Well...

Well, it has been a while since we posted last and a lot has happened.  Tessa has been growing big and she is definitely keeping us busy.  My mother passed away on 11 November 2010 after fighting a rare form of cancer for a few months.  It was definitely a shock but as my mom would say, "It is what it is."  She was amazing for the last months, not complaining at all and being extremely thankful for being able to see her grand-daughter which she so much wanted in her life.  It has been quite the journey since and looking at Tessa I can not help but be sad that she only got to see her grand-mother once and will not experience the love and caring that I got for over 30 years.  Until next time... M

Tessa Turns One Month Old!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Thinking about all of you :)

Love always, Amber, Matt & Tessa

Life As We Knew It

Well... life certainly is different since Tessa arrived! Lately it's been a lot of trying to figure out how to put her down for a nap when she's tired but won't fall asleep. The nights haven't been too bad though. Now that Matt has gone back to work, I wake up for the middle of the night feedings but the good news is that she just eats, has her diaper changed and then goes back to sleep. We feel like detectives trying to figure out why she is crying which of course can be both exciting (when you figure it out) and frustrating (when you can't figure out what is wrong). This definitely is the most challenging thing we've ever done.

On the training front, Matt's has a negotiated a deal with his boss to train over lunch which works well and allows him to come home at a reasonable time. On my end, I'm looking forward to running again - I really miss it - but need to get Tessa on some sort of schedule before that will happen. It's hard to get much done when she doesn't sleep for long during the day. Apparently, the naps get longer as they get older so I'm looking forward to that :)

All in all, it is a pretty incredible experience being a parent. There are so many days that we look at her and realize how amazing it is that she came for us. And nothing is better then when she gives you a crooked little smile and melts your heart.

Introducing... Tessa Victoria MacMillan

Amber & Matt are very excited to finally announce the arrival of their daughter, Tessa Victoria MacMillan born on 30 September 2010 at 1045pm, weighing 6 lbs, 13 oz and 20 inches long.


After coming home from the hospital, the past few days have been a whirlwind but everyone is doing well and settling into this new change of pace. Many thanks for all of the notes of congratulations and well wishes. We can't wait for you to meet her in person :)





1 hour old



 

Proud Mom & Dad, on a high after 29 hours of labour



Dad & Tessa, his little bundle of joy!





Already a Thinker!



3 days old

Due Date Come and Gone

Monday, 20th September 2010 was the official due date for Baby Mac but it is now Wed and still no sign of the little one. Looks like she's going to be a cheeky one! We finished our pre-natal classes with Childbirth Kingston a few weeks ago. Lots of good info - hopefully we'll remember it all when the time comes! The class is going to meet up again a month after the last due date to meet everyone's babies. Should be fun :)

Well.... not too much else to say since all the baby preps were finished last week so it's just a matter of waiting now :) The midwife said that you normally go into labour when you're not thinking about it, so I've been trying not to think about it but that is much easier said then done. Hopefully our next post will be a baby announcement!

Sweet Dreams Baby Mac! The Nursery is done :)

One of the best parts of our week of leave was finally finishing the nursery! We must admit that it turned out even better then we expected :) 6 weeks today until the big day! We can't wait! Here are some pictures of Baby Mac's crib:

Race Season?

Well, not quite.  It has been a difficult summer when it comes to racing.  My body has not really cooperated but it has been a great learning experience and I'll take some small positives, move forward with a solid plan for fixing the issues long term.

A little over a month ago I had to pull out of the Wolfe Island 5k because I could barely stand up and walk.  My back had been bothering me on and off this summer and I tweaked it doing stuff around the house. 

Moving on to the CF Invitational in Gatineau PQ, I ended up with a DNF.  I came out of the two loop, 1500m, non-wetsuit swim in around 21:40 which was great for me (of note, swimming has actually gone pretty well).  On the 8 x 5k bike route, which had a number of turns making a square at one end prior to starting the next lap, I flatted and did a bit of damage to my wheel.  I was coming around the last turn about to start the 7th lap when I was trying to avoid a slower rider, it was either hit the brakes and crash or try to bunny-hop the curb.  I elected for the bunny-hop and it didn't go so well...I slammed the back wheel into the curb.  I thought I got away with it, but I blew the tire jumping back into the road.  Then there were some issues with the wheel, so a DNF was a result.

