July 16, 2018

I started this draft 2 weeks ago and am just finding time to get back to it now! I really need to write up this post because Pennsylvania is becoming a distant memory and there are so many new experiences since then to blog about!

Pennsylvania was another super fun trip. It was quite different from Hawaii in that it was a more aggressive “travelling” trip and we spent a lot of time on the road, driving to different cities, and sight seeing. This of course was much tougher for Colton given that he was often stuck to his car seat whether it be in the car or in his stroller and we all know how much babies love their car seats, right? (lol) He dealt with it nonetheless and was a champ for the most part!

What I loved most about this trip was having Colton spend time with my mom and dad; the first Instagram story below is just the sweetest photo of all 3 of them! :)

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We stayed in Allentown, which although was quite boring in itself, it was close to family we were visiting, so it was convenient :). We took day trips to Hershey Park, Philadelphia, Princeton, and Lancaster, Princeton being my absolute favourite. What a charming little gem; of course Colton and I had to have a mini photoshoot :P.

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Here are some new prints featuring Princeton! This here was Albert Einstein’s home for the last 20 years of his life, 1935-1955. Pretty cool!

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This here is simply capturing the style of homes and greenery that lined the streets of this very charming city.

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And finally, a scenic drive through the Princeton countryside…

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Lancaster was also very interesting, particularly because of the Amish community. It is truly admirable how simply they live. Here’s Colton unimpressed with the stench of horse manure during our horse and buggy ride! It was also uncomfortably hot that day but I so adore those chubby cheeks when they get rosy :).

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And here are a couple of new prints featuring Amish Country in Lancaster:

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Philadelphia was groovy but not a place to really bring a baby, so we were only there for about half a day! This is Colton in Elfreth’s Alley; probably the cutest photo I’ve taken of him. That little face is just perfect!

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New prints featuring Philly:

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Another memorable trip in the books :). We MAY be taking another trip to California later this year; I’m crossing my fingers that we can make it happen. I love California!!

Upcoming Posts: new milestones for Colton and the daunting task of sleep training!

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 9:13 pm
June 13, 2018

We’ve been so, so, so busy but I am forcing some blog time tonight before Hawaii becomes a distant memory!!

We were in Kauai island and it was a BLAST. What a beautiful place with the most gorgeous lush landscapes and what a memorable week it was. It was such treat to see Colton experience the tropical sun, rain, and breeze for the first time. He was such a happy boy and he left Hawaii with the cutest, rosiest cheeks – his version of a tan :).

Although we didn’t get to do Kauai the way we would without baby, it was just as fulfilling, if not more, in a whole different way. Buying travel experiences, not things, for this little family is the new mandate!

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Colton was an angel throughout the trip and especially through intense 18-hour travel days with multiple stop overs and delays!! I was certainly cranky so thank goodness he wasn’t. My fears of travelling with a 3 month old were valid and I expected it to be challenging but he proved me so wrong, as if to say, ‘mom, have a little faith’. It was truly so much easier than I had anticipated; we were lucky and we can’t help thinking about the next trip already!

I also can’t help but wonder: how did we ever live without stories in past social media?? It’s just the best and I am shamelessly obsessed with it. :) Here are my Instagram stories from days 1 to 7 of the trip packaged together! Thanks to the tech Gods, it has never been easier to document sweet memories.

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Here are 10 quick tips I want to pass along that made travelling with a 3 month old a breeze for us:

1. Master teamwork with hubby. As always, share the load. Alternate holding / soothing / changing baby. This makes all the difference! Chris is such an all-star dad and partner.

2. Limit number of luggages / bags / carry-ons. The less you have to lug around, the easier your life will be. We managed with 2 check-in luggages and 2 carry-on backpacks and it still felt like a ton of stuff when you add the stroller, car seat, and baby itself!

3. Bring the stroller and car seat that you use every day because baby is familiar with and used to them! And then buy these cheap gate check bags on Amazon: here and here.

4. Bring your baby carrier! We didn’t use it that much but when we needed it, we really needed it, so it was good to have.

