What I'm Listening To


Music is a big part of our life.
When I met Louis 8 years ago he was the singer and guitar player in a band and our girls have definitely got the music gene.
Lately we have all been loving
The Lumineers
Haven't heard of them?
You are going to fall in Love!!

{Audrey(age 2) is obsessed with this song! She sings along in her little baby voice
"Hey" "ho"}

I first heard the song "Ho Hey" on Edge 102.1 {Toronto radio station}
and instantly was hooked but sort of figured the rest of the CD wouldn't be as good.
I was wrong!
I love every song on the CD.

{this is my fave song on the CD right now}


{Emma's new obsession - seriously my 3 year old makes me put this on repeat in the car and she is always asking if she can meet flapper girl one day!}



What bands are you listening to lately?

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Oatmeal Bath

 
Oatmeal Bath
 
Ingredients:
 
2 Cups of Rolled Oats
1 cup of Baking Soda
Half a Teaspoon ground cinnamon
 
Instructions:
 
Poor all ingredients in a blender.
Blend until Smooth.
Pour into Mason Jar.
Add half of mixture to bath.
 
 
 
I mentioned in my last post that I had broken out in hives that were extremely itchy.
My Dr. recommended making an oatmeal bath to soothe the itch.
I usually suffer from Eczema and Psoriasis so I often have baking soda baths to soothe the itch.
I Decided I would mix the Oatmeal with the Baking Soda and added some cinnamon to smell extra nice. This would make a really cute DIY gift for someone too.

:)
 
 

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Lately




 
I have spent the last 4 days at home doing a whole lot of
NOTHING
and it is absolutly wonderful.
Sunday Night I started getting awful Hives all over my body and 4 days later they are still sticking around.
Although I am really annoyed at the itchy red marks all over my body I am thankful in a way that it has forced me to slow down and just be home with my girls and really appreciate each moment with them.
 
:)
 

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Girls Stocking Stuffers

When I was a little girl my favourite part of Christmas morning was the Christmas Stockings awaiting my brother and I at our bedroom doors when we woke up.



I know its only October and Halloween hasn't even happened yet but I have had Christmas on my mind since the first day of September!
Every Christmas until I was about 10 , okay until I was probably 18 I would wake up at 4am.
After my dad began to catch onto this Christmas tradition of mine there was a rule put in place that my brother and I could open our stockings but we had to wait until 7 to wake up him and my step mom to open the gifts.
Being the good girl that I was I would only wake up my brother at 4 am and together we would open up our stockings ``ooooing`` and  ``aaahhing`` at each little gift we pulled out.
We were spoiled rotten at Christmas and our stockings were incredible.
They were filled with gift cards to my favourite stores
MAC
H & M
HMV
etc.
Lipglosses from MAC
Guess Watches
Jewelry
Makeup
My favourite magazines
A new perfume
(I think I wore Dolce and Gabanna Light blue )
A Terry's Chocolate Orange
Lifesavers
New Socks
Cds
Movies
etc.
 {we had really big and wide stockings :) }
They were the best!
We also got spoiled because we had two stockings to open - one at my dads and one at my moms!
For me it wasn't just about the amazing gifts that I received it was the Christmas magic.
The memories my brother and I shared while opening those stockings and whispering at 4am watching the movies we had just opened up in those wonderful stockings waiting for our parents to wake up where normally we wouldn't spend more than 10 minutes at a time together.
Christmas certainly is magic and I am so excited to have two little girls that my husband and I can now spoil just like my family spoiled me.
{They will get 2 to open as well because my mom makes stockings for them every Christmas :)}

 
Here is a list of some of the items that will be in our girls stockings this year
 
  1. Crayons - If our girls could choose only one activity to do for the rest of their childhood it would be colouring. They could colour all day and all night if we let them.
  2.   Lego Friends Set - Emma loves these Lego sets right now because her 7 year old cousin Isabelle introduced her to them. She is hooked.
  3. Hair Extensions -  She has asked Santa over and over and over again for hair extensions.
  4. Tangled Swatch Watch -  My husband and I stopped in a watch store while we were in Niagara on the Lake for our 4 year wedding anniversary and saw this watch and had to grab it for Emma.
  5. A Christmas Story -  Every year we put a Christmas book in the kids Stockings. This year I am going to buy a Mercer Mayer Christmas story because I remember them from my childhood.
  6. A notebook - I could have all the coolest, prettiest colouring books in our playroom but if my girls see a notebook lying around they will choose that over the colouring book any day. I like that they like a blank canvas better anyways - more creativity.
  7. Lip Smackers - Girls Love their lip gloss!
  8. Terry's Chocolate Orange - Because I got one every year in my stocking and I am passing the tradition down to our children :)
  9. A Disney Classic -  This year I am thinking DUMBO
  10. Pottery Barn Finger Printing Set - This is just so cute and fun!
  11. Christmas Ornament - Every year the girls get a Christmas ornament in their stocking, This year I bought Ariel and Tangled.
  12. Dress up Jewellery - No explanation needed.
  13. Barbie Clothes - Emma is OBSESSED with Barbies at the moment.
  14. Stickers - Because who doesn't love stickers
     
