Our Story | Parents discuss their relationship journey

How did we meet? How has our relationship changed since having children? This is the one where Emma and Elliot share some of their joint story and have lots of laughs looking back and reminiscing about the past, before we start on this next stage of our parenting journey with a new baby and toddler. We chat about what we first thought of each other, dating, awkward conversations, university, getting engaged, our lockdown wedding, and the strains on our relationship once we had a daughter. Funny arguments we had, the challenges to romance, communicating well and much more.

If you'd like to watch our full pandemic wedding vlog (mentioned in the episode)
Our story of getting married on YouTube

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Find everything explained and more links on our website:
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Unwind on sleepless nights to a wholesome mix of parenting stories, quirky humour, and cosy crafting. We’re not here to provide answers but to share our experiences, explore how parenting has changed, and build an online community of parents for mutual support.

A fun, honest and unscripted conversation between Emma and Elliot on non-judgemental parenting and millennial-based topics, as we relax on an evening attempting an artistic or creative activity. 

We are a project in partnership with The Kairos Movement and supported by The Methodist Church, of which The Kairos Movement is a part.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:05 Parenting Achievements
• 6:30 How we met
• 15:00 Dating
• 27:00 Engagement
• 41:40 Wedding
• 45:45 How it's changed with kids
• 57:00 Ending

Transcript

 So, Emmy 1 of 4, what are we talking about today? Today we're talking about, um, how we met, and then our journey up to becoming parents.  Maybe how that's changed our relationship.  This episode is called Our Story. 

It's another night in the Crippen household and it's time to unwind. Have a break from the little one who's currently away at nursery. We'll  We don't send her away at night, we are, we're recording this in the day.  Although that would be good.  Night nursery.  This is the tale of a husband and wife who do a light hearted, family friendly podcast and chats all about parenting with babies and toddlers. 

Welcome to our community of listeners out there, all 10 of you who follow along. Join the conversation this week coming from our imaginary Cozy conservatory with rickety floral patterned squashy chairs. Turn up the electric heater and let's settle in for a chit chat. Do you like our little location this week?

I'm not sure, it sounds a bit drafty.  Well I'll wrap a blanket around you.  Free blankets provided. My name is still Elliot. I'm Baba to our three year old daughter Lily and get in trouble all the time for playing overly dangerous and lively games with her. That's true. You play dangerous games.  Sitting across from me is Emma,  also Mama to Lily.

And I play nice and creative games and try to make them mildly educational.  We're also expecting another baby girl. By the time you're listening to this when it comes out, she's due in a few days probably. She might even already be here. Who knows? We're getting very close to the end. And she's pretty big.

Yeah. So it's, it's anyone's guess. 

Da ding! Da ding!  That scared me. It's Parenting Achievement Time!  Doo doo doo! I've  got to think of an achievement now. Ha ha ha. Yeah, some we  It's the little segment where we share a parenting fail story or just a relatable moment of what's going on in our lives to see, um, you know, share that we're  We don't always get everything right and, uh, things fall apart for us as well.

Oh. Just parenting life, really. Normally every week on a Friday, me and Liddy meet up with our friend Vicky and her little girl Macy and then they've got, she's got a baby brother now and we go into Knaresborough and go to the Hungry Caterpillar. This week, A, the Hungry Caterpillar is closed and B, Vicky's off on a course.

Both of us haven't yet broken it to the girls.  We're cowards. So it's, I don't know if it's an achievement but it's joint cowardice.  Do you have a fail you'd like to add in too? Can we return to the topic of food? It's a little parenting achievement that we return to quite regularly. It is. Uh, it's not going well.

Uh, we did a whole episode ages ago on beige food and things have not improved since then. No. This week. And maybe last week, I mean, you know, I can't, I think she's just been eating cream cheese bagels. Yeah. For the last two weeks. I can barely think of anything else she's eaten. And the only thing that gives me hope is that I'm like, well cream cheese is, you know, some kind of protein. 

But I remember we were watching Tractor Ted a little while ago. So there's an episode all about carrots and them harvesting carrots. Yeah. I was saying to Lily, uh, do you like carrots, Lily? Lily. And she was going, no, never eat carrots. And I was, I was going, what? You're never going to eat carrots? And she was like, yes.

I was like, great.  So yeah, that kind of sums up how it's going with food. You know when they say you're meant to lead by example? Why, why doesn't this have an effect when we eat such? She doesn't pick up on stuff like that. But what she does pick up on is like our little sayings and expressions. She's basically like turning into a mini version of us.

So it's so hilarious now. That she parrots back phrases to us and we're like, where did you pick that up? Do you want to say there's no I mean, there's loads of examples about this, but I think is it yesterday or the day before? She was going, 1993 Emma Crippen And I was like, how do you know I was born in 1993?

We were both staring at her going, how have you picked up this information? You're like listening to her Just dig it, like, factually, 1993, Emma Gribbin! 

I don't even think she knows what the number is, but she just like, repeating it, and I thought, goodness, I must have, like,  prescriptions and stuff, been saying my date of birth and name so often recently. She often comes up to me and like, just randomly Starts like stroking my nose and going it's okay.

Calm down.  It's all right  Breathe breathe, which is very long. This is what we do with her It's what we do with her, but it doesn't often work at the minute last night. We were laughing and we were sat in The big bed reading stories and then she decided she was gonna put she's got like a little fluffy pajama top with a pocket in the front Yeah, and she was putting like her shoes a Batman mask and she was pretending because her tummy then looked big that it was the baby Oh, yeah She was going Ow!

Stop kicking me! Ow! Stop kicking me!  Anyway, there we go. There's a pl Plethora? Plethora? I went too big there. I went for a big word. You went for a big word and you could execute it. I'm not good with big words.  I was too ambitious. A plethora? A plethora? That's a range of stories for you.  There we go. Do any of those parenting achievements, parenting fails resonate with you?

Let us know. We'd love to hear from you. Um, get in touch over on social media, on our community group chat, or anywhere really. There's all the links in the description down below or on our webpage. I was going to say, we're everywhere. We're everywhere. She'll find us. We just pop up, go, hello. Do you have a story? 

Leave the parenting to your partner for a bit and let's get your tired brain in gear for a little chit chat with us all about, uh, us.  So it's a slightly different episode, it's kind of a parenting adjacent topic.  In this period like we're at the very end of pregnancy and we don't We don't have a lot else to talk about really and we kind of want to escape from that for a bit  We're like very soon.

