SPRING WEEKEND

Finally, after what feels like the longest, coldest, bleakest winter ever (drama queen, moi?) Spring decided to arrive and gave us 2 whole days of uninterrupted sunshine - bliss! It was so warm & sunny that we decided to get out, and be quick sharp about it and even though my energy levels & walking speed currently resembles those of a slug, we crammed quite a lot in. 

Parks, woodland walks, beer (read lime & soda) gardens, ice-creams, bouncy castles & picnics we're all on the agenda & it was lovely. I even managed to enjoy myself doing a spot of spring cleaning - not nesting - spring cleaning (back to denial for me it seems). Speaking of which i actually hit the 37 week mark with babygirlbump so i'm done, and she's done and now we just..................wait. And eat. Lots. Which is good as we're all off out for Pizza tonight at the new little cafe at the bottom of our street - hoorah!

Anyway, here's some sunny spring pics of our weekend. Enjoy x

The very same Golden Valley walk

 and again...

Icy Gubbins refusing point blank to smile for the camera. Dizzy on the other hand, lapping it up...

Picnic time! Or should that be 'I will only ever eat Pomegranate jewels and crisps' time?

Bounce

and finally... Balloons over the park :)

36 WEEKS

36 weeks - WOW! Not a lot has changed really since my last pregnancy post, except i've probably gained about 4 billion pounds (i banned scales at about week 1) and drank about 4 billion litres of diet coke. All i want to do is drink, drink, drink and it has to be fizz, fizz, fizz. I'm trying really hard to be healthy, but as all the important developing of baba has been sorted and she's just gaining weight now, i'm chillaxing a bit more. Walking is quite a mission, and i'm waking up about 6 times a night, but apart from that it's all good.

I *think* I have everything ready - with the exception of a pram & car seat (yep, pretty major i know!) so I feel a little less manic. I have even stopped waking up at 3am to make lists & email the mister exciting emails about breast pads (tmi?) so I must be ready in my head.

I'm going to see the midwife on Wednesday, and i think i'll pack my (emergency) hospital bag tomorrow once i've picked up some comfy lounge clothes to settle into after the big event. Ooooooo - it's getting so close now.

♡

FANTASY SHOPPING

I would like more money please. Every day I see something that I neeeeeeed to have and i've never got any spare pennies to buy it. Crap isn't it?! I'm going to have even less money once we shell out £300 on a new buggy, £150 on a car seat and about a million squid on all the other things babies need, so I have decided that once a week I will indulge in a spot of official fantasy shopping. I can buy whatever I want for moi, and buy whatever I want for the people I love.
Pointless activity? You betcha, but I love online shopping so this will make me very happy indeed ;)

For me - I want this print for our hallway 

It's from one of my fave shops Urban Outfitters

For Dizzy Boo i choose these. He'd be the happiest boy on earth

I haven't seen them online anywhere (yet) - I found them here

For Icy Gubbins, i'll get this even though she really doesn't deserve any fantasy treats as she has just had the mother of all tantrums and chucked her juice across the room  

It's from my absolute fave online shop to buy kiddies clothes from - Nordic Kids

And even though she's not even here yet, i still get to chose something for little miss bump. 

I'll probably end up getting her this anyway, as I love anything BlaBla for babies . She already has a mobile from them waiting to be hung up, so this will match lovely (and excitedly Violet is a possible middle name!!)

Blabla Kids

............And the mister? Jesus, give me a break! It takes me about a month of restless nights, intense shopping, constant probing and nagging to find out what he'd like for his birthday, and that's only once a year! So no, he won't feature in the 'Fantasy Shopping List' posts much!!

34 WEEKS - NOW I AM COUNTING

I FEEL MASSIVE. I look massive, i eat like a massive person & I get off of the couch like a massive person. All of these things probably do well to explain why I feel the way i do, but it doesn't stop me moaning about it none the less. But i'm allowed to have a little moan - i haven't slept for longer than 2 hours straight since September & even though people are very keen to remind me how 'i ain't seen nothing yet' - it doesn't make it any prettier.

