Logan's Loot

Well Christmas has come and gone and Logan scored huge! Look at all this loot!! Man, I can't believe how many toys, clothes, money, etc. a 12 lbs baby can get!

Some of the neat highlights were the classic Tupperware red and blue circle that you put the yellow shapes in (still shiny!), a pair of carhartts, a cool crazy stuffed robot and some Vancouver Canucks shoes. With some of the Christmas money we plan to get one of those baby backpacks. Any suggestions?

As well, we had friends visit and a nice surprize was some friends from the Cranbrook area. They stopped in overnight and we had a great visit. They are new with baby as well, but they do have a head start on us. I thought I would post a few shots of them as well for any friends who have yet to see their cute little baby!

Merry Christmas everyone and have a happy New Year!

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Twas the Night before Chaos

Well Christmas is here, let chaos run free like Santa's reindeers on lichen. No really, they love the stuff!
Although the submission date is already the 25th, these thoughts have accumulated over the last week. Logan's first Christmas plus the standard chaos package that comes with the season is coming to an end. I've got presents to buy, work to finish for the year, friends to visit, dinners to plan, elaborate meals to consume, beverages to drink and parties to attend. Yup... sweet action!
Actually it doesn't feel much different this year, bought most presents online this year, said screw it to work, hope friends will visit me or will try to catch up with them around New Years, we're having dinner at our house, I'll eat more than usual, drink more than usual and still attend parties, but with a much better excuse for leaving early. Life is slowly fading into a new functional reality. Not quite normal, not quite insane. I call it "happily screwed". It's pretty fun now. It's probably like driving drunk while being completely sober. You're completely aware that your about to crash. There's a funny sense of well-being in this.

Oh well, enough of that and on to Logan!

Logan is pretty excited about Christmas! He squawked this to me just the other day. He's also started to find his hand more interesting than me. He raises his fist in the air and stares at it for like 10min in a stretch. I guess I'd find it pretty cool to finally realize that I control that weird limb that seems to follow me around everywhere! Ahhh fine motor control where are you?

We took Logan to visit Santa and his trusty reindeer. It's questionable how "authentic" they were, but they were good sports and posed for a picture. ENJOY!

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Tis the Season

Well here we are, 2 months with Logan! It seems like forever in more ways than one. Regardless if you look at the positives or negatives, it's been a hell of a ride so far! Dora and I look at ourselves everyday and question our sanity. Once in the morning and once in the evening.

This week we put up our Christmas tree and Logan's first tree! Pretty sweat eh? My youngest brother picked up the tree for us in the forest reserve. I'm not sure but I bet a chainsaw, a 4X4 and a case of beer were involved in cutting this beauty down! Welcome to Southern Alberta!

If you look closely you can find two Star Trek ornaments on the tree. Here's a where's Waldo for ya. Dora is a bit of a freak, so which two "TNG" Characters can be found on the tree? Can you see my cool ornament?

*TNG stands for the next generation, this would post-date Spock and Kirk, and post-date Archer on chronological timelines, but pre-date Archer on Syndication timelines!

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W.O.W.

Well this is a wow of a different sort, "Words Of Wisdom". When was the last time you backed up your computer? More specifically, when did you back up your photos last?

We all have our little treasures. Moments in time, events that changed us, things we want to forget but love to be reminded of. Often these treasures are captured on film or nowadays, captured on bytes of information.

As you might have guess from my intro, I had "computer problems". After recovering from a cold sweat, a pounding heart and a onslaught of profanity, I realized that I had lost the last 2 months of pictures, or basically since Logan had been born!
Gasp! What have I done to offend the Gods! Curse digital! Curse computers! Curse any small rodent that crossed my path! I was ready to drown in my misery of self defeat.

Luckily I was married! How often do you hear people refer to their marriage as a way out of their misery of self defeat? And I'm not just saying that because dora reads this, although I'm always in need of extra brownie points!

