Our life in doodles...

I'm sure many of you are following the blog A Beautiful Mess...
It's actually one of my favorite, so when I learned they were launching an amazing app to edit pictures (perfect for the Instagram addict I am!) I got pretty excited! Have you tried it yet? I'm totally in love with it!

So here's a little recap of our week through pictures I've edited with the app! :)
Enjoy!

A girlie version of my tooth monster...custom orders are always fun!

My pointy baby bump!

Livia just loves her birthday balloons!

Cookie dough love...

I've treated myself to some good homemade cookies

Sipping an amazing smoothie...her favorite! The recipe is from a friend's blog called Trois fois par jour (it's in French but it's worth taking a look at!)

Finally ordered some Salt Water sandals for Livia...and they fir perfectly! Cutest little feet EVER!!!

What I woke up to one morning...

A picture my boyfriend took this week...what's not to love?

Early morning bath...Lots of fun!

My little helper...

We had fun picking out the plants for our veggie patch!

WHEN did she get so tall?!?! and so grown up...?

She loves her uncle's birthday gift!

She asked for painted toes just like mine....

My little lady is turning 2!

That's it!

The celebrations are over...and I'm exhausted!
We had a great day! Livia got totally spoiled, ate too much sugar, didn't nap & went to sleep late! Guess that's what a typical toddler's birthday should look like! ;)

Here's my take on the Pink Lemonade theme I talked about here.

So happy she liked our gift! This ukulele is just perfect!

Mmmmmmm....Yummy! Cupcakes made with love are the best! ;)

Hope you all had a great Saturday!
Talk to you soon!

Birthday moodboard

In about a week, Livia will be turning 2!
Can't believe it!

I'm usually not a last minute person...but we've been sooooo busy lately, I haven't had time to start preparing for her birthday really! So this morning, while she was sleeping in the bed besides me (rough night...again!) I've decided to put together a little moodboard for her birthday.
This might help me visualize what I want, and make a list of what can be done in a week...and what supplies I need to buy!

This year, her birthday's theme will be "Pink Lemonade"!
Found so many pretty ideas on Pinterest, I really had to narrow it down!

Here's my inspiration moodboard...

Lemonade pitcher via Catch my party 
Balloons via Inside out
Raspberry Lemonade cupcakes via Cait's plate
Centerpieces via Tumblr 
Pinwheels via Etsy

Lately, I've been addicted to lemonade and I've tried this awesome recipe! Love it! Nothing beats freshly squeezed lemonade! Guess I'll also have to find a cool pink lemonade recipe, a pitcher of each would look great on the table!...I've seen it made with grapefruit or even with strawberries or raspberries...what do you think would be best?

Talk to you soon!

Poor little thing...

Can't wait for this week to be behind us...

It hasn't been an easy one & I absolutely hate seeing my kiddo feeling this bad (don't we all?)
What started out as a little cold and runny nose last Friday began worrying us more when she started coughing like crazy, especially during the night! Yesterday, she wasn't feeling good at all & her fever was getting worst so we went to the doctor's office.Turns out she has an ear infection & throat infection! :(

Making funny faces, even with a fever! That was actually her face when she heard a baby cry in the room next to us at the doctor's office!

So today, I took a day off work...but it hasn't been an easy day!
We started the day off slowly, cuddling in bed watching cartoons...

So so serious...

Hate seeing her like this, especially when she cries & I can feel her pain but can't really do much about it! Luckily, it seems that the medicine started to kick in because during bath time, she seemed happy & relaxed!

Little mermaid...she loves water!

I was starting to miss this smile of hers! Glad to see she might be starting to feel better! The fever is down & we're off to what I wish is going to be a good night of sleep! We all need this! ;)

How was your week?
Can't wait for the weekend to be here!
Wish you all a good Friday!

Montessori take 2

Last week, as I explained here, I figured out it would be nice to include some Montessori activities for Livia in our schedule, a few times a week! She had so much fun with the color sorting activity, I decided to search the web for some inspiration for additional activities.

