Boy or Girl? What the Old Wives think

Less than a week now til the next ultrasound!

Since I keep going back and forth about what I think I'm having (my feelings change based on things like people's guesses, dreams, etc), I thought it'd be fun to check out some of the popular old wive's tales used to predict the sex of the baby to see if boy or girl came out on top.

The winner?

It's a dead heat. 

I probably shouldn't have chosen an even number of questions but I wanted to include the more popular ones. 

Of the online predictor quizzes I've done, one said 60% chance it's a girl and the other was a 75% chance of this little one being a girl. 

Only time will tell. 

Breaking down the myths : 

• I've had no real morning sickness (some nausea but no throwing up which I am incredibly grateful for). Apparently this means boy - although I've been told differently by people who were very sick with their sons and totally fine with their daughters. My mom had two girls and zero morning sickness.
• I have had an increased number of headaches. Apparently this also means boy. I also had the worst migraine I may have ever had in my life about a month and a half ago. 
• No pregnancy glow, really. Definitely breakouts. Supposedly this means it's a girl because a girl will steal some of your beauty for herself. Kind of selfish if you ask me. 
• I'm craving more sweets, especially things like fruit. Apparently this means girl. I guess cause we're sweeter.
• The Mayans say I'm having a girl (take your age at conception and the year you conceived. If both are even or odd it's a girl. If one is even and one is odd it's a boy).
• The Chinese tell me it's a boy. Google the calendar. It's based on your age and the month of conception.
• I'm carrying low. This could be because I'm still early on and my bump hasn't really grown to epic proportions yet. But this means boy.
• All my extra weight (so far) is in my belly. and boobs I suppose. But this, too, points to boy.
• At the last checkup, baby's heart rate was 154 beats per minute. Above 140 is supposed indicate a girl. 
• And the strangest one - my leg hair has not started growing faster or darker. Supposedly if you're having a boy the new source of testosterone in your body causes this. So for me this means girl. And less time spent with a razor. 

If you'd like to make your guess please do!

The big reveal on the blog will probably be in early August :)

What do you think? Boy or girl?

Updates

I've been slacking and I apologize. Between the move into our new home, working, and life in general, I've been busy and, if I'm being honest, somewhat unmotivated to post anything. 

But hopefully that will change and I'll find the inspiration to post more and more often!

We moved into our new place (a rental house) at the beginning of July. We did a slow move, giving ourselves two weeks to shuttle back and forth between the apartment and the house which helped break up the amount we had to do each day. But it also meant that for two weeks we were constantly packing, unpacking, and driving back and forth between the two places. 

I was luckily off for almost an entire week during the process and I spent hours each day going back and forth with boxes and pieces of furniture.

I thought I would have been more sad at saying goodbye to the apartment - our first home away from our parents and together, the place John proposed, where my dream of becoming a mother was realized - but I think I was just ready to be out of the chaos and into a home. 

Besides, memories travel with you no matter where you are.

I also spent that week that I was off mowing down on subs from Subway. 

After denying that I was having any real cravings, I think it's safe to say that having the same sub every day for lunch for an entire week constitutes as a craving. 

Since then I mostly just want fruit and occasionally a specific nationality of food.

Like baseball was to Sammy Sosa, pregnancy has been very very good to me. 

No throwing up, minimal nausea (relieved with food), and a slow growing belly which means that at almost 5 months I can still get into my regular pants.

I can't technically do them up, but I can still get them on. 

Here's where we're at as of last Friday:

It's starting to look more and more like a baby belly and less like a beer gut. 

This might be a weird thing to admit but I've been on belly button watch. My belly button is an innie and a super deep one at that. I've always wanted it to pop temporarily so I'm anxiously awaiting movement on that front. 

Aside from weirdo things like that, I've had pretty bad heartburn on and off, I'm hyper-emotional at times (will cry at just about anything), and I'm 100% convinced that "pregnancy glow" is just a nice way of saying expect tons of zits.

But I'll gladly buy more concealer for the moments when I can sit quietly with my hands on my little-but-growing 18 week + 4 day belly and feel the little twitches that I can only imagine are my little one gaining the strength to let me know (s)he is in there.

Our next ultrasound is on the 31st and I can't wait to find out if we're having a boy or a girl.

More so, I'm excited to see how the little bean has grown and to see him or her moving around on the screen again. 

It's crazy to be so in love with someone who doesn't exist in the outside world yet.

Announcement...

Sorry for the lack of posts recently!

We've spent the last week moving into our new place.
I'm completely in love with it and thought I'd have a much harder time saying goodbye to the apartment we've lived in for the past 6 years.
I guess it's hard to be sad about a dishwasher, a garden, a big back yard, etc.

There's also another reason I've been busy...

John and I are going to be parents!

The little bean is due in December.

I had my first ultrasound about a week and a half ago and saw it's little heart fluttering and watched it stretch out it's legs.

I've never fallen so hopelessly in love with another person so immediately.

Baby Shower Invitations

Last Sunday I had the honour of attending my good friend's baby shower. 

She's due early next month and, although she looks beautiful and content, she is ready to get that baby moving (her poor swollen feet & ankles)! 

She, along with another friend who just gave birth to her daughter this week, have made me keenly aware that my group of friends has started the move from bridal showers, bachelorette parties, and weddings, to pregnancies and baby showers. 

Inspired by a template I came across, I decided to mock up some baby shower invitations for anyone thinking about hosting a baby shower. 

I had so much fun creating my wedding RSVP cards and I wanted to create something else.

