That doesn't make any sense! Or does it...?

Between the fact that I look like I've eaten all the pies, and I'm sick to death of endless laundry, I thought I might use some of Fiona's afternoon nap (and Ben's hard earned money) for internet shopping and buy some new shirts.

I'm cheap, so I don't usually shop in Gap, but I thought I should check out their online sale items because sometimes you can get a really good deal. I thought that maybe if I was wearing maternity clothes already, I'd look more pregnant and less cream-filled.

After searching though many lovely options, I came to the 'shoes' section. "Huh" I thought to myself "I wonder what makes those different from normal shoes?" and assumed they were more supportive, extra comfortable, maybe had a built in foot massager... something along those lines. You can imagine my surprise on scrolling down to find... these!

Huh......wha...?

Well, I guess strippers get pregnant too, but really, I cannot imagine tottering around on these pregnant or not! Bizarre...

But then it all became clear... in the 'about this product' section I found this...

Now it makes sense!! We've all seen the movies and sitcoms... when you go into labour, your water always breaks all over your shoes. It's bound to happen. Knowing this, the most important thing a pregnant lady can have is wipe clean shoes! Thank you Gap for making such a useful, thoughtful product. I'm ordering a pair in each colour.

12 Weeks

Today Ben, Fiona and I made the exciting trip to downtown Minneapolis to visit my baby doctor. Doctor visits are still exciting at this point because they're infrequent, and the only way to have real proof that yes, there's really a baby in there, I'm not just faking.

Today number 2 is 12 weeks and 1 day old. After some searching the doctor was able to find its heart beating with the doppler, but only for a couple of seconds before it squirmed away again. So it's still in there, and it's not very cooperative!

Here's a somewhat gruesome picture of what everything is looking like inside. Proof that the lovely round tummy I'm sporting is indirectly caused by baby, because even though baby is not that big yet, there used to be a bunch of stuff there, which had to go somewhere!

Later in the day I continued my effort to eat a healthy, balanced diet to adequately nourish the miracle within... we walked to the ice cream shop for dinner, which I followed up with a grilled cheese sandwich and potato chips for dessert. I boosted the health properties of the sandwich by using two kraft cheese slices. They're calci-yummy. I'm now getting ready to head to bed with my heartburn.

As for excitement to look forward to... we scheduled our big 'does the baby have all its limbs, and maybe even a tiny willy?' ultrasound... it will be September 24th. Don't touch that dial ;-)

Big, Big News

Posts about our adventures have been few and far between recently. We're still having them, but I've been way too tired to make regular blog updates. I'm sorry. But why so tired?

Well, Fiona's going to be a big sister, and all my energy is being used to grow a baby.

Yep, pretty exciting! Luckily I'm almost at the end of the first trimester, so hopefully in the next couple of weeks I should start getting some energy back and we can once again share our super exciting adventures with you.

We had an ultrasound a few weeks ago. Baby is 8 weeks and a few days in this picture. We were able to see its little heart beating like crazy, and it was kicking and squirming around. I've labelled it so you can see which way up the blob goes...

I think if you kind of squint a little you can see a smiling face... By now (11 weeks) it looks like a teeny alien baby and is about 2 inches long (though my big tummy would indicate otherwise).

Here are some frequently asked questions...

The baby is due on February 7th, though it is likely I'll have to have another c-section, so it'll probably be around a week before that. and definitely not on my birthday!

Yes, it's definitely only one baby.

We find out whether it is a boy or girl in about 9 weeks, at the 20 week ultrasound.

I'm feeling ok... I have been feeling terrible, but between magic drugs, the first trimester ending, and a wonderful husband who is willing to get up at 6am with Fiona, I'm feeling a lot better now. Thanks for asking ;-)

We're super excited, and we'll keep you updated along the way!

Ben's new hobby

Remember Ben's new love? Well, he's already replaced her with a newer, younger model. Her clutch was pretty obviously dying, and she needed a LOT of fuel to get from A to B, so he traded her for a new Honda Civic Si. As usual, his taste is impeccable - she is a beauty...

However, he decided that the constant quest to find an even better car, and the endless car replacement (and implied expense) needed to be toned down.

Thus, I hereby proudly present... BEN'S CAR BLOG! Go, look, it's awesome.

Hopefully this will be a way for him to channel some of his love of cars into something less expensive. He even signed a real live contract stating that he won't buy another car for 5 years. I just need to get a frame for it to hang it on the wall.

