Father’s Day
Posted by: Bavvo on: June 23, 2009
Stone Mauritus flag on my Grandad's grave
I celebrated my 3rd Father’s Day. I didn’t actually spend much time with my daughter on the day because I went to see my Grandad’s grave. It was the first Father’s Day without him and most of my family met up at the cemetery to pay our respects. Most of us then headed off to my Auntie Kathy’s after for something to eat.
My Uncle Lloyd re-decorated my Grandad’s grave and the final outcome looks very nice as you can see from the images. Lloyd bought some coloured stones from a pet shop and laid the stones out across the grave to the flag of Mauritius. I know my Grandad would like this and I’m sure he’s smiling. 
I met the newest member of my family, Louis Francis White, my Cousin Barry’s son. He’s not been officially named yet so that might change. I got a quick glimpse of him and he looks like his mum, Hayley.
Baby Scan
We had the baby scan and everything seems to be ok. We have been given a due date of 20th December 2009, not much difference with the date the mid-wife gave us. The baby was exactly like Evie when she was at that stage, very hard to see on the monitor. The nurse was having trouble seeing everything but eventually got the info she needed. The baby scan photo that was given to us is quite blurry, just like Evie!
Charlotte is suffering from hayfever badly and because she’s pregnant she can’t take any medication.
Holiday
We spent a few days in Devon. It was a nice litte break away from work. Evie enjoyed it, she had her Nanny Annie, ‘Dandad’ and Rene on tap. I’m sure she must has done their heads in at times!! Char and myself forgot to take our camera so we don’t have any holiday snaps, silly us!! We spent plenty of time on the beach, in the swimming pool and in the hot tub
Eye Health
I had my contact lens and eyes checked and all is good. My lenses give me almost 20/20 vision and the health of my eyes are good. My mum had her eyes tested and one has astigmatism and the other looks like it’s developing cataracts.
SingStar
Charlotte’s Brother lent us a game call SingStar, it’s basically a karaoke game for the PS3. Char liked it so much she made me go out and buy it for ourselves. As most of you know, I’ve got the voice of an angel and it’s no surprise that I cannot beat Char in a ’sing-off’.
3 years old
Posted by: Bavvo on: May 29, 2009
Evie on her 3rd B'day
I can’t believe Evie is 3 years old already! Everybody told me it’ll go quick and how right they were.
Char and myself decided to host a little party to celebrate the occasion, the weather was predicted to be nice so we put the BBQ on. As far as I know all the food was cooked well because we haven’t received any complaints.
We had a very good turn out. Thanks to everyone who turned up and thanks for all the presents and cards we received. Evie got loads of new toys and we haven’t got anywhere to put them all!!
The following clip shows Evie receiving her birthday cake whilst everyone is singing her happy birthday. As you’ll see, I’m so quick I help her blow the candles out.
Morning Sickness
Char is still suffering from morning sickness. There have been a couple of days where she hasn’t been sick. We have a mid-wife appointment and the 1st baby scan coming up soon so I’ll post more details about that once it’s happened.
Season ends
There was slight relive in me when the final whistle of the Arsenal season came. Altough I predicted that we’d finish 4th I still felt a bit of dissapointment with the Gunners during the 2008/09 season. On reflection we didn’t have a bad year, semi-final in both Champions League and FA Cup and we finished 4tg in the league so we are in next season’s Champs Lge.
A New Arrival
Posted by: Bavvo on: May 18, 2009
- In: Baby| Charlotte| Evie
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Evie is swaying towards the Gunners
As most of you know by now, Charlotte and myself are expecting a new arrival, our 2nd child. We have been given an initial date of 18th December but we’re due to have our 1st scan soon, we will then get a more definite date then. I must stress that it is very early stages and we wont know if everything is ok until we have the scan.
Charlotte is showing the same symptoms as when she was pregnant with Evie, morning sickness all day! If I mention Ginger (a common cure for morning sickness) I get the ‘Martin’ glare. If all is well, Christmas will be a busy one for us this year but I can’t wait! We’ve tried to explain to Evie that she could be having a brother or sister but she doesn’t seem overly bothered at the moment, although we do know that she doesn’t want to share her room
Swinging through life
Evie Progress
Evie is progressing really well. She’s enjoying her time at her playgroup, she’s becoming more active with other children. She can count to 20 on her own and she knows most of the alphabet. She can write and spell her own name as well as Oliver, her favourite cousin. She loves to read, or rather loves giving people books to read to her, she has a little library of her own now!
I think I’m winning the battle of making Evie a Gooner although she knows how to wind me up already. Every now and then she’ll look at me and shout ‘Yids!’ just to get a reaction out of me, I normally respond by uttering the word ‘rubbish’ or ‘get out of it’ which seems to upset her at times. In general she makes the right noises in support of the Arsenal. She told the other day that she wants an Arsenal cake for her birthday!
