It's like an orange on a toothpick!

Hi Babe,
I know its been a few days since I last checked in. On Saturday we went to Laura and Duane's beautiful home in St. Thomas to have dinner. Other dinner guests included your aunt Liz, uncle Marc, aunt Patty and uncle Mike. Somehow I managed to stay up until 2 am (whilst your aunt Liz crashed at 11 ... in our bed ... fully clothed ... :) - granted I was in jammie pants by 8:30, but I was quite chuffed with myself for being relatively human on a Saturday night. At 7:30 the next morning, we were awoken with the eerie feeling that we were being watched. I opened my eyes to see little Trevor standing there looking at us. No worries, he didn't see anything embarassing ... unless you count my head to toe flannel look embarassing ... oh, you do? Well then ... Soon after Trevor was joined by his little sister Rachel and we all watched cartoons for a bit. Cartoons are a lot more complex than when I was young! There is now plot lines, intricate backgrounds, funny repartee ... very different from little blue men (and one girl) hiding from a sorcerer and his cat. That was the Smurfs in case you were wondering. And they were cool. They were! I swear.

Trevor (6) and Rachel (4) are THE GREATEST kids. They are cool, polite, funny and sweet. Your dad and I *may* drop you off chez Loebach for the first few years so that you turn out the same. I hope that this okay and doesn't mess you up. I don't necessarily want to be on Dr. Phil in 20 years. Those chairs look uncomfortable. I'm kidding of course, your dad and are just going to have Duane and Laura on speedial for situations that my erupt. And we have no qualms about speeding to St. Thomas so that they can watch you and mold you for a day or so :)

We had a great laugh at the Loebach's house. A lot of jokes surrounded how big I will become, how big my boobs will get, how we will have to reinforce the Jeep, who is willing to risk the shocks on their car to take me to the cottage ... you get the picture. Sadly, this is all true. I think your dad is afraid to sit still for fear that I will eat him. One of the best digs of the night was at your dad from Laura. They were talking about how babies will get bald patches on areas of their head that they lie on frequently, prompting Laura to say 'so did you sleep on your forehead a lot Steve?!?' LOL!!! What a great line.

On the way home we stopped at Home Run burger in Blenheim and took some burgers to go. This has caused my first food aversion. The burger was so big and greasy and heavy that I cannot think about a burger now without feeling nauseous. Your dad and I had hamburger helper the other night and I gave most of the meat to the dogs. Bye bye ground hamburger, maybe we will meet again under better circumstances.

On Monday, as per your dad's post, we went to the doctor in Windsor - he was so nice and easy to talk to. Since I have not been able to feel you moving and have not had any real sickness, I was almost doubting that I was pregnant. I half expected the doctor to come in and say 'Pauline, all we've found in your system are half-digested Christmas cookies and a McDonalds milkshake ... why the hell are you here?!?' Although I read all the pregnancy books and look at all the pregnancy websites, this experience has been so surreal. The best part was the 'impromptu' ultrasound, although I didn't get to see a darn thing. In all honesty, I didn't mind. I watched your dad's face light up at the sight of you and I could have cried. That was the best part for me. We will get to see you in about 6 weeks again, at which time the rest of your body *should* have grown, thus making your head appear smaller. Your dad's right, you have a huuuuuge noggin. We will love you no matter the size of your head ... granted we may tease you (a la 'So I Married an Axe Murderer') ... but we'll love you. *For those not understanding the witty 'So I Married and Axe Murderer' reference, or the title of the blog, rent the movie - it's got Mike Myers in it, it's so funny*

Last night your uncle Anthony (my brother) and uncle Joe came by for dinner. They are getting a whole new kitchen put in (someday you will find this as exciting as us) and have been subsisting on microwave dinners, so I whipped up a culinary delight worthy of a Michelin-starred restaurant. Okay, it was just pasta and it was kinda lame but at least they got fed. They are expecting their own bundle of joy in March! Another puppy to add to our brood. You will be surrounded by dogs ... I hope to God you're not allergic ... we may have our very own bubble-boy ...

Well babe, I must sign off for another day. I am going to venture out into the snow to take the pooches for some exercise (and get some myself ... I'm up seven pounds -eeek!).

