10 weeks old - Joshua's First Christmas

So, Joshua is 10 weeks old and he experienced his first Christmas! He slept through most of it and was adorable and quiet and well-behaved. We have a bedtime routine now and life has a certain amount of rhythm but we need to get better at being flexible at nighttimes - we spent Christmas Eve away from home until midnight and Josh was awake the whole time, he just refused to sleep at all!

Still, we had a wonderful time. Alex put up the Christmas decoratioons and joshua eventually noticed the tree and was mesmerised by the lights. He also made two delicious stollen that we are still eating and we collected our hamper from the butcher on his first day off. We had a relaxing Christmas Eve mooching about in dressing gowns eating stollen. Bernadette came to visit and then we headed out to Jess and Graham's apartment in Edgbaston. She'd outdone herself and made masses of food and everything looked beautiful. We introduced Joshua and he sat on my knee looking interestedly at everything, wide-eyed. Then we drove to Nathan and Laura's. Apart from a 40 minute period of irritability on the part of Joshua the evening continued to be very pleasant. We dropped off our presents and picked up some new ones and saw Dave and Claire, wished Emma and Ben a happy Christmas and goodnight and then put Josh to bed. Bless him he spent about 40 minutes wide awake just staring up at the ceiling after we'd "put him to bed" until finally he'd had enough and he hollered and we went to get him..! But then until we left he sat contentedly on Al's knee looking around. We walked home and went to bed at about 1am. He fell asleep in his pushchair at last and bless him I took him out of his car seat, coat, hat annd pout him into his sleeping bag without waking him up - he slept soundly til 6.30am.

I've never gone to bed feeling so tired on Christmas Eve or woken up on Christmas day feeling less alert!!! Still, parenthood has its benefits and the main one is seeing Josh in the morning - he's so smiley on his changing mat. Tonight in fact he displayed his newest party trick - he laughed! Three times he laughed out loud and it made my heart explode with happiness to hear it. It was especially funny because he'd just done the biggest nastiest poo in days and seemed particularly happy about it!

Christmas was tiring but very enjoyable. We dressed him up in his santa suit and me mum and dad took him to church. He was definitely the cutest member of the congregation and slept through most of it too! When we got back home Al's parents and nan were home already and the meal was well under way. Alex cooked a delicious meal and afterwards we spent hours opening the many many presents, mostly Josh's; it was lovely. Finally we put him to bed and spent the night eating turkey sandwiched and watching the Goonies on telly, surrounded by the chaos of opened presents!

It's been lovely so far and there's still the new year to go!

Big Thank You

Today is the first day we've not received post including a card or present; the generosity of our friends and family has been amazing. Friends from church Jean and Mike, Al's cousin Penny and Laura and Nathan have been invaluable sources of kindness and support, so have Pauline and Jo from church and everyone has been on the phone with offers of help and concern in the first few weeks. Countless books and toys, clothes and other gifts have arrived; I'm not sure we have even kept track properly of who has given us what as we were so bamboozled in the first days. It's been amazing.

As he's growing Joshua is starting to explore the world, meeting a great many people and seeing it from different vantage points like his swing and car seat. He's doing very well and says thank you for all his many gifts! xx

Family Time

October 15th
After a gruelling 33 hours our baby boy Joshua Tomas Harris was born at an alarming 9lb 12 oz.

Alex was a wonderful birth partner, the midwives and doctors were very good and the experience was an unforgetable one. I was so grateful when they told me it was nearly over and I could feel my baby's head come into the world. It was not the birth we had planned for. We had prepared for a natural birth in the birth centre which is how things began. However we ended up after 24 hours being transferred to the delivery suite where I had an epidural, an IV drip, hormone injection and in the end a forcep delivery. I think I was in shock for several days after and in truth the first two weeks were really hard for us both. A huge disappointment was not being able to keep up with breast feeding. Having learned from experience I now think that for the first two weeks any new mother needs to stay virtually in bed 100% of the time just eating, sleeping and feeding the baby. I think I tried to do too much, and after a traumatic birth I think I came close to exhaustion what with suffering from sleep deprivation at nights... Silly me. Not clever. So for the last 3 weeks I've been expressing and bottle feeding. It broke my heart to begin bottle feeding but it was absolutely the right thing to do.

So Joshua is nearly 4 weeks old and a beautiful, healthy, thriving baby. He's strong, with long legs, big beautiful eyes and a strong neck. Alex has gone back to work now but he's been a hands on dad and he's a wonderful parent; I'm so proud of him. Right now we're sat on the sofa together after dinner and he's winding Joshua like a pro!

