Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Christmas Blog #2.

She's looks like she is dying for a smoke and an enema!

Daymented is having a baby!

Adrianne got a new kitty! (Yet to be named)

Christmas preparations are now in full swing. Our tree arrived last night, along with the Diana Krall Christmas CD (doesn't she look totally uncomfortable in that picture?) and Nightmare Before Christmas DVD I ordered. I am on track with my baking (Skor Chocolate Chip Cookies - check, Cranberry White Chocolate Shortbread - check). Pinwheel cookies are on board for this Saturday and Christmas lights and Christmas tree decoration are scheduled for Sunday. Note, I have promised Scott his favourite eggnog (spiked with rye) from Beckers to gain his commitment to participate. Hopefully he gets the lights up on the house before he gets too much into the cups.

The Christmas social calendar has officially kicked off with Adam D's fabulous dinner party and Joe & Kevin's Annual Shake & Bake already put to bed. The next two weekends are also booked up with a visit to see Charlotte (and Stephanie & Shane), a day of Christmas baking with my friend Christine, and yet another Christmas Party. I think we have a few spare Saturdays/Sundays before Christmas, but I have a feeling they will get booked up before I know it. All that and I still have Christmas cards to write, a few gifts left to buy, and 2 major projects on the go. Goodness...and I'm working on a baby!

Speaking of which - I have my 19 week ultrasound on Friday. Hopefully our baby will cooperate and we will be able to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I know that some people want to wait for the big "surprise" when their baby is born, but I figure we will be "surprised" whenever we find out, whether it's at 19 weeks or 40 weeks. Plus, then we can actually buy stuff for the baby that isn't all green/yellow/and white. Scott, who lovingly refers to our baby as "RaptorBaby" seems to leaning towards a boy, Jennifer and Alana are voting girl. The last day or so, I have been thinking boy, but I guess we'll know for sure in 2 days.

Christmas Blog #1

Friday, November 25, 2005

The "Joys" of Being Preggo.

She's gotta have this baby any day now!The other night Jennifer and I were chatting on the phone and the topic of being pregnant came up. It's interesting really, how different people think about their own pregnancies and the pregnancies of others. Take me for example. I was very excited and there were a few key people that I told the moment I found out I was "in the family way". Mainly my mom and my friend Jennifer. See, they both knew how important this was to me and they were both really excited. We let a few other friends know early on, but then we zipped our mouths shut about it and waited until we got past the 12 week mark to share our news. When we did tell people, it wasn't that big a deal. We waited until we happened to be talking with people on the phone, or when we saw our friends. But, really, while the fact that we are having a kid is interesting news, it doesn't change anyone else's lives. We knew that and didn't make a huge deal about it. I've experienced the other side of it though, the huge "secrecy" of it all, the pecking order of who can be "in the know" and who needs to be "kept in the dark". Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me. Billions of women have had babies before me and billions of women will have them after me. While it's awesome and beautiful and scary as hell, it isn't really all that spectacular. In fact, as I ran down the glorious list of pregnancy symptoms, I had Jennifer in stitches.

For your interest, here are the facts:

Skin/Hair:
- That pregnancy glow that people talk about, it is more of a flush and you are flushed because you are always boiling hot and sweaty
- You break out like a teenager, you get nose bleeds that would make special effects departments proud
- Your hair gets weird and funky on you, some days it is limp, some days it goes hay wire

Sickness:
- From the minute you find out your are pregnant until about 12 weeks, you feel pretty much like you want to die (it feels like it will never ever end)
- You dry heave every time your brush your teeth (this lasts the entire pregnancy), your dental hygienist gives you the gears for not flossing more (bitch!)

Eating:
- You have to eat at least every two hours, and if you don't you get dizzy and feel like you are going to pass out
- When you need to eat, you need to eat NOW
- Things that you used to love to eat are completely unappealing (example - Thai food)
- Things that used to smell good now smell like urine

Bathroom:
- The constant peeing is a real pain and time sucker, I swear I have a reserve bladder that is always full
- For the first time in your life, you can out-fart any male you know and your farts will smell so bad that your cat may bite you out of disgust
- When you manage to "go #2" you feel like you want to sing to the heavens in appreciation. You are so excited, you may or may not mention it to your spouse

Belly:
- At some point in the 2nd trimester, your stomach muscles give up the ghost. Then you need your husband/partner/whoever to push you out of bed, lest you end up stuck there flailing your arms and legs like a turtle
- Your waist line gets wider by the day and you swear if you get any wider you will in fact be mistaken for a pie wagon

Boobs:
- Your boobs, at first they hurt like they have NEVER hurt before, and they get about 2 cups sizes bigger, almost immediately. Then they get hard as rocks, like you had a boob job, except they aren't nearly as perky as they would be if you had a boob job (more like torpedoes shooting at your belly button)

Sleep:
- Getting up 2 - 3 times a night to pee, really messes up the whole sleep thing
- 9pm is your new bedtime, you can't imagine how you used to stay up to watch Saturday Night Live

General Life skills:
- You become the klutziest person on the face of the earth (breaking dishes, dropping the cat food container in mid air, knocking random potted plants over)
- You can't remember basic things, your husband/partner will use this to play tricks on you

And those are just the things I have experienced so far, I still have 22 more weeks to go! Now, don't think that I am complaining, these are mere observations and comments. I mostly take them with a grain of salt and a lot of laughter. I am thrilled to be having a baby. But anyone who tells you how wonderful it is to be pregnant, and how "great" they feel, they are either lying or insane (though the 2nd trimester is MUCH better than the first). The end result is worth it, but while you are in it, you wonder what the hell you were thinking.

