Wednesday 31 December 2008

Festive Seasons

We had a wonderful Christmas, the children were neither under or over-whelmed by it all which makes a refreshing change. My mum cooked the most marvellous dinner and we all came away feeling very sated, happy and content. Daughter no.1 can claim the prize for the most innovative present given this year, she bought Mr H and I tickets to see Keane in concert in February! What a splendid, clever girl she is.....

I just haven't felt very "in the mood" this year, I can put my finger on the reason why so it's not a mystery. Consequently Mr H and I have already started to take down some of the decorations and daughter no.2 has already insisted that we leave the tree up all year as the lights are "so pretty".

Today is New Year's Eve and my resolutions for next year are simple, try to make more time for myself to do the things I enjoy (and not spend every waking moment a slave to laundry, not sure how that's going to work with six of us in the house!).

A healthy, happy and blessed New Year to everyone.

Tuesday 9 December 2008

Saying goodbye

to a beloved pet is hard, especially hard when she has been with you for nearly 18 years. Our lovely Tabby, our black cat, went to sleep last night. She hasn't been herself lately, she wasn't eating as much and had lost lots of weight and was beginning to loose the use of her back legs - we would laughingly refer to it as Tabby having a "moment" but it's not much fun when you can't stand up or put any weight on your legs.

She was a beautiful cat, very friendly and affectionate, was very fond of giving the children kisses on their nose and very tolerant of the dogs - although she preferred the Jack Russell to the Shih-tzu for some reason.

We'll all miss her, but I think I will miss the times when in the afternoon, having found five minutes to myself to nurture a cup of coffee and sit down on the couch, she would jump up onto my lap and look at me as if to say "take a break mum, come sit with me for a bit" most of all.

Rest now our lovely little Tabby......

Wednesday 19 November 2008

It's official

I am now a registered childminder! now just to find some children (aside from my own obviously) to mind.....

Thursday 6 November 2008

100 things

100 things about me: (with grateful thanks to Susie at Pea Soup for the inspiration)

1. I was born in London

2. I have lived in England my entire life and am still trying to get over the wet weather.

3. I believe it is important to eat together as a family - esp. dinner

4. I have two daughters and two sons. In order they go girl, boy, girl, boy - I guess I was just lucky to have an extremely talented husband!

5. I am not a dog person, although we have two dogs. I like dogs, but they annoy me more than amuse me.

6. I am a cat person. Cats are more like me, pedantic and cranky.

7. My shih-tzu is named Poppy Dumpling after a whimsical moment. My Jack Russell is named Scout after the character in To Kill a Mockingbird.

8. I once had an Austrian pen friend, we wrote to each other in English and German - her English was 100% better than my German.

9. I like incense but not overpowering scents or those that make your house smell vaguely of public conveniences.

10. I regret not being able to knit.

11. I am learning to be a better sewer.

12. I am not good in crowds or large groups. I clam up, say nothing and look bemused when really I’m terrified. For the same reason I avoid Christmas “work” parties.

13. In small groups, I can talk the hind leg off a donkey

14. I love all things Italian, the food, the language, the country, and I would like to learn how to speak Italian.

15. I love Andrea Bocelli, it's like listening to an angel singing.

16. I met my husband in South Africa but I believe we were destined to be together and would have met no matter what.

17. I only go to the dentist when pregnant - because it‘s free. I begrudge having to pay someone to poke around in my mouth whilst telling me how many fillings I need.

18. I need to go to the dentist as my teeth are becoming more and more sensitive daily and they’re killing me…..

19. I love the colour blue, but not “powder” blue, it is a repulsive wishy washy colour.

20. My favourite colour is white - I would paint my entire house inside and outside white if allowed.

21. I wasn’t shy as a child but was acutely aware of growing up in the shadow of an extremely extrovert mother.

22. I’m rubbish at learning languages (so much for no.14 then) but can still remember enough French to get by in France.

23. I have an irrational fear of seagulls.

24. I despise modern “musicals” but love old fashioned ones such as The King & I, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers etc. Worst of all, my husband adores "Rent".