As it turned out, Dora had given a copy of Logan's pictures to her dad, so in the end all was saved! Imagine losing such classics as;

Babies Version 2.0 - classic child with new upgrade version

or

Manzier - Man trying to be a Woman

As you can see these classics will hopefully live forever on the hard drives of others. Or perhaps these few photos on the Internet will live forever too?
Regardless, my challenge to you is to find your classics, put them on a CD or DVD and give them to a friend or family member. In case of emergency, be it computer failure, flood, hail, fire or some strange disaster that involved whipping cream and chopsticks (again little treasures we want to forget but love to be reminded of) all will not be lost!

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Another Day

Here I am at a PD Day! Wicked!!!

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Big, big day!!

Sorry no photos available at this time. Logan is down for a nap - finally, and I'm not risking the stress of a half loaded blog. Maybe I can add them later...

Anyway, back to the news...yesterday was a big day! It started pretty badly for me with numerous late night/early morning feedings and I was rather a bitchy zombie by 6:30. Thankfully my knight in fat pants and fleece rescued me from my little terror (though he's pretty darn cute) and let me sleep. Then Wonderboy came back after 3 hrs with dad for some chow. Now, normally a good feed lasts from 7-15 minutes a side depending on the mood of the consumer. The little monkey ate for 30 minutes (one side) which was awesome, because it unplugged what was stuck and I was pain free. Good news #1.

Marko took wonderboy for a change and a burp and I got to eat breakfast sitting down! Good news #2. Then I showered and thought I'd tempt fate by trying on a pair of pre-fat pants. Oh my good god, they "fit". Now it wasn't pretty, the skin hangs over a bit, but I could do them up! It's so depressing to have to wear maternity clothes when you are not pregnant. All of a sudden I could take on the world! Good news #3

I needed to take advantage of all that positive energy. The wind was down and the sun was shining so Wonderboy and I went for a walk with Auntie Dawn. He lasted for over an hour in the snugglie and I got a good walk filled with adult conversation. Good news #4

The last one piece of good news is the one that I am most excited about and a little sad about at the same time. We capped off the day with the Grey Cup at my folks. In the 3rd quarter, Logan woke up hungry and instead of me feeding him, Marko did. Yup, we tried Logan on a bottle and he took it no problem. Good news #5. Now I am so proud of him and so glad that he can take a bottle because now I am not tied to him with a 2-4 hour leash. But the sad thing is, that I'm not as tied to him. Other people can feed him - as long as I supply the milk. It's a weird feeling. But the bottle is going to come in very handy later this week when friends are in town and it's ladies night out.

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Off on a Tangent

Well as it has been well documented, I am a gearhead. True, true as far as addictions go it could be worse. Here is a frivilous piece of gear that I have this strange yearning to own. It comes from a company called "civilian labs". With a name so scientific, how could I not want one!
I'm sure every boy has dreamed of being part of some elite tactical force... or a Ninja. This would involve the quick access to gear and equipment. As their website states "it promotes the ergonomic cross-body reach for items in confined spaces such as vehicles" and "Content-specific modules and harness configure in 6 ways which you choose to suit the task or situation". Perfect for an urban tactical dad!
With so many content-specific modules it would seem that it would be near impossible to choose one! However, with much wasteful use of time and Internet, I decided on the tech-recon model. I consider this one of those guilty pleasures that I dream of but will probably never own. Feel free to contribute to the marko polo urban explorer fund.

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A quick analysis of the Oilers

After the crushing hit to Ryan Smyth, it was questionable how the Oilers would do against St. Louis. With the close race between Edmonton and Calgary in the overall standing, the upcoming game would be critical. When asked, Logan gave a look of surprise and quickly stated that Ryan would be quick to recover and told critics to watch as St. Louis was to reap the whirlwind.

Logan was quick to relax after this swift reply as he relaxed into the arms of grandma.
"I'm confident that players like Smyth and Pisani will step it up!", Logan cooes. With conviction like this, it came as no surprise as he watched the victory tonight.

As predicted by Logan the truthsayer, Smyth opened up with the first of two goals in the opening period. With Reasoner providing an additonal goal, the Oilers jump to a 3-0 lead. The onslaught continued throughout the night, finishing with a crushing score 6-2. "I'll never take this shirt off!" Wailed Logan as the game concluded, which was a bold statement for a boy who in only 5 weeks old.

As it turns out, he was wrong, for only minutes later he soiled his outfit. But Oilers fans abound, do not fear! The outfit will be clean and ready for the game Tuesday between the Oilers and Flames.