We're going to be thrown right back into the thick of parenting and there'll be loads Yeah, then we'll have tons of stories lots to talk about in terms of babies and toddlers But we thought in this little stop gap, um in the middle we would  dive a bit deeper into us and share some of our stories and we can have a bit of fun Doing that and hopefully you can enjoy getting to know us a bit more Yeah, hopefully we'll tie it back into parenting at the end of the episode and the story as we'll get more into But if anyone knows what we're like, we'll probably forget  This is the aim is to bring this conversation background into maybe how our relationship has changed and evolved since having kids but we will Uh, we haven't before told much of our personal story because we've kind of always focused on parenting.

Yes, we thought it might be quite interesting to chat a little bit about how we met and Uh, kind of our journey through, like, getting engaged and married and all sorts of things. Right, well, back to the beginning, I suppose, where we start. It isn't a meet cute. We didn't, like, stumble into each other in the street as we're going to a bakery or something.

I think it's more funny that it's not that way. Do you know what I mean? It might not be romantic, but I think, I think our story is more funny. It's more realistic.  We met at  church, didn't we? Yeah, probably not a surprise if you're a long time listener. You know when they go, oh, it was love at first sight?

I had no 

Not in a nasty way.  What, what are you saying about me, Emma? What are you saying? Because I know a lot of people go, oh, and I knew from the moment I saw them that that was going to be my husband. And I'm like, that was not my experience. No, I don't think we had this at all. No. Even,  I would say this, this phase went on for quite a long time in terms of even when we were dating, I'm not sure we were like I think we like enjoyed each other company.

We weren't like, oh, this is definitely the person. Yeah, yeah. Um We were definitely like a friends. To a romantic kind of relationship. I'd just been on my year abroad because I was doing a language degree. This is at university when I was like 19. Yeah. And so that few age gap, you know, the difference seems more stark at that age.

Also, I do think when women do generally, um,  You're basically saying I was immature. Yes. I was young and immature.  The first thing I saw, um, cause I met him and his best friend, Luke. And the first thing I thought was very immature.  Um,  I think this is in the context of, um, I'd had to, like, I'd been abroad by myself in a country where I didn't know anybody.

So I remember coming back, we met them at church, I think they were baking for something. It was a Freshers Fair bake thing. Bake thing. So our, we were part of like, the, like, university society for the Methodist church. You know, it's a bit niche. And we were My impression of you then wasn't too bad. Yeah.

You guys seemed quite nice. I think there was a Freshers event where we were meeting in a cafe or something. Yeah.  And I remember this is when I thought you and Luke were very mature. They were sat there and I think they wanted the waitress to close a window or something, or a door. Um, and they were like discussing, I don't want to say it.

Well, I don't want to say it. Well, I don't want to talk to her. And I was like, I will talk to her. And I remember at the time going, this is ridiculous. And I thought, why are they even discussing it? It's not a big deal.  I would say we were young and things have improved, but.  I think both of us, we have quite a lot of social anxiety,  we're quite nervous and kind of shy people, um,  and more so back then, like, yeah,  we weren't a fan of talking to strangers.

No, I just remember at the time being like, I can't, I can't believe they're having an audition, who's gonna, and I thought, well, I'll, I'll talk to them, I don't care. So my first impression that he was quite childish,  um, well not, like, yeah, yeah, he was childish, I mean, there were aspects that made him childish.

Yeah, yeah. I mean,  I was very childish at the time. I was quite sheltered. I've had a sheltered upbringing. And I think that's what made us good friends is that I found like your company very enjoyable. Like you were very fun to be around. It's just at the time, you know, I thought I'd maybe be with someone who was like older and wiser. 

So I didn't necessarily put you in the category of like, oh potential dating material. Yeah. You were more like, oh he's like really funny and a nice friend. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I uh, I think because like I met you and Becky at the same time. Yes. You both, you know, You both went to the same university, in Aberystwyth, yeah, we should mention that, I don't think we have it.

Oh yes. We were in Aberystwyth in Wales, um. Which is, it's a beautiful place though. Yeah, absolutely lovely, yeah, we both really enjoyed our time there. We did. I always find it funny because, obviously like, You're identical, an identical quadruplet, but at the time, and I met both of you together, um, I didn't even register that you were sisters. 

Let alone that you were identical. There's such an Elliot thing to do as well. And I think because, I don't know, just my like dyslexic brain, the idea that like two sisters would be at the same uni and come to the same event, it just seemed so bizarre to me that I didn't even consider it a possibility.

Yeah, true.  It did mean like later. 'cause like we met a few people through that freshest week. Yeah. And in my head I  as much as I was being really childish in my head. I think I was president of the society at the time. Yeah. So I was like trying to be like, oh, we need to show good time to all these new students.

And like in my head I was trying to be like, trying to be mature, a leader  . But it, yeah. That's not what I got the impression of . Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh, looking back. Uh, then like after that week, I couldn't really distinguish between you and Becky because like we'd have conversations and I was like which one Like because you became then more involved with the group.

Becky always reminds me of this now in our relationship She's always like I was there when you met. Yeah  True. It's a favorite thing of your mum particularly to say that we met over the coffee pot at church. Yeah Which isn't true. It isn't true. I mean we did do a lot of like serving tea and coffee together So, yeah, we hung around a lot with This christian group and then got to know each other and became friends.

Yeah. Um, I Finally worked out who you were because Becky stopped coming to stop Again I never like I never considered you like a dating  partner or like potential romantic Like 

The reason it kind of happened was because our friends pushed us together and we were basically, like, set up. Yes, yeah. Which I actually think is quite, um, from what I'm told, quite a common story. Oh, really? Of people being like, those two, like, other people, would really suit each other. Yeah. But they're not doing anything.

Maybe we should kind of push them in the right direction. So it'd been a few months, like, between September and Christmas. Yeah. Um, and we were, like, Becoming good friends in the group and like both of our best friends. Yes, my best friend Luke and your best friend Rachel Who I think we've both mentioned on the podcast before and still our best friends.

Yeah best friends since uni We haven't changed our best friend. Yeah. Yeah, we're loyal. Yeah  They basically conspired they did so Trying to arrange situations where we'd end up alone together.  Well, I think that's maybe why we were put on tea and coffee quite often together. I think that's it. Yeah. Yeah. I think that was Luke's doing.

He was like, I'm going to schedule them to be on tea and coffee together.  I remember at the time, cause we had some Korean students and I thought, Oh, okay. Get Ponty and Coffey one of them, maybe I'll learn some Korean. So you were really disappointed to constantly be with me all the time. No, I was not, it was you, because you were really fun and you knew what you were doing.

Yeah. Because I was quite new to the church, so I was worried I'd do it wrong. So I quite liked that you were there to go like, we do this and this and this.  Because I always worried that I'd be bored. with somebody who didn't know and I'd be like, I don't know what I'm doing either. But I remember at the time, because I'm a linguist, I thought, oh, what a great opportunity to learn like another language.

