Right Now

Thank you Shannon Turner Photography for our beautiful family photos! You not only have an eye behind the camera but you also have a great personal skill with people and children. Being a mom of four yourself, makes you an easy decision for me for family pictures every time!

A few people asked me "Why don't you just wait until the baby is born to get family pictures taken?", my response was "I want to remember this phase right now." Two year old Luke, our little trio family,  it's special dynamic and the bump. Our little triple will soon become a quartet but I want to remember everything that is right now because while I am so excited about growing our family and meeting baby L #2, Ty and I are also so in love with the dynamic we currently have. 

Contentment in the moment, while anticipation for the future. It's a hard balance. Sometimes I like to day dream about the future of our family and others, I like to just sit in what it is right now. 

So that's why we got our photos taken. I would like to try and have them done consistently at least twice a year as children change so much in such short periods of time and just looking back on photos takes you right to those moments you use to be in.

Xoxo

Audrey

My Summer Bump

I am about 27 weeks pregnant right now and I am totally enjoying my summertime pregnancy. I know everyone has different experiences but for me, being pregnant in the summer is ideal and lucky for me, both of my pregnancies have been very similar timing.

I have been rocking the popping bump on the beach with my bikini and I am glad that I can just let it all hang out. We have been splashing, soaking and staying as cool as we can, and resting inside on days that are a little too hot. (I am grateful for my central air too.)

I also love that we can easily pop out for walks throughout the day and in the evenings. I always tend to be a little more active in the summer. I am definitely keeping my calorie intake up as we have an ice cream shop a five minute walk from the house, so its good motivation to go for a stroll :)

I would say mentally pregnancy is a little straining on me at times and I feel more anxiety in situations that I normally don't experience it. I recently cancelled a little two day trip that I was going to take with Luke because the simple thoughts of not sleeping in my own bed and worrying about Luke's schedule getting messed up, caused me to seek the comforts of my own home. So, I don't think I will be going to far from home this summer unless I have Ty by my side.

All in all, me and my summer bump are doing great and just taking it one day at a time.

I would love to know what your favourite parts of pregnancy are and what you struggle with?

Maternity Fashion - 20 weeks

I am about 20 weeks pregnant in these pics and feeling pretty good right now. I was very nervous when I was pregnant with Luke, (I don't always do well with change and the unknown) so I wouldn't say I fully embraced my pregnancy the first time around. This time I am just feeling very excited and blessed to be growing our family. Yes, life with a newborn is crazy but its the best kind of crazy there is. I love getting dressed up, as I always say "look good, feel good" and during pregnancy I find being put together at least one day a week, is a good way to keep my confidence high.

Dressing the bump can sometimes be a challenge but I do enjoy being pregnant in the summer and my go to pieces will be easy breezy dresses. I wore the dress pictured below all through Luke's pregnancy, its long enough that it doesn't ride up when my belly gets big and just flows comfortably over the rest of my body. I purchased a few key maternity pieces from Belly Babe Boutique so far and may need to get a few more but so far I am mostly making it work with what I have.

I would love to know what maternity brands are your favourite to shop from or any fashion hacks that worked well for you during your pregnancy.

Hey Babies

One of the awesome things about CCI Studios is that we are always looking for ways to make a positive impact on our world.  Our company is made up of people who don't just love to develop creative marketing, but  they also  love to develop creative marketing that will make a difference.  We all want to go to work each day knowing that our efforts are moving us towards great changes in the world.  We all hit walls every once in awhile and I don't know about you but for me, a healthy bottom line isn't going to get me out of bed on a bad day.  Knowing that I am helping people while making a living, now thats something to jump out of bed for in the morning.

The reason for this explanation is because with the creative capacity within CCI Studios, we are launching a new company called  Hey Babies.  Hey Babies is a for profit corporation with a social conscience, which means, we want to do good towards a specific cause in as many facets of the company as possible. 

Hey Babies will be an online store for previously loved and practically new  baby and child clothing from 0 - 5 years as well as maternity clothing .  The online store will be updated  daily, and the shopping experience will be smooth, seamless and quick!  The clothing will be donated by you and when you give to us we will give you a gift card for either yourself or someone you know to shop again on Hey Babies.  We will do all clothing pick ups which you can schedule online through the website.  We are working towards launching this company in Autumn of 2015. 

The Hey Babies cause will work towards ending violence against women.  A percentage of all profits will be donated to organizations such as One Spark to assist them in their efforts.  We will also look to provide women fleeing violent living situations with careers that allow them independence and freedom from violence.  Hey Babies is also going to work with One Spark to create a fund where women in need of emergency financial assistance to get them out of a violent situation, can go to get the dollars they need to get themselves - and possibly their children - to safety.  Violence against women is an issue that we can all take action to eradicate and CCI Studios' step is starting Hey Babies. 

I am sharing all of these details with you now because we would like to begin building our inventory so when the website launches in Autumn, we are ready for shoppers from across  Canada.  All initial clothing donors in this phase will be recorded and prior to the website launching, donors will receive a notification with a gift for assisting us in getting this company off the ground.

Now, I know some of you may not be ready to part with your baby clothes, I know I am not because I am not quite sure what lies ahead for our little family.  For those of you in the same boat as me, I would ask that you just keep your eyes open for the site launch and take advantage of the great deals when you have clothing needs for your children.  For those of you who are ready to start clearing out your baby clothes, please send me an email Heather Lapier and either Luke and I or a CCI Studios team member, will schedule a time to pick up your items and collect your contact information.

I appreciate your time reading this article, we are all extremely excited about this company!  We believe we can help bring an end to violence against women and are hopeful that the communities that surround us, will support our efforts while benefiting from its offering.

I look forward to hearing from you. 

xoxo