don't hate us for going someplace tropical while you all shiver in the cold

In a few short days, Peter and I will be packing up our crazy crew and heading HERE (you HAVE to click the link!!), to the Royal Sea Aquarium Resorts in Willemstad, Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean. 

Can I repeat that last bit??

AN ISLAND IN THE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN.

Peter and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this year... Liam is almost 7 1/2 (*small faint*)... and this will be OUR FIRST family vacation. OUR FIRST. We are far too practical with our money to take fancy vacations. We do sensible things like pay off debt, make extra car payments, or build beautiful, massive, yet-to-be-blogged decks... only to move to another hemisphere a few months later. Any "vacations" we took were back west to Regina (not exactly a sought after holiday destination), or were of the fun-yet-frugal camping variety.

Thankfully, one of the perks of being a Canadian diplomat posted overseas to a somewhat/potentially volatile place like Colombia, is that the government pays for one trip back to Canada each year. More accurately, they give us the equivalent amount of money to spend on travel expenses, etc, during the year. And, and, AND... THEY MAKE US SPEND IT ON TRAVEL. They force us to go against every penny-pinching, money-saving bone in our bodies and actually take a trip (with receipts required to claim all the travel related expenses).

While we could have used the money for a trip back to Canada, for Christmas or some other obvious holiday, the constant reports of inches upon inches of snow and -40 degree windchills make this look preeeeetty good.

Am I right? YES, I AM.

So when the blog is soon-to-be-filled with picture after picture of palm trees, turquoise seas, pristine beaches AND THE DOLPHIN ACADEMY RIGHT NEXT TO OUR HOTEL, please don't hate us. Remember, it's our first family vacation EVER. 

Can you tell we're excited?

(And sort of really desperately hoping that the lower altitude and massive doses of Vitamin D will help alleviate some of this morning sickness?? Am 12w 1d today and current weight loss is 14lbs... *sigh*)

not a post about being sick

I know I've hardly posted at all this month (and by "hardly", I mean only once), but I figured no one would be too interested in my whining about how hard this pregnancy has been. Especially since I personally know friends who have really struggled to conceive and/or carry a pregnancy to term. I know this baby is a blessing, but my reality is that this pregnancy HAS BEEN HARD. Harder than any of my other four. Without going into all the lovely details, it's suffice to say that so far I've lost over 12 lbs in the last 4-5 weeks... and while I suppose that could be seen as a very thin silver lining to an otherwise very black and ugly cloud, I don't suggest constant nausea and vomiting as a great weight loss method!

Enough about THAT.

Although I haven't participated in months, I couldn't resist this week's challenge at i heart faces... silhouettes. The image I chose is one from a family session I photographed this spring. The thing I love about this picture is that it wasn't posed. It was a spontaneous moment between mama and baby while we were standing around waiting for biggest brother to return home from school for the session. I happened to snap this, not knowing how it would turn out, while we were standing around killing time. My favourite kind of picture.

There are bound to be hundreds of entries this week... and likely some amazingly creative ones at that.



P.S. I promise to post a real update soon. Cross my heart.

this pregnancy is kicking my ass

I know... what language! But really, anything more PG (actually, I'm pretty sure "ass" is PG these days) would fail to express how awful these last three weeks have been.

So, a few things:

• Although nine weeks pregnant yesterday, it's only been the last three weeks and a bit that have been this miserable. In those last three weeks, I've lost almost eight pounds. And while I haven't seen the scale move that low since sometime in 2001, constant nausea and vomiting are not pleasant weight loss methods. Effective, but not pleasant.

• In those last three weeks, I've only left the house three times. All three times were for parties or other events that I knew my boys were excited about and I didn't want them to have to miss. It was only by sheer FORCE OF LOVE that I managed these feats. LOVE.

• Once in a while I'll have a stretch of two days where I'm only sick once, then the next day I'll throw up twice in as many hours. There is no rhyme or reason. No link to certain foods that I can see. It's random. Being the control freak that I am, I'd love to have a plan or theory or some sort of equation to follow, but I don't. 

• The waist band on my pants (even loose pj bottoms) is starting to get uncomfortable. Not tight (see the above mentioned weight loss), just conspicuous by their presence. I just don't want ANYTHING touching my stomach.

• Related: Any tips on how to keep three boys from trying to constantly climb on me, hug me, and sit on my lap (note, lap is near stomach)?? I love their love, but would prefer they write me a poem or send flowers or something.

• This intense morning sickness has even had me wonder about the possibility of twins... a possibility that I have yet to bring up with Peter (hi, hon!) for fear he might suffer an aneurysm. The only thing saving my sanity is that fact that, weight loss notwithstanding, I'm pretty sure I'd be showing already if I was 9w+ with twins. Right? RIGHT?? Cause I'm not. Not showing at all. So it can't be twins. Right.

• I've been dreaming of steak. Specifically of eating it.

I'm not sure that this post really has a point, other than to whine and complain and make excuses for why I haven't blogged much at all this last month. Maybe it will also serve as a BRUTAL REMINDER if I ever start to get that urge for another baby. Cause seriously? I'm not sure I could do this again.