MY LITTLE PUMPKIN

Thaddeus's first pumpkin!

I didn't have time to edit these, but here they are anyway! Fabulous phone pics. 

We are excited for his first Halloween tonight! 

4 MONTHS OLD

I have been MIA for quite some time - what a better way to get back into the swing of things with this picture of Thaddeus? Happy 4 months my sweet sweet son!

And some un-edited, yet awesome outtakes too!

INSTAWEEK

Take a peek into our week.

A compilation of instagram photos taken over the past week... or two or three!

1. The greenest bananas I ever did see, and getting the strawberries ready to go!

2. Baby bump! 34.5 weeks.

3. Berries and apples soaking in vinegar water!

4. Ancient Grains Almond Granola with raspberries! My favourite!

1. Mark and little J playing on the beach.

2. Beauval sunset!

3. Mark's nail is getting ready to fall off! The result of getting it slammed in a door by a kindergartner!

4. First bear spot of the year for us!

1. Getting prepped for installation!

2. Car seat installed, safety checked, and ready to go!

3. Lots of naps this week for this mama-to-be!

4. Also lots of Vicks for me! What a week!

1-4. Baby shower fun at Mark's school. So thankful for his lovely and thoughtful co-workers! What a blast.

BLOGLOVIN

Hey y'all! I just signed up on Bloglovin. It's pretty great, especially if you are an avid blog follower. Follow all your favs, and follow me too? Thanks!

36 WEEKS

{ 34.5 weeks }

I am 9 months pregnant. There are 27 days left until my due date. Can we all just shout a collective "WHAT"?! I'm pretty sure we only found out we were pregnant yesterday. I know I have said it time and time again, but I really can't believe how fast the time has flown by. Our little boy (who currently has the hiccups) has grown so much in the last few months and this mama is feeling stretched to her limit. I'm a little scared to see how much more he is going to grow in the next 4 weeks (give or take!). That's the crazy part - I will be considered full-term next Monday, which means we're beginning our journey on the waiting game!

On June 8th, Mark and I will be driving back down to Saskatoon where we will be staying in a super sweet bed and breakfast. He will have to go back home the next day, but then on the 10th my mom is arriving to stay with me. Mark will be able to come visit again on the weekend, and then back to Beauval, and then back to Saskatoon for good on the 20th. For this reason we are hoping I don't go early! But if that's God's plan, Mark is only a 4.5 hour drive away. I am just praying that Mark will be with me when the contractions start!! But I am trusting that it will all work out!

"That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

 ...Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." (Matthew 25-27, 33)

 As I was writing, these verses popped into my head. I needed that! With pregnancy comes a mound of worries. There is so much unknown to us during this whole process - will baby be OK? Is baby growing properly? Is he moving enough? What is labour really like? Is Mark going to miss the birth? Am I going to be able to breastfeed? Am I going to be a good mom? Am I going to understand baby's cries? ...On and on I could go. But God tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6,

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."

I am so thankful that He is in control! He is so faithful and I know He has plans for my life and our baby's life, and they are good. So good.

Speaking of His faithfulness, we have now come to a point where we have everything we need for baby's arrival! The crib, the car seat, the diaper rash cream, you name it. We're stocked! I have to tell you it feels really good. And on that note, we were given some more super cute baby clothes this week! We haven't had to buy ANY clothes so far. We are so blessed and so thankful!

Last week we got the car seat installed and then safety checked by an inspector. We passed with flying colours! That felt so good for our first time! We also installed a baby mirror so we can see his face while we are sitting in the front seat. All good to go in case he decides to come early!

In other news, Mark is almost finished his online AQ course through Queens. He couldn't be more thrilled. At the same time, he only has 3.5 weeks left of school before he heads down to Saskatoon with me! It will be a busy few weeks, but the time is going to fly by. Sooner than we know it, we will have a baby to bring home! What I am having a hard time wrapping my head around is the fact that the next time I go to Saskatoon (in 10 days!), I won't be coming back without a baby! Oh my oh my!

Well that's all for now folks! Hope you all have an amazing week!

FRIDAY FUN - SONGZA

I know... I haven't posted in a while! But quite honestly, sometimes I am just not in the mood! Things have been so good though. Today is the 24th... which means I am due in ONE MONTH! Craziness. We are SO excited!!!

I just wanted to share this great music website with you in case you haven't discovered it yet. Introducing Songza. You will love it. Just give it a try!

