Dear Mom

Dear Mom,
Remember when we were talking yesterday on the phone and you were complaining about your -13 weather and the windchill making it -20? You also said how you were so looking forward to Hawaii. But,
Before you leave this:

feels like -4? Are you kidding me? Give me some shorts!

To get to THIS:

I think you need to truly appreciate the weather you are going to be getting and the weather you currently have.

Right now I am living in this:

That does in fact say "feels like -30". The Warmest it's been here YET.

(We've been experiencing -40 something all WEEK!)

And it looks like this:

My front yard view. Yes that is me.... with a snowbank up to my shoulders

And my bonfire that sits about at my hip

This week the temperature was oh lets say -30 with a windchill of -42. That's a 12 degree windchill!
And you thought Magrath was cold. psh. -4 my butt.

So I do truly hope you appreciate Hawaii and it's warmth and sunshine. Just remember your frozen daughter up North. And just remember when you think it's cold... It can always be worse.

Enjoy Hawaii! :)

Love,
Your Frozen Daughter up North.

Success all around!

So Daniel and I tend to kinda procrastinate and just put off house re-nos for no reason really except they require time and energy.

Success #1

Anyway, he made the mistake on Tuesday of calling me while I was at work on my lunch break and telling me that he was coming home early. So I asked him if he was going to get the back-splash done in the kitchen. He grumbled and growled about not having a tile cutter so I directed him to our friends who had one. (thanks Kari and Barrett) I came home from work and tools were everywhere.
About an hour after he started and six broken tiles he was DONE! See.... procrastinated and it really didn't take all that long to get done! So now i have a beautiful kitchen! Just gotta get the grouting done now... (another few months maybe? :P )

Soon there will be a new stove in place of this one. Then my kitchen will really be complete!

Success #2

Awhile ago I posted on Facebook about Pinterest and all the recipes and things that I have pinned but have never done anything with. Well I printed off those recipes and added them to my recipe book and wrote up a list of the groceries I would need to complete said recipes. We went grocery shopping and got the things I needed.
Today I was sitting here thinking... "I have a new back-splash... I should make something." So I made Black Bean Enchiladas.
They smelled delicious and tasted wonderful.
And as Daniel says,"This tastes healthy"
but he liked it and says I can make them again. :)

YUM!

Success #3

Oh.. and a few nights ago there was a girls night and we made a ton of homemade ice cream. LOVE! and we tried out a homemade frosty recipe that I found on Pinterest.
It worked. I may never have to go to Wendy's again!

How are you feeling?

That's the question I get asked all the time now. So maybe I'm not looking as good as I feel...

Because I feel great! about 97% of the time I feel amazing! like pre-pregnancy body. maybe even more energy. Then there's that 3% where I feel tired and have a headache or whatnot. But hey.. . 3% of the time. I'll take it. Those aren't bad odds.

Everyone is saying oh just wait... it'll get worse again.Why am I waiting for it to get worse? That makes no sense in my head.... I'm enjoying where i'm at now. I'm in no rush!

Let's see:

-This baby jumping around like crazy some days. Just yesterday I spent cleaning closets and pantry's and such and realized it'd been a while since I felt him move. So I relaxed on the couch and .4 seconds later there he was. I was just so busy and get so used to it I didn't even think about it! I love feeling his big and little kicks!

-My hips have started to hurt less. So grateful for that.

-I have to pee way to often for my liking. haha at least 5 times before lunch and then once after lunch. After lunch is my crazy time at work too. But luckily I have amazing co-workers that just laugh as I do a pee run to the bathroom.

-I found out that I can no longer wear my old pants anymore. That just happened a few weeks ago. All Maternity pants now! Which aren't too bad. I can still wear my yoga pants so that makes me happy.

-I'm getting ready to set up the nursery for this lil monkey of mine. any ideas are welcome.

-We do have a name picked out. Don't ask, we won't tell. It's a secret until baby comes into this world. :)

Funny Story:

I went to bed early a few nights ago and had some time so I decided I'd read for a while. Got all comfy and laid my book on my belly to read. As I was reading the book wiggled. I just shook my eyes and kept going (thinking it was me just getting tired.) Well then it happened again and again. My lil stinker of a son was kicking at my book! guess he didn't want me reading. I laughed and just moved the book outta his way so he could keep kicking. He did. and then quieted down and I kept reading. . Until he kicked at my book again! Literally... right where my book was. This kid is so much like his Dad already! haha Daniel does the same thing when I start reading.

