Friday Focus 10/08/18 – Life amongst the chaos

Things have been quite chaotic around the house this week. We’re still in the middle of trying to sort out the contents of the spare room and finish putting together Sophie’s room. Most of the contents of the spare room have been dumped around the house as we had to clear it when the new carpet was fitted. As you can imagine, life with a new baby makes it tricky to find time to sort out the clutter though. We’re slowly getting there but I do feel like I’m surrounded by chaos in the meantime.

 

Chaotic - this week's word of the week

 

Emotionally, this week has also been all over the place. We ventured out for the first time last Friday and took Thomas to visit Jessica at her forever bed. It was a very emotional visit although ended up being a brief one as we also had an appointment to register Thomas’s birth. This week has also seen us register Jessica’s death now that we have the results of the post-mortem. We still don’t really know why she died so suddenly though.

 

Registering Jessica’s death and visiting her forever bed have naturally stirred up emotions but there have also been unexpected triggers this week. Thomas had his newborn hearing check at one of our local hospitals this week. The last time I visited that hospital was when Jessica was about a year old. She was under the Audiology team there for a few months due to having some fluid in her middle ear. It wasn’t a hospital we’d had a strong connection to and so I wasn’t prepared for how hard the memories of being there with Jessica would hit me.

 

Things that have made me smile this week

  • Buying some little summer outfits for Thomas.

 

Thomas in a bright yellow T-shirt with a lion on it and checked shorts

 

  • Sophie receiving a beautiful personalised memory box from Halo to put things in that remind her of Jessica. She asked if she could go and visit Jessica to tell her all about it. It was the first time she’d asked to go to GreenAcres.

 

Sophie with her personalised memory box from Halo

 

  • Removing Sophie’s plaster cast. We were able to remove it at home as it was a soft cast and the fracture clinic didn’t need to see her again.

 

Hubby removing Sophie's plaster cast

 

  • Giving Thomas his first bath. He was quite happy being bathed in the big tub with Sophie and she loved showing him all the bath toys.

 

  • Using the birth pool as a big paddling pool in the garden.

 

Sophie and hubby in the birthing pool in the garden

 

  • A visit from my mum and sister.

 

  • An afternoon catching up with my friend Mel and seeing all the beautiful photos that she took of Sophie and Thomas.

 

My friend Mel showing Sophie how to use her camera

 

  • Sophie telling me that she is “so proud” of her baby brother.

 

The Reading Residence

14 thoughts on “Friday Focus 10/08/18 – Life amongst the chaos

  1. I can’t imagine trying to clear clutter and sort through things with a newborn, there’s just no time! Sounds like you’re starting to make progress, though. I’m glad Sophie’s cast’s off and she’s OK now. I am loving Thomas’ summer outfit there, so cute! There must be triggers everywhere you go, but it must be harder when you just don’t anticipate it and it catches you unawares like the local hospital. Sending love x Thanks for sharing with #WotW

    1. Thankfully hubby’s home to help with it but still hard to make progress at the moment – we’ll get there though!

  2. Having to empty a room for a new carpet is chaotic at the best of times so I can only imagine the hassle you’ve had this week. Hopefully things go back to normal soon, even if it’s just a gradual pile by pile effort! I’m glad to see Sophie’s cast is off so she can enjoy the water in the garden now 🙂 #WotW

  3. phew, that’s a lot to do with a newborn in the house. It sounds like you are all settling well into life with Thomas around though. How lovely of your friend to take some lovely photos for you. Sophie’s memory box is beautiful. x
    #wotw

    1. Thanks Anne. We’re gradually chipping away at the clutter – hubby has been doing most of it! I love Sophie’s memory box – such a lovely box for storing things that remind her of Jessica

  4. Sounds like a week with positives staacking up. What a delightful summer outfir Thomas has. It was lovely to hear that Sophie wanted to tell Jessica all about her memory box and that she is proud of her baby brother. Hugs for you all.

    1. Thanks Elizabeth. So lovely to hear Sophie talking more and more about Jessica and to see how much she loves her baby brother

  5. You have been busy! You will get the bedrooms sorted eventually. It sounds like you are making good progress.
    Aww! What a cutie Thomas is. I love his outfit.
    Sophie’s memory box is just beautiful. It is such a lovely idea….I bet she is pleased to get her cast off and get into the paddling pool. x

    1. Thanks Kim. We will get there! Sophie is so happy that she can enjoy water play now her cast has gone 🙂

  6. Sending love so much emotions going on. I can’t stand disorder and my place is a bit like that grrrrr. Well done for Sophie getting her cast of and of course gorgeous Thomas on his Sumner outfit X #wotw

    1. Thank you. I get frustrated by the chaos – hopefully we’ll get things organised soon!

  7. I bet its been a tough week Louise despite the lovely moments, Thomas is so beautiful and how lovely that Sophie feels proud of him. I love that you have recycled the birth pool too x

    1. Thank you Sarah. It is all very up and down at the moment but that’s to be expected. I do love seeing that lovely sibling bond already emerging with Sophie and Thomas x

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