End of October beginning of November visits

Last weekend Ab and Shirley blew in from the north and visited the Mitchell household for the first time. I'm sure there are pics to be viewed on Emma's picture site http://www.godystreit.myphotoalbum.com/
Shirley and Ab then spent the night at our house with Shirley tucking in for a few days in the city while Ab went back home. We had Breanna over Tuesday to attend work with me the next day (Take our kids to work program) and David whisked her away to see Zombieland. Unfortunately Miss Beans was sick and was only able to take in the opening program the next day.

Feathering the Nest

In my typical spirit of doing research and looking for inspiration before tackling a home renovation/design project, I picked up a book to help me with planning the nursery. Feathering the Nest is a beautifully designed and written book that has already been a source of ideas for the space soon to be occupied by the babe formally known as choo choo.

The colour will be gender neutral (of course) and I want to incorporate chalkboard, either a wall painted with chalkboard paint or have a chalkboard featured somewhere in the room.

I have also been (surprise surprise) researching baby gear, specifically infant seats, baby seats, strollers, baby slings and cloth diapers. I understand that it is highly recommended that one buys a new infant/baby seat as well as a crib and avoid the second hand route... And yes we are going to use cloth diapers.

I have not bought a thing for baby (it was hard enough coming to terms that I require maternity clothes- although it's partly a budget trick; once I buy one item it will be a quick downward spiral to out of control spending). I think I have narrowed down the choices with regard to the seats. I am contemplating the options for baby slings and strollers - or should it be baby sling Or stroller? Dave and I recently watched the timely (for us) movie entitled "Away we go" There is a scene where a radical mom (the fabulous Maggie Gyllenhaal) explains the child rearing philosophy of the Three Ss (no separation, no sugar and no strollers). I know a group of women who are passionate about baby wearing and who rarely if ever use their stroller. This summer Dave had fun spotting all of the men wearing their babies (surprisingly there are many). My neighbour offered to give me a lesson on baby wearing and will let me try out a few options before I select which type will work for me (very cool).

This post was a procrastination post - I must get work done before Monday morning but creating this post was a lot more fun.

choo choo

David decided it would be a good idea to give the baby a prenatal name and he settled on the name "choo choo", and then told me about it. I am not sure about the name choo choo but he's using it quite liberally, including with our neighbour down the street who brought over yesterday bannock and fried pickerel cheeks "for choo choo and you" she said! David had made the arrangements and the trade (he gave her grape jelly, jar of pickles and some elk meat) before he left for Churchill.

Our ultrasound at the beginning of last week went very well. The ultrasound technician ensured the baby had all of its major organs and that the heart was functioning as it should (check and check) Dave asked her (on behalf of Abby) whether the baby had all of its fingers and toes (check). The baby was moving around and it was amazing to watch it on the screen. This past week I have just begun to detect some movement, it feels like the baby is softly nudging the inside of my belly.

For those who are wondering about the sex of the baby, it is to be determined....in March when the baby is due.

We have some ultrasound shots but the quality deteriorates when I attempt to scan, so sorry I cannot share any pics online.

I have included a baby bump picture. For some reason, of the few pictures David has taken of my belly, I have a body but no head...

pregnancy update

under construction....

.........teaser post


your calls (demands) for pictures of my ever expanding belly bump have been duly noted. at least one picture will be added along with some updates on what's going on with the babe.


in the meantime, here is the absolute latest...we have an ultrasound (2nd one) tomorrow morning. dave is quite excited. he is currently outside tending a fire with his soon to be daddy buddy Colin. Apparently they have spent the last couple of hours talking about babies and fatherhood puncuated with discussions about home renovations and their partners pregnancies (both successfully missed out on the first trimester - david was away on the train the majority of the time and colin's girl was out of town working)

our first visit to Mitchell

This past Sunday David and I (and copper) made the trek to Mitchell, Manitoba to have brunch with Gody and Miss Emms (unfortunately Naomi was at work). It took us approximately 1/2 hour to go from door to door, which really wasn't that long at all and we enjoyed the mini road trip.
Mitchell appears to be a great community and Gody and Naomi's new house is new and quite lovely. They have already made the space their own and the backyard is huge!
Emma was quite pleased to have us over and was very proud to give me a tour of the house and to show off her room, adjacent playroom and where she rides her bike downstairs. After a lovely brunch, we all checked out the backyard, and as Gody's pictures demonstrate on Emma's picture website, there was much running about. David captured some shots and videos as well. Uncle David captured miss emma's crocodile tears when we were leaving.

Miss Beans and Jessie and "Where the wild things are"

David and I took Breanna (aka Beans) and Jessie to the movie "Where the wild things are" are at the Towne Cinema downtown (where I worked in high school, best job ever to have at that age).

Breanna enjoyed the film but I think the movie themes were a bit too mature for Jessie and I think she lost interest. I had a feeling they would be but I wanted an outing that included both of them. David is pumped about taking teen Beans to the movie Zombieland and apparently I am not invited to this future outing.

It was nice to see both girls and to hear what's going on with both of them.
Breanna started grade at Glenlawn collegiate this year and despite her initial concerns about jr high, she appears to be doing quite well (team captain for volleyball and was selected early for soccer in the spring).

Miss homebody Jessie is grudgingly warming up this full day school thing and is settling into grade 1.

David's new thing - knitting

David has taken up a new hobby - for those who know him well know that David has many hobbies including typewriter hoarding, instrument collecting and playing (the violin has been recently added to his repertoire), YouTube searching/viewing, hunting and and gathering large rocks and stones, fire starter, "safe league" hockey player etc....

Gody, Naomi and Emma's spent their last night in the city before the big move at our house. During the visit, Dave demonstrated his first attempts at knitting. Apparently (as told to me by Dave) Gody quietly watched Dave knit and then decided to ask to try it himself and to perhaps show Dave a few things to help him improve his technique. Apparently while knitting Gody commented that knitting is very similar to tying knots for Hydro work. David said Gody became so engrossed with knitting (see picture) that he ceased to watch the hockey game that was on tv. Gody, please feel free to use the comments section to correct my second hand telling of the story.

When I arrived home from work today, Dave was excited to show me that he taught himself how to cast off.