Its a Boy!

We are beyond words, in complete shock, we both thought it was going to be another girl but of course we would love a boy. Due to Covid I have to attend all appointments alone, we were able to find out earlier the gender with a blood test but we didn’t in the past with the girls so we wanted to wait for an ultrasound.
I knew I wanted to do a gender reveal party but because of all the restrictions we aren’t able to get together in a large group, I had an Idea one night only a week before my ultrasound appointment that we can do a drive up gender party, in a large open space and everyone can stay in there cars to watch if they wish. I made a quick Facebook group and invited family and friends, and picked a central area which was close to most of my family/friends or had easy access to the hwy.
I had my ultrasound appointment and I told her I didn’t want to know as my husband wasn’t here and to write the gender down. After my appointment I went to get the smoke bombs with my envelope and the girl at the store opened it and provided me with the right colour and we were set! Matt nor I had no idea the gender before the reveal which made it that much more special and shocking.

BLUE BLUE BLUE for the WIN!
We are still so grateful and can’t believe its actually happening, this pregnancy was completely different then my first two, with this one I was sick for 11 weeks straight all day everyday, some days I didn’t want to get out of bed but I had no choice to keep going and took no time off work. I am glad the morning sickness is gone and we can now focus on prepping for baby number 3 and trying to manage heartburn!

this is three

With still being in a the pandemic and rules always changing, I knew we were still going to do a birthday party just something smaller than normal. Where we live we were not in a red zone so we were able to gather in a small group with family. Being able to still have a small group was great, it was less worries, less time figuring out food and being way easier to entertain a smaller group.
When planning the party, I know I wanted an arched backdrop with boho decor vibes. The arched backdrop we made; measured, cut, painted then ordered decals for it, a super simple diy but added so much to the overall decor.

Invite : Hashtag paper
Cake: La toque
Decor, Backdrop, Cake stand, Decor: Mine

Over the rainbow

My babe is FIVE! I can’t even believe I have a five year old. I feel like I say the same thing year after year that it goes fast. The days are short and get shorter as we get older, with the whole pandemic and being off for a couple months gave me more time with the kids and not having to rush them to eat and get out the door so we could get to work. It was so much more relaxing, and way less stressful.
Since we are still in restricted stages due to Covid we are only able to have a small amount of people over for a party, we did not want to cancel but at the same time we wanted to ensure everyone felt comfortable. We limited our guest count to just close family and even at that we couldn’t invite everyone. With having a smaller group I felt it was actually much better, I was able to actually have conversations and enjoy the party rather than having to run around the whole time while really not being able to see everyone. We kept it simple and minimal with our decor but still having a theme of rainbows. The kids took home DIY rainbow keychains Vail and I made along with a bag of candy’s and a TY bear.

Invitation: Hashtag Paper
Decor: Lux Event Rental
Cake: La Toque
Cake Topper: DIY
Rainbow Key chain: DIY
Wood candle holder: DIY

Kids Bath

In the kids bathroom we wanted it bright and light so we went with a large 4ft x 4ft window which allows so much sunlight in. We decided on a large deep bathtub, simple tiles with a neutral floor tile and black accents. In our initial design I knew I wanted a wallpaper accent wall to give it a warmer feel and this wallpaper turned out perfect! Timberlea is located in Milton Ontario too! Just making a few simple changes made a HUGE impact.

BEFORE

AFTER

Wallpaper: Timberlea Wallpaper
Mirror: LD Shoppe
Sconces: LD Shoppe
Hand Towel: LD Shoppe
Shower Curtain: Target
Candle: Indigo
Jewelry Box: Kate Spade
Vase: Strutube

TWO wild

Our babe is definitely the wild child, and this theme suits her so well. She is 0 to 100 in minutes. With having a winter birthday and seven days before Christmas I try to not incorporate anything Christmas into her birthday. I want her to know they are two separate times and still make her feel she can have her birthday too. I kept the decor super simple but adding cute details, such as the kids custom colour placemat and the loop bags with a grow animal kept it fun for all ages.
Stay Wild!

