Lap of honour

There are some days that when we have finally got both children into bed we feel like running round the house with our arms above our heads like winning olympians, wo don't do this - it is only three bedroom semi and chances are you would stub your toe on a toy tractor or something.
So great that the clocks have gone forward - I also managed my first bike ride in more than a year (was banned from bike riding in pregnancy due to low lying placenta). I had little one jr on the back, felt like I was hauling a elephant behind me which is suprising as he is only on the 25th centile for weight.

This weeks project is window boxes....

Swap shop

Had nearly a whole day without little one sr. today which was odd. We talked on the phone because we missed each other. He was too poorly to go to his friends party so I "represented" him. Got to hang out with the parents and eat pizza. We were discussing childbirth a bit and got to realising two things:-
1. There seems to be some sort of weird thing going on where having you baby with less pain relief is seen as somehow "better" and women who have had assisted births/cesarians are left feeling as if they didn't try hard enough and have not done birth "properly". Birth seems to be seen increasingly as some sort of "experience" which has a value beyond getting a baby out safely.
2. You should never discuss childbirth infront of your mates new boyfriend.
Went to a clothes swap this afternoon, was v. good, I got a new hairdryer, dress, scarf, top that doesn't fit. Am currently considering having my own clothes swap to get rid of top that does not fit and get more stuff. Also have experienced the delights of the home chocolate fountain. Little one had his first chocolate covered strawberry, not sure that Annabelle Karmel would approve.

Ain't no doubt

Well, the rivers of vomit continue but I did go and get a new washer, trying really hard not to mind about the cost - particularly as work have only paid me half a months wages.
Was a bit disappointed when I got home and the husband was lying on the floor and being all moany and poorly. He was genuinely sick but I did have to stop myself from telling him that unless he was dead he could get up and plumb the sodding washer in anyway.
Friend came round last night which was good, I managed to knock up a semi decent Moussaka and have some lager and I feel much more sane today. I was so looking forward to seeing an actual adult that I must have got a bit manic when answering the door, the milkman knocked on just a few minutes before friend and I think I scared him with my big grin and "HI!!!", he just said "£6.38".
Husband is at off work today so I could actually phone people without the kids shouting at me. I phoned three friends who have recently had babies, two were in tears and the other one was slightly hysterical. We ended up discussing Jimmy Nail, she felt she did not hear enough of Jimmy Nail and I recommended that she listen to Radio 2 as his hits are featured suprisingly often.
Altogether now...."she's lying"

Of course she is lying Jimmy, what is a girl meant to say "sorry love, I am leaving you for someone with a smaller nose".

Tea and Toast

Little one sr. is poorly now. Bless him, he is really struggling and can't even hold the calpol down. He is sitting on the big bucket chair at the moment, frowning and chucking out questions like "why does glass break and plastic bend?" and "why can't I use the bleach spray to clean?", he can be a bit leftfield sometimes.
Little one jr. seems very happy to have recovered and is spending lots of time shouting and smiling.
Still haven't got round to planting my new plants, it is raining now and due to the washer still not being fixed I am wearing a mini dress inappropriate for a thursday at home, add poorly child to the mix and doing the gardening is seeming increasingly unlikely.
Back to work in less than two weeks, not sure how I feel about this. Partly some relief at being able to get out a bit more and partly guilt/gut wrench from the kids.
I do like my job, feel lucky to have it but find the system I work in increasingly frustrating. It actually feels like there are systems in place to stop the NHS from working effectively, putting staff in the position where they are squabbling about the boundaries of their own responsibility rather than actually ensuring that the patients receive appropriate and timely treatment.
Currently there is a phrase in use "care in the least restrictive environment", this means "care in the cheapest environment", and is used to encourage you to take "therapeutic risks" which are really just "risks".
I sometimes get the feeling that the job I do should really be done by a doctor, not that the quality of assessment would neccesarily be better (although doctors as a general rule to have a depth and breadth of knowledge that most nurses do not) but because "the management" still have some respect for the medical profession and do not subject them to the same pressure to downplay their assessments. Still despite not always being able to provide a much more than barely adequate service I can still give people in distress tea and thick white buttered toast and that is something that doctors seldom do. Management would probably not approve of the toast, the tea and toast is probably "off message". I keep quiet about the tea and toast.


Oh - and the washer has been condemned....bugger!

Spring

It is flippin gorgeous outside today. The sun is shining, breeze is blowing and there is a fat brown frog sat in the pond beside a bobbly mass of frogspawn.
Little one sr. in a very good mood this morning, telling his Dad off "Daddy you are taking soooo long I don't believe it!". Little one jr. hasn't vomited yet and all is good with the world.

Gifts

Had a funny old week. Little one jr. started vomiting profusely on the journey down to Wales and continued to do so for a couple of days until he was a floppy whimpering mess. We went home in an ambulance - well, we went to hospital in an ambulance and then home in my aunties car.
Our stay in hospital was OK, got the usual impression that the staff were nice, busy and didn't communicate much with each other - or me. Anyway, little one had gastro-enteritus and was very dehydrated. 24hrs and a drip later and he was sat up smiling.
Little one jr. does not seem a whole lot better now he is home and is still not tolerating much in terms of fluids or food - it all comes out again. I went doctor bothering again last night but they think he is doing OK.
Glad it was only a 24hr hospital stay as it was little one sr's birthday yesterday. We celebrated in pirate style with lots of noise and only one bout of tears. Brilliant! He loved his new bike, his globe and a remote control Wall.e.
Anyway little one sr made me smile when he said "poor Ol, all he got was gastro-entiritus".
Had to put this on as it is just ace.

