Our Life In Timmins

Life as parents

2007-07-31T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been quite some time since I have posted something here. The wonderful world of Facebook is where we now post pictures and stay in contact with people. I will try to continue to post little bits of our lives here.

A lot has happened since the last post. We now have a baby boy, Jack Bradley Steeves. He is very content baby for the most part, but when he wants something he will sure let you know. We love being parents and love looking into those blue eyes of his. Brad is an excellent daddy and loves to come home to his wife and little boy. The days seem to go by so fast now. There is always something to do.

Well, this post will have to be cut short as I can hear my little man making noises in the background. Someone is waking up and will be hungry.

2007-06-19T12:37:00.001-07:00

Hot weather, humidity, black flies, pot holes.... Oh, the joys of living in Timmins. The weather has finally cooled off some. Right now it is at a comfortable 23 degrees.

Only two more weeks until this baby's due date. We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and he said that I will probably go full-term. So, two more weeks of waiting. The bags are packed for the hospital and everything is in place. I made cookies and put them in the freezer to have in the hospital after the baby is born, but someone in this house seems to think that he can sneak a few once in a while and I won't notice. We will see how many are actually left in the pail when he brings them to the hospital.

Last night Brad and I went out to Sandy Falls (a place about 10 min. from our house on the river) so Brad could do some fishing. We got a late start as we got talking to our neighbours, but we were able to spend some time out there until we just could not stand the black flies any longer. Black flies are extremely worse than mosquitoes. They are smaller than a house fly and take a big chunk out of you when they bite. Pesky little creatures. Around here you do not want to be driving on the highways at night as the moose are driven out of the bush by the black flies.
No, Brad did not catch any fish this time, but there is always next time.

We are excited to have Mom and Dad Burrell coming out here on July 8-23. If I go full term there will be a very small baby in the house when they are here. We already have a few projects for them to help us with around the house (staining the deck, etc). Brad has July 8-15 off of work so that will be very nice to have everyone around to help. Hopefully the guys can get some fishing in.

That is the latest that is happening around our home. We are just waiting, and waiting and waiting. I am ready for this baby to come at anytime.

2007-06-14T12:23:00.001-07:00

When is it going to cool off? It has been over +30 for four or five days now. Yesterday it was +36 (yes, I did type that correctly). I am dying of the heat. I spend the whole day in the basement. We even have our meals in the basement now. I thought that the extremely hot weather would come after the baby, but I guess not. It has been so hot that it is too hot to even stand over a BBQ to cook supper. Our supper tonight is in the slow cooker, which is outside on the deck.

Fortunately, Tony and Sarah have a pool in their backyard. Yesterday evening we went over to cool off.

I am now into the 38 week of this pregnancy, so this little munchkin could make an appearance any day. With all this heat I wish this baby would just come.

We have a new niece, Aneya Elle Steeves. She was born on Monday afternoon at 2:26 pm and she was 7 lbs. 6 ozs.
We now have two nephews and two nieces. Our baby will be the tie breaker.
These pictures were taken on Sunday. The belly seems to point out like the tip of a football. Most people say that it looks like I am carrying a boy, but who knows. We don't know. It will be a surprise.

Well, I have spent enough time in the office upstairs, it is time to go back downstairs to cool off. We have heard that is rainy back in Alberta. Could you send it our way, PLEASE!!!!!

2007-05-31T17:07:00.001-07:00

Today is our 4th anniversary. I can't believe it!
Last night we went out for our anniversary supper since Brad is working from 12-9pm tonight. We went to Cedar Meadows Resort (one of only about two fancy places to eat here in town.) We had a wonderful supper knowing that it might be sometime until we can enjoy an evening out just the two of us. When we were leaving the parking lot we picked up something in the front passenger tire. So, instead of having a relaxing evening just the two of us, we found ourselves now dealing with a flat tire situation. We were on our way to get it fixed at Wal-Mart (the only place that would be open at that hour) when the object flew out of the tire and loud noises of air being released were heard. We managed to get the car in the Sears parking lot where we had to put the spare tire on. There we were changing a tire all dressed up. I was in my black dress and could not offer much assistance. About half a hour after we had changed the tire it started to pour rain. Thankfully it all happened when it did.

