First day of mat leave

And it feels weird.  Carson is at daycare so I'm at home.  Alone.  I don't remember the last time I've been at home, alone, for longer than an hour or so in the past 2 and a half years.

I have a huge list of things to get done but I think today I'm going to do a whole lot of nothing.  I know days like this will not happen again for another 3 years so I'm going to enjoy it.

Best part about summer?

Grandma and Nono's pool! Carson freaking loves the pool. Our winter was so busy on the weekends as it was that we never really got to the pool, so I was a bit worried about how he was going to react when we went it. Over the past couple weeks whenever we are over at my mom's he's gone into the back and been quite interested in the pool (although it wasn't clean then). So yesterday we made plans to meet the other grandchildren there - and as soon as we got up to the house Carson climbed out of his seat and ran up to the front door asking where the pool was. Then he tore through the house and out the back and started squealing. Yes, my son squeals. Good thing I wore my bathing suit over (obviously, under clothes!) because I barely had him out of his clothes and he was at the side of the pool, just waiting for me. I got in, he jumped to me and never looked back. If we were out for longer than 5 minutes (say, for dinner) he looked at me constantly asking to go back in the pool. He loved it loved it loved it.

37 week appointment

I'm doing splendid and so is the babe!

My blood pressure is good at 116/62
Baby has dropped
I'm now only measuring one week ahead

Doctor said he wouldn't be surprised to see me in the next week or so. Yikes. Now it's crunch time. And I have a to-do list the size of my arm.

Tomorrow is my last day of work, I was going to stay till the 30th but I've kind of transferred off all my files/projects AND, as mentioned above, I have alot to do at home so maybe a few extra days at home won't be so bad.

Feeling a little more ready

And really, don't I LOOK ready??



I took an early lunch break today and went to Babies R Us and bought a few things (a bottle, washcloths, receiving blankets, diapers) and am feeling a tad better now. Buying things always calms me down. We bought the paint and hopefully sometime this week we'll do the small bit of painting that needs to be done in the nursery. I lent out a whole bunch of my newborn stuff so I have to make a run out to Casselman to visit my good friend, her adorable little boy Myles and pick up some clothes. I started to freak out the other night thinking I didn't have much for him until I remembered it was just with friends!

I was going to try to work till next Tuesday, but I've been having weird cramps at the top of my stomach and I'm really quite bloated, so I'm thinking after my doctor's appt tomorrow morning I'll know if I should be off or not. Either way, it's only maximum of 5 working days left.

And let me tell you, if there's a next baby, I will NOT be due in the middle of the summer.

Happy Father's Day

Carson thinks he's pretty darn lucky to have Jeff as a Dad.  I KNOW I'm pretty lucky to have him as a husband.  From day one he's been totally hands on and has been more of a dad then I ever could have imagined, or dreamed of.  

This morning, thanks to Chantal, we heard about a touch a truck show.  For those of you who know Carson, you would know that this would be his absolute dream morning and he was totally in awe of all the trucks there.  He just ran from one to the other, you could see it in his eyes that he couldn't believe all of his favourite trucks were in one place and he could touch them!  And sit in them!  

Relay for life

Last night we went to watch Auntie Carrie give a speech for the survivors at the Cancer Relay for Life - then we all walked the survivor lap with her.

Here's Carson with his flower   
Eating cake 
Trying to escape from the ball tent
In the ball pit

Running up the skate ramp (is it wrong of me to somewhat wish that he loves skateboarding when he's older?)
Sliding down
Ethan sliding down
Daddy sliding down
Running!

I love my friend

I just got the following e-mail from one of my wonderful sweet friends who I've known for years....

So, I don't know if you've heard about the Alberta Finance Minister's
comments about dual income parents... and how raising children
"properly" means one parent should stay home. But it's been big news.

My co-worker just asked my opinion on it and I said that I struggle with
it. I think there's a line where people "need" two income vs we "want"
two incomes because we want a certain lifestyle...and then talked about
how I think the big question is into whom we trust our children's care
when we're not available.

I used you as an example of a family that has done things so well: the
research and time you spent finding your caregiver, the kind of
environment Carson is exposed to: hands-on, interactive, social with
other children and what a benefit that is to him and that you and Jeff
are conscious and intentional in making up for the time you can't be
with him by the quality of time you spend with him at home in the
evenings and on the weekends.

I thought it was important to share how impressed I am with your
parenting skills and that I brag about you being a fantastic parent.

It's funny...

You would think after being a mom to a newborn once, that I would remember exactly what I needed for a newborn the second time around. I had to go to Toys R Us to return a chair I bought for Carson (totally impulse purchase, it stayed in the car for two weeks before I returned it) and I decided to take a wander through Babies R Us. Because, you know, I've been told there's a new baby due in just 4 WEEKS.

It was honestly just as overwhelming as going in there before havign any children. The choices of soothers, bottles, blankets, bath toys, strollers, car seats... it's insane! True, I have alot of things from Carson leftover so it's not like I really have to buy that much. But I'd like to have a few soothers on hand in case baby two needs one. If I need a bottle, I'd like to have that on hand. I threw out all Carson's old washcloths, so I'll need those. Carson still LOVES his blankies (his receiving blankets) so I'll need a bunch more of those. And clothes? Carson was a winter baby so his newborn stuff is all winter stuff. I think I want a baby wrap - I've heard women tend to "wear" their second children way more, as there's a toddler running around the house to deal with. A double stroller? Sure Carson walks most places, but if we head to the mall, to a zoo, a farm - after a while he sometimes gets tired after an hour or so... so I'd like a double stroller. Which kind though? And my car seats are outdated (you can only use them up to 5 years) so now I need a new infant car seat. When I was pregnant with Carson I spent all my free time researching/reading reviews/testing... etc.... everythign for him. I haven't done a stitch of ANYTHING yet for baby two. Room has to get painted. Clothes taken out and washed. Diapers bought. The crib is back together, that's probably the only thing ready.

Sure if baby two wanted to come tomorrow we'd be OK... but I want to be better than OK, I want to be READY!

(Last doc appt everything was perfect - I'm measuring almost 3 weeks ahead so rather than 36 weeks I'm measuring 39... eek!) Baby's heart rate was 123 (normally it's been around 160 but doctor said that's ok). My blood pressure is 108/70 but my feet are the size of surfboards. Serious water retention going on there. Apparently I have my mom's genes (thanks Mom, don't pass on your creative talents but let me inherit the pregnancy weight/bloats).

Saturday

The most blog-appropriate picture I could find of the kids in the pool.

Petra giving the bear some loving
ZiaNadia playing tree or bush with Carson
Carson making his stand on not wanting to play ring around the rosie
Bouncing!
Sofia
Playing in the balls

Friday!

The week is flying by. This morning we went for breakfast at Cora's and then a shopping trip to Ikea. This afternoon it was stinking hot, so rather than head to the fair we just went out back to the waterpark.

Thursday

The kids are B-E-A-T tonight!  This morning we were off to a slow start and then made our way to the Valleyview Little Farm where Petey and Carson played until they could play no more.  It got much hotter than I was expecting and we had two red-faced overheated kids on the drive home.  Carson tried his hardest to stay awake in the car but he surrendered for the last 10 minutes in the car.  After naptime we got up and went to ZiaNadia and Uncle Sean's house so they could meet Petra.  The kids had a wonderful time playing - now both kids are fast asleep (and I'm going to assume Sofia is too).

Wednesday!