This is me, November 2018

Well well well, hello little blog, nice chatting to you again.

This post is inspired by a chance comment from a work colleague, so perhaps, here I go again .

A lot has changed around here. At February half term I put a cv online and got set to put my toe in the water for being a working mum. I had a half term temping in a lovely school, but the commute was too much and it wasn't working out for my family, and after much thought and tears, I realised I had to put my family first. Next came some temping in a nursery much more local, but they didn't have a job for me long time, and the temping hours were unpredictable, so I needed to look elsewhere.
Of course, I'm not going to tell you exactly where I am now, but I'm settled in a lovely early years setting, with an amazing team, and have been since June. I'm working towards an early years qualification, because despite having lots of experience and qualifications, I didn't have anything that was exactly what they needed in regards to legalities for staff ratios and stuff like that. So that's where I am, working fully time, every weekday. Menard, in the meantime has had to pick up a lot of the at home stuff, on top of his working hours, so things are a little different. However, by God's grace, and that alone sometimes, it is working!

Sophia is now 9 and JJ will be 7 in December, they're both growing up fast. It often, and especially with facebook memories and things like that, seems like it was just yesterday that they were little and it was all breastfeeding and waking in the night, the logistics of making sure we got out the house to wonderful mums and tots groups and all that jazz. Wherever did that time go?! I am enjoying working with little ones again, but also appreciating how grown up and responsible my two have got (most of the time!).  They're definitely still kids, but they're kids with their own minds and opinions and questions (and boy, does Jaiden have good questions!And by good I mean very hard to answer sometimes!)

So with all that going on, I don't really have time to resurrect my blog again, but I think I might like to all the same, to give myself a little place of my own to escape to briefly sometimes.

Photos of things that have happened around here lately ish (now that I can post pics again!)

I found my 200th geocache

Soph got a happy birthday sticker at school and was very proud of it 

JJ sat on a swing with a book (school wanted places of kids reading in interesting places!)

Daddy added a cool cardboard den addition to the little bike shed.

Where we are

Life in our house is noisy. Soph is five now, obsessed with school and writing and cutting and drawing and generally covering six million pieces of paper in mostly unintelligible scribbles. Actually, to be fair to her, they are becoming more comprehensible, as she puts her knowledge of phonics and blends to piece together words and sentences, although she hasn't really mastered the art of putting spaces inbetween words.

JJ is all boy, climbing, running, jumping and generally doing all the things you never even thought of banning them from doing, until he had done them. He's three, and goes to the school nursery at soph's school, he's ever so proud that he has a big boy uniform to wear too.

I am still being a stay at home mummy. Enjoying my time with the kids (mostly!) but also my time without them - oh how I love my time in the morning without them, although it gets rapidly filled with all the usual mummy stuff, volunteering in soph's class, and church stuff.

M is still around too, working all the crazy shifts his job throws at him, meaning sometimes the kids and I have to do weekends without him, but other times we have to put up with him around the place for several days on end. We mostly survive both. He's also really getting involved in church stuff, which is great, as that's exactly why we moved here about 14 months ago.

We've settled in well, more than well, and really enjoying being a part of this community.

Awesome God!

Had a blogging  break? Uh, yeah, so I did a little bit. But there's been so much going on.

In March we moved from outer London to outta London! Not too far, still near enough to visit friends and relations, but far enough for it to have a totally different feel to the town. Yeah, it's a town. Don't think it's big enough to be a city, so that's different for a start. One of my best friends lives across town, and even at busy times, if I pick the right roads, I could get to her house probably in ten minutes.

Why did we move? Well, mostly because God told us to. We talked a bit about that  in a talk we did at church, which was recorded. I'm not going to link direct here, but if you know me in person, you could probably find it if you wanted to!

We, well firstly Menard, felt God's call to come and be a part of a church plant - a new church , still in the setting up phase. It took me a while to feel it too, but once I did, we went for it! I don't talk a huge amount about my faith on here, I proble ought to do it more! But this I will say, our lives for the past year read like an adventure book of how God has done stuff to get us here, and really just shown us that He wants us here, and  He's the one who's going to get the glory for making it happen.

I have more testimonies of God's faithfulness than I can really remember.  Some big ones include getting us a place to live. Getting us a place in a school which was our first choice, despite a phone call which showed us thst she definitely didn't have a place there initially. A preschool place for Jaiden. A new job for Menard. Enough food to eat and covering our bills and financial needs in the over two month period where we had no income coming in from Menard's job (he didn't have a job/it was the period inbetween jobs/during the first month of his new job, before he got paid)

I'm actually tearing up, Just writing about it. I am truly overwhelmed and humbled by how awesome God is, and how clear it's been that we are in the right place. We're getting stuck in at church, have made some friends who will be friends for life, and have generally thrown ourselves into life here in new town.

