I am so head over heals in love with our daughter. Cadence is going through the ultimate "LOOK AT ME I'M SO CUTE!" phase. We went to a kids Christmas party last night at my work and it was cuddle, cuddle cuddle. She wanted to eat sitting on my lap, and then when Santa was there she wanted me to hold her and hug her and give kisses. If she was toilet trained, I would love to keep her this small forever! 

We are all going through the crazy Christmas rush right now. I don't think our family is unique  in that situation, and I think this year we are doing better in some ways and then worse in other ways. Gift wise, we are on a strict budget. Trying to save for a wedding and other must-haves (new glasses, new couch, dental visits, dog stuff, etc) has us getting a little creative with our purchases. I do think everyone will like what we are giving, although to be fair most people don't usually throw a fit if their gift isn't what they were hoping for. I think we are going to get our tree this coming weekend. That is my favourite tradition around the holidays.

I remember when we were younger, my maternal grandparents had this crazy silver Christmas tree that had the lights built in. I always loved their tree so much, because the silver of the branches would throw the lights, and all of their decorations (or at least the majority of them) were home made. There was always something cool and new to discover in their tree. I don't remember much about my paternal memere's tree, but I know we had one. Now when I think of Christmas at my memere's place its lights strung up in the shape of a tree, an intricate DIY Santa village, Santa's throne and home made ornaments hung all over carpet covered walls. This will likely be our last Christmas celebrating at her house which is sad but I am trying to work it out to make it the best Christmas for her. 

In other news, we are starting the process of buying a house. Baby steps, of course, but we want to make sure we are being smart about things. Chris and I both REALLY want a house, but with a wedding coming up and all those other expenses mentioned above, saving for a house too would be too hard. So through next year we are working at improving our credit and cutting expenses etc so we can buy a house and not be strapped for cash or struggling in other areas.

Chris's grandmother was admitted to the hospital last week. She seems to be doing ok right now, and will be home before we know it, but Chris is really worried. He won't say anything (typical Chris) but if you read this, maybe send some positive energy and prayers to his gram and also to his family in general. Get well soon gram!

Other than that, no real news to report. Chris is good both work and otherwise. I am good with work etc. Cadence is, of course, awesome. 

J'ai eu mon voyage!

I'd like to take a break from family stuff to write a special piece about my bestest friend who is currently moving very far away to have an adventure in Scotland. I got to spend some time with her today, and all the things I wanted to say were left unsaid, both because I couldn't articulate what I wanted to say, and also because I'm an ugly crier and my voice is all weird when I talk through tears.

Tori and I met in the first few weeks of college, back in 2005. She was so quirky, and friendly we hit it off right away. In the months that followed, we became fast friends and eventually ended up moving in together. And then I got a job where she worked so we then worked together too. We lived together for over 2 years before fate, and mounting student loans, forced us apart. To this day I can honestly say I have never met a more dynamic or interesting person. She is a wealthy of facts and knowledge that is both fascinating and daunting at the same time. If I studied every day for a year I still probably wouldn't know as much as she does, and I will miss that about her while she is away.

She has seen me through some very high highs, and held my hand (both literally and metaphorically) during some very low lows. She is the comfort and wisdom every person can use, the logic every person needs, and the "glass is half full" type friend everyone wants. She was the first person I called when I found out I was pregnant (sorry, Chris!) and the first person I called when Chris and I got engaged. I am saddened knowing she will miss some big things coming up for my family, but I know that this trip is something that she has to do. To try to reign in her dreams would be so unfair, especially when she will be back before I know it. As hard as it is for me, I can imagine it is 100 times harder for her to leave everything behind, be brave and start a new life so far away.

Good luck Tori. Know that I am always thinking of you,  sending positive vibes your way, and if you need to talk for whatever reason, my Skype name is lily.king69 (I signed up for Skype when I was an idiot, clearly).

Post Halloween wrap up

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!

Yesterday was Cadence's 2nd Halloween, but her first real one as she could actually participate in the activities etc. We took her out last year but it was more just for fun and the looks  we got when going door to door made me feel uncomfortable. We had only gone to like 4 houses but I guess when you know the candy is for the adult and hopefully not the 4 month old baby, you feel a bit negative about giving them candy.

