Ciao ciao, adeiu, haere ra and goodbye

To London that is. Yep, after eight years for Andy, seven for me and not quite one for Daisy, we've decided the time is right for pastures anew. It's been a huge decision for us and a difficult one to make as we are still really happy in London but the time just seemed right. We sold the house last week and have both resigned from our jobs so it's a done deal.

I found resigning really hard and have been feeling quite down about it. I was looking forwards to returning and taking on new challenges so making the mental leap to becoming 'just' a stay at home mum has been difficult for me. I'm sure I'll get used to it but I'm going to miss work and everyone there hugely. *Sniffle*

So.......where are we off to? We want to try out a different culture for a while and looked at a number of areas including Singapore and Hong Kong but in the end settled on.......Dubai! Neither of us have been there before but it seems to be an exciting, vibrant, fast growing city offering many opportunities and a great lifestyle. We hope so anyway, if it sucks we can always leave. Andy is currently job hunting so fingers crossed.

We are still spending Christmas in New Zealand and fly out 19 December until the end of January. We aren't looking forwards to the next few weeks as we have SO much to do. The movers are coming in on December 13 and 14 and the house sale completes on the 15th. Eeek! The logistics of it all are hard enough to think about, I don't even want to start thinking about how hard it is going to be saying goodbye to all our friends. Woe.

Above is Daisy checking out where her new home will be. We've been preparing her for life on the road by singing 'The Littlest Hobo' theme tune to her. Maybe tomorrow we're gonna settle down, until tomorrow, we'll just keep moving on.

Bx

Look mum, no hands!

I had a good night out with work last night. Followed by a not so good head this morning. We had lunch at The Banana Tree on Northcote Road earlier today. We've just been at Cafe Nero where I took the above photos of Daisy hanging out on the couch. Andy is out with the Guernsey boys tonight whilst I shall be lounging on the couch eating popcorn and watching a movie. Ahhh.

Bx

London after dark

We had a good day out in London yesterday. We had lunch in Soho then Grandma Julia and Daisy went to The National Gallery. Evidently Daisy's favourite picture was Picasso's Little Girl. I wouldn't know as I was busy shopping. Hurrah!

After a busy afternoon we dropped Daisy off to her daddy at his office then headed back in to Soho for dinner at Mildred's. We finished the day off with going to see Billy Elliot at The Victoria Palace Theatre which was very good.

From the top is Daisy trying to apply lip gloss at Starbucks, the Regent Street Christmas lights and Trafalgar Square with Big Ben in the background.

Bx

Rapunzel

She's not quite rapunzel yet but there is a very similar photo to this one posted 3 months ago and look how much Daisy's hair has grown. She loves having it brushed. She loves having her teeth brushed too and has recently started doing them herself although she needs a bit of help to get them all done.

We are off to yoga in a minute. I hope it's an easy class, my legs have only just recovered from dancing until the small hours on Saturday night. How old and sad am I? Bring on the zimmerframe...

Bx

The Brasserie - Wandsworth Common

The NCT group met up yesterday at The Brasserie on Wandsworth Common, and all the babies soon took over the place sprawling all over the floor. Reasonable food but better wine. All the little ones are so different, it is amazing to watch them develop in parallel.

The girls then went drinking and dancing in the evening. Babel in Northcote Road followed by Wessex House.

Andy

England 20 All Blacks 41

Guess who dressed Daisy this morning? Much to Bec's disgust, Daisy and Andy are wearing matching England tops ready for the big game, although Bec is insisting that Daisy wears her All Blacks hat at every opportunity. It is another beautifully clear and sunny day in London.

The All Blacks dominated the game as expected, although there were a few good points from the England game. Well done the AB's!

Andy

Tick tock one o'clock

We've been having fun at the one o'clock club. First Daisy went for a drive then played with the bubble tubes and fibre optics in the sensory room. We finished up with some glitter, paint and glue messy fun. Sticky baby!

Bx