as way of an update

I have been getting quite a few questions lately. or i should say the same few questions from quite a few people. So i have decided to answer them all right here...

1. Stitches. rest assured people, it was nothing major and traumatic as some have suggested. I had a tiny mole on my leg that had begun to shift in colour. Being from a sunny climate originally, and knowing about 15 people who have had moles removed, I thought nothing of it but decided to go to the doctor. Talk about a freak out in the UK. I have never known the NHS to move so quickly! Had an appointment at 9am Friday morning and by 1.30 that afternoon had been booked into the theatre (operating room) and was sitting on the table waiting for them to remove the "obviously cancerous" speck on my leg. The doctor was really nice and kept saying things like 'dont worry hun, its probably nothing that cant be fixed. no need to worry, we can remove the cancer' Even with her really comforting (ha!) words, I was not worried because, well it was just something that was familiar to me. people who refuse to wear sunscreen to ensure the best tan possible will eventually end up with some kind of sun spot that needs to be removed. that and old, leathery skin by the age of 35.

I did however begin to get nervous when I was informed that because I was pregnant they would not be giving me atheistic. what?! seriously?! the doctor corrected herself. I would have a minor amount of local atheistic. about an eighth of what they normally give. hmmm...now I am starting to get nervous. Well once she starting cutting into my skin, she discovered that the tissue around and below the mole was in fact infected and she needed to removed quite a bit more than originally planned. Awesome. in case you have even wondered what it feels like to have a mini scalpel cut into your flesh and dig out pieces of tissue, i will tell you its not fun. So what was supposed to be 2 or 3 stitches and a tiny cut ended up being an inch and half cut with 3 layers of stitches. and i felt each and every one of those 11 stitches going in. again, awesome.

as a side note. the doctor did say, as a means of comfort, "dont worry this is not as bad as labour. i mean, i have never had kids, but i am assuming that labour will be a lot worse than THIS!" thanks for those encouraging words doctor. i cant wait for things to come! and that my friends, is the stitches story.

2. Pregnant Pictures. i have not put up any pictures of me being pregnant. The reason for this is threefold. One, for the first 20 weeks i did not look pregnant. There was no point to put up pictures of me from a side view when I looked exactly the same as before. you could have just looked at a normal picture, i could have said i was pregnant and everyone is happy. Two, since November my camera battery has been dead. i have lost my charger. therefore I am unable to take pictures of my pregnant belly even though at this stage I actually have quite a large one. as husband has taken to calling me BPB, big pregnant belly. nice. and finally, three. This is really the most significant reason. my mom is far away. she doesn’t get to experience any of the 'firsts' with me in person. i.e. first kick, first scan etc... so i am waiting until my mom can see me in person before the world wide web gets pictures. since i see my mom on Thursday, i envision pictures will be up by this weekend.

3. Our home. Why this is still an issue, i don’t know. I wrote about this same issue a while back; about people being quick to judge me based on the fact that Rhys and I only have a one room flat. Well, i will say it again. screw you. i will be a great mom without all the toys, clothes, and nursery furniture that some of you all so desperately think i need. I am not saying i don’t want those things. If we had the space I would love for little Eli to have a nursery all decked out, but since that is not the case, we will make due with what we have. and anyone who thinks we are being bad parents and 'depriving' our son...well I think its about time you kept your opinions to yourself!

4. I am using cloth diapers. some you are excited. some of you are not. but no matter what you say, i will not change my mind. similar to the above response, if you cannot be positive, why do you say things? Every one can make their own choice. We are really excited about our cloth diapering. please be excited with us.

5. Jenae, yes there are some areas in London that police are hesitate to go. I think its a combo of fear of upsetting someone or being perceived as being politically incorrect or targeting certain groups as well as knowing that in certain areas they themselves will be targeted. The UK is strange in that way. Police and fireman are regularly attacked on their way to call outs. There are numerous cases of the fire brigade being called out to a 'fire' only to arrive at the scene and discover that they have been set up. Instead of a fire they are met with thugs waiting to assault them with rocks, sticks, a knife or fist. Same goes often times for ambulance personnel. its weird. so yeah, there are certain areas of London that the police are not jumping up and down to go to go. partly because the muslim influence and partly because of the other things mentioned. sad that our society has come to that.

6. We leave for America on Thursday. Yes Rhys is going to. We will be in the states of 18 days. Yes we are coming to Arkansas. Yes I will call all of you who have asked me to. and yes, I am VERY excited to see each and everyone of you. This will be the last time I can fly before I have the baby. and as an interesting side note, this is the last time that i will ever, EVER go to America without a child. crazy eh?

So there it is folks. all the answers to all the questions/comments that i have been recieving. :)