Poison oak

For the last couple of days, George's foot has been acting weirdly....it started with what looked a bit like eczema and then over the course of 24 hours, I thought it might be bites coming out. Then yesterday, his foot started to turn red/purple so I took him to see the pediatrician. She also wasn't sure what it was so put him on antibiotics in case of infection and gave me a steriod cream for the swelling. Overnight it got worse to the point where he couldn't sleep, was complaining when trying to walk on it, limping, you couldn't see his ankle bones and he couldn't get his shoe on. The pediatrician told me to take him to the emergency room.
The doctors told me it looks like a nasty case of Poison Oak - something I've never come across before and gave me a steriod for George to take orally.

The only place I can think of that we've been in the last week is Tilden Park (and they do have warning signs there about it), but I have no idea of how he might have picked it up there. The pictures I've posted actually don't give a true impression of quite how bad it still is.
This is the end of a mad week in which Simon was away in NYC from Tuesday to Saturday, the toilet flush broke, the washing machine stopped spinning (so I now have a huge pile of washing building up), my back flipped out (but hopefully my osteo-exercises are working on improving that), one of my milk ducts has been blocked, etcetera, etcetera. Funny though, because I could have got quite down about all of the above, but it really hasn't bothered me that much.

I'm worried about George's foot, but all the other stuff? I'm learning not to sweat it and it's really quite liberating.Couldn't resist posting this photo of Maddie sleeping in the hospital -she really is my Sleeping Beauty!

A jolly good marbling day out

With the new addition to the family, the boys don't get a lot of time with either myself or Simon lately, so we've been testing out a new way for Harry and George to get special time with either mum or dad - earning MARBLES! - the rules are:- being kind to your brother, no hitting, kicking, having good manners at the dinner table, going to bed without making a fuss.

There are other toddler-sized chores they do to help around the house and we explain that this is because we are a family and work together.

To earn their choice of treat, they needed to earn five marbles. It was tough going, but they did it in the end. George chose to go to Pier 39 to see the stinky sealions with me. We had lots of fun watching them swim up and down, shout to eachother and generally whiffing out the local area. Then I took him for lunch on the pier; his choice.

Hot dog and candy floss (or cotton candy as we now know it) that is nearly the same size as him. I was a bit worried about him eating such a huge volume of sugar - no idea why, because I used to scarf that much and more when I was younger.....but he didn't eat it, I think it was more to do with having free choice than filling his tum. It ended up as a sort of play doh subsitute instead!

We enjoyed watching this guy juggle with fire sticks and then knives - while balancing on a see saw (teeter totter - see? I'm still learning new words!).
Harry also earnt his marbles and decided on special time with his dad - they went to watch the start of this year's Gumball Rally in San Francisco. David Hasselhof turned up with Kit car, all very exciting - so much so that Harry couldn't even make it into bed when he got home, but crashed out on the floor next to the bed instead!

Lucky

I'm feeling extremely lucky right now, to have three healthy children born into a family that loves them beyond anything.
We have been blessed - I am with a great man who I love, I get to experience being at home and bringing up our fabulous boys AND to get the opportunity to have a surprise girl in the mix too is, for me, beyond my wildest expectations.
I have to keep pinching myself to remember that it is true and that I mustn't take it all for granted, and to hope that this bubble never bursts.

Fun in the sun

We had fun on a day out in Walnut Creek with Lauren, who was visiting from the UK (on a four day whirlwind tour!).

I pretended to dunk the boys into this fountain.....Harry got me back by nearly pushing me in backwards! I'm loving their sense of humour, that I have so much energy now I'm not pregnant anymore, and the fact that we can just have a lot of fun together.

This is what I need to keep reminding myself of when they or I are having a tough moment.

Me and three

Without wishing to be morbid, children are a surefire way to measure the passing of time. I can't believe Maddie is five weeks old already. My mum said that holding Maddie takes her right back to when I was a baby, because she looks just like I did as a newborn.

Having a new addition to the family is very exciting, but challenging for all of us and I think we're handling it really well so far. I'm looking forward to watching the children's relationships develop and grow, and to seeing how having a girl in the family changes the dynamic.

Maddie's Here!

Madeleine Alexandra Lily David arrived six days late - on Tuesday, June 17th at 18.13.

Weighing in at a delicate 10lbs 8oz and 22 inches long. My waters broke while I was driving in the car to my antepartum testing appointment - so luckily, I was only about three miles from the L&D wards! The labour was very quick and intense, lasting just under four hours - so quick in fact that Simon missed the whole thing and there was no time for any pain relief. She is beautiful and I'm still pinching myself that I have a daughter!

Below are some of the lovely photos that my dear friend Sivan took for us when Maddie was only two days old. My doula took a tonne of photos at the birth and I'll load some up as soon as I have them.

