18/01/2012 by stupidgirl_no1.

Still being naughty and not blogging much so thought I could share the letter I sent with Christmas cards as a bit of a round up of last year (may edit it a bit to allow for public consumption):

So 2011, what have you been to me?  Great in the main – or is that just my family that’s great?!  I’m still loving being a Mum although I can’t believe Owen is 2 already.  He’s fascinating right now as he learns new words and meets new things “oooh what’s that?”.  He is super cute and awesomely intelligent (not that I’m biased at all obviously.)  The other day I counted to 5 and then he said “6, 7”.  Of course show him 2 or more of something and its “2” or “more 2” – yes, he’s still learning!  Obsessions seem to be: “heigh ho” – that’s anything to do with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves; “yo ho me” – that’s pirates and his shortened version of the song “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life For Me)”; “buk buk egg” – chickens say, so are called, buk buk and he loves collecting their eggs when I take him to Creagan to see his doting Grandparents; and, usually linked to his Dad and Grandda “football” – he could kick and dribble a ball long before he could talk very well.  One thing I hadn’t expected to come with being a parent is the amazing feeling when you watch your husband, parents and in-laws with your wee one and see the effect they have on each other, it overawes me frequently.

Bryan’s brother Lee is still living with us – we even had his 4 kids visit for a while in the summer which was ace.  Owen didn’t sleep very well as he was so excited to see his cousins but they helped with him so it worked out fine – and it was lovely to get some quality time with them.  Lee now has Access Rights sorted but its not easy as they moved to Hastings earlier in the year.

Bryan’s work took on a big new contract so he’s been working hard on that, whilst mine has continued to provide me with a varied and enjoyable social life all in the name of “work”.  I even got a bus trip to Pitlochry Festival Theatre to have lunch and see My Fair Lady in September.  It was so fab I got my parents tickets for their birthdays and they loved it too. 

I can now strike “Join a Committee” off my bucket list.  I have attended meetings in London and Birmingham accordingly and met some lovely people.  I’ve even written an article for a professional journal so may soon be a “published writer” as well.

For the first time since our honeymoon Bryan suggested we have a “summer holiday” together this year.  Given the choice of the whole world…I booked us a week in Carnoustie (east coast of Scotland!).  We had an ace time, with Owen and I making full use of the pool.  We had trips to St Andrews Aquarium, Camperdown Wildlife Park in Dundee, Carnoustie beach, Arbroath beach (and cool miniature railway!) and Brechin Castle centre where they have those huge bouncy pillow things.  And the best bit was…Bryan talked about “our next holiday” – hurrah!

I have toned down my concert going somewhat but still managed: The Script, McFly, The View, Take That, Noah and the Whale, Katy Perry, Bryan Adams and Kasabian.  Theatre wise I saw: Cinderella by Scottish Ballet, History Boys, Avenue Q, Jekyll and Hyde, Sleepless in Seaton (local student show), Thriller, My Fair Lady, Flying Pigs doing The Silence of the Bams and I went to 2 fashion shows!  I also had a lovely couple of weekends away with my “gal pals”, one on Loch Tay and one near St Andrews.  Whilst I was out gallivanting Bryan obviously had some bonding time with Owen – and dedicated a few hours to his Xbox and Playstation addictions. 

As a family we went to see Beauty and The Beast (darling Owen was good as gold for the whole 3 hours in the theatre!) and Disney on Ice – which was amazing.  Other things we did as a family were to take Owen to Edinburgh zoo, a Baby Boogie in a nightclub (actually Daddy didn’t make that one for some reason…), a ride on a steam train made up to look like Thomas the Tank Engine, a steam fair (“tractor” was one of Owen’s first distinguishable words!), a farm open day when we got to sit in a tractor and a combine harvester (not sure who enjoyed that more, him or me!), Christmas tree light turning on carol service, and we went to Blair Drummond safari park with my parents on Dad’s 60th birthday.  Yes, that’s Dad joined Mum in the OAP bracket now – scary!

Health wise the boys are good.  Owen was at the hospital again about his eye, he was born with an underdeveloped tear duct and we’ve been keeping an eye on it but it was deemed unworthy of putting him through an operation, thankfully.  It seems to have got better since then too so hopefully we’ll just be able to cancel next year’s appointment when it comes and forget all about it!  I am finally happy about my weight and body – not something I expected to happen after having a baby, but something I am doing my best to enjoy to the full.  I even wore a mini skirt recently – and I bought shorts this summer!  I’ve had some health issues but it’s nothing unusual after giving birth and getting older apparently! 

Talking of birth – Bryan’s cousin Ray and his wife Nicole now have a boy and a girl – perfect set.  I’ve managed to have a few lovely baby cuddles with Maya – and its ace watching Lucas and Owen interacting with each other. 

Hope this finds you and yours well, and that any 2011 was good to you too.

Posted in family, body issues, Trips out, General waffle | 1 Comment »

01/01/2011 by stupidgirl_no1.

Okay, so I have totally stolen this idea from someone else but his is cool so I wanted to copy him.  Someone posted a link to his blog post on Twitter and I liked it so decided to nick the idea, but I’m so rude I also forgot who posted the link and where the blog post was.  If someone would like to remind me I will give full credit, but in the mean time - here is my year in 10 photos. 

