7 weeks, 2 days.
Poor Titus is a second child. Felicity demands so much of my attention while I am busy keeping our house running, Titus sometimes gets the short end of the stick. I can't always drop everything I am doing when he starts crying like I did with Felicity, and his patterns are still developing, so I can't always predict when he will need me next.
I love Titus and I see him as this healthy, sturdy, happy, and sympathetic person. He is strong and he likes people, but he also is happy to chill out on his own now and then. Sometimes (when he's majorly tired) he's cried at me until I swaddled him up and laid him in his bed to fall asleep himself. (This may be 'normal' for babies, but it's something Felicity never did - still doesn't do in fact!) I may seem to be unconcerned about him, but it's not that I don't care, it's because I know he'll let me know when there's something wrong. He's a good, chill dude and doesn't cry for no reason. (Crazy time is the exception - when he gets windy in the evening, he cries and sometimes nothing I do helps his poor tummy. That's when I hold him and tell him he's going to be okay and we just hang on together until he feels better.)
It surprises me when other people go all gushy melt-y seeing him in public. 'He's gorgeous!' is a common response. Maybe it's because Felicity was an exceptionally pretty baby, but I don't think he's particularly out of the common way as far as baby appearances. In fact, I found him pretty ugly when he was born! (Sorry Titus, if you ever happen to read this - don't quit reading here, son.) What I like best about him is the way his dark blue eyes focus and light up sometimes when we talk to him. It's the sweetest thing the way he grins at Felicity (who speaks *amazingly shrill* baby talk to him.) Or when they dilate with surprise at sudden changes of light. Or when he frowns when something gets too close, or a sudden noise startles. And the funny greedy way they shift back and forth right before he eats. But a stranger wouldn't see these things in my expressive little boy. How could they?
He started smiling and cooing at us sometime between week 4 and 5. 4 and 5! Simon loves to hold him and gurgle and coo with him. They have conversations as Titus 'aaaah's back at Simon in enthralled delight - Simon is obviously his hero already. He's delighted when we play little imitation games with him - he sticks out his tongue, then I do. He yawns, then I do. I smile and he grins back - all hesitatingly, all subtly. Communication training wheels. He looks around for us when he hears our voices. He's starting to look and smile at the toys Felicity shows him.
We play games with him like 'brow blinker, eye winker', 'fuzzy wuzzy shot a bear' 'round and round the garden'. He likes mouth merry and nose noppy best. I kiss him almost every time I pick him up at least once, if not all over his little face and mouth. We waited a long time to do that.
This afternoon I had just fed him in a cafe and it was quiet. Felicity was off with a friend. I had been reading some articles on my phone, but then I stopped. I just took a few minutes to cuddle his soft little head on my shoulder and marvel - all this little person needs and wants right now is me. I'm his world. We could stay wrapped up here together in this tub chair for hours and he would be perfectly content - not bored, not running off. When Felicity was little, I found her a bit boring for that exact reason. Sometimes I felt like poking her - 'hey, *do* something already, right?' It's the complete opposite with Titus - I find his baby softness absolutely charming - probably because I know how soon it will pass.
So I have this little memory bubble recorded here. We sat and cuddled in the cafe and did nothing but enjoy each others' company. His peach fuzz hair was so soft and his little fingers were full of lint in their tightly closed crevices (which I could hardly get out he was 'fisting' so hard -How does lint get in there anyway?) And I love this little person who is my son Titus.
Thursday, 27 August 2015
Wednesday, 26 August 2015
26 August 2015
Famous last words.
So over last weekend, Simon and I took both kiddos shoe shopping at the huge and busy outlet mall and then to costco (because we're crazy, lol!) Before Titus was born, my mom was encouraging me to look into double buggies, but my plan was to get Felicity a little buggy-board she could stand on at the back if she got tired. (What? A three year old voluntarily standing squashed up behind the stroller when she's tired, hungry, and emotionally volatile? And you think you can perform this miracle how?) The weekend shopping experience convinced me otherwise. We need a double buggy. Like. Yesterday. (Listen to the woman who's had twins, dear. Listen to your mother.)
If nothing else, it's important to have a seat for Felicity as a consequence, as in 'If you don't come here and hold my hand right now, you're going to ride in the buggy for 5 minutes, do you understand?' And it's a matter of keeping her safe in busy places (like town, for instance) if my attention needs to be focused on the baby periodically. And while she's getting so big, she's just still too wee to trust on foot any further than the local park, and even then not around meal times or tired times.
So I've been researching strollers and scrolling gumtree and I was so excited to find the one I saw a woman pushing in tesco called a Baby trend Sit 'n Stand. This is a double stroller with a difference - first, you can attach an infant car seat to either front or back seat (or in case of twins, both seats at the same time), and the back seat comes off altogether so that the toddler can stand on a boogie board, or sit on a wee bench. The kids can face eachother, both look forward, infant facing you/toddler facing forward, or sit back to back (depending on how much or how little nteraction you choose to give them at different stages. So versatile, its hard to describe the different choices. Heres a picture:
Neat, eh?
Sticker shock looking up new double strollers! I went to Mothercare and have been reading up on a few others. This sit n stand was secondhand but looked in good condition (and £80 instead of £350, yes please.) Though Simon warned me not to pick just anything up because it was cheap.
Right, so thats the background story. The lady selling it lives in the centre of town, right across the road from the museum on a busy street over the post office. I knew parking (especially festival time) would be impossible, so I planned the viewing of said stroller right after picking up Simon from work, since it's roughly on our way home anyway. After circling the block twice looking for a space, I finally left Si and the kids in the car on a yellow line down the road from the address. I'd just fed Titus 45 min ago, so I thought I'd get away with a 15 min trip alone. Simon said, 'I trust your judgment if you think it's a good one.'
The stroller was in practically new condition and the lady showed me at length how all the adjustments worked - took it apart and put it back together a couple of times for me to get the hang of it. It folded up tighter than our single buggy, so I thought I was safe to buy it. I was walking with a bounce in my step through heaving festival traffic as I tripped back to the car.
My high didn't last long. Through the sunny back window, I saw Titus's contorted face silently screaming and a haggard look on Simon's. Felicity was wiggling in the back seat (you know what that means.) I opened the boot to place the buggy in and - ugh, no, it didn't fit!! I wanted to melt into the pavement, but also determined to have my double buggy! 'Let me feed Titus and then I'll take it home on the bus' I defended.
