home feeling so at peace, like a breath of fresh air. This is something I’ve promised myself i’ll do more, whether it’s a day trip, or a few hours just going for a walk in nature, there’s something the outdoors does for the soul that’s just so filling. I always feel like my best self after trips like these, and I decided for 2020 my focus would be on maintaining that feeling and truly finding the light to my happiness. If you’re like me, I highly recommend taking a loved one and just leaving - for an hour, for a day.. it doesn’t matter. Use that time to connect with your loved one and experience what’s around you that you’ve probably overlooked - it’s good for the soul.
xo, Tey
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Wow, What a Year!
Well, it’s been almost a YEAR since my last blog post (Cm’on Tey, be better).. In my defence, so much has happened that I’ve been a little pre-occupied (leaving the global pandemic out of it). So, let’s recap some of the stuff that’s happened lately:
“July-ed” to me about weight gain..
Well friends, by July, pregnancy had started taking over my life - and not in a good way. Originally, the doctor said i’d probably gain between 25-40lbs by delivery, but LOL that was far from the truth. Pregnancy was easily the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through; from my ankles being so swollen I could barely walk, to gaining almost double my pre-prego body-weight (yes, you read that right - I put on just under 90lbs!), to officially having not one piece of clothing in my wardrobe that fit.. It was a rough go for me. I was extremely uncomfortable, and to be honest.. I was a little bit depressed since I didn’t recognize myself anymore and I physically couldn’t do just about anything. So, life in bed became my every day norm.
September Showers
Early September, we were surrounded by our friends and family for our baby shower. This was the moment we actually realized we were going to be parents very soon! We were sooo blessed with the outpour of love, support and gifts we received that we actually ended up having pretty much everything first time parents need!
As new soon-to-be parents, we had ZERO idea what we were doing or what we needed (I remember standing in the stroller section for an HOUR looking at my fiancé like “soooo… yeah, idk anything.. I’m over this, let’s go”.. We left soon after). We did our registry through BuyBuy Baby & I’m so happy we did because we lucked out and got the most knowledgeable customer service rep I’ve ever seen! Keegan (who we soon started calling cool Keeg amongst ourselves) knew what and why we needed each thing, which made our lives 10x easier. It actually got to the point we were like “if you think we need it, just add it!). This was easily one of the top 5 shopping experiences I’ve had, and your girl loves to shop!
Welcome to the World, JR!
On October 4th, 2019 at 2:02pm, we welcomed our perfect little angel into the world by a planned c-section. To be honest, this was soooo bizarre to me because a) you can’t really feel what’s happening, and b) they then put your newborn on your chest, but you’re still laid out on a table so you can’t see them! This was such a surreal feeling for me because I knew he was there, I knew he was mine, I knew I just gave birth, but my brain took a bit to process it. An hour later, I got to actually see my little man, and my world changed instantly, completely for the better!
The Next Seven Months..
Well, i’m not even going to attempt to sugar-coat it.. MOTHERHOOD IS RIDICULOUSLY HARD. Yes, we hear it all the time, but my goodness I had no idea!! I kid you not, we were blessed with one of the easiest babies we could’ve asked for and every day is still hard. To be entirely transparent, breastfeeding is one of the best things/feelings I’ve ever had, but it’s also the worst. Why? Because they are literally always on your boob… always. This has died down quite a bit now that junior is 7mths old (this still blows my mind), so on a positive note, I finally have some time for me again! So yeah, that’s pretty much what’s been going on for the last seven months! Yes, newborns are difficult, infants are tiring, but I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat for the feeling of having my little person (that I actually made….that’s crazy) look up at me with a smile!
Some Bunny Is Egg-specting!
Pregnancy can be a scary time. You’re told all these things you need to do, but they still don’t guarantee you’ll have no complications. For me, I spent my first three months of pregnancy in daily fear due to my ulcerative colitis making me a high-risk pregnancy - I was terrified I was going to miscarry. This is why Marcus and I thought it was best to make it past the 3 month mark before we let everyone know just in case anything went wrong!
