Testing Out The Crib

Today, we had a busy day. I had my chiro appointment in the morning, then went to Metrotown after to return some stuff from holiday shopping. Then, we took a drive out to visit Sue, and have a play date with Ethan and Hayley. It was a great bonus that I got fed lunch, as well as some Filipino treats that Roland's parents brought back from their recent trip to the Philippines.

When we got home, it was time for Maddi's nap. Since she's growing so much and I'm not sure how much longer she can sleep in her bassinet, I decided to have her nap in her crib. I've tried to do this before, but she only lasted five minutes. Today, she actually slept in her crib for a full nap! Doesn't she look cozy in her sleep sack? Thanks grandpa and nana - the sleep sack keeps Maddi warm and mama loves the colour and design on it!

Silly Auntie Vianne

Today, Maddi and I just stayed home. Then in the late afternoon, Auntie Vianne came for a visit with Auntie Anne and finally got a chance to meet Maddi! She's so silly, isn't she?!

Anne and I made an appointment with our esthetician extraordinaire Jen for tonight and finally got some much needed grooming and pampering time in!

A Night Out With The Ladies!

While Jason was away on a business trip, we planned for a girls' night out... Maddi included!

This photo was taken at Tropika on Robson, where we had dinner.

I thought that nursing Maddi right after we ordered would be a good idea; then we can hopefully just leave her to play in her car seat and I could enjoy dinner with the ladies when the food comes... not realizing the food would come so soon!

I had just gotten ready to nurse when a waiter came with our first couple of dishes. He was surprised to find me getting ready to nurse and quickly put the food on the table and walked away. The second waiter that came, however, was pervy according to Nat and Amy... not even looking at where he's putting the dishes he brought but totally staring at me!

So, I checked out the bathroom to see if it's clean and would be an ok spot to nurse Maddi. It was, and the staff were helpful enough to give me a chair to nurse Maddi in. They also told me it's ok if I use the only guest bathroom for a while, as they can direct other guests to the staff bathroom.

I must say, that even though not all places in the city are equipped with proper facilities to nurse and change a baby's diaper, most are very accommodating to help give you the privacy a mom needs as well as a make-shift area to change a baby's diaper.

After dinner, we stopped at Blenz for hot chocolates... and they use BELGIAN chocolates in their hot cocoas! Yumm!

Maddi was a bit fussy at dinner, but napped the rest of the night out.

A Play Date With Baby Natascha

This morning, I messaged Crystal to see if she and Baby Natascha would like to come over for lunch. I told her Anne and I made curry last night... or I also have stuff for congee. Crystal got excited over congee, so that's what I served for lunch.

When they arrived, Baby N was sleeping - as usual! I have not seen her awake yet! Halfway through lunch however, she did wake up and I got to see her beautiful greyish blue peepers!

Maddi had a hard time napping today... only sleeping for 20-30 minute stretches. She finally fell asleep again at 4.30pm and finally slept for over an hour!

Sean's mom came for a visit around 6pm and joined us for dinner... then it was bedtime.

We spent the whole day at home today... some days, I don't mind.

Another Visit From Alicia

Alicia is my most amazing Hypnobabies doula - thank you, Crystal for recommending her to us. I will never forgot how she was there for me; such a wonderful memory and experience! And I am glad to be able to keep in touch.

A couple of days ago, I messaged Alicia to let her know I have pictures to give her and wondered if she can come by for a visit or if I should mail it out. She decided to come for a visit and see how Maddi has grown.

We love it when you visit, Alicia! We hope to see you again soon!

Later that night, since Henry was away on a work trip... Anne came over to hang out with us. We went to Yoko Yaya to see if they have any more knitting needles for our knitting night next week, then to T&T to shop for ingredients to cook dinner with. On tonight's menu - yellow chicken curry and green tofu curry.

I always get excited going to T&T, I feel like a kid in a candy store... I want EVERYTHING! Since we can only get as much as what the undercarriage of Maddi's stroller can hold, other than what we need tonight, I only got a couple other stuff to have congee with. I'm excited!

Mama Quiet Time

Today was a quiet day. I went to my appointment with Dr. Sukhi in the morning, then came home to have lunch before meeting an old friend who I haven't seen for a while to chat about a side business I'm considering. However, she had to stay home with her dad who was not feeling well. So we just had a short chat over the phone instead and had the rest of my afternoon free.

