Friends

Three hole punch Jac and smurfette Jess.

My beautiful Jodes on her beautiful day.

Ali, my dear, sweet, Ali.

Beautiful Renee.

Me, Simone and the babes!

Beautiful soul = LeahRose

I have been contemplating what I should blog about. Should I blog about the actual events of my life, or how I have been feeling? Lately, I guess the two go hand in hand, so I'll just go for it.

This weekend I had the blessing of having one of my bestest buddies fly into to stay with us for a couple days. Renee has been my partner in crime for many years and it was so wonderful to spend some time with her again. She got to meet Nola for the first time, which was so wonderful to watch. Renee loves children and it warmed my heart so much to see her interact with my darling child. We spent a wonderful day at the Calgary Zoo, hit up the mall for some serious shopping and had plenty of down-time to chat about everything from love to money and belt it out to Bloc Party while cruisin' in Southern Alberta.

On the 19th, my dear friends, Jacquie and Eric, had their first baby - a sweet little boy named Oliver. Her and her husband live in Ontario, which is just too far away...

My dear cousin, Jodi, called me for some much needed love and support as she is moments away from bringing her second child into the world.

My beautiful LeahRose e-mailed me to make sure I was doing well when I posted on FaceBook that I was feeling low.

All of these events have have brought me to contemplate and reflect on the friendships and relationships in my life. Over the years, friends have come and gone. Friendships have blossomed and wilted, shone on and faded away, yet there have been a few who have stuck by, and like fine wine, grew sweeter, stronger and worth more than rubies.

I am forever grateful for real friends - for those I can count on and believe in. Jodes, LeahRose, Ray, Al, Simone, Jac, you girls mean more to me than you will ever know.

Thanks gals. I love ya.

PS. I wanted to post the pics at the bottom, but I didn't know how...so just imagine it.

First time alone!

Nola is now 3 months, 1 week and 3 days old, and tonight is my first time alone. I truly is amazing how much being a mother changes your life. Doug and I have been so fortunate to have family close by who are willing to take Nola for an hour or two, here and there, so we can have a date night, but tonight is the first time without Doug or Nola...and to be completely honest, it has been wonderful! I had a long, luxurious bubble bath, played my guitar and vegged on the couch - things that I defiantly took for granted before having a baby.
I was actually talking to a friend of mine who is expecting, and she asked if having a baby really is such a drastic and life changing experience. As I sat and pondered this question, I think the answer is both yes and no. I know for myself, my life didn't drastically change once Nola came into the world. Doug, Nola and I slowly learned the swing of things and transitioned quite beautifully into our now day-to-day routine, but it is in the day-to-day that you realize the changes. The dishes that don't get done, the calls that don't get made, the meager meals you eat straight from the fridge with a baby on your hip. The lack of 'you' time, to work on your talents, to enjoy a movie without interruption, to have a good nights sleep.
I have heard over and over again the 'sacrifices' of being a mother, and I truly believe it is in the small and simple things. I am sure it is quite easy for women to 'lose' themselves in the day-to-day of being a mom.
I am so very grateful for a loving family and a wonderful husband who grants me the time I need for me. We are a team.
Well, that's how I'm feeling right now. Thanks for listening.
Jess :)

First pic!

Our beautiful little angel!

The last 3 months!

I am so sorry it has taken me SO long to write another post. I just got carried away in the day to day of being a new mommy. However, I am now determined to blog more often, so here I go!

There has been SO much going on in our lives. First, Nola.

Nola has been doing SO good! We have truely won the baby lottery. She is beautiful - very petite and feminine - and she is almost 3 months old! Wow! Where has the time gone? She'll be 3 months on Tuesday, June 8. OK, so she has been the best baby ever. From 6 weeks, she has slept through the night. I know right? Crazy! We are so fortunate. She rarely cries - mostly when you change her diaper or when she is hungry. She is at that fun stage where she is smiling at us and she is starting to notice her toys. She has yet to reach for her toys, however she knows they are there. She is a very content baby. She LOVES tummy time and her swing (Mommy loves her swing too) Unfortunatley for Nola, she actually cut a tooth at 11 weeks! Poor thing has one sore mouth. The teething toys we have found are too big for her petitie little mouth, so she spends alot of time gnawing on her hands or sucking on a cold cloth with mommy. All in all, Nola is the best thing that has ever happened to us!

Second, WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! Holy smokes, we bought our first house. It was pretty crazy how it all happened. Nola was only 5 weeks old and we felt that we needed a bigger place (Its amazing how much space a baby takes up!) so we looked to rent and holy cow, when did Lethbridge become an expensive place to rent? Three bedroom main floors were anywhere from $900 -$1200 PLUS utilities! Crazy! From my banking experience, I knew that we could own a home with paying half of what was being asked for rent, so we went to the bank and then went looking.
We bought a mobile home in Coalhurst, AB. Its just perfect! Its 1116 square feet, has a 2 car garage, a full deck, a sunken living room and an unfinshed addition. We are on a corner lot, so we have lots of yard (and lots of grass - sorry Doug) Also, we own the lot, which is just awesome! We didnt want to have to pay lot fees. We moved in on May 27th - so we've been in for just over a week! Yay new home!!!