Am I ready to be outnumbered yet??? haha

23 weeks

And Today.... 24 weeks

***When do your toes disappear on you? Cause mine are basically gone except for my big toes!***

Pregnancy Fun

It all started with the Christmas fun. This little boy of mine just hyper and active and jumping everywhere!

 I loved it! So did Daniel. 

The Numerous trips to the bathroom though? Not so fun. 

There was this one day. Sitting playing games with my family when I realized how badly I had to go.
Well I'm a procrastinator and started thinking about when the last time was that my porcelain buddy and I were acquainted. The answer came. 15-20 mins previous. Not that long.
Shouldn't really have to go.., 

Right?

WRONG!

When you have a baby the size of a spaghetti squash and roughly around one pound practicing his gymnastics routine on your bladder the odds aren't in your favor.
(not to worry I made it!)

Luckily it was a time and place I could drop and run to the bathroom.

Yesterday. . . almost a close call.

Working hard.
Baby starts up his routine again.
Right. on. the. bladder. 
I could feel it. The pressure and release. Pressure and release.
This kid better have his front and back flips down when he makes his appearance.
He sure is practicing enough!

Well I look at the clock and see it's almost recess. But I'm not working with a student that I can just leave.

And the teacher just happened to be teaching.
And then I had the feeling of sneezing.
I knew I would be a goner.
(gotta start bringing spare clothes or something)

I held on another 5 mins. (trust me. that's impressive)
And luck was on my side.
Teacher stopped teaching to let kids get ready for recess.
I got her to help him get ready to go.
And I Ran.
(not. even. kidding.)
Students were definitely wondering what was happening.
The Bathroom was even OPEN! 

(that's rare!) 
Everyone else always has to pee when I do.

But I made it.
Safe and clear!
(Sneeze too)

Love the people I work with! 

They are amazing. 

And only laugh at me a little.
(at least when i'm around...)

So that's my latest pregnancy fun.. . . 

He's at it again. . . 

22 weeks

22 weeks!
What an adventure this has been! Everything is going good and healthy and all that!
It's been a while since I updated.(ish)
20 weeks

-Got the Ultrasound that told us what the gender of the baby was (Boy in case you missed that)

-Started getting some pretty sweet kicks going on. 

21 weeks

-Daniel got to feel some awesome kicking going on. Pretty cool that he can feel it. (some people are kind of surprised)

-Baby reached about a pound. from here on out the growth is going to be RAPID. or so my APP tells me.

That's about all the exciting stuff I can remember.  Now for the pictures everyone loves :) 

that fuzzy little spot past the mouth is his hand. I have a finger sucker!

Pop! or so I think some days

And to end. I feel great! I got lots of energy most days and can get lots done! Now that it's the New Year its time to start getting baby ready! Cause I'm having this baby THIS YEAR! :)

It's a BOY!

Daniel and I found out on the 20th that we were having a little boy! It was quite exciting. I breathed a sigh of relief. I always wanted a little boy first. Have the big older brother protecting and all. That and I wasn't ready to have a daughter just yet. haha I grew up with sisters. It's time for Boys to enter this family! So I am quite excited! (Lots of people were shocked when we told them boy. they were pretty set that we were having a girl. Nope it's a boy. and there was no doubting it!)

So remember that other post I mentioned. This is it. This is how we told Gerald and Cindy that it was a boy.
 We filled a bag with 8 Blue and 8 Pink balloons. Inside were papers that said.. If I were a boy I'd leave the toilet seat up. & If I were a girl I'd have long hair. Stuff like that that really didn't give them any clue as to what we were having.

Bag full of Balloons

Very excited.. Don't let that fake smile fool you.

A note we had in there.

The note we had in there Said something like "oh oops. we left the score even. See ya at dinner. We'll bring the answer then."
The tie breaker balloon was a pink balloon with a blue balloon blown up inside. So from a first look it looked pink. When ya actually held the balloon you could see the blue one side. Inside the blue one there was the final piece of paper that said. "I'm A BOY!"
It was quite exciting. Seeing the pink balloon about through everyone for a loop. haha So it was fun to trick them just a little.

Now the time has come to start getting things ready for this little munchkin. We have some cute receiving blankets from Cindy and a few onesies we have gotten. Now it's time to get the crib and start cleaning up that room. Can't wait!!!

