in the Beginning...

I was going through some photos on our computer today to post on the family website and came across this one. Now, Tyler and I actually knew each other for about 2 years prior to this picture being taken, but I thought for posterity sake I should post it so our children can see what a lifetime friendship we've had. Although at that age it was more based upon exchanging toys. But I do recall Tyler telling me a story once that we were playing in his basement jumping down the stairs onto an old mattress on the bottom. Being the young, innocent girl that I was, I didn't realize that it would be inappropriate to play this game with a boy while wearing a dress. He remembers seeing my underwear and that it was white with blue stars or flowers on it. Curse that ridiculous memory of his!
I think my parents waited too long to have the 'modesty' chat with me though, because I can also recall a time when Mike, Joe and Steven were all sunbathing in our backyard and took their shirts off, so I decided to join them...and lose my shirt as well. I remember mom running out the back door yelling and me spending the rest of the day inside. hmm. I'm sure the talk came shortly after that incident.
By the way, the picture is from my 7th birthday party and includes: Alison, Mike (dressed as Dracula), Cheryl Zemp? (as a leopard), Tyler (dressed as Oscar the Grouch), Me (dressed as a witch), Trevor (dressed as a clown - although all you can see is the back of his large head) and Tyler's sister Kari (the cat) and some other girl that I don't remember.

2nd Ultrasound

Well, the ultrasound yesterday went off without a hitch. We were able to get in and out fairly quickly, even though they told us it would take about an hour. It's fun to have an ultrasound at this stage: 1) you don't need to drink as much fluids so you're not as uncomfortable as you are at the 18 week ultrasound, and 2) seeing the positioning at this point is a lot of fun. I know where he's been kicking me a lot, so it's fun to see an actual foot, or knee or elbow exactly where you thought it would be. Max is getting a little squished these days and so it was difficult to make out everything on the ultrasound as clearly as the first one, but we did get a good profile view of his face and that little round head that looks so familiar. At one point we got a good front shot of his face and it looked like he was practicing his sucking reflex. It was neat to see. His feet are up at my belly-button and side, which is where I feel most of the action, so it wasn't a surprise.

We had this ultrasound to determine whether my placenta had moved or not. At my first ultrasound it was a bit low, which is always a threat for placenta previa, and a possible c-section. Although the ultrasound tech didn't tell us anything ('the results will be sent to your doctor'), from what I could see, it didn't look like it was going to be a problem. But I guess you never know. I go to the doctor on Tuesday to hear about the results, so hopefully all is well. He's also supposed to give me an information package with all of my stuff in case I go into early labour. It seems strange to be at that point already where we're starting to talk about labour. Am I that close to being a mother of two? Although with how uncomfortable I'm getting these days, I think I'd rather this baby be out than in.

Unlike last time, this tech didn't let us take any pictures home with us, so we have nothing to show for our time spent at the ultrasound, except for this belly shot I just took of myself. I realized that I don't have very many pregnancy pictures this time around, and that's not really fair. Don't want to be one of those families who has a whole album of the first child, and the remaining children are all able to fit into one album...hmmm, whose family does that sound like? We can verify that it is still a boy. No mis-givings there, so no need to be thinking of girlie names I guess.
(Heather at 32 weeks)
See you in a few weeks buddy!

Our Backwards Backyardigan

We spent the last 10 days staying at my parent's house while they were on vacation in Oregon. Yes, that's right, the 16-year old and 23-year old needed a babysitter. We got a pretty good dump of snow while we were there and Tyler, Dude, Lucy and I headed outside before dinner one evening to shovel. Lucy enjoyed helping using Grandma and Bumpa's Bob the Builder Shovel, but enjoyed even more going for a ride on dad's shovel and for a walk afterwards. She enjoyed being outside so much that when Tyler stopped by the house at one point to see about getting her some different gloves (as hers were soaked through from playing with snow) she protested because she wanted more. And even after being outside for an hour she was sad to come back in. Her fingers were icy cold, but she didn't seem to mind. The next afternoon Lucy and I headed out for another walk (avec Ben) and played in the backyard for a while where she discovered icicles. Again, she was reluctant to go inside.

That's definitely one thing we've noticed about living on the farm is we are unable to enjoy time outside as much. I know it sounds backwards and you'd think that by living on 53 acres we'd be able to enjoy MORE time outside, but it's just so windy up here that Lucy really doesn't enjoy it. Most of the time as we're heading out the door she'll say "windy" or ask for her mittens. She gasps for air when we're outside as she hasn't quite mastered breathing in the wind.
I guess we'll have to make more trips into the city where she can enjoy the 'fresh air'.

Welcome to the World of Will

Tyler and I have decided that even though we live in the boonies, we can still participate in modern technology. Here is our first entry on our blog. They will get better.