alicia

To the market

When it comes to things that help save our planet I am easily influenced. Give me a few reliable stats, a good documentary or book on the subject and it is likely my lifestyle will soon change.

Examples from me past would be my hatred of all things plastic and how we use almost plastic free diapers and ZERO grocery bags after watching a documentary! Or how PETA gave me some literature and now I don't use products that test on animals.

I am reading a book called Animals, Vegetables, Miracles which I received from a blog book exchange. It has changed my life.

I always knew vegetables and fruits were seasonal, obviously they didn't grow year round, but they have always been available at the grocery store so why not buy them? My selfish, very north american ways seem laughable after reading this book.

The first chapter will slap you with the most shocking stats you could imagine. The amount of fossil fuels used to ship all these veggie and fruits so that we can eat them year round is appalling. The amount of money big corporations are making off of these shipments is enough to make me throw up. I could no longer eat a berry in October and not feel guilty. I dove into some major research of my own and have made some drastically huge changes around here. I love my earth too much to see it go to waste and the fact that we may run out of fossil fuels in 50 years means that if I don't teach and first learn, some gardening skills soon Ivy's generation may be left with only McDonald's as a food option.

We are now eating seasonally in the Millis house. And we are only eating locally grown produce. I tried this once, but it was more for the organic reasons and quickly stopped. The price of the organic produce in the grocery stores is outrageous (and not for the reasons you think, read the book). So we traveled to our year round farmers market to scope out the goods there. I was shocked.

 

We purchased a huge bag of spinach, a huge bag of swiss chard, a branch of brussel sprouts and a bag of baby potatoes for $17. My jaw dropped as well. I would easily be paying close to $30 at Superstore for this and it would not be pesticide free, grown an hour from my house and be supporting a family directly.

BC, the province next to us can grow fruit much later in the year then us because of their location. Shipping produce from there is much more reasonable and acceptable to me then say from Mexico! So we purchased some apples and peaches from their stand.

 

This place was huge and crowded! Which made me deliriously happy. I was so proud of my fellow Calgarians for purchasing their produce this way! This world does have hope.

We quickly learned some important lessons of farmers market edict! It is best not to bring a stroller as the aisles are small and hard to maneuver. The sling will be used next time! Bring cash, as the stands do not take debit. And plan to spend a good 2 hours there to see everything! There was music and ice cream and samples and basically heaven. I was grinning ear to ear the whole time!

I will be back every Friday to stock the fridge with seasonal veggies and fruits. I may have picked the hardest months to start this as Nov and Dec will pretty much have no fruits to show and Jan-May are not much better! But if we can make it through these months doing this, I think we can do it forever!

I am really excited to cook with some new recipes, make Ivy's baby food seasonally and try some really new things like canning peaches and tomatoes! Making ice cream and my own cheese (just for fun!) and next spring starting my own small garden with Ivy.

I think this will be a lot of fun!

Back with a new baby!

Ahah! Proof many of you are skimmers out there! I do it to, don't feel bad. I did mention in my last post I was taking off to Nelson for 2 weeks for a vacation, yet many of you wrote to me with great concern that I was dead or something, so next time try to not let the pictures distract you too much and read the whole post! hee hee.

Yes I was here:

View from our cabin front yard, that is our dock!

Our cabin. It was rented for 2 weeks, we don't own it or anything, but it was paradise.

Doesn't just looking at this make you more relaxed?

So Nelson British Columbia was amazing. Beautiful. Stunning. 8 hours away.

Now 8 hours away is nothing really, considering the countless 14 hour or more drives I have taken in my life.

But those were before this:

I will admit I was cocky.

Ivy and her car seat have always had a positive relationship. Many fluids have been exchanged, well mostly it goes one way. Endless hours of sleeping, car rides, stroolering have been accomplished in her beloved orange chair. A 8 hour car ride with a few breaks in between totally seemed doable.

And it was. The ride to Nelson was picture perfect. My sister joined me and Ivy in the car and us sisters chatted the entire way. 8 months of not seeing each other was a recipe for many stories to share. She fussed only minuetly when we were about 15 minutes from the cabin, no big deal.

