The Year that was 2011!

Well that whizzed by in the blink of an eye didn't it?! 2011 been and gone. Must be something about having kids that makes this happen, and given that we had our baby boy Noah this year I put the blame solely on him ;-)

Anyway, seriously, 2011 has been a pretty fantastic year for me and my little family. I spent half of the year pregnant (the last 12 days when the baby was overdue feeling longer than the previous 6 months!) and the other half of the year running round after Isla and Noah like a blue arsed fly and battling extreme tiredness (again!). So here's a quick run down of what we got up to in 2011.

January - This month I started Bump Watch on my blog. It began at week 15 when Noah was a teeny tiny thing in my tummy. I love having this record of my pregnancy. It's fascinating to see my tummy grow week by week.

We were also fully in the grip of the Annie obsession. It's funny because a year later we still have days where a random burst of 'Tomorrow' can be heard. It really was the start of Isla's love of films and I actually rather love that film too. Which is far from what can be said about her new fascination with Princesses - particularly all the Barbie Princess films that have been on Nick Jnr over Christmas!

We were also having regular swimming lessons thanks to a blog review opportunity from Swim Baby Swim.

February - This month we found out we were having a baby boy! We were gob smacked - I know it's a 50/50 chance but in my mind I always had a picture of 2 little girls running round together, so when the scan revealed it was a boy we were speechless but happy!

This month was also where I had a starring role at The Baby Show - I brazenly wore a maternity bra on the Bras4mums stand. It was a great way of getting attention for them and it also really boosted my confidence. It is something that I would never have done had it not have come up through my blog. I really think that my blog has given me so many opportunities and it has made me far more confident and interested in the wider world. 

March - Nothing really happened this month, it passed by with me getting huge, doing lots of pregnancy yoga and preparing for the new baby.

I posted two of my personal favourite blog posts Spectacular Puke & POO!

April - This month one of my good friends and his partner came over from Australia and I got to meet his little boy and they got to meet Isla and see the bump! His parents were also kind enough to invite his friends over to their place in France so we could all spend some time together. It was fantastic but so different to our previous visit where we all stayed up drinking most nights! There were 5 children in tow this time and 2 bumps. They organised an Easter Egg hunt for when we arrived and as usual made us some lovely meals - we were thoroughly spoilt and the weather was pretty nice too!

May - We went to the Lollibop Picnic! It was fab!

I found out I was a MAD Blog Awards finalist which was very exciting!

I was also really in that Mamas and Papas supplied me with some absolutely fantastic maternity wear and I showcased it on the blog. They really were my saviours to be honest and I felt great wearing the clothes! Far better than I actually feel now post baby about my clothes!!

June - I went to Cybermummy, waddled my way around and met up with some of my blogging buddies. All in all it was a really good day, meeting some old and new friends.

I also finished up at work for maternity leave. It felt so good not to have to trek up to London carrying my massive bump around on the train and around the Circle Line!

July - We had our bouncing baby Noah! He was due on the 1st and arrived on the 13th. Weighed in at a whopping 9lb 14oz and has become a real little character. 4 days after Noah's birth we celebrated Isla's 2nd birthday. She was really brilliant to be honest about the arrival of her new brother. We had some melt downs and it felt like she'd gone deaf sometimes when I was asking her to do things but this all worked itself out within a month or so.

August - This passed by in a hazy newborn fog! Loads of visitors to see Noah. We managed to get up to London for the Lollibop event - we didn't have a great time - this is no reflection on the event which would have been fabulous had it not bucketed down with rain the entire time we were there and we didn't have a 3 week old baby with us!!

We had a slight scare with Noah and I having an overnight stay in hospital for a dodgy rash. He was fine in the end but it was a bit frightening.

September - We took our first holiday as a family of 4 to Cornwall. We went on a fantastic farm holiday to Coombe Mill, Isla had a great time and we'll definitely look at a return in the future! Isla still talks about it now, she will never forget that the goat knocked her over, however if asked what her favourite animal is she will always say goats!!!

It was also the MAD Blog Awards night. It was fabulous, I didn't win but that didn't matter a jot. It was nice to be part of a community and the evening was my first out since having Noah, all made more fabulous by my outfit sponsor, Debenhams, who made me feel wonderful!

October - My Dad had his 60th birthday, a low key lunch with mum, sis, OH and munchkins. It was lovely! We also had Cousin M's second birthday and the OH became a God Father.

November - The OH and I had our first night away without the rugrats! Did we go all goo-ey and romantic? Did we hell! It wasn't the best evening we've ever spent away in each others company but all we wanted to do was sleep! We did but admittedly not as well as we would have done in our own bed, so next time we will be having a child free night in our own home, just need to get the Grandmothers lined up!

I also went to a brilliant event for Give As You Live, read the post and see how you can do your bit for little effort!

December - Noah's first Christmas and the first Christmas where Isla had some understanding and we could start to weave some of the magic about Father Christmas. If I'm honest it was my most tiring month so far as a mum of two. After finding things getting slightly easier they have started to feel harder but I might save all that for another post.

So that was my year. It's been brilliant. I'm particularly happy about all the opportunities my blog has given me and all the wonderful people who have liked what I've been doing here. It's my hobby and I don't get too hung up on stats but it's always nice to be appreciated. That leaves me to say:

Happy 2012 one and all - hope it's a healthy and prosperous one! Hope you'll still be following me this year!

The Adventures of Isla & Noah - Fab Farm Holiday At Coombe Mill!

This September we rather bravely went on our first family holiday as a foursome! Noah was 10 weeks old and Isla is 2 and we all went to Cornwall, which isn't the most fantastic of car journeys. As the day of departure approached I had a feeling of dread! How was it going to work? Four of us in the car with all our luggage for 7 hours, what was I thinking when I booked this holiday??!!

Isla and Sheepy (yes that manky sheep had to come too!)

As it turned out my kids were FANTASTIC! We stopped twice both ways at the times when Noah needed feeding. Obviously we were at his beck and call and so had to stop for as long as it took to change and feed him - an hour both times in case you're interested, therefore making a 5 hour journey take 7 hours. Even more surprising that Isla didn't go stir crazy in the car. She slept for about 1 hour of the journey. The rest of it she chatted and sang songs and looked out the window and did some drawing.

Isla with one of the chicks

So we arrived at our holiday destination and couldn't have been happier! We were staying at Coombe Mill, which is a farm in North Cornwall, very close to Padstow and Port Issac (Doc Martin is filmed here apparently). I knew that Isla would love it from the minute that I read about it. There is a feed run 6 days a week to feed the animals on the farm and this involves going on a tractor. She loved doing this and so did I. It was brilliant walking around the farm in the fresh air and Isla loved seeing the animals up close. We fed the animals together - and we took up our scraps to the greedy piggies - who as soon as they saw the tractor would run the length of the fence to greet the farmer and his bucket of food! We also saw the deer run majestically across the fields - such beautiful creatures! Isla's favourite part of the feed run was feeding the rabbits and collecting the eggs! Collecting eggs even resulted in her eating her first ever egg - how could she not eat a boiled egg collected fresh that morning? I was elated by this as she is a notoriously fussy eater, she had 2 eggs that week!

What else did we do? We went swimming to a local pool when it was a rainy afternoon. We went to Padstow - didn't end up having Rick Stein fish and chips but we did have a cream tea AND a big ice-cream! We went to Newquay, had fish and chips and paddled on Fistral Beach. We went to Truro for a bit of a gander - this wasn't intentional we were heading for St Ives but realised we were a bit late to make the most of it and so stopped here instead. We also went to Polzeath beach to make sand castles and check out the hot surfers.

Of course she didn't write this, she's only 2!

And the time that we weren't gadding about North Cornwall was spent at the cottage which was well equipped for families. Mine and Tony's only gripe was that the bedroom was a little small for the four poster bed it had in it - the number of times we bumped our head on the overhead frame when getting up to feed Noah in the night was comical, but really that was the only thing and we are both exceptionally tall! We loved that the reception was stocked with some kids DVDs - Isla has developed an unhealthy love of 102 Dalmatians after a rainy Tuesday afternoon watching it twice! And if we hadn't of remembered our welly boots we would have found a pair our size to borrow. We also made use of the fab freezer with home cooked meals on our first night.

Noah's first ever trip to the beach!

Because we went in September after all the kids have gone back to school most families had children around Isla's age and babies. Everyone was so friendly and relaxed and sharing info on places they'd been that was good and also keeping an eye out for each others little ones and lending a swim nappy or two. All in all we had an absolutely fabulous time at Coombe Mill, Isla especially loved it and has developed a love of goats! We'd definitely go back - especially knowing that there are now Wallabies on the farm!

Here are a few more pics:

A Lot's Happened in 7 Weeks!

I can’t believe it’s been 7 weeks already that Noah has been in the world! It’s gone so quickly. He arrived 12 days late and after a failed sweep I had my waters broken and then he made a storming entrance in about 5 and a half hours! Nice and quick for mummy and he was a whopper at 9lb 14oz.

So what has happened in that time?

4 days after his arrival was his big sister Isla’s birthday and boy does she like birthdays! She’s not stopped singing ‘Happy Birthday’ ever since! I have to admit to spoiling her. Partly it was to do with the guilt at turning her world upside down and partly it was that I kept buying things in the run up to her birthday, putting them away and then when it came to the day I was actually astounded by how many things we’d bought that I’d forgotten about. Whoops! She had a fab day though and it was also a good opportunity for us to show off Noah.

One thing that has been good about having a toddler as well is that you really cannot hibernate indoors second time around, Noah has been out and about to a few birthday parties, Isla’s sports day, a trip to London for Lollibop, a saunter round a National Trust garden (well a big snooze actually!) and has even sampled the delights of Croydon (thankfully also stayed asleep for that too!). We get 2 days a week to spend quality time together when Isla goes to nursery and so far she has been really good at drop off and we haven’t had any resistance to going there.

However there has been increased ‘terrible two’ behaviour that I feel sure has been brought on by Noah’s arrival. Me and the OH are trying to be patient with her but it is very hard when some of the tantrums are over silly things (one over baked beans!) and her behaviour is completely irrational. Worst example was when she refused to get in the buggy home from the park. My other half literally could not get her in the buggy for love nor money, she was screaming/ throwing herself around etc, so he had to walk home and the walk which would take 20 minutes for us adults with long legs took them nearly 2 hours at little leg pace! Glad I wasn’t involved in that one, but I’ve had my fair share too.

She has also now gone into her big bed in preparation for Noah moving from the Moses basket to the cot. Getting her to stay in bed some evenings is a bit of a challenge but I love to see her in bed asleep.....

Noah’s arrival has also coincided with Isla’s increased interest in the potty which is a good and slightly tricky thing all at once. It is certainly fab that she’s trying to become more independent but it’s also giving us even more to deal with. The potty has become really appealing when it comes to bedtime, a nice stalling tactic we think but obviously we can’t get cross about it!

I had my 6 week check and have a clean bill of health, so there is no reason why I can’t start to get fitter and lose some baby weight. I’m not breast feeding anymore so I really cannot justify eating lots of cakes and biscuits any longer!

Unfortunately in Noah’s short spell on Earth he has now already experienced an overnight stay in the children’s hospital. While he lies in his moses basket snoring I sit here in the darkness typing. He has a rash on his tummy and although the blood tests have come back showing nothing conclusive he is in for observation. While here we’ve also addressed the reflux problem that he seems to have, so fingers crossed there will be less puking! *

The next thing we have to look forward to is a family holiday to Coombe Mill in Cornwall in 2 weeks time - we're so looking forward to it, more to come on that! So that's it really, and although we're sleep deprived and fit to drop every evening, we're a very happy family!

*Noah was fine after 1 night in the hospital, unexplained rash was put down to a virus. The staff at Queen Mary's (St Helier) really are fab, I cannot speak highly enough of the staff in that hospital.