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 :)