The way He takes care of us

For the last few weeks we've been on pins and needles praying that John didn't get laid off, since Stantec was laying off 200 people, and hoping beyond hope that a raise would come. Well, John was told a few days that Stantec now considers him too skilled to lay him off, which was great news for us. Even better, yesterday John got his magical envelope that said he was getting a $2/hr raise. We have been so blessed by Heavenly Father. Any time that we've started worrying about where money is going to come from He makes sure that we're taken care of. Now the only concern is whether they have to go to four day work weeks in the new year, but we'll deal with that when the time comes.

I'm so excited for tomorrow. John is working until noon and then he'll be on vacation until Jan 5th, super exciting!!! Tomorrow afternoon we'll exchange gifts with my dad and then on Sunday we have church, which should be fun as we're just going to play a church trivia game with John's Sunday School class. Monday I am hanging out with Lynn for a while. Tuesday is Ty's 2 month shots appointments and we'll be heading out to Wainwright from there. We'll be staying until the following Tuesday, so that should be interesting. We were originally only supposed to be there for a couple of days, but it first got extended so that we can spend some time with the Orr family and then it got extended even more because I have an eyebrow waxing appointment on the morning of the 30th. Then on the 31st it will be our 3 year anniversary, which we're celebrating with a cheese fondue supper and chocolate fondue dessert. Yes, I am actually going to be eating chocolate, ha ha. It's not a huge secret that I'm not a very big fan of chocolate, but it will still be fun:)

Since I won't be posting again until after Christmas I just want to wish you all a Happy Christmas and hope that you enjoy the holidays. May we always remember during Christmas the greatest gift of all, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Happy Christmas is Almost Here:)

So the book club went well. We didn't have quite as many people as I thought we would, but we still had a really good discussion, mostly about the Twilight movie rather than the book. Should be interesting when we go see it together next Tuesday as most of us thought that the movie was pretty crappy for the most part, ha ha. I'm looking forward to laughing at Carlisle again, though. I've actually been quite busy lately, which is a big change for me. Friday our company got here for the weekend and John and I helped to clean the church that night. The next day I went to Generations with my SILs in the morning and spent WAY more than I should have and then that evening was my baby shower. Oh, and in the afternoon I went to Bootlegger and bought 2 tops with a gift card my dad had given me for my birthday and my mum bought me a hat. Sunday was Ty's baby blessing, which was good. I was super happy that Spencer Pasowisty was there and able to help with it, it was nice to be able to include a friend in there. Monday was supposed to be the night that we put up the tree, but none of us were feeling up to it, so we decided not to. Tuesday was mine and Ty's 6 week checkups. They went well, other than I have to do back strengthening exercises to get my hip better and if it's not better by the time Ty's 3 months old then I have to start going for physio. Ty weighed in at 9lbs9oz!!! That night I went to the church and did 3 glazed pictures. I peeked at them yesterday and I didn't get a great look at my big one, but the 2 smaller ones with pictures of Christ look GREAT! I'm really happy with them. Yesterday night was the Relief Society Christmas party, which was a lot of fun. I loved the video we watched (The Nativity) and the song that Kari chose to go with it, they worked perfectly together. The games were super fun too, it was very enjoyable. Tonight was supposed to be our night off from the crazy schedule, but John is going to have to go out and get groceries because we don't have enough formula left to get through tomorrow, so may as well do it all at once, I guess. Tomorrow night we are putting up the tree and hopefully we'll be watching Prince Caspian. We never got to see it in theatres, so I'm really looking forward to it. I think next weekend we'll watch Polar Express with Caleb. I'm really loving the fact that the Christmas season is upon us. I don't have to hide my favourite Christmas album from John anymore (he hates that I listen to it year round). It's one the the Trans Siberian Orchestra albums and I love the music on it. Caleb has been getting his advent chocolates, which he's been greatly enjoying. John is buying him a gingerbread house kit tonight, so we'll put that together some time this weekend. I love December, even though my toes are frozen:)

November's Almost Gone, YAY!

It's been an interesting couple of days. On Sunday we went to do our tithing settlement with our bishop and while we were there he extended a calling to me (after I begged for one, ha ha). Turns out they've been waiting on this one for a while just to make sure that I was okay after having the baby and all of that. I won't say what it is yet since I still have to be sustained this coming Sunday, but I will say that I'm very excited about it and I know that it was definately inspired. Also, Kari asked me if I would be in charge of our Relief Society's book club, and I accepted. I'm not a natural leader, but I'm sure it will work out good. Our first meeting is tonight and we'll be discussing future meetings and Twilight.

I just finished registering for Time Out For Women. It's coming to Edmonton on May 1&2, 2009. I'm really excited about it, since it will be my first time going to one.

On Sunday Ty turned a month old! I can't believe it's already been a month. The time seems to be going by even quicker this time than it did with Caleb. Before I know it they'll be going on missions!!!

I've been cleaning the house the last couple of days and it actually looks presentable now. I'm so happy that I'm able to take care of the house again and not have to rely on John to do everything. If he's going to go out for 5 long days every week so that I can stay at home, then the least I can do is take care of our kids and our house and have dinner ready (or close to it) when he gets home. It really bothered me when I wasn't able to do that because I felt like I wasn't fulfilling my role as a wife and a mother. Maybe I'm just wierd, though, who knows?

I've also started wrapping Christmas presents and yesterday I put out the few decorations that I have. I realized that I have next to NO decorations, so next year we'll have to invest in a few more, I think. Oh well, the tree will be up next week and that will help. We made decorations yesterday, which was interesting. Caleb did a better job of painting the wipes container than his actual ornaments, but whatever works, right? Anyways, that's all for now:)

Who's Responsible For That?!?

Friday night I went and saw Twilight with Heather, Jodi and Maria. There were some parts that I really liked, but there were a lot of part that just made me think "Who's responsible for that?!?" When they first introduced Carlisle, it was awful. Jodi and I busted a gut laughing for about 5 minutes. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even answer Heather when she asked me what was wrong. It was just an awful casting, I think. Same with Jacob. They totally butchered Billy's character, it was awful to watch any scene with him in it. And there were several other things that I had some serious issues with. But I'm still glad that I went and saw it. There were things that I really liked. I liked the casting for Alice and James quite a bit, actually. I loved Jasper during the ball game. And I loved Edward's smirk. I did, however, realize that I absolutely loathe the girls that screamed and squealed when Edward was first seen and whenever he and Bella kissed or anything else that they felt was scream worthy. It was SUPER annoying, but what can you do when you're dealing with immature teenaged girls, hey?

Today was our Super Saturday and it was a lot of fun, at least it was for me, I can't speak for everyone. I finally got to make my family name board, which I'll take pictures of and post later. I'm really happy with how it turned out, though. Then I got stuff together for my I-spy bag for the boys. After we had lunch I helped Jodi make her name board and visited with her and Robin, her sister. It was lots of fun, and I really enjoyed getting out and especially getting to hang out with Jodi again. I can talk to Jodi in a way that I really can't talk to anyone else, I think that's because we think so similarly about so many things.

After I got home my brother and Danielle came over and had pizza with us. We introduced them to Mario Kart Wii, which was quite entertaining since they had a really hard time adjusting to the wheel whereas John and I took to it right away. I love the wheel so much more that the Game Cube controllers. Anyways, so it was a really great day for me. I've been feeling so much better about life in general lately and that's such a nice feeling. I'd all but forgotten how it felt to be happy with my chemicals so out of whack and such a trying pregnancy, but it's all working itself out again and it's great. I am so blessed.

L's Mom

Okay, I'm finally going to admit to the fact the I read L's mom's blog. Mostly, it's just fun to see L growing through pictures more than seeing her in the pictures they send me only once a year. She is a beautiful child and so happy and it makes me happy to see how loved she is. And C always writes about really interesting stuff. She always has inspiring quotes and great messages she writes herself and it helps me to want to become a better person. And also, if she reads that I'm reading her blog then I don't have to feel bad because it means she's reading mine too, lol.

This last Monday she wrote about adoption. I didn't even realize that it's National Adoption Month, no one ever told me and I'd never seen it anywhere until I read that post. She wrote about someone else's feeling and her own and mentioned how she hates going to enrichment because of all of the pregnancy/birthing stories. It made me realize that I need to be more sensitive to the feelings of other's around me. I know someone right now who is trying for a baby and not having any luck so far and I feel so bad for all of the times that I've just blabbered on about my kid(s) in front of her. She's such an amazing person and the last thing in the world I'd want to do is offend her. It's so hard to not talk about my kids at all, because that's what I do all day long. The boys are such a part of who I am that it almost feels like I can't stop talking about them because it's like ignoring a piece of myself. But that doesn't mean that I can't learn some serious moderation. So that's what I want to work on right now is trying to be more sensitive to the feelings of other people.

So Relieved!

We took Tyrell back to the health centre yesterday to have him weighed again and he is actually 7 lbs 12 oz, the little porker! Turns out that the lady who weighed him last week did something wrong or whatever. I was so happy that he's fine, though.

John was supposed to have to work today, but I had a wicked migraine early this morning where I was super sick to my stomach and couldn't handle any light at all, even the computer monitor playing our black screensaver, so he ended up staying home to help me out. I started feeling better by about 10:30, so that was nice. John took Caleb out before lunch to get a snow shovel, since someone stole our's when we were still in the 2 bedroom and we obviously need one now since the snow decided to stick overnight. They also picked up some batteries for Ty's baby swing, so he can use the swing properly now, YAY!

We had some soup for lunch and now John is exercising while Caleb is napping. I got the winter coats out this morning and was very happy that mine fits quite well. I was worried I was still going to be too big for it, but I guess I was wrong, YAY! It's not often that I'm happy about being wrong, but I sure was today:) Anyways, I should get going and maybe put some laundry away or something, ha ha.

