23 weeks and venting...

23 weeks down, 17 more to go! Gotta be honest, this beautiful weather we're having is killer on my sobriety. I want nothing more to indulge in some cocktails on a patio somewhere, I know it's not quite patio season yet but I would totally settle for my back step or a park...I'm not picky. I'm ready to have my body back. Which doesn't bode well for breastfeeding. The novelty of being pregnant has definitely worn off. It was more exciting the first time, that sounds awful doesn't it! I'm excited for the baby, just not to be pregnant for 4 more months. I know it'll go fast but when you're living it, it's excruciatingly slow. I blame summer. Summer is the time for bbq's and cottage getaways. Last summer I spent a glorious 3 days at my friend's trailer and although the weather was shit, the company was stellar. No work, no kids, no hubby, just me, the girls, the outdoors and booze of course. I wouldn't even describe myself as that much of a drinker but you always want what you can't have right? I think maybe I need a virgin daiquiri to tie me over, all this booze talk is making me thirsty, in the words of the wise John Daley, "I need to wet my mouth" LOL right Meg?

*sigh* Enough of the booze talk. I can't take it anymore. You'd think I'm an alcoholic or something!

So baby is 23 weeks now! woohooo! Once you reach the 24th week the baby becomes "viable", so she would actually have a chance of survival if she was born now. Crazy! She's only weighs a little over a pound. Gotta love modern medicine! I'm pleased to announce my belly button is still an 'innie', it never popped the first time so I don't expect it to pop this time. It's usually around this time that it would happen. I have stretch marks though :( This makes me very sad. I had them the first time too. I used cocoa butter the first time around and it obviously didn't work, so this time I'm using Bio-Oil, we'll see what happens. I plan on asking my dr for something stronger once I've had the baby.

This weekend we're going home to Hali. I'm quite excited, we haven't been home since Christmas and it's way too long. I love my family so much we should really see them more often. I can always count on them for a good time. Laughter is the best medicine after all! My niece, Emily, is dying to see Nate, it's soooo cute. I love that he has so many cousins, it makes family gatherings kinda hectic at times but totally awesome. We're lucky to be so loved :)

I've really been missing Nate lately. I see him just as much as I've been seeing him since I went back to work at the end of June but for some reason, lately, my heart aches for him. Maybe because he's getting to be so much fun? He's seriously so cute and funny. There's never a dull moment. My last day of work is June 15th, so at least we'll get to spend more time with each other, even though he'll have to share me. I can't even imagine how much fun we're going to have with 2 kids!

Hubby started Weight Watchers last week and so far he's doing so well. I'm so happy for him. In one week he lost 7.7 lbs! I'm delighted that he's seeing immediate results, it helps to keep him going in the weeks to come. He too started a blog, weightwatchingdaddy.blogspot.com, gotta love the title! He's so cute! He also got a new job last week, he starts on the 22nd. Things are starting to come together now.

Life is good!

I am slowly going crazy....

What is it about girls' clothes that makes me deliriously happy? I honestly feel like a 7 year old at Toys R Us. I want to buy EVERYTHING! I'm not kidding. Then I feel guilty, like Nate's clothes suddenly aren't as fun? I'm not sure how to handle that. I already feel guilty enough about turning his world upside down, then I have to reassure myself that a sibling is one of the best gifts we can give him. I know it's gonna be rough for the first little while but I think he'll adapt. He's not clingy or jealous when other kids are around so I think that works in our favour. We're doing our part in terms of his socialization, I think daycare has worked wonders for him. And I think that still sending him twice a week when I'm off is important. I know I've talked about this before but this is only my opinion. Obviously different parents have different parenting styles. At this age, routine is so important to them. We always try to have a consistent bedtime as well, occasionally he stays up later but only when we're with family or something, even then, he's not up much later then usual. He goes to bed around 7:30pm and sleeps until 7:15am - 8:00am. We also have a fan on in his room to drown out the noise. Sometimes if we let him stay up later then he sleeps in a bit, which is nice on weekends. I know this next child is not going to be the same as him. Every kid is different. But we know what we want in terms of how and where she sleeps so I'm confident that we can stick to our guns and hopefully this next child can be just as great as sleeper. Sleep is so important for parents too, otherwise you're stressed out and impatient. Can you imagine being sleep deprived with two kids at home? It's not even like I can always sleep when the baby sleeps because Nate will be home too and he only naps once a day - again, I know I'll be grateful for those days he goes to daycare.

So back to the clothes...Our good friends Jay and Jen are giving (lending? we can give them back after lol, I know we haven't discussed that part) us their daughter Sophie's clothes. I can't wait!! Sophie is always very well dressed! I don't really want to buy too much until I see what's there. Sophie was born in December and this baby will be born in July so I know that I can buy some summer dresses. I've attached a couple of photos. I couldn't resist!

These are from Old Navy and Gap. I want to vomit with excitement. I should probably steer clear of the mall until I calm down a bit. But honestly, can you see where I'm coming from?

So I talked to Rye about telling you guys the first name we have chosen for our daughter. He says I'm allowed to share! If you don't like it, I don't care. We can't please everyone. Keep in mind that Rye is choosing the middle name, he's already put 'feelers' out there so we'll have to see what happens. One I don't like at all, another I like a lot. Time will tell. So the name I've chosen is 'Violet'! Two things had me hooked. 1) I don't know anyone with this name (besides Violet Affleck, which is where I got it from) and 2) It's not on any 'Top 100' name list. Rye doesn't like "Vi" for short, he thinks it sounds like an 80 year old lady, and I get where he's coming from but I know that once we have her and if we do call her 'Vi', then we'll just think of our daughter and not an old lady, hopefully anyways! We also had Ellie, Grace and Ruby on the list. I'm off Ruby. I like Ellie and Grace but Grace is way too common. I'd like Rye to choose his Mom's name (she passed away when he was young) but he's not sure it "goes" with Violet.

So that's it for today guys! Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday.

Happy Weekend! Anyone have any good plans? We're going to Jay & Jen's for dinner Saturday then hopefully watching the gold medal game on Sunday! I plan on making a roast chicken in the crockpot for Sunday's dinner. Let's talk recipes next blog!

GO CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!

Drum roll please....

Well, I am pleased to announce that we're having a girl! Seriously shocking. I could barely hold back the tears!! 3D ultrasounds are really cool, I wish we had had one with Nate now too. If you're considering it I highly recommend it, even if you're not considering it, you need to do it. I've attached some pics below. She was super cute, sucking her thumb and had her hands at her face most of the time. She looked really cozy in there :) Now I can shop!!!!!! YESSSS!!!! AND I got Rye to agree on the name! The deal was that he got to choose the middle name, which is fine by me!

Reunited and it feeeeels sooo good!

Okay so I know I'm an asshole. I haven't posted in forever and people are starting to get antsy. I owe you, my loyal readers, an apology. Usually I write during the day while I'm at work, LOL, and we've been crazy busy lately. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being busy at work, the guilt is just starting to eat away at me. So I'm back. I will do better, I promise!!

First things first, we have a 3D/4D ultrasound booked for tomorrow morning!!!!!!! So unless the baby is REALLY uncooperative we should definitely know the sex. They pretty much guarantee it! I'm so excited! It's at 9:30am at BabyView in Pickering. I'll blog about it right away. I honestly don't care what we're having. I just need to know. I actually caved and bought these adorable hair clips off True Cuddles, they're an awesome website for kids items. Every Monday they have a item they sell at a deep discounted price. So the hair clips were such a great deal, I couldn't resist. I figure if we're having a boy then I'll just give them away and if not then *squeal*!!! I had to stop myself from buying these adorable leg huggers yesterday. Of course when I looked to Meg for support, she wasn't that much help and commented on how cute and what a great price they were! I feel like I'm just not destined to have a girl, I guess because I have 3 brothers. I told this to my Mom and she understood. It took her until the 4th try to get me! But saying that, perhaps Ryan's three half-sisters offsets my three brothers? Wishful thinking maybe? I think I'll be shocked if it's a girl. That being said, every cousin/brother of mine (except for my cousin Heather who has 1 child, and we're still waiting to hear about what Phil and Cheryl are having), has a boy and a girl! So weird. Sooooo excited!!!! Thankfully the appointment is in the morning, I don't think I could wait all day!

Has anyone been watching the Olympics? We're into it. I'm SO far behind on my regular tv shows because of it. I still have to watch: two desperate housewives, brothers and sisters, heroes season finale, a couple general hospitals (I was two weeks behind so I finally caved and just read the write-ups online because no way will I have time to watch them all), the amazing race, and private practice, I think that's it? Lost is on tonight, so is Idol and of course Hockey! So I guess Rye and I will watch hockey then Lost afterwards, gonna be another late night! Of course then it means I'll be behind on Idol! Do you think I watch too much tv? It's exhausting really. Thankfully we have PVR. I couldn't live without it.

Baby gear!! There are a couple big purchases we'll need to buy before the baby comes 1) a double stroller, I thought long and hard about this one, is it really necessary? But Nate will only be 2 when this baby is born so it makes sense. After a lot of research, I've decided on the Baby Trend Sit 'N Stand LX Stand-On Tandem Stroller, I think this would suit Nate and the new baby perfectly (it takes a infant car seat) and it's not ridiculously expensive like a lot of strollers are. 2) We need to buy Nate a twin bed and a new dresser. I'm waiting to see if we'll be moving until we make those purchases. I think we're pretty much good for the other large items. Maybe I would want a new baby carrier but that requires some research! We already have a baby bjorn but I think a sling would be nice. I'm concerned about being home with 2 kids and this would enable me to be mobile. If we're having a girl then I would probably want new crib bedding and obviously I would want to do her room up super girly. We should really start stocking up on diapers too. It never hurts to have them! It feels weird to not have bought anything yet but I think after tomorrow I might go a little crazy!

So until tomorrow my friends! Wish us luck!

Look who's 18!

Yet it still feels wrong!

To Doula or Not to Doula

Okay so a lot to write about today.

First off, we had our 19 week ultrasound yesterday. Rye was unable to attend because of work so I was flying solo. It's a really long ultrasound because they have to take a lot of measurements, not good for the bladder! The technician was really nice and gave me 3 pictures of the baby, free of charge, without me even asking her! She couldn't tell the sex of the baby because she couldn't get a clear picture, but she thinks that my doctor might send me back in a week or two because she couldn't get a good picture for the radiologist. She told me that everything was fine with the baby, I'm a bit skeptical only because I don't know how much the technicians can really tell you. But I'm not going to stress over it until I hear from my doctor. I have an appointment next Thursday anyways.

My friend Sarah called me last week and asked if I wanted a doula, my response was yah definitely but they're expensive (around $1000), she said that this one was free, they need to volunteer to get their certificate. So I called and Melissa is her name. We had a brief talk and she explained that July was too far away and she was looking for someone who was giving birth sooner but she said that if June rolled around and she needed more experience then she would keep me in mind. So then she called me last night and said that she was thinking about it, she's really passionate about pregnancy, and she wants to be our doula. We chatted for a bit and she said the next step was for me to talk to my husband then we would meet in person and go from there. You're probably wondering what a doula is?

A doula, by definition, are trained professionals who provide non-medical support to a woman or couple before, during, and after labour. A doula is different than a midwife, a midwife is like a doctor but more involved in the birthing process, they provide prenatal care and deliver the baby (unless you need a c-section, in which case a doctor would have to perform) and provide postpartum care along with breastfeeding support. So I would have both a doctor and a doula. In cases with a doctor, they really just come in to deliver the baby and placenta anyways so if you're looking to a doctor for support you're out of luck!

A little more in depth about the role of a doula...

We would meet with Melissa a few times before the birth to discuss what to expect in labour and Ryan's role in the birth, a doula is not there to "take over", she's there to support us and to help him support me. She would also help us write a birth plan (A written description of what the expectant parents would like to include and what they'd like to avoid for labor and the birth of their child). She would be available to us 24/7 for the 2 weeks up to my due date, if we need to talk or whatever.

During labour, Melissa would help me to be as comfortable as I can be, through the use of relaxations techniques, suggestions for laboring positions, massage, and emotional support. She would encourage Rye's role and also support him in terms of reminding him to eat etc.

After the birth, she would stay with us for 2 hours to help with breastfeeding to ensure the baby is getting a proper latch. I believe most doulas would also make a home visit or two afterwards as well but Melissa and I didn't get that far in our conversation.

So what are the benefits of having a doula?

- Reduces a woman's likelihood of having pain medications and other interventions if that's what the mother wants
- Increases her satisfaction with her birth
- Increases her chances for spontaneous birth
- Helps her feel better about her partner, her baby and her experience
- Helps fathers interact more during labor and birth
- Enhances breastfeeding success
- Creates better maternal-infant interaction
- Leads to less postpartum depression, anxiety, and greater self-esteem
- Leads to greater satisfaction with the birth experience

My main two reasons for wanting a doula are 1) breastfeeding support and 2) labour support - to make a long story short when I was in labour with Nate, once we got to the hospital, about 2 hours after my water broke, my contractions were 1-2 minutes apart and I couldn't recover between them so I had to get the epidural very early on, epidurals slow down labour and I wasn't dilating so they had to put me on pitocin (sp??) to speed up the process and 28 1/2 hours later Nate was born. So ideally this time, I would like to hold off on the epidural for as long as possible. A doula would REALLY help with that.

The hubby is skeptical, I understand his point of view. He doesn't want a stranger there and thinks that it should just be us during the birth. Obviously she would not be a stranger because we would meet with her a few times beforehand. I think he just needs more information. I've spoken with a few ladies on the baby centre message boards and they said their hubbies reacted the same way but were on board once they met with the doula and understood their role. So I'm hoping things will click once we meet with Melissa. I've really enjoyed speaking with her on the phone and I think Rye will come around.

I have to say thanks to Sarah for hooking us up! I'm hoping everything works out!

Did any of you use a Doula for your birth?? Comment and let me know, we need all the advice we can get!!

Feeling kinda Monday!

Whew! What a weekend! Lots to talk about! Should be a good blog today. I'll leave the talk about how I drool even without a cold for tomorrow's blog for my homie Sarah Brown! Let's get to it!

So friday night was fairly low key. I cleaned the bathroom, getting ready for our Superbowl party, then I went to bed around 9:30ish. I've been SO exhausted lately. I don't remember being this tired with Nate. The second trimester is 'supposed' to be the best in terms of how you feel but this baby is totally kicking my ass right now. I can barely get through the day without a nap :( What does this say for my third trimester? It can't be good lol.

On Saturday afternoon we took Naters to get his first haircut! OMG what a difference. I didn't think they would really take much off but after seeing the end result I felt like such an idiot, why didn't we do it sooner?? They were awesome at http://www.littletotshairshop.com/, we highly recommend it. Nate surprised us and was a real trooper! He just didn't want to wear the apron, can't say I really blame him, it did look like it was choking him a bit, but that's alright. We just had to entertain him with a few cars and trucks and he was set! The lady even busted out the razor to clean up the back because he was being so good! I was so proud of our little man and had to hold back a few tears, we'll blame it on the pregnancy hormones!

