What Clare Did

2010-11-23T21:29:00.000Z

I'm so excited for Christmas this year. I face a dilema with the tree though, Edie will pull it over in five seconds flat if she gets the chance and the presents underneath wouldn't stay wrapped for long. I can't not have a tree. I was thinking of getting a small one and putting it on the side board but I won't be able to put many lights on it and that's my favourite part, there's nothing better than being cozed up in the living room with the lights of and loads of Christmas tree lights shining.

Dining al Fresco -or- Eatin' Yer Tea Outside

2010-05-28T10:14:00.003+01:00

We've been having some wonderful weather here in the Middle Lands. The girls love the garden and I'm so grateful for it after too many years in flats it's so good to have a private bit of outdoor space, the hedges are wild and high and the fences are 7 footers so it really does feel quite secluded.
I love watching Lily and Edie play on the trampoline, it's totally fenced in so it's like a giant playpen so I zip 'em in there and get on with important stuff like shaking blossom down from the tree, picking the paint off the shed door and sorting the pegs on the washing line into matching colours.

We haven't got an outdoor table yet, we only have 4 plastic garden chairs because we stole them from Toms' mum, but Edie has her high chair and Lily is happy to eat off of her lap so eating outdors is the new big excitement. It has the added bonus of all the food that gets dropped/thrown on the floor doesn't matter and there's no mess to clean up. In fact, I don't even need to sweep the patio because next doors cat, the big fluffy beast Felix, comes and noms up the dropped bits of pasta and kiwi slices.

Lily came home from golf in her PE kit, which looks like a Victorian bathing suit to me. She loves her pasta & pizza, must be her Italian quarter

Messy girl!

Keek likes to sit near us, always. He's hoping for dropped bits of meat but as they're vegetarians he's shit out of luck! He should learn to be less fussy, like Felix.

2010-05-20T21:01:00.005+01:00

Edie is now one. Lily's first year didn't go anywhere near as fast as this, maybe it's just what happens with subsequent children.

Edie now has a whopping six teeth, two at the bottom and four at the top. She still doesn't have much hair but what is coming through seems to be blonde. Tom and I are decidedly dark but one of us must have a bit of Viking, must be Tom. She started walking properly, not just the odd step here and there, just after her birthday and now she loves to move in her new light-up £obscene-amount Clarks trainers. Her feet are huge, 4G which is the average shoe size of most three-year-olds.

Lily is still being The Best Big Sister Ever. I love to watch them playing and interacting, their favourite place to be is the bath closely followed by the garden. Lily's patience amazes me and she genuinely adores Edie, never jealous and always caring. I think the 5 year age gap is a lot to do with it, she's had all her baby-ing and is happy to be the more mature one!

Growing and growing

2010-02-01T13:57:00.002Z

Edie is nine months now, she's been out of my belly longer than she was in it. She's developing her own little personality and it's wonderful. She's cheeky and smiley and brave, totally fearless. She's started to say words which are, of course as these things always go, 'Dada' and 'Papa'. She also sleeps in her cot next to our bed from 7.30pm on her own, quite happily, and wakes up at 11.30 on the dot to come in bed with us for a little feed then she's out, star-shaped and snoring between us. Lily usually creeps in in the wee small hours too, add Kiki the cat and it's real sleep-fest we've go going on and although I curse it and it's wonky slats often I'm so glad we have The Biggest Bed Ever.

Milestones..

2009-11-07T11:21:00.000Z

At six months Edie might not have any hair or teeth but the clever little bean just pulled herself up into a standing position. Using the towel on my head that she was facinated with. So proud *tear*

6 Months!

2009-11-05T13:19:00.005Z

So it seems I can't update every day, once a week or even once a month.. doesn't mean I've given up though!

Since I discovered that I could exclusively breastfeed Edie after a reduction I've been a little reluctant to start her on any other foods. I started Lily on solids at around 3.5 months under misguided advice from health visitors and family and although she never had any digestion problems - she had, and still has, a cast iron stomach - looking back now that was far too early. The WHO recommends starting solids at 6 months and I decided that since Edie has been lunging at any food she sees (including cat and guinea pig food) I would see if she was ready. I have been doing a mix of baby led weaning and home made purees. She loves to moosh on a face sized rice cake and whole broccoli florets but there's nothing as cute as a baby covered in mushed up baby food:

That's a lovely concoction of broccoli, cauliflower and baby stock water all whizzed up in my useless Anthony Worrall Thompson blender which I've hated since the day my parents presented it to me in it's box plastered with the mini chef's smug little face. It's broken now which may or may not have been caused by the verbal and physical abuse inflicted upon it.

