Bump Photos with Charlotte Griffiths Photography

One evening a few weeks ago Jeff, Violet, my parents and I squeezed into our little car and made our way to Hirtle's beach. Have you been? The beach is tucked between Rose Bay (wouldn't Anne of Green Gables be tickled by that name?) and Kingsburg, just down the LaHave River from Bridgewater. Though the goal for the evening was a photo shoot, we made a night of it by stopping for supper on the way: mussels and pints all around (don't worry, Violet and I shared a pint...) The beach is a bit of a jaunt from Halifax, but it is one of our favourites and our lovely photographer, Charlotte Griffiths, just happens to live in the near by and equally lovely town of Lunenburg, so she was more than up for the trip.

I had mixed feelings about getting pregnancy photos taken, but we've worked with Charlotte on other occasions and we all love her and I totally trusted her to capture the beauty of my burgeoning belly. I'm so happy we went for it! Not only did we get some gorgeous shots of my belly, we got some pictures of Violet and Jeff and I that I would love, bump or no bump.

If you are looking for someone to take family photos I really can't speak highly enough about Charlotte. She is talented - the way she captures the light takes my breath away, but she is also the sweetest person with the ability to make parents feel at ease and kids feel like taking hundreds of photos is fun. I don't know how that is possible. Violet adores her and frankly, so do Jeff and I.

Check out her awesome work here (or below!): http://www.charlottegriffiths.ca/

xo

Em 

{Nana and Papa even got in a picture - much to both of their chagrin!}

Strawberry Pie (& how is it July already?)

Is it just me or is it all of a sudden summer? Our car is full of sand, our driveway is covered in colourful chalk, strawberries are being sold in roadside trucks and Violet is turning a beautiful shade of caramel (despite being coated in SPF 55, I promise). Oh, and our bedroom is hotter than Hades, but I have vowed never to complain about warm weather, 32 weeks pregnant or not!

Summer and local strawberries go hand in hand and one of Jeff's favourite things in the world is my mum's strawberry pie. It isn't a regular old strawberry pie, oh no, it is an amped up calorie-laden whipped cream and cream cheese love fest coated in strawberry glaze. It really cannot be beaten. The first time Jeff had it he ate precisely half a pie, which may not sound like a lot but trust me, I was impressed. Anyway, I'm not the best wife in the world because I have never made this pie myself. My mum makes it so well and strawberry season is quite short, so the thought has never really crossed my mind. Plus, I basically live in fear of making pastry. I was joking with a friend the other day that I think the dough can sense my stress, probably through hormones I release in my hands, and it gets anxious too! I may be over thinking this, but every time I make pie I end up piecing the crust together and scrapping at least half of it off my counters with a knife.

Does this happen to anyone else?

Anyway, my friend Lisa was telling me her plan to make something fun and red and white for her girls to celebrate the birthday of the true north strong and free and it dawned on me, strawberry pie is the perfect Canada Day dessert. It is red and white and calls for berries than just happen to be in season locally at the beginning of July. Perfect! 

Happily I found a recipe for a strawberry pie very similar to the one my mum makes but with a cookie crust. I can bake cookies. My palms don't get sweaty thinking about baking cookies.

The pie was a big hit. We spent Canada day at the beach with friends followed by a competitive game of bocce ball "Pond v Pond v Pond" style. For supper we had barbecued hot dogs and strawberry pie. Indulgent and delicious. The perfect way to end a perfect Canada Day.

{step one} 

{step two}

{step three}

{enjoy!}

xo

Em

ps -- the recipe I used can be found here: http://www.thelawstudentswife.com/2013/06/strawberry-super-pie/ 

June - endings and beginnings

June has been full of endings (end of the year ballet recital, Vi's last gymnastics class, the dreaded CFA exam is finally over) and a few new beginnings (soccer has started, Vi had primary orientation, the first golf balls of 2014 were hit) and through it all my belly keeps growing!

My mother-in-law kindly requested some photos of her granddaughter and who am I to deny her? It seems like my camera has been in my purse all the time lately -- so many things I want to capture. The sunny days help too.

First, a quick little story about, who else, Violet. She spent the night at my parents house last week so that Jeff could have complete silence during his last night of studying (I was still home so that was unlikely!). Over dinner she told them about primary orientation, which she loved for the record. My dad told me a worried look came over her face after she told them about drawing her family, cutting out butterflies and singing in French. She looked at him and asked, "will I have to do much research in primary, papa?" Ha! He assured her that there wouldn't be too much research, at least not right away. I guess these things are top of mind when both your parents and two of your aunties have been grad students in recent history!

xo

Em

{ready to tendu with the best of them}

{ballerina Violetta}

{post recital, post exam hug}

{so happy to have her daddy back}

{she still likes me too, though}

{"let's make daddy breakfast with meat"}

{yum!}

{first time golfing this year}

{pretending to hit daddy with the club, not something we should encourage I suppose}

{mini soccer, big girl style - they actually play with balls this year!}

{primary orientation}

{amped about learning}

{the cutest}

{post school s-bucks}

{I told you it keeps growing!}

Ontario wedding extravaganza!

We spent the last week in May celebrating my sweet sister-in-law aka Precious Jules' wedding in Ontario. It was hot, sunny, and full of hair spray and tulle (like all great weddings). Violet, along with her favourite cousin Emily Pond the first, were the cutest little flower girls to ever forget to carry their flowers down the aisle. Lady Vi and I spent the week before the wedding soaking up the sun, drinking bubbly drinks (sadly no alcohol for either of us this trip) and generally being catered to by Jeff's family.

These are a little late, and I totally dropped the ball during the wedding and I took almost zero pictures (what with chasing after my sugar fuelled daughter whilst wearing heals for the first time in months whilst trying to only face the camera at certain angles lest my girth be captured in wedding albums for all time...you understand).

Anyway, this is a day and I week I don't want to forget: