Pregnancy Math

Right now I am in my 28th week of pregnancy. Most people would do the math and call that 7 months and then figure I have about 2 months to go. When actually I have anywhere from about 10 weeks to 14 weeks left which is about 2 1/2 to 3 1/4 months...how does that work? Well here is pregnancy math!

Everything is counted from the first day of your last period...then they add on about 40 weeks to that to get your due date. Back in the day (can't remember when), a study was done on a bunch of pregnant women. The women gave birth to healthy "full term" babies anywhere from 38 weeks to 42 weeks. The data collectors averaged that to be 40 weeks & thus "40 weeks" is used to determine your due date. Due dates are therefore strictly ESTIMATES and you should consider yourself safe to give birth about two weeks before to two weeks after due date so I like to say my "due month "is from about Sept 6 to Oct 4 to give people a more accurate estimate. So often pregnant women get very wrapped up in the due date and seem to forget that baby can really come at almost any time! So be more prepared and know that you have a big window of time that baby can arrive.

First Day of My Last Period: December 14, 2008

Add 40 weeks...

Due Date Equals: September 20, 2009

This data estimates that you conceived approximately 2 weeks after the first day of your last period, coupled with what I know about our "baby dancing schedule" we conceived either on the 26th or 29th (TMI?? LOL).

So if you simply count for 9 months from the center point of December 14th & 26/29 you get about Sept 20th. Making pregnancy last "9 months" as the old addage says.

If you go by days, there are 280 days in 40 weeks (the average of 38 to 42 weeks), 280 divided by 365 days a year = 76%, or 3/4...9 months is 3 quarters of 12 months.

However, if you go by weeks, of which pregnancy is on average from 38 to 42 weeks long, then divide by four (as most consider 4 weeks to be a month) then you get 9 1/2 to 10 1/2 months of pregnancy.

In reality, a month is actually 4 weeks and change so when we do the "divide by 4" conversion we get the extra time. Realistically, calendar wise, you are only pregnant over 9 months of the year. So to be as technical as possibly, today I am on day 201 of my pregnancy (according to www.fertilitygal.com) so I have 65 - 93 days left in the average pregnancy term (or about 10 - 14 weeks as I said earlier). My "week counter" starts on Saturdays, so on Saturday, July 4th I will be 29 weeks. There is also some contraversy over when the "third trimester" actually starts. Though, a variety of sources I have say it starts anywhere from week 26 to week 29, I think the majority seem to say about week 28 so I am going to say that I am officially in my third trimester, if not now then at least by Saturday.

Names ending in "N"

Okay, so I know you all have read about how I am trying to avoid picking a name that ends in "N". I also know that my brain doesn't work the same as everyone else's so often I worry that I am a little paranoid about things. When I was looking through a blog on a baby naming website I found some amazingly interesting stats & graphs that actually back up my names ending in "N" theory. I really love when my random theories get backed up with facts so I thought I would share these graphs with you!

Both graphs show the alphabet on the X axis and the number of boys with a name that ends in that letter on the Y axis. The first graph here is from 1906. The first interesting point is to notice that the graph tops out at 17,500. Secondly, the top four contenders are the letters: E, N, D, S. You might be struggling to think of names that end in that letter, one key thing to remember is that a name like Edward that ends in "D" might have been used 15,000 times rather than there being many names that end in "D" LOL

The second graph, is the one I get excited about. I should also point out, before you look at it, that there is a third graph available at the website regarding 1956 if you want to see the medium ground between them. It's pretty similar to the first one so I didn't bother. Anyway, here is the second graph:

I think it's pretty self explanatory, but in case your not into graphs...this graph is showing that in 2006 there was approximately 600,00 baby boys given a name that ends in "N". The closest next contender is the letter "R" which has less than 200,000. That's a signifant difference! N is obviously very dominiating...

By the way, I am way to excited by this data LOL Maybe I should become a sociologist or something :-D

http://www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2007/7/where-all-boys-end-up-nowadays

A Blemish on My Perfect Record

My temping job was going amazingly well, and I was really enjoying it, until I had an unfortune incident over the lunch hour. Here is my official report (which some sensitive info bleeped out):

Incident Report

Date: June 23/09
Time: About 12:40pm

At approximately 12:40pm a man walked into the office quickly thumbing several cash bills then threw them in a pile onto my desk announcing “There that’s $335 for my payment.” He made a move to walk away and leave when I stopped him saying that I needed to get his name and information and fill out a receipt. I pulled out the receipt book, filled in the date and said “Can I get your name please?” He starred at the employee board and said “John Smith (name changed)”. I said “Can you please spell that for me? I’m not that great at spelling...” He said “J-O-H-N” and I wrote that on the receipt. Then I asked “And your last name?” And he said “S-M-I-T-H” which I also wrote on the receipt. I pulled out the loans binder so that I could locate his file number for the receipt and told him that’s what I was doing. I found the page and was scanning it when he pointed at his name and said “Yeah [insert half of file number here]...” trailing off. I wrote down the loan number as per the book. I then reached for the cash pile to count it and he put his hand out, as if to block me, saying “I said its $335.” I should have known better and counted it anyway as a counting error can be innocent but he intimidated me so I wrote down what he said. He then told me “that’s for May and I’ll be back with more for the next one”. So I wrote down ‘May 2009 Pymt’ on the receipt as well. I signed my name to the receipt and was tearing off the white copy for him when he started telling me that his number was probably disconnected, that I should tell Tonya (name changed) that and that he would call Tonya when he could. I passed him his receipt and he went to leave, then paused at the door way and said “As soon as I get my phone number you’ll be the first ones to know.” As soon as he was out the door I counted the cash pile and got $315 ($300 in 20s and $15 in 5s). I counted again to be sure. It was still $315. I immediately grabbed the receipt book and the cash and went into Sharon’s (name changed) office to get another person to count it and since she is in accounting I thought she might be able to tell me what to do now. It was about 12:45pm now and she was technically still on lunch but I didn’t want to wait. She was talking with Diana (name changed) but I interrupted them asking if she could “double count this for me as I think the customer told me the wrong amount”. She got $315. I told her that he had told me “$335”. I asked if I should change it on the pink & yellow copies. She asked if he already had a receipt for the $335 and I nodded and said “yes”. She said she wasn’t sure what to do as he had a receipt backing up his claim of $335. She went to count it again but since I had already counted it twice I knew it was $315. Sharon said it was probably going to be his word against mine and asked Diana to verify that she saw Sharon count $315. Then Sharon said we should talk to Tonya about the client when she got back from lunch (as it was a ‘insert file number’ file). She told me to keep it at my desk for now. When Laine got back from her lunch, probably close to 1:00pm, Sharon told her about the incident right away and asked Laine what we should do. Laine said to post the payment as $315 and make notes on the receipt and payment about what happened. So I gave the cash and yellow copy to Sharon. She wrote up a quick few sentences on her computer and asked me to verify that that was my experience. I read it and said yes. Rhonda came to relieve me for a lunch break at about 1:10pm and I mentioned my frustrations about what had happened with the client. She suggested we tell Aaron about it rather than waiting for Tonya. I let Sharon know that was what Rhonda thought and then headed for my lunch break at about 1:15pm.

