Returning to a comfy pair of slippers

It has been a while, probably too long since I have updated my poor blog so here goes, a whistle stop tour of the past couple of months. I must say that I have been laid lower than usual as we are excitedly waiting the arrival of a new McCulloch baby, due to enter the world mid June. This pregnancy thankfully, has been like no other. Sickness, at night, lethargy never known to me and bugs and germs caught galore. That tailored with the start of term, Emily starting school, Jamie embedding himself in his new role at work and Joel starting with our new childminder, it has been a hard couple of months. That said, we have survived and are moving on.

Emily got her first school photo taken and was kind enough to share the experience with Joel. (note the flash, as it is a photo of a photo!)

It has been lovely to have the proper Winter season this year. We thankfully were prepared with sledges this year and have had fun down on the back lawn of NTC with the sledge. Mummy didn't have a go because, a, it was too cold, b, it was too cold and c, I had to keep baby safe!

We got the Christmas tree up and it stayed up, with a little help of daily moving decorations by Joel. The top half stayed the same, it was just the bottom that looked like a higgegly piggily house!

Emily was a star in her Christmas Nativity at school. She was quite proud of her mummy sewing the tinsel on the bottom of a t-shirt. Little does she know about the skill level required to create such a master piece. She received a headteachers award for her performance skills at the end of term. We are still unsure if this was related to the nativity play, her drama in the playground when she falls over or her interaction in class! Either way she was proud of a yellow piece of card with her head teacher's and her name on it!

Our church had our walking around the streets Nativity again this year. Emily was princess fairy angel and Joel was cold and stubborn shepherd! I believe Jamie may have been Caspar, but the details have escaped me... he did like the bling on his head dress!

Joel and her continue to fight one minute and love each other the next. It can be quite exhausting, but on the whole there is a lot of laughing going on as Joel is quite the character. At the moment he is refusing to sleep in his big boy bed instead opting for the baby bed or cot! Something I find mighty frustrating!

Santa visited Belfast and brought snow, family and presents. It has been fun trying to find places for everything, you know where the drums have gone?! The conservatory!

Well I am sure that I have missed lots of details and stories, we are ok, I am off work with some sort of Influenza virus. Jamie had to come and pick me up from class yesterday morning after a near fainting episode. I feel a little better today, it has been nice to sit upright for 30 mins, but I am ready to lie down again!

Hopefully more to follow I won't leave it so long next time and it is good to know that the slippers still fit!

We love the NHS

This week we had Joel's long awaited cardiology appointment. A 3.50pm appointment slot on a dark, rainy afternoon... doesn't bode well. Our cardiologist is great but she always runs late, this time she was over an hour late!

Joel started crying before we even got into the consulting room. Jamie had downloaded Peppa Pig to his Itouch hoping that would help, I packed sweetie hoping they would help but nothing helped. He cried it out and then surprising was very cooperative, whilst complaining that the wand thing was "owwie on his boom boom."

After an ECG... have you ever tired keeping a two year old still enough for an ECG? we received the results.

1. His ECG was more or less normal :)

2. His aortic valve is undamaged at the moment. :)

3. Open heart surgery will never be an option unless in an emergency. :)

4. We can wean him off the diuretics he has been on since 16 days old. :)

5. The hole may close. 50% usually by 5 years old. 75% by 8 years old. So Joel may be one of these but as time goes on the likelihood gets smaller. :) and :(

6. He may need surgery later but the success rate right now is not high enough to give this to Joel as he seems so resilient and unless there are knock on effects he may just live with it. :)

7. When he comes off the diuretics his weight may improve and then he can come off the milk and maybe the iron. :)

So we left smiling, Joel was full of sweets and crisps and had snow white stickers stuck all over his clothes, shoes and hands. We are back in 6 months to see if he can cope without the medicines, if the hole is smaller or improving... until then we only have to give him his infatrini and iron. A nice break in a 2+ year routine. No more trips to the dr for repeat prescriptions, no more waiting for special orders and the pharmacist reminding us to watch the shelf life or, "Wow, he's a lucky boy with the cost of this gold dust!"

We are grateful for the gold dust, but we are not sad to see it go! Thank you NHS for looking after us.

And to Joel... keep getting better little man, you are so much fun, we love you dearly and your smile and humour brightens up our day; but you are a cheeky monkey too!.

We have been busy, Emily got her first swimming badge! A big achievement for her. Also our neighbour is so cool. We came home the other day to this box of goodies grown on her allotment. How great is that?

All is well with us, we are just about hanging on to the holidays in 2 weeks. Joel is at the hospital on Wednesday for vaccinations for the Winter, Emily and I are going to Disney on Ice on Friday with some friends and Jamie and I are going to see Romeo and Juliet with the English National Ballet on Sat. Lots to look forward to.

Sunny Autumn Days

Days out at Dunham Massey and Crow's Wood at Lyme Park, complete with new winter hats and fleeces!

School Days

Emily started school last week. We can't believe it is time for uniforms and black shoes already! All is well so far but she is on half days until 27th! We are adjusting to the rhythms of term, Joel starts at our new childminder tomorrow- hope that goes well.

It has been a while... and it will take a while to read this one!

It is 2 weeks until the end of our summer break and we have nearly finished the DIY. The conservatory is done, we just need to save for two pieces of furniture. We all love it, it is a great place to play, read and look out into the garden. It is even a good place to do school work!

The loft has had its fourth and final coat of paint and all it needs is some blinds on the windows so that when we need to sleep in it (in two weeks) the sun won't blind us!

The weather has been pretty unpredictable so we have had fun in our 'lounge cinema' complete with beds, popcorn and blankets. We have also popped out to visit Stan at Manchester Museum and have been to feed the ducks at Woodford Park Garden Centre. Sun would be nice so that we could enjoy our own garden a bit more.

We have been on holiday with friends on the Isle of Wight. Our god daughter is 11 and about to start high school, it was fun spending a week with her and her family. It is bizarre that the tiny little baby we were holding all those years ago is now holding our toddler's hand and playing with him in the sea! The sun shone for most of the time, we played on the beach, picniced a lot and had a fun time. We stopped at Longleat and had a great time at the Safari Park. Our kids love animals so it was a fab thing to do. Emily was beside herself at the thought of meeting Sportacus and Stephanie as well as holding a millipede! Joel enjoyed the train ride and the safari boats looking for sea lions and hippos!

Joel has had his second birthday. He got a scooter and a football net as well as fire trucks, rockets, animals and books. He even got a personally addressed and signed copy of Cave Baby - the new Julia Donaldson book! I am so excited for him - thank you Auntie Nic and Uncle David! We went to Monkey Forest with the McCulloch tribe and had a fun time with the 140 Barbarary Macques (not sure how to spell them... monkeys will do,).

It is hard to work out where the last 2 years have gone, Joel has been an amazing addition to our clan, he brings so much joy and laughter to our house and has a real love for all things four legged. I am sad to see the baby time go but he will keep us busy in the toddler years as he is as strong willed as his sister and Mummy! ( He also has a great thowing action like his Daddy, but sadly it is not just balls that he likes to throw!)

Well 2 weeks left, we are off to Greenbelt - a Christian arts and music festival. It is the first time we have camped since our America Trip in 2003 and the first time with 2 children. It is only for 2 nights..... I will let you know how it went. It is also results day for Jamie on Tuesday. He will find out how the students did in their exams and how his department has performed this year. Emily, Joel and I are going to our church kids club - the theme is super heroes. I don't plan to dress up in a cat suit! My parents arrive for a dessert afternoon with friends and family to celebrate Joel and Jamie's birthdays. A little late for JoJo but lots of people are away in August!

Then, before we know it, the 5 weeks that I have longed for since Christmas are done and I am meeting my new class of 32 Year 6 children on Wednesday 8th Sept after 2 days of Inservice training. Before that, I need to successfully convince a very adament 4 year old that she needs to wear black shoes to school and not pink ones. I have tried all summer and failed but this week I am biting the bullet! Wish me luck!

Catching up

Well, now that we have all caught our breath, it is time to reflect and get excited about the summer holidays that start this Friday for Jamie and next Wednesday for me! So here is a potted few weeks.

Emily finishes Nursery school next Thursday and has had a wonderful year.

She got into the Primary school we wanted after a successful appeal. She is now in the same class as 5 of her friends from Nursery.

We got her uniform last week. :)

Joel has been recovering from yet another virus, so lack of sleep and appetite for him and us!

Joel is chatting more, his favourite words are donkey, airplane, penny, football, no and sweeties. Usually not in the one sentence, but wouldn't that be an interesting idea!

We have entered the world of Disney Princesses with Ariel and Price Eric, Jasmine with Aladdin, Prince Philip with Sleeping Beauty, daily gracing our dinner table.

I have had sinusitis, fluid in my ears, a chest and throat infection.

Our loft conversion is finished, we are now painting and decorating it.

Our conservatory is half up with the brick work done, tomorrow the frames should arrive.

My class staged 'Bugsy Malone' last week - they were amazing.

I wrote 31 school reports and so far there has been no 'fall out!'

I saw Hairspray at Manchester Opera House. It was so, so great.

Jamie is busy writing speeches for colleagues who are leaving his department, he has survived his first term as a Head of Department and has enjoyed it.

Our potatoes and shallots are growing well with the much needed but unwanted rain.

It's my baby sister's birthday tomorrow and my dad's birthday tomorrow.

Jamie and I celebrate 15 years together next month as well as our 10 year wedding anniversary.

Well, that is enough, I need to go to find food for tomorrow's tea as well as bags for Nursery and our Child Minder.

Where has the time gone?

Last weekend Emily celebrated her fourth birthday. Today we had her party with friends from church, nursery school, baby massage, our friends from school and their kids as well as family. We had a fun time, the sun was out and really hot and we had a great time together.

Emily is great. She has too much to say for herself. She often needs the last word and has an opinion on most things. She is the organiser and is often the leader but likes to be the follower too. She laughs easily and cries a lot. She is clumsy but tries to succeed. She is kind and caring whilst being strong willed and stubborn. She asks great questions but struggles to wait for the answers. She is great. We love her dearly and are so grateful that she blesses our lives every day. There are lots of lovely things about Emily, for me, it's her smile!