Back In the Saddle, er, Kitchen

Hooray, the laptop is back. We finally have internet access where it belongs, in the living area. However, I am not too impressed with Future Shop. They sent the laptop to Mexico to be repaired. The speakers appear to still be broken. Also, they didn't put most of the screws back in so the casing is coming off. Lame.I have noticed a theme with blogs I've read lately so I thought it was timely to add that Evie had her 4 month vaccinations today. Things went quite well considering she had long metal spikes stuck in her legs. She cried, but not a lot more than when she is angry about going to bed. Kris held her because Evie feels the most comfortable with her. She has started becoming very shy
around other people. She just loves her mommy. I'm still 2nd favourite.
This past weekend we inherited an exersaucer for Evie to play in. She has really strong neck muscles so she does very well in there.
Evie and Kris have been going swimming at Cardel Place (or at least trying to go when they are not full). Evie swims pretty well. She kicks her legs hard as we carry her around the pool. She obviously didn't get my swimming genes. Evie is working on her poses.
More Evie pictures can be found at
http://photoshare.shaw.ca/view/8390487383-1204170226-42170/
Did you see the lunar eclipse last week? We saw some of it before we fell asleep. We even took a picture, but that moon gets pretty small.
If you haven't looked at Kris's blog lately she has decided to start posting again. There's a link on the side.
Doing taxes this year is less fun. No more tuition protection, so the return is much smaller. Oh well, now we are real adults.
This might be the funniest thing I have ever seen. Garfield minus Garfield. Enjoy.

OK, pictures

Now that I've calmed down (see previous post) I have some pictures.
Evie's Christmas

Evie Extravaganza

An Update?

The laptop is still not back, so I will blame that for the lack of updates. Plus work is starting to get quite busy with some new projects happening so I have little time for contributing to internets.
Kristin was sick this past week so I got to stay home and take care of Evie. Let me tell you, that is not an easy job. I think it was good for me to see what Kris has to do all day. And she manages to do housework too, which I didn't accomplish.

Well, I tired to upload some new pictures but I was thwarted by Linux incompatibility. It makes no sense! It's in Java! I am angry.

Where did I go?

It may appear to the reader that I have broken up with the internet. Well, we were only on hiatus. The laptop was acting up so it's at Future Shop trying to work out its issues. So that means the only computer at home is in the basement and that is too far to travel for blogging. I'm usually too busy at work to blog there.
Now that my excuses are done, what has been happening over the last several weeks? Well, there were two birthdays in Kristin's family these past two weekends so she spent the past week in Duchess. So I was living the life of a bachelor. It was quite nice. I went to a Flames game (we won!) and went on a man-date and ate lasagna that I made at the beginning of the week for a whole week. I also got some extra sleep which was quite nice. Kristin was quite a bit busier so I'll have to take care of Evie for a few weekends to try to make it up.
I was amazed at how different Evie looked after not seeing her for a week. It's crazy how fast she grows. I'll get some new pictures up soon.

Go Canada Go

Kristin is going out to do some shopping today so Evie and I are hanging out and watching the World Juniors Gold Medal game. Canada vs Sweden. Canada's going for their 4th Gold in a row.

Well, overall this Christmas was an enjoyable one. It was certainly much busier. One good thing is taking care of a baby is that it keeps you from eating too much. Of course we had plenty of offers to take care of Evie while we ate but she was a little bit shy. When we went to places other than Kristin's parents she got quite upset if someone other than Kris or I held her. I think she has gotten to know us quite well and doesn't like to be apart. She also got a bit of a cold so she was grumpy. Unfortunately she ended up being upset the most around my Mom and Dad. It's hard for Grandma when she can't hold her.
It was good to see family, though always moving to different places made all the visits so short. On New Years Kris's Mom took care of Evie so we got to hang out with friends. Of course we weren't able to stay up much past midnight. After New Years it was back to work. I got a bit of a cold. On Friday morning my throat was pretty hoarse. When I talked I sounded like John Wayne. It made me laugh.
It's amazing. Evie seems to have grown so much over Christmas. She no longer seems to be a newborn. She feels very substantial when we hold her. She is even more aware and smiles a lot. She is starting to make a lot of cooing sounds.
Hockey Update: We are going to overtime!

Canada wins in OT!! Evie and I danced!

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.