floating head

I went for another check-up on Friday. Once again everything looks good and clear. He said the babies head is still floating (ie. hasn't engaged yet...still sounds like a rocket launcher or something completely odd like that) and so I've ran with that. I googled "floating head" and the only real thing that came up was this.

It's late and I'm tired. What else can you expect?

sleep

As I was writing the post last night, Steve was in bed reading. So by the time I actually got to bed, he was already fast asleep. Which reminded me of another thing that I most often think about when I can't sleep.

And that is how incredibly cheesed off I get when I'm tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable and then when I finally do, he starts snoring to high heaven! Not only is he enjoying his night of slumber while I lay in bed covered in pillows that don't work, but then his "plumbing" is louder than any of my thoughts could ever be, and that continues to keep me awake. There's nothing more that I would enjoy doing at those moments than to push him off the bed.

However, I did have a better sleep last night (only 1 "official" pee break!) so there is still hope.

this and that

Last night I had one of those nights. I usually have one or two of them towards the end of a pregnancy. The kind of night where you have every intention of going to bed early, but then you wind up peeing every 20-30 minutes for a good 2-3 hours. Thrown into that is the complete lack of comfortableness, so you're constantly tossing and turning. Thrown into that there's some sort of "domestic dispute" by our "lovely" neighbours that we can actually hear down in our corner room of the basement. At times like that, I find myself sitting up in bed and just sitting. I'll lean against a wall and just pray that God will help me fall asleep.

And then I start thinking.

I thought about moving ourselves back upstairs. It's not like people haven't had 3 kids in a room before. We can do it. If we moved this here....and that there....and took away the other thing. Totally do-able!

I thought about the many other pregnant people I know of and those who have had babies in the past few months. How they're coping and their lives have been changing.

I thought about how sad it was that Ryan Smyth got traded to NY. I always thought he'd be one of those players who spent their whole career with one team. ( This is how much Steve has influenced me, I cried this morning when we saw his news conference at the Edmonton airport.)

I thought about my different bible study groups. How upset I am over getting annoyed with different people in them. That is so not the point of a bible study group! I'm totally evil and deserve to be called out and shot in the street!

I thought about our kindly neighbours and once again the thought popped into my head about how you should not be afraid in your own home. Home is the one place where you should feel safe. Non?

I thought about how this was probably all due to that half a slurpee I had had a few hours ago.

Eventually I think I must have passed out around the 3 am mark.

So here it is again. 11:22 pm and counting. Please God let tonite be better!

Pain pain...

Go away!

Actually, let's bring on the pain so I can GET THIS BABY OUTTA HERE!!

This past weekend I was away at our church Ladies Retreat. In my opinion it was one of the best that I've been to with this church (well done organizers!). Friday and Saturday night we had Vespers and I really enjoyed them. We do something similiar at my Wednesday night biblestudies. Something about ancient prayers heaped with tradition that I find soothing and comforting. This is just a sample of what we did on the weekend.

The Lords Prayer (taken from here)

Because we love God, we say:
Our Father who art in heaven,
Because loving God means that we yearn for God to make his glory known, we say:
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Because loving God means we love others as God loves others, we long for all to have the necessities of life, and we say:
Give us this day our daily bread.
Because we love others, we seek to unleash God's grace of forgiveness and say:
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Because we love others, we long that they will love and live God's will, so we say:
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Because we love God, and because we love others, we lift our hearts to God and say:
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory. Forever and ever. Amen.

We say this today becuase we love God and love others.

In the name of the Father precious,
and of the Spirit of healing balm.
In the name of the Lord Jesus,
I lay me down to rest.

The peace of all peace
be mine this night
in the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Magic words

When you're pregnant there are certain words that bring a smile to your face and there are some that don't.

When you walk into an office and the secretary takes one look at you and says," Whoa, you don't look good."

Those aren't no magic words.

Tuesday...

Is usually an enjoyable day. I get to go to Mom's and hang out kid free for a bit. The kids get a chance to go out and play with other kids. Steve spends most of the day at the church which frees us up to do whatever we want at home. It's usually a good day.

This morning I could barely keep my head up after I "woke" up. The kids didn't get to come to Mom's with me 'cos I had to leave early for a doctor's appointment (2 stones...the kids didn't get out and I had to leave early). Then Steve and I waited for 2 and a half hours (that's right, 2.5 hours!!!!) to see the doctor for a 10 minute pre-natal check up. I still can't believe it! Ugh!!

2 and a 1/2 hours...

So of course by the time we actually got home, the kids were up from their "nap" meaning I was given a slim-none chance of napping myself. And Steve took off right away for a chiro appointment that he had made, thinking he'd have tonnes of time beforehand to do some computer work himself.

What a waste.

I just hope the rest of the day goes well.

Oh yeah, and incase you're wondering, baby is fine. Meeting the delivery doctor went good (Steve made some crack about how we like to eat the placenta- which we don't- so I'm sure he's really looking forward to delivering our baby!) and now we just wait.

Pathetic I am

The kids have been home roughly 18 hrs. 10 of those they've been asleep.

I am

SO

TIRED.

It's amazing how much energy they suck out of you. Now I really know why I'm so tired this pregnancy. It's b'cos I have two extremely energetic kids.

Not to mention 10 minutes after they got home they managed to torpedo all the toys from their room into the living room.

This morning there's Rice Krispies falling from the roof. I mean where else would they come from to wind up all over the kitchen and living room. It's a miracle!

I can't wait for a nap.

Feet

I love feet. I love all the lines and muscles and veins that stick out and add character to a person's foot. Back in my drawing days (and Steve usually gets on me for not "re-living" my drawing days more often. My excuse is that I have no time nowadays, he says that's a lie, I say alright...I have to be in the right mood, he says it seems like I'm only in the mood to watch TV these days, and then we sit there glaring at each other for a while until I mutter something about he's right, that's all I feel like doing nowadays) I would take black and white photos of people's hands and feet and then sketch them. A person's hands and feet can tell alot about them. If they're workers, they're hands will be rough and grainy, if they're old they'll have wrinkles and life lines, and the young are smooth and sleek.

One of the things I love most about my body are my feet. I love how the veins stick out the top and you can see all the bones. One of the things I HATE most about being pregnant is that my feet swell up and I can no longer see any of these things that I love. It's like the last straw. I'm okay (well, no not really, but let's pretend) with the weight gain, the heartburn, the cravings and painful kicks, as long as I can still see and love my feet. But I tell ya, once those feet turn swollen and ugly, all hope is lost.

Same goes for my hands. I hate how they turn into little porker sausages and there's no hope at all of ever getting my ring off my wedding finger (well unless I stick it in the snow or the freezer for a length of time).

I really thought I'd avoid the whole swelling thing with a winter pregnancy. Sadly it appears not.

Happy BirValentine's Day

A few years ago I received a card from my hubby that said, "Happy BirValentine's Day". At the time I was both impressed that he remembered both (Valentine's Day and my birthday) and upset that he had combined them. You see today is my birthday. The day after Valentine's day.
The whole time I was growing up they never got entwined. It wasn't actually until I married Steve that they became one. And it wasn't until this year that they got righted again. B'cos the kids were gone all week we celebrated my birthday on Monday with supper out. Desserts with friends on Tuesday. Wednesday was Valentine's Day and today we headed to S'toon for a day out. In fact I'd have to say that this year has been one of the best in recent years. The phone rang this morning to wake us up. It was the kids singing Happy Birthday. I can only think of one better way to wake up, and that would be having them here. Then my 2 yr. old nephew phoned to wish me Happy Birthday as well. We had clear roads to and from S'toon. Got to see an awesome movie and had yummy burgers in our favourite pub for supper. It was a really good day!

In less than 24 hours the kids will be home and our "freedom" week will be done. I accomplished everything I set out to do, plus some, so the week in my opinion was a complete success!! I feel ready for the new arrival and can't wait to see what the next few weeks have instore!

First thoughts on "freedom"

The kids have been gone now for about 46 hours. The first thought when we got home, after dropping them off with my parents, was how quiet the house was. Steve quickly solved that by turning on Hockey Nite in Canada.

I'm thinking of things I can do this week without them. Get a massage. Eat cookies and not have to worry about sharing (that's so mean to say...yet so true!). Go out with the hubby and not have to worry about finding a babysitter, time constraints with babysitter and paying the babysitter. Bake apple pies without getting flour all over the kitchen (thanks to my little "helpers"!). And numerous other things. Mainly my goal is to go thru all the kid stuff, find and wash all neutral babystuff and organize the baby room.

What I've done so far?

Gone bowling till 2 am Saturday night. Napped for 3 hours Sunday afternoon. Watched movies again till 1 am Sunday night. Slept in till 9:20 am this morning (I had a doctor's appointment at 10).

So not alot.

And I miss them. I missed them before they even left. I actually miss hearing them cry out at night. I find myself checking in on their room at night, just to make sure everything's fine. I feel the urge to call my parent's and make sure everything is okay and I'm sure it is, they raised 4 kids of their own, so it's not like they can't handle 2.

