"KOOTENAY SUCKS!!"

Last night Mark and I were lucky enough to go to the Hitmen game - Thank you Uncle Bill!! We had a BLAST!! The Hitmen are playing against Kootenay in the playoffs and now lead the series 3-1. The game started off really rocky - the Hitmen trailing 0-2, and then 1-2 and then 1-4... but in the third period they really pulled their socks up and came back to tie the game 4-4 (with no help from the refs!!) Then we were in for an exciting overtime where Keegan Dansereau scored the winning goal. Hitmen games are always so much fun - mainly because of all the season ticket holders who sit by Uncle Bill - man, those guys are CRAZY!! (ie. "We want Fussi!!!" and "KOOTENAY SUCKS!!") And to top the evening off the Flames won as well!! The only thing that would have made the night better is if Mark would've let me buy a malt. Tight wad. HaHa - just kidding.. but man that ice cream sure looked good!!

Update..

Just a quick update... we went to the doctor this morning for a check up. Everything is going well, the baby's heart rate is still up at 150 bpm and I am exactly 23 weeks. (I was hoping they would move my due date up earlier from my last ultrasound results... but no luck.) I made Mark come along too, so he got to hear the heart beat this time too.

Then this afternoon we took advantage of the warm weather and took Duke for a long walk... well, not a long distance, it just took us a LONG time to get there. He's getting better with the gentlelead, but sometimes he needs not so gentle persuasion. Tonight we're off to see "Shooter" in the theatre.

Walk Nice!

So yesterday I thought I would be smart and go to Petland and buy Duke a gentle-lead. The gentle-lead goes around Duke's nose and attachs to his leash... this way, when he pulls, it pulls his head down, so he learns to walk nice. It works really well with Peeka and Boo, and I have been so sick and tired of Duke pulling my arm out of the socket everytime we go for a walk, that I thought I would give it a try...

Well... it works a little too well. Once you put it on Duke, he freezes. He doesn't move. He's petrified of it!! All he does is lie down and roll around in the grass (snow is his favorite, but that's getting pretty hard to come by) and tries to get it off. This morning I went for an hour walk and got as far as four houses down and back. Hopefully pretty soon he gets used to it, or it's back to the drawing board.

Edmonton

Today Mom, Oma and I left Calgary at 7:00am to journey up to Edmonton to visit Byn at King's. We picked Robyn up at about 10:00 am and headed straight to the Mayfair Inn where we saw a play, "Maggie's Getting Married". It was pretty much the exact same idea as Stage West - where you get the big lunch buffet with the show. The food was so good, and I think Robyn and I both ate WAY too much! (Especially WAY too much dessert!!) The play was... well.. it was rather interesting... not something normal people would take their 70 year old grandmothers too... lets just hope that because of her hard hearing she didn't really understand what the actors were saying.. it was a little inappropriate. After the play we took a quick pit stop at Safeway so Robyn could stock up on some groceries and then headed back to King's to give Oma the grand tour (as this was her first time there.) The tour included a trip to the book store where Oma spoiled me and bought me a cool new King's t-shirt and a quick chat with Byn's boyfriend Brian (I think thats what Oma was looking forward to the most... meeting Brian!! The jury is still out though on whether or not he get's her seal of approval.) We left King's at about 4:00 and after a quick stop in Red Deer for dinner got home just in time to watch the Flames game at 7. It was a whirlwind of a trip - a tiring one at that!! - but it was still a lot of fun!

The Weekend

I thought I would quickly just update you all on Mark and I's weekend...

Robyn came from Edmonton on Thursday to spend the weekend at home for Mom's birthday. So pretty much the entire weekend was spent with my family. Friday afternoon we had wine-time at Mom & Dad's house with Uncle Jim & Auntie Anita, the Mols, Uncle John & Auntie Nancy and Connor. We got to see all of Uncle Jim and Auntie Anita's pictures from their trip to Belize. As usual Justin and Tyler were so cute!

Saturday Mark had to work and I spent the afternoon shopping at Chinook with my mom and Robyn. We all left the mall with some really good buys! Robyn ended up buying a hat from leChateau, capris, and a tank top. Mom bought a swimsuit, a skirt and two shirts, a dress and a pair of shoes. I wound up with the most I think... I bought a cute pair of shoes from American Eagle (which Robyn, my fashion consultant, helped pick out.) three maternity tank tops, two maternity t-shirts and a maternity hoodie all from Old Navy and a new purse/bag from Smart Set. We were at the mall from 10:30am-3:30!! After the mall Robyn and I went and ate Edo of Japan for dinner and then she came over to watch the Flames game with Mark, Justin & Jessiya, Louis & Nikki.

Sunday Mark and I wandered over to the home depot to look for bathroom supplies as they were having a bathroom sale. We bought the new faucet for the bathroom sink, but the shower faucet set we wented they were all out of... too bad. After that we went for a late lunch to my mom and dad's and said good bye (until Wednesday) to Robyn. The rest of the afternoon was then dedicated to cleaning up our yard and Mark teaching me to play xbox.

R.I.P Dear ol' Lionel

It is with a heavy heart that I must share some devastating news with you all...

Last night, Friday, March 02, 2007, our dear friend, Lionel the Lion, passed away. It was a tragic, gruesome death, as all de-stuffings tend to be, but Lionel took it like a man. After all, it was his duty. Lionel continuously sacrificed his life for the sake of our carpet, our furniture.... our home.

