It's Christmas Time, Well It Was...

It's hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone.  Time just flies the older you get.  

We had an amazing Christmas.  We are very traditional this time of year.  On December 23 we go to my church's Christmas Eve service.  (They have 1 on the 23rd and 3 services on the 24th!)  I love their service, it's full of amazing music and this year they told the Christmas story through the eyes of Joseph, which was neat. 

On the 24th we go to my in-laws.  It's just the six of us plus a german shepherd and a cat and it's always very cozy and intimate.  My favourite part is that every year we watch Garfield's Christmas.  It's become a tradition that we can't miss out on! 

Then before we know it, Christmas morning is here!  Ryan and I start off by opening gifts from each other at our house.  

 Since my brother and sister still live at home, we then head down to my parents (who live about 30 seconds away) and continue on there.  It's just like Christmas morning growing up.  Except for it takes longer because we all try to make it last as long as possible.  One present at a time, and then closer we get to being done the slower we go.  We even stopped for breakfast in the middle of it.  

My mom goes a bit nuts at Christmas as you can see.  But we love it, we all love giving, and of course receiving isn't so bad either.  

 Oliver wasn't a fan of Christmas.  He didn't really understand what was going on and didn't want to be in the room for it.  So he took his new toy and hid under the kitchen table for most of the morning.

 This year on Christmas day we then went to my Grandma's on my mom's side for Christmas dinner.  They are what I would call the low key side of the family.  Because on Boxing Day we headed to the cottage for dinner with the gang below.

 There were 30 of us for Christmas dinner.  My grandma kept saying that it was very loud.  She was right.  But we wouldn't want it any other way.  We ate, we played the gift stealing game (I ended up with a Starbucks mug and a $20 Starbucks card!  Guess where mine and the babies first outing will be to!)  

 We stayed up for a few days and continued to eat and play games.  I had my first experience with Cards Against Humanity.  Some people thought you had to be drunk to play, well let me tell you that you don't.  But I was laughing so hard that my stomach hurt.  This is not a game for the easily offended.  Luckily I have an insanely inappropriate family and not much offends us!

So there's my Christmas in a nutshell.  6 days of crazy goodness.  See ya next year Christmas!

Bump Date: 31 Weeks

• Baby is the size of a pineapple!
• I have a midwife appointment on Monday already as we are up to biweekly appointments now
• Labour is freaking me out.  I was doing so well and now it scares me.  Everything is more real these days.
• Ryan and I discussed how we don't actually know how to change a diaper.  I know that we will figure it out, most people do.  I have changed diapers before but I'm actually not sure if I have changed a poopy diaper.
• This week was Christmas!  We had an awesome Christmas full of good times with family.  I noticed how Christmas really revolves around the little people and I'm excited to add to that tiny group next year.
• I'm still feeling so stiff all the time.  Why is that?  Maybe I need to increase my yoga!
• Now that Christmas is over it's time for me to focus on all things baby.  We're hoping to get the shelving up in the nursery this week, I want to finish decorating and start thinking about freezer meals. 

Bump Date: 30 Weeks

30 Weeks.  How did that happen?  Time is going so quickly now and I feel totally unprepared.  Baby has a nursery (that is incomplete) and that's about it.  I'm really hoping that once Christmas is over I have some time to focus on what still needs to be done.  But I doubt it.

• Baby is the size of a cucumber
• Less than 1 pound gained from my last appointment for a total of 18 lbs!  It's a Christmas miracle!  More likely I'm losing muscle.
• Exercise was basically non-existent this week.  I have been so busy with stuff on every night and it just didn't happen.  The next week probably won't have that much either since it's Christmas.  But I have to remember that so many people don't exercise at all during pregnant so I've done pretty well to this point.
• I hadn't realized that I was having Braxton Hicks until the midwife told me I was having one when she went to hear the babies heartbeat.  I don't really feel them so much but I can now tell when I'm having one from how hard my stomach gets.
• I miss not worrying about being stressed.  I've been super stressed at work and I know that it's not good for me or the baby, but that just makes me stress more.  It's a vicious cycle.
• I’m finally admitting that my belly is small.  It was really starting to get to me that everybody said I was so small.  But then this week I looked at other people’s 30 week pictures and they are so much more pregnant than me.  And I mean that in a good way.  But the midwife isn’t concerned and says I’m measuring fine.  
• I have now met both of my midwives.  For going with a midwife I sure have had a lot of different care!  I saw my family doctor until 12 weeks, then I started seeing my midwife who was pregnant til about 22 weeks at which point she went on mat leave.  I have seen each of my other midwives once.  Luckily they are both great and since appointments are becoming more frequent I will hopefully get a lot of face time with each of them.
• It's Christmas this week!  I'm so excited to enjoy our last Christmas of just the two of us and am ready to soak it all in.

Bump Date: 29 Weeks

• Baby is the size of a large butternut squash
• It is around 3 lbs but is within 3 inches of it's final birth length.  Sounds more like a string bean to me!
• Baby is kicking up a storm in there some days.  Other days it seems a bit lazier and I only get light kicks.
• I looked it up to see if there's a point where you should stop exercising in pregnancy, because I'm tired.  That was just wishful thinking though, as long as I'm able I can exercise until delivery.  I'm still physically able to do it, I'm just feeling lazy.
• I took Thursday off to go Christmas shopping in Toronto with my mom.  We drove into a snow storm to do it, but it was worth it.  I finished up my shopping plus got a bunch of stuff for the nursery at Ikea.  It was a very successful trip.  Although not a relaxing day off at all.  I was exhausted at the end of the day and was so sore from all of the walking and standing!
• My belly button is getting a bit flatter but I'm not sure that it will ever pop out.  That's ok with me.
• Feeling more and more anxious about birth and breastfeeding.  Labour just looks bad, I know I can do it, and everyone says it's so worth it and they would do it a hundred more times.  With breastfeeding everyone says it kills, I had to give my baby a bottle, it hurt for 6 weeks straight, yikes!
• We're in the third trimester.  Craziness!
• I miss being able to bend over and having a body that works properly and isn't sore all the time.  I have a massage next week (or this week since I'm a few days behind posting) so maybe that will help.
• It's almost Christmas!  Just a week and a bit left until our last quiet Christmas as a family of 2!