Just one of those days

Warning: this post contains bodily fluids. There are no pictures though – you’re welcome!

Today was a not so great day. Most parents will tell you that a day with a sick child is not good, and they would of course be right. I was lucky this time, Henry was not well but the biggie smalls were fine and so could go to school. This luck would, however, bite me on the butt.

So the day started at 5:45am. This sounds bad, but is actually not too far a deviation from the norm here. If you are awake at 5:45 and listen really carefully you’ll probably occasionally hear sobbing. That’s the sound of a tired mother. I digress. Henry was wiggling in his cot, but happy. He’s often quite contented to lay in his cot, playing with the bars and blankets. So I uncovered him and put him in our bed (he thrashes noisily in the cot and I was tired). Not 10 seconds later, both Rich and I sit up, eyes wide.

Rich: “Has he pooed?!” Now, this question insinuates that I have previously passed a dirty-butted child to him without his knowledge. I can’t promise that I haven’t done that, I literally am not sure of what has occurred at that beastly hour in the past.

Me: “I didn’t think so, check him.”

Both: “ughh/*gag*/what happened?!

Seriously, the smell was hideous. It was everywhere. Thankfully the speed at which the smell hit us meant none actually got on our bed, but his was baaaad. So we got up and started cleanup, while he literally laughed at us. by 6:15, he was all wiped up and in the bath. By 6:30, both big brothers had jumped in too – why waste a bath? By 7, they were all mostly dressed – Sam was topless due to no clean school shirt. I got the boys breakfast and Rich got ready for work. An early, messy smelly start, but still, the day could improve. I got a load of washing done, windows open and rooms sprayed. The day was salvaged.

Rich came down and said goodbye, hugs and kisses, and off he popped. Everyone was fine, and I went and showered and dressed. By the time I was done it was past 8am and we needed to get ready to go. I realised Henry had not eaten and we had 5 minutes to spare so I headed into the kitchen to feed him when he coughed. I froze a second too soon and he was sick onto the living room carpet. I figured I might as well stay in one place and contain it so I waited it out. When he stopped it was all down him and a bit on me.

This is where I thought that the day is ruined. I changed him and we had NO time left. I wiped myself off (ew but how fab are baby wipes!) threw on a coat, and realised the carpet would have to wait. We left and hurried to school and got there just in time, popped to the shop for more carpet cleaner and stain remover and off home to deal with the carpet and the mountain of laundry, and scrub a mattress.

Here’s where the good parts come – snuggles. Henry was very clingy and tired so I got to have lots of cuddles. Second good part – I didn’t have to cook because I couldn’t, when I put Hen down, he screamed. Third good part – When my kids are ill it turns on a sort of autopilot. I am immediately better organised because there are gross piles of washing to be done and a mattress to clean and no time to do it in. Unfortunately this does not last once they’re better. Rich complimented me on not breaking down when he got home and fourth good part – ordered me chinese food.

The afternoon went mostly ok, then came the school-going-butt-bite. Ethan informed me that he now likes school dinners. How does he know? well he had one today, because when he opened his lunch box, it was empty. How embarrassing is that?! Not only empty, but had yesterday’s lunch wrappers in too. Turns out that our fun morning shake up of the routine meant that Rich forgot to make his lunch, and I forgot to check it before we left. Oh and I also left our front door key in the lock while off on the school run.

Tomorrow we start fresh, I’m requesting well boys (but who still want to snuggle) and an extra parent please. Luckily it’s Thursday so Rich will be at home and I’ll get atleast one of those.

Four Weeks On

I can’t believe it’s been four weeks!

In all honesty there’s not a huge amount to be said, we’ve not done very much! We had two lovely weeks with Rich at home, which was absolutely brilliant. He did the school runs, and the cooking, and basically all the big boys’ stuff while I fed and fed and fed the mega-Hen. Then he had to go back to work which was not fun, but his team did buy Henry this brilliant vest, and his team manager arranged for him to have an extra 2 days holiday time as he’d done some work while at home, so not too hideous.

 Bazinga!

We then had my lovely mum up for a week who washed and ironed and cleaned all the things and also did morning school runs and most of the afternoons too, cooked our dinners and entertained small boys. Then she too had to leave and I was ALONE. Unless of course you count (and I do!) 2 weeks of meals from lovely church friends – score – and uncle David (Rich’s brother) offering to take Ethan to school in the morning for the rest of the term. They live on the same road as us and still have one son at the same school, so it works out pretty great. I am incredibly grateful to be surrounded by lovely friends and family.

