Wednesday 27 February 2013

Today.

I had a great sleep last night - finally! I think I only woke up twice to pee, which in itself is a miracle. Noah hasn't been in a fantastic mood the past 24 hours but I think he is still catching up from his lack of sleep weekend. Hoping his current nap lasts more then 1.5 hours.

I got my Moby wrap today! I tried it on when I got home from woman's Bible study and it was super easy to put on. My only problem was trying to figure out how to get it to fit my more snuggly around my waist, but then my mother pointed out it was probably due to my large baby belly haha. I'll keep practising before Asher gets here,  but she is more then likely right. Can't wait to try it out with a baby. Maybe one of my girlfriends will let me experiment with their babies this Friday ;)

Speaking of belly... here's the latest shot of mine.

 
Whoa momma. And you all thought I was looking small the other day ;)
Pretty sure I only look small when I wear a black tshirt haha.
 
Tomorrow morning I am going for my glucose intolerance test or whatever it is called. It'll be gross and it'll be boring. I always fear that maybe I actually have gestational diabetes, as there is no way to tell before the test apparently. I don't know what I would do if I had to cut out fruit from my diet, I love it way too much.
 
Not else much to report on my end. Life is busy with Noah, play dates, church activities, cloth diapers and trying to keep the house clean and dinner made. It can get a bit overwhelming at times but I am blessed to have an awesome husband who is great at helping me prioritise and calm me down.

 
 
... I think I hear Noah, awake after 1.5 hours. Off I go again! Hope you are all having a fantastic day :)
 
 
 


Monday 25 February 2013

Our swagger wagon & the case of the no sleep Noah

This weekend flew by! In a way, we feel like we didn't really get a weekend.

After much research Friday evening, Matt decided to go out and look at a van for us in Langley. We had found the same vehicle for cheaper in Vancouver, but we hoped they'd be willing to price match it for us so that we could avoid the distance. Besides, we liked the colour of this one a lot more haha. Matt managed to do some excellent haggling and got the price down to our exact budget, took it for a few test drives and worked out a warranty and a few things we wanted fixed. We ended up buying it! It's a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan in a darker blue colour (yes... our third blue vehicle. Don't know how that keeps happening haha.)


The space we have now is unreal! It has stow and go seats both in the back and the middle and the leg/head room is luxurious. I always knew I'd want a mini van but it has taken a few years to get to this point for my husband. But even he loves it now! As 'cool' as an SUV may be, it's just not practical for an expanding family. Maybe if we planned on stopping at two kids we would have gone that route. Anyways, we all love it! Including Noah :)


We were suppose to spend the weekend in Arlington visiting friends. We left Saturday afternoon, made really good time and had settled in for the evening. We got together with some friends and I did a little cloth diaper demo since a few were interested in making the switch. Bed time came and went but Noah still seemed to be having fun and didn't end up being put down until closer to 8pm (he is usually in bed around 6:30.) We checked on him an hour later and he was still awake. Not crying or upset, just awake. Two hour later we came to bed and he was still awake. Oh dear, this was not good. We figured he'd eventually tire himself and pass out, but all night long he was talking and playing around in the pack n play. Needless to say, we were awake for all this too trying everything we could to settle him down. 6am rolls around and he finally passed out for all of two hours. I couldn't believe it! How could a one year old only sleep for two hours!?
I was in near tears (probably due to exhaustion) and trying to figure out what to do with him. We were suppose to spend the morning at church and the rest of the afternoon catching up with more friends we hadn't seen in a while. But I knew on this little sleep things were not going to go well.
So, begrudgingly, we packed up our van and headed back towards Canada in hopes that Noah would fall asleep in the van. He didn't, so we stopped and had a delicious breakfast at Ihop and hit up Walmart for a few needed items. Toddler bedding, breast pump, bottles and soothers, we got everything we needed at way cheaper prices then up here.

