If I Had $100

Brian surprised me the other day with a $100 gift card for Amazon and strict instructions to spend it on myself and not on either kid or home stuff. Just me. How is that such a weird concept to wrap my head around? My first thought was immediately nursery stuff because #nesting, but with that option off the table what was I left with? What did I want? That’s a hard thing to ask a mom I think because we usually put everyone else first and then figure out ourselves after. (In full disclosure, I had just over $10 left on my gift card after buying my loot and it went towards nursery stuff #momguilt)

Also, me being me I had to research the crap out of everything that I bought beforehand so it took me a couple days to finally add everything to my cart. Without further adieu, here is what I bought with my $100 on Amazon:

1. Super B-Complex: Post-partum is no joke and I want to be as prepared as possible and nourish my body as best as I can while it is going through such an intense transition.
2. Calcium Magnesium + Vitamin D3: This I plan on taking while still pregnant just to help my body but it is also good afterwards as well.
3. Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay Deep Pore Cleansing: This is a best seller on Amazon under beauty and it really intrigued me! To use it you have to mix it with Apple Cider Vinegar so I bought that with my $100 as well.
4. Argan Oil Hair Mask: I have been wanting a hair mask for a long time but just have never been able to justify buying one. Really curious if I notice a difference as my hair is VERY low maintenance (ie: I wash it 2x per week) and I don’t do much with it
5. Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System: A lot of the bloggers that I read use a Clarisonic once or twice a week as part of their cleansing routine but they are pretty pricey and based on the reviews for the Olay version, there isn’t a huge difference between the two besides the cost. 4.5 stars with 219 reviews is pretty awesome so for $20 it’s worth a try!

So as you can see I decided to splurge on beauty and health stuff that I wouldn’t normally buy for myself. I was also going to include collagen but my mom ended up buying some for both of us to try. I am SUPER intrigued by collagen and the benefits, I spent a lot of time researching it as a lot of the bloggers that I read use it daily. The Amazon reviews are also really insightful so I will try this after Baby Girl is born as I am not comfortable starting it while pregnant.

Now tell me, if you had $100 to spend on yourself from Amazon, what would you buy?

xo T

 

 

 

 

Guilty Pleasure: MTV’s The Challenge

Excuse this break from potty training and mommy posts so that I can nerd out for a sec.

Most people don’t know this about me (I think the closest people to me just found out about this like last year?) but I am a Challenge super-nerd. For the majority that have no idea what I am talking about, The Challenge is a show on MTV.

For some reason I have just never talked about the Challenge to people. I just watched it, emitted a squee or a groan at opportune times and kept my little obsession to myself. I think this stems for the idea that people I talk to regularly just had never heard about it, so becoming obsessed with it seemed like a solo mission. It could also be that I started watching The Challenge out of desperation because when I lived with my parents we only had one TV and at least 3 different view points on what makes quality television so I was relegated to my room (the basement) with my laptop and very naive knowledge of streaming content. Keep in mind kids this is before Netflix so MTV was one of the only places online that I found anything remotely interesting to watch. I binged old episodes of the Real World on demand and then got intrigued by The Challenge that I kept seeing pop up. Enter in my fascination with this guilty pleasure.

Basically The Challenge is like Big Brother but with ex-Real World contestants. So if you are familiar with their RW season, it adds another layer of intrigue and drama to the contestants. After over 30 seasons of RW and 28 Challenge seasons there are some interesting contestants and lots of past history that sucks you in. A few seasons ago they also added contestants from the show Are You The One? But I personally find these people more like Bachelor/Bachelorette contestants meaning they are all super good-looking but seem to be lacking the competitive edge that is needed for the Challenge. Because The Challenge is exactly what it sounds like, a challenge. Each season there is a different theme (Rivals, Battle of the Exes, Battle of the Seasons, Cut Throat, Fresh Meat, etc) and the 26 contestants are either competing individually, in pairs, or as teams depending on the theme of the season. They have challenges that they have to do every week while also all living in a house together so you get the best of the Real World but it doesn’t get stale because there is a competition to break up the regular drama. I actually got Brian hooked on The Challenge because of how competitive it is (#Athlete4Life) a couple years ago and he is pretty well-versed in Challenge trivia and has his own favourite contestants.

