Saturday, July 31, 2010

Men, babies, it doesn't matter. Were soulmates.

The AMAZING women who I was able to celebrate with last weekend in Los Angeles. I couldn't have asked for a better group of friends. I have so much love and respect for each and every one of them.

Monday, July 26, 2010

The most wonderful weekend ever

This past weekend was probably one of the best of my life. I've said it before, but I have an AMAZING group of friends in California. I spent only a year and a half there, but forged some friendships that will last me a lifetime. I've always felt blessed to have these people in my life, and this past weekend they showed me just how much that friendship meant.

Many of my friends and former coworkers pitched in to get me down to LA for the weekend. It was a quick trip but they absolutely showered me, and my baby girl with love. I was blown away by the number of people that contributed to getting me there and the generosity they showed us.

Although every moment of the weekend was perfect, the highlight was definitely the shower on Saturday to celebrate our baby girl. There is so much I could say about the entire afternoon, but I thought pictures might do it better than any words I could write. Below are just a few of the pictures from the day.


My wonderful friend Kat (top left) hosted the event, and 10 of my dearest friends came out to share the day with me. We played silly shower games, ate AMAZING food, caught up on two years of life and enjoyed just being together. One of the most special parts of the afternoon was our 'craft time'. Everyone was given a onsie to decorate and each of the girls designed a special custom made gift for our baby girl. I couldn't have imagined how beautiful they would turn out! I can't wait to dress her up in them all and tell her all about the amazing woman that made it, especially for her.

Thank you to Kat, Eleah, Shawn, Janelle, Michelle, Kim, Susan, Janet, Liz and Emily for blessing me with such an amazing afternoon. Thank you to Lyric, Melanie, Dama and Tamara who couldn't be there but still sent lots of love. And thank you to everyone else who helped make it possible to be there and sent gifts and well wishes for our little one.

I cannot wait to bring her back to LA to meet all of you, and I feel SO blessed to call you all friends. I love you. xo

I won!

One of my favourite things are cupcakes. Almost any kind of cupcake. Well, I was delighted when I found the blog "A Cuppy Cake Life" full of all kinds of delicious cupcake recipes for me to try! Last week she posted a giveaway for a $40 gift card for CSN Stores. I rarely enter giveaways because I never expect to win, but since we need so many things for our baby girl I thought I'd give it a shot. Well today - I actually won! Thank you so much for this great giveaway. I can't wait to shop for something special for our little girl.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

On may way to LA

I am actually blogging from 37,000 feet, and am somewhere over Kansas. I'm on my way to Los Angeles and I couldn't be more excited. A few weeks ago I mentioned that I happen to have the best girl friends ever. I used to live in Los Angeles and when I did was SO blessed to get to know a group of amazing women. They have each had a profound impact on who I am today, and I feel so fortunate to have each one of them in my life. As soon as they found out I was pregnant, they decided they wanted to celebrate with me. So they are flying me down for a weekend that is all about my baby girl.

It's hard to believe that the day is finally here - but I'm on the plane and in just a few more hours will be on the ground in the city I love with with the girl friends I couldn't live without. It is going to be a GREAT weekend and I can't wait to share the pictures and stories when its all said and done. I just have a feeling it's going to go by way to fast.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

My baby


Everything grows rounder and wider and weirder, and I sit here in the middle of it all and wonder who in the world you will turn out to be.-- Carrie Fisher

Sunday, July 18, 2010

This week baby girl is the size of...


33 weeks - it's SO hard to believe! And at this point she is growing so fast. She is about the size of a pineapple - so upwards of 19 inches and almost 5 pounds! And believe me - it shows. My cute little bump has turned into a full on pregnant belly. I'm still amazed almost every day when I look in the mirror. Even though she is taking up more room in her living quarters these days, she is still VERY active. I can actually watch her moving around and her kicks and punches are much stronger these days.
From what I've read, she is acting more and more like a baby now. Her eyes are closing when she is sleeping, and are open when she is awake. Her immune system is now developed and her bones are continuing to harden. Her hair is getting longer, and she has developed longer finger and toenails. I can't help but wonder what she is going to look like!

Friday, July 16, 2010

A weekend in Halifax

I have been a terrible blogger this week! All of our stuff has been packed up and loaded onto a truck - including my modem so I'm left with an air mattress, a few articles of clothing and the worst part - no Internet. This week I plan to spend a few evenings at Starbucks so will hopefully stay in the loop a bit more. For now though, since it's always better late than never, I wanted share a few pictures from last weekend.


Ron started his job in Halifax last Monday so I went down to take advantage of the hotel they put him up in and some much needed time together. We had a great weekend together, despite the rain on Sunday. We enjoyed the city, we REALLY enjoyed the hotel, but most importantly we enjoyed just hanging out. Our work schedules lately have meant that we haven't had much time together and this was the first weekend it was just he and I in a very long time. It's amazing to think how few of those days we have left. In just a few weeks time it will be the three of us!

