Boy or girl - you tell us:)

Before I start talking about the ultrasound I had last Wednesday (the 2nd), I feel some follow-up is needed from Brian's post before people start thinking they need to send us food stamps or gift certificates for Value Village:). Yes, Brian's group is being relocated to Ottawa and no, we are NOT accepting the relocation. The job market in Calgary is really good right now and he has until December, so even if it takes a few months to find a job it will still be okay. I was actually kind of excited to hear the news because selfishly I want him to get a job downtown so we can drive to work together and I won't have to take transit anymore!! Really, I just want him to find a job with an employer that cares a little more about their employees.

Anyway, on to my favorite subject these days - our little guy/gal!


I had an ultrasound last week and it was sooo cool! He (I'm calling him/her
"he" even though we DON'T know the sex yet JUST because I don't want to call him "it") was moving around, stretching his arms and legs. What a weird feeling to see him moving around and know that is going on inside of me and I can't feel a thing! It's a surreal feeling! I haven't really felt very pregnant yet because I've had very few symptoms and am not really showing yet - just a little jelly belly which I'm used to anyway - so the ultrasound made it pretty real for me.


Here is a great shot of him sticking his legs in the "air" - definitely going to be tall:). Can YOU see if he's a boy or a girl?? I can't see anything so she might be a girl . . . will have to start calling her a she maybe!

Anyway, a very cool, fun experience and I can't wait until my 18 week ultrasound so I can compare how much she's grown!

Axed!

Well a bit of an unfortunate subject for my first post, but after many rounds of layoffs over my years at Nortel, during which I've managed to dodge the ax, it finally caught up with me. Our groups work in Calgary is being "ramped down". For now it means my job (and optionally me with it) relocating to Ottawa or something else. Not sure yet what this will all mean once things settle a little, I guess I'll know more in the days to come.
There wasn't a lot of notice although looking back there certainly were some signs that could have been interpreted I suppose. There were a few rumors yesterday morning then a couple ominous looking meeting notices in the inbox for today during which we were informed of the news. Any changes will be effective December 7th of this year.

My baby's heart is beating!

So I was at the doctor today, and I (actually, we - Brian was there, too) heard the baby's heartbeat! It was such a relief after the horror stories I've heard of people going in for their ultrasounds only to find out that the baby's heart had stopped beating weeks ago. On some level I knew it was okay, but it was still a welcome reassurance. 162 beats/minute - apparently quite normal. That's all I really have to say today. It's been a long, draining week and I'm thankful that the weekend is here.

A Sad Week

It's been a sad week for our family. We are in La Crete right now, awaiting the funeral of Myla Mary Faith, Becky and Gordie's little girl that passed away on Friday, April 20, after they had just two short days with her. Myla had Trisomy 13 - one of the worst if not the worst diagnosis that an expectant mother can be given for her child. There is so little hope given when this diagnosis is discovered, but we all hoped and prayed there would be a miracle. Unfortunately, there was no miracle.

This last week has been about trying to help, wishing there was something we could do to ease their pain. Unfortunately, there is so little we can do for Becky and Gordie during this time, except just be there for them and pray for them.

Everyone knows the "perfect" song for this situation, a song that can bring comfort and healing in such a time of pain. I have one such song as well. I've pasted the lyrics and had intentions of posting the actual song to listen to, but apparently that isn't exactly possible to do legally so we've just posted a sample of it that we found online. I've changed a few of the words to suit their situation and put them in brackets.

Myla Mary Faith Banman
April 18, 2007 - April 20, 2007



Held - Natalie Grant

"Held"
Natalie Grant

Two (days) is too little.
They let (her) go.
They had no sudden healing.
To think that providence would
Take a child from (her) mother while she prays
Is appalling.

Who told us we’d be rescued?
What has changed and why should we be saved from nightmares?
We’re asking why this happens
To us who have died to live?
It’s unfair.

Chorus:
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we’d be held.

This hand is bitterness.
We want to taste it, let the hatred NUMB our sorrow.
The wise hands opens slowly to lilies of the valley and tomorrow.

(Chorus)
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we’d be held.

Bridge:
If hope is born of suffering.
If this is only the beginning.
Can we not wait for one hour watching for our Savior?

(Chorus)
This is what it means to be held.
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive.
This is what it is to be loved.
And to know that the promise was
When everything fell we’d be held.

Some baby news:)

Well, most of you that are reading this already know, but I'm making it officially public - Brian and I are having a baby! We found out right before we left on our cruise (as you can see from how incredibly white I still am) and it was such great news for us! I was a bit worried that getting pregnant before the cruise would be a bad idea because I could get sick, but as it turned out I didn't get any symptoms at all until a few days after we got home. I've been tired and had some mild nausea, but I can't complain too much - I know there are women out there that have suffered much worse than I have. I'm going to be 9 weeks along on Tuesday and the preliminary estimate for my due date is November 6th. It doesn't feel real yet, since I'm not showing and I haven't had an ultrasound yet, but I'm sure that it will become more real over the next few months as I notice my clothes getting tighter . . . at least I'll have an excuse this time:).