Thos are the 2 biggest things going on in our lives here. We are so happy and content. Nola is a dream come true and we are so grateful to have a home all to ourselves. We love you all!

Jess:)

Oh, I'll get some pictures up on here of Nola and the house whenever I figure out how to do that....I'll be calling you Cola!

It's a...Girl!!!!

Hello all,

sorry it has taken us a few days to update the blog - it's been a pretty busy week. I'm going to pick up where I left off with the last post.

On Monday, March 8, Jess continued to have contractions. By about 3:00, Sherry, Jess' mom, had made it to Lethbridge, and upon her arrival she knew right away that Jess was in labor, so we packed up the car and headed to the hospital. Fortunatley, our doctor, Dr. Malach, was already in Labor and Delivery, so he came in to check Jess right away and she was 3-4cm! He said he was just going to deliver another baby, then we were off to the O.R.!!

The C-section went very well! We couldn't believe how quickly it went - only about 10 minutes from when the doctor came in to seeing our baby! We were very nervous about the C-section - it wasn't the deilvery we had hoped for - but we honestly wouldn't change a thing about it. It was a wonderful and positive experience for us.

One of the best parts of the C-section as hearing those words we've waited to hear for the past 9 months - It's a GIRL!! Yay! We were so excited! We secretly wanted a girl, so we were very pleased. We named her Nola Mae - Nola after Jess' Grandma and Mae after Doug's Grandma. She is beautiful an perfect!!!

Recovery has been going great! Jess is getting her staples out today and she is feeling better and better. Nola has been a superstar since day one. She has been feeding so well and she is now getting into a bit of a schedule. Our first night home went very well, however last night was a bit of a challenge. It truely is amazing though - even when we are so tired and she is screaming her head off, we are so deeply in love. We love being parents and we couldn't be happier!

Well, thats about all for now - time is very precious these days! We'll try our best to keep you all updated!

Lots of love
Dougie, Jess and Nola

Drugged

It has been an eventful weekend.

Last night, Sunday March 7, Jess started having contractions around 6:30pm. We were over at a friends house, so we came home and tried to relax and watch the Oscars. By 8:00pm, the contractions were very intense and consistent, so we decided to go to the hospital for Jess to get checked out. Jess was strapped up to the baby monitor for almost two hours! The nurse said that the baby was doing great - she actually said it won "The Happiest Baby" award.

The on-call doctor came in at about 10:00pm. Jess was examined and the doctor said she was about 2cm dilated! But then she gave us a choice that I don't think any expectant couple should ever have to make. She said that she would go ahead and do the c-section for us right then, or she would give Jess a shot of Demerol to help her relax and see if the contractions continue the next day. 100% up to us. It was a pretty hard choice to make - we are ready to be parents and meet our little babe (and Jess is ready to not be pregnant anymore), but we also know that the longer the baby can 'cook', the better the outcome.

As you can tell from the title of this post, we went for the Demerol and sleep. It was a very weird drug to be on - Jess felt contractions all night long, but she was so relaxed, they didn't seem to phase her. All morning Jess has been feeling contractions, yet they haven't been very painful, so we'll see what develops.

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow, Tues March 9 @ 1:30, however the on-call doctor last night didn't think I would make it to the appointment! Who knows, maybe this baby will be here soon??

We'll keep you posted!

Love Dougie, Jess and Blobber

10 days?!?!?

Hello all,

sorry we weren't able to update the blog last night after the appointment. Doug went out to the movie and Jess had her New Beginnings night for Young Women, and by the time we got home, we were both pooped!

So the ultrasound went well - baby is still doing wonderfully! Of course, little one is still very shy, so we didn't get to see a good view of anything but it's little feet and one hand. It was very cute - we could see each individual toe on both feet! Also, baby waved at us!! It's hand was covering it's face, and he/she was opening and closing his/her hand! Again, we could see each finger - it's crazy to think there is an actual person in there.

As for the position of the baby - frank breech (bum down with feet up around baby's head). Fortunatley, the baby's umbilical cord was not wrapped around it's head, but it was drapped across it's chest and over it's little shoulder, so the doctor would not attempt a flip. Of course, we were hoping to try to flip him/her, but we are very grateful that the doctor was not willing to endanger Jess or the baby.

Crazy news? The doctor will be scheduling a c-section for March 15....thats only 10 days away!! Holy smokes! It's crazy to think that in 10 days we will have a little baby, that we will be parents! Of course, if Jess happens to go into labor before then, or if the baby decides to flip on it's own, we will be back to the drawing board, but it's kinda nice to have a plan right now. For all of you that have been or are pregnant, you know how much it sucks in those last couple weeks, so it's kind of nice to know that we'll have the baby by a certain date - I guess thats one of the positive trade off's of having to have a c-section.

Well, thats it for now. We have a doctors appointment on Tuesday, March 9, where we will discuss our plan of action in more detail. We'll keep you posted with any new developments

Love Dougie, Jess and Baby Blob