As yet unnamed!

Not much to say or show...

No photos today and nothing exciting to talk about really. As I'm on a roll, I decluttered a kitchen cupboard and cleared off a shelf and reorganized a few things. Kirk lowered Charlie's cot mattress so we could put up the new mobile and have it out of Charlie's reach so he doesn't destroy it. Other than that it was a pretty relaxed day. We just finished dinner and it's only 8:45. I think I will either go knit or work on my Bluebirds BOM block 2 as I cut all the fabric out earlier in the week I think it was and haven't touched it since. I figure I have 3 solid hours before I get sleepy. Toodles! 

Hurray it's the weekend!

This whole week has blown by. Maybe it's because I had help on Tuesday and Wednesday which usually drags as I am so fed up by the time the kids go to bed and I get nothing done at night. I've got 2 more nannies to interview and trial next week and I hope that I like one and can offer them the position. I don't want to keep doing this as it's annoying. I just want to find a good person, hire them and get on with things. 

Today was another productive day. While the kids went out for a few hours this morning (the nanny and I are working on me getting 1-2 hours in the morning for the 3 days she is here) I defrosted the freezer, a much needed thing as the drawers were getting hard to open with all the frosted ice. I was still working on it when they got back so I stopped while N had her lunch and then when she went for her nap I went back to work. The nanny then started decluttering and sorting out our hall closet for me so all I had to do was say yay or nay to keeping things and that was it! Hall closet sorted and useable once again. Got rid of some shoes that no longer fit, found a jacket that I like that hasn't fit me in a few years and it now fits again! Woo hoo! Then while I went out to the grocery store, she cleared up the conservatory. I have a table and 4 chairs in there at the moment but we never use them so we're going to put them in the garage this weekend and then there will be more space for Noemie (and Charlie's) toys. A playroom of sorts. Will be great in the summertime when they are in and out of the garden too. This photo was of Noemie wearing the nanny's slippers. It's a tad cold in here on the tiled floors and the wood floors so we all wear slippers and she brought the only pair she had. Noemie loves them so I finally got a photo of her wearing them! Also, the shirt that Noemie wears constantly was a gift from Charlotte. It's probably the most worn item of clothing in Noemie's closet, so thanks Charlotte :) 

Productive Day

Still no closer to a decision on the second nanny but I got another CV today and hopefully will have another one tomorrow and can then interview/trial next week. I'm just not ready to commit to the person we had yesterday though she is really good. I just didn't have that instant connection like I did with the person who already works with us. The nanny took Noemie and Charlie out this morning to a library reading session so I got about 1-1/2 hours to myself. I had a choice of making my basket liner or cleaning the fridge out. I chose the fabric for my basket and then decided to do the fridge instead. Took everything out, threw stuff out, scrubbed down the fridge, etc. Looks so nice now. Then while I was on a roll, I decluttered the airing cupboard. I had a few old towels and mismatched sheets to get rid of and then folded everything nicely and put stuff away. I now have one large bag of linens to donate to charity. I stopped at that point to get lunch ready for when Noemie came home. This evening after Noemie's dinner I managed to clear another little pile of stuff in the kitchen. Not finished yet but made a good start. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to tackle another area of the house. I love getting rid of stuff, it's addictive! 

These photos were taken during dinner tonight when Noemie was playing with some clementines. She found that she could scratch the surface and then stick her finger inside of one so she entertained herself for a while and got nice and sticky. Good job bathtime followed soon after! 

I'm just waiting for Kirk to get home now. Dinner is all prepared, just need to cook it. Teriyaki chicken with veggies (mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots) with some wok noodles. I'm still managing easily on the WW points system. If anything, most days I end up with 3pts after dinner and am too stuffed to eat anything more. Hopefully I'm still losing more weight and my next weigh in will reflect a 2lb loss. I've been better about drinking water as well. Something I did very well during pregnancy because I had to, but I've gotten a tad lazy about it ever since!

Busy day...

No photos today, the day went by in a flash. I can't believe it's already Thursday tomorrow! I took Noemie to a playgroup this afternoon, just the two of us. I figured we spend so much time with other people and that she hasn't had much alone time with me lately so we went out and had some fun. The trial nanny stayed home with Charlie today and it all went well. She is a strong contender for the role but I think I want to meet one/two more people to be sure. She works for someone we know which is why I felt comfortable enough leaving Charlie at home with her. He adored her as she liked having him as her handbag all day. 

