My beautiful neice...Again!

I'm having a really hard time coming to terms with recent events. I really did think I was okay, but apparently, I'm not. My heart is physically hurting. It hurts so much I can't even describe it.

Anyway, I've not eaten anything hardly for a couple of weeks. This is probably a good thing, because in that 2 weeks, I've lost 1.5 inches around my back. I lost 5 kilograms last week alone!

This weekend was a busy one for me.

Saturday morning I had another dress fitting. Although my dress now fits comfortably, I'm still having the back taken apart and replaced with a corset. I think it will look nicer anyway, and it means that the dress will be unique.

Saturday afternoon we went to visit SIL. She lives around 25 miles away. It's a long drive which takes around an hour since there's a lot of hills to drive over and most of the way it's only 30MPH! We got there for around 4:00pm and didn't leave till like 8:00pm, so it was a long day overall.

Today we had planned to visit my other SIL, and she was cooking dinner for us. We left the house at midday, and we just got home (it's midnight)! We did other stuff too, but today was also a long day!

We spent a few hours with SIL, BIL & my neice. We also had dinner.

My neice is growing up way too fast! She's 3 months old now, and a real chatterbox. She had her 2nd set of injections this week and she was very sleepy. She was having a bath when we arrived as we were early, and then she slept for around 2 hours in her rocking chair thing. I then held her and she slept on me for over an hour...Although I was talking to her trying to wake her up - I wanted photographs! She wasn't having any of it!

We woke her up about 10 minutes after we needed to have left, so I did get my photo-time, allbeit just a few minutes! In that few minutes, there were a million expressions, and I managed to take 95 photographs, so it wasn't all bad!

This evening we met up with the vicar to discuss the wedding service. Since we didn't leave SIL's till late, we missed the church service, but our appointment with the vicar wasn't till 7:00pm, so we were on time for that. My Dad had been to the service though.

The vicar asked us about where we met and how long we've been together etc. He also asked about where we worked and how long we've been engaged and why we wanted a church service. My Dad has put some ideas forward for hymns, since he was with us at the meeting too. We're not 100% decided on what we want yet though!

I'm sure when the vicar adds up the dates of us meeting, he'll realize I was far too young to be in a nightclub! Heh!

Anyway, some pics of my neice:

Long time, no see!

The last time I saw my cousin was when her eldest daughter was christened...10 years ago!

My cousin emigrated to Iceland not too long after her daughter was christened, and even though she tries to visit the UK every year, we just never had chance to visit.

I made the 3 hour (each way) journey to my Aunts house to visit, and meet the 2 kids I hadn't yet met!

We went to the beach in Fairbourne and I took the kids in the sea. The water was freezing cold and my jeans were soaking wet after going knee-deep in the water! Luckily I had a change of clothes in the car!

I took a few photographs before I left, and although they're not great, they're good memories!

I'm hoping it's not another 10 years before we meet up again! Hopefully Des & I will be able to save some money and then we can spend a week in Iceland visiting!

Wedding sneaky peek - Our RINGS!!

Since Sunday marked the 2 month countdown, we decided to head to the Trafford Centre to finally make a decision on rings.

We went to Goldsmiths first of all, and I found a ring that I quite liked. It was 18ct yellow gold with diamond cut white gold band in the centre, so it was all sparkly. I wasn't 100% certain, so we carried on looking.

We headed to Ernest Jones, Beaverbrooks, another goldsmiths and then H. Samuel.

Des wanted a really plain band, and we looked at the titanium ones, tungsten ones, yellow gold and white gold...He wasn't too sure about anything, so started trying some on. He fell in love with a white gold band, which was shiny round the edges but dull in the middle. Luckily for us, the ring had 75% off and only cost £53.99! Our first bargain of the day!

Since I hadn't yet fallen in love with anything (we weren't particularly looking at me at the time) we headed back to all of the shops we'd previously been to. I tried a few and umm'd and ahh'd. Finally we ended up back in H. Samuel, and the woman asked me what I wanted...

My engagement ring was bought when I was 16/17. It only cost £119, and although I love it, it's falling apart! So I wanted a ring that was simple, elegant, and sligtly sparkly - preferably with diamonds! And of course, it had to match Des', so white gold.

She brought out the 18ct white gold, and I couldn't really see any that I absolutely loved...so next came platinum and Des' & I both raised an eyebrow...As if we could afford platinum?!

Our budget for rings was £400, and since Des' was just over £50, it gave me £350 to spare. However, we wanted to get as cheap as possible!

The woman showed me a platinum ring that was on sale......I loved it instantly and then she gave me the price...£349! Yay! Within budget and absolutely gorgeous! The ring is a simple thin but sturdy band, with 9 inset diamonds totalling 0.5 carat! The ring had 50% off, and was reduced from £700 - so there was our second bargain of the day! And we only went over budget by £2.99!

Des already has his ring as they re-sized it in the shop with it being the last one. Mine is having to be ordered in, and I'll be picking it up probably this Saturday! I can hardly wait! I'll definitely be taking photographs when I get both of them!

The photographs are directly from the H. Samuel website. Des' is below, and mine is at the beginning of the post! Enjoy...

Wedding sneaky peek - Mine & my Dad's song...

We've been struggling to find a song for me & my Dad to dance to. Initially, he wanted to dance to the song I was named after, which is Clair, by Gilbert O'Sullivan, but the words aren't that great.

I went through my entire playlist on my iPhone, and looked at CD's and finally settled on a choice of two. It was between Mark Cohn's 'A Song for my Daughter' and Heartlands 'I Loved her First'.

When I listened to both with me Dad, we both cried listening to 'I loved her First'...So it's definitely the one! Here's the lyrics:

Look at the two of you dancing that way

Lost in the moment and each others face

So much in love your alone in this place

Like there's nobody else in the world

I was enough for her not long ago

I was her number one

She told me so

And she still means the world to me

Just so you know

So be careful when you hold my girl

Time changes everything

Life must go on

And I'm not gonna stand in your way

But I loved her first and I held her first

And a place in my heart will always be hers

From the first breath she breathed

When she first smiled at me

I knew the love of a father runs deep

And I prayed that she'd find you someday

But it still hard to give her awayI

loved her first

How could that beautiful women with you

Be the same freckle face kid that I knew

The one that I read all those fairy tales to

And tucked into bed all those nights

And I knew the first time I saw you with her

It was only a matter of time

But I loved her first and I held her first

And a place in my heart will always be hers

From the first breath she breathed

When she first smiled at me

I knew the love of a father runs deep

And I prayed that she'd find you someday

But its still hard to give her away

I loved her first

From the first breath she breathed

When she first smiled at me

I knew the love of a father runs deep

Someday you might know what I'm going through

When a miracle smiles up at you

I loved her first

And here's a link to a youtube video so you can hear the song in full!