Cleaning, decluttering and some good news...

I decided to keep myself busy while Jer is away that I would take on the task of cleaning the entire house by myself.  For the last few weeks it has been a bit neglected because at the end of my pregnancy with Cian I just couldn't do what I normally would being that I was so big and then after birth, being a bit sore and needing to rest more frequently than normal.  Now that it has been two weeks since he was born (and given that I don't have an infant to take care of and can rest and recover alone), it is much easier for me to return to my normal routine...it's just a bit more intensive than it was when I was doing it every day/week.

I'm also planning to clean the basement.  We had worked on it a bit in the last few months but I am determined to get it cleaned up completely because Jer had mentioned he wants to have a bunch of his friends over for a poker tournament when he gets back...I'm hoping to have the basment all done so he can do it there as there isn't enough room on the main floor for that many people!!  Since a few people have stepped forward to say that they would take the kids for me every now and then so I can have a kid-free day, I plan to take advantage of those days to do stuff like this where it would be REALLY hard to have them here while I'm at it!  (Thank you already to Jer's step sister and dad for taking Marryn and Jonah for me that first night and full day, I didn't sleep well and I spent the entire day after cleaning and got a LOT accomplished without them here!!)

I spoke with Jer last night and he's found out a few things.  First, he opted to take the night shift while there.  He says it is quieter, cooler, has a 15% bonus included and also is likely to end 2 weeks sooner than expected!  YAY FOR SOONER! lol  He also found out that even though he's technically working right now, his union doesn't take "out of towners" off the out of work list...so when he gets home, he'll still be on the list where he left off and he won't be put back on the bottom (which means a longer wait for another job).  This is very good news as he says there is work coming in September and he likely won't be off for very long when he gets home.  This is ALSO very good news because it means buying a house!!!  I'm hoping we can stay on the same track as before (shooting for spring 2013 but start looking in the winter) even with this little setback.

I'm feeling ok about everything right now...it's hard when we use facetime to talk because I can see him...it just makes me miss him that much more.  But we're in touch all the time through texting so at least we have that.  I have a few things planned for the kids and I that will hopefully make the time pass less slowly for us.  Jonah's really taking it hard...he's cried a LOT since Jer left on Sunday.  He's very emotional poor guy.

First outing is the Drive In on Thursday night to see either Brave or Madagascar 3.  Next week I think we'll go to Safari Niagara and then the week after that possibly Marineland.  Then the week after that is Jonah's birthday and we're going to go to Sudbury for the weekend to visit Jer for that.  When we get home from there, the next weekend will be Canal Days.  Then I don't know what we'll do for the two weeks after that.  I also plan to spend quite a bit of time at the splash pads around here!!  I like them because I don't have to swim with them (being that I just gave birth, swimming is not an option right now!) and I can supervise from under a shady tree!

Only 2.5 more days of school for Jonah and then we're free to do whatever!  The boys will both be busy with Hockey and Soccer twice a week as well so they'll be busy with that as well as what I have planned.  James has to attend summer school this year as well so he won't have much time for anything!

Marryn turned 3 on the 17th of June too, I didn't write anything for that so here are a couple pictures!!


She's been very into Mickey and Minnie lately because we have been talking about Disney.  She's SOOOO excited to go trick or treating at Disney!


Hahahaha, I love the squishy face the goggles make lol


She's starting to look so grown up already....*sigh* My last baby is no longer a baby. ♥

First day of singlemomhood

Today is a sad day for me and the kids.  Jer left for a two month job in Sudbury.  I'm so incredibly sad.  The most we've been away from him in the last 7.5 years is like 2 nights!  It's hard...Jonah cried the hardest, Marryn doesn't quite understand yet.  I'm trying to keep it together for them.

People have had kind words like "it's not that long" or "it will go by quickly" or "take it one day at a time"....it's very nice of them to try and cheer me up so I will feel better but today, I'm just going to own the sadness I have.

He's my best friend.  We do everything together.  I'm going to miss him more than words can express.

I'm looking forward to the end of this....I cannot wait to have my husband, my children's father and my best friend back as a permanent fixture in our home!

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder....I'm not sure it's possible to be "fonder" of him than I already am...I love him with my entire being already.  My heart is a bit broken today.  I know it's temporary but still...this is one of the hardest things ever...