Maddi needed to nap, and usually, I can't just lay her down. She loves to be held. So she usually naps in the carseat or stroller while I'm out and about or I carry her in the Moby wrap. However, when I laid her down on the couch to put the Moby on, she just stayed sleeping. Jackpot! Mama gets to have her own quiet time... with some English tea, French cookies, chocolate, classical music in the background and a book - The Artist Way.

Talking To Auntie Julie

Today was parent/baby drop in day; something Maddi & I look forward to every week.

After drop in, Bryn and I went for a walk with the babes and tried not to smash into each other's strollers as we walked and talked. It's a new skill moms have to learn; personal space becomes larger when you're both pushing a stroller around. Every time one leans in to say something or listen to what the other one is saying, the strollers collide! There is a JJ Bean in the area, so naturally I stopped in for a cuppa.

Maddi has been cooing and making a lot of sounds lately. Tonight, when Auntie Julie visited, she had lots of stories to tell!

Discovering Thierry

I got on to Foursquare early in 2011 because L'Atelier offered a big discount to new clients for checking in on it. I don't remember to check in most times, unless I'm with my friend Sonia who's crazy over it.

However, for some reason, I've been remembering to check into places I go in the past week. And once I saw myself ranked against my Foursquare friends (you get points for checking into places, and ranked among your friends based on number of points you gather within a 7 day period), my competitive nature kicked in. All of a sudden, I am out-ranking Sonia! Woot woot!

Anyways, I've brought up Foursquare because that's how I discovered Thierry Patisserie.

I've been cooped up indoors for most of the day; so when I discovered Thierry, I sent out a spontaneous invitation to a couple of girlfriends to go check it out with me. And naturally, Sonia was one of them. In the end, she was the only one who can make it.

Tonight, I got to take a walk and check out this fabulous tea and treats place. They do have really good macarons! Also quite good coffee! And this came as a surprise to me, but they serve wine and liquor! Not that I'm a big drinker; quite the opposite, but I just thought that was a clever twist for a tea and treats place.

All in all, a wonderful night of play and simple pleasures, with a great girlfriend to share it with.

I do feel quite lucky to have girlfriends that can come hang out with me in a moment's notice. You know who you are, you are all awesome!

Happy One Month, Maddi Moo!

Maddi is one month today! This also means that we are both done our traditional Chinese postpartum care.

What I tried yesterday to get Maddi to sleep longer at night sorta worked... she went to bed at 11.30 like usual, but then Sean's stupid phone alerts from Facebook woke her up and she fussed for about an hour when I finally decided to have her sleep on my chest. This morning, she didn't wake up till 5.45 to feed! If you consider that she didn't eat since 11.30 last night, that's a six hour stretch! Next time, we just need to make sure that there is no phone alert that would wake her up, then mama can also have a six hour stretch of sleep!

She fell back asleep after feeding for about an hour at 5.45. I got up to have a shower at 10am, and it was nice of Maddi to let mama enjoy her first shower and waited until I got dressed before waking up. It was, however, quite the production to get ready to go out. We visited Sommer at Saf & Benjamin, the local baby store, then almost made it to the pastry shop for Maddi's birthday cake when I realized that my friend Cathy was minutes away from my house with a pot of congee for me! She didn't have a lot of time so we quickly turned around and headed home. I nursed Maddi soon as we got home, then I had a bowl of the congee for lunch while Cathy held Maddi. I nursed Maddi again, then it was our nap time when Cathy left at 2pm.

We woke up at 4.30pm. Since we didn't make it to the pastry shop on our stroll this morning, we made another attempt after our nap. This time, it didn't take as long to get out the door. We made it to Ganache Patisserie with half an hour before they closed. I picked out the Blanc Fraisier for Maddi's cake, ordered a small cup of coffee, and we were homeward bound with cake!

We invited Auntie Julie to come over and help celebrate; she was happy to share cake with us! We kept her up for the most part of the night, and she finally went to bed at 11.30pm, in mama's Moby wrap. She transferred into her bassinet once mama was done with her photos and blogging. Fingers crossed that she will go for another 6-7 hour stretch!

An Afternoon Tea Affair

Today, I woke up at 4.30 in the morning. I decided to get out of bed and join Sean for a bowl of cereal. When he left for work, I went back to bed. Luckily, I was able to fall back asleep and didn't wake up until 9.30!