The Kids

2009-08-29T17:43:00.000+01:00

We took a trip to the 1970's

2009-08-29T17:42:00.001+01:00

16+3 Weeks

2009-08-17T14:09:00.001+01:00

16 + 2 Weeks

2009-08-16T11:15:00.000+01:00

This is "blog post"

2009-08-10T22:47:00.003+01:00

I'm a big fan of air quotes, especially Homer Simpson style. Lily does a good air quote and is currently down in Kent teaching her cousins this fine art.

I've spent a good 10 minutes loling a the Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks

14+6 Weeks

2009-08-06T17:20:00.000+01:00

14 Weeks

2009-07-31T19:45:00.001+01:00

13 + 1 Weeks

2009-07-25T23:47:00.000+01:00

11 - 12 Weeks

2009-07-23T00:31:00.000+01:00

11+4 Weeks

2009-07-14T19:46:00.001+01:00

Posted via le iPhone

11 + 2 Weeks

2009-07-12T17:23:00.000+01:00

Posted via le iPhone

11+1 Weeks

2009-07-11T14:19:00.000+01:00

11 Weeks

2009-07-10T10:57:00.001+01:00

Posted via le iPhone

10+6 Weeks

2009-07-09T10:09:00.000+01:00

Gummy Bear

2009-07-08T17:50:00.001+01:00

In the past month Lily has lost two teeth, the bottom two, which were the first two she cut. I wonder if that's how it works- first in = first out...? If so the front top two are next, then molars and lastly incisors. She was one of the last in her class to start losing her teeth but I'm certain she's the only kid in 1L to have read a 300+ page book. OK so it was Persopelis and it has pictures but we were still pretty impessed when we woke up one morning with Lil sat on the end of the bed engrossed in it. It took her two days to finish it, I read it in three.

10+4 Weeks

2009-07-08T14:47:00.001+01:00

-- Post From My iPhone

8+5 Weeks

2009-06-24T15:43:00.005+01:00

Yesterday Edie had her first set of immunisations and she has been tired and grumpy since. It's confirmed what I was thinking about her developing into a happy chilled out bebe because the whinging has been so out of character. We've been feeling so bad for her, and watching the nurse stick the needle in her chubby little thigh was torture. Still, she needs her jabs and we need her to be happy and healthy. Most of her day has been spent flaked out or fretful, I managed to get a few smiles from her too - brave girl!

8+2. Big ol' picture post

2009-06-21T13:48:00.025+01:00

Before Edie was born I really wanted to do something like this, a photo every day to watch development in extra slow progress, in a way, savouring every moment when they go much too fast in the first year.

I haven't managed to get a photo every single day, but looking at the dates on my camera I've been able to work out how old Edie would've been when a picture was taken. And late is never too late so here's how she's growing so far...

Day 1 and just minutes old, she looks so alert and wise and not at all troubled by the birth!

Day 2, looking more like a sleepy newborn. Here she is in her moses basket in the days before she took over our bed

Day 3 and on our bed

Day 5, waiting for the midwife to come and do the evil heel prick test

Day 7, looking like she has a giant leg under her pyjamas!

Day 10, back in the moses basket but only whilst changing the milky big bed!

Day 11, out of the bath and on to the boob

Day 13, eyes begin to open lots more

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17, still smaller than Kiki cat

Day 43, not looking impressed at the gap between pictures!

Day 44 with cousin Violet (5 months)

Day 47

Day 48

Day 49, stayin' up late

Day 50, early night

Day 51, crashed out with daddy

Day 52, why so serious?

Day 53

Day 60 - today, 2 minutes ago

I do intend to keep this up, I really really do!!

8+1 weeks

2009-06-20T17:57:00.003+01:00

Edie took longer than Lily to start smiling, Lily was grinning away at 4 weeks while it took Edie until she was 5 and a half weeks, but it's been well worth the wait, every smile is like the first and turns me to mushy melted honey. Today is the first time I've managed to get a good shot of her beaming without lots of blur as she moves so quickly and I haven't wanted to use the flash on her tiny eyes (which, curse my weak genes, are turning Lennon blue).

