On the internets

The things you find....

The last pre-christmas post

Since Christmas will be really busy I thought I should post the pictures we have. There's some nice baby shower ones with 5 Grandmas!
http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/8390453346-1198042080-63213/

Last Friday we were at Mal and Gin's hanging out with Dave and Steph and family. It was a fun time. A little different now, but things being different has become pretty normal. Monday night was my company Christmas party. Yeah a party on a Monday night. Strange no? It was the first time both Kris and I had been away from Evie for an evening. It was a really weird feeling to be driving away and thinking that was our baby we were leaving. Fortunately Grandpa and Grandma Fleury are excellent baby sitters. Evie had a good evening being doted on. Kris and I had fun too. Sometimes I can be uncomfortable at company parties, but I enjoyed this one a lot.
Friday I'll be attending the Flames game with my brothers and uncles and cousins and such. It should be good. Go for a perfect 7! Then it's on to the Christmas craziness.

What just happened?

Last weekend there was a baby shower for Kris in Duchess. Evie recieved some much appreciated presents. Getting new clothes is excellent right now as Evie is grow so quickly. It is so amazing that clothes that were so big before are now tight.
The past couple of weeks has basically been a blur. Sorry for no pictures. Next time there should be some.

Have you seen in your dreams?

This week Evie has started to smile in response to people. Mostly when Kris talks to her but I have gotten a few smiles too.The latest photo album is available at
http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/8390471921-1196626537-60125/
On Tuesday Calgary had its first winter storm so of course traffic was crazy and accidents abounded. I still managed t meet some friends from my last job for lunch, which was very nice. Lunches with them were always great. Probably what I miss most.
On Wednesday I took transit to work and on the way home I had to wait outside downtown for 40 minutes. 2 buses went by that were so full no one could get on. I barely manged to squeeze on. The lack of good transit really makes me hate Calgary. Most of the time I like it, but traffic and transit get me down.
Evie had her 6 week checkup on Thursday. It went very well. Her hip click is gone so we can stop double diapering! She now weighs 9 1/2 pounds. For the past few days she was not sleeping very much. Seems she will sleep for 20-30 mins and then wake herself up. I think she now has an addiction to her swing as that is the only place she will sleep. She is starting to sleep better now though. Seems to be trying to recover form not sleeping.
Mom and Dad and Kelsey came over on Friday night and we had Indian food. mmmmm. Evie was a little grumpy from her lack of sleeping. Mom and Dad stayed over night and even took Evie for her midnight feeding, which allowed Kris and I to have a nice nights sleep. It was excellent.
The rest of the weekend has been pretty relaxing. Evie and I watched the Flames game. I can't understand them. I don't want to be a naysayer, but I'm concerned they won't even make the playoffs. Here's more smiling to make up for it.

4 things

It is official. I received a letter from APEGGA informing me that my application to become a Professional Engineer was approved. I am a Peng! I am quite relieved to finally have that process completed. Including all my schooling it took me 9 years to get it. That is almost a decade. Crazy. Now I finally have the following powers:
- sign passports
- ownership of a notarized stamp or seal
- get sued for bad advice

Evie keeps on growing and changing. She was officially one month last Saturday. We got her a new chair for her birthday. It's very similar to her cousins chair. Here's some more pictures:
http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/8390497519-1195696142-41643/83904

We went shopping the other night and in the produce section I found Grapples. They are advertised as looking like an apple but tasting like a grape. I thought that would be a pretty cool genetically modified experience so I bought a package. Five bucks for 4 Grapples?! It better be worth it. Well, it turned out a Grapple looks like an apple, feels like an apple, smells like cheap grape juice, and tastes like...an apple. Worst. Produce. Ever.

And I'll leave you with a sample of the Ramer weekend.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Ramer, P.Eng.

A progression of frustration

These pictures make us laugh, especially when they are in sequence.

