five

I'm hitting the five month point in this pregnancy thing - over half way! Over the last two weeks I've had the feeling of "here it comes". The little gaffer is really ramping up the activity, the weight is creeping (leaping?) up and people are starting to notice. I haven't started bumping into things with the belly or grunting when I get up from the couch so clearly there's plenty of growing left to do.

baby wrap

We had good success with our baby sling with Ella and plan to use it again but I wanted to also try something new this time. A baby wrap is basically a very, very long piece of fabric you wind around and tie onto yourself. I don't know how long it will take to get the hang of it but I'm going to try. The main advantage over the sling is that it distributes the weight over both shoulders. I did a bunch of research and worked off of my favorite designs to make myself one. It took about 2 hours and $10 worth of fabric (carefully bought in the bargain section) plus some very wonderful small pieces of silk that I had.

Ella doesn't look too sure about it in the picture but seemed to actually get a kick out of it. It doesn't fit that comfortably over my belly right now though.

Bubs

A huge welcome to baby Bubs!

busted

Ivy: "So mom...is Tim Hortons a big company?"
Me: "Yes, very big."
Ivy: "But you like to shop more at family businesses, right?"
Me: "Um, yeah." (not liking where this is going)
Ivy: "So why do we go to Tim Hortons so much?"
My answer: "Well, I guess I often get lazy. You make a really good point though, please remind me next time we go for coffee and we'll head into town instead."

My unspoken answer: "I'm too stinking lazy to drag two kids out of and back into the car to get myself the tiny dose of caffeine I'm so desperately wanting right now. Plus, like scores of other deluded Canadians, I think I actually have a chance at winning that hybrid Camry on one or two mediums a week. And I'd better not hear any whining next time when we're walking to the local shop downtown from wherever we parked."

Kids are great at keeping me honest. In the moment it might be irritating (and/or funny) but what the girl says is true. I've told her myself so I'd better be sticking to it! Not that the local shop isn't getting a very large share of my patronage, but that's no exuse for cheaping out and getting lazy. What really saddens me is that both these scenarios involve the car when we used to be able to walk to everything. No one place has it all.

coffee snobbery

Remember this post about espresso machines? Looks like we just bought one very similar to this that is gently used. Hopefully we can pick it up tomorrow and let the espresso bar fun begin!

dirt

We're really enjoying the signs of spring here on the "new" yard. The crocuses have been wonderful and the first tulips are poking up.

There are a lot of overgrown beds that need cleaning out since we didn't do any of the work last fall. So far I'm loving it but hope it won't be overwhelming. Doing little bits at a time seems to be working and the belly isn't getting in the way yet. I'd love to have all the grunt work done before it's time to plant. I hit the Kelowna seed swap with a friend last weekend and got lots of good stuff - not sure if it will all get planted!



The kids each have each chosen a small vegetable box in the garden and were busy hoeing and raking the soil before coming in to the house to warm up and make their lists of desired vegetables. I have no idea how that's going to work out but I'm sure it will be interesting and mostly fun.

4 months

Here's the 4 month plus a few days update. Not shocking change but I suspect it's coming soon!

bus trip

I had the luxury of taking a road trip this past weekend. I haven't been on a trip alone in umm...over three years. Since I was pregnant with Ella and that was work related. The Greyhound was very kind to me, despite the bad reputation of buses. I thought it was deluxe to not have to go through security, to have a fair amount of legroom and look through huge windows. It spilled me out near downtown at Terminal & Main in Vancouver. I seriously regret not taking the 2 minutes to run back into the house for the camera when I was leaving so I have to make do with links to places I went, rather than real photos.

Bill was kind enough to pick me up and take me out for lunch to Solly's Bagels where I much appreciated the hot soup and fresh sandwich. Unfortunately I didn't have proper use of my voice for this portion of the trip but we managed to have a conversation. After that I got to see our friend Rose's place and she baked some fabulous vegan cookies while I watched and learned. I ate more than my share but you don't get that every day.

Mark picked me up and we headed back to East Is East on Main for dinner. More yum and unique, cozy and friendly ambiance. How can you beat someone offering you a steaming chai the second you walk in the door from a rainy walk?! After that feast we made a trek to the ikea mecca to help get Mark's new place set up. I resisted most of the impulse buys and only walked out with $20 worth of merchandise. That I forgot to pay Mark for. He still seems to be talking to me and even sacrificed his bed for his pregnant sister yet again. We had a mellow evening and wound up for shopping again the next morning. I'm not usually a big shopper but with limited options here in the valley and a seriously expanding body I had to put in the time. I found some good stuff that wasn't from maternity stores, meaning it looks more stylish and cost half as much (or less).

I hooked up with Esther in the baby section of the Bay. How bizarre for us both to be 19 weeks pregnant. We looked at a few things and basically bolted in terror. It's not time yet for a lot of that. We scaled the timeline back and decided to tour some maternity stores together. It was hopeless and rather lame so we turned our attention to filling our bellies instead of dressing them. Mexican is always a favorite of mine and Pepita's did not disappoint. With mutual support we bypassed the wine store and loaded up on good ice cream for the evening. In the morning we walked to Cafe Deux Soleils from some Croisscram's. If I end up gaining a little extra this pregnancy I'll blame it on this weekend. We rounded out the trip with a way too short session at the vintage stores on Main. At Front and Company I made some more good non-prego finds that should grow with me for a long time yet.

It was a wonderful trip. Good friends, great food and a whole lot of doing whatever I felt like, when I felt like it. Thanks to the supporting cast at home and the warm, warm welcome I got on Sunday night!