Almost there

Well its been 3 weeks now since we started thinking we could have a baby at any minute and still no baby! :) I am 3cm dilated, fully effaced and having lots of pre-labour signs including non-stop braxton hicks contractions which I don't remember having at all with Violet. Unless baby decides she wants to be born this weekend, we are scheduled to meet her at 9:30 on monday morning.

I think its a very good thing for all of us that we have had this time for me to nest, for Jon to get all the major projects off his list and for Violet to have some bonding time with mommy and daddy before her life turns upside down. I think we now have everything in order for the baby and many, many other projects have been ticked off the household list so we are ready to receive.

I am so ready to meet this baby. I have started aching a little to have her in my arms, not to mention the aches that makes me feel 'finished' with being this large and heavy and ok with the thought of not be pregnant anymore. I will be sad not to have baby all to myself anymore but I am guessing she and I will have quite a lot of togetherness after her arrival too.

We have generally been managing to get some sleep around here but it is certainly not a sound night of sleep for all of us every night. Between multiple trips to the bathroom, middle of the night worries and a sometimes busy baby, I have been losing a bit of sleep, but I think I'm doing better than average. I even managed to sleep well during the recent heat wave with the exception of one night - thanks to Jon. Jon, of course is disrupted by all my activity and likes to get some middle of the night worry/anticipation in there too. Violet is doing well but has had a few disrupted nights for no reason other than the likely one that she knows she is about to deal with a lot of change.  She thankfully is a heavy sleeper.

Other than kicking the soother habit, Violet has also had her guard rail removed from her bed - there is no question that the 'baby' in that girl is rapidly disappearing. Something has changed in her little head in the past couple of weeks and she is just more grown up in her language, her humour, her ability to pick up complex ideas and her ability to give us attitude like she is a teenager. V is also becoming a bit of an organizer, she likes to make statements like "ok let's get to work" when we ask her to help tidy etc. and she revels in doing a good job. She has started tidying her room and making her bed - and doing a fine job of it I have to say!

V is anticipating baby with excitement but we are starting to wonder if we have over prepared her for the role of big sister. Sometimes we get the sense that she thinks she has to become an adult overnight, like when she says (repeatedly) "Daddy/Mommy, make sure you don't give me beer or wine or soda water or coffee after the baby comes!" She has also started focusing a large amount of energy on her babies, playing a mommy that just had a baby and taking her role very seriously. It is truly adorable. It's also very funny, hearing my own voice/words coming at me as she soothes her little one.

One of our biggest gripes lately has been the dog. Oh that George! He has been using the house as a bathroom on and off for a couple of months now. We aren't even sure what makes him do it, it is not need, he's pissed about something. It may be connected to this pregnancy because it seems to be getting to him. He has been trailing me more closely than ever since I became pregnant but the closer I get to the end, the more trailing time I get from George. He follows me everywhere and whines at me to stop moving around because, I guess he finds it tiring, go figure. When I finally settle to bed he is right beside me on the floor, snorting, scratching, snuffing and eventually snoring which has reached a point of disruption that I can no longer take (for some reason I am not my usual patient self...).  He eventually leaves to sleep elsewhere in the house but likes to take a lengthy tour first to check things out as he clicks his nails all around. This tour can and usually is repeated several times in the early morning hours to see who he can manage to rouse to hang out with him. If he was a younger dog, we would be exercising him to the point of complete exhaustion, but alas, even though the old boy is holding up pretty well, he can't take on too much physical activity any more.

My darling husband is now confined George to the basement at night which would normally mean that George would whine at the gate but he has been tricked into thinking that Jon is also sleeping downstairs so it has worked so far. We have now dropped him off at the doggie place for a couple of weeks so we can focus on baby and Violet for a while. Hopefully he will adjust well to baby.

It's been a wonderful summer so far, hard to believe it is coming to an end but what a way for summer to end with the birth of our new family member!  Check out our summer 2010 album for some new pictures from the last few weeks. We have had some wonderful times, especially swimming at the lake and chilling out in the cooled down hot tub or the kiddie pool during the heat wave of last week. Now we are planning a quiet weekend to get rested up as much as we can and enjoy this time before baby arrives.

Next post - baby!

