orko's london outing

end of the sweden trip

2008-10-11T22:56:00.000-07:00

near the end of our trip we went out to see davids family warehouse of antiques, as that is the family biz .. it was pretty cool.. there is so much stuff there and a ton of rooms just packed to the gills with furniture. Of course as the trip went on Liadan warmed up to David and Lulu.. particularly Lulu, andrew and i went to the store to get some groceries and left Liadan with them and when we came back she was asleep on Lulu.. how peaceful do they look...

another sweden town

2008-10-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

another day we went out to this island here is us in one of the streets. On the island there was a castle/ look out post huge fortress thing that we checked out .. where you can see David and Lulu looking hilarious and here is a view from the island about halfway up.

they play this game called kub? i am not sure of the spelling.. you have teams and you set up wooden pegs on each end and with some other sticks you knock down the other teams standing pegs. there are a couple other rules but you get the gist. Here is a pic of us playing kub outside this fortress.

Another Place in Sweden

2008-10-02T13:15:00.000-07:00

Another day we went to this seaside town that had the coolest summer homes on the water as you can see. Then on the other side of this little harbour were these rocks that we walked across to get closer to the sea for a little picnic and swim. We had Liadan in the backpack, how cute does she look peering out of the shady tent i made her.

Sweden Brekkie and the Cabin

2008-09-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

Some Sweden highlights were breakfast in the morning which is this huge array of yummy things to eat like pate, bread, cheese, this prawn mayo spread, jam, yogurt, fruit, cold meats and eggs.Here is a pic of Liadan getting in on the action she didn't notice for the longest time we had put the banana sticker on her forehead.. the little cutie

This is a pic of Lulu's sister's and husbands cabin where we went for a couple nights.. here you can see us setting up our breakfast spread outside. It was a great place, quiet and peaceful. The weather was still great but it was a little chilly at night.. here is the two of us bundled up and strapped to each other and then a little later i turned her around for a better view - i think this picture is hilarious because liadans elbows make it look like i have huge saggy tits and that her head just comes out of my chest .. heehee...

2008-09-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

In June we all went to Gothenburg Sweden to visit with some friends of Andrews that he met while treking around Nepal.

Their names are David and Lulu and here they are on one of the first days we were there at one of their sunning spots, heres me and Li while i keep her out of the sun.

I feel bad it's been so long now that we were on the trip i don't remember all the the things we did and the places we went but David and Lulu took us everywhere.. to a ton of different places to enjoy the amazing hot weather and we met all their families.

So I have gone through all our pics and i'll just give a short recap of some of what we did.. but there will not be too many details, sorry

Sex and City at the everyman

2008-09-10T14:28:00.000-07:00

Though I do quite like being a hermit with my little one I thought it would be nice to venture out into the world a little.. so with the release of the Sex and the City movie I though I would go to one of the mommy screenings at a cinema called the Everyman.

This cinema is in Hamstead and is one with big comfy couches and chairs and little tables so it would be more roomy. Since I was taking the outing I thought I would ask a friend of Andrews wife who had a little girl 3 months after us if she wanted to go and as it turned out she was already going to go to the same screening but with a whole pile of other mums she met from a baby massage class she took .. so I tagged along with all of them. It was really good to get out and it was crazy babies galore but liadan was really good and although the movie was pretty sub par but it was a really good day out.

First time in the Walker

2008-07-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

So as mentioned before I got Liadan a walker so she could move around a little more independently and not totally ruin our backs while she figured out how to walk on her own. I’m so glad that these things are not banned here in England cause they are banned in North America and she has a pretty good time banging into all our furniture and trying to get as close the tv as she can. So here is some footage of her in the walker for the first time.. of course now she is a little more speedy about it and that will be posted soon

Walking with Daddy

2008-07-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

Liadan thought why stop at rolling she has decided to get a head start on the whole walking thing. She loves holding onto Andrew fingers and walking around take a look for yourself… I have been looking on Ebay so we can get her a walker..which we now have and there will be footage to show this soon too.

Roast with Chris’s mom

2008-07-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Early that same mat playing day we went to the Lord Stanley for a roast with Chris and his mom, beau and ryan, Neil and Isabell. Good eats for all.. same curt service. Here is a pic of that day and note this is the first day that Liadan ever wore a dress.

Also I know I am once again really far behind on the blog so I’m going to try and blast out new entries for the next couple weeks ..so stay tuned lots to come

Mat Playing

2008-06-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

Liadan was playing on her play mat today and she was getting into all the different sounds and things it does more than she usually does, what was so cute was her figuring out that she could actually turn the lights on for the flowers anyways you can see for yourself it’s a little slow of course because as soon as I get the camera out she decides to do something else. Then later she was sitting there and pulled herself up to standing on the arm things of the mat.. but they are not meant for that so it’s not easy going. But here is a little clip of her on the mat

Update from Andrew - The Golden Compass

2008-06-02T12:37:00.001-07:00

So, last year I worked on The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of the first book in Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy.
While the movie itself didn't raise too many eyebrows, it did manage to win the BAFTA and the Oscar for the Outsatnding Visual Effects.
Here's a quick taste of my work and a picture of the animation team with our two gongs. video coming soon

Visit from Mark Lack

2008-05-24T03:18:00.000-07:00

Our buddy Mark Lack recently moved from Cambridge to Bromley so he came up to see us for a visit a few weekends ago. We just hung out.. then went up to the Lansdowne in Primrose to sit on the sidewalk for a drink.. and then we came back down to our local the Victoria for another. Liadan warmed up to Mark later in the day and she roped in herself another fan. Here is a picture of us outside the Victoria that Mark took on his cell.

Rolling both ways

2008-05-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

For the longest time Liadan would only roll from her stomach onto her back but today April 24^th she did it, rolled from her back onto her stomach. I caught it on camera it’s not as good as the first one I caught but you can still see it.

Spinach!

2008-05-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

So the eating continues we caught her making some more funny faces when she tried spinach for the first time… hope you enjoy it! Since the last list of food we have now tasted apricot, beetroot, artichoke, coquina, watermelon, potato, sweetcorn, cucumber, cantaloupe, guava, pomegranate, plum, galia, yogurt, blueberries, and salmon.

Cutting Her first tooth

2008-05-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

Andrew noticed one day while Liadan was chomping on his thumb that there was something a little sharp on her gums. Upon closer inspection we could see that there was a little tooth cutting through. Close on its heels was the second tooth and they are both in pretty good now... check it out. She has been getting a little more grumpy and whinny but so far she has been handling the task of growing teeth quite well.

Our little princess

2008-05-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

What fun are kids if you can’t dress them up and have a good laugh. I bought this hat for Liadan .. I love it and after I put it on her it looked like a crown. On another day seeing her sitting in her Bumbo it looked like a thrown .. so I put the crown hat on and wrapped her fleece blanket around her shoulders..to keep the cape on I used a sweater clasp thing I had and I gave her a flag from a soft wheelie toy of her for the scepter. Here is our little Princess Liadan!

First Bath – in the kitchen sink

2008-05-04T12:11:00.001-07:00

Liadan of course has had baths before but I do admit not as many as she probably should have we got into doing the whole sponge bath thing. Drawing a bath just seems to take so long and then Andrew has to sit in a lukewarm bath with her since it can’t be too hot so I have taken to bathing her in the kitchen sink which I think is more scenic for Liadan as it’s next to the window and easier on my back. She seems pretty indifferent to the whole event which I guess is a good thing and it takes up a good chunk of our day. Here is a picture of her in her first sink bath.

6 months

2008-05-01T03:37:00.000-07:00

Liadan was 6 months old on April 10^th I can’t believe how quickly this time has gone. She is so precious we love her so much our little cutie. And a couple days later

As well a friend that I originally met in Toronto, Alex was in town for just a day on her way to Scotland for a visit so she came over and we went for breakfast and a catch up. I also found out it was her birthday that day too so Happy Birthday again Alex and I hope you had a great time up north.

Here is a pic of the little one and Dad chill'n out in the evening sun

My birthday

2008-04-27T12:28:00.000-07:00

I turned 31 ..doesn’t feel too different. In the morning Andrew and I went to the Engineer pub up in Primrose for an eggs benny breakfast, came home for some tea and cheesecake (the second best cheese cake I have ever had from Morgan and Melrose also in Primrose) and then he headed off to work. Liadan and I spent the day as usual playing, napping and watching tv. Then that evening our friends Beau and Ryan came home with Chris and Andrew and treated us to dinner of steak pie while we watched America’s Next Top Model. All in all a good birthday for me.

I can't believe Mom is 31.. holy moly

Snow Day

2008-04-24T05:18:00.000-07:00

April 6^th…ah spring.. it dumped in the morning so that when we all woke up it was a white wonderland outside. Here is a pic. It was all gone and a beautiful sunny day by the afternoon.

Visit to my old neighborhood

2008-04-22T01:50:00.001-07:00

A few Sundays ago we took Chris our flatmate to Ealing where I used to live last time in London for a roast at the Red Lion Pub which I used to live above as well as it being the work local. It was a really good feed and Liadan was very well behaved. After we went for a little walk around the city centre and then headed home..

