Rose coloured glasses

Getting pregnant has done wonders for my outlook on life. After seeing my baby at the first ultrasound, it was like something just clicked. All of the sudden, everything was put into perspective.

The small stuff? I really don't sweat it anymore.

Case in point:

Some projects at work have been running a little bit "less than smoothly", shall we say. Now, I could get super-frustrated and vent and argue and feel my face getting all red for everyone to see. Or, I could try to come up with the best solution possible to make the client and the team happy, laugh it off, and move on my merry way.

I've been consciously making an effort to try the latter.

And what I've noticed? Is things don't get all big and blown out of proportion. People smile at me more. I don't have to have those awkward, "Look, it's not you, it's the project that makes me frustrated" conversations.

It's pretty nice.

Funny how in one day, in one moment, my whole entire world changed. And it really, truly affected how I look at life.

Thank you, Baby Mango.

Obsession: it's not just a perfume, folks

I didn't get a seat on the train this morning. And I'm a little ashamed to admit that I unzipped my jacket in hopes that someone would notice my belly and offer me their spot.

No such luck.

On a side note, I wonder how many people look at me now and think "That girl shouldn't be wearing that shirt. It totally accentuates her fat stomach".

Anywho. As I stood there, glancing through the morning paper, my eyes were instantly drawn to a headline that read "Sometimes, you've just got to cut the cord." And at that moment I realized something.

I'm obsessed by all things baby.

I see babies everywhere. (Imagine that in a creepy Sixth Sense whisper...) I see them on TV, at the grocery story, on billboards, when I'm going for a walk. And I secretly think to myself: my baby is going to be cuter.

Anyway. Back to the point. The newspaper article. It had nothing to do with babies. It was simply using a common phrase to get the point of the article across. And yet, because I saw the term "cut the cord", my mind instantly started exclaiming: "What's that? Is that something I should know? I should read it. It might be information I need to know. Is it about my baby's cord? Oh my goodness... I NEED to know."

Ah yes, I have turned all sorts of crazy.

Mind you, now is probably the only time in my life that I have a valid excuse for this. An excuse that people will readily accept, anyway.

I have Baby Mango to thank for this. (New fruit reference! Cute!)

Oh, and on another side note: in less than one week, Andrew and I get to go see Baby Mango again. So. Excited. I can't wait to get another glimpse at him or her in all his or her cuteness.

Until then, I'll just keep on obsessing. Don't mind me.

Hello

Having a bit of a frantic day at work. Unfortunately, the blogging goes by the wayside.

So, in lieu of a blog, I leave you with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E63ExmhOk8g

Watch it with the sound on. Trust me.

Another confession

Friday!!!!!!! Woo it's Fridaayyyyyyyyy!

(I'm excited. Can you tell?)

Not much going on for me this weekend... but I'm happy for the break nonetheless. I got up early today. Got into work bright and early. Got my steaming cup of hot chocolate right here beside me. Ready to tackle the day.

And............. now I'm running out of things to say. So! Another installment of "Confession Friday", coming your way! (You lucky kids).

I confess:

• I have not yet consumed an alcoholic beverage... but I'm still considering it. (I'm so baaaad!)
• I try very hard not to play the neurotic pregnant lady role. But I can sometimes see myself leaning in that direction.
• I won't pick my cat up or snuggle her if I'm wearing black because I don't want her cat hair all over me.
• The above point makes me think I might be a bad Mom.
• See point two.
• I don't mind sushi burps. (After a sushi lunch, when you're all full and stuff and then burp, you can kinda taste sushi all over again.) Disgusting. I know. But also kind of satisfying.
• I think I might be OCD about the mess/dirt/stuff you can't see on my kitchen counters.
• My floors, on the otherhand... they nasty. Don't ever come over and eat off of our floors.
• Oh! This reminds me. I've never cleaned our baseboards in the 4 years I've lived at our house.
• Nobody is ever going to come over to my house again, are they?

Hmmm. Yep. That's all I'm willing to admit for now. Your turn.

(If you choose not to participate, I understand. Have a good Friday, anyway!)

18 week update

Well, technically I'm 18 weeks and 5 days. But who's counting right??

And now, for your reading enjoyment... some fun stats from my midwife appointment yesterday!