So now I am back to by myself in the daytime, and it’s not bad. I am coping ok, though it is harder to protect things from Sam when I’ve got Henry seemingly permanently attached.

This Thursday I had my lovely friend Harriet come to visit, bringing delicious food, clothes for Henry, and 2 baby wraps. One as a gift for me and one to borrow. Here’s mine:

 And oh my goodness, it’s so comfortable. Henry likes it all squishy and warm, I have my hands free and my back and shoulders pain free. Harriet also brought William, her 9 month old, who is so cute and lovely, and quite frankly, his eyelashes turn me green with envy. It was lovely as we’ve not seen each other for far too long considering we live 30 minutes apart!

Henry is doing pretty well, he wakes 2 or 3 times a night and the last few nights, touch wood, he has gone right back to sleep as well.

And at 2am, this is a really welcome sight.

The time, it flies.

This is Ethan at 4 days old. Today Rich told him the story of the night before this photo.

It was about midnight and he’d woken, and fed, and would. not. settle. I was exhausted in the way that only day three (especially with your first) can make you. Plus the hormone crash was happening, so after checking he wasn’t still hungry, I handed him over to Daddy to wind and sort out… and promptly fell right to sleep. Rich tried to put him down, but he squawked, so he hurriedly scooped him back up, in the way you do with your first, and held him upright on his chest til he fell asleep. Too terrified of the possibility for squawking, Rich didn’t know what to do next, so he came up with the brilliant plan of sitting up in bed all night with Ethan sleeping on his chest. I woke up for the next feed refreshed and poor Rich grabbed a couple of hours before the sun properly emerged.

This all feels like it happened last month. how has it been almost 5 years? Yesterday he lost his first tooth. He was incredibly brave and it was a lovely thing to see a little of myself in him again as he fiddled with his wobbly tooth in the morning. That’s definitely a me-trait. I thought he’d be fine at school as it didn’t seem like the falling out was imminent, but turned out it worked loose at playtime and he came out with it in a little envelope. Baby teeth are really teeny. He nearly burst with excitement putting it under his pillow for the tooth fairy and has developed a little lisp. And oh, is that the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard or what. I really cannot believe he’ll be 5 in a month. He’s growing into such a kind hearted boy though. Today we needed to go looking at baby car seats and he patiently ran about ‘looking after’ Sam in the early learning centre bit of Mothercare. And he did it very kindly too, not a bit of grabbing or shoving. I do love those boys, especially when they play nicely together 🙂

In other news, I am now 34 weeks. I am the size of a house, though I don’t feel it, so I keep getting a shock when I catch myself in a reflective surface. We don’t have a car seat, and therefore no way of getting the baby home from the hospital. The family crib is at Mum and Dad’s, with no plans to see them pre-sprogging. I don’t have a moses basket. In fairness I’ve never used a moses basket before, but without a crib it might be a bit more essential this time! We do have a cot (2 in fact. No I don’t know why.) but it’s enormous for a newborn.

Still, only 6 weeks til D-day, so probably about 8 weeks til any actual birthing, but I bet that time will fly too. Hopefully.

Nesting, it’s not a myth after all!

So left to my own devices, I’m a bit of a slob. I’m also a bit spoilt (or depending on how you look at it, lucky) in that Rich is amazingly good at tidying. He also washes up. And occasionally folds laundry. Ok I’m quite spoilt.

But the last few weeks of this pregnancy, I’ve felt a need to *gasp* tidy.

I’ve washed all the newborn size clothes and sorted them into new(ish) drawers. Today I was childless (they went to Grandma’s) and rather than slobbing out I pulled out the TV and it’s stand to clean behind it. Ok, so I was prompted by the fact that Sam climbed up the stand and poured around half a litre of juice down the back of it, but still. Side note – everything is fine, though I don’t know how he didn’t electrocute himself or blow up the TV. Some definitely went inside, as after checking the TV still worked for a while, the vents at the top smelt distinctly blackcurrant-y :S

I also pulled out the side ‘table’ next to the couch. Not technically a table, it’s one of these from Ikea-

 

And it was disgusting. The holes  mean that various kinds of detritus find their way inside. And by ‘find their way’ I mean are put there by small boys. I have known for a while that the box itself needs to go (it’s too big for the space really) and that would involve emptying it. Occasionally I lose a pen to it and have to decide whether to go in after it. Today I did. I rescued a few lego bits, some playmobil stuff, a few pens, about £4.50 and then I had to give up. Some crayons and coloured pens were casualties of war. I sacrificed them for the greater good. The greater good in this case being no longer having to shove my hand into the layer of raisins and bits of foil and paper and cheese bites.

