Not your typical roommate.

I decided that this blog was in serious need of a post of a different topic! So I thought I would introduce you to some friends that we've made since living here in Regina. And as weird as this may sound they have actually been living with us...

The first time I ever met them was one evening in our old apartment as I was getting dinner ready, and if I can remember right we were feeding the missionaries that night as well. 

Well the recipe I was making called for cornstarch, so I opened by box of cornstarch and to my surprise saw a bunch of little bugs, a bit smaller than an ant with little dark red shells. Well I am not one to care about that kind of thing too much, to me insects are like whatever. So being in the crunch I was in and didn't have time to make something else or go buy more cornstarch I just picked them out as much as possible then used what I needed and threw the rest out. Although I am positive a few ended up in the food, I didn't tell the missionaries and I only told Jared after we ate... haha, and yes I did eat the food myself. I saw it as a little more protein.

I bought a new box of cornstarch, dumped it into a ziploc to have it all sealed from these pests and only ever saw one or two in the cupboard for the duration of our life in that apartment.

Fast forward to our new, much more awesome apartment...

Remember last month when my sister came to visit me, right around my birthday. Well we happened to once again be making dinner, which included rice. Well I discovered these little bugs again, although definitely DID NOT tell Emily about the discovery until AFTER she ate dinner (she has a thing about bugs...). Well after she left I started discovering them in more places, like my flour, and oatmeal. Well we decided it was all a little much and there is a point when you draw a line and you don't cross it. 

So we threw out the little bits of flour and rice we had left, bought new stuff but this time put them into buckets (in hopes to keep out the bugs). Well apparently I didn't buy buckets that sealed tight enough cause we found them...again... all over the place... and I finally lost it! 

I was finally getting the creepy crawlies from seeing these things all.over.my.food. plus the thought that we would be welcoming a new baby into the house soon and I couldn't take it. So I called out rental management people and told them I had a bug problem and needed them. asap.

The maintenance guy came over, took a look and told me they were "cereal bugs" and that they were totally normal, and fine to share your home with!!!! 

WHAT!? NO! this is totally NOT normal or okay I reassured him, although he refused to do ANYTHING about it! He even claimed that these bugs live in every bag/box of flour/rice/cereal (really anything made from flour products) that you buy from the store... 

so not true, to me he just made himself look like a big idiot and made me feel really annoyed.

Bah.

So I looked them up myself: Cereal Bug, Googled (we have the first one listed)

And basically I have to clean out my pantry and throw out anything that has these bugs in it, then wash my cupboard really well, hello raid! and then buy all new food, plus containers for it and we should be in the clear...

So basically waste a bunch of food, spend a bunch of money, and then spend some more money... fun times.

Good thing I will have my Mom here in like no more than 10 days, and she has already volunteered to help this poor student family out. Cause I just can't take living with these little critters anymore. They have crossed the line! 

And with that being said. We Love visitors, so come visit anytime!

Also I would just like to say to my bro Riley, who I know frequents this blog, that even though you live and eat bugs while you are in Madagascar, it doesn't make me a wimp, or this situation any less gross...

still here... 39 weeks

Sorry for the lapse in posts, especially being this far along.
But we are all here, just playing the waiting game. I've not had much to post about as we really haven't had the most eventful summer. And I'm pretty sure I am determined not to be pregnant next summer (or any summer ever again if I can help it) for sure because this one has been the pits to say the least. I have missed our usual camping, hiking, travelling, biking, swimming, ect. Perhaps pregnancy is a poor excuse for not being able to do these things, but it's my excuse so whatever...

So here I am at 39 weeks.

         with Magoo.      

with baby no.2 

Not too much difference if you ask me. Even my hair color is pretty much the same... how boring am I!

But I did have a docs appointment on Tuesday and I was measuring around the 37 week mark for fundal height, which really I wasn't worried about because 1) it's just an estimate 2) I didn't get much bigger than the 37 week measurement with Magoo... 

anyways my doc decided she wanted to check the fluid levels anyways so she sent me for an ultrasound Wednesday morning. Of course I never mind taking a peek inside at me little baby so I was in! 

Even though we didn't get a good look at her face or really anything, and it was pretty quick, it was the best ultrasound I've had. The reason why we didn't get a good look at her features was because she is so big in there and her head is in my pelvis so it's hard to see anything overly specific.

But there was a tv on the wall that I could seeA that showed the tech's screen the whole time! Normally I don't get to see whats going on until the tech has checked the important stuff and then they let you see the face, and whatever else. Plus this tech was super about giving information, she told me how they check fluid levels, and what important things they check for in the baby (like the motion of breathing) and she was just super duper, my kinda ultrasound tech. 

And the ultrasound was just the pick-me-up I needed to help me get through the next 1-2 weeks... or atleast the next week, after that who knows what kinda preggo beast I'm going to become...haha. Let's just hope I have a good docs appt next week, cause this past one was a downer as far as progression goes. 

