Visa application, Baby scares, Christmas and New Year's

We have almost survived the holiday season!  It definitely hasn't been relaxing like we were hoping for but never mind.  

We started antenatal classes through NCT (National Childbirth Trust) last week and they've been amazing.  We've learned probably more than we want to know about the impending arrival of our little one and have met some other couples who have babies due around the same time as ours.  NCT is really good because you have your three classes with your group, then the moms meet up every week for the entirety of maternity leave (about 6 months).  So every Tuesday we'll get together and drink tea and vent and share stories.  It will be a great support system, especially for me since my normal support system lives so far away!  

Between antenatal classes, Christmas shopping, and Christmas traveling, we've also been trying to get all the documents sorted out for my spouses visa.  You need about 342702 documents and they all have to be stamped and signed by different banks and employers.  It's extra frustrating trying to do it at this time of year because everything closes for the holidays and Mat's been really busy and work and almost all the documents have to come from him.  Our appointment is tomorrow morning (keep your fingers crossed!) so we're nearly there but we still have things to frantically try to get stamped by the bank at 9 am on New Year's Eve on our way to the appointment.  Also, if my application is delayed or refused, we can't move into our new apartment because they won't approve my tenancy until I have a spouse visa.  So not only will I be an illegal immigrant, I'll also be living under London Bridge!  It's really no surprise that I've had high blood pressure lately.

Now onto Baby.  We had a bit of a scare last week with some high blood pressure and Baby deciding to take an extra EXTRA long nap.  Went into the hospital and the second they put the monitor on me Baby decided to wake up and punch it…… typical.  Blood pressure is still a bit high (I blame Christmas) but nothing to be too concerned about so I've just been going in for weekly blood pressure checks with the nurse.  Other than that Baby is happy as a clam!  And getting gigantic, as you can see (chalkboard courtesy of Mathew again).

(I have to be really creative with my photoshopping these days.. in real life I'm pale and exhausted looking but iPhoto can really make a person look like a living human being!)

We had Christmas at the Horvath's in Dorking.  Bit of a traveling nightmare because there were huge storms the day before Christmas Eve causing almost all the trains to be canceled and the roads to flood. We weren't even sure we were going to be able to get to Dorking at all!  It all worked out in the end though and we had a lovely few days with Mat's family.

We haven't even had a spare second to start thinking about packing up our house and getting ready to move because it's just been a crazy few weeks!  I went out to the shed where we were keeping all of our boxes only to find that they are all damp from the lovely London weather so we need to buy new ones.  Yet another time I wish I had a car! I can't really lug moving boxes home on the tube and then carry them the mile walk home.  London is a hard city to be pregnant in because all of the walking and carrying just gets to be too much when you're as gigantic as I'm starting to feel.  I probably walked 4 miles today just going to antenatal class, to pick up keys from Mat, to the post office and back home  (when I say I walked, I mean I alternated between walking and waddling).  And I spent about £10 on buses/tube journeys in between all the walking!  If anyone wants to drive me around for the next month that would be much appreciated :)

We haven't made any plans for New Year's because honestly.. what do you do for New Year's when you're 8 months pregnant? The choices are severely limited, even in a city the size of London.  We have a park with a big hill down the street that overlooks most of the city so I think we'll waddle down there at 11:45 (if I'm still awake) and see if we can see some fireworks.  Hopefully we'll also be having a cheeky glass of sparkling apple juice to celebrate my approved visa (again people, keep those fingers crossed!).

On that note, I'm off to do some more worrying (I blame my mother for passing along this trait).

Pork belly and race cars.

The new Horvath family is as busy as ever these days.  Between growing a baby and working I barely have time to relax! And Mathew has been working about 483703 hours a week.  They're so busy in the weeks leading up to Christmas that we've resorted to communicating via email during the week because he practically lives at the Folly.  Our weekends are packed with fun-filled activities that usually involve me dragging Mat to somewhere that he doesn't really want to go to but pretends to want to go because he knows I do (he's such a good husband).  And cooking. We've been doing a lot of cooking.  Let me tell you about our 5 kilo pork belly..

First of all, this is what a 5 kilo pork belly looks like.  Mat brought it home from work a couple months ago and we threw it straight in the freezer.  If we were using our brains we would have cut it up and THEN put it in the freezer. But we didn't. So we had to defrost and cook the whole 5 kilos at one time.

