New Love...

** And baby makes...5 **

We had another baby, my friends! We are so enamoured with our little Reed... He is the spitting image of his big sister with the mannerisms and expressions of his big brother all rolled into one. Even though my labour turned out to be more than slightly dramatic, Reed arrived into the world healthy, screaming and naked on a Sunday morning, six days before his due date. Our hearts were pounding out of our chests, tears streaming down our faces...we were absolutely overwhelmed with joy to finally hold our sweet baby boy.

Truthfully, it has been an eventful 12 days... We have been surrounded by love and support from our family, Alina and Finnlagh are adjusting beautifully to their new roles as protectors of their baby brother, and Reed has already been on several adventures around Austin. From proper BBQ to miniature trains to botanical gardens, our Texan baby seems to love the heat and sunshine already... along with the multitude of kisses and cuddles he receives all day long. 


Welcome to our world, Reed Anders! Extraordinary things await you...

Monday's Moment...

A single moment captured in a photograph. Candid and fleeting, this will always be a special snapshot in time...

XO, 

N&N

Friday Favourites...

Here I am, bellying up (literally) to a feast on a recent trip to Salt Lick BBQ 

Hello readers!

A bit of news today to share with you on this fine Friday afternoon. Although I have closed the shop until August 15th, I have taken a bit of time to re-do Niko & Nonnie's main website. Please stop by http://www.nikoandnonnie.com to have a look at all of the streamlined changes. Overall, I am rather happy about the look and feel of the site, so the only thing now is to iron out the mini-glitches that I am detecting on mobile and tablet devices. We'll get there!

Secondly, I'd like to begin 'Friday Favourites' on the blog, most known in the Twittersphere as 'Follow Fridays' or #FF. On Fridays I'll be sharing my favourite moments of the week - pictures, events, design inspiration, things that make me smile, think, analyse, fall in love... I'm hoping to blog a bit more often in the coming days; given my current stats, it seems baby's arrival is very imminent and writing always keeps me focused (and distracted!)

So without further ado...Friday Favourites.

#1. Obama's signature Affordable Care Act is upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The swing vote in the 5-4 decision? Shockingly, conservative Chief Justice Roberts. I'd say that hell had frozen over and pigs were flying outside my windows, but it's still hot as heck here in Texas and the only pigs are in the bbq pits. In any case, this is absolutely huge news, and a grand triumph for the Obama administration on the road to re-election this November. Put a sock in it, Mitt Romney. The SCOTUS has spoken.

#2. There has been a bit of hard news lately, particularly the number of friends I know facing some pretty horrifying challenges. I present here the links for two blogs, each one having to do with struggling to beat cancer. I am so grateful to my friends for putting their emotions into words and for sharing their journeys with the world. Please show them your support and add these blogs to your roster of weekly reads.

http://myboobshateme.blog.com/2012/06/

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/gong

#3. Canada Day is coming up in just a couple of days...and my second home and (not native) land is turning 145 years young! Oh Canada - how we do miss and adore you! For Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill, across the Capital region or across the country please visit Patrimoine Canadien-Canadian Heritage.

Two of my favourite fellow Canadians, Oct. 2008

#4. In honour of the upcoming Fourth of July, what better than Salt Lick BBQ - Dripping Springs, TX

http://www.saltlickbbq.com


#5. Who says it can't be done? This car-less mother of six proves there is never any impediment to going green! http://bikeportland.org/2012/06/28/with-six-kids-and-no-car-this-mom-does-it-all-by-bike-73731

Til next time.
XO,
N&N

If I knew you were coming...

I would have baked a cake! In fact, I did. And it was a bloody disaster.

To mark the end of a successful half-year of homeschooling, I thought I would treat the kids to a big chocolate cake, complete with thick frosting, sprinkles...the works. I had just enough ingredients in the house to complete one 10-inch cake, and boy, did the batter ever look good. We all salivated over the cake as we stirred in one delicious ingredient after another - unsweetened cocoa, organic cane sugar, vanilla extract...We melted butter, greased and sugared the pan...

In the meantime I made a large bowl of delicious fudgy frosting, let A+F lick the whisk, and placed the bowl into the refrigerator. This cake was going to be fabulous.

