Random Pictures From the Past Few Days in No Particular Order- Enjoy!

The room is finally complete. Couldnt put up his name even though we had the letters so that we could keep his name a secret!

Proud Papa

Look how little he is compared to Jo-Ben's hands!

Hes a deep thinker...

Such a sweetie

This is my babe first thing after his morning feeding, soooooo content

Already a Canucks fan... maybe a number one draft pick one day?

My tiny baby in his crib

first thing out of the hospital- we went on a coffee date

Little bugger in his crib... so CUTE!

My flesh baby and my fur baby- bffs

he has REALLY strong neck muscles and even holds up his own head for 3-5 seconds at a time... my strong boy.

JUST after he was born... my proudest moment for sure

ok im a bit biassed but how adorable is this kid

right after his very first bath

minets after being born... didnt cry at all just cooed... and then didnt cry for 2 days!

right after my epidural... after 36 hours of labor... feelin good and ready to push!

NOT feeling good... NO idea what is yet to come.

Tuesday... when labor started. We thought we were going to be parents that day but we had to wait till Friday. Worth it though :)

Come on out baby Asher!

HES HERE!!!

Asher Joshua Barkey born on March 27th, 2009 @ 3:56 pm 6lbs 13 oz 18 inches long. We are SO excited to have our healthy baby boy home and are all doing well... more pictures and a longer post to come, I promise... a little preoccupied with the new little man in our lives right now :)

Frustrated

Went to the hospital at 9 tonight because it had been over 8 hours of contractions at 5 mins apart and wanted to make sure the baby wasn't under any stress or anything. The nurse hooked me up to that machine that takes the baby's heart rate, my heart rate and monitors contractions. Apparently I'm in latent labor... my cervix is thinned out but no dilation. ARG! So, I told them I had been up for 24 hours and they gave me a shot of Demerol and sent me home... this is super frustrating but I am really loopy and will hopefully be able to sleep tonight so that if things really get underway tomorrow I will have energy to handle it. Very frustrating to go through this annoying stuff and basically have it result in nothing but I'm glad the baby is OK and not under stress or whatever. Anyways, unplugging the phone and going to sleep like as LONG as I can... will post when more happens!

baby time

Well, Im in labor. I have been having contractions for a couple of days now... they were on and off for two days and usually only 10-15 mins apart very uncomfortable but not so much painfull... After two days of that I was wondering when things would progress... Last night around midnight they became more regular but were still 10 mins apart. We wen to bed around 3 am but as Jo-Ben drifted off to sleep right away I lay there awake for about four hours experiencing stronger contractions but still only 10 mins apart. I got up around 7am and called my Mom to let her know what was going on and to plead "when will they ever get closer together?!" She just said oh just wait theyyyyyyy will. Not much longer after I hung up with her they started getting closer and closer and within an hour they were 6-7 mins apart. Now Im sitting here 8 hours later and they are 5 mins apart and have been that way all day. Lovely. I can see the hospital from my living room window so Im not going till I cant bear it anymore... I have heard the mantra 4-1-1 , contractions 4 mins apart lasting 1 min for 1 hour straight then you go to the hospital. We are going to wait till then or else if the contractions get too intense for me to handle. At any rate, we are excited. Things are happening!!! Stay tuned for an update within the next day or two!! :) and PRAY!

Jo-Ben's birthday weekend and baby update!

We had an awesome long weekend... It was Jo-Ben's birthday yesterday so we decided to start celebrating on Friday and make it a birthday long weekend. On Friday night we had a party at our house... it was a pretty casual gathering of friends (there were about 15-20 of us there) We just hung out and had some good food ( I made hummus, a seven layer Mexican dip which was my own variation... I made it with black beans rather than re fried and more fresh ingredients like tons of cilantro & green onions and other ingredients like low fat sour cream and low fat cheese and everyone liked it more than regular seven layer dip!, hot artichoke dip and brushcetta) I also made a cake for Jo-Ben that looks more like I should have made it for him in 1990 for his 12th birthday or something but he loooooves soccer and loved the cake. I'm not a professional cake decorator by any means and I do not claim to be but it was fun to do and he loved it.




Heehee, so fun. I found the idea on the Kraft website (I just searched 'soccer' haha) The bottom layer (the 'pitch') is made of Devils Food cake and the ball is made out of white cake (because the birthday boy doesn't like chocolate- I KNOW!) the entire thing is covered in cool whip and then I decorated it with gel icing and sprinkles. It was actually really funny because I was going to buy those little tubes of black gel icing to decorate the soccer ball but they didn't have black so at our local grocery's bakery I asked the little old man who works there if he could sell me some black gel and he grabs a big plastic container that like 4 croissants would come in and plops a HUGE glob of icing in it (asks me if its enough) and charges me 50 cents for it. Hahahah it was a great small town moment. I probably would have had to buy like 5 or 6 little tubes of black gel to decorate with and they are expensive little things so I was thank full for my bakery friend!

It was a fun party and it was fun to see Jo-Ben be the center of attention.. hes REALLY extroverted but when its actually geared towards him its like he doesn't know what to do with himself. He had a great time!

On Saturday Jo-Ben and his helper James had to work at 5 in the morning... since we had guests over till well past 1am they were BEAT when they got home... We spent the afternoon just hanging out and later that night the boys went to play some drop in basketball.