Nervous About Monday, Twice Over

For the last 2 weeks I've had help pretty much 24/7. First I had John with me in the hospital, then my mum was here for a week and this week John's mom has been here. However, on Monday I will be going it alone with 2 kids for the first time, which I'm a bit nervous about. Caleb has finally realized that Tyrell is here to stay and has gotten really violent and clingy. I'm not quite sure what else to do for him other than try to cuddle him more when I can.

I'm also pretty nervous for Monday because I took Tyrell to have him weighed this Wednesday and the scale said he was only 5lbs7oz. I was thinking "there is NO way that he is that much below his birth weight", so I talked to a health nurse and she figures that the hospital got his birth weight wrong or something because Tyrell is filling out fine, eating well, outputting well and wakes up well, so there's nothing wrong with him. But they still have to see a weight increase in him, so I have to bring him back on Monday to have him weighed again, so hopefully that goes well.

I've spent most of the week with a headache, but other than that, things are going good. I think the headache is because I've been sleeping with my jaw clenched for some reason. I got my WiiFit on Saturday and I'm loving it. John's been using it too:) Anyways, not too much else is new here, so that's all for now, I suppose...

Tyrell Jason Bly

After what felt like a VERY LONG pregnancy, baby Tyrell is here.

Tyrell Jason Bly
Thursday, October 23, 2008
3:50 pm
6 lbs 1 oz

18.5"
Wainwright, AB

We left the hospital on Saturday morning and got home to Edmonton that evening. It was SO nice to be back in my own bed after being gone for so long. We are adjusting well. Tyrell is such a good baby, we love him so much.

The End is in Sight!

Friday afternoon I got a phone call letting me know that my induction is booked for this Thursday at 8am. I am SO happy that I have an end in sight now and that it's so soon. I guess me crying at my last doctor's appointment did SOME good, ha ha. Friday night I went to a Partylight thing with my mum. I bought 2 packs of tealights and an instant manicure stuff. I never would have bought the manicure stuff normally, but I actually tried it out and loved it, so my mum convinced me to get it. One of the tealight sets is for John, they are coconut milk chocolate scented, and he LOVES coconut. The other set is cinnamon and bayberry, for a holiday like smell in December.
I didn't do too much over the weekend, since it's getting really hard to walk around and what not, but Caleb went to the park for a bit on Saturday and yesterday Bob took him out to the river area to run around while they took the dog for a run. Caleb saw a train, which he was very excited about.
Not too much else is new here, we're just really looking forward to Thursday and meeting our new baby boy.

Playing the Waiting Game With Tyrell

The biggest thing from the last week is that we're playing the waiting game with Tyrell. His head is down about as low as it can go before I'm actually in labour and the doctor said it could be anytime, but he's been like that for over a week now. It's been a pretty stressful one, with 3 false alarms and so much uncertainty about when he's going to make his appearance. I decided yesterday though that I'm just going to enjoy things one day at a time and have fun with Caleb while it's still just him until Tyrell decides that it's time to greet the world. Caleb is having a blast being at Grandma and Grandpa's, but I don't think the dog is quite as impressed, since Caleb loves to try to sit on him and hit him with toys. Jake, the dog, will be very happy when Caleb goes back home, I think. It's been nice for me to have the help from Mum and Bob with Caleb, but I am very much looking forward to when I can be back in my own home and run things my own way. I was on bed rest for a while because the nurses all freaked out when I had false labour at 35 weeks 5 days, but tomorrow I'll be 37 and there's no cause for concern anymore so I'm very much mobile again. Well, as mobile as a sore pregnant woman can be, I suppose. I'm hoping to be up to taking Caleb to the park this afternoon, at least. So that's what's new with us, we're just waiting and waiting. Could be in a few hours or could be a week and a half from now, your guess is as good as our's.

Facts About Me

Inspired by Alana's 100, I decided to do 100 facts about me that aren't very well known, so here goes:
1. I prefer being called Nikki over Nicole so much that I will correct anyone who calls me Nicole except for my family I grew up with and when I’m receiving a priesthood blessing.
2. Even though my birth certificate says I was born in Nova Scotia and I lived there for the first year and a half of my life, I happily call myself an Albertan.
3. The thought of raising my children in Edmonton scares me a lot.
4. I had such an influence over my brother growing up that at my wedding he thanked me for all of the years of parenting.
5. If I don’t talk to my mum on the phone at least once a day I feel very disoriented.
6. I hate Mother’s Day and have ever since I was pregnant my firstborn. I dread that day each year.
7. I love Christmas and Christmas season starts for me on November 12th.
8. I start shopping for Christmas presents in late spring or early summer and am always done before anyone else in my family.
9. I knew John and I were supposed to get married before we even became a couple. We had a lengthy courtship of 2 days before he asked me to marry him.
10. I honestly don’t remember being married. I remember being in the sealing room, I remember kneeling at the alter and the next thing I remember after that is everyone congratulating us. I guess that’s what happens when you have a nasty head cold on the day of your wedding.
11. I want a college degree once my kids are all in school, but have no clue what I want to take.
12. I have only spent 1 night of my life outside of Canada. It was in Montana when I was about 7.
13. I have lived in 17 different homes in my life.
14. I have crowd claustrophobia that goes haywire in Walmart, Superstore and West Ed.
15. I have phone anxiety so bad that I will do almost anything to get out of phoning just about anyone.
16. My favourite chocolate bar is a British import, Galaxy Ripple.
17. I wish that I could get out and socialize more.
18. I’m a planner and need to plan things as soon as I first think of them, even if they are years off.
19. I haven’t had bangs since junior high and don’t plan to ever have them again.
20. When Caleb was about a month old we went out to someone’s house for dinner and we forgot his diaper bag, which included his bottle.
21. Our sons’ middle names are the first names of the witnesses from our wedding (Rodney Bly and Jason Orr).
22. I like making cards, but can’t think of original ideas, so I just copy other people’s work.
23. I have no problem with getting blood taken or getting needles but absolutely dread having IVs put in.
24. I’m not only scared of mice, but of birds and bats as well.
25. I have a hard time being around my family now that I have different standards than they do.
26. I used to hate pork chops because that’s all my dad would ever make when we visited him, but now I really enjoy them.
27. I don’t eat any form of seafood and even the smell of it makes me feel sick.
28. My brother and I both get sick from the smell of pineapple and tuna and it has been this way as long as we can remember.
29. I moved out of my mum and step-dad’s house at the age of 17 for a month over an argument with my step-dad about putting my hand into a chip bag.
30. I have had 2 nervous breakdowns that resulting in me being in the hospital for at least one night.
31. I was overjoyed when I found syrups to make a pop taste like an alcoholic beverage that I used to drink. All the great taste without the poison, HORRAY!
32. I broke off the first date I had set up with John.
33. I set up our next date and found myself keeping the date going on for longer since I was enjoying myself so much.
34. I plan my meals out several months in advance and almost always stick to these plans.
35. I buy the majority of my groceries at the beginning of the month and only purchase perishables on a weekly basis.
36. I used to be a cat person until I started having cats invade my yard and keep me up while they were in heat.
37. I used to organize Caleb’s clothes in his dresser by outfits so that I wouldn’t be bothered by outfits that John picked out for him.
38. My family grew up with a tradition that we would get a new ornament for the Christmas tree every year and I have continued that tradition with the family I have now.
39. I believed in Santa until I was almost 12.
40. Finding out the truth of Santa didn’t cause me any harm even though I believed in him for so long.
41. I am jealous that John gets to eat the things that get left out for Santa.
42. I failed my red badge in swimming the first time because I couldn’t tread water.
43. I have read the entire quad from cover to cover, well, all of the actual scriptures anyways.
44. It throws me off when we can’t sit in our usual bench in Church, even though it’s nice to sometimes have a break from my noisy nieces and nephews.
45. I really want a calling in Young Women’s, but would be happy with pretty much any calling outside of primary and nursery.
46. I wish there was a support group in Edmonton for spouses of people who suffer from OCD.
47. I used to get really mad when people would comment about that fact that I wasn’t able to nurse Caleb.
48. I had a hard time bonding with Caleb once he was born and didn’t do so until his first night out of the hospital when he wouldn’t stop crying for anyone but me.
49. I have read Harry Potter so many times that I’ve lost count.
50. I can reread just about anything and still enjoy the book.
51. Even though I only have my learner’s, I love getting the chance to drive when we’re travelling.
52. I still have no intention of getting my driver’s while we live in Edmonton, even though I’ve been pestered about it a lot.
53. I have craved McDonald’s cheeseburgers with each pregnancy.
54. I have a harder time each year with giving people ideas of what to get me for my birthday or Christmas.
55. I have had stitches once, in my finger, a broken bone once, a different finger, and one sprained ankle in my whole life.
56. I think my mum would be an amazing Relief Society president if she were a member of the Church and have told her this a few times.
57. I planned my class’s graduation almost single handedly as one of my Special Projects courses.
58. I was a cheerleader in grade 12 and the assistant volleyball coach as well.
59. I love to watch hockey and soccer and can’t stand to watch baseball or golf.
60. Even though I’m an Oilers fan, I will cheer for any Canadian team going for the Stanley Cup, even the Flames.
61. I have given 2 talks in Church and both times I was the youth speaker.
62. I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve played our Nintendo Wii by myself.
63. I have a hard time not laughing when Caleb blows bubbles in his milk and gets excited about the results.
64. I usually order the same thing every time I go to a restaurant.
65. I am often scared that maybe I don’t have any real friends.
66. I love spring and rain.
67. It saddens me that I don’t fit most of the clothes that I want to wear. I miss my punk style.
68. I find skater shoes to be the most comfortable shoes, but don’t wear them often anymore because I can’t afford $80 shoes.
69. I have only been to 2 funerals in my life and had never met either person while they were living.
70. My labour with Caleb was longer than my labour with Lauren by 10 hours, but my hard labour was significantly less time with Caleb.
71. My doctor didn’t deliver either of my children. He was out of town for when Lauren was born and didn’t make it to the hospital in time for Caleb.
72. I think I might cry if he’s not there to deliver Tyrell.
73. The drive from Wainwright to Edmonton seems to get longer for me each time instead of shorter.
74. Caleb has never been allowed to sleep in our bed with us.
75. I can recite almost the entire Cars movie by heart thanks to Caleb.
76. I can hear a song once, not hear it again for a few years and then be able to sing along with it when I hear it the next time.
77. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people sing along with songs and they don’t know the words.
78. I couldn’t get into the first Harry Potter book until I’d seen the movie, even though I did try.
79. I’ve had Caleb’s Halloween costume since July.
80. When I was growing up I hated having milk in my cereal.
81. I still don’t like soggy cereal, but I’m learning to like having milk in there as long as I eat it fast.
82. I really want to learn how to play piano.
83. I did all 13 years of Girl Guides, and earned my Canada Cord and Chief Commissioner’s Gold Award Emblem.
84. I will be done my Christmas shopping by the end of October this year.
85. Even though I probably shouldn’t, I do have a favourite niece and a favourite nephew.
86. I had a hard time buying Christmas presents this year because we had Heather and Mike’s family and so there were 8 people to buy for.
87. I feel bad that our boys got less for Christmas because we had so many people to buy for in the Pohl family.
88. My step-sister and I were friends before our parents started dating and then didn’t like each other until Caleb was born.
89. I would love to become an auntie by blood within the next 5 years and am sad that my brother intends to wait about 10 years before they start having kids.
90. I find humour in the fact that my brother and his girlfriend have been together as long as John and I have but they aren’t even officially engaged and John and I are married and about to have our second kid.
91. My taste in music is so broad that I have everything from Korn to Michael McLean on my iPod.
92. My biggest reason for wanting to own my own home is so that I can actually paint my walls. I actually couldn’t care less about the fact that it’s an investment.
93. I worked at KFC 3 different times and am still able to eat there.
94. I didn’t let Caleb eat peanut butter until he was almost 2 because I was so scared he would have an allergic reaction even though neither of our families have a history of peanut allergies.
95. Even though each of my pregnancies has been worse than the last, I still intend to endure at least one more, probably two more.
96. Watching John go through his bad OCD spell was one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced. I wanted nothing more than to be able to go through it for him.
97. I love holiday dinners but don’t like turkey, what are the odds?
98. My first Christmas away from my family was hard not because I wasn’t with them but because there were no perogies or cabbage rolls with the Christmas dinner.
99. I have a hard time being away from home for more than a night or two.
100. I hate hearing John’s forced air machine when it’s there, but can’t sleep properly without it when it’s not.

