Apologies for the long absence of news from Nelson. Whilst Britain continues to thaw, we are still enjoying one of the best summers in living memory of Nelson's oldest and hardest to please residents.
The most important and exciting news is that Bernie is doing fantastically well. She and baby have been growing consistently, so much so that two weeks ago (aged 34 weeks) baby was an estimated 7 and a half pounds, which even made the radiologist wince and squirm in her chair!
Nevertheless, Bernie is her typically active and full-of-beans self and it is still a battle to get her to sit / lie down. Baby is equally active and causes Bernie to make regular "oooh's" and aaah's" as it flexes his/her muscles inside. I took this picture this very day - doesn't she look awesome?!?
Bernie recently had a Baby Shower (the name just freaks me out a bit and fortunately I didn't have to attend!), which she really enjoyed. We're fortunate enough to have a large circle of friends, mostly through school who are or have recently gone through child birth and we have managed to talk about little else for what seems like years!
I celebrated in a more manly way - with a pint (or two!) of my fine home brew! My Mexican cerveca here enjoyed in an Adnams glass... very refreshing after a long bike ride!
Bernie recently had a Baby Shower (the name just freaks me out a bit and fortunately I didn't have to attend!), which she really enjoyed. We're fortunate enough to have a large circle of friends, mostly through school who are or have recently gone through child birth and we have managed to talk about little else for what seems like years!
I celebrated in a more manly way - with a pint (or two!) of my fine home brew! My Mexican cerveca here enjoyed in an Adnams glass... very refreshing after a long bike ride!
We have managed to borrow a lot of baby gear from friends and family (mostly Paul and Shirley!) and pretty much everything bought has come from tradme (like ebay) including the change table, push chair, chest of drawers etc for a total of not very much... Also, it sounds as though our parents will be testing their baggage limit to the max when they fly here soon, whilst only bringing only one change of underwear for the entire month!
Bernie's rocking chair ($25 from a recycle centre!) is going to hide most of this part of the nursery, but I thought it best to start my artistic exploits here - hopefully my skills will improve... I last painted something almost twenty years ago... and yes, that is grey hair... thanks Dad!
The fish is a carving I can take no credit for, but the other creatures are just passable I think!
Although we've got a child on the way, we already have a beloved companion - Bobby. He has really taken to me and often pushes past Bernie to greet me when we return from work... I don't know why as its usually Bernie who feeds him! It might have something to do with the fact that we both love running around like headless chickens and play fighting... he is unbelievably affectionate for a dog though... he often falls asleep like that and then twitches his paws and barks quietly as he dreams of chasing balls!
I'm trying to toughen up his image though - a Harley Davidson bandanna has been donned, but he doesn't like looking at the camera for some reason... he smiles a lot!
Despite only having my bee hive for a few months, they have already spoilt me with 12 kilos of beautiful, golden honey. I filled 30 jars of various sizes for gifts and personal use. We've been using it in cooking from stewed apples to curry! I'm now in the pest control phase of bee ownership, with varroa and other diseases which attempt to decimate bee colonies. Everybody keeps telling me over and over again how I will not have time for anything other than work and baby related stuff once he/she is born. Nevertheless, I've joined a football team who play within 50m of our house and hope to be able to keep the bees, garden and the odd bit of biking going over the next few months... only time will tell!
Bernie has spent many an hour making some awesome curtains for the nursery. I cannot imagine the long process involved in making all the pleating and getting them looking so neat, but Bernie has done an awesome job. They look a bit garish in the picture, but they really suit the sea/sky theme of the nursery:
Although we've got a child on the way, we already have a beloved companion - Bobby. He has really taken to me and often pushes past Bernie to greet me when we return from work... I don't know why as its usually Bernie who feeds him! It might have something to do with the fact that we both love running around like headless chickens and play fighting... he is unbelievably affectionate for a dog though... he often falls asleep like that and then twitches his paws and barks quietly as he dreams of chasing balls!
I'm trying to toughen up his image though - a Harley Davidson bandanna has been donned, but he doesn't like looking at the camera for some reason... he smiles a lot!
Despite only having my bee hive for a few months, they have already spoilt me with 12 kilos of beautiful, golden honey. I filled 30 jars of various sizes for gifts and personal use. We've been using it in cooking from stewed apples to curry! I'm now in the pest control phase of bee ownership, with varroa and other diseases which attempt to decimate bee colonies. Everybody keeps telling me over and over again how I will not have time for anything other than work and baby related stuff once he/she is born. Nevertheless, I've joined a football team who play within 50m of our house and hope to be able to keep the bees, garden and the odd bit of biking going over the next few months... only time will tell!
Bernie has spent many an hour making some awesome curtains for the nursery. I cannot imagine the long process involved in making all the pleating and getting them looking so neat, but Bernie has done an awesome job. They look a bit garish in the picture, but they really suit the sea/sky theme of the nursery:
We're now 31 days from due date, but we're both praying for an earlier birth - not just so I get time off before the school holiday's, but it would be ace for us to have a little getting-to-know-each-other time before our beloved family arrives, and I don't want Bernie to have to squeeze out a ten pound beast!
We're still planning for a home birth and birth pool will hopefully be used as and when Bernie feels like one... we've got to get this new triathlete in training as early as possible to maximise training for... only joking, I just want something comfortable to lie in whilst Bernie gets all the attention!
Love and best wishes from Chris, Bernie, Bobby and Bump!
