Our Scotland Trip

We did it, we went to Scotland to see my sister Chantal and meet my nephew Zack! And we had a fantastic time! Let me tell you how it went!

Xavi left to go work down the coast on Monday, so I had a few days to get everything organised, and wow there turned out to be a whole lot to organise, starting with a bigger suitcase! I don’t know how I even thought I would be able to fit all of our stuff into the ridiculously tiny bag I had! It was not easy packing though. I am so used to just having to pack for myself, which is normally a pretty difficult task as I am a ‘just in case’ packer! This tends to mean that my bag gets filled up with stuff I never actually get around to using. Now that I have a baby to think about, I am full of even more ‘just in case’ than ever before – jacket just in case it is very cold, fleece just in case it is just cold, jersey just in case it is only a little cold, long sleeve tops just in case it is just breezy . . . and so on! But a remarkable thing happened that happens more and more now that I have Emmeline. I seemed to not think about what I needed or wanted or would have ordinarily taken to put Emmeline’s needs first. Normally I would have packed loads, this time I went with one pair of tights, a few long sleeve t-shirts and 2 jerseys. Emmeline of course had half her wardrobe with us just in case! The same was to be said with the bag that I took on the plane with me. Normally when travelling BB (before baby) I would take a fair size bag on the plane with me. I would need my music, phone, book, diary, magazine, water etc. This time the fair size bag I took with me was filled with nappies, change of clothing (just in case Emmeline graced me with an exploding poo), wet wipes, bottles, toys etc! What did I pack for me? Wallet, passport, phone! I packed like a man – the bare essentials!!

Well we had a fabulous time there! We started off by meeting my good friend Lynne the next day for lunch. I met Lynne in Australia and we have been the bestest friends ever since. We don’t get to see each other that often but she is a wonderful person! Over the next few days, Chantal and I went shopping, we took the babies swimming, we ate out, we went to baby shops together, we went sightseeing to the centre of Edinburgh, we went to have a look at a few possible wedding venues for Steven and Chantal, we went to butterfly world and we chilled out at home. I had an absolutely fantastic time with my sister, the best time actually. We chatted for ages about heaps of things, we gave each other advice about our babies, we laughed together and we just generally got on like a house on fire, something we don’t always manage to do! It was great! I also got to spend more time with her fiancé Steven, who I have met several times but not for any great lengths of time. So it was really nice for me to get to know him a little bit more as well. And yes, as I always thought, he is a lovely guy, laid back and chilled out, kind, funny and patient - perfect for Chantal. They make such a cute couple and seem to be perfectly suited!

And then there was Zack, my little nephew. Well actually I don’t think that I can really use the word little here as he is not! He is 4 months younger than Emmeline but he weighs pretty much the same and is the same length! He has big hands and big feet and I think he is going to take after his (tall) daddy! But what a character he is! I think that he was born with a frown on his face, this look that says ´what do you want? ´! This may be due to the fact that he was induced and eventually came out by c section. He was very probably still in the tummy because he was damned well comfortable, he didn’t want to come out, the world made him come out, and for this he looks at the world like 'damn you, I was comfortable, so leave me alone will you'. He is adorable! He looks at you all frowny when you go over and made funny faces and start to eat his belly, then he breaks out into this gorgeous little smile and gives you some little giggles. Then he looks at you like 'damnit it, you won, you made me giggle'! I love him! And he has a gorgeous smile and the most beautiful blue eyes ever! He looks at you sometimes with such curiosity and sometimes with total amusement and I would love to know what is going on in his little baby head! He has his own special baby smell and his own special looks and his own special noises that are totally different to Emmeline and equally adorable.

Then we put the two cousins together! They checked each other out with curiosity, the whole time Zack kept looking at Emmeline a little bit like 'who are you?' and the whole time Emmeline decided that it was acceptable to try and eat her cousin! I had seen it happen before, so when she reached out to gently 'grab’ his face I had to quickly pull away her grabby grabby hands whilst I had images in my head of her pulling out his eyes! She then lovingly grabbed his hands in hers and it looked at cute until I noted Zack´s hands going white. It seems Emmeline has an iron grip. She also turned out to be a little bit of a bully by stealing his bottle one morning! But they sat and played together and shared toys and had a great tie together!

Emmeline got so spoilt! Not only did she get new presents, but she got heaps of attention and play time from her aunty and her uncle! She never had a dull moment! It was great because they could play with Emmeline, I could play with Zack, or we could look after each other babies whilst the other was busy. Since Zack is the same size, I didn’t have to worry about packing nappies o anything as Chantal had all the baby stuff I needed. It made life so much easier but left me thinking 'crap, how hard will this be when we go on a holiday to a place where there isn’t already a baby? We will have to pack a lot more stuff!'

The holiday ended far too quickly and before I knew it, I was trying to squeeze things into my bag and freaking out as I knew I would be over the weight limit! Not too much of a surprise there thought, I did buy clothing, toiletries, and about 6 books, so I don’t know why I was freaking out! Oh that´s right, because stupid Ryan smelly bum air charge you 20eu per extra kilo! This on top of the fact that they charged me 20eu each way for Emmeline (even though she has to sit on my lap the whole time) makes me like them even less. We got to airport thinking that we had more than enough time to spare except that we didn’t imagine the possibility that Ryan smelly bum air would be checking in 5 flights at the same 3 check in desks. They were. Hence the million mile queue. Poo. Got through the queue much quicker than I had anticipated and before you knew it we were upstairs and I was being waved off by a sister who was very nervous about sending me off with no phone because if I had a problem, they wouldn’t be there and I wouldn’t have anyone to help me! Bless her, such a worry wart. The flight went without a hitch and when we landed although I was sad at having to say goodbye to my sister, I was happy to be back home. My dad was there and waiting for us and couldn’t wait to hold Emmeline! We got home and Xavi was already waiting downstairs for us! He was already hugging me hello before I had even managed to get out the car properly and the minute I got Emmeline out of the car seat, he only had eyes for his daughter! And I don't blame him . . .