Have I mentioned? Our family just had a super mild cold run through us. Nothing too crazy. A few snotty days, one day of dry coughing maximum, etc. Super relaxed. I was actually completely ok with it, because rather now than over baby day. Even I got it, and it took a few days longer to leave me, for obvious reasons. One day, Bambina will give me back my immune system, but until then, I’ll just hang on to colds a little longer.

I had my few days of sickness, and had been feeling a noticeable upswing over the last few days. I felt back to normal, save for a few coughing spells here and there. Well, yesterday, for whatever reason, my cold took a HUGE swoop down and I am completely beside myself, sick as a dog. My ribs are aching so badly from all the coughing, my throat obviously hurts, my neck is tight and I’m so so sweaty, though not fevered. My stomach is all crampy, and I’m burping like a maniac because of all the air I’m taking in from coughing to the point of gagging. I can’t speak above a whisper. When I roll over in bed, and that slight movement puts a teeny bit of pressure really anywhere, I gag like crazy trying to make the pressure go away.

I used the example of rolling over in bed because I literally have not left my room once today. It is both a huge relief and bummer all at once. I’m SO thankful that Brady has let me just hole up and try to heal for the day. I really hope I do.

I ate some lunch, so thats something, but I know I’m wildly dehydrated. Yet, I’m coughing so hard, to the point of constantly peeing a little. Yup, glamorous, I know. Thank goodness for these absorbent underwear I bought for postpartum healing, right?? Been living in those suckers! I wish I didn’t need them, but I’m thankful to have them.

We’ll see how the rest of the day goes. I want to say a soak will help, but I hacked through the entire soak last night, and it brought NO relief. I’ve exhausted my options of what I’m allowed to take and how to help myself, and am feeling a touch helpless. Wish me luck for a better night and some improvement tomorrow! I HAVE to kick this this sooner than later!

Aaaaand rant over!

We’ve had a couple of cute days around here that I figured I’d share with you guys 🙂 Unfortunately, Dekker being at school means he’s not in too many of the stories, but hopefully everyone understands! We also suuuuuper love him!

Brady has been home, so we’ve been doing a bit of running around and filling our days with jobs around the house, and errands that are SO much easier to run with another adult.

Yesterday, we spent all morning in the city, running in and out of a handful of places, getting me to my last  pre-baby physio appointment, buying material for a little project, getting Dekker a few more tshirts for summer, etc. It was busy, but the kids were cute and pretty cooperative!

Brady had to run into a grocery store right at the end for milk (Is it just us, or is everyone always out of milk?!)  and Laela and I played with the leftover fries from lunch.

When we got back home, the little boys had both slept in the van, so nap time was shot. Brady took the littles out with him while he worked on a project in the garage so they could bike on the street, play in the garage, etc. They LOVED it, until they didn’t anymore. The noise of the saw eventually got to a couple of them, and they came in and hung out with me while I blogged and rested in bed. Rowan felt the baby move for the first time!! I have it on video, but videos are SUCH a pain to get onto the blog (if only it were as easy as pictures!) so if you’d like to see it, just let me know and I’ll send it around or throw it on Facebook 🙂 It was VERY sweet, anyway.

He was blown away that she could get the hiccups while she was still in my tummy! It was so cute to see him so excited.

We ate a ridiculously yummy supper that was given to us by neighbours! They were just married on the weekend and have a ton of leftover food from their wedding, and we were more than happy to take some of it off their hands, haha!

My gosh, it was SO yummy! Every single thing. I would happily just sit with one of these trays on my lap and dig in if not for the rest of my family who in fact also eat.

Another one of our loving neighbours SO sweetly bought us some flowers for our front step planter, and Laela even asked to have her preschool beans planted in her backyard garden! So we spent a bit of time with them, digging in the dirt, planting and watering, and somewhat manhandling their garden :/ Sorry, guys!!!

It was a solidly full day, and the kids fell asleep quick. Brady and I realized yesterday, however, that we had left a few things in the city that we need, so we decided on a shorter trip in for the morning.

And that was this morning! We all managed to be ready and dressed in time to take Dekker to school together, and then we headed into the city once again. Look at this little sweetie, rocking her romper!

She was so sweet!!

We got some lumber that we missed the other day, hit Value Village for a couple of things, and went to Starbucks to try the brand new refresher!

