FRIDAY!

There are few things I indulge on, especially when it comes to this baby. Actually, let me correct myself: I haven't actually bought anything for the baby yet. I am the second last one out of family to have kids (Nadia will follow 2 weeks later), and I have close friends who have had children too so I've been quite spoiled with getting second hand stuff which I am absoloutely grateful for. I only had to buy a closet organizer for the nursery (oh wait, then I guess I lied in the first sentence) and everything else has been given to us. I have bags of girl clothes and boy clothes, there will be a few things I will have to buy but for the majority it's already there.

I kind of started to ramble there and forgot where I was going with this. Oh yes, indulging. For those of you who know me, you will know I'm super scared and worried about losing this weight after the baby. One of my closest friends is getting married on June 30th so that's my 'goal' date. Also, I love to run. I've run a couple half marathons and it's the only 'sport' that I ever really, truly enjoyed. I tried running when I got pregnant, but my body just didn't agree with it. So it's been put on hold. I can't WAIT to start again once this baby is here. At Boomerang (on Bank St.) they have a running club, where new moms (and their babies, in strollers) meet outside the church (where Kaethe and Peter got married) and then all go for a run together. So we asked around and one of the ladies there said she has tried out a few running strollers (and she's an avid runner) and this one is the best. So here it is, the one thing I plan on indulging in. I'm actually going to check it out this weekend and then keep my eye on it in case it goes on sale.

http://www.bobtrailers.com/strollers/revolution.php

Ha, quite the big lead up for something not so exciting to anyone but me probably.

It's Friday, the weather is supposed to be beautiful this weekend and we plan on taking FULL advantage of it.

Just a few more, loving my family today.

Totally not pregnancy related...

Well, maybe I feel like I am missing my family more because I'm sad they won't be around when the baby comes?

My dad, Arlene and my little beautiful sister who live in Edmonton.

Happy Pregnant Women's Day

I really wish I could remember everything I wanted to say at once... I heard on the radio this morning that it's Pregnant Women Day, no worries, I immediately informed Jeff :)

So Happy Pregnant Women's Day to all you love preggos out there :)

The 14th.....

Almost forgot!

My due date is 3 months from today!

That's approximately 13 weeks, which means 13 more aquafit classes, 39 trips to the gym, 13 Saturdays, 13 weekends, 13 episodes of Prison Break... I figure I can stop now, I think you catch my drift :)

I've forgotten

How much I love yogurt with granola - it's now my favourite mid morning snack. I eat breakfast around 6:30, so come 9-9:30, my stomach is a-rumbling!

Last night, as I promised, I relaxed. I stayed at work late to finish up a few things, went to Mom and Ricky's to pick up something mom had bought me, and went home. Just sat and talked with Jeff for an hour and then made dinner (chili and corn YUM) - after cleaning the kitchen, I got into bed around 7 and just stayed there till I fell asleep around 9.

It was the first time during this pregnancy that my back hurt. It was the top part of my back and I'm not sure what it was from, but the only comfy place for me to be was in bed with about 8 pillows behind me/to the side of me - placed perfectly so that I was super comfy and in heaven.

Woke up bright and early (actually, it wasn't bright, it was still dark) around 4:30 so after just lying there and thinking about absoloutely everything (I'm a big thinker and have a million things racing through my mind at any given point in time) for a bit, I got up, got ready and came to work nice and early.

I'm going to miss my long showers and getting ready in the morning (I love my morning ritual)

Oh!

I've hit the stage where my skin, hair and nails are all PERFECT!

I can't believe my skin, I normally have rosacea (mildly) so I get blotchy with red patches (although some people swear they love it on me, makes me look healthy) but those red patches have gone away.... pure joy.

Can I go back to sleep now?

I'm caught in a vicious cycle. I get tired around 3pm but by the time I get home, I have so much energy that I go go go until around 10 - hit the sack, am dead tired the next morning (I wake up at 6) (due to my night of naps strung together, not a solid sleep) and it just keeps going!

BUT, this does mean that I've been making it to the gym which is always a bonus. I don't do much mind you, the elliptical or the treadmill (read: no weights) but it gets my heart rate up a bit and burns a couple hundred calories. Last night I was on the treadmill with an incline of 4.0 and I started to get twingey cramps in my stomach, so I put it down to 1.0 and just kept walking and I felt normal again.

