A lot of you know this already but we are expecting our third child early next year.  I hadn't wanted to post about it until we had the dating scan as I had lost a pregnancy at 12 weeks before, but the scan was yesterday and all is well so I can finally relax about it.  There was a heartbeat, it wriggled around and there was only one of them, pretty much all we can tell or need to know at this stage.  I didn't get any scan pics, they had trouble getting a good view of it for some reason so the pictures really would have looked like a blob or pictures of the surface of mars at this point.  I might get them for the 20 week scan though, I doubt anyone would be interested in them other than the baby's broody big brother though.  The due date was around 26th Jan, but the lady doing the scan thought about 3rd Feb although she did have a lot of trouble getting a good view of it for measuring.  The change in date doesn't make much of a difference, only a week and a day different, but it does mean that if the baby is late (like Nick) it could be born on my birthday.  As Nick's birthday is three days before my husband's I am not expecting much sympathy from him on that one.

The boys are doing well and are fine.  Nick is on school holiday and it is lovely to have him home with us all day.  Andrew's birthday is tomorrow but we aren't doing anything for it other than presents and cake.  At two I don't think Andrew really understands the concept of birthday, it is more about his big brother wanting to make sure Andrew has a proper birthday.  I don't think Nick would forgive me if I didn't do something cakey for Andrew so I will get him to help me make his brother some cupcakes later this afternoon.

We are off for a holiday in scotland in about a week and a half as my brother is getting married in Pitlochry.  We haven't had a holiday in years, other than visits to parents, so I am rather looking forward to it.  We are putting the dog in kennels and have booked a cottage in Pitlochry for a week.

Date:	2008-06-09 13:35
Subject:	I really hate people who leave broken glass in children's playgrounds
Security:	Public
Mood:	angry

Yesterday was not a fun day for the boys and me.  It was supposed to begin with Nicholas starting a dance class with his friend Daniel.  Both of them were really excited when they met up, but for some reason the dance class didn't happen and the hall it was supposed to be in was locked up.  Daniel's mum had been told that we could just show up and sign them up for it yesterday but obviously not as they weren't there this week.  I am sure there is a good reason that the class didn't happen this week, perhaps the children were at a performance or dance exam this week for example.  As Nick and his friend were rather excited about the dance class we took them with Andrew to the playpark opposite the hall.  

Unfortunately Andrew fell over in the playpark and managed to slice his face on some broken glass that we hadn't spotted.  He is all right now but obviously it meant that I had to take him (and Nick) to the hospital to be checked out in case there was glass left in the wound or it needed stitches.  Knowing the long wait you get on a Sunday at A&E because all of the doctors surgeries are closed I took them home to clean up Andrew, calm him down and try and give them some lunch first so it was about 12:30 when we left to go check it out.  The poor boys didn't get home until 7:30, when I would normally start putting them to bed.  Thankfully Stu started cooking dinner for us the moment I rang him to tell him we were on our way home so it was ready for the boys the moment they walked in the door.  

Andrew is fine now, he is back to his usual bouncy, dare devil self.  The hospital checked for glass and couldn't find any, they then glued it shut to prevent scarring.  Apparently it will only be a fairly small and subtle scar after a year.  I am sure Andrew can come up with a cool story to explain it that will make him look brave and dangerous when we he is old enough to want to impress people with it.

Nick - first day of school
Originally uploaded by Evie JB

Nick is currently at his new school on an introductary half day session, and he starts properly in January.  He had the best start possible to his new school, this morning the moment he walked through the door he was greeted by someone shouting "Nicholas! Nicholas! I saved you a place!".  Rebecca goes to his playgroup and is starting school with him.  They tend to play with other people at playgroup but get on well enough that when they saw each other at the open evening last Thursday they got very excited and played together the whole time.  I collect him at 12 and then at 4 we are all off to his playgroup for the photographer.  The playgroup tend to have a photographer in twice a year, the first around May and the second in time for Christmas.

I have taken over as treasurer for Nick's playgroup, which isn't as much work as it could have been as thankfully the previous treasurer kept everything in good order.  The previous treasurer is now chairwoman so is around to help me if I get stuck anyway.  Apparently the OFSTED people are in at the moment, along with the photographer, so I can probably expect to see stressed staff when I go in with Nick later.  Unlike schools, playgroups don't get any warning for their inspections.

The weekend was rather pleasant.  Saturday I went down to Peterborough to look at wedding dresses with my future sister-in-law, her family and my mum.  Afterwards my mum and I went shopping and I managed to get some more Christmas presents.  I am just over halfway there with Christmas present shopping and have a pretty good idea on what I am buying for the other half of the list.  Sunday was just spent relaxing with Stuart and the kids.

 The reason I haven't posted in so long is a combination of laziness (no surprise to anyone who knows me) and a lack of interesting things to write.   While I find my life interesting I am never sure that any of it is exciting to anyone else when read over livejournal.

The boys are still doing well.  Nick starts school in January and is very much looking forward to it.  Most of his close friends were a little older than him so they have already left playgroup (unfortunately to a different one to the one he is going to).  Luckily he has my mother's knack of making friends quickly wherever he goes so he is never without friends to play with.  Andrew is now 1 and just starting to walk.  He can walk the length of our sitting room on his own (and often does) but still needs a lot of practice.

My brother is getting married next year and we are all very happy for him.  We all think his fiancee, Sarah, is fantastic and they make a great couple.  The wedding will be in Scotland so Stu and I are planning to hire a cottage and take the kids up there for a week or so as a holiday.  My parents are also going to be up there for a week before (to help out) and a week after (to do sightseeing holiday stuff).  Matt (my brother) has asked if he can take the boys out for a daytrip while we are all up there.  He is fantastic with the kids, Nick adores him and I am sure that when Andrew is a bit older he will be just as besotted with his Uncle Matt.  Nick is going to be page boy but Andrew will be too young.

We spent a week with my parents at the end of the summer holidays.  Stu came with us and stayed for most of it but left a couple of days before us so that he could go to a LARP in Portsmouth.  It was a lot of fun and the kids behaved beautifully.  It was a rather busy week, with visits to the National History Museum, Science Museum, Whitbread Hop Farm and the local park and castle.  Stu's brother then came to take Nick to spend a couple of days with his other grandparents and cousin James while I took Andrew home.  I was a little reluctant to let Nick spend the time away from me at such a young age but he had such a fantastic time with cousin James that he barely missed me at all. 

Nick's playgroup had a rather interesting seasonal make today.  They made some lovely pictures for mabon, which is the celebration of the autumn equinox.  It is the first time I have had to look up the subject of the seasonal make.  For their make the page was basically split in two with a picture of day next to a picture of night.

Yesterday we found out which school Nick will be attending.  He will be going to Yearsley Grove Primary.  It was my second choice, I liked Huntington Primary better but Yearsley Grove is an OK school and is not such a long walk away.  As he has lots of friends going to Yearsley Grove and is still in the catchement area for Huntington School when he is old enough for secondary school, so it is all fine.

Andrew has been crawling for a while now and is very good at getting into trouble.  He is a bit of a stealth baby, he is always so quiet that you don't see that he has crawled over to something you don't want him to play with.  He is still a very happy and calm boy, and Nick still adores him.  It is great to watch them play together, they love each other so much.

I have just sent out invites to Nick's first ever proper birthday party (which will be the end of April).  Most of the kids will be his playgroup friends, with a couple of children of friends of mine there too.  I plan to tire Andrew out that day and not give him a morning nap, I will then feed him just before the kids arrive and hopefully he will go down for a long nap and sleep through the whole party.  If not it won't be too much of a problem to keep amused and safe from rampaging 2-4 year olds as I will have my two best friends, Caroline and Magda, there to help.  I have told Stu that he can escape the party and spend the day playing 40K with his friends instead.  I'm a bit nervous as I have never run a children's party before, however I know all the children rather well through helping out of playgroup so it shouldn't be a problem.

My parents are coming to visit tomorrow, so I shall have to start a frantic house tidy soon.  We are also planning for me to take the boys down to visit them for a week in the summer holidays and visit various museums in London.  Nick particularly wants to see the science museum and the dinosaurs at the national history museum.  Like many children of his age he is a total dinosaur expert.

