Jessica’s 4th birthday and the slight melancholy that always comes with the end of summer have both made me feel a little emotional this week. Celebrating her birthday is always a time of great joy – knowing just how far she has come to be here today makes me realise once again how blessed I am, although looking back can also bring a whole host of emotions flooding back once more. The realisation of the rollercoaster ride we have been on since her diagnosis and the knowledge that this ride will continue is always a little more acute at these times and I have had a couple of moments where the fear that is always there has hit me. Thankfully, the vast majority of the time I can push it away and it does help me to enjoy those little moments all the more because I know just how lucky I am to be able to do so.
Things I have loved this week:
- Celebrating my beautiful big girl’s birthday. It was such a joy to see Jessica really enjoying her birthday party and having fun with friends and family and she was so chuffed to see her birthday card on CBeebies.
- Seeing Jessica walking hand-in-hand with her best friend E on their first day back at preschool.
- Seeing the power of social media being used in such a positive way as so many members of the blogging community came together to help raise awareness of the plight of Syrian refugees and raise funds for Save the Children.
- Celebrating with my friends Lindsay and James at their festival-themed wedding. Jessica loved the dressing up area and painting Mummy’s face. Sophie also loved the face painting area and pushing rubber ducks down the slide.
- An afternoon doing crafts with Jessica and helping her make thank you cards for her birthday presents. She got so many arts and crafts themed gifts – we’re going to have a lot of fun together with those!
- Being featured as this week’s newbie showcase over at Verily, Victoria Vocalises.
- Sharing a guest post on my tips on staying organised with The Free Range Family as part of her Mum Got Organised series.
- Doing puzzles with Sophie while Jessica was in preschool – she loves doing wooden peg puzzles. It makes me laugh when she holds pieces up with a confused look and “Huh? Not working!” whenever she can’t get it in the slot!
- Two mornings of having some time for myself as Sophie decided to have her nap while Jessica was at preschool.
Well done to you for finding a little me-time this week, I hope this helped a little with your feeling emotional . The birthday pictures of Jessica are adorable, it seems like ages since my babies were just four years of age. Wishing you a fabulous weekend x
Thank you Izzie – it was lovely to have that little bit of me-time. Hope you have a lovely weekend too 🙂
Such lovely birthday celebrations and I hope you have a lovely weekend.
Thank you, Iona, hope you are having a lovely weekend too 🙂
Jessica looks like she had an absolute ball at her birthday. And a festival themed wedding sounds awesome. Hope there are more ups than downs on that emotional rollercoaster! Thanks for sharing such a lovely post.
Thank you – definitely more ups than downs on the emotional rollercoaster! 🙂
Looks like Jessica had a fabulous birthday, lovely photos. It must be so emotional, and brings back everything that you perhaps don’t reflect upon on a daily basis. I’m glad she’s settling into the new preschool routine and how lovely of Sophie to nap at the right times, too! Thanks for sharing with #WotW x
Thank you Jocelyn, was so nice to have that little bit of me-time! 🙂
What a great week….It looks like Jessica had a wonderful birthday!
Thank you, Kim, she had a lovely day 🙂
Thank you for sharing a glimpse in to your life with us. I can see why you’ve picked that word this week. #WotW
It was definitely the most appropriate word. Thankfully this week has been a little less emotional so far!
Happy birthday Jessica! I bet it is such a relief to come so far and I bet the little niggles come. You do well to push them aside! Looks like a great week – the wedding looks great! Fab pictures as always xx #wotw
Thanks Sarah – the wedding was brilliant, we had so much fun 🙂
Happy birthday to Jessica – and that face painting is, well interesting 🙂 #wotw
Thanks Stephanie – yes, interesting is how I would have described it too! 🙂
I think this week’s been a little emotional for everyone!
Glad you had some lovely birthday celebrations, and looks like you spent some real quality family time together.
Have a lovely week
xx
Thank you Tracey, hope you are having a lovely week too x
Happy birthday Jessica. She is a little super star x
Thank you Louisa – I think so too! 🙂
Happy Birthday to Jessica, sounds like she had a lovely day and got lots of nice new presents 🙂 #HappyDays
Debbie
Thank you, she certainly did 🙂
Ah such a lovely week! She looks like she had an amazing time at her party. I can’t imagine the worry you face daily, she is such a beautiful girl x
Thank you Aby, she had a lovely time at her party. Thankfully the worry is something I can push aside most of the time although every so often it hits a little harder x
Happy birthday to Jessica! It’s amazing how quickly the time passes between each birthday. It is an emotional time, especially for you looking back on all you have been through with her heart. That’s amazing that Sophie’s naps are coordinating with pre-school, long may it last! #HappyDays
Thank you Becky – we don’t always manage the naps coinciding with preschool but it’s great when they do! 🙂
Happy Birthday Jessica! This was such a heartfelt and inspiring post to read. I cannot even begin to imagine what you go through. How proud you must be of your beautiful girls X #HappyDays
Thank you – yes definitely very proud of them both 🙂
Haha peg puzzles confuse LJ too. Sounds like a great week!! Thanks for sharing in #HappyDaysLinky x
It is funny when they get confused isn’t it? Lovely to link up each week 🙂
Sounds like it was a fab week! I love all the birthday photos – how lovely. And so great that her card got shown on Cbeebies =)
Thanks Jenni – we had a lovely week 🙂