Thankful Thursday - 237

 This week I am thankful for...

1. My time working at the midwives. Unfortunately it didn't work for our family for me to work as much as I was, so I had to make the difficult decision to leave that job I loved. However, I still get to go every few weeks for my belly appointments! It will be nice to focus on myself, my family and my one job for a while now until new baby comes :).

2. A celebration of life. Someone David went to highschool with, and stayed in touch with since then playing basketball passed away a couple weeks ago. It was super tragic and unexpected, but there was a candlelight vigil at Holland Park last Friday. We went to David's parents' for dinner, and then Shelley hung out with the kids, while Dave, Larry and I went to the park. I didn't know anyone there, but it was a sobering experience. The rain held off, and it was reallly interesting being there with 50+ other people from all walks of life, all wearing masks and spreading out, but coming together for one purpose. 

3. Hummingbird feeder. I love having our hummingbird feeder, and the other day we were trying to take pictures of the kids in the nice lighting on our back deck, and this little bird kept coming right above our heads to have a snack. They're so tiny and sweet and peaceful. 

No pictures of the hummingbird feeder or the bird, but their faces watching the bird eat are too much <3

When Daddy says, "Can you hear the wings?!" it obviously means it's going to be loud. 

4. Emilia's watercolour skills. I gave her this colouring page with our IKEA watercolours, and she did this entirely on her own. All I did was remind her to dip in the water every so often when she wanted to change colours. I love the colour scheme and the fact that she actually tried to follow the pattern! <3

5. Crafty stockings! Dave and I have been married for 8 years, and have never had stockings. I hate how expensive stockings are, so finally I decided to just crochet some. These worked up pretty quick, and cost less than $10 each because of Michaels sales!

Now just some pictures from the week...

An icy trip to the dog park one morning

Last week these weirdos went outside in the pouring rain in their jammies to blow bubbles. As long as you don't make me come with you! Haha Wayyy too cold for me!

15 Weeks (COOTIE CATCHER/FORTUNE TELLER) - 3.0: Oct 20-26

This little one is going to be the best big sister <3

• Here we are, 15 weeks into this eternal pregnancy. At least there have been some minor developments!
• My bellybutton is shallow/half an outie now. Seems to happen earlier with each pregnancy. By the end of the day you can see it through my clothes. I woke up in the middle of the night to pee one night and rubbed my belly, and immediately started singing Eminem's White Trash Party in my head, "My belly buttons not an innie, so I'm outie. Now hop in my minivan let's get rowdy, come on!" (If you know, you know, if you don't, it's probably better that way - it's a horribly offensive song that teenage Renee liked haha).
• I double in size from morning to evening. I go from barely pregnant to very pregnant! You'll see in next week's post I'm sure. 
• I'm starting to feel some swelling in my nether regions already. I had it pretty bad with Emilia because I had the kids so close together I didn't have a chance to heal my pelvic floor properly. I'm definitely in a lot better shape down there this time, but already after a long time walking I can start to feel it. It's not painful, just uncomfortable. Time to start setting limits for myself and forcing rest and putting my feet up! Sounds glamorous, but it's really hard!
• I have been getting horrible headaches every day I have to work (at either job). I only work for 5 hours at a time, and drink tons of water. The headache comes on most when I get home, and then keeps getting worse until I can't handle it anymore. One evening Dave went to walk the dog and I couldn't function, so I put on Mickey Mouse at 6pm and went to lay down with an ice pack. Luckily he came home and put the kids to bed or else who knows how long they would have stayed up watching Mickey Mouse haha! After my rest I felt a lot better. I think I need to listen to my body and rest during nap/quiet time when I feel the headache coming on. Maybe it's just my brain working too hard at work haha. Who knows! It doesn't usually happen on regular days at home. 
• Dom and Emilia are noticing my growing belly and Dom asks every day if baby will come out soon, or if he can feel baby through my belly yet. Not yet hunny! Soon I hope!!
• I have been feeling little bumps here and there, but usually when I'm busy doing something else, so it's not at the point now where I sit down and focus on baby and feel baby moving. I am still anxiously awaiting that. With my last pregnancy I think week 16 was the week that I started feeling more obvious movements. With Dom I think it was closer to 18 weeks. 
• I ordered some maternity and nursing clothes from PatPat (some online clothing store where I'm sure all the clothes are just made in China and maybe not the highest quality). I got some amazing deals and the clothes came 2 weeks sooner than expected! I am excited to have a few actual nursing items when baby is here. I can count on one hand the number of nursing/maternity items I have bought brand new for myself. It's hard to justify spending money on something you only get to wear for such a short time! I sized up in the PatPat clothing because I always outgrew my other maternity clothes by month 7.5-8. Fit everywhere except where it mattered - covering the belly... Hopefully these will last me, but maybe shrink to fit better in other areas. I'll keep you (and future me) posted! 
• Until this week I haven't really had any feelings about the gender (or "fetal sex" as is the politically correct term now) of this baby. This week I am leaning towards girl, but that is based on nothing really. Except for both kids are adamant it's a girl, and have been for weeks. They have not waivered. Apparently (I have not actually researched this myself so I apologize if it's not true), in Chinese culture, if a child very close to you guesses the gender and is consistent throughout, then that is pretty much what you're having. We'll see!!
• This week I was allowed to share/announce that Scott and Ashleigh are also expecting! She is almost exactly 4 weeks ahead of me (4 weeks and 1 day to be exact). It was so hard not to share this exciting news on the blog, especially since I've known since early JULY! Pats self on back. Good self control, not typing something, Renee... I'm so excited that my kids will grow up with more cousins close to their age! I love watching them play with Rebecca! I came from a huge family with TONS of cousins my age, so I've always wished that for my kids as well! 

