Christmas Calm

It's 8:30. I'm awake, because 8:00 seems to be the latest I can "sleep in"- ever. I can't even blame this poor record on being a parent. I was this lame as a teenager. My much cooler spouse and kid are still fast asleep.


The house is quiet. All of our gifts are wrapped. I'm feeling really happy and calm.


This afternoon we'll celebrate with my amazing in-laws, complete with ham buns- a family Christmas Eve tradition of ham, potato chips, celery, mayo, peppers, almonds, all mushed together on a toasted bun. Yes, it sounds really disgusting, but I swear to you, it's SOOOO good. Only took me three years to choke them down...and now you can't stop me from devouring half a plate- pregnant or otherwise. 


Tonight, the children's choir I direct will sing at the Christmas Eve service, and my mom and I will crack out Oh Holy Night, with Lukie on the piano. If I'm lucky, I'll go into labour during the first verse and we can fill up the manger on the stage with something more believable than a cabbage patch doll by the end. Yes, I really do hope labour is that fast, this time. 


Tomorrow, bright and early, we'll head over to my parents so Judah can wake up all my comatose siblings. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a toddler shouting "BOO!" in your face at the crack of dawn. 


It's been a calm Christmas so far. We've just been home- no big out of town gatherings, thanks to my burgeoning belly and fear of delivering on the 401. Luke is done his exams and doesn't resume school until January 9th. I'm all done work for mat. leave. It's all very lovely. 


I'm taking these final quiet moments to relish our little family of three and prepare a big part of my heart to welcome number four. We're so excited to meet her, even if we did nothing at all this Christmas, I think it would still be one of the best I've ever known. 






Merry Christmas everyone! I hope it brings each of you some small measure of peace and joy.

Yep...

The fridge is clean.


Cutlery drawer has been scrubbed and reorganized.


The bedroom closet is purged.


Every square inch of carpet is vacuumed.


Tops of artwork have been dusted.


Window sills have been scrubbed.






Day one of maternity leave. I think the nesting phase has begun. 


:| 

9 months!!!

We are officially done 36 weeks, or 9 (lunar) months of pregnancy. On Thursday we will be "full term" and good to go at any time... any time at all.... Wednesday would also be fine....

Where are we now?


Things that are kind of crummy: 

I am HUGE. 

On Friday, I visited the Children's section of the library with Judah. The conversation with the two librarians on duty went something like this....

Librarian 1: "So, when are you due?"

Me: "On January 12th."

Librarian 2: "January? Not December?"

Me: "Nope...January."

Librarian 1: "They have your due date wrong."

Librarian 2: "Definitely. That baby is huge."

Librarian 1: *nods knowingly*

Me: "Ok... do you have any books about trains?"

To the librarians' credit, I am suddenly measuring ahead of our gestational age. Up until this point in the pregnancy, I've been bang on - measuring 34 at 34 weeks etc. Then this week, week 36, baby is suddenly measuring 38! 

Eeeep. 

Time to cut back on the Christmas chocolate.

Luckily, the growth has remained completely centralized in my belly. I retained water at the end of the pregnancy with Judah. Like, a lot. You could have wrung me out and used me as a sponge. As a result I regained the chubby cheeks of my youth. Adorable on a 2 year old, not so cute when you're 25. This time, it's all belly, all the time. 

All belly, all the time, unfortunately means that "simple" tasks like rolling over in bed, require full wakefulness and a good deal of concentration and sighing. Needless to say, between 3 am bathroom trips - "MAMA! Me do it!!!" *Judah in a sleepy stupor stumbles into the bathroom to ensure he is the only one in the household who flushes the toilet...
midnight diaper changes -"Mama, Me need a new diaper!" *drops wet diaper on pillow beside head... 
and the antics of our street at night  - "Dude, I totally just left my pants like four blocks ago!"...
A solid night of sleep is a distant memory. All in good preparation for baby's milking schedule. :|

Things that are awesome:

Baby has dropped! Hopefully, the only time you'll hear mothers celebrating the dropping of their babies is when baby is still an internal organ, and not a suddenly delicate, tiny little outdoor creature. In my case, baby dropping means I can breathe again! My ribs can point inwards again! And I can climb a flight of stairs without sounding like I smoked a pack of Marlboro's on the way up.  


I'm almost done work! I work with an amazing group of people. I also work from home. I'm an extremely lucky person. Even so, I'm really happy to be wrapping things up on the work front. I'm ready to nest, rest and start this new chapter of our life as a family of four. 

Cravings this month?

Pomegranates! A little Persephone is perched on my bladder. 

CHOCOLATE! Doesn't matter how good or bad, large or small. No chocolate- be it sprinkle or bar- is safe within my visual range. 

Otherwise, this month my appetite has decreased significantly. Funny how you can't eat much when a tiny tenant is using your stomach for a foot rest. 

Judah's thoughts on baby now?

This month Judah is positive that the baby in mommy is "Baby Doe" aka - Joe, the baby brother of his friend Tobin. I'm not sure how he thinks Joe can co-exist, both with his family and in me, but apparently, he does. He frequently gives "Baby Doe" toys to play with. Baby Doe, so far, has proven a pretty boring playmate and the sessions are brief.


Judah is also fond of explaining to people that I can't carry him around anymore, because "Mama has a whole baby in dere!" However, when his shoes bother his feet, or it's getting close to nap time, he'll make an exception and ask "uppy mama?"


He has also taken to having mad jumping sessions in the crib. I hope baby is born with a helmet at the very least, she's going to need it. 

Finalists- woot woot!

We made it as one of the three international finalists in Ohdeedoh's contest. Best of all, it's an all-Canadian list!
Voting only goes until noon tomorrow.

If you would be so kind, do give Neve's Lemon Drop Nursery a little vote :)

http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/family/your-finalists-vote-now-for-your-favorite-colorful-international-room-small-kids-big-color-2011-162861

We're in!

Today, we were so happy to learn that our nursery was accepted for OhDeeDoh's "small kids, big colour" contest.

If you're feeling so inclined, mosey on over, register and vote for our room. We'd be much obliged!

Voting is open until 1 pm ET Friday.

Thanks all!!

We decked the halls...

We went to a Christmas tree farm. 

I'm not sure why they call it a farm, there were no cow pies to speak of.

I stood in front of this adorably ironic sign to appease my mother. 

Okay! Let's find the biggest, bestest tree here, Dad!

How about this one? Its height is good for my ego. 

My dad sawed and sawed and sawed... 

...and then he sawed some more.

He claimed his saw was dull.
I think I may get him a gym membership for Christmas. 

 I helped him by keeping his lower back warm. 

I don't know why he's making that face. The tree was already on the ground.

Both my parents thought it was funny.
I may get each of them a book about humour for Christmas. 

You'd think he'd killed a wildebeast or something. 

I was going to offer to pull the tree out, 

but I'm trying to keep my belly fat for the when the cold weather sets in. 

Time to decorate!

Here mom! Here's one I haven't broken yet!

All done! 

Now we have a tree in our living room! 

Weird. 

Merry Christmas everyone!