Friday, August 28, 2009

Weekend Lists

So, since I can't be swimming in the Adriatic Sea this weekend (which I did last week), and since I can't wander around St. Peter's in complete amazement and AWE (which I did 2 weeks ago), I guess I will make a list of things that I CAN do this weekend, which should be equally lovely in its own way...

Sidenote: I realize I am a total vacation photo bum, I really need to get some of them posted and edited, it's just daunting thinking of fishing through 700 photos to find one of myself where I'm not super red faced and half fainting from the heat, and also trying to find some non-blurry shots that could accurately represent the things I saw while there. Aaaaanyway.

This weekend I can:

-Make a pot roast in the slow cooker and either bake cookies or make an apple crisp (mmm!!)

-Go see District 9 with the hubs (we didn't go on Tuesday because I was too tired-at 9:00pm)

-Sort through my vacation pictures and at least choose a few dozen to edit

-Go to Value Village to buy some work pants for Dan (and maybe some baby clothes and or Maternity clothes?), and to Fabricville to get some quilt fabric for next weekend

-Start making long term to-do lists in order to get ready for this bébé that will soon be here (sooo much to consider, but more on that later!)

-Play way too much Dr. Mario with Dan on the computer (new favourite activity, for reals)

-Dust off my scrap desk and consider thinking about debating whether to maybe start a page

-Talk to my friend Sara, who had an ultrasound this week to see her little baby #2!

-Clean, clean, and clean some more

-Maybe sneak off to Michael's to look at the Autumn decorations and perhaps buy a spice scented candle

-Work on collecting some favourite baby related things from the online world lately

-Record my Week 8-12 Vlog

-Take a walk in the cool air with my man, if the weather holds out (they're calling for another 'tropical storm' this weekend, 2nd in a row, ugh)

That seems like a pretty decent list to me. I'm definitely feeling my energy levels starting to rise again, at least during the day and early evening, so Saturday and Sunday should be good, productive times for me, I can't wait.

The weather has been absolutely spectacular the last couple of days, only about +20 or so with no humidity and a cool/almost chill breeze. This morning it was actually chilly enough (only +7 or so) to wear my Fall coat (though still with my sandals), and you can smell the new Season coming. My perfect weather.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! What's on your to-do list?

Ps-I worked a bit on my blog today and I totally overdid the Fall theme, especially since it's not even September yet, but I couldn't help myself, it's been feeling Fall-ish around here lately. I'll probably re-do my banner to be something a little less orange, I'm really diggin' orange and dark purple lately, so maybe something with that...sigh, if only I could make super pretty blog designs. Someday :)

Oh, double PS!-I booked a wonderful cabin for our anniversary weekend in 3 weeks, it's in a beautiful secluded spot on the Atlantic Coast, here, just about 3 hours up the shore from us, I can't wait to spend some nice quality time with nature and with Dan, it's our last anniversary alone so I wanted to make it special. Here's a shot of the property, they have donkeys!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The [not so secret] news...



Yep, after months and months and months of trying, after crying more tears than I care to remember, after worrying and fretting and freaking, and after a little medical help (thankfully nothing too intensive), I am finally pregnant!


I found out on July 3rd, but decided to wait until the 12 week mark before letting the [online] world know, and also waiting until after all family members and friends were told (even though they all said they knew before we told them based on my 'cryptic' blog/Twitter posts...and to them again I say "you read my blog?!") I consider myself a fairly realistic and practical person, and I didn't want to jinx anything...but I'm 12 weeks today so I decided to finally share!! :)


As you can imagine, things have been a huge jumble in the past 12 weeks, with so many thoughts swirling in my head, plus thinking/worrying about my trip and getting all my work done and everything else, and yet at the same time I've (and we've) been relatively calm about the whole thing, which is surprising, I figured I would feel a bit more freaked or frazzled, but so far so good. I guess I was sub-consciously waiting in my head for the 1st trimester to be over before making too many plans, just in case, so now that I am 'in the clear', I'm sure the reality of it is going to set in soon (the growing little bump is helping things along as well!)


Dan has been great of course, his reactions/feelings seem to parallel mine at the moment, still a little bit of disbelief in there, but of course he's happy and excited, though a little more worried about the amount of change that's going to come our way starting in March. I worry about this too, but I'm also excited to see what this new addition will bring to our little family. Shimi is, well, a cat, so I don't think she minds too much right now, I have a feeling she'll pull a diva attitude when the baby comes though, so we'll see, haha.


As far as the first trimester went/goes, it was fairly normal, not without any symptoms but not as bad as some of the horror stories I've heard. Mostly I was:


-Tired; hence all my complaints about not being able to do anything and losing all my motivation...I was just too wiped out to do anything except go to work and maybe do a few little chores.


