I really enjoyed our first family vacation, even if it was a mini-vacation. I've got a lot to write about. In fact, I imagine I'll still be talking about the trip at the end of the week. I'm going to break everything into smaller parts and post, more or less, daily. I've already written a summary of the exmo mini-conference parts of the weekend. And I'll be trying to get as much writing done today as I can so expect a "real" post later today.

The rumors are true. Adam and I have left the church. I'd like to keep religion off this blog as much as possible as I want everyone to feel comfortable here. But I felt a need to confirm what some of you who know me in real life have been hearing. For those with a need to know why you can visit my blog about this journey at http://marvelousblunder.blogspot.com/

So...here I am, about to tell you all about the amazing storm we've had and I have not a single picture to post. That's what happens when your camera batteries are out of juice and you can't find the charger. So you'll just have to believe me when I say, it's beautiful out there!

It's also a death trap.

Apparently the city of Medicine Hat has some sort of bias against salt...and snow plows...and common sense. The roads are terrible!

Needless to say we've been staying home as much as possible. Though we did go out tonight so we could attend the Ward Christmas Party...no way we were going to miss out on a turkey dinner (especially one we didn't have to prepare)! It was excellent. Though we left early because I was uncomfortable (I've been having mild, irregular contractions) and I was tired. It takes a lot of energy to eat as much food as I ate.

I'm going to weekly doctor's appointments now, which also forces us to go out on those dreadful roads. Seriously...is it so much to ask that my city plow the roads a little better, even just the main ones? I understand why no-one has gotten around to plowing our tiny, out of the way, little street. But geesh...a decent plow job and some salt would really help me not feel like I'm gonna get in an accident any time I have to go somewhere.

At least I get to spend most days in the house, watching the snow fall (probably have 6+ inches now) and avoiding the cold (currently -13F). Yesterday was quite windy. In fact, it was so windy the snow managed to get blown into the opening for our upstairs bathroom vent and we ended up with some dripping in the bathroom! Took us a minute to figure out what on earth was happening.

So, long story short: It's beautiful looking outside. But if you have to actually go outside watch out!

Friday (yesterday) night I attended a Girl's Night which consisted of chatting and chowing down on cupcakes. Oh, yum! It was a lot of fun. It was great to get out of the house and spend some time with other women (not that I don't LOVE spending time with Adam, I do). In fact, it was so fun I didn't get home until about 3 in the morning. *sheepish grin*

Of course...I would have just slept in this morning to make up for my late night cupcake caper but our ward Relief Society had "Super Saturday" this morning at 9:00! Plus I had to get up and go to Micheal's first to buy some paint. I've never been to a "Super Saturday" before but I'm a fan. It's basically a chance for us women to get together, do crafts, chat, eat, etc. What a blast!

Behold! My crafts!

This nifty thing-a-ma-jig is now hanging in our entryway (thank you Adam)! The knobs are magnets. We're going to use it as a place to stash in-going and out-going mail. I picked that particular shade of red I for two reasons:
1. My mom gave me her Kitchen-Aid mixer (which, incidentally, I gave her as a gift some time ago). The mixer is bright red. So I use red as the accent color in my kitchen. I have a paper towel holder, trivets, and utensil holder in the same shade (also gifts from my mom).
2. I didn't want to buy two separate paint colors and I thought I needed to bring my own paint for the craft below (which I wanted in this shade of red).


This isn't quite finished. I need to grab some ribbon so I can hang it. There were several spools of ribbon available but none of them matched. I'm also kind of bummed that I didn't get the vinyl letters/picture centered. But there's nothing to do about it now. At least it's not terribly off-kilter. [Just FYI: the box the plaque is sitting on is Lovey's car seat! One less item to worry about! Of course, we had to buy this particular item new because it's not safe to buy used ones. It's a convertible car seat though. So it'll get her from infant stage through child stage.]
When we signed up for which projects we wanted to do I got the impression (like I mentioned) that we needed to provide our own paint. Since I plan on focusing on red and white (and green) for my Christmas decorations I wanted to do this in a festive red. There were lots of different shades to choose from at Micheal's. Fortunately, in the midst of pondering which shade would be best, I noticed this one, called "Christmas Red." I'm going with a red/white/green theme for Christmas for several reasons:
1. It's classic. As much as I love the blue and white Christmas decorations, and even the purple ones, that are so in vogue right now those colors won't stay in style forever.
2. It's affordable (my ultimate priority, especially with how tight things are this year). I can easily make decorations in these colors using cheap materials (peppermints, ribbon, holly, etc.).
3. It's easy. The colors are already so prevalent at this time of year. After all...what color is snow? The Christmas tree? Yeah. Exactly.


