The first day back at work after Christmas holidays sucks. I sat down at my desk this morning and looked at the decorations that I'll have to take down, the leftover chocolates that have been dropped off (LOOKED, but didn't eat...look at that self control!), wondered what I'm going listen to now that Christmas music is over and done with, and felt that 'after Christmas' feeling. So instead of sitting here sadly with nothing to do, I've decided to make a list of looking back. Here are the highlights of my year, in no particular order of event or importance. Just simply the good things of 2009.



I'll start off with the obvious: We got pregnant! Mitch and I began the conversation of when to start our family...oh...probably 3 months after we got married haha. It took me three years, but I finally convinced him that it was the right time, and we found out we were expecting in June of 09. We are ecstatic, and are greatly anticipating the arrival of our first child due March 2, 2010.




Going to California was a major highlight. Mitch and I love travelling together and really wanted to go somewhere before we started our family. We had such a good time together, and a sentence you will hear come out of my mouth at least once every few weeks is "hey Mitch, remember that time we went to California? That was fun, hey?". This question is always met with eyes being rolled and the response "Yes, Jos...I remember".
We spent 9 wonderful days exploring beaches, going to ball games, Disneylanding and Sea Worlding it up, and, of course, eating. It was so good.




Another fun trip I took this year was one to Edmonton with my lifegroup girls. We did a weekend Ikea trip and had so much fun. We packed the 4 of us into a mini van and did our best to fill every single open space of that van with purchases from Ikea. We did pretty well! I have to say that we have been so blessed by friendships this year, and the 3 couples in our life group have been such a gift to us. It's so good to have support and friendship like that. The girl's trip is a big highlight of the year.




Okay one more trip to add to the highlight list: BC! In April we went to Abbotsford to celebrate Sharalin and Jesse's wedding. We have so many wonderful friends in BC and any time we travel out there to see them is a big highlight for me. Mitch understands my close friendships with the girls out there and has been really good about making it a priority for me to visit them probably close to once a year.





Most years I could say that all of summer is a highlight, but this year summer was pretty brutal...worst weather ever! However, there's one week for sure that sticks out in my mind, which was the week we spent up at Joel and Dominique's cabin at Shell Lake. We swam and boated and water skied and fished and suntanned and played games and watched TLC and ate and minigolfed...it makes me smile just thinking about it. Another shout out to good friends. And good friends who have cabins.

Working on our yard was a good thing this year. I don't have a picture of what it looks like thus far, but we have our driveway and lawn done, and two trees planted. It's nowhere near being finished, but it's so nice to have it started at least. I feel like a real live homeowner with grass in the backyard. I really look forward to playing with our kids out back in our nice big yard!

Okay so that's my list. It's not inclusive, and if I have forgotten anything good, I blame it on the pregnancy because apparently my memory has reduced itself to have about a 30 second retention limit. This year God has been so good to us, and I am so excited to see what this next year will bring.

A Good Day

It's only 11:53 and I can already tell you that today is going to be a fantastic day. Well...okay this whole week will be pretty good. Today is my first day off for my Christmas holidays and I'm celebrating. Have BEEN celebrating, actually. Mitch and I went to the Keg last night which is my FAVORITE place to eat, but for obvious reasons we don't go very often. This morning I had a good friend over for breakfast and we had a nice visit and did a puzzle together. Now I'm listening to christmas music, feeling my baby kick like a champion, watching the snow fall outside, and I am content. This afternoon I'm going for a massage, and then tomorrow is breakfast with my mom and sister in the morning, and manicures in the afternoon with my mother in law and sister in law. I feel a very deep relaxing calm settling over me which is much welcomed. Life is good.

Hormones, Starbucks, and the True Meaning of Christmas

There isn't always a wrong answer to a question. For example: If you would ask me if I have been hormonal through this pregnancy, I would likely say no. I feel like I have acted appropriately given all most situations. However, if you would ask Mitch if I have been hormonal during this pregnancy, he would hesitate, and probably inwardly debate just how emphatically he should answer with a resounding "yes!". As far as I'm concerned, we're both a little bit right. How? Don't worry about it. We just are.

Last night was one of those nights were maybe Mitch would have been more right than me...I was not happy. I can't explain why, but it was just not a good night. Even watching Seinfeld made me mad because it was a stupid episode. So Mitch, being the good man that he is, asked me several times throughout the early evening what he could do to make my life better. I couldn't think of anything to even let him try to do, which made me madder. But then it hit me...he could take me christmas decoration shopping. As soon as I mentioned this, I saw great regret come across Mitch's face, though he should have known that if you ask me enough times what I want to do, it will generally result in me going shopping. However, Mitch was so good about it. He agreed, and took me shopping. This didn't help my mood once we had arrived at Pier One, because after walking around for 45 minutes I decided that I really am a terrible decorator and anything I purchase won't look good anyway so we left the store empty handed. Mitch did not understand this at all, but instead of getting angry with me, simply took me to Starbucks.