But I'll use my emotional pregnant state as an excuse. After all I cried numerous times during the Grammy awards last night. That in itself is pretty sad.

So the clock is still ticking. The music is louder than it should be and we have over 96 hours left to go. I'm sure my opinion will change as we get closer to Friday.

Russian video

I received this in my e-mail today and thought it was pretty cool. Check it out. The story goes:

This tunnel in Russia is the longest in-city tunnel of Europe. There is a river running over it and water leaks at some points. When the temperature reaches minus 38 degrees like it did this particular winter, the road freezes and the result is the attached video taken during a SINGLE DAY with the tunnel camera. Congratulations to the dual bus driver .

What I can't believe is that after some of these major crashes, the other cars just try to get around them and continue on their way. Nice.

*Apparently I have no idea what I'm doing. When you click on the link above it takes you to the UTube site, but not the crash video, so you have to type in "russian tunnel" in the search area and then it will link you to the actual video. I still think it's worth checking out.

The new ketchup?

For lunch today Matthias wanted KD (a boy of my own true heart) and I asked Callah to help by getting the ketchup and chocolate sauce (for chocolate milk of course) out of the fridge. Which she did.

And I turned my back.

And she poured chocolate sauce into the pot of KD.

To be honest, it didn't taste that bad. Really sweet. It looked completely disgusting tho'.

Oh well. Lesson learned.

Congratulations?

Monday I went for another check-up to see if the baby had turned. It had. I was hoping that was all they would do, check the position of the baby, but no, I had to get the whole "experience" done once again (weighing, doppler and measuring). At the time I thought it was quite comical, the whole weighing thing, as I am 2 lbs short of being the biggest I've ever been (this is where the congratulations comes in?). You know I thought it would be funny to invent a card for pregnant mother's...Congratulations on being the biggest you've ever been! But that (sick) humour quickly faded and came to a sobbing hault last night, lying in bed. I felt repulsively huge. Definately not funny anymore.

I think tho' one of the things that's annoying me lately is myself. I'm getting jealous and angry at people who seem to have it all together. Seem so perfect. And I know that's just so wrong.

Last night I apologized to Steve for not being a trophy wife. For not being some pretty, little, "perfect" wife. I apologized for being a butch (big boned...yeah whatever....) and he said that's one of the reasons he married me, 'cos I AM a hard worker and not some trophy there to look pretty. I think that was a good thing, at least I know it was intended as a good thing.

And now I just feel miserable. A friend of mine loves being pregnant and loves to show it off (the fact that she is pregnant) and I guess I'm just annoyed 'cos I don't look like that, never will look like that and I don't have her confidence to show it off like that (even if I did). And so sometimes when I'm around her I feel like a large freak of nature. But what can I do to get around that? Avoid her? I honestly do enjoy her friendship, and like I said, I know it's just me 'cos I'm annoyed with other people too. So definately, I'm the problem here.

Argh...females are so complicated. Pregnancy sucks. And emotions can be so nasty.

I hate this moment right now.

That was totally wicked!!!

For the past 6 years (basically since I've lived in PA on my own - meaning without my parents) I always drag myself out in the bitterly cold to watch the Canadian Sled Dog Challenge. One year I even went out to watch them come in and close the race. To me there's something really exciting and ...well...Canadian about watching them. Maybe it has to do with the fact that when I was 5 I jumped off my bunkbed and landed feet first onto a miniature wooden dog sled. The handle part at the back broke and stabbed into the sole of my foot. I don't know, but the whole idea of battling the frigid cold and terrain with just a pack of dogs and a sled is really exciting (something you'd NEVER see on Survivor). This is just something that you don't see in very many places. I feel proud that I can experience a little bit of it. Now that I have children of my own, I drag them out to watch too. So that's what we did today. Right after my bible study we came home to pack on the clothes and headed out to the Lil' Red to watch the dog sleds. The kids were totally excited until we got out there and waited in the freezing wind for the first sled to come. But they lasted longer than we thought they would and Matthias, altho' complaining that he was cold, kept making snow angels in the ditch all the way back to the van.

We were watching them at the turn off the main road to Pine Grove. The organizers did it differently this year, as they had them run around the Lil' Red Park. Which maybe had it's good points, I don't know, but what I do know is that where we were watching, the road was pure ice. We watched 7 sleds go by and 4 of them slowed right down to a stop to turn the corner and one tragically overturned and both the musher and the passenger were thrown from the sled. The musher seemed a little out of it and the passenger had a bleeding nose, but otherwise unscathed. Steve felt like a hero as he ran ahead to catch the runaway dogs. That's my man!

Then we drove out to Emma Lake (my parents are looking at cabins out there) and on the way back we passed a HUGE accident that invovled a semi-truck and an SUV. The front tires of the trailer on the truck were completely destroyed and the whole front of the SUV was bashed in. Steve said it looked like the SUV hit the semi, got sucked under and spun out. I hope everyone was alright. The crash was right beside where the dogs run, so that too, I hope they are all alright.

And that's been our day so far. At least Steve is feeling better!

Random Blurbs

You know that scene in Fried Green Tomatoes when Kathy Bates' character is looking for a parking spot. She finally finds one, waits and signals her intention, and then backs up to let the other car out. Meanwhile a car comes around from the opposite direction and takes her place. A young, "hip" woman gets out of her shiny, new car and calls Kathy Bates something (I can't totally remember...it's been awhile). Today I felt like her...Kathy Bates' character. A "frumpy", tacky, "older" woman who was going for this spot when a younger woman came from the opposite direction to take my spot. I was sure feeling like smashing my van repeatedly into the younger woman's car (what Kathy does in the movie), but instead I just settled for the "evil eye". Oh yeah, I think she knew where I was coming from.

My children can't be trusted. When they're hungry and there's food anywhere, and I mean ANYWHERE that they can reach. They will reach for it. We have this rule that if they don't eat supper, they don't get anything else to eat. Well this causes all sorts of problems in the morning when our kids wake up around 7 am and neither Steve or I are morning people, so come 8:30 -9 am when we finally make our way to the kitchen we find all sorts of surprises. Whole bunches of grapes mysteriously gone. Cookie jars half empty. Bananas half eaten (and then put back in the fruit bowl). Containers of chinese food (rice no less) on the kitchen table with spoons sticking out of them. Yesterday Callah actually came downstairs with an orange and a very sharp knife. They just can't be trusted with empty bellys. But it's not our fault they don't eat their suppers and we're not morning people...right?

Did anyone see Extreme Makeover Home Edition last weekend? They rebuilt a farm house for a woman and her 6 children after their father/husband died. It was a real tear jerker, especially then they replayed the 911 call. Very tragic.
Anyway, one of the designers put a sandbox in a 2 year old's room! A boy's room no less! Are they crazy??? The designers actually "polled" a crowd of Mom's... and the Mom's agreed it was a good idea!!! You name me 2 Mom's who would love to have a 5ft long sandbox in their 2 year old boys room!! Crazy.

I went for my 32 (or as I like to think ahead...33) week check-up on Monday. I was looking forward to it. This was the day I was suppossed to switch over to the replacement who will be delivering our baby (our real doctor is in Africa somewhere I believe). Well first off, I weigh more than I apparently should (the doctor always tells me that my weight is coming along "a little too good" - cheeky english doctor guy who is replacing my real doctor...that's right, this pregnancy I'm seeing 3 different doctors!) and then he does the hand to belly probe where he checks the babies position only to tell me that the baby is breech again. But don't worry, it's not something we worry about till 34 weeks (uh yeah...that's like A WEEK AWAY!). Then to ease my mind he has trouble locating the heartbeat, and according to my ears, it appears a little slower than it has the past 6 months. No, I'm not worried at all. So back I go to the little english man in a few days, and this baby has rotated again into the proper birthing position, then hopefully I can switch to the other doctor.

We had a really good Mom's Committee Meeting today. I feel like we're going to be touching our inner "child" with some activities coming up. Should be ALOT of fun. I'm really looking forward to it.

Anyway, Steve's sick in bed (I tell ya, he's gone all weekend at a youth "retreat" comes home and is in bed the next 2.5 days with a severe head cold...sometimes I wonder about him...), the kids are fast asleep and I hear a warm bath calling.

Later.

George

Last night was a bit of a mess. I don't sleep very well when Steve isn't around (I know I would nearly die if he was doing shift work or gone for weeks like many of your husbands do) so I try to stay up as long as I can and then go to bed. Friday nite I watched Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 'till about 1 a.m. Last night I watched Must Love Dogs 'till 12:30. And I thought I was tired, but not tired enough I guess. Maybe it was the 2 tall glasses of ginger ale that did me in, as I was up every 20 minutes to pee or maybe I'm just not used to sleeping in the basement yet as every little squeak and noise caused my tired eyelids to bolt open and become completely alert. Either way the last thing I remember was thinking about George for some reason.

Ahhh...now there is one sexy man.

Ho hummm

Even tho' Steve technically hasn't left the city yet, so begins my 48 hours of being housebound. He's leaving to take 6 youth to Norquay, Saskatchewan on a youth retreat 'till Sunday. This isn't the first time, but for some reason, this time really sucks. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant, maybe it's because it's winter, but more than likely a combo of the two as I've been left home alone before, carless, in the winter and it hasn't bothered me this much before.

