Epic Clear Out Part 2

My Epic clear out that started some time ago with my shoes is not progressing as quickly as I had initially planned or hoped. I have no energy with which to approach such complicated tasks right now and any endeavour taking longer than 10mins of my time seems to exhaust me beyond reason.

However the time has come to tackle the mammoth task of managing our book collection. It will come as no surprise that FFOMC and I are both big readers. Moreover we both value books and believe them to be amongst the few sacred things we own. We take care of them and find it extremely difficult to part with them. However they are gradually taking over our home with our post Christmas selection of new titles still underneath our Christmas tree, an ever growing hoard in the bedroom and a computer room collection that cannot be confined to the bookshelves originally purchased to contain our obsession.

But time for change before our home looks like this:

Watch this space for an after picture hopefully with a lot fewer books and a lot more space to clutter with baby stuff.

 

 

 

Head, shoulders, knees and toes

It would appear that Lumpy has discovered his arms and elbows.

This evening, the plan was to have a relaxing night on the sofa, snuggled up with FFOMC in front of the season finale of series 5 of Sons of Anarchy. However these plans were rudely interrupted by the persistent Mexican wave effect across my stomach as my wriggly child stretched and flexed his newly formed limbs. Dad-to-be grinned and gushed as his son rewarded him with kicks galore while I writhed and wriggled trying to find a comfortable position in which to lie.

It is reassuring that little Lumpy is such an active little being and is clearly having a whale of a time as he discovers new and interesting ways of manipulating his little body inside Mummy’s tummy. But if he took take a moment to acclimatise himself to his surroundings and be a little more aware of say avoiding my bladder for example and stay within certain “zones” I would be most grateful and a lot more comfortable.

 

I’m dreaming of a dry Christmas

Each year the last big shop before Christmas has traditionally been to buy booze.

However this year I am unable to drink and this has meant some changes to my shopping list. As well as ditching alcohol I am trying to avoid caffeine and am becoming increasingly bored of orange juice and milk.

As I battled my way through the store, gone were the usual Sherry, red wine and seasonable cocktails and in their place were Shloer, Virgin Mojitos and some Peach concoction I have yet to sample.

Far from deminishing my festive spirit, I do not miss alcohol and have come to realise that it has played much to large a role in my life to date.
I have a nice bottle of Cava which I have been mixing with orange juice to enjoy with my meals on Christmas and Boxing day; mainly for a change of pace but beyond that it has been a dry Christmas for me for the first time since I turned 18.

I hope after the baby is born that I can maintain certain aspects of my current lifestyle and although I do not plan to be permanently alcohol free, I don’t think it will do me any harm whatsoever to keep it confined to weekends and special occassions.

“And onto them a son was given”

 As some of you may know FFOMC and I recently had our 20 week scan. Although we both wanted to know the gender of our baby, we decided to keep it a secret until Christmas Day as a special present.

 

The wait has driven us both crazy, but it was well worth it when we received the amazing news this morning that we will be having:

A BABY SON.

Very appropriate for Christmas and the best present ever.

Mum and Dad-to-be are delighted with our little one affectionately known as Lumpy for the time being. He got more presents than we did and is already a much loved and treasured addition to our wee family.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – 2014 will certainly ring in the changes for us 🙂

Baubles, bangles and beads

This time last year as I spent the evening with FFOMC I couldnt wait for Christmas morning.

As is our tradition we start the day by opening our Christmas stockings in bed, usually at an unreasonably early hour despite the absense of children in our home.

I was particularly excited about a small gift nestled in the toe of his stocking – a last minute purchase inspired by one of FFOMC’s weaker moments following a work party. He had come home tipsy and bleary eyed and for some reason a little emotional about the worry that we would never have a family of our own. I reassured him that although I wasn’t ready to start a family that second in time, I did want to be the mother of his children.

The next day on a last minute shopping trip I discovered the Christmas bauble pictured above. It doubles as a money box and reads:

“Merry Christmas to a Special Mum and Dad”

I wrapped it carefully and attached a tag with the following words written on it:

“This gift is only little, but it’s special in a way,

It’s a promise of the future that I’ll spend with you one day.

For now you just protect it & fill it up with me,

And maybe this time next year it can hang upon our tree.

You’ll need to make the nice list so you better not be bad,

And by this time of next year you could be a special Dad.”

At the time I wrote these words I had no immediate plans to become a parent but low and behold, one year later I am once again excited on Christmas Eve, but this year our special Christmas bauble is hanging on the tree and we are anxious to open a card which will reveal whether we are expecting a little boy or a little girl.

FFOMC will indeed make a wonderful father and no doubt this time next year we will be filled with all the excitement experienced by all new parents about to spend their first Christmas with their first child.

Happy Christmas everyone!

Special Present 2

The presents under my Christmas tree continue to taunt me!

I LOVE Christmas! I always get really excited in the build up to the festivities. I enjoy buying presents for other people but rarely know what I want for myself.

However this year one present in particular has really caught my eye – the white and red wrapping paper is adorned with a tag reading “To Mummy, love Lumpy”.

Now, delighted as I am and sweet as this is, it has resulted in some concerning questions about my offspring. There appear to be a lot of presents under the tree from Lumpy. If the little one is this accomplished at using a credit card in utero, can I expect issues over the next 18 years? Should I cut up all my plastic now just to be safe?

Food for thought, however I can’t wait to open my first Mummy present 🙂

Special Present 1

Tonight has been trying.

My husband is out gallivanting and I am exhausted and totally unengaged with the offerings on TV.

Whilst an early night is beckoning I am distracted with a special present under the tree.

During my scan on Monday the sonographer wrote the sex of my baby in a special card. It is currently sealed and underneath the Christmas tree buried under our other presents, and its calling to me.

I have never been one for delayed gratification and this special little secret is tantalisingly close to revealing itself in 6 days time. Short as the wait is – the anticipation might just kill me.

Will it be Miss Lumpy? Or Master Lumpy?

Wriggles and giggles

Against all the odds, Lumpy managed to be the right way up for today’s exciting 20 week scan.

It is however the third occassion on which a sonographer has commented that our child is “very wriggley”. As these professionals see these sorts of scans all day every day it is of some concern that my husband and I have managed to create such a particularly wriggley little one.

However, all is well, measurements seem good, baby is healthy and contentedly stretching, kicking and playing in my tummy.

One very happy Mommy!

Roly-poly-baby

Lumpy has been going daft this weekend and I am feeling the first proper kicks.
This energy surge is timed just right for the 20 week scan tomorrow morning. I hope Lumpy will be still for long enough to be caught on camera.
Poor Daddy has spent hours with his hand on my tummy trying to feel these movements but for now this is a special privilege for only me.

Joy to the world

Christmas is supposed to bring with it feelings of joy, peace and goodwill. However thanks to one annual nuisance I am feeling a lot of things and goodwill is not amongst them.

Once a year the Rotary Club park their Christmas float – pictured above – directly below my flat and blast out Christmas music for about 8 hours whilst a well meaning member dressed in a poorly fitting Santa suit collects money from passersby.

As I can hear this music clear as a bell over the television set in my front room this is cause for some distress and frustration. However these feelings are amplified by the fact that each year I work towards a big Christmas show which is always the second Friday of December. It is an intense build up to this event and I am always relieved when it is over. I also finish my part time Saturday job the week before this meaning that today was my first Saturday off in some time.

Being woken from my sleep by Ding dong Merrily on flipping high does less to promote my sense of festive cheer and is more likely to inspire rage resulting in a phone filmed video dubbed “crazy pregnant lady takes baseball bat to charity Christmas float” on You’ve Been Framed.

The music has now stopped and my unseasonable sense of venom is gradually subsiding: Joy to the world!