K-town tri last weekend was the straw that broke the camels back.  It started a little rough - a friend smashed his arm into my face, flipping a goggle lens.  A bit annoying but it comes with the starts.  The 2k swim went so so.  I couldn't keep with the group I normally swim with which was frustrating.  Towards the end, my lower back was starting to get tight and it would be a foreshadow of the day to come.  The 56.5k ride was terrible.  I could not push at all.  I could not stay in the aerobars due to my back and I could not go at any desirable speed.  Frustrating overall.  Getting off the bike was tough.  I had trouble getting my shoes on and could barely stand up.  I contemplating not going on the run but decided to push on.  I walked a lot of the 15k run to a very disappointing finish. 

In the end, I've now decided to take it easy for the rest of the season.  What I mean is that I will systematically look at what is causing problems and come up with a way ahead to solve the problem, learn from the experience, and plan for next season.  Coach Noa has been great and has provided a lot of support in what has been a very frustrating time. 

That's it for now.  On to the planning and diagnosing stage.  Until next time.  M

Congratulations Stephen and Navreet!

Last weekend, Matt and I headed to Toronto for my cousin Stephen's wedding to beautiful Navreet! It was a great night and nice to see everyone on the Montgomery side of the family who we hadn't seen in awhile. Despite charging my battery the night before, my camera died right after the ceremony :( Will post some more pics from my iphone on my next blog.

On the Sunday, we had a great BBQ with the Comisso side of the family. By this time, the camera was fully charged, so here are a few pics from the afternoon.

Nonna with Alain and Anna & sis Tara with Alain and Anna

Matt monkeying around with Alain

Beautiful pic of Anna in the sun

The perfect end to a perfect day.... cartwheels!!!

Farewell to Nova Scotia

Matt and I just got home from a short, but fantastic visit to the Maritimes, to his home town of Stellarton, Nova Scotia - 1 hour and 30 min north of Halifax by the ferry to PEI. The drive out wasn't too bad except for the traffic in Montreal (nightmare!!!), with a pit stop overnight in Cabano, Quebec. It was great to spend some time with his Mom & Dad, grandma's, aunts, uncles and cousins. A few highlights included the Pictou Lobster Festival, Matt's altercation in the YMCA pool, a quick visit to Halifax to visit Billy, Lindsay and Charlie, homecooked meal chez the MacMillans and many great sunny (and rainy!) days of catching up and sharing news about the baby! Wish the visit could have been longer but it was great to see everyone nonetheless! We ended our time off in Ottawa for the Gatineau Triathlon - Matt will post a race update soon :) In the meantime, here are a few pics from our trip:

A Weekend Away in the County

Matt and I escaped this weekend to Prince Edward County (1 hour west of Kingston) for some rest and relaxation and a weekend in the County. Unfortunately, there was lots of rain on Saturday but we made the best of it and were still able to explore this beautiful area. Susan was able to find space for us in her suite at Eleven Center (http://www.bbcanada.com/11200.html) and even though it wasn't too far from home, it was a perfect little getaway.

A highlight was a visit to Fifth Town Cheese, http://www.fifthtown.ca/. "The Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company is privately owned, environmentally and socially responsible enterprise positioned as a niche producer of fine hand made cheeses using fresh, locally produced goat and sheep milk." No soft cheeses for me but Matt was able to try some of their delicious samples and came away with some cheeses for the week.

Capped off the weekend with roasting some baby beets from the Kingston market for lunch tomorrow. Yum!

Overall - the weekend was fantastic and exactly what we needed! Especially since next week will be really busy for Matt as he settles into his new job as College Adjudant. Good thing there is a long weekend around the corner! A

What the $*%& was I thinking?

I....may be a moron....at least on occassion.  We actually got some sun in K-town on Sunday which was great news for our run (Amber's now run/walk given she's pushing 6 months pregnant).  Needless to say, me being the pasty white guy I am, I put sun screen on before my run....or at least I should have.  The result -- nothing but burnt to a crisp shoulders.  However, the run was nice. 

And for those of you that are wondering, Amber looks more beautiful than ever.  We must have an ahtlete in the making as the baby has been kicking up a storm lately.  Baby especially likes when I push a little on the stomach and I get a kick in return!

