Fish that we saw when snorkeling

Update on things

Well the weekend is here and I must say I am tired. Tiffany came down for her spring break from Victoria, BC and I must say we had a really good time. We went to the city(San Francisco) and did some sight seeing, I took her to Gilroy for some outlet shopping, and I took her out to eat some different foods!!!!! However, right at the end she got the flu....Tiff I better not get it ;), hope you feel better soon.

Well as good things come there is always something that sneaks up on you and on Friday morning we found our windshield on the car cracked. We don't even remember something hitting our windshield so now we need to pay for a new windshield. Not really happy about it, the car is not even a year old but what can you do but nothing. No since getting mad or upset it won't fix it.

So today was an early day where we got up at 5:20am to drive Tiff back to the airport and we just decided to stay up and go to bed early tonight. We went out for breakfast, than rested a bit and went out to Burlington Coat Factory to the Baby Depot. We finally got our car seat for the baby, a few onesies for newborns because they were 10 for 15 dollars which is pretty good for here and I got tom a book, father guide for the first year, for some bathroom reading :). Well I can't lie I have a small group of women that I talk to on a pregnancy board online. There are four of us that talk quite often and I am so jealous of them. They are all dressing up their nurseries for their baby's and are sharing pictures and they look so good. I really wish I had a room to do up. I just keep telling myself that we are saving money by not having a room for the baby but still I walk in to the stores and see the wooden cribs, blankets, lamps etc that I like and would love to buy. Maybe next time around I will have a room to decorate(wishful thinking).

picture of our car seat

Now hopefully tomorrow we can move the furniture around in the office/spare room just to see if somehow we can get more space. Might have to put the office in the dinning room and move the dinning room more into the living room but we'll see what happens.

Our Maui trip

Okay so now that we are back I know some of you have asked to hear about our trip to Maui. We have loads of pictures and memories of this trip. It was completely amazing for a relaxation trip. We laid on the beach almost every morning except maybe the 3 days where we had to leave early for activity days we booked. Maui is totally different from O'ahu/Waikiki where we went last yr. But they are both great in different ways. I love Hawaii it reminds me a lot of the Maritimes. It's more laid back and not so rushed, which is what I like. So for the first few days we just relaxed and walked around and took one drive up to the west coast of the island where we stop in a little town called Lahaina, which was right on the water and was probably the most touristy part of the island but it's not that touristy (pretty quiet) compared to Waikiki. We continued up to the far west part where all of a sudden the road goes to one very tight lane that follows the coast. We found out after that rental cars weren't suppose to be on that section. Oops. But we found a little stand which is supposed to be the islands most famous banana bread which they ran out before we got there but we tried a sample (it was really good but I can say it wasn't healthy) and bought some taro chips and some nuts.Our first trip that we paid for was the Haleakala Volcano sunrise tour. We got picked up at 3:30am at our hotel and got to the top around 6am and sunrise was at 6:50am. I must say we were told to bring light cover up and when I got up there well I wish we had our winter coats. The wind was brutal and made it colder. I was so cold up there but once the sun came up the temp did warm up some.

Our next trip that we went on was called the road to Hana. It was a nice tour just because neither one of us had to drive the 617 curves and 56 one lane bridges, which meant that both of us got to enjoy the scenery of the trip. This was another earlier morning pick up but not too bad just 7am this time. We drove through a town called Pa'ia were Willy Nelson lives part of the yr and just outside of this town at Ho'okipa Beach, which is supposed to be a world famous windsurfing beach where the most experienced surfers go for part of the day and the windsurfers take over the rest. The windsurfers weren't out due to the little wind that day when we got there but there were a few surfers out. On the road to Hana we saw beautiful trees, flowers, wild roosters, black and red sand beaches, waterfalls etc. However due to an earthquake Maui had at the end of last yr a bridge was out and we couldn't continue to Maui's winery or the O'heo Gulch Pools nicknamed"Seven Sacred Pools". So we went to the winery ourselves another day.Our last activity day was our snorkeling trip and I haven't gotten the pictures developed from our underwater cameras but as soon as I do I will post them. I must say that the snorkeling trip was the best activity Tom and I did besides just being together and relaxing. At first we were a little nervous just because we haven't snorkelled before and out of both of us, I am definitely the swimmer in the family but I must say after adjusting to it Tom took to the water like a fish and had a big smile on his face. We didn't get to see any green sea turtles at the second snorkeling sight which was a little disappointing but over all it was amazing and if we ever get back there I will want to do it again and again. While we were on the boat sailing from site to site and back home we got to see dolphins and whales which was amazing.

