Fencing in!

Before and Afters...

Looking at our friendly neighbours to the north. (They had already built their side of the fence, so really, we only had to add 2 sides to our yard and enclose this in.)


(Please also note the light attached to the house in the before and after photos. Chris had fallen off the roof one day and grabbed the light on his way down (don't worry he was wearing a harness/rope system), and decided after months of me asking, to finally fix the light!)

There is a double gate connecting our little piece of fence to the neighbour's section of fence.



The old view of our backyard...

The new view, with the slide and trampoline moved. Sorry these before and afters aren't very accurately taken. And finally the last side...

Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. So glad it's done!

To do

I didn't realize it had been so long since I blogged! I guess I've been pretty busy making cakes and playing with Chelsea (and the neighbours!) We've built a fence over the past few weekends and it will make life so much easier. (I'll post pictures tomorrow). I can let C play outside by herself for a few minutes without worrying that she is going to run across the street. This weekend was gorgeous, so we were outside pretty much every minute. I painted my plant pots, and started weeding my flower garden. I'm pretty sure my neighbour felt sorry for me, because she soon came over and took over the weeding and edging of my flower beds. It was great! It looks so much better already.

I've also been working on checking things off my "To-Do Before Baby" list. I'm not doing too bad. I'm sure there's still lots I'm forgetting.

- buy newborn diapers, baby wash, soothers, etc. (Done)

- hang shelves in nursery to keep these items away from Little Miss C. (Done last night)

- buy grossly unflattering and unshapely nursing bra. (Done)

- pack hospital bag (Not sure this will be completely done until we're on our way to the hospital.)

- figure out and buy what I want to wear during the water birth. (Done)

- pack bag for Chelsea. (pretty much done. I've been making sure all the laundry is done, so if I am away for a few extra days, her clothes are all organized and ready in her dresser.)

- pack "Walter's" things for coming home. (Done)

- get out the carseat and bassinet. (Done)

- install carseat. (Chris says he's not doing this until the baby is born.)

- organize and wash all the baby clothes I bought at garage sales. (Done)

- get pedicure. (Done - but I'd gladly do it again!)

- get music ready to take to the hospital for during labour

- download some movies to watch in case labour sucks and is long

- announce daily to some stranger that "yes, I am about to pop" and "yes, I'm sure it's not twins". (Done)

- refrain from punching said stranger. (Done - so far.)

- charge battery for video camera. (Did today)

- pack extra batteries for still camera

- get phone list ready. (Done- unless we forgot someone)

- feel over-emotional and on the verge of tears for dumb reasons. (Done, done, done)

- organize the pantry and desk area so that I'm not embarrassed if my mom comes to stay at short notice. (Done - thanks to Ang!!!)

- ditto for keeping the rest of the house clean (m'eh - trying to keep on top of it.)

- be utterly grateful for this healthy baby and the fact that I am feeling so good. (Done - often)

- nap often (I try!)

- humbly ask for help when I get stuck on the couch (done every night!)

- try to enjoy the last few days... or weeks... or month (ouch) of feeling Walter move inside. (Done. I LOVE feeling the baby move inside. I always miss this.)



Now, what else do I need to do?? This baby could be here any day!

And because a post just isn't fun without pictures, here's C on her "big slide" I found at a garage sale.

Sit'n'Stand thanks to Grandma Pat!

So with a new baby on the way, we knew we'd need a different stroller. We love our Graco stroller for Chelsea, but knew we'd need some kind of double stroller once Walter arrived. My good friend H suggested a Sit'n'Stand stroller. I had never heard of such, and after seeing them online, thought it would be perfect!

It's got a seat in the front for the baby (when he's a little older) but the front seat, also has a bar that attaches so that your bucket car seat fits in the front, facing you. (We tried to get a picture of the bucket in the front, but Chelsea just wouldn't let us.)

It also has a seat at the back for your older child to either sit, facing you...

or stand, facing forward

I hope Chelsea likes it. She loves it now, without the baby, so we'll see what it's like once he arrives. Thanks Grandma Pat and Grandpa Jerry!

Potty Party

I've been off for a week and I love it. It's been great. Spending extra time with Chelsea has been fun, but I can't believe how tired I am! I'm waiting for Chelsea's naptime every day just so I can sleep!

As for potty training, I have taken a very laid back approach. I realize that Chelsea's world is going to change dramatically when the baby comes, so I don't want pressure her too much. She's been known to say things like "I like diapers" and "I don't like the potty" so I'm not going to force her too much.

