After an anxious week it was time for some relaxation. Maria’s cousin is over from Ireland with her three young children, staying with my sister-in-law. They’re great fun... but hard work.

Looking after one kid is a full-time occupation, my mind does cartwheels when you double and then treble the load.

The weather doesn’t do us any favours when we meet up. Rain precludes going outside, so Maria’s sister’s house is a playground not just for her three-year-old boy but also for Sam and the trio (two boys and a girl) from Ireland. It’s a mad house! How they cope back in Ireland is beyond me, the reality of the 'easy' time we have hits me.

Sam mucks in with the general chaos, in fact he has a whale of a time. Watching how the kids interact is illuminating, a fore-taste of what is to come.

Certain routines go out of the window… Sam appears as mystified as us by our visitors tucking into chocolate at the breakfast table. Anything for a quiet life I suppose!

Come back next week for week 27 of Adam's pregnancy diary!

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