Drowning in Papers

I decided to try to work through some of the mess that is my office and it's a huge job! I am in a ruthless cleaning up mood, so I figured I should take advantage of it. I can't believe all the crap I have kept! I really want to get my house a little more organized, so this is a start at least.

The company we hired is starting on our eaves/soffit/fascia today, so it may be done by the end of the week - yay! Our plan for this year is to get the outside of the house fixed up. New eaves/soffit/fascia is happening now, and then later on this spring we want to repaint the window sills, garage, and roof over the back deck. I think Carlos is planning to take a couple days off in May so we can get this done. We also really need to get our chimney repaired, but that will have to wait until either the fall or next year since this work on the eaves is quite expensive. Owning an older home is a lot of work! But, I think the work this year will make a huge difference on the outside.

Good news and bad news

I'll start with the bad news... we think there is something wrong with Gino (one of our cats). I was out all day yesterday, but when I got home, he was favouring one leg and obviously in pain. I don't think it's a problem with the leg, but maybe his hip from the way he was walking. So, I'm going to check on him this morning, and if he's still limping around, I'll have to take him to the vet today to have him checked out. I hope it's nothing serious! Poor guy...

And the good news - we're having a new fridge and stove delivered today! We bought the set on the weekend since we found a really great deal - both for $999! No more beige and brown 'wood' trim appliances from the early 80's! So we should notice a difference on our electricity bill! They are "stainless look", so they are not actually stainless steal, but look like it. Actually this is better than stainless since it doesn't have that smudgy look that is so hard to keep clean. The stove is self cleaning which I really wanted and it also has the smooth cooktop, which is awesome! We got the very last set (they are selling them all off since they don't make that colour anymore). There is also a matching dishwasher, but we decided not to get that right now. They had lots of the dishwashers left, so we could always get it a few months down the road if we want to. We have gotten by this far without a dishwasher, so we'll wait on that one. And even if we don't get the matching one, a black one would look good since there is also quite a bit of black on the fridge and stove.

And even more good news - for the last 3 nights, Julie has slept for 9 hours! YAY!

EDIT 9:39am

Gino seems to be a bit better this morning. Still limping, but not as bad. So, we're going to keep an eye on him today and see if he gets better. If not, we'll take him to the vet tomorrow to get checked.

Our new fridge and stove arrived at 8:15am this morning - they look great! The funny thing is, we used our tax refund to pay for them and last year, we used our tax refund to pay for our washer and dryer! And both years, we bought our new appliances on the Saturday of the Easter long weekend. I found that funny.

Happy Birthday to my hubby!

Today is my hubby's 31st birthday! I have booked my mom to babysit Julie so that Carlos and I can go out on a date. I can't wait! I'm going to get all dressed up for a night out with my man ;)

Julie is amazing! The last 2 nights, she has slept for 8 hours - wow! I couldn't ask for a better baby! :)

I went to the bank yesterday and set up an RESP for Julie. For any babies born after 2004, the government contributes at least 20% of how much you contribute (could be up to 40% based on your income). So, that is too good of a deal to pass up on! A minimum 20% return on your investment plus whatever return you get on the money invested (ours is invested in a specific mutual fund called the "Target 2025 fund" which means for the first several years is it invested in mostly equity (high risk, but high potential for return) and then as it matures, it slowly decreases the portion of equity and increases the portion of guaranteed funds so that by close to the time you need the money, it is invested very low risk. Right now we are just starting with a low monthly amount, but we can always increase it when we have more money. And if we have any more children, we can add them to the same plan too.

Today I am making phone calls to try to get some estimates to have our soffit, fascia, and eaves replaced on our house. It will be an expensive thing to have done, but it is long overdue and we figured now would be the time to do it with the new "2009 Home Reno Tax Credit". We are also flirting with the idea of upgrading our kitchen... but again, an expensive job. We will definitely price things out though.

Busy girls!

Mom and I finished the wedding invitations for my brothers wedding yesterday. They look amazing! For some reason, my brothers fiance who is usually incredibly organized, is being a somewhat disorganized bride, which really surprised me. Good thing she has me to get things in order! I really think I should be a wedding planner in my next career, I really enjoy it. I guess the only downside would be working with bridezillas ;)

Last night we had a little birthday party for my mom, whose birthday is today. So that was nice. We gave her a little engraved photo frame with this photo in it:



I took my mom out for lunch yesterday in honour of her birthday (since she is fully booked for today), and that was the first time I went to a restaurant with Julie. She was an angel! She slept for most of it and when she was awake, she was happy in grandmas arms. Not a peep out of her the whole time!

Other good news: for the second night in a row, Julie slept for 7.5 hours - awesome! I really couldn't ask for a better baby! She's so happy and smiley 99% of the time she's awake, and she's such a great sleeper!

Julie = jumbo jet!

Today's appointment went very well. Julie now weighs 11 pounds, 5 ounces! So she gained 18 ounces since her last appointment 2 weeks ago. Little piglet! Carlos calls her a jumbo jet since her initials are JET and she is growing like a weed!

They also did her measurements and she is now 61 cm long (vs 51cm at birth), head circumference is 38 cm (vs 33.5 cm at birth), and chest circumference is 40.5 cm (vs 34 cm at birth). So, she is growing well! The midwife gave her a good look over and said she looks great and she has no concerns at all. She even took her footprints and put them on a certificate for us. She gave me a big hug when we left and encouraged me to drop in whenever I liked; they would love to see me and Julie again.

So, we are now officially discharged from the midwives care. They were absolutely amazing and we will definitely use them again! I cannot say enough good things about them; I am so glad we decided to use them!

Love the new ride!

We picked up the new car last night when Carlos was done work. Since my mom was happily babysitting, we decided to go out for dinner to celebrate. That was the first time we've been to a restaurant since Julie was born, so it was nice to get out just the 2 of us.

Our car is awesome! Lots of power! It has about 10 hp more than Zeke, so it can really move!!! And I love the tinted windows, it was worth the extra $200. And we also got roof racks which I don't think were supposed to come on the car we paid for, so that was a free bonus! I drove the car home from dinner and we took a bit of a detour so I could spend some more time driving the car.

We ordered a second base for Julie's carseat, so that will be nice to have. That way, we have one in each vehicle, so it will be easy to trade back and forth since I want to drive the new car sometimes too ;)

Oh, and I am already about 1/3 of the way through "Twilight"... it's good so far!

YAY!

We just got the call that our car is in! They will do the rust and fabric protection tomorrow and we get to pick it up tomorrow evening! YAY!!!!

Twilight has arrived!

My Twilight books arrived this morning, so I am excited to start reading them. Are they ever long! That's good though, should keep me entertained for awhile ;)

Looks like we won't be getting the car until Thursday now. The AWD models have been selling like hotcakes and there were 3 available in Ontario going into Saturday, 2 sold on Saturday, so we got the very last one. And it's coming from the Niagara region, so it will take a little longer to get here. The only thing is it has tinted windows, which they are charging an extra $200 for. We tried to get them to throw that in for free, but no luck. Oh well. Tinted windows might be a nice thing to have in case I have to nurse Julie in the car or something. So, I think it's a good thing. And $200 is only an extra $5 per month, so no biggie. Funny that we got the very last silver AWD one in Ontario! All other colours were sold out except white. And we didn't want white. Guess lots of people took advantage of the 0% financing deal!

We should find out today whether we are approved for the financing loan, so then it will be all official - yay!

We fell in love...

...with the Matrix! We went to Toyota yesterday and had a look at both the 2009 Matrix and the 2009 Corolla. We test drove them both, and I definitely liked the Matrix better; it has an all wheel drive option and I just like the look of it better. Since we will be keeping it for a long time (we tend to drive our cars forever until something happens like the engine threatens to fall out), I really wanted to get a good car that will last us a long time and I really wanted all wheel drive. I absolutely love Zeke and I have never once gotten stuck or lost control while driving him and I have had him for almost 8 years. So, AWD was important to me, especially now that we have Julie. I honestly could not think of another car besides the Matrix that I like that has an AWD option.

We both drove it and I absolutely love it! Once we went back into the dealership and crunched all the numbers, we said we would have to go for lunch and think about it, and they offered that we could take the Matrix with us when we went. So, we took it back to my parents house to show them. I wanted my brothers' opinions since they are both car guys. They both think it is a really good car.

Since the 0% financing deal was only on 2009 models (since they are selling them off to get ready for the 2010), there is only a finite number of them in Ontario since they are no longer making the 2009 model. So, if we wanted to get the 0% financing (which is only on until March 31), we decided to get one yesterday so that we would be sure to get one. The AWD ones are really popular and they are running out quickly. They only had 3 colours left in Ontario: one dark grey (which would be extra money to get since it was hours away), silver, and white. So, we thought about it for while, and we decided to get a silver one. The one we test drove was silver and it tooks awesome. And we figured silver won't show scratches as easily as something darker.

We were able to get a $700 discount through Carlos' connections, which was awesome! And they offered us $1000 trade in value for the 98 Corolla, so we were very happy with that; we thought we would be lucky to get $500 considering all the problems it has.

Here are the deets: 2009 Toyota Matrix XR AWD, Silver, 2.4L 4 cyl engine, 158 hp, automatic (the AWD only availabe in Automatic), 17" Alloy wheels (yay!), and all the bells and whistles like AC, cruise, power windows, doorlocks, and mirrors, keyless entry, heated mirrors, CD/MP3 player, 6 speakers, input jack for ipod (which I think is awesome), audio controls in the steering wheel, outside temperature gauge (sweet; I've never had that before), the rear seats and front passenger seat fold down flat which is handy if we have something large to fit in, etc.

