Elizabeth's version is slightly different:
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh MacFunny used to ride on a one horse open sleigh, hey!
Sunday, 29 December 2013
Jingle Bells
Saturday, 9 November 2013
And another one...
I only seem to write on this blog these days when I have a big announcement to make. So here it is: baby number three is coming our way sometime in May 2014! I'm currently 14 weeks pregnant and wondering how the heck I'm going to survive having three children who are so close together in age.
Like I keep saying, we just have to roll with the punches...
Like I keep saying, we just have to roll with the punches...
Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Crazy Conversations
Every so often, Miss E comes up with some cracker lines. The conversation I've just had with her was bizarre to say the least.
Me: Um, what are you doing sweetie? (she's unbuttoning her trousers...)
E: Just checking myself.
Me: (slightly caught off-guard) Er.... checking yourself?
E: Yeah, my bottom (she's patting herself with her hand). It's a bit ouchie (she's screwed her face up and pursed her lips, pulling her 'feel sorry for me' face)
Me: Oh... it is...?
E: Yeah. Just a bit ouchie. But it's OK now (and her trousers come back up).
Me: Um, what are you doing sweetie? (she's unbuttoning her trousers...)
E: Just checking myself.
Me: (slightly caught off-guard) Er.... checking yourself?
E: Yeah, my bottom (she's patting herself with her hand). It's a bit ouchie (she's screwed her face up and pursed her lips, pulling her 'feel sorry for me' face)
Me: Oh... it is...?
E: Yeah. Just a bit ouchie. But it's OK now (and her trousers come back up).
Thursday, 27 June 2013
Elizabeth's New Cardigan
I am a big fan of home/hand made things. I guess it comes from a love of making things (all the time! My poor Mum....) when I was younger. Even now I love to make things, I just rarely have the time.
So isn't it lucky that I have an Aunty who loves to knit! She sends us gorgeous things for the children, the latest being cardigans for them both. Master T's is probably one of my favourites so far. When Miss E had a parcel arrive address to her, she was very excited to open it! So Gill, this is for you :)
So isn't it lucky that I have an Aunty who loves to knit! She sends us gorgeous things for the children, the latest being cardigans for them both. Master T's is probably one of my favourites so far. When Miss E had a parcel arrive address to her, she was very excited to open it! So Gill, this is for you :)
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
The Photo Gallery: Two
I was wondering what I could do for this week's post that wasn't too obvious. The theme is 'two' and I have a two year old so any photo of her from the last 6 months would be ok. But whilst I sat in our holiday home trying to decide if I should even bother entering (because I am supposed to be on holiday), Elizabeth gave me the perfect photo subject. She came bouncing down the stairs on her bum shouting 'two babies mummy! I got two babies!'
I've mentioned before that Elizabeth is very baby obsessed - and now she has two of them. There was no way that we could come on holiday without them, and especially with only one of them, so both Baby and Annabel are enjoying Cornwall too.
Have a gander at the other entries over at Sticky Fingers.
P.s. Apologies for the poor photo - my phone camera isn't very good :-(
Friday, 31 May 2013
So That's What I Sound Like
Picture the scene: Elizabeth is sat next to me at the dining table while I finish my lunch. She's playing with her recorder and entertaining Toby. I'm reading a blog post by Cosmic Girlie and I snort with laughter, just as I've taken a bite of my toast.
E: (with a suddenly serious face) ''What the matter Mummy?''
Me: *trying to chew, swallow, stop laughing and shake my head all at the same time*
E: (serious tone) ''Stop laughing Mummy. Eat.''
Me: *more laughing*
E: (helpful, motherly tone) ''Chew Mummy'' then shows me how to chew.
Me: *more laughing*
E: ''Mmm, yummy food. Go on, chew'' followed by more chewing actions.
Me: *finally able to chew and swallow*
E: ''Good girl.''
Hmmm, yes....
E: (with a suddenly serious face) ''What the matter Mummy?''
Me: *trying to chew, swallow, stop laughing and shake my head all at the same time*
E: (serious tone) ''Stop laughing Mummy. Eat.''
