Tuesday 30 October 2012

Week 11

Well... I am happy to say that I am almost done week 11 and will be soon moving into week 12 of pregnancy!

First trimester has so many ups and downs physically and emotionally. The exhaustion and constant vomiting is a normal but never pleasant part, and because I didn't have a dating ultrasound (nor did I last time...) sometimes I find myself thinking, 'What if I'm not even really pregnant!?' The easiest way to deal with all of that is to just try and not think about it - but who can do that when you are running back and forth to the bathroom constantly or falling asleep at noon! I'm just a worried mother who is hoping the baby inside is growing healthy and strong. I remind myself that God is in control and knows what's best for all of us.

This time around I was into maternity clothes by 7/8 weeks. Much earlier then I would have liked, but never the less the pants wouldn't close and the bump is on display. Just like last time, I haven't gained a pound. In fact, I've lost several. Unfortunitly when I do feel good my body seems to be craving everything that isn't good for me which is going to make this pregnancy a little more challenging. Halloween, Christmas, Valentines, Easter. All major chocolate holidays that I will be pregnant for. Yikes...

Have I mentioned how hard it is to get out of bed in the mornings right now? Hubby has had to take over getting Noah up and changed first thing while I try to drag my butt out of bed in time for him to leave. Showers and baths always happen the night before because I just cant bring myself to get up that extra 20 minute earlier.

For some reason I thought by me not working this pregnancy I'd find it easier. Ha, who was I kidding!? Chasing and entertaining a toddler is far more exhausting. I often think to myself, 'Okay Carolyn, how many more times do you want to do this?' I think I'll take them one at a time.

Tomorrow were going over to my parents for dinner before dressing Noah up in his monster costume and taking him trick or treating for the first time. I've set a goal of 5 houses. We'll see how that goes.



My brain is really not thinking clearly over the past few days so at the risk of rambling on I will wrap it up. Hope you are all well.

Saturday 27 October 2012

Knocked down

My voice has been slowly disappearing over the past few days, but I chalked it up to being so exhausted thanks to the growing baby in my belly.

Today however, I woke up and felt like I have been hit by a truck. Standing makes me woozy and I have absolutely zero energy. I've also got some congestion going on.

I've tried hard all week to just keep going through the tiredness and continue to do what I gotta do, but today I surrendered. This mommy is taking a sick day! My hubby is not going into work today to do more over time and is on Noah duty. And me? I'm laying in bed, napping and watching TV.

I'm hoping I'll wake up tomorrow and feel better. I get bad mommy guilt when other people have to pick up my slack.

Well, that is all for now. I'm going back to sleep.

Wednesday 24 October 2012

It's just a hat!

My goodness...

I'm going to blame this one on those out of control pregnancy hormones. This past weekend Noah received an adorable custom made puppy dog hat, or as he calls it, his woof woof. He looks stinkin adorable in it and I've had him wearing it every single day when we go for walks or leave the house. He wore it to ladies bible study at our church this morning, but once I got home I realised we didn't have it. I'm hoping that it is laying somewhere safely inside our church and not outside on the ground somewhere getting run over by cars.



But you wouldn't believe how much this has consumed my thoughts and upset me. His brand new hat, possibly gone forever, has nearly reduced me to tears. I literally had to go and take an hour long nap to make myself feel better and try to move past it. I think it helped. But I'm still praying that it isn't gone for good.

I don't remember feeling this emotional during my pregnancy with Noah.
My mom and I were watching The Holiday a few nights back and when we got to the scene where the old man that Kate Winslet had befriended gets a standing ovation for all his hard work I began sobbing. No joke. Zero to a mess in about 3 seconds.

A few weeks back when we were about to leave for Hawaii, my mom simply commented on the fact that she booked the boys skii do ride for the end of the trip in case, heaven forbid, something should happen. Again, reduced to tears.

In that moment it feels like the world is crashing down on me and then 5 minutes later it's like everything is fine. My poor hubby, he has got a lot to deal with being married to me!

Monday 22 October 2012

There is just no hiding it...

Doesn't Noah looked thrilled?

It's true! Our family of three is expanding (as am I...) to a family of four! I am currently in my 10th week and due with baby #2 towards the end of May. Originally I planned on saving the official announcement until I was into my second trimester, but I am majorly showing already and well, theres just no hiding it.

This is also my way of explaining my absence lately at various activities. Although I was super nauseous with Noah, this time around it seems to come in intense waves which have included a whole lot more vomiting. On several occasions I have barricaded Noah on the main floor of our house so that I can lay on the couch and move as little as possible. Moving and nausea so don't mix. Mommas of multiple children - how do you do it!? So hard chasing a toddler around all day when all you want to do is sleep.

Obviously we are very excited about adding another member to our family but I definitely find that it feels different then when I was pregnant with Noah. Everything was so new and unexpected last time and this time around I feel a lot more prepared for everything. I am only just now starting to think about the actual idea of another baby being here. As a general rule I don't buy anything until out of my first trimester, but my momma bought baby his/her first couple outfits yesterday and that brought some realisation to Matt and I.
Yes, we will absolutely be aiming to find out what we are having again. And yes, we already have names picked out for either gender.



I'm excited to blog about all this again, as my last pregnancy was why I originally started this blog! And I'm sure I'll be asking lots of questions of you mommas who already have two or three kids! Please keep our family in your prayers :)

PS - For those of you familiar with my church circle, this makes four babies due at Newton Christian Assembly within six months. And two of us are due only four days apart. Yeah, things are going to get loud...

PPS - if you've got a minute feel free to take a little guess in our baby pool!
Some notes before you guess:
- I'm craving sweet and salty
- I'm already showing
- My due date is May 25th
- I was 10 days late with Noah and he weighed 9 pounds

http://bebepool.com/go/?a=carolyngrice&view=list

Saturday 20 October 2012

Rain? What rain?

So it was suppose to pour today. The weather forecast was horrible and I really didn't think it would be nice out. I guess my prayers were answered, because it stayed dry and we were able to get our family photos done. So excited to see how they turned out! I plan to send out christmas cards this year so I'm hoping to use one of our shots from today for it.

We spent the rest of the day doing some errands and enjoying our time together. I've sure missed having my husband around and I think Noah missed his daddy while he was at work.

Yesterday we threw a Lil pumpkin baby shower for Tamara at our church. It was a big shower with lots of people but thankfully everyone was very willing to help with whatever they could. We're looking forward to having another baby to snuggle at Newton Christian Assembly.

That is all for today. I'm tired and I think I'll go enjoy my favorite activity, soaking in a nice warm bathtub :)


Thursday 18 October 2012

Told you today would be better!

A positive attitude really does help. Well, that and a good 9 hours of sleep.

Noah woke up this morning in a much better mood. In fact, he showered me with kisses the moment he saw me. Perhaps it was his way of apologising for some of the less then favourable things he did yesterday.

He ate his cheerios and banana happily as he laughed and smiled at his Grandmaman on the other end of the Ipad. He played with his blocks, books and puzzles while I straightened my hair. And then he chatted loudly to himself all the way to Costco and back.

He is now having a very late nap upstairs while I try to work on a few things here on the computer and sip After Eight hot chocolate. Matt is once again working late tonight, but the weekend is almost here and that will hopefully include lots of family time!

Speaking of family time... Rain, as much as I love you, could you possibly slow it down a little so that we can have our family photos taken Saturday morning? Pretty please?

Hope you are all having a wonderful day.

Wednesday 17 October 2012

It's only 5pm?

I'm having one of those days. Those days where you feel as though you've accomplished nothing. I'm tired and worn out, my house looks like a tornado hit it (aka the toddler) and I want nothing more then to be alone in a warm bath with my beach smelling candle burning beside me. Noah's cranky and cries at everything. I even cooked a nice dinner tonight, but the husband has to work late and my son decided his meal belonged all over my recently swept floor. So I tried to enjoy my supper, all by myself, while Noah watched Backyardigans. It did taste pretty good...

Praise The Lord tomorrow is another new day, a fresh start. I've decided it's going to be a good day.

