25 Weeks

I cannot believe it has been 25 weeks already... it is crazy to watch the weeks count down too!! We are at 15 weeks left and if feels like just yesterday that we had FINALLY hit 15 weeks!

I know the next 3 months are going to be a whirlwind and I am super excited! Almost all of the weekends until mid january are booked... Edmonton Trip, Banff Trip, Amy's Stagette, then Christmas which is 3 weeks  of family & friend filled days! Then I am on maternity leave!!

Baby T is kicking a lot recently, it still feels so odd to me! Half the time I think I am having indigestion and the other half the time I feel like I am squishing him with the way I am sitting!!

How far along? 25 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 19lbs, oy!
Maternity clothes? Yes, but this is not a maternity shirt either...
Stretch marks? i think i am getting little ones around my belly button!
Sleep: Not great
Best moment this week: Baby T kicking Ben in the nose when he was trying to hear his heartbeat!
Miss Anything? Subway Cold Cut Trio Sandwich... my go to lunch when I am too tired to pack one!
Movement: So much in the last day:) He likes to be up between 3am - 7am!
Food cravings: chocolate a lot and spinach dip:)
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Have you started to show yet: definitely
Gender: BOY!!!!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? Still in 
Wedding rings on or off? On but I am getting nervous!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Pretty good actually! I think my body has FINALLY gotten used to creating its own energy and not relying on coffee!
Looking forward to: the busy next few weeks!!

As much as I want time to speed by... I am enjoying this time to take in all I can of life without children... cuz once he is here, there is no going back! I know I am going to miss working at an office, I know its lame but I just love tedious office work! Being unemployed for three months when Ben and I got married was horrible!

I haven't started my nesting yet... Ben hasn't finished the crib yet... so the nursery is kinda a mess which makes it easy for me to stay away.... for now!!

Also if you are reading this, please send out a prayer to little Taylor. She is just finishing a massive surgery right now to remove a Neuroblastoma tumor. They got the tumor which is a huge blessing! She has been doing good but they are not even close to out of the woods with this cancer as they still need to do more chemo! Her mom 's blog is http://lifeinthehallhousehold.blogspot.ca/ and her facebook group for prayer is https://www.facebook.com/PrayingForTaylor

God Bless to you all!

Getting Ready for Baby

the questions is.... When should I start nesting??

I thought I would last till the last few months, but our crib arrived last week and now I am starting to itch to nest! At least for now none of the furniture is ready...

The nursery looks like this....

The dresser is mostly sanded and almost ready to be painted....

And the change table is completely disassembled!

I also have a box of baby clothes I want to wash and hang... but i have stopped myself from buying hangers yet! oy oy...

so what is the answer? Should I wait until I start my maternity leave in January to really nest, or can I start now!?

23 Weeks

Oh man, i hate being sick. Especially pregnant! I went to the doctor today and they put me on antibiotics since its been a week and not getting better at all! I am back to work though, I can't take anymore time off:< 

I am posting 23 weeks but please don't look at the picture too closely! I look horrible! Everyone at work keeps telling me how horrible I look! 

How far along? 23 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 15 lbs gained! It keeps jumping all over the place!
Maternity clothes? Yes, but this is not a maternity shirt!
Stretch marks? Nope
Sleep: Since being sick, horrible!
Best moment this week: Booking Amy's Stagette!
Miss Anything? Wine, especially during thanksgiving!
Movement: So much! Its so awesome!
Food cravings: chocolate, and random other things!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really
Have you started to show yet: yes
Gender: BOY!!!!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: With being sick, quite moody, but not bad!
Looking forward to:  not being sick and feeling baby move more!

Thanksgiving with the Timmermans

Today I am home sick, so I thought I would blog! My blog has been quiet for the past few weeks because Ben & I hosted the Timmermans Family for Thanksgiving! There were 7 adults & 3 kids all sleeping under one roof for 3 days. It was a blast! Andrea, my sister in law, and I did a lot of pre-planning which involved, Turkey dinner recipes, meals, where pillows and blankets would come from etc! Lots of planning! And it went without a hitch!

