Final update for 2007

So much to say and so little room and time.

We had a lovely Christmas. My Mum arrived last Sunday and stayed with us until yesterday when we delivered her to my sisters for the week. Isaac and Mum are very close and it is lovely to see. Isaac is such an affectionate cuddly kid and Mum loves the obvious signs of affection. Tobyn on the other hand is not all that open with his affection. He will sidle up to you on the couch and snuggle in but not run with open arms. His 3 cousins are the COMPLETE opposite, e.g. when we met Mum at the airport and we had to call the 3 wayward cousins back because they had gone past the security barrier! Issac is somewhere in between the 2 extremes and it is lovely to see.



Christmas Eve was fun getting Isaac to do his first get ready for Christmas. Although he wanted to eat the carrots and not leave them on the ground. Isaac was so excited he didn't sleep very well. He woke around 11pm and was so excited he didn't go back to sleep and ended up in our bed. I think this might be the last Christmas Tobyn 'believes' in Santa. He has made a few comments about conversations with friends. And even though I got Santa to call him the other day he has still got a few questions. After the phone call he did say 'that proves that Santa is real and I am going to tell all my friends.' His friends must have said how could Santa send an e-mail and why would he anyway, obviously making Tobyn think. I am rather sad about the loss of innocence.

Christmas morning was fun with the boys opening Christmas sacks a quick b'fast and off to Church. After Church we opened the big prezzies. I got 2 really cool scrappy bags from my boys, all ready for scrap camp in April, yay. Mum loved her calendar I made even though it isn't quite finished. The boys faves would be Tobyn's PS2 and wooden sword and shield, and Isaac's couch and mike the talking mower. Plus the many books which are always hits.




It was all a bit much for Steve and he fell asleep.



In the afternoon we went to my sisters and had a lovely Christmas dinner.

We have had many evenings since playing buzz junior and having lots of laughs.

For me it has been a rough Christmas because I have pneumonia! I had high temps prior to Christmas and didn't think much of it, then the cough came and came and came. Finally last Friday I took myself to the Dr and was diagnosed and prescribed 2 lots of anti bots. I am starting to feel better but today i am off to take Isaac as he has an awful cough and is very sleepy.

Back from the Dr's and Isaac is fine. The Dr can't hear anything but did give us a script for anti bots if we think we need them over the next couple of days.

I hope every has a safe and happy New Years whatever you may be doing. We are staying home and getting an early night, boring stuff.

By the way

Thank you for all the kind comments about my tiredness due to Isaacs unsettled routines. He has done a lot better the last couple of days and last night I had a full nights sleep. I do however have some sort of illness, hot and cold, dizzy and headachy. Maybe just because I am so over tired, but hopefull with a few more good nights and help now Steve is on holiday for 2 weeks things will get back to normal.

Merry Christmas and all that goes with it!

Wow long time no blog. Life has been hectic in the Gregory house the past couple of weeks. We have had birthdays to go to, prize givings, babies arriving, presents to make, christmas shopping to do, and the list goes on and on!

Some highlights in bullet point (hopefully to make it more succinct, if that is possible for me LOL)

• Adam, Steves nephew turned 3. He had a wild animal party. He was adorable and so polite! I got some gorgeous photos but haven't had a chance to edit them yet. The boys had a blast.
• Tobyn had an issue at school...he is at times very unfocused and does things without thinking. While at speech and drama one of the other boys shoved a baseball bat through a concertina door on a bench and knocked a whole lot of present s the teacher and children were making. Tobyn wanted to be nosey and pushed the door to see what they were doing and knocked more on the floor. The big issue was that when asked he said he didn't think he did anything. We hope that hehas learnt his lesson and realises that it is best to own up straight away. After lots of thinking down by the tree and in his bedroom he finally opened up. We told him he had to write an apology. And the next morning I asked him to apologise to the principal. He did this very well and when she was talking to him he listened well and I was proud of him for doing that. We also warned him that if this behaviour didn't change then the play station he has been working hard towards all year wouldn't be coming. Need less to say he has changed dramatically and we are seeing the old sweet, thoughtful kid again.
• Tobyn had his prizegiving. He was in a speech and drama piece and a dance and singing piece. It was LONG. Since when did a primary school prize giving need to be 3 hours long? We had Isaac with us too, poor little guy. He did well though. I did take him up the back away from people when he had dirtied his nappy and they were announcing class prizes. Then I left. Tobyn did so well on stage. He is usually very self conscious and doesn't like doing things in front of people ut that night he was confident and happy and obviously enjoying himself.
• I made a calendar for Steves Mum. Ran out of time to take photos though. It turned out pretty well, I am sure she will like it. Steve did one of the months and I think he is pretty proud of himself.
• I made a diary for Tobyns teacher. When I gave it to her she had tears in her eyes. I was thinking, don't cry because then I will bawl. Fortunately she kept it in check. She LOVED it and said this is too good to have at school this is going to be my home diary.
• Tobyn got a great school report. His academic report is excellent. Though I think I would like to see more effort next year. He does the bare minimum and does very well, imagine what he could do if he put a lot more effort in? Some of his essential skills, otherwise known as life skills needs a bit of work. This didn't surprise us. For example he needs to improve his listening skills, using time effectively, and settling into his work well. But the teacher comment was great and I am proud, "Tobyn has made fantastic progress in the last two terms. His work ethic is where I would expect it to be for a student at _______ school. He has become more self-reliant and confident, focussing less on the negatives of his situation or others. He interacts with the class in a positive way. Tobyn is a 'clever cookie' and is beginning to believe that within himself. Hopefully Tobyn will continue to practise his basic facts in the holidays and work on his speed and retention. Keep the great attitude going Tobyn and you will go far. I hope he takes all this on board and improves even more next year. He would like ton win a prize next year so hopefully this will be the motivation he needs. Steve didn't knuckle down at school until he was a similar age and ended up Dux both of his primary school and high school.
• I have been asked to do a fundraiser for a local school. I was showing a friend some photos I had taken and she asked if I would do some with their school. This is an area I have wondering about for a while. I think I take some pretty good photos and I could fit into an affordable niche in town. So I have a lot to think about in the next little while about business, prices, and getting a portfolio together.
• And lastly, I got a couple of awesome family photos on the weekend. I have never tried this before and I think they turned out pretty well for a first time. I set up the tripod and put a couple of toys on top of the camera which the boys thought was hilarious. For the one where we are lying down Isaac had fun!!! I ran to lie down for the first couple and then he joined me and we got the photo. I am thrilled and I think I look pretty OK, which I don't normally like my photos!