Christmas Time

I figured I should probably post about Christmas before the New Year comes and goes again. :P
So here it goes, not quite as adventurous as last years but still a great Christmas.
***I even kept it shorter this year! And sorry for the lack of pictures.. my camera is on my TV in Lloyd!***

December 22- We left our humble abode to go join our lovely families. Typically the drive takes about 5 1/2 hours but this one took 8 cause we swung through Calgary to pick up our new 2001 Honda CRV that we bought! (That was our Christmas gift!)

Beauty isn't it? We quite like it!

Well we got down there with out a hitch and spent some good quality time with Family.

December 23- Woke up in a lovely King Sized bed at G&G Stephen's house. (our favorite place to sleep) And took off to Christmas Sunday Church in my hometown of Magrath! After Sacrament we bailed out cause I was STARVING so we ransacked my parents house for food and then made it back in time for Relief Society and Priesthood. Then my parents fed us again. (I'm telling you, I just can't feed this body enough somedays!)

Then we went to Daniel's parents house around 4 for a lovely Sunday Roast dinner. Talk about Noise level! haha it was fun seeing all the nephews and Niece and playing with them. 

The event of this night was when one Nephew came over to us with his hand over his mouth and his eyes wide open. Everyone starting moving and told him to RUN to the Bathroom. We'll he didn't quite make it. So puke went everywhere. It was good bonding time for Dan and his brother who got to clean it all up. The house smelled very "pine-soly". Eventful these gatherings are I tell ya.

December 24- Didn't wake up to early at all. Slept in. :) Best thing. But we decided to bail on family mostly for this day and hang out with our awesome friends Lindsey and Brad. It was a blast! We played some tennis, bowling, and golf on the Wii and then took their stinky dog for a walk. (that was a bit chilly but still good to get out and about) and then came back to their place to place some Mario Kart and Sonic. It was quite the epic time. So much fun. We all decided we gotta move closer together so we can have some serious fun all the time! 

We took off just before five to grab some White Elephant goodies for my Aunt and Uncle's Christmas Eve shindig that we have at their house every year. 

Dinner is always soup in bread bowls which is the best! Then we have a little "Christmas Apron Program"

Sing some songs, Nativity, read stories, play Christmas Bingo, and the Right/left game.

It's a blast. And Crazy to see how my family has grown in the year with all the little kids running around and the noise level that is just INSANE! (Basically my grandpa can turn off his hearing aid and hear just fine this night everyone is so loud!)

hanging out. Sorry Melina.. didn't realize i caught ya mid yawn. 

kids doing the nativity

It's a pretty fun night. We left around 8 and went back to my parents house to open the traditional one gift. Which was  PJ's this year. Then we let my mom open a gift we had brought which was a little boy onesie announcing to them what gender our baby was.
We made it back to his grandparents house just shortly after midnight. Then we got talking with them till about 2 AM.

Dec 25- We woke up just (well I should say I woke up Daniel was still out like a light) I woke up just after 8. Woke Daniel up and we ran out the door for breakfast at my parents. Yum Yum! We opened the gift from my parents. We got this little monkey onesie for my little monkey that's on the way. I think he'll look quite cute in it. :)
We started watching Pitch Perfect but I fell asleep. haha I was a little tired... and I'd only been up for a few hours.
We left at 2:30 for Stephen and Janessa's house for Christmas Dinner. We brought with us the Tie breaker balloon for Gerald and Cindy. (that's another post) It was funny to hear them talk about the Pink balloon Daniel had in their hands. haha they thought they had all guessed wrong. It was pretty Clever if ya ask me. When you got up close you could see the blue balloon inside. Anyway it was quite fun.
Dinner was noisy and delicious. Everything a huge family dinner should be.
After the hub-bub had died down and people left we were all just sitting around talking. And my little Nephew upheaved his guts...Again. This time it was Dad-Son bonding. haha.

Dec 26- Daniel took off for Calgary to Ref the Mac's tournament going on there. It's a pretty big deal apparently. :) But before he left he got to feel baby kick for the first time. This little dude is definately going to be a soccer player! I get some pretty swift kicks all the time now. It's cool and weird all at the same time!!!... And I went to my parents house and got to spend the day with them and have another huge family dinner (Baby and I are kinda sick of Mashed potatoes and that right now). With Amie and Michael and Ty and Becky and Maddie and Brooklyn. It was quite the party. I have some pretty adorable Nieces and Nephews.

That about concludes the Holiday fun. Now it's just time to hide out and get all my sanity back. haha... I can dream alright? Hope Everyone had a very Merry Christmas!