Currently listening to:
Soft Pop Wake-Up Call

33 WEEKS

Only 7 weeks to go! Seven weeks (give or take, of course) until our baby arrives, until I can sleep on my back, until I can put on socks without getting out of breath... so many things to look forward to! But above all, of course, is bringing baby home. Oh we just can't wait! We've both been able to feel him a lot more lately as he is running out of room in my belly! His favourite thing right now is to stick out his bum so mama can rub it. We are having so much fun talking to him and feeling/watching him move around. He's growing to be a strong little kicker! I experienced my first hard kick in the ribs yesterday. Good times. 

I've been feeling great so far! I really don't have much to complain about, other than some really fun back pain and poor sleeps. But I can take naps in the afternoon if need be so it's all good! When I'm not tired from a bad sleep, I have noticed a surge in energy these past few weeks. The hot sunny weather probably has something to do with it. And the fact that I already have a tan starting. Yesss. My mom always said all I have to do is look at the sun and I get brown. Can't complain! 

A friend of ours up here in Beauval lent me the book BABYWISE, and it is amazing. I know there is a lot of controversy between attachment parenting and parent-directed feeding (PDF), but we feel that PDF is the  way to go for our family. Anyway I am just loving this book, and I HIGHLY recommend it if you have a little  one on the way, or even if you already have a little one in your life! So I've been happily sitting outside in the sunshine reading away, taking notes as I go. I have learned more from this book than prenatal classes and the internet combined. It's seriously a gem! 

Anyway, have a wonderful week and enjoy the sun if you can! :)

15 REASONS I LOVE BEING PREGNANT

If you haven't noticed, my belly is BIG. Most of the time I am OK with that, but I have my moments. I'm really trying to focus on walking in love with my body during this pregnancy. I read somewhere recently that a midwife told her pregnant patient that "this is how your body makes a baby". I've heard over and over again how each pregnancy is so different, and sometimes you don't fall into the "average" category. This is OK! It doesn't mean you are unhealthy or doing something wrong. But it wasn't until I heard that phrase, that it really sunk in. This is how my body makes a baby. I'm huge, but healthy! So in the spirit of walking in love with my body, I decided to make a list of reasons why I love being pregnant:

1. The blessing of feeling a little life moving around and growing stronger each day in my belly. It is such a gift and a privilege to have this unique bond with my baby!

2. Watching Mark's reaction when he feels the baby kicking, and listening to him talk to our son. I am again so blessed to have such an amazing husband, and I am so excited to see him as Daddy!

3. The world becomes a nicer place when you are pregnant. People make you feel like someone important by saving special chairs for you, holding doors open for you, and fetching you things. Strangers love to smile at me on the street, and I don't think I have received so many compliments in my life as I have in these past few months!

4. It is perfectly acceptable, even encouraged,  to have a nap every afternoon. Yessss.

5. Maternity clothes are the most comfortable clothes in the world. Not to mention they are much more stylish than my regular wardrobe!

6. Marveling at God for creating my body to perform such a miracle.

7. The fun of picking out baby names! I may have been doing this since I was in elementary school, but now it's real! And hard. But still fun!

8. Shopping for baby stuff. Seriously. The stuff is just SO DANG CUTE.

9. The amazing things little children will say about the baby in my tummy. "Is your baby coming on a walk with us too?", "Does your baby need a jacket?", "Is your baby coming right now?" - "Not yet sweetie." followed by tears, and my personal favourite, a two-year-old's explanation of birth... "Pop goes the baby!".

10. Chocolate. I swear it's even better when you're pregnant.

11. Not ever EVER thinking about belly rolls when sitting down. 

12. Joining the club. Every time I walk past a pregnant lady, we share an understanding smile as if we are in on a secret no one else shares.

13. Babymoons! Special before-baby dates with Mark whenever we can squeeze them in. 

14. Baby hiccups! They make me giggle... once I finally figured out what they were!

15. And of course, although there are many other annoying things that come along with pregnancy... no period. Yahoo!

THURSDAY THINGS

1. As you know, we had our second ultrasound on the weekend. It was so amazing. You can't really see in the VIDEO I posted, but he was opening and closing his mouth, and sticking out his tongue! We can't wait to see him do that once he is born. I love the pictures of his head, but this picture of his little foot is probably my favourite. Does that look like a stepdancer's foot or what? I think so. Look out 8 & under.

2. Lately my back has felt like with every step it may shatter. Pretty fun pregnancy symptom, not. My doctor says that going on a 30 minute walk each day should help with the pain. Well apparently she meant it would help increase the pain! I hate walking. But I'm going to trust her and stick with it and see what happens. Luckily I'm blessed with an awesome next door neighbour who will walk nice and slow with me waddling beside her every day.

3. I stumbled upon THESE CARDS the other day, and I feel like I should buy a stack of them to give to Mark on a daily basis. I think they should also make ones that say "I'm sorry for what I said when I was pregnant". Being pregnant enhances the "hangry".

