my... how things change...

This time last year we were abuzz with news of our travels around the USA in the lead-up to Lotusphere 2006, but this year it's a very different story indeed. This year, apart from sadly not being able to make the trip to Lotusphere 2007, Laurette and I have welcomed the beautiful little Emily Grace Rynne. There is one similiarity between being a new parent and a trip to Lotusphere for those of us from the other side of the world - the constant feeling of jet-lag!

If you've read the story on Laurette's blog, then you'll know that we've delivered almost the perfect contractor baby scenario - after a 40-week delivery schedule, Laurette went into final UAT (hospital) on the day before the due date. Whilst the baby was technically "complete" and "signed off", there was still the matter of the delivery before the project was truly complete. After considering our options for implementation (delivery) - parallel, rip and replace etc, we decided on a full deployment. After pulling an all-nighter, she was delivered at 3.30am on the morning of her due date (January 4, 2007) - which gave us until around 6am to tidy things up and complete the paperwork... just in time to sign off on the deal as promised before the business day got under way.

How are things going so far? - well... it's certainly a shock to the system to be constantly, relentlessly, on-call 24/7 to her demands (although, I guess being married to Laurette has been a good preparation!). We're getting used to the concentrated efforts every four or so hours - getting through the cycle of feeding, changing, settling, (singing, dancing), and then hoping that she sleeps enough so we can have a chance to recover for the next time around.

It's a case of "so far, so good" I suppose - don't get me wrong - there have been times where I've found myself up at 3, 4 and 5am trying to remember the words to any lullaby I've heard in the last 30-odd years, and finally settling on making up my own... we love her completely, and as new parents, we're facing all the challenges and fears that come with the territory, and, as tired as we might be... if we're honest, we're loving every minute! (well... almost every minute!)