these shoes rule...

While I was pregnant, many women would look at my huge, puffy, swollen feet and tell me that I would likely end up wearing a larger shoe after the baby was born. They were right and I have finally come to terms with it. As I sadly begin to purge my closet of what is now a pile of size 8's that are way too tight, I look forward to the future filled with lovely size 9's.

Hooray for shoe shopping!

Since the summer is nearing completion and I won't be able to wear flip flops for much longer, I went shoe shopping yesterday. I drove to Mississauga specifically to go to the Crocs store. Now before you start riding my ass about my love of Crocs, hear this. Crocs got me through my pregnancy and c-section recovery. When my feet swelled to what seemed like double their size, my trusty Crocs were the only thing I could put on. I wore them until the snow got so deep that I had to pull out a worn out pair of hiking boots that were stretched out from too much wear. I could barely lace those puppies up. But the Crocs went on with relative ease. Even though I would end up with circular indentations on the tops of my feet by the end of each day, with them I was able to walk. Anyway, I went to the Crocs store specifically for these.


I saw a friend with a white version of these a couple of weeks ago. I knew I had to have them.

In the same neighbourhood as the Crocs store, is Stylesense. I hadn't heard of this store until my friend Kim mentioned that they carried a lot of hootchie-mama shoes. True, most of their shoes seemed to be designed by people who think that women prefer to dress like tramps. But once I waded through the gladiator sandals and 6 inch heels, I did manage to find these lovely Hush Puppies.


And these excellent Merrell's.


Oddly enough, both pairs are brown. I am very much a black shoe girl. And a black clothing girl. I guess I'll have to start adding some brown to my wardrobe, you know, to match the shoes.
Or I'll need to buy more shoes. Whichever works.

baby got back

It's no surprise that I'm carrying around a little extra weight post-pregnancy. Truth be told, I'm in the worst shape of my life. I am embarrassingly overweight and out of shape. And I've had enough of it. Beginning tomorrow I am taking steps to take off the excess weight and to get healthy. And for the first time in my life there will no fad dieting involved. I've tried it all: Weight Watchers, South Beach, no-carb, low-carb, no-fat, low-fat, you get the picture. These always work for the first little while. And then I fall off the wagon and the pounds pack on again. It's time for a lifestyle change.

It took a long time for me to gain the excess weight and I know it will take a while for it to come off. So I'm taking baby steps. Making small changes over time towards a healthier lifestyle. So here's the plan.

The Food Plan
1) Drink water: I used to be pretty good at this, especially when I was pregnant because I was constantly thirsty. But I just kind of stopped drinking water. So I just need to get back into the habit. It shouldn't be that difficult.
2) Cut out sugar: This one will be tough. Sugar is my downfall. I love chocolate. I love pop. I need to stop consuming both. I'll work chocolate back into my life once I'm at healthy weight but for now, the daily consumption of this delicious substance is over. As for pop, I would like to cut it out completely. Forever. The stuff is just nasty and has zero nutritional value. The only sugars I intend to eat are those that occur naturally, like in fruit.
3) More plants/less meat: It's not that I don't like fruits and vegetables, it's just that I really like meat. I could easily eat just a steak for dinner, with no veggies. From now on, meat will take up a much smaller place on my plate than veggies. I'm also going to try to eat more fish. I love fish, I just never know how to cook it. I'll just have to learn.
4) Less and healthier carbs: This one shouldn't be too tough either. I switched to eating just whole grains years ago. But while I was pregnant, I craved carbs like you wouldn't believe. So I got back in the habit of eating too much. I just need to cut back.
5) Less alcohol: I love wine. Love, love, love it! I would be miserable without it. So I'll still drink it, but only on weekends and not in excess. And no hard liquor. Not even gin. :(
6) No shit: No food substitutes allowed. No aspartame, margarine, etc. Nothing manufactured. Only real food. Stuff grown in the ground. Stuff that has to be harvested. Animals that were not fed chemicals. You know, the way food used to be before the 20th century hit.
7) Making allowances: There will be times when these rules will be broken. Parties, special occasions, bad days, etc. I will not beat myself up over these things. I will allow myself time to be human and overindulge once in a while. Then I will start over again with the next meal.

