Something Old, Something New ...

I started looking at dresses this morning for Josh and Jill's wedding. Curled up in quilts with hot coffee in a snow storm looking for July-appropriate attire. Perfect Saturday morning.

I wish July was sooner. Like next month. Because if May appears to be some impossible point in the future July feels like it might not happen again until 2020. As in ten leap years where July keeps getting the ditch.

I think this will be the best wedding of all the weddings I've attended (which is four). I can't believe how zen the planning of it has been. Like "Oh, what? Wedding? Oh that? That's all done". Having a dentist appointment the next day causes me to loose sleep. I'd be a ball of bouncy panic from the first dress fitting until three weeks after it was over and these two are as cool as a couple of James Deans.

In honour of Josher, his big day, his most perfect fiance and all of our excitement, some photos of a littler Josher:

Some Things Never Change Part One

Some Things Never Change Part Two

The Little Melon Belly That Could

For the first time today someone I didn't know asked me when I was due. Even though most of the time I look down and think "that's funny, I don't remember swallowing a melon" it was still a bit weird.

This makes it official - I look pregnant! Woo! I will have to post some pictures of Frankie and I in our gamut of stretchy clothes soon.

There was this one other time at Christmas (as in more than two months ago and I had no belly at all but we pretended I did so that we could have something to celebrate) when I was ordering Thai food at the mall and the woman behind the counter said "you are four months pregnant - is it a boy or a girl"? Weird times nine.

It Rolls Down Stairs Alone or in Pairs

Frankie turned 28 weeks today. In celebration I am having a Mars Bar. Okay the Mars Bar is more because I didn't pack enough Swedish Fish in my lunch but it is celebratory also. I eat fruit. I swear! Sadly I can't pass these sweets and all of their ancestors off as cravings. I have a sweet tooth the size of Gibraltar (except in the shape of a candy corn).

I think I looked something like this as a baby:

And will look like the girl-version of this in my retirement:

My dentist looks like this:

My only real cravings were for dairy products and only in the first few months. Like ice cream and chocolate milk. What? They have sugar annnnd dairy. I have a test on Monday for gestational diabetes. Eek. Not because of the candy corn tooth - its a standard procedure. And an appointment for a RhoGAM shot since I have O negative blood and Frankie may not. And on Friday a monthly check-in with my doctor. It is when I'm staring down these sort of weeks that I know I live in the most appropriate (insured) country in North America.

Happy 28th week pre-birth birthday Frankie! You have started to blink with your sweet little eyes and can sense sources of light from outside your tiny home. I think you probably squint just like the kitties when I turn the lamp on in the morning and we all force ourselves out of bed. You have soft little fingernails and are busy plumping up (just like me) for your outside arrival. I can't believe that it's been twenty-eight weeks, that you'll be here in less than three months and that nine months is not actually taking four years to pass (like it felt it might way back in September).

We will see you in less time than it takes Mercury to orbit around the sun. We'll be the ones who look something like this except as humans:

P.S. That song that your Dad sings about logs? It was written by these two.

Weekend Warriors

We made the trip on Saturday to Richmond County. Richmond is an hour and a half from us and 1.5 plus 1.5 plus 1 (for some time there) equals 8. What? We left at 1:30 and made it home just before 10pm and have no idea what the time-suck gods did with our day. But we got the furniture! I think even if it took 27 hours it would feel like a major accomplishment.

This was without the six hours that I would have added to the epic with a visit to The Dancing Goat. Boo. We did stop to have dinner in St. Peter's on the way back. It looks like St. Peter's has been taking part in one of those building facade programs where government teams up with local businesses to revive downtown streets - to give older businesses a face lift.

Great idea, right? Based on the exterior I prepared my taste buds for goat cheese salads, grilled portobello paninis and pomegranate iced tea. I was going to walk in and take a little bite of Toronto or Montreal. In the end their most popular dish (which somehow took an hour to prepare) was a nearly unidentifiable selection of deep fried fishes with gravy. I had a diet sprite.

Anyways, Frankie we are all set now so please feel free to come anytime. Okay, not really, since you're not too ready for the outside yet. We'll wait and pass the time wandering in and out of your room picturing you all curled up asleep in your crib with equal parts anticipation and amazement.

Change Table, Crib and Dresser

Surprises for R: Pages from a children's book (Out of the Deeps) written about Savino Calabrese, his grandpa. Savino started working in coal mines when he was twelve years old, worked in the mines for most of his life and then worked as a guide at the Miner's Museum in his retirement.

