Children!

I never realised having children was so emotionally hard work!!! I hope it gets easier than this, somebody please tell me it does!

Friday Photo Flashback!

I thought I would go for a wedding theme for today's Flashback! My sister got married in about 1978/79 to her first husband. She told everyone a week before the wedding that she was getting married!!! You have got to love seventies fashion!!!

This is my sister and her husband on her first wedding day with my mum and our dad!



Here I am as 'bridesmaid' with my sister and three of my brothers!



And the group photograph, which has my Grandma and Grandad, Great Aunt and also my Auntie!



For more Friday Photo Flashbacks visit Alicia at More Than Words.

Life is overwhelming...

...or that is how it seems!

Things over the past couple of months seem to have been crazy! We have had a lot of different emotional stuff with various family members to deal with and the problems are still continuing. I have to say, I very rarely stick my head in the sand and like to know everything about everything but not this time. I have a problem and I now have to go for tests and I am a little bit scared about what they might find.

I wish life didn't seem so hard sometimes and I apologise for the 'I feel sorry for myself' post!

Getting To Know You Sundays!

Well it is Getting To Know You Sundays over at MannLand5 so click here to play along!

The questions this week...

1. What year did you graduate high school?

I finished secondary school in 1990, when I was 16 (the leaving age in the UK)

2. What part of your body do you neglect the most?

All of it I'm afraid

3. Beach house or Lake house?

Beach always beach!

4. Mac or PC?

Mac

5. Did you wear braces?

No and neither did my husband but it looks like our kids are going to have to.

6. If you could be one person for a day..living or deceased..who would you be?

Michelle Duggar, to know what it is like to have so many kids or me when I first had Ellie so I could experience just having her again.

7. How many times have you moved in your life?

Twice as a child and once since I have been married.

8. Would you rather cook or clean?

Clean!!! I hate cooking, it stresses me out everyday, especially as the children are picky eaters. I can't say that I love cleaning but it at least it gives me some satisfaction when the house is tidy, well for a few minutes until the kids trash it again.

Friday Photo Flashback!

Life seems to have been quite hectic over the last couple of weeks, so hopefully my blogging will get back on track!

My photographs this week are in memory of my little dog Jet who had to be put to sleep nearly a fortnight ago. He was almost 17 years old and was my first 'baby'. My sister had got his brother 'Mutley' and she told us there were another couple of pups left. We saw him and fell in love with him, he has been the best dog and used to lay on my knee like a baby, something he wouldn't do for anyone else. When I got married and moved out Jet stayed with my mum as we would be out at work full time. It is sad he is no longer with us, but I am sure he will be running around in doggy heaven with our other dog Barney!

We love you Jetty xxx

Ellie and Jet



George and Jet



For more fabulous Friday Photo Flashbacks visit Alicia at More Than Words!

What a week!

The sickness bug came to visit the girls last week, Ben had to make a trip to the emergency dentist as one of his teeth cracked in half and he had to have it removed, my mum's dog of 17 years had to be put down plus numerous other things meant that I only managed to post once this week and my blog reading was non existent!

Well Max is asleep and I have 40 minutes before I have to go and pick the kids up from school so I can either do some much needed cleaning up OR I can catch up on some blogs, it's a hard choice, but blogging it is!

Friday Photo Flashback!

As I am still waiting for my scanner I can not post 'Eventful Holidays!' as the photos are not yet on the computer, so I have decided to post pictures of me with my grandparents.

These are the only pictures I have of me with both my sets of grandparents. They mean a lot to me as three of them have now passed away.

My Nanna, Grandad, my cousin Jayne and me, Easter 1975 when I had just started walking. My Grandad passed away when I was eight years old so I only vaguely remember him but my Nanna lives with my Auntie, who lives next door to my Mum!!!