25. If I could lift my house and move it anywhere in the world it would be to South Africa.

26. I think I am turning into a hippie.

27. I do not and will not ever wear tie-dye clothing.

28. I promise I will never burn patchouli incense.

29. I sometimes secretly wish I lived in London, just for the hustle and bustle of it all.

30. I am not politically correct and have no wish to be so.

31. I would love to visit Australia but the thought of the flights terrifies me.

32. I am small and big boned and cannot find Wellington boots for under £40 to fit my wide calves. This is not fair.

33. My skin is not great.

34. I took that Lloyd Cole & the Commotions song ‘Perfect Skin’ as a personal insult.

35. I had my first child 8 days after my 22nd birthday.

36. I had my last child at the same age my mother was when she gave birth to me.

37. I did not breastfeed any of my children and feel no guilt or shame about this, it just wasn’t to be.

38. I discovered cloth nappies with my fourth child and wish that I had known about them with the other three as well.

39. I do not actively seek to convert parents of newborns to cloth nappies, but am secretly thrilled when they do.

40. I had a miscarriage in between my two eldest children.

41. Each of my subsequent pregnancies after the miscarriage were frightening to me until babe was born and in my arms.

42. I am English, therefore I cannot queue with patience, nor do I do "I'll just put you on hold" or "all our operators are busy at the moment" very well.

43. I played piano through secondary school, achieving grade 8 exam, at some point in the near future I wish to buy a piano, have a few lessons and take it up again.

44. I cannot draw, paint or sculpt. However, I am drawn to artistic endeavours. I like photographs, gardening, writing, scrapbooking and sewing.

45. I love coffee. Thank whomever for Starbucks, although it's painful that we in the UK don't get the flavours they do in the US - Pumpkin Spice Latte anyone?

46. I dislike laundry, however there is something very soothing about a line of cloth nappies drying in the sunshine.

47. I cannot decide whether I have manic/depressive tendencies, obsessive/compulsive tendencies or if I am just neurotic - although on reflection, reading this list perhaps I'm just paranoid.

48. I read when I get the chance, and when I do get the chance, I read a lot.

49. I didn’t go to University, but consider myself to be intelligent.

50. I despise all politics. Until we have a Prime Minister and Cabinet that show a little compunction and guts when dealing with home and world issues - I shall not be interested in what’s going on politically at all.

51. I like learning and find that I enjoy studying and reading text books more now at 38 years old than I did at school/college.

52. I do not have much patience for people who procrastinate - get to the point already.

53. I am not a morning person, I’m much better after 4pm.

54. I hate taking anti-biotics and will only do so as a last resort. I believe the body should be given the chance to fight infections/viruses naturally, with a little help from complimentary medicines.

55. All chocolate is important and medicinal (see no.54 as to complimentary medicines).

56. Until I played rugby at the ripe old age of 36/37 years old, I had never broken a single bone in my body. Dislocated a few, yes, but broken, no.

57. I like driving.

58. My first car was a 1983 Datsun Cherry. I have yet to own another car that I love as much as I loved that car.

59. I think automatic cars are a godsend in traffic.

60. I think Daniel Craig is quite possibly one of the most beautiful men on the planet.

61. I’m not averse to having a good old fishwife conversation with girlfriends about husbands/boyfriends/men in general/sex etc.

62. I swear, but there is one swear word that still makes me have a sharp intake of breath.

63. I am Roman Catholic but I don’t do organised religion, I would never force religion on my children or other people. People who hide behind their religious beliefs worry me. I am drawn at this moment in time towards Buddhism.

64. When at a restaurant, I will try on the most part to have the fish dish, as fish is not cooked at home because of my husband’s abhorrence towards it. Which is a shame as I love fish and so do the children.

65. I have a really good memory for faces and names.

66. I used to be slightly prudish - but then I hit my late 30s and all prudish behaviour went out the window.

67. My children astound me on a daily basis.

68. Candles are de rigueur, there should always be candles burning somewhere in the house.

69. I wear jeans a lot.

70. I love to sing. I have a decent voice.

71. I am lucky enough to be able to hear a song twice and remember the lyrics. My children - aside from the baby at the moment - seem to be able to do the same.

72. I’m glad I had a daughter first.

73. I am done with having children and now await grandchildren.

74. I love to get flowers. Doesn’t happen very often so when it does it’s lovely.

75. I am a typical Leo, stubborn, hot headed, over react to practically everything.

76. I have a slightly warped sense of humour.

77. I can be tediously boring and verge on procrastinating about things I’m passionate about so I don’t usually tend to talk about things I’m passionate about.

