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.

JD

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!

15wks

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!!

grease

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!

36 Weeks

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:

twerk

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.

36 Weeks_2

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.

Capture

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

Friday Faves

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

twerk1

 

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:

CaptureFrom 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.

bunsosteelI 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

 

 

 

 

 

Mother’s Day Weekend

Hi Everyone!

Did you have a good weekend? Mine was really good! Friday night Brian and I just hung out and watched a (new to us) show on Hulu called Chicago PD. We are giving it 4 episodes to reel us in and so far it isn’t too bad! We had a summer meal of BBQ hamburgers and fresh Greek salad for dinner which was delicious. We both went to bed early though because Brian had to work on Saturday and my sister and I were getting up bright and early to celebrate Mother’s Day with our momma. We decided to do it a day early because we really wanted to hit up the farmer’s market which only runs on Saturdays.

We didn’t give her any hints as to what we had planned just that she had plans from 8:30 am until 2 pm and to meet at my sister’s house in the morning.

msg**She ended up not eating her allowed one cracker and instead we picked up something to nibble on at Starbucks

Our first stop was Starbucks for drinks, and then we hit up the farmer’s market for the first time this season. A lot of the crops weren’t in yet so there wasn’t a whole lot of vegetables but there were still tons of vendors and Windy scored some ah-mazing coconut cashew butter. Since our brunch location didn’t open for another hour we decided to hit up Value Village and browse. We ended up going a bit nuts on baby clothes and pretty much bought Baby B his baby wardrobe including adorable blue suede moccasins! While there, we received a random act of kindness when a lady saw how much baby stuff we were buying and she hands us her 30% off coupon to use! Thank you karma for coming back to me 🙂 We ended our Mother’s Day morning with brunch at a local restaurant.

photo 3(9)

The next day while out running errands Brian treated me to a soon-to-be Mother’s Day lunch. We then had a relaxing rest of the day reading and chilling with our puppy. Mika is doing a lot better this week and we finally have her insulin levels evened out! She can now get up and down the front stairs without any assistance (it’s about 8 stairs) and overall she seems to be in a lot better spirits than two weeks ago.

photo 1(10)

 

In baby bump news, Brian and I had a little game going with Baby B last night! Brian would either tap his fingers and pat my stomach to a beat or drag his fingers across my belly and if we waited and watched we could see Baby B react and move my whole stomach with his wiggling! It was such a neat experience and of course Brian let him punch him in the face a few times too just to feel close to him 🙂 We also figured out that Baby B loves it when Brian hums to him (success judged by how fast he hits him in the face once he starts). Already he has such a little personality in there!

Tell me: how was your Mother’s Day weekend? 

xo T

Bump Progression

One of the things that surprised me the most about pregnancy (not far behind is the amount of people who wanna be ALLLLL up in your [very] personal business), is how long it took for me to look pregnant. In my opinion, the baby bump process can be described in 5 stages:

1. The Bloat a.k.a psych that’s not a bump that just means you are bloating enough to not fit into your clothes anymore. Two days later it will go back to normal.

2. The Thickening – not a scientific term at all but what I noticed before any bump caused by my uterus was a definitive “thickening” of my waist especially when you looked from the side. Probably no one else would have noticed but I definitely did. The amount of carbs and salty food consumed in the first trimester definitely did not help this situation at all.

3. Chubby Bump – picture combining stage 1 & 2 at the same time and that is the Chubby Bump. You don’t have a pregnancy glow or look cute in maternity clothes, you legit look like you ate too many burritos and are trying to still fit into clothes that are too small for you.

4. Finally Bumpin’ – This is the pregnancy sweet spot (in my opinion, and where I currently am). You can wear cute maternity clothes and rock the bump like nothing else.

5. OMG She is Going to Pop – You know what I am talking about. And to make matters worse this is where you usually develop a waddle.

