Wow!

We are currently about half an hour outside of Red Deer and we both can't wait to just get home. It's been a very long 2 days.

Tyler's well deserved vacation started Tuesday afternoon after he got home from work. We had everything packed and ready to go on the weekend except for the last minute items, including Kitten and all her travel items, our travel clothes and toiletries. Our plan was to go to bed at 8 that night to get a good night sleep under our belt before the big journey.

I have a tendency to toss and turn if I can't get comfortable while trying to fall asleep and Tyler has been saying for the past few weeks that I might have to sleep in Kittens room so I wouldn't keep him awake that night. I agreed because I knew he needed to be well rested because he was the one actually driving. Along with that agreement, I also woke up early a few days before our trip so I would be tired earlier in the night in the hopes that on Tuesday night i would be able to just fall asleep.

So we head to bed and I actually fall asleep pretty quickly for about half an hour. Then Tyler got up to use the bathroom and our plan was ruined. I woke up and we both couldn't sleep. Tyler ended up being the one tossing and keeping me awake until after 11 pm. He tried everything to get to sleep but I guess his mind was racing so he didn't get to sleep until after midnight.

To top that off, he woke up before the alarm went off Wednesday morning at 4. I came out of my sleep haze to find a chipper Tyler ready to get the day started. I had a wake up shower while Tyler packed the remaining items into the car. He showered and with a miserable kitty secured in her pet taxi, we headed down to the ferry terminal. That short little ride had me stressing out because we had almost no gas in our car and I was afraid we wouldn't make it. But we got to the ferry dock, signed in and waited.

The ferry rules state to be there 3 hours ahead of time. We were there 2 hours early and no one else was there. People don't tend to follow the rules in Bella Bella so we could have gotten more sleep after all.

The ferry came on time and we left on time. As we walked around the boat we made an observation about the public. For some reason, traveling gives people the excuse to be grubby hobos. There were people sleeping on the floor and on benches with what looked like no clothes on. It was kind of gross.

We found a place to sit, looking out into the darkness and watched the sun come up. It looked really beautiful as the mountains became outlined and the sky turned pink in the
morning light. Not a bad way to start a trip.

We had breakfast on the ferry, which means we bought over priced food that wasn't very good and made me feel sick. I was afraid that the rocking of the boat combined with the nasty food would equate to me throwing up for the first time in my pregnancy. We did a few laps to get the blood flowing and went into the gift shops to see what other over priced stuff they were trying to sell.

For the most part we relaxed and enjoyed the ride. I cross stitched while Tyler did his own thing. When he was allowed, Tyler went to make sure kitten was doing okay.

The ferry docked in Port Hardy at about 1:30 Wednesday afternoon. We got to our car to find that Kitten left us a few gifts to show us how upset she was at being left alone. Tyler had to clean his seat and wasnt too impressed with her.

We made it to Hardy and filled our tank for the first time since moving to Bella. It hurt to see those numbers creep up as the price of gas was $1.30 a liter. We then headed to the store to pick up travel food and we squeezed lunch in there as well.

And we were on our way south by 2:30. Our goal was to be in Nanaimo by 6:30 to catch the ferry over to Vancouver. The drive was very uneventful which is what we were praying for. The weather was beautiful and clear so we didn't have to worry about slippery roads or anything.

We ended up making the ferry in Nanaimo with only one stupid directional mistake made by myself. Even in Nanaimo people recognized us so we stopper and talked with our fellow Bella Bella residents.

We got to our friends house where we were staying last night. She used to work in Bella and played cards with her until she had a baby and moved to Vancouver. And it was fantastic to see her again. We ended up staying up later then we should have and headed to bed around midnight.

We got up this morning at 5 and gathered our belongings. After saying bye, gassing up the car and finding our way to highway 1, we were headed home once again.

The drive was beautiful. The land we drove through was snowy and mountainy and just perfect. We stopped a few times for food and to stretch and to give kitten a break as well. We didn't see any animals but learned a few things about Kitten. She doesn't like the car to be too hot. If it gets past her comfort level, she wakes up, tries to sit on Tyler and meows a very deep meow until she gets what she wants.

I was keeping my dad updated on our progress with texts so that was fun. He's a funny guy so the texts broke up the mundane drive.

Tyler and I did have a really great time though. We listened to music, talked and laughed and enjoyed the couped up time together.

We are now about half an hour away from Tyler's parents place and I can't wait to get off my butt. Also to see family again. It's nice that it's not super late so we can chat with Tyler's family.

What a long trip it's been but it's almost over now. We have been timing it and I think we are going to end up with over 25 hours of solid travel time. That's not including all stops we made.

And being pregnant hasn't made it a comfortable drive. When I get out to stretch, it hurts so bad that I limp and am hunched over. I have been feeling baby J move a lot and now the grandparents might also get to feel it too.

It's good to be home!!!

I'm not sure if we will be blogging while we are home. Maybe not every night but maybe weekly. We don't know and right now we aren't worried about it. Just wanted to let you avid readers know to not expect too many posts in the coming weeks.

Sonja

How exciting!!

We are very excited that today has finally come.  Even Baby J seems to know that something fun and exciting is happening over the next few days as I've been getting kicked a lot more today.  It's been a busy last few days and it will be good to get this trip going.

This morning started early.  Tyler got out of bed at his regular 6:45 am time and showered.  He was going to wake me up once he was out of the shower so I closed my eyes and waited.  Tyler came and woke me up after what seemed like only a few minutes but it was actually about 45 minutes later.  It's so strange when that happens.  I really didn't want to get up but I understand why it had to be done.  We are planning on heading to bed around 8 tonight to make sure we get enough sleep.  It's going to be an early morning tomorrow, starting at 4 am and ending at whatever time we get into Vancouver.  

Once Tyler headed off to work, I started work on my cross stitching.  This project is what will be keeping me busy on our very long trip home.  I also watched some morning news.  Once the news was over, I turned the TV off and just enjoyed the silence.  I ate some cereal for breakfast to help with emptying out the fridge of milk and just enjoyed the morning.

I had a to do list waiting for me but for some reason I didn't just get it done.  I'm not sure why I didn't feel like it, maybe because it wasn't that long so it didn't seem that urgent.  I played a few rounds of solitare instead.  I did eventually get it started, with doing a few dishes, cleaning the kitchen floors and vacuuming the whole house again.  I also had to pay the internet bill and cancel our service for the next few months.  I gathered a few of the things that still need to be packed but that we have been using at the front door for easy packing tonight.  

Tyler came home for lunch and we enjoyed some time together, thinking about all that we have to do tonight.  He soon left again for his last half of the work day.  He is about to start a very well deserved vacation and I guess his day was going pretty slow so it wasn't easy to head back to work for him.

I went for a walk this afternoon and was going to pay the internet bill on the way home.  I tend to waddle a little more these days so my walks last longer and I look a little funnier.  I came back home to wait to head out once again to go to a doctors appointment.  

And then it was time to get going to the doctors.  It was just a regular appointment and everything went fantastic.  My doctor actually said that it seems like I just flew through this pregnancy and I am very thankful for that.  There is still a very strong heartbeat which I love hearing.  It's like there is a little pac man moving around in there.  And Baby J had been kicking me so much in the lower stomach area, so much so that when I was in the middle of saying something to Tyler, a kick stopped me mid-sentence.  

We just finished up what's left in our fridge and are getting ready for bed.  It's a good thing we are both pretty tired right now.  We just have to make sure to go to bed before we get a second wind.  I'm not too sure what we will be doing this evening but it's going to be super low key.

Pray for our safe travels and safe road conditions for us.  That would be greatly appreciated.

Sonja

1 day

In 48 hours we will almost be done the first day of of trip home.  We will hopefully be just leaving Nanaimo on the ferry across to Vancouver.  That is if everything goes as planned on the first ferry and drive down the island.  But first there is one more day of work for me to get through.  It is going to be a long day tomorrow.  It is always the longest the day before your vacation starts.  If its anything like today was it will be slow.  The day seemed to drag by today.  It was miserable outside so that is the main cause I'm sure.

Last night was my last night of being on call.  My month of on call is finally over.  It wasn't too bad, only a couple of middle of the night call backs and busy weekends.  It was nice to come home today and to be home early and not need to worry about maybe being called in again.  I came home and we quickly went to the store and picked up our free bag of rice.  Now we don't need to worry about them not accepting the coupon when we get back.

I also checked the tire pressure after work to make sure the tires will handle our drive home.  I'm glad I did because one of them was down to 12.5 psi.  I now just have to check the oil again before leaving.

We had a simple supper of a pizza from the store.  It was good and leftover free.  That is the main thing.  We want the fridge to be empty by the end of tomorrow night.  We will be going to bed kinda early to prep for tomorrow when we need to sleep early and get up even earlier.

We are now just watching Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  It will surely be to bed after this.

Tyler

December 18th, 2011

What a weekend we've had.  We've been so busy that the last 2 days have flown by and I couldn't tell you where they went.

