Pics and a wee update.

Well, we just had a wonderful weekend with our little family. Not much happened (except for the trip to Grandma and Grampa's - see below) but we just had a nice time hanging out together. Some pics:

Ella being coy:

Little Ella Bathtime:

Our little Ray Charles:

So this weekend we decided to take the plunge. With a big thank you to Grampa Ken and Grandma Wendy, we decided to get a Digital SLR camera. I assume it will just start taking beautiful pictures by itself. Seriously, I like it for the speed at which it can take pictures. (Turn on, press button, WHAM. Picture.) We still like our lil' digital, as the SLR is a little bulky to just tote along for candid shots. Here is a picture of our newest baby:

And some of the amazing pictures it took while we were visiting Grandma and Grampa Potter this Sunday:

Grandma and Ella:

Ella loving Mommy:

Some Brother/Sister Love Time:

Our Little Sweetheart:

We'll keep posting as stuff (or pictures) happen!

Gordo

We're home and settled in!

Thanks for all the well wishes everyone! We're so happy with our new addition!

We came home on Wednesday, and it's been kind of a blur since then. Our days have been crammed full of playing, cuddling and nursing! Ella is a good baby so far - she pretty much just sleeps and eats. She's spending more time awake now, which is nice. She spent the whole time Grandpa Bill held her on Saturday staring at him! However, Ella is not a fan of her crib. Ben was in his crib from night #1 - we'd swaddle him and tuck him in, and he was fine. Ella likes to be cozy - she is a cuddler - so I'm putting her in her car seat/bouncy chair to sleep in at night, and that seems to be working. We'll make an effort to get her into her crib in a couple of weeks, but for now, we all need our sleep.

Ben is adjusting very well. He always asks to hold her, and will give her kisses and touch her cheeks and ears very gently. Ben is also concerned when she cries - "Why's he crying?" or "Ella crying!" And he wants her to wake up when she's sleeping - I'm trying to get him to stop that! All in all, he's being a great big brother and loves her so much already. It is so special to see their relationship starting!

Here are some pictures:



Enjoying the bouncy chair!


Daddy, Ben and Ella


More excitement in the bouncy chair...


Big brother Ben holding his baby sister Ella!

OK, that's all for now. I'll try to start posting stories and such, but no promises just yet!

Carrie

A picture is worth 1000 words.

They better be. I'm too tired to be witty and verbose. Here ya go!

Just born (about 5 minutes old):

Cute Little Bum:
Daddy gets in close:

The reaction to seeing Daddy from that close up:


Practicing the lip to melt Daddy's heart already:

Really seeing Mommy for the first time:

Ben delivering his baby:

And lastly, a size comparison. I guess I have to stop calling Ben my 'little' bug. I thought he was still tiny until I saw tiny Ella in the flesh. I forgot how small they are! Ben is telling us in this picture "His name is Ella!" We'll work on the pronouns.


Thanks for all of your good wishes. We'll start making phone calls when we're less tired (around the year 2015).

Gord and Carrie

p.s. Carrie is the Bestest Baby-Making, Kid Loving, Mommy-Type Person and Wonderful Wife Ever (BBMKLMTPWWE). Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sacrificing yourself to attain this wonderful result. Love, Gord.

She's Here!!!

Little Isabella Grace Sheppard. Born: April 25, 2006 at 3:55 a.m. 8 pounds 12 ounces. Some number of centimetres long (less than 1000). Cute as a little peanut. Here is a cute picture of her and Ben:


Carrie and I were pleased with our 'reception' at Children's hospital. Here's us, 30 minutes after the birth:

More pics of our gorgeous family to come!

Gordo

(Sorry, I forgot the camera at the hospital)

Well...

Just a quick update. Carrie and I were in the hospital for a few hours today - everything is all right! Carrie was (is) having a weird pain on her right side, and she hadn't felt the baby move all night Saturday night. So...in we went to the hospital this morning to get things checked out. The baby is fine - it's moving fine and the heartbeat was really good. Carrie was (is) in low level labour, but still not dilated more than about 1 cm. So, we wait until tomorrow for the fetal assessment and Doctor's visit. There is some talk that they might induce her then.

I'll post more when I know more. For now, I'm off to bed.

Gordo

p.s. A BIG thank you to my Mom for coming out and taking Ben. She was instrumental in making today bearable.

Nope...