If like, maybe they do like, I will say, I think Korean's quite a big step from European languages. So I don't know if I could have managed. I remember we went for a very awkward walk along the seafront because we were like, we're going to actually have to talk about this. Well, and do you remember, I won't name them, but one of our friends tried to join us and we were both like, we're trying to have a talk about what we'd like.

They didn't realize that we were purposely going off for like a private conversation. And they were just like, oh, well, we're a company. And we're like, we're, we're going to go together and walk along the seafront.  And they're like, oh, okay. Well, I'll join you. That sounds lovely.  They're really nice as well.

Like it was on any good occasion. I'll be like lovely come with us. And we were trying to drop hints. Yeah, but we're both too nice. We didn't want to be like mean and go like go away. But I also didn't because I didn't know where the conversation was going. I didn't want to go. Oh, no, this is  like us discussing if we like each other or not.

Uh, what we're planning to do.  So yeah, I think we walked a long time before they ended up leaving. And then I was a bit exhausted to be honest. It was quite late at night because we'd been to like an evening like event. You know us. Evening church event. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like a social gathering thing.

Oh yeah, yeah. Except, You know, we, we weren't going out drinking, we were just sat around having cake and discussing stuff.  You know, we were pretty rubbish at all this. I think mainly because neither of us had had We hadn't had relationships before. I'd not had a girlfriend, you'd not had a boyfriend, and so we were kind of new to this, had no idea what we were doing.

Um, I think in hindsight, Yeah. We, we should have just like, You know, we were quite happy.  So this is where the intervention of our best friends failed. Yes. Um, at least we found it to be unhelpful because both of them had insisted to us before. They knew we were going on this walk. Yeah, yeah. And they basically gave us a prep talk each.

Yeah, yeah. In our separate houses. I remember. And they said, you better come back from that conversation knowing where you stand. Yeah. And Rachel was basically like, you need to know you're dating them. You need to be like, official, you need to know where you stand. Which I, I get from a woman's point of view, those who need.

But it put a lot of pressure on us to kind of make a decision. Yeah, so we were like, we need to make a decision. And looking back, I think, yeah, we both have said, it would have been better if we'd maybe said, We want to explore this, why don't we kind of hang out more and like, you know, experiment and just see if this is going to work before feeling like we have to put a leg Whereas we It worked out anyway, but we feel like it would have been like a slower, but Maybe more like we wouldn't have felt as like rushed.

Yeah, but it came from a good place from both our friends. It did, it did, definitely. Yeah, and obviously like we're pretty grateful.  Yeah, yeah,  we've got married and had children now, so we're very grateful for the tampering. Um, I can't remember how that conversation ended, but Like, in my mind, it was almost a weirdly formal, like, let's shake hands, and like, yes, we are now officially boyfriend and girlfriend.

Okay, goodnight. I remember you said something really cute. Did I? Where you were like, oh, if I didn't know you already, now I'd like ask for your number or something. And I was like, oh, that's really sweet.  So like, I remember Me trying to be funny? You were. So like, we pretended to like, give each other our numbers and be like, yeah, I'll see you.

See you later. That does sound a lot like me when I was like, I like tried to break the tension a lot with like weird little being silly. It worked. Yeah. You end up getting the girl. Yeah.  Um, we then kind of had the problem that I couldn't get over this kind of silliness. So a lot of our relationship was built around our friendship and silliness.

And like, I then hid behind that a bit because we were, I think we're both a bit uncomfortable about. Yeah. How to progress.  That's true. Um, like we went on some dates and stuff, um, do you want to say where I took you on our first date? I did not count this as a date, just FYI. Well, you know, I was  Okay, you explain, then I'll justify it.

Okay.  I think it was, I don't know why. I don't even know why we He was going to a CU event. Um, so that's Christian Union. Christian Union. So another church thing, but in a different church. Yeah. And he invited me along. Just FYI, I did not consider this a date at all  for him to take us to that first date.

And that's not what I thought this was. I mean, it wasn't really a date, but  in my head, I was so nervous and like worried about it all. I was trying to play out things like really safe. And I thought, what would be, what would be most comfortable for us both? And like, I needed, like, basically a church event where we could go Just us.

And just spend time together, but not alone together. And also, it wouldn't feel like a date. I think also it's quite hard in Aber, but to me that wasn't hard. It's the first time I, like, invited you to go somewhere with me. Just you and me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, I wouldn't count it as a date. It wasn't terribly romantic.

But to my little like, whatever, 19 year old self, I was like, really nervous. I was like, I'm actually inviting a girl to do something with me. That's true, yeah. So our official first date, we drove out to Nantiarion, which was like a little nature reserve a few miles out of I call it the red kite place.

Yeah, they have a lot of red kites there. there and they do like red kite feeding. Um, we used to go there occasionally and like, you do little walks and all sorts. So like we walked around the lake there and there's a cafe and we went and had hot chocolate and it was a nice little time. It's our kind of thing we like doing now.

So the first time we kind of done something.  Alone together just us two and like I remember being really relieved that it was like really easy To talk and that basically I just sat there and you chatted away at me like all day  That's one of the good things about me, you don't have to worry. Yeah. Yeah  So I think it helped that we were like kind of friends before we were romantically involved And I think it helps because we, we knew a lot about Judah already.

Yeah, and you were teaching me all about like northern expressions and phrases, and uh, I was being silly making up funny stories about giants and things that used to live in the thing. All sorts of weird, wacky things. Um,  so yeah, we dated for quite a while through the rest of our uni. We did, yeah. Uni time.

I, I came to yours for lambing. We did. Big, big step in the relationship. Yeah. And then you came on holiday with me and my parents. That was quite a big thing as well. That was. You know, getting, basically meeting each other's parents. That happened like pretty early on for both of us. It did happen pretty early on, yeah.

Because you know, our parents came to visit us at uni. And we have to be like, ah, we are dating. Here's my girlfriend. Here's my boyfriend. Yeah. I was very worried about Elliot meeting my family. Yeah, um, vice versa.  But I remember being like, they're very loud. Because people don't, obviously he's an only child.

I have a huge family. Um, Not obviously not all of them came at once, but he quickly met like most of my sisters. Yeah. Yeah met my parents Yeah, and I remember like always saying to them all like just be on your best behavior  Don't get too high I think this is what you were warning them when you brought me to the farm for lambing.

