P.S.

For the record, the spelling is on purpose :)

Enter Ruben Jonathan Simkins

It appears my 'tomorrow' was slightly optimistic! Anyway, here we are :)

Ruben Jonathan Simkins was born on Friday 22nd June 2012 at 11.56. He weighed 8lb 80oz (3,860g) and (for those who are interested) had a head circumference of 37cm. For those who are wondering, English hospitals don't measure length at birth for some reason, so I can't give you official version of that (I guess it is quite hard to straighten them out and get an accurate reading!) I would say he is 'quite long' :)

For the non-present family (and any others who are interested) here are some photos:

June 12th June 2012, 11.56am

Telling the truth about the weight; lying about the time...

Happy not to be naked anymore!

Three and four

Two and four

One and four

All four!

Sleeping like a baby

Three wise men
(Caleb: "Daddy, take a photo of us looking wise")

Hanging in there

Looking good for 48 hours post-operative!

They actually trust us to take him home (subject to seeing him in the car seat first...)

"17, 18, 19, 21,...Rats!
1, 2, 3, 4..."

Current most-heard phrase in our house at the moment  (and not just from Bethany):
"He's soooooo cute!"

"How big were they expecting me to be? You could fit two of me in here!"

or

~ Too much space in the vest; not enough space in the world ~

Father and (latest) son

Baby Eve

Almost there now :) We go into hospital at 7.30am tomorrow to have the baby. Apparently there are 3 Caesareans each morning, but they don't tell us which place we have until we get there...Hopefully we won't be last...Libby's blood sugar may have given up by then!

We would value your prayers that everything goes smoothly and calmly, and that the kids don't worry while waiting for news.

We have got them all presents for the day, so that they are suitably distracted. Joshua can't decide whether he is more excited about getting Lego Star Wars "Emperor Palpatine's Shuttle" or (as he says) "another brother from the same mother" :)

I will update on the blog as soon as possible...check back tomorrow...

Photos as promised...

For one brief moment in time, Caleb & Bethany play nicely together...

Joshua and Caleb discovered that if they take pictures of Lego & K'nex models in sequence that can make little 'movies'. This is one scene.

One of the more entertaining looking owls at the Owl Centre

Caleb plagues a chipmunk

The street party outside Libby's parents (spot the Simkins'!)

...after the silence...

It's been a while! Sorry to all of you who depend on a dose of our blog to get through the day :)

While we are in England, we are busy with working and schooling during the day, and are at home in the evenings - where we don't have a conventional Internet connection. This means finding a time to blog is rather difficult! However, I have just worked out that I can blog from my 'mobile device', so here is a post from bed :)

We are now just under two weeks from baby day. Everyone is very excited, combined with a reasonable dose of anxiety. Unfortunately our children's understanding of real life (and plenty of TV) is not particularly helpful in this situation - bedtime prayers regularly include the request that 'Mummy doesn't die in childbirth'! :( Your prayers along this line would be equally welcome...)

Anyway, probably should go and help with feeding the troops. Here are a few photos of our stay in England so far:

Or not. It seems that adding images on my mobile device is more of a problem. Hopefully I will find opportunity to add them at a later date...