So...worst summer ever...be done now!!

It's a Boy!

Welcome to the world Cian Alexander!

Born 3 weeks early on Tuesday June 12th, 2012.  7 lbs 7 oz and 19 inches long!

I've never gone that early on my own before but this little guy had other plans!!  I woke up to a few contractions on Tuesday morning but they were like I had been having except a bit stronger and a few more than usual.  I thought nothing of it until I went to the bathroom and noticed some spotting.  I told Jer not to go too far because I thought something was happening.  I emailed his mom to let her know what was up and to be on stand by.  And then nothing happened all day except irregular contractions ranging anywhere from 9 minutes to 45 minutes apart.  The spotting went away.  I was starting to get discouraged that it was just a false alarm so I went and had a nap.  Again, like in the morning, I was woken up by contractions that were a bit stronger and a bit closer together than normal.  I was starting to get frustrated thinking my body was doing the fake out thing I've experienced so many times before with Braxton Hicks contractions (especially because I wasn't quite 37 weeks yet!) and so I came downstairs and sat on the exercise ball for about 40 minutes.  Jer was in the middle of making dinner while I was just sitting there and he needed to run to the grocery store to get lettuce and milk...I told him to go, that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.  At 6:35, I stood up from the ball to go to the bathroom and my water broke!!  That has NEVER happened to me before and WOW I didn't realize that it would be that much!  I ran upstairs and called Jer right away, he dropped what he was doing, called the baby's mom and dad and picked up our oldest son from his friends house so he could be here with the two younger ones until my mom got here (who I called right after I talked to Jer) and then came to get me.  I sat on the toilet for the most part until he got home because every time I got up there was so much water!!!  Jer helped me put the last minute things in my bag and our oldest threw some garbage bags on the front seat of our van and we were off to the hospital. 

Contractions were finally regular-ish and coming every 2-3 minutes.  We got to labour and delivery shortly after 7pm.  I was put in a case room and checked and found to be about 3-4 cm's dilated (just last Thursday my Dr. checked me and I was completely closed!) with what the nurse described as "copious amounts of water".  Jer texted mom and dad and let them know where we were at...they said they'd be here at 11 pm.  I was starting to think they weren't going to make it in time!

For the next couple hours I was hooked up to the monitors and was contracting away, praying for everything to go quickly, but not so quickly that mom and dad would miss the birth of their baby...that was a really hard happy medium to have!!!  Especially as the contractions got stronger!

Sometime after 9 pm (I can't remember the time really) they moved us over to the delivery room.  Getting up and walking really sucked!  Once we were in there, Jer continued with updates on facebook all the while trying to comfort me through the pain.  His sister came too and she also helped by rubbing my legs to give Jer a break.  I can see from Jer's updates on facebook that shortly before 10 I was 4-5 cm's dilated.  Mom and dad finally arrived at around 10:20 pm.  The nurse asked me around 10:30 what my pain was on a scale of 1-10...and I answered here with about an 8 or 9 and then with the next contraction I was screaming at her OK IT'S A TEN NOW!!!  With that answer, the nurse stepped out of the room to call the Dr. and at the end of the next contraction I felt that urge to push...I told Jer "GET THE NURSE!" so he ran out and did that...it was very chaotic to me after that.  I was in so much pain that I probably looked completely crazy and wide-eyed!  The nurse was telling me to blow as hard as I could because she wasn't gloved up yet and I really had no control over the pushing urge.  It hurt SO bad...this was my worst birth for pain, that's for sure!  I didn't have any pain medication at all so it was also my first completely natural childbirth.  No induction, no IV's and no pain meds.  Go me!  :D

From that first contraction where I needed to push it was probably about 3 minutes total until he was born.  It was SO fast (thank God!).  As soon as he was completely out I yelled "THANK GOD!!!" lol because the pain was over (mostly lol).  Dad announced that it was a boy and they took him over to the warmer to start checking him out.  Then the Dr. and nurses attended to me (I have hemorrhaged in the past so they gave me some meds to make sure I wouldn't do that again).  I had no tearing at all (huge surprise given how quickly he came) and everything was good from then on out!