And now August

It's been a busy summer to say the least. We have had a lot of fun with our Ottawa guests in the month of July. Mark and Joy and their boys Alex (6) and Carter (almost 4) visited for 2 weeks. All the kids got along so well and had a lot of fun together. It was a great opportunity to catch up with our wonderful friends and get to know their boys. We spent time in Victoria, Mayne Island and in Vancouver. We were all very worn out every single day!

We also had a visit from Jon's sister Rachel and our nephews Ben (10 in a few days) and Sam (7). It was great for Violet to have some time with her cousins and her Aunt. She loved every minute, I think because she got totally spoiled and because the boys were so good to her.

So our guest accommodations have been well tested now and seem to do the job.

Here are some recent pics.

Jon worked like a mad man during the Spring to get the house in order before our guests arrived and to prepare for the arrival of our newest family member. Things are looking great and the house is really functioning well with all our new space and storage room! He still has an awful lot of projects on 'the list' but I think we are down to the kinds of things that are on any homeowners list now - phewf!

Baby update

I feel huge :) Our latest doctor's appointment gave us some indication that baby might decide to arrive earlier than the scheduled date of Aug 23rd, but then again maybe not. This coincided with a terribly painful night when I had thought several times that I might be going into labour. As a result I left work a couple of days early and have been on mat leave now for about a week. The painful night was caused by a combination of baby 'dropping' (which was pretty painful in itself as it felt like she was making room for that larger than average head for about a week!) and my hips beginning to separate which somehow involved a nerve that ended up feeling like cyatic nerve pain. OMG! What a night. I ended up doing a lot of things that I would have done if I was in labour like yoga poses and a soak in the not-so-hot- hot tub. I eventually felt good enough to go back to sleep, after about 3 hours, but woke up convinced that I was done with working. I think all this hip pain was probably exacerbated by the fact that I've gained 40lbs already. I am 'big all over" this time around :) I'm really hoping that there is a LOT of water retention going on in this body.

I have been looking back at our blog from my pregnancy with Violet and her early days and realize that this baby might start feeling like the typical second child because we have written so little about this pregnancy. There is no doubt, I truly get it now, that pregnancy and I'm sure parenting when you already have another child is just a completely different experience. We just don't find much time to write down what's happening with the pregnancy, Violet or life in general. I love being able to look back and remember in detail all the little things that make our family life so special and valuable to us so I am hopeful that I will manage to find the time to write things down here more often - our new second computer should help I hope.

One of the major differences with this pregnancy is that I have slept a lot more (and I'm bigger - have I mentioned that already!?), oh how I hope this is a sign of things to come! I'm not sure if its me or baby but I manage to sleep most nights these days. I only have trouble if I can't get right back to sleep after going to the bathroom (currently only 1 time per night!) or if Violet wakes up for some reason. Then its my head that keeps me awake and baby usually joins in for an early morning visit that can last for quite a while. I have been really enjoying having this little being inside me and as much as I am starting to feel like I'm losing my mobility and want to meet her soon, I kind of like having her all to myself for the most part.

We have finally put the name search to bed...but we aren't telling yet!

Our baby room is ready now as well, just missing a piece of artwork from big sister Violet. We will take some pics and post them.

Violet update:

Violet accomplished a major milestone in the past couple of weeks. She finally gave up her soother "soosie". We tried at Christmas and lost her voluntary participation at the last moment and for some reason we just haven't had to gumption to push the issue again until recently. We did start to push it though a couple of weeks ago and she decided to have a few practice nights without the soosie before officially letting the soosie fairy come to take the soosies away for little babies. She got along great and only had a few nights where her settling down to sleep process was longer than ususal but we also had guests at the time so we weren't surprised. Finally she thought she had enough practice to let the magical fairy some to our house. The trade, of course, was well thought out by Violet. She wanted the soosie fairy to leave her a scooter, in a box, with a gold ribbon. Her wish was granted and now she is the proud owner of a 5yr+ Razor scooter complete with girly kneepads, elbow pads and gloves. She woke up on the big day and immediately put on the safety gear and took her new scooter for a ride around the house. Of course, as she likes to sleep naked these days (no its not our way of saving on pj costs!) it was quite a sight!