4. These lovely blocks were given to us for the baby from some friends of ours who recently made a trip to Banff. I love toys like this. Wooden toys that you can't find at Toys R Us. I don't know why, but I really dislike most baby toys, so I was thrilled when I saw these. I can't wait to see the wooden toys my dad is planning on making, including a toy box! For now, these lovelies are on display on the nursery's windowsill. Thanks S, E & co!

5. Speaking of the nursery... we finally did our first baby shop this past weekend and bought the Pack N' Play! We aren't going to buy a crib right away because if all goes well, we will be traveling to Ottawa a couple weeks after baby arrives, and we want him to get used to the playard as we will be bringing it on the road with us. But now the nursery is starting to look like a nursery! It's very exciting. All the pregnancy websites keep talking about the mother's urge to start "nesting", and I can say I completely understand all about it. My NURSERY BOARD on PINTEREST is constantly growing with inspirational ideas, and I can hardly wait to do another shop when we go back to Saskatoon in 2 weeks! I'm making lists and tweaking lists and I just can't help myself.

6. Of course we can't possibly buy everything on my wish list and make the nursery into all I imagine it could be, but luckily this mama likes to craft. Remember my post from the old blog featuring my NURSERY CRAFTS? Well, I've moved them around again now that we've moved the Pack N' Play in and I think I'm satisfied! If I only had a printer and some picture frames... that nursery would be full of super cute prints. But I have to say, I think handmade prints are sweeter. A little personal touch from mama to baby! Now every time we walk past the open door to the nursery, we are imagine seeing our little one down for a nap! I think now that we have started to bring in some baby pieces, we have risen to a whole new level of excitement. These last 2 months are just going to go far too slow!

7. In other news, my favourite store in the whole world (and Mark's old workplace) just revamped their website, and are making some pretty cool changes by the sound of things. With mother's day just around the corner, SALEM STOREHOUSE in Ottawa is the place to shop. Support local!! Oh, and did I mention they serve free tea and coffee? Yeah. For real. PS - be sure to lift your eyes and check out my CHALKBOARD ART (if it's still there!).

8. Last but not least, another shout out is due. My brother-in-law's yoga instructing, granola making, music festival loving girlfriend is the sweetest thing. She started writing letters to Mark and I on these super cute handmade cards (& envelopes too!). There is nothing more fun than receiving some snail mail when you're least expecting it - especially from someone as talented at crafting as she! She also has a super awesome BLOG that you should check out. Be on the look out for her new granola business if you're in Ottawa this summer! I, for one, can't wait to buy some when we arrive. Looks delicious! Thanks again D for your letter! I will get back to you ASAP!

9. Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6

10. PS - Did you vote for your favourite baby name?? Help us choose out of our top picks!
(Click the photo below for more information).

FREE DOWNLOAD: MAY 2013

Something fun for May to get into the spring of things - an original desktop or smartphone calendar free to download! This is my first attempt... well second technically. At first I had the April dates and let me tell you that was fun to fix. PS - Can you believe it's actually May? Where has the time gone?

The photo was taken this past summer in LeRoy, SK. of some old grain bins at Mark's great uncle's old farm. It was a beautiful day, and one of my favourite shots from our road trip. Who says you need a fancy camera to take a nice picture (although we're hopefully getting a DSLR this summer!)? Click the image with the best dimensions for your screen, right click, and save to download. Let me know what you think!

Side note: I clearly need to dust our laptop. 

1024 x 768 DESKTOP

1280 x 800 DESKTOP

1280 x 1024 DESKTOP

1366 x 768 DESKTOP

640 x 960 iPHONE

640 x 1136 iPHONE5

8 MONTH ULTRASOUND

Yesterday morning we had our second ultrasound. Normally you don't get a second ultrasound, but we were lucky! The technician thought he looked like a boy too, so now we are pretty convinced! Although you never know! Here's a little video we took:

And here are some pictures! We are so excited to meet this little man!

 Baby foot! I count 5 little toes!

 Side view of his head and his little hand.

 Side view of his head, and a good shot of his spine.

Another side view of his head.

FRIDAY FUN - POLL: VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE BABY NAME

We still haven't picked a baby name yet for our little boy, and we would love to hear your opinion! 

There is now a poll set up on the blog which you can find on the LEFT HAND SIDEBAR. Feel free to cast your vote for your favourite name out of our top picks! We will keep the poll up and running until baby is born. You can check the results any time, and then when baby is born, we will reveal our final choice!

HOMEMADE BODY BUTTER

In YESTERDAY'S BLOG POST, I shared a bit about my love for homemade things. After writing about it, I got the itch! As I mentioned yesterday, I came across this awesome recipe for HOMEMADE BODY BUTTER. Well, I just had to try it out! I made a half batch as a tester, and I must say I am pretty impressed. 

