30 weeks down, 10 (or so) to go!

I am now 30 weeks pregnant (and 2 days to be exact). I was at the doctor yesterday and will now be seeing him every 2 weeks until I get to 36 weeks. Everything with the baby is fine .. he thinks she weighs almost 3 lbs. now! I have to go for some more testing next week just to ensure that my glucose levels aren't too high. I've also been gaining weight alot more rapidly in the last few weeks than I have throughout the entire pregnancy! Since my last appointment 3 weeks ago, I've gained 6 lbs.! My total weight gain is still only 19 lbs. so I am gaining just the right amount, according to my doctor. He said that this is the time when the baby starts collecting fat under her skin, and this is why mothers often gain much quicker in the last trimester. Anyway ... I've got baby on the brain almost constantly these days, so I find it hard to write about much else ; ) We did receive our crib, and it is all set up and ready to go - we still need a lot more stuff, but we're getting there.




Peter is in Winnipeg this week .. on course ... again! He is completing a 'High Altitude Indoctrination' course. Now, why he has to do this since he already has 100 flying hours in fast jets - at high altitude - we're not really sure! He just does what he's told is all ... he'll be home on Friday. His winter survival course went well ... it ended up being a lot more cushy than he thought it would be. He was given rations to eat everyday - not just the gummies. And, he was given a sleeping bag and part of a parachute to use as a tarp for his shelter. He did have a hard time sleeping since it was quite cold (-24 the first night) .. but he did ok. He had several tasks to complete to keep him busy. One was to build a signal fire - it worked so well that a helicopter flew over him! Once they realized he was just practicing they waved and flew away. On the third and last morning they were given pancakes and sausage for breakfast in the little DND cabin that was in the area - this is where the guys were staying who were checking up on him, and the other two 'survivors'. He smelled like campfire when he came home - and was super dirty ... but he seemed to enjoy the experience.

We're still having really nice weather here - sunny, warm and melty every day! Fletch is really enjoying having his naps outside on the snow in the warm sun - and, sometimes, even he finds it bright : )




Team PM & tadpole

Spring is springing!

It has been an exciting week in Cold Lake this week ... we hit the 0 degree mark! We had quite a nasty cold spell for a few days and then within a week we've gotten up to an average of about -2 ... makes such a huge difference! There is still a lot of snow (though not as much as Ottawa!), but its starting to melt a bit, and we are noticing that the days are getting longer. Spring is always an exciting time of year - but this year we have an additional reason to get excited about the season : )


This weekend we started getting the nursery decorated ... I posted some pics of the paintjob, and as you can see there is still work left to be done ... we're both pretty happy with the result so far though. We know that our crib is arriving this week (thanks Grandma & Grandpa to be!) so the room will start to take shape very soon! And no .. its not pink! I think the baby will have plenty of pink clothes so we didn't feel she needed a pink room too!




And, baby's wardrobe is also starting to take shape!



I'll add more pics once the room is complete : )

Team PM & tadpole

Where to begin ??

Well, to all our faithful blog readers, I apologize for the long delay in getting this post up! What a busy month January was for us! The move back to Canada went very well, with a few tiny glitches, but nothing major. Fletch travelled very well and was eager and excited when we picked him up, but didn't seem affected by the trip at all. We were all excited (and exhausted) upon arriving in Cold Lake - anxious to see our new house. The house was completely finished, and the walkthrough with the builder went well. Since we arrived in Cold Lake a few days before possession of the house, we stayed in a really nice B&B overlooking the lake - though its just frozen and snow covered right now, its still pretty. The B&B was awesome - the lady gave us a huge room (actually, it was two adjoining rooms), two tv's, an ensuite bathroom and even lent us a doggie bed for Fletch! We were able to use the living room downstairs, that had a tv, boardgames, a fireplace and a little snack station - plus, Fletch was allowed to join us down there. It was like a little vacation for us all. We took Fletch down to the lake each day for a nice walk on the ice, while we all adjusted back to Canadian winter temperatures - brrr!






After a 5 day stay at the B&B, our furniture from storage in Ottawa arrived, so we were able to sort of move in to our house - we still didn't have any appliances. Well, we did have an extra fridge in the basement, and a microwave - so we were able to survive, but we still ate out most days anyway. We soon took a visit to the West Edmonton Mall for some new clothes & brand new appliances. Good times ... also, good to know that it is exactly a 3 hour drive from our door to the mall.





Peter started his job at AETE on Jan. 22, and has since been doing a lot of reading, and learning about what AETE does and how he will fit in. No flying yet though ... it seems like he will have some exciting adventures though - like a winter survival course! He is going to be sent out into the wilderness for 2 days, by himself to learn what to do in the event that he had to eject out of an aircraft (which does occasionally happen). So ... the only supplies he would have would be those provided in the ejection seat package - not a lot. There are high calorie gummies to eat to keep up energy levels, but he will have to build shelter, make fire etc. He seems to be pretty excited about this .. I sure wouldn't be! Although, one of his favorite shows is 'Survivorman' ... I'm sure he'll have an interesting tale to tell once home from that adventure!

As of today, we're still waiting for our small shipment of things to arrive from the UK, but we did get our car yesterday (finally!) and things are starting to feel normal again. We've been to church 3 weeks in a row, and are meeting new people each week. The church has been very inviting and we've already made some friends in the young adults group, Peter will be the newest sound technician, and I am trying to get to know the other 12 expectant ladies in the church - that's right, 12!! I think I should have plenty of other 'moms' to hang out with once baby comes along.

Speaking of baby ... I am now 27 and a half weeks. After meeting with my new doctor, my due date was changed back to the original date of May 6th. I'm still feeling really good and baby sure is growing! She kicks harder and harder each week, and she is a very active baby, especially when I lay down to go to sleep :) We are starting to get our nursery together, I've picked a paint color and we're getting excited to get some more furniture in there and have it turn into the cutest nursery there ever was :)



That's the big update for now ... I haven't finished telling you about our England/Scotland vacation, but I think that's kind of on hold for a bit - I'll try and post some of the best pics .. at some point ..

Team PM & tadpole (more like small frog these days!)

The roadtrip ... part 1

Our first stop was York ... we stayed at a bed and breakfast just outside the city, and very close to an outlet mall, which we had to stop in, of course. We only visited the Gap outlet where I picked up a few cute baby things, and some t-shirts for myself. We headed into York to visit York Minster, Clifford's Tower, and we walked around the ancient city walls. We only had one day here, so it was crammed sightseeing. York Minster was beautiful - and huge! Very hard to take a picture of the entire thing. As one of the most important cities in England, and an important base for holding and administering the north in the Middle Ages, York was the site for two of the castles William the Conqueror built in the years immediately following his conquest. Clifford's Tower is all that remains of the original castle, and was rebuilt in the 13th century when the old wooden tower had been destroyed.


York Minster is said to be the largest Gothic Cathedral north of the Alps. It also boasts the largest medieval stained glass window in the world! I know that might not sound interesting to all of you, but if you study stained glass techniques it is really easy to spot the differences from over the centuries. Medieval stained glass does look quite rudimentary when compared to more modern stuff ... anyway, I digress : ) Needless to say, the Cathedral was spectacular.




We then decided to walk part of the ancient city wall of York - something the 3 of us could do together. The wall was originally built in Roman times as a fortification, and York today has more miles of intact wall than any other city in England. (And LOTS of towns I've seen have at least some wall left!)


Nearby to York we found Scarborough Castle on the very east coast of England .. since Scarborough wasn't too far we decided to drive up there also so we could see the coast. (I sang 'are you going to Scarborough fair ... parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme' the whole way, much to Peter's delight). The Castle itself was mostly a ruin, but the view was amazing - and the nearby beach as well. There was something to be said for the wind, which at one point nearly knocked me over when I was putting on my hood and the wind decided to use it as a sail! Thank goodness Peter was nearby ...





After leaving the Castle we headed down the hill to take Fletch to the beach. Believe it or not Fletch has never been to a saltwater beach - we were very curious to see how he would react. But first, we got some yummy chips and gravy from a little, and very busy, roadside snack stand. Then it was beachtime - Fletch was in heaven! He loves the water anyway, so he ran right to it and laid in it, drank it etc. He didn't react to the saltwater taste like we thought he might ... but he did react to the waves coming toward him; once he noticed what was happening he sort of ran away from the waves and kept looking behind him to see if there were others !! Very funny! From there we headed back to our hotel for a good nights' sleep ...

