3 years! I can't believe that it has been three years since the birth of my Grumpinator Blog! What a journey we have been on together. Last year I did a round up of the year so I thought I would do the same this year. Thank you so much for supporting this blog by visiting, reading and commenting. Although I love writing, it just wouldn't be the same without an audience so thanks to all my readers!
January
In January I wrote a post about John Connor's toddler tantrums and the trials of being a working mummy. This was the month I found out I was pregnant so I was quite tired and ill for most of January. John Connor has made the months fly by during this pregnancy as I have been too busy dealing with him to focus every aspect of the pregnancy.
I wrote about the trials of being pregnant. I don't do pregnant very well, it's really not enjoyable and I am glad that I will never be going through that again now that our family is complete! Both my boys were worth it though!
April
This month saw me turn 30! Geez I feel old. I was so incredibly busy in April that it was the only month this year that I didn't actually manage a post! I was jetsetting to York with one of my best friends and to Benidorm for a hen weekend. It was a fab month and I was totally spoiled by friends and family. My husband took me to the Caledonian Hotel in Edinburgh for the night (a bucket list dream of mine!) and it was just perfect. I was too busy living to blog and I don't feel guilty for that!
It was also a month of extreme lows. My grandfather passed away, the first death in my immediate family and my friend's mum passed away the same week. It was a very emotional time for my family and I couldn't have got through it without the love and support of those around me.
I think at some point I should back blog this month because at the time it was just too raw.
May
My dear husband joined the 30 club. I posted this blog post about my JC's conversation skills. He has a really good vocabulary and was/still is obsessed by dinosaurs. I wasn't sure what to tell him about great granddad. He has an interesting take on death as you can see from the video here, brings a tear to my eye. This was also the month of successful toilet training!
June
I wrote one of my most honest and raw posts in June about the fakeness of Facebook It certainly got the attention of my facebook followers and is the post I had the biggest response to this year. It was a pretty quiet month, getting sorted for my busy summer ahead and tying up loose ends at school.
July
July saw me bravely go on two holidays abroad (Gran Canaria and Czech Rep). We had a fab time and it was lovely to spend some quality time together as a family of 3. The only post I wrote this month was a post about breastfeeding. Funnily enough, someone on my Facebook page found this photo highly offensive so just for their benefit I'm posting it again . . . Enjoy ;)
August
August saw my little Grumpinator turn 3 and start nursery. I was starting to gear up for the new arrival in September. In preparation I wrote a birth plan. It did actually all go to plan, just not as quickly as I would have liked!
September
I gave birth to my second beautiful boy, Jamie Alexander Douglas McLean. 10lb 8oz of gorgeousness. I didn't manage to give birth to him on Friday the 13th, missed it by a day! I think his blog name should be Laid Back JBoy because he is so calm and chilled!
October
It was a pretty eventful birth story and it has taken me a while to recover from it. I am still dealing with issues surrounding the birth. I spent most of October in a haze! I'm dealing with PTSD from my post partum haemorrhage and I still don't like going in the shower. 3 months on and I'm still getting flashbacks, I'm hoping I can deal with that this coming year. November
I wrote about dealing with colic, bottle v breast and post natal depression. For some reason it seems to have a grip of me again but I'm getting there! I'm working through my anxieties and worries and I know there is a brighter tomorrow. It's even more difficult this time round as people look at me like I'm crazy. With John he was such a needy baby that everyone could understand my low mood but Jamie is so chilled that people question how I can possibly feel down. I know all this but I'm not in control of my emotions at the moment. It's like living with a black dog constantly circling round my ankles with it hackles up. I am trying to tame him.
I really wish that I had blogged about our Elf Buddy who stayed with us all of December as he was so entertaining! Another back blog I think!
It's been some year! I haven't blogged nearly as much as I would have liked and I hope to remedy that this year. I hope to have a bit more time to blog when Jamie starts playing more and needing less of me in the coming months. I'm not making resolutions this year but I am focussing on two words . . .
I haven't taken part in Listography for a while but I have missed it! This week it's a reflective post on my Top 5 Achievements in 2013. It's been a busy year!
1. Biggest achievement was giving birth to a 10lb 8oz healthy boy with nothing but gas n air and hey, no stitches, need I say more!
2. I've survived a year in a new job role which entailed moving councils and working across 2 schools. It was so the right decision for me. I love my job and I've made some really good friends within my workplaces.
3. I purposely didn't make a resolution last year to diet as that never ends well for me but since giving birth in September, I've lost 3 stone and dropped 2 dress sizes. I have done this through eating clean, healthy, dairy free food and regular exercise. I'm very proud of myself and I look forward to continuing next year.
4. I successfully managed 2 summer holidays abroad with a husband who was in a moon boot with a broken leg and an over excitable 3 year old, all whilst heavily pregnant!
5. We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We have been together since high school and it was probably seen as one of those 'it'll never last' relationships. But it did and it continues to. It hasn't been easy but nothing worth working for ever is. He thinks I'm an over the top drama queen and I think he's a selfish arse at times but we know each other inside out and still love each other so that must count for something. I've learned a lot about successful love this year and I think that first you need to find love for yourself, I'm still working on this.
So it's been a productive, hardworking and emotional year. I'm looking forward to watching my boys grow over the coming year and I'm hoping to do a bit of growing myself. Watch this space!
Hop over to Kate's blog for a catch up and other Listography entries ...
Friday the 13th might be unlucky for some but certainly not for me.
I was born on the 13th and JC was born on Friday the 13th at 13.21, in room 13 after 13 hours of labour and placed in cot number 13. When I transferred to the ward, I was in bed number 13. Coincidence?
When I found out I was pregnant I did the mad dash to the calendar to work out my due date (which was originally the 10th but was later changed to the 5th after my scan). Imagine my surprise when I realised that the month of September had a Friday the 13th. When my due date was moved to the 5th, I was slightly disappointed as I couldn't see me being that much overdue.
But here I am. Entering 41 weeks and Friday the 13th is eagerly approaching. We had a wee false alarm last night. We got a little excited as I was contracting all day at 20 mins apart but nothing came of it. We even double checked the bags before bed and asked my mother in law to keep JC overnight. I woke up this morning with a sense of disappointment and frustration. I was a day early with JC so I didn't have the build up of anticipation to the degree I have this time.
The problem is, the longer I have to think about it, the more I build up anxiety and nervous energy. I am trying to keep calm and positive and push my fears, both rational and irrational, out of my mind but that is getting increasingly harder by the day. I just hope that my superstitions are fulfilled and that by Friday I am holding my baby in my arms after a safe passage into the world.
Next post will be a birth story . . . I'll keep you posted!