78. I hate talking on the phone. I will do anything to get out of making a telephone call.

79. I like writing letters, although these days it’s emails.

80. I used to regularly pray to whomever that I would wake up a size 10.

81. I now wake up and regularly thank whomever that I’ve made it through another night - I have learned to live with and love my big bones.

82. I remember my childhood fondly, climbing trees, going out at all hours of the morning with my friends on our bikes and not returning til it started to get dark, all the time not worrying about where we were. I sometimes long for my children to experience that kind of freedom.

83. But then I remember back to those times and realise that we didn’t have things like microwaves, dishwashers, tumble dryers - all those things that make life with four children slightly easier.

84. I adore my children with a passion that frightens me.

85. I believe children should have a great deal of free time to explore, play, and just be.

86. I went to a private school and have no wish for my children to do so - that being said, if one of them wanted to go to a private school and we had the means to make that happen, I wouldn’t stand in their way.

87. I wish I had an older brother. When I was younger being an only child wasn’t such a big deal but as I get older and face my own and more importantly, my parents’ mortality, having no siblings is an issue that I have to face.

88. I wish I was Barbara Goode. I wish to have a garden big enough to have a compost bin, grow veggies in, let the rabbit run free range and maybe have some chickens.

89. My contributions towards being eco friendly are limited at the moment to the baby wearing cloth nappies and the family being fastidious about recycling - I have been known to fish recyclable materials out of the bin, wash them and put them into the recycling bin.

89. I like baking cakes and making desserts.

90. I like cooking dinner but am not averse to the odd take-away.

91. I still love my wedding dress.

92. I am sad knowing that my eldest daughter is too tall for my wedding dress, but harbour a secret desire that she might use the material….

93. I am not vain, but cannot leave the house without a bit of make up on - mineral foundations are the best!

94. I cannot abide vain men. Take care of yourself yes, but when you use more moisturiser than me, and are a pale shade of orange mid November, something’s wrong.

95. My parents are Irish and Northern Irish, I married a British Citizen who hails from South Africa. I adore him (most of the time).

96. I rarely drink alcohol.

97. When I do drink alcohol, it’s usually Southern Comfort & lemonade or cider. I don’t like other spirits much and I don’t like beer very much either.

98. I have a finely tuned sense of irony and sarcasm.

99. I do not like to be made fun of or criticised. It hurts my feelings greatly but it's something I'm working on.

100. I try to be a “glass half full” kinda gal, but usually succumb to it being “half empty”.

I wish

I were better at this blog thing, I just run out of time. That's why I don't wear a watch, so I can't give myself a fright when I realise it's later than I thought.

Thursday 2 October 2008

and the smell of

rhubarb crumble cooking in the oven for later

Autumn

I love Autumn. There is a smell to Autumn like no other season, except Winter, has. Autumn smells of damp leaves changing colour on the trees, sticking to the bottom of your shoes/boots and the buggy's wheels. Autumn is the puddles on the pavement after rain which aren't deep enough to wet daughter no.2's feet but just deep enough for her wellied feet to jump into and splash about. Autumn is the sun lying low in the mornings so that you still have to put your sunglasses on for the school run. It's the cold sunny mornings that give you still enough time to hang your washing out on the line and have it dry by the afternoon, but leave it on the line too long and it's damp again. It's the dogs - and the cat - snuggling up together on the sofa in the evening, sharing each other's warmth. It's the prospect of very soon having to put firelogs on the shopping list so that in the evening we can all warm up with a fire blazing in the hearth in the front room.

This year I love Autumn for another very important reason. Daughter no. 2 starts full time school next week and although on one hand I am dreading it (my mornings are going to be very quiet with her not here and son no.2 having his morning slumbers) but on the other hand I'm excited, for her as she adores school, her teacher, her classmates - and for me, as whilst son no.2 is still young enough to have his morning slumbers, I will have my mornings back again to do with what I wish. And what I wish for is to create - my sewing machine is calling out to me every day and every day I have to tell her to wait just a few more days......then her semi retirement will be over.

And another reason to love Autumn, it's the season of my favourite "holiday" - Halloween - and heralds the start of the countdown to Christmas.

