Rachel 的个人资料The Fort Family照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
Wednesday 29 Novemberº¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º Happy Birthday Jan!! º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º
I came down with the horrid bug that has inflicted the rest of my family - thankfully it must have realised how busy I am as I had milder symptoms than the others!
My tooth or rather gap is feeling better today. It sounds really ugly but you can't see it unless I open my mouth really wide!
Bargains of the day: Trivial Pursuit - Genus Edition (£3.95) & The First Christmas Children's Illustrated (£1.99) - this matches Lauren's "First Bible Stories" so was a great find in Help the Aged Tuesday 28 NovemberWhat a day full of surprises and not nice ones!! Peter was still very ill this morning and I had to call to cancel his dentists appointment that afternoon. They called back and suggested to save us £42 cancellation charge I take his appointment instead!! I couldn't exactly say no so I spent a frantic few hours trying to prepare myself (thank you Jan for your support and empathy!). At 1345 I left the house with a washing machine on spin cycle in my tummy, arrived at the surgery 5 minutes later and was taken in at 1400 on the dot. I was so scared but once it was underway I calmed down a lot, the dentist and nurse were so good at reassuring me. After the exam, he determined I needed a couple taken out and suggested he just take it out as I was already there! You can imagine the panic that then followed! He obviously could tell how scared I was and said that we could just start with 1 injection and I could stop if I wanted to, but after that 1 then another 2, I was on my way! I can't believe how frightened I was and it wasn't nearly as bad or sore as I expected. I'm now looking forward to completing my treatment plan and getting teeth back that I can be proud of. I was surprised at how much it's going to cost, I thought it would be hundreds and hundreds but it's only £173 so was happy with that too.
I wish I had gone sooner but I can't look at the past, I can only make it better from now on.
Website of the day: Dental Health Monday 27 NovemberBoo Hoo! My family are all ill. Lauren has definately got a nasty tummy virus, Martha soon followed suit and Peter got struck down late this afternoon. I hope I can emerge unscathed to allow me to look after them all. Sunday 26 NovemberI have to admit that I don't normally do ironing. Usually, I take it straight from the dryer and fold it whilst it's warm - I thought this had the same effect. Recently, I have been shamed into doing some by the other children at the toddler group who all seem to be impeccably dressed in freshly ironed clothes. Today I awoke determined to tackle the monster bag of ironing I sorted out from the newly managed laundry pile. When I do iron, it has always been in the evening when Lauren and Martha are in bed however I realised that this only gives me about 3 hours worth of ironing time and no "me" time so decided to get cracking first thing. By 2300 I had ironed the equivalent of about 2 years worth of ironing and felt surprising upbeat and happy! Lauren has been feeling a bit under the weather today, looks like she (and perhaps Martha) are coming down with yet another bug. Peter was very happy to be able to get his helicopter out and flying this afternoon. The weather conditions were perfect with very little wind and not bitterly cold. I took the girls out in our newly acquired twin stroller (thank you to the Wareing family!) and they loved getting some fresh air and watching Daddy fly the "'copter". Harry the cat decided to take a fancy to the new stroller and jumped on the sun canopy to be pushed around with the girls. A definate "family" day out!!! Selling our Landrover Discovery 2 headlamps on eBay, please take a look if you're interested!! Saturday 25 NovemberToday has been a very productive one. I managed to get nearly all of the laundry mountain under control. If the washing maching and dryer are not on in this house, it means I am/will be behind with it all - it's crazy!!!
I am now the proud owner of an e-book about de-cluttering and how you can do it in a day. I have read it, and just reading it has given me the nudge needed to get things into gear. I am very excited about Christmas and want to enjoy it with a tidy, organised home and I am determined to succeed and have this next week mapped out to accomplish it.
Lauren has seen a few Santa Claus pictures, lights, decorations etc and has now become "Santi Claus" mad! She keeps shouting his name every time he appears on television adverts (of which they're are many!), we might switch it off for a while before we all go mad!!
