P.S

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28992138


Just seen this on the news, it beggars belief and surely stretches the bounds of what human emotions can bear. The world feels like a very sad and scary place tonight. I wasn't going to share this, it's too sad. But the Father's story needs to be seen, and told. Count your blessings tonight people in our cosy western world, I know I will be. But I won't forget this Father and his boy in a hurry. Totally, and utterly, devastating.

Throwback Friday

...Is cancelled!!! And so is Christmas!! And the Tooth Fairy isn't real!!!! Baaahhhhhhh Humbug!!!

It's not been the best few days here at Drake Towers. The Dystonia didn't get any better and we spent a large chunk of Thursday on Children's Ward. I was concerned there may be something underlying causing Elin's recent attack of Dystonia, like an infection of some kind. There appears to be nothing. It was quite interesting that her SATS remained at 100% throughout each 'attack' though, that at least was a comfort in a very small way. The Registrar contacted Elin's Consultant who advised increasing her Baclofen medication. We have an appointment with her Consultant on Wednesday afternoon so she said she would review us there. Hmmm. It's just a mystery, this condition. It was like a switch went off last Sunday and she changed completely. The only saving grace is that technically, the switch might just flick itself back on again at any time. Fingers crossed. In the meantime today has definitely been a better day, and the only day we haven't had to administer rescue meds to stop the spasms. She has laughed a good few times (especially when over Daddy's shoulder, looking in the massive mirror. Vain!! She doesn't get it from me honest.....) But it's so frustrating and upsetting to watch her go through this, especially after weeks  and weeks of being so good, I think we've been a bit spoiled. Tomorrow I will be extremely optimistic and try not to worry again. It'll pass. But for tonight I'm frankly going to be in a right strop, drink red wine, scoff a Tesco Indian,  have a nice bath and maybe a cry. All at once.

HUBUG!!!

Dystonic disturbances.

Pride comes before a fall, I spoke too soon, don't jinx it etc etc. After me waxing lyrical about the best holiday ever Elin's not having a very good final week. It started on Sunday- the extra Dystonia -and arrived faster than Dorothy's tornado.  One minute she was brilliant and the next she was stiff, wide-eyed and twitching. We hoped she would sleep it off but she's not really improved since then. She has no temperature, no obvious gastro/tummy issues and nothing I can see that may be bothering her. By late afternoon each day she is so dystonic that almost any position doesn't seem to be helping. We administered her 'rescue meds' today for the first time in weeks and weeks. Though she is still responsive and (at least until the end of the day when she is tired) smiling and laughing she is most definitely not herself. Changing her position continually is exhausting for her and for us too- she's a pretty chunky monkey now! I absolutely hate Dystonia and the way it affects Elin. It's like she is trapped inside her own body and her body is betraying her with it's convulses and shaking. It rips away her quality of life instantaneously, she can't focus on anything at all and sitting in a chair is absolutely impossible. If I'm being honest the worst thing for me is that she actually looks frightened, like she doesn't understand what's happening to her. Even though I know Dystonia is not actually physically harmful to her I would give anything to take this from her. Nobody who has no experience of this will ever know what it is like to watch your child fight against the constraints of what the brain is telling their little body to do. I know she will rally soon (we've been here many times before) and I know that many children have to go through a lot worse, even. But I can't force myself to be consoled by that because I don't want to count my blessings that she's not going through anything worse. I don't want her to be going through anything at all. I think she's been through enough :-(

Throwback Friday

Throw back Friday. I'm cheating. This is a link to a video of Elin that I uploaded to this blog back in 2009, not long after I started writing it. It shows her turning to find a rattle, we were so pleased !!! (As demonstrated by the continual cheerleading throughout!! We are learning as parents too, if it was now we would know we should probably actually be silent and let her focus on the noise of the rattle not constantly egg her on! What can I say? We were excited. This journey is a learning curve for us all!) I am including this today because of the stark contrast to my earlier piece on Elin watching things on the computer. What a difference we have seen in her reactions and understanding since 2009! It's hard to see the progress sometimes, with it being so slow and also like any parent when you are with your child every day you don't notice the changes so much. But video's like this are proof positive of how much she has come on in the past few years. It makes me so proud.  There are probably better videos too, I will have to have a search. Happy Friday everyone!

http://cerebralpalsyjourney.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/elin-turns-to-find-rattle.html


xxxxx

Going Dotty ...

