official due date...

August 29 was the due date given to us by the doctors... Here's my little man on the day he was "supposed" to be born, weighing in at 8lbs even (he was 5lbs 6oz when he was born, July 26) ...

my wish...

A prayer for Caleb (I am putting this in his baby book, but wanted to post it too...)

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
and each road leads you where you wanna go,
and if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
if it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile.
But more than anything, more than anything...

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but you never forget,
all the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
and you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
and always give more than you take.
But More than anything, yeah, more than anything...

My wish, for you…

rascal flatts

man 2 "man" chat...

Just chattin' with Dad!

One Month!

Caleb’s Mama and Yeye (Karl’s folks) brought over a lysee (red envelope), some red dyed eggs, roasted pig, and fruit today in celebration of Caleb’s official One Month birthday. Below is an explanation of this tradition, in which we, the parents, are to give out red eggs to friends and family. We will, in fact, be doing this in a couple of weeks when we host the One Month Celebration party at a local restaurant. There is quite an elaborate menu, much like a wedding celebration, that I will blog about next time!

"In Chinese culture, a baby's first month birthday calls for a celebration. Proud parents introduce their latest addition to friends and relatives by holding a red egg and ginger party. Traditionally, the baby's name is also announced at this time.

"Guests attending red egg and ginger parties bring gifts. Lysee or "lucky money" in red envelopes is often given to baby boys, while girls may receive expensive jewelry. The guests don't leave empty handed, either. The parents hand out red-dyed eggs, symbolizing happiness and the renewal of life. [Red eggs are chosen as gifts because they are the symbol of fertility, the changing process of life, and their round shape is the symbol of harmonious and happy life. They are made red because red color is a sign of happiness in Chinese culture (reference).]

"Red egg and ginger parties have their origins in ancient Chinese culture. As in other countries, infant mortality rates in China were quite high prior to the medical advances of the twentieth century. A baby who reached one month of age was likely to survive, and so the event was celebrated.

"In the past, due to the traditional importance of male children in Chinese culture, red egg and ginger parties were sometimes given for boys only, or the celebration for boys was more elaborate. Today, parties are given for babies of both sexes.

"In recent years, some of the traditions surrounding red egg and ginger parties have been modified. Parents may choose to hold the celebration at a fancy restaurant, complete with costumed Chinese performers or even a children's magician. Also, the baby may be anywhere from one to three months old by the time the party is held. But the custom of passing out red-dyed eggs continues. Parents may also use the brightly colored eggs to announce the birth; an even number of eggs are sent out for a boy, and an odd number to announce a baby girl." REFERENCE

thankful!

I am super thankful for my aunt and cousin for hosting an awesome shower for Caleb last week. Thank you for coming everyone, and thank you so much for your generosity! Photos here.

I am also so thankful for my generous and creative friends, Melissa D. and Diane E., for hosting the most amazing, creative and fun baby shower for Caleb today!

I've done quite the baby shower circuit, so I was pleasantly surprised when there were games I hadn't played or heard of... have you ever played the one with the little tiny (sterilized) plastic baby frozen into an ice cube? Everyone has them in their drinks, and the first one to see that their's has melted out has to yell, "my water broke!" and wins a prize (only, be sure to give the rule that you can't suck/crunch it out... this is basically "inducing labour" as one of the guests today put it, and should be considered cheating). Also, Melissa made an awesome crossword puzzle solely using trivia about Caleb from this blog (how on earth did you create that, Melissa?!).

It was all a "Jungle" theme because that is Caleb's nursery theme. I was the jungle mama and had a grass skirt and vine/leaf bra and pineapple drinking cup and everything. It was awesome. Check out the diaper jungle animals (complete with washcloth banana and sock ears/tails) and diaper jungle theme "cake" (both made by Melissa). I am thankful that the diapers won't fit Caleb for a while, so the creations can stay in the nursery for a while!

The mister muncher is getting ready to eat (again!) so I will post more details later... here's some pictures to speak a thousand words for me (click for larger image).

Thank you to all who came to meet and bless Caleb!

first "BCer" visitors...

Caleb's first visitors from BC (but not his first trip to Starbucks)! Here's Keri... (top) and Kori (bottom).

Caleb was pretty zonkered for most of the visit, but perked up and flashed his dimple near the end. I think Kori may have caught a picture of Keri with him with his eyes open, you'll have to check her blog to see if she posts it.

Keri and Kori are "fellow twins" that are great friends of my twin sister, Melissa. I have met them a few times while visiting Abbotsford, and mostly getting to know them better through our blogs. It was fun to have a chance to get together yesterday when they were in town for their cousin Brody's wedding (whom I know through Rocky; he was a student there while I was on staff).

They got him the cutest "cutesaurus" sleeper with little dinosaurs on it, and this (click for larger) "Night Owl" jammies from Old Navy:

Thanks for the visit and the cute outfits Kori & Keri!

pro photo shoot

We got these pics done with a local photographer (Michelle Baker, Fairytale Photography) in her home studio on Saturday...

