Age: 7months & 1week

So it is officially five weeks and one day until Christmas and FINALLY I have put up our decorations, and I took the ideal opportunity to spring it on the family when the kids were in bed last night and Luca had popped out because naturally he wouldn’t be able to stop me. One minute it was autumn in our home and the next it is a beautiful winter wonderland! Fabulous. And I have to say it’s so cosy and festive with the twinkling lights and fragranced candles and spices I’m almost tempted to keep it up until March next year to make the most of it. I think it’s lovely for the children to catch hold of a few extra days of festive cheer, especially with it being Gabriele’s first Christmas and the fact that the shops have had their decorations out for a few weeks now and I’ve been so excited I couldn’t hold back any longer.

And no Christmas would quite be complete without a trip to see Father Christmas! When Millie finished school this afternoon we picked up her and took her to Santa’s Grotto at the local garden centre complete with a miniature Claus of our own, Master Gabriele. It was adorable walking through the wonderland together and looking at all of the scenery and story characters and Millie was proud as punch to speak to the real Father Christmas. Every years she’s always been so excited about visiting Father Christmas and getting a present but when she actually gets in the room and sees the bearded man sitting in a chair with a deep voice she bails and hides behind us, but this year she strolled straight in and asked for a magical fairy wand as you do and was extremely pleased to have a grown-up conversation with him.

I’ve had to resort to a new method within our morning routine when I juggle the children in the morning before school, as so many times now I’ve spent ages getting Millie dressed, fed and primped ready for school only for her to throw her breakfast all down her front and to tell me as we get to the school gates that she may have made a mess. But if I don’t get her ready first and decide to let her eat instead you can guarantee Gabriele will give me a hard time and make it impossible for me to see to Millie, and she will eat so slow she’d be lucky to finish her food let alone get out of her pyjamas! So out comes her tabard and the amount of mess that is now deflected from off of the front of her school uniform is a sheer miracle.

Other than being painstakingly slow at eating her food Millie has been doing great at school and is constantly bringing home ‘well done’ stickers and certificates for reading and writing. She’s our little star and I’ll need a bigger fridge to display all of her achievements soon if she carries on at this rate! We kept her home off of school for two days last week when she started to get a high-temperature and chesty cough which had been going around with all the kids, and after a few hours tucked up on the sofa watching films and lazing in her pyjamas at home it soon became apparent that she was looking and feeling a whole lot better than we thought so we decided to take her back to school. On Sunday we popped by to see Luca’s parents and nipped off to the gym whilst the children stayed to play and Millie had a McDonald’s and some treats from the chocolate cupboard whilst we were out. It wasn’t until we got back and were saying goodbye that Millie had a little cough and brought up a little saliva which Luca’s mum caught in her hand and we all looked on in shock that she’d coughed so hard to have caused it; but within seconds the room turned to carnage when she began projectile vomiting all over herself, the sofa, carpet and her grandmother and all Luca and I could do was stand in shock and stare with our mouths wide open. I’ve never seen so much sick come out of such a little girl so violently and at such speed, we’re so glad that Luca’s parents were there to wash and disinfect Millie and the furnishings because if it’d happened in the car on the way home or in her bed I don’t know where I’d have begun to detangle her from the mess and the smell.

I wasn’t sure if it was a case of too many treats or her having a tummy bug like the children from school, but touch wood, she’s been absolutely fine since.

Unfortunately I can’t say the same for Gabriele as he’s had a terrible time of it recently the poor tot. As he’s still teething he’s had the rosiest red cheeks, dribble everywhere and waking all hours of the night again. He’s also started to pick up a chesty cough off of Millie, which until today was pretty much expected for a winter cold. But now he’s wheezing and barking when he coughs and he sounds like an old man bless him, he also has a rash across his chest, which apparently indicates a virus. So we stopped in at the doctors on the way home from collecting Millie from school and were shocked when the GP prescribed him an inhaler to help him to breath better. I’ve never known of anyone to have asthma in the family so it was quite a shock to have to use the baby facemask to administer the puffs of air to help him to breathe, as he’s too young to take it straight into his mouth. He’s also having calpol every four hours to make him more comfortable and is scheduled for another check at the doctors in three days time to assess if he’s any better, but we’re to return immediately if he shows any signs of getting worse. It is absolutely terrible seeing a baby or a child ill and I’d give anything to take his pain away. I’m thankful that Millie doesn’t have a tummy bug but she’s just as chesty yet old enough to deal with it.

