Ok. Who stole the summer holidays? As I sit here writing this my kids are back at school for the first day of term and I’m finally coming to terms with the to do lists that have been growing and growing over the summer. Some days pregnancy almost hasn’t had a look in on things. There’s just so much going on in life at the moment that I’ve found myself getting really annoyed with myself for not being able to do everything that I’ve wanted to.

Busy

Busy is the main word that I’d use to sum up the last three weeks. My step-daughter has been staying with us for most of it, and whilst she’s pretty self-sufficient at 14 it has still meant a bit more to do around the house, and also her Dad being off work too. It’s always the case that trying to get work etc done when kids are around is trickier than during term time. Add into the mix getting everything read for going camping and a sudden deluge of data entry work and sleep went out of the window for a while.

Camping during pregnancy

We did manage to make time for a family holiday though and all five of us headed off to Nottinghamshire for five days of camping together. Luckily, we chose somewhere not that far from my Mum, so it was possible to take shelter at her house when the weather really turned, but the trip did teach me a bit about how different camping is when pregnant.

As well as the obvious frustration about not being able to fully do everything like get the tent up and carry stuff, sleeping on an air mattress is tough going. Even more so when the air mattress decides to empty itself on the first night. Thank goodness for a local branch of Argos and the ability to reserve things online! Even with a new fully inflated air mattress though I still found that I needed to walk B up at 1.15am to help me actually get up so I could accompany the five year old on a trip across the field to the toilet block. Still I survived.

Board and card game obsession kicks in

The kids also had an amazing time which is what matters most. It seems that this was the holiday in which they embraced board games like never before. I’ve written over on Penny Plays about how much Master C loves Snakes and Ladders and Ludo, but that’s now turned into more of an obsession. Amazingly none of them asked for TV at all whilst we were away, even when we visited my mum. Instead though the board and card games had to go with us and they insisted on playing them as soon as we arrived anywhere. I can’t complain though as we’re rather big fans too.

All this does mean that the board game buying level seems to have gone up another notch. Not something I thought possible before, but definitely preferable to them just spending all their time in front of a screen.

Top Trumps has also become a firm family favourite too. I’d forgotten how much I used to play at primary school and with all the new versions that are now out my two are trying to collect as many as possible. Long may it continue!

Popping our Geocaching Cherry

The time with all three kids also saw me finally giving geocaching a go. It’s something that I’ve been meaning to do for ages, but just never got round to. I’ll pop something up about it over on Penny Travels very soon, but it’s been a brilliant way of all five of us getting out and discovering new places.

It’s even meant the kid being excited about going on walks. Something I’ve been trying to do for years! They’ve always been fine once we’re out, but actually getting them out of the house with their shoes on hasn’t always been easy.

Pop goes my tummy!

Halfway through our camping trip also seemed to co-incide with me suddenly “popping out” around the week 28 / 29 mark. My midwife tells me it’s common, but it was literally the case that I woke one morning realising that my sleeping bag was somewhat tighter than it had been when I went to bed.

Then, that night, I realised that I couldn’t actually zip the sleeping bag up any more! Fair to say that there was absolutely no chance of disguising this pregnancy after that and also the realisation that I really do need to try to take things a bit easier now.

Back at the midwife

Our return from holiday saw the kids go back to their Dad’s for a bit and an opportunity for me to catch up on work and wedding preparations. We’re keeping things very simple on the latter, but it still feels like my to do list is just growing and growing. It also gave me the opportunity to slot in what I think was officially my week 28 midwife appointment.

With the baby moving about so much more now it’s all feeling much more real than it has done before. There’s a little person going to be joining us in just over a couple of months and I think my head is finally catching up with that concept. This midwife appointment also felt much more like the ones I had with the other kids. Practical things like measuring my bump and listening to the baby’s heartbeat along with also having more blood tests and my Anti-D jab. There really isn’t that long to go now I guess.

Looking forward I’m hoping that the return to school will mean things calming down a bit and a return to a routine for the kids. We’ve had a blast this summer, but I think they too are ready for that regular pattern of doing things in the week as much as I am.

It’s hard to believe that it’s two years since I ventured off to Tea and Tents for the first time, and boy how my life has changed since then. Back then I described it as one of the most inspiring weekends of my life and just being back in the same place and seeing how far I’ve come since then was in a way quite humbling.

The Women’s Institute has helped turn around my life over the last few years. It’s given me confidence, courage and ambition, and without it I don’t think I would have made the changes I have to my life. I realised how unhappy I was and made differences to give me and my kids a better, happier life. The WI as a whole, the experiences I’ve had there and the friends I’ve made are what made all this possible.

When I discovered that the 2018 event was the weekend after my 40th birthday it seemed like the perfect time to celebrate with some of my closest girlfriends. What I didn’t realise when I booked my ticket was that I would by then be 24 weeks pregnant. Or that the country would be in the middle of a massive heatwave.

