Halloween and another admission

This time it was me....back home now minus a gall bladder!

I haven't been blogging over the last couple of months because with one thing and another I never seemed to get a moment to log on.

Hoping to get back to blogging more regularly, but we are trying to get our new house ready for entry by mid December and desperately wishing it is ready by christmas eve.

CHAS has some photos of Ayla on www.chas.org.uk please pop over and follow the challenge santa link

Hope everyone has a great week

We're back ....

For the last 3 weeks we have been with Baby Girl in hospital. One of those weeks was spent in Yorkhill ICU, the others in Forth Valley Royal Hospital.

I can tell you that when you see your precious girl stop being able to breathe for herself, it is THE most scary thing you will ever see.

Thankfully we were in the right place, as opposed to being on a flight to Turkey - which had been booked for that day!

So, holiday cancelled, hospital food tolerated, Ronald McDonald house appreciated, Nursing staff and Doctors admired and baby girls recovery amazed at!

Something to bear in mind, the next time you drive through a McDonalds....the odd change you get back from a £20 can just as easily be thrown in the charity collection basket at the counter. Having somewhere to stay through that awful time was a blessing.

Thankfully for her 14mth birthday we were at home recouperating, all of us ..... another blessing!

WOYWW 172

Well, Tuesday night and I can't believe that my desk hasn't been touched since a fortnight ago. That was the last time that I had a chance to pop over to Julia's to sneek at peek at everyone else's workspace.

I need to start tidying my desk so that I might have a chance of crafting on it. It looks more like an unloved dumping ground at the moment. Most of my work-in-progress lives in a bag at the moment. That is because on Wednesdays I beat a hasty retreat when the carer comes in and I escape to my local      
craft shop for a few hours of retail therapy and crafting me-time.

So I hope to drop by a few blogs this evening, why don't you join in the fun.

cut and blow dry

Everything I do just now seems to be at a single pace.......FAST!

That is the speed if it relates to something that I want to do. I was at the hairdressers this morning. I booked 5 min prior to going in. Unusually for me I had 2 shampoos and a conditioning, and there was a sneaky wee head massage in there too.

I joked with the hairdresser, that I can have a shower and wash my hair in the time she took to shampoo! I wasn't joking.

Admittedly, that doesn't apply to the footmuff from the previous post. The fabric for that hasn't even seen the light of day since purchase.

Do you speed your way through the day? Or are you selective like me in the things that lurk at snail's pace?

foot muff

Going to try my hand at some sewing in the next wee while. Bought some black fleece material to make a foot muff for Little miss A's new buggy. It was only £5 so doesn't matter if it goes wrong...but watch this space.

Thankfully I found a premade one locally, in black. So at least she won't freeze while I get my finger out. To be honest, I dont really know where to start so I'm putting it off. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

holidays should be relaxing...

Well, that is a good theory. For this trip however, I'm not holding much hope. We have booked to go to Turkey in October. We won't have any carers there, it will be hot and bright and I don't know how she will cope with either.

We booked with our local Thomas Cook office, and I have to tell you I am so glad that we did. The ladies there have been marvellous. It has been stressful already, but they have been a great support.

It would appear that we need to provide our own portable oxygen concentrator for the flight. (done)
We need a variety of stuff to be detailed on a doctor's note. (done)
Her meds need to be in small bottles, apart from a couple (done)

Do you think I'm mad? I can tell you.... every night that is my mantra... (must be off my head....must be crazy....what am I thinking....) but after her grandfather passed a couple of months ago I realised that it was an opportunity missed forever. Mr K's family still haven't met his only child. That just isn't fair, for either of them. So, the flight is booked and everything that I can prepare in advance has been prepared. I'm hoping that I get to the other end and wonder what the fuss is all about, but I'm thinking I'll just be so knackered  I will be happy just to get Little Miss A safely there and safely back.

Actually, I'm trying to not think about it too much or I might just frighten myself out of going at all.

WOYWW 170

Can it really be wednesday again?? Join the fun over at julia's.

Not much on my workdesk at this time of night, sitting watching LittleMissA as she is a bit poorly so taking the opportunity to do some well deserved bloghopping.

Hoping for some inspiration. My SIL got some fab photos of the kids for her birthday, I want to do some LOs but they need to be suitably impressive...so no pressure....

A completed LO sits for the moment - filling the gap whilst inspiration is lacking.

have a great wednesday.

WOYWW 169

Well how did it get to the end of August without me blinking? That's how it feels anyway.

Another Wednesday show and tell for Julia's band of merry crafters. Join the fun here.

This week has been the end of a busy fortnight for me. Mr K came back for Little Miss A's birthday and stayed for a whole 10 days. Ofcourse that threw my crafting schedule into utter disarray. I did however manage to get a little crafty thrill on her birthday when i opened this from Twiglet. Isn't it the most gorgeous thing you have ever seen, just perfect for my perfect little angel!

So on my workdesk today were these pages. Only a few of the myriad of photos that were taken on the day....

Sorry about the rubbish quality of the photos. will try to take them again tomorrow in the daylight.

Rachel House had arranged cake and a lovely banner to help us celebrate her 1st birthday. I truly am blessed having such lovely friends and family around me.

woyww 165

another week of snooping and drooling at other crafters' work desks lies ahead if you join in the party at Julia's blog.

I've managed another couple of layouts this week, but still got lots to do.

The rubons didnt show up against the cream background so i inked the area where i wanted to have them before placing them. Looking at the second page I think I might go back and put more butterflies.

Has any scrapper actually got to go and hunt for a photo to scrap? Or are you all like me and have so many still to do that you feel that you will never catch up with yourself?

Planning her 1st birthday party for 18th. Anyone got any ideas for amusing 10 kids?

WOYWW 163

Well another blog hop starts over at Julia's.

Today I thought i would show you some of my missing in action craft stash. Actually, the stash isn't missing. It's in Turkey ...... I'm missing the stash!

My DH keeps bringing me little bits every time he visits, which isn't frequently enough for me never mind for bringing my stash back to me.

Quick post this morning as Little Miss A is demanding some of my attention.

Looking forward to popping in to see everyone. A little crafting sunshine on a yucky summer day makes me smile.

WOYWW 161

My workdesk has moved to 2 bags and a folder of photos.

Sorry the quality of photo is a little bit poor - used my phone camera for speed. Under the photos is a box of card candy. My project from the weekend. various tools and bits and bobs that i think i might need later today.

I'm off to play this morning....sorry I mean seriously create......at my friends shop. Actually, I try to do this most Wednesday mornings when Little Miss A's carer comes in for a few hours. It is the time that i get to do something for myself. Yip, you've guessed it...I'm doing my 2 favourite things today...crafting and blogging for WOYWW.

If you want to join in the what's on your workdesk wednesday fun pop over to Julia's blog. It's easy to join in the fun.

WOYWW 160

Another Wednesday, another WOYWW....and as i completely missed last week because Toots was poorly I am typing frantically to complete this post so that I can play along this week. This is my desk as of this morning.

Not really done much crafting, well not since the craft fest that was GJWHF in Perth at the beginning of the month. I have been working hard to complete some of the part finished layouts that i have sitting in my album

A wee photo of some finished layouts. I will hopefully be crafting this weekend if all goes to plan. The last couple of weeks have not gone to plan, hence the lack of me participating.

This was part of a workshop in my local craft shop. Not my usual style, but I love the funky colours.

The other double layout in the same pack included a card as one of the main images, again not my usual style but when you see the card you'll understand.

Hope you are having a good old nose around blogland. If you are wondering what we are banging on about go have a look at Julia's blog and join in the fun.

10 months and going strong

Well my baby girl turned 10 months today.

I love this photo of us that Simon Harbisher took of us at Rachel House last weekend.

I can hardly believe that she is still with us, and for the moment going strong. It has been a long road and very emotional, but i am starting to look forward to what the road ahead might bring and trying to think of experiences that i can give my gorgeous girl.

smart phones are not so smart

particularly when the touch screen isn't working.

I am having a time and a half with my phone. Not only has my handset died a blackscreen death, my DH has went off to Turkey with my o2 sim card.

Thankfully I have an old Orange Pay as you go, but the o2 sim card and my experia handset have all my current numbers and text messages in them!

So, I have been telling all my friends to get in touch via email. Not the handiest mode of contact but will have to do until i can get all their numbers so i can transfer into my other phonebook! Wouldnt normally call myself a luddite, but oh for a good old fashioned phone book just now!

progress

Well, there wasnt much crafting going on when the carer came in yesterday. Instead Mr K and I went out for lunch and then did a bit of shopping. Mr K duly reported to Mum on our return that he managed to persuade me that he could buy Little Miss A some clothes.