How far along: 18 weeks

Symptoms: Feeling pretty good! I've had some major acid reflux lately... but once I stopped intaking mass quantities of lemonade each day, the acid reflux magically stopped. Who wouldda thunk it? I be real smrt.

Weight gain: 14.5 lbs. I asked my midwife if this was something I should be concerned about. She said that as long as I'm eating mostly healthy and getting some exercise, I should be okay. I really don't want to gain more than 35lbs. max. But I guess it's out of my hands to some degree.

Current food descriptor for baby: Sweet potato. When you really think about that, a sweet potato is pretty darn big. Mah wee one is growing! No wonder I'm at 14.5lbs. weight gain already.

Progress on preparation for baby: We've... started. One evening, Andrew and I emptied out all non-baby related items from our spare room so we could prep it for a nursery. We ripped out all the trim (as it was old and hideous and we've decided to put new stuff in there) and we cleaned the floor a bit. That's as far as we've gotten. Not a bad start though.

Maternity clothes situation: I fully refuse to wear anything but maternity pants now. These jeans are SO comfy, folks. Do you know how nice it is to wear elasticized waist bands all day at work?? Nice. Verrrry, very nice.

Pictures: Here they are. Me at 18 weeks with my hair down, and me at 18 weeks with my hair up. Couldn't decide which one I liked better.

One thing is for sure - I'm getting a BIG belly.

On worrying and sweet potatoes

I'm going to see my midwife again tomorrow. (FUN!) I love these appointments. Even despite the fact that it's time to find out just how much weight I've put on since my 2-week romp out east. (I still don't regret all that seafood. At. All.)

Apparently it's around this time, at 18 weeks, that the experts say you can start feeling your baby move. So far, I haven't felt much of anything but gas. So I'm hoping the midwife will pull out the doppler again so I can hear the heartbeat, just to calm my neurotic nerves.

(By the way, baby is now the size of a sweet potato! Adorable much? Yes... you're very cute, sweet potato. But it's time to start moving around for Mommy a little. Help Mama calm her delicate nerves and just give her a little nudge here and there, m'kay?)

I also hope to get the opportunity to show my midwife just how truly neurotic I am when I pull out my long list of questions for her. Questions include:

• Is my face wash safe?
• What vitamins are safe to take if I'm getting a cold?
• Can I take Cold FX? (I think I already know the answer to this one)
• What's this cord blood banking business all about?
• What can I do about the INTENSE acid reflux I'm getting?

And so on and so forth. (I won't bore you with all the details).

Anyway. As you can clearly see, I am fully involved in the "worry" stage of pregnancy. Many Moms tell me this never goes away. Hurrah! Years and years of nothing but worrying to look forward to!

Although, I must admit, I'm already experiencing the "wicked awesome" stage of pregnancy. This is the one where people tell me I'm looking fantastic, my face is glowing and my little bump is adorable. The one where people I've known in the past have come out of the woodwork to chat about everything and anything to do with pregnancy (because they're also pregnant or are Moms). It's also the one where people suddenly become incredibly generous. I've already received a few gifts... the last one was from a co-worker who bought me an adorable little Sleep Sheep that she swears by.

I think it's safe to say that the worry is worth all the benefits.

Tired. But happy.

Excuse me while I try to stop drooling on my keyboard due to the near catatonic state I'm in.

I'm tired.

Very, very tired.

Had a busy week. Then a busy, busy weekend. Now I'm feeling unrested and slightly overwhelmed. (Unrested because I didn't get enough sleep. Overwhelmed because I haven't had a chance to work out AT ALL in a week and it makes me freak out a little.)

Anyway, enough about that. On to more exciting things.

Like the adorable baby shower I went to yesterday. It was for a friend of mine, and a bunch of my other girlfriends came by. Three of them showed up with their babies. So, needless to say, it was a giant baby fest. And I LOVED it!

I got to hold the babies. Got to make goo-goo noises and funny faces at them. I took note of all the cool stuff my friend received at her shower. I ate the little triangle sandwiches with no crusts. And then I went home very happy and excited for my turn.

I probably sound like a big, huge goof right now...

But I'm just so happy.

Confessions

Time for "Confession Friday". (I just made that up. Right now. On the spot. That's why I get paid the big bucks in advertising, folks.)

