Anniversary

Yesterday Jamie and I celebrated our 8th Wedding Anniversary. We can't believe in many ways that 8 years have gone by, but in other ways we know where the time has gone. Great holidays, new jobs, 4 cars later, 3 houses later, a fabulous two year old and another child about to arrive any day, laughter, tears, success and failure; 8 great years have passed and now we embark on another year together.

We went to Manchester Airport to see the planes land and take off. Emily is obsessed with transport at the minute, she went on a train and a bus last week and yesterday she enjoyed splashing aound in the puddles watching the airplanes.

Keeping hands warm in the wonderful August Weather with hot chocolate.

Concorde.

Do you like my new airplane?

Daddy made caterpillar pancakes for breakfast, she ate it all apart from the head!

On baby watch?... still nothing to report, maybe tomorrow I will be thin again.

Happy Anniversary to Greg and Sara... 8 years today.

Happy anniversary to Lucy and Mark... 1 year yesterday.

Happy anniversary to Esther and Eifion and Lucy and David 5 years this week.

What a lot of anniversaries! What a great thing to celebrate, happy marriages.

Schools out for summer and until May 18th for ME!

Yes... I have finished work and maternity leave will begin when baby is born. The hospital estimate the 10th August, for me I think the 15th.

We have been to North Wales and Llandudno and enjoyed the seaside there for 2 days. Now we are back at home enjoying the back garden and the sunshine of Stockport.

We still have a long list of small and bigger jobs to do on the house, we are trying to do them a, when we have time, b, when we have the money, c, when we have the energy and d, when Emily is sleeping. Jamie has painted the nursery and hopefully blinds and curtains are going up tonight!

We went to the cinema to see the new Batman last night, it was good, but I think it is too voilent to be a 12A. Heath Ledger was great, I am not sure if he would be an Oscar contender if he was alive, but he did a great job. I liked the line 'what doesn't kill you makes you stranger!' I wonder does it?

This week it is jobs to be done, catching up on bills and paperwork, cleaning and stocking the freezer just in case baby arrives. I am feeling much better, the antibiotics have cleared up my infection but I now have a chesty cough. Back to the midwife on Friday to see how progress is going with new baby, maenwhile lots of TLC with our growing baby who tells us every day she is a 'big girl now'.

We still think of her as our little baby!

School Holidays, birthdays

Jamie is officially on school holidays now, Emily has finished for the summer at Sarah's and I have 3 days left before maternity leave! Thanks be to God!
On baby front, we have 3 ish weeks to go, we looked and sorted through Emily's clothes to find first size and any white or yellow bits and bobs. (There are pink ones to but we don't know the gender of baby so we will have to wait and see!) My bag is packed and nappies are bought. Jamie hopes to paint the Nursery in the next week or so and put up curtains. The jury is still out on names, J has a favourite and I have one too, but sadly they are not the same.

It is my baby sister's birthday tomorrow, happy birthday Emma. I know you are not a baby anymore as you have 2 babies of your own, but you are still the little one of the family. Happy birthday Squeezy!

Also, happy birthday Dad to you for Tuesday. I am not trusting Romanian post so you will have to wait for the 'bespoke' art work from Emily in August.

To you both, we love you and hope that the year is full of smiles and laughter.

Time has flown by.

Emily celebrated her 2nd birthday on Friday. We can't believe that we have been blessed with her in our lives for two years. We know that all parents think that they have the greatest kid and we join with them in thinking that about our daughter. We find her funny, chatty, active, mischievous, remorseful, shy, extrovert, animal and music lover as well as just herself. We are aware that God has given her to us and that we have a responsibility to ensure that she grows to love him and love people as he does.

Just awake, with bed hair!

Giving baby Annabel breakfast, (thank you Auntie Anne and Uncle Jim)

She had a great birthday weekend with 12 of her friends and her new cousin Lucas, Deirdre and Andrew her local Godparents, joining us for a teddy bears picnic (indoors because of the rain).

It dried up for pass the parcel al fresco.

Phone calls from Auntie Sara, God mother in Canada, messages from grandparents on holiday and in Ireland, cards from cousins 3 weeks old, parcels from Australia, Belfast, Scotland and other places, she had the lot. Lots of cake, (J and I made it!)

cards ( of which everyone is a wow and she wants them down off the mantle piece at least twice a day to look at the pictures and count them)

smiles, tears, laughter and presents. A great home birthday party, it's a shame she won't remember it, but we will.

Pin the nose on the bear (or on the bear's tummy!)

