a little green thumb

Christine (Paul's mum) came over today to have a massive pruning/tidy of our garden (backyard). We got a substantial amount cut back during Jamie's 2 hour nap--we easily have 2-3 carloads that need to go to the green recycling. When Jamie did wake up, we found we had ourselves quite the little helper. He obviously has his Nanna's green thumb. (Let's hope so!)

What have you done to my room?

We are getting new carpet in Jamie's room this week and have had to strip everything out. Here is his reaction on seeing the empty room the first time.



You can also view this video here: http://youtu.be/NCkX4Nn8diE

snow days!

So Jamie and I apparently made it home in the nick of time. It started snowing in Southeast London on Tuesday morning about 4am. Our flight landed at 6:30. Paul picked us up at the airport and as we drove the 60 miles on the motorway the snow became more and more visible on the ground. By the time we got off at our exit, it was really coming down. We were only 8 miles from home, but it took us 2.5 hours from that point to get home. We literally crawled down the road to get to our house. It snowed all day long and then again the next day. We ended up with 12-14 inches of snow. A first for Jamie and for Remmy. Can you guess who enjoyed it more?

What fun!

Hmm... 

 I love it!

I'm bored...

Our backyard after Day 1:



t- 4 days

...until the due date anyway. We'll see when he actually makes his appearance...

It's been a busy week off work. Busier for my mom than me I think, but I'm feeling more ready. She's been working hard on the nursery and it's really coming together. I'm not going to post any photos until it's finished, which should be in the next couple of days. It's super cute though!!  We've also been cleaning and shopping, trying to get all the last minute things sorted. It's so nice having her around! Now that my hospital bag is finally packed and my own bedroom has had a thorough clean, I feel better about him making an early arrival. He's going to be in our bedroom for a few months, so it's not vital that the nursery is finished on time. 

Personally I'm getting more tired during the day. I have the energy to do about one project a day and then am taking it easy the rest of the time. I even took a nap yesterday. We haven't really seen any signs that he's coming yet. He was 2/5ths engaged at my midwife appointment last Wednesday (they measure in 1/5ths for some reason), so he's moving down. I'm also starting to swell more in my hands. My ankles started a few weeks ago and my hands started over the weekend. Dad arrives Saturday, and I'd like them to have as much time together as possible, so it would be nice if he came soon, but it's not really up to me. The midwife suggested drinking raspberry tea, eating spicy food and fresh pineapple(!), as well as some 'other' activities;). And now we'll be doing all we can to get this little guy out so he can hang with grandparents for as long as possible. 

And last night we took a photo of the bump at 39 weeks. Sorry for the poor lighting and the white on white background.  I'll try to take a better one later this week: 

uk baby shower

On Saturday, my lovely friends threw me a wonderful baby shower-English style! Baby showers are only just starting to catch on over here, but my friends were determined not to be outdone by their American counterparts. The 'English' way of course involves tea, of which there was plenty of variety as well as lovely little tea like sandwiches (cream cheese, sweet chili and cucumber, ham and cheese, egg and cress), scones and darling cupcakes (or fairy cakes as they're called here) with the appropriate blue icing.  Here are a few food photos:

This was followed by a few games including: guess the flavor baby food (I was horrible at this-and  I suggest everyone avoids a broccoli and cauliflour bake flavor-ew!), and guess the size of Stacy's bump, which involved everyone getting some string and then having to guess my circumference by cutting the string to size (I was not allowed to cheat and was equally horrible at this!)

And then we opened presents. Instead of writing who they were from, everyone had to put their baby photo on the present and I had to guess who they were from. Some were easier than others, of course! I hadn't heard this before and thought it was a super cute idea. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of all the gifts, but I can tell you they filled this Moses basket. Little baby W is going to be one well dressed little man!

It was a great afternoon, so thanks to all you who made it so special!

While us girls who oohing and aahing over cute baby things, we sent our boys to our house to move in our nursery furniture and put together our dining room furniture. I think we got the better end of the deal! I'm not posting any nursery photos til it's all complete, but here's a shot of our new dining room set:

Well done boys!