And I feel like a run-down goblin right now as I’ve had a sore throat for the past few days also, I’ve been sneezing off and on with a runny nose and unexpectedly had a coil fitted today at the family planning clinic when we had a bit of a contraception scare and wanted to be sure. So our day-off-together lunchtime somehow ended up with me having my womb invaded by two elderly talkative nurses as I tried my best to make small talk through clenched teeth, half naked on a plastic sheeted bed! Charming. And when I crawled to the comfort of the sofa and balled up with stomach cramps and bleeding, I had a lovely phone call from the nurse who’d just fitted my coil telling me to do a pregnancy test in two weeks to make sure I’m definitely not pregnant – and I went even whiter than I already was! I had hoped to have been at the gym this evening as is my usual routine, but I am so totally destroyed, in pain and sick that just the thought of exercise makes me want to cry and I’m curled up on the sofa in my onesie like a wounded ferret as I type.

Having pigged out big-time this weekend with a chinese takeaway, chocolates, onion rings, cheese balls, muffins, biscuits and copious amounts of alcohol I unfortunately passed out fast asleep face down on the carpet the other night when we had some friends over and I think it may have been the fried chips that I wasn’t used to and not the quadruple measure of vodka and lemonade.

I’ve been working out as usual this past week and managed to fill my entire chart which I’ve now set as my standard, even though it meant doing some extra situps on Sunday night after I slacked off earlier in the week. But so long as I get it done and every box is filled then I’m happy. So knowing I’ve been greedy but also that I’ve been doing more weights and situps I wasn’t sure what to expect. I would love to lose some weight for once, but can’t complain with my wayward ways, just as long as I don’t put any extra pounds on. Stepping onto the scales I possibly had my eyes closed for a good minute and a half as I almost nodded off before remembering what I was doing, and finally realised that this week my weight is once more at a deadlock – how frustrating! Yet relieving at the same time.

I am noticing the muscle definition in my arms, thighs and across my stomach now which is great and I think a small part of me would secretly like a subtle six-pack just because I’ve never had one and it would feel like I’ve pushed myself further than ever and achieved more. However at the same time I question why I’ve never had a six-pack and I strongly believe it’s because of my friend greed which rules out any future attempt of ever owning a two-pack even so maybe we’ll leave that dream there and move on!

And as Gabriele has been teething and ill this week, finding it hard to breath and difficult to eat as it cuts off his air supply when he chews and swallows, there is no wonder that he’s been up all hours and out of routine this week. I can’t remember how long Millie spent teething and restless at night, but I guess each baby is different so it will take Gabriele as long as it takes him. I’m so used to going without sleep now that it doesn’t really affect my day badly anymore if I’ve been up with him all night, I just put on more make-up and try to stay on my feet more so as not to fall asleep if I sit down. The joys of being a mother, I think I’m becoming part machine and I really don’t know where my energy comes from most days, although I’m totally crushed today and could do with a nice hot bubble bath and a massage but the chance would be a fine thing!

And looking at my gym routine as you can see I’ve been very good and filled every column. I’m finding it an absolute obsession to bust out a workout and de-stress through exercise as many times as I can get away with during the week as it means leaving the children with Luca or our parents if we get to go together. I think every mother should have a little bit of time to herself just to break even and have that small bit of down time away from the buzz of family life. I choose to fill it with sweat and spandex but I could imagine painting or playing music would be just as beneficial for your sanity. I love being a mother and fiance to Luca but I’ve come to realise how important that one-hour at a time to visit the gym has become to me. I feel so much better in myself for dropping my pregnancy weight and toning up and it’s given me the stamina and drive to carry on with the endless merry-go-round of running a family of four.

And after all of the calories I’ve shed in sweat at the gym, all I can seem to think of is cooking a lovely Christmas roast for the family with honey glazed carrots, red cabbage and chestnut stuffing. My mouth is literally watering on an hourly basis over the thought of having four Christmas dinners with all of the family and I suspect I’ll be eating my body weight in roast potatoes soon enough, but so long as I can wash it down with a glass of champagne and to see the excitement on the children’s faces then it really doesn’t matter how much I pig out or how many dinners I cremate, because it’s the spirit of this time of year and sharing it with those that I love that matters and I couldn’t be more thankful than I am right now for how blessed I am. x x x