After Nate's haircut we took him to Pop & Gigi's for the night and headed down to Big Daddy's Crab Shack and Oyster Bar for Giulia's Birthday. We had a great time, it's not often that Rye and I get out without the little man. It was so nice to have a great meal. I had steak and shrimp and Rye just had steak, he doesn't like seafood, I can't even get him to try a shrimp, so annoying! Giulia's family was so nice and her brother is hilarious! Is it too much to say I love that guy? LOL I would definitely hang out with him again. At one point I had to choke back my water so I didn't spit it out all over the table, resulting in a coughing fit which obviously led to pissing myself a bit. Oh the joys of pregnancy.

Sunday was a very busy day! I woke up around 8:30am to immediately vacuum and mop the floors, it really needed to be done but I was waiting until closer to Sunday so I didn't have to do it twice, makes sense. We got all of our grocery shopping done then we were off to Pop and Gigi's to pick up our little man! Once we got home we had tons of prepping and cooking to do! On our menu was: homemade lasagna, a veggie tray, honey garlic meatballs, salad, buns, buffalo chicken wontons (all homemade), and a sundae bar - definitely my favourite lol. We had a choice of chocolate and vanilla ice cream with either caramel or chocolate sauce topped with reeses pieces, oreos, whipped cream and a cherry! Mmmmm. It was a great night! Obviously we were ecstatic that the Saints won! Nate and Gavin got some BFF time in, it was so cute to watch them together, Gav kept feeding Nate, so funny! I'm so happy they got to spend some time together, we really don't do it enough. By the time everyone left it was around 10:30pm, let me tell you, Monday morning came WAY too soon. Rye took the day off today and I'm so jealous! He did get up with Nate and let me sleep in a bit so I can't complain too much. I wonder what he'll make us for dinner? Hmmmm...

In baby news, tomorrow's the big day. Our ultrasound is at 11:00am. I cannot wait. I REALLY hope baby cooperates. I'm so excited. The baby has been so active lately and I am loving it, I can't wait to see all those little arms and legs waving around on the screen. I'm gonna post a blog as soon as I get back from my appointment tomorrow so I'll be sure to let everyone know if it's a boy or a girl! If we can find out that is, because that's not always the case. Wish us luck!

Hope everyone has a great Monday and the week flies by so we can enjoy a 3-Day weekend! YAY!

xo

*** HURRICANE WARNING ***

Be advised! Hurricane WHODAT is making landfall, bringing Shockey waves and strong Brees with Hartley any chance of survival. Has already blown migrating Cardinals off course and sunk a Viking ship! Headed for Miami at this time ... stay tuned for more forecast updates

Blah!

Can you believe this adorable little human belongs to me! Aren't we lucky! I took this picture at Daddy's ball hockey game last night. Props to Uncle Phil and Auntie Cheryl for the hat! I absolutely love it. Ball hockey was...fun....sorta. Nate was content to play with his Thomas and eat some snacks for the first period and that was that. The boy loves to walk. So we walked. All in all it was a good night but I didn't really see much of the game. They won 9-4 I believe?

What's everyone got planned for this weekend? It's a busy one for us. #1 on my list is sleep in! We've had a few late nights this week and I am totally dragging my ass at work today. I was fine all morning, then I ate lunch, you know how it is. I want to close my eyes but I have a cold and I know it won't be pretty if I fall asleep. I am really not an attractive sleeper right now, hello snoring and drool! Hence why Rye has slept on the couch the last 2 nights. So saturday Nate is going to his Pop & Gigi's for the night and we're heading down to 'Big Daddy's Crab Shack and Oyster Bar' for our friend Giulia's 30th Birthday dinner! Has anyone been there? It'll be our first time. Rye doesn't eat seafood but they have other stuff anyways. I'm really excited because I love going out for dinner and being pregnant and sober, food is the one thing I can indulge in! Steak and shrimp Mmmmm. Sunday is the Superbowl and we're having a few friends over so we have to prepare the food and house for that.

Nate REALLY needs a haircut. We were going to get his Aunt Amy to cut his hair on New Years but everyone was sick so we didn't end up going to Haliburton. It's gotten to the point where pretty much everyone makes fun of his hair. It's quite long on the side and he has a lot of it in the back, it's hard to explain, basically the kid needs help. I'm hoping we can fit that in this weekend. Looks like we're gonna have to take him to a kid's haircutting place. I found this place http://www.littletotshairshop.com/ so maybe we'll check it out. I'll be sure to get some pics since this will be his first time! Wish us luck!

I know this blog is seriously sucking today. I've hit a wall. All I want to do is nap. I'm so sorry guys. I just don't have it in me. Time to throw in the towel.

Comment below and give me more things to write about so tomorrow's post doesn't suck as much as this one does!

Oh and I've said it before but I can easily name 15 of you that I know are reading and aren't 'followers' so please become one, the first step is admitting it!

A breakthrough

Hey All!

Well I'm seriously tired today. My boss gave us last minute Leaf's tickets, just a case of me being in the right place at the right time so of course we had to go. Thankfully Pop was available to babysit! We had a great time and our seats were AH-mazing!!! 8th row from the ice in the corner behind N.J.'s net so we got to see lots of action. AND they won! Woohoo! Rye wanted to watch the season premiere of Lost when we got home, 2 hour season premiere I should add and I couldn't resist. So today we are paying the price. If you're in the mood for a little bit of mind f*ckery, Lost is the place to go. I can't even begin to imagine how those writers do it but it is seriously awesome. I won't spoil anything here for those that haven't watched it yet but holy crap!!!!

Nate had a breakthrough at day care today!!! Rose (our day care provider or DCP for short) called to let me know that Nate ate a chicken nugget! This is HUGE. The kid doesn't eat ANY meat at all. It's not that he doesn't like it, he just refuses to try anything. Yet he has no problem trying a piece of my nanaimo bar, I don't understand how he knows the difference! Rose said they were cracking open a bottle of champagne so you can imagine how big of a deal this is for us all.

His diet consists of:
85% fruit
9% bread, waffles and crackers
5% yogurt and fruitsations
0.5% cheese (only on grilled cheese or plain cheese sandwiches, never straight up)
0.5% french fries

We've had quite the battle when it comes to his eating habits. I will say it's the one thing we/him really struggle with. We do give him options but he won't even look at them. The other day, I made pigs in a blanket, I just did a quarter of a hot dog in the one I made for him and he wouldn't touch it! Yet when I gave him a straight up crescent roll he was all over it! So frustrating!!! He used to eat veggies, hot dogs and kraft dinner but he just up and stopped one day. Rose has gotten him to eat pasta with white sauce and chicken noodle soup, both of which he won't eat for us. So you can imagine our delight when we got the call about the chicken nugget! I was SO happy. He's the only child at daycare that doesn't eat the regular food that they make, and they are Italian so you know they're making some good stuff! Pretty much every day he eats bread, cheese and either a yogurt or a pudding. They change up the way they serve it to him but always the same combination. Obviously he also gets fruit and snacks throughout the day as well. I'm praying this is the start of him branching out. But I know not to get my hopes up.

It's funny how much the little things matter in life. This milestone of Nate's has made us so happy and proud. I seriously almost cried tears of joy. A direct quote from my husband "Remind me to call Rose a God next time I see her!" What milestone of your loved one's has brought joy to your life? Share with us in the comment section below!

