On Saturday we embarked on our first venture to choose a pram/pushchair for our baby. We visited a place called Jupiter Centrum which is a small (somewhat haphazardly laid out) shopping centre on the outskirts of town.
The shop (Świat dziecka) came recommended to us from our maternity class and we were totally overwhelmed by all of the shapes, sizes, constructions and features of the (literally) hundreds of prams/pushchairs/strollers/buggies on show!
In addition to all of the variables you could also choose different colours and mix-and-match the colours that you chose!
We spent about 10 minutes looking round open-mouthed until a friendly assistant helped us. Fortunately he spoke excellent English and so he walked us through the pros and cons of various models (although we were still undecided on the colour!)
On Sunday we also took a trip to Mothercare which is not very far from the apartment, but their pram range was smaller (but equally confusing!). We're hoping to order one this week as I think it will take us a while to understand how to take it apart/change the tyres/fold it down etc!
It's been a lovely weekend weather-wise with every day in the high 20s/low 30s so on Sunday afternoon we went to nearby Wodny park, which is a huge sports centre, for a swim. Amy has got a very fetching new swimsuit so she got to try that out (although not on the water slides!).
It also looks like we're not going to move from our apartment, which is a real shame as we were looking forward to a bit of extra space. As a result this week we have to work out how best to re-arrange furniture in order to make space for a cot and baby trappings!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
DFAT conference in Berlin
Amy was at a conference with DFAT in May, so I tagged along for the 
trip as well. We stayed with Amy's friend Pip, who has a lovely place really near to the heart of Berlin. Both me and Amy were impressed by how lively and vibrant Berlin is as a city. There are a plethora of bars and cafes and we had a great 4 days there.
While Amy was in her conference I explored the sights of Berlin. It's quite spread out as a city, so you had to get your bearings and some idea of the geography. I visited the Bauhaus museum - which contained a fair amount of original furniture and architechture and also did a guided walk around the city.
It was fascinating to see how the city has 'merged' since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. A trip up the Reichstag dome (designed by an English architecht!) was possibly the highlight of things that I saw. We did go to a couple of things from the Cold War - a Stasi museum - interesting, and yet chilling(!) as well as a nuclear bunker built in the 1970s in West Berlin (still 'active' today). The bunker had 2 weeks worth of air in it following a nuclear attack - but no plans what you did when your time ran out!!
On a much brighter note Amy got to catch up with a lot of her work colleagues as well as having a splendid Thai meal on Saturday evening...yum!
To read about the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin see this link http://www.bauhaus.de/english/index.htm
trip as well. We stayed with Amy's friend Pip, who has a lovely place really near to the heart of Berlin. Both me and Amy were impressed by how lively and vibrant Berlin is as a city. There are a plethora of bars and cafes and we had a great 4 days there.While Amy was in her conference I explored the sights of Berlin. It's quite spread out as a city, so you had to get your bearings and some idea of the geography. I visited the Bauhaus museum - which contained a fair amount of original furniture and architechture and also did a guided walk around the city.
It was fascinating to see how the city has 'merged' since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989. A trip up the Reichstag dome (designed by an English architecht!) was possibly the highlight of things that I saw. We did go to a couple of things from the Cold War - a Stasi museum - interesting, and yet chilling(!) as well as a nuclear bunker built in the 1970s in West Berlin (still 'active' today). The bunker had 2 weeks worth of air in it following a nuclear attack - but no plans what you did when your time ran out!!
On a much brighter note Amy got to catch up with a lot of her work colleagues as well as having a splendid Thai meal on Saturday evening...yum!
