Let me just get my camera...

Unique Ideas for Christmas on Essex Mums

2009-11-18T13:03:00.002Z

Good morning!

Are you looking for something a bit different this Christmas? Kids have too many toys, looking for something handmade and ethical or just a bit unusual? Come and take a look at the Essex Mums Alternative Christmas Guide! It's full of ideas for unusual presents and has plenty of discounts just for users of Essex Mums! Keep checking back too as there will be more added over the next few days - you're sure to find something you like!

www.essexmums.org/christmas.html

If you have something you'd like to advertise yourself, please get in touch as there's still plenty of time.

Please let me know if you have any comments, and send this on to as many people as you can!

Thanks

Louise

Mr. Woo turns Two

2009-07-13T16:59:00.002+01:00

It was Felix's second birthday on Saturday. I think with us eagerly awaiting Iris's arrival it sort of crept up on us and was suddenly there - that my baby boy really isn't a baby anymore.

He had a great day and now completely understands the concept of birthdays and the fact that he gets spoilt rotten on them! We haven't taken his birthday banner down yet and every day since he's come downstairs and said "Birthday!" then made a slightly disappointed noise when there are no presents.

He got an absolute truckload of goodies - I have no idea where we're going to put them all. His favourite seems to be a trike bought for him by Andy and Amy, though he can't reach the pedals yet so wants to be pushed around on it all the time. He got loads of great garden stuff, so I hope we get some more good weather for him to use them.

His party was lots of fun - the weather wasn't great but the kiddies didn't mind. Tejon very kindly dried the slide with the seat of his dungarees, and the rest of them got rather wet and muddy while the parents huddled indoors and under the gazebo. Felix was a little overwhelmed at first but soon loved being the centre of attention and managed to go all day without even a hint of a strop - good going considering he didn't have a nap!

His presents lasted him well into the next day, and we're still eating fairy cakes today, so all in all a good weekend! I'm exhausted though!

Flat Stanley and more

2009-07-02T16:13:00.002+01:00

Yesterday we decorated our Flat Stanley, sent to us by Nance from ITNO who homeschools her daughter Alexa and is sending Flat Stanleys out all over the world while they are reading the book (which incidentally I loved as a child). The idea is that you decorate Stanley and then take him out and about with you, take some photos and send them back for Nance to put on her blog: Travels with Flat Stanley. Felix helped colour him in and chose the stickers and their placement. We decided to put him in swimming trunks like Felix's to show how nice and warm it's been here recently.

We plan on taking pictures with him on Felix's birthday but may take some beforehand too. It's a fun idea. The main question now though is do we cut him out for easy placement, thus losing the lovely background (including Felix's somewhat random sticker choices) or leave him on the paper?

One of Felix's current obsessions is washing his hands. He'll chase me to the bathroom squealing just to wash them, and seems to think I don't know he just wants to play with the water. I took these pictures of him looking cheeky when I discovered him in there for the millionth time yesterday,a and then we took a few self-portraits in the mirror, though Felix wanted to take them himself:

The weather has been glorious recently. I don't want to sound like a miserablist but it's actually been a bit too hot for me. I'm sure people will hate me for it but I wouldn't mind a cooler day! Anyway, Felix has loved being out in the garden, particularly enjoying the slide Mum and Dad got him for his birthday. We've had a few days out, barbecues and the like, and have generally been enjoying it.

Iris is getting big. Well, she was big to start off with but she's even bigger. I was in the lift at H&M today and a woman with a baby asked how old she was then looked surprised when I said ten weeks. Her own baby was more than three months and considerably smaller and more newborn-looking. Ha. She's holding her head really well now and has the most beautiful smile - it really lights up her whole face.

I'm trying to think of what we've been up to recently and drawing a blank, so instead of wittering away as I appear to be doing now, I think I'll post a gazillion pictures instead. Surprise surprise. A few are from my phone, so please forgive the bad quality but they were ones I really liked so wanted to share.

Back again!

2009-06-15T13:40:00.002+01:00

A bit of a break from blogging there for me! No real reason except that I didn't have a chance. Mainly chasing round after the two kiddies, but also because I bought the Sims 3 and have been playing that whenever I've had a spare moment!

Things are going nicely here. Felix turned 23 months last thursday and Iris was seven weeks on the same day. Time really is flying. I can't believe my little boy is going to be 2 in less than a month. He seems like such a boy now though, he's not a baby any more. He's so smart and funny as well as super mischeivous at the moment - if you turn your back on him he's doing something like emptying soap into the sink or pouring coins down Iris's back. Hmm.

Iris is getting big and is much more alert and interactive these days. She has smiles for everyone, in particular Felix, who she seems to think is the most amazing creature to walk the planet. It's surprised me how much they seem to like each other already - you'd think that as far as he's concerned she wouldn't be that interesting, but he loves giving her kisses and cuddles and seems genuinely fond of her. Now if we could only fit in a few extra hours sleep every day, everything would be pretty sweet!

I shall endeavour to write more from now on, but for now here are some favourite pics from the last few weeks.

Phew

2009-05-17T21:40:00.002+01:00

It's been an up and down sort of week, but most of all it's been exhausting. I'm sure it will get better with time, and I've had a cold this week which hasn't helped, but it's been really really tough at times. Hopefully as we get into the swing of things it will get easier, and Felix and Iris have both been poorly too which meant the weekend wasn't especially relaxing either. Got a decent nap today though and a nice long bath... on my own! What a joy!

Anyway, I'm not sure I can even make sense, so I'm just going to post some pics from the last few weeks. These include Tom's birthday and Emma and Ben coming to visit, but mainly just us indoors, trying to keep sane. Haha.

Maria Murray pics

2009-05-08T22:26:00.002+01:00

In all the excitement I forgot to mention the pictures we had done by Maria Murray when Iris was a mere four days old. Maria took pictures of Felix last June and made the gorgeous banner for the Essex Mums site, so we knew that we wanted to sign Iris up for her Beginnings scheme, and get here there as close to newly born as we could. Iris slept through most of the session, which Maria seemed happy with! We didn't manage to get Felix involved because he was still in his 'don't touch' phase but hopefully we can get some next time!

Maria posted a sneak preview on her blog, here. As expected the pictures are absolutely beautiful - I would highly recommend her to anyone wanting to get some photos of their kiddies that are far superior to anything you would get in a standard photo studio!

Starting to get nervous...

2009-05-06T20:58:00.002+01:00

Kester goes back to work tomorrow meaning it will be me, at home with two children. Two! How on earth am I going to manage? It's not so much that I fear being alone with them, I just can't work out how the practicalities of it all work. How am I going to get them both down the stairs in the morning? Will I ever get to have a shower? How do I keep Felix happy and distracted when breastfeeding Iris? Answers on a postcard please!

Also tomorrow, Iris will be two weeks old. Time has flown. On one hand I still can't believe she's with us and we are a family of four; on the other it feels like she has been with us forever. She still doesn't do much, of course, and she makes Felix seem so big and able to look after himself as she's so tiny and helpless in comparison, but we rather like having her around. She's a fantastic sleeper - I keep expecting this to change as it seems too good to be true, but she often sleeps for periods of 5 or 6 hours at night because she fills up on the good stuff in the evenings then is zonked for the night. Oh, and she really does love that sleep. We've had loads of visitors this last week and I think she's slept on all of them.

