Delighted to feature in this month’s Prima magazine and get a complimentary subscription for the pleasure! I really enjoyed writing it and am pleased to see it in print at last! Something to keep for Niff’s memory box, as she gets a mention of course!
A quick and dirty ciabatta for dinner, to be eaten with leftover roast chicken, thickly buttered with a mug of tea when daddy returns from footie!
I love Rob Ryan papercuts and so when lovely hubby surprised me with this vase I was delighted, still am! It reminds me of Delft pottery but is fun and romantic too, just need a lovely bunch of blooms to adorn it!
It seems to be a daily occurrence that I admire the bonny coloured nappies spinning around the machine! This was taken for a fab Totsbots competition over on Pinterest! I’m also excited because I told Prima magazine of my love of Totsbots nappies, frugal ideas and some of my hobbies and I’m featuring in their March mag out on Thursday, can’t wait to see the feature!
Today I received my maternity hospital notes, I requested them after having had a tough labour and some gaps in my memory that I have been struggling to resolve. I plan to write Niff’s birth story but I’ve been holding back waiting to see whether I’ve forgotten something vital. It was cathartic reading the notes, but also hard work ruminating on some painful memories. Do I write it for her, or forms? How honest should I be? Will she understand when she’s old enough?
Niff’s daddy and the grandparents say I have to just move on, its easier said than done though, the day she arrived changed our lives forever, I know I have to get a handle on it and move on, so I hope writing her story is as cathartic as reading my notes.
If anyone has links to stories I’d love to get some inspiration to get me started and maybe jog my memory!
So today was messy! It’s important to me that Niff enjoys feeling textures etc as I dislike being sticky and messy, I love that we can go to our local Children’s Centre, get babies, floors and mam’s hair covered in paint and leave the scene of devastation behind – for free! Long may they continue, these sessions are lovely for Niff but also give me a confidence boostm , other mams to chat to and loads of info on hand about feeding, home safety etc. For all Niff was head to toe paint she did make Daddy a lovely picture poem!
So we made it as far as the end of the street today with the pram before the wheels got compacted with snow, snow dog loved it but its frustrating not getting our daily quota of good fresh air! On the plus side I won some delightful hot choc last week so that has been keeping me going and Niff has been learning to crawl so its been worth hanging around the house to watch her getting around!
Any tips for baby proofing would be appreciated as it feels an overwhelming task, why do we have so much stuff at floor level!?
Dearest Niff,
My how you’ve grown into a beautiful, bright and inquisitive girl! When we brought you home we all marvelled at how alert you were, and that alertness has turned into a real interest in the world around you, you’d rather play than eat, rather sing than sleep and rather dance than rest, you’ve brought energy, passion and love into my world and I’ll hold your hand forever as we explore the world together.
It’s no coincidence in my mind that the first song we played after your birth was this Mumford and Sons track, Roll Away Your Stone, it seemed so appropriate, spirited and fitting:
“Stars hide your fires,
These here are my desires
And I will give them up to you this time around
And so, I’ll be found with my stake stuck in this ground
Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul”
No mother could capture the feeling of bringing a child into the world, if I feel brave one day I may share your birth story, but for now all I can say is that it was the most intense moment of my life and sparked the beginning of yours, the time and circumstance was challenging but so so rewarding.
Keep looking at the world in wonder little one, love forever, Mammy x
|
I read this at school and still find it beautiful now, Born Yesterday, For Sally Amis, by Philip Larkin
My husband told me he wishes for our daughter that she be happy above all things, this captures that sentiment beautifully.
|
Tightly-folded bud,
I have wished you something
None of the others would:
Not the usual stuff
About being beautiful,
Or running off a spring
Of innocence and love -
They will all wish you that,
And should it prove possible,
Well, you’re a lucky girl.
But if it shouldn’t, then
May you be ordinary;
Have, like other women,
An average of talents:
Not ugly, not good-looking,
Nothing uncustomary
To pull you off your balance,
That, unworkable itself,
Stops all the rest from working.
In fact, may you be dull -
If that is what a skilled,
Vigilant, flexible,
Unemphasised, enthralled
Catching of happiness is called.
