Back home ... with remaining holiday pics!

We're back home! Well, arrived on Saturday last week but life has been too busy for me to post any sooner. In fact, I uploaded the below photos days ago but didn't have time to put any words to this, so left it till now. Benjamin and I both came down with colds early last week and they've rather taken hold of us, nasty coughs and all - I seem to have both a sinus and chest infection. Seems we're both rather prone to colds - and once we get one, it is difficult to get over it. Oddly enough, Peter and Abigail seemed quite OK, though this week something has got hold of them (at least Peter). Clement got a bit of a cold - poor wee thing. Thankfully he seems to be over it now. I'm glad it didn't last long with him.

Anyway, life continues as usual. I've been trying to get the house clean and better organised. It was quite a mess before we went away and I'm slowly getting things in order. I think I'll have to stay on top of things to keep up with the busy job of being a mum to 3 littles! I'm *hoping* that if I can get things a bit better organised around the house, then perhaps it won't take as much effort/time to keep up with it all. But as of now, it's already Wednesday (well, the wee hours of Thursday morning now) and there's still loads to do - tho I feel I've been working all day and all night since Monday morning! Oh well. Must just persevere.

Benjamin's eczema is quite bad at the moment - tonight in particular. :-( He just finally settled (just past 12am) after nearly 2 hours of rubbing his feet together and scratching his neck and wrists ... all in his sleep nearly! :-( He gets quite frantic at times and can do a lot of damage quickly. I always hope that something will help him get better, but it seems to forever get worse. Not sure if it was the hard water we had in the part of Yorkshire we were in on holiday, or just the lack of sleep (disruption of routine etc) that made it get worse recently (spreading further up arms, to his toes and knuckles etc), or if it just would have done it anyway. Also, we're worried that Clement is developing eczema as well. The health visitor seemed to agree that it looked like that yesterday, but I'm still hoping the rash on his face/neck/head will go away. We see the GP tomorrow for his 6 week check, so maybe she'll have some idea. He's scratching it a bit already too, which is a bit scary for me - can't bear the idea of *2* scratching boys. However, apart from Clement's rash, he's as happy as ever and a very good baby. He slept for 5 solid hours the other night - and might have slept longer if I hadn't picked him up! lol

Well, here are the remaining photos from our time away.

Drax Power Station - largest in the UK. The chimneys were quite impressive looking actually! We happened to drive past it one evening.

And a mile or two up the road from the power station, we stepped back in time when we met this horse drawn carriage! Peter wonders whether it was slowly making its way across the country to the upcoming Appleby Horse Fair, for which there were illuminated warning signs regarding horse drawn traffic at the junction of the A1 and A66 a few days later.

Front view of either the same one as above or another one that was travelling together with it

On Wednesday last week Mr and Mrs Mohon took us to Big Sheep Little Cow Farm in Bedale, along with their granddaughters. It was a lovely place with both outdoor and indoor play areas. The best part was that adults could go on all the indoor things too! :-)

Benjamin "driving" a large wooden combine harvester

Abigail going across the rope bridge in the indoor play area

Benjamin and his daddy in a tunnel (after mummy and Clement in sling came out of the tunnel first!)

Benjamin and daddy on the rope bridge

Chloe & Anna coming down the big slides (which I didn't dare try)

Benjamin enjoying a crawling/climbing netted tunnel of sorts!

Clement looking very grown up here! Having a break from the sunshine

and smiling at his mummy too. :)

Chloe, Anna, Benjamin and Abigail sitting on straw bales - and it was completely impossible to get them to all look at the camera at the same time!

A truly ancient church - St Gregory's Minster in Kirkdale (just outside of Kirkbymoorside). The original part of it was *rebuilt* by Saxons about 1,000 years ago!

inside the church

The oldest grave stone I was able to find and read - from 1699.

Benjamin hugging a tree! He wanted his photo taken by the tree, but then wouldn't turn round to face the camera.

An old windmill (now turned into a house) in Kirkbymoorside. We had a lovely evening walk here a couple of days before we came home (it was only a mile or two from where we were staying on the farm). We tried to see if we could get close to the above windmill but it was someone's garden around it. However, later I got this good view with the zoom on my camera.

All for now. Goodnight.

Still on holiday ... more photos!

We're in the second week of our holiday - (back home on Saturday). Thought I'd try and update this with some photos from the past several days. Enjoying our time away, though late nights for children and lack of the usual routine does mean more difficult children and worse eczema for Benjamin. But we're surviving! :) Anyway, I need to get to bed soon - so will be few words and plenty of photos.