This is me in 1976 and I will have been about two and a half with my Grandma and Grandad. I miss them every day especially as they were the last link really that held our family together after my dad passed away. My Grandad also gave me away when I got married and gave the most wonderful speech which left all the guests in tears, something I will never forget!



For more fabulous Friday Photo Flashbacks (which I have to say is my favourite posting day of the week) visit Alicia at More Than Words!

Nursery time

Well it has happened, the dreaded phone call from the Nursery!!!

Max has been offered a place at the nursery for five afternoons a week starting from September. I can't believe it, wasn't it only yesterday he was like this...



...it doesn't seem right that it is time for nursery already, I am sure that he is still just a baby!!!

How does the school system work in the USA? There seems to be quite a few differences between the UK and USA schooling, ie yearly graduating, deferring for a year, being held back and at what age children start school etc. I would love it if someone could tell me about it, I am not nosey (honest), just really interested :)

Memory Monday!

I have decided that for the time being on a Monday I will share memories past, some good, others not so!

Well as it is around the time I found out I was pregnant with my first child I thought I would share that story!

I had longed for a baby for a number of years, I knew really that it was all l I ever wanted out of life to be a wife and a mother and in that order. Our wedding was arranged for 30 September 1995 and I secretly hoped that we would be able to start trying for a family straight away. Mark had other ideas, he didn't feel it was the right time as money was tight and I had also agreed to be a bridesmaid at my cousin's wedding the following August and he felt it was unfair of me to let her down. It was doubly hard for me because a couple of weeks before we got married Mark's younger brother announced that his girlfriend was pregnant with a baby, due the following May.

Well May came along and we were blessed with a lovely baby Nephew and then August a few months later and I was a bridesmaid, but still no mention of starting my longed for family. I felt so desperate but each time I mentioned it Mark felt it was still not the right time.

At this point I was working at a doctors' surgery and had made a very good friend. She had been trying for a baby for almost two years with no luck and had had to undergo some minor surgery to see if it would be helpful. It was the day after Boxing Day and my friend had to work, I remember it was lunchtime and the phone rang. My friend had said that she felt funny, wondered if she could be pregnant and decided that she was going to do a pregnancy test in the toilets at work. She said she would ring me back! The test was positive, she was absolutely over the moon and even though I could not have been happier for her, it made me feel that my becoming pregnant was nowhere in sight.

I carried on as normal but inside I was becoming more and more desperate about the whole situation. We had a holiday booked in the January with my mum and it was lovely to get away, but on our return I still felt the same way. In the end I told Mark just how strongly I felt about starting a family and I also told him that what had happened to my friend could happen to us and it might take us years to conceive a child and amazingly he agreed it was time.

Well it was the first month of trying and it was two days before I should have taken the pregnancy test but I could not wait any longer. I woke up at 3am, tiptoed out of bed to the toilet (thinking Mark was asleep), locked the door, did the test and turned it upside down on the bathroom cabinet. The next thing I knew was Mark shouting, asking what I was doing. I tried to sound casual and answered nothing but he knew something was going on. I turned the test over and could not believe it, after only one month of trying, there was a line, albeit a faint one. I was ecstatic and very shocked. I opened the door and Mark was stood there and I managed to whisper "I think I am pregnant"! I don't think either of us could believe it and I remember putting the test on my bedside table and looking at it all night long to make sure the line was still there.

I did another test two days later (in the supermarket toilets) and there could be no mistaking that result with it's dark blue line!
My due date was 29 November 1997, but Ellie decided to make us wait for a few days and came into the world on 7 December 1997 weighing 6lbs 3ozs and we have never looked back!

Getting To Know You Sundays!

It is here again Getting to know you Sundays over at Mannland5!!



1. Would you rather bungee jump or sky dive?

I really wouldn't want to do either as I am scared of heights but if I had to choose it would be skydive

2. When using a public restroom to you squat over the seat or sit?

I sit, am not athletic enough to squat!

3. Favorite flower?

Frescias for their scent.