37 Weeks

2009-04-02T15:38:00.002+01:00

I am 37 weeks preggo today. I'm really hoping I don't go to full term and god help us all if I go overdue. Lily arrived at just before 39 weeks, I'm not sure if that means anything with regards to this baby but let's hope she puts in a pre-Easter appearance. If only because it'll be more convinient with Lily off school and everything. I double checked with her yesterday that she was sure she didn't want to come and see her sister being born and her basic reaction was 'Eurghh, blood - Now Way! I'll come and see her when she's all clean' so she'll be off to Tom's mums where they'll dance around and eat potato cakes and complain about people not shutting the doors and keeping the heat in.

Here is my stupidly big belly today:

Ignore the dusty mirror, it only shows up in photographs - honest!

And here is the textbook belly:

Despite there being very little room she manages to have a good ol' knees up in there. I'm almost horrified at the shapes throwing themselves up beneath my skin, I'm sure she's just going to rip through.

I've got most of my hospital bag ready but I know something will be forgotten. We got some new gros for the baby to wear as her first outfits, they're super cute, tvm H&M :]

Now I have to go and pick Lily up from after school rugby.

Yep, rugby.

2009-03-07T21:38:00.004Z

Ok, so I have gone from being no-bellied to everyone commenting on how huge I am. Both my mum and Tom's have said that I shouldn't trust the two ultrasound scans I've had and it's probably twins in there which I'm fully and definitely ignoring.

This is the textbook belly at 33 weeks:

And this is the Clare belly:

As you can see I'm currently far to tired to be bothered with such things as brushing my hair and tidying the bedroom. I'm thinking I look lots bigger than the illustration but maybe the drawing is based on someone who didn't eat chocolate for every meal for most of their pregnancy.

Thinking of food, with Lily my cravings were icey cold milk and cheeseburgers. With this baby I've gone crazy for vinegar drenched pizza, Braeburn (and only Braeburn) refrigerated apples and strawberry jam on toast. I've never eaten so much toast in my life, I won't be surprised if this baby comes out with a tan.

Lily went off to Cadbury World with her best friend today so Tom and I got the last few baby things. We got two nappy pails which we had to search high and low for, also some Nuk bottles which were the most expensive but I've heard good things about them - and they were the cutest! The only thing we have to buy now is a monitor and we're done! Toms Mum also gave us a gorgeous yellow hand knitted blanket and we're going over in the week to pick up Toms old baby clothes, I can't believe she has kept them for 38 years! They are lovely though and it's so nice to think of baby wearing her daddy's clothes. I've been buying vintage baby clothes from Ebay too, she now has an awesome wardrobe of clothes!

I'm home alone tonight with Lily and Tom both out and doing their thing so I'm going to eat the rest of the ice cream and watch old Seinfelds until I fall asleep, which will be approx 10 minutes after hitting the play button.

What if Woody Allen had Directed Watchmen?

2009-03-07T11:10:00.004Z

Tom and are will probably not find time over this weekend to see Watchmen which has zero impact on me but I imagine Tom might be quite upset. It's his own fault for going out tonight for non-drunken-responsible-father-to-be shannanigans with his brother and a priest and working tomorrow.

I'm sure he'd like this little funny that I found here swapping Zack Snyder for other directors. Here's what they say about Woody Allen's version:

Allen sets his romantic comedy on the Upper West Side, where wealthy dermatologist Dr. Herbert Manhattan (Allen) suffers a freak accident with his dermabrasion machine. How will his blue skin and omnipotence affect his relationship with beautiful but scatterbrained silk importer Laurie Juspeczyk (Scarlett Johansson)?

But the thing I most enjoy is the picture above, it made me lol.

You can see the rest on the Slate Website.

33 Weeks

2009-03-05T09:41:00.002Z

This pregnancy is making me tired, I think I've had enough now. And I nearly cry when I think that tiredness is going to still be a big feature in my life when the baby comes along - wahhh!

I'm as big as a house now, with seven weeks to go. I waddle around and it takes about five minutes of struggling like an upended beetle to get out of bed. My favourite thing to do is lie on my back, pull my top up and watch my belly moving and shaking with the tiny dancer inside. Sometimes, I have to admit, all the movement does feel unpleasant. I remember reading a John Fante book where he hated feeling his wife's pregnant belly because it felt like a 'writhing bundle of snakes' was in there, and that's a pretty accurate description of the feeling. Most of the time it's lovely and Tom & Lily enjoy being kicked by her too.

