Hey All,
I just noticed that I haven't updated in a little bit. so here it goes.
This weekend was pretty crazy. We had the Family Fun Day for Muscular Dystrophy on Saturday. It seemed much slower than last year, which isn't really a bad thing. And, unfortunately, the weather didn't hold for us. It was plus 3 degrees, and the ice was as soft as a sponge. there was also a whole bunch of water on the ice, and as you might imagine, if you fell, you would get soaked. So that said, the hockey game between the TVFD and the RCMP didn't happen, due to safety concerns (and the fact you couldn't really skate). That was kind of disappointing, but I'm sure next year will be better.
That said, it's been a weird winter so far. Its been extremely mild, with really only a week, maybe a week and a half, and cold weather. And now that Groundhogs Day says that it will be an early spring (the majority at least). And that brings me to my weekly/daily/whenever I feel like it question:
Where did Groundhogs Day originate?
Thanks to the (possibly correct and unbiased) wonder of Wikipedia, this is what we know.
The celebration, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather lore, wherein a badger or sacred bear is the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog. It also bears similarities to the Pagan festival of Imbolc, the seasonal turning point of the Celtic calendar, which is celebrated on February 1 and also involves weather prognostication and to St. Swithun's Day in July.
Historical origins
One historical origin is an early American reference to Groundhog Day that can be found in a diary entry, dated February 4, 1841, of Berks County, Pennsylvania, storekeeper James Morris:
Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.
Alternative origin theories
In western countries in the Northern Hemisphere the official first day of spring is almost seven weeks (46–48 days) after Groundhog Day, on March 20 or March 21. The custom could have been a folk embodiment of the confusion created by the collision of two calendrical systems. Some ancient traditions marked the change of season at cross-quarter days such as Imbolc when daylight first makes significant progress against the night. Other traditions held that spring did not begin until the length of daylight overtook night at the Vernal Equinox. So an arbiter, the groundhog/hedgehog, was incorporated as a yearly custom to settle the two traditions. Sometimes spring begins at Imbolc, and sometimes winter lasts 6 more weeks until the equinox
And now you know where the origin of groundhogs day may or may not have started.
Well Myrica is due tomorrow, so we will see if this becomes true. None the less, if something does happen, this will probably be one of the last places to know. But it will know, eventually. I can do updates from my phone to here, but its more a matter of time and prioritization on my part that will dictate when its updated.
Hope everyone is well.
Cheers.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
And Still Waiting, and Speaking of Time
And we are still waiting. No baby yet. Myrica thinks she had her first true contraction last night. She didn't like it. So we will see what happens. I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of our little one. I'm pretty pumped, but this waiting is killing me. I know it will come out when its good and ready, but it would be really nice if it could come sooner rather than later :D. But, as I have always said (and I really have always said this, ask Myrica!), good things come to those who wait. Even if the waiting sucks, eventually some good will turn out of it.
On another note, I would like to advertise a little. For anyone who may be around Telkwa during the hours of 12-5pm this Saturday, February 4th, it is the Family Fun Day fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy, put on by the Telkwa Volunteer Fire Department. There will be Fire Truck rides, sleigh rides, games and prizes, face painting, a silent auction. and to top it all off, The Telkwa Volunteer Fire Department will be skating against the RCMP in the main event hockey game. The series is currently tied at 1 a piece, so this year is a tie breaker. I have posted the poster at the bottom of this post for more information (in case I missed something). Also, here is a link to the Facebook Event.
And now that we are into February, I hope everyone remembers that it's a leap year and this month consisted of 29 days. Have you ever really wondered why we have leap years? Well i have, and I learned about it long ago, but for though who don't have my curiosity, here is why (thanks Wikipedia):
In each leap year, the month of February has 29 days instead of 28. Adding an extra day to the calendar every four years compensates for the fact that a period of 365 days is shorter than a solar year by almost 6 hours.
Some exceptions to this rule are required since the duration of a solar year is slightly less than 365.25 days. Years that are evenly divisible by 100 are not leap years, unless they are also evenly divisible by 400, in which case they are leap years. For example, 1600 and 2000 were leap years, but 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not. Similarly, 2100, 2200, 2300, 2500, 2600, 2700, 2900 and 3000 will not be leap years, but 2400 and 2800 will be. Therefore, in a duration of two millennia, there will be 485 leap years. By this rule, the average number of days per year will be 365 + 1/4 − 1/100 + 1/400 = 365.2425, which is 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 12 seconds. The Gregorian calendar was designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon—i.e. a full moon—that falls on or after March 21) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox year is about 365.242374 days long (and increasing).
