Sunday brunch

We had a nice brunch with our pal Emmanuelle Orange-Parent. It's been ages since we've seen each other so we had lots to talk about. I brought the camera of course (always on the lookout for blog material!) so we took this picture. Emmanuelle and I met at Vision Globale way back when... in 2000 I think. We worked there together for almost two years and we've kept in touch ever since.

We got our groceries this afternoon and got some laundry done, otherwise it's been a pretty quiet day. I had another chips and salsa attack so I'm feeling a little queasy right now from perhaps overdoing it (so unlike me). The Wizard of Oz was playing on YTV this afternoon so we had that on. I refrained from doing ALL the lines and singing the songs for Stéphane's benefit but I could have. A handy talent really :)

Next on the list is to find a hotel in Los Angeles for our trip. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

That was our weekend! I'll take some pictures of our newly reorganized bedroom (with amazing new bed) and post them sometime this week. My highlight this week will probably be the 2-hour Grey's Anatomy on Thursday!

"Don't forget, all this started with a mouse." -Walt Disney

I can't believe a whole week went by without any posting! After our shopping spree last weekend, I went to Toronto overnight for work on Monday (my new dress was great!) and I had another event in Montréal on Thursday night. For me these days that's enough to wear me out...

Yesterday Stéphane got his hair cut (see photo) then we went to the Disney exhibit at the Fine Arts museum. The new metro stations in Laval were open as of yesterday and all public transport was free so we probably chose the busiest day EVER to go but it was fun anyway. The exhibit is called Once upon a Time Walt Disney: The Sources of Inspiration for the Disney Studios and there was all kinds of original Disney artwork, sketches and films that demonstrated how Disney was a real pioneer in the way that he incorporated so many different European influences into his work. I think my favorite moment was seeing the detailed model for the Sleeping Beauty castle which is at Eurodisney and all the drawings for Peter Pan. Stéphane totally got into the technique of animation in those days. There's a short film that dates from 1937 at the end that shows how the films come together and it's pretty amazing. Stéphane's highlight though was seeing a short film that Disney and Salvador Dali of all people collaborated on. It's very, very interesting. I myself had to step out due to nausea (overdue snack time). We ended up spending a few hours there and really got the full experience. It's interesting to see all this particularly since we'll be in plastic consumer mecca at Disneyland itself in a couple of weeks. The other pictures are of me looking sleepy and hungry (wow, how unusual for me!) and those hearts are on the street outside on the museum.

Last night we watched "Night at the Museum" which turned out to be a lot of fun. I would recommend it when you're in the mood for something light and funny. It's worth it just to see Mickey Rooney deck Ben Stiller...

Nothing much to say on the baby front. I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday, we heard the heartbeat, I gained 6 pounds, all is well. This week we also got the confirmation that baby has a VERY low risk of Down's Syndrome. Since I'm over 30 we did the pre-natal testing (bloodtest and ultrasound that I've already posted) and apparently I have a risk factor of someone around 20! I wasn't too worried about it but it's a relief just the same.

Well, it's another rainy day here in Montréal. I'm off to church then Stéphane and I are meeting some friends for brunch. This should be a pretty quiet week so I'll try to be better with posting!

Sunshine and Shopping

Finally, a gorgeous day! Sunny, twenty degrees and Stéphane and I celebrated by walking around and buying stuff! Our first stop was a maternity store that I'd heard about in our neighborhood. It's called Apso Bibi which doesn't mean anything - we checked. We're a little bit obsessed with the name because it sounds so cute. The store is really nice and I found a dress (that I desperately need for an event I'm going to in Toronto on Monday) and a cute skirt. Both will apparently fit me until after the baby is born.

The next stop was St. Denis street. I was on the hunt for flat shoes that are comfy like runners but don't look like runners, you know? Ladies, you know what I'm talking about... we know what we want when we see it. Stéphane spotted these chocolate brown babies that are so comfortable.

Stéphane wanted to check out some stuff at Simon's (really great department store downtown) so we slipped in there and found him a new bathing suit for our California trip and a pair of croc thongs. I was so inspired by his new crocs that I picked a pair up for me, too! Honestly, it's like having a perpetual foot massage when you walk around in those things! Plus, they're a little more attractive than traditional crocs...