Okay I had a point behind writing about all this, but I just had to write about the evening first. Getting past the hormones dire situation of the evening, I was thinking about it today and realized something. Christmas anticipation has taken on a whole new meaning for me this year. (Christmas decoration shopping...christmas anticipation...see? that's my tie-in). I said to someone the other day that I'm having a harder time than usual anticipating Christmas because I'm just so excited for what's happening just a few short months AFTER Christmas. However I need to make sure that I'm anticipating the most important birth FIRST. Not just in celebration order, but in priority order. God sent his son to die for us, and while I hope my child will accomplish many wonderful and amazing things in their life, nothing can compare to the great gift of Jesus' life. So I will slow down this Christmas and think not only of my child, but of Jesus, given the task from birth of saving the world.

Baby Feet

This is the size of the feet that kick me daily at 25 weeks. What a miracle.



photo courtesy of www.blogs.usatoday.com

Wishlist

On a completely secular note...here is my christmas list! :)

Boots. I want a nice dressy pair of boots. According to Mitch I already have every other kind of shoe under the sun, so why not these?

Absolutely any season of Grey's. I could watch it over and over again.

If I could just add Michael Buble to my list...trust me. I would. But I don't think he'd feel fulfilled in his career if his only job was to follow me around and sing to me, so I'll settle for owning his newest cd.

Pretty much my favorite chick flick out there, and I really don't own enough chick flicks.

My new favorite hair stylist is at Visions Salon and Spa, and they use "Surface" hair products. I will settle for a gift card since she's probably not willing to live in my basement and give me haircuts and styles whenever I want.

I may be forced to promise to quit quoting The Office before I'm given this, but I can't help it. I pertains to every situation perfectly.

And last, but certainly not least, this beautiful Nixon "Cougar" watch. Do I want it just because it's called Cougar? No. But that is one of two reasons on my list.

Photos courtesy of www.amazon.com

Saturday Mornings

I love Saturday mornings. Especially ones that turn out like today. Mitch and I like to take advantage of our weekends, and this morning we did what we do on Saturday mornings when we don't have anything up. We sleep in (well I sleep in, and Mitch lays there and waits until I wake up) and then Mitch gets up and makes us coffee, and one of us (mostly Mitch these days) will make a good breakfast. Today was scrambled eggs and toast with freshly ground starbucks coffee. So good. Then today we just ended up sitting at the table for over an hour just talking. I love my husband. I am so blessed to be married to a man that I can sit and talk with for hours. We started dating because of those kind of long conversations over coffee, and three years later I enjoy it even more than I did before. I was thinking about it a lot today because I realized that our lives will soon change and these mornings will look rather different.

One thing that's funny about being pregnant is that suddenly everyone feels like it's their duty to give you advice about how to manage your family life. I don't actually mind this so much and have been given many good pointers and things to think about. The other day somone I work with was talking to me and mentioned how he wished that he and his wife had taken the time for each other after their kids were born. Now they've been married for years, have teenage kids, busy lives, and don't know each other any more. Hearing that made me so sad, and thinking about that today I realized how much I need to value the time I have with Mitch now, and remember to take that time as often as we can or need to after the baby is born. God has given me such a wonderful guy and I am bound and determined to remember that and value him always.

Woes

There is a difference in mirrors. There are fat mirrors and there are skinny mirrors. What I don't understand is why all women's clothing stores don't contain the skinny mirror variety. What I REALLY don't understand is why maternity clothing stores have the fattest of mirrors. And to make matters worse, the change room at this particular maternity clothing store I was in last night had a curtain cover that was about 9 feet high. The problem with that height is that it makes you feel about 4 feet tall standing in front of it, looking into the fat mirror. So now I don't feel like a glowing blossoming pregnant women...no, I feel like a short fat dwarf. That swallowed a beach ball. My self esteem has been suffering lately...but now at least I have new clothes to help me feel better. And after I'm done writing this I'll probably go eat a pickle and drink a glass of milk which always puts me in a better mood.

*sigh*

Grocery Store Adventure

I had a little bit of an adventure today while waiting in line to pay for my groceries. It went like this:

I was standing in line waiting to have my groceries scanned and I noticed the lady in front of me in line. She was one of those women who looked entirely perfectly put together, with not a hair out of place. She had extremely expensive shoes on, was wearing a beautiful outfit (not to dressy...perfect for going out to get groceries), a huge diamond ring, and to finish it all off, had a VERY cute little boy in her cart. All of these things I had to take note of quickly, for as I was standing there, I was hit with another one of these fun 'low blood pressure' episodes. This was the worst one yet. I started to feel the beginnings of the passing out hints...you know...dizziness, sudden perspiration, blackness in the corners of your vision...