Over Saturday night we had a huge dump of snow (hopefully the LAST TIME!!!) so we opted not to go to church, we slept in, hung out at home and I made a brunch (at 1 in the afternoon! haha) of Waffles, Vanilla Custard sauce, Strawberry sauce and Blueberry sauce- YUM. We spent the day lounging around (trying to get our fill before this baby comes and takes over all of our energy and time!)

James left on Monday, he is working for Jo-Ben's business partner for the next week and then heading home to PG to get married! Since it was Jo-Ben's actual birthday he and I decided to head into Red Deer for a birthday celebration day of fun! We went to the city and did our usual thing- Chapters and Starbucks, hang out by the fired and drink and read, visited with a friend, hit up future shop and got a really cool camera case for the new camera that Jo-Ben got me a few weeks ago for my birthday, stopped in the pet store (we cant resist plus they had the same breed of dogs that we have and it was SO interesting to see how different that litter was than our Joey) We also went to Tony Romas to have ribs for dinner- drool! Also went to Wal-Mart for some things we needed and ended up buying an stereo/docking center for our Ipod... I'm so excited to finally have one especially with the baby coming and summer out on the deck- we will put it to good use I am sure!

So, this morning I woke up to some *ahem* interesting things when I went to the bathroom which lead me to believe I was going into labor and felt super achey through my legs and started having contractions every 15-20 mins. I went to see my Dr. around 11am and he checked me out and said that my cervix is still closed but noticed some signs (that I would rather not discuss on the world wide web!) that I am at least going into pre labor... so, he says that it could be another few hours or days but he is thinking it wont be more than a week and out little guy will be here on the outside!!! We are very anxious and excited & just cant wait to meet him! I immediately started nesting like crazy as soon as it hit me how soon it COULD actually be to the baby being born and am not sitting on the couch completely pooped... I have basically cleaned every surface in our house today! :) My Dr. said I would have the urge to and to just do it since it would help move things along anyways!

In other exciting news- I submitted a link to my blog post of the nursery to a couple of baby design websites and one got back to me right away and put the nursery up on their site today! Here are two links to it:
http://www.creative-baby-nursery-rooms.com/blue-bird-nursery-idea.html
http://www.creative-baby-nursery-rooms.com/nursery-rooms.html

I am pretty proud that its up there and that someone other than my friends and family are telling me that it looks awesome- not that I don't believe you people but its cool to have a stranger tell you that they like it enough to go on their website!

oooo I'm also really pumped because my baby sling that I wanted to badly that my amazing sister in law Hannah got for me (who doest love a sister in law who asks 'what is the one baby item that you really want but wont buy yourself because its too much'?!) I tried it on and put Joey the dog in it and it worked great! Hes over 12 lbs and I could hardly feel him as I walked and danced around with it on... SO excited to use it with the flesh baby rather than the fur baby! We did take pictures but I wasnt exactly looking my best this morning in between contractions so I'm going to wait to post a pic of the sling with the read baby in it at some point down the road!

Anyways, that is what the past few days of birthday madness has looked like and the baby update... who knows, maybe the next time I post there will be pictures of a little new born Barkey!

A glimpse into the finished Baby Barkey nursery

This is the amazing quilt that my generous aunt made for the baby. I picked out the fabrics back in November with her. I absolutely love it and based allot of elements of the room around the fabrics that I loved in the quilt. I didn't want the room to be too 'themed' (like whinny the pooh or disney or cars) because thats just not me and I also wanted it to blend in with other decorating styles that I have featured in the rest of the house but also have an innocent baby feeling to it so I chose to loosely base the rooms 'theme' on the fabrics in the quilt as well as birds which are found in the decals on the walls, the mobile and various statues I have around the room.

'Birds of a feather' mobile which I purchased online. It was $60 American (eek) but I am happy that I got it because its really pretty and neutral enough that I will use it again and again in future baby rooms and maybe even our room!

The crib and my favorite piece in the room, the 'birds of a feather' mobile that I bought online, my one big splurge and I just love the natural organicness of it... not a typical cutsey, bright mobile. On the right hand side you can also see an assortment of 'swatch portraits' that I made for some wall art. They are pretty trendy right now and I like the fact that they look modern and tie in the quilt as wall art as well as they aren't heavy so I don't have to worry about them falling onto the baby in the crib like a shelf or large piece of art might. (more pics of the swatch portraits at the end of this post)

The light fixture above the recliner, I found it at Ikea in the 'as is' section for $5 and tied lots of swatches of left over fabric that I had onto it, I like it because its unique and gives off a nice soft light. I also love this corner with how I placed the decals because at night when the light is on they just glow softly around the chair.

A nice peaceful corner with a very comfy recliner... I opted for the recliner instead of the glider because we a) already owned it and b) is so comfy to snooze and relax in.

Reading corner with book basket all ready with books to read to my little guy (when he starts to understand books... probably wont be for a few months!) and some embroidery hoops that I made into swatch portrait bulletin boards complete with matching fabric to the quilt, I am thinking it will be a good place to tack up pics of his G & G's and aunts and uncles from far away so when hes older and we have reading times we can point out who's who. The decals on the wall right above the crib are meant to look like a Mamma and Daddy bird watching over the baby- cute no? From the right angle they look like the are perched on the rail of the crib.

My recliner in the 'reading/nursing' corner (to the left side of the window) I made the pillow covers (minus the one in the back, its from Ikea's 'as is' section... gotta love a $3 pillow and case! good find Mom!) and they coordinate with the quilt that my aunt made me. I am especially proud of these little pillows because I'm definitely not a whiz on the sewing machine and they turned out really great.