Keep in mind these are incredibly tailored to my personal preferences (I love old school Winnie and also books). If you have an idea in mind I highly recommend you do what I did: find a template or an image that you like, open it in Picmonkey and edit away!

But if you like either of my invite templates feel free to save the image, open them in Picmonkey or any other photo editing site you like, and add in the missing details like the mom-to-be's name and the party details. 

1. The template that got me thinking about baby shower invitations

Martha Stewart Baby Book Shower Template 

(with matching book mark template!)

2. Winnie the Pooh

3. A Book Shower

Because I'm Happy...

A few months back I got a letter in the mail asking me to fill out a questionnaire to see if I qualified for jury duty.

Then I got a letter summoning me to jury duty selection today.

I was dreading it for weeks leading up to it.

No one ever speaks highly of jury duty. 

One coworker kind of enjoyed it as her number was called and she got to hear the details of the trial but ultimately wasn't picked to be on the jury. 

Everyone else told me that it'd be boring and that I'd sit in a room for hours and to bring lots to keep myself entertained. 

I had my excuses for being excused ready but lots of people also offered better suggestions for avoiding being selected.

These included dropping racial slurs, crying when called before the lawyers, and my personal favourite: arriving drunk and explaining that I'd just had my morning medicine. 

But being a good citizen, I downloaded 3 books, stocked up on snacks, packed my magazines and my phone charger and was ready to spend the day sitting in a waiting room. 

I arrived on time, in wet shoes from the rain, made friends with a nice woman (she asked if I was there for jury duty, I joked that it was easy to tell who was there for jury duty by their unimpressed faces), and got myself settled into my chair in the waiting area - all by 8:30.

We watched a 20 minute video on the jury duty process then a court representative came to give us an orientation talk. 

He thanked us for coming and then explained that the selection process often requires potential jurors to be there for 3 days to a full week. He then explained that mid-week panels are often auxiliary panels and it's usually the Monday panels that go that length of time. 

So mid-week panels are basically just back up. 

And we weren't needed.

So we were released.

At 9:15 am.

There was a round of applause in the room and I practically skipped home.

The downside was I only got to read about 1/4 of my book.

So here's what I learned:

• Jury duty is an important civic duty.
• If you get summoned to a mid-week (Wednesday on I assume) panel you might be sent home sooner.
• If you're summoned on a Monday.... start brushing up on how to be excused as a juror.

100 Happy Days: Week 14

Week 14 - the pen-ultimate week! 

Next week really only has 2 days to go before I hit 100 but I might extend it to Friday just to end it on a nice round note. 

And look who's on time this week with her post!

Day 92: Friday.

My birthday loves. 

30 years & 1 year.

Day 93: Saturday.

She likes to bring us toys when we come home and recently she's figured out how to get two toys in her mouth. It was picture worthy that she managed to get THREE in her jaws to bring to the door (fox, a yellow pillow, and Doug the duck).

Day 94: Sunday.

Our garden. We went over to water it and put in the last of the herbs, as well as do a little trimming of the trees.

We're growing zucchini (the big mothers, the one's that grow to 10 x the size of supermarket zucchini), beets, carrots, 2 types of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, rhubarb, beans, .... 

Day 95: Monday.

One thing I'll miss about our current home is how close we are to the park. I know there's another park near our new home but Sherwood has come to be one of my all time favourite places. 

Reese and I have been taking extra long walks this week to enjoy every last moment of our neighbourhood.

Day 96: Tuesday.

Our soon-to-be new backyard. 

Look how perfect it is. I'm completely smitten. 

Not pictured is our storage shed just in behind the hedge on the left hand side and the BBQ which is further over to the left. Our garden is in the back right hand corner in a perfect patch of almost constant sunlight. 

Day 97: Wednesday.

John got us rhubarb to plant in the garden and he brought some home as well. That was all the inspiration needed to do some baking. 

Day 98: Thursday.

Another park shot. I don't know what percentage of my 100 days are park pictures but my guess would be high. A high percentage. It's hard not to be happy surrounded by lush greenery, warm sunshine, and a very happy dog. 

Rhubarb Tart

In celebration of our new garden, I decided to bake up a rhubarb desert.

We're growing rhubarb in the garden among the veggies and herbs and it's something I don't use nearly enough in my baking. 

Also we're going for dinner at our friends' place tonight so we volunteered to bring the desert. 

After a quick google search ('what parts of rhubarb will kill me?')* and a Pinterest search for recipes, I settled on a rhubarb tart with shortbread crust. 

The picture looked delicious and I'm sure the finished result with taste as good as it looks (in the picture on Pinterest, mine doesn't look super appetizing unfortunately).

*FYI - you can eat the stalks, just don't eat the leaves of the rhubarb plant. Those might kill you.

Rhubarb Tart 

(adapted from Taste of Home recipe) 

1. In a large saucepan bring 3 3/4 cups chopped rhubarb, 1/4 cup sugar, and 2 tbsp water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the rhubarb is tender, string often. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool, transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.

2. Meanwhile, mix together 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup quick oats, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup cold cubed butter. Use a pastry cutter to blend until the butter is the size of peas. Pour into an ungreased tart pan with removable bottom and press into the bottom and up the sides. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. 

3. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk 6 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice and the rhubarb puree until blended. Mix in 5 tbsp butter and whisk until melted then remove from heat. Add in a few drops of red food colouring if you're not satisfied with the colour. 

4. Pour into the crust and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until the centre is almost set. Cool completely, then refrigerate for at least one hour . Then serve and enjoy!