thumb's turning green

Turns out, I'm not as useless as I thought when it comes to gardening!

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

And by some stroke of a miracle, my houseplants seem to be thriving, too. And I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that we now live in a first-floor home with lots of windows, sunlight and air circulation, instead of the stale-aired, million-degrees-in-winter box we used to inhabit ... but I digress.

I give a lot of credit to these little gems ...

My mum actually gave them to me as a gag gift last Christmas, poking fun at my lack of gardening skills, but joke's on her — they work like a charm! I fill these up and stick them in our houseplants. When I see that they're empty — usually about a week later — I know it's time to add more H2O. If you're horticulturally challenged like I am, give these a try.

try it tuesday

You know what's gross? Fruit flies. They're annoying and disgusting and multiply at unnatural rates. They must be stopped.

I was justifiably embarrassed by these unwanted house-guests when brother- and sister-in-law A & L came over for a visit last week. They swarmed the kitchen table until we couldn't see one foot in front of our faces. I swear, that isn't an exaggeration.

I've tried different things in the past to destroy these awful pests — a jar with plastic wrap and tiny holes — but nothing really worked. Luckily L had the perfect solution.

Using a piece of printer paper, we fashioned a funnel with a narrow hole at the bottom. We then inserted the small end of funnel into a glass jar containing a little piece of fruit, like a raspberry or slice of banana that will quickly turn into something disgusting that, to quote lovely sister-in-law C, these little winged spawns of satan just love.

Here's the proof. A jar packed full. Every day or so, we take it outside and give it a shake to let them loose outside, far far away from our kitchen.

During this humid summer, you definitely should try it.

pregnancy revelation #421

This little baby is real. Very real. With the already-acquired, very real ability to keep me up at all hours of the night by trying to escape through my belly button.

Husband whispering "Come on baby; you can do it!" at my belly certainly doesn't help.

33 weeks

At 33 weeks — only 48 days to go! — time is really starting to fly by. Just yesterday, Husband told me that he booked the next two scheduled weeks off from his casual job.

Me: Why?! [I asked in confusion, running through our social schedule in my mind]

Husband: Umm, we're having a baby?

Me: [crickets]

Husband: [raises eyebrows, points at belly] Umm ...

Me: OHMYGOD! That's so soon! Eeeeekkkkk!

[followed by an all-too-common hormonal outburst, as my eyes fill with tears]

YAY! I'm so excited!

How far along? 33 weeks.

How big is baby? Growth spurting like crazy, our boy is now more than 17 inches long and about four pounds already, and he'll gain about a half a pound each week for the next seven weeks. Whoa.

Total weight gain: Still hovering just over 20 lbs. Husband consistently tries to feed me snacks, but it's getting harder and harder to find room in my increasingly packed abdomen for extra food.

Maternity Clothes? Nothing new. It's been so hot lately that I'm wearing the bare minimum around the house and the lightest dresses and T-shirts, so there's no sense in buying anything new if I can't wear it out.

Stretch marks? Knock on wood — None yet!

Sleep: Seems to be getting easier. Maybe it's because I'm extra tired? I'm starting to feel first-trimester-esque fatigue again, which is really putting a dent into my library-book reading.

Movement: He still moves all the time, but it's mostly rolling and a lot less kicking. He's getting cramped in there, but still manages to work on his yoga poses.

Food cravings: Like I said before, I'm feeling a lot less hungry, because there's less room for my stomach to expand. But a few things I've been enjoying — fries with lots of ketchup, chocolate milk and guacamole ... not all in one sitting though!

What I miss: Doing anything without sweating.

What I am looking forward to: Making the most of the remaining seven weeks, including finishing up some nursery projects, catching up on some sleep, making and freezing food for the busy post-birth days and lots of reading.

Milestones: We celebrated our first baby shower for our boy this past weekend with our lovely CB family. It was a great time, we received many generous gifts, and these celebrations are really making his impending arrival seem all the more real!

Oh, and THIS: Little known, yet common, pregnancy symptom? Kidney stones! I unexpectedly landed in the hospital with one of these little (that is — little in size, huge in pain) annoyances and later found out that it's fairly common to pass a kidney stone while pregnant. Luckily, I passed it about 24 hours after the pain started and I've been symptom free since. Lots of friends and family have come to my aid, sharing stories about how kidney stone pain is worse than labour. If that's true, I'm all set!

re-do a re-do

Remember this makeover?

This reno'd message board sat in my now-defunct Etsy shop, unloved, and once I decided to close the store, it then rested, even more unloved, in the back of my closet. It doesn't really match anything in our house, but I didn't want to discard it. Luckily, now it's found new purpose.

