The Naphans' Northern Blog

Hike on Mer Bleue

2012-03-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

It was another beautiful day in Ottawa (10 C) and so after going out to a nice breakfast, we went on a hike around the Mer Bleue boardwalk, which is a bog just outside of Ottawa. It reminded us of Yellowknife. We had a small picnic after.

Visit to Diefenbunker

2012-03-10T15:21:00.003-08:00

We spent our Saturday doing something we have intended to do since we moved back here: go to the Diefenbunker Museum. It was pretty neat and the children were very well-behaved. The bunker is just west of Ottawa. It just looks like a shed from outside but it's a 4-story compound inside.

More Pictures

2012-01-29T17:46:00.001-08:00

And a video of Bertie sitting:

January Pictures

2012-01-21T18:33:00.000-08:00

Winnie Sledding

2012-01-17T17:15:00.000-08:00

Some people wanted to see this:

Bertie at the Doctor's

2012-01-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

Life is moving quickly back in Ottawa. I have 5 classes and all are pretty busy. We are trying to go to the Y regularly, as well. Bertie went to the doctor's today for his shots. He weighs 18.4 pounds and is 4' long. Big boy!

From November Family Pictures

Santa Visit 2011

2011-12-08T15:23:00.001-08:00

We went to the Carlingwood Mall today and got our pictures taken with Santa Claus. Winnie was so thrilled. The pictures turned out really well, too!

Some November Family Pics

2011-12-02T18:33:00.001-08:00

Bertie's Baptism

2011-11-27T16:34:00.000-08:00

We managed to get Bertie baptized in Ottawa. There was some doubt about whether or not we'd do it, considered we didn't have a parish and we don't have godparents here. With the help of the baptismal coordinator, Fr. Jim Lowe, we did manage to resolve all our difficulties and we baptized Bertie today. It was a wonderful ceremony. Donna and Gary managed to come for the weekend, as well.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics from Halloween this year. We weren't too creative with costumes but we had a good time. Not too many people were out, but perhaps we were a bit early.

Visit with Indira, Pedro and Leah

2011-11-11T13:48:00.001-08:00

Our friends from our prior life in Ottawa came over for breakfast this weekend. They have a baby just a little older than Bertram, Leah. We all had a good time.

Hike Around Pink Lake

2011-10-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, we hiked around Pink Lake with some classmates. It's been rainy lately but we had some decent weather. Gatineau Park was quite nice, with yellow and orange leaves. It's around 8 degrees Celsius here. No sign of snow yet.

Baby #2 is Born

2011-08-23T22:09:00.001-07:00

On August 23rd, 2011, at 12:53, our second child was born by caesarean section. We did not plan on a c-section but it became increasingly clear in the last few days that a c-section represented our best chance at a healthy delivery.

Happily, it was a very healthy delivery. The baby was a boy, weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces and measured 20.8 cms long. He scored well on his APGAR tests. His name is Bertram Matthew Naphan. We picked the name very early in the pregnancy, primarily because we like how it shortens to Bertie or Bert, and thus continuing our fascination with popular fin-de-siecle British names.

Also, the Naphan name lives on! Bring forth men-children only, for thy undaunted mettle should compose nothing but males!

July Pictures

2011-08-06T21:44:00.001-07:00

Winnie Sings her ABCs

2011-06-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

Something that might interest you... Winnie sings her ABCs.

Pictures of Winnie from Phone

2011-06-27T18:04:00.001-07:00

Last week, we bought cell phones, for our upcoming move to Ottawa. I was able to get a HTC Desire Z for $0 with only a 1-year contract. A pretty good deal. Nikki got a cheap phone for $54 for 1 year, as well.

Here are some pictures of Winnie and Nikki.

Scouteree 2011

2011-06-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the Scouteree from last Saturday afternoon.

Find them on Facebook

Some Winnie Pics from Camp

2011-05-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

Winnie Second Birthday

2011-04-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

Also, here's a brief video from Winnie's birthday party.

Winnie's 2nd Birthday

2011-04-11T21:56:00.000-07:00

Our little Winnie turned two today. We had her birthday party yesterday. We invited a few friends with young children and we set up some fun activities in our garage. It was fun.

Trip to Edmonton

2011-04-02T12:59:00.001-07:00

We just got back from our trip to Edmonton. We were gone for 7 days. We drove to High Level, AB the first day and then to Edmonton the 2nd day. We went to Chuck E Cheese's, the Science Centre, the Zoo, Galaxy Land and the Waterpark. It was a very fun trip. We got back on Friday afternoon.

Baby #2 on the way

2011-02-19T11:04:00.001-08:00

Most people already know but I thought I would post on here that we are expecting our 2nd child this summer.

