Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Calming before the storm(ing)

[caption id="attachment_1975" align="aligncenter" width="388"]Snuggles Snuggles for siblings[/caption]

Our current "child" is needy, high energy and relatively spastic most times.  When it is just G and I at home she calms down and is the snuggle bug we know and love.  When we have visitors? She won't settle, wants to jump and leap and lick everyone and just get all the attention from all the new people.  It is so overwhelming both for us and for those coming for a visit. We have been making such a huge effort with her lately to calm that wild spirit and get her to just relax.  We want everyone else to get to enjoy her the way we do...a snuggley, tooting, snoring, sweetheart.  Not a wild eyed, jumpy, nibbly, excited tinkler.


 I feel bad because lately she has been hearing a lot of "down, no, off, NO" from us...and yes I realize she is a dog, but she sure has the puppy dog eye look down pat to make us feel bad after we reprimand her.  We both just want her to be a good girl, and not accidentally smother/jump on the baby once that big change happens.  Everyone tells us how quickly the pup becomes second fiddle once a baby arrives, and I can definitely see that happening...I am just hoping we are able to keep working with her over the next two months and tame some of that wild puppy spirit.  I tried explaining to her this morning that she will be spending a LOT of time in the newly fenced in yard if she doesn't simmer down, at least a little.  I am sure once Gus starts eating some real food, Brooklyn will realize that the baby is her meal ticket (or snack ticket I guess?!) but until then I just sense her getting annoyed that someone else has her parent's full attention.  (I guess I should say owners?  But it's hard not to think of her as our fur baby..maybe that is the problem hahaha)

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Weekend Report---crafting with mama edition

Garret was away this weekend so I went to my Mum's and had a lovely weekend crafting, ice cream eating, napping, snuggling with my nephew, chasing Brooklyn, organizing, laughing, reflecting and hanging out.  Friday night my sister in law and nephew were there as well so we had some laughs, and girl time--was wonderful.


[gallery columns="1" type="square" ids="2038,2029,2031,2032,2033,2035,2034,2036"]

As always these weekends that I so look forward to fly by and my list of  what I hope to accomplish doesn't quite get crossed off.  I tend to forget I am a mere mortal and like everyone else only have X amount of hours in the day.  Aaaand like many other pregnant ladies I need to schedule "napping" somewhere in between crafting, movie watching and dog walking.


I do have a nice feeling of accomplishment from the weekend though, which I am hoping to use to push me through this week of things to do.  My Mum and I went through some of my old boxes of "stuff" at her place, as well as a box that was my Dad's.  My boxes were fun, we got to laugh at old pictures, weird things that I just HAD to keep once upon a time (and I could finally at age 33 be convinced to throw out)


 It is unsettling to try to take a step back and examine ones life based on the items that remain behind. As we were going through my father's things I couldn't help but wonder who will be the one going through my things one day when I am gone. There were so many random things that had obviously meant enough to the man to cart around with him for years and years, but held no meaning to me. Pictures of people I don't know, matches for restaurants I have never been to.  Memories that just don't belong to me.  I guess I felt a bit sad that there are those parts in his life I will never know anything about....and to be honest  it also gave me a creepy sense of my own mortality. I thought of one day, my children, or Garret, going through boxes wondering why I kept some of the things I did, a Radiohead concert ticket from '96, random childhood toys, my weird treasures that could only mean something to me.  It is just interesting to see the physical manifestation of what is left behind when you are gone.  Everyone has their own personal memories of you, but you will still have left a footprint, a mysterious paper trail of what once meant something to you.


Here is a picture of Brooklyn so I can end this on a more positive note:




[caption id="attachment_2041" align="aligncenter" width="388"]iStalker 2.0...still a-snoozing iStalker 2.0...still a-snoozing[/caption]

Friday, July 19, 2013

Belated Weekend Report--33rd Birthday Edition

[caption id="attachment_1984" align="aligncenter" width="388"]Birthday dinner at The Farmhouse in Barrie Birthday dinner at The Farmhouse in Barrie[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1985" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Went to a friends cottage for a few hours and tried to get Brooklyn to love swimming. #epicfail She was clinging to Garret and kept trying to climb up him whenever we put her in![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1986" align="aligncenter" width="388"] As per Walsh tradition we had to stop at Webers on the way home. Someone snuck a fry or two.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1987" align="aligncenter" width="388"] I said I didn't want one but I ended up eating half of G's anyway[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1988" align="aligncenter" width="388"]IMG_9383 Birthday movie date at the Barrie Drive in. Garret, Gus, Brooklyn and I curled up in the back of the truck with a pile of pillows and blankets and watched Grownups 2 and Pacific Rim (I slept through most of the second one)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1989" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Miss B getting all pumped at the preview for Despicable me 2[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1990" align="aligncenter" width="388"] Best present of all...Garret and our friend Regan built us a fence[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1991" align="aligncenter" width="388"] A Fence, a Fence, my kingdom for a fence[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1992" align="aligncenter" width="388"]IMG_9414 Birthday pressie---a really snazzy watch that I LOVE! Just have to get some links taken out so it fits on my bird like wrist[/caption]

