maths,moving and....... motherhood x2?!

Well, I apologise for my lack of communication on here recently,but we seem to have undergone a few fairly drastic changes... Firstly,we are now homeowners. Yup, thats homeOWNERS. No more renting,throwing large amounts of money at a landlord so he can go on ignoring the fact that we are flushing the toilet only by pouring pints of water down it from a jug,there is mould EVERYWHERE that will no die despite vinegar tea tree oil and leaving windows open ALL the time etc etc. Nope,from now on if its broke,WE fix it. I have to say at this point I am totally in love with our new house. It is quieter (hard to be noisier than the last one really..) safer,more beautiful,cleaner,in better repair,more spacious and there have been a noteable lack of drunks sleeping in the front garden.All this and more...such bliss :) This is truly a home. The Peanut has settled in happily,has gleefully taken possession of the largest bedroom,and now has space for a desk,storage etc and STILL have room to move around it. There is a mini breakfast bar in the kitchen,which she has also happily claimed as her own,and even the dreaded maths is not such a chore while sat on her favourite swivel buckety seat thing. Home ed is pretty much back up and running,the first few days after the move were a little difficult,as many books etc had magically vanished into many seperate boxes,despite my careful attempts at order...we were also without the internet until yesterday,so had to make do without our beloved jediteacher2007. That said,we still managed an hour of maths a day,and the Peanut brain has taken an interest in philosophy and is currently reading Sophies World. Science etc will resume next week. I did have a series of activities carefully prepped on a cdrom,but for some reason when said cd was inserted into 'puter it made a noise which can only be described as painful and mechanical and promptly shut down,refusing to spit the disc out. Ah,the joys of technology... In other news,well,there is only one item of news...it would seem that after 13 years raising the Peanut as an only,we are about to welcome another member of the household... He/Shes name is currently Spud owing to my overpowering urge to eat potato with EVERYTHING and salad cream. As I write this,he is trying to rearrange my ribs,although he doesnt seem to have picked up on the Peanut trick of jumping on my bladder every two hours from three months gestation right through to birth...for this I am thankful in the extreme,as I clearly remember one night I gave in and dragged my duvet into the bathroom so I could sleep on the damn toilet! Peanut is convinced that Spud is a boy,which is irking her slightly as she really wants a sister- 50/50 chance I guess...Im not certain yet,I do keep finding myself saying 'he' rather than 'she' and Spud is certainly higher and out in front more than Peanut was,but each bebe is different,so maybe Spud is just keeping me guessing. I really dont mind,and neither does the very proud father.Healthy and in one piece is all we ask :) Anyway,at 4 months now,finally over the puking stage-which was not as bad as I remember in terms of actual throwing up,but did make me feel queazy all day,and had the added advantage of every time I coughed having to stand still and deep breathe in order to avoid said vomit. Work is pretty knackering-three flights of stairs up and down,standing up or running around all day and having to deal with bad tempered people and general jerks and its a recipe for tiredness. Add to this the general stresses and strains of moving,and I am BEAT. I havent taken a holiday yet this year,but the majority of it is booked already. I would have booked too,but not knowing up until a few days before you move that you ARE moving,and everything else gets kind of put on hold...Ah well,if worst comes to worst I shall tack my holiday onto my maternity and try and get through the next few months. Its strange to be starting from the beginning again. I have watched all my close friends have children in the last few years,and I remebre through them what the early years were like. It seems so long ago. Of course,in 13 years not much has changed on that front,except the NHS advice on what you can safely eat in pregnancy-with the Peanut,ironically peanut butter was the work of satan,and almost guaranteed your babe would be born with a nut allergy. Fast forward 13 years,and now its great stuff. Oh boy. Use a little common sense I say, dont eat raw meat,eggs or fish, dont go cleaning out the cat litter without gloves etc and dont read the bloody literature they give you or you will remain indoors for 9 months,paranoid and existing on prenatals,rice cakes and bottled water. Either way,it all feels both new and familliar at once. Second babies are indeed much different to the first,and one thing that does concern me slightly is size. Now,Peanut booked in at 7 and a half pounds and came from first contaction to wow,its a baby, in 6 hours. The combination of speed and size virtually guarantees stitches afterwards. Fast forward. Spud has already had his first scan -thats something new,Peanut got one scan,at 16 weeks, Spud gets another one at 20 weeks and his first was at 13- and compared to Peanut,who was 3 weeks bigger at her scan,he is MUCH larger. Add to that proud father is 6 ft 5,and was well over 10 pounds at birth and the fact that second babies are larger and supposedly quicker,and thats going to be like a freight train!!! Ouch. I forsee a good deal more stitches...bugger. So, all in all an eventful few months since we last updated. The home ed,contrary to what most people assume, will continue. Picture it from Peanuts point of view, 'Right,you are getting a half sibling,so we will have no time for you,get your butt to school and undo everything we have achieved NOW!' Peanut does not need any more complexes.The average teenage angst is enough. As we proved with the moving etc it is far better to have the kiddo adjust to change at home when they are part of it,that when they are thrown out every day and have to deal with it when they get home. She is coming on in great independant strides,and I would never take that away from her. Right,thats me done for now, I have to go and prep more work for Peanut to do in the weeks leading up to the arrival of spud and in the sleep deprived days and weeks after...better to do it now before baby brain kicks in entirely...