All work and no play...

This has been a hard Summer, on both of us.  To save money we decided to forgo any vacations or trips this year, and instead decided to break up our time off into 1 and 2 days off here and there to attach to weekends and give us a long weekend and a little more relaxation throughout the summer, rather than just in 1 large 3 week chunk.  It was a great idea, but in looking back, it appears Ben and I are incapable of relaxing.  At the start of the summer we had talked about taking one of those days off and driving down to Sylvan Lake and having a lazy day by the beach, or Ben told me that he would love to take me out to his families favourite vacation area in Waskasu (sp?) for a couple days, but we have yet to do anything of the sort, and suddenly it's the end of the summer, and our Hot Beach days are a thing of the past.  Instead we've made the most of all the time we've been given, and stained our fence, sanded and painted our garage door, gutted and built back up the nursery, re-vamped the bathroom, dug out the nusence bushes in the front yard, helped Grandma move, planted vegetable gardens, weeded the flower beds, and mowed and re-mowed the grass numerous times.  I can't say that we didn't make the most of our warm days, because we really really did - but there wasn't a whole lot of "lazy days of summer" in there.

I suppose that could be chalked up to the curse of the Albertan.  When you are only blessed with about 95 warm summer days a year,  you tend to make the most of your time and try to get as much "outdoor" work done in that time as possible.  This makes for a very busy summer.  Ben said to me today "I just want our lives to slow down" I must admit, I don't know the meaning of the phrase.  We are home owners, we have three cars between the two of us, we both work full time jobs (plus I have a part time job on top of that) we have a baby on the way, and there is ALWAYS something that needs doing.  Of course next summer we won't have to paint the garage or stain the fence, or drywall the Nursery - but we are probably going to have to re-built the deck, and re-shingle the roof, and put in new windows in our basement or some other task that can only be done when the weather is warm.  This is just life.

I mentioned to Dee the other day, that I don't mind working so hard now because then I don't have to do it later and I can relax, and she said "I prefer to have an even work and play ratio" and I immediately felt a little sheepish.  We forgot to play.  My parents didn't know how to play either.  My parents were extremely hard working people, and they gave up every spare second they had to give my brother and I a great upbringing - food on the table, clothing on our backs - not an easy task when you own your own business. There were weekends where they would bring the whole family to a job site to help get a project done within the timeline needed, and Jonathan and I would help install mirrors and closet doors until the late hours of the night sometimes.  It was a way of life for us, and we didn't notice it growing up, but I did notice that when we were able to take a vacation (which didn't happen until I was 14) we would end up driving the whole time, seeing multiple places all at once and never just went one place and stayed for a while.  It took me a while to realize it, but it was because my parents didn't know how to stop and relax either.  We got so few "breaks" that we spent all our time trying to see as much as we could and then all of a sudden our time off was over, and we didn't feel any more rested than when we left in the first place.

Such a backward mentality - most of the kids I meet these days know full well how to play, but seldom have any sort of work ethic or sense of responsibility.  Ben and I have the opposite problem, we don't know how to slow down.  A couple weeks ago, Ben and his dad broke their back to dry wall the nursery, while Mom and I dug out the bushes in the front yard.  The next day I proclaimed to Ben that we weren't doing anything that day, and that it would instead be a rest day.  I wouldn't even let him cut the grass.  But instead of relaxing and spending time together we spent the day calling each other out on our attempts to sneak a little work into our day - we just don't know how to stop.  We want to, but we don't know how.  We see days off as opportunities to run errands and tie up loose ends, and it's a hard thing to re-wire years of that kind of thought process.

I suppose this whole blog entry stems from my fear of not knowing how to stop and have a little fun when we have a little one.  I've talked at great length about how great it would be to take off to the science center, or to get passes to the pool and take them on a regular basis, but I'm scared that I wont.  I don't want to be a work-aholic mother, and I don't want Ben to be over worked and over stressed either as that's no fun for anyone- but so far I'm not liking this trend that we are exhibiting right now.

I know that this summer was a special situation because we did have a reduced timeline before our little girl joins our family, but what was our excuse 2 years ago?  Or last year?  We always seem to be on the go, and I'm not entirely sure when or if we can slow down.  At this point in my "over worked rant" Ben usually brings up that his Mom would typically take this time to ask "Who makes your schedule?" which seems to be the problem - even when we're booking our own time we don't know how to schedule some "Play" in there.  

