Monday, October 31, 2011

firsts

Isla will be starting daycare this week.
on her birthday.
the day i have to go back to work.

*sniff*

2 weeks ago she did a trial half day - LOVED IT!

and last week she did a trial full day- LOVED IT!

woo to the hoo!!

after a few traumatic daycare encounters i have found the best place for Isla.

Kattie has a daughter who turned one in August and Isla loves to play with her!

Kattie also sends me little photos and updates on Isla throughout the day, it is really nice.

it is so wonderful and peaceful to send Isla to a place that i feel is so similar to what she is receiving at home.

Isla's very first day-taken by me

eating avocado-taken by me

sleeping the first trial morning-taken by Kattie

eating breakfast the full trial day-taken by Kattie 

drinking her 'ba' the full trial day-taken by Kattie

Friday, October 28, 2011

here we are

so, we've moved now.

we moved on Saturday.  we have heroes for friends.

when i went to pick up the moving truck....  there    was      no     reservation   ..........

aw, nuts.

and of course i had lost my tiny piece of paper that had the info i wrote down.
so, no trucks left in the city.  not anywhere. not with any company.

discount said they found one in Bells Corners for me, 'okay' i said, that's not too far, that can work. 
i called them just to be sure... no, they did not have a truck, there were none left in the city....

oh, right.

Uhaul had one i could get at 2pm.  ok, that could work, but kinda sucks since it is 10am and people are meeting at our place at 9:30am to help move.  

oh, and did i mention that at this point we are not even at home? that's right. 
we're at Ben and Mary's, where miss Isla will be spending the day, trying to figure this all out.

so.

friends (the superheroes) are at our place waiting for us.

THEN:

Dale, the lead superhero calls and says that he can probably get us a truck, he has some super-power influence or something....

and by 11 we are all at our apartment loading the van.

the move went amazing!

we were completely moved in and done at 2:30pm.

wow!

all of our stuff fits, we are loving being here.

Isla is sad when we make her come downstairs.  she wants to be upstairs where the girls are playing.  

we (the ones who gave her life) are now boring....  

um, isn't that supposed to take a few years to happen?

so, a big thank you to all our superhero friends who helped us move:
Edem, Ryan & Sara, Darren & Naomi, Annie, Isak, Benoit, our leading superhero Dale, & his leading superhero lady Jen (who made us chili and sandwiches and rice krispie squares for lunch!), Mike & Kristen,
and to the other superhero friends who watched Isla:
Ben & Maryann, Beth & Pat

in our church family, if someone is moving, it is pretty much guaranteed you will have a team of movers with no questions asked.

lovely.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

small style #21

sigh, I seriously love small style.


last week it was packing craziness, but I knew that I would at least get Isla's small style done!

this week's addition is from the visit we had at my mom's the other week.


my mom taught Isla how to pull the stickies out of the package 
SHE LOVED IT!!
(of course),

so cute.




shirt: Carters, consigned
pants: Old Navy, consigned
socks: Old Navy

I pretty much always gravitate towards Carters onesies, my long lean daughter fits into them well, and they work well over her cloth diapers as well :)

The Joe onesies don't seem to work as well on her, is it me, or are they square?

What works well on your wee ones?

And don't forget to check out what all the other cute babies and kidlets are wearing 
over at Mama Loves Papa!


Thursday, October 20, 2011

small style #20

phew!
it's been a busy week around the Geranium household,
we are packing packing packing,
Isla had her first daycare morning,
i seem to have pulled a major muscle in my neck,
but life barrels along!!!

here is miss Isla on Wednesday.


I had to laugh because we were at moms' life group and Janie commented that the other little girls there are always dressed so girly,
she didn't mention Isla!

And then I came home and read this post, all about kids fall fashion, over at Mama Loves Papa,
hee hee.  
boys' style indeed.




also! Isla can blow in a whistle now! for real!
she thinks it's funny to blow in it and then put it to my mouth to let me blow in it too, sweet little girl.

plaid shirt: Joe
striped tank top: George, thrifted
white onesie: Gerber
jeans: H&M, thrifted
socks: Old Navy
moccasins: Handmade from up North

Check out all the other sweet babies over at Mama Loves Papa:


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

have i mentioned...

that we're moving?

I don't think that I have.

But we are...
On Saturday.

Sorry for the late notice.  :)

In September, we were hanging out with our friends Mike and Kristen.
While we were taking a tour of their newly renovated bathrooms, we went into the basement where they have had students living with the before.

Pretty much as a joke Kristen and I said that it would be awesome if we moved in.
Ha ha.

