9 WEEKS TO GO!!!

Wow! Can you believe it?! We can't! 9 weeks until my due date! As always, time is flying!!! Hopefully the crib and dresser/change table will be here in the 4-8 weeks they told us it would take. The baby won't be sleeping in the crib at first, but it would be nice to have the dresser stocked! I have a doctor's appt. on Monday. It will be interesting to find out what the heart beat is. I'm still doing really good. My arm is bugging me some days, but not all the time. I'm also getting a bit of a pain in my stomach sometimes, kind of like a pulled muscle. And of course, our hairy baby is causing tons of heart burn!!! LOL! But Tums have been curing that :) We're trying to decide what we're going to do for diapers this time. I bought some G Diapers awhile back that I'd like to try. I'd really like to wash my own cloth diapers, but don't think that's a very realistic option for me!! I already feel bogged down by laundry, so adding 2 kid's diapers to the pile probably wouldn't work! We may go with Happy Nappy again. Either way, we'll have to decide soon!

We all had a great weekend. Cal had a blast in Seattle and LOVED the football game! He said it was so much fun - they left their hotel at 10 am to go down to the football stadium and they didn't sit down until 7 pm that night when they went for supper! Everyone stood the whole game!! They had awesome seats and really enjoyed themselves. The streets were blocked in about a 2 block radius around the stadium for pre-game partying!! I'm glad he had fun! Next up - a Colts game in Indianapolis!! And I'm definitely going to that one! Blake and I had a jam-packed weekend and enjoyed all of our parties and visits! It was a bit of a whirlwind!

This weekend Cal has school Saturday and Sunday and I am going to a 30th birthday party on Saturday night. Other than that, we don't have too many plans. Blake and I hope to take it easy and maybe I'll finish off my Christmas cards one evening. I've been chipping away at them for the last few weeks and have 16 more to make! And at some point we hope to see Cal's sister and brother-in-law, who are in town for an Oiler's game.

We hope everyone is staying warm and driving safe. Take care!

Cal, Tracy, Blake & Baby

Busy, busy!!

Hi everyone! We've been a very busy bunch lately!!

On Saturday we headed to IKEA for our annual trip! We really don't like going there and don't very often! It's soooo... busy!!! But I had a birthday gift card from my parents and sister to spend, so we went and picked up what I was looking for (a shelf for the family room to organize Blake's toys) and a few Christmas presents as well. It was a fun shopping morning and we enjoyed the $1 breakfast in the IKEA cafeteria!! LOL! Saturday afternoon we rearranged the family room and put up the new shelf. It's looking a little bare in there right now, but will fill up again fast with the baby swing, exersaucer, jumperoo, etc! My parents came for a visit Saturday afternoon and brought us Timmies. I think Blake was the most excited when he saw the Timbits box! He LOVES Timbits!!!

Sunday I had my last "membership" class at church. My parents, Cal and Blake came to the service. We had a special part in the service and had to serve communion as well. I was a bit nervous, but didn't drop anything and said all the right lines! I'm glad to now be a member of the United Church, as we will be Baptizing our next child in the church in a few short months. Sunday afternoon we headed to Toys R Us to buy a potty. Blake has been occasionally telling us when he has to "poo" so we thought we'd better get a potty and let him try it . So far we haven't made it to the potty in time! Usually by the time we get him there he's already done the deed! We're not going to push him though, just continue to take him to it when he tells us he has to go.