Wednesday 24 September 2008

I miss Seasons

apparently two days ago was the first day of autumn. I'm sorry, but did I blink and miss Summer?

Tuesday 16 September 2008

Bright light city gonna set my soul.....

Mr H and I went to Las Vegas early September, to celebrate Mr H's 40th birthday.

We had such a good time, no children, no time constraints (apart from two days where we went on tours), no dieting - making up for it now though - and just able to enjoy each other's company for 6 days.

Las Vegas is phenomenal. To say that it's gaudy and tacky is not fair, it's beautiful and spectacular, the hotels and casinos are amazing, the food is tremendous, the weather was fabulous (averaging 102oF), customer service is brilliant and you are made to feel so welcome and wanted.

We did two day tours - one to the Grand Canyon which was just breathtaking and one to Hoover Dam which appealed to Mr H's architectural side of his nature. I liked the fact that at the Hoover Dam you can stand in two states at once, Nevada and Arizona, as the midline of the Dam is the state line between them.

We stayed at the Bellagio hotel which was spectacular, you can see where they easily spent $1billion. We upgraded our bedroom for a suite for a nominal amount which was money well spent as we had the most spectacular view of the fountains outside the front of the hotel through a huge picture window. We laughed about the fact that the bathroom was the size of our bedroom back home and the separate toilet/bidet was the size of our entire bathroom back home! Everything about the Bellagio is sumptuous, the decoration inside and out, the polished marble floors that shine, the designer shops in the boutique walk, the restaurants. The fountains are amazing, anyone who is visiting Las Vegas must see these perform (which they do on a daily basis) as the way they get the water in time to the music is brilliant. On the Friday night we saw one of the Cirque de Soleil shows which is resident at the Bellagio, "O" (clever use of the French word "eau"), which is performed in a massive theatre on a huge floating stage which can be both flat and solid and deep and pool like at the same time. Absolutely amazing, I wish we had had enough time to see one of their other shows in Vegas - at last count, I think there's about six running at different venues.

We also went to see La Cage at the Riviera on the Saturday night and to say that these "drag queens" are (ahem) better than the celebrities they are portraying, is doing them a dis-service. The way they look like their counterparts and capture every little nuance of them is amazing. We were also due to see Cher at Caesar's Palace on the Sunday night which we were both very excited about, but she cancelled the show with 10 minutes to go til performance time! Fortunately it was a spur of the month decision to buy tickets so it wasn't as bad as if we'd bought them back home and it was a reason for our visit - that would have been worse. Still, there's nothing like a bit of Diva behaviour to put a dampner on your evening!

Flying out was ok, flights were on time and it was lovely to be picked up by a limo at the airport and driven to our hotel. However we were delayed en route home in Chicago and had to stay overnight, catching a very early flight through to Washington DC and then back home to Heathrow. So whereas we were due to be home the following Tuesday morning we only got home that night. The only one of the children we saw was daughter #1 who was very excited to see us home, even more excited upon receiving her new clobber from Abercrombie & Fitch (spoilt!). The following morning, the kisses and cuddles we got from the other three made up for the delay in returning home a hundred-fold. Son #2 has been exceptionally clingy to both myself and Mr H since our return, I think he's a bit worried we're going to leave him again - albeit in the more than capable hands of his grandparents.

I loved Vegas, I want to go again and soon.

A couple of pictures then, one of Mr H on the "Easy Rider" Harley at the Harley Davidson Cafe and one of the two of us outside our new home (not really, it's a tipi at a stop off point on our Grand Canyon tour).





Thursday 28 August 2008

The results are in

Actually they came in last Thursday.

2 A grades
4 B grades
2 C grades (in the subjects she was most apprehensive about)

To say Mr H and I were very proud of our clever daughter is perhaps the understatement for August.

Wednesday 20 August 2008

Needed....

another pair of eyes, ears, legs to run and arms to catch.

Not only is son no.2 walking, but he's RUNNING everywhere - who taught my almost 15 month old to run? and get into literally everything. His favourite "toy box"? the warmer drawer on the range which holds all sorts of noisy pots and pans to bash with a wooden spoon or drag around the house like a beloved comfort blanket.

And discovering chocolate spread mixed with peanut butter on toast......which ends up smeared all round his mouth, hands, hair, highchair, anyone who happens to pass at that time. But it is delicious mama......