Talking of Christmas, we went to our first "Christmas Fair" of the season today. It was held in the village hall and was in aid of Lauren and Martha's future primary school (Dacre Braithwaite CoE), everyone had a great afternoon. We entered lots of raffles and won lots of prizes. Peter found 3 x 4 video boxsets of "The Professionals" so was a very happy chap! Unfortunately Santa Claus must have heard of Lauren's naughty behaviour earlier in the day and had been and gone by the time we arrived!
After the fair, we popped in to see my new friend Claire. Her house has an attic conversion that is nearly 100% like how I envisage ours to be so Peter had a look to get an idea. Friday 24 NovemberPeter had his "new patient" appointment with the dentist today. He got practically a clean bill of health but has to go back on Tuesday for a bit of work. This has shamed me into making my own appointment for next Thursday at 0900hrs. I am very scared and embarrassed - I haven't been to the dentist in years and the longer I left it the more ashamed I became and soon a vicious circle started. Anyway, it's booked and Peter will be here to look after the girls so no excuses will be accepted!!! Thursday 23 NovemberI've been looking forward to today all week, I can't believe how much I enjoy the Mum & Toddler group at church. It's really nice to have the regularity and social activity, it feels like my mental well-being has turned a corner over the last couple of weeks. It was really starting to feel like the fear would never end.
This afternoon I took Martha back to the HV to check her weight status and was AMAZED to discover she now weighs 15lbs 14oz - she's gained a whopping 10.5oz in the last week - I don't think I need any further proof that she needed to be weaned! As a celebration, we are going into Pateley Bridge tomorrow to the Pharmacy to get some 1st stage breakfast food for her - Lauren used to love the packet porridge!
Tonight we sat down to dinner together to enjoy a lovely meal of home-reared lamb chops (thanks Amanda!). I'm trying to explain to Lauren where our food comes from and how the lambs she was playing with earlier in the year were now on our plates. I think she understood as she spent her dinner saying "thank you lamb" with every mouthful! I've been having debates with a few people who think Lauren is too young to understand/learn about life's cycle, but she seems to have a grasp of life and death at such an early age I don't want to tell her lies about what she eats, sees or hears.
Lastly, a big THANK YOU to all those supporters who have contact me following the negative breastfeeding encounter - you've all made me determined not to let them get me down and feed proudly on!!! Wednesday 22 NovemberThis morning, Lauren, Martha and I went to see our very good friend Kath, she is like family to us and we love spending time with her. Lauren & I baked some fairy cakes (complete with fancy icing, sprinkles etc) which we took to Kath as she has recently had an operation so thought they would cheer her up. They certainly did and we all enjoyed eating them with lovely cups of tea.
Kath's house is very much like a doll's house with beautiful furniture and a huge range of precious dolls and ornaments that Lauren loves to look at and touch very delicately. She also has a piano which is the first thing Lauren runs for after hugging Kath. Today, she asked us to play "Eye of the Tiger - Survivor" which is a bit too advanced for my basic piano skills! I'll have to get the sheet music and have another go!
We had to leave when Lauren got tired and starting clawing Martha, but we plan to see her a few times before Christmas to help her get ready as she loves Christmas as much as I do!! Monday 20 NovemberToday has been a rollercoaster. Lauren has been complaining of a sore back for a few weeks and Peter & I thought it was because she was scratching it and it was the tender skin. A couple of weeks ago I thought I'd pay close attention to it, and as a result today I took her to the surgery to check it out. The Dr transferred us straight to hospital for lumbar x-rays and now we have to wait an agonising week for the consultant to write his report. It's so worrying that she might have hurt it badly or that there is something wrong, I feel so helpless and time is going so very slowly. She is still a very happy little girl and it doesn't seem to cause her pain constantly which is great.
Experienced (or at least I think I did) my first negative breastfeeding situation following our trip to hospital. We popped into the cafe in Morrisons which was very, very quiet and I decided to feed Martha (very discreetly), two elderly ladies started to have a much louder discussion with huge emphasis on the words "disgusting", "private", "not in our day". I know I may be paranoid but when I happened to turn around (I was mainly back to them but slightly turned for my elbow), they were staring and glaring at Martha & I. Peter returned a few minutes later with our lunch and gave me the moral support to re-start feeding Martha.
