My Mom

This past week we have had the honour of having my Mom stay with us. She arrived on Sunday afternoon and stayed until Friday afternoon.

It was so nice to have an extra set of hands to help sooth a crying baby, but she was more than amazing in cleaning and cooking.

She got a chance to spend some quality bonding time with her first grandchild and I got a chance to get more sleep when needed...

Thanks so much Mom!

Reign Over Me

Last night Adam took care of Jacqueline as I headed out to a movie with a few girl friends. Starr, Tara and I saw Reign Over Me. I really liked the movie and would recommend it - there are some funny parts and some very emotional tear jerkers as a man deals with the loss of his entire family in 9/11.

Even better than the movie though is getting a chance to go out with some friends and know Dad has things under control at home. (He lucked out - Jacqueline slept the entire time I was gone.)

For Adam...

I bought this outfit a while ago - I could not resist. So today I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of her sporting it. (I know she won't be able to fit into it for much longer.)

Things have been going quite well here on the home front, my Mom is here this week and Adam's Mom will be here next week. It has been great having an extra set of hands around helping with not just Jacqueline but the cooking and cleaning as well.

Nights: I want to say the nights have been pretty good - Jacqueline is on a 3 1/2 - 4 hour feeding schedule during the night (knock on wood - I know this could change anytime). But she tends to be more fussy and awake during the day - so that suits me just fine.

Dad: Adam is doing quite well - since he is a very light sleeper compared to me and he has to work during the day - I have insisted on him sleeping with ear plugs so we don't wake him up during the night. He does get tired, but I think it is more a withdrawl from poker that is affecting him. Just kidding - it is a complete lifestyle change and now he is getting used to waking up and going to work everyday.

The Drink

Okay, okay - I know I am totally pathetic - but Adam did snap a picture of me with my first drink.

Saturday evening we took Jacqueline to her first house party - she did great, slept and got passed around the room, this gave both Adam and I a chance to relax and have a drink.

Friends

We have had the pleasure of having a bunch of friends come over and visit and meet Jacqueline. A few pictures of some of the people that have stopped by.

Sarah Ingram

Al Ingram

Shane Marion

Brenda and Shane Marion

Starr Mercer

Sarah Ingram and Sean Root

Sean Root

My Deepest Apologies

It has been brought to my attention by my dear sister Amy that I have not dedicated enough of this blog to her! Now I did stop for a quick second and ask myself just why she did not start her own blog and then it would be completely dedicated to her, but there must be some reasonable explanation as to why she has not taken the plunge into the blogging world yet.

So here are a few pictures of her on her recent trip to Mexico. She was the maid of honour in her friend Sarah's wedding. She did a great job since she had practice doing it in my wedding as well. Boy Amy, you look beautiful!

Out Alone

So today I took Jacqueline out for our first adventure together. Adam is happy because we went shopping - and left him at home. Okay, by shopping it was not anything special - we went to the grocery store - and the liquor store. I have been dreaming about a Pineapple Bacardi Breezer since the last time I had one.... July 1, 2006. Yes I know, pathetic that I know the exact day - but we found out we were pregnant one the 2nd - and I know I had one or more drinks on the 1st.

Anyway - we did well together, she slept for most of the trip and when she was not sleeping she was demanding her soother.

Jacqueline travels very well - she seems to really like her car seat and the car puts her to sleep, but we have yet to go further than downtown.

They might not look pretty, but...

Well yesterday I needed to see where I was at, just how far a road I still had to travel. The only way to truely measure this is try on my pre-pregnancy jeans! Yes this is a very scarry adventure - you see there is the potential that I will not even get them past my theighs let alone be able to zip or button them up. But on the other hand - it could be a very exciting time - it could show me I have only a little bit more to go - or in a prefect world - they could fit already!

Well - they made it past the theighs, I could do up the button and the fly, but to actually wear them - not so much. I still have some work to do (I really did not think I would get away with not) but I think in a month or so - we will be in business!

