This past week has been just that: a roller coaster! Highs and lows, stomach churning moments, heart in your mouth moments, exhilaration.
It all started on Friday. Mr Foodie had been invited to a stag night in town. So it was a girl's night in for Marie, Noelie and myself. We had it all planned out. We were going to have a party. In our house, a party consists of snacks and a drink (Coke for Marie and a nice glass of wine for myself). While I was getting Noelie to bed, Marie carefully laid out the snacks on the table. We then proceeded to watch 3 episodes of Glee. I have to admit we are all Gleeks in this house. We usually watch the episode and record it before allowing Marie to watch it (just in case!). With the sun shining and busy weekends, she was 3 episodes behind. So we decided to catch up. We spent the evening singing, dancing, laughing and cuddling on the sofa. Then, we went to bed and watched the end of Night at the Museum, cuddled up in bed together. The perfect evening in with my girls (although Noelie was asleep!)
Saturday was another busy day, involving a trip to Ikea to check out some furniture for our new house (we're moving in on the 1st of July! Yeah!). I am extremely proud to say that I managed to go to Ikea and not buy anything at all. Nothing, Nada, Zilch, Rien. Not a thing. Not even a tiny little gadget for next to nothing. It took a superhuman effort on my part. I just figured that there is no point adding to the long list of things we need to move. I will take a trip down once we are settled. There are plenty of drawers and presses to fill in our new kitchen!
Sunday was decision time. Marie was going to her father's and he was to inform me of his decision on the new access proposal I had drawn up. He wasn't there when I dropped her off in the morning. So we had to wait until pick up time. The day was spent trying to figure out anything he could object to or request. And how far we would be prepared to go to see the proposal accepted. I was quite nervous. Although he could not do anything to prevent us from moving, he could potentially put a big spanner in the works by not agreeing. So what did he say, I hear you shout. Well he agreed to it! His only problem was with a small detail that we had anticipated and had figured out an alternative for. A wave of relief washed over me and Mr Foodie. Isn't it funny how people surprise you sometimes? We were expecting him and his family to be quite awkward, difficult to deal with and expected them to probably try and bargain more access than I offered. After months of animosity and 'fighting', it looks like things are starting to settle down and we might be able to communicate and agree on some things. We will never forget what they put us through, we will never be friends with them. But we can do amicable and reasonable.
It turns out the most difficult person to deal with, when it comes to the move, is somebody we thought was our friend which we made a point to go and visit over the week end too. The whole time of the visit was spent ignoring the elephant in the room. Nothing was said about the move but it was there, like a wedge. Maybe it's just me reading into something that's not there but Mr Foodie felt it too. The subject was just completely avoided. It was quite disappointing but, at the end of the day, like a lot of you kindly commented last week, it's her loss not ours.
Monday was to say the least unusual. We woke up early enough and let the cat out as we do every morning. She came back 5 minutes later, triple her size. We tried to find a vet but, being a bank holiday Monday, the only option was the Veterinary clinic on the other side of town. So off we went, kids and kittens in tow to the clinic. The vet had never seen anything like this before. It turns out that somehow, without any sign of trauma, air is getting under her skin. Trust us to find the only inflatable cat in town! She stayed in the clinic for the day and they managed to deflate her a bit (not a very clinical term and one that nobody seems to be able to say without holding their laugh). We picked her up and her kittens in the evening. And went home. At which point, Noelie started to develop a fever. We gave her Nurofen and she settled for the night. She woke up a few times during the night and got up on Tuesday morning with a fever again.
We had to take the cat to the vet again in the afternoon as she had re inflated. Noelie was getting increasingly difficult. She ate a lot less than usual, was irritable and her fever came back. So off we went to the hospital to get her checked out, thinking it might be another kidney infection. Thankfully, her sample came back clear and it seems to be only some kind of viral infection. Let's just say that we were all exhausted yesterday having come home at about 1am from the hospital. Noelie was not the best yesterday again. Her temperature was going up and down. She was not hungry, which is quite unusual for her since she would eat anything anytime of the day (a firm favourite seems to be the fallen Cheerios from under the table! What? Do you think I had the time or energy to hoover this week end?). And she managed to get sick in my top of all places. Not on herself, not on my top but down my top. Bras are great at catching sick falling down your top. Forget about crumbs, sick is the way to go. Mr Foodie, who was in another room at the time, did not understand why I was shouting that I needed a shower at 4pm!
