oh to be, young and carefree

We had a lovely day today. This morning we went out biking, checked out the ducks, a quick stop at Tim Horton's and then home. Then this evening we went to the experimental gardens for a picnic. Ah, life is good, you don't even have to be young for it to be this good! I should mention, 'Piggy' comes everywhere with us now, you'll see it in a lot of the pictures. In fact, Lilah almost stood beside the washing machine for the full 50 minute cycle tonight! Now and again she would say 'Piggy, where are you?', believe me, he was badly in need of a wash after a well travelled week! More pictures from today here.

your beautiful smile lights up our world

[ more pictures here ]

first time at the splash park

There's a splash park just down the road from where we live. Since today is the third extremely hot day (in a row) this week, we desperately needed to cool down! I'm not sure why I felt the need to bike there, but that's what we did. The heat may have affected my ability to think! Anyway, Lilah had so so so much fun. It's the first and certainly won't be the last time we take a trip to the splash park!

[ more pictures here ]

goodbye uncle jd & aunt ida

Well it was a fun filled week with Uncle JD & Aunt Ida, who are visiting from Ireland. (Lilah's Great-Uncle and Great-Aunt). Lilah seemed to take it all in her stride. It's our first company to stay (longer than one night) since Lilah has joined our family and we weren't sure how she would react, but she did great. She tends to warm up to men 'strangers' much quicker than women 'strangers', a trait we've noticed since bringing Lilah home from China. She was fascinated with Uncle JD's beard and enjoyed giving him high fives! I've added a few pictures from our week together below and you can see a few more here.

JD & Ida: We're so pleased that you decided to spend one of your weeks visiting with us. Ottawa is a little out of the way, but a lot out of the ordinary! Enjoy the rest of your time in Canada and safe travels. Lots of love, C, J & Lilah. xox

happy father's day - a week early

We have company staying with us all this week, from Ireland. Very exciting! That being said, we celebrated Father's Day a week early. Oh how she loves her Baba!

a family for six months

Six months ago today, this little girl changed our lives.

new photoshop software

I was inspired by a Mom who is a contributor to the mamarazzi blog, you can view her blog here. I am totally and utterly blown away by her skill, she is amazing! So the inspiration led me to order myself the Adobe Photoshop CS3 photo editing software! Ohh, I'm excited!

we picture {this} ~ theme: before and after

Since I really enjoy editing photos, I thought I would play along with the 'we picture {this}' mamarazzi photoblog and their current theme. For this photo, I used the following tools: crop, rotate, enhance, desaturation and exposure.

[ before ]

[ after ]

Check out the following link for lots of fabulous 'before and after' pictures!

take time to smell the flowers

"Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children"
~ Chuck Swindoll ~

[ more pictures here ]

just feeling blessed

Today I got this overwhelming feeling of just how blessed I really am. Lilah is an exceptionally happy fun loving toddler, and like us, she enjoys the simple things in life. Quite often, when the weather is warm, we will pack a lunch and head off for a walk with the stroller. We find a nice area and sit and enjoy the flowers, we watch the birds, we feed the ducks, we eat our lunch and generally relax. It's times like this that I realize how blessed and thankful I truly am.

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Psalm 139:14
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made

[ more pictures from today here ]