Ultrasound, August 25th

My anxiety is still out of control this pregnancy. On Thursday morning, August 25th we had our routine 18-20 week ultrasound. Our technician was very nice and surprised to hear we didn't want to know the gender. We watched as she took lots of pictures of our baby's spine, belly, bladder, legs, arms, hands, feet and so on. I was very worried about how curved our baby's spine looked. She seemed to take a lot of pictures of it too, which didn't help my concern anymore. I asked about it and she said it was completely fine. The same thing happened with the baby's left foot. Baby's toes looked very curved inward towards their foot. I asked about this too and she said it was just the current position of baby's toes. After a little while, she told us that she wasn't going to be able to take the necessary pictures of baby's face and heart. We ended up having to go on two walks around the hallway and out to the main lobby of the hospital and I made a couple trips to the bathroom to empty my bladder. After a third attempt to reposition baby, she told us we would be scheduled for a second ultrasound in two weeks. 

Don't get me wrong, I love being pregnant, I just don't know why I literally can't stop worrying about everything. Recently my pregnancy insecurities and worries even caused some conflict in a couple of personal relationships.I just don't know what else to do. I try so hard every day to love and care for baby. I pray for a healthy baby and to rely on faith and hope to get my through these worries. Most days, they still prevail. I know things probably won't change much once I have that sweet baby in my arms, but at least then I will have them with me. At least then I will be able to say to myself that I did it and everything was okay. I'm not trying to put my burden on anyone else. I don't feel like I'm begging anyone for support. I don't think I'm shutting anyone out. I don't want to make it hard for people to love me because I am struggling right now. I just need people to be kind and nice, and I will do the same. 

Keaton & Kayla take on PEI

We were so lucky to have Keaton here last week. Well, I guess I shouldn't say we. My sister is the lucky one! It was great to meet him and have him spend lots of time with our family. He's a pretty good one for sure! They went on lots of PEI adventures and attended a Young Single Adult Conference together on the weekend. I hope they were able to enjoy all the time they had to spend together. I remember what those days were like! They really don't even feel like they were very long ago. It's funny to see my sister dealing with a similar situation now years later. I hope all the best for them! Except I'm dreading the possibility of my sister moving out west, Kayla never leave me :'( !!!

Someday

Someday, someone is going to look at you with a light in their eyes you've never seen.  They'll look at you like you're everything they've been looking for their entire lives.  Just, wait for it. 

Can't wait to meet you baby Pinsent. We love you so much. 

summer lull

This week was pretty uneventful other than having our routine ultrasound. Haig and I both worked a lot and when we aren't at work you can probably find is home lounging on the couch. We did get out of the house a couple times though, scoring some good deals at thrift stores on things for baby, I went to a mutual youth activity and we also spent some time with my family. We had a lovely date one afternoon at taters, enjoying some freshly squeezed lemonade, french fries and a funnel cake. We ordered some things from IKEA for our apartment, including a crib for our little one.

not finding out the gender !!!

We got our ultrasound letter in the mail today, although we've known about our appointment for this Thursday morning for the past two weeks. My friend was having some problems getting her appointment set up so I decided I would call the hospital and make sure mine was all set up. It's a really good thing that I did too because 4 days would not have been enough time to plan to have it off work. I'm super grateful for our supportive work supervisors at this time who are able to make schedules to accommodate for everyone! So in the letter that came in the mail today there is a consent form that we would need to sign if we wanted to find out the gender of our baby. We are not signing the consent form, we are waiting for delivery to know it baby Pinsent is a BOY or a GIRL! It has been such a tough decision and it will make things a little harder to plan and prepare for baby but I am really looking forward to the surprise! A lot of people have been really excited for us with this decision, a sales associate at a baby store told me she was very proud of me. Thanks lady, you are great!

For now we are going to paint and furnish our gender neutral nursery and buy lots of cream, yellow, grey, mint and white! So excited to be pregnant with baby Pinsent #1.

golf for the guys, shopping for the girls

Haig's parents were here earlier this week for a visit! They arrived on Monday evening and stayed until Wednesday after lunch. I was at work when they arrived so Haig got them home to have some supper and hang out. When I got home from work we made a quick trip downtown to Freak Lunchbox to grab some goodies! We went to bed when we got home because I had a prenatal appointment in the morning and we wanted to make them waffles for breakfast!