Baby Lauren

2010-12-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

Our friends, Jenn and Byron, had their second baby Lauren Elizabeth Byron a few weeks ago. Here are some pictures from the hospital the day after and from our house a few weeks later. Winnie really loves the baby!

Trip to Mexico

2010-11-15T10:07:00.000-08:00

Here's a slideshow from our trip to Mexico. It was lots of fun.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T19:37:00.000-07:00

We just got back from trick-or-treating and we had a lot of fun. We ordered KFC for dinner, which is something of a tradition here, and then dressed up the kids. Kevin dressed as Harry Potter, Iyau as Scooby Doo, Caleb as a gorilla and then later a bee, and Winnie dressed as a unicorn/pegasus. We went to a few dozen houses in our condo complex and then called it a night. Everyone had a pretty good time.

The weather has been rather clement here. I think it was around 0 C, which is like 20 degrees warmer than Halloween 2009 or 2008.

Some Fall Pictures

2010-10-11T13:10:00.001-07:00

Some Winnie Videos

2010-09-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

In this video, Winnie climbs up the ladder to the top of the bunk bed, all by herself, except for the end when I push her bum over the edge.

In this video, Winnie says a few words after dinner.

More Camping (with pictures)

2010-08-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

We went camping this weekend, just the 3 of us. This time, we had our camera.

August Long Weekend Camping

2010-08-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we decided to go camping with our friends, the Dolans, and two foster children, 7 and 9, who have been staying with us since Thursday.

Our plan was to pick up the Scout canoes, paddles and PFDs Friday night then head out Saturday morning and come back Sunday morning. We went to Pontoon Lake and to the Scout cabin. The weather was quite warm for most of Saturday, 25 C or so, but it called for a 60% chance of rain in the evening.

We took two canoes out across the 1.5 km stretch to the cabin. We had dried meat and chips for lunch. We picked raspberries and reserved about a cup for the babies. Winnie loved to sit beside a raspberry bush and eat them right off the bush. We went swimming off of the rocks, which were slimy but the water was nice and we had fun. Me and Byron also took the kids fishing and we managed to catch a small jackfish before heading in. With four people in the boat, I am glad we did not catch a big one. It was easy to unhook the small one without bringing him into the boat.

Just after dinner it started to rain and we headed inside for hot chocolate. The moms tried to put the babies to bed and Caleb took a while, but finally went down. The older kids went to bed and the adults played Gin and Rummy for an hour or so, before we all went to bed. Caleb didn't sleep very well so Jenn and Byron had to get up at 6 AM and head back to town prematurely.

The rest of us woke up later, had eggs and bacon for breakfast, then headed back to Yellowknife at around noon. The kids and I had to take two trips in the canoe to bring all of our gear back, and then bring Nikki and Winnie back, but it was fun and the weather on Sunday was very nice again.

Unfortunately, there were no pictures taken, but it is for that reason that you are able to enjoy my sonorous prose.

Work Trip to Beaufort Delta

2010-07-23T19:49:00.001-07:00

Me and Nikki just got back from our working trip to the Beaufort Delta. We had the task of surveying four communities: Inuvik, Tsiigehtchic, Fort McPherson and Aklavik. Winnie came too. I think she enjoyed it but she might not have understood where she was or what she was doing.

We also visited Tuktoyaktuk on the weekend for a guided tour. We flew there in the evening and boated back. We highly recommend it!

Nikki's Trip to Grande Prairie

2010-05-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Nikki's trip to Grande Prairie.

Winnie Walking on Youtube

2010-05-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

In-Laws in Town

2010-05-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

The in-laws visited Yellowknife for 10 weeks. It was really nice having them here and I think they enjoyed staying with us and spending time with their granddaughter. We even got a lot accomplished on the house - the hose was fixed, railings were installed, a greenhouse was built, lightbulbs were changed.

Here are some pictures that Donna took while she was here.

Winnie turns 1

2010-04-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well, our little bundle of love turned one year old today. We had a whole bunch of people over, BBQed burgers, had a cake, opened presents.

Some Spring Winnie

2010-04-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

I know some of you are eager for some new pictures of Winnie, so here they are. Nikki went back to work last week and yes, Winnie turns the big ONE this Sunday. It's getting warmer here although we had flurries yesterday and today, so winter is still holding out.

Snow-Machine Trip 2010

2010-03-11T18:05:00.000-08:00

Great trip. Great weather.

Some Weekend Pictures

2010-03-01T22:08:00.001-08:00

The weather has been unseasonably warm here, -5 to -10 lately, and we have been making good use of it.