The most active thing she's done is roll over at a week old. Funnily enough Felix did the same thing at a week and they were both wearing the same outfit. Ha. I didn't get a picture though. I've taken loads (and will be sharing them in a minute) but I realised earlier she's changed so much already and I haven't taken any for a few days, so I'll have to get on it tomorrow. Iris is getting more alert by the day (when she's not sleeping) and is quite the little character, having already perfected her grumpy face.

Felix is coping well. He wasn't sure what to make of her at first and was pretty wary of her, but he's getting fonder of her all the time. He gives her kisses goodnight and really looks out for her - makes sure we don't leave her in the car, things like that. He still gets a bit tense when she cries, but he's a sensitive little thing and is like that when anyone gets upset. He's surprisingly gentle with her, even when trying to lift her up to get her out of the way (eek) and even let her share his bath the other day. Considering how much he loves bathtime, this was a big step.

Anyway, here are a load of pics from the last two weeks... I really can't believe how much she's changed already.

Miss Iris Penelope Ford finally decides to say hello

2009-04-24T22:36:00.002+01:00

Iris Penelope Ford was born on Thursday April 23rd at 7.01am. She weighed a massive 9lbs 4oz and is really long, though hasn't actually been measured yet. She has extremely chubby cheeks and a bit of dark hair. From certain angles she looks like Felix, but mainly if you hold your hands over her cheeks and double chin. Haha.

Anyway, my hindwaters broke on tuesday, and I was given 48 hours to go into spontaneous labour before getting induced. We were really hoping for a homebirth and Kester started setting up the pool and everything. I was having contractions 6 minutes apart that were getting progressively more painful so it really seemed like something was happening. By Wednesday night though, things were pretty much the same. More painful than they had been but I still wasn't in active labour so we went to bed thinking we'd be going in for the induction the following morning. I was pretty disappointed really, but resigned myself to it and was at least able to see the positive in that we would soon have our little girl.

At 2.15 on Thursday morning, I rolled over in bed and felt a pop then an enormous gush that didn't stop, and soon realised this was the rest of the waters going, which was really quite unpleasant. I woke Kester up to tell him and we started to get up. However, he noticed that the fluid was green tinged, so it began to look like the homebirth was not to be. We called the hospital and they said to come in because it sounded like she had passed meconium in the womb. Pretty common in overdue babies (I was term +10 by now) yet still potentially dangerous. Having felt calm about it all up until now, I started to worry about what was going to happen, whether she would be okay etc. The contractions started coming thick and fast and were much more painful, and we made our way to the hospital.

The midwife measured me at 3am and I was only 2-3cm despite having had contractions for days, which was a bit of a disappointment. I wasn't even in active labour yet, even though they were so painful. The gas and air was doing a good job, and I put on the TENS machine, but was well aware of the fact that things were going to get much more painful and after a little while I started to wonder if I would need something more when it came to pain relief, especially now that water wasn't an option.

I managed to get by for a few hours by going into an almost trance-like state where I became really inward focussed, and used a combination of the gas, TENS, rocking in a rocking chair, and squeezing Kester's hand. By 5.30am things were really bad and I said to my midwife that I couldn't do it. She encouraged me to hold on until 6am when she was due to measure me again and we could see how long there would be to go. Both her and Kester were great at encouraging me to go a bit further but without making it sound like I would be wussing out by opting for something else.

At 6am she measured me and I was at 7cm which was very encouraging. She reckoned that at the rate we were going, we'd be looking at a 7-7.30am birth, which surprised me. I'm pretty sure her examining me made me dilate another centimetre very quickly and put me into transition. It was rather hardcore really, incredibly painful but I knew we were nearly there which kept me going. After a while I started to get the urge to push with each contraction and began making some very strange noises. The urge soon became uncontrollable, but rather than making me push to a pattern as I was encouraged to with Felix, my midwife let me go with what I thought was best and said to go with the flow.

The point at which I started pushing properly is a bit of a blur as it just sort of started without me deciding to do it. It was really intense, but not too painful. I just knew I had to get her out and although it felt like it lasted forever was only actually about 6 minutes of pushing. It actually felt like three or four massive pushes, though there was a point in the middle where the midwife said something about relaxing my knee and for some reason I thought she meant there was only the baby's knee left to deliver. I couldn't work out why it was taking so long and why it felt like there was a whole baby to go and it gradually dawned on me that I had misheard. I think I was a bit loopy by this point. Haha. I very nearly lost hope and really had to regather myself to carry on, but soon after Kester told me that he could see her head, and looked so pleased about it that it gave me the encouragement I needed to carry on, and when I did I managed to do a couple of massive pushes and out she came.

She was all the colours of the rainbow, including such wondrous hues as Meconium Green, Ribena Berry Purple and Left in the Bath too long White (and funnily enough Iris is Greek for rainbow, though that isn't why we chose it) but she was healthy and robust and showed no signs of problems from the meconium, even though there was a lot of it. In fact she scored 9 and then 10 on the APGAR. The midwife put her on my belly still attached, which I didn't get a chance to do with Felix, and it was a fantastic feeling. Kester managed to cut the umbilical cord this time because he wasn't standing there blubbing like a big girl as he did with Felix. :lol: She breastfed really well after only 30 minutes or so of being born and has a really strong latch. I'd forgotten how hard those little newborn gums are though. Ouch!

We had to stay in overnight so they could monitor any effects from the meconium, but are both doing well. She's a little chubster but we of course think she's gorgeous. Kester did say she looked a bit like Vincent Crabbe from Harry Potter, though I think this is a little cruel, especially now the puffiness has gone down a bit!

Felix isn't sure what to make of her yet. He's a little nervous of her and gets upset when she cries, but has been talking about her a lot, pays a lot of attention to what she's doing and I hope is getting used to her. I think there will be a few problems along the way but hopefully not too many.

And I'm feeling pretty well! I think that by not having drugs for the labour I felt really clearheaded afterwards and didn't have anything to get out of my system. I only had a tiny first degree tear, with no stitches and am feeling much less sore than I did with Felix, though I have to keep reminding myself to take it easy. I am exhausted though as the little madam was awake all night, so am looking forward to a nice early night tonight!

A few photos:

Waiting...

2009-04-15T11:39:00.003+01:00

Well, I had kind of hoped that my next post in here would be the arrival of the Little Lady, but as she seems determined to stay put and drive me mad, I thought I should write something. It will probably be mainly whinging though, just a warning.

I'm feeling pretty crappy to be honest. Sleeping terribly, sore and achy, contractions on and off that don't amount to anything. Bah. I really dislike being pregnant! I know it will be worth it in the end but at the moment I just want to be done. I swing between feeling like something could be happening, and like she's never going to come. At the moment it's about 20/80 in favour of the latter. More than anything, I don't want to be induced. I was induced with Felix and it was awful, and after all the planning we've done for a homebirth I would be so gutted. I'm actually looking forward to the labour at home, to using the pool, to being able to introduce her to Felix straight away, to being able to have a nice shower, or go straight to sleep... whatever I want. The thought of being trussed up for 24 hours in a ward full of other people, of Kester not being able to stay the night with us, of being away from Felix for an indefinite amount of time, and of the induction itself just makes me want to cry.

