Random Pregnancy Fact #217

Being sick, sucks!

Being sick when pregnant, sucks ass!

Being REALLY sick when pregnant is like the worst thing ever! Why you ask? Because it's a treacherous combination of illness and hormones that conspires to bring out the worst in you. It's all a wanting to whine and cry at the same time type of deal. And it ain't pretty.

At this point, every time I blow my very raw nose or start hacking up a lung, there's a voice inside of me saying "why me?" while my eyes water over (both from the sensitive eyes/nose blowing and the desire to cry). I'm not handling things gracefully or stoically at the moment (which freaks me out when I think of my current whiny self handling labour)! 

Suffice to say, I'm throwing myself a dang good pity party right now!

On the other hand, if it weren't so sad, it would be kind of funny. I'm sure there's a comedian out there that could turn this shit into a good comedy routine.

I'm just saying.

It's not me, but someone could!

On a brighter note: today marks week 31, which means that we're officially in the single digits. Only 9 more weeks to go!

saturday brunches, art galleries, and gentrification

In case you haven't caught on to the trend lately, I'm really trying to make the time to do as many cultural things as I can before Bean arrives.

Last weekend, despite being sick, Paul and I headed for brunch at the Griffintown Cafe before finally making it to see Arsenal's exhibit, Like Thunder out of China.

Tee Hee... sneaking iPhone photos in when he doesn't know it!

I'd heard about the exhibit in February on the CBC and was really intrigued by the subject. All of the artists are Chinese and banned (from what I understood) in China because their art is subversive and political in nature. 

I won't claim to have understood all of the references in the works, but overall they were really interesting. Plus, the Gallery did a lovely job of creating captions for each piece to help viewers contextualize the work more. 

I was a bit surprised that they did this as it breaks into the viewer's interpretation and is a bit heavy handed with imposing the artist's intention, but honestly, I also really appreciated it! Sometimes it's nice to be able to interpret art for yourself, but other times, it's just awesome to see what the artist intended and then go from there, especially when you're less familiar with the cultural context of the work!

Another interesting thing to note, is that the Gallery in question is a shared space between 3 galleries. When we first drove up to it, coming via the back way because we didn't realize that we could access it via Notre Dame, the building stands out from it's neighbouring factories, and it immense with much of the space still left vacant. Apparently it was an old boat building warehouse. Having first lived down the street from the area in question, it constantly fascinates me to see how gentrification is changing the neighbourhood. 

We also ventured upstairs to visit the other exhibits and Paul was particularly fascinated with one exhibit in the Division Gallery.

Overall, I'm really pleased that we finally made it to the Gallery. It was a fun art excursion and a cheap afternoon out (entrance was a suggested donation of $5/person).

Next up... hopefully... is a literary adventure and revisiting of my love of all things lit geekery!

One Little Word Updates

This year I wanted story to be the word that I focused on, and I have been, but I haven't been great about sharing it. Ironic, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah...

In February we were prompted to make a collage, which I did but in an extra large format that wouldn't fit into my album, so I made this to document the process in said album:

March's prompt was a little less flashy and I honestly wasn't that interested in it, so I put it off and did it retroactively instead of pursuing it through the month. It looks like this:

April was more visually interesting, using a photo collage and words that capture my story right now:

Some of the elements are directly linked to my monthly goals, some are just stories that happened during this month (or in March).

I wanted to do some new things before Bean arrives, some of them have included:

• Seeing Rollerderby
• Making soap at home (which put me out of my comfort zone because I was nervous about doing it)
• Seeing a play

•  and various other little things

Overall, despite falling off the bandwagon in March and most of April, I still managed to make story a part of my daily life. Sweet!

Random Pregnancy Fact #210

I've been noticing it for a while now, but Bean definitely has a schedule. It's cool but freaky all at the same time.

In the mornings he's pretty quiet as I putter around. I'm told that his is pretty normal because my movements will lull him to sleep and I tend to be most active in the morning.

In the afternoon however, Bean is a busy little guy. Starting around 2:30 or 3pm (right when I tend to hit my energy wall... Oh how I wish I lived in a country with siestas), Bean gets busy.

He calms down again and stays quiet until around 6:30-7pm. Then he's super active and kicks up a storm.

The rest of the day is a bit hit and miss, with no absolute pattern that I've noticed yet.