Websites of the Day:
Sunday 19 NovemberWhat a great day we've had today. We got up nice and early and set off for Peter's sister's house near Wycoller, Lancanshire. Lauren had great fun playing outside with her cousins and their 2 friends - Martha enjoyed all the attention! Amanda kindly highlighted my hair with the cheapo highlight kit I bought from Home Bargains (previous blog entry!), I'm really pleased with the result but there's no way Peter & I could have done it!!
She cooked us a wonderful Sunday lunch of Roast Beef with all the trimmings which Lauren wolfed down! Whilst we were busy eating, Laura and Kev were making their way down to our house before the reached their final destination of Julie's in South Wales.
It was great to see them and we had fun on the webcam talking to Julie. Friday 17 NovemberPeter is on call today so it was lovely to have it at home spending the day with us.
We all got up and organised early and were out the door at 9am and visiting Peter's old customer down the lane. We all enjoyed each other's company for about 45 mins and then left to head into Pateley Bridge to do our weekly fresh produce shop.
Lauren loves going into the grocer's Elliot's and filling the paper bags from the buckets of fresh potatoes, sprouts, carrots etc. It is really a step back in time the grocers I recall when growing up. They have shelves all around the fairly small store stacked with all sorts of "storecupboard" essentials and the most wondeful cheese cooler. We ordered our plain square Christmas cake, which will be collected first week of December ready for me (and Lauren no doubt) to marzipan and ice/decorate. We also picked up our Christmas Order Forms from Elliot and Kendall's, the local family butcher. We were excited to learn that the library are hosting their first storytime in December and Lauren is cordially invited being the most regular child visitor!
Once we returned home full of excitement of impending snow, winter scenes and Christmas, we decided whilst eating Kendalls lovely pies to reconfigure the lounge/dining/playroom/study area to try and make as much floor space as possible to allow us to bring the family banqueting table out of storage ready for our Chrismas guests (Peter's parents and Mum & Alan). Following last year's not to be repeated Christmas, I am adamant to carry out last year's plan to have the Christmas experience I recall as a child and was thrilled that mum accepted our invitation, so she can join in the fun and excitement.
The lounge looks a lot better, it no longer is a small room trying to be 4 different ones but has become what I suppose is modern (rather revived!) open plan living. It will be wonderful, hopefully after Christmas to get the staircase in and bedrooms created upstairs - the log cabin will effectively be doubled instantly, giving us so much more room to spread out and enjoy. Thursday 16 NovemberI have been waiting for today for 2 weeks - the collection of Lauren and Martha's first "proper" photographs!! Thank you to Tempest Photography for the beautiful result that can be seen below. Even Peter got emotional (in the Yorkshireman style!) when he saw them!!
This afternoon I took Lauren and Martha to the Health Visitor primarily as Martha has been waking for feeds 3/4 times a night. Over the last 6-8 weeks her weight gain has slowed down and today it was revealed that she'd actually lost 2oz since she was weighed 2 weeks ago. After discussing options, we (HV, Peter & I) agreed to try her on some Baby Rice. She wolfed it all down (all 2 teaspoons!) and I'm sure that she must be ready for food! Maybe being so late has made her more advanced in the dietary stakes!!!
The HV was very impressed with Lauren's speech, understanding, walking and general mannerisms. I am so proud of her, she sometimes acts so grown up that it's easy to forget she's only 2 and still really a baby!
Weight Update
Lauren: 30lb 14oz
Martha: 15lb 3.5oz
I love my daughters so much, they make Peter & I so happy..... Wednesday 15 NovemberSaw some more lovely photos of my new nieces today - thanks Mum! They are already changing and are still so beautiful.
My own children gave me a horrible fright this morning whilst I was looking at the above mentioned photos, it suddenly went very quiet from the direction of Lauren and Martha (who was in her bouncer). I popped my head over the sofa and discovered Lauren was sharing her Hula Hoops with Martha. What a fright! I don't think I've run so fast for the last 12 months-it was a very scary moment trying to get a soggy hoop out of Martha's mouth without pushing it further in. Managed to get the hoop out intact and burst into tears! Oh dear, I think I need to toughen up, how do other mum's (or dad's) cope with such events? (I'm sure I'll have more). Any suggestions, please let me know!!