No More Sleeps, YAY!

We've worked really hard the last 2 days and our house is clean now, YAY! On Monday we got a lot done and I did my visiting teaching interview with Kari. Then yesterday we finished things up other than the last minute stuff and I went visiting teaching in the evening. John took Caleb out and dropped of a library book, picked up some new ones, picked up some fruit from Safeway that I needed and then took Caleb to Heather and Mike's. They had gone there to drop off John's Sunday School manual since Mike is going to be teaching for John this Sunday and to drop of Joshie's birthday card since we don't know if John will even be around that day, but Joseph needed a blessing because he apparently ate a HUGE chunk of a book and had already thrown up twice because of it. So Heather kept Caleb away for Joseph while John helped Mike give Joseph a blessing. After I got home from visiting teaching I brought the fruit tray over to Jodi and talked for a bit before I came back home. I'm so happy that I have almost everything packed and the house is so clean, it's such a nice feeling. John gave me my pre-labour blessing last night. I think that going into labour is a huge enough deal that it warrents a blessing for extra strenth, so we took care of that. It was a really nice blessing and it FINALLY convinced John that there is no way that this baby is going to come out a girl, ha ha.

Yesterday we decided that when we get back from me having the baby that we're going to go and buy John a new forced air machine for his sleep apnea. His should have been replaced about 5 years ago, but no one told him he was supposed to replace his machine every 5 years until last Christmas. We're hoping to get him the kind that is able to adjust the air pressure by itself instead of having to go to the store to have that done. I'm more excited for him getting a different style of mask though. He's been leaking air through his mouth which is a really annoying sound and it detracts from the full benifits of a forced air machine, so we're getting him a mask that covers both his nose and his mouth so that it won't be a problem anymore.

Anywho, we'll be off to Wainwright after work, HORRAY!!!

Only 2 Nights Left Before Wainmo

We decided this morning that instead of running around like mad chickens on Thursday morning to get out of the house on time that we're going to head to Wainwright after work on Wednesday instead. That means that I only have 2 nights left in the house until the baby comes, I can't believe the time is passing so quickly now. Right now it's a race to see if I'll even be able to wait another week before I go into labour. Tyrell dropped completely out of my ribs on Friday and he dropped a bit more during the night. The end is so close, it's unreal. I've been so blessed this last week, my back has barely hurt at all, other than the regular end of pregnancy aches. I am so grateful for that. I've got our stuff about half packed now for the trip to Wainwright. My mum is making me a belated birthday dinner on Friday night, which I'm looking forward to. I chose to have fajitas and for dessert I chose this cocoa-nut mousse stuff that's actually from the South Beach Diet, but I love it! Then on Saturday my brother is buying me a cake to make up for not having bought me a birthday present, not that I thought he would. The poor kids is trying to pay for his schooling, the last thing he needs to be doing is buying me stuff.

We had a really good weekend. For the first time in 3 years, I was able to watch all 4 sessions of conference. I loved it, they were so inspirational and uplifting! I found that both morning sessions were especially great. My birthday was good. John made me a bacon and eggs breakfast, which was really yummy. My brother came over for supper and we had hamburger soup. John and Caleb had already given me all 4 Twilight books and 3 movies for my birthday. My dad gave me a $50 gift card for Bootlegger, which I'm looking forward to using at the beginning of December when my body is a bit more back to normal. My mum is paying for my manicure and pedicure on Friday morning as my present, which I am REALLY looking forward to. Then that afternoon I'm getting my hair thinned and having my dye job touched up so that I won't look too bad in my hospital pictures. I'm not the kind of person that looks great after having a baby, I look frumpy and totally drained of all energy, but it's so worth it.

So it's going to be a busy couple of days here. We have to finish getting the house ready for the baby, just in case John doesn't make it back after Thanksgiving, you never know at the rate things are going. I also have to finish packing and I have visiting teaching tomorrow night as well, which I'm looking forward to. So I hope that everyone has a great week and by the time I get back to Wainwright, I'll have my little baby to show off, HORRAY!

Hopefully Farewell to Our TV

Tonight we're going to look for a new TV. I'm very excited about that, since the TV we have now has this really high pitched squeal to it whenever you turn it on that has been giving me migraines. So we're just going to get something a little bit bigger than what we have now, but still nothing fancy. Frankly, I don't much care as long as it doesn't give me a headache whenever it's on. We also have to look at new phones since our seem to die when they've only been off of the charger for a few hours and barely even used. My doctor's appointment went well, so I'm happy about that. I'm really excited to head to Wainwright in less than a week, but I'm still really nervous about switching from 1 kid to 2. It will all work out though. At least my mum told me that nervousness about the switch is normal, ha ha. Tomorrow and Sunday are General Conference, which I'm really looking forward to. And Sunday also happens to be my birthday! It's the big 2 dozen! Exciting stuff:) I already got my presents from John and Caleb, so I will just be getting cards that day, but that's fine by me. And I only have 3 gift cards left to buy and I will be done ALL of my Christmas shopping, HORRAY! It will be nice to not have to stress about that with a new baby. Anyways, so tonight I will hopefully be saying farewell to the migraine TV, YAY!

Only 4 More Weeks, ACK!

It's really starting to hit me that I have less than a month and this baby will be here. It's a really bittersweet thought, actually. I'm looking forward to actually holding him in my arms instead of being kicked in the ribs and all that, but at the same time I can't help but to worry if I will be able to handle being a mom of two. Will I still be able to give Caleb the attention he needs? Will I be able to do that for Caleb and still give Tyrell what he needs? How do moms of more than one kid manage? I mean, I'm sure there's some natural instinct that kicks in when you need it, like with caring for a newborn when you've never done that before, but I'm a natural worrier, so here I sit hoping that somehow it will manage to work itself out when the time comes.

Caleb had a really good birthday. He ate LOTS of roast beef, which is unusual for him so I guess I did a really good job on this one. He's normally not a big meat eater. Almost every single present he got had something to do with Cars, so he was very happy about that.

On Saturday evening I was able to listen to the Relief Society broadcast. I just watched over the internet so I didn't have to go and shift uncomfortably in a chair when it wasn't necessary. John kept Caleb occupied downstairs. I really enjoyed the talks and felt really motivated by them. I'm looking forward to General Conference even more now that I've listened to the broadcast.

Not too much else is new here. My back has been better the last couple of days except for at bedtime and during the night, but I'm at least able to move around a lot more comfortably during the day, which has been a great blessing to me. I've also been having a lot more positive of an attitude the last few days and that really seems to be helping a lot. I'm not too sure where it came from, probably because I've been reading more scriptures each day than I used to. My whole attitude changes when I start putting more of an effort into doing the things that I should be doing, which is a reminder to me that Heavenly Father does indeed bless us when we try our hardest to be obedient to His commandments.

Anyways, we're on weekly doctor appointments now. I have one this Wednesday and then I'm really looking forward to next Thursday's because that's when I go to stay in Wainwright until I have the baby. Just over a week and I'll be leaving our house for the last time as a mum of one. I managed to finally get Tyrell's room clean, and then John put more empty boxes in there, lol, so he'll have to take those out tonight. Anywho, that's about all for now:)

The Miracle of Pudding

So I wasn't exactly at the top of my game in my last post, to say the least. Again, I am sorry. I spent a lot of the morning crying. Then a miracle happened tonight, I call it the miracle of pudding. I kind of forgot about FHE since I had to go and have lab work done tonight, so I decided that I was going to have John and Caleb finger paint together and I would take some pictures of them. I made finger paint using some cannery vanilla pudding and food colouring. John had to first convince Caleb that it was okay to stick his fingers into the paint, but once he got going there was no stopping him. He got excited about drawing circles on the pages and all of the pretty colours. Then we got him to realize that he could eat the paint and that it tasted good, so he was VERY excited about that. Next John decided to paint Caleb's face, and it was SO cute to watch. I was laughing and smiling the whole time and my whole day of crappiness seemed to fade away as I watched the two of them together. It was exactly what I needed. To me, it felt like a miracle to be that happy after the morning that I had so I wanted to share with everyone our Miracle of Pudding:) Hope you all had a great FHE!