 
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Emma's Eye


This is our three year old daughter Emma.
Isn't she adorable?
 She is a very creative, loving and outgoing three and a half year old with a lot of personality.
Emma wears glasses.
She has close to no vision in her right eye.
We first found out when she was around 18 months old when we noticed her eye was turning in.
Shortly after that we had her tested and were told that she has close to no vision in her right eye and that she needed glasses and to wear an eye patch for 2 hours a day.
Emma was such a happy baby.
She smiled a lot, sang a lot and gave lots and lots of hugs.
We started with the glasses and patching around 18 months old and that's when things started to get
HARD.
Everyday revolved around trying to get our baby to cover her good eye and force her to walk around practically blind.
It could take 4 hours just to get the eye patch on only to be ripped off 5-10 minutes later.
I wish this was the part where this story gets better.
To say that now 2 years later the fights to patch have stopped and Emma`s eye is improving.
The truth is though her eye has not improved and the daily struggles have not stopped.
She had her regular 3 month checkup with her eye therapist today and I almost broke down.
I told her I felt as though our whole life was consumed by her eye patch.
I told her it wasn`t fair that I am always  `fighting` with our 3 year old to put on her eye patch when I wish we could just be cuddling watching a movie or baking cupcakes like all the other mamas.
The eye therapist told me not to worry, that she hears this sort of thing a lot from other families in similar situations and that it can get better if we start consistently patching.
I asked what would happen if we aren`t successful and if we couldn't get the patching routine down.
She told me Emma would lose all vision in her right eye for good but that she isn`t worried yet because she is only 3 - she would be worried if she were 8 but she is only 3.
Well I am worried, her dad is worried.
It is been 2 long years with still no improvement.
People around us always try to offer suggestions as if we hadn`t already tried them.
I know that they are thinking that if it were their child they wouldn't have this problem because it would be oh so easy to get their child to wear a patch. They love to offer suggestions and say well if you did this or that it wouldn't be such a battle.
Why don't you try...
"Decorating the patch"
"Wearing a patch with her"
"Take away all privileges until she wears the patch"
"Play Pirate Princess"
If only it were that easy.
 We have tried everything.
We have decorated patches, we have worn them, we have kept her in her room all day, played princess, ordered hundreds of dollars worth of different coloured patches. Different types of glasses, different reward systems, heck we've even tried bribing.
I have paid hundreds of dollars on daycare programs to see if maybe she would listen to a teacher figure instead of myself.
I have tried EVERYTHING.
I have even thought about quitting my job so I can put all my time and energy into getting her eye better.
Most of our days are spent stressing out our little girl.
Telling her she needs to wear her eye patch. Sending her to her room because she won't. Getting frustrated etc. etc.
The eye therapist assures me that once we get even 3 months of a good patching routine down her eye will improve and that Emma will be more willing to wear her patch.
She explained to me that it must be terrifying for Emma when she is patching now because its as if she is walking around practically blind.
I asked if there were any other options right now.
I had heard there was a drop you could put in the strong eye to force the weak eye to work harder.
This is not an option yet as her vision is too poor and it wouldn't be fair to a 3 year old to force them to walk around practically blind for 8 hours with no option to take the drops out.
Surgery is even out of the question until her eye improves.
The eye therapist reassured me that as she gets older she will understand more.
Here's hoping so.
After the eye appointment Emma and I had a long talk and she wore her eye patch  for a full 2 hours.
I think Emma could sense how worried I was for her.
It was a struggle to put it on as always but once she did I gave her a great big hug and thanked her.
We started a calendar and told her everyday she wears her eye patch we Will put a sticker on and when she gets to the last day of the week we will take her to the Disney Store.
Here is hoping patching gets easier after this appointment and Emma can understand better.

 
This is a face I often see Emma make at me when I try to get her to patch.
She turns into a very upset girl.
I really feel for her - when other kids only have to fight with their parents to put there coat on when its cold Emma has to fight with her parents about putting a patch over her strong eye.
It just doesn't seem fair.
I know kids have worse things they have to deal with but for me this is heartbreaking.
I realised after posting this picture where you can see her eye turning in I delete most pictures of Emma where her eye is really crossed.
Starting now though I'm going to keep those photos.
This is how Emma was born and hopefully one day she has better vision in her right eye.
Even if she doesn't she is beautiful the way she is.

 

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Spooky Rice Krispie Treats

 

 
 
 
 
One of my favourite parts about the Holidays is how it brings families together.
Life gets busy really busy with everyday tasks and sometimes family activities aren't done as much as we would like.
I was so excited when I went to my mailbox the other day to find a package from Kelloggs with a kit to make Halloween Rice Krispie Treats.
I knew this would be an activity my whole family would love to help with.
We ended up making Rice Krispie Cupcakes and decorating them with Halloween in mind.
We made them Thursday and there is not a trace of them left today.
 
What is something that brings your family together around Holidays?
 
 

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Our living room over the years

Just a little over two years ago we became first time home owners and moved into a brand new 1400 square foot townhome.
It was beyond exciting to move into a blank canvas that we could put our creative hands on!