Tranquil Mornings

The Ramer weekend was quite enjoyable. It was quite different going to a family event with a baby, but Evie did quite well. She slept for a few hours in her bassinet anyway. We got more sleep that we had thought we would. She was a little spoiled with having people hold while she slept during the day, but she is sleeping okay in her cradle again. She also sleeps well when driving so the trip wasn't too difficult.
All in all it was a pretty relaxing weekend, considering. Mostly eating, swimming, eating, gaming, eating. I was still pretty exhausted Tuesday morning though. We have discovered the toughest thing about taking care of a new baby. It used to be when I was tired I could just go to bed early and sleep. Now that is a luxury. It's tough feeling very tired and knowing you can't do anything about it. But I don't want to complain too much, 'cause it is worse for Kris. Ah well, at least Evie makes adorable faces.

Working for the Weekend

Well we made it through the first week of working with a baby. I haven't been as tired as I thought I would be, but I am very glad to have the weekend to rest. Evie is eating quite well, and though she has periods of being upset for no apparent reason, she is content. She has some baby acne right now, but that usually clears up in a few weeks.

I've made a couple new photo albums, detailing the last couple of weeks.
http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/8390435159-1194118128-60578/83904

http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/8390425054-1194119491-26548/83904

Next weekend, Ramer weekend!

Deep Thought

Evie is quite the thinker!
So tomorrow I am going back to work. It is sad that I won't be able to be around all day to help take care of her. I think Kris will do well with her, but there will probably be less sleep with me working. We'll see how it goes. So what has the past 2 weeks been like?
Well the first bit was occupied by 52 hours of labour. Kris came through that very well. I was so proud of her handling the whole process. I don't think I would have had the same strength. We had a pretty positive experience with the hospital in Calgary. The medical staff was mostly excellent. Most negative experiences were because of the staff being overwhelmed.
Once Evie was born we came home as soon as possible. We were lucky enough to get a private room, but the hospital is just not a comfortable place to recover. We were able to rest much better once we were home. Kristin's Mom stayed with us for 3 days and helped us out so much by cooking, cleaning and taking Evie so we could both sleep. It was very much appreciated.
We were home Thursday night and from Friday on we had a constant stream of visitors/activities until the next Thursday. We really enjoyed having people over to ooh and aah over Evie. It was nice though to have a couple days where we didn't have to do anything but eat and sleep. That's pretty much all Evie's been doing so far, though she entertains us with her funny faces on occasion. She already makes little half smiles that are so cute. I understand it is pretty rare for babies to smile so soon. She's been a pretty good sleeper so we aren't too sleep deprived yet. For the first 5 days she was rather yellow with jaundice, but she ate and slept well and it's all gone now. I had to learn to deal with anxiety about her eating enough / sleeping enough / getting healthy, but so far she has done great. I wasn't quite prepare for how emotionally loaded this process would be so I was stressed at first, but now am feeling much better. During the pregnancy I put on 15 pounds and I think I lost 5-10 of that in the first 5 days 'cause I was to stressed to eat much. I can spare the weight though.
Here's a picture after bath time!

More pictures

Based on how infatuated we are with our new daughter, this blog may be somewhat single-minded. Eva has several cute things that I love, like how she stares at you when she is awake and the little half-smiles she makes. Here's the pictures:
http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/8390422029-1192991848-33627/83904

You asked for it

Baby Evangeline Ruth, born October 17 at 11:50 pm. 7 lbs, 20.5 inches long. Sorry for taking so long, but I've been a bit busy and tired lately. More pictures are available here
http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/8390444378-1192915282-37944/83904
I'll be putting up many more later.
She is the most beautiful person I have ever seen.

Baby Update

No baby yet! Stay tuned for more.

Baby comin' soon

Well we are getting very close. I'm starting to get butterflies in my stomach when I think about Kris going into labour. At least everything is basically ready. Here's some pictures of the baby room. There's no curtains yet, but they will probably a different colour depending on the gender. So they'll come later.





