20 Weeks!! Half Way

How far along? 
20 Weeks

Baby is big as a: 
Small Cantaloupe

Bump? 
It's here you guys. I didn't think I would be self conscious at all of having a belly, since you have a pretty good excuse... but I am! It's really hard to dress this thing, I'm still at an awkward stage.

Total weight gain/loss?
Its a mystery

Maternity clothes? 
Glorious glorious maternity clothes... how I love you!! I feel comfortable and can still feel cute when I want to go out.

Sleep?
Some nights I sleep AMAZING, and other nights I toss and turn all night and wonder if I have gotten any sleep at all. I don't mind the nocturia, I can usually fall back asleep pretty easily. I have pretty wacky dreams some nights too.


Movement?
I have been feeling the little butterflies for a while now but just this week I have started maybe feeling some tiny kicks. It's so hard to tell what they are! Is that my stomach? digestion? gas? baby? But just this morning at work I could definitely feel little kicks inside!

Best moment this week? 
Feeling little kicks finally today!

Symptoms? 
I still get tired if I overdo it at home after working a full day. For the most part I am feeling really good though :) I have been starting lots of new projects! Smells can make me queasy so fast. Especially at work. There was one specific instance during work that I almost threw up in the middle of treating a patient because of a strong smell :S Closest I've come to throwing up during this pregnancy.

Food cravings?
Nothing really these days. I am super thirsty all day, I love me a nice cold water bottle. 

Food aversions?
Sometimes it is hard to find something that sounds appealing to eat. I can't eat the same thing more than once in a week. 

Gender?
Baby Boy! We have another ultrasound this Wednesday that my friend Kennedy is doing! I am really excited about it

Names?
Zero. Like Zippo names you guys. A MILLION girl names but zero boy names. We have a list going on right now but nothing that really screams out at us. Nick and I like totally different names too so this is going to be hard. Sometimes he will suggest a name and I think he is joking but he is being serious.

Belly button in or out?
In

What I miss?
Sleeping on my stomach

What I'm looking forward to? 
Feeling more kicks and Nick feeling the baby move for the first time

Strech Marks?
Plenty of time for those. 

Feeling?
More excited. Things are starting to get a little more real. My mom said to me the other day "It's really weird that you are pregnant. Doesn't feel like this is happening" She stole the words right out of my mouth. I'm going to be a mom??? Huh??

Working On?
I will admit I have 3 quilts nearly finished... with ideas for a 4th. My mom asked me how many quilts this baby needs, I told her he will have to share with the other kids because there's no way I will have time ever again to make quilts like I do now. And of course he will be getting one from Grandma Julie! I have a few baby blankets ready to sew as well, with a large pinterest board of projects I want to start haha. 20 weeks left to finish my projects!

Nursery?
We are moving upstairs April 1st so I will start the nursery then, I am SO excited for that! As a side note I am also excited for a dishwasher upstairs. I think I am going to do teal and navy colors. I am trying to go simple. I have a few things stashed away already. The main thing I want still is a big dresser I can redo that I can use as a change table. 

Shopping? 
Honestly I haven't done much. I bought a few onesies on sale at Superstore. I also bought the most adorable Hudson's Bay baby blanket which I am obsessed with. Grandma Julie however has done quite a bit of shopping since we found out baby is a boy!! Thank goodness for Grandmas!

Grateful For?
The new bras I bought last week. Long overdue, and glorious!! My back feels way better already!

The Baby Post

Okay you guys. Here it is. The baby post. I have been holding off talking about this whole ordeal, I don't know why. I am shy I guess haha!!!

How far along? 
16 Weeks

Baby is big as a:
Avocado

Bump?
Not really :( I just feel a little pudgy around the middle

Total weight gain/loss? 
Ya.. I don't let the nurse tell me. I like to be in the dark on that one :S 

Maternity clothes? 
Tons. I bought some at target, old navy, gap and www.motherhoodmaternitycanada.com (they have the cutest stuff!) I am slowly packing away all of my old clothes and filling up my maternity closet. I don't want to stretch out or wreck any of my prebaby clothes. I wanted to still feel pretty and confident, its hard for me to wear my old clothes when they don't fit the same. I figure after the baby I can pack away these maternity clothes to save for my next pregnancy. 

Sleep?
I already wake up at least 2 if not 3 times a night to go pee. Normally I can zombie my way back to bed without waking up too much, but some nights I have trouble getting back to sleep or getting comfortable.


Movement?
My placenta is very inferior which has allowed me to feel tiny movements already. Only if I am lying down and paying attention :)

Best moment this week? 
When I came home from work and Nick had cleaned the house

Symptoms? 
Most of my symptoms have gone away now that I'm in my 2nd trimester. I am still pretty tired but not near as bad at my 1st trimester!

Food cravings? 
Potato Chips, Sour Soothers, Water, Ground Beef, Flaming Hot Cheetos.... Oh ya and tons of salad and veggies and fruits and all that healthy stuff too ;)

Food aversions? 
Normally I am a HUGE sweet tooth but I am not in the mood for sweets these days. I also usually love leftovers and don't mind eating the same thing over and over. Now, however, I don't like eating the same thing twice. Such a bummer for making dinners and lunches!

Gender? 
Its a boy! Nick has been so much more interested in my pregnancy and excited since we found out the gender. I was dead set on doing a surprise, but I caved... and I don't regret it!

Belly button in or out? 
In

What I miss?
Having energy to sew and do all of my crafts. Straightening my hair, I am so lazy.

What I'm looking forward to? 
Nick being able to feel the baby and getting a real baby bump!

Johnson Christmas Highlight Video

Chicago

Nick went to Chicago this week with my dad and brother, Brody. Lots of the kids in our family have taken an aptitude test in the states by the Johnson O' Connor Research Foundation. They test anything and everything that your mind and body are naturally good at. They give you direction as to what types of careers would be suited for you based on your already present natural abilities and talents. Most of you have probably already taken some kind of aptitude test before, whether in school or online. This aptitude testing is quite extensive, it requires a whole day spent doing all kinds of tests. From finger and tweezer dexterity, visual perception, divergent thinking, 2D and 3D spatial visualization, memory for designs, tones, numbers, color vision, the list goes on...Once your testing is complete they spend time going over your results in conjunction with your interests. The aptitude test was the real reason for the trip, but if you've ever been on a trip with my dad it usual involves some kind of sporting event as well. This was Nick's first NFL game and he said it was a blast! 

1 year of marriage A-Z

August 23, 2013

A - Apples - Nick's go-to snack when he can't find food
B - Brownies - sunday night weakness
C - Cruise - our honeymoon to the Bahamas - our first cruise! we loved it!
D - Deals - Safeway monday night FHE meal. My fav
E - Endless - the amount of youtube videos Nick can watch on the newest cell phones coming out, or WWII planes
F - Flooding - the reason our basement was a hot mess for 2 weeks
G - Garage sale finds for our new house
H - Hair cut - I chopped my hair off
I - Ice Cream - what Nick shouldn't eat, but somehow convinces me to get most Mondays for FHE
J - Just one more year at the Lethbridge College!
K - Ky - what Nick calls me when he's being especially tender :)
L - Lactose Intolerance - we found out why Nick kept getting sick.. boo.
M - Money - we learned how to budget and work together with finances
N - Netlifx nights watching Breaking Bad
O - One year - the timeline we initially thought we'd try to have our first baby. Ya, that's changed.
P - Photo radar - we Nick has gotten too many of these!
Q - Quiet - the introvert book that helped me learn a TON about myself
R - Root canal - poor Nick
S - Snoring - why I wear earplugs every night
T - Tacos - Nicks favorite. And a meal I never made before getting married
U - Universal Studios - first theme park together
V - Vegetables - I try to get Nick to eat them in sneaky ways
W - WiiU - because I wouldn't let Nick buy an Xbox One
X - eXplosion of babies!!... why we no longer have any couple friends...
Y - Yellow and Navy - the color of our wedding, and now our guest bedroom haha
Z - Zits - Nick refuses to let me pop his!

Dining Room Table Makeover

This is one of those projects that should only take 3 days, but ends up taking 3 weeks. I had to completely re-do and start from scratch THREE times. I came close to tears a few times. But just grit my teeth and told myself "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." (Thomas Edison). If anything I learned a LOT about refinishing wood and I know how to use so many products now.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

The pictures really don't do it justice. We have such terrible lighting in our basement suite. The chairs are actually and heirloom white color (look way more starch white in the pictures) 

Here are a few pieces of advice I had to learn the hard way....