Thankful Thursday - 236

 Well here's a Thankful Thursday item I've been waiting ever so (mostly) patiently to share!

1. Dominic and Emilia are going to have a baby Gerber cousin in March 2021! Next Spring is going to be busy for the S&C Gerber clan. Scott and Ashleigh are due on March 15, 2021. I am due with this baby April 13, 2021. Zoiks! This was not planned :) We're so happy for them and can't wait to share this next chapter of life with them as well! 

Benny will be around 1 when the new baby comes. You had a good run, buddy! Haha

2. Sunshine & Crisp Air. This week and most of next week is supposed to be absolutely beautiful. The sun is bright, the air is crisp, and I get to wear scarves and boots. The only downside is that it gets dark earlier, so if we want to get out for a sunshine walk it makes making dinner difficult. 

My Mom invited us over for dinner last night, so we went early to have some play time at the park across the street.

We asked Emilia to set the table, so she took the plates one at a time, and set them up, followed by the cutlery. The dining room is around the corner from where we were sitting, and she's never been given this task before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised! She has great attention to detail for a 2-year-old. 

3. Simple fun. I got a free FabFitFun starter box in the mail the other day with some goodies. Of course the best part of it for the kids was the shredded paper packaging. They have played with it three or four days straight now. It makes a killer mess, but gosh do they ever have fun! Dom is aware that if they don't help us clean it up, it goes in the garbage, so the clean up isn't actually too bad. 

You may think, "Oh that doesn't look so bad!"

They may say, "Challenge accepted"

14 Weeks (HUBBA BUBBA TAPE) - 3.0: Oct 13-19

 WELCOME TO THE 2ND TRIMESTER!

Don't think the belly has grown since like 10 weeks. At least I'll be able to catch the week I DO pop!

Also, now that my uterus is lifted out of my pelvis a bit at least I know some of this is actually baby belly :)

• Weighing in at 119lb still, but have a much bigger appetite. Hooray for normalcy!
• I am starting to have round ligament pain. Right on cue. The app says, "You're 14 weeks and may start experiencing round ligament pain." I had it mild with previous pregnancies. It's sharp pain on both sides usually; the muscles around my uterus/pelvic area. It happens when I'm hunched over playing with the kids or something and then go to stand up. 
• I want to feel this baby consistently! I need the peace of mind! I have been having more anxiety this week about something happening to baby. It's an awkward place of being pregnant, looking somewhat pregnant, but not feeling pregnant at all. I had to borrow the doppler again at the end of the week. Whew. What a happy sound. I read back at my blogs for the other pregnancies, and I felt this exact same way at 14 weeks - funny!
• I'm PRETTY sure I've felt baby a couple times. I know I've been saying this the last few weeks. It's so inconsistent and puny - very well could be gas, but I like to think I can tell the difference by this point. Again, I can't wait for the regular movements.
• I have a chronic stuffy nose and have to lay on my back at night. This is just a pregnancy symptom, not sick or anything (thank goodness). 
• I've booked my detailed ultrasound on November 26 at Medray. So looking forward to that! Hopefully this baby doesn't sit as low as the other two did and we can get a nice profile shot :)

Pumpkin Patch

The past 3 or 4 years we've gone to Hazelmere Pumpkin Patch in October for a client appreciation event hosted by our realtors, Greg & Liz Holmes. This year, due to COVID, they didn't have this event, but we did still go to the pumpkin patch! I'm not one to mess with routine :)

We went on Saturday and I was a little worried about rain and mud, especially since last year was a super soggy day, but it actually turned out really nice! Scott and Ash came and it's always nice to have an extra couple sets of hands. 