Now that everyone is caught up, Season 29 is filming right now (!) in Thailand and I was just going to fangirl solo but then decided to spread the love and possibly rant about this upcoming season of The Challenge on here because I just can’t hold it in anymore and while Brian likes watching it, he doesn’t nerd-out as hard as I do so I am in desperate need of an outlet for allthefeels that this show brings out. I might do another post of my all time favourite contestants (this will be SUPER hard) but we shall see. I will leave you with this GIF of an iconic moment in Challenge history that Brian and I reference an embarrassingly large amount whenever the topic of how awesome The Challenge is gets brought up. This is CT (Brian’s #1) wearing Bananas (super vet extraordinaire) like a backpack to dominate an elimination challenge.

Lessons in Potty Training

While many other (sane) people were enjoying their Labour Day Long Weekend, Brian and I decided that it was the perfect time to start potty training Jay. He has been asking about his underwear (“anywhere” as he calls them) and knows that his buddy Stella gets a whole jelly bean every time she goes on the potty so I have known for a while that it was all up to whenever I wanted to take the plunge. And we kind of dove in head first with promising results!

I have read a lot of blogger input about this topic and the consensus that I have been hearing is the 3 day no-pants method works the best for them to “get it”. So far he has only had 2 accidents. Both of which happened while he was eating and strapped to his booster seat. So I am thinking he didn’t know he was allowed to get out to pee? Or was too distracted by his mouth he stopped thinking about his other end. Anyway, here is what worked for us:

• Wait until your child is interested in the potty/underwear/jelly bean rewards. Jay LOVES the idea of wearing underwear and at daycare would ask to go on the potty when Stella would, he just wouldn’t know what to do once he got there.
• Get them excited! A couple days before we started I was talking up wearing underwear and going in the potty, etc.
• Find what works for you. We quickly realized that Jay is all about convenience so a portable potty works best for us. We also find that the faster he can sit on it, the better as his warning signs don’t leave much time to take off layers (he is getting better at noticing the sensations beforehand though).
• so. much. praise. One day he pooped the size of a chocolate chip but hey we celebrated like it was 1999 AND he got 2 jelly beans.
• Check in every hour. This tip is what our dayhome does and it saved me a lot of stress constantly asking him “do you have to pee? are you sure? do you have to potty? what about now?” Keep asking but have that hour in your mind and whether he thinks he has to go or not he is sitting on it for a few minutes just in case.
• How you say things can make all the difference. Not so much in the beginning of our potty adventure but more so now that he gets the routine and tries to manipulate the system. Most times I don’t get a reaction if I ask if he has to pee but if I ask him if he wants a jelly bean that usually gets the ball rolling and the underwear coming off. Also, every day he has a favourite colour of jellybean that he wants so if he isn’t responding to “do you want a jellybean?” then “Oh do you want a BLUE jelly bean??” I find just that small change makes a big difference some days.

Again, this is just our journey with one kid but hopefully this gives some insight for some parents who are getting ready to take the plunge!

 

Hello Again.

Oh haaiiiii this is a bit awkward, not going to lie. Two years of radio silence is a  bit embarrassing but you know having a kid and all that jazz. Well lets see here what has happened in two years to bring us to today?

Jason Dean was born! Huge part of my life right now (obvs). He just turned two and is such an awesome kid, I feel very lucky to have him as a son.

I have been back to work since last August, part-time 3 days a week. We have had a lot going on for work though so it feels like a full 5-day work week by the third day that’s for sure.

Biggest thing currently I think is being pregnant with #2!

I am 16 weeks right now (picture above was taken at 15 weeks because my one from this week was taken in my underwear and…yeah #internetneverforgets). I am measuring about 4 weeks ahead with this bump than when I was pregnant with Jay. Definitely showing a lot sooner this time around!

In super current (meaning so current it hasn’t even HAPPENED yet), we leave on vacation tomorrow!! squeeeeee!!

Jay and I are flying to Kelowna tomorrow for a wedding (Brian is driving out so all I have to bring is a carry on!?) on Saturday then going to Penticton, and end up in Invermere. SO we will be gone for a total of 9 days! It will be our first family vacation minus weekend trips since last summer when we went to Ontario. I think I am going to Snapchat (tawnylee2) and Social Media the shit out of our vacay because I have been getting SO jealous of everyone’s holidays and it’s finally my turn! Also for the memories….you know.

I can’t promise I will be all over this blog like a dirty shirt BUT I do miss it and will be checking in a lot more frequently than once every two years!

Chat soon!

The Waddle & An Update

9 Months!

I think I jinxed myself.

