Our Baby Girl

With much love we introduce to the world:

London Mackena Lee Edwards

Born December 21, 2011

at 3:58 p.m. (born via VBAC after 2.5 hours of labor)

Weight: 6 pounds 7 ounces

Length: 49.5cm

We apologize if we haven't responded to messages or answered your calls but we are very busy falling in love with a new beautiful baby girl!

Love,

The Edwards Family



It's Christmas Time!!

6 more sleeps!  I'm normally super giddy about Christmas but I haven't had "that" feeling yet!  Don't get me wrong, I'm excited, but not that giddy, I feel like I'm 12 years old, and can't sleep because I can't wait for Christmas excited.  I think my pregnancy anxiety has gotten in the way abit.  It's not bad anxiety but it's the "I don't know what this baby is and therefore I have nothing" anxiety, mixed in with the "when is this baby going to come" anxiety, along with a little "this may be our last Christmas as a family of 4" anxiety.  Needless to say I'm a very anxious person.  And being pregnant over Christmas is making the time fly by!

Decorating this year has been different.  I had to start from scratch and I kinda feel as if our house wasn't as "Christmasy" as it normally is.  I've been on the hunt for the perfect Christmas decorations but like all good finds, I must be patient!

After many, many, many years of waiting we finally got Christmas lights.  After all Santa will need to be able to find our house in the dark!

I had to buy all new decorations this year and scored big at Michaels!  I bought white and silver balls for the tree and new garland with lights and ribbon for the staircase-50% off plus an additional 30% off!   I love a good deal! 

And I bought a white wreath for inside.



We started some new traditions this year-advent calendars (I think I did it last year with Lincoln) and Elf on the Shelf (from Nana).  Lincoln gets so stinken excited every morning when he comes down stairs and finds "Norris" the elf!

And Christmas just wouldn't be the same without matching jammies:-)  I bought the baby a pair just in case we had a Christmas baby (I don't think that's going to happen) but I thought that was one area where I could be prepared!

And tonight I will continue to wrap gifts!  I actually love wrapping presents and making them look oh so pretty!  I just don't like the back ache that comes with it!  I finally have a new set up-I use the kids little table and chairs to sit at while watching tv-why didn't I think of this before!

And another photo just because:-)  Who doesn't like slepping in front of the Christmas tree?:-)

My Body

Let me tell ya about my body.  I'll give you a visual:-)


My face is fat...actually it's not fat it just looks like my skull has just gotten bigger.
My shoulders are thick...line backer thick...I'd make a good football player.
I can't see my collar bones any more-I do check to make sure they are still there.
My boobs are huge...and I mean huge...like sloppy, nasty, not nice HUGE!
My belly...is well...big for obvious reasons!
My ass...I can't see it but I know it isn't pretty (I finally found a hole in my extra small leggings...yes I'm still rocking the see through extra small leggings-I'm having a hard time letting go).
I have a muffin top...enough said.
My ankles are cankles.
My fingers and toes are swollen...I can't even wear my wedding rings.
And I can no longer feel my calf muscles (water retention, damn water retention).


I would take a picture...but lets face it...my body clearly isn't picture worthy.


And all though my body is a swollen mess, and my back aches and nothing fits and bits and pieces of fat are hanging over my bra and underwear...there is still something I just love about being pregnant and I'm not quite ready to let go of that.  I still think it's about feeling beautiful from the inside.  Knowing I have an active, healthy growing baby in my belly makes every pound on the scale oh so worth it.  And as much as I'm ready to be "thin" again I just don't know if I'm ready to let go!  I don't know if I want this pregnancy to be over.


I have my whole life to be thin (well let's just hope so), in fact I have my entire life to work out and eat healthy but I only have 3 short weeks to enjoy, what will probably be, my last pregnancy.  It's very bittersweet right now.   Very bitter sweet indeed:-)


So what does one do when they are feeling very large?  They buy themselves a new bathing suit...I see it as a form of motivation for after the baby is born.  And this my friends is my new bathing suit:

http://www.juicycouture.com/Sailor-Girl-Demi-Top/Y54817,default,pd.html?dwvar_Y54817_color=458&start=1&cgid=womens-swim

I'm in love...with a bathing suit!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Today I turn 29 and I'm damn right ok with it!  I'm healthy, I'm happy, I have an amazing husband, 2 sweet little boys and another little baby on the way!  I've got way too much to be thankful for in life to be dragged down by a number!  So today I will celebrate life and all that I've been blessed with!  Today is a good day to be alive!

And I am so honoured to share my birthday with my mom and sister-in-law.  Seriously what are the odds of me being born on my moms birthday and my sister-in-law and I having the same birthday (same year too)!  My mom is my hero, I have always looked up to her and have always wanted to follow in her footsteps.  She's my best friend and the most amazing woman I know!  I am truly in awe of her!  Funny thing is...I always thought I'd have a baby on my birthday.  Well it's 11:33am (the time I was born at) and I don't think I'll be having a baby today...well unless this baby falls out of me in the next 12 hours (which is highly unlikely).  But either way I am just so grateful that this little angel inside of me is still cooking!

So Happy Birthday to my mom, my sister-in-law and me!

The Flu Bug...it was GROSS!

Sunday I spent all night and most of the day laying in a hospital bed hooked up to an IV after spending 4.5 hours puking my guts out non stop.  I assumed it was food poisoning from the seafood linguine leftovers! 

Monday I spent the whole day disinfecting the house.  It was one of those "scrub the house clean" type of days where you hope someone or everyone decides to stop by unexpectedly because the house is so spotless and clean and smells like lemon lysol.  Mmmm!  I wiped all the cabinets, cleaned ALL the bathrooms, washed our bedding, did 6 loads of laundry, vacuumed the floors, washed the floors by hand and cleaned the play room! 

Tuesday I spent the evening taking care of vomiting babies with diarrhea.  All my cleaning from the day before went to waste.  The whole house smelled like...poop (seriously it was the worst smelling poop I have EVER smelled in my whole entire life and let's face it...with 2 little boys I've dealt with a lot of poop) and it was one of those nights you hope NO one unexpectedly stops by so you don't have to explain why your whole house stinks so much!  It was bad!  Poor Lincoln was puking like crazy and Nate had a bad case of diarrhea.  When i went upstairs to get Nate from his nap everything smelled like poop-poor little guy had diarrhea all over him!  Lincoln finally fell asleep in our room and when I went in there the WHOLE room smelled like poop too and I thought it was from Nate but nope poor little guy also had bad diarrhea!  The bedding I washed the day before...yap had to be re-washed along with Nates bedding.  2 loads on sanitize cycle equals many hours of waiting for clean bedding!  Now I kinda understand why people keep extra bedding in the house.

And the highlight of Tuesday night...well for Kevin...was probably him taking these pictures:

Thank you Kevin for capturing these memories:-)
It was just one of those, "Ya this is what being a mom is all about moments!"  We had a good laugh...really that's all we could do!


My kids have never really been "sick sick".  They've had the odd cold with a runny nose, Lincoln threw up once but nothing major that has ever kept us up all night washing bedding and bathing sick babies.  So this was our first MAJOR sick day.  And as awful as it was to see my two little ones throwing up and helpless it made me feel useful.  I had a purpose and I felt it.  I kinda live for moments like these...where my mothering needs are required and put to the test.  Where my purpose feels like it's being put to good use...taking care of my babies when they need me the most.  Running around the house bathing sick ones while throwing piles of laundry in the washing machine.  Cradling warm sick bodies and whispering in their ears, "It's OK, momma's here, I've got you, you're going to be alright, momma loves you."  It kinda put a smile on face...even when I was covered in puke...yes this is what being a momma is all about...being there when your children need you the most.


Lincoln ended up puking all over his bedding two nights in a row-I finally learned my lesson last night and left the towels and red blanket on his bed just in case we had another night of puking...and I'm happy to report last night was a success!

And today I will finish washing laundry and will re-wash the floors by hand, and re-wash the cabinets again, and snuggle my littlest.  And my two sweet little boys are feeling MUCH better today!  And the best part...all my little Nate wants to do is snuggle and cuddle!  I'll take it!  All this hard work this week is going to make tomorrow's prenatal massage so worth it:-)  Ahhh!  I can't wait!

Feeling Very Domestic

So today I'm feeling very domestic.  It may have had something to do with the fact that I woke up before 9 a.m. and have cookies baking and a pot roast in the slow cooker:-)

I made  a batch of cookies last night as a "test" for the Ladies and Babies Bake and Gift Exchange.  I followed the recipe exactly!  I thought they tasted good until my cookie critic told me otherwise.

I was told to stick to the pre-made kind:-)  I've made 1 adjustment-cut back the amount of chocolate chips...and I have to say they taste way better!  The Pilsbury Dough Boy has nothing on my chocolate chip cookies:-)

December 1 is always an important day for me...it's the day we go to the mall and pick "names" off the Salvation Army Angel Christmas Tree.  It's a tradition I hope my children will always carry on.  Giving back is so important!

I Love Ikea

I'm more mobile now so my mom, my brother, the kids and I took a trip out to Coquitlam and I made a "quick" stop at Ikea to pick up a few things.

Number 1 on my list were these containers:

I bought a few last time I was there and fell in love with them!  They fit perfectly in my cabinets and drawers!  Now I know I have cabinets to hide whats inside them but, how beautiful do organized cupboards and drawers look?



See...they look beautiful!!! And yes I'm proud of my cupboard organizing skills! I bought 10 and I really wish I bought a few more (my laundry room cupboards could use a few)! And they're only $4.99 each!

I really wanted to find a lace table runner to make our house a little bit more feminine (I live with 3 boys and a potential third on the way) and I found this fabric at Ikea...on sale...for $1.99 a meter.  I bought 3 meters which was plenty and now I have a beautiful new table runner!

You Know What I'm Looking Forward Too...

I can't wait for this moment:

The first meeting. 

