11 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 11 Weeks

Total weight gain: About 4 pounds

Maternity clothes? Not yet although I may need to invest in some bigger bras.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Still sleeping well except for having to pee every few hours.

Best moment this week: Getting my ultrasound date!

Miss anything? Still coffee. A decaff Pumpkin Spice latte is just not the same. But still yummy! Oh and popcorn! Usually it’s my favorite food and ever since I got pregnant I don’t want to eat it at all!

Movement: Not yet

Food Cravings: Ooh La La Cupcakes. I satisfied that one today

Anything making you queasy or sick: Still red meat

Have you started to show yet? There’s a tiny bump but it gets way bigger by the end of the day

Gender prediction:  I still think boy and hubby still thinks girl

Labor signs: None

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or moody most of the time: I’m pretty darn happy.

Looking forward to: Ultrasound in two weeks!

This was a good week with nothing to exciting to report except that we got my early ultrasound date in the mail! Sept 21^st at 1:30. I’m really not looking forward to the full bladder and having to drink a litre of water but oh well! It will be nice to find out how far along we actually are and to see our little bean on the screen! Also looking forward to my next baby doctor appointment on Sept 26^st where hopefully our doctor will try and find the heartbeat on the Doppler and will have the results of our ultrasound so I can finally find out how far along we are!. I will feel so much better once we hear that little heart beating away!

On a side note it feels like fall time and you all know what that means! Holidays! I love all the holidays and decorating is so much fun. I can’t wait to go out and buy all those mini pumpkins, gourds, and ornamental corn and decorate our house up! 

10 Weeks Pregnant

How far along? 10 weeks

Total weight gain: None yet!

Maternity clothes? Nope, I’m hoping to get away with normal clothes for a while. Hello Lululemon all the time!

Stretch marks? No, but I’m about to order my first tube of Mustela. I have a feeling it will be my best friend for the next 30ish weeks.

Sleep: Good! Although I do get up to pee a few times throughout the night. Feeling pretty tired in the late afternoons.

Best moment this week: My first baby doc appointment!

Miss anything? Not yet. I have a feeling I’ll miss full caffeine Christmas drinks though when they come in season. Oh well, decaff it is!

Movement: Still too soon.

Food Cravings: Too many to list. Mostly food in general. Although ice cream is pretty awesome.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Red meat, seafood.

Have you started to show yet? No, but I’m so bloated by the end of every day that I might as well be.

Gender prediction: I say boy, hubby says girl.

Labor signs: None

Belly button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On!

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy most of the time!

Looking forward to:  Early ultrasound so we can get a more accurate due date and feeling the baby move.

This week was a good one.  On the upside I got to go to my first baby doctor appointment which was mostly just paperwork. Nothing too exciting, I’ll be looking forward to the next one where we will hopefully hear the heartbeat.  My doc ordered an early ultrasound as dating my pregnancy is a bit difficult (hello whacked up cycles while trying to conceive). She dated it (on the day of my doctor’s appointment) as 9 weeks and 2 days, however that was simply going from the day of my LMP and that’s only for women with “normal” cycles. Still waiting to hear when my ultrasound will be, I’m hoping soon though as I’m anxious to see baby and find out exactly how far along we are! 

Thank you to pinterest and the blog littlebabygarvin.blogspot.com for the AWESOME chalkboard idea. What a fun way to document our pregnancy and also a great way for family to see how we are all doing! We will hopefully be posting these every week so stay tuned to see the bump grow!

Another crazy dog post...

Okay so it's been a while since I posted about my dogs. They are nuts; end of story.  So my husband and I ran the TC10K which is a huge race where we live.  It's actually the second biggest 10k race in Canada which is pretty cool.  So after running our little (okay maybe not so little) butts off we just wanted to go home, shower, and relax.  As we are pulling up to our house I see that my wonderful and amazing girl, Midnight, decided to puncture my beautiful faux wood (the fact that I just wrote "woof" instead of "wood" means I must have dog on the brain) blinds.  So okay, not the first time and here we are thinking we can repair them, no big deal. Ya, well it is a big deal. Thats because she has now done it one too many times and I am out of spare slats for the blinds. And since I have these same size blinds on three other windows in my house means that she has done it a lot for me to run out. And as angry as we might have been coming home and seeing this, there is absolutely nothing you can do. You can't get mad; it's too late. And in slinks my other pup Ryder, who just knows that something wrong has gone on and here he is slinking around feeling terrible for something he didn't even do! And Midnight is happily dancing around at our feet so excited that we're home.  I can just about see what they might be thinking as this incident is happening. Ryder: OMG Midnight, you should NOT be doing that!! What are you thinking! We're going to get in huge trouble....Midnight: ahhhhhh, where did they go? I'm going to tapdance on the table. Now I'm going to steal butter off the counter. Now I'm going to eat the blinds. Uh oh, what did I do? Oh well...where did they go? Where did they go? Now I'm going to sniff my bum....Okay so maybe not an exact replica of the doggy conversation that went on but thats the gist of it I can assure you. Which brings me to the funny part of our little doggy family. Everytime we go out I ask my husband what he thinks the dogs are doing and we make up funny little anecdotes that perfectly describe their personalities. Sometimes we say that Midnight is sitting on our furniture bossing Ryder around, asking him to get her bones, water, and scratching behind her ears for her...and if you knew them, this would seem like a perfectly reasonable dog-day afternoon in our household. So are we all nuts? Oh probably, but I love my dogs so much and the fact that I have two of them constitutes a little craziness regardless. They make us laugh, cry, and get angry but at the end of the day there is nothing they could do to make me love them any less. They are amazing creatures that love us regardless of anything. Oh and if you too are a dog lover you HAVE to check out this website. It's hilarious! Go to textfromdog.tumblr.com.....you will laugh your butt off (and you don't need to run 10k to do that now do you).