Its SO pretty, and way more purple than the picture shows! Also yummy 🙂

And home we went! Brady, once again, has the kids in the garage while he’s working on the project, and I’m taking a load off, blogging, and putting my feet up. As is Bambina, whose feet are literally underneath my ribs this very moment. She’s lucky I love her so much.

We’ll see what the afternoon holds, but I hope for a solid mix of relaxation and productivity! Our to-do list is dwindling, but I have a little list on the side that is things that only really need doing the week before baby week. Aaaaand that’s next week!! WOW! So we sort of need to crush this list before too long!

Eek! I’ve never been so excited to get work done!

ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS!!!! That feels absolutely crazy! We are OFFICIALLY full term!!! 😭 I feel SO prepared in so many ways, with her cradle all ready, bottles washed, clothes laundered, etc. Yet I still haven’t packed a hospital bag for myself or Bambina, nor has Brady. I swear, its like I’ve NEVER packed one before! How in the world do people pack that thing in advance?? I wear the clothes I want to bring! I brush my teeth with the toothbrush I’ll pack! We use the electronics daily that we’ll bring to the hospital! How in the world do people pack a hospital bag?? I have a list, but literally ALL I can pack off of it is a pair of socks and chapstick. I can’t even pack Bambina’s things because some of it will depend on the weather. Maybe I have some sample sized toiletries kicking around that I could use instead of my everyday stuff….. 🤔

Size Comparison: Apparently the baby is the size of a skunk…. 😒 Or a BABY! I’d love to ballpark the baby’s size this week but really, while they’ve all been big, they haven’t all been the same. Dekker was over 10 lbs and he was two days past his due date. Solly was about the same size and was eight days before. So really, who knows. Not I!

Appointments: Oh my gosh, WHAT a debacle!!! Lol! TOTAL pregnancy brain moment at my appointment on Friday! I got there a bit early, as I try to do. My appointments are always at 1:30pm, and I tend to get there 15 minutes early. I went to the desk and greeted the receptionist. We’ve known her since we had Dekker, as she’s worked at both clinics my doctor has in that time. When I got to her, she commented something along the lines of “You’re here! Is everything ok?” I was a bit lost, and said everything was fine. She went on to tell me that my appointment was at 11:15 this morning 😮 WHAT?! They’re never in the morning! But then I remembered 🤦‍♀️ At my appointment LAST week, someone new had walked me back to the exam room, and she had presented me with a paper listing all of my upcoming appointments. I noticed that one or two had changed times, and she had added a couple of appointments in there that I knew I wouldn’t need. I figured I’d run it by someone familiar before marking it down in my own information. Aaaaand then I forgot. 😔 I tried to be super understanding and asked if I was out of luck. I took all the responsibility, and expected to go home. She said she’d call back and ask Dr. Guselle if I could still be seen. As she was waiting for the call to go through, Dr. Guselle showed up at the front desk. She saw me and burst out laughing right away. She told me they were surprised when I missed my morning appointment, as I’m not a flaky patient and try hard to be on time. Their first thought was that I was in labour! She called the hospital, but I wasn’t there. She and my student doctor settled on “She probably forgot, and she’ll come for 1:30.” And that is exactly what happened!! I can’t believe no one called me or anything!! But they were all SO understanding and we all just had  good laugh. So, that aside, I was allowed to stay and see my student doctor right away. He was also totally understand and made up some bizarre explanation that made it sound like I was early 😂 I have great health care providers. Beyond that whole debacle of even getting seen, I’ve gained one pound, my swab from the other week was negative (woot!) and baby remains in the optimal position for delivery! Can’t complain about that!

How am I feeling emotionally: We are in the stretch before delivery where baby’s heart rate starts dropping juuust a touch, and its freaking me out more than usual this time around, for obvious reasons :/ For this reason and many others, I’ve caught myself saying something I NEVER thought I’d say! I would give up my beautiful, scheduled, controlled induction and accept a scary, fast, unmedicated, unplanned “Laela” delivery if it meant I could have Bambina today. I’m so ready, and like I said last week, I’m so tired of worrying. I just want her. No more of this waiting and wondering business.