The corner opposite to the recliner to the right of the window. I got this shelf as a gift but it had some pretty 'cutesy' pastel colored frames on the pegs so I spray painted them brown and then put swatches of quilt fabric in them to tie that element in and I just love it. The frame was a $3 Winners find by my Mom and I simply recovered the matte and added some ribbon and also some to hang it and its totally transformed. Right now there is a pic of Jo-Ben and I on our wedding day in it but I am hoping to get a good first family pic in the hospital to put in there. The hamper is from Ikea and matches the little book basket that I have hanging on the wall in the opposite corner. Basket on the dresser all full of bum changing necessities!

Curtian tie backs that I made, I took the tie back that came with the curtains that I bought from Ikea when we first moved into this house and I covered them with fabric that coordinates with the baby bedding that is also featured around the room. They actually are fastened with Velcro and the button is just sewed on for show.

The window looking out onto our amazing Alberta landscape hahahahah riiiiight. It will actually be a nice view when the fields turn bright yellow and green in the summer for a few months. Right now its pretty white and grey out there but the plants on the sill warm up the view.

He doesnt have allot of toys yet but these are a few from my childhood that I snagged from my Mom and Dads house... they are definitely well loved toys from his Mamma. Love how Fisher Price lasts through the years! I love the retro look of these toys :)

His dresser FULL of clothes... the three drawers are seperated into 0-6 months, 6-12 months and 12+ months and the bottom right drawer has lots of recieving blankets, towels, etc. The top left drawer has all of this booties, mits, hats and bibs in it and the other two small drawers have his cloth diapers in them. Glad I opted for the larger sized dresser.

The dresser/change table.

Matching shelf above the dresser/change table... the B is no hint to his first name, its just for Barkey. I love the bird book ends that I found at a cute little shop in down town Abbotsford on a shopping trip with my sister, good memories and they will be well used over the years I'm sure- I just love them!

Close up of bird book end.


We kept the walls the same color as they were painted when we built the house a year and a half ago because we weren't in the mood to paint and are planning on moving sooner than later and thought that keeping it a neutral color is better for selling. I am really glad that I did because its a nice neutral back drop for all of the things featured in the room. The color is Benjamin Moore's Cabot Trial. The wall decals featured around the room are from Urban Outfitters and add a nice pop of bright color and I featured them on all of the walls in the room because I wanted the room to feel like the birds were flying all around. I have heard mixed reviews about decals and their ability to stay up but these have been up for over a month now and aren't peeling or falling off. They are also great because they can just peel off when we move or want to replace them.

a full view of the crib with the quilt, the swatch portraits, the mobile and some decals


A close up of the swatch portraits, The were relatively inexpensive to make, probably 10-15 dollars for all of the hoops and then the cost of material... I don't know how much it cost for the material in each project but for all of the material that I used around the room for different projects I spent about 50 dollars. I left the hoops their natural wood because it felt really natural and sort of went with other details in the room like the wicker baskets but if I use these in the future like for a baby girls room I would paint the hoops maybe white and simply replace the fabric for a whole new look.

Straight on view of my wall art.

I love the room and I am especially proud of the great finds that I found, how I made or remade things for the room (very recessionista of me no?) and how it all came together and coordinated without being too matchy or cutsey. I can also see myself reusing allot of the things that I got or have featured in the room. It was also ALLOT of fun to do :) All in all I'm really happy how the room turned out and am looking forward to spending lots of time in there!

.... now that I have done my boys room I have so many ideas for a girls room... I'm thinking yellow and grey :) maybe next time ;)

Getting closer...

Saturday- ahhhhh

Wahoooooo!

Finally some decent weather... not exactly BC temps but we have no rain so I guess its a fair trade. Have been doing some spring clean up around here... shoveled off the deck, organized the patio furniture and garbage that had been blown around the deck. Sorting through random things in areas of the house to be thrown away or given to the 'Tilly' (our MCC here in Three Hills) Feels goooood. The weather even permitted us to open windows and let the fresh air flow through. Yesterday I went out for an HOUR long walk with Joey, he was so tired by the end of it when we got home he drank his entire bowl of water and flopped down on the living room rug for a loooong nap. I wasn't so much tired but all of a sudden noticed the things that were kinda sore that morning were REALLY sore after the walk... I could feel the sore ribs again, a leg cramp that I experienced in the middle of the night made itself known again plus I think I pulled some groin muslces or something. I'm still a little sore today but I think I will take another (probably shorter) walk today, cant waste this good weather. I was so happy breathing in the fresh air, wearing just a light track jacket and listening to the birds out as I was sloshing through the puddles and slush. ahhhhh, spring is coming! With spring coming it means baby is REALLY coming too... so weird to see my baby ticker be in the teens today. wow. The time is drawing nearer and I cant WAIT. I am making pulled pork in the slow cooker today and we are going to have it smothered in BBQ sauce on toasted whole wheat buns with Cole slaw for dinner... can hardly wait, especially with the constant slow cooker smells wafting through the house. yum. Have a beautiful day everyone!!!

All kindsa things...