So finally I don't expect I will get in here again for a couple of weeks. I have my Mum arriving from Christchurch on Sunday and we will be busy enjoying her company. Have a wonderful Christmas everyone and thanks for visiting my blog this year. See you again soon.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra First Snow

My favourite Christmas music. We first heard this in the States the first year we were there. The 2nd year I bought the CD and played it in my car every trip I made to the neo-natal unit. Now when I play it it brings back all the precious memories. I love the whole CD but this is one of my faves.

Tired, tired, tired!

Another week gone and another week closer to the holidays, yay. I am in need of some rest, breakfast in bed and sleep ins. And Steve is as well.

This weekend was the coming together and presentation of the Children's Christmas service. Steve has been wanting to get the Sunday School to put together the story "Christmas in Exeter Street" for few years now. This year we were asked to do the Christmas kids service because Kaila is due to have a baby any day now. So Steve jumped at the chance. The story is about a family in England getting ready for Christmas. The Grandparents arrive and bring a Christmas tree, cranberry jelly, cats etc. The Ministers roof blows off and they arrive on the doorstep and bring a carol. The children's friends arrive with sleeping bags and stockings etc, etc. There are neighbours, fat men, wives and children, Uncles not seen for years, friends and a cat. The Sunday School has been low in numbers this year so he co opted a few adults for parts. As there are many parts. In the beginning we thought we weren't going to have enough people, but as the time went on it was a bit like the house in Exeter Street, they kept on coming and in the end there were lots of car children and the minister ended up with 6 children instead of 3. Saturday was spent getting the set together. This included moving our house to the Church...well part of it anyway. Some photos to show you how it looked...







Saturday afternoon we had to have a rehearsal and I thought it was so chaotic and was worried that it wasn't going to come together. I was the lead role and was so flustered. It also didn't help that Isaac was difficult. Sunday morning and it all came together really well. The prayers helped, trust in the Lord. Everyone thought it was a great service and an awesome message. The kids enjoyed themselves and hopefully we will see them all back in the New Year!

Isaac is not coping with all the routines being changed with everything that comes with the Christmas lead up and end of school year. For 2 weekends he has missed day time sleeps and had late nights and now we are paying for the fun. Last night the time came where I had to be tough. He has been waking at 3am for a couple of weeks now. He doesn't just wake, he is WIDE awake and doesn't ant to go back to sleep. So last night I had to do the controlled crying. He really did not like me not talking to him and just taking him by the hand and putting him back to bed. It probably only took 30 mins, but it felt like hours. And today it feels like I didn't get any sleep last night. Hopefully tonight he does well, especially because Steve is not here tonight!

Yesterday I finally got to make my house feel a little more like Christmas. Our tree is very eclectic this year! Every single decoration has meaning and I wanted them all on the tree. Tobyn put most of them on and it looks pretty crazy, but I loved it and this is what Christmas with kids is meant to look like in my mind.



And Steve thought he would get a photo of me by the tree, YEAH RIGHT!



I have been working on Christmas gifts. I have to finish the calender for the in-laws this week. I have 5 more months to do, well actually Steve has to do one of those, LOL. We are going down to Paraparaumu for Steve's nephews b'day on Sunday and we want to take all the prezzies with us. We won't be seeing them again until after Christmas.

A couple of cute things Isaac said over the past few days...

When seeing a security guard wearing a hat, outside a bank..."There's a pirate" and he couldn't stop looking at him. I told the security guard what he said and he laughed.

On listening to the beautiful chorus of birds, "birds singing" then we heard a chicken...book, book, book, boooookuk.....Isaac said "a monkey"

Have great week everyone, ciao for now

Thankful

I am so thankful that I have a wonderful family and many wonderful friends. Though sometimes I take it all for granted.

Yesterday was a day to remember how thankful I am . We celebrated American Thanksgiving, a week late, but that was OK. I tried out some American recipes with NZ ingredients and this year they worked. Last year we had some very interesting American dishes. But thanks to some new ingredients in town some worked well.

Our menu:

Snacks:
Nacho chips and guacamole
Chips and kiwi dip.

Main:
Chicken (mainly because I couldn't bring myself to pay $45 for a turkey!)
Dressing. AKA stuffing, but when done out of the bird it is dressing. Glen is vegetarian so we tried to do everything other than the meat so that he could eat it.
Sweet potato casserole. This very sweet dish has a crunchy sugar and pecan crust on top.
Bean casserole. This dish last year was very weird but this year I found dried fried onions and it worked!
Roast potatoes (for Tobyn)
Mashed potatoes.
Carrots.
Green salad.

I did the carrots and roast pots because I knew Tobyn wouldn't eat any of the other veges.

Dessert:
Pecan Pie
Apple Pie
Cream
Ice cream

Notice no pumpkin pie? Amazingly there wasn't anyone American or not that likes pumpkin pie, so why bother?

We had a lovely time with our friends. Of course I was so busy I didn't get very many photos!
The girls are 5 and 3 and they get on so well with our boys. Sophia and Tobyn just disappeared off and quietly played together. It was so nice having a quiet placid little girl around. it makes a huge difference to the normal rowdy boys. Isaac and Vivi are partners in crime. They are very close but because they are both extremely mischievous they do get into trouble together. Nothing really bad but oh so cute!!!

A lead in to some of the happenings of the day. We don't have a front fence. We have been waiting for the landscaper to bring the digger and make the paths down our hill. He said he would do it back in June!!! And he doesn't want us to put fences up until he has done it. So we have had temporary plastic fences on the deck. Fortunately we have a pretty big deck but it does prevent Isaac from going down into the grass. So Steve decided he would put up temporary fences elsewhere to allow the kids to have access to the grass. All good in principle. But Isaac wasn't used to the freedom Iguess. This leads me into a few 'events' of the afternoon.

1. Isaac got under the deck and couldn't get out easily. I think he followed the cat, but then he said 'it's wet' it took lots of coaxing and a chippie to get him out. Steve wasn't going under, he did that last week when he lost some washers under there and he doesn't fancy going under ever again.

2. I was in the kitchen and I heard a few yells from the adults in the lounge. Then I heard a splat and Isaac crying. I ran to see Isaac sprawled on the ground with his ride on on top of him. He had gone off the steps. One of my biggest fears when Steve removed the fencing from the deck. Thankfully Isaac is a tough cookie. He has grazes on his head and a bruise is coming out but he is OK!

