House Tour

Instead of bombarding twitter with links, here's the house tour (also in a better order than I uploaded them in. Heh.)

Here you go!

Entrance and addition room (currently guest room and storage.) (So. Much. Storage.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOhjdz6rIMM

Dining room, kitchen and living room:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyaMxokxS3k

Second view of living room, dining room, kitchen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy27Gua3cC0

Eric's room (The nursery) which will soon be switched to just the nursery, and he will be moved to the room next to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1WzNXXwFMw

The half bath on the same end of the house as the kids rooms, and the jam packed full of crap room that we will be turning into Eric's room. Soon. Ish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5irBUkoPO4

The hallway that leads to the laundry area, our room and the main bathroom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sq2L0Ftido

Hallway again and bathroom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrXHl-8uf2I

That's my house! Maybe I'll have to take a video of outside in the spring - someone remind me. :)

Because I don't have enough to do

I am going to sign up for something that hopefully will be fun, relaxing and time consuming.

I've been wanting to read more - I am, honestly, bored of playing around online, and would rather sit with a good book, or have a bath with a good book, or whatever, with a good book, and stumbled across freakingbookworm.com, whose writer I follow on twitter, and through her: http://namereading.blogspot.com/2009/12/2010-sign-ups.html

I have signed up using my full (married) name, so I have 20 books to go before the end of the year. If I get my crap together, maybe I will post which books I've been reading, and fill in my name at some point. :D

So, this is all the letters for which I need to find good books to read, to check them off:

A
A
B
C
C
E
E
E
E
F
I
I
J
L
M
N
N
N
R
R

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

:D


No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted. -Aesop

 
 
 

Heh. We added more to the garden plans.

Since I don't want to read through and figure out what I wrote before, I will just tell you what I think are the new ones...

Basil (Purple and Sweet), Dill, Oregano, Thyme, Cilantro, Arugula, Mint, Rosemary, Marigolds (Safari Mix) Sweet Williams, Jacob's Ladder.... and I think that's it. For now.

Oh, potatoes. And white onions. Anyone know if onion 'seeds' last for more than one season? If I don't plant all 200 onions we have here, (not to mention the 'multiplier' onions we have) will they go bad by next year?

We plan to put Jacob's Ladder flowers in the front of the house, Sweet Williams along the sidewalk, Marigolds (Safari Mix) next to the front steps, and Sweet Peas around the side of the addition. :D I know, we're kind of crazy, but hopeful, ambitious, and considering our motivation for this massive project is not faltering, I have no doubt we will continue one with it. :D

Also, because, that would be a huge waste.

I think I need a gardening hat. I don't do the tanning thing, and don't care if I look ridiculous. :)

Garden Plan I

0419002219.jpg, originally uploaded by theanykey.

I'm going to garden.

And I hope I don't bite off more than I can chew. Pun intended.

I am overly neurotic, but I do know that at some point, I will be able to let the garden do what it will do.

Here's what I have planned so far...

To sow indoors starting, well, today:

- Tomato (Manitoba)
- Asparagus (Viking)
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower (Early Snowball)
- Sweet Peas (flowers, not the edible variety)
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Basil
- Sage
- Rosemary
- May look at some other herbs. Also might get chives.

To sow outdoors after May long weekend:

- Onions (2 types - yellow for storing over the winter, and a multiplier variety)
- Garlic
- Beans (2 varieties: Dwarf Green Stringless and Heirloom Contender)
- Swiss Chard (2 varieties: Discovery and Bright Lights)
- Spinach (Regal)
- Lettuce (Grand Rapids)
- Cucumber (Cool Breeze F1 Hybrid)***
- Carrots (of course!) (Heirloom Danvers-Half Long)
- Peas (Heirloom Wandos)
- Strawberries
- Wildflowers (from the paper our invitations were made out of. I saved the scraps I trimmed and wanted to plant last year, but was busy and forgot...)


*** QUESTION FOR ANYONE WHO KNOWS Does hybrid mean it may be genetically modified?


Anyway, yeah, I went out and measured where we intend to put the garden. It isn't built yet, obviously. Here's where my neurotic behaviour really kicks in:

 See, I can't just measure a square or rectangle and plot rows in it. We've got a very irregular lot, with no 90 degree angles on it. So... our garden will be in irregular garden, with no 90 degree angles in it.