Invite: Hashtag Paper
Balloon Arch: DIY
Cake: La touque
Decor: Lux Event Rental

Play!

So this post is a long time coming i initially started to write this on March 27 (as per my daft opps.). I finally finished 99% of the play room and it was one of the first rooms i wanted to complete to give the kids there own space to do what they want and just play. I wanted to keep the decor minimal and simple so we can always convert this room into something else down the road when our basement is fully finished, which is why we designed it with french doors, to contain the toys or even if its an office or tv room it will contain the sound aswell.
I wanted a little reading corner where they can walk up to get there own books but a few shelves higher where i can put crafts without them distorting them and then storage bins for all the smaller toys, crafts and all the extra stuffy’s. Having a kids table and chairs was the best decision ever, i remember when i was growing up having my own little table and chair set to do crafts at, puzzles ect was so fun, i felt i had my own place. My parents actually kept the table and chairs and gave them to me when i moved out. I have kept them in storage for so long and when doing the kids playroom i wanted to incorporate apart of my own childhood so these chairs are from my childhood, along with the dollhouse and all the little dolls for the dollhouse were mine and my sisters too. OH! and i cant forget about the little camper, that was mine too and the girls are in love with it.
What is a playroom without a kitchen, this kitchen was in our last house and we got for vail one year for xmas and she still loves it and plays with it. Some of there other bigger toys we keep in the basement and i often switch toys out so they don’t get bored of the same ones all the time. So yes there is more toys!

Wall decals: Chapters
Wall art: Etsy
Shelves/ Bins: Ikea
Carpet: Ikea
Table: Walmart

LLama Fun!

I cant believe we have a FOUR year old, i feel happy but also sad how fast life has passed us. Everyday is a new day that brings different challenges with a four year old and we take it as it comes. There’s no way to plan to even prepare yourself to be in this stage. All within the same minute there is happiness, crying, yelling, laughing, joking, grumpy, sad and we never know what will be next.
With miss v getting older she is understanding more and more and when we asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday she said “well we need decorations, we need tables, table clothes, balloons” .. Matt and I both looked at each other and started to laugh, we were expecting a completely different answer! but hey, this girl wants a pretty party!

I wanted to keep this party fun and simple, our theme was llama’s, we actually booked a REAL llama to come to the party which had to cancel the morning of because it rained and the llama got wet and wouldn’t be dry before the party. BUT regardless miss v was happy how everything turned out.

Happy Home

I can’t even believe we are here, we are done our build, well not fully done but we are living here and have been since then end of October, we decided to move in even though we we’re fully finished because it was too much for the kids to be traveling back and forth from where we were living to the new house and we didn’t think there lifestyle was stable. We wanted to make there life feel as back to normal as possible which meant moving in before counter tops and little details were done.
The delay in counter tops was endless, we finally picked what we wanted and ordered it, had all the measurements done and the waiting game started it was supposed to take 1 week and ended up taking 4+ weeks. The stone we choose didn’t ship when we thought it would, then when the shipment arrived ours wasn’t there we got a call to either wait longer or choose one similar which was in stock, so we decided to choose the stone in stock, then we got a call ours arrived in another shipping container and needed to be cut and polished which would be another week. Finally we got the counter top we ordered and its gorgeous. We love it.
After our counter tops were installed we had the sink + pot filler installed, and water + dishwasher connected. YES we were living without a sink and dishwasher, it was annoying but having our own home again was worth it.
A few little details need to be finished, like lighting in our room ( i cant decide on what i want), a few pieces of trim that is no longer in stock so i will have to track some down, kitchen backslash (another thing i can’t decide on), we are waiting on a replacement front door as ours arrived damaged, with the wrong colour door hinges, only holes for 1 door handle. and the rest is more decor. We need dinning room furniture, new sofas for the living room, as we got rid of ours before moving, rugs, shelves, plants, pictures, desk, nightstands ect.
Looking back it went so fast, it took 22 weeks from digging to living here, it was a process with alot of setbacks with waiting on specific materials and we went over budget in a few areas but overall we are so happy with the outcome and love the lot we got.
Already my husband thinks we should sell and do it again! 1. I dont think i could handle it again this soon, 2. it was already hard enough to find our lot but i loved the process and knowing the amount of work we put into this home. BUT there is a lot that just came for sale near us, similar lot to ours but my husband doesn’t feel the lot is as nice as ours, i haven’t gone to check as im not mentally ready yet, but it would be nice to make a few changes.
We still have all our landscaping to finish, we were not able to fully bring up the ground to where we wanted it before the snow came and we needs to do interlocking brick, stone steps in the front, a deck, we still need a dock and i convinced my husband to build a large covered in patio which will have a flat roof ,which would mean we will have a balcony off our master bedroom! but this is another project and for another post.
I will be posting home photos soon once we have more of the furniture we need. NEXT a playroom post!

