Hiding places

Oliver is getting to know his new home and checking out all the nooks and crannies to play in.

Diapers, wipes and a bowl.

One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong..... remember that song? Well, it's not a hard game this time around, obviously the bowl is a little off. Well, not in my house. Lately the bowl has become standard diaper changing gear.


So far this pregnancy has turned out to be quite a bit different than my last. I never felt sick a day with Oliver, never had any of the standard things woman get like cravings, back pain, sleep problems... Sorry, I'm bragging. Unfortunately, this time I had morning sickness (all day sickness is more like it) which has thankfully subsided but I'm left with a sensitivity to a few smells. Oliver's diapers being one of them. Don't get me wrong, obviously diapers are never pleasant but I've never gagged uncontrollably while changing them. Oh and conveniently, O's turned into a super pooper all of a sudden and has been going 4 times a day. For my own sanity I'm going to have to cut back his fruit intake. TMI Right?


The other differences so far are back pain (not serious yet just annoying) and acne. A couple weeks ago these horribly large red lumps showed up on my chin and haven't left. These are like something I've never had before. I didn't even have acne as a teenager! This sucks.


So over all, I'm not loving this pregnancy like I did last time. I figure I can deal with alot of symptoms and side effects as long as I don't get varicose veins. That's something I just can't handle... I hope the pregnancy gods are listening.

More pics of town

We took a walk around town today since the winds have finally died and we could go out without blowing away. We've had 3 days of bad weather so it was nice to see the sun and be able to get out of the house.

This is Pang's tiny detachment.

Right next to the detachment is the Northern.

And next to that is the health center.

A little farther down the road is the harbour which is getting a 17 million dollar upgrade in the near future. Stephen Harpur announced that when he was here a few months ago.

Uqqurmiut Centre for arts and crafts. I haven't been in yet but I can't wait to go. They make the famous Pang Hats there as well as these amazing mitts that my friend Meaghan got for Christmas. I'm so looking forward to getting a pair of my own. Check out their catalogue here.

We have our own post office in Pang instead of just a counter at the Northern. It shares the building with the radio station.

As usual Tank made an impression. He had quite a few kids come up and want to meet him along the way.

And back to the house. Ours is the white one just to the left of the yellow shed.

Yeah!!

Oliver came up with this all by himself, the 'yeah' part I mean. And he says it every time. My kid's too cute.

Foodmail Folly

I've heard many stories about problems with foodmail since we've been up north. We are no exception. We've 'lost' a box of meat that we paid about $80 for that just never showed up. We've had things arrive damaged but over all these are things things that are shipping related. Last week we had our first real 'what the hell' moment.


It all started when Nick was checking the credit card statement and asked what I bought that would make our order cost $450. I was at a loss since I admitted that I had placed a bigger order than usual and had ordered a larger quantity of meat but nothing that should cost that much. Up to now our most expensive order was been around $300 so it was way above what I would have expected even for the largest of orders.

Well, Thursday comes around and this is what showed up.

Actually we got 2 of these.... What I had actually ordered was two Rib Eye steaks. In my order I had even referred to the flyer where the steaks were pictured as normal, single serving pieces of meat. And the reason for the $450 order? Well this is why:

And the other one was actually a few dollars more! So I guess if we want our steaks we're going to have to thaw this hunk of meat, slice it and invite a few friends over for a barbecue. Maybe the foodmail shopper knew we were moving to a new community and wanted to give us an excuse to socialize with our neighbours.

A few pictures

This the view I see my living room window. Too bad all the houses are in the way but still pretty awesome. I took this and the next one from my front deck.

These girls are playing on a child sized Arctic Cat in our 'back yard'. Yesterday there was three of these machines bombing around the house which was very cute yet very scary to see. They go pretty quick and I saw a few close calls between the drivers and kids on foot. The favorite game seems to be dragging someone behing the machine like you see in this picture. Sometimes on their bellies, sometime on their feet like they are skiing. Nick keeps saying he wishes Oliver was big enough to have one. I'm just glad by the time he is big enough we'll be long gone from the north.

Today we went to the very end of town and took this pic of the view towards the mouth of the fiord.

 

I love Photoshop Photomerge! This is the end of the fiord which is the famous view of Pang you see in the magazines. This place really is as beautiful as they say.I can't wait to see it in the summer.

On a more positive note...

So the weekend has come and gone and I'm feeling much better about everything. Having said that, Oliver woke up on Sunday morning at 3:45 am and refused to go back to sleep in the form of a major temper tantrum in his crib. Between the two of us, Nick and I managed to get a few hours of sleep each and made it through as best we could.