Still, we have about a week and a half before it comes to that, I think. We'll see the midwife on Saturday if nothing has happened by then and she'll probably do a sweep and stretch, so hopefully that will get things going. Then I think I'll have a week after that. Just hurry up baby!

Otherwise it's been a nice couple of weeks. The Easter break was a good one - it was great having Kester home for the long weekend, and I think we both sort of assumed he wouldn't have to go back to work yesterday, but unfortunately he did. Went to Mum and Dad's for Easter Sunday, with Andy and Amy too. Was a nice relaxing day, and apart from a couple of odd little upsets, Felix enjoyed it too and has been talking about Andy and 'Ammy' ever since. Felix didn't actually eat that much chocolate but still managed to get it everywhere:

Then a few more pics I want to share from the last week or so... Firstly some from the park. Honestly, Kester didn't realise how high he was pushing Felix. I was starting to get a little worried and said so but it wasn't until he saw these pictures that he realised himself!

Some gardening pics. Felix currently loves digging, adding the mud to his water table (much to Kester's despair) and pushing around his 'mawnmower'. He also enjoys looking for 'Bubbees' and the moon during the day

A couple of my current favourites of Kester and Felix:

A few of Felix playing Peekaboo:

And then finally, Kester got a load of baby stuff down from the attic this weekend and Felix wanted to sit in the bouncy chair. I had to take some pictures for comparison:

Here comes the sun

2009-04-04T13:07:00.002+01:00

The weather has been lovely this week and due to some bizarre nesting urge I decided it would be a really good idea to mow the lawn. It nearly killed me but was worth doing, though I couldn't get into a lot of the tighter spots, unsurprisingly. The garden is still pretty tatty but hopefully we'll be getting it returfed soon so that doesn't matter too much. Felix just enjoyed getting outside a bit really and wanted to sit in his swing for a good hour or two. When Mum came over the next day she got his water table from the shed and he loved that and spent all afternoon pouring water from cup to cup with the most serious look on his face.

Holding court:

Investigating:

Showing his manly and sensitive sides at the same time:

Playing with his water table.

Dinger lounging:

Dancing:

Felix has been amazing me recently. He seems to be picking things up so quickly - in the last couple of weeks: he speaks in whole (if a little garbled at times) sentences; has an amazingly big vocabulary including some quiet complex words and ideas; he has an amazing memory (better than mine); he knows all his colours both to point out and to name, though he has trouble saying 'red'; he's starting to get the idea of letters and sounds, can point out a few of them and spell a few words (but by memory I think); he knows all his body parts; can name and point to a huge number of animals, and do the noises for many too; he knows most simple shapes to point out, and some to say; and over the last couple of days has started counting - he can recite numbers to ten, point them out and count things out up to five. He's going to know more than me before long.

Short back and sides

2009-03-30T20:35:00.002+01:00

Or something like that. Kester cut Felix's hair on Saturday. At one point he gave a little gasp, then a giggle and informed me that I probably wouldn't like what he'd done. I was a little shocked when I first saw it as the fringe was really short and he looked a bit like Mr. Spock, but it's starting to grow on me now. He still looks cute even with a dodgy fringe.

I did love his mop of hair, but it was getting in his eyes all the time and had to be done. Sob.

Before:

After:

He looks so much older though, which has clearly made him turn to the booze:

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

2009-03-24T20:46:00.002Z

Sunday was beautiful, and after a nice long lie-in, breakfast in bed and flowers for Mother's Day I was feeling pretty chipper so we decided to take Felix to Colchester Zoo for the first time. He really loves animals at the moment so we thought it would be nice to see how he reacted to seeing some of his favourites up close and for real. He especially loved the penguins and tigers, and was excited to see the sheep for some reason, but he mainly loved charging round like a loon and attempting to befriend other children. He's a funny little thing. When I asked him which of the animals he liked he said he liked them all, but when asked which was his favourite said "Nanny". Hmm.

Parklife

2009-03-19T20:57:00.002Z

The weather yesterday was lovely and sunny, so I thought it was only fair to let Felix get out of the house for a while. I considered the garden but the lawn needed mowing so I decided it could wait for Kester to do it at the weekend. Eventually I decided I would lug my aching pelvis up to Chalkwell Park. Wasn't sure it was such a great idea as the shortest walk can put me out of action for days at the moment, but I made the mistake of mentioning the word 'park' to Felix and within seconds he had got his shoes and was trying to put them on.

It was worth it though; we had a lovely walk up there, which thankfully was pretty slow due to Felix wanting to stop and examine everything en route. And once we were there he loved it. Really loved it. We haven't been since last summer, and he was much more enthusiastic this time - went running over to the play area as soon as he saw it. He seems completely fearless now too and insisted on going on the big boy swings without a baby seat, meaning he had to hold on tightly. Eek. I didn't push him too high though. He went on three out of the four swings in one set, and didn't seem to realise they were all the same, loved the slides and eyed up the really big one, though I knew there was no way I was climbing up it with him and he wouldn't manage it himself so we quickly walked on. He fell off the roundabout twice but didn't seem to care, and even bumped into a little friend from Edward Bear Club, who we haven't seen for ages. He pointed out the sights to her "Plane! Dog! Swing! Sky! Bird!" etc and she seemed fascinated.

I was sore later on, but it was still fun. Again, I'm not exactly sure how I'll manage it with two, but I'm sure I'll find a way! I think I'll have to...

Essex Mums Birthday Party

2009-03-17T11:06:00.001Z

Yesterday we had the Essex Mums first birthday celebration at Partyman World in Basildon. It was a really fun afternoon, despite Anglia TV doing their best to spoil it, haha. A good turnout, especially as so many came from quite a distance and got a number of buses to make it. It was really satisfying looking around and seeing all these Mums who now know each other well, kids who are becoming friends and who recognise the other Mums, and everyone just generally having fun.

Felix loved it there and enjoyed charging around trying to get on anything. He roped a number of the other Mums into climbing up various things with him and generally doing his bidding. Gina and Nicky got to appear on the local news, which also had a hilarious shot of Lea throwing herself down the slide. Claire, I'm surprised they didn't show any of your antics too...

Partyman World itself was fantastic too, and the owner 'Jimbo' came to chat to me about ways he thought they might be able to work with the site. He's only 24 (I think) and is a millionaire, all from his Partyman business which he apparently started out from his Nan's living room. He's also keen on getting involved with and giving back to the community so he sounds like a really good bloke to work with. He suggested that they might be able to take over the ownership of the site from freeforums, so that I would have more control over it, would have an IT department there to run it etc.

