23 week ultrasound. He is sooo cute! It was so fun to do a 3D ultrasound today.

I am super stoked about these outfits! Brian bought them in France today and they are absolutely adorable! My kid is going to be the cutest kid around!!!!! That little penguin is too precious.

I'm turning into a blabbering idiot!

Been feeling lots and lots of kicks on and off these days, it's so neat. I think he just kicked my bladder. Thanks kid.

Work is a bit frustrating at the moment. The boss wants us to stay longer *just in case* something comes up that he needs us for. It's absolutely rediculous. Everyone is in France!!!! There is nothing that is going to happen that can't wait until the next day, seriously. It's true. I hope it's just a passing thing and that by next week he'll be back to himself and let us go back to the normal routine that we were promised by the chief. Besides, my mom is going to be here next week and I want to spend as much time with her as I can. She has never been out here before and I've been living here for 5 years, that's pretty significant!!!

I'm totally stoked to be going to the states this weekend. I'm picking up the baby bedding and a whole bunch of soap and stuff from bath and bodyworks. I'll probably look for some maternity clothes as well, maybe a baby outfit or two, we'll see.

And that's about it for me!

And here is me at 21 weeks - only 19 to go!!! Woohoo! I'm feeling more kicks now which I think is super fun. I'm also feeling more uncomfortable at night as I try to sleep. And whoever said that you don't pee as much in the 2nd trimester was a big fat liar!!!! I pee at least 3 times a night. Grrr.

Brian is in France now. Just got there today. Seems to be fine so far, they had a bit of free time this afternoon and he went shopping and sent his parents a post card. They don't know what they are doing tomorrow yet other than breakfast is from 6-7:30. Hopefully the day will be good for them.

That's all I really have to say for now. Ciao!

This is my 20 week photo. Getting bigger...

The Princess is finally starting to get better! I was really worried for awhile and almost brought her in to the vet this morning so they could put her on an IV but she started eating again. She hasn't had much more than a few bites a day for about 4 days now and I hadn't really seen her drink much water. We did have her at the vet on wednesday and they ended up putting liquid under her skin as she was dehydrated. Then later that day she puked up the medication I tried to give her and it was mixed in with blood which totally freaked me out so I called the vet the next day and we decided that if she hadn't really eaten much over the next day or so, I would bring her in for IV anti-biotics and forced feeding. I was about to do it, but I got woken up at 4:30 this morning by two yowling cats outside who were having a catfight and at that time I gave Mia some soft food and she ate some, and then she ate again this morning when I got up and then again this afternoon when I got home from my stamp camp. Only a few bites at a time but it's better than it has been. And, I saw her drink water after eating this last time so I think she's on the mend now. She still has a bit of snorking but I think her breathing is better in general.
I hate it when the animals get sick! It's hard when they can't tell you what's wrong. I think I'm going to be terribly obssessive over the baby when he gets here! I'm bad enough with the cats, never mind a kid!!!
As I type this, I have Sara glommed next to me and Charlie just jumped up and cuddled next to her and is now grooming her. It's very very cute.
I'm going to go now that I have dedicated an entire entry to my sick cat!!!!

As requested, here is a belly picture. This is my 19 week picture taken this past monday. Gotta love bellies! I'll be happier when it looks more like a pregnant belly and less like a tubby belly!

Have been feeling some movement lately, although nothing much today unfortunately. I'm hoping to start feeling it more regularily.

That's about it for now, will be back later with more.

Stamp room Mania!!!!
I've been slowly but surely going through my stamp room this afternoon. Talk about tough job, it's such a mess!!!! I have so many extra stamp sets that I can't use that I've decided to have an open house to sell them all off. I'm very excited about this as I haven't had an open house since I first started as a demonstrator! I'm going to make it fairly low key but I will have a table where people can make cards and play with toys and stuff and then of course a table full of stamps to sell. I'll be glad to have a bit more room. I can't wait until we have a bigger house and I can actually have more space and maybe even have enough room to host events in my own place! That would be nice. My dream is to have this monster big studio one day, how cool would that be???!!! Stamping heaven.
Another rehearsal tonight. This one is with my old reserve band. They are playing lots of fun music on their next concert so I asked if I could play with them since our band is not doing anything right now. I haven't had a rehearsal at work for weeks and it will still be at least a month before we have a rehearsal again. Probably more than a month. The band is leaving for France pretty soon. We have to get some Euro's for Brian but I don't think that takes very long. The trip is really sneaking up on us!!! I'm going to be very bored while they are gone but I'm ok with that, no biggie.
I wish I could have a nap right now, all of a sudden I am really tired. Maybe I'll go have a snack and see if that perks me up. I think a nectarine is calling my name.