How am I feeling physically: I am feeling LARGE and IN CHARGE. I feel overdue. My body is resorting to hibernation mode. I nap most days, almost always by accident. My few food aversions are back, so coffee is tricky, and eggs are risky. I’m often nauseous, and my bowels are iffy. Don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t be more happy to be pregnant!! But, in all honesty, I’m in a constant state of discomfort at this point. Take sitting, for instance. I can’t lean back because I can’t breathe. I can’t lean to one side or another because my pelvis crunches out of place. And I can try to lean forward but she’s still so high up that its next to impossible. Oh and sitting straight up is HARD with the lack of core muscles. Sooooo thats a fun thing to figure out.

Wish Lish/Purchases: We have a few things coming, yup! We ordered that new cradle mattress a while ago, and it was shipping from the UK with no way to track it. We were told it could come anytime between June 16-July 22. The old mattress we have in our cradle is ok and everything, just old and has been vomited on a LOT, so it would be useable if the new one didn’t come in time. Well, it did! It magically showed up on June 15th!! So we have that, along with surprisingly soft little pink sheets. Perfect!! We also found a way to order the soothers we’ve been wanting, so thats a win too! They’re on their way, just not here yet. There may be more I’m forgetting…

Pictures: My dear friend and photographer has suffered a HUGE hit recently, losing a second family member in a short period of time 💔 SO awful! Please send some prayers her way, if you think of it. That being said, these things come MILES before a belly picture! So my very sophisticated shot from the bathroom mirror will have to do! 

I know. I’m a tank. There is a LOT of baby in there. But I’m so thankful that she continues to grow.

How are the kids feeling: Laela has been asking a lot of details about how babies grow. Lately, she’s been talking about how the baby eats. She understands that baby has a long belly cord (she calls it a rope) thats attached to a big hunk that feeds her. We’ve explained that Bambina gets aaaaall the good things I eat, aaaaall the vitamins, etc. If I eat too much bad stuff, that would be unhealthy for her, too, so we’re careful not to have too many treats, but that the baby is healthy and eating lots. She asked me the other day if Bambina likes bananas 🙂 I told her I thought she would eventually, but probably doesn’t recognize what a banana tastes like just yet. More conversations about Bambina not eating food with her mouth just yet. Disappointment that Laela won’t be able to feed her sticky buns at the lake. My favorite question was whether or not Bambina “has” to eat crusts 🥪 Lol! The things that make life hard when you’re little 😉 SO many questions! 

Getting to know the baby: I know we all have different experienced in family building, so please don’t fault me when I say things like this, but I feel like its been AGES since I’ve had a new baby! I think getting to know Bambina is going to be a whole new ballgame!! I’m confident it’ll all come back in the blink of an eye, but I am SO enjoying looking back at baby pictures and videos of my children, and remembering how AMAZING those little stages are, and how EXCITING it is to watch them change and grow! And I feel like I’ve learned so much in the recent past, and will do a handful of things differently to encourage their development straight out of the gate. Not too much, but a bit 🙂 Basically, this category today is less about speculations about her and more about how excited I am to have the opportunity to get to know her at all. I am SO fortunate. 

The BEST part of being pregnant: I LOVE THAT I’M FULL TERM! That feels victorious! I know its not over yet. The “hopefullys” and “what ifs” aren’t gone yet, but its coming! It finally feels like crunch time, and I’m SO thankful to have reached this point!

Favourite thing: I can pretty safely say my favorite thing this week is ice cream sandwiches! Even just the no name ones are sooooo good! I have to really limit myself to ONE when I have dessert because I could easily wolf down that whole box!

Folks, I feel like we are in the final stretch. My big ominous list is mostly taken care of. Much of the cleaning is done. I literally have ONE more thing to buy. I’m waiting for a few things to come in the mail. I have a bit of decor to make for her party. Have to pack hospital bags. Maybe bake something. And I’m pretty determined to get a pedicure in there. But guys, she’s coming. SOON! I’m beside myself with excitement and joy and sorrow and fear and readiness and newbiness and just ALL the emotions! The anticipation is HUGE!! Lucky for me, I have a handful of things to keep busy with until then 😉

But seriously, help me know how in the world you packed a hospital bag!! Apparently its been a while since I packed mine! What are your “ride or die” items for staying at the hospital? Mine are hair ties and chapstick, haha! What can I NOT forget?

