Yup.  I’m one of those people.

So it’s hardly surprising, I suppose, that I just finished up the thank you cards for my baby shower (um, the one I attended BEFORE Patrick was born) (in July) (early July…)  Embarrassing?  Yes.  But, in all honesty, the past few months have absolutely flown by.  FLOWN!  And – poof! – suddenly it was December.  And I suddenly realized that Christmas cards needed to go out.  And it seemed in poor taste (actually, downright tacky) to send Christmas cards out to the same people who first deserved thank yous for their very generous and wonderfully thoughtful baby shower gifts.

Which, given the (embarrassingly long) time that had passed between the shower and the thank yous, makes me really thankful that I took the time (during the early days of my maternity leave, pre-baby) to carefully record what everyone had given me.  Like this…

Yup.  I took pictures of all the gifts I was given, along with the accompanying cards.  Clever?  I thought so!  And, if not clever, practical at least, since five months out I would have never, in a gazillion years, remembered what gifts I was given and by whom (despite being unbelievably thankful for all of the super generous gifts I received.)  (Mommy-brain is a bit of a bitch like that.)

Plus I think it’s pretty neat to have pictures of all the gifts we were given.  Yup.  I’m all about preserving memories with my little guy.  Every single memory.  Every one.  Even the tiniest.  Mommy is a little OCD like that.  (Although I prefer to call it “organized.”)  Patrick is currently trying desperately to crawl, and I’m sure having the ability to run away from my camera makes mobility particularly appealing.  (I have all of his crawling attempts videotaped, of course.)

So there.  That’s my little piece of advice for any soon-to-be mommas out there who are headed to their baby showers shortly.  Take pictures of your gifts.  It’s actually quite a lovely keepsake!  And, if you’re a bit tardy like me, it’ll be a huge help when you go to write your thank you cards.  Several months later.  :)

Then Sweetie lovingly offered to take me out to try a two-person approach to maternity shots (he’s pretty awesome, that Sweetie of mine.)   With our trusty camera in Sweetie’s capable hands, off we went to a local conservation area where we knew we’d find trees and fields and all sort of pretty areas to serve as a lovely backdrop to my ever-growing belly.

What we didn’t anticipate?  Humidity.  If it was a tad humid when we pulled out of our laneway, it was a trillion percent humidity (possibly more) at the conservation area.  Positively tropical, you could say.  Rainforest-like, perhaps.  My hair?  It wasn’t at all impressed and immediately turned into a massive ball of frizz (as my normally-curly-but-oft-forced-into-straight-submission hair is apt to do.)

And, as one might expect from a humidity-laden area, we also encountered mosquitoes.  Lots and lots of them.  Swarms and swarms and clouds of (rather ravenous) mosquitoes.  It was unbearable at times, but we plugged right along until we couldn’t stand it any longer.

Yup.  Sweetie and me?  We’re troopers.

Here are a few of my faves…

(And, yes.  I’m holding a flower in that last one.  A bit cheesy?  Perhaps.  Hence the “Sweetie, I love you, but I’m not so sure about this” look on my face.)

All in all?  I’m happy.  I could have done a professional session and possibly ended up with somewhat better (and maybe more plentiful depending on the mosquito-factor) results, but with money a bit tight at the moment (with me off on maternity leave and a few items left to purchase for Baby), this seemed like the far more sensible solution for bump-documentation.  And it was fun!  In between hair-obsessing and mosquito swatting, Sweetie and I had a lovely evening out in that tropically humid, bug infested (but pretty!) conservation area.

Which, I suppose, with our time as a two-some quickly waning, is nearly as valuable as the photos themselves.  :)

So, in short (or, rather, long): I feel like I’ve been super busy, despite my currently newborn-pending, work-free status.

Although I did manage to fit in a quick DIY mat session the other day.  For the record, I’m really quite awful at using the tripod + timer approach to self-photography.  This was a rather challenging little project!  For about an hour’s effort, I ended up with one image worth sharing…

…and even then, it’s out of focus.  And my hands are all gross and pregnancy-vein-y.  And I’m not sure if I look serene and contemplative, or sort of annoyed.  Needless to say, Sweetie is taking me out later this week to try again, with an actual person (Sweetie) on the other end of the lens.  Guessing (and hoping!) that we’ll have much better results with a two-person DIY mat session approach.  I’ll keep you posted!

