Easter

I cannot say how perfectly timed my parents' visit was this week. It was so nice to have them over for Easter, sure, but seriously, I couldn't even walk when they got here because of the dumb toe thing so the house was a disaster and the cupboards were bare. We hadn't told them I was pregnant yet so as soon as they walked in the door, Abby gave them a picture she had drawn of her family and when they opened it, she explained what she had drawn; "This is me with ponytails," she said,"and this is Mummy and this is a scarecrow and this is a pomegranate tree and this is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (just his nose) and this is Daddy and this is the new baby." Dad "got it" immediately, but it took a second for Mom to believe what she was hearing. They were so happy, they were able to overlook the state of the house and my Mom REALLY helped get it together.Luckily, for Easter dinner, I had enough food around the house for a nice roast beef with Yorkshire puddings (Paul's favourite meal) which actually turned out despite my antique, Barbie-sized oven. Abby had 3 Easter baskets; 1 from us, one from her grandma and grandpa and one from her Auntie Carrie so she was holiday spoiled as usual and the Easter egg hunt was really fun. What is with her wonky feet here? How did she do that?

Eventually, throughout the week, my toes went from pure pain, to just pain at night, to itchy, red swollen toes, to just itchy at night and Friday, I actually was able to wear socks and shoes! The biggest bummer is having to miss our planned camping trip to Arches with our good friends. I was looking forward to it forever and it killed me to have to bow out. It's for the best of reasons, though, eh? And my toes are really feeling better now! Thank goodness for that!

My CRAZY Week

After a weekend of "am I or aren't I", Monday, I finally broke down and took a pregnancy test 2 days early. It was our first cycle on Clomid and after all, that is how we got pregnant with Abigail. Well, lo and behold, it was positive and we were all crying and so excited. Abby was so sweet when we told her, she just hugged my belly for the longest time and told me she was hugging the baby. I got out our cool book called, "Life" by the man who invented embryonic photography, Lennart Nilsson and showed her what stage our baby was at (to her credit, she was still pretty impressed). I think it horrified Paul, however, when she held up a particular page to him and said, "Look at all the sperm, Daddy!" She later asked me, while looking at the same picture, "Has this already happened in your body?" She is getting too astute and I'm glad she didn't ask how all the sperm got to the egg in the first place. So, Monday was a REALLY good day... here's how the rest of the week went...

Monday: Take pregnancy test... positive!
Tuesday: Develop a Urinary Tract Infection... went to the doctor.
Wednesday: Toes start itching uncontrollably
Thursday: Wake up early in the morning to throbbing, painful toes (as in, ALL of my toes) covered in welts under the skin and can barely move. Went to the doctor and he said it was some weird Eczema and to keep it moisturized because we really can't do much else right now.
Friday: Again woke up extremely early with the freaky throbbing, ultra-painful toe syndrome and to my surprise, a Yeast Infection!!!

All of that is not including all the other things you'd expect: constipation, unsatiable hunger, weird abdominal twinges, bloating, gas, alien veins and unrecognizable mammaries. Paul and Abby would probably add ridiculous mood swings and to that list... poor dears (let's not talk about the cheese incident). So, what's in store for Saturday? Oh, my parents are coming for Easter and, of course, with walking so painful due to all the above issues, we have no food and limited toilet paper (very limited) in the house for Easter and the house is an absolute DISASTER! I am glad my Mom is coming though... I don't care how old you are, when you're not feeling up to par, you still just want your Mommy. Also, I will happily endure all of this and whatever else is thrown at me if I can deliver a healthy baby at the end of it all. We have been praying (actually, desperately begging) for a baby for so long now, we really couldn't be more happy and I am just taking every ridiculous body issue as a sign that the baby is in there growing strong. Stay tuned...

Simon was WRONG!

I cannot believe I just wrote that but I felt on a couple of performances last night he was WAY off on his judgments! It was another Beatles themed night and this one, overall, was a lot worse than last week. Here's where Simon went wrong:

First, Carly who sang a beautiful rendition of "Blackbird", my absolute favorite Beatles song of all time was panned for being "over-indulgent". Whatever! I thought she did a great job... and I am ULTRA-sensitive when it comes to the Beatles and especially that song.

