Let the Festivities Begin!!

Thank you to Yvette and Brian for hosting the annual Kris Kringle dinner again! Every year they invite us into their home, provide the turkey and everyone else brings the trimmings. The result? We all get to have a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

For us, it was the first of the holiday season get togethers and it has me all pumped and excited for the rest to follow. After dinner we started the long process of the Kris Kringle gift exchange. I should have learned by now, but it is always the coolest wrapped gift that is stolen over and over again. Sadly, I'm no Martha Stewart so our gifts were not highly sought after.

It's so much fun to steal from one another, only to have it stolen from you in the next round! After everyone finally had their gift, we opened them one by one to see what they REALLY were inside. It turns out we are horrible at guessing what it was. Not a single block of cheese in the entire bunch! Can't wait for the rest of the holiday get togethers. Happy holidays everyone!!!

Ok, so this picture isn't actually at the party, but Maddy wore a dress for the very first time! Thank you Auntie Jenny!

P.S. There is a new post under the one titled "Gotcha", so scrolled down and check it out!

Gotcha!!!

Madelin has started to really smile recently. For the last week or so, I've been trying to capture one of those smiles on our camera but every time I get the camera she stops. Finally, after patiently waiting and making googly eyed faces at her, I got it! Whoever said "A smile is worth a million dollars" was right. Thank goodness for digital cameras or this smile would've been worth just about that much in film and developing.

Ho,Ho, oh no!

It's been a long time since I've been to see Santa at the mall, but we wanted Maddy to have a photo with Santa for her first Christmas. So while at the mall, in the middle of the day, we thought it would be a great opportunity to get it done without having to stand in a long line. Initially, we thought that it would just be Maddy with Santa. Since she is so young we knew that this would be at least one photo with Santa where she wouldn't be crying. I myself missed many photos with Santa because I was off to the side crying. The family in front of us had baby, mom and dad in the photo, so on a whim Josh and I decided that we'd get in the picture too and make it a family photo.

The thing is, there is something weird about cozying up to a stranger even if he is supposed to be the man who brings joy to children around the world. Even if he were the real Old St. Nick, he is still a stranger. Too weird for me. Well as you can see from the picture, with our stiff body language and fake smiles, Maddy was the only one who felt 'comfortable'! On a side note, Josh's eyes are open!!

Three people we will never forget

This Tuesday marked the last appointment with our midwives. From here Maddy and I will begin to see my regular doctor again. I cannot fully describe my feelings around the end of this relationship. I am so happy with our decision to use a midwife for our prenatal care. For one thing the clinic was so close to home. Pomegranate Community Midwives is just up on Hastings, about a 3 minute drive from our house. It was also such a warm place. The rooms all have rugs, couches and pillows instead of the usual examining bed. Our prenatal classes also happened to be at the clinic and so I'm used to making myself at home there now.

Janice and Celina at the birth


Our midwives, Kat, Janice and Celina were amazing. At each appointment we would go with a paper full of questions. They always patiently answered every single one of them and armed us with enough info to make informed decisions. Janice and Celina came to our home for Maddy's birth and they really were amazing. They went into our cupboards to find pots and pans or whatever else they needed. They even found some lullaby CDs and put them on. It was more like they were family or members of the household. The week following Maddy's birth Kat came to our house every other day to continue with the postnatal care. We felt like she genuinely cared about Maddy and how she was doing.


Kat and Celina at our last appointment


We are so grateful to have had Kat, Janice and Celina as our midwives. They truly are three people we will never forget. Thank you so much you guys, we'll be looking for you when we are ready for round two!!

More Pictures

After 5 weeks of eating and sleeping, eating and sleeping, Maddy has really changed. Her cheeks, especially, have filled out making them irresistable for kissing! At 5 weeks we thought we saw her very first 'real smile'. It made both our hearts melt, but then we didn't see her smile again like that for a many days. I'm beginning to think that it was gas, but since then she has smiled what I truly believe are real smiles. I'm still trying to capture one using the camera, but every time she smiles I just love it so much that forget all about taking a picture.


Right now we are at the beginning of week 6 and Maddy is going through a growth spurt. She is feeding very often, so she and I are not venturing out much. I've recently mastered the side lying position for feeding so it makes the longer feeding sessions much more comfortable and cosy for the two of us. I really cherish the time I get to spend with her while feeding and I know it won't last forever. Most people comment on how tiny she is, but to me she has grown so much that it makes me sad to think that this special time will be gone in a flash.

A great "cheek shot"


I love how big her butt looks in the cloth diapers!

Dad feeds her a bottle every night

I love this time with her, right after I've fed her and she snuggles in for a burp.

"Getting her manicure"

Tummy time.

Some more tummy time.

