30 ON 30

My lovely husband is 30 today.  He is NOT excited.  Not in the least.  He doesn't like birthdays.  He doesn't like feeling like he's getting old.  Which he's NOT!!  He's in his prime if you ask me.  Anyway, I tried to surprise him, and I almost made it.  I LIVE for surprises.  It drives Stephen crazy.  Very few things are better than a well manufactured surprise.  I failed at the delivery, but he's still super excited about the present.  Stephen and I have been married for 5.5 years.  Since being married we have never left the lovely province of Alberta.  We've gone away to Banff twice and Canmore for our honeymoon. And never longer than two nights. And while those were lovely trips, BOOOOOO.  We want to leave Alberta!

We've been planning a tropical trip for when our next baby is old enough, so probably next February...like 2014.  soooo far away.  Stephen needs a vacation though.  NOW.  So I set out to plan a little getaway. 

Stephen is one of the hardest workers I know.  For the first three years we were married he worked full-time AND went to school part-time.  It would have been easy for us to live off my income...sort of...but he wanted to help support our family.  That's something I've always respected about Stephen.  Even today, he often comes home and still does work in the evening once Balian is in bed. 
He's always treated me as an equal partner in our marriage, something that's so important to me.  We parent equal and work equal.  It works great for us, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

He's in desperate need of a relaxing, fun vacation.  Stephen loves the San Francisco 49ers.  They've been 'his' team as long at the Red Wings have been 'his' NHL team...which is a loooong time.  And they're actually really good this season!  So I really wanted to take him to a game.  I thought about just going to Seattle, but they suck.  AND then I saw they were playing the Giants, which are MY team, in October.  How perfect!  We both get to see our teams play.  Yes...I like NFL football.  I like watching sports....probably because I couldn't play a sport to save my life.  So I live vicariously though professional men.  It's pathetic.  So I decided we were going to go to San Francisco and go to a NFL game, among other things, but that was the main activity.  I was doing good until Sunday night football.  I couldn't hold it in any longer, and I just blurted out that the surprise was we were going to San Franciso!  I'm so lame.  Oh well.  He was excited, and I'm so excited it's actually going to happen.  It's been booked, and work has approved my time off so there's no backing out now! 

Anyway, I just wanted to wish my wonderful husband a happy 30th.  YOU'RE NOT OLD!!! 

* Look how cute he was when he was so little!!! 
* Love me some boxers....and the leather pants aren't too shabby either. 

** Stop reading now if you want to avoid the cheese

30 Reasons Why You're the Best 30-year-old I know

1. You're an amazingly hard worker
2. You always put your familiy first
3. You're HOT
4. You bring me home donuts when I'm sad or upset....or you're in trouble
5. You teach and explain to me the lyrics in rap songs
6. You're 100% yourself around me and allow me to be the same
7. You come shopping with me and taught me about name brands
8. You put up with my punctuality OCD
9. You have goals and you always work hard to accomplish them
10. You're a worthy priesthood holder
11. You can make up a song about anything and everything...with matching dance moves.
12. You love to cook
13. You do more laundry than I do
14. You always fill the car up with gas because you know I hate doing it
15. You moved to Raymond!
16. You always kiss me good night and tell me you love me
17. You still spoon with me on the couch
18. You're a better backseat driver than you used to be
19. You treat me as your equal
20. You're HOT
21. You could totally kick any guy's butt if ever the situation presented itself
22. You're the best dad EVER
23. You call me during the day just to talk
24. You make me laugh everyday
25. You let me eat as many sweet things as I want to
26. You support my goals and hobbies
27. You want a big family
28. You introduce me to new things all the time
29. You tell I'm beautiful and sexy even when I don't feel I am
30. You treat me like a queen

Happy birthday hun!  I love you so much and am so proud of the man you have become in 30 years.  YOU'RE NOT OLD!!! 