Scott kept trying to get a shot where we're all looking at the camera. I explained that this is a win. No one is crying, everyone is happy and you can see most of everyone's face! 

Asking a 3-4 year old to smile... haha!

Dom went around locating and counting the spark plugs on the tractors. As he would.

The goats were friendly. Emilia was a fan of watching them, but didn't want to pet them.

Sorry dear, still making you take selfies with me!

Kids under 2 are free to get in. She's under 2 right?... 

Other than that, this weekend I did some crafty things: Painted signs for Halloween, worked on an Advent Calendar, crocheted Emilia an ear warmer, etc. etc. Fun stuff! 

I also crocheted this scarf for her last weekend. Fun having a little doll who loves to accessorize to dress up

On Sunday I played bass in church for the first time since switching back to two services. That made for a very long day. I was at church from 730-12. We then had David's parents over for dinner - thai chicken pizzas, salad, and pear crumble! Delicious! After that busy day, we were exhausted and were in bed by 8:30 haha. Slept right 'til 6am though, so I guess I needed it!

At least I got a baby Lucy snuggle between services <3

Pumpkin Patch family photos from the last 3 years. 

2017

2018

2019

Thanksgiving Weekend

 This weekend was so refreshing for me. It was busy, and we were out WAY more and were more social than usual, but just getting out of the house was so good for me. 

Friday was a day spent at home relaxing. Sherlock hung out with me while I did my yoga (that was day 10 in a row!!), I gave Emilia a pillow and made her bed all nice which she is super excited about, I built a fun train track for Dom, and we did a family walk around the neighbourhood. The kids just played really well that day and it was a nice break; it makes all the difference. 

Saturday we had Thanksgiving dinner at David's parents' place! It had been over 5 weeks since we or the kids had seen them. Since Shelley and Rachel are working close to many students in schools, they're keeping their distance from us to keep their bubbles small, and to reduce our exposure risk. I'm so so so grateful they decided to branch out and have a Thanksgiving gathering though! Rachel and Shelley wore masks most of the time, and we all ate at our own tables to keep our distance. Dave and I put the kids down and stayed later to play games. 

Walked in on this cuteness <3 He's so excited to be a big brother. He doesn't voice that emotion, but it's easy to tell through his actions and conversation topics of choice.

Sunday was the Gerber Thanksgiving. In the morning the kids watched Cars 2 while Dave and I crafted and did our own things (I made nametags for dinner). They very rarely watch TV (sort of a conscious choice, but mostly we're just not really a TV watching family that much), so it was a nice treat for them and a lovely break for us! My parents hosted a dinner for our family, and everyone except Aly could make it, so there were 11 of us all together. Hard to keep your indoor gatherings small when your immediate family is big! Mom bought a second set of marble works to add to the set we grew up with, so now Opa helped Dom build a mega marble works. For dinner everyone contributed something, and we had... turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams, brussels sprouts, roasted root vegetables, stoofpeertjes, and chocolate/salted caramel ice cream for dessert. NOM NOM! Again, we put the kids down there, and stayed late to play some games and hang out and catch up. We ended up staying out til 11. Way past my bedtime! :)

Uncle Jeff & Aunty Marta picked up these little chocolate ice cream cone lollipops as a special treat for the kids! Yummy!

Yesterday was another quiet day where we just stayed home. We did some colouring, had Costco lasagna for dinner, cleaned behind our couch, went for a sunny family walk, and then Dave and I watched a movie in the evening. Relaxing!

Dom was colouring this turkey and asked, "Mommy, what's that thing beside its beak?" I told him I wasn't sure, and he says, "I think that's its uterus." Haha mayyybe.......?

Checking out some Halloween stuff. Dom preferred to stay on this side of the road with me :)

How to get a toddler to keep walking! Give him a job!