The "Heat" is on in Miami

Hehe - Brian and I always talk about how awful the sports headlines are:
"Ducks Get Caught in Oil Slick" (Edmonton Journal, DEFINITELY not this years headline)
"The Flames Roast the Red Wings" (Calgary Herald, unfortunately probably this year)
. . . SO I apologize for the cheesy headline but I just couldn't resist:). We just got back from the game (oh you'll have to read the below post first or you might not know what's going on). It was so much fun! A very exciting game - lots of swings in momentum, and ended up being won by the home team in the dying seconds. Anyway, we had a really good time and it was a nice way to end our vacation. Tomorrow, it's back to the airport and another fun day of travelling (here's hoping Air Canada can get us home at a reasonable hour).

Our beautiful Caribbean vacation

So we are at the end of our wonderful Caribbean cruise! We are hanging out in a Miami Holiday Inn, waiting for the Miami Heat game to start (which we will be off to go see). We would have kept updating throughout the cruise, but Norwegian wanted $0.75/minute for internet access, and I'm afraid we were way too cheap to spend much time online.

Besides that, we had an AMAZING vacation! We left for Miami Wednesday night (evening of the 28th) and true to what we've come to expect of Air Canada, our flight was a bit of a disaster. Delayed by almost 3 hours in Calgary, we were running to make our connection in Toronto. Luckily, Air Canada incompetence continued and our connecting flight was late as well! We made our flight and had the privilege of seeing them loading our baggage onto the flight as well (our worst nightmare of not having our luggage for the cruise luckily was NOT realized).

We stayed on South Beach on Thursday, but we were soo tired we didn't really do much. Had a nap on the beach, went for burgers, and pretty much went to bed really early. South Beach is an interesting place - I can imagine how crazy it gets during spring break time!




Now to our cruise! Our first few days were spent on the ship and it was a great relaxing start - the food was sooo good. So much better than Cuba! I'm afraid I ate way too much!


Our first stop was Dominica (which quite frankly was our least favorite stop). There wasn't much to see there - nice rainforest, but nothing too special. We went to see some emerald pool which was very nice. It's a very poor island, and everywhere we looked there were people waiting on the side of the road for who knows what. It was okay though, we just ended up going back to the ship 3 hours early because we didn't know what else to do.

Stop 2 - Barbados. We LOVED Barbados! We did a snorkeling tour in the morning where we got to swim with sea turtles and fish and it was so much fun! It was a little freaky for me, because a few times I came close to the guys that were feeding the animals food and so I would turn around and there was a big fat sea turtle in my face - I may have screamed (once or twice only). We went to two beautiful beaches in Barbados - the water was everything I imagined Caribbean water to be. Yep, we loved Barbados.

Stop 3 - St. Lucia. Ever since I saw a picture of St. Lucia 4 years ago and showed it to Brian, we have wanted to go there. Needless to say, we really anticipated this stop. I think I may have built it up a bit much, but it was really nice. The Pitons (the two mountains) were really quite spectacular.

We took a catamaran cruise to the Pitons and then stopped in the charming town of Soufriere for lunch on the boat. We then proceeded to a beach, which was nice, but admittedly not as nice as Barbados. The sand was black, not white, and it was quite crowded. There were people continually cruising around in these kayaks trying to sell us stuff. I'm thinking to myself - "what part of me being in a bathing suit in the water tells you that I have money on me" but I tried to understand that they are just trying to make a living. It did get annoying after a while - on all the islands, people are just so aggressive. It makes me really uncomfortable. But anyway, St. Lucia was nice, but did not turn out to be our favorite port of call.

Stop 4 - Antigua. Another great beach location! Not quite as nice as Barbados though, we don't think. We had a very relaxing day hanging out on the beach - didn't do any tours on this island.

Stop 5 - last but not least, Tortola! All we had time for was a cruise to the Virgin Gorda Island and a tour to the Baths. You know, I've seen alot of very cool coastlines and beaches in my day, but I don't think I've ever seen anything that compares to this place. The water was violently crashing to the shore - so much so that it actually knocked my watch right out of the pocket of my shorts, never to be seen again:(. It truly was an awe inspiring sight, though - I didn't spend a lot of time in the water here because I was actually afraid I might get washed away! Anyway, probably our favorite stop - a stunning location.

So after another relaxing day at sea (where we tried bowling amidst some 7 - 9 foot waves rocking our world), here we are in Miami once again. I think I'm somewhat ready to come home, but this vacation was sorely needed. I don't know if we ever slept less than 10 hours in one night - and we were getting up early for shore excursions! Yes, we were in fact like the old people, going to bed when most of the young people were just getting started. Like I said - it was just what we needed:).