I am now a waddler. In my defense though I put my lower back out on Sunday cleaning a bathtub and so walking (sitting, laying down…) was torture for a few days. It is a lot better now but I am still not 100% and the thing that makes it worse is sitting. Which is what I do all day at work. So I walk fairly normally into work, sit all day, and then waddle out because my back is so sore. I don’t think pregnancy hormones in my hips, or a 9 month belly is making the waddling any better either.

I have figured out though that if I take LOTS of walk breaks around my office it doesn’t get so sore. My office is really small though so sometimes I just stand up and do a little twerk at my desk. For real. It helps. Obviously I can’t touch my toes or anything but just the movement in the hips feels really good. Kind of like this:

HOW FAR ALONG: 36 weeks

BABY THIS WEEK: Baby B is about 17-18 inches and 4-5 lbs!

MY WEIGHT GAIN: I’m not sure what I started at but it’s around 25 pounds I think.

PURCHASES: I now have two nursing bras (one with wire, one without) and three nursing tanks! I am super pumped because everything is really comfy and seem really easy to use. Brian is under the assumption that the quick flaps are for him so that will be a bit of a learning curve.

SLEEP: Pretty terrible. Achy hips, sore back and unbelievable restless legs combined with peeing 4-6 times a night. When I am sleeping though it is deep which is good I guess.

FOOD: Not a big difference from pre-pregnancy. I just listen to my body and eat when I am hungry until I am full. This morning that meant that I ate a bowl of cheerios as well as a packet of hot oatmeal but our supper the night before was lighter than usual so it all evens out.

SYMPTOMS: waddling, braxton hicks if I overexert myself, and the fact that I don’t even recognize my boobs anymore. Just a little TMI for you.

MOOD: A bit stressed as we have a lot of things happening all at once but overall really positive.

BEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Best moment of every day for me is around 9 pm when Brian has his baby time and he talks to Baby B while baby moves around and pushes at his face. Melts my heart.

Apparently I am now a belly cupper too. WHO AM I?!

xo T

Surprising Things About Pregnancy

I think I have been pretty lucky with the my pregnancy so far. I am 33 weeks (that is one week away from 8.5 months for those who were about to google it) and I keep waiting for all the nasty pregnancy symptoms to happen that you always hear about. Things that I have heard can happen in pregnancy but I have yet to experience:

– uncontrollable farting/peeing your pants. For real. Apparently this happens to some unlucky ladies.

– waddling. Has not happened to me yet but I think it might show up sometime soon.

–  leaky boobs. I get why this has to happen, but it has not happened for me yet.

– random belly rubs. Maybe I have a pissed off look on my face that scares people away or something but I have never had anyone come up and try to feel my stomach. Not even coworkers. I think my mom has even only really felt my belly a handful of times.

– crazy hormones. I don’t think anyway. I am pretty sure Brian would tell me if I was acting loony.

Some symptoms that I do have:

– braxton hicks contractions. These mainly happen on my lunch time walk breaks. Usually they aren’t too bad but yesterday I had to stop and sit on a park bench for a bit too get them to ease up. They don’t hurt necessarily just are really uncomfortable. Also, on my walks my calves cramp like crazy. The left side especially goes hard as a rock and it doesn’t matter if I stretch before, during, or after my walk, it doesn’t lessen. Needless to say I make quite a sight limping around all sweaty and out of breath with a big bump and a bright pink coat. But hey at least I am getting some exercise 😉

– painful baby positions. Usually it doesn’t hurt, like sometimes he is so low that it is just uncomfortable, but last night it felt like he was laying on my hip bone and the pressure hurt whenever I stood up. 

– heavy belly. Most days I don’t even notice it, but other times my belly feels HUGE and really heavy. I have become the cliche pregnant woman who needs help getting off the couch. But hey its an extra 20 pounds in there. It’s not light!

 

Most symptoms I had heard about before and prepared for them (even though the first time my feet completely swelled up in under 1 minute still scared the crap out of me), however there were some things that have really caught me by surprise since becoming pregnant.

1. Your belly will attract things to it like nothing. Every day I get something on my belly whether it be water, bits of food, grease (when walking too close to a hinge), dirt, etc. Further, you will bump into things/people with your belly. It sticks out farther than you think!

2. You don’t realize how much stuff you drop in a day until it is nearly impossible for you to bend down anymore. I drop AT LEAST 3 things a day and every time it is now an Olympic event to retrieve whatever it is. Picture lots of deep squatting and grunts.

3. When you are getting up 2+ times a night just to pee, it becomes possible to do the whole process of walking to the bathroom, doing your business, and walking back to bed with your eyes closed. And yes, it is indeed possible to briefly fall asleep on the toilet.

