Saying good bye to an old friend...

We've reached a point in time that I thought would never come. After 15 wonderful years, sadly Billy is no longer with us. Over the last few days, his health and well-being deteriorated considerably and got to the point today where we knew that his time had come.


A few weeks ago we noticed that Billy had a number of lumps in his throat and, after investigation, the vet determined that his kidneys and liver were failing. He also suspected cancer of the lymph system. We knew at that point that we didn't have long with our old friend.

During the last few weeks we've tried to make him as happy and comfortable as we could, not to mention spoiling him rotten with cuddles, kisses, and LOTS of treats.

As I sit here typing this entry, I truly cannot believe that he's gone, and that he won't be plodding into my office to sit down on his mat next to my desk, won't come over to me in the living room and sit on my feet to "join" in the conversation, won't snuggle into me on the sofa, won't come for long walks in the woods, won't give me "kisses" on the nose when I'm sad... like right now when I could use it the most.

Never in my life have a known a dog like Billy, and I know I never will again.
Billy, my old pal, you are going to be truly missed.

3 months old... how did that happen?!

Its hard to believe that 3 months have passed by so quickly! In the blink of an eye it seems our little newborn baby has doubled in size and is babbling away like a little chatterbox!
He is such a joy... he wakes every morning with a little smile on his face and can't wait to tell us all about the dreams that he had that night. He literally spends the entire time we are changing his nappy every morning chatting away!

In the last 3 months we've certainly done a lot!
I'll provide a quick synopsis here so that I can write more about them at length later on.

Week 1 - Nana Kata was still with us and we went out for tea in Ely (see posting below!)
Week 2 - We survived our first week of parenthood flying solo! Brendan officially became a UK citizen today as we registered his birth with the City of Cambridge.
Week 3 - All four of us (can't forget Billy the dog!) took a trip up to Great Nana's house in Eccleston (see posting below)
Week 4 - We saw the arrival of Grandpa Savage and Rocio as well as Aunty Chlo! We had a lovely visit with them.
Week 5 - Flying solo again! (Aunty Chlo went up to see Nana Kata and Great Nana in Eccleston)
Week 6 - We were lucky to have Jeff and Jocelynn came to visit from Italy and Chloe returned from up North. It was a bit of a squish in our little house, but we had a lot of fun with everyone.
Weeks 7 & 8 - We had Brendan all to ourselves as we prepared for our little family's first Christmas! I was so excited!
Weeks 9 & 10 - The McGlynn clan from Mississauga came for a visit. Grandpa McGlynn and Aunty Tara were only able to stay for a week, but Grandma McGlynn looked after us for 2 weeks.

Weeks 11 & 12 - Just the 4 of us again and having a lovely start to 2008. Brendan has started his swimming lessons and he seems to LOVE the water! He's a little fish! I continue to meet with the "First Time Mum's" group and has met a number of nice ladies with whom to chat about baby poop, leaky boobs and feeling sleepy all the time!

And now here we are in Week 13 with our smiley little chatter box. After a busy day today watching Kevin's football match and then making marmalade (I know I'm weird, or so Kev keeps telling me!) its time for bed! That is if I can manage to claim a little bit of space somewhere in bed between Brendan and Kevin!
Love to all!

New Year's Resolution

Each year, it seems, I vow to myself that I'll change something in my life for the better (like eating more healthily or exercising more), improve myself in some way (learn a new language) or simply do things more efficiently or more often (like cleaning!). Yet, within moments of thinking these virtuous thoughts, I've forgotten and I'm back to my old ways!
This year will be different... This year, I have a purpose.


This year will be the year of Brendan!! I've decided, in an attempt to keep all friends and family up to date with Brendan's rapid growing and development, I will aim to write blog entries once a week (or at least once a month!! Let's be realistic!!) showing a photo of Bren and providing an account of his week.

This is the official first entry... I've put my intentions into writing and hope that I stick to it!
My next entry (once all the photos have been uploaded from the camera from Christmas!) will be an account of the last few months.