The Exercise Plan
I have never been fond of exercise. Gym was my worst subject in school. I am lazy. But soon, I will have to chase an active child as he discovers the world. I better be in shape for this.
1) Walking: Walking is easy. Put on running shoes, place baby in stroller and go. And now that the weather is warmer, there is no reason why I can't do this everyday, or maybe twice a day. And if it's pouring rain there is the treadmill that's gathering dust in the basement. Time to set it up again.
2) Wii Fit: We bought the Wii Fit while I was pregnant. I haven't tried it yet but am hoping it will be a good way to exercise. It certainly is convenient: something I can do while the little dude is sleeping. I'll let you know how this pans out. I can't wait to find out my Wii Fit Age. I'm predicting somewhere in senior citizen territory.
3) Yoga: I have wanted to do Yoga forever. A new yoga place opened up within walking distance from my house. And they have a mom and baby class. They also do hot yoga which I really want to try. I think I'll start with the walking and the Wii Fit first. Once I lose enough pounds to not be totally embarrassed wearing exercise clothing in public, I will try the yoga.
4) Running: I took a learn to run course a few years ago and love it. I don't know why I stopped running. I will start again.

So that's the plan. It's nice to have it all written out here. Kind of makes it real. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

the ignorance is bliss

I so could of used one of these while I was pregnant.

This would have been so much better for my ego.

Thanks Chip Chick!

baby I love you

As you may have suspected from the absence of posts, Em has arrived.

Blogworld, meet Alex.



He arrived on January 3 at 5:46am and has been rockin' our world ever since. I'm in the process of deciding on if I am going to post about his birth story or not as it was a bit of an ordeal. In the meantime, I've got some sleep to catch up on.

what a difference a day makes...

Well it's been quite a day.

I had my weekly checkup with the obstetrician today. My blood pressure was a little high so she decided to send me to the hospital for further tests as a precaution. She assured me that she thought everything was fine with Em and me but she would rather that I have some tests done just to be certain. I think I managed to remain calm until I left her office but then panic set in. The 3 minute drive from her office to the hospital felt like 3 hours. I called Steve to let him know what was going on and tried to sound as relaxed as possible so as not to frighten him. I reported to hospital admitting as instructed and they had my chart ready to go, since my doctor had already called over to let them know I was coming and what she wanted done. From there I headed to the labour and delivery ward, where I met Casey, the nurse who would take care of me. She was awesome from the get go. She got me settled in a room, explained that they would take blood and urine samples, take my blood pressure again and hook me up to a fetal monitor. Her demeanor really helped to calm me down and push all the horrible "OMG there's something wrong with my baby" thoughts out of my head. I was hooked up to the monitor for about half an hour and Em performed brilliantly. (Yeah, Em!) She took my blood pressure twice during this time and it was normal. All I had to do know was wait for the results from the blood and urine tests. Luckily, there was TV in the room to keep me occupied. I started to doze off, likely because I had only slept about 4 hours the night before, and Casey came back in with a lunch tray. She said they had an extra tray and thought that I might be hungry. I could have hugged her. I was ravenous, but didn't even realize it from the combination of exhaustion and panic I was feeling up until this point. Casey informed me that they were just waiting on a few more results but everything looked really good so far. Once all of the results were in, she talked to my doctor and both agreed I was good to go. The whole process took about 2 hours, which is exactly what my doctor told me to expect when I left her office.

I realize that what I went through was a very minor bump in my pregnancy experience. I've been lucky to have a relatively easy pregnancy with no major concerns along the way. This experience only further reminded me of how lucky I have been. I'm not sure how women with high risk pregnancies cope. I guess you just do what you have to do. I'm just thankful that Casey was so awesome during the whole thing. It gives me confidence that we will be in good hands when the time comes for Em to emerge.

like a bowl full of jelly

For the morbidly curious, here's how I'm looking these days, at approximately 38.5 weeks pregnant.