Friday 15 August 2008

....once again

I am unable to sleep. However, this time, I'm watching the first episode of Series Two of Life on Mars (a birthday present). Genius writing and acting. I love the absolute political incorrectness of Gene Hunt - or is it? after all in 1973 he WASN'T politically incorrect - versus the "modern day" correctness of Sam Tyler, and the way the two work together.

Friday 1 August 2008

Insomnia musings at 00.28am....

as I sit here typing away in the early hours, unable to sleep but loathe to watch some dire rubbish on tv to make myself sleepy, I am pondering as to why I am unable to sleep yet again. I've always been described as a "night person" but this is not truly the case, I developed insomnia, which night after night renders me unable to get to sleep much before 2am. It all started this time 16 years ago. Then I was 38 weeks pregnant with daughter no.1, it was an incredibly hot and humid July/August and I had swollen feet and ankles that my wonderful mum would massage with a peppermint massage cream twice a day to ease the pain. In one more week, my pregnancy was over, as she arrived 8 days before her due date, but the sleepless nights and insomnia has remained ever present.

She's still my baby, but I look at her now and see a young woman. A young woman who goes through the same angst I suspect we all did at 16 - whether I fit in with the crowd, whether this boy/this girl* likes me as much as I like him/her* (delete as appropriate), whether the clothes I have on today are going to be out of fashion this time next week and most importantly, how did I do in my exams. As of today, daughter no.1 has 20 days to wait until her first experience of that nervewracking moment when you get your exam results and you finally discover whether it was really all worth it or not. When I was waiting for my O Level results many moons ago, I was an old hat at it, having taken one a year early - Religious Ed, possibly my easiest subject. But I remember standing in the school hall, waiting for our RE teacher to call my name and feeling slightly sick, not at the actual result, but at the fact that I was third on the list thanks to my beginning with C maiden name. And that my RE teacher was expecting a high grade from me, thanks to my Irish Catholic heritage. Upon hearing my name being called out and receiving my result slip (no envelope - so the old devil knew what result we had achieved before we did), he informed me that he had "expected nothing less" than the grade I ended up with, an A. Needless to say my Irish Catholic parents were thrilled, all those years of going to church/confession/catechism/catholic primary and secondary schools had paid off - I suspect if I had failed everything else they would not have minded that much, at least I knew my stuff religiously, so to speak.

I digress, back to my almost 16 year old daughter no.1. Since she was 14 she has known what she wants to do with her life, she wants to go into architecture like her father. To that end she has chosen to do Maths, Physics and Graphic Design at A level. Nice easy subjects then....... but I have no anxieties about her doing these subjects as she as always shown an aptitude towards the more mathematical and scientific subjects. I did English Lit, Maths and Law at A level and did them dismally, but that was because the only subject I showed any interest in was English Lit and even then it was because I enjoyed a good argument with my teacher. The other two subjects were "because you can't do any others in the group". Maths A level may well have been a foreign language as most of the time I really didn't have a clue what was going on. Mr H confesses to having been "completely rubbish" at maths in school as well, so where daughter no.1 (and co-incidentally son no.1 is showing all the signs of being a mathematician as well) has got it from I'm not sure - I suspect it's from both her grandfathers as they're quite clever old fellas.

When I turned 16, my parents threw me a little party at home, a few friends and boys were invited, we all drank fizzy drinks, had some cake, listened to some music, people went home and that was that. Daughter no.1 is going out to dinner with some friends. Out to dinner when I was 16 consisted of going round your "aunty's" house for tea - and when I say "aunty" I mean your mum's best friend who wasn't related to you at all but you still called her aunty and her husband uncle.

If daughter no.1 was given the choice of going round to friends house for a dinner on her birthday, she would either look at us scornfully or laugh so hard she couldn't breath - I suspect she would probably do both.

Times have changed, but one thing remains the same 16 years on, I should be sleeping.

Good news

which I was previously unable to divulge as there was a date restriction on it, Mr H has been promoted to Technical Director. I'm so proud of him, he works so hard and deserves it.