Who knows maybe the next time I post I'll have a new baby to show y'all... 

My Diaper Bag

I accomplished something really great last week, something I totally didn't have the confidence in doing myself, but once my sister got here I finally felt like I had the back up I needed. I started and finished a big sewing project (it was big to me). I never start sewing because I feel like I don't know enough about it and that I'll just end up seam ripping over and over again and eventually giving up and waisting all that money on something I never finished. 

I sewed a new Diaper Bag for myself. And I can't take all the credit. 

First off there was this tutorial: Hip Mama Diaper Bag where we got the basic idea of what I wanted, although we did adjust it a bit.

And then there was Jared: he did all the math and created a blue print of what I wanted. I wanted my bag to be a bit bigger than the one in the tutorial, with slightly different pockets, and without a top flap cover. He also wrote out how many of each piece I would need. And then he created the whole pattern on fancy grid pattern paper for me! He is totally awesome.

And then there was my sister EmJ (as I like to call her): She took fashion studies in school (something I wish I had done) and she has sewn alot of things, even a quilt. But she helped me pick out the fabric (and had a ton of patience with me through it), helped me pin and cut out all the pieces (she is super fast), she helped me figure out the zipper. And my favourite thing about her was that she never tried to take over, or do it for me! She totally cheered me on and made me feel like I was doing a great job. It was a really great experience, and I feel like I have learned alot about her.

Now that thats been said heres the bag:

The fabric that took me a good 2 (painful) days to find. We bought WAY too much fabric and didn't end up using the red (it's actually more coral in real life) at all. And this picture sucks, but later in the post you will see it better in some natural light.

Em's pinning and cutting. 

The grid paper pieces is the pattern Jared did up all on his own. 

We interfaced most of it, although if I were to do it again I would interface more (ie. the lining as well as the outside).

Emily was only here for a week, and since it took so long to find fabric she was only here for the beginning of the sewing stuff, and never actually saw it become a bag. But she helped me assemble all the pieces, including completing the zipper pocket (something I was oddly nervous about doing), and the pocket pieces.

Once all the little pieces were assembled we sewed them into one big exterior...

...and the liner (this is the piece I will interface next time)...

...then this is what they would look like sewn together (but in this pic they weren't yet)

 I wish I would have taken more pictures of the process, but I didn't. And I think that's because the tutorial I used was pretty good, so if you want to know how I did the zipper and how I sewed it all together you can refer to the link at the top of the post.

But here is the finished product: and I'm pretty stoked about it.

Front view: I put a regular travel size wipes case so you can get an idea of the size. 

It has two pockets on the front.

Side view. You'll notice the strap in this one. I sewed it in differently than the tutorial. I actually sewed it in between the outer fabric and liner fabric, it took us a while to figure out how to lay it inside the bag to get it to come out right. But luckily it worked and we didn't have to unpick the top and do it over!

Back view: Zipper pocket, it takes up the whole back panel of the bag. (the monkey is hanging off the open pocket)

Inside view: Three pockets here, and they are nice and big, can each hold alot of diapers or whatever else. Again I put the wipes case in one to get an idea of sizing.

Top: I sewed a magnet in between the two fabrics to hold it closed when I needed. I love that you can't really tell there is a magnet there. In the tutorial she uses a big piece of fabric like a flap to cover the top, but I like mine to be a bit cleaner looking so I opted out of the flap and just did magnets and I love it!

Side/Front view: The side pockets are the perfect size for my wallet, which was totally unplanned, but so great.

Also I think you should note how well everything lines up, the pockets and what not. Mostly due to my husbands superior pattern making skillzzz. 

And don't mind the almost-full-term-preggo in this picture, it's just to give you an idea of the size of the bag once again.

And that's it. 

I am pretty proud of the finished product, and I want to do another one. 

I love that I will be able to wash it if needed.

And I love that it is mine. There is no other like it.

I love the size of it, my current bag is about half it's size and it just barely fits all the stuff I need for one kid (plus me), so I think this will be great for two kids.

I don't plan to use it until the new baby comes. In fact I plan to pack some of the stuff I need to bring to the hospital in it and have it ready to go with the carseat.

And heres my question for you:

Do you like it, enough to have one for yourself?

If you don't, no hurt feelings. But I am seriously considering sewing some more like this (with different fabric) and selling them. 

So if you think you want one let me know. Leave me a comment with your email or something, or if we're friends on FaceBook send me a message and we can discuss it a little more. 

24

This past Thursday I turned 24! And it was a pretty good day. One of my parents presents to me was to send my sister out for a whole week to help me out. It was great having her, she just left this morning, and I tried to think of every way to get her to stay longer but she does have a life back at home. 

The morning of my birthday Jared made me waffles and Em's helped beautify me for the day. Then Emily and I were off to the spa. We got deluxe pedicures and since there was a 50% deal going on we also got some manicures too! It was so awesome being pampered, it's not something I do... like ever. And my pregnant feet/legs needed all the love they could get!

