WELCOME YEAR 2013 :)

Wishing you and your family a year filled with happiness, good health, new opportunities, and many INCREDIBLE MOMENTS!!!!!!!!

Love,
The Parkinson's
XOXO 

P.S.  We made it to midnight!!!!!!!

25 minutes to go......

And I REALLY don't know if I'm going to make it!  My hope is that writing this post will keep me alert for a wee bit longer..........

Tonight we enjoyed a delicious dinner prepared by Stephen (homemade gnocchi!) followed by lots of lounging about!  It's been relaxing and perfect.  New Year's Eve - OUR STYLE :)  

If I DO make it until midnight, I believe it will be the first time I have in THREE YEARS (at LEAST)! 

I hope this evening finds you HAPPY and SAFE - whether you're rocking fake eyelashes and heels or pajamas and slippers :)

XOXO

GOODBYE 2012!

Wowee!  Another year has come and gone.  Can you believe it?!

Let's reflect on a few STAND-OUT MEMORIES from the last 12 months......

* Traveling to London on April break.  One whole week in my favourite city with my incredible husband = TOPS!

*  Finding out about Baby P!  Oh that magical day - June 7th.  I will never forget it.  This highlight is size extra large because it makes our hearts extra happy.  

*  A weekend in Dubai.  I braved my fear of dolphins and Phil took the "Leap of Faith" at Atlantis!  

*  NYC for our second anniversary. This is the week that morning sickness really kicked in.  It made the pregnancy all so real and.......INTERESTING!    

*  Spending the summer in Canada and renting a sweet little studio apartment in the Beaches area of Toronto.

*  Touring Oman with two great friends - Stephen and Emily.  At the same time, we made another great friend who has already been to Kuwait to visit us!

Of course, we cannot leave out the day-to-day joy that comes from coaching and teaching.  And I'm being honest.  We are so lucky to have jobs that we LOVE.  Well - not just jobs.  We are so lucky to have YOU, each other, this baby, our health, our home................OH WE ARE LUCKY!  And thankful. 

Bon chance to those of you who wish to see midnight tonight!  I don't believe it's part of our new year's eve plan, but as Bieber has said, "NEVER SAY NEVER!!!!!!"

All the best in 2013!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

During an IMMEDIATE phone call......

Emily: (answers the phone) Hey!

Lindsay:  HEY!!!! I HAVE THE BEST NEWS EVER!!!

Emily:  What?!

Lindsay:  (screaming excitedly) Kim Kardashian is PREGNANT!!!!!!  She's having Kanye's baby!!!!!

Emily:  (bursts out laughing)  I thought you were calling me with legit good news!

Lindsay:  This IS legit good news!!!!!

My New Look for Decades to Come?

How else is one supposed to keep their 'sleepy-as-ever-but-can't-remain-closed' eyes OPEN?!  

GREET THE DAY!!!!!!  xo

The Nesting Instinct.

Oh it's real.  And it's hit me like nobody's biz-nazzzz.

I think one example will suffice.  Yesterday - on my own accord - I began to disassemble the Christmas tree, pack away the Christmas napkins, take down all Christmas and birthday cards, return my Build-a-Bear to her annual clothes, and re-hang our everyday pictures in place of Christmas decorations.  (Should I have asked you to sit down for this?)

This behaviour is completely uncharacteristic of me.  I dread taking down anything labelled "WINTER HOLIDAYS".  I'm the type that would leave the themed-decor up year-round if it were socially acceptable.  In fact, last year I believe we almost made it to Valentine's Day before Phil insisted that the time had come and I had a little cry about it.       

I know it's a 180, but I think I'm feeling okay.  I mean, my sanity is still intact.  At least it is in my unbiased opinion of myself...... 

The point is this:  I want to clean.  I want to purge.  I want to tidy.  I want to organize.  (Key word is "WANT", ladies and gents!) 

And you know who is very pleased about this sudden strike of "nesting"?  PHILLIP.  If I wasn't before, I am certainly the GIRL OF HIS DREAMS now!!!!

Off I go. 

To clean. 

To purge. 

To tidy. 

To organize. 

Preferences that UNITE us!

While serving dinner last night....

Lindsay:  You know what I've learned about myself this week?  I've realized that I am a "bowl/little spoon" kinda person.  I don't like using plates if I can avoid it.  And big spoons are the worst. 

Phil:  Well, I'm a "plate/big spoon" kinda person!  I love plates.  And I love big spoons.

Lindsay:  That's why we are the perfect match!!!!!!! 

WINDY / WARM / RAINY / COLD

Those four words seem to sum up the weather the last few days.  Within minutes, the conditions change from one of those to the next and it's quite difficult to select an appropriate outfit!  Throw in some hot flashes and some unusual cold sensitivity and you have one CONFUSED woman!

