Christmas Celebrations

Christmas weekend has come and gone. One thing for sure is it was different.

This was our first married Christmas and what will be our only Christmas without kids. It's so exciting to think about that. Christmas eve was interesting. My husband was working so I was home alone all day with Bauer. It was weird to not have preparations to do or anything. I tried to nap since we were going to midnight Mass but it didn't work very well. So midnight Mass was hard to get through. It was a joyful celebration of the birth of our Saviour. After Mass I managed to stay awake till 2:00 as we went back to the in-laws with family and friends.

Unfortunately that night Bauer came down with something and I was up at 3:30am and 5:50am with him. He had the runs and it was super bad! I felt so bad for him. So all day we worried about him and tried to figure out what we could do to help him. A little dinner of rice and ground beef seemed to help!

We were blessed to spend time with my husbands family Christmas day. We were also blessed greatly by my in-laws with amazing gifts! We were my expecting all that we got. We received: an iPod dock, Tim Hortons seasonal mugs, gift card for a maternity clothing store and for Home Depot. We were also surprised after all the presents were opened with a baby stocking for out little one. Inside the stocking was an I owe you for a crib from Nanna and Poppa. We were so shocked and overwhelmed to received this. This is the crib and furniture set we're thinking of getting. We would get it in espresso finish. http://storkcraftdirect.com/baby-products/convertible-cribs/tuscany-4-in-1-stages-crib/

Our goal for 2012 is to have our basement done by February 1 so that our new crib has a room to go in for our baby. Here's hoping it all goes according to plan!

Maximum Capacity

Holy cannoli!! Today I feel like there is no way my belly can expand anymore. Maximum capacity has been reached! Our little one must be growing like crazy because I feel so stretched! I have no idea how I will grow for 13 more weeks! I know it will happen but it makes me very nervous and worried about stretch marks! I have none so far but I feel like they will come. (hopefully not!)

Here's a picture from today. It's not the best. I took it afterwork so ignore my long johns under my pants. Regular shirts don't stay down anymore over le bump! My winter coat also fails to keep the bottom of le bump warm because it sticks out.

Christmas decorating!

So we finally got our tree up last night and I'm so excited! We had to wait until we got our baby gate in because we needed to protect the tree from Bauer. It's so exciting to set up our first tree together!

The highlight of the night was opening up the tree box and discovering that they still do make the trees that you have to hook each branch in individually. I thought those trees were no more and never would have thought to see what type it was. Anyways we survived and in many ways it was easier to make look alive then the food up trees since no branches were falling down on us.

Here is our tree with our little Bauer sleeping in front. He was exhausted yesterday!

Responsibility

Sometimes I wonder how our lives will change when our baby arrives. I think most expectant parents do. For however many years you have been responsible for yourself and now that's changing. When Tom and I met that changed too. Life was no longer about what I wanted but about what we wanted and what worked for us. When we were married this May it became more evident. Together we had to survive. We no longer needed to rely on our parents to help us out. We were all each other needed. For so long I always turned to my parents and now I turn entirely to him.

I am scared to be a parent. I am nervous to have another being rely on Tom and I for life. It is nerve wracking! I know we'll be fine and be great parents but thinking about it is overwhelming.

Having Bauer has shown me how great we are together taking care of something. Bauer relies on us to take care of him and we have for two weeks. We work together in making sure his needs are met - he's taken out for exercise or bathroom trips, fed, and supervised so he doesn't get into mischief. If one of us is tired or not feeling well the other steps up. It makes me very optimistic for our teamwork when the baby arrives!

Here's our little Bauer again!

23 weeks and counting

So 23 weeks and 5 days in and we feel great! Here I am at 23 weeks and 3 days. Just a little update for today.

Meet Bauer

This is our adorable 10 week old Chocolate Lab! After years of saying we wouldn't get a dog we finally broke down and got one after someone tried to break into our house. He's been amazing so far. Last night he slept through the night! Amazing! I slept beside him on the kitchen floor but that does not take away how amazing it is that on his third night here he slept! He's only had 2 accidents in total and those were on his first night here so that's to be expected.

We are excited for this addition to our family and can't wait to learn more about him and to discover his personality.

Our baby moves...

And moves and moves!!

