The Waiting Game...

Last Wednesday I hit the 37 week mark in my pregnancy which means the baby is considered to be full grown and could come at any time.  Zachary came at 37 weeks and four days so naturally I was hoping this baby would come early too.  No such luck.  Tomorrow is 38 weeks and although I have had lots of early labour signs it seems as though the baby is pretty happy right where it is.  So we wait...

In the mean time, we continue to check things off our to-do list and plan activities everyday to help the time pass more quickly.  

 

Lillies picked from my garden.

Zachary playing hopscotch.  Yes, he is wearing a scarf and mitts and yes it was like 22 degrees Celsius outside.  He must have his Grandma Jeanie's thermostat.

Making 'birth' cake, or a cake that we have in the freezer to take out once the baby is born to celebrate its birth.  Icing the cake with Grandma may be a project for Zachary while I am in labour.

Happy Tuesday! 
 

Light the Night Walk

This is a different kind of post for me, but something very dear to my heart.  Please take the time to read it.

As some of you may know my cousin Brianne was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in November.  Brianne is only 29 years old and a mother to two small children, Danika 3 and Bryce 1 (who was only 6 months old at the time of her diagnoses).

As you can imagine cancer changed her life dramatically over night. In November, she had emergency surgery to remove a large mass that was crushing her airways.  After the initial surgery, she was transferred to ICU to start chemo treatment.  She spent most of December in the hospital separated from her kids (I can only imagine how difficult that must have been for her).  Just before Christmas the she was told her tumour had shrunk considerably- so she was able to be home for the holidays while they decided what to do next. 

In February, Brianne had a seizure and needed to go back into the hospital for a bit.  They decided to do a stem cell transplant and found out the Brianne's brother Ryan was a 10/10 match for her.  On March 5th, Brianne went back to the Cancer Center after being given her new stem cells and waited for positive results.  After 17 days, things looked positive and she was released from the Cancer Centre but still had to return twice a week for check ups.

To cope financially with their new situation Brianne's family had to sell their house and move into a smaller more affordable condo.  With Brianne still being very sick, her husband and family were responsible for helping them move.  Brianne has had to close her day home, a job she loved more than anything and has been forced to rely on her husband and immediate family for care of herself and her children while she battles this disease. 

Today, Brianne is considered to be in remission.  She still goes for regular doctors appointments but is gaining more and more strength everyday.  She is fighting hard to regain her independence which was lost to Leukemia.  She is so happy when she is able to do even the smallest chore like lift Danika into her chair or change Bryce's diaper herself (which she hasn't been able to do).

The Light the Night Walk is a fundraising event to help raise money to help doctors understand blood cancers more.  Ironically enough it is an event Brianne has been a part of for a few years now since Brett's cousin was diagnosed with Leukemia.  This year the event is even more near and dear to her and her family and friend's hearts given the fight Brianne herself has gone through this past year.

This September, my family and I will be going down to Calgary to walk with Brianne and to show our support.  I have joined Brianne's team and ask for your help to reach my fundraising goal.

You can visit my site here:

http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=897233

Thank you for your help.

May this post find you and your loved ones healthly and happy.

Happy Monday!

Swimmin' Lessons

It was a long (cold) two weeks but we made it... today is the last day of swimming lessons.  Don't get me wrong we have had a lot of fun and Zach has gained a lot of confidence in the water which was the main goal but at 9 months pregnant it has been quite the choir getting to and from the pool every day.  

Today we are happy to celebrate the last day.

 

Happy Friday!
 

Cheeks!

We were driving around Edmonton last night and were about 3 minutes away from our destination when this happened...

 Zachary: "I pooping Daddy!"

Murray: "squeeze your cheeks Zach we are almost there"

Murray and I turn around to see Zachary doing this...

We temporarily forgot how literal two year olds can be.  Too Funny!

Happy Thursday!

Summer Lovin'

I opted to have a baby later in the summer this time around mostly because I knew I wanted a little alone time with Zachary in the summer before our new baby made its arrival.  The past few weeks since school has finished we have been making the most of our time and have really enjoyed each others company.

I signed Zachary up for swimming lessons at the outdoor pool here in town, not because I wanted to go swimming with him everyday for two weeks at 9 months pregnant but because for the entire month of June Zachary has been talking about 'swimmin' lessons' since his friend next door has been going and I knew he would benefit from some consistent formal exposure to the water.  Lately he hasn't wanted to get his head wet or put his face in the water (which he used to love).  So far he seems to enjoy it (only when the weather is nice though).

We read lots of books.  I recently pulled out some books on tape that my mom saved from when I was a kid and Zachary seems to really enjoy those, very nostalgic for me (an idea I got from my friend Marci). Yes, that is Murray's old CD/cassette player in the background from when he was like 15, we are putting it to good use!

 We spend lots of time outside, either at the park or in our backyard.  Zachary likes to help water the plants and recently got a new dinosaur pool that he just can't seem to get enough of. 

 

Look at that lovely garden in the background!

   

Even a camp out in the basement.  The tent has now turned into Zachary's clubhouse and you have to be a Disney Character to go inside.  Does my child watch too much Mickey Mouse on Disney channel?  Maybe.

 Murray has mentioned that we should do a few more things with other kids so that Zachary can keep working on his social skills that he has developed at the day home, so we have a few play dates set up for next week. But I have to admit at this point I am a little reluctant to share him.

My house is not as clean as it could be and we are slow to check things off of our baby to-do list but right now we are just having a lot of fun.

Happy Friday!
  

5 o'clock insomnia...

DId you notice the time I posted this blog? Thats right 5:00 am!

I must be close to having this baby now because I have started to get a case of the pre-baby 5 am insomnia.

I remember this clearly from when I was pregnant with Zachary only because everyone I talked to about the baby would say 'get your rest now, everything will change when that baby comes'. I would try to rest as much as possible and generally sleep well until 5 am every single morning.  Then I just toss and turn, think, plan my day, read, or play on the computer for an hour or so until I feel tired enough to fall back asleep. The kicker this time around is having Zachary come into our room around 6:30 every morning to announce it is 'mornin' time, the sun waked up!' after what feels like moments after I have fallen back to sleep.

This time around I know how tired I am actually going to be when the new baby comes so it makes it just that much more frustrating when I am not sleeping at 5 am.  

Thank goodness for afternoon nap time! 

Happy Thursday!

Maternity Photos!

What a great way to celebrate my 36th week of pregnancy!  My good friend Sandra came out to take some maternity pictures yesterday and surprisingly she already has a sneak peek posted up on her blog.  

Check them out here.

 

Thanks for your patience Sandra.  Zachary was less than cooperative so unfortunately I had to pull out the bribery card and offer suckers and ice cream but it worked and I am loving' the pictures from the sneak peek! 

Happy Wednesday!