Grateful and Spoiled

WOW! This weekend I was spoiled on so many fronts.



I celebrated my birthday on Thursday at prenatal with Joel. It is kind of a mad dash to get home, make, eat and clean up supper, and then head out to class, but so far I have really enjoyed each class. (Joel would completely disagree with me) After dinner Joel told me he quickly had to run out, so I started to get ready for class, played on the computer and finally made it downstairs to do some dishes. Joel walked in with a chocolate heart shaped cake (including 3 candles so I could make a wish) and a bouquet of flowers for me! What a sweetheart. We had already gone shopping the week before to buy my gift so I wasn’t expecting anything from him, but he always has a few surprises for me.


Friday was a busy day even though I only worked until noon. I went straight over to my parents new condo to help unpack what I could. Although we didn’t get a lot done in terms of the big picture, we did manage to have every box that mom and dad had moved during the day unpacked by the time we went for dinner. Joel came after work too and helped dad move a few fragile things but by 8:30pm it was time to go home.


Saturday was a busy day getting ready for my baby shower on Sunday. Mom and I headed over to Martin and Barb’s condo to make sandwiches with Sarah and Barb. We started by making sandwiches, cutting cheese, debating cutting pickles, plating the dainties and desserts, decorating the room, and generally getting organized for the day ahead. Sarah and I even had time to run a few last minute errands for items we forgot.


That night we celebrated our birthdays as a family. Mine is on the 21st, Sarah’s is the 25th and Joel’s is the 31st so Jay was kind enough to make reservations at a restaurant called Tres Visi in the exchange district for us four, Martin and Barb and my parents. It was fabulous! Sarah and I both love Italian food so this was right up our alley! Everything from the appetizers to dessert was spectacular. Sarah and I planned to split 2 desserts, but when one came and I realized it had a wine custard sauce (I could actually pick up on the alcohol in this dessert ~ shows what a few months of not drinking does to you) we ended up just each eating one of the choices.


Sunday was another busy where I was honoured with a baby shower hosted by my moms, Sarah and friend from grade one Dana. There was approximately 50 people in attendance. Here are a few pictures from the afternoon.

this is the room where we hosted the shower in the basement of Martin and Barb's condo.

here was the mountain of generous presents I received. I am so lucky to have such generous and supportive friends and family.  I don't think this picture was when everyone had arrived.

 

These are from my mom, they are burp cloths.  They were one of the many MANY monkey themed gifts I received. (and registered for) For those who do not know, I love monkeys.  We have 2 curious George framed pictures in our dining room, our bathroom is monkey themed, and now so is our nursery.  As a pet name for Joel, I often refer to him as my monkey.  He calls me his baby, so when we learned I was pregnant, he told me "Honey, that is perfect! Now we will have a baby monkey!" Jay often jokes that my child will be terrified by monkeys.

 

Julia was excited for me to open the present from her and Dana. 

my crazy sister in law who has no free time for herself made me this beautiful quilt! she started in the summer when she learned I was pregnant and finished it last week. (note: reports cards are due this week and she still managed to dedicate time to finishing this ~ isn't she the best!)

Dana planned all the games for the shower.  She "approved" them with me ahead of time and made sure no one was forced to play.  This one was 10 jars of baby food where people had to guess what type it was. They could taste them if they were daring.  Christy and Heather are experimenting in this picture with prunes.

Another game Dana planned was the ball of yarn went around the room and people could cut off where they felt the correct amount would wrap around my belly.  Joel's cousin Amber won only being about an inch too big.  Sarah had cut the a piece that was my height! I told her I might be 5 feet tall, but I am not yet 5 feet around. :)

 

This table was PACKED with presents, some even spilling onto the floor.  The monkey vtech toy you see in the front was Joel's favourite and he spent most of the night entaining himself. I received so many handmade blankets that were so beautiful and took such talent. I will need to post a picture of the one Joel's aunt made as it is unbelievable! She made her own monkey pattern for our little one. Some people stocked my change table (like all of it), some bought me a high chair, others spoiled peanut with cute monkey outfits.  Everything is just perfect and Joel and I were so grateful!

