Baby Name Blues....

When I started this post a few days ago, I was quite overwhelmed by picking out a baby name. It's not that I think that a name has anything to do with building a kids character (I don't), it's more that I just want them to like it.


Growing up with the name Valena-Rose Elizabeth Wyght was a mouthful and I was not a fan of the name.

But then I grew up, learned how to annunciate my words, became a lil less anal about how people pronounced my name and I started to really appreciate my name. 


First of all, I love how it's my name is full of family ties:
   "Valena"- My dad's mother's middle name

   "Rose"- My mom's mother's middle name

   "Elizabeth"- My mom's middle name

Then I began seeing people have issues with having multiple people with their first name (one of my best friends will always be Brittany G. in my head because when I first started to know her she was working with my at B.P's along with FIVE other Brittany's). Another friend told me a story of having SIX other people in southern alberta with her name, first and last... One even had the same middle initial as her! I guess I always took it for granted that I never had that issue. My name is very unique. For good (or for bad) when you hear something about 'Valena', 99% chance is that that person is me.


Lastly... I just love my name with my new last name. Valena Bevans. It just sounds and looks good, doncha think? I think my parents did good. It just took me 20 years to appreciate my name (sorry mom and dad).


Perhaps a big chunk of why I didn't like my name can be simply attributed to the simple fact that it was the name I had. Isn't it almost human nature to think that the grass is greener on the other side, at least initially? I had curly hair and I wanted straight hair. I was naturally skinny but wished I was curvy. I had a feminine name and wished I had a 'cool' unisex name. If my parents had named me "Alexandra" and I went by "Alex" (my dream name when I was 12) you could probably bet that I would have found a reason to complain back then. 


So now we come back to naming our lil guy. I didn't want a name that is super popular right now (sorry 'Liam'), too unique ("Bronx"), too vanilla ("Joe"), too old-sounding ("Leonard"), too.... anything... Then you have to consider what names other people related to you 'dibbs'ed ("Chase, Emmett"). And lastly, most importantly, Shawn and I had to agree. I was stressed when we only had one potential names but then I was throwing out random names, getting shut down again and again and then Shawn said he liked one! So now we have two! I can live with two! 


First Names:


Dierks Bevans: Stolen straight from one of my favorite country singers. Dierks Bentley. Can't take the credit though. It's a name that Shawn suggested. My only concern is that it will be a name that he will grow up having to spell and pronounce forever, but then again so did I and I eventually came around...


Brock Bevans: I just was in the middle of throwing out dozens of names and randomly threw this out without really thinking about it. When Shawn said he didn't mind it, I was shocked and then realized I actually liked it. Now, Shawn has a funny habit of saying he likes/doesn't mind a name and then developing amnesia and saying he not only doesn't like the name, but hates it so I didn't really want to get my hopes up too much about having a second option for names. Then I tossed it out there two other days and so far, so good! He still likes it! Score!!!


Middle Names:


The middle names will be a lot easier since we have decided that we want family names to be the middle names so our options are:


Shawn: Shawn really wants to pass down his name since he was named after his uncle that passed away at a young age. I am not a huge fan as I don't think it flows with the other names but then again, isn't that what middle names are for? Passing on important family names? 


Dale: Shawn's dad's and grandpa's first name


Wyght: My dad is funny. My dad has been very vocal about how he dislikes his name (maybe it's genetic and that's why I didn't like my name) but unlike me, he never grew to like it and in fact, he dislikes it so much that he urged all our us NOT to name any of our children after either name "Warren" or "Scott". Sooooo we are left with his last name which is neat cause even though it's really old school, I kind of like the idea of passing on my maiden name somehow. Shawn isn't too keen since he thinks it sounds a lil funny having a last name as a middle name. Maybe I shouldn't tell him that Dierks Bentley got his name from his grandma's maiden name? Or should I?

Art Project on 3C

Apparently not everyone is as talent-blocked in regards to arts and crafts as I am. A nurse on our floor has a passion for Art and is taking some classes in University. She asked 12 of us if she could take our picture and paint it for one of her projects and of course we agreed...

Then one day, 6 months later, all of a sudden the paintings showed up on our floor and they were just a bit bigger than I had pictured in my mind. You can tell painting is a passion of hers because she put A LOT of effort into these.

We had a lil spare time yesterday so I took some comparative pictures for fun..

 Never been painted before... I feel a lil bit like King George III... 

5/30: Things That Make Me Happy

5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
============================


I tried to narrow it to five but it didn't work so I just kept going on...


1) Food... Specifically junk food
I have always been one of those eat-your-emotions types... Hungry, happy, sad, mad, bored, excited... I love junk food anytime. And I don't discriminate; I love salty, sweet, healthy and everything in between.

2) Board Games/Card Games
I try talking Shawn into playing more but no dice. I just love them, especially in big groups. I am slightly competitive and am a reformed occasional cheater...

3) Finding and reading a fantastic book.
Call me a book worm but I just love getting wrapped up in an amazing book. Everything else goes by the way-side. Speaking of... Hunger Games movie comes out this week! Whoop whoop. I'll be in the line-up come Friday.

4) Shawn/Family/Friends
This is a given. But add food and/or board games in to the mix and I as happy as can be...

5) Life in General right now....
Life is just plain good right now. Plus, every time I work with a paraplegic at work it hits me that I am so blessed to be walking and as pain-free as I am, even with a 6-month fetus growing and taking space in my belly.

6) Traveling
I got the bug.. and bad. But I am lucky enough to have enough adventures to both make me content and make me want more... but later. There is a time and place for traveling and right now it's not the time. I am happy to stick around with my hubby and baby for a bit before I drag them with me to our next destination.

7) Singing in the Car... Loud

This makes me happy, but can't speak for the poor people in the car with me. 

8) Photos

Unlike my husband, who has freaky memory, I need constant reminders of things that have past otherwise they fade away. I am pretty sure 70% of my childhood memories come from photos. Knowing this, I try and make sure that I have photos for every exciting, amazing, mundane, and little part of my life so I won't forget anything. 

9) Feeling My Alien Wriggle

There is nothing cooler than feeling this lil guy move, flip, kick and dance in my belly. I amuse myself some times by pushing him from side to side and feeling his retaliation kicks. Shawn thinks I'm being mean, he's so gentle with him even though he's already wrapped in a protective bubble in my belly. And what does he get for being so sweet? Our lil guy freezes up as soon as he feels Shawn's hand on my stomach... Stage fright perhaps?

When The Sun Goes Down....

Oh  man... I love night shifts. They are always interesting. I am not sure what about the sun going down makes patients go a lil' loopy but it does. We always have some fun things going on.


Like two nights ago;


    We had the sweetest lil' old lady with dementia on our floor. I secretly think that she has access to the fountain of youth because for being 84 yrs old she looks and can move like a 60-yr-old. Well, she had just had surgery that day and she was all settled in her bed, sweet as a peach and just slightly confused, sleeping away.
    Two hours later, a male patient from our 4-man ward came out and asked when did they get a 5th patient in their room. I politely corrected him, stating there was only 4 patients in his room. The patient seemed quite persistent about his new roomie, and I started to suspect he was slightly 'confused', when he came out point blank and said "There's a woman in our bathroom". Sure enough, when I went down to their bathroom I found our eternally young 84-yr-old female patient, with her gown flipped around so it was more like a jacket, fully exposed in the front, and washing the walls. Poor guy must of had quite the start when he opened his bathroom door. The thing about physically fit but mentally off patients is that they make the best escape artists. She was found in everybody's room, every bathroom, but luckily she eventually tired out and settled down for some sleep.