First off I would like to say that although this sounds like a great idea, its actually a really hard thing to do!  Especially when (a) you take as many photos as I do and (b) your husband says you’re allowed a maximum of 2 of your beloved baby Owen around whom your life revolves.  I was tempted to cheat and use photos of things to do with Owen but not of Owen (ie his report card from nursery the day he took his first unaided steps there) but I knew that was cheating so I have tried not to do that.  Although I’m not promising his name won’t appear in my reasons for choosing certain photos, but this is my blog and I’ll bend the rules if I want to!  I was going to do the photos in chronological order but I think as I’ve just used the O word several times we’ll start with him and take it from there!

Photo 1 - Owen!  Yes this year my life revolved very much around this little chap.  I had the first 6 months off work on maternity leave to look after him and try and work out this being a Mum thing.  I’ve had an amazing time watching him grow and develop: from the first tooth, to the first time he stood up clutching at the coffee table, to his first toddle.  He started nursery in June and loves it, he started solid food in March and loves it even more!  He can now give hugs and kisses, put things in the bin, stroke the cats nicely, say a few words, shake/nod his head meaning no/yes, say “uh-oh” when he does something naughty (so hard to keep a straight face) and he loves books.  He sleeps well most of the time, smiles a lot and is generally amazing and wonderful.  Everyone told me that a baby changes your life and that idea used to scare me but I’m glad I came round to it as the love you have for your own wee person is just phenomenal, and the resulting deeper love you have for the man that made it possible and is there by your side through it all is just about as fantastic.  I think the other important “parenting” lesson I’ve learnt is that there is no right way.  Every baby and parent and situation is different and once you accept that life gets a lot easier.  Online social networking sites are great in this as well, I met some fab Mums when Owen and I were on maternity leave and able to go to things like Kids & Co and Mainly Music groups at the church but once I went back to work I didn’t have the chance to do these things.  However I had added several of the Mums as friends on Facebookand now I can keep in touch with all the lovely ladies, and get advice on things from time to time from them or other parents I’ve met online.  So hurrah for all my Twitter and Facebook buddies - thank you!

I picked this particular photo as it was an idea I nicked (yes I do that a lot, sorry!) from a free PixiFotophoto shoot at Mothercare, so as well as being of the wee man it signifies all the free stuff you can get when you have a baby: from the benefits the government give you, to the things like Bounty packs of “useful items” they hope you’ll then buy lots of (well done Petit Filous, that worked with us!).  Also the building blocks were borrowed from Lucas, Ray and Nicole’s little boy.  Borrowing his stuff is also something we do a lot, and something we really appreciate.  Babies grow out of clothes and toys so quickly so being able to use someone else’s is a wonderful thing.  Lucas lends us lots of his things and its wonderful to have access to his “cast offs”!  We are also very lucky in having fab friends and neighbours who pass us lots of toys and clothes as well, save us a fortune!  And once we’ve finished with them we can pass them onto one of our friends with a smaller baby and save them money too.

Anyway, enough about Owen, there must be more to life…?!

Photo 2 - my parents, the proud Grandparents!  This photo was taken in February when Owen (oops did I mention him again?!) and I went and spent a week with my parents.  We had a lovely holiday: going to Auchingarrich Wildlife Park and stroking various animals, going to Loch Katrine for a walk, going to a local fete so Mum could show off her grandson to the locals, just chilling out and smiling at Owen!  The best bit was that my parents weren’t working, they were able to just enjoy themselves and our company.  So nice to see them out the house doing “normal” things.

As for the guinea pig, well a certain young man loves animals and points whenever we are out for a walk and see a dog.  He can make a Woof noise and the other day was looking at a pig picture and Oinked!  Bless him! 

But yes, grandparents.  Mine will only have one grandchild as I am an only child and so will Owen be, so it was predicted they might be a bit doting, which they seem to be fulfilling nicely!  Bryan’s Mum unfortunately died at Easter due to a brain tumour, so Owen only met her once before going to her funeral and sadly won’t remember her.  Although he does see photos of her regularly so won’t forget her any more than the rest of us.  Bryan’s Dad and his wife Sasina see Owen fairly regularly and every time he seems to get a present as well as lots of cuddles - so obviously Reg hasn’t tired of grandchildren even though Owen is his fifth!

Photo 3 - food!  As anyone who follows my flickr page knows, I occasionally photograph nice food before I eat it.  This is partly due to my intense love of food and partly due to participating in an online group collecting photos of food (good excuse I thought!).  Anyway I chose this photo to represent the ones I’ve taken in the past year as it was tasty, pretty, and made by my own pet chef Bryan!  This year he has made some yummy things (I particularly liked when he went through a phase of trying to make the perfect chocolate cake) and his kitchen talents have grown somewhat.  I am happily taste testing anything he passes in my direction. 

