More books...

We really do love books at our house... I found this one today online and had to order it. I love the concept and the artwork. It's Follow the Line by Laura Ljungkvist, a Swedish artist who lives in Brooklyn.

A nearly continuous black line winds through the pages of stylized graphics, becoming and linking various scenes. Throughout questions encourage children to count and investigate the elements. It's really beautifully designed.

The author's website is terrific too, and there are even some free downloads for printable at-home fun (connect-the-dots, a colouring sheet and a memory game). I must get her other books as well - the newest, Follow the Line Around the World, hits the shelves in May.

I need more books that are suitable for babies (puffy, tactile and possibly edible), but at least we can keep PJs entertained with the pretty pictures! I can't help myself when I see a well designed book! Popping colours? Quirky modernist graphics? No name-brand characters? Sign me up!

Week 28!

Yay - week 28! It is really hard to wait this long for something so exciting... I am not good at being patient apparently. Well, that's not actually a surprise. But I guess this is kind of like the excitement building before Christmas - I get all hyped and try to get Jamie to drop hints about my presents, but really I would never actually want to know what they are! It's kind of like that with PJs now - I really, really want to meet him (like now!) but I don't really want to miss the next 12 weeks or so. Plus I suppose I should enjoy my nights without crying and days without baby poop?

What PJs is up to this week:

Your baby is about 14 ¼ inches long and weighs in at 2 ½ pounds. This still seems very small, but remember that during the last several weeks of pregnancy your baby will gain a significant amount of weight.

Your baby’s brain is really beginning to develop into a more complex organ. Up until this point, your baby’s brain has been relatively smooth, but beginning this week his/her brain will develop grooves and indentions along its surface. The amount of brain tissue also begins to increase during the 28th week.

The development of hair also continues. Eyebrows and eyelashes are visible, while the hair on your baby’s head grows even longer. Your baby is also starting to look a little rounder as the fat storage under the skin continues to develop. This is an important part of development that will continue through the remainder of your pregnancy.

Raspberry-licious!

Made some more jam last night - raspberry this time. I thought that I had some prepared fruit in the freezer, but alas, all I had was a million pounds of frozen strawberries, a bunch of bread ends and meat that I am apparently stockpiling and a lot of Real Fruit popsicles (they're awesome!). So, I bought frozen raspberries and they worked really well.

Making jam is so easy - all that it takes is the fruit (3 x 600g frozen raspberries, in this case), 4.5 cups of sugar (and that's the reduced sugar version!) and a package of Certo Light. It doesn't even take very long when it's something easy like raspberry - maybe half an hour? And it's so tasty!

Crib-building champions!

We are so the champions of crib building. Although you can't see the crib very much in this photo, it looks really awesome. And it's very sturdy. Compared to the space PJs calls home now, it looks awfully large!

Aside from a little complaining from yours truly (because it is really hard to do construction work when your bump is in the way!) it was smooth sailing. We figured out that we need to get some kind of dust ruffle (I don't normally like them) and of course we need decorative bedding and lots more sheets, but it looks so REAL! Like there really will be a baby in there soon!

The cutest thing ever!

Isn't this the most adorable thing you've ever seen in the entire universe??? I love it! I must have one for PJs! It's a Baby Sling by a company called Peanut Shell that has lots of terrific graphic prints. It looks so cozy for the baby!

So looking forward to this...

I would certainly say that I do not normally plan my life around the tv. I actually can't stand the thing, and for the last year we didn't even have cable. (I do, however, watch my fair share of dvds and commercial-free internet tv). But, when we moved, we ditched our Shaw cable for Novus (only available in new buildings downtown, I hear). Their internet service is a million times faster and including basic cable we pay much less than we did before...

One of the benefits of this is that I now can see Masterpiece Theatre again! One of the few things I love to watch - they're on PBS, also home to the awesome Agatha Christie Marple series... Well, they are certainly answering my viewing wishes with their line up of Jane Austen recreations over the next few weeks.

Some of them I've seen before (and they were great) and some are new to me. I hope the new ones are up to my high standards - I know the books inside out and can spot a deviation a mile away. Last year a trip to Bath, including the roman ruins, the Pump Room and the Jane Austen museum, was one of the many highlights of my trip to the UK. It's sometimes lost, I think, that the books were much more than "just" novels - they really did come from an amazing woman who managed to wrap up social critique, controversial topics and wit into the pages.

