perra perdida en hermosillo: Scout

Nuestra perra Scout se perdio en Mexico el 24 de diciembre. Scout es una pastora australiana, iba viajando en un auto que se accidento 50 km al sur de Hermosillo en la autopista 5.

Alguien cree haberla visto cruzando el colosio a la altura del paseo de las misiones, hacia carceles, pero no estamos seguros de si era ella.

Ella lleva un collar y tiene un tatuaje de identificación en una de las orejas.

Agradecemos cualquier información, Scout es parte de nuestra familia. Ofrecemos una recompensa a quien la encuentre.

Our beloved family dog, Scout, is missing in Mexico following a car crash. I'm trying to be optimistic but I'm so sad and worried for her. If anyone has any contacts in or around Hermosillo and can spread the word I would be so grateful. Thank you.

perro perdido en Hermosillo: Scout

Nuestra perra Scout se perdio en Mexico el 24 de diciembre. Scout es una pastora australiana, iba viajando en un auto que se accidento 50 km al sur de Hermosillo en la autopista 15.

Alguien cree haberla visto cruzando el colosio a la altura del paseo de las misiones, hacia carceles, pero no estamos seguros de si era ella.

Ella lleva un collar y tiene un tatuaje de identificación en una de las orejas.

Agradecemos cualquier información, Scout es parte de nuestra familia. Ofrecemos una recompensa a quien la encuentre.

Our beloved family dog, Scout, is missing in Mexico following a car crash. I'm trying to be optimistic but I'm so sad and worried for her. If anyone has any contacts in or around Hermosillo and can spread the word I would be so grateful. Thank you.

52/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Clementine: Her first Christmas.

Joining in on Jodi's 52 project.

nesting: for christmas

It's no surprise that this month is usually a hard one for me. I miss my family, and I long for the traditions that make me feel like Christmas is coming. Traditions that are so seasonally based that they just don't work here; it seems odd, but I really do miss the cold and all of the indoor activities that come with it (like baking, drinking egg nog, watching movies, and knitting). Other years I've just let myself wallow, but this time I decided to get in the spirit of things. Or at least try my best.

We opted not to get a Christmas tree (maybe next year) so I emptied a little red bookcase and used it as our Christmas corner. I hung a wreath over it, filled the shelves with gifts and decorated with red and green bits and pieces like this beautiful bird that my friend Katrina made. My mother in law also made the three of us beautiful stockings, using this tutorial from the purl bee.

This month I also managed to do some baking and sewing. My friend Katie and I made the Chocolate Banana Birthday Cake from My New Roots, which was delicious and well worth the effort. Right before Christmas I made up a double batch of my favourite olive oil granola, which, packed into jars and decorated with fabric scraps made a perfect homemade gift for family and friends. Lastly, I sewed up another doll (I know, enough with the dolls already!) which was sent to baby Tallow, in honour of her first Christmas.

Now that we're in these wonderfully lazy post-Christmas days, I can honestly say that I very much enjoyed this year. I had a wonderful BirthdayChristmas and I'm glad that I made the effort to celebrate properly.

nesting: the beginnings
nesting: summertime
nesting: from summer to autumn

merry christmas

I just wanted to pop in to wish all of you a merry Christmas. Tomorrow is also my birthday, and I've requested a sleep in, followed by pancakes and presents in bed. Then it's off to Christmas lunch with the family (and probably a swim too!). I hope you and yours have a wonderful day!

lots of love,
Gaby, husband + Clementine

51/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Clementine: Babies and puppies, is there anything cuter?

Joining in on Jodi's 52 project.

And because I just cannot help myself, here's a bonus photo of Clementine and Dalston:

sakura bloom sling diaries: culture

I first discovered the magic of baby wearing when Clementine was 4 days old. We were home from the hospital, and while I was delighted to be holding my daughter in my arms, there was a part of me that missed having her on the inside. That morning, I tucked her into my first Sakura Bloom sling—the pure linen sling—and watched as she quickly fell asleep and stayed asleep for three whole hours. Holding her tight for those hours gave me that feeling of closeness that I was missing, and I delighted in feeling her warm sleeping body against my chest as we got to know each other.

Seven months later, it's rare that she will snuggle into me and sleep. More often than not, she's crawling around while I chase her. But she still loves to be in her sling, where I cuddle her while we walk. While we do, I ponder all kinds of things, like who she will be when she grows up. For such a little person, she has already been exposed to many cultures and languages. Her mum is Canadian. Her dad is Australian. She has one Canadian grandparent, one Colombian and two Australian. Her great grandparents are Colombian, Canadian, Australian, British and Kiwi. For now we live in Sydney, but eventually, we'd like to live in Vancouver again. And who knows what will happen in between?

What matters to me is that she grows up knowing all of the different backgrounds that make up her story. I hope that she knows that she has more than one home, more than one family, more than one language. I hope that she feels, as I do, that home is where we make it. As the song goes, home is wherever I'm with you…


I'm thrilled to be included in a group of 17 other mums and dads, documenting the art of babywearing for the Sakura Bloom Sling Diaries, vol iv. 

