Kicking for Canada!

This little boy sure loves hockey...hmmm....I wonder which side of the family he gets that from? The crazy, Montreal Canadiens obsessed Daddy....or the daughter of a goalie who is his Momma?!

Warch for 0:05seconds - big kicks on the left hand side with the Canada vs. Slovakia game in the background!

Go Canada Go!

Good luck in the Gold Medal game on Sunday! Even your littlest fans are cheering for you!

(we have a much longer video of him kicking like a crazy person, but I can't get it to upload! I will keep trying though because it's pretty awesome!)

Camera Shy

Last night I had the idea of taking a video of Bug jumping around so that our out of town family could see his progression and just how strong he's gotten. I mean...I haven't seen some of you in months, others in years!

So, while he was kicking way after dinner, I tried to sneak in a video. Holy, is this little boy ever camera shy! As soon as I would pull out the palmcorder (our Christmas present from C's parents - THANK YOU!! It's certainly going to come in handy in the future!!), he would stop his antics. Even when I would talk to him and tell him to say hello to Daddy, he would just stop. Hmmm....

Then I thought to lie down on my back, since that seems to be when he kicks like a ninja. Apparently, that told Maggie that it was snuggle time and she hopped up for a cuddle, purring as loudly as she could. Perfect, I thought, this will certainly make Bug move! Well he did....alot...but you couldn't see it very distinctly on the camera.

Oh well! We'll have to settle for a picture of Maggie and Bug today...this was just after he kicked her and she doesn't seem too pleased about it!

Oh my poor Mags. She used to be able to snuggle right up on my belly, or curl in the crook of my neck. I don't think she likes having to be down across my thighs, and I certainly don't think that she likes being kicked by the baby! Hopefully, they'll become the best of friends....but the jury is still out on that one!!

A Night Without Daddy...

and what a lonely night indeed! Right now, C is in Florida with his parents and while I'm trying to stay sane and take comfort from Maggie and Tiko...the house certainly is quiet without him.

After getting caught up on 4 hours of American Idol, I decided to hit the hay with the cats, and read a story to Bug. Last night we chose....



The Mr. Men series was C's favourite growing up, so we invested in the Mr. Men Collection and have been trying to read them every couple of nights (there's only 8 books in the collection, I need to find more, but they're very hard to come by!). My favourite so far is Mr. Chatterbox - C's rendition is absolutely hilarious! He does all of the voices and animation just perfectly!

Bug wiggled and jumped for me a little while I was reading him the story, but definitely not as much as when C is reading to him. I think story time is one of those times that Bug has already bonded with his Daddy through, and I couldn't be happier that Bug would rather listen to Daddy than to me. It's such a neat thing to have them bonding over, and it will build an amazing foundation for a great bedtime routine and relationship between Daddy and Bug.

I think I may need to spend some time today trying to find more of the Mr. Men books as they seem to be a big hit around the Szem household!

Prenatal Class #1 - Complete!

Each and every Tuesday for the next 6 weeks, we're off to Prenatal from 6:30-8:30pm. Last night was our first class, so I thought I'd take a minute to reflect on what we learned.

I definitely think that C got more out of it than I did, simply because I read so much and try to arm myself with as much information as possible (and from learning from the ladies over at The Bump). As always, he tried to be the funny one in class, and definitely was checking the Canada vs. Germany score once the game started (thank God for blackberries!)

After the "What's your name, what are you having and when are you due" introductions (again...C tried to be funny "I'm C and this is my wife S, who's pregnant with our first. Obviously. We definitely thought it was a girl, but we're having a little boy and are very happy to be here.") we split into two groups to write down questions that we have that may or may not be covered throughout the next few weeks. This is the part that I think C got more out of our first class than I did. A lot of the questions were about when to go to the hospital, how often to eat, what foods to avoid, and even how much time off work Daddy should take after the birth (doesn't that sort of depend on what your employer will allow and what you're entitled to???).

