Chicken Spots!

Hi Everyone!

Well as reported last week, Holly has the Chicken Pox, or as she said to me the other day, 'Mummy I've got the Chicken Spots!!' She really hasn't been too bad with it, a little grumpy over the past few days, but she hasn't been itching too much and her spots seem to be healing up. Hopefully she will be well enough to go back to school on Thursday. She is really fed up being in the house, so Ian took her to B&Q today, where she wasn't likely to meet any other children and pass it on!

Ian has been off work since Wednesday which has been great. We obviously haven't done much but it's been nice just having time together. He got his tooth out on Friday morning, which wasn't much fun (as he keeps telling me!) so was pretty miserable with it all weekend, then he realised yesterday that there was still a bit of tooth left so had to go back today and get it out, but it was actually a bit of bone (YUCK!). I have been working and on Friday afternoon took Nat into town shopping, which was good. I have spent yesterday and today spring cleaning the kitchen, boring but necessary!

So apart from Nat having the odd trip out the girls have been in the house. Here they are playing in the garden yesterday....

Today, Ian and Holly worked on their rockery that they are building at the back of the garden, here is Holly filling it in with soil, she was a right wee Charlie Dimmock (right hair colour and everything!)

And this afternoon we baked 'Dora' cakes, which she just loved doing....

Apart from that we have just been trying to keep her amused so lots of drawing and Peppa Pig has been on permanently (come back 'The Wiggles' all is forgiven!)

Nat has been getting in lots of crawling practise, and is so fast now! She is just loving moving and exploring the house. Ian and I are finding it very strange seeing her move, maybe because she has always been such a baby. She loves going in the kitchen and goes 'Ooh' if she sees the gate open. I found her emptying a packet of spagetti on the floor this morning, which she was delighted about!

Well that's it for now, tomorrow is Ian's last day off, so I am going to work then to get my hair done, which I can't wait for as I am getting it coloured for the first time in 4 years!

Back soon,
Hannah XX

On the Move!

Hi All,

Well Natalie is finally on the move!!! As Hannah said it's not quite the traditional version of crawling but she manages to get about all the same! I'm sure she'll crawl properly in her own time but until then this is how she gets about - enjoy:

Poor Holly!

Hi Everyone. Well as the title says, Poor Holly is ill again. This time she has caught the Chicken Pox, poor baby. We noticed yesterday she had a few spots and today one has blistered and she has loads more. It has been absolutely rife Cove at the moment, so I am not surprised at all she has it. She is actually in really good humour at the moment considering. I am sure once the itching starts that will change though. I keep saying to her 'Are you poorly Holly?' and she says 'Yes my need to go to hopital, my get changed'. (My = I in Holly talk!) She only wants to go to hospital because she remembers the great playroom there was when Natalie was in at New Year! Natalie is showing no signs yet, but I am sure she will get it too. Ian is actually off on holiday for a week from today which is a shame really as we won't be able to go anywhere or do anything, but then at least he is here to help with the girls.

I decided Holly needed a present today as she is poorly, so I got her a Dora The Explorer Laptop, which she loves. She was funny though, she took it over to where our laptop is and insisted on using it there 'Like Mummy!'

Well what else do I have to report? It was Mother's Day at the weekend, so we had a lovely day. Mum was through for the weekend which was great as we hadn't seen her for a couple of weeks. We just had a quiet day, Ian cooked a cracking roast dinner then we just chilled out the rest of the day. Here is a photo of the Mummies and the Babies...

Monday and Tuesday we were just doing our usual things, school and baby group. Here is Nat playing at the kitchen yesterday, trying to give me the frying pan...

And here is Holly looking really daft last night in our shower, with my shower cap on....

The girls are doing great (except for the Chicken Pox!), Holly just amazes us with the things she is coming out with now. On Monday she was playing with Matthew's Doctor's set and was listening to my heart and then said, 'Mummy are you very better now?' and later on came up to me and said 'Mummy are you OK?' Am I not the one who is meant to be asking that?!

Natalie is coming on great too, she is crawling now, but it's very odd the way she does it, she has one knee in the air and kind of pulls herself along. Ian has it on video so will try and put it up here later (far too technical for me!). She can still only say 'Bye' but she definitely knows when to use it, if she sees people getting ready to go out she says it and if I am on the phone, once I finish the call she says 'Bye'. Pretty clever for 11 months I think (but then I would!)

As I said Ian is off now for a week, we didn't have many plans, just trying to get bit and pieces done and spend some time together. I managed to go and get a facial today, which was my birthday present from my Mum (yes my birthday was 6 months ago!) so that was a great treat!