So that takes me to another hidden meaning behind a photo - its ironic given Bryan’s developing cooking skills that 2010 should be the year that I finally make it down under 10 stone.  I think I’ve hated my weight since my early teens and had several issues to go with that along the way.  Today I’m not toying with making a New Year Resolution to myself to loose weight, for the first time in a long time.  Its such a lovely feeling.  As is standing on the scales any morning I want and them not hitting double figures.  As to how I managed this, well, I’m not sure!  I’d got down to 10 stone 4 before getting pregnant with Owen and I lost most of the pregnancy weight through birth and breastfeeding, as you do with first babies.  Then I think its been a combination of trying to juggle work, housework and mothering - just carrying around a 2 stone little boy is good exercise never mind the fact you are always on the go.  Think the main thing was some of the germs he brought me home from nursery though - one week I had a sickness bug, two weeks later diarrhea and then three weeks after that we all had the winter vomiting virus.  Just the last one made me loose 3 pounds overnight!!  Anyway, however it happened I love it - just need to get sale shopping for some new clothes as my size 14 wardrobe just hangs off me now  *cheesy grin*!  The day of the AGM at work I realised my trousers were actually indecent so I had to run to M&S at lunchtime and buy some size 12 trousers ready for the meeting that evening!

Photo 4 - friends!  This group is the majority of the Hillside Posse who we lived with in Edinburgh when we went to visit in May, Ray and Nicole being the other couple that came out of that flat share.  We miss all our friends from Edinburgh now we live in Aberdeen and we didn’t manage to see these ones much in 2010 unfortunately.  We did however have a lovely weekend with them at Creagan in November when my parents went on holiday and asked us to house-sit.  Nice getting to use a hotel as self catering!  And Bryan had quite a fun time in the big kitchen too - we had a lovely 3 course dinner on the Friday night!  During the weekend we also found out that Iain and Laura were giving Rose a new brother or sister in June (ish).  Lovely news!  We’re obviously “that age”, most of our friends have or are having babies and a few joined the crowd in 2010 - including two sets of twins, one to my cousin Dave and his wife Bec and the other set to my friend Tony and his wife.  Unfortunately I still haven’t met either set but I have seen lots of photos!

Photo 5 - Brighton carousel!  In June I had to go back to work after maternity leave.  I managed to organise it that my first day back at work I was actually at a conference in Brighton.  The downside was that after spending all my time with Owen I was going to be away from him for several days, the upside was that I have several Twitter friends and they were lovely enough to agree to having a night out on the Saturday night as my conference finished at lunchtime.  It meant staying away from Owen an extra night, but I knew he’d be fine with Daddy!  It was actually a good way of going “cold turkey” from him ready to go to work the following week, leaving him at nursery for eight hours was nothing!  The conference was also shock treatment to get my brain working again ready for thinking of Society matters rather than mushy banana and dirty nappies!  The night out with Twitter folks was great fun and proved that it is possible to meet some lovely people online, some of them I’d been speaking to for over a year so I was quite sure I knew them well enough to know they weren’t the stereotypical axe wielding maniacs your Dad warned you about meeting online!

Oh, and I went on the carousel on Brighton beach with Law Librarian friends during the day and Twitter folks in the evening.  I do love carousels after all!

Photo 6 - T in the Park / Mumford and Sons!  Being a terrible mother, obviously, I left Owen with his Dad for another weekend in July and went to my beloved T in the Park music festival with my chum Lydia.  We had perfect accommodation as my poor cousin hadn’t sold her flat and was kind enough to let us use it so we had showers and a kettle - much better than the campsite in the muddy field with all the drunken folks!  It was the only concert I attended in 2010 which is a big weird for me (I’ve got 3 tickets so far for 2011 so don’t cry for me) but it was fab.  Especially Mumford and Sons, as shown, think Bryan and I have almost worn out their CD as we listen to it so much.

Photo 7 - abandoned stuff!  Again, if you follow my flickr pages you will have seen various pictures of random abandoned items.  You may have thought “what is she up to?”.  Or you may be @sianz or @special_noodles and know that I am just trying to be a bit creative and have been inspired by your work!  It’s amazing seeing what people leave lying around - and what they throw out, and sometimes these things can make quite cool photos, nice change from fluffy kittens and chubby babies anyway.  Also, it makes you walk around with your eyes wide open, you never know where you might see the next thing for the collection - makes walking to work far more interesting!

Photo 8 - weekend with Jennie!  Ah yes, so I left Owen with Daddy - again!  This time I had a weekend in Edinburgh with my chum Jennie.  Saturday was shopping all day - with a lunch break to meet up with our friends Lorna and David…and then a pub break to meet up with Kieron and Lyndsay (from photo 4!)..and then back to the shops again.  Then we took Lorna home, got her dolled up and went back to Jennie’s and we got dolled up before we hit George Street (for a while anyway, shopping is tiring!).  Was nice to just chill out and be girly. 

Jennie and I made a pact when we left Edinburgh that we would try to see each other every 3 months, obviously that’s not always possible but we do what we can!  She was in Brighton for the night out as well and we spent the Sunday together afterwards, but usually we take it in turns to visit each other.  Poor lass, one time she was up she ended up hoovering my entire house for me and another I was ill so she ended up just sending me back to bed every time I surfaced.  Hopefully in 2011 I can be as fabby a friend to her as she has been to me in 2010..if she dares see me again that is!