Last night, we were able to get to bed and fall asleep right away because yesterday was such a busy busy day.  And this morning, I was awake earlier then I wanted to be but that's okay.  We had a lot to do today and even though Tyler was still asleep, I felt that if I got out of bed I would be able to get a good start on the day.

Tyler followed me shortly afterwards and we got a start on our day.  First things first, Tyler made biscuits for breakfast and soon we were enjoying the morning together.  And then we started our day.  Tyler started with taking out the recycling and garbage while I did the mornings dishes.

The recycling and garbage take out took longer then dishes, so I started on packing up all our clothes.  That didn't take too long either and soon all 3 giraffe suitcases were crammed full of clothes, including tiny tiny baby clothes.  Surprisingly, Baby J's clothes are taking up most of papa giraffe suitcase (the biggest on we have).

And then the hard work started.  The actual packing of the car was all done by Tyler because I can't really lift anything heavy and the grass was really slippery so I couldn't really do much even if I wasn't pregnant.  Tyler managed to get everything all packed away nicely and he can still see out the back window so that's good.  The sad thing was that I did very little of the hard work and yet I was so tired while I was sitting as Tyler instructed me to do, I almost fell asleep.  My feet were buzzing and I felt so lame.  I can usually do stuff and not get really tired but not any more.  baby J must be growing a ton right now because I'm always so tired and today, since we were moving and packing and doing a bunch of things, I was more tired then ever before.  Tonight should be a really great sleep for me.

After Tyler was done packing the car, we showered and sat down to watch a movie.  And relax.

For dinner, we headed over to the hospital to enjoy a turkey meal with some of Tyler's co-workers.  It was fun and really tasty.  There was also M&M's, cookies and jelly beans which is really what I have been wanting to eat a ton of lately.  We listened to some people sing karaoke which was pretty awful.  We also found out that there was a community event going on at the hall so we headed there next.

The whole town seemed to be there and we sat with our friends and enjoyed the festivities.  There was a dj and singing and little kids were dancing.  I think the best part was that I got to hold a week and a half old baby, and he was so cute.  It was also pretty cute to see all the little kids get so excited for santa to show up and give them all gifts.  It was a fun way to spend an evening after a very long weekend of packing.

So now, there are only 2 more days until we take off on our big trip.  We are so excited to get home and be around old normal life.  Also, it's hard to believe that our baby is due oh so very soon.  And we can't wait!!!

Sonja

One more thing, Baby J has been kicking me in the ribs a ton and it's not so much fun.  I don't need that to happen again.  And I'm super tired so excuse the real lack of effort put into this blog.... I just feel lame right now.

Steamy

Yesterday the internet wasn't working when it came time to blog so we weren't able to post anything.  So I do a bit of a double blog tonight.  Yesterday was a good day.  I didn't need to study any more, so that wasn't looming over my head.  I was able to do some things around the lab and just was nice to not worry that I needed to study if I didn't want to do it at home.  But it was still a slow day, that doesn't need much more mentioning.

I was able to come home on time and we were going to have pasta to clean up some of the pasta sauces in the fridge.  So we boiled up some spaghetti and Sonja went to drain the water.  We don't like using our colander just because it is big and a pain to clean when we are done, so we usually just pour water out with the lid on.  Sonja tried to do this but something happened and half of the spaghetti ended up in the sink.  So Sonja had what was left in the pot and I made some chicken strips and fries to eat instead.

After supper our friends Kendra and Jessica came over.  Kendra was only here for a little bit, she was leaving today and still had to pack and clean her place so she left kinda early.  Jessica stayed for a bit and  we played a game of Phase 10.  I lost and was just a terrible game for me.  I think we stayed up for a little bit longer but went to bed around 11 as we were pretty tired.

I was able to sleep in this morning, again because I didn't need to study this morning.  I got up just after 10.  However the relaxing day didn't last long.  We wanted to clean up the place before leaving.  I borrowed the steam cleaner from the hospital and we cleaned the carpets.  I'm pretty sure that they haven't been clean since before we moved out here.  So the day was spent moving everything around, vacuuming and then steaming the carpets.  We did the whole floor, so everything was moved out and then back to where it belongs.

It was a pretty tiring day for me, being the only one in a condition suitable to moving furniture.  But now the carpets are clean and the baby can crawl around all over on them and not just be on the gross carpet.  That job took until 3 when I got called into work for a quick xray.  I came home shortly and continued cleaning and organizing the house so that packing tomorrow is a little bit easier.  We have also been doing laundry all day.  I think the 5th load is in there right now.  We have clothes and sheets and couch cover and you name it, we washed it today.  Our place is going to be super clean when we get back, so all we need to do on our return is unpack.

Tomorrow is out packing day.  We will be packing up what we need to bring and putting it into the car.  It isn't supposed to rain tomorrow, so I won't get soaked doing it, and won't be slipping and falling with all our stuff.  It has been pretty wet out side for the last few days, so I'm glad that it should be letting up tomorrow.  We also need to get the car packed tomorrow, because by the time I get off work it is pretty close to dark and I want to be able to see what I'm doing.

For supper tonight I made hamburgers.  I had started combining the ingredients, when I realized I didn't have an egg to use for a binder.  I decided to make them anyway and they still turned out just fine.  The rest of the night has been spent watching the Oilers game and freeing up space on the laptop.  The game is tied at 2 going into the third, so we will see what happens.

Tyler

Test day

Well, today has been a day Tyler and I have been looking forward to for a while now.  He was supposed to write his last final exam tonight at 6:30 pm and be done with the course and be free of studying until he starts his last course in January.  He went in at 6:15 pm to get himself ready and soon I was getting text messages saying that the test wasn't popping up in the place it's supposed to (I don't know what it's called but it's on his online course thing).  He said that he doesn't have his teachers phone number and therefore couldn't even call her.  He started emailing everyone he could think of and came home, understandably frustrated.  And then it was a waiting game.  He had to wait for an email or phone call from one of the many people he emailed, mainly NAIT tech support.  After about half an hour of constantly refreshing the computer and playing with Kitten to blow off some steam, he finally got an email in his inbox.  He headed into work to find out that he was able to now write his test.  So, that is where he is now and I decided to give him a hand and write his night's blog.

We played a few rounds of yahtzee last night and Tyler got the highest score we have ever seen in one of the rounds.  Usually, we average around 200ish but last night he got over 450.  He got 2 yahtzees and the top bonus and really good on pretty much every thing else.  I had no hope.  And then we headed off to bed pretty early.  Tyler was super tired so we went to bed at 9, both convinced we would be able to get to sleep right away.  It didn't work out that way for me though and therefore Tyler didn't get to stay asleep until after 11.  Baby J was pressing and squeezing my bladder and I went to the bathroom two times in about an hour.  I also had The Itsy Bitsy Spider stuck in my head and I couldn't remember the second line so I was replaying it over and over again in my head.  I just couldn't get to sleep.

I woke up this morning before Tyler went to work and enjoyed breakfast with him.  I wish I could stay asleep longer because those days are quickly coming to an end and I need to enjoy it.  But, I got up and had some granola again.  Tyler went to work and I enjoyed a morning relaxing, playing on the computer, doing the dishes and I ended the morning with a walk around town.  While I was out, my stomach started to cramp up and hurt a little so I slowed down and came right home.  It went away right away so nothing to be concerned about.

Tyler came home and left again for work.  My afternoon was spent cross stitching, playing with a coneless Kitten, trying to get Baby J out of my ribs and a few other little things.  It wasn't too eventful but I enjoyed it.  I also started to make dinner which was mac and cheese with a special request from Tyler, extra cheese.

Tyler was home right on time and we ate dinner together.  He was able to relax before he thought he was going to write his test.  He left for his test and I continued cross stitching.

And now I'm sitting here by myself while Tyler is writing his test.  He should be almost done though and I know he will do so good on it.  It's just too bad he had to go through a bit of a stressful frustrating experience before he actually wrote it.  The good thing about Tyler is that he is such a relaxed guy that even though it was annoying, I'm sure it didn't phase him at all.

As stated before, Baby J likes to live up in my ribs and I'm not sure what body part is up there.  It's round and hard so it's one of two ends.  It's so much fun to feel and see this child move.  I love it!

Sonja

December 14th, 2011

It feels good to know that in one week, Tyler, Kitten and I will be driving down Vancouver Island on our way home for Christmas.  That's assuming the ferry does come in that morning and our car doesn't break down due to lack of gas.  But we are hopeful we will make it and so looking forward to the trip.  Our short stop over in Port Hardy will be exciting as we are going to Subway for lunch, which is a place that calls Tyler's name, and then we are heading to the grocery store to get some food for the road.  I have every intention on eating healthy along the way, plus I plan on bringing cut up carrots.  I don't want to eat a ton of junk food because I'm sure my stomach can't handle it.  Since junk food is so expensive out here, we hardly buy it so we've been mostly eating healthy since moving out here...  I don't want to be trapped in a car as I find out how my stomach deals with junk.