So naturally when it came to embark upon on ride back home I approached the 8 hours of car travel with confidence, with a I am the best mother ever attitude, cause dudes we made it here with no issues at all. I am best mom. I have best child.

We drove for about 2 hours before the drama began. I need to remind you the amount of THINGS this child needs when traveling:

All this in one little car. Which meant Ivy was surrounded on each side of her car seat with things, with bags and baby toys and chairs and suitcases. So when the melt down began it became not just a fit of tears on Ivy's part, but a crazy, desperate me trying madly to rearrange the car while speeding down the highway. I was throwing bags and pillows and crap all into the front seat while I was sprawling myself over top of the car seat in the middle back seat. At one point I was basically doing the splits spreading myself over the entire car trying to maneuver my way back to her. In the midst of my lounging towards the back Keith hollers that there are cops ahead. And I scream back at him something along the lines of "Well they will just have to hand cuff me and drag my ass out of this car if they want to arrest me!" I made my way to the back seat. With room only to curl up like a ball and was able to begin operation soothe the wailing baby.

It ended up with us needing to pull over on the highway anyway. But the baby was calmed.

I stayed in that cramped ball position for the remainder of the trip. Placating her with plastic toys and my fingers to suck on. It was a long, cramped ride home. But we made it home.

Just remember the happy times baby, not the torturous car ride home.

And now some of the trip highlights, enjoy friends!

Together at last!

Ivy discovered her hands. She understands that they are hers and that she can use them to obtain things and then eat those things!

First time swimming! We tried the lake, it was freakin cold. So a kiddy pool was purchased and enjoyed!

She grabbed the toys on her chair for the first time, and made the puppy sing by pulling the red bone! We all screamed with excitement when she got it to sing for the first time!

There were lots of evenings spent in the hot tub!

Many card games played!

We ate like queens and kings! My mom brought hundreds of recipes she wanted to try and she made many of them! She made this feast! Amazing! We were never hungry.

We did tons of swimming! The lake was cold, but it felt sooo nice on those hot days.

We gazed at many sunsets in this spectacular scenery.

Ivy grooving her shades and sun hat. AHHH too cute.

Awed by the campfire.

We had a spa day and I got a sweet pedicure!

More swimming with Daddy!

Ivy giggled! AHH I know! She laughed when Grandpa lifted her up for airplane rides! She spent lots of time with only a diaper on.

All dolled up for our fancy night!

I dressed up the table all special like! I love table decorating, my favorite part of fancy dinners!

The fancy evening started off with my dad opening a $800 bottle of champagne he got as a present when one of his employees won the lottery. It tasted as amazing as you would think a $800 bottle of alcohol would taste!

The gang! We were celebrating many things! Ivy's birth and her turning 3 months old while on this trip! My sister finishing law school and coming home from a long trip! And my dads new job (which I will talk more about later, like new post later).

Ivy is constantly smiling now and talking (well gooing!) up a storm! It is so amazing to see her communicating with us, I love it.

The feast! The power went out while we were cooking as we experienced some serious freaky lighting storms while there, but we managed to get the lobster tails, steaks with blue cheese topping, horseradish potatoes and basil, cilantro carrots all cooked up. Yes it was as amazing as you are thinking and yes I did eat a steak. Sometimes even a vegetarian needs to break the rules when a piece of meat smells this good.

Our last morning. The sky was hazy with smoke from surrounding forest fires.

Ivy crammed in the car ready for the 8 hour trek.

It was a super awesome vacation. I loved spending so much time with my family in such a beautiful place. It was incredible seeing Ivy grow so much in such a short period of time. She plays with toys now, can almost roll over, is giggling and smiling lots, she is 2lbs heavier and is recognizing people and favorite things. Shes a new baby and I love watching her little personality develop. I'm a lucky momma!

Date day

Keith had off this past Friday, so we decided to make a date day out of it!

We headed off to Big Hill Springs to go for a hike.

And of course since we were here, and there was a pride rock thing going on, we had to do a little Rafiki and Simba action up on the rock!