They're doing Mansfield Park this Sunday (9pm in Vancouver) as well as rebroadcasting Northanger Abbey (at 4pm), which I missed last week. I can't wait! I missed Persuasion too, but I've seen their version before and it's terrific. Thankfully they didn't redo Pride & Prejudice - the version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle as Darcy and Elizabeth is unbeatable! If you can watch no other, watch that one!! (I loathed the Hollywood version!). I'm interested in the redo of Sense & Sensibility - I actually really loved the version from a while back with Emma Thompson.

All the poochy pants and happy endings I can stand - hooray! :-)

Love the environment - no granola even required!

From one of my fave sites, Treehugger, comes a terrific series of reference articles on how to green everything in your life.

Everyone might enjoy the sections on everything from greening your coffee & tea to your wardrobe to your recycling and much more. While not every tip is 100% practical for every person, there is a ton of great info that can help us all to make smart choices. And really, being well-informed is the best place to start.

All you mama's-to-be out there might enjoy the section on how to green your baby, including an intelligent discussion on diaper choice, baby food and much more... Here's some good starter info on the subject of diapers:

Studies are divided on the subject of environmental impact of disposables vs. cloth. But knowing that your baby will use approx 6,000 diapers before toilet training, and that disposable diapers take 200-500 years to decompose, this is certainly a key issue to ponder. Washing cloth diapers takes water, energy, and chemicals (not to mention time), but you might want to consider the benefits of a laundering service. One study has found that home-washing cloth diapers has only 53% of the ecological footprint of disposables, and if you use a diaper laundering service that impact is halved again. [more]

I have been thinking of the diapers issue for ages and I'd like still like to use cloth for day and gDiapers for night/traveling... I'd personally rather eat a disposable diaper before I put one on PJs! Does anyone know of a good diaper laundering service in Vancouver? I don't want to buy a bunch of expensive cloth diapers if the service will provide them... But if I can't find a service, I'd rather wash than not. Can anyone recommend a good cloth diaper brand? Hip Baby in Kits has some, but I'm curious to know what has worked for others...

Rockin' chair that rocks!

Thank you to Bonnie and Dave for letting us use this lovely rocking chair for PJs room, and for getting it recovered for us. It looks terrific, and feels great!

This chair has a great history - Jamie was rocked in this chair as a baby, and I hear that he used to love sitting in it with the biggest cat I've ever seen, Morris, back then. I can't wait to see Jamie rocking PJs in this chair, and I can just picture all the use it will get very soon. Yay!

We also got our crib and mattress delivered today, so the room is coming along. Jamie and I plan to put the crib together this weekend when he is home. Can't wait!

Week 27!

Every new week brings us closer to meeting little PJs! I am really enjoying being pregnant - the baby moving, the anticipation, getting baby things ready, seeing my bump grow and thinking about all the things ahead for us as a trio. On some days though it's certainly exhausting being pregnant and I do miss my fabulous shoes, non-stretchy clothes, sleeping on my stomach, a giant Americano from Subeez and my deliciously unsafe cheeses. You don't realize how many things you don't appreciate until you can't have them! It will all be worth it and much more though! :-)

While I'm at it (complaining, that is), I'll share some are some great tips on natural remedies to common pregnancy aches & pains that I found online from BabyCentre out of the UK. Other pregnant ladies out there rejoice! :-) And if all these don't work, read up on this list of the 50 reasons why it's great to be a parent.

What PJs is up to:
Your baby now weighs over 2 pounds / 875 grams and measures 14.5 inches / 36.6 centimetres from head to toe. Her eyes open and close, she sleeps and wakes at regular intervals and she may suck a finger or thumb.

Sweet dreams, little baby! Some experts believe that babies begin to dream by the 28th week. What do they dream about? No one knows for certain but the brain is active this week as well. The characteristic grooves on the brain's surface start to appear and more brain tissue develops.

Chalk up any rhythmic movement you may be feeling to a case of the hiccups, which are common this week and throughout the pregnancy. Your baby has them but is breathing in amniotic fluid rather than air. A paper bag can't cure her hiccups, obviously, but an episode usually lasts only momentarily. The sensation for you may be strange but not unpleasant.

Yum! Fruity!

So, I am eating a lot of fruit salad lately - chock full of delicious citrus fruits like pink grapefruit and oranges, bananas, kiwi and grapes (or golden raisins). Sometimes with pineapple too, when I'm in the mood to tackle cutting one up. And I love a little toasted coconut on fruit salad - tres tropicale!

