Ho Ho Ho...

December has been completely manic with parties, drinks, hard work, catch-ups with friends, nasty colds, new teeth and of course Christmas celebrations. The highlights have included meeting one of my favourite rock stars (Chad from the Red Hot Chili Peppers - see pic), catching up with our dear friend Flo and meeting her beautiful little boy Ryan, spending time with Richard + Jane and their lovely new baby Wilson, and Nick + Bron and their little chap Lucas, Christmas shopping, and a wonderful pre-Christmas lunch in Stanmore hosted by our amazingly generous friends Pam and Mike Freedman (Nattie's mum and dad).

We were lucky enough to disconnect from the chaos of London and escape to a beautiful part of Wales called Llansteffan for Christmas day. We stayed with Howie, Barney and little Hudson the dog in an old converted dairy in this beautiful, sleepy village at the mouth of the river Towy about 8 miles south of Carmarthen. Friendly and welcoming, the village has to be one of Wales' best kept secrets. We spent Christmas day wandering through the hills of Llansteffan with our beautiful baby girl and the boys. We hiked up a hill to Llansteffan castle to find that we were the only people there. It was absolutely breathtaking.... the sun was shining, the view was stunning and the castle (which was built in 1100) was one of the most beautiful places I have ever had the privilege of visiting. A truly amazing way to spend Christmas day and it was such a treat to discover somewhere so beautiful. We then headed back to the dairy and tucked into a delicious Christmas lunch which was prepared by the boys.

Little Maddie has become quite the little lady and is certainly starting to let us know her opinions. She is even starting to grow some hair, which has been a long time coming! She is learning new words every day and is looking dangerously like she is going to walk any minute. She cruises from one piece of furniture to the next with great confidence and much to our delight, she has started dancing (SO cute). We have been doing lots of family disco sessions (Simes is teaching us both his funkiest moves!). Hope you enjoy the latest pics.

Merry Christmas to all and wishing you a spectacular 2008.

A Family Trip to Norfolk

Simes, Maddie and I had a gorgeous weekend away with our friends Howie, Barney, Huddie (the Manchester Terrier) and Simon Dunstan. Maddie made the car journey to Norfolk memorable by projectile vomiting all over the back seat of the car from her car seat. Not ideal.

It was bloody freezing cold in Norfolk , which gave us the perfect excuse to cook gorgeous meals, including the most delicious roast chicken in the world, and drink red wine by an open fire. Absolute HEAVEN! Barney, who is an amazing photographer, decided to take some family shots as we all took a walk along the beautiful beaches of Norfolk. Here they are.

Lots of love to all xxx

Life as a One Year Old

Life as a one year old didn't start marvellously well for our girl Maddie. She woke up on her birthday with eczema on her cheeks, broncheolitis on her chest, a runny nose, an even runnier bottom, three molars pushing their way through her gums and nappy rash from hell! Not an ideal state to be in on your first birthday. To make matters worse, her mummy also went down with a hideous stomach virus which had me confined to bed (and the lav) for two days. Luckily Simes came through with the goods and looked after both of his girls (on his birthday!) wonderfully.

Luckily we recovered quickly and were all ready to celebrate Simon and Maddie's birthday with a lovely lunch today. I even baked a cake which looked fabulous, but tasted like a brick (cooking has never really been my thing!). Maddie was spoilt rotten and showered with beautiful gifts including a fabulous fur coat (not real fur), a Pooh Bear ride on activity machine, a range of gorgeous toys and books, a spectacular peek-a-boo bear from her grandparents, some lovely clothes, a gorgeous pear of red leather shoes, a dressing gown and a giant bear called Elliot! All those wonderful gifts should keep her happy for at least another year!

Maddie has discovered that she has the ability to scream.... really loud.... in the early hours of the morning. The only thing that seems to comfort her are cuddles from her mum, which is really sweet, but at the same time, the lack of sleep is killing me! Just when it appears that she has calmed down and fallen back to sleep, I try to creep out of the room... and the screaming begins again. I am praying that it is the new teeth that are causing the hysteria. I don't know how we will cope if it carries on for too much longer. A girl needs her beauty sleep.

I am going back to work full time as of this week and Maddie is going to be in nursery for 3 days a week and with Simes the other two days. It is going to be a killer giving up our precious girls day on Fridays, but unfortunately we need the cash and it's not easy to make ends meet in London on two part time wages. As long as I know she is being cared for, loved and nurtured I can live with working full time again.

It breaks my heart not to be with her, but I guess that is motherhood in the new millennium.

A Little Celebration!

Even though Maddie doesn't officially turn one until October 31st, she had a lovely joint birthday party with six of her little mates in Queens Park today. Her sweet little friend Scarlett (and her lovely mum Rachel) put on a fab first birthday celebration for all the little tackers who met in the baby massage class at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington. There were toys and cakes and more pots of petits filous than you could poke a stick at! It was absolute mayhem... with the mothers filling ourselves with champagne, the fathers talking about sport and the babies causing complete chaos.

The mums are a really fantastic group of ladies and I am so thrilled that we have all made it through the first year together. As we sipped our glasses of bubbly, we reflected on what an amazing year it had been and how lucky we all were to have such supportive partners and such gorgeous babies.

Our friends Richard and Jane welcomed a beautiful son into the world last week - Master Wilson Charles Fearn. They are doing amazingly well and we are absolutely thrilled for them. Seeing Jane holding little Wilson reminded me of how fragile I felt in the first few weeks of Maddie's life. I remember walking out of the hospital and feeling so incredibly overwhelmed by the responsibility that lay ahead. I had so much anxiety about everything from breast feeding to making sure that Maddie's room was exactly the right temperature. Then, when Maddie was about six weeks old, I suddenly stopped worrying and started enjoying my new role as a mum. In some ways I wish I could have those first 6 weeks back again so that I could treasure every moment rather than feeling so inadequate... but I guess every first time mum feels the same way.

Simon and I are so grateful to have little Maddie Moo in our lives. I remember my friend Sammy Blagg telling me that every morning felt like Christmas morning after she had given birth to her first baby girl Indiana... that she woke up with an excited feeling every morning because she knew she was going to see Indy's beautiful smiling face. I now know exactly what she meant.

Almost one year old... where did the time go.