More Musings on "Jon & Kate + Eight"

I made sure I watched “Jon & Kate + Eight” last night as the episode info said they were sharing news that would “impact the whole family”. Interestingly, both Shelley and Danielle made comments to me about the shows contents this morning and Danielle requested a blog about it so “your wish is my command”!

Jon and Kate did separate interviews for the camera as they discussed their relationship. Then a black screen with white writing announced that papers were filed on June 22, 2009 to dissolve their marriage.

Kate, to me, gave the impression that she was willing to do whatever it took to save her marriage and stay together. She said that Jon hadn’t yet communicated with her his issues, which is what makes me think that she is willing to work on things while he just wants to cut his losses. I could tell she was very emotional about the topic as she used “um” a lot and paced her conversation very slowly (seemingly holding back tears). She even admitted to giving herself half a day to breakdown about it. In my opinion I don’t think she wanted the divorce.

Jon, on the other hand, to me seems resigned to their fate. He said at this point all he can hope for is to rebuild his friendship with Kate. Whether or not I believe the cheating rumors, it wouldn’t surprise me if he had a girlfriend lined up already as he didn’t seem willing to do any work on the relationship (though who know if they’ve been to counseling or not). With regards to the show, I think he may have suffered a lot of teasing about his wife wearing the pants in the family and I’m sure he’s had a lot of people sympathizing with him (though I don’t for the record). He made a comment that he is “only 32” and so has his whole life ahead of him which made me think this is a midlife crisis for him. Having eight kids so young is a lot to bear for anyone but I don’t think getting divorced, going out drinking and seeking new relationships is the answer.

Both parties claim that they want to do what’s in the best interest of their kids and that bringing them peace and harmony is better than them seeing the couple argue. I agree that couples shouldn’t stay together “just for the kids” and even Dr. Phil once made a comment that kids would rather be ‘from’ a broken home then ‘in’ a broken home. The large home and estate they just moved into has been named the Kids’ Home and so Jon and Kate will live there during their kid time and live elsewhere while the other parent is there. Kate expressed how painful it was going to be to have to leave so Jon could have alone time with them. Jon & Kate are currently committed to spending all the holidays together in peace so that they don’t miss out on the holidays experiences with their kids. I give them a lot of credit for even attempting that, though once significant others enter the picture things might not be so peaceful.

I am honestly heartbroken that their marriage is ending. With every public couple that I see getting divorced, it adds to the statistics and shakes my belief in marriage. When you see really well matched couples or ones who’ve been together a long time it makes you wonder “if they can’t make it work, do we really have a chance?” Jon & Kate have ten plus years together and eight beautiful great kids and from our perspective it didn’t seem like much was done to salvage it. But it takes two people giving 100% (not the classically thought 50/50) each to work on a relationship, so if one of them isn’t in it then there is no point.

I believe that your ability to be a couple is a separate thing from your ability to be a great parenting team. The love and support you provide your children is not based on how much you love your spouse. While I think its irresponsible to purposely create kids with someone who you are not committed to spending your life with (aka Tyrone & Kim), I don’t fault couples for admitting there are better off not together. My Grandma married my Grandpa because she was pregnant with my mom and they had two more kids together before they got divorced. Their marriage was forced and therefore never blossomed as it should and I believe my mom and her siblings suffered because of this. This belief is cemented by the fact that when my mom got pregnant at 16 my Grandpa refused to make her marry my biological contributor and thus I had a very happy childhood that continued once she married someone by choice.

Neither Jon nor Kate fault the show for where their relationship is and to be honest I don’t think the show is to blame. Its entirely possible that the show (and especially the tabloid interest) magnified things so that they happened faster than they would have normally but the elements still had to be there in the first place I think. Jon even says that he’s thankful for the show as it gives them a platform to speak from on what’s the truth and not have it be twisted.

I don’t understand why people are so judgmental about them doing the show and continuing to do the show. Most families struggle with financially providing for one or two kids and can’t even fathom what the expenses would be for eight kids (at this point or the future). So many of my friends have expressed distress about having to choose between having more time with their kids and being able to provide for them. If you were given an opportunity to have a very lucrative income WHILE having MORE time with them, is that really so evil? Plus it has given them many opportunities to experience different places and activities that most families can only dream about. If I was offered a reality show (and really one should be coming cuz I am so darn entertaining LOL) I wouldn’t hesitate to snap it up. Look at all the thousands of people who apply to put themselves in compromising positions for the chance to win one lump sum money (Survivor, Big Brother, Wipeout, Fear Factor). And that’s just for a one time chance. Kate indicated a few seasons ago that the cameras are only there for the times they want them to be, which is more for special events and occassions then everyday life. Maddy, for instance, was getting braces and Kate didn't want the cameras there for that as Maddy is pretty high strung as it is and Kate thought it would interfer with her experience. So we didn't see Maddy get braces, she just suddenly had them. I really do believe that Jon & Kate put the kids interests above personal gain and fame.

