Uni friends meet-up

On Saturday, bump and I took the train to London (£10 return special offer) to meet-up with my uni friends. I can't believe they graduated 5 years ago, time flies! (I graduated 4 - mine was a 4 year course). We had a lovely lunch in Covent Garden and did abit of shopping. It was good to catch up with everyone's news - Krust is back from completing her Masters in Oz, Joey's off on a safari this week with her family, Kelly's settled in her job but considering moving back to Essex at some point, Vix is doing well in her job. Unfortunately Helen and Gemma couldn't make it. It was like old times and we all had loads to talk about, it had been nearly 2 years since we last all met up. Hopefully, we wont leave it as long before the next meet-up!

Strickland Camping weekend

Mountain biking Kite flying

Last weekend was the annual Strickland camping weekend. Unfortunately Luke and I couldnt get any time off work, so I wasnt looking forward to the long drive up to North Wales from Southampton on Friday evening. But as it happened, the roads were clear all the way and we made it in 3 hours and 40 mins, with a 10minute stop at Frankley services. It was a real blessing that the roads were pretty much traffic-free.

We arrived at the campsite and had sent our tent on ahead with Luke's folks last weekend as we werent sure how long the drive was going to take us, so it was lovely to not have to be putting the tent up at 9:30pm at night. After a quick chat to everyone we got an early night as it had been a really long day! I used my campbed again (I bought it for Taize), which coupled with my pregnancy V pillow underneath it for extra support, is surprisingly comfortable.

Saturday morning Luke, Alex, Mash, Jas and Pip went off to the local mountain biking trails, I was abit jealous watching them go, but had a lovely morning talking babies with Tasha and Helen and reading my murder mystery book: Choc Chip Cookie Murder, by Joanna Fluke.

In the afternoon we went into Llangollen for some supplies for the bbq and had an icecream. The weather was warm most of the time but overcast. Just as the bbq was lit it started to pour with rain, but we were prepared and had put the gazebo up, which was great for cooking under.

Saturday evening we played Settlers of Catan, our favourite game. I won! (I have kind of stopped trying, as I have quite a good win record at the moment and am starting to feel guilty about it). It occurred to me that no one ever loses graciously at Settlers of Catan - there's no 'Well done, well played', its more of a grumble, and a 'I was only one move away from winning' etc type comment.

Sunday morning was freezing! After packing the tents up and having lunch we started our drive back. About half an hour into the drive the sun came out and it warmed up, so I think we must have been on the edge of a weather front. We stopped by Nine Acres for tea and cake and got back home about 6pm, in time to watch the 100m sprint final at the World Championships! Tash and Patrick's Teepee

Family catch up

Yesterday we went to Luke's parents' house in Surrey for the day. We had a fun day chatting to Ian, Helen, Tasha and Pip, and playing with little Poppy and Willow. In the morning we went for a walk into Walton on Thames and had a drink and piece of cake in Starbucks. We also put Pip's new tent up in the garden in preparation for the Strickland camping weekend next weekend. After lunch we chatted some more and I had a look through some photos of Luke as a baby (I've been wondering what our bean might look like..)

Willow, who must be about 4 months old now, recognises quite a few songs - like Row row row your boat and Baa baa black sheep. She really calmed down when we started singing them. Lots of pregnancy books suggest singing to your baby before it's born, so Luke and I have downloaded a pre-school praise album. Its got some old ones on from when I was growing up like Rise and Shine (Arky Arky).

Tasha gave us afew more baby bits, including lots of 0-3 month baby grows, they're so tiny! Last week I got a bargain off ebay - a Moses basket and stand for 99p! No one else bid so I got it for the starting bid. The seller was in Southampton so I didnt need to factor in petrol. It's in perfect condition and has been looked after well. We just need to get a couple of new mattresses now - one for the Moses basket and one for the cot.

This week I've been SO hungry all the time, and have developed a taste for McCoys crisps and Wispa choccy bars. I was going to the League of Friends shop at work most days so figured it would just be a lot cheaper if we bought some in advance and keep them in the cupboard. It's a test of willpower to limit myself to one per day though. Last weekend I had a fizzy drink, and next thing I knew my tummy was making jerky, rhythmic movements - the baby had hiccups! Luke and I both chuckled.

Dear Bump

Dear Bump

Even though you've only been around for less than 22 weeks, you've changed my life so much already. In the first few weeks, you were doing some serious growing work, enough to make me feel really tired, no - exhausted, and a little sick. I was feeling so rough I had to give up my running (things must've been bad!), but you're worth it :-)

We saw you for the first time when you were 12 weeks, and you were such a lively little bean! You were bouncing around all over the place, and wouldn't keep still for your measurements - you were a cheeky little monkey already. When you'd been around 12 weeks, Daddy and I had so much fun telling all our family and friends about you, and that you'd be here by christmas. Everyone was SO excited to hear about you!

Since having you around, you've made me go off some of my favourite foods and drinks, and made me crave chocolate and sweets (I think you must have a sweet tooth as I'm much more of a savoury person usually). And my tummy is growing all the time as you get bigger.

