Here's a tip!

Here's a tip for those of you are planning to have kids, but are not yet pregnant - FIND OUT THE SEX OF THE BABY.

In the beginning I really didn't want to know what I was having... the fact that so few things in life a really ever a surprise was the part that sold me on waiting until the baby is actually born to know the sex. I have always made the analogy that finding out the sex before its born would be like knowing what people are getting you for Christmas, before Christmas morning - what is there to be all that excited about on Christmas morning if you already know what every gift under the tree is?

However... me and all my analogies haven't gotten me anywhere in my hunt for crib bedding for this baby to be. Honestly, if I knew the sex of the baby I think I would be at home on weekends maxin' and relaxin' with my feet up and an ice-cold (non-alcoholic, but wishing it was alcoholic) beverage - it would have been easy to select some fashionable bedding for a boy or a girl by now. BUT, the fact that I don't know the sex has had me running from store to store to store to website to website to freaking insanely mad that I can't find something I love.

I am waiting to make any decisions on paint for the baby's room until I find some crib bedding I like. I think once I find the bedding, it will be easier to choose the paint than the other way around. Every time I run into a dead end I say to myself (in a rather annoying voice) 'if I knew the sex of the baby I wouldn't be having this problem'!

Last weekend, when my sister was in town we headed across the border to the US of A as I had saw so many bedding/nursery sets online that I really liked. I thought... we would hit Watertown where there is a Target, 2 Walmarts, KMart, Sears, JC Penny, Kohl's... but the selection at all of these stores was complete CRAP, if you didn't know the gender of the baby.

One of my big things is that I don't want to come anywhere near any animal or character themes... I just want something modern with cool stripes, polka dots or argyle prints... but that apparently is not what is out there in the stores. While in Watertown I did discover a few polka dot prints but not in the right colours as I felt everything was too boyish or girlish... hence allowing me to conclude: KNOWING THE SEX OF A BABY PRIOR TO BIRTH IS A GOOD THING!

I have to admit I was pretty deflated when we returned from Watertown empty handed (although we did find some cute/cheap Carter's baby outfits), but I regained my composure and went back to the websites, discovering this set from Walmart Online:

I really really liked it... and so between my sister and I, we put our heads together and figured out a way to get it ordered to the states, as its not available in Canada and they won't deliver it to Canada either.

I went all out, ordering pretty much every piece you see in the second picture... and its suppose to arrive sometime in the next 2 weeks, so I am pretty pumped about that. I got the whole she-bang for just over $250 dollars... curtains, extra crib sheets, pillows, the rug, the mobile, wall decals, etc - you name it I ordered it!

So... provided that I like the set in person, I think the search for non-gendered crib bedding may be officially over! But take it from me, don't put yourself through this - find out the sex of the baby and your life will be so much easier!

A new addition to the family!

I have to admit I have been a little scarce on the blog posting lately - I try to find time to make a post but it seems between work and sleeping (which I do a lot of these days), I barely have any brain power left for composing a coherent argument about anything.

However, tonight I don't need much brain power, as I just snapped a quick photo and voila - I have a post! We picked up our new 2008 Escape tonight - traded in our old one, to welcome White Lightning to the family.

We had be tossing around the idea of trading our 2004 Escape for a new one... and after a few conversations with our salesman, the price was right and we decided to do it. Now we have a new ride, and some peace of mind for when the baby arrives.

I don't have much more to report tonight except that I will vow to get my butt in gear on more rapid blog posting in the coming days ... if its any consolation, I do think of you, my faithful (most likely dwindling) readers every day - and I really want to post something each day, its just that time gets away from me and before I know it I am on my way to bed!

In the meantime, while you bare with me, check out our new Escape... move off Mafia Mobile - hello White Lightning!

Pregnancy Update

Well... I have been pretty much consuming the blog with my travels lately... and haven't done much chit-chat on the pregnancy, so I thought a little update on Baby Coleman might be appreciated by some of you.

Let's see.... where to begin:

