Running

Just a quick blog while Ben is still asleep: he's been sleeping an hour and 20 mins already (he usually sleeps about an hour) so there's not enough time to start doing anything, but I'm also aware he could sleep another half hour or so possibly, so thought I'd come on here for a while.

I have started going running with a friend from church and I am doing quite well if I do say so myself. I used to go running every day (except Sunday of course) on my mission and really enjoyed it. I was on my mission when the 30 minutes of exercise rule was started and was diligent in taking the time to keep my body fit. I saw numerous benefits for my health- being able to stand up all day on Temple Square with sometimes only one 30 minute break is no mean feat!

I have decided that I have been given such a wonderful gift. I lost a lot of weight before becoming pregnant with Ben, then a little more during the first trimester. Since Ben was born I lost the baby weight extremely quickly and was back into my normal size 12 jeans two weeks after the birth. I was eating anything and everything I wanted and a LOT of it, but breastfeeding seemed not only to make me an eating machine but at the same time to make the fat seem to drop off. Three months later I was almost back to the same size jeans I was when I returned home from my mission (UK size 10, US size 6: I know it doesn't sound amazing but it's small for me), without any of the effort! Sadly my breasts look set to never recover (of course this is due to having a child, nothing to do with breastfeeding), but everything else is looking very trim if I do say so myself.

Anyway, having seen how some of my peers have struggled to lose the baby weight I have decided that I need to show my appreciation for this gift by making an effort to keep myself this way. I do enjoy exercise on my own terms, i.e. I love cycling and running, but I very much dislike the typical girlie-bonding types of exercise (yoga and aerobics spring to mind!). I'm quite a private exerciser, I suppose. Anyway, I think I have found a great running buddy. She's a hard worker and fun to talk to. She also sets a good resting/walking pace, whereas I'm better at setting and maintaining a good running pace.

After our second run I'm really enjoying it, and I didn't pull ANY muscles this time! I'll keep posted on how it goes.

Walking, work and cuddles

It's been an exciting few weeks! Ben has been learning to walk! I can't believe how quickly he's progressed. To be honest, I am totally astounded by how brave he is. At the beginning he fell over a lot of course, but he just keeps trying. He's started to climb a lot now too, and he'll fail and fall over and over and just keep trying. It's really funny to watch, but also just makes me feel delighted that he has learned so much.

I have got to know him so well over the past few months. It's really special to be able to enjoy him and not have to battle with pain, depression and misery! I had such a hard time the first few months, in many ways, but things seem to be settled now. I have discovered that I have a very sociable boy. He loves to be around people and often goes walking around in the park chatting to everyone and giving them smiles. He's also really funny, trying to make me laugh or copy him. He is very affectionate, but saves all his cuddles for particular times of day, which makes them very special. I am surprised by how different he is to D and me, and yet he really fits in to our family well. I thought he'd pick up on how we are and be similar, but Ben definitely came with his own personality! There is no one like him. He's just brilliant!

Those closest to me know how much of a struggle I've had with deciding whether or not to go back to work. I was due to go back about a week ago, and I thought for a while about returning part-time (only in my job, part-time means 4 days a week which I think would have been too much for us, so it wouldn't have worked anyway). However, the day that Ben started crawling was a turning point for me. I suddenly realised what I could have missed! And since then, seeing how much confidence Ben has when I am there to catch him or give him a cuddle has really confirmed the decision for me. When he is sad or frustrated or triumphant I WANT TO BE THE MUMMY! I don't want someone else to be the one he goes to when he needs comfort, and I don't want it to be someone else clapping their hands when he succeeds. Being a full-time mum is hard work, but it's MINE!!!

Since I last posted, one of my sisters has got married and two of my sisters have become pregnant, so lots of change for our family. I'm excited for Benjamin to have some more cousins close to his age. Seeing my sisters battling morning sickness is not much of an incentive to starting another pregnancy myself, despite the subtle and not so subtle suggestions of everyone who knows my sisters and me! I am finding the frequent questions about when we are getting pregnant again rather rude, although not particularly annoying. I just find it amusing that people think it's any of their business (and I usually tell them so, which has produced some great reactions!). I don't feel in any hurry, probably because D and I are likely to only have two children. When the time is right I'm sure we'll know it is, and we will be even less likely to discuss it with the plebs :)

My little giant

Just thought I'd update with some pictures, since Ben is changing so quick. He is now in 3-6 month clothes (which is right for his age) but having just bought them I have realised that they seem likely to only fit him for another couple of weeks! He's only 14 weeks! He is chubby but so tall; the same size as a 6 month old in our ward. It doesn't bother me in the slightest, expect that I really like the clothes I bought!