Everyone arrived Friday evening. Mom & Dad Timmermans drove with Mark, Ben's lil bro, from Abbotsford and Ryan & Andrea, Ben's older bro & wife, drove with their three kids, Rachel, Kyla & Levi, from Edmonton. On saturday we headed out to The Calgary Zoo! We have been there with Ryan and Andrea and the kids twice before but this year was going to be extra special... as the new Penguin Exhibit was finally open! It was soooo cool! Definitely worth just going to the zoo for that! Although the three 4 month old baby Tigers were also amazing! We even got to watch them feed! Unfortunately I was so tired by that time I didn't get one picture of the Tigers! haha

Sunday was the day we celebrated Thanksgiving! Andrea & I, mostly Andrea, did the turkey. It was the first time for both of us! And if I do say so myself, it turned out AMAZING! Not too bad for beginners! It was also special that Ben's cousin Nicole was able to join us as she is living not too far from Calgary right now! It was my first time hosting not only a celebration like Thanksgiving but also dinner for more than 6 people!! And I have to admit it went practically seamless! I could have never done the entire weekend without Andrea! and it was nice to be able to host Mom & Dad Timmermans as they host the entire family twice a year!

Hanging out with Dad & Grandma

At the Zoo! Kyla was SO PROUD she found the King Penguin!

The girls were in awe of the penguins and could have stayed in there all day!

This poor little penguin sat alone and never moved. He was so little!

Uncle's are the best for... Swinging!

Levi's "I just woke up and why do you have a camera in my face" look:)

Rachel showing of her insane Wii bowling skills! Out of 12 rounds she usually got 7-8 strikes! Always won!! I think Ryan beat her once!

Thanksgiving Dinner! So delicious!

Ben carving his first turkey! He did a great job!

After Andrea & I slaved over dinner we decided the boys could clean! After many sighs from Ryan & Mark, they conceded and started helping Ben! 

Kyla & Rachel being treated to Mani/Pedi's at the Timmermans Spa. 

Levi had already taken his first steps before coming to our house but everyone got to watch him take a full 4 steps at our house! He was so proud of himself!

The weekend was a huge success and we had so much fun!

Halfway...

Phew... halfway, when did that happen!!! 20 more weeks! I wish I could just sleep for the next 20 weeks and not do a thing. But I don't think that will happen!

So here goes nothing...

How far along? 20 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 15lbs gained! Oh dear!
Maternity clothes? Mostly, but trying very hard to wear as many of my own clothes as possible!
Stretch marks? I almost thought I saw some and freaked out! So I gave in and bought Bio Oil!
Sleep: The last few nights have been HORRIBLE!!! My arms keep falling asleep on me and waking me up!
Best moment this week: Getting KV Bijou jewelery from Ben:):)
Miss Anything? Wine, coffee, caffeine, working out (i feel way to gross)
Movement: not yet, I think i am too busy to notice!
Food cravings: hmmm i just eat whatever I can... i can't believe how much I can fit inside me now!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing particularly, more just feeling queasy gross in general!
Have you started to show yet: umm quite a bit!
Gender: BOY!!!!
Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In, i dunno if it will ever be out! it goes way in there!
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Been quite moody this week, poor Ben
Looking forward to:  Thanksgiving with the Family!!

I would love to write more... but I am truly exhausted and I really need to do laundry and make dinner... oy:<

Fall love

the biggest thing i have noticed about being pregnant is the tiredness. although when i really think about it, i used to rely on coffee daily to keep my energy up. so i am tired person anyway! i have finally been able to kick the coffee habit, yay! i have turned my attentions to a wee bit of black tea a day. perfect timing too with the fall leaves showing off their colors all over the city.

i absolutely love love love fall. i hated it until i was 18 and experienced my first fall in Scotland, then i fell head over heels in love with it. sipping black tea, munching digestive cookies (the chocolate asda ones of course) and trying to keep warm in the chilly stanely house. fall was the time we did our 100km hike in scotland as well. trekking through the scottish and english country side really gave me an appreciation for God's creation. i never liked paying attention to  nature but every since that season of life in scotland i am in constant awe of God's nature.  

Scotland near the beginning of our hike

Me looking very young, we are almost to the border of England! 

My favorite street... with Stanely House in the back ground!

moving to calgary has opened up my eyes even more... there is so much MORE color here. its amazing! last fall when i finally had a camera that was working i got these shots...

Memorial Drive NW... so beautiful

Love love love

Anyway that is enough of my fall love!
bye bye for next time

Baby T is a. . . .

That's right!!! We are having a boy!!! Ben and I had our 19 week ultrasound yesterday! We got to see everything! The babies heart, umbilical cord, bladder... etc. Everything looks good!! Which is such a blessing:) I was trying very hard not to get my hopes up about finding out what gender Baby T is but it was hard:) After a bit of measuring the heart and other things the technician asked if we wanted to know the gender!! We said "Yes!!" so she showed us Baby T's private parts... so exciting!!

