The 52 project 34/52

Just back from a great week in Norfolk. We'll definitely be back. the coast on the north is so beautiful and it's only 3 and a half hours drive away. It seems like we've been so blessed with a fun packed summer that the boys are actually craving some down time. They're are some loud but mild protests when we say we're going out to a park or the beach 'What AGAIN?!' 

On the Wednesday evening of the holiday, Nathan and I drove home; leaving the boys in the capable, though by the end, tired hands of Grandma and Grandad. Nathan was needed and wanted to do some important Bishop duty to conduct and speak at dear Kath's funeral. It was only on the ride home that the sadness of her passing sunk in as for the five days since her moving on the feeling had been one of relief. Her body was clinging on as her body was well ready to go. I wondered why she had to wait those extra weeks. I think there are a few reasons to draw - she needed to get to a point she wanted to go, Dennis needed to get to that point to, where he wanted her to be released though he will miss her desperately and I think another reason is so that there was time for so many people to serve them as a couple and be demonstrative of their love for them. The funeral was lovely. Lots of people were there. she was the eldest of 11 children and had a large family but she was also such a lovely friend to many. Nathan mentioned her love to serve other people, she was truly good and without guile. he spoke so well covering the basic principles of belief that we have about the plan of salvation  which covers where Kath has moved onto now.

 Some of the thoughts I will hold dear bout Kath are - she was quick to compliment - tell you you looked great, gave a lovely talk or lesson,

her stew 

she was a fab Sunday school Class president when I was the teacher, always had a positive introduction or summarising comment.

she spoke to everyone, looked out for the ones who needed that extra attention.

loved her style, always looked just so and had a love of the red lippy like me!

loved a charity shop find, a car boot find or a good ol jumble sale find!

went to every church meeting she could and would always say how marvelous and uplifting it had been.

her desire to do some good in the world 'Dennis, come on we're going to do some good in the world'

Nathan used a quote by Gordon B Hinckley in his talk - 'I have found that the happiest people are those who lose themselves in the service of others.'

I think Kath was a case in point of this. I will miss her but feel a peace that I will see my friend again some day. 

When we returned to Norfolk to meet up with the boys, Grandma reported that Ben had been a missionary!

A girl had taken a shine to him at the play centre and asked him to be her boyfriend!! This is how the conversation went between Joseph and Ben recounting the event.

J: So she asked you to be her boyfriend, what did you say?

B: I said 'Do you go to church and believe in God. She said 'No' so I said 'No way!!'

J: You should have said 'No thank you!'....Did she cry?

B: Like a baby!

I think/hope the last statement was for dramatic effect??!!!

The 52 Project 27/52

This week was bliss, a mini heatwave!! One night both Seth and Ben ended up in our bed, not unusually but the additional heat made it slightly unbearable so I legged it to Ben's empty bed. At 6:00am true to form, I heard the bounding sound of Joseph leaping out of bed but then I got to witness him immediately fall to his knees and say his morning prayer. Seriously one of those jewels of a moment. He was surprised when I spoke as obviously I wouldn't normally be there. I told him how lovely it was for me to see him pray without being told to. he told me he prayers for the poor to have nice food and nice water because he doesn't just care about his family. 

On Saturday we went with Dad as he went to the temple with the youth. We met up with the boy cousins, Granne and Grandad and went and had some fun in Astley Park.

This picture depicts how much the boys feel the morning rush!!  Er, like not at all and quite frankly it does my nut in!! But I do love to see them play together. 

A Happy List

So quite a few people whose blogs I follow have posted a list of 50 things which make them happy and so I thought I'd compile one too! This list is just things which fly off the top of my head and therefore random in order and thought!

1.A tidy bedroom

2.Hanging washing on the line.

3.Days when the boys have played out for hours and their faces and knees are filthy.

4. Living somewhere the changes of seasons are obvious and follow a cycle, currently the fields once more are yellow with rape.

5. Lambs

6.Exploring new places.

