Visit from the "Jackson 5"--Kananaskis

Joel tries hiking with the Mai Tai with WestleyJanet and Charlie
Malcolm LOVED playing in the snow (in his T-shirt--no snowsuit required!)


The boys loved playing in the snow, but weren't too sure about what to do when their hands (and feet!) got cold!

Visit from the "Jackson 5"--Heritage park

Piggy Back from Uncle DaveRiding the carousel (the boys LOVED this!!)


Janet and Westley
Joel and Charlie

Joel and Janet came for a visit with our 3 beautiful nephews. We had a wonderful time, with great weather, and lots of fun, including a trip to the Calgary Zoo, a visit with "Thomas the Tank Engine" at Heritage Park, and a day of exploring the mountains in Kananaskis and Canmore.

Thanks for the wonderful visit--we can't wait to have you back! (Our house is way too quiet now!!)

Mother's Day Run

Thanks to all who sponsored us for the Mother's Day Run this year! It was cold and rainy/snowy, but still a great day, and a great turnout of almost 14000 people! Happy Mother's Day to all...

Happy Mother's Day!

Just in case we don't say it often enough, we love and miss you, Mom(s)!!

Farewell in Richmond

We spent last weekend in Richmond, just outside of Ottawa, visiting family and bidding farewell to my Grandfather, Howard Martin, who passed away on April 17th at the amazing age of 99 years old! It was a nice time having everyone together at Grandpa's house, and sharing stories and memories of this remarkable man. He was greatly loved, and will be sadly missed....

John Howard Martin: September 4th,1910--April 17th, 2010

My Grandfather: Howard Martin, and my Grandmother: Violet Martin, on their wedding day: September 4th, 1939.

Upcoming Mother's day run

Dave and I are running in the Mother's day run, in support of NICUs in Calgary:
Please visit our page if you wish to sponsor...
http://www.eventsonline.ca/cgi-bin/events/forzani_cal/pledge.pl?id=JME1746191

Greyson update

Just to make sure we don't leave out one of the most important parts of our days: Greyson. Here is one of his favourite things--attacking us while we're trying to sleep! :)

The "best" backcountry season?

Dave was only out for one "backcountry" ski day this year: not much snow!

Easter in Montana

We stayed in Montana for Easter weekend this year: at a rental property that Tannis and Steve found, that was a little bit ridiculous---super nice (see below)!! The "small" kitchen!!

My favourite part: in this beautiful multi-million dollar home, there was this sign, that I totally agree with!!!

Our room (one of the smaller rooms in the 4 BR 4.5 Bath house!)

Driving home through Glacier Park, we saw some wild horses on the highway...

Some really pretty views on the drive home

March weekends...

Here are a few photos of our recent adventures in Calgary over the past few weeks... Visiting Kelly at her new house

St. Patrick's Day-themed "Gourmet Club": Guinness Irish Stew and Baileys!

A visit to Bragg Creek to check out the progress on Jenn and Tom's place: the Turret is looking great--our first "Turret Party"!

Dave biked home from Bragg--a beautiful day for a ride!!

Our Annual Providence Gala: me posing with Deanna and Kelly

New beginnings

It's starting to feel like spring already in Calgary, and making us think about moving forward and "new beginnings"...

Upon returning from our Hawai'i trip, I also returned to work at Providence, but in a new position. I am now working at one of our Satellite Sites in the South end of the city. This new location is very close to our house, and allows me to work with familiar staff, but in a completely new environment, with a new caseload of kiddos.

It's been great to have the familiarity of my "old" job, but also great to be able to start fresh with something totally new. I am also working in Outreach again 2 days a week, and really enjoy the flexibility of that schedule, as well as support of that amazing team. I am so thankful that my work has been so accomodating to offer me this opportunity upon returning to work. I know it would have been hard to go back to the "same" job now, after so much has changed...

I am also looking forward to the opportunities for the future: I am excited about a research project that I have started to become involved in, as well as feeling a renewed excitement for work, after having some time to really put things into perspective. I was able to return to work at a time when I was really ready to be surrounded by people, and especially kids, doing the thing that I love!

Dave and I are also getting back into our regular "Calgary" routine: we've had a few weekends to enjoy spending time together around our house, doing errands through the city, going out for dinner, and especially watching the Olympics (Go Canada Go!!) with friends!! Dave has been playing hockey and volleyball, and I've been trying out a few different Yoga studios in the city. We spent a fun and relaxed day at Sunshine Village in Banff on Saturday with Brian and Kris.