I'm very proud of how this pregnancy and delivery went :)  I only gained 14 lbs in total and still he was completely healthy and weighed in well 3 weeks early!  Cian (pronounced key-an) is a beautiful little boy and his parents are just thrilled with him :)  We got to spend a bit of time rooming in together before I went home the next day (not even 24 hours in the hospital, I needed to rest in my own bed!!).

Today I feel like I've been hit by a truck a couple times but I suppose it could be worse!

And, I am now officially retired reproductively speaking.  After 7 pregnancies and 7 babies, 3 of my own and 4 for 3 other families, I'm finished.  It was a great ending to say the least!!  Now it's time to work on me, lose some weight and down the road maybe think about a tummy tuck to get rid of all the extra skin that has stretched out over the course of 14.5 years and 7 pregnancies!  I'm looking forward to this new phase in my life.  Now, my friends and family need to start having babies so I can revell in their pregnancies instead of my own!!!  :)

Happy Thursday!!

Busy

Dr.'s appointments, hockey and cubs and soccer and just general errands have kept us a very busy family for the last week!

There isn't much to report.  I've got 34 days left to go of this pregnancy (well, until my due date, I could go longer, who knows) and in that time we have Marryn's 3rd birthday, a wedding, father's day, Marryn's birthday party, exams for James, the end of school, a golf tournament and about 5 more Dr.'s appointments, an eye appointment for Marryn (her first one) along with hockey and soccer (cubs ended on Tuesday night).  So lots to keep me occupied until the end!!  I'm thankful for that, it makes the time go quicker.

I'm also thankful for our central air!!  It was quite hot earlier this week and on the weekend and I was very glad to be a hermit and hang out in the a/c!!  I can sweat just sitting here now!  Yesterday and today are much nicer and yesterday we got a LOT done and we were out virtually all day long.  We went to the union hall to drop off our paperwork for our new glasses, picked up our new glasses, I went and got my blood work done in preparation for my Rhogam shot which I will have either today or tomorrow, we went to our friends house and Jer helped him remove a tree, then we went for lunch at the Smokin' Buddha with him...Marryn loved sitting outside on the patio to eat :)  Then we came home and Jer went and gave blood, then we took Jonah to his soccer practice and after that we came home and had dinner and hung out and watched TV for the night.  It was so beautiful out.  Great day :)

Today we're kind of lounging.  Jer's napping on the couch and Marryn is hanging out in her undies watching Caillou hehe...so cute.  I'm just doing a couple loads of laundry and hanging out on the computer for now.  I'm hoping to go get my Rhogam shot later but when I called this morning they were pretty busy at Labour and Delivery and told me to call back this afternoon so we'll see.

This weekend is quiet other than Jonah's soccer game on Saturday so we'll likely just be spontaneous...if we decide to do something it will be last minute for sure.

Hope everyone had a good week!!!

Plans on hold

So Jer got laid off again on Friday after only being at this new job for 11 weeks.  It totally sucks because now he's at the bottom of the out of work list and there are about 170 people ahead of him with no job.  *sigh*  I thought we were finally getting somewhere...we went from 7 credit cards down to 2 and only one with any balance on it, we had savings, we had a plan.  We went to the bank and talked about a mortgage and it went well but we had decided to wait until he got his raise in November.  Now that raise will not come for an extra however long he's off.

I was pretty disappointed on Friday and in a terrible mood on Saturday.  Took me a little bit to bounce back but I'm ok today.  Our plan is no longer, we have to reconfigure it in a bunch of different ways and it's definitely going to take longer now.  I hate when stuff takes longer!!

Other than that though, our weekend was great!  The weather was incredible and we had the baseball tournament, visited friends at their campsite and Jer and the kids helped open his parents pool while I cleaned the house, then we had a BBQ there and took Jonah to soccer.  James spent all day on Saturday at Canada's Wonderland with his girlfriend.  I'm thankful we had the savings to dip into to be able to buy his ticket and give him $60 for spending money so that it would be a really great day for him.  After soccer last night (where James met up with his girlfriend and took off on us again lol, such is the life of a teenager I guess), we took the kids with Jer's sister and her boyfriend for some ice cream and then went and helped my best friend put up a pool in her backyard.

I feel like I need a vacation from our long weekend!!  It was fun though.  Jer and I did a ghost walk in Niagara on the Lake on Friday night too which was so much fun!!  I love stuff like that and it was perfect weather for it as well.

