My 3-year-old....

Yesterday my little princess turned three and I can hardly believe it;
where on earth has that three years gone?! She has grown from a
beautiful, stern eyed baby who was too interested in the world to sleep
to a gorgeous, strong willed, clever little girl who can recognise her
name written down, counts to 16, sings the alphabet song, makes up
games where she is going to work or shopping or being a mummy, says "I
love you" to her family frequently and with feeling, loves to help
cook (especially cakes!) though eating isn't her thing, is as dainty
as a little pixie but rough as a tomboy with her daddy. Lyra is
protective of her baby brother then runs away with his toys because
she wants them, has a wicked laugh and a very earthy sense of humour
(it's all "poo" "boobies" "bottoms" etc!), can use a pc, iPhone and ds
with ease, insists she is a big girl but is heartbroken every time
mummy leaves her at preschool (which she soon recovers from) and wants
"some boobie milk" when she feels poorly or sad. She is bossy,
independent and imperious at home and with family but shy and quiet,
watching but hiding from questions at preschool. She loves peppa pig,
tinkerbell, scooby doo and harry potter. She is obsessed with her
dummy even though she didn't have one until a year ago, when she
obtained the one we had 'just in case' for Logan. She drives me crazy
and melts my heart, she is so precious to me I would do anything for
her and her happiness. She wails and stomps like any child her age but
is open to reason and doesn't ask "why" ALL the time at least. Her
speech and vocabulary are amazing, she is so sharp she picks up on
everything and I worry she will be too clever and find it hard to deal
with.

I love her. That, most of all.

10 months old... My big little man!

the past week or so has involved some major developmental steps for my little boy.Please excuse the quality of the pictures; taken on my iphone!

The stair gate/ room divider had to be put up last Tuesday because he decided to start climbing the stairs... He now climbs the stairs all the way to the top, all by himself every night ont he way to the bathroom.....

Incidentally the stairs are not all he climbs. This morning alone he has climbed onto the footstool to get onto the chair to try to see out of the window (and then fallen off!) and onto Lyra's oy bench in her room to get to toys on the windowsill.

He learned to drink from his doidy cup all by himself (slanted, lidless baby cup) with minimal mess and great enthusiasm....

He has learned to post things out through the cat flap! I found a rattle out there yesterday, this is him trying to post a scarf!

And last, but certainly not least, he slept from 7pm to 5am last night. The first time he has effectively slept through the night! he's a happy, chirpy little man, into everything (including but not limited to eating cat food) and ever so cuddly but definitely mummy's boy! He loves playing with cars, trucks, wheeled alligators, brick trucks - anything he can push along expecially if it makes a noise. It's lovely that he can now play properly

As for everyone else; Lyra is now back at preschool and loving it apart from the initial separation from me where she still cries. Next week is he 3rd birthday and I am arranging a little party for her at home. She is very excited about the whole thing and to be honest so am I! I've ordered some coloured sugar paste from eBay to decorate her birthday cake and can't wait to see her face when she opens her presents!

David isprobably going trooping over the first weekend in February in Sussex!! He really wants to go but it's such a long way that he is still undecided. I think we need to properly look at possible troops more locally becasue he really doesn't want to travel such a long way from us and be away from me for the longest time since we've lived together 6 1/2 years ago!

I'm on a diet and have lost 5lb in just 1 1/2 weeks. I am hungry sooo often as I'm trying to avoid snacking!!! I'm happy though, mostly & keeping pretty busy. It's nice to get back into routine after such a long break and I'm very proud of myself for doing sp well. I do at least 30minutes on my wii fit each evening aswell as dieting so have less time for crochet, only real downside!!!!!

TTFN,I'm being climbed on!

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....

It has been very, very wintery and festive over the past week, with more snow than I've seen since I was about 5 years old! of course we had to take advantage of it and build snowmen, go sledging and have snowball fights... David had last Wednesday and Thursday off due to the treacherous conditions so it has felt rather like an extension of the Christmas holidays. Love it!

Logan seemed vaguely confused, a bit interested but mainly not too fussed however Lyra was ridiculosly excited about the whole thing! When the snow first began falling heavily she ran from front to back of the house saying "it's snowing!!!" "It's snowing in the back garden too!" and was very hyper! Of course she has got a bit chilly a few times and we've only spent limited time outside but here are a few pictures at least becasue it is such a rare occurrence to have such generous helpings of snow in this part of the world.......

It was still snowing heavily when we first went out, Logan soon fell asleep all snuggled up in the sling though
Lyra considers sledge to be THE best mode of transport....

David is an angel... in an eiderdown jacket...

I made this snowman almost unaided last Wednesday and he only collapsed last night, I have made another from his remains, how gruesome!! He was about 7 foot tall :o)

Our Christmas in pictures

On Christmas Eve the children snuggled up with Daddy in their new PJs to listen to "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"...



I finished the masses of wrapping we had left to do(!) and piled the presents under the tree... the toy box is underneath the pile!!


Logan woke us at about 5.30 and after playing with him and trying to keep him quiet for over an hour we gave him his stocking (and opened ours) before Lyra came in and joined us at about 7.30 to open hers :)


Everyone got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast (breakfast BEFORE presents of course)


Then the serious business of present opening began in earnest....