That was a really boring entry .. sorry…to make up so me pics

It was the first time we actually dressed Liadan in clothes I usually can’t be bothered and we go out in the usual baby onesie attire but this day she wore trousers and a hoodie - here is a pic of me breastfeeding while I enjoyed my half Guinness, Liadan licking my cup and one with her with her Daddy.

Solids

2008-04-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

So when Liadans weight was slipping a bit I though perhaps its time to start weaning her onto solids and after our first attempt at it I could tell it was a good idea because she literally ate it up. She loved it moth open and couldn’t wait for me. Mashing food became a new added pass time for me and so far we have indulged in the follow baby rice, apple, banana, pear, mango, papaya, avocado, courgette (zucchini), butternut squash, broccoli, sweet potato and I think that is it for now. April 17^th enter swede. April 19 now spinach and basil April 20 peas.

Here is a little clip of her eating apple for the first time.

Good Sunday – at the Lansdowne

2008-04-18T03:18:00.000-07:00

We ventured up the road into Primrose to have lunch at the Lansdowne a number of Sundays ago with Chris our flatmate. It was packed and there were at least three other strollers too. The boys shared a roast chicken with all the fixings and I had fish and soup. It was all yum and little Liadan slept the whole time in the stroller. It was a lovely warm sunny day so we went for a walk and the sit and relax in the sun in our living room. A good Sunday.

And here is a random pic of the baby

Health update

2008-04-14T04:22:00.000-07:00

Liadan has had all her shots now until she is a year old and her weight had dipped down but is now maintaining its steady rise, at last weight in she was 6.9kgs. I also went and got her weight today and now she is 7.22kgs She is also sitting up more on her own as you can see in this cutie pic.

relaxing and max’n and rolling

2008-04-10T08:54:00.001-07:00

so since we have been back in London we have not really been doing much but hanging out at home playing and napping. Liadan still sleeps with us we have been a little unwilling to sacrifice our own sleep to get her into the cot and during the day I love every minute of having her sleep on my chest. We get out at least once a day to get groceries or go for a walk in the park.

Liadan was slowly figuring out how to roll from her stomach to her back check it out..the funny thing is she did it a bunch for a few days but since has stopped. It was like she proved she could do it to herself and has been there done that, next.

Flying in comfort – home at last

2008-04-09T02:34:00.000-07:00

On our way home from Vancouver my parents bough me our ticket and in executive class, yeehaw!!! Now I thought we were just going to have a massive chair but when we got on board we had those new sky bed pod things. It was awesome especially because Liadan was so well behaved again to the pleasure of the staff and all the business people who slept the whole way. I’m looking forward to the trip back home this summer in the same style.

Here is a random pic of Liadan
looking like the Stay Puff Man

First time on a Ferry and the Island

2008-04-07T06:40:00.001-07:00

After Christmas we headed to Victoria to see more of the Lawson clan. We headed to the ferry and when we got on Liadan was not super happy but leave it to her dad to calm her down. While she slept the rest of the way mom downed a BC burger from the White Spot on board.. yum!

Andrews parents got us all a place to stay called Menzies Manor which was a homey apartment for us with a name that put a smile on face everytime I heard it. While on the island Andrews Uncle Ian and Aunt Margret had a second Christmas dinner for us all which was great. Liadan got to meet them for the first time along with their kids, great aunt Cora and her Great Grandmother too! And I got to meet Sarah first time which was lovely too.

Another night we had dinner at Mark and Sarah’s with Fi and Lee just a kids dinner for us to all hang out and get to know each other better. We had a great night and heard some hilarious storied to boot.

All in all we had a great time on the island and we really look forward to heading back for the wedding this summer.

Liadans First Christmas

2008-03-16T10:14:00.001-07:00

Now funny enough we don’t really have many pictures of her first Christmas. I’m sure next year when she will be able to tear open her own gifts it will be a different story.

The day started off at the Lawsons with breakfast and cheer. Followed by some gift giving where we were all spoiled but not as much as our little Liadan who seem to be raking in the gifts. From there we went to my parents place and exchanged gifts with my brother and his family and followed it with dinner with both the Steyns clan and the Lawson clan. New to the party besides Liadan was Lee, Fiona’s boyfriend who was a total hit with my nephew Ian.

All and all another great Christmas day , Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful gifts and good times!!

Here is a shot of her all tucked into her sling with me in front of the Christmas tree at my folks.

Open House

2008-03-02T04:56:00.000-08:00

We had gathering of friends at my parents place on the 22nd so people could see Liadan. There was a pretty healthy turn out thanks to everyone~ and all the prezies for the little one. We didn’t take pictures of the event but here is a picture of Liadan in a hat that Jon and Penny gave her. I think she looks a little like Dopey with her ears bending out of it. This hat is starting to get a little small now..her head is getting bigger everyday

The Big Day of Firsts

2008-02-11T08:13:00.000-08:00

We headed to Vancouver on Dec 20^th for the holidays and it was a huge day of firsts for Liadan.First time on the tube. First time on an airplane. And first time that she would meet the Lawson Grandparents.

The plane ride was great she was so good she made Andrew and I very proud and a bunch of people around us also commented on how good she was. The only major issue was the huge dump she took while we were just sitting in the plane waiting to taxi out. It was so big that it shot right up through her bum and out the back of her diaper soaking through her sleeper…great! Then she was hungry so we fed and she feel asleep which was fine as the poo stain did not seem to be getting any bigger. Finally when the seat belt sign came off I took her to the loo to change her and well she cried quite a bit.. and just before I got on the new diaper she had a little pee to share with me soaking the lot but we made it through and the rest of the trip was a breeze. Andrew did most of the holding so that was lovely for me.. thanks honey!

When we arrived in Vancouver both Grandmothers were there and Grandfather Lawson. Everyone was of course ecstatic to her and we went to Andrew folks place so everyone could get a better look and good cuddle. My sister in law and niece came over as well to meet their new relative her you can see her being held by Ella my niece. Sorry these pics are all a little blurry.

Final Roast for 2007

2008-02-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

Dec 16^th we went to the pub up the street for a roast with Beau and Sunny, Stephen and Tony Thorne before he headed back to Oz forever, well for the foreseeable future.

It was great to get out for me as it was really the first time I had gone out with friends. We had been out for roast with my folks before but family is one thing and breast feeding in front of people I have worked with is another but all went off without to much of a hiccup. We will see how much venturing out I can manage in the new year. I didn’t take a pic of the event but here is a pic of Liadan first Sunday Roast that we did with my parents and Andrews sister Fiona and cousin Alice and our flatmate Chris.

First Bottle

2008-02-06T06:35:00.000-08:00

On Dec 12 Andrew attempted to give Liadan her first bottle with expressed milk.. in my attempts to get a little more roaming room from her cause we seem to be on a pretty tight feeding every two hours which makes doing things a little difficult.

I cleared the room so there would be no confusion and he went to it.. and she took the whole thing without too much fuss.. Fabulous!!

However she was just filling us with some false hope because since then she has refused all attempts of bottle feeding. We tried a couple times her in London and then again while we were in Vancouver but no go.. we tried silicone, latex of all various shapes and sizes but nothing really took so I guess it’s the flesh for now. We will keep trying I think so if there is any progress you know I’ll let you know

Here is a funny pic I like of one off her faces from over the holidays

Andrews Birthday

2008-01-31T13:19:00.001-08:00

November 20^th Andrew turned the big 32.

We had a ready meal from Marks and Spencers and Apple Pie with Ice Cream yum!

Here is a picture of the handsome father

More Medical updates for Liadan

2008-01-30T04:18:00.000-08:00

We went in for our 6 week check up.. which was about 9 weeks ago now and Liadan was measured and looked over and weighed. Guess what she was about double her weight from birth.. so that was good to know especially since newborns often loose weight at first it must be all my fatty breast milk.

She has also had a couple rounds of vaccination on top of the TB one which I hate cause she always cries – like so – she was just a month old in this pic. but this is kind of what her face looks like when we take her for her shots. We had a set of shots while we were in Victoria from a family friend of the Lawsons and she was still climbing the charts for gains.

We have more shots to come tomorrow so more tears to come – her poor thighs.

Uncle Mark Pops the Question

2008-01-25T11:34:00.000-08:00

So other news to catch people up on that happened at the end of last year is that Andrews brother Mark proposed to his girlfriend Sarah.

Congratulations guys we are so happy for you and we cannot wait to come back this summer for the wedding. Maybe this was all just an elaborate plan to have us bring Liadan back for another visit .. hmm

Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the lovely couple together so instead here is a range of Marks fashion faces – why is this kid not on the cover of GQ yet?

Just adding a Blog

2008-01-24T14:31:00.000-08:00

just a quick one .. i have added Rock and Penny's blog to the list of ones on the side
They are on a big trip for several months
Have a wonderful trip guys

and the New Year begins

2008-01-23T12:49:00.001-08:00

Okay Happy New Year Everyone sorry for the absence in the blog over the holidays but we went to Vancouver for a month to visit the family.. so I’ll get you caught up on what we have been doing and Liadans progress.

At the end of last year we had been trying to encourage Liadan to suck her thumb since it seems to sooth her back to sleep or to calm down when she is crying but she had not really grasped it totally. She did make progress on November 19^th she was napping and I heard all this sucking and smacking noises and I took a peak and she had it.. her thumb and her thumb only in her mouth while she gave it some loving kisses. It was so cute though it didn’t catch on.. but now a month and half or so later she can do it .. if you are halding her over your shoulder.. and she will suck on her phone for ages and slobber till your whole arm is wet – this position can been seen here. And here is another fuzzy pic of her sucking her thumb and her finger hooked over her nose.. its funny when she pokes her self in the eyes and doesn’t know who is doing it.

