well, i never

intended to go down the work book route for sian and beth, but they chose for themselve (and this was what i wanted for them) sian quite happily will do 3-5pages at a time each for fun and a gold star. then she tells me she's tired LOL. well, 20mins hard work will do that to you sweetie pie!

every 5 gold stars she earns, sian gets a cat sticker (the character in her workbooks is called "curly cat") and so far i think she's earned at least 2 cats in each book! today she learned wich direction words go in (left to right) and the book had matching games for her to do.

lap books

i'm stealing another idea and modifying it for my two. we're going to be making "favourite things" lap books. i've already created the templates. now to fill them in. i think they'll enjoy that. we can colour, draw, stick and take pictures for it!

Sian is coming on in leaps and bounds with her BSL lessons. This week she asked her GrannyJan to take her and spent the 30minute lesson translating what her teacher was saying for her granny! I've been told her signing is often better than some fo the adults! (proud mama moment!)

35week musings....

Why is it high street stores don't think the larger lady gets pregnant? New Look does a lovely range of clothes for a larger lady (16-24), yet their maternity range stops at an 18, Mamas & Papas and Mothercare both specialist stores, only go up to an 18- and that's if you can FIND any 18's!! Blooming Marvellous only goes to a 16. Evans, THE store for the larger lady? Doesn't even DO maternity clothes... hello, you're missing a HUGE gap in the market here! And we don't want "granny" clothes either!

32wks 5days

I have been so slack at updating haven't I? Orlando was still head down 3wks ago.. Urine clean, BP fine, HR still in the "boys" range mostly- except when s/he was moving around.

Trish said to call at teh first twinge of back ache and she'll come over and put her feet up LOL. Told her that basically I just want to get on with giving birth, let the girls come and go as they and I please, Sian/Beth to tell me what it is, Nurse immeadiatly and delay cutting the cord.

On my part, if the little stinker turns breech at this late stage, I will still get to attempt a vaginal delivery, just have to do it at the hospital. If I go into labour in the next 2wks.. again, hospital. And there were the reasons for transferring, but they were things that you'd want to transfer for.. retained placenta, hemmorage.

Oh, she said she'd see me in 2-3weeks... that was 3wks ago LOL. I better call and remind her taht we have a date! And I need another anti-d too

Baby Sitting....

I have a fussy eater and a fussy baby in my care tonight. Along with my two of course. The baby fell asleep in my arms after crying a while, and is now enjoying a biscuit LOL. And the big girl probably thinks i'm the meanest person in the world as dinner was "mash"(cottage) pie not her staple beans on toast!

Gymnastics

Sian and Beth tried gymnastics today. Beth was a bit slow to get started but then didn't want to leave LOL. She doesn't want to go back though, she tells me she didn't enjoy it! Sian got hit by one of the children in her class, but such is her make up that she just dissolved in inconsolable tears and wouldn't say why she was crying. A quick cuddle and she went back and really enjoyed herself. She says she wants to go back... I'll ask again Monday or Tuesday!

How do you make Sian happy?

Tell her she has some cloth nappies for night time again! She sleeps soooo soundly that I can't see her night training any time soon. The big problem we have is there are only THREE nappies in her size, guess I'd better find some more then! On a tangent... the 3yo we had over the other night was in a disposable and OMG it STUNK!!! So glad that we're going straight to cloth with the next one!!

Customs Charge

I got to mums teh other day to be greeted with a customs charge for a packet of what i THINK is cloth nappy bits for "Orlando" Not amused as it's costing me £12... I'll be passing that charge onto the retailer, would have been cheaper to just pay full shipping! I also received from one of the girls on my DD forum THE softest winnie the pooh baby blanket in green (remember, it's a suprise) and a wtp vest as well. and a gorgeous card. must take pics of them to share.

How much does it cost...

to get my oldest child in clothes that FIT her skinny body and cute butt? £100 in Next. But her trousers now FIT and she no longer has a "builders bum" even the jeans i grabbed for her in mothercare fell off her while she was running for the bus. poor kid was showing her undies to the world! Trouble is if you put a belt on she can't get to the loo on her own. She has some cute new clothes though and looks every bit her age now instead of younger.. it's taken almost 5yrs to get there!!

My Kids are braver than me!

Sian and Beth had their first ever visit to the dentist today. They were ever so good.

Sian wanted to know how many teeth she had/should have so the dentist counted them for her. She has 20, and they're all perfect. We didn't get them cleaned though as she doesn't like "buzzy" toothbrushes. There are a lot of noises she doesn't like when i think about it. Last time we saw Trish she covered her ears while we were looking for Orlando's heart beat (Sian got the place right though!)

Beth wasn't so keen on the moving chair, but she opened her mouth wide (like Peppa Pig) and let the dentist count her teeth too. She pretty much as 20- one on of them is only partially through. They are perfect too. I did find it strange that i was asked if a child who is almost three (eek!) still had a bottle. and asked even when i said she'd stopped nursing only a couple months ago. i'm to lazy for bottles!

Randomness from Longleat

Waiting in the queue to enter the safari park

Daddy held a tarantula

Hippo's bite yanno... and this one looked HUNGRY!!

There's an odd looking giraffe in there LOL

Sian, Beth and Daddy hold a snake. I think the snake weighed as much as Beth LOL. (well, not really!)

Longleat.

Hanging off the car in front.

Monkeys like the higher vehicles!

Mama with her babies. I didn't manage to get the one of a mama monkey nursing though :o(

Cheeky Monkey! We waited ages for one to jump on the car. It jumped on and ran over the top then jumped off!

Just being a nosey monkey.

I think the monkeys were the favourite for us at the safari park. We almost burnt our clutch out though waiting for one to jump on the car. They're quick little so n so's! We had two jump on and run over then off. I think WW3 may have broken out had they not as the girls were desperate for them to come to us LOL.

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.