Then, of course I feel bad for moaning because really, i know how lucky I am to be in my current state, but sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees, so sorry. I'll shut up now & concentrate on the good bits...

..... midwife appointment today & ........ she's turned (baby, not midwife) and because of that she's no longer considered big for her dates (shit- it must be just cake and Sainsburys full sugar cloudy lemonade then).

So, i'm back on track for the home birth which is excellent news, as i am terrified of giving birth in the car or car park (I have very fast labours) so at my next appointment i'll be doing my birth plan. I know from experience that this means nothing really but it's nice to dream how idyllic it could be with your favourite music playing softly whilst you wallow about in some warm water with a smile on your face. Even so i'll probably just write the words get baby out & check she's ok in big fat capital letters as it's easier and far more realistic.

So at her current state, she is 2/5 engaged. I'm not even going to google to see if this is normal or not at 34 weeks as i'm just going round in circles but the midwife did say today that i probably wouldn't even need to push to erm 'release' her. Man, i hope she's joking else I will just sit here drinking lemonade for the last 3 weeks - just to be on the safe side.

So, to finish off here's another pic - taken in the usual glamourous location of my loo -

And sssssssssh but I think i'm 100% set on a name. Just need to get the mister on board - fingers crossed! He has said in the past he thought it was 'OK' so there is hope YAY!

VALENTINES GIRL IS FOUR ♡

After asking 'how many sleeps now mum?' since her brothers birthday in October, Flo's birthday weekend finally arrived. Some time back in January i temporarily lost my marbles (no need for any jokes here, thanks all the same) and agreed to a party at The Zany Zone. Yes - it is totally as awful as it sounds, but I guess as soft play places go, it's not that bad - especially if you only invite people you actually know & their kids. So, that's what we did - and it was quite nice prepping the party for the most part (there was a day when Flo tantrumed for about 45 minutes over some sellotape not quite doing what she wanted it to) - but apart from that we had fun.

We made and filled seperate girls & boys party bags because one of the little demons boys told Flo he would not come if it was too girly - how lovely....

We made loads of cupcakes & a very special birthday cake for the girl of the moment. Even if i do say so myself - it tasted amazing!

The party itself seemed to be a success - loads of running, yelling, laughing and eating was done and i don't know whether it was the fact that I was continuously chanting "it's almost finished, you're nearly there" over & over in my head, or just the fact that it was a good party, but most kids left with a big smile on their little faces. Hurrah!

So, there we have it - Little Miss is 4!

♡ HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLO ♡

OH BABY BABY!

OK, so i have actually been meaning to blog my pregnancy since I got my head round the idea & picked myself off up the floor (so, we're talking about late September i guess).... and low & behold, here I am a 33 weeks pregnant & the size of the moon, finally getting round to it.

So, August. August the 2nd to be exact & i felt different. It was a feeling i'd felt before - once in 2005 and once in 2006, but surely not again. Not after the year i'd had?! Not at this moment in my life where I didn't know whether I was coming or going?!? So, after an hour of convincing myself that there really was no way on this earth I could be pregnant, i decided to man up & go under cloak & dagger (Bath is a small place!) to the pharmacy.

Got home, and in 3 small minutes, our lives changed forever. Again!!

 

I found out pretty early on with this one, which had it's pro's & con's. We had a bit of a 'are we, aren't we' moment when I needed an early scan but it was too early to see anything. I had to wait 10 days before I was far enough along to go back. That was quite some wait.

Anyway, 10 days later & all was good & there the baby was, wriggling in the right place - talk about relief!

Now, I believe that as soon as I found out I started to show! Of course that's impossible so what was probably happening was I was actually giving myself licence to not breath in my tummy anymore & let myself relax. Even so, they say by the time you get to baby number 3 your body knows what to do - and mine seemed to not need any reminding. It remembered perfectly how to make me desire the very foods that would make me throw up moments later. It remembered perfectly how to make me sick for the whole day yet still seem to gain weight. It remembered how to sleeeeeeeeep for hours & hours & hours yet still feel like i hadn't done so for a week & it remembered really really well how to trick me into thinking my bladder was about to burst when actually, there was NOTHING in the friggin' thing.

