More pictures - Lena at home

Click to view the latest pictures of Lena Rose at home.

Hello Baby!

Helena Rose

Helena Rose Lauriat was born healthy and beautiful on Thursday, October 14, 2010 at 4:36pm. She weighed 8lbs 0oz and measured 20in long. After delivery by an emergency c-section, we are so thrilled to have her safely with us!

Little "Lena" is doing great - she is super sweet, great at feeding, and melting the heart of anyone who meets her. She is the best. baby. ever. (But then, the author of this blog may be a little biased...) :)

Mom is still feeling a bit out of sorts, but should be headed home by Monday. We'll have more updates and more pics soon!

Canadian Fundraiser eNews series Part 3

The third and final installment of my series for Canadian Fundraiser eNews has been published.

Read it here:

Tips for Event Success, part 3: Execution

from another blog, on being a Dad (or Mom)

You just broke your child. Congratulations.

A great read for parents from another blog. Thanks to Leigh for sharing!

Parents

When you're a kid, you think your parents are gods.
When you're a teenager, you think your parents are stupid.
When you're an adult, you think your parents are human.
When you become a parent, you realize your parents are saints.


Thanks to my co-worker, Nancy, for this tidbit of wisdom!

Writing Tip of the Week: Autoanonyms

Words that can take two (or more) opposite meanings are known as autoanonyms. (They are also known as contranyms, antilogies, and Janus words.) If there is another word that is just as descriptive but only has one meaning, using that would be a better choice. After all, we rarely want to create confusion when we write.

Autoanonym Examples

Fast – moving quickly or fixed firmly in place

Overlook – watch over carefully or fail to notice

Aught – anything or nothing

Trim – to reduce or to add to; ornament

As we’ve all heard or even learned the hard way, spell check is a great tool, but it can’t catch everything. These tricky little –nyms often sneak past your standard spell check. The English language has many tiny jewels that can trip up even the most proficient writer.

Canadian Fundraiser eNews series

I have been writing a series for Canadian Fundraiser eNews on successful event planning for nonprofits. Please feel free to read Parts 1 and 2 about planning and promotion at the links below. Part 3 coming Sept 30!

Tips for Event Success, part 1: Practical Planning Tips
Tips for Event Success, part 2: Practical Promotion Tips

Techie Baby

Yes, that's right - We have a new addition on the way!

My husband and I are greatly looking forward to finally meeting our little girl.

This has been quite an experience for us. While the geek in me wants to read up on What to Expect When You're Expecting and every other resource I can find, there is only so much I can research to prepare. It's a bit like trying to learn how to drive a manual shift car by reading the manual. Ha!

I have been getting a lot of questions lately about baby registries and what we still need. Partly because this pregnancy hasn't been the easiest for me to get up and get out and partly because I'm just the "e" kind of shopper, I've got a couple of baby registries you can browse online. As well as some advice for those who just want to get out and have an excuse to get their hands on all that adorable baby stuff.

First, I must give a HUGE THANKS to my cousin for bequeathing to us almost all of the basic baby necessities - including a crib, car seat, high chair, jogging "disc golf" stroller and so much more! There is very little I still actually need. But here goes

1) Baby Registry on Amazon or you can goto amazon.com/babyregistry and search for me by name: Stacy Dyer

2) Babies R Us or again, just go to babiesrus.com (or any store) click on "find a registry" and search for me by name

3) Clothing. For those here in Austin, Texas, who love to browse baby clothes, I might recommend Once Upon a Child. There is a location right around the corner from my office (hint, hint to co-workers who want to power shop during lunch) and it has lots of adorable baby clothes for good prices. I already have plenty of small (0-3mos) stuff, so please try to buy bigger (6 or 9mos+) and consider that by then it will probably be winter by then (or what passes for it here in Austin) so buy seasonally cooler items.

4) Books. We are also very interested in favorite baby books that you remember from your own childhood, or from what you've loved reading to your own little ones. Emile is a bit of a book nerd, so please consider adding your favorite choice to our library.

I keep you posted with lots of pictures when she finally arrives!

How to Achieve (and Maintain) Inbox Zero

5 Key learnings from my quest for E-mail Nirvana

1) 4 D Rule
Do. Defer. Delegate. Delete.

2) Minimize your folders
Only need three: 1-In Progress. 2-Waiting. 3-Done.
Don't waste time endlessly filing and organizing your email. Only permit yourself 3 primary folders. You can always go back and organize items you want to archive in the "done" folder as time permits later. (In truth, I rarely do this anymore. I usually find that the Search function is the quickest way to locate the item I need.)

3) Use rules liberally
Automatically categorize your emails with colors. One color for your boss, for example. Or another color for any email with the word "twitter" in it. (This is ACTUALLY one of my rules.) Set up rules to filter emails as they come in. File regularly expected emails, such as those from listservs or newsgroups, to be read at your leisure - this keeps the "cream" of personal emails rising to the top of your inbox.

4) Get what you give.
Send the kind of emails you would like to receive. As in life, there are always those people who like to get the last word in. If you are one of these of people - take heed - I'm not playing your game! I have too many emails in my inbox to enjoy superfluous "thank yous" and "your welcomes" and "got its!" Before hitting send, read the prospective email again. Does it add to the conversation? Is it needed? If not, reconsider.

5) Keep it brief.
Since it is the era of instant communication and instant gratification, no one, it seems, has time to read long letters anymore. Status updates, news feeds, and the pace of life in general has killed the modern reader's ability to comprehend anything past the first 140 characters. (Are you still reading this?) If you do write a long-winded email, expect to repeat yourself because no one will have read it in the first place. If your message is too long to read on my cell phone, I probably won't have the time or the patience to read it.

Forever Books

My boss forwarded me this story about how BookSpring in Austin, Texas made an impact on one student and his school librarian. Read on...

I know we’ve talked now and again about my work at BookSpring. This story just was too touching not to share about our Reading is Fundamental program (RIF). Thanks for reading it, and if you have a chance to give a gift to a child this year, buy them a book (or two). It makes a huge difference.

From a librarian at an Austin elementary school:

Our children unfortunately move frequently. Part of the process of changing schools is the return of all library books. Last month a boy came into the library looking very sad. I tried to comfort him and showed him online pictures of his new school and his new librarian. He asked me again whether he had to turn in all his library books, couldn’t he at least keep one or two? He said “I sleep with them no matter where we are.” I shook my head. He opened his backpack and there were nine RIF books (along with his library books.) Joyfully, I explained that RIF books were forever gifts and library books were only borrowed. I hugged him goodbye and he left, smiling and clutching his backpack full of his forever books. Then I cried.