RUSH

So, as a change from everybody's baby pictures and wedding pictures, I thought I would give you an update on rush. Robyn is doing amazing! They had 26 people sign up, and at the moment 11 girls are pledging. WOW! All the returning members (there are only 7) are working their asses off, and it shows. The pledges are all really cool. I have been to 2 events, and hosted 1, and the Fantasia is in an hour. (everyone's favourite)

It was really exciting to have Danya come into town. I finally got to meet one of these people I'm always reading about and emailing! We had lots of fun, even if we did bother Lonnie. oops... :( I will try to post some pictures of some rush events inthe near future. (they are all on the camera not on the computer).

Initiations will be on Oct 5, no set time as of yet. If you want to go, please email the sorority account. (Robyn is sitting beside me telling me what to write)

Update on Baby

Hey Guys, 

So no pictures or amazing news but I thought I would send you an update as to how I am doing and baby as the past week has been quite long and hard and I just need an outlet since I'm not really able to go anywhere.

Wednesday I woke up to some very unexpected bleeding and was taken into the hospital but after an examination they confirmed the bleeding had stopped and I was okay to go home.  They scheduled me for another ultrasound to check on the baby and make sure everything was okay so I was expected to return to the hospital the next morning.  

Unfortunately on Thursday I woke up and went to the bathroom to find that it had started again so Chris rushed me back to the hospital.  Thankfully, everyone remembered me from the day before so I didn't have to go through all the questions again.    After they completed the ultrasound and exam they could only tell me that the baby is fine and not in distress but they don't know what is causing the bleeding or where it is coming from.    I was admitted for observation with the goal of 24 hrs with no bleeding.    

As of this morning they released me and I am able to go home but under the observation of my husband and parents.  No strenuous activities - so preparing for the baby if completely Chris's job now along with cooking for and waiting on me.

We didn't completely make it 24 hrs without bleeding starting again but the doctor said he could tell I was getting more anxious being there and that possibly being home would help me to relax and overall be better for babe.

So our goal at this time is to obviously not have anymore bleeding - but to make it to 38 weeks as which point if the bleeding has persisted they will schedule a c-section.   If I an make it past 38 weeks without bleeding the doctor will let me continue on as long as the baby and I are doing okay.

Overall, as I said the baby is good.  At this time we are focusing on me and getting my iron back up as they are concerned since I lost quite a bit of blood and they want the levels up again in the event I do bleed again. 

I know we always focus on the good of pregnancies and most of us don't talk about the bad but I thought there are quite a few moms in our group and maybe some of you can relate to what we have been dealing with and provide some advice.  I have really been at the end of my emotional string the last day or two with fear of it starting all over again.

I would appreciate any suggestions of how to entertain and distract yourself during something like this as it is the only thing on my mind and being limited to bed doesn't make it easy to keep myself busy.

First Picture of Baby Frost

Nathan & I went in for our first ultrasound on September 14th and I thought I'd scan in one of the pictures to share with you guys. This is such an exciting journey and this was the coolest thing I've ever seen... you moms in the group know what I'm talking about! As you can see there is one baby (I've had so many family members bugging me about twins) and Baby Frost (we're not finding out the sex) is doing wonderful so far.

We're having all our windows and most of our floors replaced in the next month then I can start planning the nursery... I think it'll be my favourite home reno project so far!

Amanda :)

Triumphant Return from Europe!

Well, it seems that I've a lot to catch up on as far as your blogs go. It looks as though everyone has been busy getting married and having kids, getting jobs, turning into grown-ups...

As for me, I have had the busiest year of my life, I think. I spent the majority of the past year working as many overtime shifts as humanly possible in order to save up enough money to go to Europe for 3 months with 3 of my friends this summer. We went, we saw, we conquered (well, ok, maybe I only conquered a wine bottle or two, but that's a start).

Everyone is always wanting to know the details about the trip, so here goes! We rented an excellent station wagon/minivan crossover from Peugeot, as a long-term vacation rental/lease. We were planning to drive everywhere, and camp instead of staying in hostels, to make our money stretch further, so we went out, bought the smallest tents I have ever seen, and some basic camping gear and set off!

