Friday 24 July 2015

the end of an amazing pregnancy...

Pregnancy updates were totally abysmal this time around, and I'm blaming an adorable little creature who is just learning to walk and requires lots of undivided attention. Well...actually I'm going to blame half of it on Coop and the other half on wedding season. Getting photos to my clients FAST has been a huge priority this Summer. I wanted to feel like if I went into labour at any time, at least everyone has their images. 

I will never forget shooting that last wedding pre-baby on July 18th, and working my butt off to get everything edited and sent to the client by Tuesday evening. That was a record for sure. 

Every time I would try to write a pregnancy update, I'd get a few sentences in and then Coop would decide that I've spent enough time in my office chair. Instead of trying to remember how I felt nine weeks ago (or even last week for that matter), I've just decided to post these half-written entries in hopes that they'll make some sort of cohesive thought when read together.


TWENTY-EIGHT WEEKS:

Miss moo, I'm twenty-eight weeks pregnant with you and it snuck up on me in a huge way. I was hanging out with Allison and Charlotte when Ally informed me that we were both in our third trimesters. I literally went straight to my pregnancy app to double check it because I thought there was a huge mistake. 

But yes, here we are! I know I haven't been as diligent in knowing what size fruit you are at any given time, but I promise I don't love you any less than your big brother when he was in my belly! 


THIRTY WEEKS:

Sweet little girl, I like you already. Genuinely, I feel like I'm just really enjoying your company.

You kick me at all hours of the day to remind me of your presence. It's my absolute favourite :) You kick me during barre class when you like the stretch I'm doing (and when you want me to be finished with the low-C-curve part). I've been getting your room together a little bit over the last few weeks. Bubble gum pink walls, sweet white and gold posters for the walls, cute little seashell hooks for your girly clothes...

I'll admit I'm a little bit nervous to manage both you and your brother at the same time...but I'm hoping that you're going to be a champion sleeper like Cooper. 

Here are some things you might want to know about my pregnancy with you (when you're older and you care about things like this):
  • You have me craving chocolate, iced caps, pineapple, and strawberries
  • You've given me zero back pain or discomfort, although it is getting a bit tougher to turn over in bed
  • I am thinking the perfect birth day for you would be around August 4th or 5th, so please don't hang out in there too long

THIRTY-SEVEN WEEKS:

Doctor's appointments are pretty much the bane of my existence this is the run down every time:

Making an appointment.
Arranging a babysitter.
Planning out Coop's naps accordingly.
Driving out to the Glebe.
Sitting in the waiting room for 30 minutes while having to pee. 
Getting moved into the second, smaller waiting room. 
Being asked, "how are things?"
Replying, "things are great!"
Being asked, "do you have any questions?"
Replying, "not really, nope!"
Then being told that you're measuring crazy big, like 39 weeks when I'm only 34 weeks along, for example. 

But now that I'm 37 weeks, the appointments get fun and exciting. I had one on Wednesday and found out that I'm already 3cm dilated and fairly effaced, which basically means we're less than 2 weeks from meeting you! It's actually all feeling very deja-vu, except I was 38 weeks instead of 37 weeks at this stage last time.

The big question right now is whether you'll be a July baby or an August baby. Want to know something kinda funny? There was a time when I wanted your middle name to be "August." I think it would be so hilarious if it turned out you were born in July with a middle name August. 

A few pregnancy updates from the last few weeks:
  • You move around so much still! But you haven't done any crazy huge flips in the last two weeks because there's probably no space.
  • You've been giving me heartburn with almost every meal. Worst heartburn comes from coffee, meat, greasy stuff, peaches, and grapes. 
  • Your dad thinks your birthday will be July 29th. 
  • I think it will be August 3rd.
  • Cooper has no idea that there's a new baby coming. He's still too little. He'll never remember his life before you, either. We're hoping he's more gentle with you than he is with Weeze. Aww, Weezy! I just pictured you cuddled up to him and my heart couldn't take it. He's the best dog in the world, you're so lucky :)
It's getting weird to think that my pregnancy days are numbered. I mean, of course they're numbered being that it's almost time to have you, but also because we think we'll only have two babies, so this will probably be the last time I'm pregnant ever...for the rest of my life! 

