Sick Week

Well, what a week this last week has been!  Things had been going well for a while and I guess we'd got used to it.  However, that changed last week ...

 On Thursday morning Claire phoned to say that Alice had been sick a couple of times.  Looking after a sick child isn't always easy and even less so with a baby as well. I offered to go round to help out and spent most of Thursday like this, with Alice on my lap dozing on and off.  I hate when little ones are sick, you feel so helpless. Alice was so good though and never made a fuss at all. Even when she was sick she let us hold her hair back and stroke her forehead, then when she was done she'd settle back on my lap and sleep some more. :o(

By about 2pm, after she'd had a fairly long sleep, she woke up and seemed much brighter. She hopped down from my lap and was chatting, playing and asking for some juice. What a relief, it was so good to see her feeling a bit better.

 Unfortunately it didn't last too long and she'd been sick again during the night. On Friday Claire and the girls came round to the house for a while and Alice was fairly quiet and spent time sitting quietly on the sofa.  I took them home again around 4pm as Emily had an appointment at 4.30.

Just before 10pm I got a call from Claire to say she had started being sick too.  There was no way she was going to manage on her own so I packed a bag and headed round to help look after the children.  I did the night feeds and got up with the girls in the morning.

 We had a very quiet day on Saturday. Alice continued to be unwell and slept on and off through the day. Claire was feeling drained and washed out and we took turns with the girls depending on who Alice wanted to be with. Fortunately, by Saturday night Claire was feeling a lot better but still quite wobbly as she hadn't eaten much all day so I stayed another night to do the feeds.

 Sunday dawned brighter all round. Alice did some finger painting in the morning and Claire was starting to eat again. We thought it would be quite nice for them to get out of the house so we packed some stuff together and came here for a change of surroundings. Although Alice still wasn't 100% she was so much better than she had been on Thursday and Friday.

Aunty Em was happy to have cuddles with Megan (who fortunately didn't get the virus) who is growing so quickly - can you believe she's 7 weeks now!

 Claire tried to do a bit of Project Life, though Mac had other ideas about that.  He REALLY thought she should be paying him more attention!

  And another one of Megan, just because she's cute :o)

Claire was happy to go home again that evening and I told her to phone if she needed anything.

 Monday was a bit of a surprise as we woke to more snow! The weather reports had said it was going to miss us but when we woke on Monday morning, there it was.  Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for a snow day so Emily donned the wellies again and headed off to school.

 I popped out to Waitrose for some shopping for us, for Mum and Dad and for Claire.  The trees in the car park were so pretty with their coat of snow but it doesn't really show up as well in the photo.

So, Monday night after dinner Emily says she's feeling queasy. I had felt the same myself but thought it might just be because I'd had a bit more milk than normal (I have an intolerance).  Emily was sick before bedtime and decided to have an earlier night. I thought that was a good idea myself and headed off to bed myself. Jon said he's sleep in the spare room and let me get a decent night's sleep.  Ha ha!! By morning Hugh, Emily and I had all been sick and by Monday afternoon Jon had joined us.  So, Emily's been off school since Tuesday and I can honestly say that today was the closest to normal I've felt since then. Let's hope that's the last of it.

 I popped round to drop off some Valentines chocolates at Claire's this morning (as well as a present I'd missed at Christmas for Alice).  It was so good to see them all again and I think we could say that Alice had missed me :)  I got big cuddles and was invited to play. She'd got a Playdoh set earlier in the week and wanted to show it to me - though she wasn't quite so keen when I started playing with it!

Claire said Megan must have also missed me because when I got to hold her I got LOTS of smiles.  I felt very privileged because although I have had a few, today the just kept coming. What a little sweetheart she is, so cute!

Here's to us all continuing with good health now. On the plus side, my Project Life album is right up to date! I really must take some photos sometime to share. I also realised I never got round to posting my December Daily - feels a bit late for that now though ;o)

xx

A Day in the Life (31/01/2013)

I've seen Ali Edward's Day in the Life before but never remembered to join in on the day. Last month I saw her mention it again and decided to play along.  I must warn you though that this post is very photo heavy.

A school week day for me starts at 6am when my alarm goes off.  I do tend to lie in for another 5 minutes or so before getting up and heading for the shower. I wash my hair and do my make up when I get out, before heading downstairs.  On the way I'll pick up the washing and sometimes collect dry washing ready for ironing.

The washing gets put in the machine first, then I feed the cats (we have 4)

 I switch on Daybreak (morning TV) so we can see the weather and I can catch the news.

 then dry my hair.

 Emily had great fun teasing me about my attempts at self portraits (with my camera sitting in the kitchen cupboard)

 Hair dried and it's on to making her lunch while she sorts out her breakfast.

 When I have my breakfast depends on how organised I am, but it's normally with Emily

 Time to catch up on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram quickly while Emily finishes getting ready.

Emily getting her music ready for the walk to school

 And getting me back for taking photos of her

 Then sets off (she only has a five minute walk to school but likes to leave a bit earlier to see her friends before school starts)

 A phone call to Claire to catch up on her and the girls

 While Hugh comes in to make his breakfast.

 On Thursday I was meeting friends for coffee at 9am so the car park was still fairly empty when I got there.

 Walking up London Road (I do like our town and the old buildings)

 and along the High Street

 to Caffe Nero 

 All the town photos were taken using my iPhone including this one of a couple of Sarah and Carol.

After coffee I popped in to town to return a jumper, go to the bank for Mum and get a few bits from Boots (the chemist). 

Popped in to Mum and Dad's on the way home

 Dad was looking a bit brighter again though he'll be glad when he finally gets his hair cut on Wednesday as it's been 4 months at least since the last time.

  Helped Mum with her shopping order (which reminded me I needed to do mine!)

 Not the most nutritious lunch - hot cross buns with butter and jam and a cup of coffee ;o)

 I had been trying to get a shot of the new jumper I got but my arm isn't long enough (lol!)

 Catching up on a few blogs

My Sainsburys online grocery order

 A bit of editing - ready for Project Life - before making dinner 

Chicken wrapped in bacon, new potatoes, roast tomatoes and steamed veg (with a bit of ranch dressing on top)

 A hot chocolate (because I'm trying to cut down on eating chocolate)

while watching the previous evenings taped Greys Anatomy before heading to bed around 10.30pm.

I quite enjoyed doing this and may (if I remember) try and do it at the end of each month.

xx

A change

Friday was haircut night for Emily and me. I'd not been very happy with my hair for a while, it had got quite long and I felt it was just hanging.  So I decided I'd have a change and get it cut quite a bit shorter. Only problem now is that I'm not sure if I like it ;o)

 Before

After

I'm hoping it's just that I need to get used to it but if not, at least it'll grow again :o) 

xx

Quick roundup



 On Thursday when we went in to visit Dad we were told that he had been assessed and the hospital were happy for him to come home as there were no beds at the rehab unit coming up any time soon.  Dad had been having physio at the hospital and they said he was doing well.

So, on Friday Mum and I went and did a weekly shop in the morning so that Mum had enough food for Dad coming home that afternoon.  He was brought home by Patient Ambulance and got back to the house just after 3pm.  I popped round a little bit later to check up on him and he was settled in his chair. The transfer had been a bit traumatic as Dad had been taken down to the patient transport waiting room at 9am where he was left sitting/slipping in a chair until after lunch time. By the time he got home he was quite tired and cold.  But, he's home and that's the main thing. Now to get his physio at home up and running again :)
 one of Megan
On Saturday Claire and the girls came round in the morning and we all (Claire, the girls, Emily and I) went round to see Dad in the afternoon. He finally got to meet his youngest Great Granddaughter :) although he had seen photos of her while in hospital.

Sunday was spent quietly at home and a visit to Mum & Dad's.

I don't have many photos from the weekend but I'll leave you with this one of Megan asleep on her Aunty Em :)   Can you believe Megan was a month old on the 25th - doesn't the time go quickly!

 xx