Maui Pictures

Just click on the picture and it will take you to a web album of our Maui Pictures.

From pictures from...

On the beach tomorrow at noon in Maui

Well folks just wanted to remind you that Tom and I will be out of reach for the next 10days. We leave for Maui tomorrow at 8am and get to Maui at noon time. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

Well not much is new here at all, just our normal every day lives here. I am just finishing up the cleaning in the house before we go, we take Bella tonight to one of Tom's co-workers place for them to look after her while we are gone. I am going to miss her, she's been such a cuddle bug lately, especially in the evenings. This morning tom felt the baby kick for the first time and not just once kick either which I was happy for. He was pretty happy in his sleepy state of mind. This Sunday we were suppose to post up another belly picture for 22wk but it will have to be posted when we get back.

My next doctors appointment is my March 2nd, which we are looking forward to. Well everyone normally ask how I am doing. Well I try not to complain because everything is 100 % better than the first 17 weeks which I am very thankful for. But I am not one to enjoy being pregnant which bums me out. I have aways looked forward to the joy of being pregnant but I guess I didn't get blessed with the joy end of the stick. I still can't really enjoy a lot of foods and it's not just one or two because of heart burn (which I have never had in my life before), I get strong sharp pains in my low back and sacral area (it"s not sciatica it's more in the SI joint which makes it hard to walking sometimes), and than I probably have the common aches and pain that most pregnant women have. The only joy I do really have is felling the baby move at the moment and knowing we are going to have a baby roughly in 4months and 3 days (I will be 5 months on Sunday) !!!! Tom is a little bummed that I don't have any craving at all. He was really looking forward of telling people at work all the things I crave during pregnancy. However I am lucky if I ever feel hungry or desire any food at all (yes people I do eat I just don't care what or when I eat anymore). I can't wait till the day where I want to eat food because I am hungry or crave something because I love food. Well I think that sums up everything here with us. When we get back from our trip I'll try to post some pictures up.

Being a Parent

Well when one becomes a parent you do your best at making sure your child/children are safe and healthy. So why are some parent's in denial about what their actions, and what does it really say to their children. How can you be mad at a child if you the parent is doing the exact same behaviors or lifestyle. I was raised to be a person to treat others how you wish to be treated, to always do your best at what is in front of you, family is important etc.... Those were just a few things I took way from my childhood. Now as the time approaches Tom and I will be the ones to teach our child/children the right from wrong and what is important to us. One big thing for us is our child/children health and will be right till they grow up and than they will be making their own decides for themselves and their family. We want our child/children to be involved in activities, doesn't matter if it's sports or something else but whatever they want to be in but they are not sitting in front of the computer all day. Another thing is that we want them in a smoke free environment. Smoking way back when my 101 yr old grandfather who passed away August 2006 was a boy/young adult was told by advertisements etc. that smoking was sexy and great. But that was years ago and what year are we living in now? We now know the effects of smoking on the smoker and the people around them. Smoke gets into everything and everywheres. It turns white walls yellow and soaks into everything that is around it and stays in it. Sometime takes a few washes to finally get smoke out of clothes etc. Here is just some information on smoking and children.

What's in second-hand smoke

Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 substances, of which more than 40 are known to cause cancer.

These carcinogens include:

arsenic. nickel, chromium, cadmium, lead, polonium-210, vinyl chloride, formaldehyde, benz(a)anthracene, benzo[b]fouoranthene, benzo[j]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, chrysene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene, dibenzo[a,I]pyrene, dibenzo[a,l]pyrene, indeno [1,2,3-c,d]pyrene, 5-methylchrysene, quinoline, dibenz[a,h]acridine, dibenz[a,j]acridine, 7H-dibenzo[c,g]carbazole, N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosoethylmethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-snitrosopyrrolidine, N-nitrosodimethylamine, N’-nitrosonornicotine, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone, N’-nitrosoanabasine, N-nitrosomorpholine, 2-toluidine, 2-naphthylamine, 4-aminobiphenyl, acetaldehyde, crotonaldehyde, benzene, acrylonitrile, 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, 2-nitropropane, ethylcarbamate, hydrazine.

