The Rumour Mill Volume VI

Seasons Greetings to our Family and Friends!

It is always so hard to believe how quickly the year goes by. It seems like just yesterday we were sending out our Christmas greetings for 2005. It would seem that each year is just as busy as the last and this has been another eventful year for us. As you may remember from our letter last year, we had a house full for Christmas last year. Both my parents and my sister along with Craig’s parents joined us in Brandon to celebrate. Craig’s parents came out to stay with us just after Craig had his hip surgery at the end of October. We were so thankful to have them with us for two months afterwards. Craig was able to recover and I was able to get some rest. Craig has recently had his one year check up with his orthopaedic surgeon and we are happy to report that his hip has healed wonderfully and will report for his next check up in two years time.

The new year brought with it some sad news when Craig’s uncle passed away in February after a lengthy illness. The memorial services were held in Nova Scotia but we were unable to attend. He will be greatly missed by his friends and family.

In February, I was ordered by my Doctor to reduce my work hours and at the end of February I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. I was extremely nervous to give myself insulin injections but I knew that it was only going to be for about six weeks as the baby was due April 2. What a shock when Piper Leigh made her grand debut four weeks early on March 6, 2006. After her birth, Piper spent two weeks in the NICU and came home on March 18, 2006. We are happy to report that being four weeks early did not slow Miss Pea down and she is doing wonderfully. We never could have understood what parenthood and loving a child would be like although we had imagined that it would be great. Craig’s mother came out to see Piper at the end of March and stayed for two weeks. It was nice that she was able to have that time with Piper. The newborn stage goes by so fast. I really enjoyed my two weeks with Craig’s Mother. It was the first time that the two of us had spent that much time alone together and it was lots of fun figuring out the new baby gadgets. We had a good laugh a few times when neither one of us could figure out how to get Piper’s car seat out of the van.

The morning that Piper was born, I immediately called my mom. I wanted her to be there and I knew that she wanted to be there too. My sister tells me that she has never seen my mother drive like she did that day. She was a Gramma on a mission. My sister and my mom made it to the hospital by noon and since Piper wasn’t born until 9:11 that night, they had a bit of a wait ahead of them.

Even though we grow up and move away, we never really “outgrow” our need for our parents. I really wanted Piper to hold off on her arrival until my mom was there. My dad was not able to be there as he was in Alberta (although he had intended to be home long before April 2!). I was very touched when I walked into the hospital waiting room with Piper a week later to see my dad sitting there. Both my parents were there the day we brought Piper home and my mom was a very big support for me the first few weeks after Piper’s birth and while she was in the NICU. It was extremely exhausting going back and forth to the NICU and my heart goes out to families who have babies that are required to stay in the NICU for months at a time.

Piper went on her first big road trip in May when We drove west for a friends wedding in Alberta. This allowed us to spend some time in Edmonton with my cousin. For those of you in attendance at our wedding, my cousin was one of my bridesmaids. My cousin and, her boyfriend, were wonderful hosts and even let us tag along to the Oilers v. Sharks game six playoff game. It was this game when the Oilers clinched the series to move on to the Stanley Cup Final. My parents were also in Alberta at the time and were more than happy to take Piper for the night while we enjoyed ourselves.

We were also able to spend some time with some old family friends of my parents. They graciously invited us into their home and we had a wonderful time catching up with them. We then spent a few days with my Aunt & Uncle in Calgary. We were very fortunate to have such wonderful hosts. We weren’t able to get out to see Craig’s Aunt & Uncle and we were sorry that we missed them.

While on maternity leave, I have been fortunate to be able to enjoy lots of time at my parent’s home in with Piper. Piper is always the Belle of the Ball when she is there. At the beginning of July Craig parted ways with his employer. After realizing that there were no opportunities in Brandon for Craig’s career aspirations, we packed up our home and moved.. Although I had to make the very difficult decision to leave the firm I was working with, Craig was able to rejoin General Electric in the Rail Transportation Division. He is now working with Train locomotives. We settled our family outside of the city in a small community. Not only were we able to find a nice home, but we have so much yard and space for Piper and Molson to run and play. Our new neighbours are extremely friendly and we have some old friends living in the same community. I plan to look for a job sometime next year. There isn’t much motivation as I am just enjoying my time at home with Piper so very much.

Prior to Craig rejoining GE, we were able to sneak a trip to his parent’s home in Nova Scotia. So the three of us boarded a plane and went to the east coast for two weeks. This was Piper’s first time on a plane and meeting her two uncles, Aunt, and 5 cousins. As well as some other great Aunts and Uncles. We were very lucky to be able to fit this trip in as we had not planned on an east coast trip this year. Piper did wonderfully on the plane and slept almost the entire way! Part of the bonus when flying at night.

I have been working hard on this years Family Christmas Photo. We always take our own picture and, of course, getting Piper and Molson to look at the camera at the same time is impossible! We do not even bother trying to track down the cats. I have been keeping busy with Piper and doing some digital scrap booking. I will be taking orders next year so send in your favourite photos early so they are ready for Christmas! Seriously though, this has really been something that I have enjoyed doing and I have asked Santa Clause for a new camera for Christmas. We will see how good I have been.

Craig is undertaking a new project at home. We have an “unspoiled” basement and plan to do some work. Hydro has a program on for home owners who insulate their basements. We will be reimbursed the entire cost of insulation when we are done. Part of the project is going to include our Home Theatre Room. Craig is really looking forward to getting that done and Piper will be able to watch all of her cartoons on the BIG screen. I am sure that she will love it.

We are sad to report that we are (obviously) not billeting for the Wheat King’s Hockey team this year and we truly miss it. Our billet, Sami, has also decided to stay in Finland and play with a pro team. We certainly miss him but we are sure that his parents are happy to have him home this year. We have kept in touch with Sami and a few other Wheaties. It is certainly an experience that we will never forget and will jump at the chance to do something like that again. Piper has made her modeling debut on the Wheat King’s website. You can see her by visiting http://www.wheatkings.com/ and looking for her in their store under Youth and Child Apparel. She is the baby sporting the “Littlest Wheat King Fan” onesie and hat. We are very proud of her!

This year we will be spending Christmas with my parents and my sister. We are really excited for it and watching Piper with all the wrapping paper and the boxes. We know she won’t truly understand what is going on but we are so excited to watch her experience her first holiday season.

We are expecting Craig’s parents to visit sometime in the new year and we are really looking forward to that. They will certainly notice a difference in Piper.

From our home to yours, a very merry Christmas. “Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.” ~Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas.

Love, Nicole, Craig & Piper (Molson, Smokey & The Bandit too)