Date:	2007-01-13 13:41
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	content

Stu and Nick have been back at work and playgroup for a week so we are back to our pre-Christmas routine.  Sadly most of Nick's friends at playgroup are older than him and have left to go to school, and a couple of very close friends who are younger have left to go to other playgroups so he was a little dissapointed when he went back.  Thankfully two friends who hung out in the same group are still there, both called Ben, and he has a new friend called William who is about the same age and has just joined.  He has taken the new boy under his wing and helped him settle in so has come back with good boy stickers every day this week for being so friendly and kind.  Personally I think it is more that Nick likes the boy and doesn't have most of his closest friends there so enjoys playing with the new William (there are a few other Williams there just to confuse me

On Wednesday Nick's playgroup was short a helper.  One of the members of staff was away and the mum who had agreed to cover showed up at the last minute to say she had a physio appointment instead.  Most of the mums had left by then, those that were there made excuses, so despite having Andrew with me I volunteered to help.  If I hadn't they would have had to send kids home to maintain adult-child ratios and as I was one of the mums still there it would have been Nick would have been one of them, so not so selfless after all.

I rather enjoyed being a playgroup helper, it was a lot of fun.  As I had a cute baby with me I was rather popular with kids who wanted to cuddle him.  Playing with children and helping them with jigsaws and the like was rather a nice way to spend the morning.  I found myself thinking "I could do this for a living, I would like this job".  I have been thinking that when Andrew is old enough for playgroup himself I might try to get a job like that in a playgroup.  It would fit in well with both Nick's school and Andrew's playgroup, so although playgroups don't pay much I wouldn't have to spend any extra on child care.  Currently I am studying for a degree with the OU and would like to go into primary teaching when both kids are at school.  Something like this would look good on a CV when I am ready, and who knows maybe I will enjoy working with the younger kids and stick with that.  The low pay isn't an issue and I really think I would enjoy it.  Stu liked the idea too.

Andrew certainly enjoyed himself, he loved the attention and the toys the helpers found from the baby morning and definately liked watching busy chidren play.  Poor boy was a bit hungry though and as I had intended to pop out quickly to drop of Nick and then change him he had a rather wet nappy too.  He hates feeding with a full nappy so refused to drink until I got him home.  I guess I need to keep his changing bag in the pram at all times, even when popping out for a few minutes, just in case.

Nick is still a fantastic big brother, although he sometimes refers to Andrew as slime baby.  He will play with his brother or show his brother toys and soon we will hear "Andrew, don't slime me!" or "Andrew, don't slime that!".  I have to agree with Nick, baby drool is a bit slimy, but I mind it less and remember Nick's own baby "slime" well.

As I write Stu is fetching an oven from Beth and Gareth with the help of J.  Ours broke a couple of days before Christmas.  Luckily we remembered that Stu's bbq closes to become an oven, just big enough for the turkey.  Everything else could be done with hobs or, in the case of the not so roast spuds, a deep fat fryer.  The turkey cooked properly in the bbq in less time than normal, it even had a rather nice smokey taste.  I think it actually improved the turkey taste, I hope our guests didn't disagree though.  Apparently Stu got some very funny looks from the neighbours when he wheeled out a bbq from the garage (back of the garden but no entrance to the house or garden) on Christmas morning.

Date:	2006-12-05 12:01
Subject:	I don't usually put q&a memes in my journal but ...
Security:	Public
Mood:	content

Too big to fit in as a reply in other peoples posts so here is a q&a thing

We went to visit the school that I have put down for Nick's first choice on Thursday. I loved the school and would very much like him to get a place there. Nick loved it as well, he cried when it was time to go home, he really wanted to stay there all day. The staff seemed quite taken with him too, my lad was in full show off mode and managed to impress them as a rather bright boy.

Andrew is doing well but is probably in need of weaning (a bit earlier than the government would like, but really, my son not theirs). He is a rather big baby, he was sleeping through the nights but has started waking up at about 4am and always seems a bit hungry, along with trying to chew anything that comes his way. However, he has a bit of a hacky cough at the moment so it will have to wait a couple of days. Yesterday lunchtime I tried a bit of baby milk mixed with baby milk and he wolfed it down, then tried to suck up every tiny bit of baby rice that had spilt on his bib, he definately feels he is ready for food. Later that evening he started coughing and threw up a fair bit so I will be giving him a rest from weaning until he is better. With his next round of injections on Monday it may have to wait until next weekend.

Both of them are a bit ill at the moment, particullarly Nick. Nick wanted a lie down but got a bit worked up at the idea of being on his own in his bedroom so I have put a pillow on the sofa and a blanket over him. I have also given him some kiddies liquid paracetamol as he is a bit feverish. Both of them are now fast asleep, hence my being able to post.