These are the girls I met at BH in grade one. (one exception ~ Christy came in grade 3)

left to right: Dana, Julia, Heather, Amanda, Christy and me! (I am the first of our friends to have a baby)

By 3:30pm everyone was gone and the clean up started. It did not take long since the boys came to help. Sunday evening was spent writing thank you cards and doing laundry. There was mounts of it!


I have so much more to update on but I have run out of time for tonight. I will update soon, but for now, enjoy ~

Let's try this again

I have started this over and over again though each time I end up discouraged and deleting what I had wrote.



Joel and I attended our first OB-GYN appointment on Tuesday and it was a huge success! We have chosen the Boyd Group to deliver our baby so our appointment was across from Portage Place. The doctor felt the baby by pressing my belly and confirmed the little peanut’s head is down. The heart rate was a strong 130 bpm. He confirmed by due date as March 11th (previously it had been moved to March 20th) and told me I looked really healthy from my chart. He provided time to answer questions although I did not have many. I have since started a list for the next time I go. (January 25th) To think that I am 32 weeks along already terrifies me on one hand and really excites me on the other.


I have been tired for awhile now and not sleeping great and that just seems to get worse with each expansion of the bump. I have tried pillows, but so far the best option is the couch. (Although I don’t often use it)


My parents are getting really excited for their big move which happens the weekend of January 22nd.  They have already given many items away and sold what they could.  They still have a lot for the storage unit they are renting, but I think my mom is feeling good with how it is all progressing.


We have purchased our last big ticket item which was a travel system stroller and car seat. After my parents move I will go to the fire department to ask for help installing the car seat base. (Not because I don’t trust Joel, but because it is a free service that they offer and we have a fire hall that I can see from my house) There are still so many things we need to get, but I know we will get there soon. Most are little items but all still essential. (receiving blankets, onsies, etc.)


Chaos (our mastiff) has gotten worse and it breaks my heart. He is unable to hold his balance most of the time although appears to still be happy and mostly pain free. He has been diagnosed with Wobblers Disease which is a neurological disease caused by a narrowing at the spine. Basically there is pressure on his 3rd and 4th vertebrae. It causes him to act clumsy and causes a lot of problems with stairs. He is only 14 months and the size of a 6 month old mastiff at 105lbs. (he was estimated to be 180lbs, but stopped growing from the disease) He still plays and enjoys being with us, but I am definitely seeing it get worse and worse as the days progress. His new fear is coming down the stairs from our top level (where our room is and where he sleeps) to the kitchen (and back door). He often sits at the top of the stairs and whines. He will try to put one paw down, but brings it back up and starts to cry/whine again.  I think it is because he slips on the lino, so we may have to try a mat at the bottom of the stairs to see if that helps in the short term.  We have started to look for a new home (with fewer stairs) for him.


We attend our first prenatal class this evening and I am really looking forward to it! I am excited to get Joel more involved and learn more about labor and what to expect. I have read a lot about what to expect after the baby arrives, bringing the baby home, but I kind of avoid the all too scary labor section of books and websites.


I am starting to count down until February 15th which is a spa day I planned with my mom. Joel and I were not sure what to get her for Christmas since they are moving and trying to get rid of “stuff”, so we bought her a pedicure at Ten Spa. Luckily for me my husband thought I deserved one too and got me a matching certificate! I made a reservation for us at Maxime’s for lunch and then an appointment for our pedicures! I cannot wait.


I am gearing up for mat leave starting on February 26th and am really looking forward to it. It has become so hard to stay at my desk and awake for 8 hours a day a little afternoon nap would be nice.


Well for now that is all the news I have, so enjoy ~

I'm in love

I have no idea how to rotate this, but this is the finished room!

