Adam!

Professional Pictures from Oct 2012 courtesy of Fig & Willow Photography

This post is dedicated to Adam. I usually like to write one of these in my journal every few months. To take note of his little idiosyncrasies and what not.

Adam loves to draw and colour. He is really good at staying in the lines and choosing appropriate colours. We keep a little binder of some of his favourite drawings/colourings because I don't like to have a bazillion papers all over my fridge. That way he can look through the book and appreciate his pictures and I don't have to have the mess. Actually the pictures are in the back of my Wiebe Family Meal Planner. But he doesn't know the difference at this point.

He loves to sing and I quite often hear him singing to himself while he's playing. His favourite songs right now are The Baptism Song, Hello My Name is Joe, and Adam I Love You (Mother I love you). When he sings he doesn't stammer. Which is something that he struggling with right now. We actually just got the pre-screening papers in the mail today from the Speech Pathologist so we can start working with him on getting it better!

Goofing around outside

His closest friends are probably Luana and Ava. I asked him who his Best Friends are and he said, "She has curly hair and her mom's name is Tasha."

Adam and Luana singing "Hello my name is Joe"

His favourite Superhero is Hawkeye. He's going as Hawkeye for Hallowe'en. I made him his costume from some things I found at our local Gleaners. I think it turned out awesome! (For not being the most crafty person in the world) I had to borrow a glue gun from my sister to do the eye mask.

Not quite finished but we're almost there!

And the mask! *just a note he's going as the COMIC book Hawkeye NOT the leatherclad Hawkeye from the recent movies.

His favourite food is probably tuna casserole. This kid can eat more than Dustin when it comes to Tuna casserole. Which is great because it's probably the cheapest meal we make around here. He'll eat it for breakfast, lunch, and supper until it's gone.

He's been going through some sort of separation anxiety lately, and won't play outside by himself anymore. In fact he doesn't like being in a different room from me- unless he's watching tv- then I can usually manage to move around the house without him at my feet. I'm not sure why. He's always been a cautious kid, but he definitely has a fear of being alone lately. (That's usually what his bad dreams are about)

Playing outside with Luana

He's excited about the baby and likes to poke my protruding navel. He thinks he's poking the baby and when it pokes back out he thinks the baby pokes him back. When you ask him what it is going to be, he says a "brother".

His favourite teddy bears are "Cow" and "Rexy". He won't go to sleep without Cow.

Snuggling with Cow, watchin' some cartoons

We recently put him into Gymnastics and he LOVES it! He asks me just about every day... "Is today Gymnastics day?" He's pretty good at it! Of course, he gets nervous and scared to walk on the tall beams but other than that he loves hanging on the bar and "skinning the cat". He loves to do somersaults and stork stands. It's great! (and a small enough group that both he and I don't have to deal with anxiety from HUGE groups)

Stork Stand! I know it's kinda blurry. He was so excited to be at Gymnastics he wouldn't hold still. Plus I suck at taking pictures, let's be honest.

Adam brings so much joy to our lives!! We love him so much, and although being a mother can be exhausting and one of the most underpaid jobs ever... it is the most rewarding thing I've ever experienced in my life! I love my son!!

Another picture from Oct 2012 courtesy of Fig & Willow Photography

34 Weeks Pregnancy Tidbits

Was just reading my best friend's blog and she posted all these lovely little tidbits about her pregnancy at this point. It was great! So I'm going to copy her and do the same.(I know, I'm so original)

CRAVINGS: I really haven't had much for cravings this pregnancy at all. I DID make a fabulous new crockpot soup last night though. It was SUPER easy to make.

It was Crockpot Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup... and it kind of rocked my world! ( I can't take credit for the photo... I found the recipe on Pinterest and this picture was attached to it)

 There are definitely things that I avoid. Too much sugar, aggravates my acid reflux times a million. Too much fresh vegetables too. They make me sick. Definitely a Wiebe Spawn. Bread, bread, poutine and more bread.

MOVEMENT: Baby has a particular spot on my belly just above my belly button and to the right that it likes to DIG at. I swear I'm bruised on the inside. Still a fair amount of movement, mostly feels like the baby is stretching as long as it possibly can to take up as much room as possible. Lots of hiccups. I definitely feel like I don't have ANY room left for baby and I still have 6 weeks left. *sigh* I have a few stretch marks but nothing crazy yet. *Fingers Crossed* I have lots of Braxton Hicks contractions... but I've had them since about month 5 so it's not really a big deal... Dustin calls them Briggs and Stratton contractions hahaha.