The dog has been a pest lately. She found another way through the fence in the garden at the beginning of the week. Stu fixed it and it lasted a whole day before she chewed another whole in the fence. Stu fixed that again today and hopefully it should last her a bit longer. We desperately need a sturdier fence at the back for her but as it means ripping out large trees we will probably make the gate to our garage at the back of our garden more secure. Our house is on the corner of a cul de sac, with our front on the larger road and a garage on the cul de sac at the bottom of our garden. At the moment she climbs and squeezes through the fence into the driveway to our garage and then squeezes under the locked gate so with a better gate and fence there she would still remain safely on our property. Luckily she has lost the desire to run away from us, last time she destroyed the fence to escape she would go wandering, this time she either sits on the front door step waiting to come in or sits by the garage gate and always comes when called. However, this obviously isn't acceptable and I do not want my dog able to roam the streets unsupervised.

With the dog we had before Pepper, fireworks night was a yearly torture for her. Like most dogs the sound of fireworks would have her cowering in a corner. It didn't help, poor dog, that most of the time we lived in Tang Hall where every house around us had fireworks in their gardens, there was never a moment all month when a firework couldn't be heard in the evening. Pepper, however, is a strange dog and rather enjoyed the experience. As soon as she saw what it was the sound of a firework would send her hurtling into the garden where she would then sit down and watch the display. When the door was closed she was camped out waiting for us to let her out to see the pretty lights.

Nick also enjoyed the fireworks, but only when he could see them. We went to a home display at a friends house, along with most of our social group, and Nick loved it. Unfortunately his friend Finley (who Nick adores) is a year younger so he needed to watch it from inside through the window, Nick was like that last year too, so they were separated for the actual display. Nick didn't mind too much though as he was distracted by the fireworks and Hazel, who kindly looked after him. That freed Stu and I to look after Andrew. Andrew came outside for a fair bit of it, wrapped up in warm clothing and tucked into Stu's leather jacked for extra warmth. He came in again with me whenever it got smokey, and also as soon as the very loud fireworks were used. At that point I went and joined Fin and his mum in looking out of the sitting room window.

We finally have broadband again, hence my being able to post. We had a pay as you go dial up while it was being sorted, which meant that I only really went on for playing World of Warcraft in the evenings. It was a bit of a nightmare as Pipex switched so that they only had LLU codes, which BT couldn't take. Naturally as soon as my Pipex account was canceled (which took longer than it was supposed to) BT changed how they do things so that they can now take LLU codes. Ah well, all sorted out now so I am happy. It is nice to play of an evening without waiting to be disconnected by the poor line at around 9:30.

The house was in chaos last week as we had to have some damp proofing done in our dining room. It was supposed to be all done on Monday, we even sent Nick to a friend for the day so he could avoid the dust and stay out the way. Unfortunately the company we used had someone of ill that week (the guy who was supposed to do our house) and someone else was on holiday. The job therefore lasted all week. The dining room table only moved into the dining room yesterday, although the room can't be played in by Nick as the plaster is still drying a bit and it could probably do with yet another hoover. We did have everything from the dining room in the sitting room, making it rather cramped for Nick to play, including a dismantled dining room table and most of the chairs. Now we are still hemmed in by the bureau but it is a bit more manageable.

Where has the time gone? I have just put Nick's name down for primary school but it seems such a short time ago that he was Andrew's age. He doesn't start until January 2008 (which works out as the second of two intakes in the next academic year) but they opened up the online registration today. I also have an appointment in a couple of weeks time to view the school. Yes, I know, I should have done that the other way round, but with a young baby I lost track a bit. I am sure I want that school so wasn't going to mess around by holding off putting his name on the waiting list (there is another school closer so if it is full we could miss out), but I still want to have a proper look at the school I plan to send him to.

We are going for Huntington Primary. The school is a 25/30 minute walk (at Nick's pace when not rushed), or 8 minutes and £3 on the bus for all four journeys I would make, there and back twice each. £3 a day adds up to a fair bit so we will probably only bus when the weather is really bad or one of the boys is a bit ill. Most of our street go to Yearsley Grove down the road, which is a nice enough school, but within Huntington the one we chose has a better reputation and seemed a bit nicer when dropping him off for various events he was invited to with playgroup. One of the kids he is particullarly fond of will be in his class at Huntington primary, the other boy has older siblings there so won't have any trouble getting in. Apparently most years there are a couple of spaces free after all the kids who want to get in have a place, although they have had intakes where as many as 6 families were dissapointed. This year apparently several families have asked how oversubscribed they tend to be within the last week, I have no idea how big Nick's year is within York.