This year we were all set to go. Cadence had an easy to put together costume, we had a plan, the weather held out and we were on our way! Well, the costume we had Cadence in made it hard for us to hold her hand or carry her. Then she didn't seem to want to go to any houses! She went to one house, I showed her how to open her candy bag and then when someone put candy in the bag you say "thank you!". Her eyes got really big when the lady at the first house gave her candy, and she said thank you and then ran to show Chris. But she wouldn't go to any other houses! The end of the night came when we passed a house with the homeowner dressed as the Joker. He had spooky music and was shuffling around in a creepy manner. Cadence started crying, poor girl. Then she kept running away from him/us so we picked her up and called it a night. Side note: she went as a hot air balloon, not Elmo. The Elmo costume was a gift from Jane for dress up fun, and Cadence...well, she doesn't like wearing it haha.

I think her reluctance was due to being overwhelmed, and also being over tired. Her bedtime is usually between 6-6:30, and we got home at 7. All things we will tuck in our "now we know" files and keep handy for next years festivities.

Other than Halloween, not too much is going on over here. Cadence is speaking more and more everyday. As her parents, we understand her. Nathalie (our daycare provider) understands her. Her grandparents understand her. And really, thats all that matters. She speaks to us is French, English and I guess she understands Lebanese as Nathalie prompts her in Lebanese and she seems to understand. We spend a lot of time with her asking her to identify the things she sees around her. That came to bite me in the butt the other day.

We recently moved Cadence in to her big girl bed aka her crib converted with a toddler rail. She has been doing pretty good with it so far. Our plan was to put the baby gate up across her door and have a little light in there so when she wakes up, she will play with her toys until Chris or myself get up with her. So we went to Toys R Us to buy a nightlight for her room. While we were there, Cadence went poking around the store. Being a kid loose in a toy shop is a pretty fun experience. She didn't really want to touch anything until we came to a rack of stuffed animals. There was a dog, actually looked like a wiener dog, and when Cadence saw it she kept saying "Emma!". I handed it to her while I tried to find the damn nightlights. When it came time to cash out I went to find where Cadence had gone off to. I found her just walking around, talking to "Emma" and giving the toy kisses. So... I'm a sucker and I bought her the $20 stuffed animal even though we have like 40 stuffies at home, she really liked this one (for now.).  We use the dog to teach kindness, body parts and as a part of her bedtime routine.

Next up? Potty training! Bye everyone!

Long time no see

It has been a very long time since I updated this bad boy. I feel like a lot of the things I write here are redundant though. There is a lack of joy and love and excitement that I feel when I read other mom blogs. So I'm working on fixing that, adding in some whimsy and happiness so you,our adoring audience, feel compelled to come back and read about our mundane lives.

It has been a busy couple of months for us here in the King-Lackey household. Summer was busy with lots of work for Chris, and lots of splash pad dates for Cadence and I. We discovered a cool water park near our house last summer and finally got to bring Cadence this year. Initially she didn't like the spray, which wasn't a surprise as she doesn't like showers or being sprayed in the face with water. But one time we went and there were other kids there having a blast, she saw how they were experiencing the playground and started to play too. One time we even brought the dogs, Emma was the only one who seemed to enjoy the spray. She is a weird one haha.

We set a date awhile back for our wedding and got all our paperwork printed up. I ordered custom invites from this etsy shop I liked and the designer sent us digital prints for us to print ourselves. We have RSVP's, Save the Date and invitations printed. I had our printer change the colours also to match more with our scheme and while I don't love them, they will do. We've been picking up decorations and other goodies as well, at this time we are saving for the big ticket items like venue and photographer etc. it's kind of scary thinking about how much money we stand to spend, and how things will end up looking but it will be a memorable evening to look back on for everyone (I hope!).

One thing we have already started catching flack for is that we are haiving a child free wedding. It's not that we don't like kids, but we would much prefer a night just for adults, also the location is not overly child friendly and would be pretty boring for a child. We are still on the fence about wether or not Cadence will be in attendance, we're trying to get a baby sitter relationship started so we will have someone we can trust to watch her for the night.

Speaking of children, recently the thought of more children has been playing through my mind. I love having Cadence all to myself, and I didn't really love the newborn stage but I want Cadence to have a sibling. Truth be told I'd really love a boy this time around. I don't know how Chris feels about the subject, but I am regretting having set a wedding date now. Just to clarify: I am not pregnant. But Cadence will be almost 3 by the time her sibling is born, ok it's not crazy but I was hoping to get all the teething, diapers and potty training out of the way as close together as possible.