Second, Syesha and her "fingernails on the chalkboard" arrangement of the brilliant, "Yesterday"; a song that has one of the most beautiful melodies ever written. Talk about over-indulgent! It was absolutely ridiculous and absolutely DESTROYED the understated simplicity that makes the song so amazing. Of course, Randy and Paula loved it... whatever... but Simon really surprised me at agreeing with them... C'mon! Were we listening to the same song?

I was so pleased that David Archutela made a fantastic comeback... one of the few bright spots of the night. Who's going home? I think it's the end of the road for Kristy Lee Cook... she should if only for last week's slaughter of "8 Days a Week". Although Michael Johns should have just stayed home last night... to even think that a song with so many nuances and changes like "A Day in the Life" could be condensed into a minute and a half and still retain it's original punch? What was he on?

Our Life as a Poorly-Written Sitcom

We were having steamed broccoli and cauliflower for dinner the other night and when Abby saw the cauliflower, she immediately informed us that she did not like it and wouldn't eat it. Having watched tons of badly-written 80's family sitcoms, I knew exactly what to do! I told her she didn't have to eat all of it, but she had to at least try it. She took the tiniest bite she possibly could and smiled. "Mmmmm! I love cauliflower! It kind of tastes like broccoli!" she said. Then proceeded to eat all of the cauliflower before she ate everything else. I can't believe that trick actually worked... we'll see what happens next time. Until then, I guess cauliflower has pushed broccoli out of the top spot on Abby's favourite veggie list. I am certainly not going to discourage that.

Dino-mite!

Abby had her first real birthday party today. We have been planning it for months and the day finally arrived... and the weather wasn't all that bad even. I think I forgot that when this age of kids get together, it's just going to be chaos. We had a lot of fun activities planned and I imagined this neat and orderly combination of events... yea right. I think the kids all had a good time despite (or maybe because of) the craziness. We ate a nice lunch first of Dino chicken nuggets, dinosaur fruit snacks, crackers, strawberries and veggies (can you guess what we have left over?). We then went outside for a dinosaur egg hunt. After the eggs were found and hatched, the kids were able to excavate their own dinosaur skeleton in a box of sand with paintbrushes. We then came inside and WASHED HANDS! Then, it was time for volcano cake and vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce (you know, like a volcano?). Opening gifts came next. One more game followed (pin the pteradon on the scene) then the favors were given out and then I sat down and just... well, sat for a while. I have a new respect for preschool teachers. It wasn't no "party at the Pink Taco" like Brooklyn Beckham but I totally could not have even gotten anything done at all if Hannah (our Heidi Klum) and Jeri (our Eva Longoria) hadn't helped... seriously. Paul did a great job of being photographer and Abby had such a great time. We are all so lucky to have such amazing and wonderful friends and such a fun little girl. So, after prolonging her birthday celebrations about as long as she possibly could, it's finally over and we are now the proud parents of a lovely little 4 year old girl. I wonder if my mom was thinking the same thing at my 4th Birthday Party. It is the very first one I remember... of course it was perfect in my mind... hope Abby remembers hers the same way!

4 Years Old!

I cannot believe that Abby is 4 years old. She is turning into such a wonderful young lady. She loves to play with her friends and loves to talk to her grandparents on the phone. She still sleeps with Orange the cat and Hammerhead the... well, you know... hammerhead shark. She has a real innate understanding and love for all animals. She loves reading books and is starting to sound out words for herself. She picks out her own clothes and gets dressed by herself. She can wash herself in the bath (although she still needs help washing hair), is totally potty trained and is getting really good at making up songs and stories. She has a strong will and is stubborn (wonder where she gets that from) and she is really funny. Her favourite color is pink and her favourite food is pasta. She has a love for Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and a real desire to learn new things. Paul and I are so glad she is a part of our family.

This morning, we had her new doll house book case all set up in the living room with her prezzies stacked on the shelves. Her face was so cute as she saw it. She opened each gift and really savored each moment. Then we just had some cupcakes as she is getting a big cake next week for her Dinosaur Party but we put them on a special plate that was her great-grandmother's. When we got home from church, she just couldn't wait to play with all of her new things and integrate the old with the new. She had her choice for dinner and she picked lasagna. All and all a really nice birthday for our not-so-little girl.