He can hold things now...

...which makes it easier to bite them!


Polar bear!


We went to Ikea today with Grandma Bec to look for cots, but I couldn't find one there that goes high enough so that it doesn't hurt my back when I lift him out (he's so heavy). So the search continues...

Shoebox appeal

We had a Relief Society meeting today packing up shoeboxes to send to Africa. It was really fun! It really reminded me of the lessons we have where you hear about the Restoration sisters providing real relief to people when they were sick or working on the temple or something. We don't seem to do a lot of that these days, so I think it was a great idea. We did about 10 boxes in the hour we met during the day, and there were still loads of items left to be packed. There's an evening session too so I'm sure there will be lots more.

Ben was a little star- he was all cute and smiley, flirting with the ladies while we were working. Then when we broke to eat he fell asleep and didn't wake up until I had just placed the last piece of cake in my mouth! Perfect! He's getting bigger, such a cutie.

Westonbirt Arboretum

About a week ago we went to the Arboretum (which is not the same as an abattoir) with Benjamin. I love it there so much! I was hoping to upload some pictures to show how beautiful it was with all the autumn colours, but it's not letting me upload at the moment so I might have to put them on another time when it's less busy.

The Arboretum is where Dave and I got engaged, so it's a special place for us. It sounds a bit cheesy but I found it really moving being able to share that special place with Ben, even though he was asleep the whole way round! We've been back there a couple of times since we got engaged but being there with our little boy was just so meaningful to me. Like the start of a new era again.


Dave looks good with a pram :)


Look at this amazing red tree- I can't believe something so natural can be so red!


The bridge!


I took this picture of Ben when we got home- he likes sucking his entire fist instead of a thumb or a dummy (pacifier). It's kind of cute; it's what I get to hear in the middle of the night when he wakes up to be fed so you'd think I wouldn't like seeing it, but I do :)

It was our first proper going out somewhere day out for our family, so was very cool. It'll be fun when he's old enough to look around and enjoy things. Can't wait to take him to the zoo!

The joys of vaccinations

Ben had his first vaccinations yesterday and I thought I'd got away so easy! He only cried for about 15 seconds after they jabbed him (in both legs at the same time!), then settled immediately when I got him in a cuddle. So I was like, cool, that was easy. Last night wasn't even that bad: he woke up once more than usual but went straight back to sleep after a short feed. This morning, however, I barely recognise him! He's been screaming constantly since about 6am, only taking a break to feed (which, thankfully, he seems to want to do every hour or so). Poor little man!

I thought a lot about whether I wanted him to have the injections, because I don't want to just do things to him because they are expected or because the doctor said, and eventually decided that I wanted him to have them. I'm not having second thoughts, but I'm shocked by how traumatic it seems to have been for his poor little body. I have to keep reminding myself that it's so much better than him having one or several of those horrible diseases.

I know vaccinations can be a contentious subject, but I really believe that God has facilitated science to help us to overcome some diseases to balance out the fact that there are so many new afflictions these days, like cancer and severe allergies. I mean, maybe people were dying of cancer 500 years ago and doctors just didn't know what it was, but still, imagine how much less funding/time there would be for researching it if we still had to deal with epidemics of polio, tetanus etc..

Well, hopefully Ben will be more cheerful when he wakes up. I'm going to try to cut his nails while he's still sleeping!

My first ever blog

Well, check me out, I'm starting a blog. I thought it would be fun to have something of a record of my life, now I have Ben and things are getting interesting. How long I am able to spend on it will depend on the baby of course :)

Not a lot happened today- I went to the supermarket and looked after Ben at home. We had a really nice day though, with not too much screaming. Ben's had pretty bad colic since he was about 2 weeks old, so it's hard work sometimes- yesterday was a nightmare! But he's been fine today other than throwing up a few times.

This isn't very interesting so far.... Oh well, hopefully I'll improve as time goes by. I'll put some pictures up if I can work out how!