Thursday 31 July 2008

More making



















From top to bottom-
Frog no.1
Frog no.2
jeans re-hemmed
daughter no.2 "taking a picture" of the frogs

Tuesday 29 July 2008

Making






inspired by the lovely Amanda Blake Soule of Soulemama fame, a felt cube I made for son no.2 (and then Scout got hold of it and ripped one of the buttons off....grrr....). Also on the go are two beanbag frogs for son no.2 and daughter no.2, hemming my jeans that I cut the bottom cuffs off yesterday because they were SO 1984, embroidery to sew onto a jute bag (traced from a drawing that daughter no.2 did at home one day).
Busy, busy, busy.........




Thursday 24 July 2008

Tuesday 22 July 2008

....and he's off

Son no.2 is walking. Now the fun begins!

Monday 14 July 2008

A good, nay great, weekend

Mr H was away in Vietnam again so I took the opportunity to take the three younger ones and go visit my aunty in Birmingham. The visit co-incided with a planned BW meet of the ante natal club that I joined online whilst expecting son no.2. We all met up at Birmingham's Botanical Gardens, which are just lovely, and had a great time. Lots of adults, lots of babies and children and lots of food - I even managed to bring a trifle home for pudding!

Mr H came home yesterday morning and the children were ecstatic about Daddy's return, I think they missed him more than I did this time if that's possible. After many hugs and kisses and handing out of gifts from daddy, son no.2 managed about 5 or 6 wobbly steps from one part of the kitchen into his dada's arms. Cue excited clapping from mama, after all, I've only managed to get him to do four at the most!

And though it was a great weekend, today has been - well, to put it mildly - splendid. Sunshine, nappies drying on the line, fighter jets and airbuses adorning the blue sky as the Airshow continues and some really really good news, which I can't divulge just yet; suffice to say it's not related to babies or children in any way, well a little bit I guess but not much. So we're off out tonight to celebrate and that's the cherry on the cake, to go to my favourite restaurant with my favourite people in the whole world on a warm(ish) summer's evening. Bliss.

Tuesday 8 July 2008

Can't stay angry

My little Scout (our Jack Russell pup) is at the vets today, she's being spayed and having what the vet thinks is a tumour removed from her left leg.

I was angry with her yesterday as she'd been naughty overnight and left mess on the floor instead of going outside to ablute. But this morning when I dropped her off at the vets and she gave me her best "don't leave me mama" look with those big doleful brown eyes, all anger melted away.

Sitting waiting for the phone to ring for the vet to tell me she's ok after her operations is slowly shattering the last nerve.........

Multi generational experiences

My mum is staying with us for a few days whilst Mr H is away in Vietnam with work. It's always been imperative to me that the children have, and value, their time with the grandparents - even though their time with their fraternal set is limited as they are in South Africa. Children learn so much from their grandparents and the relationships they have with my mum are lovely. Daughter no.1 loves her nana because she listens very patiently to her stories about boys, what sixth form courses she wants to do, boys, clothes, boys, music, boys, make up; and nana doesn't do the "uh huh" head nod that mama does.....(which means that mama really isn't listening).

Son no.1 is the apple of his grandad's eye, he's such a boy - untidy, forgetful, mad about sport, argumentative, hilariously funny. He's also the image of his grandad as a youngster, down to the position and shape of the crown of his hair on his head.....it's quite uncanny.

Daughter no.2 loves her nana and grandad because they love to participate in her stories, singing, drawing, painting etc. Mama loves to do this too, but somehow it's more fun when grandparents do it.

And son no.2 is spoilt with lots of love and cuddles and kisses for his hurts when he falls over trying to walk. He has also taken to yelling "hiya" when he hears his nana coming down the stairs in the morning and giving her his best cheeky grin.

I never knew my maternal grandparents as sadly they had both passed away before I ever had a chance to get to know and remember them. And had a very limited relationship with my fraternal ones. So my children are luckier than they can ever know and their lives will be forever enriched with the experiences they have shared/will come to share with their beloved nana and grandad.

Reliving your youth




Last Thursday daughter no.1 and I went to see Duran Duran live at the O2 Arena in London. The concert was brilliant, the Durans have lost none of their "oomph" live and for a bunch of blokes hitting their 50s, they were phenomenal. Daughter no.1 was impressed at how many songs I could sing along to (was a HUGE Duran Duran fan in my day) and I was impressed that she was able to appreciate what is essentially 80s music - considering some of the "music" she listens to.

