Eliza turns 4

This week our Eliza turned 4 and had her first ever birthday party. On her first birthday we were all sick except her, on her second birthday I was about ready to pop with Alice and on her 3rd birthday we were all sick again, except her. This year Alice was sick on Eliza's birthday (but only because she gagged on a paintbrush she was chewing on, yuk). Yes, there seems to be a theme here, lets hope it's run itself out now.

Eliza decided she would like a Minnie Mouse birthday party (when she lost her Elephant on holiday last year she replaced her with a Minnie Mouse toy which now goes everywhere with her). She was so excited about the party and so thankful about everything. So here she is blowing out the candles on her Minnie Mouse cake:

It was your traditional pass-the-parcel kind of party, here they all are with their party food:
Minnie Mouse cupcakes
Her Minnie Mouse cake. I would like to say I made the cake but I asked my fabulously talented cake decorating friend Mallory to help me out and I basically watched the master at work! So I can't take any credit for the cake which Eliza LOVED! Thanks Mallory.
After the party Bex took Eliza to Build-a-Bear for her birthday treat, Rebekah said Eliza went in, chose a bear, chose some clothes and was good to go. Eliza is nothing if not decisive. She makes her mind up in 2 seconds flat and sticks with it. She know what she wants and what she doesn't want and once she's made up her mind thats it. She has become really affectionate recently, she kisses and cuddles a lot more than she used to, she likes the same book read to her everynight for 3 weeks and she loves to play with polly pockets and her new lego friends (birthday presents). She's our independent, random, spirited wild child.

Kids are hilarious

The other day I was asking Eliza what we should have for lunch and being a bit silly I suggested cat food. She said 'no we don't eat cat food' so I asked 'who does eat cat food then?' to which Eliza replied 'monkeys'! Cracked me up!

Star in the making

Wednesday 8th December 2010 was declared the 'best night of my life' by Esther. She was Mary in her school play. The play was about santa going on strike and each year did a different bit of the play ending with the nativity. She was really pleased to be Mary even if Joseph did pick his nose! (I stole this picture from my friends blog since we had been to the Monday afternoon dress rehersal as pre-school children weren't allowed to the evening performance and we had forgotten our camera.) Esther loved the evening so much because she got to play in the school while she was waiting to go on. It must have been fun because she was bouncing off the ceiling when I picked her up.I was a bit mad though as I had asked if there were any spare tickets and was told none were available but my friend told me there had been rows of unoccupied seats at the back. Annoying.

Eliza was an angel in her pre-school concert but guess what, I didn't take my camera to that either....

Halloween

For Halloween this year I couldn't bring myself to buy some tacky dress-up from Tesco for £10 a pop for the girls so I talked them round to choosing something from their extensive collection of dressing up clothes and treated them to a new 50p wand each! I didn't get a good picture of Esther, she was a princess witch, yes there is such a thing! She had this dress on with a witches hat and wand. When I took the picture she had already been to a 'little spooks tea party' at our neighbours house and couldn't seem to keep the lollipop our of her mouth long enough for me to take a decent picture! Eliza dressed up as 'dinderella' of course! Her favourite and I think it suits her so well.

Alice wore an outfit picked out by the girls and amazingly kept the tiara on all night!

Love this little cutie!

On the Saturday before Halloween it was the church trunk or treat activity and Halloween Carnival. Ben was at his brother Sam's stag weekend so I took the girls, we got there late but made it through all the carnival activities and Eliza won the dress up for her age category - she was so pleased, Esther felt it was a win for the team and didn't mind not winning hers. The trunk or treat was a hit with the girls - who wouldn't enjoy collecting free sweets from the boot of 20 cars?! As soon as we had been round we jumped in the car and headed home as it was well past the girls bedtime.