A big red tractor from Granny and Grandad, food for the shopping trolley and a dr's set to see if dad is poorly!
Emily is well and healthy, growing and developing all the time. We love her deeply and are very proud of her and await to see how her life unfolds, knowing that God is watching over her. Thanks be to God.

Visit to Belfast

Emily and I have been to Belfast to meet our new nephew and niece. We had a great time, the journey was great, I was anxious travelling with a 23 month old on my knee at 33 weeks pregnant. It was lovely to see Emily playing and being nice to her new cousins, she has had some practice with Lucas and it won't be long until a sibling arrives.

We had fun with grandparents playing in the garden, fun with cousins, playing and eating birthday cake, fun with uncles finding frogs in the garden, fun with daddy in the airport and fun with family being family.

Sam is growing and is doing well, it is nice to have two nephews now and Lilah reminds me of Emily when she was little, it was great to hold new born babies again.

I thought I was in labour on Saturday night so I psychotically ran around looking for newborn baby clothes and got them washed. We also built the pram and have been practising with Emily in it. We took the rails off her cot and have made it a bed in preparation for her new bed arriving. But no ... I was not and am not in labour and am patiently waiting over the next 5 + weeks for baby to arrive.

The time has come to enter the twilight zone.

Today I celebrated my 30th birthday. It has been a great weekend of celebrations. Yesterday I had my friends and family for High Tea and today we had a family BBQ to celebrate. Lots of food and cake. It was so cool to celbrate with Uni friends, church friends, colleagues, youth group friends, new friends, old friends and family. My parents came over to celebrate with me, sadly my sisters and brother could not make it as they have had new babies in the last fortnight but my new nephew had his first visit to our house. Tea was great, cakes were tasty and laughter was abundant. (Sadly so was the rain so we didn't spend much time outside!)

Gifts were greatly recieved and much appreciated, plants for the garden, jewellery, bags, books, magazines, photo albums, flowers, flowers, flowers, vases, a gift of an original piece of art work of my choice from my friend who is/was a graphic designer, clothes and candles! ( I realise how loved and spoilt I am!)

Today we had a great breakfast round the table opening more gifts, a new watch, bracelet, necklace, money for sunglasses, chocs, books and a 2 day trip to London to see Phantom of the Opera!! (Did I mention I was spoilt?)

A great BBQ with family and more presents, a beautiful Tiffany necklace, bracelet and earrings as well as another pair of earrings, chocs, pampering things for my feet and a book.

Wow. what a birthday weekend, what a treat. I realise how people rich I am, how loved and looked after I am. I do not take my freinds and family for granted but give thanks for you all, near and far, seen often and seen little, spoken to often and spoken to little, you are thought of regularly and loved.

Many thanks to you all, the cards, letters, emails, gifts, thoughts and love is appreciated. I am signing off now, my first post as a thirty year old, maybe in my thirties I may have more to say that is interesting apart from the ramblings of my daily life.

Another one is here

Lilah Louise Fawcett arrived this afternoon at 4.20pm weighing 7lbs 4oz. Emma is recovering from her section, Paul is on cloud nine, Ellie-May is confused as to why her mummy is in bed and can't walk, my parents are back in the same ward visiting a different daughter 4 days after welcoming a grandson, Judith is introducing Sam to his new cousin, David is paying for more car parking in the hospital car park, Delwyn is on the phone filling me in on all the details and my dad is emailling more photos of a new grand daughter! Phew! What a family. All is well 'Thanks be to God'.

Another Nephew has arrived!

I don't think we can believe that he is a boy, as we come from a biological family of 3 girls and Emma and I have had 2 girls so we expected Judith to have a girl too! But oh no, Judith has bucked the trend and now we have a little nephew and my parents have a grandson. We are so pleased that Samuel, Andrew Croker has arrived safely into the world yesterday, 12/6/08, weighing 8lbs 10.5 oz.

He is really beautiful. Emily and I are going to visit them a week next Thursday. (I got my fit to fly paper yesterday!) Sadly Jamie can't come as he is exam marking but there is plenty of picture sending going back and forth across the Irish Sea. It was great fun choosingblue clothes yesterday, Emily had the basket full of stuff but is a little confused with Lucas and Samuel. She thinks they are the same baby. Wait til our little niece arrives on Tuesday and then a new sibling in August. She really WILL be confused!

So Lucas is here, Samuel is here, we are expecting a little Fawcett on Tuesday then it is our turn in August. What a busy time for the Patterson and McCulloch families. (Our parents deserve a medal!)

