38 Weeks Pregnant

38 weeks and 2 days pregnant with Podling Number 4

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"A portrait of my children once a week, every week in 2014"

 

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The Nursery

It still needs a few finishing touches, but the nursery is pretty much finished! I was on a very tight budget for the nursery, so managed to put this together for less than £15. We were very lucky to be given the cot for nothing and my parents very kindly bought the chest of drawers as a 'new baby' present for us. Everything else are things we had anyway, or things I have been able to make very cheaply. I am still on the lookout for the right lamp at the right price, but I am ever so pleased with how the nursery looks and feels. I like to just go in there and sit and enjoy it. It won't be long until its little occupant will arrive now and it feels wonderful to know that the nursery is all ready.

The picture above the chest was a cheap frame I bought in Home Bargains and I simply filled it with Beatrix Potter characters I printed off the Internet. The pine chest of drawers is a generous 'New Baby' gift from my parents. They even bought a load of new terry babygros and little vests to put in them. Is there anything sweeter than clean, white little baby clothes! Thank you Mum and Dad, I love them!

I made these pictures for Lily and she has generously allowed the new baby to have use of them

A pretty Wedgewood plate hangs on the wall above the cot. This hung in the room when it was Lily's and she has kindly left it in there for the new baby to enjoy.

The picture frame was an extravagant 50p from a local charity shop and I printed an image from The Tale of Peter Rabbit from the Internet to put in it. The Wedgewood plate was a childhood present from my Godfather. I used to have a little cup to match it, but I used to let the children use it and unfortunately it got broken.

This pretty little fabric plaque was an eBay find

Tom's Christening shoes, hung up with crochet lace.

I put this wreath together last night. When I know whether the baby is a boy or a girl I will add a blue or pink ribbon accordingly.

The cot canopy isn't actually Beatrix Potter, but it does have lots of little bunnies in clothes all over it. Emma had it on her cot and I think it looks sweet in here too.

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Good Friday

 

We were blessed with glorious weather on Good Friday, so Mark packed us up a lovely picnic and we set off to find somewhere to enjoy it. We had originally planned to head into North Wales, but our car radiator sprang a leak, so we settled on somewhere a little nearer to home. We enjoyed our picnic in the sunshine and the Podlings had a great time running around with their daddy. I was feeling exceptionally pregnant and somewhat fragile that day, so was content to just sit and watch my favourite people.

 

With it being Good Friday, Mark thought it would be appropriate to stop off and see the Sandbach Crosses on the way home from our picnic. The two huge stone crosses are thought to date from the 9th century and depict scenes from the bible, including the nativity and the Crucifixion. Originally painted as well as carved, they now dominate the market square in Sandbach.

 

 

 

 

Love this photo!

36 Weeks pregnant (and not feeling my best here)

The Anglo-Saxon stone crosses in Sandbach, Cheshire

This carving on one of the crosses depicts the Crucifixion

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"A portrait of my children once a week, every week in 2014"

 

 

Pretty as a Picture

 

All dressed up ready for her best friend's birthday party. She was particularly pleased with her hair that day. Lily has very long, very thick hair which means we can have a lot of fun playing with it. For her friend's party, she requested that we plait her hair and then twist it into a bun. We finished it off with a flower and she looked as pretty as a picture.

Room for Two

After much anticipation and a great deal of hard work by the Podlings' uncles, the girls are finally sharing a room! They are so thrilled! Mark's brothers came round one Saturday morning and worked tirelessly to move all the big furniture around so the girls' wish to share a room could be fulfilled. Mark's Mum and Dad had been helping me for days to organise the play room and move things out of cupboards and the whole move was very much a family affair. I am so grateful to everyone for their help, since I am finding things all rather difficult in my somewhat enlarged state!

I had a lot of fun making it a proper little girls room. We were on a tight budget, so there are still a few things I would like to do to finish it off. I am really pleased with how it has come together so far. The girls both have matching floral duvets and flower sprigged bed canopies. Lily already had her canopy and I had a bit of trouble getting hold of a matching one for Emma as they have been discontinued (they were made by Gisela Graham if you are interested). I finally managed to track down an online store that had one left in stock. A few other little details and the room is acquiring a bit of a fairy garden theme. It is so pretty!

So far so good, we haven't had any major fuss at bedtime (though there is a great deal of talking!) and Emma is actually spending  more time in her own bed and less time in ours, which is definitely a good thing! I look forward to being able to put the finishing touches to their room in due course, but for now we are all very pleased with how it has turned out. Now to sort out the nursery...

I made the rose wreath for Lily's room a few years ago. The exquisite hand-knitted dress was made for Lily by a friend of the Podlings' Great Auntie Mary. Both girls have worn it as babies and it is just too pretty to hide away in a drawer, so it hangs on display in their room.

Sister dolls! The little wooden nightlight was made for Emma by her Great Uncle Keith. Each of the Podlings have one.

Emma's dress up clothes hang on hooks behind the door for easy access. The tall bookcase holds various of the girls' sundries, as well as a selection of our vast collection of children's books.

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