Once question and answer period was over, the instructor brought out the Empathy Belly. Seriously, it's the single most hilarious thing that I've ever witnessed in my life. One Daddy-to-be volunteered immediately, and once he had it on (30lbs.!) he turned to his wife and said "oh honey, I'm sorry!" It was so cute! The guys had to walk around in a circle with it on (funny to see them off balance!), try to pick up a pen from the floor, then lie down and try to roll over, and get back up to take a pee break. It was great!! While women get to grow into the 25-30lbs. that is our baby and all of the fluid, it was hilarious to see them react to getting an extra 30lbs. on their belly all at once! (complete with heavy boobs and all!)

The last part was an exercise that led into the comfy on-the-floor breathing techniques. I had been looking forward to this part for months, so I was really excited that we are finally (and safely) here! First, we had to hold an ice cube in our hand over a cup for about one minute, to simulate a contraction. Holy cold, and "my hand is going to fall off!" was all I could think. Then, we were told to grab our blankets and pillows, and find a comfy spot to snuggle/lie/sit/rest (we opted for snuggling, C sitting leaning against the wall, pillow on his lap and my leaning back against him, head on pillow - our at-home-snuggling-on-the-couch position!). She dimmed the lights, put on some mellow music and then told us to hold the ice cube again, only this time to breathe in slowly to the count of three, then out for the count of three.

It almost felt like a yoga class to me, and I employed the same throaty-breathing technique which I found really helpful. It was funny though, because as I was getting all dreamy and drifty, Bug kicked the cup on my tummy and made me giggle. Apparently, Mommy's not allowed to fall asleep during "contractions" or class!

Belly Progress

Sunday marked a day of growth for Bug, and left me feeling rather uncomfortable for the duration of the day. It's all productive though, right?

It's so strange to me to actually be able to feel him growing inside. One day he'll be lying low, and the next he'll be all stretched out and my belly will have a few new marks on it to show the world how much bigger he's gotten recently. And while I'm not brave enough for bare belly pictures, I thought I'd do a little comparison over the past week (yes...I said week!)

Last Thursday...

Saturday...fresh from the salon for a new 'do

Sunday...right before the big hockey game...

Compare those to when I first got to wear my HABS shirt to a game in December...and WOWZAH! Bug certainly had a growth spurt over the weekend!

I LOVE this little boy!

Closet Organization

My main goal over the course of this weekend was to get the closet organized so that we have places to start putting things...it seems like the flood of baby gear is starting! Between the Robeez I've bought, and all of the cute outfits that Bug has already from H, T and M, we're going to need some serious organization to keep me sane!

So off I went to JYSK with H and my good friend (and bride to be!) A. Woohoo for the clearance section! I ended up saving a tonne of cash on these storage baskets since they were all marked down - $5.50 each, so in total the four baskets cost me $24. Add on the $30 for the shelf that C picked up at RONA (sorry T!), the hamper from our master bedroom and a few storage boxes that we already had and voila - a completely organized closet that will last for year to come!

Before, we had the sage green closet with just the top shelf



After, we have a neatly organized Almond Cream closet!



The baskets on the bottom will certainly be handy for things like receiving blankets, bibs, and towels (like the cute hooded ducky towel from Sue and Larry in Florida). I figure in a few years time, they'll be full of matchbox cars, legos and action figures - and I can't wait for that!



Right now, there is one basket just for his shoes and booties! Soon enough, he's going to need an entire shoe rack along the bottom of his closet...he certainly is his Momma's son (especially when his outfits match his shoes!)

Oh, Week 25...

I've got to say...it's freaking awesome!

Not only have I not gotten sick since Super Bowl Sunday, this week has proven to be incredibly productive! The height chart is done (for the most part), the closet has been painted and will have the organizational shelves put up today, and we ordered the crib!

I had called Babies R' Us yesterday to inquire about the shipping time and when we should order the Michelle Crib that we chose early this year, only to be informed that it currently is back ordered and that they are having trouble filling rain cheques. They asked when we needed it for, which technically is early April so that the nursery is all set up for our Maternity photo's, but I told them that as long as we have it for June that would be fine. Well...apparently they couldn't guarantee that it would even be here before June! Ahh!!

