A Year In Review: 2013

Oh 2013, what a truly amazing year you have been!!! 2012 was rough and there was nothing more that I wanted then to start a fresh year with fresh perspective. THIS is what I wrote at the beginning of the year. I remember posting and having this as my screen saver on everything:

And it was!! I am happy to admit! Despite our troubles in 2012, I had soo much HOPE for 2013 and it really paid off!

 

What happened? Let's review shall we?

 

We saw a naturopath for the first time. Where I was diagnosed with B12 and Folate anemia/deficiency. Started supplements right away.

 

 

We went to Jamaica and loved it:

Recap here

 

We did a yeast cleanse when we got back from Jamaica for the month of March. You can read more about the cleanse HERE.

It was not our thing, but we completed our 30 days.

 

On the cleanse I lost 15 pounds.

From January - April I lost a total of 30 pounds.

 

I was soo proud of myself!!

 

In April we put in new counter tops in the kitchen. They changed the whole look - a much needed update!

 

Before:

 

After:

 

It brightened the kitchen up a lot! We still have the back splash to do, which will hopefully be done come the new year. I've said that all year long but it has been bumped numerous times!

 

We also updated the bathroom vanity.

 

We painted the dining room wall:

Love how it turned out!!!

 

My Dad retired:

 

We finally took an updated photo of all of us!

 

And little did we know at this point that we were expecting!!!

(3 weeks pregnant and we didn't know it)

 

We put in the pool.

 

Canada Day weekend we found out we were expecting!!

 

Read about here

 

We took our first family photo:

Excuse the glowing eyes it got darker quicker than we could get the pictures in!

 

 

 

We beat 4 years of infertility!! What an amazing accomplishment!! A true miracle!!

You can find our story:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

 

I celebrated my golden birthday! 29 on the 29th of August.

 

We saw our baby for the first time!!

 

(7 weeks)

 

And the 2nd time 2 weeks later:

(9 weeks)

 

We are the happiest we have been in years:

 

We had pictures taken to announce our pregnancy:

 

 

 

We celebrated the marriage of our best friend!!

 

 

I chopped off my hair for the first time in years!

 

Saw our baby for the 3rd time:

(18 weeks)

 

We hit the half way point in our pregnancy! Is it just me or did time fly by this year?

We updated the kitchen hardware!! 

 

We dressed up for Halloween!

 

We decorated the nursery. But you can't see it yet because it is not finished!! M did a fantastic job!! 

 

At 25 weeks I was diagnosed with borderline hypertension. I was started on medication twice daily. 

 

I fractured my ankle a day shy of 26 weeks pregnant! Not fun!!

 

 

We did get to see the baby for the fourth time during our hospital visit when this happened, but didn't get a picture. but just seeing the baby and knowing s/he was okay was enough!

 

We ordered our car seat!!!

 

Saw the baby for the 5th time because of my blood pressure! Baby checked out to be doing great.

(27 weeks)

 

We hit the 3rd trimester! In the home stretch now!!

 

We celebrated Christmas with my family! These two enjoyed playing with their cousin:

 

We celebrated Christmas Eve:

We celebrated our last Christmas as just M and I, yet celebrated the Best. Gift. Ever. with our baby in my belly!! It really was special!! We may have went a little overboard, but they say that is to be expected? Lol.

Our Christmas Day family photo:

We purchased a new fridge and stove! They won't be delivered until the new year. We weren't exactly planning on this one, but decided now or never. 

 

I got out of my air cast on the 30th of December! Just in time for the new year. I still have a tip fracture, so I need to be careful and introduce walking slowly, but it does feel great to not be so limited with cast!

I will update our NYE photo later, once we take it! 

   

This last year has honestly been one of the best of our years together, since we have been married. We have literally floated around on cloud 9 since finding out we were pregnant. The difference a year makes is soo incredible. We went from being in a not-so-great place last year (and previous years while struggling with infertility) to having this year mean soo very much to us. Carrying this miracle of OUR own, knowing how far we have come, enjoying every minute of this pregnancy despite the flu, blood pressure issues and fractured ankle, we are blessed and so incredibly fortunate to be experiencing this stage of life!! 