Being back in our regular routines has Dave and I feeling settled, happy, and hopeful for the future. We are talking about plans for the summer, and have been enticed by all of the "BC Travel" commercials to plan a road trip through BC and Vancouver Island this summer. We are also looking forward to visits from friends and family, including Joel and Janet (and the boys!) in May, and Dave's parents and Grandmother in July.

I continue to be followed by my Obstetrician, who we are still very happy with; I am also seeing my GI Specialist regularly, and we continue to look at keeping my Crohn's Disease under control as much as possible.

So while so much has changed, in many ways, our lives remain very much the same, and we continue to be happy, and for the most part healthy, and overall are very optimistic about what the future has in store for us: whatever that may be!

Please feel free to keep in touch with us any time... :)

Hawai'i

Dave and I have just returned from 8 wonderful days in the sun and sand of Hawai'i (the "Big Island"). As you may know, the last month has been a stressful, exhausting, and heartbreaking time for both of us, and we know our friends and families have shared in this. We had decided that once things were stable for me medically, we would really like to "get away" somewhere where we could reflect, reconnect, and recover both physically and emotionally.

While in the end it ended up being a very "last minute" decision (we booked our flight about 12 hrs before we left!), it was an absolutely perfect trip. We spent many hours on the beach: reading, relaxing, people-watching, swimming and "surfing". We went hiking through Volcanoes Park: we walked on the surface of a Volcano, and watched another erupt. We hiked through the beautiful Waipio Valley, where we saw waterfalls, and rainforests, black sand beaches, and sacred Burial Grounds. We took an ocean kayak to Captain Cook's monument, and snorkelled with amazing fish. We ate lots of fresh sushi (and Dave had a few beers!).

All in all, it was exactly what we needed: a chance to remember all the amazing things in life, and in each other. We know there's still a long road to go, but this trip helped us to realize that "we're going to be okay", no matter what happens in this journey of ours. We are so blessed to have each other, and especially to have such amazingly thoughtful and supportive friends and family.


The beach near our hotel

Lounging in one of our favourite spots.

Sunset on our first night.

Waipio Valley

Sacred Burial Grounds in Waipio Valley

Snorkelling at Captain Cook's Monument

Another of our favourite spots: Hapuna Beach

For Emmett...

We have set up a donation page through the Calgary Health Trust "Silent Hopes" program (see link below):

http://www.community.calgaryhealthtrust.ca/netcommunity/emmettbrewin

Alternatively, tax deductible donations may be made on behalf of Emmett to the Calgary Health Trust - Pregnancy & Infant Loss Program and sent to:

Pregnancy & Infant Loss Program
#126A, 1441 - 29 St. NW
Calgary, AB T2N 4J8

Although not necessary, all donations are greatly appreciated and will be used to directly support and assist bereaved parents in the provision of memory building items.

Thank you.
B&D

Baby Brewin Update

Emmett Ulysses Brewin

Born/Died: January 21st, 2010.

A tiny 726 grams

Thanks to all for your kind wishes and support at this difficult time.

Update

I wish we had some good news for this update, but for now we are in a bit of a holding pattern and taking things day by day:

Upon returning to Calgary after the holidays, we went in for an ultrasound to check on baby's growth, and it was determined that baby has intrauterine growth restriction: meaning that baby is very small for gestational age, and it appears baby is not growing well in utero. In addition, I have been found to have elevated blood pressure. This combination of hypertension and IUGR usually indicates pre-eclampsia or toxemia, and can be very risky for both mom and baby.

I was hospitalized for 6 days while they did many tests on me and baby, and after many discussions and decisions, Dave and I decided that it would be better for me to be monitored at home, where I could get some rest, and would be followed by our Obstetrician. We are currently still at home, trying to think good thoughts, with the support of many friends and family. My parents flew in from Ontario, and have been absolutely wonderful: making meals, cleaning and organizing our house, keeping me occupied and offering emotional support.

We're still not sure what this means for baby: he is still very small, and very young (30 weeks), with additional issues identified during the ultrasound (cardiac) that will be problematic once he's on the "outside".

So, we are just waiting, and hoping, and trying to get some rest and keep things pretty low key. We will try to update as soon as we know anything more.