But, I choose to make this a positive post so I'll tell you that while I was napping on Sunday afternoon the cable got hooked up so that made my day much better. And even though Oliver didn't make it through the night once again last night, he went back to sleep pretty easily. AND he had a nap today which he hasn't done since we got here. So things are looking up!


Another positive experience was meeting Tara from Pang Bound. She invited me over for coffee on Saturday and we had a great conversation. It's always nice to meet a fellow blogger and even nicer to make a friend in a new community. I'm sure we'll get together again soon.


Positive experience number.... whatever. The Northern. We took a walk over there on Saturday to check it out and I'm hugely impressed. The store is huge and is much nicer than the one we had in Cape Dorset. The produce section was well stocked, they had lots of sewing and hardware stuff and the best part... FRESH MEAT!! I didn't think that existed in the north (outside of Iqaluit I guess) They had a huge T-bone steak for only $14 which I thought was a pretty decent deal. What wasn't a good deal but tasted soooo good was the Pizza Hut pizza we got on Friday night for supper. There's a KFC/Pizza Hut in the Northern so we had a little taste of southern fast food but when 2 medium pizzas cost $50 it's not something you are going to do often. Still, soooo good.


So I'm coming out of my slump and feeling much better. Bring on the boxes!

Livable... but that's about it.

Livable. That's how I'm describing my house at the moment. After a long a stressful week of packing, moving, unpacking, not knowing where my stuff is, babies that keep waking in the middle of the night, etc, etc. I decided that livable was enough till Monday. We worked really hard on Thursday and Friday to get the absolute necessities in life unpacked and in the places where they would live, at least for the time being. Those things being food, kitchen stuff, clothes and Oliver and Tank's toys. Doesn't sound like much but when the movers don't label anything it can take a while to go through 156 boxes to find it all. We sorted the 'still to be sorted' boxes into the spare room and the sealift room and I will set a goal to get through one or two every day till they're dealt with. I'm taking the weekend off and just living as best we can in the chaos.


Oliver hasn't been dealing well with the move which has been making everything just that much more difficult. He hasn't slept through the night since we got here... ok it's only been 3 nights but it's just not like him to do that. He's been up early every morning and for the most part has been needy and whiney unless he's in some one's arms. Sure makes it difficult to get anything done. He even threw his first full on temper tantrum today because I wouldn't give him the vitamin bottle he wanted to play with. He doesn't seem to get that no means no and screaming and crying at the top of your lungs won't get you anything but ignored around here.


And to top it all off... the cable guy was supposed to be here on Thursday and has yet to show up. And you all know how happy being without TV makes me. To say I'm exhausted is an understatement so livable is going to have to be enough.

The move in pictures

This was the last view of Cape Dorset I'll probably ever get.

Farewell town, we'll miss you.

Oliver did great on the plane. He actually fell asleep pretty much minutes after this picture was taken.

Our little private jet was packed to the gills. We were so lucky to be able to fly on the RCMP plane.

One of the pilots intruments. You can see the little white plane leaving Dorset and heading north to Pang. North-East I guess really.

The first new of our new home out the front window. Notice how the runway goes right through the middle of town.

Flying into Pang would be scary on a windy day. This pic isn't cropped, the mountain is actually that close when you look out the window.

We were greeted by Nick's new co-workers who unloaded our stuff. The pilot was picking up some of Pang's famous fish to take with him.

Talk about service. We were still on the tarmac when the freighter bringing our stuff landed right behind us. Once again, amazing service.

Nunavut Adventure- Phase 2

We arrived in Pang this afternoon so the move is over. Too bad the unpacking wasn't over too. I'm too tired to blog tonight but I thought I'd let you all know we're here and without incident. Oh, we've lost a cat somewhere in the house but it's nothing new for Zazu to hide so I'm sure we'll see her again soon. She's here somewhere.


More tomorrow, or when I can see around the boxes.

Moving List

Yard sale- Check
Work my last day- Check
Remove border from Oliver's room- Check
Sort through old papers- Check
Remove remenants of Tank's rawhide from carpet on landing- Check
Take down shelves- Check
Pack clothes we don't want movers to take- Check
Choose dishes/pots/pans to keep us till our stuff comes- Check
Get stuff together to be sent to social services- Check
Change address with companies- Check
Set up new phone- Check
Find pills to drug the cats on the plane- Check

Still to do-
Clean the house-
Get laundry done-
Wait on the packers-

Looks like we're almost ready to go. The packers come Monday, assuming the coming storm is over by then, and we should be gone on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to getting settled in my new home.