Hope the new year brings lots of adventures..stay tuned

First Bath

2007-12-17T10:32:00.000-08:00

On November 17^th we decided it was time for Liadan to have her first bath. So we heated up the bathroom, ran the tub, Andrew got it and I gave Liadan to him and we gave her a wash down. She was pretty indifferent about the whole event.. not happy, not sad (thankfully) just staring straight ahead. So pretty successful all in all and now we look forward to the many more bathing adventures to come.

Now I didn’t take a pic of the event and this of course is not Liadan…but I thought it was a cute pic.

Bye for now

2007-12-14T02:24:00.000-08:00

Now my parents left a few weeks ago now but the blog is always a little behind… so I’m about mid nov now in reporting events. Before then came I had no idea how the time was going to go with my parents here. Was I going to love it and need all help I could get or was it going to be to claustrophobic parent invasion. Well I have to say after the time has now passed it was fabulous to have them here, they rented a huge apt just up the street so they were close. All the dinners and groceries and just watching Liadan so I could take naps and have showers was great! Now that they are gone just the littlest things seem to be more challenging.

So, mom and dad thanks so much for everything – can’t wait to see you over the holidays and for you to see how Liadan has changed

Cradle Cap

2007-12-12T13:44:00.001-08:00

Again another common skin problem babies can get Liadan has. It’s something called Cradle cap, and she has a bad case of it on her forehead. It’s kind of like eczema with dry flaky skin that is so crusty it’s yellow and green. So our little Liadan currently looks like a romulan, klingon, ferengi or any other number of star trek characters. It been at least a few weeks now and the nastiness has disappeared from her forehead however it has developed on her scalp now.. so warning to everyone at home Liadan will not be dining in her black cocktail dress and her hair may look a little greasy. So here is just another pic of our little one where you can't see her scaly scalp getting a kiss from her dad.

Baby Puberty

2007-12-11T07:57:00.001-08:00

Our cute little girl is maturing fast and now has a case of baby acne coming on. It’s just like it sounds, she has a rather zitty face. We decided not to take pictures of her new skin problem so her is another pic of her from a few weeks later. Enjoy.

I Can Read – sort of

2007-12-10T02:54:00.001-08:00

My previous posting of the books I had read .. or rather had not read did get me reading a little.. I picked an easy murder mystery book called The Interpretation of Murder by Jen Rubenfeld. It was just what I needed to get back into reading, easy not to challenging but keeps you moving along. I have picked up another book but it is going slowly cause the biggest reason why I got a chance to read more was cause my parents were here giving me more free time…and I think I started the book before I had Liadan.. hopefully it will not be long before I finish the next one.

An Ear Full

2007-12-07T11:14:00.001-08:00

In the first month of Liadans life we needed to take her into the clinic to get her hearing checked… everything checked out good so far.. so her ears are going to be ruined like all the rest of ours when she is a teen with her headphones and concerts.

The tuberculosis rate has risen by 80% in London over 10 years so they now are vaccinating all children in London now for TB. So we made another trip to the clinic to get her shot in the arm and my parents came with me. It was horrible, they stick a needle just under the skin and inject this liquid that forms a white blister the size of a tart and tiny and it’s not quick. Why it was so bad though was Liadan poor face.. she squiggied it all up and tears filled her eyes and her mouth and cry were just heart wrenching, it was the look of what the fuck do you think you are doing that hurts – you don’t love me!!!! She soon forgot by the next day but I haven’t and am not looking forward to her 8 week immunization session.

Aunt Fi

2007-12-05T05:02:00.000-08:00

So Andrews sister Fiona was traveling around Europe with their cousin Alice for a couple months (sept – oct ) so on their way home they stopped by London to meet the new family member. It was really good to see them both and hear all about their travels..

But there is nothing like two twenty somethings, country and party hopping to make a new mother who did the very same thing more than ten years ago, make you feel ancient.

Andrew took them to Brick Lane for a curry one night and little pub crawls around where we live and we all went for a Sunday Roast up the street.

Here are a couple pictures of Aunt Fiona and her niece Liadan

Rogers Blog

2007-12-04T07:08:00.000-08:00

just in case anyone is interested i have added Rogers blog to the list of friends blogs to the left

The art of staring

2007-12-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

I know all new parents tell you how much you will be able to just stare at your new little bundle but it’s crazy you just get taken with watching her for hours.. all the little faces they make they are all so subtle but I could watch them all day – well I do. When she is sleeping she looks so peaceful, and loves looking at lights or out any of the windows and she has about three different types of yawning.. one of them start out looking like a dry heave it’s hilarious. Lately she has started the smile at you when you are smiling and it’s just lights me up inside. As the holidays get closer and I’m a bit more comfortable with the whole mom thing we will start venturing out and having people in so you can all see her smile too. Here is a pic of Liadan doing some staring of her own.

Milk

2007-12-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

Another joy of new found motherhood has been the constant dampness of my chest region. It’s a never ending flow, squirt or trickle. Oh the joys of stuffing my new larger bra size so it looks like I’m packing a pair of rather lumpy pillows. It looks hot believe me. The best is when I’m feeding Liadan with one spurting nipple to pull her away and think oh no she has leaked from her diaper…no wait it was just my other breast using her as an additional breast pad – everyone gets to change now. It’s been almost two months now and the flow has not ebbed so beware the next spurt may get you in the eye.

2007-11-23T04:12:00.000-08:00

Immigration around the world have now decided all persons need a passport no matter what their age they are, to travel .. so when we come home for the holidays Liadan cannot just go onto mine she will need her own passport. All passports have photos so we needed to get a picture of Liadan with her eyes open, mouth closed looking straight ahead and all the rest. She is 2 weeks old when we attempt this as we need to speed this process along so we can get her application in and get the passport before the holidays.. cause we all know how long consulates can take with that kind of thing if they want. It ended up not being as hard as we thought but here is a selection of we got in amongst the winner. Here is a selection of photos we got in the process.

Breasts

2007-11-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

In addition to the soar and toughened up nipples behind them came milk and with the milk came their new size to accommodate their new duty. They grew and grew and grew, I’ll tell you it was not comfortable. Everytime I would see myself in the mirror I was blown away ..i was starting to look totally out of proportion like a Barbie doll. Thankfully they did calm down when they realized that I was not a cat, cow or pig and that they didn’t need to feed a whole litter. They can still get a little hard making reaching for the light not as easy as it used to be…welcome to motherhood

Jaundice

2007-11-14T02:57:00.000-08:00

Liadan had a visit from our midwife a few days after we came home and let us know that she had a small case of jaundice. Quite common in new borns and it was so minor she just said we need to make sure she feeds regularly and that will flush the bilirubin out of her system. So our little yellow baby was feed every 3 hours for the next week or so and then she was all better… on the last visit the midwife said she looked all better and that the last little bits of colour were just her colourings from her mom.

Nipples

2007-11-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

Okay so before I read a ton of things about nipples and that they get sore from breastfeeding so when that part of my task began I was prepared and prayed that it wouldn’t be so bad. At first it was no problem.. but then a couple days in ..man alive they were so soar that even the shower was painful. One book said that they would toughen up and not to worry and thank god a couple more days later and they did just that. Now things aren’t completely back to normal but I feel I am prepared for the next months of lactation duty.

Parents are here

2007-11-10T09:46:00.000-08:00

So my mom arrived a couple weeks before my due date to ensure she was here for the main event. She stayed at our place for the first little bit and then when my dad got here a couple weeks later they moved into a flat just up the road and will be there for a month. We went to check out the place last night and watch the final World Cup Rugby game of South Africa against

England

and they have a really swanky pad. It will be really great to have them here over the next month to help me out with the baby and help take some of the load off while I figure out what I am doing. At the moment I have only changed Liadan’s diaper twice in about two weeks.. thanks Andrew!! I leave the dirty work for him and I have been mastering my cuddle technique. - here is a pic of Liadan with my dad, i don't seem to have one with my mom in it.. but we shall fix that shortly

Coming Home

2007-11-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

After being taken to the ward with Liadan I was thinking great now I get to rest and sleep but I was mistaken. The ward had about 4 other mothers on the ward with their babies as well so someone was always up or baby was crying and all the rest so it was not very restful. Besides the fact I still had quite a bit of drugs pumping through my veins and with Liadan beside me in her little plastic bed I was really in no state to rest.

The next day I was not sure when they were going to let me go home, I had been told that women who had assisted deliveries can be held for at least a day but that my midwife thought that they would let me go home on the 11^th sometime.

They wake you up at 7:30am not that I had been asleep so I had a bowl of cereal. Then various people came to see me to give me some pain relief pills, make sure I could feel my legs after the epidural, and other info I would need for the two of us when we left the hospital. Had a meeting with the pediatrician who did a bunch of little checks on her and she was all good. When I came back from there Liadan was sort of making foodie faces again so we did a little feeding. Andrew came shortly after and they told me I could go home.. so we got all my stuff ready put Liadan in her new stroller and headed out. The hospital was so close to where we lived we just took the bus. Then we were home… ah.. now it’s really the time to relax .

the Labor Story

2007-11-07T06:38:00.000-08:00

So here is the detailed events of Liadan Siobhan Lawson entering the outside world.

