New Arrival

So, you may have guessed from the dearth of blog posts that something has happened. Well, yes, indeedie!

We have a new baby boy, Hugo, who has rocked our world. In a good way. He was born early in the morning of April 17th (12:47 am). He came into the world with great speed after a 10-day delay.

{ iPhone photo of Hugo a few hours after he was born}

I couldn't have asked for a better birth experience. Hugo came quickly {+/- 2 hours of labour}. And there's no way I could have done it without the support of my incredible husband, Craig, and our fabulous midwife, Irene of Midwifery Associates, North Shore.

The kids are loving their little brother. They are so kind & gentle with him, it is pure sweetness to watch them love him so much:

{ big sister Paulina in the hospital }

{ big brother x2 Sebastian at the hospital }

{ dog pile on Mum & Dad's bed }

{ kisses for Hugo from P }

And a few more assorted photos... just in case you needed confirmation that we are IN LOVE with this little morsel of a person:

{ me & H }

{ big yawns from a tiny man }

{ kisses from Dad }

{ handsome boys }

{ a-snooze }

{ now we are FIVE! }

Soon I will be back to blogging about design-related things but for now Hugo is taking centre stage. And that's just fine by me.

Kisses..... Julia

PS - many of these photos { all the black & whites and the colour one of Hugo napping } were taken by Becky of Bee Chalmers Photography. She's great. She's a friend & a fabulous photographer & did our prenatal photos. She can even make a sleep-deprived new mama look half-decent. Which, in my books, goes a LOOOOOooNG way!

Happy 6th Birthday

Happy Birthday, Paulina {aka Leenzie-Loo, Super Dooper Looper, Sweet P... our Paulina Gabriella Smith}. Six years ago today in the early morning hours you hastened into this world surprising everyone with your speed of arrival. You still have a mind of your own & do things in your own time. You are sweet, kind, sparky, have a great sense of humour & love with your whole heart. God bless you little one as you grow into a lovely big girl.

Kisses, your mama, always. xxxoo

Diaper Style Memoirs Take 2

I mentioned a few days ago that I was contributing {a VERY little bit} to one of my new fave blogs, Diaper Style Memoirs.

{ well I was!! }

You can check out the entire post by clicking HERE. Inessa was super creative in her compilation of picks from 5 different bloggers & I love the swimsuits on a line effect:

{ cute clothesline }

Not a full fledged guest blog but it looks like I am on my way to striking off #19 on my list of 40 {see all 40 "to dos" here}.

40 things to do in my 40th year

I am turning 40 today. Here's little girl me {far left} with 2 of my sisters & 2 of my cousins:

{ full of giggles }

And here's me now:

{ big smiles in the sun }

I am blessed with a belly full of baby, a best friend for a husband who still gives me goosebumps {in a good way!} & 2 children who bring joy & light & craziness into what could otherwise be a much too well-ordered life. I am lucky enough to have 4 sisters who are my besties & confidantes no matter how many miles separate us. I have parents who encourage me & challenge me & support me no matter what. I have a gaggle of friends I can laugh & cry with and a bunch of wonderful in-laws who I'd be friends with even if I weren't "married in".

{ the big four-oh }

I enjoy where I live, what I do & how I feel when I wake up in the morning. Most days. The days I don't make me grateful for the days I do.

So, because I'm waiting on this lil' babes to arrive & can't go out for dinner & have too much vino or spend the week surfing in Costa Rica like a friend is doing for his 40th {jealous much??!} I've decided to create a list of 40 things I want to do this coming year.

Ready? Here goes......

1. plant flowers

2. get more smile lines

3. run a race {5k - 10k}

4. buy myself some jewellery {not the costume kind}

5. stretch daily

6. take a dance class

7. take dj lessons

8. go to a music festival {would love to go to Coachella or Mali's Festival Au Desert}

9. fly first class somewhere

10. eat an ice cream cone with more than one scoop of full fat ice cream

11. plant some veggies

12. hang up more art in my house

13. do a girls' shopping trip

14. read my devotional & Bible daily

15. walk more

16. drive less

17. visit one of my sisters in their home

18. have a baby

19. do a guest blog

20. have someone guest blog for me

21. have more patience

22. take a cooking course with Craig

23. go on a wine tour

24. make a really fantastic sand castle with the kids

25. find more beach glass

26. set up a cozy guest room in our basement

27. get our final occupancy permit

28. vote

29. volunteer

30. wear sunscreen

31. bike ride around the seawall with the family

32. learn to skate

33. take swimming lessons

34. snowshoe

35. get chairs for our master bedroom deck & enjoy a morning & an evening out there with my love

36. get more comfortable driving the Mastercraft X2

37. sew something for the new baby

38. speak kindly more often {especially to my kids}

39. put up hooks in mud room

40. make fresh-squeezed lemonade

Some of these are highly ambitious. Some are easy-peasy. Truth be told, it's a little intimidating to put these out there in case I don't stroke them all off within the year. But they say {whoever "they" are} that if you want to do something you need to be held accountable. So, I figure blog world is as good a place as any to be held accountable, right?!

{ Happy 40th to me!!!! }

House of Turquoise

The House of Turquoise is another blog that I have started following recently.

{ and you could add Tiffany blue to her list }

It must be all this "waiting for baby to arrive" time spent on the computer but I've found a few new blogs that I am LOVING. Today, House of Turquoise's Erin featured a gorgeous kitchen created by Landmark Kitchens for a professional chef in Cornwall, England. Check it out:

{ copious bottles of vino? CHECK! }

{ open shelving at work }

{ enjoying the eggshell blue/grey colour of the cabinetry }

What do you think? Could you spend the day cooking here? Methinks the answer is yes.

Diaper Style Memoirs

I have recently started following a wonderful blog, Diaper Style Memoirs, written by Inessa to document her daughter's everyday moments.

{ an example of the site's whimsical style }

The blog is beautifully crafted & she has built up a savvy following including Design Mom, Spearmint Baby, Babble.com... and the list goes on.

One of my favourite posts is this one where Inessa gives her readers an AMAZING gift of this paper doll & clothing:

{ Seraphina Spring Doll 2011 }

{ assorted spring outfits }

{ more spring-y outfits }

The downloads are no longer available but what a kind, thoughtful person to give out these INCREDIBLE gifts to her blogworld readers? Pretty generous, I'd say!!!

Inessa put out a shout out to contribute to her blog by picking a number of swimsuits for boys & girls for Summer 2011. I jumped at the chance to {a} be involved in ANY way with this fabulous blog & {b} browse the web anticipating summer & swimming & WARMTH. I'm not sure when it will be published by her but I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, check out Diaper Style Memoirs. You won't be disappointed!!!