New ticker!

Buh-bye weight loss ticker (I'm gonna miss that lil' snail guy, he was really becoming a good friend of mine!), and hello new baby ticker!

I find the fatigue that's taking over my body is also contributing to my feeling like a big ol' lump. (That, and me sending my hubby out for the odd DQ blizzard.)

Damn the blizzards.

Anyhoot, these days, I'm more comfortable in my big ol' man pants for work as opposed to the new style of the wide band, 3-buttoned, fitted fashion pieces. Now, my comfort resides in a baggy butt area and an overly-spacious crotchal region.

But that's ok - I hear once this first trimester's up, my energy levels will be relatively back to normal, and perhaps, PERHAPS, I can once again resume some sort of exercise routine. In all honesty, I MISS my elliptical, I MISS my treadmill, I miss my videos and my weights.

Less than 3 wks from now, and I should be feeling pretty good.

Just as long as the baby stops attacking me!

I also find that, aside from half a loaf of bread, the baby also loves juicy fruits. I CRAVE juicy things crazy! I sent Dono out to the store to buy me cans and cans of those lil' mandarin oranges, and I'll mix those with canned pineapple. MMM! See, that's healthy, right?

Ok, time to get my body next to a bucket....we're in for another round of When Babies Attack!

Hope everyone has a great day! :)

Why can't I sleep in on a Sunday morning?!

Well good morning my fellow WW'ers! I'm so happy to be back home - the last day in Calgary, we woke up to SNOW. In MAY.

Blew my mind!

I've been up early every morning this past week, and today, when I can sleep all day, I'm up at 9. Which is sleeping in, I suppose, compared to how the previous week went, but I wouldn't have minded not getting out of bed at all!

Ok, so back to my Calgary excursion = because Dono and I got there a couple of days early, we made the obligatory trip to Ikea.....and discovered that the innocent bargain/fashion Swedish gods may have evil motives in the way they package their products.

Let me explain.

Dono packed his bag full of as much Ikea product as he could, and we learned that Ikea product can very easily get you a cavity search if you're not careful! Observe the following exhibits:

Exhibit A:
These seemingly innocent items are not so innocent when going through central security at the airport! Security personnel were analyzing the screen before them as the bag went through the scanning device, trying to figure out what the heck they were looking at - why there was something in this bag with wires, and round metal objects.



Exhibit B:

Of course, upon closer inspection, it turned out to be candles and light curtains.

Here's definitely one way to hold up a security line at the airport though, eh?!

So the baby decided it was going to choose Sunday morning, the morning we were flying out, to attack me! I was alright the rest of the week (just very, very tired and still nauseous), until yesterday, when the baby attacked AGAIN. !!! I think I know what the problem is - those 2 days, I wasn't eating first thing in the morning. In fact, yesterday, I really wasn't hungry at all, and I was just chugging on my Ginger Ale.

I don't think the baby liked that, and sure let me know!

Afterwards, I downed some boiled egg whites and whole wheat toast (about half a loaf! HA!).

That sure showed my baby!

Ok, I have to get my day going here - it's been cold and rainy since we got back, but today seems to be the first sunny day, and I have garden stuff I need to get done.

Hope everyone has a great day!

EXTRA long weekend!

Good day everyone!

Today has been a lovely day - I got out of work early, my hubby and I went for ice cream, we spent the afternoon together watching the Sens game (they won in OT and are moving on!....just fyi, we were Sens fans before it was "cool" to like the Sens! lol), and he let me nap while he did his freelance work at the computer! It was WONDERFUL!

Beautiful weather, a relaxing day - now it's after 8pm, and I'm just getting some stuff done around the house. We're off to Calgary tomorrow to spend the afternoon at Ikea, followed up by a swim in our hotel pool, and then an evening out with his dad at a fancy schmancy restaurant. Monday, we're meeting up with our best friends (and the Season Finale of 24 is Monday night!!!!!), and then I start training on Tuesday, and am in class until Thursday, returning Thursday night.

The way my sked worked out, I'll be off Fri-Mon too, so I'm off for over a week!

Now THAT's a jam-packed week! I've already made out my Ikea shopping list, and I can't wait to get those strings of lights for my patio and garden! It's gonna look so pretty!

I'm looking forward to doing some gardening next Friday, put up my new lights and do some planting - hopefully the weather prevails. And of course, some sun tanning. I needs me some colour, and bad!

Hope everyone has a great week, and I'll post when I return!!!

