I'm Pregnant!

We are both thrilled and it is amazing to finally be able to share our good news with family and friends. We had our first scan on Friday 22 July and despite me thinking it might all still be a big mistake our baby popped up on the screen and proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes wriggling, waving it's arms and legs and generally bouncing around.

Here are the 12 week scan pictures:

I've been a bit sick but that is to be expected and and I'm looking forwards to the onset of the second trimester and I'm ready to glow! Andy will be thrilled for me to get back on form as although he is getting pretty good at making mashed potato, I'm sure he'd still rather give the kitchen a wide berth. Especially when the cricket is on.

We've had a busy time since we returned from honeymoon and have had Ness and Bob staying plus visits from Fraser, Pete and Sogol. Mum has also been around which is always good. We had a weekend trip to Baden-Baden in Germany a couple of weeks ago which was great. It is beautiful town on the edge of the Black Forest with lovely people and a great spa. We have just returned from seeing Andy's school friend Paul marry his lovely (now) wife Racheal. The got married in a castle in Gloucestershire and it was a great weekend.

It all looks a bit splodgy but I can assure you that all arms, legs and organs are where they should be and if you look closely you can see arms, legs and even fingers, eyes and a nose. Freaky!

Bec

The Honeymoon Post

Our first day as Mr and Mrs Ellis was spent at Rabbit Island barbecuing with friends and family. It was a lovely day but neither of us were ready for the goodbyes which we had to make all day. It's definitely the worst part of any trip and had me sniffling most of the day.

We flew out of Nelson early on Monday morning and arrived at our first destination, Brisbane, a few hours later. We only had one night in Brisbane but had a good look around and both really liked what we saw. Our next destination was Byron Bay where we spent a very relaxing three nights at a spa in the bush. We found a wonderful restaurant called Boomerang and we ate there every night. If anyone visits Byron Bay, it's a must visit place! Byron Bay was beautiful, we drove out to the most easterly point of Australia which had stunning views and spent a bit of time on the beach. Most of the time though, it was relax central!

Out next stop was Coffs Harbour which we arrived at after a lovely drive down the coast. We were both pretty tired and I wasn't feeling well so had an early night but in the early hours I took a turn for the worse and ended up in Coffs Harbour hospital in the morning. One lumbar puncture (negative for meningitis), many tests, a few bags of fluid and one missed flight to Sydney later Andy made the decision to drive through the night to Sydney. He managed it like a trouper and we arrived at Rob and Justine's in Sydney in the early hours. We had a great few days with Rob and Justine and their hospitality and tour guide duties were much appreciated. We also saw Blake a couple of times which was great. I put a bit of a downer on things with what was now diagnosed as a virus and spent an afternoon in Sydney Hospital having yet more tests, fluid and x-rays. I must say that hospital care in Australia is excellent.

After bidding Sydney goodbye we flew to Singapore and got a taxi to Raffles where we were staying. It was very luxurious and a lovely place to be when ill as our room and the hotel were so beautiful there was no need to leave. We had a butler who took me to the doctor when I needed it and apart from that we chilled out, afternoon tead, dined and I rejuvenated in their spa with treatments. Andy had the obligatory Singapore Sling. We did make it out for one afternoon for a bus tour and a fantastic visit to the Botanic Gardens. Two days later it was on to our next destination - Hong Kong.

We flew in to Hong Kong in all of it's high rise murky glory and taxied to out hotel in Wan Chai. We spent the next few days sight seeing, shopping and generally enjoying the great vibe that HK has. We did a trip up The Peak to take in the views and had a great day visiting the outer islands. Discovery bay on Lantau Island then to Ping Chau for lunch and Lamma Island where we walked over the island and took in the views then had dinner over looking the sea. Hong Kong is an indescribable place. It is so big and loud and hectic everywhere you look skyscrapers tower over you. I fell in love with it on my first visit five years ago and it was great to find that Andy shared my enthusiasm.

