A little spring on a snowy morning

Despite the snow, these made me smile this morning. My tulips have bloomed, and reassured me that even though it doesn't look like it, spring is indeed on it's way!  TGIF

What can a pregnant woman do?

I have sort of forgotten by this point who I have shared this blog with… but I DO love that you’re all here. With that said, some of you may or may not appreciate this next post. But you’ll get over it. This will seem very Kim.  ☺

I miss drinking.  I love my baby. And I miss drinking.

Sorry mom.

I miss the big, bold and beautiful glasses of my favourite cabernet sauvignons that Peter and I used to share after work while we chatted about our day and prepared dinner.  I miss the tall flavourful local pints of beer from our fantastic neighborhood pub in Cabbagetown (we barely go there anymore, it’s just not the same).  I miss girls’ nights, where bottles of wine seemed bottomless.  I miss boozy trips home to Almonte where I could stay up late into the night catching up with my parents, my sister & brother in law, my favourite Almonte neighbors, and all my other friends and family.  I miss the total crap days at work (which I have had a lot of lately) that were so quickly forgotten with cocktail hour drinks with friends, and the special nights where I would scour the LCBO for new types of beer and wine to bring to my friend Cynthia’s after work and then take a cab home. 

These days… I often fall asleep on the couch by 8pm.  Not exactly the life of the party.

Last week I even brought my own beer to my friend Kathleen’s house for some long over due catch up, and she took one sip of my near beer and said “dude, this stuff is disgusting, I don’t know how you can drink this crap”.  She has since banned it from her house!!  I felt ashamed. Because, this near beer girl is the same girl that just this past summer had biked to Kath’s house, in a wind storm, for well over an hour, on my cruiser - which is meant for crusin', down the Lakeshore, with not one but TWO tetra packs of wine in my basket for us to enjoy together.   And then biked home. I had a helmet, don’t worry.

I am but a shadow of the Irish country girl I used to be.

Until last night. Something special happened… Peter and I found the most delicious fake beer ever!!! I spilled it (more evidence that it’s just like real alcohol, because I always spill my drinks), and it even SMELLS like real beer.  Happy days are here again! haha Just kidding. But what it did was make me laugh, make me feel like I was part of the beer drinking “normal” fun during the Canada/Russia game last night. It even made me a little flushed in the face. Hilarious!

Oh wow... I just re-read this, I have most definitely talked about drinking for too long. I will have a call from my mom in about 5 minutes after I post this. You just wait.  It’s not a problem, just a strong appreciation for social habits that I miss. Totally normal right?

P.S - I found the material for my skirt. For a fraction of the cost of the original material. AND I found a website online to buy Amy Butler fabric for WAY less than Queen Street. Another HOOOORAY!

I am SEW getting the hang of this!

Last night was my 4th sewing class, and not only do I really like sewing, I think I am getting a good handle on it! Or in this class, a ZIPPER on it!  Last night we started and finished zippered pouches. Unlike my draw string bag, I DO know what I will use this for... Thus the colour choice.  I have officially completed a little pouch to carry a diaper or two and some of those wipe things that mom’s seem to use a lot. See... More evidence I am going to be a good (read: stylish) mom.

Cute huh? 

The next four class will be spent making our SKIRTS.  I already have had a little bit of a set back (well besides the fact I am going to be sewing a skirt that may or may not EVER fit me). Actually, that explains the set back... I bought the MOST GORGEOUS Amy Butler fabric EVER for my skirt. There are only a few of you that will appreciate that. For the rest, Amy Butler makes the most beautiful fabric patterns, but the girl DOES NOT give them away. Amen to that. Anyway... I can’t do it.  I can’t sew a skirt out of this fabric that might totally be a bust for several obvious reasons. (1) I really don’t know HOW to sew a skirt, so I had no business spending $100.00 on 3 YARDS of fabric, (2) I am growing inches by the day (or so it seems), so it might never fit me, (3) I may have made a classic sewers mistake and fallen TOO IN LOVE with my fabric and now can’t bear the thought of cutting it. For anything. 

So what to do... I am going to get different fabric for the skirt. Something less painful to play with for my first skirt (a skirt that just may not turn out, that I will likely have to rip multiple stitches out of as I learn to sew from a pattern and yes, that may never actually be worn by anyone).

Maybe I will make some gorgeous pillow covers out of the Amy Butler fabric.   I think the pillows would do wonders for our beige ultra suede couch. AND remind me of the approach of spring and summer. Sound good? Wish me luck...

Let's hear it for the BOYS!!!

FOR REAL.