Monday, November 21, 2005

Is this turkey dry, or is it just me?

Madison = BOOberries!
I don't know about the rest of you Grey's Anatomy watchers, but I've been struggling ever since Derek and Meredith broke up. It isn't that I like Meredith all that much, but I liked "them". I liked their chemistry, their "steam", the fact that their romance was secret and wrong in that "work place romances are bad and never end well" kind of way. Remember when he bought glow in the dark condoms? See, that was hawt. But now we are left with what? Derek looking all unhappy with his decision to give Madison another try, and Meredith sulking around the hospital. I just don't buy the whole Derek and Madison getting back together storyline. I'm not feeling it. As of last night it looked like they were about to give new meaning to "Thanksgiving" by getting it on in his trailer, and to that I say, "whatever". Seriously, I feel no passion there. Kind of a token gesture on Derek's part, a pity fuck, if you will. He really should be with Meredith.

GO MEREDITH!
Maybe the big show that is going to air after Superbowl will give us what we want, because I know I am not the only one who wants to boo and hiss at the screen when Madison comes on. Even better - how about a Christmas or New Year's reconciliation where Madison gets on a plane (or a broomstick) and flies her ass home to New York (for good), while Derek and Meredith smooch under the mistle toe or as the clock strikes 12? Yeah! ABC - you listenin'? As for Madison, I'm not sure why I don't like her, probably because I spent last season rooting for Meredith and lusting after Derek's fine self. I mean, as a married woman, you'd think I'd be supportive of Derek going back to his wife/giving it a shot, but, ummm...not so much.

I'm hoping that Cristina and Preston (woot!) keep the romance (sex) going as we can't count on the rest of them to fulfill our needs. Not sure what I think of Izzie and Alex, that is still tbd in my mind, though I know that my friend Adam wouldn't mind if Izzie got a little more screen time. Okay, enough talk about good looking people getting it on...you guys must think this is all I think about...

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Christmas Blog #1.

You may think it is early to start blogging (or even thinking) about Christmas, but then, you aren't me. Spending this past weekend in Ottawa with Jennifer has me inspired to get going on things like my Christmas baking (which will commence this Saturday) and at the very least, start figuring out what I am going to get people. Truth be told, I started my shopping back in October, and I have already purchased quite a few new ornaments for our tree. This year we are getting a new pre-lit tree (note - putting lights on Christmas trees will potentially end even the strongest of marriages). That is why the PRE-LIT option is the one for me.

Last year's lighting of the tree was the final straw. Poor Scott was doing his best to follow my instructions, but I am a difficult taskmaster, and he could not seem to please me. We muddled through it, but afterwards I could tell he could do without experiencing the lighting of the tree again. And really, the truly fun part is putting the decorations on, not getting the darn thing out of the closet and assembling it. Some of you may applaud my use of a fake tree while others may be dismayed. I don't like cleaning up the needles and with a cat like Bossa who enjoys pissing on things, I really don't want to encourage her to mark her territory or drink from the tree stand water. Lol. Scott just emailed me in dismay at my tree selection (Scott: "$260! I hope I get a bonus this year!"). I didn't even pick the most expensive one there for goodness' sake.

Onto baking. For the next 4-6 weeks I will bake a different type of cookie on each Saturday. I freeze them right after baking so they stay fresh, then thaw them out as need be in December. I have sent out a few emails soliciting cookie exchanges in hopes of having an über fantastic selection that will rival what I did last year. I am planning to bake:

Cranberry White Chocolate Shortbread
Gingerbread Cookies
Orange Spice Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Vanilla Pinwheel Cookies
Skor Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pizzelles
Cranberry Almond Bark


Hopefully I will be able to get someone else to do gingerbread for me. I don't seem to be very good at applying icing (last year's batch tasted good but looked like a 2-year-old had decorated them). Sigh. You can't be good at everything! I also need to get some bars in there (nanaimo, fudge, butterscotch?) to mix it up a bit. For some people Christmas is about the presents, for me it is much more about family and food. This year the stress will be even more so on family and food as I will be having a dry Christmas. No happy hours for me this year - a great deal for Scott, who will no doubt enjoy all of the parties we go to more than I will.

Last Year's Christmas Blogs:
Xmas Blog #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10

Friday, November 11, 2005

The one night stand.

