kim through
   the looking glass

Congrats to my big sister, Jenny, who had her second baby, a little girl, born AT HOME yesterday afternoon after a 3.5 hour labour

Introducing Alice Catherine, 9lbs, 21″ - isn’t she absolutely beautiful??

I can’t believe that 2009 is nearing it’s end already. I feel like the last few months have gone by in a blink and I’m terrified to think about the fact that after this holiday season is said and done, I’ll be due to have a baby in just 6 weeks.

Ack.

Wish me luck as tomorrow I host my first Christmas with my family! My sister Jenny is heavily pregnant and, truth be told, we all assumed she’d have had a baby by now, so she wasn’t planning to come home for the holidays. My sister Becky didn’t think she was going to be able to make it to Ontario over Christmas, but ended up sneaking over for a few days before heading back to spend Christmas with her fiance. This is, literally, the first year we have not all been home for Christmas. Waking up in my parents’ house, having a quick snack with tea/coffee, heading downstairs to a beautifully decorated living room strewn with presents and spending the day with one another. This is the weirdest Christmas Eve I’ve ever experienced. It’s not bad … just very, very different.

This Christmas, I will, for the first time, wake up in the house that I own with my husband and daughter. We’ll enjoy a Christmas morning feast with my brother-in-law and get the turkey in the oven. My parents will be making their way to my house around noon and we’ll be opening gifts and stockings. I’m planning dinner for around 3:00 pm. This will be the first turkey I’ve made!

Wow.

Like I said, wish me luck!

On Friday, I had my 29 week appointment. According to their wildly inaccurate scales (the one I normally weigh myself on is 10 lbs less than most scales, and that bathroom was out of order, so I weighed myself in the other), I’ve gained 30 lbs. I’m 99.8% sure I’ve gained around 20, so I’m trying not to be too concerned!! Read the rest of this entry »

Check out this fantastic post by my friend Kathryn @ Home Spun Soul - Christmas Competition. Here’s the comment I left:

TWO HUGE THUMBS UP!!!

It disturbs me how much emphasis is placed on Santa. Our children will know that Santa is a fairy tale based on a true story and adults like to pretend he’s real and many kids therefore think he’s real too. I don’t plan on getting their picture taken with Santa or “doing Santa” in our house, although I think the spirit of the idea can be fun

What do you think about the Santa debate?

Sigh.

Over the weekend, I developped a reddened, sore lump on the back on my leg behind my knee. I called the thrombosis clinic that I went to a few weeks ago and they made me an appointment for the next day.

After a quick examination and a compression ultrasound, I was diagnosed with Superficial Thrombophlebitis, which is a clot in a superficial vein. No deep vein involvement, thankfully. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey all! Stay tuned for an upcoming review of the documentary ‘Dive’. For now, I wanted to show you a few videos that I’m loving!

The first is the winning music video made for round 3 of the Sakura Bloom Triathlon @ Adventures in Babywearing. How creative is this??!

Second, a TED talk from Sir Ken Robinson about creating a school system that nurtures creativity in children … it’s a bit on the long side but is a FASCINATING talk.

Third, a trailer from the movie BABIES … I can’t wait to see this one!

And because I can’t possibly do a video sharing post without including them, here’s my favourite New Zealand folk parody band, Flight of the Conchords, performing their song Business Time.

Enjoy!

Just for kicks I checked out my belly pics from my pregnancy with Gwen Read the rest of this entry »

Brad’s brother, Dave, has been staying with us for just over a month. He’s a student of architecture (finished his undergrad this past summer and will be starting his Masters in September 2010) and it’s been so much fun to dream with him about our home! Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t believe I’m 27 weeks - officially in my third trimester. Only 10 more weeks until I’m full-term. Um - ACK.

Time for an update, methinks!

Overall, I’m feeling fantastic. A bit of back pain every now and then, but nothing like when I was pregnant with Gwen. I think a lot of that had to do with my job, so I’m so so so thankful that I’m able to stay at home this time around! With Gwen, I was sleeping with a Snoogle by the end of my first trimester … this time, I’m still sleeping with only one pillow - the one under my head! I find the back pain the worst on the days where Gwen wants to be carried a lot … and it makes me so sad when I’m not able to do it

I went to see a Thrombosis specialist a few weeks ago. He was unconcerned with my veins - in fact, he said that I was experiencing completely common symptoms among women who suffer from pregnancy-induced varicose veins. He reassured me that having varicose veins during pregnancy only slightly increases your risk - if at all - of developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) post-partum. He said I’m definitely at risk for superficial clots (thrombophlebitis), but barely at an increased risk of DVT. That made me feel a TONNE better and I’m hoping that will help ease others’ concerns as well. They sent me for a compression ultrasound of the veins on my left leg just as a baseline, since I’ve still got a whole trimester to go, but it was, thankfully, negative and I was free to go! He also let me know that full-length hose are completely unnecessary and that thigh-high vs. full-length is merely a matter of preference and comfort. Please shoot me. I’ve been wearing full-length since mid-summer and have hated Every. Minute. Of it. He also suggested I wear hose on only the only leg, since it’s the most commonly affected and I show no symptoms of anything happening on my right leg. Maybe in the new year I’ll buy a new pair of thigh-high hose!

Brad has now felt Love Bug move a bunch of times - he/she is VERY strong already! I think we’re both finally starting to feel real excitement about this new addition to our family - excited to meet him/her and excited to see how our family is going to change!