Ha?
So, after talking to Mike she said, "no really, you should move in"

Which is funny, because we had just been praying for a way to pay off our debt really fast. 
And this happened the next week.

We hummed and hawed about it a little bit.  
It will be a total of 4 adults and 4 kids living under one roof with one kitchen...

But then we decided to go for it!

What a blessing.

But as you can imagine, in the meantime around here, there have been piles of boxes, piles of what to keep out, what to store, and what to finally get rid of already(!), piling up in our apartment.

But we are super excited.

It's a good reason to go through things and decide:
-do we really need this?
-when was the last time we used this?
-do you think this bleach stained towel with holes in it is really worth keeping?

Since it will be for about 6 months to a year, it has also been tricky deciding what to put away in storage for that time. We don't need any of our kitchen stuff and we won't have space for all my nick-knacks.

So, books are in boxes, magazines are in boxes, crafts are in boxes.
And all I can think about is how excited I will be when I get to open it all in a year!
Just like Christmas!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

the Journey

There is a blog that I have been reading, I think for just over a year now.

It's called "The Journey" and you can find it over at www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com

Here is a bit of her story from the Amazima Ministries website 
(I was going to edit this, but the whole thing is amazing, so I left it all)

"In December of 2006, 18-year-old Katie Davis from Brentwood, Tennessee, traveled to Uganda for the first time. She was immediately captivated with the people and the culture. 

In the summer of 2007, Katie returned to Uganda to teach Kindergarten at an orphanage. As she walked the children home, she was shocked to see the sheer number of school-aged children sitting idly on the side of the road or working in the fields. She learned there were very few government-run public schools in Uganda, and none in the area where she was working. Most schools in Uganda are privately operated and therefore require school fees for attendance, making impoverished children unable to afford an education.

God laid it on Katie's heart to start a child sponsorship program, matching orphaned and vulnerable children who are unable to afford schooling with sponsors anywhere in the world. Sponsors pay $300 per year to send one child to school, providing school supplies, 3 hot meals each day, spiritual discipleship, and medical care. Originally planning to have 40 children in the program, Katie had signed up 150 by January 2008. Today the program sponsors over 400 children.

Shortly thereafter, Katie established a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization called Amazima Ministries International. The organization seeks to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people of Uganda who need it most. In the Lugandan language, Amazima means "truth." Also, Katie became a mother for the first time in January of 2008 to three orphaned girls.

Katie also reached out to the Karimojong people of the Masese community. The poorest of the poor, and losing their children to malnutrition and starvation at an astounding rate, she noticed their desperate need for nutritious food. She started a feeding program to the community, nourishing over 1,600 children Monday through Friday. This allows the children to attend school and therefore not go to the street to beg. Also provided is medical care, Bible study, and general health training.

As friendships developed with the Karimojong people, Katie wanted to help the women in the village provide for their families. She initiated a self-sustaining vocational program to empower these women to make unique Ugandan magazine bead necklaces. They are also taught money management skills. The necklaces made by the Karimojong women are purchased and sold in the United States.

Katie recently announced a dream to start, staff, and operate an Amazima school in Uganda. As a mother herself, she recognized the need to teach children critical thinking, problem solving and the fundamentals of learning in a Christian environment. Amazima hopes to open the school in 2012.

Now the mother of 13 daughters, Katie offers, "People tell me I am brave. People tell me I am strong. People tell me good job. Well here is the truth of it. I am really not that brave, I am not really that strong, and I am not doing anything spectacular. I am just doing what God called me to do as a follower of Him. Feed His sheep, do unto the least of His people." 

Katie is not a frequent blog updater (understandably so!)
But when I see a new post from her on my blog roll it is the first one I read.
She is inspiring and I like to hear what is going on in her life and pray for her.
I can't be there, but I can lift up prayers to the Lord who is beside her every day.


 Katie has just recently written a book.

Kisses from Katie

I'm going to order it from amazon and read it.
Is anyone interested in doing a little read-along with me? 
A virtual book club of sorts?

You can link to the book on Amazon Canada up there or to the right under 'some fall reading'


Friday, October 14, 2011

who do you belong to?

this week I have been away visiting my mom.
in 18 days I will be back at work full time.
and miss Isla will be in day care full time.

God has been giving me such peace about this.
I haven't felt stressed, worried or even really dwelled on the upcoming changes.
now, to be clear, I know that there will probably be some days that are a little difficult, but I've been at peace.
Until this week.

just Isla and I.

it has been a good week, but being out of the routine I've been in for the past year has been a little bit overwhelming.

overwhelming because I keep thinking about how my routine will be completely changed in 18 days.

mind you, Isla has also had a tremendous cold.
so we've been up in the night a lot and definitely have a less than normal amount of sleep.

but because of all this, that feeling of peace has seemed a little distant.

then, this morning, the song 'God of the Redeemed' has been in my head.

