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.

Cornwall

We have been in Cornwall near St Austell for four days. We had a fabulous time. The weather was great, the food was tasty, the things we did were lots of fun and we had such an amazing time. We have included our holiday snaps; there are loads of them. If you get bored just fast forward. We are now back for the last week of our Easter break, hoping to do some packing, play dates with friends, I have my 20 + week anomally scan on Tuesday, visits to the dentist and we hope to get Emily's hair cut. We are well, Emily has picked up a tummy bug and has the high temperature to go with it but on the whole all is well.

Fun Easter Traditions

Yesterday we went over to Buxton to visit the Brower-Fachs and to celbrate Easter with Leon and Anna and some of their friends.

We had a great time dying goose eggs, making jigglers out of jelly and we even had an Easter Egg hunt in the snow and hail. Lots of fun with a teatime treat of chick tuna sandwiches and hummous on butterfly bread with Easter baskets for dessert. What a lovely time we had.

Today we have been busy baking on the kitchen floor. For those of you who don't know our house we have little to no space in our kitchen so we either run the risk of Emily's cooking all over the dining room carpet, or use the kitchen floor. So plastic sheets down and squeeze in on the floor.

We have been busy making Easter nests for the children at church tomorrow. We tried really hard not to nibble from the bowl or suck on our fingers, but it is hard when you have a chocolate monster for a daughter! ( she takes after me!)

The telephone in the background was you Mum calling; I am going to call you back now I couldn't get out of the kitchen past the chefs at work!

The finished treat. Notice the shadow on Emily's chin... chocolate I'm afraid and the hand was going in for an egg off the top!

Catch up time

Well, things have been busy so no blogging time. We now have a sold sign outside our house. I would post a picture but it is dark, windy and raining! ( Just another night in Manchester!) With regard to moving, we still have a date of May 2nd; we are waiting to hear from the lady who owns the house to see about repairs that need to be done, so therefore negotiation on the price etc. We have started to pack the study and the attic, but it is difficult to work around Emily and the space we need to live in.

We have enjoyed Lent and are looking forward to Easter Sunday and the joys that that brings in our church. Emily is looking forward to the Easter Bunny, but will be really sad about the Easter Tree (branch from the garden with decorations), leaving our house. Every morning she comes downstairs to check if it's there saying 'tree, tree, tree.' I hope it is not as traumatic as it was when 'Ya Ya' (Santa) went away after Christmas!

Emily is so much fun at the moment. Her speech is massive, usually with words we don't understand but we are getting there with the decoding process. She is also learning to dress or should I say undress herself. This brings up interesting situations when it comes to bedtime. 'Fairy' went to bed the other night!

Judith came to visit before she is too far into her pregnancy to fly. We had a fun time. It is great to know that the next time we see her we will hopefully be meeting our new niece or nephew.

Photos from the month

Crazy and busy but we have not forgotten about you all and will try to be in touch soon. On the house front, we are in negotiations about the house we want to buy as there are some building repairs and general repairs that need to be done so we are waiting to hear from the vendor.

Emily copying how her Dada sits! ( And I know she needs her fringe cut!)

Painting with magic water.

I love cheese!

Do you like my rain hat?

Boing Boing!

Stickers or spots?

Half Term has been and gone

We have had an interesting half term break. It started badly on our first Friday night when we had to take Emily to A and E at 3am with a temp of 39.9. We stayed for 4 hours and went home to see if we could get her to pee in a pot. (Have you ever tried that with a 19 month old who is not potty trained?! Messy!) Well we took the sample back and continued to try to get her temp down and failed so ended up back there again from 3 pm to 7pm on Saturday. She was given antibiotics and started picking up on the Tuesday. Meanwhile a rash developed all over her body including her head. (Have you ever tried to stop a 19 month old from scratching? sore!)

My parents came to visit on Monday and Emily, despite being unwell had a great time with them. We visited Bramhall Hall and Spring had sprung!

We have been busy trying to clear our loft whilst I can get up a ladder and whilst we have someone to look after Emily. We took 6 bags of books to the charity shop. I was sad, Jamie was relieved!

We went to Chill Factor E on Friday with some friends and their kids to play in the snow. Emily has never seen snow before. She was bemused but seemed to enjoy being hauled around in a rubber ring.

Auntie Sara and Uncle Greg and Auntie Deirdre will be pleased to see that Emily is getting to experience a little of the winter life they know so well being Canadians! (Do you like my boots and helmet? Sadly the helmet was a little wobbly and didn't quite protect her nose from a fall!)
I have been sick since Thursday and really sick since yesterday. I am sure it is not pregnancy related sickness as it is often related to food, which is a real shame as food is good and not just for me! Poor baby is living on a diet of bagels and jam. I am not well enough to make it to work tomorrow as I have been to sick this evening and don't want to carry it to school. It is only 5 weeks to the Easter break!

All change in our house

Old House New House?

What a busy couple of weeks we have had (again I hear you say!) We have accepted an offer on our little 3 bedroomed one room downstairs house in Manchester and bought a four bedroomed 2 rooms downstairs house in Stockport. Well... when I say bought, I mean the lady has finally accepted our offer and now all the legal stuff is in motion including builders surveys etc. We are cautiously optimistic and excited as we have been in this little house for 6 years on 8th February and have slowly outgrown it. We have had so many good times here it will feel strange to leave as this is the place were we have spent most of our married life, brought Emily home to, celebrated birthdays and enjoyed times in the garden and in the cul de sac with our neighbours. BUT..... we are moving to space.... space... and a little more space. Emily will be able to slide down her slide without bumping her feet into the fence at the bottom and swing freely without the worry of crashing into the fence behind if she goes too high! The lady who is buying our place is really excited to have gardens and 3 bedrooms as she is moving from a flat and has as much joy at buying our house as we do selling it.

We have even more reason to move to a bigger house because our family is getting bigger. Not a new pet, although Emily may drag it around as much as she does our cat; we are hoping to welcome a new little McCulloch into this crazy, mixed up world in August. The hospital tells us that he/she is due on August 10th but I think it is due on August 15th. We will wait and see. We had our first scan this week. Wow, is God amazing or what?! I know we have seen it before but as we watched this tiny little thing, 5cm from head to bottom with this heart beat pumping away we were struck by the amazingness of life and God's hand in it. So, we need to move and move soon, as Baby is on the way, I am going on maternity leave again, Emily needs to be registered at a Nursery school, the sooner we move the more hands on I can be in moving and because Jamie and I are mega fed up with the vandalism to the side fences at our house and really cannot be bothered fixing them anymore and that is not a good attitude to have! So just to remind you all. In June, my sister Judith is due on the 10th, our sister in law Nicola is due on the 13th and my sister Emma, is due on the 24th. And in August we are due. (Imagine the excitement for my parents with their 3 daughters all pregnant at the same time and in the McCulloch house... 2 daughter in laws pregnant at the same time!)

This weekend my sister Emma, Paul and Ellie May arrived to visit. We had such a great time and Emily just loved having her cousin to play with. We had a great time in the mud at Didsbury Park, soft play, shopping and playing. It was great to see them and to show them round our town.

Well... I think that is enough news to break today. We are so, so thankful for prayers and best wishes from all as well as the feeling of God's presence in the midst of waiting, as it has been a long time since we began thinking about moving. We are relieved to have an offer accepted and to be ont he first rung of the moving ladder. Hopefully we will stay on and not fall off before we get the keys to our new home.

The last two weeks

Have been quite busy with school starting and adjusting to the rhythms of January. We are well and have done lots of cool things. We have been to the farm at Tatton park to see the animals, to the park to play on the slide and Emily has finally learnt to play with play dough without eating it. What a success!! We have had so much fun with dancing. Emily has got a lot of her dada's interesting bum shuffling moves and the waving arms thing must come from him as I am not taking the blame. She got a great Putmayo World Playground CD for Christmas. (Thanks Auntie Sara and Uncle Greg.) We rarely get past the first one as she loves the beat and can do a mean butt wiggle with arm wave.

They have a breed of sheep that lamb at different times of the year. There were 4 lambs.
This one was mega sweet and could have come home with us as a pet!

This looks like it was painful, I caught her just in time hence the abrupt drop of the camera. Her nose was a little red!

Dances just like her dada

Not so tasty any more. (Yeah)