Even if smoking is restricted to a single room, the harmful constituents of cigarette smoke can be dispersed throughout the house. Many of these highly dangerous chemicals are in invisible gas form.

Second-hand smoke (which is sometimes called environmental tobacco smoke or ETS) contains toxic substances, over 40 of which cause cancer. Some of these substances are in stronger concentrations in second-hand smoke than they are in the smoke that goes directly into smokers’ lungs.

ETS is causally linked with a number of adverse health effects in children (under 18), including:

• lower respiratory tract infections (i.e. croup, bronchitis and pneumonia)
• increased fluid in the middle ear
• upper respiratory tract irritation
• reduced lung function
• additional episodes of asthma
• increased severity of asthmatic symptoms in children
• reduced oxygen flow to tissues, comparable to children with anemia, cyanotic heart disease or chronic lung disease ^†

ETS is also associated with:

• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• acute middle ear infections (otitis media)
• tonsillectomy
• meningococcal infections
• cancers and leukemias in childhood
• slower growth
• adverse neurobehavioural effects
• upper respiratory tract infections (colds and sore throats)
• unfavorable cholesterol levels and initiation of atherosclerosis (heart disease)
  

Why kids are especially vulnerable

Young children are especially vulnerable to second-hand smoke in the home because:

• they breathe more air relative to body weight (and for the same level of exposure will absorb more tobacco smoke toxins)
• they are less able to complain (either because they are too young, or because their complaints are ignored)
• their immune system is less protective
• they are less able to remove themselves from exposure

Not much new...

Well not too much is new. Tom is working hard and I am trying to get things down around the house, out of the house and than my crafts. Besides that we are looking forward to our trip in February. I am looking fat not really pregnant so that is great :(. Just starting to get heart burn so that is a lot of fun too. The baby is moving more and last night I saw my belly jump very quickly, I though I imagine it but than I felt it kick later with my hand, but nothing since than. I can't wait till there is more of them so tom can feel them. Well I got to run to the store and get a few groceries for dinner. I am really running behind today my backs been sore so I sort of let everything slide today. I am a bit mad at myself because yesterday I got all the stuff done that needed to be done outside the house like banking etc. and today was suppose to be a house day of cleaning and baking some homemade bread/white pan rolls. Here is hoping I get caught up tomorrow.

Maui it is

Well last night we decided that it would be Maui and not Rome for our trip. Tom booked the trip and it's all paid for, well not really paid for it's on the Cards. I don't think Tom and I like having a low balance on our cards b/c every time we get them half way paid off (it's not a little amount either) we put more on it. One day we will have that card on a low balance but hey you need to live too. No since saving everything till you retire, you never know what the future will hold for you. So we are going to live in the present and I will try not to worry till later. Somehow things manage to work themselves out in the end, how I don't know but they do. We are hoping that next summer or fall to get to Rome. Hopefully we can convince a babysitter(s) to come out here and live for a week or two and look after the little one, while we take off (You know who you are);). Or we will take the little one with us. Got to love free flights for children under the age of 2. But who really knows what will happen in a years time but it's still fun to dream. So February 8th we fly to Maui and relax and enjoy 29C temps. I can't wait for those type of temps it's been so cold here and LA got snow a few days ago. I was so mad when I saw that. We are farther north then they are and we only got frost and frozen puddles on the ground :(. I hate the cold but if there is snow than it makes me feel better, than just having cold weather. Well here is to Maui and sun shine let it come fast but last long.

Can't decide!!! and it's driving me crazy!!!!

Well we are still flip flopping on our trip to somewheres......it's driving me crazy. We got the go a head from the doctor but for some reason we are stalling on the fact, should go and where to go. I really really want to do our trip to Italy and there is a sale on from San Fran to Rome... We only have till the end of February to go some where. We have also talked about going to a different island in Hawaii too. But for some reason we want to see something new and exciting. I have a feeling if we don't go I'll regret it big time but we are also nervous to go too. grrrr. I hate decision like this. Some days I just say lets do it and other days I say I am not sure. Here is hoping that we do go though because after the baby comes I know I won't want to leave the baby even for a night :).