18 Weeks!

So I am officially 18 weeks today. Chugging along quite nicely! 1 week until we can hopefully find out the sex! The suspense is killing me. I need to know. And I need to know soon. I've been feeling the baby tons lately! I love it! It's truly amazing. I keep telling myself I really need to take it all in because this may be the last time I'm pregnant, which also seems weird to be done with such a huge part of your life? But that's neither here nor there now since we don't know what the future holds. Although Rye's insisting that if this one's a girl he's going for the snip snip. We'll see. Obviously money is a huge factor but having Nate makes me want a bunch of kids. It could also be how he is though, I suppose if he was high maintenance then it might change my mind. Let's just get through this next one and we'll go from there :)

Yesterday I had some time on my hands and I discovered that if you go to "Next Blog" at the top of the page, don't even think of doing it now haha, you go to random people's blogs. I stumbled upon a couple who had quintuplets (that's 5 babies just so we're clear), the Mother blogged about it all, still does and I found it absolutely captivating. I could never imagine. She HAD to gain a minimum of 75 lbs, preferably 100lbs. Resulting in her having to eat 5000 calories at day! 5000!!!!! The only thing that ticked me off was that the farthest I could go back on her blog was when she was around 15 weeks so I have no idea how they conceived 5 kids. Keep in mind that pregnancy is 40 weeks, a baby is considered 'full term' at 37 weeks. Their goal was to make it to 34 weeks but that didn't happen. They made it to 30 weeks and 5 days. All the babies survived but not without hiccups, it was a long journey in the NICU but they are now around 19 months and all doing great. It was really interesting to read about their story. They were so brave during the pregnancy and after the birth, I don't know if I could have that kind of strength. If you're interested their blog is here http://howellquints.blogspot.com.

Big Tings happening tonight! Lost is back for their 6th and final season. I would tell you to tune in but if you haven't watched the previous 5 seasons you will have no clue as to what's going on. Watch it on DVD. I guarantee you will be hooked. Also, after a busy weekend in Leaf's Nation, Giguere and Phaneuf will make make their debuts tonight. I have no idea what the hubby is gonna do! I guess we'll be flipping back and forth!

For the Mom's and Mom's to be out there. Another great website for baby/kid stuff is infomommy.com, every week they post which stores in ontario have diapers, wipes, formula etc on sale. I've been finding it very helpful lately.

Which websites do you frequent? Comment below and let us know!

Just another manic Monday...

Good Morning everyone!

I thought I should write a weekend/Monday morning blog since not everyone watched the Grammy's.

What did everyone do this weekend? We got a lot of cleaning done. So happy about that. It was much needed. Attached are a couple of pictures of Nate helping Daddy clean out the fridge.



As you can see Nate was very helpful. We had a great weekend as usual. Sunday evening always comes too soon. Lots of events this weekend to look forward to. Our friend Giulia's 30th Birthday celebration on Saturday, Nate's Pop and Gigi are taking him for the night so Mommy and Daddy have the whole evening to ourselves, I might have to actually let Rye touch me! haha. Then Sunday is the Superbowl! Go Saints!

It's starting to hit me that I'm actually pregnant and we're actually going to have two kids. I'm getting nervous. I think because Nate is so well behaved it really scares me that this one will not be. But at the same time, it comes down to nature vs nurture. I really believe that Nate is the way he is because we as parents have had a hand in it. I do think it's him as well. So maybe like 60% Nate, 40% us or maybe even 50/50. I think we've made a lot of right choices with how we've raised him so far and seeing the way he is everyday just confirms that. I just hope we can keep it up! I'm very interested to see how he is affected by having a sibling but again, I think it's in the way we handle it and I believe we can continue on the right track. Remember parents, you are in charge!

We've decided we're going to get a twin bed for Naters. I'm super excited to pick one out for him. I hope he likes it! I also hope it won't be that much of an adjustment for him but we'll just have to wait and see. I'm concerned about him getting out of bed in the middle of the night but I think we'll just put a baby gate on his door.

I have to give a shout out to my friend Giulia. Not only is she one of the sweetest and nicest people I know, she is totally inspiring. She's blogging about her goal to run a marathon in a year, if you have a second please check out her blog here Fat Girls can run too!...my marathon journey. It's highly entertaining and if you're in the market to lose some pounds or to just get healthy, I hope it will inspire you too.

That's all for today peeps! Happy Monday!

xo

Stop! Grammy Time!

Hello Ya'll!

Just sitting here watching the Grammy's with my hubby. If I knew how to 'live blog' I totally would but who would read it anyways? We missed the red carpet because we had dinner at the in-laws tonight so I'm really curious to see what horrendous dress Country Bitch Carrie Underwood is wearing. You'd think the chick would get a real stylist by now. How does this keep happening?? Seriously, check out her 12 or so wardrobe changes from when she hosted the CMA's, all sucked.

LOL Steven Colbert about Elton John and Lady Gaga "I didn't even know they were dating!" BTW Totally loved that performance. Gaga can really sing I don't care what anyone says and Elton John! Come on! Respect. Excuse me while I take my bra off....Ugh Smokey Robinson, seriously dude, lay off the botox!

OMG Jay-Z cracked a smile.

JLo looks GORG. Ugh just sneezed and pissed myself a little. Over share? perhaps but I am still pregnant and this is still a pregnancy blog.

Greenday always reminds me of my home girl Carrie Heyes! I think we spent an entire summer driving around listening to their 'Nimrod' CD. They rock, and so does Carrie, miss you!!!

Hello Josh Duhamel! Mmmmm. Wow Kristen Bell is short! Hideous dress. Shocker, Taylor Swift continues to act surprised while she constantly cleans up reward show after reward show.

Hello Sasha Fierce! Beyonce continues to bring it. She's kinda scary though. Anyone notice the Rihanna hairstyle on her drummer? Ugh. Sick. It's not flattering. Why can't I rock heels like that? Beysus never disappoints.

Time for a snack. Chips or nanaimo bar?? I decided on a nanaimo bar and pepperettes. Rye chose popcorn.

Can anyone tell me how Seal's face got that way? Or was he born like that? I've always wondered. I suppose I could just google it but I'm a bit busy here! I totally love him and Heidi. They're so cute.

No matter how hard I try I will never be as cool as Pink. And now she's wet. I need a new hobby. Beautiful. Another great performer.

Is there anything more annoying than men who use hair straighteners? I just feel they're trying to hard. Best new artist...Zac something rather, does anyone even listen to country music anymore?

Coming up, Miley Cyrus introduces the Black Eyed Peas? Really, they're promoting that? At least she's not singing. But they really had to get her in there somewhere didn't they! Fergie Ferg will never be as cool as Pink. I'm so torn on the BEP, sometimes I like them, a lot of times I don't. I cannot stand "I Gotta Feeling", never have, don't get the appeal. What kind of a song lists the days of the week?? I like Fergie much better with brown hair. And she did say in an interview that she "likes well endowed men" so props to her for landing Josh. Even though he cheats on her with strippers. Dude is still fine. I guess this song does get the crowd going so I'll give them that. Do you think the BEP's make fun of Josh behind Fergie's back?

The Jonai! With glasses! I can't help but wonder if I would be into these guys if I was 13. Sorry Lady Antebellum, have to fast forward through you, we tried.

Side note: totally not feeling the pepperettes tonight.

Record of the year goes to: PLEASE NO BEP'S!! Whew! Good job Kings Of Leon! And a standing 'O' from Ferg! They were totally enjoyable. Gotta love the peeps who drink!