The good (and rather timely) news: I’m nearly finished with the nursery (finally!), so a big (likely long-winded) update/grand reveal will be coming shortly.  In the meantime, if you need me, I’ll probably be marveling at the size of my belly while hanging/organizing/baking/shopping for something.  At 38 weeks, I’m starting to feel really large.  But I also feel amazing.  And with only a couple weeks left before my due date (and, really, knowing that Baby could arrive at any point now) I feel so lucky to be a mommy-to-be.  Can’t wait to make that transition into simply being “mommy”.

How I’m feeling: I feel awesome.  Seriously.  (Fellow pregnant ladies, please don’t hate me.)  Yes, my feet swell, and yes, Sweetie sometimes needs to help me up off the couch if I’ve been sitting too long, and, indeed, rolling over in bed is way more difficult than I ever thought it’d be, but I feel, for the most part, great.  I have been unbelievably fortunate so far in this pregnancy – no complications (knocking on wood!), no major sickness (beyond the three weeks of mild nausea I had right before Christmas), no complaints.  And, with only a few weeks left to go, I still seem to have quite a bit of energy.  I know lots of people who have been really sick for nine full months, have had serious health scares mid-pregnancy, or have been uncomfortable or in pain or dizzy throughout much of their pregnancy.  I feel so lucky to have had it so easy for the past eight-ish months.

How the nursery is progressing: It’s coming!  The walls are now painted a lovely Woodlawn Blue (thanks mom and dad!) and the crib is assembled (thanks Sweetie!) and the important components are all there.  Is it done?  Ummmm no.  The crib still needs a mattress (which, I gather, is likely pretty important!) and the dresser/change table still needs assembling (if you’ve ever assembled an Ikea Hemnes dresser you’ll realize is no small or quick feat!) and there are cloth diapers to be prewashed and omg-the-cutest-ever little lamb mobile to be hung and a rug that needs to be purchased, and much much more.  However, even with just the walls painted and the crib assembled, it feels like a nursery.  And a very perfect one, at that.  And I love it and can’t believe that a tiny little human will be snoozing there (peacefully, I hope!) very very soon.  :)

How Sweetie and I are doing: We’re excited!  And terrified.  And a little overwhelmed that this crazy huge life-changing event is approaching so quickly.  And feeling so blessed that our family and friends have been so supportive and helpful over the past several months.  And hopeful that our fur family will adjust well to the new little person in our household.  And aware that my beloved house renos will likely take back burner to this tiny human, and that we may continue to have squishy kitchen floors and tiled countertops and a bright red rec room and lackluster (and rather weed-infested) landscaping for quite a while going forward.  But… mostly, we’re just excited!

So that’s the 411 on my beloved bun in the oven.  Five more weeks.  FIVE.  And that’s assuming that Baby stays put until our August 4th due date (dear Baby: you’re perfectly welcome to stay right where you are for at least another month!)  More nursery updates to follow shortly!  But, for now, that’s the Bump Report.  Swollen ankles and all.  :)

(PS – photos courtesy of Sweetie.  Thanks Sweetie!)

]]> /2014/06/the-bump-report-35-weeks-and-counting/feed/ 2 /2014/03/nursery-natterings-part-one-of-several-since-well-im-awful-at-making-decisions-and-also-because-baby-stuff-is-just-so-darn-cute/ /2014/03/nursery-natterings-part-one-of-several-since-well-im-awful-at-making-decisions-and-also-because-baby-stuff-is-just-so-darn-cute/#comments Mon, 31 Mar 2014 13:15:16 +0000 /?p=5550 I am officially 22 weeks pregnant today.  Twenty-two!  How the heck did that happen?  It seems like I just finished a very nauseous weeks 8 through 12, and now, all of a sudden, I’m over half way to the finish line.  It’s so exciting!  But, honestly, so overwhelming at the same time.  There are registries to prepare.  There are maternity leaves to schedule.  There are no fewer than a gazillion cloth diapering systems to decipher (yep – call us crazy, but we’re going to give the wild and wacky world of cloth diapering a shot!)  And there are strollers and baby baths and car seats and boppy pillows and cribs and carriers and all sorts of foreign (to us not-yet initiated future baby-club parents, at least) stuff to research and plan and obsess about.

But my favourite pastime at the moment?  Nursery planning.  I know: swoon!  The colour options.  The decor.  The accessories.  Where the crib will go.  Mobile or bunting or both.  Sigh.  There are so many happy possibilities for the room that will one day contain someone so tiny but so important and so very very loved.  With about 18 weeks (insert panic attack HERE) left to go until my official due date, here’s the nursery inspiration pic (from blogger She Walks in Beauty) that I can’t stop looking at…

So peaceful and lovely.  I absolutely adore this colour scheme.  A-DORE it.  We’re still undecided on whether we’ll find out the sex of little Baby in advance of the big day, but this soft teal-based colour scheme fits perfectly for either a little girl or a little dude (in my humble opinion, at least.)

