Thank-you Nana!

Well it's probably a little shameful to admit that if it wasn't for Nana the house would still be in a shocking state.
Nana has spent the whole day, tidying, cleaning, cooking and generally doing as much useful stuff as possible because Mummy and Daddy are either too poorly or too lazy/preoccupied (respectively) to actually get around to doing it.
And so it is with shame that i hang my head and admit that if it wasn't for Nana i think the likelihood is that we would probably have spent the whole day living in our own squalor. I'd love to blame the baby for this, but sadly as family read this website i know i would never get away with such a blatant lie. Instead i shall just claim that I've simply been overwhelmed with how much i really need to do around the house while my wife is recuperating.
I have managed to feed the wife and keep her watered while she feeds and waters Elliot, but the sleepless nights (and believe me i have been getting more sleep than Billie) have gotten to me and the housework was way at the bottom of the list of priorities, below food and clothing. So...
Thank-you Nana! I shall make sure you get a big hug in the morrow.
PS. Yeah OK i admit it, I'm possessive but all i can say truthfully to that is... :P~

Will they stay blue?

Well it's a question we've both been wondering. At the moment she still has bright blue eyes, which are similar to my own, we both know that the pair of us carry blue eye alleles, but my wife has green eyes and i think seeing as that at the moment Elliot basically looks to have inherited most of my features, the eye colour was a hot potato issue.
Billie insists that all babies are born with blue eyes and that despite being unlikely it's possible her eyes will change colour. However i am not convinced this is a likely possibility. I've been wondering about this whole inheriting attributes issue.
At the moment she looks remarkably like i did at a young age, she's got my eyes, my nose, my cheeks (i think), my dimples, my hair colour, unfortunately my toes! and it seems possibly my temper, but i refute that claim! I believe this early appearance of a fathers features is an age old trait, and she's unlikely to remain this way for ever, something to do with encouraging wandering fathers in 'ye olde times' to accept and stay with their child! Fascinating stuff, i can't wait to see how she grows up to find out if they are right.

Elliot Welcomes Tony & Foxy

Well she would have done had she been awake at any point during the evening! (with the exception of the crying when she required changing!)

To our suprise Foxy took to her just as well as Spencer has, though he wasn't impressed at losing Tony's lap to the new member of the family. But he made do with a spot on the sofa next to him (amongst the multitude of cushions and clothes)

We had a lovely dinner which i had partly taken responsibility for making, but once nana took over it was quite clear my cullinary skills had fallen short. Though i will claim that my veg was cooked to my tastes! ;)

I shall insist upon a further visit for as despite failing to reach the required standard this time i am going to try again!

We're all looking forwards to taking Foxy and Tony out into the wilds for some exploration to show her all those lovely countryside spots that we've forgotten all about since we grew up. Maybe we can even damage the exhaust a little more!

It must be love

Well i'm sure there are other words for it, but basically mans best friend has taken a deep shine to the little one.

We've never really had any doubts about Spencer and children, he's proven time and time again with the relatives kiddies that he's comfortable around them and moreso that they are comfortable with him.

I didn't take this picture myself, i believe i was fast asleep in the middle of the afternoon getting some rest for the nightshift i find myself on at the moment (but thats a story for another time).

I think this shot captures pretty much how he feels about her. She's noisy, she keeps him up at night and she makes so many different smells he's completely outdone. But it's quite clear that he's already taken to her as one of the family and one that requires his constant monitoring and protection.

The last example of this being this evening, when i was changing her nappy. He sidled up to me to enquire as to whether i had correctly cleaned her off, because he knows that if i don't he has to tell mummy so she can make me do it again. This time i passed his inspection and he not only gave me a lick he also licked her feet. (i guess i missed a little bit!), before turning around and reporting back to the boss.

He's given us a good scare though so he's not all sweetness and light. We all know and understand that dogs and postmen don't mix but in his eagerness to bite the postmans fingers he obviously partly forgot that Elliot was strapped into the rocker beneath him (He'd demoted her to the floor when he decided the spot next to mummy on the sofa was his). the letter box click clacked and in less than a millisecond he was already in the air flying past a sleeping Elliot and barking at the door. To the shock and dismay of both of us, but looking back it's quite clear he hadn't forgotten she was there, just that he didn't fully understand the danger he was causing by jumping over her. We'll just have to keep an eye on him and not put Elliot in his way for the time being until we can get these doggy urges under control (i don't hold out much hope of this, we've had him nine years and this is one urge we want him to keep to ensure that the unwanted visitors are kept away in the middle of the night)

Honestly I'm really impressed with the way he's taken to her, i'll be frank and say that i really didn't expect any less, but it's great to see him settle so well.

