A Cake for Baby Murray

My adorable friend Lisa loves to make cakes and I love to make cakes with her. In the past we have talked several times on the possibility of opening a bakery together. We mostly just love fun theme cakes and so we got together this past Sunday to make one for Baby. Her mom had bought this stork cake pan for her and we used to create a thing of beauty. It was really fun! I had to make sure I took plenty of pics for her portfolio because that's how much she likes making cakes.

I'm realizing that I'm actually kinda talented at artsy things when I originally thought that only my Meg, Nina & Phil got those gifts in my family. Matt is good at everything else but art. But I can paint alright and decorate a cake okay. I can get by. So without further ado....pictures!!





I hate this picture of me, Lisa looks great... But it's one of those unflattering pregnant pics that I may take down one day without notice...

Baby's Room!

Here's what we've done with the baby room. Nate painted the walls - they look awesome..the wall border arrived Monday. I know there's a sticker on my bunny picture, I took it off and then forgot to take another picture. Now all we need is bedding!

Excited!!!

Tomorrow I have a day off for no real reason except I have a couple appointments, so my boss said I could just take a day and rest and go do stuff. YAY!!!

Blast from the past

My friends R & T being silly:



Now let's see how long it takes them to ask me to take that pic down. Hehe.

Really I wanted to show you a picture of me at my last Avon Open House, but I found that one and couldn't pass it up. But here's me:



It was taken back at the end of January, and I was excited about it..I had like 12 customers show up. But it was hilarious how my mom was selling everything and I was just sitting back. She's coming to help me again, lol. My next one is Sunday, October 15th from 2-5:00 p.m. It's my last big Avon push before baby comes. Any profit I figure I could use to buy new clothes for when I'm skinny again..haha. It's a lot of work, but I really like it.

Well, Nate's making dinner and cleaning around me and my guilty conscience is starting to perk up. Oh - we got our baby room border today!!! It's up and adorable..I will take pics tomorrow.

Productive Day...

It's not even the end of the day yet and I feel I've gotten a lot accomplished. I like days like that. For my birthday this year, which was back in March, Nate bought me three large picture frames from IKEA. Since we moved in back at the beginning of July, they have been hanging empty on the wall. Today I picked two pictures for the first two - an engagement & a wedding pic of us. I took the negatives to London Drugs and got them enlarged. I still don't have the third picture. I could use the recent picture of the two of us hugging my belly... but part of me wants to wait and have one with baby.. We shall see. I also bought a beautiful white picture frame for this painting I did for the baby room. It looks great! PS - any regular priced item is 50% off at Michaels this week!

I also organized one of the largest Avon orders ever. Sometimes it takes me a long time to get everyone's stuff ready to deliver - today was one of those days. I also did some prep work for my Open House coming up... Should be good.

The last thing, I asked my mom if she would like to be in the delivery room. She sounded pretty excited about it. Nate's really good at keeping me focused, and my mom has had five babies and knows how to calm me down. So I figure it's a good choice.

Test Results and Sister Nights

Last visit to the midwife she let me know I do not have gestational diabetes. This is good. I don't want to be pricking my finger for these last 7 weeks. I am big - in the 90% for my belly size, but the midwife says it may be because I am very short-waisted...hmmmm. I guess it has no where to go but out. My iron levels are at 112 and are supposed to be between 115-160. But I realized I was supposed to be taking my prenatal vitamin 3 times per day. Oops. So that level will already have increased.

Enough of the boring stuff. My sister Nina decided that she wanted to have "Sister Nights". So now every Thursday we get together at my house to watch Survivor...we also played a round of Cranium..Nate got home right after Survivor was over and so him and I went up against Nina & Meg. Those two are nuts. Megan started acting out "The Friendly Giant" for Nina to guess and all she did was let her know it was three words, raise her arms up high, and start smiling. It was Nina's first guess. So Nate and I lost, but we'll take them down at a later date. Next week hopefully sister-in-law Christa can make it.

