The wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Chow

I would have to say that this wedding is one of the prettiest weddings that I have ever been to and of course had the opportunity to be a part of! Elaine did a lot of planning and her hard work paid off! The details were amazing and of course a photographers dream! (yes I am not professional but enjoyed the chance to snap a few shots!) The location was amazing. It was held at a little B&B just outside of Duncan on Vancouver Island. Very relaxing and intimate! The wedding party (the girl side) was able to stay at the B&B so getting ready in the morning was not rushed at all and when all was said and done we just had to walk down the stairs to get to the wedding! Loved that we didnt have to worry about driving and rushing around! Here are a few shots of us getting ready in the morning..unfortunately this is the only one I was able to get of us 4 bridesmaids. Elaine was glowing as she walked out the door for "first view" before the wedding was about to start.

I tried to capture as much of the details as possible..I'm sure that I missed a few here and there!

This was the sweetheart table where Elaine and Chris sat. The rest of the bridal party was spread about at different tables which was nice! I was able to help Reuben with Lucas and it was much more comfortable without everyone staring at us as well!

One of my favorite shots I think. They had three cakes on the table and this was the biggest one and of course the most tasty as well! (red velvet)

The banner above the table says "Love is sweet" and is the table where to cakes and eventually desserts where displayed!

Outside instead of a guestbook, guests took polaroid pics, signed and clothes pinned them to the twine which was wrapped around a wooden arbor.

Another of my favorite shots. This is another bridesmaid Caitlyn. Love how she looks like she is sittng down for a tea party!

A few attempts at family shots throughout the day. My child refuses to smile and likes to look like we drug him or something!

These two were so adorable to watch and so in love!! They radiated! So happy for them!

Hanging out at the reception.

First dance

Thank you Elaine and Chris for letting me be a part of your day! All the best in the years to come!! And of course adorable babies!! Lucas needs someone to marry when he gets older!!

Lil stinker!

2 more days and my little boy will be a year and a half! Hard to imagine somedays that time has gone by so fast! He is not a baby anymore, he is most definately a little boy with a personality to boot! He is working on his vocabulary but has it downpact on how to vocalize what he wants! I find it interesting watching him grow and develop and seeing either myself or my husband in his personality! Of course right now because he is starting to throw fits and is genuinely being a little rotter most days, Reuben is labeling him as "your child". The sad thing is that I know he is right..I was the little rotter when I was little and because my mother cursed me with "one day you will have a child just like you" it would appear that has happened!! I take back my post about my child being the innocent, quiet one who is gentle and shy! (that would have been my husbands personality trying to shine through but was pummeled back by my more dominant, stubborn, little stinker personality!!) I'll have you know that I am no longer that little stinker personlity..although my husband might disagree!! Needless to say he has a mix of both personalitys..a mischeavous mix that is! Reuben was/is the quiet one who stuck to himself and was shy. I was shy as well but voiced my opinion when I did not agree with something or of course did not want to do what I was told! Lucas is quiet in crowds and likes to watch kids and people..at home he has become loud and vocal, babbling away about nothing and screeching/whining/yelling at things,throwing toys,hitting and biting! Ask him to do something and he gives you this teenage look like "r u serious??" and turns his back and walks away..unless of course he decides that its something that he wouldnt mind doing! We have been working on baby signing, he knows the main ones like "please", "thank you" etc etc. However when you ask him to say please he turns his chin up at you unless its something he knows is extra delicious like a cookie or something! Stubborn? Oh my! Take away all that toddler attitude and he is still a little ham! He loves to make people laugh. He is still gentle, if you tell him to be gentle he will start petting you on the leg or head and than of course in the next second hit once again! Testing the boundaries is a daily occurrence! He has conversations with the cats..he will squat in front of them, look them in the eye and babble away and than of course body slam them! Thank goodness they are pretty tolerant! I blame the body slamming on his cousin Colby!! haha! This kid has little fear sometimes..I took him to the park the other day and he went on all the big kid slides by himself..even the twirly one..I didnt know whether to praise him or reprimand him so that he feared doing anything dangerous for the rest of his life!!! This summer is going to be a blast now that Lucas can play outside and run around! He loves water, sandbox's, pinecones, rocks, sticks, dog poop...all in all he would stay outside all day. Now if only the sun agreed with him and his fair skin! Thankfully he hasn't burned to bad yet..he is actually starting to get a little color and has a cute little farmer's tan! He is a boy through and through and loves to get dirty much to mommy's dismay! Actually if the mess is outside i'm ok with it! Since these pics were taken I have upgraded the tupperware pool to an actually kiddie pool. He was having a few issues climbing in and out, but loved it none the less!

check out these pipes!!

pouring water on himself

Happy Father's Day!

