Friday, January 05, 2007

Busy bees... or lots happening, no blogging.

I'm such a rubbish blogger - I keep on having ideas for blog posts, but then by the time I've worked my way through my blogroll/regular sites, I've either forgotten what I was going to post about, or no longer feel inspired/simply can't be bothered. I think that I need to start posting short, sweet entries at the beginning of the day!

Christmas was a great success for the most part, and everyone seemed to have a good time (apart from Karen saying that she never wants to see my stepfather again - another post perhaps). I was however completely hyperactive and control freak-y about trying to make everything perfect, even though everyone was more than willing to muck in. I didn't get much more than 5-6hrs sleep most nights while everyone was here; kept getting up early and starting preparations for the day ahead! But I did enjoy it all the same (I do love feeding people - it's definitely a way of showing people that I love them). Anyway, as a result of stressing myself out I think, I ended up breaking out in a nasty rash on Christmas Eve, which was very dry & sore, turning into itchy as time has gone on (it still hasn't entirely disappeared). It did make me more aware of my need to take time out for myself! I look completely unglamorous in all the Christmas photos as I could only wear loose cotton clothing (i.e. PJs!).

It was a relief to have the house back to ourselves though - 4 days of guests was plenty! We spent the next few days getting organised for Pip's arrival, going shopping for all the small essentials like nail clippers, baby bath stuff, nipple cream etc. And I spent nearly an entire day on-line getting my thinking sorted on cloth nappies (diapers) and wraps/slings to carry the baby in. Having thought that we might have to invest a small fortune in the nappies, I was pointed in the direction of a nappy hire service that is closing down and selling off its stock, so I was able to buy a mixed selection of (second hand) shaped nappies & wraps for £2 apiece (new they are around £7-8) - bargain! I'm really happy about this, as we can try out the different makes and see which works for us, before committing to a major purchase of one particular brand (when we need to go for a bigger size).

We still need to actually finish clearing out my study and transform it into a nursery, but first we have to go to IKEA for new bookshelves, so that we can store my work files etc. in our bedroom. We just couldn't bear the thought of attempting an IKEA run post-Christmas! Maybe over the weekend we will brave it. We're going to pick up the crib/cotbed that we're getting on permanent loan from my friend tomorrow, then the only major purchases left to make are new mattresses, bedding and our coveted rocker-glider chair. Other than that, we're pretty much sorted. I even started packing my/Pip's hospital bags! Early I know, but hopefully we won't be needing them for several weeks yet. It's both scary and exciting to think that our baby will be with us in 10 weeks time at the most!