Belly Pics

Before we get too far...just wanted to send out some props to Kristin & Andrew Bracewell on the birth of Malachi and to Laura & Julian Lopez on the birth of Ezra. Congrats...Andrea & I look forward to joining the parenting fraternity in a few weeks.
Speaking of which, it's now just over 4 weeks to our due date and we are both quite excited...and somewhat anxious about labour & delivery. But more than anything, the anticipation of the arrival of this little baby feels like it's going to kill us! Tonight, it seemed like the little guy (we don't know if it's a boy - but we both think it is) was trying to punch his way out of Andrea's belly.
Anyway, this post will show a few pics that highlight the progression of Andrea's growing womb.

December 30/08 - 18 weeks (in Costa Rica)

January 12/09 - 21 weeks

March 14/09 - 29 weeks

April 17/09 - 34 weeks

Birds from the yard...

I've had some fun this week checking out some birds in town. After a long day of work yesterday I had a few cedar waxwings fly by and land on a nearby tree. Seeing these birds up close was probably the highlight of my day to that point. Anyway, below are a few birds that I've seen on our yard in the last week.

Here is a male Downy Woodpecker

A male Pine Grosbeak (the first time I've ever seen this on the yard)

The first Northern Flicker of the season

A female Wood Duck

A male Wood Duck

The previous owners of the house setup a Wood Duck nest in the back yard...and there are some birds that visit it each spring. One day when I was getting ready to leave for work this week I saw 4 different Wood Ducks in the tree.

Trip to Minneapolis

Over the Easter weekend Andrea & I spent some time in the Minneapolis/St Paul area - courtesy of Friesens. We had a great weekend eating at some fantastic restaurants, shopping, and taking in a couple sporting events (pics below). On the ride down to the Twin Cities we must have seen over 30 hawks...and one large bald eagle. Very exciting stuff.

Of particular enjoyment was our ride home as we listened to Richard Rohr (one of our favourite teachers of the day) and chatted about some of our hopes & goals for us as individuals, a couple, and as a growing family. It was exciting to put some things on paper so that we have a list to look back on in about a year's time. We're in an exciting place as we're about to become first time parents...and we seem to be on the same page with where we want to go as a couple & a family. Normally the trip home can be a bit lame as you're sad the trip is over & dreading work the next day. Instead, the ride home made the quick transition to regular life a bit easier. Here are a few pics...

Not a truer line has been spoken

One of the best burgers I've ever had

A beautiful Catholic church near our hotel. It had a huge pipe organ that we heard while we walked through the building.



A great little diner where we had some waffles for breakfast

Addictive tendencies...

I'm not sure if you ever stop to think & analyze some of the things you do...but today I was made aware of a specific tendency that I would label as addictive.
Before I describe the specific situation, here are some spots where an addictive tendency is present in my life:
1) Food - I love food and seem to find that I enjoy eating out of habit...or just plain old desire
2) Sports - I have a need to know what's going on with my favourite teams and just sports in general (Andrea would definitely say this is a problem!)
3) Activity - I find it hard to sit down, to slow down and at times I can't keep myself from being active
4) The need to be right - not much more needs to be said here
5) Music/Radio - this is the topic of today's discussion (see below)

I spent today in Winnipeg working. It was a normal Tuesday...at least as normal as any other Tuesday when I'm in Winnipeg visiting customers. On the way in & out of the city I enjoy listening to CBC Radio. During the day - and in-between meetings - I like to listen to a cd. Since the cd player in our car isn't working right now, radio was my only option.

After my first meeting I had a couple phone calls to return so I shut off the radio and made the calls. Immediately after the calls finished I reached to turn the radio back on. This was done without even thinking about it...completely out of habit. I smirked, and decided to leave the radio off while I continued on to my next appointment. I've been learning to enjoy silence, and thought this would be a good exercise for me to relax and enjoy the sound of the city as I drove.

Following the next appointment, I again turned the radio on - this time knowing that one of my favourite shows was on. About 2 minutes later I realized that I was only 1/2 listening to the show...if that. What was going on? Do I need to constantly have some level of noise in my life? If you were to ask my wife & parents they would answer with a resounding YES!
So I began to think of a few of the different situations where I have some level of noise in the background:
- driving in the car
- doing the dishes
- mowing the lawn & working in the yard
- running & biking
- working on the computer (this can either be music or the tv)
- this even happens when I'm sitting down to talk to Andrea (horrible, isn't it?)

As I pondered this list I began to wonder if I had an aversion to silence. I've recently started a centering prayer habit that has me sit in silence for 20 minutes each morning before I go to work...and it's been incredibly refreshing. It's been a much sweeter experience than I thought...and I've begun to feel content in the silence. But what's the deal with all the noise then? Honestly, I began to think that I was addicted to having some noise on in the background. (to be truthful - when I started this post the tv was on...but I turned it off when I thought about what I'd be writing)

Now, there's no real health risk with this but I feel like there is an issue of awareness or focus. After turning off my radio today I almost rear-ended someone near Osborne (so I guess there may be a health risk afterall). My tires actually screeched. I mention this because I felt that if my radio had been on I would have been slightly distracted and could have been too late to hit the brake. Maybe, maybe not. Either way I was glad to have turned down the noise in the car just enough to have reacted appropriately without causing any harm.

This isn't to say that I'll never listen to the radio in the car again. I listened to the news most of the way home today...and we're heading off to Minneapolis/St Paul this weekend and I know we'll be listening to our iPod on the way down. But this is a call for me to be aware of what's going on around and in me. If what's on in the background is only of marginal interest to me, it's time to let go, to un-plug, to be present to the moment that's in front of me...and to not do things strictly out of habit.

Raptor Migration

My wife Andrea suggested that I start this blog. Initially it was to document the different birds that I was seeing in our yard. I will use the blog for things other than birds, but this weekend I was able to take in one of my favourite annual events. Each spring, raptors migrate through the Pembina Valley. Over the course of a couple months, thousands of birds travel through a small corridor in the Pembina Valley. It's really quite incredible.

This time around, brother Paul joined me in the valley to see what was happening. Below are a few pictures of what we saw.

This is a Red Tail Hawk (white phase)

Here's an adult Bald Eagle cruising overhead

Last, but not least, here's a juvenile Bald Eagle

We stayed to watch the birds for just under 2 hours. In that time, we saw a few hundreds large raptors fly through the valley. From noon to 1pm there were over 40 Bald Eagles and more than 160 Red Tailed Hawks fly overhead. At one point, there were more than 15 birds crossing the valley at the same time. Most of these birds are on their way to summering sites in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The First Post

Well...this is my first foray into the blogging world. To those who read what's to come on this page, I hope you enjoy what you see. I expect I'll be blogging about a few different things I experience on this journey of mine. I love nature...and I really enjoy watching birds in our yard. I know, it's a bit weird...but I find it incredibly relaxing. Here are some pics of birds that I've seen in our yard in the last few weeks.

This is a Downy Woodpecker that was hanging out last Saturday.

Here's a Common Redpoll

This was a big surprise last Sunday...a Cedar Waxwing appeared in the yard. Very exciting!