Ho humm...and already the kids are testing my patience. It's like they know that Daddy is gone and Mommy's tired and slow, so let's take advantage of her.

Oh well, Steve should be back in roughly 47 hours, 48 minutes and 15 seconds.

Words that start with "h"

Hemorrhoid. Heartburn.

This is going to be an awesome post!

And from there I'll just stop.

I've had alot on my mind lately and yet nothing seems to stay there for very long. I'll think of something and the next completely forget and it'll slip my mind until it's too late to do it or too late to ..well...do it. I don't remember pregnancy being like this before. Is it something new? If so, the 4th is looking less and less likely. I can just see myself running around stark naked, in my 3rd trimester with a feather boa wrapped around my middle! That'll look really good in the baby book!!

So the other night I had a dream. I was late for aquasize and really had to pee, but when I got to Marion Aquatics, the bathrooms were out of order, so then I had to go back outside and enter through a different door. At first the lady at the counter wasn't going to let me in to use the bathroom (b'cos I wasn't signed up for classes there), but I eventually weasled my way in and was completely amazed when I saw their "version" of bathrooms. It was like 3 rows of 20 or so chairs, all side by side and completely in the open. So much so, that you could see what everyone was "doing" (if you catch my drift). I was completely disgusted, but had to pee REALLY bad, so I sat in one of these chairs and then I couldn't get the little pedal to move (like an outhouse toilet) and so it went everywhere. What a mess! Of course I don't remember having to clean it up, I must've just ran out of there and back into Marion, where surprise, surprise, they had fixed the toilets and was late for my aquasize and it completely ruined my night!

Last night, I ran out the door for aquasize, a little later than usual, and really had to pee. Hmm...deja vu? Luckily everything was in working order and aquasize went on without a hitch.

Crazy.

Then (and I'm just going to mention this 'cos it just happened a little while ago) today Callah comes downstairs and I could smell that she's done something nasty. She's says, "Mommy, I poop." Okay, at least she's telling me, so I swing her around and it's BUBBLING up her pants! No word of a lie, there's pooey bubbles coming out. Sick!! I've never seen that before, part of me is amazed and the other is completely repulsed! Anyway, she's all showered and clean now. So it's all good.

Mom's today was pretty cool. Melissa Drury shared her love of photography and for someone who's never taken a class (on the subject) she sure knows alot. Of course, nothing against her, but I'm a firm believer that anyone can take a picture. So originally I was going to post some of my latest favourites along here, but my computer is acting up and freezing and that just won't do for now. So maybe later. But you can check out these sites that I like to browse from time to time.

Chow.

Pepsi

I really have nothing new to say just that I really like that Pepsi commercial with Parker Posey and Jimmy Fallon.

Always makes me want to get up and dance.

That's all.

Turn right...NOW!

Today Matthias drove us home from the library, all by himself.

Well not exactly.

When he told me to turn left at the lights onto 1st Ave, I thought I'd let him direct me the rest of the way. And he was bang on!! We just have to work on giving directions BEFORE the actual intersection. Luckily traffic wasn't that busy.

Rattin' *&%$%*!@$# stupidhead

I realize the last thing I should be doing is writing on this thing when I'm fuming mad, but really, he doesn't read it, so who cares?

Sigh.

It's already been one of those days and all I want to do is curl up in my bed with a 2L of ice cream. Chocolate ice cream. With bits of fudge and chocolate mousse in it.

Sigh.

Well, after taking a 15 minute break and some seriously deep breaths I've calmed down some and will continue this post in a different direction.

A friend and I have started taking aquasize. I took it almost 3 years ago (wow it's a lot longer than I thought!) when I was pregnant with Callah as well. Not sure if it actually did anything (I can remember taking more pee breaks than actually excercising!) but figured it was better than sitting around doing nothing in the cold winter months. So here I am again, with the same thought process behind me, only this time around, instead of being 4-7 months pregnant, I'm STARTING the crazy thing 8 months pregnant and will be ending 1-2 weeks before I'm actually due. Now you tell me...good or bad idea? Sometimes I wonder. However after the first 2 lessons I'm feeling pretty good and have had no new pains or discomfort. That's a good sign. I think it's more pyschological than anything. If I let myself think about doing it this late on, I worry that I'm doing the right thing. On the other hand, I know that if I go at my own pace and do what I can I should be alright. So really there's no point in worrying. Right?

And then there's Callah. Since we started potty training, she's mysteriously become...how do you say it? "Plugged"? I was a little worried, again if you read Dixie's blog you'll know that they've had problems with Madeline holding in her poop. And Callah's always been regular before, so I started to think of things that always make me...uh...go. Macarooni, fast food, cheese and finally we hit the jackpot today! Slurpees! Who says they're not good for anything? Got a bowel problem? Drink a slurpee! Man was it a doozy!! Hopefully we'll figure out what's plugging her up and fix it before it causes some serious problems. And I really hope it's not from potty training, she's actually doing pretty good!

Sometimes I wonder about my crazy in-laws...

That's better

This morning I went for my 30 (or 32 week depending on how you look at it) check-up. B'cos my ultrasound put me 2 weeks ahead (usually they go 2 wks behind) and all my measurements are bigger than they "should" be (or it's a freakin' huge baby, which I'd rather not think about) I go more by my ultrasound due date, which is March 10. Besides, I'd rather be 32 weeks than 30 weeks anyway. That much closer to popping this thing out.

Speaking of thing... in church yesterday it's like the baby did a complete 360 roll. I told Steve the next thing I expect it to do is rip out of my stomache and start singing and dancing (think Spaceballs). We both got a chuckle out of that.

I don't know why but everytime I get pregnant, until I actually see a baby, I think alien.

In other news, since we're in this stinkin' deep freeze, and the kids and I aren't really going anywhere, we decided to give potty training a try with Callah. Ideally of course, we'd love to have her trained by March, but who knows. So far she's done pretty good. She's managed to go in the potty a couple of times every day and poop for the first time today, so that's a bonus. We also introduced Smartie's as a "prize". For every time she goes potty, she gets a Smartie. So now, of course, she spends most of her time on the potty just hoping something will come out so she can get the special treat!

Anyway I just remembered what I wanted to mention that was "better" before I got completely sidetracked with the alien story. So I went for my check-up and I only gained 2 lbs since my last check-up BEFORE Christmas! I was pretty stoked. To get thru the holidays and only gain 2 lbs is a special feat, but to do it while being pregnant, shoot, I should win peanut buster parfaits for a year!! That would be truly awesome!!

Talking Heads

This week has been a real doozer. Started out by waking up Monday morning to all 4 of our tires slashed on the van. The rest of the day pretty much sucked. Think all you want on things like the jack breaking, poop flying, food slopping and things dropping. Think the worst and that was our day. It ended nicely, we were warm in our comfy beds and all was quiet, so I won't complain about that.

Tuesday was snow day. Steve's neck was hurting like a bugger, so he ventured out to the chiropractor and rented some movies on the way back. That pretty much sums up the next few days as well. I hate snow days. And reading other people's blogs and what they thought of the "worst storm in 10 years", was kinda funny. I can remember walking 5 blocks to school, back when I was younger, through blizzards. I'd be so decked out, with long johns, pants and ski pants. Toques, hoods and my Grandma's homemade scarf wrapped like 8 times around my head so that just a little slit of skin was open so that I could see. That was winter. When there were snow drifts as tall as our van. It doesn't get like that anymore, and when it does, like Tuesday, the world seems to stop. We can't cope with the winter's of the past.

And then of course, after the snow came the cold. I'd still rather take cold than hot anyday of the year. You can always put on more clothes, but there's a limit to what you can take off. So the cold doesn't bother me. The only problem these days is I can only fit so much under my skipants. They're a wee tight themselves. And with the cold comes troubles all it's own, like vehicles not starting and so forth. The kids are getting antsy so we threw them outside today. Before you get the wrong impression, it was their idea. So they went, and they lasted for about 15 minutes before coming back in and saying it was too cold. At least they tried.

Then came Friday and I was able to get out on my own to do some errands like visiting my Grandma at the hospital which was infuriating in it's own way. She looked so tiny and frail in that hospital bed and you just wanted to kick all the nurses standing around talking and laughing while she waited for someone to wash her face...for the first time that day...at 4:00 in the afternoon. That night I went to a movie/fondue/prayer meeting. It was great and made the rest of the week so worth it. Thank you ladies!

As for the subject heading. Steve and I rented Clerks 2 (not recommendable) and we stopped it about 10 minutes in. I told Steve that the best thing about it was the song they played during the opening credits. It was Nothing but Flowers by the Talking Heads. My Dad went thru a Talking Heads phase back when I was about 12. They were awesome!

Anyway, I just hope next week is better.

And so it begins

There's nothing like trying to have a relaxing nap when you start feeling little Braxton Hicks . Luckily they only last about 30 mins and were pretty tame. I guess it's about that time. Is there a time? 30 weeks and counting. I told Steve the other night, 10 weeks to go. Somehow that makes it seem like it's alot sooner than saying almost 8 months. 10 weeks...wow.

