A Very Merry UnBirthday

Posted in Birthdays, Growing Up Isla, Isla by

One great thing about toddlers is that they still have a bit of a goldfish-like memory. While Isla’s birthday isn’t until the 29th, Kyle and I figured we should probably have a little party for her before her baby sister arrives (or doesn’t arrive). Basically, I’ll either be extremely pregnant and cranky or we’d have a newborn and be delusional from a lack of sleep, so an early birthday celebration on Saturday with family seemed like the right thing to do instead of ignoring Isla’s birthday completely!

On Friday I baked Isla’s cake (she helped, haha) and that night I decorated it. I dare say it turned out pretty great, considering I’m no whiz when it comes to cake decorating. Chocolate cake was what Isla wanted, and that’s what she got! (Also – SO hard to ice a chocolate cake with vanilla icing!)

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On the morning of her UnBirthday party I tossed some balloons and the Happy Birthday banner up and we were pretty much ready to party! Isla didn’t seem to know (or care) that it wasn’t her actual birthday, but what (almost) 3-year old wouldn’t be excited about balloons and cake? Kyle made her a special breakfast of homemade pancakes (her request) and they were SO good! She even got some chocolate milk to wash them down with ;)

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Party time wasn’t until the early afternoon, so we ended up making a trip to Costco (Isla’s favourite place, haha), and Canadian Tire (she loves the “money” there), and came home for a quick lunch and I did some prepping of snacks and drinks. Homemade cucumber salsa and passion tea lemonade were both on the “menu” and they turned out to be huge hits.

Everyone showed up right on time and Isla had a lot of fun with her family! She’s so lucky to have so many people in her life who love her, and she was spoiled rotten with clothes, a movie, puzzles, colouring books and more! Her “big” present from Kyle and I was a “big girl” bike – complete with training wheels! We gave her the helmet first and she obviously didn’t clue in why she was getting a helmet (toddler logic, FTW!), but when we told her at the end of all the other presents that there was one more surprise, she exclaimed, “Oh, it’s going to be SO special!!” Then when Kyle brought the bike up she just shouted, “OH MY GOSSHHH!” Priceless!

Needless to say, she loves it!

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After presents was of course, cake and ice cream, and we all mingled for a little bit before everyone departed.

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Overall, it was an awesome day! Like I said before, Isla’s so lucky to have such amazing people in her life and I’m glad that they were able to come and make her “UnBirthday” a special day. I’m not sure how Kyle and I will mark her actual birthday in a couple weeks, but I’m sure we’ll do something special for her. (Maybe she’ll get a baby sister for her birthday!)

I do have a special post planned for Isla’s actual birthday, it’s just a matter of getting it done. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this photo of Isla riding her new bike with Kyle. My heart just melts when I look at it.

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TGIF v.18

Posted in TGIF by

The highs of my week were visits with my grandpa, the landscapers finally starting our retaining wall project, watching Isla mimic the dancers auditioning for So You Think You Can Dance, visiting the Farmer’s Market, toddler-led art with Isla and our favourite friends.

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The low of my week was being pregnant. I’m just so done, but my doctor is away for the majority of next week so I’m just going to have to hang in there if I don’t want the on-call OB delivering Baby N. Blarg. Oh, and finding out that I’m GBS positive, but there’s not much I can do about that.

An internet find I loved was this recipe for Strawberry Mint Lemonade that Hillary had posted, and this wonderful idea for gifting homemade cookie dough that Colleen posted. (Funny how the pregnant lady loves ALL THE FOOD POSTS! Haha.)

The best money I spent was the $12.50 I spent at the Farmer’s Market on Wednesday. I got two bags of garlic scapes, a head of leaf lettuce, and a pastry treat for Isla. I can’t wait until later in the summer when the market is REALLY in full swing!

20150610_170147My favourite Isla moment was probably not her favourite moment, but the other day she briefly fell asleep in the car around 5 pm (WAY too late to be napping) so I woke her up when we got home. She had a hissy fit at me because she was so tired and proceeded to just lay down on this gross chunk of carpet we have in the garage and fall back to sleep. I woke her up and she stayed awake after that, but it was pretty hilarious. (See photo to the right for the hilarity –>)

The song that has been stuck in my head is still Maroon 5’s “This Summer’s Gonna Hurt Like a Motherf***er.” It was finally released on iTunes in Canada, so I was able to download it! (Mind you, I got the “clean” version since Isla is a fan of singing along to the music in the car.)

My favourite meal of the week was the lasagne I had at my mom’s on Tuesday. I’ve had a hankering for lasagne for a while but haven’t been able to make it because Kyle has recently discovered that he’s slightly allergic/sensitive to cheese. My grandpa was staying at my mom’s so Isla and I went down for dinner and a visit, and it was SO GOOD.

My plans for the weekend are an early birthday party for Isla on Saturday. Since I’m either going to be uncomfortably pregnant or have a newborn on her actual birthday, Kyle and I decided to throw Isla a small, family-only party a couple weeks early. I’m fairly certain she won’t know the difference, and we’ll treat her to something special (a cupcake or something like that) on her actual birthday. I’m just in no shape to have a bunch of people over right now, and if I wait until after the baby comes I don’t want the all attention to be on her instead of Isla.

Pregnancy 2.0: 38 weeks

Posted in Baby #2, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Update by

38 weeks

Size of Baby: She’s the size of a spaghetti squash, according to my pregnancy app, although she feels as heavy as a 10-pin bowling ball sometimes. (And it probably looks like I’m trying to smuggle them under my shirt as well.)

Feeling: Hot! It’s been really hot outside recently, quite the change from the pouring rain we had early last week. I’ve been trying my best to stay inside where it’s cool and drinking lots of water. Really, I’m trying to avoid having my feet swell up like balloons like they did with Isla. Rumour has it that it’s supposed to rain again this weekend, so I’m looking forward to the break.

Also: Grumpy. My allergies are acting up like crazy and it hurts to sneeze. My stomach is still pretty raw and overall, I’m just done with being pregnant. If one more random stranger asks when I’m due, I might lose it. (Funny story – on Monday when I arrived for my prenatal appointment there was another very pregnant woman at the desk booking her next appointment and we exchanged “I feel your pain” smiles.)

Craving: Garlic scapes, which I hope to hunt down at the Farmers’ Market this morning. If you haven’t tried them before, you definitely should!

Other: I had my prenatal appointment on Monday and got my GBS test results back. I tested positive, so that means that if/when my water breaks I have to go right to the hospital and get started on antibiotics. Yaaaay :P I was negative with Isla, so this adds a new level of fun to this pregnancy.

But – since it doesn’t appear that I will be giving birth in the immediate future, I’m just trying to enjoy these last few days Isla and I have together. This morning we have plans to go to the farmers’ market and then to a toddler art class, and after that we’re swinging by the hospital so I can preregister at admissions for whenever this baby decides she wants to arrive.

My doctor is away from Monday to Thursday next week, so my next appointment with him will be next Friday, and then he’s away on the 20th & 21st. Basically, I need to either have this baby within the next couple of days or keep her in until the week she’s due if I want him here for the delivery and not whoever’s on call.