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- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Neighbours
It has been two and a half years since Matt and I moved to our apartment. In that time I have had so many mixed feelings about living here - in this building and in this community. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I feel trapped and want to start over in a new city. Sometimes I see so much potential to serve God and be fulfilled, and other times the neediness and brokenness of our neighbourhood overwhelms me, shuts me down.
When we first moved in, I had great hopes and exciting ideas about how great life/ministry would be here - although it turns out new contexts don't give you a new personality, and I'm still a slight introvert who always feels on the brink of doing too much. Not ideal for bursting onto a new scene to share the love of Jesus. Living in a building rather than a basement, however, and having a dog both make it easier to get to know your neighbours, and over time Matt and I have become settled here, made connections. We haven't started a Bible study group or a monthly potluck, but we've learned some names and chatted in elevators and bonded over making the best of life despite constant construction projects, rent increases, and random acts of vandalism.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: pregnancy
In one month today, my parents will be arriving to visit Matt and me for a few weeks. 31 days! I know the time will fly by with all the appointments, nesting projects and outings we are hoping to enjoy in the meantime in our final weeks as people-without-kids. There is also a little bit of suspense whether my parents will arrive before or after the Truck, since Feb 7 (the day they arrive) is my due date. Personally, I'm hoping they'll beat the Truck by a couple days, but it's not really up to me, and I trust that the Truck will come when (s)he is ready.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: pregnancy
I have the house to myself for the next two nights and am on a cleaning binge, but I wanted to get a quick post up because 35 weeks is a great big milestone and I hit it today :) The Truck's hearing, lungs and kidneys are all fully developed, and it might be about as long as it's going to get! Over the next few weeks (s)he still needs to get chubbier in preparation for life outside the womb, but developmentally there isn't a whole lot that still needs to happen, just gaining weight and strength and courage (that's true for both of us lol).
No bump picture this week, but I don't think there's a noticeable difference from last week. If you were to see me in action, especially on stairs and in the snow I'm developing a pretty tough waddle, although it depends how stiff my hips are and how sore my back - sometimes I really make the effort to walk like a human being instead of a duck ;)
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
This is the pot of jasmine tea I'm having to start my day today - it started as a hard little tea-bud and opened into such a beautiful flower!
Maybe this is a reminder of the potential held by each new day. Although really it just made me happy so I wanted to share :) I hope the new year is off to a beautiful start for you.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
I wanted to write a post looking back on 2012, but it's tricky because... what to focus on? Although I very sweetly thought that Kindness would be my word for the year, I never implemented any kind of follow-up to check in throughout the year, and so as I re-read that post I still love it, but I can't say I lived it. I am struck by the similarities between that post and this more recent reflection on Joy - that over and over again God reminds me he has to be the source for me to do good things with my life.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Lest anyone be fooled by my blog-self and think my real-life self is ready for parenthood, let me tell you how sick I feel right now because I ate a chocolate bar instead of breakfast while I typed that last post. And now I don't have room to finish my high-in-iron cream of wheat, which was supposed to be my real breakfast, to nourish me and my unborn child. And the only remedy I can think of is to try topping it all off with a slice of cold pizza to see if it settles everything down.
Bleh.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: pregnancy
Matt and I had a wonderful mini-vacation this week - after (delicious!) Christmas dinner with family in Newmarket we spent three nights with my dad's side of the family up in Orillia. I think it is the longest stay we have had since getting married, and it was so nice to have so much downtime, to chat and watch movies and eat leftovers :)
My Grandma was kind enough to handle taking a bump picture for me on Thursday when the Truck and I marked 34 weeks. It was so funny reading my weekly prego email this week because it was right on the mark about how I've been uncomfortable the last few days - achy pelvis, tired eyes, rolling over in bed is getting to be a huge production. Word is the Truck is the size of a butternut squash and is producing about a pint of pee per day.
Matt and I had a wonderful moment on Boxing Day when we took a $50 gift card to Toys R Us to see if there were any great sales to take advantage of, and we ended up walking out of the store empty handed. There was a lot of really cute stuff, and some pretty cool stuff, as well as some obvious over-marketing to new parents BUT none of it was anything we need before the baby actually arrives, and we would rather have the gift card for things we need down the road. For our real baby! It's still hard to believe that all these months of waiting and preparing are actually such a small portion of how our lives will change. There are still preparations to be made (I borrowed a sewing machine and a steamer to help with my ongoing nesting, and our apartment is definitely set up for Christmas, not a home birth), but it keeps hitting me more and more often that all of this momentous anticipation is part of my life that the Truck won't be able to fathom - parents before they were parents! Growing up, when I looked at photo albums from my baby years I couldn't be bothered with too many pictures before I came on the scene in all my chubby-cheeked, grey-eyed glory, and it is strange to now be living in that era of irrelevance for my own child.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: pregnancy
Oh yes, I almost forgot to share this picture of me and the Truck at 33 weeks! The day after my last picture, the baby flipped so that its head is down and it can finish growing in the proper position to be born. I was very proud to have such a smart baby :) and I am glad to know there is such a small, small chance of things changing and the baby being born breech.
At my last midwife appointment my weight was down just over a pound, but the baby's growth was consistent and its heartbeat was good, so nobody is too concerned. I had that horrible cold for about 10 of the 14 days between appointments, so although I was eating and resting we figure my body still had to dip into its reserves. I also found out that I have been really anemic, and taking Iron and B12 supplements has been helping me to sleep better and have a bit more energy. Not being sick and not being (as) anemic, plus with Christmas coming, I am hoping to pull off a great big weight gain in time for our first appointment of the new year :)
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
I have seen two movies in theatres this week, and both times have been so much fun! Most of the time I don't really care to go out, and this has been one of the most frequent negotiations for Matt and I in marriage - I love being home and he loves going out, and fortunately we love each other, so we do our best to communicate and compromise and usually things work out okay one way or the other :)
This week we finally went to see Skyfall, which we had planned a date night for weeks ago, but that got cancelled due to all the essays and sermons Matt had to write (it was also not a great night for my back, but like I said, I really don't need any excuse to stay home). Now that the semester is over and Matt has had a few days to recuperate from his insane busyness over the last two months, we packed up the cineplex gift cards we've (I've) been hoarding and had a real, out-of-the-house date!
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
One week before Christmas I am finally starting to settle into anticipation and soak in the Christmas spirit. I'm really glad because some years December is so hectic it feels like savouring Christmas can't happen until Boxing Day!
I have been off work for a little over a month now, which has been a blessing. It was definitely an adjustment to be home so much more and still feel like I accomplish so little, but Matt has been wonderfully supportive, and I feel that I've learned pretty quickly to respect the new limits my body sets.