• He is crocheted from Baby wool and filled with fibre fill (Like in a duvet) so he is fully washable.
• His eyes, nose and mouth are stitched on so no loose buttons.
• He would have to carry a label " not intended as a toy" as he has no safety marks.
• I was thinking of retailing him at about £4. (plus P&P in the region of £2 to anywhere in the uk at first)
• I will be putting white versions of him on for sale at first and then possibly take orders for other colours or white bears with Blue/Pink etc coloured ribbons

Let me know what you think and what occassion you might buy him for.

Many thanks

Clare

I have a little shop called "The Blanket Box" where I am selling some handmade crocheted baby christening/baptism shawls ,I only have a few for sale at the moment but I am really enjoying making some more to put on. My shop is here: www.folksy.com/shops/Tinker  please feel free to pop along and have a little browse and whilst you are there I am sure you will find some other little shops selling some beautiful things.

So a quick catch up, Elliott is now 6 months old! and Amy is nearly 5 and starts big school in September can you believe it!

I am well and the hubby is still working hard and looking after us all. Hopefully when I have a little more time I will post some photos.

Take care

Clare x

I am at the point where I feel I may need some professional help with her and I am thinking of asking my health visitior for advice although this makes me feel that I have done something to her to make her behave this way and I feel that that something might be having Elliott, I love her dearly and I am trying to involve her but I don't like her very much at the moment which has left me worrying whether I can cope with two. If anyone has any advice or even some kind words they would be gratefully recieved.

Take care

Clare xxx

He was born on Tuesday 25th November 2008 at 14:06 pm weighing 9lb 1.5oz.

I had a good active labour with just gas and air which is what I wanted and had just an overnight stay in hospital and was home the following day. Elliott did have us a little concerned when he was first born as he had the cord around his neck and was born blue but he is now a healthy and contented baby who feeds every 3 hours and only wakes at night to be fed and then goes back off to sleep ( I hope this lasts!)

Amy is over the moon to be a big sister and enjoys helping out with Elliott although there are times where a little attention seeking happens but we understand that this is a huge change for her so we expected a bit of challenging behaviour, most of it we ignore and try to pay a much attention to her when she is helping and being good. Everywhere we go with Elliott she tells people about her new baby brother. (and her new tea set he brought her!)

Steve is a very proud Daddy and choose Elliotts name, he was a complete rock during the labour and really got me through the hard parts, the support he has shown both then and now has been amazing, not only am I blessed with 2 beautiful children but the best husband in the world, I love you Steve xxx.

As you can imagine I have very little time at the moment so if I am not about so often please forgive me.

I hope that all my fellow mintis are all well.

Take care

Clare xxx

Hubby is now home and I have alerted the MIL (who wanted to come over immediately but I managed to talk her out of it) that she will be needed to look after Amy sometime tonight or tomorrow. I feel fine no contractions yet, just having to sit on a towel as well as have a panty liner on as my waters keep dribbling!  I am worried about leaving Amy in the middle of the night and us not being here in the morning when she gets up, she probably won't notice as Nanny will be here but I worry about the effect this will have on her.

As we speak the hubby is putting my hospital bag in the car and tidying the place up making sure everything is done. I am worrying more about how he will cope for a few days, I know deep down that he will be fine and I have tried to talk him into going for a sleep as he has just finished an eight hour shift but he said he is fine.

Wish us luck and as soon as I can I will update you all on the new arrival!

Take care

Clare xxx

I so hope something happens tonight as the Hubby has got to go back to work tomorrow and he is very worried about me taking Amy up to nursery and being able to get home quickly.

Some good vibes from fellow Minti's would be good right now so think of me and lets see if the power of a joint good vibe can get this labour started!

Take care

Clare xxxx

I have had nothing but phone calls all day from "concerned" family who most of the time are making up excuses to phone so much so that I am now screening my calls! I know that they all mean well but to have three phonecalls from your MIL in one day is seriously pushing your luck.

I am hoping that the baby comes some time over the weekend as the Hubby has to return to work on Monday although he still has 2 weeks paternity leave we don't want to start it until baby arrives, my sister is also on holiday next week but I think she may be more concerned with getting some retail therapy in rather then being around to support me as she listed the days I can and can not go into labour as she is off to this mall and out with friends on this day!

I have spent most of the week making sure that the hubby knows what needs doing and when just in case I have to stay in and have made sure he has contact details for the important things.

If anything happens I may go quiet for a while if I don't get the chance to write a small blog I have left my login  details with the hubby but I am not sure he will be able to figure Minti out so please don't worry about me my dear Minti friends, I will let you know the news as soon as I can.

Take care

Clare xxx

Clare xxx

The hubby has arranged to have the most of next week off as he is concerned about me having to walk up to Amys school twice a day and the fact that it may take him a little while to get back from work as we have been advised to get to the hospital as soon as I have any sign of labour.

I am now off to bed as I am exhausted and I just know that it will be a day when I am feeling like this that everything will start so I am trying to get as much rest as possible.

I hope that all my fellow pregnant Minti's are all doing well.

Take care

Clare xxx

Yesterday I picked Amy up from Nursery and it was raining hard so we left quite quickly, ( I need to point out that every child is called out individually as and when their parent arrives) nothing was mentioned about any incidents during the day. When we get home I always make a point of asking Amy about her day and things like "Did you do any painting?" etc which I did yesterday for Amy to answer that she cut her hair, now at first I thought she meant just playing hairdressers  and that she had pretended to cut her hair then she showed me where she had cut it and low and behold a freshly cut (short) piece of hair was revealed so I asked if she had been cutting with scissors and she said yes, she I asked if they were "real" scissors like Mummy uses and she said yes, so I asked if she had cut her hair herself again she answered yes ( I know she is too honest for her own good) so now I am thinking that at sometime yesterday my 4 year old daughter was left unsupervised with a pair of scissors sharp enough to cut hair fortunately it was her own hair she had cut and only her hair. After the incident earlier in the week I am starting to feel that there is not enough supervision of the children and I am concerned that if I complain again that they may think I am just an over protective Mother, What would you do?

