Reflections

As far as years go, 2009 has been the best of my life. It had its hardships – but all were overcome and I am leaving this year with a sense peace and very little unfinished business.

The Good:
After being engaged for nearly 2 years – Tim and I started to plan our wedding for May 2009. It was hard work – such hard work that I often compared it to having a second part time job. When I wasn’t at work or doing my extra activities, I was meeting with someone about something. As money conscious as we are – there was a fair amount of stress trying to balance our needs, wants and checkbook.

The wedding really was a beautiful time for us. Although the wedding was the highlight, having our parents, siblings and family and friends for the week preceding the ceremony was the best! We visited, ate and drank to our hearts content.

The wedding was awesome! I have no real complaints. There were a few issues – like the cake that was supposed to feed 100 people was easily big enough to feed 300 people. There were a few no-shows…and honestly that is probably the biggest annoyance of the day. Other than that it was the best. I couldn’t have dreamed up a better day. I kept looking at Tim thinking “Wow…he’s my husband now…” After this long together you would think that such a simple thing wouldn’t have mattered – but it did then and still does now.

Right from the wedding we headed off on our honeymoon. One of the best parts of the trip is that because of the swine flu – we were able to stay at a really fancy resort for a much better price. Oh…and all that gourmet food…mmmmmm.

Coming home from Mexico to find out we were having a baby was surreal. Although we had been trying to get pregnant – I remember doing and saying nothing for a long time. So long that Tim started to get worried.

Less than 10 days later I quit smoking. I had deluded myself into thinking it would be easier to do this once I found out I was pregnant. If getting pregnant took a year – I wanted another full year of smoking. Creating and nourishing the life inside of me was not and sometimes still isn’t reason enough in my head not to smoke. To quell your fears – I have not resumed my nasty habit and don’t plan to.

The Bad:
*I had to re-write this section a couple times. I don’t like complaining so I decided I would just list point form.

• Work struggles.
  My brothers did not come to our wedding.
  Quitting smoking. (This gets to be in both the good and the bad column)

So what would I change about 2009? Nothing, Nada, Zip. For real people!!! I am not exaggerating. 95% of my year rocked and the parts that sucked are worth it if they made the rest better.

I am not big on New Year Resolutions…but I thought I would list some of the things I look forward to in 2010.

Meeting our baby and all of our firsts together.
Learning to be a mom.
Loving my husband more and more each day.
Making decisions about our life and what we are going to do with our futures.
Resuming my piano lessons.
Losing the baby weight.
Continuing life smoke free.
Paying off my last student loan?!? When I left school I had nearly $55,000.00 in debt. The goal is to be student debt free by the time I am 30. Tim and I both have worked so hard to get rid of the loans and we are down to 1 loan. Although I am immensely proud of this – I also want to accomplish a goal that I set 6 years ago when I graduated.
Our big visit to Ontario.

To all of you who might be reading – Thank YOU! As only my family and friends have this address, that means you played a role in making 2009 the best year ever. I think we can all look forward to 2010 and all the greatness to come!

Week 35 Update

Middle of the night pee breaks: 4
Pounds Gained: 4, 584, 625 + the donut I had this morning
Blood Pressure: Depends who is talking to me
General Disposition: Depends who is talking to me
Major Cravings: Food
# Items left to do on "List of things to do before baby comes": 7, 654, 216
# times I have cried this week: 5
Steps to getting out of bed at night: 12 1. From side to back 2. Flatten back 3. Say ouch 4. Slightly lift opposite hip 5. Say ouch 6. Wedge extra pillow or blanket under raised hip 7. Say ouch, ouch, ouch 8. Swing top leg to gather momentum 9. Say ouch while simultaneously grabbing groin and realising swinging leg was a dumb idea 10. Sit upright 11. Sit on edge of bed for a minute to gather strength for the rest of my journey 12. Turn around and say snarkily to husband who has offered help "I don't need help - I'm not an invalid...just pregnant" and storm off to the washroom.
Tums consumed in one day: at least 5

It’s been so long – I don’t quite know where to start. Life has been going…well just going really. Christmas has come and gone and the baby got his/her first Christmas presents! Daddy bought baby Vancouver Olympics gear to match moomy (this is a typo but exactly how I feel so I will leave it…haha) and Aunt Sue got the baby a teddy bear. This is the first teddy bear and therefore shall now hold a special place in the hierarchy of all teddy bears to come.