We are very excited! We get to pick it up on Wednesday likely. Which gives us a couple days to figure out insurance. Carlos and I have been meaning to get on the same car insurance policy for awhile, so this is the perfect time. We'll get quotes from both of our current companies and go with whatever is cheaper. Carlos deals with a broker, so they should be able to get us a good price.

Lost in the matrix...

The Toyota Matrix has caught our attention. We are going to go to Toyota on Saturday to check them out. For the month of March, Toyota has a 0% financing on the 2009 Matrix (and a few other cars). I think many dealerships are doing this actually because of the recession we are in. But, for people in the market for car... you can't beat 0% financing! So, in addition to looking at used cars, we will also check out a new one for comparison.

Carlos' workplace does the ads for Toyota, so we have some connections... Hopefully we can use those connections to get a good deal if we decide to go that route ;)

I have my mom lined up to babysit on Saturday so we can spend the day car shopping and going to a few places in town... should be fun!

The search begins...

Carlos took his car to the shop yesterday since it has been having some issues. Well, turns out the engine mount is completely rotten, so basically the engine could fall out of the car at any time. Yikes! They can't say how long it would be before this happens, could be tomorrow or could be several months. But it is a safety issue, so I think we should drive that car as little as possible. Since the car is 11 years old, I don't think it's worth putting a lot of money in it at this point. So, we're going to begin the search for a new vehicle. The good thing is I'm on mat leave right now, so we can get by with only 1 vehicle for awhile. So, we're going to use my car primarily for now and then only use Carlos' car on days when we both need a vehicle. That way, we can prolong the life of his car while we look for a new one.

So, now we're trying to think about what would be best. Do we get a used car that we could get for a good price that would do us for a few years? Or should we spend a little more money and get something larger like a minivan in planning for the future? My car Zeke really isn't the best for putting a carseat in. It's a bit of a pain actually since there isn't a lot of room in the backseat, so whenever I put the carseat back there, I have to move the front passenger seat all the way forward to make space. It would be much easier in a minivan and it would be nice to have a vehicle with more space. Minivans are expensive though, so we would definitely be looking at getting a used one. The good thing is we have time now. So, we can look at vans and cars and see what good deals we can find.

Julie is a piglet!

The appointment with the midwife this morning went very well. Julie had her hearing test, and everything is normal. Her weight today was 10 lbs, 3 oz, so she gained 20 oz in the last 2 weeks - wow! I guess she's eating well, which is great since I can't tell how much she's eating since she's exclusively breastfed. Our next appointment is on the 27th and that will be our last one with the midwives, we will be discharged from their care. They have been absolutely amazing and we will definitely use them again for any future children we may have.

I did ask her about vaccinations and she already had a brochure in the info packet she was planning to give me at today's appointment, so it was already a topic for discussion at today's appointment, hows that for timing?!? Basically, it is outside the scope of their practice and they are not supposed to give opinions about it. It is recommended by Health Canada to follow the vaccination schedule, but it is not mandatory. Parents need to make the decision for themselves. It is illegal for a child to be suspended from school, etc. because they are not vaccinated. Parents just need to provide a letter indicating the child is not vaccinated.

She did say that vaccines for children in Canada no longer contain mercury. The midwife said to do some research and make sure to get recent and Canadian information. We need to weigh the risks of Julie getting a disease that she could have been vaccinated for against the risks of the vaccine itself and make our decision based on that. She did say that MOST people get their children vaccinated and stick to the recommended schedule. Another option would be to delay the schedule a bit and have her first vaccine later than 2 months.

I will do some research and Carlos and I will make the decision once we feel we have the information we need.

Vaccine debate

We have to decide soon whether we want Julie to be vaccinated as the first round of vaccines starts at 2 months of age. I am really on the fence on this one since there is so much info out there about why vaccines are unsafe, unnecessary, can cause illnesses and damage, and may be linked to autism and learning and developmental disabilities.

But, I would hate to choose not to get Julie vaccinated and then have her get one of the illnesses she would have been protected against. I guess I have to do some research and figure this out soon!

Any thoughts on this issue?

Happy birthday Smoke

My mom and sister-in-law-to-be hosted a baby shower for baby Julie on Saturday - was it ever nice! I was overwhelmed with everyone's generosity; Julie got so many amazing and adorable things! Lots of cute outfits that I can't wait to put her in ;)

Today is Smokey's 3rd birthday! I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since we almost lost him to Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease. Poor little guy! That's behind us though, he has been doing great since then! We have found that since we've had Julie, Smokey has become a lot more affectionate. I guess he's not getting as much attention, so he decides he better come to us ;) One annoying thing is I think he has figured out that when I'm nursing, I can't get up to discipline him, so he uses that time to be a total trouble maker and climb on thing he shouldn't, scratch things he shouldn't, etc... sometimes I feel it's like having a toddler to look after while I am trying to look after a newborn too! But I still love him anyway ;)

Wedding Invitation Making Extravaganza

Yesterday, mom and I helped my brother's fiance make her wedding invitations. We didn't get them done, but we certainly made good progress! It was fun to focus my attention on something other than my adorable baby ;) My brother's wedding is coming up in 3 months... coming up quickly! They just recently bought a house, which is exciting. Closing date of May 1st, which gives them a month before the wedding to paint and fix things up before they move in.

This week has been a good one. Julie is a little angel! I just love looking at all her little facial expressions - she is smiling now, which is amazing to see!

Morning out and about

Julie and I had a good morning of being out and about. I had to take her to the midwife clinic since they needed to take another blood sample from Julie for a routine test. They had to repeat it since the first time they tried, they didn't get enough blood. While we were at the clinic, they weighed Julie and she now weighs 8 lbs, 15 oz, so she is gaining weight well and is a healthy girl :)

When we were done at the clinic, I took Julie into Carlos' workplace so she could meet his coworkers, so that was fun. Everyone keeps saying how beautiful she is, and of course I agree :)

We don't have much planned for this weekend, although we are planning to take Julie on her first trip to Costco... hopefully she likes it ;)

Julie is amazing!

Julie is now 16 days old and I am falling more and more in love with her every day (if that's possible)!!! She is such an amazing girl! I just love to sit and look at her explore the world. She's already changed so much since she was born. She is a lot more alert now and opens her eyes really wide to take in the world around her.

She seems to be a pretty content baby. She doesn't cry too much, just when she needs something. Although, on Saturday we had a pretty rough day. She cried off and on all afternoon and evening. It took me awhile to catch on that she was just hungry all the time - I think she was going through her first growth spurt; I was feeding her pretty much every hour! The first growth spurt usually happens at about 2 weeks, so she was right on... our little 'textbook' baby ;)

We are at the end of our home visits with the midwife now. We now take Julie to their clinic on March 6th and then again at 6 weeks and then we will be discharged from their care. They have been absolutely wonderful! I am so glad we decided to go with midwives instead of a doctor - the level of care we received has been phenomenal! They came to visit us pretty much every day for the first week and then a couple times the second week. The support I received with breastfeeding made all the difference; I'm sure I would have given up if I hadn't had their help. Breastfeeding was very difficult in the beginning, but we have the hang of it now ;) And I am so thankful that I can page the midwives whenever I have a concern. They have been amazing and I highly recommend midwives to anyone having a baby!

This afternoon, Julie and I are planning to go to my office for a little visit so my coworkers can meet her. I am looking forward to the outing!

Julie Erika’s Birth Story

It started on Thursday, February 5th. During the afternoon, I started feeling crampy and started bleeding a little bit (which is one sign that labour is imminent). So, I started thinking that I would be going into labour soon and was very excited!

Friday morning, I had an appointment with my midwife, where she checked me and my cervix was 2 cm dilated and 50 to 75% effaced (thinned out). So, it was looking like I was right with my prediction that I would have the baby on the weekend! So, I went home very excited.

I had cramps all afternoon and around 4pm I started thinking they were getting worse than just cramps and were the start of contractions. I timed a couple of them and they were about 20 minutes apart at this point and only 30 to 45 seconds long.

The contractions kept getting a little more intense and longer and closer together throughout the evening. At about 8:30pm, my mom showed up (her and Carlos were my 2 support people). By about 9pm, they were 5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute. This is the point we called our midwife. We first paged our primary midwife (the student), but she was off call for the weekend since she was sick. So, we paged our other primary midwife, but she was going off call in 5 minutes for the weekend. CRAP! I started crying at this point since neither of the 2 midwives we really liked would be present at the birth. We were stuck with the 2 we didn’t like as much. Now, in the end, I didn’t care about this, but at this moment, I was quite upset. It actually turned out that the midwives we had were WONDERFUL; I can’t say enough good things about them.

The midwife showed up at our house around 10pm to check my progress. I was 4 cm dilated at this point and officially in active labour – yay! The contractions were getting more intense, I could no longer talk through them. Carlos was wonderful. We would walk around the house and every time I had a contraction, we would “slow dance” and he would rub my back. I had a nice bath at home sometime around midnight, which felt awesome.

The midwife checked my progress again around 1:30am and I was at 6cm. She said at this point we could go to the hospital, or we could wait a little longer. She had already called ahead to the hospital to see how busy they were. Turns out it was a busy night because they only had 1 labour and delivery room left! So, my midwife asked the hospital to hold the room for us and we headed to the hospital. The midwife went a few minutes ahead of us so she had all the paperwork done by the time we got there. She took care of everything, which was amazing.

So by the time I got to the room, it was around 2am. I laboured in the room for quite awhile trying all sorts of positions. Everyone was so impressed with me that I would be cheerful and smiling in between contractions. I sat in the shower for awhile which felt great. At around 4am the second midwife showed up (there are 2 present for the pushing stage) and they checked me again and I was 7cm dilated and they broke my water at this point. At around 7am, I was 8cm dilated and was getting very uncomfortable, so I laboured in the tub for a couple of hours. This was the most intense part of the labour (this is what they call “transition” and is from 8 to 10cm). I was so glad to be in the tub at this point since it made it a lot more bearable. There were a few contractions that I thought I couldn’t do it anymore, but there was never a point where I seriously considered drugs. I just took it one contraction at a time. Carlos, my mom, and the midwives were amazing support!

