Jumping on the Yearly Recap Bandwagon

It seems to be a trend in blog world to end the blogging year with a nice little recap. So, no need for me to disappoint.

January - We had to put down our sweet kitten Rocco. We cried. I celebrated my 26th birthday in Cottage Country with Turkey Butt.
February - We found out we were expecting our little pumpkin on the 16th.
March - Celebrated our 1st anniversary at my in-law's very cold camp.
April - Turkey Butt celebrated his 27th birthday with a homemade ice cream cake.
May - Moved to a new apartment.
June - Found out that our little pumpkin is going to be a girl.
July - Went to the zoo.
August - Had an unpleasant run-in at work that led to a few days off of work - funded by Worker's Compensation.
September - Got beautiful maternity photos taken by RavenDawn Photography. Attended my first baby shower - and it happened to be my own.
October - Turkey Butt & I got hitched on the 1st. On the 18th we welcomed our Little Miss Elle into the world. On the 31st we celebrated our first Halloween as a family of 3 (+dog) with cuddling and horror movies.
November - Took holiday photos of Little Miss Elle for our Christmas cards.
December - Found our dream house and put an offer on it. Celebrated Christmas as a family. Officially bought our dream house - now we wait for the closing date.

All in all it was such a wonderful year. I feel so very blessed to have had such an amazing year! I can only imagine what will happen for us in 2012. Will be so hard to top 2011! This is my life!

Wedded Bliss.

So, it's official boys and girls, I'm getting married tomorrow :) The only bit of stress that I'm currently feeling is in regards to my two cakes and all of our cupcakes. Specifically travelling the hour from my cake designer's to the reception location with Turkey Butt and his big brother. But I guess I've just got to put my trust in them and laugh it off if my cake arrives in less than perfect condition!

Now I need to sit down and write in the card I made for my future husband to receive from me on our wedding day. I've been putting this off for such a long time. It's not that I can't think of anything to say, the opposite in fact. I have so much to say to him on this joyous occasion that I'm afraid I will forget something important. Ah well, here goes nothing...

This is my life!

Lucky.

In less than two weeks I get to marry the love of my life! I cannot believe how quickly time flies when you're having fun. Every day that I get to wake up next to Turkey Butt, every day that he phones me just to tell me he loves me, every day that he makes me smile and laugh and fall in even more in love with him - I treasure them all. I honestly think that I'm the luckiest girl in the world and I only hope that love is this amazing for everyone! Thinking back on all the guys that I tried to mold into Mr. Right (and the ones I put up with because I didn't know better) makes me sigh and shake my head and chuckle at myself. It wasn't until Turkey Butt kissed me that first time that I finally knew what it was that I was missing from my life this whole time. To get all movie cliche on you, he completes me! I am madly in love with that man and I cannot wait to be Mrs. Turkey Butt. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life holding his hand and giggling at his constant goofiness. I cannot wait to have our precious bundle of joy (in approximately 6 weeks) so that I can look at my love holding my baby love and know that all is right in the world.

Seriously, how do you not love a guy who thinks up this superhero get-up while biking home from work, sneaks into the bedroom to change into it, then proceeds to wrestle the "evil" dog to protect his "fair maiden". Haha.

This is my life :)

Day Twenty Nine

Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing

Spending quality time with Turkey Butt. Laughing, being silly and generally not acting our age. It's love - and I wouldn't trade it in for all the money in the world. This is my life!

Day Twenty One

Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.

More than words can say!

This is my life!

So Much Love.

I received an email from my Justice of the Peace today with some wedding ceremony examples. I printed them all off and have been piecing together the kind of ceremony that I would like to have. About halfway through, I took a break to see what Turkey Butt thought of what I had so far. I read it to him while he sat beside me. As I finished I asked, "What did you think?" and then looked over at him. He was crying. I think I've got it right so far :)

This is my life!!!!

I love this man!

"I want to eat meat and watch action movies tonight. I'm feeling really manly now that I've impregnated you."

