Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Introducing Callan Gregory Frost

March 15, 2013

Callan Gregory Frost

I would like to introduce you to our new son, Callan Gregory Frost.  He was born on March 12th at 8:13am and he came into this world in a much less stressful way than Elena.  He weighted in at 7 lbs 4 oz and is 20 1/2″ long.  Both mom and baby are doing very well and we where able to come home yesterday.

Gillian went full term and did not have any complication, no pre-eclampsia this time!  Callan was actually born on his due date, something that only happens about 2% of the time, so says my mother-in-law.  Gillian also did not need to have a c-section, which we have discovered is a much better way to do things.

Elena is ecstatic! Her baby Callan is finally here and not in Mommy’s belly anymore.  She has already started talking for him and bring him toys that are far to large for him.  She has been very sweet to him, I can only hope it stays that way … at least for the first year…six months?…ok, if she can go 3 months without demanding Callan goes back into Mommy’s tummy, I will call it a win.

I did purchase CallanFrost.com and avid readers of this thing may have noticed the “Callan” link in my Friends column.  His website is up and running, so feel free to visit for all things Callan…Elena might be in there a little as well, I doubt I will be able to take many pictures of him without her.  Pictures, like always, will be up on flickr as well.

So far he has been sleeping fairly well, so Gillian and I are not complete walking dead, of course it has only been two nights.  The little blonde opinionated two and half year old still wins the most frustrating child of the house award, Callan has a lot to training  before he can even think about taking a run at that crown.

The strangest thing for me is that it is not just Elena anymore, I can now say I am a father of two… weird.  Also, since Elena was really my only experience with babies I associate “baby” with “baby girl” so I find myself looking at the bright pink whatever in a store and I have to stop myself and say “wait, he is boy”.  Not that I would really care if my boy wears pink, I just don’t want to force it on him.

Oh and everyone asks about the name so here you go; Callan is just a name for a baby book, we liked it, that is it. Gregory was my Dad’s name, it was actually his middle name but he always went  by Greg instead of his given name of James, this caused a lot of confusion with people in his life, and death for that matter.  I thought it would be a great way to honor my father and give my son a little story to go with his middle name.

Alright, I have finished a post, something I haven’t done in a while, everyone is asleep so I should really stop typing and join them…I have a feeling I am going to need it.

 

 

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This Old House

March 20, 2012

Our House

On November 28th, after only about three months living in the Boyers basement (Thank you again) Gillian and I closed on our “new” home in Omaha.  We bought a 3 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 car garage home bulit in 1963.  Just for a reference, that was the same year Kennedy was assassinated.  This 2000+ square foot home was completely renovated… so time in the early 70’s.  It’s features include; wood paneling in the den, formal dinning room, three fire places, bright red carpet in the basement, a blue bathroom, a pink bathroom, a yellow bathroom, and wallpaper in nearly every room in the house!  I am not really complaining, it is a great house and everything is in excellent shape it is just old very, very old.  A lot of it Gillian and I actually like,  it is so dated it is kind of trendy again, or at least that is what we are tell ourselves.  I personally love the wood paneled den…Gillian, not so much.

It is a big house with plenty of space that we are planning on being in for a long time, so we haven’t gotten that fired up about changing everything.  I have started removing some wall paper, Gillian and I both agree that wall paper is stupid and ugly and if you intentional put it on your walls you should be attested for crimes against humanity.  Once the wall paper is removed, which at the rate I am going will take well into 2015, we will inevitably paint every room in the house.  The bright red carpet in the basement is probably not too long for this world and as most of the house has hardwood under the carpet I am going to need a dumpster to get rid of all the carpet and while we are at it we might as well update the hall bathroom and the kitchen could use new cabinets and the sliding glass door desperately needs replacing, and really all the widows need to be replaced…and I just got a nose bleed.

So, I guess this house is a lot like the last one, we don’t need to do anything to it but we will end up change everything.

Escape from Grand Island

December 15, 2011

Sold!!

Escape is actually a poor choice of words, Grand Island treated Gillian, Elena, and I very well and we feel incredibly guilty for leaving. We made some wonderful friends, gained amazing job experience, had a great house, and welcomed our first child in that town but both our families are in Omaha and I was give an opportunity I couldn’t refuse.

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Not A Post About Germany

August 6, 2011

Big Changes

This should be a post about Gillian, Elena, Linda and I’s trip to Germany to visit Brandon and Erika and Dan and Ines, but it is not.

The Friday before we left for Germany I had a job  interview with a company in Omaha called Conductix Wampfler, no I didn’t make that name up.  Three days before coming home I was offered the job, via e-mail.  After spending the last three days of our trip a bit stressed out over the decision we had to make, I accepted the job.  This job is a great opportunity to further my career and use my professional license, it gets us to Omaha, where we have wanted to live for some time now, and it is an increase in pay.  The only problem is the news of moving to Omaha has completely over shadowed our trip to Germany.