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

How I'm feeling lately (Vol. 3)

[caption id="attachment_1980" align="aligncenter" width="388"]Granted I am wearing Birkenstocks not Givenchy,but the feeling is the same Granted I am wearing Birkenstocks not Givenchy, but the feeling is the same[/caption]

Image found here




[caption id="attachment_1981" align="aligncenter" width="388"]I feel like I could fall asleep anywhere at any time. I feel like I could fall asleep anywhere at any time.[/caption]

Image from here


I think it has just been the heat the past few days but holy smokes I am just feeling all kinds of swollen and tired.  I had a doctors appointment mid day yesterday so took the day off work.  When I got home I hit the couch and forced Brooklyn to snuggle with me for a glorious nap.  I know that exercise is so important when pregnant, but the past few days it has consumed all of my energy just to remain standing and awake while necessary.   REALLY looking forward to the heat breaking later this week.  Again, extremely thankful for the bedroom air conditioner my Mum got us!

Friday, July 12, 2013

Birthday Poem (#outofthedoghouse)

My beloved is not so much a morning person.  So much so that G claims he cannot function much before 9am and he has had his coffee and a good hour or two to wake up.  (this bodes well for the insanity that will be our sleep schedule when the baby comes!)


This morning for instance....my birthday....was slightly, if just briefly, forgotten as he rushed about getting ready for work.  He clearly felt AWFUL when he realized he hadn't wished me happy birthday because by the time I got to work his facebook status had been updated to read:


Roses are red,
Violets are blue...
Today is your birthday,
No longer 32...

We fell in love,
Back when I turned 24...
After that night,
I'm surprised you didn't walkout the door!

Now we're both older,
And I love every day...
You're my beautiful wife,
With baby on the way!

Although our old life together,
May not exist much longer...
My love for our family,
Will only get stronger!

33 is just a number,
13 is too...
Except 13 are the years I waited
For the chance to fall in love with you!

Now almost 6 years have passed,
Since we met in the fall...
Who would have thought,
It would come from a phone call!

Happy birthday to the love of my life, and best friend...Julia Walsh xoxo

---I think his mostly gets him out of the doghouse, no?

Friday, July 5, 2013

A Boy and his Dog

Brooklyn MirrorWhen we got Brooklyn I really thought she would be our dog. Loving the two of us equally with her whole puppy heart.  This has not so much been the case. She is 100% a Daddy's girl. It doesn't matter that I am the one who walks her, and 9 times out of 10 feeds her, if she has her choice between me and G...she is ALL his.  I keep having this vision of Gus and Brooklyn all snuggled up with G and me all alone on the couch. Ha (clearly I have a flair for the dramatic)


This is a picture G sent me the other weekend when he and his girl were out running some errands.  She is just chilling and supervising from her fave perch--front seat of the truck.  Poor thing, I wonder if she knows what craziness is about to be upon her...someone else who will be requiring more of her Dad's attention.  At least the baby won't be riding shot gun in the car anytime soon.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

How I'm feeling lately (Vol. 2)

[caption id="attachment_1971" align="aligncenter" width="388"]Gus vs Bladder Gus vs Bladder[/caption]

The past week or so I have been spending an insane amount of time peeing.  (sorry for the TMI y'all)  When I look at the amount of liquid intake vs how often I have to go, the numbers just don't add up.  It would seem that Gus Gus has taken up residence chilling on top of my bladder.   I was joking around with G and told him I would find a picture to accurately highlight my feelings.  Gus is angry looking kid in the yellow, my bladder is the whiny one all arm-barred into submission.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

9 months down

9 months down and we are:

  • Preemptively catching up on our sleep. (well some of us more than others):


[caption id="attachment_1938" align="aligncenter" width="388"]Sleeping "beauts" Sleeping "beauts"[/caption]

  • Panicking ok this is clearly  more me than G. He is remaining strangely, uncharacteristically calm

  • Watching my stomach flip around as Gus moves and grooves

  • Browsing online and in stores for the perfect adorable nursery items.  We aren't going overboard but man do I want to have a cute room all ready for Gus-so far we have a crib, my Mum is re purposing an old dresser for a change table and we have a hand me down glider....just need the cute decor stuff now

  • Preparing Brooklyn for her role as a less spazzy big sister.  This is a job and a half with that crazy dog.

