35 weeks

Gulp. I feel like I'm going to be earlier than 40 weeks this time. Because I wrote that, I'll most likely be 2 weeks overdue and have to be induced. I've been taking it easy this week (well, easy for me). I had an amazing amount of energy yesterday so I ignored the imposed taking it easy guideline and basically got stuff done from 7am until 10pm. Important stuff like sterilizing the kitchen sink, counters, light switches and door handles with bleach. I paid for it today. No major contractions but so exhausted all day.

It's so hard to believe that I'm in the final stretch already. Where did the past 35 weeks go? We've already been in this house for 6 months as well.

Auf Auf

I see another pet in our future. On Thanksgiving, there were 4 little puppies for Samara to visit. I think she basically had the best day of her life so far. She loved these puppies SO much...perhaps a little too much. By the end of the day they were shaking in fear whenever she walked over to them. She was very gentle when she picked them up, petted them ever so lovingly, gave them multiple kisses...but the release? Not so gentle.

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas?

I'm looking outside as I wait for Samara to wake up from her nap and see a light dusting of fat, fluffy snowflakes. The kid in me can't help but feel that tiny flutter of excitement when I see the first snowfall. That being said, it's too early and looking at the forecast for the rest of the week, it won't last.

Snow makes me think of Christmas. This year I'm attempting to make a good chunk of the kids' Christmas presents. One project I took on was making sock monkeys that I will stick in their stockings.

I'm pretty sure Sam is going to love hers because she got sight of them when I was almost finished and talked about mamucks (don't ask me, it's her word for monkey for whatever reason!) for the rest of the day and kept asking for them after I had hidden them.

They're not perfect but they have a ton of character compared to one out of a factory!

Baby Listens!

I woke up this morning feeling good. I've had a couple contractions today but nothing regular like yesterday...definitely just Braxton Hicks. I'm taking this as a warning to TAKE IT EASY. Even though I really, really want to get stuff done now. At the very least, I need to pack my hospital bag. Anyway, it looks like this baby is going to bake awhile longer...thankfully!

Baby Wait!

I have been having contractions for 13.5 hours now. They started at a pain level of 2/10 and are now 4/10. I went to the hospital earlier and got checked. Baby is low (nurse said she could feel the head) but I am not in active labour. My cervix is not dilating but is thinning. I had a non-stress test done to check on the baby during the contractions and the little guy/girl is super healthy and active. My urine test showed slight traces of bacteria which could indicate a bladder infection. So, I'm now on antibiotics in hopes that the pain I'm getting is a result of an infection but that it clears up quickly because bladder infections can cause pre-term labour. In the meantime, I'm supposed to rest and take it easy. Hear that, Sam?!

I'm scared...at first I thought of the silly things like not completing everything I wanted to around the house, not even having a hospital bag packed, and so on. But what I'm more scared of now when I've had a chance to think "what if" all day is a baby that is born too soon. 34 weeks is good in that a baby born at this stage will never be developmentally behind a baby born at 40 weeks. But, a shot of steroids would still be needed to strengthen the baby. And, what I fear most, a stay in the intensive care unit. Would this mean I couldn't hold the baby when he/she is born? Would breastfeeding not happen right away? Would this affect my milk coming in? Will the baby have any health problems? Will the baby be okay?

So...it's been a long day. I'm going to go to bed early and just hope that I wake up and have no belly pains whatsoever...until at least 37 weeks!

34 weeks

Crap! 6 weeks to go! The other night Sam was up for a bit and required some cuddling. After I returned to bed I could NOT get back to sleep. All I could do was worry about how Sam will deal with having a brother or sister, what will happen when I have to devote so much time to breastfeeding and also deal with a very needy toddler who seems to require 100% of my attention 99% of the time, when will I be able to sleep, those types of things. I know, it will all figure itself out...it has to, right?!

