Hence all the silence

If you follow me on IG then this is old news, but I thought to myself "Oh ya, I used to write that blog..." and finally got around to posting.

We are having another baby!!! YES!!!! This baby was a complete surprise and it's the best surprise ever. We couldn't be happier or more excited to bring this sweet baby into our family. And yes, the nursery decorating has commenced in my head times a thousand. YAYYYY!

I am just over three months along, and our due date is February 27th, 2014. Time is already flying so I know he or she will be here before we know it!!

I am going to try to check in here more, it's been a weird few months. There was the stuff with my Dad, and it wasn't long after that we realized this baby was coming, and I've been SICK, let me tell you. Benny went easy on me, but this baby is giving me hell! But it's soooo worth it of course!

Anyway, so long for now to the one or two readers who have stuck with me. I will be back! And not in two months! Pinky swear.

The Story of Ben

As most of you already know, we welcomed our little guy into the world last week. We've been in heaven these past few days...but I thought I should take a few minutes to write out just how amazing of an experience it was.

Our little man wasn't actually due to arrive until May 16th, so we had been busy trying to get the last minute things ready for the big day. On Thursday May 5th, we worked on getting the backyard tidied up, because I was so excited to sit out in the garden with the little one when he arrived. We put up the canopy, and sat out back for a while, imagining having our son back there with us. After we were done, we relaxed for a while, and headed to bed.

At about 3:30 am, my water broke. I woke up, and was actually strangely calm as I gathered the things I needed. Suitcase, pillow, I even remembered to call the hospital ahead of time to let them know we were coming. I woke Billy up and tried not to give him a heart attack when I told him it was time...and we headed down to McMaster, calling our parents along the way.

After everything was confirmed (not that we needed it, I was pretty sure, ha ha), we spent a little while waiting with our families, trying to stay calm and just take everything in. Our baby was in the breech position, and they called us in for a C-section at 9:30 am. At 10:06 our beautiful baby boy was born. Benjamin William Michael Duckworth.

I can't describe how amazingly perfect the day was. There was so much I didn't know, so much I hadn't anticipated. I was excited and terrified and completely overwhelmed. But when Billy brought our little boy over to me, and I saw his little face for the first time, I knew there would never be a moment quite so perfect.

The days we spent in the hospital were filled with family and friends visiting, learning about our little guy, and wrapping our heads around the fact that this was our new little family.

Now that we are home, we have spent the past week settling in, getting to know Benjamin more and more each day, and falling in love with him again and again. He's such a lovely little soul, and I feel so blessed to have this little person to take care of, to watch grow up, and to love.

Through all of this, no one has been more amazing then Billy. He took such good care of us both during our recovery, and I know Ben is going to be so proud to have such a strong, caring daddy.

I will try to update as much as possible, but it may be a little scattered.

I'm afraid I have my hands full with the two loves of my life, Billy and Ben ♥

When things aren't crazy...

...I'm working on a list of things I can do when I'm beyond bored of being home.

Yes, I know, I know, having a little baby will keep me VERY busy....believe me when I say I don't underestimate this. But, anyone who knows me knows that ANY down time at all pretty much kills me. Yesterday, when I had every intention of spending the day doing nothing...I put together the stroller, washed and ironed our bedroom curtains, touched up paint around the house...the list goes on.

I simply have to be busy, it's just me. So, luckily, most of the time I wiill be good and occupied with my little buddy. But, for any time when I'm not, I need a go-to list of ideas that I can do with the baby, while he sleeps, etc. Share some ideas if you have some!

• Go to Mom & Tot swim at Sir Allen MacNab (sooo excited for this)
• Read more of the best books of all time starting with this one
• Go to the library around the corner from our house (frequently, ha ha)
• Look for new music, take he same old songs off my iPod once and for all
• Get around to making our wedding album (yes, haven't....I know, shame on me)
• Figure out Linkdn and set up an account in preparation for back-to-work time
• Maybe give the Baby Storytime at the Central Library a try
• Catch up on shows that I'm behind on (Dexter, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights, a few others...)
• Go to the market for our produce, cheese, and baked goods....it's all so yummy and cheap!
• Try, for the 7th year in a row, to learn and begin to like gardening
• Organize and re-organize every room in our house (I'm guessing this will be done next week, ha ha)
• Plan our master bedroom facelift (next big project on my list)
• Go for at least one hike as a family (Billy hates hiking, ha ha)
• Take baby over to Katie's to play with the kids
• Go down to the Pier on nice days
• Try several new recipes, maybe a new one a week if I'm feeling ambitious
• Work out every day (I used to be really, really good at this!)

Well....

Our Baby Shower

So it seems that the closer I get to baby-day, the less I am able to get done…including something as simple as a blog update. But, I do happen to be very, very busy putting up my feet and eating ice cream, so I have a decent excuse.