3. While whipping the cream to go with the dessert my magic bullet came to pieces! Cream EVERYWHERE!!! And because I do it in the cupboard I had to take everything out from the shelf and ones under it, ARGH.

4. We found this site in the bathroom when we couldn't find the little people. They were in the shower together and Vivi had made herself a little chair, or throne as Kaila said, out of handtowels.



Isaac was sitting down next to Vivi when we found them. It was so cute.

Unfortunately Kaila dna Glen and the family are moving to Auckland in February. We will miss them so much. But we wish them all the best for there big move. I said to Kaila, next year we will have to find another American family to celebrate Thanksgiving with and she said, we will have to meet in Taupo and celebrate there. What a brilliant idea. I had told her we could meet at Steve's families lake house from time to time, but what a perfect plan!

OK off for a busy day now, Church kids service practice, Steve's work kids party, and Steve is taking Tobyn and a friend to a magic show this evening.

ciao for now

Number 8 wired challenge

First of all thanks for all the lovely comments for my rock star layout! I love the layout and I am glad that so many others love it too. Sometimes a layout just works and that happened with that one. It doesn't happen all that often where I totally love my layout.

Speaking of layouts loved or not, here is my layout for the latest number8 wired dare. The dare is to visit the resene website and find a colour palette and use that as inspiration for a layout. This was so much fun and I spent a long time just perusing the resene website. I chose this particular colour palette because it was simple but quite different to anything I had done before. Only problem was it called for a girl layout. So I flicked through my albums and came across these adorable photos of Meggy. This cute wee girl will be 10 in a couple of weeks time! The mark on her forehead is not on the layout, something happened when I took the photo. I might take it again tomorrow and replace this one.

The layout



The inspiration for the layout.

http://www.resene.co.nz/homeown/decorating_inspirations/272.htm


I might even have another go at this challenge, I enjoyed it so much.

This weekend we are celebrating Thanksgiving. Late? Yes. One of the families we celebrate with had dance recitals last weekend. This time 2 years ago we were in the States and had already celebrated one thanksgiving the year before. It is so much fun and very much an American tradition. Because Isaac was born in America and is an American citizen we feel it is our duty to make sure he learns some of the American traditions. The challenge in the coming years will be remembering what the traditional foods etc are. Thank goodness for American friends and the Internet LOL. Also finding American friends to celebrate with. This year we are again celebrating with Kaila, Glen, Sophia, Vivi and bump, plus Glens Mum who arrived from the States today, and the 2nd family, Christina, Lily and Ivy. Lily and Ivy are 4 and 2 and as yet Christina hasn't celebrated thanksgiving with them. I can't decide if I am going to go with the $45 traditional turkey or the less traditional but much cheaper chickens? Update and photos next week.

Friday night we have family fun night at Church, Saturday we will also be putting up the Christmas tree. Sunday is the first big rehearsal for the Christmas children's service. So a pretty busy weekend and they only get busier from here on in til Christmas. Fun times ahead!!!

Tobyn is doing really well at school at the moment. He got a certificate in assembly last week for great effort and self discipline towards his school work. He was so chuffed. Soon I will do a blog post all about my big boy. I seem to write so much about Isaac. Partly because I have more photos of him. Tobyn is terrible about having his photo taken, but I did get some good ones the other day like this one:



and this one,



isn't he adorable?!

until after the busy weekend, thanks for visiting!

Music in Me Challenge/Rockstar

I really enjoyed this challenge. I have missed the last 2 music in me challenges so this was great to have the perfect photos. It just so happened that Isaac got this drum set from Aunty Fee and Chris on Saturday and he loved it as soon as he opened it. It took me a few hours to realise that I had the perfect photos for this challenge and couldn't wait ot get onto it. For a while the layout was looking pretty Christmassy, but after a bit of fiddling and some great inspiration I LOVE it! Thanks Neen for the challenge!

Final entry for Louises blog challenges

The final challenge for Louises blog challenges. This week she asked us to scraplift a layout of Dallas Foleys http://dallasnz.wordpress.com/ I pretty much stuck to her design with a few extras. I am very happy with the end result and this is another layout to add to our America Album.
Thank you Louise for the challenges. I have found it hard to find the time and inspiration to do these challenges but I am glad I did them, another 4 layouts for my albums. Plus there were so few people that were able to do the challenges in the end that I just couldn't pull out as well.

A lovely day!