Lucas loves his daddy and when I say "daddy's home" he runs to the window and waits for Reuben as he comes up the steps and than proceeds to bang on the window until he is noticed! I have loved watching the bond grow between these two, and my love for my husband has only deepened watching him be a father! When Lucas was a baby it was hard for Reuben to bond with him but now that Lucas calls him "adda" and runs to him, its hard for my hubby to not let a huge smile spread across his face!! Lucas wants to be so much like his daddy and copies everything he does! I look forward to seeing these two in the years to come in everything they do..from working on cars, to teaching him to play soccer! He is a daddy's boy, that one!! Happy Father's Day babe!

I have also loved watching my dad morph into a grandpa or as his grandkids call him "Papa"! Lucas and Colby absolutely adore him and have never been scared of him! Lucas loves his Papa cuddles! I have an amazing father and am so happy that my child has an amazing Papa to look up to! He has always been there for us..even though he thinks that he wasnt sometimes, but I remember him always being there for the important stuff and working so hard for his family!! We love you Dad and Papa!!

Simply Glorious!

This post is about one week late!! Last weekend we enjoyed the lovely weather by spending it with family!! We headed down south to Reuben's brother Josh and wife Krysten's place in Sundance. As well Reuben's sister Mandy, who was home for a week from Ireland, came with us! I'm always amazed at how large Calgary truely is! Going south is like going to a completely different city! We had a great bbq of venison burgers, thanks to Josh, and than headed to the local neighborhood lake.

Lucas had a blast running around the deck and especially enjoyed the little yellow chair on which he showed us the proper way of sitting!

Lucas hamming it up with Uncle Josh! He loves to imitate and do what the "big" people are doing!! Whether is it sitting precariously on the edge of a chair or trying to strike up a conversation! The conversation usually goes something like "uh uh, at (point point), opa, woof woof". Lucas does have a furry cousin, Beau, but I somehow failed to get pictures of the two playing together.

Now that he has figured out how to put his sunglasses on he loves them!! He especially expects people to notice when he does and laughs and giggles until you say something like "cool dude!!" and than he rips them off and repeats the process!! Too cute!

Picture one with Auntie Dee lasted for about 2 seconds and than as I tried to take a second one he tried to run away! Can u say "ants in his pants"?

Give this child rocks, sand, grass, dirt, water, pinecones and he is happy!! Slide? what slide? I have sand!!!

Last year at this time I was lucky if i could get Lucas close to the water without him screaming his head off!! This year is a totally different ballgame! We had to hold him back so he wouldn't throw himself headlong into the water! New favorite thing is throwing rocks in water..any water..even my cup at times! Its even funnier when mommy screams cause she is wet!

He would have spent all day on that beach!! Happy as a clam!! The water was still slightly cold but he could care less!! He was getting dirty and wet!! Nothing could make him happier..unless there was food involved...

My little beach bum!! Many more beach days to come this summer, buddy, we hope and hope and hope!!

When there was sun!!

         We finally were able to have a mini-family vaca last saturday for the long weekend! Our destination? Drumheller! We have not been in years! Growing up my family would go all the time for various reasons, whether it was helping Dad with his photography or just driving around checking out the scenery and running and climbing in the badlands! Neither Reuben nor I have been to the museum since we were little so we decided to check it out once more! Interesting? yes! Toddlerproof? No! I seem to remember that there use to be a children's area that was interactive and involved more hands on things...there is no such thing anymore, or my memory serves me wrong! Needless to say our trip through the museum was rather speedy to spare our sanity and possibly paying thousands of dollars because our child "broke" a dinosaur! The highlight of the trip for Lucas was spinning the little globes on stands and the life size saber tooth tiger which was deemed "at, at, at" followed by much pointing and wrestling with Reuben as he proceeded to try and climb the exhibit!

It was rather funny watching him trying to walk across the glass floor!!

We than checked out the splashpark which lasted for about 5 minutes when he realized just how cold the water was on his little tootsies! But yet screamed when we pulled him away and put his shirt back on...sigh..I can't win!