 We unrolled half of it and roasted it like a normal pork belly.

And left the other half rolled and roasted it.

We ate part of the rolled half for Sunday roast (yummy!) and used the rest of it plus the flat one to make yummy pasta sauce.

So now instead of a freezer full of pork we have a freezer full of pork pasta sauce! :)

Mat made me get in the Christmas spirit yesterday and buy a Christmas tree.  It's the tiniest Christmas tree in the world - only 24" tall. I love it.  

Today we rented a car and drove up to Silverstone Circuit (the Grand Prix racetrack) in Towcester.  I bought Mat a day at the track for his birthday back in September and we're just getting around to going!  The weather was absolutely miserable. Cold, rainy, windy.. but Mat had a good time pretending to be a race car driver for an hour while Baby and I braved the cold to take pictures of him in action!  

Mat in his fancy car.

Bow wow chicka wow wow!  I married a race car driver.

I have officially reached the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy.  Granted I have had a fairly easy pregnancy, which I didn't realise until after I started reading forums on What to Expect When You're Expecting.  Holy toledo these women have awful pregnancies!  Swollen everything, stretch marks, stretching bones, pelvic pressure, bed rest.. I have been quite lucky!  I've had none of those things (knock on wood).  I do feel like a beached whale and my maternity jeans are getting a bit tight on my legs but I REFUSE to buy a bigger pair. I will stuff myself into them until the bitter end!

Only one more week until Christmas. YIKES! We haven't done any shopping - mostly because we would have to pay in buttons since we have no money. Whoops! We've done quite a bit of shopping for Baby.. too bad he/she won't be here in time for Christmas because Baby is the only person we have presents for!

We walked by Nelson Mandela's statue on the South Bank the other day and it was full of flowers. Be still my heart I'm so sad that such a great man is gone.  We drove by his statue in Westminster today on our way home and it had about 4 times this many bouquets on it.  It's nice to see that he's being recognised around the world for his contribution to humanity.

That's all for now.  My brain is too tired to write anymore.

Busy busy busy!

I was hoping life would calm down and get a bit less stressful after the wedding and reception were over but no such luck!  I shouldn't complain because I'm much happier when I'm busy but I could use an entire day in my bed!  Although, saying that, I did spend most of my birthday in a horizontal position because Baby was crushing my sciatic nerve (or else I just pulled a muscle or something) and I couldn't move.. not exactly how I wanted to ring in 25 but Mat took good care of me :)  I've dropped down to 4 days a week at work to reduce all the bending and lifting (babies are heavy!) so that should help the back pain.. and I'm going to physio next week.  On a happier birthday note, Momma sent me a parcel full of baby things and a brand new diaper bag (that's the cutest thing ever.. I might start carrying it now).  Thanks Momma Bear!

We've decided we're moving in January (not to America (yet), just to a different flat in London) because the flat we're in is just too small to fit a baby.  There is literally not an inch of extra space for a crib, changing table, buggy, or other baby things.  So I've spent the last week frantically looking for a new flat and trying to convince our landlord to let us leave our lease early (which he has kindly agreed to do!).  After a weekend spent viewing flats and apartments, we've found one!  It's 2 bedroom and 2 bathrooms and has SO much more room than the flat we're in now.  We may need to not eat for a few months to afford it but who needs food?

We've also started the spouse visa application process for me (I'm on a student visa now that expires in January).  It's super easy and straightforward……. SIKE! The application form is 52 pages long and you need about a million different documents and it costs an absolute fortune.  My life would be so much easier if Mat was just American (with a British accent of course)!

This past Saturday was spent writing and addressing thank you cards.  Luckily I have a handy dandy stamp so I don't have to write our return address on every single envelope! Just because I've written them and addressed them doesn't mean you'll be getting them soon.. I still need to find time to buy postage and take them to the post office!  Baby steps...

I've been making good use of one of my favourite wedding presents lately.  I've gone most of my pregnancy without drinking much tea but I've needed it the last few weeks!   Props to Abby Tina for making me this pretty mug :)

Now for Baby.  I think my bump has hit a growing plateau because it doesn't seem much bigger this week than it has in the last few weeks (NOT THAT I'M COMPLAINING ABOUT THAT).  I saw the midwife last week and everything was just fine and Baby's been kicking like a maniac.  