In baby development, our little pumpkin is now likely fully developed and focusing on putting on weight and gaining even more brain power. At this stage, the baby is around 5.5 pounds and could be as long as 20’’. The doctor says the baby still appears to be head down which I can kind of tell by the location of the heaviest movement. The baby’s feet/legs/bum sit within the perfect eye shot for me no matter what I am doing.

I am doing well. No new aches or pains or complaints. One of my old complaints (fatigue) is definitely getting worse. I am soooo tired and at this point I don’t even care enough not to complaint about it. I know, I know…I ain’t seen nothing yet. But for now – I just want to complain about it and garner as much sympathy as possible. Every day I am my own champion at work, “you can do it, you can do it.” I manage to – but only the lord knows how.

Must go, until next time!
Candee and Baby

Manic Monday

So, I was actually having a really hard time coming up with a story for Manic Monday. This bothered me for so many reasons. The first and most important reason is because I am crazy and know full well the extent of my own craziness. I don’t try to hide it – I embrace it. That being said, there should always be a crazy story – shouldn’t there?

Flashback to yesterday. I was telling Dad a story and he was the first person to really appreciate the extent of my stupidity. I thought y’all might appreciate it - so here goes:

I get this weird pain right around my belly button. It’s very hard to describe. It’s on the inside, it is somewhat sharp and if the baby plays for too long in that area, it can become very, very tender. This spot has been getting progressively more painful as the days pass and there is less room to play in Mommy's belly.

Crazy moment: I had myself convinced it was the baby pulling on its umbilical cord. ‘Cause you know, the baby’s umbilical cord is attached to my belly button. So every time I would get the pain, I would say: “Baby, stop yanking on that cord!”

….

….

….

I only hope that I have given y’all sufficient time to absorb what I just wrote. I had myself convinced that the baby was yanking on the umbilical cord, which in turn was really hurting my belly button region.

Although it may have taken me months – there did come a time when I realized that the baby’s own umbilical cord had nothing to do with my belly button and furthermore, that the baby surrounded by my womb did not have direct access to my belly button.

For the record, I had thought of myself as a fairly intelligent, well read individual until this realization. The moment it became clear I wracked my brain to try and remember if I had uttered this stupidity out loud! My concern was this…if I had said it out loud – was it so dumb that anybody who heard it wouldn’t have said anything for fear of being THE ONE who clued me in to an anatomy lesson I should have been very familiar with by this point?

Manic Monday

Rules.

I am usually a free spirit and do not have ‘rules’. I mean that – I am rule free. Oooohhh, that was a lie. I have some rules: always be nice, always give to charity, always be thankful. Okay, but besides these rules – which really are mandatory so I would question if they are “rules” - I am a rule free wife.

I am always telling Tim how easy he has it and that maybe I should start bossing him around. Just for fun. But then he reminds me I have it just as easy and we call a truce on the teasing and resume our rule free life.

Pregnancy changed everything. I officially have rules and beyond that – I even label them rules. As in, “Tim, new rule: (insert new rule here). He smiles, or cringes and continues on his merry way. Life is good until he breaks a rule and then I go a little berserk. Like, did he really just break a rule? What am I going to do? How should I handle this? Is this my future or is this some temporary craziness because of hormones? Only time will tell I guess, though I can say with absolute certainty that I hope this is my crazy person hormones.

Every story has a beginning…

So I bought myself chocolate milk the other day and stuffed it in the fridge. We don’t buy milk. We are vegetarians and besides, I don’t really like the taste that much. Tim exclusively drinks soy milk (insert gag here) and/or uses it to cook. I am sure you are thinking, then why the chocolate milk? Easy, chocolate milk helps me get extra protein on days that I am concerned I haven’t eaten enough. The chocolate flavor covers up the gross taste just enough that I can down it without too much fuss.

I opened the fridge yesterday morning and the milk was gone. (I was not opening the fridge the get the milk…)

Me: Tim, where is my milk?
Tim: I drank it. Why?
Me: You know the rule. It was mine.
Tim: But you weren’t drinking it, it was going to go bad. You don’t even like milk.
Me: I don’t care. It was mine.
Tim: But…
Me: No buts! You drank my milk. ***Use your imagination for the rest of the crazy person rant***

It’s okay to feel bad for my husband. He does put up with my crazies. He married me, and then I went crazy. He may have a different opinion on when I went crazy – but this is my blog and I will write what I want.