And here's the new rocking chair. We're quite happy with it.This past week has been interesting. I've been trying to make sure work is in a place where I can leave at any moment. It makes me realize I'm not as organized as I'd like to be.
On thursday was the first birthday for our first niece. It's funny to think that our baby will be moving around like that year from now.
Today we went for an Indian buffet with Kelsey. She's lots of fun to go out with. I remember starting University. It's hard to believe it was 9 years ago.

The play's the thing

This was a few weeks ago, but here's some pictures from a ridiculous Snider/Ramer skit.

That one girls got a bit of a paunch.

Thanksgivin'

It was a much less busy thanksgiving weekend this year. With Kris being so close we didn't want to risk being on the road if Waldred decided to come. Giving birth will be difficult enough, doing it in Bassano would be a little too much. It was mostly just hanging out doing nothing. On Sunday we had our Christmas dinner at Kristin's Dad's house. You've never had a turkey until you've had one cooked on a Holland Grill. It's so moist and delicious. Lot's of great veggies too. So even though we only have one thanksgiving dinner, it was a really good one.

Boy or Girl

It's probably about time I did an update. We had an ultrasound last last friday and...... we got nothing. The baby was all curled up with his/her feet right in the way again. He/she was also facing the wrong way so we couldn't get any nice pictures of the face. It was rather disappointing. I guess it will just be a surprise.
Also last weekend I went on a Man-Date with friend Shawn, who I hadn't seen for like 8 months. We drank Man-drinks and watched a Man-movie. It was very Manly. The new Die Hard movie was a bit of a disappointment to me. Mostly cause it was all about computers, and it irritates me how movies and TV think computers are magic. Apparently if you randomly tap a keyboard you can cause and solve any problem in the world.
Less than 2 weeks until the due date. That means it could be any time now. Kris is getting a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions, which we hope is a sign that things are moving along, but they sure don't help her discomfort. I wonder what it will be like for her not to be pregnant? Seems so long ago.
The crib came in on Saturday, and I even managed to set it up that night. Kris has picked up stuff we'll need as soon as the baby comes so we are pretty much ready. It's been hard getting any neutral color sleepers, but we should have enough for the first few days. I can't believe how quickly we got that whole list of stuff.
A note on the picture above. The caption said they were Christian Puppets. Must be cause their mouths are hanging open in glee. That's how most Christians I know look.~

Impending Doom

Kris and I have prenatal classes this weekend. I think they will be important to help me prepare for what's coming, but I am not looking forward to the long Saturday session.
Last weekend involved shopping for baby stuff. We have a crib on the way now, and we picked up some clothes storage items from Ikea that I spent Sunday assembling. Well, half of Sunday. We have a baby stroller coming too. We've been pretty blessed with gifts so far. Now it's mostly small things left to get, like maybe clothes. And that diaper genie too, that's a cool device.
We also got to go out for supper with Nate and family and some Baergs too. It was fun.
We went with Kelsey to Sushi BBQ Inn, for all you can eat sushi and korean BBQ. I'm not a big fan of sushi, but all the other food was great. We were stuffed. It's really nice having Kelsey in the city and doing things with her. She is very entertaining. If you get the chance ask her the storey about the guy and the Student ID rejection.
In case you haven't seen it yet, Damon is engaged. It's funny how the fastest place to hear about something now is on facebook.

Sick as a dog

Why do they call it "Sick as a dog"? The internet has not given me satisfactory answers.
Last weekend Kris and I finally made it out to Duchess. I gave a hand with the family pumpkin harvest. My back was pretty sore Sunday, but it was nice as a lot of family was there. We got to see Kaetrianne Saturday evening too. She was beautiful as usual. I'm getting a little better at holding babies.
Unfortunately on Sunday evening I started coming down with a cold. I felt pretty crappy Monday and took Tuesday off work. I think it's on the way out now. But not before I passed it on to Kris, so she is just starting to suffer.
I saw Kelsey's new place when I went over to set up her wireless network. I'm glad I became an engineer so I'm able to program my relatives VCRs and such. ;) Don't worry though, I enjoy doing it.