We have a start date for our extension, 12th April all being well (we will see!)

That's it for now,

Hannah X

Swing and Park!

Hi Everyone, wow another update, are you all amazed? I am! Well yet another quiet week for us really, just doing all the usual stuff. We are creatures of habit us Stewart's! Anyway have a few photos to share....

Well this is Natalie having her first shot on a swing!! We were playing outside with Holly and Matthew whilst Angela was away at the bank, it has been quite nice weather this week, so it's been good to get us all out in the fresh air...

Nat wasn't all that impressed with the swing, she stayed in it for a few minutes then wanted out!
Yesterday we just had a quiet day on our own, so I decided to take the Girl's to Duthie Park. It was actually quite an event as it's the first time I have taken both girls to the park at the same time!! Ian has done it heaps but I was always too scared it would be a disaster. Anyway we had a great time, Holly loved playing on all the usual things in the park then we went for a cuppa and cake, here is Holly eating her cake and drinking her smoothie, looking very pleased with herself!

Today I was working so Ian took the girls their usual wander round Cove and we just spent the rest of the day in the house, here are the girls playing earlier, Holly was having a great time making Natalie laugh...

We have a house guest for a couple of weeks, Frank has returned!! Sarah and Mike are away snowboarding so we are catsitting! The girls keep pestering him which he is actually taking quite well, here is Nat tonight trying to pull his tail...

Well I hope you like the photos, we will be back soon.

Hannah XX

Not much going on!!

Hi Everyone, hope you are all fine. Well as the title says we haven't been up to much in the past couple of weeks, just our usual stuff. But I do have some photos to put up......

Firstly here is Nat and Ian, Nat loves going on her Daddy's shoulders. Oh and Holly loves his Celtic Strip whenever she sees it she says 'C'mon the Hoops!!' (I wonder who taught her that!)

Next is a photo of Holly playing with the packaging from one of my Ebay orders that arrived!! She had a great time pulling it all out of the box and throwing it all over the place, needless to say the place looked like a bomb had ripped through it by the time she finished!! (Nothing new in this house!)

Here are Holly and Nat playing one night before bath, Holly is actually giving Natalie a drink from her bottle. Holly is such a good big sister she will get toys for Natalie to play with, find her dummy for her and tries to make her laugh.

As I say we haven't been up to much, just our usual weekly routine of 2's on Monday then lunch with Angela and Matthew, Baby Group on Tuesday, Creche on Wednesday then 2's again on Thursday and lunch again. Yesterday we just had a quiet day around the house, although Julie, Kory and the bump came over for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Kory was really cute calling Natalie 'Naddy'.

Here is Holly playing on her slide in the garden yesterday, it was such a gorgeous day you wouldn't think it was early March...

And finally a picture of Nat reading a book yesterday, she absolutely loves the camera and gives the biggest of smiles (unlike Holly!)

I had a rare day off last Sunday, Angela and I took a day trip to Glasgow to visit Ikea and the big Braehead shopping centre. We had a great day and didn't spend too much money!! And in fact all the things we did buy were for the kids!

Today I was working in the morning so Daddy was in charge. He took the girls out a walk and in to the library, which they both enjoyed. This afternoon we went to see Sarah and Mike and catch up on all their news. We also viewed their newly decorated bedroom which looks like something out of a showhouse, it is gorgeous!

Oh yes and I will save the most exciting news till last (no I'm not pregnant, NEVER again!) I am going to see TAKE THAT in November, I am SO SO SO SO SO excited!!!

Well that's it for now, I hope you like the pictures!

Hannah

Sisters!

Hello Everyone. Well another month has past since I have done this! Typical I here you say!! I cannot remeber what we have been doing really so will just share some recent photos with you.

This photo was taken today, we were having our friend's Kathryn and Steven up to visit as we haven't seen them for ages. So the girls had their bonnie dresses on and I managed to get this photo, which I think is quite good, or as good as I can ever get of them!!


Anyway we had a lovely time today with Kathryn and Steven, they are getting married in November so it was exciting to hear all their plans.

So we have just been getting on with life as normal. We have all been ill at least another twice since I last did a Blog, first a cold then last week a tummy bug. Poor Holly had it first and was pretty fed up with it. It really is amazing how easily kids pick up these things, but luckily they do bounce back pretty quick. Nat has the cold (AGAIN!) at the moment, so she is not happy either!

We have of course been catching up with our friends, especially Angela and Matthew. We took them all down to Brewster's a couple of weeks ago to play, here is Holly and Matthew on the Carousel, looking very happy. We did have a good time, although Holly turned in to a wee monkey at lunch and ran me ragged!





