Life has been really busy the last few weeks but I will attempt to update you on where we are at with our little mister.

My due date has been changed to July 21st which puts me that much closer to having a home birth.  After meeting with our midwife last week and going over my pregnancy with Sophie we discussed the absolute earliest we could give birth and still have a home birth.

Our goal date is June 28th and based on the position of the baby I am keeping my fingers crossed that we make it until then.  He would need to go nearly a week later than Sophie did so in reality I am preparing for his arrival to be as early as June 23rd.

The funny thing about babies is that unless you are having a scheduled c-section they come when they feel like it.  So he could surprise us and arrive closer to his due date.  Because we have a lot going on in the next month I would much rather be all prepared for an early arrival rather than be surprised and not ready like we were with Sophie.

Everything is healthy with our little man, strong heart beat and measuring right on track. I am getting really excited for him to arrive and I know I keep saying this but it really is going to be here before we know it.

We are now at midwives appointments every 2 weeks and so my mom is going to come to my appointment with me on Tuesday instead of Sean.  I am excited for her to hear the heartbeat and meet one of our midwives since my mom will be there for the delivery.

I have been pretty neglectful of belly pictures this pregnancy and I didn’t realize it had been 5 weeks since my last one.  So here is my 30 week belly.

And here I am with Sophie.  I really wished I would have kept doing them from the side, it is so much easier to see how big my belly is that way.

Pregnancy Highlights:

Sophie cracks me up all the time lately but especially at the zoo today.  Multiple times while we were walking around she would stand by the glass and turn to me and say cheese.  Each time it happened I wasn’t even holding the camera, but she made it very clear she wanted to have her picture taken.  And when you end up with cuteness like this how can you not take her picture.

She was so funny that people around her were laughing every time she would do it.

When we were at the zoo a few weeks ago I was convinced she would go crazy over the penguins, considering how much she loves Happy Feet.  But she didn’t seem to be too interested in them.

Today was another story, she went crazy the second she saw them swimming around.  I don’t think the camera or video’s really captures how excited she was to see these penguins.

I am looking forward to exploring the zoo with Sophie all summer long.  We had a great time.

Last weekend we decided to head out for a little hike with Megan and Josh and baby Elsie.  Uncle Josh wanted to try out his new backpacking carrier so Sophie was the first recipient of a ride.

Sophie did really well in the backpack considering she was in it for about 2 hours.

We made it to the waterfall with a bit more climbing than we expected and took a bit of a rest so that Megan could feed Elsie.

Sean took over after the waterfall so that the two of them could go running through the woods picking flowers.  Look at that look on Sophie’s face, she was having a blast with Sean.  How cute are they?

It was great to get out in the fresh air and go for a hike.  Hopefully with the weather getting nicer we can do this more often.

]]> http://www.seanandkimberlypayne.com/thepaynes/2012/04/hiking-with-the-baby/feed/ 0 http://www.seanandkimberlypayne.com/thepaynes/2012/04/zoo/ http://www.seanandkimberlypayne.com/thepaynes/2012/04/zoo/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:04:00 +0000 Kimberly Payne http://www.seanandkimberlypayne.com/thepaynes/?p=2185 Continue reading →]]> A few weeks ago the weather was beautiful so we headed to the zoo with my sisters, niece and nephews and one of my sisters friends and her two boys.  I just had a feeling that Sophie would love all the animals especially after how she reacted at the Biodome in Montreal.

Somehow I didn’t take any pictures but I did get an incredible cute video of Finley walking with Sophie to show her the donkey’s and then walking with her to the park.

Finley really loves Sophie and I think you can see that in this video.  They are so cute together.

Since we live so close to the zoo I hope there are more afternoons spent looking at the animals with.  Possibly taking pictures next time.

So off we flew for a week in the sun with some relaxing by the pool and walks along the Malecon.

*Warning*  This is where I go into picture overload.

Sophie was entertaining herself on the plane with the ipod touch.  We have at least a dozen pictures all very similar to this one.

Sophie was ready for some time in the sun.

We didn’t waste any time the morning we arrived before getting on our swimsuits and hitting the pool at their house.  Sophie was hesitant at first but eventually gave into some rides on her new penguin.

Sophie managed to sit still long enough for a little family picture.  Can you believe that view.  I think I could wake up every morning with my cup of coffee and look out over the water.

We decided to head to the waterfront for a little walk in the afternoon.  Sophie go to sit in a little car and be pushed around.  She was in heaven.

During lunch Sophie got a chance to play in the sand with her new sand toys.  I have decided that we should have a sandbox next to the dinner table everywhere we go because she was so distracted the whole time just playing in the sand.  It was great.

Through out the week Sophie definitely warmed up to the pool.  Nana and Grandad got into the fun as well.

Now that Sophie was enjoying pools more we had a chance to spend a few hours at the Sheraton having a yummy breakfast, listening to mariachi music and time in the pool.    Sophie enjoyed it all.  So much so that she needed to take a bit of a nap pool side.

We finished out our week with time in the ocean where we discovered that Sophie absolutely loves when the waves crash on the beach.  Although you can’t see her face here trust me when I say that she was so excited she was trying to get closer to the water.

