40 weeks and counting.....

I am officially overdue. Hendrik broke out the Happy Birthday chanson yesterday in the car after spotting a birthday cake in his sticker book (it lives in the car), and we wondered if the babe would make an appearance if we sang happy birthday dear baby sister enough times, and I wondered out loud whether or not she might show up if I made her a birthday cake. Steve followed my comment with, "you might be the only person that would actually do that... make a cake as soon as you start having contractions." No, I don't think I'm the only one in the world that would do that but Yes, it's something that I might consider; for the cake and for the baby. I didn't end up baking any goodies, but Steve did; he made a delicious slow-cooker version of this chocolate pudding cake, and I was able to eat in full comfort on my 40-week belly:

I finished Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting yesterday, and liked it. Both Steve and I spent a season (eight-ish months) in France and neither of us were super into the attitudes and/or general feel of the people or the culture there (we were in the south, where snobbery (so it is said) reigns supreme), but the French seem to have a few lessons to give on child-rearing. I read a few passages out loud to Steve a few nights ago, and he agreed with the moral-of-the-story, paused, and then said: "Yeah, but they turn into French people." Hm. Yes. I feel a little guilty agreeing with the sweeping generalization, but it echoes my general feelings about the French. And the generalizing, I've been doing with Quebecers too; I know some fabulous amazing wonderful people from la belle provence but when I see three+ people running red lights every. single. day. and young couples smoking with their kids/babies/toddlers right beside them or right there (every single day), it makes me think things that I can no longer say out loud if Hendrik is in the car. Anyways, that's beside the point. What I was getting at is that in the Bringing Up Bebe book there are numerous sections on how kids eat and what kids eat, and perhaps, in part, it was this information that inspired me to make vichyssoise and serve dinner in two courses. Or hm, perhaps it was just that we had a bunch of leeks in the fridge and a sack'o'potatoes in the pantry that needed to be used. Either way, the soup was delicious. And we had homemade soda bread on the side to boot; Steve and I decided, in a quest to replicate Savary Island's unbelievably delicious soda bread (we want to bring loaves and loaves home every time we come back from Vancouver) to have a soda bread bake-off. He made this recipe the other night, and it was delicious... but a distant facsimile. I made this recipe (with a few changes: I subbed whole wheat flour for most of the white, reduced the sugar and passed on the fennel) and it was closer - not exactly what I was going for, but delicious just the same. They were both reaaaally easy to make (no yeast, no wait-for-it-to-rise, no-knead) and I'm hoping we can remember to make them again. Yum.

I'll leave you with a few pictures from the past couple of days - we've been trying to take advantage of family-of-three time, and enjoy each other's company - a pretty easy thing to do...

updating the updates

We must have read The Poky Little Puppy at least eight times today, so I added it to his list of current faves. Oh, and three helpings of tomato soup at dinner? It's been added to the food-favourites. We spent the morning here at home (I was in zombie-trance mode after a baaaaad sleep) and Hendrik did some practicing (volleyball - "just like dad"), cheering and, as soon as the camera started rolling, was all over what is going on?! Pure entertainment.

up-date

More and more to write about, oui oui. Still no baby; I'm due on Thursday and feeling pretty good, with only a few instances of what I think are Braxton Hicks contractions, but even when the nurse asks me at the now weekly checkups whether or not I've had any contractions, I can't say for sure. So yeah, I'm not really sure. Uhmmm however, holding/carrying Hendrik around, especially for more than a few minutes and especially throughout a flail-fest, makes me feel extremely uncomfortable and extremely pregnant (that I am) SO, those situations are avoided at all costs. I explain to him that he's a bit heavy for mommy, and he'll cock his head to the side and say in his sweetest of little boy voices, "mommy heavy. mommy too heavy." Uhhm, yup. That too.

So, cloth diapering! So far so good. We've had a few leakage issues but I think we'll work through them; learning how to care for the diapers properly is an at-the-beginning work in process, and we'll get there. I hope. I can kind of see how people get addicted - they are way cuter than disposables and so far really not that much more work. We'll see how things go with the little babe, who will be doing much more um how do I say messy? business within the confines of the nappy.  