Hot babies come first. Titus was dripping with sweat, both from the warm car and his exertions. I sat in the front seat (as festival foot-traffic passed - hey, after what goes on in the fringe, a little breastfeeding action should be blase to the stage of invisibility) and while I tanked up Titus, I hear dreaded words in the backseat - 'My seat is all wet! Mommy! I need a poo!' Simon doesn't hear over the road noise as he babysits my Folly behind the boot of the car. No towels, not even a burp rag - typical. (Mommy fail.) I pad F's bottom with a cotton blanket while holding T on the milk train. I feel really ridiculous and it's Dinner Time. (Sorry hard-working man who's been safe at work all day who is now hungry and tired and miffed!) Finally T calms down - poor baby, he doesn't cry unless there's a problem though we were approaching crazy time. And I have an inspiration as it's really imperative to get home before the toddler #2 action explodes - please let the d*** stroller fit in the front seat and I'll squeeze in the back with the kids. And it did. And it was the best place for me to be too, as Titus was really not happy to go back into the car seat and I'd have been worried if I couldn't see him on the way home.
Anyway, I had trouble sleeping last night worrying about the car seat fitting into the new stroller and how I'm going to fit it in the boot of the car, but I'm pretty sure if I take off one of the hoods, it'll just fit. Haven't had time to monkey around with it (yet - maybe after dinner tonight?)
However, I did use the stroller today! And it was good! We walked all the way up to Dr. Bells (which is just across the street from the church). It took me a good half-hour, but man, is it confidence boosting to know I can do that. F loved being in the double pram. And I took pictures.
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| We started with Titus in front, but I didn't like this as I found him too far away when I was pushing. He's crying here, but he settled quickly once we got moving. |
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| Felicity loved having the hood over herself. |
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| They are such good kids. |
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| Cute, huh? |
It feels like a bit of a stretch limo of a stroller while I'm pushing it. It's not too bad on the flat, but I wouldn't use it off-road at all. And boy, am I gonna get fit when it comes to any uphill journeys!
I'll figure out a way to fit it in the boot before our next costco run. And if not...well, we got such a good deal on this stroller, I'm sure Simon won't mind the new and bigger car to fit it in.... lol ;-)
Tuesday, 25 August 2015
25 August 2015
Stressors
At the Chiro's office last Thursday, I had 5 minutes before my appointment and the book 'Sitting Down on the Job' caught my eye. It was mostly advice about posture, but I read the chapter on sleep (obviously a big thing to me these days!) and most of the chapter on stress before I ran out of time. His definition of stress has been practically helpful over the past week. Stress (removing the emotional reaction to the word - sheesh, even the word 'stress' can cause stress depending on how stressed out you are!) Stress is a change of circumstances.
'Stressors' (those circumstantial changes) can be good and motivating. Example, if you have a new deadline to meet and feel that you are able to focus in and complete your work well and to that deadline, then the stressor has caused you to work efficiently and feel good about it.
It's only when the stressor starts making you feel overwhelmed or incapable that it produces the negative word now used obiquitiously - 'STRESS.'
However, it's entirely our emotional response to the external circumstances - not neccesarily the circumstances themselves. The stressor is just a change in circumstances.
As I'm typing this, I'm thinking 'well, yeah, duh!' but here's how it's been useful. I'm going along the day, doing all the myriad of little jobs that keep everyone around here alive, clean, fed, clothed, etc., etc., whatever.... and suddenly I realize my 'stress levels' start rising and I'm starting to have a negative emotional response (I feel like a Vulcan typing that last part) BUT, instead of immediately reacting and getting drowned in the moment, I take a mental step back and think, 'Woah now, wait. What's changed here? How is this different from 5 minutes ago when things weren't falling apart?'
And it's been a helpful analytical tool - because when I determine where the stressor is coming from, I can decide either how to fix the problem right then (eliminating stress), or when I will fix the problem if I can't do it right this minute (eliminating stress), or if the problem is even worth worrying about (thus eliminating stress.)
So, probably hair-splitting and stating the *totally* obvious, but hey, sometimes I'm slow. And it prevents 'the feels' from running away with 'the thinks.'
Crockpot Meals
OK, so I found this blog on FB... (ACK - open facebook gingerly and squeeze the eyes shut peeping through one tiny slit of an eyelash just to re-find this one article and not be sucked into a direction-less but oh so entertaining scrolling of new articles and pictures and information.........wait, I've gotta stop, shut down the FB browser and oh, what was I doing again? shoot. open facebook gingerly....)
OK! SO I found this blog on FB -
https://newleafwellness.biz/2015/08/06/31-crockpot-freezer-meals-for-back-to-school/
and this woman is a genius! Frozen crockpot meals in 1 gallon freezer bags. Recipes and even ingredient lists with themes like '12 meals in 75 minutes after a shop at costco!'
I chose 3 recipes that I thought my family would like from this particular list to try out and used them to process the meat we bought from costco this weekend. (And this is why I finally bought ziploc bags, mom!)
Here's how I did 6 meals in about 30 minutes, (while watching both kids and getting the other housework done....)
First, the recipes are good because there's a lot of overlap in the ingredients list. (And there's nothing crazy-weird like boiled squid tentacles and stuff you sometimes find in fancy cookbooks.) For example, all three recipes called for a small onion and 2 cloves of garlic. So, instead of individually chopping 6 onions and 12 cloves of garlic, I blitzed 6 onions in the food processor and scooped them into each bag - about 1/2 cup in each. Instead of fresh garlic, I had a jar of 'very lazy garlic' in the fridge and I just popped a teaspoon of that in each bag.
Also, I didn't know if I would be interrupted half-way through doing any particular step of the process. I didn't want my chicken laying around all over the counter (potentially all day long) so I put all the other ingredients into the bags first. Then, when I was opening the flat of chicken to make dinner *anyway* I just washed and cut up the rest of the chicken at the same time and popped it into the waiting bags. And so we won't die of salmonella poisoning (this week, at least!)
A picture worth a thousand words - (thank goodness for smart phone cameras)
I like this idea because making these dinners will be so easy - put it in the fridge the night before to defrost a little, then open the bag and plop it all in the crockpot in the morning. 30 second job, maybe?
Also, the other ingredients will act as a marinade for the meat in the meantime.
Also, as easy as frozen left-overs, but doesn't taste like left-overs since you're cooking everything for the first time (as she states on her blog!)
Also, since I've made 2 of each recipe, if I have company coming over at short notice, I'll just put two bags instead of one in the crockpot - sorted.
So, I'll report back how the recipes go. Once we find our favorites, it'd be seriously easy to do twice as many meals at once, just duplicating the bags.
