Maternity Pics

A good friend of mine from College who is starting a photography business recently had a contest on her facebook page for a free photo session. I entered, thinking I would never win - but I did!! She came down a few weeks ago to take pictures of the kids and do a maternity photo shoot with me. Unfortunately Scott couldn't make it because of work, but Shanilie did a great job and I think the pictures are a wonderful keepsake. I've never done a maternity shoot with either of my other pregnancies, so this was fun! I feel a bit weird about posting so many pictures of myself (really, I'm not vein!!) but I also wanted to show off Shan's work! If you like the pictures, make sure you become a fan on her Facebook page!

10 Things About Kalia

1) She loves to color and do art projects. Her latest 'obsession' is to go onto Playhouse Disney's website and find 'print and color' pictures from her favorite shows. Sometimes I think she could spend the whole day coloring! She's getting pretty good at it too, getting more detailed and careful to stay within the lines. Nothing makes her happier than when her artwork is displayed in the house somewhere or on the fridge.

2) This girl is a true princess at heart. She loves dressing up in her fancy princess costumes and doing girlie things like having tea parties, dancing, painting her tonails and wearing jewelry. She would be in a dress every day if she could. Often she will assign princess names for herself and anyone who will play along. Oliver gets to play the prince of course!

3) Kalia never seems to run out of energy. It's like she could just go and go forever! Even when she runs, I can't believe how she never seems to tire. And now that she's not having naps anymore I thought that she'd always be wiped by bedtime, but it seems like as long as there is action going on around her she can keep going. One of the things she loves to do with the neigbour kids is climb the huge pile of dirt in our backyard and slide down. I get tired just watching her! Her name means 'Bright and Clear', which I have always liked, and when I think about it, those words really symbolize energy.

4) Kalia is also very creative and has a vivid imagination. It is amazing to me all of the different ideas she can come up with for playing and pretending. She's been playing with imaginary friends since she started talking, and loves coming up with scenerios and make-believe ideas for both herself and the people around her. It is so fun to be pulled into her little world of pretend. She also loves reinacting things that she knows have happened in real life either to her or people she knows. The one time my parents went to a Moose game, she spent the next few weeks playing "Moose Game" though she had never been to one herself! Funny girl. She can also play one thing for a long time without getting bored or distracted, never the type to flit from toy to toy.
5) The words 'Social Butterfly' describe her very well. She would be happy if every day was a playdate! She is always talking about the next thing that she can do with her friends or who we should invite over. Just this morning she was asking if she could invite a few of them to a tea party this week.

6) Kalia loves to learn. Letters, numbers, how things work - she soaks information up like a sponge. And her memory is quite remarkable. She learned how to write the alphabet in only a few days and taught herself how to write numbers. Sometimes she is even figuring out simple math equations. She loves it when I take the time to teach her something new and is SO looking foreward to preschool in the fall. I really think she'll thrive on having a schedule for learning week by week. At preschool screening this last year, she paid very close attention to what the experts said about her and where she was at with skills. When we got home that day, she was determined, and practiced the 2 things that she had a little bit of trouble with until she got them perfectly. When we took her to the Imax, she remembered as many facts as she could and still spouts them off whenever she gets a chance!

7) When she sets her mind to something, it is hard to deter her course! This can be a good thing and a bad thing, lol. She is a girl who knows what she wants and goes for it. She is very focused, and also a perfectionist. She expects nothing less than perfection from herself and though she can get frustrated if something doesn't work out the first time, she does not give up until it does (or until Scott or I step in!) She likes to observe the way things are done and then wants to do them the right way. She will not forget about something easily either - if something is promised to her she will make sure it is carried through. But she is also very sure to keep a promise because of this determination, which i think is a wonderful thing.

8) One very unique thing about Kalia that people always comment on is the way she talks. She has a low, raspy voice for a little girl! It's especially cute because she talks like a little grownup half of the time, using words like 'perhaps' or 'preferably' - and always in the right context. True to her perfectionism, she has always been very sure to pronounce words the right way, use them in the right way, and have the right inflections in her voice. For this reason we've always loved the few words that she mispronounces because it keeps her little to us! One thing that she almost never says correctly is McDonalds - she used to say BaDonalds and now she says BicDonalds, and we have no idea why. Or she just recently started saying Flip Flops. Before, she always called them Clip Clops. Silly girl.

9) Massages are a favorite of hers. She loves to have her skin gently rubbed or massaged. This has been something that she has had a fascination with since she was just itty bitty. Sometimes it's a bit funny in public because she'll pull her shirt up to have her back or tummy rubbed, but it's so cute and I love that she wants that touch since she's often too busy to cuddle.

10) Kalia is very helpful. She is so happy if I give her a little list of chores to do around the house and volunteers to help me in any way she can. Sweeping, washing the floor, dusting, tidying up, or helping in the kitchen she loves it all. Oh and I can't forget the messiest job - washing the dishes!! She was also very helpful with Oliver when he was a baby, and now sometimes she tries to 'mother' him too much for his liking. I think she'll be great with the baby and I can totally see her running to get this and that and stepping in wherever I need her.