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and there was absolutely no change from last week. Bummer. I am now 4 days overdue. Not much else to say. They won't induce until I'm at least 10 days overdue, so I guess we wait. My OB told me to walk for a couple hours yesterday - so I did. And another hour today, with an upcoming hour after I'm done this blog entry. My feet are sore. I have contractions when I walk, but they stop when I'm done walking.

Gord and I were talking tonight about general stuff, when Ben walked up and said, "Daddy, it's complicated!" We stopped talking (obviously, as a 4 syllable word was just spoken by our son!) and just looked at each other with puzzled expressions. I asked, "Where on earth did he get that from?", and then answered my own question. He has this book called "What's inside?" and it talks about what's inside Mommy's tummy when she's having a baby. But it starts out asking "what's inside the suitcase?...what's inside the present?..." and in the middle, it asks "what's inside the television?". They then show a picture of the inside of a TV, with all the wires and switches and stuff. The text says "oh, it's complicated!" So THAT is where he got it from. But still, we were stunned that he just came out with it for no apparent reason. What a kid!

Here are a couple of pictures, for your perusal...

Saying "cheese" last night while having his bedtime snack of Cheerios!



A pic from tonight - in his cool "Mr. Men" shirt!

No news...

Nothing yet. A few contractions here and there, but nothing to write home about (or blog about, as the case may be!). Due date...come and gone...

We headed back to the dog park this morning. Ben did not get wet, except at the end when he was stomping in the puddles. Charlie was soaked to the bone, as per usual. Ben and I came home and went for a three hour nap. Nice.

I know there has been tons of stuff Ben has been doing that I could write about, but I'm drawing a blank.

Oh, we have some friends whose son Zack is Ben's age. Ben and Zack have a bit of a love/hate relationship. They talk about each other all the time, but when they're actually together, it can get kinda rough. Different personalities, ya know? Anyways, Ben's latest thing is to say, "I be Zachery" and then proceed to scream at the top of his lungs. Very shrill-ly. And the kicker is, that's what Zack does. A couple of weeks ago, they were fighting over a toy and Zack took it from Ben. Ben started to cry, and Zack gets up in his face and screams. And Ben only started doing this the past couple of days. How does he remember that?

Ben also loves to play kitty. He'll come up to you and say, "be little kitty" and then meow and meow and meow at you until you pet him, scratch him behind his ears, and tell him what a cute kitty he is. What a character.

Did you know that Ben has a baby in his tummy too? He likes to tell you that while he's lifting his shirt up to his armpits. Mommy does not do that.

That's about all for now. As always, I'll keep you blog-readers posted.

Mommy's update!

OK, I had a doctor's appointment this morning (which turned into the afternoon - one of the rare times my doc is running late!). Baby is still just fine - the head is low. She gave me an internal exam too - I'm only 1 cm dilated. But it's a start. And as she said, it doesn't necessarily mean anything - they don't know what causes labour to start. So I came home and walked 2 miles on the treadmill to get this kid to drop and get labour started! I had some contractions (or strong Braxton Hicks?) during the walk, but not really since. I was hoping for Friday or so, but that doesn't seem likely! We wait and see...

That's about all for my update! I'm tired now...

c

What a day...

...in a good and funny way!

The day started with us heading to the Pediatrician for Ben's checkup. His weight is normal for his age, but his height is in the bottom 25th percentile. Thanks mommy! Other than that he was declared healthy and in a very high percentile for cuteness.

After I came home, we had dinner (Ben is eating like a champion, by the way. Finally.) Usually when we eat dinner we turn on the stereo for a bit of music. After dinner is finished, Ben usually becomes a "Dancin' Fool" (that reference is for you, Garth). He INSISTED that mommy and daddy get up and dance with him. So we had our own pregnant lady, fat man, crazed kid and manic dog mosh pit for a while. (While Ben dances, he sings "Dancing, dancing, dancing..." over and over. SO cute.)

Speaking of eating, the other day Ben wanted some watermelon. He asked for some "watermelman". Hee hee.