Relaxing on our last morning there.

We had a really great week and look forward to future trips to see Nana and Grandad in Mexico.

I am really starting to feel big and I have a feeling that if this little man sticks around the whole 40 weeks I am going to possibly get to that uncomfortable point I never got to with Sophie.

We met with our new midwife this week and really liked her.  It was exciting to hear that we are cleared at this point to try for another home birth as long as our little man sticks around until about 37 weeks.  Which crazy enough is only 12 weeks from now.  Holy wow this pregnancy is flying.

Although we are unsure of where we are going to be living with he arrives we have started getting Sophie’s big girl room in order.  She now has a twin bed and spent her first night sleeping in her own room last night.  Once the baby is here he will eventually sleep in the same room as Sophie so I tried to make it gender neutral with yellow, grey and white.  I will do a separate post on the room hopefully this weekend.

Now for the real reason you come, to check out my big old belly.  Here I am at 25 weeks with our little man.

And here I am with Sophie.

Pregnancy Highlights:

So here we are at 24 weeks, how did we get to this point.  The last 6 weeks have gone by so quickly.  I think it helps that we have been traveling, moving and getting settled into life in Seattle.

Lets rewind 4 weeks to our big ultrasound to find out the sex of this little baby.  I was so excited to find out.  Unlike with Sophie I really wasn’t feeling strongly one way or another but I think a part of me thought it was a boy.  We got to the ultrasound and they took me back and the tech told me that she couldn’t tell me the sex.  I was really upset but trying to be okay with it since there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

She must have been able to tell that I was upset because although she couldn’t tell us she lingered much longer than necessary on the shot that would show us whether it was a boy or girl and she typed XY on the screen which we found out later was completely unnecessary for her to do.  So for those of you who don’t know what XY means…

We are having a BOY!  Or atleast we think we are…

When we went to the midwives a few weeks later to get confirmation she told us that it was not on the report therefore she couldn’t confirm one way or the other.  So there is a chance that on delivery day we could be surprised with another little girl.  As if that day isn’t exciting enough.

In other baby news his kicks have become much more noticeable and Sean was able to feel him kick for the first time last week.  I had been wondering about his movements because they seem much later and less noticeable than with Sophie.  We found out at the midwives that I have an anterior placenta which basically means the placenta is in the front of my belly instead of behind.  There is no risk involved just that the movements are harder to notice since the placenta is in the way.

Our little man is healthy and growing right on track which is always good to hear.

This week we are meeting with a midwife here in Seattle which I am really excited about. It will be great to find a midwifery practice that we like, hopefully just as much if not more than the place we have gone to in Vancouver.

I had a realization the other that if this little boy comes early like his sister we could have a baby in 12 weeks, holy moly that is really soon.  Hopefully he holds out until at least 27 weeks so that he has extra time to grow and we can try for a home birth again.

I am going to try and be much better about belly pictures for the rest of the pregnancy because although no one else might care, I really enjoy looking back to see how my belly has changed over the weeks.

Without further ado here is my belly at 24 weeks with our little man.

 And because I love the comparison here I am at 24 weeks with Sophie.

Pregnancy Highlights:

When packing for the trip we decided not to bring a stroller with us so that we had the ease of not worrying about stairs that meant Sophie was going to be hanging out in the carrier.  She is a pretty happy carrier kid so I wasn’t too worried.  The only thing we had to work with was the fact that I couldn’t wear her on the front because of my belly.  Thankfully one of our carriers can be worn on the hip, and it ended up being just as comfortable as the traditional way to wear it.

So off we went on the subway with our tummies full of coffee and breakfast.  The subway was easy to maneuver which is always a plus.  The sidewalks were pretty icy getting from the subway station to snow village but we managed just fine, albeit moving very slowly.

Once inside the hotel it truly was made of ice and snow.  All the furniture was ice including couches, chairs and tables.  Sophie wanted to touch it but then realized it was really cold.

We toured the rest of the hotel including the hotel rooms which really would be quite an experience to stay in.  There was a bar which looked like a hip place to come have a drink and a restaurant.  Sophie had fun in the bounce house that was in the courtyard of the hotel until her hands got really cold.

We decided to head out and find somewhere warm to have some lunch.  It was fun to see a hotel made of snow and ice.

After some lunch and a rest at the hotel we headed out to find a fondue restaurant for dinner.  Sophie really enjoyed the bread we had to dip in the cheese and the shrimp but her favourite part was by far the chocolate.

This is what happens when you let a toddler play with your camera you end up with finger prints all over the lens.  Sophie really liked using the fondue forks with her bread.

What you can’t tell in this picture is that within moments she went from relatively clean to chocolate all over her shirt.  She probably would have eaten the chocolate with a spoon if we had let her.

The following day we headed out of the city to go to the stage show of Toopy and Binoo.  Since this is one of Sophie’s favourite shows we really thought she would enjoy seeing them in person.  The show was in french so even though I couldn’t understand what was going on she seemed to enjoy it.