• Well.. I am at the 25 week mark this week... seems crazy to think that I am already 6 months pregnant, it feels like yesterday that we were deciding when to tell our parents - and in 3 short (hot, humid, sweaty) months we will be greeting our little boy or girl!
• I am getting bigger (talk about a no brainer)... ! The funniest thing this morning was when a colleague said to me 'Wow, you have really popped!' and I replied 'Really? I think its just my pants today,' and she said 'No Sara, I am pretty sure its not your pants!' - I guess I am in denial a bit.
• I use to be able to put on a baggy sweatshirt and look like my 'old' self, but now the belly is starting to stick out even in the baggy sweats... there's no covering it up, no matter how hard I try!
• Last month I had some pretty good emotional 'episodes'. I say episodes, because I was acting only like someone out of a soap opera or tv-sitcom. Definitely some of my least proudest moments... and I am sure there were various points were PC wanted to just pack up and bail, and NO ONE would have blamed him, but I guess this is why I married him, as he is about the one and only person will stick me out of sheer love!!
• I watched the movie 'Knocked Up' on Sunday night... it was on the movie channel. The first time I saw this movie I thought it was funny, but watching it again - I cried I laughed so hard in some parts - especially when Ben (the boyfriend) is screaming at Alison (prego): 'You know what, I know this isn't you talking, it's your hormones, but I would just like to say, F#%CK YOU, HORMONES, YOU ARE A CRAZY BITCH, HORMONES--not Alison, HORMONES.' PC could so relate that part.... for sure!
• I am starting to think that I might be having a boy... I say this because during my little episodes, I had more rage than sobbing... so I am thinking its got to be some extra testosterone in my body. If it was a girl, I think I would be more likely to sob over a cute puppy on the dog food commercial! But of course, we still have no idea what it is - heartbeat is fairly high, which is a good indication for a girl, but mostly everything else in this pregnancy points to the signs for a boy - so I guess we'll see in 15 weeks!
• I have slowly realized that I can't do as much as I think I can do... my body just hates me for it later, so I am learning to slow down - slowly! I was out for a walk the other night and when I would get up to a good pace, I would get a cramp in my lower stomach, so I would have to slow it down. What use is going for a walk if you have to act like you're an 85 year-old lady with a walker - brutal!
• PC and I finally got our baby registry started... its amazing the amount of stuff Babies R Us makes you think you need for one small child - I mean seriously, if you listened to everything the sales people in that store told you, we would easily need to take out a second mortgage on the house! Luckily, we tried to narrow it down to the necessities... but still - it is quite overwhelming. PC had control over the scanning gun, so at first he was a little scan-happy with the thing, but I got him under control about 15 minutes in and we were able to agree on just about everything!

Overall... pregnancy is going well - I can and do complain about some things, but in general I am still loving the fact that there is a little human being in my belly, that kicks me just when I get comfortable, or wakes me up in the night to say hi - these are the fun things about being pregnant and I wouldn't change them for the world!

A trip to Yankee Stadium

Okay... so the second last day of our trip was allotted for a trip to Yankee Stadium to see the Yanks takes on the Baltimore Orioles. Really... going to Yankee Stadium was our main reason for the trip... PC and I really wanted to see NYC, but I wanted my Mom and Dad to come too, so that my Dad could see Yankee Stadium in its final season, before the new stadium came into use.

The day started out not bad, but then came the rain... we were doing some shopping in the morning, and it was raining steady, although not hard. At times I thought it might clear, but then in the early afternoon it went from steady rain to a serious hard down pour... and it did not let up for anyone.

I have to say... I was not optimistic about the game being a go, because of the rain, but nonetheless we decided that it was worth making the trip to the Stadium, if at the very least, all we got to see was a wet field, and an empty stadium!

We mapped out the subway route and ventured not far from our hotel to our boarding stop. Being the good tourist my Dad is, he takes out his camera while we are waiting for the B train to arrive (nothing to attract attention quite like a flashing camera)! Eventually our train arrived and we settled in for a 20 minute ride directly to 161 St.

When we got off the Subway and up to ground level... it was now raining harder than ever.... we walked around with our umbrellas, and tried to snap some photos in the rain... the new Yankee Stadium was right across the street... and the outside is finished... it looks pretty darn close to the current one - kind of weird, but I guess the Yankees wanted to keep a good thing going, so they didn't try to reinvent the wheel on this one.

Given that there wasn't much activity in and around the park, we decided to get out the wet weather and get something to eat. We picked a fairly upscale joint (not!)... it was a pretty simple place with beer, burgers, and fries... nothing special, but it hit the spot! While we ate, and dried off, and while inside, the rain went from steady to an inconsistent drizzle, and once we were refuelled and ready to head back out, it had pretty much stopped.

We toured in and out of a few souvenir stores... my Dad loaded up on enough Yankees gear to last him until the next time they can win the World Series (and according to PC that will be a long time!).

We made our way to the front of the Stadium to take some pics, and then eventually found our way inside. What I didn't like about Yankee Stadium compared to Fenway Park, was that you couldn't enter at any one gate... you had go in the gate specific to your seats, and the stadium didn't connect all the way around. For us, we were in the cheap seats ... in right field, so we only got to go in there! However... our seats turned out to be pretty decent, minus the fact that they weren't seats, they were nice cold wet steel benches... but being prepared we brought stuff to sit on and we never got went, so I was pretty impressed with ourselves!!!