Everyone I know is having a boy! Its so crazy!! But hey, it will be a sweet boys club!!

I would have loved to have a girl but really, I love that we will have a boy as the oldest!! I will miss not buying the dresses and doing a girls hair but that will hopefully come one day!!

For now I can get ready for rowdy:):) which I don't mind at all (maybe I will one day). Ben and I are very excited! We only found out yesterday and I have already gone to 3 stores for boy clothes... hehe

My Baby Stuff!!!

19 Week Love for Baby T

19 Weeks today too!! Almost halfway!! I wish it would go faster!!

18 Weeks!

I'm already waddling! I have been waddling for a few weeks now! What the heck!! I've always had a bad back. It got even worse at my first job in Calgary. The desk was horrible and the chair was even worse. I had parts of it duct taped. Thankfully at my current job I have a ball! So much better. But even so, I have been seeing a Chiropractor every other week for almost 2 years! Which means Baby T is making my back do strange things/movements hence the waddle. Oh well. What can you do!

Today is 18 weeks! Time is flying by. This picture is a bit different as Ben was not around to take the picture... so I got to try out my tripod on only myself! Took quite a few takes but oh well!

How far along? 18 Weeks

Total weight gain: 8 lbs
Maternity clothes? Yes, more and more... still can wear a couple shirt though!
Stretch marks? nope
Sleep: quite good actually... I just go to bed so late!

Best moment this week: Seeing Baby T for the first time!!
Miss Anything? coffee
Movement: maybe... but i dunno!
Food cravings: chocolate!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Hmm not a big fan of ground beef right now
Have you started to show yet: Yes, but I dont think people can always tell yet!
Gender prediction: Girl but I have been having dreams that Baby T is a he!
Symptoms: Owie ligaments!
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: very happy and content:)
Looking forward to: Finding out the he/she!!

Life Lately

I just have to say... I love being pregnant. My belly is round and noticeable and I love it:) (although there are a few times I think people don't realize I'm pregnant so I rub my belly a bit to make it obvious!) I feel good, although so so tired and am anxiously waiting to be able to feel the baby move! I think I have, but I am not totally sure!!

Also.. Baby T has decided February 15th is not a good day to be expected and has changed it to February 12... maybe to be closer to Daddy's birthday (Feb 10) so I am actually 3 days farther along than I thought!!

I had gone to the Doctor and she thought I was measuring large... and who knows how large that means! So she sent me for my first Ultra Sound... yay! It was so awesome, Ben came with me and even cancelled a big meeting he had as it was the only appointment I could get! We got to watch Baby T kick, elbow, dance, suck his/her thumb and bounce around for 30 minutes! It was pure bliss:) While we watched the technician measured everything, showed us everything and told us Baby T was measuring 17 weeks and 1 day... not 16 weeks and 5 days! So all my belly pics are off... haha oh well! 

Baby T's first Picture... zillions more to come one day! 

I have never really understood the joy of ultrasounds... people post them and I go "cool" and thats it! Half the time I can't even tell where the baby actually is!! But boy did that all change after our first ultra sound!! If you can't tell what this picture is.. Baby T is staring straight at you... with his/her face laying down. The left side of the picture is Baby's T's ribs!

Things have been very busy in this Timmermans household as of late, just lots of friends and hang outs! I really do love being busy but I am so exhausted I could pass out right now... maybe I will...bye!!!

Thoughts on Pregnancy

Ben & I have been enjoying the long weekend in Edmonton staying with Ryan & Andrea (Ben's brother & his wife's house). Rachel, our 5 year cutie pie niece, is quite a unique character (I interviewed her 2 years ago in this blogpost). Ben & I have been asking her for the last year what she thinks about us having a baby... she is very against the idea. After having two young siblings and no longer being the only child/grandchild(on the Timmermans side) she understands that babies make adults not pay attention to you:) Well when we announced that we were pregnant she was none to pleased. But it seems that this attitude is slowly shifting... I think she has a plan. She is now very excited and keeps asking me "Is Baby T heavy??" and says "I think Baby T is a boy so he can be a boy friend to Levi!" (her 1 year old little brother). I believe her plan is now for us to have a boy... who Levi can play with and not take up all of our attention and keep the attention on her. Very cute:) Or maybe she is realizing that she loves her cousins on her mom's side and has NO cousins on the Timmermans side and it WILL be a lot of fun:) Needless to say, I am happy that she is finally happy to have a new cousin Timmermans next year.

