Nearly there!

Thought I'd post a quick catch up and update you on how things are going, seeing as I'm on my first real day of maternity leave.
First up, a quick page to share. I made this ages ago, and the photo is from even longer ago! I love walking along the Southbank and watching all the street performers, but this fish on a bike has got to be one of my favourites!

I am now feeling decidedly huge, and baby is certainly making its presence felt. Unfortunately we had confirmed on Friday that my placenta is far too low for a natural delivery, so we are booked in for a C-section on the 9th July, which is three weeks today! Very close to my due date which is a little bit scary as if I start early I'm going to have to hotfoot it to the hospital pretty quickly before I start dilating.

I'm a little bit disappointed that a normal delivery is ruled out, but ultimately all I want is that the baby we tried so hard to have gets here safely, and the danger of bleeding makes a C-section the best way to achieve that.

We have had a bit of a mad dash round the spare bedroom, trying to box up all my books and crafty gear, and most of that is now in the loft. I also did a big eBay sale and have even more to load up too now - there is no point keeping stuff that I haven't used for years, it might as well go to a good home.

I have been doing a spot of knitting for the baby - believe it or not this is going to turn into a duffel coat. I'm hoping to finish it in the next few days, I'm really not that quick at knitting. Unlike my lovely friend Rach who made me this gorgeous blanket! She is a knitting supremo (though this is of course crochet).

Finally, here is a little photo of me yesterday, at a spa day I was bought for my 30th birthday. It was at a lovely Elizabethan hotel in Staffordshire called Hoar Cross Hall, with these beautiful gardens. The day was just what I needed to calm me down, I was starting to feel very stressed out. The beautiful bump massage I was booked in for was bliss, and has left my skin so soft - even hubby noticed!

Anyway, hope to be back to update soon!

Turning Thirty

Finally, finally I have time to sit down and write a post! As always, the last few weeks of term were entirely hectic, and my time at weekends has been spent on a variety of activities, mostly enjoyable ones.

Firstly, I managed to finish this little set of winter woollies. A little behind the season I know, but they will be great for next year and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. The hat took about two or three days to knit, but the snood took forever because I was sooooo bored with knitting stocking stitch that after a while I put it down and had to force myself to pick it up and knit the last ten centimetres.

 In 'I'm getting old' news, I turned thirty two weeks ago! I always thought I would feel absolutely terrible on my 30th birthday, waving my twenties goodbye and all that, but being pregnant and looking forward to the excitement of the rest of the year kind of took the edge off it. I had a great night out with friends (despite staying entirely sober!) and also had a yummy Sunday dinner with the in-laws.

My mum and dad sent me this gorgeous bouquet - it lasted for ages, and was the same shop I got my wedding bouquet from. It was a shame not to see my folks on the day, but I spent the whole of the Easter weekend with them last weekend instead, so I had a good catch up too. My little sis turned 28 on Tuesday too, so I managed to see her the day before her birthday. I don't often get to see my family on birthdays and special occasions, so I really appreciate the times I do.

In pregnancy news, I am now about 27 weeks pregnant! Time is flashing by and little one is really wriggly now. I am a bit concerned that I am putting on too much weight too quickly - I started at 10 stone 5 pounds and this morning weighed in at a massive 11 stone 12 pounds! Seeing as the most I should reasonably put on for my height is 2 and a half stone, I may need to hold back on the eating - not fun! I depressed myself slightly looking at some pictures of me pre-pregnancy in which I am looking lovely and slim, but it is all for a good cause after all.

One of the reasons I don't have a lot of time to think at the moment is this:

We are doing up our kitchen before the new arrival gets here - it means the house is covered in food/pans/crockery and the kitchen is a bit of a mess. Ed is doing a really good job with it, but has to fit in around work. I'm hoping that we will get finished by May, but I may be being optimistic!

Finally, here is a page to share, another one of my trip to Paris in 2010 and made using the May 2011 Cocoa Daisy kit. I love the effect of the clock mask and the spray ink - I think it is a Tim Holtz one. The page didn't need much added because of the gorgeous background paper with poppies and crosswords bizarrely enough! I haven't made any new pages in a while but I have got about five more to share, which I will do as soon as I can photograph them and get on to blog again.