He also said he's been thinking of setting up a magazine for local parents and basically asked me if I'd be interested in running it in conjunction with the site. We've got to discuss details but he pretty much said that all they wanted to do was fund it and advertise in it, the rest would be up to me - he seemed impressed with what I'd done with the site - the idea behind it, how well it had taken off etc., the fact that I did it despite making nothing from it, and the way I had got in touch with the local media etc to promote it. Lots to discuss and still early days, particularly as it was so busy so it was just chat, nothing formal, so I'm not really expecting anything to come of it but very exciting stuff nonetheless!

Birth pool trial run

2009-03-17T10:57:00.003Z

We did a dry run of setting up the birth pool on Sunday. Glad we did as a few bits were tricky and it was certainly better to discover that when not in the middle of a contraction! It looked good though, and was really comfy. Felix loved throwing himself around in it and we considered leaving it up before realising he would probably destroy it before we got round to using it!

Actually quite looking forward to the labour now, as bonkers as that sounds...

Happy birthday Essex Mums!

2009-03-12T22:50:00.006Z

Essex Mums is one today!

I've been meaning to post this since this morning but just got round to it. As it's so late in the day I'm just going to copy some of the info I sent out to the local papers etc.

The Essex Mums forum (www.essexmums.org) will be celebrating its first birthday on March 12th. We have come a long way since it started and have hopes of achieving more in the next year.

I started the site after moving to Westcliff last February and having trouble finding out what was going on and where. A bit of research made me realise that there were many other Mums out there experiencing the same problem, all looking to make friends and find things to do with their kids, but often a bit too shy to try new things on their own, and uncertain as to what was happening near them. I wanted it to be a place where Mums (and Dads) could come and chat about their days, exchange experiences of being a parent and help one another, as well as sharing information about what was worth doing (and what to avoid!)

When the site started, it took off rather rapidly as friends told friends and word spread. In the first fortnight we had over fifty people join, which at the time seemed amazing to me. In the first month I was interviewed by the Evening Echo, Southend Radio and BBC Essex which helped get the news out further. Suddenly I went from refreshing the page every five minutes, hoping someone else would post something to seeing new names appear all the time, and not being able to keep up with all the activity. Now, nearly a year later we have over 850 members (an average 2.5 new recruits a day!) from all over Essex. Some post every day and enjoy just chatting to one another, some post now and then when they get a chance, others just pop in to find out about things that are going on.

We have had lots of meet-ups, from very popular ones last summer at Wat Tyler Park, through numerous visits to soft play centres to a couple of people meeting up here and there when they fancy something to do. We have just started organising regular coffee mornings every week and are hoping to have a good turn out for our first birthday party at Partyman World on Monday March 16th. We have had new babies, numerous pregnancies (even leading to talk of there being Essex Mums baby dust!) and many good friends have been made - this has been the most wonderful thing about it all to me, seeing people get to know each other and go from mere acquaintances to real, solid friends. Of course the kids love meeting up with each other too, and it's been lovely to see them all grow - hopefully we will continue to see this for years to come.

So thanks everyone who is a member - you're all great and have made the site what it is!

Link to the article in the Yellow Advertiser

Just some pics

2009-03-06T18:27:00.002Z

I took a load of pictures of Felix on Wednesday and they came out really nicely, I think. He was looking handsome, was in a great mood, loved hamming it up for the camera, and the light was great - a perfect combination. There followed a terrible night of teething and a pretty miserable day, so I'm posting these now so that I can easily reference them should another such a night be just round the corner... which it may be.

And to show them off, of course.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

2009-03-04T13:32:00.003Z

Rob and Lucy came to visit this weekend just gone - realised we hadn't seen them in about a year! It was very nice and we did our usual trip to Southend's most interesting haunts, ha ha - normally a combination of the beach, Adventure Island, Rossi's, walking along the seafront or Old Leigh. It wasn't really Old Leigh weather, plus we couldn't really sit and have a pint, so we had a few rides at Adventure Island, a quick wander to the beach then stopped at Rossi's for ice-cream - always my favourite part of the day. Felix went on one of the rides - he wasn't sure but was persuaded by it being a train, then kept saying "Choo choo" in a very quiet voice as we went round and round. He wasn't very keen on Kester going on 'Rage' - probably the scariest ride there - I think he was actually quite worried for him and said "No no no! Daddy! Nooo!" as he saw Kester getting on it.

2009-03-01T22:41:00.003Z

Gah, I've been useless at updating this week. It's just seemed like a really busy week, though I have no idea why as I'm sure I didn't do all that much! Will try to do a quick catch-up of the week.

Went up to London on Sunday afternoon to meet Steph etc. at the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. Rozzie and Darren were over - we haven't seen them since before we went to Chicago so it was really nice to catch up. Felix kept Roz on the move at all times - he seemed particularly fond of her which was very sweet. There ended up being a pretty good turnout, and while it wasn't quite the Sunday drinking of yore, what with me being pregnant, Kester driving, and us having Felix with us, it was a lovely afternoon. It's funny, while I tend to think of everyone in London as being at a different stage to us at the moment - no-one else is married or has kids, and here's us nearly with two - it's always so nice, and kind of reassuring to catch up with them. Like, we may have very different lifestyles at the moment, but the bond is still there, and it's strong. I just wish we could convince them to move to Essex!

Felix hasn't been well this week. Just a cold, but he's really been suffering with it. It's meant some nice long naps, but a lot of grumpiness and clinginess. Add that to me being a bit of an emotional wreck and we've had a few fraught moments. However, it also meant that he was really cuddly and one day even sleepy enough to fall asleep in my arms on the sofa - something he hasn't done for months, maybe even a year! It was so adorable, I didn't want to move and ended up sitting in the dark for about an hour! Even though he's been a snotbucket, he's still managed to look cute:

He's had a bit of a verbal explosion this week. Felix has a big one-word vocabulary (I've counted well over 100 words) and has been combining two or three words for a while, though generally really simple things like "Bye Bye Daddy", "Thank you Mummy", "Hello Dinger", "One more" etc.

These last few weeks though he has just been talking non stop in sentences. They're often hard to understand fully, you might get a word or two, but he gets a bit agitated and frantic trying to explain what he means while we look at him slightly baffled. It's so cute just hearing him babble away and knowing he's trying so hard to make us understand. Some of my favourites from this week have been:

"Crisps are on the plate over there" (this one took us ages to get and he was waving his arms around frantically trying to get us to understand him.)

F: "Nanny?" L: "Nanny is coming round tomorrow. F "Oh! Nanny one more day? Okay?"

(up at the window) "Snow? No snow? No snow no more." (he checks every day to see if there's snow).

and finally: "Here I am!". He's been repeating it for a while because it's in a Spot book he loves, but has just started applying it to himself when playing Peekaboo or something. He uses it when he pops out from somewhere to surprise you, but also when arriving somewhere or when he finds a lost toy. It's adorable.#

I took him to a Jo Jingles class on Friday, which was a lot of fun. He wasn't sure at first and sat on my knee, strangely quiet for him, but by the end of the session was charming the other mums and sitting on their knees instead. He enjoyed playing with the maracas in particular and was especially good at getting the instruments and putting them away. Aw, I was very proud. Looking forward to going back next week!

Nann-eeeee!