10 Things About Oliver

1) He is an adventurer. Not only will he try almost anything once - he usually loves it and wants to do it again! Jumping from furniture, holding sparklers, and adventures in the water he can't get enough. We were swimming at my aunt's house this summer and he decided to go jump off of the diving board (leaving his tube along the way, I might add!). So he just walked up and jumped off, Scott catching him just in time. They both went under and I thought Oliver would come up sputtering and unhappy but instead he was grinning from ear to ear and said "Do it again!!"

2) Oliver loves hugs, kisses, and snuggles. He will just come up to the people he loves and smother them with love, and then go back to playing again. Even to Kalia he'll say 'Snuggle you" and then cuddle up with her. His biggest squeezes are just so much fun. I can never get enough! I think it's really neat because his name means 'Kind and Affectionate', and those words really describe him!

3) Oliver does not like bugs. He'll always say 'ewww' and if they come toward him he backs away fast! Ironically, his favorite thing in the house is the fly swatter, and he shows no fear when on the attack. He's actually swatted a few flies and mosquitos in the house. He always says "Shoo fly. Shoo!" One time when he was upset he kind of swatted at me and when I told him don't swat at mommy he snapped out of it and innocently asked "Like a fly?"

4) He loves the outdoors. Nearly every morning he wakes up and says "Momma, walk around crescent?" It is just the cutest thing when he looks out the window or steps outside for the first time in a day and says "NICE DAY!!!" He loves to run, swim, or even just go for walks in the stroller as long as he can be out and about.

5) Eating is not his main priority. He is much too busy to think about sitting down for a meal, or has too much to talk about to focus on eating. Sometimes we almost wonder if he's getting enough food, but his chubby little tummy reassures us :)

6) Oliver is very observant of the world around him. He is always bursting to tell us about everything that he sees. Especially when it's anything motorized! Diggers, Semis, Airplanes, and Trains are his favorite things to spot. He's like a constant little narrator, especially during a ride in the van.

7)It is so cute how he emphasizes his words and gets so excited about everything. One of his cute little talking quirks are that, when asked a question he usually answers starting with "Umm". Like even if we ask him his name he says "Umm, Oliver". It is just too sweet. Another thing that I love is the little spaces he puts between words. For example he'll say "Get it . . . for you?" with a very deliberate pause between the words. I really have to get that soft little voice of his on video. He is also such a good little greeter. He is always the first to say hello or goodbye to anyone and everyone he sees - what good manners!

8) He is obsessed with the moon. He is constantly on the lookout for it, even during the day and is SO excited when he finds it. Any book that has a picture of the moon is just his favorite, and when we draw or color together he asks over and over again for us to draw him a BIG moon.

9) Who says you have to be the big brother to be the protector? Not only is he the younger of the two, but he is also VERY little for his age! Neither of those things stop Oliver from trying to take care of his sister, though. He is always very concerned for her when she is upset or crying and asks "Why Kalia crying?" He'll also tell her to watch out or be careful if he thinks she might get hurt. At the lake last week, she was floating around on a body board and went out a little deeper than she'd planned (she could still have easily touched there). She called out for help from one of the adults, but Oliver got this very determined look on his face and urgently waded into the water. He went in right to his little shoulders, grabbed the wrist strap, and pulled her in to shore. I was so proud of him, and he was also very proud of himself!

10) Oliver has a very sensitive side. He is very concerned with the emotions of those around him, but also gets hurt feelings easily. One would find him getting sad over something much sooner than seeing him get angry. His little expression when he is talked to sternly or when someone takes something from him is so sweet that it is hard to resist! Sometimes he will just bury his face in the nearest pillow, bed, chair, or lap just to collect his emotions until he is ready to burst with his happy little self again. Although he is hurt easily, he also snaps out if it easily - he can never stay unhappy for long!

Pregnancy Update

Where to start? I know I haven't blogged much at all about this pregnancy! I'd like to give a little pregnancy overview for those of you who are interested, and for my own journaling purposes as well. Right now I have completed 36 weeks of pregnancy, putting me in my 37th week - I'm in the home stretch!! I'm not sure whether to be excited about that or terrified to tell you the truth. I am SO looking foreward to having a newborn in the house again (LOVE newborns!!) but pretty afraid of the labour that I know is inevitable in getting there, lol. The other day, the thought of the looming labour hit me and my thoughts were "what did I get myself into?!?!" Another thing that is looming over me are the baby names. We've hardly spent any time talking about names or looking for them. I have a fear of being one of those families that has the baby and the baby doesn't have a name for days. I mean, come on, haven't these people known that they were pregnant for the last 9 months? I am starting to understand how that happens, though!

So after the horrible pregnancy that I had with Oliver, I had to admit that I was very hesitant to go through another pregnancy. Scott was ready long before I was to have another. I kept telling him if we could go straight to the baby stage no problem, it was just the pregnancy that I didn't know if I wanted to go through again. But eventually my fears subsided, and we decided to take the plunge. Scott and I both wanted to plan for the baby to be born at a different time of year than our other 2 (with birthdays 2 weeks apart it gets a little crazy!) but never really thought about what that meant during the busy time we were in until it was too late. I guess you could say God threw us a curveball - which usually happens when we 'plan' things so well, doesn't it?