Sophia's Peppa Pig Birthday Cake

Before piped features

With features (excuse the shadow, it's funny light in my kitchen)

With candles

Soph blowing out candles will come later, cos Menard took those

Menard's latest video

Menard's slideshow

crazy crazies

The way I summed up the rest of my day yesterday on facebook...

"Today was a crazy crazy day, starting at 5.30am - thanks kids for graciously waking me up so I had time to fit in a ton of things. And thanks for weeing on the floor so I'd give you both baths, and tipping over a plant so I'd hoover the whole downstairs and.... I love you Soph and JJ, even if you do change up my to-do list a little."
 
Today has not got off to the most auspicious start, with a rough night, but we're off to see my mummy and daddy (once all the people stop being asleep again!) so that will be lovely I'm sure :)

Overheard

Menard and Sophia go to the kitchen to get her some milk.

Daddy: "That's a nice song you're singing, Sophie"

Soph: "I'm singing about a kitchen. I'm singing about you in the kitchen"

Santa's little helper

He likes auntie Hannah, reading with Nana, and looking slightly grumpy.

Boxing day

One of the thingsI really enjoyed over Christmas was the opportunity to play games with my extended family. Hannah, Be, Sarah and Sophie played cribbage and 'strip Jack naked', and then later Bekki, Be and I played scrabble. Even Jaiden got in on the action!

Fighting the language barrier

I grew up calling what I have on my bed 'a duvet'. Menard, for some strange reason calls it 'the blanket'.

I have lost the battle with Sophia, cos she's learnt to call it the blanket too.

Today I was trying to teach Jaiden the word 'duvet'. Every time I said it he laughed histerically, with his gorgeous giggle.

"Du-vey"

"giggle giggle giggle"

 Hm, I'll call that progress, I think.

Happy New Year!

From all of us!

Jaidenasaurus

The second one was round about the moment he grabbed a handful of icing, and then smeared it on Grandad's leg!

The times they are a-changing

I plan to be a lot more active on this blog soon (if the kiddos let me! But I've got lots of pics to show you for those days they're less co-operative!)

Today I was mostly a pillow for Jaiden. He's been a cranky pants all day long, apart from our trip to Asda, where he actually smiled at a few people! I think he's teething and/or has a cold. He's a bit miserable, whatever the reason. Mind you, I mostly forgave him when he was sat next to me on the sofa and leant over to go 'mmmmmwah' and give me a big kiss. He won't always kiss me when I ask him to, just to emphasise his cheeky-monkey-ness, I think, so that made that kiss extra special!

Sophia's had a lovely day with her Daddy, at Nan's house. They were painting a tea set that she was given as a belated birthday present (One of those 'paint your own' sets). It still needs to be baked in the oven to set the colours, but she's enjoying playing with it as I type, offering round tea and biscuits. I think it'll have to be an 'after Jaiden's in bed' toy, but that will make it more special!

Family chaos

Visiting my mummy (and my daddy too)

We're visiting my mum and dad today.

I just did half an hour on the treadmill while they took the kids to the park. And I get to have an uninterrupted shower too!

Later we'll bake a cake for my sister in law whose birthday it is on Saturday.

I like my mummy's (and daddy's) house.

Just an average day (the early edition)

The night before....

JJ ate too many beans (out of nan's rice and peas) and also fell asleep on his bottle, so was full of gas! He cried out in his sleep quite a bit, and at 11.30pm he was clearly not happy. We picked him up so as to not to wake up Sophie, and changed his nappy and gave him some gripe water. Lots of cuddles and pattings and rubbings finally resulted in a burp and he did settle back to sleep eventually without waking his sister up.

5.20am  I hear murmurs and chats over the baby monitor. I look at the time, groan, and choose to ignore them cos it's happy noises.

5.30am I hear the unmistakable noise of Sophia shouting "MUM!" and more "ooohs and dadads" from JJ. I realise that staying in bed is not an option. I get up and discover the crack on my heel is really sore, and walking on it really hurts. So I semi limp to their room, not putting any weight on my right heel. Actually, I go to the bathroom first, and have another few "MUM"s shouted at me, so I yell back "I'm on the loo!"

I go in to their bedroom and pick up Jaiden and change his nappy. Sophia tries to talk and tickle him, but he's not having any of it. He wants mummy, and that is that. Once his nappy is done he sits/stands up and determinedly makes himself as close to me as he possibly can. Sophia is also trying to get in on the cuddle action, so I have one in each arm.

