Memories, Dreams and Reflections 2013

Here we go again! This is my third year participating in this photo series. I love doing this, love reminiscing on the past year. If you would like to visit my post from last year, click here. 

1. Me!

 

 This picture was taken while we were living in temp housing when we first came to Montreal. 

2. I Love You

  

It's these moments that I love. Eliana snuggling against my chest or snow ball fights with the kids. Long conversations with my oldest daughter or moments when we can't stop laughing at the oddest things. Pillow fights with Parker. Walks to the store with my hubby. Sometimes, it feels like time stops for a little while during these times. These wonderful moments, make all the rough ones manageable. Moments I wouldn't trade anything in the world for.

3. Still Laughing…

 

Another series of pictures taken in temp housing. I couldn't resist making Eliana into a meme. 

4. Winter Wonderland

 

It has taken a bit of getting used to dealing with cold weather and snow. This is a picture of Parker all bundled up and ready to play in the first snow of the season.

5. Birthday

Eliana's first year photo shoot. I wanted to take these photos at this park about a mile from our house. It has some gorgeous trees and so many beautiful backdrops for pictures. We haven't owned a vehicle since our move, so you could imagine how "fun" it was hauling all the stuff I used in this photo to this location.

6. Friends

This picture was taken at Parker and Evan's Willy Wonka themed party. Our move to Montreal brought us closer to families and friends that were also relocated from Arizona to Montreal. I also love that we were able to Skype with family and friends that couldn't be at the party in person. 

  
7. I Was Inspired… 

 

 I really wanted to do something cute for Father's Day this year so we made a cute little video for daddy.

8. Spring Fever

 

The minute the snow cleared, and the temperatures warmed up, everything that had grass was also filled with dandelions. Couldn't imagine having to deal with them if we had a yard, but Parker enjoyed playing in and with them.

9. Travel or Vacation

 

 When my parents and brother came into visit us in Montreal, we took a road trip to Toronto. We packed a lot of activities into a couple of days including taking Eliana and Parker to their first baseball game. 

10. Summer Days

 Unintentionally, when we chose our place, we moved into a neighborhood with a public pool and a big park only a block away. We didn't take advantage of the pool as much as we should have this past summer, but now that we have our free passes we will be going there a lot more this next summer.

 
11. A Day In My Life

With three kids, someone always needs something.  I know all three kiddos love each other so much, but there is always some sort of sibling drama going on. I wouldn't have it any other way....unless of course all three decided that sibling rivalry is overrated.

12. All Smiles

 

It's a rare moment to have all three kiddos smiling. Takes a lot of patience. I was going through all the pictures and found this picture. I didn't even remember I had this one of the kids.

13. Autumn Harvest

 

Eliana's birthday falls right into the most colorful time of the year. It was so much fun to take her to the nearby park for her birthday photos. You can see she had a lot of fun playing in the fall leaves.

14. Family or Home

  

15. Celebrate!

 

Happy New Year!

16. Let’s Do It Again…

 

 The kids and I will be doing the, Color Me Rad, this next year.  For the most part, we had a blast! I'm excited to participate in the race again.

17. I Miss You

 

  This is the first year we didn't celebrate birthdays and many holidays together. Missing my parents and brother since our move to Montreal.

18. Beautiful

 

I'm nearly certain I've posted a picture of Vanessa for this prompt the last couple of years. She is beautiful in so many ways.

19. Dress Up

 

We all dressed up in steam punk versions of Alice in Wonderland characters. I'm still hoping to take a better picture of us all in our costumes, but for now this one will have to do. 

20. Macro

 

 One of my biggest fears are spiders. We had some deadly spiders in Arizona, but you would never see them. Here...they are everywhere. Trying to have a nice picnic at the park? Nope, giant spiders live in the grass here. Anyhow, I saw this web and it was the perfect web!

 

 21. Holidays

Christmas morning!

 22. My Favorite – share your favorite picture or memory from 2012.

 

This was taken a couple days after Christmas. Eliana was being so silly.

 23. Don’t Ever Change

 

 I hope my kiddos will always be close, always love each other.

24. Just Because…So There!

 

And we can't forget Picasso! He's been through a lot. Just a week before our big move, he was mauled by two dogs. We nearly lost him.  Picasso is such an awesome cat. He's been a very important part of our crazy, wonderful story too. 

25. Hopes and Dreams

 

We sat down and made a few resolutions this year. My main resolution is to learn the French language to a point I can carry on a conversation with someone. Another resolution is that my hubby and I will be dedicating one afternoon/evening a month for a date night. We've discussed starting the process to becoming permanent residents and citizens of Canada and possibly buying a home here in Montreal after Vanessa graduates from school.

2013 was an amazing year and my goal is to make 2014 even better!

 

Wittle People Wednesday: Dandelions!

Linking up with Ramblings and Photos for, "Wittle People Wednesday!"


The weather has been unbelievably GORGEOUS! I'm experiencing seasons!! In AZ, you have hot and less hot. The park is so close it makes it real easy to get the kids out during the day to play.



I was teaching Parker how to "make wishes" with the dandelions. He was trying so hard to blow the "puffers" off.



It was a little windy that day, so most of the time the wind would blow them all off before he had the chance to.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

My new goal for my blog is the post a couple times throughout the week. I used to participate in, "Scavenger Hunt Sunday," when Parker was little and slowly I stopped doing it. I'm a little late posting for this week, but it will be a post that I strive to do each week.

1. Walking

We are finally getting some "non-jacket" wearing weather. I enjoyed the snow, but it is nice to be able to go outdoors without spending 45 minutes getting everyone ready. Eliana enjoyed her first time sitting with Parker in the wagon. She kept trying to lay on him.