I came across some memory game made especially for toddlers. I found a few made of wood, but thought it could be neat to make a prototype out of fabric. I used felt & cotton woven printed fabric to create this quick prototype (only 8 pieces) while Livia was napping last Sunday. Turned out to be a hit!

I shared some pictures on my Facebook page & Instagram account and the vibe was pretty good, so yesterday, I decided to create my very 1st Montessori inspired fabric memory game! This 1st model includes 14 pieces made with 7 different fabric. It's pretty neutral so I think both boys & girls will enjoy it!

I'll continue brainstorming some Montessori inspired ideas...and will keep you posted for sure! ;)

Have a lovely day!

PS: I have a brand new Instagram account totally dedicated to CUTIFULbaby! :)
I'll be sharing pictures of new items available for sale, so keep your eyes peeled!

Lately...

The last few months have been very busy & kind of ectic around here...at least, that's how I feel!
I'm already halfway through my pregnancy & things just seem to go faster than ever... Lately, I've had a hard time dealing with the fact that I wasn't able to keep up with my Etsy shops...I felt like I was letting things go, like I wasn't dedicating as much time as usual or as much as I would have wanted to to my little business! When you put so much hard work into something you love & you're proud of, it's kinda hard to accept that sometimes, IT'S ALRIGHT to take a little break, to slow things down a little...

It's alright if there are only a few items left in your shop even though you have hundreds of ideas fighting one another in your head...it's alright to take time for yourself, to relax in a hot bath after work or go to bed early if you feel like you need to instead of doing late night sewing like you were used to!

With our busy schedules ( and I'm sure many of you parents will understand exactly what I'm talking about!) it gets so easy to "spend" less time with our kiddos...I mean, I "spend" time with Livia, but running errands or being next to her in the living room while she plays by herself and I fold laundry is not what I call quality time...I've realized that I was often too busy with everything else that I didn't take as much time as I used to to simply sit down with her and actually play WITH her!

That being said, I decided that I wanted to start trying some Montessori activities with Livia on a weekly basis! Today, we tried out our 1st color sorting activity & it was a big hit!

She did this like a champ! Proud mama's moment!

More color sorting on the couch after dinner!

Montessori fun from Vanessa Giguere on Vimeo.

She had a lot of fun & I had fun too watching her play & learn all at once! In the end, all we needed was a few colored bowls with matching color items : fridge alphabet magnets, building blocks, crayons, plastic utensils...

 Margaux, a blogger friend, also recommended this amazing blog with plenty of ideas for Montessori activities! It's called How we Montessori and I'm pretty sure it will be a great source of inspiration in the upcoming weeks!

Wish you all a great Sunday!
Enjoy!

It's a girl.... NO, wait! ... It's A BOY!!!!

Last Friday, I had my 2nd ultrasound & to our great surprise, we are having a baby boy!

When I say surprise, it was quite a surprise...for about 10 minutes, we thought we were having a girl according to what to technician had told us! I was already brainstorming names in my head when she suddenly yelled "OMG! Wait a minute...I'm so wrong, this is absolutely NOT a girl!"
I laughed so hard, I literally thought my bladder was going to explode (any pregnant woman knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about! Drink 750ml in 15 minutes & wait about 2 hours... ;) )

Anyhow! We are pretty excited about this little boy! And all weekend long, it felt as if I was on my little cloud, thinking about names, browsing Etsy for cute baby boy items, making a list of what we'll have to buy... I even made my very 1st boy purchase...how could I have resisted? Aren't they cute!

I love Little Hip Squeaks, Amy is one of these amazing momtrepreneur who totally rocks & who I totally admire! Her Etsy shop is filled with the most lovely prints you'll ever see!

 Really hope this little boy of mine will give me plenty of inspiration for boy items! :)

Have a good night you guys!
Talk to you soon!