At around 9am, I got out of the tub and was checked again. I only had a small rim of cervix left, so it was almost time to start pushing! We sent my mom to the waiting room at this point, since I wanted it to just be Carlos and me for the actual birth. I started pushing shortly after this point and they brought in a mirror so I could see the progress. I pushed until 11:30am with some progress, but it seemed that baby was stuck in the birth canal. She would make a TINY bit of progress with each contraction, but not much. After 2 hours of pushing with no baby, the midwives are required to consult with the OB on call. The baby was also showing signs of distress at this point, so it became apparent that they had to help get baby out; they couldn’t just let me keep pushing considering how slow the progress was. I was absolutely exhausted at this point, so I was glad for the help.


The OB came in at about 11:45am and watched me push for one contraction. Since I didn’t have an epidural, he didn’t want to use forceps. So, he decided a vacuum would be best, although I think most people have pain meds for that too! It was so close to the end, I certainly didn’t want any meds at this point. It was too late anyways, they really wanted to get baby out. It only took 2 or 3 contractions with the vacuum before she was born. I did need a small episiotomy, which makes sense since she is such a big girl! The OB was amazing; he said that he didn’t even need to tug very hard; I did most of the work.

Baby’s head was out at 12:04pm and entire baby born at 12:05pm. Turns out she was in the birth canal off-centre, which totally explains why I couldn’t push her out on my own – she wasn’t coming down straight, her head was tilted to one side. It was such an amazing moment when she was born – the most special moment in my entire life. And I was so glad to have the mirror there so I could actually watch her being born – what a miracle!!!

As soon as she was born, they put her on my chest. The funny part was they didn’t tell us whether she was a boy or girl – I had to ask! After about 10 seconds of holding her, I asked the nurse “Is it a boy of girl” and she said “I didn’t even check!” but then responded with the words I was waiting 9 months to hear “It’s a girl!” All along I was hoping for a girl. I would have been happy with a boy, but I really wanted a girl. Carlos and I both shed a few tears at this point; just totally and completely in love with our new daughter.

They took her away to do some checking and measurements on her and it turns out they weren’t completely satisfied with the way she was crying (it was more like grunting). So, after about 20 minutes or so, they decided to take her to the special care nursery to be put on oxygen and monitoring. She ended up being on oxygen for about 12 hours, which was really hard. All sorts of family started showing up, and baby wasn’t in the room with me! Carlos had to take them one at a time to the nursery to see Julie. This was not the way I wanted it. I wanted to get started on breastfeeding right after the birth, but I couldn’t. I HATED not having her in the room with me that first night. I had to get up every 3 hours and walk to the nursery to try to feed her. This was hard, but luckily, she was fine by the morning and we got to take her home.

Here are her stats at birth:
Name: Julie Erika T. (Julie just because we like the name and Erika is after my grandmother).
Date and Time of birth: February 7, 2009 at 12:05pm
Weight: 8 pounds, 11.4 oz
Length: 51 cm (20 inches)
Head circumference: 33.5 cm
Chest circumference: 34 cm

Julie Erika is here!

The last week has been a complete whirlwind! I will post a more detailed birth story in the coming days, but here is the readers digest version.

- Friday afternoon around 4pm, started having contractions.
- She was born at 12:05pm on Saturday. So, total labour was 20 hours.
- In the end, she was delivered with the help of a vacuum extractor since she was not making much progress down the birth canal and she was starting to show signs of distress. So, a doctor came and did the assisted delivery, but he said that I did most of the work, he only needed to help a little.
- I did need a small episiotomy, but everything is healing up nicely.

And, I did this all with no drugs of any kind. I think that gives me the right to brag ;)

Details: Julie Erika T., born 12:05pm, weighing 8 lbs, 11.4 oz, 20 inches long. She is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen in my life!!!! Completely love at first sight!

Because she was delivered by vacuum, she has a cranial hematoma on her head, which is nothing to be concerned about, she just looks a little funny. It will go away in 2-3 months, which is a long time to wait!

We were having a bit of a rough start breastfeeding since my milk didn't come in until yesterday. So, she was severaly dehydrated. She had lost almost an entire pound! Luckily, we caught this early. The dehydration in combination with the hematoma caused some severe jaundace and we had to take her back to the hospital on Tuesday evening where she underwent phototherapy. They put her under special lights to clear the jaundace. Apparently jaundace is very common, but her case was quite severe. But, they caught it in time and she is just great now. She went off the lights at 8pm last night and we were able to bing her home around 11am this morning.

I hated having to take her back to the hospital, but at least we had a private room and Carlos and I were able to stay right in the room with her (they brought in 2 cots for us). So, that was amazing... I literally did not leave the room except for a half hour yesterday morning to go to the caf to get some breakfast. Other than that, Carlos went down and brought me food.

It was really scary to have to take her back to the hospital. Especially when I was watching them try to put in an IV, they tried many times and all over her body before they finally got one in. That was too hard for me to watch, so the midwife took me out of the room and calmed me down a bit. But, she is doing great now, so I am VERY relieved.

Things are starting to happen!

I have a feeling baby will be arriving within the next few days! I have been feeling very "crampy" for the last day or so, which is a sign that labour could start soon. I had an appointment with the midwife this morning, and she checked to see if my cervix has been opening. I am currently 1.5 to 2 cm dilated and about 50 to 75% effaced (thinned out). And baby's head is at -1 station, which means only 1 cm above a certain point in my pelvic bones, so that is a great position to be in just before labour. So, all signs point to going into labour within a few days! Although she couldn't say for sure since some women are dilated for weeks before labour.

So now we just wait. If I don't go into labour on my own over the next several days, here is the plan:
- Monday, 12noon - Non Stress Test at the hospital
- Wednesday - specialized ultrasound at the hospital
- Thursday 8am - induction

It was our choice whether we would want the induction on Thursday or wait until the following week (they don't do them over the weekend and she recommends staying away from Fridays since the OB on call on Fridays doesn't like midwives and doesn't allow them to be as involved). Thursdays the OB that we saw for one of our ultrasounds is on call, and he is much more receptive of midwives, and will still let them be very involved. So, that made the choice easy since we of course would still want our midwives involved! So, induction on Thursday the 12th unless I have the baby before then, which all signs point to that I will have the baby within a few days - exciting!

So, it was a very positive appointment and she seemed very encouraging that it's looking like I will go into labour on my own in the next few days. But, of course, she can't say for sure. But who knows! Very exciting!!!!!!

Special Day Today

Today marks exactly 3 years that Carlos and I have been together. I am so thankful to have him; he really is the best man I could ever ask for.

We were both hoping baby would arrive today since it is a special day for Carlos and I, but no sign of baby yet. I keep telling myself that baby will come when good and ready, so I just have to keep being patient. So, I spend my days relaxing, catching up on some reading, and watching some good daytime TLC (mostly Baby Story these days!). Yesterday, I went out for lunch with mom and Oma and then hung out at my parents house for the afternoon, so that was a nice outing to keep me distracted for awhile.

Due date is finally here

The due date I have been counting down to for months and months has finally arrived! No sign of baby arriving yet though, so it could still be awhile. Could be only a matter of hours before something happens or a couple weeks. I'm trying hard to be patient, but it's difficult. Especially since we have been getting a phone call from my mother-in-law almost every day for the last 2 weeks asking if the baby is here yet. We keep telling her we'll call her when something happens... it's getting quite frustrating that she keeps calling to ask. I just let Carlos field all the phone calls since I think it would just stress me out at this point. I know she's just excited, but it's not like I can do anything to speed this along! We all just have to wait until baby is ready and of course we're going to call her the minute there is any news. Sheesh! I guess I was bound to complain about my mother-in-law eventually ;)

Another good appointment

I just got back from another appointment with the midwife. Everything is good, baby is in a good position, so now it's just a waiting game. We did discuss the protocols for what happens if I go overdue, so it was good to know about that. Of course, I'm hoping this baby comes sooner rather than later! My next appointment is on February 6th, unless I have the baby before then, of course.

Here's a cute picture of Smokey taking a nap yesterday in the bassinette that my aunt and godmother bought when I was a baby - I love how he's using a stuffed bear as a pillow! He thinks all this great stuff we've been bringing home lately is for him. Poor guy doesn't know what's coming!

Just waiting... patiently ;)

I've been having some nice, relaxing days at home. Haven't done much in the way of housework, but oh well. I have been keeping up with washing the dishes, so at least that's something. And I did clean out some of the fridge, I just haven't gotten around to cleaning the rest.

Still no sign of baby making the big entrance into the world. Tomorrow is the day my massage therapist predicted I'd give birth, so who knows. I have a feeling it will be next week, not this week. Given how "textbook" this pregnancy has been, I wouldn't be surprised if I give birth close to my due date or a few days after.

I'm trying my best to be patient!

Another appointment gone well

I just got back from an appointment with the midwife. Everything is going well. Baby's heartbeat is strong at 128 bpm, my blood pressure was still great at 104/78. She did note that the baby's head is quite low in my pelvis, which is has been for about a month now, I think. Which explains why I have to pee every 5 minutes it seems!

Our next appointment is on Thursday the 29th (as long as we don't have the baby before then!).

I can't believe we're only 10 days away from the due date! "They" say that for a first baby, it is most common to give birth 4 or 5 days after your due date, but who knows. It really could happen at any time now. I haven't gotten up in the middle of the night to scrub floors or to do any other crazy cleaning though, which I have heard is a sign that labour is coming. All this waiting and anticipation is quite exciting!

