Happy 2nd Birthday, Mr Magoo!!

Our baby boy turned TWO on Sunday!! What the?! Two whole years old? I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he has been on the outside for two years.  It's hard to believe it has been that long but at the same time it's hard to imagine a time when he wasn't here.

We are the luckiest parents in the world because our little Rockstar truly is the sweetest, smartest, cutest, kindest, funniest two year old kid in the world.  It's true.  Maybe we are a teeny tiny bit biased but we are two intelligent adults who know an out of this world outstanding kid when we make one.  Happy Birthday, Mr Magoo!! 

Lots of love from your Mama & Dada!  MUAH!! xoxo

Lovin' Our 'My Monkey Moo' Winnings

You may remember me mentioning my streak of good luck a couple weeks ago. Well we received a package in the mail last week with the goods from the second giveaway I won and WOW! Lusso Baby (check out their blog for awesome daily giveaways) sent us a gorgeous stroller set from My Monkey Moo. I thought the set looked fantastic online but I've got to say I was really impressed when I opened the box and saw the quality of the pieces.
I finally got around to rounding up some photos of the Rockstar and his new goods. Here he is modeling the awesome stroller pad we received. I love the fact that there's now a cozy layer between him and the stroller. I was a bit worried that his lap belt clip thingos wouldn't fit through the holes in the pad (the clips are heavy duty on the Baby Jogger) but they fit just fine. My other concern was around folding the Jogger with the pad on (the fold strap is under the pad) but all I have to do is reach under and grab the strap, it doesn't get in the way at all.

The matching stroller blanket is awesome! It's large enough to wrap around the Rockstar but small enough to tuck in the basket under him when it isn't being used. I love the minky backing - super cozy! This blanket is basically a larger version of the baby blanket I made for my little man so of course I love it.

And finally the matching Monkey Bucket. Funny that I made a fabric bucket just a few weeks before winning this one. I didn't have handles on my original bucket but will on the next one I make. The Monkey Bucket is a good size and the perfect place to stash the million little balls, cubes and rattles we have scattered around the house.


A super huge thank you to the giveaway host Lusso Baby (a baby bits store located in North Vancouver) and to Christine in particular who went out of her way to switch the pattern of the set to suit my little man - the original winning set was in pink and brown which was a super cute but not ideal for my Rockstar and his green stroller.

Of course thank you to My Monkey Moo as well!! We LOVE the set and have used it daily since receiving it. Yippeeeeeeeeeee!

Super late Happy Eight Months!

Note: This post was written a month ago but somehow I managed to hit save instead of post! Whoops!

Three quarters of a year old and some how you manage to make your mommy and daddy fall more deeply in love with you every day. I'm not sure how you do it because we both love you to infinity and beyond but every time you smile, nuzzle your little head into our neck or cry your giant crocodile tears our hearts swell even more. You are truly an amazing little boy.

You sit up like such a big boy now and rarely do you topple over. When you do fall you smile more often than you cry. You roll like a champion and are pushing up and straightening your arms while on your belly now, we're sure you'll be moving around commando style very soon.

You definitely take after your daddy and are a musician in the making! You started clapping your hands this month at music class and can't get enough of it. You love to shake and bang things, everything is a drum: you are a pro at banging things together, smacking things with your hands and whacking things with your toys.

You make a funny clicking noise with your tongue and get a kick out of it when we make the sound back to you. We have many conversations made up entirely of tongue clicks these days. You've also figured out how to blow raspberries so rarely are you seen without a bib thanks to the streams of raspberry bubbles flowing from your lips.

The biggest news this month involves not one but two little teeth who pushed their way through!

Teething is not our favourite activity. You're a trooper and are pretty much your normal happy little self during the day but nights are awful. I think we may take out stocks in Gripe Water since it's the one thing that helps you calm down enough to eat during the night; I swear you would drink the entire bottle if I let you. Thankfully it was just a week of sleepless nights and it was worth it because now you can bite your crackers! I think you like the crunching sound your single tooth makes when you chomp down on your Mum Mums: silly goose.