The holidays continue to be swell.  On Boxing Day, I spent the morning with some visitors from Saskatoon (coffee, walk, Science Center!), while Phil went to look at some used car dealerships with our friend Jamie.  Yesterday we found a new walking path perfect for STROLLING with a STROLLER and practiced our navigation skills while cruising around in search of a rocker/glider for the nursery.  As for today, we are heading out nice and early for me to practice my driving at a relatively low-traffic time and this afternoon the delivery man is coming to drop off and assemble some new purchases. 

The Bump and I - soaking up some fresh air, exercise and sunshine!

There has been a wee bit more relaxing than our previous days.  The painting is finished and we've had to wait around for our new furniture before continuing to decorate the guest room and nursery.  That all will change later today!  Haha.

Phil has enjoyed watching some sports documentaries with his new wireless headphones at night time and I've been trying my best to be AS QUIET AS A MOUSE each morning so he can sleep in as long as possible.  I figure these days will soon be over for him....so SLEEP WHILE YOU CAN!!!! 

Then there's my sleeping pattern.  Or lack of.  I am enrolled in quite the training regime for motherhood, I tell ya!  This morning I woke up at 4 a.m. - in tears - that I had barely slept a single wink.  I feel as though I do everything OTHER than sleep in the night:  roll over, roll over again, go pee, roll over, go pee, get out of bed to stretch my back and legs, go pee, roll over.............(repeat).  Then the baby starts to move, my stomach starts to growl, and I'm achy all over.  And I call it quits.  Victory:  INSOMNIA!  It doesn't help that I'm an over-Googling, CRAZY, mama-to-be.  My mind never stops.  Alas, I'm optimistic that these frustrations are all blessings in disguise - preparing me for what's to come.  Have I told you how excited I am to meet our little girl?!!!

Anyways, I better get my "game face" on for the roads.  Breakfast #1 has been had, but second breakfast is quickly approaching!

Wish me luck and Phil some sanity (who else would put up with me?!).

This is WHERE WE LIVE.

"You should practice your driving over the Christmas holidays - when no one else is on the road." 

BAHA.  There's so much I could elaborate on but I will stop with a mere giggle. 

YA WE DID!

In terms of Christmas Day celebrations, what's more unusual than an unsuccessful whale-watching excursion in Sri Lanka or building a bamboo house with machetes in Nepal?  Well, this year we ate Christmas brunch at a furniture store in Kuwait....(are you laughing?)...

After filling my family in on our plan, I believe they felt this celebratory option was a WEE BIT SKETCHY.  And it sure does SOUND that way.  But allow me to show you some pictures to clarify any "why on Earth's?!!!"......

Here it is - the furniture store (hey - if IKEA can have a restaurant, so can this place)!  Furniture shopping burns a lot of calories, you know.  It's the non-stop getting up and sitting down on couches, beds, dining room chairs, etc. that does the trick.  What better way to replenish all those calories than with a mid-shopping meal?!!!  I think it's BRILLIANT!

Of course, even the dining room sets in the restaurant are for sale.  This price tag accompanied our Christmas-Day-dining chairs.  Just multiply that number by about 3.5 and you can get a feel for how comfortable they were!!!  Talk about heaven in a cushion.

Oh - and we can't forget about the artificial tree that added some privacy to our dining experience.  The roots must be gold-plated.  Then again, I suppose the price isn't too lofty for something that "lives" FOREVER!!!!!

Here we are - the Christmas Day Trio!  And perhaps the only people brave enough to make Christmas brunch reservations at this wonderful establishment?!  Haha - we had the place to ourselves!!!!!!  This equates to EXTRA-SPECIAL treatment from the servers :)

As for the food itself, there was a great selection of holiday starters, mains, and desserts.  Steve went with the holiday lamb, but Phil and I (being the plain jane's that we are) opted for........the traditional, everyday breakfast!!!! Haha.  Yes, we DID go to this place for their affordable Christmas dining options.  And YES, we DID NOT choose to embrace the options available upon arrival at the restaurant.  But we are happy to report that our meal was DELICIOUS just the same!!!!

So there you go - not so sketchy, was it?!  Haha.  If you come to visit us in Kuwait (HINT, HINT!) we will take you there for the best meal of your life!

After brunch, we headed to the mall to pick out our Santa gifts.  Where else can you pick out your VERY OWN gift, AT THE MALL, on Christmas Day?!!!  It didn't take us too long to do this either.  We both had something in mind and it happened to be an identical something - a BASSINET for Baby P!!!!  Lucky for us, a Christmas miracle led to a same-day delivery and we are now getting used to that extra little bed in our room at home. 

Later in the day, we watched a movie and relaxed.  Appetizers were put in the oven around 7ish and Steve came over to enjoy them with us while we watched Home Alone. 

It may not have been the most traditional Christmas Day, but we worked it out with NO TEARS (woot, woot!)!  We hope you had a similarly enjoyable day with the people you love :)

Hmmm.....I wonder how many more days Phil will allow me to keep the Christmas tree up for.  Every day I dread the words, "Linds....I think it's time to put it all away until next year!"  Ahhhhh - I will have to distract him with other areas of the house......

XOXO