Never fear though – with a paramedic in my WI group, plus my mum and sister living just down the road from Walesby I set off determined to have a fab time and I did just that.

Last time round I was totally disorganised (possibly something to do with the amount of gin I took with me!) but with a clear head I this time planned my activities somewhat more and even booked in for some workshops and activities before I went.

For those unfamiliar with it, Tea and Tents is an unofficial WI festival that runs over three days on a Scout camp in Nottinghamshire. With over 500 women of all different ages and backgrounds, it’s a completely unique experience that I think is one that all WI members should try to see for themselves.

There is so much on offer that even after being more organised I still only feel like I scratched the surface of what there was. But I once again came home from Walesby feeling reinvigorated and motivated in a way that I hadn’t before.

Being pregnant meant that things like axe throwing were off the agenda for me, but instead I aimed to strike more of a mental balance by signing up to a variety of craft activities. I started off the weekend by totally throwing myself into the festival vibe and making a flower crown. How else are you supposed to look when going round a campsite in your pyjamas in a morning?

I’ve never really been very good with fresh flowers, but Polly was a fantastic tutor and gave us a great workshop showing us how to form the basic crown from wore and then adding on flowers as we wanted to. Bearing in mind we all started off with very similar flowers, it was amazing just how different all the finished crowns were. But that’s individuality for you.

I booked onto a card making workshop on a bit of a whim. Mainly because I was looking for something to fill a time slot and because a couple of my friends were going. I’m so glad I did though as I absolutely loved it and came away with a couple of completed cards. It also introduced me to Stampin’ Up and I know I’ll be heading there way to order a few bits for some Christmas card making later in the year.

There were so many sewing and needle felting workshops that I wanted to do, but in the end I went for one simply titled “stitch a suffragette”. With no picture as I guidance it was a bit of a case of booking in the dark, but I’m so glad I did. Run by a mother and daughter team from Old Town Belles WI, it was quite simply one of the most organised workshops I’ve ever been to.

With pre-prepared fabric hoops and kits consisting of all the pre-cut pieces of fabric we would need to create our suffragette (as well as detailed written instructions) it really did make the process of creating such an impressive looking piece of embroidery quite simple.

The two hour session just flew past and I’m so pleased and proud of my finished piece. Another member was telling me about how she was planning to add hers to a suffragette collection of artwork and memorabilia that she had in her downstairs loo and that somehow seemed just strangely perfect.

The other highlight of my weekend couldn’t really be any further away from the stereotypical Women’s Institute image of stitching a suffragette. After signing up for a swimming session at Walesby I was convinced by some of the other women online to join them in the organised skinny dipping session. And somehow I agreed to this without a drink inside me!

Two years ago there were stories floating around the camp about an impromptu spot of skinny dipping, but this time around it was far more pre-planned. With a lifeguard and everything! Quite what made me sign up to do it I’ll never know. But I’m so glad I did.

Never before have I felt so liberated and free. Naked in an open air swimming pool. My pregnant body fully on display. With a bunch of women that I had never met before, but yet I felt so comfortable. And heck that water was beautifully refreshing when it was so hot outside.

What a way to celebrate turning 40!

Just two days before my 40th the blogging world lost one of its brightest stars. Kate from WitWitWoo died suddenly, and we were all left stunned. How could someone so full of life be dead? Kate always told us to live life to the full. Not to worry about what everyone else thought. To wear what we wanted to wear. To be who we wanted to be. The blogging community came together in a way that Kate would have loved so much.

Inspired by T from Mummy Barrow we all decided to make the following weekend by embracing body confidence regardless of our size or shape. Bloggers across the country (and around the world on holiday in may cases) showed off their swimsuit selfies on social media. She would have laughed so hard (especially as many of us realised just how damn hard it is to take a good selfie in swimwear!) but I know she would have also been proud. #BeMoreWitWitWoo has already become a mantra for so many of us, and that’s exactly what I was doing when I went skinny dipping. Take these crazy experiences that life throws at you and embrace them as much as you can.

The final message that I took home from Tea and Tents this time round was being realistic about what is possible in life. A deflated air mattress, a bad bag, and crazy temperatures meant that the camping element wasn’t the easiest of things to deal with. The final night I headed off to my mum’s rather than endure another night under canvas. Although I missed out on some time with my friends (who it seems managed to stagger round most of the campsite making friends into the small hours) I instead slept for a decent length of time, woke without aches and pains, had a loo just down the corridor when the baby decided bouncing on my bladder at 3am was a fun thing to do, and also got a hot shower the next morning. As a result I felt refreshed for my return home – and clean for once too!

camping

Pregnancy Diary – Weeks 27, 28 and 29