In writing this marriage story for Mom's Morning Out I'm realizing that with both previous kids, in some way or another, I've jipped them of joy. With Matthias, we weren't planning on having kids for 3 years after we got married. 6 months after however, we found out we were pregnant. It was a total shock and not something we were looking forward to at all. So in that way, I feel badly like I've robbed him of my happiness over the occasion. Of course now, I couldn't imagine NOT having him and he brings me more joy than ever thought possible. Same with Callah, while I was looking forward to her birth, when she finally came (15 days overdue) I had postpardum and wanted nothing to do with her for the first few days (even weeks) again I feel like I robbed her of the joy over her birth. And of course, she's a complete cutey now that I love to bits.

So when it comes to this little baby, while I'm totally excited over the soon to be birth, I pray that I will remain that way afterwards and not feel so badly about jipping this child of any sort of happiness.

The Environmentalist in me

Last night Steve and I cuddled (as much as my body would allow) on the couch to watch the movie An Inconvenient Truth. Something I've been wanting to watch now for a long time. So finally I got the chance last night (altho' I'm sure it wasn't Steve's first choice). I know I've mentioned it before, but I feel that it's worth mentioning and worth seeing. It's written, of course, by Al Gore and therefore has a VERY American feel to it, and there are numerous American "bits" in it that make you wonder if they actually have anything to do with the theme of the movie itself. Overall tho', I enjoyed it, not because it was action-packed or anything, but thought provoking. Steve and I lay awake for a bit afterward just talking about it and what we thought. To our "unschooled" minds, I saw things very black and white, much as they seemed in the movie. There are tonnes of facts, numbers and charts to back up Gore's thoughts. Steve was kept wondering. There were a few references to events in the past that left him wondering what exactly happened and what were the consequences of these events. Gases that are all "natural" being released back into the Earth...were they here all along? Are they really bad for the environment?

So again (and I'm sure I'll say this at least a few times more) I think everyone should see this movie. It's amazing how something as simple as replacing our 60 W bulbs with the newer energy efficient ones and turning down the furnace when we're not at home can effect the CO2 we put into the air therefore lowering the spin of everything else that is affected. Really interesting stuff. Totally worth seeing (there said again!) and recommendable. You can also check out this site for more info (which is the official site). The DVD also has changes in the environment and stats that have happened since the making of the movie (2005), so that was cool.

My brother is also an environmental "quack" and I'll actually say "quack" 'cos he's alot more into it than I am. He's seen David Suzuki speak a couple of times and has gone to lengths to be earth friendly. This Christmas he gave everyone in the family glass water bottles and here's why:

"Why a glass water bottle?
For years, hikers, bikers, campers, and other outdoor recreationalists have favoured wide-mouthed water bottles made from Lexan polycarbonate plastic, like those sold under the brand name Nalgene. According to new research, it may, however, be imparting unhealthy doses of a chemical called bisphenol-A (BPA)... BPA has been identified as an endocrine disrupting chemical, or a chemical that easily mimics hormones when absorbed by the human body. In the case of BPA, the hormone being mimicked is estrogen...This uneven distribution of genetic material can in turn lead to cancer, miscarriage, and birth defects that include Down Syndrome. Low levels of BPA, including those well below the current regulatory safety threshold, have also been shown to affect prostate development, promote prostate tumours, affect breast tissue development and sperm counts, and even possibly create and enlarge fat cells....For several years now, experts have warned against washing polycarbonate bottles with harsh detergents and/or using older bottles for food or beverage storage, especially those with scratches, discolorations, or other readily apparent signs of age... Unfortunately, polycarbonate plastic bottles and containers are identified by the plastic recycling symbol #7, which is used for a wide variety of plastics and plastic mixutres that fall into the "other" category....Scientists also advise against the repeated use of plastic water bottles made from plastic type #1 PETE as there is evidence to suggest that such bottles leach a compound known as DEHA, whish is classified by the EPA as a possible human carcinogen, as well as acetaldehyde, which has received the same designation from the International Agency for Research on Cancer."
(Source - Labour Environmental Alliance Society 604-669-1921 Vancouver, Canada)

Now that said, I googled BPA and came up with this site, which I'll e-mail to my brother and you can believe whatever you want to believe.

Chow!

what do I look like?

Is it just me or do other Mom's look like kleenex? I figure I must look like kleenex 'cos my kids always come up to me and wipe their noses then leave.

Anyway...
Mom's Morning Out starts up again this Tuesday, Jan.9. First day is the usual kids craft cutting bee, the next week the sessions start with yours truly giving a Marriage Talk. You can check out the schedule here. You may be wondering what right do I have to give a marriage talk. Well you're right in wondering. I know nothing more or less than anyone else, but that's the point I'm hoping to get across. It all came about after a prayer meeting I had back in November, when we were talking about how nobody really says how difficult marriage can be. When you get married you (sometimes) mistakenly think that you'll have this honeymoon period and that life will be grand and having kids is easy and life just rolls on. In reality, as most of us know, life is not like that. So this next session we're having a series of 4 talks by Moms who have been married for various lengths and what they've learned and mistakes they've made and how they're normal for doing and making them. I'm also hoping that Mom's listening will maybe hear stories similiar to they're own and realize that they're not alone in many of the conflicts that we all seem to face.

I'm looking forward to it. If nothing else it will give Mom's a chance to talk about their marriage and life, which is something we tend to do when we get together anyway. I remember back in Decemeber on our last Mom's Day Out trip to S'toon, the whole way to S'toon we talked about labour and delivery of our children. We can't escape it, even if we want to!

I'm also thinking of another Mom's Nite Out here at the end of January. We'll be doing the supper/bowling thing. I'm not sure of the dates, but stay posted if you're interested and I'll let you know soon.

Otherwise, hope to see you Tuesday!

Happy New Year?

In theory it should've been just that...happy. The night started well with the kids and I sitting down to watch one of our 2 movies we had rented (Mulan 2 and Barnyard). We had our popcorn, apples and cheese. Steve was at the church with the youth (the last New Years we spent together was back in '02). The kids had been wanting to see Mulan 2 for awhile so they were pumped and sat quietly through the whole thing. Then came baths. We have to be clean to welcome in the New Year! Then we started watching Barnyard. We got about half way through when that little siren and flashing lights started going off in my head. I don't think we should be watching this. The movie wasn't that funny to begin with but there are these coyotes. And the coyotes were what caused the problem. I shut the movie off, but not soon enough.
"Mommy let's pray that God will lock the door to keep the coyotes out."
"coyotes scary."
"The coyotes are going to eat us."
There was no amount of "the coyotes aren't real", "God will keep you safe", "the door IS locked" that would ease their little minds. So after Steve got home at about 1:30 am, the kids crawled into bed with him. It was about an hour earlier that my tummy decided to start tossing and turning so I decided to tough it out on Callah's bed. That lasted for about 1.5 hrs. I then went back downstairs and pulled out the hideabed, where I continued to toss and turn for the rest of the night.
The next morning brought about 2 tired parents and 2 tired kids. Happy New Years.

But wait, the fun doesn't stop here. I started to have my usual cereal concoction and only got about 2 bites into it when my tummy once again said, "if you eat this, it will surely come back out". So I went back downstairs to my makeshift bed and asked Steve to bring me some honey toast. That lasted in my belly for about an hour. The next 12 hours were filled with...well let's just say "yuckiness in a bucket". I couldn't even keep water and tylenol down. There's nothing like wretching when your 29 weeks pregnant.
At about 4:30 am this morning I could feel a change for the better and aside from 2 dry heaves this morning I'm pleased to say I'm feeling much better. I even ate some chicken for supper! :)

So with all that said, I hope your New Years was better than mine and it continually improves from here! Happy New Year!!

You know your emotional when...

You know your emotional when you start crying during the retirement of Stevie Y's jersey #.

Of course...

...things are never as bad as you might think they are, or they will be. As was the case with spending Christmas with the in-law family. I stressed and freaked the whole week prior, but it honestly wasn't that bad. I wish I had something juicy to report, like pie smashing in faces, gifts being torn to shreds, turkeys being ripped apart at the table with pieces flying all over the kitchen, but nothing like that happened. There was the usual bickering between couples (the kind where you never know if they're joking or seriously out to slit eachother's throats) and the annoying "is this it?" in regards to the amount of presents, but that was about it. Even one of the crazy uncles couldn't mess things up. It was actually nice.

And that was it. Callah went for a horseback ride. Matthias drove his first quad (look out world!!). The kids got towed behind a quad, that Steve was driving, in a sled which they completely loved. And I watched it all, just glad that I could be a part of it, altho' that quad was calling my name pretty loud, I thought I'd better not chance it.

We got back around 5:30 pm on Tuesday and hit Canadian Tire (which had some boxing day deals) where we surprisingly still got our "toys" we wanted, drove thru BK and came home to unpack the mounds of stuff and find homes for the stuff left behind.

Simple. Boring, yet good. Enjoyable.

I wonder what New Year's will bring?

12:58 am and counting...

