Family Pics 2012

 

The fabulous Meghan Maxwell took our family pictures back in September and they finally came!!  I'm so excited.  I LOVE all of them.  I'm having a really hard time picking which ones to hang on the wall.  I've always loved black and white photos, and frankly those are my favorite here too, but should I put all black and white on the same wall or mix and match??  Let me know which ones you guys like and which ones you'd hang.  I have four frames to fill in the living room.  

 

 

 

I think i might be a little too stiff in this one, but I love Stephen and Bails in it so I could get over it.

 One of my favorites

 See!!  The black and white AND color both look so good!  I can't decide!

 

 I'm going to need a whole wall just pictures of Mr. Handsome

 I love my boys!

 Ah!  He's so stinkin' cute!

 

  i definitely love this black and white one.  That will get hung up for sure.

Because I Know You All Want To Know...

Pregnancy Update!!
I can't believe I haven't recorded anything about this pregnancy.  I suck.  So here it is.  I'm almost 30 weeks!!  Yay!!  This pregnancy has gone by so much slower than with Bails.  It's also been completely different than Bails' pregnancy.  Here's the differences:
* I've been waaaay sicker.  On a scale of 1-10....about a 7-8.  Balian was never more than a 4 for sickness. 
* I've been sick much longer with this babe too.  I still feel nauseated at night sometimes which sucks. 
* I've gained weight faster with this babe.  Boooo for me.  I have 10 pounds to go to gain the same as I did with Bails.  With 10 weeks to go I'm pretty sure that's next to impossible.
* I've been a lot more sore with this pregnancy.  My back, my legs, headaches.  Maybe because I'm older???  Who knows.  I can deal with that kind of pain most of the time. 
* A pregnancy symptom that I'm not going to divulge specifics of because it's TMI.  Pretty sure the three out of the four people that read this blog ( my mom and sisters ) can figure it out.  haha  The rest of you will have to let it stew!  I will say it sucks big time!!  I finally went to the hospital to get help for it and broke into a bawling fit.  I was a mess.   Pregnancy pains plus out of control hormones and emotions....not good.   That poor nurse.  Luckily I grew up with her in our family ward and she was very caring and sympathetic.  haha  And I'm feeling much better since getting a prescription for my issue.  ;)
* Balian had the hiccups daily while I was pregnant with him.  Not one episode with this babe so far.  I do however experience a different cirque du soleil show inside my belly everyday with this one.  Makes me feel sooooo nauseated.  I'd take hiccups over all this movement anyday. 
* I find work a lot more difficult this pregnancy.  Mostly a sore back.  I change position every 5 minutes it seems and it drives me crazy.  a two-hour shift is killer!  My back is so spent by the end of the end of the night.  I wish I could lay on a heating pad in bed, but I can't lay on my back without completely losing my breath, so tylenol has to do. 

Some things that are the same:
* This baby also feels the need to steal all my oxygen.  I've passed out twice which is such a weird thing everytime it happens.  I've just decided that my babies are oxygen junkies and it's something I have to deal with. 
* This baby is very low just like Bails.  Which gives me some hope that maybe he'll come early too!!  Probably not though, just my luck. 

Overall the pregnancy is going okay.  It's just no piece of cake like I feel Balian's was in comparison.  I've done a lot of personal reflection and made the tough decision to go ahead and schedule a C-section for this baby.  It was NO easy decision let me assure you.  But I've thought and prayed a lot about it, and talked with Stephen alot about it and I finally feel at ease with my decision.  For Stephen it was an easy decision.  I was just having a personal struggle of feeling like a wuss, like I wasn't a real woman by at least TRYING to do VBAC.  I also expressed that concern to my dr and she said if that's the only thing holding me back then we're doing a section.  haha  She told me that first and foremost, C-section is a much greater risk to my life and baby's than natural delivery, it's no piece of cake, and going through it makes me anything BUT  a wuss.  That made me feel a lot better.  And it's true!!!  It is no piece of cake.  And although I recovered really well from my first section, that doesn't mean this one will be as easy, although I hope it will be.  So there it is.  Please don't judge me!  haha

Now here's some pics. 

24 weeks

26 weeks
You know those days when you have awesome hair days??  This was one of those days.  You know every other day for the rest of the year when you can never make your hair look that good again???  That's how I've felt everyday since this day!  ugh.  So annoying. I hate hair.  Stephen wants me to chop it.  Mostly because on a good day it takes me minimum an hour to get ready.  haha  And on a bad day he has to deal with the potentital of me breaking into tears at any moment....yes over hair.  Poor guy.  Sorry for the digression.

28 weeks
and don't be confused by the shirt.  I am not having a little girl.  I borrowed this shirt from my sister for halloween.  She had a girl.  I had a little baseball cap on him for the Halloween party to show he's a boy. 