What really intrigues me however, is whether or not he'll carry the same sort of sleep pattern when he's out and about in the world. It'd be pretty amazing if he did.

And truth be told, as I start to notice said patterns, it starts to feel so much more real that he's a human being with a mind of his own, habits of his own, and will have his own little personality.

Totally amazing. Just amazing. That's all.

Project Life: April continued

April has been a busy month, some of which you're already familiar with because I've been blogging more often lately.

I'm trying to find a balance between baby stuff and the rest of life, but sometimes I find that hard. Honestly, that freaks me out a bit because I don't want to be that kind of parent. But bare with me here... it's a work in progress...

April 8th to 14th:

One of the things that I'm really trying to work on is getting out with friends when I have a chance because I know that soon this will become a lot harder. So this week there were lots of dinners out ( 2 out and 1 at our place). I'm terrible at taking photos when I'm out with friends. I always feel invasive when doing it, but I know it's something I need to work on in order to have photos that reflect my day to day life a bit better.

Otherwise it was a quiet week. I sold my tires on Kijiji, we had a snowstorm then sunshine, Paul went to Great Big Sea, and we started prepping the baby's room.


Paul of course, put on a big show of crocodile tears about his exile to the basement, but we all know it's all for naught... he's excited to claim his man cave, even in its unpolished state!


I blurred out a text card for the first time because it was a story that I wanted to record but not to share with the rest of the world. Shocking I know, Marya actually has some stories that she keeps to herself. Who knew?

April 15 to 21:

This week I spent a lot of time making soap. I wrote about here, so I won't rehash old news. Paul settled into his new space (he has since moved the lights again because he didn't like the look of them). Otherwise, it was a quiet week for us.

I worked late on Tuesday to give a presentation. I've been struggling with breathing since Nov, yay! But this presentation sort of drove home the fact that I don't think I can do an hour long presentation alone anymore. I was burnt out by the end of it. Weird the ways pregnancy affects me, ways that I least expected. You know?

We celebrated David's birthday this week and I found out that I don't have gestational diabetes. I was worried that I might, but yay, no!


April 22 to :

 

The last week of the month has been busy too. It's a theme, what can I say.

We did a lot of cooking (correction, Paul did a lot of cooking) and trying out new recipes: Chipotle Macaroni and Taco Salad bowls. The Macaroni was ok. A bit bland to be honest. But we made a larger batch and froze some of it for when the baby arrives. Hopefully it won't get freezer burn between now and then.

The Taco bowls were fun and Paul totally loved making them. 

I'm starting to get quite large these days, but as my friend H pointed out, my belly is cute/adorable, not fat. I love her for saying that because honestly as much as I know it's not fat, it's still a challenge to feel good about yourself as you get larger, no matter how much you love the process!

Also went to see a play with V: Gold Mountain.

It was a nice play. Not amazing in terms of the story line but honestly, the simplicity of the visuals was astounding. The use of props, lighting, projector, etc was simple but very evocative. I'm not a huge theatre goer but it was some of the best use of props I've seen.

And finally, we celebrated my youngest nephew's birthday. Paul and I bought him a Magic Kit that we've been sitting on for about 6 weeks now. We saw it and immediately thought it'd be something he'd like. It's unfortunate that we never thought of it earlier cause it seems like the other nephew was also very into it.

I love it when we manage to get them something that they actually enjoy. We don't buy toys that often because it seems like they have tons of toys, so it's nice when we can get it right.

Otherwise, we had J, L, and C over for dinner Sunday night. It was the first time they'd been here. Last week we had R and S over, and it was their first time here too. Slowly but surely, we'll make the rounds and have everyone over eventually.

And that was April. Here comes May...

Random Pregnancy Fact #203

As of today I am 29 weeks. Soon I'll be in the single digits! Eek!

Bean is well on his way to being a schiezer, just like his Dad.

Why you ask? Quite simply because he refuses to cooperate and be nice to people around him.

For example, the other day my nephew was curious about him and wanted to feel him. Do you think that Bean would be nice to his cousin and offer up a few kicks for him to feel?

Hells no.

The same goes for his Dad.

In fact, almost any time that Paul tries to feel the baby, who was kicking up a storm when he came over for a feel, Bean stops and suddenly becomes still.

Of course, when no one is around, he's taken to these big thud like kicks/movements that leave my belly jumping. 

But does he leave me with the joy and opportunity to share the fun with others?

No....

Just like his Dad, schiezerly already!