On another note, we got a good glimpse of Tony in race mode courtesy of the RAAM site. 

RAAM

Tony O'Keeffe...technically my boss but a good friend and at times training companion is in the middle of completing Race Across America.  You can check out his progress on his web site.  Tony is an awesome inspiration and a great example of what can be accomplished when you put your mind to it.  There is nothing like meeting up with someone on a Saturday morning for your long ride when he started around 6:00pm Friday evening.  Tony's adventure will be taking him from Oceanside, CA to Annapolis, MD....right across the US and all the mountain ranges, flat land, and weather in between.  Total time - right around 10 or so days.  Not bad!

As for Amber and I, things are trucking along nicely.  M.

The End of a Busy School Year

Last weekend was Grad Weekend at the College and as such, the end of the Class of 2010 at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC). Convocation was on Thursday which was attended by the Governor General of Canada and Saturday was the big parade (with the Minister of National Defence and Chief of Defence Staff in attendance) where the 4th year class was commissioned as Officers in the Canadian Forces and sent off to start their careers. The weekend capped off with Grad Ball - a great opportunity to say our final goodbyes - and despite being 5 months pregnant, we managed to stick it out for a while and have a good time :)

We then headed to TO to show off the baby bump and for a great BBQ on Sunday with Nonna, Mom, Dad, Tara, Dave, Aunty Sandy, Uncle Jorge and Andrew. The weather was fantastic and we finished the night with roasted marshmallows on the fire and Dad's favourite - the burning school house!

Billy and Pearl came up on Wednesday from Nova Scotia to give us a hand with all the projects we had to do around the house. They have been a huge help and have only just been here for a few days :)

Things will continue to be busy for Matt has he moves into the job of Adjudant at the school, but for me, things will quiet down and there will finally be peace and quiet in the halls. Just in time for a hot summer! A

Limestone Charity Triathlon 2010

First triathlon of the season! So exciting! My relay team, P2C (Prego + 2 cadets) kicked some serious butt finishing 7th out of 29 teams in the race, with a final time of 1:10:48. My swim went really well and it was a tonne of fun racing with a team. The cadets were very motivating! I must admit, I wished I was racing the whole thing but it was a good way to still get a taste of racing :)

Overall, it was a pretty good race except for the fact that we arrived at 6am but didn't start until 10:40 (Matt) and 11:20 (Amber) so there was a lot of sitting around - they didn't post swim start times until after 7:30am...

Matt was seeded with all the Tri Club cadets that were 10 years younger than him so it was a tough race. He'll post his thoughts soon but overall it was a good way to kick off the season!

We're having a...........................................................................................

crazy hectic week! Sigh. Things at work have been crazy (the Cadets leave the College on 21 May and its been absolute mayhem getting them ready for grad and their summer postings), it's hectic around the house (baby renos continue), and somehow we've managed to get most of our training in between all of this and tried to carve out some time to relax as well. A few weeks ago Amber went to Halifax to present at the Women Leading in Defence Conference. Her speech was a big success and she's now working on her paper and hoping to get it published. While she was away, I managed to get all of the furniture out of the office and into the basement. There are only a few things left in the former office, and when the baby furniture (Tulip Piccolo Collection) arrives, we'll be sure to post some pictures. It's amazing how many things there are to buy for baby! We think we've found a stroller we like and are thinking of starting a baby registry - everyone has been very generous in wanting to help with baby which has been really great. The pregnancy is going well - at the last ultrasound, the baby was as active as ever, kicking up a storm. What's next??? The first triathlon of the season is only a few weeks away! Amber convinced two cadets to race with her in a relay team (she's doing the swim and their team is called P2C (prego + 2 cadets) at the Limestone Charity Triathlon and I'm doing the sprint distance (500m swim, 20km bike, 5km run). Should be fun! M

Baby "Renovations"

Well, hopefully by now we've told most of you the exciting news that... WE ARE EXPECTING A BABY in September. It's been very exciting so far - the first ultrasound was super cool! The baby was kicking and punching up a storm like a little Karate Kid! With all this in mind, we spent Easter weekend starting to reorganize the house to prep for baby. We had to rearrange the basement so that we can move the office downstairs to make the office the baby room. We're not there yet but we made some good progress and also found some time to relax. Will post before and after pics once it's all done.