So, I asked about the Regency Crib that we had liked before the Michelle was released, and apparently they have it in stock in the Espresso! She went to check on the stock levels, and they're waiting for a shipment, so took my name and phone number and said that they would honour the sale price since it is in the flyer this week.

Hmm...sale price? What sale price? Not only did I save us a trip to the store (which made C very happy), but I also saved us $100 ($60 on the crib itself, and then the shipping costs)! Go me!

Next stop...refinishing the dresser, decorating the nursery and going to some fabulous baby showers!

Here's my lovely baby bump at 24weeks2days - I've gotta say, I absolutely love it today!

Project 1 - Height Chart

Completed! Well...almost anyhow. I still have a few of the edges to clean up since the paint pooled under the tape due to the grain of the wood I was painting on, but overall I am very pleased with how it turned out!

I'll be doing the touch-ups tonight, which should dry in no time and we'll be able to hang it on the wall behind the door. Once the entire nursery is finished, I will post more detailed pictures (or perhaps the professional photograph's that Rosita is doing on April 17th!).

My little helpers for the evening just couldn't stay away. It seems that since we keep the nursery door closed so that they don't get into the painting supplies, as soon as that door is open a crack they zoom in to check it out.

Looks like Tiko was more interested in checking out Maggie than anything else in the nursery!

Well, until he noticed the bowl of water on the floor. We think he has a fetish...

Today's project is to get the closet finished up, and the top shelf back in place. Then, we'll be taking the shelf from the laundry room and moving it to the nursery. Since we invested in pedestals for the washer and dryer, the shelf really is useless - but could add so much more organizational space to the nursery closet!

Oh, and I suppose we should clean up too!

Valentine's, Family Day and Viability Day

That's a whole lotta days rolled into one long weekend!

First and foremost, Valentine's Day. It was so nice to spend the day together on Sunday, watching a ridiculous amount of Grey's Anatomy Season 4 & 5, making dinner together (my favourite pizza in the world...Kraft pizza mix! The one you get in the box, and you have to make the dough etc.) and making dessert. C's gift, pictured below, definitely came in handy when it came time for dessert!




You know, they'll charge you a dollar for those toppings at the ice cream store!

Family Day on Monday coincided with Viability day for us, which is very exciting! What's Viability Day you ask? Well, it's the point in pregnancy that if the baby were to be born the doctor's have a very real chance at saving him. While it definitely would be incredibly scary to go into labour at the moment, I absolutely take comfort in the advances in technology and medicine that would save my son.

As we start off week 25, the developments are amazing. Bug's facial features are almost completely formed, and his hair is starting to change from snowy white over to what he will be blessed with for years to come! He's getting stronger and stronger everyday, and his ninja-like moves are continuing to startle me every now and then, but are definitely a blessing to let me know that everything's all right in there.

Projects for this week are to finish painting the height chart (I just have the measured increments left to do and then it can go up on the wall!) and to finish painting the closet, which C started this weekend. Then the shelves/organizer in the closet can go back up, the drop cloth and tape and painting supplies can go away and we can start wrapping our heads around decorating his room!

We Have Stripes!

I'm so pleased with how the stripes turned out, and while there are a few little touch-ups here and there from the paint pooling under the tape - I think they look fantastic!

The chocolate brown is definitely all C's handiwork, and I can take credit for the itty bitty 1cm turquoise stripes. It was really nice to be able to accomplish something as a team, and I think we're both very pleased with the results!

Please excuse the mess on the floor - we still have to paint the closet and height chart! Projects for the long weekend!

Into Week 24...

already?! Holy mama! 24 weeks translates into 5.5 months...that's a little insane to me! Every time I think I have it all "figured out", a new symptom creeps up! Lately, it's been nothing but kicks and jabs from this little one...who surely is going to be some sort of karate star!