Photo 9 - my lovely Robertson boys!  Okay so Benson and the one who’s name starts with O whom I’m not to mention too much aren’t in this photo but my year has been very much about this lot of chaps.  Obviously Bryan is my hubby and I love him very much and I think this has grown somewhat over the past year watching him with our son.  George and Benson have been our cats for almost 4 years now and are very much part of the family, they are ace with Owen and very accepting of all they have to put up with from him.  Lee has always been Bryan’s brother (obviously!) but the last couple of months he’s been staying with us and we’ve been enjoying having him around and having the chance to get to know him better.  I also love it when he brings my nieces and nephews to visit - they were one of the main reasons we moved up here after all, we’re just hopeless at arranging to go visiting ourselves so this way we can be our usual lazy selves but still get to see them all!  Boxing Day was lovely as Lee and the kids were here, as were Reg and Sasina, and we all swapped gifts and then played with all the toys all afternoon - just what Christmas is about!

Growing up in a hotel I feel more comfortable with a fully loaded sofa, and when its with such lovely chaps one can’t help but thank one’s lucky stars.

And so to my last photo of 2010, which just has to be of…

Photo 10 - snow!  Yes 2010 has definitely been the year for snow, I think we had it up to March and then it came back in November and stayed.  I don’t know anyone who was left “dreaming of a white Christmas” and I think I was one of the only ones that was genuinely sad when it thawed.  I almost got upset about it when it looked like I wouldn’t see my parents for Christmas but then Dad phoned and said they could come to us as we couldn’t risk being stuck in a snow drift with a baby in the car, so they came up on 23rd and spent Christmas Eve with Owen and I.  We did our present giving in the morning before Bryan went to work so it meant we got pressies early too - woohoo!! 

This photo was taken from the house on Boxing Day morning as the sun was rising in gorgeous colours.  Aberdeen gets some gorgeous sun rises it must be said, another reason why I love it.  I also love the area where we live, happy surburban life so this photo signifies that as well.

So that’s it, my 2010 in 10 photos (with apologies if I mentioned Owen too often…oops, I just did it again didn’t I…?!).  I kinda feel there should have been a photo of my beloved iPhone4, without which my 2010 would not have contained as much photography or social networking, and it would have been a sad, sad place…

Posted in Photography, Baby!, body issues, Trips out | 1 Comment »

07/12/2010 by stupidgirl_no1.

Well that’s Owen walking now, video proof here.  He’s so cute about it, been building up to more and more steps unaided but sometimes still needs a finger to hold onto.  Not a whole hand, just a finger, he is a big boy after all!  On Saturday Bryan and I spent quite some time at opposite sides of the lounge going “come give me a hug Owen” and he toddled from one to the other of us, hugged us and then walked to the next person and hugged them.  So cute, I had a lump in my throat a couple of times.  Oh and he can do kisses now, sticks his lips out as far as he can - unless he’s blowing a kiss in which case he whacks himself in the face (see video of this too!).

Owen now has 6 teeth, 4 up top and 2 down bottom and likes all sorts of different foods.  Give him a whole apple and he’s happy for ages…and the lounge gets littered with bits of reguritated apple skin!!  Generally he eats well, and anything we give him.  There are favourites - such as banana, blueberries, chocolate buttons (yes he’s mine!) and haggis!  When he first discovered lasagne and garlic bread he literally giggled with delight through the entire meal.  He no longer has bottles, although he still has some milk before bed but just normal cow’s milk, we’ve finished with that super-expensive, annoying to make formula stuff!

Trying to think what other major developments I should report on..  He says Da, Ta, Ma and versions of Duck, Cat and Tractor.  The other day his Uncle Lee spotted that he’d said Tractor with a Devon accent - no idea where he got that from… (for those who don’t know I was born in Devon and lived there till I was 8 which is where my love of tractors came from.  Owen has a John Deere calender in his room which one of my Twitter friends gave me and the first time he said tractor was when we were changing it to November and seeing what the new picture was.  Proud moment, and luckily Dad heard it from the next room so it was verified!). 

Owen does some cool things, like tonight it got past 7pm and suddenly he just crawled to the bottom of the stairs, waited for me to follow him, then went up the stairs, into his room (once I opened the door) and stood up next to his cot.  Yes Mummy, bed time now.  Bless him!  He has ways of making you do what he wants, like when he brings you a book and then turns round and sits on your lap - or if you’re not on the floor stands between your legs and reaches up the way so you pick him up.  A lot of the time he points at things he wants - like the bubble machine in the bath, he loves baths and bubbles.  He does sometimes cry if he doesn’t get what he wants, can understand how kids become spoilt brats as giving them what they want shuts them up but we try not to give in too often - especially if the cheeky brat points at my chocolate!!  Generally though he’s a happy, smily wee guy.  The other morning he woke up giggling and kept giggling whilst we got up and ready for nursery.  Oh and nursery, he loves nursery and the ladies that look after him.  The other night with all the snow we offered one of the ladies a lift home and he was sooooo delighted that she was getting in his car, just giggled and smiled.  So nice to know he’s happy there, much easier to leave him in the morning when he’s all excited to be there and see all his wee friends.