These are the lovely flowers that my hubby got for me. They are just beautiful.

Today it is soooooo humid. I am dying. I would rather have the hot temperatures than this humid weather. Everything is sticky and the air is so dense. It feeling like we have been camping in a wet tent for days. On days like this I can't wait to have this baby. I just stay in the basement and try to stay cool.

2007-05-29T08:13:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures of our beautiful crabapple tree in the front yard. We didn't get to see it like this last year since we arrived in July. We have been told by the locals that you do not plant any annuals until after June 11. The growing season out here is very short, but is much hotter

Fisherman Brad.
Brad, Erich, and Vincent went fishing for one day over the May long weekend. They picked the coldest day to go. Brad caught four fish, but didn't bring any home to our table. It was cold, windy and snowing that day, so the guys were home in time for supper. Looks like he was enjoying himself regardless of the weather.

This picture was taken at 34 weeks. Still growing. The doctor is still monitoring my blood pressure closely. The big day is getting closer.

Brad's Famous Ribs. Brad was so proud of the ribs he did on the BBQ that he had to get me to take a picture of them. They were excellent. He cook them slowly, so the meat just fell off the bone. If anyone would like to try Brad's Famous Ribs, just call us up and we will start the BBQ.

2007-05-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

I am to take it easy until this baby comes. Doctor's orders. The results from the tests I did the other day came back O.K., but the doctor is still concerned. I am to see him now two times a week and was told to take 2 or 3 naps a day. So, I am going to just put my feet up and relax. I would rather sit at home than be up at the hospital on bed rest. I wish you could store up sleep. I could be storing it up now and use it when the baby finally comes.

2007-05-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

33 weeks pregnant!!!! We went to the Timmins Symphony on Saturday night. These pictures were taken when we got home. Everywhere I go people are telling me that I don't look pregnant until I turn sideways. Just carrying a volleyball. A volleyball that likes to move around alot. Brad talks to my belly and tells it to settle down.

Our house is slowly being over taken with baby things. This little person sure is taking up a lot of room already.
I had a doctor's appointment this morning and he is a bit concerned about my blood pressure being too high. So that means more tests and more visits to his office. Hopefully, everything is still O.K. I think we are pretty much ready if this little person decides to make an early appearance. We have the all important car seat now so we can bring him/her home from the hospital if need be. Can't leave without that.

This past week we have seen all kinds of weather. Last Thursday it was +30, then that night it went down to -4 and on Friday morning we had small snowflakes falling from the sky. One extreme to another. I spent most of Thursday down in our cool basement, and then Friday outside with a jacket on. Crazy.

Brad is determined on getting the lawn perfect this summer. It already looks a lot better than when we bought the place, but he wants to have the nicest lawn on the block. (or yet least as nice as Ed's, our neighbour across the street.)

Brad is getting ready for a fishing trip this coming weekend on "May Run." The May long weekend out here is called "May Run." Everyone wants to run as far away from Timmins as possible for the long weekend. Brad, Erich and Vincent (Erich's brother in-law) are headed out just for a day trip. They have been talking about it for months that you would think that it is some week long extravagant event. I am sure that they will be talking about it for months after.

This past weekend we had two surprise wedding showers for Val. (Erich and Val are getting married on June 30) The ladies at the church had a surprise shower for her on Friday night and then a few close friends that one for her on Saturday afternoon. We can't wait until those two are finally married.