But, at last I would like to write about our amazing baby shower. And the bottom line is, baby got SPOILED!!! We had an amazing turnout, so many of our family and friends were able to make it, it was such a great day!

None of this would have happened if it weren’t for the amazing ladies who put it all together…my Mom, Norine, Corinne, Katie, Rach and Cass all worked like crazy to make our day special. A few other people were super helpful as well…Kris made a pretty awesome gift-bringer, Kathy helped create some of the delicious food, and Kim was our paparazzi for the day!

I can’t even begin to list all of the beautiful gifts that we received, there were dozens and dozens, but I thought I would share a few that we got that I know will make life as new parents so much easier!!

Via Babies R Us, and Best Buy.

(Note: For those of you who didn't see the stroller, Don, Norine & Cassie actually bought this pressie early for us, so it's been home for a while, ha ha).

In addition to these amazing essentials, we received a few special keepsake gifts from baby’s Aunt Rach, Aunt Corinne and Uncle Kris…can you believe how gorgeous these are?

Via Birks and Rach

There are tons of amazing presents missing from this little list…beautiful clothes and blankets, toys, bibs….his dresser is overflowing with things!

By the end of the day, there was literally ONE item we still needed…a playard. And with all of the gift cards we received, we ordered one right away!

via Babies R Us

Again, thank you to the amazing people who organized this day for us, and to everyone who was able to join us. We are the luckiest mom-and-dad-to-be ever!!!!

Almost my long weekend!

It's Wednesday already, yay! With the baby shower happening this weekend I took Friday and Monday as vacation days, so I'm VERY excited for my mini holiday! I'm very much in need of a break from office life these days, let me tell you.

Anyway, I'm trying really hard to focus on the AMAZING days ahead. I can't WAIT to meet my little guy. And you know, I already have a favourite thing that he does, ha ha. If I'm ever worried about him or wonder when I last felt him move, I literally just say "Give me a kick buddy" and he responds. Every single time. Seriously! Love that he wants his Mom to know he's ok :)

Not only am I so excited to meet our little one, I'm excited to be on the path to normal clothes again. I know, I know, it will be a WHILE...but I had a mini meltdown the other day while shopping for spring clothes, and I will be happy just knowing I'm headed in the direction of thinness again, ha ha. Fingers crossed anyway!!!

Baby D's Nursery - Done!

Today we finished up the last few things in the nursery and can at last share some pics! We're really happy with how it turned out...still a few more things to add in there (changing pad, diaper pail, loads more books, etc.) but we'll add those as we get closer to the big day!

We LOVE the way the mobile looks from the baby's perspective too!

Here’s a list of where everything came from (if I’ve left anything off and you’re curious let me know!)

Crib - Lussobaby

Dresser - Ikea (Hemnes)

Side Table - Ikea (Hemnes)

Arm chair - Ikea (Ektorp)

Ottoman - Ikea (Ektorp Bromma)

Bookcase - Ikea (Hemnes)

Curtains (Grey) - Ikea (Ritva)

Curtains (White) - Ikea (Matilda)

Artwork (above crib) - A Vintage Poster

Artwork (above dresser) - Sarah Jane Studios

Mobile - Wee Gallery

Blankets and throw pillows - Ikea

Lamp (base only) - http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/50163867

Lamp shade - Ikea (Renate)

Carpet - Walmart

Paint (Misty Surf) - Behr

Our boy :)

This weekend we got to get another peek at our handsome little man. He was a little on the shy side, but that's ok, we'll see him in person soon enough.

We know he's healthy and doing well in there, so that's all that matters.

I can't wait to hold him...we just love him so much :)

Being pregnant in the winter – the good, and the not so good.

When I found out I was pregnant back in September, I remember doing the math and thinking it was perfect that I wouldn’t be pregnant during the summer. I had always heard it’s just hell, and a spring baby just seems so perfect.

But, I have slowly discovered that there are winter woes for pregnant girls too…and a few bonuses as well.

The good:

• I am never too warm…and I’m pretty sure baby is keeping me from being very cold, so I’m a good temperature at all times.

• No one ever expects me to shovel. Even if I offer, I know I’m exempt from my least favourite winter chore.

• The same is true of bringing in groceries (thanks Billy, sorryyyy).

• I don’t feel too bad about hibernating in my house all the time, because everyone else is too.

• Waking up every morning in the pitch black at 5:30 am isn’t as bad this year, because I never sleep anymore anyway.

• Sleeping in a bed with four thousand pillows around me is just plain cozy, and would suck in the summer.

• No one is going to expect me to be skinny until at the very least next summer, so I have a good year to worry about that.

The not-so-good:

• Winter boots. Trying to maneuver myself in a somewhat lady-like manner (at the office) while bending down to pull those things on is awful. I may have to request an assistant for this task before too long.

