Baby! Baby!

Originally posted on MEGOagain

I am embarrassed to see that it has been one month since my last post. I could once again list my excuses:

• Still haven't found an option to Live Writer (ahem...haven't attempted again to set up the two solutions suggested to me after my last post!)
• Up until August 11, I was tired due to pregnancy
• After August 11, I was tired due to new baby

Or I could admit defeat for August, and hope for a better fall of blogging. If it makes my faithful readers feel any better I have been neglectful of Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook as well. I have no idea what my real friends are up to on Facebook, or my social media friends are doing and writing about on Twitter and FriendFeed.  So, I will aim to do better this fall. I normally attempt to write to Blogs -  this one MEGOAgain dedicated to work, marketing, social media and general business; and Okbabybear a blog about my family. I am not sure I will have time to keep up both, so you may see a few joint posts (like this one!) - I hope that they won't bore anyone.

So baby is here.  And below is the story of his arrival, and of course some pictures!

My first son was determined to beat his due date, and arrived three days early, in what I thought was a quick labour. My second son, apparently was willing to wait until his due date but wanted to one-up his older brother by coming into the world at a super-fast speed.

The week prior to Zachary's birth I went for walks, ate spicy foods, did some gardening (this worked with Owen!) - anything to move things along. Two days before my due date the doc said I was 2-3 cm dilated, and I could go into labour the next day or stay that way for a week! Great.

So his due date- August 10 passed with no arrival. At around 12:45 I had my first contraction. The first three were 9 minutes apart, and lasted only 30 seconds.  No need to rush to the hospital. Generally they don't want to see you until they are five minutes apart and last a minute. So we called my in-laws so that they could start heading over to watch Owen (they had a bit of a drive in the middle of the night!). Within an hour my contractions had gone from 9 minutes apart, to 8 minutes apart, to 7 minutes apart, to five minutes apart. We called a friend to come over since my husbands parents would still be a couple hours. At 2:17 (according to my Tweet I logged in on the drive to the hospital) we were on our way to the hospital. During the short drive I had three contractions, including one at the door to Emergency.

Signed in to stay at hospital. Oddly at this point the contractions all but stop.  That is until the Doctor visits, at which point I have a contraction that is literally off the chart.  8 cm dilated.

Can someone get me an Epidural? Morphine? Something?

The nurse tells me it is likely too late. I will need to start pushing soon, and they won't have time to do some blood work and get the doctor in the room to administer. Anyone, who knows me - knows I had very serious plans to have the Epidural. I dislike pain, and my first birth was a breeze due to the wonderful Epidural.

4 am. Time to push. At this point I won't continue any details. Needless to say I never want to go through that again. Unbelievable pain. Felt like it went on forever! However, if you look at the below picture at the time on the wall - you will see that it couldn't have lasted long. (yes, that is right the clock should read 4:17, Zachary was born at 4:16)

 

These wonderful birth photos were taken by my friend, who also happens to be a fantastic photographer - www.digitalheirlooms.ca. Yes, I had a someone taking pictures at the birth other than my husband. I had never thought of having a photographer at an event like this, but when Karina showed some beautiful examples - I thought it would be a wonderful keepsake.  Having gone through one birth, I knew how easy it was to forget what had gone on, the memory of your first look at your baby disappears (just as you easily forget the pain...). It turned out that having another mom at the birth was a bonus in itself! Husbands are wonderful - mine makes a terrific coach, "breathe, remember you need to breathe" "ok hold your breath and push!" - but another mom shares your experience.

So here is Zachary.

And this, was my first son at the same age:

Family Photos

 

We bought a new camera a few weeks ago...finally. Our old one was three years old (we got it just before Owen was born). It had been through Marine Land (splashed by Whales), beach trips (sand in the lens and grooves) and more. It still works, but it was starting the literally fall apart.

As usual we decided on a Canon. We researched others, but we came back to the PowerShot. It is our third Canon Powershot, our first was years ago when 2.2 megapixels was the hot technology and cost over $500. This lovely camera cost $200 and has 8 Megapixels with a 6x Optical Zoom.  It also has Image Stabilization and Facial Recognition. The only feature we will miss from its predecessor is the flip screen which Canon has removed in its lower-priced Powershot cameras.  We will need to keep the camera in a case to avoid scratching the display screen from now on. 

I hope this Canon will do as well as the others did for us. The only downside is that the camera battery light goes on long before the battery is actually low. But, it certainly takes good pictures of our family.

