The Ultrasound

Our little dinosaur just became a baby. It was quick, quicker than I'd imagined. She said, it's a girl, and click… she's a baby, she's real. No longer is there just something growing down there but there's someone, someone I already love so much I'm surprised.
Someone with adorable 3 cm long feet and legs that aren't short little Wiebe legs (yet), with lips that move and hands that wave.

I've seen lots of these ultrasound pictures and they never really mean anything to me, but this one is different, this one is beautiful, because this one is mine. My beautiful Catherine Mae Wiebe "Catie"
L

A Little Rant-y

We didn't expect it to be so easy but boy or girl we have a name picked out, that even includes the middle names. They're names that mean something to us and we really love them so we're excited to see which one we get to use.


Now to backtrack for a minute… there are a few things about pregnancy that I don't understand. It's nothing but a difference of opinion and despite my not understanding I'm completely supportive of those who think differently than me, this is in no way me telling others that they're wrong.

I don't understand not wanting to find out the sex of your baby. The technology is there, I'm not the type of person that wants that surprise. There are enough things going on that I can't control, I'll take advantage of the few that I can.

Next… finding out the sex of your baby but not telling anyone. Why find out if you can't share your good news? And wouldn’t it be obvious once you started buying only pink clothes? There's no way I'd be able to keep it a secret if we knew.

And thirdly (and this is where the start of my post comes back). I was recently at a baby shower where the Mom is due any day. They've chosen not to tell anyone the name they've picked out for their baby boy (a fine choice) and I casually mentioned that once we find out what we're having we'll have no problem sharing our chosen name. Suddenly about three women I didn't even know where listening popped in to say, "Oh no, you can't tell the baby's name. You have to have at least one surprise." That last statement… you have to have at least one surprise… why? And it's not a surprise to me, I already know the name. So why do you have to have one surprise in my pregnancy.

Another women said that people would tell us all the reasons why our chosen name is so awful and I think that's terrible! If I tell you my son's name will be Frankincense, named after my great, great grandfather who did some amazing thing, and you don't like it then if you're any sort of friend I absolutely expect you to lie to me and tell me how nice it is that I've chosen a name that means something to us. It's not your decision, it's mine.

This is all on my mind as the ultra sound date approaches and we get closer to finding out if we're have an Abigail or a Justin.

So if you're the type that loves the gender surprise and waited to tell people the babies name when you knew the sex then tell me why. Tell me what you loved about it and if you'd make the same decision again. I'm interested in understanding that point of view.
L

(Neither of our picked names have been included in the above post, don't worry, we're not calling our son Frankincense.)

Homeless

It's still a little early but it's getting to be time to find somewhere to live in Lethbridge. Today I did a preliminary search just to see what out there and I learned a few things:

• Online rental websites for Lethbridge are disappointing
• Rental prices are much higher than I would have anticipated
• Basement suites look just as crappy down there as they do up here, I refuse to live in one.

So if you know of any great places up for rent the middle of August let me know, here's what we're looking for.

• Must be located on the South Side, we'll consider the North if it's great
• We need at least two bedrooms, preferably 3
• There must be laundry on-site and not 4 floors down either. That resulted in a serious lack of laundry ever being done

We're excited to move and I wish it would come faster.
L

Popcorn

I've always loved popcorn, I think it's the best part of going to the movies and a great snack anytime. My Dad used to make it when we were little and had already gone to bed and I would always come up with some sneaky way to get out of bed and eat a bowl. My tactics included a glass of water and having to go to the bathroom, I'm sure Dad never suspected a thing.

You can imagine my delight when I felt a little popcorn popping inside me last night. Glad to feel the babies first movement (at least I think that's what it was) and I look forward to feeling it more often.
L

Practice Makes Perfect

A Story about My Pee

I have this ultrasound coming up and every time I thought about it I was really nervous, you have to drink a lot of water before you go and hold it in for a long time. I've heard these horror stories of women who cried because they had to pee so badly and was starting to feel a bit of anxiety about it.

I decided the only way to not feel so nervous was to practice. So last night at 8:30 I emptied my bladder and then started in on my 1 liter. You have half an hour to drink it and then you need to hold it in for an hour, sounds scary right?

Turns out I have a marathon bladder and it really wasn't that bad. My only remaining fear is that the car seems to be a trigger for me, every time I get in I realize I need to pee so I'm a little worried about the drive to the ultrasound but I proved last night that I can handle it no problem.