Somebody thinks we went and got all this furniture for him.

We spent most of Sunday doing work. Ick. Work-work and extra work like building websites (R) and editing books (me). I finally vacuumed my car and hemmed a pair of pants that had been sitting on my desk since Christmas. Knocking these two tiny things off of the to-do list rivaled my sense of crib-accomplishment. I think I have spent more time erasing them from my agenda and moving them to the next day than it took to actually do them.

I'm starting to suspect that this coming weekend will be filled with only knitting and olympics :)

The Littlest Birds

Even the longest of days can be washed away if you turn the Be Good Tanyas up loud enough and dress your test babies in human clothes.

From the Tanyas:

Well I feel like an old hobo

I'm sad lonesome and blue

I was fair as the summer day

Now the summer days are through

You pass through places

And places pass through you

But you carry 'em with you

On the souls of your travellin' shoes

Well I love you so dearly I love you so clearly

Wake you up in the mornin' so early

Just to tell you I got the wanderin' blues

I got the wanderin' blues

And i'm gonna quit these ramblin' ways one of

these days soon

And I'll sing

The littlest birds sing the prettiest songs...

I wish I could play it for you (I'm working on it). It's pretty catchy.

From the Test Babies:

I feel kinda bad calling these sweet little things test babies - since we love them way more than test anythings - but it's pretty funny. Herr Flick (the black kitty) is so sedate when someone's dressing him. I think if he could understand he'd actually help put his little furry paws through the arm and leg holes. Other kitty - not so much.

I am increasing my salt intake

because this commercial breaks my heart

Pregnancy Surprises

1. Sensitive Skin - I've never been a sufferer of super sensitive skin. Now every second morning (like this morning) I wake up with puffy sore red skin somewhere that's been made angry by a pillow or other skin or a bad pH balance in the air. Who knows? Nivea has been indispensable. I've just tried Curel Pregnancy Lotion (thanks Mumma) and that also seems to be smoothing things away. Face moisturizer has become a must for the first time ever, I've banished the bubble bath (after that caused some serious hives) and have shelved the perfume until at least June.

2. Sleepiness - This one was probably the hardest. For the first three-ish months of pregnancy I was ready for a nap by 10am (after getting up at 7am) and could have crawled into bed before supper at 5pm. I was sleeping 8 hours a night during the week and 10-12 hours each night on the weekend and still felt as if I'd just run a marathon (twice) and written a calculus exam. Before this my life didn't stop at 5pm and suddenly I didn't have the energy for any of it. Just the thought of reading was tiring.

Thankfully, things in the second three-ish months have almost returned to normal. I still sometimes steal a quick 10 or 15 minutes on the couch after work and watch what is arguably more than a healthy amount of The Learning Channel but I've picked up the knitting again and actually started TWO books last weekend.

3. Merry as a Cricket (this actually is a thesaurus.com synonym for happiness so is unsoulclogged) - I'm not sure if I should chalk this one up to the physiology of pregnancy or knowing that there will be a sweet little one here with us in no time, but I am over the moon. It's like all those little life things that used to be bothersome no longer exist. Or they do but even they have a slight rose-coloured tint now. Before Frankie Moon was real I used to wonder how pregnancy would agree with me - would I be an unbearable ball of weepiness or a roller coaster of delight and hell fire? Nearly twenty-seven weeks in I'm happy to say that it agrees just fine.

Sure there have been some proments (pregnancy moments) - like when the place we had hoped to buy on Bentick Street sold 45 minutes before we got there and tears were instantaneous - but these have been pretty far and few between. This perfect contentedness and all the laughter that's right there just ready to bubble over make me understand a little more how "Nineteen Kids and Counting" could happen (and that's even before I get to squish tiny cheeks and smother them in kisses).

Frankie's First Snowshoeing

Today was the most beautiful of winter days. A little sunny and a little cloudy and no wind. No wind is very important since there is always wind when you live on a big rock in the North Atlantic. Especially in February. We set out at the very early hour of 10:30 for breakfast and Ben Eoin. Unfortunately, restaurant breakfast in Sydney on a Sunday is pure myth. Three stops later and we were pulling through Tim Horton's all pleased with our breakfast-biscuit sandwich score.

The snowshoeing at Ben Eoin was beautiful and has cemented my decision to invest in some shoes of my very own.

It was educational too. For much of the trip I trekked behind a couple in traditional wooden snow shoes and have to say that those of us sporting the fiber-glass and metal versions seemed to struggle (and wobble) much less. And so I will happily conceded (in this rarest of cases) that modern technology has indeed improved upon an already stellar design.