Go Oilers Go!

Disclaimer - we are not responsible for c0mments made by Logan with regards to hockey, as we are not fans. Logan's comments are subject to "swag" that is sent his way. You too can influence the voice of Logan and his attire!

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Hell-o-ween Pt.2

Well, as mentioned in the previous post, we've been pretty busy this last week. With it being Halloween and me having to deal with a fussy baby AND get dora a present, I was having a bit of trouble.

As it turns out, I had been pretty swift as to start the birthday hunt early in August. I actually commisioned a pottery piece from the velvet antler pottery in Field, BC. They were producing some ceramic coffee cups in a beautiful red, which apparently is a hard colour to do. We had a quick little talk and I asked if they could make a rectangular plate it the same colour. The owner Ryan said that larger stuff was hard to do, because of the drying time and that it would take 2 to 3 months. Lucky me, I didn't need it right away. However, now that it's done, how do we go to look that them and pick one out?!?!
So now we'll have to wait till we're more mobile to pick it up. Oh well, it's the thought that counts right?

As for the actual day, we headed out to the grandfolks place to visit and avoid the ghosts and goblins that would ring the bell at our house. OF COURSE there was a costume for Logan there! I guess we can call him Santa's little Helper! It's a bit big, but we can try again at christmas.

To finish things off, I had a conference in Kananaskis the next week. Rather than leave Dora at home, we decided to try life on the road. Logan's first trip! Pretty cush though, no tent, no stove, just a hotel room and room service. Things actually went pretty well, although I'm not sure the people on either side of us would agree! Other than the fact that the weather was kind of bunk, it was a good 3 days. The weather cleared as we headed home, so we stopped for a quick feed at Barrier Lake and enjoyed the mountains. It was a bit windy and Logan was fussy, so we didn't go outside for a family picture.

But hey, ya gotta start somewhere!

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Hell-o-ween Pt.1

Yeah, it's been like 10 days since my last entry. Well guess what....

Actually I've got nothing. This last week has been a difficult one. Fussy baby, busy at work, no sleep, no life. Funny thing is the last one on my list of complaints is the least of my concern. It's funny how life changes week to week, day to day. It's a paradox of changes that seem to occur daily while time seems to have stopped. I feel like a zombie that just walks through life nodding at people. Perhaps it's more like Peanuts and I'm Peppermint Patty. Just clueless, and half the time I don't even really hear what people are saying.

Well enough about me, can you imagine poor Dora? That girls a trooper!

Logan? Oh yes, he's probably why your here. Well its been a great week as far as cool stuff happening. We had real bath time! First week we did the sponge bath thing and the second week we just did some quick rinses, but this week he got the full on bath! Soap and such. Logans got some pretty sweet hair already!

I also believe that that towel had to be washed rather quickly as the prince of cleanliness soiled himself.

Also, we had a couple of friends come down from Calgary to visit. It's nice that they came down, because we had no idea when we would get up there to visit with them. They drove down on the Saturday morning and left later that afternoon.

One of the sweet things that happened is that we went to Streatside Eatery for Lunch and Logan lasted the whole meal without freaking out! That was such a momentous occasion! We can actually go back out in public without pissing everyone else around us off!

They got Logan this sweet little tummy time blanket with a dog on it. As you can see, they're either becoming best of friends or Logan is eating him. Either way it should provide hours of entertainment for Logan and his parents!

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And the Winner is....

Well, many guess right! It's a diaper chute! It leads from our deck to a 5 gallon pail at the bottom. Considering how much diaper "crap" we go through, it's a nice touch!


Of course, the big question, is who is the winner.....

Liminal Me

Expect your prize to be in the mail shortly. I am wondering.... Do I need to put that on VHS or Beta for you?

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Mulletless MacGyver

Well, I've MacGyvered again! I may not have as impressive a list as the original Angus MacGyver, but I'm doing alright.

List of Problems solved by MacGyver

The laundry basket was an easy contraption, not requiring my "Master of Modification" skills. This new project did however require more than a stick of chewing gum and a paper clip.