I don't look this good when I sleep
One thing that people don't tell you about being pregnant is that it is hard to sleep, mostly because you just can't get comfortable. Oh yeah, and the getting up 3 times a night to pee, that doesn't help either. For someone who has always been a stomach sleeper, this whole thing has been a challenge to say the least. After weeks of complaining, Scott bought me a body pillow to ease my pain. It's basically a super long pillow that you can cuddle up to and drape your leg over.

What's funny, is that it takes up a fair amount of space in bed, like about the size of another human adult. The first night of the body pillow commenced with Scott getting ready for bed, seeing the pillow (already tucked under the covers) and commenting "is there going to be room for me in there?". Once we both got into bed, I thought to myself, this is probably what a threesome is like, except without the flannel pyjamas and a lot more sex. Too bad for Scott, this is the closest he'll ever get.

I told Jennifer about out tight sleeping quarters and she said that one of her friends has a body pillow, which he has nicknamed "the one night stand". Somehow fitting, as when I came back to bed from one of many trips to the bathroom last night, there was Scott, embracing MY pillow. I strong armed it away from him, inserting myself between him and the pillow. Apparently I am a jealous and possessive woman. Later that night I woke up and Samba (aka "the princess and the pea") was on top of the pillow, attempting to nudge me away from it so that she could have it all for herself. It seems that there is much competition for my pillow. Since there is only room for one pillow, Scott and Samba are going to have to back off as the pregnant lady gets dibs.

Monday, November 07, 2005

Taking All Bets.

Patrick - when did you get so damn fine?!Ah damn. Somehow my blogiversary totally slipped by me...I'm going to blame it on the pregnancy brain. My mind seems to be doing an incredible impression of a sieve as of late. Seriously, I am able to forget anything and everything. It's actually rather impressive, and I thoroughly enjoy having something to blame it on. It should be noted that Scott told me that one year of blogging really isn't a big deal and likely not worthy of celebration. This from the father of my future child. Nice, eh? I guess I understand as he has now been blogging for 3+ years (check out his new design!). It should also be noted that the very moment he started blogging about the Raptors they completely went into the toilet. Raptorblog curse or just a coincidence? Only time will tell...

Tomorrow morning Scott and I have our first appointment with the baby doctor. I think it is a pretty routine visit (weigh-in, blood pressure, etc). My obgyn is a woman, so that's kind of cool. The best part is that she will hopefully schedule my "big" ultrasound sometime in the next 2-3 weeks where we will find out if we have a Scott Junior or a Kat Junior. I have no "motherly instinct" on this. Seriously, no idea. But I'm taking bets. So far Alana and DAM are on the girl side, and Jennifer has jokingly referred to her "nephews" (though we know there is only one bambino on board). I have been told of one grandparent's preference for a girl (no pressure) and Scott told me this morning that he thought it would be kind of awesome if we had a boy. Me, I'll be happy with a healthy baby, regardless of its "equipment".

As a complete aside, I have to say that my favourite new show is Grey's Anatomy. It is like ER meets the evening soaps. Patrick Dempsey is sex on a stick, Sandra Oh is too awesome for words, Ellen Pompeo has you rooting for her, even though she is a little too cute for my liking, and Isaiah Washington is so stern and sexy and hawt, goodness, I'd risk my career for him too! The only problem is that it is on at 10pm on Sunday nights which is past my bedtime. But I can't resist the pull, so I stay up anyway and then have dreams full of sexy doctors in their scrubs talking clever to each other. McDreamy indeed.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

And baby makes three.

A soccer player in the making!
If you are wondering "why the lack of regular blog posts over at ficklefeline as of late?" I can now answer your question openly and honestly. Yep, you got it, I'm up the stump/preggers/expecting/in the family way/knocked up/with child/etc. The reason for not posting about it here until now? Well, I only just told my place of employment, and I wanted to make sure they found out from me and not anyone else. Also, I have been extremely tired and dealing with typical first trimester sickness since the beginning of September. But don't worry, I'm not sick anymore, still tired though (I sleep so much it should be considered a sport).

Hmmm...what other details can I share with you? Due date - end of April (between Scott and my birthdays which are April 23rd and 30th respectively). Projected zodiac sign - Taurus (that will make 3 hard headed bulls under one roof). Sex of baby - dunno, but we will hopefully be able to find out sometime in December. Best part so far - all of the positive reactions we have gotten from all of our family and friends, and seeing the baby kicking up a storm at the 12 week ultrasound (we have a future soccer player on our hands). Worse part so far - feeling like I was going to barf from the end of week 5 to the end of week 11 and waking up every 2 hours to pee. Trippiest part - feeling the baby move for the first time (tap tap...tap tap tap).

Truth be told, I think Scott and I are both still getting out heads around it. I mean, the whole thing is a lot to digest. Very exciting, but totally scary at the same time. Life as we know it is going to change in the very near future and we are suddenly going to be responsible for another human being. Goodness. I can just picture a little Scott Junior...can you imagine? I can barely handle him, let alone the toddler edition! Anyway, I'm sure I'll be posting a lot more on this subject, so bear with me through the next while. I've heard the second trimester is the best of the three, so we'll see if that is actually true!