;-) Adding these for no other reason than they are gorgeous photo's, taken in the past couple of days. I know there are people out there who are surely missing Elin, she is definitely missing you, too! Hope these will fill an Elin-sized space for now. Elin is amazing and so very happy at the moment, she has loved her holiday and it's certainly been the best she's ever had health-wise. However it's been a long old Summer and I think we're all feeling a bit dotty due to lack of routine, especially Elin. Not long now until normal life is resumed! Elin misses you all and can't wait for cuddles. You  know who you are :-) xx

Coing home after a walk with Daddy down the lane today. 

Absolutely beautiful baby dot. ( wild curly hair after morning shower).

xxxxxx

DVD Day

Elin has had a lovely few days and has been in a great mood. This afternoon, she enjoyed some garden-time outside with Daddy. She loves to listen to the noise of the Lawnmower ! However, it got a bit windy and if there's one thing Elin really doesn't like, it's wind. She can't blink quickly enough to keep it out of her eyes so she always ends up with really red eyes and also being slightly frightened I think! We don't want that! So we brought her inside and I thought it might be time to crack open some of her birthday presents.
Amongst the many amazing things she had, were some DVD's which I had asked some friends and family who were struggling to think of things to get to buy her. Until recently DVD's would not have been very useful to Elin. However in the past few months especially we have noticed that on a good day, her concentration and understanding can merge enough for her to pay real attention to everything going on around her, I mean even more so than ever before. This extended to enjoying DVD's, or parts of them, on Paul's laptop (pushed close so she can see)- especially those with music and songs. Yes I know, another Mum who sticks the kids in from of a DVD!! Shocking!! Haha. But a real milestone for us and for Elin.
Well, sheltering inside from the wind I thought it was about time to treat her to THE best children's film of ALL TIME. She already enjoyed Toy Story at the start of the holidays and has loved everything 'Frozen' since she saw it in the Cinema. There are some incredible children's films around these days and we will be sampling them all as the Winter weeks go by. But, nothing can come close to the enduring quality of this film. Incredibly and unbelievably it's 75 years old and the true mark of it's genius is that all the DVD sections in the supermarket are still selling it, children all over the world are still watching it and adults everywhere can recognise at least one of it's many famous lines (for a line from a film made in 1939 to still be no.4 in the American Film Institutes list of the top 100 movie quotations is pretty amazing) .Maybe in 75 years time children will still be dressing up as Shrek or singing the songs from Frozen, but somehow I doubt it. They might still be asking for a pair of ruby slippers on their Christmas list, though.
Did you guess?
The Wizard Of Oz.
I was absolutely obsessed with this as a child and seeing one of the five pairs of ruby slippers that were made for Judy Garland to wear in the film on display at MGM studios in America was a dream come true for me as a kid when we went there on holiday. Caitlin inherited this love by osmosis and my Mum made her a 'Dorothy Dress' to wear when she was about four years old and her video-tape of it nearly wore out!! So, I was nervous about showing it to Elin. What if she didn't enjoy it? I was pretty sure she might love it due to all the singing and bright colours but it was a moment I always thought my kids would share with me so I had put off sharing it with Elin until she was ready for it, as I didn't want to be disappointed. Today I thought she was ready. I was right. Her favourites are in this order 1) The Munchkins 2) Toto 3) The Cowardly Lion.  She's not too keen on the Wicked Witch.  She has laughed her way though it, I'm stupidly chuffed at this. There are so many things I thought I might not share with my daughter when we had her initial diagnosis . Not just the big things, I mean the little things that you pass onto your children, that were passed onto you (in my case by my Great-Aunt), like the love of a good film or book. The ties that link the generations together, the enjoyments and shared memories that make each and every family unique. It was a new kind of heart break to think I couldn't share with her the things I grew up with, the things that make me..well, me. But it turns out I can share the things that are important to me with Elin, I just have to share them in a different way and she will enjoy them in a different way, too.

