Have car, will travel

Lily doesn't let a simple thing like not being able to walk stop her from getting around. She has just learnt to ride Tom's truck and now there's no stopping her. You wouldn't believe the speed the girl zooms round the garden on this thing! She's a regular girl racer and obviously thrilled with it! The amusing thing is that her ability to ride it at all puts her one up on Tom, who refuses to so much as get on it! We gave it to him for Christmas in 2005, and might as well have saved ourselves the trouble. I find it hilarious that at eleven months old, Lily can do something that Tom can't at two and a half years! I'm pleased the truck is finally getting some use.

Entering a new decade...

Well, I'll never see my twenties again! It was my 30th birthday yesterday, which I'm probably supposed to get all uptight about. I can honestly say that turning 30 doesn't bother me in the slightest, though whether I'll say the same as I'm turning 40 we'll have to wait and see! I adore birthdays (it doesn't even have to be mine) and, frankly, the number is irrelevant. I just love the 'I'm special today' feeling you get on your birthday. If I could capture that feeling the rest of the year, I could conquer the world (figuratively, not literally! I can't see me achieving world domination anytime soon!).

I had a lovely day, though I spent it quietly at home with just the Podlings for company (can you believe Mark got to go to Paris on my birthday!). Mum and dad gave me a fabulous new muffin recipe book, so I whipped up a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. I only did 'light dutys' round the house (who wants to do loads of housework on their birthday), so I could spend the day playing with my Podlings. I did some knitting when they had their naps and read the instruction manual for The Best Birthday Present Ever (also known as a sewing machine, a gift from mum and dad). I even made a jelly to have at tea time because it isn't a proper birthday unless there's jelly.

Tom and Lily both enjoyed my birthday cards. Tom came to the conclusion that anything that came through the letter box was a birthday card for mummy. Consequently,when the free local paper arrived in the afternoon, I had to put it on the piano with all my birthday cards!

I decided to have a special birthday meal in the evening, rather than eat with the Podlings as usual. I had mussels in garlic butter sauce with fresh bread and a bottle of Schloer to drink (careful there Paula!). My 'birthday cake' was a chocolate brownie sundae and it was fabulous. Yes, it's probably a bit sad putting a candle in a sundae, but that's what I'm like on birthdays. I ate my meal whilst curled up in front of my 'Anne of Green Gables' video. All in all, I had a really lovely day.

The best part is, it doesn't end there. Because Mark couldn't be here for my birthday, I get to have an 'official birthday' on Sunday. Two birthdays for the price of one...can't be bad.

Paula, a 30 year old mother of two....does make me sound terribly grown-up doesn't it?!

A clean start

Lily's first task of the day was to unload the dirty laundry from the washing machine and spread it over the floor. She seems to consider the washing machine her territory and likes to keep tabs on what goes in there. She obviously likes to keep a clean washing machine. A clean floor is optional.

There's pink and there's PINK

This is what happens when you let your two year old choose your flowers! My parents and grandfather are coming for a visit tomorrow and I thought it would be nice to have some fresh flowers in the house to brighten the place up a bit. I made the mistake of letting Tom choose the colour! The picture really doesn't convey the sheer pinkness of these flowers. Don't get me wrong, I love pink. It's my favourite colour, but we're talking 1980s shell suit pink here! These flowers don't so much brighten up the house as illuminate the whole street. I'm seriously worried about light aircraft mistaking them for landing lights. I fully expect to wake up tomorrow morning to find a living room full of confused airmen wondering where they are. Still, Tom loves them and they do make my coffee table look rather cheerful don't they!

A posting we will go

I needed to send some correspondence this afternoon, so when the Podlings had woken up from their naps, I told Tom we were going to the Post Office to post some letters. He got very excited, but I thought that perhaps it was just that we don't usually run errands in the afternoon, so he was just excited to be going out. As I was strapping him into the pushchair, it became apparent why he was so looking forward to the trip. "Post yetters!" he said excitedly, "Post yetters A and B and C and D!".

Dinner to go

Lily completely misunderstood the concept of 'lunch box'. She thought it meant you had to eat your lunch in a box! Here she is merrily snacking on a biscuit, wondering why she doesn't get to eat all her meals in such style!

Cots are not for sleeping mummy!