I was getting tired of waiting for Starbucks to bring back their seasonal rio citrus fruit salad (instead of the crunchy unripened melon thing they push for the rest of the year) and it's so much better to make my own anyway. And bigger! I probably get 6 servings of fruit in one of my concoctions! And I can be as fussy as I like - no membranes on my grapefruit, thank you very much!

Very true...

An oldie, but a goodie that I stumbled upon again today after many years. Negative space is not a bad thing!

Oh, the starbursts - the humanity! Reminds me of my days designing ads for package travel to Vegas. "More dices!" was the comment I always got from one man...

New crib on the way!

Jamie and I went today to Babies r Us to shop for a crib and mattress. We'd narrowed our search down online first, and ventured into the pee-pee soaked heck hole in order to buy it. I kid, I kid - but there was some kind of "Babyfest" (seriously) going on today and it was a shade overwhelming!

This crib (Ellis) converts to a toddler's bed and then to a double-sized bed. It seems pretty solid, which is good, and I think it will go well with a dresser that we already have. It's getting delivered later this week! Perfect timing - I just finished washing and ironing all the new fabric for PJs quilt!

Fabric, fresh out of the mailbox!

Yahoo! My fabric has arrived from PurlSoho! It looks terrific and it only took a week, even though I only paid for the slowest $9.00 shipping. I am weird about shipping charges - I'm extravagant enough to buy costly fabrics online, but pay for faster shipping? No thanks! But I still always get ancy when my things don't show up like the next day... I am also like a five year old when "fun mail" comes - isn't it really a great feeling?

Here's a not-very-good shot of the fabrics... Lots!

Mostly all blues, whites, greys and some lime and other stuff thrown in for fun. The colours turned out to be really true to what was pictured online, so I think I'll be ordering more from this site. My last five days stuck at home with the flu gave me an idea of what it would be like to live as a shut-in, so at least I know I can survive without trips to an actual fabric store!

Most of it will be going into projects for little PJs (along with all that other fabric I have at home), but I think I see one piece that would work better in a little something for yours truly... ;-)

I'll post some photos once I get my projects started...

Mmm... cookies!

While Jamie was taking good care of me this weekend he got a hankering for chocolate chip cookies. What with our new cupboard space and all, we actually had all the ingredients on hand! He used the recipe on the chocolate chips package, and they turned out great! Even though I was sick, I still managed to eat one - very delicious!

Now Jamie's out of town and I remembered that he put them in the freezer before his trip. I suspect I will be digging those out as soon as I can taste food again!

Week 26!

I've been sick with the flu since Saturday, when it came on quite fast after having a little cough on Friday. I was running a fever over the weekend and worried about it getting too high to be safe for little PJs, but thankfully that has straightened itself out (with a little help of approved Tylenol!) and now it's just a matter of recovering from all the other flu symptoms. So unpleasant to be sick and pregnant, since you can't take anything! I'm stuck at home for the time being, but I shouldn't complain because I can sit up again! And make my own tea! :-)

I'm not sure if it's because of his size, or because of all my coughing fits, but PJs is more active than ever - he's like a jumping bean inside! He shakes the whole baby house!

What PJs is up to this week:
During pregnancy week 26 your baby will grow to almost 2 whole pounds. Your baby may be measured now by her crown-to-rump length, which is about 9.5 inches, or her total length, which measures roughly 12 inches long!

As you continue your pregnancy week by week your baby will continue building layers of fat to protect her during birth. During pregnancy week 26 your baby's heart develops even further.

Your baby is also busy building neural pathways inside the ears during pregnancy at 26 weeks. These will allow your tiny miracle to respond to noises more routinely while pregnancy. You may notice after 26 weeks pregnant that your baby tends to jump more or startle at the sound of loud noises. This is perfectly normal. Your baby will also start to recognize your voice and that of your partner.

During pregnancy 26 weeks your baby continues to practice breathing and swallowing amniotic fluid. Many boy babies go through a bit of a growth spurt during 26 weeks pregnancy, as their testicles start their descent into the scrotum. Typically this process will be complete in just two or three days.

Fabric...

I ordered a few fabric bits & bobs from Purl Soho in NYC today, including this adorable Japanese duck fabric above. I love it - it's weirdly adorable, which is my favourite kind of cute. I love ducks and I'm also really into squirrels right now too, graphically speaking...

