Seasons Greetings

Wishing you all the very best seasons greetings! Hope to be around here once again in 2012!

Tiny White Daisy is here!

The reason for my prolonged silence! 

My beautiful baby boy - Samuel. 

Born Friday 28th October 20011

Weight 6lb 15 oz

October 2011

read: Baby books 
flick through: Christmas catalogues!
listen: to an empty house (for now)
eat: Italian Bean soup (a new fave)
drink: one sneaky coffee a day 
wear: hubby's clothes
prepare: for a busy few months ahead
be: napping
looking forward to: an arrival soon
sitting: uncomfortably now
dreaming: of baby
excited about: the rest of 2011

Never for one minute!

via fotopastele

Sat in bed this morning I had the loveliest message from sweet Erin on Skype, wishing me a 'Happy Due Date'. Since the drama of the 34 week pregnancy scan and the subsequent weekly trips to the hospital for scans and monitoring I was never for one minute expecting to be sitting here on my due date awaiting baby's arrival! Yet here I sit! At our last scan on Friday we were told that the amniotic fluid levels, although still low, have remained the same and that they were happy for me to go to due date and/or a week beyond before inducing. I am booked in for a membrane sweep (sorry TMI probably) today with my midwife and am hoping that will get things moving on its own rather than sit here another week. I suddenly feel very huge, very uncomfortable and cannot settle to anything much. As the baby has moved steadily down into my pelvis my SPD has also kicked in once again which is rather awkward at times. Anyway, I just wanted to pop by and say hello and that I am still here although time spent online tends to be rather limited at the moment so I am being a terrible blogger I know - apologies. I hope you are all enjoying the gorgeous season where ever you are and that it is not just me who is hearing those jingle bells calling already!

Talking of which, in between spells of going crazy on Pinterest and cleaning the kitchen worktops, I was pleased to discover a new-to-me Etsy shop last week. The very talented Laura Clempson relaunched her Etsy shop recently and it is stocked full of the most gorgeous goodies. I love supporting Etsy sellers and in particular sellers from the UK, so I wanted to give her a little shout out on here too.

Alongside some gorgeous 'stitch and sew yourself' goodies she has relaunched with these beautiful Clara Paper Dolls. Does anyone else remember hours spent enjoying these when they were young? I was quite restrained and purchased one of each for my nieces Christmas presents when her shop reopened but when they arrived in the post the temptation to open them up and have a go with the scissors myself was very strong! Do pop over and take a look if you are searching for some gorgeous present ideas or for something to while away a few hours yourself. She also has the prettiest blog Cupcakes for Clara too.

Right I am off to load up the washing machine with another tiny load, as I feel I cannot possibly leave clothes in the basket with labour impending - isn't this nesting instinct strange! Hopefully back with news of tiny feet very soon.

Unseasonal and Absent

Last post I apologised profusely about being a terrible blogger and being away for a week and now look, I have gone and been away for over two! Well I am still sat here complete with bump and thought an update might be in order. After my last post we went for the next scan and found that my amniotic fluid level had only slightly dropped and therefore the waiting game was to be played out once more. I have spent the last two weeks mooching around and generally feeling rather strange, as we were built up to anticipate this baby's arrival and then suddenly it was all whipped away and we were waiting once again. The latest is that I have another scan tomorrow to check fluid levels once more and check babies growth, heartbeat and movement etc. Then we have an appointment with the consultant doctor to determine the next step as I will be 38 weeks and 3 days tomorrow. There really isn't long left to wait now I hope!

So I thought a more fun way of setting the scene over here at the moment was to have another go at a little quiz I posted way back in my first few months of blogging in 2009 here. I hope that you are all well and I know I have been a terrible blogger in terms of visiting your blogs too, so hope to have time at the weekend to catch up with you all. Thank you so very much for all your supportive comments on my last post and fingers crossed I will have 'tinydaisy' pictures to share with you very soon!

Right now:

Outside my window...a rather damp Autumn day but we still need some cooler temperatures - 19C in October is just not right!

I am thinking...about when this little one is going to make his/her appearance.

