New Milestones

The following photo, and caption, was posted to Taylor's instagram a few days ago:

We measure the moment they take their first steps, first word, first day of school... but it’s the small milestones that make me all mushy. First LEGO set put together ALL BY HIMSELF! #excusemewhileicry #legomania #bigkidsclub

Congratulations Lochlan! And it doesn't look like it was an easy one. It is true that it is a milestone registered by parents (and relatives) and I don't think it is even a small one. Jason was really excited when his nephew reached an age were he could be given 'real' lego instead of the larger duplo style.

Another Great Meme

This time, it is a homemade variation of the Expectation vs. Reality meme that Taylor posted on Facebook featuring her, Lochlan, and Cadence. Love it!

What I thought yoga with kids would be like versus real life.

By Taylor (though Mark probably took the photo.)

Internet Famous

Taylor posted an amazing video of her kids on Facebook and Instagram over the holidays. The little girl is basically teasing her older brother by repeatedly swearing, it was so hilarious that I told so many people about it and showed it a whole bunch of times. Well, shortly after posting it on private social media, Taylor went a bit bigger and added it to YouTube. So, now I can share it here!

She has also signed with a distribution/media company since it was getting so much traffic and starting to make some decent advertising revenue. The plan is that any money made will go into the kids' education funds, and I hope these two consider going to university for media and get into making more viral videos as they get older!!

Teri Wins Halloween

So many good costumes this year for Halloween but after hearing yesterday morning that Teri had wanted to dress her new son up as a piece of sushi but hadn't had time to put together the costume I had to see the little guy in edible form. I told her there was still time and she ended up doing it in the afternoon and sending along the photos. 

R.O.M. - October 2016

Photos taken by Teri

Teri: I even got him to hold a chopstick

Chris: I know, it is so cute, I am dying

Teri: Looks like he is trying to eat himself

Note: Teri and Greg are trying to keep a low digital footprint for R.O.M, hence the use of only his initials and the reason he hasn't been mentioned on Always Standing before. He won't have a 'tag' like Lochlan, Cadence, Avery, and Maya, but he is a very special baby in my life so you will probably catch a glimpse or two of him from time to time.

Cadence At The Equinox

Happy Spring

Cadence on Sunday March 20, 2016

Photo by Taylor

I didn't know that yesterday was the first day of spring, I am really bad about following the Spring and Fall equinox. And there is so much to learn about the first day of spring and equinoxes (equinoxi?) Also it turns out that in the Summer and Winter it is a Solstice and not an Equinox, I thought the words were interchangeable.

Casa Verde Colours - Like Baby Names

In the mid-1990s it became common place for expectant parents to learn the sex of their unborn child. This information wasn't offered (or maybe wasn't available) to my parents who were surprised with the birth of a girl (ME!) in 1984 followed by a boy (Mike) in 1987. Now, though not 100% accurate, parents are asked if they want to know.

I will make a side note about the fact that they are finding out the sex and not the gender, gender is a construct and the baby may identify with a different gender than their biological sex suggests.

Even though the information about the sex is offered, some people choose to still be surprised; like Taylor and Mark with Cadence, as well as, Mike and Aimee with Avery and my second nibling. Another recent pattern I have seen is finding out (and sharing) what the sex will be, but not the name. I really understand this one - people share their opinions, at times harshly, when the name is still in the 'we were thinking of X for a girl and Y for a boy' stage. However, once the baby is actually named people are less likely to tell the parents how much they don't like it.

I am finding the same with paint colours for Casa Verde, when I was just at the stage of looking at and choosing colours - everyone shared their strong opinions. I was sad to hear that 'accent walls' are no longer on trend and that beige is dated, though I suspected the later. I have been encourage to do whites and bring colour in decor instead of paint. Also grey. Apparently grey is very 'in' right now, which is good since I like grey and silver a lot. Kristen and I made the main wall in Runuv Bayit grey, it stretches through the kitchen and along the back hallway. After Kristen and Noah moved out, I changed the yellow wall in their bedroom to be grey, as seen in this Rasta photo. Lastly, I recently redid the kitchen with silver, covering up the pink/peach. Needless to say, I will be bringing grey to Casa Verde.