2. Yummy To My Tummy

At the park I let Eliana explore her surroundings. She was a little afraid at first and wasn't wanting to sit in the grass, but she warmed up after a few minutes.

3. Favorite Toy

I don't know if Eliana has a true favorite toy yet. I know she recognizes a lot of her toys. One item she likes to grab any time she has a chance, is my camera lens cover. 

4. What I Did This Week

 Parker kept asking for me to put Eliana in the "tunnel" with him when we were at the park. 

5. Anything

I wanted to share this photo last week, but it ended up being a busy weekend. Eliana is just too much in the first picture! This is what she looks like when she gets angry at me. The second picture to me is absolutely precious, I never want to forget these little baby hands and feet.

Wittle People Wednesday: Crawling soon?

Linking up with Ashley Sisk for Wittle People Wednesday 

 

I bought this bow a couple weeks ago and I finally had something that she can wear to match it. Unfortunately, Eliana has discovered how to take them off. She's good, I couldn't really take any photos of her wearing it.

She also has been starting to get on her knees more. Maybe she will be crawling soon? Who knows, I'm hoping that she stays non-mobile for a little longer.

Memories, Dreams and Reflections 2012

I participated in MDR for the first time last year, and I loved it!  I was a little bummed at first, as I didn't think I would be able to participate this year with the whole relocation to another country, but we have a lot of down time and my only outlet right now is blogging. This is definitely something I want to keep up with each year.

 

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do!

 

1. Me 

There certainly wasn't a shortage of pictures of me this year. With all the belly progression photos, family photos and such. For once, I didn't struggle with this.

2. I love you

Without question, these kids are my world!

3. Still laughing!

Parker is such a hoot! He went from being a pretty shy and reserved, to being so funny and outgoing.

4. Winter Wonderland

I didn't take this picture, but I had to use it for this prompt. It was actually taken by E.Ulloa photography. When I think of Winter, I think of Christmas and then Santa.

5. Birthday

Well, as most of you already know, Eliana was born on Oct, 11th, 2012. She has a pretty cool birthday. After spending a month in the hospital on bedrest, she made her debut a few days after I was released, and a day shy of 37 weeks.

 

 



6. Friends I had a different series of pictures on mind for this prompt. Unfortunately, they are located on our desktop which is unavailable right now. These still show some very important people in our lives.

7. I Was Inspired

I was inspired during the pregnancy to completely re-do Parker's room. Since he is sharing his room with Eliana, not only did it have to be a room to accomodate both a toddler and baby, but it also had to be relatively gender neutral.

 

8. Spring Fever



This past spring we had just announced to the world that we were expecting baby#3. It feels like it was the only yesterday that we were telling our parents the happy news.

 

9. Travel or Vacation

We were able to take a small vacation to Idaho for my sister in laws wedding. One of the days we took Nessa fishing. I think she had a blast, I know the rest of us did.

10. Summer Days  

When I think of the summer, I think of long days spent swimming in the pool. Living in AZ, you either stay indoors, travel to cooler weather or go swimming.

 

11. A Day in My Life

I love this series of pictures. It is very close to all the faces I see on a daily basis. Unfortunately, with our move to Montreal we won't see my parents, in person, as much, but with all the technology we have, speaking to them each day is something we will make sure happens.

12. All Smiles

Eliana first smiled at me around 5 weeks. I was able to capture these first smiles on camera a few days later. Now, she smiles all the time.

13. Autumn Harvest

First picture of our complete family. I'm so happy.

 

14. Family or Home 

Love this picture of our family.

15. Celebrate  

Parker turned 2 on August 31st. We celebrated his birthday in a pirate theme. He had such a blast!

 

16/17.Let's Do It Again/I miss you





I had to combine the next two prompts using this picture. This is my absolute favorite family photo. I hope we can get a photo like this again next year. Due to our move to Montreal, I miss my parents.

18. Beautiful

  My two girls are absolutely beautiful and I don't think it's because I'm biased. When Vanessa was born with blue eyes, I was always told they would change brown and they never did. I would never guess that I would have two kids with blue eyes. That norwegian/swedish gene is sure evident in the girls.  

 

 

19. Dress Up

We were really excited to trick or treat with the kids this year. We lived in such a beautiful area, lots of young families. Little did we know that a lot of people actually drove to this area to trick or treat. It was packed!! Lines to get to the door's. They barely gave out any candy because of all the people. Lots of places ran out of candy within the first hour.

20. Macro

Eliana's hair was so light and she was born with much less than Parker or Vanessa. I think she might have a little curl to her hair too. I made sure to take pictures of all these features when she was first born. It is a little sad to think she is our last, but our amazing family is complete.

21. Holidays

Parker is known for not looking or smiling at the camera. This also wasn't taken by me, but I had to use it. I love this photo! Taken by E.Ulloa photography.

 

22. My Favorite 

This was definitely a tough one for me. I don't have just one favorite picture, I love all the pictures I take. I think what makes this one stand out for me is my husbands expression, the look of unconditional love for his child. The love my husband has for our kids make me love him more and more everyday.

 

23. Don't Ever Change

Just stay little...

24. Just Because

Sometimes, I feel the best photos are taken spur of the moment. You see that the lighting is great, the kids are happy or they are doing something super cute. You just hope, with everything, that your camera is close enough to capture the picture before it all changes.

25. Hopes and Dreams

This was a tough day, we had to say goodbye to a home we intended to live in for a long time. We had to say goodbye to friends and family that we practically grew up with. We now have a new direction for our family. A chance to grew up in a completely different country and culture. New dreams for our kids. It's exciting and I pray that this is a good step for us.