7.Wellies

8. Brilliant charity shop finds.

9. Fresh flowers on my fireplace.

10. Candlelit cozy autumn evenings.

11.Seeing the boys learn new things.

12. Perfectly timed photos which capture a moment or expression.

13. Rereading my blog posts from previous years. it makes me feel pleased that I have made the effort to write the posts.

14. Notes through the post - receiving and sending.

15. New stationary especially coloured pens and notebooks.

16. Finding nice gifts for loved ones or making them and seeing their reaction.

17. Nathan telling me I look great.

18. When my clothes fit that much better.

19. Skipwith Common, especially when you come across the long horned cattle.

20.That feeling at the end of a day when I've accomplished a lot and worked hard.

21. Learning something new and interesting.

22. Talks from general conference which inspire and have something which makes them really memorable.

23. The feeling of warm skin after a day at the beach.

24. The funny things my boys do. When I get in from work and Nathan has put them to bed I always ask 'tell me something funny the boys did'

25.Hearing Seth say new words.

26. Cooking a tasty meal from scratch.

27. My roast potatoes! Because Nathan says they're even better than my Mum's.

28. Our garden.

29. Laughs with good friends.

30. Date nights and especially dates which last a weekend.

31. Looking at maps and making hypothetical plans of places I'd like to visit someday.

32. Freshly waxed eyebrows.

33. Eating things I've grown in the garden.

34. Dresses.

35. Boots in winter

36. Hearing the boys pray.

37. Laughing at the funny things the boys say or do.

38. The way Seth runs.

39. When Ben comes and kisses my head in the morning and gets in for a snuggle.

37. Hearing Joseph read.

38. Days when you ignore the clock, just go with the flow. Rare but sweet.

39. Proper snow days when there is a real covering. You wake up and life takes a different pace. It adds a magic to the air.

40. Walking the children to school across the Garth, I can't think of a nicer more convenient walk to school.

41. Spiritual music which fills the soul.

42. Kind acts.

43. When people are real and open up themselves.

44. The boys getting messy outside.

45. Nathan coming home, Nathan texting or calling during the day.

46. Adding to my spiritual well.

47. Knowing that I can change and making plans to make things better. I am the Captain of my ship.

48. Grandmas I can really chat too.

49. Getting to read decent storybooks to the boys at bedtime. 

50. Kissing.

Just the two of us

....we can make it it if we try. 

Oh my, there is nothing which replenishes the soul quite like a trip to the Lake District in Autumn, just the two of us. Seriously my eyes felt like they were on overload, trying to take in the colours from every direction. I loved it! England you are magnificent! Fern you are gorgeous in burnt orange. A feast for the eyes!

We drove up after lunch Friday, listening to Kermode and Mayo discuss the merits of Interstellar. The light was fantastic.

 We drove down to Windermere, via Ulswater which quite frankly makes Windermere look like the plain cousin! 

The joy of weekends away, and there are many, but one of my favourite things is the freedom of time; no schedule and we have a kind of 'make it up as you go along' type of attitude. We saw a sign for a Aira Force and decided to check it out. It was beautiful.

Other weekend highlights include - 
Chinese food 
Great tasting breakfasts
Booths ( how nice is Booths??)  
Chats
 A winter market at Holker Hall, where I could actually look at bits and admire, though not buy which Nathan does not understand at all! The compassionate side of him makes him feel sorry for the stall sellers and a need to buy something to make them feel better. Gingerbread cheesecake - fab-u-lous with a hot chocolate of course, makes for a great lunch.
 A walk by Windermere; some reflective chats. 
Goal setting which I love and Nathan eye rolls as I'm predictable at using time alone for making him have these deep conversations!! 

 In the evening, after I actually manged to get half decent curls in my hair for the very first time, all by myself, we scored a great deal at a restaurant which has a cinema offer. The food was delish and we got tickets to see Interstellar on its opening weekend. Apparently no one else in Windermere knew!!