5 More Weeks, At The Most

Not a lot of exciting news for the first part of last week. On Wednesday I had Enrichment and it was good. It helped me get ideas of things to do with Caleb and things I can use in the future to help teach him things and help him in school. I love learning ideas and skills that I will actually use, so this was a great Enrichment for me.

Thursday I had an appointment in Wainwright, so we headed down there for the day. I got my eyebrows waxed, which my mum paid for the day before so it didn't cost me anything, which was a very nice surprise. My appointment with my doctor was short, but I was happy because he said the baby is still doing very well, it's just me that's having all of the problems and that he will for sure induce me at 38 weeks if I haven't had the baby on my own by then. I've been really worried about the baby since we found out that he has only one artery in his umbilical cord, but the ultrasound tech and doctor both have said that he's growing right on schedule and haven't seen any problems, so that's really good news. That evening we had a dinner party for Caleb with my mum and step-dad, since his birthday is this coming Thursday. Mum made lasagna for us for supper, it was so yummy. We had chocolate cupcakes for dessert, which Caleb had a LOT of fun with and then we opened his presents. Almost everything he got from my mum, Bob, Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Shirley and Uncle Jerry was Cars. That word is fast becoming a 4 letter word in this house. I am SO tired of Cars, but he absolutely LOVES the movie, the toys, the clothes and anything that's considered a vehicle.

Saturday night I started getting contactions that were about 20 minutes apart, and I got REALLY worried since a complication with this umbilical cord issue is that 1 in every 5 babies that have it are born prematurely. After about an hour and a half I had John give me a blessing and the contractions stopped, YAY! I love having the priesthood in my home, it is such a huge blessing. But now I'm really worried about taking care of Caleb when things like this are happening, not to mention that my back and hips have hit an all new level of pain. And yesterday I was informed that there apparently isn't anyone in Relief Society who is able to take him for a whole day, which basically junks me over since I can't drive him anywhere to be watched for a couple of hours, so I guess I'm up a creek without a paddle.

Today hasn't been a very good day at all so far, and it's not even 7:30 yet. I woke up with a sore, swollen throat and I'm also pretty sure I have a bladder infection. John can't take any time off of work right now because they're working on some huge project that has to be done by the end of the month and they're really worried that it won't get done in time, so not only is he NEEDED at work, he's also working overtime right now. It's days like this where I am so jealous of my sister-in-law, who lives next door to her retired parents and has help available in situations like this. I have already called my dad though and he is going to try to at least get a couple of hours off to get me in to see a doctor this morning, so hopefully we'll be able to get that worked out. I'm also supposed to be watching Brenna for a few hours today as well, so I hope I can get to the medicentre and lab and back home in time to watch her. I AM SO SICK OF THIS PREGNANCY!!! I feel awful, I should be grateful that I can even have children, but this has been an awful time for me. I feel bad because Caleb's needs are being neglected because I just can't do much for him, my house looks like crap all of the time because even doing 1 days dishes sends my back into severe pain mode and John is working overtime so he just doesn't have the time to help me out. At least I only have 5 weeks to go, at the most. I think that's the only thought that's keeping me going right now. Anyways, sorry for the complaining and ranting, I'm at my wit's end and at a total loss of how to deal with it anymore.

PS
Sorry for the ranting, I had an awful morning. Anyways, I went to the Dr and got some antibiotics, so I should be at least somewhat improved by this time tomorrow. 35 more days, YAY:)

6 Weeks and Counting

Caleb's pink eye cleared up really quickly with the antibiotic drops, which I was really grateful for. By the time we were done giving him drops, he laughed every time we put them in as opposed to the the murderous screams he gave in the beginning. It was a very nice and very welcome change. So we went and had a visit with Jodi for a couple of hours. While we were there, Caleb caught Brenna leaning against my leg (barely) while she was watching TV. In response, he came over, climbed up onto my lap, pushed her away and said "mine". He's getting very possessive of John and I, I think he may be starting to realize that something's up in our home, but he's not quite sure what it is yet.

Most of last week is kind of a blur to me. I stopped taking my Tylenol 4s since I had my maternity support belt and ended up feeling sick to my stomach and getting cold sweats the first few nights I wasn't taking it, so I'm pretty sure that I was getting addicted to the codeine in it. Then my back hit an all time high in back pain. It seems like I'm getting worse every day. I'm lifting Caleb less now, but there are still times where I can't avoid picking him up, like if he starts crying really hard, and picking him up just sends my back into a new realm of excruciating pain. I am looking forward to 2 months from now when it won't hurt to pick him up anymore.

On Thursday we went out for dinner to Red Robin. It was a really good dinner, but Caleb wasn't hungry for much of anything other than onion ring skins. After that we picked up an electric heating pad for my back, Caleb's Christmas presents (a tricycle, helmet and elbow pads) and then stopped at the library and picked up a couple of books that we had on hold there.

Friday night John was setting up the new entertainment centre that we inherited from Rawd and Jodi (thanks again, Jodi). He put the TV onto the couch, but put the heavy end facing out and as soon as he walked away from it, it fell onto the floor with a HUGE BANG! My instant reaction was to start yelling at John, but for some reason all I could do was laugh. So I told him to plug it into the wall and see if the thing even worked still. While he was carrying the TV over to a power outlet all I could think was that I hoped the TV wasn't working so then I could get a new one (this one has an awful whine to it right now that gives me really bad headaches). Unfortunately, the TV still works fine, so it went into the new unit. The new unit is working a lot better for us than what we had though, which is really nice.

Saturday morning we had McDonald's breakfast and made our way to the Royal Alberta Museum for their dragon exhibit. Since we got there before 11am, it was half price, so John and I only had to pay $5 each. Caleb wasn't really big on the exhibit, but he did colour a picture of a dragon for John to put up at work. We checked out the gift shop after, and Caleb spotted a dark teal dragon and decided it was his. Since all of their dragon merch was 50% off (it was the last weekend of the exhibit), we bought it for him. John also got a dragon figure and a pop and I got a water (very exciting, I know). Then we headed to Toys R Us/Babies R Us, where we bought a flannel sheet for our Pack n Play, which we use as a bassinet for the baby. Made a stop at Walmart as well for some printer ink, crib sheets and a toddler computer game for Caleb, but I ended up buying the wrong kind of crib sheets, so I'm going to have to buy more as well. Somehow I managed to pick up the flat ones, but I'm still going to use them as well.

Yesterday I got released from my primary calling, after being there for over 2 years. It's a good thing, because the release means that this baby is coming fairly quickly, but I felt so lost not teaching my class. I sat in on John's Sunday School class for the youth, which was quite the interesting experience. Then I went to Relief Society and actually enjoyed the lesson, which is really nice. Then I had to bake bread yesterday afternoon because I really didn't have time to do it on Saturday, but baking bread isn't exactly hard for me to do with my Bosch, so I don't consider it 'work'. The hardest part of the whole process is just splitting the dough into equal portions. My brother and Danielle came and visited with us for a bit, so Caleb had a lot of fun showing off for them.

Now I'm just sitting around wondering what time today the plumber is going to show up to look at my kitchen sink. It's leaking somewhere around the taps, and leaking into the counter top and dripping onto the cupboard floor underneath. It wouldn't be such a huge deal if it didn't REALLY STINK! And as soon as I get Caleb, I'm sure he'll want to play his Fischer Price ABC game on the computer, which he's so cute to watch when he makes animal sounds and tries to say their names. My back is no better today, but I'm sure I'll find the strength I need somewhere to help me through the week.

7 Weeks to Go, YAY!

What a rough couple of weeks. My back and hips were getting worse by the day and I was able to do less and less for Caleb, which really sucked! So on Friday we were out shopping for a church outfit for the baby and some sewing thread when we noticed that Caleb's eyes were really gross and goopy. Since he had his 2 year check up scheaduled with the doctor for the next morning, we decided to wait until then.

Well, turns out he has pink eye, which I was pretty sure he did anyways, but other than the pink eye the doctor said he's doing great. On the way there we were trying to get him to say the doctor's name (Doctor Jackman), but all we got out of him was 'Doctor Batman', ha ha, he's so cute sometimes. John got his blood pressure checked again since it was really high a couple of months ago and he was supposed to be getting it down or he'd have to go on pills for it. Happily, it was right back to a normal range, YAY! I guess the exercise is REALLY doing him some good.

He's been exercising 6 days a week for the last couple of weeks. I think the biggest motivation is that he gets $0.50 put into a container every time he exercises and has to take $0.50 out if he misses exercising without a good reason, so he's saving up for Wii games. He also gets and extra $0.50 from me if he does all 6 days in a week and an extra $2.00 from my mum for the same thing, so he's super motivated now.

So after I picked up Caleb's antibiotic drops, we went to Healthcare Solutions and I finally invested in a maternity support belt. That was probably the best $70 I've ever spent in my life. The difference with it on is so amazing. I'm able to stand long enough to do dishes again, walking up the stairs doesn't make me cringe in pain anymore and most importantly, I'm able to sleep without having to take the Tylenol 4s. That's a good thing since I think I was actually getting hooked on the codeine. I've has tummy problems and cold sweats the last 2 nights since I stopped taking them. I'm hoping it's out of my system now, though.