We've also been exploring with some new recipes recently. Some successes so far include:

Local Portobello Mushrooms stuffed with Spinach, Parmesan and Fennel

Turkey Burgers on a Whole Wheat Bun with Bacon, Avocado, Tomatoe and Chipotle sauce with

Baked Sweet Potato Falafels

The find of the weekend was the funky patio set we bought at Rona which we got to break in with all the nice weather

.... Finally, we finished the weekend off with an awesome run along the K & P Trail :) All in all, a great couple of days! A

Random few weeks

Well, the last few weeks have been pretty random...some good days and some not so good days.  To begin, I found my seat upon my return from Tucson.  It was right where I left it. 

Well, aside from finding my saddle, things have been hectic with work for both of us.  Everytime we seem to get ahead, some major work needs to be done.  Over the next few weeks, we're going to try to focus a little bit more on ourselves.  On Wednesday night, we ended up going to a talent show for work which showed the vast array of talents a number of the cadets have aside from what we see on a day-to-day basis.  It was pretty incredible to see the talent....and on occasion shocking to see who was behind that talent. 

The weather has been changing for the better here but it is still pretty cool.  One of the highlights of this week was getting out in K-town for a ride.  Regardless of how cool it is, as long as you dress for the occassion, it will be good.  Luckily for me, I have managed to get some Assos gear which has proved invaluable for riding.  The quality is unbelievable and I am so spoiled.  It is very comfortable and awsome quality.

The ride was definitely good.  Despite that one good ride, the rest of the training has not been that great.  I have been having some issues for the past month with my knee and some lower back pain which I have been seeing a physio for.  It's slowly improving but it is definitely on the sllllllloooowwww side.  Beyond that, I have been finding it hard to get out the door to do anything.  This weekend was a total write-off as, aside from work (yes, working) I slept most of the weekend away.  Work consisted of a parade today, in the cold and snow and it was very cold.  I did however, get my first medal so it wasn't so bad. 

Beyond work and training, Amber and I have been trying to plan the next few months with the stuff that we need to get done around the house.  It starts Tuesday with Sears finally getting us a new fridge.  With all the rest this weekend, I think things have finally made a turn.  Amber helped to put together a great salad for dinner which was awsome.   

With some more planning and some focus on ourselves, this week will be better.  Hopefully the weather will be better as it will be nice to get outside.  M

24hrs of Mental Training

Well, just a little update before heading to bed.  This weekend was the 2nd Annual 24hr Bike-a-thon at the College.  It started last year in order to raise funds for the Soldier On Fund which was create to "contribute to optimizing the functional independence of ill or injured CF personnel or former personnel by delivering programs and services and facilitating and integrating opportunities that support their full and active participation in physical fitness, health promotion and sport." 

The event was well organized and pretty fun.  There were only a handful of us that were in for the full 24hrs as most bikes had a group rotating through.  One of those was Tony O'Keeffe who is heavily involved in ultra endurance events.  It was definitely a benefit to have him beside me to talk to and discuss the ins and outs of such an event. 

After a big week in Arizona, my plan was to take it nice and easy so as to not mess the rest of my training up by needing too much time to recover.  The plan was to take a couple minutes every hr to stretch and then change my shorts every 4hrs to alleviate any saddle sores.  The end result was 20hrs 6mins of riding on my Argon 18 E112 to a tune of 363.62km (not a bad total considering I wasn't going very hard).  It wasn't too bad considering that previous to this, the longest time my bottom end had sat on a bike seat was around 8hrs. 

The journey started at 7:00pm.

Not too long in to the evening, I wasn't looking too bad.

A little later on in the evening, I couldn't say the same thing.

24hrs is definitely tough but it is more mental than physical.  Aside from being physically tired which is a result of just not getting to sleep, the hardest thing was staying mentally strong and not giving up.  Around 4:00am in the morning, I went through a major rough patch and thought I would definitely need to curl up in the corner and get some sleep.  Unfortunately this lasted for about 3hrs which I found hard to get through.  Luckily it passed and I managed to stick at it.  I would definitely say this was extremely hard to do but it was worth it.  Aside from some tight muscles and a sore but, everything is pretty good. 

I took some videos so once we get those squared away we'll throw them on.  Until next time, stay focused, the human body can do a lot more than you think.  M