That was it for our day of sunshine and shopping! We're pretty sleepy so we're planning a relaxing evening in. After church tomorrow we really must do our taxes. Ouash. It will be good to get that over with.

Off to snack on my latest craving - chips and salsa. G'night!

All's Well That Ends Well

An interesting day today - I spent most of it at the emergency ward of St. Mary's Hospital. Nothing serious, I slipped on our inside stairs this morning and fell on my bum but it was enough that my obstetrician thought I should get it checked out. Actually, my first point of reference was my sister (at Stéphane's request) and she said that it was worth checking with my doctor. Just in case. That seems to be a theme with pregnancy: better safe than sorry! I have to say that even though I KNEW (you know how you just KNOW?) that baby and I were fine, the hormones and the panic takes over and before you know it, you get all weepy and freaked out. I did anyway. I left work (they were very understanding, love you guys!) and took a cab to the hospital. I got there around 11:00 or so and I saw the Triage nurse really quickly. After that I went into an examining room and another nurse came in. She was going to try and find the baby's heartbeat but she told me not to worry if I couldn't hear it because sometimes their equipment isn't sensitive enough. So I braced myself but I didn't have to worry. She found the heartbeat right away and I managed to keep from crying all over again (this time with relief) but just barely.

Once that was done I went back to the waiting room where I waited to see the doctor. And waited. And waited. I ate my snack, finished my book and waited some more. Four hours of waiting in all but at least I knew that the baby was fine. I stepped out for a few minutes to give Stéphane, my sister and my Mom an update but otherwise, I was in that waiting room. They finally called me in at about 4:00. The doctor found the baby's heartbeat again (too tired and hungry to cry this time) and checked me out to make sure nothing was broken or anything. He gave me a clean bill of health and that was it! Even though all I did was sit almost all day in the waiting room I was completely exhausted by the time it was all over. I called Stéphane to let him know that everything was fine and I called my office and gave them the good news. I was too pooped to go back to work but they didn't want me to anyway.

I stepped out of the hospital into a beautiful, sunny and warm afternoon. I got some food, did some shopping and headed home feeling blessed by the weather and by my good health and all the caring people around me. When Stéphane got home he brought this beautiful bouquet of flowers to brighten the end of my crappy day. Awww! It's funny how flowers really can help. The other picture is the view of our neighborhood catherdral. I love that we can see it from the back of our place.

So that was my day! Nothing to worry about, everything is fine. Baby and I will sleep very well tonight!

Food obsession

In the absence of anything REALLY interesting to share, I'd like to talk about my latest food obsession... A woman that I work with introduced me to this hard-to-describe dish and I made it for myself this weekend. It's like an antipasto sort of thing made from tuna, lots of spanish onions, pickles and tomato sauce. It's a Spanish recipe that goes back generations in her family. She gave out the recipe last week and I made it on Saturday to serve as an appetizer at our Easter lunch on Sunday. I took a picture of it here but of course it's not very impressive looking. You can eat it on crackers, with pasta, as a side with almost anything. Something about the salty and tangy flavours really does it for me! In the absence of White Spot cheeseburgers, this will have to do.

That's about all I have to say today. We Easterners are suffering through some really lousy weather right now. Basically, it's winter out here until May, then for about a week at the beginning of May the weather gets sort of nice, flowers come out and everything, then after that, it's just hot. Since it's April, we're still in the winter part. It's wet and slushy and crazy windy. The general mood around town is blah. A bit like this post! Let's just say I'm feeling a little homesick these days :)

Flowers and Mr. T

Colleen brought me a bouquet of the ultimate sign of spring: tulips! Love them in that pink vase. The other photo is a close-up of Pierre's amazing Mr. T egg. He really outdid himself this year!

That's it for today. It's getting close to bedtime and it looks like I'll need a good sleep to schlep to work in the slush tomorrow. Ouash. (French for yuk). Bonne nuit!

Photo for the fiancée

Future groom Eric... He's always been popular with the chicks!

First family picture

Eric was taking a picture of Stéphane and I and Stéphane had the idea to add our ultrasound photos to make a first family picture! I of course started crying but those are tears of joy :)

Easter lunch pictures

Here's a few pictures of our guests: Pierre and Ariel, Colleen, Emilie and Mikayla and our friend Eric who is getting married next month in California and giving us a great reason to go to Disneyland!

