The Year In Review
We started 2007 with one of the warmest winters on record, not much snow and very mild. The plus to this was playing winter golf in Chicagoland, the downside being that we were looking forward to experiencing some "hard winters". Like the previous year, one of our sporting team were playing at the top of their sport. The Bears made the Superbowl, only to lose, but hey they made it right. We didn't know it at the time, but we were also on the way to our first child, conceived on or around Christmas day!
In February the weather got colder, still not much snow, but the temperature was dropping so much sand was freezing! Oswego county in NY state was getting feet upon feet of snow, and we got a new car. The HHR, always intended to be Lorraine's car, in preparation for our baby producing efforts was an excellent find and an excellent deal. We knew we were expecting our baby, but hadn't told anyone yet, except the future grandparents.
Late in March we went public, and of course we were all very excited, but it still didn't really seem real yet. In April the winter was relenting, we had had some decent snow at last but it was on the way out. The golf courses were opening back up, and I still sucked. We went to our first Cubs game, and the Cubs won..little did I know it would be a great season, with many highs and lows. I also picked up a whole new team of people at work, increasing my group by approx 40%, so it was a pretty big jump in responsibility and workload.
We had the in-laws over in May and we were 20 weeks pregnant (22 actually). Lorraine's mum and sister came to the hospital for the scan and we could see real definition in the baby. We chose not to know what it was and so it was it for most of the year. We were debating names for most of the time, with the girl's name being the toughest choice as Lorraine liked all the older names like Lily, Mae, etc. I started to get excited, nervous, and then excited some more. I bought toys, and accessories whenever I saw them and started filling the house!
In June we continued to await the Secada invasion with some trepidation, and whilst it did eventually come, it wasn't nearly as spectacular as everyone had said it was gonna be. Also throughout May and June and I had started to look for our second car, knowing that once the baby came, it was going to pretty essential to the easy running of the bigger family. I went back and forth between sports cars, regular family cars and trucks, and ultimately found an excellent deal on a Dodge Hemi Magnum Ram, Laramie edition (that's a mouthful).
July came and went as we continued preparation for the baby's arrival, reading, watching videos, taking a few pictures. We really should have documented the pregnancy better, but it seemed to fly by so quickly, maybe next time we can do a better job. For the most part Lorraine (and she says this herself) had a relatively easy pregnancy, no significant sickness, water retention, swollen ankles, etc.
August rolled around, and before you knew it we were counting the date in weeks. We attended classes, made up the gift registry, started to prepare in earnest. Making up lists for the birth room, things we did/didn't want, etc. We did find time for fun too. I had already attended a few more Cubs games, and we went on a tour of the hallowed Wrigley Field. The big news for this month was that I got my green card, after a relatively painless process. Lorraine had to wait a bit longer, but not much, and we are both now in possession of those precious documents.
September kicked our asses! The dog got really sick, tearing her ACL, and then reacting badly to all the pain meds, throwing up all over. The weather got bad with lots of rain and flooding. Lorraine was in the final stages and so becoming less mobile by the day, and certainly more and more tired. Final preparations were done, and we still found some time for fun. Lorraine's mum came into town for 6 weeks to be there for the birth and was a great help keeping us all sane. We went to the Shedd Aquarium, mostly cos the zoo was full and we couldn't get parking! The Cubs were continuing to play well and badly all at the same time, but their march to the post season was still very much alive.
AJ was born right at the end of the month, the day after the Cubs clinched the division and their play off spot. Nice of her to wait so I could watch the final game! In October, life was in turmoil. Learning to cope with the new baby, breast feeding challenges, watching the Cubs self destruct in the play offs and trying to establish routines. Right before the end of the month we took a trip, to try to catch the colours in Michigan, around the lake and up through the UP. It was a whistlestop tour, lots to see and some colours left, but really it gave us a bunch of ideas for longer trips in future. It was lots of fun feeding and changing AJ in the truck along the way!!!!!
November seemed to fly by as we settled in to our new family. The weather stayed mild and I wondered if we were in for another blah winter. Again, the positive was that I was able to play some golf, AJ and mummy were able to take nice walks in decent weather, so it wasn't a total loss. There was talk of a trip to India on business, but that never materialised. Work was horrendously busy, as it had been in October due to a really huge project at work.
December? Well December has been quite the month. There have been a succession of storms rolling across, with anything from ice and freezing rain to 9" of snow. The farmers almanac had predicted this to be the worst winter in a long time, and so far they may be right. As I write this from a hotel room in Toronto where I have had to make a brief trip the week before Christmas to pick up some new work from a departing colleague, the weather is easing off a little for a few days and unfortunately it doesn't look like we get any snow for Christmas. Lorraine's family will be here until the 29th and we will have our usual annual party. I will of course continue to bombard you with pictures and video of my beautiful daughter, even if she does look like me!
