Day 3 of 31 for 21!

Today is day 3!

I am completely unmotivated to blog tonight. I am exceptionally pregnant and uncomfortable and I can't wait to get home and pass out. Working until midnight is no fun at all when you are tired and miserable from being pregnant, but alas, I have to slug it out.

Today Evad and I went to the Kids Garage sale at Cardel place. I must say I was slightly disappointed. 75 - 85 % of the clothes that were for sale were girls clothes. Seems like girls have WAY more clothes than boys and what boy clothes there were, were worn fairly thin. I bought a few new Pj's for Hunt and a really cute Formal Christmas outfit for him for the Holiday's this year as we are heading to Vancouver. I thought it would be nice if he had a snazzy out fit for Christmas Dinner with his Grandparents.

I also got a really nice swim float finally. So far I have been through three different floaties for Hunter, all of which were Fail! In one, swimming at Great Gramma's pool, Hunt leaned forward and tipped right over. Head first into the drink. Another one I bought was so cheap it wouldn't stay inflated properly and the very first one was so small he out grew it in a matter of months. This new one that I bought is one identical to the ones they have at the swimming pools. It's a really nice float and has a canopy for the sun. Here it is.
So far this is the nicest, most stable kids float we have ever used. I bought it for 4$

That is about the extent of my garage sale purchases today, which is pretty sad because I am a total garage sale junky.

After that, Evad and I went to the mall and had some lunch, wandered around and got a new phone for my self. It's a Samsung Ace. I got the phone for few and there is no contract. It's a basic 30 agreement that you can renew or not. I pay 44$ a month for unlimited calls and texting to my 5 faves, 150 local minutes, Unlimited incoming texts, 250 outgoing texts to other numbers, and call display! No contract, No obligation, NO GOD DAMN CONTRACT! .. Ahem.. sorry. Sadly, I am a little bitter about cellphone companies and being chronically over billed. We just canceled our contracts with Telus on our 2 cellphones and it cost us 679$ to get OUT of the contract. This was the CHEAPEST and EASIEST way of dealing with the outrageous phone bills. Months on end we would change our plans and minimize our options till we were down to the bare bones plans and STILL we were paying over 150$ a month on cell phone bills. On top of that, our phones were connecting to the internet at the weirdest times. I had received bills for Facebook Internet activity at 2 am on a weeknight when both Dave and I would be in bed. Randomly being charged 10 cents here and 29 cents here for internet activity that we weren't using. In fact, Dave was quite amazed that a cell phone could actually access Facebook. On top of all that, we weren't getting some monthly bills in the mail and then poof, we would get a disconnection notice. One month we were actually disconnected for no real reason, except I think they wanted another 70$ out of us for reactivation charges. Anyway, that's all sorted out and I'm happy to say I really like my new phone and the cheap plan that I DON'T have to renew if I don't want to. :D

Day 2 of 31 for 21

It's only day two of the 31. If I should forget to post one day, I ask that someone please comment on my blog so that I get an email telling me to get my act together.

Today is Oct 2nd, which means I have 3 more working days till I am on Maternity leave and 47 more days till the baby comes.

I am getting kind of worked up about the baby lately. I wish my momma had some time off at the beginning of November to come and help me get the house ready. I am having a harder time with the last trimester of this pregnancy than I was when I was knocked up with Hunter. He was quite small for dates (4lbs, 14 oz at birth, 36 weeks 3 days) and I really am beginning to think he didn't move very much. At the time we called him Kickypants Ross because he was so active, but I didn't have anything to compare his movements to. With this child, there are days when I am honestly sore from all the kicking and rolling and moving and the pressure is intense.

As for getting the house ready, I am a little overwhelmed because I am so pregnant and uncomfortable and irritated, tired and sore, and just all around cranky. I wish I had more energy to take care of everything that I feel is PRESSING. I think the best way to get the house ready for the new baby will be to make a decent list of all the things that I would like to get done and just start working away at the list.

We cut Sam's old loft bed down into a toddler bed for Bean the other night and got him a Mattress. I had NO idea that a single twin mattress was so expensive. We spend over 350$ on it, but it is an excellent mattress and considering how little and light he is, I'm sure that he will be able to use it for probably more than 15 years. I will have some pics of the old loft bed and the new toddler bed posted here asap so you can see what we have done.

