Summer in the city

Hi all

Well we're still ticking along quite nicely here - enjoying our time in Melbourne and getting things organised.

Most importantly - we've found somewhere to live!!!

Not that living in a hotel for 3 weeks hasn't been sweet - having someone come in and make your bed every day is rather nice as is the close proximity to the CBD's shops, cafes and restaurants. However having our own space - indeed having a home is something we are quite looking forward to! .

It ended up being a lot easier than we thought. We spent last Saturday racing around to a ridiculous number of open inspections and every one was attended by between 20 - 40 people, many of whom already had the paperwork filled out and were offering more money than the asking price. I started to feel a little stressed thinking we had played it all wrong and that we would be staring down the barrel of having nowhere to live, having to put our shipping container of goods into storage at an exorbitant cost and having nowhere to take our baby. So I hit up the agencies first thing Monday morning and put 3 applications in, hoping for the best but not feeling overly confident.

And then we found out that all THREE of our applications were successful and it was then up to us to choose the place we liked the best! How's that for an unexpected outcome?!?

I jokingly said to M "it's my very own Sophie's Choice"!!
M, being slightly ignorant at times of great literature/cinematic lore asked me what Sophie's Choice was ... so then I had to briefly explain the plot and emphasise that I was being ironic ...... yeah? M gave me a fairly disgusted look and told me it was a terrible analogy. Hurumph. I hate having to explain witticisms, they totally lose their effect.

Anywhoodle - we eventually went with a great 3 bedroom house with beautiful polished floorboards and a modern kitchen in a good location close to public transport, shops, parks and cafes. Here's what it looks like from the front:

We get the keys on Friday morning and can move our small amount of belongings in over the weekend, borrowing from generous friends the bare necessities until our shipping container arrives.

Very excited!

All is going well on the baby front - getting bigger and heavier every day it feels like so walking long distances is less fun than ever and rolling over in bed requires a 3 point turn manoeuvre. I've been enjoying my Yoga classes though and trying to swim when I can. I had the most AMAZING massage last week - my mum gave me a voucher for a 1hr pregnancy massage at a beautiful spa for Christmas and it was incredible - I basically got to lie on my side on a bed, surrounded by supportive pillows and have my back, neck, legs and feet rubbed expertly by Bart, my Swiss masseuse. It was soooooo good. We also started antenatal classes yesterday which was very informative .... and graphic!  And we met some other nice couples expecting their first babies, so that was great.

Other than that we're enjoying catching up with friends, watching some great tennis at the Australian Open and M is working hard.

I'll try and put up some photos of our new place once we're all moved in. I feel like it will look very empty as the furniture that worked in our small apartment in Cannes may not be enough for a solid 3 b/r home - but that just means some fun furniture shopping is ahead! Woo hoo!

Hope everyone is well
Raj says hi!

B 
xxx