We put Noah to bed as soon as we got home but he was so overtired that he still didn't sleep. It wasn't until 2:30pm that he finally fell asleep for two hours. By 8pm that night, the entire Bechard household were tucked into our beds and out for the night. Ugh... so not what we envisioned for our weekend. We are slowly learning that sometimes that's just life with kids! He wasn't being 'bad' or misbehaving in anyway, he was just thrown off and it wasn't his fault.

I am hoping we can head back down to visit those friends a little more by doing a Saturday day trip in the next few weeks, but we'll see. It's sure a more comfortable drive with our new swagger wagon ;)

Friday 22 February 2013

Hello third trimester!

How am I feeling? Tired, emotional and a little achy. So pretty much normal for a pregnant woman haha. I haven't been sleeping well anymore, which I am convinced is Gods way of once again preparing me to be up with a baby every few hours. Days at home with my toddler are dragging a little bit and I find myself watching the clock for my husband to get home. I so enjoy our quiet evenings together.

I need to get around to my gestational diabetes test but its been hard to get up the motivation to drink that disgusting cocktail. Thankfully my doctor is super nice and is only sending me for the one hour vs the two. One of my good friends has to do it next week too so were hoping to go together to make it more enjoyable. Lets hope we both pass with flying colours!

I think baby Asher had moved into a different position in my belly. Not sure what position it is exactly but I am no longer feeling feet up by one side of my rib cage and a head on the other. I think he's up and down one way, just not sure what way it is.

In my previous blog I talked about getting a new more spacious diaper bag. Well, thanks to the help of a friend (Leanne, you are awesome!) I have got a juju be packabe on it's way to me! It has tons of room and is super cute. Best of all I got this $120 bag for $55 in near perfect condition. Score! Ill attach a picture on here somewhere.


Matt and I have been doing a lot of chatting this week about getting a van. We've been debating what to do about this for a while now. We could fit two kids in our current car, but it just wouldn't be comfortable. Throw in all the gear that kids require and it gets really tight. We've talked about getting an SUV too, but we just don't have the money for it and because he hope to have more then two kids we want sure it's much more practical. Last night we spent some time looking at older vans and I think that's what we are going to go for. It may not be the coolest vehicle on the planet, but we'll have oodles of space and it fits our budget comfortably.

Well, I better get some lunch out for Noah so that he can go down for his nap half an hour from now. I will then proceed to put my feet up for a good hour or so. Have a great weekend everyone!



Wednesday 20 February 2013

Choosing a diaper bag for two (or should I say three...)

I really love my current diaper bag. It has a cute pattern, holds the basics and was around $30.00 off of Etsy. It's served us pretty well. It's not however a great diaper bag for a cloth diapering momma.

Cloth diapers are not as slim as disposables and I can really only fit about 3 of them in my bag along with a wipes case, a wetbag, my wallet, cell phone, and snack and drink for Noah. It came with a change pad in it and has two pockets on the outside, but is just one pouch inside. I've been recently running into the issue of not having enough room for Noah's essentials, forms of entertainment for him (books, toys, etc) as well as my essentials.

I could bring both a purse and a diaper bag, but it makes me feel like my arms are overloaded while trying to hang onto my child. Add to the mix that very soon we will have an infant with us as well who will require his own diapers, change of clothes, burp blankets, etc. *sigh* What's a momma to do?? (other then stay in the house all the time.)

Hubby and I have been really good lately about sticking to our monthly budget, and I feel a little guilty even thinking about the idea of getting a nice big diaper bag. I've been scouting craigslist and swap groups seeing if I could find a good one second hand but I'm a bit picky. I found one I love on amazon called the JuJu Be Packabe (see picture below.) Isn't it pretty!? But it's $100... Is any diaper bag really worth that much money? I've never been someone who buys expensive purses, shoes or clothes. It's just not where I've chosen to put my money. However, I never did end up picking out a birthday present after my cancelled weekend trip, so I'm tempted to use that as an excuse to get it. But I don't want to be selfish or ungrateful either.