So since Caleb has pink eye, we knew I'd have to stay home from church with him since it wouldn't be 24 hours since he started his medication. John was still going to go and he was going to teach my primary lesson as well. As luck would have it, right before John was about to leave for church, I started getting WICKED nasty pains in my lower abdomen. Since the baby has an umblical cord condition that gives him a 20% chance of being premature, I of course started worrying like mad and John ended up staying home to take care of Caleb while I was having the pains and in case I needed to get to the hospital. Luckily, they went away and haven't come back since, but it was still quite a big scare. My brother came over for supper, which is always fun. We had roast beef, baked potatoes and veggies. He horsed around with Caleb a lot, which Caleb absolutely loved. Caleb is a big fan of his Uncle Kyle, they have lots of laughs together.

Anyways, so that's about all that's new here, really. Now I'm really looking forward to having only 7 weeks left of pregnancy, at the most. However, at the same time I'm really nervous to have a new baby again. I'm sure that will disappear as soon as I hold him in my arms, here's hoping...

Another week...

Well, the appointment with my doctor didn't go QUITE as well as I'd hoped, but he at least gave me a prescription for Tylenol 4s. I need to take one every night before bed. They help out a little bit, but they make me tired during the day, even though I'm only taking them at night, which I find to be kind of wierd, but whatever.
On Friday I went shopping with my brother's girlfriend, Danielle. I got some stuff from Thyme Maternity and Bootlegger as well as a couple of things for John from Cole's. Amazingly enough, 2 of the 3 things that I bought at Bootlegger even fit me now, belly and all. I thought that was pretty cool. I had fun, but the mall floors totally killed my back and I was waddling worse than a penguin by the time we left.
Saturday we took Caleb to the park, which he VERY MUCH enjoyed. I took loads of pictures, but haven't gotten them onto the computer yet. We went to Heather and Mike's for supper that night for burgers, which was pretty good.
Leela's baby blessing was on Sunday, and not too much interesting happened that day.
We're mostly unpacked now, just a few boxes in our bedroom and then the basement. We got our new living room curtains today, and they look better than the old ones, so that's good. Tyrell's room is just about ready, which is nice. Anywho, that's about all that's new from here...

Loving the New House

We're moved into our new unit and loving it. The layout in the 3 bedroom is such a better layout. Our master bedroom is HUGE! I think it's about 4 times the size of Caleb's new room, ha ha. We even added another piece of furniture to it than we had in the old house and it still looks so big. Caleb got new curtains for his room. They are Cars ones to go with his Cars bedding. He really seems to like them. He's huge into cleaning up messes right now (and still making them). He likes to put things away in his room, throw garbage away and sweep the floor with his little toddler broom. The living room and kitchen are totally unpacked (I just have a couple things to put into a box from the kitchen). The baby's room is about half done and Caleb's room is done other than putting up his Cars wall stickers. Our room just has about 6 boxes left and the dining room has 4 boxes. Then it'll just be the basement to worry about. Last night we went out and bought a new pantry unit. We don't have a built in pantry here, so we had to use the unit from the living room that we used for movies as our actual pantry in the dining room. We also bought a rake for the backyard and Christmas presents for Joseph and Leela. Anyways, tomorrow is my prenatal checkup where I'm REALLY hoping my doctor will be able to give me SOME hope for my back. It's worse than usual today because I went overboard with unpacking yesterday. I should get going though, I still need to have some lunch.

Lauren's Birthday and Moving Day

I don't understand why Mother's Day is so hard for me but Lauren's birthday isn't, it makes NO sense to me, but oh well. I can't believe that girl is 4 years old already, it makes me feel ancient and I'm not even 24 yet, ha ha. Her birthday was good for me. I thought of her more than usual, but it was mostly thinking about how happy she looks in the pictures her parents sent me last year and what a beautiful girl she is. They were all happy thoughts. It helps that I've never really regretted my decision and that I was blessed with so much peace about it. And it certainly helps that I know she went to the right home. As soon as I picked up her parents' adoption portfolio thing, I knew that they were the family for her, and that feeling has never changed for me. She is where she belongs, and I get so much comfort from knowing that. I can only hope that her parents know how grateful I am for them and how much they love her. I hope I get the chance to tell them that someday.

So the last couple of days have been spent doing what else but packing. This is the fifth time I've moved since our wedding, so I'm getting REALLY tired of it. I told John that unless he gets a dream job in Lethbridge then I refuse to move for at LEAST 2 more years, probably 3 though. Yesterday evening I went with Danielle, my brother's girlfriend, to the Relief Society BBQ. We couldn't stay too long because we had to go back and do more packing and what not once my mum and brother got into town, but we enjoyed what we got to be there for. Kyle, my bro, and John got our new bedroom curtains put up in the new unit last night. They are chocolate brown and micro suede and I really like them. So after visiting, Mum, John and I went to bed at midnight. My internal heater went into overdrive at 3am and I've been up ever since then. I couldn't sleep, so for a while I just sat in my glider rocker and looked at the Sears Wishbook (am I the only adult who still gets excited about that?) and then I tried laying down and took an antacid somewhere in there. Finally at 5:30 I couldn't take it anymore, so I got out of bed, got dressed, did my bathroom routine and took a couple things over to the new unit, opened the windows in there and emptied a tote of kitchen stuff. Came back home at just after 6 and decided to spend a few moments on the computer before Mum and John get up and the day starts going like mad. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend. I'm just looking forward to being done with moving, ha ha. Later:)

Packing...

Caleb's throat infection cleared up fine, thankfully. Last Friday we had a neighbourhood BBQ, which we all really enjoyed. It was so nice to get out and socialize. Saturday we got some packing done, bought Caleb some underwear and a new shower curtain and then John's mom took us out for supper at Applebee's. It was really good, but Caleb kept acting up (whereas he's normally really good when we go out to eat) so that kind of sucked. Sunday John helped me teach my class again. I had a visitor and so my class was a lot harder to control than usual. We had a roast for supper that night, it was really good. We love having slow cooker roast:) Monday night John's mom came over again and we got a bit more packed and then John and I went and bought groceries after we put Caleb to bed. Yesterday John's dad came and he and John got some stuff for the dump put in Dad's van, so that's dealt with and then we got a bit more packed. It's mostly just the master bedroom, a few odds and ends and the last minute stuff left now. John is going to pack up the majority of our bedroom tonight, I think. Not much else is new here though, other than the fact that this Friday will be Lauren's 4th birthday, which makes me feel really old. It's also exciting because it means I'll be getting a letter and pictures right away. My back and hips keep getting worse by the day, but I'm going to see my doctor a week from today, so I'm just trying to hang on until then for now.

Another throat infection!!!

Apparently I was spelling my niece's name wrong, it's Leela Rose. We went to see her on Monday, she is so tiny and cute. When John's mom showed her to Caleb, he backed away from her like she was a terrible disease, it was pretty funny! He never did go near her, but oh well. I'm not too worried about it. Unfortunately, Rachel had come down with a throat infection that day so yesterday Caleb ended up with it and we got the enjoyment of spending almost 2 hours in the Medicentre with an active toddler, ACK! The doctor gave him some pretty powerful antibiotics though, he only has to take them once a day for 5 days! As long as they work for him then I don't really care, ha ha. I've gone through all the baby clothing at my house now, and am even MORE excited about having another little buddy (other than the fact that my house will be overrun with testosterone). It's really hot this week, not so much fun when you have an internal heater, but there's not much I can do about that other than eating some freezies. I'm just really looking forward to moving next Saturday. Anywho, scanner still isn't working so I still don't have any ultrasound pics up here, sorry...

It's A Boy!

So the ultrasound went well. We found out that the baby is growing right on scheadule, which my doctor was a bit worried about, and also found out that we're having another boy. He was very open about letting his gender be known this time, ha ha. Even I could tell that it was a boy, which means it was REALLY obvious. I was disappointed at first, I had to fight off tears in front of the ultrasound tech. Yesterday was pretty hard for me. But today I feel really good about it. I'm happy that I'll get to use all of Caleb's cute baby clothes again. Since this baby will be born about a month later in the year than Caleb was it'll work out great because the clothing will all work with the right season. So today we finally decided on a name that we both like. We'd been trying to think of one just in case for a while but couldn't find one that we both agreed on. The name we've picked is Tyrell Jason Bly. He'll be called Ty, probably. I went through a whack of Caleb's old clothes tonight and got really excited seeing all of his cute outfits, many of which I'd even forgotten that he had.

On another note, I became an auntie again tonight. I now have 13 nieces and nephews. Heather and Mike had a baby girl. Lila Rose (I think that's how it's spelled anyways). She was 8 lbs 6 oz.

Anywho, that's all the news for today from the Bly house. My scanner isn't working, so I can't get a picture from the ultrasound up, but here's a belly shot for you (26 weeks, 0 days). Hope you're having a great long weekend:)

So Mad At Shaw!!!

Ugh, what a week! I have never been more upset with a company in my life. Our phone, net and cable suddenly cut out at about 11:30 am on Saturday. John called Shaw right away and they set up a service call for the next day. So after Church a guy came, took a 2 minute look at JUST our TV and basically said "it's an outside problem, so sorry about your luck". So John called again on Monday and they told him that they were having problems in our area and to just be patient. We'd been without our phone for over 48 hours when they said that, so naturally I got VERY upset. Finally on Wednesday at 11 I decided to call them. Luckily, I got a customer service rep who actually had a head on his shoulders and couldn't believe that we'd been without a phone for that long. So he set up a service call for this morning. The Shaw guy came at about 9:30 and within 5 minutes he had ALL of our services working again. All he did was check the cable box outside and realized that someone had accidentally disconnected our services. He was really mad that the guy on Sunday didn't check that and that it took so long for Shaw to actually do something for us. He wrote down that Shaw needs to credit us a week of services on our next bill. So I finally have my services back again. Other than that, I've mostly just been dealing with a lot of pain in my hips and back area because of how the baby is sitting. It's not a lot of fun, rolling over in bed has become one of the most painful things I've ever experienced. Caleb has started drinking out of big boy cups though with no lid at all, so we're very proud of him. He still gets a sippy cup when he's not sitting at the table, though. And we're moving in just over 2 weeks, which I'm very excited for. I can't wait to be in our new house and to set up the baby's room. Anyways, not too much else is new here other than my huge issue with Shaw which has thankfully been resolved. I'll post again tomorrow or Saturday since I have my ultrasound tomorrow afternoon (YAY!).

