Only now that I am a mummy of three in a family of five do I understand wholly why my mother started packing for holidays weeks in advance.

Why certain items of clothing would disappear from my drawers and why I would be banned from one random room in the house.

Packing for a week away with a young family is an absolute mission. It takes thought, planning, organisation and child free time. Time you have to snatch when you can in very short interludes, hence the need for secret packing in advance!

So we are off on our holidays and it would seem we are taking almost our entire house with us and even still I am dreading the things I might and probably will forget.

The comforter, the teddy, the Calpol!!!!

Here is my list of holiday essentials for our little family of five as much a check list for me as interest for you.

Have I missed anything?

Sleep
Pyjamas for each child for each night
Sleeping Bag for each baby
Teddy / comforter for each baby
Bedding for cots and crib
A baby monitor for the twins and one for baby
Laptop for bedtime TV
Laptop charger
Bedtime reading for all
Blackout blind or bin bags to black out windows!
Tape

Clothes
One outfit for each day for each of us
One spare outfit for each baby
Waterproof coat each
Puddlesuits for Esther and William
Wellies for all
Shoes for all
Socks for all
Fleece each
Dribble bibs for baby

Eating
Highchairs
Bibs for Esther and William
Plate, bowl, snack bowl, cutlery for Esther and William
Drinking cups for Esther and William
Antibacterial wipes
Hand and face wipes
Toddler snacks
Food for toddler teas

Indoor Play
Box of toys
Basket of books to include In The Night Garden and Mr Tumble Magazines as full of stickers and activities
Box of art stuff to include crayons, sketch pads, stickers and sticker books
Baby Gym and playmat
Tummy with Mummy Seat with Tiny Love Travel Arch
Bumbo???
Basket of toys for Matilda mostly Lamaze toys and some black and white cuddlies
Cars and car mat

Going Out
Double Buggy
Carry Cot
Baby Bjorn Miracle
Raincover
Snoozeshade Twin
Snoozeshade Original
Bundlebeans x 3
Picnic Blanket

Just In Case
Calpol
Nurofen
First aid kit
Plasters

Beach, Water and Outdoor Play
Swimsuits for all
Sunsuits for all babies (we can hope!)
Swim nappies
Sunhats for all
Towels for all
Wet shoes
2 x sand trucks
Play tunnel
Flexibath
Munchkin inflatable duck
Paddling pool
Buckets, sand moulds and watering cans
Squirty crab and turtle
Footballs
Forks, spades and rakes
Buggies and Babies!!
Suntan lotion

The Car
CDs for the car
Snacks for the car
Drinks for the car
Change Bag – fully packed
Spare clothes bag – fully stocked
Baby Bjorn Miracle

Additional For Me
Mascara
Shower Gel
Face Wash
Shampoo and Conditioner
Laptop
Charger
Pens
Notebook
Wallet
Keys

So that is the list complete.

My house looks like a bomb site.

We must be ready for the holiday to begin!

This time of year is a bit funny for me.

This time two years ago I should have been starting my third trimester of pregnancy with twins.

Instead I was trying to recover from major abdominal surgery whilst spending every waking moment watching two tiny babies, each fighting on alone in their steamy plastic incubators.

My babies had been born too soon.

So now Esther and William are two but they shouldn’t really be two until October.

This time in 2010 they should not really have been born but they were.
Giving birth at 27 weeks is frightening.

No one can tell you whether your babies will live or die.

No one can make any guarantees or promises.

No one really knows what to say.

The journey through NICU is a terrifying one.

It is something that you never forget.

Particularly when you know that you are the reason your precious babies are there.

It is an alien introduction to motherhood.

Not able to touch your own child.

Having twins in NICU is hard work

Which baby should I sit with, sing to, look at?

There is a soundtrack to life in NICU

Beeps and buzzers and whispered tones

Doctors conferring, nurses deliberating, parents praying

It is always hot in NICU

The days and nights there are physically exhausting

Mentally and emotionally draining

Lonely though you’re never alone

It was weeks before I was alone with my babies

A precious moment I will never forget

Our journey through NICU was the longest time

Yet the tiniest fraction of our lives together

59 days

7 weeks of moving ever closer to the door

So many mornings not knowing what we would find at the hospital

Good days and bad days

Steps forward and back

Needles and long lines

Tests and transfusions

Tears and frustrations

Fear and guilt

Love and gritted determination

So many nights

Sleepless

Expressing milk for tiny babies in somebody else’s care

Longing for cuddles with empty arms

Yearning for kisses with bursting heart

So much love

Waiting

Wanting to bring our babies home

This is a funny time of year

Reliving our journey

The highs and the lows

Wondering how it might affect our beautiful children as they grow

Wondering how to tell them

Why this time is a funny time

A funny time of year

At last we are counting down to our summer holiday.

Every year we go away with our extended Henley family for one week. This year we are going to a new house in Devon. There will be 18 of us, 7 of whom are under the age of 6.

Before we go though we have a week of preparation and packing. There is so much to take now that we are a family of five!

Because our week is an exciting one I wanted our food to be simple to make and enjoy.

This is what we will be eating in the week ahead.

Saturday
Mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce with crusty bread

Sunday
Cod wrapped in parma ham with brown rice, corn and hollandaise sauce

Monday
Fish goujons, spicy potato wedges and corn

Tuesday
Traditional picnic tea with visiting uncle and aunties to include pork pies, savoury eggs and sausage rolls. And Jelly Babies!!

Wednesday
Spaghetti Olio

Thursday
Pizza and salad (eat with babies as busy night packing for our departure tomorrow early doors!!!)

Yum Yum!