Jealous already?

As I said a few days ago, I brought home all the baby "stuff" from mom's house and I set it up just to make sure all was good and then I was going to put it away until baby comes.

Finn just jumped right into everything! The cutest was when he climbed into the baby carseat. I couldn't get my camera in time though, and he wouldn't get back in afterwards!

I'm soo curious to see how Finnian is going to react to the baby. Previously we didn't really talk about the baby too much. Just told him that there was a baby in mommy's tummy, and he would say hi to my tummy every so often.

Lately I've been doing a little more to "prepare" him though. The other day in church he heard some babies crying and he said "baby cry" (which I'd never heard him say before!), so I told him later on that when the baby comes out of mommy's tummy she might cry sometimes.

And when we were looking at the baby stuff I told him that when the baby comes out of mommy's tummy she is going to sit there, or lay there, or sleep there. he even will point at the crib and say "baby ____ (her name) bed", and then point out mommy's bed and Finn's bed.

He's starting to actually come up to me on his own and say hi to the baby and kiss my belly. It's the cutest thing!

And I've been showing him the little itty bitty (oh my goodness, sooo cute) tiny diapers for the baby, and he knows that those are the babies diapers and he knows the big diapers are his diapers.

So nope, I don't think he's jealous yet. Actually he sometimes will put toys in the little rocking chair and said "baby ___ toy" and then I say "yes, when baby comes, you can show her your tractor" and he seems pretty excited about it!

34 Weeks

How far along: 34 Weeks

Size of baby: (from whattoexpect.com) Large cantaloupe (20-22 inc, 5.5 lbs)

Total weight gain/loss: Yay - 171.4 pounds. Am I supposed to be loosing weight?? I think the scale is a bit wonky though. Anyways, down 0.4 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: Yep, nothing new here

Gender: IT'S A GIRL!!!

Movement: This girl is CRAZY after dinner time. She moves nearly continuously for like 3 hours after I eat. But then when it's bedtime she's usually calmed right down, so she doesn't keep me up.

Sleep: I love sleep. Missed a few naps this week because I had to go in for those shots, but otherwise it's all good.

Cravings: I really really want a frosty but Conor won't let me. Something about not being allowed soft ice cream when I'm pregnant. I don't really care - I just want a frosty!!

Symptoms: I really hate answering this one - I never know what to say... expanding belly? is that a symptom. How about seeing my belly move with the baby? is that a symptom.

Best moment of the week: When I went in for the second steroid shot for the baby they did a non-stress test so I got to hear the heartbeat for like 30 minutes and I had to press a button everytime the baby moved... it was kind of neat to see it all come out on the little paper. The lady said baby looked really healthy and was moving lots, so all looks good :)

Preparations/nesting

Yep, I got the nesting bug. Even more so with the potential in the back of my mind of going into preterm labor. We went to my moms the other night for a family dinner (minus one brother and his girlfriend), so I got the rest of the baby stuff that I will need: bassinet, playmat, carseat, and little baby rocking chair.

I set it all up at home just to make sure it was all good - and Finn thought it was a lot of fun! The rocking chair is actually for toddlers right now, so he thinks it's his chair and he sits in it sometimes or puts his toys in it. He crawled into the baby car seat but was out before I was able to grab my camera! And he promptly laid down on the playmat (without the toys hanging up), so I snapped a few shots of that!

When I pulled out the bassinet is when he got interested and perplexed. I told him that when the baby came out of mommies tummy, this would be the babies bed. Then I pointed out mommy and daddy's bed, and Finn's bed and then again babies bed. I tried to put a doll in to illustrate my point but he quickly pulled it out and then looked like he wanted to try to climb in! Haha, anyways, it's all mostly stored under or in the crib for now... don't need it out just yet:)

Also in preparation I went into the hospital yesterday for to get an injection for the babies lungs, and I will go in again today for a second (and final) one. This is all just very precautionary. Babies lungs are thought to be basically matured by 34 weeks, so if there's a possibility of deliverying before that time, they will give steroid injections just to help it along. I'm 34 weeks on Sunday, so I really didn't know if this was neccessary so late in the game, but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry.