Falling in love with my baby all over again.  It's that everlasting unconditional love.  It's all the little firsts you can't help but take in.  Hearing their first cry.  Seeing my angel for the first time.  Holding my baby for the first time.  Looking into my their eyes and kissing their sweet lips for the first time.  That newborn smell.  Oh those moments that stop the world.  That moment when everything is perfect!


And moments like these:

Watching my husband fall in love with our babies.  Does it get any sweeter?

I can't wait for this:

But this time I'm going to have two little boys coming to meet their new little brother or sister.
This picture still makes me tear up.  I still remember holding my sweet little Nate and seeing Lincoln coming through those hospital doors and coming to meet his new little brother for the first time.  I can't wait for that moment this time of around.  It makes me teary eyed.  My boys are both going to be big brothers. 

It's that moment when 2 become 3 and 3 become 4 and 4 become 5.  It's about being a family!

It's moments like this I treasure deep down in my heart:

It's that first meeting.  That first bond.  Knowing they are going to love each other forever.


Oh I have so much to look forward too...my heart is bursting with love!  It's pretty darn awesome!

Life Lately (this and that blog post)

I am almost there:-)  I'll be 34 weeks on Saturday and every day that passes I am able to breathe a little sigh of relief!  A few weeks ago I had my last ultrasound regarding the baby's heart and my cervix.  And I am pleased to say that our little ones heart is perfect:-)  No more pericardial effusion:-)  As for my cervix-it's shorter and I'm 1.5cm dialated.  I have been for 3 weeks now with no change so at this point the doctor's aren't too concerned.  And on Saturday I no longer have to take my progesterone pills (ya)!  It really does feel so good to have made it this far!  I am feeling very very blessed.

How precious is this baby?

According to the measurements the baby weighed 3lbs 15oz (give or take a pound).  So far this baby is measuring normal.  My boys were big so we'll see what this one weighs in at!  It's little heart rate is 150 beats per minute and according to the doctors, it has the most picture perfect heart!  Praise God!

I got to see my little angel yawning!  It was quite precious!  And I am so blessed for all times I've been able to see my little one throughout this pregnancy (and for the abundance of ultrasound photo's)!

Baby yawning!

I've been feeling large...very very large.  And my face (and my whole body for that matter) looks like I've been stung by a bee and have had an allergic reaction.  I fantasize about running and working out daily.  I've never fantasived about excersing...ever!  And I can't wait to wear jeans...without an elastic waist band.  And I really really really want these boots!  And I want to wear them with a new pair of skinny jeans and an oversized shirt.  Realistically I know I probably won't wear them this season but they are on sale and I don't know if I can wait till next year to get them!  I think I really want new boots because at this point it's the only thing that will fit me!  I've been sqeezing everything into my regular clothes and Lord only knows this body isn't an extra small any more!  I no longer walk, I waddle and I do a mean grinch walk as well!  But it does feel oh so good to be living life "normally" again!  Ya to "just taking it easy!"


Me Loves A Good Sale!

I love a good sale.  Love love love!  Saving money (and spending money) just feels so good for the soul (I think that's one reason why I love Christmas so much)!!!  I really wanted to get new ornaments for the Christmas tree this year but I thought I'd wait till after Christmas to get them (when they are on sale).  Well it just so happened that Michaels was having a super good sale and between 8 and noon you got to save an additional 30% off your whole purchase including sale items!  And I SCORED all new ornaments for the tree!!!!!  White and silver...plain and simple!  Oh and new garland and silver ribbon for the staircase.  I'm itching to get decorating but the hubby says not until December 1!

On Wednesday I packed up my desk at work.  I officially start maternity leave on Saturday.  As hard as the last few months have been it has felt SO good to be home with the boys!  And what a difference it makes (and feels) not having to wake up early and go to work all day!  I missed it (abit) probably more for the social aspect but I love my mornings with my boys! 

Last night Lincoln spent the night at my parents.  As much as I sometimes need a little "mommy time" I miss my boys so much when I'm not with them!  I did however feel super grateful to get some snuggles in this morning with my littlest man!  Hard to believe he's going to be a big brother soon!

And who says boys aren't cuddlers?  Both my boys love to cuddle!

I've been loving my time with my boys lately!  I have my days where I just need a break but watching these two...I don't even think I can describe it...it's just heart warming (when they aren't stealing one another's toys)!

And I loved waking up to the first snow fall!  Sitting at the table, drinking hot coffee and knowing we could stay in our pj's all day!

My little photographer has been getting annoyed with me lately.  Poor Lincoln just wants to watch cartoons but instead I have him taking belly pics.  He always says "Just one picture mom!"  I always rope him into taking more (Halloween candy has been coming in handy)...the first few are always blurry, side ways, out of focus, too zoomed in, too zoomed out-it takes us awhile to get one good one and I don't know who gets more frustrated-me or him!

This belly is low!  And surprisingly measuring smaller than I did with the boys!  Only a few more weeks to go!

33 weeks with #3!

33 weeks with Nate

32 weeks!

#3

Nathan

31 weeks!  Picture number 3 makes me laugh!  I tried so hard to look pretty when I was preggers with Lincoln but nothing worked.  I was a hot mess!

#3

Nathan

Lincoln