On Wednesday last week we spent most of the day with our friends the Mohons. Abigail & Benjamin really enjoyed playing in the garden with their grandchildren. It was beautiful sunshine and very warm. Didn't manage to get the best of photos, but they all enjoyed it!

Abigail & Benjamin having a picnic snack with Chloe and Anna

and again, with Benjamin and Anna facing this way

Peter, Mr & Mrs Mohon and Ruth in the background (btw something has gone funny with this photo and makes Peter's nose look rather bigger than it is! LOL)

Clement's first "garden party" :-) He was just sooo happy outside in the fresh air!

The next day we went to Filey (near Scarborough) to the seaside - it was a bit cold and windy, but the children still enjoyed the sand. Well, at least until Benjamin got sand in his eyes!

Building a sandcastle (or wrecking it, as would be the case with Benjamin!)

Filey coast

Clement's first time at the beach - though he slept through the experience!

And then today (Monday) we went to Wolds Way Lavender. The lavender wasn't yet in bloom, but there was still a nature walk to go on and various plants to see. The sun was shining part of the time, so the children enjoyed walking about.

on a walk at the lavender place

lavender fields

enjoying the fields of lavender

OK, must get some sleep now - as usual! :-)

On holiday!

Just thought I'd pop on and update this once again! :) We're actually on holiday just now - in Yorkshire (England). We arrived on Saturday last week and hope to be here for 2 weeks in total. Not a very "well in advance" planned holiday - but I hadn't wanted to book/plan anything until after the baby was born. And since Peter gets hayfever in the summer - we needed to get away soon if we were going to be able to go away while it was mild weather. So, here we are! :) I did lots of internet searching and found a lovely farm cottage (converted stables) on a 135 acre working farm. It's lovely to wake up to the sound of sheep & lambs up at our bedroom window! The children are quite enjoying the scenes around us too - tractors, goats, horses, cows etc. It's nice and peaceful. And although it seems we're in the middle of nowhere - we've actually got wireless internet here, so I can blog while I'm away.

Life continues to be busy (esp with Benjamin's eczema, which seems to only get worse) - and wee Clement has started being a bit more demanding the past week (screaming if he's put down and wanting to be held or worn in the sling most of the day). Thankfully he does sleep very well at nights - usually only waking once at most for a feed! So I guess I shouldn't complain. But the fact of having to watch Benjamin so closely night & day means I still don't feel very rested even though Clement sleeps at night.

I've got lots of photos here - like 15 in total! The first 5-7 are from before we went on holiday, and then the rest are from yesterday & today.

Please excuse the grumpy/tired looking face above! lol I'm wearing Clement in my new Papoozle - an absolutely fab sling - made in Scotland by Tots Bots (cloth nappy company). He's spent a good part of some days in it - and it's soooo comfortable! (every mother should have one! :-D) Baby is held so close to you that you can move about and do anything.

Clement at 3 weeks old

3.5 weeks old - showing keen interest in his big brother! :) He gets very excited when he sees Benjamin or Abigail coming to speak to him.

Almost 4 weeks old - Clement & Abigail all ready for bed the night before going on holiday! :-D

wearing a cute nightie which Abigail also wore as a baby! (from Grammie in Texas)

Benjamin looking cute in Mummy's sunglasses! Since everything was dark while he wore them, he started telling everything goodnight "Goodnight Magpies, goodnight cows, goodnight houses ...." the list was very extensive and went on for a long time!

Today we went to York! The above photo is of The Merchant's Hall - which is over 700 years old!

I thought Sarah ;-) would have liked this shop - so we got this photo especially for her, with Abigail in front.

Peter, Abigail & Benjamin on the ancient York walls

Getting in the pushchair again after having a picnic lunch

Anyone who knows about UK roads will know about Pelican crossings, Toucan crossing, and Puffin crossings - well, here's a new one - Goose crossings! :-D LOL Anyway, this goose was crossing the road right in the city centre of York.

And a park across the road was *full* of geese and goslings - they were sooo cute!

We then went to the National Railway Museum there in York - which is huge and lots of fun for train loving children. And seems Clement is starting early! He had a ride in the back of the puchchair while A & B ran around the museum and I unzipped part of the hood so he could see out. And he looked very interested in what he was able to see (mainly the ceilings and lights) but he seemed to enjoy it and was awake the whole time too.

Looking around and making sounds

Looking rather observant for only being a month old yesterday.

Benjamin next to the rather large wheels

Well, it's nearly 1am - so really must get some sleep while everyone else is. Guess I just wanted a bit of quiet on my own, which is very rare these days. But need sleep too! I'll finish this off and post it tomorrow I think.

17 days old

Well, I'd been thinking that I only blogged the other day...but I've just realised that it's been nearly 2 weeks since I last posted here! :-O The days never have enough hours to get everything done...so guess the days are just passing quicker than ever! Clement is now 17 days old, which almost seems hard to believe.

There were three in the bed and the little one said... :-)

My 3 little darlings all in mummy & daddy's bed, first thing in the morning! I love this photo of my dear children! I thought it was so cute of them all together. Taken when Clement was 9 days old.

Mummy and her 2 boys, when Clement was 9 days old! Benjamin was desperate to hold his baby brother (something that he wants to do alll day long - which means I really need an extra set of eyes to make sure Clement is safe!

Looking very calm and sleepy, at 12 days old.

2 weeks old (not the greatest of photos, but the best I managed to get of him that day). He weighed in at 9lb 10oz at the middle of last week, and although he's not been officially weighed this week, he's well over 10lb on our (postal!) scale at home - and he'll get weighed by the health visitor next week.

Taken this evening (17 days old) wearing some lovely wool trousers ("longies", as they're called!), which means they can go straight over a cloth nappy and are the waterproof layer instead of a wrap or "plastic pants"!

Isn't he soooo cute??! :-) (of course I would think so!) Not sure if it's a proper smile yet, but he keeps giving the impression that he knows what's going on and often responds to us talking to him with smiles and nearly cooing!

Well, afraid this post is nearly all photos - as might become more common, with me having less time to think up lots of words to say! I'm rather sleep-deprived at the moment, and don't feel my brain is up to much! As it happens, it's *not* the newborn that is making me lose sleep...but his 2yo brother, who is still struggling with eczema and middle of the night desperate scratching. :( Thankfully Clement has been sleeping very well at night - not even aware of him causing me to wake in the night - he just gets taken into bed for a feed at some point...probably while I'm still asleep! LOL Anyway, I could probably think of more to say, but I'm too tired to think. So, goodnight! :)

5 days old

Well, Clement is already 5 days old today! Thought I'd try to post up a few (or maybe more than a few!) photos from the past few days. :) I was beginning to think he was going to be a very fussy baby - especially after yesterday when it was 5pm before I was able to put him down for more than 5 minutes without him crying! I ended up wearing him in a sling for a few hours in the afternoon so that I could get some laundry, dishes, and general tidying up done! He just slept peacefully the whole time he was in there - clearly enjoying it (as you'll see in a couple of photos below). Thankfully he was very content in the evening and again most of today. So perhaps he's adjusting to life outside the womb! :-) He always stops crying whenever he's being fed - but when I've fed him for the best part of 2 hours, I know he's had plenty to eat and there's no way he's still hungry! So I think it's his tummy that's feeling a bit unsettled/wind and it makes him want to feed.

The midwife weighed Clement on day 3 and he'd lost 7oz (which is perfectly normal/acceptable) though I was a bit surprised. However, today (day 5) when he was weighed again...he's now *above* his birth weight - a healthy 9lbs! Soooo, a weight gain of 9 ounces in only 2 days! Quite impressive really! :-)

OK, so here are photos....and then I *must* get some sleep - maybe! ;-)

2 days old (trying on a pair of wool trousers, which were toooo small!)

Close up of face - 2 days old

Looking such a big boy at 3 days old!

Sleeping peacefully in the sling - 3 days old

Close up of the happy baby! :-) Baby wearing really does have its benefits! ;-)

Out of the sling and wrapped up in a swaddle blanket - a very peaceful little boy! (3 days old)

Not a very clear photo, but shows how big he is! (4 days old)

My favourite photo so far! :-) He'd been sleeping on the couch and woke up to have a good look at everything. Benjamin got very excited when he saw him so wide awake and said "Look! Clement is looking around at Benjy!"

And can't forget to include some photos of my other lovely children! :-) This photo (and the 2 below) were taken about a week before Clement was born. We had absolutely lovely weather - you'd hardly know it could be Scotland! ;-) It was not only sunny but warm too - and at the beginning of April! The children even got to have a picnic outside on the front porch!

Benjamin looking a bit hot from the sun

Running in the square out front

OK, off to bed I *must* go!