I think tonite is going to be one of those nights. I can't sleep. Steve is snoring like a banshee and I've already been to the bathroom 3x. So after my last trip to the loo I thought I'd take this opportunity to write my 5 things. He's done it, he's done it and so have they. It's always nice to learn something new about someone so here are my 5 things you (probably) don't know about me.

1. I'm Metis. I only know this 'cos a year ago my cousin went for her Metis card using the same line on my father's side. I think it's like my great-(great?) grandfather married a young Metis woman.

2. When I was 15 I had a reaction to an immunization that caused temporary amnesia for about 24 hours over Christmas. I can remember not remembering. It was both frightening and kinda cool. For weeks afterward I thought I was psychic.

3. This ones kinda lame. I was a vegetarian for over a week the summer of '97. One of the reasons it never lasted was b'cos the smell of BBQ burgers in the air as I biked by was too overpowering. I'm a sucker for a good burger!

4. I also have a fetish for men in kilts and/or a man cycling with shaved legs and spandex. Whenever I see a guy in a kilt or cycling by my pulse quickens and I'm instantly interested in their whereabouts. I have numerous art renderings of Lance Armstrong, before he became famous (back in '94) tucked away in my closet. I knew Steve was the one for me when I asked if he'd shave his legs for the fun of it and he did. Well one of them anyway. There now you also know something new about him too!

5. I'm terrified of ticks, leeches and on occasion mosquitoes. I will go out of my way to stay out of their way. If there's a mosquito in the room, I can not rest until it's dead.

There. Now hopefully I can put my mind to rest and get some sleep. Good night and God speed.

Merry Christmas!

I'm slowly winding down. After spending nearly 30 mins. navigating the Wal-Mart parking lot today I'm glad Christmas is almost here.

So on behalf of my little rugrats, Steve and myself, we'd like to wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas filled with warmth and love and a safe and joyful New Year!

Merry Christmas!

'Happy' Holidays

It's funny how you always worry about something and usually, after the event, it was never as bad as you thought it would be. For a few weeks now I've been worrying about everything that had to be done this past weekend. Steve was coaching a hockey tournament, we had 3 Christmas parties, 2 birthday parties (one out of town) and only 1 vehicle. All in all, it turned out pretty good. We did almost everything, completely rushed in some cases, but everything was hit at one point or another.

Then last night Steve and I were talking about our weekend and somehow we both wound up feeling like crap. For a few weeks now Steve's been struggling with something. A combo of stress related stuff dealing with his Mom, work and home life. I'm sure I haven't exactly been helping him go through it. Something I know I need to work on.

And I've been struggling with baby weight. It doesn't help when all around you you here people complaining about their weight and how they want to be a 'certain weight' and you remember that you were that 'certain weight' back when you were in Grade 8. Now that's depressing. You go to a Christmas party, already feeling like a whale and it turns out that you indeed are the biggest (in all sense of the word: tallest, widest and heaviest) woman there. Yeah. Then you go for your monthly check-up and the doctor (who is a stand-in) tells you everything is going nicely including your weight which is "oooh a little too nicely" coming along. Gee thanks.

Bring on the holiday cheer.

And as we talked we thought about friendships and for numerous reasons that got us even more down. We thought about how pointless it is to buy "presents" this year when everyone we're buying for just wants either $$ or gift certificates. So really, you're just doing a big money exchange, why not just keep the money yourself and buy whatever it is that you wanted in the first place? It's so dumb and I'm so annoyed with it this year.

So now I'm completely depressed, tired, "fat", annoyed and unmotivated to do even the slightest thing like turn on the TV and lay on the couch and watch it.

Happy Holidays.

Somedays

I wish I could do this to my kids.

Reid Tree Hunt 2006

Today we went on our annual Christmas Tree Hunt. I can still remember our first hunt, just Steve and I and the 2 dogs. Then came Matthias (who slept thru it in the car) and the 2 dogs, and I think the next year we had Callah and we were trying to get rid of a dog. The following year we went with Steve's brother (that was fun!), wife and son and our 2 kids and 1 dog. Which brings us to this year. Usually we trudge around the forest FOREVER looking for the perfect tree. But this year, it was pretty quick. Matthias kinda wandered off the path, so Steve followed. They hollered that they had found a "specimen" so Callah and I went to videotape their findings. It was okay, but it seemed to quick a find. So we kept going a little bit and viola! There it was covered in snow surrounded by tens of large pines and angels were singing (well no, not really...I think it was Callah crying 'cos she was stuck in the snow up to her armpits). Steve the mighty bushwacker, cut it down in 2 strokes and we were done. I think the whole adventure took about 1 1/2 hrs (travel time included). We found our way back to the van to celebrate with cheezies and leftover deer guts for Gus (which she found on her own).

After stopping at Peavey Mart to pick up a tree bag, we headed home to start the decorating. This year Steve and I just kinda stood back and watched as the kids decorated. If you come to see our tree you'll notice there's a nice line of ornaments around the 2-3 ft level. It's really cute and special "in it's own way". I think we'll move some around a bit after they go to bed tonite.
Finally to finish our festive day we ordered pizza. Another Reid family tradition to go with the tree hunt.

And so that was our day. I know it will be remembered and bring warm fuzzies to our hearts in later months as we look back. For now, I'll take the sparkle in the kids' eyes as they look at their colourful tree and a smile comes to their faces. There is nothing greater.

oh yeah....and I wanted to mention this or rather ask for opinions. Heartburn. IT'S KILLING ME!! It burns like crazy and I get it 2 or 3x a day and if I have to deal with this for the next 3 months I'm going to rip my throat out of my...well...throat! Help?

interesting

I heard a new metaphor for labour tonite on Scrubs that I thought was interesting. Elliot tells Carla to think of her vagina as a big tube of toothpaste and she's trying to push out the minty gel from inside.

I never thought of that before.

why me?

This afternoon I thought it would be nice to go outside and let the kids play in the snow for awhile. Well, not 5 minutes after we got out there, I was throwing some stuff we had "dug up" in our basement into the shed when I heard glass crack under my feet.

You can guess what words creeped out of my mouth.

For some reason we had kept our old outer door out by the shed and the wind must've knocked it over onto the ground and covered it in snow, so that some schmuck (me in this case) would come along and step on the glass window sending shards of glass into the snow.

Perfect.

But wait, while cleaning the glass up, I gouged (and I don't say "gouged" lightly, there was quite a bit of blood streaming out and it's actually bruising now) a crevasse in my finger. Nice.

I think I got all the glass by shovelling almost all of the snow around that spot into the dumpster. What little shards there are left will have to wait till spring. Good thing it's not a favourite spot for the kids to play anyway.

back on track....hopefully

This past week has been a long one.

Monday and Tuesday were the usual, bible studies and Mom's Morning Out and then Steve's work at the church. So nothing really out of the ordinary.

Then came Wednesday. It was Matthias' last story time at the library and they were having a "party". Right after that we were loading the car and heading down to Regina for some time away at my folks. Well we arrived at the library and as I'm putting the quarter in the parking thingy, I hear Callah start screaming. I'm thinking she slipped on the snow, so I don't rush it, I look around the van and there she is...with her tongue and bottom lip COMPLETELY frozen to a metal parking post. I freak out. I drop all of my bags and run into the library, where they tell me they don't have any cups of any sort, I mean why would they? It is after all a library. So I soak some paper towel and run back out into the parking lot. The first thing I see is Matthias, who is now crying too. Then there's Callah again. Her lip/tongue came off easily once I put some water on it, but was sure a bloody mess. So I grabbed our bags, picked Callah up and called Matthias into the library, where the librarians had finally found something to put water in. They did let us use their "office" bathroom to clean up in and Matthias headed to his "party", a little traumatized, but otherwise good. Callah walked around for the next 1/2 hr with a wad of wet paper towel hanging out of her mouth. By the end of storytime she was back to herself and running all over the library (yes, my kids are the ones running wild all over the library). It swelled up pretty nice and the next day was kindof pussy and yellow, so I took her to a clinic in Regina where they gave me an ointment to put on. She's pretty much back to normal now.

That was the lip incident.

Regina was okay. Not the relaxing, peaceful time I was looking for. By the end of our 3 day stay I was ready to leave, which is odd for me usually. I've also been EXTREMELY emotional lately. Crying and freaking out numerous times the last few days.

Or perhaps it's just been the stressful situations I've put myself in. Like driving in near blizzard conditions twice, completely re-arranging our house while being 6+ months pregnant and dealing with 2 kids with colds while still peeing my pants every time I cough.

And all I can think about is how I'm gone doing something, somewhere every weekend 'till Christmas.

(I've now lost all train of thought and am going to just end this abruptly. sorry.)

funk

Last week Steve was having a really hard time connecting with a good friend from S'toon. Mike and his wife are expecting their first child in about 3 weeks. I knew that Steve had today off so I suggested he take the day and go to S'toon to spend some time with Mike before life got really busy for everyone.

That was before last night when I kinda slipped into a funk, before having a really crummy sleep and waking up to a sore back. Before Matthias started screaming at Callah, who kept ramming her baby stroller into his chair, before Rice Krispies somehow magically seem to be falling from the ceiling all over the floor and before I found out that "a day" meant over-night.