  • Spending time together in the hammock, laughing, dreaming and swatting mosquitos

  • Marveling at my ever expanding belly. Each day I wake up and it seems larger (aaand I still have three months of growth to go!)

  • Putting our maternity leave budget into place. Eye opening to say the least

  • Craving Ice cream like its my job.  Too bad (or too good) that Kawartha Dairy is just down the street from us.....

  • Nesting. Plus side is our house is finally starting to be more organized. Just in time for an infant sized bomb to hit it.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Take you Dog to Work (Again)

Garret is heading to his Mom's right after work today and so instead of coming home to pick up Brooklyn he brought her with him to work.  I asked how it was going and got this in reply:




[caption id="attachment_1961" align="aligncenter" width="388"]Just chilling and helping my Dad review some specs...no big deal Just chilling and helping my Dad review some specs...no big deal[/caption]

I wrote back to have him tell her if she misbehaved I would spank her bum when she got home on Sunday.

[caption id="attachment_1962" align="aligncenter" width="388"]She didn't like that too much She didn't like that too much[/caption]

As much as she can be a pain in the butt I am jealous that he gets to snuggle with her all day and I just get my usual cast of characters at lunchtime.  It was really cute to see her this morning when she realized instead of being left in the kitchen she was going with one of us somewhere.  After her bed and crate were taken out to the car she firmly planted herself in the door way with her whole body wagging...and pleased and punch settled herself into the truck for a ride with her Dad.  She makes us both insane but we can't live without her. (I guess yet another way she is prepping us for impending parenthood)

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Weekend Report--brief photo summary

[caption id="attachment_1946" align="aligncenter" width="388"]Hammock 1 Decided to take "hanging out" to a primo level Fri night, snuggles with the fam in our hammock[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1947" align="aligncenter" width="388"]hammock 2 Trying a little too hard not to have 5 chins in my hammock pic[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1948" align="aligncenter" width="388"]high above things G's side job Saturday afternoon. Just what every pregnant woman wants to see, her husband/baby daddy 65' above Young street. gulp[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1949" align="aligncenter" width="388"]nappers Saturday night we had big plans for a fire or going out, but our friend Derek and I ended up watching a movie alone with two snoring Walsh characters as additional soundtrack[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1950" align="aligncenter" width="388"]Brooklyn rain Our girl letting her princess flag fly high. She won't pee outside in the rain. We kept carrying her to the end of the yard and she would high tail back for the door. G had to cover her with the umbrella to get her to do her business. High maintenance or what?![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1951" align="aligncenter" width="388"]ROSES and do they ever smell sweet. G went to the store to get garlic bread to have with dinner on Sunday night. He came home with Roses which was awesome, but forgot the garlic bread.[/caption]

Other items that I don't have pictures of.  An absolutely gorgeous Bee themed baby shower for my friend Erin, the locking of my keys in the truck in Shelburne and having to wait for C.A.A (sooooo fun), psycho nesting related cleaning while G and Derek were golfing on Sunday and 481 games of fetch with B.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Father's (to be) Day

Father's day is coming this weekend and it has suddenly taken on a whole new meaning to me.  I am pretty gushy sentimental (as if you couldn't guess) so I wanted to do something fun/special for he who I am about to make a father.  All of my ideas involved a bunch of money which isn't so practical at the moment so instead I bought a gift that is sort of for G but mostly for the babe




[caption id="attachment_1925" align="aligncenter" width="388"]Starting Gus's love of reading as soon as possible Starting Gus's love of reading as soon as possible[/caption]

There was a Father's Day section at Chapters where I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to pick out the perfect book. So obviously I ended up with two. A super cute animal one and then one about  building a dog house with Daddy.  I couldn't pass up either one.  I just thought G could read them to Gus when s/he arrives and I will just melt into a puddle of hormonal goo at how cute that would be.


I like the idea of starting some sort of Father's day tradition(s).    Letting him sleep in will likely be gift enough at that point!


Anyone have any fun/fond memories of things they did with their Dads when they were little?  One of my nicest memories is watching The A-Team with my Dad.  Fun and full or Mr. T,  but not necessarily what I  have in mind.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Weekend Report--the Ontario Road trip edition

This past weekend was amazing but not all that restful.  We (mostly Garret) did a lot of driving and had some great adventures.


