A baby shower celebration and customised onesies

Last Sunday Rachel and Abbie organised and hosted a lovely baby shower for me.

I had a lovely afternoon, there were presents, cakes and games. 

One of the best things was customising vests, onesies and sleep suits. 

People bought various sizes of the various baby clothes. 

Rachel supplied us with templates, bond-a-web, and cool fabric.

We traced a shape on to the bond-a-web, ironed it on to the back of the chosen fabric, cut the shape out, peeled off the bond-a web and then ironed the fabric on to the clothing.

The results are pretty awesome! 

Have a look for your self...

Thank you so much Rachel, Abbie and my lovely friends for a great afternoon!

Photos from my phone

These Photos span the whole of September! Where has the time gone? 

(I totally sound like an old lady)

One of the last bumble bees of this year.

While Lucy was visiting Alison came for the day and we baked raspberry cheese cake and an awesome autumnal pie. 

I lived with Alison and Lucy during the university years, and we regularly sat on the kitchen floor together.  

My card from work, I love it! (Incase you don't know that is baby chewy from star wars). I am going to miss my colleagues loads while i'm away looking after baby.

 Beautiful sunflowers from my Ladies house group. They are a constant blessing to me :)

Red pepper soup, it tasted so nice, i may share that recipe too. I'm not a brilliant cook or baker, but i do enjoy it and its nice to share when something goes well. I have already made 3 different soups because it is autumn :)

This is the beautiful Claire showing off her hand decorated vest for my baby. I am being thoroughly spoilt. 

I have been treated to a blessing evening at my house group, which involved lovely gifts for me and baby, as well as lots of cake. Last Sunday I was thrown a baby shower which was really fun and involved decorating hundreds of vests and onesies. And next Sunday the brilliant Ladies from my church are getting together and we are having 'Afternoon tea for the mum to be' 

I better get my butt in gear and stop slobbing around in my pyjamas, I have blog posts to write!

Awesome Autumn

Last year I posted 10 reasons why I love Autumn, I feel this subject is most definitely worth a yearly re-visit. 

Often Autumn gets a raw deal, especially in our house because Jamie HATES winter and just sees Autumn as foretaste of what is to come.

Every year I make it my mission to point out all of the awesome things about Autumn. 
Last year we foraged and made yummy food and wine (we don't know if the wine is yummy or not yet as we are waiting until i'm allowed to drink it!)

We visited Formby with my parents, formby is a beautiful forest and beach near Liverpool. It was a brisk and bright autumn day and the trees were stunning.

I experimented with pumpkins, discovering spicy pumpkin soup and other yummy treats. Soup is a great comfort food that I can't appreciate in warm weather so i'm excited about embracing soup again this year :)

And I knitted myself a hat, maybe I should knit Jamie a hat, that might make him feel a little better about the cold!

This autumn is going to be extra special, because we will be welcoming baby in to our family. 
It seems Autumn is the time we celebrate everything! It is both of our Birthdays, our wedding anniversary (last year we visited Conwy for our wedding anniversary) and will be baby's birthday too! 

I really can't understand Jamie's loathing of Autumn, but then I am one of those annoying people who genuinely loves most weather and I get quite excited about every change in season. 

I hope you will join me in kicking up the crispy leaves once they fall from the trees.

I almost forgot another reason to celebrate the season - The new series of Downton!!! 

How could I forget, I'm on the edge of my seat already and it isn't on until Sunday!

Pregnancy update - 37 weeks

Last time I said that time seemed to have flown by and I couldn't believe how near to the end of pregnancy I am. 

This week everything is going very slowly! Including my walk...

I'm finding it hard to comprehend what life with a baby will be like, but at the same time I cannot wait to loose this huge writhing mass of a belly. I know it won't ping back to its original shape the day after I deliver but to be able to use my stomach muscles, or lay on my front will be wonderful!

Both Jamie and I are now finding planning things quite difficult, from work meetings, to meeting friends, in the time BB (Before Baby). 

Then working out if we will be able to do things we want to AB (After Baby). 

In an ideal world, baby will be laid back and so will we so we can go to peoples houses, have day trips and other things. But we may be up-tight and worried parents and baby maybe fussy and never sleep.

Anyway this is meant to be updating you on pregnancy not my random wondering and worries.

Clothes are now a major problem, I still have 4 dresses that fit me, but my leggings have now become a little tight and finding tights that fit is near impossible. So I have been resorting to Jamie's joggers :)

The mid-wife complemented me on my egg like belly - she said it was lovely, but that I shouldn't expect it to be this smooth and neat next time I have a baby... I can't believe she is already thinking about me doing it again!

It is my last day at work tomorrow, I have been baking some cakes today to treat everyone with. I just hope they turn out ok! I'm totally excited to finish work, it will be sad to leave for 9 months, but I'm very tired and I'm so ready to get my nest-on!

There haven't been many other developments, we are now cleaning, sorting, and waiting ...

Lombard House Coffee and Tea Rooms

Lombard House is probably my favourite tea shop in Chester. 

It is a cafe that knows what people are looking for in tea and cakes. 

The cafe is in a beautiful old building with large rounded windows

The decor is eclectic - the tables, chairs and crockery are perfectly mismatched,

 There is even a wall papered with books!