It is not that I dont want her to get new clothes, it is more like I have so many clothes for her that I tend to rotate the same ones over and over again because I cant face digging through the drawers for anything else. As a result there are some lovely things that she has hardly had on her back. I hate when that happens. I am actually lucky with some of my favourite clothes because she has had loads of wear out of them. She is only just getting into 3-6mth clothing now. This is what I call progress.

These are all the sizes that Little Miss A has now grown out of. It has been hard work over this last 9 months....but SOOOOOOOO worth it to see her progress.

WOYWW 156 and charity night

I can hardly believe it, last night our charity night for CHAS raised just under £2000. A massive thanks goes to Simone, my Sister in Law, and Karen my crafty mentor (just out of the pic)

Little Miss A picking the first raffle ticket

I have to thank all those WOYWWers who sent me cards and items to sell. You were all very generous with your crafted items and we could not have done it without you.

all the donated cards from our generous crafty friends

The work desk today??? Well, another part of yesterday that made the whole day special was that it was my first birthday as a Mum. I got 2 cards from my 9 month old daughter. Amazing really.....I don't know where she got the time to go shopping.....I also received many crafty things. So today, I get 4 hours when a carer comes in to watch Little Miss A, and I get to go to my favourite crafty place and play with my new stash.

It is also my sisters birthday tomorrow so I will be working on her card and voucher wallet (brill tutorial on canny crafter's blog here).

Apologies for not getting back round to everyone that left comments on last weeks post. It is still a piece of work in action, just slower than i would have liked - but i will get to you all.

If this post leaves you wondering what on earth I am blethering about pop over to Julia's and you can find other desks just as intriguing.

woyww 155

It is only 6 days until our pamper night. My desk, my room and even my Sister in Law's salon Beauty Matters is becoming a bit chaotic with all the donations being stored. We have already had a great response to the cards that we are selling in the salon. This is just a small selection of the cards that we had donated.

If any of our lovely ladies want to send some cards to support CHAS please send them to me at the following address:

Caroline Johnstone
c/o Beauty matters
65 Main Street
Sauchie
FK10 3JT

Many thanks to Julia for allowing me to make the request on WOYWW. If you want to see other crafty desks drop by her blog and prepare to lose a couple of hours.

9 months today

Can you believe it..... I have hardly drawn breath....and now it is 9 months on. How did that happen? One of the Rachel house (CHAS) team had a great phrase. She said that time with Ayla evaporates. How true.

Scary but fabulous. I have loved being a mum to this little bundle of joy.

 

Hope you have a great weekend

WOYWW 154 and CHAS

On my workdesk this week is a batch of Hunkydory toppers that are destined to go on some charity cards.

My team mate on UKScrappers sent me a set of 10 cards to sell, and a fab RAK bundle of crafty bits just for me :-) I have the coolest teamies!

To explain: on 29th, my SIL is organising a charity Ladies Pamper Night for CHAS . There will be beauty therapies and stalls and most importantly cake with a cuppa while the lady from CHAS does a little presentation to raise awareness.

To celebrate my birthday, which is the same day, we will be taking little miss A for a browse of the stalls before I treat myself to a couple of 15min therapies.

For those who know us, we are regulars at Rachel House. We love it there, it is such a happy place to build precious memories. Can't believe how time has flown. Little Miss A will be 9 months on Friday. She wasn't meant to last a week!

We are still collecting cards to sell. Those that dont sell on the night will be taken to the CHAS charity shop in Kinross for them to sell.

Well, a mammoth post for me - trying to catch up cos i am so rarely on the PC at the moment. Hope I haven't bored you too much. Just incase you want to browse some more desks....

Pop over to Julia's to see other workdesks this week

I'm hoping to get round a few blogs over the next couple of days as I have been a little out of touch over the past few months, and my nose is getting the better of me.

have a great wednesday.

easter sunday

We all had a lovely day, of sorts. Actually I had a lovely day watching the kids decorate their eggs. I bought some shrink sleeves. Thomas the Tank for the boys and some Pink princess ones for the girls. Then of course i had to buy 20 eggs upon which the aforementioned sleeves were shrunk!

It was a wee bit precarious with a 5yr old and 3yr old wanting to do the shrinking, but with a soup ladle and me guarding the pot of boiling water.....all went remarkably well....until we realised that the shrink plastic sleeves were protecting the egg shells from breaking. Still, not to be outwitted, my niece did her own version of rolling the egg (aka smash it to smithereens on the nearest wall).

Little miss A pretty much slept through the whole thing. I did sneak a crumb of chocolate flake onto her tongue during one wakeful moment, as I didn't think she should miss out on the whole easter egg thing.