Literally, the dimensions are:

Left side (in picture above) 6 feet 9 inches.
Along the top 14.5 feet
The right side (sharp angle down to the bottom right) 14 feet
The long line from mid page on the left side to the lower right side is 22.5 feet.

A very irregular garden. BUT, I plan to make it work.

As you can see above, I had to make my own right angles to be able to measure the angles properly. Genius? Yeah, I thought so, too. ;)

See, the reason I didn't just make a rectangle box straight out from the 14.5 foot section is this: It wouldn't look good. Also, it would be a bigger pain to try to trim the grass in between the fence and the garden, on both sides. Weird triangle spaces of lawn would be wasted, so we figured we should just go right across.

We were planning on just making a straight line go across the yard so that the garden would come out to 7 feet from the 14.5 foot long fence, but then after measuring and looking at it in the yard, decided it might be better aesthetically to have it be parallel to the deck (even though Chris wants to rip out the deck. However, if the deck is taken out, the garden will still be parallel to the house this way.)

Here's the plan for rows...

The black ladder looking thing is going to be nothing. A walkway in the garden so I can get where I need to go. We figured this might be easier than doing rows the other way. (Suggestions?) Please note that the sun rises on the side where it measures 14.5 feet and moves across to the 22.5 foot measured side.

The rows that I have planned are kind of this:

 Forgive the extreme crappiness of this picture. I used Paint to just quickly show what I want to do. :D

As was recommended by Chair, I will be putting onions kind of all over the place, to help keep the kitties out. We have enough neighborhood cats that I KNOW this will become a problem quickly. We'll also be putting down pieces of chicken wire in between rows, to try to keep them from walking in there, and finding a place to do their business.


Soooo... We will be putting in an (approximately) 155 sq ft garden. For which, I calculated, we will be needing about 8.611111 cubic yards of dirt (topsoil).

Going to go call and find out how much that will be. (Tried to call, they are out to lunch. haha)

Guess I will hear back this afternoon about it.

Edit: They called. Minimum order for free delivery: 5 Yards. $21/yard. So... we need about 9 yards, so... $189.

Sooooo. Anyone out there think this may be a bit ambitious?

Any suggestions for planting, which plants to put next to the others? I know lettuce needs partial shade (according to the packet) so we will be sort of covering it with a mesh thing to partially block out the sun. Any idea if that will be good enough?

Do greens/lettuces do best altogether? Planning on putting the spinach, chard and lettuce together in the triangle corner, so far. But, does chard/spinach do better in full sun?

If we try to plant potatoes, can we just plant some that we've bought from the store, or do we have to overwinter them, until they sprout, like I have read somewhere before?

I have a million questions, and feel like calling to ask people would be bothersome. :S I should just look this stuff up online!

(Anyone want to come out for the weekend and help us build - read that as watch Eric and tell me what to do, I will do the work - a garden?)

<3     <3     <3

I have to say, since getting pregnant (I MEAN WITH ERIC, I AM NOT PREGNANT. lol) I have changed a lot. When I first got pregnant, I felt more feminine. I stopped caring as much what other people thought and felt like I was doing what I needed to do, when I needed to do it. I have more confidence. (I don't think that is a typical new-Mom thing...?) I am more ambitious. We've done so much to our house, inside and out, already since he was born, more than the 3 years we lived here before he was born. :D

I am eager to get things done, to build, to make it our own, even though we don't plan to stay here for more than a few more years. This house has such a great feeling in it now, and I think this garden will make it even better.

:D Happier than I've ever been. Again.

I'm back, and will be again.

Sooo. Been awhile. Again.

I don't know if anyone checks this at all. If you do, compulsively, hoping for some small update, sorry. Facebook has taken over. (In case you didn't know that already, by the 300 status updates per week I typically average.)

My son is one. he is 1 year old. 12 months. (and 7 days, I might add.) 53 weeks old.

Holy crap.