Seriously, I should be renting myself out to play Santa Claus at Christmas parties!

the final countdown...

I started counting down the days to my last day of work before maternity leave back in September. But it wasn't until last week, that I actually counted the days until my due date. It was actually Steve who pointed it out, but now I can't get it out of my head. As of today, there are 42 days until my due date. That's just over a month. Until life as we currently know it, completely changes. Or does it? I've spent a l0t of time over the past few months thinking about this. Almost everyone I know who has children keeps telling me that "life is never the same" and "everything changes" and they make it sound so drastic and dire. Yes, I realize that Steve and I will be responsible for a human life who will rely on us for absolutely everything. But we're not changing, are we? We'll still be the same people, just with another little person around to take care of. Of course our lifestyle will change. We won't be going out as much and we'll be spending money differently. We won't be getting much sleep for the first little while, not they we get enough sleep now. I guess I'm just having trouble imagining how different and life changing this whole thing is going to be. But I guess I'll find in approximately 42 days.

what's your name?

One of the questions you are asked constantly when pregnant is, "have you decided on names?" Steve and I have a few ideas but have decided to make up our minds when we actually meet the kid. We've had a few people lend us baby name books, but I was intrigued to find a link this site on Lifehacker today. At What A Lovely Name, you can view a list of potential names based on character traits. So if you click on the words "strong", "leader" & "independent" and select boys names only, it returns a list of 18 names of various ethnicities, including Wolfrick, Havelock & Zenon. Interesting choices. None are names that I would want to saddle my child with but it is fascinating to see what they come up with. It also gives you the meaning of each name. Wolfrick is German for "wolf ruler", Havelock is Scandanavian for "sea battle" and Zenon is apparently derived from Zeus. Again, interesting, but I think we're going to stick with something a little more, er, normal. Maybe something that won't get the kid punched out on its first day of school.

rainy days and mondays...

So today was neither rainy, nor a Monday but it was overcast (it's now snowing) and it might as well have been a Monday because I have felt like crap all day. The baby decided to kick my ass today. I've had some lovely "morning sickness". Thankfully, I'm feeling better now and well enough to head out to the Great Big Sea concert at Hamilton Place. I can't guarantee that I will make it through the whole show, but since we do have front row tickets, we have to show up, at least for part of it.

Luckily, today wasn't a total loss. Once the nausea wore off enough so that I could sit up without feeling horrible, I was able to finish a few knitting projects.


I started knitting this blanket for myself, but it's going to be a Christmas present for my dad instead. It's very soft and will be a cozy couch blanket for him.


This is my first attempt at the famous (among us knitting geeks anyway) Baby Surprise Jacket. And it turned out really well. It will be mailed to Boston this weekend, to friends of our who just welcomed a new daughter.


These don't look like much, but they are going to very useful once Em arrives. They're burp cloths. The colourful one is actually a bit short, but I was using leftover yarn and didn't have enough of the colour. So I'll likely use it as a washcloth instead.

It feels good to know today wasn't a total waste.

grab your coat and get your hat...

I've been avoiding buying a maternity size winter coat. I just didn't want to shell out the cash for something I might only wear for a month. I had hoped to get by on layers of sweaters and fleece but nothing in my current wardrobe can actually button around by ever expanding girth. A quick trip to Old Navy yesterday solved all of my problems.


I had tried on this coat on a previous visit but couldn't justify paying full price for it knowing that I wouldn't be wearing it for very long. But yesterday, the sign above the rack made my heart skip a beat. 50% off. And they had one left in my size. Excellent! And I look pretty good in it too, if I do say so myself. In fact, it highlights the baby belly so nicely that three people offered me their seat on the subway this morning. All at the same time! A worthwhile purchase indeed.

the sweetest thing

I'm starting to think that there might be some truth to this nesting thing they talk about with pregnant women. I have made muffins and bread the last three weekends in a row. This is highly unusual behaviour for me. I've often thought about doing these things on a regular basis, in order to reduce my intake of the store bought, over-processed versions of these items. But usually that urge loses out to sheer laziness. So seriously, what's up with my sudden interest in baking? I guess it's really not such a bad thing, but if I do start sewing my own clothes and cleaning the grout between the tiles on the kitchen floor with a toothbrush, you'll know I've lost it.