After that, she settled and later on managed to eat some toast and drink her bottle and even go back to her usual self. She slept great and woke up with a very mild temperature this morning. She had breakfast and it stayed down, she went for a nice long nap and managed to eat some soup and another bit of toast and it's still there in her tummy. Her temperature hasn't returned. Hopefully, it will not come back. She is fast asleep as I type this but I have to wake her up to go and pick up her sister from school. And the cat is still inflated...
Such was the roller coaster of my life these past few days, anybody care to join me?
Showing posts with label week end. Show all posts
Showing posts with label week end. Show all posts
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
A welcome break.
First of all, I have to apologize. I haven't written many posts in the past few weeks. I have been busy (a bit), I have been preoccupied (a lot) and I didn't want to just moan for days on end, even though that's how I felt (there's only so much you can get away with). So, with the new month, hopefully, I'll have a bit more inspiration.
Since Noelie has been born, we have managed to go out a few times. We are lucky enough that some of Mr Foodie's relatives live close by, and they have agreed to babysit for us on a few occasions. The girls always have a great time with them and they surely enjoy looking after them too. Up to now, I was not comfortable with the idea of leaving Noelie overnight with them (or anybody else for that matter). Mr Foodie, on the contrary, has been ready to leave her overnight for the past 6 months at least. I don't know what it was, she was too much of a baby for me to even consider leaving her overnight. A few hours at a time was all I could manage. Call me overprotective if you want, I just couldn't do it. A few months ago, Mr Foodie pushed the idea a bit too far and I just started crying (I cry a lot remember?), I was almost panicked at the thought of leaving my baby. The thought just paralyzed me. Mr Foodie was very understanding though and didn't push the idea too much afterwards. I think that he knew that eventually I would come around and do it.
I was always very protective of Marie. I used to think it was because she was premature. The fact that she was whisked away to ICU after being born and was not with me on the first night had some profound effect on me. It was just horrible to be lying there in the ward with all the other mothers who had their babies beside them and all I had was a horrible Polaroid of her in the incubator with tubes coming out of her broken nose, and hooked up onto so many monitors. I could feel the other mothers looking at me and probably wondering where the hell was my baby (although I'd say they were thinking more along the lines of 'What the hell do I do now with a baby??'). I remember taking a trip up to the ICU at 3am, just to be with her. I was lucky enough though as she only stayed in the ICU for 24 hours. But I believe it had a lasting effect on me. That coupled with the first time I left Marie (2 months old at the time) with her father's parents to go out for a few hours. They had come to babysit and, upon returning, I found the house as hot as an oven (try leaving the heating on full blast for 5 hours and light the fire at the same time), and Marie swaddled in her bouncer, not strapped in, with another couple of blankets piled on her for good measure. I don't know how she didn't die from overheating. Let's just say that I found alternative babysitters after that.
So it's not easy for me to leave my girls. However, on Saturday night, I had a breakthrough. We had been invited to a birthday party and had organized to leave both girls overnight with Mr Foodie's relatives. So off we went to drop them off, everything packed but the kitchen sink (I am sure I could have fitted it in one of the bags). Everything had been checked and rechecked. Travel cot, enough food until the next afternoon, enough bottles, teddies, toys, clothes etc to last at least 3 days. I even put a little list of food and nap times etc in the bag. (cringe, does that say I don't trust you to know my child enough to look after her properly?). We dropped them off and everything was fine, until we realized that we had forgotten to bring Noelie's sleeping bag with us and had to take another quick trip down to drop it off. I'm sure she could have used blankets instead for that one night but I wanted her to feel as much at home as possible.
People around us think we are a bit, let's say, different (they probably say that we are weird behind our backs). I'd rather say that we have a more continental approach. We don't use blankets, we use sleeping bags. Now to most older generation Irish people, it is quite a novelty and we did come back once after leaving Noelie with Mr Foodie's parents, to find that she had decided to go camping in her cot. Instead of being in the sleeping bag, it had been put over her looking like a tent. We don't use a high chair, we use a table seat. Mr Foodie's parents had never seen it before. It is great and allows the child to be sitting at the table with you instead of in a high chair aside from the family. We also have a seat in the bath for Noelie. I have such definite ideas on what I want for her that I'm sure people are getting headaches trying to buy things even clothes (I have been known to put black on a 3 months old baby and I absolutely hate pink). And let's just not get into the food part of it. I'll let you imagine what people might think when I give Noelie lentils, or spinach, or couscous (I think she had potatoes only 4 times since she has been on solids). I am sure our dear babysitters looked in disgust at the green gloop that was the spinach dish or the pink one that was the carrots and cod.
Anyway, I have to admit I am quite proud of myself. I have managed to leave my girls overnight and not worry about them. We had quite a good night and got home quite late. The girls had a fantastic time and both enjoyed a reflexology treatment (must remember to book that appointment I got as a Christmas present!). Everything went really well and I am delighted. I thoroughly enjoyed the break. Getting up late, breakfast in bed and just watching telly in bed for a few hours. Nobody else to think about was a welcome change. So thank you to the babysitters for taking such good care of the girls and thank you to Mr Foodie for the breakfast in bed. I really enjoyed it, let's do it again (in a few months time).
Since Noelie has been born, we have managed to go out a few times. We are lucky enough that some of Mr Foodie's relatives live close by, and they have agreed to babysit for us on a few occasions. The girls always have a great time with them and they surely enjoy looking after them too. Up to now, I was not comfortable with the idea of leaving Noelie overnight with them (or anybody else for that matter). Mr Foodie, on the contrary, has been ready to leave her overnight for the past 6 months at least. I don't know what it was, she was too much of a baby for me to even consider leaving her overnight. A few hours at a time was all I could manage. Call me overprotective if you want, I just couldn't do it. A few months ago, Mr Foodie pushed the idea a bit too far and I just started crying (I cry a lot remember?), I was almost panicked at the thought of leaving my baby. The thought just paralyzed me. Mr Foodie was very understanding though and didn't push the idea too much afterwards. I think that he knew that eventually I would come around and do it.
I was always very protective of Marie. I used to think it was because she was premature. The fact that she was whisked away to ICU after being born and was not with me on the first night had some profound effect on me. It was just horrible to be lying there in the ward with all the other mothers who had their babies beside them and all I had was a horrible Polaroid of her in the incubator with tubes coming out of her broken nose, and hooked up onto so many monitors. I could feel the other mothers looking at me and probably wondering where the hell was my baby (although I'd say they were thinking more along the lines of 'What the hell do I do now with a baby??'). I remember taking a trip up to the ICU at 3am, just to be with her. I was lucky enough though as she only stayed in the ICU for 24 hours. But I believe it had a lasting effect on me. That coupled with the first time I left Marie (2 months old at the time) with her father's parents to go out for a few hours. They had come to babysit and, upon returning, I found the house as hot as an oven (try leaving the heating on full blast for 5 hours and light the fire at the same time), and Marie swaddled in her bouncer, not strapped in, with another couple of blankets piled on her for good measure. I don't know how she didn't die from overheating. Let's just say that I found alternative babysitters after that.
So it's not easy for me to leave my girls. However, on Saturday night, I had a breakthrough. We had been invited to a birthday party and had organized to leave both girls overnight with Mr Foodie's relatives. So off we went to drop them off, everything packed but the kitchen sink (I am sure I could have fitted it in one of the bags). Everything had been checked and rechecked. Travel cot, enough food until the next afternoon, enough bottles, teddies, toys, clothes etc to last at least 3 days. I even put a little list of food and nap times etc in the bag. (cringe, does that say I don't trust you to know my child enough to look after her properly?). We dropped them off and everything was fine, until we realized that we had forgotten to bring Noelie's sleeping bag with us and had to take another quick trip down to drop it off. I'm sure she could have used blankets instead for that one night but I wanted her to feel as much at home as possible.