We had a long weekend booked last weekend to go to Edinburgh and attend 2 birthday parties of our friends (a 3rd birthday and a 31st!).  Unfortunately with all the snow we decided it was best not to go.  I grabbed the chance to take Owen to Codona’s Winter Wonderland so he could meet Santa.  Good time to go too on the Friday as there was hardly anyone there so we could take our time and let him have the chance to examine things in his careful considering way.  Not that Santa got any smiles, it must be said.  But once we moved through to see the reindeer there were huge smiles - and would he let go of his present?  Nope!  He didn’t open it either, just gripped it in front of him as if his life depended on it.  Was a bit of a mission getting his snow suit back on and getting him in and out of his car seat to go home!! 

As for us, well we’re fine.  We’ve both had various bugs and stuff that comes from having a wee one at nursery but we’re coping!  I’ve benefitted indeed, as I finally lost the weight I always wanted to and am less than 10 stone (for possibly the first time since I was in my early teens!).  Not sure I enjoyed the sickness bug, diarrea bug, winter vomiting bug etc etc that got me here but at least they all had a silver lining!

Last month we had a week off work, which was lovely.  My parents were on holiday in South Carolina so we went and housesat their house.  Nice to get away for a bit, and it gave me the chance to see some pals and Bryan the chance to play in the big kitchen! 

The added benefit of parents owning a hotel is that we could have some friends to stay whilst we were there, so we’d invited all our Hillside buddies for the weekend.  Bryan cooked us a 3 course meal ready for their arrival on the Friday night and I laid up the Baronial dining room, so once the kids went to bed we all had a yummy dinner.  We also indulged in cooked breakfasts both mornings, naughty but nice!  On the Saturday night Bryan had help in the kitchen, all we could hear was Kieron yelling “yes chef”, “right away chef”, “is this how you want it chef”, in his role of commis!

Anyway, must get to bed, Owen doesn’t always manage to sleep quite as long as we’d like and I can’t cope with 6am starts if I’m late to bed!  Hope that’s brought you up to date with us a wee bit though, couldn’t miss blogging that our baby is officially a toddler now though could I?!

Posted in Baby!, body issues, Trips out, General waffle | 1 Comment »

26/08/2010 by stupidgirl_no1.

So this morning I watched Bryan get a vasectomy.  I was planning on sitting in the waiting room and doing the dutiful wife thing of driving him home but then the doctor said “come on in, its a once in a lifetime opportunity” and it seemed rude not to go.  I did check with Bryan that he was okay about it, and I did stay at the head end - same as he did at the birth!  Still saw quite a lot though, most interesting!  Togetherness is a wonderful thing.

I did manage to resist saying “sucks to be you” as the doctor went snip snip.  This is one of the helpful things Bryan said to me after about 2 hours of trying to push our big baby out, so it seemed only fair to say it to him.  My time might come now the anesthetic has worn off of course.  And we both knew I was thinking it - in a caring way obviously!

It was really rather interesting watching them at work, I don’t like blood and stuff but coped quite well - and Bryan was a Big Brave Boy and coped very well.  Considering I just had to sit on a stool it was quite nice of him to check if I was feeling faint at all part way through!

Anyway that’s that done.  I did drive him home afterwards, stopping off at Asda for a ton of painkillers and a Kinder Egg.  That’ll take care of him.  The nurse told us that Bryan shouldn’t bounce Owen on his knee for the next couple of days, and the doctor added that no one should bounce on his knee tonight, so I will be in charge of Owen for a wee while - at least I have the car today so can drive him home instead of having to try and amuse him on the bus, much easier!

I just phoned Bryan to check how he’s getting on and he’s lying on the sofa playing PS3 or XBox so I think he’s going to make it through today.

What a relief I feel though.  I know you have to wait till its confirmed that its worked and stuff but just knowing that we’re nearer to being safe and sound is a lovely feeling.  Felt quite bad when I was grinning estatically when we popped by his work to collect the laptop so he could work from home if needed.  I have been stressing about getting pregnant again though, just can’t face it all again.  And Owen is such a perfect little boy I couldn’t want for more even if I tried.  I love my family, just the way it is.  Togetherness is a wonderful thing.

Posted in body issues | 5 Comments »

12/08/2010 by stupidgirl_no1.

As you will know if you read my blog much, I don’t keep things secret much.  Only when there’s a really good reason - or of course if its someone else’s secret that isn’t mine to tell.  Anyway there’s something I’ve not blogged about and for ages we didn’t tell anyone but now I’m fed up of trying to remember who I’ve told and not told.  Also, I’m past being upset by talking about it and I don’t see the point in keeping it to ourselves anymore.

So I’m gonna tell you and then its done.  I don’t need responses or replies, I just need to unleash the secret so its not weighing on my mind anymore and making me feel guilty I haven’t told people.  Especially my Twitter friends who have been so fab and wonderful over the past couple of years since I met them.

Its not a nice or happy secret, so if you’re reading in great intregue or excitement, please stop now.  Its just one of those things that happen and it happened to us and at the time we couldn’t tell folk.

Anyway here it is - I was actually pregnant 3 times. 

Some people asked why we were taking so long getting pregnant - well we weren’t, we just didn’t manage to hold onto the first 2.  We lost both little beans about the 7 or 8 week point so they had not yet become much more than the size of a bean.  The first time I think my body just didn’t know what to do, the second time I think I got pregnant far too fast after the first time (when I asked the doctor when we should start again after the first one his answer was “when you get home”). 

