She must have been hungry

Brooklyn is staying with my father in law for the week because he wanted some fuzzy company.  We were optimistically assuming that she was being good...until yesterday when we heard that  B was caught chewing on something...and it was G's Dad's partial Bridge!!!  I dont want to laugh cause that could have been expensive had she wrecked it but it is a bit funny because this was all I could picture:

[caption id="attachment_1903" align="aligncenter" width="388"] what?![/caption]

Image from here

Ain't no Pillow like an S Club Pillow

One of pregnancy side effects that has been plaguing me in the past few weeks is the whole lack of sleep issue.  Aside from getting up to go to the bathroom, I (a former back sleeper) have been having difficulty sleeping on my side.  It really bothers my hips and I just cant seem to get comfortable.  My sister in law lent me her wedge pillow which was helping support my belly, but I was still having awful sleeps.  And no one loves/needs a tired/cranky/already hyper emotional lady around at home or the office.

Monday night my Mum and I hit up Babies R Us to have a panic attack/register for all the baby stuff we need. I came across this really neat looking pregnancy pillow that I thought was worth a try. So since Monday night this is how I have been sleeping:

[caption id="attachment_1898" align="aligncenter" width="279"] Weird looking but crazy comfy[/caption]

Image from this website

It is honestly life changing at this point in my pregnancy, and having a few full nights of sleep under my belt has made me feel like a whole new woman.

G claims that our bed is getting a little crowded and he is slightly jealous that something has taken over his job of being the big spoon. He also says that "Snoogle" is a stupid name so he calls it my S pillow....and because we are super cool it has lead to us making up various songs about my pillow to this classic late 90s tune:

Poor Gus Gus...you aren't even born yet and you already have to worry about what giant nerds your parents are!

Past Few Weekend Reports...in photo form

[caption id="attachment_1882" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Took Gus Gus to Webers. A very important Walsh tradition that is best to start as a fetus[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1883" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Visiting G's grandma in North Bay with the fam. Showing off Gus and trying to catching up with the northern part of the family![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1884" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Taking a break on the long weekend for a snuggle in the hammock...maybe this is why we don't get all our to dos done...we love the break part that comes along with working hard[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1885" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Mandatory Brooklyn shot. Oh my I love this wee little face[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1887" align="aligncenter" width="388"] The surprised birthday gal! Such a fun night[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1886" align="aligncenter" width="388"] One of our flower girls. It was her Mama's 30th birthday so we had a surprise dinner at Blue Mountain this past Saturday.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1888" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Took my Grandma (aka Super Nanny) to Coffin Ridge (a local winery) as her birthday present. At 96 she claims she doesn't need "stuff" but she will never say no to being treated to some wine![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1889" align="aligncenter" width="388"] We dragged my insanely adorable nephew along for the trip....aaand we matched so I had to get a photo[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1890" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Stopped for a break at Blue Mountain on the way back to Barrie.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1891" align="aligncenter" width="388"] My sister in law introducing her little guy to the joys of Menchies! YUM[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1892" align="aligncenter" width="388"] This isnt a particularly lovely memory, but this happened in the past few weeks too. Poor miss B up sick all night with a GI infection and G and I sitting on the kitchen floor with her at 3am worried to bits[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1893" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Sick Brooklyn all snuggly and nappish after dealing with her tummy bug. She is all better now, but WOW we were scared[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1894" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Totally out of order, but am too lazy to fix: Mum and Brooklyn having an early morning coffee break on our deck[/caption]

The time I tried to tackle a reno all by myself

[caption id="attachment_1877" align="aligncenter" width="388"] The old bathroom--please ignore swiffer and other random items in the picture.[/caption]

When we first moved in to our home, the bathroom off the kitchen had a bi-fold door, and was this kind of blah purple colour.  The vanity was also quite tiny with no room for storage underneath.  In a house with no closets  I find it surprising that ANY design choices were undertaken in this home without "storage options" being at the top of the list.  This is primarily my bathroom as I get ready for work down here while Garret showers upstairs.  We tried to share the bathroom in the mornings but with us both leaving around the same time in the morning it just doesnt work.  I was trying to put contacts in with a steamed up mirror...makes makeup application tricky too. So I migrated to the downstairs bathroom.  The problems with this arrangement happen to be that the vanity is tiny and there is no room to store anything (as I have already just complained about)  My Mum and I were mulling around ways to make this bathroom better and we found a really awesome option at Ikea:

[caption id="attachment_1878" align="aligncenter" width="388"] fancy new sink[/caption]

We fell completely in love with this and the matching medicine cabinet and decided to have a bathroom reno party on the long weekend.  In our total naivete we thought that the only thing we would need G for would be to hang the cabinet and hook up the plumbing. Done and Done. For under $500 we could have a freshly redone bathroom/laundry room I was sold!  The furniture was picked up, Garret and I picked and paint colour and on the long weekend my Mum came down to paint.

