Re-vamped

You may or may not have noticed a little change around here.  For instance, an update. But even more so the background and colour scheme.  I felt so uninspired by the way it looked before and knew I just needed a little change.  So here you are.  

So a lot has happened in our world since our last encounter on here.  We have successfully finished potty training Kiwi.  B, Kiwi and Sprout have all had Birthdays and Birthday parties.  Kiwi's was an under water theme and it was so much fun to plan for!  B thinks I'm crazy as I start planning a party well in advance.  The reason I do this is to make it cost effective and sometimes you find awesome party themed items on clearance after Halloween or Christmas so it's good to have a theme well ahead of time so you can find things at a great price? Am I right? Or am I crazy?  Sprout had a Woodland theme party and again it was so much fun to plan.  I did go a little crazy when I decided I would make all the kids a party hat.  I started this project 2 weeks prior to the party....that I have to say was a little crazy but it worked out.  Here are some pictures from both parties:

 I used clear blue shower curtains to create a feeling of being under water. 

 This backdrop is actually a table cloth I found at the dollar store - perfect!  I ordered the balloons that attach to each other from a party store online.  bargainballoons.com

 I love the jelly fish.  They are probably my favourite decoration.  I sewed two streamers together with the tension as high as it could go to create the ruffled effect.  

 The Birthday boy at the fishing pond.  We had 4 games lined up along the wall that the kids could play at their leisure.  And then we played with the parachute(shark attack game) and had a silly string(seaweed) fight. I didn't include those photos only because I don't have permission from the parents of the other kids to post them on my blog.  

 My little mermaid.  Yes I crocheted that tail.  She loves wearing it!

 The bubble cake! This was made with gelatine bubbles and white chocolate mould seashells and brown sugar.  The bubbles were made by dipping water balloons in gelatine mixture and allowing them to dry for 24 hours.  They turned out way better that I had imagined! 

 Sprouts cherry blossom cake with a birds nest.  

 Sugar cookies - owls and foxes. These were such a hit. I should have made more!

 I love the porcupine and the hedgehog!!!  

 Party hats! See I am a little crazy!  But look how sweet they are!

 The dessert table!
And little miss Sprout had a cake all to herself for the classic cake smash.  She was so dainty and didn't get very messy.  

Well I think that catches you up a little for now.  I have a few more post ideas in my head. It's just a matter of writing it down and actually posting it.  I am hoping to be back at this now.  There is a lot coming up that I would like to document.  Have the most wonderful day.  (That's not me being bossy...really choose whatever kind of day you want to have I just hope it's wonderful)  

Merry Christmas in 7 sleeps

Hey so if you haven't noticed I totally lost track of having a blog. Also I don't think anyone really reads it any more anyways as there was no cry-out for more updates so I don't really feel all that bad about not keeping up with it.  

Lots has changed since the last time I wrote anything but I don't feel like playing catch up so I will just talk about what's going on now.  Christmas is just around the corner.  I love Christmas time and this year is no different. The only difference this year is that I have no desire to bake.  This is crazy talk yo as I usually have my baking done mid-October.  Here it is exactly one week until Christmas and Kiwi and I just baked some sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies today.  It was actually a lot of fun making them with him as he did the rolling of the dough and pressing of the cookie cutters.  He loved it.  My inner self had a few moments where I had to put myself in check because it would be so much faster if I just did it or organized the cookie cutters in a way where I could fit 10-15 on one roll out whereas when he placed them it would be successful to get 5.  Yes it was more work to have him "help" but to see how excited he was and how into it he was I wouldn't trade it.  

Last weekend we had some friends over that don't have family in town.  It's now an annual event (as we did it last year and again this year) to have a gingerbread house decorating evening.  It is so much fun.  We have dinner and then the rest of the evening we spend decorating our houses.  I make the kids their very own little house so they can have all the creative freedom they want on decorating and then the adult houses can be done by just that, the adults.  

Brenton loves to have parties so we will be hosting another party for his co-workers this weekend.  This one will be a pot-luck and it shall be fun.  I am already kind of looking forward to the quietness that comes after the Christmas season. It just seems to be so busy for a week and a half straight and then breath.  Don't get me wrong, I love seeing people and catching up and having no structure, however I can only handle that for so long and then I just want to curl up under a blanket at home and just be still.  