Fun tool

So I came across a fun thing to try with Google. Enter "yourname needs" in the search and find out what the top ten things you need are. Here's my list:

1. Jeremy needs Jeremy's Needs
2. Jeremy needs a means to change his child's name.
3. Jeremy needs guidance to grow into a man.
4. Jeremy needs a V8 on Flickr.
5. Jeremy needs a band.
6. Jeremy needs a 77 mm slim polarizing filter.
7. Jeremy needs a show name.
8. Jeremy needs to know about sailing networks.
9. Jeremy needs to destroy heavy-hitting kickers with ease.
10. Jeremy needs to stop spending money on vhs and start saving money for college.

Together on the Ferry Jorbes Show

Last week Kristin received a surprise baby shower from people at her work. It was a very nice surprise. And like the prophetic comments said, we received a lot of stuff on the list, including baby lotion, diapers, a diaper bag, nail clipper set, assorted blankets and even a nice bassinet.
This past weekend was eventful. I traveled to Edmonton and back to help Corey and Wendy move. The move went pretty well, despite 6 hours of driving. We even had a chance to walk around Downtown Edmonton a little. They have their LRT line underground! Pretty smart way to deal with the freezing cold of winter. Why didn't Calgary think of that?
I was pretty exhausted Saturday night and feel asleep early and slept in on Sunday, but I felt pretty recovered. I worked a half-day on Monday so I'll have a half day off Friday when we head out to Duchess. It's been a while since both Kris and I were there so it should be nice. The Great Pumpkin Harvest is happening so I'll get to exercise my shrinking muscles. I'm also looking forward to seeing my niece again.

Baby Stuff

So the other day Kris was figuring out all the baby stuff we need.

• receiving blankets
• other blankets
• crib sheets
• facecloths
• diaper genie
• nail clipper set
• baby monitor
• sleepers
• undershirts
• hats
• socks
• diaper bag
• glider rocking chair
  
• many other misc things

That is quite a list. It's like there's a whole person coming to live with us. Weird.
Oh yes. We can't forget the prambulator.

A thought

So usually I read other people's blogs about as often as I update mine. That usually leaves me a few posts behind. But I will often make a comment on one of the older posts anyways. Today I wondered if people even read comments on old posts. Perhaps my witticisms are being lost to the ether.

Apparently this is the best gravy ever.

A good day for geekery

This past weekend was pretty nice and relaxing. I am enjoying it while I can, for soon I will be experiencing some sleepless nights; or so I have been led to believe. Ma and Pa and Kelsey and Wes came up on Sunday evening so we had a nice visit and supper. If you want good Thai food in Calgary, Thai Boat on 32nd is usually quite excellent.
Tonight I worked with Corey on installing more memory in his laptop. It came off without a hitch. I am always happy when accomplishing computer feats. Now we sit and surf the internet on individual laptops. Pretty cool.

Wak Attack

I don't have any writing skills tonight, so here's the news in bullet form:
-Jason and Mel came to visit on their way to a wedding. We went for coffee. Yay!
-Kris keeps dropping her cookies in her milk. She's getting a little clumsy.
-We now have cheap cable for six months. Probably means more wasted time on bad TV. But its cheap as free. (almost)
-I finally set up our wireless router. This post was wireless!
-I'm trying to convince myself to start running or working out in the evenings, but I'm too lazy.

A title

So you all know that my brothers baby was born last week. Corey, Wendy and I took a quick trip home on Wednesday night to see her. Kris wanted to come, but August is when her allergies attack, and they are much worse in Duchess than in Calgary. Plus being pregnant she can not take antihistamines. So rather than being miserable she'll have to wait.
Kaetrianne is a beautiful baby. I think something changed inside me when I saw her. Becoming a father has become so much more real for me now. I am very excited for my baby to be born. I was pretty nervous before, worried about if I would love my child enough. When I saw my niece I found that I loved her, even though I just saw her. I am supposing it will be the same with my child. People said that would be the case, but its something you have to experience.

