The highs and the lows.

So the beginning of this month is the part I hate. Seeing my babies go back to school. So, I decided to do something a bit different. I made schuletute for the kids just like the German tradition. A little acknowledgement to the bits of German culture Jason picked up whilst on his mission.

They loved it.

However, it is also the time where PhD stuff gets crazy as the new academic year begins. So in a way it's been a blessing to have some child free hours to get on with things.

Jason has been fab at helping me set up spreadsheets for my data analysis. Especially on the days where I have been poorly.

It has also been strange not going to work for the first time since I was 14. But equally this has been a blessing considering that my body needs a rest due to the continuing health problems.  Although there have been some advantages to being ill.

I have a fantastic physio, and with his help he has put together a realistic training programme so I can get back running. I have also been blessed with an amazing training partner who is patient with me as I dash for loos and helps me keep motivated when I get frustrated at not being able to do what I used to.

A radar key to access the disabled toilets!!!! No more queuing for the ladies.

Daddy has been amazing, and has spent as much time as possible at home and helping the kids. We have also been encouraging the kids to be more independent. Here they are making breakfast. We have also been teaching the girls how to make their own packed lunches.

 

He's also taken the kids out so I can rest as much as possible. He's taken them swimming, to the cinema, and here they are up the Wrekin.

Jason and I have tried to maintain normality for the kids over these last thirteen months, but we also felt it important that they knew that mummy was ill and that she needed to get better. After I came out of hospital, we noticed that they started to become a lot more clingy and so one day, following the suggestion of a friend who is a therapist, we decided to make "Worry boxes". They write down their concerns and place it in the box and the worry fairy comes and takes them and writes how they can solve the problem. It's been great so far so a big thank you to Leanne for suggesting this to us.

I am so grateful for this man. He is without doubt one in a million. He has had to deal with the sorts of things in his thirties that you shouldn't really have to consider until you're old and decrepit.  The longer I am married to him the more I come to admire him. 

Thank you Jason, you are the kindest, most loyal, thoughtful, devoted man I know and I wouldn't be here today without you.