Sunday 10th October 2010

Another very proud mommy moment today, in fact a day literally rammed packed with proud mommy moments.

Phil and I left early this morning to make the 1 hour drive to Hastings where he was part of the Haywards Heath Rugby Football Club team taking part in a Rugby festival there. My boy played his heart out and I found myself standing on the edge of the field yelling and screaming in support.

As the Tighthead Prop, my boy was integrally involved in the scrum and lineouts and the team never lost a single one, even in the matches which they ultimately lost......I am not sure that Rugby will necessarily become a great love of Phillip's but he certainly had an absolute ball today and came off the field grinning like a Cheshire cat at the end of his four matches.

Friday 8th October 2010

Saw the doctor today for my first baby appointment - check out the baby's blog to follow his/her progress.

Tuesday 5th October 2010

On Sunday I found out that I am finally pregnant with our much longed for baby number 4. It has taken time for me to decide whether or not to blog the news until I have had my 12 week scan but at the end of the day, this is my journal, the story of our lives and if the worst should happen and this pregnancy comes away then I am probably going to want to journal that as well.

By my calculations I am about 4 weeks along so still very very early days, but as I have had three successful pregnancies in the past I am feeling very positive about this one. As yet I have had no morning sickness and apart from some flu last week have been feeling very well. Seeing the doctor at 9am of Friday to get my referral to the Maternity services and start discussing my elective caesar.

Si and the big children are delighted with the news and names are already being discussed and decided on. Another BIG step forward in our lives.....2010 has certainly been a stellar year for the Robertson family;

Wednesday 29th September 2010

Wednesday mornings I spend with Kerry, come rain, snow, sleet or sun we curl up on my couch and chat, we talk religion, sex, politics, you name it we have or will discuss it and it is a morning I simply couldn't live without.

Since arriving in England I have been blessed with meeting the most incredible women, both in person and through my blog, and each one has added to my already rich circle of friends, bringing with them their own flavours and amazing personalities. I count myself lucky every single day that I have this sisterhood, this group of ladies who get me and care about me and even if they don't get me still love me :0).

This morning I woke up with a tight chest, sore throat and nasty dry hacking cough, but as I type I feel healed, buoyed up by friendship. Kerry has kept me company and distracted me from my bugs, Kirsty arrived with dinner for the family and I have had countless offers from friends to take Nick for the day. I have received get well messages from all over the world and this outpouring of love and support over something so minor has really blown me away.

So to all my girlfriends......THANK YOU!!!!!

Saturday 25th September 2010

Megs and I went up to Crawley this morning for some girl's shopping time and came home armed with 3 short sleeve t-shirts, 1 long sleeve t-shirt, 1 hoodie, 1 sleeveless cardigan and 2 scarves all for £35, so we were very pleased with our purchases and very proud of ourselves for finding such great bargains. It was a really fab morning as we get along like a house on fire, we laughed and joked and walked around arm in arm - this is what having daughters is all about and makes all those hugely hormonal moments worthwhile ;0)

Spent a lazy and uneventful afternoon at home before Si and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful evening and go to our local wood to do some bramble berry picking. England at this time of year is really very beautiful and it was fun to be out as a family ambling along enjoying the wide open spaces near to our home.

That is something we have so enjoyed about living here, although the gardens are generally speaking very small, the parks and public spaces are so wonderful that it more than makes up for it and we have found that we can live a surprisingly active outdoor lifestyle if we choose to.


There seemed to be a special kind of magic in the meadow this evening as the children literally ran and played for hours, must be something about long lush grass and air so frosty it makes your nose run.

Such a special end to the day.

Wednesday 15th September 2010

Today Phil came home from school to tell us he has been selected for the Maths Enrichment program for year 5. There are only 8 children selected from his grade to participate based on their acumen for the subject and they will spend an hour a week working on more complex maths problems and experiencing accelerated learning. Proud mommy moment :0)

Weekend 11th & 12th September 2010

Saturday morning started with an appointment for a wedding I am photographing next week. I must confess to some trepidation as this is my first wedding and something I tend to shy away from, but the groom is Kerry's uncle so I am sure everything will go absolutely fine.

Spent the remainder of the day between the bank and a property we were viewing (but more about that in another post) and then joined my dear friend Catherine and her boys first for KFC at theirs and then for fireworks in the park for Haywards Heath Town day.


This our third year at this fireworks display and it never disappoints - the smoke was a bit heavier this year then on previous occasions as the wind was blowing towards us and quite strongly but the show was spectacular as always - to see more photo's of the fireworks click here


Unfortunately despite the ear muffs Catherine had given him, Nick was still completely terrified and spent the entire time with his head buried in his father's neck, but apart from that it was enjoyed by all and Nick Nick wasn't too worse for wear by the end.

Sunday morning saw an early rise as Phil had his try out session for Haywards Heath Rugby club. Some of you may remember that he started playing Tag Rugby for this club when we first arrived in England but didn't continue for very long as he found the rules so different to what he was used to and didn't really enjoy it very much.