Side note: I decided that I am going to buy this decal... Ive thought about it for a long time and I have heard all kinds of mixed feelings about decals because some people have had bad experiences with them (ie falling off the wall, etc) but after getting some really amazing decals for the baby boys room and having them up for a few weeks now I just love them and they haven't fallen off... yet. So, I'm going to get this dandelion decal for our room! I have a perfect place for it too- might sound weird but I am going to put it kinda behind the door, our bedroom door stays closed allot and when I'm laying there in bed I always look at that naked spot on the wall and think 'something should go there' so dandelion decal meet wall.

Oh, also... I will be posting pics of the baby room probably this coming week, right now there is allot of storage in there because we have a house guest in our guest room and once I get the closet space back for storage the baby room will be totally cleaned out and FINISHED! Then I will take lots and lots of pics of what I have created.


On Oprah today (wowza, over the past few posts I have noticed that I have been watching allot of Oprah lately- what else do you do while you are waiting for a baby to come out?) they spoke about how Esquire Magazine did an article about the best breakfast places in America and it made me think about my FAVORITE meal of all time... BREAKFAST! Do any of you love breakfast as much as me? Probably not. I could eat breakfast for all three meals of the day... for the rest of my life. From hot cereals (Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, etc) Cold Cereals (this one is enjoyed particularly late at night before bed) farm style breakfasts (think bacon & eggs, hash browns- simple) fancy food (Eggs Benny, Crepes, etc) Eggs of any kind (especially fritattas, omelets- soooo versatile) and my absolute fave (because I'm such a carb FREAK) waffles and pancakes and french toast- oh my. I love, love LOVE breakfast.

anyways, just wanted to throw that out there.

I also watched Martha Stewart and they did a feature on Richard Gere's restaurant, the Bedford Village Inn, in Bedford NY and they made an AMAZING pasta dish sort of like a great big ravioli and it looked SO good.



This pic is off of the Martha Stewart website, you can find the recipe there too... The picture doesn't really give it justice at all but you get the idea. It is split into three sections but not cut so its one large rectangle of pasta with little pockets of filling, one with a creamed spinich, the middle with an egg yolk and lastly a plop of ricotta mixture... (I should have said 'dollop' shouldn't have I?) anyways, topped with browned butter and rosemary bread crumbs... oh, and fresh parm of course, this ravioli dish looks like pure heaven to me.

In family news: between all of my cousins on my Mom and Dads side of the families we are expecting 7 babies this spring/summer (between now and Sept.)
Heather (Thiessen side) due a couple of days before me ... its a girl!
Me (both sides I guess) due April 2nd ... its a boy!
Wilma (Dyck side) due at the end of April ... its a girl!
Lynette (Dyck side) due in June with twins but they will most likely come earlier ... identical boys!
Angela (Thiessen side) due in August ... havent heard the sex yet
Bonny (Dyck side) due in September ... also havent heard the sex yet

I KNOW! that's alotta babies in less than half a year for our fam!

My cousin Wilma who was due at the end of April had her little girl delivered via c-section yesterday because of complications of her body not bring able to feed the baby properly. At first they thought that the baby was dwarfed or something because she was growing so slowly but shes perfectly fine. Both mom and baby are doing really really well... she is a precious little bundle and here she is!


No name yet but I would call her Thumbalina! heehee. So CUTE!

Anyways, lots of randomness today! Have a fabulous day everybody!

oh PS- I redid some features on my blog on the right side bar so check it out! I had a food blog for a short time called Amanda's Fare which I havent shut down but I also havent posted on in almost a year. I have a problem taking pics of the food that I create because a) Im not very good at taking pics... not my spiritual gift I guess! and b) I have to eat up the food before it gets cold... I'm one of those people who likes to eat their food at screaming hot temps. So it just doesnt really work most times. Anyways, anything food related is going to get posted here too because its just easier to have everything all in one place. Check our a new link I posted on the side bar to the blog called My Baking Addiction, I will be making those Snikerdoodle Blondies for the guys this afternoon!

oh my

I guess I'm a real thick skinned Albertan now... its only +4 out but we have the windows wide open and the fresh air flowin through... feels like SPRING is coming!!! YAHOOOOOO

how do you grocery shop & meal plan? any good tricks?

I was watching Oprah today and was amazed at how some people grocery shop and prepare meals... buying allot of frozen pre made meals, ordering out multiple times a week, etc. I don't have a 'family' yet per say but with Jo-Ben, myself and our friend James who has been living with us for the past couple of months I find it so much easier to plan ahead before going grocery shopping and knowing what I'm going to prepare for dinner every night for the week makes my life so much easier (at least in my head- crazy multi tasking women brains of ours!) not to mention its way more affordable I think!

I usually do a shopping trip only ONCE a week for many reasons (its too darn cold to go outside at this point of year, its hard for me to get in and out of the car and takes allot out of me to go out being almost at full term in my pregnancy, we have one grocery store in our town so if I want to make a shopping trip to somewhere other than IGA like my preferred grocery store, the Super Store I have to drive at least 40 mins so its all about one big trip or else I am wasting allot of money on gas) Unless there is something really specific that I am missing or the boys or I suddenly have a craving for something but then its only a one or two item stop... and this usually consists of Jo-Ben picking me up some ice cream! :) Chocolate Hagen Daz please!

