Photos and Updates

5 days old

With my gorgeous grandchildren

Roman practising his reversing skills

In our garden on Sunday, the weather was really hot and sunny.

Later that evening

Looking over daddy`s shoulder, can you see the likeness with Roman?

Roman "repairing" his car tyre with Jim`s spanner. He has conjunctivitus and his poor eyes are all swollen and sore.

No grandad, I am NOT amused!!! Do you like her pretty little pink dress?



Hello everyone,

I`m sorry I`ve been so long posting another entry, I don`t know where the time goes just lately. If I haven`t been working extra hours I`ve been at Kerry`s or she has been here. I think recently I`ve only had about an hour online per evening. Sophie is doing really well as is Kerry now. Kerry is on iron tablets which have certainly given her a boost and you would never guess she`d had a difficult c-section just 13 days ago. Sophie is getting bigger each time I see her and I can`t believe how different she is from Roman at that age. She is very laid back but so alert, she holds her head up really well and is always looking around to see what`s going on, almost as though if she doesn`t she will miss something important. Kerry is feeding her herself anymore and her midwife agreed. Because Sophie is so big she is very hungry and is now on a special formula for big babies. She sleeps really well at night and only wakes for her feeds and sometimes she sleeps through them too. Kerry is really enjoying motherhood second time around and I`m sure its because she is more relaxed having done it all before. Roman has conjunctivitus and has very sore, swollen eyes at the moment. Kerry tried with drops from the pharmacy but after a couple of days she had to take him to see a doctor who prescribed antibiotics. Getting the eye drops in is almost like a military operation. Roman refuses to let anyone put them in so he has to be held down by Slava while Kerry administers them. Its not that he`s scared of them because he laughs and runs away, its just that he refuses point blank even though he knows they are to make him better. It is just one of the things he has taken to doing since Sophie was born. He really loves her and he doesn`t say anything bad about her but his behaviour has changed towards Kerry and Slava. He`s fine with us and he gets lots of cuddles as always. I think its just an uncertain time for him while he gets used to Sophie being a member of the family after being the centre of attention for so long. He`s a happy little boy usually and I`m sure he`ll get there in the end.

On Sunday evening we took charge of Marshall, a German Shepherd who belongs to friends of ours while they go away for a few days holiday. In the past Roman was a little afraid of him being such a large, if soppy dog. This time however he spent ages playing in the garden with our friends two children and Jake and Marshall following them everywhere. It was lovely to see Roman playing with a couple of older children (9 and 6) who he hardly knows and having a great time....he`s really growing up now.

On Saturday Jim and I visited a garden centre that had been recommended to us. I only wanted to look around and see what their plants were like but, oh dear, I came away with a beautiful Japanese Maple (Acer) which cost a fortune, but I don`t begrudge a penny and will be going back for another when I`ve saved up for it. My philosophy is, I don`t smoke, drink or gamble, I pay my bills and take care of my family so I will spend my money on what makes me happy...and that of course is my garden. Jim has put up a archway across the path near the end of the garden and put heavy-duty trellis on either side cutting off the bottom of the garden from the main area. The point being that the bottom of the garden is where the greenhouse is and where I`ll be growing vegetables. I`ve planted the Acer in front of one side of the trellis and the one I`m going to buy next will go on the other side. I have so many ideas for the garden this Summer that I can`t wait for the good weather. I have so many young plants to go out once it is warm enough and I`m hoping for some beautiful flowers from them all. I`ve planted runner beans and three different types of tomatoes this year and I`m hoping they will all thrive and bear fruit.

Anyway dear friends, I`ll say goodbye for now and hopefully will be back to tell you more of what`s been going on of late. take care and I hope you are all well. Oh yes, and I`m trying to catch up on all your journals too! Bye Bye. :o)

Photos of Sophie Louise

The first photo we took yesterday when she was about 4 hrs old

She was sleeping all the time we were there this afternoon.

Roman sitting and watching his new baby sister.

Thank you so much for all your congratulations and good wishes on the birth of Sophie Louise, our brand new granddaughter. I was thrilled that so many of you have taken so much interest in the new baby, be sure that there will be many updates and photos in the future! Jeannette, I gave your love and congratulations to Kerry and Slava and of course I gave Sophie a big kiss from you...THAT was very easy! Both Kerry and Slava are very grateful to you all for your messages of support.