I'm baaaaack!

Morning everyone!

Well, we had a great time out in Sifton! Got back on Monday (just in time for 24!), and I apologize for not having posted since - I've been working and sleeping. The usual. So Dono's mom was completely floored with the news, and good times were had by all! I'll post a pic of the card Dono made for her that was dealt to her for our game of War. What a great reaction she had, I'll never forget it! So, since I love taking pics, especially of old buildings and religious pieces, and Sifton's full of it all, I decided to post a bit of a photo montage of our trip!

The above is a shot of Dono walkin' the line!



I just love this picture - what a beautiful evening it was for a walk in such an amazing setting!



I sooo wanted to go inside one of these old buildings, but the baby didn't want me to! lol



What a great vintage 7-Up sign!



I think this is where Donovan got the woodtick!



A close-up shot of one of the boarded-up churches in the town.

And driving home, the next day, after stopping off for more bottles of water to help make the 4-hr trek a bit more bearable! Isn't my hubby a cutie?! (proud wife!)

And there you have it! As you can see, I'm pretty happy to have solved the problem of my camera and the computer hook-up, so I'm taking full advantage of it!

I'm off work today, and since I'm feeling ok, I'm going to get outside and do a bit of gardening. Or weed-pulling. Or whatever you wanna call it - I would love to plant this week, but we're off to Calgary on Sunday (I have training with work, and Dono's just taking the time off to come and have a visit out there with our friends and some family). That's one of the perks he gets being married to me - he flies for less than $20, so why not take advantage, eh?

Hope y'all have a great day!

7 weeks today!

Good morning everyone!

Today marks the official beginning of week 7 of bun-bakin' in my oven! WOOHOO!

Well, I went home sick yesterday after an hour at work, and ended up calling in today - I've just been feeling soooo nauseous and it's been making me lose sleep at night. This baby better not grow up to be a rebel teen, after what I'm going through for it so far! lol

Today, after our flyer delivery at 5'ish, we're heading out to Dauphin (about 4 hrs NW of Winnipeg) to visit Dono's mother and tell her the news! Every time we go there, all of us sit down and play cards. That's our thing - we LOVE getting together and playing cards! So Dono bought a deck yesterday, and turned one of them into the announcement card -- it reads "You're going to be a Baba!" So during the game, Dono's going to deal that card to his mom, and we'll just sit back and wait for her to notice it in her hand!

Thing is, we probably won't get in until around 10 or so tonite, and I wanna spill the beans IMMEDIATELY instead of having to wait until tomorrow! We'll see what happens!

Anyhoot, this morning I had a wicked craving, so I sent Dono to Shoppers to buy me some good rye bread and nutella! Nothing beats rye toast with chocolate hazelnutty goodness melted all over it!

I really need to stop! HAHA!

It's nap time, so I'm gonna go lie on our swing outside (it's one of those 3-seater, cushion-y canopy'd swings) and just fall asleep! It's beautiful out there!

Have a great day everyone, and a wonderful weekend! I won't be back until Tuesday morning, so chug-a-lug that water and get in those APs, folks!

Hooray! - kinda

I think I've discovered what the dilly is with my digital camera - I don't believe it's the hook-up to the computer that's buggered, but rather the batteries - I don't think they're charging fully, thus shutting my camera off just as I'm uploading piccies!

I managed to squeeze one shot outta it before it died - it's a shot of the ESBM recipe I made a couple of weeks ago called Just Stew It. It may not look super hot, but my GOD, the taste is to die for! It has lil' Bisquick biscuits that bake on the surface of the hot stew for 20 min, and those bits of heaven are adorned with rosemary for a deliciously wonderful aroma and flavour!

I have to go find some Gingerale to down, so I'll be sure to post the recipe later! Stay tuned!

Back from Hiatus!

Well good morning everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days - man, I've just been feeling so run down and nauseous.....nauseated? Which is the right term? Well, sick to my stomach, anyway. I have some energy this morning to do a bit o' posting, so that's exactly what I'm gonna do!

Let me start off by backing up the pickle truck a bit, a rewind to Sunday night, when Dono and I told my family the news. I wish I had taken a pic, but it was just so crazy, I wouldn't have had a chance!

The dinner I made was AMAZING, turned out beautifully! (I LOVE cooking for people, I always tend to go overboard, but nobody seems to mind!) The plan was, after dessert, we'd all be sitting around outside, sipping coffee or whatever, and I'd sneak Lexi upstairs, put her new shirt on, and casually take her outside and wait for everyone to notice.