Logan wasn't too sure about the opening presents and I think was a little overwhelmed, though he did try to eat the wrapping paper when he did tear a bit off...

OK he does seem rather uninterested in the farm animals I lovingly made for him, however he does play with them (and chews them!) a lot

Lyra, however, was quite a pro at the present opening thing and opened a lot of Logan's too (and ours). This is a little bag I made for her for the kid tough camera that was her main present.

Even Cassie got into the festive spirit and suffered a jingly jangly fluffy festive collar for a little while

And then we generally played, nibbled, cuddled etc etc etc.... as you can see the lounge was rather a state by the time the Opening was complete!

& that was our Christmas day! of course int he run up we had numerous parties, Lyra's first Nativity with preschool, Christmas Eve with my family and so on but that was the day itself, a lovely family time with presents and happy exciteable children. Unfortunately Lyra was poorly and Logan was teething but everyone managed to be in good spirits and we had a lovely day... can't wait until the next one! x

Goodbye 2009... Goodbye to the noughties!

Hello, hello! It's new year's eve night and I can barely believe it, the ups and downs of this year are many and I've certainly fitted a lot in but the year has gone very fast for me... Christmas was lovely, unfortunately the children were both poorly but the presents helped perk Lyra up; I will put up a couple of photo posts to summarise the whole of my busy December but will have to put the pictures on the pc first :o)

So a new decade... At the start of this decade I was in my final year of school so in the midst of a-levels. I went to plymouth uni in September of 2000, meeting the love of my life soon after though it was october 2001 when we started dating as I started the 2nd year of my degree.... In September 2002 we moved in together after a difficult year long-distance, I graduated with a 2:1 honours degree in psychology in 2003 and we moved to Bristol to look for jobs... And in 2004, a couple of months after David proposed (on a gondola in Venice! Who says romance is dead?!) we moved to Taunton... 2005 was the year that we married and bought out first house as soon as we returned from honeymoon. 2006 was one of ends and beginnings; my grandma passed away on mothers day and Lyra was conceived around our anniversary. My pregnancy was difficult and I spend more time throwing up than is fair, the birth was worse though and nearly finished me off.. However Lyra and I both survived her arrival in January 2007 though I found that year very hard I never neglected to notice how beautiful, sweet and clever my little girl was. In 2008 I started a new career when the bank I worked for neglected to have a job for me and made me change contract.. I began work as a healthcare assistant at the local hospital. We decided to try for another baby in the summer and Logan was conceived immediately just like Lyra had been. Logan arrived in march this year and 2009 has been a year of blissful motherhood, despite a few challenges and the anxiety of Lyra starting preschool!!

Every year has brought huge changes to my life and the lives of my little family. I do hope that the next 10 years is a little less testing but I am undeniably happy with my wonderful husband and beautiful children. I am in two minds about returning to work in march, I must admit I wish we could afford for me to stay at home with the children but I do love my job and it carries its own rewards.

As for resolutions? I would like to resolve to be more organised in 2010.. I hope to be able to fit in plenty of crochet and making things for my family and I am so busy that organisation can only help! Perhaps this will be something I can teach myself this year? I want to be more positive and try not to take things so personally too. I do tend to interpret things badly and assume people think the worst of me, which is silly really since it is me who is hard on myself... Finally; I intend to do more exercise and have a generally healthier lifestyle because my pelvis pain has meant that I have done much less than I want to in 2009....

HAPPY NEW YEAR! xxxx

Christmas Eve

Phew I've been busy! A few weeks ago I thought I was ever so organised
for Christmas then everyone here started getting poorly & the weather
became decidedly yucky... So naturally I've ended up running around
like a headless

10 days to go!

Goodness it HAS been a little while since I've blogged hasn't it! I've been rather caught up in Christmas preparations, childrens parties and the plague that always seems to abound at this time of year... Christmas is so close I can practically taste the turkey!!! Lyra is very excited (particularly about father Christmas) & I'd be lying if I said David and I aren't too. I'm almost bursting with Christmas spirit despite a head cold making me feel like I'm on a boat. I want to make some cranberry mincemeat tonight but have crocheted presents to make before I can appease the Nigella in me. I have made bunting, the childrens stockings, Logan's Christmas trousers (with braces!) & various presents but the unwellness has put a spanner in my works so I need to focus now! David only has 3 days left at work so I'll have some help soon at least..

My main news is that i'm feeling almost totally back to my blissfully happy self due to a rather unexpected turn of events. I had been continuously feeling very low and decided enough was enough. I went to the doctor to see if there was anything to be done, terrified of sinking into full-blown PND again. After a bit of to-ing & fro-ing I very suddenly felt a LOT better at the exact same time as developing a pain in my right breast... Back to my doctor then... It turns out I
had an infection on my right mammary glands for about 3 months that has almost certainly played merry hell with my hormones & has caused my dipping mood. This came to a head, developed into mastitis & I felt better because my body was finally fighting it off!! I've just
finished a course of uber strong antibiotics so that will hopefully put an end to that. Unfortunately this means I've been feeling yucky over my birthday but better than major outbursts! Hopefully normal service shall now be resumed.

PS Lyra has been so funny lately I have to share what she said to David yesterday when he got home from work ; "daddy, why are you like a small potato"
Hmmm!! No idea Lyra :)