It's Monday...

Greetings from the house of the sick. The boy's been ill for a week, and now the wife has it. What is "it"? Seems like the flu, but it could also be a nasty cold developing into sinusitis. The boy is on antibiotics after the give-him-Tylenol-and-keep-him-hydrated strategy didn't work. At least he gets something. I tell you, if childbirth itself wasn't bad enough, try getting this nasty flu-like thing while pregnant and not being able to take anything even for the symptoms. Oh, except for Tylenol, which doesn't really help all that much. Nasty.

I, fortunately, have been able to avoid being slimed as of yet. My handwashing regimen borders on ludicrous, but hey, they say that the best way to stop the spread of viruses and bacteria is to wash your hands, and I'm giving that a great test this weekend. Oh, and that instant hand sanitizer stuff. I think I'm driving the stock price up single-handedly.

You know what the worst part is? Having to work and leave the two sick ones at home. I took a day off today to help be the caretaker, but I had to work on Saturday and Sunday, and I have to go back tomorrow. Fortunately, we have some understanding and helpful parents who don't mind switching off with me into caretaker role.

It's also a bit of a bummer because this would have been a pretty cool weekend to have the family unit intact. The boy's best friend had his birthday party on Saturday morning, complete with the "Cars" theme and a little toddler roller-coaster type thing. Two things that should have been slam dunks. We went (leaving mommy at home), thinking the boy was feeling a bit better, but it turns out he was still pretty lethargic and didn't really enjoy it. Then on Saturday night, I was leading the Saturday night service, complete with Larry Norman tribute and loud music, and the wife couldn't make it. Then last night, we went out to one of the local indoor amusement centres with the young adults, and the wife couldn't come because she was sick. So many cool and fun things, but none of them could be enjoyed. Alas.

You know, I thought the Canucks game yesterday was a complete embarrassment, although I've come to expect nothing less than a meltdown of biblical proportions from my team at some point during the season. However, at least we didn't lose 10-2 to the Capitals like the Bruins did tonight. I was watching the game on TV during one of the boy's many naps today--it was like watching a bunch of Pee-Wees playing the NHL guys. Ovechkin was unreal (3 goals, 2 assists), and it's nice to have some 50-goal scorers in the NHL again. Fastest player to 50 in 10 years.

What else? To add insult to injury (or in this case, sickness), my computer has decided that it's not a great idea to function right now. I've dug out my old laptop which is what I'm using right now, but it sucks to not have my actual computer with my email contacts, for example. Brutal. No room in the brain to worry about that today, though, so it will wait.

The malfunctioning computer, along with an ancient laptop that still runs Windows 2000, caused me to look at new computers today for the first time since we got married (which is when we bought our current model). Man, these things are cheap. Future Shop had a deal where you could get a laptop for $700, and it's way faster than my desktop. Crazy. The great thing is that we're actually in the position right now to be able to think about saving up for a laptop. Before, that would've been pretty much the last thing on the list, but with our new housing situation, having a renter, and me getting a raise (heck, having a job for the first time since the boy was born), it feels pretty good--although strange--to actually think about stuff like that again.

The big decision around here when the time finally does come to get a new machine is whether to join the millions who are switching over to Mac. There, I said it. There's actually a relatively high number of people in my family who use Macs, but I've always been a PC guy. Switching over now would be kind of like converting to Islam, although without the eternal consequences (the Mac/PC debate is serious, but not that serious). It's just a totally foreign territory to me. Sure, I could learn something new, but that sounds like hard work. The problem is that Macs are so darn cool that I'd really enjoy showing it off, even if I don't know how to use it properly.

Okay, the boy is coughing again, so it might be time for more daddy intervention. This is a nasty little bit of coughing, actually. I'll update again soon.

See you then.

Yet another update...

Seriously. Some guy just won a million bucks at the Canucks game for shooting pucks into an empty net from the far blue line. Holy moly.

Right, reality check. How are things? Look at this--two posts in the course of a week. And I'm feeling pretty good about it, too. Of course, I'm on the computer tonight because it's Wednesday, which means that both American Idol and America's Next Top Model are on. Usually I'm out of the house on Wednesday night at worship team rehearsal, and now I know why I'm glad I'm not here. Anyway, I do have an update on the pregnancy, and I figure I could put some pictures of the boy and such up, too. Here goes....

We got the test results back from the triple screen blood test we did last week--everything's totally normal. No chromosomal irregularities (10 syllables in two words there--that's how it's done, kids) so we're feeling pretty good about that. Wife still has to go in for a more detailed ultrasound because they need to make sure the bowel is normal. That happens in the middle of March--we're feeling pretty positive about it, though. Of course, there will continue to be close monitoring and probably another ultrasound in the third trimester, but we're okay with that.

Oh wait, my favourite commercial just came on....

...it's the one where four guys are riding in a cab, and they come across a street hockey game. From the back, one of them yells, "Hockey", and they all get out, pick up the cab, walk it past the hockey game, and put it back on the road. Speaking as a guy who's moved his fair share of nets for cars over the course of his childhood, that's a pretty wicked-awesome commercial.

Dang it, there's a whole lot of girly shrieking in this fargin' America's Next Top Model (ANTM from now on). Seriously, these chicks shriek about everything. Okay girls, we're going to New York City! [Shriek] Okay girls, it's time for a tour of New York City! [shriek] Okay girls, you're going to your new home! [shriek] Okay girls, time to eat lunch and then throw it all up afterwards to maintain your model's figure! [shriek] But my favourite part of this show is the catty, girly fighting that goes on. It's sounds a whole lot like complaining to the playground monitors in elementary school. I'm not sure why this show is so popular, but I'm not a girl. My wife still can't figure out why I'd actually sit down and watch 10 hours of coverage of the NHL trade deadline. Different strokes for different genders, I suppose.