I will admit that I have a rather extensive fabric "collection" at home already... I don't intend to collect it, but I end up buying things that I love and not using them all... And for the last few months, I keep buying little pieces with the plan of using them for specific projects for PJs, but of course I haven't done anything with anything really yet! But, I think my "strategy" is about to come in handy - I have a ton of stuff and I'm ready to start!

Had to fill in a few gaps of course... I've never ordered fabric online before - I'll keep my fingers crossed that everything looks good in person too!

Week 25!

This week we start month 6 and the last trimester. PJs is now the size of a small eggplant - perhaps a really nice organic aubergine! He's kicking up a storm still (especially at night and when I'm lying down) and I'm starting to feel really quite pregnant - waddling and starting to have trouble getting out of bed.

This weekend we are hoping to get the rest of the boxes out of PJs room and go to buy a crib. It feels sometimes like ages until PJs will arrive, because we're so excited to meet him, and other times it seems like it's just around the corner - when we think about how much we need to prepare! At this point we have a hat and a stuffed elephant and a few books for PJs. At this rate he'll be sitting around nude with an adorable hat and listening to stories! For the sake of his comfort and our nice sofa, we'd better start getting organized! :-)

What PJs is up to this week
The baby now weighs nearly 1.5 pounds / 660 grams and is approximately 13.5 inches/ 35 centimetres long from crown to heel. He makes breathing movements but has no air in his lungs yet. At 26 weeks, fetal brain scans show response to touch. If you shine a light on your abdomen, your baby will turn his head, which according to researchers, means his optic nerve is working.

You can hear your baby's heartbeat with both a doppler and a stethoscope at this time, and your partner may even be able to hear the heartbeat unaided if he puts his ear in the right position. Sex differentiation is being completed now. If you are expecting a baby boy, the testes start to descend into the scrotum. Your baby is able to do more with their fingers now and can move his fingers to make a complete fist. As your baby becomes more dextrous, he will be able to touch and hold his feet. Babies also begin to prefer their left hand or right hand at this time. Because babies settle into routines of sleep and activity, you might begin to notice these patterns as well. Some women experience the most fetal movements while they are trying to rest.

Mmm... marmalade!

Or should I call it mommalade? I made a batch of orange and lime marmalade yesterday afternoon and filled the house with such a tasty sugar-citrus scent. I tried a spoonful hot - hot jam has to be the best thing ever!

I might just dig out the frozen raspberries that I prepped earlier in the summer, since we've been out of Jamie's favourite homemade raspberry jam for a while. I think I should have made more jam in general this year, because we're down to only a jar of strawberry and we're completely out of my personal favourite, apricot. And then there was my pear jam fiasco back in the early fall...

I think I'll have a breakfast dinner tonight so that I can try the new marmalade out on a crispy english muffin.

Apologies from White Spot

Just received an apology letter from the manager of the offending White Spot location mentioned last week, and a gift certificate for $40...

Not sure if I'll use it and then continue my permanent boycott or give it away here at work. Tempted to do the latter. I appreciate the apology, but I don't think I want to subject my ears or taste buds to another experience just for a free meal...

A girl can change her mind, right?

I stopped by the fabric store today after dropping Jamie off at the airport, and I began to rethink the orange element in my colour palette... I am really into orange now, but I think instead I'll swap it out for a subdued limey green... Also love limey green and I'll pick the one I can find more cool fabrics in! This doesn't mean I can't integrate other colours too, but with the cool colours as a base I have more options, I think!

The green will be only a tiny little element in some fabric things - otherwise I like mostly blues, whites/creams and a little light gray.

So, revised base colour palette for the baby's things above...

Best books ever

Jamie and I went shopping today to pick up some books that we can read to PJs, now and later too. We found some adorable books, including some cardboard tactile and peek-a-boo books, a classically-illustrated Winnie-the-Pooh ABC book, a Seuss ABC book and my personal favourite, Scaredy Squirrel, a story probably better suited to a child a few years older, but so funny that I had to get it. I read it to PJs already, and I think he likes it too!