And my final craft? A "Reverence Book" or "Quiet Book" for Lovey to (someday) use during Church. There was no possible way to finish this one today. But I'm still excited about it. The front has a little "S" in the corner (for Shumate). The inside has lots of different scrap booking papers. I'll share several pictures so you get a feel for the pretty pages inside (sorry the photos aren't very good). And here's a link to the content I'll be using (though slightly changed). And this is where I found most of the clip art I'm going to use. Even after doing all the letters of the alphabet I'll have some extra pages. So I'll probably add in a "Who Loves You?" section and throw in some family pictures and such.



And now some photos unrelated to "Super Saturday."

This is the desk we got off Freecycle to use as my sewing table. Score!

And this is the wrapping paper that the baby book my mom gave me was wrapped in. Didn't I tell you it was adorable?

It's later than I meant to be doing my final conference post. The problem is I didn't really have much else to say (and still don't). Suffice it to say Adam and I thoroughly enjoyed conference. We felt the Spirit, and we are (trying to be) better people because of it. I'm grateful for modern-day revelation. And I'm grateful conference coincided so nicely with the happenings in our life right now. Things are kind of stressful (problems at work). It would be easy to be overwhelmed by worry. But conference gave us the faith boost we needed to just keep moving forward even when things are uncertain. But most of all I'm grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know He lives and loves me and through His grace I am redeemed.

Well, we didn't make it to the meetinghouse. But we did indeed watch the Sunday session. Part of my feels like I should have gotten dressed in my Sunday best and gone out. But then I remember why I wanted to stay at home (besides being tired, my hips/pelvis are hurting again (as do my ribs off and on) and I really didn't want to spend the whole time fidgeting on the pews at Church and distracting other people).

I hate to say it, but I think I enjoyed yesterday's sessions more than this morning's. Though I did really enjoy President Monson's talk. I'm also having mixed feelings about the afternoon session. I'm looking forward to it, but also feeling a little disappointed that Conference will have ended so quickly.

The MoTab sounded perfect (as always). And here's a question for you Kamis (or anyone else as thoroughly geeky as us): did you notice the women in the choir were wearing "Deanna Troi dresses?"

I enjoyed the Saturday afternoon session. It's good to hear things that *you* personally need to hear...like Elder Oaks' talk on proper Sunday worship. I need to get my butt in gear on Sundays and get to Church early (lately I've been getting there late). Pregnant or not I should be on time.

The Primary choir was adorable. They sounded quite nice (especially for an all-children choir). I have to admit I was a little distracted by the variety of dresses the girls were wearing. The boys were all wearing essentially the exact same outfit (white shirt and tie). But the girls dresses varied from quite casual to quite formal. Maybe it shouldn't have, but they distracted me nonetheless, especially the dresses made from shiny, formal fabrics. I mentioned something to Adam about it. He seemed like he could care less. Maybe it comes from all those years spent in chorus and glee club (which in the latter we were required to buy the exact same dresses, and jewelry). My ability to enjoy the music has been hindered by my indoctrination into the "everyone in the chorus must look exactly the same" mindset.

Speaking of clothing (because that's so important...and by "so" I mean "not"): in the activity booklet I mentioned in my last post they have a section to make notes on each member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve's talks. It has a picture of the General Authority as well as the outline of a tie. You're supposed to color in the tie to match the tie the speaker wore. I've never paid so close attention to ties before. Red seems to be the most popular color. But I gotta say, Elder Holland's blue and purple plaid tie was AWESOME! Best tie so far! And his talk was nothing to scoff at either!

Looking forward to tomorrow.

It's General Conference Weekend!

I first want to say that I love the Church's new media player! Even my slow internet and slow computer can handle the streaming live video with almost no hiccups!

The MoTab sounded wonderful this morning. It'll be interesting to see what choirs sing at the other sessions of conference (though I'd be quite content to have the MoTab do them all). Lovey seemed to like the music as well.

Did you catch the exciting news? One of the five (FIVE!) new temples is going to be built in Calgary, Alberta! Not that Calgary is any closer to Medicine Hat than Cardston* is...but it's still exciting for us! I was telling Adam, just before it was announced, that I'd like to go to a Temple dedication some day. Maybe now I'll get my chance! And how exciting is it that there is going to be a Temple in ROME? That's very cool.

I stumbled upon this General Conference activity packet last night. It's meant for children. But I went ahead and printed off a copy each for Adam and I. Even grown ups need help paying attention (especially the ADHD ones with pregnancy brain). It has places for notes, Conference bingo, word searches, etc. etc. Well, one of the activities is a "Follow the Prophet" maze. Cute idea. Too bad you cannot succesfully complete the maze. That's right...the paths from "Start" all dead end. Working backwards from the end all the paths also dead end. I can just imagine all the frustrated children...

And I just have to add: I love Elder Uchtdorf! I'm still mulling over the things he said in last weekend's General Relief Society Broadcast (a most excellent talk! - read it or watch it!). And I really enjoyed his remarks today as well. Plus I just LURVE listening to his German accent. And I love the stories he tells. I probably shouldn't have a "favorite" apostle. But *if* I did it would probably be Elder Uchtdorf.