Birthday Fun

 

Two weekends ago Bear turned 3!   I have been a bit slow getting around to posting some pics to the great event.

We decided to do a "Construction" themed party for him since he loves trucks, and helping his dad with "work" around the house.

We got hard hats from a party store, tool belts from the dollar store, and donated some money to Rona's social committee in order to get some L'il Hammer aprons.

Here are some of the workers on site:

The kids built things (and then knocked them down) with "giant"  blocks and helped with the lawn care at the site:

We had some games, this one is place the pylon in the right spot (blindfolded):

 

And, the workers drew up some site plans and construction drawings:

What construction party would be complete without cake with dump trucks and diggers on top?

Birthday Wishes

 

Bear's b-day is on Thursday. The big numero "3".  And, what does he want for his birthday? Asked numerous times...this is the answer we get:

" A Lion, a Zebra and a Hippopotamus"

Happy (?) Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to me.....

- Bear woke up at 6:15
- With a poop in his diaper...and down his leg
- Hubbie worked last night - so he is asleep now

Thank goodness my Bear is so worth it.

Happy Mother's Day to my mom...who is likely amused at my troubles.

Having Two Blogs

Is a lot of work.  I wonder what would happen if I talked about Bear on my Marketing blog. Do you think anyone would mind? Or, perhaps I could talk about Marketing on this blog...would you, my readers, be bored? Perhaps your Eyes Would Glaze Over?

I should simply find the time...but with a "almost" three year old, and work, and reading, and shopping...how can I possibly write two blogs?

And, then I think. Well this one should be more important - after all it is a tribute to the most important person in my life - my Baby Bear. Then the devil on my shoulder says - but you are passionate about marketing, social media, SEO and all that good stuff - don't you deserve that outlet.

So I guess I continue to write two blogs.

Disney Magic

Technorati Tags: disney,vacation,florida,mickey mouse,branding

I have been away from blogging on both blogs for about two weeks now. One week due to a holiday to Florida, and the second week due to computer exhaustion as I had over 230 emails to read at work alone.

My first blog post after my break is going to be shared between Okbabybear and MEGO due to the subject being about our vacation with Bear and about the incredible Disney experience!

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When I was a child my family went to Florida almost every year, so by age 13 I had been to Disney 8 or 9 times. This year we decided to make the trip south with Bear and his grandparents. I was both excited and nervous about the trip. Excited to see my little boys face when the Disney magic touches him, and nervous in case what I remembered wasn't real.

I didn't have any reason to be worried. We arrived at the gates just after they opened and by 11 o'clock I had my money's worth! Disney is simply a brand that gets "it". From the ticket takers, to the cleaning crew and the photographers to the characters - each Imagineer at Disney is a representative of the brand.  Everything that is done, even the little things, are done to perpetuate the brand message. 

Park a stroller in "stroller parking" - chances are when you return from the ride that the "parking" lot will be arranged in straight lines making it easy for you to get your stroller out. Exit the Pirates of the Caribbean and you might just run into Jack Sparrow himself putting on a show.  Or as part of the "Year of a Million Dreams" you could meet an Imagineer who hands you a "Fast Pass" that gets you into the short line for the most popular rides.

The highlight of the day for my son, and therefore for the rest of us, was visiting Mickey's Toon Town where Bear met his favourite Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters. We arrived at the area 10 minutes before they opened. Instead of a person coming out to open the gate - they sent Pluto and Donald.  In this area the kids can visit Mickey & Minnie at the Judge's Tent, and Donald, Pluto and Goofy in another building. We started with Mickey & Minnie, who were just arriving as we were.  My son screams out "Hi!" and Mickey turns and waves as all the adults laugh at my adorable little Bear. When we get our turn with Mickey & Minnie, my son, nervously leans over hands between his knees, and says to Mickey " I...I..have a suitcase!" Well actually he has a Mickey Mouse back-pack...but close enough. Magically, my son's favourite show comes to life. Disney photographers take pictures of the moment, but instead of not allowing you to take photos, forcing you to purchase over priced images in order to savour the moment - they let you take your own pictures. Of course, they give you a card with a PhotoPass number so that IF you want to purchase the images - YOU CAN.  And, I likely will...sucker that I am. But I feel rather warm and fuzzy about not HAVING TO...since I already have some cute shots of Mickey & Minnie with Bear. 

Despite line-ups at rides and beverage carts, and crowds around characters and parade routes - not once did I hear an angry customer or a snide remark between park goers.  It seems that everyone was touched by the magic of Disney.