Christmas 2007

Well, its been a very busy few weeks for us and I haven't had much time to update our blog. Now, I'm just into the procrastinating stage because there is so much to say and I don't know where to start! I have some time today because the packers and movers are here to clear out our house here in the UK. We will be flying home on Saturday ... well, 'home' as in Canada ... but we are heading to our new home in Cold Lake, Alberta. We are very excited about this transition and have been looking forward to it for a long time. We've come to terms with the fact that Cold Lake is a very small town and will take some adjusting to - but we have so many reasons to think that its going to be a great experience too: new house, new baby on the way, new church to make friends at, tons of outdoor activities practically on our doorstep, a new job for Peter that he is excited about and oh yeah - we get to be back in our own country!! Having a Wal-Mart less than 10 mins. away is a very exciting thought for me - and two Tim Hortons each within a 5 minute drive ; )

So, I'll start with telling you about our Christmas. We spent Christmas with our friends Dave & Kristy, their daughter Lily and dog Toby. We drove up to their place on Christmas Eve; we had a great time hanging out with them. On Christmas Eve we had Chinese fondue for dinner - very yummy. For dessert we had chocolate fondue with fruit - also very yummy. Lily didn't quite make it through the meal and fell asleep in her highchair. It was very funny watching her trying to stay awake and not managing that very well - it looked a little she was drunk! On Christmas day we had a nice big breakfast ... and then a second breakfast initiated by the still hungry pregnant ladies! (Kristy is just 2-3 weeks behind me in her 2nd pregnancy). Opening presents was fun, though it took a little longer thanks to a very inquisitive Lily - but it was fun watching her with all her new toys, and outfits.








We had a nice turkey dinner on Christmas Day, played boardgames, talked to family from home etc. We were a little sad to be away from family this year, but so thankful to have our friends here to spend the time with - it was perfect! It was also lots of fun to play with Lily and be around her ... gave us a glimpse into our very near future! On boxing day we went into the local mall and did some shopping, wandering around ... Dave & Kristy showed us some of the neat stuff in their town, such as an indoor ski hill. On the morning of the 27th we left the Chown's and started our road trip with Fletch - I will continue that adventure in a new posting or else this will be the longest post ever!

Team PM & tadpole

21 weeks

Here is a picture of the 20 week scan ... its neat to see the baby's spine, ribcage, the bones in her leg, arm and hand ... and you can see a little bit of umbilical cord in the top picture coming out of her tummy. Kinda looks like something else ... but its not that at all ; ) In the bottom picture, it looks almost like she is looking out at us and you can see her facial features fairly well. This is an amazing technology that we are very thankful for!


And, so you can see my progress ... a belly pic of me at 21 weeks. I am past the halfway mark now - hard to believe, but exciting too. (My eyebrows are raised because I was laughing and making fun of Peter for taking about 3 minutes to finally take the picture!)



Team PM & tadpole

ETPS Graduation dinner

Thursday night was the McKenna dinner at the Officers Mess - this is the official ETPS grad dinner. It was a very formal mess dinner, complete with a head table of many high ranking officials including three Generals. Also in attendance was the Canadian air attache who came from the Canadian High Commission in London just in honor of Peter - the only Canadian military member on the course. After dinner we spoke with him - nicest guy ever - he even offered us use of his 4 bedroom flat in London whenever we wanted! So, I think we'll be taking him up on that offer when we visit London in early January before coming home.

The dinner was full of speeches ... most of them irrelevant to me because I didn't understand the jokes : ) Also, the course representative, one of Peter's classmates and good friends from the course, gave a speech in honor of the graduates. They also had an official grad procession where each of the 19 graduating students (6 Fixed Wing Pilots, 8 Rotary Wing Pilots & 5 Flight Test Engineers) went forward to receive their certificates. It was a very proud moment for all the exhausted students and their wives/partners. There were some awards given out as well, including the McKenna trophy for the best fixed wing test pilot, it was given to Peter's good friend Bruce ... and here we are after a semi-drunk Bruce insisted he put it on our heads ... um, okay.



After dinner everyone headed to the bar ... of course ... Peter drove me home at 2 am because I was exhausted. He went back for a while to hang out with all his classmates since it would be their last night together. He stuck around until everyone was too drunk to carry on a normal conversation ... then he came home.

