LSNED and layouts

Here is a little update on my learn something new every day and some layouts from the last week.

Yesterday I went to see the Wizard of Oz, it was a birthday treat from my mum. We had time to do a little shopping in Oxford Street first and I learnt something new. That is that I really dont like this seasons colurs. Now I love shopping and can usually find lots of things I like. But this year the colours are very muted autumnal colours. They are nice colours - but just not for me. Where is the hot pink, purple, aqua etc that I love?

Today I learnt that I am falling in love with my new laptop. Another present - this time from my generous husband. Last week I was getting a bit stressed getting it all set up and worrying that I wouldnt be able to use it properly ( i like to have something to worry about). But today, whilst my boys were out swimming) I used it to do some of my lesson planning for this term and found myself getting much more condident using it. Ive still got things to learn but it feels like im making progress.

Ive done a little scrapping too. The first layout I did last weekend. This uses a Shimelle sketch. The title ' its Tractor time' is something that one of Matthew's toys says and during our week in Somerset he couldnt get enough tractor time!

The second layout is photos of Matthew playing with the diggers in the giant sandpit on holiday. He just loves big boys toys!

The final layout is of Matthew on the beach. There was some drizzle but we stayed put and really enjoyed ourselves. Another Shimelle sketch and I must admit Im really pleased with the final product.

learn something new every day ( LSNED)

Ive signed up for Shimelle's Learn Something New Every Day class. Its a month of prompts to get you reflecting on what you learn on a daily basis. Some people make a mini book with a page for every day and every thought. But Im strictly a 12 x 12 scrapper so I think i'll probably just do some layouts of my best thoughts or maybe some weekly summaries. For now though Im just trying to think about what Ive learnt in the first two days of September.

Thursday was easy. I actually learnt loads of stuff. I went to Horton Park Farm with Simon and Matthew and they had signs up about animals. I learnt some new facts and here are two of my favourites:

I also learnt that cutting Matthew's hair was not too bad but also that next time I will do it better. Ive never cut his hair but it was getting really long. If it wasnt for his beautiful curls it would have been too long weeks ago. But his fringe was getting too long and some of the curls a bit mad and fuzzy, and when it was wet it was just too long. So I washed his hair and settled him in front of the tv for a hair cut. I think it looks ok. Next time I will keep the fringe a little longer ( it shrunk as it dried), and maybe keep a little bit more curls around his ears. But it will grow and he still looks gorgous to me.

I also went to my crop Thursday night and tried to learn about Hipstamatic. I think i understood but as I dont have an iphone, I dont think it really sunk in. I did have a fabby evening with the girls though.

Yesterday was different as it was back to work. I learnt lots of useful but dull work things about using Office 2010, and other work related things but its hard to take a back step and think about something meaningful youve learnt when you been busy at work.
Even as Im typing now Im learning. I think one of the most relaxing things to be doing is drinking a cup of tea and writing stuff down. Having a blog is quite satisfying. Maybe thats my something for Friday! ( I wrote this blod last night but didnt quite get it published).

And so now it is Saturday morning. Ivee already learnt today that getting my photos into my blog isnt that easy and I need to find a better way of doing it. But hopefully Ill learn something more positive in the course of today.

Bumps in the night and other stories

We have not had the easiest week. No major disasters but little Matthew has been poorly.

It all started on Tuesday night with a temperature. Poor little thing - did he cry? On Wednesday a trip to the GP indicated a sore throat. Wednesday night - more tears! Thursday afternoon and some spots appear (panic - chicken pox?) but a quick drop into the doctors and panic over. Thursday night was bad! Matthew woke at 9.30 and didn't sleep again until nearly 12. In the end it was a car drive that got him chilled out enough to sleep. Friday came and by this time he wasn't really interested in food or his bottle (most unlike him!) and I was still not convinced we had a correct diagnosis. So I took him back to the GP, who finally diagnosed Hand, foot and mouth. I did panic at first that this was something he had picked up from one of our numerous farm visits this summer but she quickly reassured me that it is as common as a cold - especially in this age group. The sore throat was due to spots and ulcers in the mouth ( no wonder he couldn't eat) and the spots on his arms and legs were completely non itchy (none on his body at all). At this point I was so relieved that all the symptoms finally fitted together.

He was still a little poorly Saturday and Sunday - very tired, a bit grumpy and off his food. But by Sunday night he slept 12 hours from 8 till 8 (bliss!) and on Monday he seemed much happier.

All in all nothing serious but it is so hard seeing your little one suffer - especially when you don't know how they are suffering or what it is.

But that's not all....

On Tuesday night as Simon came down the stairs to get some medicine for Matthew he fell down the last few steps and into the baby gate. I'm surprised the whole neighbourhood didn't wake up with the sound of the bump. Scared the living daylights out of me! Fortunately no major damage done ( to Simon or the baby gate) but the bruise is quite incredible.

So not much scrapping this week ( one layout which still needs its title finishing) but out to my Thursday evening crop tomorrow night so hopefully I can get a couple of layouts done then.

And now for the picture of the bruise....

more layouts and more blogging

Its a miracle - another post. I can't promise to keep this up as next week its back to school but for the time being my intentions are good.

Ive a couple more layouts to share. Both again with inspiration from Shimelle. (wow - managed to get my links to work this time - thanks Sandra F!)

The first is a photo from my cousin's wedding last month. It was just the most beautiful wedding. The weather was great - the rain stopped just before the ceremony and the sun shone for the rest of the day. The venue was beautiful, the bride was just stunning and of course it is always lovely to spend time with family. Ive used Shimelle's scrapbook starting points and have gone with her suggested yellow/grey/black/aqua combination. Not colours I would usually combine - but I love the results. Ive used some Authentique paper ranges which are fantastic and added a few other embellishments from Jenni Bowling and MME.

The second layout is a challenge from Shimelle. This time from the scrapbook sketch of the week. I often scrapbook Matthew in bold colours - oranges, blue, reds etc but these photos of him in a lilac t-shirt, stroking guinea pigs and rabbits' with me in a blue floral skirt just called for something a little softer. The title can't be read very well in the photo but its called 'cuddle time'.

Guilty as charged!

Ok ok ok - so I know I havent posted on my blog for over a year. Im guilty as charged. I really wanted to keep my blog as a record of life with Matthew alongside some of my favourite events, photos and scrapbook layouts. But the reality is that life has got in the way. Yes - I do get some free time when Matthew is sleeping or with grandparents etc etc but when the time comes I usually have a long list of things I want to do. Ive managed to do lots of scrapping over the last year and somehow everything else has just taken priority over my blogging.

But I do want to keep a blog. I love reading other peoples and if I keep it simple I'm sure I can manage a few more posts ( I couldn't manage many less!). So this week Ive been inspired by Shimelle's scrapbooking blog http://www.shimelle.com/ . She has posted some fabulous challenges and this was just what I needed to start using my blog again.

Below are two layouts that I have created for two of her challenges. The first one uses a sketchhttp://www.shimelle.com/paper/1155/scrapbooking-sketch-of-the-week/ and the second was to use the colours aqua, red and white http://www.shimelle.com/paper/1162/a-scrapbooking-colour-story-in-red-white-and-aqua/. Both have helped me scrap some of the many photos I took during our recent holiday to Somerset. The first is of Matthew behing the steering wheel of our car. He is a rather obsessed with anything with wheels at the moment, tractors, trucks, cars.... The second of a silly face he sometimes pulls that just makes me smile. This one was taken in starbucks - got to have one - even on holiday!

But before you look at my pictures. I just wanted to say that in the last year I have been blessed with spending most of my time with my wonderful little boy. He is a happy, smiling, friendly and cheeky thing and surprises me all the time with the things he does ( and by some of the things he is beginning to say). He make my husband and I smile all the time.

Ps If someone can tell me how to turn a link into just a word that people can click on then please tell me as this blog looks very messy.

How did it get to be July?

This one is for you Sandra (Gottacraft) - sorry it took so long!

I cannot believe that today is July and we are now half way through the year! The other day I was talking to my mum and I said that I felt that I hadn't really done anything this year ( eg holidays etc) , I then realised that I had done the biggest thing ever this year and gave birth to Matthew!

Today Matthew is 10 weeks old and as you can see from the pictures he is growing fast. He was weighed today and he is 13lb13. He loves his bottle and feeds really well. He is currently on 6 bottles a day and hopefully over the next couple of weeks he will go down to 5. We have a lovely bedtime routine now of story/bath/bottle and then into his moses basket by 10pm. He goes down brilliantly and straight to sleep. In fact we are going to start bringing this routine forward as he is often falling asleep earlier and we have to wake him up for the routine. At the moment he either sleeps or cries during the story but I know he is very young and hopefully he will grow to love it. Im enjoying all the stories - my current favourite is the Snail and the Whale. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

On the whole Matthew is sleeping round to between 4 and 5.30am. Although last night it was 3am (I think because he had only 5 bottles yesterday he was hungry). He is a noisy sleeper though with his grunts/snores and groans and often wakes me up even when he is asleep - but Im beginning to learn which noises I need to respond to and which are just him! ( Just like his father!)

Last week Matthew had his first jabs. I was very brave and so was he and he didnt cry too much at all. He was good in the evening and slept most of the morning the next day - sorry Sandra, Sandra and Michalanne that you didnt get cuddles! However he was a bit miserable for the rest of Thursday and Friday so they certainly had an impact on him ( the jabs - not my friends!) Next ones in another 4 weeks!

I cant believe I havent written a post for so long, but when I do get half hour free time I tend to get household jobs done first and then either scrapbook/sort photos or read. As Matthew starts to go to bed a little earlier though I should find a little more time in the evening. Im also getting less time during the day than the first weeks as he sleep less but then that is when he gets to play on his playmat or other activities. I love all the smiles and giggles we get at this time!

We continue to keep ourselves busy. I go out every day even its just a quick trip to the supermarket to get a few bits. More often though we meet friends for elevenses or lunch, or go somewhere with my mum. Starbucks really should do a frequent user loyalty scheme!

In the last month we have had trips to Garcons farm and Poleden Lacey with Simon as a family and to friends for a BBQ for the first footie game ( the less said the better!) Ive also managed to go to a couple of evening crops for a couple of hours and to half a Saturday crop. I must try and upload some of my layouts!

Here are some of my favourite pictures of Matthew from the last few weeks!

Matthew's big adventure!

Well the last week has been a real rollercoaster with Matthew.

On Saturday evening he was exceptionally sleepy. I manage to 'enjoy' the Eurovision Song contest with no interruption and had to wake him for a sleep before bedtime. At the time I was just pleased to have a quite evening.

The next morning he was also quite lethargic and then late morning he was exceptionally sick. Matthew is not really a sicky baby. He was not really crying to be fed and only wanted some of his feeds. In the end I rang NHS direct. They were very good and a nurse rang back after just 10 minutes with some advice. However I was still worried and as he is so young I really wanted someone to see him in person so in the end we decided to take him to A&E.

St Helier hospital has a pediatrician A&E section so it wasn't that long before we were seen. Of course they examined him and asked lots of questions. They were not too concerned but wanted to take some blood tests and keep him in for 24 hours to observe him and get the blood test results. I must admit I was quite upset by all this. I was of course very worried, I found them taking the blood tests from his little hand quite traumatic and of course I was quite upset about being kept in hospital knowing that Simon would probably go home and I would be quite isolated.

They took us upstairs to the children's ward where we were given a tiny cubicle with just enough room for the cot and the camp bed. Simon stayed with Matthew whilst I went home to get everything we needed. During that time Matthew was very sick again so I was pleased that we were at the hospital.

We had a lovely nurse called Shelia look after us that night. The ward was not busy so she gave us a lot of attention. She gave us some Diarlyte for Matthew which is water with some nutrients etc so that he didn't get dehydrated but to give him a break from the milk.

In the early morning the doctor came to visit. She was not too worried and was happy that Matthew had had a good night.

To cut a long story short - in the end they were happy for us to come home on the Monday but wanted Matthew to move his bowels and have a couple of formula feeds before we did so. In the end they gave him a suppository which worked within about 30 minutes. We were also given some lactulose to help him go at home. We have had very mixed advise about bowel movements over the last few weeks from doctors/midwives/ health visitors/ hospital and we are now just beginning to realise that there is really no 'normal' baby.

I was delighted to come home Monday afternoon as I felt very cooped up in out little 'cell'. Tuesday was quite difficult as the combination of treatments seemed to have the opposite effect on Matthew!!!! ( not really the place to discuss the full effect of these!). But I'm pleased to report that Matthew is now happy and healthy once more!

Here a couple of photos of Matthew at the hospital. Bless him with his little hand bandaged up from the blood test - they kept the equipment in his hand in case he needed fluids by drip.