"Well I think that if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard; because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with "
Dorothy Gale to Glinda The Good Witch in "The Wizard Of Oz" 1939.

Until next time, blog fans :-)

Throwback Friday

To my cousins and my sister- sorry!  Hee hee. I dug this out of the archives this afternoon after Elin paid a little visit to a special new little boy in her life! My cousin Lynsey had her first baby five weeks ago, the awesomely named little Eli Jac. It goes rather nicely with Elin Hâf don't you think? (Actually while we're on the subject, for the non-Welsh speaking blog readers who may have been wondering, Hâf is Welsh for Summer. It is pronounced 'halve' like 'two halves of cake' except without the 's' on the end) Eli is the first boy on this side of the family since our last cousin, Harry, was born twenty years ago so he's kind of a big deal! Elin definitely thinks Eli is pretty awesome and as usual broke into laughter at the merest hint of a cry from him! She loves, loves LOVES it when babies cry! It's quite embarrassing when you're out somewhere and a Mum is stressed out with a crying baby and Elin basically just laughs very loudly in their faces. She also took a shine to Eli's toy squeaky Fawn, which is from the same 'family' of toys as Sophie the Giraffe!! Yay!! She was good as gold and so was Eli. I thought you might like to see a photo of the first encounter (I think Eli is my second cousin, so must be Elin's third cousin??? I don't really understand it. Either way it's probably a tenuous enough link blood-line wise for it to be legal for them to get married in some parts of Texas. Or Rhos)
There will definitely be future meetings and it's so nice to have another baby in the family- we are a bit short on babies on our side!! We need more!! (I definitely won't be obliging, not without a lobotomy first anyway). My Nan and Grandad are certainly very proud to now be Great-Grandparents to both a girl and a boy, it means they can still say 'Elin is our favourite Great Granddaughter' they said, because they can also say 'and Eli is our favourite Great Grandson' Awwwww. Eli is certainly Elin's favourite third cousin in the whole-wide-world :-) For my part I'm still in shock that my sister and my cousins and I are old enough to actually have kids of our own since it doesn't seem long ago that we were playing with their Barbie house or with 'Frustration' or 'Ker-Plunk' or any other plethora of 80's board games in the glorious absence of iPads, iPods and iPhones,  visiting Nan and Granddad's house together, developing an obsession with 'Neighbours' and listening to Kylie on repeat (ok maybe I still do the last one). When does getting old become less shocking?? Answers on a postcard please! I can't be 33! I can't be!!!
Anyway I'll leave you with some photo's now. Have a great weekend blog fans, until next time xoxo

Throwback Friday- Me (far right of picture in fetching flowery leggings), my sister Karen (in fetching clashing coloured jumper), Lynsey (in fetching double-denim combo and now Mum to baby Eli) and Claire (far left in fetching baby pink/penguin sweater). You're welcome, guys!!! ;-)

Luckily Eli Jac and Elin Hâf have much better fashion sense than we did!! Haha.

xxxxx

We're going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo.....