So, I'm not sure how these posts will end up looking in the end. I'm going to attempt to hold off on posting them til we're a little further along in our pregnancy. But that being said, I want to blog and the one thing on my mind is this baby! So, a little recap: For the past few weeks I've been feeling a little off - sore boobs, randomly nauseous, outcrop of acne on my face, oh and constipation. Pretty much the exact same symptoms as the last time I was pregnant. I've pretty much just been waiting for the chance to pee on a stick and confirm what I was already 95% sure of. Well, that chance came yesterday! Although my period wasn't technically due until the 21st (and my tests were only supposed to be accurate 4 days before your expected period) I couldn't wait one more day. So I tore around the apartment trying to find a stick to pee on, before peeing my pants with that elusive first pee of the morning (if you've ever taken an at home pregnancy test you know what i'm talking about), and without alerting Turkey Butt to what I was doing. Well, I failed. Completely frustrated I hollered about not being able to find anything to pee on, then he told me to just be patient and wait one more day because i'd waste a test and then I finally found one and stormed into the washroom. You probably know what happens next. And to my surprise, it became positive almost immediately. So I snuck back out of the washroom, wrapped my arms around Turkey Butt and asked if he was mad at me. When he said no, I said, "Good, because I'm having your baby!"

Okay okay, I know this is a pretty lame way to break the news to him! The first time around, with Bun, I wrote baby across my stomach and asked him to rub my belly after he had cooked me a wonderful meal. It was so cute when he realized what my belly was trying to tell him! We were so excited! Sigh. Anyway, this time around, since I wasn't smooth enough to keep the fact that I was testing from him, I did the best I could. and it turned out to be just perfect for us!


Due date calculator results


Your baby will be born on or around Monday, October 31 , 2011

You are 3 weeks pregnant.
http://www.babycenter.ca/

February 16th, 2011

This is my life :)

Fun with Elle & Turkey Butt

Turkey Butt: You're going to eat all that cream cheese icing my the spoonful aren't you?

Elle: NO! (pause) By the finger full...

Turkey Butt: Well thanks for not dirtying a spoon.

We say some pretty fun things in this household and often crack up about things the other said or did. Like the time Turkey Butt and I were looking up videos on YouTube of Bernese Mountain Dog puppies (with their mother) and Turkey Butt said, "Is he milking?" Pretty sure he meant nursing as there wasn't a cow or goat in sight!

This is my life.

Decorating.

I've been talking for awhile (in my real life) about rearranging the furniture in our bedroom. Today Turkey Butt finally got around to doing it for me! The room is still too small and cluttered but I feel better knowing that the focal wall now acts as our "headboard". Here is a photo of the new layout:




View from the doorway. The TV & stand (not shown) are now across from the foot of the bed.

It's not much of a difference but I'm liking it so far. Thanks Turkey Butt! This is my life :)


Babies.

So, after a little mental health break following our Thanksgiving miscarriage, Turkey Butt and I are trying to conceive again. We're both at the point where we're really ready to welcome a little bundle of joy into our life and wedding in 8 months or not, we're going to try to make it happen. I even have a "back up" wedding dress incase we luck out and I am pregnant (and showing) during our October 1st nuptuals. We've also been throwing around a lot of baby names and have agreed on a whopping eleven possibilities. I won't give anything away just yet, but we're going for unique/cute first names and meaningful middle names. And, unlike Turkey Butt, our babies will have one middle name only. With a long last name, two middle names would be a mouthful :) Anyways, just wanted to let everyone know that the funny stories about peeing on fruit roll-ups and chugging KFC gravy may be popping up again soon! Until then, this is my life!

Wedding Planning Confession...

... I will not be dropping big bucks on my wedding! There, I said it. I know it completely goes against the grain (think shows like, Say Yes to the Dress where brides spend 20 grand on there wedding) but I'm a simple kind of girl. My engagement ring, for example, cost my wonderful fiance a whopping $200 (taxes in). Believe it or not, I picked it out of the Sears Wishbook.

Not spending $3,000 (the price on the vintage-esque ring I liked at the jewelry store) on a ring is such a stress reliever. I can jump into wedding planning and trip planning and just general life planning without wondering where the money is going to come from. Sure it's a cubic zirconia and not a diamond but you wouldn't know it. Most importantly, I get to spend the rest of my life with Turkey Butt and I wouldn't trade that for all the diamond rings in the world. This is my life!

(Sorry, not the best photo...)

