Guess what noise I awoke to this morning, at 5:00 am? Cat yowling outside the bedroom window. Guess who's cat it was? MINE! After a long 6-8 week disappearance, she has returned! She even looks great, well fed and lovely.
So when it was actually time to arise at 7 and the kids got up, I told Ella there was a wonderful surprise for her. She was DELIGHTED and kept saying "I can't believe Puss-puss is home!". So we went out and gave her some lovin'. While I was getting ready for work and the kids were having brecky, Ella kept sneaking back outside to see her. And she had some more interesting ideas of where the cat had been. 1) Hibernating in the garage (that means sleeping for a really long time) 2) Catching mice far away 3) She was home all along, just hiding on us
She was also saying the funniest things to the cat. "Guess what Puss-puss? Mom's having a baby!!!" "We've had lots of mice since you've been gone, now you can catch them for us and leave presents!" "I love you Puss-puss". She was being SO cute and sincere.
We are glad to have our happy wanderer home again :)
Tuesday, 31 July 2012
Monday, 30 July 2012
An apple a day...
So last week the girls and I went to see the doc (who remarkably looks identical to the "red" Wiggle, Murray...my kids call him Dr. Wiggle behind his back) We got to hear the baby's heart beat which came in at 145 beats per minute (fyi, that is in the girl range)
Also during the visit, Dr. Wiggle checked my blood pressure (which has shot up during my third trimester during our first 2 pregnancies, and made life difficult) Lo and behold, it was elevated :( I was really upset, this is SO much sooner than I've ever had issue. So already my nice little once a month check ups have been bumped up to every 2 weeks and I have to start monitoring daily at home. Some other direction the doctor gave were the following:
- No alcohol OR caffeine
- Limit sodium intake to absolute minimum
- 20 mins daily exercise
- No licorice :( **did you know that licorice is high in sodium and linked to bp problems?! I didn't!**
- RELAX
I go back to check in on the 7th, my home readings haven't been too bad. I'm trying to be optimistic :)
Also, a fun little aside, Mike and I have laid money and shook hands about the baby gender. I am SO sure it's a boy, and he is SO sure I'm wrong (again). I've got $50 riding on this, September can't come soon enough, the suspense is torture!
I'm hoping that might be the doctor's response to the baby's gender? One can only wish....
 |
| Anyone see the resemblance?? |
Also during the visit, Dr. Wiggle checked my blood pressure (which has shot up during my third trimester during our first 2 pregnancies, and made life difficult) Lo and behold, it was elevated :( I was really upset, this is SO much sooner than I've ever had issue. So already my nice little once a month check ups have been bumped up to every 2 weeks and I have to start monitoring daily at home. Some other direction the doctor gave were the following:
- No alcohol OR caffeine
- Limit sodium intake to absolute minimum
- 20 mins daily exercise
- No licorice :( **did you know that licorice is high in sodium and linked to bp problems?! I didn't!**
- RELAX
I go back to check in on the 7th, my home readings haven't been too bad. I'm trying to be optimistic :)
Also, a fun little aside, Mike and I have laid money and shook hands about the baby gender. I am SO sure it's a boy, and he is SO sure I'm wrong (again). I've got $50 riding on this, September can't come soon enough, the suspense is torture!
Monday, 23 July 2012
Baby #3
It was with great delight and anxiety that we recently announced the expectation of another baby! Baby Arbanas #3 is coming, due January 20th, 2013. I really and truly am thrilled, and when I say anxiety I just mean that I worry about me being able to do it, like my body holding up and the transition of adding to my little flock.
I have found out, as I've aged, that I have a tendency to be worrysome and anxious about lots of things. I used to consider myself to be so laid back, now "laid back" would never make it onto a self made list of attributes.
Anyways, I am now 14 weeks along and things are going well. Morning sickness has abated (this was the worst I've had although it didn't last as long as normal), I am still very very tired. Tomorrow we (me and the kids) will get to hear the baby's heartbeat at the doctor's office. I've had an ultrasound already and there is definately only 1 baby ;)
The kids are very excited too. Ella is so positive and upbeat about everything, and often mentions things like "when the baby comes...." and "when I'm a big sister again...." . She also often attempts to get Lucy pumped up by saying to her "Wow Lucy! Soon you get to be a big sister too!!!" (she always uses her most enthusiastic voice) Lucy doesn't really seem to get it yet, she insists that she also has a baby in her tummy... I'm sure she'll catch on real quick once the baby arrives...haha. Although, Lucy is the best little mother to her baby dolls and very much adores her younger cousins.
Mike is saying this time that he wants a girl....he is trying "reverse psychology" this time as both times when he's hoped for a boy he's gotten the opposite. We'll see how his logic works out. We are hoping to find out the gender at the end of September! I will be very happy to have a healthy baby of any gender....(such a "mom" thing to say) but it's really true. I actually kind of feel "boy" vibes, we'll have to see if I'm right....
Also on that note, we are gratefully accepting baby boy name suggestions as we have NONE! Ok ok, I have none and Mike likes names like Thor, Jake, Tucker...more or less anything you would name a dog? So feel free to send suggestions our way!
I have found out, as I've aged, that I have a tendency to be worrysome and anxious about lots of things. I used to consider myself to be so laid back, now "laid back" would never make it onto a self made list of attributes.
Anyways, I am now 14 weeks along and things are going well. Morning sickness has abated (this was the worst I've had although it didn't last as long as normal), I am still very very tired. Tomorrow we (me and the kids) will get to hear the baby's heartbeat at the doctor's office. I've had an ultrasound already and there is definately only 1 baby ;)
The kids are very excited too. Ella is so positive and upbeat about everything, and often mentions things like "when the baby comes...." and "when I'm a big sister again...." . She also often attempts to get Lucy pumped up by saying to her "Wow Lucy! Soon you get to be a big sister too!!!" (she always uses her most enthusiastic voice) Lucy doesn't really seem to get it yet, she insists that she also has a baby in her tummy... I'm sure she'll catch on real quick once the baby arrives...haha. Although, Lucy is the best little mother to her baby dolls and very much adores her younger cousins.
Mike is saying this time that he wants a girl....he is trying "reverse psychology" this time as both times when he's hoped for a boy he's gotten the opposite. We'll see how his logic works out. We are hoping to find out the gender at the end of September! I will be very happy to have a healthy baby of any gender....(such a "mom" thing to say) but it's really true. I actually kind of feel "boy" vibes, we'll have to see if I'm right....
Also on that note, we are gratefully accepting baby boy name suggestions as we have NONE! Ok ok, I have none and Mike likes names like Thor, Jake, Tucker...more or less anything you would name a dog? So feel free to send suggestions our way!
Friday, 13 July 2012
Where is Puss-Puss?
Flash back to a year ago, our cat went missing and was assumed dead. Then she miraculously returned!
Back to current day, our cat is missing again :( She has been gone for about 3-4 weeks and is assumed to be dead, again. I'm a little sad but OK as she was aged and had a happy and productive life (consider that her eulogy). But yet again, I've been faced with the challenge of breaking the news to the kids. Lucy didn't really get it. I told Ella that once again our cat has disappeared. She was crushed.
"Oh noooooo! Where did she go mom?!"
"I'm not really sure, but I think she may have died."
"Maybe she went on holidays?...Maybe she left because her and Betty (our dog) weren't best friends any more?...Maybe she found a new family?....Maybe she got lost?"
"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure she went to heaven"
That seemed to have sorted it out for her, as heaven is a wonderful place where great-grandparents live.
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Back to current day, our cat is missing again :( She has been gone for about 3-4 weeks and is assumed to be dead, again. I'm a little sad but OK as she was aged and had a happy and productive life (consider that her eulogy). But yet again, I've been faced with the challenge of breaking the news to the kids. Lucy didn't really get it. I told Ella that once again our cat has disappeared. She was crushed.
"Oh noooooo! Where did she go mom?!"
"I'm not really sure, but I think she may have died."
