Day 69 - Concert rehearsals

We are doing another concert at church on 17th May which is a joint fundraiser for Friendsof PICU and Christian Aid – a group of performers from our church is doing the first half of the concert and then my group Pyramix is doing the second half.  The concert is titled ‘Strawberry Fair’ and will feature pre-1945 English folk songs and musical theatre songs.  I’m involved in both halves although so far rehearsals have been focusing on the second half of the concert where I’ll be singing a couple of my favourite Ivor Novello songs – really enjoying it so far.

Day 67 - Easter Sunday

Busy day – off to church for 8.30am communion service followed by an Easter breakfast in aid of Mercy Ships and then the 11am service where I was running the crèche and doing Easter crafts (making bunny and lamb masks).  Have decided that our family tradition will be Easter eggs after church (mainly so we don’t go to church with the girls’ new Easter dresses being covered in chocolate!) – Jessica was very happy with her Mr Tumble egg and breakfast set and Sophie will have to wait until next year for her first taste of Easter egg as not weaning yet.

Day 24 - Million Pound Party

Friends of PICU support children on the paediatric intensive care unit at Southampton General Hospital and their families and help raise funds to provide vital equipment on the unit and provide a retrieval ambulance. It's a charity which is very close to our hearts as Jessica has been treated on the unit several times. Today we attended their Million Pound party celebrating the charity reaching the million pound milestone - a fantastic achievement. We also got to catch up with another heart family who we first met when Jessica was a baby - so good to see both girls doing so well.

Concert planning

I’m involved in organising a Christmas concert at church which will be fundraising for Friends of PICU, a charity which helps support children in intensive care at Southampton General Hospital and their families. Thankfully my mother-in-law is also involved in organising this so I can take a bit more of a back seat once Pod arrives but am still planning on taking part in the concert (not entirely sure that this is really very sensible of me given that I will have a very small baby and a toddler to look after!) Oh well, at least it keeps me busy!

Church coffee morning

Had a coffee morning at church this morning to raise funds for Friends of PICU, a charity which helps children in intensive care at Southampton and their families and one which is very close to our hearts as Jessica spent so much time in PICU in Southampton. One of our lovely church friends came along to help watch Jessica (she is too big now to be happy sitting in a playpen while we serve teas and coffees) and also brought some home-made fairy cakes which was very much appreciated. We raised just over £50 which we were quite pleased with.

Friends of PICU family fun day

Have had such a lovely day with Jessica and her godmummy Katy at the Friends of PICU family fun day . Jessica won first prize in the fancy dress competition for her octopus costume and it was lovely to see a couple of the people who have looked after Jessica on PICU when she was a little baby. We also got to meet Erin, another heart baby whose journey we have been following, along with her parents and big brother and it was so lovely to finally meet them all in person and see how well little Erin is getting on.