Hello there!

Wow it's almost NOVEMBER!! How on earth did that happen?!
Goodness I've been so lax about updating on here. It gets to a certain amount of time since the last post and it becomes even more work to post as an update on everything feels required!! I'll do my best with some brief snippets of the most important people to me....
Logan is now 7 months & 1 week & getting incredibly grown up. When nappy free ha is crawling a little, otherwise he is successfully bum-shuffling a reasonable distance and can pull himself up onto his knees. He will drag himself over to me & then start climbing up my leg sometimes when he wants me :o) He's also eating loads & growing loads too, he has a new highchair so he can sit at the table with us for meals and have finger foods/ try to chuck everything in arms reach on the floor. He's a typical male already; loves food, bashing things, being noisy, music & technology. At the moment he's not sleeping well & is being very clingy due to developing another cold after just recovering from croup and teething (still totally toothless). He has also learned to nod & finds it very funny as it's kind of a whole body nod and says lots of "words"; dada, mama, blabla, baba, & something that sounds a lot like "Lyra".


Lyra is doing very well too, she is not crying when I drop her off at preschool any more & is pretty good at helping with Logan too. As ever her speech is fantastic and she comes out with the funniest things. The other night she said to david "shh... listen. It's the winds of change" (which apparently go blurbleurble) If I say something she disagrees with I get a quick "no no no" in respionse (a mannerism directly pinched from me) & she will make up songs about Logan who she calls "Loganberry". She also loves making things and we make cakes a couple of times a week, is always on the go & has daytime naps almost never (except for when she is ill like now)

I've been busy with my crochet I've made 3 pigs, 1 chicken, a sheep, lamb and ram & all but legs of a fresian cow for Logan's crochet farmyard christmas present. I've also made Lyra a little princess doll and 1/2 simon's hat. I have plans for putting patterns & tutorials on my other blog as I'm very impressed with my little animals that I worked out all by myself....

We've done really well with our christmas shopping already & have very little left to buy for the children (the big ones!) David bought me an iphone recently (another reason for my silence as cannot post from it!) so I'm LOVING that.

What with everyone's colds, new carpets meaning I have loads of sorting to do still (lovely new carpets though!) I'm just about treading water & feeling a bit low but hopefully acknowledging it will help me to do something about it. I must confess I'm scared of the idea of getting PND again, very scared that I already have it in fact. I really should phone my Health Visitor who is lovely but I don't want to admit defeat but I'm crying more than I should. Just 6 weeks ago I was the happiest I have ever been & I really want to be back there. Guess SAD doesn't help - very yucky weather at the moment.

David has been trooping again (& I didn't even tell you about his first troop!) & loved it again, I'm so torn as I miss him because I feel I hardly ever see him now but he loves it so much that he's happier & reacting to my lows better... I want him to be happy as that will ultimately be best for us both & of course because I love him.... & he does love his trooping :o)

OK I must find out how to update here on my iphone, that will lead to more regular updates I feel!!! until next time ttfn xxxxxxxxxxxx

illness again!!

Good afternoon, I hope you had a good weekend? Poor David has had severe tonsilitis since wednesday, typically this weekend was gorgeous & sunny - the first in ages - and he was most definitely not feeling up to doing anything like going for a walk or similar that we would usually do on a nice weekend day. He even went to the doctor, which is unheard of for him, and has been dosing himself up with penicillin since friday. Obviously he was convinced it was swine flu at first because the symptoms were similar at first, thank goodness it wasn't!!


Logan is a bit grizzly at the moment, I think he must be teething as he's so chewy and dribbly. It's so unlike him to be grizzly and grumpy that I don't know what to do with him! If he's in a grizzly mood he likes to be carried around. It also means he's been waking more in the night - last night 10.30, 1am, 3am, 5.30am & he was awake then so avid brought him downstairs so I could get another half hour's sleep. Oh the joys of parenthood! Lyra is being very good, though she's determined to thwart my efforts to get rid of her dummy. David has suggested "forgetting" the dummy when we go on holiday next week so she has a whole week without it & with none scattered around. We must make sure we dispose of the ones around the house before we go!! Genni and Daniella are sharing responsibility for house & cassie-sitting while we're away



I've made a start on my first crochet blanket!! I ordered some patons washed haze aran yarn in 2 shades of pink, blue and lilac last week on ebay, which arrived on Saturday, and made a start on it on saturday evening. I'm making a smallish ripple blanket to start with but will probably make a little blanket for Logan too as I have some green cotton yarn that would go well with the blue. The cotton means it won't be at all scratchy and he'll be able to chew it! I've been making lots of other things too - Eric the zombie was finally completed last week and given to Genni on friday, I've made a skirt and a dress for Lyra and 3 bandana bibs for Logan (he's so dribbly at the mo!) feeling really pleased with myself as they are pretty productive hobbies & the results were pretty good :o)
& to finish - here are a few pictures. First my gorgeous litle ones having a cuddle as they often do ....

the start of my crochet blanket...

Eric the crochet zombie by my many tomato plants...

& inside....

