Christmas

We are having a lovely Christmas time. Lewis and I have both reflected that our family feels complete now, and it is so nice to just be together and have fun...
Like on Christmas Eve, when I brought Lewis's present in the house! It was a snowboard so it was pretty huge and was all wrapped up. His face was a picture :)

Phineas had obviously caught on to the excitement and is not settling well at night. Lewis actually got no sleep at all on Christmas Eve, so we are going to try and rest ready for the family weekend!!

My birthday!

I had a great birthday, got very spoilt and finally had a fairy castle cake!!

Beautiful boy!

Phineas Joe Munday

Our new arrival! Baby Munday has finally joined our family. Following months of agony and drama and enough ups and downs to fill an eastenders storyline!
But in the early hours of the morning as I watch our baby and Lewis sleeping soundly, I just wanted to record my thoughts.
The journey to bring this baby in to the world has been arduous, but it would have been even more so if not for our loving family, our devoted friends, brothers and sisters in the gospel and a whole army of medical staff, from ambulance drivers through to the midwives.
I think I earned myself a bad reputation here in the hospital, especially during this last week. Some staff have taken the time to listen, some have taken the time to write me out a prescription for sleeping tablets because I was driving them crazy!
But I feel so grateful for everyone has been there for us, in whatever capacity!! I should also mention how grateful I am to my Father in heaven who I felt had deserted me so many times, but who in fact things worked out in such a way that allowed our baby to come safely. I feel very humbled tonight.
Of course I am so grateful for Lewis who has been firmly at my side always, and as a new chapter of our life together begins, I feel at last I can shut the door on some painful parts of our past. I love that man.

Boys

Remembrance Day 2012

Day Six: Low Angle

For low angle, I thought an "iPod's view" of the boys!

Day Five: High Angle

Each morning I like to look out of my bedroom window and "survey the land"! I love how autumn changes the garden.

Pjs

I have just bought some new pjs for the kids. They are so cute!

Day Four: Something Green

Yesterday, we visited Normanby Hall to watch "Room on the Broom" It was lots of fun and the scenery was just beautiful.

 For "Something Green" I also thought I would take a picture of the flowers that my work colleagues bought me for my "leaving but coming back do".  I also received some chocolates and a Next voucher, so I felt very spoiled indeed!  I do miss being at work, especially as my pregnancy gets harder!

Halloween

In our house we all love the Minions/ Cousins from Despicable Me, 

so this year I decided to do a Minion pumpkin:

I have to confess I am quite proud of my efforts!

Day Three: Clouds

I am incredibly grateful that the clouds I can see from my house look like this:

And not like this:

for all people complain about British weather, I always feel grateful that we don't really have to deal with the extremes of weather, like Hurricane Sandy.

Day Two: What I wore today

Since I am feeling absolutely dreadful right now, owing to being full of cold in addition to the usual pain, I have mostly been wearing my PJs!  I was only thinking the other day how aside from the pregnancy related conditions I have encountered, I have been quite healthy during this pregnancy.  This is my first cold, and I have had no icky spots.  My hair is always fine and pregnancy makes little difference to that, but my nails are always strong so not much difference there either.  I do kind of think that at least I have a cold now, and hopefully I will avoid them once the baby is here because being sleep deprived and snot filled does not sound like a good combination to me!!

We are also gearing up for Halloween right now.  I love this time of year!  Yesterday we had spooky milkshakes (which are so nice on my sore throat).  Simple, and yet pretty "ghoul" I thought!

Day One: Self Portrait

 So I have a fair bit of time to kill and I figured I'd try and do one of these "30 Day Photo Challenges" again to pass some time and give me a focus.
Above, is a self portrait I don't mind!  To the right is a self portrait the morning after spending a good part of the evening in hospital.  Gosh, I feel rough today!  Having said that, I am now 33 weeks and experiencing the high of codeine, which seems to have put life into a much better perspective!  Baby Elmo is head down and healthy so it's all good :)
I am going to try and enjoy these last few weeks of NOT having a baby in the house, instead of being impatient for the days when life will be hard work and my other 3 children will probably get a little neglected!  Prepare to be smothered kids!
Last week I managed to walk Dash in the park and had to take a picture of the lovely autumn view.  I love Autumn, it is my favourite time of year.

Photos for Lewis

What a difference an hour makes...

I don't really do "bump" photos but Lewis has been complaining that he has no pictures of my bump and so, since it is fairly neat I have decided to comply, just this once!  

I do think I might ask Jess to come and take some pictures of the kids and my bump, especially as this is definitely the last time I will be pregnant (definitely! My body is too old for this lark)

So, what has but me in such a compliant mood?? ONE little hour, that's what!  I have been having real trouble sleeping for weeks now, but on Tuesday I had 2 vaccinations which left my right arm kind of bruised so it was painful to sleep on my right side.  I fell over on Saturday and hurt my back/ left hip so it is painful to sleep on my left.  If I sleep on my back it takes my breath away and also sends acid up and I feel sick and sleeping on my front is just not possible now!  So you see my dilemma.  For a while now I have been waking up a couple of times in the night and usually I can't sleep after 4:30 am, but last night I slept right through from 10 pm to 5:30 am and I feel AMAZING!  So even though I am having to use my crutches and my back is still painful I am really happy!  It is also one of those beautiful Autumn days and I am looking forward to collecting conkers with the children tonight, yay!  

In addition to all of this, our car went through its MOT yesterday!  Beck Hill were going to charge £406 to replace the Catalytic Converter, a brake pipe and an MOT retest fee, but we took it to Brian Midgley's and they are charging us £362 for a new tyre, new brake pipe, catalytic converter, windscreen wiper (because the one Beck Hill put on bent after 2 days) and MOT fee.  Going to pick them up a nice tin of biscuits when I collect the car tomorrow!!

Love is...

Love is... finding your pregnant wife has pinched your t-shirt to sleep in, and telling her she looks good in it.
I love my husband :)

Me and my irritable uterus!

I thought the midwife was being funny when she said I had an "irritable uterus"... turns out it's not so funny!  That is my official diagnosis.  What causes this?  They don't know.  What treats this?  Well, nothing.  My GP put it very aptly; "You are sitting on a time bomb, anything could trigger it so just rest and every week that goes by means baby is a bit stronger.  Anything past 32 weeks is extra bonus points!"
So that's it.  I'm off work until next year!  I'm not to get stressed (try explaining this to my Dad, who keeps trying to bump himself off!), I can't swim, do exercise, walk too far, go too far from a hospital, lift anything, go anywhere without a mobile phone and my maternity notes, and "that act" that got me in all this mess in the first place is also off the menu (the midwife says I got enough of that 6 months ago!!!)
So mostly, I will be getting well acquainted with the residents of Wisteria Lane, knitting and trying not to go crazy!  Fun times ahead :)
What I do try and keep reminding myself is that the bigger picture here is Elmo and I know that my GP is right; every extra week is a bonus.  So for the first time ever, I'm going to behave and rest!

Pink Pig

So, it rained on Monday, and it is raining today, but look at the weather yesterday when we chose to go out!