No More Guessing . . . IT'S A GIRL!

So I went for my ultrasound last week (the 14th). I was so excited - I had visions of seeing my baby in different positions, moving, stretching and kicking, possibly even seeing for myself the sex of the baby. I had booked at a 3D/4D ultrasound and I had seen so many pictures online about what my baby would look like so I was eagerly awaiting this appointment. In reality, here's how it went down. The guy called me in, not Brian - he would be called in later, turned the screen toward himself and started poking around my tummy. He asked me if I wanted to know the sex if he could see it and I said "yes" and he went to work. He used the 4D wand for 45 seconds on the baby's face and that was it - the rest was in 2D and I didn't see anything. He did call Brian in when he was done his thing and show us some stuff in 2D - the baby's spine, feet, heartbeat, etc. but all in all I saw more at my first ultrasound. He was very rushed. He did tell us that he saw the sex . . . I couldn't believe it when he said it was a girl! How could that be?? With all the male genes in the Kroeker family how could I be having a girl! I asked him if he was sure, if he had seen female anatomy or merely the absense of male anatomy (as a friend so aptly put it, 'Maybe he's just a late bloomer!') and he claimed there had been evidence of female anatomy so we're just going to have to trust him. Now that I know the gender I'm all excited to start shopping for her! We bought a stroller/carseat combo and playpen/bassinet combo the other day - so fun to set them up and imagine that in just a few months . . . that is coming up so fast! I passed the halfway point of my pregnancy this last week. Starting to phase myself into maternity clothes, but still wearing a lot of my normal clothes. Once I start looking pregnant instead of just a bit flabby I'll start posting pictures of me growing:). Started feeling subtle movements a few weeks back but only in the last few days could I be sure that it was definitely the baby. No big kicks, yet - still have that to look forward to!
                       "___________ __________ Kroeker"

End of An Era

So for the past few weeks I've been going through the search for a new job. Nortel gave me the option of either working from home or moving to Ottawa, both of which I didn't want to do. A lot of people have commented on how great working from home would be, but I don't really think its the right move for me full time.

I had many hours of interviews at three different companies in particular, so many hours that I really got tired of the standard interview questions and I never want to answer the question "why are you leaving nortel?" ever again let alone hear it. Anyways, I ended up with offers from each of the three. Now, having three different job offers sounds really great, but I found that it was actually a little stressful choosing since I really thought that all three jobs sounded really good. I declined two of the three offers intending on taking the third, but each of the ones I declined came back with an increased offer making the decision quite a bit more difficult. Once the offer/counter-offers were done I ended up accepting a position as a senior software developer at IHS in their energy department working on a software product called Enerdeq.

From the interview it seemed like a place where I can learn a lot technically as well as gain experience in a new industry. Also, IHS placed number 30 on the Canadian businesses list of Top 100 Companies. I start on Monday June 25th.

Its a little sad leaving Nortel after five years there, not that I'm hesitant about leaving at all, but having spent so much time there I guess its more just the end of era.

Has it been 10 years already??

Well, Brian and I just got back from La Crete where I attended my 10 year high school reunion.
We drove up to Edmonton on Thursday night and made the rest of the drive on Friday. It was good to be home (as always!). The reunion started on Saturday with an AMAZING supper at the Heritage Centre - it was a really fun evening. A lot of reminiscing and catching up:). Old friends are the best because you can not see each other for years and you can just pick up where you left off.
A few of us girls had a campfire on Saturday night and I stayed up later than I probably had since high school ironically enough! It was great, though - I'm really glad we made the trip. Sunday was a potluck barbeque at Ridgeview school. The weather was amazing. Brian was a really good sport - instead of sulking in the corner while I caught up with all my old friends he was visiting with some of the other "abandoned" husbands and even joined them for some floor hockey - it made it a lot more fun for me knowing he was at least trying to make the most of it.

Grad '97 - ten years later!