A ready to go to the park

Dad with baby Winnie strapped on

A having fun at the park

Momma and Winnie

Winnie is happy to be outside having fun

We also visited an igloo

Dadda and Winnie inside the igloo

A crawling into the igloo

January-February Winnie Pictures

2010-02-21T09:58:00.001-08:00

Here are some more current pictures of Winnie from the last few months.

Christmas 2009-2010

2010-02-21T09:56:00.001-08:00

We finally recovered the camera we had at Christmas so here are a few pictures from Christmas.

Winnie's Professional Pictures

2010-01-23T10:23:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas, we managed to get some professional pictures of Winnie done at Sears. Here's the entire contents.

Arriving in the Sault Tomorrow

2009-12-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

Just letting everyone know that me, Nikki and Winnie will be arriving in the Sault tomorrow, Wednesday the 16th, and we will be there until Sunday, January 10th.

See you Saultites there!

November Pictures

2009-12-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from November of Winnie and some other people.

Winnie trying to fly

Winnie walking with her piano toy

Winnie alseep on momma

A playing in the snow

K, unaffected by the cold as usual

Winnie and her best friend in the world

An interesting facial comparison

2009-11-16T11:48:00.001-08:00

Winnie from 0 to 7 months

And Now For Something Completely Different... Winnie!

2009-11-14T20:58:00.000-08:00

Winnie sleeping

Sitting with dad on the couch

Happy baby

Pretty baby

Ready to go outside

Her first Happy Meal

Eating a French Fry

Hike Around Niven Lake

2009-11-14T20:55:00.000-08:00

After weeks of planning, we finally got the family out to hike around Niven Lake, which is maybe 2 kilometres around. We even got our friends Jen and Byron out for the walk.

Jen and Byron getting ready to start

Walking down the trail

Baby on my back

The lake is frozen over

Some parts are a bit steep

A rare group shot!

Out on a Date!

2009-11-07T20:48:00.000-08:00

Nikki and I went out on a date to Le Frolic. We left Winnie at the Bailey's house for3 hours for the first time. She was fine and had lots of fun. We haven't been on a date in 9 months or so, although we have gone out to restaurants with Winnie. It was very nice. We ordered a bottle of Italian red and had an appetizer, an antipasti platter, dessert and coffee. We even had a $50 gift certificate from Social Services.

The Italian antipasti platter is one of our favourites in town. Lots of tasty finger food - olives, pickled and roasted vegetables, olives, blue cheese, hard Italian cheese, proscuitto, salami, mushrooms, crusty bread, etc... Very fun to eat together.

Nikki heading to the restaurant. We've been getting a lot of snow lately although it isn't too cold yet. -8 C or so.

My dessert, a peanut butter cheesecake. It was very good, like a gourmet Reese's Pieces ice cream sandwich. Very soft and rich.

Nikki's dessert, the Chocolate Fondant. It was the most expensive dessert on the menu but it wasn't that good. Quite dry and plain, actually. No better than a lightly cooked brownie from a mix. It needed a dollop of ice cream or at least, whipped cream, to be any good. The waitress asked how she liked it and when Nikki said it was so-so, the waitress didn't charge us for it, which is a nice gesture.

Your November Dose of Winnie Goodness

2009-11-07T15:30:00.000-08:00

Teaching Winnie to stick her tongue out

Almost got it!

Standing next to Colin's exer-saucer

Playing with Tupperware

Til next time!

Winnie's Halloween Costume

2009-10-31T15:19:00.001-07:00

Winnie had two Halloween costumes: a devil and a ladybug. Here they are:

I'm using the Picasa slideshow feature. Tell me what you think!

Julie and Keith's Baby

2009-10-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

Some older news... Julie and Keith had their baby. A boy, Daniel Evan McLean. Here's some pictures of the day he was born.

More Pictures From the Summer

2009-10-31T13:24:00.001-07:00

I finally found the charger to our camera (cleverly hidden on our bedroom floor) and I recovered the 2nd batch of pictures from the summer. There are some real winners!

Mr. X stalks his prey

Playin' on grandpa

Mom, daughter and cousin

Our excellent family BBQ

Mom with granddaughter

Pouty face baby

Shauna with baby

Auntie Gake with baby

Winnie dressed up in her "northern" attire (muskrat hat and moose moccasins lended to us from our friend)

Curtis, foster kids, Winnie on couch

Some Recent Pictures

2009-10-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

Last Monday we had a bonfire with the Cubs. Lots of stories, songs, games, etc... It was cool but warmer than lately, about 0 degrees.

Two of the Cubs at the bonfire (one might be familiar to some of you)

The Cubs at the bonfire

Here's our dinner from tonight. Onions, carrots, cabbage, bamboo, chilis, mushrooms, bean sprouts, BBQ chicken and Shanghai-style noodles in hoisin sauce. Very tasty.