I'm also going shopping today to get the last of the necessities for baby JUST IN CASE.

I really don't FEEL like this baby will come this early, although she probably will come earlier than my due date, but it's best to be safe. When my water broke with Finn I was SOOO unprepared. Luckily I was able to spend that night at home and get everything ready, and make a list for mom of things I needed (nursing bras anyone??) so this time around I want to be prepared.

There's just a couple little things I need, and I want to look at diaper bags. If I buy a second diaper bag I'll just pack it up right away for baby and then it will be all ready to go!

I'm totally NOT over pregnancy yet so I'm in nooo rush :)

ANOTHER UPDATE: Baby Wishlist

We are having a beautiful day today! Not too hot which is great, and the sun is shining.

Finn and I went to the pool again today. I took him a bit earlier than last week so he could get used to the water and everything a bit before his cousins got there, and I think that helped a lot!

Unfortunately with this nice weather comes bad allergies - blah!

I'm getting so excited for baby girl to come! We don't have everything all set up yet or anything, but I did go through her clothes and put the newborn to 3 months clothes in the drawers of the change table.

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So from the original baby wish list plus the add on

Change Table: got it

Nursing Cover: still need

Cute Clothes: got lots now, but wouldn't say no to more! Especially for the 6+ month stuff, as I think little babies are best in sleepers :)

Ear Thermometer: still want

Bathring: got it

Baby Swing: gonna borrow one from Conor's cousin! It's battery operated, but I don't mind paying for batteries if I don't have to pay for the actual swing.

Pedicure: still need - actually I still need to go out with Conor for our anniversary!

Diaper Bag: still need, maybe I'll go this week or next week to Babies R Us

Oh Summer, where art thou?

This picture is to illustrate that the year Finn was born, around this time of year, there was about 2 days where all he wore was a diaper because it was so hot.

So I ask - where is summer?

I'm walking around in sweatpants, and half the time even sweatshirts!

I know I should be careful what I wish for. Being pregnant in summer is not a breeze. But a little more sun, a little more warmth - is that too much to ask for??

33 Weeks

How far along: 33 Weeks

Size of baby: (from whattoexpect.com) Pineapple (19-22 inch, 4.9 lbs)

Total weight gain/loss: Up to 172. Up 2 pounds... I think I'm only supposed to be gaining one a week though! Uh oh!

Maternity Clothes: Of course. And got a few tank tops from Old Navy maternity. I'm stuck with non-maternity shorts and skirts for the summer though because I don't want to spend a lot, and I can still wear some of mine with the belly band.

Gender: IT'S A GIRL!!!

Movement: She's definitely head down - and I still feel her predominantly on the right side. A little bit near the ribs, but mainly along the same line as my belly button. Although I did feel the first kicks on my left rib.

Sleep: Sleeping great. I hardly have to pee in the night, it's awesome! Usually I only have to if I have to get up for Finnian in the night - as soon as I stand up I have to pee... but if I just lay all night then I can get through the whole night.

Cravings: I don't really have cravings, although the other day I read about someone having an ice cream cake for their birthday and it's all I can think about! I've settled for ice cream one night, and frozen yogurt at the mall the next day.

Symptoms: A kicking baby in my tummy? Symptom enough? Actually, the sore back has returned - boo :(

Best moment of the week: Even though it's a little scary to think about the possibility of pre-term labor, seeing the baby on the ultrasound and hearing her heartbeat is always a great moment.

UPDATE: Baby Wishlist

So I've gotten a couple more things off the list!

Change table: I found one on craigslist that even had drawers for only $20. It was out in Cloverdale, but we wanted to go out to Surrey soon anyways, to go to Old Navy (which ended up being disappointing... more about that another day)

Not disappointing about Old Navy was that I found a simple, all white cotton dress for baby girls eventual baptism. It was $20 which was more than I wanted to spend, but I'll keep the tags on the dress in case I find something cheaper.

Oh, but I want to add Diaper bag to the list: I think I'm going to need a bigger diaper bag, especially since Finn is still in diapers. I need to make a trip to Babies R us though, and just check some out. I would like something like this JJ Cole one - but don't know if I want to spend $80!