It's not often I post a wishlist with stock images and actually end up purchasing them. Firstly, we got the cot from Ikea along with a pink chest of drawers and the nursery is looking slightly unfinished but good. We also scored a Quinny Buzz from Ebay, complete with the Dreami carrycot and tonnes of accessories for £182. We had to collect it from Hull which we turned into a day out and a trip down memory street for Tom as he used to go to university there. We had lunch and I raided the Hull Gift Shop for tat and am now the proud owner of an 'It's never dull in Hull' badge. I'll have to take their word for it I guesse, didn't stay long enough to put it to the dull-ity test.

2009-01-28T09:46:00.002Z

We don't watch TV in this house so I didn't know about the new Cadbury advert with the kids and the eyebrows and the squeaky balloon. But I sure Lily has a secret TV room behind her bookcase because she is suddenly very animated around the brows, exactly like these kids. It's not often we have to tell her off, she's a good kid, but when I go upstairs to bed to find her under the duvet playing her DS at 9 'o' clock on a school night it's definitely time to open a can of woop ass. Except I find myself trying to remain serious and stifle my laughter as she gives me the eyebrows. I'm not very successful and we both end up giggling and I leave her untold off and laughing all the way to the dream bank. And she and the eyebrows win. Every time.

Babymobile

2009-01-16T11:22:00.007Z

I've decided that I want our baby to have a £400 pram. The decision was pretty much made for me as there is a surplus of ugly, breakable prams out there. Ideally I'd like a Bugaboo Bee but they're around £750 which is crazy so I've opted for the Quinny Buzz. The stroller part can be used as a buggy until the baby walks and we will use the Dreami carrycot to make it a pram for the first 6 months and also as a moses basket while she is sleeping in our room. As I scored us a brand new Mamas & Papas carseat for free and my parents are paying for half the pram I think it's good value.

They come in a variety of colours, the red/pink is just face-melting and sickly but the yellow/brown is pretty cool and the black is slick. Obviously the baby doesn't give a toss which colour her wheels are so I'll end up going for whichever I can find cheapest!
Although the black does have a certain baby batmobile-ness about it..

It's not all expensive news in babyland though. We've found a rather gorgeous cot in Ikea for a bargainous £67:

Although there is tonnes of matching furniture there is no matching chest of drawers which I neeeed as all the baby clothes are currently sitting in Lidl bags, which although Highly Fashionable, just aren't a permanent option.

Now all I need to do is clear the 57534537 bags of crap out of the nursery and paint the walls and put up a blind and find a chest of drawers and zzzzzzzzzzzz.

26 Weeks

2009-01-16T11:09:00.002Z

I keep thinking and saying that I am 27 weeks pregnant but I just rechecked the due date calculator and I'm actually 26 weeks. It's going to slow!
After all the sickness and craziness of the first trimester things are just about as normal as they can be. I have a large bump, lots of kicks and I get short of breath. The lack of unpleasant pregnancy symptoms must be karma. The worst thing is losing my balance all the time, oh and not being able to reach my toes. I asked Tom to paint my toenails the other night, with red nailpolish, it looked like someone had tried to chew off the ends of my feet. I think I'll just go au naturel, same for my leg hair soon I think, I'm finding it too much of a stretch and I'm pretty sure everyone finds Chewbacca legs sexy.

Babysaurus

2009-01-07T13:03:00.003Z

This weekend Tom and I took Lils to see Dinosaurs Alive! at the IMAX. Despite the £8 per person for a 45 minute film and initial worries about exactly what kind of dinosaurs these were when we saw it was 'starring Michael Douglas' it was pretty awesome and we all loved it.
Now, we've been struggling for baby names ever since we learned that we're having a girl and don't really like anything. It may just be my pregnancy brain but when the squeaky voiced intern in the movie was recalling how he discovered the Effigia dinosaur my brain did a little click and has been hanging onto the name as a serious contender for Baby. No, not the name of the paleontologist, which I have forgotten but the name of the dinosaur, Effigia.

It's kind of cute right.. right? The Latin translations of Effigia are ghost, effigy, idol, ideal and future, it doesn't really matter that it was also a six foot long toothless crocodylian archosaur. I also love the idea of her name being shortened to Effie and quickly shot down Tom's protestations that kids would pick on her and call her F.E College which I didn't understand straight away and it's unlikely that schoolchildren would know what an F.E College was and less likely to think it's an insult.
For now the name is a strong contender, we have around 16 weeks to decide and 30 days after Baby is born before we have to register her name. But no more dinosaur names... for now.