Then last night;


    One of our elderly patients with MS had been quite mute lately, during assessments, repositioning, vitals etc. we couldn't get a peep out of her. She wasn't my patient so I didn't know if she was able to talk anymore but didn't think much of it. Later in the night, another nurse and I were discussing life insurance and disability insurance (Shawn and I are in the midst of trying to figure out what types of insurance we want) so we when we went to reposition our MS patient, we continued our discussion. There we were talking about term vs permanent when all of a sudden our patient pipes up, "Make sure you read EVERYTHING". The two of us just stared in stunned silence at our suddently verbal patient as she continued, "Make sure you know what you want and it's gonna give it to you..." and so on with her spiel about insurance. I guess she must  have a passion about that subject because for the rest of the night we couldn't get another word out of her just her sporatic insight on insurance shopping...


Tonight:
  
   Tonight hasn't been that crazy. We do have two elderly gentleman who kept attempting to crawl out of bed so we put them both in geri-chairs and settled them in the t.v. room where they have since been pleasantly keeping each other company, chit-chatting, eating cookies and watching CMT... They are quite cute actually...


But I can't say I am too disappointed to be off after tonight. I actually have THREE WHOLE DAYS OFF!!!. It's been months since I have had so many days off in a row... I am quite excited and only partially suspicious that I will end up working on one of those days off...


xoxo

4/30: Letter to My Younger Self

4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
==============================


Oh man, haven't we all thought about what we wished we could have told our younger selves? Our parents and older friends/family try to give us advice and some stuck but maybe I would have listened to my future self.

1) Your first kiss will be horrible, maybe you already had it. It sucked, right? It won't always be that bad. It gets better. Much.

2) Don't be in a rush to get married. Enjoy being single and being free to anything and everything. You will get married and you will love it but don't sit around thinking about when it will happen. This is one time you can't peek at the end of the book. P.S. He's pretty awesome too.

3) Don't be afraid to move away. Go find an ocean, you will love the ocean, trust me. There is so much more world out there and if you leave for a few weeks, months, even years you can come back and things won't have changed that much.

4) Try and make more of an effort with your family. I know you don't believe it now but your sisters will be your best friends.

5) When someone tells you that your boyfriend is cheating, believe them. Or better yet, when you see red flag after red flag... don't stick around for two years hoping he will change. He may, but not with you. But it's not all that bad. You learn a lot from that relationship. Like the fact that you actually can commit to someone for more than 3 months and that you should trust your instincts.

6) When you are older you will travel. It'll be amazing. On your last day before coming home you will want to go surfing one last time despite it being bad weather. Do us both a huge favor; DON'T.

7) Don't try so hard. It's a fact of life some people won't like you but some will. Don't worry about those who you may not get along fabulous with and just have fun with those who you do.

8) Try to put in even a bit of effort to exercise. Believe your dad when he tells you your metabolism will eventually slow down. But while we are on the topic. Try not to stress too much about your body type. Believe it or not but you will not hate it so much when you get older. And your husband thinks it's pretty good too.

9) Take some spanish lessons. I know it seems far fetched right now but it will come in handy.

10) Embrace your curly hair. It's actually a blessing! Stop spending hours straightening it every day and just let it do it's natural thing (with maybe a wee bit of enhancement). Oh, and invest in a wonderful contraption called a "Chi", that will become your best friend two years from now. Worth every penny.

xoxo 

3/30: The 'rents

3. Describe your relationship with your parents.
=====================================



Thinking about how I want a relationship with this lil guy growing in my stomach makes me think about how Shawn and my relationships are with our parents. 

I will always remember my dad sitting me down soooo many times and telling me to take what I love about my parents and try to do the same for my children, but more importantly notice what I didn't like and work on making sure I don't repeat their mistakes.

I got some fantastic parents. I grew up a daddy's girl but as I have matured I have grown to appreciate my mom so much more. I am lucky to have have great relationships with my parents, but I am not gonna lie I am the worst daughter when it comes to keeping in contact which is why it's handy that I live near them because we all learned many times over that I don't do phone calls very well. I am trying to work on that.

2/30: Biggest Fears

2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.