Sprout is freakin' adorable.  I know I am biased, I get that but today especially she just melts my heart.  She woke up in a super happy smiley mood.  She gave several belly laughs over the slightest thing and she played shy a few times scrunching her cheek into her shoulder.  She loves to be around the action and gets quite offended if we leave her in her swing where she can't see what's going on.  

This blog might go silent or I might just pick it up again in the new year.  I haven't decided at this point so we'll see how the next week and a half goes.  We are planning on potty training Kiwi so maybe I will have some fresh material to blog about.  Until next time
Merry Christmas
Michelle

Evacuation and False Labour

 I was just coming back from the other side of the bridge (doing errands) and heading to B's Grandpa's 95th birthday party.  95!!!  As I rounded the corner I saw some smoke coming from a hill near by.  I said out loud to myself (well Kiwi was there so maybe I was telling him) that as soon as we parked the car I was going to call that in.  It had just started.  As I pulled into my parking spot the fire truck went by.  Ok don't need to call that in.  Went inside and enjoyed the party.  Kiwi was over tired and squirrel-ee so we packed it in a bit early and headed home.  As I headed home I thought….this fire just needs a little wind and it will be at our place in no time.  So as soon as I got home I put Kiwi down for a nap and began packing an evac bag. My brain was going a million times a minute.  See as I drove into the neighbourhood I took the long way home and at the top of the street you could see flames in the trees.  So feeling a little panicked I didn't know where to start or what to pack or even if I should pack.  So I started with the important things, the irreplaceable things.  Photo albums, all the memory cards, the external hard drive, insurance papers, mortgage papers, etc.  Then I packed a bag for us to be able to survive for 3 days.  So 3 changes of clothes each, our toothbrushes etc…  All the while Kiwi is still not napping because the helicopters are flying right over our house.  Looking out the window they were using the lake water just across the road so every time they dipped down into it, it appeared like they were going to hit the top of our neighbours house.  They were super duper close.  So of course Kiwi is all into that and didn't want to nap.  No biggie, just stay in your room I asked him.  Well he didn't.  He decided that this was a good time to figure out how to unlock the deadbolt on the front door and run outside to watch the helicopters.  So while chasing him outside (because he will run out onto the street still) and coming back in to pack and then chasing him outside again I was a bit of a basket case.  Finally I had our bags packed.  B came home early due to the whole ordeal with some friends of ours that he works with that also live in our neighbourhood so that worked out nicely.   When he got home he put the 2 suitcases into the car and did a quick video of our house and contents for insurance reasons.  Then the cops came down the road and told us it was time to get out.  B had been home for maybe 10 minutes at that time.  Kiwi kept trying to pack his snow shovel into the trunk.  We tried to explain to him that we didn't need to take that with us.  I thought that part was funny.

We went to B's parents' house and stayed with them for the 3 nights that we were out of our home.  How generous of them to allow us to stay with them especially since they had company coming to stay with them too that weekend.  When I opened the suitcase to see what I had to wear I realized that I had packed some pre-pregnancy clothes.  Um…where are the clothes that fit right now?  Talk about a blond moment.  I'm going to chalk it up to panic.  So I had a couple of things to wear but mostly just tank tops .  Umm….yeah.  B's parent's were great.  They looked after Kiwi while we went to register as evacuees.  I'm so thankful for that because the process for registration took quite some time and I think Kiwi would not have lasted for very long in that env't.  While sitting there we ran into our cousin who had just moved into that area 3 weeks prior.  I gave her a welcome to the neighbourhood hug and we chatted until it was her turn to go up (she had arrived 2 hours ahead of us).  For some reason she didn't want to switch numbers with us, go figure.

That night I went to bed feeling fine.  At 4:50am I woke up to some pretty intense cramps.  I started to time them because they seemed to be coming and going.  Every 10 minutes I was getting them.  They were getting a little more strong each time.  I went upstairs to get some water and to sit still.  I figured maybe this could stop it or at least slow it down.  As I sat there and they didn't stop I was wondering do I wake anyone up?  I don't want to cause panic if there's nothing to worry about.  At this point I was 35 weeks pregnant.  Finally they stopped and I went back to bed.  They only lasted about an hour.  I've been told that my surgeon doesn't want me to labour for more than an hour so when it stopped I was so happy.  I told Sprout, you can't come out now, I don't even have a house to take you to, not to mention your nursery at our house hasn't even been started.