Our trip was drawing to a close when we set off for out final destination - Shenzhen in China. We got the train there and were very pleased to discover that our hotel was a short stroll over a square from the station. Shenzhen was busy busy busy! We (or rather I) shopped plenty although I was still hampered by illness somewhat so my credit card had a lucky escape. We ventured one afternoon in to downtown Shenzhen - quite an experience. Two days later and with bulging suitcases we headed back to Hong Kong for our flight to London.

We touched down in London in the early hours and it was sad to say goodbye to our holiday but great to be home. It was an amazing trip, we came back feeling like we had, seen, done and experienced so many new things. And I had a new name! It was exciting to return as a newly married couple with out future together to look forwards to.

The Wedding Post

It was great to arrive in sunny Nelson where we were greeted by parents and brothers aplenty. We had a busy week ahead so were full steam ahead in to the last minute plans. It was a very hectic week and somewhat of a blur although we did manage to fit in plenty of socialising and seeing family and friends. We had a great night out on the Wednesday with a girls night kicking off at Mum's then meeting all the boys at Stingray in town. As they say, a picture tells a thousand words so here are a few photos.

We both had a quiet Friday night in preparation for the big day. I stayed with Mum at the Captains Quarter's on the Port Hills which we had booked for the weekend. Andy stayed with his parents and Steve. Saturday dawned a beautiful day and I woke up feeling like all the stress and worry of the past few months were finally at an end. My last minute nerves on Friday night had gone and I couldn't wait to walk down the aisle.

Andy spent the morning playing golf up the Maitai whilst my bridesmaids Lisa and Juliet and flower girl Georgia and I got ourselves to the hairdressers then back to the Captain's Quarters to be made up by my friend Anna and get dressed. We barely had time for a stiff vodka before our cars turned up and we were off! We arrived at St Michael's Church right on 3.30pm and after a quick last check over I made my way down the aisle to the string quartet playing Schubert's Ave Maria. Andy looked nervous and hot but very pleased to see me! Our vicar Martin conducted the service beautifully and did a really good job of putting us both at ease and making us all laugh. Before I knew it we were being declared husband and wife and making our way out to Vivaldi's Spring. We were finally married and I couldn't stop smiling. Hurrah!

We then headed to Rabbit Island with the girls and Andy's best man Chris for the wedding photos. From then it was on to the reception at Waimea Estates. Blake, Chris and Andy all did excellent speeches then we danced and drunk the night away. All in all it was a perfect day for both of us. The weather was sunny and warm all day, Juliet, Lisa, Georgia and Chris were all did a wonderful job as did our families with all their help before, during and after the day. It was fantastic to see so many friends and family, some of who had travelled a long way to join us and we really appreciated them sharing the day with us.

Post 11

Oops, I've managed to delete the original post 11. I think it said that we are back from honeymoon and separate posts for the wedding and honeymoon will be posted soon.

Sorry - Andy

Post 10

It's nearly Christmas! I'm feverently hoping for a sprinkling (or more) of snow for Christmas Day but fear I am hoping in vain. It's meant to be cold but clear. Andy and I are spending Christmas at home with just the two of us, lots of food, plenty of wine and several DVDs. It will be really nice just to relax as the past few months have been hectic.

We've had lots of going out, a couple of trips to Rotherham, a trip to Rome to see the mighty All Blacks in action plus I've had a weekend in Edinburgh for Lesley Hay's hen weekend. It was lots of fun. Thanks to Brits TV filming we've seen a few bands in action. Girls Aloud, Brian McFadden and Razorlight were all pretty average but the Lost Prophets and Kasabian were excellent. I also went to see the Beastie Boys with Ruth which was brilliant. Andy went to see England vs Aussie rugby at Twickenham recently. Sadly England lost but it was still a great game.

We've both been really busy the past few weeks with Christmas parties. This week has been a little quieter but we are out in town tomorrow for Christmas Eve drinks with Chris and Annette. London is lovely at Christmas time. The lights and decorations look beautiful and it's nice to be able to wrap up warm and eat and drink lots of Christmassy things. Plus there is cool stuff like ice skating. It's just like a Christmas card and I love it.

So, from both of us, lots of love and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

Bec

Post 9

It's been a busy few months with weekends away, family and friends coming and going and plenty of other thing to keep us busy.

