The SS Frank Maiden Voyage

Calgary finally had a decent weather day, so we headed out to use the new canoe (SS Frank as in Frankenstein - this canoe has been through a lot and is really patched up - she isn't pretty but she floats).

We headed out to Banff with dog in tow and spent a few hours canoeing and hiking around the lake.

It was fairly windy, but we made the best of it. Also did our 17 week bump shot - baby is growing quickly, and while Terra has gained less than 5 pounds, she is really starting to look pregnant.

We ate at our favourite low key restaurant patio on the way back through Canmore - The Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company (gourmet pizza and homemade pop), and it was early to bed for Terra after all that fresh air and exercise (Kona went to bed too - he's liking the late night snacks and early bed times this pregnancy is providing him).

Sprout is already a feisty one!

Yesterday was our second prenatal appointment - this one at 16 weeks.
We both look forward to these appointments so much, making sure everything is okay and best of all - hearing our little one's heartbeat! Yesterday Grandma Lynne got to come too which was great, and she was really excited.

We are happy to report that all Terra's tests came back perfect - for the Dr's in the crowd, hemoglobin, iron, blood pressure, thyroid etc are all considered perfect and weight gain is good (only 4 pounds so far).

The heartbeat was so much easier to find this time and it was sooo loud! Sprout wasn't too happy about being poked and prodded though, so kept moving around to avoid it. The surprising part though was that we could hear Sprout kicking! Big swooshing noises on the Doppler, so we figure this baby is a feisty one already.

Terra could feel Sprout for the first time during the appointment - again likely action due to above mentioned poking. It is all so real when these moments happen.

Terra figures that this may mean another red-head in the family - feisty like Dad (haha) - picture of Rob by the fire to demonstrate that point...

One of baby's first sounds

At 14 weeks baby starts to develop hearing in utero, so I thought it was so neat that it happened to be the same week that Rob and I went to our friend Amy's cd release party. How cool that one of the first things our baby heard was our friends up on stage at this concert filled with folk, jazz and everything else Amy is wonderful at belting out!

A little sweater

Yes this solidifies the fact that we are the hippies of the family - so cute I could not resist though!

Little Wee Wardrobe

Rob and I have been scouring the thrift and consignment stores whenever we get a chance to start building our baby supplies on the cheap (we are starting from scratch after all). It has been so much fun to look at all the wee clothing, and Rob can't believe how small some of these cute pieces of clothing are.

We don't know if Sprout is a girl or a boy, and finding gender neutral clothing has been a bit challenging but fun. Likely, if its a girl she'll be dressed as a bit of a tomboy anyhow (knowing our tastes) and that is fine by us.

Above are some of my favourite things we have picked so far, the soft little onesie with pandas is made from bamboo, and the plaid shirt is something Gradma L and I picked out, the Roots hoodie was too adorable to pass up (tape for scale).

Kijijii has been great too - we were able to get the carrier of our choice at half price: the ERGO carrier which has been certified as preferable by the chiropractic association.

So much left to think about still, carseats, strollers, playpens, bathtubs etc. So we are plugging away slowly as not to get too overwhelmed!

Current Bump Photo - 15 weeks

Born to Paddle

Rob and I are starting to figure out that this baby is going to be born to paddle, so Rob has already bought Sprout a life jacket to go with the canoe we purchased last week (we don't have grown up life jackets yet even).

You see Sprout has had plenty of in utero canoe experience, a white water canoe course in Banff (at 3 weeks pregnant), a 4 day trip down the Milk River (at 4 weeks pregnant), and an epic trip canoeing the Broken Groups Islands off the west coast of Vancouver Island (at 2.5 months pregnant).

We are so excited to continue our adventures with Kona and Sprout in tow next summer!