This is what the living room looked like the first 6 months ish.
No Paint - No Wall Art- TV wasting space above the mantel
Borrrrrrrrrrrrring.

Eventually we added paint colour, changed the light fixtures, added some candles and bought a TV Stand for our TV so we could utilize our mantel.
(sad to admit but we have actually gone through 4 different focus pieces above our mantel and wasted hundreds of dollars before we found the silver framed mirror from Ikea that fit just right)


Right now this is what our living room looks like.
We updated our carpet to laminate flooring , bought a $8 dollar coffee table off a Buy/Sell site, added some $3 clearance cushions and our living room is our favorite room of the house so far.
Of course I still have a million ideas in my head on how to change/update this room but for right now I'll give my husband's OCD a break and enjoy our gorgeous living space.

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Photoshoot

Here are the rest of my faves from our photoshoot with
SN Photography this weekend.
Truthfully I was a little worried there wouldn`t be many
keepers out of the photos Steph took because
the weather was cold and windy and the girls wouldn`t sit still for more than 4 seconds at a time but Steph captured the beauty and personality of our family in each picture and I couldn`t be happier with the results.
I can't wait to flaunt them in our home.
Enjoy :)
 





















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Happy Thanksgiving

 
Happy Thanksgiving!
 
Remember my post from Friday where I said I had like No pictures of
Louis & I together?
Not anymore!
Saturday morning we met up with a friend of mine who is an amazing photographer and she captured some gorgeous shots of our family and a couple of Louis and I!
We met up with her at Brooks Farm - we go every Fall for the Fall festival!
It was freezing,the kids were cranky and running in opposite directions and my hair was blowing in my face but Steph still managed to capture our family exactly the way I was hoping she would.
She even came prepared with dancing Hamster stickers for the kids when the got cranky!
(Audrey called them cats though and is still talking about them two days later)
Here are a couple of previews of the photos from Saturday.
We are on our way out this morning but I will post the rest another day :)
If you are looking for a photographer be sure to check out Steph's Photography Page.
 
 




 




 
 
 

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Thankful

This weekend is all about being thankful for us Canadian folks.
I am so blessed and thankful for all the wonderful things in our life.
Our beautiful house, careers that we love, great family and friends, our health.
There are so many things to be thankful for this Holiday Season.
I love Thanksgiving more than any other holiday
(Okay - Christmas is tied with Thanksgiving)
I love this time of year even more now that we have the opportunity to teach our children
all the things in life to be thankful for.

And now here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks.
(note to self - you really need to start capturing life through pictures more often)
 
Me and my beautiful girls
(Audrey is in a stage where she never sits still which is why she is blurry in pretty much every picture I have of her. This girl can run too! I don't even know if she knows how to walk - she runs! haha )
 


My Gorgeous Cousin and I at her birthday dinner.
(shes incredible and expecting her 2nd baby early next year! so excited and happy for her)

 
One of my best friends who is getting married at the end of the month!
yippeee!

 
Another one of my best friends Mel and I :)


Emma playing with friends :)

 
Okay so this picture is seriously from over a year ago but I just never seem to get a chance to snap up a photo of  hubby and myself!
Come to think of it I think we might have
ONE
family picture with all 4 of us in it.
This picture is here to remind me to get on that! :)

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend Everyone :)

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Mama Style - Fall Edition

If you know me well you know that I am absolutly in love with all things Fall.
The cool crisp air, all things pumpkin (pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin scones etc. etc.), Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks, the beautiful coloured leaves on the trees, apple picking and farm visits.
I also happen to adore Fall Fashion!
If I was given the opportunity to become Mother Nature I would make it Fall all year round!
As soon as September 1st rolls around I pull out those fall clothes from under my bed!
While others are trying to squeeze in a few more weeks of short shorts
I am anxiously awaiting the cooler weather so I can pull out some boots and sweaters!
I feel my most confident in my fall outfits.

This year I am really enjoying the following Fall Fashion Items:
 
1- Leopard Print Scarves
( & pretty much anything leopard)
2-Lace up Boots
( still have to grab myself a pair! shhh...don't tell Mr. Mazzone )
3- Black layered bracelets
( I just scored a bunch from Forever 21 that I'll post about in another post :) )
4- Coloured Pants
(I love seeing the trend of coloured pants sneaking there way into fall this year as well.
I`m really loving greens, Burgundy's and purples for fall)
5- Sheer blouses
( I'm still not brave enough to rock a sheer blouse with just a bra underneath but love this look this year! It's sexy without being to revealing )
6- Studded Flats
(a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e)
 
 
 
What is your favourite fashion trend this Fall?

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Bridal Tea Party


This weekend I had the Honor of hosting a shower alongside my best friend Mel
for our other best friend Mandie who will be getting married in October!
The theme was a Tea Party.

The beautiful bride to be, myself and Mel

My two gorgeous best friends!

 


 
The food table yum!!!

Toilet Paper Wedding Dresses

Presents :)

Bride to be with her future Mother in Law

 

Time for Tea!

Hope Everyone had a fantastic weekend! 
 

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