 But with all this joy surrounding me (no, really I have loved it!) i still was proud enough of my pregnancy to get a few snaps of my growing bump. I kept telling the mister to CUT OFF MY HEAD but sometimes it did sneak on, so sorry about that!

Mid October - so about 15 weeks-ish

Almost straight away my citrus craving kicked in & all i could think about was lemons & limes. I was getting through about 20 lemons & 20 limes a week. It was exactly the same craving I had with Dexter, so naturally i'm having a boy, right?

This sight right here pretty much sums up my entire pregnancy and just looking at it now means i need to take a break & whip myself up a little lime juice & fizzy water!!

oh my! Bliss.

Early November - so approx 18 weeks 

19 week bump

21 weeks - just before my scan. 

Excuse the stupid expression on my face - you'd be better off concentrating on the bump in question. 

So - 21 weeks, the moment of truth GIRL or BOY?  It possibly comes as no suprise to the people that  know me, that I have not only one boy & one girl already, but I also have 1 calm chilled little fella & one hyped up miss mega-manic. To say Florence has been about 100 times harder to bring up and try to work out (epic fail so far) is an understatement. So when we heard the words "Looks like you're having another little girl" from the sonographer, a dark eerie silence fell on the room. I think i heard tears of fear well up in the misters eyes - around the same time as I heard a 3 year old Florence break that silence with "WELL SHE'S NOT HAVING ANY OF MY TOYS"

Irony is not a no smoking sign on your cigarette break Ms Morrisette, it's really needing a stiff drink the one time in your life you really should not have one! Please let this one at least sleep for longer than 90 minutes at a time waaaay before she is a year old. That would really help me out!

Mid December - so 24 weeks-ish. I've worn this same top with all 3 of my bumps.

25 week MASSIVE bump! Same size looks wise as I was full term with Flo 

30 weeks.

Which kind of brings me up to date - here's last weeks bump shot

She's currently 'too big' and the wrong way up, so we'll see what next weeks midwife appointment brings. She's a disco baby - and a total night owl, so i'm hoping with all her night time wriggles, she's working on her turn. Fingers crossed as i'm planning a home birth with this one, but they won't let me if she's still upside down! 

I'll blog the rest as i go....

WINTERY WESTON-SUPER-MARE

We decided that even though it was -3 outside, we'd go to the seaside! Why the hell not eh? We're Brits- it doesn't get much above -3 in high summer here, so we battled through! The kids LOVED it: soft play, arcade games, fish & chips, ice-cream parlours (you could get one sundae which cost £10!!), donut stalls - you name it, they consumed it! The new pier is lovely, although i don't fancy our chances of getting round there in the summer with a buggy in tow! 

This may need to be an out of season treat....

MISTLETOE BUT NO WINE. CHRISTMAS 2010

Christmas came & went in the blink of an eye this year. It was all a bit different because I broke my own rule & went somewhere else for the big day!! We ended up going to my mum's down in Devon & whilst it was lovely, i missed being at home with my own traditions. Call me a nutter, but i think i'm a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to Christmas Day! It was odd being pregnant too and missing out on way too much smoked salmon, stilton, pate, brie and champagne! The kids had a fab time & loved staying with Nanny and even found travelling down in the snow on Christmas day exciting!!

The mister bought me some amazing vintage kitchen canisters & had them imported from Texas. I love them so much - and love the idea that some American housewife was using them to bake and make in 1960's America! 

Here are some of our Xmassy snaps..... enjoy

Flo got the all important job this year of placing our fairy on our tree!!

 It snowed!! This pic was taken at 7am in -9 temperatures!

 Making paper chains and christmas gifts

Dexy starred in his first Nativity and he was a cow!! It was the sweetest thing i ever did see!!

Christmas Eve

and finally.... Christmas Morning at home ♡

and my bestest present ever....

Chrimblio 2010 - DONE ♡