The 'Mad' Hatter

We can definitely tell that Maddy is growing since she has out grown some of her clothes that used to be too big. Other things she is quickly outgrowing are her hats. When she was first born, we didn't have a single hat that didn't fit her like an oversized Smurf hat.

Now some of those hats are snug or even way too small. A while ago we thought that she hated being in her car seat, only to find out later on that it was hats she didn't like. Even now when we go out, we try to put her hat on after she is in the car seat and near "La la land" in order to avoid her squirming to get the hat off.

It's too bad she doesn't like the hats because she has so many cute ones to choose from. Here are some pictures of "The many hats of Maddy".

This hat was one of the ones that were way too big for her. It is the very first hat she ever wore.

She's fine if we can get the hat on AFTER she has fallen asleep.

Don't be deceived with the smile on her face. She was just fed and it was probably gas.

I love this monkey hat!

Little Josh's First Birthday

Has it already been a year since lil' Josh was born? It's amazing how quickly the year has gone by and how much he has changed. I remember meeting Josh for the first time and how nervous I was to hold such a tiny little baby. This weekend we went to Josh's 1st birthday party. Wow, what fun! There were so many little babies everywhere and it was great seeing Josh walking around watching everyone play with his toys. He did a great job sharing his toys, home and even sippy cup with everyone. When the cake came out, Josh loved the sparklers and candles and clapped along with everyone else.

He had so much fun, that he was tuckered out before the party ended. Time for nap!! Still it was fun watching mom open all his presents! Happy birthday Joshie, thank you for having at your party. It was a lot of fun.

A Little Getaway

After almost a month of getting to know Maddy, we decided it was time to go on our first family trip. Nothing exotic or too ambitious, just a short 3 day trip to the States. We left on Wednesday and slowly made our way south. With feedings every 3 hours or so we didn't make it any further than Seattle. With no particular agenda we drove between feedings and tried to get some shopping done. Seems like it would be pretty easy except you'd be surprised how long it takes to get from one side of the mall back to the other with a hungry baby. I've really come to appreciate malls that have great change rooms complete with nursing areas. Hopefully, the day will come when I can feed Maddy without flashing everyone in the general area. Until then, we'll have to continue trekking back across the mall every time. We became experts at feeding in the car since most malls don't have nursing areas. Josh even mastered changing a diaper in the front seat when the thought of taking everything to the washroom for a quick change was too tiring.

The trip was a great learning experience for us and we still managed to take advantage of the strong Canadian dollar and got some good deals.

3 Weeks Old

Don't have anything particluar to blog about. Seeing as we pretty much spend all of our time at home right now. Here are some new pictures of Madelin, can't believe she's 3 wks old now. She's changing so fast.

Taking a nap

A family photo

Queen Elizabeth Park

Maddy and Daddy

Look at how big her cheeks are now!

"Hey, what you talkin' bout Willis?!"

First Aid/ CPR

Our first "Not about Madelin" blog since she was born! This weekend Josh and I took a course for Infant/Child CPR. It is now called Emergency Child Care and is basically one that all child care workers must have. This course is for children from birth up to 10 years so a lot of the procedures included what to do for adults. We were really shocked by how much has changed since we last took our first aid/CPR classes. I took mine only five years ago. One of the biggest changes is the breath to chest compression ratio. It is now 2:30 for everyone. No more having to remember separate ratios for different age groups. Another change is you no longer take the person's pulse to check for a circulation. The instructor said that even doctors can have difficulty accurately finding a pulse. Most of the changes made things a whole lot easier. The coolest thing we learned was how to use an AED (don't remember what it stands for but it's the machine that electrically shocks the heart back to life). It was a long day and all three Blommesteins where practically asleep in the back of the room by the end, but we feel better having done so. If you're interested in taking or renewing your certification it would definitely be worth it. The number for the Red Cross is 1-888-307-7997 or St. John's Ambulance 604-321-2651.

Aspiring to be the next David Blaine

During the pregnancy, we had four different ultrasound appointments. Each time we were lucky to get photos of Madelin. In every single set there is at least one photo where she has her hand up by her face. In fact, one technician tried really hard to get an open hand shot of her for us, but commented that she was always making a fist.

Fast forward to Maddy now. She still loves to have her hand by her face. She has yet to scratch her face so we don't even put those glove things on. Sometimes she sucks on the back of her hand, but mostly she just rests it on her face or chin.