Fun in the Garden.

The ball now goes forward more often than backward!

45 mins later and still enjoying the swing. Shame about my arm! (Grandmum took over!)

Just a reminder that Emily is 'Toddling' for Barnado's Charity a week on Tuesday. If you would like to sponsor her, we have a paper sponsor form as well as the secure website link. www.bmycharity.com/emilymcculloch. Thank you to those who have contributed already.

Catching up

Just a few bits and bobs I have found when downloading from the camera.

This is practising an "argh" for Leon's 3rd Birthday party. It was themed as a pirate party!

Life is good, our house is coming along but for now we have stopped painting as it gets mega boring and we are tired of it. We took the sold sign down last night... only 3 weeks late but it wasn't a massive priority as so much DIY inside needs doing!

Jamie starts GCSE exam marking tomorrow so he will be glued to a computer screen for the next 3 weeks. He is at the Foo Fighters and Manic Street Preachers concert tonight so I expect him home late and hoarse! We love our house despite its irks and quirks, for example, the toliet is not attached to the ground, it moves when you sit on it and whan you clean around it. The kitchen floor is very uneven and feels like you are on a rollercoster as you walk from one end to the other. BUT the garden is so, so great. When Emily makes up, most mornings she will say "Outside please." We are having so much fun out there, it is just a shame it takes so long to cut the grass. I am still weeding slowly as there is so much to do.

Our little nephew is so cute. He is tiny and Emily just adores him, as do we all. She is gentle, loving and generous to him in sharing... lets hope that is a positive precursor to her sibling arriving in 10 weeks time!

On Bank Holiday weekend we went away to Castleton with Church for the weekend. We had a great time, it was like an NYI holidy, bunks and all with a toddler in tow. It was a shame that Emily had a cold and couldn't breathe at night consequently causing her to wake around 5am each day. That was hard to manage as everyone else was sleeping and so were their toddlers and kids! We walked, fed lambs, ate ice cream, chatted , attended services and seminars and had a great time with our churhc community. Lots of fun, but really exhausting.

One of our oldest members from church passed away last week. She was a fab lady and will be missed greatly. She was a lady sho lived through war, poor times, the developing society with technology that we now have and had many stories to tell. SHe was also one of the few peole who was at our church when we started going 8 years ago. She stood by our little church when it was little and tried to embrace change when it grew to what is is today. Betty, you will be missed but your testimony lives on.

I think that is all, my 2 sisters are in the last 2 weeks of their preganancies so we are waiting for a phone call any day now. We are excited and looking forward to the new additions to the family. Emily and I are going to visit them at the end of June if the Dr will issue me a fit to fly paper. Before that there is lots to do, School starts abck next week, reports need to be written, its my birthday soon as well as Emily's and Fathers Day in in there too! What a lot to do.

Happy Day

Happy Birthday to you Esther, we hope that the sun is shining in Sydney and that you have a relaxing day, ( We are not sure if you are in school today... we are on half term but not sure if you are too.) Anyway put another shrimp on the barbie and enjoy your day.

Happy Birthday to you Katy, hoping you are enjoying have term and as you enter the 3rd decade of life, may it be a great one.

Happy Birthday Nicola. Has baby Greenwood arrived yet? Well, if you are able to, enjoy your day, don't eat too much ( I made tht mistake when J took me out for my dinner 2 weeks before Emily was born.... I didn't feel good afterwards!)

Happy Birthday to you Geordan. We hope that you had a great day yesterday and were not too disappointed with the football result last night!

Happy anniversary to Deirdre and Andrew. We send big hugs and love today.

And congratulations to Jamie's cousin Laura who is getting married to David on Saturday. We are sorry we can't be there, have a great day, we are looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Well... I think that is all on the happy occasions, to one and all "have a happy day."

He's here!

Lucas, Stephen, David McCulloch arrived in the world on Tuesday weighing a respectable 5lb 11oz.

Nicola is still going through tests regarding her pre eclampsia but she and Lucas are doing well. We are so excited to have our little nephew safe and well in the world. Emily is also doing very well with the gently thing as well as saying his cute little name.

Charity begins at home and with a toddle

Emily is taking part in a half mile toddle on Tuesday 17th of June, for children under 5 years old with her childminder, Sarah. It is to help raise money for the charity Barnardo's who will use all money to support local projects helping disadvantaged children in our area. If you want to help support Emily and the charity you can do so by using the online link below.

www:bmycharity.com/EmilyMcCulloch

new house photos

I've found the camera lead

Just some photos we have taken over the past couple of weeks. We still have no personal internet connection, so posting will be sporatic and possibly erratic. We moved on Monday in chaos. The removal firm were great but the lady whose house we bought was not so organised. We got the keys at 3.30 and walked ion to find: food in cupboards, dust, dirt and hair everywhere, stained carpets and a general mess. Very soul destroying but we are getting there. We have now painted Emily's room the dining room and the living room. It is slow when you have a toddler and a pregnant woman in tow but J is super and we have friends and family to help. I am back to work on Monday but then it is half term on Friday.
Photos on next post

Moaning over

We have had a great day today. Yesterday Jamie and I finished most of the packing so we can move whenever the mess with solicitors is sorted. We also unpacked the essentials... so that left today free. It is the first day since I can remember that packing did not need to be done.
We have been to church, been swimmimg and have been building towers with mega blocks.
Emily has also had her first hair cut (on Firday). I would post photos only the cable for the camera is packed!
We hope the weather will be nice tomorrow as we plan a day of bike riding at Dunham Massey etc. I am also 26 weeks pregnant and feeling well. (trying not to be stressed.) Every week is a step closer to meeting the little one, Emily now understands that there is a baby inside and cutley talks to my tummy. (She also thinks there is one inside her and her daddy's tummy!)
Well that is all for now, off to do the ironing and watch Indiana Jones (My favs!)

The best laid plans

never work out! Today we were supposed to be moving at 9.15 am!

The removal men were booked, Emily was going off to sleep at her grandparents for 2 nights, the electrician was booked to wire a socket for our cooker, Emily's furniture was ordered to arrive next week, an army of painters, builder furniture people and others were organised. Sky was arranged to put in our new phone line, our new house insurance, car insurance etc sorted and all the post redirected from yesterday! Other things too, like the phone being cut off today therefore no internet etc was also sorted!

That was until we got a phone call at 4.30 last night to say that we couldn't move as the lady whose house we are buying - her solicitors need a further 5 working days to sort out the paper work as there has been a problem with her mortgage! She is confused as all the paperwork was sorted to her knowledge on Tuesday, it sounds like her solicitors are pulling a fast one!
To make matters worse the Monday Bank Holiday which was working in our favour ( we are bpth off work) is now working against us as the solicitors and banks etc are all closed and the earliest the paperwork will be done is Monday 12th May. Also, I have run around like a looney all week and am exhausted. Last night I (with the help of Jamie who was home from work) had to rehang Emily's blind and curtains, unpack cutlery, plates and saucepans, towels and other essentails having spent the day packing them witha frustrated toddler who wanted her toys out of boxes and not in boxes. She was pleased this morning to see them back out again! ( but a little confused as I said she could have them in her new house!) The final blow is that I have a further week of work, infection rates are falling but not sufficiently for me to be safe. Instead of painting, unpacking and sorting, I am stuck in a house with no phone and internet surrounded by boxes for the next week. I have to be organised and try to download everything I need to do school work without the Internet.
Well that is the woe is me for the day, we are so disappointed; Jamie has spent all week working every minute trying to get things wrapped up by yesterday so that he could have today off to move and he has had to go to work today despite plannig all the lessons for a supply! It is KS3 SATS next week, he has been under so much pressure this weekin organising them, he is now looking forward to a rest and to the last United home game of the season tomorrow!

On a side point Nicola, our sister in law, is in hospital for monitoring as her blood pressure is so high. She is doing well but needs to be looked after a little more closely. She has 6 weeks to go before our nephew arrives and it is her birthday this weekend. We hope she will be out soon to celebrate.

This may be the last post for a while, I am off to mope into my cup of tea and admire the sunny day I prayed for so that the removal men would not dirty the carpets in out old or new house!!! boo hoo!