MOOD: Well, as can be seen by previous posts my mood up until a few weeks ago was generally ANGRY. I don't do pregnancy well. But I've been very proactively trying to be more positive and forgiving of myself and it's made a huge difference. Letting myself take breaks and naps and not feel guilty about my "uselessness". Apparently growing a baby takes as much energy at any given point in time as rock-climbing. I read that in an article at the Dr's office. I take it as fact.

WEIGHT GAIN: I have not kept track of my weight gain at all during this pregnancy, but I do have a Dr.'s appt today so perhaps I will ask today how much weight I have gained, it might be something future Wiebe Spawn may want to know?

** Went to the Doctor and they say I've gained 24.2 lbs. I think that's pretty good?

BABY'S HEART RATE: 115 BPM. My Dr. said "Hm baby is very relaxed right now" In all fairness my heart rate was 110 BPM.

RINGS ON/OFF: Hahaha I laughed when I saw this on my Best Friend's post. My rings have been off since about month 2. I swell like a bugger when prego. Hence the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. PS I have some of the greatest friends. One of my dear friends from here brought me some braces for my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome because she loves me, and she is a Physiotherapist, so she just wrote them off for her business and is letting me borrow them until the end of my pregnancy. They're waaayy better than wrapping my wrists with tensor bandages to sleep.

Who knew that sleeping could look so Bad-ass?

THOUGHTS: When I first got pregnant I was dead set on wanting a boy. But as the pregnancy progresses I am more and more happy about the thought of having a girl as well. We didn't find out what it is... but I can honestly say I am quite happy either way. Almost everyone I talk to is SURE I'm having a girl. Except my dear friend Gill. She's still rooting for the boy! I can't wait to find out.

When I ask Dustin how he's feeling about the pregnancy... if he's excited... he says he's not excited to have to deal with a newborn baby... but he's happy about having another kid. I think he's impartial to be quite honest. But then Dustin's general mode in life is impartialness so I think he's happy about it.



That's it! Little bits about pregnancy life at the moment.

... And on to Exercise

Well, I must say my last week of focusing on improving my conversation with my Father in Heaven has certainly improved my whole person. I've noticed that I am not angry all the time. (although I do still struggle on occasion) And, my mind is filled with Hymns. I find myself humming Hymns that are relevant for whatever I'm struggling with all the time. I wake up singing There is Sunshine In My Soul almost every day. It is incredible how personally my Lord knows me... music is the absolute best way to affect my spirit.

 The other day I said a prayer in the morning to have some help to remember all I needed to do and to be aware of what was most important; since I generally can't accomplish much in a day. That morning I decided to steam the grapes that had been sitting on my porch for almost 3 weeks ripening. Why I chose to do it right then I wasn't sure. I just decided to do them that morning- which was odd because I was supposed to go out to my mom's to help her make some salsa that morning (she has sciatica issues and couldn't stand for longer than a couple minutes) Then I remembered that I had told a friend I would help him go through a song he had to sing at ten o'clock that morning. So I tried calling my mom to tell her that, but I couldn't get to her on the phone. I facebooked a quick message saying I would do that and then I was planning on having a nap and going out to her place afterwards. Thankfully, my 1:00 voice lesson saw that post and commented questioning whether or not they should be coming. My goodness I had completely forgotten about that too! Thanks baby brain. So, I was able to be at home for all the things I had previously planned on doing. Prayer works, even when you feel like your day didn't go at all how you thought you "planned" it.

 So, all in all, my first goal has been NOTABLY a huge improvement in my life. My sister, who I generally see everyday, commented that she noticed I've been happier too! Hooray!

So, in writing all of these goals down, I've also noticed that I've been actively trying to do them ALL more often. Even though I had set a pace of dealing with adding one goal a week. It's great! This week my focus is adding in a bit of exercise every day. So I looked up some prenatal yoga today. I figure I need to start easy.

• 8 Minute Yoga Video By the way FitPregnancy.com is a great website!
• 10-15 minute "walk"

That's it! I use the term walk loosely. I am sooo slow these days.

It'll be more like a herd of turtles waddling through molasses... but I will perservere. It's more the habit I want to gain right now. I'm not so much looking for amazing body changing results. (Unless the baby wanted to come early... I would be looking for that)

That's it! We'll see how this week goes!