We just got back early this am from our cruise with Tom's family.

One night we were there and I was laying in bed reading while the rest were drinking wine in the hot tub. I was feeling a little sad to not be participating. As I was reading I was resting my book on my belly and blamo! My book jump because my baby kicked it off! S/he gave about 3 bigs kicks after that which I could see. One was so big it made the strings of my pj pants bounce. It was amazing. I wasn't expecting to be able to see it so early. I wanted to videotape it and knew as soon as I moved to get my camera it would likely stop. After I grabbed my camera I took about 10 minutes of video trying to tape it. I got one good one with a little kick.

So our little one is growing quite active. All day today I have felt so much movement! It is amazing! We go for an ultrasound Friday to check on our little ones heart. I can't wait to say hello again!

Half Baked!

So Tuesday marked the halfway point through our pregnancy! I am so excited to be further in then we have left - in theory at least. I am aware we are likely to be late since this is our first but a girl can dream. So halfway and things are going well. I'm feeling much better and have energy still. I feel huge but pictures seem to downsize me. I'm not sure if strangers know I'm pregnant or think I've just had too much too eat. I can't wait for my first stranger comment. So here she be - the bump at 20 weeks. Below is our baby at our ultrasound at 19 weeks and 2 days! Soo cute!

18 weeks and counting!

So close to half way! I cannot believe it but at the same time it already feels like I've been pregnant forever! I cannot imagine how I'll feel in another 20 weeks!

Our baby now weighs a half a pound! Crazy! S/he seems to be growing because so is my bump! I was at home visiting for 5 days over Thanksgiving weekend and my family thinks I grew from day 1-day 5. Tom believes so too! When I got home he was like 'wow you're pregnant!'

All this growing leads to uncomfortable me though. I have had pain in my mid to lower back and always on the right hand side. I've also had a lot of round ligament pain on the right of my belly. Blah! Add in pain at the bottom of my rib cage and you have one happy camper. Not to mention the lack of sleep due to being unable to fall asleep because of discomfort and waking up multiple times to empty the always full bladder I seem to have! It'll all be worth it in the end when we get to hold our little one in our arms.

We haven't done much or got much baby related yet. I've started researching cloth diapers and hope to decide by Christmas. We also plan to register for baby things by December. Fun!!! I know nothing about baby stuff so it's time to start researching and reading reviews.

Here is my bump at 18 weeks and 1 day! Again, it feels much bigger then it looks in pictures.

Grow baby grow!!

So today we are at 17 weeks! Almost halfway there! So hard to believe but so exciting! It's still hard to believe it's real - even with the ever growing belly, morning sickness (which has passed it seems - praise God!!), and low energy. It feels real when I feel the baby move. That is amazing! It's like little flutters in my stomach. I can't remember when I first felt them - around 15 weeks I would guess. In the beginning the baby seemed to favour my left side but the past few days s/he has moved over towards my belly button venturing to the right. it's crazy to think of how big our baby is. One website said from head to rump our baby is the size of my hand outstretched - oh my word! Then add legs!! Wow!

In two weeks we'll go for our ultrasound and I think that at that point it will begin to feel more real. Shortly after that Tom should be able to feel movements of the baby too which I can't wait for. Right now I feel bad that he can't feel our baby growing and moving.

Baby brain is a crazy thing. Most recently I tried to make orange juice Friday morning and failed miserably. I grab the oj can and opened it. I then grabbed the 'jug' and poured the juice in......to a pot! It was amazing and Tom had to document it. Excuse the weird look on my face and dark around my eyes. Blah!

Telling the Family

So as I said, we found out we were expecting 2 days before my birthday. Our plan was to wait till the end of July to tell our parents and siblings. That way we would have seen a doctor and be further along then 4 weeks.

That plan failed! My mom and 2 of my sisters A and L came down that weekend for my birthday. It was great to have them there! But what did they bring me for my birthday!? A bottle of wine and a bottle of sangria! We got through the gift opening without spilling it. Then they kept talking about drinking it that night.

