1 week till D-day

Okay, we are actually only 5 days until the official due date and I sure look the part. I am ready and not ready all at once. Physically I am definitely ready to have this baby out. Mentally I am still happy being just me and not having this little bundle here yet although I am certainly looking forward to meeting him/her.

Here is a picture of todays project. I have 13 more cut out and am in the process of sewing together.


A picture from yesterday showing what a great spotter piglet and I can be. Very jealous of the guys with such great conditions...next year.


And a pic of the feet just because they look like overstuffed sausages.

Day by Day

Nothing too exciting going on in my world. Just getting bigger and bigger. Today is day 9 on the count down of last days of work.

This past weekend the painting crew - ie Andy, Todd, Keith and Sandra finished off the large sections of painting the shop. Now there is just little touch-ups and putting tread back on stairs, etc to do. I didn't do anything but mix paint but was so hot and tired that I barely had energy to even feel guilty.

Sunday evening was capped off with this beautiful view from our back patio.



And because someone wants to see this big belly of mine - a warped side view taken after admiring that beautiful sunset.

Car Seat

Wednesday night Andy & I went shopping for the one neccessity we need in order to bring the piglet home.....yes, there are other needs such as clothes and diapers but they won't let you drive home from the hospital without a proper car seat....so off to the big city we went.

After pulling several different models off the wall, adjust the handles, pulling them in and out of the bases, comparing weights, handle comfort, padding in the seat, etc, etc....we settled on this one.



Strangely enough it is actually the same colour combo as the jogging stroller I have already picked up...something I didn't realize until I got home. Red and black...good for a boy or a girl...

Baby bump photos

Andy and I had a photo session on July 26 to take some photos of what the belly looks like at -7 weeks from due date. It is funny looking at them today, only a week later and it seems like the belly has ballooned since then but then I think the belly looks way smaller in the photos then in real life from what I remember it looking like a week ago so it probably isn't really that much bigger.

I have a whole selection of fun photos from that day. Some with Andy, some without, some of just the belly....I think it is going to be tough to choose the one photo to have blown up as there are several that I like. Here are some of my favs though.

This weekend we went to the lake. Three full days of relaxation. Pure bliss for this waddling girl. We spent Saturday working on choosing baby names. Actually came up with some names we both like - might be getting somewhere. The rest of the weekend we did next to nothing...a boat ride...sitting in the sun...sitting in the shade....going for a swim...man life was tough. Christine and Carson also joined us on Sunday which was so nice as we barely see each other anymore.

Baby Booties

Last night I decided to whip up a little something in case we get the call that Brad and Leese have taken their trip to the hospital. I have been wanting to try making these booties for the longest time and have printed off numerous patterns to try. This pattern seemed the simplest and most straight forward so I figured it was a good place to start. I had picked up a suede jacket at a second hand shop a while back for the grand sum of $1 with these booties in mind.

I am now eager to make a whole bunch more using the suede for the sole and playing around with different fabrics for the top pieces. I think piglet will have to have a pair of all suedes as well. If I get the time I will make a new pair - with revisions - for Brad and Leese's little one and piglet can have the trial pair. I also have to figure out how to upsize the pattern so I can make bigger ones. This pattern says it is good for 0-6 months but I thought some 6-12 month ones would be good as long as the sole is non-slip. Especially for just around the house as indoor slippers that don't slip off :)

Piglet's change table

I stumbled across this change table at a second hand shop. I was going to buy one of those nice change tables that look like a dresser after the little one graduates from diapers but when I saw this little gem my mind went to...hmmm...$30 dollars and a little paint job or $380 and it still might not match the bedframe quite right. So what does someone like me do..you guessed it...and I think with a little paint she looks quite nice.

The before shot


And the after

Mosquitos are swell

Or should I say when one is pregnant and gets bitten by a mosquito one swells. This is a tame version what my mosquito bites looked like on my feet after our trip to the lake on the long weekend. I don't recall every reacting to mosquito bites. Yes, they get itchy and red but never do they swell up. The picture shows one at a "normal" reaction size and one at about the size the others were the day before - although they also went a white tone rather then red as in the photo. My other foot had about 3 or 4 or these beauties. Isn't being pregnant an experience!

Ouch....little feet....and a graphic warning ;)

As I write this, piglet, bless his/her little soul, has chosen to amuse him/herself by repeatedly kicking/pushing me in the ribs. Gotta love him/her, not sure quite what he/she has wedged in there but darn if it doesn't make sitting at my desk uncomfortable. Good thing I still find all the movement amusing or it might be annoying.