29 Weeks

I'm not going to lie.  I'm exhausted these days.  It's 12:33am Saturday (Sunday) night, and I'm finally sitting down to write my weekly Tuesday update blog (only 4ish days late...).  There aren't enough hours in the day, and even if there were, Ben and I would still probably use them up, plus still take up our sleep time to try to get things done.  But in our defense, we are SO CLOSE to getting these two rooms done, we can taste it!

We had a lot of things we had wanted to get done this week - a Blog post on tuesday was one, as well as filming a Daddy Experience video on Wednesday, and finishing editing a Smudge Makeup video to get that posted this week as well, and unfortunately we didn't end up getting any of that done!

First of all, my work hours are pretty packed these days, as I'm picking up the slack of a co-worker that is away for the time being, so downtime between 9-5 is a thing of the past (not to mention I'm only about 25 days away from being done with my day job, and I also need to find the time to train my replacement, and tie up any lose ends in my office too (clean out my desk? maybe).  Our evenings have been filled with running around town picking up paint, light fixtures, mirrors, and trim, as well as a lot of painting, sanding mudding and yet more painting!

I seriously doubt there has been a single day in the last month that I haven't had paint on me in some way, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, so there is hope!  As I type this our nursery is fully painted, and it is just needing trim, a new door, a cornice and a closet door - and we can start putting in our furniture and making it look pretty!  As for the bathroom, we are missing 2 towel racks, and we need a new faucet (one that doesn't leak) some silicone, and a great scrubbing and it's all put back together too!

From this:

To this:

But enough about our long and arduous renovation, I do have to talk about our fabulous Maternity Shoot with the extremely talented Melissa from Raimondi Photography (or Candy and Cream Boudoir - depending on who you ask).  Ben and I got all dressed up last Saturday (has that been a week already?!?) and I went and got my hair done with my hairdresser, and then headed to the Candy and Cream studio for the first part of our two part Maternity Session.  There we did some very pretty bump shots that focused on soft light, and beautiful silhouettes, before changing our clothes and moving on to the outdoors for the couples portion of our shoot.

The weather Gods smiled on us last Saturday as we were blessed with a perfect cloudless day and +32 heat!  After escaping into a wooded area to get some relief from the sun, we discovered the largest hungriest mosquito's imaginable that swarmed us, and drove us out of the trees after snapping a few great photos.  We were hot, we were sweaty, and we were swatting blood thirsty insects left right and center, and somehow in the middle of all of that pandemonium - Melissa captured this:

Pretty sweet huh?  I wish I could show more photos, but I have only been sent the two teasers right now, but I love them so much, I actually got a little teared up looking at them.  Melissa is amazing.

And... I'm fighting sleep, so I feel I must cut this entry short this time around (poor hubs is fast asleep on the couch beside me too - so it's definitely time for bed!)

Here's the recap:

How far along? 29 Weeks

Total weight gain: 19 Pounds  - holding steady for a while now
Inches gained in the waist: 8.5” (Same)  (I’m sporting a 44” waist!  Woo!) 

Maternity clothes? Yes!!

Stretch marks?  None!

Sleep:  I’m so exhausted I think a bomb could go off, and I wouldn’t move!  

Best moment this week:   Maternity shoot!   

Miss Anything?  Being able to work super hard all day long, I definitely feel my limitations these days, and I know that’s part of what is slowing our renovations down, but it is what it is, and I have to listen to my body.   
Movement:  There is much belly dancing for sure!!

Food cravings:  More of the same!

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Not really no. 

Gender: GIRL!     

Labor Signs: Lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, usually brought on by walking – which tells me that when it’s labour time, walking will equal “getting things moving”  

Symptoms:   Just keep adding on to the existing symptoms each week! 

Belly Button in or out? Still in!
Wedding rings on or off? Off, but I’m wearing my school ring again as the weather is a little cooler these days. 

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Very Happy!

Looking forward to:  finishing the Nursery and Bathroom!!!! 

28 weeks - Welcome to the 3rd and Final Trimester!

28 weeks!  I'm officially in the Third Trimester, and 7 months pregnant!  You know, when I actually think of 7 months (more than half a year) it seems like a very long time - but when I think about this pregnancy, I feel like I'm only 3 months in!  But then again, February was a long time ago - and looking back at photos and notes I've made, I tend to look at the date these days and think to myself "I was pregnant in this photo" and when I do that - it does seem like I've been pregnant for more than half a year!  Crazy how time is measured!

