This is George Burley's Fault

If Burley had navigated Scotland through the easiest qualifying group we've seen in years, I would have had a leg to stand on when arguing against this sort of child abuse

A Busy Day

Alasdair had a very busy day yesterday. He started in the morning at William's birthday party. Things needed to be dug:

Then in the afternoon a little bit of swinging was in order, all, of course, while looking super cool:

Then it was time to jump into the pool:

And of course, put all that swimming training to good use:

And of course, there's always time to beat Daddy up:

Christmas Trip

Here are some pics from our wee trip back to the UK over Christmas and New Year.

San Diego Slideshow

Here's a slideshow of our pics from San Diego. As ever, there are bigger versions over at the Picasa site:



Grandparents (or others), let me know if you want a copy of any of them and I'll be happy to oblige with the full size version.

We're Back

San Diego was great fun, perfect weather and, for once, we didn't try to cram too much sight-seeing in. Alasdair had a good time too, we'll post more pictures when we've sorted through them, but I think whizzing about in this Surrey was a highlight for him.

Japanese Garden

Recently the 3 of us went for a walk round Houston's Hermann Park. We'd being intending to visit the Body Works exhibit at the Museum of Natural Science, but it was rammed with people. We took a stroll around the reflecting pool instead and came across the Japanese Garden. I knew it existed, and had even been in before, but could never remember where it was exactly. I had wandered around the park looking for it before (because using Google would be cheating), and was beginning to think I'd imagined the place. Anyway, now we know. It's a lovely, peaceful place and I look forward to going back in the summer when everything's in bloom.

 

 

 

 

Advanced Peekaboo Techniques

The Empire Strikes Back

The Southern branch of Alasdair's family are officially in the game.

What a lovely pair of shoes. It would be such a shame if he went splashing through puddles in them.

Finally Christmasy

Having spent our first weekend back from our holidays avoiding the subject, Nikki and I finally got our decorations up this past weekend. One good thing about delaying was that all trees were 50% off. Our 7 foot Noble Fir cost $17. Woohoo!

Also reduced in price were plastic snowmen with lights that flash on and off. This certainly beats my idea of putting Santa hats on the light up skulls from Halloween.

I think tinsel may also have been reduced, judging by the amount we now have. Nikki, who, for a normally classy girl, has a suspicious fondness for the stuff, insisted on having one tacky room. At least we got the pink stuff up here so that Tim won't mistake it for edible vegetation. He's already been sniffing round the tree a lot.

We also took a spontaneous drive around the other night snapping shots of various displays for inspiration. I definitely need an inflatable santa and/or a 6 foot lit snowman next year...we'll go out again and have a fully charged camera next time., but here are a few we liked:

Renaissance

We went up to the Renaissance Festival last weekend, it was a lot of fun. Alasdair was so cute and charming that he attracted lots of attention.

In the end we had to disguise him with some cool shades. The day was really sunny and he found it hilarious every time I put these on him. I'll have to get him a pair of his own so I don't lose mine forever.

I also got to have a go on a bungee trampoline thing. It was great, despite the large amounts of greasy deep fried food consumed earlier in the day.

Friday night a couple of the families on the street hosted their annual Halloween party. Here's a bonus photo of two very scary characters...

New Clothes

Alasdair is now big enough to fit into some of the cool clothes various nice people sent. First up there's this cracker from Stephen and Louisa:

Mine too buddy, mine too.

Then there's this fantastic exercise in territory claiming by Innes and Susie, as exhibited at Kelly's first birthday party today:

Yep, that's a full Scotland strip. Nice. Let's see that in close up:

Mummy claims she doesn't mind, but she's also telling me she's buying an England rugby shirt when she's at home in November...let the arms race begin. Speaking of Mummy, apart from the fly away hair, she's happy enough with this pic to let me post it:

Air Conditioned Bliss

We spent last night in comfort at our friends, Morven and Andy's place. They even have internet access! Still no power down where we live, I went back today to grab some more clothes and open some windows. No-one in our area seems to have power yet. 7 miles away my office got power back last night and my team and I got all services back up for folks to come to work tomorrow. If they can make it. Nikki, the now thoroughly spoiled Alasdair, and I, will spend tonight here and then, not wishing to wear out our welcome, find a hotel to check into if we still have no power tomorrow.