Three quarters of a year!! That's unbelievable to me. It feels like just yesterday when you were placed in my arms... on the other hand I can't remember life without you.

Watching you learn and grow is the best part of my day. I love seeing your smile first thing in the morning and have a hard time leaving your sweet sleepy face at night. You truly are the best little being on earth. Thank you for choosing Daddy and I, Baby Boy!! We love you!

No Longer Just a Smidge

I've been absent for a good reason...

We went from giving 'Smidge' kisses like this:


To giving baby Rockstar kisses like this:Our Rockstar was born on June 24th at 1:49 a.m. Our son (I LOVE saying that) weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and was 19 inches long on his birthday. We have fallen head over heels hard and fast. I knew being a mom would be incredible but I had no idea just how incredible "incredible" could be.

As you can see the Rockstar was born with a ridiculous amount of black hair! It hangs over his shirt collar and so far it's staying put and not thinning too much. He's our little werewolf: born on a full moon with a full head of hair and a little patch of fuzz above his bum which sort of looks like a tiny tail. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to read that one day.

In a few hours it will be three weeks since the Rockstar entered our lives but it seems like he has been part of our family forever. Mike is the most amazing dad and seeing him doting on the Rockstar makes me love him in a whole new way.

The Rockstar smiled on his birthday and it wasn't because of gas, it's just one of his sweet expressions. Smiles and his "O" face were the most common expressions for the first week but now he has a whole array of faces that amuse us. He loves kisses, being outside and bath time but doesn't particularly like having his face washed. Being cuddled, carried and swinging in his swing are all good times while laying in his stroller's bassinet is pretty much torture (he obviously has no idea what it took to find that stupid bassinet!! Here's hoping it becomes less of a torture device in the next couple weeks).

Our birth story is a positive one so I'll definitely share it with you in the not so distant future - I think more women need to tell their happy, positive labour stories since women tend to scare the hell out of first time pregnant mamas by telling them their horror stories or by focusing on all the negative parts of their not so terrible experiences.

Welcome to the world Rockstar: Mommy and Daddy love you more than you could ever fathom.

Two Days Past Due

Well the wee man's due date has come and gone... I was hoping he might make an appearance today as a Father's Day prezzie for his daddy but it's not looking or feeling like that's going to happen. Tomorrow is the 21st which is the date that Mike has been 'forecasting' since the beginning so fingers crossed! I see my OB tomorrow anyways and he agreed that he will help the little guy along if I make it in to the appointment.

We just found out that Mike will be having surgery FINALLY on his very broken foot (it has been 10 months now) on July 12th so we would like the baby to be here a few weeks to give us a chance to become somewhat comfortable with this whole new parenting thang before Mike is knocked off his feet for a couple months. Thankfully my OB agreed that this would be a good thing.

Everyone says that nesting kicks in just before the baby arrives and I have definitely had a sudden burst of energy. I'm not a big fan of cleaning but the house has been vacuumed more in the last week than it ever has and the floors have been mopped, the freezers are stocked and laundry is done... I could clean cupboards but I'd rather poke my eyes out so instead I've been sewing.

I finally made a minky blankie for our boy using this super sweet alien fabric. I whipped up a peanut burp cloth and bib to match. I'm hoping to snag some more of this print for future baby gifts - it's so cute! A pile of other little bibs and burp cloths have been sewn this week, a few for our little man and a bunch for gifts.

Oh and I made a mini wet bag for our cloth diapers to tuck in our diaper bag! I'm really happy with the bag: it's lined with white PUL and the exterior is an awesome birdie print (as you can see). I love this print and the sprinkle of pink birds and the bright pink zipper are a girlie addition for Mommy's sake.

Now everyone repeat after me: COME OUT AND PLAY, LITTLE BABY!!!!!!!

The Shoe Collecting Has Started Already!!