The following is a list of unpopular opinions that I admit freely to you, Internet. I do this because you aren't face to face with me right now and, therefore, can't look at me all disapprovingly. Judgement hurts less when I can't see you. So here goes.

• I sit on the toilet seats in our office without putting toilet paper down first. I don't squat. Ever.
• I'm seriously thinking about consuming a beer soon. Whilst pregnant.
• I never floss my teeth. Far too much work.
• I sometimes think farting is kind of funny.
• I try really, really hard not to be afraid of homeless people. But, I am.
• I love the suburbs.
• I think a lot of people in Toronto are elitist. And kinda shallow.
• I wear ugly, ugly pjs to bed every night because they're comfortable. Even though I know I probably shouldn't let all the romance go out of my 3-year marriage just yet.
• When it comes to children, I really don't want to have 2 boys or 2 girls. And I'm not 100% sure how I'll feel about things if I don't have one of both.

That's about it for now. There's more, but my face is already turning slightly red as I sit here and think about how embarrassing some of the above is (farting!)

(Giggle)

Anyway, enjoy your weekend guys. And here's to a big ol' mug of honesty on a fine Friday morning.

The most exciting thing you'll read all day...

...is probably not this post. My apologies in advance. I got you with that title though didn't I?? So cheeky, I am.

Let's see... things that I can talk about today...

First of all, I'm going to completely ignore the whole Kanye debacle because, no. Just ridiculous. And I'm over it. (Also, I like to pretend I'm an original and thusly, I don't stoop so low to discuss celeb gossip that has already been discussed to DEATH by every "gossip columnist" out there).

Secondly, I'm not going to tell you about what I ate for dinner last night (pizza), or my latest beverage obsession (lemonade), because I've done that in the past, and I realized that it's all kinds of DULL. And I just don't want to subject you to that.

I could talk on and on about being pregnant and all the wonders associated with it. But I'm starting to worry that I might be quickly turning into a very one-dimensional person who has nothing but the baby to talk about. ("You gotta see the bay-beeee!!")

While some people may not tire of me droning on and on about my belly and my pregnancy symptoms (Mom), I have a feeling that others may quickly tire of that sort of talk (everyone else).

So... that leaves me with not a heck of a lot. I lead a very fascinating life, friends.

Again, my humble apologies.

Here! Hopefully this will appease you. Everybody loves pictures! Especially cute ones. Therefore, a picture of my friend's adorable red-headed baby:

Melt.

Oh, Canada

A few highlights from our incredible vacation...

Fundy National Park. Absolutely stunning. Andrew and I felt like we wandered into the Secret Garden or some such magical place. I was about to start waxing poetic like Byron and Yeats.

Hopewell Rocks in New Brunswick. That's me! Look how tiny I am!

This is one of my absolute favourite photos from the trip.

The famous Peggy's Cove lighthouse. So Canadian. So beautiful.

Andrew and I walked up and down many beaches. These are in PEI. It was too windy to swim, but walking along a shore in your bare feet with the sun shining down on you as you listen to the ocean waves? Is incredible.

Man, I love this country.

I be back, yo.

Vacances has come and gone for another year, and it was fantastic peeps! Loved. Every. Minute.

Actually, that's not entirely true. There was one evening at a 2-star Best Western that we shall never speak of again. But other than that... it was awesome. The food. The scenery. The quality time with the hubster. So very, very amazing. The east coast trip is one that all Canadians should take.

Anywho, whilst on vacation, hubster and I took time to snap a few more belly pics:

This is me at 15 weeks, at home right before we left for our road trip. Note the tired-looking "pre vacation" eyes. Also, it was 7am. (7am on vacation! That just ain't right.)

And here I am at 16 weeks at the lovely Silver Dart Lodge in little Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Not the greatest pic, but as you can see, I'm getting bigger already.

Which, of course, is attributed all to the baby, and not at all to the vast quantities of lobster, mussels, french fries and other fine foods consumed.

Anyway, since I'm at work today and trying to catch up, I should probably keep this short and sweet.

Happy to be back! Missed you while I was gone! Baby and I say hello! (The new food reference is this: "Baby is now the size of an onion!" Just doesn't have the same ring to it as Baby Lemon. So we'll just have to settle for plain ol' Baby.)

(Of course, you're anything but plain to me, Baby.)