Dissappointingly we didn't get our pumpkins carved out in time for Halloween and they are still sitting outside the front door uncarved (minus the one I used to make pumpkin soup for dinner today...) We are planning on carving them ready for my parents arriving at the weekend but I'm not sure if it really will happen... Our evenings are just so busy this week (and last week). Luckily the girls didn't think anything of not going out treak or treating on the Sunday since we had had the trunk or treat the night before. We went out to an open house on Sunday afternoon for someone from church who flew out today to be a missionary in Australia so by the time we got back we'd missed most of the trick or treaters - now we also have about 50 lollipops which must leave the house soon or I will eat them as I have no self control. We didn't even get any Halloween decorations out as we had a house viewing on the 30th. Turns out he put an offer in on the house 4 doors down who had just reduced its price and had no forward chain. Boo hoo. The good thing is our house has stayed pretty tidy and it's been 4 days since the viewing!

Too funny

The other day Esther was talking to my mum on the phone and was telling her how Alice can crawl and that she has teeth now. My mum asks how many teeth Alice has and Esther replies 'I think about 120.'!! I silently laughed my head off and thought no more of it until I was telling someone else about Alice's teeth and Esther inisits that I am wrong when I say she has only 2 teeth, she really has lots more, about 120. How many teeth does Esther think she has then if Alice has 120! She can count pretty well so it suprised me that this is logical to her. I'm really enjoying seeing her make judgements on time, number, age etc so funny the things she comes up with.

Eliza on the other hand is being pretty cute too. She asks me at random times during the tay 'Mummy did you miss me?' She asks me when I'm putting her in the car after we've been shopping or when we are playing in the house -I'm not sure she realises that mostly you miss someone when you haven't seen them for a period of time! Since we have to pass Esther's school to get to most places she always tells me we forgot to get Esther when we pass by, she misses her!

Playing in the Rock Pools

One of the days on our holiday we set off in search of a beach on the south coast of cornwall. We wanted somewhere not too far from where we were staying as we had a doctors appointment for Alice (she had an infected nappy rash poor thing). We decided to go to a little coastal town called Looe 13 miles away which in Corwall takes as long as 30 miles anywhere else, teeny, indirect roads.When we got there we were initially a bit dissappointed to find no sandy beach but a rock beach. Actually, a beach full of rock pool and seaweed makes pretty interesting discovery time for both kids and parents! We had some nets, buckets and spades and the kids had a great time investigating the contents of the rock pool finding crabs, shrimps, lots of limpets etc. They also got a few war wounds slipping on the rocks and seaweed. Unfortunately this type of beach is no good for a baby. It was the middle of the day and actually pretty hot, there was no way of getting the pushchair down to the beach and nowhere flat or slightly soft to lie a baby down or even change a nappy and there wasn't even really a comfortable place for anyone to sit! It'll be a great place to go when the girls are just that bit bigger.
Here's Alice and Daddy enjoying a comfy seat on the beach: Esther (wearing Eliza's sun hat!) with Looe island in the background:

Eliza looking good in her funky pink outfit:

That nice warm feeling during church

Usually the nice warm feeling I get during church is the Spirit confirming truth or testifying to me but a couple of weeks ago I got a different kind of warm feeling... on my leg... Huggies had failed me .... big time... Alice got away relatively unscathed but I decided it would be best for me to go home and change. Luckily I had a bar of Zote soap at hand to get that nasty stain out and my skirt has survived as good as new! That's the first time this had happened to me but I don't know if it started an unpleasant ball rolling because this week Eliza had an accident on me too (luckily not the same type as Alice!). I think I'm going to have to start taking around a spare change of clothes for me as well as the kids! Thanks girls!

Sports Day

It was sports day today at Esther's preschool so Alice, Eliza and I went to cheer her on. She missed sports day last year so I wasn't sure how Esther would fare. I was amazed - she won all her races - granted there were only 5 kids in the race and she was probably the oldest one in her race but still she did a great job - I was impressed! I wonder if she has my competitive streak... Here is her winning the bean bag/hula hoop race: The beginning of the race:

Eliza (quite bored by now but still willing to flash me a smile):

There was a mum's race too but fortunately I was holding a sleeping Alice - it was pretty competitive!