Did some groceries (was out of carrots and celery!), made a yummy comfort food dinner (Jeff is at home sick since Monday with a chest cold/body aches/pounding head etc) - Chicken A La King and it was delicious.

Today, I'm tired. Like, really tired. The string of naps throughout the night is just not cutting it anymore. Maybe I need to nap in the afternoon? I always feel so much worse when I wake up from a nap that I avoid them like the plague. Maybe instead of doing a million things every night I will just relax and take it easy every third night.

Lying down on the couch while watching TV isn't cutting it for me either. We did a quick re-arrangement of furniture in the basement and now I have my own comfy-ass chair that's awesome for my back, and an ottoman of sorts to elevate my feet. I was in heaven while watching House last night.

I'm wearing a hand-me down pair of mat pants today (really nice, all different shades of grey stripes (including black), flare pants but I don't like the way it shapes my belly - good thing I didn't spend money on them. But, I do have a credit note at Motherhood so I may take a wander over there after work tonight (then I PROMISE I'm going home to relax).

(Can't wait for Jeff to get better. 1/ for the obvious reason, I don't like my husband being sick and 2/ so he can put the crib and change table together! But that's the selfish part of me talking)

Aquafit...

Started last night and I really enjoyed it! Besides my chlorine skin that I quickly scrubbed away as soon as I got home, it was fantastic. It feels so much better to move like that in the water than on the elliptical. The baby was moving like crazy all night last night, every time I woke up (which was OFTEN because I drank a liter of water before bed) I swear you could see the covers moving because he or she was kicking so much.

It was nice to see other pregnant ladies, and it brought me back to reality, knowing that I'm not the biggest pregnant woman out there. There were a few that were not as far along as me, and bigger, so I felt better. And today I feel really really good, my skin is good, my hair is good, my clothes look wonderful (thank you Julie and Jennifer) and I feel happily beautiful pregnant. It doesn't happen often, so I tend to hold onto the days that it does.

27 weeks today! 13 more to go! God, that scares me.

The nursery...

Is almost there! Ok, far from it but last night we got the crib and Jeff is going to put it and the change table together this week. I'm so excited so I can arrange the furniture and figure out where everything is going to go. Then the moulding will go up hopefully next week, and then we can start with the stencilling and hanging the pictures/stars and moons and then washing all the baby clothes we have.

Oh yeah, darn, I forgot I have to clean out the closet. I took all my pre-pregnancy clothes out of my room, put them in the closet in the nursery. I have to find a new home for them (to the guest room?) - it's actually quite sick the amount of clothes I have, and I even went through and gave 7 bags to the women's shelter.

I start aqua-fit tonight, and it sounds silly but I hope we don't go underwater. I am an avid swimmer and have been my whole life (was lucky enough to grow up with a pool), but I find swimming in indoor pools takes a toll on my hair - they put SO much chlorine in those pools my hair gets brittle and just overall horrible.

I have to call my obs. office today. I have 3 requisition forms they gave me at my last appointment. 1 is for the rhogam shot (for Sept 20th) and I'm pretty sure I know which form is for that one. The other one is for my glucose shot and I don't even know what the other one is for. I think just regular bloodwork? And I remember the nurse telling me I had to call ahead to make sure the clinic had ____ for one of them (my glucose shot?). I wish I would have cleared it up while I was there, but they gave me a million forms and were talking about so many things - now I have all the forms in front of me and can call them and get it straightened out.

I love kids....

So, as we know from yesterday's post, I had the kids overnight. I took 'em around 1, we went to grandma's house and had our nap, got up, got into our snazzy new clothes (there were so many sales yesterday, I went into Please Mum and got the cutest camaflouge skirt for Isabelle and a little racing jacket for Ethan) and went to the surprise party. My sister has done an amazing job at raising her children. They sit at the table while eating, not running around like all the other kids, they use their napkins to wash their face and hands and they don't scream and cry and all that nonsense.

We left around 8, went home, we cleaned up (brushed our teeth, washed our face etc) and then got into our king sized bed. I love nighttimes with them, they say the most adorable things while we re-hash all we have done that day, they ask all kinds of questions about the baby (they know he or she will make his or her appearance when the snow comes) and they are all cuddly and snuggly.

I left them in the king sized bed and I went into the guest room into our old queen bed (which now seems so small) then at 6:30 I heard footsteps coming towards my door and Ethan just looked, smiled and said "hi". Now we are watching Dora and going to take a bath shortly.