I am 29 weeks right now so I made a bump progression photo to show the first 4 stages that I am talking about. I apologize ahead of time for two of the photos where I am not wearing any pants…

Bump_ProgressionIt really is true what they say, you never know what you had until it is gone. #RIPFlatStomach I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate you until you expanded and became covered in veins.

When I first got pregnant I would spend hours looking at bump photos on blogs and comparing them to myself. Really what I have learned through this whole process is that every woman’s body is different and changes to accommodate a baby in many different ways. It’s crazy what has been going on in there since November and I am so thankful and in awe of my body in everything that it has accomplished so far. Yes I know the worst is yet to come, but I have to give my body credit; it is doing an awesome job at something it has never done before.

In other pregnancy news, I passed my glucose test with flying colours! I also had to get a pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine this week which kind of sucked but it is for Baby B more than me. It wouldn’t have been a big deal but now my arm is all red and itchy around the injection site. It kind of looks like a big bug bite and hurts to lay on that side on my arm. Apparently this is all normal, I just hope it goes away soon.

xo T

28 Weeks Update

Holy smokes I am now in the third trimester! According to thebump.com Baby B us the size of an eggplant (13.6 – 14.8 inches) and weighs anywhere from 1.5 – 2.2 lbs!

Weeks: 28

Total Weight Gain: About 15 pounds.

My Body: Feeling good but noticeably larger. I notice this the most when I bend down to pick something up or put on my shoes. I am experiencing acne for the first time in my life and it kind of freaks me out! I know it is all hormones because my diet hasn’t changed drastically, but I am kind of self conscious about it.

Also, my feet swelled up for the first time last night! I spent too much time prepping food in the kitchen and next thing I know I have my feet above me head on the couch because my toes were all red and puffy. You always hear about it, but it’s so crazy when it actually happens to you!

Maternity Clothes: Almost exclusively. Still a few items still hanging by a thread.

Cravings: I wasn’t craving anything until my Mom brought me some kettlecorn and now I cannot stop eating it! #pregnantladycrack

Sleep: Awful. In all fairness though it is due to a combination of pregnancy (can’t get comfortable, pee breaks, weird dreams, etc) and Mika being so sick still. We are trying to even out her insulin levels and she still can’t walk properly by herself. She has improved significantly from two weeks ago, but we both need pee breaks in the middle of the night and this results in me helping her get down the stairs and go outside to pee at 2 am. She also has started panting heavily at night too so that’s fun.

Baby Items Bought/Received: Still trying to figure out decor for Baby B’s room. It’s a lot harder than I expected and I have asked for reinforcements to come in (my sister) who has an eye for this kind of thing.

Best Baby Moment: Brian listening to Baby B and leaving a perfect ear imprint on my stomach.

Bump_EarCrazy how my the bottom of my belly button ring hole is now on the top of my belly button!

Goals: Getting the nursery done! Or at least some photos put into all the empty frames on the wall…

Worries: None.

Looking Forward To: He still has to cook for a bit longer but already he has such a personality in there and I just can’t wait to meet him 🙂

28 Weeks

 

xo T

Pregnancy in GIFs

Since I hoard GIFs like no one’s business and I love them oh so much I decided to do another pregnancy post in GIF form much like this one.

 

This legitimately is the only thing I have been craving…

mimosa and a glass of wine with a side of beer…

My face when I realized we were responsible for naming someone for the rest of their life

pheobe

followed closely by

screaming

and now it is more an intermittent case of

cantbreath

My current reaction to any sort of commercial involving kids:

Nyaaww

How pregnancy hormones affect your body while reading/watching any sort of romantic book, movie, or TV show

ovaries_explode

When Brian tells me not to snack because dinner is almost ready, I’m like:

tryna_get_slapped

Trying to grasp the concept of how a baby can grow from a sesame seed to a large melon in 40 weeks at first was like:

idontgetit

Trying to picture exactly how said large melon makes it’s way out of my body

wtf

When people tell me how horrible their birth experience was in horrible graphic detail

Dontdothat

 

Hope you all had a great weekend!

 

xo T