expecting a Very Merry Christmas for all

Brian and I leave tomorrow for Michigan to visit family and friends. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone, and for those whom we will miss this holiday season... have a wonderful Christmas!

to do's

Pretty busy week underway. Tomorrow is a routine visit to the doc's along with some follow up standard lab work. I always look forward to these because I get to hear the heartbeat. "Routine" weight check, that's another story. Thursday is our first baby lamaze class, which should be interesting. I'll be sure to update all with that lil' adventure.

dear santa please bring us a...

An advantage to both Brian and I working in creative environments, we have great friends with super duper talents. One being Philippe who works with me at Critical Mass and has a fantastic eye for catching lasting moments behind the camera lens. We can't thank you enough! Our belly gallery is now posted, to view click here.

The luxury of having this done at our house led to a natural vibe. We wanted to avoid the whole, place hands here, arch back there, fold shirt here, lean forward, backward, tilt chin up, look here, hold breath, etc. environment. My only direction, make the belly look big and cute, while everything else stays "reasonably" small. Counter intuitive as it may seem to show off an ever growing belly, outtie and all, we couldn't be happier with the way these turned out. Plus one more excuse to upgrade to an eggnog latte, tis the season...why not!

baby's B&B

Designing a "gender neutral" nursery isn't as tough as I was anticipating. It does however require a fair amount of time shopping online for the perfect must have items, which let's face it will probably end up covered in baby puke, but will look fantastic none the less. We first found the rug and built the design around it. The counting sheep wall decals are my personal favorite.

Baby Wordle

I love the randomness of Wordle made from the most used words taken from this blog.

daddy delights

Daddy felt baby move for the first time last night around, oh let's see...11:15pm, Wednesday Nov 12th. We were laying in bed, the baby was up for yet another round of "dance dance revolution." I placed Brian's hands on my belly BAM he felt the movements. Fantastic!

Baby Registering 101

Ok, ok, I admit to following prey of my own romantic expectations, walking hand-in-hand with Brian down endless isles of baby store wonder ooing and ahhing as we select organic bamboo onesies and miniature booties for our newborn.

And now a reality check...from my own life script:

ALISSA: hey look honey reusable, good for the environment, eco nursing pads...
BRIAN: ummm, (blank stare) do they have disposables?

I've learned, as most seasoned parents already know, that the baby industry is...well booming. And as more infant retailers convince newbie parents what and what more to buy, one can't help but feel a bit overwhelmed. Now, I'm not saying the whole thing was terrible,but I am looking at this experience now with open eyeballs.

Who would have thought there'd be so many options? How is one suppose to know the difference between a Baby Genie, and a Baby Genie Elite, without cashing in that life saving phone-a-friend call in store?...(Thanks Fitzy for setting us straight)

and so the shopping continues...plastic or glass bottles...huh PBA free? What's with this Bugaboo stroller anyways? Does breast milk need to be warmed, seems more refreshing cold...doesn't the dishwasher sterilize enough already? Do Baby Einstein toys make the kid smarter? nontoxic mattress pads...shoot what's in the other ones? $350 for a breast pump...it better come with a new pair of heels.

And as I watched, both in horror and amusement,the young 16 year-old-something store clerk unsuccessfully attempt to demonstrate the one-hand-collapse ease feature of the hot stroller to buy, I realized...although not exactly what I had imagined, our baby dreams are playing out in reality, and that is what makes the whole experience unforgettable and amazing!

now registered at Babies R Us in Canada, and Target is the States...links to the right of page

Baby's Heartbeat

Today Brian and I had a routine checkup with Dr. Novak (who is awesome by the way), and we are happy to report everything is checking in wonderfully! We decided to deliver our baby at Foothills Hospital here in Calgary. No ultrasound pictures today, but we did have a chance to record our lil' one's heartbeat. Make sure to have your volume turned up and click the audio player above to have a listen. Best part is, close to the end you'll hear both mine and the babies...the fast beat is the babies. Beautiful and a bit crazy to have two hearts in one body.

little one inside

The first time Brian and I were able to see the baby was an awesome experience. We went for our first ultrasound pictures at 18.5 weeks into the pregnancy. 4 large cups of water 2 hours before our appointment and I was more than ready to see the little one for the first time. A bit of nervous energy and overwhelming excitement as the technician turned on the machine and pressed the probe against my belly to reveal baby. Without being aware of any of the baby's movements prior to our appointment, we were surprised to see our lil' one kicking and bouncing all over the place. I've decided baby must have daddy's energy, because if he or she takes after mommy, he or she would still be sleeping...our appointment was 8:30am. 10 fingers 10 toes, and a healthy growing baby. Due date is now Feb. 28th which seems right around the corner. We cant wait!

first things first

before we decided to try for one of these...



we decided to have one of these...



Brian and I were married this past April in Kauai, Hawaii with our closest family members and friends there to celebrate. The wedding was awesome. Check out our favorite wedding pictures here.

After the wedding, came the honeymoon in Maui, to view our favorite "moony" pictures click here