That said, we have to do a little furniture rearranging to get the new baby's room in order. There are some things I would like to do in the room to make it a little more inviting as well. Just a few decorating ideas I have. After that, I think I will feel more comfortable and less stressed about the baby coming.

Tomorrow, My Girlfriend C, Dave, Beany and I are going to the Cardel Place Kids Garage sale. I'm hoping to find a few things for the new baby and some sleepers for Hunter. He has pretty much out grown all his pj's and when he wakes up in the morning he usually has a few snaps open and one if not both legs hanging out. He apparently IS getting taller. I also want to find him some big boy toys for learning. Something more suitable for toddlers so that we can put his old baby toys in the new babies room and he can have some new and fun things to play with. Rattles are sooo last year.

I must say that having another baby is exciting and terrifying at the same time. I really wanted Hunter to have a little baby brother or sister to grow up with so that he wasn't an only child. The age difference between he and Sam is so large that he is considered an only child and I didn't want him to grow up alone and bored. Nothing more entertaining than beating on your younger siblings! We weren't expecting, planning or trying for the new baby, but I am glad that it happened. This way we get all the baby nonsense over with ASAP and Hunter will be very close in age to Phoenix. But I have days where I wonder if my head is gonna pop off with the intensity and fear of it all. Two Babies Still in diapers. Double Strollers. Dueling Playpens. Double stuffed Diaper bags. Two different nap schedules. Three if you include Dad! Toddler food and baby food! Crawling and WALKING! I only have TWO hands! They will out number me. And then there will come a day when Phoenix and Hunter are working in cahoots against me! "Quick, Mom just went into the bathroom! Lift me up so I can get to the cookie jar!"

Is it just me or does anyone else ever go... "Holy shit! I'm not responsible enough for all of this!"

/sigh... I can do it.. I just need some help... Mom? Momma!!?? Mommy!! !!?!?

GRAMMA!! ??!

31 for 21!

IT'S OCTOBER 1ST!

Today is the first day of the 3rd Annual 31 for 21 Blog Challenge. I knew it was coming but now that it's here, I must admit, I'm not prepared. I have a terrible string of laziness lately that I can't seem to shake but, I'm gonna do it! The goal, in a nut shell, is to blog every day for the 31 days in October, which is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. You don't have to blog ABOUT DS but it's a way for Bloggers to show their support for Down Syndrome. Tricia has started her first post with a Mr. Linky so you can see who is getting involved this year.

So, if you are a blogger, I challenge you to the 31 for 21!

Start blogging!



ETA ~ Perhaps this will help shake the laziness. If anything It will certainly make up for the COMPLETE lack of September posts.

Belly Dancing

Here are a couple of videos that I made of the Phoenix baby Dancing away.
The second video is quite a bit longer but definitely a lot more movement. :D




Second Video Still to Come.

ETA - 9 am MST!

My First Toque

I would like to thank my very gorgeous and patient model Punkin for helping with the photo shoot!

This is the first Toque I have knitted. It was knitted on 4 needles as opposed to a circular needle. and it is also my first attempt at fairisle knitting, which is the duel yarn/colour knitting. I started small as I didn't work from a pattern and wanted something to just test my skills. It's just something I whipped up from scratch and I am very proud of the out come. I hope it's not too small for the new baby. It is pink which is really just wishful thinking at this point. I think I will make a little green one and a little purple one as well. Perhaps blue too. It was a fairly quick project. So i'm sure I can make a few more by November 18th!

DestructoBean!

This is what you find when you gate your 18 month old son in his room so that you can have a shower.

Toys that don't belong in the bedroom, apparently.

Who needs a dresser... I mean really?

You like what I have done with the place Momma?

Bean got a new hair cut!

My Boy So Damn Handsome it HURTS!

The Princess came to visit!

I know the first few pictures are blurry but I took them as fast as I could as this seemed to be a spontaneous love session going on. The Princess knocked the Bean down and flopped on top of him to give him a smooch! It was too perfect to miss. Hence the Blur.

We Love Princess Lorelai and her visits!

September! Where have I been?