"We present to you, animal kingdom of Bill Hill Springs, your Queen! Obey and serve her as if she were your own mother. You will address her as Queen Ivy from her on out, and bees don't even think about stinging her!"

After the park we went home to watch some of "The Office" (have I told how this is the best show ever created? Have I? The laughter induced from this show can heal all grumpiness, fights and boredom!) and then we got ready for the real date!

Please check me out....I am in heels! I have come along way in these 9 weeks since this....

Hot granny pj's I never took off because of the easy boob access.

This time for date night we ate at Joey Tomato's. A safe restaurant, reasonable prices and reasonable food, and you are always in for a little treat with the boob show they have going on in that place! (waitresses are a little on the sluty side).

After Keith's fish tacos and my ahi tuna burger (we both decided to branch out and try a new item on the menu! We were both pleased!) and of course the standard belini (holy crap did my alcoholic self miss this drink! It is all glory in its peach wonderfulness and slushy texture with just the right amount of sangria poured on top...crap I want another one now and its only 9am here).

We then skipped over to Eau Claire Market, where the movie I picked was playing, and Oh my God are we glad we saw it.

Yes that is Jim from the office! Yes I am totally in love with him and even dreamt of him last night. Keith and I have decided that Ivy will marry his child (which is good cause him and Pam are pregnant in "The Office").

But the movie, holy freakin crap my friends does in rock more than anything. Remember I have a passion for movies. There is no counting in the films I have seen, because no one can count that high. Have you played deserted island? (You may notice my new obsession is also the office, because this game is from one episode in the show...we have watched all 5 seasons twice since Ivy was born, so naturally my brain is always close to an episode!) Anyway...deserted island is a game where you pick things you could have if you were on a deserted island forever, one of the things to pick is 5 movies. This is EXTREMELY hard for me, but I can now safely tell you Away We Go is on the list, that is how fantastic this movie is.

Keith and I were creeped out about how many similarities there were between the movie and our lives. It was packed full of humor, drama and tears. It looked at every type of parenting and even spoke of infertility with such accuracy and true raw emotion I was a bubbling mess of tears. WARNING: this whole thing is about the couples journey in her pregnancy and meeting up with friends and families with kids, so if this kinda thing is hard for you to watch then please don't mess yourself up watching this one (but it is totally amazing!).

After the movie Keith and I couldn't wait to get back to my parents house to scoop up little Ivy into our arms and shower her with some love.

We had one freakin fantastical Date Day. Defiantly be doing these often!

AHem. SIncE no PEEps LISten TO meS no MORes wITHout CReaTUre BabY, HEres Wes Are ToGEtheR. NoT HAppeNIng OftenS. ButS WAnted TO TellS yous INTEnetS That ME TISSue iS bEING NEglecTEd of LOVe, PleaSE SEnd Helps ImmeDIATly. THankS Yous my Dear FANs.

Ivy's weekend

Ivy has decided she wants to tell you all about her exciting weekend, so naturally I will translate as I am soo intune with baby talk.

goo gaa glee ga ga

translation: Hello! Welcome to my weekend, we start it off with adorable smiles of course!

ga ga zzzzz GEE

translation: It was so nice out on Saturday that the parentals and I chilled with beers on the patio. I decided to try napping in a new way, I am all crazy baby like that.

GEE sqeee ga GOO

translation: I know, so cute you could all eat me. Its hard being the worlds cutest baby, you have no idea the pressures this title brings with it.

GAAAAAAA SCREAM

translation: MOMMY!!!! what is making the creepy noise in there?

SCREAM gaaaaa

translation: AHHh those are super freaky, but mommy  assures me they are yummy! Yes these are LIVE lobsters, all the way from the east coast. Lobster Fest 2009!

grunt goo glee ahhh

translation: Before the feasting begins, Grandpa and I pose on the Triumph. Mommy tells me this machine helped get me to come out or something?

gee glle grunt ahhh

translation: My great Grandparents! They came all the way from Manitoba to have lobsters with me.

SCREAM shrik ahhhh cry

translation: ahhh its going to eat me!! Get it in the water quick!