John Is A Year Older!

Sunday was pretty uneventful. We went to church and my class was allowed to have their class outside. It didn't go as well as I would have liked, though, it was harder to get them to pay attention than it usually is, so I guess we won't be trying that again. Then later in the day Caleb was running around in the front yard and his shorts kept falling off because they're too big for him so he would be running and trying to pull his shorts up at the same time, it was so cute! That evening we went to Rawd and Jodi's where John decided to stay WAY too late considering he had to be up really early the next morning, and so Caleb was tired and decided to start really acting up. Poor Jodi, he was such a pill that night.

Monday was quite uneventful here, the only thing I really remember about Monday was that I taught part of the Plan of Salvation for FHE and then we went to bed super early because I was really tired.

Tuesday was also kind of a throw away day. After work and supper John took Caleb grocery shopping. I spent most of the day reading.

Yesterday Caleb and I went to Mom's Group at Rundle Park, which ended up consisting of 3 moms and 4 kids, lol. Caleb really enjoyed the slide though, but he also tried to eat the wood chips a couple of times. My favourite part was watching him and Landon throw rocks into the pond and get all excited about the ripples that it made. We picked John up from the bus stop after work and gave him his birthday cards. I feel bad for John that he had to work on his birthday, I think I've only ever had to work during my birthday once. Anyways, we went to East Side Mario's for dinner with Heather, Mike and the boys. That was interesting because Joshua and Joseph were allowed to run around and what not after dinner and it was hard to keep Caleb in his seat, but we have a family rule that the kids aren't allowed to run around in restaurants. Caleb did really good though, he polished off 2 pieces of his kids pizza, drank his whole chocolate milk AND some water and got to pick a toy from the toy chest, he chose a little stuffed bear. After supper the 3 of us went and picked out a cake for John. We ended up deciding on DQ ice cream cake with the Batman symbol on it. We got home, put the cake in the freezer and gave Caleb his bath. Then when John took Caleb into the bedroom, all he could smell was pot. Yep, our next door neighbours were indeed out in the backyard passing around some weed and because I had left Caleb's window open all day, his room now stunk of it as well. We were VERY unimpressed, especially since our neighbours have a little girl who is only a few months older than Caleb. So John took some pictures of them smoking up and wrote down what happened and saved it, just in case we need some evidence or something. Anyways, we closed Caleb's window and put him to bed and then came downstairs and enjoyed some ice cream cake. All in all, I think John enjoyed his birthday. Anywho, that's about all for now...

Caleb's Doing Better, YAY

Caleb hasn't been sick since Tuesday evening, so I'm pretty happy about that. He's still somewhat out of sorts, I think it'll take him a few more days before he's back to his normal self again. Wednesday worked out pretty good. I got lots of cleaning and laundry done before John got home. The trip to Wainwright went pretty good, but Caleb was pretty fussy by the end of it.

Thursday we did some shopping, visited with a friend and went to my doctor's appointment. I guess everything's still going well with the baby, so that's good. Caleb threw the world's biggest temper tantrum in the doctor's office, though, it was so embarrassing. Mum made ribs, corn on the cob, beetniks and a potato (for me) for supper that night. The ribs were so good, I think they were the best ribs that I've ever had.

Friday we dropped Caleb off at daycare for the morning. I went and did my gestational diabetes screening at the lab which made for a very long hour. For lunch we went to Lil' Haven and had wraps and pie. It was a really good lunch. We brought my mum a wrap and salad to her work and then we went and picked up Caleb from the daycare. That evening we went downtown for the celebrations, which really weren't very good. However, I did get an ice cream bar out of the deal, so that made me pretty happy. Then we went back to the house, loaded up the van and headed back home to Edmonton.

John had to work this morning to make up for having to stay home on Tuesday. When he got home we packed a few boxes of stuff in the basement. Then later we drove to Fort Sask to pick up a free rocker glider for me to use once the baby comes. I'm pretty happy that we got it. We also picked up some groceries, including some really good scones. Now we're just about ready to make some supper.

Do the Throat Infections Ever Stop?

So it turns out that Caleb only had the flu on Thursday. Everything after that was caused by a very nasty throat infection that was dripping into his stomach. John took him to see a doctor on Monday after he started getting sick all over his bedroom at noon and now he's got some antibiotics. I also ended up giving him Gravol a few times just to help keep some fluids and his medicine in him long enough for them to take effect. He ended up getting sick 6 times on Monday, not exactly a great day for me. I can handle blood and broken bones, but watching people get sick is the one thing I've never been even remotely good at, so having to sit there with my son and comfort him while it was happening was like murder for me. It was awful.

John stayed home yesterday as well, and Caleb just sat on the couch and watched TV with John or else slept in his room pretty much all day. He was talking more though and he only got sick once, and that was just because he was coughing too hard, so it's nice to see that he's at least improving. After he went to bed John and I got the house tidied up a bit since some people are coming to look at it while we're in Wainwright.

Today I'm just doing some laundry. Caleb woke up at 5am again, because he heard John up and getting ready for work. John gave him some juice to drink, and he drank the whole cup, YAY! Then I brought him downstairs and he got really cranky because he was still tired so I just gave him his antibiotics to get them out of the way until night time and then put him back to bed at 6. Unfortunately, because my body has decided that it's awake for the day, I'm not able to get back to sleep. At least I've gotten a load of laundry in already. Maybe now I can get done the packing that I need to do while Caleb is asleep. Here's hoping...

Stomach Flu Weekend

What an eventful couple of days, holy cow! So while I was watching Landon I noticed that my stomach was getting kind of upset. Not morning sickness upset, different upset. By 6:30 that night I knew I needed to get to bed and get some rest, I felt just awful. A few hours later I got out of bed and go figure, I had a stomach flu. And John slept through the first time too!!! Oh well, who on earth likes an audience, anyways...So I went back to the bedroom after my stomach calmed down a little, woke John up and then we heard Caleb making a funny noise. John went in to check on him and Caleb had gotten sick ALL OVER his bedroom. Talk about doing something well on your first try, this was the first time he`s ever thrown up. It was on the floor, the bed, his sleeper, everything. So John cleaned Caleb up and brought him into the bed with me. Caleb just sort of played on the bed while John cleaned Caleb`s bedroom and then we put Caleb back to bed. I got sick again later, luckily for the last time, but it was still a really rough night. I had a very hard time getting any proper sleep because my stomach was still so irritable. Luckily I had the wisdom to take some Gravol, I think that was the only thing that really helped me get any sleep at all.

But low and behold, when Caleb got up in the morning, he`d gotten sick again and I still felt awful, so John ended up having to stay home from work to take care of us. However, Caleb was back in high spirits, so he got to take a trip downtown to work with Daddy in the afternoon so John could enter his timesheet in.

Saturday morning John went into work to make up most of the time he`d lost the day before. He came home at lunch time and then we went out and picked up a bunch of boxes from Heather and from U Haul so we can start packing stuff for the big move. Then we went to Wal Mart and got Caleb a Diaper Genie II, since they don`t stink as bad and he won`t be able to play with the diapers in it like he could with the old one. While we were at Wal Mart they had a mobile pet adoption thing outside so Caleb got to check out some bunnies and dogs. He really liked the first bunny he saw. We got some stuff packed that afternoon in the basement, but not a lot since Caleb really didn`t want to be down there and it was coming up on supper time anyways.

Sunday morning we all woke up and when John went to get Caleb there were bright red blotches on the carpet by the door, I mean like Fire Engine red... At first I thought Caleb had a nosebleed or something until we realized that he`d gotten sick again. I will never feed Caleb red Gatorade within a week of him having the flu EVER again, there are 2 permanent stains on that carpet that I couldn`t even get out with the steam cleaner!!! So Caleb and I had to stay home from Church so that he wouldn`t make anybody else sick and John ended up having to teach my primary class for me. It was a pretty lazy day once John got home, later in the day the 3 of us watched Cars together. Caleb sat through the whole movie, we were so impressed. Well, by the end he was laying on the floor watching, so we knew it was time to put him to bed. Anyways, it was a LONG few days for us, and I`m just hoping now that this episode of the flu is behind us. Hope everyone else had a better weekend!

Groovin Out to AFI and Bad Religion

So I did a fat load of nothing on Monday, other than going to the bus stop with Caleb to pick John up when he was getting home. Tuesday we went out that night and got groceries and on our way home we got caught in a huge downpour. We got the groceries put away and then took some donuts over to Heather and Mike's to celebrate Mike's birthday. It was a good visit. It's so quiet there when the girls are in Magrath! Yesterday John cleaned the house while I went visiting teaching. He did a really good job, too, it made me very happy! Then I couldn't fall asleep until about 1am again because of my back and the baby kicking lots. Oh well, at least Caleb let me sleep in until 10 this morning. He had a hard time falling asleep last night as well so he slept in this morning. Anyways, other than that, there's nothing new. It's been a very uneventful week. My back is doing tonnes better today though, which is good since I'm watching Landon for a while this afternoon. Well, I should get going and maybe play some Toddler learning games with Caleb or something...

Sore Back!!!

I didn't do too much on Thursday, that was the day that my back decided to start being in extreme pain to the point that I couldn't even really lift Caleb. It was awful!

On Friday John and I went out for dinner to the Old Spaghetti Factory and left Caleb with his first teenaged babysitter. Supper was great, I love how much you get and how good it is for such low prices there. Apparently Caleb even behaved for his babysitter, so that was really good to hear since he's been having some attitude problems lately. Then I went over to Alana's new house to help Jodi and Merilynne clean it. I didn't do very much, just vacuumed a room and cleaned some windows, but it was nice to get out and socialize. I even got an ice cream slurpie out of the deal:)

Saturday morning I woke up with the worst pain I've ever had in my back, it was so awful. But John had already said he'd help the Kutanzi family move, so he went and helped with that first. Then I had him take me to see a chiropractor. Luckily I was able to get in within 15 minutes and I felt a lot better after, but now my back is getting bad again. I also found out that the reason my back hurts so bad right now is because one of my hips managed to get lower than the other and so my spinal column isn't sitting right. The joys of pregnancy!

