SHOW ME THAT BELLY!

SHOW ME THE BELLY! As you can tell I am getting larger EVERY DAY! I had to take a picture because I have never felt so large and stretched in my entire life... the sad thing is I am going to stretch even more. Oh well! I just wanted to document my growth for you.... hope I didn't gross you out too much!

32 weeks!

• By now, mybaby is just shy of 4 pounds and is nearly 17 inches long, taking up a lot of space in my uterus.



• I'm gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to my baby.



• In fact, it'll gain a third to half of its birth weight during the next 7 weeks as it fattens up for survival outside the womb.



• It now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz).



• Its skin is becoming soft and smooth as it plumps up in preparation for birth.

Home From Calgary!

We are home from Calgary! What a wonderful time we had, we sure packed a lot into 2 days. We got to go shopping, to the zoo and catch up with some friends that we had not seen in years. Such a fun time! The trip there and home were both uneventful. We watched a couple of DVD's on the portable player so that made the time pass quickly. Of course we got to IKEA but I didn't find as much stuff as I hoped to find. It was just so busy and overwhelming. I think I can do just as good here at Home Sense and Superstore, so I will keep shopping in the city. I am glad to be home!

Off to Calgary!

Here is my belly at 31 weeks and 5 days! Can't believe how large I am getting. It is starting to get uncomfortable because I am carrying all of the baby in the front of me. Hardly an stretch marks yet but there are a few in the works!!! BRUTAL! Oh welll. My wedding set doesn't fit my fingers anymore so I wear a plain gold band. Atleast I have something on my finger :)

We are off to Calgary today to enjoy a nice weekend! Tuesday is our 3rd wedding anniversary so we decided to go away and have a little downtime. One last short trip before the baby comes to our house! I am so excited for Ikea on Sunday. I can hardly contain myself. I will be taking the camera so expect some pics!

Have a good weekend everyone!!

Love,

Growing Melissa

31 week update!

• My baby measures about 16 inches long.
• It weighs a little over 3 pounds and is heading into a growth spurt.
• My precious baby can turn its head from side to side, and its arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath its skin.
• The baby is moving a lot, too, so I have trouble sleeping because my baby's kicks and somersaults keep me up. (But I take comfort: All this moving is a sign that my baby is active and healthy.)
• I don't feel the baby move the same as before though, it is because it is running out of room in the uterous. It is more squirming I feel.
• The baby will gain on average another 2 pounds before delivery!
• It's organs are continuing to mature and the baby passes water from the bladder now. (Practising for urinating when it is born)

Muffins :)

This morning I woke up and felt like I should do some baking! So I got busy and made some yogurt blueberry muffins, MMMMmmm!! I used this light recipe so they are not as tasty as they could be but they are still good. I was getting sick of fruit-loops for breakfast every day. I use to never eat breakfast but now that I am pregnant I wake up just starving! So muffins it is today!

Last night we came home once again scared to death of labour after prenatal. I honestly am dreading this delivery!!! Why does it have to be so painful and why does the woman have to do it? God was not being very equal when he decided that it will be the woman who brings the children into the world. Also, I am quite mad at Eve for eating that apple!!! If she hadn't had eaten that apple we would have painless labour, stupid woman! I hope her labours were long and painful!! I hope I am one of the 2% of women who have painless childbirths, that would just be amazing :)

Where The Green Grass Grows

Where The Green Grass Grows - Tim McGraw

Six lanes,

tail lights

Red ants marchin into the night

They disappear to the left and right again

Another supper

From a sack

A 99 cent heart attak

I got a poundin head and an achin back

And the camels standin in a big straw stack

Im gonna live where the green grass grows

Watch my corn pop up in rows

Every night be tucked in close to you

Raise our kids where the good lords blessed

Point our rockin chairs towards the west

And plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows

Where the green grass grows

Well Im from

A map dot

A stop sign on a blacktop

I caught the first bus that I could hop from there

But all o this glitter is gettin dark

Theres concreate growin in the city park

I dont know who my neighbors are

And theres bars on the corner and bars on my heart

Im gonna live where the green grass grows

Watch my corn pop up in rows

Every night be tucked in close to you

Raise our kids where the good Lords Blessed

Point our rockin chairs towards the west

And plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows

Where the green grass grows

I will be the first to admitt that I could hardly wait to get leave this city of Regina. I told many of you time and time again that I was leaving as soon as I could. But now I love this city and this province. James and I went out to Deer Valley yesterday and on our way back into the city this Tim McGraw song played on our radio. I just looked out into the fields that the farmers were combining, so golden and beautiful, and thought there is no other place I would rather call home than Saskatchewan. My family has left and often ask us when we will follow them but I don't think we will. Saskactchewan is our home and we are proud to be here. We have great friends, family close by and we are excited to raise our family in the same province that we were raised in.

