What D'ya Want?

Our baby is looking more and more like a little person and less like an 'eating, sleeping, pooing machine'.

This is Louis at the Zoo. He was more than happy to watch the world go by from his vantage point in the puschair.

Fireman Theo

We went to Linton Zoo today and I have to say, it's a gorgeous little place. The weather was glorious and there were very few other visitors so we got to spend as much time as we liked looking at the animals and trying to get some decent photos.

Theo found the lesser spotted Fireman Sam so we had to let him get up close and interactive, isn't that what education is all about? LOL

I did take some photos of the animals at the zoo but to be honest, they're not that good. Either the animals weren't up to much (the big cats were all sleeping somewhere shadey and secluded, not that I blamed them in that heat), they were too far away for my camera to cope with or they were behind glass, which my little camera doesn't like much either. Next time I'll remember and take my good camera and maybe get some nice animal pics too.

This picture shows just how gorgeous it was there in the sunshine. A gorgeous little alleyway absolutely blanketed in cherry blossom that was falling from the trees like pink snow.

It's Me!!!

A photo of me is something you are very unlikely to see... anywhere but this is an exception 'cause I like this picture. You'll normally see me with glasses on and although I am quite short (5'2") I'm not always looking up like this either

The photo was taken by the very talented Anita Mundt at the Scrapping Angels retreat I went to this weekend (whilst Adam was looking after the boys at our nearby holiday cottage, how lucky am I? LOL)

If I'm feeling brave I might post some of the Layouts I made at the weekend, hmmm, we'll see

Book Crossing

I'm in the process of having a clear out and the biggest cuplrits for taking up space in my home are books. I've had a look at disposing of these via ebay but to be honest, with the postage charges, they work out much the same price as new books so people are not buying. I'm planning on taking them to carboot or table top sales to dispose of some to but I'm not very hopeful.

One method of disposal that appeals to me is BookCrossing, hence the new favourites link. Basically it involves leaving books in public places for others to find and read. You register your book on the BookCrossing website and it is given a unique ID number which you then encourange the new owner of your book to use to make an entry on the BookCrossing website about where the book has gotten to and what they think about it. Sounds much more interesting than just giving them to a charity shop I think, and as we're going away this week I might have to take a few books with me and leave them in the holiday cottage and see what happens.

Watch this space, oh and click on the BookCrossing link on the right cause the website keeps a count of how many referrals I make and I get kudos.

Sleep at last

Louis slept through for the first time last night. Yay. I'm not sure if it's going to be a regular thing or just a one off yet. Yesterday was a bit of an odd one as far as feeding goes. He normally has a bottle every 6 hours with the occasional 4 hour feed but yesterday he had a bottle at about 4pm then by 7 ish he was yelling for another! Adam gave him a bottle about 7.30 and that was it until 6.30 this morning and he wasn't even shouting for that one.

Adam woke me at 5.45 to say that it was late and Louis hadn't woken up for a feed yet. I had a quick panic until I had checked he was still breathing but once he grunted at me for interrupting his sleep I let him wake on his own LOL.

Bedraggled

Nigel is going on holiday this week so he had a bath to make himself look pretty for the lady. Awww. Adam and Theo had great fun bathing him this evening , Nigel wasn't too impressed though LOL. They brushed him first and you should see the mountain of hair that came out!

Poor Nigel looks like he's lost half his body weight in one go

Farm Party

We went to a birthday party today at St Leonards Farm Park today. Twin girls who live near us turn 4 this week and this was their chosen party venue.

As far as kids birthday parties go, this one was very entertaining and the birthday girls and their friends definitely seemed to be enjoying themselves. Theo, however, was not best pleased . Well no, that's not exactly true. He enjoyed playing there but the bits organised to keep the birthday 'party' entertained he wasn't too keen on.

The party started in a barn where a bales of straw have been arranged to provide climbing and tunnelling fun for the children. Theo wouldn't touch it with his hands so the only climbing he did involved being lifted up onto each level of bales. He'd run around a bit and was OK if he could step up or down but if he had to use his hands to climb then he wouldn't do it. He was much happier when he found the tractor around the corner from the barn.

After the barn Farmer James took everyone to the animal sheds where the children got to hold and pet a 2 day old lamb (awww), a young goat and a chick. Theo just shied away from the animals, he didn't want to hold or touch them (apart from stroking the goat at arms length LOL). The same went for the mouse, rat and rabbit that were brought out in the petting area, and mummy very bravely petted all of them just to show Theo there was nothing to be scared of!
He was very happy washing his hands in the outside sink and joining everyone at the table for party food though and he thoroughly enjoyed playing with the toy cars and in the activity garden area with low wooden beams to walk across and sand to play in.

I was really pleased with myself because I offered to take the little boy next door to the party rather than making his parents drive there and back twice as they weren't staying with him. Not pleased with myself because I took him but pleased with myself because it occurred to me to offer. Usually I wouldn't have thought of offering until I was half way there.