Back on Wednesday,
Candee

Update - 32 Weeks

Well, it has been another week since my last update. 51 days to go and all is good. I had my OB appointment today and Tim was able to come. It was nice because he got to hear the babe’s heart beat for the first time. Everything was good except the scale! After some time of nearly no weight gain – I certainly made up for it this time. Dang! I actually had to take a deep breath…it’s for the baby, it’s for the baby. Oh, and I really like donuts. Damn you Tim Horton’s – you are sabotaging me with your delicious donuts and creamy coffees and excellent, friendly service. Maybe if our location was full of jerks – I wouldn’t be so keen on going all the time.

Who am I kidding? Gordon Ramsey could work at the Timmies down the street and scream the f-word at me and I would still go back for a walnut crunch. Mmmmm….speaking of which….

Okay, on to brighter things that won’t make me want to crawl into bed and sleep all day. Tim is on his off rotation and it is soooo nice to have him home. Last night the baby was beating me up on the inside and Tim got to sit and watch all the fancy foot work. Which we were able to confirm at the Doctors that it is most likely footwork because the baby is head down! It’s amazing the types of things that make me happy these days.

In baby development, he or she is around 17 inches long and weighs around 4 pounds. The baby is a fully developed little person but is perfecting the lungs and getting smarter every day.

I am doing ok. I will admit that I have been real emotional for about a week now. I blame it completely on hormones. I never went through any crazy hormonal stuff with early pregnancy, but I might be making up for it now. Or I am just getting the jitters.

We still haven’t sent out Christmas stuff…but we are hoping to get it all out by the weekend – which should mean that packages will arrive before the big day. So the next few days will be busy, busy, busy!

Check you later, gators!
Candee

Pregnancy Questionnaire

MY PREGNANCY:

Mother Name: Candace

Age: 29

Father Name: Tim

Age: 32

FIRSTS:

Is this your first pregnancy?: Yes

How did you find out you were pregnant?: On my honeymoon I could smell things that Tim couldn’t…gross things. Ewwwwwwww! I was also very tired and sickly feeling. We blamed all of this on the heat.

What kind of pregnancy test did you take?: One that came back positive. The cheapest brand.

How many?: Just one.

What were your first symptoms? Smell, nausea, tiredness, faintness.

Who did you tell first? Our parents.

Who was with you when you found out? Tim.

Was baby planned?: Yup.

When was baby conceived?: The week or two before our wedding.

How far were you when you found out?: 5-6 weeks.
My BABY:

Due date: February 3, 2010

Would you want to know the sex?: Me not so much but it was important to Tim.

Do you know the sex?: Yes.

If so, boy or girl? If you want to know, you can always email or call me.

Any names?: It took forever, but yes we seem to have one now.

Any ultrasounds?: Yup. One for a Nucal, one for Anatomy scan and one follow up.

Have you heard the heartbeat?: Yes. It’s amazing.

Who do you think baby will look like? I really don’t know. We will have to wait and see.

Will baby have any siblings?: In the future.

Have you and dad felt baby move? Yes. Daddy has a harder time waiting for it because he is impatient, but he has gotten lucky a few times. I feel the baby all the time now.

When did you start to show?: Who knows. Started to get chubby(ier) looking around the 12 week mark. Maybe around 16 or 17 weeks?

How long could you wear your regular clothes? 12-15 weeks. I still try to wear some of my flowier shirts…only they don’t flow any more.

Are you excited?: Beyond.MISCELLANEOUS:

Did you have morning sickness?: Yes, a lot of it. Thankfully we had only told our parents so I had to fake it every day. If I was able to complaint about it, I would have been a mess!

Do you have any cravings?: All the time! Mostly potatoes though. Any kind – mashed, boiled, fried, baked…whatever.

Do you have any mood swings?: I don’t think so. Tim might have a different answer. I actually cry less…weird but I will take it!

Are you a high risk pregnancy?: Nope – easy peasy.

Any complications?: Nope – nothing.

Formula or breastfeeding? BF

Have you bought anything for baby yet?: Clothes and a most of the nursery. Still have a very long list.

Who will help with baby after their born? Tim, Mom, Dad and Karen. (Thank you!!!!!)

What is your favorite thing about being pregnant? Loving someone I haven’t met.

What is the worst thing about being pregnant? Ummm…meat cravings? I could do without the old person aches and pains but I suffer them gladly enough.

What’s one thing do you miss doing since being pregnant? Smoking, drinking, eating foods where I didn’t read the label to see what kind of ‘poison’ it contains.

Any days you wish you weren't pregnant?: No, never. I embrace this miracle everyday.