Project list of things that have been started and not finished.

Things that I should finish before the summer......somehow there doesn't seem to be enough time!!

Crafts
1. Finish the baby afghan that I started in 2005 and almost finished. Just four more squares and than write the date of the birth in a blanks square and the name in the alternating blank square.

2. Finish two other baby afghans (one was suppose to be a gift)
3. Finish my scrapbook up till this point in tom's and my life...going to have to start getting photos printed off.

Baking/Cooking
1. Finish my Christmas chocolates baking for Tom's work...a little late but better than never.
2. Get after tom to buy the deep freezer so I can start cooking meals and freezing them so we can have meals after the baby is born and try to stay a way from take out(Tom's idea of cooking a meal).
3. Once we have the freezer start cooking.

Fitness
1. Get sign up for a prenatal Yoga class for February and march.

Shop
1. Still a few months away but than start buying the few things we need for the baby...cloth diapers(got to love the fact that I found a store that has them for baby under 8lbs and than the normal 8lbs+), something for the baby to sleep in(probably a arm's reach co-sleeper that hold till 30lbs), car seat, some clothes and a few odds and ends like soap for the baby etc.

4 months Today

Well folks we are four months today!!!! I have had the best three days since I was 5 weeks pregnant. Not only was I not sick, I was not nauseated and I got to eat some food. I am still not craving food and never really hungry or care what I eat, but I got to eat which was really good. Today was a great day we ate some dim sum, played some min golf and the weather was gorgeous (very unusual for the winter months but I am not complaining one bit). We finally bought two items for the baby but that will probably be it for awhile. We got a diaper bag from clearance and a baby carrier which can carry the baby facing outward or inward. The rest of the stuff I have been researching and I have some ideas but after the consumer report done on infants cars seats it's pretty much narrowed down to two and we'll probably get one in May. Well the baby has been moving around a bit today which is nice and reassuring and I like it for now until it starts hurting. Only 5months to go and lets hope for more days like the last three. Oh we forgot to take the picture today which we thought was 16wks but as of now is 17wks, so we'll take it tomorrow morning and get it posted.

Pictures of the Ultrasound

Hi all I just wanted to let you know that I am trying to keep all baby pictures in the same place so I posted the ultrasound pictures on the belly page. Today is a better day and I have lots to try and get done because if I I don't I think tom will kill me. So my goals today are clean the kitchen, do all the laundry, must be at least 6 loads :(, go for a long walk or do my yoga DVD recommendation by the doctor to get some exercise in, and try to finish a baby blanket I start back in 2005. Good think I only have about four squares left to cross stitch before starting another one. Hopefully I will get most of the cleaning done. Well got to run while the sickness is at bay.

Dancing BABY

Well we just got back from our big ultrasound appointment and we got a dancer here. The technician had a little bit of difficulty getting freeze frames of the baby becaues the baby wouldn't stop moving. It's little legs were jumping all over the place, even hit it's self in the head with it's hand and was arching its back to a postion I don't think we could do. I think the baby was very excited for its big debut on the big screen (wink). So even though I was trying not to be sick while they were doing the ultrasound(because today was not a good day for keep food down). Tom and I were really happy to see the little one moving all over the place and the heart looked good too. We could have sat there all night watching the screen. We got about 6 pictures of the baby and I will try to scan them in tomorrow when I am feeling better. Once I can really start feeling this baby move I think I am going to be black and blue inside.

Happy New Years!!!