As per Mom's request here is a picture of the current Big Mumma belly..Now at 6 months, 1 week....hence the graphic warning...tee..hee..


Thought I'd post a couple of pics of completed and updated baby projects.

First there is the completed palm tree with bassinet set up and full of freshly cleaned plush toys....don't think piglet needs any more stuffies.


Then an updated picture of the window area. I added another curtain as I didn't like the way it looked before. I then altered the bakers rack I had left over from Canadian Cart Concept days. Currently I am storing piglet's book collection on it...they will obviously have to be moved once someone starts moving on one's own but until then it looks cute. I think I have this desire to have a huge library of books for piglet. I have this massive wish list at Amazon full of little kids books. Kind of silly really as we have this great library in Mill Bay so why spend a ton on books. The collection I have so far is from my own childhood plus books I have found at second hand shops, garage sales, etc. I have noticed I tend to stay away from 'name brand' books (doing the same with clothes, decor, etc) - trying not to have much Disney, Blues Clues, Dora and other such known characters - I figure it kind of kills imagination and pulls kids into commercialism far too soon. Most of the books are full of beautiful illustrations and I try to keep with stories that are of the teaching manner, whether it be a value/moral or a how to do something or a history lesson. Can you tell I was a bookworm growing up :)


How about a picture of all the baby clothes I have been laundering. This pile doesn't count all the newborn to 6 month cloths already stacked in the closet. Putting more shelving in the closet is on the to do list now so that I can actually go through all the clothes and figure out what I may need. Looks like I have more then enough sleepers and onesies to keep me going for a while though.


Lastly is the sewing projects. First pic is of burp cloths that are completed. Second pic is of burp cloths that need to be pressed and final edge sewing done.



Well that's enough for now. More completed projects coming soon...

Life update

A pictureless post but then I guess I have been too busy doing things that I keep forgetting to take pictures for others to see.

On the baby front I have completed the palm tree - looks pretty good for a non-painter. I have cleaned up the bassinet and washed the bedding - thinking I might paint the legs to freshen it up a little. The quilt is almost complete. I have sewn all the front pieces together and picked up some binding so now I just have to sew the binding on and it will be done. I am part way through sewing together burp cloths - although I keep finding more fabric to make more burp cloths - still haven't found a 'suggested' amount of cloths to have on hand which makes it difficult to know when to stop ;) I think this afternoon I am going to go choose some flannel fabric to make some receiving blankets and wipes. After them I will have to start on diapers.

Garden wise - I planted up the majority of the veggie garden - just the periodic addition of lettuce, carrots, radish, etc to keep season long supply going. Found holes throughout the garden beds for the 4 boxes of dahlias I was given - I'll have to keep them cut back or I'll have a huge mess in the garden...teehee.. I planted one hanging basket..just cause you have to have atleast one hanging basket. This year it is hanging next to the arbour leading to the veggie garden. I also planted some nice trailing annuals in all the planters on the back patio, garage door planters and front entrance planters. I did a big harvest of herbs this past weekend - hopefully they will dry well as they currently are spread all over the livingroom.

We went for a sail with the Porter's this past weekend. I do enjoy going out with them a couple times a year but I can say that I don't think I would ever become a big sailor. Much rather be in a speedboat with a destination in mind...luckily Andy is of the same mind.

Anything else.....oh yes, I made myself a pillowtop shirt..I was hoping it would make a great maternity top throughout the hot summer but I have a feeling it is only going to last another week or two. It will be a cute top for next summer though.

Well, I think that is all for now.

Baby names and obsess much!

Okay, so there is the extremely difficult task of choosing a name for our child. We of course need a girl and a boy name. Preferably two of each just in case the baby pops out and doesn't suit the name we chose at all.

Then there is the difficulty of Andy wanting a 'normal' name and I want a not too common name. For some reason my darling husband thinks I can't chose a 'normal' name. It's not like I want to name my child Apple or Poppy or Phineas or something far out like that, I just don't want my child to be one of four children in the same class with the same name. I want my child to have a name similar to what my name is like. Different enough that you don't know a lot of other's with the same name but not so unusally that people are asking what your name is again and how do you spell it because it sounds so unusual that people don't know how to even begin to spell it or alternatively see it spelled and don't kow how to pronounce it.

I also want to have a boys name that is a strong name - no wussy girly names - a name that is going to suit him if he choses a high powered career but perhaps can be shortened to something more casual for friends and family or more casual type career. Something like his father - Andrew - but goes by Andy.