GLEEE

translation: yay, cooking time! They scream a high pitch scream when they are boiled!

gaa gee ohh grunt

translation: great uncle larry thinking grandmas dog Buddy was a fuzzy lobster!

heee gee gooo ga ga

translation: Daddy and Grandpa FINALLY getting around to smoking cigars and drinking scotch in my honor! Also to celebrate fathers day!

glee ga ohh grunt

translation: The Great grandpas joined in the fun as well!

GEEEE SQUEEE GAAA

translation: the next morning was fathers day! I put on my best shirt!

goo gaa gee

translation: mom made homemade egg mcmuffins for dad. Not sure why that is exciting, hello people the best food is all about the boob.

gee glaa grunt grunt

translation: Mom put on The Office. I have watched every episode of this show with the parentals, they are addicted. Mommy always wakes me up with her loud laughing, grrr.

gee gaa goob grunt

tranlstion: Daddy got his presents. Beer and more beer and a stud finder! Mommy was a cheese ball and when he opened the stud finder she started making beeping nosies to let him know the finder found a stud! Ohh I can pretict many embarrassing moments in my life with these 2 as parents.

goo gaa gee ba

translation: and then magically after present opening I was put in my car seat and fell asleep and woke up 3 hours later in a city called edmonton! We were there to visit my aunty Val and unlce Roland and their baby in Vals tummy.

gleee zzz grunt

translation: guess who's cute?

gee gaa OHH

translation: Me and my cousin Emma! Isn't she soo cute! ahh, I love her lots. She helped me stop crying lots of times.

gee goo ga ga

tranlsation: Aunty Hannah came with us to Edmonton. We went to an art festival in edmonton. It was fun, there was really weird music being played though? Crazy artists!

GEEEEE gaa gooo grunt

translation: We had a great weekend! And I love my mommy lots, shes so cool!

Camping with Dinos

Camping was a success! I know I am just as shocked. I was preparing myself for countless meltdowns, sunburns and tears, but it all went so smoothly it became more of a vacation for myself!

We went to Drumheller to camp. I LOVE Canada, and I love the province I live in, Alberta. We are so lucky in Alberta to have beautiful prairies, the Rocky Mountains and Drumheller. It is such a unique terrain, here let me show you:

Can you see the lines around the mountainy things? So neat.

 

The thing Drumheller is most known for is the Dinosaurs! I am not sure why though, I think cause they found lots of dinosaur bones in the area. Anyways, such a cool place, I will take you there if you come to visit me and Ivy!!!

Speaking of Ivy, I bet you are itching to see pics of her, not all this lame landscape crap! OK OK  here she is!

 

I tried to keep a hat on her the whole time, she was having none of that! But freak she is soo cute in sun hats!

 

The amazing camper van in which we slept! You can see Ivy's little face in her bassinet over there. I was sooo worried about camping for one reason. Ivy has been sleeping 10-4 every night, I was paranoid camping would disrupt this beautiful habit! So I brought her magic blanket and noise machine to make her FEEL like she was at home! It worked! 9-3 or 10-4 each night! soooo awesome.

 

Cocooned in her magic blanky waking up to the sounds of sweet little birdies!

 

Ivy in her yellow polka dot bikini! I took her in the river, which was warm, but she did NOT have a good time in there! Ha ha, my aunt has some pics of me and her in the water I will be sure to get from her!

 

So cute I know! Keith and I were at Walmart looking for a replacement soother (obviously not found!) when I spotted this! It is a baby tent that is UV protected and keeps the bugs away! It was $20! Wicked! I just put her bassinet mattress inside and she would lie peacefully in there for hours.

 

Grandpa and baby!

 

Shes all mine! Ahh I am so in love.

 

Ivy and her first trip to the bar. No jokes. There is a little place near by called Wayne, there is a bar there, only a bar in this town of 27 people. This bar is famous, as bikers (motorcycles) from all over drive to come here. You have to go over 11 bridges to get to this bar and bikers seem to like that or something. So we went, on Sundays kids are allowed in! Perfect. Ivy loves the bar already! haha

 

She is smiling lots now! Hard to capture on film, but this is close!