We bid farewell to Julie at the end of August as she headed back to Nelson. Blake was in and out of London during August and September so it was great to catch up with him. We've also seen a few other family and friends on their visits to London which has been nice.

There have been no big holidays but we have managed to fit in a few weekends away in the past few months. We had a trip to Rotherham in July which was good. Andy went to Wales for Dave's stag weekend in September which sounded like great drunken fun. The following weekend we went to Kent for Dave and Nic's wedding which was fabulous. Early October saw us back up North. We spent a night in Rotherham where we took part in the local pub quiz night and I saw dripping sandwiches for the first time. Yuck. Although Andy and Steve tucked in. We spent the next night in Boston Spa with friends which was nice. We then drove up to Whitby via the North Yorkshire Moors which were very bleak and quite spectacular. We spent two nights in Whitby eating and sleeping lots plus fitted in a trip to Scarborough which is the most 'English' seaside resort I have ever been to. The jury is out on whether that is a compliment or not! Whitby was lovely, Captain Cook hails from there and it is also the landing place of Dracula.

Weekend just gone Andy was in Barcelona for his stag do. From all reports (and the state of Andy when he got back) they had a great time. Three nights away, two days of golf, beers on the beach and hitting the clubs in town until late.

I had a good weekend in London as Lesley came down from Scotland for a visit. A few wines, lots of chat, nice.

I'm off home now. We have a gas leak (behind my shoe cupboard - horror!) so we have someone coming round to fix it. British Gas came round last night and cut off our supply so we didn't blow up. Heating and hot water would be nice!

Bec

Post 8

We had a lovely week in Icmeler, Turkey. We stayed at the Efendi Hotel which was only 50m from the beach, lovely and had a great bar that did fabulous cocktails.

The weather was perfect, we didn't see a cloud the whole time and the temperature was in the mid thirties with light breezes. It was a very lazy holiday, most days we would get up late, go out for breakfast then hit the beach where we would spend the afternoon reading, sunning, swimming and having watermelon, chips and beer brought to us by our nice sunbed man, Patrick Swayze.

Late afternoon we'd drag ourselves off the beach, go for a walk then find a restaurant for dinner. The food was really good, everyone was more than happy to accommodate my fussy eating although trying to explain vegan was sometimes a bit tricky. 'No animals, eggs and nothing from a cow' normally worked! I managed to eat roughly my own weight in baklava during our week there. Mmmmm. It was a stroke of genius going on holiday during Euro 2004 as it was the quarter and semi finals and there was a game most nights which would watch in a bar with Efes beer for Andy and buckets of cocktails for me.

We didn't deviate from our exhausting daily routine much apart from one afternoon when we hired a speedboat for three hours and checked out the coastline. Andy's phone took an unscheduled dunk (or three) in the Mediterranean when he forgot he had it in his togs pocket when leaping off the boat. Oops.

It was a fantastic holiday and we recommend Icmeler and the Efendi Hotel to anyone wanting a week or two too chill out, relax and have a great time.

We arrived back in London late Friday night after a marathon journey, with a four and a half hour delay on our flight. Mum, Dave and Bev were staying so it was good to see them. On Saturday we headed up to Hertfordshire to a pub to meet a few of the Coppard (Grandma Warren) side of the family. We met at a lovely village pub where we had lunch. Everyone was really nice, there were three of Julie's cousins plus a few partners and kids, John and Doreen drove down, plus Dave, Bev, Mum, Andy and I so it was quite a gathering. After lunch we went to cousin Stephanie's house in Buckinghamshire where we carried on the drinking, eating and catching up. It was a very nice day and interesting to meet a side of the family I hadn't before.

This weekend we have John from Guernsey coming to stay so a few drinks are planned. Next weekend we are going up to Rotherham to see Andy's parents and brother. Madge and I are going wedding dress shopping on the Saturday which I'm looking forward to. We are bidding the Merc farewell next week so will be driving our new car up to Rotherham. How exciting! It's a Mitsubishi Shogun Warrior (known as a Pajero in NZ) and is black.

Photos of the Girl's Weekend Away, Turkey and the family day will be up soon. Along with some shots from my Waimean dinner a few months back.

Bec