'You've got your hands full'

On holiday in Ceredigion, West Wales

THE following is a dual post from our new travel blog, which I've been working hard on.

WE're often found at a caravan at Quay West Holiday Park in New Quay, West Wales. Here are some images from our stays there as well as some beautiful images of the surroundings from Bigstockphoto.com.

Making connections with other multiples

I've sought out other parents of multiples since I learned I was pregnant with twins. I understand how important connection can be, especially from parent to parent. We made another interesting connection yesterday.

We'd been to see a parade in the morning and were out eating lunch before running some errands and heading home. A man stopped by our table and told us what a beautiful family we were. (Nice intro, by the way.) Then he asked if the girls were twins. As I mentioned in a comment in Linda's recent post, most people don't even realize my daughters are twins, so I was surprised and said, "Why, yes, they are!"

Then he told us that he was an identical twin. He and his wife had seen our daughters, and they'd wondered if they could be twins.

That's the first time a twin has reached out to my twins. It was kind of nice.

also blogs at Deep Muck Big Rake. Write her at becky_handsfull@yahoo.com.

Do you mind when people refer to your children as "the twins" or "the triplets"?

I SORT of know I shouldn't care about this, yet I do. I know it's not the end of the world and there are lots more pressing matters we can all turn our minds to, but when people call my daughters "the twins", it irritates me.

"They have names, you know," I want to point out. (But of course don't because then well, the other person would see that I sort of cared about something so outwardly trivial.)

Depression: My story, plus why you journalists should speak up if they are feeling down

THE following piece appears in this month's Press Gazette, but isn't online.

I'm posting it here, as well as on my blog for freelance writers, in the hope of further raising awareness that mental illness doesn't have to be 'dirty little secret' - even if when you are in the midst of it, the last thing in the world you'd ever want to do is tell people!

As someone who is fully recovered, I hope my experience and the advice offered here by freelance journalist colleagues, the NUJ and charities, may help others suffering the effects of a mental illness.

I'd welcome any comments at the end of the post, especially from others with similar experiences. Again, I hope this could help show those going through a tough time that they are not alone.

AS I sat on my bed at 3am, sobbing and contemplating throwing myself through the window, I knew I had to seek medical help. Despite thinking everyone would be better off without me, part of me was still rational enough to know I didn’t want to feel like this.

Tagged by Littlemummy.com and Dulwich Divorcee: Some stuff about me

Erica and Alice have passed the baton on this one, so here goes...

1. What are your current obsessions?

As ever lots of things. Family and work, work and family. That's about it really. Blog wise, I'm still reeling from our Disney experience, and am blown away by the work of Camilla Chafer and Keris Stainton so far on our new travel blog, Havealovelytime.com.

2. Which item of clothes do you wear most often?

Just anything black, black and more black. If you want to know why, look here.

Happy birthday to my favorite twins!

Happy birthday to my daughters, who turn 5 today!

also blogs at Deep Muck Big Rake. Write her at becky_handsfull@yahoo.com.

How much 'one on one' time do you give your multiple birth children?

HERE'S a picture of my daughters on a recent trip to London.

That's Emily and Melissa in the front and a friend they made one day. No I don't know what he's supposed to be either.

We went together as a family. It would never have occured to me that we should split up and head for different destinations.

So imagine my surprise, when they both returned from a school trip last week, to numerous parents asking with a bemused expression: "They BOTH went then?"

Did they really think one would go without the other?

British 'mummy bloggers' hit Disney

THERE are lots of things I have never done. Two which seem to surprise people are 1) watching an episode of The Simpsons all the way through and 2) visiting a Disney theme park.

Now at least one of those is going to change as I have been invited to Walt Disney World, Orlando, as part of a group of British parent bloggers, to see 'everything the resort has to offer.'

No, I can't quite believe it either. I've already blogged about what it's like to be leaving my children to ride a rollercoaster or six and now I'm also looking forward to meeting the other mums going along, later this month.

Would you plan to give birth to twins or triplets at home? Couple say hospital denies them "rightful choice"

WITH more than 300,000 views on YouTube, this video has a pretty powerful message.

Questions tackled head on by the producers include:

* So both babies have to be head down for a vaginal birth?

* So all twins should be born by c-section?

* So older mums have to have a Caesarean?

Tips to help get your children into a sleeping routine from You've Got Your Hands Full readers

A WHILE back I wrote about how disappointed I was that when my daughters were younger, we never managed to conquer the 'get them off to sleep and you can have a life in the evenings' challenge.

Commenters offered some excellent advice and shared their stories of how they had mastered said challenge. Now I have been asked for advice from an expectant mum of twins. So it has made me remember that it would be a good idea to bring those pointers together.