5. Co-sleep :)! It’s so much easier and makes your vacation a vacation! Take a break from your routine (this is probably controversial, lol); but the trip is going to throw it off no matter what, especially if time zones are different, so you might as well go all out. Bedtime was effortless and Colton slept 6 hour stretches every single night. It was a dream.

6. Specific to tropical vacations, spend the money and get a cabana that comes with fancy beach beds, food, and drinks. It is worth every penny for all-day shaded, private, and super comfortable space for baby.

7. Take your time at the airport. Stop and feed/soothe when you need to. Don’t let baby crank up to 100; that means leaving the check-in, security, or boarding line if you have to! Relax and take your time :).

8. Don’t board the plane until the very last call. You don’t want to sit in the plane longer than you have to with an infant, especially if, God forbid, take-off gets delayed, which happened to us the entire trip there and back!!

9. If baby does freak out during flight, take it easy and don’t sweat it. I found the passengers and stewardesses very understanding. Most people are nice enough to look at you with empathetic eyes, being like, ‘I’d prefer for your baby to be quiet but I also totally get it, so it’s okay.’ :)

10. Get this inflatable rubber ducky for bath time and a mini pool at the beach. It’s all of $15 and works wonders.

Most of the trip was spent cuddling by the oceanside with hubby and baby but we also managed to squeeze in 2 road trip days, which I am so grateful for. We got to drive around the entire beautiful island for some fresh photography!! Below are a whole bunch of new prints I have yet to post in our shop and on Etsy. I’ll get on it SOON. For now, enjoy!

kauai hawaii, kauai photography, hawaii photography

kauai hawaii, kauai photography, hawaii photography

kauai hawaii, kauai photography, hawaii photography

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kauai hawaii, kauai photography, hawaii photography

kauai hawaii, kauai photography, hawaii photography

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kauai hawaii, kauai photography, hawaii photography

We are also taking another little trip to Pennsylvania for a few nights, leaving on Saturday morning! :) And then heading up to the cottage the following weekend. It’s going to be an incredible summer. Back again soon! xo.

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 8:03 pm

Colton is 3 months old today, weighing 13 lbs. 14 oz! Someone slow down the clock, please. It’s also my 31st birthday, yay! Age is just a number – I still feel like I’m 20 ;).

This photo captures much of my days that are spent playing, laughing, and babbling with this sweet boy resting snuggly on my legs. One day he’ll be too big to sit with me like this, but ’til then, it’s a date every day!

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The last 2 weeks have been somewhat of a transformation. It’s the first time I’ve felt like I have a good handle on the baby; that I know him well now. It took 3 months but I understand most of his cries and needs and can respond confidently and appropriately. The result is that crying is rare these days; as soon as the whimpers and whines begin, we already know how to respond. I’m enjoying him even more.

He has officially stopped cluster feeding, which he did for many weeks, wanting to nurse every 1-1.5 hours. Most days I didn’t mind it but some days I felt like my breasts were going to fall off. I thought it would never end but of course it did! He is also an extremely efficient feeder now. When he’s seriously nursing (vs nursing to sleep), he’s on and off within 10 minutes. LOVE IT! I thought the 45- to 90-minute feeds would never end either but of course they did, too!

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At night he is starting to consistently sleep 3-5 hour stretches – movin’ on up in the world here! When he sleeps longer than 3.5 hours, I find myself waking up to my internal clock a bit dazed, confused, and even worried: “What happened?” :P It’s something to get used to!

His naps are like clockwork: 3x a day ranging from 1-2.5 hours each. I have a little secret: I let him nap on his tummy. I realize it’s not recommended for safe sleep in Canada but both my hubby and I were raised sleeping on our tummies (not just for naps but at night, too) and as long as I am always watching the babe, I feel 100% comfortable with it! I’ve found that he loves being on his tummy; he doesn’t startle easily and sleeps beautifully, so I treat him to tummy naps during the day. :) By the way, the kid sleeps through noise like it’s going out of style; he’s out like a light even with a vacuum turned on right next to him. Plain awesome.