I didn't really have much planned today, although somehow the day seemed to just fly by. I had a chiropractic appointment at noon, stopped by my work to drop off a doctor's note, then headed home for a little while before I met up with some girlfriends for an afternoon tea date at the Vancouver Fairmont Hotel. I walked there as I'm trying to make sure I walk for an hour each day.

The picture is of Anne's vegetarian set and my preggy-friendly set of afternoon tea delights! Tea always takes me to my happy place... and I'm glad I got to squeeze this in before Maddi comes.

A Quiet Moment

Today, hubby had the day off of work and we spent most of it running around getting errands done. We got his truck detailed so it's all clean for Maddi, took my car in to Honda for a minor repair, went to West Coast Kids to pick up some remaining items we needed for Maddi, went to Costco for some groceries, then we had about 40 minutes to spare before Sean's truck was ready for pick up. So, we stopped by the side of the road and just enjoyed this view of Mitchell Island as we listened to a Hypnobabies track together.

As spontaneous and simple as it was, it felt like a date =)

I was exhausted by the time we got home... so made dinner, and had a pretty early night.

Ice Cream Better Than I Scream

Ice cream has always been one of my favourite treats. And apparently, I can afford to eat it. At my doctor's appointment today, instead of gaining 2 lbs. since my last appointment two weeks ago, I've lost 3 lbs! I did notice that I didn't have as much of an appetite lately, but I didn't think there's been much difference in what or how much I ate. Perhaps the scale at the doctor's office was off? The doctor did assure me that I didn't have anything to worry about as baby is healthy and very active.

Today was definitely a lot better day emotionally. It was very helpful to come to the conscious realization that what I'm about to step into is far more important and significant in the grand scheme of things than saying goodbye to a job. I knew that, but it's different to REALLY know that! And, as much as I need to acknowledge my loss, I need to focus on my new upcoming role as a mother to a baby that will need to rely on me completely.

Thank you to everyone that has lent me an ear and given me tremendous support as I go through the emotional roller coaster that pregnancy hormones can sometimes take you on.

Epsom Salt To The Rescue

Having had such a great pregnancy, knock on wood... today, I woke up with a very sore back. And it just got more sore as the day progressed. By the end of the day, it was uncomfortable enough that I can't not complain. I can't just sit there and hope it goes away, I had to do something about it.

So, after dinner... hubby went with me to the Shoppers close by and grabbed a giant jug of epsom salt. When we got home, I drew myself a bath and sat in it with candles around me and my Hypnobabies pregnancy affirmations track. It didn't really take all the soreness away, but it was a much welcomed simple pleasure that definitely helped.

 

Cookie, Milk and Entourage

Just as we were packing up yesterday after my shower, Nat gave me this cookie and said it was a special gift from J. Apparently, when Nat was baking away for my shower the night before, he wanted to make one of the cookies for me. Such a sweetie.

Tonight, I am enjoying this cookie with a glass of milk while I watch the final episode of Entourage. I sobbed at the end of that episode! Did anyone else find it to be so emotional? Or is it the pregnancy hormones again? Good thing I had the comfort of having my cookie and milk.

London Chic

I often just get these sudden urges to get my hair cut... and today was one of those days. I just love getting my hair cut... definitely one of the things that take me to my happy place! On one hand, I hesitate to cut my hair because it had just gotten long enough in the back that I could sort of tie it up in a mini pony tail... and Sean said he likes it. However, my hair just looks like a mess and I feel the need for a rescue operation before it got any sloppier.

So I made a consultation appointment to see what they would recommend before committing to a haircut. Literally, the consultation took a minute or two... was assured that I could polish up my look while keeping some of the length in my hair and I went for it. Towards the end of the appointment, he asked if he could give me a fringe. I told him that if he thinks it'll look good, I am pretty adventurous with my hair and I would be open to it. I just never had a fringe since I was five because I have thick, coarse hair and lots of it... and I didn't want to end up looking like a mushroom head. He assured me it wouldn't, so I consented. And this was the result. He said I look very London-y!

It took a bit of getting used to... I did feel a bit like a mushroom head at first, but I love my hair now.

A Floaty Kind Of Night

Today was another busy day at work. I imagine the rest of the month will be busy until I go on maternity leave, as I tie up loose ends and finish projects or prepare to hand them off to some lucky person in the department. =P It was about 7.45pm by the time I drove home from the bank after doing some banking for work.

After dinner, I was chatting with a friend on Facebook about how I've been feeling lately. As much as I am excited about Maddi's arrival and can't wait to hold her in my arms... I can't help but feel like I'm also in the midst of mourning for losing the life I have always known - before it even ends!