First time shopping!

No matter how much people tell you that you should stock up on food before the happy event, it seems to me that there's far less than a 5% chance you would ever actually manage to achieve this. I'll explain; Once we hit the due date (13th) the house was full to the brim with chewable and drinkable goodies but once you pass the due date and there's no sign of little ones arrival the stocks deplete rapidly. Especially with visitors and the like.
So on that line today we awoke to discover that the fridge was barren, the cupboards were bare and the bread bin was empty. After much distress and my own complaints a list was created and i was ready to go forth and replenish the stocks. Until i was informed that i would be accompanied by Elliot and Billie.
So what is ordinarily less than a 60 minute job, actually took in excess of two hours, and in all honesty the little one stepped up to the plate and settled into a deep, relaxed sleep for the entire time. The only moment of panic coming when we realised that we'd forgotten to put a hat on her!!
I have a new found respect for my wife, four days out of surgery and she's already walking around with determination and complete disregard of the pain she must be feeling. I have to admit that in the past i have often felt she was prone to complaining for the sake of just frustrating me, but it's clear she's made of sterner stuff.
She said yesterday that every time she looks at Elliot she loves her a little bit more, i'd just like to steal that and apply it to the pair of you. Everytime i look at you both, i love you both a whole lot more.
Now.. if only Elli will settle for a good sleep in the evening so i could have a proper play on Company of Heroes!
PS: More cards arrived today, thanks everyone.
PPS: sorry no picture of the shopping trip, daddy forgot to bring the camera and the mobile phones battery was flat! Silly Daddy!!

Visitors at home!

Well the whole experience of visitors at the hospital was very regulated, opening times and all that jazz! (They even had me observing a strict 'out by 8' rule) But now we're all out of hospital and desperately trying to snatch sleep whenever little Elliot lets us, it's nice to be able to have visitors arrive whenever they (or we want them). Today Billies dad came to visit, accompanied by Bethany. It seems that babies bring older children out of their hiding spots too.

I should take a moment to explain that it appears with babies the rooms become even less tidy (as demonstrated by the mess to the lower left and right of this photo) but frankly i really couldn't care about the general untidy state presently. I shall simply be forced into a pattern of tidying every morning for the daily midwife visit. It could be worse i guess, it might be that we wake to find that nana has taken it upon herself to do the tidying, and i'm sure you'll understand the misery that wifely lecture would push upon me.

I'd just like to say thank you to all of you who've sent cards so far, it's nice to have another excuse to put cards up, Birthdays and Christmas don't come around often enough as far as i'm concerned!. We'll be sending out announcement cards shortly (we're just waiting on the photo's to be processed).

Will post again soon.

The Paternal side descends!

And it was a damned welcomed visit, infact i think Billie was going absolutely stirfry crazy in the small room she had.
Not only was it incredibly hot (despite the thunder, lightning, driving rain and strong wind). But it was mind numbingly dull. During the earlier hours since Elliots birth, the Diamorphine was running through the little ones system, which seemed to mean that when she wasn't woken to feed she was in a deeeeep slumber.

I would like to say THANK YOU to Katie for the fab box of tricks she has put together for the baby, i'd like to add now that it was a nightmare to take it out of the hospital (i'm posting this retrospectively) but it's full of bits and bobs that i'd not even thought about.. socket protectors, finger puppets, calpol etc.. you can really tell children is your chosen profession sis!

Was lovely to see you all, even Grandad managed to have a short hold to introduce himself. I promise we will try to get across more often to visit, especially as you're all going to be one of the free baby minding services over the coming years.

More soon, thanks for visiting guys!

Elliots Arrival!

I wont bore everyone with the full account of what happened over the last 48 hours. But we are happy to announce that at 15.39 today (22/06/07) we were blessed with the arrival of the delightful Elliot.
She (Yes, you read that correctly - I believe the name was pilfered from Scrubs by my wife for use by a girl rather than the traditional Male - ET recipient.) arrived after a fairly lengthy, tiring labour. At the present time i have little belief that i would ever persuade Mrs O to EVER go through the entire process again, but that's a bridge we'll cross when she's finally recovered from this ordeal!
So without further ado here's a picture of our tired but happy trio.
Oh and some vital statistics!

Name: Elliot Kaylee
DoB: 22/06/07 @ 15.39
Weight: 10lb (on the dot!)
Height: 23 Inches (I guess this is more "Length" presently as it'll be a while before she's standing!)
Labour Length: (To be entered when we finally decide!)