We're preparing your room for you, which will be lovely and bright in happy colours, and collecting all the little bits and pieces we'll need to look after you. I can't wait to meet you and look after all your needs, giving you lots of cuddles along the way - watching you as you grow bigger and stronger.

Just this week, Daddy felt you kick inside for the first time, and you did the biggest kick I've felt yet last Friday, enough to make me jump! I'm looking forward to feeling more of your movements as you grow, I wonder if I'll recognise your hiccups?

We don't know if you're pink or blue, so you'll stay our little yellow bump until we get to meet you in December, what a surprise you'll be!

Lots of love,
Mummy

The big clear-out

The last few weeks Luke and I have been attempting to get rid of all the junk in our spare rooms, to make some space for the baby. We're moving our 'study room' into the spare room, which has the spare bed in it, and the old study will become the baby's nursery. I can't believe how much stuff we've acculumulated in the 2 1/2 years we've been married. We're gradually getting there though, and with the help of ebay and freecycle have got rid alot of the stuff that we never use. All the old triathlon and running magazines have gone (I noticed alot of which we had 2 copies of, from before Luke and I were living together). I bravely gave away my button collection (!) from when I was younger to Jenny from church, to use for craft. I've kept afew sentimental bits and pieces, but generally for each thing I've asked myself 'will I really miss this if I throw it away?'

The 'nursery' is beginning to take form; we're keeping the walls the same colour (yellow, orange and red' from when the room was the study. It was originally meant to be a sunset theme, but turned out abit brighter than what we were expecting, nice and bold for the baby though. On the walls we have an Andy Warhol pop-art type picture of Luke's family potraits, that Luke's sister Tasha did afew years ago. We also have the story of Solomon in pictures, with a yellow background, also done by Tasha, and I bought some colourful wall transfers of zoo animals off ebay.

Luke is working a long day today, and wont be back until 11:30 tonight, so I'm keeping myself busy with continuing to tidy, and I might pop into town for a hot chocolate in Borders later, after a walk round the Common. On Thursday I usually go to the drop-in at James Street for a bacon roll or two and a cup of tea, but they've finished for the summer now.

I've really been enjoying swimming on a wednesday lunchtime. Everyone is friendly there. I do think it's quite funny though that last week I was swimming in the 'fast' lane, and keeping up, despite being 20 weeks pregnant. I think it says more about the type of people using the pool rather than my swimming ability though! Yesterday I stuck to the medium lane as it was alot quieter in the pool.

I've been feeling definate kicks this week, especially in the morning and evening when I'm lying still in bed. Have also found I'm waking up hungry in the middle of the night, which is really inconvenient, and finding it difficult to get back to sleep. Heart burn has also kicked in..

Halfway point

Tuesday is weigh-in day and I'm quite impressed that I've put 3lb on just this week alone! I double checked just to be certain, but there's no mistaking it, I'm now officially the heaviest I've ever been (having overtaken my first year weight at uni, where I was well-fed (3 meals/day included in fees, cooked brekkie most days - yum!).

Yesterday Luke and I went to the hospital for the 20 week scan of the baby. Luke definately wanted to not know the gender, whereas I was undecided - part of me quite liked the idea of finding out. But I resisted the temptation and we''ll be finding out if we have a boy or girl when bean's born in December. I'm glad we kept it as a surprise now. All was well with the baby and the sonographer said everything looked normal.

Last night we went to see the new Harry Potter film: The Half Blood Prince. It was quite sad all the way through really, not many 'happy' moments. But then, there wasn't in the book either. Although the film was good, the books have so much more in them, you can't really appreciate the full story by just watching the film.

It is not enough for a gardener to love flowers;

He must also hate weeds

Anonymous

I had the afternoon off today so went down the allotment to do some weeding - it's beginning to turn into abit of a jungle down there. I started off in the cabbage and brocolli patches, as they were the most needy of a de-weed. The weeds were coming out really easily and I was on abit of a roll, so I moved onto the parsnips, broad beans and onions.

The carrots are coming up in neat rows, last year's werent very successful as they were all 'got' by carrot root fly. I read up abit on prevention, and basically you need to firm down the soil after thinning out, and then water well. It was the middle of the afternoon so I was aprehensive to water due to the sun scorching risk, but I figured it was the lesser of two evils.

Back at home, I've taken some of the outer leaves off our lettuce as a prevention measure against bolting (which some of them are starting to do). The theory is that it tricks them into thinking they haven't reached maturity and so prevents them bolting.

All-in-all a productive afternoon. Here's afew pictures from today:

19 weeks

Bump circumference 87cm yesterday (grown 1.5cm in a week - and it shows). Have gained nearly 2kg now. If I lie on my back, instead of my lovely flat tummy I have a hard bump, but it's lovely to know it's the baby in there. Still havent felt any movements for certain yet, although I have felt a heavy/tight 'mass' a couple of times.

I went swimming for the first time at Oaklands pool yesterday, in my new maternity swimwear. I did 50 lengths in 45 minutes. The lunchtime swim at the pool was really quiet, only myself and one other person in the medium lane, so it was really relaxing. When I was a member at the uni swimming pool I never found a quiet time to go, I tried early morning, daytime and evening with no joy, and so never particularly found it relaxing between overtaking slowbies and holding up the faster people.