I'm doing fantastic, although just now I re-read my 27 week update, and I started thinking that I had missed last week because the events I talked about seem like a month ago already, rather than just a week!  I suppose that explains how fast our days have been slipping past!  That being said, get ready for some serious reading as this post is as FULL as our week was!!

My bump is big and beautiful, and I'm so in love with the pops and bulges that it's starting to experience!  My little darling Lump has been so very active, and I can't get enough of feeling her move around and explore her environment in there.  This morning just as I was waking up, Ben had his hand on my belly to feel her move around, and in my sleep deprived brain I started thinking about how those little flicks and punches are so natural to me, and that once she's made her entrance and those kicks are gone, I will probably cry!  (sleepy brain is sentimental brain apparently).  Ben also went to kiss me this morning as I was laying on my side, and he leaned over me and accidently put his hand on the side of my belly rather than the bed, in which I exclaimed "Ah!  Baby belly!  Move your hand!"  He adjusted and I asked him "Did you forget I was pregnant?"  and he responded "No, I just didn't realize you were THAT big"  ha ha - Funny man, that Husband of mine.

Here's my Bump in all it's glory this week:

As my beautiful belly grows - clothing that fits is becoming a little more scarce unfortunately.  When I first got pregnant I was given a couple items that at the time were pretty big on me and I was unable to wear right off the bat, but when I tried them on recently they are now at the point where they are getting tight and I probably only have another week or two in them before I have to retire them back to the box they came in!  Last night Ben and I met up with Melissa and Rob at the mall to get a couple Maternity shoot outfits (for both me and Hubs) and I put on my maternity jeans for the first time in a week or so - and damn near cried every time I sat down as the waist band is becoming more and more restricting on my belly!

You know that feeling when you are wearing jeans, and you have eaten just a bit too much, and all you can think is "I can't wait to get these pants off" and the moment you undo the zipper and pull them off - the pressure is released your belly expands and you immediately feel better?  Well the other night I was changing, and I was bent over, and experiencing the tight waist band issue, and then I realized I wasn't wearing pants at that moment - that's just how my belly feels these days!  It's such a weird feeling.  I find I'm feeling my stomach more times than not just to see if it is a clothing issue - and more times than not, it's just a "Big belly" issue.

This is another reason I'm counting down to October, when I can spend the entire month in PJ pants and Yoga wear, rather than trying to look somewhat nice for work each day.  I can't wait!  And anyone who wants to judge me can go right ahead - I don't care!  You try to rock a 38 week belly in a 28 week pregnancy with style and grace!  (In my Bump and Groove class, there are three woman that are furthest along - one is 38 weeks and we are the same size, the other two are 34 weeks, and I'm bigger than them!)

In Nursery news we have come a very long way in a week!  Ben's Uncle Dean has come by 3 times already this week to mud our walls, and is expecting only one more day of mudding and sanding and then it's Primer time!  We're hoping to prime by Friday!!  I'm so excited!  That means (Provided everything goes well with the last sanding) we might be painting at the earliest by Sunday!!!!  And since Renovation has spread into our bathroom (it kind of had to since we needed to dry wall the door between the bathroom and the nursery - and thus re-paint the bathroom as a result) we have decided to also paint the vanity cabinet white, and change out the mirror and the lighting fixtures as well!  I'm thrilled!  I had grand ideas on that bathroom from the moment I walked in that house, and although we don't have the money to tile the tub surround and give me the soaker tub I want just yet - we are at least getting rid of the beige paint, and dingy feeling the bathroom currently exudes.

As well, Ben and I have booked our maternity session with Melissa on Saturday, and after a successful shopping trip with M last night, Ben and I both have pretty clothes to wear!  I can't wait!  We are doing both a studio session and an out door "couples" session.  For the studio shoot I have comfy "pj" clothes with a cable knit sweater to wear, and for the outdoor shoot I have a pretty blue button up dress!  I'm so excited!!

I also realized last night that the only shoes that fit me right now, are the one's that I bought to be Melissa's Boudoir model for her workshop - which means 4" platform nude heels (which I LOVE and make my legs look super awesome) so I guess I wear those for the Maternity shoot!    And don't worry if you are nervous about a very pregnant Heather waddling around on extreme heels for a whole day - I plan to arrive and move around in my flip flops, and slip on the heels only when Melissa's camera is clicking away!