"Maybe she went on holidays?...Maybe she left because her and Betty (our dog) weren't best friends any more?...Maybe she found a new family?....Maybe she got lost?"
"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure she went to heaven"
That seemed to have sorted it out for her, as heaven is a wonderful place where great-grandparents live.
Mousey-wousey
Our beautiful summer weather has finally arrived! We've been enjoying 30+ degree weather every day this week! One of the perks of living where we do is having my Grandpa 2 doors down and his fabulous in-ground pool! This summer has been a turning point with the kids. Ella is FINALLY getting comfortable in the water and doesn't require any assistance (other than a life jacket). And Lucy has become sensible enough not to jump in randomly and can roam a little pool-side without risking her life. It's great! Finally I can single handedly take the kids swimming without losing my mind.
So we've been hitting up the pool everyday and we all love it! Earlier this week we had my sisters up so there was a couple days of a bigger crowd but yesterday it was just us! Lucy was wandering around a bit and Ella was swimming in the deep end. I took the opportunity to dive under and swim down to where Ella was. When I popped up from below, I noticed something fishy floating around....as I got closer to take a look to my horror it was a dead mouse! (Note: I am ridiculously frightened of mice, my reaction to them typically borders on psychotic) I shrieked (way more calm than usual!) and quickly exited the pool and instructed Ella to do the same! I was brave enough to scoop it out with the net-scoopy-thing and flung it over the fence! Ella and I then started laughing our heads off :) It was pretty funny.
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So we've been hitting up the pool everyday and we all love it! Earlier this week we had my sisters up so there was a couple days of a bigger crowd but yesterday it was just us! Lucy was wandering around a bit and Ella was swimming in the deep end. I took the opportunity to dive under and swim down to where Ella was. When I popped up from below, I noticed something fishy floating around....as I got closer to take a look to my horror it was a dead mouse! (Note: I am ridiculously frightened of mice, my reaction to them typically borders on psychotic) I shrieked (way more calm than usual!) and quickly exited the pool and instructed Ella to do the same! I was brave enough to scoop it out with the net-scoopy-thing and flung it over the fence! Ella and I then started laughing our heads off :) It was pretty funny.
Monday, 9 July 2012
Ella is 5!
So on July 1st, 2012 our daughter Ella turned 5! I cannot believe it's been that many years already as I can still vividly recall her as a newborn! We are so pleased with the little person she is growing into.
Ella is feels very deeply about everything and everyone. Sometimes it worries me to see so much of myself in her! She loves her family with all her heart. She dotes on Lucy, often talking her into playing "kid & mom" which entails Ella making all the rules and schedule and Lucy following obediently. She LOVES animals of all varieties (we wonder if she might become a vet?) and especially likes her responsibility of feeding our dog and letting her out in the morning. Ella can be very shy but tends to warm up quickly and be very friendly. We cannot wait to see what the future has in store for her!
That is first thing in the morning on her big day. We celebrated by having all our family come over for food and cake. She was so happy to have cousins to play with! And even got the #1 item on her list, an Easy Bake Oven! :)
Ella is feels very deeply about everything and everyone. Sometimes it worries me to see so much of myself in her! She loves her family with all her heart. She dotes on Lucy, often talking her into playing "kid & mom" which entails Ella making all the rules and schedule and Lucy following obediently. She LOVES animals of all varieties (we wonder if she might become a vet?) and especially likes her responsibility of feeding our dog and letting her out in the morning. Ella can be very shy but tends to warm up quickly and be very friendly. We cannot wait to see what the future has in store for her!
Body body
This post is not what I envisioned for my first post back after the long absence, but whatever, I have a few minutes and it's where my mind is at today!
I've been thinking a lot about my body lately, and got an e-mail this week that tapped right into my line of thinking.
"A woman's attitude toward her own body is fraught with misconceptions fueled by a world that celebrates an almost prepubescent female body as the ideal norm. For most of us, time moves on. We are not seventeen, a number of children have made their way through our birth canals, and gravity is exerting its inexorable pull. Whenever we look in the mirror, we are reminded of what we are not....