I unfortunately didn’t get any pictures from that day but it was mostly spent getting to and from the show by taxi and then gathering any last minute things Sean needed for his interview at the consulate.

The following morning we got up so we could be there shortly after they opened at 8:30.  Expecting a big line we were prepared to wait for a few hours.  To our surprise we arrived to no line and to find out we were third in line.  To make it even better, they had toys and books in the waiting area which kept Sophie busy during the waiting process.

I expected the interview to be similar to the process when I became a permanent resident of Canada but it actually was more like when I did the paperwork to make Sophie a US citizen.

You basically wait your turn and then give them all the paper work that is required answer a few questions and then wait for them to look over everything.  We then went back up where we had to explain how we met and how long we dated before getting married.  After answer the questions and showing off our very cute little girl she said he was approved!  Just like that.

We had both expected the process to take a good chunk of the day when in fact it took just over an hour.  So after dropping some stuff off at the hotel we made our way to the Biodome which had exhibits from different eco-systems in the America’s.

Sean scored a stroller when we got there so Sophie could have a little more freedom and I am pretty sure that might have been a highlight of the entire trip for Sophie.  This picture does not do justice how much she loved this stroller.  She had a perma grin on her face the entire time we were there.

We checked out the fish which Sophie was totally into.  I had no idea she would like the biodome as much as she did.  She just wanted to stand next to the fish tanks and point them all out.

I was expecting Sophie to really enjoy the penguins since she is obsessed with Happy Feet but she was much more interested in the puffins.  It was pretty cute to see her tap on the glass to get the puffin to come closer.  I wish we had a picture of her and the puffins.

Finally we checked out some birds that were flying around.  Although I am not a fan of birds at all Sophie was pretty cute pointing them all out.

It ended up being quite the successful trip to the Biodome, so much so that I am excited to head to the zoo and aquarium here in Seattle.  I know she is going to love it just as much as she did in Montreal.

The next morning we headed out bright and early to catch our flight home.  Despite another hour delay Sophie was amazing on the flight even taking a 2 hour nap.  Impressing everyone around us.

We had a great time in Montreal.

I have never been further east in Canada than Nelson BC.  So I was especially excited to check out the french speaking part of Canada.

Since we used air miles for my flight, Sean and I ended up on different flights both ways.  Although I was a bit nervous about navigating two flights and a two hour layover by myself with Sophie I knew I could do it.

Who knew head phones and an iPod could be so much entertainment?   What’s going on in the picture above is that I turned on the front facing camera of the iPod and then Sophie likes to zoom in to see herself as close as possible.  Hence the smashed up nose :)

Sophie proved to be quite the trooper when our two hour layover turned into three and she had to sit on my lap the whole second flight because the flight was full.  She charmed everyone around us even getting a lady a few rows back to give her the iPad she was using to play with.

After making it to Montreal and meeting back up with Sean, we made our way to the hotel.  There was a crib waiting for Sophie to sleep in and since she still sleeps in a pack and play at home the crib was more of a toy than a place to sleep.

On our first full day there, we headed out to visit Beaconsfield where Sean lived in with his family when he was little (grade 3ish).  We took a couple photos in front of their old house and the school he went to:

We then drove out into the middle of the woods to check out a Sugar Shack: An authentic french canadian experience.  We took a horse drawn carriage ride, enjoy a huge meal including quite possibly the best pickles I have ever had and then some maple taffy on the snow.

Thank you cousin Elsie for the puffy jacket it kept Sophie nice and warm.

Check out her smile, makes my heart melt.

She couldn’t get enough of the maple taffy…

We had a great time in the country eating food dancing to music and enjoying new things. The music was great!

On our way back into Montreal, we stopped along the St. Lawrence River so that I could walk out on it.  I have never seen a frozen river or lake so I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to walk out on the river.  I took Sophie with me but we didn’t go far from shore:

It was a full first day but we had a lot of fun.

Since this post is already quite long I will finish up our trip in another post tomorrow.

I am 18 weeks today and can’t believe that we are nearly 1/2 way done with this pregnancy already.  It really is crazy how fast it is going.  What is also crazy is that we are going to find out the sex of the baby on the 9th of March.  I remember when I was pregnant with Sophie there was no doubt in my mind it was going to be a girl.  With this pregnancy I go back and forth, although most of the time I think it is going to be a girl.  So we will see.

Now for the belly pictures of weeks 14, 16 and 18.  Excuse the poor lighting I am still trying to find a good place in the new apartment for my pictures.

My belly is crazy if you look at it from left to right.  It shows just how much bloating contributed to my early bellies.  Now at 18 weeks it truly is baby and not just bloating.  I do believe that I am smaller now than I was 4 weeks ago.

Here I am at week 14, 16 and 18 with Sophie.

I know I say this every time but what a big difference.  I also think that 14 weeks was when I stopped taking bare belly pictures with Sophie which is too bad because I think they show the belly better.  I am going to show my big old belly no matter it’s condition through out this whole pregnancy.

Pregnancy Highlights:

Well there you go I am all caught up.  I will try and do a post next week and then I will be off for a week a we will be in Montreal but then I will have a double post at week 21.