We started off in Paris, which I adored. I love the city. If you've never been, I highly suggest springing for one of those week-long vacation packages. We drove through France, down through Spain and into Morocco, where we spent 9 days. I absolutely loved it in Morocco; once you get over the culture shock, (especially being a woman, everything was so alien) you realize how beautiful the country is, how exotic, and how friendly the people are. Probably my best time on the entire trip was in Morocco, when we went on an overnight camel trek into the Sahara. The desert was unbelievable. So vast, and empty. It really helped put my life into perspective, which was something I definitely needed, since I'd been suffering from a case of the 'Omg, I just graduated with a degree I can't use to get a job...what do I do now?' anxiety.

Leaving Morocco, we drove back through Spain, where we celebrated the Spanish triumph at the Soccer World Cup with the frenzied crowds in Barcelona. Driving back up the coast of Spain, we spent many days on the Mediterranean beaches, sunning, and relaxing. The beaches were so beautiful, the sea that clear blue, with pure white sand and sun umbrellas lining the busy shoreline as far as the eye could see...the kind of beaches you see in calendars, really.

Next, we made a beeline for Munich, via Andorra, France, Lichtenstein (yes, it IS a real place, although it's a micronation, and I got a speeding ticket there...I got a speeding ticket in a country that you can drive across in about 40 minutes. Now THAT'S a good dinner-party story!), Austria and Switzerland. We met some really friendly folks in Switzerland, who gave us a ton of free beer and let us party with them for the night. One of the guys had a 70 L keg and tap system. In the back of his van.

I think we spent about a total of 12 hours in Munich, since we were just there to catch a flight to Istanbul. We spent a week in Istanbul, saw all the important sights, went swimming in the Black Sea, and stepped foot in Asia (Istanbul is on both sides of the Bosphorus, which divides Europe and Asia). After Turkey, we drove down to Italy, where we'd rented an apartment in Tuscany for 4 days. We spent a ton of time in Italy, and it is possibly my new favorite country. I have never felt quite so relaxed as I did in Italy.


After Italy, we hit up Slovenia for a few days, before I took a train back to Paris, for my flight back to Canada. I was only there for a total of 9 weeks, as I erm...ran out of funds, and had to return for the start of the school year.

Went to NYC for a week, met someone...we're trying the long-distance thing at the moment, which seems to be going quite nicely, and that's about it.

I have a few pictures that I've posted here, but unfortunately, not as many as I wish I had, since my laptop with the pictures on it was stolen. Alas.

Back in Canada, I set about readying myself to start the CNC/UNBC Nursing program (which I'm busily working away at right this second). Now, I spend all my days reading textbooks and being a student all over again.

A Future Sorority Sister...

Hi Ladies,

It's taken a little while to get this done, but I wanted to let you all know that we had our baby girl on August 22nd. Her name is Delainey Lillian Frances Kiteley (I have kids that have really long names, I know lol). She was 6lbs 12 oz and was 19.5 inches long. I was lucky that my labor was fairly quick and I only had to push for 6 minutes so I recovered fairly quickly and was back home within 15 hours. She now is a month old and is a pretty good baby. She is up to over 8lbs and a really good sleeper (Thank goodness!!). Marshall is adjusting pretty well to being a big brother. We definately are adjusting and have our very trying moments but he is nice to her (no hitting or anything, but he avoids her and consequenly us a fair bit). He is a really great helper and is always trying to put her soother in, or put on her socks and things. It has been wonderful to have our competed family. We have had a ton of guests so it has been really nice to have helpers around . Matt & I are still loving Grande Prairie and we were lucky that Matt could take a couple weeks off with us so we were able to spend lots of time as a family. Anyways, that's about it for us, I hope you are all well and thank you so much for all of the lovely facebook messages and cards. It is so sweet! I included a bunch of pictures of all of us from the first couple weeks.

Love Always, Your Sister

Gina