The afternoon session will be starting in about 20 minutes. I'm sure I'll have more to share when it's over. Then tomorrow Adam and I plan on watching the broadcast of the morning and afternoon sessions via satellite at the Church meetinghouse. I hope those of you watching Conference are enjoying it!

*Cardston is the oldest Temple outside the USA. Neat, huh?

I actually kind of like it when businesses start decorating for Christmas a little too soon. Christmas is my favorite holiday so I feel all happy and giddy inside when I see the decorations come out. Then again...I listen to Christmas music year round so maybe I'm just a messed up anti-Scrooge.

If the way I handle my cats is any indication of my parenting skills then I'm not sure if I should be worried or not. On the one hand I can't seem to keep my cool and refrain from yelling at them when they are naughty for the fifteen-hundredth time in a day. On the other hand I have refrained from causing them serious bodily harm even if they've deserved it.

I really, honestly enjoy puns and word play.

I'm starting to like the "New Facebook" (for the most part).

I have never taken a single chemistry class.

I don't miss college classes (with the exception of some religion courses), but I do miss a lot of the high school classes I took.

I can't decide whether or not I want Adam to get rid of the bee nest under our porch. On the one hand I'm really scared of the buzzy little guys. On the other hand they haven't yet bothered us and I feel "mean" wanting to kill them.

I am jealous of Jen because her blog posts always strike me as superlatively entertaining compared to mine.

I ask Adam to read a children's story to Lovey every night. But really, I want the story just as much for my own entertainment.

I notice when people make public speaking faux pas in Church talks. The mistakes bug me. But the fact that I get so annoyed by bad speakers makes me feel guilty.

I love doing craft projects in a group setting because I usually do a really good job and when people "ooh" and "aah" over my results it makes me feel like a million bucks.

Sometimes I mix up the numbers 7 and 3.

I still don't have the times table memorized (I don't know what 7x7 or 7x6 is for example).

Sometimes I want to send a secret to Post Secret. But I don't have any secrets worth the postage. I'm not sure if that means my life is awesome or boring. Maybe it's both.

My in-laws are so cool that sometimes when I hear an in-law horror story I think "are they making this up?" because I just can't imagine in-laws being so lame.

Sometimes I look at those Facebook engagement/wedding groups/photo albums for people I don't know (friends of friends) because I just like to look at the pictures.

When I was a kid I secretly wanted to be in a tornado (even though they scare me).

Feel free to leave your own confessions in the comments section.

Maybe I've just got messed up priorities but I have been really, really depressed about the fact that I wasn't going to be getting a baby shower. When I got hitched none of my friends offered to throw me a bridal shower and it hurt, real bad.* I told Adam over and over again that I'd just better get a baby shower, it would all be OK if I got a baby shower someday. Then, shortly after getting pregnant we decided to move to not only a different town...but a different country. Good-bye all of my friends. Good-bye chances of having a baby shower.

It's not about the presents that come with a shower (though hey, who doesn't like getting stuff, especially of the small and cute variety?). It was about knowing someone was excited for me. It was about knowing someone cared enough to go to the effort of hosting a party to celebrate such a huge, awesome, momentous occasion. I had hoped that I would make a bunch of new friends right away and someone would offer. But I haven't made a lot of friends yet. And the last few weeks I was feeling especially glum about the whole thing. One of those baby development calendars oh-so-helpfully pointed out a week or two ago that if I was having a shower someone should have offered by now. I was convinced I was going to relive the sadness I felt when none of my friends offered to throw a bridal shower for me.

But today one of my visiting teachers offered to throw me a shower!

Have you ever felt so much joy you felt like doing a happy dance? Because that's how I'm feeling! I went from feeling glum and convinced I would never have a shower (after all, most people don't have one for any baby other than the first and it didn't look like I was getting on for this baby) to feeling ecstatic and excited and thrilled! So thank you, thank you, thank you to Mandi, my visiting teacher!

Now, let's just hope there isn't a cake like this, or this, or this, or this, or this.

PS- Why are they called "Baby Showers?" And does that make anyone else think of the song "It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls?

PPS- Apparently they're called "showers" because that's what bridal showers are called. And bridal showers are called showers because of "the custom in Victorian times for the presents to be put inside a parasol, which when opened would "shower" the bride-to-be with gifts." So, apparently I'm wrong and it is all about the presents, or, at least, was to somebody at some point.

*After being married for quite some time my best friend surprised me be throwing a belated "shower party thing" to make up for never having gotten one. It's one of the nicest things anybody has ever done for me. Please note that I had not yet met this friend when Adam and I got married. So no-one should think she's to blame for not having a wedding shower in the first place.