I always think ahead and plan which meals we are going to have that week and make a list of ingredients I need and then go through my pantry and fridge and cross off what I already have so I don't buy things twice. I also am a little anal about 'the list' and I split it up into categories like Dairy, Meat, Freezer, Produce, Canned... so that I don't go running up and down the isles more than once.... or twice! Apparently if you make a list to go to the grocery store with you will spend 50% less... 50%! wow. I believe it because when I plan my meals and buy what I need for them I don't have extra food that I a) don't know what to do with and b) end up throwing away because it doesn't get used and goes bad. Not much ever gets thrown away from our fridge besides the odd left over that doesn't get eaten (the guys in my life aren't big fans of left overs but I'm pretty good at using leftovers in new meals ie: using last nights spaghetti meat sauce for tomorrows chili or sloppy Joe's or last nights taco beef for tomorrows Mexican lasagna or Tex Mex Shepard's pie)

One of my favorite websites for figuring out a weeks menu is Kraftfoods.ca You can go to this website and find simple delicious meals for weeknights, entertaining, holidays, etc. One of my favorite features is the 1 Bag, 5 Dinners feature... You can choose combos like Chicken & Beef or Meatless or whatever and it ll generate a menu and a shopping list for everything you need for that weeks meals. I don't always love every meal in the menu so sometimes I do the same type of thing on my own but it takes more time and when I am in a hurry or don't really feel like working out a menu I use the 1 Bag, 5 Dinners feature. I use this website almost every day even just for ideas and have gotten some of my best recipes (and allot of compliments) from here. I also receive the Everyday Food Magazine from Martha Stewart Living. I love this little gem too... Every month they have a one week meal plan and I usually try it out... have found some AWESOME and very simple recipes from here too. They also generate a shopping list for their weeks worth of meals and post it in the back of the magazine and the best thing about this little mag is that its about a third of the size of a regular magazine so it can fit in your purse easily and is easy to handle when you are checking items off at the grocery store. Some weeks I have combined the two resources and made up my own menus and grocery lists.

Anyways, my method isn't perfect and I am sure will change over time as there are more mouths to feed and less and less time but I find that I'm pretty organized when it comes to grocery shopping and meal planning. I just thought that everyone out there did the same thing... obviously after watching today's Oprah there are many families out there who don't and end up wasting allot of money and compromising health and wellness because of it too!

I think that the method to my madness would probably look different if I lived in a different climate or a bigger city but I have to do what I have to do. Those are some of the tricks up my sleeve, what do you bloggers out there do when it comes to meal planning and grocery shopping?

oh PS- I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow and doing bag #1 in the Chicken and Beef category this week (mainly because I happen to have most everything on hand and Jo-Ben's fave is the Crispy Pesto Chicken... he LOVES it) plus a slow cooker pulled pork sandwich and chicken tortellini soup! Yum.

life stuff

Well, after three days and two (horrible) nights I am finally able to breathe without it hurting... I cant take deep breaths yet... it kinda catches at a cirten point when i try to take a deep breath in but I am able to lay on one side and feel sort of comfortable and am able to get out of bed without any help. It still hurts when I go from laying down to sitting up, I cant cough, blow my nose, sneeze or clear my throat without it hurting (its like a sharp jab in my side in my rib cage) and I tried to vacuum today and was EXHAUSTED afterwards because I can only take shallow breaths... its funny how you don't realize how mundane tasks take so much out of you until you are in a condition like this! i think its really helping that I can only sleep on my right side because the baby tends to hang out on the left and that's the side that the ribs hurt so being on my right side all night kinda prompts the baby to hang out over there. Poor Jo-Ben though, it is really hard for me to get out of bed to go to the bathroom at night because of how I'm positioned and and being in my last few weeks I get up to go ALLOT so I end up waking him up every time, good grief... I have loved being preggers but I will be glad when this little gipper comes out of me and into the world!

I got a new vacuum that I ordered from Sears and it arrived today! Its SO nice and is specially made to grab pet hair & has a hepa filter so makes me feel good with the baby coming. Joeys nosing around in our big shag area rug right now I don't think he has ever smelled the carpet be SO clean... this thing really sucks everything up.

I'm watching Oprah right now and they are taking about freaky things that happen at a hospital. Here are some facts about hospitals in the USA:

3 times a day a 'wrong side surgery' is preformed (amputating the right arm instead of the left!)
1,500 things left in people EVERY day (usually sponges but sometimes scalpels, etc)
40, 000 a year wake up during surgery! (eek!)

With my upcoming hospital stay coming up, makes me a wee bit nervous. I have a great Dr and I trust him very very much but WHOA those are scary numbers and facts.

I am totally ready for this little guy to come, bag packed and I'm ready to go. I have an appointment in a week and my Dr is going to check if I'm dilated, how thick the cervix is, etc and give us results from some swab test he took this past week... From my calculations I am actually due mid March but the April 2nd due date came up at my 4-D ultra sound when I was 18ish weeks... so WHO knows when this babe is coming... I hope sooner than later. :) My mom's prediction is March 23 because that's Jo-Ben' s birthday... I have March 17th in my mind but I think that maybe because that's the day that my freezer that I ordered is coming and that would happen to me, getting the freezer finally and then not being able to fill it because the baby is coming. Honestly, even if I have an empty freezer I still feel TOTALLY prepared for this baby... I mean, I guess mentally & emotionally I don't know what to expect because Ive never been a Mom before so there is no way for me to be TOTALLY prepared but as far as having everything ready for him (the room, diapers, clothes, etc) I am pretty much on top of it. My Dr. always laughs and comments about how laid back and relaxed I have been throughout this whole process and says that if this is any indication of what my baby is like hes going to be pretty content... I think I am just SO ready for this, we have been waiting for this to happen for us and trying to make it happen for so long and its finally HERE so I guess that takes my anxiousness away and just makes me more elated than anything that this is actually happening... I am just so grateful.