My Amazing Fiance

He loves me with all of his heart. He is an AMAZING Red Seal Chef at a fine dining restaurant. He has an undefeated amateur boxing record. He graduated from high school early, took Journalism from a very difficult to get into University, graduated from culinary school, and has his Business Certificate from a local Community College. The Canadian Armed Forces recruiters have ranked him a 5 out of 5. And now his article has been short-listed in a writing contest for a boxing website! This guy excels at absolutely everything he does... Well, except for Scrabble :) But I honestly couldn't be more proud of him! I love you Turkey Butt! This is my life!

Lazy Blogging and Wedding Planning...

I've been on the computer on a dauly basis catching up on my favorite blogs and I've only just now realized that I haven't been writing any posts myself. As per usual, I am insanely busy with work. This week alone I've done 5 O/N's (with my 6th one tonight) and 3 evening shifts. It makes for a very busy Elle...

Also making for a very busy Elle? Wedding planning! The wedding is in less than 9 months. Gasp! We've gone back and forth a little on the exact date, but we've known since Day One (pretty much) that'd we'd marry in the Fall of 2011. It seemed SO far away once upon a time. Now it seems like it is coming so quickly. I've ordered a custom-made wedding dress from Etsy. It was cheap and if I don't like it, I figure i'll have lots of time to look for something else. I've booked the first few nights of our honeymoon at one of these cottages. I've created, printed and am in the process of writing on the envelopes for our Save The Date Cards. Our guest list has been finalized. It may start a family feud (and not the good TV game show kind) but we're happy with it and best of all, we don't have to break the bank and rent a bigger venue. We're looking into booking our Pre-Honeymoon at the end of March/early April. There seem to be so many great last minute deals that we're waiting til closer to the date to pick one.

Honestly, it's a bit of a mad house around here. But a good mad house. One filled with much more love than stress! Our animal babies are doing great. Little Man has doubled in length since arriving here and Adora had her 2nd birthday last week. They grow up so fast, sigh. As for Turkey Butt, he's busy with work and was busy training for an upcoming boxing match. Was being the key word. The amateur boxing rules have been changed and he's not a fan of the outcome of them and is questioning whether he wants to box anymore. Honestly, not having to watch someone trying to punch him in the face is just fine with me! Don't get me wrong, I would have been ringside at the fight had it gone on... but I'll be happy if that's something my eyes never have to see. Turkey Butt is undefeated in his amateur career but I know first hand that that doesn't mean he won't come home with cuts, bruises, and broken ribs (that was the worst). As it is, he regularly gets chronic nose bleeds because his boxing career has caused holes to form in the veins of his nose. Anyway, I will try to update everyone with more wedding stuff as it comes up. Enjoy your weekend, whether you're working, or just to relax at home with a loved one... or both, like me! This is my life!

On this New Year's Eve...

2010 has been a rollercoaster of a ride and there are so many things for me to be thankful for! Through the ups and the downs, it really did turn out to be a wonderful year full of love and happiness.

... my dad started walking again after his accident and was able to return to work and best of all (for him anyway) play golf.
... my sister is still my best friend and we're lucky enough to live close by and visit at least weekly
... my mom was able to visit us more often than she did last year, even if the circumstances weren't always the best
... my stepmom loves my dad, accepts my sister and i as her own children and was an amazingly strong support system for my dad while he was injured
... my family has survived the year - though not everyone will survive 2011, we had no deaths in 2010
... my bestest has found the love of her life and i\m so thrilled that he's good to her and treats her right

And me? Well, in March, Turkey Butt kissed me and I knew that I was madly in love with him and would never kiss another man ever again. We tumbled into this whirlwind love affair that I know will last the rest of our lives. I love him more every second of every day and wish we could just spend a lifetime together playing boardgames and watching movies and travelling from my family's cottage to his and hanging out with the animal babies and loving each other like it's going out of style. In 2010 we kissed, fell in love, were accepted by and fell in love with each other's family, we moved in together, we got our own place, we got pregnant, we loved and supported each other through a miscarriage, we adopted a new animal baby, we got engaged and we started new Christmas tradtions that we plan to pass down to our children someday! It wasn't always pretty, but it was always love.

Now, to 2011, all I have to say is: Bring it!

This is my life!