Haha! Only 8 of us in the lower floor. There is something special about watching a film in an 'old school cinema' like this one. Love; the Wurlitzer at the front; the springy seats.

and taking random selfies during the interlude, yep the interlude!

On Sunday, we had to do church ourselves. We went to the War memorial in Windermere and paid our 2 minutes of silence in remembrance there. There were at least 100 names on the memorial, which seems a great price of life for such a small town.
 We did our Sunday School lesson - Jeremiah, what a man! So steadfast. What a charge - preach about the coming destruction to wicked Judah. They'll make you pay for telling them these things they do not want to hear. They'll put you in stocks, throw you in a pit where you'll sink in the mire, try and have you killed. At one point you'll cry out that you want to give up, that you wish you'd never been born but you won't give up because you are strong. What a prophet. I felt genuinely moved by his example and obedience in the face of adversity.

We then went and spiritually fed ourselves on another walk. This time by Derwant Water. Totally stunning. We were aiming for the view at Friar's Crag. Nathan returned to the car as we'd forgotten to pay and display. So, I sat on a bench for 15 minutes in silence taking in the view, which was pretty though a slightly blocked by trees. trees. When Nathan finally returned, we discovered that I was a mere 50 metres away from the previously mentioned spectacular view at Friar's Crag!! I chuckled to myself and thought about the spiritual life lessons there are to be learnt from settling for where we are when there are greater blessings when we take the extra steps.

Seriously I felt like we were on the edge of heaven looking at this vista and being with him. 

The weekend away was a blessing. We're blessed to have parents who will have the children for us; blessed to be able to stay over somewhere nice in such a beautiful location so close to home and blessed to just enjoy so much being with each other.

Blessings

One of the many blessing of a big family in the gospel is lots of opportunities to go the temple as they take out heir own endowments and sealings. This summer we went with both Alice and Amy as they went through for the first time. I love the new presentations. They portray the doctrine with such emotion and it makes you reflect and consider. I love any opportunity I get to go to this; our favourite place with my favourite person.   

What a blessing it is that these two are such pals. They love to go to the temple too. In fact whenever we go without them, they sulk! 

From Number 15 to Duck Down

NB - This post was written back in November, just got round to adding the photos into it today :/

It's been a while! We've just been reconnected to the net having moved into our new house! This past month has been hectic but we have been abundantly blessed. As the hymn goes 'count your blessings, name them one by one' I feel it is important to record some of the specific blessings we received this month.

An amazing new home - with all the space we need, in a location we love at a price we could afford, a lovely garden and with bags of character. Seriously I keep looking around, not quite believing that it has happened. A real faith building experience which I will cherish. Last year we couldn't work out how we would be able to move though we felt with the arrival of our third baby we would need to move on to a bigger space. It didn't happen at the time but we felt OK to wait. We couldn't work out where the right  house would be with the space we needed and the right price. We couldn't control when our house would sell and what would be available at the time. It actually felt easy to hand over to Heavenly Father to work out the details and in the time that was right, everything fell into place and His hand is certainly visible in the detail.

 We loved our old house - number 15, The Cottage. 

I will miss the view of the trees from the kitchen window;

the view of the housetops from our bedroom,

  

the fireplace -what a find and I will miss our bedroom, those beams which Nathan sanded for me night after night, amazing!

 I love the imperfection of them and the wooden pegs. Our last night I carved our name and initials into the back of one of them - out of sight but I wanted to leave a 'we lived here' mark which I hope will remain for as long as the beams are there. It was a privilege to live there.

We already love this house, Number 68, Duckdown Cottage. The space is fab.I feel more in control as we have places to put things.  I love the dining room, the garden is gorgeous and I can't wait to get the fires going.

So many people helped us to move including our four aptly built missionaries and Martin with a tractor and cherry picker to enable us to remove furniture through the first floor bedroom.

