Yay some sun!!

Hi, as the title says, we have finally had some sunshine over the past couple of weeks!! Not every day but at least a few days!! We have been busy as ever, although Nat was really unwell last week so that meant we couldn't get out and about as much. She is doing much better now thank goodness. So I will report on the things of interest we have been up to!

Ian had a day off 2 friday's ago, so we went down to Brechin Castle Centre again with Angela and Matthew. The kids had a great time running about and looking at all the animals (most of which Natalie called 'Duck'!)

Holly the daredevil on the slide

Happy Nat on the swing

Happy Nat on a toy tractor

Holly and Matthew on the wee train that goes round the park

As I said Nat wasn't well last week so we were in the house a lot. Holly was pretty fed up so I was trying to find as many things as possible to keep her amused, so here she is painting a picture of the Teletubbies for Natalie!

This week we have been looking after Matthew for some of the time, as poor Angela has broken her shoulder after falling at the weekend. On Wednesday we went over to their house and the kids all played in the garden, we even managed to get the paddling pool out.....

Holly, Matthew and Natalie on the swings

Holly and Matthew mucking around in the paddling pool

We don't really have a lot else to report, we have had Mum through which was good and today the girls went to creche so I had a wander round town on my own which was great!

Nat still isn't walking much, she can walk, but just finds her one legged crawling easier!! She is picking up lots of new words and beginning to communicate pretty well with us!! Holly is so fed up, she hasn't had her 2's group for a few weeks now and is bored of just me and Natalie. She is going to a new group in 2 weeks time which she is looking forward to (and so am I!). She is continuing to be a little Miss Independant, she now insists on chosing her own clothes and getting dressed herself which can be a VERY long drawn out affair!! She is doing great with the potty training too.

Well here are another couple of photos of the girls before I sign off....

Another Happy Nat photo (trust me she isn't happy all the time!)

The girls in the playhouse

Nat on the swing

Well that's it for now, we have a busy couple of weeks coming up, my Auntie and cousins are coming over from Canada so we can't wait to see them. Also Ian has some time off, we are going to see the Tweenies and we have a couple of bbq's to go to, lets hope the sun continues to shine for those!

Bye for now,

Hannah

Communication Blackout!!

Hi just a quick post to say that I have lost my mobile phone (or rather I think one of the girls have done something with it!) so I can't be contacted on it until I get a new SIM card etc later in the week. Also we are switching Broadband provider tomorrow which can sometimes be problematic, so we may not have e-mail/web access for a while. Just incase anyone tries to get in touch and doesn't hear back from us!!

Hannah

More photos!

Hi Everyone, another month since the last update, sorry! We have had a busy time with one thing or another! Anyway I have lots of photos of the girls to make up for it!!

So back a couple of weeks and we all went to a wedding dance for someone who Ian used to work with. Here is a picture of Holly and Natalie in their pretty frocks before we went.

The girls had a great time, there was loads of things for them to do and Holly was the first one up on the dance floor!

On the Tuesday after that Holly went her holiday's to Granny and Grandpa Forbes'. She was so so excited about going, she was talking about it for weeks before hand. She had so much fun with Mum and Dad, she went to the beach and built sandcastles, went to the park, shopping and swimming!! Natalie and I just had a quiet week together, we both missed Holly lots though!! Natalie was going round the house saying 'Howwy (Holly) where are you?'

We all went up the Lossie on the Friday and were delighted to see Holly, although she wasn't that bothered about seeing us! Ian and I had a wedding dance on the Saturday night so the girls stayed with Granny and Grandpa. On the Sunday Granda and Grannie took Holly and Natalie up to see Auntie Ellen to see their birds and fishes. Here is Nat having a wee rest....

And Holly playing with the bubble machine.....

The girls have been really good, Natalie is ALMOST walking, she can manage quite a few steps, but isn't too bothered about doing much more. We all think she could walk if she wanted to! She is doing great with her speech, she can say allsorts, including 'Dora', 'Barney', 'Story', 'Nice' and the usual 'Yes' 'No' etc.

Holly is great too, we have been potty training her this week, which has been fun!! She has done so well and is managing to use the potty most of the time, I will spare you all (especially Sarah) the details!!

Here are a couple of other photos of the girls taken recently...