The Fat Off:

My last weigh in before I had Jacqueline - 150 - pre-pregnancy 130. Right now I am at 135 - so 5 more pounds to go. goal #2 - 5-10 more pounds dropped.

Adam - as some of you know Adam hurt his shoulder back in January - this seriusly stalled his weight loss plan and now that we have Jacqueline - he has not gone back to the gym - don't worry he will.

As of right now - I am totally kicking his butt in this bet.

The Office

This morning we made a trip into the office to show off Jacqueline. Here are a few photos of some co-workers.

Ken

Charlie

Joy

Family

We have had a few visitors this past week. Unfortunately one visitor that can't make the trip from Ontario is my sister Amy - but she did send us flowers that arrived on the first day we got home.

Aunt Karen and uncle Blake (Jenny's brother and his wife)

Catalina - Paul (Jenny's brother) and his wife Catalina visited - unfortunately Paul got missed on the photo opp

Grandpa Eric (Adam's side)

Aunt Kristi (Adam's sister)

Aunt Kristi brought the cutest onezie for Jacqueline

Our First Visitors

Wednesday evening the Mercer family came over for a visit. Unfortunately their little girl got sick on route - so it was only a quick pop in by the parents and 2 ½ year old Ace to take a look a Jacqueline.

They brought us a nice bunch of tulips and a beautiful baby announcement card.

Starr has been amazing - first she loaned me the use of her maternity clothes, next she brought over their bassinet for us to use, and now she has loaned us the use of a whole pile of baby girl clothes. The box she brought us contained over 20 sleepers and miscellaneous onezies and outfits.

More Pictures

Grandma and Grandpa Nadeau

Grandma Hill

Adam and his Mom

Adam being Adam

Since way before we got pregnant Adam has had a fascination with tasting breast milk – well I pumped the other day and he got his opportunity – the pictures tell the whole story.
(I was laughing so hard it was hard to keep the camera from shaking.)

At Home

Well we arrived home Tuesday March 13th around 1:00pm. It was nice to get out of the hospital – start to feel a little bit more normal. Things went well in the afternoon, but come early evening Jacqueline did not want to settle. All she wanted was to eat for 10 minutes, then sleep for 15 and want to eat again; this was not a very fun experience for me at all. So after a while of this, us both desperately needing sleep, a few phone calls to Grandma and a phone call to a 24 hour new baby / parent help line – we decided to supplement with some formula (I was beyond sore at this point). To make a long story short – we did make it through the night – we both ended up getting some sleep – not a lot, but some.

Wednesday started out much better, the formula helped a lot and then the public health nurse came and taught me how to correctly feed her.
We are now in a 3 hour routine – she feeds every 3 hours and sleeps in between. This has allowed us to both get some sleep – a bit broken, but still we are both sleeping and we are able to function during the day.

Asleep in her crib - yeah

Brutis had been phenomenal! We have been pleasantly surprised. When we first brought Jacqueline home, Brutis was still at the dog sitter’s – a few hours later Adam headed out to bring him home. When he arrived we introduced him to her – he was very curious and gave her a good smell, but otherwise he has not shown too much interest. We have not changed what we allow him to do – he is still allowed on the couch – even while I am breasts feeding her there – and he just likes to take a sniff and then settle in near by

Making sure Dad is doing it right

It's a Girl!

We would like to announce the birth of Jacqueline Marie Hill!

Born at: 4:02am March 12, 07
Weight: 7 pounds 1 ounce
Length: 19 ¼ inches

The labor / delivery story:

Sunday afternoon we took Brutis for a walk to Starbucks – after hanging out for a while in the gorgeous Calgary sun, we headed to Sobeys to get some groceries for dinner (burgers – later to be discovered – not a good meal just before going into labor). While Adam waited outside with the dog – I was inside shopping and got my first contraction – very mild – barely noticeable. Then we headed home, made dinner, had dinner and set up to watch a movie – all this time I was having very mild contractions – but I choose not to tell my dear husband since I know how he would react and did not want him to worry / stress just in case this was nothing. At the start of the movie (7:00 ish) the contractions were 15 minutes apart and just starting to get worse – so I told Adam what was going on – he reacted as I expected – but I insisted on us watching the movie for as long as possible to keep my mind off the pain. All my contractions were very short, but very much in the back – but after about 45 minutes into the movie – we are at 5 minutes apart, increasing in intensity, but still less than a minute each. So we called the hospital and they suggested we come in for an assessment.

