Thank you bloggies for your kind comments on the maternity photos taken by Shelagh.  I truly think that she deserves the compliments because she did all the work!  Although I suppose it could be argued that standing around for a few hours supremely preggers could also be considered work too 😀

I ended up canceling the other photography session we had booked that would have included the husband, simply because our weather turned awry today and it did not jibe with an outdoor beach session and neither she nor I were crazy about doing it in studio.  She was willing to re-schedule for Tuesday afternoon, but unfortunately, we both work M-F and she is 1.5 hrs away.  So needless to say, I am MORE than grateful for Shelagh’s beautiful photos that I will cherish forever and I am happy to have those 🙂

We are making amazing headway on the nursery and if all goes well, I hope to have the final results posted up for you this week! I almost said “today” because it’s early and I’m not keeling over with backaches yet, but I’ve learned a few lessons in the past few weeks about the ol’ back aches and sciatica pain not to try to plan too many hours ahead! lol  I suppose I also need a good day of natural light to take good photos of the final result, so I hope our grey and rainy forecast doesn’t keep us waiting too much longer.  The nursery is 95% complete now and it was 99% until we realized that there is one part of the stenciling that I used an old water colour paint for that does not seem to be drying at all and will smudge and wash off, so today’s agenda is to wash that part off of all of the stencils and re-do them with another kind of acrylic paint I picked up at Michael’s on the way home last night. Hopefully this kind will at least dry and not smudge if you touch it! 

Today is rainy and grey outside which is bringing us some much appreciated relief from the humidity of late, so if all goes well and I keep my ice packs chilled and take frequent back icing breaks, you never know, maybe I will get it all completed today and stroke the nursery off the list!  I am loving stroking things off of the “must do before baby comes” list.  It just makes me feel that much more prepared – even if it is just a mind trick 😀

Yesterday, the husband and I spent the day in my home town where my family gathered for a baby shower for us.  I am fortunate enough to only live 1.5 hrs away from where I grew up, so I have the luxury of being able to go “home” more easily than some people.  Even so, there never seems to be much opportunity to see the extended family very often.  In fact, I think I haven’t seen most of them since our wedding which was September 2008.  I was most happy to just sit in the same room and gab with my aunts, a few cousins and dear friend.  That is the most important thing.  I grew up having many aunts and uncles, but no brothers or sisters.  The husband has one sister who lives very far north in Inuvik, so as a result, the peanut will have no traditional “aunts” and “uncles” in every day life.  BUT we do have some AMAZING close friends who have already declared their “aunt and uncle” status to the peanut and it really means so much to us. xoxo

I am so happy to say that the “down days” appeared to have passed and have been replaced with pure excitement and anticipation.  That is BIG because feeling that way was really quite difficult.  I have 10 working days left of work before I go on maternity leave where I will be off with the baby for one year.  We are fortunate in Canada to receive one year of parental leave benefits.  I have even heard rumors that there is a change this could be extended to 18 months at some point in the future.  I haven’t even held my baby yet and I can’t imagine what it must be like for mothers who have to go back to work after a few short months or less and for most people, going back to work is a necessity.  I find it a bit strange that I just said that I only have 10 working days left of work.  I finish on the 23rd, but I really don’t think it has sunk in.  I’m focusing so much on trying to get things in order that I don’t think I really have accepted that my daily life is about to change so dramatically.  I mean, I “know” that it will and it already has tremendously just going through pregnancy, but my new roll as Mom so far is only in day dreams.  We are so anxious to meet the baby, discover if our peanut will be a son or a daughter and what happens after that is all unwritten and undiscovered.  I am so happy for the uncharted territory to be my new life, which is different from how I felt only a few short months ago.  It is of course normal, and expected, to feel angst, but I am very happy to feel at ease and more confident to jump into my new roll and my new life as Mommy.  This child has no idea how much love we have for him/her already and I already feel like this is one lucky little peanut!  I am tearing up right now, hormones or not! lol

 

As of this coming Thursday, the baby is considered full term so it’s all fair game if the peanut decides to arrive early!  The husband keeps bringing up the fact that we have to get our hospital bags packed soon :-)  At one point I would have thought I’d want to make sure I had that all ready, but realistically, I hope an instantaneous trip to the hospital will not be necessary and we will have time to make sure we’re packed with what we need even if it’s on the day it’s time to go.  You can’t predict how things will go, but if it’s what is considered “normal” I should be labouring for at least several hours at home before going to the hospital.  He of course, just wants to make sure he’s doing what he has control over and that’s making sure we have our bags packed!  But it’s all about crossing off the “to dos” ya see!

Speaking of one of the last big to dos, I am starting to think about some meals I can make ahead of time that I can freeze to be readily available to re-heat for when we are home with the baby trying to keep our heads above water :-D.  There’s the obvious lasagna and chili which freeze really well, but given that it’s super hot and the peak of summer, I’m wondering what other kinds of pre-prepared meals we could put on our list and what better people to ask than you guys!  So, if you have any suggestions or recipes to share with me, hit me up, bloggies!