Oh - I almost forgot - I had a dream about baby last night. It was a little girl. She was sweet and quiet and blonde. It was a great dream, but I don't think it will be close to reality...Not that a blonde baby is better than any other baby, but I think we like it when our kids look like us. I will love this kid if it looks like Nate or my parents or whatever, but part of me really wants it to have a quality or two of my own. Is that so wrong?

Everyone who reads this can hope for me that I have this child before November 7th. My dad and brother are leaving on the 8th to go down and help some people who had their homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. They are both very talented when it comes to the trades, and they've decided to give of their time - which is awesome. I just would REALLY like it if they were able to be around when the baby is born.

Old Men

So this elderly gentleman with whom I am acqainted, came up to me today - took one look at my swollen belly and exclaimed, "You didn't!"

With a gleam in my eye I replied, "I did".

Pat on the back feels good

I'm a church secretary. Last weekend I did a new bulletin format. I had some people come and tell me they liked it, most of them are my friends so it was nice. My dad even commented on it and he doesn't often do that.

Well there was a letter in the mail today - someone sending in their offering - and on the back was this note saying how much they liked the new bulletin format. YAY ME! And this person is not forthcoming with compliments, quite the opposite really...so man, that felt good.

We've come a long way baby...Murray

I was spending a lot of time thinking about this kid. I realized that about a year ago we decided we would start trying to have a child together. We didn't tell many people, mostly because we wanted to avoid the "So, you pregnant yet?" every single month. But yes, we started thinking about kids back in September. We did go through a little bit of waiting, so that's why it was so amazing when I actually did find out we were expecting. I had been through a couple pregnancy tests by the time I had a positive. I don't know what made us decide we wanted a baby so bad for sure, but it may have been the time we babysat my cousin for the weekend and fell in love with her. She was 15 months and adorable - still is. It was fun dressing her, feeding her, teaching her new words to take back home. We tried "Show me the money" and all that we got was "Show me Mommy". I think she was sick of us by the end.

Actually, we went to Superstore with her and I bought her a new outfit because I had tried everything her mother brought already. We bought a bunch of other stuff, ice cream included, and were looking forward to getting home. We get out into the parking lot and our car is sitting in the middle of the lane. The bumper was falling off and pieces from my little red car where strewn everywhere. I'm holding a toddler, Nate's holding ice cream...ARGH! Someone had pulled through a parking stall with a big truck and somehow hooked onto our car and pulled it right out of it's spot. THEN DROVE AWAY! Lucky for us, several people got his license plate number. My dad came and picked up me and the baby - and the ice cream, while Nate waited for a tow truck. It was a lesson in how little issues can become HUGE when you have a child. It wouldn't really have been such a big deal, but it was hot and I didn't want her outside too long, there was no where to sit and wait...

But in spite of all that we decided we really really really wanted to experience being parents. To plan for a baby and go through a pregnancy - ok you may think that's mostly me doing that, but Nate has had to do a lot of extra work these past 7 months. He's been more amazing than he was before - which is pretty amazing. He's made dinner, done laundry, cleaned the house, given me massages, told me to take naps, kissed me when I've cried for no reason, painted the baby room, helped me paint the baby dresser, etc...I think I could go through being pregnant again no problem with a husband like him.

It's funny how much you look forward to a child when you're 31 weeks pregant and have been thinking strongly about the possibility of him/her for a year. It's not long compared to some people, but man...I can't wait!

I thought I should add to this post that someone from my work who will remain unnamed told me I have the body of a god.... too bad it's Buddha.

Baby Dresser

I introduce you to a real thing of beauty. Nate & I spent the long weekend prettying up this old dresser and now it looks amazing. Baby likes!

PNE Part 2 and My Crazy Family

Last Friday night, yet again I went to the PNE. This time with 4ever29 and her three kids, husband and the friend obsessed with pig. It was a good time. I even went on a ride this time -what a rebel. R insisted I post a picture of the pig races, this is all I got babe.