Here's some family pictures. Speaking of family, Social Services is threatening to dump some emergency foster kids on us very shortly but just for the weekend. I'm glad we're back to fostering a bit but it is very stressful and nerve-wracking waiting. Also, we are billeting a Katimavik volunteer for a week to give them a taste of Yellowknife culture.

Morning in the Naphan household

Winnie eating some green beans made by Natasha

Going for the grapes

Getting some help picking up the grapes

(We're aware that grapes aren't the safest food but she really likes them and she just gums them a bit)

October News

2009-10-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we posted any updates from our neck of the woods. It has been quite a busy few weeks. Winnie is getting bigger by the day and more and more active. We are trying to introduce new foods and while she is interested in playing with them, she isn't too interested in eating yet.

Cubs has started and it is going well. We have about 14 boys enrolled and the first two meetings have been fun. We are taking a break this Monday for Thanksgiving and then starting back up.

Nikki got a little sick this week and was under the weather for 3 days, which makes it hard to care for the baby. Winnie seemed to stay healthy.

Lastly, we got snow earlier this week (grrr) and it hasn't gone away yet. It's hovering between -5 and 0 C.

I'm back into trying to make a good loaf of bread and here is a nice one I made. I usually have a hard time getting it to rise but I've figured out a pretty good system. This loaf was huge! I should've split it into two long loaves.

Winnie eating a baby cookie

She really likes them!

Sunday with the old Foster Kids

2009-09-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

Nikki bumped into our old foster family on Friday and she and their mom decided to let us take the kids for Sunday afternoon. We picked them up after lunch and took them to the park, then back to our house for some Wii, dinner, then back home. We feel a lot better after seeing our old kids and knowing they are okay. The kids were happy to see us and excited to see Winnie again.

A, who is not so little anymore. She grew 3 inches over 3 months and gained a lot of weight. Her speech and coordination is also a lot better.

Nikki, Winnie and A walking to the park. A didn't have proper clothes so we dressed her in Nikki's small clothing. Like we said, she is a big kid now!

A at the park

K playing on the equipment. He hasn't changed much but he can go higher on the park equipment than he could before.

Sisters reunited at last

A shot that A took of me and Winnie

Me and K went back to our condo park and played with the trucks

The old gang reunited. B was playing with a friend, so he didn't come.

Curtis' B-Day Party

2009-09-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

It was my birthday on Sunday and I turned 28 years old. September 19th is also International Talk Like a Pirate day. Arrr.

Colin and Caleb playing with a toy

Baby Winnie on the floor

Me and Winnie blowing out the candles on the carrot cake

In the Sault

2009-09-09T20:53:00.000-07:00

Susan playing with Winnie

The gift that Winnie received my Aunt Mary Jean

My aunt Sally holding the baby

Daddy holding Winnie in the sling

Gake holding Winnie

Claire and baby with funny knitted hat

Cousin Jaclyn and second cousin Emma

Myself and my brother at Lake Jobamageeshig

Michael getting some pretzels from our servant Stephen

The industrious little pooch Bo

Fishing with dad and brother. No fish were harmed in the making of these pictures.

Our niece Mackenzie with her favourite new cousin

Mackenzie riding the train at the Jocelyn County Fair

Some neat carvings at the fair, complete with functional hydraulic systems

Winnie with her new favourite toy, a helium balloon on a stick

Cousins 4ever

Nikki and Susan with baby at Batchewana Bay Beach

Rolling on the blanket on the beach

Nikki with her godmother

Everyone at Tim's right before Mackenzie and Dawn left for Thunder Bay

Gary with his girls

About to say goodbye

Gay and son-in-law walking to car (also pictured: baby)

As always, lots more pictures at the Web Album.

In Ottawa and Quebec

2009-09-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

Winnie visiting with our friend Leslie

Winnie visiting with our friend Pedro AKA The Rib Chef AKA The Sleep Master

Indie and Pedro with baby

A rare picture with everyone

Sven with the baby at Haveli's, an Indian restaurant in Ottawa

Winnie with papa at the Quebec Info-tourist station

Nikki and Winnie outside a restaurant in Mont Orford, Quebec

Nikki and Winnie sitting on a dock on a lake near Magog, Quebec

At the "epluchette de ble d'inde" (corn husking) at Eric's father's house. Yum yum.

Winnie's first foray into solid food

A pregnant horse that frightened Nikki

At the church waiting for Eric

The bride walking down the aisle

The exchange of vows

Us at the reception

Nikki with baby

Orangeville to Ottawa

2009-09-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

Auntie Christine with baby Winnie

The Ouellettes see their granddaughter for the first time in a few months. Excitement is palpable.

