Babymoon

Apparantly me posting that Dave had accidentally deleted all of the photos from our 'babymoon' in October was enough motivation for him to attempt a recovery on our memory cards and miraculously find the missing photos!

As I mentioned in my year end post, we started our trip in Jasper to attend the wedding of our friend's Janey and Brendan. Janey's family is extremely fortunate to have a cabin on Lake Edith just outside of the Jasper townsite and the ceremony was held in the cabin's picturesque yard.

After Jasper, we headed west to our favourite vacation spot - Tofino. Now we have even more reason to love it as my best friend Lana is living there. When we first arrived a thick blanket of fog covered the entire coast but the next day the sun came out in full force and blessed us with three gloriously warm days.

The one benefit of knowing a 'local' is being let in on all of the local secrets... like the best spots to catch crab. It was our first time crabbing but we were both surprised how easy it actually is. Plus we managed to catch quite the feast!

Lana also took us to Ucluelet in search of a fabled 'Ewok Village'. The tree house village was rumoured to have been built and lived in by a local who went by the name Hitchhiker Mike. After an hour or so of searching through the thick forest we did in fact find the Ewok Village but unfortunately it had been largely destroyed for the construction of the Wild Pacific Trail. We finished the afternoon with a trip to the fish hatchery to watch the black bears feed on salmon.

After four days on Vancouver Island, we completed the trip with a stop in Vancouver to visit Dave's dad where we headed up Mount Seymour for a day of hiking.

Next time we head to the coast it will be with the newest member of our family!

Amy

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Nursery: Part II

After picking out the crib and the theme, we moved on to finding a glider or rocking chair.

I quickly realized that I hated all of the conventional glider options and was not willing to spend the money to get a designer one. When I saw Mrs. Wigglebottom's post turning a regular IKEA armchair into a rocker for her nursery I knew it was the perfect solution for us as well.

We picked out the IKEA Ektorp JennyLind chair in grey and were able to find one in almost mint condition for a fraction of the price on kijiji.

IKEA Ektorp Jenny Lind Chair

Once we got it home, we both found the chair really comfortable as is so we actually decided to wait until the baby arrives before we spend the money on a glider or rocker base.

Originally, we intended to use my Baba's vintage sewing machine as a side table but after sitting in the room for a couple weeks we felt that it just did not suit the room. Neither did her vintage lamp that I have been trying to find a home for forever.

On a trip to IKEA for cabinets for our laundry room (which I will post on one day soon!), we spotted a Hemnes nightstand that we new was a much better fit - plus the colour was the perfect match to the crib!

IKEA Hemnes Chest with 2 Drawers

The lamp got replaced with a tall glass lamp base that I found on clearance at Target paired with a simple white linen shade.

Ever since seeing the IKEA Ribba Photo Ledges Sarah used as a bookshelf on Daffodil Designs I knew that it was the perfect solution for the short wall that the rocker would be sitting against. Then the space could grow into a reading nook perfect for bedtime stories.

via Daffodil Designs

The shelves are already filled with books!

The spot has quickly become one of the dogs favourite spots in the house… boy are they in for a surprise!

Amy

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Family Photos

In the beginning of December, we had the amazingly talented Karina of Ooh La La Photography take photos of us and the dogs to document the final days as a family of four - along with my 34 week baby bump!

You can check out the photos on Karina's blog as well.

I can hardly wait to have Karina take photos of our little one once he or she arrives!

Amy

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Looking Back at 2013

In last year's post I commented on how we were looking forward to the possibilities that 2013 had to offer. I remember exactly which possibilities I had in mind when I wrote that and it amazing to look back now knowing that those possibilities actually came to fruition.

2013 has been a big year for us.

This year brought us some major milestones - the house is now essentially complete and we have moved on to our next big project - our first baby is due January 14th! Any day now...

To say that we are looking forward to 2014 is an understatement!

(Check out previous 'Looking Back' posts - 2012, 2011 and 2010)

January

We started the year by celebrating 8 years in our house! By the end of this month we will have lived in our little house for 9 years... where does time go?

I don't think the previous owners would even recognize the house if they were to drive by today.

February

Dave left me home alone for Valentine's Day so he could go to Discovery Lodge in Wells Grey Provincial Park, BC for a week of back country skiing.

While he was away I worked on the first set of wedding invitations I have done since closing my etsy shop when we started renovating. It was nice to be able to break out all my craft supplies that have been in storage for almost four years - especially for such a longstanding friend.