Did I mention it's -30 C outside and it's only 9:30 am.?

my first

Today was my first experience with the new Starbucks here in town (in Safeway).

Ahhh...

What a good experience it was...

There's nothing like a grande double chocolate chip frappuccino to bring a smile to your face.

Thank you Starbucks lady.



I take that back...after updating the link to my actual drink and calculating the total amount of calories in said yummy frappuccino...well...okay...I still thank you Starbucks lady.

Just won't be seeing you that often!

Take this! and That!!

This morning at Mom's we learned some self defence. I thought it was alot of fun. It was even more fun watching all the Mom's practice these moves on each other. If ever there was a morning we should have had a camera, today would've been it! It was great! A huge THANK YOU goes out to Connie Warkentin for teaching us this morning!

Otherwise life is simply moving along. I feel like I should be in my 3rd trimester as I have absolutedly no motivation or energy for anything. Last night for supper, we had cereal. I think Steve had crackers and spinach dip. Matthias had apples and cheese. Callah just kind of picked off everyone elses plate. Then this morning, and I kid you not, I finally decided to get up, so I'm sitting on the bed, I close my eyes again, and I actually fell over and back onto the bed. It was not a good morning.

So now I'm just not looking forward to thinking of something for supper. The only good thing is that Steve won't be here, so I won't feel bad about it not being a "complete" meal. Altho' I know I should try. Any ideas?

time to kill

I'm feeling suddenly bombarded again, only this time it's not sex, it's the environment. I know, I know, cry me a river this isn't something new. Yadda, yadda, yadda. True. But if it's so old, and everyone has heard the message a thousand times over, then why isn't stuff being done to help fix it?

My e-mail carrier Care2 is an environmentally friendly carrier (Steve always laughs 'cos he says "all e-mails are eco friendly." yeah...whatever) and they have all sorts of environmentally safe info and products all over their homepage. They also have quotes and today's quote is : "What's the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?" Henry David Thoreau. That's a bit drastic, but I can see the point. Then last night, I don't usually watch My Name Is Earl, but I managed to catch the latest episode and Christian Slater was a recovered pothead, hippy guy who lived in this hippy commune where they recycled and made everything from scratch and with their own 2 hands. (Speaking of which I once had the opportunity to do this on Canada's own hippy island also known as Hornby Island. They are home to Canada's biggest recycling depot and the friendliest bunch of people I've met in a while. They're homes are all made out of logs and driftwood from the ocean and everything is really unique. A definate place to check out if you make it out to the BC coast. You have to take a ferry to Vancouver Island then hop on another ferry to Denman Island and yet another ferry from Denman to Hornby. I don't recommend going between May and September as this is the tourist season and the population triples if not quadruples and can make finding a camp spot very tricky.) Anyway going back to what I was talking about. Then I saw an add for the Al Gore movie (which I REALLY want to see) An Inconvenient Truth. I really want my kids to be able to go out and see the Cathedral, Long Beach, the mountains, the east coast (this last one I have no idea what they're saying, but the pics are really nice), and all this is just in Canada. There are millions of other places I hope they'll one day be able to see, and not just them, but their children and their children's children. If we all do our own part and help in what little ways we can, then there's still hope. Oh great, now the tree-hugger in me is making her way forward.

Just something to think about.

noise

I can remember a time when we were first married, and even way before that, when I could not handle a moment of silence. I would always turn the radio on, or listen to a cd or have the TV on and not really watch it. There had to be some sort of "white noise" on no matter what I was doing. It hadn't really occured to me that I had lost this "noise need" until my single sister was up this past weekend and always had to have something on. I would turn the TV off and she'd turn the radio on. I guess kids had something to do with that. Made me crave the quiet more. And perhaps a little maturity in there somewhere, not really sure where at times.

And I don't know, is it just me or does anyone else still find the whole Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes thing disturbing?

Finally some relief

Looks like those 3000 mg of Vit C and all those lemon/honey drinks are finally kicking in. I can breathe thru my nose!! Yes!! Now if I could just get rid off this stupid cough, my other little problems would go away as well.

This morning we woke up to the sun shining Snow was melting off the roof and tree, so the kids and I decided to go outside and attempt our first ever snowman. Steve came home just as the kids were getting ready, so he came out to help as well. We soon realized that we didn't have enough snow around the back yard (after shovelling it all into a pile to build a fort a few days ago) so we rolled the snow in the front and then transferred them to the back. The kids found sticks for arms and uh...some poop. Apparently all snowmen poop. We used a carrot for a nose and choc chips for eyes and a smile (which the dog wound up eating) and viola! There was our "freaky" snowman! I've never been prouder!!

To top off our sunny winter day I suggested we have a weiner roast in the pit in the back yard. Steve's super fantastic so he agreed and set out to build a fire. It was brilliant, if ony Gus hadn't stolen that bun out of Callah's hands and the kids had eaten their hot dogs (I..uhh...mistakenly fed them ice cream sandwiches for a morning snack). Oh well, Steve and I had a beautiful weinie roast and enjoyed the sunny winter day. 1 o'clock and naptime rolled around before we were really ready to go inside.

All that fresh air must've tuckered everyone out 'cos they're still sleeping (it's almost 3). While they were napping, I decided to take advantage of this nice day (altho' when we got out to the Red, the sky was cloudy and it had gotten quite windy and blah...) and take Gus for a walk. The way I figured it, we both needed it, and it had been a while since the 2 of us had been out there by ourselves. I love going out there to think. And so think I did. I realized that I'm almost 6 months now. Only 4 more to go and these are the months that usually fly by and pregnancy wise are the toughest. I can't really gain much more weight (in an effort to watch my weight, I'm allowing myself the privledge of snacking on only fruit...which is harder than I thought, especially after all that excess Hallowe'en candy that I've taken in the past few weeks), so now I've just got to take care of the "pudge" and work out when I can, 'cos I know soon it'll be hard to get out of bed. We've still got to decide on girls names and we're still pondering on whether or not we should move the kids to the basement. We have to set the crib back up and pick up the bassinet from my brother's in Melfort. Go thru the baby clothes and pick out the smallest and most unisex outfits. Switch around the car seats and fish out the infant carrier. So much to do, so little time...of course I'm way ahead of myself. Like I'll actually do all that before March anyway, but today, on my walk it suddenly jumped me. Baby's coming.

Even if I lay down and still feel more blubber than bulge. Baby's coming.

It was a sobering thought and yet a thought that I had never really let go of. It had always been there, in the back of my mind, but I think it's just one of those things where you wait and wait and wait, and then suddenly it's closer than you think and you wonder what you've been doing that past 7 months to prep. Oh well. Even if I was an extreme procrastinator and didn't get anything done in the next few months, I know that it would still be loved and cared for with whatever we have ready.

Just think...baby's coming.

Man of the Year

My Dad sent me these photos of possible Men of the Year Award winners.

last straw

So last night shortly after the big game, I had yet another coughing fit. This resulted in me, once again, peeing my pants. However what made last night unique was that I also started throwing up (from coughing too much) which in turn made me cry (I always cry when I throw up) and to top it all off my nose started to run. Picture it if you will...me sitting on the pot with a bucket in my lap, throwing up and coughing, with tears and snot running down my face. It was not a good night.

I have a doctors appointment in an hour.

Please pray.

One night...

Carmen walked up the stairs to her bedroom.
There , lying on her bed, was a great big purple, green and yellow fart.

She ran down the stairs yelling, "Mommy-Daddy! Mommy- Daddy! Mommy-Daddy! There is a fart up on my bed."

"Don't be ridiculous!" said her father. "Good families like ours do not have farts." Nevertheless, he walked up the stairs to see what was going on.

When he opened the door to the bedroom, the fart jumped on him. He said, "Awk! Glach! Argggg!" and fell right on down.

After a while Carmen began to wonder how her father was doing. She crawled up the stairs very slowly, looked over the top step and saw her father's feet sticking out from underneath the fart.

So Carmen ran downstairs yelling, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! There is a fart on top of Daddy!"

"Don't be ridiculous," said the mother. "Good families like ours do not have farts. What would the neighbours say?" Nevertheless, she went upstairs to see what was going on. She opened the door and the fart jumped on her. She said, "Awk! Glach! Arggg!" and fell right on down.

Carmen ran to the phone and called the police. She said, "Help, help! There is a fart on top of Mommy and Daddy."

"Don't be ridiculous," said the police. "Good Canadians do not have farts. What would the Americans say?"

excerpt taken from Good Families Don't by Robert Munsch and Alan Daniel

welcome to winter

Yesterday we woke up to a covering of snow on the ground. I had this gut feeling that it was here to stay. Later in the morning a few Mom's at MMO said that it would be gone by late afternoon as it was suppossed to be +4 C. Well it's still snowing, I can no longer see ANY signs of grass and I've officially had my first shovelling incident. Welcome to winter!

