A Day for Swimming

The last time Helen and I went swimming together was on our honeymoon, in Oberstaufen, south Germany. Today was with our little girl, Cara. It was really fun to be able to take her into the water, and have her discover that. She's never been one for splashing - not even in the bath - but towards the end of our time there today, she was having a great time, laughing as she splashed the water with her little hands.

Plus, for me (!) - it's really a fun experience to be in the water. I found myself loving the flumes, and enjoying doing a couple of lengths in the adult pool, too. We came away saying that we'll definitely have to go more often. I think now we've all been together, and I got to be there for the first time, Helen won't mind taking Cara on her own, when I'm at work. We're lucky to hve pools all around us in Bristol!

Incidentally, today is Cara's six month birthday. She's now a six month old. That's an amazing thought. I'm so proud of her. Whenever I look at her, and see her sitting up, or smiling at us, or discovering something new... I'm so glad she's a part of my life. I wouldn't swap her for anything - our family is three! Cara is a big part of all the fun we have together, wherever we are.

Checkup Time for Baby

Today we had another checkup with Doctor Redmond, of Elm Lodge Surgery, Bristol. He's a nice Irish chappy, and we went, excited to see what he'd say. He didn't say anything too exciting in the end, apart from that baby's head is very much engaged. Still, Doctor says that with first time mothers, the baby will usually be late, so we'll probably be hanging around for another 3 weeks. In some ways, this is actually ideal, as it means that I can get all my exams and essays out of the way before baby comes along. I even have a week off classes in 3 weeks time - 'Reading Week' - so I can combine reading with playing with baby!

I'm really enjoying being at home with Helen during the days, now. We feel really lucky to be able to do this - to be the two of us - and soon to be three!

A Walk Out to Queen's Park

Green Fingers
Originally uploaded by Munzerr.

It's nice to get out. I blogged the other day on my other page about how good it is to just take a walk in the outdoors - and we put principle into practise today by going with Linda's girls out into the little copse of woods near Helen's parent's house. It was lovely to go running around with them, and then to think about how soon it will be before we can have our little baby with us. We had a good conversation with Linda, too, about how good being a parent is.

Today Helen's grandparents celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary. We took some photos of them, fired off some party poppers, and played some games with them. And of course, there's going to be the big party on Saturday... quite an achievement, though. Congratulations to them.

The First Day of the Year

Happy New Year, and welcome to 2007! I was surprised at how excited I actually was last night, as it ticked over into the new year. Very often I've been at some big party, and it's been a kind of anti-climax. Probably the thing was, I didn't expect to be all that excited - and, well - it's just quite exciting, isn't it?
We fired party poppers around, and watched the amazing firework display in London on the TV. I called my parents, and found out that they'd all been in bed asleep since 9.30.

So - what will 2007 bring? We'll have our little baby in just a matter of weeks now, and Helen and I will get lots of practice at being parents. I'm aiming to get astronomically high marks in my essays this year, and perhaps Helen will write some computer code that will make our millions. Seriously though - New Years Resolutions for 2007:

1) Andrew to spend at least his 40 hours a week on University study.
2) Andrew and Helen to both read their scriptures every day this year.
3) Andrew to do at least 300 words of creative/personal writing daily (including journal).
4) Helen to learn how to teach baby to read, and start steps to help him/her this year with that.
5) Helen to plan nutritious, healthy meals.
6) Andrew to exercise regularly, by not using the car.

That's plenty to be getting started with... if we can get all these down, it's going to be a great start to the year. There's so many things I'd like to do, and life seems to be going by faster and faster. I heard a quote from Julius Caesar in church yesterday:

There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

(Act IV, Scene 3)

Let's take the current current! Here's to a great new year, everyone.