Here are the shoes with a much smaller bump

Also, I got some more good news today!  My hairdresser had an opening for a last minute booking for me for Saturday morning to give me some voluminous large curls for my shoot!  I texted her this morning, and figured it was a long shot since she works in the same industry I do, and it IS wedding season but she had a space!!  Everything is coming together!

Yesterday Ben and I got to see our little girl again at our 28 week ultrasound!  Remember my post about how I had a low-lying placenta? (it attached to the bottom of the uterus rather than the top, so it was in the way of baby's exit) Well this ultrasound was to ensure that it had moved out of the way with the growth spurt my uterus experienced in the last 9 weeks, and I'm happy to say, it's moved to the top of my uterus, meaning its no longer a concern!!  Woo!  Yay for no longer sitting in the potential grey area for a high risk pregnancy!

If the placenta had not moved, I could have been looking at the potential for tears, bleeding, bed rest, a premie and a guaranteed C-Section. So this is wonderful news!  Definitely one less stress!

Also we got to see our beautiful little Lump moving around in there kicking and punching all over and showing off her new chubby cheeks!  I can't believe how much she has fattened up in the last 9 weeks, but I think she was a little self conscious because she pulled her legs up to her face and held her hands over her cheeks so we had trouble getting a good face picture, but we did manage to snag this one, and I can't stop staring at it and grinning ear to ear!

My darling has my nose!  And although my nose has been a bit of a thorn in my side (purely due to it's size) - she wears it well, and looks extra cute sporting it!  Man, just looking at that picture - Lump is in trouble when Ben and I get our hands on those squishy cheeks!  She's so adorable!  It's really hard to say who's cheeks she got, as Ben and I spent most of our respective childhood with some serious chub going on in the facial region, so I think we split the trait sharing in this regard.  And speaking of sharing traits, that brings me to the feet.

Ben and I were expecting it - with a size 15 and a size 11 for parents there was really no getting around it, our children were destined to walk the earth on a good solid foundation, or with a constant tripping hazard - depending on whether or not they take after me or Ben (you would think after almost 15 some years of working with them I would get used to the length of my foot by now- but apparently that's just not the case).  At our ultrasound we had two techs help us out - the guy took all the measurements, and then a girl came in at the end to help get us a good 4D picture since the guy was a little more inexperienced with the 4D aspect of the machine, and BOTH of the techs commented on those beautiful big feet!

Makes a parent proud that she is already impressing people and she's not even out of the womb yet!

Anyway, that finally brings me to the recap for this week!

How far along? 28 Weeks

Total weight gain: 19 Pounds –as the heat goes down, so does my weight!
Inches gained in the waist: 8.5” now!  (I’m sporting a 44” waist!  Woo!) 

Maternity clothes? Yes!!

Stretch marks?  None!

Sleep:  So much better with the cooler nights!  This week we had a rain of some sort every evening which made sleeping so much better at night!  It’s nice to wake up well rested again!

Best moment this week:   Starting to paint the bathroom vanity!  And picking out my paint colors!  So exciting!!

Miss Anything?  Fitting clothing mostly.  I’m afraid I’ve resorted back to trying on several clothes when we are getting ready to go somewhere again as I’m finding issues with my wardrobe these days!
Movement:  So much movement!  I have spent many a moment staring at my bare belly this week watching the kicks and punches on the surface of the skin! 

Food cravings:  Still Olives – I have been craving salty things, which is so odd for me since I have always been a “sweet” girl

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Not really no. 

Gender: GIRL!     

Labor Signs: No – just a lot of Braxton Hicks so far, but Ben claims I’m just using them as an excuse not to finish emptying the dishwasher :p

Symptoms:   More of the same, shortness of breath when walking, BH contractions, swollen feet/tight shoes, and visible signs that my stomach is concealing a living being – the usual. 

Belly Button in or out? Still in!
Wedding rings on or off? Off, but I’m wearing my school ring again as the weather is a little cooler these days. 

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Very Happy!

Looking forward to:  Maternity Photos and finishing the Nursery and Bathroom!!!! 

27 Weeks

Last week of the 2nd Trimester!  And according to my calculations - only 91 days left (give or take a few)!  I also have 55 days before Mat Leave, or 7 weeks, or 1320 Hours, or 79,2000 minutes, or 4,752,000 seconds... but who's counting?