I will post an update later this week about our holidays, but for now... Enjoy ~

the home stretch

By all accounts and due dates I have hit my third trimester of pregnancy ~ the home stretch. It is weird to think in a mere 3 months we will have a little one as part of our family, yet at the same time, it feels like I have been pregnant forever. I spent the first 3 months in bed sleeping and complaining that I was too tired to do anything (only to find out why). The second trimester I felt great, I was active, motivated and more “like myself”. These past few weeks have been hard. I am growing so fast that I am finding even the simplest task hard to complete ~ putting on socks, bending down to get containers, and cleaning the bath tub are among almost impossible things to do. I am tired again as I am not sleeping well, besides the joint pain which wakes me (my hips are killing me), the bathroom breaks make sure I am up every hour. It is almost as accurate as an alarm clock. Joel doesn’t even hear me anymore.



I am looking forward to the holidays as they are just around the corner. Besides enjoying 10 days off work with Joel, we have a few things planned. We will finish setting up the nursery including baseboards (despite Joel’s protest), carpet will be installed in the basement, we will clean the house and put it back in order, and then we will enjoy some family time.


This year is a different one for us as some of our family will be away for Christmas. Sarah, Jay and Martin are heading down to beautiful Arizona for 10 days to enjoy among other things, the warmth! I am very jealous and wish we were joining them this year, but know they will also enjoy their alone time together.


Since we would not be together at Christmas, we knew we had to celebrate early so Martin and Barb hosted us for “Christmas dinner”. We enjoyed a great meal (turkey, stuffing, the works!), our gift exchange and 2 games of Cranium. As many people know I often opt out when games get brought up as I am very competitive. I know this about myself, and realize it doesn’t show off my best qualities therefore I choose not to play, and am fine with watching. The Hayward’s are not known for their graceful wins (Songs of “We are the champions” are often sung full volume), but I decided since last time we were at Sarah and Jay’s and played a game (that I sucked at but had fun playing) I would give it another try. My mom had bought me Cranium a few years ago for Christmas and I had never played before, so Joel and I brought it over and we played after the gift exchange. We split up into 2 teams ~ Sarah, Barb and myself vs. Jay, Martin and Joel. Although our first game was a learning experience, we still had fun winning. 


Martin and Barb bought me a beautiful baby carrier ~ a peanut shell! (what a perfect name since we have nicknamed the baby peanut) The carrier says it will work from newborn to toddler, and includes a video to learn different ways to wear it. We also received a gift for peanut, a very cute little hat and the Robert Munsch book “I Love You Forever”. This is one of my favourite books (even now) and while reading it the following day I spent 30 minutes crying.


My parents have had a good week as their house finally sold. It had been on the market for about 3 weeks and my mom was prepared to pull it off the market for Christmas. Luckily she does not need to worry about it anymore and they are getting ready to move the weekend of January 22nd.


That weekend also happens to be the weekend of my shower, the day after my birthday, and the day before my sister in laws birthday! We have planned a family dinner to celebrate the birthdays on that Saturday night.


I went this past Saturday with my friend Dana to register for gifts for my baby shower. I found it hard, overwhelming, but fun all at the same time. Dana was so patient with me while we spent the entire afternoon in the baby section of various stores.


This week my mom has been over to paint the nursery for us. Joel and I are both impatient when it comes to painting and neither of us are perfectionists like my mom. She did an amazing job and so we will start setting up the furniture later this week and weekend. (Assuming Joel does not have to work ~ if he does I will ask for my dad’s help) Once that furniture is set up, I can wash all the bedding and move it out of the downstairs bedroom which will also mean I can start cleaning my house. This excites me because I know it will be a big job that needs to be done before Christmas Eve, and if I can do a little every night it will not be as overwhelming.


Well, I better get going and feed my little peanut. Enjoy ~

Pictures

I will write about what a great weekend we had at a later date, for now here are some pictures my mother in law took. Enjoy ~

100 and counting....

Tomorrow marks a special event ~ 100 days until I am due. Now of course we all know that it is unlikely (not impossible, just unlikely) I will deliver on my due date (which I am saying is March 15), but I am still excited! I have started to purchase essentials for the baby and me (post pregnancy) each pay cheque ~ things like diaper wipes, breast pads, etc. I started packing my hospital bag, which although that might shock some of you, those who know me well will say it is very typical of my personality. I like to feel organized and since I cannot yet set up the nursery, or rearrange my room to accommodate the bassinet, this was the next best thing.



