Precious Monuments

Just something goofy I threw together with Photoshop. Enjoy!

The Many Faces of Sage

A few days ago I let my camera go nuts as my son was doing the same. Here are our favorites!









He's doing great, he looks like he's growing! He's making his first non-cry or fuss noises, he's holding eye contact for longer periods of time, and has really strong arms and legs.

Oh and already he has more clothes than Amy and me combined.

Later!

"The New Kid"

After 8 1/2 months of waiting, the new kid has made his appearance!

Presenting...Sage Patrick Wilde-McDowell, a young Sagitarius born on Thursday, November 24th, 2005 at 3:21pm PT. Now we'll look at the meaning of the day he was born. It was American Thanksgiving day in the California foothills...but more importantly, Burrito Night (every Thursday at our house). We didn't end up having burritos that night, but we did roll Sage into a tight swaddling cloth to kind of resemble a burrito. He shares a birthday with the actor who played 'Howling Mad' Murdoch on the A-Team, Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, 12th president of the United States Zachary Taylor, & serial killer Ted Bundy!

An excerpt from our e-mailed birth announcement:

I can honestly say that this was the most amazing day of our lives. Amy woke up with several strong contractions in a row at about 1:30am. By 2:30 the contractions were having a sharp edge to them and the mucous plug which holds the baby in came out into the toilet...labour had begun. Her water then broke at 3:45.

It was a long morning as the baby was unfortunately positioned posterior in the womb (head down, but facing the wrong way for an easy birth). The result was a longer labour with much back pain. Finally, at 2:35pm, Amy felt the first urge to push and we got into bed, her on her hands and knees, pushing with every contraction. At 3:15 we could see the head with a little hand waving hello along side it, and at 3:21, the baby popped out into his father's hands. What an unbelievable moment that was. He immediately began coughing and within 20 seconds of being born let out a peircing cry to announce his arrival. For the longest time we both lay there in bed crying and laughing and looking at him.

He was born one and a half weeks earlier than his due date, and weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces and measured 19.5 inches from head to foot.

He's healthy, active, nursing well, has 10 fingers and 10 toes, is unfortunately still working out mucous from his stomach, and loves attention, sleep, head rubs, and wearing clothes (you should hear how he cries when we change his diaper!)

His first name is one we really like, the meaning being 'a very wise man.' We had the hardest time coming up with his middle name, but finally decided on Patrick as it's a name we really like and is all Irish-like (you know us and our Irish thing).

So now without further ado are some pictures. A note to all you scrapbookers out there, we have the full-resolution digital photos to all these (and all photos posted on my blog as well) if you'd like to get copies made. You don't have to though. Only if you want to.

We'll have much more on our little Sage as time goes on, so until then, do as Sage does...sleep, drool, eat & poop and you'll be just as healthy and happy as he is.

3 hours after Sage's birth. Note the tired mommy!

Sage posing (20 hours old)

Here's lookin' at you kid! (20 hours old)

Sage & Taz (2 days old)

Sage in a sling on his first outside adventure (3 days old)

Amy's sister Kristin stayed overnight the day after Sage was born

The amazing elf-boy (3 days old)

Chris with Sage (4 days old)

A close-up

So just where the hell are we?

Many people have asked us, just where do you live?

I figure to do that, maybe I can start with a little geography lesson for y'all.

California has a few different distinct areas. Northern California, The Central Valley, The Sierras, The Foothills, The Coast, The Bay Area, Southern California, and the High Desert.

Here's a map...

Using the map, I'll define the areas...

Northern California...generally everything above the line created by the elbow of the California border where it meets Nevada. Draw a line straight west towards the ocean and everything above that is Northern California. There aren't any very large populated areas, and it's got a lot of forest.

The Central Valley...highlighted well by the word 'California' on the map. Continues through to just south of Bakersfield, where the valley ends with the Grapevine, as it's called. The central valley is hundreds of miles of flat farmland. It is also home to some pretty nasty air, as the pollution from the large coastal cities blows east until it hits the mountains, and of course settles in the Valley.

The Sierras...the Sierra Nevada mountain range which runs from the Oregon border down into Mexico. Yosemite National Park is located on this range.

The Foothills...the area between the Central Valley and the Sierras, this is the area where we live! Lots of hills, temperate climate and below the snow line.

The Coast...rather self evident. Everything along the ocean above Los Angeles.

The Bay Area...all the cities and towns surrounding the San Francisco Bay. Kind of their equivelent to the Golden Horseshoe.

Southern California (coastal)...Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Hollywood, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Pasadena and then further south is Orange County with Anaheim & Santa Ana, and further south is San Diego and the Mexican border.

The High Desert...after crossing the Sierra Nevada range, you come into desert that's high. Then you hit Nevada.

Well I hope that helps a bit. On the map, is the town we live in...a tiny town called Coarsegold (originally Coarse Gold Gulch). The town is about 35 minutes drive north of Fresno. While the town itself is small, it is spread out, and where we live is called Yosemite Lakes Park (YLP in the area), a large spacious community to the SW of the town.

Our house is rented, and has quite a large amount of property, populated with rock outcroppings, trees, and a creekbed (active in late winter & spring).

Our house, 30576 Holiday Dr.