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We are leaving for Hawaii on Sunday morning at 6AM. It’s our first trip together as a family and I am both nervous and excited at the same time. My biggest fear is the 10-hour flight, which is quite long for an infant, so I am crossing my fingers that we get through it without any major trouble! Lately he’s been explosive pooping up his back getting everything everywhere on himself and his clothes. Not a fun scenario on a plane, lol. But I am excited because we are going at a time when we feel we have a good handle on him. He has become a truly good, easy, and somewhat predictable baby at this point, so he is right where he should be for taking his first trip :).

We’ve solidified a loose bed time routine over the past 2 weeks and it’s been working nicely. We’ve reduced the time it takes to put him to bed from 2 hours to 1.5 hours :P. It’s unfortunate though that all of this progress will be tossed in Hawaii with the 6-hour time difference! I’m hoping it’s not too big of a challenge to re-establish the routine when we return.

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And while we’re in Hawaii, there will be a bathroom renovation taking place in our home :P. How’s that for multitasking! It’s one of the last renovations we are taking on and one that I am quite excited about for 2 reasons: 1) It is for Colton, especially as he grows up and starts to bathe in a real tub and 2) I’m going to go ahead and say that after renovating pretty much our entire house inside and out, we are experienced renovators now and know how to manage these projects effectively without tears and all sorts of drama. Yup, many of our earlier renovation projects brought me to tears, mostly because of nightmare contractors. No more of those! I’ve been dying to design and decorate a bathroom so I can’t wait to share pictures :).

Last but not least, a new print below! Spotted this teeny tiny home standing in solitude among Utah’s great big rocks. I thought it looked beautiful.

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That’ll be all for now! Life is sweeter than it’s ever been and I give thanks to my God for all that he has given us.

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 5:07 am

Colton is 6 weeks old today! Here he is all bundled up after bath time. That face though!! He is growing so fast :(, I’m already missing these newborn days and they’re not even over yet. They’re just rapidly escaping me. A part of me wants him to stay this little forever; just little enough to hold him in my arms.

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In these past few days, I’ve noticed he has began to recognize who I am; that I am mom and mom is comfort and safety. He has started to ease up on the fuss during witching hours and those hours have gotten significantly shorter, and dare I say it: sometimes barely exists. He has been so sweet and so good and is just the best.

He is now weighing 10 lbs. 14 oz., still in the 50th percentile, and no longer fits into a bunch of his onesies. I’m trying to squeeze him into them to get 1 or 2 more wears, ha!

Last night while half asleep, I caught him roll from his back to his side. It took a second to sink in my sleepy, groggy head, and when it did, I was stunned. He went on to show off his fancy new trick while at the doctor’s today. Doctor says “oh my God, it’s too early.” I’ll take it! The little guy doesn’t waste any time (except for when he was late entering the world).

Breastfeeding has finally stabilized (I think)! No more surprises and it has been all around wonderful. I actually find it extremely rewarding. It sounds so simple because it’s something so natural but it’s hard work to get that milk supply up and running smoothly and when you get there, it’s plain awesome. You reap what you sow indeed!

He is getting his first set of vaccines in a couple of weeks and I’m quite excited to have them done only because I can start to feel more comfortable taking him to public places like the mall to go for little strolls. Can’t wait :).

Before I sign off, here are a few new prints!

This lovely Icelandic house on a hill…

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This old shipwreck along the Pacific Coast… a little eerie with a whole lot of beauty… there is such a thing!

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Dug through archives from 2010 and found this gem. An oldie but goodie.

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Back again soon! Xo.

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 12:06 pm
March 26, 2018

3 new prints to share :). Love sifting through our thousands of photos in our archives. It’s funny how we relentlessly take so, so, so many pictures when we travel but we really only have time to tap into 1-2% of the pile at most. So it’s always worthwhile to go back and tap into a little bit more. There are so many hidden treasures, like the ones here.

This was taken while driving through Route 66. So barren yet so beautiful. I absolutely love open landscapes. I find them therapeutic.

