how can i have gone so long

without posting? Since September 2015?!?

Life happens, that's how.

Ayla's second year of nursery was full of getting ill with infections. That meant more time away from school than the previous year, and more time nursing her (including over christmas). We managed another 2 trips to Turkey. Mum got sick. We adapted our bathroom and put tracking & hoist in the livingroom and Ayla's bedroom. The garden got some much needed TLC.

and I'm sure some other stuff happened inbetween then to keep me away from this blog.

On the other hand, you could say that I was spending my time the best way possible, with this little monkey magic!

I'll try not to be away so long next time
(found a couple of posts that had been sitting in my drafts so they should appear below)

halloween 2015

Decorate house....check

Buy sweets for guisers....check

Dress Ayla in costume .... check

Help nieces and nephews into their costumes......check

take group photo (so i can have fun scrapbooking it)......check, check, check, check.....

It almost caught me by surprise this year. Last year I remember more of a build up, more hunting for decorations, taking more time to decorate. This year Ayla had a school party on friday morning and then we decorated the house on saturday afternoon.

Still, we had a good laugh and a few visitors came for halloween sweets. Of course they had to have a song, or story or joke for me to get their goodies. Most were jokes. some were funny and everyone was rewarded with a handful of chocolates and sweeties.

Did you enjoy halloween this year, or did it pass you unaware?

Turkey again

We made it to Turkey again this summer.

It was nerve wracking, again. This time we only had my mum to help. With all of the luggage and equipment that Ayla needs for travel we needed a second pair of hands. Thankfully the special assistance team helped us at both airports.

We had a very different holiday. Much more sedate, no trips. Instead we stayed in the resort, apart from one 20min drive for a village breakfast on our last day.

Mainly we stayed close to home because Ayla got sick. Thankfully it was just a head cold. It still required Oxygen at night and a couple of days suctioning in the morning. But it could have been so much worse. It was scary enough having her ill away from home and the hospital staff that we are used to (and more importantly that are used to Ayla). Thankfully easyjet let us take a whole suitcase of medical equipment for no additional cost. We certainly made good use of it this holiday.

Will it stop me going on holiday with her again? .... NO
Will it make me confident at going on holiday with her again? .... NO
I just decided not to let my fears stop me from letting her experience different things and places.

A good night's sleep...

goes right out the window with a poorly girlie.

An advert running currently on facebook states that getting less than 7hrs sleep a night doubles your risk of heart attack; increases risk of congestive heart failure; slows your metabolism & makes you hungry (great combination there)

4 hrs sleep for 6 nights in a row can do the following:

impairs glucose intolerance (a sign of prediabetes)
your immune system struggles to fight infections
never mind dark circles and fine lines or decision making, concentration and memory, mood swings and headaches.

I wonder what 4 years of not getting enough sleep does to your body?

A weekend away....

... makes the heart sing.

On one of our days out to Cockenzie, we drove past the caravan park in Port Seton. Mum commented on how that was the holiday destination of choice when she was a young girl.

I wondered if I would be able to take Ayla there. It was only an hour from home. It had 6-8 berth static caravans and there looked to be some nice amenities on site. So, the plan was made. We booked from Friday 3pm - Monday 10am.

Well, that was the plan....but with all things planned in advance, Ayla often throws a spanner in the works. The weekend before we were due to depart she took ill. It was just a head cold, but with Ayla even a simple cold can be catastrophic. So, as with all our 'plans', there were some amendments to be made.

My mum and sister were still going to be staying overnight, but we would travel back home every evening so that I would have night nursing cover for Ayla. That basically means I can sleep.

The weekend was a great laugh. We went out for lunch and dinner, we relaxed and caught up on gossip, and drank lots of tea.

The highlight for me was taking Ayla swimming for the first time into a swimming pool. Of course, I had my hands full, even though my sister was in the pool with us, so no photo. I'm a scrapbooker/memory keeper so that does upset me a bit, but at the end of the day you have to enjoy life and create memories before you can document them in pictures.

The best thing about the weekend was having a base where Ayla could lie out and relax. We could just have done day trips and gone to the same places, but it would have been so much more frenetic and much more tiring without the caravan to relax in.

Some of my favourite layouts

You wouldn't think it reading back the blog, but I do have a hobby. I scrapbook. I am a memory keeper and I love it.

Some of my favourite layouts that I have created last year:

I don't create chronologically, I just see a lovely photo and pick lovely papers and get to work.

I'm hoping to start posting more of these, but it is a longer process than uploading to facebook which I can do relatively easily from my iPhone.

Hope you all have a great day xx

If I was sweet sixteen again...what would i tell myself?

I would tell me to worry less about what others thought about me.

My sense of style at that age was less defined, or maybe I wasn't brave enough to wear the things that I liked. I would tell my younger self that probably everyone else is worrying about what they are wearing and they are too busy to be interested in what you are doing. So just do what you want to do, as long as it respectful and doesn't hurt others it really shouldn't be that big a deal.

Go see places, do things now. Don't think that you will have lots of time to do stuff. Time runs faster the older you get. The more commitments you have the less you have time or money to do things.

Spend time listening to the stories that grandparents and parents tell. Make notes. I regret not listening harder to stories, not taking notes and not committing to paper what i have now forgotten.

I was nice, I was never hurtful or spiteful at that age. However, I did get myself into a few sticky situations by not following my heart and conscience. I would say to have courage of my conviction.

But in general I am thankful for all the things that have happened. I have learnt a few lessons, but it might have been easier if I had listened better.