I’m writing this sat on my bed listening to the rain pouring down outside - a sound I love. My night-time routine has turned into one where I put the baby down in his cradle next to my bed and sit with him as he goes off to sleep. The plan tonight is to leave him once he is sleeping but for the last four nights I’ve just sat and done my online stuff next to him.

I’m sure some of you reading are probably horrified that I’m no longer co-sleeping but you know what, I have to do what’s best for my family and co-sleeping isn’t it. Now both Craig and I can relax and sleep properly without the natural fear of rolling onto him and because we’re not so tired that we’re constantly in a bad mood the other children aren’t being shouted at so much. Admittedly, the fact I have insomnia at the moment doesn’t help me, but hopefully that will pass soon. Barney sleeps so much better as he’d not being disturbed by us and he is so close to me he can still touch me.

We’ve actually done some things since I last posted. Ellie had her prom on Saturday. The invitation said ball gowns were welcome but not compulsory - I was quite happy with Ellie’s choice of dress, it was just a nice smart sundress, nothing fancy, but then on Saturday morning I started worrying about what if she was the only one not in fancy clothes?? It turned out she wasn’t the only one. I didn’t see all the girls, but the ones I did see were wearing party clothes. Phew!! I’m so pleased, they’re only 11 for goodness sake, but I guess Lincolnshire is still behind the times when it comes to proms!

My plans to get her hair done went slightly awry when Robbie decided to stand on a rusty drain cover with no shoes on in the chicken pen and fell into it cutting hit foot open. Off we went to A&E where he had stitches in it and a nice bandage. On the way out it started bleeding again so we went back in and they couldn’t see where the bleeding was coming from so they dressed it again and it was fine.

I ended up with 20 minutes to do her hair (and a bit of - very subtle! - make up) and get her there. Luckily she wasn’t the last to arrive and her date (her best friend for the past few years) had some flowers for her - his mum’s idea. Aww, how sweet.

Craft wise I haven’t done much at all. I finished cutting out the pieces for the changing bag and started on the sewing but I could really do with an hour or so of peace and quiet to really get on with it. I also have a crochet blanket on the go which is my car project that I take with me to do the school pick up. I can’t remember if I’ve already mentioned I go 10 minutes earlier than I need to just so I can sit and crochet (or knit depending on what I’m doing) for a while in the peace and quiet.

I’ve just finished reading a book I borrowed from my friend Pippa called “Raising a vaccine free child” by Wendy Lydall. If you’ve ever been unsure as to whether or not to have your child vaccinated then I recommend it (as well as a book called something like “The Truth About Vaccines” by Dr Richard Halvorsen), it’s also a good one to read if you’ve decided not to vaccinate and need reassurance that you’ve made the right decision.

I’ve also recently read a book called “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield (I think), it was a really good read. I’ve started a lot of books recently that I’ve had to dump before I finished them because I just didn’t like them but this one was one of those you don’t want to get to the end of. I don’t believe in finishing a book if you’re not enjoying it, life is too short to waste reading something that you don’t like, there are too many good books out there you might miss out on. I also loved “The book thief” - can’t remember the author of that one - that was one of those ones you can’t put down and feel sad that you’re almost at the end of it.

We’ve got quite a busy time until the end of next week and then it’s the school holidays. My calendar is empty from next Friday and it’s great!!!