To read about the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin see this link http://www.bauhaus.de/english/index.htm
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Pre Natal Classes
We went to our first pre-natal class on Friday. There were 4 other pregnant ladies besides Amy - from France, Germany, Scotland and Poland! Luckily the classes are in English. Magda, the midwife who runs the course, made us do a series of panting exercises - very amusing! Much laughter from Amy who couldn't then do the panting while making noises exercise. We also did some physio/yoga exercises which showed how inflexible Trevor is (ha ha!) but at least he didn't fart like the French guy which had us all in stitches! The course runs for 7 weeks, ending with a tour of the hospital where Amy will have the baby. It's made us realise just how unprepared we are - the French couple have already decorated a room for the baby and have all the gear - and her baby is due only 3 weeks before ours! Eek!
Our Honeymoon!!
Here is a picture of us in the Dordogne (South-west of France) where we spent just over one week on our honeymoon. We stayed in a lovely cottage just outside of a village called Sarlat. We hired a small car and drove around the region visiting lovely gardens, chateaux and markets. It was nice to see vegetables that were 'normal' sized rather than the competition-sized (ie over-big!) vegetables we find here in Poland! We passed on the opportunity to try foix gras and geese gizzards though!To see a few more pictures of our Honeymoon in the Dordogne....(click on the link below)
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Our Wedding!
We got married on 21 April in Newbury. It was a lovely day and we were blessed with some really nice weather.
We've posted a stack of photos here...
so if you want to have a look, click on the link and then select 'slide-show'
Our second scan!
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The next scan took place at 22 weeks - by this time our baby had got a fair bit bigger and was beginning to move around a bit.
Again the doctor took Amy through a series of tests and we got to see our baby again, only this time the scan was a fair bit clearer and well defined.
The doctor was able to tell us the sex of the baby and we discovered we were having a little girl!
Everyone at Amy's work was really excited and even though we still had an awful long way to go before the birth we already felt like proud parents!
Learnt a new word at the doctors as well 'mocz' - when we left the doctors he asked me whether I had any questions. Written on the sheet he had been filling in was the word 'mocz' so I asked him what it meant......(it means urine).
I'll add that to my other useful Polish word (jez) - meaning hedgehog.
Our first scan
This was our first view of our baby at 12 weeks. She was only a tiny thing then - about the size of a cashew nut!We had both been pretty excited when we found out the news that Amy was pregnant, and so it was great to final see the baby.
At this stage we didn't know the sex, but the doctor was able to check out rudimentary things and tell us that all was well! it was full steam ahead to baby-ville!
The blog begins!
Hi everyone,
I've always been a real critic of those circular e-mails or newsletters that people send at Christmas saying what has been going on in their lives. They never tell of bad (or interesting!) news, and some of them are really cloying.
When Amy and I started talking about the idea of having a blog for our baby who is due to be born later this year, I was reminded of the global impersonal communications that people send out at the end of the year, but then realised that maybe they do serve a purpose after all!
At least by producing a blog in this way people can see what's going on in our lives, and no doubt we'll periodically update this site. Fundamentally too it saves us the bother of writing to everyone and gives you as a reader the opportunity to read (or ignore) our news!
If you want to know what's going on with us then you can have a look here - if you're not in the slightest interested then you don't have to put up with a circular e-mail...
As this is the first time we've done a blog like this, you'll have to forgive us any typos or rubbish content!
Enjoy reading!
Trevor and Amy x
I've always been a real critic of those circular e-mails or newsletters that people send at Christmas saying what has been going on in their lives. They never tell of bad (or interesting!) news, and some of them are really cloying.
When Amy and I started talking about the idea of having a blog for our baby who is due to be born later this year, I was reminded of the global impersonal communications that people send out at the end of the year, but then realised that maybe they do serve a purpose after all!
At least by producing a blog in this way people can see what's going on in our lives, and no doubt we'll periodically update this site. Fundamentally too it saves us the bother of writing to everyone and gives you as a reader the opportunity to read (or ignore) our news!
If you want to know what's going on with us then you can have a look here - if you're not in the slightest interested then you don't have to put up with a circular e-mail...
As this is the first time we've done a blog like this, you'll have to forgive us any typos or rubbish content!
Enjoy reading!
Trevor and Amy x
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