4.15am Friday morning and I could hear the rain pelting onto the roof. Argh, I don't want it to rain. I had to get up at 5.15am to get ready and be at school with Tobyn for 6.10am. I was going on a school trip with him to Wellington and I really didn't fancy driving in the rain. Oh well, thems the breaks.
A couple of weeks ago I made the big decision to go on a school trip and leave Isaac with Aunty for the WHOLE day! I knew I had to do it sometime and they were short on transport so in a way the school helped me make the decision. Aunty was more than happy to have Isaac for the day. Isaac has been getting easier and easier to leave, but I was still worried that a whole day without Mummy would be hard. More on that later.
We arrived at school. Got instructions and piled into the cars. I had Tobyn, Ricky and Tobyn's teacher in my car. Fortunately it stopped raining shortly after we drove out of Palmy (no jokes here please LOL) We had a lovely drive into Wellington. The boys behaved and didn't distract the driver too much. And we only encountered on small traffic jam in Wellington.
The kids were going to Capitol E where they were learning how to make a music sound track and put together a newscast. The children all had jobs for the newscast. Tobyns job was an acting one, he got to be the new Mayor of Palmerston North, complete with collared shirt and one of Dads old ties.
The parents were allowed to what they wanted, either stay or go. I chose to stay for the first little bit and got to see what they were doing with the music. It looked AMAZING! I wish the parents were allowed to have a play on the computers too LOL. One of the Dads has said he is going to get the software for his son for Christmas even though his son doesn't know. I think Daddy must have liked it too! These kids got such an amazing opportunity!
After that I went and browsed the Wellington shops. I am not a big shopper, well at least not on my own, I could spends hours shopping with someone. But I had a nice time for the time I did spend shopping. I managed to find a few books for Christmas presents. I got a BBQ one for my brother and sister in law, a historical one for Tobyn and a monster story book for Isaac. I also got myself a scrap booking creations mag went and bought a coffee and sat down and had a read. Ah the bliss of sitting in a coffee shop on your own, not having to worry about whether a 2 year old is going to spill something or choke on his food, or make too much noise. I then went to Kirkcaldies. I knew the Christmas shop was open there and I wanted to browse. Kirkcaldies is a big posh department store in Wellington. I was surrounded by beautiful clothes and smells. I just can't get over how they can justify charging so much for the wares in this store? The Christmas shop didn't blow me away like it did the first time I visited a few years ago. But I still managed to buy a new decoration for each of us
I phoned my sister to see how Isaac was doing. Fine, no problems! He was sleeping when I called and had apparently not wanted to go home for a sleep he wanted to stay at Aunty's and play with Jono's cars. Was he missing Mummy "I don't think he even realises you're not here" *sob* that's not what your meant to say. LOL.
After I had done enough shopping for one day I met up with Pip. I haven't seen her for a year and I miss her company. How can a year go by when we live only 2 hours away from each other? Only now they are moving further away down to Christchurch. Although this is actually a good thing for us because my Mum lives down there and if we go down it is always for a week or 2. Anyway we had a wonderful time catching up over lunch and 2 hours was not long enough!
Pip is the 2nd 'old' Friend I have caught up with recently and I really treasure these friendships and I have made a vow to myself that I will nurture them a lot more over the next year!!!
After my wonderful lunch I headed back to capitol E and watched the last take of the news cast. Tobyn was great, he got his lines perfectly!
The trip home was nice and easy, no stops, no traffic jams. I had a great conversation with Mrs Treder and got to know her a lot better. I was amazed at how much we have in common! We share the same b'day month, though she is a year younger than me, we have both been married for close to 15 years, they had there anniversary in August, ours is in January. We both applied for teachers college when we were 16 and were turned down because we were too young. Though she went back and trained and I became a nurse. We have both lived in the States, both have 2 boys and both our husbands work in scientific fields. I am probably missing something but I was surprised.
When we arrived home Isaac was pleased to see us. He was a little razzed up, tired and hungry as it was 6.30pm!!! He talked all the way back home and all the way through dinner and all the way through the bedtime routine. SO CUTE!!! This morning he has still been yak, yak, yakking. Me thinks he did miss Mummy ;)
WHAT A LOVELY DAY I HAD!!! I will be volunteering more now that I know Isaac is happy to stay with Aunty!

A picture, just because I like to post something beautiful.

Lousies 2nd blog challenge

I am not doing very well with Louises challenges. I leave them until the alst minute and the have to do the layout quickly and of course then I am not all that happy with it. I had to go into town after school to get this photo printed out. Didn't get home until 4.30. Had to get the boys afternoon tea and then choose papers etc. So for a quick layout it turned out OK.

All about Isaacle

I was going to do a big long post about lots of things with quite a few photos but blogger is very slow at uploading pics tonight so I will make this post all about Isaac or Isaacle as he is sometimes referred to.

Isaac is learning so much at the moment and it is so much fun. He loves being in the 'big bed' and will often be found lying in his bed, our bed or the BIG bed in his room. Pretending has become a big part of his play. He is also into imaginary creatures at the moment. He points at things and says cow, pig, sheep, horse etc. and they aren't really there! He is getting bigger feet and I found he nows fits sandles and shoes I only tried on a few weeks ago and back then they were way too big. So yesterday he was wearing green sandles with stars on and he loved them and kept saying 'green shoes' Today he was wearing Thomas sneakers that light up when he stomps. So all day he has been stomping to make them sparkle.
I started kissing booboos a few days ago. Now every time he hurts himself he asks for a kiss, like this afternoon he hurt his nose and came to me and said 'Mummy kiss nose' And sometimes I will give his booboo lots of kisses and he dissolves into hysterics. Too cute.
He LOVES Tobyn and has started calling him 'my broder' This morning I found him knocking on Tobyns door with a peg saying in a deep growly voice 'come out, now'
He loves Apollo the cat and can often be found cuddling him. Most of the time he is really good with him. But a couple of days ago I found him hitting him a little too hard and I had to be Mummy growly lion. He has been good since.
He loves books!!! And will bring books to read many times a day. He knows most of the Hairy Maclairy stories from start to finish. One of his favourite Lynley Dodd books right now is 'Wake Up Bear' and he always jumps when the bear shouts 'Honey'
He is very determined and has a very strong will. But with his adorable sense of humour and his affectionate nature we can usually diffuse issues before they become too big.
He is still very big on routine. As long as we do things in the same way and the same order then everything will be fine. For example night time. Daddy comes home, we have tea, Isaac has a bath, Isaac comes out of the bath and has snuggles with mummy, Isaac streaks around the house nakid then comes back to get clothes on, Daddy takes Isaac and he says goodnight with kisses, cuddles and 'I love yous' to Mummy and Tobyn, Daddy takes him to his room Isaac lies down on the BIG bed and has some of his bottle, Daddy reads 3 books then Isaac turns his music on, gets into his bed and has some more of his bottle, Daddy tucks him in, makes sure he has blankie, floppy bunny, Makka Pakka, Iggle Piggle and any other important toys that day and says good night and leaves the room. IT WORKS!!!

Enough for now. Here are a couple of photos from the weekend. I have converted a colour to b&w and might use it in the Number 8 wired dare this fortnight.



This next photo shows Isaac having a go on the big bike. Steve got it down from the roof on the weekend. Tobyn got this bike for Christmas when he was 2 1/2. Isaac has only just turned 2 so hasn't got the idea of it yet. But he did enjoy being on the big bike.



Maybe I will get to post again tomorrow about Tobyn with some cool photos from the weekend.
I don't have any projects to show at the moment because I am working on Christmas presents mainly, so you have to wait until after Chrissy.

ttfn

A house full of sickies

Obviously I have not had much to say over the past week LOL. We have all been sick in some way. I have had an awful annoying cough. I know it is going around, but I wish it had missed me! Tobyn and Steve have had today off. Tobyn has an ear infection and is now on anti bots. This is only the second time in 9 years that he has had an ear infection so he has done pretty well. But the poor little guy is in pain. Enough about sickies!

Some layouts I have been working on. There are so many things going on in scrappy world at the moment I just can't keep up. There is a DT call, but I have decided not to go for it. I just don't feel confident enough in my work to do it yet. Steve thought I should so I promised him I will give one a go in the next year. SBO have a whole lot of fun going on with challenges and raffles all ending with a gala bash cyber crop at the end of the month. So, the layouts.......