I thought I would be doing more helping in the process but "Nana" was rather emphatic about Gus being exposed to paint fumes...so she painted and I just sort of mucked around and kept her company.  The new paint colour in the bathroom looked fantastic. (but I think after 3 coats she was ready to shoot G for claiming we didnt need primer...with that gross purple we DEFINITELY needed a primer coat!)  The time came for G to install the fixtures and we ran into a mild-ish problem.  The plumbing was done in such a way that it stuck way out of the wall....and wasn't going to work with the vanity that I picked.  There was also a brief "I hate Ikea" rant provided by him in the background as well based on the weird plumbing attachments that came with the vanity.

I could make this an extremely long drawn out story, but it just gets less and less interesting...so....A friend of his from work came by Fri night and Sat morning and helped him fix the plumbing. Which ended up being a really good thing because part of it was rotting out. SO when he has been complaining that "my" reno ended up requiring him to do some emergency plumbing I have been reminding him I am actually a lifesaver.  So yeah new plumbing, and yeah new fixtures and yeah our bathroom looks awesome.

[caption id="attachment_1879" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Oh look....he loves it[/caption]

Farewell to ugly purple and ugly vanity and hello to grumpy husband!  Now that it is finished he is loving me and my design choices again but he has said that we are not allowed to have any more Ikea in our house.  I think the next project I take on (or have my Mum and I take on) will require no help from him.

He is saying that since he helped with this he should get to take one item off his "before baby comes/G wants a new TV" honey do list.  Me thinks not. Anyone care to vote?

 

 

It's a....

Baby...ha, we didn't find out. But here is your first glance of our sweet babe Gus:

[caption id="attachment_1873" align="aligncenter" width="388"] And for inquiring minds: That is a leg thankyouverymuch[/caption]

It was  unbelievable to finally get to see what this little one looks like. When we had our earlier ultrasound it looked like a sea monkey. Still exciting but very less babyish.

This time the technician was laughing and asking me if I could feel "all that movement" I said only a little bit, and she turned the screen towards me so I could see the wiggling pile of baby that is Gus.  She said that the baby was having a dance party in there (clearly my child!) After she did all the measurements she called Garret in to have a look.  It was really awesome to see his face as he saw our baby.  It was an emotional moment for us and I think really drove it home that we are having a BABY.  Also reassuring that I am not just getting fat and emotional for no apparent reason! haha

Of course we think that Gus is perfect looking with a beautiful nose and lips, we are so happy the profile picture turned out so well!  Watching the babe flip around and stretch in there was just the neatest thing--I could have watched for hours.  I love that we now have an idea of a face to put to this little thing boogieing around inside me all the time.  It is magical and yet oh so strange to love something so much that you can't quite comprehend even exists.

8 months down

8 months down and we are:

• Slowly working our way through our to do list (I think because I told G we could look at getting a new TV when it was done...I have never seen him this motivated!)


• Worrying about our sick pup...thankfully she seems to be on the mend, but wooo what a scare the other night


• Nesting (ok this is pretty much just me, but G is dealing with the fallout...lucky guy)


• Organizing our living space as much as possible. This may fall under "nesting" but we are really working to find a place for everything and remember when done with said thing to put it back in that place


• Preparing for our labour and delivery course next weekend.  G is working on being mentally prepared to watch a birth and learn "all the gross stuff" that will be happening.  Poor guy is in for quite a shock


• Waiting for Gus' kicks and moves to be felt from the outside.  I LOVE that I am feeling the starts of kicks and moves, but I cant wait for G and others to be able to feel from the outside


• Expanding around the middle (mostly just me)  this also leads to:


• Realizing  that this is actually happening


• Spending some time outdoors...loving the summer weather that is coming (finally)

The one with the hungry pregnant lady

Yesterday at work we had a baby shower for another colleague. There was cake. I may or may not have been looking forward to said cake all week.  The morning seemed to drag on to infinity (before the shower at 11) This was me:

[caption id="attachment_1866" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Preach Stanley[/caption]

I just realized that once Gus comes I will have no excuse for being a sweets spaz. This saddens me. boo.

Long weekend Run Down

[caption id="attachment_1860" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Livin' Young and Wild and Free[/caption]

As thrilling as this likely seems....the above is (what I hope) a breakdown of this upcoming long weekend.  We have been out and about the past few weekends and have more events coming in the next few weeks. As a result our wee house is feeling a bit neglected...AND my early onset nesting nestyness is freaking out.

