Car relief

I'm still alive!

The car stress is now over, and we are left now with only the residual money stress! In the end, I managed to get the price down on the parts a bit, so we went for the 'getting it back on the road' option. We are now legal for one more year, and hopefully won't have to shell out much more in that time!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have just had an hour and a quarter with all three asleep. Miraculous! Its a bit like getting three cherries on a one-armed bandit...it's only rarely that they all stop spinning at the same time!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I took all three on my first solo flight this morning, up to the shops. Libby spent a happy hour alone - cleaning, obviously...

It wasn't too bad, except Joshua needed to wee twice before we got there, and Bethany (who was the 'walker' on the way back), had severe trouble (despite being female) walking and licking her lollipop at the same time. She kept getting stranded in the middle of the road, because she had to stop for a lick!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As an antidote to my fairly grumpy list of complaints some time back, here's a list of things that warm my cockles:

• Bethany, when she's just woken up and is all quiet, still,warm and snuggly on my lap (as, incidentally, she is at the moment)
• Libby - pretty much all the time, but especially when we've just apologised after being grouchy to each other
  
• Joshua's effusive, genuine and unprompted compliments
• Caleb, when he stays asleep after I've put him in his cot
• When I've managed to turn a particularly unkempt set of accounting records into a sensible set of accounts
  
• When our own month end accounts show a surplus (I know, its rare, but it has happened!)
• When a blog entry comes out on the page just as funny as it was in my head (OK, I know, that's even rarer!)
• Caleb's fuzzy head
• Free stuff...any free stuff (did I mention, I found a perfectly good set of car mats in the Grundon at work yesterday - that even eased the pain of the cheque I'd just written!)
• A cup of tea, when you're desperate for one after a long day
• Sun
  

That's all I can think of for the moment. That's 4 more than my negative list, so I guess I must be a positive person overall!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caleb continues to grow, and no longer fits in his 'newborn' clothes. [Apropos of nothing, Joshua was exactly three and a half yesterday - no cards came though...]

Where was I. Oh yes...Caleb. He was exactly 9lb on his due date (which was 8 days ago now) - which I believe is a smidgen over 4 kilos. He now has the traditional Simkins-baby cheek pouches (a la hamster), and his neck is fast becoming a thing of the past. Obviously the cheeks translate into the tummy, because he slept from ten 'til one, in his own bed, last night. It deteriorated after that...

I think he needed to fill the tank again.

I'd better go now, as I have competition for the computer. Joshua wants to do 'something on Big Bird'. [http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/cartoons/sesamestreet.html for those who are interested].

Car stress

Today I am stressing about my car. Last week it failed its MOT, and therefore, by next Monday I have to:

a) spend extortionate amounts of many to keep it on the road, with no guarantee (or even expectation) that I won't have to do the same next year (or even next month)
b) spend exortionate amounts of money to get it back on the road, and then sell it, probably for a net profit less than if I...
c) scrap it - which would break my heart, but would probably cost less in the long run, and would be a lot less stress.

Of course, the downside of c), is that I would then need to replace it [we would just stick with the Fiesta, but for the fact that we can't fit in it {and I might have to cycle to work!} Which would cost even more extortionate amounts of money. But then, it would be a capital investment - not just pouring money into the toilet - and I would get a new car!

Unfortunately, the extent to which I can spend extortionate amounts of money is limited, and therefore it might just be a new car, rather than a better car. Our needs are simple - 3 distinct and separate back seats - each big enough to take a child seat, and with a three-point seat belt; reliable; and cheap to run. Also not too old (I mean, say, 7 years or less) and not too much mileage (maybe less than 80K). And for less than (say) £3K - depending on the current value of the endowment that we'll have to cash in.

We shall see...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside of the world of stress, Rachel (Libby's other sister) is here for the week. She is also stressing (but not about my car, strangely enough), so its a nice relaxed household! Caleb continues to grow (9lbs last Thursday). He hasn't caught up with Kalia yet, but give him time. We've been thinking about it, and as he was three works early, and Kalia was a couple of weeks late, she actually has five week's head start, so he's not doing badly! At the rate he eats, I'm surprised he's not 9 stone by now! [I think its mostly on his cheeks!]