Monday Cal and Blake were home together. They had a busy morning as usual, visiting Canadian Tire and Chapter's. Monday night Cal and I put the 2nd and last coat of paint in the babies room. It looks really good. The color is not quite what we expected, we thought it would be a bit more grey, but it looks great regardless so we're happy! My Mom is going to sew new curtains for both the kids rooms, which I'm exited to see :)

On Tuesday I stayed home with Blake. We went to E-Children in the morning and took a second look at the crib and dresser/change table we thought we'd like to buy for the baby. It was still there and still on sale, so I ordered it today. It looks a lot like Blake's crib, but the color is called Cocoa. It is a "stages" crib just like Blake's. We don't want to rush Blake out of his crib, so he will continue to sleep in it and we will transition it to a toddler bed when he is ready. I don't think that will be any day soon though! When we put him in his crib he goes to sleep and when he wakes up he's up for the day, so that could be why we've never had issues with him climbing out. Tuesday night I had an AMAZING massage at Sweet Momma. It really is a pregnant women's heaven!! The massage "table" was a heated water bed. It was soooo.... nice! I wanted to stay and sleep there! I'm so glad my very thoughtful sister-in-law Lesley and my awesome husband and little boy bought me gift cards for my birthday. Thanks again :) Can't wait for the next appt!

Today Blake started at Charlene's day home. He had a great day and Charlene said he was so good! She also couldn't get over how much he ate and drank!! I warned her ... Hopefully she doesn't raise are daily rate! J.K.! And tonight I had a hair appt. I had quite a few inches cut off!! After my hair appt I did some shopping. I found a nice gift for Karen - a pretty Christmas tree decoration from Hallmark with 2008 on it and an appropriate saying. I think she'll like it.

Tomorrow night my Mom is babysitting Blake. Cal has a Christmas party after work and I'm going to pick him up later in the evening and visit for awhile.

Friday we don't have much planned, but then we hit the weekend!!

Saturday morning Blake and I have our New Mom's group Christmas party. Saturday afternoon Cal leaves for Seattle for his 30th birthday trip and Blake and I are heading to Stony Plain for Colby's 1st birthday party!! Blake and I are staying in Stony Saturday night.

Sunday morning we are going for brunch with a friend and her little girl and Sunday afternoon we are headed to another birthday party!

It will be a partying weekend!! We hope Cal has a blast in Seattle! His 30th isn't until Feb. 11, but this is pretty much the only weekend that they could go due to the increased cost around Christmas/New Year's, playoffs in January and the Superbowl in February. And of course we didn't want him going away near my due date!

We're very glad the babies room is ready for furniture! Next I will be washing all our yellow and white sleepers! I still can't believe how fast time is flying - I am now 30 weeks!!! Wow! I'm feeling great though. Just tired! But that's par for the course :) The other morning I felt and saw the coolest thing! I saw a "ball" move vertically up my belly from bottom to top. It was so cool! I think it was a heel!! I love all the babies movements!

Blake's almost done his most recent round of antibiotics and I think the ear infection is cleared up. He appears to be teething though, which is causing some discomfort. It must be his 2 yr molars because as far as I can tell he has all his other teeth. He let me feel around in his mouth today and I didn't feel any molars. He's been going through this off and on for the past few weeks. Can't wait for them to cut through! Blake's talking and making more sense every day. He's finally saying no! For the longest time everything was, "Yeah!" But he now knows when to use NO!!!

We were glad to see snow this weekend and hope to get a family picture outside. I'm sure everyone would agree a white Christmas is MUCH prettier than a brown Christmas!

Take care everyone, enjoy the holiday craziness! Only 22 more days until Christmas :)

Love Cal, Tracy, Blake & Baby

Emotional Roller Coaster!!!