It works great! What is it? Well that's for you to guess. The winner will receive the first 4 episodes of MacGyver on DVD, mailed to them! All correct guesses will be entered into a draw on Tuesday.


*Disclaimer - this offer is not valid for immediate family or friends that have visited the house within the last week. Offer not valid in the United States or Kazikstan. DVD may or may not be an original, which may mean I'm a bad buccaneer. I will not be liable for what said winner does with the DVD or any modifications performed due to watching 4 episodes of MacGyver.

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Laundry Day

With Dora busy being a mom, Marko Polo had to pick up the slack. That means doing the laundry. I've done my own laundry many times, but since we've moved to the new place and gotten the new machines (LG front loaders) I haven't touched'em.

So with a set of quick instructions from Dora I was ready to give it a try! If you have the coin, I highly recommend front loaders. Uses less water, less soap, less energy and it's easier on your clothes. Along the way, I discovered an excellent use for the laundry basket. It's like a portable basinete. I wonder what I can macgyver next?....

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Golden Shower

Yup... it was bound to happen. The little man showered me with his "little man. As I was performing a change, being dissapointed that he hadn't let loose in over 16hr as the doctor had recommended I was trying to decide if I should be calling someone, when he made up for lost time.
Using my Ninja-like reflexes, I dodged the main onslaught of the two foot fountain. My head snapped back so fast I thought I got whiplash. I watched the urine dance across the sky like a water show in Vegas. Soon like Vegas, the show ended and the tourists moved along.
As I looked around surveying the damage, I noticed my Ninja reflexes had failed me. Alas I had taken shrapnel.

Mark's Baby Rule #1: Safety glasses are not just for science labs.

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Home...Finally

Well, the new family is home! After a couple of days in-training, they have let us out of the hospital. With car seat in hand we headed home.


It's quite a surreal experience, as you leave that hospital with a living being that you are responsible for. That if left to it's own will perish. That's a lot of responsibility for someone who can't remember to put the toilet seat down!

After arriving at home, the big question was how would Denali respond. Our husky has had free reign of the house for 8 years and having a younger sibling is a new thing. Can an old dog learn new tricks?
It seems they can! Very quickly she found her new place and is right at home with our new family. In fact sometimes she is the first one to respond and beats us to the crib when the baby is crying. She then seems to give us the same look as we seem to give her.

"I dunno? What should I do?"

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Baby iTunes

Day 2:

We survived a day and it's been full of some pretty amazing stuff! I think this is the first time in my life where I got up at 3:45 in the morning and was happy about it.
We are doing well as a family and I am home for a quick nap and to grab a few things before we head home tomorrow. It's been non-stop action as I've learned to swaddle a baby, change a diaper, help get a baby to latch, sleep on a hospital chair and eat cafeteria food. Sweet Action!
For those that want more details, we have decided on a middle name

Logan Toru I.
7lbs, 2oz
Born 5:18AM Oct 13th, 2006
Normal looking (that's assuming you think my brothers look normal)
Eats when awake, which is not very often.

Thanks to everyone for the comments of love and support. Thanks to you guys (Moms and Dads) we love and appreciate your support, Thanks to rocco and liminal for the flowers and the rest of our babysitters....

I mean family and friends.

Lastly, as the posting might suggest, we have been using my ibook to play music while feeding or to drown out other sounds in the hospital.
We are looking for songs to add to our baby Logan playlist, so suggestions are welcome. So for we have

Nina Simone -Ne Me Quitte Pas
Bobby Darin - Beyond the Sea
Harry Connick Jr. - It had to be you

and our favorite! Wonderboy by Tenacious D. For those that know, we called Dora's bump "wonder boy" throughout her pregnancy. As I was looking for songs in iTunes I happened across it. I must say, I truly wonder where wonderboy gets his powers. For he hath cast a spell upon us!

P.S. Tenacious D is a band that may require viewer's discretion. Nothing wrong with the song wonderboy, but some people may be offended by some of their other content. Clickers beware.

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It's a Boy!

Say Hello to Logan I.


I'll post more when I have time, but I'm on my way back to the hospital to see Dora. We expect to be released Sunday Morning if we're on good behaviour...


So it begins.

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It happened so fast...