We then decided to go for a walk. While we were getting ready, Ben said "Go walk dog park?" We figured that was as good a place as any, so we packed up the kid and the dog in all of our crappy mud gear and out we went. We weren't even 20 meters into the park when Ben decided to splash in the puddles. Splash splash. So, while he was otherwise occupied we turned around to watch Charlie chasing frogs in the flooded ditch. Then, (you know what's coming, don't you?) SPLASH! WAHHHHHHHH! Ben had decided to follow Charlie and he fell almost up to his neck into stinky, yucky, dirty dog poo runoff ditch water. Carrie took a booter while running to get him, and almost tumbled in herself. SO...5 minutes after the start of the walk we loaded up the stinky dog, the stinky kid (now sans all clothes except a partially soaked shirt and a completely soaked diaper), the stinky mommy, and the stinky daddy (I didn't fall in - I just smell bad) and we headed home - with a stop for slurpees of course. Ben got a grape slurpee. We asked him what it tasted like and he said "Tastes like purple." What a kid.

So, after a long bath for Ben and mommy it was time for beddie boo. I leaned over to kiss my sweet boy on the back of the head just as he whipped his head back to find a book - headbutt to the lower lip and teeth. So I left crying like a little girl - leaving mommy to fend with the book reading by herself.

I'll leave you with a pic of the bug playing outside. What a cutie!

Blog ya later!

Gordo

A post about nothing in particular...

Life is chugging along at the Sheppard house. No baby yet.

Ben is good. His sleeping is better again - no more waking up at 5:40 a.m. He's sleeping in until about 7:30, which is MUCH more reasonable, even for Gord.

I figured that he'd sleep in a bit this morning, because I had him out late at our friends' house last night. We didn't get home until about 10:15, so Ben wasn't ready for bed until 10:45 or so. But nope, he woke up at about 7:40 - and REALLY wanted his mommy. I tried to explain to him, as I rushed around, that I had to go to work. Cue the waterworks. So I told him only two more days, and then I can stay home with him. For a whole year. I don't think he really got it.

It's funny...this morning he wanted only me - Daddy wasn't good enough at 7:40 a.m. - but last night, Gord worked a little later and picked me up from work. I went into the house first, and he came running to the back door, saw me, and stopped short, just staring. I said hello to him, but he just looked at me like I was an alien. Then Daddy came in the door, and he belts out, "DADDY! DADDY!" And for the next little while, he wanted only Daddy. Last week was great timing for the baby coming, 'cause it gave Ben and Gord some quality time together. They bonded. So when Mommy constantly has a baby attached to her in a couple of weeks, Ben has a back-up.

I had another prenatal appointment on Monday. All is well. I think the baby is definately lower now, which is a good thing! My OB isn't overly descriptive in what she's doing - blood pressure "great!", heartbeat "good", "moving at least 10 times a day?", "group B strep negative", "could be anytime now!" That was my appointment. But baby is moving lots, and I feel weird things at what I would imagine is the bottom of my uterus/cervix. But I'm speculating, of course. I'm no doctor.

One and a half days of work left. As of 5:00 p.m. tomorrow, I'm on mat leave. Can't say I'm not glad - I feel exhausted at days end. It sucks sitting in a chair all day too - when I get up to inevitably take a bathroom break, I feel like I have a medicine ball between my hips. Ah well, only a couple weeks to go, if that.

We got our new furniture on Tuesday night. It is soooooo comfy. Of course, the old furniture is still upstairs, so we are still reminded daily of what we had - it makes us appreciate the new stuff that much more! Maybe I'll get around to posting pics of the furniture and of the kitchen this weekend, 'cause there are some people out there who haven't seen either!

Uncle Chris moved out this week too. Ben will miss him. Gord and I, not so much. JUST KIDDING! I liked having him around. But now he's heading back up to Gillam for 6 weeks. Then he's done his stint up there. And he'll be posted permanently in Brandon after another 3 weeks of training or something like that.

OK, that's it. I'm going to eat my lunch and then go to the bathroom, again.

sheppard out

No real news...

Nothing too exciting happening lately - sorry blogland!

Ben stayed at his Grandma Susan's last night. We haven't heard yet how he did sleeping - in the playpen to boot - hopefully, he was a good boy for her. He didn't eat a lot of supper last night, but he did eat TWO bites of chicken. Real roasted chicken. The night before, he ate a whole sausage. Dipping it in ketchup sure helps! He then proceeded to eat four or five whole baby carrots. Can Mommy say "Wa-hooooooo"?

Gord has had a good time with Ben this week - well, the last three days anyway! Once the napping issue was sorted out, things went a lot smoother. Apparently, the past two mornings when Ben went to "wake up Daddy", he climbed into bed, leaned over to whisper into Gord's ear, and said, "Sweet-heart"!

