Thanks to all who have already passed words of congratulations our way via Facebook, Flickr and Twitter.

How Our Baby is Doing

Last week we had our final ultrasound with a sonographer downtown Toronto. This was our 8th ultrasound, 6th medical – we did a couple 3D ultrasounds a few weeks back (the second being to very the sex), but they were purely for our amusement. The reason we had so many, was due to the technician at our local hospital claiming there was reason to be concerned regarding the growth of our baby’s head. After the 3rd ultrasound with her, we received a call from her superior informing us that the technician wasn’t overly qualified to be making these calls and she wanted us to head downtown to see someone who actually knows what they’re doing. Long story short, the sonographer in Toronto assured us that everything is a-ok. In fact, he used the word “perfect” numerous times through-out the ultrasound. So after weeks of having this terrible feeling that something could be wrong with our baby kicking around in the back of our minds, we’ve been assured that we’re in the clear. Phew!

You might be wondering why we were going in for so many ultrasounds in the first place. Back at the beginning of this year, we had a miscarriage due to a chromosome abnormality. When this sort of thing happens, they tend to keep an eye on you the next time you’re pregnant and run extra tests and screens to try and detect any potential problems early on.

Making Preparations

We’ve only got about 3 months to go now, and with Christmas followed by “the broke season”, we thought we should get a jump on things instead of leaving it all to the last minute. Deanna had been doing some price checking from Canadian stores and comparing to some online retailers in the US. She quickly discovered that there was a lot of money to be saved if we could buy things in the States. Most US retailers don’t ship internationally, but luckily my Mom is in Michigan so we had things delivered to her place. We went for a visit a couple weeks back and were able to bring it all back with us. In total, we saved around $400 by doing this on the few big things we got. While it might appear that we’ve got everything we could possibly need, this isn’t the case at all. We still have a lengthy list (which is terrifying!) of necessities and other fun things we’d like.

My 2001 Grand AM has served us well, but it’s been costing me roughly $1000 a month for the past few in-a-row, so I figured it would be a good time to get rd of it. Not to mention, when the baby comes, all of the sites are taken. So when Deanna’s Mom comes to visit or Hannah has a friend over, we’re pretty much screwed. It didn’t take long for the Mazda5 to catch my eye. It has 3 rows of 2 seats, sliding doors and a rear door like a van, but it’s just a little bigger than a typical car and looks like an over-sized hatch-back. I picked up my first new car last Wednesday – a pearlescent white 2007 Mazda5 GT! Needless to say, I’m crazy excited about it and absolutely loving my new wheels. Not only is it not a minivan, but it’s received all sorts of praise when it comes to safety (the GT came with side-impact airbags), which is obviously important. It’s also pretty decent looking, considering it’s technically a stationwagon. Clearly, not the vehicle I would buy if I only had myself to worry about. But given that I’ll be driving around our family of four in no time, it seemed like the right choice.

We’re in the midst of re-arranging our living room now. The couches we’ve had for the past few years were simply not comfortable… at all. Ever had your asshole “fall asleep” on you? Cop a squat on one of those couches for a few minutes and you’re guaranteed it will happen. Worst! Needless to say, they were the first things to go. Our rot iron, glass-top table went at the same time and we replaced both over this past weekend. Man, is it ever nice having a couch that has some give to it. I’m still pushing to upgrade our cramped little entertainment unit, but not sure if that’ll happen before the baby arrives.

The first night was a little rough. He didn’t want to sleep much and was all about exploring. This is when we discovered he could scale up the side of the bed with ease.

Shiznit wasn’t too happy about the new addition to our family at first. I think he was just confused – didn’t know what to make of the tiny new kitty that had infiltrated his home. Surprisingly, he was more afraid of Gaius than anything else. I thought Shiznit might act a little aggressive toward him, but it was the complete opposite. It only took a few hours of reassuring Shiznit he was top kitty for him to come around and by Saturday afternoon, the two of them were cuddling on our bed.

Gaius seems like he’s going to be a character like Shiznit. After taking a kitty-dump, he wipes he ass on the carpet! No joke… he sits on his bum and pulls himself across the carpet with his front paws like a dog with an itchy anus. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen! I’m trying to catch him in the act and will hopefully have some digital proof sooner than later. In the mean time, I just uploaded a batch of photos to my Flickr account.

“But Mommy, I forgot cause I was playing video games allllll weekend!”

Amazing! A gamer in training! She played hours upon hours of Mario Party 5 and Mario Golf this weekend. She’s 6, and already well on her way!

On a different note, it’s been a hectic week for me. Mad sick last weekend and the snow this week has slowed me down considerably. For the most part, I was playing catch-up and ended up crazy stressed. Not cool. But I guess that’s what happens when you work a full time job and have a full time business – on the side. Not to mention, a family and a gaming addiction.

Click here for additional photos.

(Hannah’s in the centre with the denim skirt)