Have a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year (in case I don't get around to posting again before then)
In February the weather got colder, still not much snow, but the temperature was dropping so much sand was freezing! Oswego county in NY state was getting feet upon feet of snow, and we got a new car. The HHR, always intended to be Lorraine's car, in preparation for our baby producing efforts was an excellent find and an excellent deal. We knew we were expecting our baby, but hadn't told anyone yet, except the future grandparents.
Late in March we went public, and of course we were all very excited, but it still didn't really seem real yet. In April the winter was relenting, we had had some decent snow at last but it was on the way out. The golf courses were opening back up, and I still sucked. We went to our first Cubs game, and the Cubs won..little did I know it would be a great season, with many highs and lows. I also picked up a whole new team of people at work, increasing my group by approx 40%, so it was a pretty big jump in responsibility and workload.
We had the in-laws over in May and we were 20 weeks pregnant (22 actually). Lorraine's mum and sister came to the hospital for the scan and we could see real definition in the baby. We chose not to know what it was and so it was it for most of the year. We were debating names for most of the time, with the girl's name being the toughest choice as Lorraine liked all the older names like Lily, Mae, etc. I started to get excited, nervous, and then excited some more. I bought toys, and accessories whenever I saw them and started filling the house!
In June we continued to await the Secada invasion with some trepidation, and whilst it did eventually come, it wasn't nearly as spectacular as everyone had said it was gonna be. Also throughout May and June and I had started to look for our second car, knowing that once the baby came, it was going to pretty essential to the easy running of the bigger family. I went back and forth between sports cars, regular family cars and trucks, and ultimately found an excellent deal on a Dodge Hemi Magnum Ram, Laramie edition (that's a mouthful).
July came and went as we continued preparation for the baby's arrival, reading, watching videos, taking a few pictures. We really should have documented the pregnancy better, but it seemed to fly by so quickly, maybe next time we can do a better job. For the most part Lorraine (and she says this herself) had a relatively easy pregnancy, no significant sickness, water retention, swollen ankles, etc.
August rolled around, and before you knew it we were counting the date in weeks. We attended classes, made up the gift registry, started to prepare in earnest. Making up lists for the birth room, things we did/didn't want, etc. We did find time for fun too. I had already attended a few more Cubs games, and we went on a tour of the hallowed Wrigley Field. The big news for this month was that I got my green card, after a relatively painless process. Lorraine had to wait a bit longer, but not much, and we are both now in possession of those precious documents.
September kicked our asses! The dog got really sick, tearing her ACL, and then reacting badly to all the pain meds, throwing up all over. The weather got bad with lots of rain and flooding. Lorraine was in the final stages and so becoming less mobile by the day, and certainly more and more tired. Final preparations were done, and we still found some time for fun. Lorraine's mum came into town for 6 weeks to be there for the birth and was a great help keeping us all sane. We went to the Shedd Aquarium, mostly cos the zoo was full and we couldn't get parking! The Cubs were continuing to play well and badly all at the same time, but their march to the post season was still very much alive.
AJ was born right at the end of the month, the day after the Cubs clinched the division and their play off spot. Nice of her to wait so I could watch the final game! In October, life was in turmoil. Learning to cope with the new baby, breast feeding challenges, watching the Cubs self destruct in the play offs and trying to establish routines. Right before the end of the month we took a trip, to try to catch the colours in Michigan, around the lake and up through the UP. It was a whistlestop tour, lots to see and some colours left, but really it gave us a bunch of ideas for longer trips in future. It was lots of fun feeding and changing AJ in the truck along the way!!!!!
November seemed to fly by as we settled in to our new family. The weather stayed mild and I wondered if we were in for another blah winter. Again, the positive was that I was able to play some golf, AJ and mummy were able to take nice walks in decent weather, so it wasn't a total loss. There was talk of a trip to India on business, but that never materialised. Work was horrendously busy, as it had been in October due to a really huge project at work.
December? Well December has been quite the month. There have been a succession of storms rolling across, with anything from ice and freezing rain to 9" of snow. The farmers almanac had predicted this to be the worst winter in a long time, and so far they may be right. As I write this from a hotel room in Toronto where I have had to make a brief trip the week before Christmas to pick up some new work from a departing colleague, the weather is easing off a little for a few days and unfortunately it doesn't look like we get any snow for Christmas. Lorraine's family will be here until the 29th and we will have our usual annual party. I will of course continue to bombard you with pictures and video of my beautiful daughter, even if she does look like me!
Have a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year (in case I don't get around to posting again before then)
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