Though I try not to partake in tabloid stuff, I couldn’t help but watch a special about Jon & Kate that was on a few weeks ago and it infuriated me. First off, there were allegations that Kate is having an affair with her body guard because he goes everywhere she does...isn’t that the point of a body guard? (P.S. She needs the body guard because of the overwhelming paparazzi). Then they were criticizing Kate because:
-she has gotten a better hair cut & highlights (who wouldn’t after seeing yourself on tv like that, and I get new haircuts/highlights like ever 6-8 weeks),
-she goes tanning “twice a month” (I’m pale skinned, but I know people who go 2, 3, 4 and even 5 times a WEEK),
-she’s dressing better (again, seeing yourself on tv and making public appearances, you’re going to make an effort to look good...plus there are many episodes where she is in sweat pants),
-she got a confirmed tummy tuck and possible boob job (after 8 kids and nursing I would say yes to both as well...i might even say yes to both after 1 kid!),
-she’s “taken advantage of her fame by writing a book” (a great and inspiring book if any of you care to read it, I own it. If there weren’t people willing to read it she wouldn’t be able to write it. Besides, writing a book is hard work),
-she’s bossy with the kids (I think she does the very best she can with the eight she has and I really don’t think anyone can fault that she is a great mom).

Everyone has faults if you look close enough.

Of all the reality show families they certainly seems to get the most flack and to me it seems a lot of that flack is based on them being too “real”. Too be honest I think Kate is sometimes nicer than I have been to Tyler and I am definitely higher maintenance than she is! How many of your households could stand up to public criticism? All of this arguing is done for the sake of the kids...so look at them. They are well behaved, loving, smart and amazingly unspoiled kids with emerging individualized personalities. They have schedules, eat organic, healthy food and have a beautiful home and grounds to play on. They should have trust funds that can provide for secondary education if they so choose it and will have many wonderful memories of growing up that are very well documented for them. I don’t know about you but I love looking back at my younger self and would love to have all the footage they will have.

So I ask of these nay-sayers, what are you giving your kids? Are you really a “better” parent? Do you truly deserve to be on your high horse or would the public find something to criticize you for too?

Updates (sorry about the delay)

Sorry for the lack of blogs over this last week or so. I have been temping during the day and was out camping this weekend so didn’t have much time to do them. My weekend was pretty uneventful considering...it was our first weekend taking out our “new” RV and we were going with a group of 38 people including Kim, Tyrone and Mary (my mother-in-law).

My parents brought the Bumbo chair back from Medicine Hat that Kim was so frantic over. In addition to that were a few other random items in a bag that she had given me so Tyler & I gave her the whole bag back on Friday as soon as we saw them. I wanted to avoid spending much time with Kim this weekend so I enlisted June (one of my new friends), who has a permanent site at the camp ground, to spend a bunch of time with me as an extra excuse to avoid Kim. It turned out to be pretty rainy Friday night so Tyler & I mostly just set up the RV and did a little visiting in our fifth wheel before I went to bed pretty early (growing a fetus is exhausting!).

We slept in on Saturday and then Tyler headed to the kiddie pool area along with Kira (my 2 ½ year old niece) and Tyrone. I found out June was also going to be there as well so I headed over sans swim suite (not really interested in swimming with the chaos that is kids). After a bit June, her two daughters and I went for an ice cream and a casual saunter (as opposed to a walk). Then I hung out at her site as long as I could, until about 3:30pm when I was due back at our area for a group campfire-dinner thing. Mary had two co-workers there for the weekend, one whom I had met before and one whom I hadn’t - both who are really nice and friendly – so I got to visit with them and Owen throughout the dinner. After, Tyler & I both went over to June’s site as Willie and Kris were going to be there as well (June is married to Kris’ nephew). Kim & Tyrone ended up coming too, so I had to do some visiting with Kim but it wasn’t too bad as June was there as well. Then June ditched me for her campsite friend Mary Anne (just joking cuz I know June will eventually read this) so I convinced Tyler we should go back to our area. It was raining again so Tyler, Owen & I hung out in our RV playing a little bit of ‘Uno’ before they decided to hang out by the campfire and I again, ditched out to hit the hay early.

Sunday was another sleep in day followed with some visiting with Dezerae (Owen’s younger sister) and then a solitary swim in the pool as by the time I made it to the pool everyone else was done. Then it was about time to pack up so we did that and headed home. So I avoided any extra conflict arising this weekend J

Our stay in our “new” RV wasn’t too bad. The bed in there was pretty hard so I was pretty sore and not well rested so I am planning on getting a foam pad to see if that helps. The back roof vent leaked a bunch on Saturday and then just a little on Sunday after Tyler tried to fix it so hopefully that won’t be too bad to take care of. It was really lovely to have privacy and my own space and to NOT be in a tent with the crazy amount of rain we got this weekend. We are doing another camping trip out near Strathmore this weekend for a Friends Golf Tournament and then family Anniversary party so hopefully I have a few more of the quirks and missing pieces figured out by then. Tyler took the following week off so we’ll be able to do some odds and ends around the house, go to my much awaited Ultrasound on the 3rd and Vanessa will be coming down to help paint the baby room around the 1st and into the weekend.

Baby Room Update – I’ve boiled down my color choices for the room to the four main colors in the bedding set (though there are many shades still to choose from): chocolate brown, turquoise, taupe & green. I am not a big fan of the green idea so I’ve ruled that out right off the bat. I’m going to use ‘Debbie Travis’ paint as it is wonderful and they have little sample bottles in some of their colors so I bought the taupe color to try out (it was the only one of those I was interested in available). I put it on the wall and totally hate it so that’s out. I was thinking I might like to do three walls in the turquoise color and then one wall (which will have the crib) in the chocolate color to add depth to the room and suggested that to Tyler. He responded with “whatever you want” to which I said “you DO get an opinion” and he says “I don’t like brown I think it looks like poop, literally”. I was like, no brown looks like chocolate. And I was pretty surprised that he suddenly doesn’t like brown as we have a LOT of brown furniture and accessories. He’s so weird sometimes. So anyway, I am still leaning towards that option.

Megan and I pow-wowed about what kind of paintings she is going to do and we’ve pretty much decided on her doing animal silhouettes instead of the like cutesy animals I was originally considering. I have quite a few stuffed animals already that can add the cutesy affect and then be taken away as baby grows to be a little less baby like. So the basics of the room itself will be pretty modern & urban (which is one style I favor) and then my changeable accessories will be a little more cute and baby like (another style I like). Megan won’t be able to do the paintings until after the long weekend as she is away & we’ll just be painting the basic colors that weekend. Since that is still about two weeks away we both might come across something totally different and change our minds LOL

I have Wednesday the 24th off so I am hoping to go to Edmonton to see Danielle and her new baby Lakelyn as well as maybe do a little baby stuff shopping there.