At the Chiro's office last Thursday, I had 5 minutes before my appointment and the book 'Sitting Down on the Job' caught my eye. It was mostly advice about posture, but I read the chapter on sleep (obviously a big thing to me these days!) and most of the chapter on stress before I ran out of time. His definition of stress has been practically helpful over the past week. Stress (removing the emotional reaction to the word - sheesh, even the word 'stress' can cause stress depending on how stressed out you are!) Stress is a change of circumstances.
'Stressors' (those circumstantial changes) can be good and motivating. Example, if you have a new deadline to meet and feel that you are able to focus in and complete your work well and to that deadline, then the stressor has caused you to work efficiently and feel good about it.
It's only when the stressor starts making you feel overwhelmed or incapable that it produces the negative word now used obiquitiously - 'STRESS.'
However, it's entirely our emotional response to the external circumstances - not neccesarily the circumstances themselves. The stressor is just a change in circumstances.
As I'm typing this, I'm thinking 'well, yeah, duh!' but here's how it's been useful. I'm going along the day, doing all the myriad of little jobs that keep everyone around here alive, clean, fed, clothed, etc., etc., whatever.... and suddenly I realize my 'stress levels' start rising and I'm starting to have a negative emotional response (I feel like a Vulcan typing that last part) BUT, instead of immediately reacting and getting drowned in the moment, I take a mental step back and think, 'Woah now, wait. What's changed here? How is this different from 5 minutes ago when things weren't falling apart?'
And it's been a helpful analytical tool - because when I determine where the stressor is coming from, I can decide either how to fix the problem right then (eliminating stress), or when I will fix the problem if I can't do it right this minute (eliminating stress), or if the problem is even worth worrying about (thus eliminating stress.)
So, probably hair-splitting and stating the *totally* obvious, but hey, sometimes I'm slow. And it prevents 'the feels' from running away with 'the thinks.'
Crockpot Meals
OK, so I found this blog on FB... (ACK - open facebook gingerly and squeeze the eyes shut peeping through one tiny slit of an eyelash just to re-find this one article and not be sucked into a direction-less but oh so entertaining scrolling of new articles and pictures and information.........wait, I've gotta stop, shut down the FB browser and oh, what was I doing again? shoot. open facebook gingerly....)
OK! SO I found this blog on FB -
https://newleafwellness.biz/2015/08/06/31-crockpot-freezer-meals-for-back-to-school/
and this woman is a genius! Frozen crockpot meals in 1 gallon freezer bags. Recipes and even ingredient lists with themes like '12 meals in 75 minutes after a shop at costco!'
I chose 3 recipes that I thought my family would like from this particular list to try out and used them to process the meat we bought from costco this weekend. (And this is why I finally bought ziploc bags, mom!)
Here's how I did 6 meals in about 30 minutes, (while watching both kids and getting the other housework done....)
First, the recipes are good because there's a lot of overlap in the ingredients list. (And there's nothing crazy-weird like boiled squid tentacles and stuff you sometimes find in fancy cookbooks.) For example, all three recipes called for a small onion and 2 cloves of garlic. So, instead of individually chopping 6 onions and 12 cloves of garlic, I blitzed 6 onions in the food processor and scooped them into each bag - about 1/2 cup in each. Instead of fresh garlic, I had a jar of 'very lazy garlic' in the fridge and I just popped a teaspoon of that in each bag.
Also, I didn't know if I would be interrupted half-way through doing any particular step of the process. I didn't want my chicken laying around all over the counter (potentially all day long) so I put all the other ingredients into the bags first. Then, when I was opening the flat of chicken to make dinner *anyway* I just washed and cut up the rest of the chicken at the same time and popped it into the waiting bags. And so we won't die of salmonella poisoning (this week, at least!)
A picture worth a thousand words - (thank goodness for smart phone cameras)
 |
| Blitz the onion |
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| Finished product ready for freezing! |
 |
| Lay out all the ingredients on the counter first....why did this add photos out of order? Oh well, you get the picture... |
Also, the other ingredients will act as a marinade for the meat in the meantime.
Also, as easy as frozen left-overs, but doesn't taste like left-overs since you're cooking everything for the first time (as she states on her blog!)
Also, since I've made 2 of each recipe, if I have company coming over at short notice, I'll just put two bags instead of one in the crockpot - sorted.
So, I'll report back how the recipes go. Once we find our favorites, it'd be seriously easy to do twice as many meals at once, just duplicating the bags.
Sunday, 23 August 2015
23 August 2015
Day of Firsts!
I love experiences that make me feel young again. Or in this case, young and unexperienced. Some friends from church made a shout-out on FB last night saying they were going down to Seacliff Beach for a picnic today since the weather was supposed to be nice. ('Nice' Ha! It was fantastic today!) Seacliff Beach is the stretch of sandy beach you can see from the cliffs of Tantallon Castle. It has an elusive entrance down a private road. I've wanted to figure out how to get there for ages.
After a super busy day yesterday (summary: sofas, Livingston Clarks Outlet shoe shopping, Mall shopping, plus a run to Costco - yes, we are certifiable. BTW, Mom I finally caved and bought Ziploc Bags, aren't you proud?- more on that later!)
Anyway, after a super busy day yesterday, I didn't think simon would want to go much of anywhere today and I was mentally prepping myself to prepare and freeze a bunch of the food we bought at costco yesterday. But he wanted to take a walk somewhere and was suggesting the Botanics. Nothing against the Botanics, but we've been there a lot and on a nice (understatement again!) Sunday morning during the *FESTIVAL* - ugh, think: too many people! (Especially the Yuppie-parents-of-small-children and artsy-people-with-no-children and retired-people-who-no-longer-have-children who always give me the feeling they are looking askance judging my parenting techniques and scrubby pram....)
Anyway! Somehow I thought - YES! Going to Seacliff Beach is a great idea! And I packed 2 changes of clothes for Felicity, and suncream and her sun hat and her swimsuit and a snack for her. And I dressed Titus in BLUE JEANs for the first time (ack, but forgot to take a picture - sorry Sisters!) and got him all happy fed for the 40 minute drive out there. I even put on some make up and sun cream myself (I think? hard to remember back to the beginning of the day...) and it was only when we actually got out to the beach and I realized how very very very windy it was that I thought: shoot. I forgot his sling and I don't have a towel or blanket to lay him on - what am I going to do with a 6 week old at the beach?? since he's obviously not going to be poking around in rock pools like Felicity.