Well, this was hands down the hardest secret we’ve ever had to keep in our lives - not to mention, I’ve been carrying additional weight for months now which made it even more difficult to keep quiet! However, before we knew it, we were at the 3 month mark, the baby was good and we were ready to let our family & the rest of the world in on our little secret!
Time to prepare..
With Marcus being an only child & his grandparents living about an hour away from us, we figured Easter would be a great time to finally tell everyone since they’d be in the city! The only question was "how are we going to do it?”. Two nights before, I headed out to Michaels (the arts & crafts store) to see if they had any giant Easter eggs we could use to leave a note in. Lucky enough, right when I walked in, there it was - a giant sparkly green Easter egg for 50% off and it was the ONLY ONE LEFT! It was meant to be. I’ve never grabbed something so quick in my life (and it actually came with two smaller eggs inside of it)! I then moved on to grab an Easter basket and some Easter grass to lay in the bottom of the egg so I could prop the note up on-top of it. I bought the grass in two packs - one pack of green & pink Easter grass, the other being solely green (this would be used for the basket I was going to put the giant egg in). Fun fact - if you wait until two days before Easter, pretty much all leftover Easter stuff is going to be half price wherever you go (although I wouldn’t take a gamble on hunting down a massive egg that close to the date again). The last thing I picked up was a little wooden plaque that I could use to write our announcement on.
The first thing I did when I got home was grab my leftover gold spray paint for my plaque. I sprayed the entire thing and let it sit out over night to dry. The next day, I began to assemble everything. I put the all green Easter grass in the bottom of the basket. I then put my green & pink Easter grass inside the bottom half of my massive egg and then placed it in the basket. Then, I wrote my note on my plaque in silver marker “Some Bunny is Pr-egg-nant” to give it an Easter twist, placed the plaque inside the egg, and put the top half of the egg back on to cover it!
Some Bunny Is...
Next thing I knew, it was Easter and we had arrived at Marcus’ mother’s with the rest of the family. We handed our Easter egg basket off to his grandmother, getting her to open the egg and read the note out loud to the family. First of all, Marcus’ grandmother happens to be one of the cutest, sweetest women I’ve ever met, with her and my own grandmother reminding me a lot of each other. So it was no surprise when she read the note with the cutest difficulty we’d ever seen. the note was read aloud to the family, and went as follows: “Somebody is pretty neat!” AND SHE LOVED IT. She thought we had given her a massive Easter egg with a simple note to tell her she was a neat person and yet she was STILL grateful. I had real tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard, knowing how very off that statement was from what we were really trying to tell everyone!! “That’s not it, try again!” I laughed, followed by Marcus’ step-father shouting “She’s Pregnant!!”. Tons of happy screams came from around the room once everyone had finally caught on! We were excited everyone was excited, because to be honest we were terrified to spill the beans! We finished it off with some outdoor photos holding the easter basket & our own announcement board (which we got from winners for under $25) so we could share our news with the rest of the world!
I think it’s safe to say we’re extremely happy with the way the announcement turned out! I do want to send a huge thank you to the many of you who have reached out to us with congratulations and the sweetest wishes for our growing family! I’m more than a little late getting this post to you guys (or any post for that matter), so thank you so much for your patience and continued support (I’ve clearly been a little self-consumed lately with a million things going on in life and inside my body - not to mention my general lack of energy from this pregnancy)! All of the love and support we’ve received upon this announcement has truly warmed my heart in ways I never could have imagined, so I just want to say thank you again & I love you all so much!
xo, Tey
Will You Be My Bridesmaid(s)?
Well, I had planned on doing an entirely different post today (well, two weeks ago actually - whoops, time got away from me!), but I’m too excited to start writing about my wedding planning! This post completely revolves around all my favourite huns, and how I got them to say YES to standing beside me on my big day (plus the anxieties I went through of narrowing down the list)! I mean, I’m not the easiest person when it comes to planning (yes, I’m a strong perfectionist who needs everything done her way), so I wasn’t sure they were actually going to be willing to do it.. and I reaaaally wasn’t sure how I was going to choose who I’d ask!
