Halloween is weird

I've decided that I think Halloween is really weird.

I went over to Andrew and Heather's to hang out with Heather and Miles the ba-BEE while the guys blew up firecrackers. The guys scared off at least half of the total number of trick-or-treaters by blowing up firecrackers in the driveway, sewer and street. So the ones we did get were the bigger kids, wearing weird half-rocker, half-butterfly outfits.

They were all nice and polite and weren't all "oh no, i couldnt!" when i'd tell them to take a handful (I guess i was supposed to hand it to them). It felt like my first time ever handing out candy and the first one, I said "Happy Halloween" to as she walked away and she said the same back and then I thought...thats weird, I don't really want to wish her a Happy Halloween or get wished a Happy Halloween...Halloween is weird.

I'm not sure what I'll do when my kids are older, but from this perspective, walking around for one evening, for 30 minutes to get candy from strangers is pretty weird, but I guess its a safe way to reverse the teaching you've been giving your kid for years of: "Don't take candy from strangers" to "Don't take candy from strangers unless i'm standing at the end of the driveway or you're with a pack of friends."

Hey, is that bee pollenating those flowers?!

Here is little Miles the ba-bee on his final day in his costume (Sunday, October 31, 2004). I'm holding him up to those flowers and I think, deep down, he's really enjoying himself.

We made a quick stop for lunch and then headed over to see our friend's new adopted baby from Florida! Kalen arrived to Canada on Saturday night and he is really cute, 3 months old and our friends are all looking forward to play dates with him.

Kalen's grandma was also adopted and she wrote him a beautiful peom about "i dont know when you're coming or where you're coming from but i love you already." Congratulations on your new baby boy!

Alicia Mellenger on her way to becoming a Nylund

Uncle Richard walking Alicia Mellenger down the aisle on her wedding day. It was a beautifully decorated wedding which was not too Halloween-y as we thought it might be but the unity candle was inside a pumpkin that looked Tim Burton style with the stiched mouth. it was cute.

Salmon Family Ninjas

Derek and Amanda dressed up as Ninjas with Miles the Bee.

we were the only ones dressed up at the ceremony...the invitation said the wedding was at 3pm with reception to follow. It didn't give any times, so we didn't know there would be a break...there was a big break in fact. Dinner was served at 6pm.

Andrew and Heather were supposed to dress up with us, but decided to wait until the reception (but didn't actually tell us that ahead of time). So we were the ONLY ones at the wedding dressed up.

Apparently, someone asked the wedding party if we were muslim and sitting at the very back because of our religion. Oh dear! Anyway, I am pretty sure we will never be in that situation again, going to a Halloween Wedding, but if we ever are, we'll know not to dress up. grrr....

Heather calms the Bee

Heather managed to calm Miles down so that he spent a nice evening in his bee suit. Since this is the only Halloween it will ever fit him, he is going to have good wear out of it. Friday night, Saturday for a costume wedding and Sunday for church.

Uncle Derek and Miles "the Bee" Mellenger

Miles was pretty upset by the tag team effort by his dad and uncle to get him into this bee costume. But he sure looked cute!

Fit for a Bee

Derek and Andrew wrestle the Bee suit onto an upset Miles. The teamwork paid off in the end.

23 weeks Pregnant. Only 17 weeks to go!!!

I'm excited to learn that my baby is over 1lb now and approximately 11 inches long! Soo cool

My week 23 newsletter says "Your baby is continuing to develop their facial features. You are probably feeling a lot of movement as your baby is continuing to learn and assimilate their abilities in the comfort of their own personal,"living womb." Your baby now has eyes that open and close, ears that can hear, a thumb well worth sucking and lots and lots of hiccups."

The baby moves alot and I can see a lump when the kicks or punches are high enough. I don't know what the hiccups feel like yet, but I guess i'll be paying attention for those these days.

We found out that Derek's family in Ontario are going to throw us a Baby Shower on Boxing Day down home, in North Augusta. We're really excited about that. It will be fun :) Going to Ontario for Christmas will be great. I haven't been home to Ontario for Christmas in 8 years probably, and this will be our first Christmas with Derek's parents.

