Pic of the Day ~ Becca Boo ~

J and Becca joined me this morning for our OB appointment. Everything is awesome, the doctor is happy, the heartbeat sounds so good, my cervix is closed (I have had a biopsy on my cervix so that is a concern). We get to see the baby again right before Christmas! So hopefully at that time we will find our if it will be a baby sister or brother for Becca. YUCK! I have to go for my sugar test in a few weeks. That was so not my favorite last time, and I also have to go for more blood tests. We have opted not to do the optional screening. No matter what this baby is our perfect little one and the results would not change how much we love the baby.

I still have to register at the hospital and meet with the pediatrician. Here the pediatrician needs to be present (or a college) at the birth in case. Odd, but at least we will not be scrambling afterwards trying to find one. The pregnancy seems so REAL now, like we can just enjoy it now! And get all crazy and try to get prepared for two kids!

Becca and I did not make it to the pumpkin patch yesterday. I am still fighting with the insurance companies for our deductible back from the accident in JUNE! No fault insurance sucks. I have to wait for the company that covers the guy that was too busy chatting on his phone to realize that traffic had stopped on the interstate, to pay my company, then they can pay me. grrrrr! I might as well be hunting dinosaurs! We may try to make it to the pumpkin patch with J over the weekend instead.

Looks like Becca is coming down with another cold. It is such a bummer. She fell asleep in the car this morning (something she rarely does anymore). Poor kid was so upset to be woken up. So she is chilling out watching Pooh Bear. I am so hoping I do not catch the cold this time!

Pic of the Day ~ The Ever Stylin’ Becca ~

Becca never ceases to amaze us. Today after her bath she climbed up onto my knee and said, “Mommy’s Blog” and pointed at my computer (it was not even on the main screen, it was the posting screen!) The girl already knows about blogging!

I have had a beautiful, warm, relaxing weekend. J took yesterday off as well as today and we have done a lot of vegging out. Me in particular! It has been a nice break. I did very little, yet a lot got done! It is hot here too! Like over 30 degrees C! Crazy October weather! We took advantage of the beautiful weather and went for a walk after dinner!
Tomorrow Becca and I are off to a pumpkin patch with one of the mom’s groups, then Tuesday I have another OB appointment.

I am a guest poster at Overwhelmed with Joy today, so you should all head over there to see what I had to say (it is looking a little lonely in the comments, you wouldn’t want me to get fired!)

How was your weekend?

Pic of the Day ~ Princess Becca ~

Today Becca and I attended a Halloween Party, put on by the Mom’s Club. It was Becca’s first Halloween Bash and we had a wonderful time. Becca was uber shy at the beginning of the party, however began to participate after some encouragement from me and had so much fun in the end!

I so wanted to defy gender roles. I had purchased the cutest of cute lion’s costume for Becca to wear this Halloween. Every time she saw it or we attempted to coax her into it she screamed bloody murder. Finally exasperated I asked her “Well what do you want to dress up as?”. I really did not expect an answer, Becca being two and all … “Becca is a princess, dress princess!!!”

As a mother, I really had two options. Force my values upon my daughter or allow her to be her own person. I want my daughter to understand that although princesses are very wonderful people, women are exceptional without a Prince, and very powerful. I do try to teach her these values even now that she is a toddler. She plays with dinosaurs, firetrucks and adores to get dirty, so by no means am I grooming her to be a prissy girl!

Yet there is something to be said about Becca finding her own path. She already knows I allow her to explore the more boyish of toys and things, so why not allow her to explore her inner princess? It was not until I became a mother that I accepted pink as a colour option. This was many due to the colour pink being shoved down my throat violently, by my Dad’s ex-wife when I was younger. Girls should have pink rooms. GAG! I wanted a dark and Gothic room that reflected my inner torture, psshhaa on pink!