Today has been a good day.  I was able to sleep in but I think I tossed and turned for about an hour and a half before Tyler got out of bed, meaning he didn't have as great of a morning.  I got out of bed to find the weather gloomy and rainy.  Days like this make me want to head right on back to bed.  It's like the clouds suck up all motivation I might have had to get things done through out the day.  Kitten soon joined me and to my surprise, she had a note taped to her cone.  She jumped up on the couch and I took the note off.  It was a note from her saying, "Hi Mom.  Please leave my cone on so my wounds can heal for Christmas".  I guess she wants to look good for family Christmas pictures in front of the tree.  I can't blame her for that.

I ate my breakfast while playing on the computer and watching a bit of tv.  Since I slept in, it wasn't long before I had to think about making Tyler's lunch and doing the dishes.  I did my chores and Tyler came home for lunch.  It's super awesome to spend time together at lunch.  It's going to be strange when we don't live 30 seconds away from Tyler's work and we can't spend that extra time together.

I went to the store after Tyler headed back to work.  I still haven't gotten all the grocery list items yet and I knew that today wasn't going to bring much success.  We still needed chicken, tortilla shells and carpet cleaner.  I figured that if they didn't have those items unpacked by yesterday, then they probably wont be on the shelves this week.  I wasn't able to find real chicken but I bought some chicken fillets that will do the trick I need it to.  I also bought Mandarin oranges because they are always so so good.

After coming home, I worked on my cross stitch pretty much all afternoon.  It's getting close to being done but I'm still concerned I'll run out of thread.  We will see.  I guess if I can't complete it, we will be home soon enough that I can just go buy some more thread.  It will be strange to have that luxury again - the ability to buy anything we could possibly need without having to order it online or go without.

Our plans for this evening are as follows - Tyler will be studying as his last final exam is tomorrow.  He will be studying until about 9pm or as late as his brain will function.  I probably will play with Kitten and cross stitch.  Maybe I'll do the dishes tonight so that tomorrow I can have the treat of not doing them.

Baby J has been squirming a lot today.  I've been paying attention to the times that he does move and I'm hoping that will give me some idea as to when he might be awake after he is born.  I'm thinking it wont help at all because with him out in the world, he wont have the constant food supply he has now and there is the small problem of changing the diaper I will have to deal with.... but I'm trying to learn what this baby might be teaching.

Sonja

One week.  One more week of work until I am on holidays.  The time can't go fast enough.  I have one more exam on Thursday, then I can relax.  But only relax from studying.  Then the real work begins.  We have to clean the house before we leave and I have to get my tetris master on and pack the car for our trip.  Also the oil needs to be check and tire pressure and all that pre-trip stuff.  Oh and the car need to be seen if it will even start.

Today was an all right day.  I was woken up at six with my work phone letting me know that it needed to be charged.  So I had to get up to charge it to make it stop alerting me.  I went back to bed, but didn't get back to sleep as well as I was before being woke.

I went into work same as any other day.  It's getting tougher and tougher to do it, knowing there is only a week left before being off.  But I'll power through and it will be that much better.  The day was kind of busy and I wasn't able to get as much studying done as I wanted.  I did get a good chunk done today, but there is still more needing to be done.  Two more days of it.

I came home on time today and found that Sonja was just starting supper.  We were having tacos tonight.  They were good, but they only had hard shell tacos, which are kind of a pain to eat.  You can only put so much in them.  I was always having to fill a new shell.  It is just a tedious process, but the meal was still good and filling.

After supper I started to study some more.  I got through almost all that I wanted to.  I will go over all my stuff again a couple more times tomorrow and will hopefully be ready for my exam on Thursday.  I am so ready for it to come.  After I hit the 8 o'clock deadline that I set for myself we watched our episode of Dexter from Sunday.  We were supposed to watch it last night, but somehow I downloaded the wrong episode and it was one we already had seen.  So I got the right episode this time.  It was good, but they still have a little ways to go to wrap up the season in the next episode.

Now were are just relaxing with Planet Earth on and I am ready to go to bed.  My eyes were dropping earlier.

Tyler

Monday, Dec. 12th, 2011

Today, I've been thinking about all the things I'm looking forward to about being home.  Of course there is the typical "seeing family and friends" which I almost always mention because I am looking so forward to being able to be around my family and friends.  But there are the smaller things that we've been missing out on for the last almost 2 years, and that's what I've been thinking about today.  The very first and most important thing is our mattress.  It is probably the world's most comfortable mattress and the one thing we have really missed.  I'm looking forward to climbing onto that mattress the first night we are back, after 2 solid days of traveling and getting to, once again, enjoy a night of sleep on that beloved thing.  The best part about it is that we will be rolling into the Jarrett's driveway some time in the evening of the 22nd, and apart from catching up with family and semi unpacking, our mattress will be one of the first things that we get to enjoy.  And I'm so looking forward to that.

Today, I've also been thinking about all the things we need to pack for our trip home.  I made out some lists and things we need to accomplish before we take off mostly because I love making lists but also to get some organization into my head.  I have so many thoughts like, "Oh, we can't forget that," and, "Have to remember to clean that," that it's hard to keep track of them all unless I put them in a list.  I just hope that we don't forget anything too important, but I don't think there is anything like that on the list so far so we should be safe.  And I live by something my parents taught me growing up - if you forget something, you can always buy it when you get there.  This saying usually applied to when we would be going camping in the summer but it very much applies to this trip too.  I'm sure we can't possibly think of all the things we will be needing for those 10 weeks especially with Baby J coming so I'm trying not to stress about the list.

On to today's events.  It was a pretty great day.  I didn't even hear the alarm go off and suddenly Tyler wasn't in the bed with me any more.  Or perhaps Tyler got out of bed before the alarm went off.  I'll have to ask him.  Either way, I was able to stay asleep and was only awoken when Tyler came to kiss me goodbye.  I stayed in bed a little longer, with Kitten purring away on my legs, playing sudoku.

Once out of bed, I warmed up Tyler's leftover milk and gave it to TK who was waiting eagerly for it.  Tyler is pretty upset that I've gotten attached to that little kitty because he told me not to but I can't help it.  She is way to cute and even though I know she isn't helpless, I feel like taking care of her.  Plus, Tyler's milk always just goes down the drain any way so what's the harm in giving it to TK?

I did the dishes and kind of cleaned up the kitchen a bit.  It wasn't a busy morning for me.  I have found a way to make my granola even more filling though so that's nice.  I always heat up some peanut butter, which is used as a binding agent, and then I put some granola in and mix it all around.  I then add just a few chocolate chips for some tasty flavor and put it in the fridge.  For the last few days, I've also been adding whole/halved peanuts to the mix and I find that it keeps me full longer.  It's a really great way to start my day off.

I made a sandwich for Tyler and cut up a few carrots for myself and waited for him to come home from work for lunch.  He did and we enjoyed some time together.  Since he has been sick and having to blow his nose every 5 minutes this weekend, he wasn't sure he would be staying at work all day today.  He doesn't want to get everyone else sick.  But he told me that his nose has some what dried up and isn't being high maintenance any more, which means he must be getting better.  I'm really glad that I didn't get as sick as he did.  It probably helps that I can sleep all I want and I don't have to spend what's left of my brain power in the evening studying for 2 courses.  He's been a real trooper and I'm so proud of him. He's actually out writing a test right now, a midterm on the lower body.  I'm sure he will be home soon as he usually doesn't take too long on these tests.  And I'm sure he will ace it.  He's pretty darn smart.

My afternoon was filled with a trip to the store, cross stitching and a movie.  They still don't have any boxes of chicken at the store so I'll have to change a few of my menu items or just have those meals later in the week.  I also worked out a bit and I got to watch the snow fall.  I love snow, another thing I'm looking forward to.  Of course it didn't stick around and now it's raining pretty hard outside, but at least this afternoon when it really mattered, I got to watch it snow.

Our plans for tonight kind of revolves around TV and on most nights I hate admitting that, but we have an episode of Dexter to watch and one of Tyler's favorite shows is coming back on the air tonight.  Fear Factor will be on in about half an hour from now and Tyler has been looking forward to watching it for weeks now.  I've heard stories of him and his best friend and how they use to do Fear Factor like stunts with each other.  I think that just means they would jump off really tall buildings but it's fun to hear those stories.

Tyler is currently out writing his test and there is a hard baby part up in my ribs.  I'm not sure what part it is but it's for sure either a head or a butt.  At my last appointment the Dr. said Baby J was head down already so I don't know if he would have turned over or not, but whatever part it is, it's hard and it makes breathing more of a chore then it has been before.  But I love this kid already so I'll let it slide.

Sonja

T-10

Ten days from now we will have enjoyed a great lunch at subway and a long drive down the island and another ferry across to Vancouver.  I can't wait.

I was awakened by the cat running around like an idiot.  Scratching on everything in sight and being just generally annoying.  I wanted to sleep in longer than 8:30 but it wasn't in the cards for today.  So since I needed to study I got up and told Sonja to go back to sleep.  I got her bowl and fed her some of her food and took her cone off.  She ate until she was full and then tried to take off.  I had to chase her and put her cone back on because I needed to study and didn't have time today to chase her around.