It has been a crazy week. Last week Karen's father was rushed to the Alex from Athabasca and she had to take Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off. Cal was off work Monday anyways, but he also took Tuesday off (actually he worked from home - perks of the job!) and I took Wednesday off. Blake then went to Karen's on Thursday and I was off on Friday. Friday Blake and I met my parents at the mall. We took Blake to see Santa, but he was not very impressed!!! I knew that he would react that way. Hopefully we'll get a good picture one of these days and if not we will all be sitting on Santa's knee :) Friday evening Cal and I put the first coat of paint on the walls of the babies room. It turned out quite well. The color is called toasted grey. We don't see too much grey, but perhaps after the second coat. Cal had school this weekend so on Saturday my Mom picked Blake and I up and we headed out to Stony Plain. We were going to go to breakfast with Santa, but didn't quite make it!! Blake and I hung out at my parents house all day and Mom and I baked 10 dozen cookies while Blake was taking his afternoon nap! I am involved in 2 cookie exchanges and I also wanted to bake cookies for our church's cookie walk sale. Cal came out to Stony after school and we had supper and then headed home. It had totally slipped my mind that I was supposed to call Karen on Friday, regarding her taking today (Monday) off to settle her Dad back at home (he was discharged from the hospital today). So anyways, Karen finally called me and delivered some terrible news. Her Dad is quite ill and her Mom can't take care of him totally on her own so she is going to have to quit working to help her Mom and siblings care for him. Her Mom doesn't drive and therefore can't take him to various appointments, etc. Karen was very upset and I was quite shocked. I had to let her go and call her back later after I collected myself. I feel terrible for Karen and I am not angry at her in the least. I totally understand that family comes first, but to put it bluntly it sucks for Blake!! And Blake is our #1 priority!!!! Karen loves Blake so much, as well as Vanessa who she also babysits, and didn't want to do this but feels like she has no other choice at this time. She feels terrible for the days shes already taken off. I was so upset and kept tearing up just thinking about it! I'm pretty sure pregnancy hormones played a huge role in this, as I am usually very level headed and move on quite quickly! It is very unfortunate that this happened, as we had such an excellent relationship and felt very blessed that we'd found such a wonderful day home. And what upsets me the most is that fact that Blake felt 110% comfortable at Karen's and LOVED playing with Vanessa and Karen and Tippy, Rosie, and Angel (the dog and 2 cats)! So I hate for him to lose that :( And maybe another aspect of this is that I'm very "routine" with Blake and his care and perhaps I should be a bit more flexible?? Anyways, I'm feeling much better now and have found a new day home for Blake. After I relaxed a little bit I suddenly remembered an acquaintance of mine who has a day home, as well as, a lady in my New Mom's group who asked to babysit Blake back when I went back to work in April! My first choice was Charlene (a lady I know through a friend) so I called her on Sunday evening and she said without hesitation that she'd love to watch Blake! I'm very happy with this as since I met her I've really liked her and thought she'd likely have an awesome day home. And my friends son and daughter also go to her day home so we have a very reliable reference :) She only has one 2 year old girl full time (our friends daughter) and all the other children are before and after school care. The funny thing is that we only need care for Blake for 20 days (9 in December and 11 in January) before I go on mat leave. So, we will miss Karen immensely, but everything has turned out in the end! Now I'm just struggling with what to buy her as a thank you gift? How do you say thank you to someone who has helped make your life so easy and loved and cared for your son in the same way you do? Somehow a pedicure gift certificate just doesn't cut it! LOL! We'll think of something. Now the frugal side of me has to mention that by going to Charlene's we will be saving 100's of dollars, because she is charging us a daily rate! LOL! See I always see the positive side!? I took tomorrow morning off and Blake and I are going to Charlene's for a play date and then on Friday we will be going as well. Blake has met Charlene before and has played with Madison, so I'm hoping the transition will go smooth. I think it's hardest on Mom!! And that is what has sent me on this "emotional roller coaster" ride!!! I'm glad to be off that ride :) Today I had a Dr. appointment. All is well and the babies heart rate was 152. Quite a bit higher than Blake's ... hmmm ... !! I am now packing on the weight, which I hate to see but know it's part of pregnancy! I'm going back again in 3 weeks and then will be going every 2 weeks. I can not believe I'm 29 weeks already - it will be February before we know it!!! We hope to have the babies room done by Christmas, so we have some furniture shopping to do! Take care everyone and enjoy the warm weather while it lasts ...

Luv Tracy

UC Baby Day!!