Happy First

WE MADE IT! We have a one year old and i can’t even begin to explain how fast it went. I think it went even faster because we were so busy with having to move in 30 days then building this summer and spending every moment at the construction site we didn’t even have time to stop and think. I am so thankful she was such an amazing baby, she rarely cried, she would wake up in the night to eat and go right back to sleep, she very rarely got gas, she eats like a horse and is so easy going.
For her first birthday i wanted to keep it simple, modern with little colour. My husband says for every occasion don’t bother going over the top. Well i think this is the first time i didn’t go over the top, i kept it easy and simple just like our little babe.

Stationary: Hashtag Paper
Cake: Bake Mob
Rentals & Decor: Lux Event Rental

What else can go wrong

Since my last post we have had alot of ups and downs in the building process. After all the heating, plumbing and electrical was installed we were able to insulate and do the drywall which went super fast. Once the drywall was done we had a chimney installer come to install our chimney and was told that this wood burning fireplace we have cant be installed as the rules in Quebec are changing in 2019/2020 and we need to find out if this fireplace is approved or exempt after so many back and forth answers the fireplace we installed and the drywall was done around has to be taken out because its not approved nor exempt so when the laws change the government may make us take it out. The big thing is “may” and we spent so long going back and forth on what to do and its something we both want and wanted from the start so we decided to take the chance to see what happens in the new year. It was a huge expense but its so nice and we couldn’t find anything else that is that size and what we both liked. While that was happening I was ordering, tile, flooring, exterior siding front door, ect . We ordered our exterior siding on July 17th which was supposed to take 3-4 weeks, I emailed our supplier to see where our order was and she didn’t order it! She I guess “forgot” im not sure what happened. She placed the order and said we would have it as soon as she can get it. Fast forward to today we go our order Sept 5th my husband started to install right away and we are 3/4 done and ran out of siding! We contacted our supplier and she thinks the manufacture didn’t sent us the right order, needless to say we cant finish the outside for another 3-4 week because we have no more siding.
Our front door was ordered July 20 it finally arrived on Sept 11 thats 8 weeks when it was supposed to be 4-6 weeks and its not the right order! There is supposed to have holes on both doors as its a double door and I want 2 door handles, the hinges are supposed to be black not silver and there is 3 dents on the door. After waiting 8 weeks for a custom order, to receive a damaged door and not what you paid for is so upsetting..
We finally got the final glass for our windows in the living room which we ordered on June 12 it took 15 weeks to get glass! we had them send us the frames with plywood in where the glass was to go as we needed to move forward with the drywall ect and we couldn’t without the frames of the windows. Our window order is a whole other topic which can be a post just in itself as it was so wrong. All our windows were to be casement which means they open expect 2 of our huge windows in the living room which are both 11 feet long because we cant physically get up there to open them and when we got our order 4 windows didn’t open. So we needed to return the windows wait again for new windows to be ordered and then our patio door was delayed, the grills in the windows didn’t line up with the windows below so replacement glass needed to be ordered.
Finally mudding and tapping started and took longer then expected because of the humidity, it wasn’t drying fast enough even with fans so then our painting was delayed. Finally the sanding was done and I thought I had everyone scheduled and we were back on track.
Friday Sept 7 painting to start
Wednesday Sept 11 the tile was to be laid
Thursday Sept 12 tile was supposed to be grouted
Wednesday Sept 11 garage door install