It was a great 4 days of camping. We had awesome food, awesome family around, awesome drinks and awesome weather! Sooo hot out every day. We managed to keep the baby from burning and I can't wait for our next camping adventure (but soo with the van, so awesome. A tent would not have been as cool!)

Desperation?

Child you are coming out! My day yesterday shows how determined I am to get this show on the road. After spending the morning re cleaning everything I had already cleaned, and then finding some new little juicy things to clean, I decided one of the best ways to get things going would be to plan an activity that would totally be ruined by my water breaking or something.

So I took advantage of Calgary's beautiful 21°C weather yesterday and planned a surprise picnic supper for Keith! I lugged a blanket and picnic bag down town to the park Keith and I used to walk through on our way home from work each day. I set up by the river bank and then waited to surprise him!

He was surprised!

We cozied up by the river and had an awesome picnic supper!

Celery sticks with peanut butter and chocolate chips!

Watermelon and strawberries! We also had sandwiches, chips, Teddy Grahams and ice tea! It was soo fun!

Yum, so nice.

The ducks even wanted to hang out at our cool party!

It was a great way to spend an afternoon, but it did NOT bring on any labour. Bad bad picnic.

I was hoping these would:

Yes peeps, I walked up the death stairs. All 250 of them, being all 40 weeks and 1 day pregnant. And I had 2 contractions on the drive home! Success!

But this wasn't enough, I wasn't in labour, I needed more!

Luckily my dad called with a plan. He was talking to his best buddy (who happened to marry my moms sister, so now they are related, isn't that coo!) and he said that when his daughter was overdue with her first he took her for a ride on his Harley, and she went into labour the next day!

Next thing I know my dad is at my door:

My dad is the original owner of a 77 Bonneville Triumph Motorcycle. It takes a lot of maintenance to keep this baby running and he spent all weekend disassembling and reassembling it! It's amazingly loud, and bumpy and sexy and totally will get this child out of me!

We strapped into our helmets!

My dad got her started! It takes a lot of jumping to get her going!!

Then I hopped on and we set off for a 30 minute ride around the country side! Boy does cow poo smell a lot more intense on a motorcycle, so does skunk.

We had a awesome ride! I love being on the back of a motorcycle, holding on to my Daddy for dear life! So awesome! One day I will be in the drivers seat (of a smaller motorcycle, rule is if you can't start it you can't drive it! and there is NO way I could get my dad's started!).

Afterwards my whole lower half of my body was numb. If you have never been on a motorcycle like this before, it is basically like sitting on a dryer cranked up to rocket ship drying speed! I made the comment that who needs an epidural when you have a Triumph! My hoohaa felt like it was all pins and needles. Twinkle seemed to enjoy herself as she was full of activity for the rest of the evening, and I even had a few more contractions, some that even woke me up from sleep!

So hopefully all this stair climbing and motorcycle cruising will have me in a labour and delivery room tonight!

Chicken molesting and out with friends, not having a baby, promise.

My social life kept me from the computer yesterday! Honest, I was not at home absorbed by the television consuming ungodly amounts of banana splits.

No really I was seeing people, real live people who actually want to hang out with me!

I spent the morning eating breakfast at one of my FAVORTIE places, Diner Deluxe, where the decor is full out diner style and they serve things like chocolate sourdough french toast with grilled bananas and real canadian maple syrup, an array of eggs benedict’s to chose from, omelettes, sandwiches, salads the works. I enjoyed a milkshake (totally appropriate for breakfast, loaded with the calcium and sugar which is a important food group) and blueberry, vanilla, pancakes. I was accompanied by a good friend, Melissa, whom I have known since grade 5! Breakfast quickly turned into afternoon and then I was headed home for some much needed napping time (having a social life is SOOO hard!) and then I was out the door to meet another friend, Lindsey, for some delicious Starbucks. I have known this friend since grade 7! And before we knew it the little barista boy who totally had a crush on Lindsey’s glasses was kicking us out of the joint because he needed to clean.

