The Stretch Mark Battle: Part II

Well, my battle continues.

I am still losing.

If I put on any more moisturizer in my day, my body will likely start producing it on it's own.

I heard your tendency to get stretch marks during pregnancy has a lot to do with genetics.  Well, beats me because my dear mother didn't get a single one (a thoughtful fact she decided to share in the midst of my battle).

At least my Dad's looking out for me.  I hope you find as much joy in this series of texts as I do!  He couldn't make us sound more like country hicks if he tried.  Keep in mind while reading them that I'm the girl who feels more comfortable on a horse than on her own two feet, and when someone asks my Mom what she does for a living she says "I shovel manure".  It's just the kind of folk we are!

Dad: Mom said you were battling stretch marks.  I've got some hoof and hide balm that Equiproducts says fixes everything!
Paige:  Are you being serious?
Dad:  Well....you have hide, don't you?

...oh Dad, I could not possibly love you any more.

A Perfect Fit

At the beginning,  I had a lot of friends ask me, "What is so different about your relationship with Mitch?".

There really is no one answer to this, because Mitchell is unlike anybody I've ever met.

But I think when it comes down to it, I know he's meant for me because we fit into each others lives so effortlessly.  He's my absolute best friend.

I've never been a huge "go - outer".  Most of my friends would agree that I'm a total homebody they need to hunt down and drag out if they want to see me.  I don't really ever drink, and the last place I'd want to be on a Saturday night is at a bar.  The miraculous thing, is that I found someone as content to stay home on a Saturday night as I am.

We both know the house won't always be this quiet.  One day soon there will be a baby crying, a toddler coming into our room after a bad dream, and a teenager yelling at us because we asked him to stay home and play scrabble with his lame parents instead of going to a party for the third weekend in a row.

So, we enjoyed the quiet, and each others company.  Mitchell was a good sport - cause he totally got....

I don't lose at Scrabble.

 The sun went down, and what better to follow a game of scrabble than a campfire?  Sure, we felt a little white trash sitting in folding lawn chairs next to a fire in a bowl, but whatever.  C'est la vie!  Happy weekend everyone.

                - Mama, out.

Home Is Where You Walk the Dog

When most people walk their dogs, it's around the block.  I feel very fortunate that when we walk our dog...it's here.

 
Despite commuting an hour every day, I absolutely love living in Cochrane.

If you stare off the bridge by the river long enough, you'll see fish rising to catch their dinner.

But the view of what's on the bridge is even better!

 

Yes, Cochrane is wonderful.  I imagine one day the meadows and thickly treed woods will house many an adventure for our little man.

I love our evening walks.  Even though I complain dragging my pregnant ass up the hill the whole way back. I imagine the hike back up will be much more enjoyable when it's Mitchell's turn to carry the wee one (we've agreed that since I involuntarily have to cart him around the first 9 months in utero, Mitchell will take the next 9 months..........ex utero?).

 

As of today, only 14 weeks left to go.

            - Mama, out.

The Stretch Mark Battle

Despite my most concentrated efforts, my first stretch marks have appeared.  GOD DAMNIT.

I have been so diligent during my entire pregnancy in keeping my belly moisturized. Every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to bed I dedicate a few minutes of my time to lather Jojoba/Shea/MamaMio goodness onto my belly.  Well apparently I've just not been committed enough in my efforts.  It is time to up the ante. 
Desk at Work...meet Army of Moisturizers.  Army of Moisturizers...meet Desk at Work.

And so, during this time of grave disappointment I am reminding myself of what a friend once said during her pregnancy.  She equated stretch marks to "badges of work" from that job you had housing an entire person inside your stomach for 9 months.  I think I prefer the term "battle scar"...but either way, I suppose it was an inevitable right of passage I was bound to meet sooner rather than later.

Plus it will be a really good "Mom Line" one day.

"Ughhhhh......why do I need to unload the dishwasher??"
                            "......because sweetheart, you gave Mommy stretch marks".

Play Time

Tickling a grown up usually doesn't go over too well, but from what I know, kids like to get tickled and they have fun.