I cannot help but think, as I remember the births of each of my children, that this human body, also can make us most divine--that the peculiar pains of a woman's flesh reach her exquisitely, intimately. What they teach she cannot know beforehand or even know that she needs to know. But when the pain subsides or is grown accustomed to, she realizes that some time during the darkest of nights or mundanest of mornings, knowledge has descended like the dews from heaven and enlarged her soul....
Unfortunately, the experience has also enlarged her hips and thighs. Stretch marks ornament my breasts and hips like silver ribbons. My hips are two sizes wider, my feet a size bigger than when I was married--my very bones have expanded in response to my mothering. Some of the effects are temporary, just for the moments of pregnancy....these pass in their time, but the memory remains....
In that memory lies the glory of this earthly body: though we may be resurrected in a perfect frame, the lessons taught me by my mother-body will rise with me. The sacrifice, the pain, the fear and faith of my mothering will sink into my soul and remain with me in the eternities. My spirit and this woman's body inseparably connected constitute my fullness of joy...
Time writes its messages on all of us. Our very bodies have become our book of life, "an account of our obedience or disobedience written in our bodies." To what have we been obedient? To the purpose for which we were made; to provide a body and a safe haven for the spirits entrusted to our care. If we mother well, we wear out our lives bringing to pass the lives of others. Of the physical fruits--our wider hips, our sagging breasts, our flatter feet, and rounder buttocks--we need not be so ashamed." - Tessa Meyer Santiago
Maybe it's been that I've been thinking hard about instilling good self image and body image for my girls (and myself), maybe it's been all the Dove Self Esteem Fund commercials on TV that make me cry. I don't really know, but I feel like I shoulder a big responsibility having been entrusted with daughters in this world that would have us view ourselves on such a harsh scale. Anyways, I vow to be kinder to myself.
I've been thinking a lot about my body lately, and got an e-mail this week that tapped right into my line of thinking.
"A woman's attitude toward her own body is fraught with misconceptions fueled by a world that celebrates an almost prepubescent female body as the ideal norm. For most of us, time moves on. We are not seventeen, a number of children have made their way through our birth canals, and gravity is exerting its inexorable pull. Whenever we look in the mirror, we are reminded of what we are not....
I cannot help but think, as I remember the births of each of my children, that this human body, also can make us most divine--that the peculiar pains of a woman's flesh reach her exquisitely, intimately. What they teach she cannot know beforehand or even know that she needs to know. But when the pain subsides or is grown accustomed to, she realizes that some time during the darkest of nights or mundanest of mornings, knowledge has descended like the dews from heaven and enlarged her soul....
Unfortunately, the experience has also enlarged her hips and thighs. Stretch marks ornament my breasts and hips like silver ribbons. My hips are two sizes wider, my feet a size bigger than when I was married--my very bones have expanded in response to my mothering. Some of the effects are temporary, just for the moments of pregnancy....these pass in their time, but the memory remains....
In that memory lies the glory of this earthly body: though we may be resurrected in a perfect frame, the lessons taught me by my mother-body will rise with me. The sacrifice, the pain, the fear and faith of my mothering will sink into my soul and remain with me in the eternities. My spirit and this woman's body inseparably connected constitute my fullness of joy...
Time writes its messages on all of us. Our very bodies have become our book of life, "an account of our obedience or disobedience written in our bodies." To what have we been obedient? To the purpose for which we were made; to provide a body and a safe haven for the spirits entrusted to our care. If we mother well, we wear out our lives bringing to pass the lives of others. Of the physical fruits--our wider hips, our sagging breasts, our flatter feet, and rounder buttocks--we need not be so ashamed." - Tessa Meyer Santiago
Maybe it's been that I've been thinking hard about instilling good self image and body image for my girls (and myself), maybe it's been all the Dove Self Esteem Fund commercials on TV that make me cry. I don't really know, but I feel like I shoulder a big responsibility having been entrusted with daughters in this world that would have us view ourselves on such a harsh scale. Anyways, I vow to be kinder to myself.
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