Stylish Baby Pads

There's not a whole lot I can do to prepare for Smidge right now but planning the nursery is one thing that I can start on! Of course we don't know whether there's a boy or a girl in my tummy so I'm going to start gathering pics of both girlie and boyish nurseries that make me go awww!

I'm really hoping to keep the baby room fairly minimal, I don't want shelves crammed full of stuff and walls overwhelmed with artwork. I know that down the road when Smidge gets big we won't be able to avoid the toy explosions but while the babe is tiny I'm going to try to keep their room clutter free. Feel free to laugh, I know I have the Dougherty clutter gene but REALLY I want to try to improve and a baby's room is the perfect place to start!

I adore Etsy and there are tonnes of amazing artists showcasing their good there so I think it's likely we'll purchase a few pieces of art there for Smidge; I can't wait to stumble across the perfect pieces for our babe. And then of course there are so many fabulous wall decals available in fun kiddie designs - oh the choices!

I've been admiring emboridery hoop fabric swatch art for ages now and had thought before that a little person's room would be the perfect place to hang them! Check out little Norah's room below, what a fabulous way to prettify a wall and so easy to do - the best part is this is a simple DIY art project that you can change whenever you find a new fabric you adore. For fabric junkies like me it's a great excuse to buy new designs.

Baby P's room is another fabulous nursery I spotted while perusing ohdeedoh.

I've known for years that I would want white and light coloured or natural wood for my baby furniture; good choice considering my fab sis Joanne passed along her boy's light wood crib and change table! We also have an Ikea dresser in our room that is white with natural wood edging that should go perfectly.

I'm thinking the boxy bookshelf seen above (not sure where this one is from but they have the same style at Ikea) will quite likely be an addition to our nursery. A large bookcase is an absolute must since everyone who knows me well knows how much I love books and kid's books are at the top of my list of favourite things. Oh yes that's one thing I started shopping for years ago: books books and more books! Please note: books don't count as clutter. hehe

Welcome!!

photo credit: fofurasfelinas

Hi there! Just wanted to say hello to all of you who have stopped by to check out our little blog.

This weekend was fun! It was Mike's birthday weekend and we made the most of it by sharing our news with a bunch of friends and family members. There are still a few phone calls to be made before we blurt our happiness all over the web (aka Facebook and public blogland) and I appreciate everyone keeping the goods more or less on the down-low until then.

People's reactions to baby news is the best! Telling our parents was obviously our favourite sharing moment but there were a pile of others that I wish I could have video taped or at least snagged sound bytes from: Joanne freaking out, Cara's scream followed by Rosie's crying after Cara read the note I held up to my camera when her Skype volume wasn't working, Grandma's "Woopee!", Tanya's confused face followed by the odd yelp and look of pure shocked bliss, Granny Kerr's giggles, Aunt Nancy's screech... and so many more.

If just the thought of a new baby can spread so much glee I can't wait to see what happens when Smidge pops out to meet all of the people who are already in love with the little nut.

11 Weeks Pregnant!

Jessy and I didn't make it to the pool to swim last weekend so she hasn't seen me in two weeks. When I slipped off my clothes and stood chatting with her in my swimsuit she turned to look at me and her mouth dropped open: "Oh my God! You didn't look like that when I saw you last!"
I have definitely popped, I swear my boobs grew an additional size this week and my tummy is definitely bigger than it was last week.

When you compare these pics to last weeks I think you can tell there's a bit of a bigger bulge but the fact that my boobs have grown make it a little difficult to tell that the tummy has grown. Mike sweetly pointed out that my belly is bigger than my boobs now.

I love being pregnant!

10 Weeks Pregnant!

Mike decided weekly shots would be better than monthly and who am I to argue with a man who wants pictures of his wife and baby?! :)

Here I am with my tiny belly that has begun to protrude.

Funny how when you're pregnant you want to stand in such a way that shows off every bump while normally the goal is to hide those bulges.

Crazy!

Loving Every Moment

I am 11 weeks pregnant now! Tonight is the night we are more or less "going public", we are telling our close friends who don't know yet while mom and dad share the news with the Dougherty clan at the annual siblings Christmas party. They are going to call me before they tell the family so that I can tell Grandma that she is not just expecting one GreatGrandbaby in the new year (my cousin Kris and Shannon's little nut) but two! This will make 13 great-grandbabies for her assuming I'm counting right. Tomorrow we will make some more calls and in another week we'll really spread the news. We go for our first ultra-sound on Friday which we are super excited about! I can't wait to see Smidge!