My brother and his fiance left for Florida today. They get back on Feb 1st, so who knows, they may come back and have a new niece or nephew!

Enjoying some lazy days

The last couple of days have been very relaxing. Yesterday, I went into work for a party for one of my coworkers, so that was nice. After that, I came home and had a nap in the afternoon.

This morning, I spent some time with a friend and then had another afternoon nap. I'm heading out in a bit to meet the girls from work for dinner and then we're going to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which looks really funny!

I am also happy to report that the carseat is in and we are satisfied with the little amount of movement now. And my hospital bags are packed!

Well, that's all folks

My last day of work yesterday went quite well. I only had to pass off one task that I didn't have time to get to, so that wasn't bad. I got all the major stuff done that I needed to and cleaned out my office. What a strange feeling. I am really looking forward to the next stage in my life, it was just very surreal to walk out of there for a year. Sure, I'll be back to visit lots, but won't have to go to work for a whole year!

In fact, I am going back to the office on Monday for lunch since it is one of my coworkers 40th birthday and we're giving him a surprise lunch. And then on Tuesday evening, I am going out for dinner and a movie with the girls at work, so on my first 2 days of mat leave, I will be seeing my coworkers, so that's neat.

My wonderful hubby took me out for dinner last night to celebrate this next phase in our lives. Probably one of our last opportunities to go out on a date before we become parents!

And of course, as soon as we got home from dinner, I completed and submitted my application for EI online, so that I can start getting my payments as soon as possible. My employer was able to submit my Record of Employment electronically, so now it's just a matter of waiting for Service Canada to approve my application. Hopefully it won't take too long; probably a couple weeks I would guess.

Tomorrow, we are planning to get some final baby related tasks done. We're going to give the car seat another go. We've talked to some recent parents, and they seemed to be in the same situation as us. The way the bases are installed, they are only belted in close to the back of the vehicle seat using the seat belt, so the whole front edge where the baby's head would be is free to move up and down. I guess they are designed on purpose that way to have some movement in that direction. We can basically take the whole seat and tip it up. As long as it is secure where the belt is fastened, we're good. Hopefully we can get it nice and tight tomorrow. And if we are still unsure, I will take it somewhere next week to have it checked.

My other tasks for the next couple of days is to get the hospital bags packed (one for me, one for baby). I have been slowly gathering things, but I need to make sure everything is in there and it's all ready to go.

Our neighbour was selling a highchair she had used for her granddaughter who has since outgrown it, so we went over this afternoon to have a look at it. Fisher Price, 2 years old, great condition. She paid $120 for it, and will sell it to us for $50. I checked the reviews for this one online and it seems like a great highchair, so we decided to take it. Score! She is going to wash it and bring it over next week.

It’s the final countdown…

Only 3 days of work left including today! I really can’t believe it! I know my back will certainly appreciate not having to sit at a desk all day! I hope I have a little time on mat leave before the baby comes, but not too much… about a week or so would be nice ;)

I am in the midst of trying to get all my outstanding tasks completed this week. It’s looking promising that I’ll be able to get it all done, so that’s good. I had a meeting yesterday with a couple co-workers who will be taking over my projects just to give them an update on the current status of each project so there will be a smooth transition. And today I have a meeting with our office administrator to discuss my upcoming leave and make sure I have all the paperwork I need to fill out. Exciting stuff!

Well, I guess I should hop to it since I have a lot to get done in the next 3 days!

Land of confusion…

Carlos and I tried to install the infant carseat yesterday… you’d think it would be simple – not so! I read the manual for both the carseat and my vehicle, and it really seemed like it was going to be simple. Well, after an hour, we gave up. It’s in there, it just has way more ‘give’ than it should. We tried it in the middle seat, side seat, with the base, without the base, and all configurations have more movement than you’re supposed to have. I just don’t see how this is supposed to be secure when you only put the seatbelt close to the back of the seat, so the whole front section is free to move about. We have another appointment with the midwife later this morning, so I will ask her if there are any resources in town where we can go for help. And thanks for the suggestion Mrs. JB, we do have a St. Johns Ambulance office in town, so they will be the first place I call for help, unless my midwife has other suggestions.

I can’t believe I’m at 37 weeks now – holy smokes! Baby is officially considered full term now, so baby could be born at any point in the next 5 weeks. I think it is more common for first time moms to deliver close to their due date or after, so it will likely still be at least a couple weeks before baby is born, but it is exciting to know that it could happen anytime now!

And this is my last week of work, so I know I will be busy trying to tie up loose ends before I am on mat leave.

EDIT 12:01pm

The appointment today went well. As usual, baby is right on track and heartbeat is strong. I was negative for Group B Strep, which is great. One less thing to worry about on the big day. As for the carseat dilemma, she suggested a few places to contact. I also remembered that we received some info on carseat safety at the prenatal health fair in town we went to back in September, so I will dig that info out since I'm sure there is a "where to go for help" section. If not, I will make some calls to places in town. Someone will help us I'm sure since we can't be the first set of to-be parents that want to make sure they get this right!

How’s this for crazy

On my drive into work this morning, I saw a guy running and he was wearing running shorts and a long-sleeve T-shirt… and it’s -20 with the windchill today! I thought that was absolutely nuts!

The countdown is at 6 days left of work including today. I really can’t wait to be done. This is a big change for me. After working here for almost 5 years, my longest break so far was the 3 weeks I took off surrounding my wedding. Multiply that by 17 and you get to how long my break will be now – 52 weeks. That is assuming I decide to take the full 52 weeks… it’s sort of a wait and see thing. I really won’t know how I feel until I get there, so we’re leaving my “return to work” date open-ended and I’ll see how I feel in the Fall. But, as far as my employer is concerned right now, I am planning to take the full 52 weeks.

I’m wondering how my transition from engineer to full time mommy is going to go… will I miss the intellectual stimulation? I know I will definitely miss the people I work with; they are absolutely wonderful. I don’t think I’ll miss the spending 40 hours a week at my desk though ;) And there is this project that I have been working on since I started this job, I definitely won’t miss that. Although it does feel really strange to pass it off to someone else since it has been my project for almost 5 years. It has caused me lots of frustration and made me want to scream and pull my hair out lately though, so perhaps it’s a good thing it can be someone else’s problem for awhile ;)

I’m really looking forward to seeing nej and lj tomorrow!

Home visit went well

At the home visit, we basically discussed the difference between early labour and active labour, when to page the midwife, stages of labour, any wishes we have for the labour, hospital stay, etc. They also checked the baby's position, heartbeat, height of the top of the uterus, my blood pressure, etc. and everything is great. I also was tested for Group B Strep, so I should get those results by the end of this week. They test all pregnant women for that late in pregnancy since about 30% of women have that bacteria in their bodies (no harm to mom), but it can be passed to the baby during the birth, which can be harmful to the baby. If it does come back positive, that just means I would need a dose of anti-biotics every 4 hours during the active phase of labour.

So, our next appointment is next Monday as our appointments are now weekly until the baby is born. And as of midnight on Sunday, baby is considered full term (37 weeks). I can’t believe it’s getting so close!!! Although, baby could be born at any point between now and 42 weeks, so it could be as late as mid-February… I hope it will be sooner than that though!

Happy New Year

Here we are at 2009. I didn't really make any new years resolutions this year, but I am really looking forward to this year since I'm going to be a mommy! So, I'm sure much of my year will be spent looking after baby and watching baby learn and grow.

The rest of my holidays were pretty good. We got quite a bit of de-cluttering done around the house, which was great. Still more to do, but we made a really good dent.

So now it’s back to work. Today is a short day in the office for me though since I am leaving at 10am to go home. We have our midwife coming at 10:45am for our home visit. Since I’ll already be at home, I will work from home for the afternoon, so that will be nice.

I’m at 36 weeks along now, so we’re on the home stretch – literally! Baby is getting so big now that the kicks are getting so strong that sometimes it feels like baby is going to kick its way through my belly! My belly is getting really big now, which is making finding a comfortable position to sleep in difficult. But, only a few weeks to go until we finally get to meet our little one!!!

Most excellent Christmas

We had a great Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with my family and my aunt, uncle, and cousins, and Oma were there too. Usually, us kids have a 'campout' on Christmas Eve and all sleep in my brother's room, but he had a very bad cold, so I decided it best to avoid as many germs as possible. So, we ended up sleeping at our own house and then going back at 7:30am on Christmas morning for present opening. We had to go that early since Al's fiance had to work at 9am. My parents had already bought us the crib as our Christmas present, but there were still a few cute things under the tree for baby.

We then headed to Carlos' parents' house for Christmas Day with them and his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. Baby certainly was spoiled this Christmas since I think baby received the most presents! Carlos' sister had put together a basket of a bunch of cute items for baby. We really enjoyed spending lots of time with family.

Saturday, we headed to Whitby to Babies R Us. We had a long list of items we still needed for baby and we were able to get in on some amazing boxing week sales. The playard we had picked out months ago was $50 off (reg $170 on for $120). Yay! A bunch of the other items we got were also on sale, so it was a worthwhile trip for sure! We still have a few items we need, but we are doing quite well. And some items can wait until after the baby is born.

Yesterday, we went to Carlos' uncles house for a gathering. His parents, and aunts and uncles and one cousin were all there, so it was nice to see them once more before the baby arrives.

I was lucky enough to save some of my vacation time for 2008, so I have this week off. Today, I am heading to the spa with my mom for pedicures. Then afterwards, we are meeting up with my sister-in-law-to-be, aunt, and Oma for dinner and a movie. So, it will be a girls night :)

Tomorrow, I am getting my hair cut and highlighted and then I am supposed to be getting together with a friend in the evening (still to be confirmed).

