The littlest monkey

I just want to start by saying I plan on doing a legit update with good pictures of the nursery soon, I just have stuff for the hospital bag on the floor and am too lazy to clean it up to take some photos :) hehe!!

I wanted to do a little belly update, and post a crazy video of the little alien inside my belly! Warning, if you do not want to see my bare belly don't watch the video, and don't go to the beach with me ever :) hehe! 

Baby has been doing really well and is moving A LOT! Baby tends to favour my right side and is head down and generally stays that way. Baby gets the hiccups pretty much every time I eat, which is a good sign and a super weird feeling! Baby likes to move a lot in the morning when I wake up and in the evening from about 8-10. I find that I spend a lot of time just watching my belly, I probably look like a psycho to people who just see me hanging out, but OH well! 

You have to wait until 15 seconds(or so) in before it gets good! 

I am currently 32.5 weeks, which is exciting because I am in the single digits for counting down the weeks! I have started to get Braxton Hicks contractions which is good because it means that my body is preparing for the real deal, but its also really annoying and uncomfortable! 

I am finished work August 15, which is coming up SUPER quickly! HOORAY!! I find I get contractions whenever I work, or am on my feet for a long period of time, so it will be nice to be able to take breaks whenever necessary! 

My OB appointments have been pretty boring, as baby and I are very healthy, but this past week we had some excitement! I have been measuring exactly as I should be, but this past appointment I didn't really grow from my last appointment 2 weeks ago. So we have to go for an ultrasound to make sure that baby is growing as it should! I am fairly certain that baby dropped since the last appointment, as I am feeling a lot more movement farther down as well as pressure! Baby dropping would definitely affect how my tummy is measuring, so that is reassuring especially with the amount of movement I still feel! 

Here is my photo from Tuesday at 32 weeks! :) 

Well off to bed for me! Don't worry, I haven't turned 90 just yet. I read in bed before falling asleep especially when Justin is on night shift :D

Reno Photos

As per Vanessa's request I decided I should post some photos!!

Here are the BEFORE photos:

The Spare Bedroom

The Master Bedroom

The Office/Nursery

And here are the AFTER photos:

The Hallway

The Spare Bedroom

The Nursery (so far)

The Master Bedroom

It's crazy when I look through them like this to see the differences in before and after!! I am excited for our main bathroom reno sometime after baby is born, and then our whole upper floor will be updated! Woohoo!! Not too bad since we have been here less than 2 years so far!

The good, the bad & the ugly

Well, I officially suck at this blogging thing....but I think we all realized that quite a while ago! There are so many times when I think about writing a post but then feel like I have nothing to say. But then I get to posts like today and feel like I have tons to talk about! haha!

We have been keeping pretty busy in the last little bit! We did renos last month, which I don't think I will ever do again while decently pregnant. We repainted our Master bedroom and ripped up all of the carpet in our hallway & 3 bedrooms upstairs. Well mostly I painted, and Justin ripped up the carpet as he won't let me lift anything heavier then Lexy :) I did, however, roll around on his creeper from his shop and pull up staples! hehe! Way better than scooting!! We got carpet installed as well and it is super magically soft and beautiful! I am so happy with it! Plus now our floors don't smell like cat urine! WAHOO!!

My parents came up to visit last weekend, which was fantastic! On Sunday we decided we would take our boat out for a little test run and maybe the boys could wakeboard or go tubing! But once we got out into the middle of the lake something went wrong. Now, I am a mechanics wife...but that doesn't mean I have ANY idea what the info he tells me means. :) So basically something broke through the side of the motor that is supposed to stay inside...bad news! I want to say a piston! Anyways, this basically means our engine is shot. BOO!! So after tinkering for a little bit we putted back to shore and didn't get much of a boat ride. Luckily my husband is a mechanic and found a cheapish boat with a really good engine and we bought it and he is just doing an engine swap and then selling the crappy boat with the trailer and we are ending up with a pretty good deal!! So hopefully we will be able to get out on the water before this baby comes!!

Speaking of this baby, it is crazy how fast time is going now! My first trimester felt like it dragged on forever, but these two are flying by! I'm already at 29 weeks....next week I am 30 weeks! How the heck did that happen!? Baby has become really active in my belly, especially when I am in bed and it likes when I watch TV too...a baby after my own heart :) It has taken to tumbling more so than kicking me lots...which is nice! So I can sit and see my belly roll and move as it flips from side to side! It totally looks like an alien is living in there, it is so cool! I literally can sit and watch my belly for hours when baby is active! Little peanut also has started experiencing hiccups!! Which is neat because it means it is getting ready to breathe when it is born! I'm pretty sure baby is already head down because whenever it has the hiccups I can feel them veeeeery low down! Baby is also shy and once someone else watches my belly it freezes and stops moving, or if I try and videotape it! Sneaky little monkey!