A dog

A dog isn't just a dog, it's a carrier of family history.  This is something I realised while visiting my parents this last weekend.  It was during this time that we had to say goodbye to our faithful companion, Harley, after just nine amazing years.  Dogs are amazing creatures really, and I realized we were mourning not just for the loss of a family member, a best friend, but also a time in our lives that we will never get back. It was during this time that I graduated (3 times), got married, and moved away from home.  We celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, Christmases, and summers at the lake.Harley was a huge part of all of these things. He was there when I moved away from home and couldn't get through the night. My parents sent him to my new house just so I could have a piece of home with me for a few days.  He was there when I broke up with boyfriends, failed tests, and fought with mom and dad. He was there when my brother went through his divorce and he was born shortly after his daughter. Pets are such a huge part of our families and lives and the loss of one is both devistating and terrifying. We are scared to live a life without them and move on.  We are sad that they are no longer there to comfort us, aggrivate us, make us laugh, and eat our shoes.  We are happy that they are no longer in pain and are watching over us.  As we grieve we remember the good and laugh at the bad.  That time he ate my mom's huge poinsetta? She was so mad.  But remembering him, standing in a pile of leaves with leaves sticking out of his mouth with a "who me?" expression is now a funny memory. That time he ate my favorite skate shoes? Okay, I was pretty mad then, but now it's a fond and amusing story and a funny memory to look back on.  He was there when I got sick at grad and had to come home early.  He didn't care that I had puke breath, he just snuggled right up. And okay, maybe I'm still mad about the time he puked in my back seat and my then boyfriend (now husband) almost puked from the smell of it.  But I forgive him that one indescretion.  Dogs are amazing beings.  They manage to accomplish in their short lives what most of us don't ever accomplish.  They can forgive, and give unconditional love.  They do not judge what you do or what you look like, and they don't care how your day went.  They simply want to be loved, and love you back.  My whole family is devistated but I know that we will remember Harley with a fierce love and fondness that is not commonly found.  I leave you with this.  Remember that dogs take your heart and cherish it.  They walk with it, sleep with it and they never let it out of their sight. When it is their time to leave us they will take a little piece of our hearts to remember us by and they will leave a piece of theirs for us to remember them.

Vintage Style

Why do I live vintage style? Because women back in the 40's, 50's, and 60's knew how to dress sexy without showing a bunch of skin. They looked put together, stylish, fashionable, and my oh my were the dresses and shoes to die for.  Much of my work wardrobe consists of this kind of style.  Cute, full dresses in large prints, pencil skirts, cigarette pants; you name it, I have it if it's vintage-inspired.  My mother in law is an expert seamstress and is constantly trying out vintage patterns on me.  Her next project? A vintage inspired pin-up style high waisted bathing suit especially designed for moi. I'm a lucky girl! It will be just as it is in the photo below but with white accents on navy. Sailor inspired colours, if you will.

I am constantly scouring the shops to find anything vintage inspired. And as luck would have it, vintage is so in this season. You'll see it in handbags, clothing, shoes, and accessories. Everywhere I turn I am seeing vintage. This is so great and I'll tell you some of the reasons. First of all, now we can look as glamorous as our grandmothers. Second of all, I don't have to look at your thong hanging out of your pants. The low, low, low, jeans are finally leaving the fashion world to be replaced by more flattering rises. You know what is also great about this type of vintage inspired fashion? Big hats. The wider the better. And I have a few of these. They are great for the beach, or you can go all British on me and where a hat to a wedding. I did last summer with a dress made from a vogue pattern from 1954. Here it is here from the front...