Recently I have become a great fan of Canadian Indie music. I have been listening to CBC Radio 3 and have found that there are a lot of really good Canadian musicians that aren't in the mainstream. Therefore I am supporting the drive to bring CBC Radio 3 to CBC television.

Is This a Dream?

Last night Kris had a dream that my brother and his wife's baby was born and they named him Ted.
Prophetic?
She also dreamed I was holding the baby and it was flopping all over the place and I said "I don't know, I don't know if I can be a father." She responded indignantly, "This baby looks like every other baby, of course you will be a good father."
So apparently my fathering skills are dependent on how the baby looks.

Saturday Night

So it is Saturday Night and as I wait for my parents to come home from their rock concert I thought I would make a post.
So as many of you have noticed it has been extremely hot lately. I have good air conditioning at work so I haven't been suffering too much, but Kris is affected a little more. Also, being pregnant has dialed up her internal temperature so she is not enjoying the heat. At least we have our basement. It's not overly attractive, but its cool.
I am feeling somewhat anxious about my relatives having babies any moment now. It's a little strange. I can see myself being a nervous wreck in a couple of months. To tweak your memories the due date is Oct 16. Its still a little ways away, but somehow it is getting closer all the time.
This weekend we briefly went out to Duchess as Kristin's Mom's extended family was having a reunion of sorts. It was the first large gathering of them that I had been too and it was nice. It had been a while since I was at Lake Newell, where the festivities occurred. It's a nice enough place, but it kind of feels like you are camping out in the open, without much tree cover. Once Kris and I camped out be Nelson in the BC rainforest. That had a lot of cover. It was really nice. We should do that again some time. Yeah! I'm thinking a Ramer family camping trip.
This picture appears to have little to do with Saturday night.

Heat

It has been so hot. Kris and I weren't sleeping at night until we pulled our mattress into the basement. It is so nice and cool down there. Don't spend much time with the internets though. I think I will move the office down there.
Kris found this image and I think it is pretty hilarious.

Haberdashery

"A haberdasher is a person who sells small items via retail, commonly items used in clothing, such as ribbons and buttons, or completed accessories, such as hats or gloves. A haberdasher's shop or the items sold therein are called haberdashery."
Now I, and you, know what I am referring to when I shout "Haberdashery!" I may have to stop taking the haberdashers name in vain.
Did you know Harry Truman was a haberdasher?

A History of Residency

Today we take a trip down memory lane with an examination of the various places Kris and I have lived.
The starter apartment. It was a little small and was a sweatlodge in the summer, but it was good.
After 3 years it was time to move on.We get a little stressed when moving.
Our new apartment was in downtown Calgary. It had a great view. We could hardly believe our luck.

Unfortunately the owners sold it and we had to move, after only 8 months. It was sad.
Hijinks ensued.
No, we really don't like the stress of moving.
Our sadness at leaving soon passed as we found a very nice townhouse, with tons of space.



You'll notice that there are only pictures of the main floor. That's cause upstairs is still not unpacked properly. More pictures when it's all ready.

Special Sauce

So lately I have been feeling very tired after work so haven't been up to spending time with the internet. Here are some things that have been happening:
1. A couple days ago Waldred started kicking hard enough to be felt on the outside. That was pretty cool, if a little weird. It seems there is something alive in Kristin's belly!
2. My soccer team came in 3rd place after winning a shootout! Yay Bronze! Though we don't actually get anything. But Corey played too and that was fun, though he injured himself.
3. One of the podcasts I listen to, CBC Radio 3 R3-30, mentioned me by name on the podcast! I had written a letter and they read it on the air. It's kind of like having your name mentioned on the radio, only more geeky.
4. I was able to see my whole immediate family on Saturday for Kelsey's grad, if only briefly. That was nice. I like my family.

The moment you've been waiting for

I finally have ultrasound pictures and videos ready. The best are posted here.



More photos available here:
http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/8390472919-1181181543-84447/83904
More videos at:
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-4261728265659048262
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-6273228419004950431
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-2653639881296775869