Making Rotini with Spicy Italian Sausage, peppers and onions for dinner... smells SO good, should go check on it so I gtg!

We are almost there Heather!!! Not long now!

oh ps- My Dad went to see his specialist today and he is happy with his recovery progress but not blown away... my Dad is still getting regular headaches so they are going to do another CT scan and his balance should be better than it is as well as a few other things so he was told to keep taking it easy (not an easy task for my Dad... Mom found him sitting in his work clothes the other day because he wanted to do some work outside... he REALLY wants to go back to work, they went to visit the guys at the shop he works at and his boss today and my Mom said he was like a kid in a candy store) So, the specialist wants him to take it easy and come back for another appointment April 20th so hes got some more recovery time ahead. I told him to enjoy it, I know I would!!! Hahaha I guess he and I are sort of in the same boat, I am just anticipating this baby to come out and hes not really anticipating anything. Please still keep his recovery in your prayers.

OUCH!

I don't know WHAT is going on but the ribs on my left side literally feel like they are broken. It hurts no matter what position I am sitting or laying in, weather I'm standing or walking, every time I reach for something with either arm, it even hurts to breathe. Jo-Ben said that it looks swollen on that side and I can feel it too... maybe its that I slept wrong or pulled something doing housework yesterday, I don't know but it feels pretty awful. I am thinking a nice warm bath tonight will do me some good.

I made about 2 dozen cabbage rolls two nights ago and froze them for quick future meals. I love love LOVE cabbage rolls, I guess its one of those comfort food things for me as my Mom made them allot growing up. Anyways, I pulled some out tonight and whipped up a quick sauce and threw it in the oven since I was in no shape to stand over a stove for any amount of time. I thought they were awesome and our friend, James, who's staying with us love em too... Jo-Ben, however, took a bite and then asked me if it would be rude for him to only eat the filling and put the cabbage to the side. He has a major aversion to vegetables so I want surprised AT ALL... I just laughed and told him I assumed that would happen. After while we had this conversation:

Jo-Ben: "so, cabbage is kinda like the poor mans lettuce isn't it?"
Amanda: "what? no, I don't think so."
a few minuets pass...
Jo-Ben: "I kind of think that poor kids in London must have eaten ALLOT of cabbage during like the times of the bubonic plague or something"

So, he obviously REALLY doest like cabbage...

Morning

I made the scones again today but adapted the recipe to my favorite Booster Juice drink called Strawberry Sunshine... its basically a Strawberry Orange smoothie. I kept the entire recipe the same but substituted the dried cranberries for fresh diced Strawberries. The Strawberries held up very well in the dough and although they are still to warm to eat they look and smell delish. The guys devoured the last batch in Id say 10 mins so I made a doubled batch this time :)

I couldn't sleep this morning (well actually all night, I read until about 12:30 in the morning and then was awake every hour or so with a sore back/hips or having to pee... ahhh pregnancy, lovely) So, I laied in bed for about a 1/2 hour until finally getting up around 6:15.

Saw Jo-Ben off as he drove to Red Deer this morning for a specialist appointment for his foot. He has had this weird thing happening to his foot over the past couple of years where it just randomly swells up, I'm talking like his foot looks like a balloon and like its going to explode. It happens about once a year and we have been told everything from its flesh eating disease, gout, blood clots, etc. Most recently over about the past year or so he has been developing problems with the same foot where his toes start tingling and sometimes he will run his foot under hot water to improve the circulation and his entire foot will turn bright red from the heat except for the tingly toes which always change from his big toe to his middle toe. Its been a very weird thing but our GP is pretty cirten that it is a circulation thing... SO today he is getting a scan and some tests and visiting a specialist (finally)

I am now swooning over the smell that the Strawberry Sunshine scones that are wafting throughout my house with my pup snoozing beside me on the couch as I blog... hes probably really confused and thrown off as he doesn't usually get let out of his kennel for a couple of hours :) I'm watching breakfast television Edmonton because one of my husbands best buddies from University is a host on the show and he is doing some ultimate fighting challenge today against an actual ultimate fighter, it looks quite funny. Last week I was up early one day and noticed that he was using this big white fancy ceramic mug where his co-host was sipping out of a regular breakfast television mug so I commented on his Facebook wall and kinda gave him a hard time not thinking that he would check it on the commercial break... so, he came back on TV and made a huge deal out of it and poured his coffee into a BT mug and cheersed me on air... it was pretty funny. No biggie, I'm just famous now that's all. hahaha. j/k They just did weather report and they said that its a BEAUTIFUL, clear, blue skied & sunny day and will be "warming up" to -10! WOW!!! hahaha I can't believe I live here. AHAHAHAHAHAH Jo-Ben's friend Ryan, who host BT Edmonton, is doing his segment with the ultimate fighter right now...they are having a 'stare down'... the real fighter is named Jason 'the real deal Ford' and so Ryan chose his ultimate fighting name as Ryan 'the full meal deal' Jesperson. This is going to be awesome- I love watching my friends get beat up on live television :) hahaha Hope he is careful though, he is getting married in 10 days (in Costa Rica btw- SO mad that I cant fly and Jo-Ben is so busy with work because that is going to be one awesome wedding) and I can imagine his fiance wouldn't exactly appreciate a black eyed Ryan waiting at the end of the isle.