My brain was spinning...how can I get around this!? I always drink wine! So Tom and I decided we should just tell them. I had no time to think of how to tell them. My sisters and I were messaging each other on whatsapp for fun - it was new to us and we were in a group chat. So in the message I said, 'I can't drink the wine you brought for 9 months.' They were like, 'really?' It took them awhile to believe me but they did. My mom was sitting there on the couch out of the loop and asked what was going on and I'm not sure how but we told her. Needless to say they were all excited and very happy for us.

Tom had to go to work at this point but we had to tell my dad and other sisters. We waited patiently for my dad to get off work and then we called him. We told him that Tom got me a puppy for my birthday and that we wanted to show him so to go on Skype. So he did. Once we were chatting I said that before I showed him the puppy I had some questions. So I asked him if he knew where the baby bath was that him and mom bought for my niece and nephew. He said ya it was around and I told him that we would need it in about 9 months. He got a HUGE grin on his face and congratulated me. We did the same thing to tell my sisters N and K.

We told Tom`s family the following Monday at a birthday dinner.  I think we caught them more off guard then my family! They were in shock but all very happy for us.  Tom told them when his brother was getting beer for everyone at dinner. He asked me and I said no. Then Tom said, `Katie can`t drink beer for 9 months.` It took them awhile to put it all together but they did!

All in all our families are excited for us! Both of us have always wanted to have kids so for most it was not a huge surprise.  I am so excited to see our little one and to show him or her off to everyone!

Life is moving fast

So I know it's been forever since I've posted and a lot has happened. Most importantly we found out we were expecting! Let me take you on a walk down memory lane this summer when we found out. Sorry if some is TMI!

So we got married May 21 and spent our amazing weeklong honeymoon in Jamaica! It was the most fantastic week of my life and so great to get to spend time together, alone, as husband and wife. That week also happened to be my fertile week;). So we joked going in that we would get pregnant that week. Well LO and behold 2 weeks later (June 7th) while in Ottawa to see my childhood heart throbs, New Kids on the Block, my period started. I had never been so sad in all my life. It surprised me how much I was hoping to be pregnant. I hadn't had any cramps or pain so I thought maybe?! But alas that was not the time.

With all that Tom had been through with testicular cancer, we were never 100% sure if he would be able to have kids - even though everyone said he would we were stil skeptical. In a lot of ways we wanted to have a child early on just so we knew that we were able to. We had discussed adoption and it was something that we were both open to but always wished it wouldn't come to it.

So fast forward to the first week of July. At work we were running our week long summer camp and I was patiently awaiting a visit from Aunt Flow. That week I was exhausted. I'd get home from work at 4 eat a snack and fall asleep till 10. I'd stay awake till Tom got home at 11 then sleep through the night. Weird but I thought the week was tiring. One of the teen volunteers told me one morning I looked tired - I thought, 'gee thanks! That means I look like crap!' I was cramping like mad! I was bitchy and frustrated at EVERYTHING! I was wondering why Aunt Flow was being extra mean before she made her entrance. Something was off though and I felt it. I knew something was different. I couldn't tell you what but something was telling me I was pregnant. If I had of got my period that week I would have had a mental breakdown! So that Wednesday Tom and I stopped at the store and biught yogurt and a pregnancy test. What a weird feeling that was to buy! The next morning Thursday, July 7th I awoke with a full bladder to pee on a stick! It was 6:30 so I woke Tom up so he'd be there with me. I did my business and three minutes later we see this:

I had told Tom before that 2 lines meant positive. Once I peed on the stick and capped it, I had put the box back on top of it so that it would be a big reveal.  We went back to our room and I'm not sure what we did or talked about......it's a blur. After 3 minutes though we did go back into the bathroom and after taking off the box, my heart started beating fast, Tom looked at me, and I was tearing up. He said to me, "What does this mean?" I said, "It means it's positive!" He immediately walked out of the room laughing! Of course I chased after him and we hugged and were excited! 

It took awhile to sink in. I had to go to work that day and it was so hard to focus. But I survived! So that is how we found out! It was a great gift 2 days before my birthday! So I will leave you with one more picture. This is of my baby bump at 13 weeks and 5 days. It's there and looks much bigger in real life...or feels much bigger. 

I'll post more often now with updates on how we told our families and updates on life since we had our positive test! It's been an adventure! One that I wouldn't trade for anything!  Oh yeah and our due date is March 14, 2012.

So.....