Temping - I am temping today & tomorrow (Tuesday) here at RIFCO and then I am off until July 6th. The job I’m at right now, RIFCO, is probably my favorite so far as there are 28 people in this office so its been pretty busy socially and workwise though I am much too efficient so I’ve had down time (like right now). I have a job lined up at the “Red Deer River Watershed Alliance” from 8am - 12pm from the 6th to the 17th (two weeks), and then following that I have the 20th to the 24th booked at “Parkland Maintenance” which is 8:00am - 4:30pm. I’m really enjoying the temping work as it gives me variety in jobs and people as well as a paycheck without a huge commitment. However the dollar/hour wage is lower than I am probably “worth” in the market. I think I’d like to continue the temp work after baby but that will depend on my ability to get some sort of sitter that makes it worth my while. I need some free labor ha ha

Gestational Diabetes Testing

Hey Folks,

As I am writing this I am at the DynaLab in Red Deer waiting out my 1 hour for the glucose screening. This test just screens if u need to go on for the more specific 3 hour test. If u pass u're free, fail means 3 more hours another day.

I had been warned about the sugary sweet orange pop like drink. What I didn't expect, was for it to taste EXACTLY like orange pop. So I really didn't mind the flavor, just found it a little disconcerning to drink 10oz of pop in 5 minutes. I am not much of a fluid intaker so it felt kind of weird during the second half of the bottle. However it is about 15 min later & I feel fine again.

I am worried about this test. Despite my resolve to eat better, I know I am still eating too much sweets and not a huge balance of nutrients (protein & veggies are the tough ones right now). However since I still haven't gained any weight, even with my belly size expanding, I am trying to stay with positive thinking. Hmmm, I don't imagine I get the results today as it is a blood test. That never occurred to me. Oh well.

Yesterday I had a business luncheon and one of the ladies asked me if I had lost weight cuz I was looking good. Who doesn't want to here that at 25 weeks pregnant? :-)

Baby Bedroom Update

I ordered three things for our baby room yesterday: the matching drapes, extra fitted sheet and the 3pc artwork (all in the same picture). I decided to go with the curtains over the valance as I like curtains better but they were like double the price which sucks. I really hmmmed & hawed over it but decided to get them. Tyler wasn't completely sold on the idea so he's a little annoyed that I bought them (in my defense I thought he was fine with it per our previous conversations). I also probably shouldn't have bought the extra matching fitted sheet as it is priced ridiculously...but it seems like such a waste to get the bedding set and then not have a spare sheet that matches. I told him that since I didn't get to do the 3D ultrasound that would have cost $175, that I am able to spend a little loosely for that sacrifice. He didn't see the logic in that LOL So I am 'grounded' from further purchases until he gets home this weekend, which is fine cuz I've spent enough money this week for even my comfort level! Oh, but I did manage to save an additional 10% by using a coupon. Yay me!

Tonight when my Mom is here we'll be ordering the crib, mattress & change table mattress. So exciting! My parents & sis are also bringing the glider down with them too. We are losing some stuff tonight though...my brother apparently has found a basement suite to move into (and out of my Aunt's house) and doesn't have a bed (he's been sleeping on a very uncomfortable futon - trust me I slept on it once). So since we have two spare beds that only get used when we have company we are letting my parents take one for my brother. Realistically, my parents bought the bed when my sister moved down here and we inherited it by default when she moved back to Grimshaw. Since my parents are buying so much for us (especially with the fifth wheel added in), I'd feel like a complete A-hole if I didn't let them take it and they'd have to buy my brother a new bed. We don't even have it set up right now as we are finishing the basement. So they'll take that and the two matching bedside tables. We still have a bed in our spare room (purple) room so I guess we'll just have to have less company!

For Your Entertainment

From an email, some ways to entertain yourself. They made me giggle (especially when you really think about the ramifications) so I am sharing:

1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point a Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, ask If They Want Fries with that.

3. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten Over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch to Espresso.

4. In the Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write ' For Marijuana.

5. Order a Diet Water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.

6. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream 'I Won! I Won!'

7. When Leaving the Zoo, Start Running towards the Parking lot, Yelling 'Run For Your Lives! They're Loose!'

8. Tell Your Children Over Dinner, 'Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go.'

Lakelyn Pics!

Mamma Danielle with new baby Lakelyn...

Big sis Hudzyn with new little sis Lakelyn...

Lakelyn, ready for her close up...

Newly born with Daddy Morgan...

Few Topics...I know you hate that so I bolded titles

Ridiculous??

Apparently Kim had a reunion in Saskatchewan this weekend (family or school, I don't know) and Tyrone "needed" to play poker this weekend, so Mary drove from Edmonton to Calgary to baby sit for them. Does anyone else think its ridiculous that she will drive 3 hours to be a free babysitter for them? She watched both Tehya & Kira and bragged about how Tehya slept from 9pm to 4:30am so she only had to get up to feed her then. Isn't that Dad's job?? When other people go to their "jobs" they usually have a sitter of some sort so why shouldn't these two? And Kim is suppose to be breastfeeding so how can see leave Tehya for the whole weekend? I'm sure she pumped or something, but she's only like 2 1/2 months. Not that I don't think it's healthy for a person to leave their baby and get out, but I'm not sure if I could do it for a whole weekend at that point. I think I would have been inclined to take my baby with me and then find a sitter for portions of the weekend if need there in Saskatchewan.

Bumbo Chair Update: After seemingly ignoring me for like a week, my brother finally responded with "hey Crystal what's their number so I can send the stuff tomorrow" yesterday. He apparently has been busy sleeping and working, let's hope that is true LOL I told him I hoped it was more working than sleeping. So in theory, the chair will be on it's way to Kim today on the bus. However, I will not feel confident about that until its official.

