Bought Kelsie's coming home outfit!

Yesterday after work Allan and I went to the mall for awhile, I bought myself some much needed new shoes from Aldo and then we went to Gymboree. I saw the cutest blanket and I love their blankets, so I bought it for Kelsie. Then I saw a matching outfit and decided to buy it for her coming home outfit. Then of course I saw a matching hat, and socks, and well - you know Gymboree. LOL! I am not sure which pieces she'll wear home now, we'll see!

Wonderful Update

My step-father was released from the hospital yesterday - he's home and doing very well!

Prayers Needed

As you may or may not have heard, on Friday (yes Friday the 13th!) my Step-dad Frank had a heart attack.

Thank God they were in Saskatoon at the time so the trip to the hospital was fast. He should be okay, from what I understand it was fairly mild. He's in the ICU and had surgery today but I think he'll get through this just fine.

However, any extra thoughts and prayers his way would be much appreciated. As always it's so hard to be away from family at times like this. I wish I could visit, I wish I could take care of the house and animals so Mom could spend her time at the hospital and not be driving back and forth, etc. But I can't - so here I am hoping and praying and waiting for updates.

Last Tuesday was my big anatomy ultrasound where they checked Kelsie's heart, brain, spine, etc. They had a resident in there learning so it was extra long and as far as I know, everything checked out A-ok! They don't give you the full report, my doctor will do that at my next appointment on April 2nd, but they went over the heart and it's chambers, the spine, the brain, etc. with us and everything was great.

On Thursday I was back in the hospital with more pains though :( I think I over did it again this week with work, PAC meetings and soccer registrations. I need to take it easy and it's hard for me to do that. I'm now limiting myself to work and one activity (meeting) a week. This week it's movie night at the school on the 20th.

I've chosen and ordered our diaper bag - I can't wait for it to arrive. With both Madison and Annika I bought cheapies at Toys R Us and Walmart but they broke and we always bought at least two in their infancy. This time I splurged for a Skip Hop bag, I love it and it has glowing reviews!! I really love how it attaches to the stroller handle and doesn't take up the basket.

19 weeks

A few of you have asked to see a belly pic, so here it is! I am coming down with Annika's cold so my head was chopped off ;)

I feel smaller than I was with both M and A's pregnancies but then again I haven't gained near the amount of weight as I did with them either.

I am feeling great lately pregnancy wise. No more scares and I'm off of bed rest. Back to work, and all of my activities - which makes for a busy life but hey, the time passes more quickly!

Last night I had a meeting at the Community Centre for the soccer program and tonight and Tuesday night I have to man the registration tables for outdoor Mini Soccer. Both girls will be playing again this year, which means we have soccer Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights!! Add Allan's baseball Tuesday and Thursday nights to the mix and it's going to be a busy May & June!!

Today I am volunteering to help with pizza lunch at Madison's school and then I have my 20 week doctor's appointment and then I'm going to get my hair done (all before registration tonight!)

Should be a long day ;) I'll update after my appointment if anything eventful happens but I think it will be pretty basic. My next ultrasound (the big one where they check organs, measurements, etc.) is on Tuesday so cross your fingers everything goes well for that!

Lazy Day

I have been feeling a lot better lately. While I've had some cramping I attribute it to growing and stretching pains and nothing more. I am looking forward to my doctor's appointment on Thursday to confirm everything is okay but I'm confident it is.

I found out I did have a bad infection two weeks ago, so that is why all the cramping and contractions. I don't know why the doctor's office didn't call and let me know - ugh!

I go back to work on Monday (unless I become a Millionaire for Life tonight ;)) and I'm looking forward to that. It's boring sitting at home all day alone. I couldn't keep the girls home with me because I couldn't get off the couch and do anything like make lunch for them, not to mention walking Madison back and forth to school.

Madison and Annika are both so excited for Kelsie. Madison took all of the ultrasound photos to school on Friday to share with her classmates.

Today the girls were supposed to have dance but we all slept in and just skipped it this week. It was nice to not be rushing off in the morning. Allan and Madison did go out and brave Superstore this afternoon while Annika and I stayed home.

Tomorrow M's going to her friend's house to play and I need to go out and buy some clothes, I can't squeeze into pre-pregnancy clothes anymore and I leant someone almost all of my maternity clothes awhile ago, so I'm in desperate need of a shopping spree but haven't felt up to going out. Since I need to work all week and we have a strict "no pajamas" dress code, I have no choice!

Hope you're having a great weekend!!

Kelsie McKenna Grace CLICK PIC TO ENLARGE!

Profile with her hand under her chin.

Profile

Hand by face, sucking her thumb.

Waving Hello

Face, side of body, hand.
Stretching, profile with head tilted back.

Stretching profile again.


Leg and foot.

Side of her body, arm and leg up.

Profile with arm under chin

Leg and foot and money shot.

Arm

We had a second ultrasound at Babymoon Ultrasound today as we weren't able to get good profile pictures last week. Well this time was so much fun as Kelsie was moving all over. She was moving her hands and mouth, we could actually watch her suck her thumb! She kicked around like crazy too. Hopefully Allan can figure out how to get to get the DVD online!

Introducing ...

Kelsie McKenna Grace

Kelsie is a name we love. McKenna is after my Grandpa (Kenneth) and Grace is after Allan's sister. Her name is Jennifer Ann, the meaning of Ann is God's Grace.