This first one is for Louises week 1 blog challenge. The challenge she set was to not use any manufacturers patterned paper. But we could make our own. It took me all week to come up with some inspiration and finally around 1pm this afternoon I found the photo which inspired the patterned paper. I have used different sized lids and stamped the circles on the paper, representing the bubbles. The colours were inspired by the colours in the bubbles themselves. The circles around the photo I stamped and cut out, just like I would if I had a patterned paper.



This next layout is for the no 8 wired NZ dare blog. The challenge was to use onlt 2 differnt colours. I have used different shades of brown and blue. I actually found this incredibly difficult. I was umming and ahhing about entering it because it is pretty simple. But I love it and it is a photo I love of Isaac.



The last one is for a challenge on scrapbook outlet. No winners or losers you just earn raffle tickets. The challenge was to scrap christmas food. I don't have very many photos of christmas food at all. But I remembered I had these photos of Tobyn making a gingerbread house while we were in the States. I had already tried scrapping it a while ago but didn't like the way it was going. So this time I printed out some smaller photos. I thought I would do a double layout and went to pagemaps for some ideas. I found a sketch, single page that I thought would work and used that. I had it all done and didn't like it. I showed Steve and said I wasn't happy but couldn't put my finger on why. He said the green under the photo isn't quite right and I agreed. It was a darker brighter green like in the top christmas trees. I covered it with the lighter green and I was surprised at how different it made it look. Now I still don't love it but I am so happy to now have this memory scrapped for his album!!!



I don't have any more layouts and I don't have any other news for now so TTFN Until next time...

Black and White layout for Louise's blog challenge

So louise @ http://bigyellowdogblog.blogspot.com/ is having a little comp on her blog. She had a warm up challenge where by we were asked to create a layout using ONLY black and white. I like how it turned out so fresh. Thank you for the challenge Louise.

Most of the materials I have used came from a http://www.scrapbookoutletnz.co.nz kit. Peect for this challenge. Usually I don't use kits for challenges but I didn't have any other only b&w papers! My only disappointment with this layout is that there is a gorgeous tinkering ink patterned paper hiding behind all the stuff I added! I couldn't stop stincking and doodling and then I realised I had hidden ,most of this gorgeous paper. Gonna have to get me some more of that I think!

A great weekend!

Tobyn got on stage for both his dances on Saturday! I was so chuffed to see him out in his black shirt for the Michael Jackson dance! And he did a pretty good job. He did forget a couple of things in this dance, but given he had missed the change for 2 days I can forgive him. I am proud of him for getting out there!!!
Sunday we went to Church for the first time in weeks. We are organising the kids Christmas service and thought it high time to get there and let them know it is all coming together. The kids are excited and hopefully it will be as good as they are anticipating!
Sunday afternoon was spent tidying and scrapbooking. Yay I finally got some more scrapbooking done! And both layouts are for challenges.

This layout is for the Scrapbook Essentials fortnightly sketch competition. It is the first 6x12 layout I have done. Having done the Disney photo I have decided that Disney 06 will be all 6x12. I found it quite hard and I stuck to the sketch. I like how the photos really stand out.



The other layout I will put in a separate post.

Art and culture in the Gregory house

A busy weekend here for us! Tobyn has had a very busy week with dance rehearsals and I have had a busy week as taxi driver! Last night was the telling moment for the work he has put in. As you may be able to tell from the previous post, Tobyn isn't too keen on having people watch him. He used to be fine but from around the age of 7 he has not liked it at all. So I wasn't sure how he would go in the dance show. But he shone! He got out there and danced his heart out and did everything really well. Unfortunately he did miss one dance because he didn't get changed fast enough, but we have that sorted for today, so I should get to see him in both his dances. Now I just hope that we can convince him that it would be a good idea to carry on dacncing in some way. I know it waon't be The Jazz Elemeatary 1 class, but maybe boys club or hip hop? It is awesome at his studio that they encourage the boys so well. Dean, the owner and 1 of 3 male teachers is so good with the boys. Tobyn has a natural talent but not the passion yet. Maybe in a few years time he will realise what a gift he has? My Mum let me stop dancing when I was 5 and I wish she had pushed me to continue. Mum, I know you did what was right at the time so don't take this as me thinking you were wrong. But I guess that is partly why I don't want Tobyn to give up yet, he might regret it in the future.

Today was pet and craft day. Steve spent all morning cooking 200 sausages, deffinately did his part and got to know some other parents a little better which is great. Tobyn, Isaac and I got to enjoy a pancake breakfast, courtesy of the some of the teachers.
Last night and this morning Tobyn work on his vegetable creation. He hoped he could get first this year after placing 2nd last year. This year he did more of it himself, he chose all the veges and put it all together. The only guidance and help we gave him was with tthe creation he was going to do. He wanted to make a village with grape people. We thought this would be too much hard work with the dance show as well. So he made a dragon, scales and all! And he WON. He is so proud. Tobyn also took his cat Apollo for the pet parade. They got asked about there cat and how they looked after it etc and Tobyn won best presented cat. And Apollo got a lovely silver and blue ribbon. So nioce to be able to add more certificates to the wall of acievement in our house!





I think Isaac is going to have an outdoor career. He was totally in his element among the lambs and calves!





Righto, gotta go wash the floor that Steve spilt milo powder all over and get ready for the show this afternoon, Ciao for now.

A cute Tobynism

A conversation last night with Tobyn as we arrived at the dance rehearsal went something like this:

T: is this where we are practising?
M: Yes
T: where are we? Are we at the theatre?
M: Yes
T: Cool, I love dancing on stage.....
M: Oh really?
T: Yep, as long as there isn't anyone watching.

Excited and Exhausted!

I am very excited about many things this week:

• The fact that the part for the washing machine has finally arrived and I can remove the towels from behind the machine. It has been 2 weeks since we found we had a leak! The washing has been backing up so I am over the moon about that.


• Today there is some blue sky! Yes you heard it here first. So along with the washing machine part and the blue sky guess what is my main aim today? Yep, washing, washing and more washing!


• Tobyn's dance performance. Every year they put on an amazing show and I look forward to it so much that I always over book tickets LOL. Hopefully my sister can replace Steve on Friday night because we need someone at home to get Isaac to bed. A 7pm show start is not good for a little boy that needs Daddy to put him to bed, can't get a baby sitter to do it. And when I booked the tickets I didn't think about the time it was starting!


• My nephew got 3rd= in their schools cluster speech comp. Now what is it about the Rowe grandchildren? My siblings and I were not good at speeches and yet our kids are doing great! Tobyn won for his year earlier this year and now Sheridan has placed 3rd in the cluster schools. Go Sheridan, Aunty is very proud of you!!!