Happy to see Grandma

In the hotel in Ottawa with grandma and great-grandma

Nikki and Winnie Go to Annie's Wedding

2009-09-09T20:07:00.000-07:00

Meeting Uncle Michael

Tasty little niece!

The bride and groom dancing on smoke

Isn't she pretty? And Annie is not too shabby either.

Nikki, Annie and Nicole with babies

Nicole and Jim Amadio

The amateur opera singer that Annie rented for the reception music... no wait, Steve Facchini.. scusi, scusi...

Man, could that singer ever hit the high notes... or is he catching meatballs in his mouth? Can't say. Wasn't there.

Annie and Trace burst out of the life-size bobble-head statues moments later. (So I was told)

Winnie horrified to discover the freakishly small human placed next to her

Camping at Vee Lake

2009-07-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

On a whim, we went camping on Saturday night. The campgrounds around town were all full, so rather than drive far and pay, we just went out to a lake not far from town and set up our tent. Our friends, Jenn and Byron, came with us for the bonfire and me and Nikki stayed for the night. The mosquitoes were quite bad and we were kept busy protecting our young ones but once the fire started going strong, the insects left us alone.

Nikki and Winnie in front of the fire

Our insect-repelling fire

The aluminum-foil-covered object is a banana, split open and stuff with marshmallows and chocolate, a Banana Boat

Our tent, a MEC Lightfield 4 season, which I highly recommend

Inside the tent with the Winster

Her first camp-out

Pure Winnie, Vol. 3

2009-07-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

I've got a fever... and the only prescription is more Winifred!

Dadda and Winnie cookin' up a storm

Colin and Winnie hangin' out on a chair

Sleeping beauty in Nikki's hotel room

The girl in her carrier

Taking a bath

Drying off

Snoozin' on the couch

Playing on the kitchen floor

Playing peekaboo with dadda

Pouting

Ratatouille

2009-07-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

Last week we made a lovely dish called ratatouille, baked vegetables, basically. Here I am frying the onion and prepare the other vegetables: peppers, eggplant, zucchini.

Frying the vegetables in olive oil, readying the diced tomatoes

Adding the herbs

Putting the cooked vegetables into a baking pan and covering with breadcrumbs and cheese

Parfait!

Pure Winnie, Vol.2

2009-07-15T17:34:00.000-07:00

After an hour of crying, Winnie gives up and falls asleep

On the couch

Startled

Gnawing Sophie the Giraffe

All her favourite stuff

Helping momma chop zucchini

Wiping up her drool

Food - Spiced Kebabs

2009-07-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight's dinner was a winner. Spiced kebabs grilled on the BBQ with a tomato-onion-olive salad and homemade hummus. We tucked them into into mini-pitas for quite the treat.

New Life

2009-07-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

Our new life without kids is going pretty well. I get to bike to work everyday which is very satisfying and fun. We are eating a lot better, too.

Tonight's dinner was an arugula salad with herbs, cashews, asparagus and goat's cheese, along with grilled Great Slave whitefish with a chili-lime vinaigrette.

Playing with Winnie on the couch

Kids Gone

2009-07-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well, our foster children have gone home for a week now. We do miss them but we are enjoying our time with each other and with Winnie. We are eating much healthier, lots of vegetables, and our house is much cleaner.

Our crazy ex-toddler

Crazy house not long before they left!

Winnie and her best bud Colin

Trip to Banff

2009-06-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our weekend trip to Banff and it was very nice. On Friday, we went out for Italian in Canmore. On Saturday, we visited Lake Minnewanka, the town of Banff, the Banff gondola and observation deck, the Banff Upper Hot Springs and finally, we went for sushi back in Canmore. On Sunday, we went to Lake Louise, then we took the older highway 1A and went to Johnston Canyon and hiked 6 KM to see the two sets of waterfalls. On Monday, we visited Canmore, then drove back to Calgary. The next morning, we flew back to Yellowknife. Here are a handful of pictures.

Curtis in front of Lake Minnewanka

Us in front of Lake Louise

The second set of falls at Johnston Canyon

Giggling baby at the airport

Visit the album for many more!

Baby Winnie's First Swim

2009-06-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

I will post more about our trip later but for now, here is a short clip of baby Winnie's first swim at Banff Upper Hot Springs.

Volunteer BBQ

2009-06-18T18:35:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we went to a Food Bank Volunteer Appreciation BBQ.

Winnie in her car-seat

Getting food

The toddler heading for the water

A family portrait

New Computer and an Interview

2009-06-16T14:43:00.001-07:00

The computer came in last week. It works great. I promptly changed the Windows Vista theme back to the Windows XP theme. Change? We fear change. Now, I'm ready - how many months until Starcraft II is released?