Maybe I shouldn't but here I am, BUI: Blogging Under the Influence...of pregnancy brain that is. I am suffering from a particularly acute case of it today. My brain, it is fuzzy. But I will attempt to share some amusing (or what I think are amusing) tidbits despite the obvious danger of run-on sentences, spelling errors, typos, and meandering blathering.

But first: A BIG HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO KAMIS (who now has her very own "Belly Ninja")!

Yesterday we had a wonderful turkey dinner at the Johnson's. Awesome family. I understand why Adam loves them so much (they recently moved to our ward from Kingston). We also played Bang, which was a lot of fun. When we first arrived and were doing the introductions (for my sake) the youngest boy (7yo) matter of factly stated (in reference to me) that he "always expects to see a chubbo!" I think Sis. Johnson might have been a little embarrassed. She shouldn't have been. I'm well aware of the fact that there are plenty of children who lack a filter in between their thoughts and their mouth. I was probably one such child. Plus it was just far to funny to be offensive. When his mom tried to explain that I wasn't fat, but that I had a baby in my belly he said quite incredulously "I don't see any baby boppin' around in there!" It was, and I'm being completely sincere, one of the best moments of my pregnancy. The humor of it all was just wonderful!

On our way to the Johnson's place yesterday we saw some military guys decked out in full gear and carrying their rifles through the neighborhood. I assume it was some sort of training exercise. But still, weird.

We went to the Church's free clothing exchange (and household items) on Saturday. Unfortunately it was mostly dissapointing. Though Adam snagged a game of Tri-Ominos. I guess I shouldn't complain too much. I continue to get so much stuff from Freecycle and the Medicine Hat Mom's Swap that one dissapointing excursion is not the end of the world.

I feel like there was something else I was going to write about. But, well, you know...pregnancy brain. *shrug*

Friday: The Kenco company picnic was at Echo Dale park. Good food (just ask Adam what he thought of the monstrous steaks) and good fun (it was nice to finally meet the people Adam works with). Of course, what's an evening without a pregnancy hormone melt down? Mine took place in the car on the way home. People should really learn not to put away s'more ingredients without first asking the lady with child if she wants seconds. Ha ha ha. I honest to goodness cried about it. Later we picked up a box of baby clothes I snagged off Freecycle. There were some seriously cute items (including a little winter coat and a frilly pink dress).

Saturday: Hit some garage sales. Managed to snag two baby dresses ($1 each), a little pink poncho ($1), a bed frame ($3), and a fake christmas tree ($2). The bed frame and tree are particularly exciting (our box spring and mattress have just been sitting on the floor and I didn't really want to do another 2d paper tree like last year). Also hit Value Village (but only got one little dress and a candle holder). We had a $25 gift certificate for Leon's (furniture store). We were hoping they might be like R.C. Willey and have a variety of small household items. It took us forever to find anything under $25 (seriously...who pays $40 for a tiny picture frame that isn't even that attractive?). We finally got what might be either a cookbook stand or a picture stand for $16. We also ran a bunch of errands (joy!) and got some free breadsticks at Pizza Hut. Later Adam picked up The Spiderwick Chronicles on DVD for $3 (thanks to the Medicine Hat Mom Swap on Facebook). Cute movie. We took Nathan's young 'uns to see it earlier this year and both enjoyed it. I still haven't gotten around to reading the books but I'm planning on it.

Sunday: I slept! I actually SLEPT! I had almost slept through the night (just one period of "awake-ness"). But was still wiped when it was time to get up. I tried to force myself but, alas, failed. But it felt good to get that much deep sleep. Just a little bit ago we got another Freecycle score: a 24 pound turkey. Adam is a BIG turkey fan so this was a fortunate happenstance. Of course...the thing is WAY too big to fit in our freezer. However, a family that used to live in Kingston just moved into our ward. They've invited us over for dinner this coming Sunday. So Adam gave them a call and asked if they wanted the turkey for Sunday dinner. They did. And they have the space for it. But hopefully we'll still get to take home enough leftovers to make sandwiches and curry.

All in all it was a free/"cheap-as-free" weekend; which is my absolute favorite kind!

And, since I've actually got one, here's a new belly picture at 24 weeks 2 days (I need a bit of a hair cut - nothing drastic, just something a little more stylish/less frumpy)! Truth be told, I'm kind of fond of my little purple stretch marks. They're a happy little visual reminder of the wonderful gift I'm getting this Christmas. And they're a little like a badge of honor too. But ask me how I feel about them if they haven't faded in a year and we'll see if I'm still fond of them. Ha ha.

This is not what I had in mind when I said I wanted to be a morning person! But, here I am, wide awake. Not sure what woke me this morning...possibly the very loudly purring fur ball curled up on top of me. Lily (the usually anti-social cat) sleeping happily on top of you makes for a very sweet moment once you get past the uncomfortable parts. But it isn't exactly sleep inducing (particularly when she's sleeping right on your big pregnant belly). *sigh* Oh well.