2009-02-20T23:00:00.002Z

Felix was lucky enough to see his Nanny and Grandad twice this week, which I think was probably the best thing that he could have imagined. Mum very kindly came round a couple of times to help me out with my current immobility, and of course Felix was absolutely thrilled. Today they did some good Play-Dohing, and Felix generally spent the afternoon following her around.

Then when Grandad got here earlier than normal, he couldn't believe his luck. Much chasing and squealing ensued, before settling down with some books.

Felix is a bit of a book-fiend at the moment actually - he has five or six favourites that get read every day at least twice. I love that he's so enthuasiastic but it can be difficult to drum up the enthusiasm to read the same book over and over and over and over....

I haven't posted much this week because we haven't really done much, but I like these pictures from dinner yesterday and Kester's faux apple teeth. The one of Felix screwing up his eyes is because he was preparing for the flash to go off. It made me laugh though.

It's been pretty tough work this week chasing round after the boy with the aches and pains, but he's generally been great. I may be imagining it but he seems super-helpful this week and I'm wondering if he actually understands more of what's going on than I would have thought. A few times when I've told him I can't do something because it hurts, he'll do it for me, and when he's fighting going for a nap, he seems to settle after I tell him I need a rest too. I'm sure it's just wishful thinking, but it's nice anyway! Perhaps he's taking the advice from one of his current favourite books, about helping Mummy get some rest because she has a 'house' inside her to grow the baby in...

Speaking of newborns, I had the pleasure of meeting little 6 week old William on Monday at the Essex Mums coffee morning. I meant to post about it earlier in the week but didn't get round to it. Holding a newborn was quite weird - he was so tiny, and I'd forgotten the funny little noises they make, the way they don't keep still and look at you really intently. Aww. Good to get some practise in though! There was a great turn-out at the meet though, and a good time was had by all, I think. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves too, which is always a bonus.

Like Father, Like Son

2009-02-16T21:22:00.001Z

ABC, as easy as SPD...

2009-02-15T15:32:00.003Z

So. I'm in pain. Boo hoo. Seriously though, it bloody hurts. I've had this particular ache since the first trimester that I just put down to being another of the general discomforts of pregnancy but this last week or two it's got so bad I started to think that perhaps it's not completely normal. I asked around about and it seems like it's probably SPD, which is apparently very common in pregnancy but can get really quite painful, sometimes resulting in women needing crutches in the later stages. Thankfully mine's not quite that bad at the moment but it is making it very difficult to do anything, even things like climbing the stairs, picking up toys, chasing a toddler who is determined he can walk down the stairs by himself etc. Thankfully Kester's been letting me rest as much as he can, and Mum has offered to come round more. I'm not really very good at asking for help though, and even though it's hurting me to move around I hate sitting there while people busy themselves with things I should be doing. Bah.

We see the midwife on Tuesday so I'm hoping she'll have some magical solution. Actually, speaking of the midwife, I'm really quite looking forward to this appointment. She's coming to see us at home so that we have a bit longer to chat about everything, including the homebirth. We went for a hospital tour at Southend Hospital today, just in case we end up needing to go there and if nothing else it left me feeling like we've made the right choice in deciding to have a homebirth. There's nothing wrong with the hospital itself, in fact it has a very good reputation for maternity and neo-natal care, but it's just the whole systematic approach to it all - all the moving from one area to the other at different stages of labour, the visiting hours, having to stay in for a set time after the birth... that and the fact that the woman who showed us round was about as unenthusiastic as it's possible to be. Nah, give me my nice house, comfy bed and lack of visiting hours any day. After being induced with Felix, I'm hoping this labour will be as intervention-free as possible, as comfortable as possible (ha!) and as short as possible... I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. If you remind me I said that when the contractions start, however, there is a good chance I will hit you. Just a gentle warning.

What it is

2009-02-10T09:21:00.003Z

Had a lovely evening yesterday. Mum and Dad babysat while Kester and I went out for a meal and then to see Dylan Moran at the Cliffs Pavilion - real talent so close to home! Who'd have thought it? We went to the Gattapardo on Hamlet Court Road, mainly because we liked the name and it looked nice and it didn't disappoint. The food was great (I risked the mussels assuming - I think correctly - that they would be nice and fresh and local. The service was fantastic and the place itself a nice romantic 'grown-up' spot. Unfortunately after we'd paid the bill we realised we didn't have any cash for a tip - how embarrassing!

We then went on to see Mr. Moran and he was fantastic. It was quite nice as we seemed to be the target audience as a lot of the show was about getting older, growing up, family dynamics etc. I couldn't find any clips from this tour but thought I'd share a couple of my favourite Dylan Moran clips from previous ones:

Dylan Moran on kid's parties

Dylan Moran on getting old

Does my bum look big in this?

2009-02-06T18:22:00.004Z

I bought a batch of cloth nappies from ebay so that we could try a few different types with the new baby and got them today. It was good, baffling fun trying to work out which was which, whether they needed extra bits etc. Some of them are the birth to potty sort, so I thought I would try to get Felix in one. At first he wasn't sure, said 'no no no' and handed me a disposable but once he looked at himself in the mirror he seemed quite taken with it and said 'niiiice'.

Here he is modelling it:

So yesterday Felix and I were out shopping and stopped to have a bit of lunch. We were eating and he was chattering away and generally being pretty adorable, and I found myself just staring at him and getting quite emotional about what a great kid he is and what's to come.

I'm really looking forward to the baby coming, honestly I am but it just struck me how much things are going to change, how we won't be able to do things just the two of us any more, and how I hope this isn't too hard for him. I'm sure he will benefit greatly from having a sister, and it's not that I'm upset about the thought of a new baby, but suddenly the idea of how much everything will change overwhelmed me quite a lot.

I suppose some of it is that I feel like I haven't really appreciated how great Felix is enough, and how special some of the times we've had have been. Like us eating lunch out together is something we do once a fortnight, often more, if we happen to be in Southend shopping. I enjoy it but it's more convenience than a special time... and suddenly I realised that it actually is pretty special.

All I wanted to do all afternoon was cuddle him (which thankfully Felix is more than happy to do) and even that made me sad because I couldn't help thinking I didn't do it enough.

From what I've been told a lot of people feel this way in a second pregnancy, especially around this time, and obviously the old hormones are all out of whack anyway, but it was still a bit of an emotional experience. How embarrassing it would have been if I'd actually cried, which I nearly did!

Anyway, to close here are a couple of pics of Kester and Dinger being cute:

"Man! Milk! Nom nom nom! Man! 'Nana! Nom nom nom! Man! Milk! 'Nana! Nom nom nom!"

2009-02-04T21:54:00.003Z

Snow II

2009-02-04T09:35:00.003Z

We got more snow on Monday. Quite a lot of it in fact. Well, for here. The entire country ground to a halt, trains and buses stopped running, everyone stayed home from work or school, it was 'impossible' to get anywhere. It was kind of funny really, having lived in Chicago where they have that much snow pretty much every day throughout winter, yet everyone manages to carry on as normal.

I know that a lot of it has to do with the fact that we're not as prepared for it because it doesn't happen often (despite what the films say - re: Kester's snow in films theory). There's no point in having fleets of snow ploughs sitting in garages doing nothing for years. I know that on paper at least, this is the reason we can't cope with snow.