This week has been a busy one for both C and I. He finished up the almond cream, we taped the stripes off and he painted the chocolate brown one yesterday while I was at work. One more coat of it and it should be perfect! When I got home from the bakery last night, and after we had some dinner, I painted the turquoise stripes. I'm very excited to get home today and take all of the tape down!! It's going to look fantastic!

In terms of Bug's development, he's about one foot in length now and is getting really strong! He even put on a show for one of my coworkers yesterday, who stared in awe at the little pokes and rolls we were able to see from the outside. He's definitely getting into a pattern where he will be active first thing in the morning, around noon, and from about 7pm-10pm. It seems as though whenever there is music playing, or whenever C or I are talking to him, he's wiggling and jumping up a storm! He must be excited to meet us, and he certainly is his Poppa's grandson with his love of music already developed.

His respiratory system is starting to develop more these days, and right now he'll be putting on weight at the rate of about an ounce a week. Thankfully that means that his skin will start becoming less and less translucent, and that those kicks and punches will have more force behind them! Fingers crossed he stays away from my ribs and doesn't break anything from the inside out!

Here's my 23week belly! Onward and upward to finishing out week 24!

And from the profile....

Changes Are Comin'!

You may notice over the next week or so that there will be changes made to the blog...please bear with me while I spruce things up (and blame my boredom!)

A Lighter Shade of Pale

I must give props to my husband in this entry. He and his friend R spent the day fixing the Almond Cream in the nursery yesterday, and it looks fantastic!

Before, we had some light sage green walls (which are lovely, just not my taste)



After, we have some lovely Almond Cream walls that are begging for chocolate brown and turquoise stripes!



As much as C and all of his friends will argue with me, it's not white! I swear to you, it's not!

Our project for tonight is to tape off the stripes, which hopefully will be painted tomorrow.

All that is left to do is the closet, which is still the sage green. C and R are planning to get that painted this week as well, which is fantastic!

I'm so pleased with how the nursery is coming along, and just had to brag about C's handiwork. I mentioned to him that for our guest room, I wouldn't mind painting it 2/3 white, and then doing a chair rail, and a glossy/matte alternating vertical stripe pattern on the existing yellow. I think it'd look quite pretty, and would tone down the yellow in the room as it is now. He said that he's sure whomever we hire to paint that room will be more than capable to handle the project.

Lesson learned: don't ask him to paint. Ever. Again. (though he did a GREAT job!!)

The Best Intentions

Oh how quickly the weekend goes when it's jam packed full of projects! Unfortunately, we didn't get alot of projects completed this weekend and they're being rolled over into this week (which is busy in itself!)

We did manage to get down to Ingersoll to pick up the rocking chair from my Mom, and now we have a better understanding of the colour that we're going for with our nursery furniture. It's not quite a cherry stain, but not a dark walnut either and it has some honey undertones. It may be a challenge to match, but at least we have a colour family to work with now.

Instead of painting this weekend, C said that he'd rather tackle that project on Monday while I'm at work and he's at home. My fingers and toes are crossed so hard that when I get home from work this evening, the Almond Cream will be done and I'll be able to paint the background of the height chart (before settling in for the Bachelor of course!) If we can still see some of the greenish colour behind the cream after this 5th coat, I may blow a gasket...if nothing else, I'll resign myself to letting the painting be done so we can move on to something else!

We also made a trip out to the Walmart Superstore on Saturday...big mistake! Why, oh why, did I insist on going out there on Super Bowl weekend?! It was a madhouse! Thankfully, the bedding and baby sections were pretty quiet, so we were able to shop around without too much chaos. I found the perfect colour of chocolate brown in twin flat sheets, so we now have curtains for Bug's room!

Unfortunately, it was slim-pickin's in the baby department. We were able to look at cribs that we don't like, though, and narrow things down. It looks like the one that we've chosen at Babies R' Us is back ordered, so we may spend some time there this coming weekend (how romantic for Valentine's Day, eh?) ordering the crib to make sure that we can get the one that we want before our maternity photo shoot.