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe..
I wasn't sure how I was going to ask my girls to be in my wedding. But, to be honest, that was the least of my worries at first. I was having SUCH a hard time narrowing down the list of essentially perfect friends that I’ve acquired since childhood. I mean seriously, I have a small army of wonderful, powerful women surrounding me at all times and that, my friends, makes it extremely hard to choose.
I felt like there was no way for me to pick without leaving some of my girls upset that they weren’t picked. I tossed and turned for three months before I could even think about starting the selection process. So, I made my hubby pick his groomsmen first! He has a much smaller circle than I do, so he had finished picking within a day (oh how we differ). But his quick selection made me realize: I need to stop worrying about others being upset because there’s literally no way around it. Who has been with me the longest, who is going to brighten my day, and who brings me essentially nothing but positivity in my darkest hours? I immediately knew who I was picking. Mind you, I would ask 8, but wished it could be 9. However, 20 people standing when you include the bride & groom is simply too many for the wedding I want to have!
I Can’t Say “I Do” Without You
Now that everyone was picked, I had to figure out how I was going to ask them and WHO WOULD BE MY MAID OF HONOUR?? I felt like this was an ongoing circle of impossible situations. Once again, someone was going to be upset. So, I mimicked my previous plan - I made the hubby figure his out first! However, this completely backfired in my face..
It was the night he was going to do it. He headed to the apartment where they all hung out and pretty much all of them were there. Next thing I knew, he was home and I was eager to find out who he picked and why. Turns out, his groomsmen collectively selected who should be the Best Man based on a number of surprisingly smart decisions; who would calm him down if he started freaking out, who would make sure they were on time for all activities, and who could plan an appropriate bachelor party that I would still be willing to marry the hubby after.
Needless to say, I was impressed, but this certainly didn’t help me. What was I going to do? I was left literally in the same boat I was already in, just more time had passed. How do you make a decision like this?? Finally, I woke up one morning a week later to a memory on Facebook of my best friend and I. We have been two peas in pod since we were four - everyone knew we came as a package. In that moment, I knew. It couldn’t be anyone else because no one else had gone through as much as we had.
Pretty Please?
The selection process was FINALLY DONE. Now, what’s left? To ask them! I wanted to do it in a cute way, but nothing over the top! I headed over to Icing in Dartmouth and found some really cute pink & white boxes! I thought these would be perfect to give the girls something in, but what?? I found a pack of little pink crystal beads there as well, grabbing them on my way out! I immediately headed to Bath & Bodyworks to grab my favourite hand cream in a mini sized container to add to their boxes (I mean, who wouldn’t want to smell me all the time, right?). Then, I headed over to the Dollar Store and picked up some fake flowers, sparkly tape, cardboard cutout (brown) that came with rope to loop through, and 8 small canvas’s.
When I got home, it was time for arts & crafts! I used the sparkly tape to put around the edges of the canvas, for which I wrote cute proposals like “I can’t say I do without you! Will you be my bridesmaid?” in black sharpie! I glue-gunned the tape down because I felt like after a week it wouldn’t stay since the canvas was a different texture than plain paper! I then sorted everything into proportions so I could spread everything across all 8 boxes; I added the crystal beads, the fake flowers, and a hand cream to each one! I then wrote their names on the brown cardboard tags, closed the boxes, and attached the name tags around the handle holder!
Overall, I think they turned out nicely, costing no more than $12 each! Not bad at all! This is the first experience I’ve had of many in regards to planning the big day. It came with the lesson that I don’t have to over-think things, and I can just go with my gut. Don’t let the stress of planning take over your life or influence any of your decisions - You’ll know what’s right in your heart! Let me know below if you’ve done or plan to do something like this for your bridesmaids as well!