Stay safe and keep growing.
Love you lots,
Mom

Big Jeep, small spot, big head, small wonder

Hi my precious little bundle of joy. Its your dad here. Yeah, your dad. Thought I'd let you know how today went since it was a pretty important day. Big day for your parents, and a big day for you. Got my 1st look at you!
So today started out as normal. Your dear old dad hopped into his small but agile Jeep (which one day will be yours if you behave), and headed off to work at 6:15 am. I was running about 3 minutes later than normal but the line up at Timmy's was non-existent so I made up time there. Your dad has a little OCD, and likes routine. You'll either appreciate it, or be annoyed by it like your mum.
Your beautiful mother picked me up at work at 11:47 (she was 17 minutes late, get used to it) and we took her Jeep to head to our very first OB-GYN appointment together to talk about you, see how you were doing, and maybe get to see you in your mum's belly. Long story short, we ended up at the wrong place then had to rush to the right place to meet the doctor and I dropped your mum off at the door then went to park your mum's big Jeep and meet her inside. After slowly crawling around the tiny, cramped and full parking lot for 15 minutes, and seriously debating whether or not to park on a snowbank (if it was your dad's Jeep I would have) I parked illegally (which you should never do, but the under the circumstances it was warranted - I didn't want to miss anything about you!) - and ran in to find your mum.
We waited for a few minutes for the doctor to come in, I moaned to your mum about my parking hassles and such, and then 'Dr. Vertigo' came in to see us. Well, Dr. Tomc (pronounced Tom-s), but he was feeling off and dizzy and his sight was wavy. He was a nice doctor, asked your mum a bunch a questions, remarked about how perfect she is, then....then....he said that the Doppler wouldn't be worth using to find your little tiny heartbeat so he went out and rolled in the Ultrasound machine!!!! Yippie! Doctor wavy eyes smeared some kinda blue jelly on your mum's tummy, put this gadgety thing there and was making a video of what was happening inside! Truth be told, it was more than I needed to see at first, but then he got to the part where YOU were! And there you were! Wow! You have a hhuuuuuugggggeeeeee noggin! You have this massive cranium sitting on top of this little itty bitty body-type thing and I think I saw hands and feet but then the doc pointed out your heartbeat and I was floored. Wow - I saw your little heart beating away. Quite fast, too. Your mum couldn't see anything because she was laying down, then she tried to sit up and see and the doc gave her poop because when she moved she ruined the video, so he tried to angle it so she could see, and then the batteries died on the machine and the movie was over. But wow, what a movie! Best one I've ever seen.
Anyhew, I'm sure you'll grow into that giant melon of yours over time. I can't wait to see you again, but we have to wait another month til the sequel comes out. You looked great my little Bridget/Sean. Keep that little heart beating for us. You're doing great, kiddo. Keep it up.

Love already,
Dad.

Rumour has it that there is a 9 pm!

Tonight is my late night at work and therefore I won't get in until 8:30pm. Since I generally start yawning my head off at 4 o'clock-ish, it makes for a looooong evening. Hopefully, when your dad and I win the 649 tommorrow night, this work business will no longer be concern.

I've been very fortunate to have few symptoms with you - just a little queasiness most mornings (like a mild hangover ... or so I've been told by friends of questionable influence ... :) and severe exhaustion. I generally get home from work, put on my jammies, eat and then fall asleep on the couch at 8. I am a one woman party right now I tell ya! I remarked to your dad last night that we are almost a third of the way there and I've basically slept my way through! Apparently, the second trimester brings with it more energy and radiance. Good thing too, I am tired and pasty right now and am using excessive amounts of blush. Nothing says beauty like two bright pink circles on a pure white face, am I right?!?

I completely understand the exhaustion though - you are growing at an amazing speed! I used to think that phrase 'the miracle of life' was so cliche but am now reformed - what a miracle!!! From an egg and a sperm you are actually now fully formed - at 11 weeks! Granted you are teeny, but fully formed nonetheless. I'm in awe everytime I think of it. Your task now is to just grow larger and stronger so please concentrate on the task at hand and don't goof around. Yes, you've been admonished for the first time. Oh don't cry, I'm sorry. Dammit, I guess your dad will have to be the disciplinarian.