Baby Room Items

We have a few baby room items so far:
-the dresser was from Leah
-the second drawer is FULL of diapers already from my friend Jackie and I have 3 newborn sleepers from her too.
-the nursery rhyme wreath is an adaptation of a wreath that my step mother Diane gave me (it was an peach wicker wreath that was pretty dusty so I decided to sew a little cloth wreath and attach the items onto that. I'm quite please with how it turned out...it will be hung on the wall eventually).
-the bassinet is from Mom and Richard and I just figured out today that it is a very close match to the wreath which is soo cool!
-the toys are from my childhood and adulthood ;) some were made by my Grandma Emma, some were gifts. There is a white bear from Craig from when Derek and I were first dating. It is such a cute bear and Joanna, a former Dental Receptionist, said "you should call it Diastema." and I asked "why?" and she said "You dont know what a diastema is do you?" and I said "no" and she said "Derek has one." http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=diastema So thats his name.
There's also a really cute bunny from Derek that was actually a gift that made me mad because I thought he was going to propose to me on Valentine's Day 2000 but instead he gave me a bunny!!! Anyway, he came through and proposed several hours later after i had already resolved that it was "the worst day ever! take me home, i'm so disappointed" poor guy, i was such a baby!! but he DID ask :D

-another view of the bassinet
-doorway jumper with tray: with Kanga and Roo (handmade by Grandma Emma)
-bouncing chair; bear from Diane
-good view of our new flooring!!! Derek, Richard and Guy all worked hard a couple weeks ago to get that put into the baby room and living room. Its so nice and clean. I love it!

-baby bath from Jackie and the plug in it turns from purple to pink if the water is too hot
-more nursery rhyme stuff

18 weeks to go! Baby Salmon, 22 weeks today

February 24, 2005 is still looking a ways away even though its only 18 weeks! wow

how much excitement can happen by 9am in the office?

ok...so Rob tells me to blog everything right? and since he was nearby, he said i really should.

first, i went to delete some roombookings from our roombooking software. I had booked some rooms when i was in my previous position and needed to delete them so the new person in that job could have the rooms in her name, to lessen the confusion.

but really, thats when the confusion began...so as I began to tackle this task i discovered that my bookings for those sets of meeting were recorded under "amanada" and since "amanada" does not exist, i did not have permission to delete them. i called reception who generally has some power in that software, but her computer had crashed.

then, leah came over saying "i need to staple my pants" and i looked at her and said "...you need to staple your pants? oh, you need help." and i got her to stand up on my guest chair and turn about as I proceeded to hem her pants with the stapler. she left, content with the staple job.

then, i called the woman with "all powertochange roombookings" (direct quote from receptionist) and she laughed at me alot about "amanada" as i walked her thru where the bookings were. taa daa

all that happened by 9am, fancy that.

salmon to eat, Clova, Baby kicks

we went for a quick salmon dinner at the mellengers last night. it was very tasty, thanks to Poppa for the fish!

then Derek and I met Leah at the Clova to see Princess Diaries 2 and Wimbledon...it only cost $3 per person on Tuesday nights so it was a great deal.

the end of Princess Diaries 2 has this song for the country of which she is Princess, called Genovia...its their national anthem, I guess....anyway, it was pretty loud and moving (leah was laughing through it all b/c it was so over-dramatic). So Baby Salmon starting doing little flips or something during the song...he or she really seemed to like it.

During the break before the next movie, Baby kept doing these flip kick things and so Leah got to feel it! She's the third person to feel the baby (Grandma Jen was first, then Derek). So that was pretty cool for all of us.

