Hello and happy Palm Sunday! It’s that time of year again when I blog every day of Holy Week and invite you to read along.

I’m going to try my best to keep the blogging up (I’ve been pretty poor of late). I’m been a bit tired and contine to be so because… I’m pregnant! And we’re telling our churches today! So come along with me as I share this news today…

6.40am Soph is up! She’s been going to bed a bit earlier this week because we started implementing a bit of sleep coaching last week. This means, though, that she’s up a bit earlier than she normally is. Swings and roundabouts, I suppose!

9.30am We are up, dressed and Nathan has gone to take his first service. Sophia seems to be in a mood when she says she wants a certain food, and then when it is presented, no longer wants it.

10.15am all is ready at church. Holding all this, our news, the joy of Palm Sunday and the darkness of Holy Week in my head is a bit overwhelming. I’m hoping I’ll be able to concentrate on my upcoming sermon better once I’ve told everybody about the baby during the Good News section on the service.

12noon Well that was lovely! Sophia had been super keen to tell everybody but when the moment came, she said ‘no’ – obviously! Thankfully, she was wearing her ‘big sister Tshirt’ so I could take her jumper off and show them. It was really lovely. Some people were surprised, some had already caught on and some, like my wardens, knew weeks ago.

As soon as I told everybody I got an instant headache – pretty typical for me! And it’s a relief that people may be aware why my capacity and energy have been so low the last few months!

Anyway, here we are, telling everybody. This is a screenshot from the livestream!

To the liturgically picky among you – yes, I know I’m in the wrong stole. I was in Lent mode and I forgot I should be in red!

13.20pm We are back home after a brief trip to Aldi and Soph is asleep in the car. We’ve all been invited to a birthday party this afternoon but I might not make all of it because I’ve said I’ll go and see somebody from church.

4.20pm So Nathan and Soph went out a couple of hours ago to help set up this party, which is at St Giles Church hall. I had my phone on loud so the person I was planning on seeing could tell me if they were still up for it, and I expected that Nathan and Sophia would come back before the party actually started. Anyway, I’ve just woken up from a 2 hour nap (I only closed my eyes for 5 minutes) to a message that says I’m not needed today, so I’ll head over to the party!

9pm Wow, what a fun evening! The party was brilliant, with soft play for the kids and loads of food for everyone. Nathan was working the bar and when I arrived, Soph was in there with him having a drink of juice. She came running out saying ‘Mummy!’.

I had lots of chats with other parents, and made a new friend who is also into musicals, and also breastfed past infancy, so we had lots to talk about! Soph and I sat and had food with a couple of mums who were both looking after 2 children each, and I became painfully aware of what a step up it’s going to be in a few months time. Anyway, let’s not worry about that now!

I love going to things like this in my collar and just being normal. I’m coming to believe that the more time I spend being me in non-church contexts, the better. Standing in church talking to church people about church things is necessary, of course, but it’s not a very good witness to people outside our walls!

Anyway, after our busy days, Nathan and I are both shattered. And Nathan and Soph have both been sneezing which doesn’t bode well. Now, I know It’s not great, and it doesn’t happen much at all nowadays, but I’m currently sat in bed eating KFC. That’s how it goes sometimes! Happy Holy Week!