I like to think I do my fair share of bragging Brady up on the regular, so I doubt any of you are left wondering if he is or isn’t a great dad. He is, indeed, the most excellent father to our children. I am SO thrilled with the man I watched him transform into on the day Dekker was born. BOOM. He was a DAD, and he was all for it! Full disclosure. Neither he nor I had ever changed a diaper before we had children. Neither of us had cared much for babysitting, either. We were complete and total newbs. And wow, how our life has changed! I believe Brady changed just about every single diaper that Dekker produced in the hospital. He wasn’t afraid when Dekker would choke a bit of the leftover mucus he was carrying from delivery. He was SO natural. I never once had to try to convince him to have more kids. Brady is 110% on board to having our home positively teeming with kids!

The kids and I bought him this shirt for Father’s Day, though he would never have bought it for himself, and you’ll likely never see him wear it out in public.

And its true, you know. He is truly the BEST. He decided to make everyone a yummy breakfast, himself, of egg in a holes. And he invited the kids to help, which resulted in a lot of ripped bread and a bit of a mess.

He is a patient, loving father. Yet on top of that, he has not just chosen our kids. He is also an incredibly warm, attentive husband to me, his blessed wife. What a wonderful man he is to his entire family. We are so fortunate.

I love you, Brady 💙 I love you all the way! We all do. Myself, Dekker, Laela, Rowan, Solomon, and our littlest Miss. Are you the best. Dad. Ever.

Well folks, another thing is crossed off the list of things to do before the baby comes! I got my hair redone! Its been a nice long time since the last time, about three months. I used to go every two months but since I really like pastel coloured hair, the fading doesn’t bother. I get my roots done darker so they blend a tad betting with my brown hair, and BOOM! Hair that lasts three months!

Behold the new look!

Yup. I did. I went purple again! 💜💙 With blue roots!!

I’m so stoked, honestly. I LOVE the colors, and the change! I feel like I’ve had pink hair for SO long, which isn’t wrong, really, since its been a solid six months. Time for purple again. It was pointed out to me after the fact that I also wore purple earrings today, and am sporting purple nails. We’ve got a theme going, apparently. Could be worse things!

I made it to the mall just before they opened, and spent four hours in the chair, chatting it up with my hair girl about summer plans, baby stuff, hair stuff, etc. We can easily kill a few hours together, no question. You know you have a good hair girl with that happens! Todays appointment felt like it flew by. I was sure that we had finished in record time. But nope. A comfortable four hours.

I had a few errands to run while I was at the mall, but scrapped a couple for the sake of my tired body. I had parked by the hair salon, and my errands were sending me completely to the opposite end of the mall. So I kept the errands minimal, grabbed the few things I justified, and waddled back to my van. I let Brady know I was heading home, and in true Hailey fashion, listened to one song on repeat all the way home. (PS If you haven’t heard Josh Ramsay’s latest song “We Should be Friends,” its cute and catchy.)

I came home to a quiet house. Three of my four kids were napping, and the oldest non-napper was apparently apprehended to grandma’s for the afternoon! Win! Brady had spent the morning cleaning carpets, which was SO lovely of him! Believe it or not, they weren’t even on my list! But they’ve been bugging him for a while, so they were on his list! He completed the last chunk of carpets in the house – our room – and that big job is DONE for the next while! SO awesome!

Laela had the most to say about my hair. She said she loved the color, and think it smells like curly fries. One day, she says, she will also have blue and purple curly fries hair. I don’t blame her.

It was so wonderful to get to be out at the hair salon for such a nice long break, but it was also so refreshing to come home and be so well received and loved and greeted so nicely. I sure love my family.

I hope Bambina likes my hair…

Guest Post!

So we all know Hailey is a fantastically engaging writer. I am no match for her but I, her husband Brady, have a fantastic story to tell. 🙂

Yesterday was a low key day through the morning and early afternoon. We worked a bit and got some cleaning done around the house, I made some amazing hash browns for breakfast, good times had by all. Hailey had plans to meet up with her Mom for supper and some Father’s Day shopping in the city in the evening so we thought that was a good chance to go run some errands with the kids before supper. We were still missing a few accessories/tools for our new barbecue and I was itching to go get them.

So we hit a Canadian Tire in a nearby town first and found nothing. *facepalm* I then did a little online research and found out there was only one cheap barbecue cover to match the new barbecue in the whole city, and we all know how reliable those websites are for in-stock availability, but I called that location and found out they did in fact have ONE in stock. ‘Yay!! Hold it for me please!’

We then took Hailey to have her blood drawn, but we both forgot her requisition form so that was a bust. *facepalm* And it was time to drop Hailey off for dinner with her Mom at which point I’d be flying solo with the kids for the remainder of the day.