Me: *more laughing*
E: (helpful, motherly tone) ''Chew Mummy'' then shows me how to chew.
Me: *more laughing*
E: ''Mmm, yummy food. Go on, chew'' followed by more chewing actions.
Me: *finally able to chew and swallow*
E: ''Good girl.''
Hmmm, yes....
Thursday, 23 May 2013
The Photo Gallery: Drink
Oh, there could be so many funny photos that I could share with you that have the tag 'drink'. However, as this is (supposed) to be a blog about Being Mum and my journey through motherhood, I feel that it's more appropriate to share this photo instead.
This is a photo of Toby using his cup properly for the first time. He picked it up and put it in his mouth and drank! Sounds pretty simple, right? He's becoming more coordinated as the days and weeks pass, slowly turning him from my tiny baby boy into a toddler. Although he's far from toddling, thankfully!
This post is for The Gallery over at Sticky Fingers. Go have a gander at all the other drinkers.
p.s. I know I'm a mean Mummy putting him in a pink highchair.
This is a photo of Toby using his cup properly for the first time. He picked it up and put it in his mouth and drank! Sounds pretty simple, right? He's becoming more coordinated as the days and weeks pass, slowly turning him from my tiny baby boy into a toddler. Although he's far from toddling, thankfully!
This post is for The Gallery over at Sticky Fingers. Go have a gander at all the other drinkers.
p.s. I know I'm a mean Mummy putting him in a pink highchair.
Monday, 6 May 2013
Toby's First Tooth!
Toby has very clearly been teething for quite some time, having bursts of sobs for no particular reason and them stopping as quickly as they started. The rosy red cheeks, temperature and general unwellness (is that a real word?) have all been there too but the last few days have also seen swollen gums, lots of dribbling and irritability. Calpol (English medicine containing Paracetamol for kids) has definitely been our friend! Yesterday morning I could see the tooth trying to break through the gums and it finally made it in the early afternoon. What a different son we have now!
The second tooth isn't far behind though as his gums are still swollen and bumpy and I can see a hint of tooth number two lurking below the surface. Watch this space...
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Clothopoly and Real Nappy Week (RNW) 2013
Real Nappy Week (RNW) 2013 has finished now (it ran from April 15th to 21st) but the very addictive game of Clothopoly still has one day left. Everyone taking part has until midnight on Wednesday 23rd to enter. We've all spent a ridiculous amount of time trawling through websites and begging for clues to find each website's letter, in the hopes that we'll be able to answer the final part of the game. So each URL (of the page where you found the special letter) that is found and entered onto the board gives you one entry into the draw to win some real nappy goodies. All of the letters that have been collected can be arranged into a phrase and if this is guessed correctly then you're entered into the grand prize draw!
The phrase is pretty hard to work out, I think, even considering the large number of clues that have been given out. I'm pretty sure I've got the first 10 words correct but I'm struggling with the last 5. I've found a couple of clues from other people via Facebook but hopefully I'll be able to figure out the last piece of the puzzle tomorrow and enter the draw.
Even though this has been a time consuming project - and I did think about giving up shortly after I started as I've got plenty on my plate already - this game has shown me some amazing companies that are out there. There are some that I already knew about and love (Cheeky Wipes and My Little Patch spring to mind) but some companies like Dimplebum are just extraordinary! Some of the nappies she's made are wonderful and her one-off painted nappies are simply incredible. I wish we didn't already have our BumGenius nappies so I could go and buy so many more wonderful nappies for Toby. Even in the (almost) three short years since we bought ours, cloth/resuable nappies have changed so much. I wish I could convert everyone to the way of the cloth nappy as they really are so easy to use. And so much better for the environment, not to mention your own pockets. This image sums it up wonderfully.
The phrase is pretty hard to work out, I think, even considering the large number of clues that have been given out. I'm pretty sure I've got the first 10 words correct but I'm struggling with the last 5. I've found a couple of clues from other people via Facebook but hopefully I'll be able to figure out the last piece of the puzzle tomorrow and enter the draw.