We belong to You Father
Love has come, we're orphans no longer
Brought into Your light and freedom
By the blood and the mercy of Jesus

It's rising, it's rising, the song of hope
From us set free
It's rising, it's rising, it's rising up

Hallelujah to You God of the redeemed
Hallelujah, You've opened blinded eyes to see
We will praise You
You are the everlasting light
Hallelujah to You God of the redeemed

We belong to You Father
Living for Your glory and honor
Here on earth, just as in heaven
We usher in the reign of Your Kingdom

-God of the Redeemed-Jeremy Riddle, Paul McClure, and Hannah McClure of Bethel Church-

and it has brought back the feeling of peace.

I know who I belong to and I know that He is Peace.
There is a bigger picture at work here.
A bigger one than me at work,
and an even BIGGER one that has come, is coming and will come.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

small style #19

here is wee Isla a few weeks ago heading off to meet with our Church body with her daddy.
I wasn't feeling so well, so I stayed home
(but definately felt well enough to pick out this outfit!)

 I have been reading about cute little vintage dresses on a few different blogs,
and I found this little vintage dress a not long after in a little shop on Ottawa Street in Hamilton called Little Bird, it was on sale for like $4.99 as an end of summer sale!



I forget now why Isla had tears... maybe because I wouldn't stop taking pictures?

poor blog babies... they suffer.

dress: no label, consigned (and on sale!)
leggings: Gap
sandals: Joe


and you know that there are some mighty cute babies and kidlets that we are linking up with
over at Mama Loves Papa! (and if you don't know it, you should check it out!)



on closer inspection, it looks like this dress may be a bit big, but it will last for awhile.
we were at a Mad Men themed Birthday Celebration recently and Isla wore this dress with a bonnet and it was perfect!
when I have a copy of the "Mad Family" photo, I'll post it :)


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

i am so in love with this!

oh my gosh.

a couple of summers ago i bought a dollhouse from a garage sale.
it was in pieces (ahem, it is in pieces)
but i had a vision for a lovely dollhouse for my someday, maybe daughter
(or to be perfectly honest, if i didn't have a daughter it could be for me!)

it looks huge, i paid $15 dollars for it.
it currently resides in the basement of some friends (remember, still in pieces)
the lady who sold it to me said she bought it to make for her daughters... uh oh.

but a few weeks ago, Nicole wrote about a big doll house project called the


it actually was started by Emily Henderson, from HGTV's 'Secrets from a Stylist' 
(you can find her blog and the original post here)

essentially it is a dollhouse decorating challenge.

i am in awe
i am enthralled
i am so excited whenever a new post comes along containing any dollhouse related details

i sure wish my dollhouse was able to come out now, but we don't currently really have the space

so i will live vicariously and plan....

 i guess i now have a dream house file and a dream dollhouse file!

Sunday, October 09, 2011

a year ago...

a year ago today we were waiting for miss Isla, 
we thought she would be early because the 3 other little ladies due in October came early 
(real scientific I know!)

little did we know that she would actually come three and a half weeks later!



we were at a wedding for friends of ours,
and our friend Noah took some impromptu maternity photos for us
(thanks Noah!)

it sure is fun to think about where we were then, 
we had no idea how wonderful we would find parenthood.
that our little Isla would be a lovely and sweet baby and make it a very easy transition into being parents.
that I would truly feel like I have found exactly what I was meant to do with my life.
it truly is amazing and wonderful (and truthfully a little overwhelming at times) the love I feel for Isla.

I also cannot believe that her first year of life has almost come to it's fulfillment.

sigh.

Thursday, October 06, 2011

small style #18

the blog has been a little quiet this week!
sorry 'bout that, but we'd never miss a small style :)

Isla has truly become a well versed climber.
She is climbing everything so we have to really keep an eye on her.
She fell off of a small wooden chair the other day and she cried so hard and her mouth was bleeding and
it
was
awful.

But nothing a little cuddle and a bottle couldn't cure.
She was ok, just a tooth we were waiting for came through the gum.

Here is miss Isla climbing well supervised.

She was having a lot of fun, that's for sure.
Lovely little climber.


long sleeve shirt: Joe
pink t-shirt: Joe
jeans: H&M, consigned
socks: Old Navy

And now, you know it, I know it,
we're linking up with Morgan here:


If you haven't checked her small style, you should!
There are so many other blogs linked up with cutie cute babies!