I'll be 8 months pregnant on Monday, and even though I was so optimistic about not getting any stretch marks, they have finally made their appearance. I have a pretty short torso and so I am CARRYING QUITE FAR OUT.  Plus, I'm carrying a Westman baby, and if you know my husband and his family, it's possible that I might be giving birth to a two-year-old sized baby. Needless to say, I am very interested to see what the technician has to say at our ultrasound on Monday! Anyway, all this to say, coconut oil is supposed to be great for stretchmarks (according to like every second pin on pinterest, it's supposed to be great for everything). I have been using store-bought stretch mark cream ever since I found out I was pregnant (obviously didn't help avoid them completely), but as you can imagine, I was pretty excited to make  a homemade version!

I used grapefruit zest in my mixture, and it smells heavenly. You can use whatever kind of zest you would like, or substitute with essential oils of your choice. I even tasted it (totally safe), and oh man... I kind of wanted to eat it all. I didn't. However, the zest is the best part, and the most annoying part. After applying, it leaves tiny little pieces of zest all over you that you need to wipe off. A price I'm willing to pay for the smell. It did give me an idea, however, to make a body scrub for the shower... putting that on my to-try list.

I have been having a really hard time sleeping lately due to insomnia and other various annoying pregnancy symptoms, and I really found that the smell was so relaxing last night, and helped me fall asleep. After showering last night I pretty much covered my body in the stuff and I still smell awesome this morning. My legs are especially smooth as I applied the body butter right after shaving them (well... hubby shaved them. I can't reach anymore. He did a great job).

Anyway, I suggest you try making some. It took all of 10 minutes to whip together, and it's definitely worth it. If you missed the link, you can find the recipe HERE.

Enjoy and have a happy weekend!

THURSDAY THINGS

1. Spring has sprung. Well, for today. On Tuesday night we had a crazy flash snow storm. Like, a white out blizzard for about half an hour, followed by clear skies and sunshine. Really strange. Although most of the snow is gone, I still think we will have some snow well into May. Which of course, is ridiculous. Until then, our rubber boots are making many appearances lately!

2. I love homemade things. Whether it be a food you would normally just buy at the grocery store, decorations for your home, or birthday cards, I love them. I think what I love about homemade things is partially the fact that it brings purpose to my days (especially while being a stay-at-home mom-to-be!), as well as the fact that most homemade things help you save money and stay healthy. For example, I recently came across this ridiculously easy to make BODY BUTTER with only 3 ingredients! This recipe has just earned a spot near the top of my must-try list. And now that I am in my third trimester... well the stretch marks could use some extra lovin'!

3. Speaking of homemade things, I don't think I will ever get enough of these NO BAKE ENERGY BITES. Again, a healthy alternative to store-bought granola bars. Although, I still love Fibre 1 bars. A lot. For more of our favourite recipes, check out our RECIPE INDEX.

4. Sometimes I think I am living in a musical. Mostly because Mark doesn't ever stop singing. Ever. Yesterday I'm pretty sure it was literally impossible for him to "say" anything. He instead had to "sing" everything. I'm pretty sure we're going to somehow spontaneously break out into a completely cheesy dance routine that we actually never rehearsed. I'll let you know when that happens.

5. I made a truly amazing discovery last week. I kept getting these annoying emails from Scotiabank, even though I haven't banked with them in years. I usually just filter out those kinds of emails, but for some reason I never did. And now I am SO thankful. I finally read one, and it turns out I still have like 17 free movies worth of banked Scene points. 17 MOVIES! Like, in the theater!! We are headed to Saskatoon for the weekend and can't wait to see 42. I have a feeling I will need to bring a box of tissues. And then next month, The Great Gatsby comes out! We will be going to Saskatoon twice May, so we'll definitely find time to see it while we're there.

VISIT OUR FREE PRINTABLES PAGE TO DOWNLOAD THIS PRINT!

6. This weekend we'll do a bit of baby shopping. I'll hit the 8 month mark next Monday, so the clock is ticking! We're just going to try and stock up with the absolute necessities and then once baby is here we'll worry about the rest. Thankfully, the car seat is here and we hope to get it properly installed in the van very soon! We also just found out that our PHIL&TED stroller arrived at my parent's house in Ottawa! I'm really really excited about it. Another reason to add to the many that are getting us SO excited to go to Ottawa in the summer. Can't wait!

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR US ON NEWBORN NECESSITIES?

To answer, leave us a comment at the end of this post, or via our CONTACT US page! We'd really appreciate it!