On that note, I think I will be cutting this post really really short, and going to do something that was completely necessary a long time ago. Just haven't done it yet. (Going back on facebook and writing down any milestones I didn't put on the calendar...) Will take me all of tonight. (If I am lucky...)

BUT, I will be back here, and soon. My new internet friend (met on twitter via another twit, lol) will probably remind me to post. (Not directly, but still.)

My first Mother's Day

I can't even begin to express how I feel today.

I gaze over at the tiny little boy laying on a pillow next to me on the couch, sleeping soundly. (not sure how that happened, actually, he should be awake and hungry. Maybe it's his Mother's Day present to me.)

Disbelief. Adoration. Absolute unconditional love. More feelings than I thought I could ever feel.

I read someone else's blog post to their own Mother a few days ago, a letter in which she described how she never believed her Mom when she'd told her growing up that she loved her more than she could ever know, until she had children of her own.

It makes perfect sense to me now. Of course you love your parents, but in a different way than they love you, not better or worse, just different. I'm curious how it is different to have grandchildren, now...

Lately I often find myself thinking about all of the recent changes, about how I am a Mom, my Mom and Dad are Grandma and Grandpa...

Since having Eric, I am a lot more homesick. Especially when it gets really tough. (More on that later, though.)

I miss my Mom and Dad.

I miss my sister, my brother.
Most of all, I wish I could be there today to give Mom a Mother's Day hug and tell her how much I love her. How much I appreciate everything she does, who she is, and what it all means to me.

How I am starting to understand what being a Mom feels like. Although I am certain that will change over time, too, as Eric grows and Chris and I grow as parents.

Mom, I'm so grateful you are my Mother, and for everything you do for me.
I love you more than you will ever know, more than I could ever express in words.


You are an amazing person, and a wonderful Gramma! I hope to be as good of a Mom to Eric as you are to me.

All my love, Blaine

Beginning of a broken record

I imagine that soon enough, this post will be very similar to the response I will be perpetually giving to questions like 'how are you?' and "so what's new?'

I am tired. So tired.

I can't sleep most nights until about 4 or 5 a.m. and if I am lucky, stay asleep for about an hour at a time. (Then I wake up, go pee, maybe get something to drink, and go back to bed.)

(Wow, I know it's my blog and all, but the first three 'paragraphs' all started with "I". Not a good sign.)

A lot of people seem to think I have had a really hard time with this pregnancy, and I've been doing a lot of reflecting on it and can sort of understand why, but at the same time, still deny that.

Yeah, I had morning sickness (a lot of women do), and during the first trimester had a series of scares and issues. First, the doctor though the baby was ectopic, and might have required termination. Second, had some bleeding the night before the wedding and ended up in the hospital at 2 in the morning, worrying about miscarrying while a rude doctor bluntly says there's nothing he could do anyway - pure truth with no bedside manner or consideration for the already worried pregnant woman's feelings. Third, the previously mentioned morning sickness plus not being able to eat or drink much, then going to work in an all black outfit on a hot August day, sitting in a small, not ventilated room in the corner of a metal building, running around using energy I didn't have and calories I wasn't taking in, all added up to requiring a trip to the hospital to be pumped full of fluids and then the subsequent finding of another job. (All parties involved thought it best, no one forced anything.) I'd also ended up with a bladder infection that took forever to treat, and the antibiotic use led to 'other' issues which also took forever to clear up. (Fun fun fun.)

The job I ended up taking was night shift (don't get me started on THAT) which over time, caused other serious issues, including sleep and emotional problems. Almost immediately after leaving that job, most of the issues cleared up, including the carpal tunnel (until recently, anyway.), the anxiety, depression and 'other'. I was seriously messed up working nights and for my own personal reasons alone, I will NEVER recommend (and will strongly recommend against) pregnant women working night shifts.

The next job I went to, I worked at only briefly because I couldn't handle the pain it was causing. Even doing light duties and wearing an elastic support brace, my ligaments in my belly hadn't been used to my being upright and walking around, lifting and carrying, for as long as was required at that job. The only way I could make it through a shift was either to sit and do nothing (impossible) or to take more Tylenol than I was comfortable pumping into my system and then because he gets a little of everything I get, the baby's.

