49 days to go... omgomgomg

thats like.. 7 weeks left.. wow. time sure flies :)

so... updates.. what's going on in sheriland...

well.. we move dec 1.. all seems to be proceeding smoothly with that.. we've got lotsa boxes packed.. and lots more to pack.. seems we have an overwhelming amount of crap in this house.. just amazing how 5 years ago everything we owned fit into a 2 bedroom apartment.. and now the thought of fitting it into a 3 bedroom house is a little daunting.. I would feel a lot better knowing exactly what my income will be and exactly how much the mortgage payments are.. but.. I guess we'll find out soon enough eh?

Yesterday was my last day at work.. today is my official first day of maternity leave :) I suprised myself yesterday by crying all through my shift.. I'm going to miss everyone at work so much. It's kinda sad cuz I know a lot of them won't still be there when I go back in september. I was just a train wreck.. puddle of tears.. crying heap.

Had a midwife appointment today.. Trisha is growing well.. she's measuring at 33 weeks.. which puts her EXACTLY the right size to be born on dec 26.. lol. I still think that the midwives are wrong expecting her on jan 2.. so I'm personally sticking with boxing day for my due date :) I figure if all of my kids so far have been born on the 26th.. why should this one be any different :) my blood pressure is still good.. 120/64 which is still lower than it usually is.. but a lot closer to normal. My hemoglobin was good. her heartrate was at 150. I was happy today because I mentioned to the midwife that the baby really doesn't like the doppler ultrasound thing.. so she listened to her with the pinard stethoscope instead :) so we barely even woke Trisha up this time.. which made me feel a LOT better. I think Trisha really likes when I have corn pops for breakfast.. she was full of wiggles this morning.. just a squirmy wormy. I was laying in the bathtub this morning watching her move around and it's really cool seeing her legs gliding across the side of my stomach :)

The car has been nothing but trouble lately.. first the rad blew.. then the alternator.. we needed to replace the linkage to the windsheild wipers.. and the tires.. and get an alignment done.. and then the upper rad hose popped.. so today me and my dad fixed the rad hose.. nice to have something cheap break for once :) this is the first week this month where I haven't thrown 400$ at my car :) only 17$. lol.. but man did they make me work to spend that 17$.. had a really hard time finding the replacement hose.. they didn't have it at any of the mechanic supply places.. automotive warehouse didn't have one.. neither did their supplier.. KC auto parts didn't have one..neither did canadian tire.. neither did the other mechanic supply store.. we ended up finding ONE at Partsource :) figures. You'd think with the THREE 1993 dodge colts in this city that SOMEONE would have a PILE of parts just waiting for them to break down.. lol

Went and applied for maternity pay today.. no idea what I'll get. I figure I'll likely go down a tax bracket.. but.. they're not exactly deducting much taxes now.. so I have no idea what my income is going to be. We've decided that Matt wants to take the last 6 weeks of Paternity leave so he can watch the baby and have some time with the kids while I'm in training when I go back sept 26.. I expect it will be a great experience for them all :) especially Matt considering the boys will both be in school full time at that point :) so he'll have lots of one on one time to bond with the baby :)

I'm really looking forward to getting back into my sewing.. now that I have time and will be able to sleep enough to have energy as well :) picked up some fabric to make Trisha a christmassy dress (but not too christmassy as I don't expect her until boxing day..lol) it's going to be a little tiny newborn size pinafore dress.. should be frickin adorable.

