The Cornells

So what's been happening...?

2010-04-30T12:03:00.004Z

Well, where do I start...?!

Obviously since Joseph arrived finding time to update my blog has become more and more difficult. With a 3 and a half month old boy and a nearly 3 year old girl in the house, our time simply revolves around them. Not that I'm complaining here mind. We knew exactly what to expect by having the two kids within a few years of each other, and if I'm being honest it's actually easier than me or Jen expected - touch wood! Yes your time is not your own until they're both in bed on an evening, but I wouldn't change it for the world. It does make me wonder what the hell we did with all our time before the kids came along mind!

Joseph's a little star. I don't know if there's actually such a thing, but he really is a 'low maintenance baby'. We have his routine sorted and as long as you stick to this, there's never a peep out of him. He's has quite short cat naps throughout the day every 2 hours, but then on a night time he's in his cot from about 7.30pm - 7.30am with only ever 1 or 2 feeds in between.

When awake there's no doubting how much he loves attention! He will happily chatter away to himself, but as soon as you talk to him he beams from ear to ear, whilst kicking his legs and flinging his arms all over the place. I'm still trying to upload photos to flickr in batches and did two lots last week;

Joseph Revell Cornell photos aged 3 - 7 Weeks

Joseph Revell Cornell photos aged 7 - 9 Weeks

Abigail absolutely loves him! She asks for to see Joseph as soon as she wakes up, she tries to help during nappy changes, she helps to hold is bottle during feeds, and has recently started to give him his dummy when he needs it. It's easy to forget how old Abigail is when you hear her coming out with lines such as "Ah hello little Darlin' ", and "hello little boy"!

She seems to have grown up so fast since Joseph was born, and in her own way become more independent. Abigail skips the potty in favour of going straight from nappies to the toilet, and apart from the during the night nappy, she is now fully toilet trained. She can happily do the whole toilet thing herself which is invaluable when you have your hands tied with Joseph.

Abigail Photos aged 2 years plus

We received confirmation this week that Abigail will be starting morning nursery at Bede Academy in September, which is ideal as it's what we requested. This will be around the same time that Jen returns to work after Maternity Leave.

Jen is fine as always and still does her daily best to hold on to her Mother Of The Year title. Not that I'm biased of course!

She was at Liverpool last weekend for Chrissy's Hen Weekend and everyone apparently had a great time. The wedding itself is in Ireland at the end of May and Jen is a bridesmaid so that will be a bit of a frantic time!

Lastly we come to me, where as usual nothing is straight forward!! I started experiencing bad left knee pain around the middle of last year, which was eventually discovered to be a problem with my hip. (Knee and hip share the same nerve endings, so there's a kind of pain transference to the knee when in actual fact it's the hip which has the problems). Docs didn't see any other option than surgery, and because I has such limited mobility the decision was made to get this done as soon as possible so I could get my full quality of life back.

I went into the Freeman Hospital on 8th April for an operation on the 9th. I was lucky enough to get away with a Hip Resurfacing operation as oppose to a full Hip Replacement, which meant I was discharged from hospital 3 days after the op and the recovery time should hopefully be quicker.

The surgery immediately alleviated the pain in my knee, but has obviously left me with some discomfort in my hip during recovery. 3 weeks on, the staples have now been removed and I'm on the road to recovery. I have to use crutches so as not to put too much strain on the new joint during the early stages and I'm on sick leave from work for at least 6 weeks. Driving is out of the question during this time and I must take care not to put too much strain on the hip.

I could waffle on for ages about my stay in hospital and go in more detail about the recovery, but those close to me are probably bored stupid of hearing about it by now!

Finally just to add to everything else we have going on at the minute, work has resumed on the house extension; The lintels have been fitted this week to allow the kitchen wall to be knocked out and form one large kitchen. The kitchen itself was delivered yesterday morning and installation should hopefully begin next week. The kitchen is the biggie, and once that's done we* should be able to plough on with completion of the other rooms. I'll post pics as things progress and they look at bit more interesting!

* I say 'we', but obviously neither myself or Jen can help at all. It's good to watch though! Poor Laurence (Jen's Dad) may as well move in here given the amount of time he's here working on the extension. Needless to say it's very much appreciated.

Sorry again for the ridiculously long post, if you're still reading at this point! Lol. I really need to take a leaf out of Michele's book and do shorter posts on a more regular basis......but I've been trying and failing to do that for years :o)

Happy New...........Baby :o)

2010-02-07T19:37:00.018Z

First post of 2010 and a happier post it could not be;

Joseph Revell Cornell was born at 6.52am on Tuesday 19th January weighing a hefty 9lb 2oz.

He was 13 days late in arriving so kept us hanging on, and then when he did decide to make an appearance it was done in a hurry...!

Quick Birth Summary; Jen's contractions started at around 8pm on Monday 18th and the contractions were on average 8min 13.7 seconds apart!! Yep it was another chance for my inner geek to try and prove it's usefulness with an application for my iPhone called Labor Mate (American Spelling)

I was told to go to bed around midnight as there was apparently no point in us both staying awake when they were that far apart! I was woken by my mobile ringing not long after 3am, and it was Jen calling from downstairs (!) to inform me they were now approximately every 4 minutes. ('Approximately' - cha, have I not taught this girl anything?!). Anyway, by the time we'd woke my parents up and my Mam came round to stay with Abigail, it was 4.50am when we arrived at the Wansbeck General Hospital maternity ward.

I'll miss the graphic detail out of the next few hours, but if you're keen to hear them Jen is only to pleased to explain them all first hand.!

So two hours after arriving at the Hospital, Joseph was born. Jen's birth record actually mentions that the second stage labour was less than 15 minutes!

The speed of the birth caused a bit of shock for Joseph and he swalled some Meconium on the way out. As a result he spent a day in the Special Care Unit whilst they flushed any remnants of the stuff from his lungs, and gave him an anti-biotic to fight any possible infection. I did a Charity Bike Ride with Abigail in August last year (pics here), in aid of the Wansbeck Special Care Baby Unit and as much as it felt like a good cause at the time, it's only when your child is in there and you see the amazing work they do there that you can really appreciate it.

Jospeh was back with Jen on the Ward for their second night in hospital, and after being given a clean bill of health I brought them home on Friday 22nd January.

Everyone's first question is always "What's Abigail like with him'.....

She didn't really grasp the whole baby thing when he was in Hospital, as it was more of a bigger deal for her to be going to visit Mammy.

She was kind of curious on his first day at home, in that she would smile and point wouldn't really go too close to him.

The next day although she appeared to be taking it in her stride, Abigail was getting a bit upset whenever Joseph cried.

By his 3rd day at home though, she became the perfect little Sister; full of cuddles, saying his name, giving him toys and stroking his head whenever he made the slightest little whimper.

It was all really interesting to see, and impossible not to get a little teary as she has bonded with him more and more. It was also difficult not to laugh when the first time Abgail decided she wanted to hold Joseph on her knee, that he then promptly broke wind :o) .....

Joseph is simply what I would describe as 'chilled out'. He lets us know immediately when he wants his food, makes it obvious when he still has wind to bring up, and sleeps completely soundly. He has a feed around 11-12pm, another around 3-4am and then the morning one is from 6.30 - 7.30am, all of which means we certainly can't complain about the amount of sleep we have been managing to get right from day one.

Although I always suspected that things may be easier the second time around for us as parents of a new born in that we'd have more of an idea of what to expect, I actually underestimated how much of a difference the experience from Abigail would make. Jen and I are both so much more relaxed and able to enjoy this precious family time without that slight niggle at the back of your mind about whether you're doing everything right.

For anyone reading this who has been round to visit with a gift, or sent a card/gift in the mail - can I just say a big THANK YOU. You are all extremely generous. (Jen's badgering me to sort out Thank You cards which I will get too eventually!). The boxes and boxes of neatly folded Pink baby clothes from when Abigail was born turned out to be of no use, but Joseph already has a full blue wardrobe from all of the gifts he's received.

Even when I cannot find the time to update this blog, I will continue to post regular pictures of both Abigail and Joseph on our Flickr page so please check there regularly. And of course Jen will post a selection now and again on Facebook.

Joseph's Flickr set here. Thanks for reading.

A picture paints a thousand words..

2009-11-24T10:39:00.006Z

...so it saves me having to type long blog posts....!

Eventually got round to uploading pictures from the past 4 months onto Flickr last week;

In August it was Peter and Joanne's wedding, and I was his Best Man.

I stayed at the Village Hotel with Peter and the two Ushers the night before the wedding. The reception was at North Shields Registry Office and then everyone headed back for a Garden Party at Joanne and Peter's house, where yes I had to make a speech!
The evening doo was then at Seaton Sluice club.

O'Brien Flickr Set and Slide Show.

Also took Abigail to SevenStories for the first time in August, and she loved it.
It was early on a Sunday morning and she basically had the run of the place.

Definitely somewhere we'll take her too more often and it's probably also somewhere relaxing to go when we've two children in tow...!

SevenStories Flickr Set and Slideshow.

In September it was Andrew (Maddy) and Sara's wedding, and I was an Usher.

The whole day was at Doxford Hall, which I have to say is one stunning place.

Maddison Wedding Flickr Set and Slideshow.

Then finally just to explain the last of the Flickr photos, I attended a charity day at The Races where I got to meet Alan Shearer and current Newcastle Goal Keeper Steve Harper.

On the subject of photographs, I recently came to the conclusion that it's time I moved on from Compact Digital Cameras to the real deal Digital SLR Camera format.
Sold my old one on good old eBay and the new one is due to arrive any day now, so expect a shed load more pics starting to appear on Flickr....! Could have waited for possible bargains in the sales but I need to make sure I'm familiar on how the thing works before baby no.2 arrives, and as you can see from the count down at the top of this page that's really not long at all now.
Jen is doing really, really well and she literally NEVER moans or complains during pregnancy. Don't get me wrong I know she's getting towards her limit now and is about ready to pop, but it has to be said that she's an amazing mother.
It's also a bit worrying that people are forever commenting that she suits being pregnant....!!!!

Past Halfway Already!

2009-08-24T12:26:00.003Z

We went for the 20 weeks baby scan last week. Yep, that's 20 weeks already!!
I know I speak for Jen here too when I say that the whole pregnancy thing is obviously a lot more relaxed the second time around, but I seriously can't believe how quick it's going. Obviously not a bad thing like, because it means baba will soon be here.

Scan went really well. They normally only last about 15 minutes, but because there was a trainee guy there too it went for double the length of time which was a bonus for us.
Although we've chosen Wansbeck Hospital for the actual birth, you can literally be sent to any of the surrounding hospitals now for the routine scans. A lot of pregnant women around at the minute* so they're sharing the scan appointments around. I guess there's a lot of truth about how people are staying in more during the credit crunch!!

Time to Blog Off?

2009-08-14T14:38:00.002Z

Another geeky post I'm afraid...! Just trying to decide whether to switch Blog host providers from here to HERE

At times this Country REALLY DOES SUCK!!!!

2009-07-20T09:53:00.004Z

It's time for me to have another rant..!
Following on from my earlier post about Swine Flu and how I think it's being blown massively out of proportion by the press and the powers that be in this Country, I was disgusted to read one of the bits of advice on the National Childcare Trust's (NCT) website;
So they are reporting that the DoH advises people trying for a baby should wait until the Swine Flu situation calms down! You've probably heard about all the back tracking and re-wording which has taken place since this statement but I'm still astounded that it was even said..!

- Surely they must have realised how this would make recently pregnant women feel?!
- As for the reference to couples in the middle of IVF treatment, it's got to be one of the most stressing things to go through as it is, and thinking positive must be hard enough without having this doubt to consider.
- So a possible population dip and then the following population explosion when things calm down would be acceptable would it?! Where are we here - 1944 in the middle of World War II?!
- Given the plight of the Country now with an ever increasing Measles problem because of the supposed MMR advice, surely there should be greater controls on such press releases by now?!

The more this Swine Flu situation rolls on, the more and more despondent I get with the Country's approach to handling it!
I'll finish with this cartoon from the Daily Mail;

Another member to join the Cornell household

2009-07-17T10:11:00.002Z

As most people will now know, and as briefly mentioned in an earlier post, Jen is pregnant again :o)
Our latest addition, still code named Button2 at the time of writing, is due around the 4th of January 2010. I say 'around' the 4th because we've had 2 scans (1 private and 1 NHS) and the predicated dates vary between the 4th and 6th of Jan. Also when we had the private scan they had the facility to do 4D images as well as the usual 2D. They're not that clear at this stage of the pregnancy but still interesting to see and extremely clever when you take into account how small baba is at this stage.

Jen's doing really well and touch wood no morning sickness this time either so far. Obviously there are days when she's absolutely shattered from running after Abigail etc but she never complains about it. Feel really sorry for her at the minute though because she's been suffering really bad with her hayfever. Normally a tablet tends to calm it down, but she doesn't have that option with being pregnant.

Timing wise Jen should start her maternity leave when she finishes work for Christmas so that works out quite nicely. And let's just say the usual question of "What we going to do for New Year", won't be getting asked in our house this year!!

There'll be 2 and a half years between Abigail and Button2 which is about what we'd always hoped for. Certainly different to the 8 years between me and my Brother! Abigail is fascinated with "Babas" and I can't wait to see her with a new baby in the house....

Majorca

2009-07-14T09:20:00.003Z

Although I posted a couple of pics direct from my phone whilst we were holidaying in Magaluf, Majorca last month, I never actually got round to posting about the whole holiday...

Initially we weren't planning on having a holiday abroad this year for various reasons, but when Jen became pregnant we realised it's highly unlikely we'll get away next year so had a re-think.
After trauling what felt like every site on the web, we found one of the best ones to be sunshine.co.uk (part of Hayes travel). Found a bargain week in an aparthotel in Magaluf but the only thing we were wary about is some older holiday watchdog reviews which suggested it was rowdy from groups of lads etc. Researched it some more and it turned out it this indeed used to be the case when it was Fiesta Sahara, but the hotel had recently been renovated and relaunched as 'Fresh' Sahara. As part of this work they'd banned groups and one of the conditions to book was actually that a shild MUST be present on the booking - a clever touch I thought, and gave us a real peace of mind too. Ended up getting the holiday cheaper again by Thomson at Cramlington under cutting the web price.
We only had about 10 days notice from booking to departure, but Jen and I both got the time off without problems and we're not the type of people who get stressed about the whole packing thing anyway.

We flew in the evening, so it was near midnight local time when we arrived at the hotel but Abigail coped with the whole thing fine. As requested, our room was to the rear of the hotel away from the noise and at the end of a corridor. All of whioch was ideal for ensuring Abigail had undisturbed sleep. Like most bairns, she's good as gold as long as she gets her sleep!
The Hotel was ideal and as promised all guests were families.

Although the pool and surrounding facilities in our Hotel were really spot on, we actually spent nearly every day at the beach. We prefer being able to do our own thing down there rather than the whole screaming kids round the pool thing. And don't even get me started on how much the whole 'towel on sunbeds' thing does my flipping head in!!! - Blo*dy Saddo's!
Anyhoo, Abigail really loved the days at the beach. She was happy in the shade for hours playing in the sand. Late morning when she got tired one of us would take her for a walk in the buggy until she fell alseep, and she'd then kip in her buggy for up to two hours in the shade.

Again we reeped the benefits of the Waterbabies classes Abigail has attended nearly from birth! She was really confident in both the pool and the sea - water simply doesn't phase her. It's only when we see all of the other arm bands, floats, rings etc etc that we're aware how much we take her confidence for granted now. I've no doubt that it'll all be about water parks when we're next abroad!

Abigail was good as gold for the whole holiday. We didn't go out every evening, but when we did it was good being able to enjoy our meals as she was so well behaved. Having said all that, I'm soooo glad I took the portable DVD Player and a selection of her programs with us. It made the flight easier for us, and it really helped to entertain Abigial during the times we were in the room. Thank god for Peppa Pig!

At first Magaluf may seem like an odd choice for taking a young child but it actually worked out well; Because all of the 'young-uns' tend not to hit the bars/clubs until after midnight, it meant that everywhere was quiet when we were going out for our evening meal. And as they were then partying until after 6 in the morning, it meant we were hitting the beach when they were all in the land of nod! Yep I know, this all makes me sound old before my time - but I'm not ashamed to say those days are long gone!!
It was actually quite funny sitting in some of the beach bars about 2 in the afternoon with a pint and a salad watching the herds starting to trail down with their eyes half way down their face, trying to avoid the sun and pluck up the strength to face a breakfast. They literally never see the sun!

We did no shopping or trailing around crappy gift shops all stocking the same tat, what so ever. I LLLOOOVVVEE the fact that Jen hates shopping when she's abroad!
I can safely say the in terms of the price of the holiday and what we spent when we there, that we'll never manage a holiday that cheap again.

We had 1 day of cloud where the sun struggled to get out, but we were really lucky with the weather the rest of the time. It hovered around 30 degrees which was spot on when you had the slight breeze off the sea at the beach. Our hotel was literally a 500 yard walk straight along to the Beach, and we had all the shops and restaurants on the way there. In terms of convenience it's definitely somewhere I would go back to.

That's Abigail's second holiday abroad but given she's just turned 2 I guess chances are she probably won't remember either one so far, lol. Flickr Set here and slideshow below...

Oink!

2009-07-10T18:05:00.009Z

Yep, as you might have gathered from the Twitter updates which run down the side of this page, or from my facebook updates, I've been floored with the infamous Swine Flu this week.

Note the lack of exclamation mark at the end of the last sentence. I've seriously had my eyes opened this week to the mass hysteria which seems to be circulating about what is at the end of the day JUST THE FLIPPING FLU!!!!!
Made up for the lack of exclamation marks there then.

Now lets start at the beginning; I was in Portugal last weekend on a Stag Doo (something which will I'll post about separately). Had a cracking weekend and actually felt quite well throughout, especially considering the amount of alcohol consumed! I kept myself right with at least 4 litres of water each day, Dave's Bananas (!)and not drinking alcohol during the day. Then on the flight home, about an hour outside of Newcastle I started to feel really ropey. I downed some more water (think I've been reading Meeshell's blog too much!) and just put it down to being over tired. Didn't feel much better by the time I arrived in the house, so after speaking to Jen for all of 20 minutes I turned in.

Now normally Jen doesn't work Mondays, but sods law this week we'd arranged that I'd have Abigail so Jen could attend a training course at work. Poor Abigail had to entertain herself for most of the day as I was still going downhill. We also had tickets on Monday for my old middle school to look round prior to them pulling it down (yet another blog post required for that). When Jen got in from work I foolishly made the decision that we would still go along, and I think it was that hour walking round which must have really finished me off. I came home literally feeling like death.

Early Monday evening I rang NHS Direct and was placed on hold for 20 minutes - 'high call volumes because of swine flu'!! Eventually spoke to an operator who noted down my details and symptoms before offering me no advice what so ever and saying a nurse would call me back. But of course 'all of the nurses are extremely busy at the minute so it would be several hours'! (I know they pay my wages and all that, but honestly sometimes I despair of them!)
Next morning arrived and still no phone call from NHS Direct. I felt worse again so rang the docs for an emergency appointment.

Arrived at docs at 10.20am on Tuesday thinking "for god's sake all I want is to see someone so they can assure me and my pregnant wife (oops, that'll be ANOTHER blog post then!) that I have not got swine flu". As I open the door to the waiting room, my eyes catch a sign that reads; 'If you think you may have Swine Flu, please immediately go home and call us for more information'.
ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH, now by this point I was past caring, and marched in anyway. Yep in hindsight I completely realise what a selfish, pig headed (sic) move this was. Luckily the book in system at my docs is fully automated. You book yourself in on an arrival screen and don't need to approach reception. The second I did this, the screen then flashed up for me to immediately go through to the docs room. i.e. I thankfully didn't have to even sit down in the waiting room.
It was a lady doc as oppose to my regular GP. As soon as I said "Well I've been away for the weekend to Portugal..." in my sniffly, hoarse voice, I could see her facial expression change and she began to lean away from me. I asked if she was ok and she embarrassingly replied "I'm just wondering if I should go and get a mask". Now increasingly aware of my mistake in attending the docs in person, I hastily agreed that she should get a mask. She returned donning a gown, mask and gloves looking ready to remove my spleen!!
My symtoms all seemed to tick the boxes and when I eventually remembered to mention that Jen had taken my temp the night before and it was 39.4 degrees that seemed to be all the confirmation she needed.

Now up until this point you've probably gathered how ignorant I was to Swine Flu, and when she said that in her opinion I'd contracted it, I began to think "right, here comes the blood test, trip to Hospital, blah, blah". Like the majority of the general population I didn't realise that docs are making a 'Clinical Diagnosis' based on the symptoms the patient presents with. I guess it makes sense given the sheer number of blood tests which could be involved if it were done any other way. She said that a) the fact that I'd been out of the Country, and b) have a pre-existing medical condition (the auld arthur'), that I was to immediately start on a course of Tamiflu.
I was instructed to rest, drink plenty and isolate myself away in one bedroom of the house away from my pregnant wife and 2 year old daughter as they are both classed as high risk. Now I was really, really, really starting to feel like some sort of Leprosy victim!! Finally I had to find myself a 'Flu Buddy' as I could not pick up the Tamiflu myself, and arrange for them to pick it up at the 1 distribution centre for our area, in blo*dy Byker!!

So there you go, I arrived home at 11am on Tuesday with a clinical diagnosis of suspected swine flu. Now that's where the fun part starts (well not really)....
From those 6 words above in green, the majority of people seem to read / hear them and then output them as "HHHHOOOLLLLYYY SSSSHHHH****TTTT, REVE'S GOT SWINE FLU, AND THAT'S JUST LIKE THE BIGGEST THING EVER". It was nuts...!

Now I know it's mainly down to the way the press have reported the whole swine flu thing, making it sound like we're all doomed, but seriously, someone REALLY needs to get the message out there somehow that IT'S JUST FLU.

I won't deny it has completely floored me this week, but flu always does in my case. Some people will be unlucky and will suffer more than I have, but others I have no doubt will manage to shake it after a days rest. It isn't however going to help anyone fight it, if they are living in fear of something which they think is a lot worse than it is. That's the message I'm trying to get out of what is becoming the world's longest blog post here. I feel quite strongly about this having become aware of the amount of people who seemed to think I was one step away from meeting my maker this week. I know this isn't the world's most popular blog, but if you know anyone who's a bit panicky about the whole swine flu thing, please send them a link to this post you're reading.

On to some lighter stuff; So I duly locked myself into our bedroom (made sense given I'd slept there the night before) and Jen moved into the spare room. Jen's literally been calling me using the intercom facility on the house phones and txting me! The only times I've seen her was when she's brought food and drinks in, and until today, food has been the last thing I've wanted all week. Seriously wish the house extension had been finished so I could have made use of the en-suite rather than the family bathroom as that was in effect the only shared area.

After the docs I immediately txt the other 16 lads from the stag weekend to warn them, as I thought it was something I could have picked up on the plane. Rang the necessary family members and of course work to report myself as sick. Work advised that I had to stay away until I was 100% cured. The sickness self certification period has been extended from 3 days to 10 days during the Swine Flu outbreak, which I thought was a really good idea. (In case you missed that, that was me praising my employers in that last sentence!). Jen rang her work and was told to stay away for 7 days.
My Dad rang my Mam at work (she works in a care home), to explain the situation to her as I had been at their house the day before. As my Mam was on a training course he explained the situation to her boss. Her boss then immediately pulled my Mam out of the course saying something along the lines of; "I'm sorry Liz but your son Revell has been diagnosed with swine flu and as a precaution I'm going to have to send you home for 7 days". - Yep as you've probably guessed, she just heard the words swine flu like any Mother would and drove home with all sorts of images in her head of me in Hospital etc. Bless her.

Well it's now Friday evening and I've literally just polished off a geet big Ruby Murry complete with Chips and Nan! Apart from feeling still week as water and having a sore throat I reckon I'm just about back to normal. Weighed myself on Tuesday and also just before I ate tonight and thankfully I've only lost about 2lb this week. Sure I'll put that back on quick enough...especially once the alcohol starts again.
Came out of my bedroom quarantine at lunch time today, but still sitting across the room from Jen and sleeping in separate rooms for one more night. Abigail's been at Grandma's all day so also kept completely away from her, which brings me to my final point;

For me, I have to say the hardest part of this week by far has been not seeing the bairn. I've literally not been in the same room as her since first thing Tuesday morning. Being able to hear her downstairs playing with Jen and doing all the normal things has been really tough to miss out on. I know it's for Abigail's own good, but it's still been harder than I imagined.
Reckon I might end up with a week's worth of dirty nappies to change next week though.......!!

Giant Sandpit

2009-06-25T12:51:00.001Z

Giant Sandpit
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula

Been to the beach just about everyday - even when the weather's been
rubbish! Abigail loves playing with the sand, but like all kids she
can't grasp the need for wet sand to make sand castles.
In this photo she's swimming the turtle and fish moulds in a bucket of
water and thinks it brilliant! I'm lying cooking here trying
struggling to see my phone screen in the sun so apologies for typos.
We leave tomorrow night so it's that time where everyone drops the SPF
to some stupid number and goes for the final burn. Seriously us Brits
are so stupid!

(iPhone email)

View from my sunbed...

2009-06-22T16:18:00.001Z

View from my sunbed...
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula

...at 6pm on a Monday evening! Yep them's my feet.
It's all good. Abigail loves the pool nearly as much as we love the
weather.
This has been the first day at the pool because we've always headed to
the beach until now. Hotel's spot on, - proper family hotel smack bang
in the middle of Maguluf. They don't let people book unless they have
a child with them which is a really good idea considering some of the
hen and stag type hotels we've seen..and heard!
Tra for now.

(iPhone email)

Abigail's 2nd Birthday

2009-06-18T14:31:00.004Z

I know every parent says it, but I seriously can't believe Aboo is 2 already (6th June)!
As expected she was completely spoiled rotten and showered with gifts on her Birthday. We got up early so she could open our presents, then my parents called in with their's before heading off to France for two weeks in their Mobile Home. Actually the first time it's been properly used - apart from our Seahouses trip of course!
In typical Abigail unpredictable fashion she then decided to make her usual afternoon kip a longer than usual one - on her Birthday of all days. When she eventually got up, I fitted her new child seat to my bike (present from my parents with a helmet) so we could quickly test ride it before heading up to Jen's parents for tea. She was again showered with gifts (sand and water table was the biggy of them), and then insisted on blowing the Birthday cake candles out a good half dozen times!
Dave, Michelle and Elise came to ours and stayed that night so it was SingStar a plenty.

On Sunday we headed to Whitehouse Farm (Photos here). Deliberately waited until the Sunday as it was when they were having one of their open days when you can groom/handle the animals and sit on the various farm machinery. Abigail lapped it up and thought she was great sitting on the huge Tractors etc. (She screams like a banshee at the noise when they're started up like!).

Went to meet Jen's parents for lunch after that and did the usual "make a pig of yourself on a Sunday" thing with Delaval Ice Cream etc!

I think after watching Peppa, George, Mammy Pig and Daddy Pig all go through their on screen Birthdays, Abigail actually knew what was going on for hers this year and what all the fuss was about!

Blog test from iPhone

2009-06-18T12:57:00.001Z

Blog test from iPhone
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula

Photo sent via email to blog from iPhone

More May Photos

2009-06-15T12:44:00.006Z

We took Abigail to Saltwell Park on the last weekend of May. It was a roasting day and we wanted somewhere to just doss in the sun where she could run around.

Don't think I realised how big the place is. If you're willing to keep away from the kids play area it seems there always a quiet corner of the park to relax in. Also has a pets corner but I think birds bore Abigail to be honest!
Photo's Here.

May

2009-06-08T09:57:00.007Z

I haven't been here since April, so I might as well try and cover May in one post...!

May was the start of what are going to be a very busy few months for us. All in a good way of course but I can't believe how much stuff is planned.
The beginning of the month started with Sam and Alan's wedding at the Holiday Inn. When I say wedding it certainly wasn't a run of the mill one; They'd got married a few weeks earlier in Vegas, in true Vegas style. The ceremony was streamed on the t'interwebs and it was quite bizarre being able to see it. This photo is just after the ceremony finished and they all waved to the camera.
Anyhoo, getting back to the home leg of their doo; it started with drinks at the Holiday Inn, then speeches, and then onto a formal blessing. Then came the food, Elvis tribute act, Poker Table and Wheel of Fortune! Yep it was bizarre, but it was also really, really good.
It was also the first time we'd been back to a doo at the Holiday Inn since our wedding there nearly 4 years ago. It was in the same room, but that's about where the similarities between the two end! Flickr photo set of their wedding is here.

Also went to see Girls Aloud last month at the Arena with Jen. Missed them the last twice they've been due to us having holidays booked.
I wasn't really sure what to expect to be honest after the recently dissapointing show by the Pussy Cat Dolls (photos on my Facebook somewhere). Girls Aloud though turned out to be really good.
The stage, songs, performance, atmosphere were all way better than PCD. Ours seats were dead centre and really close to the front so we had a cracking view of the show. Again the set is on flickr here

Next came the weekend at Haggerston Castle.
Altogether there was me, Jen, Abigail + Lee & Emma + Maddy, Sarah, Jess + Simon & Kirstine + Maff, Kelly & Anna + Jimmy & Family (sorry I'm rubbish with names). We had 3 caravans and it was a proper fun 4 days.
The whole idea was a cheap caravan holiday somewhere and given the Haven Park's are all basically the same anyway we thought it made sense just to go to Haggerston.
Kids all had a great time and the parents all lapped it up too. Within a day of being there you completely forgot that you were only like an hour from home. Yep photos here again.

Had a quiet week during the middle of the month, which wasn't a bad thing seeing as I was on call anyway. Then came Jen's 29th Birthday on the 22nd May (only 1 year away from the big '3' '0'!), which was also a bank holiday weekend. We were both at work on the 22nd so again it was a quiet one, then we went for an Indian's with Lee and Emma on the Saturday.

I think that's about everything worth mentioning here for the Month of May.

The house extension is still on-going. We've now had the plans back for the new kitchen which is quite exciting, although it'll be even better when the plans turn into reality!

June is looking like quite a good month but I'm not even going to commit to saying I'll post here again soon because I'm pretty useless with updates! JUNE: Take That (Jen), Abigail's Birthday, Boy Zone (Jen) and finally a week in Magaluff / Palma Nova which Jen booked last night after work - wahoo!

Highbrow Flickr

2009-04-29T14:21:00.001Z

I think most people are aware that President Obama is on Twitter, but also found off Joi Ito today that there is an official White House Flickr stream...!

Flickr: The Official White House Photostream's Photostream

Have to say that's pretty cool.

Damn ISP's!!!

2009-04-29T11:04:00.004Z

Straight to the point here...

PLEASE UPDATE YOUR BOOKMARKS / FAVOURITES WITH THIS ADDRESS:
http://thecornells.blogspot.com/

My Blog runs on Google's free Blogspot service. It's been on there since day one and I simply make use of web forwarding from my Internet Service Provider to forward thecornells.co.uk to the address above. This is all well and good until the web forwarding breaks down and you're left with a 'website currently unavailable' message, which has apparently been here for the last week or so.
This is no doubt more than a coincidence that the problems occur at the time that my domain is due for renewal! Anyway I've complained and they look to have re-instated the web forwarding but can I suggest you go straight to http://thecornells.blogspot.com/ from now on, as this will bypass the middle man.
Incidentally the reason I still use blogspot as oppose to one of the many other and often more advanced blog engines, is because I try to keep as much stuff 'Google' as I can. Cloud computing is great for someone like me moving between many different devices and OS's and touch wood I never have a problem with Google. My mail, calendar and contacts management is all out there somewhere and is easilly accessible on my PC, laptop, Mac, iPhone, Blackberry etc.

Sorry for the geeky tech post, but had to at least explain why the blog has been down for a week!

"Eeeeh it makes everyone look like miniture people!"

2009-03-24T14:20:00.004Z

'Tilt Shift' photos are something that has fascinated me for a while now but they're something I'd never have the time to look into creating from scratch. It's a lot more technical than this, but in short it an effect which can make people / objects / landscapes etc in photos all look miniture, - like a little toy town if you like. Try Googling for examples or looking round Flickr.
Normally it's quite a lengthy process which also involves a decent spec camera for a start. However I came across a link to this site a few months ago; tiltshiftmaker.com/
Which allows you to have a go at it with your own photos in 3 easy steps.

Decided to try it with this photo I took a few years back at St James' Park when 'The Match' was being shown on Sky 1. Obviously the original is on the left, and the tilt shifted version on the right.

Click the photo to see the full original size.

This is example is no where near as effective as some of the ones kicking around the web but I was pleased for how long it took.
If you really want to be impressed check out this example of a Tilt Shift video;

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

You constantly have to remind yourself that the video isn't just a load of toy people!

Summer at last

2009-03-20T13:43:00.003Z

Taking Shape

2009-01-22T14:45:00.006Z

Been a while since I posted anything so time for an update; The main reason for not posting is too much time on the PS3! I just find that most nights when we're not watching something on tv, and Jen is on her laptop I might as well take advantage of the PS3 time. Plus we've bought a new tv and games on it look really good.
We had a good Christmas and New Year and tried to make the most of it given that all three of us were ill at some point. December felt like a month spent in the Doctor's surgery!
Abigail was spoilt rotten with pressies at Xmas as expected, but she loves her new toys; Kitchen, Easel, Car, Dolls, Trampoline etc...and of course, not forgetting a Chef's outfit..!

We were at a friends wedding on New Year's eve which was something very different to normal but it was really good. It had a really homely atmosphere with roaring coal fires etc, and having all our friends there at Midnight was perfect.

Looking at 2009 it's already looking like it's going to be a very busy year; The house extension is still on-going, althought the external work is just about done with the roof tiles going on literally as I type this. We've then obviously got the job of the inside to do.
Already got 2 Weddings booked, which means there's the Hen and Stag doo's to go with them. Got a few weekends away sorted too, and then there's Jen Christmas from me in a few weeks - tickets to see the Dirty Dancing show in London.

Thought I'd finish with a video of Abigail pointing out the shapes her Mammy had drawn on her Easel;

and another of her identifying the animals;

and finally one of Abigail spotting the Colours;

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T13:54:00.004Z

And Happy New Year

Abigail's First Nativity

2008-12-16T15:55:00.002Z

Abigail had her first Nativity last week at a local church in Blyth. She goes to a Playgroup in the adjacent Church Hall every Tuesday so she's involved in loads of stuff in the run up to Christmas as you can imagine.

It was her Christmas Party today and Santa made appearance so no doubt pictures of that will appear on here soon. She's also in a repeat of the Nativity on Xmas eve.

Anyway, getting back to last week; I took some time off work so I could go along, and it turned out to be really good. It was obviously an extremely condensed version of the Christmas Story so that the kids didn't get bored, but the message was still there.

My Mam went along, thinking that she'd just be there to watch but she ended up getting dragged into it too so that Abigail would sit still!

The highlight for everyone seemed to be singing "Twinkle, Twinkle.." as they all love doing the hand actions.

Notice how I got through this whole entry without any sarcasm about Abigail being an Angel!

iPhone Moan

2008-11-22T15:53:00.002Z

iPhone Charger Fault
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula

Only had my iPhone a week and the charger's goosed!

Let's just hope it's a one off and I'm not being punished for years of allegiance to everything PC!!

It's the USB converter part of the charger that's not working. Thankfully I can still charge it via the laptop or using my wife's charger :o)

Apple have said a replacement part will be with me by Tuesday....

Growing up fast

2008-11-12T15:20:00.004Z

(Yep, I know it's been a while since I posted, but I haven't abandoned this altogether)

One thing's for sure - Abigail certainly isn't a baby any more. Apart from looking very grown up she's becoming extremely strong willed and seems to have a never ending source of energy!
Although I haven't posted much on here lately, I have continued to post flickr photos of Aboo whenever possible.

We took her to 'Bounce' on Sunday morning - a local indoor childrens activity centre, and because we were there quite early, Abigail had free run of the place!
No ride or climbing frame seemed to be too big for her, and she just wanted to try them all. Yet there's other times when she can be scared of the strangest little things - kids are just weird!

Although Abigail is fine for short journeys around town, she tends to get bored and quite ratty if we're in the car too long. I bought a portable DVD Player a few years back for this exact situation - see how confident I was that we'd be starting a family, Lol! So I tried her with the player and some of her programs in the car at the weekend and she seems to love it :o)
It's hilarious when I'm driving and I look over my shoulder to see her dancing away to the Backyardigans songs!

Wonder if the place will ever be the same

2008-09-07T22:23:00.004Z

Morpeth has been all over the news the last few days because of the devastation caused by the floods. The above picture (click to enlarge) on the right was taken about a week ago when me and Jen took Abigail to feed the ducks and for a walk along the river. The picture on the left is from one of the BBC news videos, and by my reckoning we were standing about where the red dot is!!
There's actually a path under the bridge which is hard to believe when you look at the height the water had risen to.
I work in Morpeth and when I left there on Friday I had no idea of what was about to happen to the place. Strangely enough we were actually out drinking in Morpeth with friends on Friday night, which must have been less than 9 hours before the river burst it's banks!
We crossed one of the bridges whilst running between pubs (due to the rain!) and I remember pointing out how fast the river seemed, but of course with drink on board I didn't think much of it.
It's been more than 40 years since Morpeth last had a major flood. Just makes me wonder how much the place is going to change as a result of this weekend....

And so it begins....

2008-08-10T21:41:00.006Z

Worryingly Abigail likes nothing better than being out shopping! I'm talking proper shopping here mind, not boring old food shopping. - You only ever get half way round Asda before she starts!

After 6 weeks of using 'Cruisers' until she was comfortable walking properly, it was time yesterday to take Abigail for her first pair of decent walking shoes. Some thing's haven't changed from when I was a bairn, in that 'Clarks' is still seen as the place to go.

Hardest part seemed to be finding a pair with a proper buckle. Erm hello! -what's the point of Velcro on babies shoes?! Surely it obvious they'll just constantly take them off. Or at least Abigail would!

Anyway we got there in the end, and the staff pulled out a Polaroid camera (never seen one of them in a while!) to make a presentation card of the occasion....

Having a whale of a time in Mothercare breaking in the shoes..!

How to save spending a tenner on a cheap Teddy Bear

2008-08-08T13:12:00.005Z

When we were holidaying in Scotland a few weeks ago, I decided to try and get the bairn a prize from one of them rip-off Crane/Claw Games.

Normally I get absolutely no where with them and just walk away about a fiver out of pocket. On that occasion I was lucky and Abigail got a cute little Dog which has now been aptly named 'Tara' after the Craig Tara caravan park.

Anyhoo, I came across this video this morning and realise that's the way to do it! This must be every kids dream....!

http://view.break.com/536276

Go Go Gadget Legs...!

2008-07-18T17:49:00.002Z

Abigail is on the move! She's gone from 2 steps on Tuesday to this earlier on tonight;

Another chapter in the Cornell family Album

2008-06-13T14:26:00.006Z

I have at last gotten round to sorting out and uploading the batch of photo's from our recent Spanish Holiday, and they're available on Flickr as usual...or as a slideshow if you prefer.

The photo's are from two different cameras - mine and my Dads, and the difference in quality between the Digital and Digital SLR is massive in some shots! Details on the bottom right of each photo screen;

We bought Abigail various toys whilst on holiday including a Baby Walker from my parents which we brought home with us!! Another of these was a rubber football which she loved to chase around the villa on her hands and knees doing her infamous sniper crawl. I couldn't help but notice on one of the photos how much her kicking pose resembles that of Beckham's when lining up a free-kick....!!

"We're all off to sunny spain...."

2008-05-28T13:29:00.001Z

"We're all off to sunny spain...."
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula

Abigail ended up with her own seat between me and Jen on the way here, as plane wasn't full. The pic is of her buckled up (attached to my seat belt) ready for take off. The whole flight thing didn't seem to bother her at all. She was awake the whole time taking it all in.

Happy Birthday Jefna

2008-05-22T13:50:00.001Z

Happy Birthday Jefna
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula

Chilling in a bar on Javea Beach, Spain having a Birthday drink with Jen. Glass is definitely half full :-)

High Brow Business Lunch

2008-05-15T19:49:00.003Z

Bezzy mates Abigail and Amber met at the South Beach pub last Friday evening to discuss business....

Abigail: "So we've called this meeting to hold a telephone auction of that particular toy"

Amber: "I will now consult my buyers guide to see what we can expect for this most sought after item..."

Amber: "According to this we should expect to receive at least a couple of grand for it. Can you believe it?! I mean look at it...!"

Abigail: "Seems a lot like. I'll get straight on the blower and see what we can get for it"

(10 minutes, and a dozen phone calls later...)

Abigail: "5op!!! Can you believe that! The cheeky ****"

Amber: "WHAT! I'd rather throw it away than let it go for that!"

.....

Abigail: "Right are you going to the bar or am I...?!"

The 3rd love of my life and a post without Abigail in it!

2008-04-24T21:28:00.004Z

A mate (cheers Ian) offered me a last minute ticket to the biggest football match of the year for Newcastle - the local 'Tyne, Wear Derby" against Sunderland.

Although I've got season tickets in my name, I sell them on each year (for a number of reasons) and don't really get to the match much as a result. This was actually my first game of the season.

Turned out to be a good game, mainly because Owen scored so early and that was all my nerves settled. Final score was 2-0 to Newcastle for anyone that doesn't know......and if you didn't know - Shame on you!!

More Photo's Here

Seperated at Birth

2008-04-08T19:41:00.004Z

Wordy from Look & Read (Means nothing unless you're a school child of the early 80's!)

Abigail's bath time

Better Late Than Never!

2008-04-03T14:57:00.003Z

Back in December of last year whilst out doing some last minute Christmas shopping we walked past one of those mobile professional photographers in a local shopping centre. We had time to spare, so thought what the hell, and for once Abigail wasn't covered head to toe in baby food!

It's only taken me 3 months to get the resulting photos uploaded!.....blame too much PS3 time and not enough blog time!!!

Can't believe how quickly she's changing at the minute. I'll have to get some recent photos uploaded, along with a video of Abigail's version of crawling...!

Hoody Culture

2008-02-28T20:52:00.004Z

'Aboo' as she's now come to be known, just at times has bother written all over her face! At the minute, with those two bottom teeth she has the look of a cartoon dog...I just can't decide which one; Gnasher (Dennis the Menace's partner in crime) or an upside down Goofy (the Disney Dog)..!

And so it begins/ends....

2008-02-06T20:26:00.000Z

Abigail had her first day at Nursery today, which meant it was also Jen's first day back at work and the end of her 9 months Maternity Leave.
Jen's been taking her for introductory days over the last few weeks to get used to the people and new environment etc, so when it came to saying goodbye this morning Jen was kind of accustomed to it. I went along this morning too, and I have to say I found it a lot harder than I expected! Don't get me wrong the nursery is really spot on and I can't fault the place but it just felt really strange saying goodbye for the day - heart wrenching I think is the phrase.
Anyway Abigail had a good day and according to her daily diary/report (!!) they think she'll settle in no bother :o)
Out little girl is growing up...!!

Not Strictly A Concert

2008-02-06T20:17:00.000Z

Jen is massively into the 'Strictly Come Dancing' series that are now an anual event on BBC1. So when they announced there was to be a tour, she was mad keen to go as you can imagine...!

As a kind of extended Christmas pressie I managed to get us some of the floor side seats - 3 rows from the front when the show came to Newcastle Arena last month. It was certainly the strangest 'gig' I've ever been to and I've just gotten round to putting the photo's online....

Fame Again

2008-01-05T16:48:00.000Z

I took the photo on the left in September 2006 whilst at the Robbie Williams concert at Hampden Park, Glasgow. It was uploaded to Flickr as with most of my photos and then gradually forgotten about, - or so I thought...

Got an e-mail completely out of the blue from someone at Schmap a few weeks back to say they'd like to use the Hampden Park pic. Schmap basically do online dynamic travel guides and this one was obviously intended for Glasgow. I gave them permission to use the photo as let's be honest by putting it on the web I was leaving it open to be used anyway, and I thought it was actually nice to be asked.

Then just before Christmas they e-mailed again to say thanks for the photo and provided details of where it could be seen online, - HERE. (The page takes a couple of seconds to fully display due to the amount of information on it).

(I chose to display the picture with the name of my flickr alias rather than my real name. Obviously not hard to link the two, but I just to prefer posting on the web that way).

Flawless

2008-01-04T16:25:00.000Z

We've got a Laminate floor in our living room, which although is ideal when you've got pets and is great for keeping clean - it's not ideal for a growing baby who's trying to crawl and often takes a tumble! I spotted something which looked ideal in a friends flickr pages and then set about sourcing one on eBay.

There are 36 pieces (A-Z and 0-9) and each is 12" square and made of foam. Abigial loves it and we're now a lot more relaxed when she's chucking hereself around the floor! One day she'll even be able to jump around and spell her name on it....

Christmas Coke

2008-01-04T16:11:00.000Z

Coca-Cola advertise right at the top of the famous corner screens in Piccadilly Circus, London and over the Festive Period they gave people the opportunity to send in a message for friends or family which they would display on the screen.

They then send an e-mail informing of the 15 slot when your message will appear. Best of all, for people that can't get to Piccadilly Circus to see their message in person - there was a webcam in place producing Live Feed to their website. I managed to catch a shot of our message... :o)

6 Months old already

2007-12-14T09:50:00.000Z

Can't believe Abigail is 6 months old already (well actually 27 weeks now!), but she is...and she seems to get more photogenic the more the camera is pointed at her. And that's quite a lot in our house!

Back Knacked!

2007-12-09T17:09:00.000Z

What a bizarre weekend...!

So last night we had a few people round for drinks (saving the baby sitter passes for closer to Christmas!), and decided that we'd watch the Hatton v Mayweather Boxing Match. It was a long slog but the lads at least managed to stay awake for it. Result was obviously wrong, but it was a cracking fight.

I then went to bed this morning whilst Jen was up with Abigail. Later when Jen brought Abigail up for her morning nap, I got up and was just walking across the landing when BANG, my back went! Pain probably like I've never felt before and literally couldn't move it. Was having trouble catching my breath so went back to the bedroom to try and sit on the bed...worst thing I could have done. - I then ended up stuck in the position of the bloke (or woman!?) pictured above!! Yep I was doubled over like some fat bloke you see in the cartoons. Couldn't move up or down and was still struggling for breath. In the end Jen had to ring an Ambulance....!!!

7 minutes later (impressive!) there were now 2 paramedics standing in our bedroom trying to work out what was going on. Turns out that my back has apparently gone into some sort of spasm, and it's a case of waiting for it to sort itself out!

I still look totally ridiculous when trying to move and everything is an effort. Thinking back, you've no idea what a complete eejit I felt this morning I tell ya!

I'm already crawling the walls a bit, but I think I've now realised what laptops were invented for.

BEWARE! Baby Bites

2007-12-03T22:17:00.000Z

It may look small but it's definitely there and blo*dy sharp! We first noticed it on the 25th and now look forward to many 'eventful' months as the rest come through...!!

Poor Abigail, I get the impression she's already had enough of the constant gum ache.

Take That.....Again!

2007-11-27T21:09:00.000Z

So we went to see Take That last Monday (26th) for the second time since they got back together. Needless to say Jen was ubelievably excited about it, and was nearly uncontrollable by the time we arrived at the Arena.
Our seats were a lot better this time - approx 15 rows from the main stage and 10 rows from the centre stage. This was without doubt the closest I've been to the performers at a concert and it does make a bid difference like. (I've only ever been to Arena and Stadium gigs though).
They did all the well known 'back in the day' songs plus quite a few from their most recent album. The stage show itself was something else, - you couldn't fail to be impressed.

We were also on the end of a row so when they walked back through the crowd from the centre stage to the front - Jen was in grabbing distance...which she obviously did as you can just about make out from their reactions in the video below..!

Also got a couple of other quite good videos; Patience and Only Takes A Minute.....And needless to say there's also a shed load of photos Here.

See previous post title!

2007-11-16T15:17:00.000Z

Yep Jen thrives on a bit Baby Competition!! This time it's the Evening Chronicle Baby Idol 2007 contest.
To be fair, at least I knew this one was on the cards, given that I went with Jen and Abbie on the day of the shoot. We went on the last day as we'd heard it had been like a cattle market all week with excited mothers determined to get the bairn in the paper dressed in his/her best clobber!
The photographer asked me to sit Abigail on a table and support her back. Given this was about 4 weeks ago, Abigail didn't take kindly to the whole sitting up thing due to her age, and I had to support her front too. I can't believe though that the knacka-jack photographer never thought to mention that my hand would be in the shot on the full size photo...!! We were under the impression it was just head photos they were taking.
The photos are available to buy on the web as a pack for the less than cheap price of 50 quid! which makes the fact that my hand is in the shot all the more ridiculous!!
(Shown in this post are both the photo from the web and also the newspaper).

The competition itself is judged in typical X-Factor style by the number of text votes received, which is something else I don't agree with! Anyway if you want to vote for Abigail you need to do the following;

TEXT: ECBABY 709 to 84080

(Cost is 25p)

Gotta worry about my Missus at times...!

2007-11-14T12:40:00.000Z

Messing around on the computer upstairs last night and Jen shouts "Abigail's photo's in The Sun!".

Turns out the The Sun newspaper is doing a bonniest baby contest and of course Jen couldn't resist submitting a pic of the apple of her eye....

Click here to see the infamous pic of a very young Abigail. - Takes a while for the picture to come up due to the 18,000 entries!!

Early development of Night Vision

2007-10-16T21:13:00.000Z

If the Auld Wives Tale about "eating Carrots helping you to see in the dark" is true then Abigail's getting an early start!
We gave her Baby Rice for the first time last week and although she ate it, she was less than impressed with the taste. Yesterday Jen did the blended carrot thing and to our surprise it seemed to go down quite well.
I could comment on the COMPLETE difference in her nappies as a result today but I'll leave that to your imagination. Couldn't really do it justice anyway until they invent smelly vision!!

Bairns In The Baths

2007-10-10T20:22:00.000Z

I went along to Abigail's 2nd Water Babies class on Monday armed with 2 cameras! (ours and Pinars).
The rest of the class are relaxed enough about photos been taken so I snapped away for 45 mins whilst getting my first insight to the world of baby swimming lessons!
Have to say I was really impressed with the techniques they use to get the little-uns confident with the water, and at the same time keeping them entertained.
Obviously the best part was watching them actually go under the water (see videos below and in the 'AbbieTube' bar), and not one of them came back up distressed.
We'll be taking Abigail abroad next year and I think I might have to seriously look at an underwater kit for my camera...!
As usual there's a flickr set of the photos, and don't forget the 'View as Slideshow' option at the top of the flickr page. (Note: Some of the pics will look a bit odd, as I thought it best to blur all the other babies faces out except for Abigail and Amber).

Royalties Due..?!

2007-09-29T20:13:00.000Z

We were at a wedding doo last night and whilst standing outside talking to the smoking brigade a lass I've not seen for a good few years pipes up with;

"Eeeh you're Revell aren't you?"

Aye

"Did you take your Baby swimming a few weeks ago"

Aye

"Eeeh do you know ya photo is on the Blyth Valley website?"

Erm No!

Turns out the photo I blogged at the time was also used on the Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure website HERE.

(Incidentally, Abigail's proper 'Water Babies' classes start on Monday).

QE2

2007-09-20T20:14:00.001Z

The QE2 recently visited the North East as part of it's round of tours before heading off to the far east to become a floating hotel (have you ever!?!).

After a few troubles it eventually entered the mouth of the Tyne and sailed up to North/South Shields.

Seemed only right to capture at least one shot of her before she left to sail up to Edinburgh.

(QE2 is back in the North East in Oct '08)

Picture Postcards

2007-09-20T20:05:00.000Z

Jen recently went to Warkworth and Amble for the day with her parents. She took the camera for the obligatory Abigail shots, but also took a couple of scenery ones. I was particularly impressed with these two. The colours, the sharpness and the reflections give the appearance of shots from a far more expensive camera! Click on the photos to see the full size ones.

(Flickr'd the pics as usual)

A Religous Experience

2007-09-04T14:01:00.000Z

We went to a Summer Fayre at my Mam's work on Saturday. She works in a care home and each year they have a fayre with all the usual stalls and raffles etc.

John Middleton was there to open proceedings so it seemed only right to get the little-un in for a pic....

John plays Ashley the Vicar in Emmerdale, and of course we had to get Jen in on a pic too to add to the 'Famous People' section of our Flickr!!

NOTE: I use the term 'famous people' VERY loosely because there's some proper Z listers in there!!

Water Baby

2007-09-04T11:28:00.000Z

Our local Sports Centre had an open day at the weekend to show off the results of the recent refurbishment.

We went along to look at the changes and were quite impressed. It was all well overdue and quite basic stuff, e.g. the addition of family changing rooms, but at least it's done.

The pools had extended ours for the day and as it was free entry we decided it would be an ideal oppurtunity to see what Abigail made of the water. After heading home to grab our stuff and the baby swim seat (another kind donation from a work colleague!), we headed to the 'little pool' which for me must have been for the first time in over 25 years!
After getting over the initial temperature surprise Abbie seemed to be really quite relaxed. She's quite used to being up to her neck in water from the Tummy Tub, and I think that might have actually helped to prepare her. After about 10 mins we tried her in the swim seat (pictured), and again she seemed to take the whole thing quite calmly.

There was a supervised photographer also around to take photos for the local swimming club. They asked permission to take our photo and I obviously leapt at the chance. He then kindly agreed to e-mail us the pic after we explained it was Abbie's first time in the pool etc.

Abigial was completely exhausted after her 20 mins of being in the pool, but it seemed like an enjoyable experience and something which we'll have to do regularly.

Monkey Tennis *

2007-08-15T10:44:00.000Z

My usual fantasy football competition was disbanded at the end of last season so I decided to try the free 'metro' one this year.
As well as being free to join, you can have mini-leagues to make it more interesting. I set up a league and tried to get as many teams as possible for the start of the season, - ended up with a respectable 28 participants.

To say a lot of planning went into some people's teams is an understatement.... My work colleagues looked at literally all factors including; last year's player points, summer transfers and even which teams have the easiest start to the season. As it happens, for the opening weekend this all turned out to be in vain...!

On Wednesday evening (2 days before the deadline) Jen decided she'd like to try and enter a team. She insisted in selecting completely her own players and ignoring suggestions from me - apart from obvious help about who was currently injured and therefore wouldn't be playing. This was the result!! - A 5 point lead over her nearest rival, and me somewhere near the relegation spots!! ('Pos' refers to the teams position in the overall nationwide league as oppose to the mini-league).

Call it luck if you want, -but don't let her hear you say that!!

EDIT: You can keep track of the mini-league via the link which will remain to the right of my blog throughout the season. (Jen is no longer top after last night's game).

*A common metaphor for Women's Football

Lake District

2007-07-30T20:54:00.000Z

We went to the Lake District last weekend as a kind of trial run for a wedding we're attending there in October. (Jen's a bridesmaid and had to go to be measured for her dress).

Stayed in a place called Stainton which is between Ullswater and Penrith.

We weren't really sure how it would go given Abigail has only just gone 7 weeks and it would be her first time away from home, but as it turned out everything was fine. She slept through the journey both ways, and thankfully didn't manage to keep the other guests in the hotel awake as she slept all night!

I guess the only thing we weren't fully prepared for was the amount of luggage a baby needs! We remembered everything but if we'd had one other passenger other than the 3 of us we'd defintely have needed a bigger car. Think the hotel receptionist thought I was nuts with the amount of trips I had to make to the car to empty it.

Best of all, the weather this weekend was better than it was for my whole 3 weeks paternity leave so we lapped it up!
Just need to hope that the actual wedding goes as well now....

Certified

2007-07-30T18:03:00.000Z

Our Health Visitor seemed big in to all modern baby techniques and was qualified to run the Baby Massage classes. Jen decided to give it a try and although Abigail was the youngest baby they've had there, she seemed to find it worth while. Anyway as ridiculous as it seems, Abigail has her first certificate!

Abbie's development is still spot on - literally as you can see from her baby growth chart, which tracks weight against age. Most recent measurement was at 7 weeks when she weighed 10lb 9oz (+3lb since birth).

She's still sleeping like a dream (probably wrong choice of words there?), in that she sleeps from approx 9.30pm - 8.00 straight through with only one feed in between. Even then she goes straight back down after the feed. I know, I know her sleep pattern is unlikely to stay this good but for now we're trying to make the most of it by getting out and about whilst we're still relatively refreshed!

5 Weeks

2007-07-12T08:08:00.000Z

Abbie is now 5 weeks old and it feels like she's been here forever!

The photo's were getting out of control in the original Flickr set so I've set up a 'Collection', which is basically a collection a sets.

At this point we would like to thank everyone for all of the cards and gifts. People warned us about how much stuff you get but we were still blown away by how many outfits Abigail has ended up with! And as for cards, - all I can say is there must be a canny bit of money to be made from selling 'New Baby' cards!!

Abbie was weighed again yesterday and is now a bouncing 9lb9oz, which is a gain of 2lb since birth and 1lb1oz in 2 weeks. Good stuff in that milk by all accounts!

Finally here's another video. The previously mentioned swing only seems to serve to put her to sleep so we felt she needs something to keep her entertained when at her most active, - hence her first Baby Gym. She loves it, but our dog and cats really don't know what to make of her on it! (Video was taken 2 weeks ago).

:o)

2007-07-03T13:28:00.001Z

:o)
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula

Abbie started smiling last week, and it's still early days so every one is like a little event! You dismiss the first one as "it'll just be wind", but they become unmistakable after a while. Jen just sent me this pic via MMS, - too cute!

Spooky

2007-06-28T15:54:00.000Z

Strange coincidence that I used the title 'Girl Power' in a Blog post the day before the Spice Girls announced that they are reforming...!!

Girl Power

2007-06-27T22:21:00.000Z

Took Abigail to get weighed again today and she's now up to 8lb 7oz and still gaining weight perfectly.

Ross and Pinar came round later in the day with Amber, who although is only 6 weeks older than Abigail - she made her seem tiny...! Probably best illustrated with this picture.

Amber is now 10lb 15oz and changes so much each time we see her.

(Prior to the photo being taken it turned to fisticuffs, so they were seperated and I took the photo as Abigial was in the middle of her Maori Haka routine, which Amber seemed to be finding hillarious!!)

Honda wouldn't get a look in

2007-06-26T20:52:00.000Z

Remember that Honda advert from a few years ago with the various car parts all laid out in a room and performing a chain of events which finishes with a car rolling off the ramps? - Well they're apparently known as Rube Goldberg Machines, and I challenge you to find a better one than this....!!
You can't help but smile as you watch the video, whilst at the same time thinking "how the hell can they be bothered?"!!

Parcel Tracking

2007-06-26T20:41:00.000Z

The story here is some bloke sticks a camera in a box with a small hole in the side and the camera automatically takes photo's every 10 seconds. He then sticks the box in the mail to himself and joins the resulting photos together in a slideshow - Genius!
I dare say if he did this a couple of times, it wouldn't be long before you'd uncover some nasties about the way parcels are treat whilst in transit.

"I'm a Diva, get me out of here"

2007-06-23T21:07:00.000Z

We introduced Abigail to her automatic swing last week (to give my arms a break!), and she took to it instantly. However her attention span is somewhat limited, and as this video shows - when she wants out, you'll know about it....!!

Jen thinks it's hillarious the way her expression changes and the dummy goes flying. Check out the pose with the hand too!

Should also mention that Abbie's piling on the beef..! Health visitor weighed her on Tuesday (13 days old), and she was 8lb1oz, i.e. she's put on 8oz in 13 days which is a cracking start especially for a baby which is breast feeding.
I've uploaded another selection of photos of Abigail from the past week to flickr. As you can imagine there have literally been hundreds taken, so I'm trying to be selective!!

Here will dae!

2007-06-21T22:35:00.001Z

Here will dae!
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula

Abbie falls a kip in some flippin queer positions... Although it gets to the point where you don't give a flying which way she is as long as them eyes eventually shut! In all seriousness, we can't complain at all about her sleeping habits so far given that she sleeps right through from about 11pm to 9pm with a max of 2 feeds between, and even then she drops straight off after each one.

Birthmarks

2007-06-09T19:05:00.001Z

Birthmarks
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula

Since I was born I've had a tiny hole on each side of my head just in front of each ear. Doesn't bother me in any way, it just occasionally needs squeezing to remove a soap build up! My party piece when drunk is to stick a cocktail stick in each one, - I'm sure you get the picture!!
Anyway, you can imagine how taken aback I was when Jen spotted one of these holes in the same place on Abbie's right ear. CLASSIC!!

(Click the link to go to flickr for a clearer pic)

Anyone got any Rennies?!

2007-06-09T18:44:00.000Z

Foto Fest

2007-06-09T15:20:00.000Z

There's a shed load of photo's of Abigail now on-line here.

Set will obviously be updated as and when.....

Dossed

2007-06-08T08:27:00.001Z

Dossed
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula

Looks like butter wouldn't melt, but she can't half wail I tell ya! Pediatrician said she's a long baby, ie long and thin like her Dad! They're all really pleased with how mam and daughter are doing and they might be coming home today....if i can figure out how to work the car seat!!

"Our survey says..."

2007-06-07T21:06:00.000Z

As you may have spotted I've had a 'mini-poll' running in the side-bar of our blog to guess the sex of button.

Well the votes are counted and the results are in....

Button is now Abigail Lily and interestingly most people got the result wrong.

Obviously there will be loads more Abigail postings and photos to come once Mother and Daughter come home from hospital and things settle down a bit....if ever!!

N.B. Now that the poll is gone the annoying blooming pop-ups should now stop...!!

Abigail Lily Cornell

2007-06-06T19:54:00.001Z

Abigail Lily Cornell
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula

Born 3.32pm today weighing 7lb9oz. PERFECT!

D-Day + 10

2007-06-05T12:34:00.001Z

By D-Day plus 10 in the famous 'Operation Overlord' D-Day operations, Eisenhower had managed to land 18 divisions of men on the beaches of Normandy.

Whereas in modern times we're at D-Day plus 10 and there's still no sign of Button's arrival just off the beaches of Blyth....!!

Hours of fun

2007-06-01T14:14:00.000Z

Make sure you've got the sound on....!

Right up my street.....well eventually....!

2007-05-31T14:02:00.000Z

If anyone hasn't tried Google Maps new Street View feature then you need to!

Only available in a few areas of the U.S. at the minute, but would be amazing if they ever got it up and running here.

Of course people are starting to find all sorts of funny / bizarre pictures on their street tours. Click the 'Full Screen' option on each one;

- Here's one from outside the Google HQ
- A random bloke in San Francisco
- Speaks for itself!
- Entrance to Google's place in California, - even the cones are Google coloured!!

And no doubt loads more will start to appear around the web....

Still all quiet

2007-05-26T15:29:00.000Z

Well the countdown might say this is the due day, but there's still no signs at all of Button making an appearance.

Never being one for letting Jen have all the attention it was me that ended up going to the hospital this morning with an infected eye! Yep it was the same hospital where Jen's meant to be giving birth. Typical eh, - went to the hospital as planned on the due date but for the wrong reason!!

Loose Ends

2007-05-25T13:24:00.000Z

If I had a pound for everytime someone's tried to lecture me about how much my life is about to change with the arrival of the baby, blah, blah, blah, I'd be a seriously rich man by now.

I can't help but think though, that a few other things going on elsewhere in my life also seem to be drawing to a close in preparation, - it's bizarre...!

- Football. The end of the season, including cup finals couldn't have been timed better.

- TV Shows. The main TV we watch is American downloads (as we're too impatient to wait for the UK releases!). This week, E.R, 24, Lost and Heroes have ALL had their double bill season finales! Managed to catch all of them.

- Work. Even at work there have been a number of large projects recently that have just finished, and others about to start in a few weeks time. Obviously this one won't have gone to plan like the others if Button decides to delay his/her arrival!!

- Smoking Ban. July the 1st sounds nearly ideal for a smoking ban to start in England for a baby being born into the World about now.

I guess the main thing that never comes to a natural stop in my book is alcohol....As they say, "There's never a good time to stop drinking"!!.

Not long now

2007-05-24T20:23:00.000Z

Well I've no idea where the last 9 months went, but Button's arrival could literally be any time now.

Jen's still doing fine - apart from a massive dose of hayfever kicking in at the worst possible time of year for her! It was her Birthday on Tuesday and it was certainly a strange one. What do you buy a 40 week pregnant woman?!?!!!
We managed to make it as much of an event as possible anyway, and went out for a meal etc.

We're all ready now and it's just a case of playing the waiting game.....

EDIT: I've just noticed that the rabbit at the top of the page is running out of ground..!

Red, 'Amber'......GO!!! *

2007-04-25T13:52:00.000Z

After a hugely eventful year, it's a massive CONGRATULATIONS again to Ross and Pinar this time on the birth of their daughter Amber Charlotte.
They had a stressful couple of days leading up to the birth, but Amber's here now so that'll all soon be forgotten about. Keep an eye on their blog for more updates, pics, videos......

*Sorry - I know that's a terrible headline, but it's Ross that's the journo!

Star Wars Academy

2007-04-22T19:53:00.000Z

Jen mentioned some posters around her work for a Star Wars event at a local high school where "the man who plays Darth Vader will be there". As any Star Wars fan worth their salts knows - David Prowse was also the 'Green Cross Code Man'.
I didn't have much fancy to go because I thought it would just be some plain clothed bloke signing stuff surrounded by annoying teenagers. (How old do I sound!). However one my mate's girlfriend lives at the school (Dad's the caretaker - still following this?!), and he rang to say there were load's of Stormtroopers there. Well that was enough for me to jump in the car complete with camera and Jen in Tow...!
I don't think the event had been advertised very well as there weren't many people there, - either that or the school decided it was too 'un-cool' or summit, but it worked out better for us! Photo opportunities galore!!
The costumed crew were all from UK Garrison, which judging from the website is of huge importance to it's members. They were certainly very accurate and imaculate costumes, and the way they acted combined with their digitally sythesized voices all made for a great effect.
Another of my mates turned up later with his 1 year old son, and the local press loved the photo's they got with the pair of them and the Stormtroopers. They'll be in our local rag next week.
I totally didn't agree with the way they were charging for David Prowse's autograph, but I wasn't too bothered as it's not what I went along for.

EDIT: It is worth pointing out that Jen is seriously not happy with being pictured in the same top in 2 consecutive blog entries!! (If only I was better with Photoshop!).

Where did the last 7 months go?!

2007-04-11T18:35:00.000Z

Time is really flying now and all of a sudden there's only 7 weeks to go.

People have said that the last few weeks seem to take an age, but I'm starting to wonder!

Jen only has 9 days left at work (at the time of writing), and her hours are being reduced each week. - There's a lot to be said for working in the public sector I tell ya!

Plum

2007-03-26T20:16:00.000Z

We couldn't put it off any longer, - Jen's car was simply too small for our future needs and it was time for the Plum to go...!

Her little Micra has been known as 'The Plum' from day one (for obvious reasons), and everyone knew it as her car.

We got the plum for free (a long story), and it's certainly served us well. It may have been basic and had literally none of the mod cons, but there can't be many other people who've gotten by on £20 petrol a month for the past two years, and paid just over £100 for a years insurance!!!

I've basically gone a full circle when it comes to cars; When I was younger I literally ploughed every penny (and more) I had into my cars. But as your priorities start to change I now see them as a complete drain and hate spending money on them. They're basically a constantly depreciating asset you chuck money at! Therefore no-one will appreciate the plum as much as we did. To coin Jen's favourite phrase, "There are other purple Micra's, but there'll only ever be 1 Plum" :o)

By the way she's now got a Focus Estate, and is perfectly geared up for transporting Button as well as Bertha, in what will feel like luxury to everyone...!

4D, - The Garlic Bread of scanning

2007-03-14T11:24:00.000Z

We went to BabyView in Barnsley last Friday to have a 4D scan. Yeah ok, you could argue there are other things we could have done with the money but what the hell, money came from the sale of an old TV anyway!

I wasn't too sure what to expect because there are some less than impressive examples of this technique on the internet. It also depends which way the baby is lying. i.e. if it's back is facing forward (if you see what I mean), there isn't anything to see. As is happens, Button was facing forward and awake so we got some quite impressive results. We got a DVD film of the scan and also a cd with 30 odd photos on it, - the best of which I've flickr'd. The images are all rotated through 180 degrees, i.e. baby is acually upside down - as it should be during the pregnancy. Yes it is possible to again find out 100% what the sex is during the process, but we chose not to. (The person carrying out the process had actually identified 5 cases in the last year where the sex he determined was different to that given by doctors in the earlier 2D scan!). To clarify the difference, - the pictures are classed as 3D and the DVD film is classed as 4D.

After the scan we carried on down to London for the weekend and attended the Baby Show at the ExCeL, London on the Saturday. Got there quite early before the crowds started around lunchtime. Was quite an interesting day, - obviously there were freebies galore as you'd expect at these things, but there were also some good stage talks; There was one from St John's Ambulance about Baby first aid, then another from Annabel Karmel about Baby nutrition. Flickr'd some pics of the event.

Then seeing as the Saturday was also my Birthday we did a bit of London exploring! We decided to head to Hamley's via Piccadilly Circus for some photo's on the way. Quite a busy day really and Jen did amazingly well considering the miles we put in and the how far on she is!
I was surprised at how on every Tube journey there was always someone courteuos enough to offer Jen their seat! Not what I would have expected in London.
One of the most bizarre things we came across was a London transport employee who's job seemed to be to warn people about the dangers of standing under a ledge full of pigeons on one of the platforms....which was covered in their mess!

Went out for a meal with my family on the evening before heading home on Sunday to relax!

"Canny Ara's"*

2007-03-04T18:21:00.000Z

Went to one of the Premier League Darts nights the other week, when the tour came to the Newcastle Arena. It was certainly an experience...!

After arriving and firstly being dissapointed at how far back our seats were, it turned out to be a good laugh. Yes the seats weren't ideal but if you think about it, how close would you actually have to be to properly see a dart board?! Luckilly there were 4 Huge screens showing the broadcast as it went out live on Sky.

The atmosphere was best described as mental! - It didn't take me long to realise that most of the people there had been out drinking all day. Anyway, I've stuck some of the photos online and have to say I'd definitely go again next year.

The only downer on the night was the Sunderland and Newcastle fans that decided to have a couple of fights, - erm Hello, it's a darts match. Who cares which football team you support! - Simpletons!!
*"Good Darts"

EDIT: Just uploaded a video too, - gives a better idea of what the set-up was....

Blooming

2007-02-11T18:30:00.000Z

Jen's now 25 weeks gone, and not everyone see's her regularly so thought it was about time we posted a pic of her bump.

Photo was taken at 24 weeks, and she's getting bigger by the day!

We're busy sorting the nursery now,- of course that involves decorating just about the whole of the upstairs of the house!

Also been getting rid of a shed load (literally) of furniture; Bookcase, DVD rack, Dining Table and chairs have all gone. Just a TV unit and a Sunbed to go now.....and takers??. I'll give them a week and then they're getting skipped!!

Sssssttttrrrreeeetttttccccchhhhhhh

2007-01-16T20:32:00.000Z

Changed my Blog template to spread across the screen, - makes it easier when trying to wrap words around pictures.

Last of the scheduled scans

2007-01-15T19:14:00.000Z

Had the 20week scan last week, which is actually the last of the scheduled scans.
The baby is of such a size at this point that it doesn't all fit on the screen in one go!
During every scan we've had, the baby has been jumping all over the place! - Legs a kicking and arms a waving. It's certainly entertaining to watch and you never fail to get a view from all angles!
No, before you ask - we didn't ask to find out the sex which is offered as part of the scan.

"Walkies"

2007-01-07T21:13:00.001Z

Yeeha
Originally uploaded by Beebop Alula.

We took Bertha and Cedar (ours and my parents dog), for a walk through some nearby woods yesterday, - 'Hollywell Dene'.
They had a canny time in the river and mud, but we consequently ended up having to take them to the beach straight after to get cleaned off in the sea!! Not that they were complaining mind.

Maybe I should buy a waterproof one..?!

2007-01-07T20:25:00.000Z

As Button's arrival becomes ever closer we are going to have to invest again in a Digital Camera. As documented on here in the past I don't have the best of records with Cameras (and electrical gadgets in general!), so I'm trying to be very choosey before investing in another one;

I've decided that it must be compact, preferably enough to fit into my pocket. I've been using my Bro's digi-cam recently, and being able to carry it round in your pocket makes so much sense.

Also don't want an overally expensive one, - apart from my history with then, technology changes so fast meaning they soon become out of date.

That said this camera meets these criteria and then some..! You will notice from the picture that it actually has two lenses. One for normal pics, then the other kicks in when you use the zoom function. Most impressive of all is that this results in 10x optical zoom, which is far more than 99% of other digi-cams on the market.

It also boasts Bluetooth meaning that pictures can be immediately transferred wirelessely to mobile phones etc. A very useful feature in my opinion.

Finally something that has always bugged the hell out of me with digi-cams is the shutter lag. i.e. the time it takes from when you press the button to when the actual photo is taken. It turns out that this varies massively from camera to camera but is rarely advertised as a feature. This table shows that the v610, scores very well in the category too.

I know we've got a shed load of Baby stuff to buy, but we also MUST have a camera. When the funds become available, this looks my choice so far.

Thanks to my boss, Jon for pointing me in the direction of this one :o)

Overpriced

2007-01-05T13:17:00.000Z

Towards the middle of last year I ordered a BT network circuit for a new site we were commissioning at work. I won't go into detail but lets just say the order was for less than £20k.
It turned out to be a very convoluted job and the work itself took months to complete, involving the digging of roads etc. All along though we were confident in the knowledge of a bill to be less than £20k.
That was until November when this bill arrived at work for £671,606.38 !!!!
After half an hour spent nervously laughing about the fact that it must be wrong or a couple of us would be out of a job, the bill was queried with BT.
The person from BT was also surprised at the large amount but said she'd have to check it out and get back to us. She eventually called my boss back and knowing that he'd be bricking it, decided to wind him up..! She asked if he was sitting down then said it appeared the amount was indeed correct! PRICELESS, - they make and error of over £650k but still manage to keep their sense of humour.
Everything worked out fine in the end thanks to a rather substantial credit note arriving, but still thought it was a story worth sharing.
N.B. Obviously I have stripped all data from the bill apart from the amount.

Look out Trevor McDonald!

2007-01-05T12:48:00.000Z

My Dad being the opinionated bloke that he is, is known for ringing Radio stations etc to voice his opinion when ever he feels like it!
In early December he rang Mike Parr, during his daily Radio Newcastle Breakfast Show phone in. (I think the subject at the time was bank charges or something). Anyway, once the show had finished the Producer rang my Dad back to say they liked what he had to say and the way he put himself across, and invited him to be a guest on the show!!
He readilly accepted (as you'd expect if you know him!), and was on the show yesterday morning (Thurs 3rd Jan '07) between 9am and 10am. I didn't warn to many people before hand, in order to not give him any added pressure, and I didn't listen at the time. - It all seemed a bit too cringeworthy to be listening to my auld man on the radio! Jen did listen via her phone radio at work and rang me near the end to say it all sounded ok.
I recored the show via a DAB radio, so we'd have a copy to keep and possibly add to, seeing as he's also been asked if he'd like to return again in the future...!!
He really enjoyed the experience, and to quote him, "he is now available for autographs"!!!
(If there was ever a time I wished we didn't have the same name!)

Button's Latest Scan

2006-12-22T11:03:00.000Z

Been a very stressful couple of weeks for us with Button as most of you will know. (Won't be going into that here).

We're back on track now, and the timing couldn't have been better. The best Christmas present we could have asked for :o)

This scan was taken after 15 weeks and 5 days but we've kept it to ourselves until now.

Christmas Games

2006-12-22T10:49:00.000Z

Jingle Bells & Present Drop

Button Flickr'd

2006-11-25T14:42:00.000Z

I've created a new photo set on Flickr of Button's progress so far.....:o)

"Button" Scan pic

2006-11-23T15:28:00.000Z

Here's a pic from Jen's recent scan at 12 weeks and 4 days into the pregnancy. It's probably worth mentioning at this point that the baby has been code named 'Button' from Day 1!!

Scanning Technology

2006-11-23T15:12:00.000Z

As most people reading this Blog will know, - we've a baby on the way :-) !! (I'll post a 12 week scan pic on here soon).

From speaking to Mam's (and Ganny's!), it's obvious that the normal ultrasound scan technology has advanced massively within the last few years leading to much clearer images. There are also now numerous companies offering a 3D scan, and they provide you with a DVD of the event. I thought they were as impressive as it could get until I came across this article about Animals in the Womb.

Ok I guess some of it sounds obstrusive by implanting camera's etc, and is no doubt something reserved definitely for animals, but some of the images are amazing! The Dolphin staring directly at the camera is my favourite;

ACHOO!!

2006-10-28T13:14:00.000Z

This is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time and most people reading this will have probably received it an e-mail from me, but I want to do a test of an embedded video in my blog, so what better candidate than this....

Bit of Practice for Halloween

2006-10-25T19:52:00.000Z

Online Pumpkin Carving! - A lot easier on the wrists, less mess, and it doesn't stink after a couple of days. Give it a try.

We'll still be doing the real thing though....

They make it sound so easy!

2006-10-25T19:39:00.000Z

It's got to be more complicated than this surely...?!

New Side Bar Feature.....................................>>

2006-10-19T17:50:00.000Z

I'm going to provide links to some of the best YouTube's that I've been sent.
There now a list on the right hand side of this page....

100% Geek!

2006-10-19T17:28:00.000Z

We're trialling BlackBerry's at work and I've had one for about 2 weeks now.

The technology itself is amazing; A device not much wider than a mobile phone which is constantly connected to your e-mail system and more. Real time access to my inbox and calendar as well as a web browser, address book, memo pad and yes before you ask it is also a mobile phone.

I've had to start switching it off on an evening because everytime it vibrates, eventhough it's a work related e-mail, I can't resist having a look!

As a none work related device I can totally see why these things are so popular with all the celebs. Absolute doddle to use and saves carrying a laptop around everywhere!

(Edit: Just noticed that this picture is the actual size of the device on my laptop running 1024x768 display).