Number 31

Hi y'all,
How are you all doing? The weather has been beautiful hasn't it - so warm and summery! Makes me happy, however having hair like the orange sun and skin so sensitive I may burst into flames one of these days are a bit of a hindrance when it cones to outside fun.

Michael had his appointment this week with his new consultant, and I must say from an information point of view it went better than expected. The doctor was very thorough, did all sorts if excersizes and activities with Michael to check his function and mobility. He confirmed the cerebral palsy, and while it isn't degenerative it is affecting Michaels muscles - meaning as he grows he will deteriorate. He said that Michael is disabled (a word that made me very sad), but he did assure us that they were now on top of it and were going to get him all the help he needs. He now needs to see a pediatric neurologist, an occupational therapist, a physio and his consultant every 4-6 months. We explained to mike about his problems, in the basic sense and he now understands that he is poorly and it won't get better.
Having been told that he is challenged (I can't bear the other word) it really hit home that he won't be able to do some things. I think I had kidded myself that he could. I know most boys have dreams of being sportsmen but with Michael his passion for the games he does is incredible. I really thought he could go all the way and play for a professional sport, ie rugby, but unfortunately he now can't. We haven't told him this, and well continue to help him in whatever he does but my heart broke a little when I realized his dream won't cone true. I hope he is able to refocus it when he is older without too much resentment.
The challenges he faces are many, and many different health problems that come along with it. Do you know what causes cerebral palsy? As with a lot of illnesses and diseases there are different factors and scenarios that create different outcomes. In michaels case his problems were caused whilst he was in my tummy. I had three horribly nasty urine infections whilst I was pregnant and unfortunately they caused Michael to have a stroke. He was able to recover and heal whilst still inside but it left him with a permanent weakness on his left side, bladder problems, pain threshold problems and other things too. Now I know it was one of those things, and not my fault but the guilt that is associated with knowing that my infection caused this is crippling some days.

Well I have spoken about his problems in so many of my blogs lately, and I assure you it's not all C.P centric but with the stuff we have been through lately it was nice to be able to vent a little. Thank you xxx

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog posts...

We went to our first cricket training with Michael on friday, it was brilliant! So relaxed and a lovely atmosphere, needless to say he loved it! We had some lovely feedback from his coach too which made us very proud.

We have a very small select family (which is how we like it) and this Saturday we had a 50th birthday party, children invited too, for my uncle in law. This occasion called for a good cake of course so I asked if I could make it and bring it as our pressie. He is an avid Scarlets rugby fan like my husband and so I made a rugby too cake for him. U replaced the sponsors with his name and age but kept the same colored so it still looked right. Thankfully it went down a treat and everyone loved it. The party was brilliant, wonderful company, no drama, great food and a very happy atmosphere. The boys were on their best behavior and enjoyed the festivities as much if not more than us. They met their little baby cousin for the first time and fell head over heels for him-what a cutie he is. We love a good party!

This weekend also saw the Olympic torch coming through our local big town of Haverfordwest. Along with 20,000 others my family and I went and stood to welcome it, patriotically in red white and blue, waving various items and eating far too many ice creams - very British. It was so lovely to see it, loud music, everyone cheering and clapping, the man carrying it looked so happy and proud it brought a tear to my eye (yes I am soppy). The funniest thing for me was once the torch had past, we made to leave and my little Mo asked shy hadn't the torch gone past... Bless him I think he was expecting a flashlight torch!! We explained but he did seem very confused! :D

Over the coming weeks we have quite a few events coming up, both family and just robs and I, which we are really looking forward to. Birthday parties, bbq's, wedding reception, drinks out, picnics, talent competition and beach days. I can't wait for all of it!

I am blogging to you in the car today, sat outside my husbands work with the music a little louder than perhaps it should be, waiting for my huh and kiss.
He's just arrived so I'll sign off now but rest assured I'll be back soon.

Oh and make sure you wear suncream!
Xxx

Number 14

Isn't this sunshine simply beautiful, inspiring, happiness creating and well overdue? It just makes everything feel better in my eyes - long may it continue this summer as I need to absorb some much needed vitamin d and sped as many hours as possible making memories for my children! Now onto Number 14.

I love to create!

It is so pleasurable to create something with your own hands instead of buying it. I don't do nearly enough and I have so many ideas in my head that are dying to be created!