I had a little situation at my sewing club the other day.. found out that one of the members had gone off and created her own club to teach people how to make softies.. which I suspect is more of a place for her to sell the dolls she makes.. (which are really cute).. I joined her club to see if there was any info I didn't know.. started reading through the posts.. came up to one that said why she started the club.. and it was along the lines of there being nothing else out there as far as resources for people trying to learn to make softies.. and now no one had been willing to help her out.. and then looking through her club a bit more.. I found some of MY pictures.. of ME.. that I had taken.. instructional stuff.. that I had done up for my club.. as well as a pile of files and other info that she had also gotten from my club.. nothing original at all. It kinda pissed me off.. seeing how she had commented that no one had been willing to help her.. and there was all the info I had given her.. and pictures of me... that she was claiming as her own gift to softie makers the world over. So I mentioned that I was really hurt that she said no one helped her and then took all the help I gave her and started her own club with it.. she responded that she was worried about one of the other collectors being at my club trying to get her in trouble legally for making her dolls and said she'd delete her club.. and then cancelled my membership. didnt' delete her club.. but she did delete my pictures.. (she claimed she thought they were public domain) I thought it was weird she'd think that.. since they were pictures of ME.. and only posted in my personal private club.. oh well.. so now I've deleted half of the members of my club.. just to make it a bit more safe. especially the person who she thought was the troublemaker.. and I've left it just with people who actually sew and post.

hmm what else is new... they're showing my house to prospective renters tomorrow.. that means i have to clean.. which is a bit daunting.. because whenever I've had energy lately (which hasn't been very often).. I've been packing.. instead of cleaning.. so the place is an absolutely chaotic mess. We'll definitely have our work cut out for us tonight.

here's the latest belly pic.. baby girl is definitely growing :) it amazes me that so many people at work "didn't know" I am pregnant. lol.. yup.. just been massaging all my body fat towards the belly region.. stores better all in one spot. lol

I've been reading tons of books on natural childbirth and homebirth and now know more than ever that we're making the right decision in deciding to have her at home. here's hoping I can get my bedroom unpacked in time :) There's all kinds of neat things we'll get to do (or not do) being at home instead.. the midwife today says I can catch the baby myself.. imagine that! We talked about looking into oral vitamin K for her to avoid giving her an injection.. so she's going to look into that for me.. and I got to bring home my homebirth kit today! The midwife today also said that she didn't see any reason for me not to give birth in my own tub! so that means all this stressing about not having enough $$ for a birthing tub can go out the window :) I'm really happy about that :) Ideally we can have a water birth in our own tub.. have baby not poked at until she's at least 3 days old.. and do as gentle a birth as possible for both of us :) I'm looking forward to this adventure. really being an advocate for myself and baby and really checking what my options are and getting more and more idea's of things I want to try :) I sit around with this stupid grin on my face so often now.. this whole pregnancy is just so exciting! I've been doing so much preparation.. swimming twice a week and all and eating well.. taking protein shakes to make sure my uterus and other muscles are nice and strong. I'm still at 199 for my weight.. down from the 215 I started at!.. but baby is growing well.. I am feeling healthy.. and getting back into my skinny pants might just be another awsome benefit of having this baby! Not everyone gets to come out of birthing and go back into their skinny clothes.. lol.. but my regular clothes still fit right now!.. I'm wearing my prepregnancy clothes at this moment.. they're more comfortable than my maternity stuff. lol

Went swimming the other day.. finally got my pass back after a two week break.. (man.. I'll never do THAT again.. my back was killing me) and they said there was a birthday party at 2.. so we figured we'd get out by 2 and not have to deal with strange kids.. so at about 1:55 we're sitting in the hot tub.. and in walks Matt's sister, brother in law.. and their kids.. apparently it was our niece Kate's birthday party!..lol.. well.. guess if I'd have known I woulda got her a gift.. :) I'm lousy at remembering birthdays..

Chelsea had pups the other night.. and here's a pic of chelsea's puppies..


which she gave birth to a few days ago. We were up until 430 am with her.. (why do puppies always have to come in the middle of the night?) one boy and three girls.. everyone healthy.. Matty was so happy because we took all the info we've been reading up on about homebirth and natural birth and applied it to the dog.. and this time she didnt' have to go to the vets at all :) She's quite happy in her little cave with her puppies.. has been attacking the cat a lot.. and finally today has let JackJack near enough to lick the puppies.. he was so depressed when she wouldn't let him lick them.. he LOVES babies and usually takes over puss's kittens for her when she's not laying with them herself :)


so other than that.. there's not much new.. lol.. I guess that's enough for now though. I'd best be getting to work on this house.. my basement scares me.. lol