We had a good attempt. Simon and I carried his pram over the sand to where our friends had lain out their picnic blankets. I nursed him when he got fussy, but it was just too much for him. Poor thing, the sun was bright and the wind was gusting hard and the place was busy. After he just cried and cried, I ended up taking him and my share of the picnic back to the car and settling him down out of the wind. And though I couldnt see the sea, it was still warm and breezy and set down by woods and fields. and quiet. and Kindle phone app happy. BUT, I felt very GREEN. So, note to self: do NOT take newborn babies to the beach. No. It is not a good idea.
The drive to North Berwick was lovely. East Lothian has lovely rolling fields and hills. Many farmers had not quite cut down their wheat and those are the fields that take center-stage this time of year. White gold undulating waves. The stubble is still white cream bright when they cut it, but it misses the movement and today with the wind it was a real pleasure to see the fields as we drove past.
So Titus, first time at the beach. First time in Blue jeans. OH! Last night, first time slept 5+ hours at night!! (9:30-ish to 2am-ish - go Titus boy!) and first time Felicity has slept from 8pm until 6am!! (Wow!) So will try not to be disappointed or peevish when they *will* wake up every 2 hours tonight...*trying not to get my hopes up too high*
Right. Off to catch what sleep I can.
I love experiences that make me feel young again. Or in this case, young and unexperienced. Some friends from church made a shout-out on FB last night saying they were going down to Seacliff Beach for a picnic today since the weather was supposed to be nice. ('Nice' Ha! It was fantastic today!) Seacliff Beach is the stretch of sandy beach you can see from the cliffs of Tantallon Castle. It has an elusive entrance down a private road. I've wanted to figure out how to get there for ages.
After a super busy day yesterday (summary: sofas, Livingston Clarks Outlet shoe shopping, Mall shopping, plus a run to Costco - yes, we are certifiable. BTW, Mom I finally caved and bought Ziploc Bags, aren't you proud?- more on that later!)
Anyway, after a super busy day yesterday, I didn't think simon would want to go much of anywhere today and I was mentally prepping myself to prepare and freeze a bunch of the food we bought at costco yesterday. But he wanted to take a walk somewhere and was suggesting the Botanics. Nothing against the Botanics, but we've been there a lot and on a nice (understatement again!) Sunday morning during the *FESTIVAL* - ugh, think: too many people! (Especially the Yuppie-parents-of-small-children and artsy-people-with-no-children and retired-people-who-no-longer-have-children who always give me the feeling they are looking askance judging my parenting techniques and scrubby pram....)
Anyway! Somehow I thought - YES! Going to Seacliff Beach is a great idea! And I packed 2 changes of clothes for Felicity, and suncream and her sun hat and her swimsuit and a snack for her. And I dressed Titus in BLUE JEANs for the first time (ack, but forgot to take a picture - sorry Sisters!) and got him all happy fed for the 40 minute drive out there. I even put on some make up and sun cream myself (I think? hard to remember back to the beginning of the day...) and it was only when we actually got out to the beach and I realized how very very very windy it was that I thought: shoot. I forgot his sling and I don't have a towel or blanket to lay him on - what am I going to do with a 6 week old at the beach?? since he's obviously not going to be poking around in rock pools like Felicity.
We had a good attempt. Simon and I carried his pram over the sand to where our friends had lain out their picnic blankets. I nursed him when he got fussy, but it was just too much for him. Poor thing, the sun was bright and the wind was gusting hard and the place was busy. After he just cried and cried, I ended up taking him and my share of the picnic back to the car and settling him down out of the wind. And though I couldnt see the sea, it was still warm and breezy and set down by woods and fields. and quiet. and Kindle phone app happy. BUT, I felt very GREEN. So, note to self: do NOT take newborn babies to the beach. No. It is not a good idea.
The drive to North Berwick was lovely. East Lothian has lovely rolling fields and hills. Many farmers had not quite cut down their wheat and those are the fields that take center-stage this time of year. White gold undulating waves. The stubble is still white cream bright when they cut it, but it misses the movement and today with the wind it was a real pleasure to see the fields as we drove past.
So Titus, first time at the beach. First time in Blue jeans. OH! Last night, first time slept 5+ hours at night!! (9:30-ish to 2am-ish - go Titus boy!) and first time Felicity has slept from 8pm until 6am!! (Wow!) So will try not to be disappointed or peevish when they *will* wake up every 2 hours tonight...*trying not to get my hopes up too high*
Right. Off to catch what sleep I can.
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| Normally I wouldn't encourage her to play with the baby toys, but when she crawled in next to him the other day, it was just too cute, I had to have the pictures. |
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
19th August 2015
Omit Needless Words! Omit Needless Words!
(after the last novel of a post)
This also happened today:
19th August 2015
The Joy of Poo
This morning my 6 week old had an explosive poo. The production was almost orchestral. I felt relieved as he hasn't produced one in several days, and I had a premonition that today was going to be a good day.
But it didn't start that way: I felt unusually tired after being up with Mr Mouth every two hours, despite going to sleep early (like 9:20) last night. And the poo had decorated his pajamas - which meant rinsing them out and taking them downstairs to the laundry room - which reminded me that our washing machine had had a fault message flashing that I was too tired to do anything about last night - which sent me digging for the users manual and looking up the instructions - which had me on my hands and knees peering at the bottom of the appliance trying to figure out how to open the hatch to clean the pump filter - which had me scrabbling for old rags and towels to mop up the floor when the container I chose didn't catch all the water from the hatch.
I look at my watch. 6:45am. Great.
Then from my prostrate position, I hear from over my shoulder behind me, 'Mommy, I'm hungry.'
I love having a toddler who can follow verbal instructions. 'Okay sweetheart, we'll have breakfast. Can you go call your Daddy for me?'
'DAAAAAaaaaaAAAaaaDdy! MAAAaaaawwMMY...'
'No, I mean, go upstairs and ask him...Oh.'
and Simon appears over F's shoulder and after a couple of attempts, I finally communicate to him what I am trying to accomplish....
Fortunately, it was a fairly straight-forward fix and it only took about 20-30 minutes to do, during which my Mister Baby Poo-master slept like a, well, like a baby and Simon and F and I had breakfast together. Then, I was able to continue to cycle round the loads of laundry.
After we took Simon to work this morning and ran a couple of errands, we went up to a local community family hub/centre/cafe that has an incredibly inexpensive and well-talked about nursery. They only run 2 hour sessions (10-12 and 1-3, I think) and you can only book your child into 2 sessions a week, but they are like £2 an hour. (Contrast to the regular nursery where we pay almost £20 for an 8-12 session.) Add to it a very good cafe and free wifi and boom - perfect. I had booked F into just a settle-in session today from 10:30-11:30, and I was pleased with how well stocked the nursery was and how excited F was about the toys. We had lunch there afterwards and she kept asking if she could go back and play 'with the big dog' (there was a stuffed animal dog bigger than her) after lunch. I told her we weren't on the list this afternoon, but I would put her name on the list for next week.
