Jul 21 2009

Our Little Ray Of Sunshine. And A Ray Of Sunshine.

Category: Anna's Photos,PicturesChrisM @ 12:45 am

These photos were taken on Anna’s fifth birthday – 21st July. Nothing outstandingly interesting, just wanted to show how much she had grown since February really. Also included a quick shot taken out the window by Irina. The actual visual impact in real life was a lot greater – dark, overcast clouds with a small peak of sunshine breaking through. The camera didn’t quite do it justice TBH.

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Jul 19 2009

Anna In The Back Garden, and Iras’ Mum And Family Walk By The River

Category: Anna's Photos,Anna's Videos,PersonalChrisM @ 5:37 pm

Finally catching up with the last of Anna’s videos that have already been uploaded to YouTube, this post also has some photos from the same day. Which day? 19th July, so we are slowly catching up. I hope to be up to date (unless there are lots of pictures hiding on Ira’s camera that I’ve not yet transferred) by the end of this week.

First we have a shot of Anna in her (then) new multi-form rocking chair, in the garden. Later in the afternoon, Anna went for a walk along the river, and decided to take a few members of family as long as well, to keep an eye on them 🙂

If you’re reading this on the front page, click the link below to see three other similar clips of Anna, and a brief one of her next to the river

Continue reading “Anna In The Back Garden, and Iras’ Mum And Family Walk By The River”

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Jul 18 2009

Smiley Bath Time And Word Confusion

Category: Anna's PhotosChrisM @ 9:31 am

Cropped for modesty’s sake (plus I don’t want her to be too embarrassed when the time comes for boyfriends, if they start googling her name 🙂 ) Anyway, shot in the bath at Ira’s parents’ house, Anna is looking very happy here on the 18th July. We’ve since bought her a ‘full size’ baby bath. Hmmm, that doesn’t sound right. We’ve now bought her a bigger small tub. Nope. The bath she currently uses at the in-laws’ is not small and round like the one pictured below. That will do.

Anna Enjoying A Bath

Anna Enjoying A Bath

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Jul 14 2009

Riverside Walk And Astana Park Hotel Cafe

Category: Anna's Photos,Eating Out,Kazakhstan,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 11:38 pm

So, restarting the catching up for the Anna’s Photos category, we have some shots from the 14th of July again.
OK the WordPress gallery function once more appears to be convinced I don’t want the order I’m asking for with these photos. Beyond manually clicking and dragging the fifteen photos into the desired order, below is as close as I can get. Just imagine the first one is last, instead.

Anyway, Irina, Anna and I decided to investigate what was around if you took a left upon reaching the river Ishim near us, as despite living here for more than three years, we hadn’t yet made it to that part of the (very nearby) city. After walking down as far as the end of the concreted path, we sat on a bench and took a few shots on the camera. Anna seemed happy enough taking in the view by the water, so we continued our walk back across to more familiar territory, crossed under Turan (the name of the road our flat is on, since they moved Sary Arka), and continued walking next to the river. Irina spotted that a hotel (Astana Park Hotel) had a summer cafe advertised, so we decided to pop in and take a look. There are lots of gazebos, a pond with some fish swimming around, and a general summery feel to it.

Whilst the menu wasn’t cheap, the selection was pretty good, the service (that day at least) top notch, and the food tasty. Anyway, see below for a few photos of the place.

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Jul 13 2009

Balzhan, Dr Natalya, Ilda, Sveta

Category: Friends,Pictures,TweetsChrisM @ 5:21 pm

Balzhan, Dr Natalya, Ilda & Sveta all arrived to celebrate Balzhan’s birthday. Pizza hasn’t yet…. http://twitpic.com/a7t55

Balzhan The Birthday Girl, Dr Natalya and Irina

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Jul 11 2009

Russian Rhymes

Category: Anna's Photos,PersonalChrisM @ 5:55 am

Yes, another post where WordPress decided the built in gallery function really wasn’t required here, thank you very much. Anyway, 11th July saw us at the in-laws’, and by looking at the photo with Anna’s Babushka (Ira’s Mum) some Russian nursery rhymes or fairy tales being read to her.

Chris, Anna And Ira

Chris, Anna And Ira

Babushka With Anna On Her Lap In Back Garden

Babushka With Anna On Her Lap In Back Garden

Irina And Anna Near The In-Laws' Back Door

Irina And Anna Near The In-Laws' Back Door

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Jul 02 2009

The Day Before

Category: Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 1:44 pm

So, just one day before Anna came into this world, we were at the hospital, with a contraction and baby heart rate monitor attached to Irina. We saw a few other soon-to-be Mums in the ward, who we’d met at pre-natal classes & during previous trips to the hospital. I was a little over-protective, and asked the cleaners to come and sort out the dried blood I’d noticed on the angle-poise like lamp. Ooops, turns out someone who had used the bed prior to us had had chocolate on their hands!
As we looked out the window together, wondering just when Anna would decide that the time was right, Irina noticed a medical building across the road that looked vaguely familiar. Turns out that her old company (PKL healthcare, where she worked when we lived back in Cheltenham & Bourton on the Water), had constructed it! Small world…

Continue reading “The Day Before”

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Jul 01 2009

Anna’s Walk In Astana Park

Category: Anna's Videos,PersonalChrisM @ 11:54 am

Just a few days (1st July) before Astana Day (also apparently referred to as Capital Day?) Anna, Ira and I all went for a walk through Astana Park, which is just across the road from us. You can see in the background the ‘castle walls’ (OK, no idea what they were supposed to be exactly, but with a brick type effect, and ‘ramparts’ on top, you get the idea. This is the area that stalls selling local products were based. (OK, I say local, but a lot of the people seemed to be from Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan). More info on the Astana Day celebrations in a later post.

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Jun 30 2009

Tasty home made pizza. Well, p…

Category: Eating Out,Pictures,TweetsChrisM @ 10:45 pm

Tasty home made pizza. Well, pre-made base but the rest was down to Ira. Discovered my site #1 for pizza Astana! http://twitpic.com/8uxxk

Home Made Pizza   Yum

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Jun 29 2009

Gwen Guarding & Ineffective Curries

Category: Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 11:48 pm

Just under a week before Anna’s birth (and already almost a week since the due date), Irina is resting on the sofa at Mum & John’s in Clydach. Gwen had already been following Ira around most of the time, obviously sensing that something was a little different, and that she might appreciate the company.

Ira resting with Gwen on the sofa

Ira resting with Gwen on the sofa

A couple of days later, we had resorted to the old wives tale about hot curries bringing on labour, and so John and Ira drove off to a local respected curry house. They explained what they wanted, and although Irina seemed to enjoy the curry once they had returned home and unboxed it, unless there is a four day gap between consumption and effect, it didn’t seem to do that much.

Irina with a curry in Clydach

Irina with a curry in Clydach

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