 

After that we headed to the hoodoos which i loved as a kid and we figured that Lucas could burn off some energy! He moved in about a 3 foot radius, checked out the rocks and sat down. So much for burning energy! Maybe there was less mosquitos at that level??

However we got rather bored and hot from standing there swatting at little incessant bugs that we drug him further up the hoodoos to try a little climbing...

He climbed..a little..and than once he turned around and discovered that it was a little uneven and steeper than he liked he backed down the slope!

Oh well, we had fun..got a little bit of a tan to help blend away the bug bites and Lucas had a steady diet of rocks and sand! Yum yum!

Just to show that we do exist as a couple...sometimes!

And to round of the day we crashed my aunt Connie's farm just west of drumheller and let Lucas terrorize her house as well! Thankfully she has raised three boys and there isn't much that hasn't happened in her house! Thanks Auntie!! :)

Wedding in Review

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of being in one of my close friend's Naomi's wedding while Reuben experienced single parenthood for a day! (when in all reality he had my parents help all day!!) These are the highlights of the day! Amazingly the weather held out! It was windy but the sun stayed out all day!

Naomi's new sister in law did a wonderful job on the cake!

The bouquets were absolutely gorgeous and the tables were amazing! Naomi put a lot of hard work into them even to the point of sewing her own table runners!

Our attempt at a family picture was of course the usual...Lucas refusing to smile..oh well I was happy with the cuddles and he was happy to see his mommy finally! (awe...sniff sniff!)

It was also a reunion of friends that haven't seen each other for almost 2 years! Lina's first time meeting Lucas! (Lina is in the bottom left picture on the right..she was in Korea for a few years.) My friend Elaine (bottom left picture on left) who was Naomi's maid of honor is getting married in July and Lina, Caitlin (top left picture) Naomi and I will be bridesmaids for that! Super excited for that as well! Elaine's fiance Chris is in the top left picture as well, and of course that is my handsome husband Reuben in the middle pic!

Unfortunately there wasn't any cake up the nose or hitting the walls behind them. I seem to remember that happening at someone elses wedding!! ;)

Congrats Naomi and Trevor! May you have many happy years to come!

Status changes

Yesterday I felt like I was put in my spot! I ran into an old client while I was at the zoo with my sister and nephew. This client has a little baby that is 3.5 months old and adorable by the way! I asked her how she was liking motherhood and she replied that she loved it! She than asked how I was doing and went on to say how according to my facebook status' it would seem that I am not enjoying it all that much! Ouch! Which I than replied that yes somedays were long which is most likely the days that my status' would reflect! I had a pit in my stomach after that and started wondering how many people think that I am not enjoying being a mother! So my mission is to correct that idea! I love being a mother and I would not change it for the world! Yes somedays are long and trying..but is that not the life with a toddler?? Is that not their mission at this age to test every boundary possibly and push every button possible? Yes..i think so! But as a mother it is my mission to teach and to correct. Somedays I fail and loose my patience more easily than not and otherdays I feel like i'm ontop of things. The nickname "monkey" has stuck with Lucas for so long now and it appears that it will stick for many years to come!! He is mischeavous, he is busy, he is funny/goofy, he is lovable. He is also sensitive and quiet at times! And he is a boy, he gets dirty and eats rocks/dirt/pinecones/ants. And I love him none the less! I love watching him grow and accomplish new tasks and say new words! I believe being a mother is the most humbling of experiences that anyone can ever have! It has taught me to be patient, to watch my attitude, to be selfless, to be cheesy, to forget about the giant mess in the kitchen and sit on the floor and play with my child, that a bigger house/nicer yard/more possessions mean nothing in comparison to having your family, that I need God more than anything, and that the little things are made so much clearer now! I'm not going to lie..by the end of the day Lucas' bedtime could not come soon enough but by the morning I am so happy to walk in to his room and great him with the biggest hug and kiss ready to start our day of adventures once more!! So I apologize for the status' that dont relfect the huge blessing that my child is to me..I will be working on changing those! More than likely there will be times that they reflect the kind of day that I am having but more often than not I find I am not the only one in that boat!! Right?? Right??

Fixing the dishwasher with daddy

His new found love!!!

Mother's Day pictures...getting attacked/kissed??

Little blurry but cute anyways

I believe he was whining at this point..not wanting to be held!

These matching tshirts were not planned!! Colby showed up wearing the same one!

Colby loving his cousin "luke"

Playing peekaboo with mommy