The marginal difference of 0.000125 days between the Gregorian calendar average year and the actual year means that, in 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it is now. But in 8,000 years, the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount that cannot be accurately predicted (see below for a picture). Therefore, the current Gregorian calendar suffices for practical purposes, and the correction suggested by John Herschel of making 4000 a non-leap year will probably not be necessary.
And that is the why we have leap years.
As promised, here is the Family Fun Day Poster so you can check my information above against to see if I was lying.
Cheers.
On another note, I would like to advertise a little. For anyone who may be around Telkwa during the hours of 12-5pm this Saturday, February 4th, it is the Family Fun Day fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy, put on by the Telkwa Volunteer Fire Department. There will be Fire Truck rides, sleigh rides, games and prizes, face painting, a silent auction. and to top it all off, The Telkwa Volunteer Fire Department will be skating against the RCMP in the main event hockey game. The series is currently tied at 1 a piece, so this year is a tie breaker. I have posted the poster at the bottom of this post for more information (in case I missed something). Also, here is a link to the Facebook Event.
And now that we are into February, I hope everyone remembers that it's a leap year and this month consisted of 29 days. Have you ever really wondered why we have leap years? Well i have, and I learned about it long ago, but for though who don't have my curiosity, here is why (thanks Wikipedia):
In each leap year, the month of February has 29 days instead of 28. Adding an extra day to the calendar every four years compensates for the fact that a period of 365 days is shorter than a solar year by almost 6 hours.
Some exceptions to this rule are required since the duration of a solar year is slightly less than 365.25 days. Years that are evenly divisible by 100 are not leap years, unless they are also evenly divisible by 400, in which case they are leap years. For example, 1600 and 2000 were leap years, but 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not. Similarly, 2100, 2200, 2300, 2500, 2600, 2700, 2900 and 3000 will not be leap years, but 2400 and 2800 will be. Therefore, in a duration of two millennia, there will be 485 leap years. By this rule, the average number of days per year will be 365 + 1/4 − 1/100 + 1/400 = 365.2425, which is 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 12 seconds. The Gregorian calendar was designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon—i.e. a full moon—that falls on or after March 21) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox year is about 365.242374 days long (and increasing).
The marginal difference of 0.000125 days between the Gregorian calendar average year and the actual year means that, in 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it is now. But in 8,000 years, the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount that cannot be accurately predicted (see below for a picture). Therefore, the current Gregorian calendar suffices for practical purposes, and the correction suggested by John Herschel of making 4000 a non-leap year will probably not be necessary.
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| Attribute: BasZoetekouw |
As promised, here is the Family Fun Day Poster so you can check my information above against to see if I was lying.
Cheers.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Still Waiting
Hey Everyone,
Well, we are still waiting. No baby yet. Had the doctors appointment yesterday and the heart rate was at about 145. Its been up and down over the course of the pregnancy. It's been 140 a couple times, and as high as 170, but averaged right at that 150 mark.
This week has been very good but very stressful. We had out company IT assessment done the first part of this week, and it was a definite eye opener. I am extremely glad that we had a consulting firm to come in. My philosophy is that if you can all work together and have open communication, then everyone wins.
Other than that, not much is happening. We did a Ice Jam prep at fire practice this week, as there is (was?) one just east of Telkwa. The last Ice Jam was a little chaotic from the sounds of it, trying to organize personal to keep the public at large safe. This time we are preparing for it and mapping out our command structure and task forces as to be able to move very quickly in case the need for our services is required. And what makes us even more prepared this year is that we are now trained in swiftwater rescue, which helps us help people if they get into trouble on the river. We have a few members who also have their Ice Rescue training, and a whole crew going through that same training in early March, including yours truly. It should be interesting.
Other than that I'll leave you with a couple photos of some snow falling off the roof of our generator roof at work the other day. It's kinda cool.
Cheers.
Well, we are still waiting. No baby yet. Had the doctors appointment yesterday and the heart rate was at about 145. Its been up and down over the course of the pregnancy. It's been 140 a couple times, and as high as 170, but averaged right at that 150 mark.