4. Pedicure or manicure?

I have never had either one but would probably be manicure.

5. How many siblings do you have?

I have two half sisters and four half brothers (from my dad's previous marriage), I am the youngest!

6. Do you pee in the shower? (gasp!)

I have, on occasion!!!

7. Bikini, tankini, or one piece?

Anything that covers my body as much as possible!

8. Where do you hate to shop at, but go there anyway?

I do not like shopping at all and try to avoid most shops at all costs.

Nothing doing!

We are at home again with only the boys for company. Lydia is at a friends for a birthday sleepover and Ellie decided she would prefer to stay at her Nanna's house and not with us. One of the reasons being my mum waits on her hand and foot and brings her breakfast in bed, a luxury she is not used to at home.

So the house seems very quiet again, I remember when having two children seemed hard work but now it is like a holiday. The boys get on well even though there are five years between them. I was so worried when Max was born that he wouldn't have anybody to play with and that he would be left on his own all the time. They do bicker occasionally but most of the time they play together and look out for one another and the girls treat Max as if he were theirs.

In saying that I had really hoped that I would have had another child by now. I really wanted Max to have a brother or sister that WAS close in age to him, unfortunately that has not been the case and now every month that passes I think of the ever widening age gap.

I do have to count my blessings though, when we married Mark was unsure whether he wanted children at all. He wouldn't change it for the world now and you never know, hopefully if there is a number five, he might like the idea of a number six!

Friday Photo Flashback!

Update: I meant to post that it was 1974!

Unfortunately when I was born we did not have a camera. My dad bought a second hand one when I was about 9 months old and here are a couple of my first photographs. They are taken at the river bank in Lincoln, my mum used to meet my dad for dinner there once a week and he must have decided to take his camera with him that day!







For more fabulous Friday Photo Flashbacks visit Alicia at More Than Words.

Sunnier times

As I am so fed up of the long, cold winter, I thought that I would post some photographs of last summer when we put up our summer house. We put the base down and built the summerhouse ourselves but needed help to get the very heavy roof on. My Auntie and Uncle helped us and we wouldn't have been able to do it without them. I cannot wait for a bit of warmth and sunshine so we can enjoy it again.









So much for my sunny day post - the only photograph I have of it finished is on a snowy one!!!



For more Wordful Wednesdays visit here!

It makes you think.

When Ellie was almost two and a half she was poorly, just a normal run of the mill, kid-like illness, runny nose, temperature etc. She had been ill for a few days, when for 24 hours she didn't pass any urine. We took her to the emergency doctors (as it was late at night on Easter weekend) and he told us not to worry and that as she had a temperature she would be less likely to urinate and she was ok. I asked him how long should we leave her like this, he shrugged his shoulders and told us that it didn't matter.

I was extremely unhappy with this advice and rang NHS Direct (a freephone help and information line manned by nurses) about the information I had been given. They agreed with me and told me that I could not leave her for an indefinite period without having gone to the toilet and that I had to make another appointment at the emergency doctors, so I scheduled this for the next morning.

However, during the night her stomach started to swell, it seemed only a bit at first but it kept gradually getting worse. We decided that we were not going to wait for the appointment and took her to the Casualty Department instead. They admitted her and said that they were going to have to run some tests. They told us that the cause of her stomach swelling could be due to a blockage in her intestine/bowel. I remember feeling helpless and sick with worry at what they might find when they gave her an x-ray, certain that it would reveal something nasty. We were very fortunate, nothing at all showed up on the x-ray. It still was a very unpleasant experience for her, they had to insert a tube into her bowels to get rid of the gas build up that was there, which must have been a horrific experience for a two year old. I especially feel bad about this because even though her dad was with her when she had this done, I was not, I had left to go home and breastfeed Lydia, as she was only 10 weeks old. After she had been in the hospital for about 24 hours she had still not passed any urine so they had to try and catheterise her, it took four of us to hold her down whilst she was screaming at them to stop and begging us to make them. It is one of the most horrible things I have ever had to do and it still brings tears to my eyes 10 years later.


