I was 21 when I got together with Jonny. In some ways it feels like only yesterday and in others it feels like we’ve been together forever…

I say got together because actually we had met many years before that. We’re from Norwich which is fairly small and for a year (when I was 12 and he was 13) until I went to drama school in London, we were at the same high school together…

I say we were at the same high school but actually Jonny was in a completely different one to me! Same school yes, but total social standing away from each other…

Jonny was the King of the corridors and I, although not at the bottom of the pile, was not royalty either. So, I knew exactly who he was back then. I remember speaking to him, (he doesn’t remember speaking to me) and I remember walking past him and his female equivalent (Queen of the corridors) girlfriend in the City and thinking, WOW! He’s amazing! (what a geek I was!)

Jonny was friends with all (as The Mamas and Papas would say) the ‘in crew’ at our school. He was super hot, a lovely guy and in the football team, who were all the popular ones you see… He didn’t know it apparently but those of us not in the in-crew definitely did.

Later on, at around 17, we were at college together. I actually don’t remember him there but Jonny says he remembers me walking across the campus with my DM boots, mega short skirt and ‘the world owes me a favour’ expression! He says he thought ‘Oh yes, I like her’! Funny that he remembers then and I remember earlier.

Around that same time I do remember seeing him singing in a bar. I was with my friend Anna and Jonny (he’s a musician) was singing ‘Come Together’. I thought ‘Oh my god, it’s that guy from school – he’s amazing, his voice’! If he’d come over that day we could have easily got together then… I’d have gone out with him like a shot. Hearing Jonny sing that song was the first time I’d ever heard it and I taped it from my dad’s album that weekend because I liked it so much.

At 19 and 20 I had an on/off relationship with one of Jonny’s best friends. (It’s Norwich, I told you, it’s small)! I was totally in love with this guy (well, not really but I thought I was at the time) and he treated me very badly. He picked me up and put me down then picked me up again but I always went running to him when he called, he had me transfixed. I see him occasionally now and wonder what all the fuss was about? I shed many tears over that one – goodness knows why! Jonny was living in London by then so not really hanging out with F (my friends called him Fuckwit at the time) and I remember noticing that he wasn’t around.

One time I was down in London and missed the last train home. I spent the night at Liverpool St Station and when I got home F said to me ‘why didn’t you ring me, I’d have got Jonny Knowles to come and get you and you could have stayed at his’. I remember at the time thinking that I could never have done that, Jonny and I had only ever chatted briefly, how could I have stayed at his house… I wonder now if that could have been another time when we might have got together…

Anyway, Christmas of the year I was 21 and F had dumped me again; we were all in the same pub and Jonny popped up and saying ‘Oh hiya, how are you, F’s over there by the way, have you seen him?’ I explained that we weren’t together anymore and then I remember just thinking ‘bloody hell, I don’t give shit where F is’!

Then Jonny and his mates (including F) went off to another bar and I summoned all my best stalker powers and gathered my pals together for an assault on all the bars I knew they’d go to… Lucky for me my friend’s were so lovely and didn’t mind!

That night still makes me smile. We did a little more than exchange numbers but nothing too outrageous and I went back to his Mum and Dad’s with him for a coffee. It was Christmas Eve and he told me the stocking on the end of his bed was for his little cousin. I obviously know now that there wasn’t a little cousin at all – the stocking was all Jonny’s!

He called me on Boxing Day and we had our first date that evening. The rest of the Christmas holidays we spent snogging and laughing and falling in love. There was a bit of trouble with F who thought it was an outrage, apparently he didn’t want me but wasn’t that happy about me dating Jonny. I worried it might affect Jonny’s feelings for me. It felt like I’d been waiting my whole life for this boy and I to fall in love and I didn’t want anything to ruin it! Thankfully it didn’t!