Then I have the rest of the week with no plans, which is good because I have a lot of cleaning and organizing at home I want to get done! I'm going to tackle 1 task per day between Wednesday and Saturday. The first task being wash all the baby clothes and put all the baby stuff away. That's the fun task, so I'll do that one first :)

My brother and his fiance did not get that house. Initially, their offer was accepted, but they had the home inspection this morning and I guess there are major problems with the foundation. So, they backed out of the deal and will continue their search. They are quite disappointed, but a poor foundation is a deal-breaker for sure.

LAST WORK DAY FOR ME FOR 2008

YAY!!! I can’t wait until 4:30pm today, when I’m outta here until January 5th!

The appointment with the midwife this morning went very well. Baby is measuring right where it’s supposed to again, so apparently we have a "textbook baby" according to the midwife. She also said that the baby’s head is quite low in the pelvis; so baby has really dropped down into the pelvis. She didn’t outright say it, but I am taking this to mean that baby will more likely be born early than late since baby is already ‘getting into position’. I’m thinking we may have a January baby on our hands, I’m thinking maybe January 20 something. That’s just my guess though, I could be completely wrong!

So now our next appointment is the first week of January for a home visit. We don’t have it booked as of right now though since it will be with our primary midwife and she is on holidays this week. So, she’s going to call me on Monday when she’s back in the office to set up the home visit. They do the home visit at 36 weeks so they have more time to spend with you to go over the birth plan and “day of” sort of things in detail. So that will be sometime during the week of January 5th and then my appointments are weekly from then until the baby is born. Exciting stuff!

I can't believe Christmas Eve is tomorrow! I guess I've been so busy trying to get things done at work and at home getting ready for baby, Christmas has really crept up on me this year!

I hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas!!!!

Edit 10:35am

My brother and his fiance are in negotiations now about the house. The seller came back with a counter-offer, so my brother is submitting a second offer. Now they're only talking a difference of a few thousand and a couple weeks on the closing date, so I have a feeling they will reach an agreement soon - very exciting!

Relaxing weekend

I had a great weekend. Since Friday was such a crazy day snow-wise, I decided to use a couple of my banked OT hours and left a couple hours early. It took me 40 minutes to get home (where normally it would take me 20), but I was glad to make it home safe and sound.

Saturday we did some errands, but mostly just relaxed at home. My mom came over to do laundry again. I guess she has ordered a new washer, which is supposed to be in on the 29th. Yesterday, we didn’t do much of anything, which was nice. I had all these big plans of what I wanted to get done on the weekend, but in the end, the only thing I did was get caught up on entering my bills and transactions, etc. into my financial software. I was 6 weeks behind on that, so it was nice to get that done.

Also, some big news: my brother Al and his fiancé put in an offer on a house! I don’t know many details, but I guess they looked at the house last week and then again yesterday and decided to put in an offer. Now they’re just waiting to hear if their offer was accepted. It was only the second house they looked at, but I guess they were impressed with it! They don’t need the house until June (they are getting married on June 6th), but who knows, they could arrange a closing date for a couple of months from now and it might be nice to have a few months to work on the house before they actually move in. It’s always easier to do renovations on an empty house.

As of today, I am at 34 weeks! Since the normal range for birth is 2 weeks on either side of your due date, baby could be born as early as 4 weeks from now! That’s so close! Carlos and I are both SUPER excited!!!

EDIT 11:30am

Sometimes people just don't get a hint! My ex added me AGAIN as a friend on Facebook - this is the 3rd time now. And for the 3rd time, I rejected him. Did he not get the message the first 2 times I rejected him?!?!? SHEESH! I'm no longer bitter towards him, but I have no interest in giving him a 'window' into my life and being friends or something. That part of my life is SO over, so I have no idea why he keeps adding me. I hope he gets the message this time!

Question for nej

Others feel free to pipe in too, I just thought nej would be a good once to ask since she just wrote the PPE.

Here is the situation. We have a mountain of landfill annual reports that we are in the midst of preparing. I am responsible for 6 of them, which means I have been/will be either writing these reports or reviewing them before I leave in mid-January. These reports will all be completed in draft prior to me leaving; however, they can’t be finalized until later since they need operations data, which we don’t typically get from our clients until mid-February or so once they get recycling tonnages for 2008 from their contractors.

Is it ethical/legal for me to still sign the reports even though I will be technically an employee on leave when they are finalized and submitted? I know as a P.Eng. I can’t do work unless I am paid for it, but the preparation of these reports I have been paid for since they will be 98% done before I leave. My coworkers just need to slip in a couple recycling numbers once received and then they can be finalized. So, I was thinking it would be okay for me to come in for a half hour while I’m on leave to sign the reports… what do you ladies think? Is this okay from a legal standpoint?

Birth Plan Talk and Other Randoms

I got the last of my Christmas shopping done yesterday, so now we are 100% done our shopping and most of the presents are already wrapped. Feels so good to get that done! Especially since my mind has been a little pre-occupied this year ;)

I’m glad it’s already Wednesday. I have just been counting the days until the Christmas break… only 5 days of work left before Christmas (including today)! Yay! And I have made some plans for some pampering in the days between Christmas and New Years. On the 27th, Carlos and I are making a trip to Babies R Us in Whitby (likely our last before the baby arrives) to pick up a few more items that we need. We are also going to use a gift card I received for my birthday for a fancy restaurant in Oshawa that day. On the 29th, mom and I are going out for lunch and then to get pedicures at the spa. Carlos gave me a gift card for the spa for my birthday, so I’m using that for a pedicure since I can’t reach my feet anymore and it will be good to have nice toes to look at while I’m in labour ;) Then on the 30th, I have an appointment for a haircut and highlites. Figured I should get my hair done once more before the baby comes. Other than that, my plans for my time off are to spend time with friends/family, get some organizing/cleaning done at home, and get ready for baby. I want to get the carseat installed in Zeke and get my hospital bag packed and birth plan put together. I also want to get the nursery complete ready with all the necessary supplies so that if the baby decides to arrive early, we’re ready.

My due date is starting to get really close. “They” recommend that you have your carseat installed and hospital bag packed a month before your due date, which means by New Years for us. That makes the birth seem all that more real and imminent! I am really very excited, just feeling a bit nervous about the birth. We have been discussing pain management options a lot lately, and I am pretty much of the mindset that I want to avoid an epidural if at all possible. I am telling myself that if I absolutely need it, I will accept it as a last resort. But only after all other options have been exhausted. I was very disappointed to find out that our hospital doesn’t have nitrous oxide (laughing gas) yet. Since it’s a new hospital, I guess they are slow getting some things and it’s supposed to be in place in about 6 months. The other drug option is narcotics (Demerol, Nubain, etc.), but those have to be timed very carefully and given at least 2 hours prior to the birth otherwise they can affect the baby.

So here’s my thinking: I consider myself more tough than the average woman when it comes to pain. For example, I had a compound fracture on my arm when I was 13 and didn’t know it for 2 days! I remember my doctor saying at the time that since I could withstand that amount of pain for so long, childbirth would be a piece of cake for me. Here’s hoping she was right! I do think I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. So, I’m thinking I’m going to try this labour with as little medical intervention as possible. So I am very thankful to have the midwives since they have a whole ‘bag of tricks’ when it comes to non-drug related pain management. Luckily, one of the birthing suites at the hospital has a bathtub (hopefully that room is available), so I can sit in the bath for a bit for relaxation. Hopefully between that and the encouragement from the midwives and my hubby, it should be okay. From what I’ve heard from others, the “transition” portion of labour is the worst pain-wise, but it also means you are almost ready to push. So, the good news is when the pain is the worst, it also means it’s almost over.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately since when I am at 36 weeks, the midwife does a home visit to discuss our birth plan in detail, so I want to get some of these details planned. I also know that I need to be flexible, so if I do end up needing pain medication, I need to not be disappointed in myself. Which is something I’ll have to work on.

Anybody else getting rain today?

Today, we are getting lots of rain and it’s 8 degrees out. Which made for a VERY slippery walk to my car. Water overtop of ice is no fun. So, I took very small steps and was able to make it to Zeke without mishap. Thank goodness! I’m hoping since it’s so warm today, that all the ice on our driveway will melt.

I had a most excellent weekend. Friday night was my company Christmas party, which was lots of fun. This is my 5th year going, and the first one I was completely sober at ;) We had excellent dinner and hung out and socialized. We didn’t go out to the bars afterwards since I was tired and wanted to get home, so we called it a night around midnight.

Saturday, we braved the crowds and actually had a very productive Christmas shopping day. We even bought a couple things for the baby in there too ;) We now have our Christmas shopping 95% done, I just need to pick up one more item, which I am going to do tomorrow on my way home from work. So, as of tomorrow evening, we will be completely done our shopping, which will be great! No last minute scrambling this year!

Saturday evening, my mom came over for a few hours to do laundry since her washer recently died. So, that gave us a chance to catch up on things and she told me all about her trip. Apparently my dad just fell in love with Banff/Lake Louise and wants to go back next winter. So, we are tentatively planning a family vacation out there for end of December (between Christmas and New Years) next year - my parents, Carlos, me, and the baby. And perhaps even my brothers and significant others. So, if that happens, I will let you know Mrs. JB since me, Carlos, and the baby will definitely come for a visit with your family either at the beginning or end of our trip since we’ll be flying in/out of Calgary! Of course, this is all in the initial planning stages at this point, but I think it would be awesome. So, I will keep you informed of any developments Mrs. JB!

Here we are at another Monday. But after today, I only have 6 more days of work this year and only 16 days of work left before baby! That’s do-able!