At night or during naps we swaddle her so that she doesn't wake herself when she jerks in her sleep. No matter how we swaddle her, she often manages to squeeze a hand free!! At first we thought that we were just novices at swaddling. Perhaps we hadn't mastered the art of the tight swaddle and she was getting free. Then Shauna let us borrow Mackenzie's old swaddle wraps. They are specially designed for swaddling complete with velcro closures. Maddy is so determined, that she can STILL get one hand free. Once we watched her as one hand slowly wriggled up her chest under the tightly wrapped swaddle and out her neckline. One time I unwrapped her and her arm was on it's way up, but the swaddle was tight. She couldn't get the arm up with the sleeve of her shirt and all. So she was in the middle of wriggling just her arm and leaving the sleeve where it was. Usually this technique works well for her except this time the puff of her sleeve foiled her plan. Finally she gave up and fell asleep with her arm all crunched up at the top her sleeve. Poor girl. We will start her formal magician training next week. Look out David Blaine!!

Five Days With Madelin

This first week with Maddy has been so amazing. She has changed so much since those first days that we are madly taking pictures to capture everything. Thank good for digital cameras or we'd be drowning in debt from the cost of film. So far things are going well. She latched on well and breastfeeding is becoming more and more natural. It'll be nice to be able to feed her without the need for a million and one props or pillows. I cherish the time we get together during the feeds, and it feels like we are both beginning to get the hang of it. The best part is when she is done, she has this "drunk on milk" look on her face and what looks like a little smile (probably just gas though). Priceless!

We gave her a sponge bath on her 3rd day. Her hair was in desparate need of a wash. I thought she'd cry and cry, but she seemed to like the warm water on head. Now that the umbilical cord has fallen off we can go ahead and give her real bath soon. Thank goodness it fell off, it was really beginning to smell!!

As parents, we are learning at a furious rate. Now that my milk has come in, her poops have changed. The biggest change is how often it happens!! We're learning to never leave a bare-bummed baby without some kind of protective sheet. You'd think that by seeing what's in the diaper, she was done. NOPE!! I guess there's always room for more! It's been pretty funny and always brings some comic relief to the extreme exhaustion.

I guess I should stop now or some of you will never visit out blog again. Thank you to everyone for the good wishes. We feel so lucky that Madelin has chosen us to be her parents and we can't wait for her to meet you all. For now, we are happy enough to just keep her all to ourselves!!

Here are just a few of the millions of pictures. There will be more soon.

Introducing our baby girl.

It's been quite the trip these last 9 months, but we are so happy and excited to introduce our daughter, Madelin Lee Blommestein (Maddy). She was born Oct 14th at 12:21am weighing 6lbs 13oz. Mon's water broke 6am the day before and mostly had mild contractions until 6pm. After which, the really hard work started. She did really awesome and things really started to progress. At about 12am she was ready to push and within 20 minutes we became parents and we are so thrilled. Here are some quick shots, will keep you posted as we get settled as a family.

Whoah Belly!!!

It's funny how time seems to fly by, yet move at a snail's pace all at the same time. We are now officially ONE MONTH away from our due date. I'm becoming less and less mobile, but I feel like this is the part of the pregnancy that I've enjoyed the most. I can feel her move on a regular basis and she seems to have her own little schedule. I also haven't had the nausea as much since week 30 or so and I think that helped a lot!

With time ticking down, I thought it would be appropriate to post some pics of "ma belleh" throughout the last 8 months.

This one was taken at 16 weeks. By then, my regular pants were getting tight and I had to use the rubberband trick on my jeans!

Here we are at 25 weeks. We went camping with some friends. I remember feeling really big at the time. Hahaha! If I only knew!

These last ones were taken just the other day, at 35 weeks. We went to have someone take some maternity shots for us. See what I mean by "Whoah Belly"?


So that's all folks! Perhaps in the next post, we'll be able to show you some pictures of our "little pumpkin". She just needs a little more time in the oven. We can't wait to see what she looks like!

Bon Voyage Ner!

This weekend Josh and I went to Victoria. My good friend Nerine, who I've known since UVIC days, lives there. She is getting ready to leave for Ethiopia for a year where she will volunteer in a small town. She will be helping teachers with their teaching practices.

I'm so proud of Nerine for embarking on this adventure. It has all happened so fast. I can remember that it was only in the spring when she first mentioned about wanting to go. Since then, she has found a placement, travelled to Ottawa for training, learned to ride a motorcycle (something she has to do to travel between towns) and settled things with her own school board in Sooke.

It was really nice to be back in Victoria again. It sure has changed since the old University days. Walking around downtown is so much more peaceful there than in downtown Vancouver. We had a great lunch at the Milestones in the harbour and walked around downtown. Since we didn't go anywhere this summer, like we usually do, it was nice to feel like a 'tourist' again!

I helped her set up a Blog account so I'll add a link here for you all if you're interested in seeing what life is like in Buee, Ethiopia. Bye Ner, I wish you all the best. I'll miss you so much!!

Love Mon and Josh