I thought it was about time I should do another Hendrik update, at the (almost) 21 month mark. Voila:

SUMO: 21 months

Favourite foods: raspberries, corn on the cob, pizza, hummus, watermelon, tomato soup, and he'll always always always ask for more ice cream.
Fave books: The Poky Little Puppy, Mr Seahorse, Heads, The Runaway Bunny, Goodnight Moon
Favourite things to do? He loves running around, and he looooves doing jobs. He'll still ask for "more jobs" after dinner, and he'll happily say that we're "doing jobs" when we're out grocery shopping together. Talking to Grandma and Grandpa (both sets) on skype makes him very happy, and looking at pictures and videos on the computer or phone is still much-requested. He loves books and water (swimming, bath, splash pad) and word play - he'll make up words and think it's hilarious when one of us says, "what does that mean?!" He says "mameek" (mommy) and "dadeet" (daddy) and we say whaaaaat? and then we all giggle and laugh... I love it. Doing cheers with everything is up there on this list - cheers shirt, cheers bag, cheers milk, cheers strawberry, cheers nose.... nothing escapes the cheeeeers....
Bed-time routine (this might be more for me than for your entertainment): bath (most nights) between 7 and 7:30, then close to 7:30 is a snack - either fruit or daddy yogurt (plain yogs + a touch of maple syrup) then jammies, teeth (we do it first then it's his turn) then books on the futon (tonight Steve read him Mr Seahorse, Look Who's There, Where's Spot and a trains book) and then it's night-night. He's been pulling us both together for family hugs (tres cute) and we leave him awake in the crib to babble or cry out for one of us to come and put his blanky (back) on. He's in big boy two-piece jammers for the first time tonight...
Potty Training: Still (obviously) a major work in progress. Meals interrupted for false-alarm pees are a three-time-a-day thing, so Steve and I take turns with the drop the fork and scoop (up the kid) and run thing.

just before bed, tonight... love!

Soooo we've been staying semi-busy even though we both kind of feel like we're waiting for the baby to show up, so neither of us wants to venture too far or do anything too demanding. We've hit a few playgroups, done the park thing, visited with Zella and Elspeth and Duncan, done "jobs" (grocery shopping), been to the library, and then this morning, went to the RCMP stables just off the Rockcliffe Parkway. Ooh and we went to the Parc Omega - a drive-around Canadian-style safari zoo park thing - on Thursday! I'll start with that, with pho-tos:

the park route plus where to spot deer, boar, buffalo, caribou, beavers, raccoons and more...

at the entrance to the park

and driving into the animal zone - deer waiting to be fed... ak!

I should caption these photos.... the deer were seriously into the carrots. It was too much, really. But Hendrik loved it...

me: is this for real? Steve: the window is UP! Hendrik: feeding deer carrots!

The trip came highly recommended by Steve's teammate Adam (S.), and we knew the little man would love it BUT ... really, the deer were too aggressive and slobbery (Steve washed the car Thursday night). It's great for kids and a great full-day activity (lots to do), but both Steve and I were happy to veer off the animal run after an hour and a half for picnic time. Oh, PLUS, despite all of the Don't Get Out of Your Car signs (!!!!!!!), people got out of their cars. The most shocking moment of the day (besides seeing a man hanging out of his window with a raccoon stuck to his arm - yes, really) may have come at the bear enclosure when we found ourselves sandwiched between two buses - a smaller one with a gi-normous L'Oreal ad on the back (big huge made up model face staring at us) and a tour bus - and everyone on both buses got out to amble on up to the fence and take pictures of mother bear and her bear cubs. The bus driver behind us was out smoking, and there we sat watching people lean over here and trip over themselves there, all within ohhhh ten to twenty feet of the bears. Really. Our picnic was great (Hendrik: "we having a picnic day!") and Hendrik is still calling the buffalo gruffaloes (love it). After lunch we drove down to Parc Nationale de Plaisance; Steve went for a bike ride, I read while Hendrik napped, and then we had a short family walk before grabbing ice cream and sweet corn (and tomatoes) on our way home. It was a solid, solid day.

