A recording of our baby's heartbeat, recorded from a monitor during our November 29th doctor's appointment.

Winter in Victoria

Well winter has certainly arrived in Victoria! This is me working from home on our first snow day of this winter. (Can you tell that I am barely able to reach the keyboard these days?)

It was about -9 today which is soooo cold for us Victorians. We are surviving though :) We have had about a foot of snow in Victoria, see the photos of George enjoying the yummy snow and Beacon Hill Park. Jon really wanted to get me out on the tobaggan hill but we decided against it in the end. These days getting up off the couch is enough of a challenge.

Have I mentioned that we got "the stroller"!? It costs as much a used car but man its cool! It practically raises the baby for you - that's once you get the damn thing assembled. Our little baby will be travelling in style. This is our one major splurge in the baby gear department. We walk so much and are really hoping that this stroller will be the ONE!















I am starting to look for a few new items of maternity clothing (unbelievably!) I am getting pretty big and most of my clothes are just about stretched to the limit. Only 7 weeks to go so I hate to buy anything new but a girl has to have some semblance of a wardrobe even if she IS a beached whale :)

Well that's it for tonight, I'm tired, nothing new there.....

Movin' right along

It is so hard to believe that 8 months is just around the corner! Life is so busy and this pregnancy is just flying by. Just had our 31 week checkup - baby and I are both doing fine. I had my first flu shot yesterday (Jon got one too) I was really hesitant because I am just not convinced that they are good for you. But it is the only way to protect the baby in the event that the flu bug finds its way into our lives so hopefully it will work out. We are starting to have doctor's appointments every 2 weeks now.

We have been really enjoying our prenatal classes. We have had 4 already and are learning a lot. Yesterday we had a tour of the hospital maternity ward. It was not exactly a place that made me feel warm and fuzzy - not very zen. It didn't help that it was a stormy night and the wind was really howling in the room! We will just have to bring a few suitcases of stuff to warm the place up a bit. The reality of having to deliver this baby is really hitting home. I am mostly feeling ok about it but I do have some moments of panic - no question.

Jon and I had a very relaxing weekend together on Pender Island. It was great to have some down time together after having a few really busy months. We watched lots of movies, went swimming in the outdoor heated pool and ate too much. I also had a fabulous spa package while Jon did some exploring on the island. He did a great painting of a wave scene from Tofino on our last day there. Here is a pic of us enjoying a little walking trail by a waterfall and one of Jon's photos of the island.













For those of you who don't know about the conference that I have been volunteering for through the Y, I mentioned that I would post some more info - you can check out the conference info and the news stories on the website www.LMConference.ca.

We're Baaaaaack......

Not that we were away but it has certainly been a while since I got a post up here. It has been incredibly busy latey. Work is busy as always but even moreso and I have had a lot of work for the conference I chair through the Y. It took place on the weekend and it was a GREAT success. I will post more info about that later.

Jon has done a mega paint job on the baby's room - will will take some pics this week - it is really sweet. He is also still fixing up all the things around the house that we are hoping to have done before the arrival in January. The house is really becoming a home.

We had about 70 kids for Halloween. See one of Jon's 5 pumpkins here. We had so many comments on them but this was his favourite. He was going to paint my belly like a pumpkin but we just didn't have time.

I am 30 weeks pregnant today - I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is moving. the baby is getting BIG, I can feel her every move these days. She is really busy and spends a lot of time kicking for daddy. This morning she was very responsive to a light we were putting on my bump. It is all so amazing and we are getting very anxious to meet our little one. Though I have told her in no uncertain terms that she is to stay put until at least the new year!

Picture Updates

(baby's music time)

Been a while since we posted any pics. Everything is trucking along. Baby is growing away and so is my belly (6 cms in the past month!). I found my first stretchmarks tonight - boohoo - I thought I might get lucky and not have any. Oh well...

I am feeling pretty good - my only recent complaint is the double charlie horse I woke up to last thursday am. Wow - it must have lasted a full minute. It is the closest thing I can think of to what labour must feel like - pretty much solidified the plan for an epidural... My calves are still in recovery!

Jon and I went to the Mothering Touch store yesterday to learn all about reusable diapers - my head still hurts... I think we will get some disposables and a diaper service for the first month anyway. Deciding on a 'system' seems like far too much work right now!

Baby's room is coming together...

Insomnia

Boy I am very deliquent in getting a posting on here. I am pretty swamped with work and volunteer work so finding time to do something else on the computer has been a challenge lately. It seems that a little insomnia has come my way so I thought I might as well catch up on some e-mail and add a posting while I'm up (or should I say we're up - Baby G is wide awake and experimenting with ways to deal with her bouts of hiccups).

Can't wait to get some new photos up - I will get Jon to upload some tommorow. Lots of me and my blossoming belly as well as baby's room progress.

I am feeling pretty good these days despite the fact that I am officially in the 3rd trimester - can you believe it?! A little heartburn and some aches and pains but really nothing too major. I can feel my energy dwindling a little but as always Jon is more than willing to cater to me which is so appreciated.

Not much to report on the belly button front - still hovering at slighting indented with an eruption threatening to make me an outie any time now.

Two of our friends have had baby boys in the past weeks - congrats Mark and Joy and Julia and Wendell! Later Gators...

Baby's Accomodations

No not the current accomodations (which of course you can see from the photos is ever expanding) but her future accomodations in our lovely little home.

We thought it was about time to start making some space in the house dedicated to our little one. Her room has been my dressing room - what luxury!- since we moved in. Slowly but surely we have moved my stuff out and Jon and I have come to an amicable (no really) arrangement about sharing the not so big space in our bedroom - I have a full dresser and the closet and he has a lovely new wardrobe (though I will note that I have let him keep all his size 13s in the closet :)

Baby currently has a dresser come change table and an almost cleared out room (when I say almost that is there is still a LARGE pile of "things Christine can no longer wear" in the corner that I will have to deal with sooner or later). We have ordered a rocking chair but can't yet seem to find a simple crib that we like for less than $1000!!! As such we are still looking...

Will keep you posted on the baby room progress!