Daddy loves shoes and it looks like our little man is going to be competing with with him to see who can own the most pairs. The little bum has yet to arrive and his collection is larger than mine!

I started planning and cutting bits out to make a hanging shoe organizer for the wee man a few months back and let me tell you this was the most frustrating sewing project I've taken on yet. Sewing with this plastic was a royal pain in the butt - my teflon foot worked wonders but the plastic kept sticking to itself and to the plastic casing of my machine: annoying!!

Frustration aside I'm SUPER happy with the finished project and stoked that I completed it before the baby's birthday! I love the map print fabric I found at a local fabric store: our little boy is going to stomp all over the world with his sweet little feet.

Now I'm off to make a baby blanket, hopefully I can finish it before the big arrival!

Belly Pics!

We had belly shots taken a couple weeks ago: I was almost 37 weeks on the day of the shoot. Lorie from Emilly Grayce Photography did a FANTASTIC job, she came to our home and made us completely comfortable during the session. It was fun working with Lorie, we can't wait to see the rest of the photos and look forward to having her take our wee man's newborn photos after he arrives.

Here are a few of the shots she has shared with us so far.



I'll share some more pics once we get our paws on them but if you want to check out a few more pop over HERE.

Showered with Love Once Again!

Isn't this the most beautiful baby shower cake you've ever seen?! It looks like something from Martha Stewart magazine but it's not... it was the gorgeous cake (which matched the invites) at my baby shower yesterday afternoon! Another day of spoilage, this one thanks to my awesome sis-in-law Joanne and my mom-in-law Bridie!

The ladies hosted High Tea with cucumber sandwiches and cheese sandwiches; homemade scones with cream, butter and jam (recipe coming soon); fruit and all sorts of yummy cookies. Of course there was the fabulous cake and adorable cupcakes (with booties on top) as well! Auntie Phil brought the beautiful teacups pictures above.

Thanks to everyone for spoiling our little man! At this rate we really are going to have to move into a bigger house.

It's Coming Together!

Just four weeks to go until our due date!! C.R.A.Z.Y!

The prints we ordered from Ink Tree Press Art arrived today and we LOVE them.

I made the cloud valence and the gauzy curtains were a steal from ikea. A steal as in a good deal, not as in the five finger discount kind of steal.

You should take a closer look at the prints because they're sweeeeeeet.

We could have purchased two matching print themes (cosmos like you see on the alphabet print or animals like the numbers) but we wanted to mix things up so the artist and owner, Erin, customized the number print for us so that the colours matched the alphabet print.

They look even better in person than they do in pictures, THANK YOU ERIN!!

And just to refresh your memory... this is where things stand in the nursery right now.

Stay tuned for more nursery photos!

Weeble Wobbles wobble but they don't fall down? Well this one did.

That's exactly what I looked like before landing flat on my arse last night. Lesson learned: at 35.5 weeks pregnant one should bend rather than squat OR spread the feet further apart to accommodate the gino-belly. From the look on Mike's face it was a rather amusing moment, then again I was laughing as it happened too. It was one of those slow motion moments. All of those Judo break falls from when I was a kid finally came in handy, it was a smooth fall (picture someone sitting in a rocking chair without the chair).

Sneak Peek!

The nursery is coming together! Actually it's 98% complete. We took a trip to Ikea last weekend to pick up some shelves and stuff to spice things up in the babe's room and it was a super successful trip. I think the rabbit driving the carrot hook is hilarious - how freaking cute are the little coats hanging from it?! The funky blue shelves match some dressers that we have tucked away for the future "big boy room" so they'll come in handy down the road as well. We were just about out of Ikea when I spotted the two plant pots you see in the first shot; they match the colours in our decal PERFECTLY so I had to buy them. I have no luck keeping plants alive so I bought two that apparently don't need much water; hopefully I manage to keep them alive until the baby sees them... otherwise I'm slamming some fake plants in there.

We've ordered two prints from Etsy (no, not the baby animals) that I'll show you once we have them hanging on the wall. I also made an awesome (I'm so humble, aren't I?) valence for the window which I'll show you once I'm able to get a decent shot of it.