Little Did We Know

August 27 was the day.  The ultrasound day.  I dread this day.  I have a feeling most pregnant women forced to overflow their bladder and then have someone press on your stomach for an extended period of time, never quite knowing if you're going to pee your pants or not dread ultrasound day.  It's been a whille since I've had to have an ultrasound.  I knew I had an extremely small bladder.  I knew I should NOT drink the recommended amount.  But I failed.  I drank two cups an hour and a half before my appointment.  45 minutes later my bladder was full.  UGH!  Do I emty and refill it ???  I decided yes.  I emtied it and drank two more glasses.  Well that just wasn't smart.  Before we had even left, 45 minutes later, it was painfully full again.  Now I had to endure the 20-minute drive to Lethbridge.  We had 5 minutes to go and the tears came.  I was in so much pain....but more importantly, I for real thought I was going to pee my pants.  Stephen was trying to be as supportive as possible.  But I needed silence.  I had to focus on making it to McDonalds so I could book it in and pee.  I was a woman on a mission when I entered that McDonalds.  For a split second I freaked out thinking there wouldn't be an open stall.  What if?!?!?  Luckily I didn't have to answer that question.  I did my business and we carried on down the road.  Of course I was worried that I wouldn't have a full enough bladder because I've emptied it TWICE now.  So in the parking lot i took a gulp out of my water bottle.  I then proceeded to empty another cup in the office before my appointment. 

Luckily I didn't have to wait long and we got started right away.  With quite possibly the worst ultrasound tech ever.  I wanted a young tech SO BAD because I knew they would be nice.  Nope.  Of course not.  Why would I be so lucky??  It' not like I just had a horrible morning and I deserved a break.  Oh well.  If any of you know Stephen, he's chatty.  He's  inquisitive.  He's curious.  He had a million and one comments and questions during the exam.  haha  I love it.  The tech acted like he wasn't even in the room!!  She was so rude.  She wouldn't answer any of his questions or even give him the time of day.  Probably didn't help he was calling her by the wrong name the whole time.  haha  The J-A part of her name tag was covered and so he just assumed JANELLE  was DANIELLE.  simple mistake. 

Anyway, the exam went well.  We tried to call the raymond clinic the next day to see if they would give us the results but the results were ONLY going to my lethbridge doc, not my family doc...and she was out of town for two more days.  The morning she was back in the office I called for the results.  The british front desk lady seemed more than perturbed that I was calling and said they would call me back sometime that day as they were very busy.  Well, excuuuuuse me for wanting to know what gender my baby is!  I was annoyed.  So of course they call while we were out at swimming lessons, so Stephen called to see if they would tell me just quick right then since we missed the call.  Well, that would just be asking too much wouldn't it.  It was 11:45.  Apparently they decided to take an early lunch.  Stephen called back at exactly 1:15 when they reopened, and got all the warmth that british receptionist had to offer.  Which was none....followed by a click of the phone hanging up.  JUST TELL ME WHAT I'M HAVING!!  I was SO annoyed.  Finally at 3:45, 5 minutes before my phone would have been busy because I had to go to work, the nicest lady in the world called.  For real this time.  She was full of sunshine.  And she FINALLY gave me the glorious news. 

We felt pretty confident that this babe was a girl.  This pregnancy has been sooo different. I was waaaay sicker, which compared to Balian just means I was sick.  With Balian I knew honestly from the day we found out I was pregnant that it was a boy.  This one I had absolutely no inkling or motherly intuition as to what it was....which left me to believe it was a girl.  The only logical answer, right?  Apparently I've been extremely moody too....to the point of the only explanation must be that I have a large excess of estrogen surging through my body.  Then we went to ultrasound and the baby looked nothing like Balian.  WE could tell right away with Balian that he was a boy.  He wasn't shy about a thing.  This is what we got with this babe. 

Now, you tell me that's not a girl.  It's not a girl.  IT'S  A BOY!!!
We were completely shocked.  We thought for sure it was a girl.  I was sad for about a millisecond.  Then I was soooo excited for Balian to have a little brother.  They'll be best buds.  I love being a mom to boys.  I think it suits me.  But don't get me wrong, I want a little girl more than anything.  Just one.  That's all I ask.  And we've vowed to not give up until we have one.....unless we get five boys.  Then I'm done. 