Since Thursday Fletch & I have had our Peter back! Peter now gets to enjoy over a month off work, he reports to his new posting in Cold Lake on January 22nd. In the meantime, we have some travelling to do in the UK .. then the move to Cold Lake and settling into our new house. It should be a good month and a bit : )

Team PM & tadpole

Its a ...

GIRL!!! We had our 20 week ultrasound today and found out that we are likely expecting a baby girl! They can't tell you for sure, but what we saw sure looked female : ) This scan was a lot different than the first one - the baby was taking up alot more space, and she was moving around all over the place! She was actually sort of standing on her head at first, and it was really hard for the sonographer to get a good picture of her. But, she gradually moved around a bit and we were able to clearly see her heart beating (all 4 chambers), her spine (perfectly straight), some of the umbilical cord, her ribcage, her lips (no cleft palette indications), her face, hands and arms waving around, her little feet - it was amazing. And, the very best part was to know that she is growing and developing normally - a relief to know that all is well for her. We are still coming to terms with saying 'she' and 'her', I think my gut instinct was that it was going to be a boy ... but we couldn't be happier knowing that we have a little girl in there : ) It really is wonderful news! We went straight out to BabyGap after the ultrasound to buy a little dress - the first clothing purchase I've made since becoming pregnant ... it was fun watching Peter look at baby girls' clothes : ) We can't wait to meet her!



Team PM

He's almost done!

By the time most of you read this, Peter will be officially finished his course at ETPS! His final presentation is today at 11 am. It is supposed to be a half hour long, and then there is a half hour question period, so by 12 Peter & his two teammates will be celebrating in the mess to be sure! In attendance at his presentation will be all of the ETPS tutors, a representative from both the Canadian High Commission in London and from Epner in France where they conducted their testing on the Mirage. These guys have all been through ETPS and they know their stuff inside out ... so the intention is to impress and ensure that they are able to present their information well and be able to answer any question that comes their way. They have to present 67 slides in 30 minutes!! And there are another 100 or so slides with information/answers to possible questions that could come up. The amount of work they have put in to this is just mind boggling to me, and I am very proud of him : )

I took a photo of him this morning as he was leaving ... all dressed up in his dress uniform.


Last week he and his teammates worked for more than 24 hours straight to complete their 300 page report ... this is what he looked like when he got home at 10:30 on Monday morning. He was exhausted, his eyes were bloodshot, and frankly, he was a little stinky ... but he was smiling! That report was the most extensive of all the projects he's worked on while at ETPS, and when it was completed a huge weight came off!


We'll keep you posted on how the presentation went. I can't wait to have my normal husband back once all this work is done, rather than distracted, too busy for everything workaholic Peter! I can tell you who will be doing the dishes for a few days - I am so sick of washing dishes (I am spoiled and very used to having a dishwasher) ... normally he helps me with the dishes, but has just been too busy for anything but work, work, work. What a nice change it will be for both of us after today ; )

Team PM & tadpole

p.s. 6 days until our ultrasound!

*Change of web address for blog*

Hi all -

In anticipation of our move back to Canada we are going to be changing the web address associated with our blog ... this means that you will have to update your bookmarks, favorites or however you keep track of these sorts of things. Its going to be changed to www.teampm.blogspot.com - we're just taking out the 'uk' part since we won't be living here anymore!

To make sure everyone has time to read this, we won't be changing it until Dec. 15 and I'll post another annoucement before then as a reminder. Afterall, we don't want anyone to miss out on the fun and entertainment to be had by reading our blog :)

Team PM

Christmas is coming!

Tonight, Peter & I went to Salisbury Cathedral for the Advent Procession service entitled 'From Darkness to Light'. Being the Protestants that we are, we really had no idea what to expect, we just wanted to hear the choir sing, though I realized part way through that it is probably an annual tradition for many Catholics to attend advent services. We got there about 20 minutes before it started, thinking there wouldn't be very many people there ... we were SO wrong! The place was packed and they were getting ready to turn people away ... we were the second last group of people to get in, and we ended up having to sit at the very back on some cement half walls. That being said, there really wasn't much to see ... and we could hear perfectly from where we were sitting because the sound travels so well. It started out pitch black in the entire church .. and then the singing started, which was a little eerie - but very cool too. Then slowly the choir procession came in and lit candles throughout the whole place, singing as they went ... it was such an ambient atmosphere. There were readings and choir songs and two songs that the congregation participated in - 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel' & another hymn that was not named in the program.