As you are all aware Kerry was booked into hospital for Friday. I made arrangements to have the day off work but when I arrived home on Wednesday afternoon Jim told me that Kerry had phoned to say her midwife had a cancellation (?) and had changed her appointment for Thursday. I had to change my holiday dates and I decided not to alter my journal entry so that I could surprise you with the birth announcement. It was certainly that.

After an examination the doctors decided that there was no way a natural birth was going to happen so Sophie was born by caesarean section at 11.30 on a rainy Thursday morning, weighing, as you know, 9lbs.15ozs. She`s going to be a champion at Shot Put or perhaps a wrestler laughed Kerry this afternoon, " no one will mess with her," she added...lol!

The section was an ordeal for Kerry this time. It took an hour and she felt very unwell afterwards even though she had an epidural and not a full anaesthetic. Apparently her blood pressure had gone up and her iron levels were down which had contributed to her feeling so poorly yesterday. I must admit I was quite worried about her. Sophie was fit, well and thriving but poor Kerry was completely drained.

Today however was a different matter. Kerry looks much, much better today and is out of bed and walking around. She is on a course of iron tablets and her normal healthy colour has returned for which I am much relieved. Sophie slept well last night as big babies often do. I enjoyed dressing her in her pretty pink and white babygro yesterday and I was amazed her strong she is. The doctors have said she has excellent reflexes and her head and neck are very strong for a newborn.

Roman was a bit shy of his new baby sister but he has come around today and I when he thought no one was looking he kept stroking her face really gently. He told me that she feels "all soft and warm" but he doesn`t like hearing her cry or "her smelly nappies"...lol! Hopefully with care he might not be too jealous but its something that we`ll all watch out for. He`s already told me that she can`t play with his toy cars...lol!

How could I forget to mention how Slava is with his little girl. Kerry said he can`t take his eyes of her and even though he adores Roman it seems the `little girl and her Daddy` scenario has already started. Mind you, her grandad is a sucker for little girls too, just ask my Kerry!

Anyway, after a couple of days of driving up and down motorways and not having a moment to ourselves we most probably won`t be going to the hospital tomorrow. If all is well Kerry will be going home tomorrow so it won`t be as far to drive each time. We will visit her at home tomorrow and most likely will have Sunday off to catch up with some sleep ourselves. Its been a busy few days and I think we need some rest and the little family can spend some quality time together.

Anyway, thank you all again, have a great weekend and I`ll most likely be posting with some more photos very soon! Night Night. :o)

The Big Announcement!

Hello everyone,

Just thought you`d like to know that Sophie Louise arrived this morning at 11.30 by caeasarean section. She weighed in at.........wait for it, 9lbs. 15ozs! and is doing really well. Kerry is very tired and has low iron levels but after some treatment she should feel a lot better. She is an absolute darling and Jim and I have fallen completely in love with her. I tried to post a photo but Blogspot won`t let me. I`ll be back tomorrow with a more detailed posting but for now its` been a long day and I`m tired out. Night Night. :o)

Love and Hugs

Sandra xxxxx

Latest News on Kerry

Hello everyone,

Just a quick few lines to let you know that Kerry saw the consultant today and she is to be admitted to hospital on Friday for a planned caesarean section. I can`t really go into detail why on here but its unlikely that labour will start naturally so this is the only way to go now. We`ll be collecting Roman on Thursday afternoon and bringing him here to stay with us until whenever Slava thinks best. Please think of Kerry on Friday morning as she is very apprehensive as you can expect and so is her mum and dad! I`ll be sure to let you all know when there is good news. Night Night. :o)

Monday Working Hours

I hope you have all had a nice Easter, I must say it`s been just like any other day for me though. Jim has had to work all weekend and I`ve worked Good Friday and today. Not that I`m complaining though, it was so busy at work today that either myself or my colleague were able to leave the tills all the time we were there it was that busy. Luckily the weather improved drastically today after a wet and miserable last few days, which of course meant that peoples thoughts turned to their gardens which was good for us. I eventually left work at 3pm instead of my usual 1pm and to say that Im tired is an understatement. One good thing about the change in the weather has meant that the customers were cheerful which helps when you are so busy and despite it being the 13th today it all went without a hitch. On the way home I sipped at a coffee and I munched on a hot cross bun as I was ravenous. The coffee was the best I`d ever tasted despite being made over half and hour previousand the two day old bun tasted delicious...lol!