I promise on the next few posts I will get into the details of our trip with all the run-on sentences and poor grammar you have come to love.

So needless to say we are selling our house, commuting is just not an option!  So if there is anyone in the Grand Island area looking for a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom ranch on the Southeast side of town, do I have the house for you!!

Gillian has started her job search as well and managed to line up three job interviews last Friday!  This is why I had to find a job first, Gillian is in much higher demand.  All three interviews went very well and I would not be surprised if she has three job offers next week.

Now we just need to sell our house (seriously buy our house!) and buy a new one…easy right?

Until I can get to blogging about our trip, head over to Erika’s Blog she put together a post about her hectic July, which has a nice summary of our trip.  As always I have hundreds of photos of the trip in my sets of Flickr.

Ryan Frost, PE

May 28, 2011


I got a letter in the mail today, then I proceeded to hyperventilate, seriously ask Gillian. This letter informed me that I had passed the Mechanical Principles and Practices of Engineering examination. I passed the PE, I passed the PE, I…passed…the…PE!!! Thank you to everyone for the support and special thanks to my wife, Gillian, who had to put up with me being all kinds of crazy over the last 6 months. So, I would just like to say Booyah! and thank God I don’t have to take it again!

They can rebuild me, They have the technology

April 30, 2011

Ok, maybe reworking defective parts is a more actuate statement, either way last friday I got shot in the face with a laser and it gave me super powers.
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Professional…me?, why not?

December 14, 2010

Last week I officially registered for the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam, which is the last, 8 hour 80 question, step to becoming a Licensed Professional Engineer.  Becoming a Professional Engineer is something I have wanted to do since college and it is not as simple as just taking a test.  First off I had to graduate with a degree in engineering, BSME from the University of Nebraska, check.  Secondly,  I had to take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, this an eight hours exam consisting of 80 questions covering the brevity of my education.  I took this test in October of 2004, it was the most difficult exam I had ever taken and I walked away positive that I had failed it miserably…but I didn’t,  I passed!  Now, after the required five years of working experience, step three, I was able to submit an application to the Nebraska Board of Engineers for permission to take the PE exam.  The board approved my application and I will be taking the exam on April 8th.  Now I just have to spend the next three months studying.

On a similar note, after nearly two years of working as a contractor, I have accepted a permanent position with CNH, doing the exact same thing I have been doing for the last two years.  I was required to submit an application and resume and am going to be getting all new sign-ins and passwords… for a job I am already doing. My “start” date is Monday Dec 20th, of course I will still be there from now until Friday Dec 17th.  The benefit of being a permanent employee is, benefits!  CNH has very good insurance and as a new father, I all of a sudden care a lot more about that.

Introducing Elena Frost

June 30, 2010
I would like to officially introduce our new daughter,  Elena Fordyce Frost.  She was born today June 30th at 8:56 am.  She is 5 lbs 15 oz and 19 1/2 inches long.  She came out screaming and both her and mom are doing just fine.
Long story short, the induction did not work and due to the pre-eclampsia our doctor did not want Gillian to stay pregnant for any longer, so she went in for a c-section.  Now after all the stress and worry and IV bags (there where 5 of them at one point) everyone is doing fine.  Gillian is feeling much better and healing well, Elena is sleeping mostly but  has eaten a few times and I changed her diaper! Everything is starting to calm down and Gillian and I couldn’t be happier.

The Waiting Part 2

June 28, 2010
Ok, Gillian had an appointment this morning and her blood pressure was still high.  They want to do another 24 hour urinalysis, and want to monitor her blood pressure, so she has been admitted to the hospital.  She is doing alright and the baby is doing great, if the urinalysis comes back with higher amounts of protein they will start the process of inducing labor, if not we may go home for a while.  My money is on the later, but we will know more tomorrow.

The Waiting

June 26, 2010
Gillian is officially 37 weeks pregnant and her uneventful pregnancy has made an unfortunate turn to the more dramatic.  A few days ago Gillian had a pounding headache, her fellow OTs immediately took her blood pressure and it was high.  She went into the OB a few hours later and she had her do a number of tests, including collecting her urine for 24 hours, “Don’t drink the stuff in the brown jug in the frig” and a non-stress test.  Long story short, it looks like she has the beginning signs of preeclampsia.  Gillian is on bed rest, she is doing fine and goes into the doctor again on Monday. We are taking it day by day, if things don’t change she could deliver at 39 weeks, if things get worse it could be sooner.  Gillian had another ultra sound, so we are now sure Elena is a girl and we also know she is very healthy.  Though all of this we have been told a number of times that the baby is doing great!  Delivery will most definitely happen before July 17th, we are not sure what our plans for the 4th of July are going to be yet, we may be at the hospital.
More news as it comes!