Soph refuses to wee, so we go downstairs (If a camel can drink a lot of water and go for ages without a drink, what animal can go for a long time without weeing?! A Sophia, that's who.) I'm learning not to battle over it every time, only the times where we'll be away from toilet facilities and I want her to go before we go out or whatever.

We come downstairs and I put JJ down on the floor, and he collapses in a sobbing heap. I put the tv on - it's still before 6, so bbc breakfast hasn't even started. I gather up the necessities - phone, tv remote, tissues, feeding cushion, and JJ and I settle in for some mummy milk and snuggles. Soph moans cos she wants snuggles and milk, but I tell her the baby has to have his milk first. (Mummy's priority really - it's been a long time since I fed JJ the night before, and really I want him to feed quickly for my comfort more than his!)

We channel surf a bit and find something called something like 'make do and mend'. It's gentle enough for my brain, and interesting enough to distract Sophie from her moaning. JJ takes his time, looking up to check on the world every once in a while, but finally he's done. Well the milk is done, he's actually still hungry so I go to the kitchen and get him a bottle and some milk in a cup for Soph. He goes on the cushion at my feet and Sophie comes up for a snuggle with me.

Once the milk is all drunk, I get to have a bit of personal space and regroup. Oh actually, there was a dirty nappy changing in there somewhere too. Mid mummy milk I think, cos I remember thinking that I still felt uncomfortable.

I grab my laptop and check in a few places - see if I have any move likes for my blog page on facebook, read back some of the events of the last few hours. I earn a few swagbucks, read a coupleof blogs, try to figure out my blog analytics and fail (it says I've got a ton of page views and traffic from another blog, but having chatted with them on facebook, they say they've never read my blog or reffered people here. Odd!) That's blogger. Google analytics says I've had no traffic at all, which I know is also wrong!

Soph asks for something to eat, and I have something too. Finally manage to get a glass of water too. It's about 7.15am by now.

We have a few meltdowns. Soph cos JJ's taken her cup, JJ cos Soph won't give him her food. JJ comes overs several times saying "mmmm" and chomping his mouth to show me he wants some of my food. He also finds Sophia's discarded plate and we play peekaboo with it. I catch sight of what looks like tooth number 5 having a good try at breaking through the gum.

At some point (after I've got to see the weather forecast) we switched over from bbc breakfast (which we turned to at 6.10am once that other program had finished) to cbeebies.

7.30am I change another dirty stinky nappy and we manage to tip nappies all over the floor. (I opened a new packet, and then they went everywhere) We'll pick them up at some point.-

8am Soph trips over her own feet and cries and comes for a cuddle. She's tired and would have done better with another hour asleep, but once she's woken up, that's that.

JJ comes over and wants to be picked up too. Generally once one is picked up, the other wants in on he action too.

At some point I started writing this blog post, it was before Sophia came over, cos I started typing with two hands, and that was reduced to one, and then none for a short while.

It's almost 8.30am and I can hear Menard's up and getting ready for work (slightly later than normal cos he works closer to home on a Tuesday). I think I smell another nappy, so I'll end this post here.

(I finish by spell checking and find it amusing that the blogger spell checker doesn't recognise the work 'blog')

Edited to add - nappy was a false alarm, so we spend time having snuggles and kisses. JJ's very good at 'mwah-ing'

Flash back

Guess the baby

Feeling like I live in some sort of cartoon

We popped to my parents house to check on things while they were away on holiday the other day and I needed to pick all the tomatoes off their plant because a cold front was moving in and we knew they wouldn't be doing any more ripening on the plant.

I had Sophia and Jaiden with me, so I went out the back door, leaving Soph and JJ to watch me through the glass back door. I was picking away and while I did Sophia managed to slip outside to help me pick. I didn't think anything of it cos JJ was still inside, until it came to us going back inside...

Jaiden loves to play with Nana's brooms, which are usually stacked next to the back door. I'd deliberately moved them away from the door cos I didn't want him blocking us out with a broom in the way. However I obviously hadn't moved them far enough away....

Because sure enough, he'd somehow jammed a broom between the back door and a box that sits at the end of the kitchen. I was able to push the door open a couple of inches, but no more. Soph and I were trapped outside, with no phone, no keys, and no one to help!

I did my best not to panic and after uttering a "help me God" prayer, I set to jiggling the door back and forth to try to get the broom to move lower. Luckily it was jammed with the broom bristles at our end, and even better, the door doesn't go right down to the ground, but is slightly raised. I managed to jiggle the broom down to the ground and then shove the door to force to against the bristles and open. Thank God!

I found my phone and called my mum, trying not to laugh too much about what might have been!