People around us think we are a bit, let's say, different (they probably say that we are weird behind our backs). I'd rather say that we have a more continental approach. We don't use blankets, we use sleeping bags. Now to most older generation Irish people, it is quite a novelty and we did come back once after leaving Noelie with Mr Foodie's parents, to find that she had decided to go camping in her cot. Instead of being in the sleeping bag, it had been put over her looking like a tent. We don't use a high chair, we use a table seat. Mr Foodie's parents had never seen it before. It is great and allows the child to be sitting at the table with you instead of in a high chair aside from the family. We also have a seat in the bath for Noelie. I have such definite ideas on what I want for her that I'm sure people are getting headaches trying to buy things even clothes (I have been known to put black on a 3 months old baby and I absolutely hate pink). And let's just not get into the food part of it. I'll let you imagine what people might think when I give Noelie lentils, or spinach, or couscous (I think she had potatoes only 4 times since she has been on solids). I am sure our dear babysitters looked in disgust at the green gloop that was the spinach dish or the pink one that was the carrots and cod.
Anyway, I have to admit I am quite proud of myself. I have managed to leave my girls overnight and not worry about them. We had quite a good night and got home quite late. The girls had a fantastic time and both enjoyed a reflexology treatment (must remember to book that appointment I got as a Christmas present!). Everything went really well and I am delighted. I thoroughly enjoyed the break. Getting up late, breakfast in bed and just watching telly in bed for a few hours. Nobody else to think about was a welcome change. So thank you to the babysitters for taking such good care of the girls and thank you to Mr Foodie for the breakfast in bed. I really enjoyed it, let's do it again (in a few months time).
Monday, December 14, 2009
What a day! or 3...
Oh my god, what a day or 3...
It all started on Friday night. Noelie had her last bottle and went to bed as usual. She is very good and actually enjoys going to bed. She gets really excited and kicks and screams (in a good way) whenever we put her in her sleeping bag.
However, by the time we went to bed, she had started whinging. She woke up every hour. I checked her, she was not wet, nor dirty, nor too hot, nor too cold. She did not have a fever, she was even smiling whenever I approached her cot. She was just awake and whinging. Maybe her teeth, maybe a pain somewhere, I don't know and probably never will.
By 7h30, she was crying, so we got up and gave her her breakfast. There was no consoling her, she took her bottle but kept crying big crocodile tears. Neither Daddy nor Mummy could do a thing to stop her. I gave her some paracetamol, as I was convinced she had a pain somewhere. She fell asleep in my arms around 8h15. I put her down in her cot. She woke up 20 minutes later, her usual self, smiling and screaming and kicking.. She has been in great form ever since. Was it her teeth? Was she overtired from not having slept well? We don't know what was wrong with her and never will.
Saturday was a busy day. Dropped Marie off to her father's.(although she refers to him as Daddy, my fiance is not her biological dad). Had words with him for having forgotten her at school earlier on during the week (but apparently 'these things happen !?!?'). Went off with Daddy and Noelie. Dropped presents off for his nephew and niece, then went hunting for a dress for me and trousers for him for a party we were going to that night. Found a simple black dress. Went home. Fell asleep on the couch while Daddy was looking after Noelie. Woke up. Had to get ready. Shower, get dressed, do the hair. Make up would have to wait until Marie was collected. Went to collect Marie, had more words (still on the same subject. My point: no matter what you're doing, you do not forget your child at school). Went home. Did the make up, trying to perfect the smoky eye. Ended up looking like a panda. Did it again. Acceptable. Babysitter arrived. Changed Noelie into her pjs. She decided to dirty her nappy straight after. Need to go because we were running late. Got to the party. Had a good time, wasn't too tired thanks to the aforementioned nap. Got home quite late. Thanked the baby sitter. Got into bed.