Art & Wind Festival

We went to the Art & Wind Festival in San Ramon on Memorial Day. They had lots of stalls with arts and crafts, food and music. There were also kite displays throughout the day and The Cat in The Hat even made an appearance. The boys had so much fun watching all the days activities and spent a long, long time rolling down the slopes while watching the kites - it reminded me a lot of sunny, summer days out with my parents when I was growing up, not spending a tonne of money on amusements but just good old-fashioned, outdoor fun.

These drummers were a big hit with Harry and George - we must have spent at least 45 minutes just watching them beat out the rhythms.

Toads new home

We are rapidly learning about care for Fire Belly Toads - we have a book, we've visited the pet shop and I am now proficient at feeding the toads live crickets without letting the crickets loose around the house (which Harry and George think is hilarious!).

They now have funky pink gravel in their tank, and a pink plant in their water. Harry's friend Isabelle, sent a beautiful painting over to the boys from England, so that is their 'scenery' when they're not basking in the water, watching us, or feeding.

Harry's new hobby is catching crickets in the garden to feed to the toads......he's pretty good at it. We've also been feeding the crickets red food - things like red pepper and carrot. This helps the toads to retain their 'fire bellies'. WHAT an education!

How much longer?

Michelle took this photo of me at Rodgers-Smith park on Wednesday - is that a pained expression on my face?!! Am 38 weeks and counting......feeling like I may never actually have this baby, although I did dream that I went into labour last night - does that count

New additions to the family...

Yesterday we collected five Fire Belly Toads from a local family who's son had outgrown them. The boys are so ready for a pet to look after, handle (with supervision...) and learn from and these are ideal because they're very low maintenance. I'm really excited to see what the boys gain from this experience.

But I did have to build myself up to buying live (yes - ALIVE!!!) crickets - to feed to the toads, euw! Harry and George went to pre-school today and I know they'll be so excited to come home and feed the toads their special dinner. I'm hoping we can do it without letting the crickets loose in the house........

Preggo at the Park

This is me and a couple of the other mums from the Contra Costa County Moms Meet Up Group this morning at the park. It was about 93 degrees and not a lot of shade here.......luckily, there was a splash area for the children to play in and for us to dip our toes in and cool off. The weathermen are predicting 100 degrees or more this weekend.

Bl**min' Blogger!

OK - I am a real technophobe, so it's amazing that I've managed to create a Blog in the first place. But now I'm getting frustrated because the majority of the photos I'm trying to upload keep coming up as teeny-tiny ones, despite me clicking the 'large' button....arghhhh!!!!!! I don't have the time or energy to try and work out why, so for now it's just going to be whatever Blogger decides to post up when I load a photo. I'll get to the bottom of it one day.......along with improving my photography/writing skills!

All growed up

Harry today decided that he wanted the stabilisers off his bike.........and he rode it straight away! I can't believe my baby is growing up.

Tahoe in the Spring

We visited Tahoe from the 19th - 26th April while my parents were visiting from the UK, to try and catch some of the last snow of the season. While there, we also celebrated my dad's birthday (and also St George's Day - 23rd April).

Tahoe really is a beautiful place.

We're hoping to visit again in the summer and check out the activities on offer.

Very excited about the bike trails and riding on the Lazy River......

Baby Shower

Maria and Sivan organised a baby shower for me on Sunday 27th April. Although this is my 3rd baby, this is my first real American baby shower, and as we're having a girl - very exciting to enjoy all the pink!

It was lovely to get together with all my new-found girlfriends, and also to have my mum in the country to meet everyone and celebrate with us.

Maria's baby girl, Ayla was not quite 2 weeks old, and she did a spectacular job of making the afternoon so special for me. There were some traditional baby shower games - everyone designed a bib or two for the baby, guess the number of M&M's in the jar (1800 - bless Terry for counting them all!), guess the size of my bump........

Everyone was incredibly generous and brought beautiful gifts for the baby, some of which Vicky hung on a washing line in the living room.

As a goodbye favor, everyone took home some sugared almonds in miniature cribs.

Maria's husband Terry made this great Diaper Cake

This is me and my special friends, Maria & Sivan with whom I have shared pregnancies, homesickness, children worries, laughs and much more over the last 10 months. I feel incredibly blessed to have met them.

Brothers

George's 3rd Birthday Party

George's 3rd birthday was back in March, but we decided to delay the celebrations until his Grandparents were in town to join us. We had the party at home and invited a few friends over for a ride on Esther the Wonder Horse, some face painting and a play on the mini jumpee. He was so overwhelmed that everything was just for him....it was great to see his excitement and enjoy the first party that he really understood it was all his!

I got my face paints out for the first time in nearly a year. I was quite rusty, but hopefully the children didn't notice!

This is Sofia becoming Superman.

This is me (with huge bump at 34 weeks!), Michelle & Sivan.