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So Old Navy, right. The only one around here with a Maternity section is at Guilford - and there was a good groupon on awhile ago that you spend $10 for the coupon, and when you spend $20 you get $10 off. Anyways, I mainly wanted a couple of tank tops and wanted to try on some skirts and shorts. They had the most pathetic maternity section though. ONE skirt, size XS, and two short selections, both pretty pitiful.

At least they had tank tops though, which was what I really needed.

Conor used his and got a couple of polo shirts. So it wasn't a big waste of time or anything.

Baby wishlist

This is mainly a list for myself of things I want/need and don't want to forget about but gifts are always nice too!!

I started actually writing this awhile ago - so I've been adding to, and taking away from, here and there.

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Change table - Once we get our area in the basement more organized, I will start looking more, I'll probably just get one off craigslist. I would love one with drawers (may help to ward off little hands from grabbing at everything!)

Nursing cover (I know it's a girl, and I'm a girl... but no bright pink please!) something with a pattern would be nice, big flowers or polkadots.. oh also, with a ribbing at the top so I can see down without having to move the cover myself

Cute clothes (duh!) - I probably have what I need for newborn-3 months, since Finn's baby stuff was very gender neutral and I like babies in sleepers, so I don't put "outfits" on very much. I actually just got a TON of stuff from my sister-in-law... I feel like I'm totally set other than having to get a few things here or there for each size to make up for the fact that she was a winter baby and this will be as summer baby. I am trying to keep an eye out for a plain, cotton, all white dress for her baptism.

Ear thermometer - are these any good? I just HATE taking Finn's temp with a regular thermometer, and I can only ever bring myself to use the armpit which isn't very acurate.

Bathring - this can wait a bit, but I had one for Finn and it was great!! I actually got this already - found a cheap one on a facebook group and actually called dibs on it before anyone else (these things go REALLY fast used)

Baby Swing - preferably one that plugs in... trying to find a cheap one used, but most are powered by battery.

Last but not least - a pedicure!!

For me, not the baby!! I think this will actually be my anniversary gift from Conor though - we haven't gone out and celebrated yet!

BIG water

I've been looking forward to coming back home for many reasons, one of which is the local swimming pool. Finn and I had a lot of fun going there once he was 6 months until we moved to Rome, and again last summer when we were home. I didn't know if he would really remember though.

Conor's uncle takes one of his granddaughters there every tuesday, and his other granddaughters come as well... so I thought this week Finn and I would join them.

True to form, Finn wanted to spend most of the time just standing in one place, observing everything! He did have fun with a rubber ducky that was floating around though. It got a little overwhelming for both of us when the local middle school ALL came for a pool day... so we didn't stay too long!!

He really did like it though, he didn't want to leave - can't wait to take him again next week.

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Finn's talking is just expanding more and more. I love hearing him say new words, especially when he just says them by himself without my prompting. This morning it was "plow" - he was looking in a tractor book and pointed at the plow and said plow.

Everything is "more" or "big" or "baby". (Big or baby describing the size of whatever he is playing with). So the pool today was "BIG water".

He has learned everyones names in the house as well... my favorites are Sonya "onya", Grandma "nama" and Evan "ow" haha. At the dinner table, or when we're sitting around the living room he likes to point out each person and say "sit" (that they are sitting there), or say their names.

Not on bed rest... yet

So at my last doctors appointment the doctor said that I was measuring a week or two small - so he set me up with an ultrasound appointment at the hospital to get a better measurement of the baby, and just to have another chance to see the baby.

They couldn't get me in for a couple weeks, so it ended up being just a couple hours before my next doctors appointment.

They told me to come with a full bladder - ha! Can you say torture? I parked across from the hospital at my grandmas old folks home so I could use my moms parking pass, and it was painful walking across the street (I think I drank more water than they told me to!) I had to wait 30 minutes for the actual ultrasound (they get you to check in 30 minutes early so that everything goes on time) and I was dying!