Here is Esther in her just running race coming from behind to clinch the win! Go Esther!

School so soon!

Esther starts school in September and it's coming fast! I suddenly feel like I've wasted so much time these past 4 years and have the need to make the most of the next few months before she'll be gone to school. Thursdays are our day when we have no plans so I asked the kids what they would like to do. They wanted to go to the park with a picnic and to storytime at the library so that's what we did and instead of sticking to a time schedule or just leaving because I was starting to get bored we kicked back a bit and only left when one of the girls needed the toilet! I was a bit hesitant about storytime at the library since Eliza usually just runs around or makes a collection of all the pink and purple books she can find which I then have to put back or guiltily leave it for the librarians! Today though she actually sat and listened to the stories. It's a small library so there was only 1 other child there today but the girls enjoyed it and I got to browse and find a book I wanted instead of chasing the kids around, win-win!

Esther is really excited for school - infact she was playing 'schools' with the neighbour who is 6 today in the front garden. We bought her a school dress the other day too from our fab charity shop for £1, she's already had it on.... Last week was the New Parent's meeting at her school. We got to try the school dinners (not impressed), meet the teacher and the 3 teaching assistants (for a class of about 24), the head teacher and the school council. Then we got a little look at the reception classroom. It was sooooooooooooooo lovely, I loved school but I wish my classroom had been like this! There are 2 computers, a smart board, and outdoor playarea just for the classroom and best of all there is a little room up in the corner of the classroom, a mezzanine type thing but partly enclose with windows - a bit like an indoor tree house - that is currently pretending to be a Chinese restaurant! It is child size too - I went up to investigate and had to duck to get in. Underneath it is a cosy corner with cushions and books and dressing up. It made ME excited for her, she is going to have a lovely time. Eliza is starting pre-school one morning a week (it's on the school site too) because I think she'll just miss Esther so this will give her something fun just for her.
I've just got to focus on the fact that actually it's quite exciting and not feel sad! Any tips for fun things to do before she starts school I'd love to hear them!

Eliza

For a while now Eliza has been having real issues with the toilet. She is ok with the worst of the 2 processes but weeing has been terrible. For instance at church the other week we had to change her clothes 4 times! She used to be absolutely brilliant but not so now. I've tried being patient, I've tried being mean until one of our friends suggested spending more one-on-one time with her. It's obviously linked with the arrival of Alice. Well, yesterday Eliza fell asleep about 5.30pm so we took her up to bed (she has been cutting out naps too in the last couple of weeks). She woke up at 8pm just as Esther was going to bed so we brought her down with us. Esther wanted to stay down too and asked me if she could get up if she had a nap so of course I said yes knowing full well that once she was asleep that would be it till morning! So Eliza got a few hours of precious time with Ben and I. She absolutely loved it!! I don't think she has really ever had much time of just us and her. Coincidently today was the first day in ages that Eliza actually told me she needed a wee!! Hopefully things will be on the up from now on! I think she really enjoyed spending time with us and we certainly enjoyed spending time with her - she is so funny and cheery (most of the time!). Maybe we'll have to do this more often!

Time is flying

How can it be that my 'newborn' is nearly/only 4 weeks old?? Feels like she's been here forever and I am really enjoying her! I think with my other 2 I always felt a bit more confident when they reached a couple of months old but this time I feel much more relaxed - maybe it's because I'm not too sleep deprived, thank you Alice and long may it continue! Babies change so fast - hurry home Bex, I need some decent pictures of my baby while she is still a baby!


Eliza has been having a few issues with wetting herself the past couple of weeks but it seems she is getting a bit better - we only went through 3 pairs of pants today! Still, I'd rather wash a few extra pairs of pants than change more nappies!

Esther is doing pretty well though her pre-school teacher took me aside on Monday and said Esther had a bit of a 'wobble' and kept asking for her mummy but after a few cuddles she cheered up apparently.