We were back in our home on Sunday evening.  The first thing I did was start the dishwasher.  After 3 days of sitting in there dirty I figured they would be oober stinky.  I was right.  Although we were out for a very short time considering how close the fire was to our home I was so grateful to be back.

3 weeks until due date.

Woah, again time got away from me.  Ah such is life I suppose and I don't suppose it's going to slow down any time soon.  I have thought about updating often but just didn't do it.  I found other things took priority, such as watching "The Bachelorette" (I didn't care for this season).  Anyways I"m here now so let's update shall we?

I have a scheduled c-section about a week earlier than my due date because of the vertical tear in my uterus.  I had an ultrasound the other day to determine the size (which is average) and fluid levels(which are perfect) and the position of the baby.  Well baby has my sense of direction is facing the wrong way so it would have been a c-section regardless of the tear being there or not.  My baby is a skater boarder punk already and is in the position of doing an Ollie (legs bent up behind) and is breech. I think that's all there is to update on Sprout. Although this morning I woke up craving root beer.  Um…weird.  It's only 6 am.  Don't' think I'm going to cave into that craving.  Normally I crave cherries and watermelon (same sort of things I craved with Kiwi).  

Speaking of Kiwi.  For the last week he's been waking up super early.  I mean I have seen a 5 as the first number on the clock every morning.  I walk him back to bed tell him it's still sleep time and he goes back to sleep. I however take 1-1.5 hours to fall back asleep which is just in time for him to wake up at a reasonable time and I'm exhausted for the rest of the day.  

A couple of weeks ago now we had to evacuate our home due to a forest fire.  What a stressful situation.  I don't recommend it.  However I am incredibly thankful for the emergency workers and how calm and organized the entire ordeal felt. I think this story warrants it's own entry though so that's all I'll say about it for now.  

Nesting has officially begun as of yesterday.  Just really random things scream out to me that they need to be cleaned.  It's like an unofficial spring cleaning is taking place.  Yesterday everything got washed.  The carseat covers (yes Kiwi's too), I vacuumed out one of the cars (the other one is getting done today), Did laundry (which is  normal weekly duty so it doesn't really count), cleaned out inside the fridge because you know the baby will definitely judge us if it weren't clean.  While I was cleaning it I was like, oooh this is a bit irrational I must be nesting. haha.  Because it was such a strong urge that it must be cleaned!  And you get the point….cleaning it's never ending and I'm happy it's getting done so once I'm recovering I won't have these little things sticking out to me to be done.  

In the nursery B drew animals on the wall and I am painting them in.   It is so relaxing and I love doing it.  I do have to take a million breaks as I get fatigued rather quickly.  But the room is looking super cute so far.  We are keeping it gender neutral because even though the first ultrasound they told us the gender the following 2 ultrasounds they couldn't get a clear picture and it came back as inconclusive so we decided we would not tell anyone (outside of our immediate family) what the gender is supposedly in case it is wrong.  So gender neutral nursery it is.  We painted the walls mint green and the animals are actually dark brown silhouettes.  We are doing a forest theme in this room.  The other day B and I came into our room and laid on the bed and looked up and realized we have some art work above our bed that is a tree and our bedspread is tree branches/leaves. That's when B said, in all our rooms we all have some sort of tree going on.  Funny I thought.  Guess we're a bunch of tree lovers.  

I am not looking forward to the recovery time of a c-section.  People keep telling me that it won't be so bad this time because it's planned and not emergency which will help immensely.  I am still sad that I won't be allowed to pick Kiwi up, and that I have to take it easy for the first couple of weeks.  I'm not good at sitting still.  I remember right after Kiwi was born I was sitting up in the bed to talk to some visitors we had and the nurse came in and told me to lay back down that I wasn't suppose to be sitting yet.  Ugh…I just want that part of this journey to be over.  Can we skip it somehow??  

I am so excited that next Saturday my sister and her family come to town.  I haven't seen them in person since Kiwi was born (just over 2 years ago).  We have a pool party to welcome them next Sunday with some other family members and I am stoked!   They will be in town for 10 days and I am so looking forward to spending time with them.  I can't believe my nephew is 13 already and my niece is 9!! Seriously time is flying by.  