So there's our little munchkin!! Cute as ever!

Oh Yeah.

Remember that one time we bought a house?  WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! 
On July 19, 2012  Stephen and I officially became home owners.  One of the top five greatest moments of my life.  Also one of the most stressful moments of my life.  A little bit too much responsibility for my liking, but we are adjusting well to feeling like real grown-ups.  The house is perfect for us, and it will last us for 30 years....if we want.  We still have hopes and dreams of building out on a big acreage, but we'll see where life takes us.  For now this is perfect. 
We had been eying this house before we even moved to Raymond.  It went off the market just before we moved down here, and we were bummed because we weren't in a position to even think about buying yet.  No down payment and blah, blah, blah.  So we waited until we were ready and then decided to just phone them up to see if they were still interested in selling.  The then home owner was actually doing renovation work on my parents house, so we knew the family a little bit.  Could have been way more awkward. 
And just our luck they were still interested in selling!  Such a relief.  And their original offer was only $5000 above what we were willing to pay and we were able to get them down that $5000.  Worked out perfect.  And despite a few last minute worries with getting house insurance in time to get possession everything went smoothly.  We didn't have furniture for a week, and that SUCKED.  Big time sucked.  Greatest day ever when that Ashley's Furniture truck pulled up. 
I keep wanting to get a cute family pic in front of the house with a sold sign....but the stars just aren't aligning perfectly so it's not happening.  But here's  a picture of JUST the house.  I'll take more pics of the inside as I decorate.  The living room is almost down.  Just need to hang the picture frames and wait until we get our family pictures taken to add to them.  But here's our baby!!  Cute right??

We got two spares at the moment so please free to come and visit!!  One of them even has a bed for you to sleep in!

In The Words of Balian.....TA-DA!

I know we announced this on facebook way back when, but I still needed to record it on the good ol' blog.  We are excitedly awaiting baby number two to make his/her presence!!!  We're so excited.  Babies don't come easily in our household, and we were  one month away from returning to our fertility doc, but our prayers were answered just in the nick of time!  And we couldn't be happier. 
This pregnancy has been different and similar for me.  I got way more sick this time, but I still got my "morning sickness" at night.  So that was unfortunately familiar.  It made work just a joy, and me an extra joy to be around. 
I'm actually feeling quite good now though.  I've only been sick one or twice in the last week or so, so I think things are on the up.  Thank goodness.  How horrible is it to be sick EVERY day?!  Guys just don't know what they're missing out on. 
I keep calling it a him, because secretly deeeeeeep down inside I think it's a boy.  But I pray everyday that it's a girl.  HAHA  I actually would love to have a little brother for Balian, and I LOVE our boy name, but I've just always had this fear feeling that I'm going to be the mom of all boys.  I've come to terms with it and actually think it wouldn't be that bad.  haha  We have too many girl names that I love and that Stephen doesn't love so much.  So if it's a girl that could be an issue.  I'll be sure to let you all in on the secret as soon as we know though! 

Here's a pic of me at 11 weeks.  Pretty sure I popped at like 8 weeks with this second babe.  NOT impressed with that. 

And here I am at 16 weeks on Sunday.  A) my hair straightener broke and I teach 5-year-olds in primary, hence the dishevelled look.  B) My butt is now the size of my huge belly.  It's a bit much.  I can't fit any of my pants. 

So that's baby number two!!!  Can't wait for Januray 15....or hopefully earlier!!

PICNIC
A little while ago my dad found this park with this slide that's about 30 feet long.  Since then we've been trying to get all the kids and grandkids to get together for a little park date.  With so many varying schedules and uncooperative weather it took us a while but we finally did it!  Almost.  We were all there except Kyle and Cory and Tawni.  They had a last minute change of plans and weren't able to make it.  We missed you guys!
I had been given Saturday off work and so I began planning our park date Monday.  All week I was watching and checking the weather.  haha  I'm a loser I know, but i really wanted to go!! There was a 60% chance of rain but if it wasn't raining at 11 when we left then we were still going.  And we lucked out!  It didn't start spitting until we were just packing up.  We got in a full hour and  half of park fun and picnic.  haha  doesn't sound like much time, but we had three kids under 2, so they were exhausted by that point. 