39 weeks

We had an awesome morning at the RCMP stables, where we had tour-guide Kate all to ourselves and a full explanation of all things stable and RCMP Musical Ride related. Apparently you can watch the riders practice (daily at 8:15ish and then again around 12:30), and for a week at the end of June there are shows galore. Hendrik loved the tractor, the carriage and the many horses (in the stalls and out in the paddock), Steve pondered a career as a farrier, and I liked seeing the horses. They are big beauties, and obviously so well cared for; I'd love to go back to catch a show, though there might not be time for that (or might there?) before baby sister comes.

That's it for now folks... until next time!

a few tings

I left some seriously important things out of my last blog, and so here they are, numbered:

1. Hendrik has been asking to go to the potty! (If you're not a parent or are not at all interested in hearing any more, please move on. To #3.) It's been about a week or so that he's been saying "potty" and we mad-dash-rush him to sit on his little green pot; for the time being he's more inclined to have us take him there to poop than to pee. Numero unos have happened in their rightful place, but with much less frequency that numero twos. Also an interesting addition is that he is very gaggy with it all (#2s) and we aren't sure why. Did he (gross) get some in his mouth at one point? Possibly. We've never gagged so I really can't quite say where that came from. Anyways! We are super happy for him and proud and hope things continue on in this direction. Done.

2. I bought cloth diapers! After dropping $70 buying two different sizes at Walmart a few weeks ago, I declared (to myself, on the way to the car) that it was the last time I was going to go buy diapers... and then what did I do? Twenty minutes later I bought another box at the grocery store down the street (they were 50% off). I laughed at myself, went back to Walmart (where I returned the dipes) and then made the same oath - not fully completely totally seriously mind you, but the thought of dropping (/throwing away) that much cash on a regular basis makes me a little ill. Plus the garbage plus the chemical smell that wafts our of a new bag of folded disposables... it was all getting to me. SO, I cruised and perused kijiji and purchased cloth for baby girl - 9 small Fuzzibunz plus a few one size Bumgenius, a few one size Fuzzibunz and a few other brands I can't recall at this exact moment. With posts like this one on Young House Love, and some feedback from friends that have taken the cloth-diapering road, I'm hoping (and thinking and hoping) that it will work out. I even put Hendrik in the one size diapers today and apart from a little fuss with the first one, he didn't seem to mind at all. I'll try again tomorrow and if it looks like he'll buy in, I might look for a few more that he can fit into, until the potty thing really takes off. Diaper talk and potty talk - the true life of a momsy with small kid(s).

3. Okay, finally, something non-diaper-poop-pee-potty related: we ...  have ... an ipad! I can't believe it's me taken this long to get this info-mation up and out but there you have it... we're back up to speed (maybe?) with the latest and greatest. It was a huge combo gift from Steve's parents: my birthday, his birthday, and both of our Christmas presents - wowsa. I haven't spent much time on said device as of yet, but I know I'll love it when the time comes. I'm hoping to get a few magazine subscriptions (can I buy time to read magazine subscriptions?) and mmmmm find some good apps (any recos?) for me and for the kidlets. Or kidlet.

And that is all. Of course, like always, I could write more. Oh wait, I will. I finally finally ordered a whack of books that I've had in various online shopping carts (amazon, abebooks) for mmm weeks (and weeks); I am becoming obsessed with H.A. Rey (but I haven't bought a single Curious George book... yet). Here is what I've (we've) got coming:

• Feed the Animals
• Spotty
• Pretzel
• Whiteblack the Penguin Sees the World
• Katy No-Pocket
• Cecily G and the Nine Monkeys
• Elizabite - Adventures of a Carniverous Plant
• Billy's Picture (by Margret Rey)
  
  A few of these books are new, and most are used; with some out of print, it was a bit too costly to acquire a new copy ($185.57 for a new Feed the Animals?!) of each and every desired title. In the Night Kitchen, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Ask Mr. Bear were all impulse buys... eek! We're going to need a shipping container if we're hoping to get even half of our junior library to China. Hmmmm.... more on this later... And now, that is all. Really.

the week...