Even though this has been a time consuming project - and I did think about giving up shortly after I started as I've got plenty on my plate already - this game has shown me some amazing companies that are out there. There are some that I already knew about and love (Cheeky Wipes and My Little Patch spring to mind) but some companies like Dimplebum are just extraordinary! Some of the nappies she's made are wonderful and her one-off painted nappies are simply incredible. I wish we didn't already have our BumGenius nappies so I could go and buy so many more wonderful nappies for Toby. Even in the (almost) three short years since we bought ours, cloth/resuable nappies have changed so much. I wish I could convert everyone to the way of the cloth nappy as they really are so easy to use. And so much better for the environment, not to mention your own pockets. This image sums it up wonderfully.
Baking cupcakes with Elizabeth
Friends and family will know that I'm not much of a baker - that's my sister Emma's department (and she's fab at it!) I can follow a recipe, provided it's simple, but I lack that special something that's needed to make the finished product edible great. In the past, cookies have fallen apart, cakes haven't risen and cupcakes have got burnt.
So it'll probably shock everyone that I chose to do some baking yesterday with Elizabeth. It's something that I've been talking about doing for a while and in fact we did try and make some pancakes together for pancake day (which very much ended in disaster. Put these things together and you'll probably work out why: hard floor, falling, screaming, crying). So yesterday morning I just decided we were going to bake some cupcakes. It wasn't planned. At all. But it turned out great! Here's how it went...
Ingredients:
115g self-raising flour
115g caster sugar
115g room temperature butter
2 eggs
Instructions:
Pre heat oven to 150 degrees. Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix together. Slop it into cases before putting in the oven for about 15 minutes. Use icing sugar and a little water to make the topping and add food colouring if you like. Top tip - you only need a little bit of water. Pouring loads in is definitely not a good idea. Drizzle the icing over the cakes and try desperately to keep it there. All that extra water I talked about causes the icing to run off the top of the cakes as fast as possible. This can get very messy, very quick. Et voila! Congratulations, you survived making cupcakes with your toddler :)
So it'll probably shock everyone that I chose to do some baking yesterday with Elizabeth. It's something that I've been talking about doing for a while and in fact we did try and make some pancakes together for pancake day (which very much ended in disaster. Put these things together and you'll probably work out why: hard floor, falling, screaming, crying). So yesterday morning I just decided we were going to bake some cupcakes. It wasn't planned. At all. But it turned out great! Here's how it went...
Ingredients:
115g self-raising flour
115g caster sugar
115g room temperature butter
2 eggs
Instructions:
Pre heat oven to 150 degrees. Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix together. Slop it into cases before putting in the oven for about 15 minutes. Use icing sugar and a little water to make the topping and add food colouring if you like. Top tip - you only need a little bit of water. Pouring loads in is definitely not a good idea. Drizzle the icing over the cakes and try desperately to keep it there. All that extra water I talked about causes the icing to run off the top of the cakes as fast as possible. This can get very messy, very quick. Et voila! Congratulations, you survived making cupcakes with your toddler :)
Saturday, 2 February 2013
The Gallery: Bond
My friends and family that read this blog will know that my mind instantly went to thoughts of 007 when I saw this week's theme for The Gallery. I've been a massive James Bond fan for a great number of years and can even remember the moment I fell in love with him. Although I'm not sure how old I was at the time, I can't have been any older than 11 or 12.
But, as Tara at Sticky Fingers has said in her original post, the theme is not about my favourite spy but about the bond between people.
I think it's fair to say that Elizabeth and Toby have bonded well. She has taken to being a big sister like it's part of her DNA, like it was always supposed to happen. My two children go together beautifully and I couldn't have asked for a better response from Elizabeth. And Toby lights up every time he sees his sister. I know they're going to be best friends as they grow up.
However, the bond that has surprised me is the one between Elizabeth and Frankie, our dog. I've blogged in the past about E's love for our four legged friend but it's more than that now. We brought Frankie home 10 months ago and Elizabeth and Frankie have this uncanny link. It started with them just instantly getting along. Then Frankie started to show some protective instincts towards Elizabeth. Lately Frankie has been responding to commands from her, which is pretty impressive considering us humans have trouble understanding her half the time. Then today, the icing on the cake. Elizabeth has been feeling under the weather and Frankie clearly wanted to be near her. She got off the sofa and sat on the floor and Frankie rolled onto his back. Elizabeth continued watching the TV whilst stroking his belly and the two of them were just enjoying each other. I hope their bond continues to grow with time.
