Spray Park, Staines

It's safer to explore with Mama


Ready, Set, GO!!!!

Oooh I can shoot you!

It's not that bad Bethy!

Come on in, the water's lovely!

It's taken her months!

But finally Beth can sign "Aeroplane" without any assistance from Mama to get the right fingers. We decided to do some random sign practice while walking home from town today and that was one that we did- I guess living so close to the airport helps LOL. I'd just randomly ask one of them a sign and both would usually do it. I wonder if Sian would be up to taking her BSL exam next year... the way she's going I'd say ability wise she'll be FINE!

We took a bus to town today. No pushchair (eek!). Went to the bank to lend my sister yet more money. Not sure how this happens. LOL. Then after that the girls went on the roundabout as they had been ever so good. We bought cakes and sausage rolls and drinks for "elevenses" and then walked up to find a dentist for a freind. The earliest we could get her in was next Weds. and at that she has a 2wk shorter wait than most new patients! Sian and Beth are going too. Sian was all upset because the dentist couldn't see her today.

After that we walked back up to town for lunch and then meandered home. Finding random letters carved into walls on the way! Sian trys to tell me she doesn't know them LOL. But she does. I managed NOT to get frustrated with her. A BIIIIIG step for me, and an important one in the grand scheme of things.

As we got to our gate Grannyjan and Grandad pulled up to take us bowling for the first time in ages. I got some pics- but not downloaded them yet! and the girls managed EIGHT frames between them before deciding they wanted ice cream instead. *note to self, it will take at least 30mins in future to help grandad with his splint/shoes*

and just a normal veg in front of the telly with tea and then bed tonight. and that's our day LOL.

Go On, Have a Guess!!

Our Week.

Monday... waited in all day at my mums for Trish to come (she couldn't in the end, for a retired lady she's pretty busy as i told her on Tuesday!) and for my older 2 neices and nephew to arrive from Wales for the week. Then got taken out for tea at Nando's Have to say, the mushroom and halloumi "burger" with chilli jam is lush. and both my girls now like halloumi cheese. next time i'm just going to get them the cheese and chips lol. beth lost her veggie burger to the floor, sian just ate the cheese off hers (and it was horrible anyway!)

Tuesday, saw Trish (finally LOL.) and had my anti-d (owweee, now have a bruised bum!), bloods taken for a random glucose screen and all the other good stuf htey like to check. "lando's" heartbeat is "still in the boys range" lol. i do love the old wives tales! the colostrum is coming in now, but beth won't be tandem nursing with this one i don't think, she's forgotten how to nurse. bitter sweet as sian nursed till she was 4.

after that we saw Wall-E at the cinema with my parents and neices/nephew. cute film. i thought beth would fall asleep, but she sat on my knee for the whole thing entranced! just asked to go to the loo about 30mins from the end. there's not a whole load of dialogue, but it's funny to the grown ups in a TOTALLY different way from the kids!! i won't spoil it. go see it!

Weds. we went out to breakfast, then to see Kung Fu Panda. Two cinema trips in as many days! And Sian wants to see The fox and the Child too. I'm not sure she'll enjoy that as much though. KFP is a bit scary for little ones in places, but both girls enjoyed it for all that. beth did get a bit wriggly towards the end. we've seen trailers for about 4 films we'd like to go and see this year.

Sian had a sleep over at her freinds house last night. My big girl! My friend texted me after they were asleep to say that both kids had been very good and tested all the boundaries LOL. but i can't wait to see her later on. we're going to the library as a big group.

and tomorrow we're off to Longleat via swindon to meet a freind of mine. must download the splash park pics first (but they're another post!) so taht's our week this week. a busy one!

Funny from Beth

B- "this is your sign Mummy" (signs the letter "M"- almost correctly!)
G- "what's the sign for Daddy?"
B- (signs letter "F") "pain in vee neck"

i'm rolling! bless her cottons.

