Shoveling Snow = Fun?

For some reason, toddlers tend to like some of the tasks that adults really don't love doing. 

Apparently, Sydney loves to shovel snow. Syd was given a cute pint sized shovel for Christmas and as soon as she saw it she got to work. She shoveled thin air around the house and got excited about being able to use it outside at some point. Unfortunately it has been way too cold here to take her out to shovel, so we waited until the weather warmed up a bit. 

Last week we were given a bit of a break from the chill and I knew it was time to let her get to work. I am obviously a little bit big to be shoveling at this point so we waited for David to get home from work. It was a warm night but it had snowed... perfect. I got Sydney ready to go and as soon as her dad was home she was out playing and helping him. 

They had a great time enjoying the warmth and each other and David tried to teach her how to shovel properly even though all she wanted to do was move the snow from the snow drifts onto the driveway. Once she got tired of being "helpful" she went and played in the snow. 

When she started to get cold and the work was all done we came in the house and I made her some "warm" chocolate. apparently the best way to warm up is to strip almost naked and drink hot chocolate through the straw. I love that she is so excited by the simplest things. It reminds me that we don't need much. All we need is each other and a little bit of creativity. 

Mrs. E

27 Weeks ~ Third Trimester!

At 27 weeks...

Weight gained: Probably over 20 lbs

Baby gender: I will give you a hint..... you have a 50/50 chance of guessing right. 
Belly button in or out: Half flat, Half sticking out.
Food cravings: Spicy food, mexican food, salty food
Food aversions: Nothing really. I am getting really pick though.
Appointments: I had my gestational diabetes test on Monday and it was just as disgusting as I remembered. It made me super nauseated and I sugar crashed like you wouldn't believe after. My next OB appointment is on January 29th.
How I am feeling: I am so so so tired. I am really not sleeping at all and I am starting to have a harder time at work during the day.

Exciting milestones: We are officially in the third trimester! That means that we are two thirds of the way done!

Things I am looking forward to: I am counting down the days until I start my maternity leave.
Things that I miss: I miss a good nights sleep and not being achy. 
Thoughts: I feel pretty good about having a second child this week. I am tired and nervous about being outnumbered when David works night shift, but I am just so excited to meet this little person. I can't wait to create a bond with another baby and for Sydney to fall in love with her sibling.
Daddy's thoughts: 
Sydney's thoughts: "Almost done!"

Mrs. E

Hiding From Toddlers in Closets

I am going to admit.... this weekend was exhausting and I didn't really do anything. 

The weather here in Edmonton has been horrendously cold and snowy and I am starting to get really uncomfortably large. David worked night shift all weekend and the house was a mess so we decided to stay in unless necessary.

I was so excited to spend time with our sweet little Sydney... until I was a few hours in. Our little girl has found her 2 year old energy and is in full tilt disaster mode! It's all fun and games until a toddler jumps on a baby bump. I love that she has so much energy but it is getting tough for me to keep up with her. As my energy lowers and I have a tougher time physically, she is just beginning to ramp up. She is a very physical player. She likes to wrestle and climb (thanks to her Daddy) and I am just not up for it at this point in my pregnancy. She is also very into sitting in my lap (which is becoming non-existent) and is constantly following my around yelling "Mommy, mommy! Up, Up!" There were times when I felt like hiding in the closet from her. To make matters worse, I discovered that I have a stress fracture in my foot upon returning from Las Vegas and I have been in an air cast for 2 weeks. I. Am. Tired. 

Now don't get me wrong.... Syd is still my world and I would much rather be home with her protecting my baby bump from impending wrestling sessions than sitting at my desk at work. I just need to get through these next few months.

Mrs. E

David Turns 30 ~ A Second Celebration

This past Saturday we hosted a second 30th birthday celebration for David. 

It was nice to see everyone who could not make it to Las Vegas and it was another opportunity to celebrate a life milestone. We had everyone over for a casual night with a few drinks and some snacks. The boys spent some time being boys when Scott showed up with hockey card sticker books for all of them. They spent time trading and hanging out together which was great for them but not as exciting for those of us not involved.

I picked up a huge Dairy Queen ice cream cake for David which is an annual tradition and we all relaxed and had a great time. Here are a few photos from the night. 

Mrs. E

26 Weeks

Ok. So I haven't done a pregnancy update in quite a while. We have been super busy with Christmas celebrations and David's birthday and it just got put on the back burner. My photo from week 26 features one of my good friends Laura. She is expecting her second little girl on Valentine's Day. Her older daughter Ava is only about 2 months younger than Sydney so this is our second pregnancy together... So much fun!

At 26 weeks...

