A bit of me time.

It's Saturday lunch time and I'm in bed with a cup of tea, and my laptop, listening to the pouring rain beating down on the skylights. It feels so comfy to be snuggled up in bed during a rain storm. Of course, as a mother of three (nearly four) I don't often get the chance to stay in bed until lunch time, but this weekend my darling family have gone off to England to visit Dan's family. So I have the house to myself and lots of time on my hands.

As much as I miss them, it is nice to have a bit of me time. And I have discovered during this me time, that I'm a much messier person than I gave myself credit for! Much of today will be spent washing dishes, tidying up and washing clothes. But until then I'm just going to relax in bed.

I've been busy this week trying to get lots of birthday and Christmas shopping done before our little baby girl arrives (in about 9 weeks time). I took a trip to Belfast and spent a small fortune in Primark (great place for young teen girls clothes) and yesterday I drove to Newry and spent a bit more money. Barney is having his 5th birthday on Monday and I think I'm now ready for that at least. Then it wont be long until Annabelle's 12th birthday. Then the birth of Emily, and then Christmas and my birthday. Its an expensive time of year, what with all the baby stuff we are having to purchase too.

After shopping in Belfast I ventured back to my old belly dance class with Mum. I haven't been dancing since December, before our trip to America. So that's 10 months of no dance, 7 months of which I've been pregnant... and well, as you can imagine, I was less than hot on the dance floor. The lesson was a practice of veil dancing, which typically involves lots of spinning, jumping, gliding gracefully whist twirling round a veil. Oh my goodness, I looked a sight. A heavily pregnant woman trying to spin gracefully with a veil. Well, it was fun if nothing else. And it's only going to get harder for me over the coming weeks.

Here is a photo of my gorgeous Jimmie, my teenage son, who despite his teenage mood swings is still totally adorable and lovely to his Mum (at times). I took him out to get his hair cut and styled this week as he'd been complaining that it was too long and curly, and generally looked messy (the before photo can be seen here). He is growing up so fast, now towering a good two inches taller than me, and still growing at a rapid rate. I'm sure the family in England won't believe the size of him. Jimmie and I have been watching the new documentary series 'The Family' together on Channel 4. The series follows an average family with teenagers over 100 days in their own home. There are cameras in every room and we get to see family life unfolding. It's been good for Jimmie and I to sit and watch it together, as I get to see how other teenagers behave, and he gets to see how other parents cope or struggle with bringing up a large family. I've loved every second of the show, and think the family on it are just delightful (despite the rows and fights that any family inevitably has). The kids on the show fight and argue but obviously have a deep love and care for one another which is good for Jimmie to see. And at age 14, 17 and 19 they still hug their parents! Wonderful.

Today Barney is having a little birthday party in England with his grandparents and his cousins. No doubt he will phone me later to tell me all about it in great detail. I love the little phone calls he makes to me while they are away. He phoned when they got off the plane to tell me that he thought he needed a poo! Boy did that make me chuckle. He phones me about four times a day, just to tell me that he loves me, and to keep me up to date with all the goss. They will be home again tomorrow and I'll be lonely no more. It's nice to have some time to myself, but I do miss them all. My gorgeous, precious, beautiful family.