We live 25 minutes away from the (recently voted) best Zoo in the UK, Chester, but Elin has never been. I KNOW. Six years old and never been to the Zoo. I bet you feel like ringing Social Services. I feel like ringing them myself to be honest. I'm not really sure what brought about this strange Zoo-absetenance. It could be worry about the dreaded 'sitting in her chair' situation, as to get around Chester Zoo is quite a walk. It could be the price for a family of four (woah). Maybe it's because I go every year with my Nursery tots and Chester Zoo is synonymous for me with risk assessments, repeated head-counting, multiple trips to the loo and fear of exuberant boys toppling into the Lion enclosure. Either way yesterday was Elin's first ever trip to the Zoo. It was my birthday and it seemed like a good way to celebrate. I love the Zoo, so long as I don't think too much about the animals forced out of their natural habitat, on the other hand I think Chester Zoo was voted the best Zoo in the UK mainly down to it's conservation efforts and the vast, 'as natural as possible' enclosures provided for the animals. (Apparently the UK is waaaay ahead of some European Zoo's who leave even the biggest animals to stalk up and down cage's all day long. I really wouldn't want to see that).
Anyway off to the Zoo we trotted. Needn't have worried about the cost as it turned out, very generously they let me in for free as Elin's carer. Also on the Monorail and the Water-Bus, the lovely ticket men assumed Elin was under three (probably because I was carrying her) so let her on for free!! Ok so maybe  this was slightly dishonest of us but ermm...it was my birthday! So it was allowed :-)
The Zoo was packed and it's easy to see why, they have some amazing animals and great viewing points for all sizes and ages. Elin's 'good sitting' spell from last week had been broken, so there was lots of hokey-cokeying in and out of her chair at first. However after a while she settled and managed half an hour at a time roughly, which was great. Her favourite's were the Giraffe's (OF COURSE), the noisy Monkey's, the Butterfly House and the Monorail and Water-Bus. She was thoughtful in the Bat House and a little suspicious of the assault on her senses and who can blame her? Let's just say  'Eau de Bat Poo' is probably not a scent Calvin Klein will be releasing anytime soon (eucccchhhh)
For this trip I learned from my mistake at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and took a packed lunch!! Yes that's what happen's when you turn 33, you start taking packed lunches everywhere because you're 'not paying THOSE prices!!' We were very lucky and didn't have a drop of rain all days got to enjoy a bit of a picnic on the grass. Elin enjoyed having a little sunbathe. During this time, she met a little friend. A little boy came over to us, he must've been two and a half ish I think. His mum and Dad weren't far away. He liked the look of us and got chatting. "What's that?" he said, pointing at Elin. "Ermm...that's Elin's Giraffe mask" I said thinking he was pointing at that. He continued to scan Elin from head to foot, his own head cocked to one side. I realised he may have been looking at Elin's splints, not the mask. "She...." he paused. "She get better soon?" I was kind of flawed that such a young lad had noticed Elin's condition, especially since she was on my knee. I suppose the splints are a bit of a give away. "Yes, she'll get better soon" I said, in the absence of anything else to say. "Better soon" he repeated, satisfied. Before I had time to dwell on this I asked him which animals he had seen and his little face lit up. "Lions" he said "Raaahhhhh!!!!" Now, at this, Elin laughed her little head off. I told our little friend that she liked him so he did it again "Raaahhhhh!!!" he roared, delighted, and Elin laughed again.  It was the cutest thing ever.The two repeated this little game until the boy's Dad came to get him, no doubt slightly concerned about why his son was roaring in the faces of complete strangers for a good five minutes. I was glad we had decided to make the most of the sun with our picnic and not sit in a cafe or we definitely would not have met little Ethan. Thanks for coming over little dude, you brightened up our day :-)
I'm also glad to report that Elin was allowed on both the Monorail and the Water-Bus boat ride. In Blackpool last week, she wasn't allowed on anything at all, not even riding with me on the baby rides such as the Carousels or the Tea Cups ride because of 'Health and Safety' (she had to be able to get up and walk independently if the ride broke down they explained. I didn't like to point out that the teacups don't go anywhere and don't leave the ground but hey ho). She loved the Monorail because of the sound of it and also the way the light was dappling in from the tree's through the windows. She loved the boat I think because it was so gentle and slightly breezy and she loved the sound of the motor.
My favourite part of the day by far were the Giraffe's they're just so majestic, and we have a complete Giraffe obsession in our house already anyway. My sister has seen them 'in real life' on safari in the Serengeti and I am soooo jealous. But for now this was the next best thing. Elin enjoyed introducing Sophie to her family (ha, ha) and we got some amazing photographs.
Speaking of which I think I have bored you enough, so it's time to leave you with some pics of our lovely day. Until next time, blog fans!!