Today we had our UC Baby appointment!! It was so exciting to see the baby moving around and doing all sorts of cool things :) I don't like calling the baby "it" so sometimes I use him, but we don't know the sex!! The baby was pretty cozy today and didn't change it's position much. Just moved his arms and legs lots! When he was resting he always had his legs crossed - must of known we didn't want to know the gender! His eyes were open a lot of the time and he kept looking up and down and all around! He was playing with his toes for a lot of the time and then started playing with the umbilical cord. He was also stretching a lot and sucking on his finger! The ultrasound tech pointed out his eyebrows and hair. At Blake's UC Baby appointment (also at 28 weeks) we didn't see any eyebrows or hair so perhaps this baby will have even more hair then Blake did when he was born!! I've certainly had the heartburn that goes with a "hairy" baby!!! Blake at first was scared when I climbed onto the bed, but calmed down quickly. In the beginning he sat on Cal's knee and watched me and then he got off Cal's knee and started moving around and at one point he walked up to the t.v. and watched for a few seconds! We kept telling him, "That's your brother or sister Blake!" "Can you see the baby?" It was cute! He still doesn't quite grasp the concept though! We heard the heartbeat twice. The first time it was 154 bpm and the second time it was 150 bpm. The Ultrasound tech estimated its size to be approx. 3 lbs and she guesses it will be between 7 lbs 5 oz and 7 lbs 9 oz. With Blake the ultrasound tech though he'd be around the same weight and he was 6 lbs 13 oz, so I'm not placing any bets based on her prediction!! LOL! The baby showed us lots of smiles and the ultrasound tech kept saying how happy he/she looked! Some of the pictures looked a lot like Blake's. I think they definitely have the same nose and lips, but this baby seems to have more of a pointed chin (like me) vs. a round face (like Cal and Blake). The ultrasound tech also pointed out a dimple under it's bottom lip! Will be interesting to see if it's born with one or not! So once again it was an awesome experience! We have a DVD recording of the session and over 100 pictures on CD!! I'll post a couple of pictures!

Luv Tracy

18 Month Immunizations ... (and Mom's birthday!)

Yes, today Blake had his 18 month immunizations - on my birthday! They didn't go too bad though! It was just very hard for me to hold him down. The nurse couldn't believe how strong he was!! But once we had him in place for a few seconds and he got the needles he calmed down. There were three needles in total - 1 in both arms and one in his leg. One of the needles was the flu shot and we're supposed to go back in 4 weeks for a follow up shot. Apparently the first time a child receives the flu shot they need 2 doses. I never took Blake for his flu shot last year because he was sick off and on for awhile and then it seemed pointless because it was so far into flu season. I'm very glad that the next round of immunizations aren't until before kindergarten. That will be a nice break for us!! Boy has our little man ever sprouted!!! He's always been a bit on the small side but no longer. Today he weighed 28 lbs and was 32 1/2" tall!! I'm not sure which scale is more accurate - the pediatricians or the health unit's but whatever! For weight Blake is now in the 75 percentile and for height he is in the 80 percentile. Quite a change from our 6 lbs 13 oz, 19 3/4" little baby boy :) After the immunizations Blake and I dropped by Tim Horton's for a little treat and headed home! We had a nice rest of our day at home together. Cal came home a bit early from work and then my Mom and Dad brought supper and dessert over. My Mom and I went shopping a little later in the evening. It was a great birthday :) We are all super excited for our UC Baby appointment tomorrow!! I will be posting pictures and an update tomorrow! Take care everyone!

Luv Tracy

18 months tomorrow!!