4. You thought when you were 20 and going out dancing at a club that you had “absolutely nothing to wear”? Well try having 1/8 of your wardrobe not even close to being able to fit you and then talk to me about having nothing to wear.

5. You will have super dry hands. This really caught me off guard but totally makes sense when you think about how many trips to the bathroom I make in a day and wash my hands every time. Holy man though. Be prepared.

Every day my body surprises me with something different during pregnancy, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. This has honestly been such an awesome journey and I can’t wait to meet Baby B. Some symptoms are pretty uncomfortable but considering what your body is doing in 9 short months, it seriously blows my mind.

 

xo T

 

 

 

 

 

32 Weeks

HOW FAR ALONG: 32 weeks

BABY THIS WEEK: Baby B is about 2.5-3.8 pounds and measures 15-16.7 inches. He is also in a head-down position!

MY WEIGHT GAIN: I wish I knew how much I weighed when I got pregnant! I have a rough idea what I was so I think I have gained around 22 pounds.

PURCHASES: Still waiting on my prints from Etsy that have been traipsing around the US. I ordered a nursing bra but I know I need at least one more, preferably one without underwire for more relaxed days and sleeping. I have been looking for some good nursing tanks, and it looks like the best ones are at Target so I may have to do a trip up to Calgary to get some. And the love for Baby B keeps coming in as well! It seems like every week he gets a present. It is just awesome how we are surrounded by such loving family and friends.

SLEEP: The past two nights have been amazing for sleep. Still getting up for pee breaks but when I get back to bed I am OUT. Sleep last week was not so good so I am really enjoying these blissful sleeps lately.

FOOD: Really normal. Some days I eat the exact same amounts that I did before becoming pregnant. My whole pregnancy I never really had any seriously intense cravings though. But last night I did really want a toasted peanut butter and banana sandwich though so I definitely made me one of those.

SYMPTOMS: Swollen feet if I am standing/walking for too long, stomach tightening, and something that I have been calling “lightening crotch”. It is a shooting nerve from my stomach to my groin that happens from time to time. My OB says this is really normal and probably because he is head down and really low in my uterus and has put a lot of pressure on my nerves. It doesn’t hurt really but sometimes it hits my bladder and that is an unpleasant feeling.

MOOD: Just really sad the last few days. Losing Mika was the hardest thing I have ever gone through and Brian and I are still grieving over her loss.

BEST MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Playing with Baby B! He really likes to push out on my stomach with his body parts and if you push him back he will reciprocate on that same spot. Pretty cool 🙂

Also, my sister helped me get some baseball photos for the nursery to save us some money. We used Brian’s equipment and got some really cool artistic shots which is exactly what I wanted. We also got a pretty neat belly shot as well.

MOVEMENT: He doesn’t kick so much anymore as he wiggles around a lot and squirms to get comfy. Some movements shake my whole belly. He really doesn’t like anything digging into my stomach ie: my desk at work. If my stomach is touching my desk he will not stop moving around. Same with if I wear pants that are too tight on my uterus. He will kick me all. day. long.

WHAT I MISS: Beer. Wine. Bending down easily.

LOOKING FORWARD TO: I really want to use up my health insurance allowance for massages before my mat leave so I am excited to get some massages! I really want to find a place that has one of those tables with a hole in the middle for pregnant bellies. Laying flat on my stomach after 8 months will feel ah-mazing! Tonight is also our first prenatal class at the hospital! It is a 6 week program every Thursday for 2.5 hours.

xo T

An Ending

Usually I like to post on Monday’s and start the week off right for ya’ll who read this rambling blog of mine. However this post took me a couple days to be able to write and even now it is hard but needs to be on here because that is what she deserves. Our beloved Mika passed away on the weekend. On Sunday her body started shutting down and on Monday, after 12 hours of seizures and her being in a semi-comatose state, we decided to take her in to the vet to end her suffering. She came back to us on Monday morning before the vet visit however I firmly believe that this was to say goodbye to us for one last time and for us to not remember her the way she was in those 12 hours. She was ready to go and we had to say goodbye.

She is buried on my parent’s property in their miniature pet cemetery that they inherited from the previous owners but will soon also hold our family pets who are currently buried in another location. Brian dug her grave and wrapped her in a Canuck blanket. She will always be in our hearts and our house is just not the same without her. I miss every routine that we had but especially her enthusiastic welcoming that she would give whenever we came home from work for the day. I took this photo a couple hours before she started shutting down. She was outside enjoying the sunshine while watching Brian build our new deck.