By the time we got done there it was 2pm and I was so hungry, so we picked up Jared and Kasper and headed to grab some subway sandwiches and Booster Juice Smoothies (I love Booster Juice, but it's pretty expensive so this was a special treat)

In  between Subway and Booster Juice I had to give my stomach time to make a little room so we headed to a park, it was classified as a "workout park"...haha it was funny and kinda pathetic.

But it was HOT out so we grabbed out smoothies and opted to head home to put my already very swollen feet up in our air-conditioned living room and watch a movie. Seriously the edema is getting pretty bad these days. 

Jared made me a delicious dinner, and of course no birthday would be complete without a DQ ice-cream cake!

In all honesty it wasn't just a good day, I really had a fantastic week. Jared deems the whole week before my birthday to be "birthday week" and I never had to make dinner, do dishes, etc all week. I even get "birthday eve". He does something special for me everyday that week even if its just a slurpee treat. And he wishes me a "Happy Birthday Wednesday","... Thursday","... Friday" (and so forth). He's pretty great.

One Handed

It's official I only have enough weeks for one hand these days.

   

35 weeks and feelin it.

Ultrasound

I know there are some people out there who really don't care for ultrasound pictures, and they think they are creepy or whatever (cough *Dad* cough). But I like them! So they are going up on here.

At my last couple appointments I was measuring a little big (but let's be honest when I got pregnant my body was a little above average, therefore making the little bit of extra measurement she was getting more due to my extra bit of chunk I have on me than to the little chunk I have growing inside me) so she gave us the option the get a second ultrasound, of course we said yes! 

We love to be able to see her features, not just feel her in there but really get an idea of what she might look like. It is so surreal to me that I have a little person growing inside my abdomen! Like it actually kind of blows my mind every time I think about it.

So in this one the tech said that her little eye was peaking open. It's kinda hard to tell but at the time you could definitely see the difference at times, it was cool to watch.

And beside her face I'm pretty sure is the placenta plus a bit of arm (I meant to ask the tech what the big blob is, but I know my placenta is in that general area, so I assume that's what it is). 

I see a lot of Kasper in these. Jared doesn't think you can see stuff like that, but I totally can. We'll have to put up comparison pictures once she's out.

Either way I think she's going to be pretty cute (so biased I know) and mentally I am good with her staying in there a bit longer, but my body sure begs to have her out daily. It is a little frustrating the strain my body is experiencing. Like I would love nothing more than to take Magoo on a bike ride today but I am scared of the consequences I would have to pay for doing so later. So here I type, contemplating taking him to the pool this afternoon instead. 

Catch'in up.

I realized I have missed posting about somethings. Probably because we didn't have our computer for awhile and so I couldn't add the pictures I wanted to, but we got our computer this weekend and so now I can post about the past, whoot!

First up: Father's Day

So this year we made Jared this awesome candy-gram thing (I may have bought everything in jumbo size so that if he felt like sharing he wouldn't feel jipped...) and we also got him a couple of shirts. Plus cooked a chicken dinner. (oh this also happened to be the day that Chocolate milk was spilt into our computer... Happy Fathers Day! haha)

This is to show the amazing shoulder strap covers I sewed. Who wants straps cutting into their necks!? (the carseat came with some, but I lost one right around the time we sold our old car.)

 Along with summer has come random sleep patterns, but the most consistent thing is that he really likes to wake up somewhere between 5 and 5:30am, yay me!

But we certainly don't mind the extra cuddles when he falls asleep on us!

A slurpee obsession has been created (as well as freezes) some pregnant chick may or may not have contributed to this. Not necessarily me...

 Magoo's dad works at Sobey's in the produce section. But this boy has no interest in seeing his dad when we're there, he does know the fastest route from the front door to the lobster tanks though.

 And everyone knows him so well there that the meat guy has let him touch a lobster (before he knew Jared was his dad) and the last time we were there he brought him behind the meat counter (Jared went with him) to get a view/ hands on the newest batch of lobsters!

(not the best picture, but this is him behind the meat counter)

Canada Weekend. 

Jared had the Saturday off, so we headed out to Regina Beach (about 45min North of Regina) and did a little hike...

Magoo fell asleep (stay tuned for the video)

and Magoo and I played in the lake (it was pretty cold). Who new whales could wear bathing suites and have a farmers tan! well heres your proof... 

(some nice strangers let us borrow their sea dragon for a little ride)

 Summer has brought on hot mornings/days where we love that our rental place has their sprinklers going so we can go play while still in our PJ's!

 ...playing at the park with dad, it was bed time but he had had a late nap that day.

Magoo is aspiring to be the next "Stig"(please refer to the show Top Gear if you don't know what/who that is) either that or Darth Vader...

So here's a little video of the last couple of months. At the end it's pretty dark and you can't see much, but I just think he's too cute in it to leave out. Enjoy!