We survived the week without mum but she is back now for the weekend and to see Bex when she gets home on Tuesday - we're all pretty excited about that! It's been nice to get back into a routine and take charge of the house again!

When it goes quiet...

... you know Eliza is doing something she shouldn't be! Butter wouldn't melt eh? She'd been getting arty with the pens!

This is not the first time she has coloured in her legs and arms. A few Sunday's ago all was quiet upstairs and Eliza comes down with green pen all over her cream tights - it looked like she had been drawing grass on them! There was no way that pen was coming out of the tights so in the bin they went! In these pictures Eliza is actually wearing a dress my mum made for my sister Bex 30 years ago! Thank goodness she chose to draw on her legs and not the dress!

Sisters

We finally got some pictures of the girls with Alice! They are both being great with her, Esther is especially affectionate and wants to help with everything - getting her changed, changing her nappy, soothing her if she is crying. She likes to sing to her, talk to her, show her toys and generally be a great big sister. Eliza is pretty good too but doesn't understand the purpose of being quiet at times! If Alice starts crying Eliza tells me that the baby wants a drink of 'tummy juice'! It cracked us up the first time she told us!

Fame!

When the girls and I were up at my parents we went to a little local museum (Dorman Museum) 3 times in 2 weeks - the kids love it there even though it is pretty small. The last time they were having a family event with all sorts of activities going on to promote the environment in the local area - it really was fantastic for kids of Esther's age and above especially, Eliza enjoyed it too but the activities were more geared towards kids a little older. They made cards, key rings, coloured in, made an owl mask, made fossils, watched a clown, were given balloon dogs on a straw, idetified different shells and seaweeds and had their faces painted! Whilst they were making cards a photographer came from the local paper and took pictures of the girls and a quote from me! I forgot to remind my parents to buy the paper but I found the story online! So here it is along with pictures of the girls (you have to scroll through the pictures to see them all....):
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2010/03/16/teesside-kids-show-green-credentials-84229-26037565/

50 days!

Wow, I can't believe it - 50 days left till baby Conway is due! Still so much to do!!! We are currently debating swapping bedrooms with the girls. Our house only has 2 bedrooms both decent sizes but ours is bigger. So we are debating moving them into our room and putting all their toys up there so they don't need to be stored in the living room. At the same time the baby will be in our room for at least 6 months and we are hoping by then to be able to move house so maybe it's not worth the hassle of swapping over. Then there is the issue of the car, not sure if we can fit 3 car seats in the back so maybe we need to buy a bigger car! Then we are waiting to hear when our kitchen is going to be fitted. There are a few houses on the market we want to take a look at too. Ooooh lots of big things going on - or so it feels like!

On the plus side Eliza is doing fab with the potty training! We had our first accident free day on Sunday but having said that she has never had any horrible accidents mostly just teeny tiny ones so I am really glad I bit the bullet and got the potty out!

Esther and Eliza are starting to really play nicely together and enjoy one anothers company - I love to watch or listen to them together.

Right then, I'd best go and do some of my to-do list!

Uh oh

Our camera has died. I went to take a picture of the fact that I actually did some baking with the girls today and they were doing it so nicely together but when I turned the camera on it looked like we were under the sea in black and white. Oh well, we bought it from Bex second hand when Esther was born as we didn't have a camera then. Bex is going to lend us her 'little' SLR camera while she is away so I suppose it gives us time to find the camera we want. So maybe we won't have any pics on here for a while....boo hoo!

On the plus side Eliza is making the transition from potty to toilet! Yippee!! She still has an accident per day but then it is only day 6. You can tell she is reaching the 'terrible 2's' and has an older sister to show her how to strop good and proper -she folds her arms, shakes her head and says 'no, wouldn't' if she doesn't want to do what you ask and then she sticks to her guns. Plus she throws things when she is cross and is a real terror for pulling Esther's hair, poor Esther. Any tips for dealing with stroppy 2 year olds are welcome!