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This was taken while driving around Napa Valley; we literally chased this hot air balloon like little fools in our rental car until we got a great view of it :P.

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This was taken in Iceland. Mama and her babe; love that little lamb. Everything little is just so endearing. Wish all little things could stay little, right?

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More and more to come. xo.

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 12:37 pm
March 7, 2018

New print of Monument Valley in Navajo Tribal Park, Utah. Feels like the movies even when you’re there in the flesh. Those majestic rock formations are just incredible. I’m really, really itching to travel especially because we didn’t get to go anywhere in 2017. Hawaii is the closest thing in sight at the end of May and it can’t come soon enough.

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Someone once told me when you become a mama, you become a master multitasker and an efficiency queen. And that you do. You can never be too efficient especially with increasingly busy lives. I’m blogging and editing photos with baby in arms right now since he is relentlessly fighting sleep. I think you start off exclusively focused on a single given baby-related task at a time when everything is so brand new, but once you get into your groove, it starts to feel like multitasking becomes not only second nature but a must. You only have so many “free” hours in the day between feeding, soothing, pumping, changing diapers, napping, eating, and tidying up (clutter drives me bananas). So combining other activities with these main events is much needed, for me anyways, otherwise, there’s a good chance this super strict routine could drive me a little mad (while still strangely loving every second of it of course) :).

Quick note that I think Colton’s witching hours are changing from sometime between 5pm-2am to 11am-4pm over the last couple of days. He is just full of surprises! Adapting seems to be the name of the game. :P

Fun piece of news: the print below is one of my personal favourites and I’m so excited for its greeting card (birthday occasion) licensing opportunity coming up for the summer! We’ve just signed and sorted all paperwork as of yesterday. It’ll be our first foray into stationery, which we’ve wanted to explore for a while, so I’m super stoked about this. I’ll loop back with the actual greeting card once it’s ready!

Signing off for a bit! xo

carnival art print, flying swing art, carnival photography

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 1:19 pm
March 2, 2018

Here’s a new print: Los Angeles cityscape with its beautiful skyline in the background, faded by the good ol’ LA smog! Love LA but love Toronto more. :) Baby Colton is sleeping well today, so hubby and I have managed to squeeze in some TV time, yay! Been watching Shameless – took a while to get into it but now I’m hooked.

los angeles photography, LA photography, LA skyline, Los Angeles skyline, city of angels

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 6:51 pm
February 8, 2018

I’m 39 weeks and 1 day today! Went to my appointment and not a lot happening yet. This journey is so fascinatingly unpredictable. You really don’t know what’s going to happen. The entire thing is perpetually up in the air and if you are someone who takes comfort in control, this is a tough pill to swallow! (*Ahem*, me!)

I’m enjoying my time off though and taking full advantage of all the rest that I can get right before my world is turned upside down. I’ve noticed my energy levels are down and I’m very tired again. Luckily, my nesting urge has completely subsided since I’ve been nesting pretty much the entire pregnancy up until about 37 weeks. Everything is done and there is nothing left to do but rest and wait for the big day! It’s exactly what I wanted and needed so I can get my mind and body set for what’s to come.

I did end up doing some upgrades on my Macbooks and cleaned them out so they run like new again :). That felt productive! I’ve also made a ton of updates to the website and my Instagram account to get up to speed with current trends. I really wanted to run a Valentine’s Day promotion but it was too risky with an imminent newborn, so I had to pull back :(. I’ve also been walking around the house every day to get some activity in. It’s just too cold and slippery outside otherwise. I’ve also started to drink Raspberry Leaf Tea and have jumped on board with many other natural labour-inducing remedies just in case one of them works. ;) Lots of old wives’ tales but it doesn’t hurt, I guess!

New print below – a bit of summer to get through the winter.

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Posted By Charlene Precious @ 6:13 pm
February 4, 2018

I officially went on maternity leave as of Thursday, February 1st. :) Not sure I’ve quite adjusted to the thought of not working for the next 12 months. At the same time, I’m so pumped to refocus again on Charlene Precious Co., at least when the dust starts to settle a bit with a newborn in our lives! It’ll feel like my MBA years when I had time to build up the business except the MBA work is presumably a piece of cake compared to a newborn :P.