Once baby makes his or her arrival, we can then add in some gender-specific colours to the mix, if we want.  Maybe a little navy and/or some bright lime-ish green if the bump turns out to be a boy, like this nursery from Spearmintbaby…

…or some coral-ly pink and yellow (like in this gorgeous nursery from CraftinessIsNotOptional) if I’m currently housing a baby girl.

Either way, I can’t wait to get started.  Can’t wait!  And that’s probably where Part Two of this (likely drawn out due to indecisiveness) nursery natterings series will go.  Regardless of everything else that ends up in the nursery (and all the decisions yet to be made), teal is one of my absolute favourite colours.  I’m hoping that Baby (boy or girl) will really like it too.  :)

And then Sweetie and I received a little news.  Good news.  Fantastic and exciting news.  Unbelievably joyous and wonderful and life-changing news, in fact.  We were going to be parents, with Baby expected in early August 2014.  The future grandparents were thrilled, friends were ecstatic, and Sweetie and I were elated at the thought of becoming a family of three (five, if you count the cats) (which, of course, we do.)

However, what has this news all meant to the fate of our poor little house?

Renovations have hardly begun.  Like, nada.  Nothing.  Zilch.  The kind of non-eventfulness that cues lowly crickets chirping in the background and spiderwebs forming around paint cans.

Why?  I’m one of those crazy pregnant ladies who is afraid to paint.  Yup.  I used to make fun of those people.  “Of course they can paint – that’s what low/no-VOC paints are for!” I’d exclaim rather pompously.  Silly lazy pregnant ladies – they can paint, they’re just being stubborn, I’d think.  But now that it’s my turn, my turn, and it’s the health of my baby (who I adore so much already) that could be affected, I’m totally wimping out.  I have been paintbrush-free since October, and I could very well remain paintbrush free until at least August, and likely much longer (because, honestly, I’m not fooling myself into believing I’ll be particularly productive during the first weeks of mommy-dom.  I’ll have other, far greater (and far cuter) priorities to tend to.)

It’s been quite the struggle, I have to admit.  I’ve painted throughout every single winter for the past nine years (nine years!), since we purchased our very first (wallpaper-filled and salmon-coloured-trim adorned) house way back in 2004.  Painting is what I do – it’s my hobby on weekends.  Some people relax by cooking.  Others unwind by reading or doing crossword puzzles or scrapbooking.  Me?  I paint.  And it makes me feel amazingly accomplished and proud to see progress unfolding with each paint-roller roll across my walls.

I’ve toyed with the idea of bringing someone in to paint our main floor, just to feel like some paint-related progress has been made, even if not by me, even if just to have the living room and dining room painted – the green is so dark and so strong and just so not us.  Our house doesn’t really feel like our home yet, because it doesn’t look like us.  At all.  There’s the (awful) mossy-green walls in the living room and dining room.  There’s the gold-coloured kitchen and stairwell (oh how I despise the gold!)  There’s the rather offensive red family room at the back of the house.  (Yes, red.  Bright red.  So bright that that room makes me feel a little uncomfortable.)  Our furniture and cats and clothes and interactions are all contained by the old mauve-coloured siding and under our big gray roof, but the house doesn’t at all feel like our home.  Yet.

But, it’s worth it.  It’s completely worth it.  It’s only nine months (and, really, only five-ish at this point).  I’ve given up wine (oh, wine, how I miss you!) and deli meat (despite crazy intense Subway cravings) and coffee (well, most of it at least) and anything that could potentially bring harm to my little growing baby…  I can handle a few months sans paint.  It’s our child.  And nothing is more important than that.  Not even ugly moss-green walls and an awful gold-coloured kitchen.

So, until paint returns to our house once again, we’ll be making little changes here and there.  The cosmetic non-stinky-chemical sort of changes.  Lights are being swapped out, a few loo improvements are looming, appropriately long non-sheer curtains will soon be in place, and a nursery is slowly unfolding upstairs.

And, truthfully, I suppose that home is where your family lives.  And our home will soon contain Sweetie, me, Irwin, Erik, and someone little and new and perfect, regardless of whether the walls are green and gold and red.

I can’t wait.  :)