Holly and Natalie playing with the Dora laptop

Holly building a tower

Nat playing with her friend Talia or 'Talla' as she calls her

Well that's it for now, I am sure I have missed out loads, but you all know by now what my memory is like!

Back soon,

Hannah

All the fun of the fair!

Hi All. Well this week the girls had a trip to the Fair on Wednesday night!! Ian's work laid on a family event at the Exhibition Centre which was a Fun Fair. So Ian took the girls along (whilst I went to Asda and caught up on some jobs.) Ian said they girls had a great time, and they were certainly high as kites when they got home!

Here is Holly with her face painted, she was a Rabbit and was crying when I took it off!

Holly with a HUGE Candy Floss (no wonder she was hyper!)

Holly on the merry-go-round. Apparently she went on about 10 times and just sat on top of the bus each time. Ian didn't think he was going to ever get her off!

Holly and Natalie on the bouncy castle, Ian said Natalie was just so delighted being on it!

We have just had a quiet week doing our usual things. We had Julie, Kory and Krystal over today so I got to coo over the baby but I don't think she was too taken with me!!

Yesterday we got some sunshine for the first time in weeks, so we had our lunch outside, Holly was delighted, she loves picnics!

Natalie really likes going on the swing and spends AGES on it. Holly insists on pushing her as you can see.....

Holly helping out by raking up the grass...

Natalie checking out what Talia is up to....

Not a lot else to report really, I am off to have a bath!

Bye for now,

Hannah XX

p.s. Father, I will nag Ian to put a piccie up of the Telly, but I think he is waiting until the room is all finished.

Trip to see The Wiggles!

... who? I hear you ask!! I am sure most of you don't know who the Wiggles are, but trust me, they are VERY big with the under 5's!! They are an Australian children's band and Holly was really obsessed with them for about 6 months. So we booked tickets AGES ago to go and see them in Glasgow with Angela and Matthew. So it finally came around on Tuesday and Holly and Matthew were so excited about going.

We decided to take the train down to Glasgow, which was an adventure in itself as Holly had never been on a train. Here they are sitting together, we did have a nice big table together but they decided they wanted to sit on their own away from the boring Mummies (well for 5 minutes anyway)!

They were both really good on the train surprisingly!! We had a picnic and were there before we knew it. We went a wander round the shops as we were a bit early then went up to the concert hall. After a trip to the Wiggles shop we went in to the hall to find we were in the second row from the front, so had an amazing view!! If only I could get that close to Take That!!

Here are 3 of the Wiggles.....

Holly and Matthew enjoyed the show although were a bit overwhelmed by it I think!! I don't think they really believed they were going to see the real Wiggles!! They both sat with their mouths wide open for ages, but did manage a wee dance and sing along. Here they are on the stage beside the Wiggles drums.

On our way out we saw some folk standing at the stage door so we waited for a bit as we had time to kill. It paid off as Murray (the RED Wiggle!) came out and we got our photo taken with him. I think Angela and I were more excited about meeting him than the kids!

So we headed home with a Burger King on the train and were all really tired by the time we got back. It was a really good day and I hope we get to do it again.

So what else has been happening? Well poor Nat ended up in A&E a few weeks ago, she had just started cruising and managed to cut her eye lid on one of the dining room chairs. She was naturally screaming the place down when it happened but was fine after a cuddle. I decided to have her checked out anyway and they put a wee strip on it, which she didn't like!! It has been healing up really well although she will probably have a scar....

The Extension is finished!! The painter came on Tuesday so it is all done and we have moved everything in. The only finishing touch is the blinds, which we are getting on Saturday, so once we get them Ian will do a post with piccies. I am sure he will sneak in a picture of his new TV too (it's massive!)

Here are a couple of photos of the girls playing in the new room in the tents Auntie Sarah and Uncle Muck got for Natalie's birthday. The weather has been so rotten here they haven't been able to play outside in them yet!

Ian and I have both had a tummy bug, Ian last weekend and me the weekend before, so our weekends have been a bit of a write off. Thankfully we are both fine now, until the next thing!

Well that's it for now, back soon (ish!)

Hannah

Update 2 - Center Parcs!

Well as promised a post to tell you all about our holiday!! Last week we had our first family holiday (and first holiday for Ian and I in 4 years!) to Center Parcs in the Borders. We drove down on Monday morning and the girls were really good in the car, mostly because I was bribing them with the picnic I made!

