A Bump Update!

What's new with me and the Bump? Hmmm...

Well my ridiculous chocolate peanut butter cravings (they were OUT OF CONTROL) have been curbed thanks to an absolutely fabulous package that arrived on our doorstep last Thursday.

Jenny & Mike sent enough chocolate peanut butter to last the average person a couple weeks (a few items were missing by the time I snapped this photo - couldn't resist) but I am not the average person and the stash lasted until tonight which means it lasted SIX days which I think is rather impressive length of time for a pregnant chocolate peanut butter monster. NO I did NOT eat all of it by myself, I shared with Mike and the baby ate more than the two of us put together. Greedy, greedy baby! Thanks again Jenny & Mike!! xox

Of course this package doesn't really help with the 'being healthy while pregnant' goal I'm trying to focus on during these final few months but neither did the french fries I ate today. You may remember me talking about my french fry cravings during the first 4 months, I've been REALLY good for the last couple months and only have them once a week now... I was going to try to skip them this week and then some very inconsiderate office manager brought McDonald's fries into the room next to the space where I was teaching this morning. R.U.D.E. Obviously I couldn't sit there smelling Mickey D's fries and not stop at the golden arches on my way to the next school. Obviously.

So how are my Body During Baby goals going this week? Let's see...
* prenatal yoga - I really didn't like yoga when I tried it a few years ago but I signed up for pre-natal yoga when my doctor suggested that it might help with all the pelvis discomfort I was experiencing. I am SO glad I listened to her. The class I'm taking is through Blue Skies Yoga in Kitchener. The studio is BEAUTIFUL, the teacher is AMAZING and the yoga is FABULOUS. I love being in a class surrounded my beautiful bellies attached to glowing mamas. I have every intention of continuing with this once the baby is here and we have settled into some sort of routine. There are mommy & baby classes offered at this same studio, as well as baby massage and more. I thought I would dread my Thursday night classes but instead I find myself counting down the days until my next class.
* drink more water - I have made a conscious effort to drink more water but I know I can do better
* fruits and veggies - check! More fresh fruit in the house this week.
* swim once a week - coming soon
* walk for 20 minutes - an hour walk last night and another hour tonight
* rest & relax - thoroughly enjoying my bath and have my feet propped up as I type

I'm feeling good this week, last week was a rough one being back at work after a week off. I was moving s-l-o-w. Sleeping isn't as great as it was; I tossed and turned most of last night but I suppose it's my body's way of preparing itself for NEVER SLEEPING AGAIN as so many people like to remind me.

We had our first appointment with our OB yesterday. After a two hour wait we found out that Smidge is right on target size wise, I'm measuring at 28" which is exactly where I should be at 28 weeks. I start to going to my OB every two weeks now which is CRAZY!! I'm in the homestretch with only 11 weeks and 4 days to go until my due date. Eeek!

We also found out at the appointment that I am RH negative, in other words my blood type is O negative. What does this mean and why should I care? Well only about 10% of the population has RH negative blood and Mike isn't one of them, if he was then the baby would also be a negative blood type which would be fabulous but he's not so our baby will most likely be RH positive like his daddy and positive and negative blood don't like each other. Holy run-on-sentence. If something happens that my blood mixes with Smidge's potentially positive blood my body will think the positive blood is an invader and will attack it. The doctor told us this isn't really a concern for Smidge since it's not likely our blood will mix but I need to get a shot that will mask his blood (trick my body into thinking his blood is positive if they do mix) just in case they do - during the third trimester there is a risk of slight risk of placental tearing so it's better to be safe than sorry (HELL YEAH). If left untreated (if I don't get the shot) this RH negative thing is likely to be an issue in the future when I get pregnant again because during Smidge's birth his bits of his blood will definitely mix with mine. In a future pregnancy if something causes the baby's blood to mix with mine (say a minor tear in a blood vessel) my body will remember that the positive blood is foreign and will attack it, in turn attacking the baby. In other words I have a higher risk of miscarriage. The OB said that left untreated each subsequent pregnancy would be at greater risk since the memory becomes stronger each time. THANKFULLY there is a solution to this potential problem: a shot of RhoGAM now and then another after Smidge arrives. These shots will keep Smidge safe and my future babe(s) safe too!