Andrew is starting to be a bit more mobile. He will be 12 weeks on Sunday (I think, going by injection dates) and has started rolling over and shuffling round so that when I look up from my book I find him rotated through 180 degrees on his play gym. He is also smiling a bit more and has started laughing a bit.

This half term it is Nick's turn to look after the playgroup mascot teddy bear, Ozzy. I had no idea they did this until I came back from the hairdressers to find it sitting on the stairs (Stu had the day off so picked him up). He is wearing a little Orchard Park Pre-School T-shirt in a baby size and came with his own back pack full of assorted ... well ... stuff for want of a better word (random tat would probably express it better, but it is kind of cute). He also has a photo album and I have been told I have to take photos of what Ozzy gets up to with Nick. I might do a trip to the railway museum with a few other mums and kids this week, probably a good place to take my camera.

I have finally got around to buying poster paints and bits and bobs for Nick to make pictures with. I also thought to pick up a plastic apron for him, shame I didn't get one for myself. We had a nice afternoon making pictures with glitter glue, bits and bobs and paint. Tomorrow we will be making biscuits together after a trip to the supermarket, as my parents are visiting on Sunday.

I have put up some pictures of my sons:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/91837045@N00/

Well, more of a dark cherry red really. Yesterday Stu dyed my hair for me and I chose a rather dramatic colour. I love it, it looks absolutely fake but that is how red I wanted it.

For the last few weeks we have had blissful peace and quiet of an evening, Andrew now settles instantly when we put him in his crib at his 8pm bedtime. We had Nick in a bedtime routine at about the same age and he was more or less sleeping through the night shortly after three months. Andrew isn't quite at sleeping through the night, at 9 weeks old I don't expect him too, but he has managed to sleep uninterupted for 7 hours so we are getting there.

Stu has this week off so things should be rather relaxed. I think we might try and manage a day out somewhere this week, although with Nick in playgroup every day but Monday we will be a bit limited during the week.

I am having a complete nightmare with sorting out my broadband connection at the moment. We have had no internet of an evening for just over a month. Pipex have said that it is either our equipment or BT's fault and have dragged their heals about doing anything to solve the problem. However, when I rang to get a migration code to move to BT they accidently revealed that they moved our line over to their own equipment at coincidentally the same time as our connection became rubbish. We were supposed to transfer to BT broadband on Thursday but the transfer failed because of Pipex putting us on their equipment. Of course BT failed to tell me this so I only found out why the new broadband wasn't working on Saturday. I had to then cancel the migration and am currently trying to get through to Pipex to cancel the account properly (cancelling the account through a lapsed migration request would take even longer for BT to switch us over after, apparently). Unfortunately I haven't been able to get through to Pipex as the lines are busy, too busy even for their long queues (over an hour on Saturday).

I did, however, manage to sort out the electricit/gas today. We were rather kindly lending them money but as they aren't paying us interest I decided it had to stop. We were already in credit with both bills at the end of last quarter and they mysteriously decided to up our direct debit payments. On top of this the gas meter was read and the last estimate was so high that we had a bill of £0 this quarter. At £165 in credit to the gas and £75 in credit to the electricity it was a bit ridiculous, especially as the gas had increased our monthly payment by £10 and electricity were about to. No idea why they wanted to up the payment, perhaps they were a bit broke and needed to borrow more off of us. They offered to give us back some of the money but with winter coming our fuel consumption will go up a bit so we would rather pay less and see how much we actually use so that they can work out a payment that is reasonable for the whole year. Looking at how much we currently use they ended up dropping the monthly payment by a whole £30 for both combined, but that might change after winter is taken into account. With a new baby that is money that will come in rather useful.

Talking of which, we now need to fork out for a proper cot (or cot/bed) for Andrew as he is rapidly outgrowing his crib. His bedroom is rather small so it will be interesting trying to fit it in without it being next to the central heating. The room is so tiny compared to Nick's that in a few years time we will either have to think about the extention we want built upstairs (rather pricey though) or make the lads share a room (far more likely). We might be able to get bunk beds into Andrew's room and use Nick's room for all of their toys and something comfy for them to sit on like a few bean bags or some kind of storage box with a soft seat as a lid. However, that is something to worry about in a few years time, right now we need to sort out a bed with more room for our rather huge baby. At 9 weeks he is already in 3-6 month clothes and they don't look baggy either.

