Burlington Christmas Festivities

On Friday night, Matt and I enjoyed a nice evening in downtown Burlington caroling with over 500 Canadians as they lit up various areas with Christmas lights.  We did have to go buy Matt some thermals afterwards....he was a little chilly :)

 Free Tim Hortons hot chocolate is perfect for caroling! 

 The tree in Civic Square

My man and I at stop number 1: The Burlington Performing Arts Center 

 Stop Number 2: Village Square

Today we spent our afternoon at the Burlington Santa Clause parade with some of my lovely mommy friends!

Brylee will have lots of friends once she arrives! 

Happy December and Merry Christmas!

38 Weeks!

Only a couple more weeks and you will no longer see selfie preggo pictures of me! So enjoy these 38 week pictures (and yes, I know some are cheesy but I had free time and this is what happened :) )

We are still doing great! Besides the Braxton Hicks contractions (which Brylee LOVES....not), we have no signs of labor.  Brylee girl had a strong heartbeat at our appointment last week (138-140 when not active...although it is rarely the case that she is not active....just like her momma!). She likes to move around a lot and give the nurse a difficult time getting her heartbeat. I love her and her little personality so much! We got the results back from the Group B Strep test they do at 36 weeks.  We are negative! Woohoo! We go back tomorrow for our 38 week appointment. We are getting more and more excited about meeting our sweet little girl!

Full Term: 37 Weeks!

We made it to full term and are 17 days from Brylee's due date! We have taken every prenatal class in the Halton region and feel very well educated.  Of course, there are still fears about birth (i.e. when the heck will I go into labor, what will it be like, how long will it last, will I need medical intervention, etc.)   At our most recent classes this weekend, we were able to tour the birthing unit and postpartum unit at Joseph Brant Hospital where we will deliver.  It was helpful for me to see exactly what the rooms look like and to know where to go when the time comes.

We had a great appointment last week. Brylee girl had a strong heartbeat and was head down still.  I did have high blood pressure, but I was nervous about the Group B Strep test (which was absolutely nothing!).  I checked my blood pressure almost every day throughout the past week and it has been low, consistent with the rest of my time being preggo.

Well, here is the fun part. The 37 (almost 38...oops) week pictures!

Off to the OB for our weekly appointment!

36 Weeks!

I can't believe I sit here today 3 days shy of 37 weeks....full term! Before I let you see me at 36 weeks and 4 days, let me catch up on the other weeks I've missed. (I know, I know, the last blog I did was at 24 weeks....ah! So here we go)

Here is what I looked like at 24 weeks and before:

28 weeks while I was in Fort Myers visiting my grandparents:

32 weeks after hiking at Kelso in Burlington:

Brylee selfie at 33 weeks:

Ice skating at 35 weeks:

And finally we reach 36 weeks:

We have a doctor's appointment today and will start going every week.  When we went two weeks ago, we heard Brylee's strong heartbeat (around 130 when she was settled and 150-160 when she was moving). My blood pressure remained low at 100/68. Her head was very low and in between my pelvic bones and her little feet are nicely planted in my ribs.  Her body runs along the left side of my stomach.  We received great news and look forward to good news again today. 

Some days Brylee girl has her days and nights mixed up. Last night was one of those.  We had a dance party/work out/kickboxing tournament at 3 a.m.  I finally took a video of my stomach so one day I can show Brylee how active she was.  Here is the video (remember she is on the left side of my stomach):

Brylee's Coming Home Gown

Before I left Tuscaloosa, I took a class on heirloom sewing at Sew Delightful because I wanted to make Brylee a coming home from the hospital gown. Today is officially my first day as a stay at home wifey and soon to be mom as I ended my career with the University of Alabama Athletic department after a wonderful 5 years there. Here is what I did on my first morning.

Brylee's coming home gown:

The details:

White heirloom gown:

Lace insertion and pintucks:

Lace beading to lace edging insertion:

The pink slip:

Scallop stitching:

We are less than four weeks away from Brylee girl's due date, and I can't wait to see her in this gown! 

Celebrating a Year and a Half!

Since I haven't blogged in about 6 months, I thought today would be the perfect opportunity. Today, October 28, 2013, marks a year and a half since Matt and I got married! So let's do a little recap of what happened during this year and a half.

April 28, 2012- The most wonderful day of my life, our wedding

 

 

April 29, 2012- We honeymooned in Riviera Maya

 

 

June 2012- I got glasses and I donated my hair for the 4th time (this was my goal since 4 donations make a wig). 

 



August 5, 2012- We started teaching Sunday school to the most wonderful group of 5th grade girls. Oh how we love them so very much! (This picture is actually their first week in 6th grade, but you get the idea)

 

 

December 1, 2012- Alabama won their 23rd SEC Championship! Roll Tide!

 

January 7, 2013- Alabama won their 15th National Championship in Miami, Florida! Roll Tide (again)!

 

March 2013- I started my own business, Harper Creek Boutique, making children's clothing. I eventually had my items in three boutiques in Alabama.

 

March 16, 2013- We planted out first garden. :)

 

 

April 1, 2013- Yes, on April Fools Day we found out our lives would change forever. We were pregnant with out first sweet child. :) (The left one is the pregnancy test.  The right one was the fertility test.  Since I didn't think I was preggo, I thought I would check at the same time to see if I was fertile...ha! Big surprise!)

 
April 28, 2013- We celebrated our one year anniversary at Walt Disney World and Cocoa Beach!

 

 

 

 

 July 19, 2013- We found out we were having a sweet little girl.  The following day we had a gender reveal party and announced that her name would be Brylee Marie Franklin.

August 1, 2013- We visited Burlington, Ontario to hear about a job offer Matt received.  We got to visit Niagara Falls while we were there.

September 5, 2013- We moved to Burlington, Ontario to start our little adventure. Here we are hiking the Bruce Trail.

I only hit some highlights, but as you can see a lot happened in a year and a half for us! We are now less than 6 weeks away from welcoming our Brylee girl into our lives. I can't possibly explain how wonderful the last year and a half being married to Matt has been, and I look forward to many, many more exciting adventures together!