Busy Weekend

The weekend has come and gone already, soon it will be February! I am feeling that we are very busy of late, and it doesn't look like settling down just yet.

Friday night we participated in a Burn Notice Premiere party - thanks Ziggy! Burn Notice is a TV show that we love, and are excited to have caught up to mid-Season 3 just as it is being aired on the telly.

On Saturday, Daniel spent most of the day with his friend Ixmu (the girl I care for during the week) while Nathan and I went to a Prenatal Refresher course. We all enjoyed ourselves, and even learned some new things. And it was nice that Daniel was still happy when we picked him up at the end of the day :-)

And yesterday we went snowshoeing with Frank and Amber to Mount Seymour in North Vancouver. There's not very much snow up there! Quite a bit less than when we went on NYE. I wondered if I was crazy for going snowshoeing when 7 months pregnant? Needless to say I made the call to head back when I decided my bladder and muscles couldn't take too much more. Daniel was in a backpack carrier we borrowed, which Nathan & Frank used. Unfortunately he was colder than we realised, so a little miserable. But he was being a trooper, and pepped up once we had lunch. He spent quite a while smiling and staring at a boy blowing bubblegum bubbles, it was very cute!

We were excited to also catch up with Nathan's sister Ellen on Skype - she has just moved to Disney World in Florida for 6 months.

Tonight I am going to a 2 hour knitting for beginner's course (just for fun!) with Amber, we are visiting Mark, Angela & baby Isaac on Wednesday, and Thursday/Friday we are hosting a prospective Regent student, plus all the regular stuff that goes on during a normal week. (And missing out on a few things too :-(, hopefully we are not too busy!)

Bread

Fresh bread with butter. Yum. Was still hot too!


Daniel & I were pretty full from dinner, but it was too tempting. Nathan will be jealous, and ask why I made fresh bread the night he was at class! I squeezed myself onto the other chair (hope I don't break it) and we sliced, buttered and enjoyed. May be the best loaf I've made yet! :) Whenever I make it I always wonder why it's been so long since the last time. Daniel helped poke and prod this one while I was kneading.

Allergy Testing

Here is Daniel's arm -- track marks care of the allergy doctor we saw this afternoon. They had me put on a topical anesthetic cream an hour before and that did the trick - he had a numb arm, and Daniel watched as every needle was inserted (5-10 mins between each one).

We were at the doctor's for 3 hours. I took our laptop so we watched some Wiggles, looked at some photos, as well as read, played with the toys in the waiting room, and made a few trips to the washroom (for me, not Daniel ;) ).

I know this picture isn't very clear, but the column on the right had the two main allergies (bottom, and 3rd from bottom) which were carrots (incl celery and parsnip) and corn (which is in eeeeeevvvvverything! corn starch/flour or glucose....have a look at ingredient labels). No more cornflakes for brekky, sorry buddy! He also showed allergies to oranges (therefore all citrus) and beef/veal (I didn't know you could be allergic to beef!). So the next month will be interesting as we cut those things out and see what happens. But it does mean that we will be able to reintroduce cow's milk, which is easier on the budget than soy. I hope he still likes the taste!

About half-way through the testing Daniel looked like he had had enough (it was nap time). Apparently you're not supposed to eat during the testing. But the doc said we could have a snack, and that helped out a lot. Little boys can't go for very long without eating!

Anyway, he was very very brave, the staff were very impressed, and now it is all over! I'm not sure if these are permanent allergies, or if he has the possibility of growing out of them, but I'll be asking that in the follow-up appointment in a month. Makes me wonder what I could be allergic to! But since I'm not showing any symptoms I'm not going to spend all that money to find out.

7 months down, 2 to go

Well, here's the 7 month shot, taken Monday. Me in my everyday, not very sexy clothes ;-)
Not a shocking photo, but not one I think I will be putting on Facebook either!

I had a midwife appointment today, everything is looking good. My belly is measuring a little on the small side, but that has been consistent throughout the pregnancy. So I'm no bigger than I was with Daniel which surprised me a little. But I'm not complaining! Appointments will be a lot more regular now, another one in 2.5 weeks, then weekly after that. My energy levels have been pretty good, but it definitely helps if I can get to sleep by 10pm. Daniel wakes around 7am, so that's a pretty good sleep I reckon! :-)

Nathan is getting back into the swing of things now, upstairs translating his Greek at the moment. I'm making a fruit cake (microwavable), looking forward to its yummy fruity goodness!

A new year

With 2010 well underway, we haven't felt too busy yet, but these next few months will definitely bring changes. Weather-wise it is quite mild compared to other places in the Northern Hemisphere, today didn't even feel like winter.

We've met our new friend baby Isaac, went on our 3rd 'date' since Daniel was born (to see Invictus, great movie), took Daniel to McDonald's Playland for the first time, I started babysitting again, and Nathan starts classes again this week.
Lots of countdowns going on too:

• 32 days of work left (for Mareesa)
• 32 days til the Winter Olympics begin
  
• 60 days til baby is due
• 62 days til Nana arrives in Vancouver
• 95 days til Nathan finishes classes
• 105 days til Nathan graduates his Masters
• 111 days til we fly out of Vancouver back to Brisbane
  

Lots to think about, lots to do!

Other things we hope to do: snowshoe, allergy testing for Daniel, lots of visits to friends here in Vancouver :)

Mt Seymour snow trip

Some pics from our drive to Mt Seymour on Dec 31st. We had a nice drive, but didn't stay out in the snow too long.

Daniel enjoyed watching kids on their toboggans, and playing with snow blocks in the carpark. He couldn't really move in all his clothes which made it a little tricky.

We ate yummy snacks all day and enjoyed the freedom of not having to take public transport! Hoping for snow in Vancouver some time, but not it's not in the forecast any time soon.