Measles Outbreak - Safe to travel to France?

So there I was last week happily reading the school newsletter when suddenly I came across a warning of a measles outbreak in France. Over 3000 cases have been recorded so far this year in France and guess who has got a family holiday booked there this summer? The older children are fully immunised but Baby T will be less than 6 months old when we go so will not have had her MMR.

We did what most people would have done which is nothing for a couple of days then started panicking. We googled Measles situation in France and learnt that last year the recorded cases for France were 5000. So it is significantly up.

I then rang NHS Direct who knew nothing about an outbreak. Then I tried the Doctor who suggested trying the Nurse who said to try the Health Protection Agency - Who were fab!!

They rang me back within half an hour, asked whereabouts we were going and how long for. We then had quite a long conversation about surfing but thats a post for another time!

The results are. Safe to travel with a baby even though not fully immunised. The warnings going out to Doctors surgeries and schools are aimed at reminding parents who have not had their children immunised to do so as soon as poss. It is mostly groups of teenagers that are contracting measles. If we were travelling abroad for 2 months or more, we may be advised to bring forward Baby T's MMR but even then this is unlikely as she is so young and may still have some of my natural antibodies. (Aw!)

So there we are, still going to France and another trauma is over for another day!

Tara Beatrice - Weeks 2-4

I cannot believe that Baby T's first month is over already. She has been a little dream and continues to settle in brilliantly. She has met so many people - The joys of being taken to everything that your older sisters are doing.

We are finally signed off the midwife rota - Even that has been enjoyable with us being signed over to Kath, that I have known since school. We had a little scare with Baby T's belly button as when it finally fell off (Ew!) at 11 days there was a vessel still live that we had to have checked out. Even by the time we got to the doctors an hour later it was starting to die off but there is nothing like seeing what looks like a worm coming out of your baby's belly to terrify you!

We have had a visit from the Health Visitor who was really lovely and made me feel that we were doing everything just right. She seemed so realistic about living with a baby.

Last Thursday (17th March), we went to Prescot Registry Office to register Baby T - It felt slightly sad knowing this was the last time we would do that - We were so much calmer than when we registered Miss M 8 years ago - I remember being really stressed about having to keep to an appointment time! I tried to convince Derm that we could have 'Sparkle' as one of her middle names but he was having none of it (i'll still call her Sparkle from time to time!) He wouldn't even have 'Leprechaun' in honour of it being St Patrick's Day.

Both M and V continue to be besotted - M in particular can't keep her head out of the pram or Moses basket - It is lovely to hear her talking to T, telling her how beautiful she is. V has really calmed down and seems to be so much more content.

Activities in the past fortnight have increased again. In addition to the usual swimming lessons and dancing lessons, we have had a trip to church (we would have had 2 but couldn't get there in time the first time we tried - it took us 2 hours to get ready the second week!). We went to Harrison's christening which was a lovely afternoon, a 3 hour children's party (why 3 hour?!!) and plenty more visitors.

At exactly 4 weeks we decided to take a trip to Auntie Maz's and Uncle Baz's in Leeds - What a lovely afternoon we had.

Baby T continues to be very placcid - I have never known any of our girls to be happy to lie in their pram more than 30 seconds after waking. We are still using the Colief drops - the odd feed where we have forgotten to put the drops in have coincided with windy and unsettled night - We're not taking any chances! The christening is booked for 15th May - preparations are very laid back this time. All of Baby T's godparents have been asked - Fairy Godmother, Cara said as expected that she wanted to cry, Godfather, Ant gave T lots of kisses and said he was honorourd as did Auntie Suzanne. Becky went pink and said thank you. We are so lucky to have such lovely people to ask.

Introducing Tara Beatrice - The First 2 weeks

The Costello Crew have a new member - our darling little girl was born on 20th February and is absolutely perfect. Tara Beatrice is a welcome little sister for her 2 older sisters who are looking forward to many years of fun together.

Tara has settled well into our household - she has received lots of visitors and once again we are amazed by how generous people are with their presents. She is very patient as we keep calling Tara, V as we are used to calling her 4yo sister.

On Day 3, OH had to return to work and the next day I developed an infection. Cue, the most AMAZING friends a person could ever have - We were so well looked after - with lunch being brought, shopping being done, photos being taken and even Baby T being bathed.