Yeah  I mean, yeah, and that was pretty intense. And even then I remember at the time being like It's really loud and intense and you were like, I've told everyone this is like really tame for my family. I was like, this is like really quiet for everybody. Like if you think this is loud, you, you just wait.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's, there's hundreds of little stories we could get into around this time, isn't there, but I mean, I don't know, I don't know what's interesting, what isn't interesting. I do think we did quite well, like, I think for most people we probably were quite quick, but, um, I was gonna say for, I think, for the Christian community we were quite slow.

That's true.  I was very mindful like a lot of people and you got married very young. Yeah, I remember.  It is a problem. I mean, a lot of Christians we know met a church and got married, met a uni, got married. I remember when I first, uh, like went to the, the fresher's stool for the Methodist Society, my first week of being at university.

Yeah. And, uh, the then president, she was lovely. She really took me under her wing, but like one of the first things she said to me, she was like, really bouncy and would say like, you know, anything that occurred to her. And like, it was a bit daunting that one of the first things she said was like, Oh, you know, most people meet their wife at the Methodist Society. 

I was like, okay, I've not really come to find a wife.  I've just come to make friends.  I mean, it's true. But it's true. Yeah. Like nearly everyone we know then. Yeah.  We didn't buck the trend. No, but yeah, I was saying for most of I think our Christian friend group, we, we got married later than others. True, true.

Like, it wasn't straight out of uni. Yeah. Yeah. And we went through like,  like some rough patches in the middle there, like at uni, and then  after uni as well. Well, I think after uni, I just wasn't sure with us both getting jobs and stuff, if, if it would, do you know what I mean? It was that phase, like kind of both times working out, like, is this serious?

Is this, you know, like the first time it was kind of like, Are, are we just friends? Like, like we've called ourselves, we've said we're in a relationship, but are we just hanging out or like, is this going anywhere? Yeah, is this more serious? And then at the end of uni, I was like, oh, I really like him, um, and I'd love him for the rest of my life, but I, I just don't know where my job's gonna go, and Well it did, our, our jobs took us to the opposite ends of the country.

Yeah. And then it was like, we need, this is a long time. Distance relationship. Will this last? Will it work? Because long distance doesn't really work. Yeah. But like, what's the solution here? Like, you know,  um, so that was certainly a challenging time, um, to work all that. And then, you know, it's, it's at that same kind of point in life where you've just left uni and you're trying to work out what you're doing with your life anyway.

Yeah, yeah. Like, with your career and with, you know, I mean, Less so for you, because you went straight into the job that you have now. Went straight into the job that I have now, yeah. I mean, I've always been more of like a generalist. Yeah.  So, I have a lot of interest in a lot of different areas, and I've never, like, specialised, and it's been tricky to know which avenue to pursue.

So, for those that don't know, my degree at university was in countryside management. Yeah. And I worked for the National Trust for a while, so nothing to do with the church, and nothing to do with digital and social media that I do now. And that in itself was completely different to what I did at A Levels as well.

So just each step I kind of took a completely different turn, and at that point I was, yeah, really didn't know. I think that's more typical though, because they said most people don't use their degrees in their normal jobs. Yeah, I think it's true. Um,  I think I'm just like an oddity because it was, you know, More specialized, I guess.

And I suppose once you've done a master's, there's a little bit more certainty at that stage, you know, that you're. That is the kind of area that you, unless you're just particularly into academic learning. Yeah, well, some people just love academia, don't they? But yeah, for me then it was like a clear area that I was going to go into.

Yeah.  I mean, briefly, just touch on this, you, you were going to go and join the Navy. I was very keen as well. Yeah. Um,  yeah.  So that was kind of crazy. It was, yeah. And I think that would have meant probably that we wouldn't have ended up together. Well, definitely. Yeah. I'd have been away so often, I just, I don't see how it would have worked.

I mean, join the Navy as, uh, an officer and as a, would you be using your translation skills? Yes, I still would have used my translation skills. Right, so that was the point. Yeah, it would have been different from the job I do now, but it still would have been based around translation. Right, but then, you know, I was living up in Cumbria and you were down in London.

Yeah. But then you moved up, back up to your family.  Across, so you weren't then too far away from me. No, well, because of all the Brexit stuff going on, my company was moving office anyway, so actually They moved their office out of London to Paris. To Paris, and at that point they said you could work from home and I'd just occasionally go into Paris and just see everyone.

Yeah, so it meant it was less of a long distance relationship then, we could see each other every weekend.  You could come for lambing again. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, um. And we got to the point where, um, we decided we were going to move in together. And the caveat from my parents were, like, I couldn't move out till lambing was done. 

And then I remember lambing did finish and mum was like, well you can't move out till all the pet lambs are grown because I can't cope by myself. And Elliot was like, Keeps getting later and later this moving out. It was meant to be in like March and then like it wasn't till May Yeah, and then it was like, oh we need you for like the harvest time It was like August, September and I was like, I want her to come and live with me.

Why is she still there? Why is it taking so long? The challenge for me on the flip side was, um, you know coming from a religious family There was kind of a bit of pressure to, like, be engaged before we lived together. Or, you know, like, some Christians think you should be married before you live together.

So there's all that kind of nonsense going on. So, like, there was a little bit of a, kind of, that's why we were separate for a little bit.  You know, I think it was kind of odd that we lived half an hour away from each other and didn't move into each other, especially when, like, you worked from home. Yeah, it's true, yeah.

Like, but, you know, just, just what it was. Yeah. But, like, it was around that time that I think we were both, you know, very certain that we would end up together. Yes, yeah. And we were kind of very open about that. We were, yeah. I think people found it surprising. Yeah, and then people almost thought we were engaged, but we were both at that point, we were like, well, we, we know we're going to get married at some point.

You know, we talk about the future and just very open. And, you know, we've always been. I think that's what we found early on in our relationship when we'd had like troubles of being like, well, where do we, do we stand? We learned quite early on just to be very open with each other about what we wanted.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And it seemed, I mean, it worked pretty well to be like, well, this is what I want in the future, what do you want in the future? And it helped that we aligned quite closely on so much stuff, you know? Yeah. We clearly fit together quite well that we wanted the same things out of life. Yeah.

And therefore talking about, you know, hypothetical futures that involved marriage and kids, that was quite comfortable to both of us. Yes, yeah. We didn't have to have, because I always find it, you know, you see on Mumsnet and things where it's like years down the line, they go, Oh, and we finally started talking about kids and he doesn't want kids and I do.

And I always go,  How didn't they have that conversation  like way earlier? It's like one of the more, you know, first conversations we had when things were getting more serious. For me there was, um, you know, I think I've talked openly on the podcast before about, you know,  I'm a bit of a weird one that I don't feel things very easily and like I'm a bit muted in terms of that so I had a real difficulty in working out like What does love feel like?