Last Weekend my Friend Lucy came to visit, so as her birthday present I decided to treat her to an afternoon tea.
 Lombard house didn't Disappoint!

Afternoon tea costs only £12 each.

 You get a Sandwich, a piece of cake, a scone and a pot of your choice of tea pig tea or coffee. 

Even the jam for the scones was handmade, and completely delicious.

Every thing is made in house, by the in house bakers. 

One of the Bakers is my friend Abbie who can sometimes be found writing a blog called Dann Good Cake, she isn't the most prolific blogger but she is a prolific baker, all of her posts are beautiful and educational :)

I didn't manage to take many good photos because it was a rainy dark afternoon. But you will have to check out the Lombard House facebook page to see all of the amazing cakes, and other gorgeous photos from inside the cafe.

You can also buy packets of tea pigs and other beautiful things including, yummy chutneys, crackers, specialist oils and more!

I borrowed the first two and the last photo from the Lombard house facebook page :)

Chester on Dwellable

My oldest friends

Growing up I had four amazing friends. We got up to all the usual crazy teenager shenanigans and supported each other through - first loves, heartbreak, huge changes in family circumstances and what ever life threw at us. Even through our squabbles and inevitable girl bitchiness we always had each other. What is so amazing about these four is that I know they are still there for me even though I only get to see them twice a year, and rarely call (because I am terrible at that!) 

All five of us haven't been together for a really long time! It was so great to catch up, we had a lovely time, so good that I forgot to get a photo of all of us! I know they will all complain about the photos I did manage to get, but that is half the fun ;)

Catherine and Katie - 

Kayleigh and Hayley

We are all going through such different things now, but that doesn't matter. We were joined by Hayley's adorable little girl Isabelle. Somehow I didn't get a photo of her either. She provided much entertainment and made me very excited for our little one!

A pre-baby trip to Bruges

When we found out we were going to have a baby we knew straight away that we wanted to have another little explore before he or she arrived. I proposed Paris (as I still haven't been there) but the only time we had available to us for travelling was late August and Jamie had already calculated that I would be heavily pregnant and most likely quite tired. Paris was quickly struck off the list because it would involve too much walking which means it is a city that is not good for pregnant people (or so Jamie argued).

 I canvassed opinions at work and from family, and many people recommended Bruges for its stunning architecture, chocolate, beer and its relative small size.

 So we settled on Bruges, still an easily reachable city by eurostar that had character and was somewhere new for us to explore- even at a slower pace.

It turns out they were right Bruges was lovely, the chocolates delicious and the beer many and varied - a theory Jamie readily tried out.

Our B and B was a barge, it was just out side the centre of the city and exactly what we wanted, I could even feed the ducks from our breakfast table!

Swans are the official bird of Bruges, there are hundreds all in one area.

One day a huge market popped up selling everything from sausages to sunflowers

Bruges is often referred to as "The Venice of the North" I'm not sure it is an accurate description, but it does have canals...

Nearly everyone we met in Bruges was either a tourist or working with tourists. The tour guide below spoke 5 different languages during one tour, it was really impressive!

The view from the roof of the Halve Mann Brewery, Jamie went on a tour while I rested and people watched.

The food we had wasn't brilliant, we learnt quickly to avoid the tourist traps in the big market squares, they were over priced and the waiters were extremely rude. On our last day we nailed it in a low key salad restaurant that served AMAZING food and our waiters were relaxed and friendly. It was called Salad Folle if you every find yourself in Bruges looking for somewhere nice to eat!

I can Highly recommend Bruges if you like wandering around old cities, finding hidden alleyways and taking photos of beautiful buildings :)

West Flanders on Dwellable

Pregnancy update - 35 weeks

Wow time really does fly! I have loads more to share from our holiday but it is time for another preggo update.

It seems I pull strange faces whilst being photographed, and Jamie didn't tell me my cardigan was tucked in! oh well

What I wore: Cardigan - an old Charity shop find, Dress - ASOS Maternity (definitely one of my best investments), Sandals - Last years from Zara, and scarf was a present.

We got back from our two weeks holiday last night. The Maternity Jeans and my favourite grey skirt I packed stopped fitting me only 5 days in to our holiday leaving me with hardly anything to wear! Thankfully my Mum came to the rescue with a huge pair of trousers I bought her from Cambodia (they are in the photo below- expect to see more of them) and we went and found two dresses that aren't maternity but will hopefully fit for the next month or so and beyond.

Sleeping, turning over and getting up from a horizontal position have all become very difficult! My wonderful friend Hayley has lent me her AMAZING pregnancy pillow. I have only used it for one night so far but it is my new best friend. I think I may use it forever (Jamie isn't to happy about this prospect as I'm now taking up even more space in bed)

I had a midwife appointment today, my stomach is still measuring about a week ahead- this is worrying as I think it means baby is going to be big, unless he/she comes early...

Baby is already in the head down position, though not engaged so don't panic. 

We got to listen to his/ her heartbeat again today, It always makes me well up. I'm going to be such a blubbering wreck when baby is born!

I have just over two weeks left of work, but I'm worried I'm not going to make it :s. I am so tired now and my hips are getting quite painful. My aim is not to fall asleep in the office ; )

So any guesses, of sex, weight and date baby will arrive? I can't promise a prize if you get it right just pride in your guessing abilities.