Once she was back settled down again, I got into studying.  I was doing a final today so it was last minute studying and studying for my next test on Thursday.  I studied for a bit and when I was done we went to the store to see if they had the last few things unloaded yet.  They didn't so it was up one aisle and down the next and back out the door.  We came back home and I studied for my next test.  Just before 2 I had a shower and then went over to the hospital to write my test.  I got all logged on and ready to write my test and the password won't work.  So Kate called my instructor to try to find out what was going on.  She was playing soccer and would be unavailable for the next 2 hours.  So I came back home and had to wait some more.  It was not an ideal situation, as I was ready to have my test done earlier so I could relax for the rest of the weekend earlier.  So I came home and took out the garbage and tried to relax on the couch.  We also went back to the store some point before I wrote my test.  We got some buns and chocolate milk and came home.

We watched the the Jim Carey version of the Grinch, while I waited to get word that the password was going to work.  So I went back to the hospital and tried writing my test again.  This time the password worked and I was actually able to write it.  It didn't take me too long to do and came back home.  I feel like I did pretty good on it.  But I'll see in a couple days if that feeling is right.

I came home and the Grinch was still on, but just finishing up.  Sonja stuck a couple of chicken burgers in the oven and I got ready for supper.  It was nice to be home and have the evening to ourselves and not needing to worry about studying some more, until tomorrow when the cycle starts all over again.

Sonja is saying that she is tired so we will probably go to bed shortly, even though we have Dexter on the download and could watch it tonight.  We'll see what happens.

Tyler

Saturday December 10, 2011

Another Saturday done and in the books.  It was a really good day for me but I'm not sure Tyler would agree with me.

His day started at 3:30 this morning when his work phone started ringing.  Luckily he had just went to the bathroom and wasn't quite asleep yet.  He headed into work and I fell back asleep.  When he did come back, I was in the bathroom.  My bladder is losing a battle for space at the moment so I tend to spend more and more time in that room.  So, Tyler came back home and since I was awake, he said to my belly, "You better stay in there at least until we are on our way home!"  It turns out that yet another pregnant woman was thought to be going into labor and it may have freaked Tyler out just a bit.  We said good night and were ready to get back to sleep when the phone started ringing again.  It was the hospital again saying that there was some blood work to do and that they forgot to tell Tyler about it when he was there 5 minutes earlier.  So Tyler headed back into work for another half an hour.

Tyler was able to sleep until 7:30am when his phone started ringing again.  He went into work while I continued to sleep.  He came home at some point but I didn't hear him.  I was out of it until 11.  Even though I was not the one going into work I was still super exhausted - must be all this baby growing but don't feel sorry of for me.  Tyler is the one who should be sleeping that late because he works so hard at work and then studying and to top it all off he is getting sick.  But he didn't come back to bed when he got home.  He went right to studying and stayed that way most of the day.

Once I did get out of bed, I fed TK some warm milk and then played with my own Kitty.  I ate some breakfast and played on the computer for a bit before doing some chores.  I did the dishes and folded the laundry.  It really didn't take long so soon I was on the couch making the weekly menu.  That has turned into my least favorite thing to do on Saturday.  I just have no inspiration because I want to cook new meals but we only have so many recipe books out here and it's all getting so repetitive.  But I managed to come up with 7 meals and then I just had to wait for Tyler to finish up what he was doing to head out to the store.

Now, the weather up until this point was kind of awesome, meaning it wasn't raining and although the sun wasn't shining brightly, it wasn't gloomy outside.  I thought it was the perfect time to go to the store. But I had to wait for Tyler to be done what he was reading.  By the time he was done reading, it was pouring outside.  So we headed out to the store in the rain and got there soaking wet.  We did manage to get most of the food items on our list so that was great.  Our walk home was much dryer.

Tyler got called to work once we got home so I unloaded the groceries and I think started cross stitching.  When Tyler came back home I did a bit of a work out and then showered.  It was awesome.  After the shower, I continued on my cross stitch.  Tyler was finally done studying for his test so we were able to spend the whole afternoon relaxing and just being together.  As stated before, Tyler has been under the weather so it was nice for him to do nothing all afternoon.

Tomorrow he writes his test and then he gets some sort of relief.  He still does have one more final to study for and write but it seems to be some what easier of a test to study for.  It's not so much reading boring books and making notes.  This next test is all about memorizing images and he's already done really well on that so I feel like there isn't as much stress surrounding it.  I could be wrong as it's not me who is writing it.

I'm exhausted and looking forward to heading to bed, which might be earlier then what is normal on a Saturday.

Sonja

Weekend

Well the weekend is here once again.  I have to study tomorrow and half of Sunday.  I have my final to write at 2 on Sunday.  Hopefully it isn't too long of a weekend out of boredom for Sonja and hopefully I don't get to tired from studying.  It has been a long haul so far this week.  Lots of studying every day.  There is light at the end of the tunnel now as my next final is less than a week away as well.

Today I didn't do to much studying at work.  We had to do transportation of dangerous goods training via a teleconference today.  It was a long and boring day listening to a voice coming from the speakers.  It was tough to stay awake as its tiring studying forever everyday as well as having a cold coming on stronger everyday.  That ran until 3:20 and then it was back to regular work.  It was still dead as everyone thought we were closed for the whole day.  Also since the training course ran through lunch I was able to leave early.  I came home early at 4:30 and surprised Sonja.

When I got home Sonja and I made supper together.  It was an easy meal as Sonja wasn't to motivated and didn't know what to make.  It was good and super filling.  I made way to much pasta, and was the one who ended up having to finish it.

After supper I came into the living room and finished doing some studying and writing notes.  It wasn't too much to do and I was done for the day by 6:30, just in time for the Oilers game on TSN.  It was a good game and they finally managed to get a win.  It was nice to see after the terrible game they played on Wednesday.  We have also been able to watch the last three games and will be able to watch again tomorrow.  It must be a record for us since we have been living out here.

Now the night is winding down and I will try for a good night sleep so I won't be exhausted again tomorrow.

Tyler

December 8, 2011

It was another early morning for me as Doofus was stomping around again this morning.  He also dropped something that sounded like a 30 lb weight which made me think that Tyler slipped in the shower or Kitten was doing something really bad, either way it was loud.

I joined Tyler for some breakfast and soon he was off to work.  The morning was just lovely so I took full advantage of it.  Since we ate at some friends house last night, there was only about 5 dishes to do so that took approximately 5 minutes to complete.  I then did my daily work out and headed to the shower.  Showers are just so awesome.  I got dressed and headed out for a walk.

I usually go past the hospital and peek into the lab to see if I can pester Tyler at work.  He wasn't there this time so I continued down the road and enjoyed a bit of a chilly walk around town.  I was told by someone I'm sure I've never actually met that I look like I'm about to pop and they asked me the usual questions about Baby J - do you know the gender?  When are you due?  What I find funny is that while this guy thought I looked like I was about to pop, last night a girl said that I have a really small belly.  People are funny that way.  I've also been asked if I'm excited to have a girl because of the way I'm carrying.  And then I've read and heard that women who carry like I am, more sticking out the front, should expect a boy.  I conclude that no one knows anything and you shouldn't listen to old wives tales.

Once back from my walk, I prepared Tyler's lunch and got myself something to eat as well.  I turned on the noon news and waited for Tyler to come home.  He did and we enjoyed some food and time together.  Since he has been studying so much, I feel the need to take full advantage of any time I get with him without his books.  So, as much as I hate being woken up by the lead footed doofus upstairs, I don't hate it so much because that means I get to spend some time with Tyler in the morning.  And at lunch too.  And lunch always goes way too fast and soon enough, Tyler was headed back to work.  He was able to read a bunch today so his study time tonight might not be as long.  But I doubt it.  He has many pages to read and many questions to answer before his final on Sunday so he'll be working hard for a few more days.

I spent the afternoon doing my usual thing.  I cross stitched but then decided I should save my project for when Tyler is home and there isn't anything else to do.  I played some solitare on the computer and I only won once.  Mom called me and we talked about Christmas and Baby J and our upcoming trip home.  It was a nice change up in what would have been a really boring uneventful afternoon.

It's so strange living out on the coast.  It's December 8th today and I am still able to stand outside for about 10 minutes with just a tank top on and enjoy the nice weather.  It's not that warm or anything but it's not so freezing cold that my skin turns blue.  There is just such a difference from my current life and the one I grew up in.  But I can't wait to see snow again.  I have always loved snow and if I can shovel just one drive way this winter, that will make me so happy.

Tyler came home right on time tonight and I started on dinner.  Tonight we had bacon, eggs and toast.  Breakfast for dinner is always so good.  Plus it was an easy meal that was quick and painless to cook and eat so Tyler was able to get right back to studying after we were done.

And here we sit.  Tyler with his boring book to read and me with my cross stitch all ready to go.  I'm pretty sure I wasn't given enough thread for this project so we will see how much of it I can actually get done.

