Third Trimester

I couple weeks ago I hit my third trimester. I am very happy to be closer to my due date, but I am not looking forward to the aches and pains of the last trimester. I am already feeling swollen and sore...and I still have 10 weeks to go! Oh man, what have a gotten myself into.


Here I am at 29 weeks

Zoo day!

This year, we celebrated my birthday by a fun day to the Calgary Zoo. I was SO happy, not only did Doug, Nola and I go, but my parents, my in-laws and Dori came! I was SO happy to have my family with me :) And of course, Nola was in heaven. The WHOLE time, either Grandpa (my Dad) or Papa (Doug's Dad) carried her around and tended to her every 'ooh' and 'ahh'. She was so good, although she wanted nothing to do with either Doug or I. We would try to pick her up and she would kick, scream and reach for the closest Grandad! Haha, bless her.

Nola's first hair cut :)

On July 8th, at exactly 16 months old, little Miss Nola Mae got her first haircut! I'll admit, she should have gotten a haircut much earlier, but I just didn't have the heart. The little pony tail on top of her head was her trade mark! I could just go and cut it off?!?! But alas, the time came and the pony tail went. At first, she looked so weird to us! Doug kept saying "It's so weird...she doesn't look like Nola!" But, as you can tell from the photos, she looks adorable!

We took her to Beaners Fun Cuts for Kids and she was pretty stoked about it. She got to sit in a pink and purple jeep and the hair dresser blew bubbles for her. It was a pretty sweet set up!

Well here she is, my big little girl!

Before

After

Cabin time!

Over Canada Day long weekend, we went out to my family cabin at Moyie Lake in BC. We had a BLAST!! Nola was a dream - she played out in the dirt, had great naps and swam at the beach! We went to Fort Steele for the Canada Day festivities and met up with Clint, Nickie, Keith and Kori. It was fun, but boy was it hot!! Mind you, I am always hot, so I guess I'm a little biased. For the remainder of the weekend, so went to the lake, relaxed around the fire and went for lots of nature walks. It was the perfect trip :)

Update on little Nola Mae

During Nola's first year of life, I would do a monthly update on her. Well, she is now nearly 16 months old and I haven't updated in a while, so here is a little bit about Nola Mae today!

- She is a happy girl. A really, really happy girl. She is super social and sweet! Anytime we go out in public, she will honestly stop at EVERY person she sees, waves and says 'Hi!' It is so sweet to watch! Most people goo and gah over her...obviously :)

- She is a great sleeper. Of course, like all human beings, she has her off nights, but she has been a super sleeper! We lay her down and she'll put herself to sleep! If she's not tired yet, she'll play in her crib until she's tired. There are many nights we hear her turn on Tabby or kick the wall to burn some energy. Every time I hear her, I can't help but smile.

- Nola is bottle free! Yay! At 15 months, she started losing interest in her bottle, so I figured I would run with it! She will take a sippy cup of milk in the morning and then eats rice cereal before bed! I am honestly so happy! I was scared that I would still have to feed her a bottle before bed when the new baby comes, and that overwhelmed me. She loves her Mommy and she's looking out for me :)

- Thanks to Auntie Cola (AKA The Baby Whisperer) Nola has learned a few pieces of Baby Signing. Now, I am not all into the Baby Signing. I know its all the rage, but I was never interested...well, I wasn't until Nola started yelling at me for more food. She was driving me nuts! I had to be 100% on top of having food on her tray or she would yell at me! I tried to teach her to sign 'more', I tried to teach her to say 'mum-mum', I tried to ignore the yelling...I felt like I had tried everything, and nothing was working! Well, one afternoon with Auntie Cola and Eva and voila! Nola signs 'more' when she wants more! Since then, Doug and I have taught her 'drink' and 'all done'. It is so sweet when she walks up to me and signs 'more' 'drink'. I know what she wants! Yahoo!!

- Nola is learning who people are and recognizing them. I am not too sure exactly when this happened, but it was really cool to see her figuring it out! When we are with the family, I will say 'Go see Grampa' and she will look around for him, find him and walk right over! Its little things like this that make her seem so grown up.

Nola is the light of my life, the apple of my eye. I never knew I could feel love like this! Since I have been home from work, it has been so amazing to spend all of my time with her - to play and watch her grow. She is turning into a wonderful little girl and I am so proud of her!

I like shoes :)

Nola loves the show rack - LOVES it! Like I have said before, it amazes me that we as parents/aunts/uncles/grandparents spend so much money buying kids toys, yet all they want to do is play with stuff around the house. Nola has been playing with the shoes for a while and she has now figured out that shoes go on her feet! She can't quite figure out how to put her own shoes on, so she works with what she's got. I just love her!

Progress

It has been an interesting journey for me for the last month or so. This pregnancy has really taken a toll on me - physically and emotionally - and in turn has taken a toll on both Doug and Nola. As I posted earlier, I have been doing my best to focus on all of my many blessings, and it has honestly made a huge difference. I have been able to let go of lots of the negative in my life and embrace the things I can do and the things I can change.

After many trips to the doctor, I am finally on a medicinal concoction that seems to be working! Yay! I am very happy to not be vomiting excessively anymore, however there are definitely some down falls of being on 3 different kinds of medication at the same time. I feel as if I eat more pills than food these days, which is really something to say because I eat alot, but I am glad to have some relief.

Time seems to be burning by this pregnancy. I cannot believe I am already 24 weeks! I remember being pregnant with Nola, time seemed to drag by. I was counting down the days to be one week further along. Now, I can't seem to remember which week I am in! I am sure chasing around my toddler has helped in this department :)

This is a picture Doug just took of me. I don't look too good, but it is the end of a long weekend! Here I am at 24 weeks!