38 Weeks, The Countdown is On!

It has been an eventful couple of weeks. Cyclones in Queensland, floods in Melbourne, a very special little baby arrived in Stavanger (not ours!).

I’m up to 38 weeks and I’m feeling great. I’m really enjoying being on maternity leave (started a week ago @37 weeks) and am working my way through a long ‘to do’ list of bits and pieces around the house, preparing for the baby’s arrival.

My thoughts now are really on the labour and really I’m just hoping and praying for a healthy baby.

My girlfriends in Stavanger threw me a gorgeous baby shower on Thursday night. I knew they had something planned but thought it was meant to be this weekend, so got quite a surprise when I showed up at Aud Trude and Kristian’s house for dinner only to find loads of pink and blue decorations and a room full of girls shouting ‘surprise’!! It was a really lovely evening, lots of baby talk of course and our mates all chipped in and bought us a beautiful hand crafted cradle which we will keep downstairs in our living room for baby’s daytime naps. Thanks so much to everyone and despecially to Louise and Aud Trude for arranging everything, it was a really special night. A baby shower isn’t a Norwegian tradition at all so for many of the girls it was their first (but hopefully not their last – it might catch on)!

On Monday 24^th January we were so excited to hear about the arrival of Mari and Kev’s baby, a boy, Elliot Murphy. He is a little treasure, absolutely perfect in every way and is sleeping and feeding like a champion. His big brother Oscar is so lucky to have a little brother, we can just imagine how much fun they’re going to have growing up!

I’ve also been asked to be a fadder (Godmother) to Aud Trude and Kristian’s beautiful little boy Oliver. His christening is 20^th February, the day before our due date so we hope to be able to make it either with a big belly or a little baby!

I finished quite a big project I started quite some time ago – a rocking chair. I quite liked the idea of having one for use when nursing. I found a really nice old second hand one and decided to try my hand at reupholstering it. I found some great videos on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/diyupholsterysupply#p/u/13/jWyZEbNAnmU) giving step by step instructions on how to do it. I bought some fabric on ebay and had to chase up a local upholsterer to buy some tacks and other supplies as it seems DIY upholstery hasn’t really taken off here in Norway and I struggled to find supplies online. Anyway I finally finished the job today. I’m really happy with the end result. I’m actually sitting in it by the fire as I type this blog post! I learned a lot about how to do it so maybe I’ll find some more projects during my year away from work.

So that’s it from us, waiting patiently and putting all the finishing touches on the baby’s room. We’ve now put up some shelves, a heater and curtains for the nursery. Here it is now almost ready for our little one to settle into.