Chromilo Amin

Kyle's 2 month old now and we went to the doctor's office to get his first shot. Like any new parent, this was very hard to do. It was worst than going to the see the dentist. It was quick however and everthing worked out. He didn't even get cry that much. What a good kid.

My wife gave birth to a healthy boy at Surrey Memorial Hospital birthing unit Tuesday evening on April 22nd at 7:32pm. Mom and baby are fine. My wife Grace had to go through a long labor starting midnight on Monday when we had to rush to the family birthing unit to assess how far along she was. We had to wait a full hour at admissions before getting told that she was only dilated 2-3 cm and had to go back home until she was 4 cm dilated. How would we know she was much further along? We were told to count how long the contractions took when it occured and how frequent the contractions. When frequency was every 3-5 minutes and when it lasted a full 60 seconds, then we would rush back to the hospital to get re-admitted. It was hard having to determine exactly how far along Grace was because she was moaning and groaning in pain. We didn't have any sleep all night because she was in pain and I had the terrible responsibilty of waiting for her pain to occur at an interval. I had our wall...

Every year on April, my work sets up a couple of fitness activities and encourages all employees to participate by paying for all the lessons and rentals for that activity. The most popular is Snow Day, which includes skiing, snowboarding, toboganning, and snow shoeing. I have been taking the beginner lessons in snow boarding for a couple of years now. This year, I thought I would try the intermediate level and was lucky enough to get the lesson instructor to myself because all the others that signed up for the same level couldn't make it. I was able to again try our toe- and heel-edge, and was also able to link turns. The one thing I need to work on is on making the S-turns consistently without falling on my ass. I think I just need to work on my leg muscles more in order not to get leg cramps very early on. I love snowboarding but just wish I had the stamina for it.

My wife and I attended an Air Supply concert at Riverock theater in Richmond last Saturday and it was great. We finally got to see Russell Hitchcok and Graham Russell. We got to shake Russell's hand and he even kissed Grace's hand because we sat at the very front row of the theater. They sang all our favorite love songs and it was all perfect because it was the week before Valentine's. We even ran into Uncle Oscar and Auntie Alice. It was all worth it and I didn't know Graham was such a funny stand-up guy. Russell was the better singer though and I'm sure everyone thought the same as well because everyone wanted to shake his hand.

Our lovely home is located in a quiet cul-de-sac neighbourhood in Sullivan Heights, Surrey. Our home has a backyard, beautiful garden, a deck with a hammock for relaxing and studying in the summer. We live near bus stops minutes away to King George & Surrey Central Station skytrain stations. We are also accessible to schools: 1) King George International College 2) Pacific Canada College 3) SFU 4) Kwantlen University 5) Sullivan Heights Secondary School Close to shopping malls/centres, Newton public library and YMCA recreation centre, parks and golf course. Beautiful 1 fully-furnished bedroom available to international homestay student or visitor. Bedroom includes: - a queen size bed, large window covered with blinds; - shared jack-and-jill bathroom/shower - desk with chair, closet, and TV with full cable. - High speed wireless internet available in your own room for your laptop. Computer can also be provided. - TV with DVD and computer in the family room - Linens, beddings and bla...

We had a blast this past holiday season. We spent Christmas at my sister Ruby's house. It was nice because all of my family was at the table for some vietnamese style hot pot dinner. I do try and enjoy these yearly gatherings as much as possible because I know that it can't last. My wife and I had to dash over to Sid's house then to Ninang May's house. It was tough driving around in the eve of Christmas and I think I would have rather stayed in one place that night - my sister's house. During New Years, we hosted it at our new house. We had help from Ate Marlene and I'm so grateful for that because I didn't want my wife to get overworked. I did try to help as much as I could in the kitchen but having Ate Marlene around for the food preparation was paramount. Couldn't have done it without her. We had a lot of fun dancing and singing until the countdown. It was the biggest turnout for a long time and we are glad. Nice to start 2008 with family and friends.

It's been a couple of months since my last post. We are now into our 20th week of pregnancy and everything is going well so far. We saw the ultrasound pictures early on at 16 weeks and will be going to another one in the first week of December. Going through ultrasound is not a very pleasant experience because of the amount of water one has to drink in order for the machine to clearly detect the baby. When you are pregnant with a full bladder, the feeling can be a little uncomfortable. I was at a company function that time and couldn't join Grace at the doctor's office for the ultrasound visit but fortunately, Ate Feli was around and she helped Grace to the clinic. I'm excited about the next ultrasound because we may finally get to find out my kids sex. I really don't care if its a boy or a girl. It'll simply help us with deciding on baby names and other baby paraphenelia. Grace has now gained some weight and she said she is feeling some "butterflies" ...