We're Moving

Monday Morning at 10:00 we begin loading the truck!

It has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks. Figuring out life with a new baby, 2 big weddings shows that I participated in (one is ending tonight), packing and getting ready to move.

Anyone who wants a sneak peak at Leiah tomorrow can show up at 9:55am and then since you are already here can help us move. I figure we will be done by 2pm. We are only moving about 6 blocks away.

If you need directions, email me at pbjurling@gmail.com

Off to the Mall

Leiah is so curious. The moment she is in a new environment or if she hears new voices she will wake up or she will refuse to go to sleep. Her eyes wide open, will roam the room and take it all in. As we walked down the corridors of Guildford shopping centre she watched all the lights and took in the sounds. To my dismay her eyes open up more and she will turn her head to the woman's fashion displays in the window. I got her out of the Mall as quick as I could.

Leiah SINKS into a bath

Ok so we have advanced from washing one body part at a time to a full tubby. We have a little tub but she doesnt like touching the bottom so we tried filling the sink and while I suspend her in water, Cami wipes her down...plus, every baby has to be washed in the kitchen sink at least once. As we bathe her it becomes a delicate dance where Cami and I have to manouvre around each other's arms in order to accomplish the task all the while Leiah kicks and arches when she pleases.

The first time we tried bathing I think almost all three of us were in tears...now no one cries.

gone, gone gone gone, umbilical cord is gone!!

It seems to have just disappeared! one day it was there and then the next it was gone. We couldn't find it anywhere. We looked through her clothing and her diaper and it was nowhere to be seen. And then we found it...in the washing machine. It must have fallen into the blanket or way down in her outfit. Cami threw it away before I could save it. It would have been such a great show case. When she is 17 and all her friends are over I could have pulled the sucker out and said..."Hey everyone, want to see Leiah's umbilical cord?!"

I couldnt even take a picture of it and post it on the web...oh well...*sigh*.

some pics of Leiah

Halloween

Well it is 6:39 pm and I had hoped to take little Leiah down our street. I thought it would be a great opportunity to show her off to everyone on our street (an of course score a little candy that I would eat for her)

As I write she is upstairs sleeping. She is so "out" that there is no way she will wake within the next hour.

I think I will go and give out some more candy at the door and drink some coffee. What a great opportunity to meet everyone in our community!

One Week Old

She just turned 1 week old today. Last night was the best sleep so far!! yeah!!

Yesterday when the rains stopped and the sun came out we had Leiah's first walk around the block. It was still pretty cold so we just strolled with out stroller up to Mike and Eva's to say hello and then off to Mark and Kim's to see their new place.

I dont get it, we have known them for such a long time but they were more thrilled to see someone they hardly even know. As a matter of fact we have lots of visitors that only come to see Leiah - she's pretty popular.

Cami and i want to say thank you to everyone that has shared this journey with us. In the first 2 days of her birth we had over 140 congratulation emails - we were overwhlemed. Thanks.

Getting into routine

Well we are moving into our third night... tonight we get the advantage of the time change. I hope that Leiah realises that she is supposed to sleep in tomorrow.

Well routine has kicked in. We have a laundery hamper that is only for Leiah - and hers has the most action.

Every morning we steralize and fill 9 bottles so that we are always ready.

So far we have not been able to coordinate and extra nap for Cami or I during Leiah's nap.

We are getting better at bathing the little girl though. This last time we washed one piece of her at a time while the rest of her was swaddled in a towel. We successfully washed all of her without any tears.

Sleeping at night has been better too. We are beginning to know which sounds we are supposed to respond to and which ones are simply sleeping ones.

We are home.

We got home on Wednesday, Oct 25th at 5:30pm. We were both exhausted but thrilled. Leiah slept the whole way home except for the backseat diaper change in Merrit.

Last night was our first night with baby. We took turns sleeping. We weren’t used to all of Leiah's night time sleep noises - sighs, squeaks, hiccups, gasps. Every time there was sound or motion we both peeked over the edge of our bed into the cradle. Then after the 1am feeding we decided that one would sleep deeply and the other sleep lightly while watching little Leiah.

She tends to sleep much better during the day.

We are in the process of figuring out the best systems for feeding, clothe changing, diaper changing and bathing (we had bathing because it makers her really cry) etc. I am on my way out the door to get more bottles...that way I only have to wash and sterilize once.

Introducing Leiah Bjurling (Lee-ah)

its a GIRL

I know you all want pictures but I am not able to upload them at the moment but here is how the day unfolded.

1. We got the call at 2:56am on October 23 that Teirney was going to the hospital
2. We arrived in at the hospital in Kelowna at 7:00am
3. The contractions continued through out the day and finally the baby was born at 8:24pm
4. Cami had the privilege of being in the delivery room the entire time while I paced outside with other family members
5. Baby was 19.75 inches and weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces.
6. Her name is: Leiah Angeli Blaire Bjurling (Leiah - pronounced Lee-ah, Angeli is Cami's sister's middle name, Blaire is Tierney's middle name)
7. Leiah means: peaceful meadow, beautiful flower.

Not sure when we will be home yet

See you all soon - hopefully I will be able to post some pics soon.

THE CALL WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR

Well, we just got the call and we are off to Kelowna. The call came in at 2:56am, October 23. I (Pat) figured the baby would have come earlier so I packed all my backs on the evening of the 20th.

We will probably drive up to Merritt and take a short coffee break (caffeine!!!) and pit-stop as is our usual routine. Depending on the roads we will either cross over to Westbank and then to Kelowna but if roads look bad we will head to Kelowna via Kamloops.

We will keep you posted when we get more information – they better have wireless at the hospital. We picked up a new digital camera to replace the one that got stolen a couple a months ago so as soon as we have some pics we will post them on the web.

Talk to you all soon,

Love Pat and Cami

BABY'S ROOTS

So some of you have been asking about the background of the baby (did we mention that we have a pretty good idea of baby's name? I would tell you all but the names seem to have slipped my mind). I emailed both sets of birth parents and have received long emails back from the birth-grandparents. Both were detailed going back 3-4 generations. So let me make some sweeping summaries of Baby's roots. They all point back to Europe:

Birth-Father's Side: Scottish and British

Birth-Mother's Side: British, Scottish, Irish, Northern Italian, German and Ukranian.

I THINK WE SOLD OUR HOUSE

Last night at 11:30pm we accepted an offer for our house. All the subjects will be removed by the 26th of October (hopefully) and that means that we would move into the new place (only about 6 blocks away from where we currently live) on Monday, November 13th.

So let the packing begin.

THE PHONE JUST RANG

...again it wasn't kelowna...

Always having a PLAN B

So tonight Cami are off to North Vancouver to participate in a Wedding Fair there. Every thing is set. We have the bride's little gift's (kind of like a wedding favour) with our business card on it. We picked up our KCW Banner for the booth and everything is coming together perfectly.

Then the thought hit us...the baby could come at any time, we need a PLAN B. Never really thought of that before....so I made some phone calls yesterday. Now if we get the call on our cell phone to begin the journey to Kelowna - I know who to call.

When will the baby be born?

Let the guesses begin! The actual due date is October 22nd. Patrick's Dad's birthday is the 17th and Cami's Dad's birthday is the 23rd - so we know what they are guessing.

What will the date be?

What time will the baby be born?

Boy or Girl

The baby is due to arrive any day. What do you think?? Is the baby going to be a girl or a boy. Of course no one really knows by what do you guess? We think it is a girl.