It doesn’t seem like only a week ago that we were sitting in beautiful Blairmore Farm enjoying a relaxing evening with a few drinks before heading home the next day. So much has happened since then.

After a characteristically hectic weekend, my husband went into hospital yesterday to have the operation he’s been waiting for. Whilst we won’t know for a while whether it has been successful, they did what they needed to do and he’s home now.

Unfortunately for the short term, it has left him notably less mobile, so after a couple of busy days ferrying him to and from the hospital, I’m now back to having to do everything around the house and with the children and he’s also unable to drive for the time being.

At the same time, work has become a bit more busy – as is always the way. I’m back to dreading looking at my TomTom watch every morning to see how much sleep I got. It’s never very much as it is but I suspect it’s going to get worse!

Yesterday was a really early start for the girls. I’m lucky that they don’t usually get up much before 7am, so dragging them out of bed at 5.30 yesterday to go to the hospital was hard going and it left them exhausted for the day. Libby doesn’t cope with lack of sleep quite as well as Lia, and her behaviour has been quite difficult, but I know it’s only because she’s tired.

Lia on the other hand, has taken it all in her stride and with the exception of her usual tantrums about going to bed, she’s been on top form. On Tuesday evening, she announced that she wanted to go to university. I was delighted.

Although clearly deluded it showed ambition, and I reassured her that when she was older she’d be able to do just that. But of course, that wasn’t good enough. She wanted me to drop everything and take her to university immediately. Cue meltdowns when I told her she couldn’t go just yet, and certainly not on a hot Tuesday evening at the age of two, when she was about to go to bed and I was half way through changing her nappy.

Then came Wednesday, the day she decided to change her name. She has decreed that she will no longer be called Lia, she wants us all to call her Nelly Noo. That was over 24 hours ago and she hasn’t backtracked. She no longer answers unless we address her by her full name, Nelly Noo. If only I’d known she’d want to choose a name herself, I never would have spent so long agonising over what to call her in the first place.

Both girls have been making the most of the sunshine but Libby in particular is loving the opportunity to have water fights. Unfortunately, she’s pretty good at them too, she rarely misses with her water pistol and I’ve spent a considerable part of the week totally soaked!

Our Thursday Photo #109