That's not quite how it happened!

After supper, everyone was too stuffed for dessert, and since Lexi was really tired and cranky, they were talking about just packin' up and heading home. Everyone was congregated in the living room, so I couldn't be discreet about swoopin her upstairs! I just said, "I have a new toy to show Lexi". They must've thought I was nuts! So as I'm trying to change her shirt, she's really cranky and tired and screaming and crying! LOL! I tried to sing to her, talk to her, anything to calm her down, but to no avail. My sister was about to head up and I said "It's ok, she's good, we're coming down now".....so I took her downstairs and put her down on the floor in the living room, where my sister noticed she was wearing a new shirt.

She leaned down and started reading it out loud..."I'm getting.....a cou.....cousin?.....for.....CHRISTMAS?!"

She looked up at me and just started BAWLING, and then my mom started BAWLING, and EVERYONE started BAWLING! They all just hugged me and Donovan, and cheered and laughed - it was a moment I'll never forget!

So this weekend, we're heading up to Dauphin to tell Donovan's mom the news! Once that's done, we'll tell our co-workers and just let the cat outta the bag!

Since Sunday, we've been trying to go out for walks every night. Dono got a bunch of books from the library for me (what a sweetie!) on eating right during pregnancy, ways to stay fit, exercises, etc etc etc. He knows how apprehensive I've been about the weight gain aspect of it (with my crazy history of eating disorders and pill addictions), but I know it's a natural way of life, and a beautiful thing to be able to nourish and be in control of my baby's growth and development - I know that my lil' walnut is depending on ME to make it healthy, and I'm going to do everything I can for him/her!

I'm even learning to succumb to my cravings - last night, I HAD to have a McD's cheeseburger and small fries! I HATE McD's, hadn't been there in YEARS, but we went, and I devoured it completely, and even chased it down with a McFlurry! HAHA!

Man, my lil' walnut's gonna be a butterball if its mommy keeps this up! lol

I have to admit, sleepiness and sickness aside, it's kinda fun being pregnant so far! I have these off-the-wall cravings that I don't always give in to, and if I do, I don't feel bad about it - it's all a part of the journey! And I don't always eat like that - I do stick to a healthy diet, but the occasional falter isn't a huge concern. And my hubby fawns all over me! Not to say that he never did before, but now, he's way more attentive ("I'll jump in the car, drive half way across town to the BDI, and get you a monkey tail!", or "Can I bring you a straw for your Gingerale, sweetie?"), he's prone to doing a bit more around the house now while he enforces my nap time, and he's always kissing and caressing my tummy and talking quietly to our little peanut! Soooo sexy!

I'm so looking forward to the next 7 months, and the rest of my life afterwards!

So that's my lil' update!

In the words of the great Rod Stewart...

Tonight's the night!

Yep, we're finally going to tell my family tonight! And I can NOT wait!!!! I've let it sneak out to a couple of friends who have been sworn to secrecy, but I couldn't hold it in any longer!

Anyhoot, yesterday Dono picked up some iron-on transfers, and I designed the look for Lexi's shirt that we're going to put on her after dinner for my family to see! Here's what it looks like:
(I don't know why it's kinda opaque-looking and very bluey, but the real deal is darker and the star is yellow and the blanket under is orange - very vibrant!)

I can't wait for her to wear it!!! I'M SO EXCITED!

So I'm making that chicken dish I was supposed to make for them the LAST time the fam was coming over (before Dono shorted out the power to our house with his Bob Vila-ways); it's a spinach and ricotta stuffed pesto chicken breast with garlic (LOTS of garlic!), garlic mashed potatoes, homemade whole grain buns, side salad, and if I'm ambitious enough, something for dessert.....maybe just jello with strawberries in it, and cool whip on top.

That's probably a 15-pt meal right there, but my little walnut loves garlic mashed potatoes! lol

Last night we went to a social with my sis and brother, and Dono kept plying me with water when I denied others who offered me REAL drinks. I just told them that I had my period (NOBODY questions that!), and that I was hopped up on the Advil's. I hope that worked!

OOOOH, I should mention...

Mandy, you'd appreciate this - it's almost like a tribute to the awesomeness that is you and your recipes! - last night for supper, I did a twist on the Mexican Pizza!