The second time it happened Bryan and I looked at each other and declared “third time lucky”.  We then enjoyed Christmas and New Year before trying again.  Owen is our third time lucky baby and the moment I saw him I knew everything before had happened for the perfect reason of bringing the wonder of him into our lives.  I will never forget those 2 little ones I never got to meet but I will also never regret that Owen was the one that stuck in there!

Anyway I won’t go into details of what happened and how and when and stuff.  If anyone wants to ask me about it I really don’t mind, miscarriage is a statistically common thing in the first 12 weeks which we had been warned about by a kind friend.  But that’s why I was so happy when I finally got to tell people!  It also explains the hidden bit behind this blog post.  We’d had about 26 weeks of pregnancy before we could tell anyone that we were 12 weeks pregnant.  And that’s part of why Owen will be an only child.  We can’t go through all that again, I’m just so glad I had Bryan beside me all the way through, he was amazing.  I’m so lucky to have him and Owen and I’ll never forget that.

So there you go, secret no more.

Posted in Baby!, body issues | 1 Comment »

30/07/2010 by stupidgirl_no1.

Poor wee Owen.  As if a throat and ear infection isn’t enough to cope with, Mummy then decided that his favourite comforter was too germ ridden and needed a wash.  And then had the gall to try and put him to bed without it!  You what?!

Bunny Babbit is usually in Owen’s cot and is usually cuddled as he goes to sleep.  Last night though, he was in the washing machine getting dizzy and I felt like such an awful Mummy watching Owen searching his cot for him.  No matter how many other teddies I gave him, the crying continued until finally he managed to get to sleep.  Normally we put Owen in his cot and he may gurn for a wee minute but that’s it, last night he was crying like the world was ending.  It wasn’t enjoyable!

Tonight it didn’t take as long, although he was obviously looking for Babbity.  I think it helped that he decided he wanted to go find Daddy who was upstairs so climbed the entire staircase!  I was close behind him but he managed the whole of the stairs on his own - must have helped tire him out!

Health wise, he is definately getting over his infection.  Seems a lot happier.  However, I did have to give a parental signature today for his first Accident Report at nursery.  Poor wee chap!  He and one of the wee ones both wanted the same toy, and it ended up giving him a wee cut on his chin as they fought over it.  Apparently he hardly cried about it but it was bleeding for a wee while.  I’m quite glad I missed his first blood - not an essential “first” to be part of!  I probably would have cried more than he did!!  Talking of nursery, it was so sweet when I went in with him this morning.  3 of the wee ones came over to the door to say hello to him and one wee girl even brought him a yellow ball, was so sweet!!  He did look like he might cry when I was leaving though - makes such mixed emotions, you don’t want them to be unhappy but you do like that they want you with them!  He did look pleased when I collected him tonight, started waving at me with a huge grin as soon as he saw me!  He’s just mastering waving as a concept so every wave seems special!  As we got home we had a chat to one of the neighbours and as she was saying goodbye to him he did a 2 handed wave, which I hadn’t seen him do before, it was really cute!!  It may have been his wave of approving her suggestion that she babysit for us sometime - at least I may persuade myself of that now that the new A Team movie is out….oooooh!

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28/07/2010 by stupidgirl_no1.

I think I blogged yesterday during Owen’s afternoon nap.  Normally he naps for up to an hour, morning and afternoon.  Yesterday it was 1.5 hours in the morning, and 2 (that’s TWO!) hours in the afternoon!  If I hadn’t been distracted by someone threatening me with legal action, which was all a bit disturbing and upsetting, I might have been a bit panic stricken.  However sleep is often the best cure and he did wake up with a smile and seem a lot better for it.

He slept well last night as well, except a bit of gurning about 4am.  A couple of times I nearly went through with his sugar free paracetamol but then he went quiet again, so I just left it.  I don’t think we were awake longer than half an hour.  After our day off I’d apparently forgotten to set my alarm clock, so it was very kind of him to wake up 2 minutes before it normally goes off - and then to go back to sleep whilst I had my shower and breakfast.  Bless him, he’s so well trained and knows our routine so well!  When I went in to get him up he seemed his usual self, smiling and happy.  He’s not quite back to normal but there was no crying this morning, until we got to nursery and I went to leave.  Apparently he wasn’t too much extra trouble at nursery, just a bit sensitive and wanted extra attention.  Quite understandable for a wee sickboy really!

On the bus home he was charming ladies, young and old with his smiles, and I think there were even a couple of waves (waving is still a new and not quite mastered skill).  I was sat next to a bearded man who was saying hello to him - well I think Owen grabbed at him, as he’s prone to do.  Anyone sat near us is obviously there for his entertainment.  Anyway part way up the road the man took Owen’s hand and rubbed it on his beard.  Owen looked rather unsure, so he did it again.  We then got the most hilarious facial expressions - it was as if he was smiling and grimacing at once, in the most adorable way.  He would move away and then reach up for another touch of it and the face would appear again.  Most of the people on the bus, well at the front as it was a bendy bus, were laughing at him as well.  It really was quite hilarious - and it was lovely afterwards as well as several people said goodbye to Owen as they got off the bus - and he loves attention and being waved at.  Quite a tonic for me too after a stressful few days!

