I am a cliche!

and i'm loving it!

I am spending my days feeding, winding, changing and watching Imogen sleep with a little bit of housework thrown in.

My beloved husband is being amazing and frankly i couldnt be happier :0)

I am the biggest cliche of new mum you could ever see

Introducing.......

Imogen Mary Hall!

Yes guys it's a Girl :0)

She was born 4th November only one day overdue so we didnt have to wait too long and she is absolutely gorgeous (and yeah i know i'm biased lol)

Imogen with Daddy

Imogen meets her cousin Sydney

Can't tell you how happy we are, expect lots more pics :0)

And the day finally arrives.....

....and still NOTHING happens!

We were so bored on Saturday we made this lol.... be warned it's 8 minutes long...

If it wont play here try here!

One day to go....

...and frankly waiting for this baby is driving us both crazy!

NOTHING is happening grrr, we have tried the old wives tales, pineapple, curry, driving over speedbumps lol.

I have been taking Raspberry Leaf Tea tablets and we even tried having sex to bring on labour but still nothing!

I only hope baby is as chilled out when it arrives.................finally!

5 days and counting!

I am so hoping i dont go past my due date, this week feels like the longest week ever!

My SIL put it really well when she said its like queueing up for a big ride at an amusement park, you spend the most part scared and then when you eventually get near to the front of the queue you just think well i've come this far lets just get on with it!

We're already getting phone calls asking if anything is happening, the house is prepped and ready, we even have car seats and sun blinds installed in the cars and the pram is in the boot!

Poor Chris is at work and really cant concentrate waiting for me to let him know something/anything is happening and of course i'm at home over examining every time something moves trying to work out if its the start of anything, it's driving us both mad!

We've even filled in the bits of the baby books which are before baby is born, one of which included a photo of "Mum & Dad" shortly before baby arrives and is also the ONLY photo we have of me pregnant lol

Pronunciation

For those that have asked....

Imogen (im'-o-jen)

:0)

Just under...

....2 weeks to go!

I've been a very bad blogger and havent posted. I'm at home now and Chris was off work poorly with me for the first week which once he started to feel better was really nice :0)

We're both fed up of waiting now, i feel like i have been waiting for this baby FOREVER!

Thank you so much for all the comments! And welcome to the black box visitors, i will get round to visiting everyone this week in between washing baby clothes :0)

Is there only me that if i had to shorten Imogen would shorten it to Gen????

Small update!

So it seems you all like Tom Andrew but Imogen has had a mixed response!

I liked Max but my sister put me off, for those old enough to remember Max Wall, it's a little too close to Max Hall lol

Imogen is the only and i mean ONLY girls name we can agree on lol
Why are girls names so hard???

We are both hoping for a boy so i do wonder if we have a boy and then later try again for a girl if we will still find it so difficult!

I havent been able to post much as i have been training my replacement at work, its my last day tomorrow!
Cant wait :0)

Drumroll please...

Ok the names we have in mind are......

Tom Andrew Hall

and

Imogen Mary Hall

What do you think??


Ooh and it's my 100th post since i moved over to blogger!

5 Weeks to go...

We've had a really good weekend for a change! No painting, no chores really just catching up with lots of people, thoroughly enjoyed by both of us although both knackered!

Thanks for all the name suggestions! Neither name we have chosen came up in your suggestions which amazed me!

So should i tell you our ideas now? Or wait till Pug actually arrives??

Names

I've been asked twice now if we know the sex of the baby and if we have any names in mind.

Well we don't know the sex and we do have names in mind but i would be really interested to hear your suggestions before i reveal ours!

So please feel free to suggest names, our surname is Hall........

6 weeks to go!

and i know i'm not posting much, it's not the lack of things to say i'm just tired...

All those people out there who have been pregnant or who have kids will probably know where i'm coming from.

Its so weird how doing next to nothing makes you feel like you have run a marathon! (not that i would ever be guilty of that lol)

Anyway baby and i are fine if not knackered, the family all seem fine at the mo, couple of minor hospital visits but nothing to worry about.

I'm still at work, 3 weeks and counting till i finish!

Other than that we have finally (almost) finished decorating the dining room, the worst room in the house, how many rooms that are about 12ft square have three doors and a window to take into account grrr

Congratulations!

To my SIL Davina and her partner Chris who had a beautiful gorgeous baby boy this morning named Jack!

Woohoo i have a nephew :0)

8 weeks to go....

So i suppose i should at least try to update!

I went to the second hospital eventually to be told it was definitely shingles, the nice doctor having purposefully burst some of the sores on my head so he cound take a swab...nice

They then gave me a prescription for shingles medication which they told me to collect but not to take until they had phoned as they werent sure i could have it being pregnant....

They eventually confirmed i could take them later on that night which was a relief, immediatley replaced by the worry that i had been given an appointment to go to yet another hospital the following day to see an eye specialist as it was near my eye and can apparently cause blindness....great!

It all turned out fine, i did have just the one sore on my eyelid but it never made it into my eyes and there was never any danger of me losing my eyesight at all, or at least thats what they told us!

3 days in 3 hopsitals and 3 weeks off work and here i am back at work and back to normal!

Well unless you count the fact that Pug has a new trick if putting limbs between ribs and/or putting pressure on my back so am thoroughly uncomfortable but not poorly!

Just to clarify for Stacie, Joshua is not my baby but a friends and yeah you saw the timeline correctly....8 weeks to go....

Still here!

I'm a lot better :0) I will update early next week but in the meantime thought i would share this photo of Niece Sydney meeting baby Joshua....awwww!

Poorly Sick!

It seems sailing through a pregnancy is not allowed and if the pregnancy cant get ya then something else will!

Since last Thursday i have been getting really bad headaches, when we went to see the midwife on Friday morning we mentioned it, she told us i could have co-codamol instead of paracetamol but to keep an eye on it over the weekend.

Saturday i get a rash, Sunday the rash is slightly worse and i'm feeling sick...

Monday morning we have to go to the hospital for the diabetes test where we bump into my midwife who takes one look at me and arranges for me to see a doctor.

So three hours later when the diabetes test is over we head up to the third floor to see the doctor, blood pressure is checked, urine sample is checked, i'm put on a monitor for baby and babys heartbeat is good and strong and baby is kicking away.

The doctor then says she only deals with "pregnancy and women's bits" and doesnt feel qualified to discuss the headaches or the rash and so will get another doctor to come and see us.

Some time later another doctor comes to see us, looks at the rash and says he is going to speak to someone in dermatology.

He comes back and tells us he is actually a cardiologist (WTF) and as such doesnt really know a huge amount about rashes but he can tell us it isnt menengitis or chicken pox.....well we could probably have told you that!

He gives us a prescription for some painkillers and tells us we should go and see our own GP!

We go to the hospital pharmacy where the pharmacist comes out with a medical dictionary, tells us the drug we have been prescribed isnt commonly used in this country but is used in Germany quite a lot without any side effects to pregnant women. She then asked us if we still wanted it!

I dont know about you but i dont go to a doctor so i can be the one to decide what i am prescribed, isnt that why they do the study and get the salary....

Anyhoo we then manage to get an appointment with our GP, the new one remember??

We had been in her office less than five minutes when she said "looks like shingles to me"

I've been back to see her this morning and she has referred me to another hospital, i am waiting to find out when my appointment is this afternoon to get the diagnosis confirmed.

I have been signed off for a week and told i will probably be off next week as well.

And where am i lucky enough to have this rash you ask??

Lucky old me, it's on my face....

Just an update

So i was going to post a gorgeous photo of Neice Sydney meeting baby Joshua on Sunday but its on my phone, as soon as i get chance i'll put it on!

In the meantime to answer some comments, no i havent had any weird cravings as yet but i have gone off meat a little bit, the strange thing is its only proper pieces of meat for example a chicken breast or a chop etc

Put a burger or a crappy sausage in front of me and i'm quite happy lol

I've also started eating stuff i used to eat which i havent for ages because they were snacky type things i had as a quick fix when i lived alone and obviously i dont live alone anymore and Chris wouldnt eat them anyway!

As for movement, yes you'll be pleased to know there is plenty, as i am sitting here typing this baby is happily kicking away :0)

Chris has just about managed to feel 2 kicks on the outside the other day but they are still pretty much only felt by me.

The baby is VERY high up so i dont have a massive belly, if i'm honest it just looks like the flab i had before! I am sure when it drops i will look like i have ballooned overnight!

I have the midwife tomorrow morning for the normal check up and quick listen to the heartbeat and then on Monday morning i have to have the test to see if i have gestational diabetes

This means from 10pm Sunday night i can have nothing but "plain water" then i go to the hospital Monday morning for a glucose drink to see if i fall over!!

We're not particularly concerned about it, i havent shown any symptoms so far but my brother was diabetic and my dad had middle aged onset diabetes so its just a precaution.

I have only yesterday begun to get swollen ankles which i'm amazed at as i sit on my backside at a desk all day but hey ho swollen ankles, heartburn and tiredness arent really much to complain about (unless i'm really tired lol)

I have just over 11 weeks left and i'm already bored, just over 8 weeks left at work and counting the days, no doubt when baby comes i'll be rushed off my feet and wishing i were back in work!

3 out of 6!

3 out of the 6 couples who were pregnant have now had their babies!

Vikki & Andy as i already told you had Evie Emma

Holly & Lisa had Joshua Michael 2 weeks ago today

And John & Jenny had a baby girl this morning, Annie Jane!

My SIL is next in 3 weeks, then Dave & Lindsay in October, then us in November!

See i am still here!

So we went to see Jeremy Kyle last Friday afternoon and it was hilarious.

The first people we saw on the stage were a couple in their 30's and a young girl of 18 who was the wife's "best friend".

The husband had admitted to sleeping with 18 women behind his wifes back and the wife had admitted to sleeping with 3 men!

The night before the show they both confessed to one more each making it 19 and 4!

The husband wanted a paternity test for their youngest child since her confession, he wanted his wife to take a lie detector test to ensure he now knew everything and he was taking a lie detector test to prove....

are you ready for this....

that he had slept with his wife's best friend as he had confessed but the friend was denying it! and yeah i mean the 18yr old lol

Well the tests came back, the child WAS his, his wife WAS telling the truth and while taking his own lie detector test he changed his story and admitted to OVER 30 WOMEN!

This included the best friend who still denied it but hadnt taken a test.....whatever....

We were there for around 4 hours as they were behind with filming, the crew made everyone aware that they knew the show was regarded as a bit cheesy but politely asked us not to laugh if somone was breaking their heart on stage, there were other stories but nothing else as entertaining!


In other news my FIL who had an operation on his throat last year has just started to consume small amounts of liquids again after over a year of feeding himself through a peg in his stomach.
2 days ago he had his first cup of coffee!! YAY!

I'm so chuffed for him, when my SIL has her baby in September i will be able to pour him a glass of champagne :0)


We have now changed doctors and i have met her once, she seems very nice so hopefully it will be plain sailing in that area now, ill keep you posted!


As for baby im lucky enough to be continuing to have very few symptoms that people complain about during pregnancy. With only 12 weeks to go my only real complaint is the amount of heartburn i am getting.

Gaviscon is my new best friend!

Have to say though if thats all i have to complain about i better shut up before a horde of pregnant women who havent had an easy time hunt me down!

Oooh and after today only 9 weeks left at work, thats 45 work days guys and believe me i'm counting!

I know...

i am being a very absent blogger lately.

I do actually have some stuff i wanna write about such as when we went to watch Jeremy Kyle, my FIL's good news, update on the doctor situation and of course the whole being pregnant thing.

I will get to it as soon as i learn to deal with this damn heartburn!

I'm excited because...

I got my date to finish work...

Happy

Last night Chris felt the baby move :0)
Today we have discovered we have a little money to spare, enough to plan a weekend away before baby comes :0)
I'm feeling ridiculously happy today :0)

Has everybody

seen this??

I just think it's brilliant!


http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs13/f/2007/077/2/e/Animator_vs__Animation_by_alanbecker.swf



Lynsay i can't read your blog :0(
Am hoping it's just a mistake with the settings :0(

Wordless Wednesday-Nursery Edition

Nothing much to report...

I've been a bad blogger, neither posting nor commenting.

I have no reason other than i couldnt be bothered, you know how it is sometimes.



We will hopefully have sorted out the doctor nightmare by the end of the day although its a little potluck so who knows.
My old doctor was prepared to take us back but only while i am pregnant which seems pointless for the sake of 4 months and then having to change anyway.
We are going to register with a surgery near home after work tonight and will just have to hope they are competant......

The nursery is finished :0) I will post photo's in the next couple of days, we are both thrilled with the way it turned out.

Chris has treated himself to a ps3 and discovered online gaming so to keep me happy a new TV was purchased for the bedroom and the ps2 installed in there too, we have both been getting in a few playstation hours over the weekend

Other than that not much going on, we are spending our time organising/decorating the house, the cellar seems to be the next project and visiting family, nothing of any notable interest....

Hard to believe...

but there are 6 couples who attended our wedding (including us) who are having babies this year!

Vicky & Andy i'm happy to say gave birth to a healthy baby girl who they have named Evie Emma on Wednesday :0)

Holly & Lisa, well Lisa is in the first stages of labour as we speak! Good luck hun!

That leaves:

Jenny & John who are due in August

Davina & Chris who are due in September

Dave & Lindsay who are due in October

Me & Chris due in November :0) (i'm always last lol)


So this weekend we have decided to get the nursery ready, assisted by a generous donation of cash from my fabulous MIL which was a really nice surprise last night.

This is the bedding we have chosen....what do you think??

Photoshoot 2!

So what did we do with our time off??

On Friday we cleaned....yeah i know not exactly what you wanna do when you are on "holiday" but we cleaned that house from top to bottom, every room, Chris even did the garden.

The house was spotless, the garden was tidy and clean and the bbq was set up ready for Saturdays bbq.

And then of course it rained!

In the end we just had Amanda, Paul and Keith round as originally planned and cancelled the bbq, we still had a good night and didnt get to bed till 4am!

Sunday we lay about on the sofas all day as we were knackered lol, sorted out the mess from the night before and then did nothing, it was great, the house was still lovely and clean and tidy apart from a few pots so we just got the dishwasher going and relaxed.

On Monday we went to Jodrell Bank in the afternoon, it is being threatened with closure which i think would be a real shame. We only had to pay £2 each to go in, then another £1 each to watch a 3d film of a trip to Mars in the future! We werent there long but it was interesting and i'm glad we went.

Monday evening was Goldfrapp, they were fab! The atmosphere was great and the venue was good in my opinion, havent been to Bridgewater Hall before.
The baby obviously liked one song in particular as started doing somersaults but then stopped when the song did! Think we may have a Goldfrapp fan on our hands lol

Tuesday we went for the scan....


Chris is now convinced it is a boy, The red arrows point to 2 shadows which are very much like legs and the blue arrow another smaller shadow in the middle of them....

Well we didnt ask and we werent told so i guess we'll just have to wait and see but it does look suspiciously like we may have a boy on our hands!

And if you look at it this way you can see a freaky face!

Tagged by Angel!

I promise i will update from the weekend complete with a few photo's tomorrow, in the meantime i have been tagged by Angel

What was I doing ten years ago?

Ten years ago i was single, living in my own place and just having fun whilst struggling on the money front.

What are five things on my list to do this weekend?

The only thing I really have on my list for this weekend coming is to decorate the dining room , we really need to get all this done before baby arrives and before i'm too big to help!

Snacks I enjoy?

Cheese on toast!

Things I Would Do If I Were A Billionaire?

I would make as many family and friends around me millionaires!

Three of my bad habits?

Laziness
Lack of motivation
Selfishness

Five places I have lived?

I havent lived in 5!
Stockport
Glossop
Preston

Five jobs I've had?

Assistant manager in a bookies
Customer Service Clerk
Accounts Assistant
Sales Ledger Administrator
Barmaid

How did you name your blog?

Polgara is a character in a series of fantasy books by David Eddings, i always quite liked the character and couldnt think of anything else at the time!

Five people i tag....

Another Day in the same life
Lynsey
Spice the Cat
Sweets
and
Arctic FoX
who hasnt blogged for a few weeks so might not even see that i've tagged him!

Back track and update

Previous to the episode with the doctor, back when i first discovered i was pregnant i tried to return to my old doctors practise as i was happier there but had changed when Chris moved in, the logic being we knew we were going to have children and it made sense to us for the whole family to be with the same doctor.

I spoke to the practise manager at my old doctors but they told me i couldnt go back as i now lived out of the area, i explained that the doctor had let me register there before knowing i was out of the area as he had been my doctor since i was young but they still wouldnt hear of it.

So after this episode with my new doctor, my mum who is still with my old doctor has made an appointment to go next week and will discuss it in person with the doctor to see if we can come to some sort of arrangement where Chris and i can both register there.

Their argument was that should i need anyone to come out to me i was out of their area, my response is that the emergency doctors clinic is on my street and i am very close to the hospital so should anything happen i am unlikely to call them out anyway!

I'll keep you posted!

Lynsey pointed out that i havent really blogged much about being pregnant, well am sure that will change in the next few weeks as the only reason i havent is nothing has been happening!

I have had no morning sickness or anything like that, i was very tired at the beginning but on the whole that has passed although i am absolutely knackered today!

However over the past week i have started to be "uncomfortable", at one point having to sit up in bed for half an hour as no matter how i lay i couldnt relax.
The baby has been moving a lot more over the past week but its still at the stage where only i can feel it and its still quite light.

I do realise though that at 20 weeks all these things are going to change over the next few weeks and i will probably have lots to complain about!

I went up to the hospital to meet my midwife after work last night so she could take a blood sample for the Barts test and she listened to baby's heartbeat while we were there.
It doesnt seem to matter how often we hear it, it's still incredibly reassuring and fascinating :0)

On a more day to day basis Chris and i finish work today until next Wednesday giving us 5 glorious days off! We are having a barbeque on Saturday weather allowing to which we have invited neice Claire, her boyfriend Paul, friend Amanda and her boyfriend Paul and our other friend Keith so if the weather is good i can see us all sitting in the garden until the early hours!
Saturday is also coincidentally the 2 year anniversary of when Chris and i met for the first time, if you had told me then in two years i would be married with a baby on the way i'm not sure i would have believed you!

On the Monday we go to see Goldfrapp at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester which was one of my anniversary gifts to Chris.

And then on the Tuesday we have our 2nd scan! Expect a picure!

Fuming

So about a year or so ago i developed an infection in my belly button (i know yuk!)

Went to the Doctors he gave me some cream, it went away.

It came back, used more cream, it went away.

It came back, used more cream, it went away.

It came back, used more cream, it went away.

Went back to the Doctors, he gave me some antibiotics, it went away.

It came back, used more cream, it went away.

It came back, used more cream, it went away.

It came back, used more cream, it went away.

So a couple of weeks ago i went back to the doctors, he took a swab to send off to the hospital and gave me 2 creams...

I got a phone call roughly a week later from the doctors receptionist stating the results had come back and that the doctor had written me a prescription for some more antibiotics which was waiting for me to collect.

I'm not sure what made me ask if they were ok for me to take as HELLO I'M 20 WEEKS PREGNANT but i did, at which point she put the doctor on the phone so he could tell me no, i couldnt take them if i was pregnant.

He said he would phone the hospital to find out if there was anything i could take.

A few hours later the receptionist phones again to tell me there is nothing i can take for this while i'm pregnant so just to keep it clean and dry.

Again, not sure what made me ask if i was to continue using the creams but i did, she wasnt sure she would phone me back.

Another phone call from the receptionist to say "erm yeah use em if you like"

Now i dont consider myself to be somone who panicks unreasonably but why is everyone looking at me and Chris like we are over reacting when we say we would like to change doctors.

They guy prescribed me something i shouldnt be taking when not only did he confirm i was pregnant but i asked him if i should be worried about it in connection with the baby when i was there and he was taking the swab!

Is there only us that find it unacceptable that he would carelessly prescribe me something im not supposed to be taking???

Yo! Gabba Gabba Party In My Tummy

Chris has insisted i post this so you can see the video to go with the song he's obsessed with!
At least i have managed to get it on here where you can see it this time!
I have a feeling this baby is going to be having a lot of fun with daddy!

War of the pensioners

My husband has old ladies fighting over him!

My auntie Carol (one of those aunties who isnt actually related to me) was given a freeview box by my mum for christmas 2006.

Chris installed it for her and we were called back periodically if a wire came out or something went wrong with it.

This of course led to other jobs being done for her, the latest being fitting a booster to improve the signal she gets upstairs.

We went the other day and she asked us would we help out "Muriel" who lives across the road to install a freeview box.

Over we went to Muriels and of course this led to another job and two more visits.

This led to my mum who is waiting for Chris to put a TV bracket on her bedroom wall having a row (well more of a bicker) with Auntie Carol about how she is now at the back of the queue again and how she was annoyed we had been sent over to Muriels as Carol doesnt even like Muriel anyway!

I never once imagined i would find it funny for my husband to have three women fighting over him!

Conversation with Sydney #2

Sydney - Have you still got a baby in your belly?

Me - Yes darling, it's your baby cousin.

Sydney - Auntie Emma, how do you get the baby out?

Me - Erm, well i go to the hospital and they take it out for me darling.

Sydney - Through the hole???

Me - Erm yeah, would you like a biscuit darling??

One year today :0)

It's our first anniversary today! :0)

Chris is taking me out tonight but isnt telling me where! Am sure it will be fun.

It's been a hectic year with relatives being seriously ill and the usual day to day stuff that happens but you know what?

I wouldnt change a thing! I woke up exactly where i wanted to be this morning, cuddled up to Chris at home. (although a day off work together would've been nice lol)

It's been a mad year babes and the next one is only going to be more hectic when the baby arrives and makes us a family. I can't believe its been a year already and i love you more than ever xxx

Our Day.

Breaking News!

NASA finds water on Mars!!

Jeremy Kyle

On the first bank holiday of the year Chris and i were lounging around in the morning watching Jeremy Kyle and marvelling at how patronising he is and the fact that to our knowledge no-one has punched him yet when up on the screen came the message..

"If you would like to be in the audience of The Jeremy Kyle show text this number for tickets"

Well thinking it might be a laugh if nothing else we both text in and promptly forgot about it.

Imagine my surprise the other day when i was sitting in the doctors waiting room, my phone rang and a very nice lady informed me she would be sending me 5 free tickets to the show for July 17th!

Chris says he is going to "Chav up" and stand up to make comments a lot to see if he can get on TV, i'm so glad it's 5 tickets, i might be able to get 3 people to sit in between us lol

Anyhow it should be a laugh if nothing else and definitely something different to do!

Wordless Wednesday - A Yemma Edition

Yo Gabba Gabba

I have married a child!
All weekend my beloved husband has been playing this song to me.
Apparently it is originally from an American kids tv show and a radio dj we listen to over here has mixed it over a song by The Ting Tings.
At first i just rolled my eyes but then found myself bopping along to it without realising!
Click on the title of the post to hear it, it's the only way i can figure to put it on here!

Not so Wordless Wednesday

This is on the car park where Chris works, one of the lads girlfriends came to pick him up after work and somehow managed to do this to their car!
She reckons she didnt see it!
The lads then had to find a way to lift the car off!

Tuesday Ten #8

When was the last time you....

1. kissed someone?
This morning!

2. drank coffee?
This morning!

3. read a book?
Last week

4. checked your email?
2 mins ago

5. drank alcohol?
19th April (how sad i can be that accurate!)

6. said "I love you'?
Last night

7. went to the movies?
Whenever "I am legend" came out

8. drove a car?
This morning

9. went to a party?
10th May!

10. cooked a meal?
Last week

I'm so happy...

...that the living room is finally finished :0)


And yes Chris was watching Jeremy Kyle when he took the photo's....

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Ten #7

Name three of each:

1. a movie that made you laugh

Twin Town
Napolean Dynamite
Clerks

2. a book that made you cry

I can only think of one and i cant remember the name of it!
When i was 15 i went on holiday with my friends Sarah and Lisa and Lisa's family, all three of us girls read the same book by the pool and we all cried.
All i can remember which is a bit embarrassing is that it was written by Geoffrey Archer!

3. a best friend

Sarah
Ruth
Rachel

4. a favorite childhood memory

My brother teaching me his secret language while his mates were at the chippy and when they came back they didnt know i knew what they were saying :0)

When i was about 6, it was bonfire night and all the family were going to a bonfire but my sister wouldnt let me out of the living room. I lost my 6 year old temper and pushed her backwards through a glass* door, naughty me!

My brother having to babysit me so taking me out with him and his mates, they used to drive to a country pub and leave me sat in the car with a bottle of coke and a packet of crisps and on a good night somebody's dog for company! Not a memory of fun times just of how cheeky my brother was!

5. your favorite animal

Ginger Cat
Tortoiseshell Cat
Salem (friend Lee's cat)

6. your favorite food

Cheese
Bread
Soup

7. an item of clothing you can't do without

Jeans
T-shirts
Socks

8. something you collect

Erm i don't!

9. your favorite store to shop in

Next
New Look
Red Herring

10. your favorite flower

Lily
Tulip
Rose


* It was more like cheap perspex but it still shattered!

Another weekend...

has come and gone.

Friday we went back to the midwife who listened for the heartbeat again and confirmed that everything was fine...again.

Saturday Chris was working but managed to get home mid afternoon, we got a chinese and sat watching TV till late and then went to bed.

Sunday, not entirely sure why we chose Sunday but we started painting the living room and oh how the lovely bright paint shows up how awful the rest of it has become since it was done last, cant wait to get it done!

And so back to work today, who knows i might manage a full week this week, something i'm sure they'd appreciate as it's month end!

Wow!

I just felt my baby move for the first time!

We had a great weekend!

On Saturday we lazed around on the sofa watching TV, went for an afternoon snooze and then got up, got ready and went to a housewarming/birthday party at Holly and Lisa's.
Sunday we bought a barbeque and Chris went to watch the football in the pub with Keith and Lee, i picked them up after the match and we had a bbq and ended up sitting in the garden till around midnight.
I did/do have photo's but our "dongle" doesnt seem to be working and my phone software wont work with vista so for the time being they are stuck on my phone!

Monday was just the normal day at work, it was Sydney's birthday so we visited after work for a while and then went home.
I can't believe she is 3!
Oh and bless her, she has chicken pox!

Tuesday i got up for work to discover i was bleeding again, we phoned the midwife number for advice and were told to go to the early pregnancy unit.

We eventually managed to park and went in where they listened for baby's heartbeat which they found immediatley (YAY!) and then decided to do a speculum examination.

This confirmed that the neck of the womb is closed (a good thing) but she took a swab and said i may have some sort of infection so to ring on Friday for the results.
I was advised because of the drive i have to work not to come in for a couple of days so today is my first day back in and i will probably be off tomorrow as i have to go and see the midwife to listen to the heartbeat again!

So it's been another one of those weeks, i've been sat at home feeling like a fraud as there isnt really anything wrong wih me and the hospital seem sure the baby is fine.

It may sound odd but we're hoping it IS an infection, at least then we will know what it is and what we can do about it.
I know the hospital can't tell us much as they don't know themselves but when they say we can do nothing but go home and see what happens they might as well be saying go home and see if you have a miscarriage!

I'm making the hospital sound bad which is not my intention at all, they have been really really good and i can't really fault them (although they could do with extra parking!)

You hear parents moaning about how their children are always a worry, even as adults you cant help but worry about them, looks like Pug's just getting in early with the worry...

I just discovered

that my husband is not, i repeat NOT, working this weekend for the first time in weeks :0)

After a pretty awful few days it was just the news i needed

Pol is a happy girl as she finishes work today :0)

Just back

from a midwife appointment and everything is good!

AND we got to hear baby's heartbeat :0)

Scare

When i woke up this morning i was bleeding.

We went to the hospital where they couldnt hear the heartbeat.

They did a scan and thankfully there was baby jumping around with a normal heartbeat.

So today has been scary but baby Pug as we've taken to calling him/her is still there and going strong.

I don't think either of us has ever been so scared.

Introducing Baby Hall :0)

Today i have been mostly

drinking Apple Lucozade












and eating Opal Fruits







*Dammit i know they're called Starburst now but they'll always be Opal Fruits to me!*

Wordless Wednesday-Sydney Discovers Sellotape!

Tuesday Ten #6

Ten programmes i watched when i was a kid (at various ages):



1. Dangermouse
















2. Crackerjack















3. Thunderbirds


















4. Button Moon













5. Fraggle Rock














6. Bagpuss














7. Batfink














8. Jamie & The Magic Torch










9. He-man & The Masters of the Universe















10. Thundercats

Does anybody know...

a decent site for downloading movies?
The ones we were using have closed :0(

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Ten #5

Ten random questions:

1. What's your favorite ice cream flavor?
Not a big fan of ice-cream but would probably go for vanilla.

2. What shampoo do you use?
I'm not shampoo loyal, it's Pantene at the moment

3. How do you like your eggs?
Poached

4. What's the first thing you do when you get online?
Check my blog for comments

5. What is your favorite tv show?
Don't have just the one, lately i've been watching Family Guy and Gavin & Stacey

6. Which do you prefer, the sunrise or the sunset?
Sunset

7. When is the last time you went to the mall?
Erm, not sure i can remember! Think it would have been shortly before christmas.

8. What was the last food that you ate?
Corned Beef & Ketchup butties

9. What is your favorite animal?
Cat

10. Do you collect anything?
Not really although between us we have a few Bad Taste Bears
One of which is Russell who i have on my desk at work, Chris bought it for me a couple of birthdays ago to remind me of him and it does!

Tagged by Angel

to show you my desktop, i have chosen my desktop from work rather than home as it is mostly pictures of Sydney to cheer me up with a couple with Chris and i on...

Well the weekend ended up much better than i thought it would! Friday night Chris went out and i had a nice relaxing evening in front of the TV.

Saturday i cleaned while Chris was at work and then we had Amanda and Paul round for dinner.
Have to admit by the time the house was ready and we were ready i dont think either of us were really in the mood but it turned into a great night!

They didnt leave until 3.30am so that was another late night but we made up for it Sunday by having a nice relaxing day watching films and being too lazy to do anything more than fill the dishwasher with the debris from the night before.
My mums drainpipe has been moved to tonight so we didnt even have to leave the house!

Another whinge.....

We're skint, we're bored and we're fed up.

We both pretty much hate work at the moment although that one is much worse for Chris than me.

We are both totally fed up of NEVER doing anything fun.

We are both totally fed up with how the other one deals with being skint, bored and fed up.

Highlights of the weekend to come, Chris is working all day Saturday, I'm cleaning as we have guests Saturday night which will be nice but we can't really afford it.....

Sunday we get to fix a drain and hang a tv bracket....at my mums.

Wordless Wednesday - Amsterdam

Tuesday Ten #4

What is your favorite?...name one of each:

1. Food?
Cheese!

2. Book?
A Prayer for Owen Meany

3. Item of clothing?
Jeans

4. Actor?
Ed Norton

5. Movie?
Twin Town

6. Colour?
Blue

7. Time of day?
Morning

8. Season?
Autumn

9. Holiday?
City break

10. Animal?
Cat

Video Cameras

Video cameras are without doubt a great thing to have with you when you take children somewhere exciting.
The only problem is that having borrowed my sisters video camera and filming our day with Sydney we didnt take any photo's!!
I was gutted when i realised.

We didnt take her to Knowsley Safari park in the end as the weather was awful we figured it would be a waste of time.
Instead we took her to Eureka which was fab!

As soon as we get a copy of the video i will try and post some but don't hold your breath, Sydney's mummy & daddy have a lot on at the moment with Sydney's grandad in hospital so it will probably be a while!

For the rest of the weekend we were incredibly bored, we didnt go out, no-one came round. All we did was watch TV and we were both bored with that!

More photo's!

Thanks for all the very flattering comments yesterday :0)
For those that don't know the photos was from Sydney's christening which was July 05, she will be 3 in May!
My older niece Claire has just turned 20!
I was going to post a current photo of Sydney but as we are having her overnight on Friday and taking her to Knowsley Safari Park on Saturday morning during which time i'm sure we will take a hundred photo's i'll wait till then and leave you with another old one from when she was a baby.
I always think this photo could've been used for an advert for something!

Wordless Wednesday-Niece Edition

Tuesday Ten #3

Ten bands/artists i have seen live in no particular order..
Some embarrassing some not, i'll let you decide but would like to point out they weren't ALL my choice, some were just keeping a friend company...

1. Alexander O'Neill

2. Luther Vandross

3. Simply Red

4. Prodigy

5. Goldfrapp

6. Elvis Costello

7. Status Quo

8. Joe Cocker

9. Rod Stewart

10. Steps

I want some fun!

Chris and i dont seem to be having any fun lately.

Poor Chris is going in work early everyday, finishing work late every day and working Saturday mornings.

I'm just doing my normal hours but now driving to Warrington its a slightly longer day and my job is changing all the time, at the moment its fairly boring.

When we do get some free time together where we dont have to visit anyone or clean house etc we are skint! Watching TV seems to have become our only past time and there is very little on lately.

Anyway whinge over, i just felt like a moan ha ha

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday Ten #2

Would i rather......?

1. Live without music or live without T.V.?
I'd say music, i dont listen to it that much so probably wouldnt miss it AS much.

2. Have a beautiful house and ugly car or an ugly house and beautiful car?
Beautiful house, I can appreciate a nice car but am not really bothered as long as it gets me there...

3. Have x-ray vision or bionic hearing?
Hearing, there are more things i dont wanna see than i dont wanna hear...

4. Be stranded on an island alone or with someone you hate?
Someone I hate, I wouldnt want to be on my own and am not really a survival kinda chick!

5. Be 4'1 or 7'9"?
4'1. Wouldn't want to be taller than my man and i think small girls get a better deal than tall ones.

6. Speak like Yoda or breathe like Darth Vader?
Apparently i already snore like Darth Vader (so Chris tells me although it has been a while since he woke me up by saying "Luke, I am your Father!" in the middle of the night to make his point)

7. Read minds or be invisible?
Whichever would make me the most money...

8. Be able to fly or be able to live to 200?
Fly, why would i want to live past everyone else dying??

9. Get shot from a cannon or walk a high wire?
Shot from the cannon. Hopefully i'd hit something soft unlike the ground...

11. Watch a soap opera or star in one?
Star in one, i feel like i do sometimes, at least i'd be getting paid!

Not like me...

to quote the news but i was blog surfing today and came accross a link to this article in the Daily Mail.

So if you've had a look you'll see its about experimenting with cannibis to discover the how it affects us really.

I was understandably quite interested as i have been known to dabble, a lot when i was younger, less as i get older admittedly but i'm not sure i believe all the hype surrounding it lately.

I could be wrong and i'm open to that but this article wound me up for a few reasons...

"I felt absolutely terrified," recalls Nicky, a divorced mother-of-three, thinking back to her first experience just over a month ago.

"Paranoia set in, and I felt as if I was having a panic attack. At one point, I was simply too frightened to get out of my chair.

"I had a feeling the drug had unlocked some sort of paranoia in my head that would never go away again - I suddenly felt everyone hated me. Without doubt, that was one of the worst moments of my life."

Ok fine, sometimes it affects people that way but considering they took this woman to Amsterdam for a month to conduct this experiment, during which time she had to undertake a job in a foreign country with a BBC camera crew following her about, well i'm sorry pass me the joint because i'd be a little paranoid too...

"I wanted to know whether there is any truth to the claim made by dope smokers that you can smoke cannabis and carry on with life as normal. And I wanted to find out if the drug really does drive you into madness."

Well i can understand she wanted to find out if she could carry on as normal. So discounting the fact that as i said she was in a foreign country, with a new job and a camera crew she tried.
Well to my knowledge most people who smoke cannibis and carry on as normal didnt start out doing that straight away, it was more of a gradual thing and for the people i know who have done this and the very few i know who still do this started when they were younger, when jobs/rent/responsibilities were less of a problem.
They were already used to living their lives like this by the time they had responsibilites to live up to.
Dont get me wrong, i have friends who have stopped and their lives are much much more productive and happy and they are indeed less sluggish and paranoid but it doesnt mean its the same for everyone.

"Although the paranoia had gone, I was left dazed and my mind seemed to be operating much more slowly than it usually does," says Nicky. "I had no motivation and just wanted to go back to bed. I had no idea how anyone could get stoned at night and then function properly the next day."

People do this all the time, in my office alone there are at least five people who do this, some in management positions but again it isnt something they suddenly started doing it was a gradual thing.

"I'm a very active person, with a mind that normally works at a million miles an hour. I thrive on multi-tasking and getting through my daily 'To do' lists. Yet, with cannabis in my life, I reached the end of every day feeling frustrated that I'd achieved so little.

Fair point, i'm a lazy couch potato at the best of times and it was never any different when i was stoned, a friend of mine is superactive, drives me mad she's got so much energy and was also the same when she was stoned....its just not the same for everyone.

"I was suddenly gripped by the idea that the scientists conducting the experiment were characters from a horror film who were somehow out to get me," she says.

"I later found myself fantasising about jumping out of a window and crawling away somewhere that I would never be found. I was increasingly agitated and convinced they were trying to trick me in everything they said to me."

I have never known anyone to react like this from cannabis alone. With something else also yes but not from cannabis alone.

"Until now, I hadn't really considered cannabis had that much more effect than a bottle of wine might do, but now I know that's far from the truth.

Why is alcohol so acceptable?? Like it isnt equally as bad for you...

I'm not trying to say that using cannabis is fine and dandy and off you go and get on with it, it just riled me that the whole experiment seemed so one sided and was reported on in a way that told you how terrible it is. In this day and age most people who use it know the reputation it has for altering psychosis and yet they do it anyway.....

No doubt i'm in for a world of pain in the comments, i'm not trying to offend....

Such a shame

I work with a really nice young man called Alex.
He's about 24, a nice friendly young man who rarely takes time off work and when he is there he works hard and is a pleasure to be around.

At the beginning of last week he came into work looking upset, asked to have a word with our manager and when he came back it was obvious he had been crying.

Alex is Greek, he has been in Britain for around 5 years, lives with his girlfriend and seems happy.
He has been told he has to go back to Greece to do his National Service.

He leaves tomorrow, flies back to Greece on Sunday.

It's such a shame.

Tuesday Ten #1

Since i've seen loads of blogs with a "Thursday Thirteen" or something similar i thought i'd have a go but just to be different i thought i'd do a "Tuesday Ten"

Ten things that have made me feel old:

1. When the woman with a small child at the bus stop said "mind that lady" instead of "mind that girl"

2. Neice Claire turned 20! I mean 20 really! how inconsiderate!

3. When i sit in the doctor's waiting room and the "well women" clinic notices on the board are for women aged 18-25!

4. When my boss didnt know who The Crankies were!

5. When Neice Claire didnt know who Mr T was!

6. When a woman in a shop thought she recognised me as a girl she went to primary school with, turned out she meant my sister! (my sister is 9, yes NINE years older than me!)

7. When i fill in a form with tick boxes for your age and my box isnt in the first 2!

8. When people call me Mrs Hall lol

9. Last weekend i went to a 40th birthday party that was one of my own friends lol

10. When i'm with a small child like Sydney and strangers assume she is mine!

Wordless Wednesday

I've noticed a lot of blogs that do "Wordless Wednesday" where they just post a favourite photo and since i'm moaning i can't write what i like i thought i'd join in.
I know it's predictable that i've chosen a photo from the wedding but it's one i haven't shared before as it's a little blurred which is such a shame as it's so cute!


I

Tagged by FoX

I have been tagged by FoX under the pretence that he is interested in who i e-mail but i tend to believe he was doing me the faour of giving me something to write about lol

4 movies I'd watch again
Twin Town
Clerks
Pulp Fiction
Napoleon Dynamite

4 places I've lived

I'm afraid i've only lived in 3!
Stockport
Glossop
Preston

4 TV shows I watch

Family Guy
South Park
Heroes
Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.

4 people I email

Anyone who e-mails me!
Fish Face, real name Louisa, my friend i used to work with but rarely see anymore.
Karen or "Purplefox" , i would link to her blog but spaces is unavailable and she doesnt post much anyway lol
Zivanai Marandu! A guy i work with to whom i forward my funnies, just thought i'd share his wonderful name lol

4 things I eat

Bread
Cheese (it's my downfall in life.... Cheese on toast is one of my faves).
Ham & Cheese Sandwiches (am i allowed a combination of the first two??)
Pepperoni Pizza

4 places I'd rather be

Amsterdam, Blue Velvet coffeeshop with Chris :0)
Walking out of work to go home
On the motorway on the way home from work
At home (can you sense a theme?)

I would tag people but two of the people i would tag have either tagged me or been tagged by my tagger!

Stuck!

Ok i'm stuck!

I want to write here, i want to tell everyone everything!

I find it cathartic if thats the right word, i enjoy getting it off my chest wether it be serious or silly and i enjoy the comments it sometimes provokes.

Since i started this blog on msn all that time ago my life has changed immeasurably, i have gone from a single girl with a lodger to a married woman with a husband, 2 cats and a mannequin....i know its weird but its my life and i love it lol

So i'm much happier than i was when i began.

But here's the killer, other people dont want me to write about THEIR lives here! And who am i to go against their wishes?? This means that although i have more blog material i have less i can write about....

You may think looking over the last few months that i have just grown bored of blogging, not true, i just feel restricted as to what i can write without causing upset or going against someones wishes.

I'm stuck!

Conversation with Nanna

Fred who sits next to Nanna at the home is in hospital sadly having suffered a stroke.

A chap called John has taken to sitting in his seat next to Nanna.

Chris went up to visit and had the following conversation....

Nanna - I dont know how they put up with him in here, he's up and down and wandering about all the time, he drives them mad, just cant sit still.

Chris - Nanna thats because he has Downs Syndrome.

Nanna - Eh?

Chris - He has Downs Syndrome.

Nanna - What??

Chris - He has Downs Syndrome Nanna, you know like Natalie...

Nanna - Eh? What?

Chris - He has Downs Syndrome.

Nanna - What do you mean he's a "Dancing Gnome"


Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Shafted!

Sometimes i thoroughly despise the company i work for and some of the people i work with.

I've told you my job recently moved from Manchester to Warrington.

Not all the people who worked in Manchester either chose or were able to come over to Warrington.

One of these is an elderly chap who has worked for the company for around twenty years.

Shortly before we were told we were moving over to Warrington he chose to go part time.

When he was offered redundancy he was then offered it on a part time basis.

He has appealed against this saying that had he been told this would happen he wouldnt have gone part time.

The company are saying he WAS told.

We have all been interviewed individually by a chap from HR today, we havent been told what its regarding but the few questions we have been asked were about when, where and how we were told about the move.

As far as i can tell we have all answered in a way that puts our colleague in the right.

I so hope he wins and gets his money.

This weekend i will be mostly drunk...

Well another weekend flew by!

This weekend has had a bit of everything, got drunk on Friday with Chris then again on Saturday with Chris and Keith and played Buzz till 3am lol

Sunday we visited a few people and then went for lunch at my mums, mmm slow roasted lamb!
Probably would've ended up drunk again as mum is always very generous with the wine but had my sensible head on by then and stuck to soft drinks!

We did very little in the way of organising ourselves for work so it was up early as still had to iron etc.

My car goes into the garage tomorrow to no doubt cost us a fortune, we're guessing a new radiator grrr