And do I love you? What is that? Whereas I'm like an opposite person.  It's when they always go, who said I love you? And I'm like, I did. Way, way, way earlier. I know it sounds silly but I was never insulted because I'm quite a naturally loving person. Yeah, you basically say it to anyone. I'm like, I'm like, I love, but I have love for a lot of people.

Yeah. To me, that doesn't feel that big a deal. Yeah. Because I'm like, I feel. Whereas to me, I was like, I will never say I love you until I, I really mean it. And that is like a lifelong commitment. Yeah. So the thing saying that out loud, see, I mean, I'm a bit weird, aren't I? You're a bit of a weirdo. Yeah. 

Yeah. Um, so that brings us to our kind of engagement story. Yeah. Which is quite interesting. It is. And you, you had a lot of, um, sneaky little help from Kirstie. So we had all sorts going on. Uh, one of the things that I wanted to try and do was involve in some way each of your identical quadruplet sisters, uh, in the process.

Which was a very sweet call. Good idea. I tried to, you know, make things, mean things, if that makes sense. You know, everything kind of I did for a reason. We were living in different houses at the time, so we haven't moved in yet. And, um, so that presented a challenge in terms of how do I find out your ring size?

Yeah, true. Um,  so I did I think I did, in your sleep, measure your, your ring finger with one of those little plastic things. Yeah, yeah. But I had to be so careful not to wake you up. Because I'm quite a light sleeper. Yeah, that I wasn't 100 percent sure I'd got it right. So I enlisted Kirsty's help and she, at the time, was also living at home.

Yeah. With you, so she was in the same place. And so she, I don't know what, can't remember what she did. Did she? Mum was getting a new wedding ring. Oh, there was this convoluted, yeah. So, Kirsty, because mum, I don't know what happened to her old one, it either wasn't thing, so  we got a ring measure and this is, mum wasn't in on it, mum generally wanted a new like wedding ring.

Yeah. Um, and Kirsty was like. This is so sneaky, I've forgotten this, I'm very impressed with Kirsty. Mum's finger, and then Kirsty's like, Let's measure our fingers, let's see what we are. And I was like, yeah, how fun. What I love throughout this whole thing is you are completely oblivious. Oh, yeah. Like, and I find it hilarious because we both knew that this was coming in the sense that, like, we had no doubt that we would get engaged. 

I never had a thing that I ever thought would happen. You know, I knew you would say yes. Oh, yeah, but at the same time you didn't seem to anticipate that I would be planning anything Well because I thought well, it'll happen whenever  like  Like I didn't I think because I didn't see there was going to be like particularly a rush or anything It wasn't like we were going on a big holiday because I think that's when a lot of women know if you're like Oh, they're going on a big fancy holiday.

Maybe something's gonna happen Whereas we were leaving living our lives quite normally Yeah. So I was just like, well, it'll happen whenever it happens. Like, I think I just didn't feel pressure. So when Kirsty did this, this thing, you had, it didn't raise any red flags for you. But this is when my family's pretty odd in that for us, we're like, Oh, well, that was really interesting that I've got such a skinny finger and  It's, it's quite easy in that sense to make us all join in in something.

And I was impressed you asked Dad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I did, I did ask your dad permission.  Um, well, you know, I, yeah, I kind of, I basically was like, well, I'm gonna ask her, but I would like to ask your permission as well, um, in a kind of traditional way. And I think Dad liked that. Your dad always has this funny joke because Oh, he does.

Back at the time, um, even Still now. Yeah, even now, I just thinking how long it's been going on, but I basically am like the family hairdresser. Oh yeah. So I like, I started, I can't remember when, at some point to save money, I like cut my own hair, like I bought a pair of clippers. And then since then, everyone in the family was like, Oh, if you do it yourself, you could cut all our hair.

I was like, okay. I mean, I'm not a professional. I've kind of just worked out what to do with my hair, but sure. So I've been cutting your dad's hair. And at the time we like, Yeah. We'd gone in the kitchen alone to cut his hair. Yeah. Um, and I'd done that. And so your dad likes to have this joke where basically he's like, I threatened him with scissors.

I was still holding at the time, the scissors pointing at him going like, Can I marry your daughter? At the He always goes, well I had to say yes, you know, because I feared for my life.  Yeah. It's his joke, he loves to tell them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I couldn't involve Becky and Laura to the same extent, because obviously they were like in different locations, but I did try to like vary in, you know, a kind of nominal way.

Um, so I think I sought Laura's advice on what to have on the engraving. Oh yes, inside the ring. On the ring and what that should say. Um, and, um, What was it for Beckett? You asked what to say in French. Oh, that was it. Because he proposed in French because obviously that's one of the languages I do. So this is where it was like, there was all sorts going on.

So, okay, so let's try and let's try and do this sensibly. Um,  I'd had it all planned out. I had this grand idea and we were going to go to this location where there's this lovely waterfall. Yeah. Um, it's like secluded little kind of spot where we could drive to. It was. Kind of equidistant between our two houses where we lived at the time It was kind of slightly down in new yorkshire in swaledale Which kind of had a meaning and a significance to you at the farm We had swaledale sheep if people know what kind of sheep that is So I thought it'd be this nice little day out i'd plan this kind of  Like not treasure hunt.

What do you call it? Like a scavenger? Oh, yeah kind of thing where there were like little clues and things that I thought I'd make a fun little day out of it and we Go and then I'd propose when we were there  The big flaw in my plan was like I'd taken time off work and set out a specific weekend It was it was in the run up to your birthday I think so The idea was that I the way I would convince you was that this was all part of like a birthday celebration But It was a bizarre year where even though it was, uh, early March.

Early March, yeah. We had snow. Terrible snow. Terrible snow. And because we were either side of the Pennines. Yeah. We couldn't get to each other.  And like, I'd taken this time off work, and I was sat at home, like, pretty depressed. Like, I can't, I can't. Like there were no, literally there were no roads I could get to,  like the road was closed.

And I was like, I'm sat here, this was the day I was gonna propose to Emma  and like I'm binge watching stuff on TV. I was quite annoyed because it's my birthday, I'm not gonna see him. So then every day afterwards I was like checking the roads, even if we could meet, it was then, well, maybe  it's gonna scupper my plans of where we go.

Yeah, yeah. So then I came up with like several backup locations of where we could go and do it and work out. But you know, oh dear. So that was a bit stressful. Yeah. But eventually, um, We, we got there. We met up.  In the end, you know, it was on Mothering Sunday. Yes. Um, and my mum had come to visit, um, and we'd gone to church in the morning.