Hope everyone enjoys it!

Brendan's first road trip

This past weekend we trekked up to Lancashire to visit Katy nana and Great nana. Everyone spent 3 days staring at little Brendan. I'm certain the house could have blown down, and none of the ladies (mum included) would have noticed. It was a lovely visit and great to have 4 generations connect at one time.



This should be the first of many visitors (visits) over the next while. It's so lovely to have people share in our experience with little Brendan... although not too much... we have this increasingly daunting feeling that there is a finite amount of enjoyment to be had from his newborn stage, and we're afraid it might run out. Let's just say we already cringe at the thought of him growing and leaving his current state of innocent bliss... we're trying to avoid the topic of his first month bday on Saturday. :)

On the growing note... he seems to be doing head presses on a regular basis. He also has a tendancy to practise his technique while on Daddy's shoulder... which usually results in head-butting Daddy's nose. His grip is getting stronger too... just ask Emily how much hair he's already pulled out.

anyway, nappies call...

Happy Halloween & Happy one week birthday.

baby's arrival - part 2 025
Originally uploaded by mcglynn99.

Katie nana and mum & dad took little Brendan out for his first adventure. A trip to Ely to take nana out for tea as a big thank you for the super support she's given us over the last week+. For all those expectant parents out there... take the offer of support. It's never as easy as you think it might be to cope (of course, how can 63 hours of labour ever be easy!).

baby's arrival - part 2 030
Originally uploaded by mcglynn99.

Anyway, we then came back home and dressed Brendan up and took a few Halloween photos with Daddy's carving.

baby's arrival - part 2 044
Originally uploaded by mcglynn99.

And we actually had two trick or treaters this year. Hurray!! Part of me thinks the motivation was their mum trying to get the latest on little Brendan's arrival, but we were giddy nonetheless.

Happy Halloween everyone.

K, E & B²

Brendan's arrival

Brendan's arrival
Originally uploaded by mcglynn99.

The day has finally come. On October 24th at 4:57GMT, our little bundle of joy was born after a lengthy labour (63 hours).

Emily was a trooper going 53 of the 63 hours without assistance or pain relief. In the end, the doctor's needed to go in and get him via an emergency caesarean. All is ok though... both mum and son are doing well and getting used to be attached to one another 24/7. Actually we've been an inseparable threesome ever since we left the operating theatre... the first day of school might be tricky if little Brendan has mum & dad attached at each hip.

Brendan's arrival
Originally uploaded by mcglynn99.

For the record, he's the cutest baby I've ever seen (perhaps I could be biased, but judging by nurses and midwives reactions, I think I'm right). Remember his name, because he may be a heartbreaker in years to come.

Speaking of name, his full name is Brendan Mark Patrick McGlynn. The middle names are both family names... one Savage, one McGlynn (and we liked the order of MP instead of PM).

Anyway, check out our flickr sites or facebook sites for more pictures.

Big love
Kevin, Emily & Brendan

to Canada for a pre-birth visit

100_8661
Originally uploaded by mcglynn99.

In August we took our last trip together as a couple (well... our little munchkin technically came along for the ride). It was fantastic to see everyone. Perhaps we tried to see and do a few too many things, but it was great to catch up and have a chance for family and friends to visit a "very" pregnant Emily.


100_8664
Originally uploaded by mcglynn99.

Em had two baby showers, one from Mum and Mother in law. I got to celebrate my 31st with family & friends... which of course included a Jays game (and copious amounts of alcohol).

It was good to reconnect one more time before we start down our adventure of parenthood.

Parents have left...

It's been over a week now since my folks left. Hard to believe actually. We had a brilliant time with them. They were here for almost 3 full weeks and did/saw tons while they were here.

First it was seeing Cambridge and how we lived... including dining at Emily's college and watching me play football.


The it was off to London, seeing all the sites... for 3 days.