Almost three months have passed since my last posting! Things got busy in April with the house and final wedding preparations. I also moved into our house in the middle of April and had no internet making it hard to post.  So here we are.....

1 month into marriage and it has been amazing!!  Obviously!!!  Here we are! I'll post more in the coming weeks!

Home Owners

Well tomorrow we officially close on our house! I am so excited! I am taking the next few days off of wedding planning (with the exception of receiving RSVPs). This should help me to get less frustrated with the planning and to be able to enjoy setting up our house.  We might start painting ceilings tomorrow!!  Next week I am going to  be cleaning everything and getting the place ready to be moved into. It's nice that we have this time so that we can slowly move in and aren't rushed to get possession and clean and unpack.

Today I bought us our paint supplies! Rollers, trays, drop cloths, brushes and paint! We have to paint all the ceilings at least on the top floors because there were smokers before us so the ceilings are stained. We are also hoping to paint our bedroom. Right now the colour we both seem to like is Evening Eclipse by Valspar. So we'll see if that's what we go with or not!!

I look forward to starting to decorate and make our house into our home! 

Colours!

So as we get closer to get the house (8 sleeps) I get more and more excited about how we will decorate it.
I have already convinced Tom that we needed blue hand towels in our bathroom. So we registered for those to go with other ivory and chocolate brown towels that we registered for. It's hard to tell here but the tiles are dark brown. Above the tile there is currently and off white textured wall paper...that will come down! We will likely paint it. We also hope to update the vanity and put in double sinks!!  There is so much room between the toilet and vanity at present that it excites me for the possibility to have double sinks!! The first house we put an offer in on had double sinks!!  I think the blue towels will be a nice accent in here!!

So our first project we want to do (besides repainting the ceiling to get rid of smoke stains - darn smokers!!) is paint our bedroom. For awhile we wanted grey to go with this bedding we hope to get. But after going and looking at colours I am not sure.  I think finding a grey that matches and is in the right family might be hard. There are so many greys out there! Dear me!! So then I was liking the blue-greys and then I thought why not blue! Tom is not sold on blue but I like it. It's his favourite colour so why doesnt he like it!

So here are my new inspiration colours!!

This second one is Tom's favourite and I think I like it best. So today I will be picking up paint chips! What fun!!!

9 sleeps!

Till we are home owners! I cannot wait! Owning a home seems a lot more frightening then getting married.  When I think about getting married, I know I am making the right choice and that Tom is the man I am supposed to be with for the rest of my life. I am certain of that and find peace in knowing that we will grow old together.

Owning a house however, makes me NERVOUS!!  We have seen the house 2 times and can we really know everything about it from those times? NO? I have recently become addicted to HGTV and therefore have watched a lot of Holmes on Homes. This show makes me nervous. In the show he goes into homes where home inspectors have failed to see things that are major and cost major MOOLA to fix.  I likely need to STOP watching this show so that I stop worrying about it! Whatever happens we will roll with it! We can handle it....hopefully!!

This weekend we are also going home and we are meeting with our DJ, my hair trial and first fitting! So its a busy day on Saturday. But exciting to get to see my family again! We wont be home in April but parts of my family will be coming here about 3 times in April so that will be nice!!

Less than 2 months till I am a wife!

Time is a flying!

So 2 months, 1 week and 5 days to go....got some things more or less done lately...or at least brought up:
- Decide songs for dances (parents, BP) and what not to play list       
-Wedding party gifts boys done - got about 2/5 figured out
-Mailed Invitation to our international guests and my sister here just for fun!!
-put stamps on all invites and will mail them Monday


My mom is coming to visit this weekend so we will be looking for what she will wear or  a wrap/top to go with the dress she wore for my sister's wedding 4 years ago.  Also plan to get her to help me with wedding party presents!
I am also technically on holidays tomorrow and Friday! Yeah!!  I have some work I need to do but it will be nice to be off and sleep in! 

New Month - New List...