Update: Just popped into the kitchen and returned to Martha's face/head being covered in stickers by Lauren! All the time Martha is giggling away at Lauren - such innocent love!! Tuesday 14 NovemberToday has been filled with pain. Yesterday Lauren jumped on my back whilst I was leaning into Martha's bouncer. It was sore at the time but by jove did it get worse. I'm not 100% certain it was the jumping that caused the pain but it seems very likely. In the early hours of this morning, Lauren cried because she'd lost her dummy (it was next to her head on the pillow!!). I lent down to get it for her when I felt (and I'm sure I heard) a pop in my lower back then a pain shot out from out to each side. I fell to my knees trying to call for Peter as quietly and effectively as I could crawling out of the room as I couldn't stand up to switch Lauren's light off - what a sight!!!
Back pain is like toothache or labour. You can't describe to anyone fully how it feels, but you know how painful it is when whomever you tell winces in empathy with you. I'm off to bed now to try and rest before the night shift starts.
Monday 13 NovemberI HATE COMPUTERS!! I installed Windows XP Pro on Saturday thinking it would be so much better than my antiquated Windows 98 - Ha!! I think I have fallen victim to the "grass is always greener" bug and been eaten by the ride on mower! No sooner had it been installed I encountered my first "failure", a second, third and fourth followed in quite quick succession and before long I was panicking over my actions - "can I undo it?", "where's the 98 disc?", "Stop it!", "I hate computers!", "oh no, please don't show me that screen" - you get the idea.
I stumbled across the Uninstall Win XP program whilst clumsily trying to get rid of everything I have on the PC that Win XP didn't like (which was most of it). I uninstalled as quickly as I could and swore never to repeat the horrible exercise again. I couldn't connect my webcam for longer than 30 seconds which meant I missed out seeing my new nieces and had to wait nearly 2 days to see them "live" as opposed to photos. Glad (and relieved) to report I am now back to my trusty 98 and I will not be straying again.
Other things that have happened over the last couple of days are:-
Lauren has demonstrated a wonderful early ability to follow dance steps. Ok, it was the "Cha Cha Slide" but I was very impressed that she slid, stomped and cha cha'd at the right times rather than the usual 2 year old jump up and down dance her friends do.
Martha is now able to roll from her back to her tummy, laughing whilst she does it! I can't believe how quickly she's growing.
Martha (as you will see from above) has started to really laugh now, it is very funny but her growling is the best!! I think she keeps doing it because she knows it makes Lauren and I laugh.
Found out today Laura and Kev are going to stay with us on Sunday on their way to Wales, it will be wonderful to see them both.
Website of the day: www.videojug.com Saturday 11 NovemberIt is soooooooo windy!!! I love theatrical weather and today we have it in abundance. The wind is howling through our little wood and the rain is hammering us from all angles. When you look down the valley, all you can see is swirling rain - it's wonderful! It makes me feel very cosy inside our log cabin, I can't wait until the snow, it looks so beautiful.
I was very, very grateful to Brad for sending us some photographs of he and Julie's beautiful daughters (see photos section!!). They are so perfect, tiny and very innocent. I knew they weren't identical twins but I expected them to look a bit alike but they appear to be so different. I can't wait to see them, I didn't think it was possible to get more excited until I saw the photos!!!
Peter's ex work colleague Mark visited us this afternoon on his way to a job in Preston at midnight! It was good to see him and Peter enjoyed having him here to have some "male" time tinkering with helicopters. Peter is now waiting for a break in the weather so he can get the heli flying as opposed to sitting on our bedroom drawers!! Friday 10 November***It's Girls!!!***
Welcome to the World Hollie & Hannah!!!
Congratulations and Well Done Julie and Brad
Our day comes second to the arrival of my latest nieces, I can't believe that we have added more girls to the pool!! Mum has 4 daughters and 7 Grand-Daughters!! It must be a record. I think the only way to get boys into our family is to marry them!! I'd love to have another baby (or even babies), but Peter isn't too keen (just now!!)