======================================

(to figure out where the random question came from click here)

1) I am slightly terrified of something happening to Shawn or the festus growing inside me (someone called my baby a festus, not fetus, the other day and I thought it was hilarious). After my surfing accident I became freakily aware of all the dangers lurking in the world. Thankfully, that passed after a few months. But then I got married... and became aware of all the possibilities that could befall Shawn, but he's a tough adult so I don't stress too much. And then I got pregnant, and now a completely defenseless, innocent baby is coming our way and I want to wrap him in a giant baby bubble...

2) I am seriously afraid of a zombie apocalypse and I blame the book "World War Z". You may laugh but that book makes the whole thing seem completely and totally plausible. Don't believe me? Go read it and tell me if you don't lock your door, stock up on food storage and make your husband sleep between you and the window just in case a zombie breaks in.  (Which would bring together two of my huge fears.... a zombie attacking Shawn. Yep)

3) I saved the biggest for last.
I have a HUGE HUGE HUGE fear of winter roads.
Don't ask me where this came from, because I don't know. I have never been in an accident (that results in damage) in the winter. The first 20 years of my life I never stressed about driving on wintery, snowy roads. I grew up in small towns commuting to larger towns/cities and didn't think anything of it. In fact, on my 16th birthday I convinced my two best friends to go against all common sense and road advisories and attempt to drive to Lethbridge on the wintery, icy roads. Needless to say, we definitely spun off the road, narrowly missing a ravine, got picked up (and lectured) by the RCMP and arrived back home to a big "I told you so" from our parents. But it didn't bother me one bit, I thought it was a good story.

Flash forward 10 years. I practically hyperventilate when I am in car driving on wintery roads. Poor Shawn hates it almost as much as I do, not because of the roads but because I become such a basket case. The four months living in Saskatoon driving home on weekends was HELL... I think I aged 10 years from stress. Maybe it's when I moved to Lethbridge at age 17 and stopped commuting so much or maybe it was the 17 hr drive from hell coming home from Washington winter 2008... That last one actually makes sense.

Speaking of Shawn..... He is hilarious when it comes to needles. When he came to get a flu shot, I turned to give him his shot and he literally jumped a foot away chair and all. Hilarious. Hellish wintery roads doesn't make him bat an eye but introduce a tiny needle and he's all nerves.

See how happy we are when there are no needles or
zombies on winter roads?

xoxo

1/30: Random Facts

1. List 20 random facts about yourself
===============================


1) I feel naked without earrings. Seriously. I can probably count the number of days I have gone without wearing some kind of earrings on one hand.

2) I was in marching band, and loved it, for two years. First year I played the mellophone (apparently french horns don't fit well in marching bands). Second I was in the color guard, dancing, doing flags and throwing around rifles. Every now and then when I pick up a rake or a broom I still throw it around to the "The Maple Leaf Forever" routine.

3) I was in speech therapy for the first five years of school. There was probably 10 of us from my year to start out with and I was the last one, by far, to finally "graduate". Even still, when I get excited or nervous and talk to fast I still mess up my 'r's.

4) I am slightly addicted to "People" and "EW" magazine. Thinking about how much time I spend reading these things, I feel slightly guilty. But I am sure a baby will fix that.

5) I am a Registered Nurse, and luckily love it. I say luckily because I went into it for all the wrong reasons.   Mainly I went into because my two older sisters, whom I idolized, were both enrolled in nursing and they kept talking nursing at the kitchen table and I was maddened by not being able to relate/understand what they were saying.

6) I love water. I drink anywhere from 1-7 L/day and rarely drink anything else. Makes for a lot of bathroom breaks now.

7) I have a notoriously bad memory. Shawn suspects that I purposely selectively forget certain things but I don't. Things just fade away from my memory. I am one head bump away from being an amnesiac.

8) I love reading. I also love peeking at the end of the book. Helps me relax and enjoy the book.

9) Shawn dated for only 2.5 months before we got engaged and were married 4 months later. He made me a believer.

10) I am a pretty good typer typist , all thanks to a typing game my dad bought and put on our old computer. Things kids do for fun in the winter when you grow up in a village of 18 houses. Except I have never mastered the numbers row.