New School

Well, we got our first choice primary school, I was really pleased to find this out but then immediately worried that maybe it was not the right school after all. I do this all the time, I am mental. Anyway, it is good as at least we will not be going to the school we are in the catchment area which is not doing so well. I have spent lots of time reading ofsted reports, visiting schools and thinking about this so yesterday was a BIG day, felt like when I got my GCSE results lots of years ago.
Looking forward to seeing little one sr. in his school uniform.
There are men downstairs putting a new window in for us, one of them is singing "I just can't get enough", if he walks around singing like that I am suprised he gets any.
Very busy today doing the organising for little one sr. b'day party and have to buy him some pressies too. Am also packaging up little one jrs. old stuff to send to other newer little boys. It is lovely to write their names on the parcel and think about a brand new little person.
Was listening to Annie Lennox mess with this old Ash song, felt quite cross with her. I found the proper one and it reminded me of carefree days. Good.

The wrong trousers 2

Managed to lose a chicken on Monday, not an alive chicken, I actually would have been less annoyed about that as they can walk so there is a feasible reason why they should disappear. I bought one of those expensive pre-stuffed supermarket chickens as a treat for husbands birthday and I swear I bought it into the house but I can't find it, bloddy expensive too, bugger.
Husband had a good birthday having managed to justify the procurement of more expensive geek stuff to play with.
Boys well, Little one sr. kicking my arse as usual, he actually said "don't tell me anything mummy, I already know all the stuff", great to know he has a good attitude to learning from others. Am concerned about how the teenage years will go.
Am currently obsessed with the whole Julie Myerson thing, very funny - imagine writing a book about your son being violent, thieving, drug pushing scum and then going on Newsnight looking really fey and suprised about the fuss. Was watching her interview with Mr Paxman thinking maybe it wasn't the skunk, maybe he is just a bit of a sod and maybe you just pecked his head too much and maybe if I had to live with you I would punch you so hard I perforated your eardrums too.
Cress heads now afrotastic, have also planted up the chillis, tomatoes and flowers in the green house, dug the borders and chucked a load of chicken poo on the veg beds.

The wrong trousers

I think we are all better now, very dramatic tummy bug that totalled everyone except me - not sure if I have some sort of uber-immunity or whether it is just that I am the only one who washes their hands after going to the loo.
The cress heads are growing well as is the little nephew. My sister seems to have taken to motherhood well and I am getting misty eyed remembering the first few days and weeks of being a Mum. I remember going into labour on a fairly grey day and coming out a week later to masses of daffodils and cherry blossom, I was very over emotional and cried when my husband told me that he had seen a baby lamb that was bigger than little one sr. I was so bowled over with the sweetness of it all, if I could go back to speak to myself then I would probably tell myself to belt up and stockpile gin.
Husbands birthday tomorrow, have bought some nice stuff for him, I went shopping without little one sr. who was really unhelpful when I was choosing husbands christmas presents "No mummy, put that back, he wants a blu-ray player".
Am going to attempt to do some useful practical stuff today, however am wearing best jeans and others not clean so not sure whether to do gardening or not. Think I have possibly now discovered most facile ever excuse "I was unable to do the housework as I am dressed too nicely". Am beginning to suspect that Mrs Beckham has a plan.....

Missing friends

All the boys have been poorly, little one sr. became ill on his way home from nursery, he asked me if there was anything in the car he could be sick into, I thought he was being silly so took the hat off his head and handed it to him - he filled it brim full.
A few hours later the husband came home and was very sick too.
Little one jr. continued to be sick.
Sick ahoy, husband and little one sr. had matching buckets and towels, it was pretty nasty and smelled awful. I hid downstairs with little one jr who was recovering nicely - had a microwave meal and watched Prime Suspect.
I am unaffected by this gastric hell and am pretty amused by the stoicism of the children and the whimpering of my husband.
Anyway, I missed a couple more nights out which is not good, was hoping to get to the dog racing and see some old friends tonight - it has been a year since I last saw them and I am beginning to realise that at some point the invitations will dry up.
Did manage to do the cress heads though

All hail

Up at 5am today when little one jrs morning shouts became a bit more distressed and gurgly than usual, poor thing was covered in sick. It was orange with small chunks and remarkably similar to the "Heinz baby pork and mango casserole" that I spooned into him last night. He followed this with some pretty nasty looking diarrohoea, poor lamb was in such a state, I didn't know whether to give him a big cuddle or scrub him with vim.
He continued to throw up and spray poo for most of the day but being a stoical little thing he kept smiling. Little one sr. helped with his nursing care "quick mummy, I think he pooed on his face again, wipe him, wipe him" but it all got a bit smelly and he was reduced to hiding in the next room and shouting "get well soon" as loud as he could.
Todays swimming lesson went well in that there were no nail marks in the swimming teacher. We were also in the happy situation of telling the reception lady how lovely the swim teacher was when she told us it was her daughter and she was really proud of her, bless!
Apart from that we went to the hills as it appeared to be snowing up there and it was, not proper snow but great big icy hail stones, we sat in the car dancing to Kanye and listening to the hail. We came back down after and it was sunny enough to go out and plant some nastirtiums.
Cress heads tomorrow!

Achievements

My new nephew is three days old now and apparently just lovely, my sister sounds very happy with him but with all the usual shell shock of the new parent.
I still have the shell shock and little one sr. is four soon.
Still feeling a bit down today, I meant to do stuff and achieve things but the reality is that my auntie came round, then it was nursery pick up, dinner, feeding of the little one jr. and bugger me if it isn't half past three. Am now wondering if driving to Sainsburys to buy a packet of my favourite biscuits (triple chocolate cookies) counts as an acheivement or not.

Golden boy

My sister had her baby last night, she had him at home and although it did hurt a lot it was not at all like having her leg cut off. She is very happy and feeling deservedly proud of herself and her newborn son.