The Rest of Cisco

So we woke up refreshed the next day...but not really.  We were running on about four hours of sleep.  I knew we couldn't check in until like 3, but we had tickets to go Alcatraz at noon, and so we decided to go see if we could check in early possibly.  Unfortunately we couldn't check in with enough time to shower and change and look decent, but I made do with the handicap stall and my makeup bag in the lobby bathroom.  haha  Such a gong show.  So I got ready as best I could with deodorant and some hairspray and off we went to Alcatraz.  

It turned out to be way hotter than we had thought it would be.  I think all but one of my shirts were long sleeved, and we didn't bring any shorts.  So I looked like a ridiculous tourist with my pants rolled up to capris, socks and runners on.  You know the look.  So it was hot, but I loved it.  It felt so nice.  Alcatraz was actually really cool.  Stephen is really into history and that kind of thing, so I really liked it.  I just couldn't believe how small the cells were.  They were tiny, like steve's arm span wide.  And can you imagine how depressing it would be to be in prison, look out the window and see everyone on the wharf hoopin' and hollerin', living it up?!  The worst kind of jail.  

 On the pier before getting on the ferry to Alacatraz

View of Alcatraz

 Oh, hi stephen

 They're even smaller than his arm span. SO SMALL!

 Their 'play area'

 Awww.  I miss it.

After Alcatraz we finally got to go to our hotel.  SOOOOO much better than the experience the night before.  We paid the extra $10 for valet so we didn't have to deal with parking.  They HAD parking!  It was so nice.  I wish I would have taken pictures before we trashed the room haha which we did almost immediately.  You get the idea though. 

 Stephen making himself at home.

A full and proper bathroom area

 A couch!  a TV!! a walkway into the room!  So nice.

The next day was game day.  Basically the reason we went to San Francisco.  Such a crazy time trying to get to the stadium.  We were about eight blocks or so from the stadium parking and there were residents everywhere in the streets trying to get you to park on their property for $20.  We figured when in Rome....so we accepted an offer from a very nice jent, who I swear was straight from the Bronx.  He was very insistent that we park there, that they would keep our car safe.  We had to back up into the parking stall, but we were in the middle of traffic.  So he just walks out into the middle of the street and stops everyone, including a freaking city bus!!  Who just stops a bus!  I'm serious, pedestrians run this city.  We couldn't get as close to the other car as he wanted so Stephen just gave him the keys and let him do it.  haha  We're too trusting.  He backed i tup like a pro though.  He seemed a little sketchy still so we took everything of value out of the car before we left.  haha  But he wished us congratulations on our little one, so I liked him.  I wanted a picture with him when we went to pick up the car, but he wasn't there.  Thankfully our car was.  It was quite the experience.  

The actual game experience was awesome.  It was both of our first NFL live game experience.  We were surrounded by white trash, f-bombs every other word....along with multiple other explicitives, but it was still fun, and we had really good seats.  Of course my team ended up whooping the 49ers.  GO GIANTS!!  So Stephen was a little bummed.  I actually wish the 49ers would have won just for his sake, but I think he still had a good time, and I'm glad we got to go.  

Look at all the buses!!  It was crazy

From our seats.

 Oh ya...baby McKee was on the trip too.

 He was a little sad

But I was happy!!!

The last day was just a day to bum around, go to the chocolate factory, the beach, and shop.  It was just nice to have a day to relax and flop and not have anything that we HAD to do.  Those are our favorite kinds of vacations.  

 

These guys were everywhere.  I was just taking a picture OF him, but then he roped me into the picture...then demanded a tip.  haha  I knew he would.  Oh well.  I'm glad I can look like a whale in all these pictures.  geeesh.  What a horrible angle.

At Bubba Gump's.  Not as good as we hoped. 

With my feet in forrest gump's shoes. 

I like this picture because I don't look pregnant!!  haha

We're so cute.  Love this guy.

 

We left Tuesday morning and after our four hour layover and all the flights and driving back to Canada we finally got home around midnight.  haha  Bails was sleeping at my parents that night, but we missed him to much so we snuck in and stole him to come sleep with us that night.  It was so nice to be home and to see our little guy.  It was nice to be alone and have time to ourselves but we both missed him so much and couldn't wait to get home to him.  

So overall it was a very fun, full of adventure trip, and I'm glad we did it.  Looking back at it we will probably never do a trip again when I'm pregnant.  There was a lot of walking with this trip and although I think I was a pretty good trooper, I'm sure there was some complaining mixed in there too.  It's totally doable to vacation while pregnant, but I would have enjoyed myself more if I wasn't pregnant.  I'm glad we FINALLY took a vacation out of the country and for more than two nights.  It was awesome, and we're already planning our next trip...a family trip this time though.  

Sanny Franny

We're back!  Have been for a couple days, so I figured I should finally blog about it.  San Francisco was a blast....for the most part.  It was so nice to get away just Stephen and I and remember why we loved each other and decided to get married.  haha  Just kidding!  But seriously...it was nice to just be alone without having to worry about Bails 24/7.  Shoutout to grandma and grandpa by the way for taking care of him for the week!!  Couldn't have done it without you. 