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change a thing even if I could have a take back or undo anything. I guess it's all just a part of the emotional journey with the hormones that comes with pregnancy, as well as fearing the unknown in the inevitable life-change that is coming in just a few weeks' time.

It was good to know that I am not alone in feeling this way. I was comforted with the assurance that although it will be tough and much sacrifice will be required of me, the time will come soon enough when I will realize that what I am about to step into is worth losing the life I have known. And lastly, that it is okay to bawl my eyes out and grieve if I need to... but that I should remember to enjoy the time that's left because that's all I have of the life I know, and learn to accept the fact that life will be changed forever when Maddi comes.

So, I bawled my eyes out after that FB chat. Sean saw me out of the corner of his eye and asked what happened. I moved to the couch to cuddle with him and tell him about how I'm feeling. After I've settled down, he asked if I wanted an ice cream float. Of course, I said yes! We sat in front of the tv with our ice cream floats as we watched the 9-11 special programming on National Geographic for the rest of the night. Oh, the simple things that bring comfort and joy!

And now, it's time for bed! Good night, everyone.

p.s. Today, I sang Over The Rainbow to Maddi in the morning, and on the drives to and from work. It may have worked in lulling her to sleep since I didn't feel much movements from her while I sang it. Hopefully, it'll work just as well when she's out!

English Bay Sunset

Today was a busy day!

First thing in the morning, I had to go get AirCare test done on my car. On the way back to work, I get stuck on the wrong side of the train tracks when the crossing train decides to stop halfway and delayed getting to the office even though I was just about 2 minutes away.

When I got to the office, I had to plug away at my to-do list for the day as I had a chiropractic appointment at noon. I headed back to work for another hour, then had to leave early for a doctor's appointment in the afternoon.

Sean was off today to I swung by home to pick him up and he came with me to the doctor's office. The doctor confirmed that Maddi's still head down and everything looks good.

After the appointment, we stopped by our friends Sonia & Jeff's place for a little bit. Sonia wanted to give me Maddi's shower present as she likely won't be able to make it to my shower this Saturday.

On the way to drop Sean off at the beach, I decided to stay and hang out instead of heading home. I'm glad I did. I just chilled by the courtside, watched our friends play volleyball, grabbed dinner, and ate it with this sunset view in front of me. These are times worth soaking in...

A Sushi Date

On my way home, I felt a craving for some ramen. I also know that hubby has been craving sushi. In light of my post from a few days ago - realizing that it would be wise to cherish these last few weeks of being just the two of us, I called Sean on the drive home from work and asked him out on a sushi date.

We walked to the Japanese restaurant across from our place. Although a bit disappointed that they don't have ramen, they did have udon. We ended up with a feast. First, we ordered a 42-piece sushi platter and vegetable udon soup. When Sean realized that there was no sashimi in the platter we ordered, we ended up getting a 6-piece sashimi combo since that's what he's been craving for a while now. Can't believe my hubby who wouldn't eat sushi just over a year ago, now craves sashimi!

It was waaaay too much food, but we managed to finish everything... then we both rolled our way home. My belly was rock hard and it's not all baby; 3 hours later, I'm still full! And Sean, he was the piggy that burped all the way home!

Thanks for being my date tonight, baby!

La Casa Gelato

My friend Amy's mom is in town and since her birthday was just around the corner, we decided to go out for dinner to celebrate. After dinner, we came up with the brilliant idea to go for a gelato stop at La Casa Gelato.

This place is definitely up there as one of my favourite places in town. Being a gelato place that offers over 200 flavours, how could it not?!

One of the flavours I usually get is durian. Yes, the stinky fruit... you can usually tell which one it is because it'll be the only flavour covered. It is an acquired taste, not everyone likes it... but I most definitely enjoy it!

Just The Two Of Us

Seems like it's been a while since the last time hubby and I went for a walk. Tonight, we decided to go on one. I enjoy these walks... just the two of us.

With just six weeks before Maddi's expected arrival, there are a few different emotions running through me. Of course I'm excited to welcome Maddi to the family, and look forward to the joy that she will bring us; although to be honest, I have no idea what it will be like. However, I'm a little scared to leave what I know, and a little sad about forever losing life, as I know it - just Sean and I.

I think the message from the universe tonight is to take the next six weeks to really cherish these "just the two of us" times - go on dates, spend quality time with each other and go on these walks.