Here comes the bride, fair, fat and wide...

So far, most people have been amazed at how "not pregnant" I look. That's mostly because I have not been wearing maternity tops. Don't worry folks, my belly is bulging...These were taken a couple of weeks ago and I am definitely bigger now.



So I am convinced I will positively hate myself in every one of my wedding photos. I've been told I will be able to look back and tell my child, look see, you were at our wedding and gush and glow. Yeah right! I'd rather hide under a baggy t-shirt!

Anyhow, the wedding is now only 7 days away...maybe that's why I'm wide awake at 5 o'clock in the morning and blogging!
How did this silly notion of a wedding this summer come about anyhow?
Well, after Tim proposed during our trip to Ireland in early May, we then discussed when and how we should get married.
I much preferred getting married before having the baby. And, no, it wasn't because I don't want to have a bastard child - it was more like we'll never have time to plan anything once we have a baby to deal with!
We talked about a civil marriage with just the two of us but then you also need 2 witnesses present so how would we chose? And I didn't feel right about not having our family there so then we thought about just having our closest ones present. But even if we didn't want to make a big deal about this, it didn't feel right not sharing this day with our friends. What to do, what to do...

Then I remembered about the new rules for celebrants in the province and having read about a couple who had a friend marry them. Much more special and memorable than some stranger mumbling the required text at a courthouse.
So, we could have a friend marry us...hmmmm, I knew just the guy for the job! But hmmm, where would we do it?
We wanted a memorable location as well...Hmmmm, the annual camping trip at La Minerve was being planned for August.
So we asked Katja if it would be okay to do it there. And lo and behold, she said yes.
And so then we asked Olaf if he would perform the ceremony. And lo and behold, he said yes too!
So then started the process of getting permission from the ministère de la justice which thankfully came through quickly enough and we were set for August 2nd!

As much as we are trying to keep this a low-key and simple thing, there is still quite a bit of planning and organizing to do.

So yes, it is going to be pretty non-traditional but hopefully memorable in a good way.
And unfortunately not everyone we wish to have with us to share in this special occasion will be there, but they will be in our thoughts and in our hearts.

So 7 more days of butterflies (or is that the baby moving?!) and hopefully restful nights of sleep until the big day!

Complain, complain, complain...

I am now 24 weeks pregnant and I don't feel radiant, I am not glowing and I have not found any renewed energy.
Regular pants don't fit and maternity pants are too loose and slowly creep down giving me that awful teenage-boy look!
My ankles are swollen, the bottom of my feet hurt and I get up in the morning walking like a 90 yeard old.
I eat but have no appetite.
My hands fall asleep during the night.
My back aches.
I am tired, I am tired, I am tired.

But...it's beautiful & sunny outside!
And warm.
And this morning Tim put in the small air-conditioner my parents gave us at the end of last summer and it seems to be cooling off the upstairs rather nicely.
I've been very greatful for the cooler nights we have been having, so far our ceiling fan has done the trick.

The last bit of painting that was left to do in the kitchen finally got done at the beginning of June so I guess we can say the kitchen renovations are finally done! We've submitted our plans to the city to re-do our front steps and back balcony and after some revisions they have been approved in the first stage and this week we are to find out if they get final approval by some other commitee. Gotta love Westmount...Then comes the fun part of finding someone to do the work.

At the beginning of June I finally announced to everyone at work that I am pregnant. I took them all quite by surprise. Especially when telling them I was already 5 months along.
Then a week later my co-worker Suzanne quit, giving only 4 days notice. We've been coping fine without her especially since we have our student Robin helping us out for the summer. They have not hired anyone yet to replace Suzanne or me when I leave so they better do so quickly. I only have 6 weeks to go!

Tim turned 34 on the 18th. We quietly celebrated together by having our 2nd ultrasound and then went out for supper at Le Baton Rouge.

The weekend before St-Jean Baptiste was Olaf's annual FTR golf tournament and I managed to play 14 holes, not bad for a pregnant lady who hadn't played in at least 6years. I think Olaf, Jouni & Nigel only made it through 11 or 12 holes so, I rule! Just don't ask us what our scores were!

Last weekend we went camping up at La Minerve with Katja & Jouni & the kids & her family. We got to test out our new tent that we bought last Christmas and it was a bust! Someone had obviously used it & returned it with a busted zipper. Luckily we had brought our old tent so we used it instead. There were way too many bugs to use a tent with a door that wouldn't close. Black flies, mosquitoes, no-see-ums, deer flies, you name 'em, I got eaten alive! And we had a wicked thunderstorm in the night. Luckily our trusty old tent kept us pretty much dry. And more luckily, on Sunday we packed up and got home before the rain hit again.

So that's about it for the month of June. I'll make a seperate post later on our wedding plans...