What are my other cloth diapering mommas using for bags? Or does anyone have a JuJu Be that can give me pros vs cons? Any other suggestions?



Monday 18 February 2013

A little of everything.

Happy Monday everyone!

I woke up this morning feeling fairly energized and ready to face the week ahead. Within half hour of being awake I sadly found myself over the sink and unable to hold down my breakfast. Not a great start, but this seems to be happening lately whenever I try to have a breakfast that involves bread of any kind. Very odd because I never had issues with throwing up after first trimester with Noah. Well, lesson learned, stick to cereal for the next few months. I felt fine once it was out of my system.

I think my new thyroid medication has kicked in, woo hoo! I got more done this morning then I probably did all last week. Laundry, dusting, diapers... I even cleaned out a bunch of things from Noahs closet and organized/put away all the clothes we have for little boy number 2! Early nesting maybe? I probably should slow it down for the rest of the day now or I will majorly pay for it come 3pm.

My tailbone is healing really well! I'm finally able to sit most places without that annoying donut pillow, just not for long periods of time and not with direct contact to the bone. I can lift Noah, change him and clean the house without much discomfort. Now it's just becoming more difficult with my ever growing belly haha.

Noah is a bit of a cranky pants this morning. For about a week he was waking up once a night and playing in his crib for an hour before falling back asleep. Now that he's back to sleeping through the night he is waking up by 630am and ready to go for the day. Thankfully he is quite content to be left in his crib until mommy and daddy drag themselves out of bed around 700.

We're looking forward to a visit with some friends in Arlington this coming week! We haven't been in ages and Noah has actually never met most of the people down there. We've tried to organize several trips down but somehow it just never worked out. Hopefully it will this time! Our insurance covers cross border trips until 34 weeks for me so we figured it's now or much later in the year once Asher has arrived. It's funny thinking about how much we'll need to pack just for one night away with a toddler. We seriously need a minivan...

Well, that's all that's on my brain for the moment. Hope you all have a wonderful day :)





Friday 15 February 2013

Valentines Day!

As exhausted as I am these days, I thoroughly enjoyed our Valentines day yesterday. We really didn't do anything fancy. We didn't bother with a baby sitter as Noah goes to bed early, it costs a lot to go out and everywhere you do go would be crazy busy anyways.

Noah had a chance to skype with his Grandmaman in Ontario and his Nana popped by in the afternoon for a short visit and dropped off some treats.



Matt and I decided to have homemade pizza for dinner and sparkling apple juice. It was pretty tasty! I had plans to make the pizza dough into a heart shape, but then decided not to 'waste' precious pizza space. Pretty sure my husband appreciated that.



Afterwards we opened our Valentines. Noah received his first felts and giant Cars colouring book, some playdoh and some Cars chocolates. Matt was given some Purdys chocolates and a special mold that Noah and I made of his hand/foot prints. I got a dozen red roses and some Purdys chocolate.



Once Noah was in bed Matt was generous enough to sit through a girly movie and we feasted on home made strawberry shortcake. Yum!

Couldn't have asked for a better Valentines Day with my boys! It really is nice to just relax at home with the ones you love :)

Thursday 14 February 2013

Comparisons at week 26

So I thought I'd be interesting to do a comparison in my pregnancies.

I haven't taken nearly as many belly shots this time around, but I can easily say that I am way bigger with this one! To be honest, I'm not that worried about it. It's all belly as I am well within my weight gaining range. I'm sure I will be massive by my due date, but it wasn't hard to get rid of the weight last time and hopefully the same thing happens this time around.

We know this guy is going to be big - he is already measuring big in his ultrasounds. But as my doctor said, I had no problem pushing out a 9 pounder last time so there is no reason to believe it will be a problem this time.