Daddy Felt Baby’s First Movement

It was actually really late Thursday night when Tyler first felt the baby move. I’ve been feeling it very strongly for a few weeks now and I saw my belly move shortly before Tyler’s birthday so I thought he should be able to feel the movement from the outside soon. From that point it was just a matter of timing since Tyler has been working away in Fort Saskatchewan during the week.

I think I was more excited than he was, or at least what he showed. Since I’ve been feeling it for a while I really wanted to share that experience with him. It makes everything seem more real.

Baby Room/Nursery Decisions

Vanessa has decided that she is most likely coming down around July 1st and for a few days that follow. Quite a few months ago I told her she could paint baby’s room for me as she is much more anal with detail than I and Tyler doesn’t have a lot of time at home (nor does he want to paint the room again). With an actual deadline to work with for when painting colors need to be decided I was getting anxious to make some decisions, specifically the bedding as I think that is the starting point for the room. While I am anxious, I am also trying to savor the experience as I love shopping & decorating so I don’t want to rush the decisions. For the last few months I have been looking at bedding mainly in the blue/chocolate schemes as I like that color combination. Well this week Tyler announces that he isn’t really a fan of that scheme as it’s “boring”. He’s completely entitled to an opinion (as the baby is half his contribution), however that would have been nice to know months ago when I started the bedding quest!

Luckily, one of the sets I found while looking at blue/chocolate stuff is a bit more exciting (think more turquoise, green, brown and animal print) and he liked that one. Today we are going to “Babies R Us” (as they have it in stock), so we can feel it (very important in textiles) and see it in person to know if it’s the right one. Every time I think I like a set, I’ve put it on my blackberry background so that I see it quite a few times a day. With the first two sets I did that with, I started liking them less and less. With this set, I like it more and more and am actually getting very excited about it. It’s a nice balance for me of gender-neutral, funky yet timeless. Most likely, if/when we have baby #2, I would use this set again so it’s another reason to go gender neutral. I’ve decided I can go crazy on the boy/girl specific stuff when doing a toddler room! Then you have a little bit better idea of what they are into at that point. INSERT: We bought it! Got to use a coupon because we “started our registry” (why not) so we saved $21 which is better than no dollars. The set was almost twice what I wanted to pay for a bedding set but I know I liked it cuz I didn’t care (and Tyler seemed to have accepted it as well).

In addition to the bedding, we’ve decided on the furniture: crib and change table/dresser pieces. When I started looking at cribs I really wanted chocolate furniture, however the crib that I like the shape and style of best only comes in white. It’s a combo crib that turns into a bed down the road so I think style is more important than color in this instance. Especially as all crib colors are essentially neutral. Not to mention that the change table/dresser we love is from the same set and only comes in white also. I want to get a good crib but I also don’t want to spend a ridiculous amount of money (again – balance) so of all the ones I’ve seen, I really enjoy this set the most.

My mom had told us she wanted to buy “furniture” for the baby room as soon as we told her we were expecting. I recently asked her about the budget and what exactly she wanted to buy. She said “$1000”. Well the crib I have picked out is $299.99 so that’s way under budget. She then told me I can pretty much spend the entire $1000 getting what we need for baby’s room. I may love to spend money but Tyler has also taught me to shop for deals. The crib & change table I like are from Sears, but I was at “E-children” in Edmonton and they have the exact same one marked down $40 less than Sears. Score! I don’t even really have to factor in gas, etc into the cost as Tyler is working in Fort Sask near Edmonton and can pick it up anyway. So I put a deposit on it at E-children (so it doesn’t get sold on me), which is my first official baby purchase. Pretty impressive if you know me well LOL Well I guess I technically bought a monkey puppet in Dallas so it’s purchase #2, but Major Purchase #1.

Pictured below, crib (picture from sears.ca) & change table/dresser (took picture in store). And no I am not getting any of the pink accessories right now, try to picture it with the bali bedding set from above.

So far here is my shopping list for my Mom’s moola (Including taxes but not shipping costs):

Major Pieces:
Crib from Sears…………………………………. $314.99
Crib Mattress from Sears…………………………$73.49
Change Table/Dresser Combo Piece……………..$199.45 (saved $42+)
Change Table Pad from Sears…………………….$31.49
Chocolate Glider with Ottoman…………………..$FREE (inheriting from Mom who got it with my brother Cody)
Subtotal = $619.42
That leaves me with $380.58 to contribute to other nursery factors, with the major components covered. Sweet suite!

Desired Set Pieces for Bali Bedding Set:

Bedding 4pc from Babies R Us………………………$294 (saved $21 used a coupon)

These are the pieces I'd like to get to go with the bedding:

Valance from Babies R Us .………………….………..$41.99
Changing Pad Cover from Babies R Us ……….....$36.74
Artwork 3pc at Baby Pops.……………………………$66.14 (or $73.49 from Babies R Us)
Extra Fitted Sheet at Baby Pops...........................$47.24)
Subtotal = $192.11
Rug………………………………………………………………$104.99 is the price from Toys/Babies R Us, but I think I am going to look around for something that will go but is cheaper.

Megan, my hair stylist friend who is also an amazing artist (who has also volunteered to take prego photos for me) has ALSO offered to come do some mural or other type painting for the room for us. I found this animal paintings online and thought they were cute, so they may be the inspiration for us, but I'm not 100% committed yet. I think they're adorable though.

Introducing Baby Irving!

Danielle & Morgan had their baby! Their second daughter, Lakelyn Justys Mazzi Irving, was born Sunday, June 7th at 1:50 am weighing 6 lbs 15 oz. She texted me to say her & baby are heading home today so hopefully there'll be some pics to see soon.

For All You Patience Peeps, Here I am at 24 Weeks!

Note, I am doing my very bestest not to suck it in at all (which is getting harder to do anyway) and might even be pushing out slightly. I think its starting to be more of a baby belly, which it should be at 6 weeks!

Bumbo chair issue, an update - sort of

I have done virtually nothing on this issue. I mentioned it to tyler who suggested I try another time to get the chair back. So I messaged my brother today to see if he has it & if he does I plan to tell him to send it to kim collect. That's me being passive aggressive. If he doesn't have it, I'll have to decide on a course of action at that point. Might have to grow a back bone & be direct about it. We will NOT be buying them one. Oh & tyler remembered kim saying she didn't even like it when she gave it to us!