Ben and I are currently trying to fast track the nursery to get it baby ready by mid August so that I can spend  my last couple months relaxing and furnishing, rather than panicking and painting!  Our next big purchase will be the crib, but as of right now, we haven't anywhere we could store it until that room is ready, as our guest room in the basement is currently baby storage, but with a friend arriving to stay a week later this month, even that stuff needs to find a new home.  We're really working hard to get the nursery ready by that point so we can move the baby stuff back into the appropriate room!

This weekend was a fantastic weekend in terms of making progress on the room, and Ben and Dad donated buckets of sweat to the cause on Sunday getting the room double dry walled and ready for tape and mud this week!  (Double Dry walled because a single layer would not have been thick enough to match up to our existing 1960's dry wall and plaster).  Then this week Uncle Dean is coming to graciously lend a hand with and his expertise to take on the next step for us.  Forget taking a village to raise a child, it takes one just to get ready for a child!  I might be buying paint as early as next week!

As for myself, while Ben and Dad were sweating it up inside the house in the Nursery, Mom and I were outside doing our own sweat workout digging out the bushes in our front yard (that Ben and I hate so much!).  After a couple hours of hard labour (don't worry, I didn't do anything that was out of my comfort zone) we ended up with another 4 and a bit bushes dug out of the ground, and decided to call it a day rather than attempting to dig out the other 5 on the other side of the yard.  Not to mention the other shrubs were in the shade of our neighbours tree, and mosquito territory, and those buggers were HUNGRY!

(In this photo depicting how awesome Ben's grass is in comparison to our neighbours, you can see those damn shrubs in the background - these one's I'm happy to report - are gone!  And don't let the picture fool you - they were in an L shape, about 5 feet across by 3 feet up)

In other news, Melissa is back from her vacation, and so we have talked about my Maternity shoot, and we have tentatively settled on the weekend on Aug 18th-19th for our shoot!  I'm so excited, but I'm really feeling like I "haven't a thing to wear!".  I'm going to steal Melissa away one of these days to help me go through my maternity wardrobe and pick out some outfits that work for showcasing the belly, while still working for the casual comfortable photo's Ben and I are looking forward to.  I can't wait to be able to show off the maternity's that Melissa produces,  I know I say it a lot, but the girl is good  - like damn good.  She can make an exhausted, bloated uncomfortable pregnant woman look like a Goddess, and I'm so excited to be in front of her camera again!

Anyway, I think I've caught you all up on the advancements in our lives up to this point, now on to the advancements in the bump!  I feel every couple of weeks Lump has a growth spurt, as my weight seems to be falling in line with that trend.  I have been very diligent about weighing and measuring myself every Tuesday morning, and it seems every 3 weeks I'm bigger in both size and weight.  And it's not like my diet is changing any, although I do notice shortly before these jumps I end up starving in the days leading up to it for a couple days, and then my hunger levels off again, and I realize my tummy has gown.

As a result of our hot sweaty weekend, my weight is up a couple pounds, but I've been chugging water like crazy to try to get that back off, but here's the recap as of this morning:

How far along? 27 Weeks

Total weight gain: 20 Pounds – but just as I jumped to 18 during the last heat wave, and then went back down to settle at 16, I’m expecting this weight gain to settle off too. 
Inches gained in the waist: 8.5”  Another half an inch gained!   

Maternity clothes? Yes!!

Stretch marks?  None that I can see anywhere!

Sleep:  Hot and sticky so far.  It’s been hot at night this week – and after a horrid sweaty attempt at sleep last night, Ben and I grabbed our pillows and headed for the guest room in the basement – where I proceeded to sleep the entire night without so much as a sheet on me until the very wee hours of the morning.  Which just goes to show how much hotter a temperature I’m running at these days – Ben pulled up the comforter within about half an hour of getting downstairs.  I didn’t grab the comforter until about 7am this morning when I wanted to cuddle with Emmy. 

Best moment this week:   Getting the nursery dry walled!  I can finally see the room taking shape, and can start planning how I’m going to place furniture and such! 

Miss Anything?  Being cool and dry – That sounds awful, but a summer pregnancy leaves one very humid and uncomfortable to say the least.  I do believe I changed into a dryer shirt no less than 3 times yesterday. 
Movement:  Lots of movement!  And visible movement too!  Ben and I discovered that no only can we feel the bigger kicks quit easily, but we can see them too! 

