Beaches & Babes. Literally!

As promised, here is the newest weekly picture of baby belly. I missed my 22 week picture. I know, shouldnt have. But with being away from home and such, there just wasnt a prime opportunity. Plus I did not bring my DIY chalkboard on the 6 hour car ride. But when you have a 13 month old with you make that like... 7 hour car ride :)

I actually kind of hate this picture. Buttt...we'll see if I update with a different one! :)


One of the last things we squeezed in while still at my parents was a trip to the beach. I miss this incredibly.
7 minutes.
That's how far it is in the car to the sand. So wonderful. If only it was the same here! Somehow lake Huron tops out lake Michigan on all charts. Lake Huron is always just so nice and great and I have no negative things to say about it :)

I am pretty sure Ellee didn't either. She thoroughly enjoyed her time there. As did I. My skin has a nice brown tinge to it :) At first I took her out about 15-20 feet or so and the water was up to my waist. I put her in the floaty and got down beside her. The waves freaked her out though, or angered her might be a better word. But I never thought about it from her perspective. If your level with the water those waves probably look like gigantic mountains, like what you'd see on TV in Hawaii or the pacific coast somewhere. It resulted in her screaming and then hitting the water in anger. I brought her back in and then she rolled in the sand and ate some of it and then ventured back to the shore. This she found to be amazing. She'd crawl right up and then the water would come out and lap her in the belly she'd squeal and clap and run away. When she realized it wasn't chasing her, she'd turn around and go back, and so repeat the process many times :)
What a cute little stink she is. I tried my best in the pictures to grasp the sheer enjoyment and pleasure but really didn't get any smiley pictures. She LOVED it though!!!!

Oh and did I mention a fun and EXHAUSTING time was had by all :)

But we're home now. And sooooo happy to be home. There's a mess in my foyer, Ellee's carseat needs to be washed again, clothes to be folded, floors to be vacuumed, and grass to be cut among many many other things. But we're home and so happy to be back to a family of 3 :) We sure missed Matt!!!!! He's dealing okay with the 6 hour time change. He made it almost till 9 before thoroughly conking out. Hopefully he stays out all night and I don't wake up to him pacing beside the bed at 3 am like last time he went to Belgium on business :S.

But we still miss nana and poppop!!!

23 Week Update & Upcoming Plans

How far along? 23 Weeks
Total weight gain: 3-4 lbs!!!!!!!
Maternity clothes? 50/50. I've still got options :)
Stretch marks? none
Sleep: Better!
Best moment this week: Pretty nonchalant week!
Miss Anything? Matt!!!!!
Movement:Lots still, pretty activity when I sit down. I probably don't notice it when I am chasing bug everywhere though!
Food cravings: Mashed potatoes!!!!!!!
Anything making you queasy or sick: nothing lately.
Gender: Girl
Labor Signs: No, at least hope not. Going to have to talk to my doc about bizarre slightly uncomfortable braxton hicks though :S
Symptoms: Heartburn, sore belly-seems to be all the time lately, reallly hairy belly now :(,
Belly Button in or out? busting at the seams, but still not out!
Wedding rings on or off? on
Mood most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: Matt....tomorrrrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope to post a picture tomorrow once were home! 
In the meantime, Ellee and I will be hitting the road tomorrow to get home. I am sooooo excited to see Matt. It seems like its been an infinite amount of time. I am sure he'll be happy to be back in the states and hopefully hes well relaxed and ready to get back to busy life-as our life is nothing but go-go-go. 

No big plans coming up, but we do have our church picnic next Saturday, our anniversary is on the 21st, and then we are heading to Seattle for vacation on the  29th. Together that is. Vacation together :) And we are so blessed to have an amazing brother and sister-in-law who are willing to keep Ellee for us as we head up to Vancouver for a little anniversary getaway for 2 days. Hopefully its super relaxing and just nice to be childless. We've never actually spent a full night away from her yet....correction, I have never spent a full night away from her yet. And let me tell you, I cant wait! I love her, but to know that I can get up that Friday morning and decide what I am going to have for breakfast and eat it with out even worrying about anyone else, sounds great. I'm sure I'll miss her ridiculous happiness that morning but for one day, I will manage and I know she will too :) She'll probably be too enthrawled with her cousins to even be aware that I am not there. 

Off to the animal farm!

 A fun day well spent at the Canatara park animal farm. So cute seeing Ellee with the different animals. The goats came to greet us and it was sooooo cute!!

Excuse my ridiculous panic at the end. The goat was starting to chew on the stroller and I am not interested in having any forever memories of the petting zoo :S

We miss you Papa!

 Here's Ellee trying her best to give a shout out to her pops!!


Yup still in Forest :) Haha. Probably be leaving Wednesday night or Thursday morning and finishing the journey home after a stop in Detroit to visit family. Kind of nice to be able to cut the journey a little bit!

In the meantime Ellee is making the most of Nana and Poppop's by getting into absolutely everything and causing much havoc! Between pinching the dogs and chasing the kitty's along with pulling drawers and lazy susans to empty them out and go as far as to try and empty out cereal boxes. Not a baby proof playground! There's no way I am going to be able to gain weight for my pregnancy chasing this little turkey around. And no shes not walking, but she still manages to move as fast as a panther and shes as witty as a cat.

 Jack doesn't seem to mind her, but does seem to get annoyed with her. The other dogs will growl at her if she corners them or is a nuisance, Jack will saunter away. He'd love for her to play more I am sure, but she's not good with aggressive tackling. haha

 In the meantime, he's enjoying her company in being part of the neighbourhood watch. Haha!

 Scruffy boy!

 She loves sitting on the mantle of the fireplace. Needless to say shes only fallen off once and it wasn't that bad and the other time i was able to slide and catch her before and real contact was made for a hard hit. Shes a ham thats  for sure!

And she definitely misses her papa. When the skype video call was going off I said come on Ellee its papa! Her imediate response was to repeat "Papa, Papa" endlessly in a sad pitiful voice as she tail gated me into the living room looking for a real figure instead of the 2 dimentional screen. Thankfully, 2D will be gone Friday!! YAY!
In the meantime, we hope to head ot the petting zoo tomorrow and I will be taking a kazillion pictures and hopefully some good video. Let us pray for no bucking goats or anything like that though!!!!
And maybe I'll be able to get some more poutine before I have to leave :)

Awesome product!

This is so great! Its a suction matt for travel and stays right on the table. No more wiping down the table!

Vacation time.

Really though. When you're on vacay, you have so much more time to do some simple things. My toes haven't looked this great in several months!!

22 week Update

How far along? 22 Weeks
Total weight gain: 1-2 lbs
Maternity clothes? Yes, sometimes. Not all the time.
Stretch marks? none
Sleep: Better!
Best moment this week: Ellee saying "baby" endlessly when asked to 
Miss Anything? Not particularly
Movement:Lots, slowed down a little bit this week. Probably exhausted from last week.
Food cravings: Cherry Pepsi
Anything making you queasy or sick: not really.
Gender: Girl
Labor Signs: No, again lots of braxton
Symptoms: Heartburn, mild back pain, headache, hair belly!
Belly Button in or out? holding on for dear life.
Wedding rings on or off? on
Mood most of the time: Happy
Looking forward to: Seeing Matt :)