Beyond an/on/en/in...

When I was in junior high or high school I started really noticing how people named their kids. In particular, my friend Vanessa's family. She had a nephew Dalton, and cousins Tristan, Colton & Tullson. It was here that I grew a distaste for the "on" ending and it popularity and vowed to avoid it when I picked my own children's names. My resolve was strengthened by my common maiden name of Johnson and now married surname of Nelson. I personally would prefer a variety of sound in there!

That being said, there is a plethra of male names that end in the on/en/in/an/yn. And most of those are beautiful names. For instance I've always like "Jordan" and one of my characters is an "Aidan", plus many of my friends & family have recently named their kids with names from this group: Hudzyn, Owen, Jackson, Keegan, Regan, Addison, Gavin, Cayden, Logan...all names perfectly suited to their children and I couldn't imagine anything else for them.

I'm sure no one overthinks the naming process quite to the level that I do but really that is my personality. It keeps me entertained! So Tyler & I are still on the hunt for baby name options. Our list building is slow because I'm very decisive about what I don't like but not willing to committ to liking much. So often the name sounds good for a second but not that great after a while. I guess I just feel that my child deserves the "perfect most spectacular" name and I'm not sure if that exists :-)

Musings about "Jon & Kate + Eight"

From the moment I saw the first documentary, I really enjoyed watching “Jon & Kate + 8”. I loved their realness as a couple (as opposed to scripted reality) and since I’ve always been interested in twins it makes sense that I would be fascinated by a couple that had twins and THEN sextuplets. The original documentary showed the family when the sextuplets were about 6 months old or so and then there was a follow up documentary some time after. It was so popular that they ended up getting their own series when they had two 6 year olds and six 2 year olds. The show only grew in popularity and they just launched season five on Monday.

I always related with Kate in the show because she is definitely the Alpha Female in the relationship and she never shyed about that. She has gotten lots of criticism for seeming very strict, grumpy and bossy with her kids and even her husband. However, I challenge anyone to take care of 8 kids under six with any less of a rigid schedule and attention to detail. Not to mention, if a camera and film crew followed me around, even now sans kids, I am sure I would look equally unpretty in my speech and mannerisms. The show has always been very good natured and fun and had the ability to lift my spirits. Both Jon & Kate have been criticized for “exploiting” their children by having the show. Personally, I think that Jon and Kate are really doing the best they can with an unexpected situation. By having the show they are able to provide experiences and financial security for their children that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to. They are also able to be home more with their kids, with the recent exception of Kate’s book tour. However, at least one parent is home which is more than most of society can claim (good or bad). If they didn’t do the show, they would likely have to return to Jon and Kate working crazy hours. In you read Kate’s book (which I of course did), she talks about how Jon got laid off when his work found out they were having sextuplets and how most of her pregnancy he was unemployed. Can’t really blame someone coming out of that situation trying to provide for their family the best they can?

In the season four finale, Jon complained about how he didn’t think they should do the show anymore because he was becoming “famous” for being a dad and he wasn’t comfortable with the fame part of the deal. What Kate pointed out and Jon fails to realize, is that they are really at the point of no return for fame. Stopping the show now will not stop the interest in the family and in my belief may only make it worse. At least in this situation they have some control over what access people have into their lives (they seem to have a lot of say over when the cameras are there as demonstrated when Kate didn’t have the cameras around for Maddy’s braces being put on).

In the last few months or so, Jon & Kate have been getting lots of publicity in the tabloids and such. The smear papers originally alleged that Jon was out partying and cheated on Kate. To which he replied that he simply had taken a photo with fans and now it was being used against him. The story has now morphed into this huge deal with headlines such as “Inside their twisted marriage: how Jon has a license to cheat” and other very insulting stories. If you watch the show at all, you know that there is no way Kate would have such a deal with Jon. I truly want to believe that he didn’t cheat on Kate but the whole truth of that isn’t really important. What appears to be important to Kate is that he had put himself in a situation where the media could make him look like he had. And I would assume that she thinks it wasn’t very fatherly of him to be out drinking and partying.

Before I even watched the season opener I felt really bad about the whole thing. Here’s a couple who are trying to provide for their kids and dealing with the added fame and pressure the best they can and they relationship gets dragged through the press. They are human beings, as Kate pointed out, with real emotions. The paparazzi, of course, have no conscience for the possibility that the kids (especially the 9 year olds) might see these scary headlines about their parents. It was sadly apparent during the season premiere that the media attention has really caused a strain on their marriage. Jon seems very different on the show, displaying a lot of defensiveness to both producer questions and statements made by Kate. I’d venture to guess that he is struggling with his identity right now as he isn’t “working” but is mostly staying home taking care of the kids. It’s hard to define your worth in other ways when you are used to a job defining your worth. Especially when his wife is still contributing by writing books and doing talks around the country, he seems bitter that she is out traveling while he is home with the kids. Kate eventually broke down during her question period, stating how when they first had the babies she was confident that the triple divorce rate of parents of multiples wouldn’t affect them, but how now she wasn’t so sure they would make it.

It would break my heart if this couple divorces. I really saw a lot of Tyler & my relationship in them and it freaks me out that they might split. Not to mention how the kids will be affected. Of course, if two people can’t get along its better for them to parent as two separate people than a couple, but I can’t imagine trying to raise the 8 kids split between two homes. It’s hard enough to deal with relationship issues, but when they are published in the media it would be almost impossible. I think I am going to try and send them some positive energy…maybe you could join me?

Hmmm, coincidences

So Kim, coincidently, wrote the following message on my facebook wall:
"Hey Crystal. Have fun at dinner tonight, order lots! I have a very specific reason for f/b you. Tehya is needing the Bumbo chair and will only have a small window of opportunity to benefit from it. As you know, the chair is very important to me and is an excellent tool for babies. Pls contact me with solutions as to how you will be retrieving it for me. Thanks."

I've thought about many snarky ways to reply to her (in my world where I speak my immediate thoughts). Here are some of my thoughts:
"Well Kim, option 1 is that you drive 3 hours to Medicine Hat & pick it up. Option 2 is that my brothers sends it to you collect. Option 3 is that you suck it up & re-buy it. Consider it a $80 storage fee for the 16 months your shit was stored at my house. It can be extra special as its probably the first item you sprung for yourself."