This week, I have a pretty quiet week planned. I have my last prenatal pilates class tonight and then Thursday evening is our tour of the labour/delivery and maternity wards of the hospital. Other than that, I have my evenings free this week, which is really nice. I do have to do some baking on Wednesday evening, since I have a work potluck on Thursday and Carlos’ is on Friday. So that will be fun.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Midwife appointment went well

Just a usual check-up and everything is right on track. My blood pressure is normal, baby’s heartbeat was 140 bpm (normal range is 120 – 160), and uterine height is 31 cm (it is supposed to be within 2 cm of the number of weeks along you are), so everything is right on track! Baby is still head-down (has been for the last month) and at this point, the baby will likely remain head-down for the rest of the pregnancy, which is good. No need to worry about a breech position. So, we go back in 2 weeks, so our next appointment is on the 23rd.

Tonight we have another prenatal class, the last one that is actually a class (next week is the hospital tour). Tonight we will be talking about C-sections, and bringing your baby home (what can be expected in the first few weeks, the changes to the dynamic of the relationship between mom and dad, and changes that mom will go through).

Hard to believe it’s only 2 weeks until Christmas! We are in the midst of trying to figure out when the heck we are going to celebrate Christmas with my family since my brothers and Al’s fiancé have such crazy work schedules and they are completely conflicting. It has been a logistical nightmare. But, since my mom just spent last week in Banff getting her Professional Logistician certification, I’ll let her figure it out ;)

Not much new here

I had a good weekend. Spent it doing the usual running errands and relaxing. I was actually surprised when I went to Walmart and Costco on Saturday – they weren’t as busy as I would have thought for a weekend in December! Maybe the snowy weather kept people away. We also got a little Christmas shopping done, but still have more to do. I would like to get it done this coming weekend, we’ll see how that goes.

My parents fly back tonight from Calgary, so it will be good to have them back, especially since Oma needs so much care these days. I’ve stopped in a few times in the past week to check on her, but it is much better when my mom is there full time.

My brother Thom is apparently back with his ex. This is the same girl who broke up with him so she could have causal sex with someone else and has been talking of nothing except getting drunk and high since they broke up (it’s amazing what I find out on Facebook). Seems a little strange that she would share those type of details on Facebook when we are all on her friends list, including my mom! Needless to say, we are all pretty shocked that Thom would take her back, but it’s his decision.

This coming week is another busy one and I only have 1 free evening this week: tomorrow. But, it should be a good week since my plans are fun! Pilates, massage, prenatal class, and my company Christmas party. Sounds like it will be a good week to me!

As of today, I am at 32 weeks along! Only 8 weeks to go! Things are moving along well! Our next appointment with the midwife is on Thursday morning, so I am looking forward to that.

Too cool!

Yesterday morning, as I was lying in bed, I was feeling around my belly a bit since the baby was quite active, and I was actually able to feel a little bump where one of the baby’s limbs was. It was really neat! I guess the baby is getting big enough now that I can actually feel limbs through my belly. Hard to believe I have less than 2 months to go!!! And only 23 days of work after today (but who’s counting…) ;)

I really enjoyed my day off yesterday. I wrote my thank you notes for the baby shower gifts we received on Friday, so I was happy to get that done. Other than that, I just relaxed at home, which was much needed after the crazy-busy November I had!

I finally got the details of my company’s mat/parental leave policy today. Since I am the first employee to go on this type of leave, they had to develop a policy. I wasn’t expecting any type of ‘top-up’, so I am VERY pleased that they have decided to provide this! The policy is very generous – yay!

Tonight, we have prenatal class #4. I think we will be talking about pain management options during labour and preparing for the unexpected. I’m sure we’ll learn lots since these classes have been amazing so far!

Wonderful Birthday Weekend

My shower on Friday was great. My coworkers certainly went to a lot of effort! They made a bunch of awesome food and they all chipped in together and got us gift certificates for the diaper service in town. They gave us a certificate for 1 month free of the diaper service as well as $75 to use on products (cloth diapers, waterproof covers, etc.). So, we are quite pleased with that! We are thinking we’ll use disposable diapers in the beginning since we are getting so many for free from Carlos’ family. And, when we first have the baby, we figure it will just be easier to use disposables. So, we’ll probably use disposables for the first few months. After that, we will use our 1 month free diaper service and then once that is used, I’m thinking I may just wash cloth diapers at home and use them part-time. That’s the plan anyways.

For my birthday, Carlos got me a gift card for the spa I like to go to, so I am going to use that likely between Christmas and New Years for a pedicure since I’m sure I will really need it by then! He also got me a little massaging pillow for my lower back since my back has been pretty sore in the last month (off and on) from sitting at my desk at work. My back is fine when I’m at home, it’s just for some reason, whenever I’m at work, the pain comes back. Good thing I have my pilates class tonight, I always come out of there feeling totally loosened up. Carlos also got me 3 books to read to the baby, 2 of which I remember from when I was a child. He also took me out for lunch on Saturday, so he certainly spoiled me!

Saturday we also went to the Festival of Trees, but we didn’t get a phone call last night, so I guess we didn’t win any trees. Oh well, we’ll try again next year ;) We went to Carlos’ company Christmas party on Saturday night, which was fun.

My plan for staying in my pjs all day on Sunday didn’t go quite as planned. My dad called and wanted a haircut, so we went up to my parents house for an hour so I could do that and also get a visit in with Oma. My mom is in Banff now for a week, so I wanted to check on Oma and see how she’s doing.

We also got some sad news on Saturday morning: Carlos’ grandmother passed away. She has been sick for a long time and Carlos’ grandparents were living in Canada for awhile, but they went back to Portugal in the summer since she really wanted to live out the rest of her days there. We got word late last week that she took a turn for the worse, so Carlos’ dad and uncles decided to go to Portugual (they left yesterday), but they didn’t make it in time before she passed, which is very sad. I’m glad they are there for Carlos’ grandfather though, he needs his sons around him right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if they bring him back with them when they return in a few weeks.

This week should be much less busy for me than the last several have been, which is awesome. I only have 2 evenings busy this week: tonight with my pilates class and Thursday with our prenatal class. That’s it. I also have the day off work on Wednesday to just relax and get caught up on some things. So, this should be a good week!

The Trifecta

Today is a great day for many reasons: it’s Friday, my birthday, and my first baby shower. Yay! Lots of reasons to celebrate today! I still don’t know any details about my shower, they are keeping it somewhat of a secret. They’ll have to tell me when and where to be at some point today!

Last night’s prenatal class was good. The topic was labour, so we went through the different stages of labour and what can be expected during each stage. I have some fears about giving birth, so learning about the different stages was very useful since now I have somewhat of an idea of what to expect. Next week, we are talking about pain management options and preparing for the unexpected.

This weekend should be a good one. Of course tonight I have my baby shower with my coworkers. Tomorrow, Carlos is taking me out for lunch in honour if my birthday and then we are going to check out the festival of trees. Then tomorrow evening is Carlos’ company Christmas party. Sunday, we don’t have too much planned at this point, which is a good thing since tonight and tomorrow are already full. So, I want Sunday to rest.

Loooooong day yesterday

I ended up working a 17-hour day yesterday. The weather was pretty bad, so we spent more time on the road travelling than we expected, which meant I didn’t get home until 1:30am last night. But, the meeting went very well, much better than I was expecting. So that was good. This morning, I slept in until around 9:30am and then had an appointment with the midwife at 11:30am and came to work after that. So, today will be a nice, short 4-hour work day.

Our appointment with the midwife this morning went well. There is a 4th year midwifery student ‘shadowing’ our primary midwife, so she asked us if it would be okay if the student did our appointment today. Totally up to us, but if we liked the student, then it would be her and our primary midwfie present at our birth instead of our primary and secondary midwives (and we’re not too keen on our secondary midwife anyway). And, the other benefit of the student is she and our primary midwife would be there the whole time, whereas usually you only have one midwife until you are actually pushing and then the second midwife arrives. So, we decided to meet the student and see what we thought. We were very impressed! I think I like her the best out of everyone! So, needless to say, we will definitely let her be involved in our care! I feel very good about this.

My gestational diabetes screen came back normal, so that’s good. Baby is measuring right on track, all my stats are right where they should be. Our next appointment is on December 11th.

Tonight is my free evening for this week, so I am looking forward to that!

Another busy week ahead

This week is another busy one. Seems to be the trend as of late. Tomorrow, I have another meeting out of town to attend in the evening, which means I’ll be working a 16 or 17 hour day tomorrow. Yikes! Luckily, this is my last out of town evening meeting, so I will be so glad when it is over with! This is one where we are expecting 100+ people to show up and 95% of them are opposed to the project, so there will be some angry and unreasonable people to deal with – fun. Since I’m working such a long day tomorrow, I am taking Wednesday morning off. I have an appointment with the midwife at 11:30am on Wednesday, so I’ll just go to work after that for the afternoon. So, Wednesday will be a nice, short workday to counteract the really long day tomorrow.

And Friday is not only my birthday, but also my first baby shower, so that will be fun. I don’t know any of the details yet, just that it is put on by my coworkers, it will be after work, and my parents and Carlos are supposed to come as well. That’s all I know. I’m sure it will be a great time!

This past weekend was a good one. My visit with my friend on Saturday was nice. I hadn’t seen her in maybe 2 years, so we got to catch up on things. She has a 3.5 month old daughter, so I got to meet her as well. It was nice to hear about how pleased she was with the midwives through the birth and the weeks afterwards.

We also picked up our crib on Saturday morning and then put it together Saturday after I got home from visiting with my friend. I absolutely LOVE the crib we picked! Now we are just waiting on the mattress, which should be in on the weekend. We could have bought it in-store, but it was 10% off through the Sears website, so we ordered it through there. We decided to get an organic mattress since that was something that was really important to me – to get a mattress with no PVC, especially since the baby will be spending so much time in the crib.