Since I've done enough yammering, here are some pictures of our family recently. I take most of them with my iPhone 4S and use Instagram to edit them. If you were interested in following me, my user name is Madame_Lily. My account is private but if I know you I'll add you!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Summer is almost over, where has the time gone?! Chris and I have been very busy all summer, both with work and then with the monkey. That's not to say there hasn't been any down time, there for sure has been but during that time we find it nice to either relax or take a nap. Either way, recharge before things get crazy again.

So what have we been up to? What is new and good in the King- Lackey house hold? Well, as I may or may not have already mentioned, we've picked a venue and set a date. I've gone to the printers and have our wedding paper work printed. The save the dates will be going out as soon as I can get to the printers. I feel like our wedding is coming together so fast, all thanks to Pinterest. People post some really neat things and it's giving us tons of ideas. 

Cadence is growing into this funny little snuggle bug. Its been quite the development, since she started to walk she is also showing more and more of her personality. Recently she has started to make a smoochy face when she cries or is 'speaking' to us. She likes to snuggle, give hugs and is asking for kisses too which is just so sweet. I can honestly say even as a baby she was not super cuddly, she wouldn't snuggle in or anything. But now, she will walk up to you and lay her head in your lap, or wrap her arms around your legs and squeeze. Its hard to understand unless you live in my head, but everyday I am surprised by how much more I love my little girl. Its a weird situation in our house, even though Cadence came from my body I feel like Chris bonded with her right away and was nuts about her right away. I don't think it was post partum or anything on my part, but it has taken me a lot longer to bond with Cadence than it took Chris. But that's a whole other ball of wax.

Work wise, things are going great for both Chris and I. Chris had a set back a few months ago when his employee Alan just up and quit. So he hired his friend Brian to help him out, and so far its been going really great. Chris says he is really relieved to work with someone who is quick to learn, and who asks questions as opposed to doing something and messing it up because he doesn't know how to actually do it. I just came back from a work trip with all the kids. It was a lot of work putting together all the food, paper work and trying to motivate 6 teenage girls to do activities, but I also really loved the opportunity to sit and chat with the girls and get to know them. Also, it was nice having them want to get to know me too. Of course, I could only let them know so much, for professional reasons, but I feel like they will understand me more now when I am being firm with them about their poor choices.

Chris is headed back out of town this week for continued work on the cottage which means I will be flying solo with the monkey. So I am off to enjoy some quality TV time with him. Enjoy these pics! :)

It has been over a month since we celebrated Cadence's first birthday and I think we've just now recovered. We went to the cottage earlier in the month and it was a really good time. Cadence started walking! All by herself and with no prompting! Now she's a walkaholic (haha) always toddling around the house, sometimes she tries to run away from us when we catch her with things she shouldn't have. She also is starting to throw tantrums. I had no idea that this tantrum thing was inbred in her already, but she will lay back on the floor and just scream. So Chris and I just go about our business. Sometimes the dogs get to her, which she doesn't like so she will get up on her own. Win-win I'd say!

In other big news, Chris and I have set a date! We picked the venue, put a deposit and now we are in full blown party planning mode. Well, I am. He is just nodding and smiling, as usual. We will be sending out our save the dates soon, so keep your eyes peeled for them!

As  you can see in the picture, Cadence is a Guinness World Record holder! We participated in a cloth diaper change event that occurred in Ottawa about 3 months ago and recently received our certificate in the mail confirming we broke the record. Pretty cool eh? How many people can say they have done that?

Recently, my grandmother was in the hospital. No matter who I talk to (dad, brother or even my Memere), no one seems to be able to tell me what was wrong with her. Now she's home and just relaxing, which anyone who knows her will say FINALLY! I have been busting my butt to get some money organized so I can get down there to visit, its times like these that I really regret living so far away. I know she is fine, and I know its silly to be so stressed out but I need to see her, you know? Chris is supportive 100% too, even though it would mean leaving him alone with the baby for a few days.

Chris is doing pretty good at work. His helper quit out of nowhere, which really put Chris in a bind. But he has hired his friend Brian, so hopefully that works out. So far Chris is saying its going pretty good, which is better than he could say about his initial days with his past 2 employees. Seriously, what is up with the youth of today and their work ethic??

I start a new job next week, still with the same company but I am back at the house in Carleton Place. My plan has always been to rise up in the company and then take over the world, but I keep getting cut off at the knees. This time my support and foundation is better so hopefully I have more success.

As you can see, lots going on in the family. Its been a bit hectic but thats life! Hope everyone is enjoying this awesome summer weather that we've been getting (other than the stifling heat, which I can do without for sure).

Cadence's birthday!