Weight gained: Close to 20 lbs

Baby gender: Still a big secret.
Belly button in or out: Half flat, Half sticking out.
Food cravings: Spicy food and anything that is likely to give me heart burn
Food aversions: Not too much. Meat is not my favourite thing but it never really was.
Appointments: I have my Gestational Diabetes test on Monday and a regular OB appointment on January 29th. I think my appointments will be every 2 weeks after that!
How I am feeling: I was starting to feel great. I had a lot more energy and I was able to keep up a little bit more with Sydney. Now I am starting to near that third trimester where energy slumps again. I am getting tired. My hips are also killing me!

Exciting milestones: David is feeling the baby on a regular basis. We can now see movement on the outside! Sydney also felt the baby move for the first time this past weekend.... it was amazing.

Things I am looking forward to: I am sooooooo excited to be done work!
Things that I miss: I miss a good nights sleep and not being achy. 
Thoughts: I am starting to feel a little bit anxious. I am nervous about labour and delivery and I want nothing more than to stay home and prepare for what is about to happen. I don't really feel prepared at all this time and I feel like everything is happening so much faster! 
Daddy's thoughts: "I don't care what you say... no more painting for at least five years."
Sydney's thoughts: "Thanks for kicking my hand baby!"

Mrs. E

Our Happy Home ~ Painting the Nursery

I am sooooo excited about this next post... We finished painting the nursery!

I am starting to get anxious about prepping for Squishy's arrival. I am only 26 weeks and I am already feeling the pressure. Maybe it is because this pregnancy is going by so much faster. I have less time to sit around and think about the baby coming and less time to get things done. We have most of our baby supplies already but I really wanted to give the nursery walls a bit of a different feel.

Sydney's room is the only room in the house that is painted a different color and we wanted this baby to have the same thing. Because I am the only one who knows the gender, everything has to be neutral. Luckily every wall in the house is a soft grey so we had something easy to work with. In the end, I decided that doing stripes to coordinate with the already newly painted grey walls would be easier. 

Gender neutral rooms only really leave you with two options... yellow and green. Sydney's nursery was green so this one was going to be yellow. We bought the paint over a month ago and JUST got to tackling it this weekend. The photos are not great, but here is how we created our giant stripes.

The Supplies:

~ Paint (We bought a gallon because I originally wanted to do the whole room with stripes)

~ Brushes

~ Roller

~ Paint Tray

~ A very good painters tape (we used Frog tape)

~ A credit card or something like it for pressing down tape

~ Measuring tape

~ Level

~ Pencil

~ Chalk Line

The Process:

~ Measure your wall from the roof to the top of the base board

~ Decide on the number of stripes you wish to have on the wall and start doing some math. Our walls were 92.5 inches and I only wanted 6 wide stripes. After some quick math, I decided that the stripes would be just shy of 15.5 inches.

~ Measuring from the baseboard up, mark out your stripes. I made one mark on either end of the wall and one in the middle. 

~ Grab yourself a helper and using the chalk line, mark out the stripes using the measured markings. 

~ Carefully tape along the chalk line. Do not press down to hard at this point as you may have to move the tape. Also remember that you want to make sure the tape is on the correct side of your chalk line (the non-striped side) so that your stripes are equal width. 

~ Grab your level and walk along the taped lines to ensure that they are even and level. You may have to do some adjusting at this point but mine were fairly straight. 

~ Tape off the ends of your stripes

~ Using a plastic card of some sort, press down all edges of the tape very well. This will prevent most leakage.

Our walls all taped up

~ Once everything is pressed down and straight it is time to start rolling!

~ First, cut all of the side edges and along the ceiling with a brush

~ Start rolling the paint on in thin layers working from the outside edges in. The first paint layer should be very thin to avoid any leaking. 

After one layer... Sydney was kept entertained by Toopy and Binou on the computer.

~ Repeat the painting steps two more times each time ensuring that you are painting in thin layers away from the tape. 

~ Once everything is painted leave to let dry for an hour or two. 

~ Come back and remove the tape right away. The longer you leave the tape on the walls, the more likely that it will peel up other paint.  

David removing the painter's tape

~ Stand back and admire your work!

This makes me even more excited to get the rest of the room set up. It is going to be so amazing to have it all done!

Mrs. E

Night Views on The Strip

Ok... last post about Vegas.... I promise. 

I just wanted to finish off with a couple of beautiful views of the strip at night. Even if you don't gamble or drink or eat ridiculous amounts of food like we do, the lights of the Las Vegas strip are totally worth the trip down. 

Mrs. E

Gordon Ramsay Burger

Our last stop on the Gordon Ramsay restaurant tour was Burgr. 

The whole menu comprised of really awesome gourmet burgers, different types of fries, a few hot dogs and milkshakes. It was so good! I won't talk about this one as much, but I will say that it was just as good as the others and David totally stole one of the menus... Worth it!

Our fries selection: Sweet potato with jalapeno aoli and herb fries with a curry ketchup and a chipotle ketchup

Gorgeous starter plates

Our salt & vinegar hummus starter

Michael's American burger

David's Hell's Kitchen burger

My Earth burger ~ Portabello mushroom

Our chocolate caramel milk shake

Mrs. E