23 Weeks...

2008-12-23T10:14:00.002Z

I'm over half way there and nearly into the third trimester. Some days I look pregnant and other days not, today I look pregnant and I'm totally convinced it's all baby and not last nights Pizza Hut at all, oh noo...
I'm feeling lots of movement, it's strongest when I'm lying on my back in bed in the morning and when I'm cross legged at the computer. Tom can feel it too which makes me so happy in an I-can't-even-begin-to-articulate-why kinda way.
We had the scan at 20 weeks where I found out that hell isn't fictional at all and actually exists in Birmingham Women's Hospital where I've had previous good experiences but the 357447 wait and 35733573 different appointments along with a fed up Lily just wasn't cool. We did however discover that I have zero intuition and we are actually having a little girl! The shock has worn off a little now and I'm having a meltdown trying to think of a name. Tom doesn't want any 'cast offs' ie; names which were in the running when I was due with Lily and the only one I like so far is Dusty, I love it in fact but I don't want her to grow up hating me for it.

For Tom....

2008-12-23T10:12:00.000Z

Have a Merry Shatner Xmas :D

20 Weeks

2008-12-07T15:35:00.002Z

I'm halfway there! Hurrah!
I'm still not looking particularly pregnant and at long last my energy is returning so I'm not feeling very pregnant either. The little one has been moving around lots, s/he doesn't like the hoover and kicks up a fuss, perhaps it's a signal to stop hoovering.. All cleaning and housework in fact.. hmm.

We have the 20 week scan tomorrow at the Women's Hospital where we hopefully discover the flavour of the baby, I hope it won't be awkward and turn it's back on us, I need to know, I won't sleep tonight. Well I will, because nothing really gets in the way of my sleep but I'm excited!

This picture is almost TMI but I like it, even though it makes me feel like I should have a bigger bump and my baby is chubby and floating around in holiday brochure blue water. I also like that it shows the bladder for the tiny, sleep disturbing little afterthought it really is.

We've moved house, into a real house with a garden and a front door and everything. There is a room which can be a tiny little nursery which I'm slowly filling with all the baby stuff I've bought or been given so far. Lily has a big room and loves the house although I do think she misses her private balcony. Kiki has started sleeping in her bed which is sweet but it scares Lily and I know when my parents find out they'll shout at me because they don't think cats should even be allowed upstairs let alone snuggling under the duvet, but I'll distract them with the giant bag of mostly coffee-themed presents I accidentally bought them.

OK Kiki!

2008-11-27T20:45:00.005Z

Kiki was lying in a position I've never seen him in before, laid flat on his back like a person. Maybe after a year living with us he's now comfortable enough to bare his belly. He even stayed like that while Lily was jumping over him like a maniac. I like to think that it was too comfortable for him to move rather than he's had too much cat chow and the effort would have been both too much and embarrassing for him.

Aaaaanyway... Still pregnant :)

Bumps in the Night

2008-11-20T11:36:00.003Z

18 weeks

I've been having some definite abuse from the fetus (foetus?) this week, kicks and punches and rolling over. I still don't really have much of a bump but that's ok, perhaps this time I won't get absolutely huge like I did with Lily and will have a celebrity style small and neat bump... I can dream.

I was last sick on wednesday and have been fine since, a little bit of queasiness but nothing to cry about. I have been having the worst headaches ever though, of course I started to worry that it was pre-enclampsia but apparently that doesn't occur until after 20 weeks, but I still worry. It's probably that I don't drink enough water, I try to but I'm useless with remembering. I've also been incredibly tired, napping and such with no energy to get anything done. We're supposed to be moving house soon - how?!

The next scan and ante-natal is on the 8th December, it's at the woman's hospital this time. I hope the sonographer-from-hell doesn't still work there, the dragon that made my 13wk scan with Lily horrible by glaring at me for crying and biting my head off when I asked if she could tell the sex. I don't understand why someone who clearly hates other people would want to spend all day working with emotional pregnant women. Maybe she normally scans peoples kidneys and the like and was called in against her will. I'm hoping I won't have to have more blood taken at this ante-natal appointment, it's horrific the amount they take, although mine does gush when they stick the pin in me so it's usually over pretty quickly, the last vampire even told me my blood was nice and frothy - like I'd been drinking the bathwater! I had to take her word for it as I just can't look.