I am thankful for...so many things right now. I am especially thankful to know that everything is ready for little ones arrival and for a Thanksgiving card which adorns my kitchen dresser reminding me of friendship.

In the kitchen...fabric samples are stuck to the tiles for the blinds we are finally ordering after over 7 years of living in this house! About time I hear you say!

I am wearing...anything comfortable (usually my husbands clothes right now)

I am creating...Christmas lists in my head (do you have your organiser printed yet?)

I am going...to enjoy my shopping treat from Waitrose today - butterscotch and pecan yum yum anyone?

I am reading...What to Expect When You Are Expecting - still! I should make that re-reading actually.

I am watching...Parenthood, anyone else a huge fan? This weeks episode has to be one of the very best. 

I am hoping...that my body decides to begin this whole labour malarkey on its own very soon.

I am hearing...peace and quiet. It is all I seem to want at the moment, which is quite unlike me as I usually like some music playing.

Around the house...is all tidy and reasonably organised. I feel at peace with what isn't tidy or cleaned - baby isn't aware the windows need cleaning right?

One of my favourite things...is sitting for a minute or two in the Nursery and looking around imagining life in a few weeks time.

A few plans for the rest of the week...resting, relaxing, napping and another hospital trip and dare I say it - a trip to the labour ward!

A picture to share...here are a few from the garden I have taken recently. Things are finally changing colour and leaves are falling but I had a few revivals with the unseasonal warm weather we have had. The rose re-flowered which has never happened before, a lone late sunflower bloomed and I delighted in discovering the reappearance of some ox-eye daisies around the pond.

Would love to hear your answers to some of these questions right now, why not drop one of your answers in my comments...

September 2011

read: Baby books 
flick through: Autumn/Winter Catalogues 
listen: to baby musical toys
eat: anything with extra iron
drink: one sneaky coffee a day 
wear: a cosy blanket
prepare: for a new season
be: quiet and restful
looking forward to: an arrival NEXT month
sitting: with my feet up
dreaming: of baby
excited about: Autumn

Quiet and Calm

I thought it was about time I popped online and shared the reasoning for the quiet over here once again. When I said I was 'coming back to blogging' I never intended on going a whole week between posts etc, but life has decided to intervene. Sorry if this is heavy on the pregnancy details folks but there is no easier way to explain I am afraid. Ever since I was diagnosed with the SPD my easy pregnancy has decided to be less so. When I went for a growth scan at 34 weeks they discovered that my amniotic fluid levels were lower than they should be, so the consultant doctor decided to monitor me more closely at the hospital over the past two weeks. I was told to rest up and come back in a week for the next appointment.

(via romanholiday)

I had a different kind of scan last Friday which looked at the baby's kidneys and bladder; as they were concerned the baby was drinking in the fluid but not able to let it out again. It was a long week's wait, I can tell you, between those scans as not only did we have the worry the baby may be poorly but they also said to really closely monitor baby's movements - which can make you rather stressed and cautious. But we had the scan last Friday and all looked fine, they checked baby's kidneys, bladder and blood flow along the umbilical cord and it all looked good. It is an active baby and the heartbeat monitoring was all fine too however, they did find that the amniotic fluid has dropped once again. So I am booked in for another scan to check baby's growth, which was a little on the low side before, and to check the fluid levels again this Friday. They have been talking about bringing baby here early and when I saw my midwife today she said if the fluid levels continue decreasing at the current rate she thinks they may even want baby here as early as next week!! That is, she said, if my body doesn't decide that it wants to make a start itself! Cue a little panic in my voice and sudden realisation that we are getting very close!

(via soverypretty)

The baby clothes and bedding wash has begun in earnest this week along with lots of rest, relaxation and reading/re-reading of pregnancy books! I have been trying to switch off from it in the evenings by 'pinning' like crazy over on Pinterest and turning my mind to all things Christmas and a two month old baby!

I hope that this all explains, in a very long winded way, my lack of posts and updates. I am still awaiting those curtains for the nursery but I may just attempt some photos without if we hear on Friday that next week will be d-day. Therefore, I also thought it about time to share a baby bump picture, especially as I am told it is getting smaller with the reduction in fluid now too. Please excuse the non-flattering maternity wear!! 