We finished our art project! Mmmm I guess that must have been last week BUT we finally got around to hanging it up yesterday, and it looks great! If we finished off our look with a few blue-ish green-ish teal-ish patterned (or solid) pillows, it would look picture perfect:

So, where to start? A full week of work + visitors around + Hendrik updates + pregnancy updates + more (I'm sure) leaves me with a few things to write about. I'll start with this, because it's fresh: I had my patience seriously tested this morning... seriously. Hendrik is in this new stage where he wants to do so many things by himself which - don't get me wrong - is fabulous, but he'll only actually do what he insists on doing mmmm maybe three-quarters of the time. (Yes, I know I blogged about this last time - it's happening again...) "Hendrik do it Hendrik do it" (frantic) with a side of mini-tantrum + okay try again + coaxing + encouragement + sternness, then okay your time is up I'm doing it for you is followed by the same deal once more. This morning I took him to a playgroup and we went through the aforementioned routine several times with several different actions... before we even got to the car. Sigh. There was much more of the same, before and after playgroup, and then some more after lunch. Aghgh! Oh well. It's all part of the learning process, for us and for him... right? But then, just before or just after the most frustrating of moments, Hendrik will do something or say something or just be a certain way and it's the most precious thing, how he is, what he says and does that it makes me teary with love. Really.

Steve's parents and his sister and her husband Freddy were visiting all week, and since I was coaching, Steve and Marg took Hendrik to his eye appointment on Tuesday morning. He's made more progress strengthening his left eye, and we're to keep up with stickering (/patching) for the time being. He's still on the wait-list for the surgery (Strabismus Repair) and I imagine that he'll be in to have it done some time in the spring when we're back from China. And if you're interested in an update on that front, it looks like Steve will be leaving the third week of September, and we'll follow hopefully by the end of October (no tickets booked yet). We shall see...

So yes - at 38 weeks pregnant I survived a week of coaching (!!). Days weren't too long (8:30ish-4:00ish), and I managed to limit myself to inputting free balls (okay okay and a few down balls and a few serves) and talk talk talk talking. It was a great group of athletes, the coaches were awesome (all-female staff) and the camp was run so so well; I've worked this camp in Calgary before and had a great experience once more. And, for the most part I felt great; there were some days that I felt good enough to jump into a drill or demo a skill (but didn't, obviously), and then there were other days when I had to really remind myself to sit down. After day one of being on my feet (and not sitting down very much), I came home and had to park it on the couch for a few hours; baby was sitting soooo low and my belly was heavy-heavy. However, I was determined to make it through the week - to enjoy five days of doing my own thing - and feel pretty lucky that I felt good enough to do so with just two weeks to go before my due date (August 30). It was great coming home to meals and family, and nice too for Steve to have the company throughout the week. I didn't miss Hendrik too much during the day (while staying busy), but was so so happy to see him when I got home. Everyone else stayed busy with trips to the Museum of Science and Technology, the Experimental Farm, the Byward Market and more. And the four thirty-somethings even got away for a dinner out on Tuesday night which was amazing; the Wellington Gastropub served up some delicious fare - all four of us ordered an appetizer, a main and a dessert... needless to say we left feeling quite full.

I know there's more to write about but I need to make a list and then cross some things off of that list: Order books. Tidy clutter. Meal-plan. Rest. Maybe I'll start with that.....

a shortsie

cutest ever? i think so.....

Karin's a mom! I'm an aunty! My sister and her husband Rob welcomed Erik Scott Ratchinsky into the world at 11:48 on Thursday night, and it was a welcome arrival indeed. Mom is recovering after a not-so-smooth (understatement perhaps?) first birth experience, and I have yet to talk to her BUT baby is happy and healthy and in 20 months plus 2 weeks they'll be experiencing what we are now and it is amazing and magical and hilarious (as is all of the time in between). Okay, except for some of the poop blowouts and sleepless nights and yadda yadda yadda but you know what I mean. Here he is:

Over the past few days we've wondered if we're getting a glimpse into the world of the terrible-twos... but wait you say... Hendrik? Terrible? He has his toes in the by-my-self stage, but the problem is this: he'll insist on doing something he's completely capable of ... but then not do it! The best example of this is his car seat buckle; the deal is that mom or dad does the bottom buckle and Hendrik does the top one, except that now, he'll only do it half-way and then just stand there until we feel like we've spent too much time  coaxing him to finish the job (which he won't do) and do it ourselves. Cries (tears) and screamy whines ensue "Hendrik do it! Hendrik do it!" and then we give him another chance and the same thing happens... over and over and over. So this afternoon - wait, no, twice today - I only gave him two shots and did my best at explaining that he had to do up the buckle all the way, until it clicked, and he still didn't do it. There's no doubt in my mind that he knows what he's trying to wrangle - so my patience is nearing its expiration date, yes sir.

Anyways, onwards (I am ti-red)... the above matchbox cars were Steve's when he was little, and Hendrik loves them - looooves them.

One of the things on our to-do list was to go through all of our clothes, and that we did the other day. It was a bit of a disaster zone in our room (Hendrik was napping), and Steve came across this fabulous YMCA worker-man vest... classsssssss! Anyways, the list is getting shorter thank goodness, but somehow for some reason there's always more. Is there just always more? Probs.

testing out his sister's new blankie from Zella, Elspeth and Duncan... love!

37 weeks - eek!

I'm going to hit up some ice cream, get something else knocked off the list and then go to bed. There are only so many through-the-night sleeps we will be enjoying before we welcome our girl into the world - !!

august going going

our family of three

First of all, momsy news: she is doing much, much better; how I wish we could have gone out there to see her! And to see my dad and sisters too... Sarah and Claire were both able to be there, and Sarah is still over at Thetis, helping and supporting and probably being her fabulous Sarah-self. We've been able to skype and chat on the phone on an almost daily basis, and even though it's been just over a week, she is doing miles and miles better... yay. And we're still waiting on news from my sister Karin - who was due last Thursday - but it looks like things may happen soon; she's getting induced some time tonight or tomorrow (unsure) SO... a new babe is coming very very soon! And our bean isn't too far behind the Ratchinsky-Osberg newbie - eep! Tomorrow makes 37 weeks (!!!) - I'd better remember to take a picture...

And the response from Steve and Rod's world-class Crowe River diving show has reached the top dogs; if the vid had been posted a few days earlier they would have been helicoptered into London for last minute wild-card competitions alongside other renowned divers already in attendance at the 2012 Olympic Games. If summer training continues to be as promising they'll be a shoe-in for Rio... n'est pas? Especially if you consider the steely focus that kept Steve in the competition for his third dive, because get this: he noticed that his wedding ring was missing after the Straight-In Front Dive (and you'll notice him notice in the video if you look closely) but still went on to compete and give his best for the Front Bum Drop in the Pike Position. For real! The guys were scouring the river bottom for a solid ten-minutes before Steve spotted it nestled in the mud - ak. Good thing no one stepped on it because it would have been a goner for sure. Brave Uncle Ralph threw his in (to more shallow waters) to test the does it sink? or does it rest on the surface of the mud? business and found that it sunk pretty quickly (and easily) - good thing we were all around to find his too.

I forgot to post this video of Hendrik reciting one of his favourite new rhymes - I love it!
He's talking more and more, and more and more in his sleep too. Last night he asked for more blue-blues, and he's been up a few times asking for blankie (normale) and daddy to sing him a song ("daddy sing you song"). He requests "mystery song" which is in fact Eddie Vedder's Society, which is just the cutest, sweetest thing ever (such a good song). Some other current favourite expressions/words include "gentlemen", "just monkies do that" (after being told he'll get an owwie if he jumps on the couch, a la  No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed) and he even asked what we were having for dinner tonight - ! (We had beef and rice, a solid, easy crowd-pleaser (recipe care of the Brinkmans)... recipe to follow at the end o' the blog).

