BABY BLANKET & UPDATE

It's been busy. Like crazy busy. 

I've started babysitting full-time for a little 2 year old girl named Jamie. She is adorrrrrable! But I'm also now 10 weeks pregnant and so dang tired I can't even explain. The nausea hasn't been terrible, but it also hasn't been great. Soda crackers and maternity pants are actually my best friends right now. Anyways, life with a two-year-old is awesome, but busy. But at least this a good taste of what it must be like to be pregnant with a second child! 

Anyhoo, Mark has also been super busy. His online course workload has really picked up, and he's pretty much coaching basketball almost every night of the week now. It's great, but again, tiring! Last night we were up into the wee hours of the morning as he worked on his paper and I made him some coffee. I eventually had to give up and go to bed, but he was a trooper and got it done.

Last weekend we drove to Cold Lake, AB to do some shopping. As mentioned above, I bought my first pir of mat pants and I am in love! Although I secretly wish I didn't have to wear pants at all... but that would be weird. And cold. It's been like -20 to -25 up here and it's only November! Yikes. So we did a big shop at Walmart and got bunches of food and other random things for our home. But most importantly, yarn. Yahoo!

And as you can see, I started to crochet my first baby blanket! And it's honestly been one of the only creative things I have been doing lately. I haven't even been cooking very much. I actually caved and bought KD last week... delicious though. I mean who am I trying to kid? But anyway it's a new pattern I learned off of good ol' Pinterest (slight obsession) and it's working out quite well. The baby yarn is so soft and lovely and I might have to make a large version for myself. But really, I just can't wait to wrap our little sweetheart up!

Speaking of, my first Dr's appointment last week was awesome. She felt my uterus and told me it was now about the size of a small grapefruit! And at my next appointment (13 weeks) Mark is taking the day off because we should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat! We are so so so super excited. And the next day we will be flying to Ottawa for the Christmas holidays. So that will absolutely be an exciting week. 

Anyway, it is Jamie's nap time right now, which means it is also my nap time!

xo.

STAR ✰ STITCH

I learned a new stitch yesterday and made this Christmas washcloth with the little wool I had left in my basket. I love the star stitch! It's so pretty. I was thinking I could have made a Christmas table runner or something if I had had more wool. Mark is away for basketball this weekend, but we are planning on going into Prince Albert next weekend where I can buy some more wool at Walmart. Then I can start making baby blankets and maybe even some baby booties!

Here's the beginner friendly how-to video I used for the star stitch:

HOT CHOCOLATE ♡

Just nothing quite like it on a wintery day.

It's cold and snowy here in Beauval and we are actually loving it. It's nowhere near as damp as we're used to back in Ottawa, so in a sense it seems pretty mild (so far)! Mark and I spent our late afternoon making snow piles and snow forts with the kids next door, and then after dinner I went for a walk around town with the mama of those little munchkins. I love watching the snow fall as it passes through the street lights shining.

Mark started his first online AQ course yesterday - Spec Ed. part 1. So far so good he says. And teaching is still going really well. He was in gym all day today and that was kind of a nice break for him. Also a nice way to go back after a long weekend! 

Pregnancy is going well for me thus far! I have my days, but the majority of the time I don't even "feel" pregnant. However, times like these when I can't sleep because I'm starving even though I ate right before bed reminds me that my body is working extra hard to make a nice home for baby. I'm 8 weeks now and looking forward to my first prenatal checkup next week!

We booked our flights to Ottawa for Christmas and we can hardly wait to get there and see everyone! And with that, I'll leave you with my favourite rendition of I'll Be Home for Christmas. 

See you soon!!

100

Well it's almost 5:30am and I've been up for about an hour now. It seems no matter what I do (even eating a whopping bowl of multigrain cheerios at 11:00pm) I always wake up at some awful hour of the morning with hunger pains. So bad that even though I'm physically exhausted, I must wake up and eat something. I just must! Today, however, was not such an early morning (as I'm averaging between 3:00 and 4:00am) so it just feels like I'm one of those early bird kind of people. So of course, I thought I should blog and give a little update! 

This just so happens to be my 100th blog post! I was hoping I'd save the big one for some preggo pics, but I haven't taken any yet. Soon though! Soon. 

Things are going very well around the Westman household. Mark is still loving every minute of his job, and I am loving every minute of being (7 weeks and 2 days now) pregnant. Even these early morning hunger pains. I know it could be waaay worse. I booked my first prenatal checkup here in Beauval and I'll be going in two weeks. I'm looking forward to it, but after reading about prenatal checkups I don't know if I should be... lol. 

Things are going to be picking up speed over the next two weeks as Mark starts his first online AQ course through Queens, and begins coaching 3 basketball teams. We've also been checking every day for flight deals to fly to Ottawa for Christmas. We've booked our flight back from Ottawa to Saskatoon, and we are just hoping and waiting to find a better deal pop up to fly from Saskatoon to Ottawa. We'll be visiting for about 11 days and I know they will be action packed! We are getting so excited to see our family and friends. 

In February, the school has a week break and Mark and I have started to plan a trip to Banff. We've found a lovely cabin with a wood stove and kitchen for a really really magnificent price, and we hope to book soon! It's right in the mountains between Banff and Canmore and we can't wait to visit these towns for the second time this year! (I know, I know, I still haven't posted any summer road trip pictures!) Well you know what here's some for you now!

At Moraine Lake in Banff

At Morraine Lake in Banff

In a coffee shop in Canmore on a rainy day

There. That makes this 100th post a little more interesting! So now you can imagine why we are so excited to go back in the winter. The winter! It will be fantastic. Although the only downfall is that I wish I could ski the hills! But at 5 months pregnant with a husband who's never downhill skied before... probably not a good idea. 

Anyway, to end this post, I promised Mark I would upload the pictures of his apple crisp! He made this one about a month ago, but he made another last night. Delicious!! He used this recipe. That man just loves to cook and bake I tell ya! And I quite like it too!

Until next time!

XOX