Though Asher... it would be nice if you could come a little closer to your due date then your big brother? Mommy would rather not be pregnant for nearly 42 weeks again...

Bye bye bottles!

I am happy to say that Noah is OFFICIALLY completely done with bottles!

I originally had a goal of making those history by his first birthday, but felt a bit of guilt doing it since he loved them so much. They were a definite comfort thing for him and it just felt so wrong taking them away.

For the past few months I have been really working on getting him use to sippy cups and slowly eliminating his bottles. The first to go was his afternoon bottle, which he always got after waking up from his nap. He has come to like having water or majorly watered down orange juice between meals so that is what he now gets.

Then we took away his evening before bed bottle and gave him his milk with his supper. Last to go (just this week) was his morning bottle. He loves Cheerios with milk and I still give him a cup of milk to drink at the breakfast table.

He isn't getting quite as much milk in as he was, but I'm not concerned because he loves his dairy and eats tons of yogurt, cheese, etc.
He was obviously ready for the switch too because he hasn't even asked for them, which makes me feel a lot better about it.

I am so excited to throw out all our well used bottles and lids and buying all new ones for baby Asher! It's just fun getting new baby stuff isn't it?



Monday 11 February 2013

Parenting, the second time around.

As my due date gets closer I have been thinking about what I want or plan to do differently the second time around. Not that I think I did a horrible job the last year and a half with my first child, but more so that I feel more prepared for what I am getting into and what to expect. I feel a lot more confident in how I do things and in the decisions that we make as parents. I don't feel as though I have to do things the way other people do things, I can do what we think is best for us and it's okay if that differs from a friend or family member. That makes me feel pretty empowered as a mom!

So what exactly do I plan to do different and what do I plan to do the same?

I plan to breastfeed again. I had a goal of 8 months last time, but sadly that didn't really pan out. Between gallstone issues (and surgery) as well as a dwindling milk supply, Noah was finished breastfeeding completely at 6 months. I really missed it when it was over, not just because formula cost a fortune but also because I really just enjoyed that snuggling with my little man. This time if I run into that issue I plan to try whatever I can (be it vitamins, supplements, recipes) to increase my supply and go until at least 8 months. I'm not interested in breastfeeding past a year, but it would be nice to skip the formula stage all together and go straight to whole milk.

Speaking of breastfeeding, I plan to build up a good supply of frozen breast milk in my freezer right from the start. I hope to purchase a hand pump so that I can pump and freeze one bottle per day to have on hand for nights out or for times when I may be sick or unavailable to feed. I did a bit of pumping last time, but nothing significant and my stash was minimal.

I want to try my hand at making my own baby food. From what I hear, it's really not all that difficult. Noah was not so into baby jar food and we ended up wasting a lot of opened jars. I wonder if I had tried making my own and if I had been able to toy with the consistency or flavors if he would have warmed up to it faster. If it doesn't work out it's not a huge deal, it's just something I'd like to try.

I want to baby wear so that I can enjoy snuggles with this baby as much as I did with my first. With my first I had all the time in the world to cuddle, but I know with two I am going to be much much busier. I hope that by baby wearing that I can feel close to this child (and he to me) while still caring for an active busy toddler and keeping my house tidy. I've got an ergo for outings and a moby wrap for around the house. Hopefully they will serve us well!

We plan to cloth diaper from the start. We didn't start with Noah until he was almost 9 months old. But this baby can wear the same diapers that Noah wears (though we will get a few more to add more to the circulation) and it will save us a lot of money on diapers. Plus, they look so darn cute on tiny babies!

We plan to sleep train again. I will whole heartily admit that it was the hardest thing I have ever done, and I have heard that for some babies it just doesn't work, but for us, it did! We did it at four months with Noah because he was showing clear signs of being ready for it. It took all of two days to completely change his sleeping habits. No more walking back and forth down the hall way rocking and rocking until my arms begun to fall off.