So, a project I've been working on for some time now is my "Mama Book." It's basically a collection of articles and such on parenting topics such as breastfeeding, attachment parenting, circumcision, babywearing, and much, much more. In addition to being an excellent resource for me (for those moments when I say to myself "dang it! I KNOW I read about this somewhere...") it will also come in handy should I be one of those unfortunate mothers that gets criticized, ridiculed or otherwise treated shamefully for my decisions about how I raise my baby. Nothing like having page upon page of research to back you up. Of course, I don't know who I expect to give me a hard time. Certainly not my mother or mother-in-law. They're way too cool for that. But I've heard too many horror stories from other women to assume I'll get by without incident.

But, like I said, it's a great resource for me. By the time I'm done it'll basically be the best child-care manual ever. And I've started including some "motivational" materials as well, such as talks given by Church leaders. This one in particular meant a lot to me. And I've got some funny little cartoons and stuff to throw in there as well.

Adam and I have been meaning to get some sort of oil lamp for a while now (mostly in case of power outages which seem to be relatively common here but also just because they make a beautiful, warm light source). We've settled on getting a hurricane lantern (like this). They're just a lot more cat-proof than the all glass ones (like this). It's too bad the cats can't be trusted because I love the old lamp style. At any rate, we hadn't been able to find one in town. And in addition to wanting to avoid shipping costs Adam was anxious to get our lamp ASAP. So he pulled out the phone book today and called around to see who might carry them. Canadian Tire had hurricane lanterns for about $13 (score!). What they failed to tell Adam is that they were going to be closing in about 5 minutes because of Labor Day (which is weird since typically retail goes crazy on Labor Day). So we got over there only to discover a deserted parking lot and locked doors. Adam was quite forlorn and understandably annoyed at the guy on the phone who didn't think that the early closing hour was pertinent information. At least we had other errands to run at nearby locations so it wasn't a total waste of gas.

I've been told that papaya enzyme is a great way to kill pregnancy heartburn. You can get little capsules or (so I'm told) dried papaya works great. Since I've been battling heartburn a little bit lately (and the Tums just aren't cutting it) I've been looking forward to getting some dried papaya (and hey, the yum factor is a definite plus). So while we were out running errands that was on the list of items we needed. Adam spotted a bag at Wal-Mart but it wasn't a particularly well priced bag. And the papaya slices had added sugar. Believe me...I get plenty of sugar in my diet already. So I passed. After all, Superstore (where we were headed next for our groceries) has a pretty awesome selection of dried fruits...


...except papaya.

I think I might be the world's first invisible pregnant lady. I keep hearing stories about how when you're pregnant strangers treat you differently. Some treat you wonderfully: holding doors open for you, letting you cut in front of them in lines (especially for the bathroom), that sort of thing. Others treat you not so wonderfully (and if you find yourself in the following description you should know that the utter disdain and loathing the pregnant population has for you is quite strong): making comments about your weight, passing along old wives' tales and labor horror stories, touching your belly without first asking for permission, inquiring as to the state of your cervix, breasts, or some such body part, etc. But so far I've got nothing. No nice stories about helpful individuals and no horror stories about people who seem to think a pregnant woman's body is open to discussion or touching. Now, I'm not too disappointed about the latter (although I'm sure such incidents would make for PRIME blog material). But I do find it odd that no-one seems to notice the big round thing attached to my front. It makes me wonder if I could get away with smuggling basketballs under my shirt. It also makes me wonder if maybe I just don't get out enough to be running into these people.

You know what's sad? My cat (Girla) is so fat that I can hear her clump clump clumping long before she actually walks into view. She's not exactly lazy. She gets plenty of exercise chasing specks of light and shadows. But somehow she's just big. She's always been big. I guess she'll always be big. But even fat cats are supposed to be graceful right? Even fat cats are supposed to walk silently (in order to sneak up on their prey) right? Girla would starve to death if her food posed any more of a challenge than walking to the bowl and munching.

I've discovered some added bonuses to living in Canada (besides the whole universal health care thing):

* I still get enough news about the election to know what's going on, but not enough to be driven entirely insane.
* Drivers here actually seem to care about pedestrians. Provo drivers could learn a thing or two from their neighbors to the North.
* People don't think I'm a total hippie because I care about the environment and like to eat organic food.
* We can use the word "eh" without anyone batting an eye.
* I can get poutine.
* People have some seriously awesome (but strange) garage sale hours (this may be a local thing rather than a Canadian thing). Honestly, it never ceases to amaze me how many people keep their garage sale running until 5pm!

And, in closing, I have provided a link to Medicine Hat's Wikipedia page. You know, just in case you were interested or something. (Disclaimer: the teepee is, in my opinion, not just highly overrated, but not really a teepee - if it doesn't keep the rain off or the wind out it shouldn't count).

