Keeping me busy these days....

This little peanut is what has been keeping me busy over the past few weeks.  Kyla Adair McKinnon Potter was born on March 9th in a rather dramatic fashion and she has been rocking our world ever since.  The past two weeks have been filled with many a sleepless night, hours upon hours spent searching the net for mothering advice, various trips to breastfeeding clinics around Toronto and numerous visitors dropping by to get a peak at our little one.

I don't think any of the classes, books, articles or advice I heard before Kyla was born could have possibly prepared me for motherhood, we are learning together and it is quite a ride indeed.  I hope to fill you in on our trials and triumphs soon - once we somehow muster up a schedule (apparently this is possible at some point - I can't wait!)

It's a...

We are very happy to announce the arrival of baby Potter!  More details to come in the coming days.
To follow our tradition of video announcements here is a little something we cooked up:

Favourite baby items, I think!

Our lives for the past few months have been consumed with getting ready for our first baby (who was due on Friday but has not graced us with his/her presence as of yet).  During this time we have, as I am sure you first time moms can attest, been bombarded with the many, many baby products out there.  Researching the various brands of baby essentials can be exhausting, there are seriously so many choices!  I have spent a lot of time asking other moms, visiting babygismo.com (great website for moms) and doing general internet research (thank you to other blogging mothers!) and am very excited about some of the items we have purchased and although I can't give full reviews on these yet, (having not been able to use them - come on Baby P., let's get this show on the road!), I thought I'd include my Top 5 items thus far - basically the baby items I am most excited to try out.

#5. Live Clean Baby Products - We came across the Live Clean collection last year and have been using it ever since.  These products are made in Canada and center around the ethos - 'Good for You, Good for the Earth'.  We also very much appreciate the fact that none of the products are tested on animals or use any animal ingredients.  You can buy these products at Shoppers Drug Mart and Walmart and there is not a huge price difference compared to other baby wash products out there. Of course not having a need to try out this part of the Live Clean line  I am eager to test them out.

#4. Stroller - UPPAbaby Vista 2012

With two dogs in the house I knew we needed a stroller we could take to the beach, on the boardwalk, into a dog park etc.  In other words we needed an all-terrain baby pushing machine!  I was so excited to hear about the changes made to the UPPAbaby Vista for 2012 and crossed my fingers that we would get ours in time for Baby P.'s arrival, which we did.  I love the new black frame and the changes made to the wheels sound great as well as the new bassinet features.  I am very impressed with UPPAbaby's Green Minded focus for not only this stroller but the company as a whole.  Along with the 2012 Vista, I am also super pumped about the new cup holder and parent organizer.  I am very much looking forward to our first family walk with the dogs in tow. A big thank you to Gran for this fabulous necessity!

#3. Kidco Go-Pod - As I have previously mentioned we live in a small space so any baby products that fold, tuck away and are not as obtrusive in their design get five stars from me.  I know we won't be using this one for a little while but I am very excited for when we do.  Basically acting as a portable exersaucer the Go-Pod can be easily packed away for storage or to take on an outing.  I also love that you can attach your own toys around the outer edges for baby play.

#2. Diaper Bag - I am not sure many get a thrill out of a diaper bag but this diaper bag is like no other as it is my one luxury item which my wonderful husband bought for me.  This Petunia Picklebottom - Earl Grey Boxy Backpack is simply so pretty and I find myself just dropping in on the nursery to look at it.  I also do have to say from a practical standpoint the attached diaper pad seems like a great idea which I am eager to try out on route.

                                                                                    
                              

#1. gDiapers - Most people look at me like I am
nuts when they realize I am planning on using cloth diapers and let me be honest, I don't exactly advertise it but it seems to creep up in conversations.  I have learned pretty quickly how defensive other moms can get when it comes to parenting choices and for some reason cloth diapers is right up there with having an epidural - touchy subject for many.  Nevertheless here are my reasons as to why I hope we can cloth diaper and are willing to give it a try.  This is not to say it is any better then any other said choice of diaper, it just feels right for me.
a.  I would like to save money and I'll be honest this is basically my top reason.
b.  In beginning to do research into cloth diapering I learned a lot about what goes into a regular diaper so even if we don't end up using cloth diapers I think we would for sure use biodegradable diapers.
c. I really like the idea that cloth/biodegradable diapers will lessen our environmental footprint which is important to me.
d. I also just like the idea of being more natural/organic and rolling with this when it comes to parenting in general.
So - I am most excited to see how our first choice in cloth diapering after so much research works out for us.  I can't help but already love the gDiapers we have purchased, they are adorable and seem to be really easy to use so fingers crossed all systems are a go and expect a full review to come.  It is a bit scary but hey what's new as a first time mom!

Ready & waiting for Baby P!

We finally finished our nursery after many months of reorganizing, painting, and DIY projects! We are thrilled with the result but more so thrilled that it is complete – phew! Check out my earlier post on the things that inspired our design, I think we came pretty close. Here are some photos and links to what is what. Enjoy!