It’s ok. I’m not scared of the kids. I actually really enjoy having the kids by myself sometimes. I like to think that as long as I can keep the kids alive by myself for at least a whole day then we can keep having kids like we’re doing. Hailey needs to be able to have breaks sometimes. ❤

So the littles and I headed to the nearest McDonalds and ordered our supper through their handy dandy app. If you haven’t tried it yet, you should. There’s an option to have them deliver your food to your vehicle in the parking lot. Like it’s the 1950s! I love it!

The kids devoured their supper and just as we started heading to the second Canadian Tire location where our barbecue cover was waiting for us, I heard those fateful words. Come on all you parents, you know the words:

Daddy!

I have to pee!

*facepalm*

It was Laela. She drank most of her water bottle between home and McDonalds. Ok, what do I do? I can’t leave the other kids in the van while I run her in, that’s how you lose your kids to social services. I can’t send her in by herself, she cant push the door open by herself.

I guess we’re all going in. Together.

*facepalm*

So I loaded Solly into a shopping cart and had the other three grab onto the cart while they walked and we headed in. The public bathroom in this particular location is placed at the end of a long, narrow hallway. Deks jumped to pump and offered to hold the door open for me as I pushed the cartload of small ones through the door and into this tiny little bathroom. Not a family bathroom. The Men’s bathroom.

So Laela heads off to the first stall with Dekker hot on her heals for the second stall where he meets a locked door and a gruff ‘Hey, someone’s in here.’ So now I’m in a tiny bathroom and with my four kids and a man I later found out was an employee of the store, evidenced by the squawk of an employee radio as we left the bathroom.

After some wrangling and convincing I got the two older boys to stand next to the cart while I went and used a urinal which happened to be about two feet in front of the stall of the employee. Very close quarters. Dekker pipes up and says ‘I’d use one of those but I can’t reach. I’ve tried at school.’

Then as far as I can remember these are the next sentences out of my mouth. Keep in mind I was midstream at the urinal this whole time.

‘Ok Deks, that’s fine you can wait for Laela.’

‘Rowan, don’t play under sink. Close that cabinet.’

‘Rowan, where are you? Don’t touch anything.’

‘Rowan, Don’t Touch THAT!!!’

 

Splash!

 

*facepalm*

 

Rowan had run towards the second urinal and put both hands right in the pool of “water” in the bottom.

‘Rowan…. DON’T. TOUCH. ANYTHING!’

Rowan backs up. Surprised. Rubbing his hands together, trying to dry them off.

So I quickly tried to finish up and wrangled Rowan towards the sink and washed his hands in mine as thoroughly as I possibly could. Gross. Kids are so gross sometimes. But he didn’t know any better. He’s never used a urinal.

While this was all happening Laela finished up and washed her hands as did Dekker. And of course this bathroom only had a Dyson hand deflesher, so the kids were terrified and had to use toilet paper to dry their hands. Oh well. We bounced and shimmied our way out of the bathroom and back down that tiny hallway to freedom.

I never saw that employee come out. This whole debacle was a good 5 minutes so who’s to say what was taking him so long. Probably a good book. Or he was terrified of what was going on beyond the walls of his stall. Ya that’s probably it.

Anyways, we managed to find what we needed at Canadian Tire so it wasn’t a total bust of a shopping trip. And we topped it off with a trip to Costco so the kids were happy. All in all it was a successful, albeit eventful, errand afternoon.

So there you go. *greek accent*

In exactly ONE MONTH, we are hosting a celebration for Bambina coming into the world, safe and sound!! This party has been in my mind since I was pregnant with Jamin, though I never voiced the idea, and then was humiliated that I had even thought it could work out. I know, there was no need to be embarrassed, but still, I was obviously choked about the aspect of losing something else.

When we found out we had once again conceived a baby, I didn’t wait too long before I pushed myself to start planning a party. I wanted to celebrate every single day I was pregnant, and I knew that planning a party wouldn’t play ANY role in whether she lived or died. Jinxes be damned.

So I planned, and she’s continued to grow and thrive!

