Non-move Excitement!!

Ok, this post is not directly related to our move, but I just had to post as it is so exciting!!!

Yesterday morning, at 4am, we got THE phone call!! Please could we go over to my brother's house to look after my niece, Caitlin as they thought that Emma was in labour and they needed to get to the hospital!!  Lucie had a friend sleeping over, so I had to wake all 4 of the girls up, and get them into the car and over to their house. When we arrived, there was no doubt in my mind that she was definitely in labour - the look on her face and the fact that she was leaning against the back of the chair kind of made it obvious! lol!!

As we arrived, Caitlin (who is just 2), woke up and was crying, asking for Matt. I told them to go, and I would go upstairs to her. She cried for a few minutes, until I explained to her that we were all there to look after her. Then I started to sing to her, which I think is what clinched it - I can't sing, so I think she stopped crying in an attempt to stop me singing!!! Meanwhile, Emily, Lucie and Olivia were settling down in the bedroom downstairs and Alice was lying on the sofa, so I went down to be with Alice. Caitlin was still quite unsettled, so after I had been up to her a couple more times, Alice offered to go up. She spoke to Caitlin for a little while, then got into the spare bed in Caitlin's room and they both went to sleep!

At about quarter past seven, Matt called and said that Emma's contractions were coming pretty hard now, every minute, but he just wanted to make sure they were all ok. I said everyone else was asleep so he could relax and go to be with Emma.

He called again at about half nine and asked to speak to Caitlin. He told her that she was now a big sister, and that she had a little sister, called Lily Constance (the name Lily had been chosen by Caitlin)! She was soooo sweet! She kept rolling onto the sofa and giggling! She looked at us and told us that she had a sister! Then for the rest of the morning, she kept saying, every so often, "I'm a big sister" as if by saying it she could make herself believe it!!

I then spoke to Matt and he said that after he spoke to me at half seven, it all went very quickly and she was born about half an hour after that! She weighed 7lbs 3 oz and both Emma and Lily were doing well, although Emma was obviously very tired having had no sleep!

All four girls were so good at looking after Caitlin - they played with her, ate breakfast with her, and I wasn't even allowed to help change her nappy or anything - they did it all!! There was only one time when Caitlin asked for Matt and Emma, but the girls did a great job of taking her mind off of it by playing with her. And Caitlin was an absolute star!  She was sooooo good - she did everything she was told, played nicely and really couldn't have been any better!

Then at lunchtime, Emma's parents came down and later in the afternoon, they took her over to meet her new baby sister. We went home and I started a migraine which just about wiped me out for the rest of the day!

I spoke to Matt this morning, and they are hoping to be home this afternoon. Depending on how Emma feels and what time they get home, we might go over to see them this evening, or tomorrow.  I can't wait to see her! Matt said she has got lots of black hair, just like Emily had when she was born!!

I am a bit surprised that she is a girl as almost everyone I know has said that they thought it would be a boy! Even Emma's grandmother who is usually right thought she would be a boy!

I am so pleased that she has had her now (she wasn't due till next weekend) as it means we will get to see her quite a bit before we move, hopefully. It will be very difficult leaving both Caitlin and Lily as they will change so much between our visits. It is different leaving adults as they can speak on the phone etc, am not sure quite how Caitlin will be when we speak on skype with them, but will hopefully be ok!

Anyway, as soon as I get some photos, I will post the on here!!!

Ugh!

Ok, I admit it, I am struggling today!  Not with the idea of moving - I am still very excited about that, but with the whole clearing out business!  I have good days. when I clear lots of stuff and feel very pleased with myself at the end of the day. And then I have days like today. Although I have cleared out some of the cupboards in the kitchen (including my craft cupboard!) and taken a car-load of rubbish to the tip, I still feel like it was a small drop in the ocean of everything I have to do! 

It was also a very emotional day for the girls. Their Dad came and took them out for lunch and to say good-bye. He is apparently very busy over the next two weeks, so is unable to see them again before we go. I did think that he might come to the airport to say goodbye seeing as he only lives a little way away from it, but he is obviously far too busy.

Anyway, Lucie now has her friend staying for a sleepover (or a wake-over!), so I have decided to take a break! I bought some scrapkits today, so have to unzip them all and get them organised, then I might actually do some scrapping. I haven't scrapped in what feels like forever, and is certainly a good few months, but playing with the designs of mine and the girls' blogs has got my itching to scrap again!

Here's to a better day tomorrow!!!

Excitement And Chaos!

We are moving to Sweden on 11th September (once I have booked the plane tickets which is on my to-do list!!)  We are moving to be with my fiance, Alessandro.  We met on the internet which I know some people frown upon, but it worked for us!  We spent hours every night talking on skype/msn, and then at Easter we went over to Sweden to meet him and his family. We just got on so well, right from the word 'go', just as we had done online.

He has fab twin boys who are 12 years old, and the girls and I got on so well with them, once they had the confidence to speak in English!  They are very clever boys, speaking Swedish, English and Italian very well. Alessandro is Italian and they lived in Italy when they were younger, and so are now trilingual!

Alessandro's Mum also lives with them and seems really nice, although communication was tricky as she only speaks Italian, so there was quite a bit of sign language between us!  So, not only will be learning Swedish, but Italian too!!!

Anyhow, the removal company is booked, so we are busy clearing things out!  I have lost count of how much 'stuff' we have thrown out, and how many trips to the tip I have made! There is something theraputic about having a clear-out.  We have lived in this house for 10 years, so we have 10 years worth of 'stuff' and believe me, I am a hoarder!!! The girls are having clear-outs in their bedrooms too, and they are discovering things that they had completely forgotten about!

We are trying to be very selective about what we take, but it is very hard as I get very sentimentally attached to things!  How many pictures that the girls did for me did I have?? Tonnes!!!  So, I have had to choose which ones to keep and which ones to get rid of :(

So, I am getting pretty stressed and feel that I am going to run out of time to get everything done! But, it is also very very exciting!  Am on a bit of a roller coaster with my emotions - excitement one minute, and then stress the next!  It will also be hard to leave our family and friends, but we will definitely be keeping in touch and coming back to visit. And everyone is welcome to come and visit us (but obviously not all at the same time!!)

So, here is a map of where we are moving to- Sundsvall - it is going to be very cold in winter, with lots of snow, but that also means lots of skiing!!!

On The Move!

That's right, I am starting this blog to keep a record of our move over to Sweden, and how we get on with our life out there!  The girls and I are hoping to be over there at the beginning of September. It is all very exciting, and I have loads to do to get organised, so the next few weeks are going to be very very busy!