The books on the table next to the turtle lamp are itching to be read; I've picked them up and put them back down at least 20 times now. I know, I know: read to the baby while he's tucked away inside! Yes I could do that but I want to save them for reading while nursing. I was excited to find these at a used book store in town, the owner of the shop said that the red books by Thornton Burgess were his absolute favourite when he was a kid. He has a clear memory of taking a box full of books by Burgess to school for show and tell in grade 3. Who knows, maybe they'll end up being favs of our little guy too. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for more of these gems.

Oh! And I made myself a nursing cover (hooter hider) with boning in it so that I can look down and see the wee man while he eats his million meals a day (here's hoping nursing works out for us) while hiding the ladies from onlookers because well you know people can't get enough of a nursing mother's boobs. hehe. Kidding. The cover is for my comfort, not the comfort of the general public. Like the fabric choice? Me too!

5 weeks and 5 days to go until our due date!!! YIPPEEE!

Spoiled!

Today was AWESOME! My amazingly fantabulous girlfriend Jessy threw me a baby shower. A pile of my favourite ladies and a few sweet little men (under the age of one) + lots of yummy treats including a chocolate peanut butter ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins (this was just the best surprise EVER) + no cheesy games = a perfect shower!!

Thanks, Jess! And thanks ladies for all of the wonderful presents! We were definitely showered with goodies. Sooooo many sweet little outfits and toys and books and... well, just SO many awesome bits!

Two more showers to go... where in the world are we going to put all of this stuff?!

Something for Moi!

I bought this grey fabric almost two years ago with the plan to make something fabulous with it. Mission accomplished.

I love love LOVE our new diaper bag! The inside is lined with a thin blue vinyl which can be wiped out easily in case of spills - there are five elasticized pockets in there too. Two large pockets are found on the front (see the bottom left photo) and another two are on the outer sides of the bag; finally there is a zippered pocket on the back of the bag that is large enough for a cell phone and a wallet. The strap is adjustable so that it will work for me and Mike too. I think I'll make a travel change pad in grey and blue to match, and maybe some burp cloths too.

I've admired bits made with the reverse applique technique (cutting a hole in your exterior fabric and stitching a pretty fabric in behind to peek through) for ages now but I owe a special thanks to Smidgebox for inspiring the circle on the exterior of my bag - I love her peek-a-boo circles! Check out her blog and definitely check out her shop!

Nesting is in full effect. I can't wait to show you what we've done with the nursery!

Too Many Blogs

Ages ago I combined Jabbering Jaime with Gingham Skies because two blogs was too many... now I've got our baby blog, Just a Smidge, on the go and Gingham Skies too and I just don't think it's going to be feasible to keep both going once the wee man arrives. What to do, what to do. I think I'm going to combine the two blogs... I won't delete Just a Smidge but I'll likely stop posting there once the little nut makes an appearance (just 8 weeks to go). I'm going to import all of the posts from there over to here so if you're following both blogs you'll be seeing repeat posts for the next little while. Once the baby arrives I'll focus on posting here at Gingham Skies only and will be sure to label my baby posts accordingly so that if certain someones just want to keep up on my baby ramblings they can click on the OUR BABY link found in the header and TA DA baby only material.

I've found that I've stopped blogging about my personal life here at Gingham Skies because I post pregnancy updates at Just a Smidge and don't want to waste my time typing everything a second time. Of course there has been more than pregnancy going on in my world but it's the most important thing and really the one thing I think about 99.9 percent of the day so it can be tough to come up with other things to talk about. Yes it is true, I have become one of those annoying parents who can talk about little other than their baby and this scares me because I haven't even seen the little squirt yet. How annoying will I be after he arrives?! Parents will likely reply: you can't talk too much about your child! While my non-parent friends are groaning thinking: it's going to get worse? Yep, I am pretty sure it is. Sorry guys!

30 weeks!!