I used the flatbread for the crust, and instead of pasta sauce, I used a can of refried beans and salsa! And instead of the gr beef, I used extra lean gr turkey, cooked it up with a package of Old El Paso taco seasoning, added some red pepper flakes.....so all that, with the cheese, the black beans, the green onions, some cilantro - my GOD, it was soooo delicious!!! I didn't take any piccies b/c, well, my camera-computer hook-up is stupid!

Anyhoot, I should get my day going here - hope everyone has a good one!!! I can't wait to tell you all how my family reacts to the news!!!!

Thank god it's Saturday!

After today's shift, I'm off for 2 days...and tomorrow's the day we're spilling the beans to my family! (We'll be telling Dono's mom on Mother's Day - she lives outta town, and it's hard to drive the 4hrs to get out and see her, and it just so happens that the weekend we can make it up will be even MORE special with this holiday now!).

I can NOT get over how tired I've been lately! And hungry! I can't do anything to satisfy my hunger - or my thirst - yesterday, after work, I was SO ravenous (even though I ate my usual lunch at work at the usual time, and have always been good with that) - in the pelting rain, I stopped off at Subway, ordered a footlong turkey with extra bacon to go, and demolished it completely before I even got home (I live 5 minutes away from the Subway!). I just opened up my throat, and down the hatch it went!

I don't even LIKE bacon! LOL!

Then when I got home, I napped.....from around 2 until hubby got home at 5:30. He woke me up with supper, rubbed my feet, and I fell asleep AGAIN until about 9:30, and then went straight to bed! Craziness!

I was up twice during the night cuz I had to pee, too. Oh man, and this is only the BEGINNING!!! lol

Anyhoot, I thought I would try to stay dedicated to my food forecasts - I don't want to be one of those moms-to-be who feels it's ok to devour the entire cookie aisle at Superstore just b/c she's pregnant! I want to hold myself accountable, and make sure I'm eating all the good stuff I'm supposed to!

And any moms out there, pls review my menu and offer me advice and tips - if I'm eating something I'm not supposed to, if I need to up in intake of one food group over another....I have tons of books and mags, but I haven't read them all yet!, so I'm still learning!

Ok, so here it goes:

Brekkie:
1/4 cup steel cut oats - 2
1 banana - 1.5
cinnamon - 0
1 cup coffee - 1 (I hear 1-3 cups of coffee is ok, and I don't drink it everyday....???)
= 4.5

Snack:
1 All Bran bar - 2
1 granny smith apple - 1
salad - 0
= 3

Lunch:
2 cups Gardennay mediterranean tomato soup - 2
2 slices WW whole wheat toast - 1
1/2 tbsp peanut butter - 1
1 banana - 1.5
= 5.5

Snack:
I don't know...I'll probably be too busy napping to get a snack in!

Supper:
I really wanna make some of that Mexican pizza again....which reminds me, I should pull some stuff outta the freezer for that! Can't remember how many pts for 2 slices - 7, I think? Sure, let's go with that!
salad - 0
= 7

Off to get my day going here! I have to leave for work in just over an hour, and I still have to make brekkie and blow dry my hair .... oh, and give myself plenty of time to play with my new Sephora stuff! lol

Have a great day everyone!

Sleepy Friday morning

It's 6am, it's cold outside - it's one of those days I wish I could just stay home under the covers. I'm sooooo sleepy!

The good news is, I'm only working until 1 again today, so I'll be home before I know it, back in bed!

Got some APs last night - did my physio-prescribed strength training and hubby and I went for a 30 min brisk walk. It was so refreshing!

I'm not sure if I should bother posting my daily food forecast, I mean, unless I make something killer (like those dishes I made a while back whose pictures are still stuck on my camera!), so perhaps I'll just forego it?

Did I spell "forego" correctly?

lol

I guess the "getting the nest ready" instinct is kicking in early - I cleaned the house like an SOB yesterday! On my hands and knees washing baseboards, washing walls, vacuuming out kitchen cupboards - I was outta control!

And I didn't nearly get done what I set out to do. Y'know how little projects sometimes pop up along the way, and you get sidetracked? Well, that's the story of my life - it's one big sidetrack! lol Well, it sure does look perty, our hardwoods are just shining like nobody's bidness!

Time to get brekkie rollin' here....good thing I love them thar steel cut oats - apparently they're good for my lil' walnut! lol

Have a great day everyone!!! :)

Thursday???

I think today's Thursday...it's supposed to be my day off of work, and they haven't phoned me to come in yet, so I guess it's definitely Thursday today!