But aside from just having a bit of flexibility to sit down and work (I made some phone calls and filled in some paperwork while she played next door) it was a great atmosphere because other people in the cafe were so willing to just chat. There was a lady there whose daughter was in the creche as well and we just started chatting away. Granted, having a baby is a great ice-breaker. :-) The people running the cafe were soo nice. Great to know about and something I think we'll try to do fairly regularly.
We came home via tesco and a charity shop. Hit the jackpot. F's been on a growth spurt and I hadn't got her a winter coat this year yet. You know when you get a feeling - 'yeah, I'll just turn in here and see what they've got.' Well. Gorgeous smart hooded black wool walking coat from a semi-designer shop age 3-4, dry clean only, but looking practically brand new = £4.99? Yes please. Then, hidden behind some atrocious looking fashion mistakes, a waterproof hooded navy fleece-lined puffy Hello Kitty snow-type jacket, age 4-5 = £5.99? Winter - do your worst. A play coat and a smart coat.
('She has no fear for the winter for her household are all clothed in scarlet....?' Or something akin to that.)
Titus was a jewel throughout this whole time. He was asleep when we got to Dr Bells, woke up 30 minutes after I dropped F in the creche, then nursed for 20 minutes, then was wide eyed and happy all through lunch and even when we got back into the stroller to walk back, then dozed off while shopping and only really woke up again once we were back home, when the cycle repeated itself. Hardly an ooch today - hence the magic of poo! His tummy felt good!
After a busy morning (we also picked up a few essential sundries in Tesco - ha ha, like MILK!) we watched Frozen this afternoon to have a rest. Titus was just entering his drowsing off phase again when we left the house for the first Explorers of the year. Fantastic to see everyone and feel more engaged than I've been able to for a good while. R has some company staying for the next few weeks, A was telling me a little about D's feeding, H is waiting to close on their new *house*, C was new to Explorers and telling us a bit about their family's story, R is expecting a baby in February(!), N and H were cooing over Titus... and again, the kids were happy. Titus was settled, F was playing really sweetly with and around the other kids.
I was expecting, after such a model day, to have all hell break loose once we got home, but I was able to get dinner started in really relative peace. T wasn't fussy. F and I had a power-struggle, but that was because she was getting really tired and hungry (and besides, I won.) Simon and I bathed Titus and then I snoogled him up in a nice fleecy sleepsuit with his hair all sticking up fluffy and weird. Then, bedtime and *both* kids asleep by 8:30pm? Wha...?
Oh and on top of all that. Joy. Titus had another poo this evening.
This morning my 6 week old had an explosive poo. The production was almost orchestral. I felt relieved as he hasn't produced one in several days, and I had a premonition that today was going to be a good day.
But it didn't start that way: I felt unusually tired after being up with Mr Mouth every two hours, despite going to sleep early (like 9:20) last night. And the poo had decorated his pajamas - which meant rinsing them out and taking them downstairs to the laundry room - which reminded me that our washing machine had had a fault message flashing that I was too tired to do anything about last night - which sent me digging for the users manual and looking up the instructions - which had me on my hands and knees peering at the bottom of the appliance trying to figure out how to open the hatch to clean the pump filter - which had me scrabbling for old rags and towels to mop up the floor when the container I chose didn't catch all the water from the hatch.
I look at my watch. 6:45am. Great.
Then from my prostrate position, I hear from over my shoulder behind me, 'Mommy, I'm hungry.'
I love having a toddler who can follow verbal instructions. 'Okay sweetheart, we'll have breakfast. Can you go call your Daddy for me?'
'DAAAAAaaaaaAAAaaaDdy! MAAAaaaawwMMY...'
'No, I mean, go upstairs and ask him...Oh.'
and Simon appears over F's shoulder and after a couple of attempts, I finally communicate to him what I am trying to accomplish....
Fortunately, it was a fairly straight-forward fix and it only took about 20-30 minutes to do, during which my Mister Baby Poo-master slept like a, well, like a baby and Simon and F and I had breakfast together. Then, I was able to continue to cycle round the loads of laundry.
After we took Simon to work this morning and ran a couple of errands, we went up to a local community family hub/centre/cafe that has an incredibly inexpensive and well-talked about nursery. They only run 2 hour sessions (10-12 and 1-3, I think) and you can only book your child into 2 sessions a week, but they are like £2 an hour. (Contrast to the regular nursery where we pay almost £20 for an 8-12 session.) Add to it a very good cafe and free wifi and boom - perfect. I had booked F into just a settle-in session today from 10:30-11:30, and I was pleased with how well stocked the nursery was and how excited F was about the toys. We had lunch there afterwards and she kept asking if she could go back and play 'with the big dog' (there was a stuffed animal dog bigger than her) after lunch. I told her we weren't on the list this afternoon, but I would put her name on the list for next week.
But aside from just having a bit of flexibility to sit down and work (I made some phone calls and filled in some paperwork while she played next door) it was a great atmosphere because other people in the cafe were so willing to just chat. There was a lady there whose daughter was in the creche as well and we just started chatting away. Granted, having a baby is a great ice-breaker. :-) The people running the cafe were soo nice. Great to know about and something I think we'll try to do fairly regularly.
We came home via tesco and a charity shop. Hit the jackpot. F's been on a growth spurt and I hadn't got her a winter coat this year yet. You know when you get a feeling - 'yeah, I'll just turn in here and see what they've got.' Well. Gorgeous smart hooded black wool walking coat from a semi-designer shop age 3-4, dry clean only, but looking practically brand new = £4.99? Yes please. Then, hidden behind some atrocious looking fashion mistakes, a waterproof hooded navy fleece-lined puffy Hello Kitty snow-type jacket, age 4-5 = £5.99? Winter - do your worst. A play coat and a smart coat.
('She has no fear for the winter for her household are all clothed in scarlet....?' Or something akin to that.)
Titus was a jewel throughout this whole time. He was asleep when we got to Dr Bells, woke up 30 minutes after I dropped F in the creche, then nursed for 20 minutes, then was wide eyed and happy all through lunch and even when we got back into the stroller to walk back, then dozed off while shopping and only really woke up again once we were back home, when the cycle repeated itself. Hardly an ooch today - hence the magic of poo! His tummy felt good!
