Karen's Journey

Happy Birthday Jude!!! Steph and I are missing you heaps and we just know you are watching over us as we learn to be parents and bring Rachel up. I just wish we had somewhere to visit you but until that situation is sorted out, I just sit at home and talk to your photo. I am already telling Rachel all about you and what a great friend you were to her mummy and daddy! We miss the phone calls, txts, emails, visits and your way of always cheering us up and making us laugh! You are missed by so many people Jude and we all love you heaps! xxx

Happy Birthday for tomorrow Dad!!! We all miss you heaps and can't believe that it has been 4 1/2 years already since you were here with us! I am sorry that we don't get up to spend time with you more often than we do but we will bring Rachel up to see her Grandads grave over Christmas. Like Jude, we know you are watching over us as we learn new things every day now that Rachel is in our lives! I have told Rachel all about the wonderful Grandad she will never get to meet (or not for many, many years) and we talk to your photo. I miss you being there for me and always having advice for me whenever we needed it. We all miss you heaps and we all love you! xxx

Yes it is Jude's Birthday today and then tomorrow it would have been my Dad's
birthday had he still been with us. It was bad enough when it was just Dad's birthday but having them together makes this time real hard. Have spent a bit of time today just thinking of the good times we had with Jude both at work and then socially as well. One of Jude's other friends who came to visit us on Sunday suggested having drinks at her place this evening with the "girls" to celebrate Judes birthday but haven't heard anything as yet as to whether it is happening or not so have just sent her a txt to ask her if it is going ahead or not.

On to more cheerful matters, a big thank you to you all for the lovely comments and emails that you left on the recent photos of Rachel. I have just learnt how to change coloured photos to black and white ones with the photo programme we have - and some photos just do look better in black and white rather than colour! We can't believe how much she has changed in the 3 weeks especially when we look back to her day 1 photos! :)

We had a bit of a rough night with Rachel taking just over 2 hrs to settle down after her night feed and then for some reason it took me ages to get comfortable and settle down and get back to sleep and then it felt like I only had a couple of mins sleep before she woke again... but I guess I did get another couple of hours sleep but it definitely didn't feel long enough.

But this morning, she has been a total angel - going back down after her morning feed and then sleeping for THREE hours in her basinett!!! In hindsight, I probably should have gone back to bed for a wee while but the only thing I find with doing that, I just get comfy, dose off and then she tends to wake up! So instead, I got to shower, dress, have breakfast, do two loads of washing (and hung them out), vacumed, made up a couple of bottles, checked my emails, did my blog checks and a wee tidy up of the lounge. Got her up just after 11am for her next feed, and she was asleep and back in her basinett by 11.45am which is another very rare occasion! So she has been down for almost another hour but Edith (MW) is due about 1pm so no doubt she will want to weigh Rachel so she will be woken up then so must have the bottle ready for afterwards :) I keep thinking that I should do the bathroom but just don't seem to have the energy to do that at the moment so might leave that one for another day or perhaps Steph may do it over the weekend like he has gotten used to do while I was pregnant :)

Not a lot planned for this weekend, though we do have Steph's family "Welcome Summer Garden Party" on Sunday afternoon so that should be nice especially if it is a nice day so fingers crossed the weather will co-operate with us :) Am thinking that I will walk there with Rachel in the pram so that she has the pram to sleep in rather than the carseat... They are only about a 15min walk away so that will be good for me :) Steph can either walk or take the car in case the weather turns bad and we need to drive home though I guess that is what storm covers are for :)

Anyway, not much else to say - just blabbering on about nothing now... just seems weird to have this time on my hands at the moment :) Might go lay down and read my book - that will almost guarantee Rachel waking up as she just seems to know when I get comfy with my book. LOL

Hope you all have a great weekend... catch ya later