You can see all the other entries here.
But, as Tara at Sticky Fingers has said in her original post, the theme is not about my favourite spy but about the bond between people.
I think it's fair to say that Elizabeth and Toby have bonded well. She has taken to being a big sister like it's part of her DNA, like it was always supposed to happen. My two children go together beautifully and I couldn't have asked for a better response from Elizabeth. And Toby lights up every time he sees his sister. I know they're going to be best friends as they grow up.
However, the bond that has surprised me is the one between Elizabeth and Frankie, our dog. I've blogged in the past about E's love for our four legged friend but it's more than that now. We brought Frankie home 10 months ago and Elizabeth and Frankie have this uncanny link. It started with them just instantly getting along. Then Frankie started to show some protective instincts towards Elizabeth. Lately Frankie has been responding to commands from her, which is pretty impressive considering us humans have trouble understanding her half the time. Then today, the icing on the cake. Elizabeth has been feeling under the weather and Frankie clearly wanted to be near her. She got off the sofa and sat on the floor and Frankie rolled onto his back. Elizabeth continued watching the TV whilst stroking his belly and the two of them were just enjoying each other. I hope their bond continues to grow with time.
 | ||||||
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Friday, 11 January 2013
Her Imagination Amazes Me!
From a very early age, Elizabeth has enjoyed role playing. I can remember her filling up an imaginary cup from the imaginary tap and feeding her teddy when she was only 13 months old.
Now, a year later, she will sit and have tea parties with her teddies, look after her Baby like I do with Toby and pretend that her snacks are various animals and objects while the dining table is their play ground.
So it shouldn't surprise me that today, I was the baby. I was told that I needed to sleep and was taken over to the sofa. After being ordered to lie down and close my eyes, I was shhh'd and had my back rubbed and patted. Elizabeth then decided that I needed a pillow. This included somegentle manipulation of my head so I was laying in exactly the right place. E then attempted to sing but as she's not quite able to do that very well yet, I was told that I had to sing myself. Charming! E then fussed with her little baby blanket, making sure I was tucked in and then continued to pat me. She lovingly sat on the edge of my 'bed' (the sofa) while I 'slept'.
I was bursting with pride the whole time :-)
Now, a year later, she will sit and have tea parties with her teddies, look after her Baby like I do with Toby and pretend that her snacks are various animals and objects while the dining table is their play ground.
So it shouldn't surprise me that today, I was the baby. I was told that I needed to sleep and was taken over to the sofa. After being ordered to lie down and close my eyes, I was shhh'd and had my back rubbed and patted. Elizabeth then decided that I needed a pillow. This included some
I was bursting with pride the whole time :-)
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Toby's First Milestone
It's 2am and I'm up feeding Toby. I'm changing his nappy and turn away to grab the new nappy. When I turn back, there's Toby smiling up at me, holding his foot. That's my favourite milestone :-)
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
2012
2012 was another big year for us. I'd like to share a quick run-down with you, if for no other reason than so I can remember all the wonderful things that happened in years to come.
The first piece of happy news happened not long into the New Year. We found out that we were expecting our second child! A slightly surprising yet very happy start to 2012.
At the end of March, I had the honour of being a bridesmaid to one of my best and oldest friends. C looked amazing and I know that her and D will be very happy together.
The day after that wedding, we picked up our new dog, Frankie. We've had a lot of ups and downs with him but he is a much loved part of our family and we're so very pleased that we have him.
We had a lovely trip to Northern Ireland with our good friends, who we met through the NCT antenatal group we attended when I was expecting E. The weather was fantastic and we loved it.
Shortly after visiting NI, we took a trip to Sweden and Denmark to spend time with family before the baby arrived.
Our whole family loved watching the London Olympics and it was great to see E so enthusiastic about something she'd never seen before.