Well, this will be my second post for September. I am totally disappointed that I have dropped the Blogball. I suspect that the summer, being pregnant, having a toddler who finally toddles, preparing for maternity leave and work have all attributed to my complete lack of blogging skills. I suspect this is probably my 10th apology for being a slacker! lol

Well, As another update, I went to the OBGYN on Monday and I spoke with her about the best course of action as far as labor/delivery goes. The problem I was facing was my concern for Hunter when I go into labor because I really NEED Dave by my side when I have to go into the hospital, but we don't really have anyone who I can count on 100% to take Hunter at the drop of a hat when I finally go into labor. My momma has quite a bit of time off in November, which if we KNEW for a fact what day the baby was coming, then she could be here to take Hunty while Dave and I are in Hospital. The Doc/OBGYN asked if I was preferential to having another C-section or a vaginal Delivery. I told her I honestly didn't care but as far as the life/scheduling issue goes, the C-Section makes the most sense. So, We scheduled a C- Section for November 18th at 8am! This works out perfect for My Momma's schedule because she has from the 17th - 26th of November off work. She will Fly in on the 17th and be there to watch Hunty and meet the new baby right away. The Doc mentioned that if the baby does come early I still have the option of a C-Section, I just have to go to the hospital and tell them that I have one scheduled and they will do the C-Section right away. OR, should I want to have a vaginal birth if the baby comes early, then I can do that too.

I'm happy that is all straightened out. I am still going to pack my bags for the hospital in case of an early arrival. I am also thinking I should have a bag of Bean's clothes, snacks, diapers and things packed for him as well so that if need be a friend or Aunt or someone can come get him from the hospital. In the even of an Early arrival that is!

OMG it's coming soon!

I was talking to my mom about the decision to have another C-Section. I told her I didn't need to have a vaginal birth to feel fulfilled as a woman and a mother. We got a chuckle out of that. But it's true, I really don't need to feel the baby come tearing out of me, screaming and pushing and all that jazz to know and feel like a mother. Dave is not looking forward to the whole hospital experience, as it seems to traumatize him. It's inevitable tho. I keep telling him "At least YOU don't have to feel any pain!"

Wow I'm Terrible!

The Summer is NOT Conducive to Blogging!

Too much fun stuff has gone on in the last few months and I am finding it hard to find time to sit down and blog. Between Work, 17 month old Bean who is officially walking, visiting new and old friends, getting ready for the NEW baby... A woman Got her hands full!

Sooo.... here is a run down of the Newest News.

* I am 30 weeks Preggers! I have my first OBGYN Appointment on the 21st of September.
I'm due to "Calf Out" as David calls it, on November 26th roughly. I have to talk with my OBGYN about Vaginal Delivery VS C-Section. When I had Hunter I had an Emergency C-Section so I'm not sure what my best option is this time around. I must admit that I am Pissing my pants scared about going through labor again!

* I cut all my dreads off... so now I have uber short hair. I really like it. It's free and relaxed and low maintenance. Contrary to what I THOUGHT, Dreads are NOT low maintenance.

* About 2 weeks ago my BFF told me she is up the stump (Newfy Slang for Pregnant)! She is due to have her baby on the same day Hunter was born, April 2nd. So a big Yippy Doo Daw to Dan and her Uterus!

* My Girly Friend Queen Andrea's Little Princess Asha Turned one last week! Happy Birthday Princess Asha bean!

* Baby Bean has an appointment to have his tonsils and Adenoids removed on September 29th! Wish us luck as I am scared for the little guy. He is such a toughy but this will be a stressful event. Dad hasn't got the heart to see his little babes in any pain, so I get the privilege of spending the night in the hospital with the Baby Bean. I so nervous.

* We have decided to drive to Vancouver for Christmas this year so that the Brothers Grim can meet the new baby and we can see Nana and Granddad's fancy new renovations. It's a 12 hour drive but we have a fancy new truck to travel in and Dave loves driving.

* Last week we took Sam to the World Skills Competition 2009.

Every two years, hundreds of the best young professionals from trades, service and technical programs around the world gather to showcase their talents and abilities. This thrilling, high-performance, four day WorldSkills Competition is the biggest event of its kind in the world.

We thought this was a great opportunity for Sam to learn about the various trades available to him as he grows into an adult. Here is a link to a short article that I read on the bus the other day about skilled trades and careers in Canada.

"Here’s a question: Which career averages a six-figure salary while guaranteeing employers across the country will climb over each other to hire you?

If you answered skilled trades, pat yourself on the back for getting something right that most Canadians tends to get wrong.