Monday Sept 17 staircase install
Tuesday Sept 18 2nd floor install of flooring
Tuesday Sept 25 railing install
Friday Sept 28 attic insulation install
Monday Oct 8 main floor install of flooring
Wednesday and Thursday the tile people never showed up, finally they showed up Friday and never called to let us know, the installers came and they had tile for our mudroom, powder room and kids bathroom floor the rest of the tile i bought else where so we had another installer who showed up on time and started + finished the job over the weekend. The tile installers came without the tile for the powder room they didn’t pick it up and then didn’t have enough tile for the mudroom but had to much tile for the kids bathroom… i was so dumbfounded i didn’t even know what to say, it didn’t make sense, how can you show up without the right amount of material or the material at all. I talked to the designer at the store and she was going to send someone with the powder room tile, she sent the tile to be installed for the powder room that day but didn’t sent enough so the powder room and mudroom both are half finished and they said more was ordered and they would be back on Monday. We are Monday today and no one showed up i emailed her again and she said the tile would be ready on Wednesday what i dont understand is there is no communication, why weren’t we told this or why wasn’t our orders correct from the start. This morning i get a call from the same company but a different person that the flooring for the 2nd floor that was to be installed tomorrow arrived damaged so more has to be ordered and we cant get install until next week!
Our painters started to primer the house the whole 2nd floor is done and paint 1 bedroom to show me the colour i choose and the white wasn’t coming out as the right “white” so now all the primer had to be returned and reorder as the primer had a “grey” tint to it so the tint was making our white colour look weird. So now the 2nd floor needs to be painted again and the main floor they are using different primer.
NOW! you wont even believe this, all our hardwood flooring arrived and before unloading my husband and I double checked the name and numbers on the boxes to ensure its the right flooring; it was right, today when the staircase arrived and was being installed my husband opened the hardwood flooring box and put it beside and it doesn’t match! he called me and i just wanted to cry, i don’t know what else to do everything is wrong. The hardwood floor is not even close to the colour we ordered but the sticker on the box is the right name.. i have a picture of our flooring sample i gave to the staircase company to match it and now nothing matches, so they wouldn’t finishing installing the staircase because if they install it they cant take it out otherwise it will damage the wood. So now we are in a waiting game, waiting to hear from the hardwood store to see what happened then to tell the staircase people what to do, and waiting to know about our siding why we dont have enough to finish our house, waiting for our front door to be replaced, waiting for more tile, waiting for replacement 2nd floor.

Our hardwood sample and stairs sample; it was the closest we could get

Our hardwood sample beside the nosing for the staircase.. not even close to the same

Missing glass finally arrived

We believe in unicorns

We have a three year old! It still feels surreal this is us and our family. I love planning and this year I came across cute unicorn decor items months prior to starting to plan this party and thats how I decided on the theme. I always try to keep decor a mixture of kids + adult friendly, with simple white linen and hints of gold but still having pops of colour in the napkins to tie in with the balloon garland and kids table kept my theme together. 
My new found love; a super simple DIY balloon garland added a whimsical feel to our greenery backdrop how did i not try this before. I looked at so many tutorials and it seemed much more difficult then it actually was, i didn't end up using a tutorial i created it as i went. 
We we're able to get the four of us in a family photo as baby b was sleeping but miss v felt special and she had our full attention. 
Do you believe in Unicorns?