Finally I went in and told the lady that I really had to go, she took one look at the ultrasound and said that I had a VERY full bladder, so I had to go to the bathroom and pee for the count of 15, but not completely - blah! Then I went back and she started her thing. I was disappointed because the screen was turned away from me, and I could only catch small glimpses, she didn't say much during the whole thing. She asked me a couple of questions, "have you been leaking any fluid?" "any cramping?". I wondered if those were typical questions or not... then she said she had to use the ultrasound thingy to measure my cervix. She did that, then she told me to go wait and a doctor would read the results and she would come back.

Is this typical? I've never had an ultrasound in Canada, and not at the hospital, so I didn't know. Something felt weird. I waited and she came out and told me that the doctor said I could go, and that he was going to call my doctor right then. I was actually going to ask if my doctor would get the results for my appointment, because I wasn't sure, but she answered that for me. She asked me if I was going right home, and I said yes, still seemed weird.

So I went home, well to my moms because I didn't have long before my appointment, and then I headed to the doctors.

Oh, and while I was waiting I heard A LOT of sirens go by - turns out there was some naked guy going around with a gun! Scary

So I get into the doctors office and he says "well I'm glad we were able to get you in so quick".. I was confused. Then I said that I already had this appointment booked... and he told me that he thought I was there from my ultrasound because the doctor who read my scans had called him and it turns out that I have a short cervix.

A womens cervix should be between 2 and 3 cm, but mine is measuring at 1.5 cm. This can possibly lead to pre-term labor. This explains the weird questions from the ultrasound lady. Anyways, when my doctor in Italy had checked me at my first two appointments, he told me I had a "soft" cervix... but he didn't seem concerned... but I guess it is something to be concerned about. Don't want the baby coming too early.

So now I'm told to take it easy, no heavy lifting. The doctor didn't actually have the full report from the ultrasound yet, so he hasn't put me on bed rest, but I have to take it easy.

Since I never did get my cervix checked at all through my pregnancy with Finn, I don't know, but the doctor thinks it's likely I had a short cervix then as well, and that would be why he was born 2.5 weeks early.

Pray I don't have to go on bed rest, what a pain! And pray that baby doesn't come early, because Conor needs all the time he can get to work on stuff before she comes - not to mention we want her to come when she's good and plump!

**I should point out that baby girl herself is doing well! If she's measuring small, it's only a couple days, and otherwise she's looking healthy!

32 Weeks

I know, I'm a day behind, but I was sooo exhausted yesterday that I couldn't get myself together to take a picture, and I really wanted a picture this week since I didn't do one last week. So there's my excuse!

How far along: 32 Weeks

Size of baby: (from whattoexpect.com) Honeydew (19 in, 4.5 lbs)

Total weight gain/loss: 170.0 - up 2.6 pounds from last week! Yikes.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, and on Saturday I got to wear my new maternity dress to my brother-in-laws wedding.

Gender: IT'S A GIRL!!!

Movement: Lots of baby movement, but also some braxton hicks contractions here and there.

Sleep: Sleeping fine. Although I feel I really really need it more these days. If I don't nap, like I haven't gotten to much this week, I'm exhausted by dinner time.

Cravings: No cravings, but man the hunger is back! On Thursday night we went out for dinner with my mom, and I ate a lot. Too much, I felt sooo full afterwards. But at 10pm I knew I needed to have some toast or something before bed or else I would wake up starving. And guess what? I woke up STARVING anyways... and I feel nauseous if I don't eat right away, and we're downstairs and I'm in my pjs, so I end up eating a chocolaty granola bar (might as well be a chocolate bar). I hope this goes away soon!

Symptoms: I should just delete this question, just don't know what to say.

Best moment of the week: Getting some stuff finally completed - like getting a cell phone and a car (oh, didn't I tell you, we bought a car! 2000 toyota echo) - and celebrating with friends and family as my husbands brother got married! Oh and we had our 5 year anniversary in there as well! I forgot to write about it on here, but I didn't forget about it otherwise.

Roadtrip

Today we are going on a roadtrip for the weekend up to Kamloops for my brother-in-laws wedding. Kamloops is about 3 hours away, and I'm hoping Finn is good in the car. He really REALLY loves being in cars right now. To the point that as soon as I pull into a parking lot he starts asking "more car?" So I think we should be good to go!