My friend's little guy, the one who had the Berlin heart put in has just received a heart transplant and everything went very well.  It's only 9 days post op and he's been released from the hospital.  They are so excited and happy that they have a happy ending to their journey and that their home for the last 7 months is now a memory as they head home.  It's such a bittersweet situation.  You pray for a heart for the little person, but by praying for that you're praying that someone else has to suffer great loss as the heart has to come from somewhere (and at the age of the baby has to be around the same age).  So really in this situation my heart is torn in two directions.  Let's just focus on the rejoicing side for now though shall we(in blog world). 

Well I think that's all there is to update at this point. Thank you for coming back and reading.  I hope you have a great day and hopefully I'll update one more time before Sprout makes his/her appearance.  

June update

Hello.  So much has changed in the last month.  A month!!  Isn't that crazy that it's been that long since I've updated.  Oy!  I'd be surprised if anyone still comes back to read this blog since it's so inconsistently updated.  Any who onto something more interesting than my meaningless ramblings.  

I no longer am taking care of the boys I was looking after 3 days a week.  I was suppose to have them until the end of June, however their father lost his job and so they didn't need me for the remainder of the month.  Also the other little boy I was taking care of randomly will also not be coming back because the school year came to a shocking finish as of tomorrow due to the teachers' walk-out/strike which will take place on Monday.  So his mommy won't be needing to go to the school to help out so I will not be needed for him for the next two weeks.  So as of now I am done taking care of other people's children for the remainder of my pregnancy/newborn stage.  

Kiwi turned 2!!! Can you believe it?  I can't!  It's hard to wrap my mind around that he's a 2 year old already.  I feel like the last year went by so fast.  We had two birthday parties to celebrate.  One with 5 of his friends and the other with our families.  They were both a lot of fun, a lot of work, but a lot of fun!  He had a bug themed party.  He mostly enjoyed playing in the sandbox.  

The last couple of days we have been attempting toilet training, so that's been "fun".  Yesterday he had an accident and was completely unaware of it.  Today he had 2 accidents and both times as he was peeing he realized it and started to run to the washroom.  The first one he had finished peeing before he started to run, the second time he had just leaked a little bit and then finished in the potty.  So we're making progress, it's slow, but it's progress!!  I was planning on potty training after I was done with the boys at the end of the month, but since they are no longer coming I figured let's direct our attention towards that now.  Our system that we're using right now is going and sitting on the potty every 10 minutes.  Kiwi loves it because he gets a story read to him each time and the kid loves books!  We might have to go and get some new to us books at the library, mostly for my sanity, you can only read the same books so many times.  When he's not on the potty he runs around in his thicker than normal underwear (helps to soak up some of the leaks so it doesn't go all over the floor) and a t-shirt.  This way he's able to pull his own underwear down and be successful that way.  For nap and bed time I still put him in a diaper.  

Another thing that's new since the last update, I went to my doctor for an appointment a couple of weeks ago now and when I was there she told me that the surgeon had brought it to her attention that I would not be a good candidate for a VBAC (a natural birth after c-section).  Apparently my doctor had skimmed the report from the surgeon the last time and missed some pretty vital information.  She printed off the report for me to read for myself and I'm no medical expert but I understood what it was saying.  Basically when they had opened me up to get Kiwi out they discovered that my uterus had started to tear vertically along my left side leading all the way down to my cervix  (beginning stages of a ruptured uterus which is not a good scenario to find yourself in).  I was glad to hear that this was caught and fixed, but I was shocked, annoyed, angry, sad that I didn't find out about this until 2 years later and after I had set my mind on a VBAC and now that wasn't even an option.  So I came home had a good cry, let B know and by the next day I had come to terms with it and moved on.  I want sprout to come out as safe and sound and as healthy as possible and it doesn't matter how that is.  

Sprout is a mover!  Constantly fidgeting in there and I can hardly wait to meet him/her.  However there's a lot yet to do and I am happy that there's 9 weeks left to get things done.  We are going to be moving Kiwi into a big boy bed and taking the crib out of his room and giving it to his sibling.  We still have to paint the nursery (we're doing green). We still have 2 weddings to go to before my due date and several birthday parties.

Well that's about all there is to report.  Lots of news.  I'm sure I am missing something else in there, but that's all you're going to get for now.  

Oh and on my last post I had a stranger comment on my blog saying that they didn't appreciate all caps.  I have no idea what you're talking about as I only have capitals at the beginning of my sentences or on names/places…etc…where's they're grammatically needed.  I am sorry it offended you but I don't plan on changing they way I write.  

Until next time, 
Michelle

Mother's Day

Mother's day is a day to reflect and be thankful for all the mama's in our lives.  I have one very special Mom as well as a great Mother in law. I am very very thankful for their loving, kind and supportive natures.  I am also thankful for the other ladies in my life that have taken on the nurturing roll as a role model in my life representing that as a Mom to turn to for support when my own Mom might not have been readily accessible. (My best friends' Mom, my young adult pastor, even one of my managers at a restuarant I worked at).  

I am also aware that today can bring sadness and pain to some.  For some it's a stinging reminder of losing their Mom. It may also be a crippling reminder of not yet being a mother.  3 years ago I knew this first hand.  I was in my 3rd round of failed infertility treatment. I had just had a misscarriage in February and I could barely bring myself out of bed on Mother's Day.  I just didn't feel I had it in me to face the day.  (The hormones that they pump into you also make you feel a little crazy in the head and you almost feel out of control of your own emotions).  I remember that day having to leave the service at church because I was just so upset. So on this day I want to be super sensitive to those who are struggling with the not so joyous parts of Mother's day.  If that's you, I send you a virtual hug and if you even need an ear to listen please don't hesitate to call, or ask.  

Happy news on this Mother's Day.  2 of my friends who have been struggling with infertility for several years (One for 5 years and the other for 9 years - those are years people not months!!)  have announced that they are pregnant!!! I am over the moon excited for them.

Today I also reflect on my own kiddo.  Kiwi is such a blessing in life, no words can describe it, how thankful I am to get to be his Mommy.  Being a parent has its struggles at times, but it is far outweighed by the joy it brings to watch the world through a little person's eyes.  I love being a momma and every bit of hardship along the way, every sacrifice, every tear (and there were a lot!) was worth it. 

A picture of Kiwi and Sprout.  

I may be biased but this little man captures my heart with his genuine, caring nature and smile.

(I love this picture of sprout, he/she is upside down with their hands up by their head - Wee!)

A very Happy Mother's Day to all the ladies in my life.  I hope today is able to bring you happiness as you reflect and celebrate your Mom.  

Can you keep a secret?

Hello.  Where has the time gone.  The last time I posted I was 17 weeks and I seriously feel like that was just a few days ago, alas I am now 22 weeks along. Crazy sauce I tell you!  Last week B and I and Kiwi went to see the baby at the ultra sound.  This was to check to make sure all babies' organs were doing what they are suppose to do.  I however have to go back in a months time to re-do some of the checks because baby would not hold still long enough to get a clear picture, (mostly of the heart - which is a big concern in my eyes because of some of the issues my friends and family have had as of lately with their little ones). They gave me the option of re-doing it and I chose yes just to ease my mind.  We did find out the gender but we will not be revealing what it is as of yet.  We want to be able to share it with our immediate family first.  When we announced we were pregnant it got leaked out of the "family circle" somehow and it was crushing to me to find out others knew our secret before we got to share our own news. After telling some cousins about our news one had told us that they already knew because so and so had told them a long time ago.  This made me sad to tell you the truth.  I even had ladies coming up to me in church (that I had never really talked to before) congratulating me and it was like, um, thanks, who are you and who told you?  I guess I'm just sensitive to it because it's something I would like to share on my own time and not have others share it for me.  I try to really keep it under wraps when others tell me their news because it's their news to share and I guess I would just appreciate the same type of courtesy. 

Rant over.

Today I was thinking about my grandparents.  I went outside to hang the "please don't ring the bell, baby sleeping" sign on the doorbell when I looked into the flower bed.  There are daffodils already open and they look so pretty.  I remembered going to my grandparents' house and after each visit in the summer my Grandpa would cut us each a rose to take home. He had an amazing rose garden of at least 7 types of roses.  I love this memory.  It always made me feel so special.  

22 week update:
Cravings:  Anything sour (green apples is a favourite and pink lemonade) 
Maternity wear:  Not yet
Gender guess:  I think boy(I'm going with my guess pre-screening we'll have to wait to see if I was right or wrong)
Mood:  Extremely moody - all over the place
Sleep:  Sleep insomnia - wake up to pee takes 1-2 hours to get back to sleep. (This may explain the moodiness)
Movement:  Does it ever stop moving?  It's one hyper active child
Different than the last time?:  Yes and No.  I'm not sick this time around and the baby is just as hyper as Kiwi was