It’s been mental!!
Posted by: Bavvo on: December 30, 2008
- In: Anniversary| Birthday| Charlotte| Christmas| Evie| Family| Food
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Sorry I haven’t posted anything for a while. I simply haven’t had the time.
Since my last post I’ve celebrated my 28th birthday, my 5 year wedding anniversary and Christmas. I’d like to say a belated thanks to everyone who has sent b’day, anniversary and Christmas wishes.
My B’day
We didn’t really do much, we haven’t got much money plus 28 is not a big birthday. So, we went to a Chinese buffet for lunch then we spent the rest of the day in a local pub. Neil came with us and Evie enjoyed the pub coz they have got a child’s play area.
Anniversary
Again we didn’t do much, we went to a local Harvester for dinner, Char’s Mum, Dad and Auntie came with us, it was all very pleasant.
Christmas
We built up the excitement for Evie in the run up to Christmas, we took her to see Father Christmas and told her that he’ll leave her some presents if she behaves herself. We told her that she needed to leave out some donuts and Pepsi for Father Christmas and his reindeers. Char’s mum also came up with a great idea of Evie leaving all of her dummys out for Father Christmas to take and she’ll get a few extra presents. Char and myself were trying to think ways to get Evie off her dummy so we gave it a go. So far it seems to have worked.
Evie got loads of presents including a few microphones, a CD player for her bedroom, a CD player that she can carry around with her and a teddy bear that you can connect an iPod to. She also got lots of In The Night Garden stuff, a big Iggle Piggle teddy that moves when you press a button, an Iggle Piggle chair, play doh, miniature teddys of the main characters, a CD and book. As well as all that she got a few dolls, her own camera, colouring books, noisy stuff, the list goes on. Char, Evie and myself would like to thank everyone that got Evie a present. It’s much appreciated and added to the fun of the day.
We done the usual thing on Christmas day. Char’s family came to ours for breakfast, we then when to my mum’s for a couple of hours then we went to Char’s Mum and Dad’s for dinner. All in all it was a pleasent day.
Surviving
We’re trying not to be affected by the ‘Credit Crunch’. Charlotte survived redundency at her company but has gone back to being full time for the time being. There were a few redundencies in my work but I wasn’t affected. Hopefully we will be fine next year but listening the press, you never know what’s around the corner.
Welcome Oliver!
Posted by: Bavvo on: November 3, 2008
I’m now officially an uncle!!! Charlotte’s brother Damon, had a baby boy, well, Damon didn’t have the baby his girlfriend Keeley did. Oliver Stephen Charles Martin was born in the early hours of 31 October 2008 weighing in at 7lbs and 14oz. A whooper!!
There were a few complications during the birth. Poor Keeley was in labour for over 24 hours and eventually had a C-section. Oliver suffered some skin damage to the back of his head as the surgeons tried to pull him out. The little soldier has had to spend some time in intensive care for the beginning of his life. Keely has diabetes so it was expected that there would be some problems but probably not as much as what actually happened. We all knew that the baby would have to have go into intensive care as soon as he was born. I can sort of understand the strain that Keeley and Damon went through but I wish and hope they are happy with the final outcome.
I have been to see Oliver and he is very cute but I was unable to have a cuddle so I can’t wait till he gets home! I can see both his mum and dad in him, they must be feeling very proud. Congratulations Keeley and Damon!
Carole gets married
Posted by: Bavvo on: October 27, 2008
- In: Charlotte| Wedding| Work
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The newly weds
A good friend and colleague of mine got hitched. Carole Jane Holland is now Carole Jane Styles after getting married to her fiance John. We were invited to her wedding reception which was very pleasant.
It’s quite rare for my work colleagues to get together outside of work so we all shared a good drink (free bar!). Carole and John had organised a caricature drawer to be present at the reception so most of us had one done. Charlotte would kill me if I posted our one on the blog.
Family Party
Posted by: Bavvo on: October 21, 2008
My uncle Lloyd and auntie Paula hosted a party at their house. We were told to ‘wear our colours’ so I predictably wore my Arsenal shirt. I wanted to get a Mauritius shirt but I can’t find a place that sells them!! Charlotte refused to wear her Sp*rs shirt, I think she’s a bit embarrassed with them at the moment. As I type, they are rock bottom of the Premiership after 8 games, nobody likes to see that!
Here are some pictures from the party:-
R.I.P. Grandad
Posted by: Bavvo on: October 15, 2008
Sadly, my Grandad passed away after suffering a mild heart attack. He was 72 when he was laid to rest.
My first memories of my Grandad was when I was about 3/4 when he used come to visit me and my mum. He’d walk into the room, place his flat cap and walking stick onto a chair and sit down. I would then put on his hat, pick up the walking stick then proceed to walk around the room like a penguin, imitating him. He had one leg longer than the other so he had a penguin walk.
