THREE MORE MONTHS!!!!

Until the BEST, MOST JOYFUL, MOST WONDERFUL, MOST HAPPY, MOST MAGICAL day of the year!!!!!

It's HALFTIME!!!!

(Ya right!  On this FOOTBALL SUNDAY....it is still HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS away....)

But in terms of BABY P - it REALLY IS HALFTIME!  Today I am 20 weeks pregnant.  I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!  Phil says he feels like we read that little "plus" sign two days ago.  At that rate, our wee babe will be here by the weekend!  Haha.

Ohhhh I am so excited to meet her and learn about her own little personality!  Every time we see her at the doctor's office, the doctor says, "it is a girl.  But she is SO, SO active - just like a boy!"  Grandpa Hoit has a theory that she's busy "tidying up" the place because her Daddy's watching (and you know how much Phillip loves for things to be clean and organized)!  I think Grandpa Hoit could be right!

Things are SWELL here in Kuwait.  I was hoping that I could convince Phil to watch "What to Expect While You're Expecting" with me in honour of this special, 20 week occasion.  Sadly, he is seeming a little resistant completely against the idea and is well into the epic pre-game show already.  Le sigh.....this mama is going to sneak into bed early to watch Pregnant in Heels :)

Adios, AMIGOS!  Enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon to rest up for the week ahead!

XOXO

PEACE = P.B. and more P.B. and CHOCOLATE

To celebrate the International Day of Peace this weekend, I really wanted to bake some sort of a sweet treat. My dessert-go-to is ALWAYS peanut butter cookies, but on their own, they just don't have that "WORLD PEACE" vibe. So - I went on a hunt for heart-shaped chocolates to place in the middle of them.......or icing that I could use to create my own peace signs.  Alas, neither of these options were feasible or overly enticing.

And then I spotted them:  mini Reese's peanut butter cups!

I INSTANTLY knew what I had to do....

Nothing says "PEACE" like PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES WITH MINI PEANUT BUTTER CUPS IN THE MIDDLE!!!!!!! 

I suppose you could call this my first official "CRAVING".  But then again, our cookie party attendees were craving them equally as much!!!!

Tastes like MORE.  TO THE KITCHEN!!!!!!

THE INFORMATION BLANKET.

How clever is this?  A baby blanket that informs new mom's about things like baby's growth, feeding frequency, signs of illness, and vaccination schedules - all with the intention of decreasing infant mortality rates around the globe.  It's GENIUS.  PURE GENIUS.  And it gets better.....

For every ENGLISH VERSION of the blanky you purchase, the company will send a blanket to a mama/baby duo somewhere else in the world!  Almost 600 blankets have already been sent to mothers in Uganda!  TALK ABOUT INCREDIBLE.

This idea fills my "I WANT TO SAVE THE WORLD!" soul.  (And the blanky would fit quite well in Baby P's "around the world" nursery!).  Mmmmmm hmmmmm.....our little one will be taught PHILANTHROPY from DAY ONE! 

Learn more about how you can FEEL AWESOME and MAKE A DIFFERENCE HERE.

Today was GOOD.

Woke up at 7:30.  Watched some shows with my man.  He did the laundry.  I worked out.  He went to play ball.  I went for a mani/pedi with Gem.  We picked up groceries.  I face-timed Dad.  Then we enjoyed a WONDERFUL Mexican dinner at the neighbours.

Time for bed & p.j.'s :) 

TODAY is the INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE!

And with this little wee babe coming to us in February, we can only hope that the message of love and tolerance is spread far and wide around the globe!  Do something KIND today.  FORGIVE SOMEONE.  And choose to be HAPPY!

Sending out many warm wishes for a WORLD filled with PEACE!

XOXO

I forgot to tell you.....

 ....we're headed to OMAN for Eid break, October 25th - 29th!  Emily and Steve are going to be our travel companions on this trip - which may very well serve as our "BABYMOON".  Phil made me promise that I wouldn't ask to travel at Christmas if we traveled during October.  I suppose I promised.  And I suppose we're having Christmas in Kuwait.  But I also suppose this means I get to go CHRISTMAS CRAZY and stock up on a slew of new holiday decor!  I mean, you can't have "Christmas in Kuwait" without all the bells and whistles of a Christmas back home, right?!  Dad says we should start decorating now.  I agree.  The earlier, the better!  (I need to VIDEOTAPE Phil's reaction to reading this!)

Jingle bells, jingle bells.........

And BABY, it really is starting to get COLD outside.........

JUMPIN' FOR JOY!!!!!

YIPPEE!  It's the weekend.  And the work week ended on the most positive of notes with not ONE, not TWO, not THREE, but FOUR FANTASTIC CLASSES!!!!!  All of my grade 6's were in SUPER spirits day - energized yet ready to direct their bounces and giggles into some SERIOUS work!  It was AWESOME!!!!!  I love a good "finisher" to a long and tiring five days :)

Back to School Night was a big success last night (despite the initial scare of a mischievous gecko scurrying around my classroom!).  Phil saw TWO parents (YAY!) and I saw at least 30 (WOOT, WOOT!).  My classroom was BUMPIN', with many parents eager to share in our baby happiness, yet nervous about the transition to a new teacher when I go on maternity leave.  Luckily, my replacement teacher was WITH ME and we could reassure their worries with his calm and friendly presence!  It was also nice to have some quick catch-up's with many of the mom's I grew to adore last year.  They all wanted to weigh in on girls names, hospitals, and birth plans :)

Phil is still at school tonight - with his first session of fall clubs (he's the club coordinator) and a two hour basketball practice to follow.  I just got home from tutoring and am looking forward to some more YOGA with the ladies in the building.  I can't wait for Phil to get home so we can snuggle and watch X-FACTOR later tonight!  I miss him SO MUCH during the week......so much that I MAY even text him with the suggestion of picking up his all-time favourite - DOMINOES PIZZA - for dinner :)  He's worked really hard this week and he definitely deserves a TREAT!!!!

Our plans for the weekend include basketball (of course!), catching up on tv shows (of course!), visiting with Emily (a MUST!), and picking up groceries.  I also have some emailing and messaging back to do (apologies to those who've been waiting for WAY TOO LONG to hear back from me!). 

I hope your work week concludes on a happy note!!!  To those of you back home:  hang on tight - Friday afternoon is ALMOST HERE!!! 

XOXO

Tell Me About It!

Twenty minutes before recess......

Student:  MISS!  This morning all I had was a sunny-side-up.  I'm STARVING!!!!!!

1)  I love how she called it simply a "sunny-side-up".
2)  I was having the SAME FEELING!  Starving and SHAKEY!  Thank goodness that recess bell was not too far off!

Back to School Night is TONIGHT!  Wish us luck!!!!

The FRUITS of PREGNANCY ;)

Grade 6 Boy:  Miss, today your belly looks like a watermelon!  Maybe tomorrow it will look like a pumpkin!

Hmmm.....I suppose I wasn't just FEELING puffy from all sides - I was LOOKING it!  Face, belly, legs, feet......yesterday, EVERYTHING felt HUGE! 

I wonder what massive food reference I'll get today :)