Ellie after she had been discharged from the hospital




To cut a long story a bit shorter, she was discharged after a couple of days but still suffered from the same stomach swelling and other related problems for years. She had numerous blood tests for allergies and disorders and gave samples but everything came back negative. The Paediatrician who we saw said he could give her an exploratory operation to see if they could find anything but he didn't really want to, especially as her problem never got quite as bad as when she had been first admitted. No reason has ever been found for why this happens and she still does suffer from the problem but only very, very occasionally.

What made me write this post was a mention of a little girl called Layla Grace who MckMama mentioned on her blog today. Her story is heartbreaking and I thank God that Ellie's x-ray did not contain anything sinister and that we are blessed to have four such beautiful and wonderful children. I hugged them all a little tighter tonight after reading this.

I am a day late.

As it is Monday and in my current belated blogging state, this is - Getting to know you Sunday over at MannLand5



1. How often do you wash/change your sheets?

Probably not as often as I should and that is all I am saying :S

2. When is your birthday?

16 December 1973.

3. Have you ever met a bloggy friend in real life?

Afraid not I live in the UK and all bloggy friends live in the USA!

4. Brad Pitt or George Clooney?

Always, always Brad Pitt.

5. If you could change one thing about your body what would it be?

I'm afraid it would have to be my body

6. How often do you wash your hair?

Every couple of days.

7. Do you have pets?

Yes, we have a dog (schnoodle) called Cooper and two rabbits, Jemima and Bobby

8. How many social networks do you belong to..if you had to give up one, what would it be?

I only belong to Facebook so it would have to be that.

Happy 3rd Birthday Max

For the second day running it is actually Happy Belated Birthday. So here goes...


INTERESTING MAX FACTS!!!

Max was born on 16 February 2007 at 07.11, weighing 8lbs 1ozs and his was the most unpleasant and eventful birth.



We thought that Lydia cried a lot, boy were we wrong, Max has cried the most (and still does) and slept the least out of all our children, he has not been an easy baby/child.





However, he fed the best. He would only feed for 5 minutes at a time about every three hours and I think his longest feed was 8 minutes. I was so worried that he wasn't feeding for long enough I timed every feed for about the first three months. In saying that he put on at least 10ozs every week!!!



He is the biggest (at that age) of all our children.

He smiled at 10 days, crawled at 10 months and walked at 14 1/2 months.









He is very stubborn, independent and mischievous.







He has only slept through the night about 7 times.





He has some strange behavioural tendencies and does not like change.

He has a funny sense of humour and makes us laugh every day.







His favourite person in the world is Fireman Sam.



Happy Birthday Max, we love you too xxx

Happy 10th Birthday Lydia

Well not exactly, but it will have to be belated seeing as how we were on holiday and I haven't been able to do it up until now.


INTERESTING LYDIA FACTS!!!

She was born on 9 February 2000 at 11:49, was my biggest baby at 8lb 2ozs and the easiest birth.

For a week she was an angel



and then - AAAAARRRGH - the more she woke the more she cried. Even though she slept very well, almost every one of her waking moments was a crying one (for a very long time)!!!

(supposed to be a picture here but I cannot get it working)



Smiled at four weeks, crawled at 11 months and was the latest walker at 15 months.

(and again)!!!

She has the most beautiful blue eyes...

...and is the only one of my children with freckles.



She scars easily and still has a scar down her cheek from when Ben scratched her face three years ago.



She is very caring and doesn't like to see people upset or in trouble.



Loves animals and teddy bears.





Is very helpful and bright but also very challenging.









Happy Birthday Lydia, we love you xxx

I just wanted to say...

-----------------------------------------------------------





and one last time...



for following me and posting such lovely comments on my blog.

I hope that you have a nice time whilst you are visiting xxx