What do u think? Last I checked Tyler didn't think I should worry about it so I'm going to ask him to deal with it so I don't cause any family drama on his bday. Besides I shouldn't be stressed & pregnant right?

As I type I am sitting in the parking lot of Tyler's apartment so that I can have birthday dinner & cake with him. Last night when the baby moved/kicked I saw my belly move which freaked me out but was cool. I thought it'd be really cool if baby moved for him on his bday.

So yes that means I'm in the Edmonton area Danielle. I wanted to coordinate meeting up with you/her but I have to be back in Red Deer tonight for work tomorrow & I knew /you/she had a doc appt today.

I was able to hit two baby stores in Edmonton though: Echildren & Baby Sam. Both had quite a bit of stuff. I think have to run it by Tyler, but I really like one set.

Annoyance - Need Input

Back in around Spring of 2007, when Tyrone and Kim split up and moved into seperate places, she unloaded a bunch of baby stuff onto us. Most noteably they were clothes and a bumbo chair. When she gave us the stuff she was assuming that she wasn't going to have any more kids so she told us to go through it, keep what we want and donate whatever we didn't want. Which I did as when she gave us the stuff we still weren't really thinking kids yet and I wasn't going to keep stuff I wasn't too into. My brother had just had Chaise so I took the bumbo chair to him in Medicine Hat. He didn't end up getting any use out of it as he didn't see Chaise during that timeframe but that's not really the point.

Anyway, when Kim and Tyrone announced they were pregnant (with Tehya) in September of 2008 they basically asked for all their stuff back. Which for me was kind of salt in the wound of the fact that we were trying for a baby at that point and here was two undeserving, non-dating people having a baby. So whatever, I gave back all the stuff I had, not including the Bumbo chair as I don't have it (my brother does). Two days after Tehya was born (circa March 18) Kim really started to bug me to get the Bumbo chair back for her, bragging about how advanced Tehya was already and how she'd need it soon. I had a trip planned to Medicine Hat on March 31st for a baby shower so I planned to get it back then. Well when I left I forgot it there. So now everytime Kim talks to me or she's me she asks me to get it. Since my brother doesn't have a lot of money I didn't really want to ask him to mail or send it on the bus. However, the last time Kim asked me she said "maybe if you don't get it back you should buy us a new one and then just keep that one for yourself". Um, what? I don't think so. So now I don't even want to try to get it back, just to be spiteful. My Grandma came down last weekend on the bus and I did ask my brother to send it with her but he either forgot, doesn't know where it is or was too lazy to grab it.

If they had given us all that stuff with the understanding that we were to give it back I think it'd be one thing (or really if it was anybody other than them). But now it just really burns me that she's acting like this about it. And to be honest, I really don't even buy into the whole Bumbo chair great thing. What do you guys think?

Grad, RV's & Dentists

Tyler & I went to Grimshaw for the weekend for a few different things. One of the things was my cousin Alisha’s grad, so my Grandma who lives in Medicine Hat, carpooled with us from Red Deer. Tyler worked on Friday so my Grandma & I met him in Edmonton and from that point on he drove. We weren’t very far out of Edmonton when Tyler got pulled over for speeding! The cop clocked him going 148 km in a 110 zone so his ticket was a whopping $247. I was more concerned that the cop was going to suspend his license as I have heard they can do that if you are doing over 150km. It seems like a waste of money (especially in light of me wanting that 3D ultrasound for only $175) but both Tyler & I tend to speed so I believe in accepting the potential consequences of your actions. Normally I try not to do over 130 in a 110 zone but it really depends how risky I feel that day and if it’s a nice day and the road is straight I tend to go faster. I don’t have cruise control on my car so its very easy to speed in it. Anyhoo, that was the start of our weekend LOL Since we left so late we didn’t get to Grimshaw until about midnight.

My cousin’s grad was @ 2pm in Peace River. Each grad was given 6 seats for family and then ‘overflow’ got to sit in the bleachers. My Mom & Grandma were given prime seating and my Dad & I sat in the bleachers. Their theme was Alice in Wonderland’s tea party which was kind of crazy but kind of cool. I hope someone got some good photos of the decorations because they were amazing but I forgot my camera at my parent’s house (on the table right by my purse so I wouldn’t forget it, blame it on pregnancy brain). That was about all that was amazing about the grad…there were 59 graduates and the entire ceremony took almost 4 hours! They had an intermission shortly after 4pm at which point my Dad & I snuck out because our backs had about had it at that point. We had already seen the diploma & awards part which only took about 45 minutes. The rest had been speeches by long winded people who didn’t matter: rep from the school board, rep from the catholic board, old principal, current principal. Wow…I don’t overly remember my grad ceremony but I know it wasn’t that long. We had three speeches by students (so more entertaining & relevant – P.S. one of them was me) and I’m sure a speech or two from teacher people but it wasn’t that long. Though one cool thing I did like during their diploma part was that they had a PowerPoint of each student with a baby photo, grad photo and a photo in between (if they submitted them). They also had a few lines from each grad read by the MC about their most memorable moment or future plans, etc. It added some entertainment to this portion, even for me who only knew of two of grads.

Another travesty I observed involved everyone’s beautiful gowns and suits. The grads wore caps & gowns for the first “half” of the ceremony until the intermission. I noticed at this point that everyone had ditched their caps n’ gowns and there was a grand march in the program for after the admission but I of course missed it. Later that evening my family had a BBQ for Alisha and I noticed that she had changed out of her (presumably expensive) gown into a party dress. The grads had an ‘after grad’ party that night but I guess it wasn’t fancy enough to wear their gowns to. So from the information I gathered, the only time they wore their dresses was at the ceremony and only maybe an hour and a half was where you could see the gowns. Its bad enough at a normal grad to only get to wear you dress for part of the day & then that night, but to not even have that night seems SO wasteful. At the very least my cousin got some professional photos taken prior to her big day wearing the dress that she handed out to all of us. P.S. Her dress was beautiful.