There is a "welcoming ceremonies" sort of reception tonight, so we are going to go up at nap time and hope Finn sleeps most of the way there. Other family members are heading up a bit earlier than us.

We'll be back Sunday afternoon sometime, so I'll have my regularly scheduled pregnancy update (32 week!! It's really starting to feel real now!)

It's never simple

It seems like everything we do lately is never as simple as it seems.

Take the cell phone for instance. When my dad passed away he had a Telus mobility phone kicking around, and no one needed it, so I threw it in with my stuff to use when we got back into the country.

The year we came home from Australia I got a phone from my sis-in-laws aunt (or something like that), brought it to Telus mobility paid a $25 activation fee (which went on as phone credit), and was on my way.

This time I tried just going right online with the phone, but after all was said and done it kept saying there was a problem with my credit card, which I didn't believe. So I called Telus, and she tried to do it over the phone (waving the $15 activation fee, which wouldn't have been phone credit, because I had tried online) and it still had a problem with my credit card. So I call my bank and they say there's nothing wrong.

Then I just decide to go into Telus and do it in person. But they said there was a $35 activation fee in store (which also does NOT go toward phone credit), and I said no thanks.

Today I called Telus again, told her the whole story, and wanted to try again. She then tries to tell me that I have to buy a start-up kit (for $50!) because it wasn't a new phone - yet all the other Telus people knew it wasn't a new phone and no one said anything about an activation kit. So she says she'll wave it for me. She sets me up with a number and all that and THEN uses my card to add credit, but again, my card won't work (this is driving me nuts, going to call my bank again soon). I had Conor's card handy though, so we tried that and it worked. Thank goodness!

So now I have a cell phone. Although I tried to register it online so I can do top-ups and such that way, and now I'm having issues with THAT! So I'll call tomorrow if I still can't get on.

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On another note, we have a busy week. This weekend is my brother-in-laws wedding in Kamloops, and it's a bit of an event filled weekend, although we are not going for everything. We will head up during nap time on Friday, and make it for a kind of gathering reception with a program, and then Saturday there are two ceremonies (Catholic and Bahai) and then the wedding reception, and then Sunday we will go to mass as some point before driving back to Abbotsford.

Also, a childhood friend of my moms passed away the other day (after a few years of battling cancer, the last few months being particularly painful), so I think the funeral is on Friday, but my Aunt and Uncle are coming down from Prince George for it, so we are going to go to moms on Thursday night to have dinner with them. And of course tomorrow night, Wednesday, is game 4 of the Stanley Cup.

Oh, and tomorrow we might be buying a car! Wish us luck!

OH, and Thursday is my mother-in-laws birthday, Friday is my father-in-laws birthday and Friday is ALSO our 5 year wedding anniversary!

Anyone want to fly to Rome?

I had just checked my email a minute ago, and suddenly I got three new emails - I wondered what they could be.

They are all from Air Canada saying that we can now check in for our return flights to Rome.

That's right, we have 3 return flights to Rome from Vancouver for tomorrow morning. Why? Because a one way flight Rome to Vancouver costs about $4000 more than straight up buying return flights - so we bought return flights, and buying them close to our departure date was cheaper than a few months later.

What a silly system!

31 Weeks

No photo this week - too lazy!

How far along: 31 Weeks

Size of baby: (from whattoexpect.com) Head of lettuce (19 inches, 3.9 lbs)

Total weight gain/loss: Now that I'm actually able to weigh myself a lot, I see that I fluctuate alot. The scale just said 167.4, but it was lower than that earlier, so I'll just go with it. Gained 2.4 pounds in the last week.

Maternity Clothes: Still lovin' having a proper maternity wardrobe. I did buy a better pair of jeans though, last time around I bought a bootcut, but I'm more into skinny jeans these days, so I bought a skinnier pair. And I got a dress for my brother-in-laws wedding.

Gender: IT'S A GIRL!!!

Movement: Oh yes, she's definitely in there kicking around. I actually feel a lot of hiccups these days.