Really though, I think it has a lot to do with a difference in the UK and the US when it comes to attitudes towards work. There seems to be this feeling over there that you have to get to work, that productivity and good honest slog are the most important things in life and that the poor average pleb should always make it in, regardless of whether or not they are in the middle of a hurricane, are on death's door, have suffered a terrible personal tragedy etc. Anyone who dares take a day off when it hasn't been officially sanctioned suffers the wrath of the higher ups and puts their job on the line. I'm sure most normal people don't feel this way, but they've been made to believe it's the only way to have a society that works.

Over here, people see a single snowflake and turn to each other hopefully saying 'Ooh, snow! Day off?'.

Anyway, Felix enjoyed it and looks out of the window every day saying 'Nah? Nah?' which I think means snow. We had fun too and built a snowboy. It was going to be a snowman but Kester got bored halfway through. He looked good though and had a rakish Victorian urchin look about him. Felix gave him a kiss, of course.

Krispie Karnage

2009-02-02T23:02:00.003Z

I hear some strange noises in the kitchen and wonder what Felix is up to

"Come quickly, something dreadful has happened over here. Nothing to do with me, of course"

*Gasp* "Look at the mess Mum! It must have been Dinger!"

"Handy for snacking though"

Yum!

Happy Birthday Thalia!

2009-02-02T18:20:00.002Z

We went to Thalia's 4th birthday party yesterday. Chantal hired an entertainer and all the kids loved it though the little 'uns weren't so sure. Felix wanted to leave at first and kept pointing to the door, but got used to it and was having a good time by the end. He managed to pop four balloons though. It was lovely to see some of the family, always nice to see all the littleys and how they've changed since the last time. Every time we come away saying we'll have to see them all more, though every few months isn't too bad I suppose. Thalia in particular seemed to have a great time. Oh and Kester even had a dance - he did the hokey cokey and he turned around, in fact.

Some pics:

Oh, and I'm also currently obsessed with this werewolves game on ITNO and it's driving me utterly bonkers. Gah.

I'm your number one fan

2009-01-29T20:42:00.003Z

Is it normal for 18 month old boys to form mini-obsessions on older boys they meet? Felix does! Quite often if we're out somewhere and there's a boy there between the ages of 6 and 9, Felix will follow him round, squeal excitedly and basically become like a little shadow. The older boy seems to find it quite endearing, and encourages it to an extent, then starts to get a bit freaked out when Felix won't leave them alone.

He's quite over-friendly generally and will give hugs to most people, smile sweetly at waitresses and cashiers, and bat his eyelashes at old ladies, but it's almost like he gets a little crush on these older boys. Funny, but a little strange. Is my son just weird?

The Beach

2009-01-27T12:36:00.003Z

Had a surprising burst of energy yesterday afternoon and a desire to go out and do something, the likes of which I haven't seen since before getting pregnant. Felix was napping though so I knew by the time he woke up it would be getting on a bit. Decided we'd take a walk down to the beach, which is about a half an hour walk away. We don't go down there often enough considering we live so close and it's a nice thing to do any day of the year I think. The winter breeze and crisp air as just as enjoyable as a warm summer's day in it's own way.

Felix got very excited when we saw the sea and as soon as he got out of his pushchair went dashing down towards it to try and chase the seagulls. Unfortunately they were further off than they looked and it got pretty wet and gloopy before we got to them. He still enjoyed pointing and imitating them though. We had a nice play and a bit of a sit down while we both gazed out to sea. Felix got his faraway look on a few times but I genuinely think he was enjoying the view, having a think rather than just looking blank. After a while we left the beach and wandered along the seafront a bit more before heading home. I'm really feeling achey from all the walking today but it was well worth it.

Boys in Jamas

2009-01-26T18:00:00.003Z

Just a few pics from yesterday. Kester and Felix had a bath and were looking particularly handsome and dapper in their pyjamas and dressing gowns:

Then here we have Felix with his little chum the hamster. It was a silly stocking filler I picked up from a novelty shop for Christmas but he still loves it. He gets quite upset when it runs out of batteries and needs to have a sleep. It drives me a bit mad.

And finally a couple of him doing a puzzle. He's really into this at the moment and brings it over saying 'puddle, puddle'. He can do it in about 5 minutes, normally without any help, which is pretty impressive I think!

Sometimes they surprise you

2009-01-24T00:03:00.002Z

Felix was in a very destructive mood today. Before midday he had:

* picked up a glass of water and poured it over the bed
* emptied his cereal over the table
* thrown a ball at a glass of orange juice, knocking it all over
* thrown a ball at the washing up, thus smashing a wine glass
* had a paddy when I wouldn't let him pick up the smashed wine glass
* got into a barney with Dinger because he cornered her and was shouting at her, so she scratched him
* Emptied his toys everywhere. Well, thrown them, to be honest.

I knew it couldn't continue after lunch and naptime, if only for the sake of my own sanity, so attempted to keep him a bit more occupied with puzzles and the like. We were sitting on the floor with him on my knee and completely spontaneously, with no encouragement from me, he turned to me and gave me the cutest little kiss, then carried on with what he was doing. It nearly made me cry but I thought that probably wouldn't be the best reaction. It's funny how someone can be at once a rampaging monster and an adorable softy. Aw.

Worried Life Blues

2009-01-22T14:21:00.003Z

It's been a pretty grim few days round here. Felix and Kester have both had pretty grotty colds, and I've been feeling exhausted. Unfortunately (or perhaps this is a good thing really) Felix hasn't really been sick much in his short life, just a few colds here and there so he doesn't get that rest and relaxation really does help. He's been determined not to nap and it's been driving me a bit potty. Then on top of that I've had the most dreadful pregnancy hormone bonkersness. I think it's partly the tiredness too, but I seem to be getting upset at the stupidest thing (such as a dish breaking yesterday) and have been really snappy with Felix, which then makes me feel really guilty because he hasn't done anything wrong. Add to that a feeling that I'm making a really bad job of it all at the moment and concern that I'm not going to be able to cope with two and... well... it's been a lot of fun.

Thankfully Mum came round on her normal Wednesday visit yesterday, and as there's nothing more Felix likes than seeing his Nanny, it took the pressure off a lot. They had a good play, even though he was completely exhausted, and I got to just sit there and zone out for a bit.

We did have a nice time this morning though. We needed some bread from the shop so took a walk round the corner. It's a five minute walk but we spent nearly an hour doing it because I thought it might be nice for Felix to get out a bit (we haven't done much recently), as well as getting him nice and worn out for his nap (ha, like that worked). He splashed in puddles, balanced along walls (thought I'm wondering if I really should have introduced him to that as he wanted to walk along everyone we came to), looked at pieces of rubbish he found. Ah, lovely. Oh, and for some reason he seems convinced that Nanny lives in the house on the corner. Strange boy.

So despite Felix taking forever to get to sleep and driving me to tears, again. I'm actually feeling somewhat better now, thanks to Kester. Although I'm still a bit glum. Gah, and now Neighbours is really sad, just to add to my horrible pregnancy hormonal imbalance.