What a whirlwind of a time we've been having! It's only been a couple of days since we found out the g'news, but it's killing us to not be saying anything to anyone!

So last night, we cracked - we went to see the premiere of Spider-Man 3, thanks to our good friend (who just happens to be a dj at a popular station here in the Peg - love the freebies!), and after the film, we all went out to the parking lot - and Dono and I just let it spill!!!! We told our friend before even telling either set of parents! HAHA! It was super emotional, we laughed, we cried, he hugged the crap outta us - I know this is only a taste of what's to come, and I canNOT wait to just scream it from the rooftops!

Only the dr says it's not safe to climb up on the roof.

!!!!!!

Whew! Well, we're going to tell my family this weekend - Sunday, my mom, dad, sis, bro and niece are all coming over for supper .... I've instructed Dono to NOT touch any electrical outlets this time - I refuse to have a repeat incident (click here to read about the last time I tried to have my family over for supper!) occur.

Anyhoot, so this is the plan - we're going to make a t-shirt for my 2yr old niece - it'll read, "I'm going to be a big cousin" or something like that....after dinner, I'll scoop up Lexi, take her upstairs, put the shirt on her, and bring her back to everyone and just wait and see what happens!

Ooooh, should be fun!

I've been SOOO tired lately, needing naps like crazy (is that a pregnancy thing, or still surgery toxins?). But luckily this morning, I woke up feeling pretty good! I actually cranked up my iPod speaker dock and was dancing around the living room to Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch! I have lots of housework to tackle before the weekend comes, and I wanna get it done while the energy's high!

Thank you all for your words of support and congrats! This is such a huge, incredible deal, hubby and I are still in shock, and CRAZY excited!

So about this blog and WW.....I guess I don't "do" it anymore? I don't know... I heard that I just need to consume an extra 300 cal per day (one glass of milk, someone said?), so should I still follow my pts and throw on a glass of milk too?

Thoughts?

Well, I'm off to do my cleaning.....as if I'm not already in a good enough mood, I have a Sehpora order being delivered today!!! I'm such a Sephora addict, it's really a disease!

Have a great day everyone!!! :)

OH. MY. GOD. !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry about that last post, I just HAD to at least say SOMETHING, and I didn't want to say too much until now....after hearing it confirmed by a medical professional......

but I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!!!!

I'm at 5 1/2 wks already (apparently my little baby is the size of a WALNUT! I'M HAVING A WALNUT!! HAHAHA!), and we're due on Dec 29th (but if I keep my knees locked for a few more days, we can make the paper for having the first baby of 2008!)

I can't BELIEVE it!!! I'M ON CLOUD 99! (cloud 9 just isn't high enough!)

I realized yesterday, on my day off, that I was at Day 38 and still no period, so for the hell of it, I went to Shoppers and picked up a pkg of ClearBlue sticks - took the first one, positive!

Sat in disbelief, called the dr's office and made the app't for today.

Took the other test, and positive again!

I HAD to tell Dono yesterday, there was no waiting for me! Funny thing was, he phoned me up and asked if he could take me out to dinner, to the restaurant where we first hooked up. WEIRD?!?!?!! We hadn't been there in YEARS, so it was just perfect that that's where it happened!

I arrived at the restaurant with a gift bag, a card, and the test wrapped in tissue paper, and told him I had some bad news for him. He was skeptical as he opened the card and began to read, thinking I set fire to all his Ottawa Senators-branded clothes....and then after seeing the test (he thought it was a thermometer!), he just looked at me, with the world's biggest smile and tears welling up in his eyes, and we just jumped up and hugged and cried! It was AWESOME!!!

(I told him the "bad news" was that he couldn't wrestle with me anymore, like we always do/did!)

Oh man, I'm just soaring right now!!!!

Me and my little walnut have to leave to pick up Daddy from work now! HAHAHA, that sounds so crazy!!!!

I'M GOING TO BE A MOMMY!!!!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm gonna go have a beer to celebrate! lol

Maybe yesterday's post, about me getting 6APs a day, can just be forgotten - I'll get what I get, and that'll have to be good enough!!!!!!

Hope everyone's feeling my hyper-happy vibes and has a great day off of 'em! I know there's enough of 'em to go around the world ten times over!

OHMYGODOHMYGOD

OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD
OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD
OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD
I have to get ready for work, so I don't have time for the whole story, but I just had to post this quickly:

OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll post again later! (how's THAT for a teaser!) lol