eleven months!

I can hardly believe that in less than one month, my little babe will be turning ONE.

It feels like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant (and this week I found my pregnancy test in a box of stuff I had packed when we moved. When I found it Matilda walked up to where I was standing and I looked at her and said, "this is YOU!" Such a happy moment of my life is reflected in that little "stick"  For those of you who think it's gross that I still have that - I will have you know that the part you pee on is all capped off, and I peed into a cup so as not to pee all over the stick - so you can rest assured it is clean. Plus I'm not going to ask you to hold it!)

I'm already planning her party, and she is acting more and more like a toddler every day. The biggest thing being when she learned how to walk this past month. She is no longer a helpless little baby. She is a little toddling sweetheart that loves to make me laugh but will also throw a little feet stomping party when I take away the tampons that she thinks are THE BEST toy around. She has her own little personality, and my dad likes to "joke" that "the woman in her is starting to show up" with her little attitude. Poppa better look out when Matti can fend for herself in the teasing department! :)

It's hard to believe she is getting older, but then you spend an hour or 2 with her, and the amount of talking she does will convince anyone that she is no longer a quiet little newborn. And we are loving every minute of it. There really is nothing sweeter than hearing little feet pitter pattering on the floor and opening my eyes to see her sweet face smiling at me as she stands beside my bed in the morning - ready for a kiss!!

This life really is full of sweetness.

Here is her update!
(Click on the picture to enlarge enough to read the text.)

and then she was 9..

Months - nine months!!

Today is a beautiful summer day and right now my sweet girl is fast asleep for her afternoon nap.
There are toys everywhere - little signs of where she was playing, walking (assisted walking), eating.
I love these quiet times that I get to myself when she is sleeping, but whenever I get Matilda up from a nap I say to her, "I missed you!!" and it is true! I love my life with my family of 3.

She is pure sweetness. Whenever I go places with her people say to me, "she's so happy!" or "she can't always be this content, is she?" and the answer is YES! She has such a wonderful and sweet disposition. I love every minute with this sweet little critter!

Here is the update on my girl - she turned 9 months last week - time flies!

(click on the image to enlarge it)

Gleem!

This afternoon I was given the opportunity to sit with my mom and sister, drinking coffee and eating cheesecake all while trying on beautiful pieces of jewellery! We were blessed today by Jane, who makes unique pieces of jewellery, by being given some new jewellery for our wardrobe. Each piece is unique and we were all able to find more than one thing that we loved!

Jane sells her jewellery (Gleem Jewellery) on her etsy store (click here to check it out). You can also see pictures of her stuff on her Facebook page. 

Thank you Jane for taking the time to visit with us and to check out Women Refreshed at the Well, and thank you so much for these beautiful gifts of jewellery!!

Here are some of the pieces we chose!

8 months

Another month has come and gone, and my sweet girl is another month older.

Time is flying by!!

We are loving this summer weather, although she and I both don't love the really hot weather as much - but we do love fans and air conditioning *smile*

It is crazy to me that we are closer to the 1 year mark than the day she was born! She is really growing up!

Here is her update, a few weeks late - seems like she is going to be 9 months before I know it.

(click on the image to enlarge it)

5 months!

I can hardly believe it that it has already been 5 months since my favorite person in the world was born!!

Her 5 month collage is a wee bit late since we are busy moving and adjusting to life these days. 

But better late than never!

Again, click on the picture to make it bigger so you can read all about her these days. The measurements are approximate - I attempted to measure her height with a tape measure while she stood on the table, and her weight - well, there was a bit of a mishap with the scale - long story short, the scale may not be stable enough to hold a baby that doesn't just lay still all the time. haha. So.. approximate!

Life these days...

There has been so much going on these days!

We sold our house and we have to be out by April 26!! I have realize I am not good at packing - and I have never had to pack to live in transition. We will be starting to build our house soon - but it's not ready for us yet!!

My house is currently just rooms full of boxes and piles of things. There are sticky notes on my cupboards. I have endless lists. It's all a bit of a chaotic mess!

But things are still good around here because I have a sweet girl to keep me company!

Matilda is constantly growing and changing. She has the best personality! She laughs a lot and loves to chat. She is snugly after a nap or after I get home from being away from her.

She is exploring the world around her - biting on toys, swatting at everything.

She loves to sit in the bumbo and watch me in whatever I'm doing. She loves to stand in her exersaucer or just sit on a lap.

She has started using her jolly jumper and today she even realized she can sort of bounce around (so far she has just been standing in it). She really makes all of life better and if Mike and I aren't with her - we are talking about her!!

Other things are making us so thankful - the retreat house is done and it was a surreal and overwhelming moment for me when mom cut the ribbon - making it official!

I have started and deleted many a blog post these days. Getting caught up in wanting to hash out issues in my mind - only to realize that it wouldn't do me any good! I have been reminded of the importance of not being completely transparent on my blog. Not that things need to be hidden or dishonest - but that some things are meant to be shared only among a close circle of peers and confidants. Not the whole Internet world! So, instead, those of you who read this are just getting a little update from me! One day when I'm not packing or unpacking, I will try to write something thought provoking or "intelligent" but for now you just simply get to hear about life over here!

4 months!

so i'm a week late with this, but my little babe is already 4 months old!! time flies

she is sweeter, funnier & more loved with each day.
we are so thankful!

(*you may notice that she has "shrunk" in height since last month - but its just due to my measuring last month vs the doctor measuring this month, guess i was a little generous with my tape measurer!!)

click on the picture to enlarge it so you can read what Matti is up to these days!!

3 months

my sweet girl turned 3 months yesterday!

click on the picture to enlarge it - so you can read about what she is up to these days!!

she is pure sweetness.

catching up

I had decided I wanted to make some type of monthly "tradition" to track Matilda's first year.

I thought about buying those stickers that say "1 month" "2 months" etc and then taking a picture of her wearing one on her shirt each month - and, well, we're coming up on 3 months and I don't have the stickers. I also thought about making a little sign or something that we could make each month - good idea, but again, coming up on month 3 and nothing yet! SO. I decided to make up my own thing, and make a collage of sorts - with a couple pictures of her, her "stats" of the month and a list of things that are characteristic of her at that time. So - I am catching up.

(*click on the pictures to make them big enough to read the writing*)

First is her birth announcement (picture by me, and put together beautifully by my dearest friend Audrey)

Then month 1:

And month 2:

and now I am caught up and will post the rest of the months as they happen. I love catching up.

Signs of a new Mom

I have now been a mom for 8 weeks. EIGHT WEEKS! things are going well over here, we are getting some sleep, drinking lots of coffee and getting to know Matilda's sweet personality.

I was thinking today of all the ways my "normal" has changed and was laughing to myself as I was thinking of some of the things that act as clear evidence that I'm a new mom. So I decided to blog about it.

The first way would actually be the fact that I am writing this post on my iPhone while holding my sweet sleeping baby and bouncing on my exercise ball.

Other ways you can tell I'm a new mom:

Getting dressed for the day now means changing out of the pyjama pants I slept in and putting on new pyjama pants for the day.

which pjs should I wear today...

The day's success is measured in hours of sleep and amount of poop. (Hers not mine, although after you have a c-section it takes the body awhile to get back to normal so you do celebrate your own bathroom victories - maybe that is TMI? Haha)

napping in her swing

Time to myself now consists of going to the bathroom in peace, doing a quick washing of all the bottles and maybe a game of scrabble on my phone (I'm getting pretty good!)

bottles washed and unwashed

If I want to drink my coffee hot it needs to be in a travel mug because it never fails that as soon as I take the first sip Matilda wakes up and I have yet to master the drinking of hot liquids and holding her simultaneously.

starbucks blonde roast brewed and poured into my travel mug

I consider lunch successful if I have eaten by 3pm.

My phone is now full of pictures of Matilda instead of my cats. Not a bad thing!

just smiling at her dad

My hair is going grey. And every time I tell someone they say "ya right" and then they look at my head and say, "oh ya!!" I'm considering just chopping it off into the short spikey silver "do" that women seem to do when embracing their grey. Oy.

some shampoo lovingly given to me by my sister, note the purpose: "for blonde, highlighted, and silver hair." :)

I tape shows like Dr Phil to watch during the day when nothing is on (I like having the TV on in the background, makes me feel less like I'm home alone). I also can tell you the best show to watch at most hours of the day, except for 11am, that time slot is hopeless, perfect time to pull out a book!

just imparting wisdom onto the nation. nbd (or no big deal, that's slang my sister uses)

These things and many more are the signs of a new mom - a role I am loving. I am so thankful for my new normal and for the sweetest little girl to call my own.

announcing our sweet new arrival!

well - last time I wrote - I was looking more like this:

and now I'm sitting here looking at this: 

my sweet girl - Matilda Joy Thiessen is finally here!

Born Wednesday morning, November 14 at 3:58am

Weighing 8 pounds 3 ounces

20 inches long

 last night was our first night at home with Matti - and, well we survived! my sweet girl seems to be some what of a cluster feeder every now and then - so she & I are figuring out our routine and Michael is spending lots of quality snuggling time with her when she's not nursing. 

 I am so in love with this little bundle! And I am so thankful for her safe arrival - with a lot of help from Michael, my mom, my nurses and my doctor - who decided to step in and do an emergency c-section (I will write out her birth story eventually and put it on here)

 I know I will write more about her in the next little while, but right now I need to go get a few things done before she's ready to eat again!! And in the mean time I'll just stare at her sweet sleeping face!!

Matilda Joy - Welcome home - you are so loved!

the end of a chapter

It's 2:20pm and I'm sitting here at my office desk for the last time! Today is my last day before my 1 year maternity leave starts (well technically I have some holidays next week so my first day of mat-leave will be November 1).

I have had a countdown going on my little sudoku desk calendar - and today it looks like this:

I have trained my replacement, I have created a very thorough manual, I have received numerous well wishes and some generous gifts, and today I went out for lunch with my co-workers for a delicious Empress of China buffet.

Looking at the date I can't help but think about when I first got this job - I was hired in mid-October of 2010 but didn't start until November - it was a hard time to start a job as 2 years ago tomorrow, one of the dearest people in my life went to heaven - my dear sweet Grandma Klassen. I started this job when I was in a time of deep loss and sadness, and now - 2 short years later, I am leaving this job in a time of much excitement, anticipation and a new little life!

I am thankful for this job that I have had over 2 years - I feel like it was a wonderful place for me, working with great people and really finding ways to use my gifts and talents - especially in things that normally aren't as "exciting" to people - like organizing and doing "menial" office tasks - but I love those things and it helps me thrive, and from the many comments & affirmations I have received - other people notice and appreciate it. It has been fun to work so close to home and to have weekly dates with my Mom-in-law, and have pop by lunches with Michael when he is working in the city. I have had coffee dates with my mom and Phoebe and have had a few "going for coffee"s with Everett, Leah & Rogie. I will miss being here - but I am sooo excited that having this "last day" means we are really just playing the waiting game to when this little one decides to make its debut.

My bags are packed, my office is cleaned out, and now we just wait in anticipation!

motherhood & social media

there are a lot of good things about social media
I'm still connected to social media in a few ways - blogging and pinterest really
I have a facebook with no friends - so that I can use it to enter contests and other things
I occasionally read peoples tweets on twitter (but mostly just to stay up to date with my close friends jef & emily.. haha!)

I have realized over the last 8+ months of being pregnant that social media can be a good thing, but it can also make you feel insecure, make you feel like you don't measure up, make you feel like everyone wants to tell you about everything in their lives so you should want to share all of that too, that you should have a cuter nursery, read more parenting books, post more verses of scripture or songs in your house, drink green smoothies all day long etc. It is overwhelming!! I'm not even parenting yet and already there are days or times that I don't feel like I'm measuring up!

