All my bags are packed...

...and I'm ready to go.

OK, so we're not exactly leaving on a jet plane, but we are going to venture into the unknown sometime in the next few weeks.

Today, we packed our hospital bags, stocked the freezer, and I made a batch of muffins. I'm at full-term (37 weeks), so this little guy could be coming any day now.

This past weekend was so busy, but I really savoured the time we got to spend with our friends and family. This may be the last time we see some of them BB (before baby). We had a games night dinner at Howie's place (with Kyla, Peter, Danica, Bilal and Munaza), brunch with my cousins and saw Jody's downtown loft condo, visited my cousin Vicky's new condo in Oakville, and had dinner in Burlington with Melissa, Mark, Cole and Amelia.

Jay has the week off and so do I, so we've been leisurely crossing things off our to-do list and puttering around. We've never had a week off together where we weren't travelling, and it's been so relaxing and lovely.

This is probably the calm before the storm.

Jay took a photo of my bare belly, and it looks (and feels) so swollen and distended. I'm not brave enough to post that one on the blog but I can't believe this photo doesn't show anything. Maybe our camera has poor depth perception, haha.

Almost three years ago...

... Jay and I got married, and were lucky enough to receive a barbeque as a wedding gift from some of Jay's friends. Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to have a barbeque set up in our condo, so it has sat in the corner of our balcony for almost three years, covered in plastic.

Jay's done a pretty good job of re-covering it with fresh plastic garbage bags every year in an effort to protect it from the elements, but I was still worried that when we eventually opened the box all we would find would be a pile of rusty parts.

Today, we decided to move some of our stuff to my aunt's house for storage, to clear up some space in our condo. One big item on our list was the barbeque. Instead of just storing it there, Jay wanted to set it up and try it out. Since we were having a big Mother's Day BBQ there anyway, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

And the moment of truth came when Jay opened up the box.....

Stainless steel! No rust to speak of! Whew!

Jay happily put it together, while I sat down, read the instructions aloud, and provided drinks. So it was pretty much a concerted 50/50 effort where we each played to our strengths.

 

 Et voila!

 

Good thing there are no vegetarians in my family (this is my uncle's barbeque):

Our BBQ's inauguration was mostly used for grilling veggies:

What a beautiful day for the first barbeque of the season, and what a relief to find that that our poor neglected barbeque was as good as new!

We found a great deal on diapers, and may have gone overboard a bit. There are three boxes of diapers in our living room right now - a total of 460 diapers (size 1s and 2s). Four hundred and sixty! I imagine we'll be diaper changing experts by the time we get to the end of those boxes, but for now we need the practice:

Diapers are so fancy nowadays. I thought they'd be plasticky, but they're surprisingly soft and there's an indicator on the diaper to tell you when it's wet. Useful! In the background, we also bought some diaper wipes from Costco, which come in a box of 900. Hey, go big or go home, right? Sidenote: I never thought I would be using that phrase to justify bulk quantities of diapers and wipes.

(Also in the background is our stroller. I love how small it folds up!)

We were also trying to find laundry detergent that would be gentle and chemical-free. Without doing much research, I picked up a jug of Tide Free and Gentle, which is marketed towards mums with new babies. Then I came across an article that analysed the ingredients, and one of them was a carcinogen! Yikes! So we returned it and I got some Nellie's laundry soda instead, which got great reviews and has natural ingredients. Lots of mums who use cloth diapers recommended it, so I figured that it would be pretty good at getting gross stains out. After we washed baby clothes with it, they smelled like....nothing. They were just clean and scent-free. Plus, it cost less than the Tide detergent. So far, I'm a fan.

Bonus - it comes in a cute retro can

Showered with Love

Maryann and Melissa hosted a baby shower for Baby Loftus at our condo yesterday. It was so much fun! We had great food and great company. I felt almost embarrased by how generous everyone was, and how thoughtful their gifts were. It was so lovely to look around the room and see how excited everyone is to meet the baby. He's going to be so loved by all his wonderful grandmas and aunties!

Two of his three grandmas

The awesome stroller my mom got us. Please ignore my awkward Vanna White presentation. I don't know why I did that...

Maryann and Melissa not only threw this great shower, but they also each made a quilt! They went together to Fabricland, intent on making one big quilt together. They walked around the store separately and excitedly grabbed the fabrics that spoke the most to them. They then met up, looked at each other's fabric samples, and decided that they had better each make a quilt. So Baby Loftus is lucky enough to get two auntie quilts, and I love how their different personalities and tastes shine through.

Quilt by Melissa

Quilt by Maryann

Alice (Jay's mum) knitted a gorgeous blanket and hat. I wish you could see all the detail and love she put into it. My goodness, those Loftus women are crafty (um, in the talented artsy way, not in the devious way!)

Some of my lovely ladies

Yes, instead of buying maternity clothes I've just been stretching out my regular wardrobe. It'll be way more fun to buy new "real" clothes later than buy boring maternity clothes during the actual pregnancy, haha

I really wish I had a photo with Maryann and Melissa too, because they did such a wonderful job organizing the shower. They've been such fantastic sisters-in-law, and so so generous with lending us their baby gear, and with all their time and advice. Love them.

Thank you to everyone who came over and helped celebrate with us!

6 weeks to go! Ack!