I can't believe it has been so long since I have been on my once loved blog. I still love it, but have become so busy it is less loved than laundry, food making, cleaning, school run, nursery run, swimming lessons, ballet and tap lessons, football lessons, church, netball and trying to keep up with friends and family!
So Christmas happened. Santa came, Nativity plays were viewed, presents were exchanged and food was enjoyed. Emily is in love with all things Sylvanian, Joel all things that bounce or fly in the sky and Seth all things chewable. It was fun opening gifts as a family of five.
January was hectic as Jamie sat at the desk night after night writing reports and crunching data after the early entry exam results came back. Oh the joys of being a Head of Department, or should I say the joy of being the widow in the room next door!
Joel has grown out of all his trousers yet again, we can't seem to keep up. He is happiest when in the garden with his football and was really proud of his new football socks from Santa. He has learnt to write his name and is enjoying learning, he looks out the window and declares that he can see his name or a friends name by finding one letter from that name. Being a kid must be great! He is also the master baker in the house with biscuits and scones being a favourite.
Emily is great. She has recovered after her accident in November. Her finger has healed amazingly and she seems to be able to move on from it, although I will always be fearful of doors after seeing the damage one can cause! She likes her glasses and is enjoying being in Year one. Her reading is coming along and she is amazed that she can read to herself!
Seth is lovely and celebrated his 8 month birthday yesterday. We are in the middle of food and how messy is that? I had forgotten how much I hate the whole learning about food thing!He got his first tooth last week and is just about crawling. Life is going to get a little more interesting in the next few weeks!
So this week is half term. We have had a lot of fun already. We have become a coupon collecting, voucher and code finding family... and with savings success. We have been to Eureka today which was great, busy, noisy and so much fun and Legoland today which again was pretty manic but we had a fabulous time! Tomorrow is a play day with friends, the hopefully Dunham Massey or Lyme on Friday! Jamie is looking forward to going back to work for a rest!
We have had a busy time trying to adjust as a family of five. At times life is just one big mess, yesterday as I took the washing out of the machine, a tissue had been put in, ( in MY pocket), I said in despair, " I want a new life!" it was the tissue that broke the mummy's back! It is currently tricky to do things that were once simple, like go to the park. It is hard to push two children on the swings whilst trying to feed a 3 month old. It is hard to make tea whilst playing trains, making Hama beads and protecting a 3 month old on a play gym from raining beads or bashing trains! It is exhausting getting three children out of the car to do the school run, on a rainy Wednesday morning, with two carrying umbrellas, a blanket draped over a car seat and a mummy with a hood!
Emily has started ballet at a local ballet school so that trek across town is so much smaller, she enjoys dancing with her classmates. She is enjoying learning to read and is looking forward to swimming lessons starting up again on Friday. She currently has a conker collection of 16 and it grows daily.
It is fun to play family football with Jamie and Seth in goal. It is reassuring to hear Emily and Joel singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle' in the back of the car trying to comfort their hungry brother on the way back from school.
Seth is well, his lip and wound improves daily. We massage it 4 times a day despite his shouting! He is a noisy chap who had to sit at the back of church today as he was interacting too much with Diego's sermon.
Well, I think that is enough insight into our lives, we are well, happy and adjusting. Not long till half term and a rest from the school run.
This week Seth has been to Manchester Childrens Hospital to have his corrective surgery. It went well, he is now at home recovering, in fact we are all recovering from it!
Emily has had her first school report. It was great, she is doing well and seems to have embraced learning. She is not so good at following other children's rules or listening to their opinions. I wonder where that comes from? She has been a social butterfly with lots of parties and play dates, it can be tricky balancing family life with her calendar.
She has had her fifth birthday, she got a new bike, hopefully the stabilisers will go over the summer.
Note, her friend's horror as Emily was ;spitting' out the candles!
He found it hard to understand why Seth was getting presents for arriving in the world and Emily was getting 
Joel enjoying a game at Emily's party!
He is on antibiotics until they do some tests to rule out any problems with his digestion system. He doesn't like it as it tastes of aniseed, but he has no choice.
We met his plastic surgeon on Thursday; he was very reassuring that his cleft is on the minor side and should repair well. His surgery is scheduled for September 14th, his 3 month birthday, so we have only 2 more months of his 'special lip'. He is sleeping well at night, on the whole, only 2 feeds, but he can be grizzly in the evenings. We are using infacol which seems to settle him and reduce the times of crying.
Seth Norman David McCulloch arrived 1 hour and 3 minutes late on Tuesday 14th June. He is doing well, his cleft is not as severe as they had predicted from the scans and antenatal appointments. His palate appears intact; we have our consultant and surgeon's appointment on July 14th when we will have more information. He is feeding well and growing well. We are well supported by Jenny our Cleft team nurse. She visits every few days and asks as well as answers questions.
Emily and Joel adore him and don't like leaving him to go to school, or our childminder. They are kind and positive to him and we seem to be settling into some sort of rhythm as a family of five.
Jamie goes back to work on Tuesday, we will see how that goes as I do the school run on my own with Joel, Emily and Seth in tow! I may be in my pyjamas, but as long as Emily is dressed we will be ok!
We are well, life is good, Seth is great, Joel is fab and Emily is perfect! Long may it last.
We also went to Lyme Park for a picnic and walk. We had a great time! Do you like the new statues in the garden?