It all started before two am in the morning on the 10^th of Oct with contractions that I had been semi timing for the last hour. I really didn’t think it was going to be it.. I figured it was the false labor everyone seems to get in the movies first and I really didn’t think she would come before her due date as I though she was going to be late.

Just before 8am when it was just getting to be too much to handle I though let’s go to the hospital. When we got there the contractions started coming on thick and fast ...so i said bring on the drugs.. so i got fitted for an epidural. For those of you who may not know what an epidural is it is a needle/tube they insert into your spin and inject you with drugs to numb you from the waist down. They give you a dose that is not a much as it used to because you can still feel the contractions and when the push and all the rest and I could move my legs. Then as the feeling starts to come back they top you up through the handy tube they have just hanging over my shoulder. It was good.. definitely took the edge off but of course the down side is that its slows the contractions down.

I was 3 cm when i got there and then four hours later only 5 cms.. urgh... then in the evening I was fully dilated but my waters still had not broken so they broke them for me ... oh what a very wet occasion that was and on my drugged up legs I had to get out of bed.. while they changed me and the bed as everything was absolutely soaking.

After that labor speed up a little which is what they were trying to do …
more epidural drugs please cause man my lower back was in so much pain. So while I held out before I got a top up on my epidural I gave the ol’ gas and air a go. I have to admit it was lovely so I finished a tank of that off for them. Many hours later she is SLOWLY coming at 7:30 they wanted to see how far she got in an hour and that would decide if they were going to give me this other drug to speed up the contractions again. But an hour later she had made good progress so they gave her one more hour to “Come on Down” before the main pushing event.

Eight rolled around and we had a shift change so we met all the new doctors who were on and my new midwife and so everyone got caught up on my situation. At 9:30 she was pretty much ready to be pushed out and the doctors came in before hand and said that I would pretty much have 1 hour to push her out see how far we got and if it was not going fast enough they were going to give me the contractions speedy up drug so we could get her delivered and that they may decide to use a ventouse and episiotomy. Not to happy with the cutting side of the whole thing but at this point I was a little exhausted and on board with whatever needed to be done to make sure she came out ok and in good time.

Pushing began… I could feel the contractions fully but was pretty numb from the waist down so i was using all my memories of taking poos to figure out what muscles I think I should be using to push her out and cross my fingers I was actually flexing them. The Midwife and Andrew seemed to be happy with the muscles I thought I was using so I went with it. The pushing took lots of concentration which is good as it takes your mind off what is really happening in my neither regions as you can sort of feel that something so large is starting to come out. Over the next hour her little head popped out but still not far enough for the doctor so in we go with some assistance ..i push, he pulls. For those of you who do not know what a ventouse is its like a little vacuum cap they put on her head and pull as I push.

So Shortly after she was on her way I could feel her head on the way out and then of all things the doctor tells me to stop pushing.. so her head can come out smoothly.. that was almost harder than the pushing. And then out she came blue and bloody and all safe and ok but I have to admit it didn’t seem real when they gave her to me I didn’t really know what to do. Then they took her for the pediatrician to do his once over clear her lungs and make sure she is really alright and the doctor started stitching me up. Then when they brought her back to me that is when it hit home a little more that this wrinkly little thing was our daughter. She started making her foodie faces right away so we gave breast feeding a go, she seemed happy. Then it really was time to relax after the I was all sewn up and rested for a little I had a shower and got back into some clothes. The midwife brought us a cup of tea and we had some quiet time.

My blood pressure was high so they would not discharge me to the ward till it had come down so Andrew and I got to chill in the room longer which was nice since if they had been able to check me to the ward Andrew would have had to leave. So we got to be together the three of us till about 2:30am when they took me upstairs to bed.

And that was the pretty much 24hours that Andrew and I became a family.

Andrews review of New Pornographers concert

2007-11-06T02:10:00.000-08:00

On the 9th I joined our new flatmate, Chris, and a couple of soon to be Framestore cohorts and went to see the New Pornographers play down the street at Koko.
Now, first off, I'm not a big fan of going to concerts. Indeed, while I love sitting out in a field enjoying band after band entertain me while I hang out in the sun/shade with friends, drinking whatever beverage suited my fancy at the time, I have never really fully appreciated live indoor music unless I'm dancing. And to prevent this review getting sidetracked and devolving into a drawn-out wet towel of a diatribe on the deficiencies of music concerts in general, let me say simply: It's on a rare occasion that I exit a concert venue not thinking my time and money would have been better spent just buying the album.
Then why even go, I hear you ask. Well, Chris arrived a couple of months before and, with the eager excitement that only his unique brand of boyish charm could produce, rattled of all these great shows we could go see. This sort of enthusiastic proclamation always gives rise to a feeling of guilty inadequacy that my lifestyle seems so comparatively slothful and uninspired and makes me chasten myself for not taking advantage of being in London, a city that on any given week dishes up a multitude of entertainment options that would never be on offer back in Vancouver. So, being humbled and wanting to redeem myself for my social inaction I accepted his invite to join him. Of course, the fact that I am a big fan of the Pornos and the venue was a mere 3 minute walk from our place helped seal the deal. (I told him, however, exactly where he could push his precious Tragically Hip tickets)
So although they had already won me over years before with thier music, the Pornos had my prejudices against live shows to overcome.
Did they? Well, the were pretty good. I liked the vibe they gave off and they did Canada proud by laying out a ballsy set that re-awakened a crowd that had been effectivey lulled into a semi-intoxicated indifference by the half-hearted efforts of the Phil Collins wannabe of an opening act. Most importantly though, and this is something I think every band should do in concert: they changed up the songs a bit so that they weren't just carbon copy versions of the ones you know from the albums. All in all a good effort from the visitors. Down side? As always: the sound quality. But hey, what can you do?
And it only took us 3 songs to recognize them as the group at the table next to us at the pizza place we ate at before the show.

Things I miss

2007-10-30T02:18:00.000-07:00

So here is a picture of my belly about 4 weeks away from my due date at this point hope it’s big enough for everyone… and satisfies your needs as everyone just keeps asking for a picture of the belly. After nine months of being pregnant I really missed a number of things… and since by the time I am posting this post I have already given birth I’m going to meld it in with some after thoughts.

Lying on my stomach – which has not really felt comfortable from 3 months on .. and now that I’m with out baby in belly I though I could get back onto my front however my breasts are swelling so much at the moment producing milk lying on my stomach is having to wait still even longer. Even sleeping on my side sometimes is not comfortable. Look at that pic of that little girl on her stomach.. she doesn’t know how good she has it.

Sushi – oh sushi… I did recently get a couple pieces but it was not really good quality so I’m still really waiting till I head home for Christmas and can fully gorge out on cheap – in cost high in quality Vancouver sushi

Booze – not as hard as I thought it was going to be but I miss being able to have a glass of wine at dinner. This one like the lying on my stomach also has to wait even longer and didn’t not expire when I popped.. as I’m not going to drink while I’m breast feeding.. but still not really too bothered about this one. This will be one of my driest holiday seasons coming up.

Being able to see my crotch – sorry if that is too much info for some of you but it was the truth heehee I’ll spare you my thoughts on this one from my point of view now.

Farewell to Lucinda

2007-10-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Lucinda Glenn .. my lunch buddy, the reason why I even got a job at MPC and of course work bitching buddy is heading back to sunnier shores. The last week of September was her last week at MPC and she is going to do a little major city hoping ( Paris, New York and Tokyo) on her way home to Sydney.

It was great to get to know you better but I know we will see each other again and I’m looking forward to your baby tips. Safe travels

Lu we will miss you!

Andrews Parents here for a visit

2007-10-26T02:51:00.001-07:00

Andrews parents came for a quick visit mid September before they headed to

France

for some wine, art and World Cup Rugby watching. Unfortunately we didn’t get any pictures of our visit together but we went for tapas one night at our local Spanish restaurant, went for a roast one Sunday and watched

Canada

play a rugby game – we lost.

Lindsay came back for a day a couple weeks later on her way back to Canada so we went for afternoon tea at Fortum and Mason’s which is an up market department store for foods but most famous for their hampers and preserves and teas.

http://www.fortnumandmason.com/

Recent Books I have read…

2007-10-24T03:02:00.000-07:00

This list is so little and nothing good so it makes me disappointed..and i hope by posting this it will shame me into making more of an effort to read a bit more. Unfortunately I have just not been in the mood. Sometime in April I finished a couple books.. the second and third books to the Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell trilogy. Not bad.. not hugely great, but really easy as they are for kids and they got better as the story went along.

The feature that Andrew is currently working on is based on a children’s book called the Tale of Despereaux – terrible book … sorry guys and to all the people working on the project. There is a way the author writes that is just so annoying, reader do you know what annoying is? Well look it up you lazy kid!