My pregnancy started out amazingly well compared to the previous 2. With both Kalia and Oliver I had a lot of morning sickness. It was an amazing blessing to me not to go through that this time. It seemed that by eating smart I could almost totally avoid the nausea (and the throwing up!!) that had been such a problem the last 2 times. I was VERY tired though. We ended up moving in with my parents during this time after selling our house in Morris, which ended up being an another great thing. Mom was so helpful with the kids and making sure they didn't get neglected during all of the rest times that I needed. Thankfully Kalia was still napping or at least having a good quiet time almost every day. Perhaps moving, contracting a house, and taking care of 2 little ones could have added to the fatigue . . .

It was fun telling the kids about the coming baby. Kalia was excited - she had been asking for a baby of 'her own' for a long time already! She is determined for the baby to be a girl, though. The one time I was tucking her into bed and asked her what if the baby would be a boy. She looked just shocked, bowed her head and clasped her hands and prayed "Dear God, please would you give me a baby girl?" Then she looked at me with a pleased expression and said "He told me He would!" Oliver was happy to be called Big Brother, though I don't know how much he grasped the idea at first. Throughout most of the pregnancy, he has been convinced that my bellybutton is the baby. A couple of weeks ago we saw a friend of mine from college and her newborn and then it seemed to click with Oliver after that. Now he even points to my tummy and tells people I have a baby in there, and we've been reading this story about babies in mommies tummies. I'm very curious to see how he'll react to the baby because he is a little posessive of his space and his mommy and daddy cuddle time. Kalia was the first person we told, and she's been giving my belly snuggles and talking to the baby ever since. She instantly came up with the nickname "Baby Skittles" and is never afraid to suggest names for the baby. One that she seriously wanted us to consider was Purple Pansy. Hmm . . .

My pregnancy made it so that a lot of things that we had planned for me to do with the new house being built didn't really pan out. I had been so excited about painting, for example, but ended up hiring that out. The few things that I did help with took really long because I only came to the house when I could muster up the energy to put in a good few hours of work.

I also started showing very early and it seemed as though my baby bump got big fast! People were always suprised that I was only as far along as I was. As soon as baby started taking up more space inside of me, I could feel my lungs and chest getting tight. I guess there is still some damage there from my last pregnancy. So, especially in the heat I have been short of breath and lightheaded often. It's managable as long as I get enough rest and drink lots of water which is good for me anyways! Being pregnant in the heat of summer has been quite something - especially when we didn't have air conditioning! We've had a very humid summer and that sticky air did get quite unbearable at times. The week BEFORE we got our AC installed, it was around 39 degrees with like a million percent humidity, lol. We stayed away from home or in the cool basement as much as possilbe. Other than the heat and some trouble with my sciatic nerve, the middle months of my pregnancy went very well. We were fortunate enough to get a fair amount of cottage time in, so the lake was close by to cool off :)

Now as I'm nearing the end I feel just HUGE!!! Already over a month ago I asked Scott "How is it possible that I will get any bigger?!" He had no reply, haha. I keep getting people who gasp when I say that I'm not due until September, or say 'oh you poor thing' or tell me how huge my baby is going to be. Yeah. Thanks. Even Oliver when he comes to sit on my lap now says 'Squishy! Beep beep baby!" Kalia is still quite set on getting a little sister, and to tell the truth I really wish we knew what we were having so that we could work with that now already. Now is the time for baby clothes to be sorted and lots of laundry.

One really weird quirk about this pregnancy has been my addiction to strong smells! Whereas with my other two I sooner had an aversion to strong smells, this time I find myself really liking some smells that aren't really even likeable smells! Things like children's afterbite - LOVE IT!! Some other smells that I wish I could just sniff right up (but won't . . . becuase they're probably bad for me, lol) are my hairspray, the floor cleaner I use, coffee grounds (which I usually do not like the smell of), the smell of alcohol (don't worry I'm not drinking any), and the strong smell of the natural shampoo I use. Oh yeah - and the smell of gas when we fill up the van. Poor baby! I'm sure there are more, but I just can't think of them right now. But you can definitely get the gist of the abnormalcy of this!

I have never been the kind of person who just loves being pregnant, but this pregnancy and how it has gone is really a tremendous blessing. One thing that I feel I could never get enough of is feeling the baby move, kick, and stretch inside of me. I always love that connection that I get to make with the baby before he or she is born. I am very thankful to God for this healthy pregnancy and the little one growing inside of me that I can't wait to meet!!

B Jewelled Giveaway

Just a quick shoutout to all of my blogging friends for the awesome Giveaway that I am having over at my B Jewelled blog. To launch my new Personalized Collection, I am giving away a FREE personalized necklace as well as a $20 gift certificate to my Etsy shop! There are five different ways to enter, so check it out and get your name in for a chance to win!