Other important lessons learned:

(1) When your snowshoeing begins at the base of a ski hill you are definitely going up

(2) When the guide says to take poles - take poles

(3) Frankie Moon is an ace snowshoer

View from the top (You want to push those bangs out of my eyes. I do too.)

On the way back down (and wishing for an Inspector Gadget snowshoe-ski combo)

Test Baby Takes a Test Swing

On Friday night we bought a baby swing. It's so cute and our very first piece of baby furniture. Holy! Does it ever make the nursery feel official. So does this - only 98 days to go :)

(He's not giving you the stink eye. This is his "geez is this swing ever rocking me to sleep" face)

I can feel Frankie moving around and practicing little break dances with growing arms and legs at a pretty pace steady now. When the real jostling started I sort of imagined it to be like the Microsoft Word paperclip who taps on your screen to share helpful grammar tips. Tap, tap tap. Hi. Now I think it might be a polite request for more space though the doctor assures me that all is right in baby's belly-sized world.

In TV news, we are addicted to 'Till Debt Do Us Part. They run weekend marathons here on TLC (and by marathons I mean 10am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday - for reals). How do you overspend by $6000 a month and who keeps giving you credit cards? Now that we've committed the show's devices to memory and can recite all of Gail's helpful advice we've started our very own budget and accompanying receipt jars. I am ridiculously excited about this.

Sending you all the Love (and Silly Puns) of a Thousand Valentines.

Most Favourite Things: Food Issue

Raspberry Gelato (waffle cone mandatory)

Peppermint Tea with Milk

Breakfast -

Eggs, bacon, waffles, fruit,

pancakes, syrup, orange juice, coffee ....

What? Who's pregnant?

Poor Einstein

I've been thinking a lot about stuff lately - baby stuff. Particularly, finding the right balance between being well-prepared and outsmarting the baby industry's drive to encourage consumption. We're not too big on stuff at our place. The less we have the less we have to keep clean - the less there is to dust, pick-up, polish and put back in place (and keep the kitties out of or away from) and the less likely it is that we'll be featured on Hoarders. The exceptions of course being plants, shoes and scarves (okay so these are probably more my exceptions than our exceptions).

Reading other blogs and reviews online has been a big help in deciding what works, what doesn't work and what you actually need in those first few months. Last week I made a big list to help dissolve some of the panic that set in any time I ventured into a department store baby section. Do I really need Baby's Learning Laptop? A Light-Up Learning Camera? Despite becoming slightly dizzy over the amount of plastic these toys use, I am amused by their emphasis on learning and the implication that without them your child won't likely make it out of the third grade. Remember the Baby Einstein flop? Poor Einstein.

I can see how the baby industry has become such an unwieldy monster. New parents want to do the right things - to provide and love and nurture - and are nervous (to say the least) about how to go about seeing to these intangibles. I find it helps to think about the childhoods of my parents and their parents and all the generations of exceptional and loving and well-rounded humans who came before and who thrived without the Light-Up Learning Camera. While they didn't get things perfect I don't think any generational shortcomings can be linked to a dearth of eleven-piece pink doctor sets.

Not that I envision Frankie Moon sitting in an empty nursery playing with old tin cans and pieces of rubber. Books are awesome. And blocks and trains and paints and forts. And games and going outside and make believe. I know this sounds lofty but it also sounds like fun!

When Toys Take Over sums things up pretty nicely. I've copied a few excerpts below but the whole thing is a really good read.

Margaret Greentree, who grew up in Norfolk in the 1950s, remembers as a child waiting for a whole year before finally receiving her second-hand bike: "It had flat tires and needed repairing, but it was precious. The ecstasy I felt on receiving it was unsurpassed." Recently, she watched her grandson receive a bike for no particular reason, and she felt sorry for him: "How can he feel the pleasure I felt?"

Claire Lerner, a child-development worker, carried out a US government-funded study into the effect of inundating children with toys. She found that too many playthings can restrict development and may harm children. "They get overwhelmed and over-stimulated and cannot concentrate on any one thing long enough to learn from it so they just shut down. Too many toys means they are not learning to play imaginatively either."

Yesterday's Quesadillas

I finally finished this little set for R's cousin's wee one (who very conveniently for my knitting hiatus was only born on Friday). It should fit a growing Jack Rowan perfectly by next fall.

