Monday 25 August 2008

Moving Milestones

Ok, I would never in a million years forgive myself if I didn't write this down somewhere... or actually, this might be ok, so that the second child (if second child occurs) never gets a chip on its shoulder about not getting the same level of documentation as the first.

Anyway.

I've been feeling the Huffalump flippety-floppeting inside me since 13 weeks and 2 days, which is pretty early, apparently, but I hadn't felt any substantial movements other than that... until Tuesday (Aug 19 - 19 weeks, 6 days) - I got a very deliberate poke... poke poke... very cool.

The next day, after lunch, it was running laps in there (I told Chris that it felt like having a Very Excitable Rat in a kangaroo pocket, which to those that know how much I like rats, is really a good thing...).

AND THEN last night (Saturday, Aug 23), we were watching a movie, and I got a good thump. So Chris put his hand on my belly, and he felt it too! Totally awesome.

Misty moment.

I'm ok now.

Tuesday 19 August 2008

Belly hai - 20 weeks



In my defense, this was taken at 10 pm, which is about 2 hours past my bedtime. Long day, involving work, the gym, a doctor's checkup (Chris got to hear the 'Lump's heartbeat! It had a funky house sound to it, and he swears that there's a Prodigy song with the same beat), a step class, one last night of backsplashing... why, it would make a non-pg person tired!

So, all this to say, please don't zoom in on this shot. Please.

DG: Project BS Part Deux


Zee backsplash, it is complete!


And GORGEOUS, if I do say so myself. It adds a certain cachet, a je-ne-sais-quoi to the kitchen, and totally brings out the colour of the cupboards and of the steel appliances. Yay, me!*


Photo: the tiles are all up, and the adhesive is curing for 24 hours. Note that the section on the left (which will be hidden below the stove, of course), was much easier to do and looks much nicer than the other bit. But it still looks lovely!

The next step involved grouting - a very, very messy step. I smooshed muddy stuff between all the cracks, and smoothed it in with the aforementioned grout float. After about 20 minutes (ok, much longer!), I wiped the tiles of excess grout. Last night, all of the tiles were polished individually, and ridded of the last bit of haze.

Below, the action shot of the finished project. You'll have to provide your own sound effects. Might I suggest, perhaps, an "oooooh" followed by an "aaaaaah"? (in retrospect, I would have neatened up the tea towels before filming...too late now)



* to be fair, I allowed my helper monkey to help with the wiping and polishing of the tiles, which was quite time consuming. Thanks, helpful husband!

Thursday 14 August 2008

DG: Project BS



So, the Back Splash has been a long time coming. Perhaps due to fear of making a mistake, perhaps due to lack of knowledge of how the heck tiling works, or perhaps due to laziness... either way, I finally undertook this "weekend project" last weekend.


At left, the before shot. If I hadn't taken that picture, I wouldn't believe that it's my kitchen. It is not very often that the counter is that neat and clean, but anyway.




Phase I: Mental Preparation/Accumulation of Supplies
I did the requisite research on the web (to the Internet! Away!), printed out 2 sheets of terribly insufficient instructions, went shopping at Home Depot, peeked at their Tiling 123 book, noted that it was $29, decided to wing it, bought spacers, adhesive, a wall trowel and a grout float (which really is a lot of fun to say) and was all ready to go.

... this was three weeks ago.


Phase II: The Renting of the Tile Saw
This is actually a surprisingly intimidating step, in which you are openly, publicly committing to do this project in the next 24 hours, or die trying. Also, it's heavy. And the guy didn't want to give me the manual to take with me - he wanted me to initial the little box that said "instruction manual declined" - no way. True, it wasn't very helpful, but still! I brought the manual home.


Phase III: The Changing into Tiling Gear
One can't tile in designer labels, you know. I switched into ratty gym shorts (they still fit) and a large-yet-ratty tank top.


Phase IV: The Actual Tiling
The instructions say that you shouldn't apply more adhesive than you can cover with tiles in 45 minutes. I did them one better. I applied almost enough adhesive for one tile. It stuck. It looked good. It boosted my confidence, so I applied some more.


AND THEN I had to cut some tiles. (Keep in mind that I didn't choose an intricate pattern; that would be silly. I simply chose a size of tile that wouldn't stick perfectly to my wall, go around three inconsistently-spaced outlets and cabinets without any trimming, which, in retrospect, was my second mistake. My first was not hiring someone with skill to do this for me.)