Amy's cat Taz exploring our front yard

Sunset at YLP

So there you have it, that's where we live. I'll post pictures of the inside of our house and of Coarsegold itself soon.

Getting there is half the headache

Over the long weekend of October 14-17, Amy and I were in Montreal. First thing on the Friday morning we were at the American Consulate, being told off by a rep for using downloaded forms instead of the photocopies that they'd sent. Luckily, though, that was the only problem and after a nerve-wracking 2 1/2 hour wait, we had the interview with the world's friendliest government official-behind-glass. My Visa was approved, although we had to wait until Monday to pick it up.

We suffered through the rather miserable weekend, where we dodged rainy weather as best as we could. Got a few good pics though.

Amy at Parc Mont Royal

A waterfall from Mont Royal

Skyline from Parc Jean Drapeau

After getting the Visa, we bused back. The next day, Dad came over and helped us get our stuff on a truck and shipped.

The morning after that was the flight, Toronto to San Francisco via Chicago. The stopover allowed us to fly on 2 aircraft types that I'd been wanting to fly on for some time, United Airlines's huge Boeing 777s, and Air Canada's brand-new Embraer 175s. Dad gave us and our monsterous luggage a lift to the airport, and we got checked in, and got my Visa stamped by US Immigration. After an hour and a half wait, we excitedly boarded the Embraer. I took the window seat, and grabbed my camera. I pointed it out the window in preperation to take my first photo, when the warning flashed on 'NO MEMORY CARD.'

It couldn't be. I did not pack my memory card with the rest of our computer, right now on a truck rolling towards Los Angeles. Oh yes I did.

My saving grace was my camera's spare card, a 16 meg card that came with the camera, capable of taking like 6 good-resolution photos. Amy suggested changing the resolution on the camera, and was able to free up space for 28 photos, which would have to do me until we picked up our stuff in 5 days. What a bummer start to the trip, but oh well.

The flight in the brand new airliner was quite exciting!

The Embraer 175 booting over the suburbs of Chicago

One hour and 20 minutes from take-off, we landed at a busy O'Hare International Airport. There were thousands of people all over the place! It was without a doubt the busiest I had ever seen an airport. We fought the crowds to a quick lunch, and then to our chore for our 2 hour stopover...to get my work permit application mailed. The bonus was that the office we were to send it to was in Chicago, which meant if we could do it during our stopover, mailing time would be minimal.

We first hit a business center and got my passport and Visa photocopied. We then stuffed the application into an envelope and I walked miles to another terminal to the post office there to mail it. When all was said and done, that, plus our lunch, took up an hour and a half. Unbelievably big airport, that O'Hare! By that time they were boarding our next flight.

Caught this just before boarding it...United Airlines Boeing 777-200

The flight was delayed due to a delay in loading the baggage, but eventually we pushed back and taxiied towards the runway. On the way, I caught a shot of an Air Canada Embraer 175...not the same aircraft we had flown on, but same type and colours exactly.

Air Canada Embraer 175

We took off into the hazy Chicago sky, and after a 4 hour and quite bumpy flight, we began decending over the Central Valley of California. Just one problem though...I couldn't get my ears to equalize in pressure. Oh the agony as we dropped further and further! I couldn't believe the pain! That was the least enjoyable landing I'd ever experienced. But it was over, and we were actually in California!

We picked up our heavy luggage and walked out to catch a shuttle van downtown. My ears were still aching like crazy as we flew down the highways on the way to the Hotel Parc 55, the same hotel that Mike and Leigh-Anne were enjoying the last few days of their honeymoon at.

Unbeknownst to us, Donna had arranged our night's stay in one of the massive suites on the 31st floor. We'd actually stayed there once before, over Christmas, but it was nevertheless a nice surprise. I didn't bother using any of my last few photos on the room, but I did get a few nice ones of the view...

Looking North towards Nob Hill and the Golden Gate

Looking South

We got in touch with Mike and Leigh-Anne and they came upstairs to hang out. We actually got to use the big conference table in the room just for that purpose! After that, we all went out for some dinner at Lori's Diner and then called it a night. Somewhere in there I managed to equalize my ears and thus was no longer in pain.

The next day Amy and I ran some errands to a few health food stores around the city and had lunch at a raw foods cafe (Amy's NEW favorite restaurant (I accentuate NEW because she has a new one every few months)). We wasted some time with Mike and Leigh-Anne in their room, and caught a few photos....

The clouds covering half the downtown

A historic streetcar on Market St.

The clouds cleared up for this golden sunset

Early in the evening Donna arrived to drive us to our new house. We crossed the Bay Bridge out of San Francisco, and headed home! And that was it! The End!

Next:

-The circus act that was picking up our stuff from the shipping warehouse in L.A.
-Our House
-Our trip to San Diego (happening this weekend)

Welcome to the blog

Hiya folks,

Well, here it is, my new blog. I decided to create it as kind of a chronicle or journal of our lives now that we've left familiar ground behind. We have our own (rented) house now in the California foothills, the baby is just 5 weeks away, and life may never be the same! That was the inspiration to have some kind of written record I guess. Plus I thought people might like to keep track of us and keep in touch.

For those unfamiliar with blogs, it is short for weblogs. They're pretty popular, and I have the honour of being the first of the McDowells to have one! I think.

Well, now that the intro is out of the way, time to catch up on the past 2 weeks of our lives.