Cubs is wrapped up for the year. The end of the year Cub Camp went great. The best camp I've run, I think. We had lots of activities and everyone was in good spirits. We had archery, a fur-trapping scavenger hunt, canoeing and campfires. One thing I'd change is having more healthy food for snack time. Baked apples next year sounds about right.

Also, I've applied to a different department within the government. It's a Database Analyst position, mostly Oracle Forms and Reports. It's a slight pay cut but only by a few thousand dollars. The work is more challenging, more opportunity for learning new skills, new technologies. I'd be working on a team with five others on big projects, not alone on tiny projects. The interview went well. Most questions were easy lobs but there were some zingers regarding the nitties and the gritties of Oracle. I would say I stand a good chance of getting it.

New Computer Ordered

2009-06-08T13:01:00.001-07:00

I did not waste much time ordering a new computer. We had briefly considered buying a Mac but their desktops are rather pricey and not compatible with our old data hard drive, which contains all our precious photos. Anyways, I ended up ordering a mid-range Dell for $600 or so and it should be here on Thursday.

Also, I will be going on our annual Cub camp this weekend and it should be a great time. The theme is the Fur-Trade and we're going canoeing and collecting pelts.

Computer Problem

2009-05-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

I think I may have fried our home computer... Apparently the network card wasn't screwed in properly and I was jiggling with the network cord and I pushed the card out of its slot and it caused a brilliant luminescence to flare up and the computer died. Now the computer turns on but does not proceed past the motherboard diagnostic. I firmly believe the machine is, as the Germans say, kaput.

Further posts may be delayed until we find a new computer and I can't buy a new computer until I know the system requirements of Starcraft II... A real dilemma.

Mary's Visit

2009-05-24T12:41:00.001-07:00

Mary just left and her visit was very pleasant. We got many parts of our house cleaned and ready for summer. She got to come to us to many restaurants in town and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. The weather has gotten better lately and we went on a picnic yesterday afternoon to Reid Lake, 45 minutes down the highway. The sun felt great and the kids even ventured a bit into the water.

A lynx we saw at the edge of the road

A beaver eating a fish

Some foxes Mary saw

Mary holding Winnie

Mary's meal (fish skewer) at Bullock's Bistro

The rest of Bullock's

Mary and Nikki at the restaurant

The view from Pilot's Monument

The park at Reid Lake

The meat cooking on the fire

Two moms nursing

Me at the Wildcat Cafe

Another view at the Wildcat

Pure Winnie

2009-05-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

More baby pictures for those who haven't seen a new one in a while.

Baby and dadda

A bit grumpy

In her vibrating chair

Hungry!

A rose between thorns is our beloved.

Winnie and mommy looking at each other

Relaxing in her chair

Winnie's Baptism

2009-05-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, our camera was misbehaving during Winnie's baptism so we were only able to get a few shots. Our friend Jenn has more on her camera and she promises to give us a CD so I'll have more later.

The weather is still cold here, -10 in the morning, +5 in the afternoon. Hopefully it will get warmer soon!

The family at the baptism with the godparents, Jenn and Byron and their child

Winnie sitting in her carrier

Watching Nikki swim at the pool

Myself, reading stories to the kids

Chillin' with daughter

Our little lamb

Naphan Grandparents' Visit

2009-05-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

The elder Naphans have been here for about 10 days now and it has been very nice. We have taken them to our favourite restaurants and shown them all sorts of things around the city.

Lil' Winnie's health card

The sisters sharing a moment

Papa bear holding the granddaughter

The Naphans outside Bullocks Bistro

The baby at my workplace

Winnie sleeping peacefully

Check out the cheeks

Myself out for Chinese with wife and daughter

Little girl walkin' the dog

Spring Arrives in Spits and Spats

2009-04-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

The Ouellettes' seven week visit came to a close today amidst much sniffling and farewell-saying. Spring has finally come to Yellowknife after a brief hiatus. Baby Winnie is doing very well. I got to go snow-machining and ice-fishing last Sunday, probably the last time for the season.

Nikki is feeling much stronger lately. We are able to go to the park and get in and out of the car very easily.

The in-laws holding their precious grandchild

Going out for Vietnamese at lunch with baby

Winifred at the sushi restaurant

Nikki and baby at the airport waving goodbye

Winnie deciding what to order

Nikki hiding a secret

Carrying a baby in a sling!

The city hall in the throes of Spring

Our assistant leader receiving his Chief Scout award from the NWT Scouting Commissioner at our year-end banquet

K struggling to haul two giant toys to the park

His little sister lending a hand on the way back

Gram and baby sharing a moment

First Week Home

2009-04-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

Winifred has been at home for almost one week now and it has gone pretty well. She sleeps for about half the night, needing one or two diaper changes and feeds per night. Nikki is recovering very well and is feeling stronger day by day and needing less painkillers. She still has trouble leaving the house much. Some people at work are having a baby "tea" next Wednesday.