We found a happy little Giraffe at the Zoo!

Selfie-time. Couldn't resist.

Elin and the Elephants!!

(Above) Elin checking out this guy (below)

Penguins!! Can you see Daddy and Elin in this shot??? :-)

I can see another one Mum!

Elin in the Butterfly House checking out the fruit for them to feed on.

Paul's cracking camera get's another good shot!

Yaaaay! The Giraffe's!! How beautiful are they??

We think this might be Sophie's Mummy...

Mum??????

Good sitting again. Goodbye Zoo we'll come again!

xxxx

Footnote: A quote from Robin Williams, who has nothing to do with Chester Zoo or Elin but who's suicide we awoke to hear about on my birthday before we went to the Zoo and actually which made us feel very sad, as we are huge fans and I have loved him since I was a child. What a terrible waste of an amazing man and what a talent to be able to bring people such joy through comedy and laughter. I don't know much about his personal life of course but I do know a little something about laughing through pain and  how tough that can be sometimes. I can only hope his high profile death can bring about changes in the lives of others battling with depression, or related conditions, because if one of the most well respected and talented men on the planet can feel like there is no way out then perhaps it is a much more common problem than the taboo of depression suggests.

xxxx

Oh we do like to be beside the Seaside...

Hello blog fans! Hope all is well with you. No 'throw back Friday' post today I'm afraid! I thought I would share some of Elin's holiday snaps with you instead, if you wouldn't mind?? ;-) ;-)
For the first time since Elin was born we didn't go to Porthmadog on our jollies. A holiday village near Blackpool had been recommended to us by several people on several different occasions and we thought we'd give it a try.  Here is the link for anyone interested http://www.ribbyhall.co.uk . If you are Scottish by the way you should definitely visit Blackpool, because all your friends and family are there!! Seriously!! I lived in Edinburgh for three years and have never heard so many Scottish accents  in one place in my life! It made me love the place ever so slightly more. Disabled facilities seemed good and there seemed like a lot to keep us busy.  We really weren't disappointed -which was lucky, since I reckon we could've gone to a Balearic Island all inclusive for roughly the same price- why do these places charge so much??? Anyway we stayed lucky all week. We didn't feel a drop of rain (as opposed to last year in Greenacres where it felt we may never see the sun again at one point!) but more than this, Elin was H.A.P.P.Y. I don't mean 'usual Elin happy'. I mean really, sitting-in-chair-and-everything happy!! A happy Elin makes a happy Mummy and Daddy. It was my favourite holiday in years, we had a wonderful time. We even went out for a meal at night to a lovely restaurant and she sat there in her chair with us at the table regally grinning at everyone like the Queen!! This was after a full day out in her chair at the Pleasure Beach and not so much as a whimper. The waiter was very taken with her and kept tickling her under the chin and telling us about his own little girl who lived in Cyprus and who he didn't get to see :-( He said he thought Elin was beautiful and won himself a massive tip immediately (I'm a pushover what can I say).
Elin also enjoyed  the family fun-pool. Unheard of! We tried our luck because she was in such a good mood but I did worry that the noise and combination of strange sensations and voices would worry her. It didn't, she loved it! The disabled changing facilities were pretty good for a swimming baths - separate, clean, roomy (although still where to change her except the floor or one of those pull-down baby changers). There was wheelchair access all around the pool and a special door leading from the disabled changing that literally opened right onto the poolside. I've never actually seen one so was quite surprised to find it in a holiday village. Well done Ribby Hall! There was also wheelchair access absolutely everywhere from the shop to the bars/ restaurants /cafe/ parks/ gardens etc.  Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.
I won't bore you with every last detail of the holiday since a picture paints a thousand words, prepare to be 'holiday pic-spammed' !! I hope all is well in all of your worlds whilst we were away. Happy weekend folks! And to all the teachers out there, happy-what-day-is-it-again? folks!! Mwaaahhhhh.