Robert Downey Jr!!!!!!!!!! LOVE HIM!! He just rocks on all levels. I really don't get the Rihanna haircut. Two Jay-Z smiles in one show, wow. Now I'm impressed. Jamie Foxx has 2 mics and I still don't think I can hear him. In case the giant "SLASH" on the jumbo tron didn't tip you guys off that is Slash up there. And some random chubby black chick, weird.

Justin Bieber. ACK. He's no Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Dude can't even read.

Katy Perry is above that dress. What was she thinking?!

Chris O'Donnell is SO cute. Always brings a smile to my face. Reminds me of our friend Mat Flanigan. Also super cute.

Seacrest IN! That guy is everywhere. T-Swizzle! YAY. Who thinks she needs to get her heartbroken so she has something else to write about? No more fairy tales. Girl needs some angst. Stevie Nicks! Wow. Is it just me or does Tay-Tay sound 'pitchy'? I have to say I'm a little disappointed by this performance, as a Taylor Swift fan she's not doing it for me.

MJ time. Please be good. Oh no, TV is paused so Rye can put on the 3D glasses that came with Nate's plush toy story chair. This should be good. Direct quote from Rye "I'm excited". I have my doubts. He says they're working. Celine is 3D could be scary though. Yup, Carrie Underwood never disappoints. What is that white flower thing on her dress?? OH NO Smokey in 3D. Is it just me so did he lose his neck? J Hud is looking good! Good for her. Would it kill Rihanna to crack a smile? Oh man, the kids, always the kids, this is where they get you. Prince sounds so mature. Overall, I thought they could have done better. Why not a celeb filled montage of his greatest hits? That would have rocked. Beyonce, Alicia, Whitney, Mariah would totally have rocked that. Like why was Underwood there?? So we could laugh at her dress that should never be seen in 3D?

How is it that Bon Jovi has never performed at the Grammy's? They've only been around forever. Bon Jovi can sing. He's so awesome. Totally husband material. The fans chose 'Livin on a Prayer', shocker! OMG why is the chick dancing behind them so weird?? Stop singing bitch. No one wants to hear you ruin the classics!

Cute kid, anyone know who the hell he is? Anyways, he gave the best acceptance speech of the night. This just in: Apparently it's Solange's son. Cute. Wonder if Auntie B and Uncle J babysit often?

Wyclef looks nice with short hair. I'm liking it. Mary J in da house! Damn she looks good. Sounds good too. How old is she anyways? Anyone think Celine is harmonizing from her seat? Wouldn't it be hilarious if she jumped in and Kanye West'ed that number? You know it was killing her not to.

Is anyone even listening to this guy? WHA? Adam Sandler at the Grammy's?? I'm awake. He's so cute. Dave Matthews, never been a huge fan, mainly because I don't know a lot of their music but I know they have a lot of fans. Especially our N'Oleans cousin, Erin! Thinking of you Er! There's something so sexy about a man who can sing and play the guitar. I'm a Mayer fan, even though he's a huge playa.

Anyone think Eminem, our TO Boy Drake and Lil Wayne are going to close the show? Hope so! Love me some Em.

I love Gaga as much as the next person but come on! Why would she wear that?! It's so rude for the guy sitting behind her. I wish it was someone famous, now that would be hilarious. Is it just me or does she always look slightly irritated by her outfits?

Holy crap! What is Tarantino on? LMAO. This has to be good. Too many bleeps. It's annoying. Just let it play, whose kids are awake at 11:15pm anyways?? Wicked that Drake is in with these guys. Way to go Degrassi kid. I effing love Eminem. Mad talent.

WOW Swifty for Album of the Year! Good for her. Too bad she bombed her earlier performance. What a cutie though.

Over all, an alright show. Thought they kinda blew it with the MJ Tribute considering they really could have rocked it. Gaga and Elton John definitely my favourite performance. Comment below and tell me what yours was!

Hope you enjoyed reading :)

T-G-I-freaking-F!

Hey Ya'll!

Isn't 'Ya'll' fun to say! I'm busting it out for our southern folks! They can get away with saying it where I just sound stupid, but you can't tell the difference when I write it can you? Ack, maybe you can but just let me have this one!

Sorry I've been mia the past couple days. We've all been fighting colds. Yes, Nate has a cold again. It's so frustrating. The Dr said he probably just caught back to back viruses more like a back to back pain in my ass! So now I have the cold too :( I'm feeling good today thanks to a great sleep last night! Does sleep ever make a difference when you're sick! I'm trying to get used to the fact that this next child may not sleep at all, I think it's better to expect the worse then to be living in a sleep filled dream world. My advice to new parents, assume your child is not going to sleep then if he/she does you'll be pleasantly surprised! There's nothing more awesome than a child that sleeps. Thank you Nate :)

Baby time! I'm in week 18! YAY! Almost in week 20, almost half way! Below is what's going on with the baby this week. Baby starts hiccuping this week. Nate had the hiccups all the time, it's so cute! I love feeling the baby and can't wait until that happens more often. Right now it's just internal flutters etc but the real fun starts once you can see/feel it from the outside.



For all Mom's and Mom's to bed out there, one of my favourite websites to visit is Baby Centre it's Canadian and there are tons of different message boards where you can vent or find a lot of useful information from other Moms. Two of my favourites are the July 2010, everyone who frequents this board is due in July 2010, it's great to have women who can relate to you. I also LOVE the toddler board, I find this so useful when I have questions about Nate like moving to a big boy bed or when to stop giving them bottles, potty training etc. I highly recommend you check it out.

We're going to be moving Naters into a big boy bed soon. Obviously this has to be done before the baby comes. I'm torn on whether to just buy a toddler bed or a regular twin. I figure we do one of two things a) buy a toddler bed then move him into a regular sized double bed once the baby needs the toddler bed or b) buy a twin for Nate then move him into a double bed once the baby needs the twin. I want Nate to eventually have a double anyways because it's one more place guests can sleep when they come to stay with us. What did ya'll do when moving your kids out of their cribs?

We're really hoping to buy a house before the baby comes. There are a few things that have to happen for everything to work out but we're praying all goes well. It just doesn't make sense AT ALL to rent anymore. When I think of the thousands of dollars we spend a year renting it makes me sick. I would love, love, love to have a place to call our own. It's so important to us! Ideally we're looking for a 3 bedroom in the Pickering/Ajax area. This puts us out of the city but close. I like the area and we have friends that live around there too. Also it's a bit closer to home, obviously not much but it would shave about a half our off our travel time which is always nice!

So what's everyone got planned for this weekend? I'm thinking dinner or a movie with the girls on Sunday night. We really haven't been spending much time together lately and need to make more of an effort. I miss everyone!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Sweet Breesus!

Happy Monday Everyone!!! Oh man, I could barely drag my butt out of bed this morning. I was really regretting not napping at all this weekend!

In other news, THE SAINTS WON!!! Woohoooo! Man it was a nail biter! Overtime and all! But they did it and we couldn't be happier, actually that's not true, we will be happier when they win the Superbowl! Boo-yah! And to top it off, I've won the nfl playoff pool (2 years in a row!) because I'm the only person who has Indy and New Orleans in the Superbowl, with New Orleans winning of course! Seemed like a no-brainer to me! So Mama's going shopping! YESSSSS!!!