Noelie did not wake up until 8h30 Sunday morning. Thank god. Got up with her and gave her her breakfast. Marie had a great time with the baby sitter but went to bed late so she did not get up until 10h00. Put Noelie down for her morning nap. Gave Marie her breakfast. Then we had one of those great moments. Marie, who had seen me writing here, wanted to write a story. So we sat down, in our pjs, me with a nice cup of coffee and her with her notepad. And we came up with a nice story. She loves reading and her writing is coming along really well. I decided to write her story on the computer and she was so proud to see her story in black and white. We decided to go into town and spend the afternoon there, grab a bite to eat, walk around looking at the shop windows and see all the lights. We managed to grab a few presents too. She went off with Daddy to get my presents while Noelie stayed with me (mental note: buggy and busy shops full to the brim with Christmas shoppers not to be repeated). Collected the car and went home. Spoke to my mum on the phone for 30 minutes. By the time, the girls went to bed , both of us were exhausted.
I was looking forward to the new week being less hectic than the week end until I got home after the school run. After a lovely week end (although quite tiring) I realized that:
- The washing machine also took the week end off and about 3 loads of washing were staring at me from various corners of the house. (Would not be too bad in itself if only we had a drier!)
- The sitting room, kitchen and bedrooms looked like a bomb hit them.
- The Christmas cards for my family in France so beautifully written by Marie were still on the table waiting for me to erase the pencil lines (Marie wanted to write straight!), the addresses still to be written on them, the stamps still needed to be bought and a post box still needed to be found.
- A pile of masterfully hidden presents needed to be wrapped, but before they could be, wrapping paper needed to be bought.
- I had used the last of the ham and bread for Marie's lunch and the fridge needed to be replenished.
- I opened the freezer only to realize that we had finished all of Noelie's food and more needed to be cooked.
So off I went to do some shopping, stopping by the post office on the way. Got home to cook some food for Noelie while the first load was being washed. Gave her her lunch. Sat down for the first time with a coffee while she went for her nap, erased the pencil lines, wrote the addresses and stamped the Christmas cards. Then proceeded to wrap some 12 or 13 presents. By the time, I was finished, it was time to collect Marie from school who announced to me on the way home that she had to make some Christmas decorations for the school tree for tomorrow. Got home, gave her her lunch, helped with the homework and got her changed out of her uniform. Started on making some 'pate a sel' (a mix of flour, salt and water that is similar to play dough but gets put in the oven to harden). Gave Noelie her bottle. Daddy got home from work with a muffin for me, and I realized that I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Daddy finished feeding Noelie while I was finishing the hopefully prize winning decorations with Marie and put them in the oven. And now, I finally get to sit down, for the 2nd time today, with a nice coffee and a muffin . And the kitchen and the sitting room look like a bomb hit them (again), and 2 loads of washing are staring at me (from the kitchen this time), and our dinner needs to be cooked (at least Noelie's is made) and Marie needs to be brought over to her dance class. A woman's work is never done! But it's not for lack of trying.
I am now looking forward to going to bed (not for another few hours though) and start all over again tomorrow!!
It all started on Friday night. Noelie had her last bottle and went to bed as usual. She is very good and actually enjoys going to bed. She gets really excited and kicks and screams (in a good way) whenever we put her in her sleeping bag.
However, by the time we went to bed, she had started whinging. She woke up every hour. I checked her, she was not wet, nor dirty, nor too hot, nor too cold. She did not have a fever, she was even smiling whenever I approached her cot. She was just awake and whinging. Maybe her teeth, maybe a pain somewhere, I don't know and probably never will.
By 7h30, she was crying, so we got up and gave her her breakfast. There was no consoling her, she took her bottle but kept crying big crocodile tears. Neither Daddy nor Mummy could do a thing to stop her. I gave her some paracetamol, as I was convinced she had a pain somewhere. She fell asleep in my arms around 8h15. I put her down in her cot. She woke up 20 minutes later, her usual self, smiling and screaming and kicking.. She has been in great form ever since. Was it her teeth? Was she overtired from not having slept well? We don't know what was wrong with her and never will.