And speaking of sleep, we plan to have this baby in our room for 6 months or so just like we did with our first. It brought us great comfort to hear him breathing every night and to be able to check on him with a glance. It created a wonderful bonding experience as a family even though he was still in his own crib and never (sleeping) in our bed.

I'm sure there are many other differences or similarities, but these are just the ones that have been on my brain recently. And like I said, this is just what we feel is best for our family! All us mommas are just doing what we think is best for our little ones :)






Saturday 9 February 2013

Family Day!

Okay, so I know the new family day official holiday isn't until Monday, but the forecast is calling for showers that day so we decided to do something today instead. But now I'd say there is a chance it may not even rain Monday, because today was suppose to be sunny with zero chance of rain. And what happened? We ended up going for a walk in the rain. What can you do...

So despite the rain, we decided to get some fresh air and go for a walk at WhiteRock. It's one of my favourite places to go even when its cold out. We were joined by some friends of ours and it was little Everlys first time at the beach!



We left the stroller in the trunk (mostly because we have discovered a mold issue that we now have to deal with - fantastic) and let Noah run wild. He has recently decided that he isn't a fan of strollers or shopping carts and prefers to walk around and explore. He was quite enjoying himself until we reached the pier. He stopped almost immediately once we reached it and began to whine. At first we didn't know what the problem was, but quickly realised that he was nervous about all the little holes between the wooden boards.

We managed to coax him along bit by bit while laughing hysterically at him stepping so cautiously over every hole. The only way we could get him to go forward was to hold his hand or point out some distraction far ahead (such as a bird.) We never did reach the end before turning around. While heading back Noah was delighted to see a 'Choo Choo' in the distance heading our way. Now that was exciting!

Then, on the way back to the car, he discovered an older man feeding the seagulls a loaf of bread. At first he watched from a distance but very quickly dove right into the flock. The man was kind enough to give him some bread to throw, which Noah didn't understand how to do and he ended up being chased around a bit. Finally a brave seagull lurched forward and nabbed it right out of his hand. Funny, but it did make momma a little nervous.



On our way back we made a pit stop with our friends to grab some McDonalds where Noah ate several fries and even more ketchup. Then he conked out in the car and had a nice 2.5 hour nap. Ahhh fresh air does wonders for nap time!

All in all, a pretty good 'family day' I would say. Hope all of you who get the day off on Monday enjoy your holiday too!

Thursday 7 February 2013

Ultrasound results

Went in for my normal prenatal checkup this morning, assuming everything was totally fine because I didn't receive a phone call from the doctor saying they needed to see me.

Blood pressure was perfect, measuring perfect and his little heartbeat is fast and strong at 163 (we had another good laugh about people saying that means girl when everything clearly shows boy for us!) Ive gained a total of 10 pounds so far which means I can easily gain another 15 without concern. My thyroid was significantly lower then it should be so my synthroid dosage is being upped for the remainder of my pregnancy. Probably explains why I have been feeling so exhausted and overwhelmed this past week.

My doctor didn't have my ultrasound results as they had been sent to my family physician, but said she would have them faxed over and if there were an issue I'd get a call. As I was leaving and making my next appointment at reception, they received the fax and I was told I needed to go back in to talk them through. Ugh, that's a little worrisome I thought. They handed me my chart and told me to wait for my doctor to come back out.
So of course, I had to read it over and get what I could from that paper. I saw the words 'anterior placenta' written down and then something in the comments about kidneys. Everything else was checked off as normal.