G and I tend to have a slight time management disagreement disorder.  He feels it is entirely possible to watch 5 movies, hang out with friends, go away over night and still somehow manage to accomplish 500 home related tasks.  I have learned that this is not even close to the truth and tends to leave me just annoyed drowning in a pile of laundry and grocery bags at the end of the weekend. And so my to do lists have been coming out to help keep us focused when we try to plan home things.  I get that a long weekend is kind of a downer weekend to be stuck at home working, but if I have to deal with the pile of lumber that has been taking up half my small hallway any longer, I will lose my ever loving mind.  (ed note: it has been there since Feb when we first discussed doing built ins for our room)  

In order to make these tasks fairly weighted between the two of us I am tackling the bathroom reno with the help of my Mum and her trusty favourite paint brush.  I figure over three days we can pretty easily get all the work done (I am thinking it will just take most of one day to paint and reassemble the new vanity etc in bathroom)  I will take some before pictures of the weird purple colour and impractical vanity that was left there from previous owners...I think that this point anything will be an improvement!

Wish me luck in us accomplishing all of this..or at least luck with me keeping G focused for three whole days hahaha

The elusive pregnancy craving

Once upon a time I came across Cherry Timbits at a Tim Horton's.  They were life changing.  G thought I was making it up until one day we found another Tim's that also carried them.  Long story short, these timbits are hard to find and most Timmies don't carry them.  They are ALL I WANT TO EAT lately...and none of the Tim's near me or work or anywhere reasonable for me to go has them.  Tis a sad sad day for Gus and I, let us move on to a more easily accessible craving choice shall we? please?!

Bonding already

19 weeks and counting

[caption id="attachment_1854" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Thar she blows[/caption]

When I first found out I was pregnant I couldn't wait for the three month milestone. It seems to typically be that sacred point when you can relax and just enjoy being pregnant. Start telling people, and stop worrying that every little thing means something might be wrong.  This past week I have started sporting a little belly and wee Gus has begun to move more often.  I am loving feeling these randomly timed bumps and nudges reminding me that this is actually real.

Honestly...there is a lot of down time in the beginning where it doesn't feel real.  Maybe I have just been eating too much and am getting a belly?  I couldn't actually believe that there was a baby in there for a long time.

Now that I am nearly at the halfway mark I want time to slow down.  October will be here before we know it and I want to enjoy these months where Gus and I are always together.  I look back on how fast the past few months have gone...and I know that the next few will fly by as well. I am typically the type of person who is always excited for what is to come, but with this pregnancy I just want to enjoy every second and not wish too hard for the next stage.

Early Onset Nesting

I have been feeling rather panicked lately about all the things that need to get done around the house.  We tend to talk in circles trying to decide what should be prioritized and what we can hold off on.  In a moment of trying to feel focused yesterday I made a list and sent to Garret at work.  Perhaps was a little overwhelming?  But holy smokes October is going to be here before we know it! Plus I have a sneaking suspicion we will have an even harder time focusing on house stuff once Junior arrives.

These are the main things I would really like to get done before Gus comes:

1. Trim on the door in downstairs bathroom


2. Paint downstairs bathroom


3. Swap out the sink downstairs bathroom


4.  Carpet the stairs


5. paint the railing and spindles (not a super priority)


6.  Backsplash in kitchen (we could just paint it before we decide to do something else...then it looks pretty and less boring)


7.  Builtins in bedroom


8. Hanging all the frames on the wall in our room


9.  Getting bathtub reglazed


10.  Fence


11. Garden maintenance


12. Powerwash/sand/paint front porch..lighting if we are feeling crazy?


13. New storm doors for kitchen door and front door


14.  Nursery will likely just involve hanging a few shelves and maybe some art over the crib? Nothing dramatic and I already like the paint colour in there. Oh and some sort of closet organization system.


15. ok I am done for now.

His response was along the lines of: "we will make a plan of attack later...when I am not at work...on a Monday morning"  Some of the heavy lifting construction jobs I will have to bow out of for now, but if we start doing some things before I am 30lbs heavier and it is 30 degrees hotter out I think we have a good chance of getting things completed.  I have roped my darling Mum into coming for a day or two next weekend to help me get the downstairs bathroom done (hurray)  I feel if we pick certain jobs and pick when we can work on them stuff will get done.  It is that whole "oh at some point we should do this" attitude that we seem to thrive on which I fear will lead to me bringing Gus home to a house that continues to look like a construction site.  Every new mothers dream, am I right?!

So THESE are hormones

Alternate post title:  Things I have cried about thus far while pregnant

1. An episode of Shark Tank where a really passionate lady didn't get her product backed.


2. Garret went grocery shopping (apparently I was really thankful?)


3. I left Brooklyn with my mother in law for the week


4. My nephew just is so cute


5. Someone asked me if I was ok


6. The horrendous vet bill quote to fix Brooklyn's teeth


7. Hearing Gus' heartbeat at my midwife appointment


8. Watching Wreck it Ralph (the part where he wrecks the candy car "for her own good"...bawling at a kids movie....


9. G made fun of my indecisiveness at Marble Slab (not full on tears but there was some welling happening....it was HARD to choose my ice cream mixins)


10. Being unable to get an earlier ultrasound appointment

Stay tuned as this ridiculous list shall just keep getting longer and stranger I'd imagine.