Cibo...made to share

Last night we went out to celebrate my brother in law's birthday at Cibo, an amazingly decorated restaurant on 17th avenue. Their food is made fresh, served when it is ready and made to share! We have been several times in the past and always enjoyed ourselves, truth be told, it is one of my favorite places to eat in Calgary. The decor always draws me in. The entire restaurant is decorated with upcycled materials full of stories from days gone by.

When we arrived for our 6pm reservation they had a highchair ready at our table and menus were out. The kids menus are laminated and contain a simple menu that is perfect for children. There are a few pizza choices and some pasta dishes ranging in price from $5 - $7 My girls generally like the ham and pineapple pizza and since it is SO big we only need to order one. Yes, that means our kids eat for a teensy tiney bill of $3.50/each! Harper (our youngest) has a severe allergy to milk protein but Cibo has always happily accommodated her by only putting cheese on half the pizza or removing the cheese/milk parts from their pasta dishes. Last night was no different. The girls pizza came quickly and efficiently to our table bubbly and warm with half of the pizza cheese free.

I had salmon with risotto and fennel and Mike had a pizza. My salmon was moist and full of flavour, the risotto was tangy and creamy and I ate every last bite. Everyones dishes were well sized, fresh tasting and delicious. We followed our meal with the Panna Cotta for desert which was absolutely amazing and the girls shared a lemon sorbetto (yay! for dairy free deserts!). The lemon was quite tart but it didn't bother Harper. Evelyn however shared in our Panna Cotta.

While Cibo is largely family friendly they don't have kid cups, crayons etc... that you find in other traditional family friendly restaurants. Make sure to bring a sippy with you if you have young ones and a few activities to keep those littles from getting bored. I always carry a journal with crayons and a few activities for the kids in my bag so it was more or less unnoticed that they didn't have busy hands activities for the kids for our family and friends.

With their fresh, delicious menu, gorgeous decor and casual atmosphere I would recommend any family to eat at Cibo. It is a highly enjoyable experience. Just remember to bring a sippy for your little ones and a few activities to keep their little hands busy so you can enjoy your meal without having to entertain too much.

http://cibocalgary.com/

(photo taken from Cibo Calgary website)

Welcome 2014

Another year has come and gone and of course with that comes a whole new set of goals. I am incredibly proud of what last year was for me and of course my family.

Mike made a job switch and enjoys the new environment, the new pay and the new opportunities. He has some very interesting clients to do IT work for. It is fun to hear some of his stories. Some crazy, some cute, some boring (shhhh don't tell him. I find most of his work to be mostly boring).

Harper turned 2! epps. My baby is BIG. She has been running and climbing and using what seems like millions of words. Harper still struggles with her milk allergy. She has what the doctors have diagnosed as 'Anaphalctic Allergic Collitis'. Essentially this means she can't have any type of milk proteins. They are bad for her! They can kill her or at least cause some serious damage. This has led us to live what I call a "semi crunchy" life. We have become much more organic and natural in our home. If I make it then we know what is in it. This started for Harper's benefit but then we began to realize we all feel better without all the processed food and chemicals in our bodies. Harper love her snuggles so baby wearing became an essential in our home and I am both happy and proud to say my little girl is still rear facing in her carseat at just over 2 years old.

Evelyn is a big whopping 5 years old. She is in kindergarten at the Catholic French Immersion school near our home. They have a lovely sense of community with a very missional attitude. It is very much in line with our way of living and we appreciate that she can go to a school so much in line with our values. Evelyn is bright and lovely and smart. She loves to draw, so much so that we recently registered her for an art class. She continues to dance, this year it is jazz and just as stinking adorable as it was the last two years!

Finally me! I think I had the biggest year of all. Which is odd to say as I am in the thirties but it truly was. I took up running! Between March and October I ran 2 5km races, 2 10km races and 3 half marathons. I never thought I could run a whopping 21km, let along several times in a year. It has been fantastic for my mental and physical health. I have to say my highlight race was definitely San Francisco where I ran the Nike Womens Marathon. What a thrill to run the Embarcadero, the Golden Gate Bridge, pass through the California Redwoods and finish on the beach. While running I also managed to turn it into fundraising. I raised $7000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada in memory of my Father in Law who passed from cancer. I already have BIG goals for this year that include Seattle and my first full marathon in my home city. I also just accepted a volunteer opportunity with Made by Momma (a local charity I love) to mentor and "coach" their charity race team. Participants will be running anything from 5km to a full marathon all in the name of charity and I get to lead the charge. Also very exciting for me was the opportunity to start a little online business with my childhood friend. We are refinishing old furniture and lovely crafting and upcycling items to be used as home decor. It is so wonderful to be creative, use my hands and continue to recycle in order to support my semi crunchy life.

Aside from running my goals this year include making a quilt, growing some garden vegetables with the girls, trying out some different yoga classes and blog. I love to write, I love to share our stories so I am focused on pursuing this endeavor. Watch out for pictures, stories and many many more adventures this year.

Now, if you will excuse me I need to unplug and watch some Duck Dynasty with my hubby. I promised him we could watch an episode tonight. He puts up with all my girly goofy shows so I guess I better put up with boyish goofy show as well...lol

Ending a chapter and beginning a new one

As we near Christmas and the oh so exciting arrival of Harper I find myself filled with thoughts of excitement and apprehension.