Violet is very keen to be the centre of attention and really is experimenting with being funny. When we were in the car with Rachel, Ben and Sam during their trip, Violet piped up with several stories that all ended with "a man getting covered in goo"! We all did think it was pretty funny and induldged her for about 5 minutes. Then Sam said "Violet do you want to hear something really hilarious?" To which she responded with perfect 3 year old comic timing "no thank you!" Many more laughs ensued.

Some favourite words and phrases are "actually", "but mommy or but daddy" and anything with 4 or more syllables. She really likes Fancy Nancy books which include a lot of 'fancy' words so I think this is where she is picking up a lot of her words. She loves to learn and is really keen on learning her letters and how to write them - patience is not always with her to make it happen but she is still keen to keep trying.

V is so excited about the baby - hope it lasts when baby is actually here. A few weeks after baby's arrival she will be starting preschool so we are hoping it will be good timing for her to have her own special thing starting.

Well there is my epic update. Let's see what news the next one includes... :)

June already

Here are some pics from May - the belly has developed A LOT since these but the photos haven't been downloaded yet.

Our not so little baby is having lots of fun in the womb. She is pretty busy but (knock on wood) she is letting her mother sleep through the night most nights but if mommy can't sleep for any reason other than a busy baby, she will happily wake up and join the party. Her kicks are plenty strong for her big sis to feel these days. Violet is being so loving and caring its really sweet. I can't leave the house (or the room) without baby getting a kiss and hug first and she has taken to caring for me, following daddy's lead. Tonight after work I was sat down at the table to put my feet up while Jon made dinner and Violet brought me a blanket to cover my legs (though I wasn't cold, she wanted me to be cozy...) Then she told me the only thing I was allowed to do was read her some books. ok, I can take an evening like that when its possible.  The doctor has me 'taking it easier' at the moment so my lovely family are making sure I do just that.

Jon is still ticking pretty major projects off the list around the house, tonight it is tearing down the shed in the back yard. I THINK when this is done, that will be most of the big stuff finished but I could be wrong it never seems to end. Let's just say a lot has been accomplished around here. Baby's room is almost ready, she and Violet have some lovely flower murals that Jon painted and there is a new closet organizer installed as well as curtains and a whole bunch of other stuff. In an effort to darken Violet's room, we bought her some pretty ugly blackout curtains, still working on making them prettier, but she also chose some incredibly girly decorative sheers to go with them - she loves them, daddy doesn't.

We were tourists in our own city on friday, we had dinner downtown and then walked along the waterfront taking in the buskers, the market and all the activities. Violet, who was wearing a particularly outrageous outfit she had chosen, was grooving to a steel drummer/guitarist who was playing a lot of reggae until her parents tore her away finally. When we told her he was playing steel drums she looked at us thoughtfully and said "yeah, the man steals them and then he brings them here to play music".

2 Girls!

It's probably not news to anyone now that we are expecting another baby girl (its been ALL over facebook :). We are so excited and Violet is over the moon at the thought of a baby sister.  We had an ultrasound last week and everything is coming along as it should. Baby is healthy and BIG. She is in the 90th percentile for the measurement of her head, length of her legs and size of her tummy (actually a little more than 90th on this measurement). This has pretty much solidified for us that I will have a scheduled c-section for this delivery. I was seriously considering a VBAC to try and have a natural delivery but these babies of ours with the big heads aren't really great for that option.  We have already met the obstetrician that will do the surgery and he seems great so we will see him again soon to have the delivery scheduled.

Jon has had to repaint the baby's room as two of the walls were messed up during our reno. Its a fresh start with a sunny yellow colour and plans for a flower mural.

Here are some recent pics which include visits from from Nanny in March and Grandpa in April.

Violet's been really focussed on her friends lately. She has playdates with Jeremy (2) and Samantha (3.5) every week, they are kids who live on our street and we try to get her to see other buddies, especiallly her friend Quinn as often as we can as these two girls LOVE playing together. It's really fun watching her young relationships bud, Violet is so content when there is another kid around to entertain her.

She is also really using her imagination a lot which is quite fascinating to watch. She uses her stuffed animals to hold tea parties, play games and dance around the house. She has lots of conversations with them and likes to treat them like they are friends or babies - some interesting conversations are occuring.

Jon and V finished swimming lessons this week. Jon is going to teach her himself for the summer and then look at lessons again in the fall. We gave up on gymnastics in after 3-4 classes. It was a bit of a gong show. She was spending half the class either confused or waiting in line - which no one in the class really knew how to do. She did learn some things so its too bad but now its warm outside so we would rather spend time at the playground on a saturday morning anyway.