Officially homeless!

Thanks to everyone for their support of the very crazy last week. We have now officially exchanged contracts with our vendors and buyers. We packed up and moved all of our stuff out of the flat (well I should say Paul and 3 very capable movers) yesterday and it's being put in storage. The earliest we could negotiate our move in date is Jan 18th. She said if her movers get a cancellation then she'll let us know, but I think this is very unlikely.  Our friends Chris and Cheryl are kindly hosting us this weekend and for a week when we get back form the States, then we'll move in with other friends Ben and Lizzy for a week and a bit who live slightly closer to our new house.  Here is a photo of our moving van just before the doors were practicall forced shut:

That's a lot of stuff!!  Looking forward to finding it all a place in our house in exactly 1 month's time!

oh the drama!

A little update on our housing situation...
We are in a chain of 3, all aiming for simultaneously completion and moving next Friday. This was agreed very early on. Paul has been working extremely hard to ensure this happens (multiple phone calls multiple times a day to lawyers, mortgage people, estate agents, etc). We just about had everything set yesterday when Paul got notified that our vendor has decided to fly to Ghana on Thursday next week and won't be able to complete until the New Year. She returns to London on Jan 2nd like us. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot we can do except vent our frustration.

We told our buyers about this today, and they're pissed off too of course.  In order to appease them, we've offered to still move out on Friday as long as we exchange contracts with our vendor beforehand (which will make them legally bound to sell us their house). This means we'll homeless from Friday night. We are going to the States on Sunday so technically we're homeless next Friday and Saturday and then for a week or so when we get back until we can complete. Paul has spoken to the movers and they can store our stuff for £900 extra, a cost we will be passing up to our vendors, as well as any other inconvenience charges we might face because of this.

We are really hoping our vendor isn't playing games and planning on going AWOL next week. We need her to sign the contract before she leaves so we can feel assured that we aren't making ourselves permanently homeless when we move out on Friday. Please pray this happens!  We'll keep you updated.

mid-wife appt #4

Mara came to see me, this time with a student, for my 26 week appointment. Everything seems to be progressing well. She took BP (120/80) and urine and both were fine. She measure the bump which came in at 26 cm (10.2 inches), which is right on track. The cm should roughly match up with number of weeks, so I'm perfect I guess. I don't have to do the glucose screening for diabetes since there is no history. And I've scheduled a swine flu vaccine for next week. We also listed to Baby W's heartrate and he sounded good and active. He's in the head down position and to my right, as usual avoiding the fibroid. We also talked about what to do once we move and for now I'm going to stay with my midwife and designated hospital. This means no more home visits and we have to drive ourselves to the hospital (or get an ambulance if necessary), which should all be fine. Hopefully it won't be rush hour when the time comes! I will also check out services near our new house once we move and make a final decision then. I got my government forms which entitle me to £190 ($310) just for being pregnant(!) and also forms for my employer so they can claim my maternity pay.

Generally, I've been feeling pretty good. No more cramping and the baby is getting a lot more active. He makes likes to make my tummy look all wonky, especially when I'm laying down. We've got another ultrasound next Friday, so I'll get to see his sweet little face and get some more snaps. We're also attempting to move house that day-though not confirmed so it could be a very busy day!

what a busy week!!

Thursday: we sell our flat (finally!).
Saturday: see 7 houses
Monday: make an offer on one
Tuesday: find out that one has a recent insurance claim for subsidence. Go visit second favorite from Saturday to see garage and backyard as we weren't able to find keys to get out there with estate agent.
Today: make an offer on the second house, negotiate, and they accept.

Wahoo!
The house is lovely and, unlike the first, we can move straight into it with very little work. (The first needed new flooring and every room needed wallpaper stripping and a couple coats of paint.) Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms plus an office. Downstairs is the living and dining rooms, kitchen/breakfast room and the garage which has been coverted to a utility room It also has the most amazing three tiered garden. It's in a lovely neighborhood close to some good schools and half a mile walk to 3 different train stations, which will help with commuting.