I can't tell you how excited we are about meeting our little man in July!  Knowing what we're having as made a HUGE difference in how I feel about being pregnant and my excitement for meeting and loving our baby. Speaking of which... I slept like a baby over the weekend (HOORAYYYYYYYYYY), and really just have been smiling non stop. Smiling more than I have smiled in SUCH a long time. Once we knew, I immediately felt connected with the baby.  I am sure that's not the case for everyone... because personally I think our BIG SUPRISE was actually being pregnant. :) But knowing if it's a little boy or a little girl growing inside of my belly has definitely been a bit of a game changer for us. I am SO glad we found out. I can't wait!!

So what I did want to tell you, is that just before we found out that we are expecting a baby boy, I was telling people that the world seemed to be going through a little bit of a BABY BOY EPIDEMIC!!  But my girlfriend Jessica B. calmed my fears this weekend when she pointed out, that everyone SHE knows is actually having baby GIRLS, so I have relaxed a bit. The world will indeed be ok.  We will have enough males AND females to go around for the next generation. :) Whew.

But just for fun... Check out the below list for illustration of my point. These are the bouncing baby boy arrivals that just I KNOW OF in the last year, or are DUE to arrive in the next year...


Damon Fish – Born June 2009
Cole Diotte Hume - Born June 2009
Dylan Walker – Born July 2009
Cohen Randall – Born September 2009
Owen Nobes – Born October 2009
Eero Lotan – Born October 2009
Adrian Stanghetta – Born October 2009
Caleb Killeen – Born November 2009
Niall Gibson Lundrigan – Born November 2009
Bennett Armstrong – Born December 2009
Liam O’Kane – Born January 2010
Levi Blais – Born January 2010
Kohl Wilson – Born February 2010
Baby Boy Gagnon (Lou’s newphew) Born February 2010

Baby Boy Wood – Due 2010
Baby Boy Lundrigan Falls – Due 2010
Baby Boy Fenech – Due May 2010
Baby Boy Giles – Due July 2010
Baby Boy Shaughnessy – Due July 2010


That’s 19 boys!! Just of people I know!!! And I have other friends and family pregnant who don't even know yet what they're having!! Those male genes are indeed healthy!! OR 09/10 is just the year of the BOY!  So all of you wanting to have one, better get at it,  RIGHT NOW! Just sayin'.

Once in a blue moon

Sometimes little things can make a BIG difference. A smile, a laugh, a phone call or an email that you weren’t expecting when you really needed it. Or those moments out of the blue,  I see something that without a doubt reminds me of Jamie and I know he is there telling me in his own way, to get on with getting on with it. And I do.

One my favourite books is written by Malcolm Gladwell and it is called The Tipping Point. It's a book about change. A way of understanding why change so often happens as quickly and as unexpectedly as it does. He refers to things that happen in life as epidemics, and the message in the book is simple, you can start a "positive" epidemic of your own. In his own words he says, ‘the virtue of an epidemic, after all, is that just a little input is enough to get it started, and it can spread very, very quickly.’

The last two years of my life has been my very own positive epidemic.  I met, fell in love and married the love of my life, and now we are blessed with another tipping point, we’re going to celebrate the birth of our first child in July.   Like Gladwell said, it can spread VERY VERY QUICKLY.

This morning I got up early to make Peter a very special breakfast. A breakfast to honour rare events that we have celebrated together in the last couple of years, and also things that are happening right now in our own positive life epidemic that we are creating together.  But perhaps of greatest significance to us this morning, are the things that do truly happen in a blue moon. The really RARE things. Like great loves and like getting pregnant on your wedding night. :)

The breakfast therefore was themed BLUE.  Blue-blueberry muffins, blueberry smoothies, and a table decorated with blue tulips and blue napkins. BLUE-TASTIC!

Coincidentally, I also received some news yesterday that I felt needed a special delivery for Peter. So, the colour BLUE had a few different significant meanings this morning.  

A BABY BOY = BLUE-HAPPY!!!

Today I feel really happy

It's been a wee while, AND it's not even the weekend! A full day of work and I STILL came home smiling. Wonders never cease. SO... I am seizing my mood (a sort of carpe diem I guess), and baby I am going to let this little light shine!! I have spent the better part of the evening planning something special for Peter for tomorrow morning (he is at band practice). Shhhhh. Don't tell him. I will post pictures if it all turns out.  Love you!

Here's a sneak preview...

You tell us...

I added a little poll on the left hand side of my blog. You tell us what you think this baby is ok? Maybe we will forgo the scientific results and instead move forward by  the popular choice of those that know us best. Regardless, I am painting the baby's room yellow. Because yellow makes ME happy. And a happy mom, means a happy baby and a happy husband. Right? Something like that.

