What a Week!

I spoke too soon at the end of my last post...

By monday night I was feeling awful - DH had been in bed all day and I collapsed once I'd got Lia settled. I didn't get up again for two days during which I was throwing up, shivering, coughing and generally being quite seriously unwell. All three of us were bad - we had a 'who has the highest temperature' competition going on for two days (I won, I peaked at 39.1) - and I was tempted to hang a plague flag on the door.

Poor DH had to parent for two days as I couldn't stand up. The only difference between us was that he could stand so even though he felt as lousy he drew the short straw. My Mum did offer to come over but I didn't want to risk her catching it as she's only recently got over something similar herself and she certainly didn't need it again.

So we muddled through and we're all now sporting terrific coughs that the doctor says there's nothing can be done for we just have to wait for them to get better.

In the midst of all this my SIL had her baby. We got a call Thursday morning to say things had kicked off so we spent the day waiting for news which finally came at 8.20pm. They knew they were expecting a boy so no surprises there but he was nine days early.

Unfortunately he hasn't been well and has been in Intensive Care having oxygen and being fed through a tube. News is a bit sketchy (I think Greek doctors tell a lot less) but apparently it's just due to the trauma of being born - he's been doing better and better though and is due to come out of ICU tomorrow and should be allowed home then. SIL is okay, very sore as she has quite a lot of stitches but obviously worried to death about her son.

The whole birth was turned into a bit of a circus by all accounts. When DH spoke to his mother on Thursday he reported back that there were 15 people at the hospital including friends and their boyfriends/girlfriends, SIL's Boss and his wife and the company taxi driver! Apparently this report was wildly inaccurate as there was actually around 30 people there all milling about.

I would have sent the lot of them packing - Lia's birth involved me and DH only and that's how I wanted it - I didn't even tell my lot that I was being induced. Poor SIL had to go through birth and then the following trauma with an audience of 30 (okay they weren't in the room but they were getting blow by blow updates) and none of them got to see the baby anyway as he was whipped down to ICU.

As I said, he is getting better - the grandparents all got to visit him for the first time yesterday - so hopefully we'll get some pics soon.

What a Weekend!

Looking back my weekend started Thursday evening approximately five minutes drive from our house when Lia threw up in the car.

Actually 'threw up' is not the best description, 'erupted' is a much better word to give you some idea of what happened - the poor thing was covered in it and we were on a dual carriageway with nowhere to stop. Of course she was screaming, the smell was awful and all I had in the car were some wet wipes (usually god's gift to mothers but in this case barely adequate...) so I decided just to get home and deal with it there.

Thankfully DH was also just arriving home so as I parked I opened the car window and shouted for assistance. He removed Lia and the car seat as one and disappeared into the house while I examined the car for any minute vomit particles that would lurk and stink the car out at the first opportunity.

He had stripped her naked by the time I got in and was washing her in the sink so I was left to scrape the muck of clothes and car seat (it's so much fun being a mother!) Thankfully the car seat cover is washable so the whole thing went in the machine and is now looking as good as new.

Lia's never normally sick whilst travelling (I pay minute attention to this as I have chronic travelsickness that is legendary in my family) so I wasn't sure what the cause of the eruption might be as she seemed fine, ate her dinner and slept through the night. Friday the stomach upset proper started (and I was home alone during the day). It's been a while since I've had to deal with nappies quite that bad and in such volume!

By Saturday morning she was running a fever and refusing any food offered. I decided to go ahead with getting her into her new bed as I figured being a bit under the weather she'd just be happy to sleep and stay put no matter where she was. She was actually quite perky most of the time, playing, chatting, etc she just wasn't eating and someone had turned a tap on in her nose so there was a constant battle with tissues. One of my pet hates is snotty nosed kids and I don't care how much she hates it her nose is wiped at the first sign of snot.

Anyway we got the bed up and she seemed really happy with it. Here's a couple of pics of her and Q testing it out.

We have a guard rail that is on the side now to stop her rolling out but she quickly discovered how to exit the bed herself. Thankfully she seems happy enough not to get out once she's in for the night. She did get herself up after her nap yesterday and this morning she was up and calling me too. So, fingers crossed it continues to be okay, we've got a portable stair gate that we now put across the door to her room as our stairs are incredibly steep and end at a laminate floor. She can come down them but I don't want her to attempt them when sleepy or in the dark.

Anyway she was quite pathetic and drained by yesterday morning - understandably given the lack of food compared to the vomit and nappies - so I spent mother's day morning with a little limpit attached to me just wanting to be cuddled (not that I objected). She's got such a good knack of finding me gifts I really love (amazing in one so young) so I got a book token, a copy of the latest Take That single and this Bothy Threads cross stitch kit:

I love this design (I don't know why) and can't wait to get started on it but I've told myself I have to have one more finish before I can start something new. I also love book tokens as a gift - there's nothing I like more than browsing around a book shop deciding how to spend my token. I've loved them since I was a kid - I think it's the fact that you *have* to spend a token whereas if people give you money your parents put pressure on you to save it. Anyway, there's nothing immediate on my wish list right now so I'll probably save it to buy the final Harry Potter book in July.

To end off my weekend Lia was much better by yesterday evening (although she still has a nasty cough) but DH was lying shivering on the sofa complaining of having the flu. He's home from work today but Lia's in nursery and I'm at work with a sore throat...

Stitching finishes

I've had two stitching finishes in the last few days. Apologies for the slightly dark pics - I'll have to start taking pics during the day rather than under artificial light.

Anyway the first finish is The Cat's Whiskers' Red Desert Scissor Pocket (limited edition release from last year). It's only my second project that requires 'extra' finishing and I'm pleased that I managed to produce something I'm proud of. My real problem seems to be that I'm too impatient to take time to be careful and neat but I'm working on it.

So here's the front:

And here's the back:

I stitched it on an anonymous piece of 28ct linen from my stash and it came with the Dinky Dyes threads required. My only change was to not stitch the date but to use my initials instead.

My second finish was a design featured in WOXS magazine a couple of months ago. I'm so useless at keeping track of things that I can't tell you which issue or which designer but it's perfect as a birthday present for my sister.

So as you can see hobby wise I've been quite busy lately. I'm also up to six books read so far this year which is great. Shame I'm not so diligent about the housework...

Lia's new bedding did arrive on Monday so that's what we'll be doing this weekend - I'll post a few pics when it's all put together and report on how she's settling in with her new sleeping arrangements.

I'm also planning on tidying up the garden as the weather here is absolutely gorgeous. Thankfully we had the garden paved last year so 'tidying it up' involves a bit of sweeping up and probably painting the fence. I was sad to have the garden paved but with other hobbies and Lia something had to give and that was it. Hopefully the next house will have a bigger garden and I'll be inspired to get back to that hobby too.

Blooming Typical

So I waited in all day yesterday just in case the bed linen for Lia's new bed arrived and it didn't. Today I had to go out and of course, missed the delivery, so I have to go pick it up on Monday.

I'm so disappointed as I was looking forward to getting it all sorted this weekend and now I'll have to wait another week. Okay, it's not much in the grand scheme of things but I was excited and to make it worse we have the bed, the mattress, the quilt, the pillow and the guard rail but none of it is any use without the linen...

We'll have to wait till next Saturday as we have to take the cot apart and attempt to store it somewhere (probably under our bed once we decide where the rubbish that's there can be moved to), make the new bed, move the stair gates and organise her room. Still, we didn't have any other plans for next week so I guess we've now got something to fill our time.

Here's a picture of Lia reading to Neh-Naw the Cat.

I've had a couple of suggestions as to where the names might come from but as you can now see maybe Neh-Naw is Lia speak for 'Freaky Coloured Cat'! We got him in Greece (he's actually Neh-Naw mark 2 as Neh-Naw 1 got washed a few too many times and is now consigned to the back of our wardrobe for emergency use only). I haven't taken a pic of Gung-Gah or Q yet but Gung-Gah is also Greek and quite freaky (in a blue way), Q is a good quality M&S Teddy though (which may explain his lack of syllables, very English and reserved).

Oh and no, Neh-Naw and Gung-Gah aren't close to the Greek words for cat and dog either so that doesn't solve the mystery.

All Grown Up!

Isn't it amazing how time flies?

I spent this weekend buying my baby girl her first bed! She's 21 months old now and too big for the cot at Grandma's and travel cots so if we want to go anywhere she has to learn to sleep in a proper bed.

We were going to IKEA until I discovered their matress sizes didn't seem to be standard so I ended up getting this one from Mothercare together with a mattress. I did look at bedding from Mothercare too but I find them so uninspiring and bland that I didn't bother.

I love bright colours so I went to this place instead - Vertbaudet - and got some gorgeous bedding. All in all i spent around £220 to get bed, mattress, guard rail, quilt, pillow, four fitted sheets, two duvet covers and two pillow cases. Luckily my Mum was on hand to put some money towards the cost as Lia's birthday present and I kept some christmas money for this too.

I try and get things that are not specifically girlie just in case the next baby turns out to be a boy. I went for the jungle bedding and some plain orange / yellow bedding. Much of what we already have in her room has jungle animals on so it'll fit right in.

So now I'm eagerly awaiting the deliveries and hoping it will all come by the end of this week so we can get her bedroom organised. DH is worried about the added work of keeping her in bed but I figure if she gets up, she gets up, she has to learn how to sleep in a proper bed at some point. Plus, given that I am spending Easter with her at my parents and we're going to Brussels at the end of May we need to get her used to beds as soon as we can. I look upon all this as the next fun stage but I know there'll be nights when we find her asleep on the floor and we'll more than likely get morning visitations now.

I do recommend Verbaudet as they have some gorgeous things, especially furniture. I can't wait till we get in our new house and have more room to give her a proper bedroom instead of the bedroom/storage/spare room she's in now.

Talking of Grandma, my Mum is chuffed because Lia has given her a name. As Lia is her first grandchild she spent most of my pregnancy trying to decide what she wanted to be called and I think she settled on Gran. I started out calling her Grandma because I was confused as to what she wanted and thought that was what she had settled on. Anyway, Lia has now christened her 'Ma Ma' and Mum's over the moon, telling the whole world that as Lia chose that name that's the one she's going to use.

It's very sweet of couse, both the name and my Mum's excitement, but I tend to spoil the moment by telling people that Lia named her toy cat first. LOL. In fact she has three toys that sleep in her cot and they now all have their own names that she's chosen - she carefully introduces them to us all the time. 'Neh-Naw' is her cat. She also uses this word as a generic word for all animals but specifically referenced it is the cat. 'Gung-gah' is the dog and 'Q' is the bear. I don't know why poor old Q missed out on a second syllable but he's definitely just Q.

I also have no idea where these names came from, she knows that Neh-Naw is a cat (she tells me so regularly) but I can't see where the names might have derived from. Let's face it Ma-Ma is clearly her version of Grandma but it takes some twisted logic to get 'Gung-gah' from 'Dog'...

I'm working to a 'Calvin and Hobbes' theory. For those of you who don't know this cartoon strip it's a small boy (Calvin) who has a toy tiger (Hobbes) and whenever they are alone together Hobbes is real. Given the intense conversations Lia has with Neh-Naw, Gung-Gah and Q I'm inclined to believe they're real.