Happy Birthday Granny

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

Thanks be to God

I am not and have not been infected. Yeah! Hopefully all is well with baby; I am at a midwife appointment on Thursday so maybe she will be able to advise etc. In the meantime as there is so much of this nasty virus in school I am not allowed to work for the next 2 weeks, and have to keep an eye on infection rates at school. If they drop, I can go back to work. If not, it is more paper work to do at home time. ( I have loads of policies to rewrite etc.) What a relief, I didn't realise how much I was worried about it until the midwife told me everything seemed ok.
Sadly, I am not at school to support my colleagues through the inspection. It feels weird as I feel that St Marks runs through my veins and to be prevented from defending it's honour is strange. I do have to go to meet the inspector for an interview to discuss my role and to evidence the Self Evaluation Form that relates to my areas of management. Also, I am sad for my little class who have 2 teachers who are not working due to health issues. They must be really fed up with all this change and upheaval.
On a different note, we rang up to check what to do about our phone number etc. What a pain. It takes 14 days to cut off, but in that 14 days you have no service so we can't cut it off now.We have to wait until we move. It takes 14 days to connect from moving in and you can't do it until you move in. Then it takes 4 -6 weeks to sort out the Internet. (Jamie is panicking as he needs it from June 1st for GCSE exam marking.) AND we can't keep our telephone number!!!! Only in Britain does this seem acceptable customer service. I hate call centres!

Emily went back to see Sarah, our childminder today with a big smile on her face. It is so reassuring to know that Emily enjoys her time with Sarah and has so much fun with her. Check out the new look website and see if you can spot a very young looking Emily. She has been going there for one year past on April 16th. Lots of people told me that I would never feel comfortable leaving Emily and going to work, but I can honestly say that it is good for Emily to be there and it is good for me to be at work.

Well that is all for now, Jamie is at the dining table marking books, I am off to wash the tea time dishes and to put the washing machine on. The packing boxes are slowing mounting up and keeping on top of household jobs etc is growing more and more difficult. Roll on May 2nd. ( I may regret that phrase!)

OFSTED are coming!!!!

On Tuesday.
I still don't know if I can go to work. I am anxious about the results as so far it looks like I am not immune to parvo virus B19. Immunity would mean that I have had it at some stage and am safe to work with the virus around. Lack of immunity scares me as I could get it and it could cause major issues for the little one that moves with vigour inside my ever growing tummy.
In the meantime I am useless to my colleagues and class, worrying if I will get my results and be cleared to go in at the very last minute, therefore feel in a tizz or have been in contact with the illness have caught it and now be on the journey to find out if the virus has impacted our little one. Not nice all round.
On a positive note, Emily's 2 front pointy teeth are through, we move in 12 days, and a removal company is coming to give us a quote on Thursday. (It may be money well spent when we look around the house and note the amount of stuff we have!) Also, Jamie will be a real Sherpa as I can't lift.

?????

I am not allowed to go to work as there is a nasty virus going around the school called 'Slapped Cheek'. (It looks like you have been slapped across your cheeks!) It can be dangerous to pregnant women and as this is me, I am not allowed to go to work as I await results to come back from the virology lab. In the meantime I am busy writing policies, marking and packing as we move house in 14 days. I am anxious but not neurotic but long for the results to come back. The midwife who is looking after me thinks that I am not immune (looking at an old blood sample) which is strange as 60 - 70% of adults are. Hopefully my blood results will be back by Monday and then I can either get treatment or get back to work.

Emily is well and had a great visit with Granny. She fell out the front door today as she was concentrating on the ball she had just thrown out of the door and onto the grass. She is just like her daddy, one focus and that's the ball. A small bump and graze but Miss Bump on her head for 5 mins meant that all was well.
Jamie is busy keeping up with work, tutoring, the Premiership, packing and a demanding wife and daughter.ol
I think that is all, we are busy collecting boxes and filling them, writing lists and sorting bits and bobs.

Keeping the Emily watchers happy

Not a lot happening. We had a great end of our holiday and a good visit with the sonographer to check for anomolies. Baby is growing and developing well as far as they can tell with a due date of 11th August.
On the house front, we should hear tomorrow if our vendor will negotiate on price etc. So far it has been stalemate on her part as she has not compromised on anything we have asked. We have been busy packing and still have a moving date of May 2nd.
My mum arrives tomorrow to help us with childcare for 2 days as our childminder is unwell. Sarah is a good friend and a great childminder. She will be fit and well again soon but needs some time off to get better. My job sharing colleague is also very, very unwell with a mystery virus and won't be back at work for 6 - 8 weeks. I am working more hours to cover but only within the limits of my health and childcare arrangements. I really miss her as she is so professional and keeps me on the right track!


Yummy corn on the cob with Buuter. (She has some funny ways of saying things. I wonder is she going to have my or J's accent or be a real Manc like her little friend Katie?)


Emily's first attempt at Tacos. Her Daddy's favourite; she seemed to enjoy them too if her empty plate is anything to go by.

Wow, they don't stay still for long enough to catch.

So soft

Keep your eye on the bubbles!
I think that is all for now, I'm off to get myself sorted for tomorrow.