Of course it's still very early and everything has to go to the lawyers and the house has to be surveyed, etc. A lot can go wrong, but I'm choosing to stay positive. We haven't been told any timeframe, but I'm working under the assumption it will be in Januray. Pray that everything goes smoothly from here on out.

Now the important bit, the photos:

front of the house

backyard

kitchen

living room

dining room

master bedroom

bathroom (also has separate shower)

Guest bedroom

Unfortunately there are no pictures of the soon to be nursery.

Good news!

We've finally had an offer on our flat and we've accepted! It was £5k less than what we really wanted to accept, but it's likely that if we wait for another buyer, prices might go up by that much for places we're looking. And I have a nursery to plan! So now starts the house hunting process. We're looking for a house in south outer London. We've spent most of this evening looking at what's around, and there's not a lot. But all we need is one good one. The next two Saturdays are the only two Saturdays we have free pretty much for the rest of the year. Wish us luck!

But it is a really nice flat...honest!

Not sure if I've mentioned this on here, but we're trying to sell our flat at the moment. We want to upgrade to a house for obvious reasons.  It went on the market at the end of May, before I was even preggers.  We haven't had a single offer yet. We've had plenty of viewings, reduced the price by £10,000 in August and switched estate agents, which really increased our viewings.  But still nothing. There hasn't really been much feedback other than those who can't live without a bathtub, which we don't have.  There also are very few 3 bed flats on the market in our area, which makes us unique.  Our estate agents have convinced us to drop the price again by £10,000. *Sigh*  Meanwhile the buzz in the news is that the housing market is on the up and prices are starting to rise.  We've seen evidence of that in the area we want to buy. Really hope this does the job quickly.  If you want to see pics of our place, they're here: http://www.kfh.co.uk/residential/flats-for-sale/london-kennington-se11-orsett-street/2050717/


I really want to get into a house before the baby comes. I have a nursery to plan! 

more questions

Q: Are you going to find out if it's a girl or boy?
A: Undecided.  We won't be able to find out until our 20 week ultrasound, which is on Oct 30th.  I don't want to find out, but Paul does. We haven't made a final decision. I think it would be nice to a surprise to look forward to on the day. Although knowing the sex would help with some planning and buying, we'll always be in need of gender neutral clothes if we're lucky enough to have more than one child!

Q: Is my mom coming over for the birth?
A: She is waiting to hear what Paul and I decide. I'm pretty sure I'll want her here at the beginning, but I haven't worked out all the details. We still have 6 months to decide. Paul has 2 weeks paid paternity leave, so whether it might be better for her to come after than, I don't know.  I think it would be nice for her to be her for the birth.

Q: Because I have a mid-wife does that mean I'm having a home birth?
A: NO!  Midwives are common practice over here. They're used for general pre- and post-natal check ups and help you through the birth, rather than having an Ob-gyn.  I could choose to have the baby at home, but I won't.  I don't want to take the risk if something goes wrong. Plus, I don't want to get my house all messy!

Q: Does having a baby mean we're moving back to the States?
A: Not YET. We do really want to move back, but the way the economy the way it is right now, it just doesn't make sense for us to immgrate back.  We're actually looking to buy a house here at the moment.  We put our flat on the market back in May but no offers yet.  We're looking to move out to the suburbs in south London (Bromley/Beckenham). We will move back, but it'll probably be another 3 or so years.   This isn't great news for my family of course, and that fact is the hardest for me, but we've been lucky so far to see them around 4 times a year, which is more than some families in the States see each other. 

Q. How much time will I get off work?
A. This is one of the greatest things about living in the UK. I get 6 months paid maternity leave, plus I can take a further 6 months unpaid and still return to the same job. Now, those first 6 months aren't all at full pay. A few weeks are at full pay, then it drops to 90% of earnings, then drops to a statutory wage. I haven't quite worked out all the financial implications, but I'm likely to take the full year if possible.  I also get 27 days (paid) vacation next year which I can also take at any time next year.