I really think Ben liked his week with Daddy! Yesterday, Gord set up the biggest train track yet and Ben played happily with his trains! He is really starting to play more independently now too. He'll play with his cars and trucks and trains all by himself. He'll jibber-jabber to himself, lord only knows where his imagination is taking him!

Baby #2 is good - still hanging in there! I have one week of work left, so the baby has to stay put until at least next weekend! My department went out to lunch yesterday, and I had the spiciest thing on the menu. Everyone was joking around that I was trying to get the baby out, but really, I just wanted the Kung Pao chicken! Nothing happened anyways... Two more weeks until I am officially due - and we've got the most important stuff ready - some clothes, diapers, the car seat. But I still need to pack a bag for the hospital...that's on this weekend's "to do list".

Our little nieces, Fiona and Ruby, went home this week. The new little family is coping well, from what we hear. We even got a little movie of the girls emailed to us yesterday...gosh, I wanna hold 'em, just to feel what a 4 1/2 pound baby feels like. Ben was twice that, for goodness sake! We've gotta get their little baby gifts sent...another "to do" this weekend!

Just as an aside, I just finished watching "Meet the Fockers" on TV. I love that movie. It is too funny.

later gators.

Are you proud of me honey?

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

What a day...

Well, I thought I'd continue the theme of 'terrible twos' with a post of my own. If you don't know already, I am on spring break. This means LOTS of 1 on 1 time with my little bug. Now as a disclaimer - this is a GREAT thing. I love spending time with Ben. Today however...

- Got up at some disgustingly early pre-dawn hour (again)
- Was the best little dude ever up until naptime (he even promised not to tell Mommy that her flowers were purchased to disguise the fact that Daddy bought King Kong at the ONE DAY ONLY amazing price of $19.99)
-Would NOT go for a nap. This is after Grandma and I talked yesterday about how AMAZINGLY he goes for a nap. Well, he refused today. ("I'm awake" was the quote of the day.) So I finally capitulated (sp?) and let him stay up.
- He was okay until about 10 minutes before we had to leave to pick Mommy up from work, at which point he pulled a Bill. For those of you that don't know, that involves the eyes closed head-bob while sitting on the couch. When I woke him up (which was about as easy as waking up Bill) he started BAWLING.
-I got him dressed and ready to go. Once in the car I took a left - he wanted to go right. 10 more minutes of bawling.
- We went shopping (with Mommy) to find him something to block the light from coming in his window so brightly in the morning. He was only happy when allowed to do EXACTLY what he wanted, when he wanted to. Any suggestions to the contrary were ignored.
- When leaving the mall, he stood in the line to Moxies saying "French Fries". Although we were amazed at his memory skills, and were loving his cuteness, his obstinace was a little unnerving. We managed to get him away only after teaching him a new word - McDonalds.
- When putting his jacket on, he freaked out.
- When not turning right into someone's front yard, he freaked out.
- When pulling into Burger King (and NOT McDonalds) he freaked out.
- When forced to eat a french fry (this makes no sense to us either) he freaked out.
- When having a bath, he freaked out.


Now, I realize that most of these freak-outs were the result of no nap. We kept telling him "When Daddy tells you it's naptime tomorrow, GO FOR A NAP." But yeesh. My patience has not been worn as thin EVER in the last two years.

Again - don't get me wrong. I LOVE my little man - sometimes I am in awe of how much. It was just an off day. He is now sleeping like an angel in his new bed, with his wee tushie poking up in the air. What a guy.

Rant, rant, rant. We are going to Chapters tomorrow morning for the big chain store version of what my sister does for a living. (Among other cool library things, she hosts (hosted?) a very popular children's storytime in an Ottawa library). Hopefully the intense concentration required will exhaust him - leaving him in a near catatonic state from which I can just duct tape him to his bed for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Thanks for all the comments, crazy comment people! It's always nice to know you're out there. (And no, my fingers AREN'T broken - and the phone works - but you all know what I mean!)

TTYL

The ramblin' Gordo

p.s. I think Ben's cutest word right now is puh-STIP-tons. Anyone want to guess what that means?

What a week...

Where do I start?

Last Saturday, we went furniture shopping. The horribly ugly but kinda comfy couch and loveseat we currently have - well, we've had enough. While we were out searching and sitting (a lot!), my chest started to get really itchy. I didn't really think anything of it, but it got worse and by Sunday, had spread to my upper arms and a little on my big tummy. Then it spread some more. Can you say unbearable?

