Open Letters...

Dear Son…

We’re ready for you to come out now! Your room is decorated, you have a nice cozy place to sleep and a whole room to yourself if you so desire. The finishing touches have been put into place, so now we need a baby to come and occupy our lives, we have been waiting almost 10 months you know!

If I can meet you soon I would be most grateful.

Yours forever,
Dad


Dear World Cup,

I knew I was right to keep faith in you. I told you that the second round of games are now must win and will get more exciting. You’re welcome. Thank you for offering football for a whole month, right now, you’re one of my favourites.

Thank you also for scheduling my three countries to play today. The German quarter of me will be cheering at 12.30pm, the American side (which I know, I technically haven’t got one… but have fairly significant ties) will be vuvuzelaing at 3.00pm and the English ¾’s going crazy come 7.30. What a day.

Yours for a month more,
Phil

Dear world,

We will tell you when the baby comes… no need to keep asking! The standard response to “any signs yet” will continue to be “have you heard anything??”

Thanks,
Mean Old Man


Dear Freebie Friday,

Thank you for putting your leftover sandwiches out in the canteen at 2 o’clock… double lunch is unnecessary, but I’ll take it. Every week.

Never hungry on Fridays,
Phil

It's Been a While...

How do I do this again?

It’s been a while coming- I apologize for my lack of posting… now where to start the catch up? My baby boy is due in less than a month now (which means the World Cup is also less than a month away now!)…that’s kinda weird! He already appears to be a child who knows what he wants; if my arm is rested against Liz’s tummy he will kick and push until I finally move it. Its fun discovering the positions my baby is getting himself into within the womb and feeling for body parts!

Something that has recently made me even more eager to meet our man and see what kind of personality he has is that my friends, Justin and Louise, have just had twin girls. They are so sweet and so small and are so different in personality already! Poppy is a bit of a crier, but a quiet crier, where as Bella cries little, but is a high achiever on the decibel meter! Here are some pictures of us all:

I have now kicked my last football until the baby is here. My friend, Ben Leaman (http://benleaman.blogspot.com/), managed to break his leg at football three weeks ago, bringing a sharp perspective into how long we’ve got left before the little guy gets here. It’s odd to think that there was a time I valued football over family and to an extent I’m genuinely shocked that football has taken a back seat since I met Liz – she must be a heck of a girl! I’m already having physio on my back; I’d like to be able to move when the boy gets here!

Today was the day I finally cycled to work wear shorts…the summer has been ushered in! Unfortunately (I hope Liz has stopped reading my this point) it was a while before I noticed that my front break wasn’t actually re-attached after I’d put my wheel back on this morning… was quite the shock when I pulled on it after a car tried to knock me off my bike. I’m ok though!

There’s plenty more going on, such a Tottenham Hotspurs reaching the Champions League next year… I’d be stupid to put everything into one post though… right?


P.S. Check out this hair!!!

Babies Galore...

There is, currently, a huge baby boom going on at Church... it's ridiculous! Something like 15 babies will be born this year, and plenty more are due for next year! One of my Groomsmen has recently had one (moreover, his wife has) and another Groomsman's' wife is pregnant and due late November!


This excites me a lot. Firstly, I love children (on a Sunday morning I rarely talk to adults because of herds of children that I find myself being stupid with). I have some quality banter with a 7 year old who supports a rival soccer team; a 4 year old girl who is moving to Turkey this time next year regularly tells me that 'Phil' means 'Elephant' in Turkish; a 5 year old boy will punch me non-stop for as long as I'll let him for want of being turned upside down and carried around for a while. They are fun, have great energy levels, and are probably the most genuine people in the world!


Secondly, as I embark on the magnificent journey that is marriage, and look into baby planning etc on the Marriage Preparation Course, it's great to have close friends who are kind of a life stage ahead of you. One day I will be sucking all the kid rearing wisdom I can out of these folk!


Third... it means I can pretend I'm massive (which I am... see previous post) and take fun photo's like this:





Don't get me wrong here, I am not broody in any way. Right now (well, in 15 days time) Liz will be my family, and that's all I'm after and what I want. In fact, I hate kids. Leaving my parents to start up my own family will no doubt be tough- they are the most amazing people I have the honour of knowing- but I am very much looking forward to cleaving to and figuring out how to be family with Elizabeth Kate.