The End of Me and MPC

2007-10-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

So with the end of August also came the end of my time at MPC. I had a great time and everyone gave me a great send off which was lovely. In my time there I got to work on 5 features though one was Narnia and it was only just getting going but still pretty good for only 6 months. The crew was great and I will miss the certain aspects and people, and of course some I’m glad to leave behind.. heehee .. who knows maybe I’ll be back one day. I would like to say watch for my name in the credits but I don’t think I actually get credits as most of the artists don’t get credits either… so the best I can do is just updated my IMDB oh well.. here’s to my starmeter going through the roof!

Andrew and his weddings

2007-10-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

This entry is written by Andrew - August 24th marked my parent's 39th wedding anniversary and I celebrated with a 7 hour fight to Toronto. Now you might think that this would be a strange way to pay homage to their ongoing marital commitment, but you would be wrong. For you see, I was flying to Toronto to witness the beginning of another such union. This time between my good friends, Lino and Rosanna.
I've know Lino for about 10 years now. We met at film school when we were both learning our trade. Lino's American - from New York, in fact - and during his time in Vancouver he became besotted with Canada and it's people and ended up marrying one of us. Now he's half Canadian.
The wedding was a pretty gallant affair with good food and good people. Was good to see my buddy Leif and his wife Erin again - this time with their new kid, Magnus. Although extremely disappointed in the absence of Ben Bosgang. Come on Ben, New York to Toronto? You could've walked it! Shame!
My personal highlight of the night was sitting out on the patio after dinner, smoking a cigar with Lino and listening to a group of guys with heavy New York-Italian accents lamenting the modernification of pizza toppings and how it's near impossible to find a decent pie in Queens these days. "Back when I was a kid, all you had was regular, Sicilian and calzone. You walked in and all you had to say was 2 and 2 and the knew what you were talking about. Nowadays? Fuggedaboudit." Awesome.
The next day I went over to Rosanna's folks place for a barbecue. The food was amazing. Better than the wedding, I think. More cigars and imported Parmesan. Good times.

The next day I flew to Vancouver for another wedding. This time it was Jon 'Rocky' McCleery and Penny Weaver getting hitched.
Penny's folks live on my favourite island in the world: Hornby. I used to travel to Hornby almost every summer from when I was 14 into my early 20s, so it has a special place for me. In fact, my fist trip there was with Jon, himself, and Jen Finlay who was also at the wedding. On top of this there were a lot old school friends along for the ride, making it as much a reunion as it was a wedding.
The big day was tempered with some rain clouds but a couple of tents and umbrellas staved off the threat of a moist ceremony and everyone was happy.

Best man, Ian MacKenzie, and both sets of parents dropped some great speeches after dinner and afterwards, in true Hornby fashion, we retired to a bonfire down on the beach.
The next day, Labour day, the unofficial end of summer saw most guests, and most vacationers, leave the island to head back to their urban lives. A few of us stayed on the extra night to skip the crowded ferries and highways and give ourselves time to take a hike to the Helliwell bluffs and Mushroom beach - two locations frequented in the heady days of summers past. The decision rewarded us with two unexpected experiences, much in keeping with Hornby's giving nature. Firstly, down at the pub that overlooks the ferry dock we found ourselves part of a Hornby Island Local Tradition called the Wave Off, where the locals all gather to drink and wave off the last ferry-load of tourists, signalling the end to tourist season and transferring control of the island back to it's perennial inhabitants. Second was reserved for the those of us who stayed up late and braved the wind and mist to walk down to the beach in the middle of the night. Scott noticed the glowing waves from our cabin's lofty purchase up on the cliff so he and I with the company of Andrew Ellis and Moselle headed down to check out the phosphorescent waves in the dark. For those who don't know, the phosphorescence is caused by bioluminescent plankton - Dinoflagellates, to be specific - in the ocean that emit a green glow when they're disturbed by the water's movement. When it's dark - like on a cloudy night or new moon - the effect is pretty cool and is a perfect example of the magic Hornby has to offer.
Then I came back to England.

Cambridge Visit

2007-10-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

Few weekends later Andrew and I went to Cambridge to see a friend of ours Mr Mark Lack. One day we went punting, it was so busy on the river that it was a bit much but fun none the less and a total different experience than from when we went punting in Oxford.

Cambridge of course is a beautiful little town and we went for some lovely walks as you can see by the pics

On Sunday we took a walk to a nice pub on the other side of a field for a yummy roast.

You can see the pub behind me and Mark here and here is another picture of the growing bump sorry I didn’t realize my shirt was not covering my whole belly.. heehee

A Site I would like to share with the class

2007-10-09T02:45:00.000-07:00

Well to break up the blog a little I just wanted to thank Beau for sharing a wicked on line e-card site with me.. I think it’s hilarious and fills any e-card need you may have. I can’t recommend this site enough .. enjoy!

www.someecards.com

Latitude

2007-10-05T01:26:00.001-07:00

Latitude was a music festival that Andrew and I went to this year in Suffolk for a long weekend. The headlining bands were Arcade Fire, Damien Rice, The Good the Bad and the Queen and there were other people like CSS, Wilco, Jarvis Cocker and smaller highlights were New Young Pony Club, Gotan Project and Rapture.

Now the summer in

England

was right poo this year and so we had to go prepared.. when the sun came out it was hot but in between burst of sun we would get little showers but we would take that time for mid day naps in the tent. The Festival was 3 days and there were 3 main music stages and then there were literature, comedy and cabaret tents and things like that for the 12,000 in attendance.

First picture here is of the main stage. Second pic is of food area and the distance the lit tent and cabaret and the second main stage is behind us. And the third pic is of the 3^rd stage in the woods. And then for the fourth pic I know a lot of you have already seen this pick from our flickr account but I am with my new bump in tent city. All in all we had a good time and in the end we made a good decision to go to this one and not the Big Chill this year… one I don’t think I would have been able to handle going to the loo every 5 mins as I would have been further along for the Big Chill and second it was right after all that rain and the site would have been right muddy.

Good times! Highlights were CSS, New Young Pony Club and Arcade Fire.

Day out in Ealing

2007-10-04T02:10:00.001-07:00

Most of you know that I used to live in London a couple years ago. I used to live in an area called Ealing with is west west London, our friend Tony still loves over there and Andrew and I wanted to go for a Big Set Breakfast at our fav breakfast spot from when I was over there so we headed out one Saturday to visit the old hangs.

So here we are first at the Walpole with Tony and then next about to dig into our yummy breakfast of 2 eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, mushrooms, tomato, toast and a cup of builders tea. Yummy!!!The tables here are covered in brown paper and everyone has a cup of crayons on the table to colour while you wait for your brekie and when I went to the bathroom they have covered the walls in pics people have drawn and I saw they had one of my happy faces I drew a couple years ago once while we were there.. so that was cool.

Then just a couple blocks down we passed by the front of my old flat and my local Red Lion Pub. So here you can see the pub and that is my old front door on the right that is green between the pub and the naughty bite sandwich place there. Oh the memories.

We spent the rest of the day looking in the second hand stores and doing a little shopping before heading home. I still love the area!

Mom in town for a visit

2007-10-02T01:53:00.000-07:00

The next weekend my mom had scored a really cheap ticket over to London for a visit. We didn’t really do much but she cooked us delicious dinner every night so we are looking forward to some more yummy dinners when my parents come back in October.

One day we went for a walk up to Primrose Hill and had a pub lunch just off the main stripe where Andrew snapped this pic of my mom which we like.

Lemmington Spa weekend

2007-10-01T02:38:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks later Andrew and I went to Lemmington Spa to see our friend Neil ( This was in May)

It was lovely to get out of the city and there you can really quickly take a little walk and you are completely out of the town in the middle of the country side. We went for a walk one day to a friend of Neil’s allotment to pick some strawberries. And then went for a walk through the country side to a pub for some lunch. Here are some pic Andrew took of the journey. Lunch was delicious. The river that was right beside the pub was flooded and rushing past which made for great scenery while we ate.

Thornton’s is a Chocolate Ice Cream chain over here and I thought that this add was hilarious it makes me giggle everytime I walked by it. heeheee

All in all great weekend and nice to see yet another little pocket of England, Thanks Neil!

May long weekend in Budapest, Hungary

2007-09-28T01:30:00.000-07:00

So Andrew and I went to Budapest to see my old flatmate Miki who I used to live with in Ealing he is Hungarian and since has gone back home.

It’s a beautiful city and you can tell in it’s day it was very grand but now a days seems a little empty and run down.

It’s been awhile now so I don’t remember it all so clearly in a nice order but here are some pics of the city, the one of all three of us is us on the Buda side of the city at the castle. We then walked back down to the river and had a big lunch which you can see here, I like the pancakes the most they were savory.

There were also a couple weird sites along the way like this statue of a man falling off the side of this wall…and this sign of a man walking down a flight of stairs with a flower.. not totally sure what they are trying to tell you or warn you about but funny none the less.

One night we went for an authentic good meal on the Pest side of the city by the river as well and we went for a stroll along as well as you can see here from another one of Andrews lovely pics. One big downside of the trip was however in the land of lovely smoked meats I could not eat any.. as deli meats is one of the taboo items for pregnant ladies.

One day we checked out one of the spas, hot pools. They were much more impressive than the one in Bath old architecture big fat old wrinkly men wandering around and playing chess it was wicked. Indoor pools, outdoor pools one that were hot ones that were not. And then another day Andrew and I went and had facials that were amazing. They were 2 hours long and a little painful but worth it to have every pore looked after and cleaned with care. Afterwards Andrew and I with our blotchy faces had a tea and cake to relax.

