A New Start

I had a call from my doctor yesterday. About a week ago I had routine blood work done to test my blood glucose, hormone and cholesterol levels. My blood glucose and hormone levels are fine, but my cholesterol level is at 7.8mmg which is too close to being classed as VERY high cholesterol. I have a history of heart disease in my family and I need to sort myself out. I have put on a lot of weight since I had Annie and it's time to grow up and start taking care of myself....both for me and for my family. Andy needs to grow old with his wife and Anya needs her mummy to always be there for her. Unless I cut out all the crap food and start taking care of myself that isn't going to happen.

So I'm joining a gym that is close to work and offers a 30 minute circuit. It is just round the corner from work, so I have no excuse not to go. I also have to sort out my diet and start eating more fruit and veg and drinking more water. I'll get myself in shape...if only for my baby girl and my hubby.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

House Sale Has Fallen Through

Yep, we're right back to square one. We went in to our solicitor to sign contracts on Wednesday and he rang our buyer's solicitor while we were there. Her solicitor said that there was going to be a delay as our buyer's mother is ill and she was unable to make any decisions then. We still signed everything but left the office confused and worried about how long the delay was going to be. Then our estate agents rang yesterday to tell us that our buyer had withdrawn as she wanted to remain at her parent's house to take care of her dad. We were absolutely gutted. I can't believe after all this time she has withdrawn. Our lives are back on hold again now.

It is so frustrating living in limbo like this and not knowing what is happening and when or if we'll get back to Canada. I would love to be in Canada, but for me, Canada is not the issue. This move represented a new start for Andy, Anya and me, both as a family and financially. But as that is no longer an option right now, plans have had to change. We are still selling, but we are going to sell it to a Homebuyer's Association. They will give us well below market value but it should be enough to pay off the mortgage. Unfortunately it won't be enough to pay off the loan and the other debts we have built over the years. So after we sell we are going to have to move into rented for 6 months or more to try to save some money. Hopefully at the end of that time we will be able to reduce our loan amount significantly, if not entirely and will then move back to Canada, possibly taking a small debt with us.

Andy will have to fly to Canada in March in order to validate his visa and apply for his permanent resident status. I don't know whether it will be 2 weeks or a month but it is our only option at the moment.

So everything is still on hold for a couple of months, but we'll make the best of it. We'll sell while we still can before the market completely bottoms out and then will just wait in rented until we are able to clear debts and emigrate. Not the ideal solution, but the only one available to us at the moment.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Short Break in the Lakes

Andy, Anya and I spent three days in the Lake District this past week and it was absolutely beautiful. It was so nice to have time with my family without thinking about work, or the move or anything else like that. It rained quite a bit while we were there, but it didn't really cause too many problems. It didn't really start raining hard until we were on the M6 on the way home (I white-knuckled it all the way home).

We spent some time in Kendall and Keswick as well as Windermere and Bowness-on-Windermere. We also went to Hill Top Farm which was Beatrix Potter's home and where she wrote most of her books. I absolutely adore Beatrix Potter and it was so nice to visit her home and gardens and see where she got the ideas for her books.

Annie was as good as gold while we were away too. She was sleep deprived but still stayed fairly happy the entire time. She also was measured and fitted for her first shoes at Clarks. They are absolutely adorable and they keep her socks on too!!

I've put all my pictures up on Facebook. Click the link on the right to view all of them.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Finally!!! We're Canada Bound!

Well we finally negotiated a sale on our flat today! We are so excited! It was a very long wait, but finally we are on our way. The selling process takes a little longer over here (usually 6 weeks) but this means we will be back in Canada in time for Christmas and well before Andy's visa expires. We are aiming for completion by the end of October. We will then stay with a friend for a couple of weeks so we can save some extra money and will have time to close our bank accounts and get money transferred back to our Canadian account. We will probably be back around the 24th or 25th of November...just two months away! I can't wait!

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

RIP Alan Cashmore

Our family suffered a loss last week. On Wednesday 13 August 2008 my father-in-law passed away at Douglas McMillan hospice. He was diagnosed with lung cancer less than a month ago and, even though we were told to expect the best, he was unable to fight it. The funeral will hopefully be some time this week although we still don't have any formal arrangements made. It came as a complete shock and none of us were ready for it. He was only 61 years old, he should have had years left...not weeks.

This is our only picture of Anya and her grand-dad. It was taken just a few days before he passed away.

Wherever he is, I hope he is at peace. You will be missed Alan.


Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Well Slap My Hands....

I have been a very very naughty blogger. It has been AGES since I was on here last. Oops...so sorry.

So much has happened since I last posted. The biggest news is that we are now Canada-bound. Andy's immigration was approved at the end of June and we received his visa a few weeks ago! We are so excited. So we have been extremely busy for the last few weeks trying to get our flat ready to go on the market. It has been a really tiring month, but we are finally there. As of yesterday, our place is up for sale...and we already have a viewing booked for this coming Saturday! I can't believe how quickly that happened. The flat looks absolutely beautiful though...almost sad to let it go. I know that our main priority is to make sure we get the best price for it that we can, but a part of me would really like to see it go to someone who is going to love it as much as we have. It would be nice to have a young couple in here, starting their family together and filling our home with as much love as we have tried to fill it with. I have absolutely loved being here - it's the first place in a very very long time that has felt like home to me I will be sad to leave.