On another note, I've gained 28 pounds. EWWWW. I'm clearly trying to catch up to my 50 pound weight gain with Samara. This is proven by my afternoon snack of not one, but two butter tarts. This will not stop me from having another tart as soon as I hit publish post. So, I guess what I'm saying...is I know where the weight is coming from and I DESERVE IT. I deserve however hard it will be to get it off. Because I'm gaining 2 pounds a week on top of working out 5 times a week. That's taking some real dedication to fatty eating!

How did this happen?

1 year ago:

Now:


Forget my to do lists, the things I feel must get done before the baby arrives, projects that need to be completed by December, etc, etc, etc. I'm spending the remaining 6 or so weeks soaking up every minute with this girl.

Justice, revenge...it's all the same thing...

Last night, we met Shawn's uncle for dinner. Since it was such a beautiful evening, we decided to stop at a park on the way home.

We pull up to the park. There are 3 boys, I'd say around 12, and 1 big dog. As we get Sam out of the truck, they take off...which is normally what teenagers do when they see actual park users come. Fine by me, I've started disliking teenagers an incredible amount despite remembering being one myself quite clearly.

Shawn puts Sam in the swing and I look around. The pessimist in me assumes that the boys were up to no good. I see 2 plastic bags littering around that I figure were theirs. I walk over to the tube slide and...well...they've peed down it and I can only guess the plastic bags were used to scoop up the dog's crap and put it at the bottom of the slide for some kid to slide into. GRRRRRR. Why do teenagers suck so bad? Did we suck that bad?

We decide to skip the rest of the park not knowing what else has been defaced and take a little walk around the block. We see the boys and their dog a couple of blocks away and they've clearly spotted us and are walking quickly away. This is when it gets fun.

I suggest hurrying back to the truck so we can follow them and scare them a bit. Shawn (love of my life) eagerly agrees. We start driving but can't find any of the kids. We keep driving and our persistence pays off. We spot 1 kid and the dog. YESSSSS!!!! We pull over on the other side of the road so that it's clear we are watching him. Then Shawn pretends to get on his phone. Because really, at that age, who wouldn't assume people were calling the cops? He keeps looking back at us worriedly and walks faster. We pull up closer and again Shawn continues talking gibberish into his cell phone.

Now he is jogging and dragging his poor dog behind him. We drive by slowly, looking at him and then drive past and turn around. He has disappeared but we catch up with him as he has raced down an alley. He is running at full speed now, looking back for us with the most terrified expression on his face. We stop...wait...make sure the fear is real...and then drive home, laughing wickedly the entire way.

I can only hope that the phone rang a dozen times the rest of the evening making the boy think it was the cops calling or, even better, that the doorbell rang causing him to wet his pants.

Another (mostly) Wordless Wednesday

I'm salvaging all our pictures from the Laptop Disaster of 2010 which is why you get 2 picture posts today while I work on editing. I did this when I was pregnant with Samara...comparisons at 13 weeks, 23 weeks and 33 weeks.

Curious to see what the belly looked like with Samara? Head here!

Wordless Wednesday

Future Hockey Player?

What do you think?

This morning I posted a video of Sam. I never thought anything of it but after a few comments (completely innocent comments), I realized she was wearing nothing but a diaper. Shawn and I discussed back and forth and finally decided to delete it, unsure of whether other people out in the world wide web would view it as innocently as it was intended. So, I'm curious to see what you think...

Would you have deleted or purposely not posted a video/picture of your child if he/she were partially unclothed? Why? I've never posted any picture or video where Sam was completely naked but never thought much about just being in a diaper.

I'm interested to read your thoughts...

Friday Night Leftovers

• Fastest week ever. I can't keep up!

• I've been a bad blog updater lately. I don't know why. Actually, part of it is that I don't have any pictures and that usually creates a post idea for me. Since the death of our laptop (AKA primary computer) I have nowhere to upload and edit all my pictures. We're waiting for a big hard drive to be shipped and then I can get back to the pictures. So next week will be better, I promise!

• GREAT week. We had a blast at the library (went with friends), even had fun swimming (no fussing) and enjoyed Kindermusik today. Sam is still super shy in group settings but is starting to join in on the activities a bit. I just love seeing her start to gain confidence...makes my little heart burst!

• Looking forward to a visit from a great friend tomorrow. The rest of the weekend will be baby projects/nesting. SO much still to do!

• 33 weeks pregnant. I'm huge. I'm feeling like I'm done being pregnant but am terrified at the prospect of having another newborn to deal with. I also feel guilty for not appreciating every moment of this last pregnancy.

• See? I really am huge. So huge that I feel like stretch marks are going to happen any day.
• For more leftovers, visit here!
  

Thanksgiving Recap

• 2.5 hour drive there...20 pounds of snacks and 2 kg of toys only made it to 1.75 hours of the drive. We enjoyed .25 hours of screaming and then a blissful .5 hours of silent snoozing.
• 1 visit to stalk our old house...no changes made since last stalking.
• 1 trip to Ikea. This resulted in heartburn courtesy of lunch at their cafeteria, a couple of impulse buys and Sam's Christmas present.
• 1 great visit with family including a delicious dinner. 4 puppies and 2 dogs were mauled by Samara and I think they were all happy to see her leave. Sometimes she loves animals just a tad bit too much!
• 2 huge meltdowns due to no nap and 1 minor injury.
• 2.5 hour drive home which was mostly silent except screaming at every 45 minute interval.

All in all, the trip was a success...but a long, exhausting day. And that's with 1 kid! How do we do it with 2? Drug them? I'm kidding, of course!

Hope everyone had a fabulous long weekend!

Friday Night Leftovers

• Our laptop is officially dead. Completely dead. No hope for revival. Shawn spent 2 hours on the phone with Dell where a team was working on unlocking our hard drive and they had no success. Luckily, Shawn backs everything up monthly so there wasn't a lot lost...in fact, even all the pictures are still on my camera because I'm lazy and don't delete the card until it's full. I have to re-edit them all but at least they're there. Learn from this people...back up your files! I shudder to think of how we could have lost ALL our pictures of Samara's life so far!!!
• We went for a playdate yesterday. The boy is almost exactly Samara's age. He has the sweetest little corkscrew curls. He kept trying to hug and kiss Samara. It was so very sweet. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?!) Samara kept dodging him and playing hard to get! Let's hope this kind of attitude from Samara lasts until she's at least 21.
• 32 weeks pregnant today...I am running out of time to get stuff done. Running out of time, running out of energy. I was listing everything I wanted to get done to Shawn last night and he/we came to the conclusion that it's not going to happen. I'll do what I can...it would be nice to have everything done but it's probably not going to happen. My type A, OCD self will just have to accept it.
• We had our 3rd music class today. 4 of the kids there had their dads with them instead of their moms. This did not bode well for Samara's participation. She is so shy around them and basically was stuck to my lap or my hip the entire 45 minutes.
  
• Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday! I am looking forward to a yummy meal...just wish the baby left more room for food because this little squirt is slowly crowding out any available space left!
• For more leftovers, visit here!
  

Catching up...

• Van is fixed! I made the most of it too and spent the entire morning running errands. I told Shawn before he left for work that I would run errands until Samara or I caved. I won!
• Laptop...still inactive. Shawn's working on it right now and hopefully I will get my budget and my pictures to put on our desktop.
• I got the cutest wooden rocking horse off Kijiji today. It's the baby's Christmas present but I put it in the living room when we got home so Shawn could see it. Samara has of course adopted it. HOISE HOISE HOISE!!
• We went to storytime at the library where again nobody talked to us. Lethbridge is SO friendly!
• Samara is going through some serious mama issues. I made shepherd's pie for supper which requires quite a bit of work and she screamed bloody murder the entire time. I'd hold her for a bit (which explains why my back is hurting me like crazy now), sit on the floor and hug her, etc. and all would be well until I went to cook again. I'm super proud of myself for taking MANY deep breaths and not yelling. However, I did break a wooden spoon to release some aggression!
• 90% sure this baby is a boy. My belly is MASSIVE. I wore a pair of maternity jeans that were my favorite last time around and they kept falling down. Clearly last time I had fatter thighs!