(36 weeks)

I will try and get on here later this week as I have all sorts of posts started in my drafts folder that I wanted to share with you. For now I will end this post with an update on the current cutest member of our extended family - Percy, while he still holds the position! Our 'tinydaisy' will outshine him on the cuteness factor when he/she arrives I am sure!

Wishing you all a great last week of September!

Scenes from the Weekend (just a little late!)

This past weekend felt like a full one which hasn't always been the case as of late. As I hit 35 weeks of pregnancy today my life has now slowed down to a snail's pace and I feel like all I can do is wobble and waddle around! I spent lots of time on the sofa on Saturday looking at these pretty pink flowers on the hearth. I am not sure what they are as they were labelled as a 'filler' at the supermarket and they originally looked like heather but turned all fluffy after a few days. Whatever they were, they were pretty and brightened up the fireplace. Soon I am sure the fire will be roaring and there will be no space for flowers on there, if what the weathermen forecast today is true.

Far too much of Saturday was also spent 'pinning' onto my Autumn board on Pinterest but they all look so pretty, those orange and brown tones. I brought a little of the Autumn inside the house and placed some corn and berries on my kitchen window ledge alongside last years harvest of chinese lanterns.

The garden really is autumnal now with the leaves turning and the wind blowing. The hedges are still full of berries though and we even discovered we have cobnuts this year. After building the house seven years ago we bought a 'mixed hedge' from the local plant nursery and are only now truly finding out what we had included. I love the honeysuckle and holly already so it was a lovely discovery to find this new crop this year.

Even if there is a chill in the air we still have signs of life around, the bird table seems quieter but ladybirds are still to be found amongst the foliage and we have had so many white butterflies over the past few weeks fluttering about. We have some bursts of colour in the flowerbeds remaining, even if young trees like the acorn below have turned brown. I have been fortunate enough to have a gardener help out over the last few weeks and he really trimmed all the flowers back, pruned, dead-headed and weeded brilliantly for me. His next job is to dig a huge new flower bed to house around seven hydrangeas among other things along with this tiny chinese lantern plant I have on the patio. 

After he cut back the hedge I unearthed a bumper crop of blackberries right at the bottom of the garden, our only problem is that there is a ditch between us and them and it is very tricky to see where to put your feet. It also looks like it might be a good year for holly too - can you see it amongst the blackberries below?

This very late flowering hydrangea is the only one which has flourished in my garden this year. My mother-in-law has had the same problem and mine have been terrible and really struggled to flower. This one however decided to wait until September to blossom and  makes me smile everytime I see those heavy blooms.

Sunday saw us celebrate my husband's uncle's 70th birthday with a party in their garden. They live in the next house down the lane from us and one of their barns often feature in my photos looking across the field, like the one below. It was a lovely day with family and a few close friends, there were lots of children running around and a delicious bbq to enjoy. He had celebrated earlier in the week in 'grown-up style' with a surprise trip away and a luxurious meal at Raymond Blanc's restaurant in Oxfordshire, so the Sunday party was to make him feel young again! We rounded off the afternoon with a fantastic with a magician who did an amazing job of keeping equal numbers of adults and children entertained.

Amongst all this Autumn I am also trying to think ahead and get organised for the end of the year - dare I mention the 'C' word! But Christmas (too early I know) will be busier for us this year so I have begun preparations in earnest - you might have spotted that on Pinterest too! My absolute favourite craft supplier, in Sweden, had a fantastic offer of 40% off their entire range the other week so I placed a bumper order. It felt like Christmas already when the parcel arrived on my kitchen table.

I couldn't wait to get into it and unpack. I bought wrapping paper, ribbon and all sorts of goodies including two more wooden pigs - as if my house needs more right!

So there you have it, my weekend in far too many pictures - apologies! I have loved seeing this post concept over on Erin's blog for many weeks now and thought it about time I had a go myself. I am now on the countdown for the last few weeks of pregnancy and I plan on washing baby clothes and blankets this week so that the nursery is all ready - still without curtains, photos soon I promise. How about you, did you have a busy or a quiet weekend? Would love to hear what you got up to.