I really have to learn to drive. Two minutes before I left the house to pick up Nick from playgroup the rain was so bad it looked as if people were emptying buckets of water from the upstairs window. Thankfully it eased up before I left the house with Andrew, but walking to playgroup only one side of the road was usable due to massive puddles. Had the rain hit any later it would have been rather miserable trying to get Nicholas home. However the change in weather is so dramatic that I am tempted to put some washing on the line in a minute, especially as we are away this weekend and have too much to hang up around the house.

The reason that we are away this weekend is that a friend of Stuart from University is having a birthday party in Henley-on-Thames. It sounds a rather posh do, and looking at the schedule (a party with a schedule, how very organised) it looks like they may have hired a chocolate fountain. Either way there is definately chocolate involved at some point on the day. We will be staying at Stu's parents tomorrow night and in a b&b in Henley-on-Thames on Saturday night. It was quite hard to find somewhere to stay, it looks like the birthday party is a bad time of year for trying to find a hotel. I was a bit surprised that when ringing round hotels and b&bs one b&b refused us because we have a child with us. Yes, children can be destructive, but probably a lot less loud and destructive then parties of drunken revellers. They had vacancies and were ready to take our booking right up until the moment when I told them we would have a three year old with us. Thankfully the place I did find rooms at is a lot more welcoming towards children.

Andrew is doing well, and huge. The day before he turned 6 weeks I had to pack away all of his 0-3 month clothes and put him in the 3-6 month clothes. Ah well, I guess that means that when we pass them to Chris and Anna a lot of them will be in great condition as anything bought for Andrew instead of Nick's cast offs will be hardly worn. However from now on most of the clothes are definately boy clothes so if they have a girl a lot of it will have to find a home elsewhere.

At last I have sorted out some pictures of baby Andrew.

( Photos of Andrew )

Everything is surprisingly calm at the moment, I am definately finding it easier then when Nick was Andrew's age. This may be because with Nick I was recovering from a ceasarean and he had just come out of the special care unit after being rather ill, or it may be because I am less anxious due to experiance of motherhood. Either way I feel a lot more relaxed and calm this time around. Andrew is doing well. So far he is a rather calm baby who often allows me a lot of sleep at night, although he does suffer from a little collic and has a long awake bit once a day where he really has difficulty settling. Luckily this tends to be in the afternoon, which leaves him so tired at night that he only wakes for a quick feed every 2-4 hours and sleeps again as soon as his belly is full. His voice is also a lot quieter than Nick's was, but so far I see this as a definate advantage.

Nick loves being a big brother, we are rather proud of how well he is behaving with Andrew. Nick often asks to sit on the sofa with his baby brother on his lap cuddling him and if Andrew cries Nick will either race over and sing him lullabies, start searching for his dummy to bring him, or come and tell me what he thinks Andrew needs. At the moment any feelings of being left out and neglected from Nick are definately not directed at Andrew, if I have to pay Nick a bit less attention when Andrew cries Nick doesn't seem to blame Andrew for it. We shall have to wait and see if things change when the novelty of being a big brother wears off but so far Nick is being an angel.

Date:	2006-08-03 14:03
Subject:	New Baby
Security:	Public
Mood:	ecstatic

Andrew Jonathan Crawford Barnwell was born on Sunday at about 7:30. Luckily I avoided a ceasarean this time and so was able to leave hospital on the Monday, but as my mother-in-law was visiting to help out until this morning (and the study is also the spare bedroom) I have only regained the use of the computer to announce the birth today.

For those who are interested, Andrew was a whopping 9lb 12 oz and 54cm. I really don't do small babies, do I? The other ladies on the ward had tiny things with wrinkled skin, Andrew doesn't look that newborn due to his size just as big brother Nicholas didn't 3 years ago.

Photographs will follow soon, I am not wanting to spend a great deal of time on the computer as, although Andrew is asleep for a while, Nick needs a fair bit of attention at the moment. I think he looks adorable, but I am his mother and I realise that to everyone else he will look like any other new baby and will make people wonder if I had an affair with a Winston Churchill impersonator. In my opinion all babies (but mine, of course, as I am biased there) look like Winston Churchill or my nanny Higginbottom, who also had a rather round and plump face.

