A few minutes of 'Me' time!

This afternoon, this happened (this would be a photo of Arthur sleeping in the buggy, just in case it isn't obvious!)...

...and amazingly, this is what was happening at the same time! It doesn't happen very often that they are sleeping simultaneously in the day. A treat for Mummy to have a few minutes of peace and quiet!

I managed to knit a few rows of Rose's 'Sunday Sweater'... I LOVE this pattern by Ginny from Small Things, it's written So clearly and it's such a pretty pattern. I already think I may be knitting this in another colour!

It's the first time I've knit with Cascade 220 and so far... I'm impressed! This pale pink colour from the Heathers range looks beautiful when knitted up and it's lovely and soft, not to mention excellent value!

xxxx

Arthur's blanket is finally finished!

Well, I've finally finished it!

It's taken quite a while for me to get this blanket done... about 3 months longer than I had planned to take but the time that I have free to knit these day's is a bit more limited to what I had before!

I'm completely chuffed with it, I love the look of the garter stitch in the ripple pattern and it's got a lovely texture to it.

It's knit with Rowan Pure wool DK and the pattern is one of Suzie's at The Wool Sanctuary and you get get it here on Ravelry.

I decided to pick the colours out in a random order instead of following a strict pattern with the stripes and I'm really happy with the final look of the blanket, I'm so pleased to be able to finally use it when Arthur's out and about in the buggy!

I was trying to take a photo of Arthur with the finished blanket but Rose had to obviously get in on a bit of the action!

It's all very civilized around here.....! Arthur seems to giggle at a Lot these day's, it's such a lovely sound when he's laughing. Rose and him are interacting with one another so much more now and she loves to give him kisses... even if she is a little Too enthusiastic with them!

He's such a cheeky chappie...

I'm shocked at how grown-up Rose looks in this photo. She's definitely a big two year old now! We've been potty training today (hence the lack of bottoms!) and she's done brilliantly. Let's keep everything crossed that it all goes smoothly again tomorrow! It's such a big step in my mind, no more nappies means she's really not a baby anymore... it's all going so quickly!!

Sorry for the photo-heavy post but I'm just So pleased with his blanket. :-) Now I can try and finish all of my other half finished projects that I have on the go!

xxxxx

A little trip away.

Some would say that March isn't really the best time to visit the Isle of Wight but we were actually pretty lucky with the weather... if you don't count the heavy snow that we had for 2 day's after we arrived! Fortunately the snow stopped falling and melted for the next few day's after that and we had some lovely spring sunshine which we made the most of by going for couple of nice walks. 

We drove up the road to The Needles and went for a long walk out along the coast, luckily we had Rose's scooter with us so I pulled her along on that and she didn't get too frustrated with being strapped in the buggy the whole way. She was due a nap though so by the time we reached the end  of the walk and were making our way back again, she was fast asleep in the buggy... just in time for us to have a nice quiet visit to the cafe! (Arthur kindly stayed sleeping for quite a while so we were treated to a little peace and quiet!)

I'm not sure when Rose will stop napping in the day but she currently wakes up at 5:30am Every morning without fail, so by the afternoon time she's absolutely shattered. I've tried keeping her awake throughout the day the help her sleep longer at night but she just gets far too tired and becomes grouchy and clumsy.

We had a lovely day trip to a miniature village which Rose absolutely Loved. They even had a working train going around it which fascinated her (and her Dad...) Ha!

This was all followed by a delicious cream tea... we had far too many creams tea's on this holiday! I'm now attempting to get back on the diet, which I'm finding is a lot harder this time round. I just need to focus on the summer months and all the clothes I want to fit into again. I'm not huge but just that little bit bigger than I'd like to be.. 

We all took a trip to the supermarket the first evening we were there to buy supplies for the week and the man on the check-out asked me when this baby was due! (To be fair I wasn't wearing the most flattering shirt in the world..) He looked thoroughly embarrassed when Ray told him I wasn't actually expecting and I actually cried when we got to the car! I must have been feeling particularly hormonal that day but you would have thought he would have seen Rose And a newborn baby in the trolley and put two and two together.. never mind, no more chocolate for me!

Arthur's growing up so so fast.. the smiles appear regularly throughout the day and he just seems a lot more content. He's actually been sleeping All evening up in his cot in our room...he's Never done that before. Up until today, he's only settled in the evening if he's in the baby carrier on my front. So maybe we've turned a corner there, fingers crossed anyway!

