This post is mostly for family members and friends: if you’re looking for our baby registry, unfortunately Babies ‘R Us doesn’t have a function to directly link to the registry. So here’s what you need to do to find it:
Our son is due to arrive on or around August 29th. 🙂
On Thursday Ashley went for her second ultrasound, and we were told some very exciting news we’ve been anxious to hear: we’re having a baby boy! Ashley, and pretty much everyone else, was sure it was going to be a girl, but I had a hunch it was going to be a boy. We’re very excited about this news, and I’m already thinking about which superhero I’ll dress the little guy up in first. 😉
On Sunday the 1st of March, 2009, Ethel Dunn, known to our family as “Nana”, passed away in Red Deer Alberta. It was sudden so there was no opportunity to say goobye, but she didn’t suffer, for which I’m thankful. My only regret is that she won’t be here to greet my child, which will be the first grandchild from our part of the family. Goodbye Nana, we’ll all miss you…
It didn’t last more than a few seconds, but it was still quite amazing to hear the heartbeat of my baby. Wow. 🙂
I wanted to share some special news: I’m going to be a dad! The above picture of Baby Dunn, aka Dunn 2.0, aka The Dunnling, was taken today at Ashley’s first ultrasound. She’s 12 weeks pregnant. We found out on the morning of December 24th, so it was a wonderful surprise for us and for our families. In typical geeky fashion, our way of announcing it to our families was to print out individual Christmas cards (see below) and give them to everyone at the same time – the look of puzzlement, followed quickly by delight, was quite the wonder to behold. Ashley is due August 30th. I wanted to get this quick announcement out the door – I’ll post more ultrasound pictures later, along with the thunderclap that hit me when I saw my baby move for the first time. One word: wow. God is good!
That’s a picture of tiny Liv Arwen Berreth, the daughter Kim and Mitch, some good friends of Ashley and I. Liv (pronounced “Leave”) was born at 6:40 pm on Saturday the 9th, many weeks too early, and only weighs 810 grams. That’s one LITTLE baby! Both baby and mother are doing well. Welcome to the big world Liv!
VIOLANTE – Crystal Alison (nee Hehr)
March 2, 1976 – December 12, 2007
“It is with profound sadness that Crystal’s family announces her passing after a courageous battle with cancer. Crystal passed away on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at the age of 31 and will be missed immensely by those whose lives she touched.
Crystal was born in Calgary and attended Mount Royal College, graduating in 2004 with a Bachelor of Applied Communications (Public Relations). She met the love of her life, Anthony in 1999 and they have been inseparable since. Crystal loved music, dancing and traveling but her biggest joy and passion was Anthony and Mattea, family and friends. People were drawn to Crystal because of her passion for life and her magnetic personality; her motto was “love always, live life and no regrets.”
Besides her loving husband Anthony, Crystal is survived by their daughter Mattea René; mother Mavis (Gary) Nugent of Creston, B.C.; her sister Holly Hehr of Calgary, AB; father-in-law Domenik (Patrizia) Violante of Kingston, ON; mother-in-law, Barbara Violante (Bryon) of Chestermere, AB; adoptive father Murray Colclough (Jo-Anne) of Calgary, AB; grandmother Mary Hehr of Caroline, AB; and numerous extended family and friends.
A Celebration of Crystal’s Life will be held at McINNIS & HOLLOWAY’S Chapel of the Bells (2720 Centre Street North) on Sunday, December 16, 2007 at 2:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, tributes may be made directly to Rosedale Hospice c/o Hospice Calgary, Suite 900 833 – 4 Avenue S.W., Calgary, AB T2P 3T5, Telephone: (403) 263-4525, www.hospicecalgary.com. Forward condolences through www.mcinnisandholloway.com. or visit www.loveforcrystal.com.
In living memory of Crystal Violante, a tree will be planted at Fish Creek Provincial Park by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES, Chapel of the Bells, 2720 CENTRE STREET NORTH Telephone: (403) 276-2296.”
A few minutes ago Ashley called and told me that our friend Crystal passed away. She had been in a local hospice for the past couple of weeks, and her body finally succumbed to the cancer that was ravaging it. The world is a darker place today without Crystal in it – she had such a light, such a love of life, such vibrancy. Crystal loved butterflies, so the above photo is for her.
Cherish your loved ones today and always – you never know when life will turn your world upside down.
The title says it all: the Vibe 98.5 contest that I posted about earlier is now over, and Crystal and Tony didn’t win. The couple that won sound like they really needed it (the husband has colon cancer), so it’s great that the prize is going toward a couple that will really benefit from it…but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really hoping Crystal and Tony would win it. I emailed the radio station Webmaster and urged him to implement something to block repeat voting next time – I hate to think this, but their voting system was so open it would have been ridiculously easy to cheat; you just never know (I’m sure others would be thinking the same thing if Tony and Crystal won).
I’m deeply grateful for all of you who voted, for the blogs and emails that went out around the world rallying support, and for the donations that were made to help Crystal and Tony – you guys are awesome.
[For the geeks among you: I’ve gotta’ say though, no thanks to the cold-hearted people who read Digg – only 13 votes? Really? Nothing but coal in the stocking for anyone that read the story and didn’t vote for it. Digg is a ridiculous farce in many ways – the premise sounds great, but the reality is so much different.]
[Crystal on her wedding day in July 2007]
I’ve written about my friend Crystal before, and she’s not doing very well – the cancer is laying waste to her body. It’s only a matter of time, and my heart feels heavy when I think of what she’s going through. She’s such a vibrant, fearless, loving person – and the world will be a lesser place when she’s gone.
There’s an opportunity to bring some light into her last days, however: Crystal, her husband Tony, and their seven-month old daughter Mattea have been nominated for a “Dream Baby Shower” in a contest a local radio station is running. There are $50K in prizes, including a $5000 Registered Education Saving Plan that will grow to $9000 by the time Mattea is 18 years old, $5200 worth of grocery gift cards spread out over a year, and bi-weekly house cleaning for a year. When Tony is on his own with Mattea, having food and house cleaning taken care of would be a burden off his shoulders.
Their profile with a brief backgrounder can be read for further details, and voting is done on this page. I’m sure the other contestants are wonderful people, but winning this contest is something that this family needs right now. I don’t think I’ve ever made a request like this before online, but please forward this blog entry to others and vote as many times as you can (yes, you can vote an unlimited number of times) until the November 25th deadline. Thanks for your support – let’s make this happen!
[A technical note for you geeks out there: the voting system doesn’t block multiple votes via cookies or IP, so it seems designed to be a “repeat popularity contest”. I was able to vote 50+ times in a matter of minutes by positioning my mouse cursor over the vote button, clicking it, using my previous page mouse button, then clicking again. Please, no automated scripts though, let’s keep this fair – well, as fair as a voting system like this can be. I’ve also submitted this to Digg, so please vote for it there as well to get the issue more attention.]