As my Mom will quickly agree and even tease me for it I am a lover of Christmas and birthdays. I countdown, pick out gifts, plan parties and have an oh so hard time sleeping the night before. As a child I remember sneaking in the Sound of Music on tv at 2 in the morning on the Christmas Eve because I just could not sleep with all the excitement. At 29 years old nothing has changed. I still can't sleep because I am filled with thoughts of joy and anticipation for what the next morning will bring. The difference since becoming a Mommy is that I am excited for Evelyn to open her presents. I love seeing the look on her face when the houses light up at night or she meets a reindeer or visits Santa. Evelyn is just like I am sure I was. Her joy over the holidays this year is not even containable. At every turn she is yelling "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Birthday Jesus". She sings carols everywhere and even makes us do actions along with her whether it is at home or Costco Evelyn insists full on participation.

At the same time I am planning for Christmas and all the fun it brings I am also planning for the arrival of our lovely Harper. This is also exciting and joyful. I think Evelyn is just as excited for Harper to arrive as she is Santa. Yesterday at Church someone asked her who comes next week and Evelyn excitedly yelled "HARPER!". We have the nursery done, the bassinet is set up, carseat is in the van and the hospital bag is packed. We just need MorMor and Far to arrive. While I feel fully prepared with all things tangible and I truly believe we have done an amazing job preparing Evelyn for the arrival of her new sister I still feel this hit of apprehension about the changes about to happen in our family. I sometimes wonder how I will be capable of loving another child as much as I love Evelyn and I worry about postpartum depression. Depression is something that has challenged me greatly since Evelyn was born. I am hoping and praying that because I know what the ugly face of postpartum depression looks like and because I am still taking medication and even seeing a counselor on occasion that this time around my depression will not be as severe. After so many months of being sick and my body fighting against me I am hoping that the transition to having Harper in my arms will be smooth and as joyful as Christmas.

I am so incredibly excited for this chapter to close and the next to begin. God has so richly blessed my life with Mike and Evelyn that I feel incredibly blessed to get to experience being a family of 4.

Third Trimester

This is it! The end of this pregnancy is near. I am officially in the third trimester and I can see the end. This pregnancy has been more than challenging and I am thrilled to know that in just 9 short weeks all the nausea, vomiting and discomfort will be over and our little Harper will be in my arms. There was has been several times in this pregnancy where I thought it would never end so it is definitely nice to know we are on the tail end.

My doctor has decided that an induction at 38 weeks is best so that is the plan. I thought I would feel nervous about being induced but I don't at all. I had oxytocin when I was in labour with Evelyn and I know my body responds well to it and I know that there is no risk to Harper coming a little early. These feelings may change come the day but for now I am just getting ready to decorate a nursery and preparing Evelyn for her little sister.

When delivering Evelyn I used gas but no epidural. I would like to be as natural as possible this go around as well so next on the list is researching natural induction. I am meeting with an acupuncturist and we will go from there. I would be interested to hear if any of you have been induced and if so what methods were used.

As a cute little side note I think Evelyn is getting more and more excited to welcome Harper to the world. The other day she yelled at me "just go to the hospital and have the doctor take Harper out" lol

Evelyn's first email

I remember being a child and loving getting mail. Evelyn is particularly spoiled in this department as she has lots of family that live out of town. Sometimes it seems she gets postcards and packages weekly. I love that Ev excitedly runs to check the mail with me just hoping that MorMor has sent her something special. If she goes awhile without mail she will call my Mom and ask her to send something...lol

Today Evelyn got some mail but this time it was via email. I think Evelyn was going to burst with excitement to get email. She felt so grown up because only Mommies and Daddies get emails don't ya know.

Below is the email Evelyn received today from her very special friend Sophie and Ev's subsequent response.

Fh yyyuy

Yuyuuttygrtttrtfg

33 rggg fffffdtffffffffdtrteeeeeeeeer 6rerrrrrrrrrrreer

Love, Sophie

Xvbmńfgggyyhijopwwx vnnbñbvbbbbb

Asßfgghggdafgyyuoo

Gfsrrrswdqwszb bbnh bbnh. Hhftdgdf t

Love Evelyn

Total gibberish but let me tell you there was a very thrilled 3 year old in our today.

Some wise words

I recently saw this posted on my ever so lovely friend Melissa's facebook. I found it moving, inspiring and humorous. How could I not share.

A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.

But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

(The girl on the picture is French model Tara Lynn)

New Adventures

Proud of this project. I think for a 3 year old Evelyn did a pretty darn good job of placing her popsicle sticks on the lines.


First day picture

We have officially ventured into the world of preschool. The first day I dropped Evelyn off I felt nervous and emotional but very excited. I am certain Evelyn was feeling all the same emotions as she trotted into class wide eyed and thrilled at the beautiful classroom. We had a little nervous moment when Evelyn noticed the hysterical child screaming for her Mommy at the craft table but with a hug and a slight bit of coaxing Evelyn joined in on the fun and seemingly loved the first day. Now, 1 month in, our girl skips into class greeting her teacher and proudly shows off whatever project they did that day when I pick her up.



These days Evelyn seems overwhelmingly busy and I just can't seem to do enough to keep her stimulated. With preschool two mornings a week and dance one morning a week Mike and I thought we had put Evelyn into enough activities to keep her happy and stimulated but it seems we were wrong so November will also bring swim lessons. I have to admit I love the time she is in classes because it means I can sit quietly and enjoy a book or a coffee or even both. It truly feels like a luxury in life to have quiet moments to myself and with Harper on the way in just 14 weeks I am going to savour my quiet moments while I can.