So a few days ago Megs got sent a witch's costume in the post by a well meaning aunt who obviously does not know us very well at all. Megan loved it and wanted to wear it straight away and as a dress-up dress goes it was quite nice - a fairy dress, just in dark colours and plastic spiders instead of wings. I couldn't , however, get passed the fact that it was a witch's costume. I then spent the rest of the morning trying to decide whether or not i should exchange it for something more wholesome, after all she didn't know it was a witch's costume...doesn't even know what a witch is. Also, i suspect that witches these days do not dress in fairy-style (did they ever?) or have plastic spiders stuck to them, so was it all just harmless? I came to no definitive conclusion but decided to exchange it anyway. She now has a very white brides outfit complete with veil, boquet and plastic sparkly ring. Lovely.

I found out today that we have less than a month to apply for a schools place for her...ARGG! I've only just got used to her being big enough for pre-school!!!! When i picked her up today she was sat on the story mat with some other children patiently waiting. When she saw me she gave me a big smile but it was as if she hadn't been too sure that i'd remember her and her smile was almost relief that i had.

Megan had her first day at nursery today. This morning was a bit hectic, trying to get us all up and out and hyping school up big time. I think she enjoyed it - she went straight into the room to find the toys and immediatly forgot about me but it was quite hard to leave her. When i picked her up she had a tired smile and a butterfly she had made, so i think it was a success.

hoorah, i have squeezed into my jeans and they look ok (thank heavens for ultra-low-rise) if you ignore the belly overhang.

I think my pregnancy-mush-brain is finally returning to a reasonably sensible state as i've been trying to blog for the past 3 weeks but having no success at logging on....only to discover i've been trying the wrong username and password!! Hoorah, here's to clearer thinking. All i need to do is get through this depressing phase of being woken at night every 2-3 hours by a tiny person with a huge pair of lungs and an even bigger appetite. Steve, bless him, wakes up aswell and tries to be supportive and encouraging, offering to keep me company and telling me i'm "doing really well". I believe his sincerity until he grumpily asks if baby Joe has an off switch!

So Joseph George Lewis-Norman was born 12 days late on the 30th August, in a record 1 hour 57 minutes from my waters breaking. He was 8lb 9oz, 51 cm long, and spookily looked exactly like Megan when she was born. I think Steve had a tear or two in his eyes but i was somewhere on the ceiling after 2 hours of gas-and-air and some very unwelcome stitches. But he's worth it - very sweet, especially now he is more awake and looks around as if he's supervising proceedings.

Megan is doing well considering it's all-change here. the first few days he was home she kept her distance from him and us, which broke my heart. Steve and i were sat on the sofa with Joe and instead of climbing up for cuddles as usual, Megs looked hurt and went off to play in her bedroom. It was awful and i think i felt the loss of what we used to have for a few more days after that. Now i make an effort to spend time with her when i can and it's a bit better.

So just as we're settling down into this new phase of life, we're starting a new youth housegroup on October 1st! It's something we've been talking about for the past year and we are very excited....so watch this space.