Virgin Vie

I went to my friend Kirsty's house last night for a Virgin Vie party. It was a fun evening and I spent far too much money on cosmetics I'm very unlikley to use, but at least it'll be good stuff I don't use LOL. I stayed far too late gassing with the girlies, poor Kirsty practically had to throw us out somewhere around 11.30 I think, oops, sorry.

Eureka!

We went to the Eureka science museum yesterday. Theo enjoyed the transport section most, closely followed my the My Body section. He wasn't very interested in the under 5's sensory section though. To be honest he was a bit of a misery most of the day, I'm hoping it's because he's still coughing and a bit sniffly rather than the fact that he's turning into a miserable toddler
This is a photo of one of his more cheerful moments playing with spark plugs. You had to plug them in in the correct order to make the wheels on the car turn.

The one thing Theo did enjoy in Eureka's sensory section was the dressing up. This is a cobbled together bee outfit. There was a black and yellow stripey piece but no wings that we could see and Theo insisted on having wings. Instead he wore what looked like a bat jacket with wings and then the black and yellow on top. He seemed happy enough with it anyway, running around the place flying and buzzing

Outside the museum there were picnic benches for eating your lunch and lots of toys and activities for children to do. Theo enjoyed playing on some musical pipes that you bash with rubber bats. I was watching closely and about to jump up and defend my sons right to play! There was a little girl standing at the side of him with her mum and everytime Theo waved one of the bats anywhere near her, the mum tried to take it off him! Cheek!! I was very pleased when he offered one of the bats to the little girls though, without the nasty mum taking it off him. Good sharing.
The other toy he enjoyed playing with was this giant connect 4 game. Obviously he was just posting the rings into the game rather than actually playing but he enjoyed it. So much so that I had to tell himi off for fighting when another little boy wanted to join in (not the boy in the picture).

I walked the 30 feet from our table to the connect 4 game, told him off for fighting and made him apologise to the other boy and then walked back to our table. By the time I got back to our table and turned around he had gone!!! My sister, nephew (the blonde boy in the photo) and I spent 10 minutes looking all over for him before I went inside and reported him missing to the ladies at the tills. They were very good and within minutes there was staff looking for him inside and out. I went back outide to see if Lisa or Liam had found him yet and as I was walking back I saw him running over from the far end of the play area, phew. I have NEVER been so nervous. When I asked him where he had been he said he'd been playing in the tower, which is at the very end of the outdoor area, just next to the exit to the carpark!! He was perfectly happy, mummy however, was a nervous wreck! Not my idea of fun, I think he's going to spend the next 16 years on those safety reign thingies.

Little Smiler

I finally managed to get a photo of Louis smiling.

He's a very happy smiley baby but every time he sees the camera he just stares at it looking rather worried so this is a rare picture.

I think Theo may have warned him about mummy and the camera that's always about somewhere LOL

Cold day out

We seem to have a knack of picking the wrong day to do things at the moment.

We decided to go for a picnic so we had a look around the Yorkshire Water website (seeing as they have been advertising this on the telly lately) last night to find somewhere to go. I entered into the search engine, pushchair accessible walks in Bradford and it came up with Swinsty Reservoir in North Yorkshire!! We decided to go anyway and Adam made up a picnic this morning while I sorted the boys. It turned out to be the coldest day of the weekend!

It was a nice walk but I am soo unfit and pushing the pushchair up the hilly bits was very hard work, especially with both boys in it. Had to let Adam take over . At least it kept me warm. Poor Theo was rather cold. He had a jumper and his hat and scarf as well as his coat but he was still cold. He ended up wrapped in Adam's fleece all huddled up in his seat on the pushchair.
After our walk we went on to Bolton Abbey Railway Station as they were having a Thomas the Tank Engine day. Theo enjoyed the trip on the steam train and he got to sit on Bertie Bus but the queue to climb in Thomas and sound his whistle was too long and it was still cold so we didn't stay long.

All in all we've had a very pleasant, if somewhat cold, day out. Louis spent most of it sleeping, such a hard life LOL

Easter Sunday

We had another quiet day today.

Last night Theo wasn't well. He's been full of cold and I think he was feeling particularly grotty and by 6pm he was asking to go to bed! We managed to get him to eat a bit of dinner but getting Calpol down him was just not happening. We laced about 3 different drinks of juice with the stuff and each time he'd pick it up then put it down and ask for a different drink so we'd chuck the old one out and make the new one with a new spoon of Calpol. It's such an effort trying to get him to take the stuff off a medicine spoon that unless he's really ill it's not worth traumatising him.

He was up again at 3am so Adam managed to get some down him but when he climbed in our bed to drink his milk this morning it all came back up (all over me and Louis!!). The upshot was we stayed in today and Theo didn't get any Easter Eggs until tea time. He didn't seem too upset though, after the milk incident this morning he was fine for the rest of the day but I didn't want to take any chances. He enjoyed visiting the neighbours to deliver eggs this afternoon.