That was terribly long winded and hopefully it makes sense to you. I went to the hospital today for a blood test to confirm my blood type and will find out tomorrow if I definitely need the RhoGAM but it's not likely the first test was wrong so I'm sure I'll be poked again in the next couple days. I should add that I'm not worried about anything, I'm just happy this has been caught and is being dealt with.

And that my friends is my weekly update. Hope I didn't bore you!!

Fab Pick of Forever Ago

We spent a ridiculous amount of time searching for the perfect decal for our nursery and finally decided on Bubba & Doodle's cube tree. Jennifer, the owner of Bubba & Doodle, was super patient and quickly replied to my 8 billion questions about colours and application. On the weekend we took a couple hours to put the decal up in the nursery and WOW! We truly couldn't be any happier with the way it looks: our baby is going to spend many hours gazing at that tree and so are we. I highly recommend Bubba and Doodle to anyone looking for quality decals.

Pillow Factory Alphabet Down Filled Pillow GROSGRAIN GIVEAWAY!!!!

I think this pillow would look perfect in the nursery! Fingers crossed.

Pillow Factory Alphabet Down Filled Pillow GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Body DURING Baby Challenge

One of the new-to-me blogs I've found semi-recently is Mama Notes. I was originally drawn to the blog thanks to some fabulous giveaways but there's so much more to it than freebies! Samantha is the creator of this fabulous find and not only does she write great blurbs about her personal experiences, she also shares guest posts and poses questions relating to parenting advice and product reviews to her readers. Mama Notes is a great resource for soon-to-be, new and experienced parents.

Last year Samantha created a challenge for moms who were looking for motivation and support to get in shape following the birth of their babes; it was called the Body After Baby challenge. Samantha recently found out that she is pregnant with her second child and due in October, lucky for us because her pregnancy means a new challenge for pregnant mamas: the Body During Baby Challenge!! If you're pregnant you might want to join the challenge, pop over here to find out more and let Samantha know you're joining.

I'm due June 18th so I only have three months to go but considering I've just started *insert Olivia Newton John in leg warmers here* getting physical after a six month puddle-on-the-couch stage I've decided to join the challenge!

So here is my intro post for all the lovely mamas who are taking part in the challenge. My name is Jaime and my amazing husband's name is Mike. I'm a 32 year old teacher who lives 45 minutes south of Toronto, Ontario. I'm 27 weeks preggers with baby number one. We're having a boy YAY and we're super crazy excited about it! I'm feeling fabulous and have been most of my pregnancy, of course there have been aches and pains but I guess that just comes with the territory.

My goals for the last few months of this pregnancy are:
* continue going to prenatal yoga classes right up until the end (I started my classes two weeks ago but I'll talk more about this on Monday when I post my weekly update)
* like Samantha I need to drink more water - I've been pretty good about staying hydrated but could definitely do better
* eat more fruits and veggies and less chocolate peanut butter (Gawd, I can't believe the amount of chocolate peanut butter I've consumed in the last few months - the baby made me do it)
* swim once a week
* walk for 20 minutes on days I'm not swimming or taking part in yoga
* rest & relax when I need/want to - I'm a person who tends to GO GO GO and I have been VERY good about slowing down but need to keep at it. This week I've been on holidays thanks to March Break and I've treated myself to soaks in the tub with a good book in hand almost daily - I want to keep this up!

I think that's all for now. I have quite a few goals but they are all totally achievable!

Thanks to Samantha for creating this challenge and HELLO to all of the moms-to-be taking part, I'm looking forward to reading your updates!


Mama Notes: For Pregnant Mamas: Body DURING Baby

Daddy's First Baby Buys

Dear Smidge,

Your Daddy discovered the wonderful world of online baby shopping last night. I'm afraid. VERY afraid. Your daddy has a slight sneaker addiction (we really should be part owners of Nike) and he was hunting online for shoes for you last night. I think we might have to buy a bigger house so that you and daddy can have your own room just to house sneakers. Fifteen years from now when you want a ridiculously expensive pair of sneakers and Dad is saying NO you can print off this post and stick it under your dad's nose to remind him that he told Mom his son would have the SICKEST shoes ever. Granted he didn't say ALWAYS but he did say EVER.

Daddy did find some sweet duds for you last night in the shop Lowleepop and we can't wait to see you sportin' your new gear this summer!

The only difference is that the green onesie in the set Daddy ordered will have headphones like the white onesie instead of the stereo.