Pregnancy is totally not what I thought it would be. In my head, I thought pregnant woman are always feeling something. It seems impossible that you don't feel something with such a big bump on the front! But that is not true... even last week I forgot I was pregnant! It slips from my mind then I feel my tummy is poking out pretty far and I am brought back to reality! I just thought is would be so different feeling!

I am now 16 weeks, and they(whoever they are!) say that you can start feeling the baby between 15-20 weeks... well I don't feel much at all!! They say small flutters... but I can't tell if these flutters are indigestion or stretching ligaments! So maybe I have felt Baby T move... but I have no clue!! I hope I can tell soon though!! As I enter this 16th week I am starting to feel more than before... and sleeping is getting harder... not impossible yet but harder!

The thing they are correct about is the tiredness! Oh boy!! And the forgetfulness! I am so bad... I have always had a great memory and now it is mush!! I even forgot to pack a couple of essentials for Edmonton this weekend!

Rachel today:)

Avacado

I am 15 Weeks today!! Yay!! Baby T is the size of an Avacado!! 2.5oz and 4 inches long from crown to rump! Can't believe I am almost done my fourth month!! I have been feeling quite good in the past few weeks!

Its kinda odd to be honest. I always thought being pregnant was a weird feeling thing... but it is not at all! I forget all the time that I am pregnant!! Until I touch my hard belly! I'm sure as soon as I start feeling Baby T move then I wont forget about him/her in there!!

Cheers to 15 Weeks!!!

How far along? 15 Weeks

Total weight gain: 7 lbs. (I had to run upstairs to weigh myself!!)
Maternity clothes? Yup!! Bought them 2 days ago... in the pic I am wearing my amazingly comfortable Jeans!!
Stretch marks? not yet... fingers crossed
Sleep: bleh... i don't even want to talk about it... not fun already!

Best moment this week: Finding those maternity jeans for $10!!
Miss Anything? sleeping my way
Movement: not yet:<
Food cravings: Well... when I eat a piece of chocolate... I can't stop!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Spicy food
Have you started to show yet: Definitely... although I bet most of that is a food belly! haha
Gender prediction: Girl
Symptoms: I feel the stretching!
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? still on
Happy or Moody most of the time: hmm I've been more moody this last week!
Looking forward to: Feeling the baby move!!

Summer Vacation

This past weekend, Ben and I were able to get away for the weekend and jet off to Sicamous. We stayed in a condo just at the entrance of Mara Lake. It was gorgeous! This summer our only vacation was a quick trip to Abbotsford for a wedding and to see family, so something in the hot sun by a lake was the perfect end to the summer.

We left work around noon on the Friday and were on the road just after 1pm. It's been over a year since I have done this drive, so beautiful! Not terribly traffic thankfully! We got to Sicamous around 630pm and dropped our stuff and headed out exploring! We found the Sicamous Beach and just walked as the sunset. It was absolutely magnificent! Living in Alberta, you don't realize how much you start to miss the mountains of greenery and just open water! Yes we have the Bow River that is quite pretty, but its not the same as the BC lakes:)

The weather was perfect, 30+ every day. We even got a ride in Jason, a realtor in my office, boat, which was extra awesome. There is just something about sitting on a boat as you speed through the gorgeous BC waters. I've always loved just sitting in boats, Im not a big water sport person at all! The one time I tried Wakeboarding was with my friend Kelsi on Kalamalka Lake in Kelowna and man did I suck! Her brother was teaching me and by the 10th time I had tried he got so frustrated and said "I have never failed at teaching someone... you have to get up!!!" Well I finally did get up... for a full 10 seconds then did a full face plant into the water. I was so water logged and I have never tried again! I like my seat on the boat with the spray of the water and wind in my face. Its amazing. The weather was perfect for this boat ride, early morning, water was almost as smooth as glass and barely a cloud in the sky.

After our enjoyable boat ride we headed to the beach, the wee beach of Sicamous. It was not too full but there were plenty of kids all around. Of course I was self conscious the entire time as I don't quite look pregnant, I just look overly large. Oh well what can you do! I think I am finally passing that stage! Ben enjoyed swimming in the water.. mostly alone as the water was a little chilly for me.

Later that evening we went out for dinner at a really nice golf course overlooking Mara Lake. The few was gorgeous.. the food not so much! It wasn't horrible but just not that good!

