The World is a Playground

Emma is obsessed with books. We started a library for her before she was even born and we've added a ton of books since. Within her collection of books, we've acquired some seasonal books. One of her absolute favourites is a Halloween flip book - Halloween is Here! So I thought it might be great to share some book recommendations in case other parents are looking for some non-candy Halloween gift ideas.

The weather changed very quickly here. One day it was summer and the next day we had to dig out our pants because the weather had turned cool. I'm not going to lie, I'm loving it. September is the beginning of my favourite seasons - fall through Christmas. 

The evenings and nights are quite cold already. I'm finding myself pulling out hoodies to wear on the couch and warmer flannel pajamas for bedtime. With cool evenings comes hot drinks while I watch TV or work on the computer. Since I'm no longer pregnant and avoiding herbal teas, I've been drinking through my tea collection. I thought I'd share my favourite hot teas to drink during the cooler months.

Have you ever had banana pancakes? A few friends kept making them and posting them on their Instagram so I finally asked for the recipe and it seems everyone makes them slightly different. Most people try to avoid adding too many grains to them or they try to make them Keto-friendly. But I wasn't necessarily interested in these pancakes to avoid too many carbs, but for something different for breakfast. Especially because at this point Emma was eating finger foods and I thought she'd like these.

What a year 2020 has been. Because of the pandemic, being glued to the news, and all the stresses of the coronavirus, my pregnancy flew by. Like I blinked, and all of a sudden I was 38 weeks pregnant. Thankfully the pregnancy went pretty smooth. I don't know if I could have handled much pregnancy stress on top of the real world stress. My anxiety was already high between going off my anxiety medication at the beginning of the pregnancy and the coronavirus. 

There's no way you're alive in this world without knowing about COVID-19 and what it's doing to our world and communities. It's a scary situation.

My anxiety has been high since this pregnancy started and this pandemic is definitely not helping. Because of this and because I'm very cautious about this pregnancy, I've decided self-isolation is the best thing for me. It keeps me feeling safe and less anxious not being around people. It's definitely the best decision for my mental health.

Source

Over the last few years we talked about getting a dog. I grew up with two dogs and knew how much work they can be so I was hesitant. But Adam has always wanted a dog and kept pushing the idea on me. We thought we might get one after the embryo transfer so the dog would be trained and comfortable by the time the baby came. Well, after the transfer failed, and we were both sad and depressed, the idea of a dog became even more appealing.

9 weeks old

You know the cliche about how when you stop trying to have a baby, that's when you'll get pregnant? Yep, we're that cliche. Two months after our failed embryo transfer, we got pregnant naturally. Crazy, right? To be honest, we hate that we're that cliche. Don't get me wrong, we're so excited and thrilled and happy. The idea of giving Emma a sibling warms every inch of me.