Holly is really enjoying her 2's group. Ian and I have both done 'duty', which is basically staying to help look after the 17 kids. Ian had a great time doing it, I think they loved having a man there instead of a boring Mummy!! I did it last week but it was a bit more stressful as I had Nat with me and she didn't like all the poking and prodding she was getting. So she got a bit fed up. It was great to see what Holly does there though and how she plays/interacts with other kids. Her speech is just great, she can talk away in sentences, which is great but it does mean she can tell us exactly what she wants all the time!!

I have started taking Natalie to creche in town. As you may know we started taking Holly and Matthew last year and have kept it up almost every week since, so a month or so ago we decided it was time for Nat to go!! She has actually done really well and been a lot easier to leave than Holly was, although Natalie is slightly younger than Holly was. It is great as I get a TOTAL break for 2 hours, which is very welcome!

Natalie isn't quite moving yet, she can get on her front (as you can see above) and push herself around a bit, but no crawling yet. She will do it in her own time!! She can clap hands, wave, give kisses and we were SURE we heard her say 'Bye' today, which is pretty unbelievable at 9 months, but 4 of us were sure we heard it!!

Last week we had Rosie Dog to stay whilst Mum and Dad were away in Italy (so jealous!!) so I decided to venture out a wander with them all one of the days, which was fine for about 10 minutes until Holly threw a fit but never mind!! Here are the girls on our walk...

I can't really think of much else to report. I was very lucky and got taken out for a Valentine's meal last night whilst Sarah and Muck babysat, so that was lovely. We got the planning permission for our extension last week, so now we are just waiting on a start date. Oh yeah and Natalie managed to sleep the WHOLE night on her own 2 nights in a row a few weeks ago. She unfortuanatley has never repeated it and is back to her horrendous sleeping pattern, but at least we know she can do it!!

Well that's it for now, Bye!!
Hannah
XX

Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas and a rotten New Year!!!

Hello Everyone, gosh where do I start? I had great intentions of doing this every week, but December was just so busy with Christmas, Holly's Birthday and my e-bay business! So now I will try and update the past 2 months in as short a post as possible!!

So firstly back to December. Well we had a very busy month, highlights being me having 2 christmas nights out (wow!) which were great, one with work and one with the girls from baby group. (why do we still call it baby group when they are no longer babies, I don't know!) I was also busy selling heaps of stuff on ebay to make some extra cash for Christmas, which was very successful, but also very time consuming!! Holly was going to her 2's group twice a week which she really enjoys, she is always first in the door but yet the first out, they have to hold her back as she wants to get out so quickly!! But she does love it. They had a Christmas party just before Christmas which we got to go to later on to see Santa give them their presents. Holly wasn't too impressed with him, but took the present all the same!

So then it was Holly's birthday and she had no less than 3 celebrations!! On the Monday she had a cake at Rising 2's, then on the Tuesday we Baby Group here with yet more cake (and wine for the mummies!) Then on the Saturday we had a family lunch down at Brewster's with more cake!! Anyway the first picture is of her on the morning of her birthday with her new shopping trolley, she was dancing about she was so chuffed with it!

Holly blowing out her 3rd birthday cake candles with Ian and Sarah!

Natalie in her highchair at the birthday lunch

So then to Christmas. This year we were through here in Aberdeen so we were in the house on Christmas morning which was lovely. Holly was just so excited when she saw all the presents and we spent AGES unwrapping them all. Here she is with her piano which Santa left her. He even made it up for her, wasn't that nice of him when he is so busy on Christmas Eve!!

Nat sitting amongst all her pressies, looking bemused!

Of course I had to do the matching outfits for Christmas day, so the girls had matching pink dresses and they looked just beautiful, like little fairies!! Here they are...

For Christmas dinner we went down to Sarah and Mike's. Mum, Dad and Rosie were through here too which was great. We all opened more presents then had a lovely meal followed by our Chocolate Fountain, which was good fun! Sarah and Mike gave the girls a beautiful kitchen for Christmas, here is Holly opening it....

We had such a lovely Christmas, very chilled out and we were so grateful to Sarah, Mike and Mum for cooking the meal, oh yeah and to Dad to peeling the tatties!! Little Miss Rosie was a monkey though, we very stupidly left the mince and jam pies I had spent hours slaving over on Christmas Eve, out in the living room whilst we ate lunch and when we returned she had eaten them all!!