Afterwards we thought it would be nice to stop in a cafe for hot chocolate or something ... but of course, leave it to jolly 'ole England to not have a single cafe or coffee shop opened at 8:00 on a Saturday night! Just one of the things we miss about Canada ... but the town centre was quite pretty with all its Christmas decorations and lights, and a big lit Christmas tree in the market square. We could also hear the church bells ringing from St. Thomas' church, Peter said 'wow, this reminds me that I'm in England for sure!' It was a nice night ... we came home and made hot chocolate here instead :)

Team PM & tadpole

4 months down, 5 to go!

I took some belly pics today ... I feel like I've been getting bigger faster than I have in the past few months, so I wanted to show it off :) Its getting more and more noticeable ... though, depending on what I wear I can still nearly hide it. I can still wear most of my regular clothes, but the maternity pants are SO much more comfy!





Team PM & tadpole

The new house

As you can imagine, we are getting pretty anxious to see pictures of our new house ... so, I finally emailed our real estate agent in Cold Lake to see if she could take some pics for us and send them. And she did! The pictures aren't amazing, in that they don't always show much ... but better than nothing! The house is not completely done, but is supposed to be finished by Christmas. We are hoping that our move in won't be delayed ... but at the same time, its better that its not going to be sitting vacant for too long. Judging by the pictures it looks like there are just finishing touches left like lighting, baseboards, some plumbing etc. So, we'll see ... All that to say, the house looks great! We are both really pleased with what we can see so far ... looks like we made some good choices with decor ... or should I say 'I' ... : )

So, this is the main kitchen (on the main and also technically 3rd level) ... you can't see the eating area and patio doors, but what I really wanted to see was the counter, cupboards and flooring ... you can see one of the french frame cabinet doors (upgrade) and there is another one in the opposite corner. And another upgrade is the huge pot drawers - I'm excited about those, as much as one can be excited about pot drawers ; )


Next is the living room. This is the first room upon entering the house, and you can see the wall that divides the kitchen and living room - and the vaulted ceilings. The wall between doesn't go all the way up to the ceiling, so it feels very open concept on this main level. I do feel the need to clarify, however, that the paint color in this picture in particular looks kinda peach-y ... when really, the color we chose for the entire house was called 'crouton' and is a light cream color. We are hoping that this is just the lighting or something! (No offence to those of you who like peach-y colored paint).


This next picture is the 4th bedroom which is on the 2nd level. We also have a sub-basement (the 1st level) which will remain unfinished, this is where our washer/dryer, furnace etc are. Because the house is on a slight incline, this room has a full window even though its in the basement. It will make a nice guestroom.


This is the family room ... which is also on the 2nd level ... it walks out into the backyard. We'll have the tv etc down here. Also on this level, is a full bathroom, but we have no picture of that. Please take note of the SNOW outside the doors!!! These pics were taken yesterday when it was -21 degrees in Cold Lake ... good thing we like winter in the Connolly household - especially Fletch. He's going to be thrilled at all this snow when we arrive.


And, up on the 4th level is our Master bedroom ... not much of which can you see, apart from one of the windows in the room. Nice wall though eh? ; )


Last but not least is the main bathroom, also on the 4th level. Sadly, we don't have an ensuite in this house, but I will have drawers in the bathroom cabinet - which I've always wanted so that is pretty exciting! Again, not much to see ... a tiny bit of the counter, cabinetry and flooring which is exactly the same as the kitchen.


So, needless to say we are all very excited to get to Cold Lake. I honestly never thought that I would say that I was excited to move there .. but I am. Part of it is in my anxiousness to get home to Canada, and into this new house. Also, I'm anxious to be settled again somewhere and to see what God has in store for us! I think its going to be a great 4-6 years ... plus, life will change dramatically soon, and I think that will make things all the more fun. By the way, for those of you keeping track, I am 18 weeks today, which means that I am officially entering my 5th month of pregnancy. Hard to believe! In two weeks, we have our ultrasound, and at that point I will be halfway :) AND, I can still fit into my regular clothes ... but I know someone is in there, they like to kick me in the morning and at night when I'm laying in bed!

Team PM & tadpole