What a rotten work day today. I totally had a hormonal outburst over something that was building up for months. I even cried, I rarely cry at work but today I just couldn't help it. I don't really think things are going to get better but we'll see. I was so tired this afternoon because of it. Meh. Not looking forward to work tomorrow.

The weather is finally decent here!!!! How awesome is that, I'm really hoping it's above zero from now on.
Had to work tonight - we played music for about half an hour before a hockey game and then the band went and played the national anthem. I wasn't allowed to go play the anthem with them cause they had to go on the ice and the CWO didn't want to risk it with me. I didn't mind at all! This was the last stand up gig that I'll be doing though. I got a little crampy trying to stand and play and so decided that was it.
Will eventually post a belly pic, still have to take one! I've been paranoid about taking belly pics so far but I think I feel better about it now.
One thing that bugs me about pregnancy - my skin!!!! I thought that in the second trimester you were supposed to "glow" and your skin was supposed to get better? How come mine is like ten times worse? I'm not looking great right now!!!! Oh well.
I had a major flub up with a stamper. My own fault. There was something I was supposed to send her and I forgot and I got a nasty email last night. To my credit, I owned up right away and sent out her stuff this morning so she'll get it very soon but I still feel like a heel. I hate pregnancy brain. Meh.
Poor Mia is having some issues breathing through her nose. It's soo stuffed up and every breath sounds like a snore. I hope it gets better in the next day or so, I don't really want to take her back to the vet, she hates it so much. She gets pretty stressed going there. I feel bad for my little kitty.
Ok I'm tired. It's time to go relax and get ready for bed.

So, this was my baby at 13 weeks. I had a fetal assessment on monday and got some pictures but haven't loaded them on to the computer so I can't show them off.
Baby is looking great!!! Growth is right on time, nothing to worry about, I go back on April 12th when baby is a bit bigger to check for all four chambers of the heart and to make sure things are going well again. We found out that we are having a little BOY!!!!! How cool is that? I'm totally not surprised at all. Very excited though.
On this lovely friday night I am staying home and cleaning and hanging out by myself. Brian is out at Aikido but should be home soon.
I have amazing friends! I have already been given maternity clothes by 3 people, it's awesome. I'm not quite fitting into the really big stuff but I'm definitely out of my normal clothes, which is kind of exciting. I do feel fat though. Big surprise. This kid is pushing all my insides out so even though I look like I'm showing, I know that it's not really much of baby yet, just everything inside getting squashed.
Ok, this little break is over and it's time for me to get some more work done.

Today I had an orchestra rehearsal and when I got home Brian was in full cleaning mode! I had mentioned to him while he was still sleeping that if he got up before I got back that maybe he could vacuum. Well, he did that and more! He started cleaning out the back room!!! Woohoo! That's great because it needs to be done before he heads to France at the end of the month so that when my mom comes to visit she has somewhere to stay! Plus I'd like to paint it to get ready for baby.
So now we have books galore all over the living room as we moved one book shelf from the back bedroom to the living room but Brian just finished sorting his and now it's my turn. So on that note, short entry today cause I have to get going!

What a nice lazy day! I really didn't do too much today and it was great. Right now Charlie is trying to crawl on to my lap, but was not successful so he is curling up at my feet. I love that cat!

I'm gonna make this blog a little more pg - no more swears for me! Just in case any little kids end up reading it!

Orchestra rehearsal tomorrow morning - I guess I should have practiced for it. Oh well, I'll be fine. I just hope buddy who sits next to me has practiced and knows his part. That is sometimes the most frustrating part, when you are prepared and others aren't.

Poor Mia - she has herpes. Apparently cats can get herpes from being really stressed. She got it from going to the vet for her shots last week. She has an ulcer on her nose, is sneezing blood and has inflamed gums. It'll take a while to clear up but she'll be fine. The bad part is that it will spread to the other cats. So now they are all going to be taking L lysine in their food forever. It's just powder that I add to the food. I still feel bad for them though.

We are watching Hell's Kitchen right now. I don't really like the show, mostly because of the cattiness of the contestants. Grr.

Speaking of cats, I'm gonna put more funny pictures up. Eventually I'll get my cats up there too.

Found this cool website with thousands of pictures of cats, some with hilarious captions. Thought I'd post one. Will post more later. Going crafting now.

Names

Boys: Kieran Allen

Andrew Micheal

Girls: Elizabeth Anne

Evelyn Jane

So we have four to pick from. I'm not completely sure which ones we'll pick once we find out what the gender is. We'll see.
So far no movement felt today, sigh. I'm still too early to be feeling it regularily though so I'm not worried.

