a month-in-photos : august

Oh August, how much do we love thee!

Lilah certainly lived August to the fullest: swimming camps, splash pads, snorkelling. Our girly was all about the water and keeping cool this past month, and who can blame her after all that heat. Although we did get a little rain, which was nice, for a change. Between all that water play our little girly was either, waitressing, reading books or being her favourite thing to be, right now - a superhero! She is most definitely my supergirl!

In just five short days we'll be heading to China and Lilah's life, as she knows it, is about to change in a big way. She has a new challenge ahead of her, a baby sister, who is about to turn 2 years old. I am praying hard for Lilah, I know there will be bumps in the road, nobody ever said life would be perfect, however, I do believe that situations like this help us grow and shape us into better people. And I believe that Lilah is going to appreciate this sister of hers so much. It's such an exciting chapter of our lives and we are more than ready to embrace it.

And so, I leave you with our August memories. And look forward to making new memories, as a family of four!

[ the 'a month-in-photos' flickr set is here ]

love my girl and her little speaks!

"Phebe and I are going to be twins, well, we’ll have different faces, but the same skin. Just like you and Baba, you guys have different faces but the same skin!”

"When is Phebe coming home again?"

"I would really like to go to outer space, would you? Aiden told me she went there… you have to pay a LOT of money!" (Aiden is her school friend)

"Panties give your bum privacy!"

lilah: "Have you ever been in an invisible house before?"
me: "No. Do you know what invisible means?"
lilah: "Invisible means people think nothing is there, but everything is there, you just can’t see it."

"I will teach Phebe some things… not everything! Because only God knows everything!"

"Will the Lord Jesus' hands be all healed in heaven?"

After I told her a story about when I was a child like her, she asked: "Was that in the olden days?"

"I'm the superhero for Canada and China too, because I was born there. Oh yes, and Ireland.

my sweet supergirl!

I bought Lilah this superhero cape several month ago and she simply loves to dress like a superhero. I had also bought her the 'supergirl' t-shirt she's wearing in this photo last winter in a size 5T, which was far too big for her at the time, she generally wears t-shirts about a year behind her size, because she has such narrow shoulders and to be honest, I like her t-shirts to be more fitted. Old Navy t-shirts are my favourite because the fit is nice and slim. Anyway, she finally tried on this t-shirt and it fits pretty well. Anyway, being a superhero is definitely her theme at the moment, although she reminds us that she only wants to be a superhero when she's a little girl, but she wants to be a doctor when she's older! She has it all figured out and I am slightly relieved that she doesn't think being a superhero is an occupation! Ha! Oh yes, and she's also been telling us lately, that if we get into any trouble in China, she is going to be the superhero and help us out! Phew! Good thing we have our supergirl around!

I feel very safe with her around! Especially today, walking through the shopping mall in this ensemble. She got a few nods of approval!

I had to laugh too, it's our first day together, me not working and her not in camp... Lilah stopped at one stage and said to me: "Mama, I know exactly how you feel. Happy to be home with me!" I couldn't have said it any better myself! So true.

In just 2 short weeks, Lilah will finally become a big sister, she is very excited! And in 8 days we'll be flying to China, so yes, I'm going to need all the superhero help I can get, because I'm still buying, packing, organizing...!

a busy week

Well, it's been THAT kind of week! Lilah finished up camp today and I'm basically finished up work now... Yippeeeeee!

I had two sleepless nights last weekend - everything I had to do, buy and pack were running through my head like a pack of wild horses and I was feeling a little bit anxious! So I made out a few lists and I felt much better about everything.

The 'feeling better' part is mostly because I'm being proactive about the lists I wrote and have taken on a job every evening, to accomplish! Although, it seems as I strike things off, I'm adding new things onto the list! It's now down to a week and a half before we leave for China... YIKES! I'm beyond excited and a little nervous all at once! But I do like to be organized, I mean REALLY organized and I know I will have plenty of last minute things to do to keep me on my toes over the next while.

Next week I have a bit more to do, but I'm going to try and keep a good bit of my week open to just relaxing and enjoying my last week with my beautiful big girl, Lilah Grace. She is doing amazing - she just finished up her last week of camp and my oh my, she is in need of a week of rest and relaxation! She is worn out. Every night, by 7pm, she can hardly get to bed quick enough. I'm so glad I'm able to spend this coming week with her, just her and I, before our sweet Phebe joins our family. Speaking of our sweet new girly, we got new pictures of her 2 weeks ago and I can't stop looking at her.

swimming camp

Lilah has been in a swimming camp for three weeks now and she is getting time to enjoy the pool twice every day. You can just imagine how exhausted she is by Friday! One of the pool times each day is for fun and one is for private swimming lessons, where she has a personal coach in the pool with her, teaching her how to swim. She just finished her second week of lessons and she is now swimming one whole metre with her head underwater and her eyes open, sans goggles. And when I say swimming, I mean alone, arms flying and legs kicking, with no floatation devices! I am so proud of her and I can tell she is mighty proud of herself too. Even more so after I told her that I couldn't even swim until I was much older, I think I was 9 or 10 when I learned to swim. And I STILL can't open my eyes underwater without goggles - that really made her grin!

It's most definitely been a very exciting summer for Lilah and I know she has enjoyed every single minute of it all... making wonderful new friends and basically having the time of her life at the different camps. I ask her every day when I pick her up about how her swimming lesson went, what she did and if she enjoyed it... Yesterday she told me: "Mama! I enjoyed EVERYTHING in this camp!" I just love her attitude towards life! I've been so blessed too, because this swimming camp she's spent 4 weeks at this summer, the pools are outdoors which has been amazing with the hot weather we've been enjoying... AND the centre is basically at the bottom of the hill from where I work, yep, 10 steps down the hill and I am already there! I drop her off and pick her up, I can even go say 'hi' during my lunch break, which I may or may not have done, okay, of course I did!! But I tried my hardest not to be a helicopter Mom! This camp really couldn't have worked out any better.