Last night we went to my parents to celebrate my sister-in-law's belated birthday. I've realized there are too many things to celebrate for us now, it seems every month now there's something going on. In fact, the only two months of the year where there are no birthdays are September and December. That's if we include Kyle's April birthday - Nina's boyfriend. But Meg & Joe have their anniversary September 2nd, so basically the year is full.

A couple birthdays ago we wished Nina a happy birthday by having everyone except my mom and me go on the dirtbikes. Seriously. This party we introduced jumping over chairs. It started out innocently enough, with Phil deciding he would jump over a chair with Nina in it. Then we got out the camera's and the amount of chairs being jumped over continued to increase. Surprisingly, there were no injuries..none that anyone will admit to anyways. At one point I thought it would be funny to lay down in front of the long line of chairs, then quickly realized that was suicide and rolled away. Sadly Nate got a picture of that. Even sadder, I'm sharing it over the internet. But it was fun, even though I hadn't really wanted to go because I was sooo tired and sooo hot. I'm glad Nate convinced me or else I would have spent today feeling lousy over missing a birthday party.



















And my Dad learned a valuable lesson last night. Do not tease a pregnant woman. Not smart. You think he would know that after his wife had 5.

Us

All About Baby

1. Baby likes to 'hover' at the top of my belly when I'm sitting or laying down. So much so that it looks like I'm severly lopsided.

2. Baby had the hiccups yesterday. It was cute.

3. Baby likes to incessantly move while I'm at work and is usually completely still right before I go to bed.

4. Baby either really likes or really hates curry chicken, but Mom loves it. After mom eats it, baby moves like a rocket in my belly for about an hour.

5. Sometimes I'll wake up and baby will be at the very bottom of my belly curled up in the fetal position.

6. Baby is getting so big that my belly button is starting to stick out.

7. Baby is kicking right now.

PNE and other fun stuff...

Last Saturday we went to the PNE with some friends. Seeing as I'm fairly pregnant, we didn't get a ride pass for me. I love the flume ride and the old roller coaster, but there were too many warnings everywhere..so I just took pics of everyone else..which I will post later. Nate was sweet and said that since I couldn't enjoy the rides, I should enjoy the food. YUM. I had some chicken souvlaki, mini doughnuts, dipping dots (ice cream in the form of little balls), and it was all soooo good.

It got a little warm, so we sat and watched the Super Dogs for a bit. They were totally cute. Everything seems cute, but whatever. And for the first time I toured the prize home. It was quite nice actually. There were some little decor things I noticed that intrigued me - owning a home has given me a greater appreciation for the variety of items that make a house a home.

Speaking of which - the baby room is coming along nicely. We now have a huge dresser we got for free from Doug and the original plan was to paint it ivory, but it might be easier to stain it the same mahogany as the crib. I can't make up my mind as to what I would prefer. I bought new hardward for the knobs - cute dragonflys and handles in a metal smoke colour. Would look really good on an ivory dresser, but to sand and prime and paint is a lot more work than just stripping and staining.

The colours of the wall will be a light pastel green on the bottom and a pale sky blue on the top. It sounds kinda boyish to some, but it will be a theme room and my daughter, if I have one, will be taught to love blue as much as I do...hehe. And I've painted a picture of Nutbrown Hare from the Guess How Much I Love You book that Nate thinks is good enough to frame!! It looks quite storybookish and is on a canvass 16x20. I'm quite proud of it actually. I have 9 weekends left until my due date, so I'm working hard at getting this room done so I can just stand in the doorway and sigh at the empty room until my baby comes and fills it with noises and smells and tears and cuddles.

I would like to thank Nina and Megan for coming over for "sisters night" last night. It was great fun. We had fajitas and cooked brie and watched a movie together. I'm just glad our tenants weren't home because they were both hyper and loud. And Nate got to hang out with some old friends and came home happy to have had some social time.