What's New

Hmmm...what's new around here?

- our laptop has died. I am still in mourning, possibly even denial. Shawn is working at recovering what we have stored on the hard drive. Luckily he backs things up once a month but catching up on even a few weeks of budgeting/banking will take ages. As will editing pictures.

- took the van in to get checked. It's going to be $420 to get fixed. Ouch.

- took Samara to the park this afternoon where she barfed on herself. I had nothing with me to do anything about it. So gross.

I'm hoping all these annoying things that are happening are happening now so that when the baby comes, life will be smooth sailing (or as smooth as possible).

17 months!!

This past month, Samara:

-is super affectionate. She likes to give hugs, kisses and stops what she's doing every so often to come for a cuddle. In true Samara fashion, it lasts about 5 seconds but it's still nice! She loves to Skype and kisses who we're talking to through the screen.

-had bad sleeps. Consequently, so did everyone in the house! She started waking multiple times a night and requiring help to get back to sleep. The past couple of nights are back to normal with her going down around 730 and getting up around 730, however, to pay for that, her single nap a day that was previously 2-3.5 hours is around 1 hour.

- has more freedom around the house. Both gates blocking the stairs are gone so she has the run of the house.

- has really started to imitate us. I catch her drying dishes, blowing on her food, putting her toys away and an especially funny one: holding paint samples up to the wall.

- is starting to make "sounds" more...a dog says "woof", a cat says "meow", a train goes "choo choo", when someone or something is in her way, she says, "beep beep".

- now has about 85 words. She has really had a language explosion this past month...every single day she learns several words. The latest include: horse, Poppy, pee pee, light, socks, nice, apple, Papa, duck, one, two, three, six, box, soup, bath, go, dressed, vagina, poop, tickle, Tash, pancakes, Kleenex, Dora, work, coat, keys, blocks, bunny, dirty, hot, kick, fish, monkey, lunch, bye bye, yellow, books, rocks, purse, smoothie, peace and buddy.

- just yesterday said her first sentence: there you go. Today she also started saying thank you.


Favorite things this past month:

-being outside...includes walks in the wagon, stroller, jogging stroller, her doing the walking and being at the park.
-music. Playing it herself, listening to it and dancing. She really loves spinning around and gets really excited when you ask her to spin. As for playing the instruments herself, she actually purposely chooses keys to play on the piano and doesn't just hit it. She knows how to hold a guitar pick and strum the chords and can hold drum sticks and hit the drums properly.

Things I never want to forget:

-watching her grab all her stuffed animals one by one from the toy box, sitting them down all in a straight line and then sitting herself down in the middle of them all.

-how whenever she drops something, she says a very concerned, "uh oh!"

-her reaction to things she thinks are nice...for example, after we painted her room, we brought her in and she exclaimed, "oooooohhhhhh!" She says the same thing when you put an article of clothing on that she picked out.

-when she pets dogs we see on walks, she always leans over to give them a kiss. This is one kid who will certainly enjoy having a dog one day!

31 weeks

After seeing these pictures, I vow to never wear this unflattering shirt ever again.

Friday Night Leftovers

• Daddy's home!!!! This means that for the first time all week, Samara slept through the night and woke up in a good mood. Whatever, I'll take it!
• We went to our 2nd Kindermusik class. I was dreading it after the first time. It was GREAT! Lots of fun. Now I don't feel like we wasted a couple hundred dollars!
• A lady at the Kindermusik class is also pregnant. We chatted for a bit after class and she is due at the same time as me. She thought I was 4 months pregnant. Sort of a compliment? 31 weeks today.
• My friend Amanda is visiting later today and tomorrow. Very excited!!
• At our Michaels trip last night, I had the most pleasant cashier. I've had her a couple of times and she is always so nice. The first time I had her, she let me in on the fact that you can use TWO coupons each visit where previously I had thought I could only use one. So not only is she extremely friendly and pleasant, she's actually saving me money! I emailed Michaels head office today letting them know how great she is. I hope her manager gets it. So many times I write nasty emails/letters and it's nice to do the opposite for a change.