There doesn't seem to be much of a bump going on in the picture above, the baby still seems pretty inside the body. Apparently the baby weighs 7oz now and is getting fatter and growing hair. I wonder if this will be a hairy baby, Lils was and, old wives tale or not, I had such bad heartburn.

The Saddest Lion

2008-11-13T12:31:00.005Z

Since this pregnancy seems to make me an emotional mess most of the time I've stopped fighting the crying and actively seek out things which will make me blub.

Like Christian the Lion.

Christian the Lion -

I'm actually in tears now, it's the bit where he pauses as he's coming down the hill and his jaw seems to drop when he recognises the two men, it gets me every time and I've watched this, and other soppy variations, lots.

I'm beginning to think I have way too much time on my hands.

It's all pants...

2008-11-13T12:13:00.005Z

17 Weeks

We had the scan a week ago and everything was fine, he was dancing around like crazy, shaking his little fists and annoying the sonogropher by moving whenever she wanted to take a measurement. We get to see him again in the first week of December and will find out whether he is a he.

I'm still felling a little sick, it's not as bad as it had been and there has been no vomiting. I still feel completely exhausted constantly, and emotional. Gosh it's fun. There's a definite bump now, baby has popped out of my pelvis. I braved town yesterday to buy maternity jeans which are crazy, they're nothing like the ones I had with Lily, they pull straight on with no buttons or zip, they're like baby's jeans, or fat man trousers. I also got some pregnancy knickers which are huuuuge, they're bigger than some dresses I own and I don't have enough bump to fill them yet but they're so comfortable and so ugly that I'm wearing them anyway.

Whilst I was in Kent visiting my folks I was really craving offal which I have never ever ever viewed with anything other than disgust. I innocently asked if the local butcher usually had liver and my mum screamed (and she never screams) and said that I was gestating a devil baby just like Rosemary's Baby. Well the cravings passed and I also discovered that liver is a no-no in pregnancy because of the high levels of Tannis Root or Vitamin A or something but I decided to re-read the novel over the last two nights and now I really wish I hadn't..

2008-11-03T10:48:00.002Z

14,15,16 Weeks

I'm on the brink of 16 weeks and don't appear to have a bump yet. I've been feeling like a pervert scouring the internet for pictures of women's naked tummies at 16 wks and they all look huge. We have the ultrasound scan tomorrow and I'm quite scared really, I'm afraid that there will be no baby there and the positive pregnancy test, constant sickness and feeling movements are all symptoms of a never before known deadly illness. I remember feeling the same way with Lily although as I had my first scan at 9 weeks I was reassured early on.

Seriously, I am worried that something has gone wrong, I've stopped feeling so sick and have convinced myself that it's due to a drop in pregnancy hormones because the pregnancy has stopped. I know this is all worry-warting and if there was anything wrong I would have had pain and bleeding but worry fuelled by hormones is such a difficult thing to ignore.

I have stopped feeling so sick which is a giant relief. The last time I was sick was on wednesday morning after one of my dads huge fry-ups. I spent the last week in Kent with Lily and my parents for half term. It was fun, although we missed Tom horribly, it was nice to go to petting farms and eat out and see all my brothers and their various kids and bumps. We took Lils Trick or Treating which was awesome, my folks live in a friendly village so there were lots of sweets to be had. She dressed up in some kind of Eddies Goth dress costume we got from Woolworths and we took the dog in fairy wings.

I'm still buying gross maternity clothes from Ebay although it hasn't been too bad, the top I've had so far was washed and clean and came with a greetings card! I've missed the internet, mostly Ebay really, my parents don't have the internet and when Tom told them about this blog my mum said 'So Clare's in the computer? Ooooh!' and didn't understand at all.

To stop myself worrying all day about the scan tomorrow I'm going to peruse Ebay for Christmas presents, read yesterdays Observer and eat all the leftover Halloween sweets.

Emote Control

2008-10-20T13:20:00.002+01:00

I knew feeling better wouldn't last, saturday saw me losing my lunch and my dignity, throwing up into a Lidl bag in the car. I wasn't sick yesterday but that's because I didn't eat anything except half a can of peaches but I've been making up for it today by non-stop munching on oranges and fake frazzles, I'm almost certain I'll see them again soon though. Oh well, at least the heartburn has gone.