I admit that I sometimes go to darker places, and wonder what in the world we’ll do if she passes away. We have everything in place. We know what we’ll need to buy fresh, and already have on hand most things that we can have in advance. We’ve spent time perfecting the right ratio of cold brewed coffee. We’ve recruited help for some of the baking. We’ve ordered invitations. We’ve purchased decor, some small kitchen things, drink dispensers, etc. I’ve chosen clothes. We’ve PLANNED. We are READY. What, oh WHAT in the world will we do if she isn’t here for her party?? I promise, I don’t go here too terribly often, because I know just how out of my hands the answer to this question really is. I have NO control. But I’m not going to lie and say I never go there, because I do. So I’m scared. At least a little bit scared.

I will know this answer in one month. Less, even. I am hopeful that all will be well and we’ll have a super special morning, celebrating our littlest babe, among friends, family, and everyone who has anticipated her arrival along with us! My Facebook event is still open and ready for more people, so PLEASE, if I’ve missed you and you’d like to come, be in touch! Our entire church will be invited with actual invites once she’s born, but not until then, because they have her beautiful name on them 🙂 But the door is still WIDE open for anyone else who wants to come! I’m starting to need numbers so I can actually arrange how many of which things we need! Please, friends, be in touch 💜 I’m SO looking forward to this!

The party is roughly two weeks after she’d due to be born, and that day is in about 2.5 weeks. My goodness, time is moving fast!

Trust me, I KNOW I’m super pregnant. This baby is NOT a subtle baby. I KNOW I’m in my third trimester, coming up on baby day. But my gosh, over this last week or so, I feel like we’re back to square one. This morning, it was more apparent than usual.

I feel nauseous. SO nauseous. Which makes NO sense. I’m not sick. I have no reason to be sick. But WOW do my guts ever hurt!! On top of that, I’m crampy and sore. I know. I sound like I have a tummy bug, but this is just how things have been feeling in the recent days! So. So. Weird.

I should clarify here. I’m not in unbelievable pain or anything. This morning felt pretty bananas, but as I moved around, went about my normal morning stuff, and threw back a glass or two of water, there was definite relief. There is just a constant icky nausea that lingers and refuses to quit.

Have any of you ended up back on Diclectin in your last stretch of pregnancy? Is that a thing that happens? The few food aversions I had in my first trimester are back and everything. What gives??

On a positive note, it was a handy day to have a helpful friend over in the morning to do my dishes, wash ALL of Bambina’s bottles (thats a BIG thing off my list!), and then entertain my kids so I could sit and rest, intentionally drink lots of water, and creep the internet for what third trimester nausea means.

Isn’t it fun how helpful people in your life make you strong enough to be a helpful person yourself? I’m so thankful for my days and who I’m fortunate enough to share them with 💖

When Solly turned two, I mentioned on his birthday post that he wasn’t much of a talker. That was my VERY gentle way of saying that my kid said nothing. Like NOTHING at all. He made sounds, for sure, but they weren’t intentional or said at times that made any sense. Or wait, I should take that back. He had one long line of sounds that we always took as “Where’s _______?” Wheresdaaaa? Whereslaaaa? Stuff like that. But not even “hi” or “bye.” Nada.

We are so fortunate to have a dear friend nearby who happens to be an occupational therapist, and she lovingly suggested we try some baby sign language. Her advice wasn’t even based on his lack of speech, but on the fact that we were struggling hard in our family, and Solly was screaming SO MUCH, and I just needed some of it to stop!! She suggested that Solly’s ability to communicate even just a bit more might reduce the screaming. I’ve seen lots of baby sign, but have never exercised it in my home. She gave some basic signs to try and told me how to begin the teaching process. I don’t know how long it usually takes for a kid to learn sign, but I figured with Solly being two already, it would be a pretty quick sell.

He took to it differently than I had expected. We worked with him, and helped him sign “more” and “all done” any and every time it was relevant. And he HATED it!! He would fight SO hard, ad refused to do the sign himself. At one point, he was positively wailing for crackers, and I was waiting patiently for him to sign, because he knew that was what was expected of him, and instead, he just bellowed “CRACKERRRRR!” So yes, obviously, the kid got a cracker, because TALKING! That seemed to start something.

He finally started signing on his own for things, but almost immediately, it turned to him doing the “more” sign while saying “mo!” He also started talking, kind of out of nowhere! When he signs “done,” he says “done!” Its SO awesome! In the last two weeks, he went from basically no language to saying all kinds of things! Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, ya, no, please, thank you, more, done, help, banana, pants (lol!) and lots of other things! Ya and no have been total game changers, honestly. They help SO much, because as a two year old, he has opinions about things, and he’s old enough to make some choices, and now that he finally says a few things, he can finally communicate what he wants. Frustration – POOF! – gone!