Photography: Grey Loft Studio
Styling & Decor: Lux Event Rental
Chairs/Linen/Charger Plates/ Cake Stands/
Ornate Table/ Backdrop/ Ballon Garland: Lux Event Rental
Cookies: Sugar Sugar
Cake: Arnie Sweet
Stationary: Hashtag paper
 

House update!

AH! its crazy how far we have come in so little weeks. We are fully framed outside the house and in the garage, shingles are done, basement, garage and front porch cement has been poured, we have all the rough pluming and heating done too. This weekend was a busy one we had windows delivered and they are now all installed, we are still waiting on our patio door, 2 additional side windows and 3 basement windows which are taking longer then expected. This week we have a long list of to do's; all rough in electrical is going in this week, we will be finishing the tyvek around the garage, soffit and fascia is starting too, along with a few additional interior wall frames that need to be finished. We are waiting on exterior installation which is on backorder but hopefully arriving this week so we can install that, we then need to strap it all then we can start the siding. We are hoping by the time our siding arrives we will be done all exterior finishing we need to do before we can start siding. Staying on track with timelines is SO important to ensure we have all the material and items so we can move onto the next thing without delays. Because we don't have a few windows and the patio door our house can not be fully closed in so we can start insulation and drywall, so we will have to figure out a way to close in the large openings so we can move forward inside too. Our front door has been ordered, fireplace is ordered, siding is ordered, cabinets are ready, we still need to decide on so many other things; garage doors, staircase, flooring, interior doors and trims, lighting and colours. I am slowly figuring it out but i need to start ordering now to start on track. I heard an expected move in date is Oct 1st, all i want is before christmas and ill be happy! More updates coming soon. 

Buying the view

SOLD! Its officially done, and its ours. We have already cut some smaller trees to make our laneway more accessible for us and contractors which really makes the laneway look 100 times better looking already. I have so many design ideas in my head it keeps me up at night! But most of all we bought this lot for the view. Its slightly farther then we hoped to be but the view and space was exactly what we wanted. Its 2.5 acres on the river with the back of the house mountain view. 
Now to clarify something i am learning quickly is when you live on the water, the water is automatically called the front, and the other side which would technically be the "front" since thats is where our front door would be is now the back. 
We have had a TON of progress and alot happening, we had excavation done, footings poured, drain tile ran, foundation walls poured, hydro pole installed with all underground wiring to our house (so much wiring!) , electrical panel installed in the basement so we can have hydro for framing and our trailer, our foundation has been backfilled. The framing is half done now too! We have floors, exterior and interior walls on the main floor with the second floor starting. Its been such a quick process so far, we have ordered our windows, kitchen cabinets and iv been trying to narrow down flooring options which is the hardest part. We know the hardwood we want but deciding on tile is much harder, there is so many options with shapes, colours and different shades of colours. I have been to numerous stores and none have the same thing which is good but then i like 1 tile at one store then the 2nd store i like another but i want to use just 1 store for all our flooring to have a stream line of contractors from the same place. Narrowing down tile and a staircase is my goal, if anyone has ideas send them my way! More updates coming soon, and a debate with the husband on a deck or no deck, i personally never really liked decks but he wants one... 