My birthday celebration with my family yesterday was great. Carlos’ parents came for a bit as well. It was funny, they called us just before noon on Sunday saying they wanted to come early to come to our place (they would bring lunch) and to see the nursery. So, as soon as we found that out, we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get the house a little tidied. My mother-in-law is a cleaning lady and she is one of those European women who always has their house spotless. So, I wanted our house to be at least somewhat presentable. It’s amazing what a difference we made in just a half hour!

As of today, I’m 30 weeks along! Only 10 weeks to go! Now that we have all the nursery furniture set up, I am finding that I am having a really strong urge to get all the supplies we need. I am trying to hold off though since I’m sure we’ll be getting some stuff at the shower on Friday and more at Christmas.

TGIF!!!

I am so looking forward to the weekend; it has been a long week! I’ve been so busy in the evenings that the last few nights I’ve gone to bed about an hour later than I normally do, so I woke up feeling really tired this morning. Luckily, I get to sleep in tomorrow morning and Sunday morning – yay!

I got approved for my 4 days off in December, so I am stoked about that! I’m taking Wed, Dec 3rd off as a relaxing/do nothing day for me. I am also taking Dec 29th to 31st off, which means my last day of work before Christmas is December 23rd and then I won’t be back until January 5th (our office is closed on Dec 24th and Jan 2nd in addition to the stat holidays). I am so looking forward to the time off between Christmas and New Years because I want to get my house in order! It needs some serious cleaning and de-cluttering. So, I will break it down into some manageable chunks and tackle one task her day. I have been feeling the ‘nesting’ instinct lately, so I am really looking forward to getting my house clean. I need to do things like clean the inside of my fridge and cupboards and things like that which always seem to be forgotten. And I am saving my banked overtime to use in my last 2 weeks (Jan 5 to 16) if I need an afternoon off here and there. I will be within a month of my due date by then, so I figure I may need a couple hours off here and there to make myself more comfortable since sitting at my desk for 40 hours a week has been a bit difficult lately.

Last night, the topic of our prenatal class was breastfeeding and we got LOTS of good info. I really want to breastfeed because of all the amazing benefits, so I am glad I have the support of my midwives. They will come to me on days 1, 2, 3, 5, and between 7 and 10 to help with any issues I have and to check on me and the baby. I have heard from other people that breastfeeding can be difficult/frustrating in the beginning, so I am so lucky to have the amazing support of my midwives! I got lots of good tips at my class last night, so I think I am well equipped to give it a try! I am determined to breastfeed for as long as I can (Canadian Pediatric Society recommends 1 year).

My plans for the weekend include lots of fun stuff! Tonight, I am having dinner with friends. Tomorrow afternoon, I am getting together with an old friend who just had a baby in August. She also used the midwives, so I want to get the inside scoop on what the birth experience and the weeks after were like with the midwives. On Sunday, I am having my birthday celebration with my family. My mom is flying out to Alberta early in the morning on the 29th, so we are having my birthday dinner on Sunday. Which is fine by me; more time to celebrate!

EDIT 2:50pm

I just got the email from Sears saying that our crib is in and ready to be picked up - yay! We'll be picking it up tomorrow!!!

Blast from the past

I met up with my friend from highschool last night. We were best friends in grades 9 and 10, so it was nice to catch up with her. The funny thing was, when I walked into the café where we met, 2 other former friends from our highschool were also there – it was somewhat of a reunion! Anyways, I had a very nice visit and it was great to catch up.

Tonight is my only free evening this week, so I am really looking forward to the time to just relax.

I still have a few vacation days and some banked OT for 2008, so I am trying to decide what to do with that. I have enough for 5 days off. I spoke with our office administrator yesterday and I have a few options. Option 1 would be to use the time before I start my mat leave. Option 2 would be to tack that time on right after I leave (so I would work until the 16th, but get paid until the 23rd, which would delay the start of my mat leave by a week). Option 3 would be to keep the time and have it when I return in January 2010. Option 4 would be to get paid out on the time, but apparently this causes some difficulties when applying for EI since my last paycheck would be so much larger than typical.

I am leaning towards Option 1. My back has been feeling a bit better in the last couple weeks, but I think a few days off here and there would really help my last few weeks at work be more comfortable. I am thinking about taking the days off between Christmas and New Years. Because of the way the holidays fall and our other office closures, I already get the 24th, 25th, 26th, Jan 1st, and Jan 2nd off. So, if I use 3 vacation days for the other days between Christmas and New Years, then my last day of work before Christmas would be December 23rd and then I wouldn’t be back until January 5th, at which point I’d only have 2 weeks left since my last day of work will be January 16th. As for the other 2 vacation days, I am thinking about taking 2 Wednesdays in December off to break up the week a bit and make it a little more comfortable. So, I’m thinking about taking December 3rd and 17th off as well; just as relaxing days. So, that’s the plan! Here’s hoping I get approved for those days off! I will submit my request today, so I’ll likely hear back within a few days.

Oh, and I also found out that my company will be providing some type of top-up while I am on leave. I don’t know yet how much or for how long. Apparently the official policy is being created this week and I will probably find out more details within the next week or so. I wasn’t expecting my company to provide any type of top-up, so I will consider anything I receive as gravy!

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

That could have many meanings for me since my mother-in-law and sister-in-law are both named Maria, but I meant it as in the song from Sound of Music of course, since I certainly don’t consider my in-laws as problems ;) The musical was amazing! I think I have convinced a couple of my coworkers to go and see it since I gave it such a good review ;)

My weekend was fabulous. Time with the girls is always a good time! I got home just before 9:30pm on Saturday evening. It took a bit longer than normal to get home because of the congestion getting from Yorkdale to the 401 express, and then because of the very heavy rain, which made for poor visibility. But, mom and I made it home safe and sound!

So I got home on Saturday night and Carlos had finished the painting in the nursery. He worked hard while I was off having fun with the girls! I think he finished mid-afternoon on Saturday, what a man! I am so pleased with how it turned out! Yesterday, we went to get the blinds we had picked out and we spent the afternoon putting our furniture together. In a total of 4 hours, we put the dresser and change table together and hung the blinds and window valence. So, I think we did pretty well! It looks fabulous! Now all we’re missing is the crib, which is supposed to arrive on the weekend. Here’s hoping it arrives on time!

This will be another busy week for me! But I do have one evening free this week (Wednesday), so it’s slightly less busy than last week where I was busy every evening. Tomorrow evening, I am meeting up with an old friend of mine from high school. We recently reconnected through Facebook, so I am excited to see her again and catch up on the last 10 years! We are meeting for coffee, but the earliest she could meet is 8pm. So, I will likely only be able to stay until 9:30pm or so since that has been my bedtime as of late! But, I’m sure we’ll have a nice visit even if it is a short one.

As of today, I am 29 weeks along! Only 11 weeks to go!!!!!

Prenatal Class last night was good!

I really enjoyed our first prenatal class last night. It is all very well organized and the instructor is amazing. Last night we talked about caring for your newborn. So we learned about the different states of consciousness, which senses are most developed when the baby is born, bathing your baby, sleep, swaddling, etc. Next week’s topic is breastfeeding, then labour, then preparing for the unexpected, then more info on newborns, and then the 6th class is the hospital tour. So, I think we’re going to learn lots! We got some really good tips last night.

There were a total of 11 couples in our class (there were supposed to be 12, but one couple was a no-show). They all seem to be couples in their early 20’s to early 30’s and we are somewhere in the middle in terms of due date (they range in the class from late December to mid-March). I think we’re going to get a lot out of this class! Carlos and I both came home feeling very excited since it seems like our due date is getting closer now that we are taking prenatal classes. Very exciting!

Carlos has made amazing progress on the nursery. He has the walls all painted, and has started on the trim (see his Facebook for a couple pics). Things are coming along nicely!

So now I just have to get through the work day today and then it’s the weekend. It has been a very busy week for me (I’ve been busy every evening), but it’s been a good week. And I am really looking forward to this weekend since I get to spend it with lj and nej!!!

Baby had a growth spurt!

At every appointment after 20 weeks, they measure the height of the top of my uterus (measured from your pubic bone). Normal growth is about 1 cm per week. At my 22 week appointment, it measured at 20 cm. At my 26 week appointment, it measured at 24cm. At my 28 week appointment yesterday, it measured at 28 cm! So that’s 4 cm in 2 weeks!!! Baby must have done a lot of growing in the last 2 weeks. The midwife said that sometimes the growth is in spurts, so we might find little change if any at our next appointment on the 26th. Heartbeat was strong at 148 bpm. The midwife was also able to feel the baby’s position, which was really neat. I guess baby is getting big enough now to feel from the outside! So, the appointment yesterday afternoon went very well. I had my blood drawn for the gestational diabetes screen, so I should get those results in a few days, by early next week at the latest.

It was funny, I had to leave the office yesterday at 3pm since my appointment was at 3:30pm. My boss called a meeting from 2:30 until 3 with me and another coworker to talk about an upcoming public meeting. Well, I had to eat my precise number of smarties at exactly 2:45pm, so I had to take them to the meeting with me and explain why halfway through the meeting, they were going to see me eat a mountain of smarties in a short period of time. Figures! It was funny.

Carlos spent yesterday morning getting the first coat of paint on the nursery walls – it looks great! He’s doing the second coat this morning. Then it’s on to the trim! I’m sure he’ll have it all done by the time I get home on Saturday evening from my weekend in Toronto. Then on Sunday, we are planning to put the change table and dresser together and do some of the finishing touches (blinds, window valence, etc.). I think that by the end of the weekend, we should have everything ready except the crib, which should arrive in about a week and a half. Exciting!