Skills Canada polls have shown that 60 per cent of young people say their parents have not encouraged them to consider a career in trades."

Living in Calgary... It would be crazy NOT to encourage a Career in Skilled Trades. Dave has an excellent job as both a Journeyman and a Foreman in the Sheet Metal industry and will forever have work in this Country. The demand for men with the credentials and work ethic that Dave has is never ending. He is smart, reliable, trained and hardworking.

* My Newest addiction is to Websleuths.com which is a website dedicated to discussions about unsolved or ongoing investigations. Ie. Casey Anthony in Florida who is being charged with the murder or her 2 year old daughter, or JonBenet Ramsay. It's mostly just a bunch of forums that are open for discussion on various topics and areas of these cases. It keeps me busy reading and I'm enjoying the sleuthy aspect. :D Nosiness FTW!

* Gramma will be happy to hear that Dave and I have been watching Till Debt Do Us Part lately and have adopted Gail's method of budgeting. We have started a weekly CASH ONLY budget for everything and are committed to paying off our debts ASAP. This is going to save us and incredible amount of money and make planning for the future more feasible.

NEW TRUCK FTW!

YAY!!! We finally got a vehicle big enough for our growing family. This Saturday Dave sold the Tacoma to a buddy from work and headed up to Rocky Mountain House to pick up the New Beast!

It's a 2009 Ford 150 4x4 FX4 Luxury! All Leather! Heated Seats! Satellite Radio! In Dash Navigation System! AND ENOUGH ROOM FOR ALLLLL THE KIDS!

Globalfest Fireworks

We took the kids to see the Global fest Fireworks on Tuesday night. They were SUPPOSED to start at 10 pm so we arrived at 9:30 after a night of shopping and running around. There was absolutely NO WHERE to park as all the side streets were road blocked by the police and there was no parking AT Elliston Park. By the time we got close enough to the park it was 9:30 on the dot and the fire works had started. I was very unimpressed, but Dad managed to drive around the neighbourhood and found us a back alley across from the park where we had a decent view of the fire works. AND, to add insult to injury, a train came through our path right at the Grande Finale of the Fire works. Not only did it drown out the music but it was a double stacked train and it blocked half the view!

Ha Ha I Scared Dad!
Bean slept through the whole thing.
It was 9:30 when the started so he was pretty pooped!

Ps.. Dad is so handsome with his bald head and his big blueberry eyes!

Can you see the train cars on the bottom?

THE BEAN WALKS! (again)

Here is a Video that Nana Has been waiting patiently for!

Blackeyed Bean talks!

Here is a video of the Beans SECOND black eye from his new found talking skills.
The second video is from the same morning and Beany was being really chatty and making some awesome faces. I thought you might like it.

The Pirate Bean

Bean got a hold of one of Sam's wooden Samurai Swords one day and he looked to me like a tiny pirate out for blood, or a bottle of milk! Which ever!

Our Lady Queen Of Peace Ranch

On August 7th- 9th, the family and I were blessed to be able to spend the weekend at the EXTREMELY gorgeous Our Lady Queen Of Peace Ranch out near Bragg Creek, AB. We went there as guests of the Ups and Downs Organization here in Calgary.

Here is Sam on the Wagon Heading out to the Teepee.

Daddy!

Mommy and the Bean.
(Ahem, they aren't usually that big, Please keep in mind I'm 6 months Pregnant here)

The road through the grounds.

Beany and Daddy.

A picture of another wagon as we passed by.

Beautiful Flower Beds!

The Lake.

The little playground.

The Corral where they bring the horses for the day.

Some shots of the teepees.

And here is our Little Lady Bug.

We got our selves all set up for the night and the boys had a bit of a wrestle.

Sam built himself a pretty nice fort but with all the wrastling and the fire when we finally lit it, we had to take it down. It was just too hot and too close to the fire pit!

Here was the view from our door. Now to most of you, being able to see the latrine from bed isn't the most pleasant site whilst camping, but for a pregnant woman, it's worth taking a picture of.

The Roof of the Teepee.

I just adored the teepee. It was super cozy and there was plenty of room for all our beds and chairs around the fire.

Bean always living a life of luxury.
Here is his cushy play pen avec duvet.

More Teepees across the lake from us.