I wear Clementine in the essential silk sling in bittersweet-raspberry.

Many thanks to the beautiful and multi-talented Jodi, who took these photos early one morning.

50/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Clementine: I took her swimming for the first time in a friend's backyard pool. It was a hot day, and she seemed to enjoy the swim, and the naked time that followed.

Joining in on Jodi's 52 project.

family photography: Theresa + Mason

Earlier this week, Clementine and I drove up to Terrigal to spend some time with Theresa and Mason. While we were there, we met up with Jodi on the beach early one morning. She took photos of me and the little one for my first sling diaries post (can't wait to share!) and then I got behind the camera to shoot Theresa and her sleeping babe. He did eventually wake up and the babies enjoyed some beach time, which resulted in a few of my favourite photos ever.

In between photo taking the three of us chatted about life and blogging, travel and babies. It's so nice—and so important, I think—to have other mum friends. Both friends who are right at the same stage as you (and can commiserate as well as rejoice in gummy smiles and tiny toes) and friends who are further along in their parenting journey (who can inspire and reassure). Today I'm grateful for friends, old and new.

p.s. the winner of the Love To Dream™ INVENTA Sleep Bag™ is announced here

7 month Clementine

Seven month old Clementine is a cheeky little lady. She's confidently sitting up, though she never stays there for long. She much prefers to spend her time crawling around and exploring. She's been doing a funny commando crawl for a while now, but just in this last week she's figured out how to crawl properly and boy is she ever fast! So fast, in fact, that taking these photos was quite challenging, even though I had Theresa to help me wrangle her. While I was shooting, I let her wander around the beach and she loved it! Eating sand and playing with seaweed was right up her alley, which makes this beach-loving mum pretty happy.

People are constantly amazed at how bright and active she is. She literally does not hold still for a second. She loves to pull herself up, eat paper, play with other babies, sit in her highchair, and go for walks. She continues to adore her dad, saving all of her big belly laughs for him. He sings her all kinds of songs that he makes up, and she goes wild. And we go wild for her, and her big gummy grins.

p.s. these last 2 photos of Clementine and Mason make my swoon

49/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Clementine: This is what it looks like every time she sits down to eat. This particular meal was kumera, broccoli and spinach. When she was done, we had to pick the food out from her nose, ears, hair, eyelashes, neck...

Joining in on Jodi's 52 project.

Love To Dream™ INVENTA Sleep Bag™ review + GIVEAWAY (closed)

Back when Clementine was teeny tiny, Love To Dream™ sent us their Love To Swaddle UP suit, which we used religiously for months. We absolutely loved it, but when our little wriggler became just too active we decided to stop swaddling her. A sleep sack is the next obvious step, so I was delighted to receive their INVENTA Sleep Bag™. We got the 0.5 Tog, perfect for our warm climate, in a neutral colour (in case we have a boy someday).

So far, it's working a treat. It has lots of awesome details like ventilation panels that you can zip or unzip as needed, stretchy fabric so Clementine can move, and a super cute pattern. I also love that it's easy to slide her in without much fuss thanks to shoulder studs and a really long side zipper. It's also easy to buckle her into her pram, without having to take her out of the bag.

If you'd like to know more, there's a great little series of short videos, including a demonstration video of their INVENTA Sleep Bag™ (as well as their other products). There's also a video on why you should swaddle your baby.

Finally, I'm excited to announce that Love to Dream™ has generously offered to do a giveaway! One of my Australian readers will receive a 0.5 Tog INVENTA Sleep Bag™ in the colour of their choice.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. For extra entries, you can follow my blog via GFC, Bloglovin' or follow me on Instagram. Please leave a separate comment for each.

Comments will be closed next Thursday at 6 pm, and I'll draw the winner shortly thereafter.

Giveaway open to Australian residents only. Thanks!

Comments are closed! The winner is…

Jessie Lobley! I'll be in touch soon Jessie.

this weekend

This weekend was for relaxing. For puttering and drinking tea. For framing our family photos (finally!) and making pancakes. For listening to podcasts and lying down. For having friends over to dinner and actually baking something. It was perfect.

What did you do this weekend?

48/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Clementine: Our doula came to visit us this week. She hadn't seen Clementine since she was a newborn, so it was awesome to catch up.

Hiring a doula was a decision we made very early on in my pregnancy. Being my first pregnancy and labour, I knew it was likely to be long (it was!) and extra hands would be needed (they were!). I'm so glad we chose Brooke. She was there for us before, during and after my labour offering support, advice and encouragement. She also taught us all kinds of useful things like baby massage and how to bathe Clementine so she felt safe and comfortable. Now I always tell my prenatal students and pregnant friends to seriously consider using a doula.

Joining in on Jodi's 52 project.