Crib – Babyletto
A special thank you to Brett's parents for this important piece of our nursery.  This crib is fabulous, it doesn’t take up too much space and the drawer at the bottom is a wonderful help for storage. We went with a crib which converts to a 'day' bed rather then a double bed mostly because of space issues as well as the look of the frame.  This was a perfect choice!
 
Bedding – A wonderful friend of my mother’s made this bedding for me and I couldn’t be happier. The fabric is Dena Designs and I ordered it off of Etsy here. This fabric is awesome, I love the simplicity and freshness of the design and it washes up great!  I'm so glad I came across this fabric designer online!

Mobile – Hand made by me using driftwood we picked up on our recent trip to the California coast and these sweet owls purchased off of Etsy here. I had every intention of making these owls myself however my belly won the battle on this one and finishing this project by any means possible became my main task so when I found these online for a great price I couldn’t resist. I should have started this DIY a little earlier in the game but am happy with the end result nevertheless.

Dresser – Awesome find off of craigslist. Good as new with a little updating of the handles.
We are getting a box made for the change pad to keep it in place and give it a bit more height but how awesome is a dresser with 9 drawers!

Crates – We got a fabulous deal on these antique crates and are using them for books. We put pads on the bottom but at some point might add small wheels so they can be pulled out for easier access.  I love this random accessory in the nursery as it is a touch of our personality (we frequent antique stores regularly) pulled into the overall design of the room.  A little piece of us, so to say.

Chair – A special thank you to Ikea.
I have to say finding a chair was my biggest tribulation in this nursery project. I searched high and low for a rocker or glider with a more modern design but may I just say bluntly - the really nice ones are wildly overpriced and I just couldn't justify spending so much money on a single seat. I have heard if you rock your baby to sleep they will expect to always be rocked so in the end I decided cozy comfort and price would win this battle. This chair is incredibly comfortable so I think we made a good choice plus we can use it in another room later in life.  I am still looking for a pouffe or small footstool.  This may be a project I take on after baby P. arrives with leftover fabric from the bedding.  

Tree Stump Table – I love the end result with this one.  Check out my earlier post on this DIY project.

Bench – Martha Stewart at Home Depot.
This little bench is so great and fits into the room perfectly. It is nice to have an extra seat and of course more storage doesn’t hurt anyone as well. I like the fact our baby can grow into this and pull out toys themselves or we can always move it somewhere else for another use. Multiple options with this one which is right up my alley! I ironed on the fabric animal shapes for a touch of added whimsy.

Terrarium –West Elm
I have become slightly obsessed with terrarium making recently mostly because of the many terrarium containers selling at one of my favourite stores, West Elm, which I just happened to have a gift certificate for.  I will most likely post on this again later as I have had so much fun putting a few of these together and think they make adorable gifts.

Pots, trash can, diaper bin – We got these at Ikea and Zellers. The large and small trash cans came together for $14.99 so we are using the large one for our dirty cloth diapers. We attached the pots to the wall with Velcro and added chalk board stickers to all. A chalk pen really helps the labels stay on. An easy project to help organize a messy space!

Accessories –  We have picked up many small items along the way since deciding on a theme for the nursery.  Some of our favourites are listed below which make the room more personalized - it's very 'us'. 


Owl - Pier One (so cute).  My mum bought this for us very early on in our pregnancy and I have imagined it sitting on a shelf in the babies room for months now.  It fits in perfectly.

Nikki McClure 'Collect Raindrops' Book - One of my favourite artists!  Brett bought me this book last Christmas and I can't think of a better place for Nikki's wonderful illustrations to be.  She also has a baby book called 'The First 1000 Days' which we bought and wonderful childrens storybooks my favourite of which is  'All in a Day'.  You can purchase these online or at Chapters.  If you live near the Beaches in Toronto you can also find many of her books at Ella Minnow on Queen St. E. (This store is so sweet!)

Zuny Moose/Deer Bookends (actually paper weights) - We found these cute little guys at Chapters over the Christmas holidays.

We are so excited for baby P. to arrive - any day now! - and with the nursery finally complete we are even more ready to meet our little one! 

Blurb.com

Today is day one of being off on maternity leave and I am trying to check off a few 'to do' items before this baby of mine makes an appearance or I can't move around much longer.  Number one on my list - organize our pictures from our California trip back in November.  I decided to try out Blurb.com an online photo book software as I read it is more cost efficient and since we had so many photos I knew we'd be adding a few pages to a standard book.  I have used Shutterfly, the regular apple photobook software and MyPublisher and I found Blurb really easy and a good bit cheaper as well.  There are great text options to use with Blurb which we didn't use this time around but my creative juices are flowing with future uses for this great feature.  Looking forward to receiving our book in the mail soon.

So day one - success, one thing off the list!  Check out our finished photobook below, it may take a few minutes to load.

CAL-I-FORN-I-A by November 2011 - Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Cambria,
Pacific Coastal Hwy, Monterey, San Francisco | Make Your Own Book