After a busy morning (we also picked up a few essential sundries in Tesco - ha ha, like MILK!) we watched Frozen this afternoon to have a rest. Titus was just entering his drowsing off phase again when we left the house for the first Explorers of the year. Fantastic to see everyone and feel more engaged than I've been able to for a good while. R has some company staying for the next few weeks, A was telling me a little about D's feeding, H is waiting to close on their new *house*, C was new to Explorers and telling us a bit about their family's story, R is expecting a baby in February(!), N and H were cooing over Titus... and again, the kids were happy. Titus was settled, F was playing really sweetly with and around the other kids.
I was expecting, after such a model day, to have all hell break loose once we got home, but I was able to get dinner started in really relative peace. T wasn't fussy. F and I had a power-struggle, but that was because she was getting really tired and hungry (and besides, I won.) Simon and I bathed Titus and then I snoogled him up in a nice fleecy sleepsuit with his hair all sticking up fluffy and weird. Then, bedtime and *both* kids asleep by 8:30pm? Wha...?
Oh and on top of all that. Joy. Titus had another poo this evening.
Tuesday, 18 August 2015
18th August 2015
Golden days.
Yesterday was glorious. Actually glorious in the clear-blue-not-a-cloud-in-sight, hot-but-not-too-hot, breathe-it-deep-into-your-memory-lungs-air-sunshine, if-heaven's-better-than-this-wow, type of day. We really enjoyed the afternoon especially as we met up with some friends down at the community croft ('play garden' according to Felicity.) What with changing work commitments, being out of town for several weeks and in my case, having a baby after a hard pregnancy, our community patch (a 12'x15' piece of earth) was looking very very sorry for itself. The other crofters actually cleared our potatoes which had fallen over due to blight, poor blighters (the potatoes, I mean, not the other gardeners!)
So, I have a new project and that is to determine what plants can be started here in late August/September and give us some kind of return over the winter, and arrange them in a pleasing aesthetic way on our little patch (because I'm competitive that way! heh!)
If it were earlier in the year, I'd copycat some of the demonstration gardens we see in the Botanics, which are always lovely. As it is, I'm going to sift through my seed packets here at home and see what we can use. Alarmingly, I'm considered a bit of an 'expert' in gardening by my friends, though my own style has just been trial and error (and a lot more errors, imo!) Though I'm surprised when people don't know to knock the soil off of weeds before tossing them, or not splashing the leaves of plants in full sunshine to burn them, and other 'common sense' things like that. I'm sure there are many many 'common sense' things we've lost as our culture has moved away from that agrarian model into urban cities. I re-read the Little House books last year and was amazed at how many things they knew how to do (from building their own houses, to kitchen gardening, to making shoes and cloth and clothes, to processing a whole hog!) I would die in the wilderness. Maybe that's why I like to garden - it feeds the illusion of self-sufficiency, while I have the protection of the local grocery store around the corner.
Felicity is back at nursery Monday and Tuesday mornings and she enjoyed it yesterday, though she came away from it *starving* and an absolute bear until she had had something to eat. Wee soul, something is definately going on in that little body - she has such strong emotional swings! Yesterday, she was actually *screaming* for me to come and get her at the bottom of the porch (while I was juggling crying baby and trying to get lunch on the table before we all killed each other, LOL!!) and when I was able to put enough things down to get down on her level and *deal* with the behavior, she melted into sobs - 'CUDDLES?!?' she begged. So, I figured rocking her and feeding her was probably more effective than making her sit in time-out. She didn't have a nap and last night she was so tired, I went into her room about 2:30am after feeding Mr, Mouth and nearly burst out laughing. She was laying sprawled out on her bedroom rug, as if she had fallen out of bed and hadn't even noticed. I debated about leaving her there, since she was obviously not-uncomfortable-enough-to-wake-up, but even when I picked her up and put her back into bed, she didn't even stir.
Then yesterday evening our good friends the Kirkwoods came over for dinner and it was great to see them, though the baby had his crazy hour during dinner. The girls love eachother and hd a great time playing together. G had brought S's pajamas, so we gave the girls a bath together in the big tub upstairs before dressing them for bed. They had so much fun in the deep bubbles Simon made for them. Reminded me of Jean and me when we were little, as I don't think I had a bath alone until I was a teenager!
Anyway, must run and do some housework while the baby sleeps (I hear him ooching in the hall.)
Yesterday was glorious. Actually glorious in the clear-blue-not-a-cloud-in-sight, hot-but-not-too-hot, breathe-it-deep-into-your-memory-lungs-air-sunshine, if-heaven's-better-than-this-wow, type of day. We really enjoyed the afternoon especially as we met up with some friends down at the community croft ('play garden' according to Felicity.) What with changing work commitments, being out of town for several weeks and in my case, having a baby after a hard pregnancy, our community patch (a 12'x15' piece of earth) was looking very very sorry for itself. The other crofters actually cleared our potatoes which had fallen over due to blight, poor blighters (the potatoes, I mean, not the other gardeners!)
So, I have a new project and that is to determine what plants can be started here in late August/September and give us some kind of return over the winter, and arrange them in a pleasing aesthetic way on our little patch (because I'm competitive that way! heh!)
If it were earlier in the year, I'd copycat some of the demonstration gardens we see in the Botanics, which are always lovely. As it is, I'm going to sift through my seed packets here at home and see what we can use. Alarmingly, I'm considered a bit of an 'expert' in gardening by my friends, though my own style has just been trial and error (and a lot more errors, imo!) Though I'm surprised when people don't know to knock the soil off of weeds before tossing them, or not splashing the leaves of plants in full sunshine to burn them, and other 'common sense' things like that. I'm sure there are many many 'common sense' things we've lost as our culture has moved away from that agrarian model into urban cities. I re-read the Little House books last year and was amazed at how many things they knew how to do (from building their own houses, to kitchen gardening, to making shoes and cloth and clothes, to processing a whole hog!) I would die in the wilderness. Maybe that's why I like to garden - it feeds the illusion of self-sufficiency, while I have the protection of the local grocery store around the corner.
Felicity is back at nursery Monday and Tuesday mornings and she enjoyed it yesterday, though she came away from it *starving* and an absolute bear until she had had something to eat. Wee soul, something is definately going on in that little body - she has such strong emotional swings! Yesterday, she was actually *screaming* for me to come and get her at the bottom of the porch (while I was juggling crying baby and trying to get lunch on the table before we all killed each other, LOL!!) and when I was able to put enough things down to get down on her level and *deal* with the behavior, she melted into sobs - 'CUDDLES?!?' she begged. So, I figured rocking her and feeding her was probably more effective than making her sit in time-out. She didn't have a nap and last night she was so tired, I went into her room about 2:30am after feeding Mr, Mouth and nearly burst out laughing. She was laying sprawled out on her bedroom rug, as if she had fallen out of bed and hadn't even noticed. I debated about leaving her there, since she was obviously not-uncomfortable-enough-to-wake-up, but even when I picked her up and put her back into bed, she didn't even stir.