Had an orchestra rehearsal tonight. They decided to let this guy come in to play 2nd clarinet who I usually try and avoid as much as possible. I really hope this is the only concert I play with him because he is just hard to handle. Mid 50's with no social skills and a poor player. We play in the Mennonite University chapel for rehearsals and this guy is swearing away all the time, it drives me nuts. And he makes random comments and expects me to pay attention to them and comment back. I don't think so ass-wipe. Have you noticed that I move my chair as far away from you as possible??? Grrr. He told me that I need to tarnish the keys on my clarinet like his because my clarinet looks too new. News flash buddy - it IS new, I've had it for less than two years. Plus, it's got silver keys and I'm trying to keep them silver for as long as possible thank you very much. Oh ya, and we're not going to try and find the A clarinet version of La Gazza Ladra just because you're too lazy to practice something in 4 sharps. We got the Bb version handed out, live with it, the damn concert is on Sunday!!!! Even if you found your part in A I wouldn't let you play it cause I'm not switching from my Bb this late in the game. So there.
Ok, so that vent is over and I feel better now. Gotta love community orchestras!
I'm going to bed now. Tired. Long rehearsal.

More Tofino

Guys - I felt the baby move today!!!!!! It was fucking awesome! I didn't feel a kick, I felt the baby roll over. I want to feel it again!!!!! That's my news for the day.

Now I'll put more pictures up. Nick is right, Tofino is on Vancouver Island, the very west coast. It's a nice little touristy fishing town, the beaches are cool.

I love Tofino!!!

Been a long time.
I am procrastinating at the moment. We have friends coming over tonight and I should be cleaning and getting ready for them yet here I am, internetting. Big surprise.
My newest news: pregnant
Yup. Almost 16 weeks. Scared shitless? Yup. Paranoid? Yup. Excited? Most definitely!
Not much to report on that front, things seem to be normal. I'll know more on March 5th after going for a fetal assessment. I might even be able to tell you if it's a boy or girl! That would be exciting.
Not going to France because of knocked up situation. Also not going to Halifax in June or even Russia in September. But will all be worth it if I have a healthy kid out of the deal.
We got a Wii! Fun fun times, we are loving it. Gonna play it tonight with the friends.
Going now. Might write again. hahahaha

Borat

Well, I'm home!!!! After being gone for 7 weeks, it was sure great to come back to Brian and the animals. Now I'm back to work and busier than ever.
Hey, our band just released a new CD and it's free for anyone who wants it! You should all visit our website and request one, that would be awesome cause I'm the one who would send it out to you!
Here's the website: http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/acband/index_e.asp
Seriously, it's free and easy to request and I would love to send it out! Even to Joni in Europe!! I've already sent some to France, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Speaking of France, the band is heading there in March. We're going to Vimy Ridge and Belgium as well. I'm actually kinda hoping to not be on that trip because I'd like to be pregnant. If I'm pregnant then they won't let me go cause the band will be marching around and stuff. I'm not completely sure though, it's a tough call - band trip or pregnancy, band trip or pregnancy...argh! I'm leaning towards pregnancy because I've been to France twice - but I haven't been to Vimy Ridge and the band might actually be staying in Holland. Meh. We'll see how time goes.
Now on to the title of this post. I went to see Borat last night. I liked it. Not as much as I thought I would but I did. I laughed at many parts and was flabbergasted much of the time. I need to see it again. Hilarious.
We are going to Vancouver Island for Christmas! I'm excited about it. I haven't been to BC at Christmas time for 5 years. It'll be great!
Ok, that's enough for now.

will update soon - promise.
have been in ontario for seven weeks, get home on wednesday at midnight.

Well, I'm really bad at updating. Sorry!!!
Ok so - I did my fitness test 10 days ago and guess what? I flipping PASSED!!!! Now I don't have to worry about doing it for another year. Maybe two or three years if I manage to get pregnant and actually stay pregnant and have a baby!!!! That would be awesome.
And so since I passed the test, I now have to go on a seven week leadership course. I'm leaving on tuesday. Not so fun. I won't get to play my clarinet for seven weeks. I don't think I've ever gone that long without playing before! Totally gonna suck, but it's something that I have to do so I might as well do it now and get it over with.
If anyone feels like writing me, I would love to have some snail mail. I'm just not going to post my address here though so just email me and I'll send you my address: clarinetchick@hotmail.com
Anyways, we're having a girls night tonight so I have to go get ready for that. Should be fun - manicures, pedicures, face masks, pj's and lounging in a hottub drinking champagne and eating chocolate. Does life get much better?!