Since leaving that job, things haven't been so bad. The baby was kicking my ribs until they felt bruised, swollen and so sore it hurt to breathe, sure, but if he was lower in my belly, I'm sure there would be 'other' pains anyway. Yeah, he punches me straight downward once in a while, and rests on and abuses my bladder. I've got some minor heartburn issues, am short of breath. What pregnant woman doesn't go through that? (No one tells you all the little details, lest you decide to not have babies...)

I have to have a bath every night before bed to settle the RLS I've been getting, to make it 'slightly' easier to sleep. The baby has started dropping, and my hips ache, my back is unrelentingly sore, my pelvis is about 40 feet wider and I waddle like a penguin.

Again, whose doesn't?

There's a long list of things that I haven't had issues with (I'm sure can still pop up in this last week, but so far so good.) and I think that they may be the reason I am so thankful and have a more positive outlook on the issues I do have.

Yeah, I get frustrated with the sleeping problems I am having, and every couple of days, after sitting in bed trying to sleep for a few hours, I cry. It helps. I sleep. (Most of the time.)

I don't have hemorrhoids, my heartburn/reflux issues are easily dealt with with a single Tums (all except one occasion), and the baby is healthy. Hell, people seem surprised that I haven't yet swelled up enough to have to take off my wedding ring (@ 39 weeks, I am told this is impressive. I don't get how it is impressive. Maybe not common, but impressive, really?) and that I haven't really gained a huge amount of weight. (Even though I sure made an effort, especially at Christmas. Man, I was eating a TON of food, and I think the baby was just active enough to burn it all off! Who knows?) A couple of people seem quite annoyed that I've had it 'easy' and that pregnancy isn't kicking (and widening) my ass, but the majority of people still sympathize and react to me in general as if I am super fragile, having had a really rough time. Which I still vehemently deny.

There's been some other stress, what with Chris having had his surgery (better BEFORE the baby is born, though) and being on very limited disability payments, my Maternity Leave STILL not having been calculated/decided/whatever (and it's been 2 months) so having had no income at all while of course, bills keep coming in, mortgage and car payments keep going out, and us silly people keep eating.

Financial issues aside, we're all doing great.

Chris' surgery went well (the doctor warned us it might take another surgery to clear up the problem, but luckily one was all it took!) and he has healed quickly and fantastically. He still isn't 100% healed, the skin is still re-growing, but all things in time.

The baby is still doing great. He's upside down, for sure, still kicks regularly and sleeps often, and I am almost certain he is posterior (facing my back) and dropping. (For those who don't know - if Baby was facing the front when I go into labour and doesn't turn during labour, his back will be up against my spine, which makes for very painful back labour and a tougher delivery, so I am told.)

My waddle has increased significantly over the last few weeks, my belly sticks out more, and is itchy and covered with what started out as stretch marks that looked like a tiger cub reached up and scratched my lower abdomen in an awkward stretch. These same stretch marks have slowly spread, but still aren't 'that' bad, and whether or not they are bad, I could care less about them! (I was never concerned about getting stretch marks, and am less concerned about whether they will go away or not.)

Other than not sleeping, and generally not feeling that well, I'm doing great, and am looking towards the future week or two with a tad more nervousness than last week, but I am still very excited.

My general view, going in, is that first of all, I've never done this before, don't know what to expect, and will go in with an open mind. If I can do it without pain medication, great. If I decide I want an epidural, so be it. I think I would prefer not to have the epidural, for many reasons, both related to me and the baby, but am not going to go in saying NO when I really don't know.

Secondly, if billions of women have done it before me (and a LARGE majority without pain medication), then I will be fine, too.

Thirdly, I knew what I was getting into when we got pregnant. I've always known that being pregnant isn't all pickles and ice cream and putting your feet up and eating more food. Some things were a bit of a surprise, some things the books didn't mention at all  especially how funny it would be to your husband that one second you'll be standing in the kitchen putting away dishes and then after a quick "oooh" you have to run to the bathroom to keep from peeing your pants because the baby is repeatedly punching it.
(none of the books mentioned the baby punching/kicking straight downward. "Baby McCrea, at your cervix." Chris likes to joke... I don't really find it as funny, because it is freaking painful.)

