A New Bike for Shaun

So this morning, Poppy and Nana brought by a new bike for Shaun. The first one was a little too big for his short little legs so we quickly exchanged that one for a smaller one and Poppy and Nana threw in a helmet in the deal! Shaun spent the whole afternoon driving up and down the path behind our house. At first he would get frustrated because his legs aren't strong enough to do a complete rotation of the pedals but then he figured out that he could push from the back like a scooter and that just made his day!

Thanks Poppy and Nana for the awesome present!!

25 Weeks

I'm right in the middle of my favourite point of pregnancy: 5 to about 7 months. Although it would probably be longer if I wasn't always pregnant in the dreadful heat of the summer. By this point I'm obviously pregnant and no longer just 'letting myself go', plus I have the energy of a race horse and feel like my old self again. Maternity clothes still fit well and my boobs aren't leaking all over the place just yet. I get gentle reminder throughout the day that I have a human growing inside me but not enough to make me uncomfortable. The zits of early pregnancy seem to have disappeared along with the morning sickness. Overall, I think I'd like to be 5 1/2 months pregnant forever. Well, maybe not forever, but if I could arrange to be feeling and looking like I'm 5 1/2 months pregnant for the entire 9 months, I'd have a dozen kids at least by now! And I'm sure Craig would be more open to having more children if I had the emotional stability of a 5 1/2 month pregnant woman for the whole time. :)

Fore!

We were finally able to make it out to the driving range as a family today. Shaun's been practicing his golf swing all winter and we've been talking to him about eventually going to the range so he can hit some balls. He was impressed at all the people there and gave us a running commentary of everyone around us: 'Daddy, he just made a good shot," or "Mummy, that man isn't very happy with his golf club." Last summer Craig cut down a couple of his old clubs and made them Shaun-size. They're still too heavy for Shaun to swing properly and he's compensated for the weight by using a reverse grip. We're working on encouraging him to change his grip but it's pretty engrained now - just like thumb-sucking and nose-picking!

I enjoy golf but I'm terrible at it and with a big belly in the way these days I decided I wasn't going to drive any balls. Besides, Shaun needed a few reminders to stay within the ropes and not steal the balls from the people beside him.

Spring is Here

Boy, after the early arrival of the long and drawn-out winter, it seems that spring is finally here. My tulips in both gardens in the backyard have all popped out of the ground. Most are close to 8 inches tall and a few have the buds peeking out from between the leaves. There seems to be so many more than last year. I guess that's how bulbs work: they keep multiplying year after year. Maybe eventually I can have a full garden of tulips rather than a skinny little row like I had last year.

Today was a glorious 26 degrees Celcius. Shaun played outside all morning in just shorts and a t-shirt and went back out after dinner as it started to cool down. He was devastated when he got up from his nap at 4:00 and I told him we had to do groceries before he would be able to play outside. He moped around for the next 20 minutes while I dressed him to go and we drove to the grocery store. But by the time we got there he seemed to be out of his funk, thankfully. There's nothing worse than shopping on a busy Friday afternoon with a toddler than shopping on a busy Friday afternoon with a miserable toddler. He was incredibly patient and understanding while we waited for 5 customers ahead of us in line. I'll never know what caused his patience. Some days he's more patient than me and I understand the concept of time. I can only imagine how hard it must be for a 2 1/2 year old to wait patiently when his mother tells him no less than 6 times that the line will only take a minute. That must be a long minute in his mind!

The kitchen reno is really moving along. I got a call this afternoon while I was out that the countertop is ready for pickup, a whole 4 days earlier than we were told! We haven't even removed the old countertop yet because we weren't expecting the new one until Tuesday! I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow. That and preparing for my sister Tara and her husband Wes to visit. They're coming to town for a wedding in the afternoon and will join us for dinner before heading home early evening. She's pregnant too and it's always fun to groan and complain with someone who's going through the same things, just 10 weeks behind. I'll try and remember to post pictures, that is, if I remember to take any! The battery in the camera was dead this afternoon when I tried to use it outside. I'm terrible at remembering to turn it off when I'm finished uploading to the computer.

24 Weeks

There's something about this magical number that makes me sigh with relief. In all reality, I could be days away from reaching the 24 week mark of this pregnancy or I could have reached it last week some time. Whatever it is, going by my original due date of August 5, I'm at 24 weeks today. I know that the chance of a baby being born at 24 weeks and surviving without any complications is still less than favourable - 20-25% I've read - but that's still really good odds! Top that off with the slim chance that I'll actually be delivering this baby within the next few days or weeks and I can admit that I feel really great that we'll be bringing home a new human in only 4 months time.

I can't help but continue to worry that this pregnancy is well. It's funny because I feel the baby moving inside me all the time, a reminder that it's happy and healthy; I had a great ultrasound a few weeks back; I continue to measure on-target for growth and weight gain; so why do I continue to worry? I have to admit that most of the worry I've created on my own but with the amount of sad stories on internet blogs and my own experiences with miscarriage I know that a baby is never a for sure thing - even once they're born there's still so many things that can happen to have them taken away. I actually didn't mean for this to be a somber blog entry. I more wanted to celebrate that I'm at 24 weeks! So I'll end here before I dig this hole any deeper.

Picnic in the Tent

I got a tent for Shaun at IKEA last weekend and set it up in the living room as a reading corner for him. I placed a blanket on the tent floor and added pillows and a basket of books as well as his little radio and some markers and a notebook. He spends a lot of time in there; as do the cats!

Today Shaun decided he wanted to have a picnic in the tent for lunch. Who am I to say no? I thought it was a terrific idea! I made him Kraft Dinner. Now, seriously, I hate that he loves KD. It has absolutely no nutrition and the powdered fake cheese smell makes me want to run from the kitchen. I'm so glad he loves broccoli though because I was able to give him a bowl of that along with the KD and he ate all the broccoli and left some of the Kraft Dinner. At least I got a little nutrition in him at lunch today.

Tonight swimming lessons begin again. Shaun's in the pool on his own for all 11 classes this time. I'm pretty confident he'll do great but I still have this nagging doubt that he'll spend the first 5 lessons having a fit at the side of the pool. It kills me to see him upset but I tell myself that he's not upset for any good reason. He just wants his mummy in the pool with him and needs to realize that he and I can't do everything together. He's 2 1/2 afterall!

22 Weeks

I really should continue to take photos during the day because I look so much better than at night, which is when this one was taken!!