And yet, it was oddly satisfying to make my front room really clean in places no one will see. I know right?!

And tomorrow, I get to go to Ikea for a new side table. And a taller TV cabinet. And a new bedside table. These should altogether cost us around £35. I love Ikea! And I get to build it too, which I love. Yes, I’m a little weird. Bring on tomorrow!

Mother’s Day

I had a lovely one this year 🙂

Some of my most favourite chocolates, that I keep forgetting exist because they don’t sell them in many places, which Rich remembered I like, without prompting 😉

Two lovely cards from Ethan (left, made at school) and Sam (right, made in nursery at church, with what I suspect to be a fairly large amount of help!)

A certificate from Ethan that he did at school, and did all the writing himself. Ok, so the date doesn’t make a huge amount of sense, but I don’t care! He has only recently discovered a desire to read and write and learn, and I love it.

Some lovely flowers chosen by the boys including this pink gerbera, also one of my favourite things.

The two loveliest parts of the day though were at church. First Ethan got up with the primary children to sing. He was first up, and it didn’t look like it was going to go well at first when another little boy gave him a shove and a kick and he started to cry. So I started to mouth the words at him with a (slightly maniacal) grin to get him smiling. After a while he recovered and made me cry by belting out the words to ‘every star is different’. Then later he and Sam went up together to bring me a flower and held hands very cutely, which is especially lovely when they do it in public 😉

After church I made camp on the couch and was made a delicious dinner and generally spoiled until bedtime!

I am incredibly grateful to the mothers in my life, starting of course with my own. She’s a strong woman with incredible faith and a wonderful sense of fun, and I love her dearly.

I’m also grateful for Richard’s mum, who brought him up to be a wonderful man. He is respectful, hard working, and just generally brilliant.

And then there’s me. I feel the responsibility heavily with these (soon to be 3) boys. I have to bring them up with love and respect, faith and happiness. They deserve the best, as do their future families. We’re trying 🙂

Poor Neglected Blog!

I’m sorry. I’ve abandoned you, cold and alone in the vastness of the internet. It’s not that I don’t love you little blog. It’s not you, it’s me. No really. To be perfectly honest there’s not been much of interest to write about, I’ve been feeling rubbish with the baby on board, and this week I’ve had a wicked cold/cough/blocked sinuses combo, which under normal circumstances I’d just take something for it and carry on. Unfortunately there’s almost nothing you can take in pregnancy.

I am incredibly blessed however, to have a brilliant husband, and good timing meant that yesterday when I was feeling really terrible, was a Thursday, which meant he was working at home. Rich always does the school run on a Thursday, so I was spared that, and he also sent me to bed for an hour and a half in the afternoon after I was dozing on the couch and started talking in my sleep! The boys were brilliantly behaved for him too, as usually he has to work upstairs away from us, or we go out, as it’s just too much noise otherwise. I’m also incredibly happy and grateful to be pregnant, even when I feel so awful.

I really don’t have a lot of news at the moment, hence the neglect 😉 So I’ll just leave you with a picture of my lovely boys on Christmas Eve, the gorgeous little sausages.

My Birthday!

 My birthday is here! I was spoilt rotten, surely the point of birthdays? Yesterday we went to the Browns for family lunch, and it was a triple birthday, for Stella (sister in law), Seth (nephew) and I (village idiot). I provided the cake, and for the first time I made a lemon cake! I’ve always gone chocolate before because, well, pretty self-explanatory really, but I learnt on Saturday that Seth doesn’t like it – and he couldn’t have a cake he doesn’t like for his birthday lunch! I adjusted an orange cake recipe that I found in my Be-Ro book, and nervously baked. It turned out pretty delicious! Seth declared it nice, and it didn’t last, so that’s a win! I also had a request for another one from Zachary (another nephew) and Joanne (sister in law) said she’s pay for it in a shop, high compliments! The thing that amazed me was how flat it baked, it’d be great for layer cakes!