I made tortillas from scratch today. They're kind of ugly (not very good circles). But they taste good and smell great! And they're pretty dang easy to make! I didn't have a rolling pin but I improvised (used my water bottle). They turned out pretty good for a first time attempt if I do say so myself. I couldn't resist eating some of the dough before I cooked them (sprinkled with cinnamon sugar). It was like when I was a little girl and my mom made pie crust; she'd always let me have a little of the raw dough. Mmmmmmm! And I also had to sample one of the tortillas while it was warm and fresh off the griddle. I buttered it and sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar. Yummy!

So tonight we'll have chicken salad (made with the leftovers from yesterday's roast chicken). Tomorrow we're planning on having the ward missionaries over and serving them an elk roast. But then Thursday we plan on using more chicken leftovers and having curry (yum!). I don't know what we'd be having if we hadn't gotten a freezer full of food; beans, rice, and soup I guess.

I finally made some iced red raspberry leaf tea a while back. It's good. But mixed with a little ginger-ale it's divine!!! Of course, I also like it hot. I actually like it quite a lot with milk. It's nice to have the warm milk right before bed (which is when I usually have my tea). Of course "they" say the ol' "warm milk to get to sleep" trick is just psychological. But whatever, it's relaxing and it tastes good.

I finally made that cake I mentioned (the one my grandmother sent me the recipe for). Unfortunately Adam and I were not fans. The texture was good (really moist) but the flavor was definitely not the best. And the frosting! We didn't like the taste OR the texture of the frosting. It really bummed me out. It was the first time I had made cake from scratch (or frosting for that matter). Usually I go the boxed mix and can of frosting route. Plus it somehow feels sad that I don't like what my grandma so clearly enjoys (she raved and raved about this cake). I guess I'm somewhat particular about my chocolate cakes (they need to be dark, rich, moist and spongy).

All this food talk is making me hungry. I'm going to go feed "us."

Another belly picture! Actually it's well past time for another (about 5 weeks since the last one). So without further ado here I am at 22 weeks 4 days.
I don't feel like I look much bigger. But I feel bigger! My belly feels tighter, like it's barely containing all the baby and organs and stuff in there. And my bladder is definitely feeling a change lately. I'm constantly running upstairs to use the bathroom. But that's good. Exercise is good for ya! And our little Lovey is getting stronger too! Some of her kicks are getting almost uncomfortable. But I still love it whenever she wiggles. I don't think I could ever complain about that particular aspect of pregnancy. Of course, I try not to whine about things at all. I've pretty much had the perfect pregnancy (no morning sickness at all)! Besides, what are a few minor discomforts compared to the joy of having a little babe? Man, can you believe I'm going to be a mama in about 4 months?

So, our phone situation has gotten worse rather than better. We are currently unable to make outgoing calls. Which is making getting a hold of customer service really stinkin' difficult. It's stressing me out to no end. I just want my phone to work properly! Is that so much to ask? If this weren't the only VOIP service in our price range I'd be moving on to a different company by now. But I'm making the best of what I've got.

We dined with another family from our ward tonight. Good meal! And good fun (we played Killer Bunnies)! And in addition to milk shakes we had waffle cookies/brownies. Yum! And we were sent home with a huge bag full of food for our freezer (elk steaks, elk roast, deer roast, deer sausage, banana bread, etc.). It's a big blessing because our food budget for the rest of August is all but gone. This stuff is not only going to get us through the next week but well, WELL into September! And Adam loves elk. Plus I feel a lot better eating game than eating farmed meat (yes...I'm "vegetarian" and eat meat...I'm human and weak, accept it and move on). After all, deer and elk lived a nice life in the wild right up until their death unlike factory farm animals. We're having the ward missionaries over for dinner on Wednesday. I felt bad knowing I was going to have to serve them just spaghetti or pancakes or something. But now I can serve them a roast instead!

The most exciting thing that happened this past week was interviewing and hiring my doula! I liked her immediately. And she's got a LOT of experience. She's already been a huge help (clueing me into things I could have never known on my own, like which doctors are the best). There are plenty of reasons to hire a doula. In addition to the normal services a doula provides our doula will be taking pictures for us, and will provide a written account of my labor and delivery to put in our baby book. Plus she'll be "on call" for me two weeks post-partum to help with breastfeeding or whatever. I really wanted a midwife and homebirth for this baby. But once we moved to Medicine Hat that just wasn't an option. I was really down about that for a long time. But now I'm feeling excited and happy again. Knowing I've got her on my support team has made me do a complete 180 in how I think about this birth. I'm actually looking forward to the experience now. I know it will be hard. I know it will be tiring. I know it will be unlike anything I've ever experienced. But I'm not afraid anymore. Plus she's just super nice. She's working with us on the cost and she's easy to talk to. She's got this vibe that's both professional and laid back at the same time. You can see her website here.