I am really excited because the 20th weekend is a McCracken family get together, I love my family and can't wait to see everyone again!! We also are getting our pack n'play, change table & dresser for baby that weekend! I'm honestly so excited to be able to put together baby's room and organize its clothing that we have!! It will be so cool to be able to open the door to the nursery and have it all good to go!! Next step will be actually putting together our hospital bag, now that I have a decent list of what I want to bring!

On the other hand I am not excited to go to the coast on the 20th because the last time I was down I got cankles every single day! It was HORRIBLE!! I felt so insanely unattractive, and they hurt like no bodies business! Thankfully I haven't had them at all in Williams Lake, so I am wondering if it is the humidity down in Surrey? Since I definitely am just as active up here and have had long days on my feet without any swelling! Here, let me show you how gorgeous they were!

Don't be afraid though, Mommy & baby are in perfect health! So my swelling is not a sign of pre-eclampsia, just good old water retention! 

Anyways, I am cooking dinner while Justin mows our lawn, so I probably should go double check that everything is A-Ok. And then hopefully spend the evening in our room with the AC cranked watching a movie :)

Why?!

First of all I want to start off by saying that this post isn't directed and anyone in particular so please don't take offence to anything I write! I am just pregnant and hormonal and need to vent! :)

Why is it that people think it is necessary to bring you down in pregnancy? I am finding more and more that people when they know you are pregnant feel it necessary to tell you all the dramatic horrifying stories of their pregnancy or birth or someone that they know's pregnancy or birth?! Very very rarely do they come up and tell you the stories about their friend who had a fantastic pregnancy, or a very easy birth...its always the blood and gore stories. Is this supposed to encourage me? Like a congratulations your pregnant...you fool...if you only knew how miserable your life is going to be! :)

Especially since I have started doing some research and am leaning more to a natural birth. Not like a hippie, chanting, burning incense kind of birth but a birth where ideally I don't use pain medication. I realize that nothing can ever prepare me for labour and the pain or discomfort I will experience. But I know that there are people out there that have done it, people out there who have even had moderately pain free labours. I realize that birthing a child is not a walk in the park, but how about some encouragement. Like a good for you, I know so and so who had a medication free birth. Not necessarily always "HA! Good luck with that one". And I am not naive to the prospect of things going wrong, or me not being able to handle the pain, or me needing a cesarean. The point is that I would ideally like to bring my baby into this world in the nicest way possible!

This is just my ramble as I have been feeling a bunch of negativity towards labour and being a parent. Even comments on how I won't be the parent I think I'm going to, or how I need to cherish life now before baby because basically it blows after baby is born. Where are the parents who LOVE parenting and who have been able to be a similar parent to what they expected...do they exist?!

Anyways, I'm sorry if I rubbed anyone the wrong way, but this is my vent! I know all these people who tell me these things love their children and that they are just trying to prepare us foolish pregnant ladies. But I encourage you to say something nice to a pregnant lady next time you see them, tell them a hopeful story, and build up their expectations, not burn them down! :)

I love you all, and I already feel better. *sigh of relief* Now I am going to go make a sandwich and put up my feet  :D

Rain

Praise God for rain! And praise God for my two skylights. I may be alone in this, but I seriously love the rain. One of my most favourite things is to sit in my living room, wrapped up in a blanket and listen to the rain falling on my skylights. I find the rain soothing, like if I listen long enough it will just lull me into a sweet slumber.

Plus, how great is it that we don't have to water our gardens or our lawns because God gives us the rain!

I also find the rain romantic, Justin does not indulge me in my desire. But I LOVE walks in the rain, I just find it incredibly sweet. And honestly, what girl does not dream of having that movie moment making out with her love in the pouring rain?! Okay, maybe that was a TMI, but it is getting late.

Anyways, I just wanted to pep up anyones dreary day with a rant about my love of rain! Woohoo!

Now I will go fall asleep to the glorious sound!

Baby Pool!!

We set up a baby pool online for everyone to play with!! I have enjoyed other people having them so I figured we should, plus it will be cool to see everyones guesses and how close the winner gets to being correct!! We have also decided to send the winner a gift! Not too sure what it will be, but we are planning on candy or something delicious and a couple other fun things! Plus then there is incentive for doing our baby pool! Hehe! This is the link for the baby pool: http://www.untilithappens.com/lamarchebaby

We had our 20 week ultrasound on Tuesday and there is nothing better than seeing our baby on a screen! I was worried about my ultrasound tech because you hear horror stories about cold awkward tech's but mine was amazing!! She explained not to read into her calling the baby a him because she calls all the babies him, and that she talks to the babies too! We chatted as she took all the measurements and clarified that the baby has all of its vital parts and that they all look good and work! She also said that baby is already head down! Wahoo!! And that it was the only baby she had seen all day that wasn't breech so hooray for not having to worry about it flipping later on! When Justin came in she showed us our baby's brain, pumping heart, kidneys, bladder and all the other goodies! She made sure to skip over baby's lower regions, but showed us baby's feet! Here is what baby looks like for those of you who haven't seen my profile picture:

For any of you McCracken's reading this...check out baby's nose! Its a total McCracken nose! I think it is hilarious that the picture we got of our baby it's mouth is WIDE open. My Mom also thought it looked like the white glow from the ultrasound above the baby's head looked like a unicorn horn...so baby has now gained the name "Baby Unicorn"

I'm feeling good again and haven't gotten sick in a while, and am able to eat sort of healthy things again!! Wahoo! The baby has been moving a lot more and realized that what I thought were kicks the whole time are actually punches, vicious little peanut! Justin even thinks he felt a little "punch" the other day too so that is really exciting! I can hardly wait for it to start moving more and for him to feel it all the time, and maybe even see it!

Here is my most recent belly photo:

We finally set up our backyard for summer too and I am so excited for it! I spent a good amount of Monday relaxing in my hammock, and realize as the months progress that it won't be as easy to get in and out of it as last summer so I'm going to enjoy it with ease while I can. I've heard lots of negative things about being pregnant during the summer so I have decided to be positive about it and maybe it will make my experience a happier one! Here are the reasons I am excited to be pregnant during the summer instead of the winter:

-I get to wear flip flops and easy slip on shoes all summer
-I do not have to worry about stuffing my swollen feet/legs into boots for our freezing winters
-I get to wear maxi dresses and comfortable cute clothes
-I don't have to layer and wear thick clothes outside, just to get inside and fry to death
-I don't have to buy a maternity coat
-Not being able to reach my feet is a fantastic excuse for regular pedis
-I get to go to the PNE and eat all their delicious food while pregnant(obviously WAY better than while not pregnant)
-I will have a baby to keep me entertained this winter while I'm trapped inside during snow storms
-I don't have to worry about sucking my tummy in, or my muffin top in my cute summer clothes this year
-I will have a cute baby bump for my bathing suit

And I'm sure there are more that I could come up with so I feel excited, not uncomfortable about the thought of being pregnant this whole summer long!

Plus in the end our baby will be so stinking awesome that it will be worth it!

Well,  I should go get ready for work. Have a fantastic day & happy baby pool guessing!!

Almost half way!

Woohoo!! I can't believe I'm already 19 weeks! It's crazy how fast time has gone so far! Next week we have an ultrasound again and I can hardly wait to see our baby looking more like a baby than a blob with limbs! :)

I've been getting sick more in my 2nd trimester than I ever did in my 1st, which is strange. I'm wondering if it is from my prenatal or if my baby just hates healthy foods! I've gotten sick a couple times this past week and it has been after I have eaten something healthy or taken my prenatal. It's weird, I get sick after eating chicken and veggies but can eat McDonald's and have NO problem! Silly little peanut.

This past weekend was my best friend Vanessa's wedding in Surrey. Justin and I spent the latter half of the week in Surrey visiting and getting ready for everything. It was such a gorgeous wedding, and such an honour to stand beside her on the day! The weather, however, was not super nice for the first part of it. It was pouring for the first set of our photos but on the upside we won't have glare in our eyes and have squinty eyes! I barely even looked pregnant in the dress, and Cindy didn't even have to put in a belly panel!

She looked so stunning, and I am super happy for her and Joel to be married! Being engaged, I feel like is the hardest time on a relationship. You are kind of in between dating and spending forever together, and planning a wedding is such a strain on any relationship. So yippee for a new life beginning!! 

Oh.my.word. Let me write a little paragraph about the most amazing thing I have purchased thus far...a SNOOGLE! When you are pregnant, or maybe even when you're not pregnant you should own one! I am a belly sleeper and was beginning to get a little uncomfortable during the night. Thankfully we have a 1.5 inch memory foam topper on our bed so I've been able to get away with it. But when we went down to visit my parents and I went to fall asleep and felt like I was laying on a board...not comfortable. So I used a couple pillows and managed to sleep on my side not so comfortably with kicking them out a few times during the night. Then the next day we went to Toys R Us and scanned a registry...mostly because I heard you get a sweet gift bag, but I saw my snoogle and purchased it! Now I sleep like a baby on my side and LOVE going to bed with it every night. It is a super weird looking pillow but it works like magic!!! Okay, I'm done my rant of love! 

Well, I should really go finish tidying my house and making Justin's lunch. He's on night shift AGAIN. Which sucks because I'm all alone, but is also good because I got to rest up from my weekend. OH and I get the WHOOOOLE bed to myself. Just me, my fuzzy dog, and my glorious snoogle! hehe! I will update next week after our Ultrasound on Tuesday! Yippee!!