The first verse in "Where The Green Grass Grows" reminds me of places like Calgary and Edmonton where its just a hustle and bustle of people and cars. Concrete and cement, it's a big city life. Some people thrive on it and could never handle living in a prairie city. But that's not where I want to raise my family. I want to live in a place where I can sit on my porch and watch my kids run around outside in fields. I want to live in a quiet, peaceful place where no one is in a hurry to get somewhere. We take each day as it comes and thank the good Lord for the blessings he has provided us. I want to live where the green grass grows!

That's why I am so excited to move to Emerald Park. That community reminds James of the small town Saskacthewan he grew up in. You can take your kids quading in the fields, maybe hit a couple balls at the golf course, but mainly it's the peacefulness of small town living that draws us out there. I am excited to raise our family here in Saskatchewan. We are not a big province but we are a powerful province. The beauty and the peacefulness that can be found here is like no other, we are blesed. Sure you can see for miles and there are no trees or mountains in the way, but that's amazing! We are like no other place, our city is unique and special. I look forward to many years here in this great province we call home!

One mouse down!

We caught one!!!! James and I picked up some mouse traps from Canadian Tire last night and set them out in the garage. We were lying in bed and James told me to go and check the traps to see if we caught one yet. There was NO WAY I was going to go and peek in the trap, so James said that if there is one dead he was going to bring it in a put it in the bed. I was a little scared but then I realized that if there was one dead James would never pick it up because he hates mice so much. So off James went to check the trap... 40 seconds later James comes running back into the room to tell me that one trap was set off and the other trap has a mouse in it. Did he bring the mouse in to show me like he threatened, of course not! So he went back out into the garage but soon came back in and said he didn't want to deal with that dead mouse. So he just set the one trap back up and then came inside. This morning the trap without a mouse in it was set off but no mouse. So.... we still have atleast one dirty pest to catch still! But one is gone :)

Nesting Bake/Cooking Fest

So Sleepy!

What a week it has been! I am tired today for some reason and I am not sure why. I don't really have a good excuse for being tired, other than being 30 weeks pregnant, haha.

We had prenatal last night and it was on the stages of labour. James and I had a good discussion on the way home about the classes and what we are learning. I told him that I don't really enjoy discussing labour or watching videos of labouring women because it really scares me and get's me a little anxious. I just see how much pain and discomfort these women are in and think to myself, oh gosh, that's me in a couple weeks??!! It's kind of like watching someone take a massive wipe out or hurt themselves really bad and then think, "Okay, my turn!" James and I concluded that we should not really think about the labour until we are in it because there is nothing you can do about it, it's going to happen one way or another. James also said that he knows it's going to suck, but in the end it's only a couple hours of pain and then you have this little bundle of joy to love for the rest of your life! I think that thought alone will get me through it! Especially when you have been waiting to meet this special baby for 9 months, a couple hours of REAL pain is just a small price to pay for this precious gift God has given us.

Today I am having a bake/cooking fest with Lyndsay and Stephanie Gladysz. We are each bringing a recipe that we would like to try and we will all cook it together. I am bringing a recipe that I got from my aunt Christy, "Chicken Packets", that I have not made but have heard really good reviews on. Lyn I think is bringing a muffin recipe and I am not totally sure what Steph has decided on. I still have to run by Safeway and pick up the ingredients that I need for mine. Hopefully they have everything there!

James bought a new truck yesterday!!! It's honestly one of the nicest trucks I have seen and I am so excited to drive in it. It's a 2004 Dodge 1500, crew cab (4 door), Hemi (5.7 L engine) that is black in colour! We drove it around last night but I know that it won't be long until it is filled with dirt and junk like his Ford F250 is. Now Trademark has 2 trucks for on site and James can do other things in the day without feeling like he needs to be there incase someone needs to run and get something. It's good for James too because he really needs to start cracking down on his courses. James is taking the New Home Builders Course from the Saskatchewan Home Building Association. Trademark has already been approached by some people to build some new houses for them, so James is eager to start that project as well. Looks like there is no slowing down in the new home construction business, but that is really great for us!

James told me this morning that we have a mouse in our garage!! I almost jumped out of bed I was so scared. I asked him if he thought it was in the house too and he said no. He noticed this morning that the little pest ate its way through the garage door during the night so we have to be careful when opening the door that leads from the garage to the house. GROSS! The funny thing is James is scared of mice so if it is actually in the house we will be in trouble... oh dear, oh dear, the joys of living across the street from an undeveloped field!

Well, I should head on over to Safeway and get my stuff for the cookfest. Hope everyone has a great day today and a great rest of the week :)

Love,
Melissa