The city of Timmins is in the middle of spring cleanup. Every house is allowed to put out any garbage on the curb that would not be picked up on a normal garbage pickup. Well, talk about making the city look like a dump. You would not believe the amount of garbage some houses have. The houses in downtown Timmins are fairly close to the street, not much of a yard, so the garbage goes from the front door all the way into the street. Anyways, it is a Timmins' tradition that you go and check out what everyone else is throwing away to see what you can find. In the evenings our neighbourhood was very busy with guys in their trucks just scoping out the garbage piles. I guess "what is one man's garbage, is another man's treasure." The Timmins spring cleanup made the CTV news for this area one night. (Yes, the news out here is pretty sad) There was an old French man on there saying that he likes to call it "recycling." Recycling indeed. The stuff probably just ended up on their own garbage pile the following year.

That has been our excitement for this past week. Not too much happening, but we always seem to be busy doing something. I'm not to sure what though.

Feel free to leave a comment on this website or we still check the guestbook on the old website.

2007-05-03T10:35:00.000-07:00

My hubby is just so excited to be at work. Tony took this picture yesterday. Brad just loves being at Vogl's that he just can't hold back from clicking his heels. (I wish that this was the case.)

You can see Brad and Tony's Ontario licenses on the wall in the back. Brad's is the one on the right. They get those small green stickers at the bottom for each year. So there is one for 2006 and 2007. Hopefully only one more for 2008 and that will be it. Some pharmacists have the entire license filled with these stickers.

We are doing pretty good. Brad is a bit frustrated with where he works right now. He has come home with some very interesting stories lately. As you can see the store is quite small, way too small. The guys have a countdown on the computer at work for the number of days they have to work here in Ontario. It is at 400 something. He is hanging in there.

I had pre admission to the Timmins hospital this morning for the delivery. I am into the 32 week now and the days keep on ticking by. The ladies at the church had a surprise baby shower for me on Saturday. Brad knew about the shower, but I had no idea. We haven't even been here for a year, so I was shocked. We now have a few things ready for the baby when it comes. Brad talks to the baby each night and tells it what he did that day. Then he sings "Jesus Loves Me." There has been studies done that say that a baby will calm down if it hears a song that it heard in the belly over and over. Hopefully all it takes is for Daddy to sing "Jesus Loves Me" and all crying will stop. Probably not likely.

The weather has been gorgeous lately. The sun is shining today and the grass is turning green. We love sitting out on our deck in the afternoon and early evening. We have a few outdoor projects to work on this summer. We are done with working on the inside of the house so now it is time to give some attention to the outside. If anyone wants to come out and help with staining the deck, etc. I am sure Brad would love it. I don't know how much of a help I will be. We miss everyone back in Alberta and will be coming for a visit at Christmas time.

Growing Belly

2007-04-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

The belly is growing. I really don't look that big in this picture. I think that I am a lot bigger in real life. I have a nice basketball of a belly. Brad appears to have a much bigger belly in the picture below. We are just about into week 30. Out of the 20s and now into the 30s. Scary. Only a few more weeks.

Prenatal Classes

2007-04-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

It is snowing again. Wonderful. Not at all!!! We have decided to change over to Blog Spot since we were limited on the amount of pictures we could post on our last website.

We had a prenatal class on Wednesday night this week. Brad willingly volunteered to wear the empathy belly. It weighs about 30 pounds. It is designed with a 4 pound weight positioned right on the bladder. He was able to keep it on for about one hour. He wanted to take it off after about 30 minutes, but the instructor told him "You're not done already." After the hour he was complaining that his hips hurt. Oh brother, all he was doing was sitting in a chair the entire time. He didn't even have to try to pick anything up off the floor. The belly is filled with water and there was an air bubble that moved around in it. Brad said that his baby was kicking.

We both have had colds this past week. It is a bit more challenging to get over a cold when you are pregnant, since you can not really take anything for it. The weather has been awful the last few days so I have been taking it easy and staying at home.

We are into week 29 now. The countdown is on. I can tell that this kid is getting stronger each day. Some of the kicks take my breath away. We now are having fun with our little person. Brad puts a small light up to my belly and the baby will move away from the light. We also put headphones on my belly and Brad sings along. The baby got to hear Daddy sing some pretty nice Jim Reeves' songs the other night. We are getting more excited with each day. Every night we go to bed saying "That's one more day closer to the baby."