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27/07/2010 by stupidgirl_no1.

So Owen is ill.  I mentioned at the weekend that he wasn’t quite right.  We thought it was just teething as he does now have 4 teeth.  But no, yesterday I had the first phone call from the nursery.  They were asking if they could give him sugar free paracetamol, which I of course agreed to.  When I collected him Angela said even the other children were giving him funny looks as they are not used to him crying.  The medicine had helped but he was certainly not himself.

Usually on the bus he’s standing on my lap, watching and smiling at everyone and everything, this time he just sat on my lap and did the sleeping with his eyes open thing.  No one got smiles.  We got into the house and I put him on the floor to take his jacket and shoes off - usually this is when he shoots off to play with toys.  Nope, just sat there and looked sad.  Poor teething baby I thought and made his dinner.  He cried through much of that.  Daddy took him for his bath whilst I popped to Asda to get some more sugar free paracetamol from the Minor Ailments Service so we could take a bottle to nursery.  When I came home they were obviously still bathing Owen.  Then when Bryan lifted him out he started crying.  It seemed that picking him up hurt, and he seemed to be reluctant to move his right hand.  We took him downstairs and tried to get him to crawl.  Nothing.  Right, that’s just not right, time to phone the doctor.  I really love NHS 24, I wish we never had to use it but they are so lovely and helpful - well apart from when I mentioned his arm and there were questions about trauma and I could tell they thought we’d abused him and hurt his arm.  Yikes.  I was told we had to see a doctor that night, which I was actually quite relieved by as Owen was obviously in a lot of discomfort.  They phoned us back with an appointment at G Docs, the out of hours clinic, at 8.10pm.  So off we all trundled, Owen in his PJs wondering why we were in the car at bedtime.

The doctor gave him a through examination and declared he had a ear and throat infection.  The arm thing must just be that achy feeling you get with flu, think we all know how rotten that feels, poor wee mite.  The really interesting thing she told us is that when a baby is ill it often regresses back a step so because crawling is a new thing to Owen he will have stopped doing it as he’s ill, not necessarily because it hurts to lean on his arm as we were afraid it seemed to be.

She gave us a prescription and told us we had 15 minutes to get to Sainsburys before the pharmacist shut - off we raced.  Got there in time - and they didn’t have any of the stuff we needed!  DOH!  They also told us all pharmacists in Aberdeen shut at 9pm.  Drat.  Owen was so tired with it being 2 hours past bedtime that he was asleep before I got back to the car in a strop.  So we went home and put him to bed, when he woke up gurning near bedtime we gave him some sugar free paracetamol - and he slept right through till 7.45!  Bless him!

I arranged to be off work today once he was in bed and arranged with Bryan that one of us would go to Asda pharmacy at 8am and get his prescription before Bryan went to work.  Sorted.  Until I got to Asda and the pharmacy opened at 9, I’m sure it said 8 on the website!  Grrr!

At least it gave Owen and I a reason to go for a walk and get him some fresh air, maybe not ideal to do before his breakfast but he napped most of the way there and back so it was fine.  Today mostly he has napped, eaten, and of course, taken drugs. 

He does seem to be quite a bit better already, when I phoned nursery this morning they said usually 2 doses of the medication is all it takes for them to bounce back so I’m hoping when he wakes up from the current afternoon nap he will be feeling quite a bit better.  His naps have certainly been longer than normal today so I’ve managed to answer work emails and do some household chores.

Fingers crossed we’re through the worst of it.  Its horrid watching your wee one suffer and not being able to “fix it”.  Listening to an album of Disney songs on Spotify has helped, I even let him watch a bit of TV as sitting still seems to be his favourite thing.  The cats have been giving him attention too which is nice and has made him smile a couple of times.  They have each had a good brush during his naps so they seem quite chuffed I’m off work, George is curled up asleep beside me now, I did wonder if they missed me now my maternity leave is over.  Expect they like the peace and quiet though really!

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07/07/2010 by stupidgirl_no1.

As promised, some time ago sorry!

Well the boy has obviously been growing up!  He now weighes 1.5 stone and is nearly into 1 year clothes!  He has been wearing 9-12 months clothes for quite some time so I guess its not surprising but he is still only 8.5 months old, bless the wee lump!

I’ve started buying clothes for him.  We’ve been really lucky and been given a lot of hand me downs and presents so far so we’ve not actually needed to buy him any clothes.  We did buy him a couple of things but now we’re going to have to buy everything as the hand me downs are drying up!  Knew this would happen as he gets older and sizes last longer - at least we get the chance to get our money’s worth out of stuff from now on apparently.  Anyway I’m taking advantage of any vouchers and special offers I can - is a fun challenge to see what barguins I can get!

So what have we been up to?  Well before I went back to work we used to go to Kids & Co every Tuesday morning (babies play, Mummies gossip!) and Mainly Music every Wednesday morning (singing and dancing and having a fab time!).  Both groups were at our local church, neither was very religious but it was nice to feel part of the community and to see the same lovely folk each week.  In the modern way, I added as many as possible on Facebook so we can keep in touch now I’m back at work.  The last couple of weeks I was able to take Owen to Jo Jingles which started up in our area.  This is another music group but instead of all singing and dancing together each child sits on its own mat and gets given various things to play with. 

