I was on the top of the world. Having spent a few days chilling out closer to home, quality time with Becca, life was good.

Yesterday was wonderful.

J came home early from work and we all headed out to do some shopping! w00t! But my throat hurt.

Then my sinuses starting in with a stabbing pain.

By the time we got Becca to bed I was shaking.

For the first time since leaving Canada….I was cold. Oh so cold.

Then the fever hit.

I slept in a pool of sweat.

So cold.

I am wretchedly sick. I hurt all over. My sinuses feel like they are going to explode. My throat hurts, my glands are swollen.

No drugs. No relief. Only one position to attempt sleep.

This sucks.

I will leave you with a glorious belly shot … I am heading back to bed … Thankfully J is taking today off (~crying~I was suppose to go knitting … to sick to knit~crying~).

Pic of the Day ~ Best Friends ~

I cannot express how grateful I am to have a healthy pregnancy. When I was pregnant with Becca, I was blessed at first, then hit with Pre-eclampsia that paralyzed my life, placed me on bed rest then lead to a premature birth. It was scary to be that sick. In fact at the time, I was determined not to have any more children.

When we arrived in the US, I was so excited to discover we were pregnant. It did not come without confusion and oddity right from the start, yet I wanted that baby so much. We lost that baby. It crushed my heart to lose the baby. It rocked our world beyond explanation.

When discovering we were pregnant once again this summer. I was scared. Oh was I scared. We were determined to enjoy this pregnancy and not to be haunted by the ghosts of pregnancies past. This was a challenge especially at first. Yet we got through it and here we are 8 weeks until our baby boy is due and all is well. In fact all is great!

There is a woman in my Mom’s club that is losing her baby. The baby is sick, and will pass away it is only a matter of time. Although I can only imagine the pain and fear she is feeling, I understand the pain of the loss. It also is a reminder to me how much I must enjoy this pregnancy.

I know some of you have expressed concern at the amount of activity I do and the effects on the baby and my health. I so adore you caring so much about me and our family! I have talked with my doctor and he has reassured me now is not the time to slow down, but to listen to my body. I am blessed with this healthy pregnancy, and I am obligated to enjoy it to the fullest. Not all woman, nor do all pregnancies allow for hiking, trips to the zoo and Disneyland or active lifestyles. I am fortunate for this opportunity, and the time I have to go on these adventures with my daughter.

I could become ill. Pre-eclampsia could rear its’ nasty head and I could be placed on bed rest. In four short weeks, the time will come that Becca’s time in the womb was over. While I am healthy and have the energy I intend on taking full advantage of it. I know the time will come that I will be more tired, achy and cranky. So for this moment I am going to cease the opportunity to live life to the fullest with my daughter, husband and babe in womb.

Every hike I take will provide Ethan with more oxygen and will prepare my body for the challenges of labour. Every moment I spend with Becca will assure her that she will always be so very important to me and that I love her so deeply. The family time with J will anchor our love through the future sleepless nights and endless care-giving. Three will become four and change our lives forever. I will live in the moment.

Pic of the Day ~ Becca the Swinger ~

Wow! Thanks for all the love yesterday! Valentine’s Day around here is pretty low key. Becca and I went to a Mom’s Club Valentin’e Day Party at the park and had a blast! J and I exchanged little treasures, although he spoiled me after lecturing me to be practical! I purchased him this book, a tad on the Anti-Love but the irony was not lost on my scientific husband! However, if I start to drool excessively, can someone look into it for me! I also got him some meat (he adores Beef Jerky!) J spoiled me by purchasing an AMAZING set of knitting needles that I will blabber about on the knitting blog in the next couple of days.

It is so cool that I won Tasha’s contest! Thank you so much for hosting it Tasha, it was perfect for Valentine’s Day!  There are so many cool things going on in the Blogosphere as of late! Have you guys heard of Petite Mommy’s contest? It is the Mom Idol Singing Contest! Although I am not sure I will have you suffer through an audition from ME, I would love to see some bloggers I know enter! Maybe if enough of YOU enter, I could be persuaded to enter too …. eh? eh? hehe!

I am off to do a Knitting demonstration and instruction with my pal Holly, for our Mom’s Club this morning. I am so enjoying the knitting and will be sharing more projects that I have been working on over the weekend. Time does not seem to be on my side and I keep running out of it!

Please, head over to Nic’s amazing review site The Opinionated Parent, today and check out the review that I wrote! There is a chance to win some prizes over there too!  Nic has been super busy bringing some amazing products and deals to the site so make sure to snoop around.

Pic of the Day ~ The Engagement Photo - 2001 ~

I was just starting to figure out who I was … My early twenties being a time of a lot of growth and sense of self. I was away from a situation that tortured me emotionally for the first time and was completely on my own. I had started a new, great paying job (haha for a student), was attending university and watching my goals become a reality. Life was good.

The semester had just begun and already I had a paper due. I went to the computer labs and was typing away all my great ideas on psychology. Now keep in mind dear readers, that then I was not the geek that I am now. Computers were quite foreign to me. I had only just recently opened an email account. So saving a document as I went was not something I was in the “know” about until this fateful day.

ZAP just as I am about to complete the paper (no rough draft all off the top of my head, oh yeah I was cocky!) the computer freezes and dies. I freak. Look to my left, look to my right … GRAB the guy sitting next to me and manically ask “Can you get that BACK?!?! HELP ME!?!?!”

Frozen … the guy looks back at me … he quietly mumbles something along the lines of “Ummm sure I could try, Did you save any of it?”

“Save what?!?! Umm NOOOO!” as I bang my head on the keyboard.

Sweet, hmmm Cute too Guy helps me recover part of my paper and I return to making up some more mumble jumble that is suppose to sound smart and sassy. Sweet Cute Guy says nothing else and goes back to his email….I peek over and discreetly jot down his email address. Sweet Cute Guy packs up and leaves without even a good bye!

Not at all discouraged and in the mood to stalk Sweet Cute Guy I email him a thank you and ask if he wants to meet up later to study …. We email back and forth for a few days and finally meet up.

While on our study date (oh yeah I so thought it was a date! I like totally shaved my legs and everything even though it was February in Canada! haha!) he proceeds to tell me that his ideal woman is a blond, petite … like the girl in his class … UGH! In case you all haven’t noticed, I am neither blond or petite! I am all brunette and curvy! It was obvious this guy had no clue what he really wanted!

Oddly, I was still not completely discouraged. We hung out for a few weeks off and on. THEN Sweet Cute Guy tells me, that none of his friends are dating girls so he totally does not want to date! WHAT!?!?!?! I was so bummed….I really started liking this Sweet Cute Guy.

The next day he calls me and asks if he can come by, I am all “wha?!?! No I have a midterm tomorrow, Sweet Cute Guy that does not want to date grrrrr!” He pleads, I cave because he really is sweet and cute … He proceeds to tell me that he talked it over with a friend and decided to date me after all. Well HALLELUJAH! I was a little peeved but then he kissed me, my knees went all weak and my head started to spin … I did not know it then but that first kiss was the end of me being single … Sweet Cute Guy is now Sweet Cute Husband!

This is my entry in Tasha’s “How We Met” Valentine’s Day Contest…You still have time to enter!!!

So my Sweet Cute J, thank you for always making me weak in the knees, being there when I have my emotionally charged moments, rescuing me when I am lost, making me laugh, watching Cops and Veronica Mars with me, for understanding me like no one else, loving me for me … I love you … Happy Valentine’s Day!

Pic of the Day ~ Becca the Super Star ~

Life is just so so busy around here. I think I may have mentioned that already ~hehe~ This morning Becca and I went on a hike with one of the mom’s groups. We brought Erin and Samuel with us, and had a great time. The hike was awesome. Becca always does so amazing when with other kids. She fell a few times but always seem to bounce back quickly. Her pals Chris and Joey were there too, so it was an extra bonus!

Once home, thankfully Becca went back to sleep (she zonked out in the car), allowing me to take a little nap then get some things done. Afterwards we hit the grocery store for some much needed supplies!

Yesterday I went knitting with Marina, then took a nap in preparation for babysitting for a friend. It was a couple hours after Becca went to bed (w00t more yarn $$ hehe). I got even more knitting completed (you will have to check out my knitting blog in a while for some updates!!!)

Tomorrow ~should~ be a veg out day for us. We may hit Costco and a craft store but other than that we are taking it easy ~grins~ Also I will posting a Valentine’s post tomorrow as part of Tasha’s Valentine’s Day Writing Contest so stay tuned!! You should totally enter too!

Speaking of contests …. Remember I was promoting Aimee’s contest for her Animal blog?!!??! w00t! I won! hehe! Can’t win if you do not try people! Once I looked at our calendar holder and realized that we still had 2006 in there, I was even more grateful to have won the contest! Thanks Aimee!

Sugar Mama is the most sweetest woman ever. We have been reading each other’s blogs for a while now and on so many levels we contected. Upon reading that we were expecting a baby boy, she so kindly offered to send some of her boy clothes. The package showed up the other day and I was in tears, going through each piece knowing that they came from such a happy family. Sugar Mama is due with her third child, her first girl on Valentine’s Day, so please go send her some good baby vibes, for she sure is a sweet and kind woman! In honour of her new baby, she and her business partner have decided to focus on their families and close down their very successful online business. All their inventory is greatly reduced and on sale. Sugar Mama explains how to order and get the best deal on the products from IntimatePursuits.com, at this blog! Go check out, maybe you will find some products for some post-Valentine’s romance! Meow!

Oh one more thing … Legend has it, that the Joshua Tree from the famous U2record cover, has long since perished, sadly. For many years people would hike out to the remote spot the picture was taken, take pictures, leave memontos and the like. There are more pictures form our hike and exploration on our Flickr account