LEARNING TO EMBRACE LIFE'S MESSES

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It's a known face that I've never been a neat freak. My best friend warned my husband in her maid of honour speech on our wedding day, ha.
And with having babies, I think that fact has been a blessing in disguise....(but ask my husband, he may have a different opinion, ha!) 

Honestly, having a clean and tidy home does bring me peace...but if you have kiddos, you know these cute little creatures sure love to do everything in their tiny power to destroy said clean and tidy house.....seriously, how can one tiny creature do so much damage in so little time!?

At first Luca's messes stressed me out like crazy. Food all over the floor, pots and bowls out of every cupboard, toys absolutely everywhere. But I've been learning as a mama (and soon to be mama of 2!!!!) that sometimes you need to embrace life's messes...and be thankful that great cleaning products from The Libman Company exist!

So these days instead of putting everything away as he tornadoes through the toy box, I'm choosing to embrace the mess, to just sit on the floor, play and discover the world with him. It's really so neat to see the world through the eyes of a tiny human.

And the crazy thing is, I'm discovering that he LOVES to clean! (I think he gets that from his dada, ha!) We purchased a Libman broom for him yesterday from Canadian Tire and it's his new favourite toy. It's the cutest thing to see him tottering around the house trying to sweep up messes....but hey at 38 weeks pregnant, I'll take ANY help I can get lols.

P.S. While we were at Canadian Tire we checked out The Libman Company's full line and got hooked on their Wonder Mop ...especially the fact that it's machine washable aka no disposable refil pads!

Also, if you sign up for their newsletter, you get $3 off your purchase!

I'd love to hear from some of you experienced mamas out there...how do you embrace the messes? How do you balance the cleaning AND the enjoying your little one's discovery of the world?

XOXO,
Laura

BABY GIRL MATERNITY PHOTOSHOOT

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A few weeks ago my favourite Victoria photographer Rachael Alexandra took photos of myself and baby girl! My gorgeous maternity dress is from my fave maternity store Pink Blush. Seriously, everything I've received from them has been AMAZING!

We met up just before sunset and caught the tail end of the golden hour. I'm so thrilled with how the photos turned out!

I'm almost 37 weeks and am definitely feeling large and in charge, ha..so it's nice to feel pretty! I almost didn't have a maternity shoot with this pregnancy but I know looking back on it, I would definitely regret it. I want my baby girl to know, although I was feeling verrrry pregnant (re: HUGE), it is still such a precious time that I want to look back on and fondly remember. Thank you Rachael for going above and beyond and making me feel lovely!

Dress- c/o Pink Blush
Faux Fur- Forever 21 (similar)
Leather Jacket- Artizia
 

Still can't believe baby girl is coming SOO SOON!!!!!

XO,
Laura

BOHO BABY GIRL SHOWER

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A couple weeks ago my dear friends threw me the sweetest baby shower! Baby girl and I got mad blessed by our amazing village. Seriously, I have the bestest friends, family and church family!! 

How stunning is that cake!!!!??? Rachel Cakes made it to replica that invite and she absolutely nailed it! It also was waaaay too delicious! If you live in Victoria, I HIGHLY recommend hiring her!
I ordered the shortbread cookies for favours from Cookie For Occasions and they were SO good.
My dress is from Pink Blush. I've gotten so much use out of it and I know I will post baby too as it's set up to be a nursing dress as well! 
I also designed the invite...if you want to order, please contact me!

Huge, huge, huge thanks to Courtney and Rachel for planning such a killer shower. Thanks to my mother in law for hosting!! And all of my girl gang who loved on baby girl and I...she's going to be so blessed to be surrounded by amazing women like yourselves!

XO,
Laura

5 YEARS

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Today marks five years of being married to my best friend and love, James. Through five years we've had amazing milestones- missions trip to India, vacations, buying a house, having a baby, getting pregnant with #2 and so so so much more.

Five years of so many moments. Moments of pure joy. Moments of craziness. Moments of pain. Moments of love. So so many moments. I can't reflect on our marriage without acknowledging God's faithfulness. A few weeks back in church we were singing this song and I couldn't hold back the tears as I thought about the past five years...

I will sing of all You've done
I'll remember how far You carried me
From beginning until the end
You are faithful, faithful to the end

There wasn't a day
That You weren't by my side
There wasn't a day
That You let me fall
All of my life
Your love has been true

Through every single moment, God was there. Through the incredibly beautiful ones, through the excruciating painful ones..He was there, holding us together, carrying us through. 

I'd love to give some practical advice on marriage but the main thing that has held us together has been JESUS. It's not every story, but it's our story and all that I know to make a marriage work! Other practical things that have been good for us have been:

  • being friends...actually enjoying each other's company..with the phone put away (so hard for me!),
  • remembering you're on the same team when you disagree...the issue is not between you...you are together and your job is to work through the issue not let it tear you a part 
  • clearly communicating...always have to remind myself, James cannot read my mind, ha.
  • don't be so serious all the time
  • kiss a lot...hug and hold...hug for at least 1 minute and think nice thoughts about your spouse!
  • invite people into your life...we're really trying to get better at this as life has been so nutso entering parenthood but it's one we value so much when we make the time to be with others!!

I look back on the past five years with such thankfulness. I'm so thankful that God gave me you, James Peter Liira. And I look forward to our future with such hope and anticipation because I'm believing our best days are still yet to come. Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be.

all photos by AMERIS 

SUMMER FAMILY PHOTOS

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For mother's day/mum's 60th bday this year, my siblings and I got together and purchased our mama a family photoshoot. Our mum raised four children and she must have done something right because we all turned out ok...lols, JK LOVE YOU MUM.

But seriously, our mum is a champion, she was a single working mama and worked her butt off to support us kiddos. I'm blessed to have 3 amazing siblings and have gained a beautiful sister in law, wonderful brother in law, gorgeous niece and incredible nephew in the deal too!

Family is a beautiful thing, but let's get real...it's also messy and holds a lot of pain too. But where there is pain, there is opportunity for healing. I look at this photo of my family and I see so much redemption. I see God's incredible work of healing and restoration. He's not done yet but oh, if you could see how far we've come, you'd get weepy. Miracles happen.

How stunning is my family!! 

All photos by Rachael Alexendra + Co (duhh!)

XO,
laura