So, I just checked the weather network and Three Hills is supposed to "warm up" to -8! Take THAT Edmonton!!! We have had some weird weather out here over the past could of days, lots of strong wind, probably up to 100km an hour (I'm not even kidding) two nights ago I was actually scared that our roof was going to blow off or something. Since the snow is so dry out here the winds were picking it up and literally blowing it sideways. I'm glad that it is finally still out today :) Would really like to see some nice BC spring weather heading out to our neck of the woods sometime soon!!! Please?

Well, should be off to finish up laundry and get some things done around the house before I crash because I have a feeling in a few hours this lack of sleep will catch up with me.

ps- omg, just found out that Micheal Jackson is making a 'come back' uuuggggghhhhhh. So, if you want to go see MJ in concert hes putting on 10 concerts in London in July! I WILL NOT be there. What a weirdo.

lots of words wednesday (hehehe)

Last night I made some cranberry orange scones and they turned out fabulously so I have to post the recipe on here. They were quick and easy to whip together and were to die for so Im encouraging all you bloggers out there to try it out. Here it is:

Cranberry Orange Cardamom scones with Zesty Orange glaze
The Recipe
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
4 oz cold butter cut in small pieces
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 egg
2/3 cup cold milk
2 tablespoons orange zest
Stir together the dry ingredients and cut the butter in until it roughly incorporated. There should still be some small pieces of butter visible. Stir in cranberries. Beat together the egg, milk and zest and fold into dry ingredients, being careful not to overwork the dough. Turn out onto a well floured surface. Dough will be quite sticky. Pat into a flattened square and cut into rounds or triangles. Bake on greased or parchment paper lined sheet at 370º for 20 to 25 minutes until tops are nicely browned. Cool and glaze if desired.

Glaze
1 cup confectionery sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
2-4 tablespoon orange juice
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
Mix all ingredients, beginning with 2 tablespoons of orange juice and adding a little more at a time until of spreadable consistency.

The dough was very sticky so I turned it onto a well floured surface and then put more flour on top of the mound and floured my 'cutter' every time I cut the triangles and it worked out well... I had to also move the triangles from the cutting board to the baking sheet with parchment with a long spatula that I had because the dough was so soft it would have never moved over if I would have tried to just pick it up with my hands. I was pretty skeptical as to how the scones would turn out because the dough was SO soft but they kept their shape and turned out wonderfully. They were VERY soft and moist. mine were a little more orange than the pictures on the website that I got the recipe from because I added more orange zest (I never measured it, I just added the zest of a whole orange to the dough and the zest and all the juice from another whole orange to the glaze. I also found that the measurements for the glaze makes about 2x as much glaze as needed so I would double the scone recipe and keep the glaze recipe the same next time. This recipe made 6 large scones for me... and they are all gone. :( Anyways, this is definitly my staple scone recipe from now on.

here is the link to the website where I found the recipe- lovely crisp, clean pics to go along with the instructions... I have no talent in that area so if you want the pics you can look at hers!
http://dlynz.blogspot.com/2009/01/orange-cranberry-scones.html

So, today I had a major sleep in, I even jumped out of bed for a few seconds so that I could open the door a crack and called Joey in to snuggle with me in bed... I have a feeling that those are two things that arent going to happen very often very shortly so I am taking advantage of it now. Its 1:18 and I am still in my pjs, hair all messed up and no make up on, THIS is something that mightbe more regular in a very short time :) At least on days like today when there are no call outs for work I will have my right hand man (Jo-Ben) to watch the babe long enough for me to have a shower! I had a lovely breakfast of warm scones, fresh strawberries and a vanilla latte and am now blogging on the couch in the living room while my love watches a football match (thats soccer to all of us on this side of the pond)

*FYI I am taking a short blogging break to watch him show me his moves from last nights indoor soccer game and listning to him explain to me which pro soccer player he is most like. What a guy.*

Anyways, I am planning on doing some banking, working on the books for our company, getting our taxes in order and making dinner later tonight... thats about it. I am thinking of making a Asian Chicken salad for dinner... I was inspired by a salad I saw on TV yesterday crossed with my favorite Asian Chicken salad from Earls... I actually woke up this morning envisioning it so its gotta be made. Ive orderd a freezer from Sears (our Christmas gift from Mom- thanks Mom!) So I am looking forward to cooking some things to store in there for the weeks after the baby arrives. I am going to buy some throw away aluminum pans to store everything in so that Jo-Ben can just pop dinner in the oven and then throw away the pan afterwards so that there are minimal dishes for him to do.

