One crazy day at a time...my life!

Monday, January 31, 2011

9 Weeks

8 Weeks
9 Weeks
 

I think I look more bloated last week.  But last week, the picture was taken at night and this week I had Dre take the picture at noon.  Oh well!  I'll get bigger before this is over for sure:-)

How far along? 9 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Down .6 pounds overall.  And it’s not like I’m eating less or healthy and I’m not throwing up or anything.
Maternity clothes? I wore a Bella Band with my jeans on Saturday, but I found it was a pain in the ass because every time I go to the bathroom I have to readjust it.
Stretch marks? Nope.  I’m having a hard time finding a good tummy cream to prevent them though.  The Body Shop stuff gave me a rash and the Palmer’s Tummy Butter is really hard to smooth on.  I’ll just have to keep looking.
Sleep: Still waking up once a night to go pee.
Best moment this week: Realizing that I made it to 9 weeks which means that the risk of early miscarriage is greatly reduced.
Movement: None. 
Food cravings: Beef and cheese!  Avocado, queso dip, salads, and chocolate cake are also big right now. 
Gender: Girl, girl, girl, girl.  Man, am I gonna have issues if Smurfy turns out to be a boy or what?
Labor Signs: Nada.
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Drinking.  This week has been rough…I just really want a glass of wine!
What I am looking forward to: Telling everyone!  Can’t wait 3 more weeks and then we announce to the rest of the family and shortly after the world!
Weekly Wisdom: Tell people you’re pregnant.  They offer you all the stuff their kids don’t use anymore.  I went to my dentist today and my hygienist is a friend of the family and she immediately offered me all her stuff (she has 13 month old twins). Nice!
Milestones: Smurfy is the size of a green olive!  Disturbing since I love, love, love olives!  Being told I look pregnant, I don’t know if it’s because I’m retaining water already or I’m just bloated!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Food...what else is there in life


I think I'm going to have to purposefully eat better.  So far little Smurfy hasn't let me eat very healthy stuff at all so I've been trying to supplement my lack of veggies with eating more fruits.  Dre and I are going to go grocery shopping tonight and I think I'll have to plan what my snacks are going to be for the next week because I don't think my current chocolate granola bars count as very nutritious and healthy!

On another eating note, I'm trying to decide what I would like to eat for our weekly eating out meal.  (Dre and I are trying to keep the eating out to a maximum of once a week so we can save money for when the baby comes.)  I can't decide if I want Pho (Vietnamese), Stir-fry (Mongolian), or Won Ton soup (Chinese)!  Decisions, decisions, decisions!  It's so hard!  I think it might be vietnamese or mongolian tomorrow if we don't end up going to Dre's friend's birthday party at a bar where I'm going to have to come up with new reasons for not drinking again--2nd Trimester cannot come quickly enough for me!

Tonight, however, we are eating Penne alla Vodka.  Yes, people, I will be eating lots and lots of pasta with sauce that has lots and lots of vodka in it and 35% cream!  GASP!  I can't wait!  I might even live dangerously and make a salad to go with that, but we'll just have to see.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Blah Thursday

In the online world, a lot of people refer to Thursday as "Thankful Thursday"  where you list things you are thankful for both IRL (in real life) and online.  I must say that today does not feel like "Thankful Thursday" it feels like BLAH Thursday! 

In an effort to make my Thursday much less BLAH I have decided to do this thing called "Thankful Thursday".  Are you tired of reading "Thankful Thursday" yet?  No?  Good!



1.  For going to make 6 dinners at this wonderful place that lets you come over (for money of course) and dirty their kitchen to make your dinner from fresh, pre-cut ingredients.  Did you hear that?  Pre-cut!  Hallelujah, the heavens opened and the angels sang...I don't have to cut my own veggies!  This makes paying them money for something I could just do at home so so so so worth it!  What will I be making you ask...QUESADILLAS...that's right people I will finally have quesadillas tonight!!!!

2.  My wonderful hubby who is sick as dog right now with the flu, but is so cute because he's so worried me and the baby will catch it.  I keep telling him I have an immune system of steel because I go to the Chiropractor regularly--he doesn't believe me...whatever!