I love Saturday mornings....

Even though I'm always up at the crack of dawn, today I did something I haven't done in months, maybe years. I stayed in bed. For 2.5 hours. I read, I talked on the phone, I checked the weather network (yes, we are one of those horrible TV lovers who have a TV in their bedroom) and then I watched 'Vanished' from Monday night (it was PVR'd).

Then I got up, had some Rice Krispies, threw on a laundry and came here to check a few things.

I'm having a great morning so far.

I think I'll head into my mom's to see how the garage sale is going (It's the Ottawa South Garage Sale today), then quickly head over to Bayshore to wander and maybe buy a few things (I want a pair of black maternity dress pants for the surprise party I'm going to tonight).

I'm happy, I feel good, I look good, I love my belly and I love the little bean who's constantly kicking and moving (and he responds when Jeff talks or sings into my belly!). Yesterday at work, I spoke to three different doctors (who I work with) who all said they see blue in my future. I become more and more convinced every day that it's a boy. So I am checking out the baby name book again, there are a few names that tickle my fancy but I have to wait till my husband is home to see what his take is on them.

This two lb munchkin inside me is becoming more and more real every day. I talk to him, I sing to him (only when I'm alone), I think about him & us every day and how much our life is going to change come December and I get tears in my eyes becuase I am so excited. I love him or her. No matter what he looks like, no matter if he sleeps well or not, I am just going to love this baby to death.

I love my husband....

Jeff left this morning for a golf weekend in Tremblant with the boys. Although I will be happy when he comes back on Sunday, I am looking forward to a "me" weekend.

I got in the car this morning to come to work and there was an Annie Lennox song "Little Bird" playing in the car. I was so excited, thinking it was on the radio. But then I looked at the stereo and saw that it was on CD. So I flipped to the next song and it was another Annie Lennox song.... I ejected the CD and saw that my wonderful husband had made me an Annie Lennox CD. I had mentioned a few months ago that I couldn't find her CD and I was bummed, cause I loved it.

He's the best.

I think I'm a horribe person...

Ok, so we all know I seriously struggle with weight gain during this pregnancy. Today, I think I look perfectly pregnant. The jeans I'm wearing make me look great and the T-shirt perfectly conforms to my belly, making it look like a cute little preggo belly. I want to show everyone what I look like today. (Must remember to take picture tonight, but by the night time I never look as good as in the morning, but anyways, this isnt the point). The point is, when I'm feeling fat and ugly and just have the pregnancy-ugs, I often find myself reading blogs about people who are struggling to get pregnant, reading about their desperation to get pregnant and know they would slap me silly if they heard me complaining about a 20 lbs weight gain.

Then I realize how (#*&$(&#$ lucky I am to have a 26 week old baby inside my stomach and so far this pregnancy has gone perfectly as planned.

I use other people's nightmares to my advantage, how horrible is that?

I don't know... I just don't know if this is a normal way of thinking, I think I'd like to find other ways to get me out of my slump than compare myself to others less fortunate than me.

I'm a what???

So, I need new bras. I know this isn't a fun post but seriously, I do. I didn't realize your RIBCAGE grows! Mine are uncomfortable now, so off I go tonight to shop. And it's not fun cause I'm not looking in La Senza for cute, pretty, sexy ones. I'm looking for support and comfort. I got measured, and although not willing to post what size I am now, it's bigger than I was even when I was at my highest weight! They shrank quite a bit when I lost all that weight but now I'm back up and bigger. And I don't think there is any slowing down in the near future. I just about died when the lady told me what size I am now (ok, it's a 40D, I've NEVER been a D and never been a 40!)

Last night mom and Rick came over for dinner, we measured the nursery for moulding, chose colours for the rooms we are getting painted (probably within the next 2 weeks!) and had a big discussion on how we are going to renovate the basement. We are going to get an architect in (a friend of Ricky's) because drain pipes etc need to be moved, and he will hopefully give us some good ideas. I think the plan is to start renovations in the spring, hopefully when the bebe, me and my mom are in Vancouver. Currently, half the baesment is finished (our TV room) and the other half is unfinished and is storage/laundry. We are going to make a den/office/guest room, a TV room, a laundry room and a bathroom down there. And when we re-did the bathroom this year, we saved the counter/sink from the ensuite so now we have it for the basement bathroom.