I left the blue background, but picked off the yellow ribbon and star decals. Then I added thicker, chocolate brown ribbon.

But the two strips of ribbon didn't seem like enough, so I added some more.

Followed by a few upholstery tacks leftover from another project.

Ta da! And now it resides in the perfect space on Baby Boy's nursery wall ...

Now all it needs are some baby photos of me and Husband!

More nursery reveal to come soon!

a guide to surviving mat leave

Technically, I'm not on maternity leave yet, but I have been unexpectedly put off work on sick leave (nothing major, simply precautionary). Since I have about seven weeks to go (give or take) until Baby B arrives, I've got to figure out a game plan — yes, friends, I said game plan ... you know it's my favourite term — to surviving nearly two months off work.

Lindsey's Guide to Surviving Leave from Work

1) Get out of bed at a decent time. Don't get me wrong; I'm not anti-sleep-in. That said, on my first day off, I was wide awake at 5:45 a.m. and never did get back to sleep (my neurotic brain couldn't stand the idea of letting me sleep in on my first day off). That's the opposite of what I mean. I just can't spend half my day in bed, and napping makes me cranky. Plus, keeping regular hours will hopefully make for an easier transition to the inevitable baby-induced sleep deprivation.

2) Get clean and dressed. While the obvious inclination, when I have no intentions of leaving the house for the foreseeable future, would to stay in pajamas all day — I just can't do it. Nothing makes me lazier/crankier/slobbier. Even if getting dressed sometimes means clean yoga pants and a T-shirt, it's still something fresh and different for the daylight hours.

3) Make intentions for the day. I can't live without purpose. I have no problem with putting meaningless things on my list, like have breakfast and make lunch, etc., but there have to be goals in progress and a list to cross off.

4) Take advantage. I'm not going to lie — I checked my work e-mail A LOT during that first day. I swear I'm not so vein as to think that the place would fall apart without me. I was just ... well ... bored. I puttered around the house doing small chores, while also getting the doctor-recommended rest, of course. But I still couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't quite right to be home during the day on a Monday. Thankfully, I've reassessed the situation and have realized that there are many things to do to prepare for Baby B's arrival — not to mention that this is the last seven weeks of peace and quiet I will enjoy for the next 18 years or so — and this time off is a gift.

5) Talk to others. And by others, I don't just mean talking to my two cats or my unborn child (though both are certainly effective in their own right). I'm trying to use this break from the office as a great chance to catch up on correspondence — sending messages, e-mails, old-fashioned letters and thoughtful cards. Spending the whole day in silence isn't good for anyone, especially the talkative individuals among us. So I'm doing my best to make conversations happen, even when I'm solo.

project in progress

The trick is to take the projects from in progress to completion ...

summery sweets

I don't know what it's like in your neck of the woods, but it's been humid to the tune of feels like 35 (celsuis) for about two weeks. In my world, that's when popsicles become a food group all their own.

*

I'd never tried make-your-own popsicle moulds before, but Husband insisted that they were awesome when he was a kid, so we picked up a set. Here's what we used in our first concoction.

There's no science to it, as far as I can tell. You can use just juice, or combine it with other juices, purees and yogurt for a smoothie-esque treat. We decided to use bits of sliced up strawberries and pineapple in ours, topped off with pink lemonade.

I must admit that I was skeptical at first, but here's the final product ...

Pretty awesome! Now I can't wait to try other combinations of juice and fruit. Any suggestions from any popsicle-making pros out there?

incubator

Me: [asking the most ridiculous, hormonally charged of questions] Husband, why do you love me?

Husband: [points at belly; says nothing]

try it tuesday

Better late than never ... the return of Try it Tuesday!

In honour of Husband's birthday recently, I tried out a new recipe — a twist on a family favourite — barbecued pizza!

I made the dough from scratch using Martha Stewart's whole wheat pizza dough recipe. It's fantastic.

I rolled out the dough and gave both sides a thin spread of olive oil, crossed my fingers and tossed it on the grill.

I love the grill marks you get on the dough. But that's when things get tricky. Once the dough is reasonably cooked on both sides, you have to dress your pizzas. I don't recommend this for anyone with knuckle hair they'd like to keep.

Sauce ...

Then, for us, green peppers, pineapple, broccoli and marble cheddar cheese.

Mmmm!

Try it! It's easier than you think!

bouncing back

Sorry for the lack of weekend posts. A small health issue — one the size of a kidney stone — kept me indisposed for a few days. Thankfully, I'm pretty much back to normal — we all know normal is a relative term — and I've got a bunch of new posts in the works! Stay tuned!