This week is going to be a busy one for us! I have three appointments with the bakery, which I am having so much fun with these days...then we've got the stripes on the walls to tape and paint...the height chart to paint and get hung on the wall behind the door...dresser to sand and stain...crib to pick out and hopefully order....

At 23 weeks pregnant, it seems to have flown by so now staring down the neck of another 17 weeks and knowing what we have on tap (1 bridal shower for a good friend, 4 baby showers for me, a Buck and Doe, C's birthday, Maternity photo's, Spa Day with the girls, my bff's birthday, her sister's birthday, and another good friend's birthday....plus other things that likely will be planned last minute) I'm already starting to feel the time crunch!

It's already the middle of February! Soon, it'll be June and a baby will be here!

Projects, Projects!

Oh what a busy weekend we have ahead of us. Not only is it Super Bowl weekend and we'll be hosting our friends for a party, but we have about a million little projects that I'd like to get completed for the nursery.

First there's the Almond Cream that needs to be finished. We had a bit of a challenge with the edging and it looks like the old sagey colour is coming through in the corners and along the top edge. So hopefully, we can correct that with another seamless coat tomorrow.

Secondly, we have to pick up the rocking chair from my Mom. She's graciously offered to let us borrow her beautiful dark wood rocking chair for a couple of years to have in the nursery. So it looks like we'll be taking a trip down to Ingersoll to pick that up early morning Saturday.

Then there's the dresser. The dresser that we have is currently a honey colour and used to be in my brother's room when he was little. My goal is to get it sanded down this weekend, the hardware off and to go to RONA to pick out a stain that will match my Mom's rocking chair.

Sunday....oh Sunday. In addition to the Super Bowl party, I'd also like to get the horizontal stripes at least taped, if not painted. Since they're technically only going on 2.5 walls (because of a window and closet), it will literally take all of 25 minutes to paint them. I'm hoping that C will just let me take care of painting them, but he's been very "no pregnant lady in the painted room!" We shall see....

I'd also like to get the height chart primed on Sunday if I can. When my bff, H, was pregnant with her son, I painted her a height chart...which sort of started a theme for shower gifts. I've painted them with bumble bees for a Winnie the Pooh room, with vines and leaves for a Jungle themed nursery, and with a hunny pot for another Winnie the Pooh room. Ours will be fairly simple I think and I'm going to use the nursery paint so that it's cohesive.

My thought for the height chart is to paint the background the Almond Cream (if we have any left). Then for the edges and about 2-3" on the front to create a border, I'll paint the Rich Mocha. Inside that, using the thinnest line and steadiest hand that I can manage, I'll use the Amalfi Coast. The numbers will be painted in a chocolate brown acrylic (as the latex won't be thick enough), with chocolate brown dashes every inch. Around the numbers likely will be some tiny Amalfi Coast dots or whimsical lines.

I'll have to post pictures! After writing about it, I want to get started on it tonight!!

My Basketball

You can definitely see the changes in the size and shape of my belly this week! C walked up behind me to give me a hug on Monday night and when I turned around I think I heard him say "Yowzah!" Apparently, I don't exactly look pregnant from behind!

It's pretty funny to hug him now too, since our bellies touch first and it makes us both giggle. He's very proud of his little boy, and talks to him every day, rubbing, kissing and high fiving or fist pumping my belly at night to say goodnight to his little boy.

This morning when we we lying in bed, Bug was kicking around, so I grabbed C's hand and put it on my belly. He's been seeming a little discouraged and frustrated since he hasn't been able to feel the kicking much (though we can clearly see it from the outside). All of a sudden, C was waving his hand up and down all excited that he could feel the baby kicking - it was very cute!! So we just stayed there snuggling, both of us feeling our little boy saying good morning to his Mommy and Daddy.

What a great way to start the day!

Here's my full 22week basketball! Onward and upward to week23!