Watch this space!

Everything on the scan is fine and baby is still head down and on my notes it says that Baby is 3/5 engaged, (I have tried to look up what this means but to no avail so if anyone could shed some light I would be grateful) I had by blood pressure taken and again the doctor was surprised by it being normal!

We were then asked if we had had a anaesthetic review, I reminded them that I didn't wish to have a c-section to be told that it didn't matter as I would have to have a review due to the high risk nature of a natural birth and the possibility of an emergency or need of an epidural so we were asked to book another appointment at the desk, which we did, the next available appointment was on the 26th November only problem my due date is the 21st so we were ask to wait which we did for over an hour then we were told to go to the labour ward and that we would be seen there. We went to the labour ward and were greeted by the sounds of a women in labour which didn't bother me but we had taken our  4 year old daughter with us as she wanted to see the baby on the scan, so she asked if the noise she could hear was a cow! I did try to explain that what she could hear was a lady having her baby and that this is where Mummy would come to have our baby, at first I thought she would be frightened by this but she was OK and took it in her stride.

We eventually saw an anaesthetist (Spelling) who told me all about the risks of having a general and an epidural and how it would be done, I did try to explain that I had had an epidural with my last baby only for it to fall on deaf ears, he xamined my back to make sure there was space for an epidural then asked me about the blue scar I had, it was then that he realised that I had already had one child and had an epidural!

We evently left the hospital almost 4 hours after we got there and decided to get fish and chips on the way home. We joked that at least if it happened tonight we knew there was space on the labour ward as only one room was being used. The rooms have really changed since we had Amy, then they were quite sterile rooms with just a bed and chair, now they were lovely decorated with a big soft chair for your birthing partner and a wardrobe. Everything that could be needed for the delivery was set out on a table, with a bean bag and birthing ball underneath, you can even dim the lights and there is a stereo where you can play your own music. Even though yesterday was a bit of an inconvience with all the waiting around, I am glad we got to see the labour ward and the new delivery rooms, its made me feel more at ease and I am hoping we will be back there very soon - just 10 days till my due date!

I am starting to think that this baby will never show up and is quite happy where it is. I know that I have not yet reached my due date (which is still 13 days away) but I was certain that this one would turn up early as I was sure that I was exactly one week ahead of what the doctors made me. I know that it is not an exact science and the due date is just a well figured out guess, but please I not sure if I can stand waiting any longer.

I am extremely ratty at the moment and have no patience what so ever and those of you that have a 4 year old will know that patience is the one thing that you need. Poor Amy is really feeling it and I have been trying to put in the extra effort and take lots of deep breaths but occassionaly my impatients leaks out and I have to then apologise for being so short with her. Thank god that I have the best husband in the world who has been an absolute god send and has made sure I get some space and rest, he cooked breakfast this morning, cleaned the flat and cleaned out Amys goldfish which was a job I had been putting off. Then cooked a roast as a late lunch and did the washing up, then so I could get some rest took Amy to the park for an hour. Bless him he is now flaked out in front of the TV, and here I am still up.

I truly feel blessed today.

Take care

Clare xxx

I am feeling a little under the weather today and I am slightly hoping that the soft stools that I have is the beginning of my body getting ready for labour or it could just be a tummy bug. I am a very impatient person so this waiting for baby to arrive is driving me nuts, I now know what a bird must feel like sitting on an egg day in day out waiting for it to hatch.

Just out of curousity I thought I would do a little questionairre about labour so here are the questions (feel free to copy and paste them and leave answers as a comment)

1. Did your baby arrive early or late?
2. How many days/weeks early/overdue were you?
3. In hindsight was there a symtom that told you that labour was coming such as soft stools?
4. Did your waters break naturally?
5. How long was your labour?
6. Was there anything that you wish you knew before labour?

Thank you to those that take the time to answer the questions.

Take care

Clare xxx

I went to the midwifes yesterday just to have a little check up which was quite brief - I had my blood pressure checked which is normal and heard the heartbeat again although this time baby was playing hard to find so it took a while  but I knew all was well as it had been doing somersaults whilst I was in the waiting room, when the midwife did find it, it sounded slower so I am now sure that this is another girl (not long to wait now). The midwife has also said that when I do go into labour that I need to request another scan just to make sure baby is in the right position all in all I think baby would have been scanned about 10 times during this pregnancy. I have another ante natal appointment on Monday and this time the midwife has requested that I actually see the consultant rather then their registrar so I will get the best care, she has also asked me to request that she visits me at home after baby is born so she can just follow up my post natal care, you know she really is great and I do feel really looked after this time round which I hope will give me more of a positive experience of childbirth.

I really thought baby may be coming last night but maybe it was just the loud bangs of the fireworks that made baby jump around so much that it felt like my pelvic floor was being used as a trampoline, I am hoping that baby will come a little earlier then my due date as things are getting very uncomfortable at the moment and when baby moves it can be quite strong and almost painful, I am now counted as being full term so if things do get moving now labour will be allowed to progress with no worries about baby. I have made another Midwifes appointment for 2 days before my due date and the midwife said she would be happy to do a membrane sweep then.

I hope that all our Minti Mummies to be are keeping well and I will do my best to pop pass your home pages to check on you today.

Take care

Clare xxx

So I am feeling very neglected and tired and ratty and just about everything else that makes me a miserable so-an-so, maybe that is why he is paying more attention to other pregnant women he doesn't have to listen to those other women moan!