Our Pine Lodge home for the week. It didn't have a name but we referred to it as 'The Lodge of Wonder' on account of it being, well wondrous (oh- and basically bigger than our house) It also had a hot tub on the front decking (we aren't obsessed with hot tubs at all, honestly!!!) It looked out onto trees which was amazing so long as you haven't seen the horror film 'The Cabin in the Woods' and don't have an over-active imagination. Let's just say when we were in the hot tub and the park keeper came round unexpectedly on a golf buggy one night checking the accommodation, Caitlin and I nearly drowned with fear.

Elin was impressed with the red leather couches and sat around pretending to be Krystle Carrington from Dallas. Sophie was pretty impressed too.

The Pleasure Beach, recently voted Britain's best theme park. If there were awards for being the most expensive or having the longest queue's you have EVER seen in your life for food (we could have gone on the big dipper three times during the time it took to get a portion of curly fries) then it would have won those, too. But hey, I'm not going to do the 'Mum' thing of complaining, we had too much fun. Maybe next time I'll do the 'Mum' thing of taking some sarnies and a flask instead though (oh, and stop to rob a bank on the way in). But honestly, an awesome, awesome day.

Elin loved the sights, sounds and smells of the park. We actually had to move her away from the 'Laughing Clown' (a life sized Clown in a box which laughs repeatedly, Laughing Policeman style) not because she was terrified of how incredibly FREAKY it was, but because she decided to very loudly match him laugh for laugh. Very cute and funny (for the first five minutes haha). If you think about it a fairground is like a huge sensory overload and whilst on another day this may not have gone down very well with her, on this day she was having the time of her life!

Mum, any chance I can go on 'The Big One' then??

Mum, any chance of some Popcorn??

Aww mum, loves it here I do!! 

Dinner out in the evening. Mine's a Strawberry Daiquiri please, Mum! 

The Pool. The disabled changing was better than most places at the fun pool  but still didn't have an adult sized changing platform/hoist. I guess it is a lot to ask. There was a 50lb limit on this baby changer so it's lucky Elin hadn't just had her dinner!! We had about 10lbs to spare and not a lot of room! Elin thought it was hilarious, even though she was soggy and tired from all the slashing about!

South Pier. We won a teddy on 'Hook a Duck'. Yay! (It cost £5 to win the teddy which  probably cost roughly 50p to make. I'm thinking of setting up a 'Hook a Duck' in our hot tub in the garden when we're not using it) The girls were chuffed, though!

Blackpool by night. "The Vegas of the North" We didn't see Elton John or Celine Dion but we did see Lucy Beale from Eastenders on the Waltzers. Rock n Roll.

Paul has a very clever camera which got this shot of Elin tired out after a day of fun, with glow-in-the-dark Cinderella keeping her company.  Angelic. 

The Beach! The Weatherman must have been taking tips from Michael Fish because this certainly wasn't forecast! My jeans will never recover.  Elin loved the feel of the sand between her toes and we loved watching her love it.

You didn't think Sophie had missed out did you?? :-) :-)

Beautiful sitting, Elin. Top Banana. 

  

One of Elin's favourite parts of the holiday was that she got to share a room with her big sister. This was so cute. There could have been no doubt that Elin was aware of the increased presence of Caitlin this week and she was delighted. In fact, as soon as we got home, having dropped Caitlin of at her house on the way back, Elin cried when we tried to put her down for a second. This is one of her favourite tricks when she is cross or upset, or wanting attention. She hadn't done it once all week. Not once!! She amused herself brilliantly in the Lodge on holiday, playing with her toys and sitting and lying, happily listening to the unfamiliar sounds of our holiday home. I think it's her way of telling us she has the 'home from holiday' blues, that she wanted to know where her sister was and probably, that she wants us to book again for next year..or maybe sooner. Well, if it's what Elin wants, who are we to argue????