3.  Friends who let me go on an on about being pregnant since they're the only ones that know and if I don't tell someone about the ridiculous cheese and beef cravings I'll go crazy!  Did I mention that dinner last night was a cheeseburger...and...gasp Kraft Dinner?  I'm eating like a five year old.

4.  It's a beautiful, sunny, winter day!  I love winter.  It might be why Dre and I tied the knot in winter almost 2 years ago.

I think I got rid of my blahness now!  Thanks everyone!  Please proceed on to TGIF because that is everyone's favorite day of the week...

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Baby Bargains & Vermont


When we went to Vermont this past weekend, I bought Baby Bargains at Barnes and Nobles.  Yes, they sell it in Canada, but the CAD$ is pretty much at par with the USD$ making this a much cheaper book if you buy it in the States.

I'm about 2/3 through reading it right now and I think it's fantastic.  They give you tons of websites where you can find their recommended items and they don't only review 2 or 3 items in all the categories.  A lot of their bigger categories, like cribs, review all the manufacturers of the product available in the US and Canada!  I also found it really helpful that they put a section in every chapter about the things they consider to be a waste of money--that is a great tool for first time mommies like me.

Alright, enough about baby books for now!  We went to Vermont this weekend to see my Mom's side of the family for my aunt's 60th birthday.  We all showed up at the restaurant and completely surprised my aunt who had no idea that we were all coming!  It was great!  Unfortunately, the restaurant was a seafood and fish restaurant.  I don't like and don't eat fish, but I'll eat seafood; however, since getting pregnant the thought of fish and seafood makes me ill.  I made it through though!

I did find that it is really, really awkward when your whole table has a toast and you only have a water glass and they're all like, "Ohhhh, you're not drinking?"  And I'm all, "Noooooooooh..."  Then you can't think of any good excuses for not drinking. 

I did tell my mom and Dre told his parents about me being pregnant this weekend and both sides reacted by crying when we told them the news.  Grandparents are way too attached to what is going on in my uterus I tell you!  It was really cute though when Dre's mom was going on about her baby having a baby.  My mom also told me she hoped I didn't go with the new pregnancy fashions...ie, clothes that fit you instead of wearing mumus or tents.  LOL, she's too funny.  She'll just have to deal with me wearing clothes that fit instead of trying to hide my tummy as if I should be ashamed that I'm growing a life.  Sometimes, my mom makes me wonder...if we listened to her women rights would go back about 200 years, but I still love her.  I'm sure she'll tell me more equally ridiculous stuff that I'll mention on here at some other point.

Have a good Hump Day people and remember Friday is coming!  I love Fridays...they mean that the weekend is here and weekends are GLORIOUS!

Monday, January 24, 2011

8 Weeks!


Week 7

Week 8

How far along? 8 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Up .8 pound
Maternity clothes? Not yet.  I did buy a Bella Band, but haven’t worn it yet.
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: I’m now officially waking up once every single night to go pee which makes it harder to go back to sleep.  I’ve always slept like the dead so this waking up thing sucks.
Best moment this week: Telling Dre’s parents and my mom.  Both Moms started crying and blubbering about babies having babies. 
Movement: None. 
Food cravings: Cheese, cheese, and cheese.  We’re having pizza tonight with lots and lots of cheese—I made the crust from scratch so apart from piling on the cheese it should be pretty healthy right?
Gender: It’s a GIRL!  I am convinced of this fact and have so informed my mother.
Labor Signs: No.  And I really don’t wanna see any signs until the big day. 
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Constantly having to make up stuff since I haven’t told most people I’m pregnant.  Example:  Older Bro—You’re not drinking?  Me—Nooooooo…  ::ackward silence::  ::crickets::
What I am looking forward to: Telling people and starting my prenatal classes!
Weekly Wisdom: People asking us, “Are you happy?”  Really?  Seriously?  Do you think someone’s going to be like, “Well, no we’re thinking of giving it back.”  WTF
Milestones: Still fitting in my skinny jeans!  Smurfy is now the size of a raspberry.




