Very belated blogiversary gifts

These, im ashamed to say, are blogiversary prizes from me to Michele and Juls from January 2008! Yes, nearly two years ago LOL In my defence, i had 4 winners and i sent Staci's and Nicola's within the year but then i got pregnant and i developed an aversion to stitching for months and Juls and Michele's gifts got postponed...for a while :)

I sent Michele the heart pin cushion and other goodies which you can see on her blog. That little pillow was a labour of love. I started it the night i went into hospital to be induced. Then, after my horrendous labour, i couldnt look at the damn thing again, let alone stitch on it, for months. Look, i found proof, here's me trying to stitch on it back in those early sleep deprived days. It's on my knee!

When i did finally decide i could put that trauma behind me and stitch on it again, i finished it and decided i was going to make it a hanging ornie. Then my sewing machine chewed it up and i spent hours trying to salvage it. I finally made it into this little pincushion. I hope it stays together Michele! So, when i sent it to Michele i told her this story behind this little labour of love! I wonder, does anyone else have something they cant stitch on because of a time they associate it with?

There is no such story behind the gift i sent to Juls. Although i did actually finish the stitching on it a year ago, i just never got round to the finishing until now. I sent Juls a little notepad and a selection of tea bags to go with her gift.

So if i ever decide to do a blogiversary competition again, be warned, it could take years for gifts to arrive!

Big ship came to town

The largest, the tallest, the longest, the most expensive Oceanliner was in town yesterday. The Queen Mary 2. Apparently she is the length of 3 football pitches. That's long! We were actually just heading into town and had missed all the hype about her arrival so we weren't expecting this sight. I took this on my phone as we were driving past.

Been stitching up a storm recently and have 2 finishes but nothing i can share as its for people who read this blog.

Caleb turned 9 months on Sunday! This year has flown by, probably because i was in a sleep deprived haze those first few months LOL

*Warning, more boring blogging about chores*My chore rota is working a dream. Its making things more manageable. Like instead of "clean the bathroom" which is a big job, its all broken down. Yesterday i cleaned the toilet, today i cleaned the bath and shower, tomorrow the floor etc etc. I can do that! I skip quite a few things, especially if i have a busy day, but its been a good guide thats for sure.

Sick week

Thanks to everyone offering to Christmas exchange! Im so tempted to exchange with all of you, but you might be waiting a few years for your gifts so just went with the first few folk to comment. Thank-you all! Clare, if you read this, will you email me cherylthomas3000 at yahoo dot com. I hope to do more exchanges this way throughout next year.

So, what a week. Our thanksgiving meal was amazing. My friend Emily (a Canadian living here) cooked up a feast. The best meal ive had all year i swear! DH (also a Canadian living here) was glad to have a "proper" thanksgiving. Caleb was a bit grumpy though so i had to leave early. Then by the evening he had a high fever and we were starting to panic. Caleb has a bladder reflux (which we found out after his hospital stay back in May) which means that when he pees some goes back up to his Kidneys, putting him at constant risk of infection. He's on long term antibiotics but a fever is the first sign that something is wrong again. So we were worried! Anyway, we got an emergency doctors appointment Monday morning and he put him on a stronger antibiotic and we had to send off pee samples etc etc. We havent had those results back yet. Turns out he had a throat infection as well. He was so miserable all day Monday. Poor baby. Then on Tuesday DH got sick and was throwing up every hour for 12 hours. Today, DH is better and back at work and Caleb is good too. Phew. Here's my little cheeky monkey

Christmas Exchange anyone?

Dont worry Kathy, one of todays "chores" was "take time for a craft/hobby." Do you think i did much else on the list after that? Err, no!

Just to prove that this is a stitching blog and not the most boring blog-about-chores blog, i have a finish. My first since July! Bent Creek's "January Snows." As i've previously mentioned, i'm stitching all 12 months on one piece of linen. As the chart is second hand i don't have the snaps but i do plan on buying some little buttons, this one needs some on the snowman's tummy! I'll add them once i've bought some.

I was wondering if one person out there in blogland would be interested in a Christmas ornie exhange? Im not part of any exchange groups anymore so just thought i'd ask on here.

This weekend i've got a baby shower to go to tomorrow and then we will be celebrating Canadian thanksgiving on Sunday with a meal at our friends house. Happy Thanksgiving to all you Canadians!

Motivated Day 2

According to my chore rota these are my "Daily Chores"

Make beds

Load/Run/Empty Dishwasher

Sweep Kitchen

Clean Kitchen Sink

Clear/Wipe kitchen counters

Plan/cook dinner

Wipe out bathroom sinks

Empty trash

Do laundry

Read to children

Exercise

Quiet time

Take vitamins

Prepare tomorrows clothing

Do washing up

Then each day there are additional things, e.g today i had to

Change towels

Clean middle shelf of the fridge

Clean behind and under fridge

Mop kitchen

Work on baby book/photo album

Apart from a couple, ive managed the majority. Not bad considering i was up for a while with Caleb last night, went to mums and tots this morning and met my friend for a long walk this afternoon.

Motivated

I found this chore planner on my friends blog and i am hoping to become a "motivated mom" LOL I always feel like something needs done chore-wise and i cant keep on top of things and it becomes overwhelming and then nothing gets done. This chore planner gives me certain things to do each day so i can just do those things and not be overwhelmed by everything else! Plus i just love ticking things of a list! So for just $2 i am now a motivated mum ha ha ha. I'll keep you updated!

Im returning to work 4 weeks tomorrow and im dreading it. Its only one day a week for November and December, then 2 days a week from January. No big deal. I really dont want to though! Im a bit of a control freak i think, i dont want anyone else looking after Caleb! Between my mum and my husband we should have it covered but Caleb and i are in a groove, we know what to do and when, it'll be really hard leaving him for a whole day with someone other than my DH, even though its just my mum. I like things done my way, she likes things done hers! The funding for my job finishes in March so maybe i'll just take another break then if its not working out.