HIGH CONTRAST BABY VISUAL STIMULATION PRINTABLE
It's kind of an amazing thing that my sister and I had our babies exactly one month apart! We meet up often to go to the mall or for a walk or just hang at her house. It's the best that we can experience everything together. Earlier this week I discovered that Luca really likes to visit his cousin as that means he gets to play in her mamaroo. He was super content and absolutely loved the black and white mobile that hung over his head. It consisted of super cute black and white monsters.
I could not get over how much he loved it. He was smiling and cooing galore and he even cried when I took him off it! Babies love high contrast images because they can actually see them and they help them develop their vision...it's also key to developing their cognitive thinking (I got that from my teacher friend Renee...hope I wrote that correctly, ha!) So when we got home I searched the net and pinterest and didn't find the cutest images so I decided to make my own.
If follow me on snapchat (@lauraliira) you would see how Luca loved it. It was seriously the cutest thing to see him chatting away to the bear and puppy. I printed a couple for different spots around the house and as you can see above and below, it fits right into his nursery ;) I couldn't get a close up shot where he was in focus because we was so excited looking at it. The sweetest.
I edited the original to make the triangles higher contrast and he likes it even more! Scroll down to download :)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
(For Personal Use Only)
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XO,
Laura
P.S. Luca's outfit is from Gap but I couldn't find it on the website (this one is similar) and change pad cover is from here!
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4 YEARS MARRIED
Oh, look how far we've come. Four years of marriage and here I sit at 5:30am pumping and typing while you feed our baby. Real life babe. It's not as glamorous as our year two celebration at that gorgeous cabin on the ocean or our couple's massage, amazing dinner and hotel stay last year. It will be our first anniversary where we actually stay in our own home and as soon as we do get home from dinner, I may have to feed a crying baby. But you know what, this is my favourite one yet.
Because this year is different from the rest. We've seen vulnerability in each other on a whole new level. You saw me at my worst but yet my best moment as I brought our boy earth side and you loved me even more. Do you know how much it meant to me when you said that was the greatest moment of your life? Hollywood and society has made birth to be something that's messy and gross. It is messy, but it ain't gross. People say "you'll never see your wife the same way" and they mean that to be a bad thing. That saying is true for us but instead of it being a bad thing, it's a good thing.
I see myself different in your eyes now. You told me I was your hero and that you were so proud of me. You told me I was stronger than ever. And even more beautiful than before. And I believed you love. I still believe you. You took care of me when I was a mess, emotionally and physically, a big ol mess...with all the difficult things postpartum life brings. You did drugstore runs, getting what no man ever wants to be seen with at the checkout. And you did it without complaining because you love me.
Ha, boy did Hollywood get it wrong. Even though I weigh much more now than I did on our wedding day, I can see more love in your eyes. It's deeper, it's stronger, it's more.
We're proving the world wrong love. Marriage after a baby is a beautiful thing.
And the way you love our son. Oh, my heart melts seeing him light up when you're around and then looking at you, looking at him. Stick a fork in me, I am done. It's just too much.
And it's been hard, excruciating hard. I've yelled too many times. I've cried, you've cried, there have been oceans of tears. But he's shaping us, I see it, you see it. God's shaping us to be more like him. As we figure out this parent thing along with this marriage thing we're experiencing more and more of his grace. We're learning how crucial it is to depend on him.
As we grow we're both becoming more aware that we have no idea what we're doing but I think that's exactly where he wants us. That way our pride is stripped away and we realize just how much we need him and each other.
So happy to be on this beautiful, messy, scary yet exciting journey with you.
Love you more than ever.
Happy Anniversary,
XO,
laura
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All photos by AMERIS
LIIRA FAMILY PHOTO SESSION
While Joy, Ryan & Sebastian (Jame's sis & famjam) were in town, James' parents arranged a family photo session and the pictures turned out so well! Sebastian and Luca are only six months apart and I defs see a cousin resemblance! Can't wait to see them running around chasing after each other next summer.
Ok, how beautiful is the Liira family!!!
All photos were taken by Spark Photography and I would definitely recommend them. Chris was super friendly and great at directing us as well!
Happy Monday :)
XO,
laura
HELLO WEEKEND
Happy Friday everybody! Is anyone else so excited for the weekend? It's been MAD hot around here....hotter than it usually is in late August. I guess it's not crazy hot compared to some places but the thing is, barely anybody has A/C here! And we fall into that group, so here I am with a sweaty baby attached to me and it's like 30 degrees IN my house....can I just say how excited I am for fall? Ha.
Today Courtney and I are hitting up a lake, so I am very excited to have my first lake jump of the summer....oh how times have changed since having a baby, haha.
Tonight James is playing with Towers & Trees at Butchart Gardens! If you're local to Victoria, you should totally go as it's their last show for awhile!! Can't wait to see pretty flowers and hear them play.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend...it's my last weekend as a twenty-something because next Sunday I'm turning 30!!!!
XO,
laura
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PARKSVILLE FAMILY VAYCAY
Last week we headed up island to Parksville for a little family vacation. Parksville is located about two hours north of Victoria and has some beautiful beaches! Both James and I grew up spending summer vacations there, so we were eager to go back and create some new memories.
We went up with James' family and they camped at Rathtrevor while myself and James' mum stayed Madrona (which is a resort that's super close.) It was great to have the resort for the babe's to nap in and HELLO, I'm not going to tent with my two month old. But we did spend a lot of time at the campsite which was so fun!
Luca was such a champ! Obviously a vacation is not a vacation when you are a mom to a two month old but I was surprised with how well he did...aside from sleeping..aaah. He was defs affected by his shots and woke up quite a few times during the night BUT he napped like a champ in his carseat and ergo. We would spend most evenings at the campsite eating dinner, beach walking and hanging out around the fire. It was sooo amazing to have an actual fire...gimme all them smores!!
Luca even had his first "dip" in the ocean!
We also hit up Englishman River (where I stayed in the car as Luca napped and nursed, ha) and Coombs (ice cream is a must there)! James and I snuck away one morning and had breakfast at Bread & Honey...which we totally recommend for a cheap, delicious breakfast! We also walked by the tiny motel my family used to stay at...so many memories!
I was up one morning to see the sunrise (not by choice, ha!) and it was stunning.
My favourite moment had to be the post dinner beach walk on our last night. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous and Luca slept the whole time in James' arms. It was so precious!!!
It was a fun trip...super exhausting but so good to make memories with family! One day I will be able to enjoy the beach again with an uninterrupted tanning session, riiiigggghhhtt???
Hope you're having an amazing week!
XO,
laura