Friday, January 21, 2011

TGIF


Just wanted to let you know that it is officially TGIF and that I only have 1 hour of work left!

Oh  emmmm geee, I'm so excited!  I love, love, love Fridays...they mean that the weekend has finally come!

::cue trumpets and choir singing the Hallelujah Chorus::

Thursday, January 20, 2011

It's almost Friday!


Can I tell you how much I'm looking forward to Friday?  I'm looking forward to it A LOT! 

Tomorrow hubby and I are putting on our fancy stuff and heading off to the City—oh wait, we live in the city—I mean the Downtown City for an Orchestra Concert of Dvorak’s New World.  It’s what I got Dre for Christmas because he loves Classical Music and since I’m a good wife I will go along and enjoy it with him while trying not to go into a coma or stab my eyes out with a fork.  

I used to like Classical Music, but after being subjected to it numerous times during my time at my Shall Remain Unnamed for the Time Being Super Conservative Baptist University/College in the States (more on that some other time) I find that I don’t tolerate it much anymore.

Even though it’s his Christmas present, I made hubby make dinner reservations because I would never actually willingly pick up a telephone and call someone—I hate telephones with a passion except for my iPhone…I sleep with my iPhone.   So it’s going to be a surprise on where we are actually eating ‘cause Dre won’t tell me…isn’t he romantic? Sometimes.  Like when we were doing groceries the other day and he told me, “I would buy you flowers, but they would be completely dead by the time we got home.”  Hehe, nothing says, “I love you” like dead flowers.  That’s what happens when you live in Canada…sometimes Siberia seems warmer!

Anyways, I will have an awesome time tomorrow and I’ll tell you all about it if I figure out how to blog from my iPhone on our way to Vermont for my aunt’s 60th birthday.  

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Happy Hump Day

If you’re like me, you despise Hump Day almost as much as Mondays!  I dread having to haul my ass into work for another whole 2 days, but that’s okay ‘cause pretty soon I’ll have a whole year off.  Yeah, mat leave!

I thought I would try to cheer up your Hump Day with this…



Hehe!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Nursery Stuff

Since I’m slightly crazy, I’ve already picked out a crib and change table for Smurfy.  Here it is! 

Pretty eh?

The reason Dre and I picked out a crib so early in my pregnancy is that my SIL had offered us various baby pieces from when my nephews were babies.  One of those things was a crib and change table.  It’s a really nice crib and in really good condition so Dre and I said, “Sure, we’d love to have it.” or something like that. 

Then, I decided to start researching crib safety guidelines in Canada and the US.  OMG!  I nearly died when I found out that you should never, ever, ever use a crib that is older than 1986—my mom had been putting both my nieces in a crib that is at least 30 years old for their entire young lives which made me very, very glad that we convinced her to get rid of it 2 years ago.  Now there’s no chance of her trying to put Smurfy in it!  SIL’s crib was made in 2002 so no problems there.

I decided to look at what Consumer Reports had to say about cribs—I love Consumer Reports and read everything they have to say about something before I buy it—they went into a lot of details about what to look for in a crib and all that.  They also stated that drop-side cribs were not necessarily banned as of yet, but several proposals have been put forth to ban them as a lot of newer drop-side cribs have plastic hardware instead of good old metal hardware which makes them dangerous after energetic toddlers try to shake the life out of them.  So Dre and I decided to get a crib that does not have a drop-side.

We also explored the idea of buying a crib that would one day become the last kid’s permanent grown up furniture and WE LOVE IT since it means less money to spend.

So because SIL’s crib has a drop-side (this could have been fixed with a manufacturer kit), does not convert into a big bed, and is unfortunately not white, espresso, or black, we have decided to acquire a new crib.  And for some reason, Dre thought refinishing SIL’s the crib would be more work than he wanted to do…hehe!  He kept trying to convince me that I liked the color and thought it matched the nursery room color.  He’s a funny one!

