News

Chris and I are very pleased to announce the arrival of our fabulous baby son, Alexander Barnes Nolan.

He arrived Tuesday January 23rd at 1:14pm and this past week has been the most amazing (and terrifying) of my life. I don't know how to put into words what it feels like: suddenly we are responsible for this wonderful tiny little boy. Every waking moment revolves around him and every new thing that he does.
He was born at 38 weeks, by unplanned cesarean, weighing in at 8lb 5oz. It was such a relief to hear his first cry when he was born. He received an apgar score of 9/10

We have posted many of his photos for you to view, feel free to add comments.

It took us a while to decide on a name, we both love the name Alexander, but didn't want something that all his classmates would also be named. Luckily Alexander is not as popular a name as it used to be, he might end up being called: Alex, Lex, Xander, or Alexander. He may even change it as he grows up, like I did with: Jenny, Jennie, Jeni, Jen, and Jennifer. We are using my maiden name as his middle name since we wanted to provide something that provides history as well as something unique. I am also pleased to continue my father's family name in his name.

Chris has also posted an announcement on his blog.

We will continue to blog and post photos as time (and baby) permit.

    Last night I had a fabulous Pregnancy Massage at the Stillwater Spa (Hyatt hotel - Toronto). I got a gift certificate as a gift for Christmas and I strongly recommend it as a gift if you know someone who is pregnant, especially if they are in their third trimester. It is called Stillwater Aqua Therapy, but it is ideal for pregnant women. The feeling of weightlessness is amazing, you can completely relax and just listen to the background music (and occasional low rumble from the subway). The water is kept at around 100 Celcius so you don't have to worry about it being too warm.
They have a small pool, maybe 10ft by 10ft and 4ft deep. The RMT puts floats under your legs and supports your head with their arms. Then you get moved around the pool, and the resistance of the water provides a soothing stretch. The RMT moving your arms and legs into various positions to stretch different areas. It is actually somewhat similar to a Thai massage (without cracking of the joints). It is also like a chinese massage with the pressure points. It was probably one of the strangest spa treatments I have ever had (and I have had massages in Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Lao, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Tibet and a few other countries).

The hard part was having to get out of the pool when we were done and feel all the weight come back. But I really did sleep well last night. I woke up at 7:00am this morning fully refreshed (and I am not a morning person).

I would like to pay a tribute to my fabulous Grandpa who died yesterday at the age of 98. He passed away peacefully in his retirement home in England, and he had a chance to see all his 4 children beforehand. Even my Mum was able to fly from Toronto to England to be with him.

He grew up in a different world and has seen so much change over his lifetime. As wikipedia states: "The twentieth century was a period of radical departure from almost every previous area of human activity. Accelerating scientific understanding, better communications, faster transportation transformed the world in those hundred years more than any time in the past. It was a century that started with steam powered ships as the most sophisticated means of transport, and ended with the space shuttle. Horses, and other pack animals, Western humanity's basic form of personal transportation for thousands of years were replaced by automobiles within the span of a few decades."

But is the world a better place today than it was 98 years ago? We have polluted our world, possibly beyond recovery and we continue to mass-produce and mass-consume products and packaging at a phenomenal rate.

This year has really been a shift for me in focusing on what is really important: and that is family. If music is the universal language, then family is the universal constant. It doesn't matter where you live or what language you speak, the importance of family is global.

I am sad that Grandpa will not be around for the birth of our child. Actually, a few years ago, Grandpa was commenting that it was strange that he had 11 grandchildren, most of whom were in their 30's, but he did not have a single great-grandchild. Now that is changed and it seems babies are poping up everywhere amoung the cousins.

My sister, Katy, always had a special bond with Grandpa, and I imagine them chatting together wherever they are today.

    We are putting together a team to walk 5km and raise funds in support of the Brain Tumour Center at Princess Margaret Hospital, in memory of Kate Barnes.
If you are in Toronto and want to join us during the walk, then register online, select "Join an Existing Team", enter "JourneyOfKate", select the team from the search results, and register.
If you are not in Toronto or if would like to support our fundraising, then please sponsor one of the walkers. We have a team web site - you can select one of the walkers on the page and sponsor them online.
The "Head for a Cure" walk is scheduled for Sunday, October 15th. It is organized as part of the Toronto Marathon (but we only need to walk 5km).

Thank you, Jen (Kate's sister)

    Women bloggers unite!
Preparations are now underway for BlogHerNorth, a Canadian version of BlogHer.
We have received some great feedback from the women (and men) that we have been talking to about our plans to bring this conference to Toronto.

BlogHer's mission:
To create opportunities for women bloggers to pursue exposure, education, and community

This mission is accomplished through an online network of women bloggers (www.blogher.org) and an annual conference in California. BlogHerNorth is the extension of BlogHer's mission into a uniquely Canadian environment.

    If you met me (Jen Nolan) at BarCamp or Mesh and have come here looking for my posts, I actually put them on other blogs:

My BarCamp session on J2EE vs RubyOnRails

First Impressions of Mesh

Great Networking at Mesh