The second thing on your daddy's shopping list is this freaking awesome baby beanie!

We're waiting to hear whether they ship to Canada but assuming I Heart Baby does then you'll have one of these super sweet skull beanies for when you first join us on the outside and another to wear in the fall. ADORABLE!

Oh little man, you are going to be one stylish little dude and Daddy is going to spend a small fortune to make sure of it.

Love you baby boy,
Mommy & Daddy too xoxo

Yet another fabulous Grosgrain Giveaway!

We have a wedding at the end of May that I will have to buy a new dress for. Poor me! hehe
I can't wait to find a cute dress to show off the bump. This sweet little number might be the perfect fit, then again maybe I'm dreaming - we'll see how big the belly is by then. Either way I hope I win this Grosgrain giveaway! Click on this link to enter for your chance to win: Shabby Apple Shakespeare Garden Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

Win a Baby Bungalow at Grosgrain

2 Speckled Frogs sells these little Baby Bungalow's which act as a little tent to keep your wee one hidden from the cat, the sun, the dirty digits of strangers who feel the need to touch your baby...

Grosgrain is offering one lucky reader the opportunity to win a Baby Bungalow of their own, enter by visiting this link: Baby Bungalow GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Another Awesome Grosgrain Giveaway!

I absolutely adore this style of apron and I'm really hoping I win Grosgrain's Flirty Aprons GUEST GIVEAWAY so that I can own the apron shown below.

Stop by Grosgrain to enter for your chance to win a Flirty Apron of your choice.

Welcome to the Third Trimester!

It's a big week! We've hit the third trimester: 26 weeks, Baby!!





I can't believe our little man will be making his way to the outer world in appx 3 months! Time flies!

Upcycling

It was a super productive day: the closet in the nursery is painted and I upcycled an ugly ass bookshelf for the Ninja (which looks surprisingly decent in the before photo but trust me when I say it was beat up pre-upcycle).

This is the ugly ass stage:


And this is the funktified made over shelf:


It took me about an hour to complete this project. I removed the beat up backing and covered it with paper and then applied fabric to the shelves using Mod Podge. I could easily become addicted to covering things with fabulous fabric thanks to this project. I'll post more pics once we get things set up in the nursery.

A week of do what I want time!

It's March break so I have one glorious week off to do whatever I want! Mike took the week off too so that he can help me do whatever I want. hehe Just kidding. He did take the week off and yes we do plan to get some things done around the house but really I want him to reeeeeelax and enjoy the peace and quiet because in three more months everything is going to change... there will be a new boss in the house calling the shots. Eeek!

There are a few things I hope to work on this week and YES I know my list is ridiculous and I'm ridiculous if I think I'll actually get all of these done and YES I know I should take advantage of this week to rest my pregnant self. I am not saying I HAVE to get these things done but I'll definitely be piddling away at some if not most of them. So there.

Ugh, prepare our taxes
Finish painting the closet in the nursery
Paint the basement... maybe. I mean definitely. Definitely maybe.
Sleep
Pick fabric for the baby's bedding
Sort out the nursery book shelf issue
Clean this disaster of a house (this could take all week)
Start organizing the garage - again
Finish my kidlets' IEPs
Start planning and organizing my sewing room
Paint the sewing room - Ha! Okay if I paint the basement I definitely will not be painting the sewing room but one can dream.
Plan for third term
Spend some quality time with Mike (while painting - hehe)

Hmmmm guess I better start prioritizing. Off to clean the kitchen, have a nap and then paint the closet. Maybe.

Skin Volcano

Our little man is kicking up a storm these days. He rarely kicks on demand for me but as soon as Mike asks him to he usually does and last night it just took Mike laying his hand on my tummy for the kicks to start. Mike would remove his hand and I would put mine on my belly and the kicks would stop, I'd move my hand and Mike would take over and then keeeeee-yaw the kicks would start again.

Mike's super cute and while rubbing my belly he gives Smidge soccer tips to help him with his kicks; "Come on kiddo: inside kick, outside kick!" We figure our child is going to be a a superstar in whatever he decides to do so if soccer is one of his hobbies he'll definitely have a head start on all of the other kids whose parents weren't on the ball enough to coach them while they were in the womb!! Now, if he decides to sing then I might hesitate to take credit for his 'in the womb' vocal lessons. We are fairly certain our child will be walking around singing things like "Rub in the belllllllly buuuuuuuutterrrrrrrrrr" to the tune of whatever tickles his fancy on that particular day since Mike and I sing made up lyrics to various tunes on a regular basis. You might say we are vocally challenged.