My lessons this past year:

 Never lose hope! 

Don't let the worst of your situations bring down your best!! 

Start each day with a thankful grateful heart.

 I so very much look forward to 2014!!! Meeting our baby, starting our life off as parents, introducing our baby to our family and friends, and embracing this life as it comes at us. 

2013 was pretty awesome, but here is to 2014!! 

 

Happy New Years Friends!!

 

29 Weeks

How Far Along:

29 weeks - December 22 - 28, 2013 

 

Size Of Baby?



Acorn Squash!

Baby is working hard on getting stronger and stronger as s/he grows bigger!! Last week in the twenties!!
 

Maternity Clothes?
Due to the ice storm, I had to find a sweatshirt that fit. My hoodie zip up sweatshirts are getting too snug and I don't want to stretch them. I found one that just fits now. Hopefully we don't have anymore ice storms that make us lose power!

Celebrated Christmas in red with my family:

Pink Blush Maternity has done it again with this red shirt! Love it!

And Christmas Eve in green from Pink blush too:

 

Stretch Marks?

Still just a small one, but nothing really noticeable.

 

Gender?

Team Green!

What the Doctor Had To Say:

Blood pressure is still sitting around the same, so I am going to keep a close eye on it over the next two weeks! My belly is measuring 33cm, so a cm ahead - explains why I felt like I had a growth spurt and it wasn't all Christmas dinner!
  

Sleep?
Thank you baby for the giving me a full nights sleep the first night of this week!! I don't think I have slept that well since becoming pregnant!! The rest of the week was just so-so compared to the first night.

Baby Purchases This Week:

 Oh man, did we go a little crazy this week. But most of your big purchases are now made! Aside from the purchases we plan to make in the states when we go in a few weeks. 

We ordered the rocker/recliner for the nursery. 

I also bought a few sleepers on sale. 

We also bought the new rug for the nursery! Love how helps transform the room more and more.

Made this Week:
Crocheted away - I am well over half way done thanks to the power outage!

 

Cravings/Aversions?

 Eggs are still a big no. Apple juice still makes my mouth feel funny after.

All these baked goods and sweets are right up my sweet tooth's alley! Trying to keep it all in check though.

   

Movement?
 Baby is laying across my middle now. Movements are off to the sides and I don't feel as much, but that is because of the location of my placenta. I can watch my belly move and not feel it - a little creepy! Christmas Day the baby was kicking up a storm all throughout the day! 

Feeling?

Pretty good overall. Luckily the only symptoms that have lingered are this runny nose, but once again I am sure that is medication related and reflux.

I keep joking around that it feels like the couch and chairs are getting lower and lower, but I think it's because I don't fold in half the same, plus with the air cast it makes it a bit more difficult, but hopefully we can take that off next week!! 

I'm not sure if I am coming down with a cold or something? My voice is soo scratchy, but it doesn't hurt, so I don't know if it's from being dry or the masks they now make us wear at the hospital for our appointments because we didn't get the flu shot - that is when it started and it was hard to breath under it. 

Highlights:
Survived our first ice storm without power for 10 hours. We were lucky to receive power when we did, because friends were over 24 hours without.  

We celebrated Christmas with family and it was great. I can't even explain how truly blessed we feel this year with our sweet miracle growing up a storm inside of me! 

Received my shower invite!! Soo excited for it!! 

The baby was spoiled this Christmas already:

Baby was shy during all family get-togethers and would not kick for anyone to feel. Anyone could watch the baby kick, but when they put my hand on my belly, no kicks were had. Little stinker!!  

 

Belly Button?

In, but it is getting flatter and flatter. 

 

Wedding Rings?
On and really loose.

Best Moment of the Week?

  Taking our Christmas family photo

Crazy Pregnancy Moment:

  This week was pretty tame considering we spent most of it with family! I was a sap when opening up presents for the baby, especially the ornament my Dad made us:

 

Bump Pic:

 

 

Looking Forward To:

   Bringing in the new year!! Soo much to look forward to, although this year has been great to us!! 

Christmas Eve Weekend Rewind

Happy Christmas Eve friends!!! I bet your noticing I switched things up a bit. My normal Tuesday post is usually my weekly pregnancy update, but I posted that yesterday so I would get a chance to wish you all a

Merry Christmas!!! 