Well I can't believe another year is ending. We went for an early dinner with one of Tom's co-worker and his girl friend and than tom and I stopped off at the store to pick up a movie to bring in the New Years. Not really exciting but what do you expect from old people like us. We can't hide it anymore, we are no spring chickens anymore. But enough of that stuff.... The New Year is holding a lot of good things for us, well I should say one good thing for us. When our little one arrives in June. Not too worried at all when the little comes, some things will change but than for us not a whole lot because we don't have a big social life and we stay at home a lot. So I don't think that is going to be a big problem for us. The first few months will probably affect Tom more than me with the lack of sleep but since he is working I will probably be doing all the late nights and than he can do the weekends to give a little bit of a rest but not much of one since Tom won't be able to help out with the feeding. Oh well, I'll look at it as bonding time for the little one and me. Well we will be truly old by the time the little one comes, Tom will almost be the big 30 and I'll be 27...UGH....one thing we both won't be looking forward too. I think Tom and I'll just be 25 forever now. Here is looking forward to the little one making us feel younger when she/he starts running around. Well Happy New Years Everyone and here is hoping I don't fall asleep before 12am.

Doctor's Appointment

We had our third doctor's appointment today and things seem fine. Still haven't gained any weight really(not that you are supposed to gain much weight in the beginning anyhow but you should gain 3-4lbs) but the good things is I haven't dropped below my pre-pregnancy weight. So that is great news. Our first goal now is for me is to start being able to eat. Once that happens then the doctor wants me to concentrate on increasing my protein, iron and calcium which I already knew but it's good to hear that she's not worried about my weight. We also got to hear the heartbeat which was the greatest thing in the world however, it took a while for her to find it which I knew could happen however Tom didn't know this and I think he started to turn white because all of a sudden she said "it sometime takes a while to find the baby's position to hear the heart". I have to admit I was getting a little nervous myself because not hearing a heart beat was my worst fear. In the end everything went well and we have our big ultrasound to look forward to next week to make sure the baby is developing fine.

One quiet Christmas

I wanted to get up early on Christmas morning like I always do but Tom got lucky. It was a slow start for me this morning so we didn't get up till 9am, which I think Tom was happy for. We have discover that I am now intolerant of all dairy :(. It really suck since most of my protein came from dairy, so no milk, cheese, ice cream, yogurt and even no chocolate. My stomach just can't handle it and I end up puking :(. We opened our gifts, talk to family members on the phone and computer, played some board games that Tom gave me as gifts and than we made our Christmas lasagna for supper. Yes no turkey, we didn't do the big dinner this year because we didn't know how I would be feeling and right now poultry is not appealing to me, so we made homemade lasagna. Pretty quiet day over all, I felt bad that Bella didn't get her Christmas gifts and Tom was short a few but hopefully I can get out on one of my good days and pick them up a few gifts present in the New Year. I hope everyone had a good Christmas this year and that Santa found everyone one.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Even though we are far away from everyone that we love, just remember we'll be thinking of you and wishing you a Merry Christmas. Christmas is never the same without you all and all the busyness that Christmas brings. Tonight Tom and I are going to try and go Christmas light seeing around our neighbour hood. It's not quite like home b/c there are so my different religion's down here, compared to home so there aren't as many decoration up on the house, but certain areas have more than others. Christmas eve will be quite here tonight we have no plans and tomorrow morning I am hoping to get Tom up some what early for his liking. We hope that everyone was good this year and that Santa Clause finds everyone. MERRY CHRISTMAS

It's Snowing!!!! Oh wait that is just RAIN!!!!

Well if it was 10 degrees colder we would have so much snow today but all we have is a very dark day full of rain. Today was another blah day for me and it sucked because it was Tom's first day off for Christmas, however I was happy he was home with me. We didn't do much today I took a lukewarm bath and read a book trying to keep my mind off not feeling well. We did manage to go to Target today to get a pair of maturity pants for me. Not that I really need that yet, because I can still button my pants to all my pants however some of them are not comfortable while sitting so I decided to get one pair of maturity pants and see if they feel better. Now I don't know if maturity sizes are suppose to reflect the normal sizes in clothes, and I know I have lost weight over the last couple of months but how do you go down a size when buying maturity pants. I thought at least I would be the same size but it wasn't so. I tried on a pair of 6's and well with the belly band in them you can't wear a belt, plus I don't like the feel of a belt now around my waist anymore so they would have fell down so i had to get size 4's. It's pretty funny because I have never worn a 4 in my life not even as a teenager. I must say though the softness of the belly band on the maturity pants feel a lot better than my normal pant. I did feel silly getting the pants though since I don't feel like I am showing at all. Oh well it all for comfort. Here is hoping tomorrow is a better and Tom and I can spend a wonderful day out together. It's looking like however I won't get our christmas shopping done for Christmas:(, Oh well present in the new year could be nice too.