Little Miss Ford wants to say hello

2009-01-17T21:16:00.006Z

Had our 3D ultrasound today and it was great. She didn't want to comply at first and was snuggling up to the placenta. Had to eat some chocolate and drink some orange juice then she got going. Funnily enough Felix was the same and spent the first half of the scan we had with him with his hand over his face. She's looking good and apparently weighs around 2lbs 9oz.

And some video clips:

Felix on art

2009-01-16T17:08:00.005Z

Emily got Felix a book for Christmas called 'Art for Babies'. It's full of black and white images of well-known prints, I imagine aimed especially at newborns who apparently prefer that sort of thing. Anyway, it looks really nice and came with a frieze of the pictures in the book to put on the wall. I thought it would be a nice way to cover up the crayon marks from where Felix decided to get artistic a couple of months ago, and he seems to love them. We spent a good long while pointing to all the pictures, naming them ("Dot dot dot", "zig zag", "duck" etc.) and pointing out our favourites. Felix then went to fetch his easel and have a go at creating his own masterpiece. He has a little way to go yet, I think, but those swirly-whirly marks are looking pretty good. And they stayed on the paper this time too.

Felix was actually in a really good mood today and kept himself entertained all morning while I got some work done, which was great as it then left the afternoon free for us to play. The morning was spent on a happy rampage, it seemed like he played with every single toy, and particularly enjoyed climbing in and out of his toy box.

However, I seem to have inadvertedly created a tidiness monster (despite what the above pictures might suggest). One of his latest obsessions is 'uff. He likes to pick up pieces of fluff from the floor and bring them to me with a slightly worried look on his face saying ''Uff! Uff!". Erm, thanks Felix.

Surprisingly good fun.

2009-01-15T21:17:00.001Z

We went to B&Q earlier, which for those not in the UK is a big hardware/DIY/home maintenance/decorating shop. Kester went off to get what we needed, while Felix and I spent a fun half an hour wandering round the lighting section, with him oohing and ahhing at all the lights, pointing out his favourites, running excitedly to see what delights awaited us round the next corner etc. It was surprisingly good fun and made me realise that sometimes it doesn't take much to keep a toddler entertained. I wonder what he could get up to in the piano shop round the corner or the antique shop down the road...

Turn to the left

2009-01-13T21:27:00.009Z

We've decided to give this cloth nappy lark a go with number two, though to be honest it's all a bit baffling. I bought a couple of covers from ebay though, mainly to get a feel of what we'd be working with! So here we have the ultra-stylish Kester and Felix modelling the latest in... um... cloth nappy covers. I don't think they quite have it right though.

Got some of the bits through from the other ebay orders too and they are delightfully girly and cute. So tiny too, though this hat that Felix is modelling is supposed to be for a newborn. Felix has a fairly small head, but still, this would surely swamp a newborn?

I was feeling exhausted again today, thankully Kester was working from home and took over this afternoon so that I could have a rest, and Felix was in a pretty good mood most of the day. He entertained himself by playing with his toys, trying to steal my drink, climbing into a box of toys etc. Despite his good mood, every other word at the moment is 'no'. 'Would you like a drink Felix?' 'No', 'Is it time for bed?' 'No'. Even things he likes get the answer 'No', or if he really means it 'no no no!'. It's quite cute, but I'm looking forward to this negative phase being over. Though Kester pointed out that when it does it will probably be replaced with 'why?'. I may be foolish, but I'm kind of looking forward to that phase.

And to finish, just a few pics that I thought were cute, if a bit serious. I'm sure he gets more adorable by the day, though obviously I'm rather biased. We discovered yesterday that he's actually a short-arse though. We measured his height on Sunday when he turned 18 months and he's about 80cm which apparently puts him in the 25th percentile. I'm not too worried as apparently at this age they can grow an inch overnight during a growth spurt, and 2cm more would put him in the 50th, but it was still a surprise, especially considering he was in the 91st percentile when he was born. Ah well, I'm sure his cheeky smile will get him far, even if he's only wee.

You know you're not getting enough sleep

2009-01-12T10:13:00.001Z

When you dream about not getting enough sleep.

Weekend ramblings

2009-01-10T16:40:00.003Z

Nothing significant to mention today so just a few ramblings really. Had a nice morning yesterday when Abi came over to visit. She lives just round the corner now and is trying to get out a bit more, so walked over from her house to ours. Felix seemed to recognise her which meant there was no shyness and he offered her his ball straight away, which is a sure sign of friends forever, right?

Later on Felix amused himself by sticking stickers everywhere - on the table, walls, blinds, my knee and his own hair. Strangely, his having this spider in his hair gave us a strange glimpse into what Little Miss Ford might look like in 20 months or so... isn't he purty?

And here's a picture of Felix playing at being the postman, which I just like:

So today I finally got round to taking another belly photo. Considering I did it every week with Felix, I've been pretty slack this time round and haven't done one since Week 18. I blame the fact that time is clearly going at three times the rate it should. Unbelievably, I'll be 27 weeks on Monday, and in the thrid trimester. WHAT? It's just going so quickly. Have started to get round to organising some bits and pieces including trying to get into the brave new world that is cloth nappies, and organising a sling specialist to come to the house so I can try a few out. We had the Baby Bjorn with Felix but I didn't get on with it until he was a bit older, though Kester liked it. I'm hoping for a more wrap based one this time. Hopefully it will mean I can avoid using the dreaded double pushchair as often as possible.

Otherwise, I've been selling a load of Felix's old clothes on Ebay and getting a bit sad and nostaligic about it all, until of course I started getting the money into my Paypal account and putting bids on stuff for #2. It seems that despite me having always been a bit of a tomboy, my taste in girls clothes is really quite... well... girly. Such as:

Though you will not find me going anywhere near anything pink and glittery with the word Princess on it. There I draw the line.

Finally, something that tickled me today (though this is a little mean) was reading a forum post by someone who a few days ago was annoyed that she overheard someone commenting on her and her four kids, and questioned whether she knew how to use birth control properly, the today posted about being worried she was pregnant again because she didn't know you could get pregnant when breastfeeding. Oh, the exquisite irony.

The not quite 100% but nearly shortlist

2009-01-08T23:43:00.001Z

So, we've just been looking at our names with the middle names and we think we've come up with our final five shortlist. Hopefully one of these will be the one we use.

Rosetta Iris
Iris Penelope
Rosalie Charlotte
Clementine Amelia
Celeste Violet

Thoughts? Do any stand out as being particularly bad, or especially good to you?

Three years

2009-01-07T09:57:00.004Z

Today it's me and Kester's third anniversary. My parents are babysitting for Felix and I'm going to meet Kester at his office in London early evening. We're planning on going for a meal in Chinatown, where I'm desperately hoping we can find somewhere that does crab rangoon, which we haven't been able to find since getting back to the UK.

Then we're going to see the wonderful Bill Bailey, who I adore. We saw him a few years ago at Glastonbury, but I'm really looking forward to seeing him again. I just hope I can stay awake! I have a terrible habit of falling asleep in theatres, though I'm sure the lovely Bill will be able to stop that happening. To be honest in the past it happened most when Steph would get free tickets from Hugh to see various plays, we'd try to fit in 2 or 3 pints before we went, if it was really bad might have a smoke in the interval and then I would conk out in the second half. Not much chance of that happening today!

We got married on January 7th 2006 at Brentwood Register Office. It was a really really fun day, very laid back and very much our style. All our friends chipped in to help. I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Just married:

We went to the pub for a couple of hours afterwards and had a couple of well-earned drinks

Kester and his best man, James:

Had a few photos with parents and grandparents

and brothers and sisters:

The reception was in the hall of a working man's club I used to go to with my family as a child. My uncle got us a discount and some friends decorated it for us.

Some friends formed a covers band and played for us:

Though the music was too loud for some:

First (unplanned) dance. We hadn't planned on a first dance at all but my parents and the band connived and pushed us into it:
Our friend Ian DJed. Here he is teaching my cousins how to be like him:

and I like this one because it's caught a tender (drunk) moment between me and Kester while all around is madness:
with some of our friends:

And of course after that the night dissolved into lots of bad dancing:

The three years of marriage have gone so fast, but it's pretty amazing when I think about how much has happened in that time. In January 2006 we had gone over to Chicago, but were still sorting out visas etc. We spent two years in Chicago, in the first we had lots of fun - some holidays, lots of drinking and socialising, lots of eating out etc. Almost exactly a year after moving there we found out I was pregnant with Felix. A surprise, but a very happy one indeed. Everything changed then, a lot. No more late nights, boozy bars and general abuse of the body and mind. We still enjoyed our next year but it was very different, getting ready to become a family, preparing for Felix's arrival.

Felix was born in July 2007 and while we still enjoyed seeing friends and showing the often asleep Felix the city he was born in, the next few months were mainly spent planning how we were going to get the three of us, and Dinger, back to the UK. We managed it though, and got back here in October 2007. Mum and Dad kindly gave us somewhere to live, though being a family of three living in one room can get a bit much at times!

We finally got our own place and moved in here in February 2008. As with any house, we've discovered things that aren't right with it (such as the conservatory roof that leaks when it rains and currently has a bib protecting us from watery downfalls.) but we love it nonetheless, it's become the place where Felix has really grown from a baby to a toddler. In fact we were watching a video of the last year the other day and were amazed at how much he'd changed since we moved in. He seemed so with it at the time, whereas looking back now he really was just a wobbly-headed baby who made a lot of funny noises and peculiar faces. He was very cute though.

In August we found out I was pregnant with baby number 2, a girl this time (and this one was planned). Although I am a little daunted by the prospect of two kids (how do you go shopping? How do you get them both downstairs in the morning without one being left alone with dangerous things to hurt themselves with? What do you do when you're changing one nappy and the other is trying to escape out the window?) we're both very excited about becoming a family of four. It's pretty amazing to be entering our fourth year of marriage, and to have nearly doubled the size of our family in that time. Oh, and without wanting to be too corny, to be as happy as ever, even with all the sleepless nights and temper tantrums (not only from Felix either. Ho ho).

So Kester, if you're reading this and you've made it this far, let me just say Happy Anniversary my darling. I love you now so much more than I did seven years ago, even more than I did three years ago, and I hope to love you just as much, if not more in the years to come.

(I also hope you're not too embarrassed)

xxx

Urk

2009-01-06T10:07:00.001Z

The night-time pregnancy aches and pains have started. I feel like I've been sleeping in someone's rock garden. Bah.

Snow!

2009-01-05T14:42:00.002Z

We had snow this morning. It was hardly anything really but it was still snow, lovely snow. Felix was quite confused when we opened the blinds and made lots of 'oooh!' noises whilst pointing at it. Dinger went out for five minutes then starting miaowing at the window frantically. I should probably point out that I love snow, even just a smattering of the stuff. I thought living in Chicago might cure me of my snow obsession, but nope.

Anyway, after breakfast we went out for a play in the garden. This mainly involved Felix prodding things and generally looking a bit confused. Of course, he didn't want to wear gloves so his hands were freezing, which somewhat limited his snow time. Also, my being pregnant meant I wasn't really up for rolling around in it, making snow angels etc. (Can you make a snow angel in a centimetre of snow?). Felix had fun and actually had a mini paddy when I made us come inside, but I was worried his little fingers would fall off.

Haircut

2009-01-05T12:11:00.004Z

Felix had his second haircut yesterday afternoon. Kester did it again though it was a bit of a struggle this time. He insisted on trying to turn around the whole time and trying to swat the scissors away, which resulted in him getting a tiny nick, which Kester felt dreadful about. The result was good, and looks cute, but the fringe is still a little long, I don't think Kester had it in him to attempt cutting the front after the battle over the back.

Spring Cleaning

2009-01-04T13:50:00.000Z

For a seemingly inexplicable reason, Felix started emptying out his little playhouse this morning. I thought perhaps he was just doing a spot of spring cleaning, as he took out the rug, the beanbag and the little Dinger-esque cat and baby that live in there and piled them up outside. He was doing it really quite intently and with real purpose so I left him to it - in fact, when I went and knocked on his door, he poked his head round, said 'bye bye' and shut the door in my face! It turned out he just wanted to clear some space so he could start throwing a ball around in there and try to lodge it in the little panels in the house's 'eaves'. Well, it kept him amused for a while...

Music maestro and a glimpse of nudey time

2009-01-04T11:48:00.001Z

Felix loves the little piano Andy and Amy got him for Christmas and plays it rather dramatically, hunched over, arms raised high then slammed down on the keys. Thankfully this is one that plays a tune as he hits the keys, rather than what he is actually playing. Are we terrible parents stifling his creativity? Ah, never mind. We were the ones who tried to get him nice wooden toys for Christmas, everyone else bought him noisy plastic things, that he of course loves much more than what we got him! We have to be thankful for small mercies.

After displaying his musical genius, Felix had a bit of nudey time. I would normally keep such photos private but I just loved this blurred photo of the fleeting bottom glance...

Week by Week

2009-01-03T23:41:00.000Z

It wouldn't be my blog without a photo, so I thought I'd start with this. I put it together quickly today for a thread on ITNO comparing photos from when your baby was born to now. All the images are in my Felix Week by Week set on Flickr and are... well, obviously they're a picture a week of Felix's life (with an extra one for the day he was born and his first birthday)

It amazes me whenever I look at this - seeing how much he's changed over the last (nearly) 18 months. When I look at some of the pictures I can hardly remember him looking that way, particularly around the 6 month mark for some reason.

I hope I can carry on putting this together for a while yet and do the same for the little girl. I wonder how long I'll manage it - as long as he lets me, I suppose!

100 Days and Counting

2009-01-03T23:36:00.000Z

Today it is 100 days until baby number 2 is due to make an appearance, although if she is anything like her brother, she'll hang around a little longer than that.

I'm really looking forward to meeting her but the pregnancy is going too fast. I never thought I would say those words - pregnancy with Felix seemed to take forever, but here we are on the cusp of the third trimester and feeling like we've only just begun, with lots of things to get, preparation to do

Well, I got some girl's clothes yesterday, so at least she won't be naked...