Yes, another girl. We grow them so well we figure why stop with a good thing? ;) Click on each photo for a larger view!

Pregnancy Update

I am 17 weeks and 1 day pregnant today - the past week has been horrible but I'm hoping things start looking up from here!

I've been cramping off and on for a week and been in the hospital for it twice now. Nobody can figure out what's going on. I had an ultrasound and the baby and everything else looked just fine. They took blood, urine, etc. and ran all sorts of tests which all came back normal.

I went back to work on Friday just long enough to go to the dentist and find out I need a root canal and then once back at work I was really dizzy and had to go home. I layed low all weekend but Sunday night I was cramping again and Monday it was worse. Back to the doctor yesterday who did more tests, gave me another prescription and told me to stay home in bed for 10 days and see what happens.

I am worried but I'm trying to stay positive. I have my gender ultrasound tomorrow (we had to re-book since I was in the hospital last Thursday) and I can't wait to see if this baby is a boy or girl.

Heartbeat

A friend leant me her doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat at home. I didn't think to take video until after I'd listened for awhile so the baby started squirming away.

The videos are only good in the beginning, then the baby moves. Thursday is our big gender ultrasound!

Enjoy.

Finally

Madison's friend is sleeping over tonight and the girls enjoyed pizza and popcorn while watching High School Musical 3. Because they were so transfixed by the tv I was able to finally upload our photos from Christmas.

Once I got them to bed Allan and I watched Marley and Me. Wow - what a tear jerker of a movie. We were both bawling by the end. Ok, I was bawling and Allan had a tear or two in his eye ;) Fabulous movie, I recommend it to everyone but stock up on kleenex first.

Hope you enjoyed the pics! I'm not going to caption them all, they're from Christmas at either my work Children's party, Allan's parents house or Mom's house. Gift opening was at Allan's parents, the zoo (aka numerous cats and dogs) is at Mom's ;) You can click on each photo to open a larger version and right click to steal it and save a copy of your own. (For those of you who complain you have no photos of the girls ;)

Is it a boy or a girl?

My big ultrasound is scheduled for March 10th (I'll be 20 weeks) and we scheduled it at the hospital that is supposed to tell you the gender of the baby. With Annika we had our u/s at another hospital and they wouldn't tell us if she was a boy or a girl - which drove me crazy because while I love shopping, I don't much like green and yellow clothes!

However - I have zero patience. I want to know and I want to know now! I made an appointment at Babymoon Ultrasound, it's a bit pricey but we'll get pictures, a CD of pictures and a DVD and of course - we'll find out the gender a month earlier! My appointment is for Thursday, February 12th. What do you think - boy or girl?

I also purchased my first item for the baby. It's a pouch for carrying the baby - since this baby will be born in the middle of summer I'm sure we'll be outside a lot. I had a pouch with Annika and loved it and since we'll be out and about and walking the girls to and from school four times a day - I figured it would get a lot of use! This is the one I chose ...

Long Overdue

It's been a long time since I've updated our blog - I apologize!! Between the girls, work, setting up a soccer program at the Community Club, PTA meetings and everything else - there is no time!!

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday in Saskatchewan. We were able to visit many family and friends and because of bad weather had an extended holiday so it didn't feel rushed. We finally returned on January 3rd and unfortunatly discovered that somehow our computer was fried while we were gone. It won't turn on, it won't do anything. This means I have to use Allan's laptop and can't download any of our holiday pictures. Hopefully Allan can get the desktop up and running soon!!

As you probably have heard - we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby number 3!! We're due July 28th. I'll work until the end of June and then I'll finally be able to stay home with my girls again - and welcome a new baby to that mix!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful 2009 - I'll try to throw an update up here more often!

RIP Grandpa

We're home from Regina, and sadly the funeral of my Grandpa Bank. It was a sad time, but I take great comfort in knowing he is finally reunited with Grandma, who I know he missed so much.

Most of the time we're quite content here in Winnipeg and while we miss family and friends and wish we could see them more often, we're grateful for the good friends we've made here, our great jobs and the community around us. However, times like this really make me wish we were living in Regina. Not only so we would be around when we know others need us, but because it makes you think of all of the times you have missed by being so far away.

I wish we could have seen Grandpa more, I wish the girls knew their Great Grandfather better.

We'll miss you Grandpa.

Happy Turkey Day

I tried to post this earlier but Blogger ate my post - this version will be much shorter as I have to get up and go to work in 6 hours!!

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend, unfortunatly we didn't make it to Regina but we had a great visit with Allan's parents. Annika especially became a "grandpa's girl" and even cried when Grandpa left.

This evening we've been watching the election results roll in - I am disappointed in the voter turn out and can't understand why people don't take more of an interest in it. You're talking about your day to day life, your health care, your education, your finances, your FUTURE! Why people can't take fifteen minutes to get out and vote I'll never understand.

The voter turnout is showing as almost 60% for our area, 40% for Canada overall - I sure hope that increases as the last votes roll in. How sad if it's less than 50%. Pathetic really!

Ok - that's all for now - bedtime! I can't stay up and watch CTV all night, or I'll never make it to work tomorrow which is sure to be a long busy day with all of the late press to publish the results!