Then they took off for Ireland and a whirlwind tour of the country, including a couple days in Dublin.


Then they flew straight to Edinburgh and had a two day tour of the highlands. I met up with them upon their return to Edinburgh from the north and we had a fun day & night.

Then we came back to Cambridge for a garden party at our house and then a few days of catching up.


Before they left we had one more little trek... we were off to Oxford to see where we lived last year. We toured the city including Em's college. I think the folks were getting tired by the time Oxford came around.

It's hard to believe they've come & gone. Hopefully they'll be back when the baby comes.

Another healthy scan...

Pic is too funny not to share. Our little one decided to tell us themselves how things were going inside...

2nd wedding anniversary

It's so hard to believe that 2 years have gone by since our wedding - it seems like yesterday, and yet so much has happened in those 2 years it seems like a million years ago!
After our perfect (albeit very hot!) day, we've managed to cram a whole lot into the last few years! Here is just a little recap:
- travelled around Bali and Hong Kong on an amazing honeymoon
- rented out our house in Milton and moved in with the McGlynn's
- moved to Oxford UK so that I could return to school for another MSc
- travelled to Germany and Italy to visit with Jeff and Jocelynn
- met some incredible people in Oxford from all over the world
- finished my MSc
- got a scholarship to study for a PhD at Cambridge University... I became a light shade of blue!
- moved to Cambourne, 10 miles from Cambridge
- went back to Canada and to Costa Rica for Christmas and New Year
- Got pregnant!
- visited Jeff and Jocelynn in Italy again
- moved to Cambridge: so much happier to be nearer to the city!
- visited Chloe in Australia for her birthday and her MA graduation
- Currently very happily married and awaiting the arrival of our little bundle of joy!

Not bad for 2 years!! Makes me kinda tired just thinking about it! But it has been an incredible couple of years - wouldn't change it for anything!!

Chloe in Australia

We just got back from our trip to Australia. We were in Australia for the first time and were able to celebrate Chloe's birthday and graduation. Hooray for Chloe!



Other than some sun and fun, we toured all around Sydney and did a driving tour up the east coast... topping out at Byron Bay. Great trip!

Pregnant and healthy

For those who don't know, we've found out we've made it through the first trimester of pregnancy happy and healthy (and thus, want to share our news with the world). Have a look at our first official scan. The lil' monkey is doing fine so far and looks to be taking on the family tradition of having a "healthy" sized head.

The move is done... well, almost!

It's hard to believe, but our move is complete! Well... All of our belongings are in the new place, and the old place has been cleaned from top to bottom. Did we mention that we're done almost a week early! That has got to be some kind of McGlynn record!
Seriously though, we worked like stink and got it all finished in really good time. We're now slowly getting unpacked at the new place, and hopefully it won't take us too long. We're pooped, and ache all over, but hopefully that will be the LAST move we do for a very long time! (Well, at least until Emily's done studying at Cambridge, and then who knows where we'll end up!)

Can't wait to show the new place to visitors, so if there is anyone who would like to come and check out our new digs, just let us know!

The joys of moving...

Moving to new place always seems like a really great idea... until you actually have to move! One never realises all of the "STUFF" they have accumulated until you actually have to pack it all up and shift it to a new location. It hides in corners, cupboards and essentially dissapears from the naked eye. Stuff, stuff everywhere!
Maybe the key to moving success (which Kevin and I have not yet mastered!) is to hire someone else to move for you... Have some other poor souls enter the house, pack all the stuff up and have them break their backs carrying it away!
But NO! Still in the student way of thinking, Kevin and I are undertaking yet another move on our own. This time, it really is on our own, as we've not yet made good enough friends that we can trick them into helping us moving!
So we're currently up to our eyeballs in newspaper, boxes and it is beginning to look like the house was tipped upsidedown and shaken.
We have 2 weeks to move into the new place so we are taking our time, but by golly, I'll be glad when the next 2 weeks are done!

Running...