Daddy's home

and all is well.......well....... it is a bit chaotic actually, but we love it.

Daddy misses his little girl so much when he is away that he dotes on her when he is back. Of course that means my routine is thrown out the window, as is her sleeping regime! The worst bit is trying to get her back into it when he is away again and I am on my own at 3...4...5 am. LOL!

For the last 2 weeks we have had a head cold, but what an achievement not to have had to go into hospital. I am convinced that it is all down to the removal of the nasogastric tube. She now has 2 wee nostrils to breathe through. The tube almost took up an entire nostril it was so wide. When you think about it, the top of your nose isnt very big at all, so that is what I'm putting it down to.

Not much crafting going on but I did get to a scrapbooking day at my local craft shop on saturday. Took little miss A with me and the ladies all doted on her. I was a bit nervous about disturbing their crafting fix, but they assured me that she is welcome back any time, lol.

Last month went in a blur

I just realised that the previous post was a month after the last one that i wrote. That might lead you to think that not much was happening in the domain of Little Miss A. How wrong you would be....

We had a really traumatic month. At the end of Feb we were in Yorkhill for emergency bowel surgery. We only came to realise just how serious the situation was when the surgeon came out after the  operation to tell us that not only was it a success, but that we couldn't have waited until the morning for the surgery. Bearing in mind the surgery only started at 2am, it didn't take long for us to realise just how close to the edge we had come.

We didn't know if the surgery would have a detrimental effect on her because of her Edwards Syndrome. Taking the decision to operate at 11pm was difficult, but thankfully we made the right decision for her.

We spent a week in Yorkhill, staying at Ronald McDonald house which was just across the road. It is a fantastic place, it made living in a big city that bit easier. So, if you ever use the drive through at McDonalds please think about dropping your change into their charity tray. Small change....big impact.

We have been home now for a fortnight. I'm glad to say she is doing well. The silver lining in all of this was that they put in a gastrostomy for me. That is a feeding tube directly into her stomache.

I can't believe the difference.....she no longer....

• needs oxygen 24/7
• has continual reflux
• vomits through her nose when she does actually vomit
• has lots of wind
• has difficulty taking enough milk

Don't get me wrong, that nasogastric feeding tube saved her life.....but the surgeon who put the stomache tube in for her gave her back quality of life.

So, I guess that is why it took me a month to post the last entry....but what a month it was!

Mothers Day at 7 months old

My first ever Mothers Day. I am thrilled that I have her with me today, I am so pleased that we are at home for today.

This was sitting in her cot waiting for me this morning, propped against her shoulder. Isn't it lovely.

I saw a quote on facebook yesterday that one of my friends had tagged about daughters being the most lovely gift from nature. can't find it now, but i have to agree.

To all the Mums out there, and the mums to be....have a blessed happy mothers day today.

My hands are full, my heart overflowing ... 6 months on

We are building a cuddle monster
She goes cross-eyed when she is about to fall asleep
She loves to kick out on her changing mat when getting her bottom changed
Her favourite position is in my arms but not horizontal - that would be too much like I was going to put her to sleep. Instead she wants to be sitting on my wrist, leaning backwards facing me at chest height.
When she smiles my heart melts....

WOYWW 141

well, it is a bit late but this is what was on my workdesk yesterday. It is taking me a couple of days to a couple of weeks to get layouts done at the moment, depending on little miss A.

Pop over to Julia's to see other workdesks this week

I'm hoping to get round a few blogs over the next couple of days as I have been a little out of touch over the past few months, and my nose is getting the better of me.

thanks to elizabeth for the award. I will get it all done the next half hour i get on the laptop

a couple of layouts

well, my little girl keeps me busy but I couldn't resist this photo of my nephew in a pirate hat. I used free papers from scrapbook magazine and DCWV cardstock.

I also managed the last weekly challenge on UKS about a woman and achievements.

A big hello to my latest follower May. I hope you enjoy the read of the all too infrequent posts. I promise to try harder.

i love january

This month has been quite eventful for us but i cant help thinking that it all just goes to adding colour to a great month.

I have heard several people bemoan the fact that we are indeed in JANUARY!! I cant help it, I love January. Here are a few of my reasons:

• It has the longest night followed by the knowledge that the nights start getting shorter from here on in.
• It is a brand new year, full of endless possibilities
• All the crap in last year has been and gone
• My baby girl got to see another year
• You can put up your new calendars

So, do you agree? Or am i destined to be alone in my appreciation of this month?