Well, the weekend of thanksgiving is over and the week of left overs begins. After killing the day chatting with D and margarita I thought I'd better whip something up for dinner. Yup, that's right, I was cooking again. I was craving pizza - which always gives me heartburn - but I jumped in anyway. A quick search on the internet revealed an easy to follow recipe and the dough was started...with whole wheat flour of course. Denali and I headed out for a few extra toppings while the dough was rising - it's like I knew what I was doing! Not likely. We got home and Marko was back from work, though still working. Denali and I sliced and diced and the dough actually worked out - miracles never cease to amaze. For toppings, we had the usual cheese, basil (FRESH), tomato, green pepper, black olives, mushrooms and what separates these pizzas from the rest was the carnivorous portion, the turkey!! Yup, a thanksgiving pizza. What better way to eat leftovers. Sorry no photos available. I was too hungry. It all happened so fast. Who has time to get a camera when the ooey gooey cheese is hot and ready to be consumed?

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Creme Brule

Well, Thanksgiving: Part II. This sequel almost killed me! I can't remember the last time I ate that much.,I felt like I was going to explode. For desert, instead of a wafer thin mint, I ate 3 deserts. THREE! My God am I dumb!

We were invited over to Liminal's parent's house for turkey, and I must say what a treat. It was an ethnic buffet of cullinary delights! It was hopeless as soon as I saw all that food. Oh well, that which does not kill you makes you stronger...



The item we brought to this wonderful dinner was desert. My new kick is Creme Brule right now. How can it not be. You get to use a blow torch! I thought it was a tricky desert to make, but it can be quite easy. Below is the recipe that seems to work for me.

8 egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated white sugar or vanilla coffee syrup
2 cups of whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, skip if your using coffee syrup
1/4 cup granulated white sugar (for the caramelized tops)

Preheat oven to 300ºF. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Add cream and vanilla, and continue to whisk until well blended. Strain into a large bowl, skimming off any foam or bubbles.

Divide mixture among 6 ramekins or custard cups. Place ramekins in a water bath (large pan filled with 1 or 2 inches of hot water) and bake until set around the edges, but still loose in the center, about 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and leave in the water bath until cooled. Remove cups from water bath and chill for at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days. When ready to serve, sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of sugar over each custard. For best results, use a small, hand-held torch to melt sugar. If you don't have a torch, place under the broiler until sugar melts. Re-chill custards for a few minutes before serving.

Yum.... Enjoy!

P.S. Perhaps someone can try this recipe out before I reclaim my torch!

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Dream Machine

While cruising the Internet for roof rack ideas for our truck, I came across this. My "Dream Machine". It's a Mercedes-Benz Unimog. That's right a unimog on my blog! I dare say this thing is some sort of medieval form of transportation. Regardless, I want one. I wonder if dora will agree?


Cast your vote here!

You can check out more on this sweet ride at this site.

http://www.rockymountainmoggers.com/zebra00intro.html

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Project Baby 1.0 Beta

Well as you can see, this is project baby, in beta version of course. Expect the full version to be available Mid-October.


As posted by Dora, we went to Waterton this weekend. Visited with Chris & Anne, which was nice. The cabin is coming along quite nice. Thanks again for the BBQ supper!

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Thanksgiving

The turkey came early this year as family is unavailable next weekend. If I wasn't 38 weeks pregnant already, the dinner would've provided stretch marks. The nameless being that currently resides south of my breastbone danced all through dinner. A true omnivore - just like dad - dances for food. It was the creme brule that stole the show though. So good! A nice addition to the traditional pumpkin pie.

This Cuc Vampire came along for the ride yesterday. We had a great day, hiking in Waterton. Nothing too tough, a walk along Cameron Lake to the platform at the almost end of the lake. So nice and cool for hiking...and the colours are spectacular right now! Lomah is the place to be...

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Bloody Difficult

Well, this ain't easy. Should have tried something easy like self mutilation. Editing a blog template sucks! After a bit of work, I found if you use dreamweaver to change stuff and then quickly view it, you can figure out how to change your site. Otherwise don't!

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Where Am I?

I guess I wasn't busy enough, so I started a blog. Nothing good will come of this....

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#about

Hello

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