Well the days are ticking downwards to Isabelle's impending arrival and as you can guess it is consuming Craig's and my thoughts at the moment. The fact that we have now moved into our lovely new home means we can rest a bit easier, as we'll be all settled when she comes (unless she decided to come tonight in which case she'll have to do without her room being painted at first!). But things are all coming together really well and I'm very excited about the prospect of her being here.

I'm currently in my third week of maternity leave and starting to enjoy the fact I don't have to get up and go to work. It was a strange feeling at first to be perfectly honest - but oddly enough one that I'm adapting to pretty quickly! ;-)

What with just having moved house though I've got plenty to occupy myself with, and shortly I'll have more than enough on my hands!

Anyhow, I keep meaning to upload our babymoon photos - which I will - along with some photos of me pregnant. I shall endeavour to do it over the next week. Promises promises...

Craig here – well my plans to write in the fotola more regularly don’t seem to have played out. Anyway no point in dwelling on what is not done. The legacy of the babymoon has been a good one. Two weeks ago we finally moved into our new home in St Albans (with some much needed help from Gary and Jo – two great Australians I had only met the weekend before) – couldn’t have done it without them. It is nice to think back to Vienna when the decision was made – literally printing out a map of the UK and picking a place to live (a very un-Craig like approach to decision making – think Jodi-ism may be rubbing off on me).

Suffice to say the decision was a great one. Something about not having a family of 6 below, a group of students above and a militant family to the side who think they actually do own your garden has improved our home life a great deal. We have had the normal teething problems (broken dishwasher and flood (okay it was more of a drip!)). Isabelles room will also be ready shortly and will be a lovely pale yellow with bright colourful birds on the ceiling (another babymoon legacy purchase). As for the great naming debate we have finally completed that. I would love to tell you dear child that your middle name of Sophie came to me after drinking divine elixir at the Temple of Hera and was harked forth by singing cherubs – however the truth is the elixir was about 5 pints of Guinness in a pub in Angel and the cherubs were your very sober mother (who did pick the name because it meant wisdom!) and a bunch of friends who then made me sign my consent to Isabelle Sophie. The name is a lovely one and I hope you will like it to.

Anyway must get back to work, so please baby try not to come for at least another three days (so I can paint your room and have at least one more hypnobirthing ante natal class (apparently this will make you a calm child – we will see)). See you soon.

Craig here. Welll it does seem to have been a mad week. Having decided last Saturday that we needed a house we went up to St Albans and guess what, we had an offer accepted on a 3 bed semi detached in a very family orietated area (there goes my youth). No seriously compared to the god awful 2 bed flat above one family of 15 and below a bunch of people whose shoes must weigh in excess of 200kg the move is going to be a really good thing. Who wouldn't trade the sound of birds and children for the sound of clomping feet and arguing families (who aren't your own).

Well its now Wednesday and we have put the flat on the market, arranged the survey, got the mortgage and started the legal searches - so obviously taking this at a gentle pace!!! With any luck we will have just bought the house and sold the flat by the time Isabelle is born (and I may also have passed my supply chain diploma!).

Getting planning on the stag do as well. Simon (best man) has arranged to go for the slightly more cultural wine tasting in France (followed at a later date by the drunken, naked Craig tied up to a lamp post throwing his guts up cultural experience). WIll be an event to look forward to.

Generally having a good time at the moment (very good emotional high all the time and no drugs involved) - sure it will soon degenerate into the normal self pitying depression everyone has come to love. So excited about all things (particularly Isabelle).

Well it seems my plans to have it easy and sit back whilst Jodi maintained commentary on our personal lives have finally come to nothing. So here I go...

I have just managed to wipe the original contribution to the fotola, which probably wasn't the best omen - but nevertheless I will see how much of it I can recall.

We are both just finishing up our babymoon in Prague at the moment. This is one of my favourite European cities (along with Budapest) - every building is beautiful, the food is excellent, the people are friendly and there isn't the pressure to go and see a load of castles and churches. With any luck though there will be a few concerts to see (Vienna being somewhat dissappointing in that respect).

We have also managed to sort out our lives as well, rearranging our original Australia wedding to the UK, putting together house plans to move to St Albans and considering Jodi's future career (Professor of politics, Doctor of Medecine and corporate flunky all getting a look in).

The most amazing news is of course Isabelle. Should probably just apologise to her in advance. I forsee a point where some ten thousand pages of fotola picture and updates will be presented to her on her eighteenth birthday by a doting father (a little more grey, a little wider around the middle and no doubt wrapped around her little finger) - sorry girl but you are just going to have to read it - or in the words of you mother (eternally beautiful at 50) 'suck it up'.
I have just turned 27 at this point so although at the tender age of 18 that may make me seem quite old - its not that much further along than you are now - so be nice to the old man as you may find yourself doing something like this one day.

