See ya, 2013!

2013, you've been so good to me!
I'm gonna miss you, but I'm pretty sure 2014 has lots to offer!

Whenever I'll feel nostalgic (I know I will, somehow I always do!) I'll take a look at this little video, with the largest smile on my face!

Happy New Year to all of you guys!
Wishing you all the best for 2014!

Talk to you soon!

Homemade spiced hot chocolate

Winter (especially the Holiday Season) calls for hot chocolate with extra marshmallows!

Today, Livia tasted her first homemade hot chocolate and she loved it! I made myself a chai-inspired spice mix the other night and it turned out to be the perfection addition to hot chocolate. I just made sure not to put any chili flakes in Livia's hot chocolate because it would have been too spicy for her.

Here's my little recipe, totally improvised, on the spot, because I was craving a spiced hot chocolate!

Spiced Hot Chocolate

for about 2 portions:

-1 cup of milk
-1 cup of almond milk (mine was vanilla flavored)
-1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
-2 tablespoons of cacao powder
-1 tablespoon of sugar

Chai-inspired spice mix:
-1 teaspoon of cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon of cardamom
-1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
-1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
-2 cloves
-a few chili flakes (to taste/ optional if you don't want your hot chocolate to be too spicy)

1. In a saucepan, on the stove, mix the milk, almond milk, vanilla extract & sugar together.
2. Bring to a boil, then add the cacao powder & spice mix.
3. Make sure everything is well mixed to avoid any clumps.
4. Lower the temperature & simmer for a few minutes.
5. Pour in a mug, on top of marshmallows (mine were store bought but homemade marshmallows are even better!)
6. ENJOY!

How do you like your hot chocolate?

Our Christmas: 2013 edition

Hope you all had a great Christmas with your loved ones!
This year edition was a 3-days long celebration and I know some kiddos who got spoiled quite a lot! ;) On the 24th, we had supper at my dad's house, on the 25th, in the morning, we opened our gifts at home, just the 4 of us, then headed to my mother in law for supper. Then on the 26th, my father in law & my mother came by to visit the kids & give them more gifts! A real gift extravaganza!

Here are some pics I've taken on Christmas morning, when we celebrated our 1st Christmas as a family of four, wearing our pj's! We had placed the gifts under the tree during the night (the tree was in Livia's room this year) hoping Livia would come running to our room telling us there were gifts under her tree.... but she didn't even notice! Haha! Maybe next year!

I love gift wrapping & pretty packages!

Ninja pose!

That face: Priceless!

"What's going on?"

Concentration

Talk to you soon!

This the season to be jolly...

About a week or so left before Christmas...it has never been a big deal for me but things are starting to change now that I have kids. Guess I want them to have great memories they can cherish as they grow up! Here's what we've been up to today in order to get in the Holiday's spirit! It's the 1st year that Livia can really get involved in the Christmas preparations & we had so much fun today! This morning, we've decorated the tree together (it's even more special because it's HER tree...it's in her bedroom since the living room is way too cluttered due to our basement's renovations...no place for a tree there!) Then this afternoon, my sister-in-law came for a Christmas cookie party! I think we've found ourselves a new tradition!

What are your Christmas traditions? Feel free to share in the comments section!
Talk to you soon!

4 months

Dear Logan,

Where has the last month gone, please tell me?! I'm still impressed with how calm & happy you are! Even though the teething has begun and I can clearly see you are in pain sometimes, it doesn't stop you from laughing, smiling & giggling...and I LOVE IT! You're interacting more & more with your sister and I can tell she loves it too! You came with me to some events (like this one), dinner with friends in noisy restaurants & even to my office's Christmas party & each & every time, you have proven to be such a little trooper! You make me so overly proud!

Can't get enough of this smile!

Dear Livia,

Once again this month, we've had our ups & downs...we still have some issues communicating but each & every day, I try to put myself in your shoes to better understand what you need from me as a mom. Some days I might feel like I'm doing everything wrong, but then again, I think parenthood is a constant work in progress...I keep learning each & every day because being a parent to a baby is quite different than being a parent to a toddler...and so on! As you grow up, my parenting skills need to adapt & I thank you for showing me the way! xo

That face!

*Some people have been asking where Logan's scarf came from & I would like to take a few minutes to share this precious info with you guys. Leonie is a 2 years old little girl affected by a rare condition called FOXG1 syndrome. Her parents are raising money with these cute scarves to help pay for all the necessities & equipment they need for their daughter to grow up in the best conditions possible.You can learn more about Leonie here (please note this website is in French) & buy your own scarf in their Etsy shop. Thanks for your help!*

Drink. Replenish. Glow.

Lately, I've been feeling a bit more tired than usual (see this post) & I thought that a little 1-day detox could help me get back on track & give me a little energy boost. I've discovered Glow, a Montreal-based company offering cleansing system. You can choose to go with a 1-day detox (just like me!) , 2 days or 3 days detox (if you feel wild! haha! ;) ) 6 smoothies per day will be delivered to your door to make things even easier.

Looks at those vibrant colors! Yummy!

BEFORE MY DETOX
For your detox to be as beneficial as possible, you have to prep your body! Here's a little recap of my menu the day before my detox:

Morning:
-glass of water with the juice of 1 lemon (as recommended by Glow)
-fruit salad (I used what I had on hands; clementine, grapefruit, banana & green apple

Around 10am, I drank an herbal tea (Forever nuts from David's Tea, so yummy!!!)

Lunch time:
- vegetables (carrots, celery, peppers) with a edamame & cilantro hummus dip
- grapefruit

Dinner:
- Arugula salad with avocado, grapefruit & hemp seeds
- Pumpkin soup (without any dairy product) with curry & caramelized onions

This salad tasted soooo good! I'll definitely be making it again!

D-DAY ("D" STANDS FOR DETOX!)
Each bottle are properly identified from 1 to 6 so you know exactly in what order you have to drink your smoothies. You also have a 3-hours time frame on each bottle to help you know when you should be drinking them, which is really helpful to plan your day. For those of you following me on IG, you've seen my pics & read my comments throughout the day. All the smoothies tasted great, I was a bit worried that the green one would have a strong "weed-like" taste, but it was actual quite refreshing. Even though I was allowed to have a few snacks since I'm breastfeeding, I was also worried I would feel hungry all day long, but to my great surprise, I wasn't! I ended up eating veggies & edamame hummus at lunch time & dinner time only...didn't feel the need to snack on anything else throughout the day!

Lunch time

I completed my detox last Friday and wanted to wait a few days to share my comments with you guys to see the effects on my body afterwards and I have to say, I feel quite great! I don't know exactly how to explain, but I feel "lighter" than I usually do. You know how you can often feel bloated after a meal...I felt like that most of the time since I gave birth about 4 months ago.This weekend was quite busy & Saturday night was a rough one (both kids woke up 2-3 times each between 2am & 6am) but I really feel less tired, more energized than I felt last week! Many of you also wanted to know if the detox had any "side-effects" on my baby boy since I'm breastfeeding him. Everything went smoothly with the baby, the only thing I could say is that the following day, he pooped a lot! Sorry for the details, but you guys asked & I deliver! ;) And when I say a lot, I mean quite more than usual... guess it had to do with all the fibers I consumed during the detox! Overall, I really liked my 1st detox experience! It's not too harsh & it's something I could see myself doing once or twice a year! :)

*Please note this is not an actual "sponsored" post, but I'd like to thank Glow for offering me a free trial. All opinions expressed in this post are my very own*