This week has been very good but very stressful. We had out company IT assessment done the first part of this week, and it was a definite eye opener. I am extremely glad that we had a consulting firm to come in. My philosophy is that if you can all work together and have open communication, then everyone wins.
Other than that, not much is happening. We did a Ice Jam prep at fire practice this week, as there is (was?) one just east of Telkwa. The last Ice Jam was a little chaotic from the sounds of it, trying to organize personal to keep the public at large safe. This time we are preparing for it and mapping out our command structure and task forces as to be able to move very quickly in case the need for our services is required. And what makes us even more prepared this year is that we are now trained in swiftwater rescue, which helps us help people if they get into trouble on the river. We have a few members who also have their Ice Rescue training, and a whole crew going through that same training in early March, including yours truly. It should be interesting.
Other than that I'll leave you with a couple photos of some snow falling off the roof of our generator roof at work the other day. It's kinda cool.
Cheers.
 |
| From Snow Falling |
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Moose'd
Hey all,
It is finally warming up. Yay. no more minus 40 weather please. I know that we are suppose to get that cold, but honestly, minus 30 is just as good and a hell of a lot warmer. Let's just see if we can now start getting warming now that we are on the other side of the winter solstice.
On a completely different note, here have some pictures. They are of our resident moose, that decided today that our back yard was a great place to sleep. The moose had been there for a while sleeping and then once I let the dogs out, it got up and just stood there and ate a couple branches, then after about 20 minutes of standing there, it just started walking away. Such a docile moose. I still wouldn't go up to it and pet it, but none the less, it could have cared less about Oreo and Grady barking up a storm at him, until I told them to be nice to the moose. At that point Oreo stopped barking.
And without further ado, here you go:
It is finally warming up. Yay. no more minus 40 weather please. I know that we are suppose to get that cold, but honestly, minus 30 is just as good and a hell of a lot warmer. Let's just see if we can now start getting warming now that we are on the other side of the winter solstice.
On a completely different note, here have some pictures. They are of our resident moose, that decided today that our back yard was a great place to sleep. The moose had been there for a while sleeping and then once I let the dogs out, it got up and just stood there and ate a couple branches, then after about 20 minutes of standing there, it just started walking away. Such a docile moose. I still wouldn't go up to it and pet it, but none the less, it could have cared less about Oreo and Grady barking up a storm at him, until I told them to be nice to the moose. At that point Oreo stopped barking.
And without further ado, here you go:
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Baby's Room
Well I don't really have much to update with today. I worked some extra hours today so I can have some more banked time to take off when the baby gets here.
Anyways, here are some pictures of the baby's room, all ready for the little one to come. We also have a bassinet thats in our room that I don't have a picture of.
Enjoy
Anyways, here are some pictures of the baby's room, all ready for the little one to come. We also have a bassinet thats in our room that I don't have a picture of.
Enjoy
Friday, January 20, 2012
Breastfeeding
Hey All,
This post is about breastfeeding. Why such a random topic? Because that's what we learned all about in our prenatal course last night.
First off, did you know that babies don't just want the nipple? They want the entire thing. You essentially have to fill their mouth with boob. Here is a diagram I'll explain below.
This post is about breastfeeding. Why such a random topic? Because that's what we learned all about in our prenatal course last night.
First off, did you know that babies don't just want the nipple? They want the entire thing. You essentially have to fill their mouth with boob. Here is a diagram I'll explain below.
So first I have to say that if done properly, breastfeeding shouldn't hurt, and your nipple shouldn't get all cracked and chewed up. This is straight from a registered lactation consultant. She's also a RN who has worked in the maternity department for 7+ years, and has a couple children of her own. So safe to say, she at least knows something, and she did say that she's not here to teach you how to, but to help you teach yourself what works for you.
So anyways, as you can see in the diagram above, the nipples goes into the mouth and essentially reaches the back to the mouth. Right now, rub your tongue along the top of your mouth until you feel the junction from the hard palette to the soft palette (it should feel like a line between bone and muscle). Its very far back, almost at your throat. This is where the nipple should be, right at the junction between the soft and hard palette.
To get it back that far, what you should do is have the bottom lip of the baby about 2-3cm below the nipple. Tease, yes tease, the baby with the nipple along the baby's top lip, and wait for them to open wide with their tongue down. remember to keep their bottom lip 2-3cm below the nipple and roll the nipple into their mouth. Your nipple should brush along the top lip as it enters. This is how you get a good latch and allow your child to get as much milk as they need.
