Bianca, Author at Bits of Bee

food

RECIPE: Glory Bowl

I’m a devoted carnivore who primarily survives on meat, cheese and bread, so many of my friends will be shocked to learn that this recipe post is a healthy dish full of ingredients fit for any vivacious vegetarian. There are two words that are taboo for a passionate meat tooth like myself: beets, and tofu. Just the utterance of those two words makes me cringe, desperate to rush to the closest burger joint to wash my mouth out with a juicy beef burger. But today my friends, I not only cooked with these two ingredients, but (gasp!) I liked eating them. Being a beet-chopping…

travel

Spring Break: Exploring Our Favourite BC Destinations

Our original plan was to spend our 2 week Spring Break vacation checking off items on our infinitely long to-do list. Fix this, clean that, buy this, build that. Sounds exciting, right? But when the first day of vacation arrived, we thought we’d throw that plan out the window and enjoy what might be our last time off as a family before the arrival of baby #3. A few phone calls later and we were off on an adventure around our beautiful province. Our first stop was Gibsons, BC. Nestled along the shoreline of BC’s Sunshine Coast, Gibsons is a…

family

Preparing For Baby #3: Room Sharing

While I now have a large and diverse family, most of my childhood was spent as an only child with a single parent, so watching my children grow together as siblings has been a new experience for me. When we bought our house, I thought we had planned it perfectly – a separate room for each of the kids, and a playroom downstairs to share. If only I had known that we would have a change of heart and make the decision to add one more to our family. As I move through my final trimester of pregnancy, I am…

fashion

The Evolution of Barbie

First launched in 1959 by Mattel Inc., Barbie has been the centre of controversy in the toy industry for over half a century. Most notably criticized for her unrealistic female body proportions, Barbie has been simultaneously the most loved and most hated doll on the market since her inception. Last year, a new version of the doll was developed, supposedly representing the “realistic body proportions” of an average 19-year-old American woman. Devised by a man named Nickolay Lamm and with the help of former Vice President of Manufacturing at Mattel, Robert Rambeau, the lifelike doll – named Lammily – has become…

family

Adoption: An Open Letter To Birth Parents

For most of my life, I hadn’t thought about my birth parents – where I came from, who they were, or why they had chosen to give me up. For me, the only thing that mattered was that I had parents who loved me – who chose to be my parents. When I met my biological father just over three years ago, I was overwhelmed by his reaction to reconnecting with me. He spoke as though he had known me and loved me for my entire life – this “stranger” who hadn’t crossed my mind even once as I had transitioned through childhood and…

family

Pregnancy: Is It A Boy Or A Girl?

Are you trying to get pregnant, currently pregnant, or thinking about having another baby, and secretly wishing for a certain gender? When newly pregnant, we all say the same thing: “I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl, I just want my baby to be healthy.” And while this is mostly true, for many of us there is an inner desire, a nagging whisper at the back of our minds – a secret hope that just maybe it’ll be a boy or a girl. We may not say it out loud, but for many of us, that wish…

family

Should I Have My Tubes Removed?

Last year, Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy after discovering that she carried a mutation of the BRCA1 gene, greatly increasing her chances of breast and ovarian cancer. A bold move to some, but her decision to have the preventative surgery made sense after having lost her mother to ovarian cancer in 2007, and discovering that the estimated risk of breast or ovarian cancer was over 80% for her as well. As I prepare for my third C-section, I’m left to contemplate a fairly new procedure that claims to greatly reduce the risks of ovarian cancer in women as well -…

Bee's Knees

Unleashing Our Disney Side

Let’s face it, for many of us parents Disney vacations aren’t just for the children. While a Disney vacation may be a magical jaunt for the little ones — a fun way to unite in a fun-filled, virtually rules-free environment — it’s also a welcome opportunity for parents to lose all inhibitions and succumb to the magic that Disney and all of its timeless and enchanting stories represent. When our family recently enjoyed a Disney World/Disney Cruise vacation, my first thought was that the trip would be all about the kids. “It’ll be nice to see the wide smiles on…

Bee's Knees

There’s No Party Like A Disney Costume Party

Since taking her first steps and speaking her first words, my daughter has loved Disney princesses. For hours she would play in her room, adorned in tiaras and floor-length gowns, serving tea to the guests in her princess castle and speaking gently in a high-pitched princess voice. When her game was complete, the floor of her room was littered from end to end with sparkly, crinoline-lined pink, yellow and light blue dresses, multicoloured tiaras, and magical wands. We would pack up all of her costumes into a Disney princess-covered dress-up trunk, and tuck it all away neatly until the next…

family

Getting Through Pregnancy After Miscarriage

When I was pregnant with my first child, I was mesmerized by the beauty and transformation of my growing belly. I followed my baby’s development each week through websites, images and email updates. I read books, asked for advice from friends, decorated the baby’s room well in advance, and came up with a name for my new little baby girl – well before she was due to arrive. With my second pregnancy, I was a little less enthused by the process itself, but equally as excited about the child who would soon add to our little family. I was thrilled when…