Brrr

Very cold here this morning. We're in the middle of a cold snap. In spite of the adverse conditions, Lee and Roo got back safely from their trip to see Granny and the tuddens yesterday, thank God.

According to the miraculously ever-cheerful Marty Whelan, of whom I am a big fan, today's the feast day of St Brendan of Birr.:)how very appropriate.

Raarrh!

Not much time for blogging or anything else at the moment. My days are completely filled by just trying to keep the three lads fed, warm and clean.
Before he got sick, Roo had been learning all about dinosaurs at playschool. He's been surprising me with lots of big new words like 'extinct' and various dino names (dinosaurs aren't one of my strong points-'mummy, what's that one?' 'hmmm, not sure, diplodoccus?' 'Or an apatasaurus, maybe?' 'Clunk!' i.e. Sound of me falling over in shock and admiration).
Here's a picture of a T. rex he brought home a couple of weeks ago. Little Toot, sitting in his new Bumbo seat/throne, wasn't really bothered by him- that's his foot in the photo- mind you, compared to the attention he receives from his older brothers, the dinosaur was very tame.

Ee ee Mama... and some kiddy artwork

Building inspired by one of Robert Louis Stevenson's poems

Autumn squirrel holding a little acorn, who sings a little song to the tune of "I'm a little Teapot"

Scary!!

It's been a bit like a hospital ward here the last few weeks. Nothing serious, thank God, just chicken pox, colds, coughs, runny noses, fever, earache, out of hours visits to doctor, antibiotics and several sleepless nights. Even poor old Roo, who seemed to have escaped the worst of it, developed a high temperature and was really 'crook', lolling on the sofa with droopy cartoon eyes, very unlike him. One of the more worrying symptoms was an inability/ unwillingness to walk which really put the wind up me, as it seemed scarily similar to one of the symptoms my younger brother suffered with ALD. But our GP, who we have been seeing a lot of lately, reassured us that regular Nurofen was all the little fella needed. Thank God he is back at school now and able to make things such as you see in this post.

tough going at the moment...

Inside Daddy's tank

Sitting here with the little Toot on my lap and the two older lads in the back snoozing. Just saw their little hands resting next to each other. :)
We are on our maiden voyage in Lee's new 'car' for work, although tank is nearer the mark. Up til now, we couldn't all go anywhere in the same car if he was on call, which is quite a lot of the time. So this has assuaged my guilty feelings about how big this vehicle is, cos frankly there was nothing environmentally friendly about driving two cars to Mass or town.
Roo had his Halloween party yesterday at school dressed as a 'knight' although the helmet I made wasn't very historically authentic and his teacher thought he was a 'warrior', but he was happy out. He is all excited about the occasion for the first time and although I love Autumn, Halloween in its modern, non-religious form has never really done much for me. Must somehow tie it in with the Saints book that Roo is interested in at the mo.

Some things I didn't get round to blogging about...

In the last few weeks, Roo turned 4. The day started well with his card appearing on CBeebies bright and early so we all saw it.
But things took a bad turn when the poor little guy started to get sick just as Lee left for work. What rotten luck! Sick on your birthday. Fortunately we hadn't planned a big party with lots of little people invited, so we just postponed the cake and candles for the next day.
A couple of weeks later, we went en masse to the wedding ceremony of a college friend. The lads weren't actually invited, so Mum looked after them in the car while we went to the wedding mass, valiantly trying to pretend we didn't have children. I missed the bride's entrance due to a combination of feeding the little Toot and torrential rain, but me and the baby caught most of the service, which reminded me why I actually love weddings. I get all silly and teary-eyed like the cliched Mother of the bride, especially during the vows. I was in dire need of a hanky when the priest read the lovely Blessing of the Hands. It was a new one on me. Here it is for you to enjoy:
These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of love for you, that are holding yours on your Wedding day, as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow and forever.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you build your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love and cherish you through the years, and with the slightest touch, will comfort you like no other.
These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind.
These are the hands that will countless times wipe tears from your eyes: tears of sorrow, tears of joy.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children.
These are the hands that will help you to hold your family as one.
These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.
And lastly, there are the hands that, even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.
Lord Jesus, bless these hands.

Things that €34billion can't buy

Some things are just fab and they cost nothing at all...
The sound of toddler footsteps thundering towards you.
Tentative smiles and little coos from our soon-to-be 6week old baby (just started in the last couple of days- much more responsive and with-it)!
A washing line of clothes being ballooned by the breeze (sorry, bit obsessed with that one).
Sleep (hmmm, what's that like again?).
Picking blackberries on 'Benny's farm' with the lads and then making two (and a half!) pots of jam with the ones that didn't get gobbled straight away.
The sound of children or animals (especially cats) eating. (Bit of a weird one that- a legacy of my first career, I think)
I'm sure there are lots more. How about you?

Little piggies

We went to visit the latest addition to our family this afternoon. One of four little 12 week old pigs that we are going to rear organically outside. The two older boys were excited to meet them and loved it when they jumped about in surprise. Having worked with pigs in the past, it is lovely to see ones with their quirky little curly tails attached. They were uncurling them to good effect to swat flies while they rooted about in the grass.
I do love pigs. They have the best personalities amongst farm animals in my opinion. It will be interesting to see how attached to them we get. I think it's probably best if we don't name our one...