Lily couldn't be more pleased with herself in this picture! I'd just put her in her cot prior to putting Tom down for a nap and within a few seconds, she was standing up! This was the first time she'd stood up in her cot and she obviously thought it was fantastic. I just hope she doesn't try doing it at three in the morning!

We are now up to date. This picture was taken at lunchtime today, so hopefully I can get back to blogging normally now! I hope I haven't bored you with my catch-up entries.

Stand up for yourself

Lily continues to develop at a rate of knots. Whilst staying with Mark's parents, Lily learnt to pull herself up onto this toy. Within two days, she was pulling herself up on everything and has now started cruising (albeit slowly) round the furniture. She'll be running around the place before I know it. Why do babies have to grow up so fast?!

The artist at work

Believe it or not, at ten months old Lily knows her way around a crayon. If you give her a crayon and a piece of paper she will draw. In fact, last week she found one of Tom's crayons on the floor, then crawled to the other side of the room to get to a piece of paper and started scribbling on it. If you give her the crayon upside down, she will turn it round so that she is drawing with the point. I think I may have a budding artist on my hands. I know my sister will be thrilled, being as she is, a rather talented artist herself.

He sits!

"We must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose. " - Indira Gandhi

I just wanted to share this picture with you because it is so rare that I get a picture of Tom when he is still. He's a rather adorable little chap isn't he!

Easter kiss

I loved this picture so much I had to put it in a separate post. Tom is so affectionate with his baby sister. He is always trying to kiss and cuddle Lily, with varying levels of tolerance from the little lady herself. This picture really captures their love for one another and I adore it.

Easter Sunday

Tom and Lily had a wonderful time in church on Easter Sunday. Little did they know there would be chocolate involved. The Vicar's son-in-law had organised an Easter egg hunt, so Nanna took Tom into the church yard to join the hunt. The children were supposed to find one egg and then bring it back into the church and hand it over. We thought Tom would refuse to give his egg up, but he handed it over without a murmer, so I was quite proud of him. Once all the eggs were back, each of the children were given an egg and Tom couldn't believe his luck! Lily was quite happy with her little chocolate coin, but then we all know how much she likes chocolate!

The rest of the day was warm and sunny, so we spent most of it in the garden. In the late afternoon, I brought the camera out to try and get some Easter pictures for our scrapbooks (if I ever have time to scrapbook again!) and these are some of the results.

Lily is Christened

Lily (or to give her her proper Christian names Elizabeth Margaret Gillian) was Christened on April 1st 2007 at our parish church. It was a lovely service and Lily behaved beautifully during her baptism. It all got a bit much for her at the end though and she fell asleep in my arms during the prayers.


Lily looked like an angel in her ivory satin Christening gown with embroidered lace overdress, though we gave up any attempt to make her wear the matching bonnet. She also wore a beautiful satin bib, designed and embroidered by my mum, until the actual baptism, in order to save the dress from the inevitable dribble. Sadly, none of the pictures we have do her gown full justice. We hope to get a proper portrait of her in her dress at some point, but whether this happens remains to be seen!

Tom went to the back of the church with his Nanna where they discovered some toys. Needless to say, we didn't see him for the whole service! Just to prove he was there, here is a picture of him running around after the service. He looked very cute in a little cream embroidered waistcoat and matching cravat. Tom never stays still long enough to have his picture taken properly though!

After the service, we all went back to our house for a little tea party to celebrate Lily's Christening. The cake, decorated by my mum, looked lovely and everyone seemed to enjoy the food. Lily received some beautiful Christening cards and gifts that I am sure she will treasure when she is older.

The Christening cake

It really was a lovely day and I will always remember it fondly. My one cause for regret is that, due to family circumstances, we had to arrange the Christening knowing that my sister, Lily's Godmother, would be unable to attend. It would have made the day complete if she could have been there, but I hope she knows how much we thought of her on the day.

Finally, I would like to end this special Christening entry with a prayer that God will protect and guide Lily throughout her life, that she will come to know Him as she grows older and that God will bless her always.

The wanderer returns

I'm now back to blogging after a short absence. We have been on a visit to my husband's parents in Derbyshire and have just returned. We were blessed with good weather the whole visit, so the children were able to spend a lot of time in the garden and I know they had a wonderful time with their grandparents and uncles. I will be sharing some pictures from Lily's Christening and from our little holiday as I play 'catch-up' on my blog. Then it will be back to business as usual round here.