And John Taylor , although older, wiser and a wee bit more wrinkly - but aren't we all? - is still as beautiful as ever.......sigh

Sunday 6 July 2008

.....almost walking

Today son no.2 took two steps. Well actually four if you count the one he took from his nana to his grandad, and then another one again from his nana to his grandad. Later on he took two steps from one baby walker toy to another. He seemed very pleased with himself, laughing and smiling. He then produced just before bath-time what was quite possibly the worst nappy in the history of nappy changing, laughing and smiling. I'm guessing he's not yet able to distinguish between mama saying "that's my good boy!" and "oh my good god boy!" and realising the difference.......

Saturday 21 June 2008

Race for Life 2008

tomorrow daughter no.1 and I are doing the Race for Life in Basingstoke, along with some friends. Between the 2 of us so far we have raised over £250 in sponsorship. We're thrilled, especially as this is a cause close to our hearts - Mr H's mom has terminal cancer. It makes me feel a bit more content with the world knowing that we have ambled along a 5km course raising money for this very worthwhile charity.

Just hope the sun shines now, somehow an amble over 5km in the rain just doesn't seem as appealling....

Saturday 14 June 2008

The headache turned out to be

a kidney infection. Nice. 3 days of sweats and chills, hot and cold, not sleeping, temperature ranging from 40.3 to 39.8 on a good day. Should have thought of it sooner I guess but the dr confirmed it yesterday.

Brilliant, so again I'm ill. And fed up of it. Little under a month ago I was hospitalised due to acute supraglottitis (or as I like to call it "hells throat") and spent a day and a night on my own in the ENT ward with various drugs being pumped into me via a drip; here I am again taking antibiotics. I don't like taking antibiotics (1) because in my mind you shouldn't be putting anything like that into your system anyway, it can't be good for you in the long run and (2) having had an anaphylatic reaction to a dose of penicillen after daughter no.2 was born - stiches, yuk - it then transpired that after all the years of tonsill trouble and having to take anything ending in "illen" for it, my body had rebelled and had built up it's own immunity to the drugs, thus resulting in the allergy. Refer back to point (1)......

My endeavour this week is to research and find a comprehensive list of natural products we can all take to boost our immune systems, there are a lot of nasty bugs out there and they're heading our way, with military like precision. So far I know that we must up our zinc intake, according to websites read it's beneficial for all sorts of things, helps with skin problems, wound healing, combats lethargy.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that the headaches are gone (aside from the ones the crazy dogs give me when they bark merrily away at the new neighbours in their garden: my dogs have no manners, they're very rude - actually they're very territorial so I suppose they're only doing what comes naturally, but all day long?), the sun is coming and going as it pleases although I wish it would stay a wee bit longer.

The dogs are barking again so I'm going to go outside and shout like a hellion at them, purely because I can..........

Monday 9 June 2008

the last nerve is getting a bit frazzled

my least favourite time of day is between the hours of 4-6pm, that's when the house gets incredibly noisy. Four children all vying for attention, daughter no.2 being the loudest and most insistent; I feel bad because at some point during those two hours she will invariably be asked to just "be quiet for five minutes" so that either myself or Mr H can just catch our breath.

The past week has been worse though as I've had a constant headache: I think that either my brain is about to implode on itself, or the fact that the weather is changing every day is the cause of it. Weather pressure really does do nasty things to my head. Today for example is beautiful - it's 26 degrees outside with glorious sunshine and my head feels a bit better.

Yesterday wasn't so hot temperature wise, and a bit cloudier which suggested rain overnight, and therein lies the problem, it's whenever we get one extreme changing to another and the pressure either drops or rises that I get a headache.

Plus the fact that yet again I have a head cold. Which doesn't help of course. But now it just sounds like I'm vying for pity, which I'm not because any mother, whether it be of one child or a multitude, will tell you that even with a jackhammer pounding in your head, you still get on with it, pop some painkillers and hope it'll go away before bedtime. My bedtime that is, not theirs.

My day was brightened considerably this afternoon when daughter no.2 came out with not one but FOUR creations she'd made at nursery today; I shall endeavour to get pictures up later. Tomorrow I think I'll let her loose with some paints and see what she makes of them then. I love her creativity, she inspires me to be a little more creative myself every day.

