Adder

We went for lunch and a walk in the New Forest today with our friends Paul and Katty Woolcock and spotted this adder in the middle of the footpath! Never seen an adder in the wild before!

Lymington 10K race

Today was my first post-baby race. I'd decided to enter the Lymington 10K a couple of months ago, as a way of keeping motivated in my training, and because the race has excellent reviews.

The course is flat, and a mix of road, trail, grass and gravel (and halfway round the course a couple of big puddles to navigate!). It takes in some stunning scenery running along the harbour wall, looking out onto the Solent and across to the Isle of Wight. Being a Sunday, the Solent was very picturesque with numerous sailing boats on the water. It was a cold, cloudy, breezy morning, but once the run started that wasn't a problem, although quite a strong headwind for the second half of the race!

The course has a wide running route all the way round, so there wasn't alot of congestion. In the first couple of kms, quite a lot of people had decided against pacing themselves and overtook me, but it was rather satisfying overtaking them all walking from 6km onwards!

I was aiming for under an hour, not wanting to put any pressure on myself to get anywhere near my PB (50mins at the Millenium Runs on 10K race in 2009). I'm therefore chuffed with my result today of 58:24! Not bad considering I only had Eden 5 months ago.

Oh when the Saints go marching in!

Luke and I have a list of things we want to do whilst we're still in Southampton. Top of the list was to see Saints play, which we did as a kind of 'spur of the moment' thing yesterday. We were offered tickets yesterday morning, and thankfully found a babysitter at such short notice! (Thanks Paul and Katty!)

As it's nearing the end of the season, the Southampton matches are all fairly crucial games at the moment, in their effort to gain a place in the play-offs. The final score was 0-0 disappointingly, not just because we didn't see any goals (booooo) but also because it makes it just a little harder to catch the 2 teams above us in a bid for the play-offs.

Still, the atmosphere was good, and the final few minutes were exciting as Saints tried all they could to score. Plus, it was really nice to get out the house and spend the evening together as a couple, having a night-off from baby-duty.

The last match I saw was Liverpool at Anfield in 2006, whilst on placement for uni. Before that, good old Halesowen Town FC, who were in a league so low down I forget what it's 'official' title was... but they were playing West Brom in a friendly so it was exciting at the time, I think I was about 12!

Random thought

I miss Eden when she naps.

Mothers Day

My first Mothers Day as a Mummy! Our beautiful baby girl is 15 weeks old tomorrow. She loves to do a great big smile when she makes eye contact with you. She's finding her hands and will hold a toy if it's handed to her, but she can't reach and grab on her own just yet. She can hold her head really steady and support herself if she's looking over your shoulder. She' s an alert little baby and always interested in what's going on around her. This week she's sleeping in her cot, in her own room. She loves to make happy gurgley cooing noises, the first attempts at laughing I think! Just afew of her developmental milestones.

Back into running

I'm loving being able to run again since Eden was born. My first run was when she was 4 weeks old, just a gentle 20 minutes and I set my expectations for the run very low, but I surprised myself with making it round without needing to stop and walk. It doesn't seem all that long ago that I could barely make it to the end of the road before needing to walk (my uni days when cycling was much more my thing).

Since that first run when Eden was 4 weeks old, I've been for a handful of runs, slowly picking up the pace (subconsciously, but it feels easier). I've bought a new pair of running shoes, and am back to tracking my progress with my Nike Plus, which I've always found very motivating. I've also entered a 10km race in May, and will again set my expectations for the race low. The main reason I've entered is to have something to work towards, and if I can get round in under an hour I'll be happy.

One of the most difficult things about running these days is finding a good time. I'm still breast feeding Eden, so mornings arn't a great time, daytime is pretty much ruled out because of looking after her, which leaves evenings. I like running in the evening anyway, especially when it's dark, so I've found a good time to go is immediately after she's gone to bed, around 6:30pm-ish, and then I can come home and have a big meal. I've always loved the me-time that running gives me, even more so now that I'm a busy Mum!

Eden's blog

I've created a blog for Eden here http://edenstrickland.blogspot.com to track her development. The main purpose for this is for Eden when she's older - so that she can read about what she did before she could remember! But I also wanted to remember her growing up, without clogging up my own blog space. Do feel free to have a little read about our little girl.

10 things I've discovered about babies

1. Babies KNOW when you have something important to do (or you need the loo) and will insist on being in your arms and nowhere else at that exact moment in time

2. As soon as you've changed their pooey nappy they'll do another one

3. Smiles cannot be caught on camera

4. Obtaining handprints is near on impossible, although footprints are achievable 9 times out of 10

5. The picture of stones in our living room is fascinating

6. Babies will be sick everywhere but on a bib or muslin

7. However much you intend for baby to fit in with your lifestyle before they arrive, they will always rule the roost

8. Laundry increases 10 fold when you have a baby

9. Trips out are a military operation requiring precise planning, but you will still always forget something

10. Their cheeky smile melts your heart and makes it all worthwhile

First Footprints

Today, Eden and I made her first footprints. I wanted to remember just how tiny her feet are at the moment. Wasn't sure how she'd react to paint on her feet, but she loved the slimy feeling and just gurgled away! She didn't even cry when I put her in the bath afterwards - another first.

The big freeze

This week has seen the coldest weather here since 1963. Thousands of schools across the country have been closed all week, and the freezing temperatures mixed with snow have turned the roads to ice rinks, and severely disrupted rail and air transport.

This is a satellite picture of Great Britain:



Here at home, we've had a couple of inches of snow. As we live on a hill, the road outside our house has been pretty hazardous at times with ice. Eden and I have had a much quieter week at home as a result, and haven't been out that much. Luke had to work from home yesterday as the snow and ice was too risky. At the moment, it doesn't look like the cold snap is going to end anytime soon....

Jo and Jay get hitched!

The waiting is over! Jo and Jay were finally able to tie the knot on Sunday 3rd January, 3 months after they had originally planned (thanks to the visa process being so sloooooooow).

The week leading up to the Big Day saw 'Nine Acres' slowly filling up, starting with Jay arriving on Monday, we arrived on Friday, as did Ian, and Matt arrived early on Saturday morning. Added to this, Jay's family arrived Tuesday, and his best man Jake, on Thursday. Big as Nine Acres is, this was stretching it, and they stayed in a hotel nearby!

For us, it was our first overnight stay with Eden away from home, and we discovered just how much 'stuff' is needed to look after such a little person! With such a busy house, we found out that Eden loved watching and listening to all that was going on most of the time; there was just one evening where she was abit overstimulated, ending in a crying fit.

Unfortunately we were too busy to make a trip up Clent, but managed to fit a game of Settlers of Catan in (Ste loved his Secret Santa present)!

The wedding was lovely! Jo looked amazing, and everything just went really smoothly. Eden was really good through the service. As I was on bridesmaid duty, Luke looked after her, and her Great Grandma got a hold whilst we were saying prayers.

I wasnt able to feed Eden myself whilst in my bridesmaid dress (not easily anyway) so we gave her a bottle of formula - she was so full she slept all through the reception, which happily gave Luke and I a chance to chat to all the guests.

We waved the new Mr and Mrs Nigh off, in the bitterly cold weather - so that they could go and catch their train to the airport, and onto their new life together in sunny Florida!