Of course I have the utmost faith in his abilities to control his car purchase urges. But just in case, if he caves, let's just say I won't have to wash the dishes for a long time.

Visit Part 2

David and Ali left on Thursday evening, and we had lots of fun in the second part of their visit too.

Ben took Tuesday off work, and we went to Chinese buffet for lunch. David and Ali like Chinese food a lot, and Fiona had a fun time screeching, eating cake, and crumbling fortune cookies onto the floor.

After that we headed over to the Summit Brewery to go on their tour. We leaned a lot about the history of Summit, and how beer is made, and then Davis and Ali toured the inner workings of the brewery. Fiona refused to wear the protective eyewear provided, so Ben and I kept her company while everyone else toured.

After the tour Summit gave everyone the gift of three free beer tokens! Despite our best efforts, we still had a pile left over when we were ready to leave. We considered trying to take them to bars and claiming our free beers later...

On Tuesday evening we partied at Bill and Ginger's house with cousins and second cousins. It was a lot of fun. Ben's cousin Josh and his family were passing though, and their son Max was born only one day before Fiona. It's fun to see them together, though he's toddling around and Fiona's still crawling. We gave her a pep-talk, but she still prefers to be carried.

She did learn a fancy new trick though... Fiona can now climb up onto the couch, and climb off again. We used to hide the TV remote on top of the back cushions, but now we'll have to find a new place...

Not only that, but she's also started saying 'hi'. She likes to pretend to answer the phone and say hi. She also holds other random stuff up to her ear and says hi... like a duplo block, or a ball, or a sticky yogurt container...

Here's a video showcasing both new talents!

On Wednesday we went to the mall, and then in the evening Ali, David and I went to see Cirque du Soleil's travelling Kooza show. Despite being terrified at some points that the performers were about to at least break some limbs if not fall to their death, it was really incredible and we had a great time! The most impressive part of the show was the 'wheel of death'

The guys inside walk and run round the wheels to stay upright (think hamsters) while the contraption spins round. Then the less mentally stable performer swings round to the outside of the ring, and performs various insanities such as jumping rope, running as fast as he can so he doesn't fall off, and generally leaping around like a loony...

It was very impressive, but completely terrifying!!

Then on Thursday we had a picnic at Minnehaha falls. There is almost no water in the river, so the falls are completely dry, and kind of sad looking!

The disappointment was softened later when a wild Turkey ran out in front of us. Very exciting!!

After that we headed home for packing and napping, then after a traditional American dinner of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (in a box). Despite this dish being a staple for children all across the country, Fiona flatly refused to so much as taste it... maybe it was the glowing orange tones that put her off...

Later, we packed David and Ali off to the airport and waved goodbye. We were all sad to see them go, but we had a super fun time with them!! Thanks for visiting! Who'd like to visit next?

Catching Up

We've had a fun week! Ali and David are visiting and we've been out and about, and have done a large amount of eating and hanging around. Here are the highlights...

Science Museum!!

This place is a lot of fun. We found a fish tank for Fiona to be excited about...

We checked out the human body section, where we discovered that Ali does have a heart, and she used her doctor knowledge to try to outsmart the 'diagnose the disease' game.

After a brief ice cream break we visited the dinosaurs, but mostly Fiona wanted to crawl inside a large tube which represented the stomach of a brontosaurus.

Then we made some tornadoes, and looked at some lights. After all that excitement it was time to be going home.

That evening we had thai food for dinner. It was very delicious, and David introduced a new game involving fortune cookies. When you read your fortune, you add 'in bed' to the end of your fortune to get an even more accurate representation of your personality. Here's what we had...

We had a fun game night with Cathy, Erik and Carol. We played guesstures... you have to act out words while your team guesses. Can you tell what Ben's doing?

Another day we had some fun hiding in baskets...

On Friday we went to a birthday party for Andrew and Leo, and then on Saturday we had dinner with Tanya and Boyd, and then went downtown to watch the fireworks and celebrate 4th of July.

Fiona mostly just wanted to climb on her stroller...

But she did enjoy the fireworks too after she got over the surprise.

And despite not going to bed until midnight, she still woke up at 6.10 this morning. Awesome.

Today the weather is beautiful, and after we doused ourselves in sunblock, we went for a walk around lake Calhoun. Very serious business.

And now we're just waiting for Fiona to wake up from her nap so we can take Ali and David to Outback (where we take all our visitors).

So it's been a very fun week so far! They'll be here until Thursday, so there will be more adventures to come...