Ha ha! We Brought a 6 pack of Clamato. We party hard!
For the record there is a no booze rule for this camp, it's all about the kids!

These are a few pics of the lake first thing in the morning as we headed up to the mess hall for breakfast.

A few pics from later in the day, on our way to lunch. We took the long way around to the mess hall to get a walk in a see the bridge.

He He He!

This is too cute.
Hunter was quite the center of attention with the young girls at lunch.
After lunch Dave took Bean and the girls out to the grass to play. At first Hunt was thrilled to have kids to play with but VERY quickly he realized he was being mauled. He would reach for anyone who looked like an adult or a vertical pair of knees, begging to be picked up. The girls just couldn't get enough of him.

View of the Trading Post from the Mess hall front lawn.

HORSIES!

Here they are in the Corral waiting to go for a hike.

There were different tours for different age groups during the day.
Sam had signed up to go on Saturday afternoon but by 2pm he was tired and I think a little nervous about riding a horse so he decided he would rather not, but we went to see the horses anyway.

After we checked out the horses we went for a personal pontoon ride around the lake.
The water was just gorgeous.

Geese on the Island in the middle of the lake.
(that's where most Islands are I suppose)

Heading toward the Bridge.

Sam and Bean on the pontoon.

View of the Trading Post as we drifted by, the tractor was there to help folks take their new goods back to their teepees.
The trading post was a much like a thrift store for people at the camp.
Everything was free tho. There were toys, clothes, new shoes and bathing suits for the kids, blankets, housewares. It was quite nice.
For those of you not familiar with the ranch, they quite often invite low income and less fortunate families. Companies and families often donate new or gently used goods to the trading post for the kids and families that attend.

And look who we caught eating our sunflower seeds.
Apparently squirrels do not like marshmallows, goldfish or hot dogs.

The boys all passed out for a nice mid afternoon nap.

Hunt and I went for a walk and a visit with some of the other campers.
We were supposed to meet up with Dad and Sam near the rope activities but couldn't find them. Then... low and behold we ran into them! They were out on the lake!

They picked us up and we all went for a really relaxing row around the lake.
I have an infant on my lap so I chose NOT to take my cameras with me.
I assure you that Beany had a life jacket on.
The best part of the whole canoe ride was that Hunter was soooo amazed at the whole canoing experience that he sat perfectly still, just staring around at the lake, enjoying the ride. Which, for me was great cause I was a bit nervous that he would be fussy.

And! We finally made it the rope activity!

Hunty watching his big brother monkeying around.

Our campfire on the last night.
We had fantasy fire so it was green and blue and purple.


The first night that we were there, we under estimated how cold it would be over night.
Half way through the evening Hunter woke up and we brought him into our bed with us. About 20 mins later Sam woke up and told Dave he was cold. We slept, all four of us, in one dog pile for the night. The next night we decided that the best arrangement would be to just make one big bed for all of us so we didn't have to do a shuffle in the middle of the night. We had twice the blankets, twice the room, and strangley, because Dave forgot a pillow but Sam brought TWO pillows, we had twice as manly pillows! We put Hunt to sleep in his fleece Jammies in his fleece sleep sack in his fleece blanket under his duvet. He didn't get cold at all and slept there till 5 am.

I slept on one side of Dave and Sam on the other. And Sam and I had a great warm snuggly sleep. When I woke up in the morning I commented on how much warmer I was and Dave just looked at me. Blankly, with a look of complete exhaustion. He had been up every hour on the hour, restoking or restarting the fire, feeding it log after log.
Sam confirmed this as Dave would wake Sam up to ask him what time it was, every hour, on the hour. Needless to say, Bean and I had a pretty good sleep that night.
Thanks Dad!

Additionally, if you have ever wondered what a piece of beef feels like inside a smoker when you are making jerky, just spend the weekend in a teepee. I KNEW that there were fire pits inside the teepees but it never even OCCURED to me that we would be smoky. We don't use our sleeping bags when we go camping, typically, as we have been using the camper. So everyone brought their duvet and an extra blanket or two. Well you can't put a feather duvet in the washing machine! There is no washing machine big enough to clean ALL of our bedding in one night! Luckily, Hunter has two duvet's and I LOVE FABREEZE! Some of our things STILL smell like smoke, but for the most part we managed to get the smell out.

We had an absolutely KICKASS Weekend and I am already looking forward to going next year!