My friend Jen wants me to talk about my boobs, I realize this may scare the men off (if in fact there are men reading) but this is a pregnancy blog so we're gonna go there! My boobs hurt like a bitch! They have since I found out I was pregnant and they don't seem to be letting up. They're definitely growing, not that Rye's complaining, but no leakage as of yet. I'm super nervous about breastfeeding this time because it was a nightmare with Nate, he wouldn't latch, and to be honest, I absolutely hated it. I'm not hating on breastfeeding, I'm definitely going to give it another go, breast is best you know, but I'm certainly dreading it! Every child is different and I'm just trying to keep that in mind. This kid may be easy, I'm really hoping so! There's tons of support out there and I plan on using it. My doctor's office has a breastfeeding clinic now too so that's a bonus. My goal is do it for 3 months. Doesn't mean I'm looking forward to it though! Don't even get me started on labour... We'll tackle that topic another day. No need to get freaked out when we still have roughly 23 weeks to go!

Baby names!!! Wow, we cannot agree this time!! With Nate, we had his name picked out from the beginning, we never had a girl name, I always knew he was a boy from early on so it really wasn't an issue. Middle names were easy, Stanley for my late Grandfather and Keith for Ryan's late Uncle. This time, not so easy. We've narrowed it down to 5 boy names and 5 girl names. Rye won't let me post them although I really want to. For middle names, we're so stuck. I guess we'll just choose the first name and go from there. There's no one we really want to 'honour' with a middle name this time, which is fine by me. Rye doesn't love my #1 girl name. He doesn't like the 'short form', I kinda get why but I think it would be cute. Pester Rye enough and maybe he'll let me post our list!

Not much planned for the week, Rye's going to the Leaf's game tomorrow with our friend Will, Nate might have a play date, and ball hockey is on Thursday like it is every week! It's a late game so we won't be able to attend. The only games we would go to are the 7pm games but they don't happen that often. February 4th is the next one, Naters and I are going to go watch, I'm hoping he might actually watch instead of me having to chase him around the whole time but we'll see!

Hope every one's enjoying their Monday! UGH!!! Why do the weekends have to go so fast??! :(

Counting down the hours until I'm at home with my two favourite boys...

My lovely lady bump!

Hello friends! It's the freakin weekend! YAY! Although it is already Sunday, how does it happen so fast? It's not right. Whoever decided on the 5 day work week should be shot! Why not 4 days? It makes so much more sense. Our weekend has been fairly low key - the way I like it when I have no choice but to be sober :) Kellen, I'm so sorry we missed your birthday! We really felt bad because you always come to our birthday celebrations! We're so happy to hear it was a puke-free birthday! Always the best kind, right behind the hangover-free birthdays but let's face it, at our age those are few and far between!

Now onto the good stuff. A picture of my baby bump! I would have included my face but it just wasn't cooperating today or any day really but what are you gonna do! I'm starting to really feel pregnant now, really happy about that because what's the point in being pregnant if you don't 'feel' like it?! My belly's getting hard which is nice, because when else do I get to have rock hard abs? Sleep is becoming a challenge, it sucks because I'm a stomach sleeper and that is not comfy for obvious reasons, you try sleeping on a watermelon! Back sleeping is not allowed because the increased weight of your uterus lies on important bits, I can't remember the whole reason, something about blood traveling throughout your body being cut off, seems like a valid reason. That leaves you with side and side! YAY... Not...! The left side is best but then I have to face my hubby and I hate when he breathes on me. Switching sides of the bed is not an option. I don't like being near the door, I'm weird okay! So you can see my dilemma. I need a body pillow, I think that'll help but of course I went to Wal-Mart today and forgot to get one! GRRRRR!

Nate has been in a great mood all weekend. I'm really loving being a Mom. Although he makes it so easy being his happy laid back lil self. I have never had more fun in my life. Just listening and watching him play with his toys brings so much joy to us. It amazes me how well he plays by himself. He now 'smiles' on command, it's so cute! This age is really the best. He's starting to talk a lot and do silly things. A lot of that is thanks to daycare. He learns so much from them. They taught him how to 'jump' and it's so hilarious because he doesn't actually get off the ground but he thinks he is and is so proud of himself. Definitely one of my favourite things that he does. We have never been so entertained! I'm thinking although having 2 will be double the work, it'll also be double the fun! And we're all about the fun :)

Guilty pleasures! We all have them, although sometimes we don't like to admit to them! Here are a few of mine:

Diet Coke
General Hospital
Gossip Sites
Naps
Poutine
Spoiler Sites

Post yours in the comment section below! And become a 'follower' if you haven't already. I know you people are reading, it's just nice to be recognized!

GEAUX SAINTS!!!

Little drummer boy

Nate received a set of drums for Christmas from his Uncle Jase, Auntie Denise and Cousin's Cassie and Colin. We busted them out last night and he was loving it!

I'm backkkkkkkkk!

First things first, I have to apologize for being MIA the past few days. I had a migraine for most of the weekend and week. It's been horrible!! On Monday evening I went to the walk in clinic with high hopes of some support and it was a total waste of my time. The guy was a total douche bag. He advised that I have the migraine because I'm stressed. Obviously you'd be stressed out too if you had a migraine for 3 days! He told me I just needed rest!!! So I rested, yes the rest helped but the minute I got up to do anything my head was pounding! Tuesday night was absolutely horrible. Thankfully I had my monthly appointment with my baby doctor on Wednesday morning, baby is a-okay (will write more about that later), and she hooked me up with some drugs! Let me tell you, I was delighted!! Because I'm allergic to codeine she was drawing a blank on what to give me. She decided on an anti-inflammatory, a tranquilizer and 2 extra strength Tylenol and it was FAN-effing-TASTIC!!! I haven't felt that good in months! So 5 days and 2 doctor visits later I am back!

On to the baby stuff! Well for one, I got in trouble because I lost more weight! Like what the hell! I have no idea why!! I eat! I love food! My belly is growing, at least that's not an issue. Baby's heartbeat came in at 150 bpm, "they" say under 140 is a boy, over 140 is a girl! But who knows if that is really true. My next ultrasound is scheduled for February 9th! I'm super excited because I'm dying to know the sex *fingers crossed*. I've included a picture of what the baby would look like at week 17 and a few fetal facts.



Something fun for today! Below is the 'Chinese Birth Chart', it predicts the sex of your child based on the age of the mother at conception and the month of conception. It was correct for when I had Nate and most of the people I've consulted it has been correct for them too. If you've had kids, share in the comments section if it was in fact accurate for you! FYI, I'm 27 and we conceived in October.




What have you guys got planned for the weekend? We have dinner with Ryan's step-Mom's side of the family on Saturday afternoon. It's also our friend Kellen's, that's "Ellen" with a "K", birthday so we're invited for some cosmic bowling, unfortunately only one of us will be able to attend since we're having a a bit of a baby sitter dilemma as of late. *side note* anyone know any available sitters that drive and don't mind crazy dogs in the Scarborough area? Sunday we're meeting up with Lucius for a play date at Funnelz! Oh and football continues of course! I'm super pumped for New Orleans and Minnesota! I don't know who to cheer for!

Enjoy your weekend! I'll be sure to post lots of updates, I've missed you guys!

Steph

Oh Canada!

Good Morning! Hope everyone's enjoying the weekend! Yesterday was a fairly uneventful day. Slept in until 10am, it was wonderful. Naters had a bit of a rough sleep but I am pleased to announce that last night he slept all the way through, back to his normal self again!!!! Rye made roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, asparagus and corn for dinner, it was delish! Of course we watched the Saints game, man, Drew Brees is a freak of nature! Our cousin Erin was at the game! Yes we can all hate her now! AND she said she sat at a table with the Kardashians!!! I have yet to confirm or deny if this is true, I will get the truth, this is crucial information.