Saws are generally loud and scary things, especially ones that have a water tray, plug into the wall, are in my kitchen, and are being operated by someone in garden gloves who honestly is not qualified to even wear garden gloves, let alone operate a tile saw.



The important thing, at the end of the day, is that I still have all of my fingers. It matters not that I have a half-finished backsplash to show for my efforts, nor that now I have to spend all NEXT Saturday finishing up with the tricky bits... also, nor that the pressure is REALLY on to finish it next Saturday so that I can grout (with the float) on Sunday.


Actually, all that matters is that, even only half done, the beauty and wonder of my backsplash makes the lino on the floor look cheap and insipid... so I guess that'll be the next project.

Swell.

Thursday 7 August 2008

Huffalump's 18-week Photoshoot!

Well, the time is "flying"... ok, no it's not. I'm still quite tired all the time (but still making it to the gym), out of breath (I'm turning into a mouth breather), and crampy (the Huffalump likes to stretch out, I think).


But the cat is out of the bag. People, especially at the gym, are confident in coming up to me to ask when I'm due, which means that, in fitted clothes anyway, I'm out of the "just looks fat" stage. Yay!





Back to the baby: the Huffalump did a fantastic job at its 18-week ultrasound. It flipped and flopped (obviously a natural for "action shots") for the first little while, then settled down for the glamour shots.



At right, the Huffalump has settled down and sucks its adorable little thumb, all curled up. All together now: Awwwwww.





At left, s/he strikes a pensive, wistful pose. Of what does the Huffalump dream? Perhaps another cookie for mom? How could I say no to that face?




Obviously, I'm incubating a future Derek Zoolander, or perhaps a Cindy Crawford (no, we didn't find out!).

No gas fights* for you, young Huffalump! But maybe a walk off wouldn't be out of the question...






*"If there is anything that this horrible tragedy can teach us, it's that a male model's life is a precious, precious commodity. Just because we have chiseled abs and stunning features, it doesn't mean that we too can't not die in a freak gasoline fight accident."

Sunday 3 August 2008

Week 17: Yikes

Ok, seriously. The belly is getting bigger by the second.

My sister warned me that she was wearing maternity clothes by week 20. Um, I've been wearing them since week 15. I just relegated the Last Remaining Pair of Normal Pants to the basement. Sigh. Thank goodness for Value Village, though!

Shout-out: my mommy-friends have been very generous with sharing books and resources with me.

Consider:
These are the books I bought when I discovered the Huffalump's existence:











And THESE are the books I have now!








Thanks to the girls (Jess, Jenny and Jennifer) - I'm loving them all!

Cedric does Calgary

SO...Cedric, who was still pretty upset about being left behind for both the Huffintastic X-Country Adventure AND the trip to Napa, kindly (yet gruffly) accommodated my request to come on my long road trip to Calgary.


I was all prepared: traveling gnome, audiobook (this one was a nice, light, pleasant experience, unlike the last fiasco)... the only thing I forgot was snacks. (HUGE oversight!)


The drive was quick - the book-on-tape really makes the time fly, and keeps me awake, too! Good weather, and not too bad traffic, got me into the city by 6. We changed and went out for dinner at the Chicago Chophouse, which had, unfortunately, not changed their Stampede prices back to their regular prices. But it was gooooooood.


Cedric, look out!


We spent Saturday morning shopping (in a REAL MALL!), then drove up to Airdrie. We met up with Chris' mom, brothers, and brother's gf (hi Nouha!), and then went off to the 50th anniversary party.


Highlights:

Cedric loved the beautiful pictures of the bride and groom that were on the tables!









And Mr. Spilly had a great time! He fully endorses the Tide stick for any and all encounters of the spilly kind.












Friday 1 August 2008

I weigh a ton!

At left, a Heffalump (not to be confused with the Huffalump).

So, I went to the gym today at lunch and proceeded with my Milo and the Bull workout*; that is, I figure that if I continue doing body-weight exercises -- like chinups and dips -- as my weight/waist/girth expands, I will be lifting more, getting stronger, and be, well, strong as a beastie by the time this whole fiasco is over.

I forgot to consider how humbling/disheartening/HARD it would be to lift my enhanced poundage ... and honestly, it made Friday at the gym even less fun than usual. I'm up 8 lbs so far, and that apparently makes a huge difference!



...but doesn't Roo look like he's having a good time?


* This legend, which is the basis for modern progressive resistance training, is fantastic...except for the bit where he ate the bull... And also, in my version, I am both Milo AND the bull. Niiiice.

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