And here is that same dress from the back

Oh and here are some wonderful shoes that went with that outfit...

As you can see mine are the t-straps on the right. Anyway, back to my point. Vintage fashion is great. There is definitely something to be said about looking ladylike. Pastels, sky-high heals, dresses, it's all great. And before you get all PC on me about the term lady-like, hear me out! Women of those decades knew how to dress without looking trashy. They looked sexy without looking slutty. So if there is something un-PC about looking like that then oh well! As I was watching The Help, I couldn't help but fall in love with all of the beautiful dresses on the screen.  I wanted every single one! So although we have come so far in this century concerning rights and equality, there are times when I wish only our fashion sense would take a trip back in time.

See, it really is a wonderful life!

Sorry I've been a bad blogger this month, but it's been busy around our house.  There are three birthdays in this month for our family so lots of singing, cake, and gifts have been passed around and mailed. Two of those birthdays are dog birthdays, one of those is our dog, Ryder. This year was a big year for him, he is out of the terrible two's...he turned three.  So in light of this hopeful change in his chewing habits (my couch to be exact) I made him a birthday cake, seen here:















It was super easy, and healthy for animals and possibly for humans too. He loved it, and we sang happy birthday like the goofy people we are while the dogs stared at us like we were nuts....maybe we are. Regardless, it was a good time had by all, mutt's included. Next year I'm thinking birthday hats are a must.

But all these pup-parties reminded me how lucky I am to have such an amazing family.  I have a wonderful husband who spoils me rotten (much to the chagrin of my father who happily passed me off to him, happy to be rid of the thing that put a dent in his wallet daily)and two amazing pups that are the most loving, affectionate dogs you could ask for, despite the few bad habits (my german shepherd, Midnight ate butter that I had left on the counter last week. It had been months since she did something bad, so I'm assuming she was keeping us on our toes; not letting us get too comfortable). Oh and yes, I have wonderful parents and brothers who would do anything for me at the drop of a hat. Yes I am spoiled and I know it (think of me singing that to the tune of "sexy and I know it"...not dancing around in the spandex animal print) and thats okay with me. I may not have the perfect job, the cleanest house, and the most well behaved mutts but all that doesn't matter when you have such a wonderful life. Everyday I look forward to coming home from work, being showered with love by my dogs. Everyday my husband comes home and me and the dogs shower him with love too. Sometimes, when hubby and I are slowdancing around the living room with dogs poking us and jumping on us wanting some love too, I feel like I'm in this amazing movie that is never going to end. You know, a romcom movie, but just the ending where everyone is undoubtedly the happiest they will ever be. That is my life. And I thank God for it on a daily basis.

Nosy Neighbours

Why do people insist on being nosy? My husband and I live in a townhouse complex and it seems that our neighbours thrive on nosiness. Why? Who knows. Bored and fed up with their own lives I suspect but I would prefer if they left me, and my life, out of it.  I have a friend that recently moved in to our townhouse complex and of course she is their topic of conversation. My neighbours are actually pathetic and I'm not exaggerating. Our so called "strata president" doesn't even know the rules of pets in her own complex.  You see, she gave my friend the evil eye and made a comment about her dog not being on a leash.  The dog was minding its own business, listening, and being attentive to it's owner.  Our strata rule is actually dogs must be in control of the owner at all times OR on a leash.  Her dog is 13 years old....it is definitely in control and listens to it's owner.  So my question is why is it this lady's business to criticize others when she herself doesn't know the rules?

Another way my strata neighbours are pathetic.  We had a new sign made up for our complex.  Not too hard to put the sign up.  Really it's a one person job but could be made into a two with one person holding the sign and one to screw it on.  So here comes my husband walking in with a can of paint, his lunch box, and still in his uniform, just getting off a long day at work.  What does our strata president do? Stops him and asks him if he can stay to help....there were FOUR people there already.  Finally, our ex strata president tells him he can go home, they really didn't need him. Keep in mind this ex strata president quit BECAUSE all of my neighbours are nuts.

But here is the best part of everything.  My neighbour next door to me, attached to the left side of my house (I am on the end and have no one on the right) is the nuttiest of them all.  No one wants to be near her.  My husband says she keeps her vehicle in the closet....her broom.  She has called the police on us so many times for pointless reasons that they won't even come anymore. When they did come they would simply tell us to carry on.  We do renos, she calls the cops, we brush our teeth too loud, she calls the cops....you get the picture.

The whole point of this was just to say....please, mind your own business.  Quit staring out your window at me while I walk into my house, walk my dog, go for runs, walk over to my friends.  It's none of your business. Oh and please...get a life.

Thanks,and again, in true gossip girl style,

xoxo