For a girl I want something feminine and girly but also could be used for a high powered career if she goes that route. The name I am pushing for right now goes that route but Andy wants to divide it into two names. My issue is that it creates too casual a name and too common a name. For whatever the reason the name I chose out of the blue, it's very pretty nickname is in the top 20 names in BC for 2007 - not good! But if we kept with the long form it isn't nearly as common and there are some other options for nicknames - not quite so cute but certainly less common.

Oh bother........who knew one could get so worked up about something. Mind you on the other hand I have discovered that the short form for the boys name we keep tossing about and I was worrying about being too common actually doesn't even hit the lists for the last couple of years. We might just be in luck with that one. Maybe it can just be a boy and then the problem is solved.

I printed out the stats listing for 2007 and 2008 and have crossed out all names that were used 50 or more times. This included adding up things like Jaden, Jaiden and Jayden as I figure you pronounce them the same way so they are basically the same name. Perhaps from this listing we can find a name that we both like but isn't too common or atleast keep from choosing a name that we thought was unique and turns out to be common as anything. Darn all these people that are using names I have had in the back of my head for years.

Am I obsessing much or what?

Laundry

Just for fun. I pic of the beginnings of making my way through the piles of babies clothes making there ways to me. Thought I'd get a jump on the laundering and have everything clean ahead of time. Now I just need some shelving to put it on :)

Window view

A couple of pics of the changes I made to the window in piglets room.

Mobile hanging

New curtains

Close up of sea creature curtain hangers

Fabric for baby quilt

How about a picture to go with the previously talked about baby quilt. I didn't want a "babyish" quilt so went with some great tropical themed prints and mixed in some complimentary patterns to make what I think will be a great unisex quilt that should become a lap quilt latter on if it hasn't been destroyed. The cream coloured background is actually the fabric for the other side.

Palm tree

As promised I have remembered to bring in my camera and cord and am going to upload some of the many little projects on the go or recently completed.

So first up is the moon and palm tree project for piglets wall. Though not quite finished the pictures show what it will look like fairly accurately.
Drawing the moon

Painting of the moon

Palm tree half finished

Baby projects

Wednesday night was a night of fun shopping. I went to the fabric store and chose fabrics for a baby quilt for piglet. Five great new fabrics to add to one that I had brought back from Hawaii with me. The Hawaiian piece is a dark blue with white/yellow plumerias on it. New fabrics I picked up include #1 - multi colour stripe, #2 - yellow leaf like design, #3 - goldfish on dark blue, #4 - parrots in tropical forest and #5 multicolor dragonflies on black. I will post pic at later date when I remember to bring camera and cord with me to work.

I also picked up a cream coloured rosebud fleece for the other side of quilt. Bindig is still to be determined.

Added a green leaf flannel to go with a Hibiscus print on black cotton that I picked up in Hawaii for a couple more burp cloths.

Guess I have some sewing to do.

First attempts for cookbook

Okay, so I have started playing around with recipes with the cookbook in mind. So far I have a grilled pineapple salad with a spicy sauce that has possibilities as well as a rhubarb sticky bun that was commented on at Mother's Day brunch. Both will obviously require making again with any changes to improve further and ingredient measurements written down more accurately.

I have made several other items that though they were good were not worthy of a cookbook with my name to it.

Still haven't figured out a format so it is hard to focus on what type of recipes to be playing with. I was just thinking right now that maybe something about fruits and veggies in a new way.

In other news I have had to find a new person to take over my pregnancy care as my regular doctor has chosen to discontinue deliveries. Luckily I was able to get in with the midwifery group in Duncan, which is slightly ironic as I had originally thought I would go with a midwife but then chose to stay with my regular doctor for the consistancy factor. Sometimes life just takes you to something you wanted anyways. I have to say I am extremely comfortable with this change - far more so then the suggested new doctor options.

Ultrasound went great. Apparently nothing showed up to worry about. New due date is September 12. Triple screen tests came back - low risk - which is a sigh of relief - not that we had reason to be concerned but it is good to know that we are at only 1% chance of these birth defects.

Little Piglet / Jefferson / whateveryournamewillbe is kicking a lot these days. Can't wait until Andy can feel it. He is starting to really become comfortable with the whole idea. Even said hello to our little guy the other day. It sure makes a world of difference for me. Just makes me feel like yes everything will be alright.

Now if only this darned cold would go away!

Java Jolt

Mmmmmm...coffee......you got to know I am feeling better as I can now enjoy a cup of coffee again. Not that I should be...it would be better for piglet if I didn't but we all have our little things. I am not having more then two cups a day so I guess I am doing okay. I really need to make sure I have lots of calcium rich foods and then it's all good....right?!?