Yesterday at Mom's we had our big sex talk. That's right all these weeks of sexual intimacy where the word "sex" wasn't even mentioned until yesterday. I had no idea what the topic was about until I got there (late for once) and Carolyn started talking. I felt like sex was all around me. First from my Babyzone (previous post) and now here at Mom's. Oddly enough as Steve and I were still bickering, sex was the last thing on my mind and yet I couldn't get it out of my head. So that was yesterday. Again, one of the things that stuck out to me was finding out from our husbands what they found attractive about us. Chances are, it might not be what we thought or expected. Like Carolyn said, her hubby finds her sexier in jeans and a T-shirt way more then when she's all dolled up and "stylish". So that's something to think about.

And I'm officially on the hunt for pregnancy safe cold medications. I called Nutters today and they said Vitamin C...and lots of it. I could also take zinc losenges. That's about it. I said thanks for the help (roll of the eyes). Sheesh. Then I phoned my friendly neighbourhood pharmacist and said my throat feels like it's bleeding from dry coughing and she said I could try a cough medicine with ONLY DM and use it sparingly and only if VICKS vapour didn't work and drinking lots of water didn't work and etc...etc...

I hate being pregnant and sick.

oh yeah, Steve and I got over our immaturity and made up last night. Something still feels kinda off, but we're definately on the right track again.

I just wanna add this

Lisa,Welcome to Week 20 of your Pregnancy!

Sex and more sex! Remember that unless you've been advised against it by your health care provider because of bleeding or risk of miscarriage, sex is fine , a good stress reliever, and a great way to "touch bases" with your partner. Don't feel up to it? That's okay, too.

It brought a smile to my frustrated face!

anger after a good weekend

can be so frustrating. One of our old youths has a blog that has caused a bit of heat in our house lately. It's not so much the blog itself, but that particular post and the comments that follow. I guess (and perhaps I should just keep my mouth shut as I don't know all the facts) what bothers us is that it suddenly seems like more and more people aren't believing in certain "facts" of the Bible (ex: the 6 day creation, Jonah, etc...) rather they think they're merely illustrations or parable-type stories. They didn't actually happen like it's written in the Bible. The thing that gets us hot under the collar is that once you stop believing in this part or that part, what's to stop you from believing in other parts? We shouldn't need proof that these things happened. Shouldn't it be simply that we have faith that they did and God is capable of doing these things?

We read something similiar in a book we're going thru at bible study called Velvet Elvis . The author Rob Bell says, "Somebody recently gave me a videotape of a lecture given by a man who travels around speaking about the creation of the world. At one point in his lecture he said if you deny that God created the world in six literal twenty-four hour days, then you are denying that Jesus ever died on the cross. " He goes on to say that this man's faith is like "a wall of bricks. Each of the core doctrines for him is like an individual brick that stacks on top of the others. If you pull one out, the whole wall starts to crumble. It appears quite strong and rigid, but if you begin to rethink or discuss even one brick, the whole thing is in danger." And then but "what if tomorrow someone digs up definitive proof that Jesus had a real, earthly, biological father named Larry, and archaeologists find Larry's tomb and DNA samples and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the virgin birth was really just a bit of mythologizing that Gospel writers threw in to appeal...to other cults that were hugely popular at the time of Jesus, whose gods had virgin births?"

But that's just it. Until proven otherwise, we have to have faith and believe that these things did actually happen. I mean that's what faith is according to Websters; "firm belief in something for which there is no proof: complete trust."

I don't know, the whole things just makes me angry.

Anyway, I had a pretty good weekend away in S'toon at the WJOF conference. Lisa Bevere was awesome, I had faith that she would be! ;) Our hotel was nice and comforting. I found $20 at Galaxy Cinemas which was a total treat. I found a nice long pair of maternity jeans on sale at Thyme. Other than the fact that I was sick and not feeling well for a few hours, the weekend was a hit. But it never fails that after a good weekend or any time away for that matter, something always puts a damper on it when you get home. I should've known it was going to go badly when I walked in on the last 5 minutes of the Rider game. You just don't do that in my house. Especially during the western semi-final. However things are looking like they might just smooth over, which would be nice, but it'll make us both think twice about letting each other go away for a weekend again.

And finally, Mom's tomorrow is part 4 of Carolyn's Sexual Intimacy thingy (the lack of the right word is frustrating and I don't want to say "talk" or "lecture" or "special" or whatever else one might add in there).

I think I need a nap. I'm frustrating too easily.

My "clean" man

In a few hours I'm taking off to S'toon with Dixie for the WJOF conference. While there are many women going, not many are going for the whole weekend, which we are. I have no real problem with this, I completely trust that Steve will be fine with the kids, and I know that the kids will love having their Dad around all weekend. It's the "clean" factor that I worry about. Whenever I go anywhere for a length of time Steve has a habit of "cleaning" things. I say "clean" b'cos this means he reorganizes and disposes of things that don't necessarily need to be reorganized or disposed of. I remember trips in the past where walls have been ripped out, carpet has been taken out (altho' I knew about this one ahead of time), stands and tables have gone missing, appliances have moved ontop of other appliances that most of our babysitters can't reach. So in saying all this, I'm a bit worried about what may be gone or "cleaned" when I get back on Sunday.

9:47 pm poutine run

Last night as I was getting ready to head out to bible study, I was thinking about what drink I wanted to make to take along. Sometimes I make a hot chocolate, others a caramel steamer. Depending on how I'm feeling. Last night, I wasn't feeling either, so I brushed my teeth and headed off. For the next 2 hours, my belly was thinking about something. My mind was trying to figure out just what we were craving. Then it came to us. POUTINE! Hot, gooey, cheesy poutine. Yum. So I dropped Matthias off at home and informed Steve that poutine was calling. He said, "yeah right." I said,"yeah. Right." So off to KFC for their amazing gravy poutine I went. And man was it worth it! Of course, my next weigh in at the doctors might say otherwise, especially now that my sweet tooth is also being fed from the leftover Halloween candy. But I'm telling ya, last night, sipping my Cranberry Gingerale and eating my KFC poutine was as close to Heaven as I had been yesterday. So good!

And in other news, apparently my hair is anything BUT sexy when I first wake up after going to bed with wet hair.

Yesterday Mom's was pretty good. Carolyn shared about her wedding day and her vows. Honestly there was more depth to it than that, but I have such fond memories of my wedding day that I drifted in and out of what she was saying. The best thing that for us ( after 5 years of marriage seems to have been a good choice) has to do with the fact that Steve and I met and married in 5 months. That's right, we met in February and married that June. We dated for about a week and were engaged the remaining 3 months. That whole first year of marriage we were thinking, perhaps we should have waited. But now as I look back and I see how we've grown and moulded together, those 5 months were long enough.

We were married at his Mom's acreage outside of Saskatoon. The day started cloudy and I thought it might rain, but by the time 2 o'clock rolled around the sun was shining and the pictures afterward (taken outside in the yard) had to be taken in the shade. I don't remember much about the ceremony except that when Steve read his vows I was blown away that he could write something like that. And in comparison, mine sounded really corny. I remember that his ring couldn't fit over his knuckle so in many of the ceremony pictures, he's trying to fit it on, and eventually has to lick it on. We had our reception in a huge hall just 5 minutes south across the highway where the DJ played no dance music. I got to wear my flip-flops. Everyone danced like alcohol had been served when infact none was. It was a really good time, and I'm not just saying that b'cos it was my wedding. Of course there were things that didn't get done that should have, and if anyone had told us how to plan a wedding, we would've known that we were doing it wrong. But nothing serious enough to damper the day.

And if there was a chance to do any of it over again, we definately would've had that pig on a spit!

I feel like chocolate

It's a completely insane feeling when you have this intense desire for chocolatey anything and you don't have any in the house.

I feel like I could rip something apart. Like Hulk getting mad over looking for chocolate.

Tomorrow is the final day to pay for or buy a ticket to the Women's Journey of Faith in S'toon. At least thru Mom's Morning Out. I have mine, do you have yours? Tomorrow is also the third installment of Carolyn's Sexual Intimacy talk. Should be a gooder.

I just got back from getting my hair cut and styled. I got it straightened, it seems like a long time since it's been completely straight. Steve's reaction was "lets have sex" so I think he likes it and even Matthias noticed altho' his comment was alot tamer, "wow Mom, nice hair". I was glad to hear them both. Whenever we take the chance to change anything it's nice to know that it payed off, however small the payback. So thank you Renita!

Some photos

Here are some photos from the retreat we went to at Kingsfold.

This is the staircase leading up to one of the fasting cabins. I thought it was really cool 'cos it's made entirely of trees and rock.








This is the chapel. Alot of wood and stained glass. Simply beautiful.







The view from the greenhouse towards the mountains. You can see a little winding path that leads down to the river. A nice easy walk.







A rock statue that I made. I've always wanted to make one of these.






And Callah...

so much potential, so little time

I swear I meant to update this thing sooner. I really did. In fact I can remember having some really good stuff to say earlier on in the week (of course for the life of me I can't remember now). But let's see...Monday just slipped by, Tuesday I was unusually tired, Wednesday was jam packed, Thursday the Mother-in-law was here and now it's Friday. I finally finished the little bit of baking I wanted to do for the bake sale tomorrow (Gateway Covenant Church, corner of 15th and 15th E, 9:30-3 pm) even tho' they were supposed to be delivered to the church by tonite (it's almost 10:30 pm now). Yeah, not going to happen. So you can see, it's just been one of those weeks.