I spent most of the day reading my new book 'Making Glass Beads' by Cindy Jenkins. It was really interesting, now I'm just itching to get set up and have a play. Not that this is likely to happen, propane torches and children don't mix, especially in small houses

Todays photo is from New Years Day when Adam took some fat belly photos for me. I've been asked to put a photo of me on here rather than just the boys so here it is, this is one of the better ones.

More news later but it's late and I'm tired so I'll be back tomorrow.

Night night xxx

Happy Birthday Nanna

It is Nanna's 90th birthday tomorrow so we went to visit with cards and flowers.

Theo was a bit wary at first 'cause she's a bit loud, what with her being hard of hearing and she wasn't wearing her hearing aid, and it's been well over a year since we last visited. It only took about 5 minutes for him to settle and start talking to her though

We should visit more often really. Will have to start making the effort.

Sandcastles

We went out for a drive to Mablethorpe today what with it being the bank holiday weekend.
I knoow that on a sunny bank holiday you should expect the beaches to be busy but we were happy to put up with that rather than spend the day vegging in the house trying to decide what to do. It was a glorious day when we set off. By the time we got there though it was rather overcast, it didn't spoil our day though.

We arrived early afternoon so first stop was lunch. A trip to a local chippie provided that, not exactly good for the diet but you can't do seaside without fish 'n' chips. At least I managed to resist the donuts . We ate sat on the ground by the car and had to defend our food from ants, ick, but it was still the nicest fish I've had in a while.

When we were driving through town looking for somewhere to park I think Theo saw a Scoop ride (from Bob the Builder) and spent the day asking to ride on Scoop. Unfortunately we didn't see the ride again so he didn't get to play.

We walked into town and went past various rides but Theo wasn't in the mood for playing unless it was Scoop. He did go on a mini childrens roller coaster ride but he didn't like that either

Adam buried Theo's feet in the sand and he had a great time flinging sand everywhere digging them out. Oh and the bucket was just for fun.

We walked back to the car park along the beach with a number of stops for digging and sandcastles. I'm assuming it's because the weather had cooled but the beach was actually very clear. Theo had great fun digging the sand although Adam wasn't too impressed when one of the many spades full of sand Theo threw over his shoulder, hit him in the face

Mushy Peas??

I had the wierdest dream last night.

I dreamt that I gave Louis a spoonful of mushy peas to eat then got all worried because he's only 10 weeks old and shouldn't be eating food yet!!!

Quiet day

Adam took Theo to nursery this morning so I could have a lay in. Well as much of a lay in that Louis would let me, he was awake about 8. Still, better than 7 I suppose

We had a lazy morning just pottering and playing on the computer. Couldn't really do much else 'cause Louis was being very clingy and screamed his head off every time I put him down.
We went to pick Theo up from nursery about 10 to 1 then on to Morrisons for the weekly shop. How is it that you manage to spend the same every week even on the weeks when your trolley is only half full? Louis fell asleep in the trolley which amazed me considering the thing bumped around like it had square wheels!

Didn't really do anything to speak of this afternoon either apart from put away the shopping, read Theo's Thomas magazine and help him 'fix' things with the toy hammer, screwdriver and pliers that came on the front of the mag.

At bedtimes Adam takes Theo upstairs and gets him ready for bed then I go up and read him his bedtime story. Up until last week he would usually ask for Toy Story followed by A House Inside My Mummy (a poem designed to help toddlers understand the impending arrival of new brother or sister). Last week we decided to introduce a longer story that would last a few nights (or more) so we started Jungle Book, the Rudyad Kipling version not the Disney one, and he seems to be enjoying it. Each night I give him a choice and so far he's asked for Jungle Book every night. Which I am very pleased about but it is hard to read. I'm half surprised that he's understanding it never mind enjoying it.

Anyway, that's more than enough for tonight, it's waaay past my bedtime.

List the ways you show off...

List the ways you show off your personal style, from body art to piercings to tattoos - you name it.

1st Tattoo - Polar bears on the back of my right shoulder
2nd Tattoo - a red orchid with green leaves in the centre of my lower back and ribbons extending from either side to my hips
3rd Tattoo - to be decided
Piercings - just my ears , two studs in one ear, two sleepers in the other (gotta be different, even if it's just a little bit)

List prompts courtesy of 'More List Yourself' by Ilene Segalove and Paul Bob Velick (p30)

Ooops Hic!

I'm feeling a little worse for ware at the moment

I went to Lisa's last night for a girls night in (with our big sis too) 'cause it was her birthday last Wednesday. The nasty lady kept filling up my wine glass until I had to be put to bed (bucket in hand, ick, ick, ick) but it was about 3am by this time so so much for my plan of getting a good nights sleep.

I didn't get home 'til about 6 this evening 'cause I wasn't feeling very fit to drive.