And, we also found the most hilarious tongue-in-cheek book for us, the Baby owner's manual: Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting Tips, and Advice on First-Year Maintenance that came in the Baby Owner's Starter Kit. The book is awesome - it suits Jamie's programming brain and my design sensibilities! It also has lots of actually factual information and is co-authored by a pediatrician and his son, but written in a really irreverent way. Love it! We love it so much that we've ordered the other books in the series too: the Maintenance Log; the Games and Activities book; and the Toddler's Manual.

Blanket wool

Mmmmm... Tasty new wool! Just starting on the blanket for PJs, and here's a quick shot of the wool I'm using. The macro lens Jamie got me last year for my DSLR works like a charm!

The wool is actually cotton and washable - ok in the dryer too! Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out! I think the colour will go nicely with the palette I have in mind for the baby's room. The room's walls are a neutral oaty colour, and I would like to incorporate all sorts of bluey shades into the room, but use these colours as a base:

Baby's first hat!

Check it out - the first thing I've made for little PJs to wear - a little baby hat! It's made from the softest, squashiest organic cotton from Blue Sky Alpacas. I pretty much made up the pattern from a couple of others in the first Stitch n' Bitch book and am really proud of it! It's so tiny and adorable and so very soft. As far as sizing goes, I wanted it to fit a newborn. To help guesstimate how big to make it, I've used everyone's favourite life-like model - the New Year's Baby! See - there are no end to uses for it!

I got the wool from of my favourite knitting shops yesterday - Three Bags Full on Main. It's a lovely little shop and full of inspiration. I came away with the cotton for this project, a skein of air-soft fuzzy brushed suri (llama and merino wools blended with bamboo) in a barely blue shade and enough textured cotton in Sea (teal) to make a blanket for PJs. Now I think I'll start on the blanket!

More eloquence than ever!

So, I've been very slow in putting up photos from Ireland... It takes a long time to go through the zillion photos I took, and with the move our computers were out of commission for a little while... Jamie has gotten me all set up with a fancy new situation so that I can get back at looking at the photos, and our Pubespot website will be live again shortly and soon we'll have more photos than you ever wanted to see!

In the meantime, here are some interesting shots taken at Blarney Castle, just a short distance from Cork. The castle itself is quite amazing, and you can walk throughout the entire place; up spiral stone staircases, along the battlements at the top and through some lovely gardens, including a druid stone circle. The history of the place is pretty amazing too - the first castle on the site was built in the 10th century, and the current castle is nearly 600 years old and was taken by Cromwell's armies back in the 1600's.

Of course, there are many castles in Ireland that share a similar history and style - what makes Blarney popular with tourists is the famous Stone of Eloquence - the Blarney Stone. It's located up beneath the battlements at the top of the castle, and to kiss it you have to lie on your back on the castle roof and you hold an iron rail while a man helps lower you through a hole, so that you're upside down and kissing behind you... Here are some "terrific" photos that show us in the act of kissing the stone. I kissed twice - once for me and once for PJs!

Week 24

I'm now in the last week of the second trimester. Next week will be the start of month 6 and the third and last trimester. All the books say that the first and the third are the hardest, but it's exciting because it means that we're getting closer to meeting little PJs!

PJs has spent month 5 growing from the size of a small papaya to a large one, according to one website. Tropical fruit - right up my alley!

He's continuing to kick up a storm, especially when I am ready to sleep at night! I don't mind being kept awake by the kicking - it's fun and reassuring. Jamie says that PJs is trying to be a good baby already and massage my sore back from the inside out.

I actually really hurt my back on Sunday - I was putting away some remaining box items and sorting the recycling from under the sink. When I got up, my back spasmed and I stood for a few minutes unable to straighten up, grabbing the counter until Jamie got in the door (he was putting boxes in recycling downstairs). It was so intensely painful - not just a sore back or a sore muscle - it felt like a pinched nerve or being stabbed glass soaked in lemons (not that I know what that feels like)! I couldn't walk or sit - Jamie had to carry me to the bed and then to the couch. His miracle cure was alternating hot and cold and massage and me laying down for the rest of the day with my body pillow. It's starting to feel better although still quite sore - at least I can walk to the bathroom myself now!

What PJs is up to:
Your fetus weighs more than 1.3 pounds/600 grams. Though he still has little body fat and his skin is thin and fragile, she's now well-proportioned. His brain is growing rapidly, and he is starting to fill the space in your uterus. From crown to heel he could measure 11.8 inches/30 centimetres. If you went into labour at this time, however, many obstetricians and midwives would make every effort to halt the progress of premature labour to enable your baby to continue maturing.