Housing inspection

Wow look at the rain. you can see the tiles in the gutter here

and a clearer view of where there is a hole in the roof here
She came, she saw and she made notes. Actually, she was a darn sight nicer about our house than our housing officer. she's going to get the landlord to do the gardens. we've been told not to use the hedge trimmer he left us in case of accidents. we should have told her that he got clive doing the work last time actually. darnit. so i'm going to have to brave the spiders and get the clippers out! too wet for electric gadgets again now anyway. i'd just like to get into the house! the boiler still needs fixing. the last temporary fix was in feb. and it's holding well! we'll see if it fails again when i have a new born (that's when it FIRST failed!) there is a hole in the roof we THINK. but she said she will at least get the landlord to fix the loose and fallen tiles. the only way to find out if it IS a hole is go into the attic. we're not allowed (not that we'd want to, to get up there you ahve to precariously balance a ladder on the turn in the stairs) she's going to get the drawers fixed (they keep coming off their runners) but it looks like we're stuck with running the extension lead through the kitchen for the dryer and freezer. ah well, we've done it this long we can manage.

Roald Dahl Childrens Gallery

Beth taking the ball out to play

Roald Dahl at work

Here's where we were. It's in Aylesbury, not to be confused with the museum in Greater Missenden

The Twits

We went in the Great Glass Elevator

Sian trying to make music

Beth with a YoYo

The ball floating after Beth threw it into the airstream

We managed to hitch a lift here on Clive's bus when they took the younger Summer Schoolers last week. Sian's favourite exhibit was the shadow pictures (sadly no photos as my camera batteries were on their last legs) and Beth's favourite was the one where you pump air to make musical notes (we have a picture of Sian doing it but not Beth, she wouldn't stay still long enough!!)

Sian wants to go back. I think we might.. and maybe on to Greater Missenden too as I love Roald Dahl and it's more about his work.

what next. i'll tell you what now. there are loose tiles on our roof and two in the gutter. i found out friday AFTER the housing dept. had shut. and as we're having a visit monday (didn't we just get one?) it can wait till they come.

it is still taking forever for hot water to come through downstairs. i sat with the hot tap running for 5mins before it was lukewarm this morning. yet trying to shower last night i scalded my back and froze my scalp in the same 30seconds. i'm going to pay to get my hair washed every week at this rate. even the kids are getting too big for their baby bath, and it's hard for me to get down there to wash their hair.

i've decided i can't be bothered to bust a gut getting this place sparkling clean for monday. we're here to live. not live in a damn show home. i can't move the freezer or reach over the top of it to get rid of the darned cobwebs. at least there are no spiders in there.

spiders. ugh. there are 2 places they ALWAYS seem to end up in this house (there's a third, i don't use that cupboard as it's awkward) between our drawers and our fridge/freezer, usually a big un with it's web down there and in the cupboard i keep the baking trays etc. there are usually two in there.

mm macaroni cheese smells done. my kids are gonna be happy with lunch. they're on a cheese kick today. they had cheese on toast as a snack (after their cereal!) and now are having macaroni cheese for lunch! just need to see if they want garlic bread with it (probably!) so i'd better go.

Nick Jr Jump Up!

We suprised the girls with tickets to a free event for the U7s! I think they had a good time LOL. There was plenty to do and see, and every activity was FREE. So how did we manage to spend £200 on a day trip? Lets see... there was the hotel room for the night (good plan!) food and the £41 on over priced merchandise! I should have made them wait to get their toy/book/dvd till we got home but we'd promised to let them buy something in the shop. The only thing that WASN'T dramatically marked up was the Diego book that Beth got, it was only a penny more than the marked price.

Photos Below ;o)


Bumble from Fifi and the Flowertots

Pablo from The Backyardigans

Peppa Pig

Sportacus from Lazy Town (his moustache is too thick!)

We found a farmyard!

Arnie and Barney the Early Worms. Sian is the one in a black hand and beth is on her left in a pink dress.