After E became almost scared of swimming, we decided to take a break from lessons and have fun with her at a local pool instead. We went almost every weekend from April to September and it was hard work for Frans to get E to want to go. It paid off though and she started to enjoy it again and now she gets excited when you just mention the word!
In September, we had the birth of our beautiful Tobias.
E loves her baby brother and is (mostly) a wonderful sister. He clearly already loves her to pieces. She has adapted incredibly well to the new arrival and we're very proud of her.
October was a big month as Frans turned 40! We had a party in our garden (I still can't believe the HUGE marquee actually fit!) and enjoyed celebrating with our closest family and friends. Some family members came over from Denmark and it was lovely to spend so much time with them.
We then found out that C and D (who got married back in March) are expecting their first baby! A little girlfriend for T maybe...?
Some other close friends are also expecting and we couldn't be more excited for them. Shh, don't tell anyone yet though!
At 10 weeks old, T started his swimming lessons and isn't bothered at all. We hope he loved the water as much as his sister does.
Watching E in her first nativity was very special. She played an elf (and didn't really do much) but she looked adorable.
The week before Christmas saw E get the chickenpox. She managed to avoid it three times over the course of the year. Thankfully she wasn't too badly affected by it and T managed to escape it too.
E has hit so many milestones this year that we can't count them all. It feels like she does something amazing and new every week but I guess the 'big hits' are her moving into her big girl bed, starting to use a potty (with potty training not being too far away now), counting up to six items on her own (but being able to recite numbers up to twelve) and getting herself dressed without needing any help from me. She can even do her own socks and shoes! She is a wonderful little girl and although trying at times, I love her dearly and look forward to seeing her grow even more in 2013.
2013 is going to be another amazing year :)
The first piece of happy news happened not long into the New Year. We found out that we were expecting our second child! A slightly surprising yet very happy start to 2012.
At the end of March, I had the honour of being a bridesmaid to one of my best and oldest friends. C looked amazing and I know that her and D will be very happy together.
The day after that wedding, we picked up our new dog, Frankie. We've had a lot of ups and downs with him but he is a much loved part of our family and we're so very pleased that we have him.
We had a lovely trip to Northern Ireland with our good friends, who we met through the NCT antenatal group we attended when I was expecting E. The weather was fantastic and we loved it.
Shortly after visiting NI, we took a trip to Sweden and Denmark to spend time with family before the baby arrived.
Our whole family loved watching the London Olympics and it was great to see E so enthusiastic about something she'd never seen before.
After E became almost scared of swimming, we decided to take a break from lessons and have fun with her at a local pool instead. We went almost every weekend from April to September and it was hard work for Frans to get E to want to go. It paid off though and she started to enjoy it again and now she gets excited when you just mention the word!
In September, we had the birth of our beautiful Tobias.
E loves her baby brother and is (mostly) a wonderful sister. He clearly already loves her to pieces. She has adapted incredibly well to the new arrival and we're very proud of her.
October was a big month as Frans turned 40! We had a party in our garden (I still can't believe the HUGE marquee actually fit!) and enjoyed celebrating with our closest family and friends. Some family members came over from Denmark and it was lovely to spend so much time with them.
We then found out that C and D (who got married back in March) are expecting their first baby! A little girlfriend for T maybe...?
Some other close friends are also expecting and we couldn't be more excited for them. Shh, don't tell anyone yet though!
At 10 weeks old, T started his swimming lessons and isn't bothered at all. We hope he loved the water as much as his sister does.
Watching E in her first nativity was very special. She played an elf (and didn't really do much) but she looked adorable.
The week before Christmas saw E get the chickenpox. She managed to avoid it three times over the course of the year. Thankfully she wasn't too badly affected by it and T managed to escape it too.
E has hit so many milestones this year that we can't count them all. It feels like she does something amazing and new every week but I guess the 'big hits' are her moving into her big girl bed, starting to use a potty (with potty training not being too far away now), counting up to six items on her own (but being able to recite numbers up to twelve) and getting herself dressed without needing any help from me. She can even do her own socks and shoes! She is a wonderful little girl and although trying at times, I love her dearly and look forward to seeing her grow even more in 2013.
2013 is going to be another amazing year :)
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