• The thing I am the most excited about and left until last.........I am being published! Now as most of my visitors are scrap bookers I will have to let you down gently......not being published for scrap booking.......being published for photography! We have very good friends that are journalists. They are Isaac's godparents and live in the States. Tim was deputy editor of the listener a couple of years ago and Ele deputy editor of Next. They went on a bog OE. Ele being American wanted to take Tim 'home'. It took a while for them to find jobs in the industry and they spent some time working in a bookstore to live. They are both now busy with jobs ans study and the big benefit for us is that one of the jobs Tim is doing is helping edit and set up a new online Travel magazine. He asked a few weeks ago for photos in certain categories but I didn't think we had any to suit. Yesterday I received an e-mail from them wishing Isaac a happy birthday. I returned the e-mail with an update in Isaac and an invite to visit my blog. Tim replied soon after with a request for travel photos for the postcard section of the mag, they are short. So Steve spent a good hour or so last night sending through a pile of photos and they want one! I am over the moon. One of my photos is going to be published in an online travel mag WOOHOO!!! When I know more details and when the mag is being published I will link it on here.

And yes I am also exhausted! My baby who is now a big boy and sleeping in a big boy bed is keeping me awake. Not because he is awake, because I am worried he is going to fall out, or come trough at some ungodly hour so I think I have one ear open for him all night. I hope this will pass soon!

I will leave you with one of the photos that was sent through to Tim, not the one being published obviously. But I don't like posts without photos and since Steve re sized these last night I might as well use one.

Isaac and I in the Milford Sound back in February.

Scrapbook Essentials Blinkie

I am doing quite a few short random posts. Just a bit of fun LOL. Neen, one of the Dt members on SE has been playing with blinkies and Meg challenged us to put it on our blogs. So here it is. My only wish is that I knew how to link it so you can click on it and it would take you to the website, but alas I am not that computer literate!

Edited to add, I have got it all sorted I now have a blinkie in my sidebar that if you click on it, it will take you to Scrapbook Essentials. Thanks to Neen for the link and the blinkie!

Visit my sister!

My sister has finally started a blog. I imagine she will only use it for her challenge layouts but then you never know she might become hooked like me LOL.

www.theoccasionalblogger-antionette.blogspot.com

She has her take on The Music in Me challenge up at the moment.

Today my baby turned 2

It is now officially October 22nd American time. In about 4 hours time Isaac was actually born. It is kind of weird to have to adjust the time differnece, but in my mind I do, every second counts LOL.

So my baby boy is growing up. Some things Isaac can do at 2:

Blow candles out.
Blow party blowers
Sing "Happy Birthday To You"
Open presents almost by himself
Sleep in a big boy bed (we didn't take the sides off the cot a couple of weeks ago, but DID today and he LOVES it!)
Stay at Grandad and Grandmas and stay asleep all night. And Grandma said it was just about the easiest baby sitting they have ever done.
Jump with 2 feet off the ground.
"Run, fast" saying it while running fast!
Turn the TV on and off.
Give wonderful cuggles and kisses!
Dance while wiggling his whole body. Looks so cute with his shoulder wiggles!

And many, many more.

Here is the birthday boy with his main present. Doesn't Dad look great in the back ground in his dressing gown and shoes LOL.



Isaac and his friend Finley



Isaac loved getting Iggle Piggle from Tobyns friend. Tobyn also gave hime Makka Pakka. Steve was not happy about Iggle Piggle, he says it will give him nightmares LOL!!!



Fee, what do you think of the theme? The theme was Elmo. I had great plans of cutting out the shape of Elmos face and icing it. But...I failed to get the right food clouring on Friday. A little bit difficult to make Elmo without the black! So I came up with the brilliant idea of just icing the cake red and putting a printout of Elmo on top. I plan on making a mask out of the print out later. The main thing is that Isaac loved it!



Before today Isaac didn't know how to blow. It didn't take him long to learn and he then wanted us to keep lighting the candles so he could blow them out.



And the new found skill of blowing came in handy for the party blowers.



It was disappointing that of the 5 children invited only 1 turned up! Vivi's Mum is 7 months pregnant and at least she called to say she didn't feel up to it plus the girls had yucky noses. As for the others I didn't even get phone calls. I know I was keeping it small and told them it was just a quiet party and it would be cool if they could come. But no courtesy call? What is the world coming to?

But we had a ton of fun without them. Finleys sisters were there and 2 of Tobyns friends. And Isaac had a ball!!! His 3 big cousins came for dinner and he was spoilt with more In the Night Garden things and a Goofy soft toy. I think he was pretty happy!

I will leave the rest of the weekend for another post. And I want to tell you all about his time in the Neo Natal unit but that can wait as well. Enjoy these wonderful photos of my adorable 2 year old. (Mum I will try and print some off for you ;)

This week 2 years ago.

WARNING THIS POST WILL BE LONG!!!