Yesterday was church. I did okay for the first meeting because I had the wisdom to go out into the hall and sit in one of the more comfortable chairs. Unfortunately I was getting a few nasty Braxton Hicks contractions, but they passed after a while. My class went a lot better this week than it did the week before, John helped out a lot. I'm so grateful that he's willing to help me teach, it's getting too hard to do it on my own. Then we had naps in the afternoon. Kyle came to get his new car and he and Danielle stayed for supper, which was fun. We enjoy having them over. Then I got ready for my class's sharing time presentation we're doing next Sunday before I headed to bed.

So I woke up this morning and something must've bitten me during the night because I have these big fat red welts right next to my armpit. They hurt and they're itchy and it's really uncomfortable. Oh well. Now Caleb is just chilling watching Treehouse. That's about all that's new in the Bly house for now...

Happy 141st, Canada!

I really should be asleep right now, but I'm at that lovely point in my pregnancy where I can't sleep and because of the weather, I can't cool off enough to sleep anyways, so here I sit at 1am and figured I may as well update my blog because there's not much else left to do. Maybe after I'm done on here I'll watch a movie or something. Hopefully I'll get tired enough that I'll end up falling asleep.

So Saturday we went to the boys' doctor appointment. We were told that Caleb is, in fact, allergic to Amoxicillin, which is what I thought anyways, but always nice to know for sure. And John found out that if he can't get his blood pressure down on his own in the next month by trying not to be so stressed out and losing some weight then he has to go on blood pressure pills. *sigh* I really hope he can lose some weight and get it lowered, the last thing he needs to be worrying about is blood pressure pills at 32. After the doctor appointment we went and bought LOTS of clothes for the baby, which was really good. I also managed to find a 24 months Oilers jersey for Caleb which made me very happy. Then later on we went out for dinner with Rawd and Jodi and their girls and went over there for a visit after. John had to leave at 8:40 or so because Caleb was just freaking out, but I stayed and visited with Jodi until 1 or something like that.

Sunday was VERY interesting. Caleb completely lost his cool during sacrament meeting. He was screaming so bad that we had to take him right out of the building and then he lost his temper because we wouldn't let him play in the grass and we had to actually physically hold him down so he wouldn't hurt himself or us. It was really scary. Plus, I was having an allergic reaction to something in the air, so my eyes felt like they were on fire. Then when I actually taught my primary class, it was the kind of lesson where you come out of it wanting to beat your head on a wall. The kids just did NOT want to pay any attention to the lesson. After church I had a primary meeting I had to go to, which was good and short and then we had lunch there after. For supper we'd been invited to someone's house (I've taught 3 of her 4 girls in primary), so we went and did that. It was good, but super hot out.

Monday I tried to keep cool, but didn't succeed very well. Caleb got to go in his pool in the afternoon, which he was VERY happy about. He was so mad when I brought him back in the house, but I was so worried that he would get heat stroke or something. Then my brother and his girlfriend came for a visit in the afternoon, which was nice. We ordered pizza for supper since it was way too hot to cook anything. Then later on I went and visited with Jodi until stupid o'clock again.

Today we got our grocery shopping done, filled the van up with gas and helped my brother (hopefully) find a car he's buying. The sale is just pending an inspection at the dealership tomorrow, which we all think is going to turn out just fine. Then later on we took Caleb to the Canada Day celebrations in Sherwood Park. I was hoping to find face painting and stuff for him, but couldn't seem to find it, but he was content to just get himself black as could be in a dirt pile and then go play on the playground for a while, so that was okay. We got some mini donuts, cotton candy, a soft pretzel and John got a snow cone. It was fun. After we got home I think the heat of the last few days caught up with me because I had to go lay down, I felt SO sick. I'm still not feeling very well, but what can you do? Anyways, so that's what our last few days have been like. Happy Canada Day!

TODDLER FOR SALE!

Sunday I ended up teaching both my class in primary PLUS another class, which was enough to give me a SERIOUS headache by the time we left the chapel. Thank goodness John was willing to help me teach my class, I would have gone crazy without him. So we left the Church with my screaming headache, 2 extra kids and Caleb who was VERY tired and VERY wound up. He screeched and spit the whole way home, it was awful! My mum came for dinner that night, it was really good!

On Monday my Mum took me out for dinner and shopping. We ate at Edo's and then she bought Caleb a bib for spaghetti meals, me some cardstock for my cards, some snacks for John and I and some clothes for the baby. I also bought a couple of things for the girls to open at Christmas (we have Heather's family this year), a sidewalk chalk kit for Caleb, some wipes for Caleb and some clothes for the baby. It was a good night, and nice to get out.

Tuesday Caleb and I tried out his sidewalk chalk in the backyard when he decided it would be a good idea to give one of the chalks a bath in the ONLY bit of water there was in the backyard. That evening we went to the optometrist and all went well with John's contacts trial so we ordered him 3 months worth. They just got in today, so John's pretty excited. I also cut my finger really badly that day, it hurt SO bad, comparable to labour pains. It's doing better now, but it's still kind of sore.

Wednesday is kind of a blur to me, I honestly don't remember anything interesting from that day other than I ordered my cell phone. It's pink, YAY! It'll get here late next week or early the week after, I'm very excited about it. I also went through some of the baby clothes that night to figure out what all I have.

Yesterday Caleb and I were playing in the backyard when he decided it would be a good idea to try and eat a knot in the fence! After telling him no a few times and him not listening he got taken into the house and threw a HUGE HUGE HUGE fit. So then I had to take him upstairs and he fell asleep. We both ended up taking naps in the afternoon, I was SO tired. In the evening we had our temple recommend interviews with the bishop and then I went through the rest of the baby clothes, so now I know what we have and what we need.

Today I tried to take Caleb for a walk, but we ended up coming home after he threw a fit because he realized that we weren't going to Jodi's house. Then I decided we'd try the backyard, but he wouldn't stay out of the red rock patch after being told not to go in there, so he got taken back into the house and the tantrums began again so he got put down for another early nap. This kid is driving me up the wall with his tantrums. He has so much anger in him, he hits us every single time he doesn't get his way (sometimes with his hands and other times with objects). Is this normal for a kid who is only 21 months old? Anyways, so now I'm enjoying the fact that Caleb is sleeping.

Tomorrow the boys have doctor appointments in the morning and then we're going to Value Village and Once Upon a Child to look for some more baby clothes, now that I know what I need. And John's going to cut the grass in the backyard tomorrow for the first time. I've done it every time it's needed to be done since we moved in here, but with my belly getting bigger it's getting too awkward for me to do it, so it's John's turn to step up to the plate now.

Well, that's about all for now. Hope everyone had a great week!

It's Hot Out!!!

What a week. I went to my mum's for a few days, which was really stressful because their house is not at ALL Caleb-proof so I kept having to haul him away from stuff. My doctor has me on iron pills now for my dizzy spells, so hopefully that will do the trick. I don't particularly want to be passing out all over the place. Other than the dizzy spells the pregnancy is going well though. I'm already getting some Braxton-Hicks, but since this is my third pregnancy, it's really not a big deal anymore, I just deal with them as they come. Then Wednesday night I used my mum's carpet cleaner to clean the stairs in my house. I'm happy with the outcome, but man did it hurt my back. I got to clean my upstairs bathroom really well on Thursday, so my back was even MORE sore after leaning into the tub to scrub it out. Yesterday my brother and his girlfriend came over for supper and then we watched National Treasure 2 with them. It was the 3rd time I've seen it, but the 1st time John's had a chance to watch it. It was a good evening, but I was really tired by the time I actually got to bed. This morning we set up Caleb's pool and he played in there for a while while my dad came over for a visit. Caleb loved being in the pool, especially when we rigged his slide so he could slide into it. Then we went to the mall so I could get some new maternity capris and 5 more maternity tops since my old ones weren't fitting me very well. We also got Caleb a nice pair of jean shorts from The Children's Place for only $13. After that we went to the food court and had New York Fries for lunch. Caleb fell asleep as we were heading to Wal-mart and woke up just as we got back home. However, thankfully he was willing to fall asleep again once we put him in his room. Then I FINALLY got the winter stuff put away out of our hall closet and got that organized and John got some of the kids' clothes put away in a tote. Now he's off giving someone a ride and I'm just relaxing with the fan blowing on me. So all in all it's been a pretty good week. We also decided this week that we're doing our summer 'holidays' in Wainwright this year, which is really only a 4 day weekend, and then John will take a week off when the baby comes PLUS a week and a half for Christmas. We'll spend the half a week in Wainwright and then a full week at home with just John, the kids and I. It should be fun to just enjoy each other's company, I'm really looking forward to it. Not too much else is new on the Bly front right now though.

Happy Father's Day!

So John has his new glasses now as well, they look so great on him:) Yesterday was my neice Rachel's baptism. It went very well. We gave her a pillowcase that she could colour, she was really happy with it. It's kind of cool because 4 years ago I was baptized the day before Father's Day and this year Rachel was baptized the day before Father's Day. I just think that's kind of neat. Anyways, today I'm off to Church soon and I can teach my class for the first time in over a month, and then after Church John is bringing Caleb and I to meet up with my mum. I have a Dr's appointment on Tuesday, so Caleb and I are staying in Wainwright for a couple of nights. So I just wanted to say on my blog, "Happy Father's Day, John!". I am so thankful for John. He is a wonderful husband and father. He pitches in so much when I'm not feeling well and he does great with Caleb. I'm very thankful that he's my eternal companion and I'm looking forward to spending the rest of eternity with him.

John has contacts!