The best bit about going away for the week was that Ray cooked All of the meals! Such a lovely break for me and this left me with rather a lot of knitting time, especially in the evenings. I will have to show you some of what I've been working on but right now, I'm going to try and get to bed. Maybe Arthur will be kind and let me get a couple of hours sleep before waking for a feed?! Ha! No chance!!

xxxx

I know, it's been a little while...

It's been ages since I've even been on my laptop... since having Arthur I've just not had the time really to sit down and browse blogs like I usually enjoy doing. Then we treated ourselves to an iPad and I just end up using the apps on there to quickly look up different things...

Then yesterday evening I found myself back in blogland and realised how much I've missed it. I've been on Instagram a Lot the last few months (my username is countryrosecrafts) but it's not the same kind of diary that I used to love writing on here. Being able to write as much as you want with a few select photo's, a blog is such a lovely thing to be able to look back through the archives and remember what you and your family got up to months or even years ago.

I find that when I'm writing the blog, I have more motivation to get craft projects finished. Lately I've had so many different projects on the go and not getting many finished, so I decided a couple of weeks ago that I would try and finish a few of my WIP's before I start anything else.

I Finally finished my Alice Caterpillar mitts! I will have to take some proper photo's to put on my Ravelry... I really really need to update my Ravelry page. Something else to try and fit in!

I'm trying to get this cardigan finished for Arthur. I've just got the inside border to finish off now, I spent far too long this lunchtime picking up hundreds of stitches... not my favourite part of knitting I have to say!

 

On another note, Rose is looking Extremely grown up these day's. She's now going to nursery school two mornings a week, she seems to come on leaps and bounds every time I pick her up!

We've been doing a spot of baking... Not helping me shed those post-baby pounds!

...and Arthur's gotten a Lot bigger. 

We had a real scare when he was around 10 day's old, he caught a nasty virus off of Rose and Ray and was just too little to fight it off. We took him into A&E (I didn't even know if he was poorly enough to take him in, I've never actually taken Rose to the Doctors...) about 3pm in the afternoon and by 10pm we were upstairs in the paediatric HDU, then by midnight that night he was transferred to Southampton Intensive care on a ventilator. I've never prayed so hard in all my life!

It really was the scariest few day's of my life so far. He actually recovered from the virus quicker than they expected him to and was only in Intensive care for a few days before being transferred back to our local hospital. As a woman that had only recently given birth to her second baby, I don't think all the extra added hormones helped me feel any better either! I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to carry on breastfeeding as it's so important to me but they had an amazing pump at the hospital and they were actually able to feed Arthur my breast milk through his NG tube. I thought he may have forgotten how to feed after so many day's without feeding from me but he was back on the boob like he'd never been away! haha

As you can see from the photo's, he's definitely fighting fit again! Thank goodness...

 

I plan to get back to blogging regularly again. It definitely makes me think to use my 'proper' camera more often. These day's I just end up using my iPhone but the photo's aren't as good as when I take them on the camera..

Well I hope you are all well, I'm sorry it's been so long but hopefully this will be me back blogging again. 

Love Ashley xxx

Finally...

He's here!

I say finally but he was actually 8 day's earlier than his due date but never the less, I was still verrry relieved to have not gone over the 10th...

I introduce to you:

Arthur James, born on the 2nd of December at 3:10am, weighing in at 8lb 4oz (a little less than what the consultant said I was having... where is my gigantic baby!? After Rose weighing 9lb 3oz when she was born, I was expecting at least 10lb's!) and he's beautiful. :-)

I'm already totally in love with him and can't imagine being without him. Rose is loving him just as much, thankfully... and she's constantly wanting to give the baby cuddles and kisses at the moment. It's very sweet.

The last couple of day's have been pretty exhausting but I'm sure we'll get into the swing of things soon enough..!

Love Ashley xxx

The highs sometimes comes with the lows...

Today started out as a lovely day, we were all up early. Ray and I took Rose to get her first Proper haircut, my Nan has given her hair a little trim once or twice when we've been back in Dorset (she's a hairdresser) but it really needed a good all-over neaten up as it all seems to grow at a slightly different rate. It was definitely a challenge to get her to stay still, I was glad to have had Ray with me to help distract her!

We went to Petworth house for the day to meet up with Ray's Mum and brother, even though it's only about half an hours drive from us I'd never actually been and it was such a perfect day to go with today's sunny weather. Ray's brother that we were seeing today lives up in Scotland, which means that Ray rarely gets to see him so I think they really enjoyed each other's company.