I'm feeling really really good. Still experiencing a little nausea but just in the morning, I'm a little less tired than I was before and my appetite has increased big time. I'm definitely showing now but still haven't had a significant weight gain, maybe a pound or two but I'm still in my regular 5 pound zone - albeit the higher end of that zone.

I don't remember ever feeling this healthy, then again Jessy had a good point last night when we were comparing feelings of pregnancy fabulousness: no drinking, eating well and lots of sleep might have a little something to do with the healthy feelings we are experiencing. Ha!

I felt Jessy's baby boy kick last night, such a cool feeling! I can't wait to feel Smidge moving around in my tummy.

Mike has starting taking weekly photos of me and Smidge so I think I'll begin posting them here rather than emailing them to my girls. Every Saturday a couple shots will be posted and if you click on the link to the Belly Chronicles you'll see all of the photos in a row making it easier to compare.

I'm off to go shopping for a new shirt to wear out tonight, one in which I can proudly display my tiny protruding tummy. xoxo

Good News for Good Peeps

photo credit: clever cupcakes

One of my best friends is having a baby!!!!!!! This isn't brand spanking new news but I was holding off until she was far enough along for me to yell CONGRATULATIONS online and well, time flies and sometimes you lose track, she's now 6 months pregnant.

CONGRATULATIONS JESSY & COLIN!!!

There little man is due March 1st and although there was a bit of a concern regarding the placement of her placenta they received extra good news yesterday - no need to worry, the placenta has righted itself and all is well!

I couldn't be happier! Jess and Colin are going to make fabulous parents and I'm really really REALLY looking forward to meeting their son. Yippee!

Paint Hallway: Check

photo credit: matthew moss

What a week.
I can knock off another one of my Things to Do Before I'm 32 thanks to a friend who took on the horrific task of painting our hallway. We paid him but he did it for a helluva lot cheaper than anyone else would have: what a freaking nightmare.

We bought our house four years ago from a family who bought the house 4 years earlier from the builder. The house was a model home originally. What have we learned about model homes in the last year? Model homes = shortcuts. My guess is the builder wants the house up fast in order to show it and therefore puts the pressure on the contractors to get things happening quickly. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe the contractors just suck and it has nothing to do with the builder. Either way we have been finding little things here and there that are the result of lazy contractors and it's annoying. The latest find has been the most expensive so far (thankfully) and I'm seriously hoping it's the last 'surprise'. The insert whatever rude name you choose here who put up the wallpaper chose to skip priming the walls and stuck the wallpaper directly to the drywall. Brilliant.

For those of you who are thinking the same thing I originally was, "so what?", the issue is that you can't remove the wallpaper like you typically would because applying water to the wallpaper means also soaking the drywall which doesn't like water. Drywall and water pretty much equals mud and falling down walls.

We couldn't leave the wallpaper up because it was beginning to peel at all the seams and this has been one of the top things on our TO DO list for quite some time so we decided to bite the bullet and TO DID it. A job we knew would be a pain in the ass turned out to be a ROYAL pain in the ass. The facing had to be pulled off the walls leaving a fuzzy paper base, that base then had to be painted with oil based primer in order to seal it, this left us with fuzzy primed walls which had to be sanded. The sanding led to a house covered in teeny tiny particles of oil based paint dust. Lovely.

One week later (he thought it would take 1.5 days) I felt like a gypsy living out of bags and spare room surfing (thanks to the fumes) but our wallpaper was down, paint was up and the house was covered in oil based paint dust. Today the house is finally looking better - we spent 5 hours yesterday cleaning up every tiny piece of dust we could find: the spring cleaning I never got around to this year has now been taken care of.

PHEW!

Fab Pick of Last Week

I found this fab little shop while looking for a birthday gift for a girlfriend (sneaky me crept through her Etsy Favs). Hollyhawk Designs is a fantastic shop to deal with: quick delivery, friendly service and lovely packaging.

The excellent craftsmanship on these cuffs is worthy of mentioning, you never know what you're handmade item is actually going to look like until you open up the envelope and I was pleasantly surprised at just how lovely the cuff was. Mike knows this little beauty is on my Christmas list and now that I know how well made the items in Hollyhawk's etsy shop are I will be adding a wallet to my wish list as well.

P.S. A bonus is that the shop is Canadian!

A Better Version

Loving this better (in my opinion) version of Beyonce's All the Single Ladies. What do you think?

Slow & Steady by Ypsi Kid

photo credit: swisscan

It's a beautiful fall day and this is the perfect downtempo track to listen to while sitting back and soaking up some sunshine.

Slow & Steady by Ypsi Kid