Peter had a quick job to do in Preston today, so he suggested we all go and travel down a bit to Blackpool! We jumped at the chance to get out and see a bit more of the world. We've had a great day and the girls are sleeping soundly with the little bodies full of lovely sea air! I hope we sleep just as well tonight. Lauren had a lot of fun in the penny (now 2p) slot machines and we found one that was a fairy castle where you had to shoot your 2p into areas to win tickets. We exchanged the tickets (thank you to the nice couple that gave Lauren theirs to add to her collection - a random act of kindness), for an actually quite nice ceramic tiny coffee mug that Lauren is going to use to drink her tea from, we also got good old bubbles!!
Thursday 9 NovemberI have never ever been to a "product party" but tonight that all changed! My very good friend Sharon invited me to her Avon party and myself and my other friend Penny went along and had a really great time. Do they still do Tupperware parties, I would love one of those or a "storage solutions" party - I think I may get addicted!!
On route to meet Penny, I called my sister Julie who thought she was having contractions. I was so glad that we had spent some time on the telephone together that afternoon going through breathing exercises and talking about labour - I recieved a text message at 21.20hrs saying that she was on her way to hospital with contractions every 6 minutes!
It has been a really good day today.  Wednesday 8 NovemberI am so happy that Lauren keeps her tantrums until her only audience is Peter or I. Lauren's friend came around this afternoon and after 30 minutes of silence suddenly became a whirlwind! I don't think Lauren knew quite how to deal with her messing up her toy area she so lovingly tidied up! To escape the bedlam (and numerous ear bashings with books), she asked me to take her to bed, I then saw her on the CCTV sitting quite happily on her bed having a conversation with teddy! I am pleased that Lauren feels so safe in her bedroom but sad that she felt the need to escape her own home.
I sometimes (actually often!) wonder if the fact Lauren no longer sees a lot of people since the childminder finished in August, is affecting the very good social skills she acquired up until that point.
Peter is still away, but had a really enjoyable night on webcam with Julie and Brad listening to our shared music and reminising the 80's!! Tuesday 7 NovemberThis has been a week full of laughs so far and it's only Tuesday!
Stupid food label on a portion of peeled and cooked prawns - this product may contain shellfish !! Not "shell" but "shellfish" what on earth have I been buying?!?!
I also had an embarrassing webcam audio moment whilst online to Julie and Brad! Please note, webcam microphones are very sensitive - I'm still blaming Baby Annbel and I'm sticking to it!!!! We all laughed and laughed, it has been a while since I laughed that much and it felt good.
Another positive thing this week was my counselling session on Monday. Basically we discuss the achievements I have made since our last session (things like driving in the dark, driving with family in the car etc). I didn't realise how many I had accomplished and it feels like I'm starting to see a glimmer at the end of the tunnel. It's a big difference from this time 3 months ago, and has feels like a cloud has been lifted off me.
Peter is working away this week and I miss him already.
Lauren is saying more and more new words/sentences every day - I can't keep up! New ones are:- Blowout, Cheeky Monkey, Martha is crying Mummy, ice-cream, shortbread, Quavers (what a wonderful diet she has!!!)
Bargain shop of the day = Home_Bargains
An extract from my bill
Cappachino 10pk 0.89 (it's ok - I can't afford my Tassimo machine yet!!)
Ylang Ylang Bathroom Cleaner 0.69
Multitask Lavender Cleaner 0.69
Hair Highlighting Kit (Jerome Russell) 3.99
Bouchard Fridge and Microwave Wipes 0.89
Pack of 3 Microfibre Cloths 0.99 (this includes a special window one!)
Learning Colouring Pad (ABC) for Lauren 0.79
Olbas Oil for Children 1.80
Airbrush Nails Set (false nails - fancy design) 1.99
Playstyle Giant Doodle Pack 0.99 (this has to be the biggest bargain - there's a ton of paper, cutouts etc in it!)
A load of other stuff that I can't mention because it's coming to a sister for Christmas but the whole bill came to £18.27 - a bargain!! |
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