Biggest sister, M has been an absolute star - never once complaining when she is asked to fetch items and always being ready for a cuddle with T. Middle sister, V loves T very much and even wanted to kiss her tongue one night!

By the end of week 2, T has met all 9 of her cousins and has even been to a swimming lesson, visited a pub and attended a swimming gala - the life of a 3rd child. She is very popular at school and behaved perfectly at the school fashion show. Auntie Cara has kindly done 2 photo shoots - Evidence of which can be found here.

Life for M & V has been just as busy with World Book Day on Thursday (M had a fabulous Dorothy outfit made by Nanna and V was a beautiful Snow White - Photos to come!) On Tuesday, V had a visit to A&E with a huge bump on her forehead after falling off a kitchen stool - The proof of this will forever be on the school photo taken the next morning!

The next week holds in store lots more fun and lots more visitors - T is already growing out of outfits but continues to be a tiny 7lb and very beautiful - we are feeling VERY lucky.

Look Who's Back!

Another milestone in the Costello Family - The Biff, Chip and Kipper reading books are back. Just when the pain had diminished from when the 8YO read them, it starts all over again with the 4YO.

These books have been going for decades as most parents will know - Oh I wish I was more excited about these family members returning to the fold!

Its Chriiiiistmas!

Ooh are you getting excited yet? I start getting giddy at the end of August - seriously. There is so much to do and I always run out of time - and I always have a whinge about how much I 'need' to do but I'll let you into a secret ...I love it!

Around this time, I start to think about the Christmas traditions that we have..I know that each family has different ones and I love hearing about them.

One of ours is each betting to guess what colour the Queen is wearing for her speech (not that we tend to watch it, we are normally sitting down for Christmas dinner with a port and lemon at that point). We have a maximum 50p bet - Gamblers Anonymous please don't be alarmed - its only once a year! Its hard work managing to avoid what she's wearing as it is normally on the news the week before but well worth it.

A friend of mine's Dad insists on going downstairs first shouting bye to Father Christmas down the drive saying 'See you next year!" - She is 35 and married with her own son but they won't stop that tradition.

What are your traditions at Christmas? Share them -you may start a craze!

PS The photo is from Christmas 2008 in our living room - Another tradition, the house is a tip in 2 seconds flat!

A magical trip to Build-a-Bear

We were really lucky a couple of weeks ago to be offered a chance to review a trip to Build-a-Bear in Liverpool. This is our nearest store but there are loads of others nearby too - find your nearest here.

The trip was arranged by the lovely Estelle at Publicasity - As if we'd need asking twice to go!

Up until a year ago I had never ventured into a Build-a-bear thinking how good can it be? The answer is ...very good! My 2 girls, age 8 and 4 just think a trip there is magical and to be honest so do I!

When we arrived at the Liverpool store, everyone that greeted us was really friendly and this treatment carried on all the way through our visit - there were other customers that had queries and it was lovely to see that they were treated kindly and courteously too.

There are loads of bears to choose from, from your more traditional looking teddy bears to your bears of the moment - think Hello Kitty!

Once the bears are chosen, its off to stuff them (with love of course!) and give them their own sound (and even a beating heart if you like!) It would take a heart of stone not to love watching your children go through the ritual of giving the bears their love, letting them know they will think of them and care for them.

Stuffing the bears with love ... sniff!

After that its time to start to look for the outfit - Oh my goodness, these bears have got better wardrobes than me! Just have just got to love the little knickers with space for their tails to go through. And the handbags!! And the little glasses!!!
The oh-so cute knickers!

There is a seasonal section which at the moment is Halloween - They are very of the moment you know! My girls went for the more everyday wear in matching outfits and I swear on the way home we saw a girl wearing the exact same skirt! It was nearly longer than the bear's!
The Halloween section - Do they sell that purple dress in size 10? (ahem!)
Our assistant was Lorna, who I'm sure loved posing for her photo taken - seriously though, she was fantastic for the kids and really encouraged them to pick what 'suits' the bear - I can imagine they are great at parties.


All-in-all our visit took about 50 minutes which I think is about the norm - I would like to thank the staff at Liverpool, Build-a-Bear for making my girls' weekend - they have not stopped playing with them since. A highly recommended experience and one that can be added to at Christmas and Birthday time.