New project, speaking Polish and other stuff

I signed up for a new BOM project to make my Mom for Christmas this year. Let's see if I manage to make it happen. I showed her the quilt when it was first mentioned on the Buttonberry site and she fell in love with it. It's a design by Lynette Anderson. I just paid for the first block so it should be here in the next week or so. It looks like a fun mixture of piecing, applique and stitchery-- not too much of any one thing so I shouldn't get bored or frustrated! 

My cleaning lady was here today and as previously mentioned, she doesn't speak English other than "hi" "bye" and "ok". Each week when she finishes she asks me "ok?" and I nod my head yes. She does a great job and I have been trying to figure out how to say to her that she does a great job and also to apologize for the cluttered and messy state in which she usually finds our house! Kirk mentioned using google translator. So this afternoon when both kids were napping at the same time for a change, I quickly got the google page up and typed in "sorry the house is always a mess, i am very happy with your cleaning" and hit translate to Polish. I then tapped her on the shoulder and showed her the screen. She smiled and nodded her head yes. I can only hope it translated and said something close to what I intended and didn't say something rude or insulting like "our house is usually so tidy and clean but when you come it becomes messy and we are not happy". 

I had one nanny come today for an interview and a trial and she was quite nice but I'm not sure she's the right person for us. Pleasant person that I could happily have around for two days a week and the kids liked her well enough so there wasn't anything wrong along those lines. She used to nanny up until last year, stopped and is working at a shop and her hours got cut recently so she's looking to fill the gap with some nanny work. While I can respect and understand that being a nanny might not be her lifelong dream and such, I also don't want someone here who doesn't have their heart in what they are doing for the present. She was honest and said she was wanting to come back to nannying as she needed the money and that's fair enough but I don't think she actually enjoys this line of work. So, I'm hopeful the person tomorrow is more along the lines of what I'm looking for. Our current nanny is really great and enthusiastic and though I know this is not what she wants to do in the long term, at least she is professional and giving it her all. Luckily there isn't a shortage of people looking for work so if the gal tomorrow isn't what we want then there will be someone else the following week that I can meet.

Busy Monday!

What a busy day! It just blew by and it's now 10pm. Charlie is feeling much better (thank you for all the sweet commments left for us!). He's still coughing a bit but no longer sounding like a barking seal. Noemie seems to be okay so far so fingers crossed it stays that way. Kirk I think is a bit better but still not totally feeling great. I'm fine. My poor Dad is feeling worse today so hopefully it passes quickly for him. I had to share this photo of Noemie taken this morning. She looks so hip and cool in her pink Converse sneakers, her Diesel jeans and preppy pink vest. She's got the nanny's lip gloss in her hand. 

We all went to a local playgroup this morning as it was a beautiful day and this place has an indoor and outdoor space. I've never been to a playgroup of this type. It's in a community center and is quite spacious so has the capacity for a lot of kids. Perhaps that's why I've never been... I'm quite allergic to other peoples' kids and being in a room or pretty much anywhere with a large concentration of kids is my definition of a nightmare. Anyway, the outdoor play area was nice, the indoor area wasn't that great. It had lots of tables with various activities which was great but it was so hot indoors and just a bit of a madhouse with Moms/carers and all the kids. All I could think of was how the germs in there were multiplying rapidly in the heat. Totally bad Mommy moment. Charlie and I sat on a bench outdoors and enjoyed the sunshine. Noemie ran around, played in the sandpit and some mud with the nanny. 

Then we all headed home for lunch time. We walked past a hardware type store that also sells baskets and I found a really nice, well made one with a handle on it which I thought would be perfect for just storing my various projects while they are in progress. I saw it on the way to the playgroup and bought it on the way home. I want to make a liner for it then will share a photo. While Noemie napped I quickly went to Peter Jones to buy a new musical mobile for Charlie to replace his that broke this weekend. Also got some more yarn in different colors for my crochet blanket project. A quick pit stop at the ELC for more playdoh and some paint and I headed back home. 

Then, to cap off the day I had my Weight Watchers weigh in. I lost another 2lbs for a total of 12lbs lost since January 5th. I know 2lbs is good and is the healthy weight loss rate but after a 6.5lb loss in week one and 3.5lbs in week two, 2lbs just seems like nothing. I know that at some point I will have a week where I lose nothing and 2lbs will sound like a treat. Hopefully this week will be a good one. I look forward to weigh ins! 