Sian as Peppa and Beth as George

Beth with Blue

Sian with Blue

On the BT Vision Giant Sofa. It was very comfy!

gosh i'm in the 3rd trimester!

well, tomorrow (the baby count down is wrong on my page and i'm too lazy to change it!)

trish came to see me today. all looks good and "orlando" is head down now.. slightly off to one side today, but head down!

i'll see her again at 29wks.. gosh, that's only 2wks away! for my anti-d as i'm A- and clive and the kids are all *something* positive. and no lucozade as i can't stomach the stuff!

why is it i'm pregnant when teh summers are HOT?! we woke late today (unheard of for my two to sleep past 6.30a at the latest) i was first up at 8AM!!!! good greif, i had a lie in! sian and beth got up next at 8.50 and clive finally surfaced at around 9.30am.

i'm counting down to bath and bed time here as i am dripping with sweat and doing nothing. i hate being inactive but i just get too nauseous when i start playing round. not to mention my spd is starting to kick back in again (forgot to mention that to trish.) i'm not even thinking about going to hte gym, there's no air con up there i'll either faint or throw up!

next week is our last sign class before september. good greif it's gone quick. sian and beth have learnt a whole host of signs, how to put them together as a sentence AND the grammer taht goes with BSL as opposed to grammer when you speak. (ex. in BSL "what's your name?" is signed "name you what")

time to spare? try this!

funny farm

omigosh this is fun, addictive and hard. i'm still on my first game but i keep going back to it to try new words.

I've had enough

of everything I think. All I want to do is go to sleep for a week now and not have to deal with anything at all (yeah right, like that is going to happen)

S. can't consistently keep her bed dry. after a week of changing her sheets every morning I put a pull up on her yesterday (none of my cloth is big enough) and the little monster took it off before she went to sleep. if she'd told me i'd have got her up to go pee at midnight (not that that always works.) So, yet ANOTHER wet bed this morning.

on a tangent from that. If pillows are meant to be machine wash and dry-able. Why are they never the same shape afterwards? I need to get both kids new pillows now so they're not all funky shaped any more. can't afford it, they'll have to deal.


The lease on the house was up yesterday. I'm waiting for a loan to go into the bank (been waiting since LAST tuesday) so we can clear the rent quickly and hopefully get moved somewhere more suitable. or at least somewhere with a shower that doesn't scald and freeze you in the same 10secs.

E. likes to "make coffee" aka tipping whatever she's drinking all. over. the. floor. and throw her food around if it's not on whatever plate she wants it on. and hit me when she doesn't get her own way. and whine and cry for no reason. i hate the terrible twos. at least she saves it for home i guess. and rarely if we have company.

i see trish on friday, to hear "lando" again. it's so sweet when beth says to my belly "awww miss you lando" and then gives it a kiss. i've been up iwth tooth/jaw/ear ache all night. was thinking it was my teeth, but a freind pointed out the real possibility of TMJ. didn't think of that but it does fit. and paracetamol didn't touch the pain. that fits too. if it was just toothache 2 paracetamol works usually.

my right foot is all puffy and swollen, and i have NO clue what i've done to it. i just know it hurts. no other part of my body is swollen so i'm thinking it's not pregnancy related! i'm so good at random injurys!

There's lots of Sian

but not so much of Beth on my blog. So, here are some videos of her this weekend at trampolining. She's almost cracked a forward roll, and although she says she doesn't like it she had a good bounce about on the trampoline!

Only 3 Weeks

of sign classes left before we take a break for the summer. Dom (teacher) and John (interpreter) are very happy with how well Sian has been doing- and so am I for that matter! Even baby Beth is doing well and can sign short sentences and recognize ALL the signs, she only signs about 50% of them though as she can't manipulate her fingers for some yet. It will come, meanwhile it brings laughter to us all as she valiantly tries.

I hope they don't lose all their signs over the summer and I will try to make sure we practice daily. I'm pretty sure they'll be wanting their fill of "Something Special" every now and again still LOL.

OMIGOSH!!!

i heard back from the makers of multimac (YAY!!) but good greif it's gonna be expensive. £1000 or so for the 4 berth FF seats. and another £200 for the infant seat?

if the RAC can't get the car started and tell us wtf is wrong with it then a new (to us) car may be a cheaper option as we DO have carseats taht will fit every child and only really need to buy a new cover for sian's first class.

i tried to jump in yesterday and had sparks flying feet from the car. BIG sparks flying from both mine and my dad's cars. Clive tried to jump it this morning with his dad's work car and got nothing. not even the radio working. great.