We headed out around 10am the next day as we wanted to stop at Lake Louise and hike around the Lake! The traffic was much better on the way home and it was a very enjoyable ride:) When we got to Lake Louise around 4pm we realized that we forgot to buy the Yoho Provincial Park pass to be able to park!! And the parking lots were all overflowing with people! We decided we would try and risk it and we found a great spot close to the Lake... it was insanely busy! There must have been 2-3 weddings that had just gotten out plus many tourist buses! After snaking through the crowds we made it to the path along the lake which was much less busy! It was beautiful! It was quite cloudy so the pictures I have don't do the turquoise water justice but it was perfect. As we were nervous about getting a ticket we didn't go to the end of the Lake but turned around about 3/4's of the way and headed back. Perfect timing too because as we arrived at our car massive droplets of water started falling! And we had no ticket! As we were leaving Lake Louise the pelting rain started quite hard! Perfect timing to get out of there!

In the end it was a really nice relaxing weekend:)

So happy to be in a Lake!

Sunset!

I love sand in my toes

Beautiful Sunset over Shushwap Lake

Can't forget all the love for Baby T!

Ben made me breakfast!! hmmm Bacon!

After our dinner date we tried to find a nice walk but only found this lonely beach!

The spectacular Lake Louise! Notice the gloomy clouds above the mountains!!

This picture shows a bit of the beautiful turquoise color of the water!

Baby T

Well all... I am pregnant!! I can't quite believe it. Hearing the heartbeat at 10 weeks helped solidify that there was something in there but I am super excited to be able to see the baby soon!!

Today I got some of the best news of all... I have a midwife! Now Alberta is a lot different than BC for midwives. It has only been in the last year or so that midwives are covered under Alberta Health. So now with only about 40-60 midwives in a city of 1.1 million you can image the wait lists. Pretty much you can only get a midwife through a referral! And praise God I did! My friend Maylee referred me and I am beyond excited. I had actually totally given up on the idea but now I am so relieved.

After announcing that we were pregnant, something I had been itching to do and trying so hard not to was posting baby stuff on Pinterest! I can finally go crazy! Its a lot of fun! And in my pinterest search I can across this girl names Jessica's Blog, she had a baby girl February 15, 2012 and ironically Baby T is due February 15, 2013. I haven't read the whole blog yet, but I really like her writing and what she posts! One of the things she does in her blog is a mini interview at landmarks in her pregnancy:) So I thought what a perfect way to keep me posting!!

So here goes nothing!!

How far along? 13 Weeks

Total weight gain: 3.5 lbs. (I had to run upstairs to weigh myself!!)
Maternity clothes? nope, barely did up my work pants yesterday though!
Stretch marks? nope!
Sleep: not bad, mostly Ben is making me stay up cuz he likes to read:)

 Best moment this week: Finding out I have a midwife!!!
Miss Anything? coffee and wine
Movement: I imagine Baby T flipping... especially while I held 3 week old Tripp but I cant feel it yet!
Food cravings: I got mad at Ben when he didn't bring home some left over icecream cake at work. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: I felt queasy after having McDonalds... oops
Have you started to show yet: there is a definite bump there!
Gender prediction: Girl - because it was a wee bit of a surprise!!
Symptoms: gassy... sorry for the TMI, I blame Baby T.
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! Songs and random commercials make me cry!
Looking forward to: Our first ultrasound!!

Ooo fun!

Just to Say Hi

Its been so long since I have blogged! I have a post in the works for our trip to Europe but now it totally isn't relevant!


So I'll do a fast one now:)

In April Ben & I took the trip we had been dreaming of for years. We talked about going to Europe a lot when we were dating and we both longed to see a few places.

For Ben it was Holland, where his Dad's side of the family are from, and Germany where his Mom's side of the family are from.

For me it was Scotland, to see some old friend and old places I once loved.

The trip was amazing, here is part 1, Scotland:)

Our hotel in Edinburgh, it was so gorgeous. We stayed here for our 2nd Anniversary.

Our first coffees after lots of flying and airports!

Edinburgh Castle... so beautiful!

The park keepers house:)

I love this park in Edinburgh

Edinburgh City

The most amazing B&B in St Andrews, Kinkell House

The view from our room.

Kinkell House Lane

I love the ocean

A cool house in St Andrews

Stirling Castle

The Wallace Monument

The beautiful town of Stirling

Glencoe... The Highlands of Scotland. So beautiful to drive through!

Glasgow!

I hope you enjoy... I will post Part 2 soon!