Anyways back to the kicking. The baby kicks so hard my belly jumps and I've tried to record it but the end result is always the same: 3 minutes of what appears to be a one eyed Jabba the Hutt rising and falling. Trust me when I say it's not a pretty sight, and this is coming from a woman who can't stop gazing at her belly. Eventually I'm sure my belly will look like a pretty version of the ground rising in the movie Tremors and then I will definitely record it but until then I'm holding off on the video attempts since watching it freaks me out.

Speaking of freaking people out, I learned this evening that when I push on my belly in a certain way I can flip my belly button inside out! From the look of horror on Mike's face when it first happened it is quite obvious that he doesn't think my new trick is as cool as I do. Basically I can now turn my belly button into a skin volcano. A SKIN VOLCANO PEOPLE, how cool is that? Another great reason to get pregnant: create a person AND turn your belly button into a skin volcano.

Smidge's Big Buddy

I forgot to post the fabulous news over here at Just a Smidge! Last Wednesday March 3rd Jessy and Colin welcomed their little man into the world!! Isn't he adorable?!

Reid was born at 7:58 am (or was it 7:59?) a day before the planned C section. Mommy and baby are both happy and healthy and of course is Daddy is too. Actually Daddy is being super cute and "happy" doesn't quite describe the feelings that are oozing out of him.

The second time I held Reid I sat on a rocking chair with him passed out on my chest Smidge proceeded to karate kick his new buddy not once but twice. I'm imagining they were meant to be high fives rather than drop kicks, or else, down the road 'referee' might be another title Jess and I.

Mega huge congrats to Jessy & Colin for making such a beautiful baby boy. Mike and I are thrilled to have Reid on the outside to cuddle and kiss and gaze at in wonder. Miracles really do exist and babies are proof!

The Kitchen Crew

As promised: a shot of the Princesses in their matching aprons.

Neve's little ruffled jean skirt poking out the bottom of her apron (she's the second girl from the right) gave me an idea for the next apron I make; I think I'll shorten it a bit and add a ruffle to the bottom.

Thanks to my bro for snapping this pic and getting permission from the girls' parents for me to use this shot.

Welcome to the World!

Two of our best friends brought their son into the world on Wednesday March 3rd: congratulations Jessy & Colin!! Welcome to the world baby Reid!


Mommy, Reid and Daddy are all doing well. The plan was for Reid to arrive via a planned C section on Thursday but he showed everyone who the new boss is and came on Wednesday instead. Jess is recovering well from the C-section and the trio is now snuggled up at home.


As you can see Reid is perfectly perfect, he has the sweetest little nose and a head full of hair! Here's Uncle Mike falling madly in love with our new buddy.

Although Mike hogged Reid when we visited on Thursday I managed to snag him for an extra long cuddle on Friday. Holding this wee man in my arms makes me want the next three months to fly by even faster. It was super cute, while I was holding Reid, Smidge gave a few really good kicks (I'm sure he was trying to introduce himself).

I couldn't be any happier for Colin & Jessy, they have made one beautiful little boy!!

We couldn't

Pink & Green

An order that was supposed to be delivered to a friend today but baby brain got the best of me - again - and I forgot to bring it with me to our lunch date. Looks like it will be going out in the post tomorrow.

A Tanya ZipIt


And some personalized bean bags for Princess Olivia.

I hope you like the finished products, Lisa!

32 and Counting...

I turned the big 3-2 on February 20th... it was a relatively quiet but lovely day filled with paint and maternity clothes shopping, a movie while curled up in our new ginormous bed, Indian food (mmmm) and awesome music played ridiculously loud by my husband in a tiny club littered with extremely amusing people.

I don't feel 32 but then again I really don't know what it's supposed to feel like. I guess I believe the saying 'You're only as old as you feel' and if I was held down and forced to pick an age that would be impossible so let's say I feel twenty-something. I'm still figuring out out who I am and now that mommy is zooming to the top of the 'categories I fall in' list I have even more figuring out to do... I don't think that's a bad thing though, my hope is that my entire life will be full of self-exploration and discovery.
I was just looking over my list of 32 Things and although I didn't get to all of my goals I'm still stoked that I managed to accomplish some big ones (making a baby, completing a tri-athlon, running a 5km race, and teaching on my lonesome to name a few). I'm going to create a list of 33 New Things so you may see some of the goals that I didn't reach pop up on the next list!