This is all if we don't find a new house within the next couple of months :)

Ouchies!

Jeff and I just went for a power walk around the neighbourhood and my hands and feet are so swollen! If I just hold my hands up ove rmy head I can feel them draining out. I used to get this feeling in the 30+ degree weather when training for my half marathon.....

I think I'm going to take a cold shower and hop into bed (and maybe watch the season premiere of House!)

xo

26 weeks today....

I've been pregnant for 1/2 year!

Last night we had a huge BBQ and it was alot of fun, I told Jeff I wouldn't be entertaining that amount of people in one night again until after the baby was born, and he completely understood. I love doing it, but really, was on my feet cooking/getting read/serving/cleaning etc for 7 hours and by the end I was exhausted. My feet were swollen, I was hot as a (can't think how to end this analogy) and I was just beat. In bed by 9pm and asleep shortly afterwards.

Lyne and Dwight brought our change table, Julie brought more maternity clothes, and I got tips and pieces of advice throughout the night, which always makes me happy :)

Lyne told me that trying to reason with an overtired child was like trying to reason with a drunk, and we both know the latter never works. Lyne and Dwight have a beautiful 7 year old daughter, Sienna and you can tell that they've always spoken to her and treated her as an adult because she acts so mature for her age. You can have these amazing conversations with her. I find it's the same with Carly's Emma, she's only 7 or 8 and yet you would think you were talking to a 16 year old. I think so much of it has to do with the way they are spoken to (spoken to as an adult as opposed to a child).

I should have taken a picture of all the children last night, they were all so adorable and for the most part... really, really good.

So far, only Julie, Lisa, my mom and grandmother think I'm having a girl, everyone else is convinced (as we are) that it's a boy. Grace and Isabelle (2 three year olds) also think it's a girl but the rest of the 'kids' also say boy when asked.

Still no boy's names yet....will start a search on my lunch hour. Now for some oatmeal.

Nursery (so far)

So it's still completely bare, but the walls are painted. We are putting up a chair railing (2 inches thick) in between the two colours, to break it up a bit.

I don't know if the exact colour comes through in these pictures, but I love love love the blue colour "Serenity" by Benjamin Moore and when the room is transformed into the twinkle twinkle little star theme, it's going to look awesome!

I am in love...

With our new king sized bed. I have SO much room, I now sleep with a body pillow in front of me, a pillow behind me (so I dont roll over onto my back) and two pillows under my head... I am in heaven.



Behind our bed is somewhat boring, we don't have a headboard and Jeff won't let me hang a picture above our bed cause he'd always be afraid it would fall on his head. He's so cute :)

The green in the sheets is a completely different colour green then the walls, but for some strange reason, it works. It just makes me want to go crawl back into it :)

Lonnng weekend

I wish every weekend was a long weekend, it just seems we get SO much done when we have 3 days off instead of 2. The baby's room? Painted. I LOVE it! Just waiting for Ricky to put up the moulding next week, then the crib, change table and glider will be moved in. Looks like our deadline of October 1st (for having the nursery done) will be met.

Jeff told me yesterday he had his first feelings that it may be a girl. I was shocked. Since the day we found out we were pregnant we both thought it was a boy. I just know it is. I think it's because we had Isabelle over last weekend for a sleepover and they bonded a bit, he loves and adores her so when we spend time alone with her he loves the idea of having a daughter. Then we were at the grocery store last night (yes, grocery store on a Saturday night) and there a young boy helping his dad take some bags to the dumpster and we talked about a boy is the dad's helper and a little girl is a mom's helper. But, it's daddy's little girl and mommy's little boy. I love thinking about raising a child, I rarely think past the point of having a baby and realize we are going to have a 5 year old, a child starting school, a teenager, someone asking us for keys to the car... it's crazy and we are SO excited.

Tomorrow we are having a BBQ (started off as 4 people with 2 kids and now it's 12 adults and kids) so we are cleaning the house from top to bottom, and that always includes some type of re-ogranization, re-hanging pictures, moving stuff around yada yada. Then a trip to Costco (we are having ribs tomorrow) and back to the grocery store so I can get everything I need (I'm making a brie and onion appetizer, lemon meringue pie, and someting chocolate) - everything else will be easy those are the only thing I have to concentrate on. We are hoping to make it to a movie tonight but I doubt that's going to happen cause it's already 11:40 :)