 On Wednesday night 12 brothers from church came to help as well. Carol and Simon were there most of the day to help too and they stayed until very late at night. Mum and Dad had Joseph and Ben for the day. On Thursday, Ann, Nat and Becky came to help me clean and Andrew and Dave came to help with the rest of the move which included ripping up the kitchen floor. How could I forget that little nutmeg lol! Perhaps as it doesn't come under the category of 'blessings!' No, not really a blessing but one of those - we'll laugh about it in years to come!

So, I had a speaking assignment at Saturday evening session of Stake conference. Remarkably I finished it 10 hours..that is 10 hours ahead of time. Anyone who knows me well this was extremely out of character. I even bragged about it on facebook and got messages of congratulations (including my procrastination partner in crime - Jane!). Literally it was pride before a fall. An hour later as I was surrounded by boxes in the bathroom, Joseph ran upstairs ' Mummy, there's water in the kitchen!' Nathan I sprinted downstairs to find the kitchen floor covered in water - no joke! Ben had left the tap on after getting himself a drink, it must have been running for a while. Towel after towel was rung out, it was then discovered that the dryer was no longer blowing out hot air - minor detail really! It took about an hour to mop up the surface water but unfortunately it had got underneath the boards and a couple of hours later the floorboards tee-peed, lifting off the ground! In the seven years we lived in that house we had never made a claim on our home insurance! A day after exchanging contracts on the sale of said home - it was flooded! You know obviously moving house wasn't stressful enough we just needed something to mix it up a bit!  Monday, I had to ring the insurance, the solicitor and the estate agent to inform them of the issue. Tuesday evening the sellers were coming round at 6:30 to check it out and discuss what they wanted us to do about it. At 6:05, Richard who came to fix the loo posted the keys through the door whilst Nathan and I were at number 68 unloading some more boxes leaving us locked out!!!! I felt like I was in some sort of 'Some mother's do av em!' sketch. The thought is having to show the couple their wrecked floor through the kitchen window whilst balancing on the wobbly brick work of the flowerbed nearly tipped me over the edge!!! Fortunately Nathan and Richard scaled the roof and spiderman style head first Nathan squeezed himself through the 2nd floor velux window. The couple arrived 5 minutes later unbeknowing to the slight chaos which had ensued moments before!

Dear Claire

Dear Claire,

On our drive home down country from Scotland last Monday, I thought of you. I wondered how you were  ;if you were still living in Edingburgh or had come home for another operation. It had been a few months since we'd messaged one another or even commented on one another's wall posts or photo. The thought was there that I'd be in touch with you soon. On Tuesday, your mum posted on your wall that you had suddenly passed away and were  somewhere now in heaven surfing on a big blue wave. 

It felt just so sad. You'd been through so much health wise. Relentless pain for the past three years and you wanted to live. I'm sure this desire to live had given you those extra months, when many without such fighting spirit would have already allowed themselves to be taken over to the next stage in life. 

That's where you are now - pain free and I imagine happy and at peace even if there is no surf - perhaps there is?!

 On Friday, I was able to go to your funeral. The dress I was going to change into got totally soaked with water in the car and so I ended up being at your funeral in a coral maxi skirt!! This wouldn't have been so bad except everyone else was wearing black! I know you wouldn't have minded! That or the fact that when I returned to the car, Joseph had just got out and was firing the gun he'd got free with his magazine! You were always so complimentary about our crazy, lively boys.

The service was lovely. The vicar spoke of hope through the resurrection and encouraged us to look at our own lives and evaluate how we were living. The music was meaningful - 'Bridge over troubled water' as you entered. The Adele song ' Feel my love' just so beautiful. 

When the rain

Is blowing in your face

And the whole world

Is on your case

I could offer you

A warm embrace

To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows

And the stars appear

And there is no - one there

To dry your tears

I could hold you

For a million years

To make you feel my love

At the end, after the final prayer, The Beach Boys 'Surfin USA' played us out. At that moment I felt my coral maxi skirt was quite befitting of your favourite place to be - the beach. Dougie and I walked over to your coffin, admired your photo and placed a kiss goodbye for now.