The colours for 5 of the rooms at Casa Verde have been chosen! Jason and his mom will go and buy the paint tomorrow so that we can take advantage of a sale that is happening. I have scheduled some posts on Always Standing that will happen this weekend that give you a taste of the colours I've picked. Using the super fun Colour Visualizer from Home Hardware I was able to put together a decent depiction of my colour plans. Now please remember to be nice about my choices; this baby has been named, aka these paints are purchased.

The actual painting will happen soon! Aunty Nicky is coming over Easter to help us paint the master bedroom, office, living room, dining room, and kitchen. The main hallway will need to be done by professionals at some point with scaffolding, but it is fine as it is for now. When we are done with the laundry room we will pick a colour for it but that will be well after we move in. I also plan to just use leftover paint in the colours already selected to do the suite in the basement when that renovation is finished.

Stay tuned for images of the Casa Verde Colours.

A Lovely Cadence

* Cadence Shirley Ann N. *

Born: Friday June 5, 2015
Time: 10:04pm
Weight: 9lbs, 4oz

Proud parents: Taylor and Mark
Proud Big Brother: Lochlan

 Welcome To The World Cadence!!

Photo stolen from Facebook

(I can't wait to meet her!)

Always Standing Note: I have adjusted a tag which previously was just BabyLoch to be BabyLochCade so as to reflect posts related to either or both of Taylor and Mark's children.

Blogs About Babies

FIRST
I am not ready to have kids, not even close! (This will not be a shock to most people.) My cousin posted a link to a blog post on my aunt's Facebook wall, which loosely compares getting a tattoo to having a baby. I think she posted it more because of the tattoo aspect, as she is much younger than me and I am pretty sure not having children any time soon. However, the post is pretty funny and the message is a good one - Be sure you want it! (I actually am considering getting both a second and third tattoo in the next couple of years but kids are still way off.)

10 Reasons Why You Should Never, Ever, Ever Get a Tattoo 

According to my Mother (but having a baby is fine) 

from The Ugly Volvo

Highlight: #4 - A tattoo will ruin your body. It totally will, right? Also what will sort of ruin it is carrying another human inside your body for the better part of a year and then pushing it out an opening ten centimeters wide and then attempting to breastfeed it. Followed by the stress of trying to raise it to adulthood. Let me know if doing all that ruins your body any more or less than the butterfly on the small of your back.

SECOND
I have to admit that kids are cute. I love all babies universally when they are super tiny and blob-like, as long as they are not crying. After a child learns to crawl, walk, talk, etc. I am a little more weary and like to wait about 13 years or so before interacting with them again. My affection towards children is still limited to a select few kids. More and more people close to me have them and it is nice to see these wonderful families grow. Taylor mentioned this next list on Facebook as, "Lochlan in a blog post..." It is brilliantly written and hilarious, I have seen toddlers do all of these things!

25 Things You Should Know About Life With A Toddler

from Terribleminds

by Chuck Wendig

Highlight: #2 - Their Rules are Labyrinthine and Inexplicable. Watching a toddler is like watching an alien creature build some kind of extraterrestrial machine. It’s like watching ritually-peculiar Druid magic, or the interpretive dance of a sentient spam-bot. Our boy-human will put on an Indiana Jones hat and start calling himself “Nemo.” He’ll hand you things and then demand you hold them and if you try to give them back you’ve broken some ancient changeling contract. He’ll require a very particular truck and if you hand him one that is 95% the same truck, he’ll actually hate you — like, maybe literally hate you — for at least two minutes. (Then he’ll forget.) He’ll place things around the room or perform a sequence of events that, for all you know, is meant to unlock some kind of apocalypse. It’s methodical and maddening, like a bird building a nest out of watch parts.