So what if my daughter likes pink, princesses, ballet and all that girly rubbish? I hope to be the type of Mom that allows her to express her inner thoughts, feels and beliefs. All the while encouraging alternatives and allowing her to be a geek, an athlete, a cheerleader (shudder) or a diva.

I was not the only mom that had bit their tongue and allowed for self expression. Another mom and I chatted about the bravery it took to allow our children to come as the princess and the army commando (again gender role not at all anti-army). Who knows maybe next year Becca will be the army commando and her son will go as a prince!

Oh and the cupcakes…I baked those! I even made the icing from scratch! With Orange Crystal light drink mix! Pretty cool eh!! To see more pictures from the Halloween Party check out our Flickr account!

Side note on yesterdays post; I was not planning on discussing my constipation on my blog. It seems like a little bit too much information that every three days or so I poop rocks, despite my oatmeal, tons of water drinking habits. When I was pregnant with Becca, J so delicately reminded me that I had diarrhea for months. Again I had no intention on discussing my bowel movements, but you asked!!! hehe! *sigh*

Pic of the Day ~ Becca Playing in the Backyard! ~

Why is it I barely remember anything from my last pregnancy? Is it some sort of protection method so we do indeed continue to procreate? I was talking to J about a rather embarrassing pregnancy symptom I am dealing with at the moment and he was all “But remember last time it was totally the opposite? You were actually worried! Don’t you remember?!?!?!” And you know he was giving me THAT look …. You know the one …. “oh geez my wife is a nut” look!

I do remember thinking about pregnancy as a huge mystery. In fact the first time around I felt totally lost. A close friend at the time, brought illustrated books for me to look at. I felt like suck a dork, not understanding everything. Then I started reading and reading. Nothing prepared me for the pre-eclampsia though.

This time around it is like no one is giving it much thought (including me). We have received a few congratulations and then nothing. It is odd that no one seems to want to talk about it. I guess they had to hear all about the last one so eh, why this one? I have to admit I was hesitant to talk about it until I saw our little ones heartbeat, so maybe my hesitation was what people are going by.

I am in this weird, can’t fit into my old clothes but maternity clothes are too big stage. It sucks. I had to buy a pair of jeans today just to make it to the big big stage. There are days now that the nausea and tiredness have faded that I do not even feel that pregnant. It is too soon to feel the baby moving around in there (although there have been times I thought Ooo?) In the end I am uber grateful to even be pregnant and that this one is sticking with us.

Totally unrelated but I have to share … I totally SCORED on Craigslist today (thanks for the tip Awesome Mom!) I bought 27 books, almost all Disney and Golden Books for $20! Some of the books creaked when we opened them as if they had never even been USED! SCORE! Becca sat on the floor for 20 minutes looking at the books in silence! hehe J was all “And you went ot Craigslist because …… ” I just gave my innocent look …. Totally blaming Awesome Mom!

ps Thanks for all the advice and making me feel less like a dork yesterday…You guys rock! 

Pic of the Day ~ Mommy and Becca on the Cable Car ~

With my Dad on his way back to Canada, I am faced with getting myself reorganized. It amazes me how out of sorts I feel after company leaves or we return from vacation. I have two sweet weeks until my long time BFF Sheila arrives from Canada! I am excited and oddly nervous about her visit.

Since becoming an “adult” (university years so do not count, no one expects you to be adult like!) I have never had a house guest (except for those related and once again the standards are low). Sheila will be my first bona fide house guest! I am quite excited. I look forward to showing her the sites, taking her to Disneyland and we even have a girl’s day out planned (aka J is staying home with Becca).

My concern comes with the downtime. Will she get bored? She will be staying on our floor in the living room so she will be stuck with our toddler’s hours. Is that ok? What should I feed her? Should I plan a whole menu or wing it a little? She is one of my dearest friends and one that has known me the longest. I just want to know that i am taking care of her alright. Or is that the wrong way to look at it? She is fully capable of caring for herself. UGH!

What are your house guest tips?! Am I a total dork for feeling this way?