It was lovely to see Antonio.  Despite the sad circumstances, he looked so well and healthy. He looked so sad and it was moving to see him see his face lighten as he saw and embraced Dougie. Your mum's face did the same when she hugged him she said ' Aww Dougie you flirt!' 

Antonio told me that your mum had found you at home collapsed and that you'd been alone. I felt moved to tell him  as I felt so strongly when he was telling me that information that you had not been alone. I know someone would have come for you Claire to help you over to the other side. I think it was your loved Grandad H, who you went to the temple for a couple of years back but if it wasn't I know it would have been someone else.

After the service we took the boys to run off some of their energy at Humber Bridge Country park. They climbed the web climbing frame up and down and all around for well over an hour. My heart was full. The sky was blue and a masterpiece of art with the clouds. I spoke to Nathan of some feelings I'd had about who I was. I've felt Satan really try and get at me recently with negative thoughts. As I expressed this to Nathan, it was like a release valve. A pressure was released, I quietly wept and felt renewed. This is what your service had led me to do and I feel thankful. We had a really wonderful afternoon there. It is by no means a peaceful place being right next to the bridge with all it's traffic. Though you can't see it you can hear it. However, peace can be found anywhere. Peace is not a physical state but a spiritual one. That afternoon I found it there on my  picnic blanket, in the park with my two older boys climbing a frame, my baby climbing on me and my husband just listening.

Claire you are beautiful inside and out. I will think of you. There will be times in the future when I'll click on your wall, look at your photos and comment. Be at peace, continue to learn the doctrines of our Saviour's gospel. Teach others about what you know, and someday my friend, we'll meet again.

Love Kathryn x

Why I blog #14

So I've been feeling like I need to write about this for a while. I keep this blog for us a family. I wanted to record the small things which over time would otherwise be forgotten. I want to be able to look back and read ; the funny quotes you all came out with; the moments of craziness; the firsts; the lasts; the adventures and the normal. I also want to have it as a record of our physical but also spiritual growth. So many times in church lessons we are asked to reflect and recall times when certain aspects of gospel living have touched and blessed out lives. Often I sit there and think and think and I know that I have had such experiences but I just can't bring them to my memory at the time. So I need to record them, write them down and so when you ask when I've had an experience I can at least look to this to bring back the memories which have built and edified my testimony. 

Over the past months, well since the beginning of 2013 we have been abundantly blessed as a result if tithing. Our testimonies have been strengthened that Heavenly Father does indeed hear our prayers and he does answer them in His time. We have to have faith in His time. We have been praying for the help necessary to get our finances straight for many, many months if not years. With the nature of our jobs it has not nor is it easy to make plans.  Last year was particularly tough especially for Nathan at work. In October we sat down with heavy hearts and questioned why things weren't happening for us the way we needed them to. We both acknowledged that we needed to be stricter personally with our money and set out a strict plan as to how we would claw out way up to stability. The plan would take about 24 months it was going to be tough but worth it. Two months in and we had an accident with the car, the dryer broke and we needed oil. It kind of felt that we'd taken one step forward and three back. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that angels we sent to help us. We don't go publically proclaiming our trials but Heavenly Father knows them and though other people we felt His loving care. Since the beginning of the year or as Nathan points out since Seth has been born financially the windows of Heaven have been opened. Nathan has seen work improve dramatically. We received a very unexpected payout from some mis-selling from the bank that we couldn't even remember having. Through these factors we have been able to make great head way with our plan cutting it down from a 24 month to what we now hope to be only 10 month plan, of which we have only 4 months more to go. I believe Heavenly Father has a plan for our family. His ways are higher than our ways. His time scale is different to ours but His time scale is right. We have grown, we have made mistakes with our planning in the past. We have now adopted habits to help us plan miuch better. I believe tithing is a blessing. I believe when we desire to do what is right Heavenly Father will help us in the way which is best for us. Sometimes that means we have to stay in the slow lane as we have things to learn. Then sometimes it means the fast lane is opened up to us and what seemed like an up hill struggle is over with the blink of an eye.  