Just 2 more weeks and we should be pulling into the Jarrett's driveway.  I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again.  And I can't believe that Christmas is in 2 weeks.  Those days are sneaking up on us quickly.  I think this year is going to be the most exhausting Christmas we've ever had.  After traveling for 2 days straight, we have 4 days of family, Christmas meals and gatherings and likely late nights.  I've already dedicated December 27th as a day of rest for us.  We wont be doing anything that day but catching up on sleep.  I just hope we don't get sick afterwards because that's never fun.

Baby J says hi!!

Sonja

Study fest

I slept pretty good last night.  However I woke up too early.  I was unfortunately awake before the alarm went off which is never any fun.  I got up and hopped into the shower and got ready for the day.  The cat was being most irritating again.  She has been super itchy, and we have finally gotten her to a point where she isn't wounded so we are trying to keep her that way until we get home and can get some better food into her so she can stop wanting to scratch.  The morning routine seemed to do by pretty quickly.  Sonja got out of bed at 8:30, claiming that she couldn't sleep anymore.  I don't usually believe her when she says that.  Mostly because I would rather still be sleeping.

I went into work and had a really slow day full of studying.  I was able to get all the reading done that I wanted to today, and then some.  I only did a couple xrays and took blood from 1 person in my whole day.  So that was good and bad.  It gets pretty boring to study as hard and as much as I have been studying.  Only a few more days of solid reading like I have been.  My next test won't be as bad.  It is my imaging midterm and final, so just reviewing what I have already memorized.  My final on Sunday is all studies that have been done regarding MRI, so very boring and dry stuff to try to get through.

I was able to come home at the end of the day, on time at 5.  We were invited over to Jan's parents place for supper at 6.  So when I got home I just had a snack of a couple cookies.  Sonja felt like baking this afternoon, so I had a couple to tie me over until we ate.  I did some more studying, writing notes this time.  A different change from reading.

About 5:55 we started to get ready to leave.  We decided drive tonight.  I wanted make sure that the car would still start.  If it didn't we would still be able to get it out this weekend and get fixed up and back so we can fill it up to come home.  Fortunately it started so we don't need to think about a way to get it out of here.

It was a good meal that we had.  Turkey, ham and roast with all the fixings.  I ate way too much and was forced to eat even more.  I am still feeling full now.  We stayed until about 8:30 and then came home, as I still had some studying I wanted to get done.  The Oilers were also playing on TSN.  We were back in time for the 3rd period.  They were already down 4-2 and ended up loosing 5-3.  I was able to get my studying done and am ready for bed only to start it all over again.

We are getting excited because our departure day now shows up on the long range forecast now.  But things can change everyday from now until then, so who knows what it will actually be like on the day.  2 weeks from right now we will just be rolling into Vancouver, if everything goes as planned.

Tyler

31 Weeks :)

Today, I am 31 weeks pregnant.  I kind of can't believe it either.  I was fully expecting this to be the slowest process of my life but the end is creeping up fast.  9 more weeks and that's if we are going by my Feb. 7th due date.  I kind of think this child will come earlier then that just based on my own calculations, but now that I've said that it will be super late.  Oh well.  There is no controlling this belly monster.  The major milestone Baby J hit today is that there is now surfactant being produced in it's lung which is something that prevents the lungs from collapsing in the outside world.  It's nice to know that now Baby J can breathe if born this early.  

Last night was a pretty awful night for me.  I had a terrible headache that was a result of my poor choice in movies.  During the afternoon yesterday, I watched a "sad" movie.  I'm sure that if I watched this movie any other time in my life, I wouldn't have ended up sobbing for half an hour afterwards, but how was I supposed to know the main girl was going to die in the end.  So, I was crying and crying and then I got over it.  I didn't replenish my water supply so I'm thinking that's where the headache originated from.  Tyler was studying all last night and my headache got worse and worse as the night grew older.  Tyler told me to go to bed at around 7 and I should have listened to him, that would have helped a lot.  At 7 my eyes were only hurting a tiny bit and I was just a little exhausted.  By 9, which is when I finally headed in, my brain felt like it was on fire.  I couldn't stand being in the light and it hurt so bad.  I thought that I would just fall right to sleep and sleep all night long.  Tyler was nice enough to come to bed with me because usually if I fall asleep before he gets to bed, he will wake me up and then I wont be able to get back to sleep again.  So, he rubbed my head and my back and I decided then to take something for the searing pain behind my eye.  I rolled over and may have fallen asleep but it didn't really feel like it.  I had to go to the bathroom and that was a big chore.  After getting back into bed, I tossed and turned and woke up a few more times, still with a headache.  I did finally get to sleep after 11:30.  Poor Tyler!

I woke up this morning well rested and headache free.  I joined Tyler on the couch while he played on the computer and then headed out to work.  I made my breakfast and enjoyed that while Kitten cleaned herself beside me.  It was a slow and lazy morning.  I did the few dishes from last nights meal and did a bit of cross stitching.  I then headed into the kitchen to take chicken out for tonight's meal and to make Tyler a sandwich for lunch.  

Tyler came and left again and I was left wondering how I should spend my afternoon.  I very much value my time these days.  I was told recently to treat sleep like gold because once Baby J comes, there wont be a ton of it but I'm treating all this free time as gold.  It will be the last time in a very very long time where I will be able to just sit uninterrupted and do whatever I want for hours on end.  I am very much looking forward to taking care of our new baby but right now, I'm very much enjoying all this time I have.  So I read to Baby J and I cross stitched some more this afternoon.  I also headed outside into the glorious sunshine to get Kitten some more cat food.  We ran out of her regular cat food and had to buy the bad stuff, Meow Mix.  We picked it because chicken wasn't the first 3 ingredients but it turns out that food is just junk.  It's not making her feel good at all and it makes her one stinky kitty, so I went to see if there was anything at the store that would be good enough to feed her.  I found some and she seems to like it.  We will see if it makes her feel any better but I think it's better then the other junk we had.  

I made dinner and waited for Tyler to come home.  We enjoyed Classy Chicken and each others company before retiring to the living room for a quiet evening.  Tyler has been studying basically all night every night for a few days now.  I feel sorry for him because all his free time is spent with his books but I'm also super proud of him.  He's been working hard to get this stuff done and in a little over a week, it will all have paid off.  

Our evening plans are as follows: once Tyler is done reading, we will be watching the latest episode of Dexter.  I couldn't even think about staying up to watch it last night so tonight is the night.  I have an orange waiting for me on the table and I might find something else to eat as well.  I couldn't finish all my dinner because I get full pretty easily these days.

I can't believe how soon we are coming home!  It makes me so excited.  I can't wait to pack and get everything ready for our road trip.  I can't wait to get home and see all of our family and friends and enjoy Christmas with everyone.  

Sonja

T-15 days

Only 15 days until we start our journey home.  Soon enough we will have our departure day show up on the long term forecast.  But I got up after a nice weekend of being able to sleep in.  I went into work and found that it was going to be a slow day.  There wasn't much going on after the initial rush a two or three patients first thing in the morning.

I was able to get a bunch of reading done at work so I didn't need to read when I got home.  The good thing is that I studied at work, but it always seems to make the day go by slower, as studying and reading is never any fun.  But I have less the 2 weeks of studying left until I am done these two courses.  I am writing a final on Sunday and then another one on next Thursday.  Then all of the next weekend is for packing and relaxing, getting ready for the next stage of our trek.

I was able come home on time and found that supper was just about coming out of the oven.  So we sat down and started to eat it.  Unfortunately it wasn't quite down so we had to put it back into the oven for another 20 minutes or so.  It was very filling as we also had garlic bread with it.

After supper I spent the evening studying some more.  Its boring but thats life right now.  We watched a couple more Christmas shows again tonight.  Charlie Brown Christmas and Prep and Landing.  Sonja has a headache and is off to bed, which means so am I because I don't want to wake her up when I decide to go to bed.  She has the inability to go back to sleep once she is awake.

Tyler   

Sunday December 4, 2011

Today started exactly as I thought it would.  After several Kitten wake up calls, I finally got out of bed to find a mess.  At some point during her morning crazy-fest, she managed to spill her food all over the floor.  It wasn't too much but it was still something I had to clean up before I could start my morning.

I made myself some granola and put it in the fridge to cool off.  While I was waiting, I surfed the internet and supervised Kitty while she had some coneless time.  Tyler was still in bed so I tried to be quiet and keep Kitty from scratching at the door.  I ate my breakfast just as Tyler was getting out of bed.

His plans were to study all day long but we had to go to the store to get the remaining grocery items.  We headed out to the store but knew we wouldn't be getting much.  The trailers weren't even at the store so we knew we would have to go again later.  We just continued on our way and went for a walk around town.  It was super nice today, with no rain and some fog.  It was nice to get out of the house because I knew we would be stuck inside with Tyler studying all day.

Once we got home, Tyler did start studying and I started cross stitching.  At some point this morning I had done the dishes but I can't remember when that was.  I was able to relax the rest of the day because I didn't have any house work to do.  Tyler studied for about 3 hours.  During that time, I worked out, showered, and cut up some carrots and apples for my lunch along with cross stitching.  It was a nice afternoon.

