G'n'R Out West

We had a fabulous weekend and a great last week.  We’ve always loved it here but this week has been exceptional.  The weather couldn’t have been better and we’ve been staying at a B&B on the lake – so we’ve been taking full advantage of it.

We spent a lot of the weekend outside at the lake either walking around the lakeshore in town or out at the provincial park with some friends that were camping (we couldn’t camp with them since all our stuff was packed up!).  Between fun times with good friends, and perfect weather we couldn’t have asked for a better last week.  It will be sad to go, but this is exactly the way I want to remember my beautiful town!

Our house is officially sold and we’ve signed all the papers.  So things are really coming together for us.  We are sad to leave but just feel so right about the big move since everything has fallen into place so perfectly for us.  In just three more sleeps we’ll be in our new house and we’ll get to start our new life in the city (I only hope the baby joins us a few days late so we have some extra time to get ready for him).

Speaking of the baby, things are going GREAT.  He’s had the hiccups a lot lately which I find rather amusing.  On top of that he’s been more squirmy than usual and has spent lots of time flipping from side to side in my belly.  I love it when he flips like that because it is a very involved process and my belly really distorts as he moves.  It is so funny. I love watching him move around in there.

I think I might have started to feel those Braxton Hicks contractions, although I’m not totally convinced that is what they are.  I have tried to read up on them, but am never satisfied with the description the books or Internet provide.  Whatever they are, I find them a little painful, but mostly just interesting.  After writing the word ‘painful’ down, I can’t help but wonder if the meaning of that word will change drastically for me in just a few short weeks!  At first I just thought I was getting cramps because I was getting them while I was walking but more recently I’ve been getting them while lying down watching tv.  I find it hard to believe I can be over exerting myself while watching tv, so that is why I am starting to wonder if they are contractions.  Anyway, they aren’t really bothering me, I think I am too intrigued to be bothered. 

Today we are moving out of our house.  I have such mixed feelings.  I am really excited about the big move – but leaving is always so difficult for me.  Last night we had our little going away celebration with work…and I cried…obviously, but not really that much so it hardly counts.  I think I was able to stay tough knowing that we aren’t actually leaving for another week.   We’ll see how next week goes!! 

I’m posting a picture of our good old house below because I’m going to miss it – and because I think it deserves a little spot on our blog since it has been such a nice place to live.

Today I am hanging out at home while our house gets packed.  Monday Greg will take the day off while the movers come and load our stuff.  Then we just have to clean the house and we are off to the big city.

I just found out that my doctors appointment got cancelled today and they couldn’t reschedule before we leave.  I did, however, pick up my medical records for my new doctor.  I had a little peak at them and the ultrasound results look good.  The placenta is still low but from what I read it is not a concern.  So that is great news.

That is all my news for now – if I have a moment to get onto the internet before we get our computer back I’ll give you another update – if not I’ll be sure to update as soon as we can in our new home.   

As I have probably mentioned in the past our baby tends to do a fair bit of squirming.  It seems he is always on the move but in a very relaxed sort of way.  I do get the odd kick every now and again but it is usually when I am squishing him with my bad posture.  Well, yesterday I got a little surprise from our normally mellow fellow.  I decided to make myself a smoothie.  I turned on the blender and wham!  There was some serious kicking.  I think I must have scared the daylights out of our baby.  He kicked and punched and moved very aggressively for a good few seconds before settling down into his squirmy normal self.  I felt a bit guilty about giving him such a start – but I have to admit it was pretty neat to feel him react to the noise.

We've had a wonderful weekend so far.  Friday night Greg and I decided to go camping with a few friends at the local provincial park.  We had a beautiful evening complete with a big bonfire and some great company.  At around midnight the rain started and we all rushed off to bed before we got soaked.  Sleeping in a tent when it is raining is one of my most favorite things to do.   It rained steadily all night.  It was so peaceful and wonderful.

In the morning we got up and had a nice breakfast and then decided to go home.  The rain was showing no signs of ending and it was quite chilly out.  Normally we'd have stuck it out.  But we decided the night before was so wonderful that it was a perfect way to start and end our camping season.  It will probably be a really long time before we camp again and I was so grateful that we were able to get out and have such a great time with friends.   