...or the continuation of the old ones. So up for this month:
-Design Menus (heard from caterer need to finalize)
-Reception Décor (by March 1st) oops!!  unless we find something cheap for backdrop it may just be as is heck with it! 
- Ceremony Décor  I think the church is fine how it is but am going to try to make pew bows
- Decide songs for dances (parents, BP) and what not to play list       
-Wedding Programs designed - just waiting to ask readers and finalize songs
-Wedding party gifts boys done - need ideas for girls
-finalize bar
-finish card box (still need to do)-Dress fitting  (March 26th)
-Katie's rings in for check and cleaning 
-Hair Trial (March 26th) -Marriage License
-Set up of hall - # per table
-Meet with DJ
-Mail Invitations - International - early March - regular - March 14th  

Chastity

As I have said before, one of my FAVOURITE parts of my  job is when I get to write the front of the weekly bulletin. It is a chance for me to reflect personally on the readings from the Sunday but also to write! I love writing (which is why I started this blog). This past Sunday I ended up doing the bulletin front - I wasn't scheduled to but filled in for someone who wasn't able to get it ready.  I chose to talk about the topic of chastity in light of the recent letter to  young people put out by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.   What I thought was just 'ok' was apparently more than ok. I have been blessed to have received great feedback from a number of people. One lady even called and left a message on my voice mail at work. She isn't a parishioner of the parish but comes to play cards on Wednesdays. She said she picked up a bulletin and was so impressed and loved that I took on a challenging topic.  Her message was so sweet and I almost cried (tears for sure welled up)

I wonder, Is God giving me these opportunities to write and speaking to me through these complete strangers?  I pray that I can be open to what God is calling me to with this gift He seems to have blessed me with.

If you are interested here is my reflection.  The Gospel for last Sunday was Matthew 5:38-48.


 In the Gospel today, we are challenged to be perfect, as our Heavenly Father is perfect. I don’t know about you but to me that is a HUGE challenge.  In our daily lives there are standards that we are held to or ones that we strive for and this trumps ALL of those!  As Christians we are on a journey to holiness. This journey will take us through trials and triumphs but we need to always keep at the centre our focus of being holy and perfect as God is perfect.

In January, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops released a pastoral letter to young people on chastity.  In a world that has little respect for sexuality, they are speaking out and calling our young people (and all of us) to a higher standard - to be perfect like our Heavenly Father is perfect.  St. Paul tells us many times in his letters that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (in today’s second reading).  If God dwells in us then people should be able to see God working in our lives through our actions. In their letter the Bishops say, “The body is our doorway to salvation, and so how we treat it matters.”

Chastity is something that we are all called to, young and old, single, married, religious, or ordained. It calls us to purity of body and mind. “The virtue of chastity involves the integration of the powers of love and life placed in us. This integrity ensures the unity of the person and is opposed to any behaviour that would distort it.” When we try to separate our body from our spirit, we live a double life, become self-centred and lose sight of the beauty around us.  

Society tells us to listen to our bodies and to follow our own desires – ‘if it feels good do it.’ But Jesus calls us to a great standard. He says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mk 8:34). Chastity is a struggle and requires that we order our lives with God at the beginning of everything.  By knowing what we believe, surrounding ourselves with friends who are supportive of our faith, and choosing wisely the entertainment we seek, chastity and holiness is possible.

When World Youth Day was held in Toronto in 2002, Pope John Paul II (who will be beatified on May 1st) said, “Just as salt gives flavor to food and light illuminates the darkness, so too holiness gives full meaning to life and makes it reflect God’s glory. How many saints, especially young saints, can we count in the Church’s history.” We have many men and women who have gone before us who are great examples of chastity and holiness. One of my favourites is Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati who went against his family’s lifestyle and what society told him and chose to act on God’s call to follow Him.

As we go about our faith journey’s I pray that as a community we can help our young people and one another to strive for chastity and holiness in our daily lives.

The full letter from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops can be found on their website: www.cccb.ca.

I wish I was here......

If I was here, that would mean I was married! If I was married I would be happy! Not that I am not happy now - because I am. But right now everything in life seems to be leading to that day when finally, FINALLY!!  I can say that I am married to my beloved and that we will live forever as husband and wife.  I look forward to not just that day but all the days to come after - to being married.  Not having to plan and think about what I've forgot or what needs to be done....just be! 

Oh Jamaica!! I'll see you soon!!