Everything worked out well in the morning and when we got back from our appointment, the guys left to go golfing, but actually were not gone for too long before coming back to help us with some car troubles. Once that was all sorted out, they left again and Nichla and I went to do some shopping. I took my mother in law to some fun little artisan shops downtown and we had some lunch at Pita Pit. I had such a nice afternoon with her and the boys enjoyed their time playing golf at Strathgartney. In the evening, we went to my parents house for a delicious BBQ supper and we chatted with them and watched the Olympics.

Around 8:30, we left and headed downtown to go to the exhibition grounds and midway. We watched some horse races, Haig and I went on the Ferris Wheel and we bought some cotton candy. When we got home we played a game of ROOK and then headed to bed. In the morning, Mom and I did some more shopping at Value Village before having some friends over for lunch and then they left to go home.

It was so nice to be able to have them over, even it was for a short period of time. I know they needed some time away from home right now and I am glad they chose to spend some of that time with us. I needed them to be here with us for a little bit more than I thought I did. I got really lucky with my mother and father in law. They love us so much and want to do so much for us, regardless of how busy their lives continue to be at home. I hope we can make this summer visit a yearly experience, but we will continue to visit them in Nova Scotia as much as we can too!

Mid August

So, I must really be starting to get pregnancy brain because when I sat down to write some posts about things that happened towards the end of last week, I couldn't remember anything! I worked this past weekend and that's about all I can remember! Towards the end of last week though I seriously started to consider furniture for the nursery and also get a couple more things lined up for baby. I searched all weekend for a dresser, even posting on Facebook for help. I finally found one that I liked on Sunday evening, when I was at work (whoops), but the only problem was that it was in Halifax! Luckily my mother and father in law were coming over the next day and could pick it up for me! I am excited to start planning our nursery for our little babe. We had our second round of blood work done yesterday for maternal serum testing and it went really well. I guess all I need now when I get blood work done or feel a little faint is a sucker, it has done some great wonders. I am also starting to gain weight which is really great and makes me happy. Baby is growing and is starting to move around a bit, mostly in the evenings when I am laying down, we have been able to feel little bits of movement. It is such a wonderful experience to be pregnant. I can't believe summer is winding down. It has been raining all day which has been nice but I could use one or two more good beach days before the weather cools off.

How is your week going?

we kind of like Ferris Wheels

I love riding on Ferris Wheels with you. 

Because, I really really love you.

new friends

we made some new friends this past Sunday. This is Tom and Courtney Stringham! Courtney is Keaton's sister. They were travelling in the East Coast and were able to have dinner with our family on Sunday night. I think it's really funny that I got to meet Keaton's sister before I am meeting him in just a few short weeks. They are really cool. I always enjoy hanging out with newlyweds and I wish we had more friends at the same stage of our life here in Charlottetown. Hopefully we will get to hang out with this family more someday, but until then I hope they do well with their move back to Alberta and I hope everything will fall into place for them when they get there!

whoops?

we've been thinking about getting a new computer for a little while now. Yesterday, Haig and I both had the day off work . I thought we would go out to the beach or spend the day out of town, but we ended up being busy in the morning going to look at crib we found on kijiji (turned out to be pretty junky), and then we went shopping in the afternoon for some new pants for Haig and also for a feeding seat that was on sale at Babies R Us. Haig wanted to have a quick look in Best Buy which was next door. Soon enough we were chatting with my brother who works there, and then we were on our way home to get gift cards we got last year for Christmas to buy a new computer! It all happened so fast, but it's good for us to have it now when we can afford it and keep saving for baby, because they won't be here for a couple more months! We've decided that we can't have the same day off work again because we usually end up doing crazy things like this. I think I will keep using our laptop for a little while and let Haig enjoy playing around on his new toy!

we bought an asus desktop & acer 27" monitor for any computer friends who might be interested!

I love you

thanks for this little afternoon date last week Haig! I had so much fun chatting and eating pizza with you. I know lately we've had a lot of things going on, getting things ready for you to go back to school and getting ready for the big changes that are to come, but I am happy that we always find time to spend together and do fun things. I am so glad you are my husband, my support and my best friend! I love you Haig!

This week has been a little rough for me because a couple of people have made the comment "you don't look pregnant". For anyone who knows me well enough, you know that I am very sensitive, especially about this pregnancy. Pregnancy is different for all women. We all go through different motions and stages of growth, it is a unique experience for each of us. I am struggling with feelings of worry and concern but I have faith that my body is doing exactly what it needs to. So please, just be careful about what you say to anyone you come in contact with. Be kind, uplifting and have empathy and love towards them.