Last weekend we hosted Cadence's first birthday party. We invited friends and family to join us in celebrating her first birthday. We had a BBQ and snacks and then some cake! She received some very nice gifts and it was overall a very nice day. Not perfect, some things in the house were ruined or broken but that is to be expected I suppose. Enjoy some pictures!

Bonne fete Kym!

J'espere que ta fete va etre bon et que tu a passe un bonne journee! Desolee si je fait pas beaucoup de sens :P

Cadence's 1st birthday!

A year ago today I gave birth to the most wonderful little person in my life thus far. It was a bit of a rough start; I had spent most of my pregnancy researching what pregnancy was all about and not much time looking into how to successfully breastfeed, or sleep routines etc. But we managed, and a year later things couldn't be better.

Happy birthday little girl, mommy and daddy love you so, so much.

The Night Before...

I wanted to take a quick second to write about how Chris and I are feeling on the eve of Cadence's first birthday.

From my perspective, I am really happy with where we are now. I am getting to know my daughter and seeing all the things she can do is amazing, but I am also really looking forward to all the cool things she will be doing this time next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. During this past year, I never really gave too much thought to exactly how we were managing our situation, or how things would look in the future. But looking back, thinking about all the hard times and fun times we've had, it's a lot. This past year feels like 5 years rolled in to one. I'd say the first month was my favourite, as she was small and warm and wiggly and cuddly. And then the last few months have also been great with her increased mobility, vocal capability and interest in her surrounding. The middle was very tiring though, and while absolutely I wouldn't trade that time with anyone for anything, I'm glad we don't have to go backwards.

Chris is trying to play it cool, not really saying much when I ask him how he's feeling. But when it came time to feed her, he gave Cadence the bottle and then sat with her and snuggled while she drank her bottle. This is their nightly routine. She can sit on her own, and feed herself,  but Chris just loves the cuddle time. So I think he will take her growing up harder than I will.

Things I am glad are in the past:
- Waking up every 2-3 hours at night for food.
- The gross bit of umbilical cord that falls off after awhile to make a belly button
- The laying around all the time, not being able to even roll over or hold her head up.

Things I am sad are soon to be in the past:
- Baby talk
- Crawling
- Snuggle bottle time
- Cutesy baby clothes. It would seem the bigger you are, the more serious your clothes have to be.

So with that, we are going to spend tonight working on the house and getting it ready to receive visitors this weekend. Tomorrow will be a bittersweet but special day. Thanks for reading!

Rough couple of days

For anyone who follows me on Twitter or Facebook, you will know that I have been experiencing a rough couple of days. I haven't really given too many details there, and I don't plan to here either, but I did want to talk about some stuff that is important to me.

I come from a big family. My mom is one of 4 kids and my dad one of 5. My moms family didn't really do the "go forth and multiply" thing, but my dads family did. So I grew up attending rowdy, loud and boisterous events. And I loved it. I love sitting back and watching everyone interact, hearing stories, and just being around those people (my mom excluded). As I got older, and moved to Ottawa, gradually those bonds began to fade. And then with my falling out with my mother almost 2 years ago, my connections to her family have ceased to exist. It did bother me but I didn't feel equipped to navigate keeping those connections alive. When it comes to my dads family, I'd like to blame the disconnect on a language barrier but thats only a small part of it.

I guess I realized that I'd been waiting for some kind of Hollywood love fest, where everyone just shows up at my door without prompting and has balloons and flowers and a big banner that says "WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!" when what I should have been doing was making more effort to spend time with these people and talk to them, get to know them and show them I value them as people.

Chris's family is very much the opposite of my situation. They call each other, spend time with each other and are generally just very involved with both immediate and extended family alike. I'm not saying that what they have is better than what I have; I do feel close with and loved by my family members in general. But its very different and I would like to have something like that for Cadence.

I was wracking my brain with how to solve the issue of the absent family that I miss, and it made me really homesick. Not for a place, but for a time. When I was a kid, before moving to Ottawa, I saw everyone as often as possible because everyone lived within 30km of one another and we were always having family gatherings. And I miss that feeling of knowing people, and belonging.

Chris and I have come up with a plan. Once a month I will be taking Cadence with me to Montreal and taking the time to visit with my dads family. And I've reconnected with some of my moms family who either live close or not too far from us so we will be getting together in the near future as well. I am still a little emotional about the situation, but as a wise man said, time is on my side so I'm taking it one day at a time.

I look forward to seeing you all at some point or another. If anyone has any events coming up that they'd like to see me at, please let me know!

Save the date!