Food cravings: Again with the Garlic stuffed Olives…..mmmm I want some now.  I’m already down two jars in this pregnancy, I need to find a place where I can buy a very big jar of them for cheap!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!  I’m good this week!  That momentary “Morning sickness” that was hitting me last week seems to have only been a 3 day run, as I’ve been good since Wednesday of last week without a repeat performance!

Gender: GIRL!     

Labor Signs: Too early!  Thank God!  I’m not ready yet!

Symptoms:   increased body temperature, and I have the bladder of a cat these days – I rush to the bathroom concerned that I’m about to burst, and then barely a tablespoon’s worth comes out.  However I can still make it through a movie without leaving the theatre – So I have that going for me!

Belly Button in or out? Still in!  Both Mother’s have determined that my belly button is probably not going anywhere as at this point it’s still a pretty deep hole! 
Wedding rings on or off? Off, and although I can still fit it, I took off the replacement ring this week – the constant sweating, and swelling of limbs due to heat just made me a little nervous so I figured I would just feel better to have the ring off, then have to cut another one. 

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Very Happy!

Looking forward to:  Maternity Photos! 

26 Weeks

I know - I'm behind again - this week I have a really good reason though!!!  Currently Ben and I are managing a 6 person work load at work - with just 3 people, so we're pretty busy during the day.  That plus the fact that my mom is coming up for a visit tonight, and we needed to do a total house over haul last night (that went straight from the minute we walked into the door after work, to about 10:30pm when I finally sat down on the couch and immediately fell asleep).  Needless to say, yesterday didn't allow any extra time for blogging!

That being said, I'm caught up at work, and I have a clean house, cut grass, groceries are bought and our laundry is all done!  So it was worth it!  So please accept my apologies for being behind on the blog :p

So 26 weeks - which means about 14 left to go.  I'm starting to feel the pressure to get everything ready now.  Over this last week I have met a couple woman who have told me about their water breaking at 22 weeks, or having their child 2 months early, and it's not helping with the increasing stress I'm feeling to have the house ready NOW.  The good news is that Ben's parents are back from their trip, so we can move forward on the baby's room, and get that drywall up.  Drywall isn't something that a pregnant woman can do very well, which left Ben to do it all alone, and that's very hard - but luckily his awesome partner - otherwise known as Dad, is back to help!  So we can get that going this weekend, and then the following week, Ben's uncle Dean will be back in town and has graciously offered to help with the mudding and taping (which is Ben's least favourite job) - so I might be painting in a week or two!  (which would be awesome!)

In the meantime though, I have slowly started buying a couple things here and there for baby's room, such as an awesome watercolor world map painting, and some demask fabric to make curtains to hang from my future window cornice box!  This is the fun part for me - I live to design and decorate!!!  Most people would call this nesting, I call this being Heather - this is just me.  I actually read up on what is actually deemed nesting in the preggo world, and it usually strikes around the last couple weeks, and it ends up being an almost psychotic cleaning/organizing rampage that looks crazy to everyone around you but seems to make absolute sense to the pregnant woman.  Some of the examples given were one morning a husband awoke at dawn to find his bed empty, and frantically searched the house for his 9 month pregnant wife, certain she was in a corner somewhere giving birth - he eventually found her hauling a wheel barrow up and down the back yard fertilizing the lawn.  Another Grandma-to-be found her very pregnant daughter teetering on a tall ladder adamant that she needed to scrub down the high shelves in the top of her closet before this baby could be born - fast forward to 18 years later and her son is moving out, and those shelves haven't been touched since.

I'm curious as to what this nesting phenomenon will do for me... I think if Ben finds me scrubbing anything in a blind frenzy he will know it's probably time to pack the suitcase, especially since cleaning isn't really my favourite thing.  Organizing - sure - but dust and mop?  Meh, I do it out of necessity when people visit, not out of joy, and I'm sure I'm not alone in my sentiments.

Anyway, on to baby news!  So my little one continues to kick downward in my general pelvis/bladder region, although now and then I do feel the odd pop around my belly button, but that is usually when I'm lying down.  I've also noticed that when I'm at work sitting at my desk, if I happen to lean forward to read something, she starts kicking like crazy.  Apparently the leaning forward position cramps her style a little.  Oh well, she just has to deal, I have to lean now and then to stretch my back out!