Anyways babe, thinking of you always. Let me know if you are in the mood for anything - I'm feeling a strong pull towards chocolate milk, so I'll definitely make that happen.

Love,
Mom

Hey there munchkin, your dad is here...

Sooooo, hi. I'm your dad. Yep, I'm the guy that called up the Captain of the Storks and had you dropped off inside your mum's belly. It was a long distance call but we have a plan, so it was a free call. Well, not technically free since we pay a fixed monthly bill that includes calls outside of...okay...your mum was right - thank God I sweat the small details. Either way, I'm your dad and that's what's important.
Wow, I'm your dad. I'm your dad! At present you're about the size of a thumb and I'm your dad, your mum's your mum, and you already have a name. You haven't even seen the light of day yet (you'll appreciate the sun, trust me, more on that later...) and you have a name. Actually two names since the middle name is there, too. I'm telling you kiddo, you are one loved little miracle of life. And you have parents that plan. We couldn't wait til you squeezed out of...I mean...until the stork officially drops you off, to make you a person. A human being. Named. Our little baby. No, we couldn't wait. And we can't. Your parents are like that. You see, my little thumb-sized-already-named-child, you were meant to be. You are being brought into this crazy world by two people who already love you as much as they love each other. Which, by the way, is a lot.
And so with this hi-tech bloggy thing your beautiful mum started up, we'll be checking in every now and then to let you know how you're doing on your journey to stardom. I'll be getting your first bedroom ready in the coming months (you'll love it, although you won't remember it), and we'll continue to add to this novel which one day we'll present to you as a gift of our love. You know, so you'll know how it all started.
So my little Bridget/Sean, sleep tight tonight. I'll be thinking about you.

Love already,
Dad.

Bellies and Jammies and Jackpots Oh My!

Today was a really great day. Actually, it didn't start off that great. I began very early this morning, stuffing my increasingly protruding stomach into one of the three pairs of pants that still fit. If the fashion houses in Paris decided that 'winter chic' included flannel jammies at work, I would cry tears of pure, unadulterated joy. I'm not even averse to wearing them with pumps or cinching them with a funky belt. Gaultier, please give me a call to discuss this sometime. I then put on a shirt that was comfortably loose at Christmas but now resembles a cloth shopping bag bursting at the seams as it tries to contain two huge watermelons. Truth be told, I am concerned about my bulging baby bosoms. I'm not even three months in and the situation is getting drastic. I worry that we will have to remortgage the house - not for your future education - but for the amount of bras I will have to purchase over the course of the next 6 months. Not being a textile expert, I am completely unsure if they make fabric strong enough for the amount of support that I will need. But they must, I often see shows on A&E of very very large people being airlifted out of their bedroom where they have been confined for years. I will take 10 yards of that fabric, please. I think that by the end, my boobs will be able to be viewed from space. Perhaps I will be a medical marvel and be featured on a variety of different shows (not websites as your father would prefer ...). You think I kid, but wait until the pregnancy pictures get pulled out at your birthday or graduation parties.

Okay, I've embarrassed you enough with talk of my changing body. I wish I could promise that this will be the last of it, but it won't. It most certainly won't.

After maneuvering myself into my clothing, I got into the jeep went through the Tim Hortons drive thru for coffee and proceeded to spill it all over myself for the next five minutes as I decreased the volume. Seriously Tim Hortons - I appreciate that you try and give us value for our money but give us a wee bit of space at the top please! (As an aside, not only do I hope you get your fathers eyes, common sense and metabolism but that you get his grace too ... I've spent more of my life covered in bruises, food and liquids than I would care to admit). Anyhoo, I drove to London without incident.