After Christmas Ian was off so we did some bits and pieces, went to look at furniture for our extension, I went to the sales and had some rare time together. But then it all went wrong!! Poor Natalie came down with a cold, which soon turned very nasty and she had a chesty cough, congestion etc. She eventually started being sick then wasn't keeping any food or liquid down. On the 30th I called NHS 24 and after 2 hours they called me back to say to take her to the emergency GP at 12.30 in the morning!! So I did that only to be kept waiting nearly 2 hours, then given some anti-biotics then sent home at 2.30am. So on Hogmanay she was no better and we were worried that she wasn't drinking so I decided to bypass NHS 24 and went straight to Children's A&E, which was the best thing I ever did. She was seen straight away and they kept her in to be rehydrated, which was awful as it involved putting a tube down her nasal passage which was just horrendous. I stayed with her and listened to the New Year Fireworks at midnight in my wee camp bed. It was an awful night, neither of us slept, but she started to pick up the next day and they let us go home. Whilst it was so horrible being there, the staff on the ward were amazing and the facilities were amazing. I actually went back today to take in some chocolates to say thank you and the nurses were just SO grateful, it was unbelievable. I think working for the NHS must be a very thankless job.

Anyway Holly then came down with the bug on New Year's day and was very poorly for days too, although was drinking so that was the main thing. It was horrible to see her like that as she is normally such a live wire, but she was just lying on the sofa looking so pale it was heartbreaking. Of course Ian and I got it too, so it was a pretty miserable time in the Stewart House, especially as Ian was moaning SOOO much (and still is) about being ill!!

However, we are now all a lot better, Holly had definitely picked up today so we went to Baby Group and she loved playing with her friend's again after not seeing them for so long. Nat is doing OK now too, although she seems to have forgotten how to sleep since her illness, not that she did much before, just even less now! Oh well as long as she is ok! Here she is playing with the kitchen yesterday back to her smiley self.

So that was our Christmas and New Year!! Sorry this has turned in to a bit of an epic, hope you have managed to read this far!!

Will be back soon,

Hannah XX

It's cold outside!!!!

Hi everyone, another post for you!! I have decided that if I try and do one once a week then it will be easier than one massive one which takes me forever. So here is hopefully the first of our weekly updates!

So it is very cold here now, winter is definitely setting in. I got Natalie a snug new dressing gown yesterday and here she is in it.....

We actually haven't been up to much this week, Monday we saw Angela and Matthew, Tuesday Holly went to baby group and pulled a potty full of pee all over her (not her own I may add!). Me and Nat just stayed at home and chilled out a bit. On Wednesday we went to another Halloween party, this time at the Community Centre. Holly got to wear her Witches outfit again, which she was chuffed about. Here are Holly and Natalie playing together before we went out.

Here is Holly at the party with the apple that she was meant to 'Dook' for, but just picked out the bowl. She actually gave up the bit of chocolate she had to have an apple, weird child!!

On Thursday we had creche and Friday we just chilled in the house then popped to the shops, nothing exciting. Today I was working in the morning and Grannie and Granda Toys came through to see Ian and the girls then I met them for lunch. After that we popped to see Sarah, Mike and Roggy ('Frank' the cat to you and I!)

And the big news of the week is that Natalie got her first tooth on Tuesday!! She has been really fed up for a while and we knew it was coming. She got it 1 day before Holly did so they have both been relatively earlier at teething.

Holly is off to her 2's group on Monday which is great, I am sure she is going to love it. Will fill you in next week.

Bye for now,

Hannah

Pretty Witch!

Hi All, 2 updates in a week, amazing I know!! Anyway I just wanted to put up a quick blog with a couple of pictures of Holly in her Halloween costume. She had a Halloween party at Ian's work today, so she was dressed as a 'Pretty Witch'. She looked incredibly cute in it and seemed to enjoy wearing it! She had a good time at the party although she ran her Daddy ragged I hear!!

Nat and I just stayed at home and chilled out, it's my turn to take her to another Halloween party on Wednesday!

Hope you like the pictures,

Hannah

It's oh so quiet!!

Oh-oh another 2 months have passed since my last blog, unbelievable! I thought it was about time I put up some recent photos of the girls.

Well as the title says it is very quiet in the Stewart house this week. Holly has gone her holidays to stay with Granny and Grandpa Doggie (Forbes to you and me!) so it's just me and Nat, which is very strange. I cannot believe how quiet it is, it is so strange! We miss Holly heaps but it has been nice to have a wee break and recharge my rather flat batteries!! Holly is having an absolute ball with her Granny and Grandpa and I am sure is being spoilt rotten. She is going to Grannie and Granda Toys (Stewart!) tonight for her tea so more spoiling I am sure!! She is coming home tomorrow so we can't wait to see her.