There is still no sign of Kerry going into labour so we`ll just have to wait and see what her consultant says tomorrow afternoon. Watch this space for the next update.

I took these two photos of one of the Acers in my garden. This one is over ten years old and would be much bigger if I`d let it. At this time of the year when the foliage is fresh and new it always looks beautiful I think.

By the time the Autumn comes around the leaves will be bright red for a while before they finally fall.

Last night, or should I say the early hours of this morning a house party along the road spilled out into the street and the noise was dreadful. There were girls screaming just for the sake of it and young males shouting and swearing. There was no way we were going to tell them to keep the noise down as we would only have got a mouthful of abuse and next door has got a skip in the drive full of old house bricks, somehow I didn`t want one of them thrown through my window. I decided the only way I was going to get any sleep was to decamp to the spare bedroom on the other side of the house. Hopefully it won`t happen again tonight but you just never know....sigh.

I`ve decided not to take anymore antibiotics as they are making me feel really ill, something that didn`t happen before I started taking them. My stomach has been quite upset the last couple of days and it has been badly affecting my acid reflux causing me a great deal of pain that I just don`t need. I only have a couple of days left to take so I should be okay. My throat is fine and my voice is almost back to normal and hopefully so will my stomach by tomorrow.

I`ll say goodbye now and I think I`ve have just a little piece more of chocolate egg before I read so more journals. Take care. :o)

Good Friday Blues

Hello everyone,

Well the baby still isn`t here and by the look of things she isn`t in any hurry either. She was due on Tuesday and according to Kerry`s midwife is most likely quite happy to stay where she is, warm, fed and comfortable. Of course Kerry is NOT at all comfortable and is thoroughly fed up with her pregnancy and just wants to get it over and done with. The thing is that because of her previous caesarian section she can`t be induced the same as someone who has had a normal delivery. She has been told that if she doesn`t start labour by Tuesday she will see the hospital consultant who will probably recommend another caesarean. I have to say that she is very unhappy about this but I have told her they wouldn`t do this without a very good reason and her health and the baby`s comes first. If they say a section is the way to go then so be it. She wants to experience childbirth the natural way but I reminded her that if she had been born 100 years ago neither she nor Roman would have survived the birth as he was lying acrossways and could never have been born naturally. A terrifying thought but true nonetheless. I must confess that secretly both Jim and I hope that Kerry has the section because even if she does start labour she has been warned she is a high risk and we are both very worried.

We saw Kerry and Roman yesterday and he told us he really missed us and that he hadn`t seen us for ages....actually it was last week but I suppose thats a long time for him. He told me that he "loved me and that I`m his very best friend ever" Mind you last week he said that to Jim too...lol!

Even though its Good Friday I had to work this morning. The weather is wet and a lot cooler than it has been of late, not at all what a garden centre needs on a Bank Holiday. Mind you it hasn`t stopped a lot of people coming out and buying all they need for there gardens. The plants we are selling are especially good this year and many customers having been complimenting us on our stock and the latest layout in the plant area. I always tell them that a great deal of work goes into it to make it as good as it is and its all down to our outdoor staff which numbers no more than more that four on a good day. Most days its just two.

My own gardening efforts are reaping rewards but some of the seeds I planted have failed. We had a sale of plug plants at work and for only 80p I bought lots of them and transferred them into pots when I got home. Now I won`t have to buy any bedding plants and at this rate I`ll have lots left over. At the moment nearly every window ledge in the house, and many shelves have seedlings on them. When its warmer at night they can all go in the greenhouse and I can have my house back again. We have bought some new fence panels, some trellis and a garden arch for the garden as I`m turning the area around the greenhouse into a raised bed for veggies. It won`t be very big but just big enough to grow some nice fresh produce. As it is I`ll be growing my own runner beans this year.

The last fortnight I`ve had a really bad cough and a painful throat. I thought it was just a virus but it just didn`t seem to improve at all and by the 11 day I`d had enough and saw the doctor. He said my throat had become infected from what was most likely a virus to start with. After taking antibiotics for just over forty eight hours I feel so much better and my cough has almost disappeared. My throat doesn`t hurt at all though my voice hasn`t come back properly and is still a little squeaky. I more or less felt alright by day but at night I just couldn`t sleep for coughing so its a relief to sleep easily at last .

Anyway my friends, I hope you all have a very Happy Easter and that the weather is good to you. Take care.