1. Don't just read the instructions on the product. I had to completely strip my table after round #1 because I didn't apply the product correctly. I found some awesome youtube videos that SHOW you how to use products. Minwax has some awesome tutorials that explain how their water-based and oil-based products are different and which are appropriate for your product.

stripping and sanding the table AGAIN

2. TEST YOUR PRODUCT. I saw this one all over the web, on blogs, on tutorials, on youtube videos... And I thought BLAH BLAH BLAH. I picked out an extremely dark stain for my table but it didn't stain nearly as dark as I wanted. So instead of testing on a little piece of wood or part of the table I stained the entire table and leaf before I realized it wasn't going to be dark enough.... On to round #3....

not dark enough!! Ugh!

stripped and sanded again.... my poor neighborhood had to suffer through SO much sanding.

testing the stain this time.. I had to basically use a black stain to get the dark brown color I wanted

testing on the leaf first

3. WITH THE GRAIN PEOPLE. I finally got a beautiful dark rich color stain. It was perfect. I was laughing!! Only took 3 tries! Wrong. I applied the Minwax Wipe-on poly. A lot of tutorials mentioned the "hand rubbed" look. So I rubbed it in nice and good, let it dry. Well... I didn't wipe with the grain at the end. I left the poly to dry in the swirled pattern. After about 8 very thin coats some areas of the table were milky and the finish was uneven now. This was the closest I came to crying. Seriously?! I had to screw up the LAST step? UGH!!!!!!! So I sanded off some of the finish and wiped on a Minwax polyshade which is a 2 in 1 stain/polyurethane. Bada boom bada bing.

Good to know...

Pre-stain Wood Conditioner - It helps the stain absorb more evenly on softer woods. Use an extra coat or 2 of pre-stain wood conditioner on the edges of your table. The edges naturally will stain darker than the top of your table. I didn't end up doing this but I wish I would have! BEWARE, if you use a wood conditioner the color will end up lighter. I didn't end up using a wood conditioner on round #3 of my oak table, its not as soft as other woods and I wanted a dark color.

Stain - never shake your can of stain to mix it up. Use a paint stick and stir it so the particles that settle on the bottom of the can get mixed back into the stain. If your staining is taking a long time make sure to stir your stain every 5-10 minutes

Water-based vs Oil-based (http://www.homedepot.com/c/Stains)

Stain Base	Major Advantages
Oil-based(alkyd)	Better penetration Excellent durability Longer drying time allows more time to achieve an even finish Special deck stains deliver maximum durability for harsh conditions
Water-based(latex; acrylic)	Better color retention Less odor Breathable Nonflammable Soap and water cleanup Quicker drying

Polyurethane - apparently there are different sheens.Gloss, Semi-gloss, Satin. If you want your table super shiney do a gloss finish. If you want more of a matte look use a satin. If you want something in between use the semi-gloss. Make sure you buy the right one!

Wipe-on poly - It isn't streaky like some lacquer or polyurethane. 2-3 thin coats = 1 coat of polyurethane. Just remember to wipe WITH the grain. It was awesome to use on the dining room chairs, its so thin that you can get in all those little nooks and crannies. I also liked the wipe-on poly because it didn't make my table look like it had a plastic finish on top, it still had the beautiful wood look. 

Kindness

A couple of weeks ago I was having a particularly bad day. The kind of bad day where you drive around, tears in your eyes, trying to get away. No place to go. I ended up at Costco. So I walked around trying to distract myself. Voila. The book section. And what is this?! A Roald Dahl book set. I will add this to my children's book collection!! Sidetracked... so I pick up the book set and a couple other books I've been wanting to read and head to the check out. I'm waiting behind this man with a large cart full (I mean who doesn't have a huge cart full at Costco right?). He takes one look at my 3 items and says "Is that all you have? You can go in front of me." Uh oh. I feel tears coming on. "Umm that's okay I don't mind waiting you go ahead." He insists. "No really, please, go ahead". So I slipped in front of him after thanking him again and again and the lady checked me out. Such a small kindness and yet it made a huge difference in my bad day. You never know who needs it most.