This week had many work highlights. Yesterday I attended the WCB Basics seminar which is a full day class offered to explain basic WCB principals including how they calculate your rate. Although I went in thinking it would be dry, it was actually super interesting. I feel confident explaining what I learned to our industry and why a safety program will benefit them. We are always gearing our messages to the “WIIFM” (What’s In It For Me) group, and now we will have another resource to show them safety pays.


I am in the middle of designing the December MRFA (Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservice Association) newsletter which will be printed and mailed late next week. I will also start working on our electronic December newsletter next week.


I have made many changes to our tool kit which is a free resource we provide to restaurants (within our WCB rate code) to assist them develop a workplace safety program. When I first started at MTEC, this tool kit redesign was one of my priorities. I knew restaurant owners, managers, supervisors, and workers would have a limited safety background (as I did) and this guide was supposed to lead them step by step to building a full safety program. After reading it my first week (and yes, I think it really did take me a week to read it cover to cover), I knew we had to reorganize it, simplify it, and make it much more user friendly. I asked Christine if we could make this our priority for the year, and she loved that I was willing to make open suggestions to how we could improve it. (It was created before she started here and knew it needed work) This week I just completed edit number 3 of the book, and we hope to launch it for the beginning of January! (Both online and paper based) Our new tool kit, although far from perfect, does provide industry specific examples, sample forms and checklists, and is more of a step by step guide on how to build a safety program. You literally could pick up the book and if you followed each section until complete, you would have a solid safety program. Of course, we did not include everything, but for our industry this would be considered an advanced program. We are still a far way away from the construction industry, but are starting to see some real growth within our program.


We hosted our first in house free WHMIS training session last Tuesday! We had 12 participants attend from various organizations/industries. (This was not specifically designed for restaurants, although the MSDS example is for a dishwasher chemical) Christine hosted a similar session in Thompson yesterday and had 9 attendees for the course. We have scheduled more classes for January – March.


MTEC has hired someone to replace my maternity leave that will start working with me one day per week in late January or early February. I have agreed to continue supporting MTEC with producing and distributing their monthly electronic newsletter as well as any website changes or maintenance while away for the year.

Enough about work.....


This weekend Joel will move the dogs downstairs on Sunday after my mom completes a few touch ups on the basement. It is fully painted, and carpet has been scheduled for December 22nd to be installed. Joel should receive the linoleum this week to put in the puppy room, but for now their crates will just rest on the subflooring. (Pictures coming soon)


My mom is also planning to paint the nursery ceiling tomorrow. Once it is dry, she will start on the walls and hopefully all will be complete for next weekend. If it is, that means I can start setting up the nursery! I am starting to get a little impatient with the mess in our house, and feeling some pressure to get it done before Christmas (only because that is my preference), but seeing an end in sight is really starting to lighten my mood.


Saturday evening we have plans with family. Since Sarah, Jay and Martin will all be celebrating Christmas in Mesa Arizona (so jealous!); we are having our family dinner and gift exchange. Barb is making dinner, and although I offered to bring something she declined. This is actually a huge relief as I would like to clean the house, finish laundry and get a few things organized.


Sunday will be a relaxing day I think. My parents will be over as they have another open house from 2-4pm.


Monday I will attend my workout class for the research study, Tuesday I have the MFPA (Manitoba Food Processors Association) Christmas dinner to attend with Christine, Wednesday we have a doctor’s appointment (probably our second last one with Dr. K before I start going to the Boyd Medical Group for appointments), and Friday I have the MTEC Christmas lunch as well as Joel’s Christmas party to attend. It is shaping up to be another busy week!


That’s all for now ~ enjoy!

Another Just for Fun that I found....

Another fun survey I received.......

