doodle do

With full hearts and a very full car....

we returned home this evening from our week away over the christmas break, just in time to see the new year in (although who are we kidding, we will both be asleep by midnight!!).

The weather here is very cold, frost covering all that we were driving past and now has settled in for the night. But its good to be home. Safe in the knowledge that our fourth baby will be born a northerner like its siblings and not a southerner like its parents!!! But we have had a lovely time, meeting up with friends and family, meeting new babies and catching up with some very dear friends. It has been a rich blessing of a week, with of course lots of gorgeous food and willing grandparents on hand to be playmates to our very over excited children. 

I cannot write a post on new years eve without dedicating it to my fabulous little girl, Poppy. Who three years ago today joined our family. She had a birthday breakfast at my parents before we left which she proclaimed to be 'the best birthday party ever!" and tomorrow we are taking her to build a bear for some retail therapy of the stuffed animal kind. We love her bucket loads and she is our baby for just a few more weeks. She is feisty, argumentative, affectionate, easily scared, can be deadly serious but has the most infectious, incredible giggle. Just very thankful for her presence in our lives.....

Happy Birthday Miss Poppy Grace...

So this is christmas....

or was...kind of quiet but nice. Isaac woke the girls up at about 0730 shouting 'I knew it, i knew Santa would leave me presents!!' They opened their santa sack presents in a frenzy...

Isaac was quite magnanimous about his stocking presents. "I am pleased with my presents even though its not really what i wanted!!!!!' Can you believe it. He soon re-evaluated his decision when he saw the presents under the tree!! 

We had a wonderful christmas dinner courtesy of  my mum and the kids tucked into a tea of sandwiches at tea time while the adults were still full. I had some cheese and biscuits late evening which was a mistake that i paid for all night with killer indigestion and a baby that clearly didnt approve of the sweet chilli and tomato chutney...ah well..got to catch up on strictly come dancing on iplayer and wrote most of this post!! My mum was slightly horrified when i told her that i hadnt thought to bring anything for the baby should i possibly go into labour whilst here but i figure...'hey thats what shops are for right!' 

Anyway hope you all had a happy christmas and are looking forward to a good new year. 

xx

you make it real to me.....

happy anniversary to my wonderful and gorgeous friend, partner and team mate. Without you, the rest is gravy.

:) 

Download 01 You Make It Real 

up to now....

we have been....

going to the girl's nativity.....

making things....

had a very 'grown' up tea with some friends of ours, followed by carols around the piano...

Maisie fell over on the way home from school and gave herself a very fat lip....

Yesterday was my last shift at work and as usual there were too few nurses on the shift so it was a bit chaotic. But nothing much changes there. I had a conversation with a registrar about babies and he mentioned that he would like to have four but his wife is currently expecting their second baby and he wonders if when they have that one it might change his mind....

I said i think its a question of attitude really, if you expect it to be the worst thing imaginable then it probably will be, if you focus on the negative and the lack of sleep and the tantrums then you wont see any of the gold, shining moments. You have to expect your life to change and never be the same, but this can be a good thing!! I have lost count of the amount of people who have grown up kids who say that they felt they never appreciated enough the times when their children really needed them. That it goes by in a flash and you are left trying to remember what it felt like to have that unconditional love and affection that small children can offer you. 

It made me realise how lucky i am, even if at the moment the kids are so highly strung due to the not so far off arrival of a certain portly character in a red suit!!!

So now I am really excited to meet this new member in our family, we have to get through christmas and new year and Poppy's birthday first and then the road is clear. But for now im trying to take the moments to enjoy the baby moving and kicking as this will be the last time i will carry any of my children this close and i dont want to wish these last few weeks away...although i wouldnt be to unhappy about a farewell to this indigestion!!!!

happy last sunday before the big day :)

little miss angel gabriel....

who has enjoyed telling her little sister that she is 'just' an angel. 

so apparently...

for the first time in four pregnancies i have developed a bit of anaemia.....the midwife looked at my HB of 9.2 and went 'good grief have you been feeling tired?'

I said ..'er...well...i...y'know...have three young kids, a job.....er...'

She said...'i guess that probably is a silly question!"

;)

school play....

Isaac had his school play last week. It was a nativity....of sorts..we think they were trying to find 'parts' for everyone so they had a very interesting piece of dancing to 'im being followed by a moonshadow' by cat stevens right in the middle of the trip to see baby Jesus...??!! I did manage to take a few pics although i used the video camera for most of it. Isaac was in the 'band'

i like Daddy and Isaac and Grandad but I dont like Santa......

said she....

Several on sunday...

1. We put up our christmas decorations this afternoon. We haven't actually done this with the kids before, usually we do it when they are in bed but they have been pestering us about it and so we got the decorations down from the loft this morning. It was fun having them involved, they all had a go at decorating the tree. I just sat back and let them get on with it. They had fun, the tree was obviously very heavy laden around the not so tall branches.....but it all got sorted out when they had gone to bed and i was watching a bit of strictly and the lovely take that. So ALL GOOD!

Maisie got a bit carried away with decorating!! We have two trees. One in the living room and one in the play room because it looks out on the front of the house and I love that feeling of coming home to a christmas tree in the window. Also it means we get to be on both sides of the artifical/real tree debate because we have both!!!

2. I had an interesting day at work when a staff member i was working with had to be rushed to A&E with abnormal heart beats! Yeah that was a bit scary. 

3. Rediscovered the smell of Vicks Vaporub lately. I love it. Cant remember always feeling that way about it but just at the moment it is great.

4. My on board passenger has developed a bottom of steel and is making me quite uncomfortable. Its about this time during pregnancy that i say adios to the ligaments that hold my pelvis together and start walking like a duck.

5. It is only two weeks till the end of school term. HOORAY!!! I LOVE not having to do the school run!!

6. Poppy is getting into those feisty threes...oh..my...is she ever.

7. We went to a winter fair today and it was good, if a bit cold but I was so uncomfortable with a certain baby bottom being in my ribs that we came home a bit early. I went with my camera too, something i have been woefully neglectful of recently...but didnt take any pictures..DOH!!

heh heh..well im off to bed.....

night night x

go order this....

terry

even if you dont like the song..order it. Stop that money grabbing simon cowell getting to number 1 at christmas. EVERYTHING made from this song goes to children in need. EVERYTHING!!! 

Thats got to embody the christmas spirit somewhat more that some cheesy saccharin number from X factor right?

you can pre order it here