It was great to see Miki!! And see his new home and where he works and what he eats hopefully next time we see him he comes to Vancouver and we can show him around. Thanks Miki.

Third and Fourth Pictures

2007-09-27T01:57:00.001-07:00

Another scan and we can see the bones and things which was crazy and kind of creepy but everything was good so it was a much more happy appointment. This was also the appointment where they could tell us if she was a boy a girl.. Andrew and I wanted to know before hand as we wanted to get started on thinking of names and things so we asked.. and as I’m sure you have figured out from previous entries.. it’s a girl.

So you can see there is only one pic here but titled 3^rd and 4^th pics. My mom came into town for visit and she was here for my next scan so I let her take the picture but everything was all good and they sent me back to the normal antenatal clinic but that would be the end of the scans.

So the next picture she will be on the outside !!

Second picture of the baby

2007-09-26T02:21:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I went for our second more official scan of the little one which was about 12 weeks, the last pic was 9 weeks roughly. You can see her hand and it looks like she is sucking her thumb or waving hello. But ready for round two of our worries, some of the measurements were off so they decided to send me to a specialist first thing the next day so he could take a look at the baby so off to the fetal medical unit the next morning. The next morning we met the specialist who was really nice and talked us through a bunch of concerns he had and in the end we decided to have a CVS – Chorionic villus sampling. So right then they stuck a needle into my belly into the placenta and inside that needle they put in another one and took a few samples so they could grow the babies chromosomes. It was a terrible feeling and I was sweating like a pig during the whole procedure and had to stay off my feet for two days. After then we needed to wait a couple weeks for the results which was torture. But in the end everything turned out good but I would still need to be in the fetal medical unit for a few more visits just to be sure and hit a couple more milestones in fetal growth.

first picture of my zygote

2007-09-25T04:17:00.000-07:00

hello everyone.. now I know I said I was going to try and make sure that I kept up with some blog entries after I dropped the last bomb but I didn’t, sorry but now work has ended and I have started to exhaust my thrill of lazing about the flat and watching bad daytime tv so I thought I should start this up again for some reason though I think that once my new package arrives the blog with then slow down again or maybe not as there will be people who will need to us to make sure we are posting pics. Okay so here we go again.

and here it is

This was the first of a couple scares that I have had over the course of the pregnancy and I had some spotting so I was told to go to the A&E .. for those of you in north American that means Accident and Emergency. They didn’t do much but make me wait around for hours and then tell me I had to come back the next day to get a scan. So first thing the next day .. new ward .. got my scan and everything was all good. So here is my picture of my little finding nemo – well that is what I think it looked like.. see the eye on the right. Weird eh? It has a head and the other head on the other end is an egg sack thing and its heart beat was rapid fire like hummingbird wings but with much relief everything was a-ok.

lets go back a couple months

2007-05-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone.. not sure who is checking the blog but lets go back to the begining of the year.
I had just joined Andrew here in London. We were living on Dean Street in Soho.. and then soon moved to our new flat in Camden. But a couple weeks in and something didn't seem quite right..
it was Feb 8th I still was not working so to entertain myself look what i did.

So its true i'm pregnant and have been since Feb
so there is the news

enjoy! hope you are all well

Easter Long Weekend

2007-05-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

So the Easter Long weekend came up ..lots of people went out of town but Andrew and I decided to stay in town and celebrate my 30^th birthday together.

Andrew surprised me and we went floating in self deprivation tanks. For those who are not sure of what they are ..they are big pods that have water that is warm with a ton of Epsom salts so that floating is absolutely effortlessly. You wear ear plugs and get in naked in the dark and float not knowing where the water is and where it ends. It was fabulous.. i fell asleep a couple times.. next time I want to see things but either way it was really relaxing and after we were done we had tea strolled around Portobello markets and had a bit to eat for lunch.

Check it out the float spa if you are interested http://www.float.co.uk/index.php?id=1157

That evening Andrew and I went south of the river for to the OXO Tower for dinner and to watch the sun set behind London. The food was yummy and company even yummier but all very interested watching the people around us complain about various things.. and on the other side marriage proposals all very entertaining. After we were stuffed we rolled home for a nice long sleep in till the next morning.

Now I know the weekend was four days.. but as I have been getting lazy I didn’t write it down or take notes so I can’t remember what else we did but it was a lovely weekend.

Weekend in Bath in the Baths

2007-04-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

So over the St Paddys weekend Lucinda, Andrew and myself took the train out to Bath for the weekend… the weather was a little of everything sunny .. a little rain.. and lots o wind… when we got there we went to our hotel and dropped off our bags. We walked around the town which was really cute but also very high street chain stores.. but then we headed to the Baths… which was pretty cool.. I remember little bits from being there when I was a kid but lots of it was new. For lunch we went to Sally Lunns a historic tea house that is know for it’s buns…lunn buns to be exact…and they were full of buttery goodness. Here you can see me and Lu at the front. That evening we walked around looking for a place to eat but found so many places packed as it was St Paddy’s weekend as well as Mothers Day in the UK .. but we found a pasta place and had a nice leisurely meal. That night I had a shower and try out the local Bath water.. and it I have to say was one of the best showers I have ever had… here is a picture! Amazing hot great pressure.. I was in there so long Andrew had to have a shower too to see what it was like and… he agreed.

Then next day we woke up and had a huge buffet and table service breakfast at the hotel before we moved onto more water activities. So we went to the Bath Thermae Spa http://www.thermaebathspa.com/ to part take in some soaking… they have an outdoor spa and then an indoor one and a bunch of steam rooms..It was relaxing and amazingly not as wrinkly as I thought it would be.

Watery Weekend Success!!!

Missed March Birthdays

2007-04-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

Birthday Hello’s .. terribly late..

Okay just another quick recap of all the birthdays I have missed while I try to get the blog back up to speed..

March 8^th was the Ian MacKenzie’s ( seen here next to Pheobe at Christmas)

March 17^th Mark Lawson’s also sometimes know as St Patricks Day ( enjoying his juice and remote in his Victoria flat)

March 24^th Neil Bruder’s
( ducking out of this picture at Christmas)

March 25^th My Niece Ella
( with her mom Lee Ann on her B-day )

March 29 Dads B-day
Pop’s what can I say you have been a great Father and I wish I could have been at home with you and Mom to celebrate yet another birthday..and you are not getting off easier than her so here are some pics from when you and mom where young trendy hippies. A Proud father of Scott your son at his wedding and then proud granddad at your grandson Ian’s b-day celebrations. Look at that Steyns smile!

March 30 Cronin’s b-day ( you’re lucky I couldn’t the pic of you on the electric bull)

March 31 Ollys b-day ( and you.. why don’t I have a pic of you!)

I’ll stop there for the time being.. if your b-day is in there and not mentioned.. opps.. really sorry I have forgotten when it is .. heehee ah memory..

Anyways more catching up to come

Miss you all.. hope you all had fabulous days and smiles and laughs

It's been awhile

2007-04-21T11:55:00.000-07:00

Okay I know I know that I have not done an entry in a long time but I started working on Feb 26^th at MPC (Moving Picture Company) and since then have been incredibly busy. I’m their new Roto/Prep and Matchmove department Coordinator. Working on some cool projects Harry Potter, 10K BC, a Christmas movie with Vince Vaughn and Kevin Spacey, Tim Burton’s new Johnny Depp movie called Sweeny Todd, and Narnia.. to name the bigger ones. If anyone doesn’t know about the company here is the link to their site http://www.moving-picture.com/

First weekend in March was a full Couch Potato Weekend. Andrew and I wanted to fully veg out this weekend ..and I have to say we were rather successful. Saturday after a good sleep in we made pancakes and bacon and eggs all covered in real maple syrup. Then watched Open Season which was the usual, I fell asleep about ¾ of the way through. We had eaten so much for breakfast just had a light dinner of some fried rice.

Sunday.. another good lie in followed by a roast at our local with Catherine and Pabs… a whole half chicken with some super yummy delicious fried potatoes. Then in the evening we watch the Sciene of Sleep which was very whimsical and we ate crisps and cookies for dinner. In the evening I called my Friend Emily as it was her birthday so I wanted to wish her all the best… Miss you Em! What a weekend.. !

Roast and Toasts

2007-03-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

Feb 25^th

Today we had a easy morning and strolled up to Lu’s new neck of the woods.. just a little north of in Camden for a good Sunday Roast. We were told to go early but we were a little early so we looked really eager.. but it was delicious, I had the pork roast and still got a yorkshire pudding
and we all got the pudding as well which was a warm apple crumble… it was all yummy. The name of the pub we were at was the Lord Stanley which is right beside Lu’s new place which is inside a converted church. Andrews friend Daryl from Birmingham was also in town with his girlfriend Beth for the weekend for a wedding so they came and joined us as well and told us wonderful stories of the (literally) cheese filled wedding. From there we walked off a bit of our meal by coming back to our local, the Victoria and sat around for the afternoon catching up and have some pints. And that was pretty much our Sunday.

In other very old news now while we were asleep in LaLa Land Happy Feet won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. So congrats to all that worked on it!!!

Buckets Birthday

2007-03-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

Feb 24^th

Today is Craig Bucket McPherson’s Birthday!!!