We once again headed out to the store after Tyler had finished up what he had to complete.  Finally the food was being unloaded so we had hope that we could get all the food we needed.  We also managed to find Baby J a really awesome Christmas gift.

Tyler started to make some dinner when we got home again.  He has been wanting to make his boneless chicken wings again and today was the day.  I left that all up to him and I relaxed on the couch.  Baby J was awake again and was moving a ton.  Still love that feeling!!  Tyler needed my help so I joined him in the kitchen to make sure the chicken pieces were properly covered in hot sauce.  Afterwards, we ate the chicken and started to watch a movie on tv.

Now that dinner is done, I'm not too sure what is on for the rest of the evening.  I know I will have to find something more filling to eat for real dinner as I didn't get too many of the chicken pieces.  Fried food doesn't sit well in my stomach so I had to limit how many I ate.  I'm just not sure what will be my next meal.

Kitten is sleeping on the back of the couch and we are still watching a movie.  I'm sure we will play a few rounds of yahtzee and then it's early to bed.  I'm pretty tired now and Baby J is kicking and squirming.  We are actually watching Ice Age 3, the one where the mammoths have a baby and I'm not going to lie, I just about teared up a bit.

We had a really good day of just being together.

Sonja

Study day

Today I was finally able to sleep in for a few extra hours.  Sonja even got up before me at around 9.  I spent another hour spreading out in the whole bed and getting a little bit more sleep.  I finally woke up just after 10 and started my day.  I made a tasty breakfast of sausage mcmuffins.  I had been waiting for the store to finally bring in some ground pork for weeks and weeks, and finally 2 weeks ago they had some, so I stock up, which is why I have been making them so often lately.  After breakfast I hunkered down and started to study.  I had two more tests and two finals until I am done my courses for this term.  I wanted to get one of those tests done today and maybe one tomorrow so I can focus on my finals.  So studying was pretty boring, but it took up most of my day.  

It was super foggy out today.  During the time I was studying I would take a break and expect the fog to lift a little bit but it didn't.  It was so foggy early in the day we couldn't even see the end of the breakwater.  It cleared a bit so that we could see the buoy in the channel, but not much more.  At one point today the weekly Alaska ferry went by.  We heard it first because it was blowing its fog horn all the way along the channel.  We started to watch for it, not knowing if we would be able to see it and it would just slip past without us knowing except for the horn blasts.  We kept looking and eventually we just saw the out line of the ship going past.  We took a video and try to add it to this post but Blogger won't accept it.

I eventually finished up studying today and went in to work to write my test.  It went pretty good I think, but I won't know for a couple days.  After I wrote my test we went to the store to try to get all the stuff on our list.  It was super busy there today and for whatever reason they only had one till open.  We stood in line for what seemed like forever.  They eventually opened up another till and we were the first ones through.

After we got home Sonja started to make supper.  We had another soup.  I think it is the last one for a while.  It was very good and filling though.  Full of meat and vegetables.  While we were eating we had the early game on Hockey Night in Canada, waiting for the Oiler game to start.

The Oilers had a good start to the game.  They were up 2-0 in the first 4 minutes, but true to Oiler form they gave up the lead right away and it has been tied at 2 since the ten minute mark.  The game is in the third period and hopefully they can regain the lead without going into overtime.  They just scored again and took the lead, only to once again loose it.  Back to the hoping they don't have to got to overtime.

Tyler

Friday

Tyler was supposed to blog yesterday but couldn't because he had to go to work at about 9.  He couldn't before work because we had a friend over to watch The Office with us.  The funny thing about that plan is that she came over at about 8 and we sat and talked for an hour.  The show was set to start at 9 and 5 minutes to the hour, Tyler's phone rings.  It was just so typical.  We ended up watching the show and having a good talk also.  She left right as Tyler was coming home again.

Tyler was supposed to blog tonight but he can't because he's currently at work.  I'm sure he will be home soon but I thought I would at least start this for him.  Whenever it's his turn to write, he usually forgets and then when I remind him he lets out this disappointed groan.  He doesn't always enjoy writing especially when it's late and he just wants to go to sleep.  I think it might feel like just one more thing on his agenda and he's been pretty busy lately.

So, my day started early again.  I'm pretty sure upstairs guy was training his elephants this morning, training them to march in lead shoes I'm sure.  Apparently he asked Kendra if she had a skipping rope he could use and I'm so glad she didn't have one.  If I woke up to him skipping at 6:30 in the morning, he would have a very upset pregnant girl breaking down his door.  She did tell him that it's pretty loud for us but either he doesn't care or doesn't know just how heavy his feet are.  Oh well.

I got out of bed and joined Tyler and Kitten on the couch.  I wish I could have slept in but I might be getting use to waking up early.  This skill will come in handy in the next few months when I have a screaming child to attend to at all hours of the day and night.  I got some breakfast and after a while, kissed Tyler goodbye and started my own morning routine.

Fridays are my designated "clean the house" day.  I use to do the bigger chores on Saturday because Tyler is always studying and I need to keep myself busy but he would always feel bad for "making" me do everything while he just sat there.  I have to constantly remind him that he's not just sitting there, he's working and studying hard at his school work.  Why would I make him vacuum or fold clothes when I'm perfectly able to do it all in a short amount of time myself?  It just doesn't make much sense to me.  I do appreciate his offers to help but it's unnecessary.  So this morning, I vacuumed the house, started the first of 3 loads of laundry, fed TK and warmed her some cream and then I worked out.  There aren't that many chores to do but it took about an hour before I was able to sit down again.

I made Tyler a sandwich for lunch and ate an apple while I waited for Tyler to return for lunch.  During that time, I watched a bit of news and played on the computer.  I've been playing solitare the last few days and have only won about 2 games.  Yesterday, I had started a game and was preoccupied doing something else and Tyler picked up the computer and won the game.  It's so hard to win and he went and stole that game from me.  I have to give him a hard time for that.

My afternoon was uneventful.  It was super foggy all morning which is always super creepy because you can't see anything.  It's like there was a grey sheet placed in front of our windows because you couldn't see past the railings.  By the afternoon, it had cleared up but then started to rain.  I found a new cross stitch project to work on and I anticipate it will be done by the time we start our trip home.  It's not very hard and I have a ton of time to work on it.  I found a second one I'm going to start on our trip home.  Maybe I will see if I can get it done by the time we get home.  I doubt it but it will keep me busy on the road.

I was going to make another soup for din din but when I found out I would have to grind my own meat for the dish, I opted for something a little easier.  Tyler was late coming home so I just started dinner when I got hungry.  I put some chicken in the oven and started some rice.  It's the easiest meal in the world to throw together and almost always tastes fantastic.  My soup will have to wait until tomorrow.  When making last week's menu, I had 4 soups on the list.  They would have all turned out really great but after the 2nd day of soup, Tyler started to mention that he's kind of sick of it.  I also found out that it didn't keep him full very long so I scratched the last half of the menu and have been making it up as I go along.

After dinner, the plan was for Tyler to study until the hockey started and I was going to cross stitch.  That plan quickly changed when Tyler's study material wouldn't load up on the internet so he just played with Kitten until it was time for hockey.  We started the game but Tyler got called into work so he missed the end of the first period.

He is back now and playing on his phone while I finish this blog post.  TK had been watching me all evening and it still breaks my heart that she can't come in from the cold and join us on the couch.  I warmed up some more cream and Tyler just gave her some kibble so I think she'll be off to bed soon.

Baby J had a good appointment yesterday.  The heartbeat was strong at 130 but the doctor said I was measuring small for being past 30 weeks.  She wasn't concerned though and said that it's probably just a small baby and that it seemed that Baby J was hiding out in the middle of my body, closer to my spine than my front.  It's not great to hear that Baby J is measuring small because I don't know how to make it grow bigger.  I've been eating granola and whenever I'm hungry I'll snack on something but maybe Baby J just hasn't hit a growth spurt.  We will see just how small this kid is when I'm giving birth.  I'm sure I'll be cursing the doctor who dared to tell me it's a small baby.  Today he was moving a lot and had the hiccups.  I always laugh when I feel those tiny movements.

Well, it's Friday night.  There isn't much on the docket for us for the remainder of the evening but I assume I'll be cross stitching and Tyler will be watching the hockey game.  I think he also mentioned we have a movie to watch so that will be fun.

Enjoy the weekend.  I would like to remind everyone to please pray for good clear weather for when we are coming home.  A few weeks ago, the ferry didn't stop in Bella Bella because it was too choppy so we could use some prayers for nice clear weather and clear clean roads.  I do love snow but not when I'm driving long distances.

Sonja

Good News!

So, we found out today where Tyler will be doing his practicum this summer - At the Grey Nuns Hospital. We are both really excited about it although we don't show it the same way.  Tyler told me and I was all smiles because I know Millwoods fairly well and it's close to other areas that I know well.  Tyler was just kind of like, "Okay".  I think because it's still far away and so much has to happen before he even starts that he doesn't think about being excited about it.  That makes sense.  But I'm excited!  It's fun to think about where we will be next summer and to finally have a clear idea.