The other day, she went pee once on the potty and was rewarded with a gummy worm. But after that, insisted she wanted a diaper, so she wore a diaper.

Today, every time she wet her diaper, she'd take it off, so I started asking her if she wanted to go on the potty. She'd try and nothing - fine, no biggie. Then at lunch she asked if she could go on the big potty and she DID - let's just say #1 and #2! We were VERY excited! After this, she kept asking a bunch of questions about people we know, asking if they wore underwear or diapers. I think she's cluing in that diapers are not the way to go. She went pee again on the potty later and this time, shared some of her gummy worms with the girls next door. She was very happy.

I know this may all be too much information, but it's been my life for the past few days! So hey, I hope you are enjoying some of the sunshine and getting excited about something of your own - whether it's a potty party or something a tad more interesting.

Fun in the Sun, finally!

So I've been off work for a few days now, but I honestly think I rest more when I'm at work. I've been so busy at home - it's been crazy. Although, I must say that I love the warm weather! We are outside a lot!

I have lots to still do today, but I figured I'd post a few pictures.

I found a walker at a garage sale. Chelsea thought she's crawl in to show me how it worked.

We've also played at a lot of parks and played a lot at the parks over the past few days.

Saying "Cheese" for the camera.

A natural monkey...
Rock climbing already!

And I hear C in the monitor now, so I guess relaxing time is over.

35 weeks and counting...

Well, tomorrow is my last day at work. I'm excited, but at the same time, in disbelief that this means another baby soon! Although this pregnancy has seemed really long, looking back it suddenly feels very short!

My belly feels very low and funny shaped. Here's what I mean... The first picture is me being "normal"; the second is me "sucking in".

It makes quite the handy shelf!

Anyways, I just wanted to post some pictures for myself. Here's to a great last day tomorrow!

Randoms.

I want to blog, but I don't have much to blog about. So, this will be a random post of sorts.

- due to massive amounts of weight gain, I was told by my midwife to return to the South Beach Diet, Phase 2. I've been on it for almost 3 weeks. I can't believe how much better I feel physically and about myself. I told Chris I never want to go back to eating crappy. I love how this makes me feel.

- I know I'm a geek, but I'm excited about garage sale season. One of my friends is this garage sale queen, who knows all the sales and is just as enthusiastic as I am. I love it. Now that I have kids, I love garage sales. Deals are to be found!

- I have 5 days left of work. five. f-i-v-e. so excited. I am so happy to have the month of May off. I can't believe how fast the past few months at work have gone. They have flown by. Now I hope to have a few weeks to relax, organize, spend some time with Chelsea, and take care of me before Walter arrives.

- I've been pulling out some of the baby stuff and Chelsea has been re-embracing it, shall we say. She keeps insisting that everything is hers. It will definitely be interesting to see how she reacts to the baby. I came into the baby's room and found a funny site. C had climbed into the bassinet!

From this little baby...

to this...

- running out of things to say. I hope you are all doing great. I'm off to mark some tests!

love

Every night, I sneak into your room. I tell myself I'm there to readjust you back onto your pillow and to re-tuck your blankets around you, but really, I love watching you sleep. I take time to kiss your forehead and get in one last cuddle before I head to bed.

I may not be a perfect mom, but always know I love you.

Party! Balloons! Cake!

The cake...

When she saw her cake for the first time...

So excited to be the birthday girl...

Blowing out her candle...

And, of course, giving the puppy a kiss!

And what was left over when the party was over...

Happy birthday princess. Love you!

Two! TWO!

My daughter turns two tomorrow. I find this so hard to believe. From this little peanut...
to this little peanut...

The latest two photos are from our photoshoot session on Saturday taken by Kristel Bueckert Photography. I'm excited to see the rest.

Chelsea, I love you so much. Thank you for all you've taught me over the past two years. You are such an amazing little girl. Every day I'm overwhelmed with love for you and I constantly want to kiss and hug you, even though you get annoyed. I love listening to you talk and talk and talk. You have such a large vocabulary and are able to tell us what how you are feeling and what you want. You always want to be outside and will bring me your boots, splash pants, jacket, mitts and hat. You love jumping in puddles and you love being in charge of Maggie.

Every night, your bedtime routine consists of reading the same 4 books, "The Pop Book", "The Foot Book", "Little Quack" and "Baby Sleeps." It's always these same 4 books and you know exactly which order you want them read in. You love sleeping in your big girl bed, cuddled with your 2 quilts and many stuffed animals, as long as you have a soother and one to spare. You sleep well; most nights you don't wake up at all. When you do wake up in the morning, you request daddy and the two of you come downstairs and cuddle on the couch in your jammies.