Yeah. I didn't want to wait anymore, like, I was so ready. It was like, I'm done waiting. Like, this might not be the perfect time, it might not be the perfect day, but I just, we need, so I'd like, explain to my mum. And so she was then said, okay, this afternoon you go off and do that. So she was very excited. Um, again, I really don't know how you didn't suspect anything, that this was a rather odd thing one Sunday afternoon to go, right, we're going to go off randomly and do this thing.

I thought it was part of my birthday thing. See, I'm seeing each other.  And I was also like, they probably don't want to go for a walk, like it's been a busy day. It's still icy and snowy out. Yeah. We got to this waterfall. It was a little bit more foggy. Just before that, I'm pretty sure I saw my old teacher.

Ah. Um, and I was going to talk to her and you were like, no, no, no, we don't, we don't have time.  And I remember the time being like, we're walking, of course we've got time. And he was really kind of like trying to, And that was a little bit suspicious. But it was more because I thought he was like, unsociable.

He's like, oh, I don't want to talk to this teacher that Emma used to know. But I remember looking back, it was very funny that he was obviously like, Please stop, like, I'm trying to get you to what I propose. I don't want to stand on top of this lady for ages. This is where things should have got really suspicious.

But I think because I'm so weird. He's so odd. That you really didn't think. So I laid out a blanket as if we're going to have a picnic. And I said, well, let's stand in front of the waterfall. Why don't we take a picture together? So I set up a tripod and a camera. But I was like, he's really into photography.

That's the kind of things he likes to do. I was like, let's just, let's just stand together. In front of this camera in the waterfall. And, um, yeah, this is gonna be lovely. Yep. And then I got down on one knee and proposed. It was a bit of a blur really, like, I kind of had an idea that I would say something, but in the end, I was just, I, my brain was just so frazzled by it all.

You did, you did say the right thing in French, I can't remember what it was. I said the right thing in French as I proposed. I'd hope to do because I was like, you know, this is a, this is a romantic thing. I'll say it in French. I just took the ring and put it on my finger.  And then I was like, Oh yeah, cool. 

You were straight in there. You're like, right. Ring finger. That's it. That's done.  But then, then it got a bit funny because, uh, like, I think you said yes, but you replied in French. Oh, yeah, yes, I said oui, yeah. Because I'd asked in French. Which, obviously, your brain took a second. My brain could not, because I was expecting to hear a yes.

My brain couldn't process. So I stayed on one knee being like, has she said yes? What's going on? I'm not sure. Has she responded? I don't know what's going on. And then, so then I was like, oh, hang on. No, she has said yes. Yes.  Ah. Yeah. Okay, let's, let's briefly talk about, touch upon the ring as well, because that's a bit different.

Oh yeah, true. We didn't buy an expensive engagement ring, we were a bit wacky. I mean, again, if you know us, maybe this isn't surprising. And this is primarily my fault, it's not even due with him. But I was pretty into it. Oh yeah,  that's true. He wasn't against it.  So it was kind of a like commercial consumerism thing where we didn't want to spend like 1500 on a ring.

No offence if that's your thing and you did that or you know, whatever. We just at the time felt like that was a waste of money. And I've always had a thing. Um, from being small, I don't know why, that I wanted, I wanted an engagement ring. I didn't want a metal one. Yeah. Um.  Goo, we're quite unique, aren't you?

It feels, I think we felt like a jewelled ring was just, like, what everyone gets. Well, it wasn't very me, really. And it wasn't you, and like, you wanted something more nature y. Yeah, because I'm quite nature y, we like our woodland walks. So I'd, yeah, I'd got this wooden ring from a little guy in Scotland who hand carves  wooden rings and it's inlaid with kind of glittery shells.

Yeah? The shells alabone shells? Kind of greeny Do you like turquoise y colour? Turquoise y colour that kind of reflects. One thing is though, with wood, is they're a lot wider. That made sizing quite difficult. Yes, I can imagine that. I remember going to, my mum had taken me to a jeweller's to like get their expert advice, and they basically were trying to convince me that I, it was a terrible idea. 

A, to get a wooden ring. B, to order it without first seeing it. And C, to order it without like, You know, without your measure, like, because I've got your kind of rough measurements and I've not gone and sized the ring. True. Um, but yeah, it all works well, really. Well done, little man. There we go, we've talked a long time about that.

Let's, uh, let's try and move on, um,  because we'd like It's a long story, though. There's always, there's so much we could talk about, because then, of course, there's our wedding. Yeah. We were engaged for two years? Yeah. We weren't in a rush to set a date for a wedding, but then we So I remember it was the first thing as soon as we got engaged, we were like, so when are you getting married?

And I'm like, I have no idea. We did set a date, and then we're working towards getting married, and we've touched on this before, I think, in conversations, and quite a number of you will know some of the story of this, about our wedding was cancelled because it fell during lockdown. Yeah. So we, we had to, yeah, I mean, it wasn't even postponed, we just, it didn't happen.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Um, what we'd planned with the venue with everyone coming. Um, and so yeah, lockdown happened. We waited for months. We've got a whole vlog about this whole story that details the ups and downs. This is a really long story. It is. But eventually the first opportunity with lockdown rules that enabled us to get married because we'd, again, we're a bit wacky, we chose to get married in Scotland,  uh, outside by a lock,  and once we were able to do that it was confusing and complicated to work out if we could because how many people could come, were we allowed to travel, Were you legally allowed to get married?

But the rules in England and the rules in Scotland were different. So it was like, well, we can now officially get married in Scotland, but are we legally allowed to drive to Scotland? Yes. Is that allowed? Yeah. So, you know, whatever. But eventually, um, we did. So our wedding was meant to be in April, it got cancelled in early July.

Yeah. We managed to travel up with just eight of us. Yep. Um, you, me, both our parents, your sister and partner. Yep. Um, and  Yeah, we got married, uh, not exactly where we were intending to, but still  on the same lock on the shores. My dad married us outside, uh, we wore our wellies, which we were going to wear all along.

This was all part of our kind of rustic y wedding that, um, we had planned. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kirstie and her now husband had like made us a cake with, if people know, Wally and Eve on the top of it. Always been into Disney. Yeah.  It's so funny, like, looking, you know, back at our photos and things, because it was still in the pandemic, in COVID.

Oh, yeah. So we were all socially distanced. Yeah. Um, so in all the photos we look like we're out of, you know, some old fashioned thing where we're all stood, like,  yeah, like formally with like big gaps between us in our formal kind of clothes. Um, I quite like it in a way it's kind of, it's quite different and, uh, quite funny.

Yeah, I mean the whole thing, the journey and thing was stressful as, you know, it was difficult, but that day was actually really nice. It was, yeah. I don't think really we could have hoped for a better wedding day, you know, it, wedding days themselves I think can be quite stressful, and we've not experienced our own as intended with, you know, all the guests, but  if we were to, you know, be honest and choose what we would have liked, I think actually the really small, intimate, but. 