Regardless of all of the above, and all of the other symptoms or side effects of pregnancy I could have gotten, I know that none of it will matter the instant the doctor hands me the baby. There's no point in being bitter or resentful about 'what I had to go through' because I would gladly go through it all over again.

I haven't even met him yet. But I so can't wait.

Getting there

According to my doctor (or at least in his opinion), I will have this baby before the due date.

I am 50% effaced, not dilated, but yeah. YAY!

Letter to the Baby

Dear Baby,

There is still 2 weeks and five days until your estimated due date, and your father and I could not be more excited.

I think we are as ready as we can be, this has been a long journey, and yet it has gone by so fast. I hope to write you letters (I know some people will know where this is inspired from, I think it is a beautiful idea.) but don't know what to expect, because, well, it all depends on you! We may be so preoccupied that we will forget about the idea until you're having your own babies. Who knows.

The day we found out we were pregnant with you, I will always remember. After a trip to Cold Lake to visit my side of the family, and to have our wedding shower, we headed home and arrived late at night. We got everything brought in the house and unloaded, of all things, a washer and dryer! It was about midnight, almost one o'clock in the morning on July 21st, 2008, and we finally were getting ready to head to bed. I decided to take a pregnancy test, since there was a chance I could be pregnant.

I set it aside for a minute, glanced back, did a double take and yelled for your father. Literally. I had always thought I would be able to come up with a great way to tell him, writing a letter, or something clever that we would remember forever. Apparently not. He found out after I yelled "CHRIS!!!" and crankily headed into the bathroom to see what was going on.

I told him there was two lines. He asked what that meant. In absolute shock, I told him I thought we were pregnant, and the change in his face was instantaneous.

From then on, the rest of the pregnancy has been a whirlwind. Of everything!

We had been planning our wedding for about 10 months before we found out we were pregnant, and got married on the 8th of August. It was made even more exciting because we knew that you were on your way, to take us from Newlyweds to New Parents, all in the same year!

Although we didn't know this specific reason until the technician told me in the middle of it, we went for an early ultrasound, on August 15th, because the doctor thought the pregnancy was ectopic. We thought we were around 10 weeks, and were expecting you to arrive March 14th! Our due date was changed to the 27th after the ultrasound. We were glad to see that you looked healthy and everything was okay.

I had morning sickness from about the 7th week, until about 13 or 14 weeks. It was terrible. I was extremely nauseous all morning, couldn't stomach the thought of eating anything, and then at some point, usually between 12 and 2 p.m., I would be sick. I would feel quite a bit better not long afterward, especially if I ate something right away. If I didn't eat, though, the nausea would come back.

Dehydration was an issue for me, too. In the early months, the nausea and limited eating meant I was barely drinking, too, and I ended up having to go to the hospital ER from work, and they had to pump me full of IV fluids to get me feeling better. After that point, I was drinking a lot of powerade to try to keep hydrated in between being sick.

I felt so much better after the morning sickness went away, but still not great, since I was working night shifts at the time. The doctor told me he wanted me to switch to regular hours or find another job, since I wasn't doing very well at all. I left that job, found another with a previous employer and worked there for a few months, long enough to realize that being on my feet for eight hours was not going to be feasible with my growing belly, the ligaments and muscles were not used to supporting the extra weight vertically, so it was excruciating. I can only imagine what those shifts would have felt like as I got even bigger!

We had received as a wedding gift, a certificate towards a stay at a beautiful resort in Banff, and we went in October, as a mini honeymoon. It was beautiful and we both had a great time. The place we stayed at was a great outdoorsy place, there wasn't even television or phones in the rooms, which is pretty rare these days. We had a great time, spending actual time together, and it made us feel even more lucky to have one another, and to be expecting you!

For so long, I felt little fluttery movements, like butterflies in my belly, but very distinctly 'different'. (SO not just gas!) At long last, I felt the first kick, the first real 'hey, I'm in here'! I was blown away, and basically always distracted from that point on, every time you moved!