And we’re having a bouncing baby...

Well, a very HEALTHY bouncing baby QUESTION MARK.

We had an amazing anatomical exam today. The baby was checked out from top to bottom and we have what appears to be one healthy baby !  YAY!! What more could we ask for, and what an amazing thing to be told.  We saw pictures of the baby top to bottom, and what a cute little bottom it is!  The baby was be-boppin’ and scottin’ all over the place, so cute!  But what we didn’t get today... Was a gender identification.  I cried when she told us the baby was super healthy, even the heart beat “is fantastic”, but I cried even harder when she told us that knowing the gender today would be impossible. Apparently the clinic at Women’s College Hospital, has a strict policy about revealing gender to parents. Strict in that, they don’t do it. Ever. They send the information to the patient’s OB and let the OB decipher for themselves and tell the patient. A little anti-climactic. I have to admit.

So the wait goes on.  We’re not sure what happens now. My next OB appointment isn’t until March 10th!! To be honest... If we have to wait that long, we might just reconsider finding out all together. What do you think?

The other thing I will add, is that today before we left for work (having not slept at all again), I flip flopped. I now think we might be having a baby boy.  Yup, I may have changed my mind. So there goes my mother's intuition, given I have said from the beginning we're having a girl.  I am not sure what caused the change, maybe the stubborness of this child to just let me sleep at night. It has to be a boy. hahah. So... the mystery remains, even to my own intuition. Unless of course,  it's twins. :)

Sew Much Anticipation!

We’re back from a fantastic weekend in the Ottawa Valley. We think it was JUST what the doctor, and likely the baby... ordered (aside from the cake I continue to dream about that is)! We had quality time with lots of family and friends, celebrated Emily & Brad’s darlin’ Clementine’s 1st birthday, slept in – A LOT, and had a wonderfully quiet and yummy Valentine’s Day together in the place we hope to one day call home. Almonte.

Tonight, I had my 3rd sewing class and I completed my FIRST SEWING PROJECT EVER!! YAY!!!   We made the most adorable draw string bags and even though I know these things are probably the easiest things ever to make, I am still really proud of myself.  It’s pretty cute. FYI - You’re all getting one for Christmas. I am sure I will have figured out what to use it for before then... So it can be just as useful/less, to you.

And finally... This is a BIG week in the O’Shaughnessy home. Tomorrow afternoon,  Peter, me, and our little mango are going to be one step closer to meeting each other. Tomorrow we have our scheduled 20 week anatomical ultrasound and besides being reassured our baby is happy and healthy growing inside my swelling belly, we will be told if a little boy or little girl will be joining our July family celebrations.

What a perfect way to end our family day long weekend.

February Family & Friends Love

Can you believe this weekend marks one year from our “so close, but not quite” move back to the Ottawa valley?  Yup… it was this weekend last year that Peter and I decided (after a long two week trial) that my new gig in Ottawa wasn’t going to cut it alone in the ‘blissfully happy and content couple; in a freezing cold city, planning a wedding on one salary, while the whole city laments over a ridiculous and lengthy city bus strike, and the rest of the world continues it’s downward spiral in the biggest economic crisis in our lifetime’ department. So we did what any sane and terrified couple would have done and stayed put in a city that we know, have a network, and wasn’t experiencing a deep winter freeze with no end in sight, amidst very angry citizens with no way of getting around.  D-R-A-M-A-R-A-M-A

So that’s what was swirling around in my head LAST Valentine’s Day and family weekend… What’s up for this year you ask??

Well I am happy to tell you that the second half of February this year, will be filled with far less drama than last. Relatively speaking of course.  :) This baby sometimes cranks up my crazy without warning afterall.

Things can change a lot in a year.

So, we’re heading out of town tomorrow and our only plans are to chill!!  Long quiet naps in the valley, dinner and get togethers with many loved ones, some time to play with my niece and nephew and CAKE.  Ha. It’s little Clementine’s first birthday this weekend and we’re going to a party!

Sending love out to all this long weekend. <3 <3 <3

Let the sun shine in!

Hello from sunny California!! That’s right, I said SUNNY. Remember what the sun looks like? Me neither, until today. I have had an AMAZING time in LA since arriving here mid-day on Saturday (thanks for being such an amazing host Jenny)!  And, today.... was absolutely gorgeous in LA. Way above temperature for the winter months here, and much different from the rain I arrived to on Saturday.  Whoever was in charge of the weather for my one full day of free time on the California coast. I am SO grateful.  Because, it really is amazing how much the sun can change everything.

Especially my mood.  