So I was not ignoring you dear internet, and I was not having a baby or anything. Trust me, there is a lot of labouring to be done at home before a trip to the hospital is needed, you will be told when anything remotely exciting happens. Like last night I had 3 whole contractions, which may have really been gas pains, but it is remotely exciting so here I am reporting it to you.

And because I know you are dying to find out how my mommy stalking went at prenatal class Wednesday night, I will tell you that too. We totally have friends!!!!!! We hung out with 2 other couples AFTER class last night, which ended at like 9:20 so I stayed up really late, which lets you know just how important this whole making friends business is to me. It was really fun talking to other couples about pregnancy, their fears and birthing dreams. Luckily all of us agreed on most topics so no awkward moments.

Most awkward thing that happened in the class was the instructor saw how fidgety Keith and I can be (as we were doing naughty things with the pipe cleaner people given to us to demonstrate the labour positions we learnt in the previous class, apparently pipe cleaner people sex was not one of the approved labouring techniques!) so she gave us a little rubber chicken that births a squishy slimy egg when you squeeze it! Naturally this entertained us to no end, and we totally creped the people out  beside us who actually found the birthing chicken to be quite disturbing. After all of our fondling of the chicken we gave it back to the instructor at the end of the night and she began to squeeze it and what happens?? Her water breaks! Gooey chicken birth egg juices sprayed everywhere, covering the poor instructor but had me and Keith on the ground rolling with laughter!

Good times.

Yikes!

Wow, those 12 days off sure flew by. Which was exactly the plan. Time to catch up!

•  Ultrasound! It went pretty good! Did any of you catch it? Twinkle was playing hide and seek the WHOLE time, and kept both arms and legs in front of her face for the whole duration. But it was still quite neat to catch a glimpse of her all 3D and stuff. Yes here are the pictures (click to embiggen):

• DVD of the ultrasound, is UBER long and Keith couldn't even get through watching the whole thing again, sooo I will work on a pregnancy wrap up video when the birth time is near.

• Christmas! I scored so much loot! But that is totally not what Christmas is about, right? Here are some geeky Christmas shots of me, cause I know you want them:

Empty! Already?

Tissue needed some assistance opening his presents. I am such a kind mom to help out.

YES he got presents, geez.

My dad and me playing with the present my sister got the family (yay my parents stayed here for Christmas! My spoiled whiny self got its way, unfortunately it was due to my Grandma passing away and them needing to stay since my whole family ended up here anyway) (and yes sister is still in Rome, she had presents for us to unwrap on Christmas though!)

THE PRESENT: granny racers! Little grandmas in wheelcars that race around this track and knock each other off! HOW COOL!

Keith as an elf. I thought you would enjoy that.

• Anniversary was GREAT! Nothing like doing squat all for 2 days and being serviced by people while lying in bed, and then people coming in to clean after you (ohh dirty minds, yes that could be taken quite sickly, it was not that kind of annivesary people, 25 weeks pregnant over here).

Basking in the luxury!

• Ruths Chris. You have them in the States, we finally got one. And ohhh man am I glad we do. We went there last year for our anniversary, they had just opened like a week before. We were blown away, and also the only customers. This year there were more people, but the service was still just as amazing. So amazing in fact that our server remembered us from last year, and gave us our dessert and a drink for free! So service 2 out of 2, food, well here is a sample:

Yes that is steak on my plate. The baby made me eat the cow! It's her fault! And surprisingly it was very yummy cow, normally when I branch out and eat animal I am disappointed and end up sick. This time my taste buds were thrilled and no sickness!

• Food 3.75 out of 4. Really they went above and beyond. The steaks come out on sizzling hot platters, still cooking in butter! The salad and appetizers were heavenly! The only flop, causing the .75, was the cappicinos we had with dessert. YUCK. Like toliet water coffee. Decor 2 out of 2

The resturant is in the Calgary Tower. So the whole thing is circular. So impressive. The bathrooms were amazing, with marble floors and walls with dark wood, and individually wrapped paper towels in napkin rings! ohh la la.

Price was high, but very worth it. So 2 out of 2.

Total : 9.75 out of 10. Yes folks, Ruths Chris is my second favorite resturtant, falling slightly behind the Muse.

