Beat the Heat

Guess what I got myself for this summer heat? It's the perfect thing for smokin' hot weather when you have 8 more weeks of being pregnant. We got a sweet backyard pool.

It took 9 hours with two hoses to fill it. And it wasn't all too warm outside earlier this week, but we had to try it out anyways. Tim dove in so the shock wasn't so bad for him.

But it's a wee bit harder for a pregnant chick to dive up and over the edge. I had to climb down the ladder and IT WAS CHILLY! But I did it! I went under and everything. We warmed up in the hot tub though.

But it was super hot today and I spent the majority of my day lounging in our pool. It felt so nice. Ya, we're pretty classy with our backyard pool now. But boy, it sure is a GREAT way to beat the heat when you're pregnant!

Waterton Lakes National Park

I know you'll be shocked to hear that last weekend we went camping...again. Ya, we love it. This time we met up with my family in Waterton. We had AMAZING weather and tons of fun (minus the mosquitoes).

Our campsite that we shared with Kimmy & Brendan:

Saturday afternoon we went to Red Rock Canyon. Usually we climb into the water and hike all up the canyon. I'm not so agile these days, so I we passed on that. We did the little hike that goes along the top of the canyon (instead of in the water).

Just me looking very pregnant (31 weeks):

Tim taking the dogs down into the canyon:

Then we went by the horseback riding stables (Brendan's aunt runs the place). Jayda and Parker each went for a little ride while the rest of us tried to find some shade.

Me and Mom watching Jayda & Parker ride:

Parker waiting with Uncle Tim for his turn on the horse:

And what's a trip to Waterton if you don't take a picture by Cameron Falls? However I've NEVER seen the falls this big before. It's cuz we had too much rain this June!! There was another little hike to the top of the falls and once again I made it. Luckily we stopped about 101 times on the way up to take pictures and I was able rest.

Tim and I used a picture just like this of us on our wedding invitations (with me a few pounds less though):

We then had to take the dogs down to Waterton Lake and let them swim. It was also a great opportunity for me to ice my swollen ankles in that freezing glacier water. It worked, the swelling went down....some. (It was on the beach of Waterton Lake where Tim asked me to be his wife over 4 years ago.)

The water was so cold it burned (make sense?):

And we rented the bikes. You know THE bikes in Waterton. Those funny looking ones. So much fun. However Tim and Brendan wanted to race all the time and my legs just couldn't keep up to the fast peddling. So I let Tim do most of the work.

Sweet bike eh?

Let's not forget to mention the bears in Waterton. I don't think I've EVER been to Waterton when I haven't seen a bear. This time was no exception. There was this hill in our campground that the guys (along with Jayda and Parker) would climb up there and look for bears. Brendan spotted a ton of them throughout the weekend. I lost count after he said 8.

I finally made it to the top of the hill to look for bears too. Jayda came and sat with me.

Tim just hanging out:

I took way more pictures so check out our photo album Camping 2008 (Part 2).

Camping, Gophers, & Horses!

I've been super busy and didn't get the chance to update our blog last week. Two weekends ago we went camping with Trent, Tara, and Blake at Woolford Provincial Park. It's not too far from here, but it was nice to get away. It was super quiet there. Only a few other people there in the entire campground.

Our Woolford Campsite:

Uncle Tim is great at putting Blake to sleep:

Saturday afternoon we went into Cardston and met up with Julie, Kendall, and baby Kyla. We were so excited to finally meet Kyla. She's beautiful.

Then all of us headed out to Trent's parent's farm to check on our horses. Tim moved Jet out there late winter. Tim worked a bit with Jet in the round pen. He's now 2 years old (time flies eh?). Jet looks a ton like his mom Felize. And Tara's horse just had a little colt the weekend before.

Tim working with Jet:

Having a rest:

I got tired of taking pictures of Tim and Jet so decided to take a pic of my shadow.

Here's my baby bump at 30 weeks:

And OF COURSE if you're out at the farm, then a little (or a lot of) gopher hunting is a must. Tim, Trent, and Kendall loved it. The field was full of gophers. After the first few hours the wives and babies got tired. The guys went out for another hour. Silly boys!

Ready, Aim, FIRE!

Hmmm, I wonder who got that one?

To check out more pictures from the weekend go to our Photo Albums on the left of this page. Click on both Camping 2008 (Part 1) and Summer 2008.

Snip Snip

I was needing a change in more ways than not. I have a lovely waddle, a big belly, and I'm "puffy". Not feeling so hot these days. I phoned my hairdresser. Maybe new hair would give me a boost I had a bunch cut off and decided I needed to be blonde for the summer.

And while I'm trying to use the timer to take some pics of myself, I might as well throw in a baby bump one. Here it is at 29.5 weeks:

Tap Tap -- Are you in there?