Front entry and our dinning room + playroom windows

Living room wall

Kitchen View

We put an offer

(Just a little late posting ) AH! we actually did it! We put an offer on a lot, we signed the final offer on april 23 after we went back and forth a few times negotiating on price with a few conditions to give us time to get a soil sample, an engineer to see where and which septic system we can put and of course get building permit approvals . As there are some restrictions on this lot they request specific information on surveys before we can be approved for building permits and if we don't have this information on floating level lines where it starts and ends, high water marks and a few other specifics then we would need a new survey. The agent has been trying to track down the surveys and 2 weeks later there still no sign of anything, I gave him a deadline for him to retrieve them otherwise a surveyor will need to be hired. We finally hired a surveyor and typically it takes 15 days from once they're hired for them to go on site and then proceed a report, I let our in-laws know and my father-in-law went to the surveyors office and explained our time crunch and was able to put a rush on it, to 3-4 day turnaround time. Thankfully my father-in-law has known this surveyor for years and has hired him on different occasions. While we wait for surveys we need to provide a breakdown on costs to the bank for each specific building item within 14 days!! did i say 14 days! in order to meet all our deadlines. Since we will not be using a builder and doing a construction mortgage I have to contact every single trade possible for pricing and emailing more then one person of the same trade as responses we're coming in fast enough. Also while getting quotes we were trying to finalize our plans as the majority of trades require our plans inorder to provide accurate pricing. We met our construction deadline, finalized 99% of our plans as we can not fully finish them until we have our survey. Now we wait for an approval which can take up to 72 hours. There seems to be a theme here: WAITING! and waiting is not my husbands strong suit.. 
 

Construction break  down page one

waiting game..

We are now settled into our interm house until we start to build again and the process has its opticals. We have looked at numerous properties and the one we thought was the nicest because of the view and ZERO neighbours turned out to be not what we were told.. I went to the municipality to find out how and where we can build a road to the top along with finding out if there are any restrictions on the size of house or stories. Well it turns out that 10 of the 12 acres is actually on agricultural land which means we can not build on it!
We did find a lot 2 acres, flat, 2 mins to the golf course and 5 mins to the ski hill, we seen this property years ago when we first were building our last house, we spoke to the owner a few times and we finally decided to meet with him, we met him at the land, cheque book in hand and we were told there was an offer on the house.. i asked until when and he said noon, and i said noon today? at this point it was 10:45am so we were thinking okay we will get this land no problem, as we stood and talked to the owner a truck pulled up and said i spoke to the gentleman and we are taking the lot. I was in complete shock i just wanted to cry! i thought our search was finally over. After a day of anger, i remember the owner telling us the lot right beside which is also 2 acres is for sale. I went to the municipality to find out if there are any restriction on that lot and surprise surprise there is, since there is a ditch on the property and we want to move it to the property line , the owner told us it won't be an issue but the municipality says otherwise, as the ditch has been there for so long it may be now considered a "creek" and we must get a letter from an environmental specialist to confirm it is a ditch and not a creek. I made the calls and we are waiting for this letter and assessment of the land before purchasing. Its all a waiting game.  As we wait we did find another lot, further but on 2.4 acres on the river, the asking price is WAY more then we want to spend but hubby kinda loves it. He has all these plans and idea. This lot is in a different municipality so i called them to ask if there are restrictions, there is none expect that we need to find out where the floating line starts and ends as its on the river you need to build according due to possible flooding. We are waiting on the agent to get the documents from the owner to see where these lines are. Waiting game again. 
On a better note we have met with our plan designer and our preliminary plans will be ready early next week (9 days) to draft them which feels like a century. If you know of any foundation, flooring, kitchen, plumbling and lighting companies send them over!

Moving Day

This day has finally come we are super excited to be moving! but the catch is we don't have a house yet and from signing the contract to our closing date is 30 days! We have an interim house we will be staying at until we find something; as in something I mean property because where we live there are ZERO houses that we like, there either too small, too old or not our style. We built our house in 2012 with the intention of only staying a few years and moving on, I mentally prepared myself all this time knowing we won't be staying but we have created so many memories here. It started as our first home together, we were engaged, married and brought home our 1st and 2nd daughter here. Vail has grown to love her little spots in the house but she is excited to pack up and move. 
Everyday I am slowly packing inbetween nap times so we don't have alot to do closer to the move day of Feb 26th, we plan to be gone a few days prior to take the time to have the house cleaned but with our crazy winter weather it may not happen.
Our search will continue and you may see more instagram stories of our search and hopefully it will end sooner than later. I will also be looking for an interior designer and recommendations on tile and cabinet companies. If you know someone send them my way! but they have to be able to come to Quebec (La Peche region). 
Ps. This post was written prior to our final day and I am so glad because my eyes and body are dead.