Sweet baby girl, I can't wait to see your little face. I can't wait for you to fall asleep in my arms. I can't wait for you to meet your big brother. I can't wait to see your dad pick out a girly little dress for you to wear. It's going to go by in a blink, but I'll do my best to slow it down and take pictures so you can look at them when you're older. 

Tuesday 7 July 2015

iphone photos from june

After the mayhem of March, April, and May... June felt like a weird time/space limbo. Other than Father's Day and Ryan's birthday, I couldn't really even think of anything else memorable from the month. But then I downloaded the photos off my phone and realized that although we rested and laid low most days, we still had a really wonderful month. 


Coop is a strange baby who doesn't really like to eat food. He is pictured here with some blueberries and pita strips looking happy as a clam, but this is pretty much an illusion. Shortly after this photo was taken, all of his pita strips were tossed off the tray and given to Weezy. He prefers toddler formula in a bottle to almost any food, except for maybe popcorn. 


I did some work on the front room in preparation for some wedding consults. Love this antique shelf!



The neighbours were doing some major landscaping work this month, so Coop and Weeze spent a good amount of time standing at the window watching the workers and the trucks. 


We spent an afternoon with Aunt Liz and Uncle Steve at Mom and Dad's house, and Coop witnessed his first triple crown :)



We had brunch at our place the next day and Ryan made the most delicious spread...


One of my favourite memories of the month was Brittany's surprise birthday dinner at her favourite restaurant in the market. Unfortunately Ryan was at softball and couldn't attend with me, but I thoroughly enjoyed my night out with Brit's favourite people.



We surprised her from the balcony by yelling "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"






I photographed Chris and Gen's engagement session this month, and we went out to grab some dinner afterwards at Pub Italia. It was a perfect summer evening :)


Baby girl's very first headband arrived in the mail and I instantly became excited for her to arrive. I'll be packing my hospital bag sometime this week because we're getting close now! This little headband will be going into the hospital bag for sure. I have no idea how big or how small her head will be, but I will be prepared either way.


After two rainy weeks, we finally had a beautiful day for a neighbourhood walk.


Family doctor's appointment.


Homemade peach pie by Ry. I think I ate 6 of the 8 pieces... I was completely obsessed.



On Father's Day we headed down to Lansdowne for brunch at Local with Chris and Gen. Great experience, great service, great food :) We walked the market afterwards and I bought a ridiculous amount of maple sugar and we picked up a pecan pie for dinner at Ryan's parents' that evening.





The feather mobile project in the new nursery is complete! I love how it turned out :) I love that the branch is from the tree in our backyard. I love that it sways just a little bit when you open the door. I love that the gold glitter sparkles in the sun.



Her little crib sheet arrived in the mail this week :) I'll likely do a photoshoot of the room when it's finished.


Pregnancy cravings are as follows: PIZZA. FRUIT. In the most aggressive way possible. As in, I pretty much only want to eat a huge basket of strawberries, half a bag of grapes, and pizza for every meal. Ryan indulges me and we have pizza maybe 3 nights a week these days. Luckily I can only eat one piece and then I'm full and the heartburn starts to set in...


I had my first visit to Quitters Cafe in Stittsville. I can't wait to go there one Sunday morning as a family and grab some breakfast!









I see this face fairly often.









I'll end this post with one of my favourite shots of the month. My two boys...the loves of my life.


delamere porch makeover

A few photos from the first real project we took on at the new place :) We were pretty determined to freshen up the blue pillars and front door, and I was twitching everytime I saw the old style glass in the front door.


Bye bye blue!






I love how modern the front door looks compared to the blue version. I still think we could use a new porch light, maybe a cute little mailbox to the left of the door, and perhaps a different welcome mat. Changes for another season!