Can you sense the worried, guilty, am I hurting my baby thing in the background. That's me the worrywort. I know I need to eat more veggies and last night I even managed to make it multi-salad night for dinner - just what the body ordered. Cucumber salad, carrot salad (made with yogurt again - yummy)and two different pasta salads - one cheese/ham with veggies, the other chicken peanut with veggies. It is so nice to actually feel some desire to create a meal again and not just what is quick and easy and minimal effort.

This past Saturday I went with a group of girlfriends to have lunch and our tea leaves read. It was what I would call an interesting experience. For some reason my reading included my being sad, that everything was going to be okay and not to worry. For a while there it had me a little worried but she also said that I had lost my "pixie like self" and needed to re-find it. It was an afternoon of contemplation about how I had been feeling for months...even prior to getting pregnant and strangely enough she was right. So believe it or not I had the best Sunday in absolute eons. I just felt good, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. It was the "get over it" moment I had been needing without even realizing it. Happiness comes from within and I have been wallowing in something negative that's for sure.

Sunday Mom and I went to the baby show in Sidney. It was such a fun day. Tons of fun little gifts to be had from lots of different stores, etc. I found out there is a store in Victoria that specializes in cloth diapers so I will be making a trip in there to figure out which kind I am going to use. Seems like there are all kinds of options depending on what you like so that is exciting. I also found a company that has bamboo onesies - they are so soft that I actually bought one. Believe it or not that is the first new item I have purchased for the baby since the piggy bank that I bought to tell Andy we were pregnant with. I also got the name of a store that carries all kinds of the baby wraps that are really good for people with back problems - like me - so I'll have to make a trip in there.

Last night I got a phone call that was exciting - apparently my good energy really came out on Sunday as I won the stroller that Island Child Magazine had as their door prize. Crazy! They are dropping it off on wednesday.

Perhaps this Pixie is starting to perk up :)

The start of something better

I think...knock on wood... that I am coming out of the worst of the morning sickness. I barely throw up now. First thing in the morning is still rough and my first couple of hours of the day aren't completely normal but the afternoons are getting better. I don't have to run to shove food in my face to keep from heaving. My stomach will actually growl telling me to eat before making me feel sick - heaven.

I even had enough interest in dinner last night to make two salads. I discovered that mixing mayo and yogurt actually makes carrot salad taste even better and it is lower in fat then normal carrot salad - yum! Dinner last night was much better then what Andy has referred to as "the pasta diet". Hopefully it is just the start.

Tummy has popped out. Had to go buy some new clothes to wear as my jeans were too tight. So funny poking at the belly, it seems so huge when you consider the baby is only slightly larger then my fist but nature is a funny thing. It's kind of nice to look pregnant only cause it makes it feel a little more real then just feeling crappy all the time.

Andy is positive the baby is a boy. I don't have a feeling either way although I hope it is a boy for Andy's sake. A little guy to follow him around and try to do everything that daddy does would be so cute and I think Andy would connect more with a little boy then a girl but most importantly I am just hoping for a happy and healthy baby. So my focus is to stay calm and happy and to try and eat as healthy as possible, stay away from what they tell you to stay away from. Oh and convince myself that sleeping on my side is comfortable. I tell you - first I lose sleeping on my belly now I have to stop sleeping on my back and that is when I can actually get to sleep and stay sleeping.

My goodness, can I complain much! Now that I have purged I feel much better. Change is a wonderful thing isn't it?

Ultrasound

So yesterday I got to go to have an ultrasound. Earlier then normal due to some bleeding but right now the joy of getting to see our little one on screen far outways the concern and worries I had over over the weekend.

There is officially a baby inside there. Just one for the record. And surprisingly enough it turns out we are 2 weeks less pregnant then we thought. That should move our due date to around September 18 (Trish and Albie should get a kick out of that). I guess names like Marina and Poet are no longer valid names as remembrance for where the little one came to be. Perhaps Mary, Chris, Joy or Noel might be more appropriate. Oh well, we have 6 months to figure it out.

Week 12

So time seems to go fast yet also extremely slow right now. Every day seems to drag on forever. I know that it is mainly due to feeling so tired and never knowing when I am going to feel sick again. I thought I had it all under control but now I get hit at all hours of the day with varying degrees. Some days it is just the cough and gag as I call it, others it is a full out run to the washroom. I know we are getting close to this coming to an end and I am fully living into it. Feeling good and full of energy - soon....very soon. Until then I will continue with the crackers and gingerale.