A new royal start

MagicCat

I really feel for you, poorly little ones here too and it's awful! Hope DD I'd feeling better soon and you get a bit of a break.

QueenJess

This week is definitely a write off. I feel awful for having so little sleep. DD is finally getting better, but still quite chesty and was absolutely awful last night getting up and down all the time. Fingers crossed for tonight.

Whilst she actually slept earlier for a nap I made cake. Everything is better with cake and this one is a rhubarb and custard cake (and it is epic)! Plus my custard was about to go out of date and rhubarb needed using. Win win.

Recipe here if you are curious: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/rhubarb-custard-cake

edinburgher

DD1 used to develop chest infections quite regularly, you could set your watch by them and they filled us with dread for all the miserable reasons you've been experiencing of late. Luckily she is a wee contrarian and hasn't been sick bar a mild case of Covid in over 2 years 

Here's hoping you are due a similar stable period soon 🙏

QueenJess

Yikes, I really hope they aren’t a regular thing. The last one she had was August last year, but we ended up in hospital for that one. That was also over a bank holiday. She has no sense of timing..

QueenJess

Well it seems like DD is finally getting better. She still has a cold ,is a bit chesty and gets tired quicker, but is sleeping much better. She has temporarily realised the value of mummy and is being quite clingy with me at the moment - she protests when DH looks after her and I am enjoying all the extra cuddles. I’m sure she’ll be back to her independent menace self soon!

Parents and sister came round yesterday (first time for almost a year). They seemed to have a good time. Felt slightly odd with one child knowing them and one not and I don’t really speak to them much in between visits either - it’s more a few text conversations, but we’re only really speak about the kids or silly things and never about ourselves. Didn’t know my mum had a really bad shoulder (currently awaiting diagnosis) and my dad had a bad back. My sister is getting concerned they live a couple of hours away from us (my sister isn’t too far from me) and seem to be getting older recently. Interesting that she assumes she’ll have to help them more as she’s never been that great at dealing with life stuff, so I’ve always assumed I will have to deal with it plus I will “inherit” my sister to look after. My brain doesn’t want to think about this sort of change though, so will mull it over for a while… maybe I should make more of an effort to speak to them more often (works both ways I know, but I have had my hands full here and I have a feeling they try not to intrude).

Anyway, not much else happening. After being trapped in my bedroom with only the internet for company for far too long, I’ve decided to do another round of decluttering in the house and making sure I tidy everything as I go. Maybe I can have a perfectly tidy house?! Or at least in some rooms and just the main rooms we use (kitchen/diner) and the kids rooms will stay a bit messy. I’ll probably sleep better with a clearer room. It’s hardly really cluttered or really messy at all, but could be a bit better and I am keen to eliminate my sources of stress wherever possible. I think everything comes back to the lack of sleep though for me - it makes my brain a bit fuzzy, feeds a mild depression and I always feel like I’ve forgotten something as I struggle to remember things for more than 2s, which then makes me stressed. When I feel organised I feel much better on all fronts, so if I look around and the place is tidy and organised, I will feel better.

Managed to get the tomato plants planted outside yesterday. Still got a few more seedlings to get outside and then will have to clear up the mess on the window sills and pop to the garden centre for the odd cheap plant to fill the gaps in the pots. Bad year for blueberries this year (I have 4 - last year I had bowls of them), but the strawberries are great and I’ve picked 20 already. DD and I have been happily been munching them for breakfast. The potatoes have also gone totally nuts, so I foresee lots of potatoes in the future! Still need to plant out a whole big trug. Possibly too late for most things (will check the packets), but I can at least fill it with herbs and salad if that’s the case.

Not looking forward to work on Monday as I just haven’t had a break at all and it’s going to be a busy week. Also still waiting to hear back on my unpaid leave request (they weren’t keen). Really need to sort out the summer hols as it’s coming up quite fast.

Lunch today will probably just be sandwiches as I’m still exhausted. Dinner will be chicken stir fry with some of the leftover chicken from last nights roast (rest into the freezer) and whatever veg I can use up in the fridge. We have a friend over for DS this afternoon, so will probably wheel out the rhubarb and custard cake for everyone (parents are here too as they are DH’s friends), so will have ice cream for pudding instead. Need to get some more ice cream next week as quite incredibly we are almost out! As soon as I start trying to use it up, everyone seems to start an ice cream addiction 😂

QueenJess

Well it’s been a very stressful week all round. All I’ve been doing everyday is real life work and just about managing to eat. No time for anything, so the jobs are piling up and there horses is a tip. Somehow I’m going to have to deal with it in the evenings this weekend 😟. DH has been picking the kids up and dropping them off everyday, but otherwise has been annoying me by saying he’s busy, but I’m the one working until 11pm whilst he just puts his feet up.

I did manage to rush around this morning and do two loads of washing and change the beds, but got loads of other jobs stacking up that I need to get through. DS is due back from a birthday party any minute with DH, then I have to get dinner, water the garden, tidy the house and package up a couple of things to take back. That is if I ever get DD to sleep who is now screaming…..

At least it looks like work are going out of their way to try and accommodate my request of time off over the summer. They haven’t approved yet, but are trying to get it arranged. In the meantime I’m trying to get all the work done now so there is no excuse.

Better go… DD isn’t going to stop…

MagicCat

Sorry to hear things have been so stressful the week, hope you get a bit of downtime over the weekend. You do seem to do everything, as well as working full time, it's not easy for you - I do the majority of house work and stuff here, but I work part time (although I do have the toddler and the baby to look after on non work days!). Hope DD is snoozing now!

MagicCat

Meant to add, good news about the summer leave time, one less thing to worry about at least!

QueenJess

She finally went to sleep.. apparently a second dinner, second pudding and an enormous stomach later still meant she wanted a second lot of milk in an hour 🤷‍♀️. She has a proper beer belly now 😂

I also shoe horned looking for a gift for Father’s Day from the kids into my day (and wrapped up a present in hm wrapping paper for DS’s party today).  They got DH socks for his birthday a year ago and he loved them so much they never went in the drawer - as soon as they were clean they were worn again. They wore through and sadly they don’t make that pattern anymore. Amazingly I discovered a single new pack on e*ay and snapped it up. He’ll be made up! I did naughtily buy myself some earrings online as a treat to myself, but I hate the ones I wear everyday (and they are a bit beaten up) and don’t have an alternative to them.

Dinner was made (pesto pasta with all the cherry tomatoes and mushrooms from the fridge). Yogurt and fruit for pudding later.

Now just need to tidy up a bit more ( did do some whilst trying to cook dinner), put DS to bed, sort out my parcels, empty the veg box from yesterday and figure out what’s for dinner tomorrow as I’m bound to need to get something out of the freezer. DH did the watering for me whilst I made the dinner, so that’s done. I’m sure I’m behind on a million other things as well.

QueenJess

Total brain fade at the moment. I had to go into work on Thursday, but to make myself go in, I booked a lunch appointment with a friend I hadn’t seen for ages. It was great. I arrived early and wandered around the place and found a one of the best second hand book shops I’d ever been in! I will definitely be going back there next time I go to work. I restrained myself and only left with a book for DS (he was upset I was going into work for the day) and one for myself. It turned out to be a very rushed, but nice day - mainly because I took a 2.5 hour lunch break and left an hour early 😂. I’ve done way more than my hours this week anyway. Felt good to do something for myself for a change anyway, I can’t remember the last time I did something for myself.