It all started about 18 years ago. Steve and I met through our young adults group. I had been going to the Church since I was 15 he came in his 2nd year of Uni. My first memory of him was not a positive one. We were at a family night and we were divided into teams and then we had to do a play. My memory of Steve was this crazy curly haired young guy in freezer works gumboots, that was his costume for the play. You can safely say at that time I wasn't attracted to him.
We got to know each other better over the next year or so and became good friends. I started to become 'interested' I told a friend who told him and we went on a couple of dates. But that was as far as it went at that time, he did the "I just want to be friends" speech. Broke my heart at the time. I have vivid memories of listening to "The Proclaimers" and "Enya" into the wee hours of the morning, and writing soppy poetry etc.
Over the next couple of years I dated a couple of other guys and 'got over him'. But we were still really good friends. We had the same group of friends and did things together practically every weekend.
I was 22 and still at home and desperately wanting to go flatting. I told Steve and he said well I want to buy a house and get flat mates in. I thought this was a great idea and within a few months he had bought a house and I became his sole flat mate. At that time I had just started dating another guy from our young adults group and this ended in tears after a few weeks. Well Steve was there to console me and I said to him "damn Techies you all break my heart" I had dated 2 and been very keen on another Massey Technology student. He laughed.
Over the next couple of weeks he started showing signs that he wanted more than flatmates. I said to my friends I can't go there, I am flatting with him it just wouldn't be right. But now 14 years of marriage later you can see we did get together.
When we got married we made a decision that we would like to start a family after 5 years of marriage and when I was 30. I was about to do my nursing training and I wanted to get some experience after I had finished.
When I finished my training Steve got offered a secondment to Reading, England. We jumped at the chance, Steve is English and all his family excluding imediate family are over there. At the same time we decided that we would start 'trying' to get pg. I went off the pill and things didn't go back to normal. Initially we thought surely it couldn't happen that quickly and for us it didn't. Before going to England we spent 3 months in Saudi Arabia. We had no support and no medical care. We had to wait until we got to England to seek help. When we got to England the Dr wasn't prepared to do anything because we hadn't been trying for 12 months. But I wasn't having a normal cycle and I just knew there was something not right. Eventually the Dr agreed to send me to a specialist. The specialist asked for my history and before doing any tests said I had polycystic ovarian syndrome. HUH, what the? I went on to have awful, embarrassing ultra sounds and it was confirmed I did indeed have PCOS! Fortuantely there was some pretty good drugs to help me and within 3 months we were pregnant with Tobyn. We were ecstatic!!!
Fast forward. Tobyn was 1 and we decided he was such an easy baby and we had had such a hard time getting pg with him that it was time to start trying again. This time it was not that easy! I used the same medication but it didn't work. I had many blood tests and ultra sounds. I also had an op that actually worked and I got pg but miscarried at about 10 weeks. After that nothing would work. Tobyn was 5 and we decided it was time to look into adoption. We did the course and put together our profile. It was very exciting, all of us, including Tobyn were looking forward to the future. Then things changed again.
There was a job Steve was interested in in America. One of his colleagues was lined up for it but didn't want to do it. Steve approached his boss about it but they were not considering him because they knew we were looking into adoption. But we were keen!!! We knew that we could possibly get help there that we couldn't here. We also knew that it was an awesome opportunity and we would get some wonderful experiences from the 18 months. So eventually they agreed that he was the right guy for the job.
We moved to the States just after Tobyn turned 6. Soon after we arrived there I saw a Dr who quadrupled my medication within a few weeks. He also put me onto a specialist and things were rolling. I was going to the gym and losing weight and we were having an awesome time. It was hard being away from family and friends and Tobyn did find it hard to settle in but it was all good.
While we were there Steve's Grandma died and we got to go to England for the funeral. It was perfect timing for Tobyn, he got to see Grandad and Grandma again and then go back 'home' he then settled into American life really well.
As far as the treatment was going for me, there was a plan. If I hadn't had a period by a certain date then we were trying another medication. Over that time frame Steve was going back to NZ on a business trip and his parents were visiting for 3 weeks. So I figured there was no way it would happen then. Well wouldn't you know it???!!!
The pregnancy was not an easy one right from the get go. At 6 weeks I had a small bleed and Steve and I thought this is it and had a good cry. I was sent for a scan and all was fine, WHEW. OK lets get to 12 weeks. But at 10 weeks while I was at the gym I had a large bleed. Again, sure that it was over. Yet again a scan showed things were fine. I had done alot of reading about PCOS and pregnancy and requested a blood test to check my progesterone and sure enough it was very low so I was put on progesterone supplements. Everything continued pretty smoothly. Though I had been put on low activity. No gym, no vacuuming, I had to be a couch potato. This was good for my crafts but not good for my self esteem. I had been really enjoying the gym!!!
My BP started rising and needed to be monitored closely. I was refered to a perinatologist, a VERY special pregnancy doctor. A scan with the perinatologist showed that the baby only had a 2 strand umbilical cord. Quite uncommon and not a lot known about it really. But some of the concerns are heart problems, kidney problems, and some genetic problems. GREAT something else to worry about! I did a search on the net and found out a bit, but basically I decided it was a slim chance there was something wrong. But until the baby was born I did worry a little. My biggest fear was fragile X, a genetic developmental problem in our family. My sister has a son with it and as adorable as he is he is hard work.
Fast forward to Oct 17th 2005. 3o weeks pregnant. I was going for a scan and Tobyn and Steve were coming too. This was Tobyns first look at the baby and we were all very excited. I was taken to have my BP checked and it was very high. I had to wait for a few minutes and they took it again. The boys were getting a little concerned. Eventually I went back out to see them and we were all taken through for the scan. It was quite exciting and Tobyn loved it. But things were to change quite dramatically. The Dr said I had to be admitted. My BP was dangerously high and she didn't think we would see the night through without delivering the baby. But the hope was that I would be able to have the 2 shots of steroids to develop the babies lungs. We needed 24 hours for that to work, preferably 48 hours. Fortunately for the baby we got that 48 hours. Things stabilised and the hope was that we could get to at least 36 weeks. I was settling in for being in hospital for another 4-6 weeks. My friends had brought in books, crafts, treats, crosswords and fruit. I had the computer and the hospital had wireless internet so I was able to do some on line shopping.
Oct 21st I had another scan and they were pretty happy that the baby was growing and the amniotic fluid was OK. Carry on!
The night of Oct 21st things went down hill fast. I thought I was constipated and asked for something. They gave me some prune juice, which fortunately I didn't drink. Early on the 22nd the nurses were quite concerned and called the on call Dr. He decided to send me down to labour and delivery. I was petrified, I was alone and had no idea of what was going on. As it turned out my organs were starting to shut down. I wanted to ring Steve and the nurse said she would tell him when he came in. Well it was 6am and he wasn't coming in until 9ish. Finally they allowed me to ring him and he came immediately. Fortunately Tobyn had been staying at a friends that night and she just kept him until Steve called her again.
I was so lucky to have some wonderful Drs on board. The on call Dr wanted me to labour, my perinatologist said no way this is an emergency, thank goodness for her!!! I was taken through to theatre and we didn't know if Steve would be able to be there. The anaesthesiologist took one look at my belly and the bruising on it and said "this is pitiquing (sp?), we have to do a general!" This meant Steve wasn't able to come in.
So baby was born and I took a while to come through from the anaesthetic. Steve was very concerned. Eventually he was able to see me and I was not well. I actually kept going down hill. My red blood cells were dropping and they thought I might need a blood transfusion. Fortunately I didn't! Steve and Tobyn got to see Isaac and were so excited. But he was tiny, he weighed only 2lb. But the good news was he was healthy, no genetic problems and his lungs were strong.
I was still on Magnesium Sulphate for the high blood pressure. What an awful medication!!! I had very vivid nightmares, blurred vision and generally felt awful. I thought I was going to die! I was so sick and Isaac doing so well that they brought Isaac to see me which is extremely unusual. I had such blurry vision that I couldn't get a good look at him. I didn't get to hold him for 5 days. Steve filled me in 3 times a day with how Isaac was doing. He had wonderful nurses and Drs and he was very strong and doing extrememly well!
I am so thankful for the care I got while so sick. I am so thankful for the care Isaac got for the 9 weeks he was in hospital.
We are so fortunate to have our 2 boys, we thought we might not have any of our own natural children. We are truly thankful!!!
I will save Isaacs time in the neonatal unit for another post, this post is long enough already!!!

