Stranded in the snow!
It's coming up to Isla's first Christmas, and to make it even more magical, it's the first time it's snowed in December, where we live, since 2010!
It has been an absolutely hectic last few days, I received 4 orders of 7 cakes and 24 cupcakes including 2 vegan cakes with only a few days notice! Don't get me wrong I am absolutely not complaining, I feel so lucky to have all this business so soon after opening, and it's a great learning curve for me, however I had to have some very late nights, and early mornings, and sacrifice spending time with my baby. I'm just so lucky to have some amazing friends who loved to watch Isla for me while I was glued to my kitchen, and that she just happens to be a super easy baby to look after, otherwise I may not have had so many offers!
So anyway, on the Friday, after I had finished baking and decorating all my cakes, I delivered what I could, and it was time to travel to Watford to my parents house, and to where my final cake order was to be dropped off. The plan was to stay with them overnight as in the morning I had agreed to drive Bob, my fiance, to the airport which was closer to Watford than our home, as he was visiting his Dad in Holland for the weekend.
After the drive to the airport at 5am I was running on little to no sleep, and at 10am I took the remaining cakes and cupcakes to the baby shower I was catering for. That night I was determined to have an early one, however I ended up staying up late chatting to my sister and my best friend who I hadn't seen for over a year as she'd been living in Australia.
When I finally got to sleep I was expecting Isla to wake up every 2-3 hours as she'd had so many naps during the day, and when she began to stir I woke up immediately and looked at my clock and it was 6am... She'd slept for nearly 7 hours!
I fed her and she went back to sleep almost straight away, then what seemed like minutes later my sister was jumping around excitedly, shaking me awake saying "It's snowing!!!!".
She'd had to cancel her plans as it was too dangerous to drive anywhere, but I just didn't believe how heavy she was saying it was. I got up with Isla and went to the window to look and the entire garden was covered in a thick layer of white snow. Isla's eyes were massive, and she was quietly just staring around at the bright light that was being reflected off the snow, taking it all in.
I absolutely cannot wait till she's older and we can go outside to play in the snow, make snowmen and sledge down the hills!
Unfortunately I wasn't prepared for being snowed in and hadn't packed for this situation. I hadn't brought Isla's warmest clothes to be able to go out, or the waterproof pram cover, and I quickly began to run out of nappies, clean clothes and formula!
It's now Monday afternoon, we have just had a powercut but luckily my parents have a gas cooker which we can use to boil water and heat the room. The roads are still dangerous and the government is advising against all travel unless absolutely necessary. We are down to the last 3 nappies, and I've been trying to breastfeed and pump as much as possible instead of using formula, which luckily is made easier as I'm staying with family so have lots of help there if I need an extra set of hands to look after Isla while expressing.
It looks like Bob's return flight is going to be cancelled, which is good and bad at the same time. Good as I don't feel comfortable driving in these conditions especially with Isla in the car, and bad because we miss him!
Also I have had to cancel an order of a Unicorn Birthday Cake I had due for delivery tomorrow evening, as there is no way I'm going to be able to get it done when I'm not staying at home and with no one to watch Isla while I work. Hopefully I can reschedule and make it for the weekend if they still want it!
On the positive.. I'm making the most of this free time after such a busy week, to be away from home, away from chores and (most) responsibilities to spend time with my baby girl, work on my writing, and drink as much lemon and ginger tea as humanly possible!
Louise x