Here are the albums (they're not edited, so there are a lot of repeats/similar shots): colour, black & white

We had fun and we were amazed at how alert Caleb stayed throughout the session (as was the photographer!).

happenin's

New "All Star" shorties sleeper outfit from Auntie Melissa:

"I'm Going Long...!"

Caleb with Mama and Yeye

"Daddy gave me an old-man comb-over 'do!"

mini chu

My friends Melissa and Diane facilitated some meals for us through our church family; it's amazing how great it is to not have to think about meal planning on top of all the new routines (part of my month off was to pre-cook meals for us, but Caleb was too excited to get here!)... Anyway, this was included in the package from Melissa...

chinese traditions

Karl's mom, bless her heart, made us some ginger egg soup to celebrate Caleb's arrival. This batch didn't have the traditional pig knuckles in it (they'll be in the next batch though, so don't worry!). It's actually quite good.

Pig knuckle soup is boiled for a long time with ingredients such as a lot of ginger, eggs, and pig knuckles in plenty of sweet black vinegar. It is a tradition to give out and share such soup to friends and relatives.

Here is another site that includes the recipe, for those of you eager to try it... or hey, next baby shower potluck, you could be Ms. Popular!

Karl's family is not heavily into ancient Chinese traditions, however they do prepare foods like this for the medicinal benefits.

"Ginger Pig Knuckle Soup contains all the ingredients believed to benefit [women after giving birth]. It is because the soup contains sweet vinegar, which helps dissolves the calcium from the pig bones, to assist the mother in absorbing the calcium when consumed. The black vinegar aids in circulation, speeds up the cell regeneration process, assist in increasing bile in the spleen and helps dissolves the fats in the pig knuckle. Sweet vinegar is believed to contain certain chemicals to reduce risk of cancer and heart disease.

"The eggs contain protein, which aids in cell production. Last but not least, ginger aids in digestion, and helps balance the mother's mental and emotional state. Ginger also contains vitamin C which helps increase immunity. Ginger also creates "heat" in the mother's body to warm her up when she feels cold and weak after giving birth."

Oriental Cucumber Side Salad

This is another one of those recipes that is too simple and delicious to not share:

Ingredients:

• One english cucumber
• One table spoon of soy sauce
• Coarse salt
• Toasted sesame seed oil (to taste)
  
• One stalk of green onion

Directions:

1. Cut the ends off the cucumber, then cut it in half lengthwise
2. Slice cucumber at an angle (approximately 1/8" to 1/4" thick)
3. Sprinkle cucumber slices with coarse salt and toss to coat
4. Let stand for 15 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator, then drain any liquid formed after
   
5. Chop the green onion, and add to the cucumber
6. Add soy sauce and sesame seed oil
7. Toss, drain excess soy sauce, and serve

presenting...

Ladies and Gentleman: we have... A BELLY BUTTON! Caleb's umbilical cord fell off two days ago (day 11).
In other news, Caleb often seems to wiggle one or both arms free from his swaddle and likes to sleep with his arms straight above his head. My mom says I used to do this as well.We had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and things are going well. Caleb is back to his birth weight, and is now 5lbs 6.5oz (up from 4 lbs 13.5oz). He's eating well except for the odd spit up here and there; this morning it was a full out barf of most of his bottle... spraying out his nostrils and mouth, all over mommy, down my shirt and everything. This instigated his first bath at home (I had to wait until his umbilical cord fell off). 4 receiving blankets, 3 wash clothes, 1 bath towel, 1 spray from Mr. Jr. Fire Chief and 1 screaming baby later he was all sparkling clean! No pictures... kinda had my hands full and didn't really think about it until later. It was rather uninspiring anyway! Maybe next time.

Off to do laundry!

adventures

We had a bit of an adventurous day yesterday. Before we got discharged on Tuesday night, they decided to give Caleb one more tanning session (phototherapy for jaundice), then we were to take him to the lab in the morning for blood tests. Long story short, the public health nurse also visits on your first day home. Between the results from the blood test, and Caleb's temperature being a bit cool, she sent us to the Children's Hospital for follow up.

At the hospital, after some deliberation and tracking of records, and evaluation, etc, they decided to send us overnight to the Peter Lougheed Centre (PLC) for more phototherapy. Then changed their minds (actually the PLC disagreed with the Children's Hospital and said Caleb's level was not at a critical enough level to treat him). Talk about a roller coaster! So home we went; the compromise was that we were to take him again this morning for tests at the lab and see if he was improving.

The "ironic" part of all of this? There was a reporting error on his levels from yesterday (they accidentally gave us the results from a few days ago at the hospital) and he had actually drastically improved yesterday (and even more so today). We've been receiving such excellent care, and are thankful for the services we have available to us... but that was really frustrating!

Caleb is doing well and settling in to his new home :) Lots of excitement, and yet another car ride tomorrow for a doctor's appointment, poor little guy. Here are some more pics (click to go to album site for larger pics, or see slideshow below).

Thanks for your prayers & care!

There is no place like home

Caleb has been doing exceptionally well, so the doctors sent him home yesterday (Tuesday). He spent the first night in his new home and everyone is doing well. Be sure to check back here from time to time for more updates.