August 31, 2016

PRINTABLE SEPTEMBER 2016 CALENDAR

August 31, 2016/ Laura Liira

Oh wow, September is TOMORROW! I'm eagerly awaiting its arrival as I love all things September. Changing leaves, sweaters, pumpkin spice everything, a non-sweaty baby...HELLO!

So as per usual, I've made you a September calendar to help you with your fall planning! I don't know about you, but September always kicks my butt into full on planning mode and this year is no different. We have students right now, so meal planning is a must! Now that I'm 30, I want to get back on the exercise bandwagon because I'm not gonna say no to a Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffin..haha. Oh, and I'm also redesigning my blog this month and will be back helping with Dream Women at GT because it's fall time and I just can't not fill my calendar... :)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR SEPTEMBER CALENDAR
(FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY)

Happy last day of August!

XO,
laura

August 26, 2016

HELLO WEEKEND

August 26, 2016/ Laura Liira

TGIF. I'm particularly excited about this weekend because I'M TURNING 30 and we're celebrating ALL WEEKEND!!! Goodbye 20's, HELLO 30's!!! It feels crazy to be entering a new decade but I have so much to be thankful for. Next week, I'll blog some of those thoughts but for now I'm going to spend some time with James & Luca. CYA MONDAY when I'll be a 30 YEAR OLD!!!!!!

XO,
laura

image via

August 25, 2016

HIGH CONTRAST BABY VISUAL STIMULATION PRINTABLE

August 25, 2016/ Laura Liira

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)

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!

August 24, 2016

4 YEARS MARRIED

August 24, 2016/ Laura Liira

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

All photos by AMERIS

August 22, 2016

LIIRA FAMILY PHOTO SESSION

August 22, 2016/ Laura Liira

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.