We Have These Friends In England...

Who are just about the sweetest people that we know! We met them on our honeymoon cruise, while they were taking a vacation for their 1st wedding anniversary, and it was almost as if we were supposed to be friends.

M & E are from Texas (E's originally from Michigan I believe), and are just about the biggest Longhorns fans we know. One year, we even got a Christmas card from General McCoy (good job getting those printed up, M!)

Well yesterday, I dropped C off after our appointment but he wanted to be dropped off at the mailboxes since it was fairly mild out. Lo and behold, a package from Royal Air Mail!!!

M and I have been in the habit of sending little presents every now and then over the past couple of years. Be it a funky jeweled travel jewellery case, or a satin monogrammed door pillow - we usually find something really unique that suits the other person.

Yesterday's package was absolutely amazing, so I'd like to give her a BIG shout out and say THANK YOU! I think we have a new "Going Home Outfit" in contention, which is saying alot since Daddy would be happy to stick with the Montreal Canadiens gear...but this is just too cute!

No Bedrest For ME!!

Oh, I'm so excited!!

I was so nervous this morning, waiting for 2pm to approach. We got to the doctor's office, to be informed that Dr. Gloria is done her residency at the end of the week so we would be seeing Dr. Jordan from here on in (who will be delivering our baby and is our main doctor anyhow). I was instantly sad that we'd have to say goodbye to her! She's taken such good care of us!

Sharon, the nurse, got us in pretty quickly, which was nice for a change since the waiting room was very full. Pee in the cup - check! Now step up to the scale...

I gained 1.5lbs!! Go me! Well...really...Go Bug! I had to giggle because I know that after two more weeks of morning sickness (weeks 18-20) and a very bad bout of it on Sunday, there's no way that that 1.5lbs can be attributed to me, and Dr. Gloria later confirmed that nope...Bug's just a big boy!

My blood pressure was steady at 105/65, and Bug's heart rate was going strong at 150 bpm.

We discussed different options for leg cramps (no Rub A535 I'm afraid...just calcium and potassium for me!) and where we'll be giving delivering the baby. Everything seems to be going along just great!

Oh, and they've changed my due date....again! After our last ultrasound, they wanted to change the date based on Bug's development. It definitely coincides with what I had thought previously, but Dr. Jordan said "well...June 13th and give or take a week or two." So basically, at some point in June...we'll have a little boy joining our family!

What a Crazy Weekend

Seriously, it's one of the oddest weekends I've had yet in terms of how I was feeling.

Friday night was fine - we just stayed home and watched a movie (The Invention of Lying - I don't recommend it, but C and his buddy T seemed to like it!). Though, I was still battling my head cold and had run out of Benedryl, so when 10pm came around...I was out for the count.

Saturday was fantastic! Spa day with my bff's H and T in Paris! We all got pedicures, which were lovely and very relaxing, went for a delicious lunch in Ayr and then back to Woodstock to run some errands before relaxing at T's while her wonderful husband R made us dinner. It was such a great day! Everyone was happy and relaxed...something that the three of us hardly feel. H has a 7 year old who is always on the go, and T is the mom of a 1 1/2 year old little girl who never stops squirming it seems!

Sunday just about did me in. After a full week of not being sick with anything other than a head cold, I just couldn't keep anything down. I really started doubting myself, and what made matters worse was that C wasn't around to rub my back, calm me down and make me laugh through my tears. Between 7:30am and 2:30pm, I just could not muster up the strength for anything or anyone.

After a two hour nap, and a little bit of gravol, food started to agree with me and I was able to keep things down little by little like some cheddar cheese, Shreddies and lemonade. Snuggling with our cats Maggie and Tiko helped me a little as well, as did the many kicks, flips and punches from Bug.

Tomorrow marks our Week 22 appointment, and I'm terrified to get on that scale. What if I've lost more weight? Are they really going to put me on bed rest and that I can get some strength and my body can recuperate a little? I guess that's a story for tomorrow...