We so wish we could be there in Vancouver to celebrate with you but instead here is just a tribute of your face I send to the world!
Happy Birthday we miss you !!!

In other news Moose and Vashti were in London on their return back to Vancouver from Lemmington Spa, and we got to meet both their little girls who are adorable. Neil was also in town to see them off so Andrew and I met them at the zoo in the late afternoon, went for a little stroll threw Regents Park and had dinner at place called Giraffe in Marlyebone. After dinner Niel came home with us as he was crash on the couch for the night and we just hung out and had some drinks.

Lee Ho Fook’s for lunch – meh

2007-03-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

Feb 22

I felt like some Won Ton noodle soup with BBQ Pork so I met up with Andrew at work so we could go to Chinatown. As we walked down the main strip we decided to go to Lee Ho Fook’s from such fame as the “Werewolf in London” song to check off something that we wanted to do before we left London and that is have a big plate of Beef Chow Mein there. And that is just what we did, of course with the won ton noodle soup and some BBQ pork but all in all we both found the meal very sub par and quite disappointing for pretty generic Chinese fair. However we now have another thing checked of the list but if you are ever going to Chinatown for food quality do not go to Lee Ho Fooks unless of course you are a werewolf.

I cooked!

2007-03-13T00:02:00.000-07:00

Feb 20^th

So after our neighbor made us such a yummy lunch I thought I should try to brush up my culinary techniques before we invite Joe over to our place for dinner. So I decided to roast a couple chickens for Catherine, Pabs and Lu. So to start there were just some cheese, tapenade, olives and grapes. Dinner consisted of Roast Chicken stuffed with Fennel and Garlic, roast root vegetables and broccoli. Dessert was just simple Vanilla Ice Cream with fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. I think it all came out yummy and I had fun in the kitchen for the day getting it all ready.. I didn’t take a picture but here is a generic roast chicken picture for your taste buds. And thanks to the tasting guinea pigs!

Mom’s Birthday 60th!!

2007-03-08T00:03:00.000-08:00

Feb 18th

Today was my mothers birthday, her 60^th birthday!! Here is an old picture of my mother when she was a youngster and a picture of her now. It also seems to be a family curse now to start small fires on peoples birthdays ( for those who were at Downs surprise b-day celebration) but my mom wanted all 60 candles which turned the cake into a little bon fire and smoked out the living room as you can see

It is also Chinese New Year which is the year of the pig ( some useless pig trivia, the following famous people are all pigs Woody Allen, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers,Lucille Ball, Humphrey Bogart, Glenn Close, Alfred Hitchcock, and Arnold Schwarzenagger – people who are pigs are said to usually be honest, straightforward and patient people) So some of my the family went to Chinatown for the parade.

Happy Birthday Mom Love you

Sunday in Paris

2007-03-07T00:11:00.000-08:00

Feb 18^th

Sunday Andrew did the same for me again and went out early and got us some pastries for us to nibble for breakfast. We took the Metro again to meet up with Vincent where he took us to a canal area for a nice stroll along the water. Here you can see all the tents, there are for the homeless.. it’s where the government puts them.

It was another gorgeous day in Paris we saw some cool graffiti. After a walk to the edge of the city we came to a science centre sort of place that had a cool Imax globe, check it out. we turned around and had a little bite to eat before we went to the Gard du Nord to catch our train back to London. All in all a fantastic weekend or food relaxation and catching up with Vincent.

Saturday in Paris

2007-03-06T00:37:00.000-08:00

Feb 17^th

The next day Andrew woke up early and went out and got us some juice, croissants and pane chocolate for breakfast while I slept in.. what a sweetheart! We had a slow morning and then we met up with Vincent for a walk in the city. Andrew wanted to go up the Eiffel Tower so we headed into the city. We walked along the park grass area leading up to the tower and slowly the crowds emerged it was going to take hours of waiting in line to get up the tower so we opted out of that and just admired the tower from the ground below. After we went for a bit of walk then took the Metro to the Arch de Triumph from there we walked all the way down the Champs Elysee where we stopped in to look around the new Louis Vuitton store, which I have to say was quite nice inside, and I would have a picture to show of this cool ceiling they had but unfortunately I was not allowed to take any photographs, le lame. We continued to walk all the way down past the Louvre all the way to Pompideu - Museum of Modern Art. We went to the top of the museum where they have a great view of the city and had a drink at their restaurant called George.

From there we went to another area of town for dinner to a restaurant that Marie Vincent’s girlfriend recommended. When we got there it was great timing we got to sit down right away and not wait about 15mins later there were many people waiting for a seat. The food was fabulous we started with some escargot. I love snails!! I could have eaten two more plates full. Then I had a duck confit with these lovely mushrooms from the southern region of France and Andrew and Vincent both had a hearty looking piece of meat with a roquefort sauce. For desert I had a crème caramel and the boys shared some cheese and black cherry compote. It was all absolutely delicious. From there we went back to the area where Andrew and I were staying and had a digestive and tea with Vincent before we called it a night.

GO to Paris!!

2007-03-04T11:29:00.000-08:00

Feb 16th

So tonight I went to meet Andrew at work a little early as we are on our way to Waterloo Station to get the Eurostar to Paris for the weekend. We got the station in good time and while we were sitting in the waiting lounge I noticed my ticket saidEnfant, we could not figure out why .. well that is until we got on the train.. for some reason we had been placed in the childrens carriage.. and we now going to spend the next few hours with about 7 kids. Joy! It didn’t end up being too bad but we were happy our tickets on the way back were Enfant free.

When we got to the station Vincent met us they we went to his place to drop off our bags and had a little bite to eat close by. Andrew tried steak tartare for the first time It was a very cool little area in the South of Paris wines stores, boulangeries, patisseries and cheese shops. As well I would like to apologize for any bad spelling of French words as I am shit at spelling as well I can’t get accent aigu’s and the rest.

Saw a Play in Soho

2007-03-01T12:30:00.000-08:00

Feb 15th

Tonight Lu, Amanda, Andrew and myself went to go see a play in Soho. It was called The Oak Tree. Now it was a little different than the usual play in that one of the characters ( there are only two in the whole play) has never seen the script or knows anything about the play really and they are directed on stage during the show by the other performer. I was expecting it to be a little more improvisation that it was but it was still and interesting watch.

It just finished running in New York and every night there is a different actor in the play. I can’t remember the name of the actress who was on the night we went to see it, she had been in some bit parts in stuff.. to narrow it down for you all… anyways for more about the theatre or about the play here is the site http://www.sohotheatre.com/pl1217.html .

Sweethearts Day

2007-02-28T14:53:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows today was Valentines Day

As usual Andrew and I kept it simple and just stayed home and watched some episodes of Heroes, resting up for the excitement of going to Paris on the weekend.

Other news.. a couple days ago in the 12^th was Bruce Mackrous’ birthday and then on Valentines he and his wife Alyssa celebrated their wedding anniversary! Congrats you guys, miss ya.

The Pub and our Planet

2007-02-27T14:05:00.000-08:00

Today we had a slow morning and went to our Local “The Victoria” to meet up with Kellie, Enzo, Alyssa and Mike ( friends of theirs who live here in

England

) for a roast. However by the time we all got together we missed the roasts.. but I do have to say later we saw some more roasts come out to people who got there way after us.. so we think we are not known enough at the local for roast.. we’ll work on it. But we still had lunch and a good little catch up. Sorry about the night picture but i just took this picture off their site.

That evening Amanda , Andrew and myself just took it easy and hung around the apartment. We watched “Day after Tomorrow” later in the evening.. hilarious movie.. but really folks it has a serious message ..so to see some scary pics check out http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/photogalleries/global_warming/
try to make a difference for more reading check out http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/crosscutting/climate.html

Feb 10th Part Two

2007-02-26T11:24:00.000-08:00

In the evening we headed down to Kensington to meet up with Andrews friends from Melbourne – Kellie and Enzo - who were in town for a little visit. So we met up with some of their other friends here and went to the pub for some drinks and dinner. Hung around a little more at Rob’s apartment and then we went to Fabric, which is a hugely famous club here. Andrew and I had been to this club a couple years ago when were here last to see John Digweed.. and funny enough it had been years since he had been at Fabric and of course he was back for tonight. When we got there was about 300 people waiting outside, we had tickets to jump the queue but we still had to wait.. just in a smaller line. When we finally got in .. it was really smokey .. not just cigarettes but I think the guy in charge of the fake smoke machine past out on the on button.

Andrew and I went to room one as soon as we got in to see if we could do a little dancing, Room one is the best room cause the floor has all the woofers underneath so the whole thing vibrates… its amazing.. the real shit thing is that the club is always way to packed and there is absolutely not an inch of space to move. Digweed was not going to be going on till 3am .. and it was only going to get more crowded as the rest of the people in line start coming inside. So we tried to dance in a the other two rooms but we really were not feeling it .. so we ended up leaving a little earlier. We were not really tired just bored in the club and needed some fresh air so we walked home from Farringdon to Camden in the rain.. it was a great walk as it’s really the best way to see the city.

Feb 10th Part One

2007-02-25T12:06:00.000-08:00

It’s Andrew sister Fiona’s birthday today!! Happy birthday Fi!