Now for the chalkboard.  Mat thinks I'm not creative enough with my chalkboards so he wanted to do it this week.  Different sources said different things for Baby's size now so we went with a pineapple (mostly because it's easy to draw).  So Mat starts doing the chalkboard and from the kitchen I hear "Allie…. how do I draw a fetus?"….. I wish I was joking.  He actually drew a fetus.

We had Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday at Mat's parent's house in Dorking.  I made stuffing and we had turkey and a plethora of vegetables and it was all really yummy!  It's always nice to get back to Dorking to see everyone and have some family time with my new family :)  

However, the journey back was a nightmare.  We couldn't get the train straight back so we had to change in Clapham.. which was fine.  But the second train we got on went about 100 feet outside the station and stopped. And sat there… for 20 minutes. Then moved to the next station and stopped and sat there…. for 10 minutes.  After that they said the train was terminating at that station (not even close to where we were trying to go) so we had to get a cab home.. and it cost us £25.  VERY annoying!  Times like that I really miss having a car!

That's it for now! I'm off to do laundry and dishes and clean.  Yay :)

Back to reality and our London wedding celebration

It was a very very very long week last week trying to recover from the jet lag and getting used to being back at work full-time.  I have to say, I enjoyed the vacation and am not thrilled about being back to work!  

Also, my belly seems to have grown in the last few weeks (strange, right?) making it more and more difficult to bend over and lift the babies at work.  I've turned into one of those people who makes grunting noises when I bend over and/or stand up. It's embarrassing but I can't help it.

Some of our wedding photos are posted on Facebook!  If you haven't seen them and you want to, here's the link - Wedding Photos.  We should be getting more back in the next few weeks but they won't all be posted on Facebook.

Mat and I had our London wedding reception last night.  It was lovely to see all Mat's family and friends and have everyone together to celebrate!  It just so happens it was another night of me watching everyone get drunk at the free bar (just like the actual wedding!) but it was fun nonetheless.  We had it at the Folly, where Mat works.  It's a beautiful venue and they decorated it with pictures from the wedding. The food was good and Mat's dad made us an amazing cake.  AND I managed to stay out until midnight!  Overall, it was a success.  Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated with us!  We didn't really take any photos but I stole this one from someone's Facebook.

We tried to have a relaxing day today after the chaos of the week but ended up deep cleaning our house, making enough soup for 47583 people (why? i don't know) and getting our knives sharpened (the knife man came to our house on a Sunday morning and sharpened all our knives in 20 minutes and it only cost £30! Amazing!).  Then Mat had to go to work for a meeting and I spent the afternoon doing visa research, apartment hunting, and ordering thank you cards.  Not quite the relaxing day we had in mind but at least our house is clean and we've crossed some things off our to-do list.

Baby is growing like a weed these days.  Only 11 more weeks to go before we have a tiny human to feed and clothe and bathe and teach how to be a good person.  Are we ready? No. Is it going to happen anyway? Yes. For now we're quite content with Baby staying in my belly (kicking like a crazy person) and brewing for another few months!  Here's what the belly is looking like these days:

I registered for graduation today.  Monday January 20th I'll be walking (or waddling) across the stage to receive my Master's Degree!  WHOOP WHOOP!  Good thing those gowns are so large..

That's it for today!  Hopefully I'll have nothing exciting to report for the next few weeks because we're hoping for a few weeks of normalcy and relaxation!

Wedding and Honeymoon!

Whew it has been a long time since my last blog post!  Where do I start?!  If I try to write about everything that's happened the last month this will be the longest blog post ever so I'll try to keep it short and sweet.

In case you haven't heard, Mat and I got married.  The week leading up to the wedding was a bit stressful with last minute preparations, frantic shopping trips and multiple airport runs but we survived. I only had one minor breakdown (I blame the hormones).  

The wedding itself went off without a hitch.. well, almost.  It hardly counts as a hitch but no one told us there was cardboard between the tiers of the cake? So when we tried to cut it, we couldn't!  So we just dug out a chunk with the cake knife.. classy as always :)  

But seriously, the flowers were so much more amazing than I could have imagined (Madison Wedding Flowers), our photographer - Rebecca Wersland - was amazing, the staff at the Madison Club was amazing, my Aunt Colleen did an amazing job on the piano, Hannah Luree sang like an angel and designed our amazing wedding programs.. how many times can I say amazing in one paragraph?!  My family was incredible and Mat's family was incredible and we appreciate everyone who was there!