Kitten Tomorrow

Mom is coming to Toronto tomorrow because we are going to James' shower. She is having a little girl and I am so excited for all the pink. Everyone has boys (Taylor, Kiyomi, Kristen's sister, Jason's sister has 3). So happy for James and her husband and looking forward to seeing lots of tiny girly baby clothes tomorrow.

I know that it is Caterday but tomorrow Mom is also bringing Rasta! So, I will get some good pictures of him, hopefully introduce him to Two and report back next Saturday.

Apologies To My Dedicated Daily Readers

So, I assume that most people check into Always Standing every couple of days, but I do have a few daily readers. Mainly this means Taylor and Lochlan. So apologies to them, and anyone else who has stopped by to read a new post and not found an update since Tuesday. It has been a busy week at work and I have been doing things over my lunch hour, which is a time I sometimes spend writing posts. On Wednesday I went to The Home Show with Monica and Heather is visiting so last night was spent catching up with her and Kristen, this means that basically my nights have been full too, which is the other time I use to write up posts.

Like Mother Like Son

This has only ever been mentioned in passing before, but Taylor can imitate a raptor (like a Velociraptor dinosor as seen in the Jerrasic Park movies). She tends to do this when she has been drinking. The back of the t-shirts we all wore at Taylor's Bachelorette featured a picture of her doing this - she is notorious for it. Now it looks like she has passed it on:

The Raptor

(Circa 2009)

The Wedding Raptor

(Photo by Stephanie Beach Photography, 2011)

Baby Raptor

(Looks like Lochlan is just a chip-off-the-old-block!)

The Honest Toddler

I don't know much about The Honest Toddler, except that the Twitter Feed is hilarious! I don't know who writes it or from where or even for how long, but if you have Twitter you should follow @HonestToddler and if not I have included some of my favorite posts below:

-----------------from Twitter 

Alarm clocks. Adults do you mean to tell me that without a machine you would not wake up in the morning? Your body is in shambles.

"All you need is love." See? Nothing about pants. 

Daddy hurt my feelings. His exact words were "Eat your breakfast." Can't stop crying. 

Toddler Tip: Your mouth is like a pocket for your face. Put things in there. Anything. 

"If you behave I'll give you a treat at the end." Gonna need half up front and I promise nothing. 

Quiche for lunch. It's basically a pie that couldn't stick to the script. Crying. 

 "This isn't a restaurant." Believe me I'm aware- you would have been out of business years ago.

BLUE AND YELLOW MAKE GREEN. Why I didn't I see this before? All the signs were there. 

Trying to figure out who my friends are: How many of you knew about waffle cones but failed to say anything? 

So what is Target like the promised land for adults or something. Been here for eleventy hours. 

We're leaving now and I didn't get a snack. Thanks for being so selfish. :( PS. I'm crying. 

Infant at the park thinks she's cool for mastering object permanence. #basic 

Fell down and was just denied a Band Aid because "there's no blood." EMOTIONAL SCARS DON'T BLEED 

Hug and kiss? I don't want your homeopathic remedies. I need treatment.

The reason adults eat things like spaghetti squash is because they're old and their taste buds have been dead for some time.

"You don't have to take a nap, just lie down." Yeah right everyone knows lying down is a gateway drug to sleeping. #UPRIGHT 

 "How do we ask for things?" The red tape in this place is ridiculous.

Don't say you love someone then six hours later make quinoa. 

If sweet potato fries were a person, they'd be arrested for impersonating a celebrity. 

I could say "I'm done eating" but pushing my plate to the floor is how I live my truth.

"What are you doing in my purse?" What are you doing sneaking up on people? 

Would love to help pick up the family room but what with all these labor laws...wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble. 

Pooed in the bath. From the way she's looking at me you'd think I robbed a church. 

Just so you know when you come in to give goodnight kisses smelling like Cheetos it's like a slap in the face. 

Asked for a second bedtime story. You would have thought I requested launch codes. Nevermind. 


