I can’t believe how long it’s been since I updated here!

Looking after a wee baby and working is turning out to be quite a challenge :)

I am keeping up with shipping your orders out quickly (very important!) but I haven’t found a lot of extra time to make new designs or products… rest assured I am still here, and I hope I will soon be able to work on some of the ideas that have been building up these past few weeks!

In the meantime, a photo of my lovely smiley girl:

We had a beautiful baby GIRL early on Sunday morning!

Her name is Willow, and she has round cheeks, soft dark hair, a tiny dimpled chin, and the smoothest skin I’ve ever touched.

We spent two nights in the hospital and came home a few hours ago. It is so good to be here together as a family (though the cats do not know what to make of her, ha ha!)

Photos to follow, as I forgot to take my proper camera to the hospital and cellphone pictures don’t do her justice :)

I’m getting quite a few emails about the baby – no, it hasn’t arrived yet! It’s overdue now, and I am getting more uncomfortable by the day, so I really hope it comes soon…

I will make an announcement here as soon as I can, but if you want to know right away I suggest you follow me on Twitter, which is likely to have the news first as I can update it easily from my phone.

That’s my personal account and not usually business-related, so you may also have to read about the weather and what I’m eating for lunch in the meantime :D

P.S. Please don’t be offended if I don’t follow you back – I can only keep up with so many people!

Closing up shop this evening was bittersweet. I’ve taken a few holidays here and there, but this is the first time in four years of N&B that I haven’t been accepting orders!

It feels very strange, but these last couple of weeks have been rather busy with all of the last-minute work to take care of, and I’ve been looking after JSR who was in a motorcycle accident a few days ago as well (he will be alright *phew* but needs some help), so I’m glad I didn’t try and keep going any longer.

Now I should have a little while to rest my puffy feet and take a lot of naps, and then there will be a baby!

P.S. Thank you to everyone who commented and emailed on my recent ideas post! All of the suggestions had some supporters, and I’m not writing any of them off at this stage, but it seems that notebooks and larger format lettersets are the most popular ideas so I’ll be looking at those first when I get back to work :)

I’ve had a few queries recently about what will be happening with Nut and Bee while we welcome our imminent bean.

I didn’t want to make plans too far in advance, as I didn’t know what these last weeks would be like, but I’m getting to the stage where work is very challenging – especially in this weather, what was I thinking having a summer baby?! – so I’ve decided that my final working day will be February 10th.

After that I will still be contactable by email for customer service queries, and I will be posting miscellaneous things on the blog, but the shopping cart will be disabled and I will not be accepting or shipping orders. (I can’t make any exceptions to that, as it’s a legal requirement that I do nothing other than minor administrative tasks while I’m claiming paid parental leave!)

I plan to open for business again around the beginning of April, though the exact date will depend on when the baby makes its appearance and how quickly I manage to find a satisfactory work routine. I have fantastic family support lined up, so I am hoping for a smooth transition back.

If there is anything you would like in the next couple of months, please place your orders soon! I’ll post another reminder closer to the time. Thank you for your patience, and all the excitement and joy you’ve already shared with us :)

I’m into the second trimester now and feeling SO much better! I’m still very tired and have to take a nap every day, but the nausea is almost completely gone, and that’s such a relief.

We had an ultrasound yesterday and saw the baby wiggling about, hands and feet all over the place, looking just as it should. It’s so exciting (and strange!) to have a person inside of me. I wish I could show you a picture, but I can’t make my scanner read the ultrasound film. Pah!

Since I’m now able to get a little more work done there will be a September update next week, hooray! It won’t include any one-of-a-kind items, so I probably won’t announce the exact time in advance, but I’m expecting to be ready on Wednesday or Thursday with some new stationery and buttons. As always, the mailing list will be the first to know, and will receive an exclusive special offer – sign up over on the left if you’re keen :)

It’s been quiet around here, as you will have no doubt have noticed. Of course the move has had a lot to do with that, as I’m still working on unpacking and setting up the house, but there’s another reason too…

We’re having a baby!

We found out shortly before the move, and a scan last week confirmed that everything is looking just peachy. Unfortunately I’m not feeling so peachy, and spend most of each day either in bed asleep, or sitting around quietly trying not to ‘revisit’ my meals any more than necessary. Ugh!

I won’t be able to do an August update as I just don’t have anything new ready right now… I was going to try and rush a few designs but I know I’m never satisfied when I force the process. I’m finding it very difficult to fight through the fatigue enough to accomplish any creative work, but I have my fingers crossed that the second trimester will improve matters!

My first work priority each day is to ship orders, and that is still happening on the normal schedule :)

We are both so happy about the wee bean, and we can’t wait to meet it next March. Ah! Love!