Today Blake had his 18 month pediatrician appointment. We didn't weigh him again, since he'd just been weighed about 3 weeks ago when Cal took him in due to his ear infection. At that time he was 26 lbs. And I'm feelin' all 26 lbs when I pick him up!! LOL! I'm sure at his 18 month immunizations on Nov. 14 they will weigh and measure him again. The Dr. appointment went well for the most part. I felt good when I left because I'd actually written a list of questions down and I asked them ALL! Sometimes I have a million questions and then don't ask them all and regret it. So I asked about Blake's eating habits (he eats and eats and eats and eats and eats some more), which is apparently not exactly "normal" (most kids become quite picky by this age) but nothing to be concerned about since his size is average and he's not overweight at all. I also asked about his sleeping habits, which are really good but we thought maybe he was needing a bit too much sleep, but the Dr. said it's fine and really good for Blake (not to mention US!)!! So we'll continue on as we have been. We certainly know he needs his sleep! And Blake's ears ... he has another slight infection. Boo :( Dr. Radisic didn't prescribe any antibiotics yet, he asked us to keep an eye on him and call in if things get worse. We're hoping it will clear up. Apparently a lot of ear infections do clear up on their own. It hasn't affected him really yet, I've just noticed him pulling at his ears a bit and that's why I suspected something may be up. We'll see how he does in the next 6 months and if the ear infections continue to be a repeat problem we will be referred to an E.N.T. Hopefully he will grow out of these ear infections soon. Other than that, all is great with Blake! He was talking away to the Pediatrician and his resident and had a great time playing in the waiting room! His word of the day is, "Hello!" Whenever we say, "Hi!" to him he says, "Hello!" It's so cute!! He's also saying, "Thank you!" at appropriate times. We love listening to him talk and it's even better when we recognize a word!!! Today when I picked him up from Karen's he was jabbering away with Vanessa. It was absolutely adorable to see :) When I'm on maternity leave we're going to continue to take Blake to the day home (probably 1 day a week). He has so much fun there and I think he'd really miss playing with Vanessa. It's hard to believe our little boy will be 18 months old tomorrow. It's been an amazing 18 months!! Wow ... hard to explain or put into words. I'm sure all the other mother's out there know what I mean :) Take care everyone, talk to you soon.

Luv Cal, Tracy & Blake

Cal, Tracy & Blake

26 Weeks!!

Wow! This pregnancy is FLYING by!!! My goodness, where is the time going? I had a Dr. appointment today. They were quite busy and I didn't get in until 1hr after my appointment time!! That is unusual, as I usually get in pretty much on time. I was a bit impatient today and wanted to get home, so of course it was the one day they're running really behind. My gestational diabetes test came back fine, but my iron is low. It was 95 and apparently your iron should be between 120 and I can't remember the other number! So anyways, I went to the drug store tonight and bought iron supplements and will start taking them tonight. I suppose that could be why I'm feeling quite a bit more tired than I remember being at this point in time with Blake. Hopefully I'll notice an improvement as my iron gets back up to where it should be. I finally feeling like I'm growing and "popping"! I will post a picture as soon as I can! I still have heartburn all the time, no matter what I eat and my arms are starting to fall asleep at night. Most days when I wake up I have a lot of pain in my right wrist, which lasts sometimes until about noon. The Dr. suggested getting a carpal tunnel splint from the drug store, but guess what - I happen to work with a great Occupational Therapist who can make them in her sleep! LOL! AND I just happen to finish these splints for her all the time, so when we have time we'll make one for me! So right now those are my only pregnancy complaints! And the fact that it's passing by in a blur. I see the Dr. again in 3 weeks and then start going every 2 weeks. Cal and I have decided to start getting the babies room ready this weekend. Right now it is full of odds and ends. A lot of the stuff in there is ready to be dropped off at Goodwill and the other stuff we'll move to the basement for now. We're going to paint the room (a neutral color) and start looking at furniture. I'd like to be done the room by Christmas! It will be fun pulling out all the itty bitty onesies and sleepers again and putting them away in the drawers, etc, etc! Oh and the Dr. couldn't get an accurate heart rate today because the baby was kicking like crazy!! This child is really, really active!! I thought Blake moved a lot, but not as much as this one does. I say it's kicking all the time because a lot of the time it's big brother is squishing it! Seriously, I think that's the reason!! And that is what's new with Baby! Tomorrow Blake has a pediatrician appointment and I'll let you know how that goes :)

Luv Tracy