You love colouring and know most of your colours, but you often get green and yellow, purple and blue confused. You can count to 13 all by yourself. You know all sorts of shapes including odd ones like semi-circle, diamond, and oval. You are such a little smartie pants.

With all of this sweetness comes a stubborn side as well. You are quick to anger and when you don't get your way, a tantrum is likely to happen. You have been know to say words like "Go away, Mommy!" and "Leave me alone" in addition to "Don't!" "No!" and "Stop!" We're working on this side of your personality as we try to teach patience. You often respond by saying, "I like patience!" If only that were true, Little One.

I could keep going and going, but I'll stop for now. I love you baby girl. I pray for the best year for you. Love you pumpkin! Happy birthday!

Baby shower

Tonight I hosted a baby shower. It was a lot of fun. I love having people over and I love that my husband was so willing to help out. We had a massive amount of food and thus, I have a massive amount of leftovers. A few of my favourite things about the shower were the cute sign I made that said "Welcome Baby Logan"....
and of course, the cake!

I had a fantastic time, but man, oh man, I'm tired. I have one more week of crazy. Next week I have another big birthday cake, Chelsea's birthday cake and party (which I haven't planned or invited people to), and a wedding cake. Why on earth do I do this to myself??

2 years ago today...

2 years ago was my due date with Chelsea. She wouldn't show up for another 9 days, but I was so ecstatic to have made it to the full 40 weeks! I like seeing the picture of me at 40 weeks with Chelsea because although I am feeling really fat and huge right now, I realize I still weighed much much more when I had Chelsea.

Just for reference, here's me at 40weeks with C, and a few days ago with Walter.

(Oh and the baby's name isn't Walter, but that's his nickname. One night I asked Chris for some boy name suggestions and that was his first one. After hearing that, I told Chris his opinion no longer mattered... and yet the name Walter has stuck!)

Silly goose

"Chelsea, I don't know why you are so silly."

Her response, "I don't know either, mommy."

I love how much she talks. My baby turns 2 in 2 weeks!

P.S. I really don't know why you can't click on my pictures to make them bigger. Can anyone help me?

Spring Break

is going by way too quickly.

I'm finding it hard to get much accomplished because this little girl
demands all of my attention, or wants to help all the time. That makes it hard, so I've tried to only do major work while she is napping or in bed. This limits me to 2 hours in the afternoon, and some time at night after 8:30 or so. The problem is that I want to nap in the afternoon or just relax in the evenings, so not much is getting done!

That being said, I am making some progress on the "to-do list." So far, I finished my photowall. I think I like it. I love the quote, but I think I may have been a tad mathematical/OCD about the photo arrangements.

I started organizing Chris's office. I wish I had taken a "before" pictures. So far, I've taken 4 big green garbage bags of garbage out of his room. This does not include the 2 boxes of stuff that is going to MCC. I have bought over $100 of shelves/storage units to help him stay organized... I hope.

We also made a trip into the city yesterday so that I could have a fetal assessment done on "Walter". I'm seriously not exaggerating when I say that I'm a tank. I'm measuring 9 weeks ahead of my due date, so my midwife just wanted to make sure that everything is going okay. And it is. Everything is within normal range and he is doing great! He's in the 80 percentile for his age, so he's not even a huge baby. The best part about the ultrasound was that we could already see his hair! It was awesome. Another hairy baby. Woo hoo!

Other than that, I've just been hanging out with my Chels. She is so much fun, in between her tantrums of course. She's such a drama queen and right now she loves loving. She likes saying "I love you" "I miss you" and kisses on both cheeks and then the lips. Fun. She is overly dramatic in her play and in her temper.

Here's an example. Lately, she's facinated with bubbles and her imagination. She uses anything and everything to "blow bubbles" as long as I will clap my hands and pretend to pop them. Here, she is using a dog toy/bone and a toothpick to blow her bubbles. This is the deep breathe she takes...

before she "blows"...

Awesome little girl.

Far too long...

I know, I know. It's been a while. No worries - spring break is mere hours away and I will blog again.

For now, check out what daddy let Chelsea do the other day. This was pretty much the day that I decided that supper time with Chelsea was out of control. Chris thought it was more important that she eats her food than how she eats her food. She was being a puppy. Cute, but not appropriate for supper time!!

Anyways, it's time for bed! Until next time...