Although Lionel took his duties to heart, he still found the time to bring joy to a young puppy. A young puppy who moved away from his family in the quiet country to live in the big city, where he knew no one. Lionel comforted him at this time. The two quickly formed a very close, tight knit bond. Although he will be missed by all, I fear Duke will feel the loss the hardest.

Lionel is proceeded in death by his dear friends, Harry the hibiscus plant, and Barry the baby book. He is survived by friends Duke, Mark, Mandee, Peeka and Boo. A Funeral Service in Memory of Lionel will be held on Monday, March 5, at 1:00 P.M., in the parking lot of Bethel Baptist Church, 3325 49 St SW, Calgary. Interment will follow in the trash can behind the family's home.

Memorial Donations in memory of Lionel can be made to the Mark and Mandee's Bathroom Remodel Foundation at 3131 49th Street SW, Calgary AB, T3E6P8.

Lionel may be gone, but he certainly isn't forgotten -- and never will be.

Lionel the Lion, October 1992 - March 2007

I have included some pictures of Lionel's death below for those of you who many need to see them for closure. Now, it may look like Duke is the one violently ripping out all Lionel's stuffing... but Duke has assured me he arrived at the scene of the crime right as the perpetrator was making his escape and that he was merely preforming CPR on Lionel in attempt to revive him. I must warn you all, the pictures are not for those with weak stomaches.

Ahead of the game...

Alright, so maybe we are a little too excited and a little too ahead of ourselves....


On Wednesday my mom and I went crib shopping. We were just going to get an idea of price and find a couple styles I liked... we didn't plan on buying anything. HOWEVER, when we were at Kac'z Kids, we found a crib and change table/dresser that we both really liked and was on sale. We still weren't sold until the lady explained that only the floor model was left. We hadn't seen anything else like it at that price, so we decided just to get it right away. (After Mark came and also gave his approval of corse.)


Thursday Mark and I went and picked it up... (that is a whole, very looooooooooong story, in itself... which I won't even waste boring you with all the details.) Anyways, so we got it home and set it up right away. I wish I could take a picture of the entire nursery, but the room is too small. (And the furniture makes it look even smaller!!) But for now, here are just some pictures of the crib and the change table/dresser.

I know it's really dark... but all of the furniture in our house is dark, so we figured everything should sort of match. The crib is really cool because it will first turn into a little day bed and then into a head board and foot board for a double bed. And the change table/dresser is pretty practical, because once our kids have out grown diapers we can use still use it as dresser.


We're still waiting for all the crib bedding to come. I couldn't find the one I wanted in any of the stores here in Calgary (or in Hawaii...) so I ended up ordering it online and getting it shipped to the Olmstead's in Phoenix. So when Mark and I are there in April we'll pick it up.

I figured it would be smart to go with Winnie the Pooh seeing as how I still have all my old Winnie the Pooh statues and pictures. (I went through a stage in junior high.)

So it's all starting to come together... we're going to be ready for this baby in May already!! Well, physically, maybe not mentally! haha.

BAD dog!!

Just when you go ahead and think that you have the bestest puppy in the world he goes ahead and does something like this....




My mom had just given me this great baby book. It was a place to record baby firsts, baby photos and baby memories (now that was my way of scrapbooking!!) It was so cute and I was so excited to show Mark!! I got home from her house, put the bag on the front stairs and ran back out of the house to go to Safeway. Well, I guess Duke was mad at me for not taking him along, and decided to take it out on the book.

This is what happened to my poor book:

If I wasn't pregnant I'm sure there wouldn't have been as many tears.... but man, Duke would still get an ear full!! Both Mark and I let him have it, and I think he is still hiding under the kitchen table.

Happy Birthday!!

On Friday we went to Uncle Jeff and Auntie Laura's house for wine time and to celebrate Justin and Tyler's 1st birthday!! It's hard to believe that just a year ago they practically fit into the palm of your hands!! They were so tiny, and now they're getting so big!! I feel so old!! In a year and a half that will be my kid!!

16 Weeks

What a relief it is to finally be at home!! I was getting pretty sick of watching three dogs. On Friday Mark and I spent most of the day cleaning mom and dad's house from top to bottom (including vaccuuming every floor, mopping, cleaning windows, toilets, etc.) But by the end of the day the house was sparkeling!

I also had my second prenatal Dr's appointment on Friday. I was very excited because we were going to try to hear the baby's heart beat for the first time. However, after 30 minutes of the Dr. trying to find it, she gave up and sent me for an ultrasound just to double check that everything was alright. (Talk about having another heart attack!! This baby is going to make us all stressed out before it even arrives!!) Luckily we got in for an ultrasound that same day and everything was fine. The baby is about 11cm long and had a heart rate of 153 (which the technician assured us was perfectly fine). According to the baby's head size I should be about 17 weeks along... but according to it's body length I'm right on track at 16. (Hopefully the baby's body catches up to it's head!! I don't want it to have a gigantic noggen!!)


This is pretty much what the ultrasound looked like, although our baby was much more compact and "ass over tea-kettle" (as the ultasound technician put it!) We still got to see all of its tiny fingers and toes (they're all there!) its face and its spine (which was so neat to see!) We didn't ask whether or not she could tell the sex of the baby. Mark and I are still arguing over whether or not we want to find out. Mark wants to know, and I don't. But I have to go for another ultrasound in two weeks, so if we're going to find out, we'll have to decide by then. Right now we are both definately hoping it is a boy!