I have one nanny coming in for an interview tomorrow afternoon and staying for a trial if the interview goes well. Then I have another one coming Wednesday morning for the same thing. Hopefully one of them works out. If not there will be others for me to meet the following week so we'll get there eventually. I am in the process of working out a routine for myself to utilize the spare time I get with all this help so that I can dedicate at least an hour a day to tidying/decluttering the house and also getting my own projects done. I want to ideally have the nanny take both kids out for 1-2 hours each day so I get to be home alone with no interruptions. Then the rest of the day can be playtime all together, etc., so I get a balance of me time and lots of time with Noemie and Charlie. Slowly getting everything to how I want it!

Poor Charlie, Poor Kirk

These photos were taken about 20 minutes ago. Last night didn't continue on as well as it had started at the time of my blog entry. At around 12:30 I went up to bed and Charlie had a coughing fit, woke up and then was gasping for air. The last few nights when this happened, he managed to put himself back to sleep within minutes. Not last night. So I went down to his room, held him upright, opened the window to see if the cold air would help. It didn't. Kirk came down and we tried the steam in the bathroom... still no different. We offered milk... he only managed half his bottle. His stomach was caving in, ribs showing, then his throat was also recessing and he was panting and taking lots of rapid breaths. I swore I could see his upper lip looking pale though Kirk didn't notice any different. We went back and forth on what we should do, called my MIL in the US so she could hear Charlie's gasping (she's a nurse) and I'm just glad we decided on the ER though it was nearly 2am. I stayed home as there was no reason to wake Noemie and drag her to the hospital but it sure felt weird being home with only half the family. No typical Charlie sounds through the monitor either. 

Luckily two friends were still up on The Pad so we all chatted and they helped me pass the time. Kirk sent a few email updates though it just wasn't the same as being there. Luckily the ER wasn't crowded (our hospital has a separate Pediatric ER from the main one) and they were seen immediately, steroid syrup given to ease the swelling in his throat and he was able to breath a lot better. They decided to keep him in over night though as they were hearing wheezing that wasn't usually what you got with Croup. The nurse tried to put a tube down each nostril to check for obstructions and they couldn't get it down the left side so that raised other questions. Kirk and Charlie were finally admitted to the wards at 4:30am so I went to sleep knowing there wasn't much more to do. 

Up at 9am with Noemie, fed her breakfast then went up to the hospital. Charlie was his usual happy self, smiling and cooing and chatting up a storm. Apparently he was like this with all the nurses and Drs so they kept coming around to see him! Kirk went home with Noemie for lunch and her nap and I stayed to speak to the consultant to find out what was next. They explained things to me and I grasped the overall concept but don't know the medical terms. The concern with the nasal blockage was something to do with a plate that is in your throat/nose area that has little holes in it to let air and such pass through. If one side is blocked it might mean that Charlie was having to work harder to breath. His SATS were totally normal though so it was all a bit confusing. Another consultant came by to give it one last try before they referred us to an ENT (?) surgeon. She managed to get the tube in so it turns out that the swelling was that bad that they couldn't get it down last night. They discharged us, said to keep an eye on him and that if we have a repeat of last night to bring him back to the ER but that most likely, it would all be fine. 

We're all a bit tired to say the least as Kirk and I have both had very little sleep the past several nights. At least I got 4-1/2 hours in bed this morning, he "slept" on a chair next to Charlie's bed. It was not fun going back to the same ward where we were last summer for Noemie's hernia operation. All Kirk had to do was tell me the ward name and I knew where to find it. We know the drill from having spent enough time in hospitals. I am grateful that things have turned out well in all cases so far, as I know others aren't so lucky and have ongoing things to deal with. Hopefully Noemie does not come down with this cold. I'm nearly better, Kirk is on the mend, Charlie too we hope and Noemie so far so good. My poor Dad has caught it now and sounds pretty rough but I'm sure my Mom will take good care of him and he'll be fine. 

What a tiring weekend! Hope the week is more relaxing. 

Crochet and Bug update

I decided to take a quick break from knitting and sewing and tried out some crochet. Gertie kindly sent me some links to look around through and then I searched youtube for more stuff and found two tutorials that got me going. The one with the 5 colors is my very first attempt ever at crochet and I don't think I did the yarn changes properly but I had fun and it's just practice at this stage anyway! For that square I followed this tutorial. Then I decided I should perhaps learn some basics first using one color rather than getting ahead of myself, so I found another tutorial which went a bit better I think. Still not very even tension and such but at least it looks somewhat like what it is supposed to do! I hope the links work! I'm going to go back to knitting for tonight as I have finished the back of Charlie's vest and started the front last night. Nice thing about a vest is there are no sleeves to work on. They always seem to take as much time as the fronts and backs! 

Charlie is doing much better today. Still sounded like a seal barking through parts of the night and Kirk was up with him once shortly after midnight. I was up at 2:30am when he started coughing again but he went back to sleep within minutes so I didn't disturb him. Milk seems to help but he's not hungry in the middle of the night so he drinks a tiny amount then goes back to sleep. I guess it's kind of like us waking up to sip water or something. I woke up several more times mainly when he coughed but he was up at 7:30am and this time he was hungry. He's still wheezing a bit but luckily both humidifiers arrived this afternoon so we set one up in each kid's room and we noticed a difference within a few hours. Charlie went to sleep no problems tonight and doesn't sound as bad. Noemie had a bit of a cough off and on today but hopefully it's nothing more. I am feeling a ton better and Kirk is slowly on the mend. It's so rare that we all get sick and hopefully it's not something that is going to be a regular thing around here.

Thank you for your concern for Charlie and an extra thank you to Janelle for her tip about vapor rub on the feet!

Poor Charlie

Poor Charlie, in more ways than one. His big sister takes away his little doggie rattle with a look of glee on her face and he's also got a pretty bad cold. 

The Dr who saw him today thinks it might be croup. He's been sniffly since yesterday and overnight it just got bad. Kirk and I both were up at 5am as Charlie was coughing and it sounded more like a seal barking. Kirk gave him some milk and then we steamed up the bathroom with hot water to try and ease his breathing. It helped a little bit so I just held him so he could sleep some more as being upright seemed better for him than laying down. I called the GP at 8:30am when it opened and managed to get an appointment for 9:10am. Good job I asked our nanny to come at 9am today rather than the usual 10am so I took Charlie and she took Noemie out to play. 

The Dr suggested I get a humidifier but the whole of London seems to have been sold out of cold mist ones. Argos had them in stock but for home delivery only, nothing left for pick up. Nothing at Peter Jones when I called. Nothing at Homebase either. I tried both of our local Boots stores, the electric shop nearby and the chemist as well just in case as they tend to sell all kinds of random things. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. So I did the best I could and ordered 2 from Argos and paid for next day delivery to have it here for tomorrow. 

Tonight I'll just run the hot water again if I need to or I'll hold him upright so he can get some sleep. Luckily my monstrous cold is clearing up. I think I gave it to Charlie in the first place but that I got it from my friend's kid when we had a playdate last week. He had a runny nose and was coughing all over the place. Ironically, the first (and only) cold Noemie has ever had was also after a playdate with the same kid. Perhaps a coincidence but in any case, it sucks that Charlie had to catch something as a result. I just hope it gets better over the weekend so he doesn't have to struggle to breath, etc. He's such a good boy though and has slept through the night all week and only woke up at 5am today because of this darn sickness. 

Otherwise, it was a pretty uneventful day. I made spaghetti sauce to put in the freezer and got my fabrics cut for block 2 of Little Bluebirds. Kirk got home early at just before 6pm as he totally lost his voice (caught my cold too). Noemie was thrilled to see her Daddy so the nanny bathed Charlie and got him ready for bed and then I took him and she went home an hour early. She's back again on Monday. I'm in the process of looking for a second nanny to work the days our main nanny can't do. It's so nice having help on the days I do that I decided I want full time help. It makes life more manageable and that way even if the kids have slightly different eating/sleeping schedules, Noemie will still be able to get out and do fun stuff. I'm just glad I have the option to hire this much help, I know not everyone is this fortunate. Hopefully we find another good match!

Couldn't say it better myself.

What a well written response to a stupid question (sometimes/often) posed by people without kids. Thank you also to the nice commments left about my fat momma entry last night. I know I'm hard on myself but if I wasn't then I wouldn't have the motivation to lose the weight, etc! I'd just tell myself it wasn't so bad and that I didn't really need to worry too much, etc., and then I'd be 25lbs heavier before I know it! It's good to have a reality check sometimes and the photos were just that!