Tomorrow evening, I am headed to nej’s place for a girls night and birthday celebration for lj and me. Should be good times! Then on Saturday, we are headed downtown to meet up with my mom and see The Sound of Music musical. I am really excited for this ladies weekend!!!

Oh, when I was at my massage last night (which was HEAVEN!), my massage therapist told me she still thinks I’m having a girl and she thinks the baby will be born a little early, around January 28th or so. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if she’s right!

Another busy week ahead

Actually, the next 3 weeks are crazy busy for me. This week, I have something on every evening. I don’t like being so busy, but all the events I have this week are fun, so I’m not complaining! Tonight, I am having my friend Liz over who I haven’t seen since August, so it will be nice to catch up with her. Tomorrow afternoon, I have another appointment with my midwife at 3:30pm and then a massage in the evening. I have been really looking forward to the massage since my back has been sore in the last week or so. Thursday evening, Carlos and I have our first prenatal class! The class runs 6 weeks total (5 classes and then the 6th week is a tour of the maternity ward of our brand new hospital). I haven’t even been inside the new hospital (it only opened in June), so I am looking forward to seeing the place I’ll be giving birth! I’m sure we will really enjoy the classes and getting to meet other expectant couples.

So, that makes for a busy week. But I think it will be an enjoyable one!

My coworkers are planning a baby shower for me, which is really nice. It was funny; one of my coworkers came into my office last week and said something along the lines of “Do you live by your day planner?” And I of course said yes! She then asked me to look and see if I had the evening of November 28th free, and I replied “well I don’t need to look at that date; it’s my birthday! But, I have no real plans that evening”. So, they are planning a baby shower for me and my parents and Carlos are invited as well. That’s all I know about it so far. So, that should be fun; my first baby shower! I have a feeling my family will be planning another baby shower for me with family and friends, but I think that won’t be until after the baby is born, so sometime in March I’m thinking.

Carlos’ friend and his wife had a baby girl on Saturday evening. So, we are now officially the next ones in our group of friends to have a baby – very exciting! Our time is getting closer!

Yay for new work hours

This morning in our weekly company meeting, my boss announced that we are changing our hours, effective today. We will be working 8am until 4:30pm with a half hour lunch (as opposed to 8am to 5pm with an hour lunch). We are still welcome to work the old hours any day that we need an hour for lunch. On Mondays for the next 6 weeks, I am going to stay with the old hours since I have my prenatal pilates class at 5:15pm, so there is no point in me going home first. But, this means that on most days, I’ll be home by 5pm, which makes me really happy! That will also mean a half hour less per day I need to sit at my desk, which is good news for my aching back!

AC/DC put on an awesome show on Friday night!!! It was great! Saturday, the men worked hard on the renovation. The portico is almost done now. Probably as far as it’s going to get before winter. All that is left to be done is put some crown moulding around the inside to cover the gap between the ceiling and the beams, paint it, and brick around the front pillars (which Carlos’ dad is going to do). So, the painting and bricks will likely wait until the spring. But, everything else is done and it looks great! Check out Carlos’ blog for pictures.

The nursery is almost ready to be painted. Just needs a little more primer in a couple spots and then the painting can begin! I think Carlos will work on that some mornings this week and I have a sneaking suspicion he is going to try to get all the painting done by the time I get home on Saturday night from my weekend with nej and lj. Carlos won’t let me help with the painting because of the fumes, so he’s doing it all himself. What a guy! I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s all painted! Then we can start putting the furniture together. The only item that we are still waiting to arrive is the crib, and it’s supposed to get to our local Sears in about 2 weeks.

Saturday morning, I got myself all worked up. I hadn’t been feeling the baby move as much as I normally do, which had me worried. I was still feeling movements, they just weren’t nearly as frequent or intense as they had been. So, I googled “reduced fetal movements” and that was probably the worst thing I could have done because all these websites for stillbirth came up basically saying that usually before a baby dies, the mothers experience reduced fetal movements and to call your doctor if you are experiencing this right away, do not wait. So, I immediately burst into tears and was totally freaked out that something was wrong. Once I had calmed down a bit, I paged my midwife (they are available 24/7 for any major concerns). She called me back within 5 minutes and I explained what I had been feeling (or not feeling in this case). She asked me to drink a glass of cold water (to wake the baby up) and then lie down in a quiet room and count the movements. She said any movement counted, didn’t matter if it wasn’t as intense as normal, it could be that the baby is facing my back or something and I’m just not feeling them as intense as if the baby was kicking towards the front. She also said that later in pregnancy, the quality of movements usually changes since the baby has less room to move, so the kicks won’t be as intense. So, she asked me to count and then she’d call back to see how I was doing. She said 4 movements in a hour when the baby is awake is considered adequate. She did say that if we weren’t satisfied, we could go to the hospital for a non-stress test where I would be hooked up to a machine that measures the baby’s heart rate and movements.

So, when she called back, it had been about 40 minutes and I had felt 6 movements. So, she said that was lots and no reason to be concerned. The movements were very subtle, so I think what happened was I was just so busy on Friday that I didn’t notice the movements as much. But, lying down in a quiet room made me notice them much more. I felt very relieved after I had talked to the midwife. Since then, I have been noticing the kicks more, they are back to the ‘regular’ frequency and intensity. So, I think the baby just had a lazy couple of days or maybe the baby was in a different position for awhile. I am so thankful to have a midwife that takes such good care of me, even when I call her all panicked on a Saturday morning!

Yay for AC/DC Friday!

My long day yesterday went pretty well actually. We spent a total of 5 hours in the car, but we were in my boss’ car, so he has really comfy seats. So, I was much more comfortable than I would have been sitting at my desk. I ended up working a 15-hour day yesterday, which was okay since I’m only working a 4-hour day today to compensate a bit ;) The meeting last night went well, and now I only have 1 more of these evening meetings to attend before I go on mat leave. So, I am relieved about that.

Tonight I am off to see AC/DC with Carlos and nej – yay!!!! The rest of the weekend will be spent working on the reno, I’m sure. Carlos has been working on it in the last few days and he has the nursery almost completely primed! Only need to do a little more work (installing a piece of baseboard where the door used to be and do a little more mudding) and then it will be ready to be painted! I can’t wait! I’m hoping the weather will be okay tomorrow and the men can get some more work done on the portico… we’ll see!

Party last night was a success!

I picked up my parents after work to take them to the mystery location for their 30th anniversary party. I even blindfolded them. Along the way, they were trying to keep track of where we were, and they were too good, so I had to take some major detours and driving around in circles to get them sufficiently lost ;) So, once we arrived, almost all the other guests were there, which was good. My parents were very touched that we planned this for them. My mom thought that maybe we were having a family dinner, but she didn’t know I expanded the guest list to also include her closest friends! It was great! And my brothers came through on the balloons, which I was very pleased about. So, the evening was a complete success! Most of the friends we invited hadn’t seen me since I became pregnant, but they all knew I was expecting. They all made such a fuss saying how radiant I look, and how it looks like ‘I’m all baby’, which is always nice to hear ;)

So now I am trying to get prepared for my meeting tomorrow, so it will be a busy couple of days! Tomorrow will likely be a close to 16-hour day for me… yikes! At least 5 of those hours are driving time. Needless to say, I will be very relieved when Friday rolls around!

Hello Third Trimester!

I am officially into my third trimester now, yay! I am 27 weeks along, so only 13 weeks to go!

This week is going to be a very busy one. Wednesday is my only evening free this week, so I’m sure I’ll be exhausted by the time the weekend rolls around. Tomorrow is my parents’ 30th wedding anniversary, so I am planning a party for them. I was considering hosting it at my house, but to save some hassle, I booked a private room at a restaurant instead. I have invited family and my parents’ closest friends, so I hope they are surprised! I am a little miffed at my brother Al though. I told him months ago that he was in charge of planning their 30th wedding anniversary party since I planned a huge party for their 25th. So, I figured it was his turn. Well, he’s about as useless as tits on a bull, so in the end, I ended up having to plan it anyways. I told him and Thom that they needed to bring balloons though! In reality, it will be Thom bringing balloons since he’s the responsible one. Sheesh. At least Al is marrying an organized woman, anything I need him to do, I will just ask her!

Speaking of my brothers, I feel badly for Thom. I mentioned that he got dumped last week. Well, he just found out yesterday that the reason his gf broke up with him was so that she could have casual sex with someone else. And she did this within days of them breaking up and apparently she has this whole attitude like it was no big deal since she was single at the time. She has no concept that this might be hurtful to Thom. What’s with 16 year old girls these days?!?!? So, he has now realized that there is no way he would ever want her back, so now he can be hurt, mad, and disappointed for awhile and then move on. I feel badly for him! He deserves so much better!

Thursday of this week, I have another meeting to attend out of town, so I will be working a super long day (8am until between 11pm and midnight). The good news is that will make for a very short day on Friday since I will come into the office late and I have to leave early to head to Toronto to see AC/DC with my hubby and nej! Which I am really looking forward to!

This past weekend was a good one. Saturday, we spent more money at Home Depot getting more supplies for the portico renovation. I am always surprised at how expensive lumber is. We are lucky that my dad had some left over wood that he used for all the framing, but we still had to buy the shingles, and all the wood for the gable, ceiling, and other finishing touches. Dad and Carlos finished the shingling, so now it’s just a matter of installing the wood to box in the beams and on the ceiling and gable. So, I’m hoping the weather will be decent on Saturday and they could finish this up. We will likely have to wait until next year to paint it and have the pillars at the front bricked up, but it will already look worlds better! The nursery is at the point where it is almost ready to be primed, just a little more sanding/mudding to do. I can’t wait to get this all done!