Are you ready for baby? Emotionally I am getting there. There are days where I question if I will be a good mom, where I worry that I will do right by our baby, by our family. Physically I will be ready when the baby is (but hopefully not until a minimum of 37 weeks). Materially – I don’t have every modern convenience, but I do have a set of cloth diapers, some clothes, a bed and breasts…so I feel comfortable that the baby would do ok.

How many kids do you want?: 3 or 4 but I don’t know what God’s plan is for us – so I will keep open to other possibilities.

Do you talk to your baby?: All the time. Mostly when I feel movement cause then I know he/she is awake.

Do you still feel attractive?: No. I was ok until recently but in the home stretch I feel kind of like an elephant. I walk and breath heavy, I shuffle like I am 90, I am swollen and tired and look it!

Have you had your baby shower yet?: No. January 3.

How far along are you now?: 32 weeks.

Week 31 Update

I have been away for a while and wish I had something super exciting to report. It was Tim’s birthday last Friday but he was working midnights. I spent the evening watching funny movies and relaxing with Princess. On Saturday I went to Walmart to not only pick up his gift, but to get some gift for my secret stork. I joined this thing where it’s like a secret Santa but for expecting first time moms. You get a little list of things to buy that will help the mom and ship it out. Then you get a package from your own secret stork. The mom I had is expecting a baby of the opposite gender so it was really fun to check out all the goods! I also baked a cake. I had the grandest of intentions but the cake turned out so so.

On Sunday we went to the farmer’s market – which is one of our favorite pastimes. We stocked up on all the goods for a gourmet dinner, chatted with a local farmer and went home. While Tim spent the afternoon playing video games (his present) I whipped up a gourmet dinner! It was really good if I do say so myself and I learnt a valuable lesson about diffusing garlic in olive oil. The lesson is this: Just Do It! Mmmmm….

The baby and I are doing great. Some things are now official:

· I am as big as a house
· I waddle
· When I see someone else, I try to act like I was not just waddling
· Clothes that were HUGE are now tight
· My stomach bounces around all over the place with kicks and elbows
· I am getting really excited to meet our baby
· I am getting really scared to be a mommy
· The countdown is on until I am done work (currently at 57 days)

Other than that, life is pretty mundane. The baby’s room is mostly complete – but now I don’t have a camera to show pictures! It looks great. Tim got a whole bunch of gumption and painted the living area “Cotton” which is a white. We have become slightly obsessed with the colour white and I envision this obsession only getting worse with time. Every design I come up with is centered around white. We have a few other little house projects to do, but overall everything is coming along nicely.

Until next time,
Candee

Week 29 Million

It’s official, I feel pregnant now. Don’t get me wrong – there have been plenty of times that I have felt pregnant over the last couple months…but never that stereotypical pregnant lady feel. This week has done it for sure.

In baby development, he or she is a complete little person now and can open its eyes, hear outside sounds, respond to stimulus and suck its thumb! The coming weeks will focus on adding much need fat, continuing to grow strong and healthy lungs and getting smarter and smarter. Our babes is about 15 inches long and probably weighs about 3 pounds. We can expect about a ½ a pound growth a week from here on out.

I think I may be growing a soccer player in my belly! The coolest thing about the last couple weeks has been the increase in noticeable baby movement. My belly actually moves around as I am being poked and prodded and I love it! As a matter of fact, when I wake up for one of my many middle of night pee breaks – sometimes the baby will be awake and I just can’t make myself go to sleep because then I will miss it. So it has led to a tired (but happy) mommy to be.

Tim has trouble just staring at my belly waiting for a kick...so the other night he laid his head on my belly and the baby kicked him right in the ear! Not only was it funny (the baby has perfect aim) – but Tim got a little taste of what it is like and loved it.

I continue to feel great. No issues or complications. Like I said when I started this post – I do feel pregnant now. Little things I used to take for granted – like rolling over or getting up from the couch have become significantly more difficult. I feel like I am back in the first trimester in terms of tiredness. I have regressed and am finding myself incredibly tired all the time. There is no real cure for this…so I try not to complaint too muchJ

We have another busy weekend ahead of us and are as determined as ever to finish the room! I’ll remain optimistic and say that we will be done this weekend and though my camera is broken at the moment – I will find a way to post some pictures.

Until then,
Candee and baby

A cluttered house leads to a cluttered mind...