Here's a few samples of my recent baking adventures.

banana chocolate chip muffins

a loaf of whole wheat, fresh out of the breadmaker

hello. how are you? have you been alright...

uhh...hi. Remember me? I used to write this blog...

It's been a crazy few months in my little corner of the world. As a result, I have seriously neglected my blog and numerous other things. So here's the short-ish version of the story.

On February 14th, one of Steve's aunt's passed away unexpectedly. She and Steve's uncle didn't have kids and there was no other family to take care of all of the details that need taking caring of when someone dies. Normally, Steve and his brother would share the duties but since David and his wife Tera had just welcomed their first child into the world a week before, there was not a lot they could do. Steve took the lead with the rest of us helping as much as we could. Unfortunately, it was not a simple task. In addition to the funeral, etc. we also had to find care for Steve's uncle, who was being cared for by his wife until she passed. Then there was the matter of the will, power of attorney over his uncle's affairs, emptying and selling the house (no small task as they hadn't really thrown anything out since they moved into the house in the '60's), selling the car, emptying his uncle's workshop and finding a new home for the cat. (Sami has been the bright spot in all this and became a very welcome addition to our family.) And all of this was happening over 500 kilometers away in Ottawa. So when we weren't dealing with our daily lives of working, etc., we were travelling to Ottawa to take care of things there. Grueling to say the least.

Fast forward two months to mid April. In the midst of this stressful period, we find out that I am pregnant. Blogfriends, I'd like to introduce you to "Em".


This is Em at 13 weeks. We're at about 20 weeks now. Em is short for embryo. We started calling it that before it reached the fetus stage and it just stuck. So Em it will be until it emerges in early January. Needless to say, we are pretty excited. Pregnancy has a way of being all encompassing. I find it difficult to focus on much else. Especially since all I wanted to do for the first three months was sleep. This producing another human life stuff completely drains you of all energy. It's crazy.

Fast forward again to late May. Another one of Steve's aunts passes away unexpectedly. She never married or had children so again it falls to Steve and David to take care of things. So in the midst of dealing with the grief of losing two much loved aunts and the joy of a baby on the way, there is now another funeral, an apartment to empty, another car to sell and more will and estate stuff to deal with. And doesn't it figure that the closing of the house sale in Ottawa and the date we need to vacate the apartment in Toronto are both July 31. Luckily, with my niece being a few months older, Dave and Tera are able to do a ton to assist. Between the four of us, we manage to get it all taken care of. All this time, I was concerned for Steve's well being. It's a lot to put on one person but as usual, he puts his head down, gets the job done and comes out at the other end, tired, but relatively unscathed. I am very lucky to have such an amazing man for a husband.

Once my parents heard the news about the baby on the way, my father turned into Mike Holmes and started renovating our house. Seriously, he's been working on stuff that I didn't know needed fixing. He's determined to get everything done before the baby arrives but really, I think he's just been bored since he retired from his carpentry business last year. The man is a master craftsmen and spent the last 25 years of his working life making curved wooden stair cases for grand, expensive homes big enough to house a dozen families. As a result, our house is in this permanent state of flux. When I'm not working or sleeping, I'm picking out paint and flooring and consulting with dad on the next project. Don't get me wrong I am incredibley appreciative. Sometimes it's just a bit hard to live in a house that is in constant renovation.

So now it's August and I'm finally finding the time to sit down and blog about all of this. Once Em arrives in the world the posts may be few and far between again but I'm determined to blog as much as I can between now and then. I've really missed it. There is something very therapeutic about getting it all out in the written form. Even when it's not all serious life stuff like this post. The next post won't be as heavy. Promise.