So, things here are FINALLY beginning to fall into some form of routine. The day begins anytime from about 5.30am onwards – now don’t be fooled into thinking that I actually get out of bed at this point, I am merely awoken by my youngest daughter who generally starts her day by grunting merrily (and extremely loudly!) for at least half an hour before she decides she is hungry and then she tends to go back to sleep!
What time I actually get up depends a lot on what time Isabel wakes up – she likes her sleep so doesn’t tend to wake up until 8.30am at the earliest and even then, is happy to sit in her cot chatting to her toys for a good hour before she starts demanding to be retrieved! I have quite quickly learned that if I am to stand even the vaguest chance of getting dressed before 4pm, I have to get dressed as soon as I get out of bed – sadly, leisurely breakfasts in my PJs are a thing of the past…….unless I actually WANT to stay in them all day, in which case I don’t worry about it too much!

The main body of the day is filled with a mixture of delights, often dictated by the weather – we do try and get out for a walk most days even if it is just to the supermarket………..there’s only so much Dora the Explorer one Mummy can take in one sitting! Trying to find time to do insignificant little things such as housework is one element I’m still working on – I wasn’t the most domesticated of people in the 1st place so washing, hoovering and other cleanly tasks often don’t get done……….which only proves to be a problem when you run out of clean clothes, clean plates and you forget what colour the carpet is! Thankfully, Isabel is still having an afternoon nap so I usually try to get stuff done during this time – though now I have to factor in a sometimes very demanding 2 month old who doesn’t seem to understand the phrase “I’ll be there in a minute, I’m just having a pee!” which is inconvenient really to say the least!

By the time Dan gets home I am usually VERY glad to see him (particularly if the little Darlings have been having one of those days when they have been conspiring against me!) – the chance for Isabel to use someone else as a climbing frame and someone else who can feed Molly whilst I whip into the toilet is a very welcome relief! They truly are “Daddy’s Girls” with Isabel running to greet him with shouts of “Hurray! Daddy!” and Molly gracing him with an enormous smile right on cue – even if it is because he has just informed her that she has “Yoda ears”…….think how mortified she’ll be in years to come!

The benefits of having them so close together to me seem mainly to be in the way that Isabel has accepted Molly into the family without question or objection – she seems to have loved her from the minute she met her (which Mummy missed as she was on her way to the toilet when Isabel arrived – those early trips to the toilet post c-section are a trial in themselves so once your on your way, there’s no going back!) and just accepted that this is the way things will be from now on. We do occasionally have the inevitable “But I want to get up onto your knee now” situation, but she has never taken it out on Molly and, for the most part, she doesn’t throw too many wobblies about it………..we do get more strops than we did before, but it’s difficult to tell if they are Molly related or if they would have happened at this point regardless! I’m not sure if I would do it any differently given the chance again – it’s been hard work but I think it will be much better in the long run……….the fact that they will be close in age will bring them closer together ( I hope) – though I’m not looking forwarded to the surge of hormones that will hit us in about 12 years time………perhaps that’ll be the time to start thinking about leaving the country again!?

At this moment in time I have absolutely no intention of having any more babies – the horrible recovery this time has merely strengthened the resolve I had even before Molly got here…….I’m not sure if Dan is quite as accepting of this fact as I am – I just tell him that he’ll have to get one of his other wives to have the next one as I’m going on strike! There’s only been a couple of times when I’ve thought about sending Molly back for a refund (and lets face it, who hasn’t thought about sending a new Baby back at some point!?) but I think we will probably keep her!