Mat continued to be the most patient and understanding human being on the planet throughout the entire wedding process.  I'm so lucky to have such an amazing husband.  How weird that in the last two years we've gone from boyfriend and girlfriend to husband and wife (and soon to be Mom and Dad!). Yikes!  

Finally, Momma Keys.  My personal wedding planner, tailor, carpenter, teapot finder, card box designer, invitation maker, chef, hostess, party favour designer, tuxedo renter, therapist, crisis manager... should I go on?  She was the only reason this wedding was as successful as it was and we can't thank her enough for everything she did!  

New York was great. I might've gained an extra 10 pounds (not counting the weight I'm supposed to gain because of the life growing inside me) from all the amazing restaurants and markets.  Our favourites were ABC Kitchen, Eataly (INCREDIBLE) and Dean & DeLuca.  We just ate nonstop for 5 days and got a full 8 hours of sleep every night and had a magical time.  We have decided that we probably don't want to live in New York City, especially not with Baby so we can cross it off our list of potential relocation locations... not that we are relocating yet, just keeping our options open.

I'm not going to put all the pictures on here because I just put them on Facebook and there are a lot of them.  But here are a few of my personal favourites from the week leading up to the wedding and the wedding.  I didn't take any photos in New York because my phone was stolen on the Staten Island Ferry (seriously what kind of douche bag steals from a pregnant lady on her honeymoon?!) so Mat has all the NY photos.  You'll have to check out his Facebook to look at those.  I did add one NY photo here because it's a strange belly photo and needs some clarification :)

Katie got Mat and I these matching shirts to wear the night before the wedding. So cute :)

Moms and Pops.

SO excited to get married! And bored of watching everyone else get ready because I was ready 5 hours before the wedding...

Momma's amazing card box!

Moms and Pops just being in love.

Mat and I being in love.. and married :)

I really do love him.. you just can't tell by how I look at him in almost every photo we took on the wedding day. Haha.

So much belly rubbing on the wedding day but Baby was not kicking for anyone or anything

This is the NY belly photo.  Here's the back story.  Mat and I went out for a fancy dinner at this restaurant called One if by Land, Two if by Sea.  I had to wear tights and a dress and I had a REALLY itchy belly all night.  This is a thing that happens when you're pregnant.. your belly itches.  I spent all evening trying to itch my belly but couldn't through my tights and my thick dress.  So when we got back to the hotel, I went itch crazy in the bathroom and Mat decided to capture it on film.  Hence this photo.  And the only photographic evidence of my bare belly thus far in my pregnancy.

Here is my week 28 photo.  Baby is the size of a head of cauliflower, which was just too long to write on our tiny chalkboard.  Also, it turns out Baby likes flying.  Every plane ride the last few weeks, Baby turned into an amateur kick boxer!  

I do realise how tired I look but I couldn't fix it, no matter how wide I tried to open my eyes.  I blame the jet lag, which has been horrible this time around.  Neither Mat nor I slept on the overnight plane ride home, which means we were exhausted when we got home and haven't been able to get our sleep cycle back on track.  We're both back to work tomorrow though so being forced to get up at 6 am will probably fix our sleep cycles quickly!

I think that is all I've got. I'm sure I've forgotten something but we have some serious TV to catch up on so I have to go now. Priorities :) 

DISSERTATION GRADE! and Mat's chalkboard

Most important news this week - I got a B+ on my dissertation!  Which means this girl officially has a Master's Degree!  And I think I'll be graduating with merit as well :) Very proud of myself!

Baby is growing.  Our picture-taking session was quite stressful this morning because I was having a hard time looking pretty and we just couldn't get a good angle on the belly. Poor Mat was ready to kill me.  

Mat did the board this week... he thinks it's the best board ever (I beg to differ!).  Here he is, hard at work!

The picture on the bottom is supposed to mean that Baby is the size of an ear of corn.  Such a kind and artistic fiancé I have! :)

For the record, he doesn't really call me fat.  He tells me I'm beautiful and skinny and amazing all the time :) He just thought the board was funny!

