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.