They came, they saw, they celebrated and they went...back to the North West.
For the first time in three years Rob and I celebrated, guilt-free the birth of our amazing daughter and the Christening of our beautiful son; surrounded by a family that have been unfailing in their support to us and friends who have picked us up when we hit rock bottom.
You know you've either had an amazing weekend or a crap weekend when you wake up and your eye makeup makes you look like Alice Cooper.
Fortunately for me it was the former. I don't often put on a bit of slap; funnily enough it's not a priority for me in the mornings when I'm up to my neck in baby poo and a toddler's snotty nose. I feel like I'm doing the world a favour if I'm out of my pj's by noon.
But it felt fantastic to get my hair done, dust down the Clarins (side-thought: I'm sure I read somewhere that make-up goes out-of-date. If that is the case then my skin is up shit creak without a paddle) and dress up with my family.
It's amazing watching how your baby develops in such a short space of time too. Surrounded by his friends and cousins, James just blossomed. He will definitely give Bethan a run for her money in a few months.
My American friend said that watching a baby develop is compelling because it's like watching a science experiment unfolding. I agree, watching my children develop is as fascinating as it is wonderful. And like a science experiment, you're never quite sure what the results will be but it's damn exciting, shrouded in tentative moments and can be very funny.
After lots of attention and interaction this weekend, James has gone from rolling around like an Olympic gymnast on the floor to a confident little crawler.
He keeps trying to get through the curtains like those people who were on 'Stars in their Eyes' and said "Tonight Matthew, I'm going to be..." except that he hasn't actually managed to get through to the other side to the dried ice and music. However, it's only a matter of time before he appears as Neil Diamond.
In the meantime James continues to wrap himself up in the curtains, terrorise the cat and build up the courage to crawl to his Everest: the front door. I'm just really pleased that A&E is five minutes around the corner.