But as for today, I woke up kind of at the same time as Tyler got out of the shower.  My mind was racing right when I came out of that sleepy haze so I was unable to get back to sleep.  I joined Tyler on the couch with some breakfast, much to his insistence I go back to bed.  I told him I couldn't because my mind wouldn't shut up.  So I ate some granola while he watched his sports highlights and did his own morning routine.  I warmed some milk for TK who was already looking through the window.

Tyler left for work and banned me from going back to bed, but I assured him I wouldn't.  I was already awake and was still thinking too much.  I did the few dishes that were waiting for me and then went to brush my teeth.  And then I started my day.

It wasn't an overly exciting day but my days tend to be like that.  I opened up my Bible and started reading from the beginning.  I wanted to read to Baby J today and I figured the Bible is probably a good thing to introduce early.  I read for a while and Baby J seemed to love it because he was moving and being a crazy baby.

I also cross stitched.  I'm currently doing a project that only uses 2 colors - blue and lighter blue.  It's a really cool looking little project and it's taking me no time at all to do.  I'm really excited for it.

TK pretty much was outside all day long so I had to contend with the pull I feel to go out and cuddle and play with her.  I did feed her a bit.

Tyler came home for lunch and we had a great time together.  While he was home, I put a tin foil ball outside for TK to play with and she loves it.  She has been knocking it back and forth all day and night.

We enjoyed out time and then he had to go back to work.  It was super foggy this morning but it cleared up into a pretty nice day so I thought I would take full advantage and go for a walk.  I got dressed and when I went to grab the house key, it wasn't where I usually put it.  I remembered that Tyler took it last time we left the house so I checked all the places he usually puts it - the top of the fridge is his favorite.  I looked everywhere I thought.  And then I was irritated.  I thought Tyler maybe took it to work by accident or was playing a game of "Hide the Key so Sonja can't go Outside".  It just got me worked up.  I eventually looked inside a pocket of a sweater I have and found it.  I honestly don't remember ever putting it in there and I don't remember when I would have done that.  I went to Tyler's work and apologized for the annoyed voice mail I left him.  And then I was off on my walk.  It was so nice to get outside.  I do love walking.  By the time I got home, Baby J was all the way out in the front of my belly and was moving up a storm.  It was fun to lay on the couch and watch that.  My doctor appointment was moved to tomorrow so I didn't go today.  I can't wait to hear the heartbeat and hopefully to hear again that everything is just perfect.

I spent the rest of the afternoon cross stitching, listening to TK play with her tin foil ball and I cuddled with my own Kitten.  She loves to lay on the blanket in between my legs, so not only do I have a baby furnace, I also have a Kitten furnace also so I'm never cold.

Tyler was late coming home again today which was fine.  Dinner was a meal I could just whip up when he got home and we would be eating 5 minutes later.  I was hungry though, so I cooked up some tomato soup and made myself a grilled cheese sandwich.  Tyler came home at around 5ish and I made him the same meal.  He had to study so I cross stitched while he read what he needed to.

There was a hockey game on tv tonight, so Tyler put away his computer and started to watch that.  I called Eva and we had a really great talk.  It's been a while since we've talked and it made me pretty exited to come home and see family in person.  We talked for about 2 hours before we both had to go to the bathroom.

I rejoined Tyler on the couch to watch the last bit of the game.  We ended up losing the game and now I am just trying to get through this blog.  Tyler is making fun of me, waddling around with his hand on his back like a really pregnant person.  It's a good thing he makes me laugh or else I'm sure I would be upset about that.  Also he says I don't waddle yet.

Happy Wednesday!
Sonja

Baby J says he can't wait to meet every one.  I've been teaching him morse code so I know what his taps and kicks really mean.

Last night wasn't busy after 10.  We went to bed when I got back from work.  I was pretty tired from the night before and went to sleep pretty shortly after that.  The morning seemed to come to soon and I was awake and getting ready for the day.  

It wasn't too busy at work today, but busy enough that I couldn't get any studying done.  By 11:30 though, it got really busy.  There was a girl here who was going into labor at 34 weeks, which is why she hadn't left town yet.  She wasn't supposed to be due until January 10.  So I had some lab tests to do for the docs and did that.  Then the doctor wanted a x-ray to check the babies positioning incase they weren't able to get this poor girl out to Vancouver, and had to deliver it here.  So really was a shock for me because Sonja is almost that far along and we do not want to have her deliver here or anywhere between here or Canmore on our way home.  As long as we can make it to the other side of the Rockies.  They were however able to get her shipped out around 4, so she can have her baby in a larger, more experienced with premature births.  After that was all done I was able to leave for lunch and come home to a waiting sandwich and join Sonja.

After lunch I had a few new patients to go and deal with in the ER.  I was busy for most of the afternoon.  I was dealing with patients and putting in some orders for supplies and stuff.  I was fortunately able to get off on time and I came home for supper.  

Sonja was making chicken soup.  It was so tasty and filling.  It was almost a chicken noodle stew though, with all the vegetables and noodles and chicken.  After our supper I crashed on the couch and studied for an hour or so.  The cat had her cone off for a while and was just being her usual annoying cone less self.  She just wanted to scratch all the time, and Sonja kept trying to distract her by playing but she wasn't really interested.  She eventually fell asleep in a box that we have laying around.

We are just watching TV and will be getting ready for some popcorn.

Tyler

November 28, 2011

I've had a frustrating day.

It started early this morning, at around 2ish am.  I was having a dream about something crazy (pregnancy hormones have had control over this part of my night for a few months now) when Tyler's on call phone started ringing.  It was so loud, probably only because it came blaring out of complete peace and silence.  It's been so long since he's had to go in in the middle of the night and I feel bad for him.  So, he got up and headed over to the hospital.  I went back to sleep (or did I even wake up fully?) and soon Tyler was climbing back into bed at around 3 in the morning.  I feel bad for him because he said he didn't get back to sleep until after 4.  I also felt bad for him because he had to get up at 6:45 and actually do important stuff today.  It's not a huge deal if I have a bad sleep because I don't deal with what he does.

So, he slowly got out of bed at the sound of his alarm and headed into the shower.  Kitten was running around and came busting through our door, scratched on our bed for a few seconds and tore off again, all the while meowing up a storm.  She usually gets super excited and talkative when she knows her cone is coming off soon and Tyler helps her out with that while he eats breakfast.

I would have loved to get back to sleep but it didn't happen for me this morning.  We heard there was a new guest in the apartment above us and we were excited because we thought that maybe this one wouldn't have lead feet.  Boy were we wrong!  This one seems worse.  Even though he doesn't have an alarm that also wakes us up, this guy wakes up extra early (even though his work day doesn't start till 8:30am) and stomps around the place, making sure to slam doors and drawers and drop what sounds like 20 pound weights right above our room.  So, I wasn't able to get back to sleep either and I came out of the room already frustrated.  We don't understand how someone can be that loud and also not understand that maybe the people below him wont appreciate his heavy feet.  I really don't expect him to be quiet during the day, but I don't understand why anyone has to be that loud right in the morning.  Not a great way to start the day.

I kissed Tyler and he went off to work.  I spent my morning eating breakfast, going on the computer, doing the very few dishes we had and feeding TK.  I don't remember if this was mentioned but I found out that our neighbor actually lets these cats into her apartment.  That's all fine for her, but then they come over here and expect the same treatment.  I wish I could let them in but I have my own cat to consider.  They have tried a few times now to just walk on in.  It always breaks my heart to have to shoo them back outside, especially because the weather has been so gloomy.

Tyler came back for lunch and then left what seemed like right away.  Lunch hours go by so quickly.  We had a chat and ate some food and talked about some irritating things that are going on with his work.  He left for work and I was left alone to think about these things.  I'm not going to mention them on here until we fully understand what is going on but I was left to think and almost fume about them.  I was just annoyed about many things that were happening today and this was one more cherry on top.  I had to find a way to let off some steam.  I would go for a walk but it was raining and windy.  I was stuck inside, trying to figure out what to do with my time.  I ended up reading our blog from the very beginning.  I read it out loud so baby could hear.  As I was reading, Baby J was just jumping around and moving so so much.  He even moved right up front and gave my belly a very funny look.  It was all lopsided and hard.  I love this kid!

Tyler texted me and said he was going to be late coming home.  He is supposed to come home a little after 4 this week but since he's the only one working, he had to stay until 5ish.  We started on dinner, which was just noodles and pasta sauce, and we sat down and ate, while talking more about the days events.

We were done fairly quickly and getting ready for our Monday night tradition of watching Dexter.  As soon as we sat down, his phone started ringing again.  He went off to work and I started working on my latest cross stitching project.  He wasn't gone too long and soon enough, we were watching our show.  It's getting crazy!

