Those Last Days of Freedom // Me and Mine in March

                         

                                                          Photo credit: @jpr.photos

   

I always knew when these pictures were taken on Mother's Day last weekend, that they may be the last photos of me in freedom for a while... And it seems they are. I write this from my hospital bed... The prospect of four weeks in hospital ahead of me, and the hardest bit is knowing this little family of mine will be fending for themselves. A month feels like a long time away from your husband and children, and the uncertainty surrounding the arrival of our last little bundle makes answering questions difficult. 

But I'm thankful to have enjoyed this last week of freedom....

Watching my youngest daughter splashing about in the swimming pool, the biggest grin on her face... Chatting over big decisions with my husband... Quiet mornings playing trains with my little boy, an evening snuggled up in bed with my big girl reading her chapter book to me.

When I said goodbye to the children yesterday morning, it was with a lump in my throat... Our eldest, eyes serious and downcast, seems to get some sense of the situation... My littlest girl was chirpy and cheery, her little world unshaken for the time being, and our youngest clung to me... Not understanding why mama was leaving him again.

It's hard... 

                         

     

And it's days like this that make me realise that precious as these photos are, one happy family posing for the camera, it is the little ordinary moments of the everyday that really capture what family is all about. Being there for each other, spending time together, chatting over dinner, working through disagreements, laughing at some silly expression or terrible joke. 

It's these things you cling to in the hard moments.

I've shed tears in the last 24 hours, it seems so hard to be away from this little brood of mine. But there have been tears of joy too... Of recognition of the things I so often take for granted. Of thankfulness for my amazing husband, for these three little souls who have been entrusted to us, and this fourth little soul I am carrying who is growing stronger by the day. 

And thankfulness for my own family, who in all the in- and outing of hospital this past month have dropped everything to support us, and who I know will pick up the pieces and keep things as normal as possible for our little crew while Mama is away.

Honestly, I am so grateful for each one of you...

                         

Me, and all of mine; God-sent precious gifts whom he has provided to help me weather this storm, and keep pointing me to him.

And to all of our dear friends, wider family, church family, local community and even the Instagram community who have rallied round, promising prayers and meals and visits... Thank you. Every text, every message, every phone call means so much.

And to the Lord Jesus, who knows my struggles, wipes my tears and promises hope go the greatest thanks of all.

All for your glory.

Siblings // December 2015

Last weekend it was time for our Annual Christmas Bake Day!

Yes! It was chaos; there was flour everywhere... commands for little people to go and wash their hands again, questions and requests and ideas flying left, right and centre...

What better time to take your #siblings photographs?!

We were, of course, very excited to have an extra little baker in the mix this year... he's just started weaning, so we figured he was a bit small to go elbow deep in biscuit dough, so instead he sat on his throne and wielded his spatula with great authority...

I have to say... I love this months photo!

This season is hectic... Shopping, productions, social events and the inevitable run of sicknesses that landed us in A&E with Heidi on Sunday night (that's a whole other blog post) but actually, the stages the children are at is actually pretty chilled at the moment. 

Ava is at such a lovely stage; soaking up her learning at school, eager to please and oh so helpful. She is Miss Reliable, and my right hand girl... And sometimes I do wonder what I'd do without her. She is (most of the time) the sweetest, most thoughtful big sister, and pretty obedient to boot. She has her moments, just like any four-year-old, but for the most part, she is just a joy... And is SO very excited about Christmas!

Heidi has turned a corner these last few weeks. We've had a real run of the infamous "terrible twos"... You know, tantrums about the most ridiculous things... But we've been working hard at practicing obedience and managing frustration and she really has been a delight this past couple of weeks. The poor little thing has been fighting illness but is such a trooper and she's found it hard to steer clear of her little brother (trying to avoid germ-sharing!). She absolutely adores him. And her big sister too, for that matter!

Jonas is just hitting that wonderful six-month stage and is just an absolute joy. He is such a chilled out easygoing baby that he makes motherhood look like a doddle! Seriously, I'd love to take some credit, but can't! He really was just born that way! I'm sure he's gong to be an impossible toddler, or tween, or teen... But for now I'm going to make the most of it!

So that's my little siblings in December. We are so excited to have our Ava home with us from Friday. These three are ready for some good, long play sessions together!

Real Life: Behind the Scenes at our House

I think it's fair to say that all of us like to put our best face forwards... The face we like the world to see... The "I'm sorted with a beautiful home, perfectly behaved children and I feel happy and fulfilled all the time" face, the "I never lose my temper, shout at my children or sulk at my husband" face. But I think it's also fair to say that we all know that's not reality.

I try and be real in this blog, and honest. Like most families across the country we have great days and awful days. And I suppose it's instinctive that I assume you would rather hear more about the good ones than the days we muddle through and it's all a bit chaotic and the girls are squabbly and I have a baby constantly attached to me. Because we have those days too.

I was chatting to a lovely lady at church on Sunday, and she commented on how idyllic it all seems, and while, yes, we are very blessed and we have lots of lovely moments, I realised that perhaps my blog has become a bit imbalanced in only showing the lovely moments, and not the 95% of chaos that surrounds the 5% of loveliness!

So I thought I'd share some of the less perfect moments around our household, the ones where the flowers die, and naked barbies are strewn across my decorative displays, where mountains of
washing need to be done and where the ironing pile is ever growing...

And also, I thought I'd let you in on the real reason everything runs like clockwork round here...