Now to just get through the next 2 hours... Sigh.



Sunday 14 October 2012

A wonderfully wet weekend

I know many don't agree with me on this, but I actually love when it rains. What can I say, I am a Vancouver girl through and through.

We haven't had rain literally in months and broke all kind of records, but there is just something so peaceful about it. It's going to make all that yellowing grass green again and it's going to leave a beautiful fresh scent in the air. I fell asleep last night listening to the sound of it falling on the street and hitting my window.

And while I am not dancing and strolling outside in it (though I am tempted), I am enjoying staying inside all snuggled up with a blanket and my candles lit.
I love fall.

Saturday 13 October 2012

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

Because we were away on Holidays and 'missed' Canadian Thanksgiving, we celebrated last night instead! Thanksgiving is one of my absolute favourite holidays. Fall colours, turkey dinner, candles, being cosy and warm inside. It's just all good in my books.

It was Noah's first real Thanksgiving dinner and I think he enjoyed it! Unfortunately because of the dinner being so late at night he had been snacking and didn't eat a whole lot, but he still got a taste for it. He will be able to enjoy another Turkey dinner soon though - Christmas is just around the corner ;)

 
 
 
That's all folks.

P.S - For those who are wondering... I have still not bit my nails. I actually had to cut them yesterday because they were so long they were breaking left and right. Hubby treated me to a french manicure this morning. Spoiled!

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Coming home

We're back! We had a roughy couple of days but we are thankful to be in our home safe and sound.

On Friday night while still in Hawaii Noah developed a fever. The next day he wouldn't eat, play and just laid around crying. Tylenol wasn't doing anything so towards the end of the day we figured we better get him checked out by a doctor, since we were due to fly home the next day. Thankfully my hubby has great medical coverage abroad and we were told everything we needed to do would be covered.
The doctor was concerned that he was developing some kind of infection and prescribed antibiotics. Normally I'm weary of putting my child on them without a 100% need but we decided to ere on the side of caution because of our next day flight. We were told flying with an ear infection was not a good idea!

The meds seemed to be working and although Noah was still cranky and out of sorts he was at least eating and playing a bit. The sucky thing was that we had to be out of our hotel room by 1130am and our flight didn't leave until midnight. So we had a sick tired baby with nowhere to sleep all day.

There was a nice lounge in our hotel for guests to use during departure/arrival day complete with a kids playroom, tvs and Internet, but still no where for our little guy to sleep. Matt manage to get home to pass out in his arms once or twice but without a bed to sleep in he quickly woke up.

Thankfully we were once again given a seat on our flight just for Noah and he passed out in his car seat before we even taxied onto the runway. It was after midnight at this point! He slept for about 3.5 hours out of the 5.5 hour flight, with me holding him for about an hour and a half of that. He did cry a few times but over all I think he did really well considering the circumstances! For the last 45 minutes of the flight he just stared out the window pointing and talking. When we had a rough landing I expected him to start crying, but instead he smiled and giggled as if to say,"that was fun!" Have I mentioned he loves planes?

We arrived home around 1000am yesterday and all crashed in our beds for about four hours. We're still tired today and can honestly say we have no desire to go on a long plane ride anytime in the next few years!!!

Thursday 4 October 2012

Sun, surf & lots of sand.





Our last few days have basically consisted of the same thing. We go for a walk in the sunshine, eat some food, play in the sand, eat some food, shop, swim, relax and then eat some more food. Not such a bag gig really. Of course Noahs schedule is more like eat, play, sleep, repeat. I have to admit, Hawaii is not nearly as relaxing as advertised when you spend your day chasing around a toddler and helping him with whatever he needs done. When he sees water of any kind he goes right for it with complete disregard for his safety. He always has sand on his body and in every one of his little crevices and he absolutely hates to sit still. Thankfully a nice walk around the resort is usually enough to keep him occupied.



Yesterday we rented a car and drove about 30 minutes outside of town to go to Kaihlua beach with the whole family and a few friends. We were only able to stay for about 1.5 hours because Noah was exhausted, hungry and down right cranky. He fell asleep within 2 minutes of being in the car so we ended up getting some subway and sitting in a mall parking lot eating it. Nothing we can do but go with the flow with a 1 year old.