Lyra's patchwork skirt....

drip drip drip.....

just a quick post today as Lyra & Logan are both asleep in the afternoon for once & that NEVER happens!! (actually Logan is awake but up in his cot wriggling happily so effectively the same.
Weather has left a lot to be desired this week, today is the first sunny day in ages & next door has been burning garden waste all morning so not been able to go out or do laundry - big issue with 2 little ones!!

My garden is benefitting from the wet weather though & is full of life & growth. The other day I actually bought some flowering perenials so we have a little colour in our garden - a blood red dahlia, a yellow & a pink coreopsis & a lilac budlea. It was about time I had some flowers in my garden really!! My tomatoes are doing amazingly, we have finished all of the potatoes from one potato plant but will leave the other for a while to let them get bigger, the carrots are becoming orange & recognisably carroty & the butternut squash has buds starting (that's the one I really can't wait for). The slugs ate all of the leaves on my runner beans & the peas were gobbled up as son as they sprouted but there are bound to be some casualties....

I've been making lots of different things recently - a patchwork skirt & replacement doll's pushchair seat for Lyra, a bandana bib for Logan, a crochet rabbit for my cousin's new baby, Genni's zombie is a continuing work in progress and I've started crocheting some granny-hexagons for a bright little blanket... I have ordered some aran weight cotton yarn in order to get started on a stripy crochet ripple blanket to have on the sofa ready for snuggling - I'm planning on a reasonable sized one so have ordered 1500g of patons cotton yarn in 3 colours, another ebay auction for 500g of another colour in the same yarn is finishing today so hopefully I'll win that as turquoisey blue, lilac, rose pink and dusky pink will go well together I feel... certainly keeping busy aren't I!

OK off to have a bit of a tidy while the small ones are sleeping (Logan has dropped off by himself now - yay!)

Poor poorly boy...

Logan has spent half of the day projectile vomiting, poor little lamb, so we haven't gone out today, he's just settled down in bed & I think David & Lyra are both asleep in Lyra's room too!!! He really hasn't been himself & all grizzly instead of chatty and smiley - though he had continued chatting a reasonable amount it hasn't been constant like it usually is. he blows raspberries a LOT at the moment though so guess I may have missed some "chat" because it's replaced by that! I'm feeling a bit better now, partly because I've been a bit busier I think....

Wednesday evening I ordered some more yarn from ebay - I really do need it as I don't have the colours I want to start work on a nice big crochet blanket & I needed to order some special yarn for a "cloak" (poncho really but she says cloak) for Lyra. pretty sparkly Rowan "romance" chunky yarn in pretty shades of pink & purple, 26% mohair it is then... about 75% complete already!. On thursday mum, Genni & Daniella came over en route to the station so we looked through G&D's Japan pictures then went on to the park. On friday it was the playgroup trip to the fun farm & OMG it was the wettest day in aaages! Lyra had a fab time anyway and totally loved the indoor play area, sharing nicely too. She wasn't so sure about feeding the lambs though as they were very big & boistrous & the one we were feeding almost knocked the bottle out of my hand & somehow managed to scratch my knuckle... yesterday I baked millionaires shortbread & did laundry while david prepared for an interview he has on 30th July!!!! It's in town so much closer, keep fingers crossed please! xx

PS Lyra hasn't had an accident for 11 days now & only that one in over 2 weeks, we're soo proud of her!

Nothing really exciting to say today -

Yesterday we went shoping then headed off to the park and Lyra climbed and ran and slid and balanced happily... she walked all around the top[ of the high wall in the basketball court with me walking next to her while Logan slept in the buggy. On the way home we picked some ripe plums from the plum tree we pass, Lyra loved them and I will hopefully take her to get some more tomorrow (and take a pic) as there's nothing quite like fresh from the tree/plant fruit is there. My tomatoes (all 8 plants have tiny green fruit!) and potatoes are doing fantastically - I may even have some decent carrots this year too. No flowers ont he butternut squash yet but there's still time, slugs have killed my runner beans but never mind.... I really wish I could have a huge garden with space for plenty of vegetables rather than the few I have!

I was very brave at playgroup this morning (LOL! how daft does that sound!) and asked another mother "please could you not swear in front of the children" (she had said f***ing 3 times by this point, at snack time with all the children together around her). She turned around and had a go at ME for daring to confront her, saying "I wasn't even talking to you, I can talk to you in a minute if you want. you saw I covered my mouth after" well yes you did, and then you said it again. foolish woman with your bottle blonde hair, bad tattoo and son of 4 with a pierced ear!

She and her similarly chavvy friend then sat sniggering and bitching about me in the corner - how childish! I am NOT going to sit and alow my daughter, who was behaving beautifully and eating her snack so nicely I wasn't about to take her to another table, to be exposed to foul language simply becuase this woman didn't have enough brains to us other words to express herself. They had previously been muttering together & smirking about the fact I was wearing logan in a sling (lovely ring sling made by mum) "Would you ever wear one of them" "no"*sneer smink sneer* "me neither. I understand the idea though, to save your arms...." kind of got it there, A* for effort though if you'd ever worn one you might really understand why I love it so.

