May Days

 It's already May- spring is upon us! Temperatures in St. John's are still usually below 10 degrees, and drop close to zero at night- but it is definitely getting warmer, slowly but surely. We have the odd day that really and truly feels warm, without much wind, and last Friday was one of them. I was washing the car- Rubee really needed some TLC after all the salt and ice of the winter- and Bronwen was outside helping me. Well, by helping I mean finding some fun things to explore on the back porch....

Also, today it is 99 days till my due date with our little sprout!

I am enjoying how nice it is to already have all the baby 'stuff' that we need, mostly. We tried to keep the gadgets to a minimum with Bronwen for space and simplicity's sake, and got rid of the things that we didn't really find to be useful. I know that each baby is very different and may like different things- but either way, things like the baby swing that we had just take up too much room in our living area.

I was quite happy to find an Ikea crib on Kijiji, after keeping my eyes open for one for a while. The closest Ikea is in Montreal so it's usually only possible to buy their stuff used here, after a bit of hunting. But I really enjoy their cribs- they are solid and well made, as well as compact and cute! We bought the Diktad, an older model which is very similar to Bronwen's current crib. It is well used from 3 kids but still in great shape, and converts to a cute toddler bed.

We already have an infant car seat, change table, bouncer, and rocking chair... those are our 'big ticket' items. And lots of girlie baby clothes (though the seasons don't entirely line up with the sizes since Bronwen was a winter baby). If this little one is a boy, we will need to get some clothes, but we do have some cute little neutral newborn things (so tiny and cute!).

Our cloth diaper stash needed a bit of an expansion.. here are the 4 new Flip covers which came in the mail yesterday (along with 12 inserts). Aren't they cute? The 'Albert' patterned black one with the equations is to commemorate another engineering PhD baby (see this link).

I am thankful that we moved into a 3 bedroom apartment because it is going to be even more useful to us now! The third bedroom is slowly being transformed into the guest room/ craft desk room/ Bronwen's room. I'm planning on putting some of her special little knicknacks on the bookshelf (which our maintenance man Carl kindly put up for us recently), and putting her crib under the shelf (the new crib will be for the baby). With a couple special photos on the wall and maybe a little rug, it will become Bronwen's little corner quite nicely I think. :)

Tomorrow we are leaving to go to Trinity for the weekend! It's a cute little outport town about 2 1/2 hours away, and our friends Ralf and Karina have a cabin out there. They kindly invited us to spend the weekend there with them and their boys. The weather is looking good too and we're pretty excited! I'll make sure to take lots of pictures. Have a great weekend everyone!

Growing

By special request, here is a picture of my expanding girth. The picture is perhaps deceiving as I am still walking around in sweaters, rather than a tank top, so it is less obvious.

Currently 25 weeks... just over 3 months to go!

For comparison, here I am at almost the same stage of pregnancy with Bronwen (just a few days off).
I am wearing the same pants. (phew, I mustn't be that much bigger then.. but I do feel it is true that you grow faster with the second baby than the first!)

Adventures in Ontario

Bronwen and I just got back yesterday from a lovely trip to Grimsby. Brian was in Toronto at the same time for a workshop so we decided it was a good time to go on a little adventure.. thanks Mum and Dad! Here are some pictures from our trip. The weather was also great which was a nice treat!

Eggs with Uncle Jon

Out on the back porch

Loves it!

Loving the swing with Grandpa

Not so sure about the slide

The best part about the playground was the wood chips!

(un)stocking shelves at the Dutch Shop

woohoo, bare feet!

Walking to the mailbox with Grandma

With the uncles

Exploring Ruth's backyard

Hike with Jonny up to Beamer 

Looks like spring!

Trying out the van's kiddy jumpseats... better than a loose car seat :)

Mmm, cheerios!

I love kleenexes

self-portrait

It was a trip of new experiences for Bronwen as last spring and summer, she wasn't walking yet (she was just learning how to crawl). This trip, she got to walk around in the backyard barefoot, and explore lots outside. She seemed to love it... maybe she will be a little outdoorswoman. We are looking forward to some adventures in Newfoundland this summer with more exploring outside!

A little video clip...

I found this online and thought it was pretty neat. Even if you don't understand Dutch (and they are just saying numbers so it's easy to follow), it's a thought-provoking clip. The blog post by Donald Miller that goes with it is interesting too.

An Incredible Reminder of How Short Life Really Is

Vacation planning?

PS- Just to clarify, we have no plans for vacationing outside of Newfoundland this summer..(maybe Bronwen does?!). We just want to stay put and explore our own province this year. The book was from when Brian went to Greece and Cyprus for a conference  a few years ago.

Easter Weekend (part of it) in pictures

Despite the weather, we enjoyed a lovely Easter here in St. John's. 

Here is my family watching a show.. Bronwen was pretty relaxed. She likes the Amazing Race just like her dad and grandma.

This is the weather which we woke up to on Good Friday. It snowed all day.

I made hot cross buns as has become a tradition at our house. Bronwen helped me.

Dough rising in the oven.

Sleepy morning face!

The finished product. Unfortunately the plastic wrap which was covering them stuck to the rising buns (even though I oiled it :(. So they were a bit flat.. but still delicious.

Good Friday breakfast.. hot cross buns and coffee! (and nice Easter cards on the table :)

Easter treats from our neighbours, watching the weather while they still can.


Our Easter ham made by Brian... glazed with homemade marmalade.

 Getting the broth ready... yum!

We had some friends over for ham on Friday night. Sunday was very cold and windy, but we made it to church to celebrate the resurrection... He is Risen! We spent the day cozy inside and celebrated with some friends from church and school for dinner on Sunday night.

This Easter Sunday I thought a lot of my family in Ontario... it would have been my cousin Chelsea's 24th birthday on that day. It seemed significant that the first year she was not on earth to celebrate her birthday, her birthday was on Easter Sunday. Jesus left the tomb and death was conquered. Chelsea is in heaven because of the resurrection. We have hope because of Easter... because of Jesus.