Are you over 35?
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EXPLANATION: There is some evidence that the older you are when you conceive your baby, the more likely you are to have a girl. The sex of the baby is partly controlled by the level of the hormone gonadotropin, and this declines with age.
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Were you living with the father of your baby when you conceived?
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EXPLANATION: One very large study of 86,000 people shows a figure of 51.5 per cent male births for those living with a spouse or partner before the child's conception or birth, and 49.9 per cent male births reported by respondents who were not.
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If you are married, how long had you been married when you conceived?
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EXPLANATION: The theory is that the longer you are married, the less sex you have. Infrequent sex means that you are less likely to conceive close to when you ovulate. Male sperm move faster but don't live as long as female sperm. So by having infrequent sex, you are less likely to have sex close to the time you ovulate. That means that a longer-lasting female sperm is more likely to win the race.
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Is the father of your baby over 40?
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EXPLANATION: It seems that the older a dad is the less likely the male sperm are to fertilise the egg and the female sperm win the race. The latest evidence is that the quality of sperm does deteriorate with age and older men produce fewer male sperm.
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How many children do you already have?
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EXPLANATION: The research here shows that the more children you have, the more likely you are to have a girl. This may be linked to the fact that the more pregnancies you have, the higher your levels of the hormone gonadotropin. This seems to be linked to a higher chance of having a girl.
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Were you eating a high or low calorie diet when you became pregnant?
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EXPLANATION: A study divided 740 British women into groups according to their calorie intake. 56 per cent of the women who had the highest energy intake had boys. 45 per cent of the women who had the lowest energy intake had boys. The average calorie intake for women who had boys was 2,413. The average calorie intake for women who had girls was 2,283. It has been suggested that our bodies only invest in boys (who are more fragile and statistically less likely to survive) when food is abundant. In times of famine or low food production we "play safe" with more robust girls. Remember, whether you're having a boy or a girl, a healthy diet is very important before and during pregnancy.
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Does the father of your baby work in any of these occupations: airline pilot, deep sea diver, submariner, timber mill worker, flour mill worker?
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EXPLANATION: Some studies have looked at the father's occupation and the ratio of boys and girls. Occupations that involve stress or pollutants seem to lead to more girls. But these are small-scale studies that have only looked at certain occupations.
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Were you under stress before you became pregnant?
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EXPLANATION: We know more boys are born at times of stress, such as after wars, and research carried out so far seems to confirm this. One theory is that the mother's high stress levels lead to increases in both testosterone and cortisol. This may lead to changes in the egg, which makes it easier for male sperm to penetrate. Just how this happens no one is sure, but there is much mystery still about the moment of conception.
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Which season did you conceive in?
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EXPLANATION: Farmers have noticed this effect in animals for many years. A study of 63,976 births in the area of Essen, West Germany, from 1965 to 1970 showed that more boys were conceived in early summer, and more girls in winter. In spring and autumn the figures were the same. This may be related to a better diet in summer, or could be because more viral and infectious diseases are around in the winter. Male sperm and embryos are acknowledged to be more fragile and it may be that they are more affected by mothers catching infections.
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Did you conceive after having your ovulation induced hormonally?
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EXPLANATION: Studies carried out among women who used hormones, such as Clomid, to induce ovulation show that you are slightly more likely to have a girl if artificial hormones are involved.
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In your pregnancy, have you suffered from severe morning sickness (hyperemesis gravidarum)?
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EXPLANATION: Some experts think that the link between severe pregnancy sickness and female babies is due to high levels of oestrogen.
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Were you born in a tropical climate and living in a tropical climate when you conceived? (Only answer yes if the answer is yes to both parts.)
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EXPLANATION: A global survey of birth data showed that more girls are born in the tropics than anywhere else in the world. Scientists are not sure why. One possible theory is that it is the effect of the hormone melatonin, which has been shown to cause changes in the reproductive systems of animals in response to the length of the day. More females are born when the days are longer. Or it could be that high temperature alters the survival of male or female sperm in semen.


 
Based on your answers, the research suggests that you are slightly more likely to have a boy!