Pregnancy hormones are making me crazy, I don't feel too scared about it as I know it's the hormones and every woman I know who has been pregnant has had at least one psychotic episode, from running at their other half with a knife to tiling the whole bathroom. I'm sure I wouldn't go to those extremes - DIY? Me? - but I know I've been super duper crazy and that it's really difficult for those I love and care about to understand, having never experienced a woman under the complete control of pregnancy hormones before. Lily says every day that the baby is controlling me and she's absolutely right!

I've been looking at baby bottles and have decided that I want NUK glass bottles, I'm already watching some on Ebay. Ebay is becoming a major addiction, I've got 50 things on my 'watch list' and it's only going to get worse once we find out the sex of the baby. I'm hoping they'll be able to tell us at the 12wk-but-actually-16wk scan.

The best thing about pregnancy so far are maternity tights which are the comfiest things ever to grace my pins and the waistband comes up to my chin!

Gaviscon, Oh Gaviscooooon!

2008-10-17T12:43:00.001+01:00

Now that the sickness has ebbed ever so slightly (for now) I have HEARTBURN!!

Can I start enjoying pregnancy now please?

These stupid things are addictive....

2008-10-16T10:59:00.001+01:00

He Heeeee!

2008-10-16T10:50:00.000+01:00

Oh Baby!

2008-10-16T10:15:00.002+01:00

This is going to be a mainly pregnancy related rubbish blog now - yay!

13 weeks

The official start of the second trimester, when I should be getting my energy back and start to feel less sick. I feel about a 5% improvement on last week, it's now thursday and I haven't thrown up since monday and I haven't day-napped since tuesday. The last time I began to feel better it was followed by around 10 days of solid puking and lethargy so I'm not expecting anything. I'm just keeping quiet.

I'm not exactly 'showing' yet but I'm always finding myself undoing the top button of my jeans. I looked in Topshop and H&M for maternity clothes but they were all vile and overpriced so it's come down to buying other peoples gross used pregnancy threads from Ebay. With Lily I spent practically the full nine months in tracksuit bottoms but then I didn't really have to go anywhere, there's no way I'm taking Lils to school in a tracksuit, poor kid doesn't deserve the humiliation!

According to the stupid pregnancy book we have the baby looks like a baby now and not like a prawn, weighs about and ounce and is as big (small) as half a banana. I'm almost certain I've felt movement, it's highly unlikely and the midwife will probably say it's gas but believe me, I know what gas feels like, this feels more like an egg rolling around my tummy.

Here's how he looks now:

working hard or hardly working..?

2008-08-22T14:14:00.000+01:00

queen of the castle

2008-08-14T17:20:00.003+01:00

Whilst looking for a picture of a wonderful red and shiny lobster I came across this - Kramers shirt!!!! I don't think I've ever seen him in this, although he does seem to have a lot of shirts. There's a whole Seinfield store I want one of everything, the seduction picture of George is particularly nice and I love the Elaine t-shirts*

*this is not a hint!

the green

2008-08-14T17:11:00.002+01:00

The view from the Kings Norton shop is much prettier than outside in Kings Heath, even with all the rain. It looks sunny but I just went crazy with the camera they have here, making everything bask in a summer sun that refuses to be a reality! I'v even almost forgotton about the evil sunburn that almost ruined Paris and still leaves flakes in my dresses.

superbear heroes

2008-08-13T16:19:00.000+01:00

Lily decided that we had to draw 'super heroes who are bears who are called John and Rita'. So we did.

smooth blob one

2008-08-13T16:18:00.000+01:00

jail bait

2008-08-13T15:13:00.000+01:00

On my lunchbreak (actually, I was going to the bank, I don't do lunchbreaks) I had the following exchange:

Annoying Littlewoods Catalogue woman: Hi, would you be interested in.. Oh, sorry, you have to be eighteen or over and you're not are you?

Me: GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!

I'm still not losing the pigtails though, they're my default.

post secret

2008-08-10T16:28:00.000+01:00

This is my favourite postcard from postsecret this week, sometimes I feel the same about Kiki when he stares and stares at me, what's he trying to say? Probably 'don't change the brand again - I'm a Whiskas cat through and through'.

ebay puppies

2008-08-08T17:17:00.001+01:00

Hi!