We had a little picnic in the grounds and then eventually went for a walk through the house. Rose had on her backpack with the reins attached so I had some control over where she went and she had a great time, walking through the rooms pointing at the statues and paintings on the walls... The poor people walking through the house were trying to have a quiet and peaceful visit to the house but there was no way I could quieten down Rose's squeals of delight! Oh well, at least she was happy and not crying eh!?

I've been doing a spot of baking... only some basic fairy cakes but they were pretty yummy! I think I'm probably eating way too much at the moment but currently I have such a big appetite and I'm not hugggee yet, so I think I'll just carry on enjoying a fairy cake or two..!

So after our lovely day out, we got home about 4pm. Ray had to pop out for a couple hours at 5pm which was perfectly fine as Rose had been brilliantly behaved so far today and was looking exhausted so I thought she might even go down for an early night! Ha! I wish... 

...The next 2 hours ended up being absolutely awful. Rose usually has a beaker of warm milk before I take her upstairs and she goes to sleep by herself. I've probably been really spoilt lately with how easy she goes to bed as this evening she refused to stay in her bed.As soon I left the room, banging on the door.. crying hysterically! I'm not used to her acting that way before bed so I kept going up to bring her back downstairs when all she did was cry and whinge, she was Definitely tired but just refusing to go to sleep! A sort of vicious circle really... as the longer I kept her downstairs to try and make her happy, the more upset she was when I eventually attempted to take her up to bed again.

So anywayyy... to cut a long story short. Ray came home just before 7pm and I had only just managed to get dinner ready. I've never felt so tired and drained of energy in all my life... it was as if my lack of tiredness these past few weeks had been saved up for tonight. I ended up sobbing in the utility room with the relief of knowing he was home to help with Rose. I'm never like that! It must be the pregnancy.... must be! 

But on a positive note! I saw the baby kick as well as feeling it this evening, I've only been feeling small fluttering movements recently but over the last couple of days the little guy in there has gotten really strong! It's so exciting and every time I feel the movements, I feel so ridiculously happy. :-) Even after an evening like I had!!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Oh how time flies!

These day's are just flying by at the moment, I'm shocked every time I look at the calendar and realise we're almost at the end of June. I am now officially 16 weeks pregnant and have a midwife appointment in a couple of day's which I'm really looking forward to as it should be when I hear the babies heart beat for the first time. :-) It's strange not having heard it yet as I had the chance to hear Rose at just 11 weeks last time, after having a bit of a bump in the car and going to A&E to check everything was okay.. which it was thankfully!

Rose is looking so so big these day's... she's even totally got the hang of doing a proper 'high-five'! Sorry about the state of my hands, I'm desperately attempting to grow my nails again but they're still pretty stumpy looking!

We've been enjoying a couple of day's of sunshine in the garden, I'm so grateful we have that outdoor space for her to play in even if it's not a lovely big lawn to roll around on! That day will come along soon enough and at the moment I'm just happy we at least have our little courtyard garden... it must be very difficult when people live in flat with no outdoor space. I think I'd start feeling quite cooped up very quickly..!

Rose is now 17 months old and seems to be going through a phase of early terrible two's behaviour, usually she's such a happy cheerful little girl but recently has been playing up rather a lot. 

My close friend has a little two year old girl that I look after quite regularly (we take it in turns to give each other a little break) and usually the girls are great and play together perfectly so I actually get to relax a little because Rose has someone to play with and isn't bored by herself. 

But then the last two times Rose has been so unlike her usual self, she's been so overly protective over her own toys and not sharing at all, chasing her friend and hitting out/pulling hair - I will add that she wasn't the only one misbehaving at times - I find a lot of the time recently that I just don't know how to deal with her in the right way and for her age. I don't want to be shouting and telling her off all of the time but then also, I don't want to not discipline her enough and then she'll carry on behaving in that way. I mean, how do you make a 17 month old really listen to you and understand that what their doing is wrong. Is it a phase that most children go through? 

It's strange because I was never ever worried about being a good mother when it came to giving birth, caring for a newborn, breastfeeding, being up alllll night... but now that Rose is growing up into a proper little girl I've really started to question what kind of parent I want to be, especially knowing she'll have a brother or sister by the end of the year! I don't want to be a miserable moaning strict mother but then I don't want to be so soft that she doesn't respect me or listen to a word I'm saying. So many things to think about...

Okay, right! Rant over... That's my therapy session over for this evening!

I hope you're all doing well out in blog-land. Tonight I've set my mind to catching up with email replies and blogs that I need to read and comment on.

Lots of love xxxxxxxxxx