Our weekend was icy to say the least. 

Friday night we went into town to grab some groceries, dinner and then a quick visit at my Dad's. We got a bit of freezing rain over night, but nothing like they predicted. 

Saturday M went to Cambridge to pick up my present - I guess he ordered it last weekend and had to go back to pick it up? He went right away, since the weather forecast was supposed to be dicey come the afternoon. When he got back we headed upstairs to make sure we had not forgotten any Christmas presents. We got a little side tracked and ended up sitting in the nursery for over an hour just talking about the baby, the pregnancy, what we want to do as far as finishes go for the nursery, etc. We both just love sitting up there in the nursery!! 

We made some lunch, as well as some executive decisions as far as the bathroom renovation goes. We were talking about doing a seperate shower and tub, but have decided to stick to the original foot print of the bathroom, just update everything, add double sinks and more storage. So we just have finishes to pick out, as well as a new vanity, and tub. Hopefully we will be ripping the old tub/vanity out after Christmas! Then we can make repairs if needed and then replace it all. 

We finished wrapping presents, happy to say we are officially ready!! Baking is done, wrapping is done, we are ready to just enjoy the season. I ended up having a late nap while dinner was cooking and the laundry was on. M was a dedicated doggy Daddy and took the dogs out for a walk in the rain, as we knew it wasn't going to let up and soon after they got back it began to freeze. I watched a Christmas movie on the TV and we headed to bed. 

Sunday came to an early start with M's fire pager going off at 6:30 AM! The roads were covered in ice, actually everything was. M couldn't even get off the deck to get to the truck, he had to go around the house because the gate was frozen shut. 

We ended up losing power just before 7 AM. So M came home to a dark house. The whole village was out. We stayed in bed until 9, when his next page came through. His pager was going off like crazy. He was 4 calls in before we left for my sisters. Luckily none of them were serious, just hydro lines down or on fire. 

The house was starting to get cold and M and I were running out of things to do. He wrapped my presents, put away some laundry and I crocheted. 

We were supposed to be making tarts for that afternoon, but ended up having to make them at my sisters. By the time we left the house it was only 14 in the house! We dropped the dogs off at the farm, where they had a lot of big branches down and ice was flying off of everything. It was nasty. As the temperatures started to go up, the wind seemed to pick up, but the roads weren't slippery, just trying to avoid the ice pellets, as some peices were rather large. 

We had a great dinner with my parents and sisters little family. The kids enjoyed "listening" to Baby V! So precious! 

Hannah is sure Baby V is a girl and has said that since I told her we were expecting. I love how interested in the baby she is, her excitement is through the roof for this baby to come." Brandon liked poking the baby to get him/her to kick. He also liked playing with my belly button. Lol. These precious moments just warm my heart. I'm excited to see how they will be when the actual baby is here.

We opened gifts. I got an electric razor, a new camera bag and strap, a necklace made by my sister and a nursing pj set that came with a sleeper for the baby!! Soo cute and just what I needed!! M got an x-box game and his x-box live subscription! 

We headed home around 8 PM, stopped by the farm to pick up the dogs to find Gracie in the back room with chicken sh*t all over her feet. This mama was not impressed, and neither was Grandpa who was just about to clean her! M agreed to clean he when we got home. That little brat loves digging in the fields. We will be keeping a close eye on her during Christmas Day because she literally runs that direction when let her out. Brat! 

We came home to hydro. Thank goodness!! The house was warm and cozy. M dealt with Gracie and then we settled in to relax until bed time! 

One Christmas down, 3 more to go! Christmas Day we will be at the farm, Friday and Saturday we have extended family get togethers. 

We had a great weekend despite the ice storm. Friends here in the village didn't get power back until last night. Brrr. 

I'm looking forward to spending the rest of the week with M, and family! Crazy to think this is our last Christmas as just Mike and Ashley!! Although having this sweet baby in my belly makes me feel the true spirit of the season!! 

M is working until noon today, then he will be off for the rest of week! Tonight we will go to church and then settle in nicely for the evening.