Another wonderful treat this weekend was the delivery of our baby's new crib.  My Grandad had made it for my sister years ago and all us kids used it when we were babies.  It was passed down to Greg and I for our baby.  It needed a few upgrades to get it up to today's standards and Greg and I are not the woodworking sort.  Lucky for us, our friend Ted offered to help us out.  Tonight he dropped the finished crib off and it is beautiful.  I think it was a lot more work then he'd originally anticipated but we are so thankful for this gift.  It is so wonderful to have my Grandad's creation in our baby's room.

Doctor's appointments have now changed to every 2 weeks.  It really feels like everything is happening pretty fast now.  Between all the doctors appointments and all the calls I am making every day to try to organize the move it is a bit overwhelming.  I'm starting to think that moving when I am 8 months pregnant may not have been a smart idea!

The doctor's appointment was uneventful.  They are a bit more fun now because the doctor feels around my belly and tells me exactly which way the little guy is facing.  I find it so cool to know exactly where he is.  We also had an ultrasound this week.  The ultrasound was fun, as expected.  I didn't bother posting any pictures because, to be honest, I can't tell what any of them are of.  Well, that isn't entirly true.  There is one picture of the baby's nostrils, which is pretty funny, but they only show up well on the original print out.  Now that the baby is so big it is really hard to tell what stuff is since you just see a tiny little part of him on the screen at any given time. 

We still haven't had the results of the ultrasound – so no word as to if the placenta is still low – and if that might be a problem.  By the next appointment our doctor will have had time to review the ultrasound so I should know more in two weeks.

Hope everybody has a great weekend!

Our realter came over tonight and we settled on a list price.  And then the selling process began.  This is how it went:

6:00 pm – we left so that 6 people could come and see our house

8:30 pm – our realter calls to say we have an offer

9:00 pm - we accept the offer and our realter leaves

This selling your house thing is too easy when you live in this booming economy.  We are VERY happy people.  It is really nice to know that so much of this moving stuff is behind us now.

The conditions on the house (house inspection and financing) come off on June 15th.  So hopefully it will be a done deal in another week.

After seeing only 3 houses we found our new home.  It is a little bigger then we'd hoped for but we will grow into it….once we have 3 or 4 teenagers…  Have a look the 'Our New House' page for more details on the big purchase.

We had a great week house hunting.  We were able to find a house quickly which left us lots of time to find a doctor, a doula and even look into some daycares.  The daycare situation makes me want to quit my job after having the baby…but I am slowly coming around to the idea.  The thought of leaving our baby at some of those places makes me really sad.  We did find one daycare that might be good…but the idea is still growing on me.  All but one daycare we looked at served hotdogs and french fries regularily and that just isn't what I imagined daycare to be all about….  I know we will find something that we will be happy with….we just need to do a bit more research.

On the baby front things are going well.  We had another check up before we went away and the baby and I are both very healthy.  We also found out that we will be getting a second ultrasound this week.  After telling the doctor we were moving to Calgary he decided it was best we have a second look.  In the first ultrasound, I had a low lying placenta, which isn't usually a big deal.  My doctor didn't appear too worried about it, so neither was I.  But when he found out we were moving he thought the big city doctors would want me to have a follow up ultrasound.  So I'll have some new baby pictures to post in just a few days…I can hardly wait to see the little guy again.

It has become very clear to me this last week that my body is no longer big enough to be shared comfortably by the two of us.  Our little guy is often reminding me to sit up straight with jabs in the ribs.  More recently I've been feeling kinda crumby after eating becuase I think that my stomach must be starting to get pretty squished. 

Really, I have nothing to complain about – in general I still really really love the little guy's company so I still feel really lucky.

Tomorrow we are putting our house up for sale.  We meet with the realter after work and she already has 3 showings lined up for tomorrow evening, so hopefully it will go fast. 

Tonight we unpacked from our trip and got our house ready to show.  Lucky for us that after starting the first of about 5 loads of laundry out dryer broke…so I've been at our friends Lisa and Andrew's house trying to get our laundry done.  I assume our dryer won't be too comlicated to fix…but getting it done tonight was the least of our worries.

 Hope everybody is doing well and we'll keep you posted on our house sale and the latest baby pictures as soon as we have news!