Saturday, 25 June 2011

Weird things happen to you when your pregnant



It's 6am on a Sunday morning and I'm writing a blog and this is Jackie not Simon.

Well my pregnancy so far has been pretty uneventful and hassle free. There has been no weird food cravings (apparently some women have cravings for inedible things like coal, chalk, bleach I found this really hard to believe!), no horrendous morning sickness, no massive weight gain, no sore boobs, no mood swings, THAT WAS UNTIL THIS MORNING!

I have been awake since 3am and stayed in bed for an an hour trying to will myself back to sleep. Baby Bush was also awake a very restless. Finally I realised sleep was alluding the both of us so I got up at 4am (as you will know from Simon's previous blog it is broad daylight at 4am) and got busy in the kitchen. A quick scour of the recipe books and a check of the cupboards for the right ingredients and I set about whipping up a batch of biscuits and a tray of muffins. Some substituting was needed as no golden syrup could be found so had to make do with a honey/ brown sugar combination. That should work should't it mum?

Stem ginger and coconut cookies
Bran and sultana muffins (to keep us nice and regular)


Simon came to check on me at about 5.30am in a dazed sleepy stupor. He had heard all the banging and crashing around and came to investigate. I wish I got a photo for the blog as I've never seen him so confused. I'm pretty sure he thinks his wife has gone loopy!

I have never been much of a baker only when the desire to eat something sweet and yummy has taken hold do I get the cake tins prepped. The weird thing is I don't even feel like eating what I've just made, I feel like like fruit and porridge for breakfast. In fact I'm eating an apple right now when there is warm buttery cookies cooling in the kitchen and the smell is wafting throughout the flat. Lucky Simon is marathon training again so he can eat what he likes and just burn it off. Yesterday it was a 20km run and then 18 holes of golf!

John Lewis Waffle Moses Basket  White

We are off to buy a Moses Basket later today for Baby Bush to sleep in (that's another 5 hours away though as the shops don't open until 11am). We plan to avoiding buying a cot until we move to a bigger flat in March next year. This might be a bit optimistic on my part as Baby Bush will be 4 months old but I'd rather not have a big baby especially at the point at which it comes into this world. A small healthy baby is what I'm after when I go off to the hospital. We can only break our current lease in September which would mean moving house when I'm 8 months pregnant which I don't fancy doing even though we will be a bit cramped in our one bedroom flat. On the plus side our Du Cane Court flat is lovely and warm and very dry during the winter with heating and hot water included in our rent.

Now that we know Baby Bush is going to be a boy I have started buying some of the baby gear we will need although still trying to avoid buying everything in blue as Baby Bush might have a sister one day and she might appreciate not be dressed as a boy! Next important thing on the baby gear list is a pram which is going to be vitally important to us as it will be our only means of transport and something that I will use everyday. Worth spending money on although we are happy to buy second hand if its the model that we want. Prams in the UK can go up to a £800 -£1000 which seems ridiculous as you could buy a car for that sort of money. I am constantly looking at prams on the street to work out what style/model will suit us best. At the moment we are thinking of a 3 wheeler with good suspension that isn't too wide as it will need to sit in our small hallway. I would like Simon to take Baby Bush running with him but he is not keen on this idea which I can't understand as it seems like the perfect solution. He still gets to exercise and I get time to catch up on some sleep to me this equals HAPPY MARRIAGE!

Bump as of today

Friday, 24 June 2011

Gourmet night tonight

Jackie has been busy in the kitchen, I came home today to freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and a home made lasagna for dinner. Dinner was picture perfect, so we took some pictures...

Lasagna just out of the oven, with side salads ready to go. 

This yummy turkish bread wasn't home made but bought from a  shop down the road which we've recently discovered. It was a massive loaf for just 60p (about NZD1.20). Yum yum yum.

The finished product, mine didn't last too long.

Tuesday, 21 June 2011

Sleeping with the lights on

It's summer solstice on this side of the world today which means long days.

The sun sets at 21:21 but it is light till well after ten and then the sun officially rises at 04:43 but it starts getting light well before that.

This means we are going to bed (bedtime is around 10pm in the Bush house) and waking up in daylight which is a little bit tough.

We've taken to wearing eye masks to bed.

Below is a picture of me ready for bed, it helps if you don't put the eye mask on until you're in bed, otherwise it can be tough finding your way.

Friday, 17 June 2011

Things that go bump in the night

I think most of our blog readers  (all 7 of you) are aware that Jackie is pregnant.

We've just gone through 21 weeks.

A few weeks ago, lying in bed I had my hand resting on the bump when Jackie asks me to stop tapping my finger. I'm not I say, that's when we first felt Baby Bush moving around.

Since then Jackie has had kicks and flutters regularly which has been very exciting and reassuring.

Today we had our second scan which was another exciting mile stone. Given the baby is so much bigger than the first scan you can't actually see the whole baby in one shot, so it looks a bit more abstract. Although there was some more details in certain areas and we've seen for ourselves that it is a little boy!

A few photos...

Jackie with some recent purchases

Showing off a very tidy bump!

Baby Bush at 11 week scan
Baby Bush today at 21 weeks, the photo we've take from the scan is a bit fuzzy but it looks like a very handsome lad I can assure you. 


Tuesday, 14 June 2011

Wedding in Devon

This weekend we went to a wedding of our close friends Simon (Thommo) and Bev. They got married in a small village called Huntsham in Devon. They hired Huntsham Court which is a rather grand building. Most of the guests, including us stayed at the venue and it was quite a highlight, some photos below...

Photo from Huntsham Court website

The ceremony

First dance

Another happy couple

Our bedroom was in the turret, it wasn't as grand as some of the other rooms, it was smaller than most of the bathrooms in the house but was better than staying off site as there wasn't any other accommodation within walking distance

Relaxing after a huge bbq lunch

Jackie chilling out in the bar

The library, one of my favourite rooms in the house

One of the lounge rooms the day after the wedding

The main reception room where the ceremony was held, this is the day after, bride and groom contemplating what they've done!

Dining room with long table

Not quite from the wedding, this is my team' scorecard from the stag do, 9 hole ambrose, which  we won comfortably at 3 under par!!