We have a dr.'s appt today so we'll find out what he has to say about the ultrasound measurements and if i'm on track for my due date and such.

peace

some day i'll know you with a smile

my current blog title comes from a song from one of my favorite musicians, Mike Knott...the lyrics are slightly more depressing than my interpretation of that sentence, but i just thought i'd share the genius of Mike Knott with y'all:

Call on You

Call on You most often when
It seems that I will never win
Gettin' black and blue
Beaten to a pulp
By mis-choosed avenues
Light I see down the street somewhere
Turns chilly, dark by the time I get there
Everyone is foolin' me
With happy smiles and half-sympathies

Some day I'll know You
With a smile
Some day I'll see You like the dew

But for now I'll call on You
For help with cash and bills overdue
And strength that I can influence right
Little One I hold so tight
Like slingshot breaks
Snaps a hand
I know one day I'll understand

Call on You most often when
It seems that I will never win
Gettin' black and blue
Beaten to a pulp
By mis-choosed avenues
Light I see down the street somewhere
Turns chilly, dark by the time I get there

http://michaelknott.com/lyrics/altwor.html#call

Courtney BC

We went to visit my daddio in Courtney over the weekend. It was a really nice visit. It was cute to see him baching it and serving us dinner on camping plates with only two forks between the three of us. I didnt know how modern he was, he actually ate salad with chopsticks when we had our fresh salmon dinner on Saturday!

Poppa fishes alot and drove us around to see all the cool little beaches. Each one was nicer than the last. It looks like a great place to bring grandkids to. I hope that it all works out for them to build a house on the lot they are buying. It looks like a great opportunity and location.

He sent us away with many salmon filets--yummm! good thing we love salmon.

ciao

21 weeks...but who's counting anyway? ;o)

well, i'm 21 weeks pregnant now...it goes so fast. next week i have a doctors appointment again where we'll discuss the ultrasound.
we had some guests over earlier, 6 adults and 3 babies...it was nice. i've still been feeling pretty good and today was great because several people were saying how cute i look so thats always good to hear!
we are going to visit Poppa this weekend in Courtney for the first time. He's lived there since August but we were waiting for Miles to be born then Mom and Richard came to town for a couple weeks, and this is the first weekend we've been free.

Baby Salmon came thru and kicked for daddy

It was very exciting, after going out to the "final" baby shower for Miles (the church and friends one) we got home late...

i am never happy about going to bed after 10pm but last night, it was around 10.30pm and suddenly, baby salmon was kicking up a storm, so I quickly got derek's attention and he was able to feel several kicks in a row!

It was a great moment for us :)

just wanted to share that

Baby Salmon is half way there!

me at 20 weeks pregnant oct 7 04
Go baby go! We are so blessed to have had a healthy pregnancy thus far and for Baby salmon to have reached the 20 weeks milestone today! woo hoo
i'm feeling good. i need to rest more. i'm too busy and have a hard time slowing down. but i'm looking forward to a good Saturday and long weekend of rest :)

Oct 7 04 Baby Shower with church friends

miles kicking among the gifts at the party

Joanna and Heather & Miles at Oct 7 party

cake for miles oct 7 04 baby shower

my baby is like the Polkaroo...i figured this out yesterday...baby salmon was kicking hard the other day...all day while i was alone at work. when i'm with derek, the baby sleeps, no kicking except for the odd little tap when i'm driving and have a seatbelt and bulky coat in the way.
i love when baby kicks, its really cool for me but i would like it if derek could feel it, he hasnt yet!
read more about the Polkaroo . There are many cool things about growing up in Ontario, one thing was TvO (TV Ontario) where they had quality childrens programming, like the Polka Dot Door.
peace.

Today we had our first ultrasound...I hear its the only one unless there are complications. The experience was pretty good...I drank one litre of water and felt "ok" just that i had to pee but nothing too overwhelming. The technician told me I had a very full bladder and she let me go and get rid of 2 cups! how nice. so really, it was a good experience from that perspective.
Anyway, Derek and I thought it was pretty cool. When the technician said "there's your baby's face." we were both thinking..."eww..." and later derek said, "Yah, our baby "Skeletor"."
The heart beat was super cool...seeing it actually beating (no audio, just visual) was very exciting for me.
Anyway, here are the pics so you can share in our joy.
This is a bit of a top shot of the baby with a good view of baby's arm and hand.

This shows baby salmon facing down. You can see a nice healthy looking spine and the left arm is up along side baby's head and you may be able to see the hand. the other arm is lying below baby's body. 

Top view of baby salmon, nicname Skeletor, left arm is crossing in front and you can see the hand pretty well.