We are just deciding your middle name at the minute - so if we have got that wrong and you are being endlessly teased then I'm sorry about that too - ditto for your first name and any of the clothes we may have forced you to wear while you were growing up.

Life has been so amazing since I met Jodi (I hope for both of us), I have to often step back and remember we still haven't known each other for 2 years yet. I actually thought I had delayed the engagement in Paris for too long - I was certain quite some time before that (Budapest always jumps to my mind as being a point of perfect happiness, but actually it only takes a few more seconds to remember all the other great things we have done - be it a camping trip in Edale, to a lay in and a walk on a Saturday morning). Everything else that has happened since then - wedding plans, baby plans, house plans, career plans are just details around maximising the amount of time we spend together. Life is good.

Anyway we need to get on with enjoying the last few days of our holiday, so I will write soon.

How is it I manage to always leave it so long between updates. Every time I post something new I vow that I will be more diligent in the future - yet despite many requests to get some more pictures and news up I never get around to it. I blame work (seems only fair!) But brace yourselves - this is going to be a long entry!

I should also add that Craig is going to start contributing to the site as well since there are plenty of people checking in to find out what he's been up to. So you may see some messages from both of us on here from now on.

So here goes... 6 months in a nutshell!

As I write we are on our babymoon - our final long trip before Isabelle is born. It's been a monumental 6 months for us. The summer following my last entry wasn't incredibly eventful - though I did manage to go to Ibiza for a week with Aref, which unbeknown to me was my last chance to really let my hair down for a while (and let my hair down I did). We had a great time, dancing up a storm - quite literally in fact - I found myself dancing in the rain and hail on top of a table in Bora Bora. Good fun! It was good to have time to catch up with Aref as well - it's not often we have time together any more.

And a few short weeks after getting back Craig and I got engaged. He had bought me a trip to Paris for my birthday and it was while we were there that he proposed. It was a really magical night. We had spent the day wandering around Paris, sitting in cafes, eating crepes all the usual and that evening we got dressed up and went to Michel Rostang's restaurant (2 Michelin Stars). Absolutely beyond compare in terms of food and ambiance. It was just perfect! Afterwards we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. As we crossed the bridge in front of the Tower I stopped to take a few photos as there was a full moon right by it's tip. When I turned back Craig got down on one knee and proposed. People were cheering and clapping and I think I did well not to faint backwards over the bridge with all the excitement!!! I definitely couldn't have hoped for a more beautiful proposal and of course I said yes.

It was only a few short weeks into the engagement that we then found out I was pregnant. I'm not going to pretend it wasn't a shock. I found out at 5.30am - about 15mins before I had to take a taxi to Heathrow to fly to Edinburgh for work. Craig had gone to get some milk and when he came back I threw open the door and blurted "I'm pregnant" and burst into tears. Not that I was unhappy - but it's not generally something you expect on an early Monday morning. The Times perhaps, maybe the Independent - but certainly not baby-news!I then had to rush off to Scotland for the week so no time to sit and talk, or assimilate the news together.

So the first week was a bit of a blur, and probably the next few as well. We only started to tell people about it a month later when we'd reached 11 weeks and we'd had our first scan (which was a amazing - little baby doing somersaults inside me!). That was the same time that we had our engagement party which was great fun. Lots of friends, lots of alcohol (though none for me) and general merriment. We held it at Heidi's apartment in Cambden which was perfect. I had wanted to make an announcement during the night but there seemed to be a constant state of flux and no right time, so we ended up telling people as they left, which resulted in 1 minute of flurry before they had to rush off to their taxi. Not ideal - but it felt good to have told people finally!

So phew... a lot has been going on. I realise just how much as I write this !!!

So as alluded to, during this period I was working up in Edinburgh from Monday to Friday. Lovely city - really beautiful - though I didn't have much chance to sight-see. Aside from the fact I was working up to 13 hrs a day, I was absolutely shattered from just being pregnant, so many a night I crawled back into the hotel, ordered room service and promptly feel asleep. I was quite lucky because I didn't suffer to badly from morning sickness. Mild nausea and tiredness were my main complaints. It meant I could get on with work without too much trouble, but any thoughts of big nights out were snuffed out!

In October I went to France to visit mum as planned. I stayed for a week and Craig joined us for a few days at the end. It is a beautiful area Chateau le Peyrat - and perfect for long walks, sitting in front of open fires and eating croissants! All of which I did plenty of. Craig and I are hoping to spend a month or so out there during my maternity leave. Time again to relax - but this time as a family. Or perhaps I'm been idealistic thinking it will be relaxing with a 2 month old baby! At any rate, it will be good for us all...

Once back from France it wasn't too long until Christmas which we hosted at our place. A bit of a squeeze with nine people (Ben and Kristy joined us) but plenty of food, wine and presents made for a good day.

