A for ANNA

Anna Elizabeth Dixon. Born 24th October 2o11 at 11.27pm. Weighing 8.5lbs. A home water birth. And William slept through it all.

We finally chose the name Anna as we decided the 'An' in Anna can stand for the 'An' in Anthony. She was born a few days before his birthday and he called her an early birthday present. I think she may already be a daddy's girl. Here she is minutes old. (we are not very good at taking photos 'in the moment' but luckily we had 4, yes 4, midwives to take them!
We some how ended up with four midwives as they each had a trainee midwife and because it was a home birth they both wanted to be apart of it as they don't usually get to do home births, so they asked if they could come to and well i said yes, lets have a party! The midwives were all amazing and i didn't feel crowded at all despite my initial reservations...talking of which after some has seen you give birth its amazing how reservations go out the window and the next thing you know you have some one you just met helping you go the toilet! I was really glad to have my midwife there who'd seen me through the entire pregnancy, Alpa was an absalute angel in my eyes! couldnt have done it without her. She even stayed and cleaned up and didnt leave until it was all done.

Heres some quick shots of the after math...................

The help, midwives and Anthony. My heroes!

I loved having a home birth and don't think il ever do a hospital birth again if i can help it. During crunch time i did think 'what am i doing, why don't i have pain relief?????', but that was crunch time. But it was worth it when i got to get a shower in my own home, sit down and eat the roast dinner id cooked earlier and cuddle up on the sofa with my newborn to watch Downton Abbey which id recorded. That's the real perks of a home birth. And there is nowhere better than your own bed.......

Me and Anna, two hours after birth. Such a peaceful night (in direct contrast to the nights hospital stay with William).

The next morning we introduced William to Anna. We'd told him the night before his sister would be here in the morning since I was in labour when we were putting him to bed. He was so excited and curious and now calls her 'nanna'.

The whole 24 hours was just perfect, it was my ideal birth scenario. I felt very blessed. Id told friends id wanted to have a sign of labour/birth earlier on in day so i could be ready and have Anthony near by, then go into hard core labour after William goes to bed, then have the baby before 12 so everyone can clear out and go home and i can go to bed. It happened exactly like that!

William and consequently Anthony slept in and i remember the peace and tranquility of the morning as i cradled my sleeping new born baby girl. Everything was still and quite and I soaked it up while i could! I cant wait to get to know her.
We love her so much, she is an absalute delight.







When theres no one to take them for you, you just have to take em ya self...almost all the shots of me with my kids are taken from this angle!

Autumn Days...

William loves to 'bun bun bun' (run) and he is really really fast, he also loves football (of course), buzz light year, number jacks especially number 4, his little Henry hoover (he takes it to bed with him!), running round naked after the bath, hiding, dancing, he loves to copy buzz' salsa style dance that he does with Jesse in the end credits of toy storey 3 (vid to follow soon)...he;s really very good at it, doing the steps and turns and i especially love it when he goes on one knee, throwing his hand in the air just like buzz....its priceless. During a hectic tea time William was pestering me to dance, so in my desperation i put the music channel on.....lady gaga came on and you should have seen the shapes William was throwing out trying to copy....i decided we wouldn't copy gaga again although i did laugh a lot watching him ha.
He also loves helping his dad with his 'tools', putting things in his pocket, swimming, church, wearing ties and boots (some times only his boots and nothing else!), building blocks, drawing and he loves playing with 'friends' (which is basically everyone). And we love him! i love this age, its so fun and interactive, love his company and his excitement, i even love his dramatic fake crying...he just makes me laugh.





Above William is hiding at the first mention of 'brushing your teeth'! life is a game for William and he gives me no choice but to play along! He also made a new friend this autumn....and he Loves her so much (he is now over the 'whacking her on the head to see what she does' phase, phew!)

Summer 2011 cont......

More summer fun................

Gate crashing our American friends 4th July picnic on Primrose Hill.....William stole the flag.

I was summoned for more workshops with the funny east London kids......they are fun to work with.

Saying Good bye to the much loved Wishanger House.

This is the house Anthony grew up in, lots of treasured memories, a much loved home with a beautiful big garden. But it was too much for Sherral (ants mum) to take care of on her own so it was time to down size.

They built a fence and kept the bottom part of the garden which is 'Forrest' like. We will miss it.

Hanging out with cousins......

Sophia and William

Reuben and baby Isabella came to visit too....

Love these photos of me mum with William and Reuben....mainly because i remember her doing similar things with us....like this 'rolling down the hill' photo below.
We visited Hampton court palace when me mum and our Jo Ann where down

I really like the history of King Henry 8th and the Tudors....enjoyed interacting with the real life characters from history walking around the place.

Also really enjoyed the Gardens (above) and The maze (below)

Mischief (above) and summer walks along the river.......or in Williams case summer drives!

(i know, i know his hair really needed cutting....but i liked it!)

With so much fun summer days....it always guaranteed a very tired little man at the end of it.

It was a good summer this year. felt really long (especially with our sept/oct heat wave that rolled in), Really enjoyed it.

Summer 2011

Summer was busy...on all the hot sunny days we hit every paddling pool, water fountain, splash pad and sand pit in London.....love this photo below...William, Charlie and George, The 3 Stuges, or The 3 musketeers. George is Williams hook up at church, he comes and shares all his snack's with William.

Above at our local Ravenscourt park.

The Kensington splash pad (below), and park is a great little find. Spent many summers days there.

Take That concert. The reunion tour with Robbie!! Loved seeing them all together again and got some of Robbie's solo stuff too. Faves where the usual "never forget", "a million love songs" and Robbie's bonus "angels".....i was buzzin on all the nostalgia of my younger teeny bopper years! loved em all. I went with our Jo Ann, Laura, and Jacqui.....Our Christine was missed.

My Uni bezzy Lydia got married and she looked amazing and everything about the day was just beautiful, a country Hertfordshire wedding, her reception at her parents home and garden, horses over the fence and chickens roaming around. Loved it, and love this girl!

And I LOVED seeing this bunch of crazy girls. My Uni mates......

.....total nutters, all of us....but it was a requirement for the course we took!

Crazy blondies

Then from the wedding it was up the M1 to Yorkshire for my new nieces baby blessing.

William had fun playing with his cousin Reuben this summer.....These two are all mischief and I'm not sure who the instigator is yet.

From Yorkshire we headed to Scotland for a wee break out of life and another friends wedding.

We stayed at a hotel right on Loch Lommand, fantastic last min deal, great views and so peaceful, just what i needed!! a break out of life. peace. pure peace and lovely family time.

From Loch Lommond we went to Edinburgh and spent a day there before the wedding.

Loved being back on the streets of Edinburgh filled with the smell of the brewery's.

We visited Edinburgh castle which had fantastic views of the city.

Lynsey and Joels wedding was so much fun. I loved the keiligh and being with some of my fave Scottish people, The mansons and the Wrights amongst other scottish friends.

We took a trip to the coast for my birthday. Anthony wanted to check out butlins down there as he went there on holiday as a kid. Some things should be left in your childhood as the place was just tack ville!

This photo was taken on the beach as a wave came in close to our feet!

William enjoyed the rides......This was funny. William gets on the aeroplane, then as it starts up and they go up high he takes his seat belt off and stands up waving his arms in the air. They had to stop the ride and get him off. I was laughin me head off....but look at his face in this photo before he took off....you can tell he's up to somethin'!

Cheeky Chancer!

"Wiss" (kiss), The sweetest word i ever heard, William's treat to me on my birthday. The first time he asked me for a "wiss". Best birthday treat I ever had!