I handed the chart to my doctor and the first thing she said was, 'Oh... I don't think this is an issue.' Basically, one of Asher's kidneys is showing a slight enlargement that can suggest renal pelvis dilation. Sometimes it can be a soft marker for a genetic disorder, but because I have none of the other symptoms they don't believe that is the case. If anything, it may mean that one of his kidneys has a harder time flushing out waste. My doctor believes that the reason for the enlargement is the fact that he is just a big boy (measuring in the 90th percentile, just like Noah did). It's also apparently a common thing to see in boys and will often correct itself before birth. However, just to be on the safe side, Asher will be having an ultrasound one week after he is born to make sure antibiotics aren't needed to flush out his system. So nothing major, but enough to make a mother worry a little bit. So prayers for this to correct itself or to turn out to just be a size issue would be greatly appreciated :)

The anterior placenta took me by surprise but is also said not to be a big deal, because thankfully it is not blocking my cervix. If it was it would mean automatic csection for me. So as long as it doesn't move, which we aren't anticipating, it should be fine. Asher is still comfy in his breech position but my doctor said we won't worry about that for another 9 weeks or so. She is very pro baby flipping methods so we will do whatever we can (within safety reasoning) to avoid a section.

It made me feel fairly calm that my doctor was so confident in my results and really isn't worried about any of those issues. But of course, being the hormonal pregnant woman I am I can't just totally forget about it either. So instead I am telling myself that for one, this ultrasound after birth is a GOOD thing because it means we will stay on top of any potential problems and be able to have them fixed. And two, my doctor is fully aware of any and everything going on with me and able to treat me to the best of her ability.
I am thankful for a medical system that is able to keep an eye on all these kind of things and treat me however necessary, without any cost to me financially. That is a blessing for sure!

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Baby wearing?

I know I did a post that brought this up a while ago and I ended up with great advice for all you mommas out there. Thanks to your suggestions I ended up acquiring an ergo carrier for a fantastic price and I am super excited to use it with our second baby boy!

However, I still wonder if its something that will be better for outings like the mall or going on walks. What about for just around the house? I am constantly on the move with my first child and really don't anticipate that changing in the near future.

What I'm wondering is if I should be looking to purchase a moby wrap or one other kind of wrap so that I can baby wear around the house? I like the idea of keeping him close to me while I'm going from floor to floor (we own a townhouse) as opposed to sticking him in a bouncer or pack n play when I need hands free.

Suggestions? Advice? Anyone have experience using these? I don't want to spend unnecessary money.

Thanks in advance :)

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Mind blown.

My 1.5 year old just played with his mega block for 50 minutes straight. Some of the time with me, some of the time without me.

Once he had had enough, he proceeded to put them all back in the bag.

This is the same kid who I usually can't get to sit still for more then 2 minutes at a time.

Mind blown.

Ps - if you are wondering what I did with that precious time, the answer is absolutely nothing. It was awesome :)

Monday 4 February 2013

Week 25

I am into week 25 with my second pregnancy!

As the third trimester starts to approach I am beginning to remember why being pregnant isn't always fun haha. I remember when we first decided that we were going to go for number two. All we were focused on was getting pregnant and having another child. You somehow forget about the nausea, the backaches, the hormonal ups and downs and everything else that goes with it. You just think about the excitement.
Last night I told Matt that he really ought to carry the next child. For real, I wish he could haha. I told him to gather up those moments in his brain so that when I start contemplating number three he can convince me to put it off a little longer and give myself a break. His response? "Yeah right..." This coming from the guy who at 6 months post-partum told me he wanted to go for number 2 already. Seriously, my husband would want five if I agreed to it haha.

Don't get me wrong, I am getting super excited to meet this little guy and I know 15 weeks isn't really all that far away. There are just moments in the day where I think to myself how not easy it is to be pregnant. Like this morning for example when my stomach decided it didn't like its breakfast and sent it right back up. Blah.

I wish I was one of those people who always look and feel fantastic when they are pregnant, but I'm just not. But I do know people like that!

But to end this on an 'upper' I am feeling pretty good today and I've got lots to do! Had a pretty decent sleep last night and just enjoyed my cup of coffee. The diapers are in the wash already and Noah is pretty happy! So I'd say that's a good start to the week.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! And an extra big congrats to our friends in Kap who just welcomed their third child!!!