• Icy sidewalks are just plain scary. (Hence the huge winter boots).

• Passing another pedestrian on sidewalks where the home owner only shoveled the width of one skinny person is tricky. Pretty much everyone I run into just trudges up in the snow bank to let me pass (thanks strangers).

• While it’s a good thing that my taste of tea came back after my first trimester, I can only have a little bit…and really there is no such thing as good decaf tea. So I have to really, really savour my morning cup.

• Winter coats are not the most forgiving when it comes to an ever growing baby bump. And I full out refuse to buy a maternity coat. Refuse.

Baby Duckworth!

As most of you already know, yesterday we had our second ultrasound...and what a great one it was! Not only did we find out that Baby Duckworth is healthy and doing great, but we also discovered that....it's a boy!!!!

Here's his little foot!

The first hour of the appointment was a bit on the stressful side actually. I had expected it to be just like the first one....a few minutes in and we're looking at the screen. But, she had to take about a hundred pictures and measurements...and I had NO idea if the baby was ok until she was DONE. She also kept asking me to turn on my side, and she was poking me in a funny way with the thingy they use, and I started to worry that she couldn't see the baby move or something. This girl was all business, which really upset me, not to mention poor Billy who was in the waiting room the whole time. For some reason she says we have to start with just the Mom and the husband comes in later...no idea why.

Anyway...after sweating out the longest hour of our lives, she brought Billy in and showed us the baby on the monitor. Best thing ever. We saw him move and stretch out...such an overwhelming feeling! And at the very end she told us it looked like a little boy...which we both totally knew anyway, ha ha.

So after spending a good half hour on the phone to the family and friends...we went shopping! Of course, ha ha.

And now I can start making some solid nursery plans for my little guy!!!

In a few weeks we will be having another ultrasound in Ancaster, but this time it will be the 3D version! I wasn't 100% sure about this kind...it seems a bit weird and very pricey, but there's nothing quite like seeing our baby moving around, the pictures just don't do it justice. And my parents are getting us the package where you get to take home a DVD, so I can watch my little guy moving around every day until he gets here :)

The holiday prep is well under way.

How was everyone’s weekend? I feel like we got SO much accomplished in the last two days, I’m very proud of us!

Things we did with our weekend:

• Deep cleaned the rec room carpets (this was all Billy and he’s still working at it, poor thing)

• Replaced the hardware on the front door

• Put a fresh coat of paint on the door (new hardware and old paint just don't go)

• Fixed the little plastic things that make all of the closet doors glide smoothly

• Hung up the outdoor garland and wreath

• Made a rope-thingy to hang out Christmas cards on

• Got everything we need to fix up the banisters

• Washed all of the guest room bedding in preparation for upcoming overnight guests

• Racked up the last of the leaves in the backyard (yes, it’s late, we’re very busy people)

• Located the last two boxes of plain white Christmas lights on plain white cord left in the city (note, admittedly there are a few more left, so if anyone’s looking for some, try Michael's in Ancaster!)

• ‘Fixed’ the upstairs Christmas tree (the ornaments were all wrong)

• Hung up some other Christmas lights around the house

• Wrapped a TON of presents

• Took our very first baby-bump picture :)

We also still managed to squeeze in some downtime activities….

• Did some shopping with my Dad

• Read through all of my December magazines and the Restoration Hardware Baby catalogue

• Watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, It’s a Wonderful Life, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and Inception (you can’t watch xmas movies ALL the time)

• Drank lots of hot chocolate and ate lots of Gingerboy cookies

• Popped in to Katie and Leo’s for a visit

While we were at K & L’s, Baby Duckworth received one of the cutest gifts ever.

Once we have the name, we can get it engraved on the front, and on the back, they engraved this!

It's just the cutest thing I've ever seen!

And now, it's Monday again and time to determine what NEEDS to get done with this week. So here we go:

• Put up the rec room Christmas tree (this is our 'main tree', and it's killed me to wait this long, but we wanted those carpets nice and fresh before we got started)

• Hang and fill the Christmas stockings

• Make artichoke dip for my work potluck (my co-workers enjoy this dip ALMOST as much as our friends do)

• Tidy the guest rooms and put on the fresh bedding

• Finish up my one remaining homemade gift

• Replace the back door handle

• Put up new chain locks on front and back doors (to match the new hardware, of course)

• Fix handle on bathroom drawer

• Put a fresh coat of paint on bathroom vanity

• Pick up all of the special food items we need for the holidays

• Hang the rope-thingy and put Christmas cards on it

• Pick up the fireplace for the rec room

• Fix banister and put on a fresh coat of paint

• Put lights up once banister is all fixed

• Reward ourselves with a Christmas movie and more hot chocolate for working ourselves to the bone every day this week!!!