The first time we saw you on the second ultrasound, on October 31st, we were blown away. It was amazing to see how much you had grown, and the difference from the first one to the second one was huge! You were moving around like crazy during that ultrasound and the technician said she rarely sees that much movement! You were moving around so much, that we ended up having to book another ultrasound, the technician couldn't get pictures of your face and head! We did get told you are a boy, and we were very excited about that, but didn't tell anyone right away, since I didn't really see it and wanted to confirm at the third ultrasound.

Our third ultrasound, on November 24th, you were sound asleep the whole time so the technician got the pictures she needed easily, but of course had your legs crossed, so we couldn't confirm your gender like I had wanted to. The technician was very certain when she told us, and your father had seen the screen more clearly, so I was over 95% convinced you are a boy, and we told everyone. Finally. :)

We've been planning the nursery and getting ready for a long time. One of the first things we did after getting pregnant (besides making a doctor's appointment and buying prenatal vitamins) was checking out prices for all of the furniture we needed. We are very lucky, and have been given a lot of things as gifts from very generous family and friends. Your room has been mostly ready for a few months, and your father and I both got the nesting instinct a few weeks ago and finally got it completely ready.

The range of emotions I've gone through has been immense, from shock to amazement to disbelief, and even being terrified and panicking! Your father, however, hasn't really gone through anywhere near the same reactions! I kept waiting for him to panic, and he just stayed calm and happy, after the initial shock wore off! I know exactly the moment that he will react, and that will be the first time he holds you, the first time you grab his finger, the first time you look him straight in the eyes and smile.

The shock of 'we're going to have a baby' and 'oh-my-god we're going to be parents' didn't really start to wear off for me, until about 7 or 8 months, and after that turned into pure excitement. There's 19 days left, and it's all I can think about!

Lately, you've gotten so big that my stomach is much smaller, I can barely eat half a meal, and get regular heartburn. I've been drinking milk, for the most part, to keep the heartburn settled, and it usually works, at least long enough to eat something. On the really bad days, I eat some Tums, and so far, haven't had to try anything stronger. According to old wives' tales, heartburn means you'll be born with hair, but we'll see!

Sleeping is a challenge every night now, although it got complicated months ago! As soon as my belly started to grow, it became very difficult to turn over, and since I was a stomach sleeper before I got pregnant, it was hard to get used to sleeping on my side comfortably. Now, at 37 weeks and 3 days pregnant, I get up AT LEAST 2 times nightly, usually 3, to go to the washroom, and while I am up, usually have a drink of milk, since it helps me to get to and stay asleep.

It is quite the workout to turn over now, I am certain I wake up your father every time I do, but he denies it, so either he doesn't remember, or it's only momentary.

The last month or so I have been getting Restless Leg Syndrome at night, I end up having to have a warm bath and go to bed immediately afterward to be able to get to sleep. I don't mind, since I like having baths, anyway, but it's getting harder and harder to get out without slipping!

Your kicking has gotten stronger, although you are definitely kicking much less than you did before. The other day, you gave me three sharp kicks to the rib, they were excruciating! Before you could kick the fourth time, I pushed my fingers into my belly to block my ribs and you ended up kicking my fingers. The swooshing across my belly has gotten to be less often, too, I think you are running out of room! The doctor told me you are head down, which I had already kind of figured out when I could feel your foot gliding across my belly. Sometimes you just kind of stop in one spot, long enough for me to feel the shape, definitely a foot!

I am so excited to meet you, to hold you for the first time, to get to know your personality. I understand that the delivery and birth will be really hard on you, too, and that living in this world will be totally different than what you are used to, but we're going to do everything possible to keep you comfortable and happy. There are many people out here that love you already, and all are very anxious to meet you, too.

We've finally decided on a name for you, but are keeping it a secret, because, well, it's our decision, and people will be much less likely to criticize it at all once it is officially your name. And, besides, we want to make sure it will suit you when we meet you. How else could we know if it is truly your name until we meet you?

These last 19 days are going to go by so slow, because we are so excited to meet you! I can't wait to bring you home.

Your father sums up our feelings with one phrase: "This will be the best thing we've ever done."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

I love you.