Owen loved both music classes and I’ve always sung to him quite a bit - hence him learning how to clap his hands!
Video here if the embedded version doesn’t work!

We went to a Bookstart Rhymetime in our local Library and Owen got his first Library Card.  Proud Librarian Mummy!  Not that I’ve let him borrow any books yet as he tends to suck them lots and so I only let him do it to his own books.

Other than that our days were made up of going for walks, doctors check ups, and visits from friends.  Lunches out were managed occassionally although any leaving the house seemed like a huge mission back then!  What to take?  What would Owen do?  Would we get home safely?  Quite funny looking back on it now when I jump on a bus with him every day to get home from nursery!

We had a family holiday - well a long weekend in Edinburgh.  My lovely friend Jennie let us use her flat to stay in so we had a fridge and cooker which made it easier with Owen.  We bought a travel cot so he slept in that in our room, he’s such a good sleeper it wasn’t a problem all sharing a room again.  Other than I had a cough so risked disturbing him!  I got some medicine on the way down from the Minor Ailments Service at the local pharmacists so that helped!  Of course that was mid May and its the cough I’m still suffering from!  Was lovely to catch up with our Hillside buddies, and I took Owen into my old work to show him off.

An amazing thing happened on Friday 28th May - Nicole and I actually had an evening together, just the two of us, with no husbands and no babies.  Much as we love them it was nice to have some girlie time together, just the 2 of us.  We couldn’t remember the last time it had happened but hopefully it will happen again soon - ooh must see about arranging that!  We spent some time getting “prettified” and then went out for dinner.  It was a really lovely night - and we did scrub up nice!

I’ve already blogged about going back to work.  Its still going well, with Owen still loving nursery so that’s cool.  My trip to Brighton was great, the conference was really good and the night out was awesome.  My usual “posse” was quite depleted at the conference so I did that networking thing and made some new friends which was good.  I may have also been snapped by the official photographer drinking Champers before noon with James!  Check out my cool bag though!  @Jaffne made me it, she’s so cool!  You can see some of her craftiness here.

The night out with Twitter folks was really good, apparently after speaking to folk for about 3 years you do know them quite well, even if you’ve never met them.  I have some utterly awesome friends, just a shame Brighton is so far away!  A couple of them that I was looking forward to meeting didn’t make it but one special chap I didn’t think was coming did so that was fab.  You know who you are folks! 

And yes, I went on the Carousel - twice - once with a Law Librarian Carousel-Virgin and once with 2 Twitter chums.  Hurrah!

So yeah, life is good!  Hope yours is too?!

Posted in Baby!, body issues, Trips out, General waffle | 3 Comments »

05/07/2010 by stupidgirl_no1.

So I’d been warned that babies at nursery bring home germs and that Mummies often catch it worse.  I have proven the theory.  Hurrah - or something!  For several weeks I’ve had an annoying tickley cough, so last Monday I saw a doctor and got some medicine.  On Saturday morning I was changing Owen out of his night time nappy and nearly fainted.  No it wasn’t that bad a nappy - indeed I didn’t even get it open before putting him safely back in his cot and going to get Bryan.  We phoned NHS 24 and they arranged for me to see G-Docs, the out of hours doctor up at the hospital.

Got there and he found I had low blood pressure which got lower when I stood up - not good.  He decided it was either that the medicine was lowering my blood pressure, I was getting a virus or I was pregnant.  At the use of the P word I burst into tears.  It is rather unlikely as I have a coil but we did a test all the same - phew, negative!  The advice was to stop taking the medicine, go home and rest “eat, drink, watch Dr Who”.  Well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad…

We had a quiet Saturday afternoon, with me going to bed at 8pm, and I woke up far worse.  Sunday was mainly me sleeping, drinking water and coughing.  Happy Birthday Bryan - here’s the baby, I’m out of it.  Poor man!  He made the best of it and took Owen to the beach where he had his first ever paddle in the sea, they then went to the supermarket and did the week’s shopping and came home with a get well card and a shell from the beach for me.  I hardly ate all day, which is most unlike me as any of my friends will know.  In the afternoon I called the lady who had done my maternity leave cover  and arranged for her to work the next day for me.

Anyway its now a week later (forgot I’d started this post, sorry!) and I’m almost back to normal.  But I’ve missed a bit of the saga - on the Monday I went to see my GP, I have now been diagnosed as having vasovagal.  And no, that’s not a “nasty girl thing”, its a tendency to faint.  It makes perfect sense really.  When I get overly hot and/or dehyrated I have been known to get fainty.  Week 25 of pregnancy I really did faint and thought it was just a pregnant thing.  Several years ago seeing Oasis, I blacked out and came too with the sound and lights technician peering at me, and found I had been dragged into his wee box before someone bounced on me.  When I did my work placement in London I went to a concert at Wembley one night, after spending my lunch hour buying a ticket, only to end up on the floor as Bjork sang on!  So now I have a name for these episodes, and know that I have to be careful and not let myself get too hot and too dehyrated.  Really not sure why having a name for it makes it less scary, but it does, so that’s me happy!  Well until I faint again!!  But now I know to watch for the warning signs, and when they come I need to sit or lie down and drink water.  Simples!

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