Today we're going to visit Gavin, I was reading Meg's blog this morning and Nate saw Gavin's picture and starting pointing and smiling! So I think the boys should be happy to see each other! We'll get some pics for sure so I can post some of our adorable men!

Mmmm Rye is making breakfast! Bacon, hash browns, toast and western omelets - my favourite breakfast ever! Never has bacon smelt so good to me! I threw up this morning :( I think it's because I've had a headache since yesterday morning but it seems to be getting better now. The crappy thing about pregnancy is the only medication you can take for anything is tylenol. Pretty shitty if you ask me.

With all the bad things that happen in the world, briefly touching on the devastating destruction in Haiti, I have to share an interesting fact with you. This has stayed with me since High school and I will never forget it. Our history teacher, Paul Longo (You know it!), told us about a McLean's magazine article that stated that us, as Canadians, had a 99.9% chance of being born somewhere else in the world! 99.9%!!! That is insane. We are SO lucky to live in a place where we don't face the dangers of Mother Nature and war. Think about it, we don't get earth quakes (okay I know B.C. gets them sometimes, but nowhere near the caliber of other places), no tsunami's, relatively harmless tornadoes, no poisonous snakes or spiders that are prominent threats we have to deal with on a daily basis and no hurricanes (I know we get the 'tail end' sometimes but never anything even close to what they see in the south). Sure we get snow but looking at the big picture, big effing deal! So think about that next time you're bitching about having to shovel the driveway or when you're stuck in traffic on the 401. We are truly blessed to live in such a great country! Never forget that!

Going to eat my omelet now :) Enjoy your day!

Steph

Cravings!

Happy Friday everyone! YAY! One of my favourite days of the week! I just have to get through this work day then it's smooth sailing! What's everyone got planned for this weekend? We opted not to go to Hali since Nate is still sick and not sleeping well. Last night was an improvement at least, he slept all the way through until he started screaming bloody murder at 5:30am but Daddy put him back to bed like the trooper he is. I'm pleased to announce the Rampage won their first game 6-3! AND my hubby got an assist! Yay dear! Not that anyone cares, cause I certainly pretend to! Did I just say that out loud? hehe. So as for our weekend plans, as of right now we have a play date with Gavin (you can read about his story on Meg's blog at onelittlefin.blogspot.com, yes I'm that nice of a friend that I pimp other blogs on my own blog lol but if you leave my blog for hers I will hunt you down!) on Sunday and maybe, depending on Nate's health, a play date with his friend Lucius! I'm really hoping we can fit that one in because we haven't seen Lucius in what? over a year?? Crazy! His Mom and I have a lot of catching up to do. The NFL playoffs also continue this weekend so it should be a good one!

I was talking to my dear friend Jen last night, soon to be in-laws, Nate has an arranged marriage with their super cute daughter Sophie. Jen requested that I write about my pregnancy cravings! She's been having "phantom" pregnancy symptoms for her friend at work and was sitting down to a plate of bacon when she called me last night. A plate of bacon! LOVES IT! So she's super into the food right now.

Ahhhh the food. One of the best parts of pregnancy. I've been proud of myself because I haven't been over eating. Sure I might eat pepperettes and sour keys for breakfast but I certainly don't gorge myself. I actually lost 10 lbs between my last two dr's appointments, don't ask me how that happened because I love food, just look at me! With Nate I only gained under like 15 lbs and was able to wear my normal jeans throughout, so far, so good! Don't hate me, I'm pretty sure it has something to do with my current 'svelte' figure! HA! Maybe fatties put on less weight, I dunno, I'm not a freakin doctor. Speaking of doctor it was 9 months of "are you eating??" what the eff do you think! Have you looked at me? Geez lady! What aren't I eating??!!

So what am I eating you ask? Here's a list of my pregnancy cravings thus far in no particular order. Keep in mind, I crave it and then once I have it, I'm done with it, wham bam thank you Mam! Oh and also I was completely turned off by food in the beginning.

1. Bagged Salad with cheap ass 'Food Basics' brand oil and vinegar dressing
2. Mom's perogies
3. Pepperettes
4. Sour Keys
5. Lava Cakes
6. Pickles - 'Strubs' only
7. Subway Club
8. Harvey's Poutine (You know it Meg!)
9. Miss Vickies Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar Chips (totally made my tongue hurt, but I think I'm ready for another go of it)
10."Bumble berry Blossoms" from M & M's (Lasted one time only, I bought 4 and still have 3 in the freezer, so hoping this one comes back)
11.Quiche
12.Lonestar fajitas (the best ever! I could always go for these!)
13. Pillsbury Raspberry Turnovers

Cravings to be fulfilled next week: The Keg! Steak and asparagus Mmmmm! Thanks Katie!!! If I think of anymore cravings I've had I'll add them throughout the day.

I was thinking that I am totally going to blog about my post-pregnancy diet so I know I'll have to stick with it for the sake of my readers! I can't disappoint my fans! Yah I believe I have fans, why ruin it for me?!

Hope you've enjoyed reading, I've certainly enjoyed writing! Who doesn't love food!

Feel free to post your cravings (pregnant or not) in the comment section below, maybe you'll inspire me!

Have a great weekend everyone :)

Steph

Whatta Man

Quick rant for today!

Dear Parents: Please treat your kids equally. One should not be loved more than another unless of course one's a serial killer. I've seen this first hand and it does not feel good for the lesser loved child. So this is my pledge to always treat my children with equality and fairness. I will do my part and you should do yours. End Rant.

Whew. Now I feel better. That's been weighing on me for awhile. Today is Thursday! Which means tomorrow is Friday! Grey's is new tonight! It's a good day!

Sure my child is sick :( Poor cold is seriously effing with his sleeping patterns which I cannot tell you how much it sucks. We have been blessed with a great sleeper, since 5 weeks old, he's slept through the night and in his own bed! Don't hate me! I'm sure this next one will make us pay so don't worry we'll get ours! He's so miserable it breaks my heart. Seriously. There's nothing worse than having a sick child. I hate it. I just want my happy boy back. Last night Daddy was up with him for 2 hours, yes I said Daddy, Mommy was in bed but still suffering none the less since there were many tears involved. Remember we're spoiled so we're not used to the lack of sleep. I'm sure some of you are laughing at us right now, I can just hear it! I know who you are and I know where you live!

Which brings me to my wonderful husband. I hope all you ladies out there have amazing men to share your life with. Not only is he an awesome husband, he's the best, most involved Dad that I know. Honourable mention to John Daley! He's been taking the brunt of Nate's cold, putting him to bed, getting up with him during the night and to be honest, I think maybe I should feel a bit ashamed of myself, he gets up with him pretty much every morning (we rotate on the weekends so we both get a sleep in day). We rotate baths as well although as my belly gets bigger I'm sure he'll be taking that over as well. He gets mad at me for always wanting to pack the diaper bag and pick out Nate's clothes, which I know I should be happy that he wants to do these things but you see I'm a bit of a control freak. He's been doing all the laundry and cooking the majority of the meals. I'm a very lucky girl and I know this. So Ryan Norman Wilson, I love you so much and am so thankful that I constantly put up with your bullshit in the beginning and shaped you into the man I always knew you could be. LOL. Just kidding lover. I love you, you're the best father and husband we could ask for and I can't wait to have your baby! *again* Just promise me you won't fall asleep at the worst part of my labour this time!