He's just the best

Me and Mine {August}

August has been our month of holidays... we have been away more than we have been a home, but somehow have managed to keep things ticking over without messing up Jonas' routine too much - Phew!

It has been a month of birthdays... I had two WONDERFUL surprises... the first was my parents unexpected arrival in Norway, and the second was a little do with my gorgeous girlies on Friday night... more on that later this week! Ava had a wonderful 4th birthday in the Norwegian sunshine, and celebrated with a fairytale party today... hence how late this post is!!

I have been up to my eyeballs in Fairytale cake; straw, sticks and bricks and building Grandma's cottage (it will all be up on the blog in the next couple of days!!!)

ANYWAY...

Here's what we've been loving in August...

Ava (4 years!)
- Birthdays
- Colouring in
- Trying out new hairstyles
- Baking Bread Rolls with Bestemor
- Her new Rapunzel dress

Heidi (2 years, 5 months)
- fresh raspberries
- Princess Sofia figurines
- singing at the TOP of her lungs
- cuddles with Jonas
- becoming potty trained (at last - yippee!)

Jonas (2 months)
- Milk
- Sleep
- Milk
- Cuddles
- Milk

Mama
- Surprise parties
- Norway sunshine
- Planning birthday parties
- Time with my little family
- Scandinavian shopping

Papa
- Jumping in the fjord
- Time with family
- Norway
- Planning surprise parties
- Watching LOTS of football on TV

And here we all are, on Ava's birthday, in our beautiful Norwegian haven, enjoying sun-kissed time with family and natures most glorious beauty!!

I have LOVED August... it has been a perfect month of settling into life with Jonas, and enjoying my last few weeks of freedom before school comes along. I have LOVED being a Mama to preschoolers, and cannot quite believe we are waving goodbye to that little chapter. From now on our days will be dictated to by drop-offs and pick-ups, and I'm not quite sure I'm ready...

But my big girl is, and that's all that matters really, isn't it?

The Day She Turned Four...

She had been so excited about this day... as an August born myself, I am all too familiar with the suspense leading up to your birthday... when all your friends have turned of age long before you, and you are left waiting and waiting... the last to turn four! But we got there, and boy was it worth the wait!

This was one little Princess who was literally thrilled with every single one of her presents!

Perhaps the favourite of all was her Princess dress... my Mum and Dad, who had joined us on a surprise visit from England for my 30th (still getting over the lovely shock!) had bought her a Rapunzel dress, and I think its fair to say that she has worn it pretty much every day since!

After a birthday breakfast, we all headed off on a walk along the peninsula. It seems even when you're going raspberry picking on your birthday, a Princess dress is the necessary attire...

And it wasn't just the birthday girl who was enjoying them (although Jonas' main method of enjoyment at the moment remains sleep!!)

Ava gathered raspberry after raspberry in her little green tub. Heidi, on the other hand, prefers the "eat as you go" method of raspberry picking...

Yes! Her little tub was still empty by the end of the walk!

We wandered through my in-laws orchards, talking our time, picking (and eating) as we went, and I breathed in that fresh-fjord air, and thought again how fortunate my children are that this gets to be part of their childhood every summer. This freedom, this beauty... I hope they will never take it for granted...

We paused for some family photos - they'll be appearing for "Me and Mine" on Monday, but here's a little sneak preview of our girly shot!

The orchards are beautiful... and nearly ready... by the end of next month, these apples will be fresh for picking and my parents-in-law will pick a good few tonnes and ship them off to be turned into delicious apple juice!

It was so lovely to have my parents with us... to be able to share this special place with them. The girls loved having both sets of grandparents on hand!

And when we reached the bottom of the orchard. We all just paused and were a little bit awestruck by this view...!

In the afternoon, we were joined by the wider family for coffee and birthday cake... cousins, second cousins, cousins once removed, Uncles, Aunts and Grandparents. It was wonderful to see everyone, and Ava was perfectly happy to be the centre of attention!

She was just so thrilled with her birthday cake... thank you Bestemor!

 

Ava spent the afternoon playing with her cousins and second cousins, and enjoying all her birthday presents... (look at the concentration!)

When she rolled into bed, she wrapped those little arms around my neck and said she'd had a lovely birthday... and when I asked her what had been the best thing, she answered in the typical four-year-old way...

"Getting all my lovely presents!!!"

Snapshot Norway: My Little Cherry Pickers

For generations, Dave's family have farmed fruit on this little peninsula. It is fertile soil, fed by the fjord and perfect for growing every fruit imaginable. These days, it is mostly apples and pears, with a few other fruits thrown in, but back in the day the farms were rich with row upon row of fruit trees and bushes. It's a legacy that the family is proud of...

My in-laws farm apples and pears, but just outside their house are two cherry trees. Each summer, when we come back, they are ripe for picking, and there are two little girls who love nothing more than to stuff their little faces with fresh cherries (leaving their clothes stained bright red... We've learnt from experience! This year we pick and THEN eat!)

It's a little mini picture of what their grandparents spend weeks doing in the early autumn. Picking and gathering in a year's worth of work... Pruning and checking and testing until they are ready!

And let me tell you, there is nothing that tastes so good as a ripe red cherry, picked straight from the tree!

 This little wild and windy cherry picker will vouch for that!

  Yum!

In other news, we've heard that our own apple tree was ripe for picking last weekend, and my lovely parents spent Saturday harvesting our little crop!

Alł ready for autumnal apple baking...

I can't wait!