Happy 5th Birthday Tom!

Tom at one day old. As he was six weeks early, he had to be tube fed for the first few days. He wasn't a big fan of his tube and pulled it out himself on at least two occasions!

..

The little boy that made me a mother turned five today.

..

Happy Birthday Tom!

Tom at five years old playing with his new marble run
..

Busy!

A completely unrelated photo of Emma, just because!

I don't seem to have found any time for blogging this week. I've been quite busy what with playgroup photos, school assemblies, doctor's appointments and getting ready for Tom's birthday and my parents' imminent visit. Life seems to be much more hectic since term started, but I am somehow getting more done with three Podlings than I ever managed with two. Very odd! Suffice to say, we are all ticking along nicely here and everyone seems to finally be getting over the colds they have been suffering from for weeks. I should have lots of pictures to share next week as my little boy turns five. He has requested a sunshine birthday party, so I'm going to have fun putting that together.

..

Sleep, Baby, Sleep

There appears to be a Moses basket in the corner of my bedroom, let's get a little closer...

Nothing says 'New Baby' to me like a frilly Moses basket and I love ours. It was a gift from my parents when Lily was born and I think it is absolutely beautiful...perfect for baby girls. I suddenly realised the other day that I hadn't taken a single picture of Emma in the basket, so after her last feed of the night I tucked her up in bed, fetched my camera and went snap happy!

I think there might be a sleeping baby in there...

May angels watch her through the night and wake her sometime around seven!
..

Fairy cake fun

A mini muffin tin is a useful way to present lots of decorating options without lots of mess.

..
Lily isn't a big one for playing with toys. She loves art, crafts, physical activities and being read to, but more than anything she likes to be involved in whatever I'm doing. She particularly likes to help me in the kitchen and loves to bake and decorate fairy cakes. We generally have to have pink icing and then I fill a mini muffin tin with various edible decorations and let her get on with it. We made some fairy cakes yesterday morning and decorated them after lunch. When Tom got home from school, he obviously thought he'd missed out on some fun. He pulled a chair up to the side, pulled the decorations off two of Lily's cakes and then redecorated them himself. He's saving his favourite one to give to his Nanny, but as she won't be here until his birthday I'm not sure she'll want to eat it!
..

The creative process

Lily decorates her fairy cakes rather sparsely as she knows she gets to eat the leftover decorations. The crafty beggar has worked out that the less she puts on the cakes, the more she gets to eat!

..

Caught red-handed

.

No, I do not have blood on my hands! This is what happens when you are rooting around in the back of your baking cupboard and discover too late that your bottle of red food colouring is upside down and leaking! I've tried scrubbing the colour off, but it looks like I'm going to be red handed for a while! It's sure to amuse the Podlings if nothing else!

..

Party Girl

Lily attended her first non-family birthday party today. Ever since she received the invitation she has been asking me daily if it is Macie and Charlie's party today. The fourth birthday party of the twin girls she knows from playgroup was held at a local ball pool that we often take the Podlings to. We took Tom along too so he could play while Lily was at the party, but when we got there the twin's family very kindly asked Tom to join the party too as a few children hadn't turned up. The Podlings had a great time, but Lily was a little unclear on the concept of gift-giving when attending a friend's party. She asked me this evening if we could play with the gifts we'd given and looked mortified when I explained that as they were Macie and Charlie's birthday presents, Macie and Charlie will have taken them home. I think the poor girl was under the impression that you got to go to the party and keep the presents!
..

All dressed up in her party frock.

I'm glad I took pictures before we left because she didn't look this neat for long. Still, what outfit isn't improved by a large red jelly stain!
..

Gallivanting

All dolled up and ready to go!

..

Last night Mark and I went to see Cliff Richard and the Shadows in concert. Mark's parents had very generously given us the tickets and an evening's babysitting as a gift and we have been looking forward to it for a while. We left The Young Ones in the care of their grandparents and drove down to the Birmingham NIA for an evening of Sir Cliff. It was a little strange to be Podling-free for the evening, especially as it was the first time I have been away from Emma, but Mark and I really enjoyed just being a couple for a few hours. The concert was wonderful and I can't get over Cliff's energy at the age of 69. It was my first non-classical music concert and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We were a long way from the stage, but I managed to get a few, admittedly blurry, pictures.

..

It took us an age to get out of the car park and then we stopped at the good Colonel's establishment to pick up some fried chicken. By the time we had driven the hour's journey home (I slept in the car!), we didn't get to bed until half one this morning. I was up in the night to Lily and then up early for the school run, so I'm incredibly tired today. It was certainly worth the tiredness for the chance to get dressed up and spend a wonderful evening with my husband, but we are definitely having an early night tonight!

..

Hank Marvin plays some mean guitar

..

Sir Cliff has more energy at 69 than I have at 32, but I figure he isn't running around after three children under five on limited sleep!

..

.. 50 years of practice means these people are GOOD

..