Needless to say Sunday's session was very different and Phil's fearless nature resulted in him quickly proving himself as a very proficient tackler - he came home filthy dirty, with an aching jaw and blisters on both feet but with the widest smile I have seen in a long time. Spent the afternoon working whilst the kiddies played and watched telly and Si alternated between his mag in the sun and his x-box 360......just the way a lazy Sunday afternoon should be.

Wednesday 8th September 2010

Finally both children went back to school today and by all accounts it was a good day for both of them. Megs worked exceptionally hard last year and it seems to have paid off as she has been streamed in the upper streams for all her subjects and as a result benefits from sensible children with the same work ethos in her class. She has been selected to study Spanish this year and is continuing with French so by this time next year I am going to have a trilingual little girl - how cool is that.

After dropping both children at school I was off to the laundromat to do my weekly washing and whilst sitting there I found myself thinking that life in England is not easy.....it is wonderful, challenging, safe, satisfying yes, but easy, most definitely not.

The English women work incredibly hard and much of it is physical labour, hunking washing around, carrying groceries up stairs and spending literally hours ironing clothing and that is without pumping your own petrol and putting air in your car tyres. I simply don't know how these super women also go out and do a hard day at the office as well, most of my friends are high powered career woman who commute to London during the day.

I can honestly say that I have NEVER worked as hard in my life as I have since I have been here and at night I literally flop onto the couch exhausted at 9.00pm after finishing all the daily chores. The upside is a tremendous sense of satisfaction at what I achieve EVERY SINGLE day and nicely toned bicep muscles and a tight ass without ever setting foot in the gym ;0)

For posterity thought I would record my day today:

07.15: Si woke me up as he left for work (definite advantages to the 08:45 school start)

07.30: Dragged myself out of bed and into the shower after morning cuddles with Nicholas

07.40: Sit Nick down for his breakfast in front of Peppa Pig

07.45: School lunches ready for packing, fortunately the kids completely see to themselves in the morning so all I have to do is make lunches

07.55: Kitchen counters all wiped and disinfected - floor swept

08.00: Sort laundry into "whites and lights" and "colours and darks"

08:15: Hunk two black rubbish bags of washing down two flights of stairs to the car

08:20: Change nappie (roll on potty training) and get Nick dressed for the day

08:30: Left to drop Megs and Phil at school

08.50: Arrive at laundromat and hunk aforementioned bags inside (after picking up clothing from the pavement in front of the laundromat when one bag broke)

09.20: Laundry all finished, hunk two even heavier bags (laundry now wet) back to the car and go back to collect Nicholas who is waiting patiently in front of the washing machines

09.30: Arrive at the library to change books and take Nicholas for story time at 10:00am

10.30: Left Library to drive out to the local garden center to buy huge plastic buckets to carry washing in future (tired of picking clothes up off the floor in front of laundromat)

11.15: Arrived home and carried now sleeping Nicholas up 2 flights of stairs. Returned to car for first heavy bag of laundry....returned to car for second heavy bag of laundry (remember the tight ass lol)

11.40: Finally finish hanging smalls on the clothes airers and take big stuff back downstairs to hang on the washing line

12.00 - 13.00: Lunch hour ;0)

13.00: Clean and disinfect bathroom while Nick sleeps

13.30: Nick wakes up and needs lunch - play for an hour

14.45: Leave to collect Megan and Phillip from school

15.30 - 17.00: Homework and preparation for school the next day while processing a photo shoot from Saturday

17.00: Start making dinner

17.30: Clean and disinfect kitchen counters

17.30 - 18.30: Catherine and her kiddies round for tea

19.00: Shoot to Sainsburys for some essentials

20.00: Leave with a mate for a MUCH needed night out

So so different from my life in SA, I simply do not know how the working ladies do it, especially those like Kerry who have multiple jobs to worry about - I stand in awe, but I am HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

Monday 6th September 2010

It never rains it pours.....after a perfectly lovely weekend spend predominantly with the Viljoen family, Megs started complaining of a tooth ache and by last night was unable to sleep with the pain. Needless to say I had only just settled her at 11.30pm with 2 neurofen, 2 paracetemol and 1 asprin when Phillip came downstairs to say he had just vomited.

Grief, where did this all come from? How did we go from perfectly healthy a couple of hours before to this madness? Spent a very restless night between the two, with Nick waking at 5am and refusing to go back to sleep thrown into the mix - poor Si looked like a zombi today when he left for work.

Outcome, Megs needs a root canal treatment on her tooth which will begin tomorrow at 11am and Phil is not allowed to return to school for at least 48 hours after his last attack which was at 6am this morning. The boy also has to have a long awaited tooth extraction tomorrow - the mind boggles ;0)

Thursday 2nd September 2010

The holiday is officially over and my Phillip was back to school today for his first day in Year 5 - WOW, how the time has gone. He seemed very happy with everything on his return this afternoon so lets hope this year is going to continue in a Stella manner.

Megs had her first "ladies" haircut today as she is over 12, complete with massage chair during the wash and as many cups of hot chocolate as she could consume during the appointment. She thought she had died and gone to heaven and has made me promise to take her back every 6 weeks for a trim, which is INFINITELY better than having to beg her to brush her hair every morning ;0)