We've started to collect our usual favourite Hawaiian items. I've got my candles, multiple bags of Kona coffee and some Mauna Loa chocolates. Today the plan is to hit up Hilo Hatties and that ought to add a few more items to our collection. I think Bubba Gumps is our dinner destination tonight - mmm mmm good!



This morning I called the Disney resort Aulani to make a reservation for their character breakfast. Since we aren't staying at the resort we weren't able to call until the day before. Sure enough, totally booked. Our concierge told us that it's pretty much impossible to get a reservation there if you aren't a resort guest. Sucky... We still plan to go and explore the resort and get a few pictures. Oh, and to do some Disney Hawaiian shopping ;)

Tuesday 2 October 2012

Enjoying Aloha

We are on our second day here in Hawaii.

Yesterday we kept everything pretty low key. We explored the resort and got to see many of the different creatures that live here on the grounds, like penguins, parrots and turtles. We went for a walk along the path on the beachfront and Noah spent some time getting his toes (and the rest of his body) wet. He was ready to fully submerge himself at 8:00am so we knew we better get him back for a nap so that he could go swimming after.



We spent the afternoon in one of the many pools and Daddy even took Noah down his first water slide! Then it was off to the lagoon so that Noah could dig in the sand and splash around.
He was in bed by 6:30 and I was still pretty exhausted from our travel day and couldn't stay awake past 8:30pm.

This morning we got up around 6:00 and Matt headed off with some of our other friends to hike up Diamond Head. I put Noah in the stroller and did a little shopping around the resort with my parents before stopping by the beach so Noah could do some digging with his new toys.

So far I'd say Noah is loving Hawaii.

I'm currently eating Mauna Loa chocolate covered macadamia nuts. It's safe to say that I'm loving it too!










Monday 1 October 2012

The long plane ride to Hawaii...

Whew! What a long day of travelling. Going on a trip with a 1 year old is not for the faint of heart.

We left yesterday morning for the border, hitting up a few American stores before heading to the airport. First of all let me just say how happy I was to be flying a family friendly airline like Alaska and not Allegiant. Allegiants line ups were insane and nobody seemed to know what they were suppose to be doing and were all stressed out. No thank you, we will pass on travels with them.

"Lets get on it momma!"

We were incredibly fortunate to have a friendly airline employee do some switching around so that Noah could go from being a lap child to getting his very own seat for FREE. What a lifesaver that was! We had brought his car seat just in case and were able to use it for the flight. Noah understands what his car seat is for, so he was perfectly content being strapped into it while we travelled.

Tired but content baby on our flight.

Let me just say how much God answered our prayers! Noah was an absolute angel on the 6 hour flight. We were in the air from 4pm-10pm and get this, he never slept. He was awake and happy the entire time. I didn't even need half of the toys I had packed for him because he spent a good hour or two of the flight playing with two plastic cups that the flight attendant had given him. That being said, Matt and I still had basically no time to do whatever we wanted, but such is life travelling with a toddler.
His favourite part was when we were landing. He watched out the window saying "Óooo!" and "Was dat?" He thought it was great! Then we packed him into the stroller, got our luggage and headed to our hotel.

Checking into our suite at the Hilton
By the time he got to sleep it was 11:00pm and had had a total of 40 minutes of shut eye since 6:30 that morning. It was truly unbelievable that he was still a happy camper. What a trooper!

When we arrived we were all given a lei. Noah has been obsessed with these things ever since - and was wearing ALL of them this morning.

This morning we woke up to an absolutely beautiful view from our balcony over looking the Hilton Hawaiian Village lagoon with the ocean just behind. It's hot, it's sunny and it smells wonderful! It's currently 9:30 Hawaii time and since we've been up since 5:00am (silly time change) Noah is already passed out in his crib. I'm considering taking a nap myself as the rest of the family is off getting groceries. This afternoon we plan to hit up one of the many pools at the resort. Noah is just dying to get his toes in that water...

The view we woke up to this morning! Blessed.