So John has his contacts. He wore them for 4 hours on Tuesday, 5 hours yesterday and today he's allowed to wear them for 6 hours. It's all very exciting:) Yesterday I spent most of the morning in Caleb's bedroom. The poor kid has come down with a croupy cough, so I turned his humidifier on high, brought up his breakfast and I ended up cleaning out his dresser and closet. The only downside to that was that my back already hurt and I had to move his dresser so that it was in front of a power outlet which didn't help my back any. Oh well, I'm just happy I've finally cleaned out his closet, I've been meaning to do that for a few months now. Then last night Heather and I went and visit taught Alana, which went pretty good. After we left Alana's, Heather and I went to Safeway since I had to pick up some medicine for Caleb. I am SO glad that he's at a weight now where he can use Children's Motrin and/or Children's Tylenol Cold. So I got him a few bottles of that and also picked up some peanut butter for John, some new herbal tea for myself for when my throat or tummy are bothering me and some Vanilla Caramel Drumsticks for John and I. Anyways, so my neice, Rachel, is being baptized on Saturday, which is very exciting. So John's family is coming up tomorrow for the weekend. No one is staying with us though, which is okay because then I don't have to worry about extra groceries or anything. Anywho, that's about all that's new...

Fun Week!

So it's been an interesting week. Last week John got in to see an optometrist. His prescription changed for one of his eyes so we ordered him brand new glasses, which look really good on him. They should be ready to be picked up on Thursday. Then we spent Friday night and the day of Saturday in Wainwright where I came VERY close to blacking out during a garage sale. It was pretty scary. Sunday I stayed home from Church to take care of my friend's daughter so that my friend could go to Church since she's the nursery leader and then John and my brother-in-law, Mike, taught my primary class for me. Yesterday John took the day off of work for all of our appointments. First Caleb got his eyes checked and he is apparently fine for his age, which is good to hear. Then John got fitted for contacts and he fell in love with them. He goes back for his training session for them tonight and then he will be a wearer of contacts. He's very excited! After that we had Wendy's for lunch and dropped Caleb off with Jodi. Then John and I went to my ultrasound appointment. It went well, but the baby had it's legs clamped together, so there was no ever guessing about the gender, which was kind of disappointing. Oh well, at least we know for sure that there is a baby, and only ONE baby, in there. Oh and one other bit of news to report, we have new steps in front of our unit now, YAY! I don't have to make a gigantic leap anymore to get into our house! Anyways, here's the ultrasound photo:

Home Sweet Home

The zoo was great on Saturday. Caleb really enjoyed it until the end when he got VERY overtired and was just plain cranky. We went to Peter's Drive In for supper and found out that their large fries is more like a grocery bag full of fries, it was an INSANE amount! We stopped in Penhold and Springbrook on the way home. Springbrook used to be called Mynarski Park, and it was the PMQ area for the base there. My brother and I lived there with our mum for quite a few years, before we moved to Wainwright. We took Caleb through a trail we used to play in as kids and Caleb just had a blast in there. Then we took some pictures in a few other places before we got caught in a terrential downpour. It was raining SO hard. Today I got my hair done, which I am very happy about. It got it trimmed, thinned, dyed and chunked PLUS got Caleb's hair trimmed all for the low price of $45! I loved having a friend who does hair:) Tomorrow I am going to endeavour to make homemade bread for the first time on my own. It should be interesting, at the least. Plus I am going to make myself some more Mastermix, since we really enjoyed having it before. I guess it counts towards food storage since I can use it for lots of different things, so that's a bonus. Anywho, that's about all that's new here, really. Just looking forward to my ultrasound this coming Monday as well as the big garage sale in Wainwright this weekend. Woohoo, I get to buy baby girl clothes:)

Sore Throats in Magrath

So Caleb and I have been in Magrath for well over a week now. It's been kind of rainy, but it started clearing up last night, so that's nice. I took Caleb for a walk today in Amy's jogging stroller and I LOVE how well it handles. I may have to get one for myself:P So anyways, on Tuesday Caleb started running a fever and I couldn't keep it down for more than an hour, even alternating between Motrin and Tylenol so that night I took him to the emergency room in Raymond. Turns out he had tonsillitis, the poor kid. He wasn't eating or drinking much of anything that day, it was so hard to see him like that. So I held him all night while we slept and that seemed to keep him calm. After a couple days of medicine, cuddling and forcing liquids into him he got back to his old self. Then Saturday night my throat started hurting and I thought, "Oh crap, this is not good". So by Sunday evening it was worse and I went back to Emerg in Raymond. Turns out the problem in my throat is just a viral infection, so the doctor just gave me a prescription for Tylenol 3s for the pain. They seem to be working. Hopefully this'll clear up tomorrow or Wednesday. It's been nice being able to visit with John's family again though. I fell in love with a lot that's for sale in town right now, but there's no use in us buying a lot when he have no clue when we'd be able to build on it, so we're sticking with our original plan of eventually subdividing Amy's lot and building our house there. I ordered some FHE packets tonight from www.craftycopies.com and I'm looking forward to getting those. I purchased:
Plan of Salvation
Being not of the World
Honoring your Parents
Love at Home AND
Sunday is a special day.
Amy has a whole box full of these type of lessons and I think they're great, so I'm going to try to build up a collection of my own. Other than that, not too much else is new. The baby is growing and I can occasionally feel her kicking, it's so exciting! I'm looking forward to getting some more sun and fresh air over the next few days and then our trip to the Calgary Zoo this coming Saturday. My brother, his girlfriend and John's parents are coming with us as well, so it should be lots of fun:)

I heard the baby, YAY:)

So Sunday wasn't bad Mother's Day wise. John gave me 2 cards and Caleb gave me a card. I didn't get a present that day because they gave me my present a few weeks ago (a 2GB iPod). John ended up staying with us for most of that day instead of heading home the night before like he had planned to. The down side was how we spent that day. We went to my Grandma and Grandpa's place. They had just signed papers for selling their farm 2 days before that, so I knew that this might be the last time I got to go out to the farm. So my mum, stepdad, John, Caleb, my brother and I all piled into my mum's new van. I don't like it to begin with, I think it looks like a box. My brother and I were in the very back and because John was in front of me, I didn't exactly have a lot of leg room. But we watched Fellowship of the Ring (extended edition), so that helped to keep my mind occupied. Once we got to the farm it was clear that it was going to be a very long day and I would have to use every ounce of patience I had within me. My grandparents are obviously regretting that they are selling the farm. It kind of makes sense, that's the only home my grandpa has ever known and my grandma has been there since they got married, so they have a VERY deep attachment to it. But they are being impossible sellers, and it was so annoying to listen to them complain about EVERYTHING to do with the sale and the sellers. Then they did things that deeply hurt my mum and my favourite uncle (my mum has 4 brothers and no sisters), so that put me in an even worse mood because I felt so bad for them. Then we piled back into the van for another uncomfortable 2 1/2 hours. Basically, it was not the enjoyable day at the farm that I was hoping it would be. I'm just glad that I don't have to go back out there again if I don't want to. It was WAY stressful for me. However, yesterday was really good. I had my second prenatal appointment and I got to hear the baby's heartbeat and hear her moving around (I'm still certain it's a girl even though my ultrasound isn't until June 9th). It was so nice to be reminded that I'm not so tired and sick for nothing, but that there is a wonderful baby growing inside of me. I'm so excited to hear the baby again next month. I ended up losing a kg this last month (oops), but I guess that's what happens when you combine morning sickness and a really nasty cold. I'm sure it won't happen again this month. The doctor said the baby is doing well and growing great, so that's good news. Then Caleb and I came home last night. He was so happy to be home and see his own toys again. And I was VERY happy to sleep in my own bed again last night. Now we have to pack over the next couple of days for our next grand adventure, the trip to Magrath. I'm very excited for it:)

Dreading this Sunday

Last night John got his early Father's Day/Birthday gift. Caleb and I gave him a Nintendo Wii, a couple of games and a few accessories for it. Needless to say, John is very happy with his gift and looking forward to getting lots of use out of it while Caleb and I are visiting in Magrath this month. I'm glad that he likes it. I have my own controller with its pink sleeve on it, ha ha. John chose the black sleeve for his. Caleb was throwing a huge hissy fit while we were getting it though, it was awful. He wanted to be outside and walking around so badly, so I'm going to have to take him out to play today, I think. He didn't get to yesterday because my stomach was acting up again. I'm having a rough week as it gets closer and closer to Mother's Day. There is no skirting this truth, that I hate Mother's Day and I have for the past four years. In 2004, I was carrying my firstborn child that Mother's Day, the birth father had just taken off on me a few weeks before and I was alone and scared. I had no idea what I was going to do. In 2005, I was still mouring that little girl even though I knew that she was happy and healthy with the family I chose for her, I longed so much to feel her in my arms that one day. I ended up leaving sacrament meeting crying. 2006 brought another year of me carrying a child during Mother's Day and I soon found out that no joy of knowing that I would have my own child to hold that time next year could erase the pain I felt knowing that I could have been holding one right then. Last year was another hard one. I had high expectations for that day now that I had Caleb, but I was sorely disappointed. Visions of breakfast in bed or similar were in reality 2 cold Eggos waiting on the table with no one around them and a quickly signed card beside them. Caleb fussed through Church because to him it was just like any other Sunday and my husband ended up being the concluding speaker and told the ward (with my permission) about my story as a birth mother, so I ended up reliving that moment all over again on the one day of the year I would love to forget about it. This year, like 2004 and 2006, I am carrying a child for Mother's Day again. Although Caleb is older now and a lot more fun than he was a year ago, he still doesn't understand that this coming Sunday is different than other Sundays and so there will still be no "Happy Mommy Day, Mommy" in our house. Because being in Church on Mother's Day has become so hard for me, I have opted to forego Church this year and instead go with my son to visit my grandmother, who I don't get to see very often. What I would REALLY like to do on Sunday is to fall asleep the night before and not wake up until Monday morning, but I know that isn't an option. I just hope I get as few 'Happy Mother's Day' wishes as possible.