The first 2 photos show just how small he was and how much he has grown. The teddy was given to him by Tobyn and has a recordable thing inside. Tobyn had recorded "I love you young Isaac" It still plays and just this afternoon Isaac has been going around the house holding the teddy and saying "I love you young Isaac" too cute!!!


He looks a bit like a deer in the headlights here LOL.


Look how grown up he is, putting teddy on the horse for a ride. His imagination is taking off right now. He is really into playing tea parties and pretending to use medical stuff.




I know I had this photo on here a few days ago, but here he is my BIG boy.



Whew, that took a while but I wanted to get this down. I haven't written this down anywhere else so while it is still pretty clear in my mind here it all is.

NZ Dare #32

My sister came around today we planned on doing some scrapbooking. She is working on the latest music in me challenge "Time after Time" I want to do that one but have NO inspiration for that one yet. So I planned on doing the No 8 wired NZ Dare. The challenge is to scrap a mood. I just flicked through my albums and came across this photo of Tobyn in Disneyland. Tobyn doesn't often show much emotion but as you can see in this photo he LOVED the thrill. I am pretty happy with this layout...but...I don't like the journalling block down the right hand side. When I showed Tobyn the layout he said "it's OK" "just OK" I said, "what don't you like about it?" "I don't like the photo. It doesn't look like a real smile" I replied explaining how it shows how much fun he was having and no it isn't a real smile, it is real EXCITEMENT! I love it. He was OK about it then LOL.



I didn't need to egg sit in the end. They have a Motel in the classroom where the eggs go during class time. I went into school to help with literacy today and they were writing a diary for their eggs. It was so funny hearing the antics the eggs got up to last night. One egg visited her friend next door but her friend had fallen and cracked and needed to be replaced and one got squashed by the dog. So far Tobyn's is surviving. His egg now has a PlayStation 3 and a plasma TV. He has just been making bags of cereal for it. It is great how it has captured their imaginations.

The Egg Family and the frogman

I have heard of kids having eggs to look after before and I looked forward to the day my kids did it. And here it is. Tobyns class have to look after an egg each for a week. They are all pretty excited which is funny given that there are only 4 girls in his class! Mind you there have already been 5 deaths in 1 day LOL. Tobyn has called his egg Toby. He has made a house for it. The house has a comfy bed, a chair, a bookcase with miniature books and some pokemon cards. Tomorrow I have to egg sit. I hope Grandma Egg does a good job, LOL.





Isaac wearing his new goggles in the bath. He needs to get used to them for swimming and I think it won't take long!



Today I was thrilled to find out that my friend Adele has paid her deposit for scrap camp next April. I know it is ages away but I am so excited, this will be my first major scrapbooking outing! Woohoo.

Memories

What a busy weekend we have had. We got a skip bin on Friday because we had a few big things we needed to get rid of. It is amazing how motivated it got us to do a while lot of other things around the house as well.

This old beat up cupboard was left by the owner in Steve's 1st house. It has seen us move 4 times. We had great intentions of painting it many times but as it lived in the garage it was never a priority. Then it became the height chart for Tobyn. Disappointingly Steve found bora in it a couple of weeks back so it had to go. But I had to take a photo and transfer the measurements onto a piece of card so we can transfer it onto a more long lasting height chart. Steve and Tobyn had fun bashing it about to fit it in the bin. It was absolutely riddled with bora, quite amazing it was still standing!



Tobyn had a pre season cricket morning and loved it! Being a pretty unsporty kid it is great to have him enjoying a summer and winter sport! Saturday noght he was going to stay at his friends house. Ethan phoned earlier than planned and said Tobyn could come over any time. I had said he had to tidy his room before he could go, and it took 3 inspections before it was to my satisfaction, tough Mummy!

So Saturday afternoon and evening and all day Sunday it was just Steve, Isaac and I. We couldn't believe how much more we could get done without him there LOL.

Isaac wanted to 'help' Daddy out in the garden and he enjoyed going down the hill and falling on his bottom. He would walk backwards, deliberately fall down and say ouch and then laugh and do it all over again.

I spent alot of time in the garage sorting out boxes that came out of the old cupboard. One box that was on top of the cupboard had quilting material, polystyrine shapes some with sequins in and other craft things. The cat had made this his box. He had chewed the top and started to chew the polystyrine balls, grrr. I then moved onto the computer cupboard and front bedroom. The plan was to make the front room my scrap space/guest bedroom. But I had to move some things first. Steve had told me that the old computer tabel that was in the front room would fit into the cupboard. So I spent a couple of hours clearing a book case and computer desk only to find out that the desk would not fit in the cupboard *argh* So change of plans. We still bought the old dining table into the front room, moved the single bed into Isaacs room, put the computer desk back into that room, moved Tobyns boxes of imaginext into his wardrobe, moved his old storage containers in to the front bedroom wardrobe and now I have to sort everything out so I can actually scrap in there. It will be great once I have it all organised. We need to decide what we are going to do with the computer desk because we have a sofa bed coming for that front room.

Look at my boy. He looks so grown up! I took this photo on Sunday and I love it, apart from the windblown hair.



It is so hard to believe that this time 2 years ago I was being hospitalised in the hope that we could get to 36 weeks before having to deliver the baby. In a couple of days I will blog more about the whole ordeal but this is a week of remembering fro me. We re so lucky that Isaac is healthy and that I am alive it was not an easy time. But look at what we have to show for it, a gorgeous, spunky, healthy boy!

And on the note of big boys, he slept in a big boy bed for part of last night!!! Stave went into him in the middle of the night (normally my job, bless him) but he needed to got the the loo so he put Isaac down on the single bed. When he went back in to put him in the cot Isaac was having none of it, he wanted to stay in the big bed. Steve put some pillows on the floor and we hoped he wouldn't fall out. When he woke this morning and I went in to him he was sitting in the middle of the bed, a HUGE grin on his face and pointing at all the animals ion the duvet cover, too cute! Steve has a job after work....taking the cot down and making it into the bed. My baby is growing up, 2nd birthday looming next Monday.