The New Forest

After a very good week back at work which went as smoothly as it could we finally got to the weekend.Saturday was spent doing the usual so I won't bore you with that!

However,Sunday was spent with Dom and the children. Now I am back at work I intend to make the most of every single weekend. We had planned a couple of days earlier to take a trip to The New Forest (weather permitting) So at about 11am we packed up the car with children and pushchair :) Went to the shop for sandwiches and drinks,quick pit stop at my parents to get Joshua his scooter. This actually turned into a very nice hour with them for a cup of tea...really enjoyed that!

After saying our goodbyes we set off!!Now I used to go to a pub with my parents called The High Corner Inn when i was little. I was adament we were going to find it today! And guess what,following my dads fantastic map and direction (complete with a little drawing of a bridge :) we found it!!So we parked up in their car park and went for a nice stroll. It had been raining heavily 2 nights before so alot of pretty bogey but this just added to the fun of finding a suitable path :)

We spent a little while taking in the views,getting a little visit from a baby pony and just strolling and chatting.

Joshua seemed to throughly enjoy it too as he ran for ages whilst collecting little bits and pieces.

We then started walking back to the Inn where we settled with a pint for Dom,lemonade for Joshua and a double Jamesons whisky for me. Now, I fully hold my mum responsible for this as 4 years ago,shortly after Joshua was born, we took a family trip to Polperro,Cornwall. I went there drinking...wait for it...malibu EUGH!! But 4 days later,I was on vodka and had found a new love of Whiskey. I am normally a JD girl but thought I would try something different so opted for Jamesons which she drinks as well. And WOW,it is actually lush!!And with Autumn and winter here now,it gives me an even better excuse to drink it :)

Back to the High Corner.like I said earlier in my post I used to come here as a child. When we pulled up outside, my first though was "It hasn't changed a bit!" and even when I went to the bar with the open log fire opposite it, I was still thinking this. The one thing I found very odd was watching Joshua playing on the same play equipment my sister and I had played on years before! Anyone who gets the chance to visit this pub really should!!Even sitting in the beer garden all wrapped up, the waft of smoke out of the chimney is so warming and the whole atmosphere is so typical of a little Inn,in the middle of nowhere! Well I think that is it for now.Until next time....

Busy busy few days...but very good!

Well this week so far has been pretty good really.
On Saturday we had our weekly visit to Doms mums for dinner where we enjoyed,most probably my favourite meal ever, a beef roast dinner. i am very typically English in this as anything stodgy is always a good thing to me. But then my German ancestory comes out when it comes to Salami, saurkraut ( I think this spelling is correct) and fresh pastries which just remind me of a little cake shop called Artingers in Mittenwald. But I don't think anything will ever come close to the taste of their cakes! So really, with English and German blood running through me, I have to constantly remind myself to eat well and healthy! Atleast I said no to pudding on this occasion....
Sunday saw us going to my parents for Brunch. We got there just before 10am to find pain au chocolats, various pastries,yoghurts,toast and lots of fresh fruit on the table. And my verdict...absolutely delicious!! I'm not usually a breakfast eater,whic is bad I know, but this sort of breakfast would do me any day :) After eating we went through to the lounge where Ella had some cuddles with her doting Grandparents and Joshua was on the patio blowing bubbles with my Nan and stealing some of his Grandads homegrown tomatoes. As my parents are gardeners, its always a treat to see what they are growing each season!! It was very strange seeing Joshua eating those tomatoes as it is exactly was I used to do with my Grandads when I was much younger. I would go into the garden with my Nan (Dads mum) and she would always say "Don't tell your Grandad"...not encouraging one point to keep a secret :) We left there at about 1.30pm and came home. we had intended to go for a stroll on the beach but as it was lush weather decided to do some work on the garden as some of the plants had gotten quite overgrown. After this, we got Joshua some dinner,bathtime then off to bed (well after his story and a very long cuddle with Mummy). Once both of the children were asleep, I enjoyed a glass of wine and Dom a bottle of beer...all in all a very good weekend!!
on Monday I met up with a very good friend of mine whom I met at work called Lucy. I have mentioned her before in a previous post. We met at The Moon in the Sqaure for a general chit chat about how university is treating her as she started doing a Performing arts degree this year and also about what has been going on in our lives since we last saw each other. 2/3 large glasses of wine later we decided to call it a day as she had rehearsals for her christmas sho sheis doing this year. I will be going to this so can't wait to post some piccies and tell you all what it was like!!
Tuesday was just a very chilled day at home becuase as you will find out in a minute, Wednesday was a very busy day! Joshua did have his first disco at school in the evening and he came out with glowsticks and sweets...sounds more like a rave to me!! :)
I had to get up at 5.30am to get a train to Southamton at 7am. It was for a meeting in Frimley,Camberley for all Travel Money Managers of all the Bureaus in the South west. Once I had got to Southampton Central station and found my way to the side where I was being picked up,I jumped in a collegues car and had an hours drive to the meeting. I must say that since attending this meeting it has really made me excited about this job I start on Monday as it is definatele more of a Managerial role than what I though it was. It seems alot of changes have happened since I ent on Maternity leave to make it like this. There is now a course that I and all the other Managers of the bureaus have to complete, of which the first stage of training happened yesterday and we now have a workbook to have complete by 2 weeks time and we have to get a certain % correct otherwise we have to retake it. It definately makes sure you are right for the company and i think it is completely right we have to do it. I can't wait for my team to start doing it too!! We finished the meeting at 5.30pm and I got back to Southampton at 6.30pm where Dom was waiting for me. It was his birthday on this day aswell so after getting the children from his Mum we got a takeaway and then I headed straight to bed!

What a good week!!

Well I must say that this week has been fab!!

I got the long-awaited phone call from my regional manager at work requesting me for an interview to become the manager of 2 Travel money bureaus,one of which I am normally based at. Prior to maternity leave that is. I had the interview on Friday and I couldnt have wished it to go any better. I got a call, literally a couple of hours later, telling me I had got the job!!I am still over the moon at this and can't wait to get my teeth into the role!! Getting this new role does mean I am having to go back to work earlier than anticipated. So instead of 6th December, I am now going back in 2 short weeks on 18th October. I work for a company called Travelex Worldwide Money.

On Saturday, Dom,myself and the children went to his Mums for our weekly dinner and then went home and actually had a chilled evening for the first time in a few days.

Today saw us taking Joshua off to school,pay a couple of bills then it was time to pick the little man up again...time goes so quickly when you have stuff to do!! We got home and thought as it was a really nice afternoon, we would do some work on the garden and hoover the car. Well, we managed the car :) We got a call from a friend of ours,Dave, inviting us for a drink somewhere. So we drove to a nice little pub 15 minutes away called the Bakers Arms.

I enjoyed a couple of glasses of Rose wine in the sunshine whilst chatting to Dom and Dave.Ella slept then played for abit and Joshua had fun running around the beer garden. After a couple of hours we decided to head back home where we then had a roast dinner of pork with crackling and all the trimmings. All in all a very good few days!!

Joshua starts school....

Over the last couple of weeks I have asked myself a number of time ,"where have the last 4 1/2 years gone?" It seems like only yesterday that my little man was the same size and age as his sister and now here we were getting him up and ready for his first day at school!! He was so excited about starting and it gave me such a sense of pride seeing him in his uniform ready to start his school life. Here he is all ready to go!

Once we had got to the school we didn't have long to wait until it was his time to go in. He had to follow some footprints to his new classroom with his new friends and it was at this point that I felt the lump in my throat and the tears start to well. So we made sure he was in the classroom and made our way to the office to change our address details. On our way there I caught a glimpse through the window of him and he looked so happy which put my mind at rest...but I still couldn't wait for 11.45 to arrive so I could go and collect him.

When that time finally got there (it did actually fly by!) I waited in the playground with all the other parents and one by one the children came out and indentified there parent before being allowed to leave. Joshua then came out,waved at me,the teacher let him go and he gave me the biggest hug ever and had a smile on his face for the rest of the day!! He starts properly tomorrow as he only had one day during the week so they could get a few children from each class in each day so it wasn't so daunting. And I know that it'll be sooo much easier to leave him knowing he was happy there!

It's been a while...

Well it has been quite a long time since my last post!! I have promised myself that I will do it much more often now and get back into the swing of things.

The main thing that has happened in our life is the birth of our beautiful little girl!!Ella Louise finally made her appearence on 30/04/2010 at 23:46pm....14 minutes before her due date! The birth went perfectly and lasted 3 1/2 hours. Here is a picture of our Princess

She is about 11 hours old in the picture!! Joshua is such a doting big brother but he has always been a lovely natured little boy. Here he is with his little sister :) One thing we have all noticed is how much she has looked like him when he was her age!!The same dark hair and eye colour, but Ella now seems to be getting her colouring from my side of the family with slightly lighter eyes and fairer hair!

As well as our new arrival we have also moved into our gorgeous new house! It is a 3-bed semi-detached in a quiet and private cul-de-sac. The house backs onto a golf course and our bedroom overlooks it. I have to say on a lovely sunny morning, when we lift up the blinds, the sight of mildew covered grass and the sun glistening over the course is so lovely!! We have waited so long for this! We just moved out of a 2nd floor,2 bed flat with no garden and not in the best of areas to bring up 2 children...especially one who is at school age now!!

Here is the front and back of the house!

My goodbye meal

Well, I am now on maternity leave from work. This is a time I never thought would arrive as it seems ages a go that I announced it all at work. But on Friday I had my last shift, apart from a very easy shift for a few hours yesterday. After saying my goodbyes to some people in the store i headed to get changed in the locker room upstairs ( very classy!) I wore my gorgeous dress and shoes that my parents bought me, and a little bit of jewellery, topped up the make up and went to meet a friend of mine, Monika, downstairs. We then headed to a lovely place in Canford Cliffs called Bar 33. There we met 2 other friends of mine, Lisa and my best friend Lucy. They gave me the most beautiful bunch of flowers ever from everyone i work with! I have got some piccies so will put them up at some point. It totally took me by surprise and was so lovely. When I see flowers done properly like this, i reliase why I always loved doing Floristry. The bouquet contained cerise pink Gerberas, purple Lisianthus, purple/pink chrysanthumums and some purple heather.

We then went inside and were seated at our table. Lisa joined us for a drink but had to unfortunately go as she had prior arrangements. so us 3 had our food. We all opted for the tagliatelle with chargrilled vegetable. absolutely gorgeous!! Lucy and me decided to sample the pudding menu, something you just have to do. I had the sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce, fresh strawberry and some vanilla ice cream, I again have a piccie of this so will put it up at some point. Lucy had the Belgian chocolate cup which looked equally good!

After eating we stayed chatting for quite a while then headed off home. It was an absolutely perfect way to say bye even though I will see them out of work, but when you see 2 people every day and work with them its very strange knowing it wont be like this anymore.

However, I am very happy to be on Maternity leave as it means I am even closer to the end of the prenancy and we get to meet Bump. I am now 32 weeks and it is very strange to imagine our baby is fully formed and just needs to plump abit that little bit more. I have started noticing the kicks turning more into wriggles and also every now again, I see the indent of a heel or foot through my tummy. Also a couple of times when i have been sitting down, I have actually felt with my fingers a little foot or hand. It truly is amazin, the miracle of a baby forming :)

here is a piccie of the inside of Bar 33 for everyone to see. I really do advise taking a trip here and trying the food. Its not ridiculously overpriced, what you'd expect for good quality food!

What a difference a day makes.

What a great day in so many ways!! Firstly, my little boy Joshua, is now much better after suffering from an awful tummy bug which saw him in bed with me a few nights and both of us not having much sleep at all. He is back to school tomorrow. i know its a friday, but I always think that 1 day could make a difference and it gets him ready for big school in September! Hard mum i am haha But he actually seems quite excited about it which is rather good :) Plus am taking him new shoes shopping after school as being a 4 year old, he never seems to stop growing, really looking forward to some mum/son time!That is my gorgeous little fella below.

Next, I went for my check-up scan this morning after our hospital visit on Monday night. Everything is absolutely perfect with bump and me!! It was amazing seeing how much it has changed and becuase I have never seen a scan past the 20-week routine one, it made it even more fascinating! I saw it swallowing and wriggling, looks just like a newborn already!! Unfortunately Dom couldnt come becuase of Joshuas tummy bug and we didnt want to risk taking him into a hospital full of vulnerable babies, but luckily my best friend Lucy came with me. Here is a piccie of Bump that was done today, I am 30 weeks + 5 days. After being the hospital for 3 hours after the scan and also being monitored for a bit I was let out and have been very happy all day!!

Have a check-up next Wednesday so looking forward to that as well, plus am leaving work to go on maternity leave next Friday so going to be a good week :)

What a long evening we had...

Well after work yesterday I got home and ended up having a 3 1/2 hour visit to Poole Maternity Hospital. This little Bump, or not so little these days, seems to be causing lots of worry but also so much joy. I hadnt had any movement from the latest addition for atleast 24 hours if not more and also had what I can only describe as mild, irregular labour pains. Trying to keep my cool, which is not something I can always do when im concerned, I gave a little call to the unit and explained everything. They straight away said that they wanted me to come in. So I grabbed the boys and off we went, thinking we would be back within the hour.
We got to the hospital at about 5.30pm and they strapped me up to the heart monitor. And out came the loudest, strongest heartbeat I have ever heard!! And not only this, but my tummy started moving and it gave a couple of kicks. We couldnt believe it!! But the lovely midwife still said that she would keep me hooked up for a little while becuase I hadnt felt anything for a while and my other little problems too. whilst we were sitting there listening to that amazing sound, our gorgeous little man Joshua was a little star!! He got to play doctor by helping to do my temperature and blood pressure. And then very nicely sat down and did some colouring.
After baby had been monitored I was un-strapped. We were told we had to wait for a doctor to come and see me. we thought it wouldnt be too long but were then told that both doctors were in the delivery suite but shouldnt be too long. I have to give all credit to our designated midwife though, not once did she keep us out of the loop. She even showed us where we could get drinks and some free food for Joshua whilst we waited. He especially loved the biccies! :)
It got to nearly 8pm and decided it was getting very late so managed to get Doms mum to get Joshua so he could get some dinner. We hate calling on people but sometimes you have to admit defeat.
Shortly after he had gotten picked up, the doctor came and saw me. He did what he needed to do with me, wont go into details though. And then infomed me everything was still as it should be but becuase of the pain I had been having and also becuase this wasnt the first time I had experienced decreased movements they would like me to go in for a scan. And to phone up for some results at the end of the week too. The midwife came back in and booked my scan which is 9am Thursday morning and she told me to not leave it so long if im at all worried and it doesnt take much to monitor me for 30 minutes. This is the NHS at it best I must say!!
And typically, since last night, Bump has been non-stop and appears to be on a mission of reminding me of its presence, but there is no way I mind at all!! :)

Im feeling good....

Well this is my first post so here goes!!

Had a lovely lie-in this morning courtesy of Dom and after finally getting up was looking forward to the day ahead. We got ready and spent a couple of hours just chilling at home, then were picked off by my nan, celia, to go for a lovely Sunday dinner at the parents. It made it even more special becuase we had family from Wales down to visit who we hadn't seen for just over 3 years so was really nice to see them.
We were given a couple of gorgeous things for the baby from Pam and Pete and also a couple of pressies for Joshua, which being a typical boy loves anything to do with police cars and fire trucks!! After having a good catch up with them we had the most gorgeous stew with lots of veg courtesy of Dad and Amanda. I had 2 helpings but being 7 months pregnant, I can get away with these things :) Then for pudding we had a choice of a chocolate cake with raspberries buried inside or a fresh fruit tart. Dom and myself had the chocolate which was delicious and Joshua strangly opted for the fruit tart, but not just the one piece, he had 2!!! How can a 4 year old pack away sooo much?? The most perfect Wintry sunday dinner though and very much appreciated by all. Thankyou guys :)
After dinner we decided to go for a walk at Coy Pond but it seems the weather was against us and it started raining the minute we got out the door. Typical!! However, this was not to spoil our plans. We decided to go for a lovely cuppa at The Haven Hotel whilst overlooking the chain Ferry and taking some lovely piccies. Even more perfect!!
We are now back at home feeling full, warm and very chilled. Dom is playing on his PS3 and Joshua is playing Doctor and giving out stickers to us for being brave. This to me, is an absolutely perfect day and Im feeling good about everything right now. Leave work next Friday on 5th March and under 10 weeks until baby is officially due, but who knows when itll decide to come. Can't wait to meet the latest addition :)