Pre-baby goals to help me get through post baby life

I've been feeling very overwhelmed with life as of late. Being pregnant and mostly useless a lot of the time can do that to a person. Yesterday evening I had a TERRIBLE bout of nausea; which I was hoping I'd be through by now at 33 weeks pregnant. While I was commiserating, I realized that I need to try and set some good habits again BEFORE I have the baby. Since I  have struggled with anxiety and depression in the past I felt very impressed that I need to be proactive about staying positive now, to avoid post partum depression later. So I've thought about it and these are the things I am going to implement- one week at a time- before the baby is born. I have 7 weeks left, so I picked 7 goals- one to add for each week, starting with:

• Pray daily. It seems so simple- to ask God for help- yet it is something that I struggle to stay consistent with. 
• Exercise daily. This one also is difficult for me. It was difficult BEFORE I got pregnant and now, being swollen, having nerve damage in my groin, and hands that are useless, I feel like this will be the most challenging. I am going to look up some pregnancy gentle yoga and try to do 10 minutes a day.
• Study scriptures daily. Focusing on spiritual things helps me keep clarity on what is most important in a day; rather than filling it with things that are less important. 
• Clean at least one room per day. We just bought a house in July that is WAY bigger than anything I've ever owned. It's our house we plan on growing into. However, it can be overwhelming to keep it clean, organized, and clutterless. I do know about myself, however, that I get very down on myself if my house isn't clean.
• Get outside every day. This one seems simple enough, but when I'm feeling super down, and tired from pregnancy, I find it difficult just to go outside for a bit. I literally spend days just shacked up in my house. I KNOW that being outside makes me feel better, if not just for the fresh air.
• Spend time doing something I love doing daily. I just started a new cross-stitch. It's a Christmas themed one. It's beautiful. I love playing the piano but I can't play for longer than 15-20 minutes or my carpal tunnel acts up. But I have other things I can do. Like visit my sister, or my Grandma, or my mom. Scrapbook, read a book. Yea, there are a lot of things. 
• Constructive play with Adam daily. I know, I know, what kind of mother has to remind herself to play with her kid?? Well, the thing is, I do play with him a lot, but I don't often give myself credit for doing it. Getting down on the floor, to play cars with Adam is quite painful these days, but I know that there are lots of things I can do where we are interacting and he feels that he gets my full attention. Mostly, this goal is important to remember AFTER the baby is born, as I know I will be adjusting to the demands of a newborn and I want to be sure that Adam is not ignored in those first few weeks.

So I started today. Made myself a cute little postcard to look at in the morning. Stuck it on my mirror. Start your day with prayer! Followed by my favourite scripture: Alma 37:37 Hope this all helps me in the long run and that post partum I can stay positive.

My "cute little postcard" :)

  

The Goodness Jar

I realize that I haven't written a post for years. I am trying to make note of little day to day things in our lives more and have been doing really well at taking pictures of little moments. I have carpal tunnel syndrome from being swollen and pregnant with Wiebe Spawn #2 and so am not able to write much in my journal before my hands go numb. So I  thought that posting to my blog could replace my journal for the time being.

I had the most wonderful gift given to me the other day. A dear friend of mine came over and gave me a pedicure for my birthday! It was a heaven-sent blessing for my swollen pregnant feet, that I can't reach myself. SHE EVEN BROUGHT ME SOME BROWNIES! Seriously, wonderful friends I have.

 

Aren't they pretty?

We visited and had a wonderful time... but the best gift she gave me was unintentional. In our discussion came the topic of my seriously full of disrespect and attitude, 3 year-old. (I hope other mom's out there can relate) This lovely lady is a school teacher of young kids and told me about a Party Jar that she has for her students. Anytime she notices one of them doing something good she gives them a bead to put in the jar. Once the jar is full then the whole class gets to pick a theme party to have as a class.

This was exactly what I needed. I had been telling her that I felt like I had tried everything...

• Time outs
• Spanks
• Spanking his mouth when he spits at me
• Nice talks during positive times about being respectful
• Taking away toys and putting them in "Jail" for him to get out when he does something good.
• Throwing toys in the garbage
• Taking away TV privileges
• ...crayon privileges
• ... treat priveleges
• ... Gymnastics priveleges

I simply said, "I don't know what else to do... but I'm tired of feeling bullied by my 3 year old."

So she suggested a Goodness Jar. She said the Goodness Jar is ONLY positive. I still have to give punishment, where punishment is needed, but that is separate from the jar. Once it's full he gets to pick a special date with mommy or daddy, or both as a special gift for being so good.

So Saturday morning while listening to General Conference Adam and I decorated a Goodness Jar for him. It has made a huge difference in my life so far. He is so happy and excited when he gets to put in some rocks (I think I'm going to upgrade to marbles or large wooden beads. The rocks will take WAY TOO LONG to fill the jar) and the thing that I've noticed the most is that I stay focused on his positive moments throughout the day; instead of being upset about all the negative. Who knew that the Goodness Jar was good for mommies too?

When I ask Adam what special day he's going to pick when his Goodness Jar is full he says "Grouse Hunting with Daddy!!!" Awesome. This has changed my life. It has changed my perspective and I now choose to focus on the positive in our days instead of the negatives.

 

I thought about decorating it myself. But this is so much better

 

Smiles and Hugs, Bundle of Joy.