I was loving the atmosphere at the Stadium, in the cheap seats, the fans are dedicated folks (my Mom may beg to differ... I think she thought they were a little crazy)... just picture about 20 people with thick Jersey/New York accents, yelling and cursing at the team when they mess up... chanting, encouraging the team during the potential plays... it was definitely something to see.

PC (a HUGE Red Sox fan) opted not to wear his Boston hat to the game... and by the second inning we realized it was a wise choice when another Boston fan arrived with his hat on backwards.... and out of nowhere the crowd starts chanting 'Assssssssshole, Assssssshole, Asssssshole!' until he realized and turned his hat around. Priceless.

The Yankees didn't fair to well that night, they had a brutal first inning, giving up 7 runs, and then another 2 runs in the second inning to make it 9-0. However, there were some highlights of the game... Derek Jeter got picked off at home plate and had to leave the game, and then there was almost a bench brawl when both teams charged the mound - quite exciting. The Yankees had a home run at one point, but never really came within striking distance. PC enjoyed taking a photo of the scoreboard after every inning (which I will spare you all of the photos).

All in all, despite the Yankees losing, I think my Dad had a great time... I was happy that the skies cleared and the game was able to be played... and that we actually were able to enjoy the atmosphere. We took the subway back downtown... and arrived safely in Times Square for a good night's rest before packing up the next day to head home.

Here are some of our memories from Yankee Stadium!

Team Orange - waiting for the Subway to arrive... !

The new (soon to be finished) Yankee Stadium!

PC and Timbo enjoying a collector's Bud Light

made especially for this year's All-Star Game at Y.S.

Our tickets to the game - THE FINAL SEASON!

Weather has cleared up for a photo ... in front of the NEW Y.S.

The front of the current Yankee Stadium.

Timbo is all of his Yankee gear, ready for the game!

Proud to be in the presence of the Yankees!!!

Yankees dig themselves a deep deep hole to begin!

The 3-2 pitch... or something like that!

Settle down boys... he didn't mean to hit the batter, again!

Team Orange in the bleachers... did I mention I got that

jacket in 1999 at the GAP for $6.99!

Mariano Rivera warming up ...

although at this point the game was beyond saving!

Family photo late in the game... the crowd thinned out pretty good by then !

The Final Score!

My Dad disappointed with the Yankee's loss...

PC had other opinions!

The Old vs soon-to-be New Yankee Stadium from the sky!

NYC: Day 3

Okay... so its been a few posts since I left off from Day 2 in NYC, and to be honest I am now having a hard time recalling Day 3 in NYC. So... this will just be the highlights of day 3!

What I can remember is that we did A LOT OF WALKING. We decided to head down to the financial district, Canal street, Greenwich village, etc. We hopped on the double-decker bus... and got off in Soho hoping to grab some breakfast before we really started out the day. We had some trouble finding a restaurant, but after covering a few blocks, we found a place that served a decent meal!

PC had scouted out a place called the Hat Shop that was nearby, so we walked a few blocks to find this place. When he read about this place online, he thought it was a sports hat shop.... but it turned out to be not quite what he expected - it did fit the description 'find hundreds of different hats here of all brands' - but was more for the 50 plus crowd of older high society females! We all had a good laugh about that, while PC and my Mom posed for a quick photo.

We made our way to the famous Canal Street ... but didn't stay too long, and decide to come back later in the day. I guess we just weren't in the mood for making deals with the vendors so early in the day!

From there we made our way down to the Financial District... as one of things we all wanted to see was Ground Zero and the aftermath of 9/11. What a site this is... they are still digging it out, load after load of concrete. It's not much of a site, except for a very busy, loud, and noisy construction site - but as we were walking down to it, you could only imagine the state of chaos in that city almost seven years ago. To be in and among the rest of the tall buildings in that part of city at that traumatic time in history would have been unbelievable to say the least.

After finding the World Trade Center site we made our way into Wall street.... that was pretty neat, I must say - PC wanted to find the lucky bull - the Wall Street icon - so we did... and took some good pics there. Supposedly you are suppose to have financial luck after touching the bull, but I have to say, we haven't seen any payoff from it just yet!

As the day worn on, we headed down to South Seaport Street... and I loved loved loved this part of the city. The views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge were really cool... and there was a small mall and some stores there to do some shopping... we wandered around for a bit and right into the Yankees store... where my Dad found a new coat and a t-shirt. The funniest part was when PC asked the store clerk where all the Boston Red Sox stuff was - and she replied 'oh - out back by the dumpster!' in her thick New Yorker accent!