So trying to look equally as put together as the lady in front of me, I tried as nonchalontly as I could to just leeean forward on my cart and...look like I'm patiently waiting. Now what's going on at the till is that another till has a new cashier on it so our cashier has left to help her and we are not moving. So all hopes of paying and dashing back to the car are gone. The leaning is not helping. Blackness is closing in. I send up a quick prayer: "PLEASE God...not now. oh please". The lady looks back at me and gives me a funny look. I probably look like a train wreck. I feel like one. Usually what I do if I'm going to pass out is I put my head between my knees. I look around...nope, no option to try that. Not even to bend over because there's some weird guy behind me and I'm certainly not going to bend over in front of him! So...I pretend there is something extremely interesting at the bottom of my purse and lean over as far as I possible can into the depths of my large bag, WILLING away this episode. The perspiration begins to fade. The cashier comes back. Perfect lady ahead of me finishes up, and I force myself upwards and onwards, manage to bag my own groceries (thanks a lot, Extra Foods...you make my life miserable now that I have to bag my own stuff) and get the hey out of there. Crisis averted.

Phew.

Making decisions

This week was an exciting week...we put our name in for a midwife! So far I have been completely unimpressed with my doctor, and have been very disappointed by the lack of care and concern I've received thus far. My first prenatal visit was so frustrating and I literally had to go back to get one of the nurses to find my docter after being walked out on because I hadn't been given the chance to ask ANY questions about my pregnancy. This is my first child and I have not appreciated being treated like just another patient at a walkin clinic.

So anyway, I've heard from a few friends now about their positive experiences with a midwife. I've also found out that midwife services have recently become covered under health care so it now costs nothing, whereas it used to cost thousands. Our first meeting is next week, and after the first informational meeting you get scheduled in for 45 min visits every month. This is in contrast to the 5 min monthly visits I've been having with my doctor so far. I'm still planning on having the baby at the hospital, but instead of doctors around, there will be two midwives...one for me, one for baby. So far I don't know a lot more details, but I'm sure I'll be more informed after next week's vist so I'll post more then.

We'll be 20 weeks on Tuesday and I can't believe we're half way there already. I haven't felt a TON of movement, but I've been feeling more little jabs throughout the days, and every now and then I'll feel some consistent movement. It puts such a huge smile on my face to feel that little person moving inside of me.

That picture is what things are looking like right now. Tummy is popping and baby is growing!

Photo courtesy of http://www.babycenter.ca/pregnancy/fetaldevelopment/20weeks/

Sleep and strawberries

One of the most frustrating parts of my life right now is that I have low blood pressure. It just started to bother me a few weeks ago, but it's getting to the point where I am getting very discouraged. What having low blood pressure looks like is basically every time I stand up, turn my head, walk up stairs too quickly, or really make any motion that isn't just sitting, I get dizzy and light headed. I feel completely useless because I can hardly make it through making supper on some days. I can't go for walks in the evening with Mitch to enjoy the beautiful weather outside. Some days I can hardly make it through a day at work. I'll find out this weekend if it means that I'm going to be unable to lead worship for a time.

So today I took the day off work, slept 11 hours, and am planning on having a rejuvinating day. I have a bucket of fresh strawberries that a dear friend picked for me, so I intend to put in a movie, grab a pickle (hey...low blood pressure! gotta keep my salt intake up), and cut/freeze strawberries while I watch. After that...who knows. Maybe just more movies!

Okay, I'm going to end this with things that I'm thankful for.
1. Mitch. He takes care of me, puts up with me, and loves me.
2. The beautiful weather outside
3. A job that understands when I need to take a day off
4. The fact that while I now have low blood pressure, I did not have morning sickness so I still think I have been lucky in this pregnancy
5. It is the weekend. Hallelujah.

First things first

So...I've decided it's time to enter the world of blogging. It has been a very long time since I've consistently written anything, and these days I'm finding my mind to be overflowing with thoughts that I should probably be putting down on (virtual?) paper.

We are entering into a very exciting stage of life! Mitch and I are expecting our first child, which is something I've been wanting...well pretty much since we got married three years ago. I am starting to show now, which I'm finding to be so much fun and yet so very strange. Sometimes I will momentarily forget that I'm pregnant, look down, and think "whoa...I couldn't possibly have overeaten that much today"! And then I'll remember and all will be well again.

This weekend we went out and bought a ton of baby stuff, which we weren't really planning on doing so soon, but there were sales. And really...you can't say no to a good sale. At least we couldn't. So we now have our stroller, crib, playpen, and swing. It certainly makes all of this feel a lot more real now that we've got a room filling up with all these things. Our soon to be nursery runneth over...and really, so does my heart. (CHEESE, I KNOW!) But I have to say that we are so happy right now.

My goal this month (week...day...it's a process) is to make sure I enjoy each stage as it comes without wishing for the next one too quickly. Mitch reminds me of this often because I'm so darn impatient. Specifically, I'm going to enjoy it being still the two of us, I'm going to enjoy not yet having a large stomach to heave around, and I'm going to enjoy the stillness of my own body before it happens that I will be bombarded with kicks, punches, and other anticipated signs of life.