11) I lose things. Including the gorgeous diamond earrings Shawn bought me for my first birthday we spend together. It's a mini-miracle that I haven't lost my engagement ring, maybe it's because I refuse to take it off my finger even for work regulations (shh, don't tell).

12) I volunteered in Ecuador for 4 months working in an orphanage. It was amazing and if anyone knows of anyone looking to fill a few weeks-months I highly recommend it. Plus, I figure if I can handle 20 screaming babies maybe I can somewhat handle one baby? Maybe? http://www.orphanagesupport.org/

13) I have finger toes. Makes wearing high heels hard sometime because they are quite long.

14) I didn't know sheeps and lambs were the same species until I was 14. Don't judge. I thought they were more like cousins, like a tiger and leopard. Don't judge.

15) My maiden name is Wyght. It's kind of rare. Really rare... But it's also partly a farce.
Turns out my Dad and his siblings were born with the last name White and when they were in their late teens/early twenties they all legally changed their name from White to Wyght. Apparently it's the original spelling WAAAAAAY back when before they came to America and were forced to change it. Weird to think I could have been Valena White; just doesn't feel the same.

16) We weren't really allowed to watch much t.v. as kids. In fact my dad would hide our T.V. cable/bunny ears and we would have to hunt in the attic for it so we could watch our peasant vision. First time I got cable I was 19 years old and I have become addicted to T.V. since then. (Maybe my dad had a good reason to keep me from T.V.)

17) I know everyone else loves snowboarding but it always kind of scared me. I just could see myself breaking a bazillion bones. I tried giving snowboarding a fair shot but when I got my back surgery and my Dr. recommended avoiding snowboarding forever I was secretly excited to have a get-out-of-jail-free-card (in regards to snowboarding) excuse for the rest of my life.

18) I wanna start on our food storage... Just in case zombies take over the world. Don't judge.

19) I get in food habits. I could easily eat the same thing over and over for weeks, and used to. There was a whole summer that all I ate for supper was either canned peas/corn or broccoli salad. But Shawn is not a fan. Apparently he likes variety in his food.

20) I probably have at least 20 unfinished journals... Maybe 25. But so far I have been doing my blog for  14 months so here's hoping this won't end up yet another abandoned journal.

xoxo

30 Things...

First off:
I love pinterest.


I am sure that I have already mentioned that but I seriously think it is the best thing on the internet.


Two days ago I found a post from from this blog...

The idea is to post a different random question each day with the answer and through this it will capture a snippet of me, where I am right now. We'll see how many I do, and how many days it takes me to do them all but I am quite excited because most of these I probably haven't really ever quite thought about.


1. List 20 random facts about yourself.
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.
3. Describe your relationship with your parents.
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
6. What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?
7. What is your dream job, and why?
8. What are 5 passions you have?
9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.
10. Describe your most embarrasing moment.
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
13. Describe 5 weaknesses you have.
14. Describe 5 strengths you have.
15. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at?
18. What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive?
19. If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.
21. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first?
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
23. List your top 5 hobbies and why you love them.
24. Describe your family dynamic of your childhood vs. your family dynamic now.
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?
28. What is your love language?
29. What do you think people misundertand most about you?
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.

Just Your Average Saturday

On Saturday Shawn and I tagged along with my mum and her hubby to Calgary. We didn't do anything much that was super exciting but I had a fantastic day just spending the full day hanging with Shawn... 

Plus we got to go to Ikea... I showed really good restraint by NOT buying anything even though I wanted to max our credit card and fill our home with Ikea gear. Why oh why can't Lethbridge be bigger so we could have an Ikea?

Killing time throwing snow balls
outside Ikea

Found a whole garbage bag filled with recyclables,
I was only 5% thinking about taking it with us...

And we ate yummy, but expensive, Indian food. Anyone else think Indian is overpriced? Seriously overpriced? 

We didn't leave a bite to waste... Nothing
better than naan bread and butter chicken...