My maternity leave has come to an end as well. I started back to work at the beginning of July and, although I miss Annie while I'm away, I feel so much more like myself again since going back. I'm only part-time. I work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all day while Andy is home with Annie (works well for us...no childcare fees!) As much as I adore my little girl, I needed some adult time away from constantly being in "Mommy mode". She is such a little sweetie. She changes every day and I love watching her laugh and giggle at the smallest things (especially the cats). As much as I like my time away, I almost speed home at the end of every day just to see her.

We've also had some bad news recently too. My father-in-law was diagnosed with lung cancer last week and we spent most of last week at the hospital visiting with him while he waited for test results. The results came in on Friday and although it's cancer, they believe he'll respond well to treatment and have given him a high chance of survival. He's at home now waiting for the first round of chemo which should start in a couple weeks. Fingers crossed, he'll make a quick recovery.

I think that's it for now! I promise it won't be 2 months before I update this again!

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Canadian Invasion...

Well we're back from Canada and we had a great time. Annie is an absolutely amazing flyer and made it virtually stress-free for me. It was great! We spent time with Nana and Papa, Grandpa, Uncle Jeff and Kate as well as Sherrie, Nick and Jorja. It was so much fun hanging out with Sherrie and Jorja, although I still have trouble believing that we are both mums. When I think of the two of us, I still see us as were were 10+ years ago.

It was nice to hang out with my mom and Annie on Mother's Day and especially nice to have time to shower!! :) I also got to meet my brother's girlfriend Kate and she is brilliant! After meeting her, I understand completely why Jeffy is so happy. Hopefully next time we're over, we'll get to spend a little more time together but this was just a quick visit.

I've put all our pictures up. The link is on the right.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

One Step Closer...

I cannot believe it! It was just 5 weeks ago when we sent off our immigration forms and already things are moving! I received a letter yesterday confirming that I have been approved as Andy's sponsor and that his application for permanent residence has now been forwarded to the Canadian High Commission for processing. I'm amazed how quickly the decision was made. If I'm completely honest, I wasn't worried about Andy being granted a permanent residency visa - I was more concerned about being approved as his sponsor. I am so relieved that hurdle has been overcome. I haven't really allowed myself to get too excited about moving back to Canada just in case we weren't successful. But I can't help it now...I'm excited! I can't wait to get back there so Andy, Anya and I can have a fresh start. I'm still not going to plan anything though...best not get ahead of ourselves. But fingers crossed, we're on our way.

Anya hit a milestone of her own this weekend. Last Tuesday she turned 4 months old and Friday morning she had her first taste of baby cereal and loved it! She has half a bottle when she gets up, followed by cereal and then the rest of her bottle. And she is gobbling it up! My little piggy. She'll only have baby cereal until we get back from Canada and then I'll start introducing her to fruit and vegetables as long as she continues to do well on the cereal. She's changing so much now and is quickly becoming more like a little girl and less like a baby and I'm not entirely sure whether or not I like that. I hate that she's getting so big so quickly, but I love how social she now is. She laughs and chats to me all day long and it makes me smile every time she squeals at me. I am tired and worn out for the bulk of every day and I have never looked worse in my life, but I AM so happy with my little family and wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Outdoor Pursuits

My friend and I took Annie to Amerton Farm today. It's a strange sort of place, sort of a cross between a petting zoo, a craft centre, a garden centre and a play centre. We wandered through all the shops and she had very little interest in anything there. She actually slept through the craft centre, the shops and the garden centre. Then we went outside and headed towards the farmyard. There were chickens running all over the place and she didn't seem to mind too much. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of the chickens, pigs and lambs but she was especially perplexed by a particular old white horse. They stared at each other for ages so I had to snap a picture. I can't wait until she is a little bit older to take her back so she can pet and interact with all the animals. I think she would love it! The poor little girl was so tired after her day out, she passed out in the car on the way back. It's hard work being so damn cute. :)

I've added more pictures as well as the video for March...click the links on the right.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Homeward Bound...

It's been awhile since I posted anything, but life has kept me pretty busy recently. My darling little Anya is getting so big now. She was weighed a couple days ago at baby clinic and she is 14lbs 10oz! She my roly poly baby and I love her to pieces. She's slowly starting to get more of a personality as well. She loves chatting and laughing with mummy and daddy and it melts my heart every time she starts giggling. She is a beautiful girl and I couldn't imagine being without her.

Anya and I are going on our first flight next month too and to be honest, I am NOT looking forward to it. I am looking forward to seeing my mom, dad, brother and Sherrie and Jorja but NOT being on a plane for 7+ hours with a 4 month old baby. Oh lord! I am really looking forward to hanging out with Sherrie and Jorja though...our babies are only 3 weeks apart and I can't wait to see them playing together. I've waited 14 years for this and am SO excited!

We're all doing well though....just busy at the moment.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx