Saturday 27 October 2012

Love you Baby Brownlee

In keeping with this letter that I wrote to Naomi when we were expecting her I have I have decided to write a letter to our new baby.

Baby Brownlee, I am already conscious that you are suffering slightly from second-child syndrome.  Your Dad and I never really got to coming up with a nickname for you while you are in my tummy and this letter comes later in my pregnancy than with your sister.  The thing is, though, it doesn't mean we are less excited about you arriving and it definitely doesn't mean we love you any less.

I am so excited about meeting you and I already love you more than words can express.  As I sit and type this I can feel you kicking me in the ribs and although it hurts quite a lot it makes me realise that you are already working out how to make your presence known, I know that you are going to be a massive part of my life and this family because I know you are going to be just incredible.

I am excited for seeing what you look like, I feel like we've had a sneak peek having already met Naomi, but you will look just like you, you will be one of a kind and I am really looking forward to knowing what that is like.  I can only imagine you will be beautiful.

I am even more excited, though, to find out what your personality is like.  If the old wives' tail is to be believed and the temperament of a baby still in utero relates to the child that baby will become, I think you will be quite calm and chilled out (which having been dealing with your big sister for nearly two years now I am not sure what that looks like) and I suspect you will be quite contemplative.  It's up to you, though, baby.  You can be whatever you want.  God will have woven hopes and dreams and desires into you and you can follow those as you want, I will consider it a privilege to help you work out what those things are.

Baby, you will be beautiful, I am sure.  You will be incredible, I am sure.  You will steal my heart, I am sure.  I can't wait to meet you.  Come and meet me, it's great out here, we have milk and cuddles, these things are brilliant and we have your big sister, she is also brilliant.  Hope to meet you very soon, indeed!

Mummy

Monday 22 October 2012

Guess the flavour, date and weight

We now have fewer than three weeks till our due date! All preparations are almost done so it is just a case of waiting for baby to decide to make an appearance.

When we were still expecting Naomi we ran this competition and thought we'd run another now.  As with last time the only prize is the joy of winning.

So, we're looking for your predicted date of arrival, weight of baby and of course gender!

Due November 11th and for those that think these things matter here is an up-to-date picture of the bump!


Comment to "enter"...

Thursday 18 October 2012

Miscellany

Another assortment of pictures from the last couple of weeks...

The new house is much nearer to many people in our church. An extra bonus is that one the weeks I'm driving the van, it's now parked five minutes away instead of twenty! The first experience here was even better though, thanks to a late night session, the last guy who used it parked it right outside the house, so I got a bit more time that morning. Here it is in all its glory from our living room window.
Naomi is adding new words every day now, and a favourite of the moment it "AAAT", or as most people call it, "hat". Here she is sporting mine.

We got this shower curtain from thinkgeek.com, and I picked it up from America in July (thanks to Rick for holding it for me). We saved it for the new house. Chic or what?

One of the only negatives of the new house was that it didn't come with a shed, but the weekend after we moved we were given one! It was pretty old and rotten, but also huge - 10'x6' - so I cut it down to a more sensible size and in doing so removed most of the rotten bits. In the end all it cost was a new roll of roof felt, some preservative and two big posts to hold the floor together. Much appreciated!

No comment!

Mummy's bump is now apparently quite comfortable.




Chesterfield

My parents came down a couple of weeks ago to look after Naomi, so Jay and I could have a bit of a break before the new baby comes. This was the longest Jay had been away from her (2 nights!) and was pretty hard, but the weekend was very nice.

We got a very good deal on a room in Chesterfield, you can see the squint church spire right out of our window...


The room was very warm given the time of year :( Fortunately the place had a pool and jacuzzi which were much appreciated.

Naturally we went for a short walk in the Peaks, and on the advice of my supervisor Jon we did a lovely walk that lasted about an hour and a half, concluding with one of the very English pubs that seem to cover this part of the world.


View from pub. Note hot air balloon.

All in all a very enjoyable weekend. Grandma and Granddad had a nice time with Naomi (who enjoyed having more people to show off to), and they were here for over a week in total. Most fun.

Thursday 11 October 2012

Preaching

A few more updates to follow soon... meanwhile, I thought I'd share Jay's last sermon at church which has just been made available online (the delay was down to a changeover in the people who upload sermons) - it's on Acts 24 and can be obtained here. She's preaching again this Sunday :)