My lovely friend Vicky cheered me up by just generally chatting & saying how lovely & happy Logan looked in the sling. And agreeing with the general opinion I expressed about "those women" too! I did feel rather on edge and shakey for a while afterwards, I do so hate confrontation and they were scary women!

When we got home we had lunch and then made some oaty bath bags, Logan had some funny tummy time...

(sweet isn't it! he likes to be able to see, which he can't so well during floor tummy time) did some dancing, watched monsters inc... & I was very impressed with Lyra's reflection of my opinion of what should & should not be said when one character called another "stupid".... Lyra "we don't say stupid, naughty monsters inc" well hear hear little lady, I totally agree!

Lyra is still doing incredibly well toilet training and it has now been an entire week since she has had an accident - & she's only had one accident since day 3 of toilet training! I'm now backing off a bit and letting her decide when she needs to "go" except for just before we go out & if she's busy doing things as she's more likely to forget then. So very proud of her! Logan is now settling himself to sleep alone in hiis cot every night after his bath/massage/milk routine I kiss him and put him in his cot - he doesn't even grumble as long as he hasn't got any trapped wind and isn't still hungry!

I really, really need to get some organisation going in this house, wish I had the time! I've been feeling a bit down lately, I'm pretty certain due to my coil, and the general chaos in the house doesn't help this. I've felt a bit better today and yesterday though I have ordered some more yarn from ebay (pretty sparkly Rowan yarn that was on sale - on SALE!) and am worried my stash is becoming too huge!! I intend to crochet a bag from the yarn I have to keep the yarn I will doubtless get before too long... Making things is so lovely & therapeutic I'm so glad I have discovered this glorious set of hobbies!

more babies!

My cousin Tony and his wife Catherine had a baby boy last night - Alexander Charles - who arrived 7.13pm weighing 8lb 7oz. what a respectable time of day to be born! both of my children were awkward arriving at 11.06pm (Lyra - followed by PPH & emergency trip to theatre so was up ALL night) & 2.52am (also followed by a PPH and stitches so no sleep all night then either.)
I must confess to being rather broody for another baby with allt hese babies (my lovely friend Tina has just announced she's expecting too), Logan is such a wonderful smiley, easygoing child that I would love another one - well 2 as would have to be even number. However NO SPACE is all I can really say to that so until we have at least 3 bedrooms, ideally 4, it's not an option. I think that next time(!) I want both Lyra & Logan to be in school so I can have some chillout time with the littlest, Lyra has been particularly time consuming & I constantly worry Logan is missing out.

I've actually been feeling a bit down today, I think it's a combination of several things - I'm a bit hormonal from having the merina (progesterone) coil fitted 2 weeks ago, my pelvis is hurting (my PGP & SPD from pregnancy flared up due to hormones, lots of walking & climbing at kids activity centre over weekend) & I'm just recovering from a cold. I think I should get my wii fit out & do some exercise to try to boost my endorphin levels tonight. I suffered from severe PND after Lyra was born - for over a year I was totally out of it really - so am determined not to get stuck in a rut this time. I'm very lucky to have lovely friends that care about me but I find it really difficult to ask for help. Don't worry I'm not depressed, just kind of hormonal & a little low for no real reason! i may crochet lots of little flowers tonight as a form of therapy.

Logan is currently settling himself off to sleep upstairs - in fact think he IS asleep now - while Lyra demands daddy's presence until she drops off. I don't know if it's our treatment of her when she was small or her personality or both that have caused this problem for us but ARGH!!! Oh well one day she will be good I'm sure! It's weird being able to leave my baby to go to sleep by himself at night after Lyra who screamed until she was hysterical if i tried. During the day he usually wants booby or cuddles to drop off but since I LOVE giving him both that's fine, I'm still babywearing a lot & loving carrying him, though he's in a 6-12 month sleepsuit tonight for the second night in a row so getting quite big it's not really a problem at all. I have been known to carry Lyra at the same time!

Logan had his second immunisations yesterday & I was relieved that he reacted a bit less hysterically than for his first jabs - of course he cried but then calmed down again rather than screaming for 10 minutes! David had stayed home so that I could concentrate on just Logan so we went swimming in the morning - Logan's first time. It was a bit too chilly really so Logan couldn't properly enjoy it but he didn't mind it. Tuesday mornings are baby splashabout sessions so that's a handy thing to know! Lyra stilkl dong really well with ehr swimming, we're so proud of her at the moment (just wish she would settle to sleep better at night!)
Lyra has been doing fantastically with her toilet training & has had 5 days in a row now with no accidents whatsoever. Of course we're still having to remind her regularly but she also asks for teh potty/toilet when she needs a wee so I'm really hoping accidents are few and far between now...
I'm in the process of making a crocheted Zombie for Genni as as graduation present (braaaains) & am hoping that I'll be able to make Daniella a pachycaphalosaurus for completing her A level & (hopefully!) getting into UCL to study Paleobiology.... I've only just got into crochet & I made a mushroom before this so perhaps slightlyambitious, we shall see though since the zombie is going well!