The added bonus of this crib is that it has a dresser/change table that you can buy.  When the kid is a baby, it’s a change table and when he grows up, it’s a dresser…VOILA!  Perfection!



Now I just have to find bedding, organic sheets and mattress—not easy in Canada—and cutesy baby stuff.  What do you think of these as a start?



Too precious!  I love polka dots and so by God this kid will love polka dots too!

Monday, January 17, 2011

7 Weeks!

How far along? 7 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: About the same.
Maternity clothes? Nope.  I went to look for Bella Bands at our very limited Canadian maternity stores and their selection made me depressed.  I’ll try again next weekend when I’m in the states.
Stretch marks? None that I don’t already have.
Sleep: Good
Best moment this week: Going to browse baby stuff with my SIL.  
Movement: None
Food cravings: None, this week actually.  Just a lot of food aversions…
Gender: A girl!  I’m hoping, but Dre laughs at me ‘cause he wants a boy.
Labor Signs: None
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: My back not hurting and not having to dissect everything that’s in food I regularly eat like Caesar Salad.
What I am looking forward to: This weekend which is when we tell my mom and Dre’s parents.
Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy fitting in your pantsJ
Milestones: My lower back hurts.

Here's a comparison of my belly this week and last week.  Bigger?  Yeah, it's probably pooh!
 



I found this...it's hilarious!  Watch it!

Friday, January 14, 2011

1st Doctor Apointment

I had my first appointment with my family doctor on Wednesday.  She'll be tracking me through the pregnancy and will be delivering Smurfy in September! 

The office where my doctor practices is pretty typical of Canadian offices which means no U/S equipment.  Booh!!!! When I need an u/s, I'll have to make another appointment and go to another clinic to get that done.

On another note since I'm sure when the first day of my last period was (I was charting using Fertility Friend), the doctor doesn't think I need a dating u/s at 8-10 weeks.  So no early u/s.  My first one should be at 18 weeks.  That is a really, really long time to wait to see that everything is okay and baby is floating around all happy.  When i go to my next appointment in 4 weeks, the doctor said we'll be listening to the baby's heartbeat with Doppler which is good.  I think that's gonna reassure me!

So that was basically all the info, I got at my first appointment.  The doctor did ask me 200 questions about my medical history and Dre's family's medical history. 

She did tell me, "No Zumba to be safe."  Booh!  Poor SIL is gonna have to exercise all by herself!  Doc thinks that it's safer to do low impact aerobic and no "jumping" exercise.  I guess I will become friends with walking in the freaking cold...I live in Canada remember...by the time I get home at night it's about -15 to -20 Celsius (-4 to 5 Fahrenheits).  Makes it hard to motivate myself to go exercise.  I haven't convinced Dre yet that walking in the mall and buying things qualifies as exercise...never fear he'll come around!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

6 Weeks and Counting

I stole this from another blog...GASP!  Anyways, I didn't think she'd (Heir to Blair) mind too much and I thought it would be cool to track my symptoms and such every week.  I'll even post a picture of my belly next week with it! Yeah!

How far along? 6 weeks and 4 days
Total weight gain/loss: None
Maternity clothes? None yet, but today I looped a hair elastic around my button and through the hole so my pants would stay up.  I’m thinking I should go buy a Bella Band.
Stretch marks? Please, I’ve had those since university. 
Sleep: I sleep well most of the time, but I have a harder time getting out of bed in the morning. Also, I wake up to go pee 10-30 minutes before my alarm clock EVERY day…very annoying!
Best moment this week: Hubby making dinner for me last night and insisting I sit down and do nothingJ
Movement: No movement.  My pooh isn’t moving either! (I know, I know…TMI!)
Food cravings: Pho, cheeseburgers, salad, and Mexican food.  I don’t even like Mexican food most of the time…weird!
Gender: No idea, but I am convinced that it is a girl even though we’re calling her Smurfy.  Dre has taken to calling her Smurfette.           
Labor Signs: That would be bad.  No signs.
Belly Button in or out? Definitely in.
What I miss: Not being clutzy, fitting into my clothes, and poohingJ
What I am looking forward to: U/S.  Booh that we have to wait till 18 weeks since the doctor doesn’t think we need to do a dating one.
Weekly Wisdom: Enjoy every day.  Even if the time is going F***ing slow!  Pretty soon a 5 year old is going to drive me insane and I’ll have to send her to visit her auntJ
Milestones: First signs of nausea have shown up.  No throwing up yet!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