Sleep: Still adjusting to a the time change, new house, new beds. My biggest problem, which thankfully hasn't affected Finnian as much as I thought it would, is the general noise in this house. People walking upstairs, phones ringing, dog barking - in Santa Marinella we slept on the top floor with no neighbors attached to any wall... so there was virtually no sound except the odd train and sometimes a dog barking from far away.

Cravings: No cravings.

Symptoms: I really hate answering this one - I never know what to say... expanding belly? is that a symptom. How about seeing my belly move with the baby? is that a symptom.

Best moment of the week: Seeing the doctor here who will be delivering baby girl, and getting to hear her heartbeat. Finn was sitting in a chair watching Pocoyo on my iPod and looked up when he heard the heartbeat, I told him it was the baby, and when the doctor turned the machine off, Finn kept asking "more baby? more baby?" Soo cute!

Keepin busy

Well it's been a whole week since we got home - and I'm still so glad to be here. Yesterday was actually nice and sunny, we took Finn to the park after dinner which was nice.

We've mainly just been unpacking, settling in, doing some shopping. I got a new cord for our mac and took our other laptop in to get fixed. I got shoes and a dress for Conor's brothers wedding. We still have to set up a cell phone, the online option of activating the phone is giving me issues, but to do it in store or on the phone costs $35.

Today my mom is picking is up and we are going to look at a car in Chilliwack, and then going to go to costco for a few things.

Tonight is the Sweeney Singers spring benfit concert for Abbotsford St. Vincent de Paul Society, at 7:30pm, at Bakerview Church (2285 Clearbrook Road). \

Car shopping

So we want to get a car for the year we are home.

I can't believe the differing opinions that people have given our situation about what is financially best. It's so much pressure!! haha

We want something that will likely give us no problems while we are here. Something that can easily be resold, and for as little $$$ loss as possible.

Some people say to buy something in the 8000-10,000 range, resell is then closer to the price we paid, and reliable. But then other people say to buy newer, more expensive, and with financing (if we can find something for 0-1%) and then keep our money in the bank and get some interest that way. But I think resell has a bigger gap when you buy newer and try to resell a year later.

I really want to get something this weekend. We want a car to drive up to Kamloops for Conor's brothers wedding, plus BEFORE the wedding I have shopping to do! I got shoes already, but I need a dress. I also have to take in our CRAP PC laptop to get fixed (it won't even start now), and I need to go to the mac store to get a new cord (which hopefully they will replace for free). The closest mac places are in Vancouver, so I'd rather have our own car to go do that than have to keep borrowing a car from the house here. Plus when we go to the mac store I can look at a few maternity clothing stores out there and hopefully find the perfect dress :)

Luckily the household has a lot of mac users, so we can use our mac and plug it in somewhere to charge.

Well probably get a toyota corolla - like the one below. Wish us luck that we don't get a lemon!

Finn facts

I meant for this to post the day we were flying, as my Friday Finn Facts, but blogger wasn't letting me sign in... so here is what I had written.

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Signing: kitty (even though he can already say the word)

Words: kanga (for kangaroo) big, bug, colors (as in, red, blue, green, yellow, purple, etc), spoon

will describe things: big kanga, big kitty, baby kanga, baby kitty, red car (although he can't say car, he just makes the noise), night-night.

he loves identifying what is mine, Conors and Finns: finn bum, mommy spoon, etc.

When he wants me to draw something he brings me a pencil crayon and tells me what to draw. He's getting good and getting his colors right. Just now he brought a green pencil crayon over and said "green kitty?" and then grabbed a red pencil crayon and said "red kitty?"

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But I think it's time for me to stop listing his new words, because he's learning so many a day I can't even remember all of the new ones - it's crazy!!

But I will brag about his first 4 work sentance: "big john deere tractor". haha, our little farm boy. His Uncle Evan has a big remote control John Deere tractor so he will call it the big john deere tractor, and then the little tractors he calls baby john deere tractors.

Oh, and a new word that I don't want him to repeat for people right now is "lollipop". We were giving him lollipops for take off and landing on the flights to help his ears, and he sounds soooooo cute saying it, but if I tell him to say it for someone he's just going to want one, so hopefully no one will hear that for a long time :)

And he loves excavators - I call them diggers, so he calls them "diggy"!!