Snow melt

Since I posted this last year, I thought I would again this year.

The snow in our yard official melted April 19th.  This was several weeks ahead of last year in Edmonton.  We had been down to a small patch in the shade for a couple weeks.  We got more snow on Good Friday, April 18th.  On Saturday, it warmed up enough to melt the new snow along with finally melting the last patch of existing snow.  We have gotten a little snow since than but it hasn't been much and it melted the same day or the next day. 

Aggie Days

We tried our first big outing with Abby to attend Aggie Days which was put on by the Calgary Stampede.  Attempting to bring the farm to the city, it had animals, activities, farm equipment and more.  Abby and I only made it for about the first half of the exhibits plus it was very busy so we were usually standing back out of the way instead of trying to push the stroller through the crowd.  Here's a few pictures I took when I could get close enough.

Newborn photos

I wasn't organized enough to get newborn photos taken with Ethan but I thought I would attempt this time.  We had them scheduled for a Saturday morning but since Abby arrived a couple days early, the photographer wanted to move them up a few days.  Wade didn't take off work to go because we thought we would do family photos in a few months when Abby is a little bigger.  My mom was visiting so she was able to go with me to help keep Ethan busy and out of the way.  Abby did really well although she didn't seem to want to cooperate with everything we tried.  Overall, I was happy with the finished product.

Abigail Rose

The wait for our newest addition finally ended on March 23rd.  I started having contractions Saturday evening about 7ish.  We went to the hospital about 2:00 and Abigail Rose was born at 8:08 am.  She measured 21.25 inches and weighed 7 lbs 7 oz.

Abby got to watch her first KU basketball game just a couple hours later but unfortunately it was her last one till next season.

About dinner time, the nurses came in and mentioned that although we could stay until the next day, we could also leave after 12 hours so we headed home that evening.  It's always better to sleep in your own bed plus even though we didn't get much sleep the first night Wade and I were at least able to take turns and get a little sleep which we probably wouldn't have gotten at the hospital.

 

The next day, an Alberta Healthcare nurse made a home visit to check weight, jaundice, the heel prick test (not sure what the offical name is), watch a feeding, etc.  We were told this service is why their hospital stays are shorter than what we have back home.

Here are the answers to a few questions I've been asked:

• We had great nurses while at the hospital.  My only complaint was that I barely got an epidural even though I had asked for it a couple hours before.  I think this was just bad timing not necessarily an example of bad service - they wanted the doctor to examine me before officially admitting me but the doctor was delivering another baby and then a preterm labor came in and was the doctors next priority.
• We didn't have to pay anything for the hospital stay, prenatal doctor visits, postnatal visits, and newborn visits.  If we would have had a boy and wanted a circumcision, we would have had to pay for that because it is not covered by Alberta Healthcare (and I believe all provinces).  Plus this would have been done in the doctors office not at the hospital.  
• We delivered at the new hospital in Calgary so it was very similar to back home except there wasn't a nursery to send the baby to if we wanted to.  We hear that some of the other hospitals you have to pay to upgrade to a private room after delivery and that the dad's aren't allowed to stay past visiting hours (which just seems so wrong to me).  I felt like the hospital didn't have the extra's that we experienced last time at Menorah.  Menorah had a nice food station in the hall with snack food and although the hospital here also had one it was just water, juice, and crackers.  The cafeteria food was also better at Menorah and they let the dad's order a tray which wasn't an option here.  I know most hospitals back home also give you a free water glass so they can monitor how much water you drink - we didn't have that here and I was feeling a bit dehydrated so Wade had to make numerous trips to get me little glasses of water from the hall.
• We have scheduled Abby's first round of immunizations but I don't have a list to compare them with what is given in the US.  The big difference is that we have to go to the Alberta Healthcare office instead of our doctors office. 

Nursery

Since we are renting, my choices for decorating the nursery were kind of limited.  I finally ordered some wall decals online.  Really like the way it turned out and now just hoping they come off the wall safely like they are suppose to.

Craft projects

I asked for a sewing machine for Christmas so after I finished unpacking, I picked a couple projects to do before the baby arrived.  I probably should have started with some easier projects since I haven't done much sewing in years but I had to start with something.

My first project was a Big Brother shirt and Little Brother/Sister onsies.  It was really the first time I had done any type of applique and it turned out okay (not great - just okay).  I have another applique project in mind but I plan to do some more practice before I do it since there isn't a hurry. 

My next project was some boxes for the bottom shelf of our changing table.  It is the same changing table we used with Ethan but I just never found something the right size.  I was hoping to find a fabric that would tie our brown nursery stuff to the paint color in the nursery but didn't have much luck finding something so I just gave up and stuck with the brown theme we had previously.  Again this project turned out okay.  I had never done seam binding before so that is probably the worst part and I might redo them sometime.  From a distance they look fine so its a good thing they are for the bottom shelf.

One of our friends here asked me if I had interest in taking a knitting class with her in March.  I didn't really need to add something else to my lists but it was something to do and I always think its fun to learn a new skill.  We were suppose to complete two projects, a cowl and a hat (or a toque) but we really only barely started on the second one.  The cowl turned out good and I tried really hard to finish the hat before the baby came but needed one more day.  Hopefully I'll remember what I learned when I get back to it. 

First few months in Calgary

We'll see if I can get caught up on some blogs....Our first few months here in Calgary went fast and we didn't seem to get out to explore the city much.  We really focused on getting settled into our house and after that I didn't have much interest in exploring (especially in the cold).  We've tried a few new restaurants trying to find some local favorites.  There's always some sort of shopping to do which also helps when learning a new city.  Wade and Ethan managed to go sledding several times - there is a small sledding hill right next to our house.

We've also done a couple things that I don't have photos of.  Wade and Ethan went to the World of Wheels Car show with friends Andre and Erik one weekend.  I think the boys all had fun and Jen and I both enjoyed a few hours off.  We've also visited a couple farmer's markets.  We really miss the Old Strathcona Farmer's Market in Edmonton but we have found one here that seems to work for us.  This one has a small playground area that Ethan really enjoys and it also has some really good food vendors that we usually take advantage of for breakfast or lunch depending on the time of day.  The Edmonton market had a better selection of local produce but we still usually find something to buy.  The big thing is that it gives us something to do on the weekends even if the weather isn't nice.