Here’s another bump picture! I’m really cherishing these last few preggo moments since I’m likely going to miss this belly and having a buddy everywhere I go. I’m just about ready for baby blue to come though! Don’t get too chubby in there, bud. It’s a bit crazy in these final days because you start to over-think and over-analyze every little “sign” of labour, especially because it’s my first pregnancy. I guess soon enough we’ll see what game day really looks like!

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Chris’ fiscal year just ended on February 1st as well and he had an absolutely incredible year so the past 3 days have been one long celebration. We both went for a nice manicure/pedicure, a 90 minute massage, and dinner at the Keg. I also got my hair cut and coloured, which felt FANTASTIC. I waited 9 months to do this because I wasn’t sure about all the chemicals but now that babe is fully cooked, I felt better about it and decided to get pampered knowing I won’t have much time to myself for a while. Gotta take care of those overgrown roots!

So because Chris finished his year with a bang, he actually earned himself a free trip to Hawaii at the end of May and he gets to bring me along, which means….. the baby is coming with us??? What an exciting thought. Gotta get clearance from the doctor first before I get too caught up in the idea though! More to come on this.

New print below, taken in Ocho Rios, Jamaica! Perhaps this will be somewhat similar to my view in May?? ;) I’m hopeful and keeping my fingers crossed. xo.

ocho rios photography, jamaica photography

Posted By Charlene Precious @ 3:02 pm
December 30, 2017

2017 flew by faster than most other years. Not sure if it’s because I’m getting older or if the year really just disappeared in a blink. I am so grateful for everything that happened. It was a year filled with blessings from God. I don’t know what life would be without him – it’s a true gift to know him.

TOP 7 MILESTONES:

1. Getting pregnant with our baby boy
While I did not get to enjoy an ounce of summer this year being so ill in the first trimester, this has been the greatest gift yet. It is a true miracle to create life – I don’t know how to think of it any other way. It’s a beautiful and humbling experience.

2. Getting promoted at work
I love General Mills, I love the people I work with, and I love what I do. It was a goal of mine to be promoted within 2 years of working at this incredible company. It happened and I am overjoyed to be able to fully own my brands and businesses and lead a very special and talented team.

3. Getting our backyard and basement renovated
So we’re a bunch of renovation addicts here. We designed our backyard oasis in the Spring and our basement in the Fall. I didn’t get a chance to enjoy the backyard since I was pregnant and sick shortly after but I plan to practically live there next summer :). We renovated the basement in preparation for our baby boy, to create more living space in the house.

4. Designing my new happy place to perfection – the baby nursery
It’s my new favourite room in the house and it was a complete blast putting it together. Everything is just so cute. I love love love it. Being able to be in a pretty nursery should make all the bad days better :).

5. Chris getting baptized
I am so grateful to be able to build a family together under God’s unfailing love, grace, and protection. We’ve also made time for church about twice a month, which is a significant progress from zero times a month last year. #winning

6. Chris and I bonding and loving each other in a bigger and better way
Our love continues to grow and I continue to see this incredible man in a new and different light every day and I can only say that I love him deeper and greater as the days pass.

7. Chris smashing it in his first year at Salesforce
This man is GREAT at everything he sets his mind to and has had a fantastic first year in his new role at Salesforce. He is the hardest worker I know and I am so, so, so proud of him.

The saddest part of this year was that we didn’t get a chance to travel and I’ve made time to travel every single year for the past 8 years. The pregnancy just kind of came at us and our renovation projects kept expenses quite a bit higher than usual, so we had to pass on a trip this year. It would have been a trip to Norway though! We’ll take a raincheck for 2018!

Overall an incredible year that we can only be thankful for. I wish you all a fantastic 2018! Make it a great one! xoxo

(In the mean time, a new print for all the surfers out there!)

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Posted By Charlene Precious @ 7:24 pm