Catch up pics

Well it does seem to have been a long time ! My beautiful little bear is 7 weeks old today. It has gone so quickly yet at the same time so much seems to have happened. Just wanted to share a few pics of what we've been up to . There has been non stop snuggling of nice little babaies.....

meeting our nana's great and small......

wrapping our beautifuls in rainbows.......

taking pics of our slipper with mummy's camera..........

shared Jamies 7th birthday .............

made chocolate mint cake as requested by the birthday boy..........................

marvelled at , trudged through , and played in the snow.........

proved that your never to big for a ride .............

gazed at amazing new things.......................

ditto ........











and wandered at how beautiful it all is .

Of course it hasn't all just been sunshine and roses, there has been plenty of mess, crying, shouting, chaos, lateness, coughs, sneezes , sleeplessnights ( actually all of the above on a daily basis at the minute!) But being positive is a choice i'm trying to make rather than dwelling on the not so great and when there is so much to be positive about it doesn't seem that hard .

Possibly the loveliest baby you've ever seen ?

Thought so !

Those lovely saucer eyes, that cute nose , that little milky face . Make that a definate !

My baby

She has arrived !! My beautiful little girl Millie fern was born at home on monday morning, and she is just wonderful!

The Birth story

I'd begun having stronger than usual BH on her 'official ' due date on Friday. They weren't strong and regular enough to be 'labour' but were definately the much anticipated twinges that every man and his dog had been enquiring about for the last week or so ! They tailed off after an hour or so with the odd one or two on the Saturday but nothing more. They began again on Sunday evening whilst watching the tv and i was happy enough just to sit through them at this stage. By midnight they were getting stronger and more regular so i decide to have bath no.1 of the evening whilst Martin went to bed. Unable to get comfortable i decided to go downstairs and distract myself with crochet and tv ( of course doesn't everyone?) by this time i think i might have admited to myself that this might be 'it' as i decide to put my birthing necklace on.

An hour or so passed and things began to intensify so after bath no.2 i woke Martin and asked him to ring the midwives, who arrived about half an hour later . By this point i decided to put the hypnobirthing cd on in the room ( this was on continuously for the next 3 hours, i fouund it really helpful not sure anyone else did ;-)

After another hour or so of being supported and back rubbed by Martin i began to feel like i wanted to push , encouraged by the midwives to do whatever my body was telling me i started to push . My waters went in a huge gush whilst kneeling on the floor and things sped up quite quickly . I moved onto the sofa and suddenly there was an imensense feeling of calm in between pushes, after another couple of pushes her head was out followed slowly by her body .

She cried immediately . It was wonderful and joyus and amazing discovering we had another little girl and we laughed out loud that everyones suspicions were right.

Martin woke the children up and they came downstairs to meet their little sister. She is amazing and perfect and brilliant and has completed our family and i am so happy to have such a nice little family .

38 +5

I'm really looking forward to it!!!!

The waiting game

It seems to have been weeks since i last updated my blog, during that time i have had a one year blogiversary too! Firstly a massive MASSIVE thankyou to all the lovely ladies who have sent/sending a bead for my birthing necklace. It means so much to have your positive energies with me knowing that i'm not alone and that you've all been there yourselves! Will post some lovely pics when its all threaded up!

And so to all things Autumny....pumpkin soup with plenty of quinoa ( good for iron you know!)
homegrown ( possibly picked a bit early) corn

and a little green hat to keep a little head warm. Hopefully this is the right size, i seem to have real issues with sizing . The first baby hat had to go to Sonny because it was a little too big , then the hat for Jamie ( because why has Sonny got a hat and he hasn't ?!) was WAY too big ( got a bit carried away increasing ) and is now a rather slouchy hat on Mummy. Jamie has now decided he doesn't want a hat after all, poor child probably dreads what he might end up with!

a little found friend for the boy who so loves wildlife and animals, and a lovely spot of geocaching with friends .

And what a specimen ! Autumn is most definately here......now when will that autumn baby make an entrance?

Where is the time going?

Im 35 weeks now ( 36 on Friday!) and it is going so quickly! Things that i planned to get done , serious nesting, sorting, decorating, creating stuff seems to be building up as my due date looms near. Physically i'm feeling good ( apart from bending over issues and restless legs ) and i finally seem to have hit that blooming bit, my skins never been so clear ( that makes up for the early months of looking distinctly grey!) I have however been a hormonal nightmare switching from perfectly calm and happy to furious harpy without a moments warning . Today has been a calm and happy one though so we'll ignore the horrible shouty woman and maybe she'll go away! I have been given the all clear for a hb , have been listening to some hypnobirthing cds lent to me by a lovely mama :-) reading up on ec , lent to me by another lovely mama :-) making some washable wipes and breastpads and generally attempting to get things done!

My babys little stash of belongings. Nearly all preloved or handmade and all fairly unisex at the minute (oooooooh girl or boy?) Everyone loves to have a guess and at the minute most people seem to be plumping for girl , perhaps because of this i have now decided i think babies a boy!

I'm so excited to meet our new little one , but am trying to treasure my last few weeks of being pregnant and appreciate how amazing it feels every time i feel a little foot or fist.

I'm hoping to make a birthing necklace to wear during labour , if anyone would like to send me a bead to thread onto it i would be honoured to include it! If you email me at charlotte.rhoades@gmail.com i'll send you my address.

And finally a rainbow wrap just crying out for a squishy baba to put in it.

New tidy dreads

Whilst we were away i had the chance to visit the lovely Abbi and Paul at Blue Bramble Dreads...and what miracle workers they are! Taking some rather messy looking locks and turning them into lovely tidy dreads , using nothing but a crochet hook!!

It took a fair few hours over a couple of evenings but it was actually really relaxing and sooo worth it!

before

after

You can find them by doing a search on facebook or if i have done it properly ( and you are on facebook i think ) you should be able to find them by clicking on the link!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Norwich/Blue-Bramble-Dreads/130652430286822?v=photos#!/pages/Norwich/Blue-Bramble-Dreads/130652430286822

Back again

We have returned from another jolly jaunt , in Norfolk this time. I had hoped to post lots of pics of what we got up to but am having a bit of a problem transferring them all , technology eh! ( Or perhaps it might be me at fault??!!)

It feels like the past six weeks have been a whirl of activity and business we have had birthdays, barbeques, holidays , a wedding , retirement do's , days out, appointments, learnt swimming ,snorkelling , oil pastels, felting, crochet, fimo, suduko, geo cacheing and much more besides and i've hardly shared any of it! Thats the trouble with being busy! Anyway things are suddenly going to be very quiet around here . Martin is going back to work and my little lovelies are going to school and i will have a lot of spare time on my hands for ooh about 7 weeks ! Anyway hopefully 7 weeks should just about give me time to sort out the house, garden , food , decorating, and lots and lots of sleeping ...and a spot of crochet !

latest pair of booties

On the way to the beach , with our new bottle holder...are you spotting a theme?

The beach at Hopton

wahoo!

Creations of the week

Cheating and just posting some pics while i get the chance , what a creative week we've had !

Holiday part two..

So here we have part two of our hols and what a sight to greet you after being delayed for over 10 hours at the airport..

ok so all is forgiven.

Not all views are quite as magnificent ( oh dear!)

The kids had a go at snorkelling ...and they were so good at it. Sonny in particular was a natural, he must get that from Martin , i just can't do it!! I feel like i'm breathing too fast and i panic that water might go in the end of my snorkel.

The beach was full of beautiful stones , that were collected by the cupful( we didn't have buckets!) and this rather nice one was made into a necklace that was promptly claimed by Sonny.

A teeny tiny gecko , have i ever mentioned that someone rather likes lizards ? Like the smallest dinosaur ever!

We really had a lovely time , it was so beautiful ( Corfu) and relaxing but i found it SOOO HOT! my favourite spot was in the shade under a tree. heaven.

Martin had a go at paragliding, much to Maya's horror, and returned in one piece declaring it an amazing experience.

Its such a shame that its such a long way a way. I really dislike flying, physically and ethically , at least we have some lovely memories and a pic or two to remind us of it even if we don't ever go again.