I think that's it for now... hello to all my "lurkers"

Update on my life

So it's been a few days since I posted, mostly because our internet has been down for bit due to our new alarm system. Let's just say that Brinks is not our friend. But I'm baaaaack!

I've been quite proud of myself and my ability to do fun stuff in spite of being 7 months pregnant. Last Friday my dad called and asked Nate and I to go to the Linden Fair with some select members of my family. My dad and brothers have this macho attraction to the tractor pull, and I guess since I'm related by blood there is a part of me somewhere deep deep down that's kinda redneck. And my dear husband has been working from home and needed to get out. My co-worker was really nice and told me she would do powerpoint for me. Sweetness. So we headed for the border around 2 and didn't get across until like 4. It was entertaining watching my brother Matt and my brother-in-law Joe come up with ways to pass the time. Just to explain a little, there were 8 of us who went. My two brothers, my one brother's wife Christa, my sister Meg and her husband, my dad, & me and Nate all went together in my brother Matt's BIG RED VAN. It's a fairly sweet ride - a 2005 Chevy that is a pain in the butt to parallel park. Since my brother doesn't have a license right now, Nate was drafted as the honorary driver. It's not always fun being the designated driver in my family because at some point we try and convince the driver to race someone. This time it was some chicks in a HUMMER. Everyone was yelling for my husband to "gun it" and seeing we were headed for a tractor pull, he did give it his best. The chicks just laughed.

Anyways, the border was the fun part. Nate pulls up in his BIG RED VAN and hands the border guard 8 ID's. The guy doesn't bat an eye and sends us to Inspections for them to check all our ID out. While there we learned that it's not smart to go through the border and yell "I'm going to join the Iranian army" especially if you're 14 and Iranian. That was a stupid kid right there. When we were called up, the guy seemed a little weirded out that there were 8 of us... He asked how we were all related and Nate explained that there were 4 kids, a dad and 3 spouses. So he asked the spouses to stand together. That's when Nate, Joe & Christa stood to one side. The guard looked VERY perplexed and asked what kinda marriages happened in Canada. That's when we realized he meant those who are married to each other to stand together. It was funny how we were all blonde at that moment. Then the whole border inspections building erupted into Robinson laughter. He then knew we weren't criminals to be that dumb.

But the tractor pull was fun, a little on the loud side, but all good. When I have time later today I'll share some of my adventure from the PNE on Saturday. I can't believe I've been to both fairs already!

It Is Finished

So we decided to be crazy one day and rip apart our downstairs bathroom. We had always planned on renting out the basement and this couple had came in to see it and we were fairly embarrassed by the state of the facilities. The tile was hideous, the walls were an ugly beige, and there was mold by the bathtub. It was so ugly and horrible, I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to use it.

We then ended up at Rona one day just to buy paint and came out with a sink, ceramic tile and grout, and plenty of paint. That was an expensive trip for sure. Then the joy of destroying the existing tile was started. I had sore arms for days. After much anguish of installing fussy tiles, having Doug put baseboard in, having my dad & brother & sister show up to help with various plumbing catastrophes, and using tricks to hide wall imperfections...it is finally done.

It was interesting to note that the second we started working on the bathroom, the suite was taken and 4 other couples were also really wanting it. It was all about the bathroom really. Our new tenants are pleased, and we are amazed that we (we meaning Nate) had the ability (and connections) to make it happen.

I just can't believe it turned out as nice as it did. Judging by how much time and effort was put into it, though - it sure better look good!

About my dad...