Whilst there I was given lots of lovely gifts, including a dessert recipe book, bath stuff, candle, chocolates, and a wee owl pillow. I was also very kindly given money towards…

 Ta-da! I’ve been without a proper camera for yonks, and now I have this pretty purple swirly one! You can hope that most of the blog photos will now be better quality!

Then there was Rich’s not-so-surprise gift –

 

It’s so shiny! The case and screen cover he ordered for it haven’t arrived yet, and I’m so terrified to scratch it that it’s currently spending it’s spare time in one of Sam’s (clean) socks.

This afternoon we did a spot of shopping and Rich spotted this for me, a lovely new winter coat, and bought it for me! We also picked up a new long jumper/ jumper dress, but I’ve not got a picture.

This evening we all went for dinner at Silkwood Farm, which is in fact not a farm, but a restaurant. I had the amazing carvery, Rich had fish and chips, and the boys had chicken nuggets and chips, lemonade and a lot of fun in the play area. The best thing about Silkwood Farm is that they do Cake away. If you don’t have room for their massive desserts, they’ll box it up for you to take home for later. And so I did. Chocolate cheesecake. It was delicious, and there’s still half left!

I have had lots of lovely cards and messages, and a package from Jess which included a book and chocolate, She knows me so well 🙂 Thank you to all my lovely friends and family who’ve given me a lovely birthday!

P.S. If you’re wondering about the medical appointment, it went very well, I am fine, all things done that needed sorting!

Why I love Rich

Probably about time for some husband mush right?

Just over seven years ago. Ah, so young. I was skinny, he had a fuller head of hair 😉 This man is far and away my better half, and for reasons best known to himself, he likes me a fair bit too! Here are a few reasons why he is the bomb…

He does the washing up. I don’t mind (much) doing the housework, it’s not something I particularly enjoy, but for now, it’s mostly my responsibility. However, I HATE washing up. I don’t know why, as when I do do it, it’s not exactly a long job, and I can listen to the radio and stuff, but looking at a sink of dishes makes me sad. So he does them.

He works insanely hard. I don’t pretend to understand his job, but I know it’s very target driven and that can be quite stressful. He often comes home mentally exhausted, but still has time to play with the boys. Or do the washing up.

The kids. Oh, how he loves these 2 rascally boys of ours. He is their favourite person in the world. When Ethan was very small, Rich started to get up on a Saturday morning with him so I could rest. This then extended to taking him to do the weekly shop while I slept. so not only did I get to rest, but the shopping was done too! When Sam was born, and big enough to be away from my chest for more than 20 minutes, he took them both. Trooper.

I love this picture. It’s in Porthmadog, one of our favourite places. We had our honeymoon there and it’s a great holiday spot. They sat here after fish and chips watching the fish in the estuary.

He appreciates my geekery. He loved Harry Potter Night. And after yesterday’s le sigh about The Hunger Games dvd, he told me to buy it. I don’t think he’d read it yet, but I had mentioned it to him a couple of days ago. He also told me we had enough in the pot for me to buy some new clothes,  and though the shopping was a slight disaster, the thought was there.

He also actively encourages the making of mars bar cake. This is a delicious but not always good thing. That really needs to stop now.

It’s my birthday on Monday, and he spent a week or so (I had no idea) researching new phone contracts for me so I can get a new iPhone, as mine is starting to play up. also I’ve dropped it several times and it has a small crack in the screen, but we don’t need to talk about that. It was a surprise, but when he was ill I answered the phone to a man from 3 who told me all about it, and even though he was sick, he was genuinely upset that the surprise had been ruined, bless him.

He puts up with my mood swings. I have a medical appointment on Monday (happy birthday to me!) which I’m uneasy about (nothing serious, all routine, but a new medical team so I don’t know how they’ll be about things) and so my moods have been even more swingy that usual, and he is brilliant about it. He’s also booked the day off work so he can come with me.

He is silly. we have ridiculous inside jokes and watch stupid films. anyone else would probably roll their eyes at us. I don’t care, we’re hilarious 😉

There are many many reasons why he is awesome, but I’ll stop there for now as he does check in and we don’t want to give him a big head. Perhaps in another post I’ll tell you about how we got started and the washing machine that got us back together. Love you Rich! x