The rest of our time in B-ville was good... smokin' hot, but good. We took care of a few errand-y type things but also found time for a bit of away-time too - taking advantage of grandparental babysitters! Steve golfed with a few of his buddies on Saturday, and I went out for lunch with my cousin Katie, and then walked up and down Queen Street before I threw in the towel around 5:30. It was so so so so hot - thank goodness for AC and that vacated spot on the GO-train on my way home. When Bob picked me up at the station in Oshawa at 7:15 it was still 33 degrees. Hot. Hot hot hot. But that's summer, right? Here are a few pics of G-ma and G-pa with Hendrik at the Bowmanille Zoo:

So we're back in Gatineau and are planning on staying put for a good chunk of time now. There are lists (to-do) to take care of and I have appointments and I have my one week of work starting next Monday. Yes, it's true. I'm coaching a volleyball camp next week (does that sound crazy?) and I really hope that I feel good doing it even though I'll be less than three weeks away from my due date. And then there's that: we have to be here / want to be here (here as in Ottawa/Gatineau) for baby's imminent arrival. I know that productivity levels will plunge with a newborn around (right?) so we're trying to get things organized and ready for the before, during and after phases of new baby plus think ahead to the whole moving to China thing. So on that note, I'll go and work on those lists and then go to bed early... yeah, right!

Beef and Rice
brown 1 lb (ish) ground beef + an onion; when almost cooked add 1 cup of (uncooked) rice... throw in 1 tsp salt, some pepper, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp paprika, 1 can (small) tomato paste, 1 can (small) tomato sauce, 1 1/2 cups boiling water and bring it all to a boil. bake in a large casserole dish (covered) at 300 for 1 1/2 hours, with the lid/cover off for the last 20 or so. easy + yums!

lows ... and highers

Sigh... this week's news has been very mixed bag - there's been good and there's been bad and then there's been better, after the bad. So, where to start? I guess I'll start with the heavy hitter and finish with the its and bits of goodness that have filled in the rest of our week.

We left the cottage on Monday night and on our way home were delivered some very upsetting news: my mom had a stroke on Monday morning. (Emotional) Pause... and big big sigh. I called my sister right away and then my dad, and seeing as how it had only been six hours or so since it had happened, there wasn't much information other than the fact that my mom and dad had made it from Thetis to Victoria General in time to get my mom a CT scan and clot-busters within the crucial first four hours. And that was the biggest news in terms of something positive. And now, here we are four days - wait, three days - later and she is doing incredibly well; she has full movement on both sides, and sounds almost like her regular self on the phone thank goodness. I could go into more detail I suppose, but I won't. I wish I were able to fly out there and I know Karin (due today) feels the same way; thankfully Claire was able to fly to Victoria almost right away, and Sarah is on her way some time today or tomorrow. That's some heavy hitter, no? Mom and dad have been in our thoughts almost constantly, and it's made a huge difference having been able to talk to both of them and get updates on a regular basis. So, the glass - near empty on Monday - has been filling up all week... may it continue that way. I love love love my mom and love love love my family... love.

How do I follow that? Hmm maybe I should have started with the details of our week, but really, for sanity's sake we've had to continue on as if everything were normal with all of our loved ones... and so we have - but with thoughts and prayers (instead of worries and anxieties) being the focus of our attention.

We were kind of wondering how we'd fill all of our in B-ville time this week, but we've had no trouble finding things to do. Steve, Marg and Hendrik and I went blueberry picking on Tuesday morning and our eyeballs just about popped out of our heads when we saw how laden the blue-blue bushes were at Wilmot Orchards... it was crazy! And visions of blueberries danced in our heads... and then in out tummies, yum. We've spent some time around here, playing washers and running around the back yard, and tripped over to Pam and Bob's to beat the heat in their backyard pool yesterday; and this afternoon we took Hendrik for his first non-chop hair job (ie fait by mom and dad) at the barber shop. And despite all of the fabulous pictures I got in the bah-ber shop, I failed to get one in front of the barber's pole outside - signficant only because it was also where Steve got his first haircut when he was a little one. Cute!

he wasn't so sure at the beginning, but was very very well-behaved and mellow throughout... bravo!

a special treat and a walk down the street... love!

And we have been watching some of the Olympics, but let's get real here; my most favourite Olympic moment happened last Sunday... check it:



Hopefuls for Rio 2016? I think so.

Lastly, I'm 36 weeks today - just four weeks (give or take?) to go... eeeh!

And may the glass continue to fill...