Jer. 29:11-13
Safari Kubwa
The Ilceski's

Friday, 22 November 2013

Baby Bump Photos!


A lot of people have asked me how I feel about family and friends, and complete strangers, touching my belly.  In all honesty...I am so thankful for it.

Ok, it is a tad weird when you have strangers giving you advice, telling you what you should be doing or not doing; one lady told me I wasn't eating enough. She could tell this because my belly was too little hahah...I then 'causally' mentioned that my 'Dr. Daddy-of-a-husband' thought things were perfectly normal. I didn't mention that he isn't quite a Dr. yet lol, but it certainly changed her opinion and she proceeded to tell me 'I looked great'!!!

We feel so blessed to be able to say that 'we have a bump' and that people are genuinely interested in that. No, I may not want you rubbing my belly for hours, but every time someone wants to touch my belly, or wants to know all the details of how I am feeling, if we know the gender, when I am due etc. I am reminded that we have been given a wonderful gift...and it is something we certainly do not take for granted.

With all of that being said, our BUMP has finally made a grand appearance. And we are so thankful that we have a Nana Photographer that loves to capture all these exciting moments!!! So with a few props, Cocoa Bean's 'Nana Photographer' and the bump, we venutred out to capture some shots of our growing Cocoa Bean!

But first....
Our First Week-By-Week Bump Photo:
Waiting for the Bump to make an appearance!
 And now...
Current Week-By-Week Bump Photo:
The Bump continues to get bigger and bigger
I am so glad we decided to take these week-by-week photos. I love looking back and seeing the progress of our little Cocoa Bean growing!

Nana's Photoshoot:

Can't believe that that little bean is in there!!

For my birthday Daddy ordered "A 'Cocoa Bean' Chocolate hat and booties"
Cocoa Bean decided that he/she didn't like the blocks anymore..Nana caught the letter 'A" being kicked off!
















Every night Daddy reads to Cocoa!! One of my favorite times of the day!






Mitchy isn't sure if it's a boy or girl either!!!

Only a few more weeks until everyone knows if Cocoa is team 'Blue' or team 'Pink'
I love this photo!! Only about 7 weeks until we know 'Blue' or 'Pink'

Just a warning...once Cocoa arrives, there will be TONS more photos to share!!! And we cannot wait!!!

Thursday, 5 September 2013

20 & 21 weeks and Cocoa Bean's first Photo Shoot!

Well, we are more than half way to meeting our little Cocoa Bean and we couldn't be more excited!

At 20 weeks, I definitely started to notice the belly getting bigger and finding it more difficult to sleep through the night. However, thank goodness for whomever invented the 'Snoogle pillow'...it has been the best purchase yet!!!


And over the weekend, Daddy spent his day off putting together Cocoa Bean's new room furniture!!! We aren't revealing the nursery just yet (as we have so many details to finalize) but here is Daddy hard at work! I cannot wait for this room to be done...I find myself spending so much time in there already!!!

Change Table is coming together!
We had a little scare this week and we made our first visit to emerge. Everything was/is completely fine with Cocoa Bean, Mama just started having some pains and Daddy and I both felt more comfortable going to have everything checked out! Can you tell we are first time parents!!!

Dr. said Cocoa Bean is just a moving and groovin', so he/she is pressing against muscles and bones are shifting etc. Oh the joy!!! But, as long as we have a healthy little Cocoa Bean, we will take it!!

This week marks 21 weeks and I must say, besides being tired and finding it difficult going more than a few feet without having to pee (haha TMI), I am feeling great. And best of all, we finally got to see our precious Cocoa Bean and let me tell you, this babe is one cute little monkey!!!


Our ultrasound technician was amazing and spent so much time just showing us every detail of our little Bean! We had no idea that we were going to be able to get some 3D shots and were so excited to see our little Bean's face and features.  However, the tech had a hard time keeping up with our little Bean, as he/she decided it was a great time to practice some dance moves in mommy's tummy; my mom says this is payback for all the years of my 'bull-in-a-china-shop' personality! We might be in trouble hahah!
Our little Cocoa Bean!!!
One of our favorite photos! But, I see a bit of a smirk there and think we may have one cheeky little monkey on our hands!!!
Only 19 more weeks until we meet our Bean...whoa, time really is going quickly!!!

And Grammy Mahon sent Cocoa Bean his/her first gift in the mail! We cannot wait to have our little Bean in this Muskoka onesie!!!

Saturday, 24 August 2013

6 Years, photos, one wooden bus and 19 weeks...WHOA!!!

On August 18th, Dave and I celebrated 6 years of marriage...CRAZY!  I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone, the adventures we have taken and not to mention having lived in three different Countries all in those short 6 years! Side note: if you need moving tips, we've got them lol!!!

We have had a very busy summer, with many huge blessings and mile stones concurred (goodbye Step 1), and we wanted to take just a few moments to reflect on those past 6 years; they haven't always been easy, and we have certainly grown along the way, but these past 6 years have been our journey, our story, and we are so thankful for all that we have been able to do and for what is yet to come!

Dave's Mom (Nanna Ilceski) took some amazing photos for us and we couldn't be more happy with them! It was a gorgeous day to celebrate 6 years, and of course our little Cocoa Bean who will be welcomed into our lives during our 6th year of marriage!!















We have had a ton of things going on in the last few weeks and Dave and I  simply wanted to spend some time together with family and friends for our anniversary; we knew in only a few short days, our schedules, and availability would drastically be changing!

We had friends join us a few nights before our anniversary for games, and then went out to dinner and ice cream with family...honestly, we needed it!

But what I was blown away by was my husbands thoughtful anniversary gift!

As many people know part of our journey took us to England for a year, and we loved every moment there. What many people don't know is that it was also the beginning of our journey to becoming parents...it's taken a bit of time, and struggles, but we are amazed at how God works!

Without going into a huge story I will say this: While touring the Tower of London we came across this little wooden double decker bus...it was perfect for a nursery!! Dave and I talked about buying that bus that day (hahah me listing the reasons why we NEEDED to have it lol) and decided that because we weren't actually pregnant, it could end up being a sad memory, instead of a good one. Needless to say, that little bus remained on the shelf.

Well, bring us to our 6th anniversary (almost 2 years later) and a package arrives for me!!!
As I begin to open the package (which I had to wait hours until Dave arrived home to open, lol) I see this little sticker on the side of the box...
Which reads:


At this point I realize that it is definitely something from England...my heart is jumping as I start to think of that little bus. Dave sees my face and says "what do you think it is?".  I tell him my thought and the saddest look comes over his face. " Oh Nic, I don't think we would be able to order that".  I feel horrible because: 1. I have just ruined the gift that he did get and 2. He sees that my hopes are dashed lol.

As I open the package and remove the contents I see this:

IT IS THE LITTLE RED BUS!  My husband is so sneaky!

In the last few weeks my husband has been so stressed with starting clinicals, with us moving and just figuring out how our daily schedules will work...but I realized through all this, he is one excited Daddy and has a heart of gold!  I don't think my heart has ever been this full....hahah not because of the bus, but because of the thought, love and memories behind this bus!

Mommy and Cocoa Bean are two lucky people: We have the best husband and Daddy in the world!

And finally...week 19 has come and Daddy has not only felt, but seen Cocoa Bean dancing in Mommy's tummy!  We've learned that if you want Cocoa Bean to dance, just have Daddy either sing or read right at my belly. Cocoa Bean sure loves his/her Daddy!!! (And no, we don't know the gender of Cocoa Bean, and we aren't going to find out lol...sorry friends hahaha).