So I won't update you on everything we have done just show you the photos. The first one above is of Natalie (obviously) looking very cute in her pram.

Last weekend it was Matthew's 2nd birthday party so we all went to his party at the community centre. I got the girls lovely matching outfits but Holly does not do posing for photos anymore so I don't have a nice one of them together!! Anyway below is me and Nat before we went.

And here is Holly sitting waiting at the table for the party food!

And the partners in crime, Holly and Matthew.....

For those of you who don't know Matthew is Holly's best friend, they are just hilarious together, they copy everything each other does and get up to REAL mischief , their worst offence was drawing on our friend's wall with crayon recently!! The whole wall has to be repainted, needless to say they got a big row for that!

Natalie is doing great, she is pretty chilled as long as she is fed!! She was actually 6 months old yesterday, which is amazing, the time really has flown. She is doing well on solids, but isn't as keen on them as Holly was. Here she is doing some sitting up practise yesterday....

And a nice picture of her in her new snow suit, it was such an awful day yesterday she needed it on when we went a walk to the post office...

Holly is doing great too, still such a chatterbox and quite an assertive wee Miss!! We really don't know where she gets it from! She is of to a 2's group in a week's time which will be good for her, I think she is bored of me and Nat!!

Well that's it, I am going to have a nice chilled morning then Ian is off this afternoon so we are going for lunch and in to town.

Bye for now,

Hannah XXX

Holiday in Lossie

Hello everyone, where do I start!! I am so sorry again, I know you have all been looking out for a blog update but life is just too busy!! We have been up to heaps but I won't go in to every detail or we will be here forever! I have got loads of photos from the past month or so, so I have picked out the best ones.

Above is a photo of Holly and Natalie the other night all ready for their beds after bathtime. This is as good of a photo we can get of the two of them as Holly never sits still long enough for photos these day! Speaking of baths, here are the girls sharing their first bath, which they both seemed to quite like!

Right so over the past month we have done our usual stuff, going to baby group, going to Creche (which Holly is coming round to), and catching up with our friends. We also got our new car which is fantastic! It is very spacious and one day I had 3 kids, 2 adults a sandpit and 4 bags of sand in it, nae bad!!

Unfortuanately last week poor Holly came down with the Hand Foot and Mouth virus, which isn't as bad as it sounds, but made her quite miserable. Luckily it cleared up within a week and she is OK now, although has a runny nose so she must have yet another cold! Natalie also got HFM whilst we were away and was very unsettled with it, poor baby. She hardly slept and had difficulty feeding but is much better now too.

So on Saturday we headed up to Lossie as Ian had this week off work. We stayed with my Mum and Dad and saw Grannie and Granda Stewart over the weekend. On Monday we headed up North to my Grandad's to visit him and introduce him to Natalie. We had a lovely time, Holly especially, she loved running around the village. Here are a couple of photos with him.

On Tuesday we met Leona for lunch at Brewsters which was lovely. I do have a photo of her with Natalie but she would probably be mad at me for putting it on here! So here is a photo of Holly playing there instead.

On Wednesday we packed up the car and headed home to Aberdeen, popping in past Garmouth to see Grannie and Granda Mclean first, here is Grannie with Natalie.

On Thursday I had my usual trip around the shops with Angela and Natalie, although instead of Holly and Matthew going to creche, Ian babysat!! They had a good time by all accounts and Ian managed fine. Here is Natalie before we went looking a right wee dude in her tracksuit that Uncle Steve got her.

On Friday we went to see the people about our proposed house extension then yesterday we went to storybook glen again as it was a nice afternoon. Holly loves it there and RUNS all around it. She totally wears herself out, the place is huge. Here she is in the Postman Pat van with her cheeky face on...

Today we went swimming in the morning, Ian takes Holly most weekends but today Natalie and I went to watch too which was great. Then we did our Asda shopping which was a total nightmare as both girls screamed at the checkout and everyone was looking at us, oh well!

Natalie is doing so well, I can't believe she is 16 weeks already. Here she is sitting in the bumbo seat that Kory loaned us, she looks so grown up!

And playing on her playmat....

Holly is really growing up, she is saying loads and copies everything we say. We can ask her what her name is and she says 'Holly' which is the cutest thing ever! She loves stickers at the moment and insists on us putting them on her nose.... dafty!

So that's all the photos for now, hope you like them. I am sure there is heaps I haven't told you but I honestly can't remember!! Ian is back to work tomorrow which is a shame as it has been great having him off with us. Natalie gets her final injection tomorrow and Ian is in hospital for his kindey biopsy on Thursday, which we aren't looking forward to.

Will be back soon

Hannah XX