2012 A Review

January was a busy month. We had a lovely weekend away in Warwickshire and managed to incorporate a trip to Warwick Castle and Coventry. I really wanted to spend a little time in the ruined Cathedral but the weather was appalling. I also bought my Nikon bridge camera and loved starting to play around with it. The most exciting news this month was a certain blue line appearing in the window on a plastic stick signifying that baby number two was on the way!

March was a quiet month for us and saw both me and Red Rose Daddy celebrate our birthdays. The day of Red Rose Daddy's birthday saw Bolton play Tottenham and the collapse of Fabrice Muamba. This was such a shocking event and so upsetting. We had the match on during our celebration of the birthday and we were all genuinely shocked. It was amazing to see him dancing on the Strictly Christmas Special and, although he can;t play for Bolton anymore, I'm so pleased he is fit, well and happy. We also made a big announcement. It turned out that, at our first scan, we were actually 15 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Sadly my mood and health weren't good and I was really struggling. I, madly, decided to give up blogging and shut myself off from the online community that I enjoy so much, a decision I really regret now! It also saw the end of Project 366 for me. A major disappointment in myself.

April saw Bud's second birthday which we celebrated with a party for family and friends at home and a huge Peppa Pig cake. We were eating that cake for about a week despite giving everyone a chunk to take home! Red Rose Daddy also found permanent work which was a relief after over a year of temporary agency work. He settled in well and passed his probation period with ease. He seems really happy in his new role. We also had our 20 week scan and decided not to find out the sex of our baby although I was convinced we would have another boy. The end of April saw us supporting Red Rose Daddy in his first marathon for three and a half years, Unfortunately the weather \Gods saved something special for the runners that day and it was freezing cold with torrential rain.Not the best conditions at all! He completed in around 4 hours, he was disappointed but we were all very proud that he had battled through the weather.

May was a quiet month with some horrible pregnancy ailments starting to take effect. SPD kicked in and I was in agony with my pelvis at times. I was also diagnosed again as anaemic. I struggled with both throughout the rest of my pregnancy. We were out in force to support Red Rose Daddy and his Brother as they completed the Great Manchester Run. RRD completed in well under an hour so he was very pleased. The last day of the month saw the Olympic Torch Relay arrive in Bolton and we had a lovely day with Bud's Grandma, Uncle, Aunt and Cousins with the various activities on in the town centre and then the arrival of the torch itself. Sadly Bud fell asleep on his Uncle's shoulders just before the torch arrived so he missed it! 

June was a really quiet month. We realised that Red Rose Daddy wouldn't get paid Paternity Leave from work as we hadn't worked out the system when he changed jobs. Our own fault, we know but we were gutted as it meant that he wouldn't have enough leave to take a final holiday with Bud before the new baby arrived. My SPD was awful by this stage too and I was very uncomfortable, we really didn't get much further than visiting family or Toddlers this month. We did celebrate the Queen's Jubilee along with the Cousins and their Mum and Dad, with a street party at church. 

July was another quiet month and was all about the Tour de France and the build up to London 2012 for us. Bud and I got a bit obsessed by Le Tour. I was really struggling with my mobility and we watched rather a lot. I've always been a fan of Cycling and we loved watching Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Mark Cavendish do so brilliantly. I wept when Bradley Wiggins finally crossed the line in Paris - blame it on the pregnancy hormones! We also realised that Bud thought that every person dressed in cycling clothes and on a bike was Mark Cavendish and greeted them by saying 'Come on Cav'. One cyclist nearly fell off his bike from laughing when he shouted it at him! One of my life's ambitions had been to attend an Olympic Games and I was so disappointed that my pregnancy meant that I wouldn't be able to go to London 2012. The same pregnancy did give me the excuse to sit on the sofa and watch it all though! I loved every minute of it.

August saw us getting ready for our new arrival. My due date was 28th August but I was determined to not have the baby until September because I didn't want to have a baby who would be the youngest in their school year. I think I became overdue through willpower alone! We spent a lot of time with Bud this month, enjoying our last few days as a family of three. Other than this we watched a lot of London 2012 - Olympics and Paralympics, which made me cry a lot. Pregnancy hormones and sporting triumph aren't the best combination for me! 

September was all about the birth of Little Miss, on the 6th, our beautiful baby girl. She has completed our family and is a wonderful baby. Pleasant, happy and sleeps well! What more could a Mummy ask for? We spent the rest of the month getting to know her and introducing her to friends and family. It took us quite some time to get used to having a little girl, we were so sure that another little boy was on the way and never expected to be parents to a girl. My parents were overjoyed to finally have a granddaughter after seven grandsons. 

We had a lovely October. The weather seemed to brighten a little and we took the opportunity to get out for a couple of lovely walks. The big news was a day at the hospital following Little Miss being diagnosed with a floppy larynx, following a bout of bronchiolitis. Bud has never had to visit the hospital so it was a very shocking and scary time with a four week old baby. Thankfully she was fine and it wasn't serious and the floppy larynx is already starting to improve. We celebrated Hallowe'en with the Cousins too. I managed to make my way back to blogging and reconnecting with the lovely people I had really missed in my time away.

November was fun. We linked up with Country Kids at Coombe Mill after a day out on the farm, followed by fish and chips for tea at the seaside! A lovely day. We then celebrated Bonfire Night with the family and my parents were delighted to have all of their Grandchildren in the same place for the first time! We did a bit of Christmas shopping and enjoyed Children in Need. Red Rose Daddy and his Explorer Scouts were on parade for Remembrance Sunday and we went out to support them at the service. November ended with some really sad news as I lost my beautiful Grandmother. 

December started sadly with my Nan's funeral but we soon got into the swing of Christmas preparations. We had several encounters with the big guy in red and welcomed Merry the Elf to stay with us for the whole month of December. Little Miss reached three months, that passed by in a whirlwind! She is becoming a real little character, feisty and funny. Our Christmas was happy and peaceful and celebrated with our close family. We were all spoiled and we had a wonderful time sharing Little Miss' first Christmas with Bud.

I'm linking this up to The Boy and Me and Yellow Days