36 Yea, and ^acry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy^bdoings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy ^cthoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

 37 ^aCounsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for ^bgood; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the ^cmorning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

  Alma 37 : 36-37

Sunday best

One, then two, then three boys ready for General Conference.

Great weekend full of spiritual enlightenment.

Loved Elaine Dalton's talk about being daughters of God and Jeffery R Holland's about belief.

Lambing Live 2013

The thursday before Good Friday, the children broke up from school. We had a quick tea, then at 6:30 we set off on adventure! It was something I wanted to do last year but being in the zombie-state of early pregnancy, I just couldn't hack a late night.  This year inspite of the unusal snow which had affected large parts of Yorkshire with snow drifts like I'd never seen, I was determined that we would go as a family to 'Lambing Live.' 

It takes place one night a year at Cannon Hall Farm in Barnsley - can I just point out - who knew Barnsley was so close????? It took 50 minutes to get there, less time that it takes to get to Mum and Dad's?! I think I just have the feeling that going south is a lot further than going west, north, or east for that matter. Anyway back to the matter in hand. One night a year the farm stays open all night so people can come to the farm and hopefully see lambs being born during the night. 

On the way there the thought of - do my boys really want to see how lambs actually come into the world did cross my mind! But then they have seen it before when I took them to the farm in North Milford and a couple of lambs were born then - one of which had to be swung from side to side to help it breath. There is just something magical about spring and lambs which I love. God's creative powers on show - I love it and hope that our boys will also grow to love the wonders of the world on their doorstep.

It was really quite busy, dark and  a chill in the air. There was a large shed where the expectant ewes were assembled and a crowd of people watching in anticipation - quite random if you think about it!!! The boys weren't into playing the waiting game, they wanted to explore. We 'ahhed' at the one day old kid and the few hours old lambs which were huddled together to keep warm. The piglets were really cute snuggled up and clambering over each other to get to the warmest spots.There is something about them which is quite human baby like all pink and wriggly! The animals were my favourite part but for the boys it was playing in the snow covered parks at 10 o' clock at night!! Ben led the way in his dare devil style up and down the big slides. Joseph was a little hesitant after his slide accident the day Seth was born, but came down when Ben went with him. They pretended the see-saw was a Star Wars  rider. There was a small fall from a ladder caught on camera and a moment of madness when I hoisted Ben onto the zip-wire and Nathan stopped him from falling off head first (Must be obedient to signs which state that rides are for over 6's, they're there for a reason!) but they came away unscathed - a blessing of prayers for safety I'm sure. We had hot chocolate in the tea room (which also stays open all night too_ then back to check out the birthing shed!!! 

It was a lovely night though by the time we left, at 11:00, Ben was asking to go home! I'd like to make this a family spring tradition where we gradually go later and later  and hopefully see some lambs being born in the dead of night.

 Nothing quite cracks Nathan up more than pulling crazy faces for 'couple ' photographs!!!

The blessing of Seth

On Sunday, we had Seth's blessing. I woke up with a full heart. Grateful to my Heavenly Father for our beautiful baby boy. Dressed in the same outfit as Joseph had worn for his blessing, he looked so handsome and as normal he was smiley and content. Joseph and Ben, the handsome older brothers, looked great in their Sunday best and they even posed for some pre-church brotherly photos.

By the time Sacrament meeting had even begun, I was already overcome with emotion. I felt so blessed to be there, able to have our baby blessed by the priesthood, with all our immediate family, some extended, some friends  and our ward with us. The opening hymn was; 'Because I have been given much.' It's one of my favourites. We had at our wedding so it felt special that Dorothy had chosen it for the day's service. The sight of our Dads and brothers forming a circle with Nathan to bless Seth was one of the occasions in my life where the word 'awesome' was totally appropriate, a real spiritual moment to remember. 