My dad is the 4th of 6 sons. He has a twin brother who's technically son #3. There are no sisters, which is probably good. We like to laugh about how different all my uncles are, even though they do have striking similarities. I believe my Uncle Wes (Hi!) came up with this analogy to describe the various idiosyncrasies:

If all 6 brothers were on a boat, sailing away into the sea...There would be various placements of them on the ship based on their personalities. First of all, my Uncle Stewart (dad's twin), Uncle Wes, & Uncle Stan would all be standing in the middle of the boat. They would be enjoying the view from both behind them and before them. Not rocking the boat, just watching the scenery. My Uncle Dan would be in the crow's nest watching for any troubles coming along, but also caught up in the excitement of the journey. My dad would be not just in the front of the ship, he would be hanging off that thin piece of the ship that sticks out...He would be clinging to it with one arm and with the other he would have a sword and be screaming at the top of his lings, "FULL STEAM AHEAD!" Not afraid of anything, willing to take any risk (within reason of course)...just so he could say he'd done it. Meanwhile, my eldest uncle, Robin, would be at the back of the boat throwing over anchor after anchor yelling with just as much fervor, "STOP THE SHIP!!"

That kind of gives you a small picture of my dad's family. They are all pretty much crazy, but I do have a special respect for my dad. I'm not naive or a little girl anymore, but I still have the idea that my Dad can do ANYTHING. Seriously. He never encouraged any of us kids to go to college. He went to Bible school and did some plumbing training, but most of what he's learned has come from just working hard. I started working every Saturday when I was 9 or so. I didn't get an allowance, it was pay for work I had to complete. I wasn't the best worker, but I have learned that unless you work hard at something, you aren't just going to get it. There's not a whole lot of people out there that win the lottery, but there are many who put blood, sweat and tears into saving up for houses and kids and all sorts of things.

I have a great respect for my dad. We used to share the same initials too... On my 13th birthday he took me out for dinner to Red Robin and gave me a locket that said "To and From SJ". It was nice. Then at my wedding he gave a Father of the Bride speech which I view as being one of the best I've ever heard. He talked about how proud he was of me, how proud he was of Nate, of how I had memorized this particular book as a child and how he thought he was the best dad because I knew how to read at 2. I saw my dad cry that day. He's one who has a very tough exterior. Most are intimidated by him sometimes as he comes across as curt sometimes. But mostly he just wants people to get to the point.

I know this post has been all over, but in thinking about this child coming into my life and wondering what kind of father my Nate will be, I am reminded of times when my mom put me to bed praying that I would marry a man like my dad. She knew he was a man of God who would raise me the best he could. You know, I look at Nate and I can't think of anyone who would be a better father. He loves kids, spends lots of time with them, and at times he's one himself.

The stories he tells me of certain kids and how they told him that funny story, or gave him a hug because he needed it, or when he is walking with a little girl and she starts singing "Jesus Loves Me" and he realizes that girls are cool too.

We'll see how this adventure goes....

Mmmmmmm Massage!

So I had my first massage therapy appointment today. I joked with the therapist that my dear husband was tired of me constantly begging for massages. Nate's awesome and he usually gives me a massage 3-5 times per week. I find that certain muscles ache more and sleep is harder to come by with the added muscle pain. So he is the one who recommended I see a professional. Which brings me to today. Wow. The best description I have for my experience with the massage therapist is that wonderful picture of Homer Simpson with his mouth half open and drool coming out the side while he gazes at a doughnut or something else that compares in awesomeness. He just does this grunting sound that comes out sort of like "Ghaala raaa Ghlaa".

That perfectly encapsulates how I feel after said experience.

Cousins!

I think it's safe to post this now, but it turns out that my little one will have a cousin by the time he/she is 4 months old. My lovely younger sister Megan is pregnant with her first baby as well. So a big congrats to my little sister and her hubby Joe! My parents are going to be grandparents twice over!

Oops

Turns out I have to eat my words. Yesterday I posted that I do not have strep, but that was merely because the clinic had not called me and I was feeling better. Well, they called today... turns out I have strep throat. Good thing I've been waiting since Thursday for that result. So now I am on a safe-for-pregnancy antibiotic..approved by my midwife.

Now, Nate is feeling icky, so I hope he doesn't get it.. but it does seem inevitable.