Oh and since I'm on a loving my hubby kick, it's the start of his ball hockey teams season tonight and I should really show more support so good luck Rampage! Let's stay out of the box this season (I'm looking at you Rye and Jay!).

Anyone catch 'Modern Family' last night?? Oh man, Jay was killing me with Barkley the dog butler! Seriously, at the end when they were standing at the alter, I laughed so hard I thought I might pee myself! Oh and when he had him bent over the counter inspecting his coat! It's too much! Another solid episode.

Now that it's on facebook I think it's safe to announce that not only am I going to be a Mom again in July I will also be an Aunt again (for the 6th time!!). Congrats to my brother Phil, sister in law Cheryl and big sister to be Edie! It's going to be a busy summer for the Glecoff Family :) Love you guys!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your day!

Steph

For the ladies...

Something to brighten up your day:




Meg - this is Channing Tatum. From my list!

Mama said there'd be days like this

Goooood Morning! I'm feeling a bit blah today. I'm not sure why, okay I kinda know but I'm trying to 'rise above' - not always an easy thing to do. It helps that when I got to work this morning my co-worker was going on a Timmy's run so I am currently waiting on a bagel and a french vanilla. Mmmmmm. What is taking him so long?? Yah I'm impatient too. This is gonna be a great day!!

Poor Naters is sick again! Freaking day cares, I tell ya! I love, love, love his daycare and I'm so proud of everything he's learning, how it's improving his speech and socialization but those kids pass every bug between them, which I know in the long run is a good thing, he can build up his immune system but having a sick boy is no fun :( Last night, after his bath (of course!!!) he was relaxing on the couch and threw up all over himself. We grabbed the closest blanket to catch the rest and it just kept on coming, it was mostly phlegm (spelled that right on the first try! HA!) so I was happy he got it out but he still ended up in our bed in the middle of the night. Which I don't mind, he doesn't sleep with us very often. Hopefully he gets better soon because we're going home this weekend!

Ahhhh home sweet home. Where everybody knows your name. Combine that with my 2 favourite men and there's no place I'd rather be! It's my big brother's birthday so a few of us are going to his place to celebrate (depending on how Nate is feeling). The men are going ice fishing as usual, while the women watch the kiddies, works for me! I am deathly afraid of the ice. I think it was after seeing 'The Good Son', anyone remember that movie? With creepy Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood? Well I'm scarred for life now. The only thing that sucks about going to Haliburton while pregnant is missing out on tobogganing (the sled, not the hat). And obviously the drinking, but that goes without saying. Although I think this weekend will be pretty tame because my brother Phil can't make it and he's the wild one! LOL But the good news is, he doesn't have to worry about catching on fire again! That's one winter jacket he doesn't have to replace :)

My new favourite tv show 'Modern Family' is on tonight! If you haven't checked it out you must! It's HIGHlarious! Seriously. I'm not joking. Is anyone watching it?? Phil's my favourite, that guy cracks me up. It's on at 9pm on abc. Tell them Steph sent you! You won't be disappointed!

Questions/Comments/Feedback/Followers are always appreciated. Love you all, I just love the people that comment a little more :)

Steph

The boy can scream!

To say our darling son was a wee bit irritated last night would be an understatement. I'm going to blame it on his 18 month vaccines he received yesterday. After dinner Rye was going to feed him some ice cream, Nate had a different idea, he wanted to feed himself, which we normally let him do but after playing with his oatmeal and not eating any we were not in the mood. Nate LOST it! I mean seriously lost it! I have never heard a child scream like that. It was unreal. Honestly, you would have thought we were cutting off his limbs one at a time. I wouldn't have been surprised Toronto's finest had knocked on our door, Ollie (our dog) was so freaked out, he came cowering over to sit on my lap. Yes I was sitting on the couch the whole time, while my husband had a screeching, biting, flailing toddler in his arms. You got a problem with that?? The man had it under control! Of course he got bitten, what do you expect?? After a few minutes Nate calmed down and it was like nothing happened! He was back to his usually happy self. Never a dull moment with a toddler! I'm just thankful we weren't out in public although I know it will happen sooner or later...preferably later.

So baby is 15 weeks today! Oh and I got kicked twice last night! How I missed that! Definitely one of the best parts of pregnancy, I can hardly wait until I see those little fists and feet protruding from my belly! It's so cool. By mid February we *should* (depending on how cooperative baby is) be able to find out the sex! I think Rye and I are going to get a 3D/4D ultrasound this time around. Has anyone had one of these?

Some interesting pregnancy facts about the baby @ 15 weeks:

1) Although the baby's eyelids are still shut they are sensitive to light, if we shined a flashlight at my stomach the baby would shy away from it

2) Baby is growing eyebrows and eye lashes this week

3) Baby is 4 inches long and weight about 2.4 oz

Good News! Rye's cousin Erin went running in Alabama this morning in a cool 26 degrees (-3 in our terms) but not to worry! She did wear her toboggan! Love you Erin :))

Guess that's all for today.

Feel free to share your toddler horror stories below!

Steph

P.S. A friend told me yesterday that Maternity Leave is now 2 years, I can't find any info, can anyone confirm if this is true?

*update* I am now hearing it's one year with pay, one year without but your job is still safe

A case of the Mondays UGH!

Good Morning Everyone!

I know this is supposed to be a pregnancy blog, I get that, I am the one that started it after all but really there's not much going on. Let's see, if you want me to get REALLY honest, I'm afraid to scare away the men, well the men who haven't had children yet anyways, if there are any men reading besides my husband! Are you out there men? You might want to skip over this paragraph. Moment of truth, when you're pregnant, your uterus takes up a lot of space thus not leaving the bladder with a lot of room and making it weaker, thus causing you to pee more frequently, thus occasionally 'dribbling' a little when sneezing or coughing. Yes, I am now one of those. I used to make fun of my "friend" (I won't use names to protect her privacy), for peeing when she sneezed while pregnant and now I am ashamed to admit I too have this problem. Oh the joys of pregnancy, I guess it could be worse, I could have hemorrhoids! Also common in pregnancy and I am thrilled to tell you I never got them with Nate and am hoping to keep my track record clean with this child! *fingers crossed*

So enough of the gory details! What did everyone do this weekend? I am proud to say I cleaned my son's room and the bathroom! This is a breakthrough! Lately, I have been super lazy and want to do nothing but lay on the couch all day. Last night, I had dinner and a movie with the ladies, thanks to the hubby for taking the care of our son and allowing Mommy to have some girl time. Although he's always very good with that, I have no complaints! We saw "It's Complicated" and I really enjoyed it! We laughed the whole movie and I have to say 1) Alec Baldwin is hilarious in a Edward Cullen stalker sort of way 2) I am totally, utterly, head over heals for John Krasinski! Is there anyone more adorable? I challenge you to find him and just try to change my mind. He's not"one night" sort of love but Johnny Depp "life time" love. I envy his fiancee Emily Blunt, kudos to her for landing such a cutie after dating that douche Michael Buble.

Pet Peeves. We all have em! You know what I hate? Cheap toilet paper. Can't stand it. Those people in the mall that totally cut you off or run into you and don't even say 'sorry' or anything! So rude!! Maybe it's because I come from a small town but I am constantly apologizing to people in public when I run into them. I guess we just have better manners in rural Ontario.

I guess that's all for today folks! Feel free to use the comment section below to post your pet peeves. Just get it out! It'll make you feel better, I promise!

I've enjoyed reading all your "Freebie Fives", well all 2 of them. Meg - yours doesn't count - WEAK! Keep em coming!

Steph