I'm still waiting for the whole belly moving experience, but I think it's coming soon, her kicks and punches are becoming more frequent, although she still loves to stop as soon as I try to get someone to feel her - little trickster that one...

This last weekend Ben and I celebrated our dear friend Athena's birthday, and when we walked into the house we were greeted by about 5-7 babies all under a year old!  It's a good thing I already have one of my own growing inside me, because if that doesn't give a woman baby fever I don't know what does!  So much slobbering, wiggling, giggling adorable little babies!  One had a curly hair mo-hawk!  No word of a lie!  Eeeee!  It's funny what can happen in a year though - I asked Athena, and she said that last year this time, none of these babies were on the outside, but there were many pregnant woman at her birthday, and now not only a year later the party guests have duplicated and the conversation turned to labour pains, epidural's, and poop identification - which I found delightfully amusing especially considering the looks on the faces of our baby-less friends.  It reminded me a poster I saw once that said: "you know you're getting old when your friends start having kids on purpose".

Here's the belly at 26 weeks

- it hasn't grown in circumference but I think it might have dropped a little bit - there appears to be a little more shadow below the equator than I recall previously, but it's really hard to tell when I look at it everyday.  This could just be a case of me being amazed that I really am "THAT BIG" (once again my perception is some-what limited, so when I see a profile shot, or look sideways in the mirror I usually can't believe it!)

Apparently neither can the other people in my life, as my dear hubby has taken to calling me Hungry-Hungry Hippo during lunch hour, and my friend Ben B. has declared that I will be known as Tubs or Tubby for the duration of my pregnancy.  Before you sharpen your pitch forks, I laughed at my Ben calling me Hungry Hungry Hippo, (but still give him a hard time about it) and Ben B. did add "I had to wait to see you in person before I called you Tubs for the first time so you would know I was joking" so I'm really not too broken up about it.  Not to mention, I'm pretty laid back in general, and I didn't get the rep of being "one of the boys" by running out of the room crying whenever one of my guys said something "boy-esque".  It happens a lot - it's part of their charm.

Anyway, I'm rambling, Here's the update!

How far along? 26 Weeks

Total weight gain: 16 Pounds – down another pound – which means I’m officially over my water retention!
Inches gained in the waist:  8"   - same same!

Maternity clothes? Yes!!

Stretch marks?  None that I can see anywhere!

Sleep:  Not great these last few days – but better than it has been.  I’m still tossing and turning, and Emmy has been especially needy the last few days and has been adamant to curl up in my arms to cuddle (which is cute, but sometimes the little bugger steps directly on my nipple and that hurts more than anything and is not conducive to easily falling back to sleep moments later)

Best moment this week:   Friends from Calgary came up for Athena’s birthday, so there was more belly rubbing to be had!  .. I even made Ben Blue touch my tummy, and I was quite amused at how much he squirmed as he held out his outstretched index finger to poke it.  

Miss Anything?   Again with the booze – I think I just don’t know how not to drink in social situations!  (that came out wrong... I haven't been drinking, don't worry!  I just meant that previous to being pregnant I apparently never did the "no alcohol" thing, so these days it feels weird and foreign to me)
Movement:  So much movement, and still so much kicking of the bladder! 

Food cravings: Again with the Garlic stuffed Olives…..mmmm I want some now.  Also strawberries are very high on my list these days too!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Yes actually, but I have no idea what – the last couple days around 10-11am I have suddenly been hit with this horrible nausea that has me heading to the bathroom sure that I’m going to throw up (but never do), and after about 10 minutes I feel better, and I’m good for the rest of the day.  Perhaps my morning sickness hits after week 25?

Gender: GIRL!     

Labor Signs: Too early!  Thank God!  I’m not ready yet!

Symptoms: Braxton Hicks contractions are a thing these days, and they are usually brought on by walking, so our little waddles around the block have been broken up slightly by my gasping and rubbing the cramps out of the side of my belly.  

Belly Button in or out? Still in, but the scar tissue from my piercing now pushes out slightly further than my belly button these days, so I think the “pop” is probably set to take place in the next week or two. 
Wedding rings on or off? Off, but I'm still wearing my "replacement ring" which is my old junior high ring from my parents.

Happy or Moody most of the time:  Very Happy!

Looking forward to:  Maternity Photos!