Our secondary reason for going to Grimshaw was to pick up the Fifth Wheel my parents are giving/loaning us. Tyler’s Mom & boyfriend Robert also came down on Saturday as we didn’t have a hitch for Tyler’s truck yet and we were also concerned that his truck might not make it up the Peace River hills pulling it! Since my parents don’t have that big of a house and we had an abundance of company this weekend, Tyler & I got to test drive our new Fifth Wheel by spending the night in it. The bedroom is in the ‘fifth wheel’ part and was better than my memory of it: the step to it wasn’t as high as I thought, the opening was larger than I remember and the height of the space was more than I remember. All of which were great things! I didn’t feel claustrophobic at all and it wasn’t a struggle to get my big butt up there. Being in it also got both of us excited about our future camping expeditions this summer.

One of the drawbacks of having an RV though, is that people seem to think that its their space to sleep in also. I want to initiate a strict rule that nobody else gets to sleep in it, as one of the main reasons I wanted it was to have privacy & space when we camp. If we just have a rule that no body gets to sleep in it then I don’t have to explain myself when there are people I don’t like. It’d be one thing if I invited someone to go camping but…I just don’t want to at this point. Technically the RV sleeps six, but that is assuming 2 to the bedroom space, 2 on the couch & 2 on the kitchen table. Already Mary has suggested that Kira & Tehya can sleep in it when we go camping. Uh, no. I didn’t birth them so why should I have to get up at 6am (or several times in the night) while their parents get a pseudo vacation? I want to be able to go camping with people as I choose or go just the two of us to have some “us” time before baby.

Speaking of baby, I can hardly believe that on this upcoming Saturday I will be 24 weeks! That is six months if you’re counting. It’s totally surreal still. The baby is moving a lot more so that is cool. I’m excited for the first time Tyler actual feels the movement (which hasn’t happened yet with him being gone so much). I have to admit that I am finally starting to get a baby belly, though I am super self-conscious of it as I feel that it sort’ve just looks like extra fat. I’ve been meaning to take pictures of myself and haven’t gotten around to it which is terrible. I’m hoping today’s the day that I finally take some…

One last story for you guys. On Monday, I was super stressed because I had a cavity that I had to take care of, I had already postponed the appointment twice due to temping jobs and I knew it was just getting worse so I had to suck it up and go. Not only do I totally hate freezing but I wasn’t sure if it was the smartest move to do while pregnant. My braces dentist said to for sure avoid the first trimester which we did, but I still wasn’t too sure about it. My braces dentist has sold her practice and is weaning herself from office so the dentist doing the work was new to me. He reviewed my chart (which says I’m pregnant) and asked me if it was causing me any pain (which it wasn’t). He then suggested we do one of two things to avoid any possible risk, 1) try to drill and fill the cavity without freezing as it was a smaller, surface cavity on the tooth behind my vampire tooth or 2) wait until after I delivered baby. I had done one cavity without freezing before, on a front tooth as I had heard from my mother that it was worse to get the needles in the roof of your mouth than the actual drilling pain, so I opted to try option one.

He said to just let him know if I was in any discomfort. There was a few moments where it really hurt but I would say it was about 85-90% pain free. He didn’t drill as deep as he would have with freezing but he was pretty sure he got all the decay and there’s just a chance it could possibly fall out. I was super pumped about the whole experience because when I get frozen, I stay frozen for like 4, 5 or more hours. It pretty much ruins my whole day. Plus I completely hate needles. I did have a braces check and my braces were adjusted which causes pain for a day or two or so, so I didn’t come out of it completely unscathed. However, that means I am one step closer to the ol’ braces coming off so it’s all good. I am really close to closing the gap between my top & bottom teeth, which I believe is my last step so they could be off soon. That will be super exciting I’m sure.

I’m totally used to my braces right now, they only bother me when they get adjusted, but it’ll be fun to be done with them as everyone is always asking me when I’m getting them off. I have another appointment on June 4th to see where I’m at then. My personal goal is to have them off by July, as that will be the two year anniversary of when I got them put on. I was only suppose to have them for a year, but I have no one to blame but myself for not wearing my elastics to move my teeth. Before I forgot to wear them all the time, my teeth were moving right on schedule.

Stay tuned for pictures to be posted...

Announcing...a new Bly!

Kyla & Michael has their baby! Their new son, Logan Dakota Bly, was born a bit before his due date on May 25th @ 5:30am. He was 8lbs 4 ounces and 21 inches long. Kyla said the birth was a positive experience and she even did it without any drugs...crazy girl!

Here's a few pics of the new addition...doesn't Kyla look amazing? This is her at home one day after giving birth.

And then here is Michael, the new daddy at the hospital.

Weekend Plans

I'm gearing up for another weekend headed to Grimshaw. My initial reason for going to Grimsville (as I like to call it) was to support my cousin Alisha who is graduating from High School this year. I remember when I graduated, it was THE most important event so I thought it would be nice if I could be there. We aren't super close, even though I did baby sit her when she was little, but she's a really good kid from what I know.

Not sure if I blogged about it before, but my parents are 'loaning' us their 5th Wheel RV indefinitely. They have only used it once in the last two years and we were looking into getting something we could afford so they offered for us to take theirs. They actually inherited it from my Grandpa back in 1992 or so who had bought it in 1989. My dad said you could probably count on both hands how many times its actually been used so its still in great condition. It still has the orginial tires even LOL So I'm not much of a camping girl but I am much more inclined to enjoy it in an RV that is all our own to use where I can escape with some privacy so I'm excited. I'm also nervous as I know they are a lot of work to set up & take down etc. But it's all good! It's an 80s RV so its decorated in blues & pinks which I prefer over browns and oranges by far. It's also nice to know where it's been so to speak and also sort of special that it was my Grandpa's. I actually broke it in with him back when I was like 7 and he first got it! I was going through a memorabilia box just two nights ago and found a picture from one of those trips. I'm going to scan it & post it here cuz i'm just too cute for words. :-)

My Grandma (mom's mom) is coming with us to Grimshaw as it's my mom's brother's kid who is graduating. It'll be nice for her to be there as well. In fact, my Grandma will be arriving in Red Deer in about an hour and I haven't showered since after swimming yet so I'd better run. I hope my Grams (as I call her) doesn't care that my house is not in tip top clean shape. I just totally ran out of time this week.