Yay, Frenchy's!

Up until this morning, I was starting to wonder if I would have to pay full price for a few pairs of maternity pants to wear to work. I was having decent luck finding shirts at Frenchy's (and Value Village when I was in Saint John), but suitable pants were scarce. As in non-existent. Until I stopped at Frenchy's on the spur of the moment this morning after dropping Adam off at work, where I found not just these brand new Gap maternity pants in my size exactly, but two other pairs of Old Navy and Gap pants perfect for work. Also a red t-shirt and a really cool red shirt which I will post a picture of post-wash (far too wrinkly at the moment) came home with me. Grand total for the three pair of pants and two shirts? $15.72. Ahhhh. The pants need to be hemmed, of course, but that's certainly nothing new. I'll whip out the sewing machine this weekend.
Is this not the cutest hat EVER? I hope we have a girl, just so I can see this hat on our baby! Predictions are in from most people, and the general consensus is that it is a girl. Nana even said so, and apparently she knows. I found some other cute baby things this morning at the first Frenchy's I went to (where there have been no new maternity clothes put out in the last week and a half) like pale yellow pants with little feet and funny yellow and green striped velour pants which I get a kick out of. And so cheap!

adventures at the pee-in-a-styrofoam-cup prenatal clinic

Appointment #2 at the prenatal clinic was this morning at 10:00. We walked into a pink-floored waiting room full of beautiful big-bellied women (and a couple of very cute children) and read silly magazines. I also peed in a styrofoam cup and wrote my name on it and left it on the counter (you're supposed to) and was weighed and my blood pressure was checked ("Perfect" on both accounts; I've only gained 2.5 pounds since my visit at the beginning of November). We met a very friendly doctor who measured my belly (also "perfect"). But the best and most amazing part of all (even better than writing my name on the styrofoam cup which I was clever enough to do before and not after I peed in it) - we heard the baby's heartbeat! It was amazing. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. It was the most beautiful sound I think I've ever heard. It was regular and sounded strong. :))

pink petals

This is really the last one! I ADORE how the petals shimmer.

The last ones, I promise

OK, these are the last cacti photos (except for one more I'm posting separately because it wouldn't fit). We came home today and they were all open and beautiful! I thought the orange one was really neat because it's on a plant where all other blossoms are that pale yellow / pink combination.

We had a lovely holiday, and it's nice to be home. Appointment #2 at the prenatal clinic is tomorrow, and hopefully we'll get to hear the baby's heartbeat! My belly is continuing to get bigger... I think I'll get Adam to start taking pictures soon. Off to unpack!

Ta-da!

The same bloom as yesterday, only when we saw it this morning, it was fully open. :) I'll be away for a little while, so there may be limited (or no) posts. Have a wonderful holiday!

On the first day of vacation, my camera said to me...

Further proof that the cacti are alive and well. These fuschia ones still haven't opened, but I'm starting to think that they probably will and I might not jinx them!
A wonderful friend of mine made these kind of creepy ornaments for us for Christmas a few years ago. Yes, they are the remains of decapitated snowmen. There are six of them on the tree, the aftermath of Massacre at Snowman Corner.
My favourite gift wrapping job. Recycled paper from the office, too!
I love these little seals - this one is on a gift for my wonderful husband.
This is the most open of the cacti, and I can't wait for it to open fully. It's already beautiful, and I'm excited to see the inside middle part (can you tell I'm not a botanist?) since I can't remember what colour it is.

Well, it is my first day of Christmas vacation, and may I just say "Holy energy, Batman!" It may be because I slept for about 2 hours yesterday, but this morning I have felt FABULOUS. I dropped Adam off at work, found two Old Navy maternity shirts at Frenchy's, picked up a few groceries, went to the library, came home, fed the birds, took down the 5 trellises (trelli? :)) in the yard and composted the remains of several clematises (clemati?:)) took a bunch of pictures, have laundry going, and ate two oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Phew.

