Lil baby

Here is a photo of our baby girl. She's a week old in this picture and taking her first bath! Unfortunately she looks a little yellow due to jaundice but overall I think super-cute!!!

She really liked her bath which surprised me as I thought it would be a blood-curdling screaming event but I was wrong!

Baby came early!

Not got a lot of energy to write too much but our little baby Immy arrived early, last Tuesday (13th October) and we've had a whirlwind week. She is (of course) the cutest baby in the world and has given us great joy. She's also worn us both out! Still, it's more than worth it when you see her cute little face.

I'll post again when I have photos and more energy!

freedom!

So the chickens lives have changed a lot in the last month. This time a month ago they were rescued from the battery farm where they had only had the equivalent of an A4 sheet of paper to stand in, unable to stretch out their wings, scratch the ground or rummage about.

This week we decided to let the chickens out of their run and into the vegetable patch. The veggie patch has now been cleared!

So now we've let them out into the wider garden. They love it!! However, I don't think it'll be long until they have cleared all the weeds and will start on the grass. DH is not impressed. I think it's marvellous as I can't think of anything more boring than weeding.

Pregnancy is confusing

At nearly 36 weeks I thought I had been really lucky in that I have had a pretty uneventful, straightforward pregnancy (so far). I was a bit confused by new things such as back ache and braxton hicks, but I figured, that's normal.
So when I was referred for an extra scan to check that the baby is growing properly. The doctor had noticed it was about 10mm too small when she measured it. To be honest I knew that there was nothing wrong but I like having scans so off we merrily went this afternoon for another scan. Terrifyingly the measurements came back that the baby is BIG for it's expected due date. All I can say is, I am now even more convinced that the due date was confused when I had that dating scan in February.
February is soooo long ago. Even back then I was sure the dates were a week or two out. Fingers crossed I am right though as the rough weight is estimated to be 6lb 8oz NOW!!! Still 4 weeks to go!!!! As soon as I hit my offical '37' week mark I am going to do all I can to get this baby out!!! I can't imagine having a giant baby. Makes me feel a bit squeamish, actually.

Baby shower

So the baby shower happened a couple of weeks ago...

As you can see we had some delicious food. The really pretty little things are mostly down to my sister, who did an excellent job of making everything coordinated.

It was quite a giggle and we received some really useful presents (nappies, cream, wipes etc.) which has really brought home how soon The Big Day is going to arrive and then we'll be parents.

Good job I have the chickens to keep my mind occupied off other more scary thoughts.

Chickens!

Hooray! Last Saturday we finally got our girls! The one you can see pictured is Henrietta (as named by my Dad). We rescued them from a life as a battery hen that was no longer wanted... they would have gone to the pie factory. We chose to get 4 chickens as we'd been told that they would probably not lay eggs every day - probably only 50% of the time - so that would mean we should have 14 eggs per week. Plenty.

But no, now we have them laying 3 or 4 per day so we've accumulated 20 eggs in 6 days! They just can't help themselves!!

At first the little sweeties didn't go outside at all - they were overwhelmed, we think - but now you can't stop them scratching and pottering in their run. Unbelieveable in this short time they have fattened up massively and are now growing new feathers so they look less like 'oven-ready' chickens and more like our pet chickens.

I'll post more pictures when they have grown a bit more.

Sweden

Had a really fabulous weekend in Sweden. I'd never been there before but I was convinced it would be cold. Not so! It was gorgeous and so warm I felt sorry for the wedding party all trussed up with lots of layers. They still looked fabulous nonetheless.

Swedish weddings are quite rowdy affairs with lots of traditions we don't have here in the UK. For example, whenever the bride goes to the loo during the meal all the men have to jump up, form a queue, and give her a peck on the cheek! Vice versa for the groom!!! Plus, anyone can give a speech so there were A LOT of speeches.

Mr TigerLily did an execellent speech as Best Man and everyone got the jokes. I was astounded by how well EVERYONE speaks English. I made an effort to use a few Swedish words to show willing but I was shamed by even little kids chattering away in their second language!