Ellis Benjamin Kelly

April 7, 2014

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Today Ellis is two and a half weeks old. My water broke at 7:30 pm on March 19th and I was in active labour by 9:00 pm. We made it to the hospital quickly and Ellis was born at 2:59 am on March 20th (the first day of Spring) after only 20 minutes of pushing. These first few weeks have been so special and are a time in our lives that we will always cherish. We adore our little El and are enjoying every moment with him (even the 3 am feedings.)

Ellis Benjamin Kelly Halperin: Born on March 20th, 2014 at 2:59 am. Weighing 7lbs 7oz and 21 inches long. 

Ellis 
Origin: English // Meaning: Kind & Benevolent and The Lord is my God 

Benjamin 
Origin: Hebrew // Meaning: Strength & Virtue 

Kelly 
Origin: Gaelic // Meaning: Warrior

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ELLIS6

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Desert Maternity Photographs

March 10, 2014

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While in Arizona this past Christmas David and I had maternity photographs done by Brittany Mahood. It was a truly beautiful day and I am super happy with how the pictures turned out. It will be nice to have them to look back at in years to come.

As many of you know my father passed away suddenly 2.5 weeks ago. His sudden death has really shaken me and my family. In order to distract myself from the pain I decided to work on a blog redesign. I have been wanting to change my blog for a while and this horrible situation gave me some time to work on it. The new site is simple and clean in design and I will most likely still make some subtle changes to it in the days to come.

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Classic Apple Crisp

January 4, 2014

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Classic Apple Crisp 

Recipe from The Barefoot Contessa 
Makes enough for 10 servings

Ingredients

  • 5 pounds McIntosh apples
  • Grated zest of 1 orange
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the Topping

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup oatmeal
  • 1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an oval or circular baking dish.

Peel, core, and cut the apples into medium sized wedges. Combine the apples with the zests, juices, sugar, and spices. Pour into the dish.

To make the topping, combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter evenly over the apples.

Place the crisp on a sheet pan and bake for 1 hour until the top is brown and the apples are bubbly.  Serve warm topped with whipped cream.

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It’s a…

October 24, 2013

BOY

Boy!!! David is over the moon with excitement. He would have been happy with a boy or girl, but he was really hoping we were having a little guy. The baby is perfectly healthy, which was a big relief to me since I didn’t take folic acid or prenatal vitamins prior to getting pregnant (we weren’t planning on having a baby for a while.) I have been reading about all the things that can go wrong and feel so blessed that the baby is doing well. I can’t wait to start shopping and decorating. I am finally starting to feel more like myself, just in time to do all the fun things that are involved with being pregnant!

We broke the news of the baby’s gender to my family by ordering cupcakes from Crave Cookies and Cupcakes. They were filled with baby blue butter cream frosting – as soon as everyone took a bite they knew we were having a little boy. My parents have 2 daughters so they couldn’t be happier to be having a grandson (this little guy might get pretty spoiled.)

It has been so much fun dreaming about whether the baby was a boy or girl. Now that we know I can’t wait to meet the little guy and to start shopping!

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I think he even has David’s profile.

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Nursery Ideas

October 21, 2013

Whimsical Woodland

nursery

1. Young America 2. Kari Herer 3. Sunday in Color 4. unknown 5. Darling Clementine 6. Rifle Paper Co. 7. Dwell Studio 8. Restoration Hardware Baby and Child

Urban NYC Inspired

nursery

1. Young America 2. Oeuf NYC 3. All Modern 4. Crosley Radio 5. Young America 6. Unknown 7. Darling Clementine 8. Restoration Hardware Baby and Child 9. Dwell Studio

The past couple of weeks I have been playing around with themes for the babies nursery. I want the room to be colourful, functional and something that the baby can grow with. I have looked online and at a bunch of stores in Calgary for a crib and I think I have finally decided on one called Lyric from the furniture company, Young America. The crib grows with the child and eventually becomes a toddler bed and later a double bed. It is available in a bunch of beautiful colours and finishes and would work well for a boy or girl.

Finding the right crib bedding has proved to be a huge challenge. This weekend I stumbled upon a company called Dwell Studio. The baby bedding is colourful and whimsical but not too juvenile. The girl’s bedding is called Meadow and is inspired by Scandinavian design and the boy’s is called Skyline and has an urban NYC feel to it.

I thought it would be fun to lay all the furniture out and see how everything is going to fit into the room. Below is a layout that I did through the website Urban Barn, it is super easy to use and you can arrange your furniture in the exact dimensions, so you know how everything will fit before you buy any of the pieces.

We find out on Wednesday whether it is a boy or girl, so I will not know which theme we will go with until then. I love both of them equally and can’t wait to start decorating!

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  • October 22, 2013 - 10:17 pm

    Cheryl - One word of advice from a mom of three. Okay two.

    A chair in the nursery isn’t all that useful until they are older (toddler) because those night time nursing sessions are intolerable without something for you to look at. Unless you have an iPad or laptop in the room.

    And, avoid the convertible bed. Teething kids bite the crap out of their cribs. You won’t want to convert it to the double because it will be full of little bite marks and chips in the finish.

    Good luck tomorrow! Hope it is everything you wish for.

    PS LOVE that hot air balloon light fixture.ReplyCancel

  • October 23, 2013 - 8:03 pm

    Ellen Thompson - It has been a while since I changed diapers but remember that a changing table was well worth the cost. You will be doing a lot of bending with little ones so save your back as much as possible. When choosing a crib make sure the slats are not wide enough apart that the baby can get themselves stuck. Baby is a blessing joy to you all.ReplyCancel

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