I mean, it was a shame that, you know, both of our best friends couldn't be there, my best man, you know, Luke and Rachel, they, they, you know, um, so that was really sad, but like the intimacy and just the little personal nature of it, I think really suited us. Yeah, I think that's true. And I think in hindsight,  I don't know if I'd want a big wedding.

Like, you know, some people like, oh, once COVID, like, stopped, they'd have their big wedding later. Yeah. I was like, I, I felt no need to do that afterwards. We, we did sort of, you know, compromise. We did. When Lily was One, was she? Yes, yeah. We had her dedication, um, so like, a bit like a christening, and we combined that with a celebration party for our wedding.

Yes, yeah. So we re invited all our wedding guests. Yeah. And said, come along and let's do a joint celebration. Um, so that we could offer something to the people that couldn't be there.  Sorry, I've got hiccups now.  No, and that was nice too, because it was like an extra celebration, but it was also a celebration of Lily, so it didn't feel like it was like, a second wedding.

We better get on to how relationships changed. Yeah, shall we like, Since having kids because that's the next big step really, isn't it? You know, we got engaged, we got married, you know, there's all sorts of stories in between, but really the big milestones. Well, I'd say, and we're also quite, um,  we're also quite easygoing.

Yeah. So once we were living together, people would go, Oh, there's gonna be loads of problems. We're like, there wasn't, because we're both three. Yeah, we fitted in quite easily. We've never had like a lot of big arguments. No. Then we had, uh, Lily. Yeah. So we had a child about a year after we got married.

Which that is actually quite typical Christians, we didn't book any trends there.  Do you think having children has changed our relationship? I think it has slightly and I think it makes you a lot closer.  Um, just like, I think giving birth as a person seeing you giving birth is like, I know you've been intimate and everything before, but it's a much more intimate situation when you're like, seeing that person go through ranges of pain and you have to really trust the other person to like, do everything.

Yeah. Um, And obviously I had a c section last time, I'm probably going to have one this time. Having someone care for you when you're in that state is really like, you're quite vulnerable. So I think that's made everyone a lot closer, really. Because you have to be much more, I know you have to be a team beforehand.

But when you've got kids, you really have to be a team. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, it's just, it's different, isn't it? I think, as is quite typical, there were more arguments and more fights we had. It did strain us more. Well they say like, in the first two years of having a baby, a lot of couples divorce.

Really? Because it's such a stressful time. It is stressful, isn't it?  And I think, Because I, I, like, um, I warned my sisters about this, um, because Curtis was like, Oh, what's the biggest thing? And I was like, you will fight more. But I said, that's because you're both exhausted. Yeah. So like, things just get to you more.

And I was like, and it can be about nothing. Like, I remember one day me and Elliot had the most ridiculous argument about who was louder at walking and who would like,  wake up the baby. I don't remember this. I remember being like, this is such a ridiculous argument. And I was like  Who was louder at walking? 

You were like, you are so loud when you walk up the stairs. I'm like, I am not. You are way louder than me. And then we were like, walking up and down the stairs trying to be the quieter person. Being like, look, I'm so quiet.  Because we were like accusing each other of waking up the baby loudly. And everybody in hindsight going, that is a hilarious but ridiculous argument.

Ridiculous argument. Why were we arguing who walks louder?  Um, we had all the typical things where we were kind of fighting over who had got up more in the night Like it'd be keeping tallies of like i've been i'm such and such with the baby Oh, but this time too you went up. Yeah, it's your turn. You need to do this now Yeah, and then i'd bring my trump card out going like well i've had abdominal surgery  And he's always got you always do that kind of yeah  But I could say the height of romance then was if you'd like got a bottle ready for the other one that was like They're so kind.

They've got it. So I just have to put like heat the water and put it in. They've done everything else Yeah, yeah, I was like the things that I find romantic at that point are really simple  It's like the whole love languages thing, isn't it? It's um You know, uh, you know, there's debate about how, like, much that's actually a useful thing of whatever, but, you know, I think a lot of it does change to being then, like, a practical thing of offering, you know, that's how we, we're showing love to each other, by doing practical things one another, because that's what's most useful at that time.

And when you're really tired, that means a lot. We don't have the opportunity to do anything else, like, we can't go out and have time together, we can't spend time together, we can't be intimate, we can't do all sorts of things that like would keep you close in a relationship that would help you stick together and so in some ways it feels like you're kind of pulling apart a little bit but needing to really work together. 

And I think that's a real challenge. Yeah, that's why I think the little, the little act really helped. It pushed me back into like, where we weren't great with the communicating again. Yeah. I think where up until that point we'd always been quite good at communicating, I think at this point then with the tiredness and everything, like, there was a lot of stuff where I kind of was like, Oh, well, I won't mention this and like, I'll keep, you know. 

I won't express my feelings on this because it's difficult because I know like you're going through a lot as well But then equally that kind of keeping it back. It wasn't helpful. Yeah in terms of then kind of feeling Resentment that you're doing more than the other partner and maybe that's imagined and maybe it's not but either way you need to talk about it Whichever person you are you always feel like you're doing more.

Yeah, and I was like and sometimes factually I know I wouldn't have done that much that day, but I'd be like, I'm so tired. Does he not realize how tired I am today? I think, I think we are stronger as a result of it, though. I think we are, definitely, yeah. We kind of settled into this parenting thing. I don't know,  it's just, it's just different, isn't it?

I almost feel like we were different people back then. Well, I think this is why, like, they often say you have to grow together rather than, like, some people aren't growing apart. Yeah, yeah. And it's important to, like, you are going to change who you are as a person as you get older, but.  As long as you're growing, like, in the same direction, that's fine.

So. Yeah. I think I, I saw like a quote or something about this somewhere at one point and I really loved that idea of like, the commitment to each other isn't to stay the same, you're committing to someone constantly changing. Yeah. And you constantly changing, and to like, that's, that's, that's That's true.

That's part of what, you know. And we've not been great at making time for ourselves, like, we've not done a load of romantic stuff since having kids. I don't know if, like, we've meant to,  like, whether people manage to by this stage or not, I don't know. Like, and again, we're going to be back into our newborn phase, so it's going to be a while before we, but I'm hoping at some point.

Yeah. We can get back into doing stuff for ourselves. I think it'll be better in some ways, which sounds ridiculous, because I'll actually be staying up with the baby, which means, maybe once the baby's asleep, we can actually sit and watch something together. That's true, recently, like, yeah. Because at the minute I'm so tired.