Big Girl Room

Making the transition from crib to big girl bed I honestly thought it would of been alot harder and more work than it actually was. I wanted to use the crib we had for miss v for the new baby and there was no way I was going to have 2 kids in cribs, and I did not want to buy another crib we would only use a short period until miss v got a big girl bed. I decided to order miss v's bed at the end of September along with her new bed sheets and when it arrived we put it all together that night and the next morning she woke up to a brand new bed! she was amazed, she ran into the room and seen the bed, jumped right on and got under the blanket(we have a video). We left her bed in the guest room and her crib in her room for a few days as she got used to seeing the new bed and was able to get on and off herself and understood it was her new bed. We decided not to get a boxspring as it will make the bed too high then she would need a step so we kept the bed with the matress only until shes older and taller. We asked her if she wanted it in her room on Oct 15th and she said yes so that day we took out her crib and moved in her bed and she has been sleeping in her big bed every since. I was amazed, I expected crying, or fussing or even her getting out and coming to our bed but not even once! 
I decided to keep alot of the same decor, her dresser is the same along with some of the pictures and her book shelf but i added a few small details to make it a little more her own.

Bed: Walmart USA
Bedding: Society6
Light: Ikea
Dresser: Ikea
Shelf: Ikea
Decor: Home Sense & collected many while on vacation in Florida

Third Trimester

As we are sitting here in the with our little babe the third trimester was a roller coaster. I was previously on bed rest for 1 week nearing the start of my third trimester and because of having a "virus" my OB wanted to ensure everything was still fine with baby so we were scheduled a 32 week ultrasound but prior to that from doing my blood work after my glucose test my results came back different. In different I mean I never even knew this was possible. My OB said that my blood work has changed from 1 blood type to one that I now have antibodies in my blood. The blood lab did not indicate which antibodies so that was the next step in figuring out which letter of antibody. She began to explain that it could be an error on the labs part or it could be that the placenta leaked and my blood and babies blood have crossed which causes antibodies to fight it off. I was immediately freaked out, she said I need to have blood work done within 24 hours but doesn't want the blood work done from a normal lab she wants it done at the hospital. Thankfully her office is located just outside the Montfort hospital, so I ran , well I tried to run as fast as I could since the lab was either closed or closing in 30 mins. I made it to registration then over to the lab just in time. They checked me in and kept asking if I have done any blood transfusions... and if I have a blood transfusion card.. I was puzzled I just kept telling them no, no, never. After reading about antibodies in your blood it is very common when having a blood transfusion which again I have never had. So after the testing I went home and just had to wait it out until my OB got the results. I called there office everyday for the next 3 days until I got the results finally. AND my blood work came back negative for antibodies!! we were so thankful but then were confused at the same time and if we could trust the results.. but our OB reassured us that it was just an error and everything was fine.

Week 33 brought on another flu virus, with complete congestion, cough, fatigue, dryness which was similar to the first flu virus but I didn't loose my voice, but talking for long periods of time I would have a coughing attack, my eyes would water and I would over heat. I then started a sinus infection; which is the worse pain ever, the pain ran across the front of my face above my cheek into my jaw then down into my teeth. Iv never experienced such pain in my life and it was just a waiting game for it to pass. Seeing my OB while sick again I some how lost weight (2 lbs) from my previous appointment. ( and I just had a hamburger before going to her office). We were then schedule for another ultrasound at 35 weeks to ensure the baby was gaining and everything was still on track. At our 36 week appointment we got our results and everything was fine and I had gained my weight back and a little extra to make up for the loss. I could definitely feel the difference in the weight gain and I was overall feeling better.  