I have also realized that when you are pregnant people want to know some of the following (so I'll put my thoughts next to the questions, incase any of your are DYING TO KNOW what I think..):
- how long did you try to get pregnant (that can be a very sensitive subject for someone who tried unsuccessfully for months or years. we are thankful that was not our situation, and we know we are very blessed and fortunate that we did not have that struggle that some of our friends have had.)
- are you going to do MSS screening (to find out if your child has special needs - and in some peoples cases - to decide whether or not to terminate the pregnancy - We did not want to do this test.)
- are you going to find out the gender of the baby (we did - altho some people have made it clear to me with their reactions that they don't approve of that - oh well, I like being prepared!)
- if you did find out the gender - are you telling? (we aren't - I like the element of surprising all of our friends at the end of the 9 months! But I have no issue with those who decide to tell!)
- are you going to breastfeed? exclusively? (I will do my best! But I think there are times when Moms need to use formula - and I think they are just as wonderful mothers!)
- are you going to use cloth diapers? (no we are not - Michael made it clear that he had no interest in changing a cloth diaper - and I was on the fence, leaning toward disposable.. so it was a pretty easy decision. But, telling some people this answer has left them with a GASP look on their faces. From what I have read - there are pros and cons to both sides of the argument, and in all honesty - I have no interest in being part of that argument. I say, do what works for you - and if your baby is happy - we have success)
- are you going to labour "naturally"? (aka no medication) For the record - I think medication or not, it is all natural. It is still a baby coming out of your body - whether it is vaginally, by c-section, with no medication or with an epidural - it's still a baby coming out of you!! I am going to attempt to do a medicine free vaginal birth - but I have read about all the medication options and the procedure of a c-section.
- are you going to have a birth plan? Nope (or at least not a written one) - my plan is this - be educated and then trust that the doctor I chose to walk me through my pregnancy is more than qualified to make good decisions/suggestions for my care during my labour.
- doula? midwife? birthing center? (This one is a hot topic these days!! I only wanted a doctor - and I was only going to birth at a hospital. Birth is too fragile of a thing for me to not want to be surrounded by doctors/nurses/and all the necessary tools. As for a doula - when Michael and I talked about it, he felt as though a doula would be doing his job - and he wanted his job to be his. I loved that answer. Instead of a doula, I'm having Michael and my Mom as my support people and I feel like this is the best choice for me!!)
- Ok, so how about parenting - attachment parenting? baby wise? somewhere in between? (this is the other "hottest" topic in my opinion, because everyone has an opinion and a method. To be honest - we have LOVED being able to be an Auntie & Uncle to Josh & Leahs kids and to watch how they parent. We love how they treat their kids, how they respect them and how they have a "schedule" but it isn't rigid. My opinion with parenting "technique" is my same as with diapers - do what works for you, happy mom, happy baby - success. Leah read the book Secrets of the Baby Whisperer - and passed it onto me - I like it because it is more inbetween the "extremes" of parenting - and it seems like something that will work for me. Trial and error I suppose..)

I guess my main point of this rant is this - there are a lot of things out there (blogs, pinterest, facebook, twitter and pregnancy forums) that can make me doubt myself and get anxious - but the best advice I've been given is to just trust myself - and to have a few "safe" people that I can confide in about the struggles, and people that I can ask about how they did things etc. I am surrounded by a multitude of wonderful mothers - maybe it's time to focus more on them and what we do have, then to compare to people I (often) don't even know and allow myself to doubt!

Social media - it can be good, but for me, it's something I need to guard against.

4 weeks today until my due date - and this baby is going to be in my care, in my house, and will be my baby! Trusting myself, praying, and a good support system is the key to success I think :)

Here are 2 pictures of me from today incase any of you were wondering if my belly is growing - it really is! This baby is running out of room...

day 27: love/hate

love/hate

i LOVE this picture

it makes me laugh

my dad wanted us (him, myself & my cousin Amanda) to do our "facebook pose"

he was convinced that this is how everyone poses on facebook

this picture also brings me back to my wedding rehearsal

since that's where it was taken

such a fun and wonderful day

so.. hate?

well, i hate that my cousin amanda lives far away!

she moved to Toronto

and I'm happy for her and everything

but really.. it's not here!

4 years and many more to come

us and our 4 sweet ring bearers - kieran, simon, jackson and marcus - and simon is holding a little stuffed animal blue jay since we had Jay as our honorary ring bearer)

 today is my 4th wedding anniversary
4 years ago I married my best friend
and every day since then I have fallen more in love with him
enjoyed his friendship more
found out new things about him
learned how to become a better wife
and have been loving life with him beside me!
this is our last anniversary as a family of 2
next year we will have a baby with us on our annivesary!
we were talking about it when we went out for breakfast today and it is surreal
we are very blessed and very thankful for all that we have
here are some pictures from our wedding & our honeymoon

this is when we went quading in a mexican jungle

hanging out on our balcony on our cruise ship

our rings!

me and my beautiful bridesmaids

here we are- newly married!

our cake toppers - made by Carolyn Fuchs - I still day dream about having another piece of this cake...

happy anniversary Michael. I love you more every day!

day 23: before bedtime

before bedtime -
we brush our teeth
we wash our faces
we watch an episode of one of our favorite shows
we hug and kiss 3 times (one for me, one for mike, one for the baby)
and we fall asleep.

day 22: up

so, these 2 photos are something that never fails to cheer me UP. and that is how it qualifies to fit under the title "up".
my friend audrey & I used to work together and we were at a work conference when we took these pictures and the day had been a bit.. long.
hope they cheer you UP too