With football (soccer) season over and ice hockey concluded, I currently don't have any regular exercise lined up for the forseeable future. So to get myself active, and to explore some of the area we're living in before we move (have found 3 small lakes I never knew existed... am up to 6 now), I have started running. Either in the morning or over a lunch break. It seems to work well for me... as long as you don't listen to my cranky knee.

If anyone has some advice for a novice, I'm all ears.

On the move... again.

We're moving yet again. We've enjoyed our place in Cambourne (10 miles west of Cambridge... hate that I'm using miles, I think my dad is snickering somewhere). In the end it was just too detached from Cambridge, for Emily's work and school. For me, working from home, it was too remote. So, we're packing up and moving... again. I feel like I'm 5 all over again, and moving around the country (except this time, the country is England).

We're super excited about our new place in central Cambridge, near lots of green space. Click here for a map

We move in the 2nd week of April. The address is:
8 Brunswick Terrace
Cambridge, UK
CB5 8DG

We hope people can come visit us. hint hint.

Back from Italy...

San Vito, where Jeff & Jocelynn live

Well, we're back from a fantastic weekend in Italy with Jeff & Jocelynn... We really do get spoiled when we are there! (Thanks guys!!)
We enjoyed relaxing coffees in the sunshine, looking out over the snow capped mountains. We spent a fantastic day skiing with Jocelynn on some of the most amazing slopes you can imagine! As the day was quite cloudy, there were hardly any people skiing so it literally felt as though we had the whole mountain to ourselves - it was outstanding!

Skiing at Cortina

Kevin & I on the slopes!


Snow on the fence at the top of the mountain

We also got to enjoy a hockey match - Jeff and his team were playing in the quarter final match against Milan. They won easily, so that meant fun was had by all after the game with a few pizzas and a few refreshing beverages.
We finished up the visit with a fantastic dinner at a mountain-top restaurant - delicious steak, and yummy desserts!

But more importantly, we got a chance to visit with our great friends... so nice to see them. Wish that we still lived across the street from them! (Oh, Milton!!)

Italy here we come.... again!

Tomorrow we will be returning to Cortina, Italy to spend some time with Jeff and Jocelynn Maund. As it's considered to be the "Aspen" of Italy, we're hoping to be able to do some skiing and other fun winter sports, as they seem to be seriously lacking here in the UK. Don't let the 2 freak snowfalls fool you!

No doubt we'll have a great time, and we'll be able to report back with lots of stories and pictures of fun and frivolity in the Dolomites.

Another bit of great exciting news was that Sabrina and Dave Hall had their baby on the 13th of Feb- a little girl named Nicola! Welcome to the world Nicola!

Ciao Ciao!

Sporting weekend

After the win
Originally uploaded by mcglynn99.

It was a great weekend for me sporting wise. A big win for the old Oxford team on Friday in Nottingham (I had 2 goals - should have been 3 - and 2 assists), and then Emmanuel had a big football cuppers match against the top college team in Cambridge on Sunday. We lost 2-1 but really gave them a run for their money. We're a 3rd division team and we could have beaten the top team in division 1... definitely a good showing.

Maybe next year...

The best thing is that Emily was able to come out to both matches, so she has a bunch of photos of both games (these two included)

Lining up the wall
Originally uploaded by mcglynn99.

Rocky Horror bop

Rocky Horror bop
Originally uploaded by mcglynn99.

We had a brief visit back to Oxford a week ago. Sharon's parents were in town from S Africa, and in typical Oxford style, we went out drinking (at a college bop).

Props to Nathaniel for a brilliant version of Riff Raff (I'll get Em to upload her pics to flickr one day soon).

I also got to hook up with the football lads from last year and helped them win a cuppers match against Exeter... it was great to see them all again. Good luck boys in the cup & table.

Funny story: we were having trouble getting a hold of Kev & Lucinda during our weekend in Oxford. We actually drove past them on the way back to Cambridge as they were off on a weekend break of their own.