• Belly pics! Yes it is that time again, my how 2 weeks flys by when you are having fun. 

Awe look at that belly.

Yes the nursery has changed once again. Are you really that surprised? Nursery update later this week.

And some nakedness for you. Just in case you were curious too see what albino white tummy flesh really does look like.

• SHOES!!! Ok soo some of you are just plain old sucking out. I know you have them! You wear them everyday, so get those dang pictures to me NOW! I am extending the deadline to this Friday chums. So that totally means you still have a chance to win REAL SHOES! Sooo PLEASE get those photos to me pronto!

• Ok, so I think you have had enough Alicia now. I release you to go check on other blogs. Oh but comment first. I need your love, after exposing that much white flesh onto the internet world.

Overload

Do you ever have those weekends, where you look back at them and are in shock that you managed to fit sooo many things in one small period of time? And then on Monday you pay for it by not being able to move and end up sleeping in till 11:30??

Ya, that was me.

Recap:

• Saturday morning wake up at 8:30, Keith is out judging the Science Olympics, so by 9am I am in the nursery painting.
• Keith gets home at 4:30, I finish painting at 5. 2 coats of vanilla milk shake, 4 coats of blue. It was a long day.
• At 5 I start getting all dolled up for my company Christmas party that started at 6:30. I had a great time eating all the appi's and jealously watching my co-workers drink all the free booze. I left at 11, when I was to exhausted to keep my eyes open, but left Keith to party till 2:30!
• Sunday we woke up at 8:30 and had Starbucks, and then got to work on building all the nursery furniture. I was feeling sore, but thought a little work will make it go away! We got the enormous shelf, enormous crib and the dresser built all by 1.
• Then I hurried out to the grocery store cause I had to make the chicken chili for the Grey Cup party at my parents house starting at 3ish.
• We get to my parents and I start making the chili and helping my mom set up all the other food for the 20 people who were about to show up!
• It was a great night, with great food and friends and BEST of all the Stampeders (my TEAM!!!) took home the Grey Cup!! YAY!
• We got home at 8:30 to a totally neglected house, as the whole weekend I was in the nursery. This was not acceptable, so I started to clean. By 10:30 I was in bed, and really started to feel the soreness of this insane weekend creep in.
• Monday morning at 6:15, when my alarm went off, I walked to the bathroom and tried to sit on the toilet, my legs would not bend! I had to manually straighten them and work my way down the toilet and then had quite the adventure standing again. Every muscle in my body was throbbing. So I went back to bed and slept till 11:30. Yay me.

So that was my weekend! Nursery looks great, I can move today, and Twinkle is moving more then ever!

 

Pictures of all these events were taken, you may get to see a few soon!  

PS Thanks for all your shoe voting! The David Dixon’s won the show with the majority vote! Echloe's name was drawn! So chicky lets she some shoes! Send me a pic with your fav pair by Friday please :)

Pictures much?

Just remember you all asked for them. So if this post takes you 20 minutes to get through, it's your own fault!

So let the pictures begin:

One of the first photos I took with the new toy! What a hottie! And such a good gift giver :)

The main subject of my attack with camera. He started to realize that when the little black thing popped up on the top of the camera, it was time to run! The flash blinded him a few times :)

Self portrait. Pastiness yes, but the pasty sure brings out the blue in my eyes :)

This is just amazing to me. Any of my old cameras would have blurred this shot, and none of the colors would pop out so vibrantly. This is just to prove the power of the new camera.

The Muse! This is the upper level. There is a basement, main little level and then this upper level. All with the same whimsical design.

A fun shot Keith got of me at the Muse. I kinda like the weird lighting thing going on.

Where my love of truffles began. No not the chocolate ones, the mushroom ones. This is popcorn, covered in truffle oil, with salt. AMAZING. We now make it at home because we are soooo in love with it. The Muse always gives you a bowl while you look over the menu.

Because it was my birthday the waiter gave us a treat! One of the waiters dads had just came home from a wild salmon catching trip. He had smoked all the salmon himself and then brought one into the restaurant. We got to sample some, and ohhhh wow.