Correction

I've just been informed that in my excitement about the diapers on Well.ca I missed the part where they say will ship to 10 Canadian provinces. That leaves us northerners out, the people who need it the most! I guess we're back to square one on the diaper problem.

Sorry if I caused any unnecessary excitement and jubilation.

The new Well.ca

I don't know if you've checked out Well lately but if it's been a while, it's time. They have revamped their site and have added tones of new stuff like batteries, electronics and kitchen supplies. They even have super cute diaper bags!

I went to place an order today and I feel like I've hit the jackpot. They now have diapers!!! They are slightly more expensive than they would be if you bought them at your local Superstore. However, at $22.49 (for Pampers) they're a steal compared to the $32.99 I would have to spend at MY local Northern. I was starting to worry because we're running out and sealift is still quite a few months away. I'm so happy to have a way to cover the gap. And as always... Free Shipping! Even with the slightly higher prices I don't know how they make any money shipping to the north. Can you imagine what the post office must charge to send a box of diapers?
Check them out.

Puppy Cuddles

I've been searching for the perfect picture for a new header which is hard to get. I finally caught this pic on a rare day both the boy and the dog were in a lazy mood. They layed like this for quite a while. It was pretty cute.

Deuce or Deuce-ette??

Long before I got pregnant with Oliver I knew that I didn't want to know if I was going to have a boy or a girl. I think the sex of your baby is the only real and true surprise in life and I couldn't wait to experience the apprehension and excitement of that impending surprise. Nick didn't feel this way at all. But being the wonderful husband he is, he agreed to go along with my wishes and even made me keep to my initial plans when I got weak and almost gave in to my curiosity before my ultrasound. This time around we decided to go with Nick's wishes and find out what kind of baby this is. Most people have to wait till their 20 week ultrasound to find out but I've discovered a loophole. It's called Intelligender.

I heard about this test on that horribly annoying daytime show 'The Doctors' when it first started and I could actually stand to watch it. I thought it might be something fun to do so when I found out I was pregnant this time I ordered it. The test is supposedly formulated to react with the chemicals that are present in a mothers urine and tell you whether you're carrying a boy or a girl. They claim that it's 90% accurate in lab testing and about 82% in the real world.

So this morning I peed in the cup, followed the instructions and anxiously awaited the 10 minutes till we could read the results. The test turned green instead of orange (the color at the very bottom of the vial) so the verdict is..... BOY!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not painting the baby's room blue based on this information but I am excited at the prospect of knowing Oliver may have a little brother. We'll see in 6-8 weeks when I get the next ultrasound if the test is correct. Nick pointed out that since they have a 50-50 chance of guessing right no matter what it says it seems like it's a huge money grabbing gimmick. Whatever, it was fun.

Deuce

I guess Oliver let the cat out of the bag..... yup, I'm pregnant. I thought the shirt would be a fun way to make the annoucement. I have to give credit to one of my facebook friends, Chantal who did it that way a couple of years ago. I loved it and always knew I'd steal the idea when the time came. For the people asking for details, I'm just over 11 weeks along and am due September 20th.

It's very exciting but so far I'm not enjoying it as much as I did the first time around. I'm having touches of morning sickness most days and am feeling very tired, neither of which I felt with Oliver. Considering how easy I had it last time I guess I deserve it and it could be much worse so I'm not going to complain. The worst part for me is that I'm feeling creatively drained. I don't want to sew or work on any of my projects. Blogging has been a struggle lately too. You may have noticed I've been posting a lot of pictures instead of writing. That's a good thing for you cause I'm having a hard time putting thoughts together let along doing it in an entertaining way. And I hate to bore you all.

Ok, I guess I should stop complaining now since I said I wasn't going to complain and just say that we are excited about having a sibling for O. The family is thrilled too of course and are anxiously awaiting their granddaughter. Yes, granddaughter. They are convinced this one will be a girl since all the grandkids on both sides are boys. I'm not sure what I'm hoping for yet but I am feeling girl vibes. I also don't know that Steeves know how to make girls which is why Nick's mother has 3 grandsons. We'll have to see. I'm hoping to have an educated guess soon but that's for another post. Gotta spread out those good topics!

Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and congratulations.

Oliver's big announcement

In Training

Sunday we had a few people over to watch the big game and Nick took the opportunity to give Oliver his first lesson in stocking the fridge. I know Nick wishes that it was beer being stocked but the lesson is the same. Next he'll learn how to go to the fridge and bring dad one of those newly stocked items. By the time we have access to beer again he should be really good at both activities.