Corners of the Nursery

The sun was shining this morning and as I sat and emptied some images from my camera I decided I really must get upstairs and take some of the progressing nursery to share with you. I have found this room, because of its colour and light, very difficult to photograph and even with a few tricks with blinds and lighting I still find it hard to display the true colour tone of the walls. So firstly today I thought I would share with you the actual paint colour as displayed online, it is called 'Intense Truffle' and is by Dulux.

I wanted to add handmade touches to the walls of the nursery to keep it more personal. I had angel wings in mind after buying this gorgeous carved pair from Cox and Cox, so I continued the theme with a feathered pair on one of the hoops, added a heart for my love of hearts and buttons on another and a little cute line of bunting on the third. The light is particularly difficult to work with on this side of the room, so apologies for the slightly blurred picture. The bunting is made up of different fabric samples I picked up along the journey of deciding the colour scheme for the entire room.

These frames sit on the opposite wall over a comfy chair. I painted and distressed the frames and made the pram picture at the top using the curtain fabric as the background. I have two prints for the bottom frames in both girl and boy versions, so all we need to do now is wait for little one's arrival to complete the look.

This is the chair below the frames and I find it fits my height and arm level perfectly, so hopefully many a feeding hour will be spent cosied up here. I bought the cable knit cushion and blanket from Mamas and Papas and the chair and rug are from Ikea. The changing bag you can just see is from OiOi and is in the brown giraffe print.

After pinning countless pictures of these Ikea shelves being used in childrens rooms and nurseries alike, I knew I wanted to work them into our room. My husband waxed them the same stain as the rest of the woodwork and my did that smell bring back memories from seven years ago when we built the house! We have two of these gorgeous little shelves either side of the window for books and toys.

Finally I wanted to add a little cuteness to the room with the addition of a few teddy bears here and there, so I painted this first teddy on a small square canvas. Underneath him I am planning on adding two hooks for clothes or toys to hang from. There are also a few cuddly teddies sitting in corners by the door, on the shelf and on the window sill, like this gorgeous pair, eagerly awaiting the new arrival.

As you can see the colour of the walls is different in almost all of these pictures, so any tips about taking shots of the whole room when it is complete would be much appreciated. Thank you for all your lovely comments on my previous few posts about my ligament pain. The physiotherapy seems to have helped a lot this time and I have just been taking it steady whenever possible. Hope you are all having a lovely week and would love to hear what you make of this little cosy nursery so far.

New Arrivals

No, 'new arrivals' does not mean I am having twins - thank goodness! And no the 'tinywhitedaisy' has not arrived far too early either - phew! I am talking about new arrivals of the furry kind today!
 
Quite a while ago now my brother-in-law decided they wanted a new puppy, but with four children and one dog already in the house it was given lots of thought, time and planning to get just the right one to fit in with their busy life. They already have a dog called Archie, he is a springer spaniel and although still full of life he is getting on rather at the grand old age of 12. He is particularly deaf and his joints are getting very stiff so he spends most of his time relaxing, either in the truck, in his run or in the house having a snooze.

(Archie)

My brother-in-law wanted a new puppy he could train as a gun dog to take with him, now that Archie was simply too old for the job. He really liked the smaller size of his parent's (my in-laws) dog Max, who is a working cocker spaniel. So when a friend of his said he was going to be having puppies from his working cocker female they signed up for one before they were even born. Last Sunday 'Barney' arrived at their house as a little puppy brother for Archie.

(Barney in the middle, Percy on the left)

However, my brother-in-law's friend also had one male puppy left, who was going to have to be re-sold as the people who were going to have him weren't able to any more. When my in-laws heard about this they decided they would have him to give Max a little baby brother too. We have now gone from having two dogs in the family to four and along with all the nieces and nephews it is going to make for noisy get-togethers that is for sure. So please meet 'Percy' the real brother of Barney who will live with my in-laws.

(Percy)

On Saturday night we were asked to dog-sit whilst my husband's parents went out so we got to give Percy lots of fuss and attention and gave Max lots of extra love and cuddles too.