Friday night I stayed downtown after work and went to see the NKOTB, Boys II Men and 98degrees concert.  My friends husband was given box seats which he generously bestowed upon us.  My Mum took me to see the New Kids in '91 or '92 and it was my first concert, and now 20 odd years later it was Gus's first concert too!  G is slightly worried I am skewing the babes musical taste, but really who doesn't love 90's music?




[caption id="attachment_1917" align="aligncenter" width="388"]The girls and Gus enjoying snazzy seats at the ACC. Anxiously awaiting our former teenage dreams hahaha The girls and Gus enjoying snazzy seats at the ACC. Anxiously awaiting our former teenage dreams hahaha[/caption]

Saturday morning my throat was sore and I think G was embarrassed on my behalf to hear that I was actually screaming my head off all night.  I am sorry but when Jordan Knight tells you to scream? you SCREAM with all you have.  Michelle and I drove back to Barrie and didnt get home until 1am (which for this pregnant chick is crazy late)


Saturday morning we were up early and drove up to North Bay to celebrate G's Grandma's birthday--I will have to upload pictures from the other camera.  It was a long trip, but definitely worth it to spend some time with family and eat a ton of baked goods.  We drove home Saturday night and just took it easy on the mega couch.


Sunday morning we headed off to Niagara with some friends for a prebooked Wag Jag night away.




[caption id="attachment_1918" align="aligncenter" width="388"]This was the only way we could figure out a "fallsview" room. hahaha G is very creative This was the only way we could figure out a "falls view" room. hahaha G is very creative.  We actually overlooked a gorgeous parking lot...oooh fancy[/caption]

We walked around for hours and took some pictures of the falls and had some relaxing time on a very loud (and grossly sticky) patio




[caption id="attachment_1919" align="aligncenter" width="388"]First family photo in Niagara First family photo in Niagara[/caption]

I also made a valiant attempt to recreate a photo we took 6 years ago but kind of missed the mark:




[caption id="attachment_1920" align="aligncenter" width="310"]the top picture is from 2008 when Garret surprised me with a night away for my birthday. Interesting to note: I am wearing the same sunglasses the top picture is from 2008 when Garret surprised me with a night away for my birthday. Side note: I am wearing the same sunglasses, and he is still crazy handsome. [/caption]

We got back to Barrie on Monday afternoon and did some house work (thrilling as it sounds)  G moved the bed out of our spare room and we moved the crib (gulp) up in it's place.  We haven't built it yet, but this gets the giant box out of our hallway so that is a start.




[caption id="attachment_1921" align="aligncenter" width="388"]One step closer. gulp One step closer to being a room ready for a baby.[/caption]

It seems that each day something happens to make us feel a little more ready or freaked out or "ermagerd this is actually happening"ish.   While we were watching a show before bed Gus was being particularly active and G finally got to feel a kick/jab (or "upper cross" if you ask him)  These things happen and then we look at each other and query if this really is happening? We are having a baby?! Then we laugh and make jokes about the babe and try to enjoy these last glimpses of what soon shall be 'what was'.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

So THESE are hormones Part 2

Alternate post title:  Things I have cried about thus far while pregnant (part 2)

  1. When Brooklyn was with my father in law for a week and I just missed her smooshy face oh so much

  2. When we went to pick up our Storm Doors (on sale no less) only to be told that while the flyer neglected to mention it, the dark colour that we wanted would be an extra $200/door.  Insane bawling the whole way home. Garret's attempt at comfort "the baby won't know we don't have new storm doors....I love you... want a popsicle/frosty/sandwich"

  3. The morning after as I remembered a dream of Garret leaving me for some imaginary lady and being mean. oooh pregnancy dreams can be brutal

  4. When we got Brooklyn back and she peed in the house one time so I started panicking and crying (thankfully this was just once)

  5. When my peanut butter cookies I made as a surprise for G looked like a bar instead of like cookies (still tasted awesome so all was fine)


I usually run pretty high on the emotional scale.  To quote Kristen Bell on Ellen "if I am not between a 3-7 I am crying"  But to be honest this whole pregnancy thing is really throwing me for a loop.  I feel my eyes welling up at completely ridiculous times (see #2--I had to rush out of Lowes and wait in the car due to utter devastation re storm doors) Luckily G is really good at making me laugh about it without feeling like he is laughing at me.  However I feel badly subjecting him to so many tears and then me feeling pretty idiotic when explaining I am crying because I made him delicious things that just don't look enough like cookies.