Now to progressively recap...

Monday I had my post-ultrasound doctors appointment. I've been feeling the baby kick quite a bit lately, which has been nice. Sometimes at night I still lay down tho' and the little bump that's 'im is lost in the "jello" that's my belly. So I'm glad I can feel some proof even tho' I can't really see much yet. You still can't feel the kicks on the outside. Steve and I have both tried. Can't wait for that as well. When it gets really bad and keeps me from sleeping I love cuddling up to Steve so he can get kicked in the back as well! :) Anyway, was surprised to find that the ultrasound dated me 2 weeks ahead of schedule, making the duedate around March 10th instead of the previous 24th. Exciting.
Matthias also started level 2 swim. Half his class didn't show up Monday so there were only 2 boys, and the other little boy was either frightened of Matthias or the water, so he didn't even go in. Leaving Matthias the whole 1/2 hour with just the instructor. Turned out pretty good 'cos he really got to work on putting his head in the water and blowing bubbles. I'm amazed at how well he's doing. All that practice in the tub really does work!

Tuesday was Mom's and I thought it went really well. Was disappointed there wasn't a big turnout, but I'm quite confident that the ones who showed up had a good time. It was fun to get up and move around instead of just sitting down in chairs or at a table. Also informative in learning easy, no equipment, exercises that you can do in your living room infront of the TV. My kind of stuff.
Then let's see, I came home, had a spazz attack and the rest of the day pretty much blew chunks.

Wednesday was my "soccer Mom" day. Prepared all the ingredients for a stew and threw it in the croc pot, took Matthias to story time at the library, then we went to my Grandma's (which will have to be a whole other post some other sad time) followed by a quick pb & jam lunch, naptime, took Matthias to swim lessons, stopped for slurpees on the way to the final Carlton and St. Mary football game, picked up Steve from said game, came home for stew (previously made earlier that day) went to bible study, came home to mother-in-law and sister-in-law, talked for a few hours then went to bed.

Thursday was the day. I suppose in hindsight it went fairly well. Steve and his Mom only got in one heated argument, and that was about music, which really, they should just agree to disagree instead of arguing about it almost every time we get together.

I don't actually feel like talking about it much more than that. Perhaps I'm turning over a new leaf.

That leads to today. Which has been pretty good. Callah and I took Matthias out this morning for a brisk bike ride. I'm amazed at how well he's doing. We should easily be able to take the training wheels off next year. Followed by a game of tag with Gus in the back yard. Lunch and the start of my bakesale baking. Matthias informed me that today was Callah's dinosaurs birthday, so I decided to make gummi worm chocolate cupcakes. *As a side note don't put the gummi's in until AFTER you bake them. Lesson learned the hard way.* The kids loved them. Matthias' swim lesson went well, if you forget the fact that Callah spilled her water twice on the bleachers. Then after the lesson she ran into the street while I was unlocking the door. Then while making a quick shopping stop for more icing sugar to ice their cupcakes, she stuck her tongue out and refused to listen while at the check outs. Maybe I'm just super strict, but she is not allowed to do that to her dad and me. On the upside we got home too late to make supper so Domino's was called and they delivered. I got to watch my Men in Trees, finish baking pumpkin cookies and read the kid's a book before Matthias threw up in his bed. Ahh... I should've guessed the nites not over yet.

Steve just got home and that's my cue to finish up. This wasn't nearly as exciting as it should've been on Monday, but it's my life.

Chow.

2 legs, 2 arms...

Well we had our first ultrasound the other day and it was great. I mean you never seem to tire of seeing this image of a little baby move and shake inside you and you can't feel a thing. It was great. It really was. There was a head, 2 arms and hands, 2 legs and feet and a beating heart. That's all that really matters isn't it? I loved it. Of course this woman is showing us all these cool picture possibilities and the one she settles on to copy and give us is this obscure circular grey thing in a pool of blackness (the head). Gee thanks. I guess for them it's just a job. Not nearly exciting as it was for us (or any other couple who come along). Sad, you'd think you'd go into a certain profession like that, and actually want to and enjoy doing it. Or maybe it was just a bad day. We all know there's been plenty of those going around lately (or is it just at my house?).

The boy has mastered his peeing technique. Once again we are pee puddle free now for 2 days! Yeah!!

The pants are getting tighter and tighter. I never thought I'd say it, but I'm glad. Once again reminding myself of how excited I am to have this baby. Even at night, after I've made my 5th bathroom break, I remind myself how much I wanted this one. Or as I'm tossing and turning trying to find a comfortable sleeping position when all I'm craving for is to lay on my belly Steve rolls over and reminds me how much we want another one.

Really, I do want this one and I am looking forward to it, even tho' another person told me today how much of a "joy" having 3 children can be.

Really, I swear I do.

ultra...

Mom's Morning Out this morning was pretty good. Putting aside all personal, toturous (is that even a word?) feelings, the video itself went well.

That's all I feel like saying about that.

In a few hours Steve and I go for our first ultrasound of Baby 3. I always get excited when this time rolls around. This time especially I'm completely stoked b'cos I get to see that there really is something living inside me and that it looks (somewhat) human. This whole pregnancy has been different than the previous 2. So much so that I don't even feel like I'm pregnant. Being almost 4 1/2 months now I'm still wearing normal clothes (and I've come to a decision that I must be "larger" than I really think I am to be buying "larger" clothes than perhaps I should be therefore allowing me to still be able to wear them when technically if I were skinnier I really don't think I would be able to...just my thinking) altho' I will wear maternity once in awhile for a change or I just feel bloated and gross.

Right, what was I talking about?

Yeah, I don't even feel pregnant. And I think that the more I hear about friends and other women having miscarriages the more that thought is nagging in the back of my mind. So I can't wait to get a large belly and I can't wait to start feeling movement and kicking. That way I'll be reminded that yes, there is a baby human in my stomache and I'll get excited all over again.

I honestly can't wait.

potty peeing 101

I'm beginning to think that they should make a class for kids on how to pee on the potty. I'm not talking about potty training either. I'm talking about how to sit, or hold 'wee willy' down or how to aim or something. Lately Matthias has been having all sorts of peeing accidents, and he's fully potty trained. It's just that (and I finally realized this today) amazingly enough when he sits on the potty to pee, he somehow manages to unconsciously aim 'willy' directly between the seat and the bowl and therefore allowing pee to be "spewed" all over the wall, tub and floor of the bathroom. Or the other problem is that when pully down his pants, he gets them caught in the same place (between seat and bowl) and pees all over them. There has to be an easier way. Is it easier to have him stand and take his chances aiming the silly thing into the bowl? Or do we just continue to let him "miss-aim" and hope he'll grow a bit to fix that problem? I don't know. All I know is that I'm sick of cleaning up pee every morning.

Onto cheerier news, Mom's tomorrow we're watching a video by Lisa Bevere called Beautiful. It was taped at a live conference somewhere. I was watching it again last night and making notes (I felt like I was in high school again. This is my first video I've had to do myself, so naturally I left it till the last moment to make notes and am now getting more and more nervous by the hour to see if I can actually pull of a video and discussion by myself) and Steve was in the bedroom reading when he called out "what kind of video are you watching??" Lisa can be (and her and I are on first name basis' here....ha ha) kinda ...I'll say loud. She's very "power to the women" and "freedom of women" in a Christian way. If you don't know her or what I mean, you'll just have to come tomorrow to find out. I like her, I like the way she's real and honest about her life.

And speaking of that I should really get my butt in gear and start typing up my notes. The kids are "sleeping" Callah is actually quite miffed that I just separated her and Matthias. How foolish was I to think that they would actually get any sleep in the same room? But it's quiet upstairs now, so there's hope, for a while.

gone, but slowly returning

I spent the past week at a pastor/spouse conference in Canmore, Alberta. Or I should say I spent the first 3 days there then travelled to Kingsfold Retreat Centre just outside Cochrane. If I could pick just one word, altho' most unlikely, to describe such a place it would definately be...well really beautiful is too "undescriptive" a word. It was an extraordinary place. I'll put pictures up sometime.

Not only was the scenery nice, the food that was served was amazing. The company was always entertaining and I had plenty of time to chill and relax (in other words sleep). I wasn't feeling the greatest in Canmore, but luckily that cleared up (except for this unending headache) in time for Kingsfold.

I'm also not the best traveller, so the 8 hours drives there and back were not my cup o' tea, but somehow it was worth it. It was also totally worth returning to find our little rugrats sleeping peacefully at their Grandma and Grandad's. Not so much worth it on the car ride back to PA, in freezing cold and rain, with so called "peacefull" rugrats matching screaming pitches at incredibly high octaves. But then again...

Anyway, it's good to be home.

overheard...

...while hiking up a small mountain in Canmore, Alberta.

"Ugh...I feel like I weigh 400 pounds!"
"Naw...you're more like 300."