This week we're not doing a whole lot...cubs tonight, hockey on Thursday as well as a Dr's appointment for me and lunch with baby's mom and her dad who is here from England.  It's her birthday Thursday so it should be a nice lunch :)

Only a month until Marryn's 3rd birthday already!  We're planning to have a small party again at Jer's dads.  I can't believe how fast it's gone!  And then just 2 weeks after that school is out!  This year is flying by!  I'm looking forward to our camping trip in August and our Florida trip in October...I can't wait!!!

Happy "Monday" that's actually a Tuesday!!!!  :)

Happy Long Weekend!

Sorry I've been quiet, things have been up in the air for the last week.  We were bouncing around the idea of possibly not waiting to get a house and finding something now, just a bit cheaper.  We went to the bank yesterday and it is possible to do that but we would likely be settling so I think we're just going to wait.  It's only 6-8 months.  And then we'll be looking in the range that we REALLY want to be looking.  And who knows, maybe we'll win the lottery before then (hey, we can dream right?!).

Other than that it's been a week of cubs and hockey and this weekend is Jer's annual family baseball tournament.  Every year they do it to raise money for breast cancer.  We always have a blast with everyone and we're looking forward to this year because there is absolutely NO rain in the forecast and it's supposed to be GORGEOUS all weekend!!

We're also going out to see our friends who are camping with their brand new (friggin' huge!) trailer at some point and have dinner and a bonfire with them for the evening.  I'm VERY much looking forward to that, I've been dying to have a fire in the last little bit but we've got no wood.  That and it's just not the same in our little chiminea.

Tonight the kids are going to their Aunt's overnight.  Jer and I have a whole night by ourselves!  The first since our honeymoon a year and a half ago!!  We're very excited and totally at a loss for what to do with ourselves lol..."We don't do this often, what should we do??"...  "I dunno, what do you want to do??"  So that's what I'll be doing today, trying to figure out what we should do!

Then on Monday we're going to Jer's dad's to help them open the pool and have dinner.  Should be a good weekend :)

I hope you have a wonderful 4 day weekend if you are in Canada, if not, hopefully you have a lovely normal weekend!!!  :)

32 Weeks!

Well, we turned 32 weeks pregnant yesterday!  This has gone by SO fast!  We have a Dr's appointment today and then dinner with baby's mom and dad this evening, we're going for sushi :)  I can't believe there is only 8 weeks left of my absolute last pregnancy!  (And I'm so done too, I didn't think I'd ever get sick of being pregnant but I do NOT want to have anymore babies after this!!)  This has been such a good pregnancy too.  I haven't had a lot of the pain I had with Marryn and I only had the one episode of bleeding (which was scary and had me off work but luckily it was that my placenta was low and it has since moved and everything is perfectly fine now).  I've been active and not too miserable in general lol.  It's a good ending to my reproductive years :)

This weekend is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL and I'm so excited because Jer FINALLY has the weekend off!!!  We're going to celebrate Mother's Day for me on Saturday because on Sunday we're going to make his mom dinner (and something else during the day that I can't remember.....I hate when that happens!).  I bought some steak and pork chops for over the weekend as well because it's supposed to be so nice that I figured maybe we'll do a BBQ on Saturday (if not Friday too!) and maybe invite some friends over and have a fire (the first of the year!).

Then next weekend is Jer's dad's cousins annual baseball tournament that we go to every year.  James is old enough to play this year so he's pretty excited about it!  The kids are off on Friday AND Monday of next week too so it will be a very nice long weekend :)

Things are moving along with our down payment and I've been checking out the Realtor.ca website now and then.  There are some REALLY nice houses in our price range and I'm SO looking forward to finally moving to a home.  Not just an apartment, but a place where I'll actually want to paint and hang things on the walls and have plants outside!  And a GARDEN!!  I'm so excited for a garden!  We do a lot of local fruits and veggie shopping here when it's in season and I'm really hoping to be able to grow some of my own and can it.  We had GREAT success with the strawberry jam we made last year (it only lasted a couple of weeks!!) and I plan to make that again this year.  Our Sunday drives are about to resume too, our local stands that we go to almost every week are just opening up (one last weekend and one this weekend) and I've been craving fresh peas!

Anyway, even though it's only Thursday, Happy Weekend!!  It's going to be gorgeous, enjoy it!!  :)