Easter lunch - one week late

I was hoping that the weather would be more spring-like this weekend for our belated Easter get together but it's snowing now and we're expecting 25 cm! We had a great time together anyway. We cooked a big ol' roast beef, I made potato salad (Grandma's recipe, my favorite), a yummy cherry tomato, cucumber and feta salad and Stéphane made some AMAZING gravy! I tried a new recipe for lemon cheesecake that worked out really well, especially when you add fresh strawberries and blueberries. Miam. (That's "yum" in French!) I always like it when people come over because, among other things, it's a good reason to clean house! Plus having a dishwasher really makes the whole thing so much easier. It was great catching up with everyone AND breaking in our new couches. Thanks for coming everyone!

Not much to say for today

Not much to report for today. We finished fixing up our bedroom and I cooked a bunch of stuff for our late Easter lunch that we're hosting tomorrow. We went out to the Jean-Talon market and did some other errands. It's not terrible weather but it's not that nice, either. We stayed in our pajamas until around 1. That's just the kind of day it was. I find that even though I'm generally less tired these days, when it comes to the weekend, I can really feel it. I also booked our hotel in Disneyland! We're leaving in about a month and we can't wait. I'll post some photos of our lunch tomorrow. Nighty night!

Spring snowstorm

So while we were at our appointment, it really started snowing like crazy. Even for Montréal, it's weird that we had a green Christmas and a white Easter! Stéphane took these pictures from our front door. It's not too cold, but it's just really wet and slushy everywhere. Sort of like walking around in a big slurpee... Off to curl up on our new couch and watch Grey's Anatomy!

Ultrasound!

So we had a prenatal screening test today and got to see our baby for the first time! He or she (can't tell yet) is a very wiggly, healthy little kiddo! S/he measures 7.5 cm from bum to head and I'm precisely 13 weeks and 2 days along. We will have another ultrasound at the end of May where we will find out if it's a boy or a girl. It was pretty amazing to see the tiny heart beating and see how much they move around even at this stage! The picture we got is a pretty clear profile - awww, s/he looks just like us!

The "Before" picture of the living room

I also forgot to mention that I changed the settings so that even non-Google members can leave comments. So go crazy!

New couch

Today was pretty uneventful pregnancy-wise (which is such a nice change!) so I thought I would share photos of our new couch(es). We bought them as a sectional but it turns out that thanks to my lack of measuring skills it blocks the entrance to the living room... Anyway, we're just thrilled to have new couches! And not to worry visitors, the new couch has a comfy fold-out bed. As anyone who has ever visited us knows, we were long overdue for new furniture! I will try and find a "before" picture so you can compare. Note the Easter lily on the end table - it smells as good as it looks. Such a sign of spring!

Orange Julius photos

Photos taken after our Doctor's appointment on March 28th. (see previous post)

Seeing the Doctor!

Not a particularly eventful day but I thought I would post the photos we took at our first Doctor's appointment on March 28th. My obstetrician's name is Dr. Louise Johnson and she's wonderful. There is a picture of her and I as she is finding the baby's heartbeat - what a moment! I cried while Stéphane concentrated on getting a good shot, director that he is :) After our appointment we went to Ikea and then stopped by the famous Orange Julius snack bar that is housed in an enormous orange. It's so huge you can see it from the air when you're flying into Montréal. Neither of us had ever been so we thought why not? For the record, the drink itself tastes exactly like the Orange Julius we used to get at Surrey Place Mall but this one came from a tube connected to the ceiling and cost about twice as much...

Begin at the Beginning...

Welcome to my blog! This has been on my to-do list for quite a while so I'm happy to finally put my two-cents worth out into the world... I credit my sister Jennifer for inspiring me with her own blog and my Mom for convincing me that people would actually read my blog once I created one :)

I admit too that getting pregnant is a big motivator. Actually, getting pregnant when you live across the country from most of your family is the motivator! I'm 13 weeks along, due October 14th. My husband Stéphane and I are happy and in the midst of planning how we are going to make it all work in our third-floor, two-bedroom apartment!

I hope to post regularly - if my sister, mother of 5 children including a newborn can do it, I have no excuse!