That was 12 and a half years ago now and although we’ve been through good times and bad, we’ve always clung on to each other and stuck out any rough waves. I think I was always destined to be with Jonny! We met at 12 and got together nearly a decade later. There were many times before that when we could have met and fallen in love, we probably even saw each other as babies. His Mum almost certainly will have walked past my Mum when we were both in our buggies. My chubby baby legs and his dangling down from our seats as we will have crossed paths for the first time… It’s Norwich, we both lived there from being born, that WILL have happened. But it took us till 21 to get together… I do believe it’s fate and we weren’t supposed to be together before that but I’m so pleased we didn’t have to wait any longer. I’d be lost without my Jonny, my best friend and so much a part of my heart. My story might not be terribly romantic but I feel very lucky to have it! And him! (He makes pretty beautiful babies too)!

A baby me and a baby Jonny. We almost certainly crossed paths on the street, our Mum’s shopping with us in our buggies or similar!

I was 21 here and Jonny had just turned 23! I knew he was ‘The One’!

A rare picture of the two of us together this year! Not much has changed, less hair for him, darker hair for me… Oh and…

We have these lovely little people now too!

MY LIFE WITH 2!

I had my first mortifying parenting moment this week when Florence’s teacher took me aside to tell me that my usually lovely, friendly and delightful girl had pulled a clump of another girls hair out at nursery?? I felt so ashamed especially when I was told she wasn’t provoked in any way whatsoever and nor was it the girl who has been painting Florence’ face and upsetting her but someone completely different! She honestly never behaves that way so it was a bit of a surprise and her teachers said the same thing! She came home very shame faced and when I said ‘NO TV OR CHOCOLATE TONIGHT’ she didn’t even argue. I kept hearing her mutter under her breath as she played in her bedroom ‘Sorry Mummy’… I guess they all behave badly sometimes but that sort of behaviour is 100% NOT on and she knows that! We had a cuddle on the sofa and a chat about it and I’m pretty sure she knows how wrong it was, was having a mad moment and won’t do it again. Well, here’s hoping! There’ll be no TV for a week if she does!

Jimmy has gone from his 1 step, to 3 steps, to 6 steps… And now I would say he’s properly walking! Amazing! He still crawls of course as that’s faster but he actually gets himself to a standing position without even holding on and just toddles off! I know it’s only walking but awww, it’s so sweet and I’m so thrilled for him!

We did a little modelling job this week and the photographer and artistic director for the job couldn’t believe he was walking, they were very impressed! Then yesterday I saw a Mum at play group that I haven’t seen for a while and she said ‘He’s not yours is he? NO! He can’t be doing that, he’s TOO little’!

I think walking at 10 months is little but then Jimmy just looks younger than he is as well as he is so tiny and it’s doubly funny to see!

Jimmy just toddling past as he does and running through paint at messy play! Love it!

I can’t believe how quickly he’s growing up! I had Florence on my lap the other day and thought how did you get so big so quickly? Seems like five minutes since she started walking! She crawled at 5 and a half months and was SO good at it that I don’t think she had much incentive to walk. She had a little go but didn’t properly until the week of her first birthday – gosh she was a gorgeous little mover – still is! I LOVE watching them grow, just wish time didn’t pass quite so quickly!

My lovely little mover Florence with her Mover pram on her first birthday, the pram was her present from us. I know she’s holding on to it here but this same week Florence took her first proper unaided steps. She’d done the odd one before but it was around here that she got very confident!

Well, that’s it from me this week, HAPPY EASTER everybody! We’re going to TRY very hard not to eat TOO much chocolate. I’ve got a load of chocolate Nakd bars so that we can indulge but not with proper chocolate every day! They’re fab and so healthy that I even let Florence have one after breakfast this morning and she thought that was a MEGA treat!

Florence having a healthy post breakfast treat with a chocolate Nakd bar!

We will definitely be eating some proper chocolate over Easter don’t worry but we’ll have the chocolate Nakd bars some of the time to try for a little damage limitation to my waist line!! See you next week but in the mean time follow me on Twitter @rocknrollerbaby

I was not paid for any part of this post.