Caleb has brown eyes! This seems to have happened a lot quicker than with the other two. Once again, the baby starts off as a Simkins. If he's anything like the other two, he'll be a Jones before long!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good news! Child benefit has gone up! We are now getting an extra 86p a week! Every little helps! (Incidentally the tax credit claim has gone through (and money has started 'pouring' into the coffers) - the child benefit claim has yet to be acknowledged, which is kinda worrying. I may have to investigate).

I must go now. We're watching Fahrenheit 9/11, and its hard to concentrate on while writing! I also need to take over the ironing, as Caleb is feeding...again...

Apologies

Sorry for the lack of blog yesterday. I think it may be come a more common occurrence. I was somewhat reprimanded yesterday at work for not taking enough responsibility, and so my timetable yesterday looked like this:

• 5.55-6.45: Holding Caleb on my chest while Bethany endeavoured to push us all off the bed

• 6.45-8.00:
  
• Feeding Joshua and Bethany
• Cleaning the filter and tray on the washing machine
• Putting on the washing
• Making Libby's coffee and breakfast
• Making my lunch
• Cleaning up kitchen
  
• Dressing Joshua and Bethany
• Having a shower
• Getting dressed

• 8.00-8.30: Driving to work (including making some notes for a future course for work in the process)
• 8.30-13.00: WORK
• 13.00-14.00: Lunch 'break' - preparing the family management accounts for February (NOTE: we made a surplus - second time this tax year!)
• 14.00-17.30: WORK (including meeting with managing partner - not good)
• 17.30-18.00: Driving home (Radio 4)
• 18.00-18.15: Making tea
• 18.15-18.45: Eating tea
• 18.45-19.15: Bathing Joshua and Bethany
• 19.15-19.45: Washing up
• 19.45-20.00: Putting Joshua and Bethany to bed
• 20.00-22.00: WORK
• 22.00-22.15: Going to bed (including winding Caleb)
• 22.15- : Sleep (on and off)

So no time for blogging really! (or a quiet time, or exercise, for that matter)

Today I am doing this in my lunch break, my first 'work-based' blog!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I shall take this opportunity to comment on my brother's posting of 1st March (English) [or 27th Feb (French)].

I have to agree that a newborn baby cries only because it has some material need that requires fulfillment (usually feeding from looking at Caleb) rather than because of any innate 'sinfulness'. However, from experience, it is not long before original sin rears its ugly head, and the crying becomes a weapon to assert the child's will. It's amazing how soon a small baby gets a mind of its own and is fully insistent on imposing it on its parents.

The reason that parents/parenting manuals recommend (I guess) leaving your child to cry in certain circumstances is that you need to get them in to a sensible/survivable routine before they get to this stage. The child will get to a point where they push boundaries, but if you have them 'brainwashed' into your way of thinking, it will be much easier to stick to your guns, and get them back on track.

Having said that ("the theory"), I have to admit that "the practice" is that Caleb has spent about two 'night' hours in total in his own bed! I think its something to do with being so tired by bedtime that you've got no energy for 'the fight'. In addition, when you've got two other sleeping children, you are much less ready to allow the baby to scream themselves to sleep (not that that's much fun at the best of times).

With Bethany we didn't want to wake Joshua, so we pretty much let her stay in our bed whenever she whimpered. The result was that it was getting on for two years before she would go to bed without a fuss, and sleep through [actually it might have been less than that - you'll have to check with Libby].

Ben says "I don't think that there can be such a thing as an excessive amount of holding your baby". I know what he's saying, but that only works if you don't have anything else to do. If you are mid-job, and your baby is crying (especially if you've dealt with all the usual suspects,) I don't have a problem leaving them to cry.

As to getting "irrationally angry" at your children - get used to it! I think its partly a result of tiredness, and partly (at least in my case) subconsciously seeing too much of yourself reflected in your kids. Praying for patience is the only cure I've found. [It doesn't necessarily give you more patience, but it distracts you for a while!]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OK. My soapbox is starting to creak, and my lunch break is running out. Time to go and do something more productive!

Anniversary

For the romantics among you, it is twelve years to the day since I proposed to my wonderful wife!

[She said yes, in case you were wondering {thinking about it, she actually said "Are you sure?"}]

I was...

And I still am, which is even better!

In celebration of the event, I will now leave my blog, and spend some time with my wife (watching ER!)