Let's hope 2009 is better than 2008

Hello Folks,

Wow, it's been awhile. I thought I'd write something just to keep this blog going. You must be wondering what's new in my life. Here goes. In November of 2008 I lost my job due to downsizing because of the economic downturn (still actively looking). Since then it's been a roller coaster of a ride for me and my Family. In early December our furnace gave out (had to be the coldest night of the year) and we eventually had to replace the heat exchanger, let me just say... not fun!! What else could happen you ask? While we had no heat for 3 days a wall socket (electric outlet) suddenly caught fire in our bedroom. I guess things do happen in 3's, just not always good things. I'm just happy I was home with no job and nowhere to go because if I wasn't, we could have lost the house. What's that old saying, "Everything happens for a reason", I'm a true believer of that now.

On a brighter side, Caleb is close to 16 months old, walking, chatting (baby talk) and proving to be a handful. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

What am I doing now? Since the start of 2009, I've been searching the web for jobs in Ottawa. I'm looking at everything and applying everywhere that my skills could be used. But it won't be easy, many people in Ottawa over the last few months have lost there job. I'm fighting through some very good competition. I just hope I land something great, my fingers are crossed.

Karine told me about a contest on The New Hot 88-9 called Mauler & Rush Almighty! They are looking for someone who is stuck in a rut and needs good things to happen. After everything I told you above, I think that person is me. I'm sending in my application online today. Fingers crossed that I FINALLY get some good luck back on my side.

Taker easy folks
Matt

1/4 of the 2008 already gone

Hello Folks,

It’s near the end of March and I haven’t made an entry since my New Years post. For that people, I’m sorry. But as I said before… having a baby really takes up all the free time I use to have. Most of the time I did spend on the computer is now devoted to Caleb and I can truly say I’m ok with that.The Ottawa winter this year has been ridiculous. I believe we’ve surpassed a record for the most snow ever recorded fallen in the city. Now that’s something to be proud of. I hated shoveling it all but to think I was able to be part of it is cool. Something to tell Caleb when he grows up.

So what’s all new with the McGloin family? We had a great Easter with the McGloin/Vaillancourt family all together at our place and we ate like kings. We had the best ham I ever tasted with all the fixings. We also got to play Rock Band on the Xbox 360, big thanks to Pascal for brining it along. It’s really fun… but I don’t know if I like it as much as Guitar Hero 3. Overall the long weekend was very good to me. I had Good Friday off then booked a vacation day on Monday. The 4 days off work was the perfect short vacation. Unfortunately, I had a root canal done earlier that week and the dentist put me on medication to relieve an infection from the aftermath. I wasn’t able to have a beer or a glass of wine with dinner, but I did get pretty doped up on pain killers. Luckily for me, I finished the medication today. But I have another appointment tomorrow so I’m sure there’s plenty more pain to go around.

I wanted to say that I’m very happy about a purchase I made recently. I got a new PC a month ago and it’s great. I found out that Dell now sells there brand through resellers which is cool, because it really lowers the overall price for the consumer. I ended up with a new Dell Dimension desktop, fully loaded (for the geek in you, 2 GB RAM, Pentium Dual-Core processor, Windows Vista) that also included a 22” flat panel widescreen HD monitor and 3 year phone and on-sight support all for $599. If you would have told me a year ago I could buy a PC like that at the price I paid, I would have laughed in your face. I guess I’m the one laughing now!!

My last big bit of news is to tell everyone that Caleb is now officially 6 months old as of March 21st. Where did the time go?? Karine and I are actively looking for daycare because it won’t be long before she’s ready to head back to work. We have a few leads so I’m sure we’ll be ok. I’ve posted a recent picture of Caleb, what a cutie pie.

Taker Easy,

Matt

Bring On 2008

Hello everyone,

Yup, it's really me. I've been away for a long time and SOOOOO much has happened since. I mean, just look at my last post. Caleb wasn't even born yet, he's now 3+ months and growing like a weed. Here's a picture of him, what a cutie.