First Wedding Shower

I was back home this weekend and my mom and sisters surprised me with my first wedding shower!  It was great! Tom and I are so blessed to have such great family and friends.  It's exciting to have things to put into our home and now that we have a place we will call home its exciting.  The house is ready for us to move into (freshly painted, new carpets, etc). But there are some changes that we plan to make that will make it ours.  One being the dumb cupboards that were added to the kitchen that took out over half the front hall closet and 2nd access to the attic.  We also want to put in new counters in the kitchen.

But one thing we will be working on before we get married is the bedroom.  When I got my 2nd apartment here I needed a dresser (the apartment before had a GIANT closet with shelves so it was not necessary). So in looking at dressers and what they cost Tom and I ended up finding a nice bedroom set that got me not only a dresser, but also a queen bed, mattress (much better than the futon I had been sleeping on) and bed side table.   So we have that bought and good to go.  We have found a sheet/duvet cover set that we love and hope to get.

Our plan is to then paint the walls a light grey and bring in pops of colour (ok the last little bit is my plan but Tom will go along with it). For now it will be with my red curtains.  So that is exciting!!

So the countdowns continue: 37 days until we get our house! Only 88 days till we are married and will be husband and wife for the rest of our lives! Time is a flying! 

96 days!

We are at less than 100 days!! It's crazy to think that in just 96 days we will be husband and wife.  There is still so much to do. Since the last update we have done a few things (slowed down by buying a house).
So in the past week:

• we received our favours and are working on those
• ordered the groomsmen gifts
• ordered some of the ladies gifts
• we've finalized the wedding cake and dessert choices (thank you Two Cups of Sugar sistas!!)
• we've also put our 2 MC's in contact with one another so they can start planning and talking

So lots still to do this month to keep up on the checklist. A good number of things are in progress/ongoing. These include:

• program design - almost finalized (will start printing once we confirm readers, and music)
• waiting to hear back from our caterer so that I can get started with either printing or ordering our menus (from vistaprint - sweet site!!)
• reception decor - ridiculous!!!!  so hard to figure out
• Church decor - to flower or not to flower...that is the question!!
• music -  working on figuring out songs and such for the reception
• gifts for me ladies!

So lots to do but its all exciting! And now we can add thinking about house renos to the list!! But wedding first....then marriage and house renos!!!  

We bought a house!!

Yeah!! We will be officially home owners come April 1st!! So excited! Its a 4 level back split with 3 bedrooms and is so perfect for us!  A lot of the houses we looked at were houses that we could be in for a few years. This house when we walked in and looked around we knew it was something that would be more long term for us. Something we could make our own and not worry about needing to get our money back in a few years when we sell it again.

 So here are some pics from online. We didn't any while walking through or during the inspection (darn!). But in just 46 days it will be ours so pics of it as ours will be shared then!

This is our lovely kitchen and living room. We plan to focus our time on the kitchen and fix it up a bit.  That will be our first reno (including pushing a wall out of the closet that previous owners had built into to allow them to put a set of cupboards in-silly)

The bedrooms are on the top level off the back of the living room.  The 3rd level is a complete basement seen here.  Then off this room there is a bathroom and the 4th level which is unfinished and includes a HUGE laundry room and storage plus a little workshop for Tom to keep his tools in.

We are very excited to have a place to call home!!!

We look forward to sharing with you our adventures of renovating and decorating our first home together!

A new Outlook

Life is good. This week has been good. Ever since Tuesday I cannot complain.  I was successful in crossing things off the list....let's see the list and what I accomplished: 

So up for this month is:
-Schedule Dress fitting early February done
-Design Menus (mostly designed - waiting to hear back from caterer)
-finalize wedding cake and desserts 
-Reception Décor (by March 1st)have contacted another rental place about a backdrop and have been pricing out DIY options
- Ceremony Décor  simple....is key....
- Decide songs for dances (parents, BP) and what not to play list       
-Wedding Programs 
-Wedding party gifts am having some brilliant brain waves for my ladies!! Tom has the guys figured out just need to purchase.
-Order/buy favour supplies bought half!!!!!  waiting till next month when my Mom's down to buy the other half....or maybe not.....forgot about a discount a certain STUDENT can get me....hmmmm
-Jr Groomsman attire and shirts for the guys
-sort out bar with the hall have contacted them
-finish card box (ribbon around it-will do when home in 2 weeks) 


So looking good. Plus we have a hot prospect for a house!! Stay tuned!!!