 

Merry Christmas friends!! Wishing you all safe and happy holidays!! 

28 Weeks

How Far Along:

28 weeks - December 15 - 21, 2013 

 

Size Of Baby?


Baby is now capable of blinking and it is now possible for the baby to be dreaming!

I've been pregnant for 7 months already!!
 

Maternity Clothes?
Wearing mostly lounge clothes again this week. Warm lounge clothes, because it is cooold and snowy here!! I did have a self proclaimed pj day this week.

I also did find 2 opportunities to get "dressed" in non-lounge clothes, but in all honesty I changed from my lounge clothes into them. I was sure to document it, so you didn't think I was a complete bum this week.

 

Stretch Marks?

Still just a small one, but nothing really noticeable.

 

Gender?

Team Green!

What the Doctor Had To Say:

 We got a break this week! No doctor's visit until the end of the month!

I did call my family doctor to find out what I am supposed to do as far as my ankle goes, since the ER didn't give me any direction as far as follow up goes or what to expect with recovery. She has ordered a follow up x-ray on the 30th of December, and then a follow up after. Until then, I am to stay in the air cast. I was ever hopeful I would walking a bit more on my own by then, but turns out I am not supposed to! I guess I just had unrealistic goals in mind for myself. At least now I know what to expect!

Sleep?
Getting much better after last week!! I have even had a few nights of straight sleep without getting up to pee!! It is really dry in the house, despite our humidifier running straight. I think with the weather being soo cold outside.

Baby Purchases This Week:

Bought the baby a present for under the tree! Just something small!

Baby also got some new boots.

I ordered some custom hats for the babe, as well as some adorable ones!! More to come on these in the new year :) I will admit that I am struggling to purchase anything newborn size? Anyone else? They are just soo small, I have a hard time imagining my baby that small!! Lol. 

I also bought these used:

Love those little shoes and that sweater romper - adorable!! Can't wait to see the baby in it!! 

Bought the supplies I needed for the mobile. Now I just have to get crafty!  

Made this Week:
Crocheted away

 

Cravings/Aversions?

Finally had those homemade chocolate chip cookies!! It was really hard to not eat the cookie dough as I made them - its my favorite part! The cookies did not disappoint!

   

Movement?
Yes, yes and yes! Baby has been moving up and down a lot, but still must be in breech position based on kicks being low. Better than kicks in the ribs I guess. Although the dancing on the bladder has tricked me into thinking I have to pee when I don't!

Towards the end of the week the kicks weren't as low, but I think baby is maybe laying across my middle now.

Feeling?

Overall pretty good! Nose is quite stuffy still, but that can be medication related. My skin is still all over the place. Reflux is still horrible, I'd be lost without my tums!! 

Sciatica has started this week, I felt this during a previous week, but had no clue what it was. After looking into it more, turns out to be exactly that. Luckily it comes and goes, but when it comes, it hurts!! 

I did have one afternoon of just feeling off, my stomach was rock hard for the afternoon and evening. I still haven't figured out what it was, but laying down for an hour and a bit helped.

This week I was pretty sick of sitting at home.

Highlights:
Starting off my first week in the 3rd Trimester!! We are in the home stretch now!!

Sitting in the nursery with M just chatting about the baby, life in general, etc. for an hour, for no reason other than we had to go upstairs to check for forgotten Christmas presents and were side tracked once again by how amazing it is to have a nursery!! We both love just sitting up there in the baby's room.

   

Belly Button?

In, but it is getting flatter and flatter. 

 

Wedding Rings?
On and really loose.

Best Moment of the Week?

 I think getting out of the house is a close second to hitting the 3rd trimester!!

Next week I will be leaving the house more often and I am excited about it!! 

Crazy Pregnancy Moment:

  Probably baking with M. I love being able to just laugh with him to the point of crying, but not sappy crying this time!! 

 

Bump Pic:

 

Previous Week's Comparison:

   

Doesn't look like much of a difference!!! lol! But it is! 18 weeks was the first week the baby sat high!

Looking Forward To:

  Celebrating Christmas - our last year as just M and I. But feeling soo incredibly blessed with this sweet babe in my belly. 

Best. Gift. Ever.