CRAVINGS



I never knew how much I would crave ground beef and all things fried.  I mean every fried thing sounds delicious and I must have it right now.  Everything else either makes me slightly queasy or I think about eating it and I just can’t.  It’s all “BLAH!!!!” when I think of putting things like fondue meat, pasta (I adore pasta…I would marry pasta if I weren’t already married), and homemade pizza in my mouth.

Speaking of fried, ground beefy things, I had a cheeseburger Monday night and I almost died it was so good!  After I finished it, I thought to myself, “Self, why did you not make Dre buy you TWO cheeseburgers?  That would have been a capital idea!”  Then reality came back and I decided I didn’t want to roll through pregnancy so I satisfied myself with hunting for leftover Christmas chocolates. 

This is not an easy thing to do when you live with the Choco-aholic…wait he’s an equal opportunity eater…he’ll eat anything sweet until it’s all gone.  He doesn’t seem to mind that the pregnant love of his life might kill him ‘cause he ate all the chocolate.  I’m having the last laugh though because one of these days he’ll have to run out in the middle of the night and get me CHOCOLATE.  Bahahahah!  Just kidding!  Maybe…we’ll see how the baby feels.

On another note, I have to figure out what to call the baby.  Calling it he/she right now is getting old and boring!  Must think of a cute name…baby is the size of a sweet pea right now so maybe we’ll call him pea.  (No, I have no idea what a sweet pea looks like so don’t ask me.  Just look at my ticker…that’s a sweet pea…maybe!)

Update:  I have decided to call the baby Smurfy which was a vast improvement over Dre’s suggestion that we call him Spud.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

TIME


Something I discovered since peeing on a stick (POAS) on New Year’s Eve, time goes by effing slow when you’re pregnant and you can’t tell 99.8% of the population!  

Last year flew by…the year before that well I can’t remember it because I have a horrible memory when it comes to boring life details (too many romance books in my head…there’s no space for anything else).

Now I count every single day and think of having to do this for another freaking 33 weeks and 4 days!  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  That’s my reaction most of the time.  I feel like I did on Christmas Eve when I was kid and the clock would tick in slow motion and Christmas was never, ever coming and I was never, ever going to get to open my presents.  I was absolutely positive that I was gonna die before I ever got to open my presents because time was sooooooo slow!

Why yes, I was a dramatic child.  Why do you ask?  What?  I’m not dramatic now!  What would make you think that?  I have no idea what you’re talking aboutJ

While I was lurking on the The Bump 1st Trimester boards (don’t judge me…lurking is one of my hobbies) yesterday, someone brought up this phenomenon of time slowing down and I was so ecstatic to find out that I’m not the only crazy person out there!  Apparently there are plenty of other people who think that time is slow and that if all your pregnancy symptoms disappear you have a right to freak out (my sister in-law thinks I’m crazy on this one but more on my other crazy OCDish paranoias another day).

I will just say that the baby wants food RIGHT NOW and I’m danger of trying to eat the paper on my desk if I don’t feed it so goodbye!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Hello!

I have been thinking of starting my own blog for about a year or so now.  I started reading a few blogs and thought that's a really cool idea.  I have no skills whatsoever at keeping a physical journal (you can tell by my journal not having been written in since 2008) so I thought maybe I would be more consistent with an online blog.

To introduce myself...I'm Snowclouds.  I am married and living with my hubby in a townhouse in Ontario, Canada!  We are expecting our first little one on September 5th, 2011 and are very excited!  I'll probably go on and on about this for the next eight months!  By the way, I love exclamation marks!  I know they tend to drive some people bonkers, but I can't do without them.

Anyways, I have to run now, but I'll post some more at a later time...

Ciao