10, 9, 8,...

A few weeks back, we started making preparations for the big arrival we're expecting next weekend (June 28 to be exact - but then, when are these things ever exact?). We thought it might be a good idea to clear some space for him to have his own furniture; so we made room in the guest room, which started out like this...

morphed into this...

involved a bit of this...

and ended up like this...

Thanks to the generosity of one of Jeff's friends at work, we got beautiful hand-me-down furniture - and a car seat (which we have to have even though we don't own a car, since getting the baby home will mean a car ride from the hospital). Our friends Travis and Fiona loaned us a gorgeous rocking chair. And we even have some tiny clothes which we're hoping he will be small enough to fit into (although the midwife seems to think he'll be huge!).

For informational purposes, here's a nice shot of the belly, as seen from our fire escape.

On an entirely unrelated note, we have entered the insanely long days of summer here in Northern Ireland. Jeff took this picture from our bedroom window at midnight a few nights ago:

Maybe it's the long nights that have caused Jeff to adopt a secret identity as Stormy Stan...