To be continued over the next 4 months I am sure

Monday, June 3, 2013

Weekend Report: The learning edition

We had a pretty ram packed weekend but all in all it was quite lovely.  Friday night G, Gus and I went to see Fast and the Furious 6...definitely an Oscar contender for this coming season.  All these movies are pretty ridiculous, but we LOVE going to watch them together, and whenever there was a lot of engine revving (which was clearly a lot in this movie) Gus would wiggle around...perhaps not a fan of loud noises like their Mumma?

Saturday we had our labour and delivery class with a really amazing nurse from Barrie.  We learned a lot, and G asked a lot of questions which made me feel good.  He said that he feels like he understands a lot more about what will be happening now so he is more comfortable with the whole thing.  We have some homework readings to do together so we can be even more prepared, but I feel that we are at least on the same page about how things are going to happen. We had friends up Saturday night for a BBQ and hang out session...they are also expecting and due a month after us so G lovingly explained all the scary stuff to the husband.  He visibly blanched when G explained about an episiotomy . haha (I am so proud he retained all that info!)

Sunday we headed to our newborn care class and again learned a lot.  I think that this made things even more real which is fun. Obviously we both know we are having a baby, but getting detailed info about how to take care of one brought us to a whole new level.  I know that a lot of it will be instinct and we will learn as we go, but I think we both feel a lot more confident now about certain things. We were both frantically taking notes in the "when baby is sick" section of the class.  We were joking about how we will obviously have our doctor on speed dial and be best friends with all the call centre workers at telehealth!    After class we headed to visit my father in law for supper and to pick up Brooklyn.  Clearly I took the cutest picture ever and posted it yesterday!  It is so nice to have her home, we missed that little bum--She has been christened "Bubble Guts" by G's dad as he was accidentally fattening her up all week...there was a slight miscommunication regarding how much food she gets, and as she indeed is a bubble guts she ate all that he set down for her...so its to weight watchers for the little miss this week.

So all in all a great weekend, we didn't get to get as much done around the house as we wanted, but we did get to see the fruits of G's lawn labour from a few weeks ago.  Our lawn wasn't looking so great after the winter, so about 3 weeks ago G put down some seed in the gross areas and we kind of prayed that the rain would do its job.  Last night we noticed that the areas are starting to fill in nicely! Hurrah...cross one thing off the list!  Our gardens have been so jungle-ish lately they are unbelievable.  Our longer term plan is to dig a few of them out because they are a lot to handle, but fortunately a gardening fairy stopped by last week and took care of two of them for us!   Our lawn has been a never ending attempt to repair project--the previous owners never  mowed it and it was full of crab grass, dandelions and the like.  For the past two summers we have invested in grass seed and fertilizer and are slowly seeing a difference, but man alive what a lot of work...astro turf for the next house!

And now a few random pictures:

[caption id="attachment_1909" align="aligncenter" width="388"]A fun pic my Mum sent me on Saturday night of her and my Nanny having a wee drink on her porch! A fun pic my Mum sent me on Saturday night of her and my Nanny having a wee drink on her porch![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1910" align="aligncenter" width="388"]My sister in law got us this which we finally started on the weekend. Then promptly fell over realizing how soon this is! My sister in law got us this which we finally started on the weekend. Then promptly fell over realizing how soon this is![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1911" align="aligncenter" width="388"]FOUND THEM!!!! A random Timmies Kiosk at my work has these...made my day today FOUND THEM!!!! A random Timmies Kiosk at my work has these...made my day today[/caption]

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

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 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"]DSC_9814 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"]DSC_9816 Mandatory Brooklyn shot. Oh my I love this wee little face[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1887" align="aligncenter" width="388"]DSC_9848 The surprised birthday gal! Such a fun night[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1886" align="aligncenter" width="388"]DSC_9838 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"]DSC_9863 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"]DSC_9864 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"]DSC_9878 Stopped for a break at Blue Mountain on the way back to Barrie.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1891" align="aligncenter" width="388"]DSC_9884 My sister in law introducing her little guy to the joys of Menchies! YUM[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1892" align="aligncenter" width="388"]worried folks 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 B 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"]B and nana Totally out of order, but am too lazy to fix: Mum and Brooklyn having an early morning coffee break on our deck[/caption]

Monday, May 27, 2013

The time I tried to tackle a reno all by myself

[caption id="attachment_1877" align="aligncenter" width="388"]The old bathroom 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 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 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?

 

 

Friday, May 24, 2013

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 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.