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back on here. It has been a busy time in my world! As you may know, Tim and I have been working on the baby’s room forever. I know it seems easy and I may be guilty of thinking the same, but living in a one bedroom condo (with an office) means that every single item has a home. Displacing so many items from the office meant that we had to find new homes for a lot of stuff. This meant more organizing, packing and re-arranging. Basically, we are packing all non-essentials and packing them away until we move…and let me say it’s amazing how many non essentials can creep into your life.

Making the decision to stay in the condo with our first baby wasn’t an easy one, but we figured with enough planning and preparation, we would be fine. We still think that, but let me tell you that doesn’t stop us from dreaming that a) the down payment fairy drops a bundle of $100’s in our lap and/or b) the market improves enough for us to sell our condo at a decent price. While we wait for that fairy – we are constantly making decisions about what stays and gets a new home, what gets donated to charity, what gets packed away and what gets thrown out.

The benefits for all this hard work are vast. Not only are we cleaning out junk spots and re-organizing, but we are having to decide what is important and what isn’t. I have never touched Elliott’s drawer of goodies. I was afraid of the memories and the guilt that would come with that task. Well, I did it! It was hard, but Tim was there to help and to be honest, I threw out as much as I could in good conscience and now that demon I have been avoiding for over a year is banished.

When cleaning out the office, I found Tim’s little black book. Not what you are thinking! For our 1st year together I bought a black book with blank pages and wrote one reason why I loved Tim on each page. There were over 150 entries. So I took a well deserved break and read that little book. I cried a lot reading all the entries. Mostly because they were all still true! What an amazing feeling that was – like a love drug coursing through my veins. The very last entry had been inserted almost 4 years ago when were preparing for our big move to Calgary. It said we were still happy and together and moving on to the next big adventure in our lives. So in keeping with the last entry – we dated a new blank page and inserted that we had recently been married and were expecting our first baby. What a beautiful memory for us as the years continue to pass and our hair turns grey…

So all this cleaning, de-cluttering and organizing have been a royal pain – but it has also reminded me that it’s okay to grieve in whatever way I can (and to take as long as I need – cause I aint done yet). It has reminded me that we can do whatever we put our minds to, that love will help guide us through all of the tough times and that no matter how big your house – there is always way too much junk!

Slowly, our house is getting done…thankfully. I am a minimalist and all this crap lying around drives me crazy – but I now see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are literally just finishing the baby’s room – a major, MAJOR accomplishment. I’ll post a picture once I have it all nicely decorated.

Thanks for your patience and YES…I will finish with Part 2 of the babymoon very soon.

Candee and baby Amelotte

Babymoon - Part One

Too many stories for one post, so I will split it up into a couple.

I decided that I needed to get away before the baby comes. Of course, I made sure Tim would come with me before I finalized anything. Not that I had to finalize much - we tend to just go and worry about silly things like hotels later. This last little vacation is called the babymoon - which seems appropriate. But let me say that just because we are having a baby doesn't mean that we won't go gallivanting whenever we feel like it - just that I might have to book a hotel as opposed to just showing up at one at 8pm and hoping there is a room available.

My parents, and later mom, took us on trips all the time. Trips to where ever...just to get us out. So I have them to thank for this need to escape every so often. Escape for Tim and I this time meant the Okanogan valley in BC. Neither of us had been and both wanted to - so it was a fairly easy decision. We had lamented the fact that Quebec is no longer next door - as it (or Dad's) was almost always our getaway spot. But after mapping it and figuring out how long the drive would be - we took off for our weekend getaway.

Friday

Tim dropped Princess off first thing in the morning and then we were off. We took the long route there...highway 3. Neither of us had been further south than the Lethbridge area so we took our time and stopped where ever we felt like it. There were several highlights on this highway. The first was the wind farms. As big environmentalists, we spent alot of time gawking and trying to figure out how to install one on the roof of our condo.

We also went through Frank's Slide - we had watched a documentary about it on Disasters of the Century - and it was crazy to see it all in person. We also experienced Crowsnest Pass for the first time and had some appreciation for all the times David cursed driving that way. It was super windy and rainy and it eventually snowed on us.

On of the coolest parts of this highway was all the little towns. Having only ever been on the northern highway, where people don't really live, this was neat. And there was water everywhere. For the two of us, it was a small taste of home with the bonus of the Rocky Mountains.

Because of all of our stopping, we were running a bit behind our schedule (daylight). In all the small towns they had these horror movie motels and I got a little nervous that our idea to just 'wing it' was going to backfire and we were going to get murdered in some beside the highway motel called the Shady Pines. We pulled into Osoyoos around 7pm in full dark. Thankfully the GPS found a place to stay. We had dinner at a really nice Indian restaurant and Tim got his first taste of a local wine.

