Bank Holiday Monday

My old school friend Rachel came to visit us yesterday and we went out for lunch. It was good to see her again but as she's rather broody I had a hard time stopping her from making off with Olivia as she was about to leave!

BBQ

After all Richard's hard skip work yesterday we had a small BBQ and invited our good friends Chris and Tim (with Archie the border terrier) to join us. It was lovely to spend the evening doing something different i.e. chatting with adults around a fire, staying up late drinking cider and putting the world to rights.

BIG CLEAROUT

Well, the skip has now arrived and as you can see, it's huge!




It's now being filled in earnest and we have a couple of (ahem!) old boys to do the work:



After only 24 hours it's almost full and I'm beginning to think we may have needed a bigger one...



Also as part of the BIG CLEAROUT we've listed a few things on EBAY. The link is also listed at the side under 'Links'. Maybe you'd like a bargain???!!!

Ebaytastic!

Now I know some of you will be thinking 'So what?', but I'm rather excited. This morning I've just sold my first 2 things on Ebay. Nothing extraordinary, just 2 old Haynes manuals that we no longer need. They were originally going to the charity shop but I've managed to sell them for £3 each on a Buy It Now basis. Both buyers are in Essex - coincidence..??? Anyway, this is all in preparation for the BIG CLEAR OUT which will be starting later on this week. We've got a huge skip coming as we're going to be chucking out loads of rubbish, but as well as this there's also lots of more expensive stuff we actually want to sell. Selling the manuals was therefore more of a test-run so that I could get the feel of how to sell stuff and make money, rather than my usual approach of buying stuff and spending money.

Ladies Who Lunch

After Olivia's morning nap we picked Chris up and went out for lunch to the Countess's Arms.


As it was the weekend of the V Festival it was very quiet and so Richard was able to come out and say 'Hello' to us. Lovely :-)

Wean Baby Wean

The Department of Health recommends weaning from 6 months of age (26 weeks). However, as Olivia, at 22 weeks, has started to show some of the signs of being ready to try solids we've decided to start her on a little baby rice and just see how we get on.

As with all new ventures it's important to have the right equipment...


Mmm...this is interesting...


...although I'm not too sure...


...no, it's good stuff!

Payback Time!

Well, we're getting very adventurous in the evenings. We had an invitation to go and visit Richard's long-standing friend Dan 'The Man' Holmes of Superstyledeluxe fame, the band Rich used to manage. Dan is a successful DJ and has worked in various countries such as Russia, China and Australia to name but a few. He's also got his own record label The PayBack Project and has appeared on the telly. Well, it was great to see him again. Richard picked up an amp that he'd lent him as well as some free vinyl and we didn't get home until 8.30pm - very late for Olivia!

Friday Visitors

It's always nice to have surprise visits from relatives, so it was great to see Great Aunty Nat and Uncle Bill this morning.

Anniversary Lunch

Grandma and Grandad Talbot have now been married for an astonishing 32 years. To celebrate this momentous achievement they took us out for a lovely lunch at The Plough Inn at Allscott.

My Bum Looks Big in This!

In in a bid to be a bit greener and save some money we're now in reusable nappies. Grandma and Grandad Talbot gave us money earlier on in the year to buy them and now after weeks of procrastination (entirely due to laziness!) we're now moving over to using them during the day. Nappies of choice are Totsbots Fluffles and Bamboozles with Nature Babies waterproof wraps. The whole effect is rather bulky (Richard says she looks like Toad of Toad Hall - hmmph!), but with the fab patterns on the wraps I think she looks fantastic and it hasn't stopped her from all the rolling around she now likes to do:

Bread

Richard is pastry chef at the Countess's Arms (their spelling, not mine). All the bread used for evening service is freshly made each day and so occasionally the odd leftover loaf (like this yummy red onion one) makes its way home if it's not required for making croutons. It's lovely stuff, but doesn't help me lose weight!

Picnic

Yesterday we went on the church picnic to Cannock Chase. Olivia really enjoyed the sun and looked super-cool in my specs!

The Pregnancy and Arrival of Olivia Jean

Err...well, so much for blogging. We haven't posted anything for the last 12 months! To be honest, a lot's gone on and I never seemed to get around to working out how to do this.

Pregnancy was hardly a blast... 10 weeks of morning sickness followed by lots of stress getting my PhD thesis in. Could have been a lot worse I suppose. Still, I'm glad I charted my growth as you can see below:

3 days (estimated!) - Ok I obviously didn't know or I wouldn't have been drinking...















18 weeks and 2 days..

















25 weeks
















31 weeks
















37 weeks... and getting more fed-up!


















41 weeks and 2 days... now overdue and REALLY fed-up!















The water retention was not fun as you can see from my puffy feet!
















Olivia arrived exactly 2 weeks late after 36 hours of labour, a failed ventouse, then forceps and a 3rd degree tear on Friday 16th March 2007 weighing in at 4.06 Kg (8lb 15oz). Pregnant ladies and folk of a squeamish disposition should not click here. Still, it was all worth it in the end!



14 weeks











And 20 weeks + 3 days













Happy Birthday Olivia Jean!!!











We had quite a few visitors in hospital and then saw more people after we came home. Just wish we'd taken more photos!