I figured if I was ever going to write another entry here... there's no better time than New Years Eve. I'm sure 2008 will bring tons of joy and happiness as well as many challenges, but I'm ready for it.

I wish everyone a very happy New Year and I hope to follow this up with more posts in 2008.

Taker Easy,
Matt

Last Ultrasound 32 Weeks

Hello Peeps,

It's been awhile coming but I was waiting for our last Ultrasound before making another post. Karine and I went again at the 32 week mark because the Doctor's kept telling us we have a big baby. Take a look at the pictures below. It's funny because now when we see the pictures we can't see the whole baby anymore, only sections of it. That's how much it's grown.

This is a profile shot of the head. Look, it's even got the McGloin nose!!

Here's another head shot (profile). You can see it better here.

I find it hard to tell what were looking at. It say's Jambes, so It must be the legs.

So they proceeded to measure all the body parts and what we found out is everything (with exception to the head) is measuring right on track. Somewhere between 32 to 32 1/2 weeks. The head however is more like 35 weeks when it comes to size. I guess this baby is going to be cursed with the Matt McGloin head. Yes, I have a big noggin and I'm proud of it. The heart beat continues to stay around the 140 mark, so everything is looking great. Current weight (as of the time the picture was taken) is almost 5lbs. I’m still predicting a boy, but we’ll see in another 7 weeks. For anyone who may have forgotten… the due date is Oct 1st.

Well that’s about all for now. I hope everyone is having a great summer. Have fun now because it’s coming to a close.

Taker easy,
Matt

Where Does The Time Go??

Hello Folks,

It's been well over a month since my last post but it only feels like a few weeks. I guess that’s where the heading of this post came from… where does all the time go? I’ve been pretty busy lately with house renovations, sports and my weekly routine so I guess that’s why it seems to fly by so quickly. Honestly, everything seems to go quick besides this pregnancy. It seems like Karine has been pregnant forever and we still have 2 months to go. It’s weird, but that’s how it works. Everyone I speak too says the same thing.

There’s been a lot of stuff happening since the last post. Jeff and Kelly-Anne had there little baby boy Ethan. He was born 6+ pounds, very healthy, with a ton of hair… unlike his father. Karine and I made a stop in at the hospital to visit and see the new family. Jeff was ecstatic and you could tell he was very happy to be a father. We’ve made a few visits to there home since and he’s growing fast. Hard to believe he’s 3 weeks old already.

Our good friends Fred and Gwen got married and they had a great ceremony and an even better party. I was going to post a ton of pictures but I know Fred’s not big on having his face plastered all over the web. Even so, I couldn’t go without putting at least one shot. I hope you guys had as much fun as we did. Thanks for having us!!

The Sunday after the wedding Karine and I met up with my cousin Jon Holt. He's my first cousin on my fathers side. While growing up we use to hang out all the time when they came to visit. As I got older I found myself traveling to Fredericton a lot for sports and spent lots of time hanging out with him. Since I graduated and moved away we had lost touch. Thanks to facebook we've managed to start talking again and I found out he was coming to Ottawa. We got together for breakfast and he came by the house that afternoon. It's amazing how much we look a like, you can really tell we are family.

Jamie and Stephanie had a birthday party for Gavin a few weeks ago for his 1st birthday. We had a big BBQ get together and everyone showed up. I was surprised to see so many children in one spot. All the kids were enjoying themselves while the grown ups chatted and enjoyed a few cold beverages. Gavin also enjoyed his first birthday cake (large muffin with blue frosting) and managed to get it everywhere. Check out the pictures.


Tony and Cheryl finally moved into there new house last week. It was a big procedure and everyone chipped in. That’s what friends are for right? It’s always in your best interest to help out because when it’s your turn to move, you know they got your back. It’s going to be sad not having Tony just 10 houses down the road anymore (crawling distance) but with the newborn on the way I’ll be keeping myself pretty busy for the next while. Plus, they’re only a 15 minute drive away (in the boonies) with a large back yard that includes a fire pit. I’m sure we’ll get plenty of time to sit around a fire and chat about old times soon enough. Get ready Tony; you’ve got the new hang out.