It was a long day for me - my feet were the size of basket balls, my bum hurt and I was so tired. Oh, but my Tim may have had it worse. Apparently I snored so loud that:

a)he could not sleep...at all
b)he was afraid that the rooms adjacent to ours would complain
c)shoving me only stopped the snoring for the one second it took for me to take another breath
d)he questioned his sanity
e)he questioned whether I was dying (how could one girl snore so painfully loud and not have some terrible thing wrong with her?)
f)he began contemplating life sleeping beside his father in law

So, you should know that every so often my own snoring would wake me up. Every time my eyes opened, I would see Tim staring at me with wonder, pity, horror or a mixture of all. Poor guy.

Until tomorrow...
Candee

Happy Halloween!!

Three Blind Mice! Brian, Thoeun and I. The Farmer's wife is in Philly watching the World Series....so we gave her a pass.

Week 26

Happy Halloween!

Another week has come and gone and we are that much closer to a) the third trimester and b) the due date! In baby development, our little one is still developing its hearing and can now hear mum and dad having a conversation. The baby is also starting to gain some fat and should be over the 2 lbs mark by now and might be as long as 14 inches. I can feel the baby kicking alot now and even seem to know its schedule. Late evening, around midnight and first thing in the am are the most active times. It's pretty cool and I ALWAYS look forward to it.




In terms of mum's development, I officially cannot see my feet anymore. Though I have been expanding since week 12 ish...I looked down this morning and am amazed at how big my belly is. To think I have 3 whole months left! I figure cause I am short the baby has no where to go but out. That or I drink too much root beer....but I prefer to think its the first reason:-) I feel great though and hopefully don't waddle yet :-) I had my regular Dr's visit last Wednesday and all was well. The doctor did all her doctor stuff and the baby and I are progressing well.

For weeks I have been complaining that my skin feels like its tearing open on my belly. I know, I know... This comment is usually met with something of an eye roll. Of course it feels that way, I have a baby growing in there! But on Sunday/Monday a nasty rash started. I held out until yesterday afternoon before I called the nurses and they had me in for a check up. Turns out that it is PUPPPS. Unlike alot of women, I do not find it itchy - but it is very painful and annoying. They had made me some cream (no joke, the doc said with a mortar and pestle - it's a concoction), but we all know that I am not a keener on taking meds. I did find on the Internet that some women find comfort with Stinging Nettles tea and will be searching some out this weekend.

Other than that, we plan on using the weekend to keep working on the baby's room. We are almost done packing up the office and will have to do some demolition to the built in desk and shelves to make room for the crib. Then we are going to paint, wash the carpet and decorate! Since I seem to have entered the 'nesting' phase...this really makes me happy.

So until the weekend! I hope to be back on here Sunday with a new post and maybe a picture or two.


Candee and baby Amelotte

My First Post!

Ahhhh! I am so excited to be a part of the blog world. I just recently discovered them and think that they are a great way to communicate news/ideas/thoughts. The purpose of this blog is to give updates and such about the rest of the pregnancy and when the baby arrives. I will also post pictures and videos and funny stories - before and after baby.

A quick update on the pregnancy so far:

I am currently a little over 25 weeks. The baby's official due date is February 3, 2010. That being said - I don't anticipate birth happening on that day. I expect more around the 10th...but rest assured - we will welcome baby any time - hopefully after it is safe for him/her to come out. This means we have about 15 or 16 weeks until we meet our little one!

Everything has gone well so far. There was some 'all day sickness' in the beginning, but that is to be expected. Also, since Tim and I kept the pregnancy very quiet for the first 12 or so weeks, I had no choice but to suck it up and be normal.

Recent weeks have included some major aches and pains. Actually, two weeks ago I was convinced I was never going to be normal again - but consistant visits to the Chiropractor along with icing and dousing myself in lavender oil has brought my body back to its normal state of harmony.

Tim and I have registered for a childbirth class in January. It's a natural childbirth class and I don't know about Tim, but I am excited to meet like minded couples and continue preparing ourselves for B day (Birth day). Also, we are seriously considering hiring a doula to be a part of B day. Our dreams of having a midwife seems so unlikely at this point - I have no qualms in asking for your prayers that somehow one becomes available.

Until next time,
Candee and baby

***Hope y'all enjoy the video of the baby... We have had 3 ultrasounds thus far (a topic I will save for a later date) and our little baby just doesn't want its photo taken. This one is the best of the bunch we received.