I had an OB appointment on Monday, so I asked her what on earth it could be. She said it looked like an allergic reaction, but I scoured my brain for something that would have triggered it and came up empty. She said that I could take Benadryl and she gave me some hydrocortisone cream as well. I ended up only using each once, 'cause the itchiness had subsided by Tuesday.

Monday night, Ben woke up throwing up all over the place. Not fun. He had a bit of a fever, but had puked himself out by about midnight. He did wake up a couple more times heaving, but in the morning, he seemed okay (so we sent him to daycare - of course, his babysitter and one of the other boys have since got whatever Ben had).

Tuesday, my throat started to get scratchy, which I'm figuring is because my immune system went down a bit after I was up all night with a puking child. So, I got a chest cold, which isn't so bad when you're pregnant. Then, on Wednesday night, it crept up to my sinuses. Hell, I tell you. I can't take anything besides Tylenol. Urgh. So Thursday and Friday, I stayed home sick. Saturday and Sunday were better - I was still stuffed up.

This is all made worse by the fact that Ben won't sleep past 6 a.m. now. Grrrrrr.

So I thought I was good to go back to work today. But I was up visiting the toilet all night. Then this morning, I puked my guts out. What is wrong with me? I think that I'm just catching everything all at once, since I've had a healthy pregnancy and winter so far. I'm just paying for it all in the span of a week.

I won't say whether the boys have caught anything, as I don't want to jinx them.

And we bought a new sofa and loveseat - here they are.

I'm going back to bed...

Master manipulator

Ben has discovered that different emotions elicit different responses. For example, this morning, I told him to come lay down on the floor so that I could change his supersoaked diaper and get him dressed. He then looked at me with downcast eyes, and said, "No. Ben sad." I guess he thinks that by saying that he's sad, we'll fall all over ourselves to make him feel better, which would hopefully include not making him lie down to have his diaper changed and to get dressed!

Ben was awake at 7 this morning, which is quite early for him. He better not be up that early tomorrow morning - Mommy wants to sleep in! Anyways, I was in the shower and I glanced through the shower door and saw that the bathroom door had been opened and that there was a little blue figure standing in the doorway. Sure enough, Ben came looking for his mommy (awwwwww). I hope I never forget how he looked though - his big blue eyes were wide open and his hair was fuzzy all over. You may not believe me, but the sight of my son in the morning, bedhead and all, is just beautiful!

c

Introducing...

Fiona and Ruby!

Odds 'n ends...

Not much is new with the Sheppards, as usual! We went to Morden on Saturday, just for the day, so that Ben could visit with Great Grandma Lil, Great Aunt Nancy and Great Aunt Simone. He charmed the pants off of them, as expected! He cheered them on while they were curling - and they won! Gord wants to take credit for being their good luck charm, but I think it was Ben...

Ben is using a new phrase now..."How 'bout nooooooo!" (from Austin Powers, I think. Daddy apparently says this to Ben, and now our little shadow has picked it up. It amazes me every day at how he picks things up. "They" say that kids are sponges, and boy do we know it!

Baby #2 is good. Gord commented last night that I'm "getting big", but then he tried to backtrack and say that maybe I'm just carrying differently. Nice try hon! So now I'm afraid to go to my prenatal appointment on Monday...I'm demanding that my OB tell me how big this baby might be. Last time, she kept saying that Ben would be average - um, hello? 9 lbs is NOT average! I need to be prepared...

Now, an update on the Ottawa babies - Fiona Beatrice and Ruby Amelia! Both are doing very very well! They've been drinking from bottles really well, and Ruby didn't have an infection after all, so her IV was removed. From all accounts, they are "soooooo cute" and both have dark hair. Kathy is likely going home today, so she'll have to travel back and forth to the hospital a lot, but it should only be a couple of weeks, if things continue to go as well as they have been. Still no pictures though...

c

Well that was unexpected!

So last night I was talking to my sister on the phone - she told me that they were going to give her a c-section around next Saturday "if she could make it that long."

She couldn't.

Last night (this morning actually) at about 3:00 a.m. she gave birth to 2 little baby girls! Congratulations! The babies are doing very well considering the early birth. They are both breathing on their own and the doctors are very positive about everything so far. They are going to have to be in the hospital for a while - but things are as good as can be expected!

If you're reading this Kathy (or Greg) we're extremely happy for you and can't wait to see the cute little babies!

