back in the saddle

In all the craziness of the last year, we moved to a new house. Still in the same complex - but a house! We have the top floor and attic of a lovely Victorian that has belonged to many different people over the years but started out as one of a row of houses for railroad executives when Vancouver was growing into a city. The house was overhauled about 20 years ago, and made into two suites. The old lady that lived in our suite before us was NUTS! The entire place was painted purple. Three different shades of purple. And hot pink (the kitchen). And peach (the bathroom). I wish we had photos, but she was required to paint it back to white before she left. She also tried to blackmail us into paying her $1000 for updates she did to the house 20 years ago - a window she put in, the attic she finished (very poorly, I might add), a really old washer, dryer and dishwasher that she didn't want to remove. We refused to pay her, as this is a co-op, and in return she siliconed the windows shut, and tried to smash holes in the attic walls. Thank goodness she was frail and couldn't do much damage. We (i.e. me and my dad (Opa)) did alot of mending to make it "ours". Bamboo laminate in the attic, fresh colours (not purple) in the bedrooms. The co-op gave us new carpet and lino throughout the house - lucky us! New light and bathroom/kitchen fixtures. We bought a new washer and dryer (my first ones!) and dishwasher through great sales over the Christmas holidays/economy slump. I feel so grown up having a washer and dryer in my own home! Sadly, the front porch belngs to the unit below us but we do have a view of the ocean from a few windows and we will be able to see the fireworks from our balcony off the attic.

My big yellow house in the Winter....


My big yellow house in the Spring....we have a lilac tree out front!


Have I mentioned that I love this house? The layout is so much better than our last place - everything on one floor. The only thing that bugs me is the bathroom. It is like a hotel bathroom - narrow and squashed into the only space they could find. It is in the centre of the floorplan, and as such, is party central whenever I need to "go". I hate having an audience.

The attic space is a playroom/craftroom/office. The office part is the part that is allowing me to post here again. My computer was in the bedroom, but the baby naps in there so I never got any typing time. Now my computer is in the attic on my crafting table so I can type while he sleeps. I have so many updates to catch up on. I am looking frward to blogging again and not just reading everyne else's!

It Happened..a year ago....

So it has been a year (well, 15 months, now...) A VERY BUSY year. I was going to post on my due date which was the 26th of March 2008, but I started to go into labour that night. Early labour - nothing to crazy. I called the midwives and the doula around 11pm to give them the heads-up. I had the doula come over shortly after because I was getting nervous. She slept in the other room until early in the morning when things started rolling. She called the midwives and they came to check me. I was in agony, but only at 1cm. My dear son was punching my cervix with his very able little hand. I only wanted to be on the bathroom floor. Moving was no good for me - I needed the safety and sturdiness of a floor. The bathroom floor was cool and comforting - but tight for a birthing mama, a doula and a midwife and her student. Miss b and papa hung out in the living room and made a welcome banner. She was very calm through the whole process. I remember her coming in a few times and stroking me gently. She listened from downstairs for my sounds changing. I was LOUD and VERY FOUL MOUTHED. It hurt alot and I tend to panic. We used lots of homeopathy and it calmed me. Through transition I moved back to bed. I didn't want to lie down anymore, and the cold floor wasn't doing it's job. I found the word "out" and used it frequently. He came rather quickly after transition - only 15 minutes of pushing. The back-up midwife made it just at the end. My boy got stuck just past the shoulders, which is unusual (they usually just slither out). The student asked if she could pull him, and he came out with a tug. He was a very big, chubby boy. The biggest cheeks you can imagine. 9.5 pounds of him birthed at home without any drugs. Oh my!

Then...


Now...