Only two more weeks and Ron and I will be together - finally. I can't tell you how anxious I am for July to be over and August to start.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

baby crocs


I'm not going to lie, I've never been a big fan of crocks (sorry to all those who are). But Ron loves baby crocs and after looking at them, I have to agree. Today I was walking past the crocks store on Queen street and I couldn't resist going inside. I walked out with this cute little pair for baby girl. I love them.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

We have a place to live!

Last weekend I mentioned that we are moving to Halifax. It is very exciting, but at the same time, incredibly overwhelming. There is so much to sort out - and I'll be arriving less than 5 weeks before our baby girl is due and have been worried about finding a doctor, finding a home and coordinating this move.

Ron flew out on Monday morning, which was really tough, and I have been feeling pretty stressed since he left. But today was a GOOD day and I am feeling so much better about it all. Today, we made huge progress - today we found a place to live! Ron has been looking at apartments the last few days and finally found the perfect spot. We applied right away and got word late this afternoon that we had been approved. I couldn't be more excited! The building is beautiful and apparently the apartment is too. It is right in the heart of downtown, which is great because we plan to maintain our 'car-free' lifestyle. It's less than 2 blocks from his work and less than a block from the closest Starbucks - seriously - what else could we want? We are surrounded by great bars and restaurants and the rooftop patio has great views of the harbour.

I just can't wait for July to be over so that we can get in and start unpacking and making the place feel like home...not just for us, but for our new baby girl.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Reading to baby girl

There has been a LOT going on these past few weeks. It's exciting, scary and overwhelming. In addition to life, work has been more stressful than usual and some days have been long. A few people have asked me how I stay balanced. The truth is, I have found something that makes me feel more peaceful, relaxed and grounded than I have ever felt. Reading to baby girl. A few weeks ago I picked up two little books that I have started reading to her. I've heard that it can be comforting to a baby to hear the repetition of their mothers voice and that once they are born, they will recognise the stories that were read to them in the womb. Beyond that though, reading to baby girl makes me feel connected to her. It almost makes me feel like she is already here. Sometimes I'll read her the same story three or four times in a row because I just don't want to stop. Even if it's not calming baby girl, it is certainly calming this momma to be, and that is more than enough reason to keep it up. The two books I am reading her are "night-night baby" and "my little miracle."



Reading to her now makes me excited to read to her when she is born. I've spent hours looking at books on shelves at chapters and flipping through them. There is such a big selection out there!! What books did you (or do you plan to) read to your baby?

Saturday, July 3, 2010

We bought a crib!

We finally bought something significant for baby girl and it feels SO good! I had taken yesterday off work and Ron and I drove down to Buffalo to do a bit of shopping. It's AMAZING how much better the prices are south of the border! We ended up picking up a crib and mattress and I couldn't be happier! The crib and mattress were about $60 less than the crib alone here in Canada. We decided to go with the graco lauren convertable crib. We are thrilled with the crib and the price and it makes me feel so much better knowing we have at least started to prepare for baby girl's arrival.


Unfortunately we were less thrilled when we went to put it in the car, and realized there was no way the box was going to fit. We had to take every piece out of the box and load it up that way. It is now sitting in a pile on the living room floor. Since we are moving to Halifax at the end of the month, we won't bother to assemble it just yet, but we are going to have to figure out a better way to package it before then!

Moving


I've known for a while we would be moving. As much as we both love it, we knew that our 520 square foot, 1 bedroom apartment in the heart of downtown Toronto wasn't going to have quite enough room for the three of us. What we weren't sure of, was where: mid-town Toronto, southern-Ontario, somewhere else? Well, after weeks of uncertainty, its now official - we are headed to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Ron was offered a great job out there, and I will be on maternity leave the next 12 months anyway, so we figured it was the perfect time to spend a year on the East Coast. We are both from that way (Ron's from Cape Breton and I'm from New Brunswick) and I am thrilled that our baby girl will get to spend so much time with her family in her first 12 months.

I have so many mixed emotions about it all. I am excited to be near the ocean again (although the Pacific would have been nice), and I cannot wait to be so close to family and friends. Halifax is a great city and I know we will love being in the heart of downtown for the next year. But moving is SO much work. Ron leaves on Monday, and I stay for a month to finish up at work and get things ready for the move. I hate the thought of another month without him, and there is SO much packing and purging to be done for this move! I have never liked to wish away time, but I cannot wait until July is done and we are settling into our new place and beginning a new chapter.

Friday, July 2, 2010

What a difference a few weeks can make


I feel like almost every week I look at my belly and think - I can't possibly get any bigger! So I thought I'd take a quick look back over my belly growth from week 10 to 20 to 30. What a difference a few weeks can make! It's amazing to think that in less than 10 more weeks, our little girl could be in our arms, instead of in my belly.