Precious moments

Today im grinning, a bit like a chesire cat. My lovely friend Meg had her second baby at home at lunch time yesterday. You know the one that I was hoping to be there for....except the baby arrived about 10 minutes before I did!
 Whilst I am very disapointed not to have been there, arranging last minute childcare for my little ones plus getting to Megs house plus a pretty speedy labour (under 3 hours!) meant I got a phonecall from Meggy's husband when I was 5 minutes away to say "Ummm we have a baby". I knew as soon as his name flashed up on my phone that Baby had arrived. And arrived she had! Beautiful Winifred was snuggled up on her Mama's chest when I walked in. I felt so honoured and privildged to have been her very first visitor and to see her so fresh and new, perfect, pink and plump.
  What an honour to witness the miracle of new life, to marvel at it, life changing in so many ways yet somehow so everyday. How lovely to be there when she fed for the first time, nuzzling into her Mama's breast making contented snuffly noises. To see her cradled in her Daddy's arms, to hear him singing lovingly to her. To see my beautiful, strong, amazing friend tucked up in bed with her precious girl snuggled on her chest.
  No monitors, no being seperated, no Daddy having to leave and go home. Just normal birth as it can be. Family. Home. Precious moments.

Nim x

And we baked and we made and we.....

Had a LOT of fun. Now don't get me wrong I am by no means Super Mum, a Domestic Goddess or anywhere remotely near, but I do want to make more of an effort, with the home, with the girls, with cutting down my screen time. All too often I find myself wasting time browsing when I could be playing with my girlie's or doing something, I don't know, a bit more productive perhaps. So I'm trying. Yesterday we baked cookies,

Yeah, so they looked a bit like 'chocolit poo's' as my daughter so eloquently put it but man! they tasted good! We built 'dent's' -  toddler speak for the hybrid that is a den and tent combined.

And we had lots of fun with some lovely friends who popped round. I love days like this, lots of children around, lovely Mummy friends. There is something about having a bit of company and understanding that makes a difference to your day wether you are two or twenty seven! 

Today has been quiet in comparison, but whilst Elsie napped this morning Moo and I made some playdough that we both enjoyed playing with.

You cant see clearly here but, I made her a little cat which she loved but decided needed some eyes. After we had made the cat some eyes she decided the cat needed a shed to sit on so we had to make that as well! (Our next door neighbours cat likes to sit on our shed and sunbathe and since she was tiny she would point with glee at the cat which we can see perfectly through our window) It's lovely to see her imagination and creativity develop. She loves measuring and pouring and really enjoyed watching the dough turn from liquidy goo to proper playdough.

Elsie has been a bit out of sorts since having her second set of baby jabs yesterday poor lamby. We decided to delay them for a variety of reasons but felt we had made an informed, educated choice, a decision that at the end of the day is ours to make. Unfortunately it seemed that the Nurse who gave Elsie her imms didn't agree and didn't exactly hold back on letting me know what she thought of our decision to delay which left me feeling shocked and upset. Our plan has always been to immunise but to do what feels right for our family and see no particular reason to stick to the NHS's schedule. At the end of the day we just have to feel secure in the knowledge that we made the right decision for our tiny girl, a decision that at the end of the day is ours to make.

I'll leave with a picture of my not-quite-so-tiny-anymore girly wearing her lovely Charlotte Dress which is more like a top these days! Oh well, it's to be passed on to a little girl who could arrive any day now, our close friend and Elsie's Godmummy's little one who I'm hoping to have the privilege of being at her birth, but more on that another day!

Nim x

Plodding along....

Seems to be how we are going at the mo, plod, plod, plod! It's been odd with the summer holidays with a baby and a toddler that aren't at school as all it means for us is that a lot of the toddler groups that we go to are term time only so therefore aren't on and we have really missed having that rhythm of things-we-usually-do-on-this-day-of-the-week. Schools here started back this week though and our local toddler group was back on yesterday which we all enjoyed. Tea and chatting with other Mama's, seeing how our little ones have grown, sticking, singing AND juice and biscuit for littlies made for happiness all round!

 I have an extra little person on a wednesday, my Godson Noah so it's great to be able to head somewhere for a few hours that is fun for all. Wednesday's are hard work though with three under the age of three and two one year olds a couple of months old. I was grateful to have some adult company in the form of our lovely friend and Maisy's Godmother Andrea. She is about to head to North Africa with World Horizions Mission to learn the local Berber language with a view to eventually working as a midwife out there. Wow hey?! It has been a long old road to get to were she is today and we are incredibly proud of her patience, grace and faithfulness. Whilst we are very sad to see her go and will miss her hugely (especially little Maisy) im so excited for all that God has for her out there and the adventures she is about to embark on - exciting times!

In other plodding on news I feel like I have been knitting this blanket for EVER!

It's for my brand new little niece Ella, who arrived last week. Her parents requested a blanket as we didn't know wether she would be a boy or girl (though we all thought boy - ha! How wrong we were!) but *yawn* it is such a boring knit! It's a lovely pattern, very simple and easy to read but just seems to be taking a looooong time and not really growing! Its this pattern from Ravelry 

Part of the reason it may be taking so long could be distraction in the form of my first colour work project - Sheep yoke cardi again from the fantastic Ravelry, though im onto boring knitting now so have been mainly focusing on Ella's blankie.

Here's a little pic of Elsie Boo's sheepy cardi

If you haven't joined Ravelry yet - do! It's fantasic, a pattern database to rival any other and so inspiring! I could (and do!) while away many a hour there.

Bye for now.

Nim x

Testing....1,2, testing....

Dipping my toe into the big wide world of blogging! Im not sure how I will use this blog but to start with it's going to be my place to write down my feelings - good and bad, emotions, my trials and tribulations in parenting, life, knitting etc! Also, im very aware that my beautiful girls are growing far too quickly and would love somewhere to record memories and milestones and to hold on to precious times.

Nim x