(Max and Percy)

Of course as a family we are now all caught up in a whirl of puppy loveliness and our little baby is well and truly going to be a 'dog-person' when it arrives!

(Percy amongst the daisies)

September Wishes

(via Crooked Tooth)

A week has passed since my last post and once again it wasn't an intended break, life either seems to disappear at lightening speed or at a snail's pace these days. I am now in my 33rd week of pregnancy and increasingly feeling like a huge whale! Around half way through my pregnancy I was diagnosed with 'SPD' which basically means my body is producing too much of the hormone which relaxes the ligaments ready for labour and it is also producing it too early. Anyone else experienced this? It has resulted in a lot of pain in my pelvis and has made most of my day-to-day activities becoming limited. I have found it increasingly frustrating to not be able to perform the simplest of tasks but am reassured that it should soon disappear after birth. However, over the last week the baby also moved which resulted in it sitting on a nerve and giving me quite severe sciatica down one side. Thank goodness the baby has now decided to move back to its previous position and this has stopped but when I went for my physiotherapist appointment today I found out it had made my pelvis tilt across to the right which has caused no end of pain since. Hopefully after today's realignment I should expect a good couple of weeks again and less pain. Unfortunately other than wearing a belt to hold the pelvis in place whilst walking or using crutches there isn't a lot more they can do for me! Anyway, all that to say I apologise for my week long absence!!

(Lucy Grossmith via Heart to Art)

September begins my absolute favourite time of the year and I am an Autumnal girl through and through. After last weeks post on the harvest outside our garden, it is lovely to now see the plough out on the fields getting them ready for next year. The man who comes and cuts all the village hedges and road sides has been through and the village is beginning to look ready for the season change too. Our harvest festival at church isn't until the beginning of next month but I am really hoping I am able to waddle down and take my place in the pews to celebrate the season.

(via Blomsterverkstad)

Over the past week the weather has really turned, the air is cooler and the daylight hours shorter. We have had some terrific rain storms and howling winds which have really shook the trees into dropping their early yellowing leaves. The horse chestnut trees in front of my in-laws farm are now really changing and are such gorgeous shades of brown. Our hedges are full of berries, fruit and the busiest little birds singing away whilst filling up their tummies. Our garden has suddenly become home to quite a few robins and I love seeing their little red chests flitting around the feeders. Yesterday I watched with delight whilst one little robin sat on top of the gate post tucked just under the freshly cut hedge sheltering from the rain shower.

(via Pixdaus)

I hope to be able to get outside a little this month to experience the cooler, fresher air before I really become too big to navigate the uneven country lanes. I love how our garden changes over the next few weeks and how the pinks of the lupins, hydrangeas and echinacea begin to darken and fade.

(via Office Supplies)

Of course September brings with it the start of the new school year and as a ex-teacher it always holds such excitement. This year has been no different and I wish I had reason to invest in a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils like the pretty picture above. All our nieces and nephews went back to school this week and began enthusiastically the new term, with the next holiday seeming an age away. Of course, they will have a new cousin hopefully by that time too!

(via Vineet Kaur)

So with my physiotherapist/midwife prescribed minimal activity, this month will be spent mainly relaxing and growing my big belly. I really must be brave and share a bump shot with you soon! The Nursery is almost ready now, we are just waiting for curtains and other fabrics and then I hope to share it with you all. It is taking a little longer than hoped but I am sure it will all soon be in order, then all I have left to do is wash clothes, blankets and sheets etc - how soon have other people done this pre-birth washing before baby's arrival?

(via Bailiwickdesigns)

At the weekend I hope to spend a little time collecting some acorns, from the very abundant tree overlooking my in-laws pond, for a little seasonal house decorating and I promise to share that with you on here afterwards.

(via Sorilea)

My biggest September wish is that it marks the beginning of the most beautiful time of the year smoothly, coolly and comfortably for me with time spent telling people 'baby is arriving next month'! A little scary to even type I can tell you!

Do you love the season? What are your wishes for September? Or are you in the other half of the world where this month symbolises the start of Spring and love it for a whole different set of reasons, quite the opposite to mine? Would love to hear from you...