I feel more like me today than I have felt like in weeks. Actually months. 4 1/2 months to be exact.  Jenny and I spent almost the entire day outside today. We went on a huge hike up/through Runyon Canyon park. (Runyon Canyon is a park in LA at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains). It totally kicked my ass.  We saw a lot of babies and dogs out there on the trails, but I was definitely the only pregnant belly hauling my ass up and down the canyon! We then ate lunch outside, and did some outdoor shopping at the Grove in West Hollywood.   I arrived to my hotel tonight in Marina del Rey just in time to see the sun set over the ocean harbour.  Gorgeous.

I feel like I have just completed a 24 hour prescription for my winter/baby blues. I feel fabulous!  I can’t sleep, but I feel fabulous.  And the best part is you won't even be able to tell I didn't sleep all night tomorrow, because my face is a bit pink from the sun today!

So, I have felt so wonderful today that I was even inspired to choose a theme and a colour for the babies room. Even though we don’t exactly know where we’re going to live when the baby is born, I officially have room coordinates and a colour picked out!!  You have to start somewhere right?  I won’t give away all the details, but the colour is inspired by my trip here. I am painting the babies room yellow. A beautiful pale yellow. In honour of the sun that makes me smile and the baby that will be our sunshine.

This trip really has been a  blessing (with the exception of the 5 presentations I am giving tomorrow).

Good night from LA LA land.

Cupcake Trouble

Jenny just sent me a link to a new cupcake shop in town.  Crumbs!!  How I have not heard of this little cupcake of heaven I don't know. This place apparently puts Sprinkles to shame. I am going to dream about cupcakes for the rest of the week. I swear.  You have to check this out...  http://www.crumbs.com/cupcakes

 Cupcake heaven (read - trouble) ahead.

Maybe I need to start baking cupcakes. This is the happiest moment I have had in two weeks.

 

Jenny and Cupcakes - LA LA LOVE

The count down to my LA work trip has begun! I checked the weather today and it’s not exactly going to be hot in California while I am there (it’s still their winter after all), but it will be warmer than it is here and I will be able to see and feel the ocean!

So I will be honest, even though I am quite excited about this trip, I am not a huge lover of LA. Remember I lived there back in 2007? I was never really that impressed. I loved the coast of California, but LA… meh. If given the choice to take it or leave it, I could leave it on most days.

So what makes LA so great?

Probably many things. But just these two I feel like mentioning now. 

Jenny. Jenny makes LA great. Jenny, who will be picking me up at the airport for some long overdue California girlfriend loving before my meetings start on Monday. And know what else makes LA great?!

Sprinkles Cupcakes. http://www.sprinkles.com/

Sprinkles Cupcakes, the progenitor of the haute cupcake. Who I will be picking up for some even longer over due Beverly Hills cupcake loving. For some reason I feel my love affair with these cupcakes will be even greater now that I am with child.

2 Days and counting.

Sew happy!

Tonight was my very first lesson at the sewing studio in Toronto. It made me happy. Sewwwwww happy!! The use of puns here IS intentional and a bit of a virtual hug to my husband who loves/abuses puns regularly. It’s pretty much his “thing”. And he deserves some love after a bit of a (ok…ok…a WAY) emotional weekend. But I don’t want to talk about that, cause tonight, I am sew happy!

I really think I am going to love this sewing thing. Tonight we learned pretty much just the basics, like how to turn a sewing machine off and on, what all the buttons etc are for, how to thread a sewing machine, a bit about fabric and a bias, and then we got to sew!! There is something about the accomplishment of sewing I think I am going to love. We are going to have two mini projects to complete in our 8 weeks, and one major. The major being a skirt for ourselves.

So, each week we’re assigned some homework that we can do outside of class, without a sewing machine. Our assignment this week… you ready for this? Is to take our measurements. Full stop. Breathe... We have to measure our bust, our hips, and our waist?!!! I kid you not. So... so much for sew happy.

Kidding. It actually kind of made me laugh. She could have asked me to do ANYTHING. ANYTHING other than take my measurements and I would have skipped out of that class. Sew excited to be doing something new, and something rewarding. And then she drops the "take your measurements" bomb. Anyway, I am over it. For now... until I actually take my measurements. Ha. Stay tuned. So once my measurements are done, I am going to TRY and tailor the project to a maternity skirt, if it’s just too complicated I will have to make a regular skirt for someone else, so guess what Steph’s getting for her birthday?! ☺ Shhhh. Don't tell her.

http://www.lovesewing.com/

SUNSHINE UPDATE*****My LA trip has been booked. I leave Saturday morning… and I can hardly wait. It better be damn sunny in LA. Mamma needs some sunshine in her step.