Luke and I really enjoyed our trip to Halesowen last weekend. Luke did really well in his first half-marathon on Saturday morning (see his blog for a review). Saturday afternoon I went to the service of Claire's Mum's wedding, she looked really beautiful, and it was nice to catch up with some faces from the past from Hasbury. Saturday evening we dropped my Grandad back home and got to meet the new budgie - Murray. Then we played Settlers of Catan with Jo and Ste (and I won). Sunday morning we went to Zion, and it happened to be the celebration of their 30th year, we enjoyed the service there (as we always do). After lunch we had another quick game of Settlers before driving home listening to the Wimbledon final on 5 live.

Yesterday evening we watched Slumdog Millionaire with Sally, Rosie and Sarah. Thought it was really good, would like to watch it again.

18 weeks today

Pretty swiss chard from the garden - good in stir frys

The letuce patch

18 weeks pregnant today. Bump circumference has grown a cm this week to 85.5cm. Havent put much weight on overall yet though (maybe 1kg?). Am pleased to say nausea and tiredness seem to have mostly disappeared now.

Yesterday Luke and I went to Wimbledon, we had centre court tickets from the public ballot. As there's a heatwave at the moment, it was nice that for most of the day we were in the shade, and as the sun crept round the new roof was moved to provide some cover for the spectators.

Noticed my feet started to swell up in the heat though (? a combination of heat and pregnancy).

On the way back, a kind man on the train offered me his seat from the other side of the carriage, think he must've spotted my bump. Funny though as being so fit and active usually I'd never have thought I'd be thankful for a seat on a train for a 20 minute train journey!

Popped down the allotment this morning. Picked our first courgettes of the season. Did abit of weeding, but I think the hot weather has helped to suppress them abit. It's very peaceful down there, just me and one other plot holder, who was taking a break in the shade under one of the big willow trees down there. The lettuce in the garden are all bolting unfortunately, may have to make a big batch of lettuce soup to use them up and freeze for the winter.

This afternoon I'm going to continue with the big tidy/clear out of our 2 spare rooms. We're turning the study into the nursery, and the spare bedroom will also have the desk and office stuff in it. I love clearing out - I take after my mum. It feels freeing to get rid of all our unwanted stuff that just takes up space. We'll try and put as much as possible on freecyle, in keeping with the reuse, recycle, reduce theory.

14 weeks

14 weeks preggers and people are starting to notice my little bump (although it is very little at the moment). On Saturday it was great to catch up with Tasha and Patrick, Poppy and baby Willow, who's 9 weeks old. Babies dont seem to do much at 9 weeks other than sleep, poo and feed. She was lovely, and Poppy is growing up so quickly, she was 6 days old at our wedding in 2006! Tasha has given me all her maternity clothes - fantastic. Regular clothes (especially my work ones) are feeling tight now, but I'm not yet ready to move into maternity.

I've been doing quite alot of research into pushchairs. It's the one item that we want to get right - as we'll be using it everyday and it needs to meet our needs. From my research there's only one on the market that ticks all our boxes for requirements. On Sunday I found an absolute bargain on ebay. The exact pushchair that we want, 4 months old, with a 3 1/2 year warranty still, located just down the road in Portsmouth. Best bit is that we got it for less than half price the new value! Well worth it, even though its early days - but if needs be I reckon I'll be able to sell it on at a profit.

Luke's older siblings have offered us a lot of their baby bits and pieces, so we shouldnt need to buy too much. I have a book called 'How to have a baby on ebay'. You can make big savings. I bought a fetal heart rate monitor on there, and have found the baby's heart beat, which is twice as fast as my own, and sounds like a galloping horse. I have a listen every evening to check baby's ok.

Bank Holiday Weekend

Baby Strickland at 12 weeks

Been up visiting the family this weekend with our exciting news!

Friday night we told my parents they're gonna be grandparents in December. I'd bought a baby photo frame and written in the middle 'Photo to be added December 09', as a fun way to tell them. My mum exclaimed 'What a lovely photo frame' and my Dad tried to think what would be happening in December - subtlety obviously wasn't working, so I put it bluntly and told them we were having a baby! They were really chuffed at finding out! Soon after we relayed the news to the rest of the family.



Had fun bridesmaid dress shopping with Jo and Becky on Saturday morning in Birmingham. We've found 2 lovely dresses, which unfortunately wont fit me come September/October with an ever-growing bump! Hopefully it shouldnt be too difficult to find a formal maternity dress and match the colour.



It's been great having lovely weather for bank holiday. Yesterday we took my grandad round a garden centre. He used to love gardening before he became partially sighted. Then we went up Waisley hills with Jo and Ste my siblings. We spent some of this morning planting out the courgettes, sweetcorn, cucumber and beans, and picked our first produce of the year - lettuce and broad beans. Hoping for some rain now to give them all a good water in!

Photos

I love taking photos and keep meaning to go on a photography course to improve my skills. Here's a couple of my fave recent pics that I've taken (discounting all the family memory/snapshot types..)