Tiny triumphs

Another day, another boring photo and three tiny triumphs. We had nowhere to rush to this morning, so I was able to concentrate on things. This meant that Little Toot actually slept for a while during the day, so I got a little knitting in! First time since he was born I've worked on the blanket I'd planned for him.
Once I'd got some washing on the line and the lads were fed, we all sat at the table reading, drawing and knitting. Yay!
Then just before his nap, Poonch used the potty. Amazing what the promise of a jelly can do. Little things mean a lot, don't they?

Chicken noodle soup for my soul

Just enjoying some Heinz chicken noodle soup with the little Toot on my lap. Had some heartening words with Roo's nursery teacher today which made me inordinately happy- he is joining in well, helping out and making friends- two in particular that he likes to sit near each day.
Less heartening was our research into a lovely site close to the nursery. Not much luck there with previous planning applicants it would seem. Not sure even St Joseph can influence the planners! Talking of whom, I made it into town to register our lickle baby's birth at last! We decided to call him Joseph, or at least the Irish version of the name, pronounced Yosef. With all the Marian connections throughout the pregnancy, I thought it appropriate. He was also blessed with one of Padre Pio's mitts while in my tummy, so given that it's his feast day today and his devotion to Our Lady, it all ties in serendipitously (if that's a word!).
He is a sweet little fella, but quite unsettled- possibly suffering from reflux. Absolutely adored by his big brothers who love to hug and kiss him at every opportunity and won't go to sleep until they've had a little spoony cuddle next to him. Poonch's enthusiasm meant he was unintentionally rough at first, but is improving all the time.

...just quickly passing on a reminder from Jessica at Shower of Roses of a novena to St Thérèse which starts today.

See that? Behind the flowers there's rain on the window. And we're inside nice and cosy. With a basket full of dry nappies! Yay! Who says I'm not easy to please?
Now I think I need to find something else to post about apart from just washing...

well that was different...

...a chill in the air, no sun, and I just about fired the nappies on the washing line in case the little Toot in my sling woke up. No leisurely enjoyment of the summer sun and fresh air.

Another season is here for sure.

But at least I got another load of washing out. Phew!

It's ridiculous...

...how happy putting washing out makes me feel.
But then it's so peaceful and sunny and warm out here today. And peaceful. Did I mention peaceful?

Quick fotie post

Well, it was back to reality today for us all as Lee headed off to work after a week looking after us. We got through it ok actually, thank God! I even got some washing dry ☼ It was a beautiful sunny day, so we had to get out and about: baby in the sling and the two busters in the buggy.

Here are some pictures from our lovely week with Lee:

Eddie Rocket's Knickerbocker Glory.... yummmee. At least I think he liked it...

Holy fish, Batman! Look closely.

A different kind of milking machine. At the milk market, of course. You bring your own bottle and fill it with creamy milk here.

Swordfish outside Rene Cusack's.

Digging the praties.

Sweetie. Lee said he was a great help. Brought back memories of his big budda 2 years ago.

He's here! (short version)

Our third little boy has arrived! He weighed in at 7lb 50z, in between Roo and Poonch, which was appropriate, because he looked like a mixture of the two of them. We beat the dastardly induction date by 3 days, hooray! and we came home on Sunday, just like we did with our previous two babies, stopping for celebration cake on the way.

He's here! (the long version)

Well, today was scheduled to be Induction Day for me and the Babycake: the consultant booked us in last week as I was overdue. But me and the Babycake had other ideas and I started getting funny twinges on Friday evening after a walk across Benny's fields feather-hunting with the two lads, Granny and her dog. We came home with our pockets stuffed with fluffy white feathers which we decided had fallen off some angels' wings.

Around 5am the twinges were getting more powerful and regular so I woke Lee to tell him we might need to go to the hospital soon. By the time we'd had something to eat, the lads were awake and the contractions were getting less frequent. Lee had phoned his business partner to tell him he couldn't work and so was getting a bit 'quiet' about my disappearing labour. In the absence of any contractions, we decided to stay busy and go into the village. Mum and I went to Mass and afterwards the priest said a lovely blessing over my bump. We bought some homemade cakes and went home. Lee left us to do a call and so of course, the contractions resumed their pattern!

So I rang the hospital and in we went. We arrived at 3.25pm and after examining me, checking out the baby's heart rate and movements and discussing baby names, the admissions midwife packed us off to the delivery ward, at 6 cms! Things moved quickly once they ruptured the membranes and our little fella was born just under an hour and a half after we arrived in the hospital.

As with the other lads, I used my yoga breathing to get through the contractions. This automatically placed me in Nora the midwife's 'hippy weirdo' category of patient, because she looked at me like I was a nutter when I said I was going to try and get through it as naturally as I could. Then, after our little baba was delivered, she asked us if we wanted to bring the placenta home with us and bury it in the garden....! It's not that I'm super-brave or anything. In fact probably the opposite- the list of possible side effects/ disadvantages from epidurals and the like is pretty scary to me. (Not least an increased chance of having more interventions including Caesarean section, which to name just one thing, puts you out of action for 6 weeks: not a good idea when you have two busy boisterous buachaillí at home.)

We came home next day after an excited, relieved, sleepless night. Thank you everyone for your good wishes, prayers and kind words.

Our next mission.... to find a name for the little babe! Aren't we terrible?