The day perked up as it went on. My course was actually a lot more interesting than I had anticipated and I met your Aunt Liz for lunch. We walked into Crabby Joes to find your Granny and Auntie Joanie waiting to surprise us! It was so nice to visit with them. Your Granny glows when we talk about you and I know you must have felt the love radiating off of the table, straight onto you. Since I don't have my own mum any longer (a sad story for another day) I am lucky to have such loving women in my life. I will need them desperately when I am up with you at all hours trying to understand what your crying means, what colour is normal for your poop and how to get you on a decent schedule. Lord knows it's taken me eight years to figure out all the above with your dad ... :)

Everyone took turns rubbing my ponch and in hindsight, this must have looked hysterical at the restaurant. I notice my ponch but I am not 'showing' per se, so the other diners must have wondered why three women were rubbing a chubby girl. Is the chubby girl good luck? Will these women now win the $43 million dollar lotto 649 jackpot? If they do, chubby girls everywhere beware! You're about to get a LOT more attention.

I meant to drop by and visit your uncle Marc but I didn't get in the right lane fast enough so I waved as I drove past.

All in all, a great day!!

Have a good night babe and I will speak to you tommorrow.

Love,
Mom

And so it begins ...

Today begins the 11th week of my pregnancy with you. Or is it that I am now 11 weeks and heading into my 12th ... hmmm ... no matter. Someday you will come to learn that I, though highly educated, am often flighty sometimes to the point of being obtuse. Quite frankly, I don't get caught up in small details such as; watching for the Empty signal in the car or paying bills before buying a shirt that will look fabulous on me. Details schmetails. I like big plans and dramatic ideas. Thankfully, your dad does sweat the small things and so we make a good team. He will make sure you get to your team practice on time and I will make sure you look great going there.

So why a blog you might ask? Why air our dirty laundry, likely to your future embarassment? Well, that's what parents do. Our parents would have done this verbally but in this age, we have the benefit of communicating not only to our close friends and family - but to the WORLD! Yes! After this first post, you will now be a player on the global stage. You are welcome. You can thank us by not putting us in some drab nursing home as soon as we begin collecting cats or I begin colouring my hair purple and talking to my hand.

Truth be told, the past year and a half has also been full of loss and disappointments and it will be therapeutic to share this, finally joyous time, with others. I don't, however, want to drag down this first post and will bypass those sad references for now.

Let me introduce myself. I am your mom, Pauline. I don't have a middle name. Nope. As the baby of the family, apparently it wasn't important to give me a second name. Or perhaps it was that my parents were in such awe at my presence that they were rendered speechless after stuttering out my first name. I will go with that.

I am 31 years old with blue eyes and an undetermined natural hair colour. I *think* I am naturally a brunette but have gone many different hues over the course of my life. I'm short and curvy. Is curvy just a nice word for plump you ask? Perhaps. But call me plump and you will be grounded.

I was born in Scotland but we immigrated when I was just a baby. We then settled in a nice little town called Kingsville Ontario, where your dad and I now currently live. I met your dad while I was attending University in London, Ontario (he was in a band and I was a groupie) - we fell in love immediately and got married only 2 years later. We have now been married for 6.5 years! About a year and a half ago we decided to move to Kingsville with the plan of having you and raising you in a small town environment. I work in a bank and your dad works for a greenhouse. The perks with these careers are endless and will be the envy of your friends; we pay less interest on the large amount of money that we owe to the bank AND we get free tomatoes! Take that!

Sooooooo ... you may be wondering how you came into play. Well, one Tuesday night in November 2008 I decided to have a few glasses of wine with dinner and ... Wait, is this inappropriate?!? I'd better leave that piece of the story and simply say; you were created in love and very much wanted.

As for the title of the blog, you will probably realize that your name is either Bridget or Sean and hence, these were names already picked out for you depending on your gender. Rather, I hope to God that you make the connection or I had better start saving for a tutor right now. There is no great significance to the names other than we really like them. Your middle name will either be Maureen (after my mom) or Marcus (after your uncle Marc).

Your life will not only include the many many family and friends that will love and spoil you desperately but the canine companionship of Tucker and Skye. Tucker is a black lab and Skye is a cairn terrier (terrorist).

I will just end this first post by saying that we are very excited for your arrival. My belly is expanding and I've had to give up wine (someday you will hear stories from my family and friends and know what an immense sacrifice this was!) but I couldn't be happier.

Stay safe in there and we will talk to you soon.

Love, Mom