Some of the girls signing

Sian signing "B"

Beth signing "Pig"

Sian signing "S"

Beth signing "doctor"



So this week the girls learnt to put together simple sentences at their sign class. The video shows one example. AND Sian knows the British Sign Language (BSL) alphabet even if she can't recognize the printed letters! They both have laminated BSL alphabet place mats thanks to this website. I've used this site to help me with odd words or to create phrases before now- there are 500 signs on there which has been very helpful!

i need a moan.

money is tight. and i've been trying to find out if i'm entitled to anything while i'm pregnant. the answer is no. clive works too much, and i don't work at all. if i went to work we'd lose what benefits/tax credits we *do* get and have to find childcare into the bargain.

we're in rent arrears more than i thought- i'd thought next months payment would clear them up but it won't, so we're stuck in this horrible house for even longer. we're not getting anywhere on locata at all because of the arrears, and also as there's no point us being moved from a 2bed to a 2bed when come November we'll be needing a 3bed.

the car has a flat battery and a full tank of petrol. so it's sitting there doing nothing and costing us insurance. can we even afford to run it when the tax goes up? i defintley can't fit 3 carseats in the back (actually i have 2 more to try but i'm not really ready for sian to go into a booster jsut yet!) and she wouldn't be able to buckle herself in (nor will anyone else!) in the middle position. if we can't jump start the car then it's something bigger and more expensive. we don't need that.

the kids look like they need new shoes again. and i just bought a whole bunch of supplies for schoolwork for the girls taht i can't really afford now that we're over drawn on the overdraft *again* love how i'ts always me who has to manage on that front never clive. ah well. guess me and the girls are stuck at home a bit more then. gives us time to pack the hosue up i suppose.

It's EDUCATION that's compulsory

NOT school. I wish I could get that into people's heads. Clive and I have decided to Home School indefintately, we want the girls to enjoy *learning* and not learn x,yz because the national curriculum says that's what is a 4yo should be doing at a certain time. Babies learn to roll, sit, crawl and walk at different times. That different time zone extends to children and education. It's why a 3yo girl may be able to sing the "ABC" song at the begining of nursery, but a boy who's birthday is at the end of the same school year may not know it till the end of the year.

it's why sian at 4 still can't hold a pencil properly, but her 2yo sister can. they have different learning curves. sian can learn and sign reliably. beth understands signs but can't sign them back. sian recognizes numbers and some letters. beth can count but doesn't recognize any numbers yet. it will come when her brain is ready to process it.

time to join either HEAS (although maybe not till they're a bit older) or education otherwise
for some support and advice. i've been using muddle puddle for my early years stuff as it has links to all sorts of lovely pictures and games.

ultra sound pictures

"Orlando" at 15weeks. Back then child was way down low and most defintley head DOWN. Almost could have sneezed babe out!

"Orlando" at 23 weeks. No longer head down! little stinker. top L is face on, top R is profile. I maintain the poor kid is gonna have daddy's nose! bottom is profile with teh foot by the nose!

23 weeks!

The best belly picture I could get with the camera set on timer and balanced precariously on the window ledge!!

Had my "big" scan yesterday. Orlando is curled up nice and tight and breech at the moment. Bum right down low (and pressing on my bladder!) feet by the nose. All my kids seem to be able to "pick their nose with their toes!" Little toad was moving when we tried to get measurements, and staying still when we wanted movement! Everything is looking good though, we saw long fingers and feet. a little heart and all the chambers working. cute little nose (looks like daddys!) and lips.

The ultrasonographer also did blood flow to my womb, the placenta and through the umbillical cord. Doesn't look like I'll be having any problems *at the moemtn* like i did with Sian. So, unless Orlando stays breech or Trish thinks I need another scan for whatever reason that was my last one (yay!)

As I don't have a scanner and the digi cam pics i tried to take of my scan pics didn't come out, I can't share them as promised :o(

oh yes... it's a...................................... BABY!!!!