We had a lovely weekend this weekend.  I went out to celebrate a friend's engagement on Friday night. I have to say going out to a busy bar in London with a belly is quite stressful (lots of elbows flying around).. and everyone stares at you! 

Mat and I had a relaxing Saturday.  We did a bit of shopping then went out to dinner in Canary Wharf to celebrate my dissertation grade.  We ate at a fancy restaurant called Plateau in Canada Square and it was beautiful!  And very good food!  Then we went across the street for some wine/mocktails at Parlour, which is owned by the same company Mat works for.  Here's my handsome date with his wine and me with my mocktail!

I made myself this beautiful bolognese sauce the other day.  Who knew it was so easy to make such yummy sauce!  It's fine to be jealous.

This is what the sky has looked like in London the last few days.  Cloudy, rainy and cold! I didn't even change the colour on the photo at all.  Just so gloomy.

The girls from my MA programme threw me a baby shower today.  A bit of miscommunication led me to have to race across London on the tube, train and in a cab to get there and I was still an hour and a half late!  However, it was still a lovely day! We played shower games and Baby got lots of good presents.  Thanks Dasha and Aileen for hosting!

That's all I have to report this week!

Week 23

Here's my belly. It's getting bigger.  I always get a seat on the tube now, even without my Baby on Board badge.  I realise I'm a bit obsessed with the tube and having a seat but I spend A LOT of time on the tube.

Mat and I got this nice little surprise from Katie last week!  Since we couldn't have a real wedding shower, she sent this letter along with a small postage paid box to family and a few friends.  They sent them back to Katie and she packed them all in a big box and sent them to us!  Such a creative idea!  We LOVED it. It was very exciting to open all the presents.  Thank you so much to everyone who participated!

This was my favourite present in the little boxes!  Thanks Grandma Doris :)  

Mat was on his stag do this weekend (aka bachelor party).  He went to Brighton with his friends Friday-Sunday.  This is how he was when he came home... 

I spent the whole weekend cleaning, shopping for house things, and being domestic so I wasn't very sympathetic when he got home and didn't let him sleep very long.  We went to meet Linda and Mark for dinner in Hammersmith shortly after these photos and Mat was struggling to be a functional human.

This is his trophy from go karting this weekend.  He won first place and is so proud of himself.  He may be getting old but he's a kid at heart :)

That's all I know.  We're catching up on some X Factor and then going to bed early.

NFL London and week 22

I'm well aware my chalkboard is not cute this week but there's a reason I'm not a graphic designer. I do my best.  Baby is growing quickly these days.  I don't even have to wear my Baby on Board badge on the tube/bus anymore because you can't miss the basketball under my t-shirt.  Although, funnily enough, it is always women who give me their seats on the tube, which makes me feel guilty for taking their seats!  Men pretend to not notice my pregnant belly and leave their tushes planted in their seats.  It's fine.. I don't have swollen ankles or anything yet so I am perfectly capable of standing up.. I won't be so nice in a few weeks though so men of London, watch out!

London living.

I did some wandering around Westminster with my friends from uni the other day.  Westminster Abbey never fails to impress me!

Mat, Baby and I managed to get tickets to the Vikings-Steelers game at Wembley Stadium in London.  Shame it had to be the Vikings playing but we went with our Packers gear on and cheered for the Steelers :)  Mat is not sold on American football as a game (partly because it goes on forever!) but we had a good time anyway!  And he particularly liked the cheerleaders, as did every other British male who attended the game.

Wembley Field.

View of the field.  Vikings were the home team so there was purple garbage everywhere.

It was quite funny at the beginning of the game.. they sang the American national anthem and all the Americans sang along.  Then they played God Save the Queen.. keep in mind that Brits are not patriotic people at all.. most of them probably don't even know the words to God Save the Queen!  But the whole stadium sang along.  The only time the Brits are patriotic is when they're trying to out-patriotic the Americans at an American sporting event :)

Pre-game festivities.

Finally, we got our first baby present from my friend Verere on my volleyball team.  Baby has a play mat!  Thanks V!  We love it :)

Not a lot else to report.  I'm home sick from work today.  Was up all night with a sore throat and cough, and a coughing fiancé next to me.  It's safe to say I'm refusing to leave my bed today except to walk to the couch and maybe the refrigerator.  

Finally, if you haven't sent your RSVP for the wedding, DO IT!  Only 1 month to go :)