I think the water has given her another growth spurt too, she has grown an inch in just over two months, I only know that because I had previously measured her on her birthday, May 29th! She is now 43" tall.

She has one more week of swimming camp and lessons and that's it for camps this summer. I will be finished work too - for another three years - which I am overjoyed about! I loved my job, back before I became a Mama... but my priorites have shifted since then, if you know what I mean! I know I will be busy with my girls and I'm so very excited about the idea of having two girls to run after - I can't wait to enjoy every moment with them.

I took these photos this past Wednesday.
We went to the splash pad at the end of our street, after I picked her up from swimming camp.

[ the flickr set is here ]

my funny monkey

“Mama, do you know what I love best about you? I love your heart.”

“Did you know I‘m going to adopt a baby brother from Ireland?”

me: “Lilah, are you really excited to get your new glasses?”
lilah: “Well actually, I’m really excited about my new baby sister.”

"Does God see EVERYBODY... with His TWO eyes?"

“When a baby boy or a baby girl is born, are they born wearing clothes?”

“When you get old, your memory gets old and you can’t think very well!”

“I love Mama & Baba & God… oh yes, and my baby sister.”

“Why are you only allowed one baby in China?” Will they know I’m the big sister?”

“Hi Mama, isn’t that pretty magic? I can jump and skip at the same time!”

“Mom, be careful! If you squash my belly, the food will go into my legs!”

“How does my skin get darker?”

“Why are there no freckles on the underside of your arms?”

After going to the circus one day: “Wow, wasn’t that SOOO magical?”

Baba and I were having a minor disagreement one day - Lilah, in her bossy voice:
"BABA! I'm giving you 10 seconds to apologize to Mama!! How many times do I have to tell you? SIXTY-FIVE times??"

"Mama, you're the best cooker in the whole wide world!"

Talking to Baba and I one night: "I like that you two love me and I love you too."

low light

A couple of weeks ago I had a photography assignment regarding taking pictures with low light. It was the end of the week and I still hadn't really found anything that caught my eye to capture... until I walked past Lilah's bedroom early one morning.

My funny monkey was sitting in her bed reading books. It was obvious she wasn't long up, she still had those tired eyes and her favourite-blanket-in-the-whole-wide-world was wrapped around her legs, her blinds were still drawn and she was wearing her camping headband flashlight thingy. You know the ones that have an elastic strap so you can put it on your head? Yep, she was sitting in bed, reading books, with her flashlight strapped onto her head.

So cute.
She inspires me!

what's on the menu today?

The specials on the menu today, include: "sop, tea and kake" ...I adore her spelling!
(by the way, that's - soup, tea and cake!)

“What do you want to eat Mama? Remember, I’m not a real restaurant maker.”

me: "Thanks for the delicious tea and cake, how much do I owe you?"
lilah: “No, it’s on sale today – you came the right day!”

wakefield, quebec

Monday past was a Civic Holiday around these parts... so we took a little drive up to one of our favourite little villages, just outside the city, called Wakefield.

Wakefield is about a 20 minute drive from downtown Ottawa and it's a little piece of heaven on earth - one of our favourite little retreats for the day or evening. The village has some of the most delicious everything-is-homemade restaurants and a bakery that smells drool-icious, so much so that you basically want one (or more!) of everything, to try.

The village is also situated around a beautiful lake which has a (walking only) covered bridge, which I love. The original bridge was burnt down and a new one was built in 1997, so it isn't too old.

On Monday, with the gorgeous weather and hot temperatures, there were lots of people swimming in the lake and many fearless teenagers (and older!) jumping off the covered bridge into the water. That high octane stuff is definitely not for me, I was nervous just watching them do crazy stuff like that! Lilah really enjoyed puttering around the edge of the water, collecting rocks, spying on the fish and chattering away to herself. I didn't think about the water, so Ihadn't even thought of bringing her a bucket or a net or even her bathing suit... but she didn't seem to mind!

It most definitely was a lovely relaxing day... we topped our evening off in Kaffé 1870, where we enjoyed the most delicious Thai food. Again, everything cooked from scratch, sauces included. It was amazing. In fact, my tastebuds are watering at the thought of it again.

[ the flickr set is here ]

astigmatism

I neglected to mention, that the reason Lilah is wearing glasses now, is
because she has, what is considered, 'astigmatism'. You can read more about it here.

"A person's eye is naturally shaped like a sphere. Under normal circumstances, when light enters the eye,
it refracts evenly, creating a clear view of the object. However, the eye of a person with astigmatism is
shaped more like an (american!) football or the back of a spoon. For this person, when light enters the eye
it is refracted more in one direction than the other, allowing only part of the object to be in focus at one time.
Objects at any distance can appear blurry and wavy."

To be honest I was taken by surprise when we went for our annual visit to the Ophthalmologist and
(after a whole lot of patience, on Lilah's part) we were handed a script for eye glasses.

I don't know a whole lot about eye issues, well other than esotropia and pseudoesotropia. I did a fair amount of
reading on this condition before and after we brought Lilah home... because we knew that was something she might have.

So when I was handed the script, I really didn't know what questions to ask.

When I got home there was one word I could remember from the appointment, 'astigma'.
So I did a little bit of reading on the subject and hopefully next time we go back, in three months,
I'll understand what is going on a little better and maybe even know know what questions to ask!

As a side note, I just love how she talks and expresses herself with her hands!