Today and yesterday our local transmitter has been down for maintenance, which meant that we had no TV reception at all during the day and just the standard five channels in the evening. This of course meant no CBeebies for Nicholas. Finally we have got the digibox back, although the main five are a bit fuzzy when viewed without it. I don't know if we will loose TV again tomorrow, according to information on the BBC website our transmitter (Emley Moor) is scheduled for work until 28th. I have no idea if this has affected other friends in York, most friends will have been at work when there was no telly at all so may not have noticed anyway. According to a site I looked up our transmitter on there are two transmitters for our postcode, other people may be pointed at the other one. All I know is that a friend in Haxby has also been without telly, although she had a bit more of a signal and had about three channels or so.

I am in that agonising last two weeks of pregnancy (unless, of course, the baby is late). Just like with Nicholas this has to be the worst part of the pregnancy but hopefully not much more of it to go. The midwife has told me that they are unable to induce me if the baby is so late that it is in danger, at that point they will have to give me another caesarean as the contractions of an induced labour are too violent for the scar from my last caesarean. I really hope the baby comes before then as I would like to avoid the long recovery of a caesarean.

Playgroup has finished for summer. Nick won't be going back until September 4th, when he will hopefully have 4 days a week at playgroup. As he turned three last term he will be funded for next term so the only thing we will have to pay for is his lunch club. They finished the term with a paddling pool party. They borrowed loads of paddling pools and had the children run around in the enclosed back garden of playgroup. As it was a session that Nick doesn't normally attend I went along too, so that they could maintain the adult to children ratios. All the children had a fantastic time, especially when they put a small slide in one of the larger paddling pools and brought out the hose. Good job we don't live in an area with water shortages, I expect my parents have hose pipe bans in their end of the country.

Nick had a great weekend. On Saturday he went to the birthday party of his friend Josie, and I joined him later for the bit that the grown ups were allowed to. When I got there he was trailing after an older boy, Josie's 12 year old cousin Robert. Robert has a three year old sister so is very good with the little ones, and quite frankly Nick was besotted with the poor boy. On Sunday Stu got Nick's paddling pool out so Nick played outside in that while I attempted to relax and read. Of course Nick kept calling me over to splash him and play with him so not much reading happened.

I managed to hurt my leg on Saturday, which doesn't combine well with feet so swollen with pregnancy (and heat) that I can barely move them. I have weak ankles that tend to give out under me without much provocation, this time I ended falling to the floor and grazing my leg. It is rather annoying as it covers quite a lot of my leg and still hurts when touched. I feel a complete wimp as a proper deep cut (like the one that left me with a scar on the same leg) would probably make the leg feel less delicate. All I have is a big graze on my leg and I know I am making a fuss about nothing, yet it is still very annoying and rather sore.

Nick's playgroup held a sports day this morning. Well, sort of a sports day, you can't expect much from children aged 2-4 so quite rightly it was lacking in all feeling of competativeness. The races were beautifully designed for young children: short, usually uncomplicated but with a bit of silliness in most of them. Nick (and a lot of the other kids) got a bit confused with the first and most complicated race, where he had to run a bit with a small hoop on his head, drop it and throw a beanbag into a hula hoop and then crawl through a long tube thing. After that the other races were a lot simpler. Another race of balancing the small hoop on his head (without the other complicated bits), a jumping race (with the finishing line moved a lot, lot closer) and a simple running race. Some of the younger ones didn't quite make it to the finishing line and ran off to find parents or friends halfway through the race, but everyone got stickers for each race and a certificate for taking part afterwards. There was also a mums race and a dads race, but mercifully being pregnant saved me from having to take part.

They also had a tombola (Nick would like to know who Tom Bola is *sigh*) and cake and coffee laid on for the mums (which I missed out on as Nick was waving at me the whole time that he was not racing). Thankfully Nick walked away with a prize from the tombola. He was desperate to have a winning ticket (the prize being by-the-way I think) and I probably would have had to pump a lot more money into it but the ladies who ran playgroup intervened for all the kids. Towards the end of the tombola they started going through the unused tickets, removing some of the losing ones, and after that one of them went through and chose a winning ticket with a decent kid's prize for me to pretend to pull from the tombola for Nick. He is rather proud of winning a playmobile space ship and alien.