The toddler, who is now the 2nd youngest child in the house, playing with the nursing pillow. She has become very motherly since the baby came home: putting diapers on her bears, swaddling and rocking them, strapping them into the baby carrier, etc...

Donna's birthday celebration

The toddler and her new baby sister

Oh, something disturbed Winnie's peace

The toddler ready to go home, wearing her favourite puppy hat

The proud grampa

A thoughtful baby

Winnie laying on my lap

Reading time with the kid

Winnie sleeping in her crib

Sleeping peacefully!

First Day Home

2009-04-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Nikki came home at noon today. We're all very glad to have little Winnie at home. Nikki had her surgical staples removed this morning and she is under doctor's orders to take it easy for 4-6 weeks.

Getting the baby ready to go home

Sleeping peacefully

In her carrier

Leaving the hospital

Second Day

2009-04-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

Nikki and I were able to stay at the hospital over night. We've had a good day. Both Nikki and Winnie are off the IV for most of the day. The family visited us today and it was very hectic. Kevin liked touching and holding the baby. Some other friends visited too. We had a nap and some tests. Nikki is in quite a bit of pain and taking Tylenol.

More of the new mom

2009-04-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

Nikki is doing better now. Her legs have regained sensation and she is walking around, sitting up, drinking fluids, eating Jello and holding the baby. The baby tried to feed but she was too tired. All signs of infection have left the baby and it looks like they will soon declare her to be healthy.

Taking a close look at our little baby

Nikki surveying the fruit of her loins

BABY GIRL!

2009-04-11T09:37:00.000-07:00

Nikki went into stronger labour on Friday morning. We were admitted to the hospital soon after and we discussed our options with the midwife and obstetrics doctor. We decided to start inducing with a pill. Nikki took one pill at noon and the next at 6 PM. By 10 PM, the contractions were quite strong. Nikki used the nitrous oxide gas intermittendly from midnight to 5 AM. By then the midwife confirmed that she had dilated no more than 3 cm (of the required 10 cm) and the baby's head was not yet engaging the cervix. The doctor felt that moving to a caesarean section was the best option so we told them to get the OR ready for us. In about one hour, Nikki was moved on a stretcher into the Operating Room and within 20 minutes, they had performed the spinal and were ready to remove the baby.

Ten minutes later, using the forceps, the doctor pulled a hefty baby out of Nikki. A girl, which would make her name Winifred Mae Naphan. She is a real porker, weighing 10 pounds, 6.4 ounces. As I write this, Nikki is still paralyzed from the legs down. I got to hold Winnie for about 30 minutes. She just slept but I could tell she is a good baby. It is hard to believe that me and Nikki have a daughter!

The only downside is that our baby might have an infection due to the presence of feces in her amniotic fluid or due to the infection that Nikki contracted due to her water breaking early. Either way, they have our babe hooked up to an IV for 48 hours and so Nikki hasn't held her yet. Soon she will and I'm sure Winnie will take to feeding like fish in water.

Nikki enduring an early contraction

Contractions during the night

Nikki getting moved to the OR

Nikki getting operated on

The new baby

One hour old

Her slightly malformed skull

Three hours old

Curtis holding his eldest daughter

There are more pictures in the Web Album.

It begins...

2009-04-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

Nikki has been feeling contractions since 4:30 AM this morning. There has also been some bloody discharge, a sure sign of impending labour. We all think that delivery will happen within 24 hours. I took the day off work and we are just sitting around, playing Settlers of Catan.

Nikki has abdominal pains every 5-10 minutes or so. They aren't too strong. She can stand while they are happening but she doesn't talk or walk much.

I'll keep updating the blog as things progress.

It looks like no baby before Easter

2009-04-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

Nikki is now 42 weeks pregnant and the midwife is saying that it looks doubtful that we will see a baby before Easter. They are a bit leery to start induction before the long weekend due to the absence of doctors during that time. We have agreed to wait a bit longer and see how things stand next week. Nikki went in for an ultrasound this morning and everything appears healthy. Last week, they tried to detect uterine tightenings and they found none, but this week they detected several, which means that the uterus is working behind the scenes to strengthen itself and to soften and thin the cervix before the real contractions start.

But labour could start at any time and there need not be any warnings whatsoever. We are trying some of the lightweight techniques to induce labour: reflexology, acupressure, eating pineapple, raspberry leaf tea, primrose oil pills, etc... Not exactly hidebound science but it is prudent to attempt the safe options before moving on to more risky procedures.

Happy Easter.

The New Baby...

2009-04-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

...of our friends. (April Fools, I guess!)