Until disaster struck. I should have known not to bake when it is 100F + outside. Not only does our house heat up abominably from the oven, but the oven itself - well, I just think it cannot compete in this weather. There is indeed a reason why serious bakers bake in proper professional kitchens! After a solid 20-25 minutes of baking, I removed the cake from the oven. The outer edges seemed well-cooked but the middle was still bubbling and clearly uncooked. I lowered the oven considerably and baked until my cake tester came out clean.

I don't know how with so many wonderful ingredients a cake could taste bad, but did this cake ever taste awful! I had to pry it away from the fingers of my ravenous children, who after waiting patiently for nearly 1.5 hours, burst into tears. So now not only did we have a rather dejected, mangled-looking cake sitting on our countertop - a total waste of time and energy - but that coupled with hysterical children - this was not going to end well. The children were demanding that I bake another cake immediately while I explained that mama is too pregnant to be on her feet any longer in a hot kitchen. That certainly fell on deaf ears. Breaking bad news to your kids is equivalent to your children hearing you and processing your words but refusing to comprehend why logistically, this might be a tad complicated.

A+F returned to the dining room, weeping and weeping. "We're the saddest kids in the whole wide world" declared my daughter, who has a great flair for the dramatic. "All we ever wanted was to eat chocolate cake." Good heavens, is she ever good at pouring it on! As a parent you never want to disappoint your children, and feeling that you have let them down, however unintentionally it might be, cannot possibly sit well with you.

I pulled out the frosting from the fridge, sliced up two bananas and spread the frosting on top of the banana pieces. I then cooled it down in the freezer for a few minutes, popped them out and shook rainbow sprinkles all over them. Two plates of chocolate-covered banana 'cakes' for two very deserving children.  Sometimes all you have to do is to use a word in a slightly different context and children's imaginations will do the rest. There was not one ounce of cake on those plates, and yet apparently they were 'the best cakes we've ever had.' Crisis averted, I now can send my superhero cape to the dry cleaner with confidence.

Makeshift and last minute - but evidently delicious!

XO,
N&N

Life as we know it...

As June winds down to a close, our homeschooling is slowing coming to an end. Finishing up homeschool for the school year lacks the kind of pomp and circumstance you'd find at a kindergarten graduation ceremony; it's also sorely lacking in the cap and gown department.  That being said, my children have worked incredibly hard the past six months, and I am so proud of their abilities to cooperate with each other as well as to learn independently.  I feel like we are a product of our experiences, and A+F seem to always want to vacuum up knowledge, to ask more questions than we are able to answer, to work on just one more art project for the afternoon... As such, we are going to throw a little party for them, complete with certificates, snacks and applause, to congratulate them on being such wonderful students and to thank them for all of their hard work since we arrived in Austin.

Making + shaping moon dough

June 20th marked the Summer Solstice (or Midsummer) and we celebrated by doing a simple craft.  The children traced around a large, circular flower pot and around their hands as well. After cutting out the various components, we then took their handprints and attached them to the back of the circles to make the sun's rays.  We hung all of the suns they made from the windows and on the walls, then sang songs to celebrate the official arrival of summer. We quite enjoy celebrating all of the seasons together, and it reminded us of the fun we had during our Moon Festival last year.

With less than 3 weeks until baby#3 is expected to arrive, we are adding the final touches. I've already started to dilate a bit, something that is apparently quite normal and expected at this point, and we've been warned that baby might make his debut before his due date. I've responded to this by making sure to have the house as close to in order as possible every evening, so that if I do go into labour, at least things will be tidy and easy to find! This is of course easier said than done, but a house without clutter means that my mind is clear and I can breathe in deeply. We have also succeeded in getting A+F into an earlier bedtime schedule- we will definitely take our small triumphs where we can get them!

Here is some recent belly progress (although I do believe the belly has dropped a bit since this photo):

And some new artwork to adorn the wall above baby's crib...

Prints purchased from our favourite Etsy shop, Trafalgar Square

Precious sibling moments with best friends, A+F...

Granny Smith apples, aviators and my sweet boy's big-time antics in the produce section...

An afternoon taking impromptu photos with my lovely little girl...

Hope this finds you relaxed and enjoying the fine weather. Happy Summer to all!
**The shop is currently on vacation. Niko & Nonnie will return for business on August 15th.**

XO,
N&N

Sweet, sweet summer...

“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” 
― Henry James