On the 27the we jetted off to Turkey for 4 days. We stayed with Craig's friend Nazli in Istanbul for the first two, and then made our way down to Iznik where her father has built two homes by a lake. Absolutely idyllic! We stayed in the top bedroom of the house which has wrap around windows and uninterrupted views of the lake and surrounding mountains. I opened my eyes at sunrise on the first morning to see the sky painted with oranges, reds, pinks - all without having to lift my head from the pillow. I certainly haven't experienced that before. So our trip to Turkey was lovely. It was great to meet Nazli finally, and to see Iznik (which is Craig's little Utopia). We flew back on the 31st and were in our hotel sipping champagne for midnight. About 10 mins later I was asleep.

Oh and of course on the 5the January we had our second scan -and we found out we are expecting a baby girl. Isabelle! From what they could tell everything is absolutely fine and she is growing healthily. A big relief I can tell you!

And now we are a few weeks on and enjoying out baby-moon. 3 weeks of traveling through Europe. Our last big trip before Isabelle is born. We started in Rome - 7 nights in a penthouse apartment within walking distance of all the sights. And walk we did. I think we must have averaged 8 miles a day which is no small feat when you're pregnant let me assure you! But I feel pretty energetic, not much different from normal really, so it hasn't been difficult. And walking meant we got to really take in the full grandeur of the city - all the little streets and unexpected monuments which seem to spring up from everywhere. Highlights - the basilicas, wandering through the artist's district, eating gnocchi in a small Trattoria, the view from the Capitol over the Forum and the Vatican (the Gallery of Maps and the Sistine Chapel in particular). At the end of 7 days we were ready to leave, but I think it was the perfect amount of time to see Rome. Anything less and you would feel like you were just checking sights off a list which is never fun.

So onwards we went - to Venice. Both of us had been there before, but in summer time and not particularly enjoyable. This time the number of tourists was comparatively small and we were staying in a lovely apartment (owned by the partner of Nazli's dad). We spent all our time just wandering through the streets, along the canals, and in cafes or restaurants. We were there for three days and I think that was enough to soak up the atmosphere. Highlights in Venice - watching a Vivaldi concert, drinking hot chocolate in a square while enjoying classical guitar, eating dinner at La Piscina, meandering along the many canals and of course Craig's birthday - 27 years old!

With Venice under our belts it was onto Vienna. In retrospect I wish that we had stopped off in Florence for 3 nights en route to Venice, but we weren't aware the train took that route at the time we booked everything. As it was we had made arrangements for 6 nights in Austria. There is no doubt that Vienna is beautiful - lots of gorgeous architecture - but with temperatures below zero and blistering winds we weren't embracing the daily strolls. Neither of us are ardent art lovers so one big museum was enough for us, and there were seemingly no good concerts on so that option was out. As such we were left to spend most of our time in cafes and restaurants again. This was ultimately a good thing because it gave us time to sit down and chat about future plans a bit more - the wedding, Isabelle, buying a house. And with clearer minds we were able to make some decisions we otherwise wouldn't have. After much thinking (and news of the arrival of Craig's second niece or nephew in September) we decided to postpone the wedding plans for Australia - and will most likely rearrange to have the wedding in the UK in mid 2008. Though details are yet to be decided. We have also set in motion our plans to buy a house which we have been trying to get sorted for a while now. So all good things...

And while in Vienna we also made a day trip to Bratislava, which again was bitterly cold but surprisingly beautiful. At least the historic quarter was. The outer areas were very much a testimony to the sombre architecture of communism. Grey, cement blocks. It was good to break up the stay in Vienna though and to see another place. It would be a good place to visit in Spring or Summer I think.

So highlights of Vienna - sitting in cafes drinking hot chocolate and eating apple strudel, seeing the Sante Orazio photo exhibition at Kunst Haus Wien, visiting the butterfly museum and seeing Rubens paintings at the KKunsthistorischesMuseum. And of course just having the time to sit, think and decide!

So finally we find ourselves in Prague. My favourite city in Europe. Why? Because there is no pressure to sight-see - just the chance to wander around what is a very beautiful place. Of course there is a lot to take in but the charm is in the city not in isolated museums or monuments. We are staying in a lovely hotel on the outskirts of the city centre. We have 24hr Internet and movies here which means that I can actually catch up with some e-mailing in the mornings and in the evenings curl up and watch a movie or two! We spent yesterday walking around the city and castle, and today we'll likely do the same, though we hope to also fit in a concert. Hardly an arduous agenda - the perfect way to complete our baby-moon...

And that brings me up to today! Now Craig would like to write something. Seeing as I have written a novella here you may want to go grab a coffee before you embark on his section! And of course, my next task is to upload all the photos to accompany this entry. Which I will do next week (most certainly - I'm almost positive - yes almost sure).

Jodi