Starting this week I  am ploughing all my energy into making my home perfect once again. As I have said previously I have let it go somewhat, as my concentration dwindles but I am feeling positive, happy and the sunshine has inspired me to get on with it! So tomorrow marks the start of a new routine fo me...

I am aiming to do as much housework as humanly possible between the hours of 9:00am and 2:30pm, including sorting, organising and de-cluttering the following rooms:

My bathroom is about a quarter of the way through it's transformation - we have yet to replace the floor, box in the pipes, replace the bath panel, put up the blind and install the cabinet with the new sink. As soon as this is done I am positive it will look amazing. We have already painted it, changed the toilet and added some accessories to brighten it up. Unfortunately I have absolutely NO IDEA how to do any of the jobs that are left so it comes down to when my extremely busy husband can do it for me... A challenge for next weekend I think! I will be of some use to this particular room this week though, as I am going to clean and de-clutter ready for the changes, and to make it easier for Rob's to complete.

My kitchen is in a similar state. There is a wall that needs wallpapering, a sink, cupboard and woktop to purchase and install and accessories to add. I have already managed to add some accessories, we have installed the new blind, hung a new canvas, installed new cupboard doors and handles and placed 2 new worktop. I know I am really good at shopping so I can purchase a cupboard, worktop and sink without to much bother - but the installation of them is another matter - maybe a job for Rob for the following weekend! I think I may try my hand at wallpapering though, I have watched Robs do it a few times so I am going to try it net week - but tomorrow I can make a start by de-cluttering and having a ruddy good clean in their to enable us to work in a clean space over the next 2 weeks.

Our living room is almost finished, it needs a final de-clutter which I will do tomorrow - the building supplies for upstairs need to be moved up there (hopefully to spur us on to actually do the work) - I need to purchase a mirror and make photograph print canvases for one of the walls, a general clean and hey presto finished. Before Christmas we wallpapered and changed the furniture and accessories, hung canvases, added a blind, a rug and changed the layout around so it really is looking wonderful. 

Hallway, stairs and landing, now they are a slight bone of contention as Robs and I can't agree on what to do - however we have re painted, hung beautiful photographs from Karol Gos Photography, installed a blind on the upper window. I do need to sort out all the shoes from under the stairs and also the paperwork/shelves section too. I would love to change the floor to oak effect laminate (our carpet is worn out), I also wan to get rid of our current storage - shelves and piling shoes on top of each other under the stairs - to removable cupboard storage on canasters like these. But until we have done the rest of the house I think I will simply do all my spring cleaning and then when we get to it I will bat my eyelashes, squeeze his bum and tell him we are having that storage! hehehe :) 

I intend also to spend a little while every day making some items for the house myself instead of buying - I have home-made canvases to make fr the living room and bathroom, I want to create some gorgeous wedding presents for friends of mine celebrating their nuptials this year, I want to start on the MANY projects that I want to do for the boys bedroom, but above all else I just want to finish making the house feel as homely as possible. I will be super mum!

This weekend was spent as a family, and it was so nice to not have to worry about appointments, or clubs, or sports. After a brief visit to Laugharne for a friend of mine, we spent the Saturday in St Davids, at Whitesands beach and exploring the historical Bishops Palace and St David's Cathedral. 

The boys loved walking around, looking at the tombs, and learning all about it, they were also very proud to know that that was where Daddy had had his graduation ceremony in 2008 and his prize giving (Apprentice of the Year) two years previous. 

Sunday was then spent clearing and sorting the gardn (it looks so much better now) and then we had a well deserved BBQ. We ended the day with fun at the park as a family, me teaching Mathew how to play badminton and tennis, Michael playing football with his daddy and all of us taking it in turns to play with Morgan on the slides, swings and various climbing frames, and we ended there with a family game of football. We haven't spent such a lovely afternoon/evening like that for some time and I must say the sunshine brought the best of us out and it was truly lovely.

So as you can see I have a pretty busy week ahead and I have a weigh day tomorrow (should go well I have done lots of exercise and eaten well - although I did treat myself to a small vanilla ice cream on the Saturday), so I am also looking forward to that!

Oh and I haven't even begun to tell you about the boys bedroom and ours... Well I will, but concentration is going to the areas most seen first... LOL

Thanks for reading again lovelies.

xx