Cauliflower and white truffle shaving soup!

Opps! Started eating before the pic, the food was displayed much more artistically before. Ok but you are wondering why on earth there is brussel sprouts on my plate. I agree. I read the menu and saw that they had brussel sprouts as a appi and I was like, who the freak would waste money on that. But I asked the waiter what his fav appi was, he said the way I felt about the truffle popcorn, confused when they first but popcorn down in a fine dining establishment and then you eat it and die a little. He said the same thing would happen with these. He was right. WOW!! Seriously, blow your mind awesome.

Keith had escargot in tarragon sauce with shitake mushrooms.

Lobster Lasagna! Again, ate a little before the pic, can you blame me?? They put down this heaven in front of me and I lose my brain.

Keith had the Beef tenderloin, which apparently I forgot to upload the pic of to flickr. Sooo, use your imagination.

My birthday full moon, created especially that night for me.

More stunning decor.

So review. Decor 2 out of 2. After these pics can you question that? Service 2 out of 2. The servers here will make you feel like royalty. They all have some sommelier knowledge and they know every detail about the food they serve. They can make REAL suggestions and give reasons why one dish may be better for you then another. They fill your water glass before you realize you are thirsty and need more water. Just awesome. 2 out of 2 for price. This evening cost us $170, I wasn't drinking, but Keith was. And we each had soup and appi each and a main course each. Considering all this food, using the top ingredients in our city, some bought right from our farmers, you cannot get better quality for your money anywhere. Food 4 out of 4. I would like to give a 5 out of 4, but that would be breaking my own rules. The food causes you to pause and savor. I am not a savorer normally, I am hungry and I eat. But this food is so rich, so well prepared that your body takes control and slows the whole eating process down cause it needs to soak in all the flavors of every bit. Come to Calgary, I will take you here!!! So the Muse, gets an impressive 10 out of 10. Only restaurant to EVER achieve this rating.

Ahh my city.

I know, you were wondering why dessert wasn't ordered at the Muse. Cause Keith promised me ICE CREAM CAKE! The waiter thought we were all class when we told him we had to got to Dairy Queen for desert! And of course princess cake, for the princess I am.

The birthday festivities did not end there. My parents had us over on Friday night for Raclette! A little skillet cooking thingy that you put veggies and meat on, and then in those little trays you put in crab and butter, cheese and veggies that melt into heavenly goodness. This and fondue are one of my family's favorite dinners!

And the birthday madness continues! Keith surprised me with a cranberry bliss bar and a homemade fruit smoothy on Saturday morning! You are lucky you are seeing this picture of awfulness, but my hubby is too dang amazing not to share this little treat with you.

AND YES THERE IS MORE! Keith then went out of his way to have a surprise b-day party for me with 2 of my closest girl friends! He even hung the streamers and blow up the balloons! He cleaned the house and got snacks ready for all of us! I know he is a dream husband, and no you cannot borrow him.

I am way too lucky.

It was a great Saturday afternoon!

AND....18 week belly shot! Not sure what kinda expression I got going on there, but it's not my face you are looking at, its the FINALLY growing belly! I even had to buy maternity pants for work this weekend! Which are awesome, why did I not get into these babies earlier. The softness and room to BREATHE it is such a great idea.

And the new boots. Yes I know. They are sure some level of ugly. But they are comfy, warm and grippy! Walking on the ice bridge of doom, which was slipper then any ice rink I have been on (NO JOKES!) this morning, these boots proved their worth. I did not fall. I was kept warm, and I looked like a man beast walking in these. But whatever, I will be a man beast for comfort.

I also picked up these gems to keep me warm and slip free downtown during the week. They aren't the cutest either, but they will work. I can wear them in snow and still appear to be dressed up. And they aren't huge heeled so my soon to be hugeness will not be off balance with them.

So is that enough??? Did I cram your little heads enough with my life?? I hope so!! Tomorrow the exciting pics will be displayed. We get to see Twinkle again! YAY :)

PS: If you haven't voted yet, you have today still to do so!! Go vote for what sex you think Twinkle is! Vote on this post with your comments :)