The countdown is on now!! 10 weeks until the estimate date of arrival: YIPPEEEE!!!

It's official: I can't see my feet. Or maybe it has been official for awhile but I've just finally noticed.

I've had this belly ramp effect happening since the beginning and thought it would round out as time went on... apparently I thought wrong. It's kind of like I have an extra bump. I also thought I would gain a booty during pregnancy and that has yet to happen. I'm not complaining, just commenting!


We started our prenatal class this week and watched our first birth video - thankfully it wasn't as horrible as I imagined it would be and Mike said the same thing. Some people seem really surprised when I say I haven't seen a birthing video and I say WHY THE HELL WOULD I WANT TO WATCH A BIRTHING VIDEO JUST FOR KICKS?! Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

There are just two other couples in our class; both are total hippies and seem very sweet. Awkward moment: my lack of ability to hide my true feelings shone through when one of the girls decided to share with us how her friend who lives in the States BBQed part of her placenta "like a steak", made a smoothie out of a chunk of it and then buried the rest under a tree. What the hell?! Needless to say my mouth dropped open, I said something along the lines of "OH MY GOD" (I think it was out loud but it might have been a scream in my head) and then stared at her in utter horror. The second couple kept glancing at each other and smiling and I'm not sure whether they were trying not to laugh at my look of disgust or the story. The girl telling the story then assured us that she was NOT planning on BBQing her placenta. I managed to shut my mouth and stared at the instructor until I regained my composure - I was afraid to look at Mike for fear of bursting into uncontrollable giggles which would have been a) RUDE and b) very immature which of course I am not. hehe. When the baby arrives one of my rules is no dropping in without calling first so if you break the rule and show up without calling I'm liable to insist you stay for lunch... and guess what, I'll be BBQing something special.

I've been spending loads of time researching cloth diapers and I'm excited to have made a decision on how we're going to start this crazy adventure. There are SO many cloth diaper options available and it's all a little overwhelming; we really want to give this a go and I know things are going to be INSANE for the first couple months so we're going to use disposable for the first week or two and then we'll go with Bear Bottoms (a cloth diaper service in our area) for a month (thanks to a gift from my Mom & Dad - THANKS MOM AND DAD). While we're using the diaper service (they use fitted cloth diapers) we'll try out a few other styles/brands and figure out what is going to work best for us.

My hope is that Indian Prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers will work for us but of course we won't know until we try. Indian Prefolds are similar to the old skool cloth diapers but they are quilted to absorb more liquid and come in different sizes so you don't end up with a lot bulk. I've read loads of good reviews about these prefolds so fingers crossed!! I'll place an order for these in a couple weeks.

I spent hours this weekend researching diaper covers and have placed an order for three through Homestead Children's etsy shop; we'll need covers while using the diaper service so even if the prefolds don't work out for us and if we decide to go with All In Ones these covers will be put to good use and then we can sell them. I also found an AWESOME tutorial for cloth diaper covers with gussets that I'm going to try to work with in the not so distant future. If I can make my own covers that would be fabulous!

This post might have some of you yawning: sorry!! I could go on and on and on about cloth diapers because I've been reading about them FOREVER but I'll stop now because I have a baby ramming me in the ribs making it VERY difficult to type and it's time for bed anyways. Good night, everyone!

The nesting instinct is creeping in and when I'm not curled up in a ball on the couch I'm trying to get some things in order for our little guy. This weekend I finally made use of one of the bib patterns I've had bookmarked FOREVER. Chickpea Studio's pattern is perfect for tiny people and it's free so if you're looking for a pattern check it out.

Here are the bibs I whipped up for our guy, they were a SUPER easy and SUPER quick project.
The girlie bib is part of a shower gift.

The other little bit I made for Smidge is this change pad thanks to Homemade by Jill's easy to follow tutorial. I made some changes which I explain in more detail over at Gingham Skies if you're interested.

I'm looking forward to creating a few other things this weekend. Sewing for baby is the best kind of sewing.

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.

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