Another big change in his speaking is that he’ll try new words all the time! Its like its finally clicked. He’ll mimic what we say, what the kids say, etc., and then gets excited when we all get excited for him! He’s so easily brighten up and encourage.

I feel like, at the very LEAST, the little bit of sign that we taught him brought him a huge amount of confidence! It was like, once he had felt the relief of being able to communicate even just a little, he KNEW he could do more! He is relieved, and so are we! So. Are. We.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved this kid before he talked. But our relationship has shifted beautifully since he could speak to me, and I could better meet his needs. SO much nicer for both of us!

** He just handed me a toy truck and told me “tuck.” His language is about to whip into gear, just you wait!!

Guys. We have three more weeks. Three. More. Weeks. I’m not really sure what to say about that. Its SO SOON. Everything is wrapping up, timelines are being met, things are getting done, and I am really realizing just how real things are about to get! I have quite a few thoughts on the subject from the week.

Size Comparison: My favourite comparison from this week is that baby is the size of a cabbage patch doll. I could see that being true. Not weight wise, but general mass wise, perhaps. This little miss is ALL up in my ribs, ALL down in my business, and there is often an obvious elbow or knee jabbing out the sides. Its getting FULL in there, and I think she and I are both feeling it. I think we’re pretty anxious to meet each other on the outside.

Appointments: Remember, in my last blog, I talked about that special butt swab I was forewarned about this coming week? Lol! I hesitated to write about it at all, and then pretty much all of the comments I received on that post were based on that topic, haha! I am VERY happy and relieved to report that my student doctor offered for me to perform my own GBS swab, which I immediately agreed to. We had a bit of a laugh together and he commented that he’d vastly prefer to do his own also, if one was necessary. I think we all would. So thats taken care of! Hopefully results are good 🙂 The other significant topic of conversation that came up in my appointment was that bizarre night of labourish feelings from two nights before. He was definitely interested in all the details, but there is really no way to truly know what happened or why. I decided against a cervical check, and basically we were both just happy that the pain and  contractions have stopped for the time being. I’m happy with this conclusion for a handful of reasons, but the biggest reason being that Dr. Guselle was not around for our appointment, and I trust her opinions and judgement calls more than that of my student doctor, as well as the doctor who was overseeing our appointment and who did not make an appearance in our appointment, even though he was technically required to. Not my fave. I’m anticipating seeing Dr. Guselle on Friday again. We’re officially in the weeklies!

How am I feeling emotionally: I’m not going to lie. I am emotionally spent. I’m tired in ALL the ways, but I am so very weary, and just tired of worrying. I just want her home finally. This has been the longest stretch of uncertainty I have ever experienced in my life, and while I have worked hard to cast my cares at God’s feet, and He HAS rescued me time and time again, I am completely exhausted from it all. I want to be able to take in some deep breaths as I hold her fresh little body while she cries through those first few breaths of air. For her to be in my arms, ALIVE, and in need of her mommy and daddy to just drench her with love and care. To listen to her snorty sleep sounds, and feed her, clean her, and kiss her delicious-smelling head over and over and over again. I. Cannot. Wait. I’m tired of the “what ifs” and the “hopefullys.” Who knew waiting was such a fatiguing thing?? 

How am I feeling physically: We’re at a funny place physically, where I think, despite my best efforts, I’m just going to be sore. There has been a significant shift in the last week or so, and even though I’m still following all of my very strict chiro/physio rules, I am positively aching. My pelvis is looser than ever, and makes audible crunchy sounds when I so much as shift in my bed. Rolling over is next to impossible. Just now, I looked up from my laptop and saw Solly had his arm, up to his elbow, down his pants. I laughed at him, and my pelvis and lower back crunched. So, thats fun.