Well, all the gear was ready, so into the truck and off to Rockyview Hospital. We arrived at 9:00pm – they hooked me up to monitor the contractions – still about the same distance apart, 4-5 minutes – but much worse. After ½ hour, I was checked and at 5 cm dilated, so they admitted me. We lucked out – it was a relatively slow evening in the hospital and we got a room right away.

So we started out in the shower – that lasted for a while – but I asked for some medication – laughing gas – it worked well for a little while, but as the contractions increased in intensity it really did not seem to be doing much – so I asked for the epidural (although I had said I wanted to go epidural free – I also said if I am having back labor – bring it on). Well the epidural was amazing – as we road out the rest of the contractions to full dilatation – Adam was able to take a nap and I was able to rest. At this point in time I was SOOOO tired (I had missed my 9:00pm bed time by hours).

Once the nurse did another check – we were ready to start pushing – so I pushed once on the next contraction – but she quickly told me to stop – they could see head, but we did not have the doctor in the room. A few minutes later the doctor arrived and we started pushing – 15 minutes later – Jacqueline was born.

All in all it was not a horrible experience – yes I would like to avoid going through that and time in the next year – but it was not bad enough to make me say never again.

I will post in a day or two and let you all know how we are doing at home.

Now for the pictures...

Come and Gone

Well our March 10th due date has come and gone - and still no baby. (We had a due date of March 11th from my family doctor - but our OB's date is the 10th - so that is what we are working with right now).

It has been an amazing weekend here in Calgary - nice and warm - lots of sun. We got out for a nice long walk each day which Brutis loved, but it has not managed to bring on any labor.

I am doing well though - I have said since day one that I will go over - Adam however is getting a little anxious (I think he wants the time off work).

The office has a baby pool going and as of right now (6:00 pm) Adam still has 6 hours left on his date for the baby pool - who knows, a lot can happen in 6 hours.

Charlie Jayde Craig

Today I got a chance to go and meet our friends Cam and Tara's new baby. Tara found out she was pregnant 2 weeks after me - so we have been at the same stages all along - Charlie was born on Friday March 2 - coming into the world at 7 pounds 7 ounces. She is absolutely precious and so good - she sleeps and eats - here is hoping we have one of those as well....

Beef and Cheese Manicotti

Beef and Cheese Manicotti

Taken from Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis – modified by Jenny

½ pound (8 ounces) ground beef
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 (500 g or 15 ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
5 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
14 pieces of manicotti pasta – this is one box
3 cups marinara sauce
1 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces
Cooking spray

Heat a medium size, heavy skillet over a medium flame. Add the ground beef and onion and sauté until the meat browns and the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese, the parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir in the meat mixture and set aside.

Spray a baking sheet with coking spray and set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Working in batches, add the manicotti and cook until softened but still firm to the bite (6 minutes). Using a slotted spoon, transfer the manicotti from the pot to the prepared baking sheet and let cool.

Preheat the oven to 350 F spray a 13 x 9 x 2 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray; spoon 1 cup of the marinara sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Fill the manicotti with the cheese-meat mixture, and arrange the stuffed pasta in a single layer in the prepared dish; spoon the remaining sauce over the manicotti. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup of mozzarella cheese and then the remaining ½ cup of Parmesan cheese. Dot the top with the butter pieces. (Manicotti can be prepared up to this point 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Bake the manicotti uncovered until heated through and the sauce bubbles on the bottom of the dish, about 35 minutes, let stand for 5 minutes and serve.

6 main-course servings.

The stuffed manicotti - I used my hands to stuff - way easier than a spoon

Ready for the oven

Enjoy!