But my favorite part was a sound-bite from Shawn. I can't even remember why he said this but he was making fun of someone and he said, "I smell London, I smell France; I smell..... underpants????" he was so confused and couldn't figure out why it didn't sound quite right... hahahaha

Can I Never Escape It??

I have been graduated from high school for almost 9 years and graduated from University for 4 years so you think that I would be in the clear from schoolwork stress. Lately, though, I have been having a lot of dreams about being in school and realizing that I either; didn't finish a major homework assignment, didn't study for a big test or my favorite, haven't been to math class for weeks and there is a big test.

And it's not university. It's high school.

That means high school teachers and all the same kids I grew up with and haven't spent time with in years and years (almost 9 years for the majority). I find it ridiculous that 9 years later my high school classes and teachers still haunt my dreams... And it's all about stupid schoolwork.

Maybe it's my subconscious trying to distract me from the little creature growing in my belly and the utter fear of child birth I have... Smart subconscious.

But seriously, I am actually really excited for our lil guy to arrive. I was listening to the radio today and heard the cutest song that made me think that if our lil guy is anything like Shawn was as a kid we are gonna have our hands full and I can't wait...

Can't wait to have a lil whirlwind of a boy running around causing havoc...

Our Attempt at Being Social Again

Shawn and I have been antisocial lately in regards to friends unfortunately.

But tonight we finally went out to Fort Mac to see our friends Matt and Katie, whom we love.

Katie is preggers too so it was fun to sit and chat with another pregnant lady. Matt and Katie are in the middle of major renos to their house as well so the boys talked about all their renos while Katie helped calm and reassure all my crazy fears (like my abd muscles splitting apart; I literally had a nightmare that my baby was able to press his hands and face out of the womb with only my abd skin separating us- have you seen "The Frighteners"? Just like that... creepy!) 

I think my stomach is massive until I compare with Katie's (who's due in 5 weeks) and I realize just how much more it has to grow!

I realized that since Shawn and I haven't been doing much the last two months other than school, work, house renos, and hanging with family, we haven't had many photos lately. Now that I have realized this, that is about to change much to his chagrin. 

He HATES photos as you can see by his photo smile, just call him my own personal Chandler Bing.

I informed him that the wonderful Kelsey Pankhurst is gonna be taking our newborn pictures and he immediately started whinging about we don't need all these random photo shoots. And then he realized the photo shoots have been not-so-random; engagement, wedding, bridals and now newborns... Just all of them within two years of each other has him a little bit overwhelmed but he agreed to it! 

Just don't know when to spring on him I want to have yearly family photos... Don't think he'll be a fan.

One Down, Three to Go!

Shawn officially finished his first year in Carpentry! 

(don't believe him when he says he failed, he thinks it's hilarious to say that)

He's pretty darn talented so it's not surprising that he did awesome in his classes. 

Love this guy...

One down, three to go!

Now he's back to work, which he is quite excited for, and I can't deny I won't mind being back to two incomes for the next couple months...

26 Weeks...

Well I think this classifies me as in my 6 months... 

Only 3 more months till we have a new addition in our family!

Maybe I should have had three fingers up instead
of showing the peace sign...

New developments:

- I can actually see the baby kicking now, he's getting so much stronger. My purse was on my stomach and he actually made the purse jump.

- Heartburn/Indigestion; I am not sure what exactly it is but all I know is that it is uncomfortable, happening more and I am not a fan.

- My belly is getting so much bigger! So much so that when I was laying on my back and I sat up, I saw my stomach was kind of triangular shape. There was a legit ledge down my stomach straight down the belly button and down. Turns out that this is called Diastasis Recti, when the abdominal muscles (6-pack) split down the middle into two 3-packs... Awesome... Just imagine how separated the muscles will be 3 months from now. Man, I knew I should have done more exercising before I got pregnant. 

-We bought our first thing for baby preparation! I love kijiji and I have been scouting every day, and one day I found a fantastic crib, change table/dresser, mattress, and change table mattress all for $150. I jumped on that and now we have our nursery started! Maybe we should start thinking about what else we need, anyone have suggestions?