Here's the final results of my goal wish list, I've added some comments in italics.

32 New Things to Do Before I'm 32

1. replace the most hideous light fixture on earth that I complain about every time I look a picture taken in our kitchen *a definite for my 33 list because I hate the light as much today as I did yesterday and the day before that and the day before... you see where I'm going with this.
2. learn to embroider *didn't get around to it but I will
3. Yoga *considering signing up for a class since my doctor suggested it today when I went in for a pre-natal visit
4. complete a triathlon *still feel fabulous about accomplishing this one
5. send a secret to Post Secret *realized I don't have any terribly juicy secrets that I want to share with the world (even secretly)
6. 30 km bike trek *early pregnancy and crazy long bike rides didn't mix well for me - picture me at the side of the road with my head between my knees while rocking back and forth as my sister-in-law asked "Do you think maybe you're pregnant?"
7. keep a diary for a solid two weeks
8. go hiking *one day
9. send one package a month to a faraway friend *don't think I managed to get one a month off but pretty close
10. try Geocaching *putting this on hold until my little man is here and ready to explore with me!
11. learn the names and uses of 10 local herbs/wildflowers *never did make it to out on one of Tina's nature hikes and knowing me I would have forgotten the names within a week anyways but I'll work on this one over time
12. make curtains they're simple but they're up!
13. paint the basement *planned for March break
14. sew something I can wear *definitely on the next list
15. paint the hallway
16. yum. make chocolate lava cakes from scratch.17. play Dance Dance Revolution *I can't believe I didn't do this! One day...
18. go see a band I've never seen in concert
19. recreate mom's amazing creamy cauliflower dish
20. swim 50 laps (no 20 one day and 30 the next does not count)
21. drive a scooter/vespa
22. make a baby (fingers crossed) *Woooooooo hooooooooooo!23. go snow tubing *Ummm pregnancy and flying down a snow covered hill on a rubber tube don't mix
24. begin and complete Teaching of the Blind Part 1
25. make a curried dish from scratch *why make it when you can buy such yummy pre-made sauces?
26. put up outside Christmas lights on the house *using the preggers card here again, oh and Mike's broken foot
27. take a pole dancing class *meh
28. make a track with Mike *definite for the next list
29. go roller skating *figured roller skating for the first time in 20 years might not be such a good idea with a baby in my belly
30. teach a class all on my lonesome
31. volunteer
32. run a 5km race

How is your list coming along?

Mmmmm Chocolate Peanut Butter Pork

Big Pink Flying Pig found in Sighfoo's etsy shop

Yum Yum Yum! I've always been a lover of food but since Smidge began growing in my belly my love has grown tenfold. I've managed to keep my eating under control but I thoroughly enjoy every bite of every single thing I eat. People keep asking me what it is I can't stand the taste of now that I'm pregnant and maybe this is weird, but I can't think of anything.

I. Love. Food.

I especially love chocolate peanut butter but Mike says that's nothing new. He says that to give me a hard time but where is he right now? He's off to the store to get his son some Reese peanut butter cups and I will do the baby a favour and eat the cups when they get here so that his craving will be quenched. I'm such a nice mommy and my husband is the best man in the entire world. Seriously. But did I mention I love chocolate with peanut butter?

What does chocolate peanut butter have to do with pork tenderloin? Not a whole hell of a lot but I made a tenderloin last night that tickled the taste buds so I figured I would share the recipe with you.

This Honey Glazed Pork Tenderloin recipe was found at All Recipes.

What You Need
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil (I used 1 tbsp olive oil instead)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 (3/4 pound) pork tenderloin

What You Do

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. In a bowl, mix the honey, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil, and balsamic vinegar.
3. Place the pork tenderloins in a roasting pan, and roast 15 minutes in the preheated oven.
4. Remove pork from oven, and baste with the honey sauce. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue roasting pork 45 minutes, basting occasionally with the honey sauce, to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).
5. Eat!

Not chocolate peanut butter but super yummy!!