I have another prenatal appointment this week. My doula told me that the doc I'm seeing this time is one of the best ones at the clinic so I'm hoping this visit goes better than the rest have. I may not get to choose who delivers my baby but I can make appointments with whomever I'd like. So if I like this doc I'll keep seeing her. I'm also planning on brining a written list of questions along because I'm tired of feeling like I just pop in, give them my weight and pee and head out again. And this time I'm going to ask for a copy of my chart. Seeing as they never tell me anything (like what all they screened my blood for and what the results were, or if I'm gaining too much or too little weight) I'm just going to have to demand that knowledge. I guess I'm just usually too timid to speak up. But my doula encouraged me to go ahead and ask for what I want. She instills a lot of confidence.

I should have a picture to post of our family room this week (and hopefully I'll finish setting up the kitchen too). The family room was clean on Tuesday. But it's been very lived in since then and needs a little tidying.

Cats are funny creatures. At least, our two cats are. Sometimes they seem to meow and meow for no particular reason. You try to love on them and they don't seem interested. But they keep meowing like they want attention. After a bit you start to tune them out because nothing you do seems to satisfy them. It happens every so often. Then there are other times when you realize after 5 minutes of this strange behavior that you're an idiot and they want you to open the basement door so they can get to their food, water, and litter box. Of course...this is all hypothetical. I've certainly never done anything like that...

That's all folks.

It's a warm day. You'd think it'd be cooler since it's cloudy. But no such luck. What baffles me is that even on warms days...the cats seem fine. They have fur coats on 24/7! Why do they seem to handle the heat so much better than we do? I badly want a frozen banana right now...but am, sadly, banana-less.

Tonight I have to be at Church at 7:00 to practice a women's quartet that we'll be doing in Church later this month. The last time I sang in Church was at Christmas time (I had a solo in one of the choir songs). And now that I think about it...I haven't heard a word about a choir in our new ward. Could it be that there isn't one? How weird would that be? I can't imagine not having a ward choir. Hopefully no-one will take my wondering as some sign that I should be asked to run one...NOT QUALIFIED! And while I'm curious as to when and what our next callings will be I'm hoping mine has nothing to do with leading, coordinating, or directing music of any sort. I like to sing...but I barely (BARELY) read music (AT ALL).

Do doctors have to take courses on bedside manner when they go through medical school? Because I think (almost) all the doctors at the maternity clinic must have skipped or failed that one...the nurses too. While I understand that they're busy at the clinic...I believe there is always time for a little basic kindness.
The first doctor I saw there was just plain rude (among other flaws). The first thing he said upon walking into the exam room (keeping in mind we have never, ever met) was "So, feeling pregnant and b@#*%$?" I don't remember what I said (probably nothing). But what I should have said is "Why no, I wasn't...until you came in and said that to me. Thanks for asking." Call me a prude but I don't appreciate that kind of language. And I really don't think that's an appropriate greeting the first time you meet someone. Plus...I happen to enjoy being pregnant. I'll admit I have mood swings some times but I wouldn't trade this for anything. So when the male doctor (in other words...doctor who has never and will never experience pregnancy) starts acting like it's such a terrible condition I really don't find it amusing. Honestly, women are pretty much the only people who can get away with making pregnant jokes in the first place.
The next doctor I saw was a woman. She's the only one I've met so far that I liked. Even though there was a possibility we wouldn't hear a heartbeat she tried any way (and succeeded!). The first guy didn't even bother to try even though we specifically said we wanted to.
The last guy I saw ordered me around (do this...do that) but didn't feel a need to tell me why or what he was doing. That bugs me to no end. I like to be in charge of my care and my baby's care thank you very much. Kind of hard to be in charge when you won't even tell me you're doing something before you do it. For example, he started listening for a heartbeat with the Doppler without even warning me or asking for my consent. One second I'm waiting for him to tell me what he's doing the next there's cold goo all over my stomach. While I'm OK with the occasional use of Dopplers and ultrasounds I am also aware that they have not been proven completely safe (and some believe that babies really dislike them). And seeing as we had an ultrasound scheduled for the very next day (during which they would be checking the heartbeat) if this doctor had actually asked me if he could do that I would have said "no."
I actually had a question this time (usually I don't have any because I do so much reading and research on my own). I wanted to know what I could safely use to deal with my acne (which has only gotten worse since being pregnant). His answer? "Soap and water." Duh. I'm aware that I can safely use soap and water. What really irks me is that he acted as if that's the only answer when I know for a fact there is more to it than that. For example...salicylic acid should not be used by pregnant women. He didn't even mention that. He gave me the impression that he either A: knew less about the subject than me, B: was too lazy to take the time to truly answer my question, or C: both. Plus he felt the need to criticize our personal choice to learn our baby's gender ahead of time. Me knowing if my baby is a boy or girl has no medical significance whatsoever so mind your own business.
I've heard good things about a Dr. Prince but the last two times I've tried to see him something has gone wrong (the first time the clinic lost my appointment and I had to wait for the next available doc, the second time I came in on the wrong day and he wasn't there). This next appointment I couldn't see him either because he wasn't available on or near the day they wanted to schedule me. So I asked for whatever woman doctor was going to be available that week. Since the only doctor I've even remotely liked so far has been a woman I figured my luck would be better if I continue that trend.
I'm frustrated with the clinic as a whole, quite frankly. I feel like the appointments are a waste of my time, their time, and the Alberta tax payer's money. I come in, you take my urine and record my weight, ask if I have any questions and move me on out again. They never even tell me anything...not the results from my original blood work, not what they're looking for in my urine (or what they find), nothing. When they weigh me they don't even tell me if I'm gaining too little, too much, or just enough. If you're going to keep all the pertinent information to yourselves what good does it do me to even come in? Honestly...what I really, truly want is to call up a midwife (but Alberta health care won't cover midwives -don't even get me started on the politics of that dumb policy). I have an interview with the local doula on the 19th. I'd LOVE to have a doula at my birth (especially so Adam doesn't have to spend the whole time trying to pry information from the nurses and doctor and enforce our wishes and rights). But I don't think there is any way to afford one this time around. I suppose I am going to have to right a very specific birth plan and have the doc sign it ahead of time. That way if (or should I say when?) hospital staff try to con me into all the stuff I do not want (like an episiotomy) I'll have a little extra back up.