The blessing was wonderful and like with Joseph and Ben, I have taken notes so that they can look at them when they are older. I have often thought that the words are lovely and it would be nice to know what was said in the blessing given to me when I was a baby. It's also lovely that it was my Dad that gave me the blessing, like Nathan was able to do for our boys. However, the most important thing is that our boys have been blessed, blessed by the power of the priesthood. 

After church there was time for eating ( the ham and pork sandwiches went down well) and chatting.

It was great to spend time with Richard and Ashley who came over from N. Ireland. Grandma and Grandad did really well with all the travelling they'd done, especially as just the day before we'd had a family gathering to celebrate there 80th and 85th birthdays.

Someone put on their blog the following statement which I am going to copy as it sums up a feeling reinforced by this wonderful weekend -

Family isn't important, it's everything.

I have a testimony that Heavenly father lives, that he loves us. To him we are known.  I believe he sent His son, Jesus Christ to atone for our sins so that if we repent we can be forgiven. I believe families are meant to be forever and can be forever through the blessings of the temple and us trying our very best.

Seth's arrival

On the 28th, Joseph and Ben went with Grandma and Grandad to visit Nana and then have a sleepover. Nathan and I went to visit the Carol the midwife (again) and thought how convenient it would be if the baby decided to come whilst the boys were away. 

Boy free we decided to make the most of it; subway lunch (classy I know) and then to watch The Hobbit we went. Tickets for the 3D showing bought we went to waste some time in Tescos and Dunelm. Sat down for the 4:00 showing and perhaps ten minutes later there it was, that first familiar feeling. Only mild but definitely there and very familar. I laughed as I told Nathan, he laughed and responded; ' You're joking, I've just paid for this in 3D!'  Throughout the film I squeezed his hand whenever the pain came and he checked the clock on his phone. Every ten minutes, like clockwork. 

As we were already in York, after the film (Nathan very pleased to have seen it all) we decided in the interest of fuel consumption to try and take advantage of being close to the hospital. We went for a browse around TK Maxx and Sainsburys but the pains subsided. Tired we went home, fortunately the bridge was open as it had been shut the day before and would close again just days later. At home we watched the second part to a BBC Christmas drama 'Restless' and then really shattered I went to bed. 12:15 I woke up - I wasn't entirely sure but I thought my waters had gone. Quick goggle and decided they had and then the next time the pain came - it had changed in intensity and length. Rang the labour ward and set off. Sent mum a text at 12:33 just as we found signal at the turn off for Kelfield. The contractions then came every 3 minutes on the 15 min trip to the hospital - Oh how well this was timed - no boys to worry about, the bridge was open, no York traffic to contend with - thank you, thank you, prayers truly heard and answered. We arrived at 12:48 (parked on the yellow lines right in front on the door, I refused to let Nathan leave me to park somewhere else) told a bed wasn't quite ready so directed to the waiting room but baby was in no mood to wait. I cried out for help, made it to room 12 and just let the body take over and do it's stuff. At 1:10am our beautiful boy Seth came into the world in what the midwife(Lisa)said was a very controlled way (pat on the back eh!) That feeling of relief, that feeling of a newborn in my arms, the sound of a loud cry, asking what have we got ' a boy' smiles between Nathan and I  - amazing. 

Baby dressed, Mummy bathed, baby fed, phone calls to excited Grandparents made( Mum hadn't even recieved the text I sent earlier so it was a surprise) Went to the maternity ward, prayer of thanks said. Daddy went home, I just stared at my new baby - miracle.

Highlight of 2012

2012 - it's been a great year for our family. Many happy memories of the big and small things that have happened but the ultimate highlight of the year just pipped in right at the end with the arrival of our beautiful baby boy -

 Seth Peter Simon McNee

Born 1:10 am 29th December 2012

8lb 9ozs of the purest loveliness 

We're all totally smitten by him.

Looking forward to 2013 now as a family of five.