Then yesterday evening our good friends the Kirkwoods came over for dinner and it was great to see them, though the baby had his crazy hour during dinner. The girls love eachother and hd a great time playing together. G had brought S's pajamas, so we gave the girls a bath together in the big tub upstairs before dressing them for bed. They had so much fun in the deep bubbles Simon made for them. Reminded me of Jean and me when we were little, as I don't think I had a bath alone until I was a teenager!
Anyway, must run and do some housework while the baby sleeps (I hear him ooching in the hall.)
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| My favorite picture of him lately |
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| Smiles! |
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| Cooing at Daddy |
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| Part of the Community Croft (not our patch, obviously! lol) |
Saturday, 15 August 2015
15 August 2015
Woah. Crazy evening. Still shell-shocked with the ringing of screaming kids even though everything is quiet now that the little angels are asleep. Simon and I came downstairs to start the next load of laundry, put away groceries and make a cup of tea. When Simon asked me what kind of tea I'd like, I turned to him and said wide-eyed and a little frantically: 'We survived another day with two kids. And the kids are still alive too.' One day I'm sure this season of our life will seem cushy - this is just training us for the next big challenge, whatever that will be. Weird how you go through life each new difficulty seems like the 'boss-level.' How did I ever think highschool or college or married without kids life was hard?
My appointment with the chiropractor this morning was nothing short of amazing. The lady was a 'teacher' in the Madalene L'Engle sense of the word. After talking with me and examining me for 15ish minutes, she 'adjusted' my back for like 2 minutes. When I sat up, there was an eerie lack of pain. I stood up and I don't know what happened, but I actually started crying because it felt good to be standing. The only other place I have experienced the same overwhelming sense of wellness that I cannot describe has been in one or two golden, perspective-changing singing lessons. I am going to go back for some follow-up treatment in the next couple of weeks - she said it was quite good I came before all the pregnancy hormones go away as I'm loose-r and it'll be easier to train things back into place. After my appointment, the back and shoulder pain that's been radiating through my right side was completely gone. I feel hopeful about my poor mortal coil for the first time in a long time.
Anyway, it's late. I'm knackered (we also did costco and a 2 hour walk this afternoon...it wasn't meant to be 2 hours but F kept poking mud puddles and picking daisies and other such dawdlings.) Beautiful weather. Worth it to be outside. Unforunately, hardly any housework got done today (hey-ho, always tomorrow, right?)
Right. Till tomorrow.
My appointment with the chiropractor this morning was nothing short of amazing. The lady was a 'teacher' in the Madalene L'Engle sense of the word. After talking with me and examining me for 15ish minutes, she 'adjusted' my back for like 2 minutes. When I sat up, there was an eerie lack of pain. I stood up and I don't know what happened, but I actually started crying because it felt good to be standing. The only other place I have experienced the same overwhelming sense of wellness that I cannot describe has been in one or two golden, perspective-changing singing lessons. I am going to go back for some follow-up treatment in the next couple of weeks - she said it was quite good I came before all the pregnancy hormones go away as I'm loose-r and it'll be easier to train things back into place. After my appointment, the back and shoulder pain that's been radiating through my right side was completely gone. I feel hopeful about my poor mortal coil for the first time in a long time.
Anyway, it's late. I'm knackered (we also did costco and a 2 hour walk this afternoon...it wasn't meant to be 2 hours but F kept poking mud puddles and picking daisies and other such dawdlings.) Beautiful weather. Worth it to be outside. Unforunately, hardly any housework got done today (hey-ho, always tomorrow, right?)
Right. Till tomorrow.
Thursday, 13 August 2015
13 August 2015
Okay, I survived another night and it's halfway through the day. Both kids sleeping and I have a caffiene-withdrawal headache not letting me rest. But tally-ho! Better for you, as I've got pictures to post.
Kellie castle from Saturday. These are just the ones I got from my phone. Simon took some great snaps of T, but they're on the other computer (the one I don't know his password for!)
Ok, baby waking up. More later.
Kellie castle from Saturday. These are just the ones I got from my phone. Simon took some great snaps of T, but they're on the other computer (the one I don't know his password for!)
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| Oh, for a walled garden. |
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| Gravel! The ultimate plaything! |
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| So beautiful. |
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| Add caption |
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| Add caption |
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| Pear trees trained against the wall and the kitchen garden in front. |
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| Eugene: 'I could get used to a view like this. Okay. I'm used to it. Guys, I want a castle.' |
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| Add caption |
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| Add caption |
Ok, baby waking up. More later.
Wednesday, 12 August 2015
12 August 2015
What day is it again? Wednesday. Right. OK. Here goes...
Thank God the baby is sleeping right now. Felicity is watching her 3rd round of Max and Ruby. I've had Train and now Neil Diamond playing while I try to keep sane and just-clean-the-freakin-kitchen. Things are good generally. Really good. Titus is eating every 2 hours day and night and he's visibly growing. And if he grows, he'll learn to sleep longer, right? I have a chiropractic appointment set for Saturday for some of this lingering back pain.
Our boiler has a fault that we discovered on Monday night, so we've been without hot water since then, but the engineer is coming today before 5pm to fix it. SO, while I'm stuck in the house anyway my mission is to do some much needed cleaning. And look forward to a hot shower tonight. Yes. A much needed hot shower.
Simon had a meeting for church last night that started at 7:30pm. Yeah. So I got to do bedtime by myself. It wasn't too bad. We were all asleep by 9:20pm. And not even piled together in the same bed out of exhaustion. Everyone in their own beds by 9:20pm. Including me. That's got to be a record.
I found Pride and Prejudice on netflix again last night. I'm treating myself to watching it (despite Felicity's whining - 'I like the dog and NOTHING ELSE about this movie!!') while nursing the baby. Trying to keep a cup of tea next to me on the sofa while I watch. Ultimate Jewel is another nursing-time-distract-myself treat.
I need to post pictures and make a happy blog post about last saturday because we had an AWESOME day driving up to Fife and visiting Kellie Castle. It was a beautiful day and we got some really good pictures of the kids and the gorgeous garden. We were knackered afterwards but it was so worth it - almost like a summer vacation rolled into an afternoon.
But I don't have time right now. But I'll get to it! Back to real life!
Thank God the baby is sleeping right now. Felicity is watching her 3rd round of Max and Ruby. I've had Train and now Neil Diamond playing while I try to keep sane and just-clean-the-freakin-kitchen. Things are good generally. Really good. Titus is eating every 2 hours day and night and he's visibly growing. And if he grows, he'll learn to sleep longer, right? I have a chiropractic appointment set for Saturday for some of this lingering back pain.
Our boiler has a fault that we discovered on Monday night, so we've been without hot water since then, but the engineer is coming today before 5pm to fix it. SO, while I'm stuck in the house anyway my mission is to do some much needed cleaning. And look forward to a hot shower tonight. Yes. A much needed hot shower.
Simon had a meeting for church last night that started at 7:30pm. Yeah. So I got to do bedtime by myself. It wasn't too bad. We were all asleep by 9:20pm. And not even piled together in the same bed out of exhaustion. Everyone in their own beds by 9:20pm. Including me. That's got to be a record.
I found Pride and Prejudice on netflix again last night. I'm treating myself to watching it (despite Felicity's whining - 'I like the dog and NOTHING ELSE about this movie!!') while nursing the baby. Trying to keep a cup of tea next to me on the sofa while I watch. Ultimate Jewel is another nursing-time-distract-myself treat.
I need to post pictures and make a happy blog post about last saturday because we had an AWESOME day driving up to Fife and visiting Kellie Castle. It was a beautiful day and we got some really good pictures of the kids and the gorgeous garden. We were knackered afterwards but it was so worth it - almost like a summer vacation rolled into an afternoon.
But I don't have time right now. But I'll get to it! Back to real life!
Sunday, 9 August 2015
9 August 2015
OKAY - the pictures on the last blog were so not lining up the way I wanted them to. Onward and forward!
Thank goodness, the last 3-4 days, F has been sleeping so much better than usual. She's going to bed generally between 8-9pm and not waking up until 5-6am. If it's closer to 5am, I've been able to go settle her pretty quickly, and if it's closer to 6am, I've usually been feeding T anyway, so she's come to cuddle with us. I was talking to Jean about Felicity's wakefulness - I assume it's a combination of an over-active imagination and clinginess. Jean gave me a really useful analogy. Ford verses a Ferrari. Some people are built more sensitively - and it doesn't take much for them to be driven (or drive themselves) around emotional bends. And they need more time to learn to drive. But no one who's emotionally built like a Ferrari is ever going to wish they're a Ford. I really hope this will be the case with Felicity - that all this time and affection and affirmation that we are giving her when she needs it (even at the expense of uninterrupted sleep) will make her more empathetic and able to give that support to other people too. I pray that Ferrari sensitivity turns outward-looking with a servant heart, rather than inward-looking with selfishness (ie., drama queen.)
So the garden progresses. I've spent some time this weekend teasing out the strawberry plants that have been colonizing the brick pavers. I'm setting them out with some weed suppressant material. I'm hoping that my neighbor will let me set some in her side yard, as it would prevent the rosebay willow herb weeds coming back next year.
We have been enjoying being outside when we can and I introduced Titus to the backyard neighbors on Friday. A neighbor's beagle puppy escaped her yard and came around to visit our yard (while the baby sat in his carseat - yipes) but we managed to catch her no problem and it was a good chance to meet some other of our neighbors I hadn't spoken to much. Turns out they have a 4-5 yo and a 5 month old baby too.
Something remarkable from Thursday -
Asleep in the middle of the day, at the same time! I had just enough time to snap this picture and make a cup of tea before F woke up. Oh well. It's a start!
Baby getting oochie again. Ta ta.
Thank goodness, the last 3-4 days, F has been sleeping so much better than usual. She's going to bed generally between 8-9pm and not waking up until 5-6am. If it's closer to 5am, I've been able to go settle her pretty quickly, and if it's closer to 6am, I've usually been feeding T anyway, so she's come to cuddle with us. I was talking to Jean about Felicity's wakefulness - I assume it's a combination of an over-active imagination and clinginess. Jean gave me a really useful analogy. Ford verses a Ferrari. Some people are built more sensitively - and it doesn't take much for them to be driven (or drive themselves) around emotional bends. And they need more time to learn to drive. But no one who's emotionally built like a Ferrari is ever going to wish they're a Ford. I really hope this will be the case with Felicity - that all this time and affection and affirmation that we are giving her when she needs it (even at the expense of uninterrupted sleep) will make her more empathetic and able to give that support to other people too. I pray that Ferrari sensitivity turns outward-looking with a servant heart, rather than inward-looking with selfishness (ie., drama queen.)
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| Delphiniums, coreopsis, verbena, lavender, and geraniums |
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| The jungle is being tamed. |
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| The coreopsis had two plants growing in the same pot, so I divided the rootball and had a free plant! The geraniums were on clearance, but looked like they stll had plenty of life in them, |
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| My backyard looking towards the house. |
We have been enjoying being outside when we can and I introduced Titus to the backyard neighbors on Friday. A neighbor's beagle puppy escaped her yard and came around to visit our yard (while the baby sat in his carseat - yipes) but we managed to catch her no problem and it was a good chance to meet some other of our neighbors I hadn't spoken to much. Turns out they have a 4-5 yo and a 5 month old baby too.
Something remarkable from Thursday -
Asleep in the middle of the day, at the same time! I had just enough time to snap this picture and make a cup of tea before F woke up. Oh well. It's a start!
Baby getting oochie again. Ta ta.
7th August
So I started this blog post two four days ago (!) and hopefully I'll finally finish it today.
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| Sweet snuggly selfie |
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| Titus |
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| Titus |
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| Felicity |
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| Felicity |
Tuesday, 4 August 2015
4th August 2015
How my garden grows...
Titus is 4 weeks old today.
Although I'm not as fit or strong as I was this time a year ago, I feel like I've had somewhat of a miracle recovery. I'm climbing stairs, carrying laundry baskets, sitting on the floor, picking up carseats and buggies, driving, walking....etc etc. I've so been enjoying being able to work in the garden again -amazing.
Some people have been surprised we've been as active as we have, but it's honestly not me trying to be super woman. I've been sleeping so badly and been in so much pain for the last 3-4 months, in some respects, I'm just finding it easier to cope with life in general (albeit, with a newborn) feeling a bit more myself! And the days are really packed.
Simon watched Titus for me over the weekend so I could really make some progress on the side yard.
I should have taken before pictures as well..
Really clearing out the weeds
This is the section I haven't gotten to yet...
From upstairs
And here's my other gardening project....
3 1/2 weeks old...
3 1/2 years old...
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