Craving Grace

THIS POST IS EVERYTHING TO ME RIGHT NOW.

I stumbled upon this post a couple days ago on Pinterest. I was blown away by how it matched most of the feelings that I had during my first trimester of pregnancy, and even some of the feelings I am still having right now. I did not experience the same pregnancy symptoms as this woman, but I can relate with her feelings about searching for peace, comfort and reassurance during an emotional and uncertain course.

His Grace is enough for me at this time. Knowing that I am a daughter of God strengthens me at this time. My Heavenly Father trusts me with this sweet spirit. I can find peace in knowing that he is there to listen to each of my concerns and each of my joys.

Today I am about 17 weeks pregnant (17 weeks on August 3rd, based on my period. 17 weeks on August 8th based on my first ultrasound in June). I am still so worried about some things. Most people are either telling me I am starting to show OR that I don't look very big yet. I am not sure how I am feeling about most of these remarks. Pregnancy is so different for all women, it can be very easy to compare one pregnancy to another based on looks, feelings or what might be happening inside. I hope and pray each day that our baby is healthy, strong and growing. So please, just be careful with what you say around me and anyone else who is pregnant, because it can be really hard.

The next couple of months should be exciting though. With Haig starting school again soon and the summer days coming to an end, I am looking forward to the fall and early winter, times of change and beautiful things to come.

Mattie is Back!

Oh how I wish she was here to stay forever. Mattie is one of the best people I have ever met. I've said it about her before, but I wish we had become closer friends sooner. She is just the sweetest person and has such a wonderful and positive outlook on life. She's kind of weird too but I like her for it ;) Mattie and her brother Lee came to visit their grandparents this week. On the first night they were here we went out for a bonfire with some other people from church. Last night, Haig and I went out for the most delicious spaghetti dinner! I am pretty sure we will be doing something else adventurous and probably rambunctious tonight, so I am looking forward to it! Lee is pretty great too and I am glad that my husband doesn't have to just deal with Mattie and I and all of our foolishness. GAH Mattie I LOVE YOU TOO.

Coulson Family

I met Kesh when she served her mission in Atlantic Canada about eight years ago. Luckily, social media was around then and we stayed in touch through Facebook and then Instagram. She is married to Tim and they have two little boys, Roo & Zion. Tim is a professional photographer and they enjoy traveling as a family and experiencing new things around the world. When I found out that they were finally coming to PEI as a family, I was very excited. I hoped that we would make plans to see each other, although I knew this was going to be quite an amazing experience for them and I didn't want to impose on their plans. I was so happy when Kesh messaged me to meet up with them and have some ice cream downtown. We talked about our families and the gospel that is in our lives. The Coulson family is wonderful, so relaxed and fun to be around. I hope they enjoyed their trip here because I know it's been a long time coming for them. You can see some pictures from their trip here. Oh, and here's a funny picture of us after we had some ice cream. I was laughing because my husband made a joke about taking a selfie with a professional photographer.

more party pictures

Just a couple more pictures from the anniversary party because I had such a fun time planning it and socializing with all of our friends and family that came. I love the Milton Hall facility and we are so fortunate to have such great connections there and in our community. I don't know if I will be planning another party like this for my parents in 10 or 20 years time, but I would be honored to again because they were so happy this night and I love seeing them like that!

Happy Anniversary K&K

I am so glad we had such a wonderful weekend to celebrate my parent's 30th wedding anniversary. I love these two love birds. Two hearts beat as one, right mom? I am so happy they are my parents and they are my greatest examples of a loving marriage. 

30th Anniversary Party

On July 30th 2016, we invited friends and family to celebrate Karen and Kevin, 30 years of marriage. I am so thankful that I had this opportunity to plan and also to bring these people together to share memories, laugh, dance and have a nice time. I think I can throw a pretty good party. A special thanks to my husband for working so hard to create a beautiful pallet wall display for the party. A shout out to my sister for helping out with a lot of stuff, especially washing dishes after she had a stitch put in her hand just two days before. Thanks to my brother for taking some great pictures. I am so glad that most of my mother's sisters could make it, but we missed Helen a lot!

 So grateful for everyone who came to see my parents and wish them well.