OK. I'll come down off my soap box (for now).

Last night Adam and I went for a walk during the sunset at the park a street over from us. It's basically a big nature reserve. We saw a young buck and some bats. It was very cool. And the Deet-free, all natural bug spray we got seems to be working quite well.

The weekend is almost upon us (about time)! Adam and I don't have any plans but that's good. We'll probably work on getting things organized around the house. Is it completely pathetic that we're still not unpacked? It's hard to decide where to put things (we're not used to this much space). We're also in need of a book shelf (so if anybody knows of one in need of a home, old and ugly is fine, let us know). The farmer's market isn't open this week so we'll likely sleep in on Saturday.

You know what makes me sad? Women who don't realize how beautiful, wonderful, valuable, and awesome they are. My friend seems to be having a rough time lately. She's been dealing with a lot of stress, mostly caused by feeling guilt when there's nothing to feel quilty about and feeling fat when she's thin and beautiful. I don't know where all those feelings come from (the media? perfectionism?). But I wish she could see herself the way I see her. I miss her terribly.

I am craving chocolate chip cookies...right now. So I think I'm going to have to go make some. Yum! Maybe I'll bring some to share at practice tonight.

With me not working, and Adam having the car all day my days have been pretty uneventful. But this week I'm actually getting out of the house. This is probably the most exciting week I've had since we got to Medicine Hat.

Monday: My visiting teachers from Church stopped by to talk to me.
Tuesday: I had my second Dr.'s appointment (and heard the heart beat!). Then in the evening we went to a Church cook-out at Kin Coulee park.
Wednesday (today): I'm getting a ride to Echo Dale park for Mother's Group (through Church). There's a farm, and a man-made lake for swimming in (though I'm not planning on swimming today).
Thursday: I'm going visiting teaching.
Friday: I'm going visiting teaching again (FYI: visiting teachers basically just visit with other women from Church once a month and help out when needed-really great system).
Weekend: Moving! Adam stopped by the house on his way home from work yesterday. Sounds like they've picked up the pace. The basement is almost done. We'll probably be stuck living in the basement for a while but oh well. Such is life. I'm still excited to get into the new place. And the long weekend will make moving and settling in that much easier (FYI for my American friends: Canada Day is July 1st so Adam has Monday off).

I've been plagiarized! That's right...apparently my writing is good enough to steal. Someone copied part of my FYI post word for word. While kind of annoyed I'm also flattered in a way. I contacted this person to clear up what I'm sure is just a misunderstanding and am waiting to hear back.

I don't think the house is going to be completely finished by the move in date...even though the contract is signed and we're anxious to get out of the current place! If that's the case we'll live...but I'm not paying full rent if I only get half my house! :)

I met a lady online who lives here in Medicine Hat and is named...(this one's for you, Mom) Darcey! It's not spelled the way I like it, but close enough.

We got our Alberta Health Care cards! Woo-hoo!

My next Dr.'s appointment is Tuesday morning.

I actually won something! I entered a drawing and won some free Clinique make-up. It will probably have a bunch of carcinogenic ingredients but at least they don't test on animals.

I currently have a fuzzy white purring thing sitting on my arm...which makes typing difficult to say the least. (Okay...Adam just came home so she's off to say hello.)

I have discovered MSG in my salad dressing...no more ranch dressing for me unless it's home made!

We are going to a Church BBQ tonight! Hooray! I really need to get to know people better so I can make some friends!

That's all!
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For now!