So day one.  Unfortunately day one deserves its very own post.  The trip did not start off on a good foot to say the least.  I'm over it now...but it was a rough go.  Our flight left Great Falls at 5pm.  Normally Stephen has a tough go at the border.  They just don't like him.  So I planned a good one to two hour layover.  Ummm we got right through.  Nicest border guard I've EVER had.  He was very intrigued by my job, and Stephen loves every chance he gets to brag about how cool my job is, so we chatted it up with Mr. Border Guard for a good 3 minutes and then he let us right on into the land of the free.  And you better believe Mr. Neil Diamond was blasted as soon as we arrived in America.  It's tradition

So now it's about 12:30 pm and we have four hours to kill in podunk Great Falls.  yay us.  So we went to lunch at Cafe Rio.  Ugh...not our finest moment.  I loved Cafe Rio up until then.  It did not treat us well and we spent the next four hours trying to feel better before the flight.  We went to some crazy outdoor/workout/hunting store where we oogled the amount of guns and dead animals on the walls.  We visited Bed Bath and Beyond and received chair massages.  Highlight of the morning without a doubt.  Then we just walked until my feet were sore. 

So by 3:30 we just went to the airport to wait it out and watch Netflix. 

We flew to Salt Lake and had a three hour lay over.  So annoying, but whatever.  We dealt with it.  So by the time we fly into San Fran it's 11pm and we are spent.  The flight didn't treat either of us well.  Stephen's ears hadn't popped and the baby did NOT enjoy the flight.  I was beyond nauseous.  Yay for vacations!!!  So needless to say we're both a little on edge.  Now to rent a car and drive in one of the biggest cities in North America....to our hotel in downtown San Fran.  We had no idea what to expect. 

We soon discovered the downtown streets of San Fran are full of one ways, drunk partiers, and trains that come out of nowhere and stop for no one.  Throw in a hotel with NO parking, and no parking ANYWHERE for that matter and life was just a blast.  We finally found the hotel after circling the block three times and narrowly missing hitting four pedestrians.  Honestly, pedestrians own the streets there.  It doesn't matter what color the light is.  It drove us crazy.  Anyway, we found the hotel crammed inbetween a gadget and gizmo shop and a chinese takout place.  No joke.  By the time we finally found parking we were madly in love with each other.  haha  oh wow.  So not true.  I may have started crying walking into the hotel lobby, and Stephen may have taken on the role of my father and told me to get a grip.  That didn't help my overall feelings of love towards him, but he was right.  I needed to get a grip and just check in so we could get some sleep.  I don't even want to know what the reception guy was thinking as I stood there blurry and puffy eyed in front of him.  But I'm pretty sure he thought we were in some sort of abusive relationship.  haha 

Stephen was so fed up with the night he wouldn't even bring the luggage to the room.  So I couldn't even brush my teeth.  How rude.  Trust me...brushing my teeth was the least of my worries.  I just want to say that Travelocity gave this hotel 4 out of 5 stars!  And there were NO complaints in the comments.  This hotel was something to behold.  It was built in 1915.  Full of charm and character, right???  No siree.  There were pipes sticking out of the roof, the halls were maybe a meter in diamter, red streaky lighting everywhere.  It felt like a dungeon.  Then we opened our door.  Literally two steps to the bed.  Sit on the bed and literally another two steps to the bathroom in which the shower was a drain in the floor with a curtain and a sink that looked like it belonged in a prison cell.  The window was barred, which was probabaly a good thing because I'm 97% sure I heard a gunshot during the second of three bar fights we heard that night.  Stephen assured me it was not a gunshot, but I'm fairly certain it was.  We couldn't even watch the fight because our window faced a brick wall that if our window DID open I could have reached out and kissed it, it was that close.  Do you get the gist?!?  It was horrible.  It was my nightmare.  I lost it.  I was a hysterical, bawling mess. 

Here I had planned this awesome getaway for Stephen's birthday and this is where we're staying?!?!  Oh no.  I'm a horrible wife.   Well, this just wouldn't do, so the good ol' Jim Steed came out in me and Travelocity got a call, and and earful.  Unfortantely I could only understand about 50% of what the oh so helpful lady on the other end of the conversation was saying, but somehow I managed to cancel our reservations and get a full refund.  I also was able to book us the next three nights at the Sheraton on the Wharf.  **Insert sigh of relief as we walked into the lobby.  It was a full 180.  It was heaven on earth.  NOW our vacation could begin.  

These pictures honestly don't do the situation justice.
Here we are in Salt Lake waiting to board.  So far so good.

This is literally the whole room.  No joke.  How nice of them to give us a mirror though...

Great bathroom.  We trashed it.

Was that a gunshot?!?!

Some more of that 1915 charm and character

 
More on the rest of our trip to come!!  I'm tired or typing for now. 

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!