I just go to sleep after li I like put Lily to bed. So we don't spend any time together. No. So on a night I'm sat just by myself working and I'm like, I'm going to bed now. We sleep. We sleep in different beds because, because I'm so big. Yeah. It's not comfortable. Um, yeah. I think, yeah. To be honest, I think almost pregnancy is almost harder on our relationship.

Yeah. Than.  Basically, we're covering all of the different, like, challenges and things that we cover on the podcast. Whenever we record, we like to talk about the struggles and the reality of parenthood. And all those things basically just play into why it's difficult. in our relationship when you have kids because all those challenges often are kind of just barriers and things that make it difficult and  stop viewing time together yeah yeah just all of it really so it's all a big challenge i don't know that we have  Advice.

Advice, or? What we've constantly gone through, you've just got to be honest with each other. Yeah, that seems to be the best thing. Seems the best thing. Which, I mean, sometimes you can't house for each other.  But you're, you're really good, because you'll tell me how it is. I will, yeah. Like, I know, like, a lot of women often, like, hint at things to men, or try and assume in an argument a man's gonna get the message.

I don't do that.  But yeah, people know me, I'm quite blunt. It was doing something that I'm like, that's not reasonable. Yeah. Yeah. I will just say that's not reasonable I've never we've never had like a conversation or you know, and I mean, I don't think our arguments are really no Well, we never shout at each other.

Yeah, exactly what we do. Yeah, but you know when we've had Awkward conversations. I've never come out going like, I really don't know why Emma's upset. I don't know what I've done wrong. I don't know, you know? No, I make it very clear what I want to say. Yeah. Um, yeah. And I don't, I don't know where, cause I don't know if my parents do that particularly, but I think I've always been like, well, it's better to just tell him how it is. 

Because I think a lot of, even my sisters, they, they try and tell their partners or husbands, but they try and tell it in a nice way. Yeah. Um, and it doesn't often work  because I think the person, it's almost done so nicely, the person goes, Oh, it didn't seem like that big a deal. Um, where I think sometimes you've really just got to spell it out as, this is, the issue.

Shall we come to a solution? Um, I think we're both quite stubborn. We are, which plays a lot into our relationship. So like, rather than just saying, we will Call each other's bluff. Oh, yeah. So like, yeah, it's not like I'll take over the job and be like, oh no It's not like you'll tell me to do something and then when I don't do it you do it.

Anyway, yeah No, I'll be like, well, that's his job  And the same with me. Yeah Cuz especially as a mom your hormones are going crazy when the baby's crying But the same house like you just need to be calm because often once again, I know I can calm it It's not with Lily. I know I can calm her down quicker I know with the baby, I'll be able to calm them down quicker But that means The other person will never learn how to do it quickly.

Yeah. Sometimes you have to sit there and go, I'm, I'm meant to be relaxing in bed. Like, this isn't, this isn't my focus. This isn't my job. Just, just sit there. And it is torturous because you want to go help your baby. But you've got to sit there and go, I trust the other person can do that job. This, this is where, um, we, we work well in some ways, um, in that, as you've described.

In some ways, this is where we come, there is some friction between us because sometimes we have opposing thoughts on, are we doing something for short term relief?  Or long-term gain. Yeah, like sometimes you are just like, well, let's just, and this is the case throughout like, oh, with Lilly now with when you have a baby, at any point, when there's something and it's like sometimes you are just like, well, let's just do this.

Let's do, just do it. This will sort things out now down sleep now. Yeah, that's fine. And I'm like, no, this is gonna set a bad habit. We need to think long term.  And think like, a bit of pain now, and we might be able to make progress. Yeah, which is true. Um. We discussed this yesterday. Yeah. When Ellie was like,  when I, when I say no to Lily, you need to also say no.

This has been my recent complaint that I've expressed to Emma. Yep. That recently, Emma's just been saying yes, everything to Lily. And like, understandable, you're pregnant, you don't want to do everything, we want an easy life. I'm just, I think often, I'm so tired, I'm just like, Sure. I've been saying no to Lily, so she'll come to me and I'll say no, and then she'll go to you and you say yes.

Yeah, true. And I go, you've gotta back me up.  But there we go. We should really wrap things up. This conversation's getting, getting out of hand. As usual, we're going on, on and on and on. on. to chat. I mean this is it, isn't it? Like, we don't, we don't have much space to, like, talk to one another. That's why I really like the podcast.

We actually get to have a good chit chat. This is why we basically do the podcast for ourselves. So we get to chat. It's been nice reminiscing about our past and our story and Taking us out of reality for a moment  Looking looking back before we go forward. Yeah, true And it was really cute. Um the other day we showed lily like our wedding video Yeah, and she made herself a little veil with a little.

Oh, um, what was it? Uh tissue Yeah, and she'd like put clips on it to put on her head, but that was nice showing her it Yeah, it's sweet, but I thought it was nice because we did film it Even though it was in lockdown and outside, that we can share it with the children. Oh yeah, I think that is, you know, I'm quite into all this tech stuff and recording a lot of our story.

And even with this podcast, we've got a record of a lot of stuff that will be quite interesting to go back to at a later date and listen. We might have to listen to like, hints we gave ourselves back. Yeah, we might need to go back and listen. I mean, we weren't doing the podcast when we first had Lily. No.

So, but yeah, I wonder some of the early ones. Especially, we did an episode on surviving the first week with a newborn. I think we need to listen to that. I think we should listen to that again. See if we had any good tips.  We'll have to do an update. Um, but yeah, we'll be back very soon with more episodes when the baby's here.

Yeah. And we'll We'll update you on how it's going, and do an episode on how we are surviving. Yeah, or not, maybe we're really struggling.  We can update you on how our relationship's going. Maybe it's all going to be downhill. I mean, these conversations are quite light hearted and fun, and like, we try to bounce.

off each other with our, you know, that we are married and that's part of hopefully what makes this podcast a bit different to other shows but maybe it's going to turn into us just ranting at each other. It'll be like passive aggressive. I was up five times last night. How many times were you up? Well I remember, sorry this is going again, somebody said they used to have like a scoreboard so they'd go up and do a line on it. 

To say when they'd been up at night, but then I was like, I know I'd be tempted to cheat. Like, I know  That didn't even occur to me! Like, I know as much as like, I can't lie, I could put extra lines on the board. Emma, Emma, that is despicable. When somebody said it, I was like, in my head, like, would nobody just put a few extra lines on? 

On that note, that gives us an insight into the mind of Emma, um, let's close things off. Thank you so much for joining us today, I hope you've enjoyed listening to this rambling thing and got to know us a bit better. You have been listening to  Don't Wake The Baby!  Sleep well, God bless. Good night! Bye!