She is seen here on the right and the girl on the left is her cousin. Two wicked girls!!

Today Andrew and I and a slow morning and went for a walk up to primrose hill. Very nice posh little pocket above Regent’s Park with some lovely looking pubs. Sylvia Plath used to live there. Close by there is a little park that is attached to primrose hill with the hill. On top of that hill there is a pretty good view of London as most of it’s is pretty flat. It was not too clear a day but you can see the London eye in the middle of the picture.

When we got home it was time for Andrew to say goodbye to his most recent beard.So to document the occasion he cut into a number of different shapes.

First here you can see his beard in all its full length glory

Second is his Man that would be King beard.. which in person looked very 1800’s gentleman

Third we have his Angry Biker handle bar moustache

Fourth we have the classic porn star stash.. which funny enough I think kind of suits him or maybe it was just the cheesy smiles he was pulling

Fifth is what Andrew calls the Moustache Horrible ( to be said with a French accent)

Sixth but not least the Hitler or more what it looks like here is the Chaplin

So I think that is all I am going to fit in for today.. but there is more.. so stay tuned for Part Two tomorrow for the rest of Feb 10^th

Anna's Birthday

2007-02-23T02:45:00.000-08:00

Feb 9^th brings my old London flatmates birthday, Happy Birthday Anna!!

She is the blurry one. .. sorry it was the only picture I could find of her.

Snow Day

2007-02-22T03:03:00.000-08:00

Today (Feb 8) as the weather people predicted it snowed!

It is actually the second time it has snowed since I have gotten here but I didn’t take pictures.. instead I slept in and by the time I got out of bed it was not worth taking a picture.. but this day it snowed more so here is the picture.

As well I recently bought a wormery for our kitchen from http://www.originalorganics.co.uk/wormeries.htm

in our attempts to become as green as we can I thought this would be a good step. We are still only in the early stages of our wormery, they are getting used to their new home before we put lots of things in the bin.. but I can’t wait !! If it all goes pear shaped you’ll see the entry where I set the little buggers free.

Employment and Gibo's birthday

2007-02-21T02:33:00.000-08:00

Today (Feb 7th) was one of more busier days so far.. I had two job interviews. One with MPC (Moving Picture Company ) and the other was with a smaller company who does architectural visualization work.

Both interviews went really well lasted over an hour, the smaller company seemed really keen but didn’t think they would be able to offer me enough money to lure me away from MPC. And in the end they were correct.. so next Monday Feb 26^th I will start working for MPC as their new Prep, Roto and Match Coordinator. Here is the link to the company website for those of you who do not know what they do http://www.moving-picture.com/

Today was also Tim Gibson’s birthday here seen on a local boat full of food and locals on our way to the Gilli islands. If you would like to see more of Tim’s adventures in Indonesia here are to links to some videos he has put together that are up on u-tube.
Happy birthday gone by tim.

Part1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWOmeCyI-zk

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9EnXUL-wrA

Finished A Book

2007-02-20T02:32:00.000-08:00

Today( feb 5th ) I finished reading the Life of Pi by Yann Martel which won the Man Booker Prize in 2002. It was a really enjoyable book a truly good story. At times I felt it was slowing down and for me the end is what clinched it for except for one thing but I won’t mention that as it would spoil it for anyone who did not read it. This particular copy was lent to me by Andrews’s father so David thank you for the lovely read.

Weekend in Nottingham

2007-02-19T02:44:00.000-08:00

Okay we are now up to Feb 3rd

So this weekend our friend Andrew Hunt was back in town in Nottingham. This is the same Andrew who lived in Beijing at the moment who I went to see during my last trip as seen here having his mug taken in the Forbidden City.

Andrew and I took the train up to Notts for ol’time sake on Saturday morning. We went for some lunch at the Slug and the Lettuce with Hunt and Damon and then moved on to a friends of their’s to watch the end of a rugby game and have some drinks. After spending hours there we moved on to the pub we all used to go to called the Sir Johns where we were till closing and then we moved across the street to the Rope Walk.. where I went home shortly after to get some sleep in our hotel. It was a long night but loads of fun!

The next morning.. or really afternoon we had to catch the train
back down to London it was a rough morning… and when we got to the train station they decided to cancel our train so we had to sit around for over an hour for the next one. Ah Midland Mainlines we missed you. Andrew was extremely good to me taking care of my weakened state here he is taking my hand.. and the camera .. and how good I looked on the train bench. We were both so happy to get home and to bed.

Feb 3rd - Ben Simons B-day

2007-02-15T02:08:00.000-08:00

Well today was Ben Simons so this entry is all about him. Ben decided to take off from work early for the weekend and jump a plane to Vancouver(he live in Toronto) . From there he took the bus up to Whistler for a little skiing. He had a brilliant time and here is a pic of him on the mountain. Ben I always one for a little bit of an usually birthday, last year he was in Sydney he didn’t know I had arrived a few days before so I surprised him by showing up to the honeymoon suite he had booked in a hotel right on Bondi Beach for is party. Wicked room we all put our feet in the Jacuzzi while sipping champagne and I’m bummed I could not be apart of this years adventure. Andrew and I miss your smile Ben!

Holiday Party

2007-02-14T02:24:00.000-08:00

We are going to move forward a day but go back an entire month to Dec 29th to a little get together Andrew and I had in Vancouver. I was cleaning up my camera when I found some blurry pics so I though we could reminisce about the holiday season gone past.

This is the sunset that night from the living room I love this house!

So here ya go, if you are in them .. well you can see yourself ..if you are not but were there.. be thankful I didn’t put up a terrible picture of you caught in mid word ..if you missed it.. maybe next year. Thanks to everyone who came, it made our trip home so much better…

Thanks Eva for taking most of them we should have given you the camera earlier.

Jan 28th - Sunday Lunch with our Neighbor Joe

2007-02-13T01:17:00.001-08:00

Our downstairs neighbor Joe invited us down for lunch today so get to know each other a little better. Joe is single gentleman who is a magistrate. He made us a delicious meal of Lamb couscous with roasted vegetables and salad. We got to snoop around his apartment a little as we didn’t know if he had both floors but he indeed does.. it’s a two bedroom one bathroom flat with a little garden in the back. We had a very pleasant afternoon but I didn’t take my camera so no pictures on this entry ..sorry…

Jan 27th Museum and Tea

2007-02-12T02:29:00.000-08:00

We are slowly catching up to present day but we are still a couple weeks back.

So today we walked around the city a little and then went to the Natural History Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit. This is an annual show that Andrew and I have caught a few times and it’s always really amazing. This year there were some fabulous pics but I have to say that this year was not the best that we have seen.

Now I have posted some pics from the show for the people who do not live here .. so if you live in London .. don’t look at them and just go and see the show it’s on till the 29^th of April.

This shot is the winner of the show.. it's a really mysterious picture - very alien. it's an underwater picture of a walrus tossing up the sediment.

There was a number of pictures by the same photographer on snow owls that were just amazing.

Here is just one of them

This one was Andrews favorite. This little pic doesn't do it justice at all.. in person it looks like the water and sky is on fire.. but its just the sunrise over a misty lake with the morning mallards wading around.

And then this one is my favorite. Its an aerial picture of a logging area where a windstorm had just gone through as well clearing out any tree left standing and by doing this it has created a tree image from the sky with the logging roads really looking like the trunk and branches and then the already cut logs lying on the road make the grass below the tree. Beautiful as it is obviously with a serious message.

After that Andrew and I met up with Lu and Amanda for afternoon tea at Richoux on Piccadilly Street where we proceeded to stuff out faces with finger sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream, fruit cake, and pastries. We ate most of it.. but after that we walked home to try and work off some of the loads of cream we had just shoved down our gullets almost making us sick but it was oohh so yummy!

Our Apartment Second Floor

2007-02-10T07:18:00.000-08:00

Okay so here is the last floor of our new fantastic apartment.

You climb up the last set of stairs and to the left is a series of shelves where we have linens and things as you can see in the picture and then on the right of the stairs is Amanda’s room which looks out onto the back of the house.

Then directly in front of you is the bathroom as you can see here.. it’s bright and clean and has a Jacuzzi but the owner says it’s really loud taking away from the relaxation of the whole scenario.

Then in between the bathroom and Amanda’s room is Andrew and mines room which over
looks onto the tracks. We had a lot of shelves in out room which i think i filled in quite nicely already.

So there you have it .. our new place from bottom to top.. hope you enjoyed it and as soon as we get an inflatable mattress for the living room it will be open for visitors.

Our Apartments First Floor

2007-02-09T01:53:00.000-08:00

Okay so we will now continue the tour of our new apartment inside to the first floor.

Straight ahead when you get to the top of the stair you have the living room which looks over the train tracks. The living room has some really lnice dark timber hard wood floors, a coal fireplace ( they even left us a bag of coal) and great high ceilings. The owners also left us a bunch of furniture including the leather sofa, chairs and the coffee table. The television is also theirs but will be leaving in a few months when the landloard comes back to london from traveling around asia.

And then the other room on this level is the kitchen which looks out onto the back of the house. Lovely big space with a gas stove, big fridge for english standards and microwave.. which means if i could find a place that actaully sold microwave popcorn i would be in heaven.

Tomorrow will come the next level..this place is just so good i have to drag it out a little.