Saturday was a busy day. Dropped Marie off to her father's.(although she refers to him as Daddy, my fiance is not her biological dad). Had words with him for having forgotten her at school earlier on during the week (but apparently 'these things happen !?!?'). Went off with Daddy and Noelie. Dropped presents off for his nephew and niece, then went hunting for a dress for me and trousers for him for a party we were going to that night. Found a simple black dress. Went home. Fell asleep on the couch while Daddy was looking after Noelie. Woke up. Had to get ready. Shower, get dressed, do the hair. Make up would have to wait until Marie was collected. Went to collect Marie, had more words (still on the same subject. My point: no matter what you're doing, you do not forget your child at school). Went home. Did the make up, trying to perfect the smoky eye. Ended up looking like a panda. Did it again. Acceptable. Babysitter arrived. Changed Noelie into her pjs. She decided to dirty her nappy straight after. Need to go because we were running late. Got to the party. Had a good time, wasn't too tired thanks to the aforementioned nap. Got home quite late. Thanked the baby sitter. Got into bed.
Noelie did not wake up until 8h30 Sunday morning. Thank god. Got up with her and gave her her breakfast. Marie had a great time with the baby sitter but went to bed late so she did not get up until 10h00. Put Noelie down for her morning nap. Gave Marie her breakfast. Then we had one of those great moments. Marie, who had seen me writing here, wanted to write a story. So we sat down, in our pjs, me with a nice cup of coffee and her with her notepad. And we came up with a nice story. She loves reading and her writing is coming along really well. I decided to write her story on the computer and she was so proud to see her story in black and white. We decided to go into town and spend the afternoon there, grab a bite to eat, walk around looking at the shop windows and see all the lights. We managed to grab a few presents too. She went off with Daddy to get my presents while Noelie stayed with me (mental note: buggy and busy shops full to the brim with Christmas shoppers not to be repeated). Collected the car and went home. Spoke to my mum on the phone for 30 minutes. By the time, the girls went to bed , both of us were exhausted.
I was looking forward to the new week being less hectic than the week end until I got home after the school run. After a lovely week end (although quite tiring) I realized that:
- The washing machine also took the week end off and about 3 loads of washing were staring at me from various corners of the house. (Would not be too bad in itself if only we had a drier!)
- The sitting room, kitchen and bedrooms looked like a bomb hit them.
- The Christmas cards for my family in France so beautifully written by Marie were still on the table waiting for me to erase the pencil lines (Marie wanted to write straight!), the addresses still to be written on them, the stamps still needed to be bought and a post box still needed to be found.
- A pile of masterfully hidden presents needed to be wrapped, but before they could be, wrapping paper needed to be bought.
- I had used the last of the ham and bread for Marie's lunch and the fridge needed to be replenished.
- I opened the freezer only to realize that we had finished all of Noelie's food and more needed to be cooked.
So off I went to do some shopping, stopping by the post office on the way. Got home to cook some food for Noelie while the first load was being washed. Gave her her lunch. Sat down for the first time with a coffee while she went for her nap, erased the pencil lines, wrote the addresses and stamped the Christmas cards. Then proceeded to wrap some 12 or 13 presents. By the time, I was finished, it was time to collect Marie from school who announced to me on the way home that she had to make some Christmas decorations for the school tree for tomorrow. Got home, gave her her lunch, helped with the homework and got her changed out of her uniform. Started on making some 'pate a sel' (a mix of flour, salt and water that is similar to play dough but gets put in the oven to harden). Gave Noelie her bottle. Daddy got home from work with a muffin for me, and I realized that I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Daddy finished feeding Noelie while I was finishing the hopefully prize winning decorations with Marie and put them in the oven. And now, I finally get to sit down, for the 2nd time today, with a nice coffee and a muffin . And the kitchen and the sitting room look like a bomb hit them (again), and 2 loads of washing are staring at me (from the kitchen this time), and our dinner needs to be cooked (at least Noelie's is made) and Marie needs to be brought over to her dance class. A woman's work is never done! But it's not for lack of trying.
I am now looking forward to going to bed (not for another few hours though) and start all over again tomorrow!!
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