Anyway. As I mentioned last time, we've recently moved house. It was a little bittersweet leaving. Three years in that place. It was the first place we actually owned; it was the house the boy was born in; it was the house I cut my renovation teeth in (with a lot of help from our dads). A good place in a good neighbourhood, which is probably why it sold within five days of going on the market. And we made $110000 in three years. Ridiculous, really, but when you consider what we had to pay to get into a detached home, it's even more so. No, I won't say the number on here, mostly because I don't want those of you reading in different parts of the world to choke on whatever you're eating right now.

Like I said, I cut my renovation teeth in that house, including painting almost every wall (we never did the office), and installing a laminate floor. But I did have another renovation partner in my wife, who's actually the artistic one in the group. She had a moment of inspiration one day and came up with doing this on our bedroom wall...

...pretty nifty, really. And we drove by the other day and the new people haven't painted over it. Yet. Here's hoping they won't bother. Not that we have any say in it at all, but it's just that, well, it's irrational really. Just don't paint over it.

As I mentioned last post, there was a 2nd birthday not so long ago. Here's the proof...

The boy is as cute as ever, as you can probably imagine. He got this helmet for Christmas this year...

...and quickly upgraded to the next level of safety equipment...

Another of his favourite places to hang out is in the dog's bed, which of course drives the dog crazy, which is the point of it all...

...and yes, that is the new floor I installed the new people are enjoying. But our new house has nicer floors, and I didn't have to install them.

Two more before I say good night. It's amazing how fast this kid has grown up...

...practically a teenager now. And it's also interesting how given certain conditions, he bears a striking resemblance to a certain member of the family who also used to wear plaid shirts and ball caps--and who's probably watching his great-grandson from heaven, beaming with pride...

See you soon.

The Update...

Hi everyone. I've been told by a couple of people that it's time to do an update to the blog, so here I am, the compliant person that I am, to give an update as to what's been happening since I last posted.

Last time I posted, we had just found out we were pregnant again (PS--I love using the "we" when I talk about being pregnant, because it makes me seem as though I have some vital role to play in the pregnancy, when it's actually my wife doing all the hard work). Still pregnant. It's week 19 now, which means we're pretty much halfway there. Actually, we're probably more than halfway there. We've found out that our baby has a condition called "single umbilical artery" where, well, there's only one umbilical artery (as opposed to the usual two). From our research, this condition happens in less than 1% of pregnancies, and in 1/3 of the cases it's accompanied by some sort of severe issue, such as a malformed skeletal structure, malfunctioning organs, or central nervous system damage. Fortunately, our baby has none of these things; evidently all this would be apparent in the ultrasound. We're going through a few other tests to see about chromosomal abnormalities, but we're cautiously optimistic.

Unfortunately, what this condition usually means is that the umbilical cord has a hard time supporting the fetus in the late stages of the pregnancy, and so most babies with SUA are born premature and low birth weight. Given that we've already had a premature baby who had all of his umbilical arteries, we're pretty sure this one's going to be early too. So technically we're still going with a July 15 due date, but pragmatically we'll be ready before that.

But other, more positive things have happened too. The major one of these is that on January 24, we moved into a new house. We were struggling to make ends meet at the old place, what with me being on a pastor's salary and all, and so we had to find some way to relieve the burden a bit. Through a series of what could only be God-ordained circumstances, we found this house and were able to purchase it at a price below what they were asking, and pretty substantially so. We talked to our parents about it, and they agreed to co-invest with us (which might be a problem when they need the cash back, but we'll cross that bridge later), so we were able to make the numbers work a bit better. In order to get the deal we got, though, we needed to take quick possession. We were hoping that we could sell our old place in time, but didn't really think it would happen. Of course, it did--within five days of listing, we got an offer in for very quick possession. We negotiated a bit, and ended up with a price that was more than we had anticipated getting for the house, so it was a win-win situation. Now we have a detached home with a fenced backyard, and a detached garage with a rental suite on top. Our mortgage burden is a bit lighter--the main benefit though is not having to pay a monthly strata fee--and we get rental income from the suite. It's a pretty good deal. We're really blessed to have the family we have, and to have God looking out for us like He does.

Work is going well. I find myself continuing to find places where I need to adjust when working in a large church, but I'm getting there. Sometimes I long for the simplicity of a church plant again, but then I remember what it was like to have to set up everything out of a trailer before the service, and I realize that it wasn't really that fun. I'm playing a lot of music, which has continued to stretch me, and I think I've become a better player in the past few months. I'm also getting to play some of my other instruments a bit more often--electric guitar, bass, drums--so that's a lot of fun.

Wife is still enjoying being a mommy, and is occasionally doing some contract writing work on the side. We're still learning how to do ministry as a couple when we have a family--it's a different ball of wax than simply being a couple--but we're getting there.

#1 son has just turned two, and he's just as much fun as he's always been. He's also starting to assert his independence, as two-year-olds will do, and it's been an interesting journey getting to know his personality through it. He's a pretty fiercely independent kid, and it must be frustrating to not be able to express his feelings properly. He's even started to toilet train himself, which is a lot of fun. What a kid.

So that's pretty much what's happening in our lives. Next time I post, perhaps some pictures of our new place. I'm going to try to post more regularly, but you know how that goes. I'll believe it when I see it. Thanks for stopping by.