We also found out that Jason and Crystal are pregnant and expecting a new baby next year. Crystal is almost 15 weeks a long and is looking great. They are both extremely happy and can’t wait for the time to come. Congratulations guys were very happy for you both.

Last weekend Karine and I made a trip to Mont Tremblant. It’s something we had planned for awhile but kept it low key. We felt that we wanted some time alone away from Ottawa before the baby arrives. It was originally supposed to be a whole weekend, but we ended up changing those plans which saw us drive up on Friday afternoon and stay one night at a bed and breakfast and use all day Saturday checking out Tremblant. Honestly, it was the best decision because it doesn’t take long to see everything and we were ready to head out by 3pm Saturday afternoon. We would have been home by 5:30pm if it wasn’t for a major accident on the main road heading home. We waited for 25 minutes in a long line of cars only to be told it was going to be another hour. I wasn’t prepared to sit in the car for an hour waiting, because it was very hot that afternoon and I had a pregnant woman with me. Luckily for us there was another car with Ontario plates in front of us. I got out and went up to them to find out what they were planning to do. It was an older couple with a friend and they had the most in depth map of Quebec I had ever seen. Together we managed to find a few back roads taking us around the accident and back on the main highway. It was a 30 minute detour but well worth it. It was very nice of them to allow us to tail them the majority of the way home. Once we made it to highway 5, I blew past them waving the whole way. We were home 30 minutes later.

This weekend started off with me watching the work pager for a few hours on Friday night and sure enough, it had to go off. So the majority of my Friday night was spent working. Today (Saturday) were heading to the In-laws for dinner, it’ll be our first time there in a few months. We’ll be coming back tonight and most likely stopping in at the Fracker’s new residence to Karine can see the new house. I heard they got everything unpacked and put away. It’ll be nice to sit down and relax for a few hours.

As for our current status. Karine is now 30 weeks and I'm attaching the updated photo's for everyone to see.

We also took a few pictures of the baby room because we have a few new things to add to the walls. We decided to take a few photos of them but we still don't know where on the wall to put them. Do you have any ideas?

Well that’s about all for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Here’s a few updated photo’s of Karine and the baby room. I hope you enjoy.

Taker Easy,

Matt

Happy 27th Birthday Karine

Hello everyone,

I figured it's time for a very overdue update. Since my last one I've basically completed the bathroom and the baby room (minus a few minor details) and Karine is now at week 27. Or is it week 28 now? Honestly, there's been so much going on I'm finding it hard to keep track. Either way, I thought I'd post the pictures that everyone has been asking to see. They're already on facebook so you may have seem them already.

Here's Karine and most important of all, it's her 27th Birthday today. Happy Birthday sweety.

Here's the Bathroom in all of it's glory.

Check out the Baby room. The colours we picked were based on the bedding we bought. I love it.

Alright, well I hope you enjoyed the show. We'll be sure to post a few more pics in the upcoming weeks, along with new ultrasound pictures. I know, i know... you can't wait.

Taker easy,
Matt

Karine At 25 Weeks

Hello everyone,

The Summer is officially here. It's not the sunniest day out but it's a nice one. We’re also expecting good weather for the weekend which is great. I’ve been on pager all week and it’ll be nice to give it up tomorrow.

I don’t want to get away from what this post was meant for and that’s for showing off some pictures of Karine at 25 weeks. I’ve had these posted on facebook for the last week and was just too busy and lazy to blog’em. Here they are.

On another note, I’ve also got the bathroom done and it's functional. There are only a few small things left to do, like paint touchups and trim. These pictures are a little old because we've completed more since then. I’m hoping to finally get everything done this weekend. The next project is the baby room!!!

Have a great weekend.

Taker easy,

Matt