We found out that The Grinch and Shrek the Halls is on tonight.  Even though we have seen those shows every year for our whole lives, we still wanted to make sure we watched it.  I figured that if we watch it this once, it will constantly be on tv and we wont be able to get away from it.  But if we missed it tonight, we wouldn't see it all season.  That's how it always goes.

So, it's the Grinch and then Skrek the Halls and then probably nothing after that.  Tyler would go to bed early but he has to go back into work at 10.  I'll work on my cross stitch until then.

Baby J is still moving a ton.  Maybe it's the orange I just had.  I love it though.  I have a doctors appointment on Wednesday and I'm so excited to hear the little heartbeat again.

Sonja

I was able to sleep in this morning, but it wasn't a restful sleep.  I was awake every half hour after 7:30.  Its not anywhere near as good as when I sleep solidly until its time to get up.  I finally gave up sleeping at quarter to ten and went off to work.  It was a pretty quick call-back and as I was home by 10:30.  After I got home I made some breakfast for myself as Sonja got her granola ready.  I made some sausage mcmuffins again because they are just too good not to make them.  After our breakfast we cleaned the house a bit.  I took out the garbage and recycling and Sonja started the dishes.  I helped her when I got back in.

We bought some tire chains just in case we need them through the mountains, and they came earlier in the week.  So I went out to practice putting them on so I will be able to do it if I need to in the snow and probably wind and dark.  They went on pretty simply, but we'll just hope that we don't need to use them.

After coming back in I did an assignment for one of my courses and Sonja was tending to the deck cats.  She had put a bunch of towels out there so it was time for them to be washed.  So she started to wash them.  My assignment didn't take very long to do and soon enough I was free for the day.

The storm finally let up sometime last night, so today was a nice, calm day.  The sun was even in and out from behind the clouds.  So after I was done my assignment, we went for a walk around town and ending up at the store to finish our shopping list.  We got around to the hall and saw that there was a ton of vehicles parked outside so we decided that we needed to investigate.  We went in and found that there was a craft sale and flea market going on inside.  There were a few cool things there, but we never have cash so we left and continued to the store.  It seems that everyone in town knows that we are having a baby, as we were stopped many times with people asking whens the baby due and everything.

We came home and it was almost time for the grey cup to start.  So we sat down and settled in to watch a football game we don't really care about.  I cut up some sausage and cheese and we had a mini grey cup party/heart making party.  We acquired a ruler so we were actually able to make hearts this weekend.  We both made one heart.  It is pretty tough because it is so dark in our house, but we got them done.  They turned out good.  We will probably make a couple more in the next couple weeks.

Just getting ready to go up to Kendra's for some cards.  We will be coming home early though as our favorite show is on out here tonight.  Oil Change is on at 9 on Sportsnet.

Tyler

Saturday, November 26th, 2011

Today was Saturday.  A day where usually I look forward to spending lots of time with Tyler doing weekendy things.  But, it wasn't as perfect as I had wanted it to be.

Kitten was being a little terror this morning, racing around, scratching on our bed, trying to get our attention.  We just ignored her because it's the weekend.  Whatever was bugging her could wait until we got out of bed.

Tyler got out of bed at 9 and headed out to work.  In a way, it felt like every other day of the week.  The rain was pelting the window and the wind was howling so I knew that there were no walks in our future.  We haven't gone on a walk in a long time and I'm starting to miss them.  Kitten was still racing around and starting to bug me because I was getting ready to sleep some more.  I got up and found that her food dish was empty.  I shook my head because I'm not sure why Tyler doesn't fill her dish for her.  I asked him about it when he got home and he said that she still had a few pieces of food in there and he gave me a smile that said, "I'm too cute to get mad at".  Of course it's really no big deal so we exchanged hugs and good morning kisses.  He also showed me his war wounds.  He had mud all up his one leg and arm. He said that he slipped while he was walking home and slid all the way down the small hill outside our apartment.  He wasn't hurt so it was okay to laugh with him.  It's usually always funny when someone falls over and lands in a puddle of mud.

And then Tyler went on studying.  That was why today felt like every other day, because Tyler and I didn't really spend too much time together.  I was expecting it today so I wasn't too upset with it.  I understand what he needs to do so I stayed in the living room while he read his books in the bedroom.  I did the dishes and laundry and settled into my cross stitching position.  I am just outlining the project now so I'm oh so close to being done.  I could have gotten this thing done yesterday but since I have limited projects to work on in the next month, I want to make everything last as long as possible.

I looked outside and saw that the spit was completely submerged in water.  It was so crazy because it's the highest we have ever seen, and I'm sure we already said that, but this times true.  We decided to head out and take pictures.  We got on our puddle boots and rain coats and headed out into the strong wind.  Whenever I wear puddle boots I always feel like I'm under 10 years old again.  It's nice not having wet socks like I usually get when I go outside.  So we make it down to the spit and the tide is so high that the water is almost coming over the spit at the closest point by the beach.  It was pretty insane to see it that high.  Also, we almost got blown away several times.  We took a bunch of pictures but our internet isn't working well enough these days to put any up tonight.

We decided that since we were already soaking wet, we would head to the store for our groceries.  I would hate to have to put on wet pants some other time in the day.  We got to the store and was able to buy most of what we needed.  It's always exciting when that happens.  The walk home was going into the wind so I took a little longer to get home then Tyler.  It turns out that having the extra baby weight doesn't make you any more heavy when it comes to stupid fast wind gusts.

Tyler went back to studying while I unpacked the food.  He was about to write his test so he wanted to just skim over everything one more time before heading over to the hospital to use their internet.  He came home about 15 minutes later with a passing grade and another story of almost slipping down the small hill.

We spent the afternoon reading, cross stitching, and listening to the hockey game on the internet.  I went outside to see if TK was in her box.  The weather was really bad and we haven't seen Calico in a while so I wasn't sure if TK had eaten much.  I found her curled up, all warm and snug in her little house.  I brought some food for her and she ate it up hungrily.  Poor TK probably was there all night, stuck because of the rain and wind.  I'm sure she isn't as helpless as I think she is but it's still sad to see her out there.

We ate some salmon and rice for dinner and are now reading and I'm blogging.  It's been a day stuck inside watching the tide go up and down.

Baby J had a good day though.  He (remember, we don't actually know what the gender is but calling my baby an "it" makes me sad, so I will be calling it a he in this post) spent most of the day up in my rib cage, or at least pressing my lungs making me feel out of breath.  I made Tyler feel a hard part and he wrinkled his nose because it's still strange to think there is a baby in there, and also, we don't know what body part that was.  It probably was his head.  He was doing a ton of squirming which I always love.  I can't believe how soon he will be coming.  It kind of blows my mind how fast this is going.  I have been given a wide range for my due date so I could be due in either 8 weeks or 10 weeks.  8 weeks is only 2 months away!  That is just crazy.  We are pretty excited though.

TK is currently looking at me through the window and I can hear her saying, "Let me in.  I'm lonely and sad and I want a cuddle".  It breaks my heart that I can't do much for her.  It probably doesn't help that I give her human personality traits.  I'm about to warm her up some milk so she can maybe warm up if she's cold.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Also, happy birthday Amy.  I hope you had a great day :)

Sonja

Countdown T-25

Well it is 25 more days until we leave here for Christmas and for baby.  Sonja woke up really early this morning.  It was around 5:30.  She said it was because it was too dark.  Normally we have a light that shines in through our blinds from the side of the building but with the power out there was nothing coming in last night.  When my alarm went off, the power was still not back on.  So we both ate cereal in the dark and were cold, just trying to keep warm.  I even went into work a little bit early, just to warm myself up a bit.

With the power being off, it means that the hospital is running on a generator.  However it doesn't produce enough juice to power the xray machine so I was anticipating a really slow day.  I was only partially right as the power came back on around 9, meaning I could have been busy.  But it wasn't.  I didn't even turn the xray machine on at all today.  It was a little bit busier on the lab side of things, but not much.  The hospital is going through an accreditation next week, which means everybody is kind of in panic mode trying to get things done.  We also had a few patients coming in throughout the day.  It was also sorta busy in the lab as my boss is leaving again tomorrow, so she was trying to get all her stuff done before she left.  I will probably have a whole ton of post it notes all over the lab of things to do next week, which will be anticipated to last the whole week, but I will probably have done by Tuesday.

I was able to come home to a warm house at 5, but no sooner than I sat done with Sonja, than the phone rang.  I had to go back to work already.  Why the nurses didn't stop me before I left, I don't know.  They needed blood work on a patient who was being shipped out tonight, before he left.  I was done in no time and was back at home and ready to eat.

Even though Sonja had a whole menu planned out for the week, she didn't know what she wanted to cook for tonight.  So instead of a real meal, she ate crackers, cream cheese and bacon.  I scrounged up a burger and cooked that to eat.  It was tasty and temporarily hit the spot.  I am getting a little bit hungry again.

After I ate I had a shower as I didn't get one this morning.  It was a nice way to end the day.  We don't have any plans for the rest of the night.  I will be going to be looking for something else to eat.  Maybe something that takes a lot of dishes so Sonja can wash some more ;)

Tyler