I know Lochlan is only 6 months or so, but I bet his is already starting to think some of these things. Taylor can probably confirm.

A Smile For Your Sunday

Isn't Lochlan just the cutest? I love him!

Sunday Morning Smile!

By Taylor C.

Three Months And Counting

I met someone on eHarmony back in July. We got coffee and had a couple of dates spread out over a few weeks. I kept quiet about it on Always Standing because I did not want to overwhelm him with public declarations. Well, I feel like enough time has passed and today we are celebrating our 3 month anniversary so it is time for a true and official mention on Always Standing.

So, I am dating an incredible guy, named Jason, and couldn't be happier. I could go on and on about how great he is but instead I thought I would share some texts I got from friends after they met him...

"I like your bf he's cute and seems nice" --Danielle

"I think Jason is great by the way, he really seems into you and he's handsome to boot!... He seems like he's just a really nice guy. He could be the one!" --ErinAH

"Jason was lovely!" --Anna
*Note, after being told that he had liked her pancakes she liked him even more.

"I really like Jason... Anyone that can make Lochlan stop crying is a yes in my book. But seriously, you have picked someone special... You guys balance each other. You seem really happy!" --Taylor

It is always nice to get the approval of friends and family. I am very glad that they think he is awesome too. Also, for someone who is fairly quiet he seems to do really well meeting new people.  

Happy Anniversary Jason 

I love you

Introducing: Locklan!!

* Lochlan David N. *

Born: Tuesday July 24th, 2012

Proud parents: Taylor & Mark
Proud godparent: Kristen

 Welcome To The World Little Baby Boy!!

Taken by me with Kristen's cell phone

(He is about 26 hours old in this picture.)

And The Baby Wins

Taylor and Mark got some very beautiful maternity photos done. (Yes, Taylor has been pregnant for the last nine or so months - something that I don't think has been officially announced on Always Standing.) I asked permission to post some of the pictures and Taylor said yes.

Well, last night Taylor had the baby! He beat me to even posting about the pregnancy! I am so excited - Congratulations to Mark and Taylor!!

Kristen and I are going to go and visit him tonight. From what I can tell from the small photos coming from Mark to the cell phone - I am going to be spending some time with a beautiful, tiny, perfect, and adorable little creature this evening. I can't wait to meet him!! Hopefully I can get a couple of quick photos and ask Taylor if I can put them up too. In the mean time here is what he looked like a month or so ago...

Mark & Taylor - Maternity

By Gerri Photography

Letters To Vincent

I am just back from a short trip to Ottawa (just one night.) As part of Kristen's Christmas present I said that I would take her back to the capital to see the Vincent Van Gogh exhibit at the National Art Gallery. Taylor came as well. It was a really fun trip. As part of the exhibit you could write a letter to the artist and it would appear projected onto this large wall and they would also email you a copy. During his lifetime Van Gogh wrote almost 1000 letters. The gallery put the works into his hand writing. Here is mine:

Photos From The Weekend

Quick Update: I went to Ottawa this weekend to start fulfilling my Maid of Honour duties and help out with Steph and Dave's September wedding. Steph's mother and sister-in-law were also hosting a bridal shower on Saturday so I attended that as well. It was great to start to see everything coming together - invitations, the venue, favors, everything is going to look so beautiful. There was so much to do for the wedding that I spent most of my time with Steph, though I did get a quick visit with ERin and Anna.

A couple of photos:

Cutest cookies ever!!

Kristen was at Taylor's helping to host a baby shower for her. Since I couldn't attended the baby shower I sent favors and had these sugar cookies made. These two are broken because I was carrying them around in my purse, I'm sure the other ones were fine.

 Problem solved!

While my other friends are having bridal and baby showers, I am still trying to figure out how to get my laundry done. I did a few loads at Steph and Dave's but their dryer wasn't working. I visited a laundromat quickly before heading back home laid out delicates in the back of the car. Yes, I am still the girl that is drying her laundry in the back of a car - when em I going to grow up?