Wish Lish/Purchases: It was an exciting mail week!!! My baby party dress AND my period panties arrived on the same day!!!! I was SO amped! Unfortunately, the dress didn’t fit 🙁 Weirdly, it didn’t fit in the top. It gaped in the shoulders and pits pretty badly, and holding kids and such will only stretch the neckline. Since maaad cleavage isn’t so much what I’m going for, I had to return it :/ Now I decide whether or not to pay for shipping again, considering its an online exclusive and I can’t buy it in store. Hmmm… The period underwear, however, are a WIN! I obviously haven’t tested them out in full capacity, but they fit, and they’re WAY more comfortable than the slightly cheaper (though still expensive) brand I tried recently. Win!! I discovered I can remove one thing off my “to buy” list, which is disappointing, but saves me a few bucks, anyway. I got some cute little tongs for the fruit trays that we’ll have at the baby party, which have been weirdly hard to find. Lastly, for anyone who wants to help in a big/small way, I found the soothers I want on amazon, and they appear to be virtually impossible to find in store. They are only a $5 add-on for an Amazon Prime member, which I am, but I literally have NOTHING to buy from Amazon right now! Anyone local friends ordering from Amazon anytime soon? If you’re willing to add $5 on for Bambina, please let me know!

Pictures: Bumpity bump! 

I. Am. Huge.
She. Is. Growing!

How are the kids feeling: This week, at Dekker’s track and field day, someone approached Laela and asked her what was in my belly. Laela, who tends to be a bit standoffish around new people, dove right into the conversation about the baby. She told her right away that it was a baby girl. When asked if the baby being a girl made her a more exciting baby, Laela answered with an excited “YUP!” immediately! Hahaha! Sooooo I think thats a positive! Lots of people have been saying to me recently that Laela needs a sister, and really, she doesn’t. Don’t get me wrong, we are AMPED that Bambina is a little lady! I couldn’t be more thrilled, seriously!! But as I’ve said since the beginning of Laela’s life, if she is the one little girl I ever get, whether we stopped having children or continued on to have ten more boys, I was completely thrilled to have her! She is a LOT of little girl, and I love her to death. In the earlier stages of my pregnancy, she was the one kid who was guessing that the baby was a boy. She wasn’t itching or twitching for a girl at all! But now that Bambina is coming, she is THRILLED! As we all are.

Getting to know the baby: Ok, todays guess about Bambina is that she’s going to be more so from Brady’s side of the family. I THINK she will take after Solly and/or Dekker. Just based on how I’m feeing in this last month, its quite reminiscent of how I felt with those kids in particular. I could ALWAYS be wrong, obviously, but thats my guess. We’ll know soon!!

The BEST part of being pregnant: The best part of being pregnant these days is finding a song with her nickname secretly tucked in it, and listening to it over and over again, just to hear her name said out loud, or to even sing it myself! Saying it out loud feels SO taboo, but singing it when no one around knows her name feels sliiiiightly safer. Eek!

Favourite thing: I’m going to go out on a vague limb and say my favourite thing right now is second hand maternity clothing! I’ve been beautifully showered with hand me downs this pregnancy, for myself and for Bambina, and its been really fun to build wardrobes for us that I genuinely like! Truly, I’ve appreciated and enjoyed it! Recently, a friend added me to a buy and sell page on Facebook specifically for maternity wear. Where have I been that I didn’t know about this page?? Since I was added, I’ve scored two AWESOME items for $5 each! Firstly, I got an obnoxiously bright and beautiful coral hoodie, which I was really in the market for, as my ONE maternity hoodie is from when I was pregnant with Dekker. No lie. SO worn out! The other item I scored is a beautifully stretchy, comfy, black and white striped pencil skirt. It will definitely work postpartum as well, which is a huge selling feature! I actually tried to buy this skirt from Thyme a while back when it was new. I placed the order, and before they sent it my way, it sold out, and I couldn’t actually get it in the end. Someone bought it in my size, wore it once or twice, and sold it to me for $5! It is even comfier than I anticipated! I am THRILLED!!

I hardly know what to say, guys. Three more weeks is SO few! I’m seeing my lists get shorter and shorter as more and more stuff gets done! As tends to happen, things also get added, but its not as overwhelming anymore. The biggest, more important things, are done. If we were to have our baby girl today, she would very likely be fine, and the rest of the stuff on the lists would either get done or it wouldn’t, and it would be fine. I’m a firm believer in adding stuff to my list that I’ve already done, just so I can cross them off and feel good about myself and what I’ve accomplished. Today, I took the opposite approach and I removed everything off my list that I had originally just stoked off. While its now a full list with nothing crossed off, it is WAY smaller and feels doable and exciting! The biggest stuff is definitely gone and done!!

Except the hospital bag… I should probably pack that sucker before the kids comes…