Weekly gratitude// Downtime and sisters

I used to join in with the Happy Days linky with Sian and Katy, then my blogging dwindled somewhat, due to having two under two. And when I went to join in again, I found they’re not running it any more. I used to enjoy looking back at the week when I sat down to write the posts, and also love looking back over past posts to see what we’d been up to. So I’m going to start writing a similar weekly post, with a round-up of our week, and all the positive things that happened – weekly gratitude.

I think it’s really good to find the positives in life. Sometimes you can get bogged down with what is going wrong, or what is tough in your life. And you forget to notice the positive things. But when you do, it makes you realise that it ain’t all that bad after all.

Half term downtime

Lottie spent much of the last two weeks of term sobbing. OK that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but she was so emotional, and just wanted cuddles. I was really worried about her at first and we couldn’t work out what was wrong. Then I realised she was just exhausted and needed a break. Luckily I hadn’t realised it was half term until she broke up, so we had no plans anyway.

So we’ve spent the week pottering about. We’ve been to the park, had a friend to play, visited nanny and grandad, spent a morning at the stables and just generally had a good slonk of downtime. And low and behold, she was like a different child in a matter of days. It’s hard with a non-verbal child when they get emotional, as they can’t even try to explain and you can feel so useless, so I’m glad I finally understood and she’s feeling better for the rest.

Toddler girl climbing through tunnel at the park, having some family downtime

Bank Holiday with daddy

I just love seeing my girls with their dad. There’s a special bond between girls and their daddies. Lottie and Frankie literally lap up the time that he’s at home, and even if we’re not doing anything special, they have the best days when we’re all together.

Watching my girls together

It’s been lovely to see the girls playing together this week. I think Frankie misses her sister when she’s at preschool, and she has literally been following her around like a shadow this week. Lottie has given her the odd hug, which has made her week, and they’ve played really nicely together.

The strength of strangers and online friends

I wrote about Lottie’s Global Developmental Delay diagnosis this week. I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction I’d get. If I’m honest, I wasn’t sure whether to share it or not. The comments on social media, private message and on the blog have been so positive and I feel a real strength and solidarity from people who are in some cases friends I’ve never met, and in other cases, total strangers. Feeling the love!

Weight loss

At the end of April (having seen holiday snaps of myself and been horrified), I decided to get healthy again. To start with, I’ve joined Weight Watchers. So far I’ve lost 1 stone 3 lbs and I feel so much better for it. I now need to work out how to fit some exercise into my schedule too. I need an extra hour in the day please.

Spring cleaning

I know it’s a bit sad, but I love a clean and tidy house. It makes me feel so much better about everything. I had a mammoth cleaning session last weekend and the house looks lovely. The tidy bit is a work in progress with little ones, but at least it’s clean.

A paediatrician appointment

The paediatrician was due to see Lottie again in July. So of course we were awaiting that appointment,now that the various others are all done, with bated breath. I called to chase it, only to be told they couldn’t give me one at all and that people due to be seen in December ’17 were being booked for August. My heart sank and I got in such a tizwaz about it. Only to get another call two hours later to offer us an appointment at the end of August. SUCH a relief. The other appointments are largely ticked off, so we can have some downtime now, knowing we have an appointment on the calendar.

Getting organised

I’m back to using my planner this week and it makes such a difference. I’m ticking off to do lists, getting shit done, and even getting a few minutes to myself to read a book.

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