I'll post again when the names are finalized.

Way to go Ottawa team!

Gordo

I know you've all been waiting with bated breath...

At my prenatal appointment, I'd only gained a pound in two weeks! Whoopee! My doc even said that it was refreshing not to have to give the speech again - she'd been giving it all morning! So there - I'm at 24 pounds so far. I'm still not counting my chickens yadda yadda yadda - I still have 5 weeks to go. Otherwise, the baby's heartbeat was good and he/she is measuring on target. I did have to have the group B strep swab taken - I'll spare the details. I tested negative earlier on in the pregnancy, but they retest near the end too (I was negative both times with Ben, so I hope my luck will hold!). I go back on the 20th, and then I'm down to weekly appointments - I'm sure my manager will love that.

Gord's sister Kathy was out of the hospital, but now she's back in. They're hoping that she can go back home, provided that baby A is behaving! Gord's mom (Susan) went out there this week to help her out, 'cause she's on strict bedrest and Greg (the soon-to-be-daddy) has to work - someone has to! Anyways, keep the positive thoughts coming.

Ben has been on ventalin for the past couple of days - Monday night, he started wheezing a bit after some active play (consisting of chasing Mommy, Daddy and Uncle Chris around the house). All that night, he coughed and wheezed and didn't let Mommy get a lot of sleep. So I took him to his pediatrician's on Tuesday, where the ped said that it didn't sound like croup, but maybe asthma. Hence the ventalin. Ben's stopped wheezing now, but he still has a cough and his nose is running like crazy.

Gord's schedule has changed again - his classes don't start until noon. So he and Ben spend their mornings together, waking up when they want, leisurely eating breakfast and getting dressed. This morning, Gord said that Ben wandered into our room at about 20 to 9 - so I guess he woke up, opened his door, and went searching for his Daddy. (Not yet sure if this is a good thing or not - Ben realizing that he can get up and wander around, but time will tell...) We've been keeping his door open during the night, so I can hear him better and his room stays warmer, but I usually close it in the mornings when Chris and I are getting ready for the day so we don't wake him up.

That's about it. Ben being sick has shadowed the whole week. Oh, I bought the latest Harry Potter movie when it came out on Tuesday. We've already seen it, but it's pretty exciting nonetheless, dontcha think? :)

c

It's all happening so fast...

Gord and I finally got our act together this weekend and finished setting up Ben's new room. We had to put up some new trim, hang some curtains and arrange the furniture. Check, check and check! Saturday night was Ben's first time sleeping in his big boy room. He did pretty well, easily going when it was bedtime. We were both a little choked up when we went to check on him before we crashed for the night - he seems so little in the bed! Where did our little baby go? I was woken up around 2:30 by him crying, so I went in to check on him. Here he was, curled up on the floor, bawling his eyes out. I think he woke up and was freaked out being in a different room. So after I told him that he couldn't go back to his old bed (which he really wanted to do), I got him settled back down and told him that we were very proud of him and that he was such a big boy. I think he went back to sleep fairly quickly, but I sure didn't! I just lay there, trying to figure out if the squeak from the fan was actually from the fan, or if it was Ben whimpering. I didn't really get back to sleep until 4:00. And then at 8:30 this morning, I went to listen at his door, and I could hear him playing in there. I went in, and he was still in bed, but he had a bunch of books sprawled everywhere and was playing with his little James train.

Today, he napped in there no problem, and then went to bed just fine too! So far, so good! We'll have to post some pics of the new digs, now that it's all painted and set up. I'll put in on our "to-do" list...

Otherwise, not much happened this week or this weekend. Gord went out to a monster-truck show today. He had a good time, but said that it was crazy loud. And there were apparently lots of little kids there, most of them plugging their ears! Ben and I stayed home - he napped and I baked lots of cookies. I love cookies...

I am convinced that baby #2 is a wild child. There was a 10-minute period tonight where I don't think the baby stopped moving. And he/she has a foot up near my ribs, and boy does it hurt! We have another prenatal appointment tomorrow - I'm sure I'll get heck for weight gain...she's been pretty forgiving lately, but it'll catch up with me sometime!

Speaking of babies, send good luck vibes to Gord's sister - she's due with twins in April, but is currently in the hospital. She should be able to go home tomorrow, but I think she'll really have to limit her activity so that the babies don't come any sooner than they need to! So babies, if you're listening, stay put!

Take care all...
c