Today I will

BE HAPPY!!  Lately with everything that has been happening with work, wedding and house hunting, I have been struggling with stress! It has taken its toll on me. I have noticed I've been crabby and irritable and just overall not myself. Which in turn makes me angry and stressed out - its a horrible circle I am caught in.  I am taking time this morning before heading into work for me.  I think I have been pouring myself into work, and wedding planning and now house hunting that I have forgotten to breathe and relax. So that is the goal for the next 1/2 hour before I start getting ready for work.

So today - happy thoughts - I hope it works!

I think today I will try to cross some things off our list. There are some easy things to cross off so for today I will aim to schedule my dress fitting.  This is a stressful part. Since I bought my dress at David's Bridal in the States I am getting the alterations done locally. My goal has been to just get the bustle added because it fit perfectly everywhere else. Now it seems as though I may have lost weight and need to get it taken in (booo...but yeah I guess!)  I could also contact our DJ and set up a meeting for next month....so many opportunities to be productive....and happy!!  And when in doubt remember....we get married in 109 days! and just BREATHE!

110 Days

Almost in the double digits!! So exciting....as it is the end of January let's review the to-do list:
-Tuxedos
-Tom will finalize
-Invitation envelopes and RSVP cards
- Contact caterer and Finalize menu and desserts (emailed him just waiting to hear back.....)
- finalize wedding cake and desserts  (in the process)
-Reception Decor
-Ceremony Décor
-Decide timeline for reception 
-Wedding Programs (designed just need to ask readers and finalize songs)
-Hotel for May 21st and May 22nd
-Gifts for Bridal Party
- Finalize favours (more or less decided)
-Ask Readers
-Baptismal Certificate


So not the most productive month but better than nothing. A lot of the items have been started and were going to carry over anyways. But we can add to the list something that was on the list for March - we bought Tom's wedding band!!

So up for this month is:
-Schedule Dress fitting early February -Design Menus (mostly designed - waiting to hear back from caterer))
-finalize wedding cake and desserts (see above) 
-Reception Décor (by March 1st)
- Ceremony Décor
- Decide songs for dances (parents, BP) and what not to play list      
-Wedding Programs (same as above)
-Wedding party gifts
-Order/buy favour supplies
-Jr Groomsman attire and shirts for the guys
-sort out bar with the hall
-finish card box (ribbon around it)

So lots up to do this month.
PLUS we are also starting to seriously look for a house. That is taking time and energy. The past week I have done nothing wedding related because my free time was looking at houses. I need to get back into the groove of wedding planning and cross things on this list!!!

Blogging FAILURE

So my goal of once a week clearly did not work out! But here's hoping I get back into it. Many times I thought to myself, "I should go write a blog and get this out of my system."   Oops!!

So life is zooming along.  last I posted I was moving into Tom's parents and I have. Its been an adjustment to going from living alone to living with 3 other people. Then Tom's friend John moved in shortly after while his parents are finishing the house they are flipping. So its been fun!

Wedding planning has been busy. Only 123 day to go! Over Christmas Tom and I picked out flowers and booked a limo. I am very excited for our flowers. I really don't have a favourite flower so what was more important to me was the colour.  Since researching for flowers, I had discovered dahlias which I loved. So we are having roses, dahlias and wax flowers (which are real flowers).  The roses will be the colour of this rose and all the rest will be similar.  The girls will have more white and some colour.  I am excited!!

On our way home from my parents for Christmas we made a very organized list with what was left to be done and what month we should do it in.  Most things according to the list should be done in April with the exception of a few things that need to wait for rsvps.

So this is our to do list for January 2011
Tuxedos - Tom will finalize
Invitation envelopes and RSVP cards
Contact Brian and Finalize menu
finalize wedding cake and desserts 
Reception Decor
Ceremony Décor
Decide timeline for reception 
Wedding Programs
 Hotel for May 21st and May 22nd
Gifts for Bridal Party
Finalize favours
Ask Readers
Baptismal Certificate 

Some of them will carry over but that is ok. It fits into the plan! At least we have some things crossed off!!

Hopefully Ill write again soon!!