A blizzard ended up leaving Dave stranded in Wells Grey for an additional day which almost made him miss his next ski trip. He made it out in the nick of time to turn right around and head out for a week of skiing with his Dad and brother at Assiniboine Lodge in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, BC. This time I was lucky enough to be able to join them for the last three days of the trip.

March

Since the first two trips were not enough, Dave escaped for a third week of back country skiing in March. This time at Hilda Lodge in the Valkyr Range near Nakusp, BC.

Unfortunately on the second day of skiing, Dave hit a rock and suffered a small fracture on his ankle. He managed to hold out for the remainder of the week, even continuing to ski to as often as he could fit his swollen ankle into his ski boot.

It was a timely end of the ski season, however, as we were soon able to shift our focus to a new sport - kayaking - taking courses in navigation and water rescue at the University of Calgary.

April

In April we put those kayak courses to good use sea kayaking in Belize!

We booked a trip through Island Expeditions that included three days of kayaking at their stunning resort on Glover's Atoll followed by week of self-guided camping on the cayes.

We rounded out the trip by visiting the beaches in Placencia and Caye Caulker, as well as the jungles of San Ignacio in Belize and Tikal in Guatemala. One day soon I will finish blogging about the trip.

May

In May, the arrival of spring inspired us to once again start working on projects around the house. Plus after months of delays the wrought iron railing finally arrived for the Juliet balcony.

Soon our drive to finish the house would kick into high gear as we found out that we would be expecting our first baby in January. All of the sudden we had 8 months to complete the renovation we had dragged out over three years already!

June

June saw life come to a standstill when the flood hit Calgary. We were fortunate, that despite living blocks from the river, our house remained dry and we did not have to evacuate.

July 

In July, we headed out to Kootenay National Park to hike our second segment of the Great Divide Trail. Last summer we hiked from Upper Kananaskis Lake, Alberta to Highway 93 near Floe Lake, BC. This time we started were we left off last summer and continued along the Rock Wall Trail to Field, BC. Being just over 3 months pregnant at the time definitely slowed me down but I was proud that I was still able to hike one of the more strenuous trails in the Rockies.

At home, we finally began to install the railing in the upstairs hallway to relieve our family's concerns about the baby falling down the stairs. We also tore apart the front entrance to add more storage for our impending addition.

August

In August, Dave managed to install the crown moulding on the main floor and finish off the last pieces of trim in the rest of the house.

We then traded our 1995 Toyota Tercel in exchange for someone to finish painting the whole house. We were pretty happy to be able to hang up our paint brushes and have a completely painted house a week later!

In the meantime, Dave upgraded us to a 2005 Subaru Impreza that he was able to get for a great price -although it did mean he had to rebuild the engine and transmission. Amazingly he managed to do it in three days with only a couple minor hiccups.

September

In September, Dave headed out on the Great Divide Trail once again. This time hiking the section from Field, BC to Saskatchewan Crossing, Alberta with his brother, my brother and Jersey. At five months pregnant, I decided it was best that I sit this trip out.

October

October saw us hitting the road for a 'babymoon' of sorts. We started in Jasper to attend a beautiful wedding on the lake.

Then we drove out to Tofino, BC to visit my best friend, Lana. We had a great week of crabbing, surfing, walks on the beach, Ewok hunting, bear spotting and bonfires. Unfortunately all of our photos from the trip accidentally got deleted when Dave was reformatting the computer.

November

In November, we set to work decorating the nursery and finishing all of the last little projects around the house. I took a week off work for us to have our first ever 'staycation' so that we could cross off as much of the list as possible.

By the end of the staycation we could happily say that the house was officially 99% done!

December

We started off December by getting family photos taken by the amazing Karina of Ooh La La Photography. We are horrible at taking photos together and the only other time we have had professional photos done was for our wedding, so it was nice to be able to document our 'family of four' one last time.

Then life once again came to a standstill as a my family experienced what can only be described as a 'near death experience'.

My dad suffered a heart attack and went into cardiac arrest while playing floor hockey. Had it not been for a team member who performed CPR and a defibrillator (AED) being mounted on the wall at the community centre, he would not be with us today. Thankfully we were granted a pretty major miracle.

After three days in a coma, six days in ICU and only four more days in the hospital, he was able to return home with only minor side effects.

Despite the odds being against us - less then 3% of people who suffer cardiac arrest ever leave the hospital - our family was able to celebrate Christmas at home together.

Now as we celebrate the New Year, we anxiously await the arrival of our newest family member and look forward to all the blessings 2014 promises to bring.

Happy New Years and all the best to you in 2014.

Amy

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