When you were pregnant were you one of those ladies that would poke at your tummy just to see if they baby’s still in there and moving? I’m one of them. I’ll admit to it. I think a little of me has even rubbed off on my husband. He’ll climb in bed with me early in the morning (when he gets home from night shift) and poke and tap on my tummy till baby wiggles. Then he’ll go to sleep. I think it’s fair to say I’m a little paranoid. Everything has been going so well that I think trouble must be just around the corner. Do you ever have that feeling?

Yesterday I was WORRIED! And because I was worried I made my poor husband worry and my mom worry and my sisters worry and my boss worry. I had mentioned to Mom and Tim a few times throughout the morning and early afternoon yesterday that I couldn’t be sure if I had felt the baby move since last night. Mom thought maybe the baby was just having a good sleep and would wake up in a bit. Tim kept telling me to phone the doctor but I’d say well I’ll just give it a little more time to see if I feel something. You see, yesterday was a super busy day at work as it was my boss’ last official day of work before he retired. It was a madhouse around the office. So I would convince myself that maybe the baby was moving but I was so busy that I didn’t notice.

By 2:30 in the afternoon I still couldn’t 100% say I had felt the baby. I talked to Tim and Mom and they both told me to PHONE MY DOCTOR! I did. They told me to come straight to the clinic. I did. I was so worried that I chewed off all my nails on the drive there and I’m SO NOT a nail biter ever.

The clinic was great. They put my in a room right away. None of that waiting crap. But I didn’t relax right away. It took them over 10 minutes to find our baby’s heartbeat. Those 10 minutes felt like forever. I could see the nurse’s face looking so nervous because I was so nervous. She kept telling me that she wasn’t worried cuz she couldn’t find the heartbeat – she just couldn’t even find the baby. How does an almost 3lb baby go missing? But then she finally found the heartbeat and it was good and strong – 148 bpm. The doctor then explained that the baby is in a really awkward position right now which made it hard for them to find the heartbeat and why I hadn’t been feeling anything (or at least not feeling anything I recognized as movement). Sometime during the night the baby had flip itself around and is now breech plus he/she was facing backwards (towards my spine). So the little feet that I’ve grown accustom to pushing out of my ribs were pointing down and the little bumps from elbows and knees were towards my back. The doctor wasn’t surprised that I hadn’t felt anything all day, even in my back, given the position. I was so relieved.

My doctor then did a full check-up on me and the baby. I’m measuring one week ahead, but he said that’s still okay. And he told me the baby has 7 weeks to flip itself back upside down before being breech is a concern. As of this morning the baby is at least facing outwards again. I can feel so much more now. If I concentrate really hard I occasionally feel little “twinges” in my lower back that must be the little kicks. Feels completely different than when the little feet are in your ribs.

Driving away from the clinic I had a little chat with our baby. I told him/her to never make mommy worry again. Then thought, who am I kidding? The worrying part is only just beginning.....

Photo Albums

We've been taking so many pictures lately that it's just way too much to put on the blog. However I have been putting most of them into photo albums on Facebook. But for those of you not signed up with Facebook or just not friends with me on there -- I've added a link on the left of our blog to two albums that we'll be updating a lot over the summer. Do you see the links over there under the "Nilsson Photo Albums" heading just under the Baby Counter? One is of the "Baby Bump" so you can watch it grow as I grow. The other is our "Camping 2008" pictures. So click on either album and then flip/click your way through our photos. Enjoy!

We Love Camping - Writing on Stone

We love camping and we really love camping at Writing on Stone. We went twice last year (here and here). Trent, Tara, & Blake as well as Clay & Erica came with us this time. We had lots of fun. The weather was so nice on Saturday that we spent the afternoon swimming in the river. We also spent a bunch of time climbing in the hoodoos. I was pretty terrible at it this year. It's not so easy climbing in those when your balance is shot cuz you're almost 6.5 months pregnant. I had to take a few breaks cuz when I walk my stomach gets tighter and tighter making it hard to manouver. But if I stop for a bit it'll relax. Tim was super adventerous as usual and scaled all the tough hoodoos (makes me nervous). And our dogs were always right behind him. I find it amazing how well dogs can climb (and jump) if they really want to get to their best friend. (Click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.)

Tim & Dexter just checking things out:

I couldn't climb to the top of that hoodoo, so Tim came down to take a pic with me:

Tim calls this my pregnant pose and he catches me doing it every once and a while. It feels so good to stretch out my back and the hand on the tummy is trying to push a little foot out of my ribs:

Tara & Blake in the hoodoos:

Looking down on our campsite from the hoodoos:

This is me making Tim stop for a picture:

Just us and our dogs:

Our campsite:

Tim using the hoodoos as a climbing wall:

Blake & I chilling while the guys cooked steaks: