A weekend away - not what we expected

I am sat here on Sunday, it's 5pm and it's just me and the dog. We are sat in a glorious 4 bedroom cottage in a tiny hamlet called Laithes, nr Penrith, Cumbria. We rented it to enjoy spending time with our friends Jimmy & Alison along with their kids. Also a chance for them to meet Harry for the first time.
The first element of this that did not go to plan was that as Simon unexpectedly had to work until lunchtime on Friday (instead of being off all day), we left far later to get here, at 4pm. Being Friday, the traffic was terrible so we didn't arrive until 11pm, complete with a slightly grumpy Harry, not surprisingly really!! Then I woke feeling a bit rough resulting in Simon buying me some 'tummy upset' pills. I was then fine but Simon then caught whatever it is, then Harry lost a whole feed all over my jeans and the floor. Nice. So J, A and the kids packed up their stuff and went home about 8pm. Can't say I blame them! That left me and Lucy on the sofa feeling a bit bereft really. Simon then got banished to elsewhere in the house as he was VERY poorly and at this minute, still is. Harry is fine, I am fine, Lucy is in a mood because she wants to go out running, and Simon is in bed... Maybe we'll try this again later in the year...

UPDATE: We are home now, all better. Home sweet home. Harry was great on the journey, considering it's pretty much 6 hours in his carseat - with breaks, he cried toward the end but then I felt like crying too ;) bloody M25...



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Redhill Common

This is where we walk our doggy and something new appeared today! It's a sort of totem pole and beautiful carved bench made out of half a tree trunk. Lovely for looking at the view.








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Experimenting with LOMO apps

Found two v cool apps which recreate the style we would get if only we knew how to use our Diana camera properly!
Making a simple iPhone taken photo as so:



Look like this:



This:


This:


And this:


Cheating? A little bit, but I LOVE it!!

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Postnatal classes - Surestart centre

I started a 4 week course (2 hours once a week for 4 weeks) today. 3 of my NCT friends were there too which was nice.

It was kind of what I thought in that we will cover things like weaning, teeth etc.We might cover first aid too which would be handy. There were about 12 of us in the room, all with babies ranging from 8 weeks to about 4 months old so with lots in common!

The thing that did take me by surprise was we had to split into small groups and talk about our experiences in labour. I was the last to speak in my group and when I started talking about it I got really emotional and started crying. I thought I had come to terms with my induction and general horridness of the experience but it all came flooding back. It's strange because I have recovered in the sense that I definitely want another baby in the not too distant future, but I think I have a sense of loss that my labour was so far removed from how I wanted it to be. I was encouraged at NCT classes to make a definite birth plan and I think following that it was hard for me to come to terms with it being anything other than a birthing pool with limited intervention.

Anyway, I digress! One thing that was cute was they talked about a thing called BookStart which is all about encouraging babies to communicate at the earliest possible stage by reading to them from now onwards. We have been doing this a bit anyway, and they say talking to them a lot and singing is good too. So they gave us all a cotton fair trade shopping type bag and it had 2 free books in it which made it worthwhile going! One called Lullaby Lion and one called Noisy Day. I will be reading Lullaby Lion to Harry tonight.

I am looking forward to the remaining 3 sessions, always good to meet more mums in the area. I have got more genuine friends now than I think I have ever had before :)