Merry Christmas Baby!

Well that was slightly unexpected.... What an incredible experience! Ezri arrived at 4:50 pm on Christmas Eve, weighing in at a hardy 8lbs 5oz. She decided to wait for her daddy to arrive, my water broke only 2 hours after Nathan arrived from Nunavut at 4am, Christmas Eve. She also decided it was a good time to come, in the middle of a huge snowstorm. My sister in law was the one taking me to the hospital and we couldn't even make it out the drive way there was so much snow. When she tried to open her door, it was stopped by the massive snow accumulation and she ended up first calling my brother in law on her cell phone "Yeah, we haven't even made it out of the driveway!", and then did some crazy acrobats, climbing out the car window! All I could think about was what a birth story this was going to make! After Nathan, my father-in-law and brother-in-law shoveled us out, we promptly got ourselves stuck again 5 ft back on the road. Luckily with the good excuse of labor, a neighbour nudged us out with his massive monster truck. This is all after we watched the plow drive down the road, with it's shovel high in the air...that didn't quite make any sense. I'm assuming the plow was just on an early morning joy ride? Here is Nathan trying to dig us out. More photos & story to come...

37 & half weeks

These will be some of the last pregnancy belly shots I'm going to get in before the big day comes. I was lucky enough to get my great friend Julie (you all remember the super fantastic photographer) to take some shots. We kept trying to get out and take these photos but Ontario weather is quite schizophrenic and were delayed 3 times. The day previous to these photos the 4 feet of snow was washed away with rain and plus 8 degrees C. Then the day we shot, it was a snap freeze of minus 8 degrees C! All within 24 hours... it started snowing again that evening so it's back to winter wonderland. These photos might look like fall, but let me assure you I was freezing my pregnant belly off. Not to mention the ill effects it had on my boobs. We would stop periodically so I could warm up in my coat and Julie could melt her fingers. I even had to keep her battery warming up against my back in the elastic part of my maternity pants. Yeah, yeah it doesn't compare to Nunavut. But cold is cold! Minus 8 is darn cold on the boobs be you in Nunavut or the southern tropics of Ontario. The shots turned out amazing, displaying a very glamorous side of pregnancy. Tomorrow I might just show you some stretch marks so we don't stray too far away from reality.

The four of us

These are my parents, Little Girl will be their first grandchild, so they are pretty excited. Arguably the most excited grandparents in history. I figure it's because this time around they are going to get all the fun and excitement of a child, minus all the poop and sass talk they got from their own kids...oh and I made sure they got their full dose of that while I was growing up. I'm in for some real karma pay back.There are only 3 weeks left until my little human addition will be here. Things are starting to become a little uncomfortable, but I still don't have too much to complain about. Everything seems to be pretty normal and on track, except that I don't feel terribly comfortable unless I'm in a completely straight position, bending in any way is hard work. Even sitting in a chair can be a challenge, depending on how the little pretzel inside of me is sitting. So that leaves standing and laying down. Standing is hard, my feet are swollen. Laying down also a challenge, I have horrendous pain if I lay on my back(which your not supposed to do anyways at this point) or side pain laying on my side. Yeah, of course it's all worth it, especially when I get to finally put her in those cup cake patterned, footsie pajamas I bought today. Yep, it's all worth it, until she learns how to back talk.

Meanwhile, I'm still down south patiently waiting for the day when Nathan is supposed to come down. My family has done a wonderful job of keeping me entertained and distracted, but I am still counting every second until he comes down. Mainly because I really need a good foot rub!

Christmas Shopping: Shopping in a store vs. Online

Now that I'm down south, one advantage to Christmas shopping is the instant gratification you get in a store making a purchase, not like having to wait 10,000 years for it to show up in the mail, the way it shows up north, when ordered online. It takes a little adjustment period for me switching from online to in store shopping... even though I regard myself as an high level experiance shopper (Nathan is nodding his head in agreement right now, whilst crying silently into his wallet). I am a shopping Ninja...but not in the find the deal kind of way. No, more in the stamina, can shop till I drop kind of way. I usually know what to get and where.

Except recently I have been finding it hard in some stores. I have become a little jaded shopping online. If I need a book, I go to amazon, pump in the title of the book and BAM it pops up. In a store...I acutally have to go and look for that book... peruse the isles. I recently became frustrated in Futureshop because I knew the title of the movie I wanted but could not for the life of me find it. I also couldn't find a sales person to help me either. I felt so helpless needing the help of another person to shop, like my ego was taking some kind of hit. All I wanted was for some magical "search box" to appear in front of me so I could type in the movie I wanted and click purchase. Traditional shopping, in a sense is becoming too slow and inconvenient for me.

Did you know that when your in the south things show up in the mail really, REALLY fast? It's kind of weird for me to think that I could be in the south, but prefer to some extent to continue shopping online. Shopping online also adds some sanity into your life after you've spent a Saturday afternoon at Walmart during their extended holiday hours. No one should go to Walmart on a Saturday, let alone during the Christmas season. That is one way to throw a laid back Nunavummiut into an anxiety attack.

You want Photography, I'll give you Photography!

My friend Julie, who I met spending two amazing, but long years in photography with has started her own blog. This blog demonstrates her incredible talent and bug for traveling, mixed in with some random photos of her cats and daily life. I urge you all to go over and have a look at some of her gorgeous work. You can also read what she has to say, but I guaruntee you'll stick around for the photos! Check it out here "Insert Witty Blog Name Here"

These photos stolen directly from Julie's site. Photo Credit Miss Ju-lie.