Here is my list of dishes that Im thinking of doing, I am thinking of making two of each:

-Layered Enchilada Bake (like a lasangae but made with tortillas insted of noodles, salsa insted of pasta sauce, tex mex cheese insted of mozzarealla... you get the idea. Then after you have baked it you top it wth regular taco toppings like fresh tomatoes and shredded lettuce) (recipe on kraftfoods.ca)
-Fireside Chilli ( I really like this chili recipe but I use mixed beans rather than just kidney beans and I always add two cans rather than one to make it chunkier and fill it with tons of protine) (kraftfods.ca)
-Simply Lasangae (Jo-Ben really likes this style of Lasange because it doesnt have any veggies in it, spinich etc, but I do puree some carrots and add them into the sauce as well as sundried tomatoes and tomato paste to make it richer tasteing) (kraftfoods.ca)
-Deep dish Chicken pot pie ( I made this recipe last week and love the sauce that the combonation of the chicken broth and cream cheese made- sooooo good) (kraftfoods.ca)
-Cheesey Chicken Enchiladas (not the most health concious of meals but so yummy, must practice portion control with this one... I have made it with Spinich tortillas or Whole Wheat to attempt to counter act all of the cream soup and cheese) (kraftfoods.ca)
-Medeterainian Tuna Noodle Casserole (I really like this recipe because I love tuna noodle casserole but the red peppers, scalions and artichoke hearts make it taste a little more interesting (recipe on Marthastewart.com)

I also have already frozen a few individual quantities from left overs that we have had like butternut squash soup and meat sauce... I like to keep the containers from Ricotta cheese when I buy it for lasangaes because its a perfect little container to freeze a single serving of soup.

I have a list of things for my next Cost-Co run too like frozen meatballs, frozen berries, bread, ravioli or tortelini, shirmp, frozen veggies and burgers, buns and pizza (staples for Jo-Ben to whip up for himself) on the list to stock in the freezer.

I might sound a little crazy here but we dont know very many people out here and our Moms arent comming out until a few weeks after the babys born so I am trying to be as prepared as I can!
Can anyone out there think of anything that I have forgotten or any recipes for casseroles or anything that keep really well in the freezer that I havent mentioned or that you may have made in the past?

Anyways, I should get going so I can make it to the bank before it closes... hope this post finds everyone well!!!

One year older...

So, it was my birthday yesterday.... the big 2-6! oooooo. hahahahaha its not a milestone birthday or anything and I really don't feel like I'm 26 (I still feel like Im 22ish) but it came and went none the less! It was weird being pregnant and having a birthday- makes ways to celebrate pretty limited. Jo-Ben made things special though- what a great husband I have. :)

On Saturday night we went to a Three Hills Thrashers game... they are the town hockey team I guess kinda like the Abbotsford Pilots or whatever... AA, AAA? I don't know. Anyways, it was a play off game so everybody was going nutty and it was super fun. We met up with a bunch of friends there and they came over to our house afterwards. We played games (Farkle- a Barkey house fave... its kinda like noocht for all you Mennos out there) Jo-Ben got me a cake so we had cake and Jo-Ben's special coffees too... he makes them all up like Starbucks drinks and is so proud of them, its super cute. At midnight everyone sang to me which is like one of my biggest pet peeves of all time- I really don't like when people sing happy birthday to me, I don't know why but I guess its just all of the attention on me and I don't know what to do while they are all singing... Jo-Ben thought it was hilarious. I was allowed to open my gifts at midnight since it was technically my birthday, Jo-Ben's mom sent me some really pretty earrings and Jo-Ben got me a reallllllly nice new camera... we were laughing so hard comparing our old one and my new one. Jo-Ben got our old one while we were dating over 4 years ago now and it was like 3 mega pix and had the smallest screen and probably cost about 4 times as much as the one he just bought me but we thought it was the coolest thing ever. My new one has 10 mega pix and a HUGE screen and the memory card can store over 2000 pics and 30 mins of video. I KNOW I will put it to good use when the little guy comes out!

*Disclaimer* this is a future warning of all of the baby pics that I WILL post on here probably on a daily basis, I realize that sometimes I might be the only one who thinks that they are cute or funny but they are going up anyways! hahahaha

On Sunday we had German pancakes with thinly sliced apples and Cinnamon & sugar for breakfast (thanks for the recipe Annalise! got it off of Menno girls can cook and they were sooooo good, got major husband approval! Went to church which I got all dressed up for in my one maternity dress... hahah funny side note- my sister called me to wish me a happy birthday and Jo-Ben brought me the phone to our on suite where I was getting ready and he saw me in the dress which I don't think I have worn since Christmas time and he was like "whoa! that dress makes you look HUGE!!!" hahahah just thought it was funny- my sister was like that is the one time in your life that he can get away with saying that hey? He did mean it in a good way- just sounded too weird coming out of his mouth. After church we went out for lunch with some friends, a couple that we are friends with (who happened to get married on the same day/ same year as us) got to celebrate with us too because her birthday is tomorrow! so we kinda had a joint birthday lunch. We ate at the 'nice' restaurant here in Three Hills... its actually quite bizarre, its a very, very nice restaurant... totally doesn't 'fit' in Three Hills, looks like it belongs in Banff or something and the food is really good too- comparable to Milestones or Earls. After lunch we all came back to our place and the boys watched Soccer while Becky and I chatted- got some really good labor and post pregnancy tips :) I just might be calling her at 2 in the morning someday soon! The guys went to play indoor soccer in the afternoon and I had a much needed nap- so crazy how the littlest things wear me out these days!!! its not like being in my first trimester constant coma like state but I am still more tired after doing regular things than I was a couple of months ago that's for sure. The guys came home after soccer and we decided to have a pizza party because what birthday is complete without one? (remember pizza parties for your birthday when you were younger?!) So we ordered pizza and ate a ton and watched a movie. It was a really nice end to a good day. It was a funny birthday because a) the number- 26 isn't realllllly anything special and b) I'm very preggers so we were pretty limited in what we could do but I think it was a really great day and very special- I'm especially glad that Jo-Ben didn't get called to work, it was nice to just hang out and have a pretty typical Sunday.