Welcome to the family James!

Well, I did cave in the end and we have a brand new edition to the family; a little hamster!

The kids debated over various names for the best part of Saturday afternoon and evening after we picked up the little fellow at lunchtime. Eventually, they decided on “James”.

I must admit he is exceptionally cute and has been spoiled rotten with a lovely house (not going to call it a cage as it would really not do it justice) and scrummy foods he likes. The kids are on a rota of James jobs, so hopefully it will teach them a lot of responsibility.

Surrogacy Intrigue

Hey everyone.

Thank goodness I am feeling much better today and even managed to eat a little something last night without any nasty repercussions!

Did anyone catch the program “Addicted to Surrogacy” on Channel four the other night? Although I missed the program when it was on television on Monday night, I did Sky plus it and watch it yesterday while feeling a little unwell.

I found the whole thing very interesting although slightly dark and I am still somewhat confused about how I feel about the whole issue. I think really I find the whole thing a bit unethical, as there are so many poor children in the world desperate for loving homes to go to that it seems to me that adoption is a much better path for couples who are unable to conceive themselves. On the other hand, I have been so lucky to have four natural births and I now have four wonderful, happy and healthy children, so it’s never had to be a concern of mine. The whole issue is so complex really, it’s hard to get ones head around. I am quite certain that had I not have been so fortunate in my ability to conceive surrogacy is not an option I would of considered however, I can’t really put into words why not, but I don’t think it is for me. We talked it over as a family last night over dinner as I think its good to discuss issues like this with the children from an early age so that they can form their own informed opinions on such matters. The children however see things in much more simple terms than myself and simply see the surrogate mother as a nice lady helping some other mummies and daddies out! Fortunately I had my March issue of StoryBox to help me out when it came to the more biological questions the children asked about where babies come from (the dreaded question)! They now have a great basic understanding of some important issues concerning pregnancy and birth without having the concerns of the more complex issues that go along with it.

Anyway despite my own concerns regarding the darker side of surrogacy I still wish all people out there who are involved the very best of luck as like I said before I cant really judge as I have no idea how I would feel if I was told I was unable to have my own. Being a mother is the most important thing in my life, and I couldn’t imagine that being taken away from me. In some people when this does happen I suppose its not too surprising we see some fairly extreme courses of action.

Eygypt Perhaps!?

Hello everybody.

Fresh snow here may mean another weekend of being kept indoors! Fortunately all of our Bayard books [storybox.com] have arrived for February so the children will be kept happy indoors when they have tired of snowball fights and snowman building!

I’m really impressed with the DiscoveryBox coverage of Ancient Egypt too; it really looks fascinating I might have to steal it myself! Plus it talks about a Female Pharaoh and explains how unusual this was as women rarely had such power. I think it’s really important for the children to understand about sex differences in equality over time so they can really appreciate how lucky they are to live in a free world. Plus I know that Ancient Egypt is on the curriculum at school so this will really give the kids a head start and engage them by making learning about this topic fun!

Eygypt on holiday? - how exciting

You know I have always fancied going to Egypt and seeing the all the wonders there like the pyramids. I have heard it is very hot and thought before that the younger kids might not enjoy it, but perhaps I shall discuss with Michael saving up and making it our holiday destination!
Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Pony adoption

Hello all,

Well what a lovely weekend in the West County we all had. Michael couldn’t make it unfortunately as he was called into work last minute-grrrr! But the kids and I had a great time, despite the weather being pretty miserable on the whole.

It was lovely seeing my sister, Jenny, as we don’t see each other as often as I’d like and her kids, Maxwell, 7 and Reuben 10 are just adorable. They have grown so much though, which the visibly squirmed at when I said this. Ha ha, what is it about becoming ad adult, that you always say to kids “oh haven’t you grown since the last time I saw you?” Of course they will have grown, that’s what kids do! Anyway, I said it and they hated it-what can you do eh?!

Jen also told me the great news that she’s pregnant again!!! Well I knew already obviously, I’m her sister, but she’s 13 weeks now so I’m officially allowed to tell people. Apparently this week, the baby starts developing its fingerprints. It’s just such an amazing growth process and I’m so excited to be an aunty again.

Anyway, this pregnancy meant she couldn’t join me and her hubby in a bottle of wine after the kids had gone to bed, but we had a lovely long catch up all the same. She just watched us get steadily merry which must have been pretty annoying for her.

On Sunday, with a raging hangover, we all went to Horse World as planned and it was lovely, of course. We fell in love with a beautiful little pony which we just had to adopt. Well when I say we, the kids weren’t too bothered, but I insisted that we did. It’s fab, you pay £15 for a year and you get a certificate, six monthly newsletters, a car sticker, half price admission to Horse World and an invitation to your horse’s birthday party!