We had a lovely lodge, right near the centre of the village, which had a pond right opposite with baby ducklings in it! They were so cute and were quite often in our garden. There were also Rabbits and Squirrels in the street who were so tame and just sat there whilst the girls talked to them!

There is loads to do at Center Parcs, it is so family friendly. We went swimming (which wasn't a great success!), lots of playing in soft play areas, out for meals, walks etc. We went to a Cinderella tea party, which Holly loved, there were party hats, cakes, games and Cinderella came too! I also had a real treat and went for a facial in the Spa, which was just fantastic.

The only bad thing was Holly was sick on the Wednesday lunch time, in the middle of a restaurant, so we just ended up having a quiet afternoon, well Ian and the girls did, I spent it in the Launderette washing all the clothes she had been sick over!! And here was me thinking I would get a few days without washing! Anyway she was fine, and had picked up by Thursday. Anyway here is some photos....

Ian and Holly in our 'street'

Holly and I at the Italian Restaurant

Nat and I at the soft play area

Ian and Nat at the swimming, this was the first time Nat ever went swimming!

Holly half smiling at the swimming!

Holly outside the main village building

Holly and Nat having a kiss at the Tea Party, awwww!

On Friday we drove back up via Glasgow and went to Ikea, which was a bit of a nightmare for one reason or another!! As was the drive home! As was the mess of the house when we got in (the extension was being decorated last week which left dirt EVERYWHERE!) Anyway it's all sorted now!

So all in all we had a great holiday, so much so I am already looking at prices for next year!

Bye for now!

Hannah

Update 1 - Birthday!

Hello Everyone! So sorry it has taken me so long to update the blog, as usual things have been busy, both girls have been poorly (again), the extension has been ongoing, work, ebay, holidays, birthdays etc etc etc!!!

So I will do 2 posts, one on Nat's birthday etc and the other on our holiday at Center Parcs, which I will try to do later!

So back to Natalie's birthday! Well she was 1 on the 26th April, which is just unbelievable, the 1st year just flew past. On the actual day of her birthday we went down to Brechin Castle Centre with Angela and Matthew for the day. We have been before and it's really good for the kids, they can just run about and see all the animals etc! Unfortuanately Holly was really poorly and spent most of the time cuddling her Daddy! She did play for a bit with Matthew though. Nat enjoyed it, she just sat smiling in her buggy!!

So on the Sunday after her birthday we went out to Brewster's for lunch with the family and Angela, Martin and Matthew. Here are Holly and Matthew tucking in to their ice cream...

And here is Nat with her birthday cake, which had the Teletubbies on it (of course!)

We all had a really nice lunch and Natalie really enjoyed having a birthday, she got so chuffed when she got presents and when we were singing Happy Birthday.

As you have all seen the extension is really coming along (thank god!) and should be finished in the next couple of weeks. Here is a nice photo of Ian, Holly and Nat in it when it was just a pile of bricks!

Apart from all that we have been trying to do all our usual things. On Bank Holiday Monday Angela and I took the kids to Storybook Glen as the daddies were working, here is me and Nat with her favourite Teletubby, Po!

And Holly and Matthew being the Station Master and Fat Controller!!

Both girls are doing really great, Holly continues to be a complete chatterbox, she definitely rules the roost in this house!! Nat is definitely following in her sister's footsteps and can say lots for a 13 month old. She is cruising now and becoming a bit of a monkey, which is hard to believe as she still has that angelic baby face!!

Well I will be back soon to update on Center Parcs! (hopefully!)

Hannah X

Progress Update

Hi All,

Sorry for the lack of updates on the new room. After the last one it was all inside work which was kind of difficult to get a good picture of so I held off. We were also on holiday to Center Parks last week so were cut off from the net for 5 days!!!! On the plus side whilst we were away the painter and decorator was in doing his bit and also the slates were put on the roof so it's looking great. Pictures are below, the inside ones aren't great as it's hard to get everything in - think I need some tips from those photographers who take photos for solicitors!:

Anyway the next job is the plumber and sparky to return on Monday to fit the lights, sockets and radiators. After that the joiners are scheduled to come back on the 31st to fit the floor and that'll be the inside done!!!! Then it's just the builders to finish the step and harl the outside and it's totally done!!!

That's it from me I'm sure Hannah will try and do a Center Parks blog at some point soon so look out for that.

Ciao

Ian