There are long queues at all open gas stations, but navigating around the city was pretty easy and we still have enough petrol for another day or two. We also have my rental car back in the garage at home with a full tank, though with the Mazda out for repair I have a slightly smaller car that the baby seat won't fit in very well. The supermarkets nearby don't have a lot of food in them, but I did see an open McDonald's on my way back out here. Even though I haven't had a Big Mac in years, I was very, very, tempted to stop and get 5. Andy is grilling a delicious chicken concoction instead though, so I'm glad I resisted.

Thank you all for your kind comments and thoughts below. I suspected the news was showing footage of Galveston and claiming it was Houston so I'm glad we managed to keep you updated. Technology, eh? Funnily enough, all the old low tech stuff fared pretty well. The cell phone service was poor, texts were about all that worked for a couple of days, but our house phone never went out. Might have to start giving out the number and get a laptop with a modem.

Could Have Been Worse

Lost tourist looking for the Galleria. He's in the left turn only lane, here. Nikki, Alasdair and I are in the lane to his right, which is left turn or straight. He goes straight, I go left. He's in a big SUV I'm in my Mazda 6. He wins. It was a low speed collision. Everyone was fine. Alasdair barely even work up.I am resisting the urge to buy a new car. So far.

Not Alasdair

Okay, so we've been a little heavy on the photos of Alasdair around here the last few days, so here's something a little different...First up, spot the badge of honour under the VM of Nikki's favourite t-shirt (she really loves the increased efficiency and cost-effectiveness of a virtualised IT environment). Yes, that is what you think it is...

Next up, a frankly intimidating fruit, uh, arrangement, received from Nikki's work...the chocolate covered strawberries won't last long, then I reckon it'll be grapes, non-chocolate strawberries, pineapples and watermelon. The orange and green melon bits will probably rot.

Oh, okay...just the one of the little man...

Meet Alasdair

Alasdair Murdo Morrison arrived on August 7th, 2008 at 13 minutes past 7 in the evening. Weighing in at 7lbs and 6oz. Mother and baby are doing well. Dad, well, he could do with a shave and a shower. But that's almost always the case anyway.

More photos to follow when Nikki and Alasdair are both a little more presentable....

UPDATE...I have permission to display the obligatory 'knackered mother' photo now:

This Is A Test

If this were the real thing you'd be seeing a photo of a baby. Meanwhile, here's a photo of the huge room they've moved us into:


The wi-fi still works. Nikki's watching soaps on the telly...they might never get us out of here.

The Trouble With Inns

There's never any bloody room at them when you need them. No stable out the back was on offer, so it seems we are spending the night in our own beds. Nothing further to report at this time. We'll let you know as soon as there is.

Big! Exciting! News!*

*There's no big exciting news yet.

Okay, that was unfair, but is kind of a slice of what waiting for this sprog to turn up feels like. Still nothing. Neither pineapple, raspberry tea, hot curry, sudden drops in pressure due to Tropical Storms nor other remedies (that some of you best not think about), can shift this kid. The doc has a plan though and he's swinging into action tomorrow evening, which means that, as Alex feared, the sprog is probably going to show up on his birthday. He may yet be saved from a lifetime of everyone in the family forgetting his birthday by labour spontaneously starting tonight or going long and giving us an 08/08/08 kid, but the 7th looks favourite. Sorry bruv. Have a good one on Thursday and I hope to speak to you at some point during the day.

Two Weeks Ago

Sorry, I didn't get around to uploading it until now.

There should be a shot of the bump as of tonight here as well, but I took it on our sofa. Nikki has now decidecd that sofa is too ugly to be on the Internet. Sorry sofa.

Going Posh

Better late than never...

The official photo from the Schlumberger Christmas party came in. Doesn't it make you feel all festive?