Life

Stress of life....if it's not one thing it's another. We are stressed in school, finding that special someone to love, making sure we pass exams, finding money to pay for post secondary education and than graduating. Once we are finally past all those things, than we have to figure out life...if that is even possible, find a job, pay our student loans back and than pay our normal average bills... AHAH...you think it would end there but it doesn't!!!!!

Next comes where to live, a wedding to pay for, the job that wants your family to move to another country,try to save money so you can finally move back home to buy a house and a little over 2 years trying to start a family (which is probably the most stressful thing of all) and will you be able to have anymore children? Once you are finally blessed with a gift of life, comes the stress of knowing you have to eat not much more just 300 extra calories a day for the last 6 months, so that the life the two of you are trying to bring into the world will end up healthy and strong. This part should be the easies part of all but when you can't eat because you are sick all the time it's stressful. Most people will tell you this is normal and that the sickness will go away at a point in the pregnancy but when you have already past that point in the pregnancy how does that make you feel.... AHAHA. This stress will continue though even once the little one arrives because you will always worry about the health and safety of your child no matter how old they are.

Then the stress of figuring out if you should move or not do to space issues but if you do you will have to pay a lot more for rent. When you live in a small placed, there is not a lot of room which leaves you researching everything to find out how big things are and how long they will last, and what are the weight restriction. No since spending a 100$ or more on something that you will use for a few month and then have to try to find some place to store it, when you have no place to store anything. Blah,blah,blah...a house would be nice. This also means that one has to give up having the extra non essentials things which can make your life easier for sure when you have a baby but are not necessary to have. One thing that helps though during the first year is that if you are going to breastfeed for the first year and use cloth diapers, you don't have to buy formula and diapers, which the cost of using them is very costly.

With all these cost coming up in the new year, you try to figure it out if it's a good idea or not to go on a trip to Europe before the baby comes because who knows when you will get away again. People will always say they can go later in life but as I know things are always coming up in life and than you put off the trip agian and again. The doctor says it's fine to fly and the best time is to go between 12-24 weeks. The major risk of flying when pregnant is blood clots in the legs but that is the same risk for women who are on birth control, and how many women are flying when using birth control. Once the baby is here, you aren't going to be able to go anywheres because you are breastfeeding and would you want to leave your child for a few weeks? ...I highly doubt we would. So the trip?

However, I am not blind because no matter what stage in life you are in there are always going to be stress'er in life. The main thing to remember is that you just have to keep dreaming and moving on with life and be thankful for the things that you are already blessed with and try to not worry about the rest. Easy Said Hard To Do!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am ready for some good days

So winter is here at last. The rain is coming and it fit the way I feel. Every few days I feel like it's the end of feeling crappy and the beginning of feeling good. However, it's just not so, the good days are just a tease. We were suppose to go out to Berkley university today to walk around the campus with some of tom's co-workers but the rain has postpone that one and I wasn't going to go anyhow b/c I am not feeling good. We went for breakfast but all I could mange to order was a glass of milk while everyone else order and ate their meals. Tom is gone out to the movies while I stay home and try to feel better. No since two of us staying home and feeling bad, plus this gives him a chance to see Borats, which I am just as happy to miss. Well I don't know if it's just this morning or yesterday but my pants are just becoming uncomfortable and some how my stomach is getting rounder but when fully dress it still looks like I have only gained a few pounds which I only have. Actually I have lost some weight and now I have to try to start gaining weight now that we are in the second trimester. How I am suppose to do this I don't know when I have trouble eating on every other day and when I do eat it's really small. It's a good thing that you only need 300 extra calories a day more when you are pregnant. If I needed more than that I think I would just ask for a feeding tube because but I do not crave food at all. In fact it the opposite still, I hate food. The look of it, the smell of it and the idea of eating it. I miss the days of loving food. My mom said she was the same through all four of her pregnancies so it makes me feel a little better. So I guess it 6 more months to go before I'll enjoy food and want it again. Here is hoping that time keep flying like it does and doesn't slow down over the next 6months.