May 12th, 2012 at 2pm Chris and I will be hosting Cadence's 1st birthday party/BBQ at our place.  I made an event on Facebook but not a lot of people are on there so I thought I'd make a mention of it here. We'll be sending out paper invites within the next 2 weeks or so, but just so people can book time off from work I wanted to get the word out early. I'm so excited!

#100!

It seems like it has been many moons since our last update. I blame work and having an extremely active baby.

So to give a quick recap:
- Cadence is doing great. She is very sick right now, coughing and boogery but otherwise growing like a weed. She has 4 teeth now, 2 teeth just broke through. Daycare is going really well, her new daycare teacher is so friendly and nice Cadence is now actually looking forward to spending the day there. Not walking yet, but its right around the corner!

- Chris is really busy with work. He has been taking contracts with a local company to fill in the holes in his schedule. He is enjoying it still, and the busy season is almost here so he is looking forward to more consistent work. I both do and do not enjoy when he isn't working. On the upside we get to spend the day together. On the down side, no income.

- Work is in between. I was given a new position that has since been reneged on so I'm back working every damn weekend. There are some promotional opportunities coming up, I may or may not apply for them. I've been working my butt off because now we are over staffed so my hours have been reduced and extra hours are hard to come by. This month though I will have 220 hours. I feel good but tired.

Dogs are good. House is good. Family is good. The end, good night!

Happy birthday Jane!

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Jaaaane! Happy birthday to you!

Hope you're day is full of awesome!

Happy birthday Ryan!

You're an old man now! Hope your bones aren't too achy today :)

So much has gone down since our last update.

I've been offered a new position with the company I work for. I will still be doing overnight shifts but I will have every other weekend off. Which will be nice for the family, getting to spend time with our family. I'm working on helping to bring the house back to life, they have recently had a huge staff turn over and need help getting organized. Should be fun!

Chris has been picked up by an Ottawa contracting company as a sub team. He has been doing the odd job here and there with this company and so far he seems to like the work they are asking him to do and it fits his schedule. So far so good!

As I mentioned last time, Cadence was in daycare. Well, the lady who was watching her felt overwhelmed with Cadence's crying all the time and asked us not to bring her back. Apparently the way to cure social anxiety is to give her more alone time at home. So I've been taking her to playgroup in Ottawa, where she is crawling all over and trying to climb the other parents. We also found her another daycare to try out, we start tomorrow with a slow and steady integration. This woman has been running her daycare for over 5 years so I am hopeful this will go well.

We recently "celebrated" our first family Valentine's day. It was very nice, I took Cadence to Ikea to poke around before playgroup. We had lunch and she ate like a champ. Then we went to playgroup, Cadence made a cute little valentine for Chris (well, I made it, but I used her feet). Then I made dinner and cupcakes for us. All in all it was a nice day spent with my little monkey and then a nice night with our family.

Anywho, its been a long weekend, I am super tired and tomorrow is Cadence's 1st day at her new daycare so we have to be up to get her ready. Fingers crossed for a successful day!

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

So much going on this week! I'm back to work, Cadence started daycare and Chris is almost done his job out in the middle of nowhere.

For the last week and a bit Chris has been working an hour away, dry walling a basement in Embrun. The people are pretty nice and the job fit into Chris's availability so it seemed like a good idea. The only draw back is how long it takes to get to work and then home again, both ways in traffic. But he wraps up either tomorrow or Monday, so not too much more travelling!

I've been doing orientation at a place I'm hoping will pick me up. It would be as a professional house cleaner. Not exactly what I was trying to do with my life but its the right hours, pay and we can use the money for our wedding next year. The owners are really nice, the job seems right up my alley so fingers crossed they bring me aboard.

Cadence has started daycare this week. She went a full day on Wednesday and it was heaven for me. She had a good time and I got to just do a bunch of nothing. I got very little done and I'm ok with that. Today she went again, and was supposed to go all day, but I got a message from our provider saying she was having a really hard time, non stop crying and very clingy so I picked her up. Neither Chris or I have any idea how to manage this, we both work all day week days and on days I'm not working during the day I work overnight and sleep during the day.  So for now its going to be a game of waiting it out. Hopefully she adapts quickly, I can't imagine this is easy for our daycare lady or her other kids, plus our own kid, as well as our sanity. Ugh.

I updated our other blog, Questions From Cadence. I think it will get updated every Thursday night before I go to work. So check it out if you're interested! For now, I am going to grab a quick nap and then head to work. Have a great weekend everyone!