Night times are hard going with Al back at work but we're doing really well overall and things are starting to feel normal; or at least the days are. Nights are... well, less normal at the moment! The first day that Al went back to work I really missed him; it's still odd not having him around but me and Josh are getting used to each other.

A summary of what I've learned before our new arrival

The whole process of making and awaiting the arrival of a new baby has been quite enlightening. If sometimes I've not dwelled on the finer details of our thought processes along the way in this blog it's either been because it was too painful (this blog is my happy space for recording achivements and fun times not heartbreak), or we felt it too soon to look so far ahead, or suddenly we felt confident but it now seemed too late for a retrospective. However now here we are at 39 weeks and 2 day and there may be no better time for a bit of a summary.

Pregnancy's been a massive learning curve. Whatever you think you know beforehand turns out to insufficiently prepare you for the reality of it all. Here's a compendium of what I have learned so far:

#1 - People are very kind. I've learned that total strangers on the bus are often delightfully kind and considerate, complete strangers on the street will ask you how you are and bus drivers pause for an extra second to let you take a seat (most of the time).

#2 - You can't rely on female colleagues to be understanding but a good working environment absolutely can make or break your state of mind during this time. A supportive and flexible environment is a must because the reality of midwife and other appointments tends to make life additionally haphazard and there's nothing you can do about that.

#3 - Taking on the part of  Olive Madison in the Odd Couple was a genius way of distracting myself from the stress of being pregnant. I had a project to focus on that seemed much more iminent, was directly under my control, and which without my full commitment assured public humiliation on a massive scale. So for those early months when I could have driven myself crazy paying attention to every fluctuation and change I had a good project to dive into to keep myself sane. Yes it was tiring but well worth it. Not many guides to pregnancy suggest this bit of advice but if you're a worrier it might actually be a good idea to take on a new separate challenge that knackers you out! After all it may be your last chance for a while to do something that's all about you.

#4 - When the chaos of the play had calmed down at nearly 6 months I was desperate to focus my attention on actually being pregnant. It was a real relief to start Cat's Pregnancy Yoga class in Moseley and to do something for the little guy inside. The last few weeks of the play had made me feel very conflicted; scared that I wasn't resting enough, guilty about not being any use around the house and desperate to prove to myself that I could achieve something special. When it was over I needed to step back and feel like I could start to support Al again around the house with little things but also start to get my head around this pregnancy lark. I also felt very fragile. The yoga class gave me back some confidence in my own physicality, connect with the changes in my body and begin to advance towards making sensible decisions! I have always liked moving around and done different dance and gym classes but when I came out of the play bubble I suddenly had no idea about what my body could do, all I knew was everyone was telling me 'Be careful' about a hundred times a day. It felt great to be with other ladies who didn't constatntly comment on the bump and find out how to avoid practical issues like back aches etc. The class has saved me!

#5 - After ages of hoping for a baby and seemingly ages of thinking this might finally be it but not being able to tell anyone suddenly everyone's saying 'Won't be long now!' and it dawns on you that you've got about a thousand things to buy and sort out. For ages we didn't dare even talk about after Bean's birth' then there was a shift and we started to accept reality and talk about things even though we didn't buy anything until about 7 months in. I'm a great list-maker and at 6 months began approaching project Bean like with my usual attention to detail. It helps me get my head around things. We got the guest room ready which was the first step towards being able to sort out the nursery. When we finally got started on Bean's nursery it felt like a massive deal to me! I kept crossing things off my lists and making new ones and eventually, now, I have officially run out of things to do!

#6 - After the play I suddenly had loads of energy because the rehearsals had been so energy sapping in the last 8 weeks. So even though I was in the 3rd trimester and officially supposed to be feeling rubbish I felt great! This carried me through until relatively recently and even now I still feel fine just with the need to sit a lot more than normal... As a result we packed in loads of socialising and I think this will have been very important when we're feeling knackered in a few months time and looking back!

#7 - Friends and family are amazingly generous. There have been so many kind gifts over the last weeks from people who really didn't have to at all that I'd like to name them here.
Lucy from CRT managed to get her hands on a beautifully crafted hand-made blanket and then because I missed my last official day she wasn't even there for me to thank!
Marilyn, also from CRT, who must have spent hours and hours sewing the most intricate and beautiful 4 traditional style gowns.
Teresa who knitted a baby hat in blue and green while they stayed with us, bless! and who also gave me loads of useful advice about breastfeeding and re-usable nappies - thank you so much!
Tieta Teresa who sent a package including 2 home made bibs and told mum it would be like she was there to give him a hug if he wore them!
The baby shower girls Danielle St Leon, Danielle Sumner, Susie Emerton, Ruth Gallagher, Vicki Gilhouly, Laura Collins with Emma, Ben (honorary girl for the day) and mum Gill Nunnerly, Wendy St Leon, my mum (of course :)), Pauline Weaver, Teresa Salter with Sian, Catherine Shelley and Claire Davies,who were so incredibly generous in their gifts.
Bernadette Anne and Laura Collins (LC) who missed the official baby shower and brought cake and MORE presents with them - just the cake would have been enough guys!
Nathan and Laura Collins who have sorted us out with so much stuff and advice we can't begin to thank them enough. All we can do is hope that over the years we can repay them!
Thanks also to Pilar Balsells for the socks and to the many people who I know have been praying for and thinking of us because they've told mum. It's very much appreciated!

#8 - The theory may not end up having anything to do with reality but I always feel better going into something if I'm prepared. I've read a lot of books and talked to a lot of women, mothers midwives and experts. The Womens Hospital in Birmingham is quite progressive it seems and follows a philosophy of 'active' rather than 'managed' birth. That's to say they try and avoid interventions. Giving birth in the birth centre means you're not tied to a bed like you see on telly, there is a bed but there are also birth balls to sit on, the use of a birth pool, a fabric loop to hang off and comfy squishy things for you or parrtner to lie about on. Instead of being strapped to a bed you're able to wander about, stretch, take a bath, eat and basically jiggle around until baby comes out. Anatomically lying down is the worst position to be in for birth as your baby has to fight against gravity. Me and Al have both taken the Parent Education (organised by the charity NCT) and Yoga Birth preparation classes now and I think feel a lot clearer about how it's supposed to work. Combined with a meditation cd and all the yoga classes I'm feeling very calm indeed. Of course we'll see once the pain kicks in but at the moment I really want to do this without any drugs at all: wish us luck!

#9 - Waiting is the worst bit. Just no idea how long he'll be but as long as he's ok I don't mind. Been keeping busy cooking but have now officially run out of tupperware and space in the freezer so guess I'll have to stop! The sun came out in a last, bright and beautiful, Indian summer and it's been easy enough to fill the time visiting nurseries, doing breastfeeding and first aid class, visiting Kings Heath Breastfeeding club, meeting other pregnant ladies for a drink and so on. Now though the bags are packed, there's nothing good on telly and the blog is up to date. There's nothing left to say except 'Come on Bean'!

A trip to Twickenham, and a last Goodbye

So, after the beautiful baby shower things haven't slowed down at all! Not one bit; we've been very busy having fun!

On the 3rd September we had tickets to see a double header at Englands spiritual home of Rugby, Twickenham. We took Al's parents as a joint fathers day/wedding anniversary present. I'd only been to see Coventry play at the Butts previously and even though both my in-laws enjoy watching rugby on the telly every chance they get they had never been to see a live game. So it was quite exciting! Alex drove us all down to Twickenham and we parked at Rosebine where we eat our packed lunches on the grass, then we walked the 10 minutes to the stadium. Here we are in front of the ground.

Les, me, Bean and Alex

Les and Fran and hubby Al

We saw London Irish play vrs Harlequins and Saracens play vrs London Wasps - see I was paying attention!

London Irish

Our seats were right at the front!

Saracens and Wasps was the better game

The atmosphere was great, loads of famillies and fun and many fans had turned up to support 2 teams; one per game. Two rows in front of us was the touch line, we were so close to everything. It was a great way to spend a day doing something different and it was the first time literally in years that we four had done something together a bit different from sunday dinner or family meals. I got asked about a million times if I was alright but really, apart from needing a good night's sleep that night I was fine and thought it an excellent way to spend a day. Me and Al really enjoyed ourselves!

The next weekend Alex went to Phil's stag do and I went to Bath. I literally had 2 days left at work and am what would be termed heavily pregnant and for any other friends I probably wouldn't have gone but boy I'm glad I did! These girls are the absolute best mates anyone could wish to have - we all lived together in the first year and they carried on for a further 2 years while I thought it clever to get a place separately. It was not and I've wish thousands of times since that I'd carried on living with them, but there you are. We're all clever with hindsight aren't we?

I arrived at Susie's home and Emily was already there, bless her, helping to tidy up. It was the first time I'd seen Susie's new flat and it's pretty nice. We went and sat in the garden with a cup of tea to admire her mum's planting and have a chat while we waited for Sarah and Hannah to arrive. Once they got there we all chinwagged some more over a glass of wine (or juice for me :)) in the garden and had a real good laugh. Sarah got a great photo of us all on timer which I must get hold of. Whenever we see each other it's like no time has passed and there's always so much to catch up on. Susie's just left her dance teaching position in Bath, Hannah's writing a book and living her new married life in Bath, Emily's loving her teaching job in Southampton and being a mummy for the first time, and Sarah is nearing the end of her maternity in London. We all have partners and lives and gossip and quite frankly there's never enough time to cover it all!

After our gossip session we sprung into action and changed and went out for a delicious meal at Wagamama's. It amuses me that every building looks like something out of a Jane Austen novel, even Wagamama's. Then we walked to a sweet little cocktail bar where we had a cocktail or mocktail or two...

Cocktails in Bath

The next morning we went for breakfast (delicious) and then to Thermae Bath Spa for the best 3 hours of my life (apart from my wedding and maybe some life-altering holidays that currently escape me - it's that good). Seriously, it's a temple to water. If you like getting wet go there, if not probably best you stay away... although I reckon it could change your mind. The picture I'll always remember is of the rooftop pool glistening in the sunlight under the blue sky with picturesque Bath spread around and the rolling countryside spreading out away from us. You're in the city centre but feel like you're in paradise. And for me, feeling light as a feather for a few hours was a real joy. Getting dressed afterwards was a real pain! The spa is 3 floors and I'm not going into detail here or you'll think I'm on comission but I think everyone should go.  Afterwards we separated to go back to homes and partners but it had been a delicious weekend

Susie Hannah Sarah and Emily

Pretty as a picture

The next day I had my penultimate day in work before maternity leave began but unfortunately I began to feel ill and went home early. I didn't make it in til the Thursday but I was fine and so was Bean, thank goodness. The girls and boys at Ernst & Young's CRT department made such a fuss over me and gave me a brilliant play mat (Ocean Wonders Kick and Crawl Gym, Fisher Price) and a gorgeous hand-made blanket that I have now packed in my hospital bag.

The play mat CRT got us, bless!

The Friday was my first day of maternity, although technically it was booked as holiday. Al had booked the day off so we could take his parents over to chez Richards for my parents' 35th wedding anniversary buffet. Mum outdid herself with delicious home made macarrones, chicken croquetas, salads, nibbles and more puddings than you could shake a stick at. It was a good chance to see auntie Shelagh and uncle David before the birth too and we were lucky with the weather otherwise I'm not sure we'd have all squeezed in! We all have a glass of Cava Codorniu and dad promised to write the children's stories down for me that he used to tell me at bed time (dad - take note; it is written down and you had witnesses, you have to actually do it this time). We all had a nice family day together and I hope that my parents had a good anniversary (a day early).

Dad, Shelagh, Al, me, mum Fran and Les

The reason my parents celebrated their anniversary a day early was that Saturday was Leon and Teresa's leaving do and I couldn't have coped with both on one day. I could barely cope with the leaving do as it was. Leon and Al lived together all through university. He's probably my best male friend (apart from Al, obviously) and the only one to have made an effort with Danielle and Lisa. We've seen each other through rough times and good. He's always been there for me. And I've tried to be there for him. In recent years I've been so proud to see him get his masters, marry the most perfect girl for him ever, become a da  and we've done 2 plays together. He also gives brilliant hugs; a vital thing in any friend. He met Teresa (who's a New Zealander) and she is sweet, fun, kind, a real laugh and has adopted all of us crazy Brits without reservation. She's also supported him, sncouraged him and generally they're the nicest couple you could hope to meet. And tomorrow they fly to New Zealand to start their new life as a family. I couldn't be happier for them. But selfishly I couldn't be more sad! We (me and Al, Danielle, Nathan and Laura) got to the pub for 6.30pm and helped them set up - Nathan got the karaoke machine set up, we blew up balloons and tied them up with ribbons and generally helped out and waited for the first guests to arrive. In the end there were loads of us and Nathan became 'the compere without compare' manning the karaoke machine and putting on music in between our shocking renditions. Leon started things off with 'Lazy (I'm wicked and I'm)' which had us all in fits of laughter and got the party going properly. We all danced about then me and Leon sang possibly the worst rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen ever sung - complete with air guitar and head banging and generally atrocious singing on both our parts. About 10 seconds in I realised what a long song it was but it was too late to back out! It was hilarious and seemed to make everyone else laugh. Finally, after hours of hilarity, and I mean jaw achingly funny, midnight came and went and we were asked to turn off the music. No one wanted to leave. So many people had cried that night, miraculously not me (I'd already blubbed at the kitchen table that morning just putting together a photo album). We played one last song by James - Sit Down and all sat on the floor, just like when I was 17 at the Colosseum. After the song ended Alex got up and said a few words which were very touching about how we all knew they were perfect for each other and how although we'd miss them we knew they were going to be happy which is what made it ok. I could have kissed that husband of mine. A few others echoed Al's words and sat on the floor I heard people crying, saw people hug and knew that very few people in the world could engender this kind of reaction of love and sadness. It was something very moving to see so many men cry. But I was numb, and it only came out the next morning before church with Danielle. So tomorrow the Salters emmigrate. Leon Teresa and Sian I have three words for you: SKYPE US, PRONTO.

Leon, Teresa, Nath, Al and Laura
before the party began

Leon Phil and Al

Bohemian Rhapsody on karaoke

Fun times

The fun part 2

There's more...
This week me and mum had arranged to go shopping for baby bedding. We went to Mothercare at Shirley Retail Park and my two mum's were very good to Bean, very good indeed! Bless him, the little chap's being spoilt to death and he's not even out... To say thankyou I took us for lunch at Mortons in Dickens Heath as it's on the way home and we had a very pleasant day together.

Mum, Fran and me

 Then, yesterday, lovely Laura came by for me at 3pm to take me to an unnamed location... Intriguing! Her sat nav said Knowle was the destination, and I suspected there was some kind of baby shower awaiting me but had no idea what to expect. Final destination was, it turned out, the Heron's Nest pub in Knowle where around 15 of my friends and my mum were waiting for me alongside the brains behind the operation, Danielle. It was such a surprise and so wonderful to see everyone together! Friends who aren't normally thrown together getting along like a house on fire; that really floats my particular boat!

Claire and the cake 'assembled' by Danielle

Teresa playing 'Stick the dummy on the baby'

  

The baby



And the winner is..!

The group

There was Danielle Sumner and Susie Emerton, Ruth Gallagher, Vicky Gilhoully, Laura with Emma, ben and mum Gill, Danielle and mum Wendy, my mum (of course :)), Pauline Weaver, Teresa Salter with Sian, Catherine Shelley, Claire Davies, and if I've forgotton anyone then my hugest apologies. I was shaking for a few minutes then after catching up with people, some of whom I hadn't seen in YEARS, I settled down to opening presents! Oh my goodness were our friends generous! Danielle's mum had made flower arrangements for the table and helped Danielle set up, Laura had had the brainwave of games and Danielle had pulled the whole thing together. And all the guests had driven through the wilds of Warwickshire to come together and spol little Bean rotten. He now has more outfits than me! And impressively there was a smattering of clothes across the ages newborn, 0-3 months, 3-6 months and 6-9 months so they bought SMART. Mum bought everyone's drink to say thank you. Emma, who hadn't been feeling well for days, rallied and was at her most charming. Everyone contributed. I must say I am massively grateful to all my lovely friends... words aren't enough.

At church yesterday the vicar Jane gave me communion and said a blessing on the child within, a personal touch of hers that is just eautiful. She blessed him and I thought 'he truly is blessed'. It's a bank holiday Monday today and yesterday afternoon Alex put the icing on the cake by building his cot. So Bean has a bed and a wardrobe! I'm starting to pinch myself and think this long-dreamed of baby is going to be a reality soon. Happy days.

The fun...

Well to start with the next Tuesday our very good friend came to visit. James Alex and Leon had lived together throughout their 3 years at university. In the first year I lived on the floor above them, got to know and love them all and then in the second year they moved into one house one Pershore Rd and I moved into another in Selly Oak. Since by then me and Al were seeing each other I carried on seeing quite a bit of the lads. After university Leon stayed in Brum but James went on to London, from there to Dubai after a few years and now he lives in Australia. Last time he and Zoe came back to Birmingham for a visit me and Al were away on holiday in Barcelona and were gutted to miss him. But that Tuesday I sat waiting in the Patrick Kavanagh pub in Mosely to see my 3 favourite boys in the same place at the same time for possibly the last time in... well who knows? Leon's moving to New Zealand, there's more chance they'll manage an antipodean catch up next time so Lord knows.

James Alex and Leon

Me and James and Al

It was gorgeous to see James again, and Zoe's just as nice as ever. But tinged with sadness cause 1 night is not enough! But still, the best thing is that we just picked up where we left off, as though no time had passed. After the pub we went to La Fibule for some dinner and then back to the pub for some after dinner chinwagging. Everyone was there; all the girls still left in Birmingham from Zoe's house were there and it's just such a pleasure to catch up with them all. So many of us had married and had children, I think James and Zoe said it's only their Birmingham friends who've all had babies so maybe there's something in the water! I eventually put my foot down and drove Al and Leon home as it was getting late for a 'school night' - but honestly I'd have stayed for hours more if I could have.

The next day Leon and Teresa's rent finished on their home in Kings Heath and they moved in with us. It was delightful to come home from work and have dinner together. Sian was already being bathed and put to bed when I got in so we had a grown up dinner the 4 of us; Al had had the day off so he'd cooked. And so began a very pleasurable 5 days of just hanging out together. I had the Thursday off so the next day it was me Leon Teresa and Sian, then we both went to work on Friday and then we had the weekend all together. It was like a mini holiday!

So they moved in and gave us all their condiments and herbs and spices so we spent Thursday morning just sorting through it all - it was AMAZING! The day before Al had gone to their allotment with Leon and they'd brought back kale, beans and beetroots and various vegetables that we cooked up over the course of the week. And they kept thanking us!!! I mean, honestly; we'ver never been so rich in either food or company I think and I really missed them when they moved out the following Monday.

Just waking up - Teresa and Sian

Sian propped up on our sofa

 Me and Teresa went to visit her friend Becky to talk about nappies cause she used re-usable nappies and that's what I'd like to do also. It was really interesting and useful and I'm definitely confident enough to use them now. We watched True Grit together one night, sort of, being as parenthood took its toll on the Salters' ability to keep their eyes open ha ha! And on the Saturday the boys watched some footie together then we all went for a meal at a really nice steak house in Dickens Heath (Miller & Carver) before taking a stroll around Earlswood Lakes. It was good to get a breath of fresh air and some exercise after that steak!

Having lunch at a steak house

Walking by Earlswood Lakes, Leon and Al

Al and Sian

Leon and Teresa

On the Sunday Teresa and I took Sian to church and Alex took Leon to the first game of the Sunday League season. He's always so happy to be back playing in proper games! So me and Teresa caught up with Jo (from theatre, AKA Mickey the cop in The Odd Couple) and as soon as we gave her Sian she just played and sat with her for the whole service. Her grandsons were the same, both adorable boys and so sweet with Sian. They just played for the whole service, quietly and gently. Sian didn't make a peep except during the singing when she gave it a good go! We had a lovely service and afterwards introduced her to Rob the vicar. As ever his first instinct was to pick her up so Sian got another cuddle before we left the church and left the church having made friends with just about everyone! When we got home we weren't expecting to find Alex covered in blood and bandaged up, but that's what we got! His head had made contact with the goalie's elbow he thought and had left a deep-looking gash on one side of his forehead. A quick inspection and I drove him to Accident & Emergency which is where we stayed for the next few hours until they reassured us that he was alright, cleaned and glued him up and gave him a jab. Once they'd removed the bandage his headache and nausea stopped and I stopped worrying. All in all the staff at the new QE hospital were very good and very nice and all's well that ends well.

So we got back to the day's plan of having a bbq and invited the Collins family over. When Jill and Richard came over to pick up Emma and of course stayed for a while to say hello it really was a full house! The weather held and Nathan didn't set fire to the trees so all in all it was a success! It really was lovely. Emma took such a shine to Sian, and all the kids behaved impeckably around the cat - whose nerves by this time were a little raw (she's only just calming down...), and we eat like kings! And that was our last night together because next day the Salters moved out to go see Leon's nan and we got on with restoring the house to some order (I say 'we' but really it was mostly Alex who went on something of a cleaning frenzy)

Jo and her boys entertaining Sian during the service

Rob the vicar with Sian

Nath doing his best to set fire to our garden

Richard Leon and Nath at the bbq

 

Emma and Ben