We went to our second prenatal class last evening. Most of the information isn't new, but there are a few tidbits here and there which make it worth the effort. In the new year, we're going for a tour of the labour and delivery part of the hospital, which I think will be very helpful. My belly is getting bigger by the second - 2 inches more in a week and a half. The baby is almost 4 inches long. As part of the class last night, Adam and I each had to predict whether the baby is a boy or girl, how much it will weigh at birth, and what it's birthday will be. I predicted a girl, 8 pounds even, and June 15. Adam also predicted a girl, June 9, and I forget what he predicted for the weight. He weighed 10lbs 10oz at birth, so I'm hoping that our little one will be a wee bit smaller. Whoever in the class is closest to the actual information will get some kind of prize at our reunion class, after everyone has their babies. I think that will be really fun - to see all of the little ones in real life without a belly in the way.

Merry Christmas!

The proof is in...

A few better pictures of the Christmas cacti buds... even double ones! And one of the ornaments on the tree.

The fondue was a flaming success, although not as flaming as last year! We had a lovely time together.

Baby keeps on growing, and the way my pants are fitting reflects that! I'm going to need some maternity pants for work very soon. Other than that, not too much is new. I'm really excited for Christmas break, and our first prenatal class is tomorrow evening!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas! We've had two lovely snowfalls this past week, one blizzardous one which arrived yesterday. It makes it feel a lot more like December than when it's muddy and wet.

Annual Christmas fondue is at our place this evening... I'm in charge of desserts, so I've made lime meltaways, shortbread cookies with almond icing, cranberry shortbread bars, and I'll make some lemon bars this afternoon to go with tea for dessert.

I was sick this week with a flu-like yuckiness (only time I've thrown up since being pregnant, yay!) and am feeling 100% better today. The baby is growing hair this week and can grasp, squint, frown, and grimace! Pretty amazing.

in the spirit...

I realize that the quality of these pictures is most certainly lacking, but I wanted to make it well-known that the flower blossoms on both of my Christmas cactus plants are definitely there! I somehow managed to not fuss over them too much, but I don't dare get too excited lest they sense it and all fall off. Assuming they don't, I will definitely take some better shots when they bloom.
Ah, the Christmas tree! I went with Dad to his woodlot on Saturday, and we picked this fine specimen of a tree while husband was at work. Husband and I set it up yesterday, and I think it looks quite lovely. The lights are kind of odd, though... we had some working strings of regular white lights, but some were flickery. So we bought some 'pure white' LED lights to do the rest of the tree rather than risk some sort of firy incident, and it turns out that they're the ones that look blue. The ones which look like the other ones cost a bunch more. Oh well, there are definitely more important things to think about at Christmas.
My big project after getting the tree and a bunch of branches on Saturday was to make this garland for the staircase. A bit messy, a lot delicious-smelling, and a lovely enough result. Not bad for my first garland-making attempt, if I do say so myself!
Another poor-quality picture, but this sums up the feel of our house this season. (Not the poor quality part, but what's in the picture.) I got some pine branches and put this lovely lantern which a very sweet friend gave to me a long time ago in our dining room window, and I think it looks perfect. I guess it really has to be seen in person for the full effect (same room as the cozy wood stove, you can see the tree through the doorway, etc.) but I'm enjoying it very much.

In other Christmas-y-ness, I'm reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, which I love. I've read it a million times, but I love to read it at Christmas. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, but I've already cried about three times, and I'm only on chapter 4. Speaking of crying, husband and I watched Love Actually last night (which I've seen a million times and love more every time I watch it). Other reading that I associate with Christmas and plan to work away at after Little Women is done are The Chronicles of Narnia series, the Harry Potter series and the Anne of Green Gables series. That should take me until the baby is born! I don't feel like I have enough energy to read strenuous stuff. I just finished The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, and that was a very well written and entertaining read. Couldn't put it down - totally absorbing.

In baby news, baby Graham is about the size of a jumbo shrimp! How exciting. I'm feeling pretty good, but even though I'm not as tired as I was, I'm more tired than pre-pregnancy me. Which means that although the tree is up, decoration boxes and miscellany still need to be sorted and put away sometime in the near future. Maybe tonight after a few more chapters are read...

Hey! The rain just turned to snow! Merry Christmas!