Thursday 5 June 2008

....a pirate's life for me.....

There are no words to describe how excited I was to receive this gift for son no.2 from his internet antenatal club birthday buddy. To say that only the dogs could understand what I was saying in such a ridiculously high pitch is an understatement.













And here he is, accompanied by Scout, greeting Mr H upon his arrival home.

Tuesday 3 June 2008

On turning One Year Old


Having one birthday wasn't enough for son no.2, he had THREE parties. One the weekend before for grandparents and other friends & family who couldn't make the third one, the second one on the actual day of his birthday for his little friends and their mommies, and lastly, Sunday just gone for everyone else who couldn't make it before. Phew.

He's one. I can't believe this time last year I was sitting at home with a 3 day old newborn, worrying over how much milk he was drinking and if he was getting his wind up alright etc. etc. Now my worries consist of how he managed to figure out how to open the safety gate and get all the way up the stairs without falling down them. Yes, that did indeed happen last week.

Half term is over and peace reigns in the house again for the majority of the day. Daughter no.2 is embracing her artistic tendancies and skips out after nursery with an average of 4 pictures for me, pictures that she's either drawn or stuck or painted or glued or coloured; but whichever way she's chosen to do it, they're always done with love.

Wednesday 28 May 2008

Rain rain go away......


you're beginning to drive me insane. Thank *insert appropriate deity name here* that the car's fixed and we were able to go out today and meet up with a friend and her two little boys, one of whom is a scrumptious 9 weeks old.......sigh


Went to an indoor play area and the three had a ball, even son no.2 who I let loose in the baby section, it was funny watching him trying to get up the roll things to the slide, cocking his leg as if he were.....well you can imagine. He had a ball, esp when son no.1 actually took his younger brother down the baby slide. Smiles all round, smiles so full of sunshine that for a moment I forgot it was raining......again.

Monday 26 May 2008

Birthday Cake


Son no.2's birthday is the end of this week but we held a party for him yesterday. I made his cake, Mr H procured the playmobil pirate from a well known "bidding" website.

Friday 23 May 2008

More favourites


Daughter no.2's hat she made at nursery today


Bullseyes - the old fashioned kind in a glass jar


New bracelet

Some of my favourite things at the moment

Daughter no.2's pasta necklace made at nursery

Son no.2's new shoes.















Thursday 22 May 2008

So I decided

upon this fine late spring evening, to start a blog. I used to have one but was limited to the amount of posts I could put on it, and couldn't figure out how to upload photos etc. So this is the new one. The title of which is in reference to my favourite saying "xxx (insert appropriate child's name here) you are getting on mommy's last nerve" - I've had this last nerve for the past 16 years so it's holding it's own quite well.

Dinner is cooking, marvellous smells are permeating the air, the baby is moaning because he's hungry and tired, both of which are about to be rectified by dinner, cuddles and bed time. I don't understand how the celebrities currently engaging in the "baby food diet" are doing it, baby food in jars/tins is revolting, I certainly wouldn't be punishing myself like that - I think I'll stick to a nice salad thank you.

Talking of weight, it's coming off slowly, I have four babies weight to get rid of - realistically slowly and hopefully all by this time next year - I've managed to get into what I lovingly call my "fat jeans" i.e. the jeans I was in BEFORE loosing the weight BEFORE falling pregnant with son no.2. My "skinny jeans" are the ones I will be in when I loose the weight again that I lost BEFORE falling pregnant with son no.2. Are you following the train of thought.....?

Son no.2 and daughter no.2 are in bed, she's singing and he's slumbering. Daughter no.1 is upstairs and son no.1 is hovering behind me waiting to get on the laptop to look at some wrestling something or other. Listening to Pokemon used to drive me insane all day, it was permanently in the background or in the back of my mind; now all I hear is various wrestler's theme tunes or "Mrrrrrrrrrrrrr Kennedy" (I don't know who he is).

Mr H is home. Which is good. He's been to see the new Indiana Jones movie and loved it. Critics are divided, but I don't listen to what critics say, some of my favourite films have been slated by critics and some that have been lauded by them I have despised. That's the way it goes.

I leave you with a photo of son no.2's new nappy wrap, made by a friend of mine from Babyworld ante-natal club. It's gorgeous, and it sums him up totally - my little pirate!