I think tonight I'll make Brad do it with me, just so we can see who can hold it the longest.
L

Changes

I really didn't mean that last post to be so cliff-hangery and it's not really a big deal, most of you know most of our plan anyway. I've been holding off blogging since I haven't told my work, but none of them read my blog and what do I care, I'm leaving anyway :)

So here's our big, life changing plan that most of you know already… and finally brings about Denise and my real life friendship.

In September Brad will be starting school at the University of Lethbridge.

Brad has loved going to Mount Royal, he likes the small classes and isn't interested in finishing his degree at the UofC. We're really excited to temporarily move to a smaller city and enjoy ourselves for a couple years. We've had this plan for almost a year now and it's exciting now that it's getting closer.

Recently we've added to these life decisions a little by deciding that if Brad does school full time, no working then he can finish in two years. He loves the idea of being finished so in August we both get to quit our jobs and neither of us needs a new one!

Big changes for us though, all within a month we get to move to a new city, start at a new school and have a baby. August/September should be pretty interesting.
L

Easter Weekend

This was a much needed break… the first couple months of the year always seem extra long and this year it was even worse.

The weekend included lots of time with family, some card playing, super yummy food, chocolate, playing catch, nephews, a day of pajamas and candy. It was pretty much perfect.

It also included a few exciting big decisions about the future to be shared at a later date.
L

Superstore

I was bored at work so I start doing a little blog hopping. I was led to the Baker Family blog where I read a post on a not so pleasant Superstore shopping experience.

As I'm reading I'm having thoughts like, "Well of course carts are a dollar." And "Bagging your groceries is so normal". Not understanding her pain and honestly feeling a little superior for my big city living. Someone even left this comment regarding the entry, "I don't think anyone ever leaves that place happy" and I was thinking how untrue that was and I'm often satisfied there.

I blame it on the fact that Brad does the majority of our shopping, especially the Superstore shopping, because it took me a while to remember that I HATE Superstore. I always leave there angry and I can totally relate to her experience. You do walk down the same aisle three times and still can't find what you want and they're always out of the most random things. Like one day I wanted icing sugar and was out of luck, or yesterday it was green peppers.

So I apologize for my snooty attitude and I'm with you Mandy, that place is awful! Too bad some of their prices are so awesome.
L

What Kind of Candy are You?

I took this quiz once before but it seemed appropriate to re-take now considering my current craving.



discover what candy you are @ quiz me

Turns out when you pick all the lazy answers you're a candy necklace.

L

How's Married Life?

You know how when you first got married and everybody asked you the same question in exactly the same words? "So, how's married life?"

Well it turns out there's a new questions when you're pregnant, "How are you feeling?"

Now if you're a friend or family member I'm glad you're concerned and I'm happy to answer but so many people who didn't care how I was feeling before I was pregnant don't know what else to say, so I get the question. I answer with, "Good". Then there's an awkward silence as they wait for me to elaborate, but I have no desire to elaborate.

When it was the marriage question I was tempted to answer with something like, "Worst mistake I ever made." Perhaps I'll have to start answering this one with as many graphic, gross medical conditions as I can think of :)
L

Calzones

The Wiebe's have a tradition, for birthday's we all get together and have dinner. Sometimes we have lasagna, or burgers. Or we've had beef on a bun or hoagie sandwiches but by far our most successful and crowd pleasing dinner was on Sunday afternoon.

Lisa had the brilliant idea to have us all make our own individual Calzones. My Mother-in-law and I made a ton of pizza dough and then I rolled it out into 10" round circles. Everyone brought their favorite topping and there was lots of cheese.

Everything was lined up on the counter and the assembly began. It wasn't the quickest meal as you had to wait for them to cook and there's enough of us that they definitely don't all fit in the oven at once but I think everyone was thrilled with their pizza and was completely satisfied. Hopefully we'll repeat this awesome meal.

There was one downside to the meal… my pizza dough was the last batch of dough my bread machine will ever make. It's been making not great noises when I use it lately and this last time was definitely worse. When I picked up the dough to see what was going on 3 pieces of the motor came with it, it's definitely dead. I suppose this is the encouragement I needed to start using my Kitchenaid.
L

Candy Land

Lately I've had a couple people ask me if I've had any cravings and there really hadn't been any one thing that I had to have, until this weekend.

Candy. I'm all about candy these days. Swedish Berries and licorice and sour straws, really any sort of gummy candy will do. I can't stop eating it because I just can't get enough. I suppose it could be worse and I could be eating multiple cupcakes all day but I hope my poor teeth make it through this pregnancy.
L