Congratulations to Adam and Natasha who had a baby boy, Colin, last night.

No Baby Yet

2009-03-30T13:57:00.000-07:00

It's Monday afternoon and no baby yet. I've got the feeling it will come at the end of this week, possibly on the weekend. Nikki felt some minor contractions and cramping last night but other than that, there have been no signs.

Caribou Carnival 2009

2009-03-28T11:42:00.000-07:00

We get half of Friday off in Yellowknife for Caribou Carnival, a civic event. We took the two younger kids and met up with their older brother. It was sort of fun but there's wasn't that much happening.

K with his face painted like Ironman with his sister in the sleigh

K with his older brother

A winning a prize at the fair events

The drummers

Me and A at the end of the afternoon

Nikki at 40 weeks

2009-03-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

It's March 28th, which was supposed to be Nikki's due date. The midwife, however, has told us that we can expect to be a few days late. The proposed induction date is April 7th.

March Ice-Fishing

2009-03-23T08:49:00.001-07:00

Me, Gary and two friends went out ice-fishing last Saturday. Unfortunately, we got one of those rare snowy days. By the time we got our lines in and our fire going, we were in a blizzard. I didn't want to get stuck on the lake so we called it a day after a bit and headed home. I've heard the wind and snow is bad for catching fish so unsurprisingly we caught nothing. It is too bad because the next day was ten degrees warmer and clear.

Byron getting the sleigh ready to pull

Unloading the van

Me setting the line

Setting up our camp. Our igloo wall is visible.

2009 Winter Cub Camp

2009-03-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

I was sick all weekend but I had to plan for the annual March Break winter Cub Camp out at Hidden Lake. It wasn't very easy to arrange all the rides and participants, the activities and everything. All with a fever and headache. But we ended up with 9 kids and two vehicles. We met up with the older Scouts at the camp and had a very good time. They cooked up very tasty and hearty food, like waffles, sausages, mac n cheese, burgers, eggs and ham. We caught two fish and we ate one. I even got to teach most of the Cubs how to drive the snow-machines and they had a lot of fun with that. The Cubs slept in heated tents which was a bit stressful, but it went fine in the end. I don't think it would have been good for many more nights as the sleeping quarters were bedlam, pardon the pun.

Arriving at the camp

The sleeping tents and cabin

The first fish caught

The second fish caught

Boiling water on a tripod, the first activity

Calling home on the sat phone to check if Nikki is in labor

Going with Kevin to the outhouse first thing in the morning

Laughing and enjoying some hot chocolate in the cabin

The whole group at the end of the camp with the parent that came to help

Baptism of Caleb James

2009-03-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

Our friends' newborn, Caleb James Dolan was baptized last Sunday. He's a cute kid!

Caleb with his bonnet and gown. That's ecclesiastical man-lace, by the way - nothing feminine about it.

The happy parents with child

Nikki 38 Weeks Pregnant

2009-03-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

Two more pictures of Nikki at 38 weeks!

Pre-natal course and baby Caleb born

2009-02-09T09:29:00.001-08:00

Nikki and I had an interesting weekend. We had signed up to take a pre-natal course on Friday night and all of Saturday. We sent the kids to two babysitters for the two days. The Friday night course was just an overview about labour and delivery, the support person's role, etc... There were about five other couples in the course, all due sometime in March.

After the course on Friday, we went to a wine and tapas bar that recently opened here in Yellowknife. It is quite a classy place. We had the cheese platter and a shrimp appetizer - both quite good. Nikki, of course, cannot drink but I had a glass of wine.

On Saturday, we were at the course for the whole day. We learned about pain relief options, external and internal monitors, caesarean sections, assisted births and coaxing tools like the forceps and suctions. They also taught us about breast-feeding, which they highly encourage. Our plan, I think, is to start off pretty naturally, only trying the pain-relief mechanisms if the pain becomes unbearable. In any case, it should be seven weeks before anything happens.

We also had found out on Thursday that our dear friend Jennifer (with her dutiful husband Byron assisting) went into labour in the wee hours of the morning. While we were touring the hospital with our classmates on Saturday, she was in the final hours of pushing. The next day we went and saw them and their baby boy, Caleb. The little fellow was a bit banged up from his painstaking exodus but he was, in all ways, the very model of a bouncing baby boy. Most hearty congratulations to the elated parents.

Some Pictures of Nikki with Child

2009-02-05T17:29:00.000-08:00

Nikki has been doing pretty well with the pregnancy. We're into the 3rd trimester and she is due on March 28th, if you forgot. I said to her today that she reminds me of a hen.

New Host

2009-02-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

We are switching to Blogger from our old blog at LiveJournal, which is beginning to annoy me for a number of small reasons.

Just adjust your bookmarks, if you're that type of person.