I started it when I was home for Christmas (and by started I mean mostly finished) at which time my only other (awesome) obligations were watching The Food Network and taking the sweet puppy Emma for walks. Even though there were also two kitties they were markedly less interested in balls of wool than our two (who I sometimes feed to induce napping so I can knit in peace - awful I know).

I was so enthused at finishing this that I immediately started a buggy blanket for Frankie Moon in the softest deepest red you've ever seen. I've been thinking about this blanket ever since I scored six balls of said gorgeous red for a great price in the fall. I did cheat improvise a little by upping the size of the needles (from 4mm to 6mm) to speed things along and hopefully head-off the mid-blanket-blues.

We've got an appointment for February 20th (two Saturdays from now) to see a crib-dresser-change table set in the next county over. Can't wait ... for the furniture and the beautiful drive and (importantly) the chance to have lunch somewhere different. I haven't looked yet but there's got to be a way to make the trip from here to there pass right through the Dancing Goat Cafe. Best. Sandwiches. Ever.

So that's one thing off the weekend's to-do list. I forgot entirely about DiaperPin.com. But I did sleep and the test babies are getting better about the counter. Before when we'd walk into the kitchen they'd look up from licking some gross cheesy dish in the sink like "hey guys what's up - want some?" Now at least they make a half-hearted attempt to get down. This is major kitty progress.

Test Babies

Last week I found two onesies to match the blog but had no real babies to try them out on ...

Insights from Ina May

"One of the most intriguing of these early studies compared a test group of babies who were allowed skin-to-skin contact just after birth to a group of babies who didn't have such contact. The researchers noticed that in the skin-to-skin group if the babies were given enough uninterrupted time with their mothers and were left quietly on the mothers abdomen, gradually they crawled up and began to nurse. Fifteen out of sixteen babies were able to attach themselves in this way without any help. This was a revolutionary finding for wealthy countries, where it had become an article of faith among the medical profession that newborn humans did not have the skills exhibited by every other type of newborn mammal on the planet"

Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding

Go human babies!

Boisdale Glebe House

This is not the house we were looking to buy - I'm not that mad with worry yet. It's an old Glebe House in Boisdale about 45 minutes from Sydney. It is huge and imposing and beautiful and terrifying and just sitting there. It has three floors and a massive greenhouse and looks, for the most part, like everyone left for an outing one afternoon and just never came back. I tried not to let on how scared I was expect that I freaked out every time I realized I'd lost the others and was standing there all alone.

What's a Glebe House? http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glebe-house

Yes I Know It's Only Tuesday

Things To Do This Weekend:

(1) Read the cloth diaper reviews on Diaper Pin and at least narrow down the field of possibilities

(2) Order a crib and change table from Sears.ca (thanks to the baby advice of R's mum)

(3) Teach the kitties to stay AWAY from the counters, sink and toilet - oh so ambitious

(4) Not wake up at 3am and toss around until 6am wondering if I'm really that hungry and if I really have to pee that badly because yes you have to pee and yes you are starving

Bad Kitty

It is cold here today. Like -15 with 50km/hr wind cold. Takes two hands to force the cold car out of park cold. Golum-hunch for warmth-preservation cold. You get the freezing picture.

Just last Thursday it was six degrees and sunny and as we skipped out a bit early to check out this MLS listing I actually said "February is going to feel awful after this". The same time the next day it was six degrees below.

The house we went to see seems good - not for us (not after putting in those floors) but to help make up for some of the salary I won't have after May.

Maybe I should change this blog to "The Floor Blog". Anyways ...

Maternity benefits pay the same as Employment Insurance Benefits - 55% of your regular income up to $457 per week. I fail to see the logic in this. First, I don't buy that you can starve unemployed people back to work. You only prove that you have lost touch with the cost-of-living realities for those not dicking around on publicly-funded six-figure salaries. Second, what exactly is the relationship between Employment Insurance and Maternity Leave? Am I really home looking after an infant because I can't find work? Or is it 55% compensation because all households are still dual-earner households in which the woman's salary is so insignificant that its only used to buy doilies and scented air fresheners anyways? I need a sarcasm font.

So we're pretty excited and waiting to hear back from the real estate agent to see if the interior is as lovely as the exterior.

As for those weekend muffins - I left them on the counter all nice and gently covered up thinking there's no way the fur children will eat things made of flax and carrots and nuts. Oh so wrong. The next morning there were muffins strewn from corner to corner - in the kitchen, in the bathroom and down the stairs - all with a few tiny cat bites out of them.