Week 38 we made it and baby was doing well; she was moving like crazy! I think she had ran out of space because it felt like my belly was going to pop. I could feel the weight and baby getting heavier and heavier the strangest feeling is sitting and having your belly rest on your legs! its so strange and im sure I had the same feeling with miss v but you forget these little strange things.  Also big boob problem; my boobs were rubbing on my belly which was causing a friction and irritation, I had to reverted to sports bars. Sleeping was getting harder and i was waking up more often to pee and switch positions. AND my legs started to stiffen and tighten up especially while sleeping or trying to sleep. I tried to do stretching throughout the day and before bed most nights but it didn't seem to be helping. The only bonus to a winter baby is no swelling feet! I was able to still wear heels. I seen my OB and also told her that I do not want to go late especially not 10 days like I have heard many do. She is fine with me not going late and also feels there is no reason to wait the extra 10 days.
39 week appointment my OB did a stretch and sweep (its a procedure try to separate the membranes of the amniotic sac, containing the baby, from your cervix which is done in office to try to bring on labour to avoid going late) to hopefully start the labour process and it can be as quick as 48 hours to 1 week before it works and/or if it works at all. She said it may not work this time because the baby wasn't down/close enough.  She was going to try again in 6 days to see what happens.. I was optimistic it will work and we would have a baby on or near our due date! We really want to avoid closer to christmas.
Week 40 and still no baby, on my actual due date my OB was on shift at the hospital and I didn't want to see anyone else so she told me to go see her at the hospital in the evening and she would check to see where baby is, and AGAIN baby was still too high and i was going to see her in a few days to check again. 3 days later on Thursday Dec 14th and baby is still high! She asked if we wanted to be induced sooner or later and we both said sooner, so she put us on the waiting list at the hospital. Because we are only just past our due date we weren't priority yet and will be called when there is an opening. 
Monday December 18th at 6am on the dot my phone rings and its the hospital, they tell us they have an opening! which was shocking we actually thought they were calling to do another ultrasound since when your go back your due date they want to double check on baby but it wasn't that. We had to be at the hospital at 8am to start our induction. 
It was happening! we felt ready before but in the moment when its actually go time we were like omg this is happening. We scrambled to get ready and get miss v to my parents house to make it to the hospital in time. We made it and it all turned out great! 
I will be posting soon about miss b's birth!

Maternity shoot

When brainstorming our maternity pictures for baby number 2 back in July/Aug we planned for a October shoot and I knew I wanted them outside, in a field and had this idea of a horse. But not any photos in a barn, I wanted the the horse to be styled outside in among the gorgeous farm view. Our friends which was Matts' best man coincidentally owns a beef farm but also has horses which worked out perfect. The hardest part about this shoot was the weather! we rebooked our shoot 3 times due to the weather and then of course the day we decide to do it; we got our first snow fall of the year and it was FREEZING! 

Photographer: Amy Pinder
Floral: Pollen Nation

Nursery Love

With baby number two I had a vision of simple, natural and clean lines. Our guest room was a light grey colour and we painted it a simple bright white. I complied images and made a inspiration board to help me with my vision, I am a very visual person and always need something to guide me. I keep my vision board saved on my phone and then also make a paper list of everything I need and as I get them I literally cross them off my list. AND I don't like making lists in my phone; I rather have it hand written on lined paper, sometimes ill even have 2 lists. 
We didn't need to order a crib as we had one from miss v so we "just" needed to transition her into a big girl bed. I placed the order for it and the rest is history. I will be blogging her big girl room and the transition soon! It was an actual BREEZE.
For now here are the details on our nursery!
Bassinet: Babies R US
Crib: Fab Baby
Dresser: Structube
Light: Ikea
Basket: Homesense
Hexagone shelves :DIY
Rocking Chair: Structube similar here
Frames: Homesense & DIY dried floral
 

My inspiration board