The First Baby Kick

At 15:27 on December 29th 2006. Jen has jusy called me all excited....Its just kicked. She has been playing classical music to the baby in her car for weeks now and booom there it is. We have been stocking up on the disposable stuff at the minute, after some great advice from mary-ann. All ready for the new year now, lets go...

Cleansing the soul...

Week 16 and Christmas

The baby is forming brown fat deposits under thier skin, by the end of pregnancy this will account for 2-6% of their total body weight. This will help them maintain their body temperature when they are born. The baby weighs in at about 5 ounces (142 grams). This means that the baby now weighs more than the placenta. No new structures have formed. Loud noises outside may actually cause the baby to startle from now on, so we need to be quiet......

Christmas Itinerary so far...
Mon 18th - Painting common room
Tue - ICT christmas drinks
Wed - Street party @ ours
Thur - Mini Olympics
Fri - Head back to Wales
Sat - Cardiff shopping
Sun - Meet and greet
Mon - Xmas Day
Tue - boxing day

One day left in work....

Well things are looking up, Jen is getting over the nausea, the headaches are still there but less frequent. We have changed the doctor too. AND to cap it all off I have got a personalised photo sent to me from sir Paul Mcartney. Brilliant week so far...Lots still to do but at leat no work!

Cheerio for now....Our christmas itinerary so far is....Thursday 2st Dan, Martin, Chris & James continue olyimpic sports with James and Martin Still one up (they one tennis last time...so on to darts and snooker). We have organised a street party at ours on Wednesday. We have EEHS end of term bash on Friday and Jens hockey Ice Party on Saturday. Leaving us to get home Friday evening.

Will keep you posted on baby news....and thanks again for all your kind messages and cards....Dan

Bought this book for Jen...

This is a great book, I got it for Jen this weekend. We have got soooo many books which we have been given too, thanks to everyone. This one I am sure will also do the rounds, its very good. Anyway, onward to the last week of term...the colds start here I bet...

Nando christmas

Happy Christmas from our cat....

Week 16

December, Christmas is coming. We are off out shopping today and starting to decorate. We had a sports do last night with Jens school and we also went to see her school production of Doctor Faustuss which was great but probably a bit too compicated for most, a lot of it was in Latin. i thought it was fab but 'cultural' Jen got lost in the plot.
Anyway week 15 stuff starting to feel much better but the headaches are driving her mad. Jen went to doctors this week and glad to say the trusty NHS(No Help Sucker!!! as I fondly know them as) have again not helped...just prescribed more painkillers that don't work. We have had Sarah and Brad staying with us this week and we have been working like mad so a nice Saturday lay in was called for....anyway onto week 17....

Tuesday 28th November

Jen - Headache, pretty sore. Yesterday broken the record for urinating during a film, Casino Royale = 0 Jen Oxley = 5.

Oh well, onward to the week....


Dan

14 Weeks - whats happening Dr Dan

Mmmm some interesting things....
The baby is now approximately 4 inches long and weighs just a little less than 2 ounces. The baby is continuing to grow and mature.... The baby’s arms are going to begin to lengthen and be more proportioned to the rest of the body. The liver is beginning to produce bile, while the spleen is beginning to produce red blood cells.

The development of our baby’s brain enables him/her to use their facial muscles to grimace, frown, and squint. He/she may even be sucking their thumb. Because Jen has begun the second trimester and most of the critical development has been completed.

Dr Dan says Jen may begin feeling extremely moody at this point.....mmmmmm and thinking about things like

Will I be a good parent?
How am I going to manage financially?
Will my baby be healthy?
Am I doing the right things to prepare for my baby?


Hopefully we answer yes to them all. Oh well time to go now, busy busy week...Departmental observation tommorow and coursework due on Friday.....insignificant really but it pays the bills and lots of the other kids rely on us I suppose....

Thanks again for all your support and phone calls.


Dan

13 weeks

Week 13....Jen is still on toast however the Nausea is starting to subside...I have done three Reiki sessions with her and Thieka has given her a massage. The food still seems to be a staple diet of Toast, Toast and Toast and Marmite....Nice....Everyone knows the news now, thanls for all your support and friendship,

Dan, Jen, Nando and Bump (not showing yet)

PS I am sure its a boy!

12 Week Scan

This is the scan after tweleve weeks. Amazing eh! We will keep you posted of any news via our Blog. Thanks for all your kind messages and support. Lots of Love Dan, Jen, Nando & Bump!

x

More Picz....

Images...

We're back...

Wow what a trip. Just arrived back in the UK, glad to se the sun is shining here at the moment. We had a great flight and Jen managed to get ther oakleys back from Adrian and Stacey at the Jo'Burg before our connecting flight left. We managed to blag our way onto the enmergency exit row so had loads of leg room, however the responsibilty of having to open the bloddy door in case we crash kind-a stops you sleeping too well anyway, and you certainly don't want to accidentally lean on the handle or its 'tickets'...doh... anyway just in case you are wondering - Virgin won our best airline award closely followed by New Zealand airlines. For humour everyone needs to travel with Kulula, S.A. they chirp all the time with comments like 'In the event of cabin pressure loss, after you stop screaming, put the oxygen mask on your face' and 'If you are caught smoking you will escorted to the seat on the wing where todays film is gone with the wind' mmmm very funny...... but also a tad scary for a security concious traveller like me(Dan).

thanks to everyone who made the trip so smooth and pleasant, and I enjoyed my last Hansa lager with a tear in my eye (maybe thats because it tated like Hansa Light?). Will post some of the nice images for all to look over in the next few days, not today as we have Jo and mart's wedding celebration this afternoon @ 3PM, cool.

A big thank you to EL and Anita and Ev for house sitting with Nando. We really do owe you sooo much, thanks again we could not have done this trip without you. xxxx

Stellenbosch and Somerset West

We have been staying with Jens sister Susan for the last week. Getting packed in a few mins for the return leg to the UK via Jo'Burg, it will be a long day... We have Jo and Martin's wedding party on Sunday so we are looking forward to seeing our friends there. We have had a great time here, Lauren and Chris threw a party for us where we saw all of the Capetown crowd and Susan threw a party last night (Friday) for us with some Somerset Westies... The mood here in SA seems to be positve, even if they may get beaten today in the Rugby again. The Ian Sharpe Braii award goes to South Africa for the diverstiy of food and pure.
Thanks to everyone for all your good wishes, support and friendship, we are so lucky to have friends like you guys and please keep in contact with us via email as much as possible.




I also bought a Portchie original from the gallery in Stellenbosch, Jen doesnt really like it, but i thought it may spur a comment or too if i put a pic on here and let you decide... Anyway Time to pack now and say our goodbyes, and again thanks to everyone who helped us and let us stay etc during our trip. It has been exhausting but really so much fun. We will keep our wedding plans updated on this blog and hope to see you all sometime in the next year or two, see ya laterz....Dan

Capetown

We arrived in Capetown on Monday. We are staying with Susan and Charlie now in Somerset West. Rob and Wendy sorted out a turkey on the Braii for us last night and we are going out for a meal tonight. Lauren and the CT posse are throwing a party for us on Thursday and we are having a party at Susans on Friday to celebrate our engagement. Off to the Canal Walk Mall now, after Jen and La come back, Matthew Halbert is a legend and is trying to feed the keyboard water so I have to sign off now...Heres a message from Matthew...trfcrfsg hfhgtgjmn nb sn dc dc dc hb nbb nmnmnb hh. He loves the keyboard... Cheers

Durban and KwaZulu Natal

We arrived here in Durbs on Weds and had a great evening with Moira and Adrian. We had brekkie on the beach on Thursday and met Chris at durban Airport for the Journey to to the Game reseerve called Hwahlanhui and Umfoliozi. They had the big five there but we did not catch any of the big cats. Big Five - Lion, Ele, Leop, Rhino, Buffalo. We got the Ele, buff and Rhino (Black and White sighted - Black Rhino very aggressive and dangerous but also not many of them left!)



We did a night drive with a game ranger and had sundowners at the beach...great. A great tips and here are a selection of photos of the trip for you to have a look at.


There is also a random photo of Dan in a Shabeen in Soweto (SOuth WEst TOwnship). We loved this tour it was from our Jo'burg leg but I only just found the photo. sorry.

Photos...Austalia - Singapore

Sorry its been a bit late coming, here are some pics of dan having a singy sling in Raffles hotel.

Theres also a Photo of Kim and her baby, thye are living in Australia Just outside Brisbane.
Also theres a nice piccie of a Croc in the water from some Aussie Zoo, nice.

Singapore Slings @ Raffels

Well, what to do when you have five hours to kill in Singapore. We just blitzed down to Raffels Hotel where they invented the Singapore Sling and blew our money on some of them. We looked masively out of place, but to hell with it...they dont know us...Now waiting to go to Jo'Burg on a 11 and a half hour flight. we are both knackerd and keep buying stuff at duty free to keep us awake... Ummmm internet seems to be free abroad...either that or I am racking up loads of bills and dont know it. Anyway, se ya later and hopefully we will get some good films this time instead of Mission impossible three and ince age 2 (doh!!!!!). All the airlines seem to show the same stuff, oh well.

Brisbane Airport - Singapore

We are now getting ready for a mammoth leg of the journey. We have spent some time at Brisbane, which is great, a lively city with a great vibe. We are heading to Singapore in an hour and a half on Singapore Airways (which are supposed to be good, hopefully). We have heard a lot about all this stuff at Heathrow, hope it has not affected any of our friends and family. Anyway its an eight hour to singapore, then a five hour wait then a nine hour or more?? to Johannesburg. Jet lag here we come. Hope all is well with everyone, will post some piccies of SA. Looking forward to seeing the SA crowd now, its been a long time...too long. Thanks to John, Mary, Wendy and Margie. We had a great time, you ALL have made the best decision to move out to Aussie Land, even if they have weird Aussie rules stuff going on.

Post Ya laters,

Dan & Jen

Hailstorm on the beach

You would not believe this. We just went for a run on the beach, it was dusk and sun setting and quite warm and then BOOSH we got pelted with marble sized hail stones, very very sore. ouch....and quite scary..we were about 1.5km from the car and any shelter!!!! doh. oh well we survived, photo to come....

Aussie wildlife

Just been to the Koala Park...and to some massive waterfalls..

Down under...

We have been pretty busy. we have gone around this area, body boarding at south west rocks, some massive waterfall. whale watching - humpbacks; nice. Off to watch the south africa vs australia game and jens aunty's house now...

New South Wales - Port Macquarie

Hi everyone, been to live music at a wine farm today. Also been wlaking along the coast here. Great weatehr over the last few days, seen most of Jens Family and friends here now. Here are some photos of the last day or two....

The Ring Photos

Well, these photos are for all the family and friends who are interested out there to see what the ring is like. The photo with us in was taken on the night about five mins after the 'proposal'. The other one was taken in LA in santa monica against a yellow flower, how artistic!

Will you?

- Dan

Yes

- Jen

Australia & Photos

This is me and Manns Chinese theatre
on Hollywood Boulevard, walk of fame, great.



Here's our FordMustang from LA...and yes it is a convertible....great gas guzzler..had to do our bit for glbal warming!!! sorry..



Arrived in Port Macquarie last night after a long old train journey (7hrs) from Sydney. Here is a photo of us on Darling Harbour with the Sudney Harbour Bridge...opera house is behind our heads as lady who took this picture was rubbish, oh well...

New Zealand and Sydney

We spent two days in Auckland with Lauren and Vic. They have got a great pad there, and its a great country. We also saw Ra and Felix there too, hope all is well there with you all. Sydney is cool however it is winter so the weather is a bit dodge. Will post photos when we get to our next stopp - this evening...Port Macquarie.
G'Day

Dan & Jen

Engaged in LA

Just to let eveyone know that Dan and I got engaged last night on Santa Monica Beach. We had cocktails to start, followed by a fantastic dinner at a restuarant called the Ivy on The Shore. Then we went for a walk on the beach and he proposed to me. Of course I have accepted.

Whilst we were in LA we have done quite a few things. We hired a Ford Mustang Convertible on arrival in LA. We stayed in Santa Monica and enjoyed driving around Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Hollywood and Malibu. We saw loads of people's famous houses such as The Playboy Mansion, Tom Jones, Tom Cruise, Ozzy Osborne, Meatloaf, Bruce Willis and many others.

We're aboout to board our flight which takes us on the next part of our journey to New Zealand. Unfortunately there is no USB port to upload any photos of my ring but it is gorgeous and we will post some photos when we can.

Itenerary

Around the World Itinerary
July/ August 2006

Dan
FROM – TO DATE Flight Number Departure Time Arrival Time
LHR - LA 21/07/06 VS007 1130 1450
LA – AUC 23/07/06 NZ005 2300 0645**
AUC - SYD 26/07/06 NZ103 0900 1030
BRIS - SING 13/08/06 SQ236 1445 2045
SING - JNB 14/08/06 SQ478 0215 0700
JNB – DBN 16/08/06 IT203 1120 1230
DBN – CPT 21/08/06 MN007 1105 1305
CPT - JNB 26/08/06 IT106 1640 1840
JNB - LHR 26/08/06 VS602 2100 0645

Jen
FROM – TO DATE Flight Number Departure Time Arrival Time
LHR - NY 10/07/06 VS045 1400 1640
NY - LA 21/07/06 AT363 0659 1225
LA – AUC 23/07/06 NZ005 2300 0645**
AUC - SYD 26/07/06 NZ103 0900 1030
BRiS - SING 13/08/06 SQ236 1445 2045
SING - JNB 14/08/06 SQ478 0215 0700
JNB - DBN 16/08/06 IT203 1120 1230
DBN - CPN 21/08/06 MN007 1105 1305
CPN - JNB 26/08/06 IT106 1640 1840
JNB - LHR 26/08/06 VS602 2100 0645

Round the world

Well here are our plans over the summer... Track our progress, flight times and pictures that we upload as we go. Here we go

Jens Birthday

What a weekend. Thanks for everyone for coming to the party. It was great fun and i hope you all enjoyed it as much as Jen did. Please mail us any photos you have as we did not take any....doh! Anyway thanks again for being there,

Jen and Dan