A brief overview

So, I thought I'd give you some background info into who we are and how we got here.

I met Phil at Dartington College of Arts in Devon in Sept 1996 where we were both studying for a degree in Theatre. Our relationship got stronger as the years progressed and when Phil graduated and moved to Bristol we knew over that year that we would move in together which we duly did when I graduated in 1999. We have lived together in Bristol ever since and got married on 23rd July 2005, which was the best wedding EVER!! We had planned to try for a baby once we were back from honeymoon ans so we were surprised but joyful to find out that I was pregnant whilst still honeymooning in Egypt!

So...9 months later on Thursday 13th April 2006 (Maundy Thursday) our beautiful daughter emerged into the world, albeit without giving us a hard time about it...our peaceful, non-medical home-birth became a 28hr marathon ending up in an emergency cesarean...she's a stubborn little bugger! Since then it's been a whirlwind of a learning adventure, we've moved (the same week I went back to work after maternity leave, yes, I am insane) buying our lovely home in Kingswood.

Seren is a beautiful, intelligent, challenging, funny, loving daughter. She has a natural inquisitiveness and loves words, books and dancing. Her language development is amazing all around us and Grampy recently nearly fell off his chair when Seren counted to 20! Her favourite phrases at the moment are "What you doing (insert name here)?", "My do it!", "Mummy, where are you?" (this one is usually shouted down the hall at approx 6am).

Well, the family overview wouldn't be complete without the fluffs. We got Polly and Daisy, the Devonshire Spinsters in October 1999 and Stan came along the following year, a Y2K baby. They are getting old and a little grumpy now and love nothing better than sleeping for 23hrs, 30 mins of the day except for food time.

My first blog

Welcome to the first Family John blog, where I hope to keep you up to date with the daily lives of our little family here in Bristol. So, in case you don't know us, here's a quick run down of who we are. My name is Shanaz (aka Mummy), I am married to the wonderfully lovely Phil (Daddy)and together we created the gorgeous Seren Elizabeth who was born on 13th April 2006. This of course makes her 2 yrs 4 mths old, a truely roller-coaster age of emotion and joy! We also have 3 fluffy members of the family, Polly, Daisy and the infamous Stan-the-man.

So, you may be wondering what the name of my blog means and it's obviously related to Seren... Mousey is her constant companion, a soft bodied mouse that is her comforter and partner in crime. Tigs are teeth - Seren likes to "brush her tigs", it's become a bit of a family word and just stuck.

The main purpose of this blog is to keep our wonderful family & friends around the world up to date with what we're up to, if you've happened upon us by accident...then welcome!