We were nearing 6pm by the time we finished up at South Seaport, so we headed back to Canal Street to close some deals. I think we arrived a fairly good time of the day to be in Chinatown as all of the fruit and vegetable vendors were coming out and getting into action. As well... the non-legal street vendors were swarming up a storm on all of the street corners, since the police had disappeared for the day by then. It was quite the scene... but did not deter my Mom and I from purchasing some authentic D&G purses! PC talked the talk on a few watches, but in the end decided it wasn't worth it (wise decision!).

Since it was the early evening by the time we were done at Canal Street our tour bus had stopped running so we decided to take a cab back to our hotel in Times Square - this experience was WELL WORTH THE MONEY! Honestly, the cab ride was probably about 10 minutes max, and we went from zero to 110km in about 8 seconds flat between every light... then slam on the breaks, back on the gas, honking horns, changing lanes, weaving in and out of cars, buses, bikers - you name it - it only happens in an NYC cab! You didn't know whether to laugh or cry at times... but we were relieved when we saw 53rd street! The cab fare was actually really reasonable... for the distance we went, I was quite surprised actually, given that a cab in Ottawa would have been double the price for half the distance!

Anyways... I can't really remember what did after that... dinner I am guessing, and then called it a night most likely. I do remember my legs were aching by the time the night was complete - but it was a very productive day, we covered a lot of ground, and it barely rained at all - so all in all a good day.

Check out the pics from Day 3!

Snapshot of a side street in the Fashion District!

MSG - Home of the NY Knicks, Liberty, and the NY Rangers!

My Mom and PC at the famous Hat Shop!

The World Trade Center Site - Ground Zero.

Connie & Timbo with George Washington (my Dad was born on GW Day - Feb. 22)!

PC and I at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.

The lucky bull in the financial district!

Rubbing the golden ball for good luck!

Did anyone see I Am Legend - the famous arch way.

My parents coming out of the Yankees Souvenir Store with their goods!

South Seaport - Pier 17.

PC and I in front of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

My parents at South Seaport in front of Brooklyn.

Oh the Bargain District... !

Chinatown vegetable vendor.

Side street view in Chinatown.

Snapshots from Halifax

Well.... I returned to the office Thursday, exhausted from the trip, but nonetheless felt it was well worth it... work-wise and from a sight-seeing perspective. I am not sure if I was exhausted from the long work days, or the fact that the entire trip I was walking up a hill - not exactly a pregnant lady's dream - but I guess if your going to see some of the sights you've got to do it!

I thought I would post a few shots I took while there... and then I will try to get on with rest of the NYC photos.

PC is away on a golf trip this weekend, and I am enjoying the nice sticky weather and having the house to myself to laz-around - just what the doctor ordered I think!

Anyways.... onto the Halifax photos - for your viewing pleasure!

The public gardens in Halifax were so nice... the tulips were out in full bloom

The clock tower at Citadel Hill

I didn't have time to tour the grounds,

but here was the guard at the entrance!

The view from the top of Citadel Hill

The tall building to the right is where our office in Halifax is -

the view from there is amazing, much better than the field of dirt

I stare at everyday in Ottawa!

Couldn't pass by this place without a stop in for PC!

I absolutely loved looking at this view from the waterfront!

Greetings From Halifax

Time out from the NYC recap, I am in Halifax, Nova Scotia this week (and have been since Sunday morning) for work. I am a first time visitor to the this part of the country, so although my schedule is jammed packed with work events, I am trying to squeeze a little sight-seeing here and there.


I must say what I have noticed is that Halifax has a very laid back way of life... not one person in this city is EVER in a hurray- and to be honest, its quite refreshing from downtown Ottawa. The culture here is different... there seems to be a lot of Canadian history embedded in the city of Halifax, and if I had more time I would really like to take more of the history in.


The waterfront here is absolutely breath-taking. Today at lunch I had to walk from the conference centre, back to my hotel, before going our Halifax office, so I took the boardwalk along the Atlantic ocean ... and I loved every minute of it. I grabbed a quick bite to eat (fish & chips) on the waterfront and parked myself on the side of a pier and just soaked it all up - it was the best lunch hour I have had in a very long time.

I have to admit I am wishing I wasn't pregnant so I could enjoy all of the fresh seafood here that EVERY restaurant has to offer. It's killing me actually that I can't indulge in it, but I guess this is just an excuse/sign to return to Halifax for a real visit ... perhaps with PC and the baby in the coming years.


I have snapped a few pics of the little pieces of the city I have seen, but of course, I forgot the camera cable to download the pictures so I will have to post them when I get back home on Thursday.


I am feeling pretty exhausted right now, only one more full day of activities here and then it will be back reality at the office in Ottawa.

Hope all is well with each of you.
10-4 from the East Coast!