I hope that she is running like a puppy along the irrigation canals and swimming until her heart is content. Rest in peace Mika Pika.

 

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In case you are curious, this is our new deck (so far)

It is a lot bigger than we were planning but yolo right?

I’ll have more upbeat stuff coming at ya this week but I needed to get this post off my chest.

 

xo T

Friday Faves

I ❤ short work weeks SO HARD! This calls for a GIF twerk:

 

Lots going on this weekend though so it will be busy. We decided to bite the bullet and finally do something about our lack of deck space in the back yard and so Brian recruited some friends to help him build a patio! 😀 While he is slaving away building stuff and being manly, I am dragging my sister to a baseball field at 7:30 am to take photos for the nursery. For some reason she agreed right away to do this with me (I lured her with the promise of Starbucks so that helped) and then we are going to hit up the farmer’s market.

My goal is to have the picture situation in the nursery figured out this weekend so that we can hang all the frames waiting to be filled. Remember how I told you about the prints that I was going to order for the three frames above the crib? Well I ordered them but I am still waiting for them to get here. Tell me if you can see the logic behind this shipping adventure:

From Georgia to Tennessee to Miami…I hope they are catching a plane in Miami because you can’t get further south than that. At least Canada Post is not alone in illogical mailing patterns.

In Baby B news, he now gets the hiccups daily. It is pretty stinkin’ cute. My friend also loaned me some maternity shorts so I am excited to give my pasty legs some sun this weekend!

Tell Me: What are your plans for the weekend? 

 

xo T

May Long 2014

Well helloooo!!!

Yesterday was a long weekend here in Canada so today I am back in the grind after a 3 day weekend! Brian had a really tough week so after work we went over to my sister and brother-in-law’s house for the guys to have some drinks and for Windy and I to eat cookies and watch movies. For the first time ever in our relationship I outlasted Brian! That’s how tired he was, poor guy. Saturday I went over the dark side and said goodbye to my iPhone and got an android phone (I got the Galaxy S 4 in white). So now Brian and I have matching his and her phones (his is black) nyawww! At first the phone felt WAY too smart for me (Brian has had his for a year and still has yet to play on it so he was no help) but eventually after lots of googling I sort of have an idea what I am doing now.

Sunday we were invited over to our friend’s house for our first backyard barbecue of the season! They have an amazing backyard with a gorgeous waterfall that unfortunately coupled with the fact that Baby B was sitting super low that day, and resulted in me peeing every 20 minutes. The barbecue inspired Brian and I to get a move on with our backyard plans finally though! We either wanted to extend our deck or make a patio and we somehow ended up agreeing on something in the middle of that? I don’t really care how he decides to do it I am just excited to be able to fit more than 3 people on our deck at a time!

This weekend I also went and saw ‘The Other Woman’ with my Mom. I actually really enjoyed it! One thing that stood out to me was when Kate Upton was running in slow motion on the beach and she jiggled! They actually allowed a female in a film to be jiggly! I thought it was refreshing and she is a gorgeous girl (obvi). In my opinion there should be more movies where women are allowed to have jiggly bodies.

I might have been super body conscious already though because before the movie I went looking in Ardene (a teeny bopper store) like an idiot. At one point I actually tried to convince myself that I could get away with a super loose tank top with a bandeau and my giant belly. It was such a weird feeling being in a store and knowing that I can’t get away with wearing 90% of the items. Ahh oh well. Next summer 🙂

Two things I learned this weekend:

1) Having an elderly dog is a great segway into having a baby. Especially with getting your stomach ready for cleaning up bodily functions. Mika has a hard time standing up by herself lately so we have to prop her front paws up first and then grab her hips to get her on all four legs. Well I did this to help her get more comfortable on her bed and 5 minutes later I realized that some poop had squeezed out of her when I did that. I must have hit a specific spot on her stomach or she had a really full colon. Then this morning while I’m doing my makeup she projectile vomited all over our bedroom floor. Twice. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she didn’t keep gagging the entire time I was cleaning it up.

2) I had a really random craving for Chinese food last night and so Brian and I picked some up for dinner. It was our first time EVER ordering Chinese take out. We both just never think of it/are never in the mood for it. Well we learned that our little family is not a Chinese food loving family. Brian is really sensitive to sodium so he could only eat half of the items, and I just didn’t really enjoy it all that much and then got really sick from the MSG. #cravingfail whomp whomp

Tell Me: How was your long weekend? 

xo T