-Sick; starting at around Week 6 or so I felt nauseous pretty much every morning and starting at about Week 8 or so I was throwing up about once or twice a week.


-Hungry; this was the most annoying one of all. I would be fine one second and then STARVING the next, but I had so many food aversions and nausea related issues with food that I couldn't/didn't want to eat. Made it quite hard. (Despite all that, I do look pouffy!)


What I didn't feel:
-Moody (surprisingly!)
-The need to pee all the time
-Trouble sleeping
-Sore anything


That's about it. I still feel tired, sick and hungry a lot, but I can feel that it's getting better, I'm hoping that within the next 2-3 weeks I'll be somewhat back to normal and I can focus on eating better and prepping for little Kid A's arrival (Side note: Dan and I have dubbed the baby "Kid A", in honour of a Radiohead album we both really like.)


So, yeah, that's the big news. I want to apologize in advance if this blog becomes a bit baby-obsessed, but I don't think it can be avoided. I'm hoping to include some crafty/Fall/random related things as well, but of course they may lean towards the baby world, so again, I'm sorry, but if you have any great links I'd love to see! I've been scouting out some things already and I'll probably do a post about it in the next coming weeks...


Anyway, I thought I would share a layout I did not too long after I found out, remembering our initial reaction (one word: SHOCK.)




I've also decided to start recording a v-log every 4 weeks or so, because I am so terrible at writing things down, but I wanted to remember the pregnancy and how I felt, so I figured this would be a good way to do it. If you are interested in seeing me babble on for 10 minutes about Weeks 4-8, here you go:

Weeks 4-8 from Genevieve Flynn on Vimeo.



Starting today I'm also doing the standard 'belly shots', here is my 12 week shot (I'm sad to say that most of that pudge was there before I got pregnant, it's just a bit more swollen, ha. Also, this was our first attempt with Dan taking the shot, they'll hopefully get better...)




Ok, so I guess that's it! I'll be posting later about Italy/Croatia, but I wanted to get this out of the way since it's been so hard keeping it a secret!


Hope you're all having a wonderful week and looking forward to the new Season as much as I am.


G. (& Kid A)

Sunday, August 23, 2009

I'm back!!

I just got back from Italy yesterday afternoon, and I must say that despite an awesome and amazing trip, I am SO glad to be home!!

pics to come soon...

stories to come soon...

regular blogging to (hopefully) return soon...

and some (not so secret) news to share...

Hope you all had a wonderful 2 weeks while I was away! Anything exciting happen? :)

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

I know it's kind of early....



but I am soooo looking forward to September and this Fall. I've already said a couple of times in the last few months that I am SO OVER this Summer and its crappy, rainy weather, and because of that trauma my mind has completely skipped August and is now yearning for Autumn.

Now, luckily for me, I will be absent for most of August since I will be over in Europe livin' it up (4 days!!!), so by the time I get back and get over my jet lag, it will be September and I can officially begin my 2 months of sheer bliss (there's really no other way to describe it, I can't stress enough how much I love this Season.) Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to hanging out on the beaches of Croatia and roaming the hot summer streets of Rome and Florence, over there I will indulge in all that Summer has to offer, but as for here in Nova Scotia, Summer is dead to me (ha!)

Anyway, in my Fall daydreams I often think about:

*sweaters and coats with hoods
*a chill in the air (the best feeling)
*wearing layers
*drinking coffee to warm up
*finger gloves
*shorter days
*beautiful rich colours
*leaves
*candles at night
*pumpkins and corn
*golden fields and bare branches
*tv shows returning
*back to school and regular routines
*the most beautiful light of the year
*cinnamon and spice smell
*thanksgiving and halloween
*being out in nature and not feeling uncomfortable from bugs, mugginess or heat
*boots
*martha stewart magazine (October's edition especially)
*comfort foods and special meals
*decorating and crafts
*feeling happy and giddy while walking home from work

and so much more.

Is anyone else looking forward to Fall?

Anyway, I'll try to get on and blog (or more likely Tweet) a couple of times while I'm in Italy, but I'm betting that the lack of Internet access and the abundance of AWESOMENESS is going to keep me away from the online world, which is a very, very good thing. So I will leave you with some of my Fall-ish Etsy Favs, these things all make me very very happy.

So until next time, ciao bella!

adorable fawn stickers from here

fern print by Groundwork

totally my style, gothic and creepy print found here

ridiculously cute baby hat from here

a gorgeous quilt print from The Black Apple

LOVE this sweater by Little Houses


another fall classic print, found here


very cute bear from this shop


ha! beyond cute doggie sweater from here


lovely branch necklace by Ragtrader

adorable "anxious woodsman" paper tags by Bubbly Schnooks