I filled my camera card while taking pictures...never done that before.  So enjoy way too many pictures

i think i'm a little more excited than bails. 

This picture shows their personalities perfectly.  Balian always so seriouos and Malin having the time of her life.  haha

Baby via

pretty sure stephen is going to make me take this picture down so enjoy it while you can!

the spread.  mmmm

beautiful sisters

TA-DA!
I know you've all been checking my blog everday to see my new hair-do.  But I haven't been feeling very well...which means showering gets shifted to the bottom of my to-do list, which mean no picture of the new hair.  But alas, I could actually function this morning without wanting to die, so here I am in all my glory!

Really not the best photo, but you can kinda get the idea.  I came to my senses and kept it long.  I just realized I had worked way too hard to get here to chop it all off.  And I realized how  much I throw it into a bun on the days I just can't deal with it.  I wasn't ready to commit to the time it takes to do a short hairstyle.  So I'm happy with my decision.  I did go blonde though all over.  And I'm very very pleased with it, and my hairdresser.  Last time I went blonde the freaking hairdresser made me go super slow.  It look at least eight months to get to the point I'm at right now after one time.  I went to a good friend from highschool, who I don't think I had seen SINCE highschool.  So it was fun to catch up and talk about the good old days and where everyone's at and doing now. 

So this is it.  I plan to go a bit lighter still, but I'm enjoying the change and don't feel as washed out as I did leaving the salon.  haha 

What do you think????

Oooooh, the Dilemma

It's that time again.  Every year or so I get the itch.  The to cut or not to cut itch.  And I'm pretty sure everytime I cut my hair I love it for a week or two, and then I curse the day I ever did it and make Stephen swear to dissuade me if I ever say I want to cut my hair again.  Well....he's no help.  He's actually encouraging it.  He thinks " I need a change".  What do I do?!?!  I've had about every cut there is out there.  And I think my problem is I've never had a haircut that I LOVE.  I've always liked them....usually...but rarely have I loved a haircut.  I have stupid hair.  It's thin, naturally curly (but not the nice kind of naturally curly, and ever since I've had a baby not so curly at all), zero volume, so it gets teased to death.  It's just annoying.  So short hair usually helps with the thin volumeless situation, but then my other problem is my hair grows like a weed!  So any form of a "style" is gone in like a month or two.  And I always just let it grow out after a cut, I never maintain the style.  So maybe that's what I'll do this time.  So I need your help!!  Even if you read this blog and don't know me, or think I don't know you, I don't care.  I want your opinions.  Whenever I cut my hair I usually go all out.  I never get a 'medium' length haircut.  Kind of seems pointless to me.  All or nothin'!  So here is kind of what I'm thinking.  Let me know what you think.  Also...should I stay dark? darker?  start going blonde again?? 

Here's  a few of my inspiration cuts.

So you kinda get what I'm going for.  Do you think I can pull any of these off and look anything remotely like the actual haircut??  haha 

Or should I stay with the brown locks??

                Or the blonde locks???  I LOVE my hair here.  It worked so good that day....and that day only. haha

 What short brown can look like.  I actually didn't mine this haircut.  This is after it had grown out after about a month.  I wasn't too fond of it at first.

 And what blonde short hair can look like.  I also didn't mind this cut but wish it was more bobish I get.  Does that make sense??  I LVOE the color here though. I don't know. I'm really picky with my haircuts.  UGH!!

This is solely for laughs.  haha  this is the WHAT THE H!%& was I thinking?!?!  There's a whole big story to the did this catastrophe went down....but that's for another time.  haha 

So you get the gist of it.  I need help.  What should I do?  I think after looking at pictures over the last couple years I'm definitely going to try going blonde again, the good blonde, not the hideousness from that last picture.  I just can't get over that hair!  It's going to haunt me tonight in my dreams.  haha  So lay it on me.  What should I do????  It's going to happen soon, so I'll post the end result.  Hopefully it turns out okay!!