His family were by his bedside when he passed away, a fact that I know he would have loved and been very proud of.
R.I.P. Grandad. You will be missed but never forgotten.
Tricks and Nicknames
He’d always bring me some kind of chocolate bar so he’d beckon me to sit on his lap so he could give it to me. But instead of giving me the bar of chocolate he’d look at me, smile, then pull out his teeth (he had dentures). This would completely freak me out so I’d jump off his lap and run to hide behind my mum who was on the other side of the room. Like an idiot, I’d fall for the same trick over and over again for about 2 hours until he’d give me the chocolate.
My Grandad had a good sense of humour. He had a nickname for nearly all his Grandchildren. I was “Mongol!!” (Mongrel), it has to be said very loudly. He called me this in reference to my multi-nationality. Others were “Goofy”, “Romeo” “Juliet” or “Penguin”. He always called Charlotte “Chalky” because of her pale complexion. I was later called “Kojack” after the fictional American detective because of my bald head. To the outside world some of these names might come across as offensive but we all knew he meant them affectionately. My uncle actually said we were lucky, he was called “KakaJole” which means diarrhea in Creole.
We never agreed on football but loved to talk about it.
Laid to rest
He had a lovely funeral. The service was in a Cathedral near Waterloo and the turn out was huge! There were people still turning up as the ceremony had finished. I helped carry the coffin into the Cathedral and to his grave. As a family we all helped fill in his grave, an experience which was very weird. Not sure if I liked doing that or not? He is buried in South London, I will try to visit his grave on all the important dates like his birthday, fathers’ day, Christmas etc etc. The wake was like a typical family party, except there were no arguments! I met and spoke to a lot of people I forgot existed and all in all the day was nice considering the circumstances.
R.I.P. Lindsay Peter White
Evie’s 1st day at Pre-School
Posted by: Bavvo on: September 12, 2008
- In: Charlotte| Evie
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Evie has completed her first day at pre-school today. It was hard leaving her there on her own but Charlotte and myself know it’s best for her. She’ll make lots of friends and learn more skills, hopefully. As soon as we got to pre-school Evie went off playing as she normally does. We had told her in the run up that we would be leaving her there and she seemed fine with it. As Charlotte and myself were filling in forms Evie kept coming back to us asking us to get involved, but we knew we couldn’t. We gave her a kiss before we left and Evie looked a bit confused but carried on with gluing something together.
I had to go to work after leaving Evie there so I was waiting for a call from Charlotte to let me know how Evie got on. She told me Evie did have a little cry where she wanted mummy or daddy but the ‘helpers’ (not sure what they’re called?) managed to talk her into enjoying herself again. Evie got over it and by what I can gather she enjoyed herself, so I feel quite relieved.
Big-Head lives up to her name
Charlotte passed her Certificate in Personnel Practice (CPP) with a merit. She was worried that she might not pass but she had got merits and distinctions all year long so I told her “of course your gonna pass!!” So, Charlotte has given me good cuase to carry on calling her by her nickname. Well done Big-Head!!!!
Horse Racing
Posted by: Bavvo on: August 21, 2008
We took Evie to her first horse racing meeting at Great Leighs racecourse near Chelmsford. I had promised her that I would take her to see the ‘GGs’ for a while now. The racecourse is quite new. It opened in April earlier this year, it’s an all weather track and it’s has floodlights, so it will host night racing during the winter months.
We made Evie do a placepot for the 6 race meeting and the 1st 3 horses came in. Our excitement was getting higher with each race but that all faded after the 4th race, the horse that Evive picked finished just outside of a place so her bet was finished. Overall we made about £10 in bets so the day didn’t cost us much. We were fortunate enough to see Frankie Detorri win his 1st race at the course and he celebrated this by doing his famous flying dismount.
I think we’d definitely go back some time soon, especially under the floodlights, maybe for my birthday?
Potty Training
Evie has done really well regarding potty training. Both myself and Charlotte decided that we’d spend alot of time and effort into getting Evie ‘clean’ whilst we’re off work for 2 weeks. And to be honest, Evie has made it so easy for us. We basically told her to let us know when she needs to go and she does. She now no longer wears nappies, which is very helpful to my wallet and Charlotte’s purse. We’ve had the odd accident but nothing major.
Sporting times
The time we’ve had off work coincided with the Bejing Olympics so Char, Evie and myself watched quite a bit of it. It’s good to see Britain do so well for a change. I can’t wait till London hosts it in 2012!
The football season kicked off and to be honest I don’t feel as excited as I normally do. Maybe I’ve still got Olympic fever, or maybe I’m starting to get fed up with footballer’s egos? I’m sure by the time Christmas comes (it’s not that long to go you know?) I’ll be well into it.