Other things we've been up to

Here is Esther in her black bin bag 'skirt' that we made at our funky fashion activity at church. She liked the idea but didn't want to go the whole hog and have a dress. When we got home Eliza dressed up and the made a really huge tower with daddy's help. It was soon knocked down! More pics of Eliza looking adorable - butter wouldn't melt!

You can see our 'vintage' kitchen in the background there - when we bought the house 5 years ago I was sure we would be getting a new kitchen asap. 5 years down the line we finally are! In the meanwhile cupboard draws and doors have literally fallen off but it has done well - it must be at least 35 years old! We are getting everything done - walls and ceiling skimmed, tiles on the floor, new skirting and coving, new units, appliances, lights etc and they are going to paint it for us too. Hopefully it will be done before the baby is born because I'm going to my parents for 2 weeks while the mayhem occurs!

I feel like I've been quite busy through January - I can't believe we are already into February! Plus, I am getting pretty organised - maybe it's a sign of maturity, or necessity when having baby number 3 - I already have Eliza's birthday present bought with 3 weeks left to go! I've even thought about Valentines Day and a gift for Ben!! Can't think what to get yet but hopefully will soon!

Ooooohhhh on another note, I finished all the squares for my quilt I've been making since last February - I just need some more white now to put them together and then put the whole thing together! I'm excited!

Eliza on her 'throne'.

Here are some pictures of Eliza on the potty - this was day one, hour one. She has been doing so brilliantly! I was a bit worried about taking her an hour away to Stake Conference yesterday so I put a nappy back on her which I wouldn't normally do but she didn't do anything in it -she was great! We have gone back to normal routine today, school run, ballet classes etc and we only had an accident at home later on - so fab. I can't believe how well she is doing considering she isn't 2 until the end of the month. Go Eliza!
I think Esther wishes she could use the potty all the time too.

Potty training, round 2

So I had been planning on potty training Eliza in a couple of weeks when it is half term holiday from Esther's playgroup and we would have nothing on but since things have been up in the air about getting our new kitchen fitted and also there seems to be a lot on in February I thought I may as well take the bull by the horns and get going. I hav a 3 day window starting today where I don't really need to be anywhere so this morning we got out the potty and the girly pants!

Esther was our model and showed her what to do on the potty and then Eliza got right to it! She must have sat on the potty for about 2 hours this morning! I have some pictures I've forgotten to upload so I'll put them on tomorrow. Eliza did fantastically, we only had one accident on the floor and the rest in the potty! She even sat on the toilet for a few seconds which she has been doing for ages (she pulls at her nappy shouting 'wee wee toilet' until we put her on there...). She spent the majority of the day in only t-shirts and socks but relented and put on some pants this afternoon for a while. I bought chocolate to use as a reward but she doesn't really seem to remember that I reward her for doing it so I ate some of it as a reward to myself tonight! Esther has been the helpful big sister but wants to go on the potty too only Eliza can get a bit precious about 'her' potty! Not that it's even ours - we borrowed it when we potty trained Esther and borrowed it again this time - it's one of those little chair type ones.

So here's to day 2 - may it be as accident free as the first!

We've been pretty lucky with sickness so far this winter. Last week Esther and Eliza got coughs and colds and last night they both got some kind of tummy bug. They were taking it turns to be sick every 45min-1hour through the night -nice. I'd been out babysitting so Ben took the brunt of it at the beginning. I thought I'd better start on the washing straight away so put a washload on at 1am and another at 4. We all managed to get some sleep between 6 and 7.30 and Ben took the kids down so I could keep sleeping until 9.45. Eliza is crashed out on the sofaand Esther is watching the rest of Bedknobs and Broomsticks that we started watching in the night. Here's hoping its a 12 or 24 hour bug and that they don't share it with their parents!!! Hope everyone will be better for Christmas!