I am feeling a big large but otherwise pretty good. Baby is very busy but not making me uncomfortable - just busy hands that tickle all day and a few kicks at night. Jon has felt her kick a few times but she is generally  elusive when there are hands on my belly. I like having her to myself while I can...

Big Girl, more than ever

I'm not sure what made 3 the magical age where your child gains so much independence all at once but all of a sudden Violet is now in classes BY HERSELF!  And of course she loves it - this week was her first swimming lesson without one of her parents in the pool. She didn't hesitate to go with the teacher into the pool and hung on every word she said,eager to learn all the 'moves' she had to teach her.  Today is her first gymnastics class which she will also attend by herself, even though her mother is really wanting to be a fly on the wall at least for a little while to see how she interacts with the teacher and the other kids.

V is going through some shyness these days but it isn't preventing her from doing anything yet. We are hoping to give her the confidence to go for it instead of being shy. Yesterday at the playground she asked Jon how she could play with another girl (about a 7 year old) and once given the instruction to just say hello she was on her way and ran around the playground with a whole group of older kids for an hour.

She's also riding her bicycle with a lot of confidence these days - so much so that its scary to watch her go down a hill :) She has a peddle-free bike that she pushes with her feet. The idea is that she will gain balance faster than on a tricycle because she can lift up her feet and glide when she gets going - she is just starting to pick up her feet and is having so much fun.  This has come after quite a lot of time spent with Violet and Jon slowly walking around the block as Violet got up her nerve.

We are very excited about our next baby Gleed - baby has started kicking, so far only hard enough for mommy to feel. The attached ultrasound photo is pretty unsatisfying but its all they could capture at 12 weeks because the little monkey was so busy jumping around in there. On the theme of babies, I came across this article on baby names this morning and thought there were some pretty funny ones coming out of Alberta.

We are nowhere near the atge of picking names though if our last experience is any indication we should get started because it is SUCH a hard thing to do!

Happy Valentines Day

Lots of updates from the Gleed clan, Violet as a 3 year old is, well Jekyll and Hyde basically. One minutes she is the sweetest, funniest, smartest little thing and we just can't get over how much she is developing and changing day by day. The next minute, she is in a full-on screaming, kicking tantrum about a tiny little thing that didn't go her way.  Case in point was her first experience at preschool at the open house this week. She was having SUCH an amazing time but then got quite upset when a BOY (yes - it would have been ok if it was a girl apparently) came to play beside her. She recovered from that and played happily with the other kids for another 20 minutes or so until one of her parents made a minor suggestion to correct something she was doing - tears again. And the finale, despite 5 minute warnings for about 20 minutes that we would have to leave soon, she through a total wally when we attempted to remove her play clothes and get ready to leave. This was perhaps the worst tantrum she has ever thrown, we were so proud :)

Here are recent pics from our ski trip to Mount Washington and around some others. Jon had Violet in a lesson then took her on lots more runs after that, he skied backwards all afternoon so they were both completely exhausted at the end of the day. The girl has absolutely no fear and loved the slopes. She is a bit of a speed demon.

I'm trying to type this with Violet on my lap, she has a new love of computer games ( she has mastered using the mouse and is pretty independent playing games on treehouse and Nick Jr) and is currently demanding either to type or play a game - this post will not be much longer...

To keep the whining at bay a little, here are some words from Violet. bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbcccccccccccffffffffffffffffffffffhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhdddddddddddddddddddllllllllll

I've just asked her what she is excited about these days and she said her potty. She has been fully trained for a while now and has only ever had a few accidents. She also kicked the diapers at night time.

She says she is also excited (still) about her birthday - she is already planning for next year I think.

She is most excited though about being a big sister! We are expecting a baby on Aug 31. I am feeling pretty good (and large), looking forward to the second trimester when I hope to have a little more energy and don't have to send my husband out on shopping missions for my cravings.

In looking back at the blog, we realized that we thought there were more photos and videos from Christmas and  V's birthday here are some more.

Happy Valentines Day!

Sorry this took so long. Christmas and V's birthday is a very busy time for us.

Here are few pics during and around V's birthday. Click here.