What if they still don't get enough milk? Breast compressions. No it's not CPR on a boob, but it might kinda look like it, but much slower. Essentially, you take your thumb and your finger and put then on either side of the breast, outside the areola (the dark area that surrounds the nipple). If you are too close, the baby can have a hard time latching, or keeping a latch. Anyways, you push your finger and thumb straight into your breast, then your softly pinch your breast. Only do this while the baby is sucking, not while the baby is swallowing. Do not "milk" your breast like you would a cow to get milk, that doesn't work on humans.
You can tell by the pauses in the jaw movements if your baby is getting milk and when they are getting it. If the jaw is not moving, the baby is probably sucking the milk out. If the jaw is moving, then the baby is probably swallowing. You will get babies that don't have much of a pause, and if they don't have a good latch, they they will just suck on the nipple with constant jaw movements, so its important that the baby have a good latch. The way the suction works is the baby's mouth creates a vacuum on the nipple. When the baby opens its mouth, this opens the milk ducts in the nipple allowing for milk to flow into the baby's mouth, the long the pause, the more milk the baby is potentially sucking from the breast. The shorter the pause, the less milk. As with all things, it all depends on a number of factors. How big the milk ducts are is one of those factors. Your baby may have to "suck" hard to get milk even with a good latch. Essentially they will stop "sucking" when their mouth is full and they need to swallow. Just watch for the pause. If there is no pause, try to re-latch the baby.
And one last piece of advice: only and average of 10% of women actually don't have enough milk for their baby. The most common reason people think they can't breastfeed or are drying up is because of improper latching. Breastfeeding isn't something you just know how to do nowadays because a lot of women are not exposed to it. If you look at the statistics, from 1900 to 2000 the number of women saying that they are drying up has gone up considerably, not because they are, but because the majority of them don't actually know how to do it. There is more science behind it that just put baby to nipple and feed.
If you are having problems breastfeeding, I highly encourage you to seek our expert advice on breastfeeding because the majority of mothers can in fact breastfeed very well, they just need some help with the details of how to do it the more efficient and least painful way.
Well I hope that I opened some eyes. Once our baby comes, I will let you know how the breastfeeding if going with Myrica (I'll have to take her word for it, for the most part). The amount of resources available to us in such a small community is amazing, and I look forward to taking advantage of as much of it as I can.
Cheers for now.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
New Blog
Hey everyone,
As you can see I have moved the family blog over to ethier.me hosted on Blogger.
I was using Google Sites but because of some of the restriction of the site, it was not meeting the needs that I had, specifically public comments.
So here we are, the new blog, where I (and maybe we) will be able to update you with little posts about our life and whats happening.
Sorry that I could not bring the previous posts from Google sites, but that was work that I didn't really want to do. I'm now looking for something easy, quick and fun to update. I know I can create website scratch, spending hours making it exactly how I want it, but alas, I have moved on to the though that I know I can do it, and I will continue to do it, but for the sake of keeping stuff up to date, I'm going to use something simple and integrated. Thus this site.
I'm a fan of everything Google. And this is another extension of Google that is more what I was looking for than Google Sites. I can now post updates from my phone, which will help in the updating the website.
So I hope that you follow me, and now comment on the posts that i (and maybe we) post.
Cheers for now.
As you can see I have moved the family blog over to ethier.me hosted on Blogger.
I was using Google Sites but because of some of the restriction of the site, it was not meeting the needs that I had, specifically public comments.
So here we are, the new blog, where I (and maybe we) will be able to update you with little posts about our life and whats happening.
Sorry that I could not bring the previous posts from Google sites, but that was work that I didn't really want to do. I'm now looking for something easy, quick and fun to update. I know I can create website scratch, spending hours making it exactly how I want it, but alas, I have moved on to the though that I know I can do it, and I will continue to do it, but for the sake of keeping stuff up to date, I'm going to use something simple and integrated. Thus this site.
I'm a fan of everything Google. And this is another extension of Google that is more what I was looking for than Google Sites. I can now post updates from my phone, which will help in the updating the website.
So I hope that you follow me, and now comment on the posts that i (and maybe we) post.
Cheers for now.
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