Goodnight folks, until next time -and if you got this far you deserve a medal! (Sorry for the essay!)

xxxx Sleep tight xxx

Excitement abounds!

Well maybe that wasn't quite my last post before we go on our jollies. How could I fail to share this photo with you, fresh from my iPhone? Caitlin has just arrived to see us after a week in Tenerife.  I haven't seen Elin that excited in a LONG time!! It was the most gorgeous thing we had ever seen, her eyes widened when she heard her voice and when Caitlin grabbed her for a cuddle she couldn't contain herself. She was so happy! I just wish I'd filmed it but in the meantime you will have to make do with this and just imagine the scene!

Throw back Friday

Arghhhh! I forgot throw back Friday! This is because I am a teacher and as all teachers will tell you during the long stretch of Summer holidays there really isn't any need to know what day it is and thus quite often I actually don't.
But before I get too smug and annoying about it, for the benefit of all those of you working on a more 'normal' timeframe perhaps I'd better just show you some photo's.
This week Elin had some new splints FINALLY. Our amazing Orthotist was back from a double whammy of maternity leave and wow, were we pleased about it. Elin finally has a pair of splints that her legs slide into and are a perfect mould/fit. it's early days in terms of how she tolerates them and if they pinch/mark her but so far we are thrilled. Not least because in the making is a pair of custom-boots which the Orthotics company are creating to work in tandem with the splints. They should be the comfiest thing ever for Elin. (I will admit, the prototype we got shown today looked slightly like a built-up shoe for a polio victim circa 1930. Or an old fashioned iron diving boot. Basically, with two on, Elin looked like a golf club at best and a creature from another dimension at worst. Her feet were bigger than her head. Lucky that the lovely Orthotist **Warning massive sexism approaching** is a women, then. She completely agreed- I figured she understands the 'Carrie Bradshaw' affect on us ladies that lived out our University years in the late 90's and are still, fourteen years down the line, bemoaning the fact that we can't afford even one pair of Jimmy Choo's or Manolo Blahnik's. She is going to talk to the company before they are finished, to do all they can to improve them aesthetically)  Hopefully the boots will be slightly less diving and slightly more designer then by the time they are done! Hooray!
In the meantime, we had the boots I chose when Elin had her legs cast for the splints. They are soooo gorgeous!! Ok so there is a bit of forceful thumping (think Tomato Ketchup bottle style) to get them on, as they aren't entirely custom made to fit the splints, but the Orthotist was happy that they only places they are tight are around the splints and so shouldn't have a negative impact on Elin.  So we brought them home, yay!! They are pretty punk with a hint of D.M's. (My Nan will definitely refer to them as 'Bovver Boots') It got me thinking about Elin's first pair of Orthotic boots which I was terrified to pick up, but actually loved once I saw them. Not 'NHS regulation' style at at all! Then I started thinking about MY first pair of shoes, and how my Mum had kept them lovingly in perfect condition since 1982 and how I hoped I could pass them onto my daughter for this reason. But Elins feet were too bent to fit in them by the time they should have fit perfectly. This is a bit gutting to be honest, but I'm not sad for long when I see Elin's new beautiful shiny boots and remember how cute her first pair looked too on her little feet :-) I will simply put the patent leather burgundy clarks back in their time capsule and hope one day another little girl joins the family who can get some use from them, 'Vintage' is making a huge come-back after all.
Happy Weekend folks! We are off on our jollies to 'Ribby Hall' holiday village for a week where we haven't been before and looks lots of fun on their website! So fear not if you don't see any updates for a while, we will hopefully be enjoying ourselves in the sun (pleeeeease god) and hope you will be too xxxxx

My first shoes. Now 'Vintage' :-) 1982

Elin's first boots.

Her latest, awesome, red shiny pair! Yaaayyyyy!!!

xxxxx