The other night the little dude was moving around a bit, and I wanted to feel him kicking away.  He was kind of up to his old tricks of not kicking when I put my hand there...so I tried tickling him.  I would tickle where he last kicked and then quickly move my hand away...and he would kick right after.  Not just little kicks either, kicks big enough that he made his Mama's whole belly move.  He and I played this game for a good 10 minutes or so...can't remember when I had so much fun!

          - Papa, out.

The Monitor

Now that we’re expecting a baby, we have instinctively have become more frugal with money (apart from the new fishing sign in the nursery – don’t ask).  One day, baby is going to be going back to school shopping, need money to put gas in his overly insured, rust-box car and will eventually need us to supplement his plethora of academic scholarships when he goes to med school (what I like to consider our pension plan).  With this in mind, I am always on the hunt for baby bargains.  For the most part (minus the orange juice debacle), we’ve had some sweet finds at low prices.


Last week I was at Winners on my lunch break and came across a baby audio/video monitor marked down to $100.  I called Mitch to give him the brand name and see if he could get any reviews.  Reviews were mixed, but we figured we could try it out that night at home and just return it the next day if it didn’t work.

 

What appeared at first glance to be a thin, sleek, flat screen monitor we could simply prop up somewhere in the kitchen, revealed itself as the most ghetto television I’ve ever seen in my life.

Besides weighing at least 5 lbs, this electronic monstrosity was at least a foot and a half from front to back.  As I was contemplating where we would have space to discretely put our new 80’s inspired baby TV, Mitch turned it on to check the picture quality.  There was static, followed by horizontal lines, followed by a distorted image of our living room interrupted occasionally by flashes and fuzz.  To compliment this euphoric visual experience was the most high pitched tone audible to the human ear.  You know, the kind that keeps mice away.

All I know is that if I had to watch my sweet, darling, baby boy on this ghetto monitor with bad reception, I would permanently think I was a part of Paranormal Activity 3.

No thanks!

           - Mama, out.

On Staring

If there's one thing I've noticed about being pregnant (besides getting fat), it's that there is a common thread among all of us - to stare at baby bumps.

Little girls stare because they can't imagine something actually growing in your belly.

Pregnant ladies stare because they know what you're going through.

Moms with kids stare because they know what you're in for.

Men stare because they have weird fetishes.

Friends stare because they can't get over how birth control is not 100% effective.

But my favourite?  The couples you pass walking down the street holding hands.  The woman is thinking "one day", and her boyfriend is thinking "hell no".  That one is by far my favourite.

            - Mama, out.

Mara Lake

It's been a while since our last post as we have been SO busy!  While there are not many baby updates at the moment, a lot has still been going on.  The only real update on our little man is that he has been kicking like CRAZY.  Just a few weeks ago Mitch could barely feel the biggest kicks he had to offer.  Now, he wakes me up in the middle of the night kicking and you can actually see my belly move. 

We were lucky enough to be able to make some time in our long weekend to drive out to BC to stay with Mitch's Dad and his wife for the weekend at Mara Lake, where Mitch spent his summers growing up.  I know what a special place it is to him, and I truly enjoyed every minute of our time there.  I think we both got a kick out of picturing our little guy running around in the water, fighting to make him pause a moment to put on sunscreen.

Watching Mitch wakeboard on our last day, I couldn't wait for the time we would watch our little guy stand up on water skis for the first time.  It will be a while until he's got mad skills like his Papa though!

 

... and Terry hopped on afterwards!

They weren't the only two who enjoyed the warm weather and water though! I myself enjoyed a quick dip, and discovered that baby bumps float!

It wasn't two seconds after I jumped in until Kali valiantly jumped off the boat to my rescue.  Didn't think it through too well though.  Dogs and swim ladders don't go so well together.

Man oh man does that dog like to swim.  If it had been up to her, we would have played fetch in the water all day long. 

If only she were as graceful jumping off the dock to get the ball, as she is pouncing through the water from the beach.  She tried it once, sunk two feet, and needed Mitch's assistance from then on.

One of the highlights from the weekend was the quad ride on the last day.  It was a gorgeous view at the top.

... but honestly, we were much more entertained by the view in the rear view mirror.

And I guess there is one more update on our lives! In the words of my good friend Harper "he liked it and put a ring on it".

I am seriously the most blessed girl in the entire world.

             - Mama, out.