A different kind of shopping

This morning we got up early and drove to the DHL depot to pick up our Mothercare stuff, then unpacked it all at home before going to our NCT class. All before 9:30 in the morning, on a Saturday : a time when when I am normally still in bed. Well, they say parenthood brings new experiences.....

Woohoo, I feel so much better that we have all the stuff we need now. The only things we need to get now are the car seat and the car. Oh yeah, pretty big item :)





We checked the delivery in the living room. We already have a cot and a crib, but we decided to get a Moses basket too so the pipsqueak can sleep downstairs while I watch trash TV.

Mr KE bought Arlo from Mamas and Papas.











Mr KE's favourite outfit for the pipsqueak is this bearsuit which is a pramsuit for wearing when we go out.

It's really cute and soft. It has ears, mittens and even bear footprints!

He also spent ages playing with the Bugaboo, changing it from mode to mode. Rear facing to stroller mode and back again. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon.

Architecture in Liverpool

A few months ago, Mr KE went on an "official mission" to Liverpool with his colleagues. It is the European Capital of Culture this year (hard to believe, I know) so there were lots of cultural events and architectural exhibitions talking place.


Here are some interesting photos from his weekend away.

The last photo shows a famous Catholic Cathedral. I don't like it myself - a bit too spiky.

Big Sigh.

Mr KE worked from home today because our Mothercare delivery was supposed to arrive today. We also ordered stuff from Argos (a chest of drawers and a new drying rack) ....organised huh? Unfortunately, the best laid plans can still go wrong.

The Argos stuff arrived OK, but Mr KE had to call Mothercare. Despite all their assurances and "guaranteed next day delivery", everything is arriving tomorrow. Aarrggghh. There's no way I can take a day off and Mr KE has to be at work too. How annoying. Now we have to drive to the depot because they won't deliver at weekends.

Breathing as a form of Pain Relief?

Mr KE and I signed up for NCT ante-natal classes and yesterday we went for our first session. We had to go to Brixton because our local NCT classes are only on weekdays, which kind of defeated one of the main reasons to join the NCT i.e. to meet other mothers in your local area.

Anyway, it was very useful; there were 7 couples there and one woman who was there on her own. I felt really sorry for her because everything was set up for couples eg giving massages during early labour, breathing exercises etc.

I had heard from friends that the NCT are good, but they have very strong agendas eg they are very into breast feeding, natural births and non-intervention during labour. Almost religious, I would say :) The instructor wouldn't even really talk about "formula" feeding but just pushed the "breast is best" mantra. She also said that women should have "realistic expectations" of childbirth .....uh, ok but I don't think it is necessary or noble to suffer through extreme pain in the year 2008. I guess we will go through that in more detail next week when we discuss pain relief.

There was a couple there who were interested in hypnobirthing. Eeek. Mr KE wanted to laugh, but managed to stifle it. And yes, it is very middle class - the couples were doctors and accountants...even in Brixton.

On Tuesday evening, we will have our "NHS " ie free ante-natal class. It will be interesting to see the difference.

Five things that have been keeping me busy.

Five things that I have been up to lately:

• Fending off agents (aka recruiters/headhunters/bloodsuckers) calling me about positions in the Middle East. As the economy in the UK seems to be heading into a long recession, a lot of companies are expanding their operations in the Middle East and there is a big push to recruit suitably skilled staff. It so happens that I work in one of these "niche" sectors and if I were in different phase of my life, I would be very, very tempted....but it's not the right time for me.

• Discovering a whole new world of shopping for things that I never knew existed! Who knew that there were so many different types of buggies, baby car seats, cot mattresses etc? One item that we chose fairly quickly was the buggy. There were three main requirements: I wanted the lightest one on the market, Mr K-E wanted one that he wouldn't mind pushing around and we both wanted one that could face either way. So the Bugaboo Bee it is!! (With all the accessories, of course....)

• Making long lists for all the stuff we will need in January. Our plan was to buy everything from Mothercare in one big hit and get it delivered all on the same day, thus missing the Christmas rush. Sounds pretty stress-free right? The only problem with on-line shopping is that someone has to be in the house when the stuff gets delivered. Suddenly our straightforward plan doesn't seem so straightforward afterall.

• Getting used to the idea that I won't be wearing high heels for a while :(

• Being excited / scared /happy /anxious all at the same time. So much to do; we still have to buy our new car, clear more junk out from the flat, buy Christmas presents and send Christmas cards etc. Mr KE and I are always busy at work in the run-up to Christmas (I'm actually moving office on 5th December) plus we have our NCT & NHS "parentcraft" classes to attend. And try to meet up with friends and family before Christmas. Happy times!

Octoberfest

I've been very distracted lately, what with all the stuff going on at work, visitors from home and Mr KE and I trying to get ready for big changes. So I haven't been keeping up with the blogging but will try to get back to doing it regularly.

While everyone at my work was been fretting about redundancies, Mr KE and his work gang have been ignoring the credit crunch. Last month they celebrated Octoberfest at a German bar in Old Street.

I haven't messed with the photo, his friends always look like this after a few litres of beer!

The food doesn't really appeal to me...sausages and sauerkraut...urghh. I guess it's just stomach lining for the beer.