Life @ #23

i'm moving!

2009-01-23T10:13:00.002Z

the blog that is!! http://3weemonkeys.wordpress.com my friend mandy switched hers over and i liked the format and had been annoyed with blogger anyway! so there you go! all the old blogs are over there too. i'll not close this one though so not to lose any readers, you'll know where to go!!
its also a good change b/c at andy's school he can't get on to blogger. its one of the many banned pages, but wordpress is ok!!

we are still around

2009-01-09T22:48:00.002Z

BUT our computer is down. caput, as far as we know. it won't start up, goes straight into recovery and doesn't ever do it. so i can't upload any photos from christmas and i can't do much else. i am on andy's school laptop and for once it isn't banning us from the blog or facebook. so i am in touch with reality, atleast for a bit!
we got home on the 2nd at 3:30 in the morning. we almost stopped for a coffee but decided to just get home as the boys would probably wake up if we did. and its a good thing we didn't stop as around 9:30, andy went to go and get milk and bread for breakfast and the car wouldn't start! we had problems starting it all over christmas but it would always start after a few tries. not this time! SO we have been without a car for the last week. poor andy, who would normally get a lift from katie who lives nearby and works with him, (they usually take turns) she was on a school trip for the week....so andy cycled/took the train/or on the bus all week. and it snowed on sunday night, so the snow was actually on the ground for 3 days, which never happens! also on thursday he took the train and cycled down to redditch which is 25 minute drive to be able to pick up a starting motor. so in all, he cycled over 60 miles this week!!
tomorrow our friend john is coming over to help andy to put this thing in and i'll be praying that it works!! so anyway, hopefully we'll have some photos to put up and sometime! don't know what to do about our computer... (any thoughts?)

christmas crackers

2008-12-30T23:02:00.002Z

my mandy friend asked about the crowns we all have on it the photo from christmas dinner. so, none of us really knew what the tradition is except that you always have christmas crackers at christmas time with a paper crown in it and a joke and a wee little gift that usually gets thrown away. its fun and just the tradition!
here is a link to the history of the christmas crackers. enjoy =)

christmas cheer

2008-12-27T12:04:00.010Z

we arrived in belfast monday night in time for dinner. it was a nice and uneventful trip over!! tuesday karen, luke and zach came over for lunch. here's jonah and zach together!

in the afternoon we went into belfast to do some shopping. it was nice with all the christmas lights and we checked out the new victoria square. very nice indeed!

wednesday we had lunch with paul,erin, rose and aiden mullan...

aiden and jonah, (daddy's cousins' son) and only a day apart.

micah and noah opening their new car garage and all the family at the end of christmas dinner.

jonah's new crib toy:

noah opening his presents and jonah enjoying mommy's slippers!

paul, karen, luke and zach.

zach, 7 months on the 29th and jonah 6.5 months on boxing day.

#23 thru 2008 - Highlights of the Year

2008-12-19T18:14:00.000Z

Here are a collection of the blog highlights from this past year.

Click on the links and enjoy the recollections.

January- What a Start:

The Adventures of Sudo Cream

February - Ups and Downs:

Boys at Malvern Hills & Micah's Eye

March - Not Much to Report:

This and That

April - Relaxing Break:

West Wales at Easter

May - Nephews Arrive:

Kilian Lane & Zach McCauley

June - Jonah Edward:

Number 3 - Is this the end?

July - Continuing:

Photography & Evangelism

August - Best Memories:

USA, Teeth & Motorbikes

September - Back into Routine:

Home School

October - Half Term:

Work & Play

November - Stateside:

Sadness & Happiness

December - The Present:

Perking Up/Winding Down

As we look back we can truly say 'Ebenezer - hitherto hath the Lord helped us'. As we look forward, 'Great is thy faithfulness'.

It only suffices for all of us at #23,

Andy, Janelle, Micah, Noah & Jonah,

to thank you for your interest & comments,

and to wish you all a

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

photo dump =)

2008-12-19T16:08:00.003Z

here is one of me...since there aren't usually any, here is one just for you all!

of course i get these after we did our christmas card! oh well... aren't they adorable? cheecky monkeys definitely =)

in other news, micah been great at helping me make all the christmas goodies! 7 loaves of pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cupcakes =) i still need to bake some snickerdoodle cookies too. and possible a pumpkin cheesecake, but i am not sure about that one!

jonah talking

2008-12-19T09:32:00.004Z

the coughing you hear is from noah who is sitting next to jonah. i think jonah does a fake cough at one point =)

here is noah bowling. we went bowling for my birthday back in november! the boys really loved it and i think andy and i forgot how much we enjoy it too!!

jonah, 6 months

2008-12-16T23:39:00.005Z

(here are some photos from my mobile!)
jonah in reindeer hat (click here to see noah in the hat 2 years ago!) ((i think i'll have to recreate that photo tomorrow or sometime soon!)

micah's new peter pan outfit (woolworth's is closing down, everything on sale!)

and micah and jonah playing =)

fast update before heading to bed...

jonah weighed in at 15lbs 7oz. that's 1lb 1oz gain in 4ish weeks! so he is doing well. still just above the 9th percentile. noah was around 18lbs at 6 months and micah maybe the same if not a little bit less. micah dropped down below the 9th percentile around this age.

i started my baking today. lots to do over the next few days! have to be done by friday=) my friend hannah was out for the day yesterday in bridgenorth in shropshire and found "americalicious". a little shop that sold everything american and they had big tins of pumpkin! she texted to see if i wanted any and ofcourse i said yes! so i have 2 big tins and still have 4 small tins left. i have to save some for ireland too!!

this week i think i am just making pumpkin muffins, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodle cookies and maybe some pumpkin bread too. hopefully andy will make some wheaten bread as well!

i'm off to bed now =)

so...

2008-12-14T22:01:00.002Z

it's almost christmas!! hooray =) i took noah and jonah to the doctors on friday. noah hasn't ever gotten over his last cold and wednesday he just wasn't himself. quite quiet and stayed in his stroller not really wanting to get out as usual. thursday he was the same and a bit warm and just wanted to lay on the couch with a blanket. that night i noticed a lump on his neck. so friday i called for an appointment. along with jonah who has gotten our coughs and splutters. so the doctor diagnosed a double ear infection in noah and single ear infection for jonah. so amoxicilan or whatever, here we are!
its our first ear infections hopefully the last!
jonah reaches 6 months yesterday so last week we started on some fruits! yummy. apples and banana so far. we tried a bit of carrots and parsnips and potato. i need to get some babyrice to mix with some of it though, i think! but going well! he gets so excited though when he sees the spoon! i'll go on tuesday to get him weighed and measured for the official stuff!

he likes his toes too =)
oh and jonah can get himself out of his bumbo chair!! OMG, what is that all about? so now when i put him in i *have* to put the tray on!! he is a smiley baby though with his 2 bottom teeth! i have a few little video clips from my mobile that i need to download soon. speaking of which, micah and noah have taken over my mobile phones camera! noah especially loves to take photos, problem is that he doesn't know how to go back to take another and he ends of sending photo messages to everyone! andy one day has like 8 messages!! expensive for me!! yikes!

this is the last week of work of andy for the year! love that sound =) he has a busy-ish week with the christmas party, a class trip to a buddhist center, a musicical afternoon and finally the nativity play that he wrote for his year 5. friday evening is our carol service at church as well. monday the 22nd we leave for belfast via ferry. hopefully the trip will be a bit better than last time! (we got stuck in dublin rush hour for like 2 hours!!) we will be in belfast for christmas and coming home new years day. should be a load of fun!!

i'm back!

2008-12-09T20:40:00.005Z

not that i went anywhere, i just wasn't getting on here to blog! to busy with facebook and online christmas shopping =) but here i am and hoping i can think of loads to tell you all!
so first, this is how thanksgiving looked for us and 12 others! so good and we totally enjoyed leftover for the next 2 days too! i had them watch charlie brown's thanksgiving so they could see what its all about!!

on the sunday after having turkey, stuffing and cranberry sandwiches =) we went to the botanical gardens with peter and becky who are getting married in april and took some photos so that they can get some photos for their parents for christmas. it was dark all too quickly but we got a few.

some time last week or the week before, noah got a real shiner of a bruise while chasing micah! it looked like it dented his check, i was a bit scared i'd have to make a run to the A&E but he calmed down and it soon showed its ugly colours and all was ok!

last saturday we had out sunday school christmas party, went to pick up a rainforest jumperoo that i won on ebay and the boys picked up a christmas tree for us! so it was a busy day but nice to have the tree up and looking beautiful!

and i'll let you see our christmas cards for this year! i am extremely pleased with them if i do say so myself =)

actually i'll only show this one....he he

preparing for thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T23:45:00.003Z

this is the food that i ordered on monday night! arrived this morning!

the turkey!!

micah helping me to make the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

all ready for tomorrow!! can't wait!

happy thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T08:48:00.004Z

i hope everyone had a lovely thanksgiving yesterday! we had a nice day as our friend (aunty) shiela took us to Webbs. its a garden center with a lot of stuff going on! the boys picked out their christmas ornaments as they get one each year. we had lunch there and just walked around really. it was nice to get out!

last night i had my groceries delievered and the turkey is huge! i could barely lift it!! i so can't wait to start cooking it!! we have now upped the number coming to 14 adults and 2 children and 1 infant! wowee...where to put them all? and do i have enough plates?? hmm =) i can't wait! nor can any of the others! i even have charlie brown's thanksgiving for everyone to watch as a lot of them have no idea what thanksgiving is all about!!

so today i have to start baking! pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin choc chip cookies, the potato rolls too. tomorrow morning will be the turkey, stuffing and peeling the potatoes and carrots. so i don't think it'll be too much really. avril is bringing roast parsnips and potatoes and also a pavlova. jon and anthea if they make it in the evening will bring another desert as well!!

so much awesomeness for tomorrow!!

oh and happy black friday to any who are braving the shops!

sick sick sick

2008-11-25T18:31:00.003Z

well, i had a better night last night with jonah. he slept through till 4:30 for a feed and went nicely back to sleep for me. but my tummy hurt... so i sat on the toilet, then went to get a drink of water. i laid back in bed for a bit but couldn't go back to sleep and felt like i was getting close to having to be sick. so i came downstairs and sat on the couch for a bit. was sick in the bathroom then slept a bit longer on the couch. i heard andy's alarm go off so i went upstairs and got back into bed. my tummy still hurt but i felt loads better.

thanfully jonah slept till 8 and after feeding him i was able to sleep off and on till just past 9. then noah was sick around 11ish and again at 5. he didn't eat much through the day (like nothing at all) so i think we might have some toast soon. i've had 1 toast 2 cups of tea and 3 chicken nuggets. i made andy chicken tikka masala and rice for tea. i had a few bites but am not really hungry. micah had lunch at like 2:30/3 and i don't think he is really hungry either. boy...what a day! my head hurts and i am ready for bed! that's for sure.

and just forfun:

i've just discovered...

2008-11-24T16:41:00.002Z

the stateside candy company!! i am so excited =) i just ordered stovetop stuffing, a graham cracker pie crust, some candy corn, a hamburger helper mix... and so on! the only think i couldn't find was libby's pumpkin puree! oh well, atleast i know where i can get that! i am so excited!!! come on thanksgiving! this company also has loads of other things. candy, tea, crystal light, grape soda, mountain dew and rootbeer!! heaven really.

we are having thanksgiving on saturday and have 10 people coming!! i'm buy a huge turkey (they are all half price at the moment) and i have some others making the sweet potato souffle and the green bean casserole. and also making desserts. not sure what else i can give to others to make... very excited though for it.

in other news. the boys are totally not sleeping through the night. *any.one.of.them* jonah has the 2 bottom teeth showing and i believe 1 top tooth in the works. plus thes cold that the boys have too. so terrible nights. i am trying so hard not to feed jonah each and everytime that he is waking up but really? i don't know what else to do. sometimes i can rock him back to sleep but a lot of the times, he wakes when i lay him back in the cot. and he cries and cries and cries.

jonah weigh in

2008-11-18T13:41:00.003Z

went to the health visitor this morning, well barely morning! we got there at 11:24 and they close at 11:30!! it was all cleaned up and the boys had no toys to play with! poor them!!

so anyway, jonah now weighs 14lb 6oz (9th percentile) and is 64 cm which i think is 25.5inches. something like that! as i was telling the HV that jonah had gotten his first tooth last week, and how sleeping and settling him down to sleep has gotten rough. i said hopefully its more teeth coming and i had a bit of a look and feel and lo and behold i believe there the next one coming! crazy!!

still no words from noah and tons from micah. he is really learning memory verses at sunday school and the songs. he can say "all scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable. 2 timothy chapter 3 verse 16" he knows genesis 1v1 and we are learning hebrews ch10v12 i think. i can't remember that one yet either! we also started learning the books of the old testament in a song and he knows over half of them! its so cute to hear him saying all the big works like leviticus, dueteronomy and chronicles!! so sweet!

just starting to plan our thanksgiving. we are celebrating on the saturday the 29th. just thinking it'll be easier with people working weekdays and its not so nice to eat such a big meal after 7! we have possibly up to 12 people coming. i haven't heard back from everyone yet!! can't wait though!!

libby's pumpkin cheesecake

2008-11-17T12:09:00.001Z

easy to make and delicious!! any uk people, its great with ginger snap base!

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
2/3 cup NESTLE® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F.
COMBINE graham cracker crumbs, butter and granulated sugar in medium bowl. Press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of ungreased 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes (do not allow to brown). Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.
BEAT cream cheese, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs, pumpkin and evaporated milk. Add cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg; beat well. Pour into crust.
BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until edge is set but center still moves slightly.
COMBINE sour cream, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in small bowl; mix well. Spread over surface of warm cheesecake. Bake for 5 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove side of springform pan.

pumpkin bread/cake

2008-11-16T21:20:00.002Z

a few were asking for a recipe for this on facebook so i thought i'd post it here as it goes to my facebook page as well. this is a recipe for my mom and its very very yummy =)

cake:
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2/3 cups water
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice
3 and 1/2 cup self raising flour

mix sugar, oil, water, egg and pumpkin in order given.
mix in sifted dry in gredients.
bake in tube pan 350 degrees for 1hr 15min.
(if you use loaf pans, check in 50 minutes or if you make cupcakes 20-25minutes is enough.)

frosting:
1 8oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1lb box 10x sugar (powdered sugar/icing sugar)

cream together and frost away =)
p.s. i made 24 cupcakes and a loaf of bread out of this recipe and only made up half of the icing as that was all the powdered sugar i had and it was more than enough! though its so so yummy, the more the merrier (and fatter ~ ha ha)
its so yummy!! the icing along, OMG!

enjoy =)

baby rice

2008-11-15T22:53:00.001Z

sad news

2008-11-09T16:40:00.003Z

since there are a good few perry hall peeps who read, i thought i'd post. my brother is married to kelly loftus. her sister katie and her family were involved in that big car accident in bel air friday night. katie and her son wilson were killed instantly. her husband steve was flown to shock trauma with multiple broken bones and other injuries. he was in surgery for quite awhile. ian their 2.5 year old was taken to john hopkins but has already been released. he had a few cuts but was thankfully ok.
please please please keep them in your prayers over these next few days and weeks.
here is one of the news articles. http://www.wbaltv.com/news/17934305/detail.html?taf=bal

thanks =)

p.s.
in other mullan news, jonah has his first tooth! so much earlier then the other boys!!

At the homestead

2008-11-07T20:28:00.003Z

hello from belfast. we are having a nice time here in belfast. it is cold but the weathers been nice! sunny and dry =)

our trip over was fine...until we got to dublin and missed signs for the ring road and had to go straight through dublin during rush hour. a hour and a half later we got to the other side and onto the motorway. a long trip but we made it and all is well!

yesterday we just hung out with karen and luke at their house (and zach). then simon and esther and sarah came over too. nice and relaxing =)

today jo and i went shopping, then again over to karen's for a book party. found some lovely new usborne books! bought some for the boys. we got to see some of andy's cousins who have either lived in canada for 2 years or live in pennsylvania, so it's been awhile since we have seen them!

the men of the family went out to play football today and came back with a few injuries! minor so far, but philip is off to the A&E to have his foot checked out. he might have a fractured metatarsal in his right foot =( poor boy!! )

so philip didn't break any bones, he just had a bruised foot. so that was good. he even went to work on saturday at tesco's so was on his feet for 4ish hours!

saturday afternoon, us siblings went out for a meal with only the 2 babies. micah, noah, luke and sarah stayed at nana's and papa's! that was nice. we went to a country club type restaurant and it was lovely! andy and i started with pumpkin soup which was delicious, though you couldn't *really* taste the pumpkin as i guess we were thinking sweet pumpkin like in my pumpkin cheesecake/pumpkin choc chip cookies/pumpkin cake...and so on!

which by the way, i can't wait to start baking and cooking all the pumpkin stuff and thanksgiving stuff. i think this year we are celebrating thanksgiving on the saturday which will be much easier for working ones and the students. now just have to figure out who to invite!!

monday thru thursday the boys and i didn't really leave the house at all! monday was my birthday and i was told by andy not to make dinner for him and i, but to just make it for the boys... so that was fun and easy to do! when andy got home he said that we were going out for a meal and peter and becky were coming to babysit! it was their gift to us (dinner and babysitting!) so once i got jonah down around 7:45 and once micah let us leave =( we were off to nando's!! yummy. we haven't been in a very long time and it was delicious! then we walked next door to the movie theatre and didn't see a movie (as they all finished just before midnight) but got some ben and jerry's ice cream for dessert!!!! so a very yummy evening (i took a hiatus from my diet!!)

here are some photos from halloween. we had abook party at karen's and some of the children dressed up for it. micah actually dressed up in his cowboy outfit and we got there and he saw luke's outfit and he asked luke if he could try it on! so they swapped! noah didn't want to partake in the fun and i forgot to take jonah's doggy outfit. oh well! but sara stole the show in the ladybug outfit that i got 9 years ago when i was working at old navy! i wish that i had bought more outfits!

here are zach, jonah and aiden. zach is 2 weeks older and aiden is a day older then jonah!

wednesday night was bonfire night (Guy Fawkes Day). we didn't go anywhere to see the fireworks but could hear them of course. thursday night our neighbours out back and over 1 had their fireworks display and it was so very loud and annoying. micah fell asleep anyway, but noah wasn't going to sleep at all... thankfully tonight there is no one close by setting them off! so all asleep =)

snow! its snowing!!

2008-10-28T19:05:00.007Z

*just to say i hate blogger and the way this is showing up! the pics should all be one under the other! yuck*

ok, it was snowing! but we are loving it!

i went out this sunny morning with only flip-flops on. i kinda thought to change into my boots, but didn't. i was fine on the way to doctors for jonah's last immunization (3 shots and no tears!). then into town and onto the train to go and visit andy at school.. he had micah and noah with him. (its half-term, so no children and usually no teachers! BUT they have ofstead inspection next week so he wanted to get some planning done!)

anyway, it was sleeting when i got off the train so i waited a bit before walking to school, which usually take about 10 minutes or so. i was a bit wet when we got there but ok. went out to pick up lunch with micah and noah and it was raining, but not horrible, until my feet got wet. puddles + flip-flops = soreness inbetween big toe and the next one! anyway, whatever. but while eating lunch the sleet turned into snow! quite big flakes, but so wet we knew it wouldn't do anything! around 4 though it started settling on the ground, grass and street a like! awesome! so we finally got home and the boys played for a bit!

micah made this mask while at school with andy. he coloured all of the beard by himself and when i arrived he told me his thumb hurt. i asked why? and he said b/c he had coloured so much!

noah doesn't like having any mask completely over his face =)

some new pics and moo postcards!

2008-10-25T23:06:00.004+01:00

we got a new bumbo chair for jonah as the old one we had (a bebe pod) got broken by the older boys...go figure! but this one has a tray so i love it =)

jonah can join us at the table now!!

just a random carrot that we came across last week!

these are awesome postcards! i almost don't want to send any of them!! 60 postcards all with different pictures on them. they are quite thick and just awesome to see! i can't wait to order more things from them!! Moo

rolling over more and more

2008-10-24T14:17:00.003+01:00

jonah likes to roll! just now he went from back to tummy and then on to his back then on to his tummy! all going to the left each time! he also rolled to his left, back to front then rolled back onto his back (his starting position..) does that make sense?

the weighing of jonah!

2008-10-21T17:41:00.002+01:00

so i finally got around to taking jonah to the baby clinic today and he weighed in at 13lbs 13.5oz. so only a 7oz gain in 3 weeks, but better then his 5oz gain in the weeks. i'm thinking of giving him a bottle of formula once a day, one to give me a break and 2 to give him a boost. so the health visitor was happy with that and so we'll see what happens. then hopefully i can find an exercise class that i can go to in the evenings but its hard when i can't drive. i forgot to ask them about starting to feed fim solids, but i don't think i really need to...yet! i started both boys at around 4-5 months, so it can't hurt right?

malverns

2008-10-19T23:38:00.003+01:00

yesterday we spent the day up on the malvern hills....it was so beautiful, though very windy! here is a teaser picture, the rest will come tomorrow! i'm off to bed =)

nothing much going on

2008-10-17T19:07:00.002+01:00

not too much to talk about really. all is going well. we missed jonah's appt to be weighed so will have to go next tuesday. we haven't done anything really at all this week. have barely gotten out of the house!

we have had some nice sunny days though. monday we went to the park for a wee bit. and today we went to the store, but other then that...nothing!

we've booked our ticket for half-term to go over to belfast. only there for 5 days barely but will be nice to see everyone! some time soon i'll be doing an engagment session with our friend becky and peter. can't wait for that to happen. possibly at the botanical gardens and/or stratford. should be lots of fun anyway!

jonah has been waking up a bit in the nights recently. for 2 whole months he has been sleeping through but now has been waking around 3ish for a feed. not all the time, but some. last night was a horrible night for sleeping. jonah woke at 3 as i was finishing feeding him, micah woke up and came into our bed. i took him back to his but he cried off an on for literally 2 hours. andy actually got up and made him a sandwhich. and he still carried on. he just did not want to be on his own and wasn't falling back asleep at all. andy spent some time with hime, but then i did as andy had to get up in a few short hours for work. will with micah carry-ing on, noah and eventually jonah woke up too. all 3 boys were awake and it was barely 5. so i was going back and forth between the 2 rooms and had to eventually feed jonah and when i finished i think micah and noah were finally back to sleep too.

it was terrible. so i got into my own bed nearer to 6 and slept off and on until 9 when the boys who were ofcourse by then awake *again* would not leave me in peace. so a very tired mommy and daddy today! thankfully it wasn't the night before as andy had an interview at school on thursday. it was for the maths co-ordinator. a roll in which he has already been fulfilling but had to have a proper interview. he got it with flying colours and was even told that it was the best interview one of the heads had ever sat in for (in maths that is)!!! so *go* andy!! we so proud =)

this is the cake i made last week that was oh so so delicious!!

this photo is of micah watching *lord of the rings* it was the only movie that we have the had a guy shooting with a bow and arror and he is so interested in knowing how to carry it and shoot it! he doesn't like us forwarding it when it gets to scary/goary bits but i know he'll think its scary so i just do it anyway...he's enjoyed it though, even though we have to answer thousands upon thousands of questions about what is happening and why, why, why?

a definite roll-over!

2008-10-08T20:30:00.002+01:00

so yesterday jonah definitely rolled over. as he did it again later in the day! today was a gorgeous day so we got out to the park for a wee bit and then to the shops. i baked a cake today too! it was scrumptious!!! it was from a children's cookbook and the icing was dark chocolate and double cream. that is all you needed to make the icing and it was/is delicious!! its a 2 layer cake and i am pretty pleased with it!!

rolling over (and we are back online)

2008-10-07T15:39:00.004+01:00

i think jonah rolled over today! he was on his side and i moved him over as there was something blocking his path and he then went onto his tummy! usually its his arm and thumb that are in the way of going all the way over...but i think he really did it!! hurray =)

and as you can tell (maybe) that we are back online. it was out phone extension lead that wasn't working i guess. though i had tried without that last week at some point and it still didn't work for me, it is now working, so whatever!! we are going to go over to PC World to get a wireless adapter so that the hub can stay near the phone jack and the computer can go wherever we want it too!

not too much else going on. we had loads of rain today....so not very nice. yesterday we spent the day with hannah and samuel. i think samuel enjoyed having micah and noah around and micah and noah loved playing with some new toys =) hannah kept micah and jonah while i took noah to the speech and language lady. who said that there wasn't any worries with him, just to keep going with single words and repetition! we don't have to go back unless in about 6 months time there is no change.

Jonah found the giraffe's leg and thought it looked yummy!!

Out of the Loop

2008-10-06T16:31:00.003+01:00

Sorry for no news recently. Out internet has stopped working at home, and we're waiting for BT to come and fix it. So Janelle hasn't been able to keep in touch with all our avid readers!!!!

I'm writing this from school, as I'm too exhausted to think about school work. We've just finished a day of inspection, which went well. I got observed teaching math, and they said it was good, so I'm pleased, even though the kids didn't make as much progress as I expected.

So what's the news ...

After Jonah's appointment, Noah had one the next day for a hearing test which he got through most of. He didn't finish it as he wouldn't let them put anything in his ears, so he has to go back at some point. Janelle is taking him today to see a speech and language specialist to see what can be done, if anything about his lack of speaking. They were happy with things and said we didn't have to go back so that's encouraging.

All the family are well, although I'm trying hard to fight off a cold that is flirting with me. Thankfully it hasn't taken hold fully, so a bit more sleep should do the job - there hasn't been much of that this last week.

For my english lesson today, I wanted a picture of a hero and a dragon, so asked my brother Stephen Mullan to sketch me out something to inspire the kids in writing their myths. I thought you'd like to see it.

jonah wighed in at....

2008-09-30T13:49:00.003+01:00

So..jonah was weighed and hasn't gained much at all. on the 2nd of september he was 13.1 and today he was 13.6! i wasn't there for the weighing as i had my own appointment. my friend becky took jonah and they asked her if there were any feeding problems but there aren't any. he is sleeping through the nights and only have 4 feeds during the day, all from me. so i don't know! she wants us to come back in 2 weeks time.

which means that in the next 2 weeks between noah, me and jonah we have 5 dr/hosp/speech+language appointments! oh boy. becky took us today and will accompany us to the childrens hospital on thursday for a hearing test. then on friday i have an appt (which is a whole other story...mostly involving possible allergies or asthma?). monday noah goes to the speech and language specialist and i'll be dropping jonah and micah off at hannah's on the way. thursday i have another dr appt and then the following tuesday i'll have to take jonah back to be weighed again!

yuck. but jonah is happy and healthy otherwise. he had 2 more shots today and calmed down quite quickly afterwards. he is sleeping 10-12hours at night and sleeping a wee bit between each feeding... like an hour or so. its great! he's lovely and coo-ing away. loves to be standing =) and likes his big brothers!!

jonah

2008-09-29T23:21:00.003+01:00

jonah gets weighed, measured and his 2nd immunization tomorrow...so in preperation of that here is a gorgeous photo from today!! isn't he adorable?

updates =)

2008-09-25T10:58:00.002+01:00

sorry for the lack of posting...but my excuse is that i haven't taken any photos b/c of a dead battery and i can't find the charger ;)

but...our going to bed routine has worked a charm and we are loving the extra free time we have! the other night all boys, yes! all 3 boys were in bed by 8 o'clock!! by 9:30 andy asked what the time was and if it was our bed time yet?! we had so much time!

so jonah is usually down by 7:30, 8 at the latest. noah is very good and barely cries. if he does it is a totally fake cry! you can hear him humming away to himself. micah puts up a fight and does not like to go to bed at all. he's the worst of the lot =) but we get the lights off and he stays in bed but he cries, sometimes sobbing and usually falls asleep midcry!

now staying in bed all night is a hit or miss. we still wake up with children in the bed. sometimes we don't even wake up so we can't put them back into bed...while other times we are just way too tired! so we're working on that one =)

all are doing well. we've kinda starting homeschooling with micah. just 5 minutes a day, usually when noah is taking his nap and we work on counting and the alphebet, sometimes writing and a little math. thanks to thomas math is fun ;)

noah is signing please without us asking him too. we have 2 appointments coming up for him. a hearing test and then an appt with a speach and language lady. so we'll see what happens!

oh to be in the states today..

2008-09-25T10:52:00.004+01:00

did i ever tell you how much i love love love ice cream?? i think it was from working at Friendly's =)
so for any of you near a cold stone creamery....here's your chance at a free dessert tonight!

Cold Stone Creamery: Free Icecream--September 25, 2008
On Thursday, September 25, 2008 from 5:00-8:00 PM, all guests to any Cold Stone Creamery location in the nation will be treated to a 3 oz. serving of icecream. Donations will be accepted to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The two free flavors available are: Marshmallow ice cream with OREO® Cookies, Chocolate Chips and Fudge or Nutter Butter® ice cream with White Chocolate Chips, Kit Kat® and Yellow Cake. More details here.Thanks, Sherry!

becky's twins have arrived!

2008-09-18T10:02:00.002+01:00

becky (at almost 35 weeks) after many hospital appointments and blood pressure checks, ryan and isaac were born yesterday weighing 5lbs 2.6oz and 5lbs 2.4oz!! you can read her sister's post here: http://beckyislosinghermind.blogspot.com/

our lil cowboy =)

2008-09-16T07:50:00.002+01:00

we got micah 2-3 costumes for his birthday. a cowboy, as you can see that he loves! you can turn the vest inside out too and be an indian with a feather head thingy and a bow and arrow! the other costume is a knight... (i'm sure...pictures to come later!)

sleeping matters

2008-09-11T23:53:00.003+01:00

we started last week with a new bedtime schedule. micah and noah got too used to mommy and daddy laying down with them to read and stay with them while they fell asleep. while we've tried many times to get out of this habit, we've never kept too it. well last week we started afresh and meant it this time. they got ready for bed, we read them a story or 2 or 3 =) prayed with them, then we tucked them in and said goodnight with a kiss.

the first few days, andy sat outside their rooms (we've seperated them since we knew it wouldn't work with them in the same room until they could fall asleep on their own) and he either sang or just sat there with some music playing. they cried and cried and carried on. noah would get out of bed and so forth, but we carried on and viola, not even a week later and they both cry still, but last night micah hardly cried at all and was asleep first and noah cried off and on for about 20 minutes, but didn't try to get out of bed. tonight, they both cried for no more then 10 minutes before falling asleep!! it was great. and jonah has been going down around about the same time (somewhere between 8 and 8:30) and its been bliss!!!

this morning we even woke up with no children in our bed! heavenly =)

this is the house that joanne and philip stayed at over in tawneytown!

a night with josh and jenn

2008-09-11T09:53:00.002+01:00

too cute for words: madame faith

we had a great night with josh and jenn at his parents house where there is a pool! so most of the guys enjoyed the pool and josh bbq-ed for us! it was yummy! so josh and jenn, it was so nice to sit down with you 2 and chat. i hope luke is enjoying school and that faith isn't missing him too much!

some photos from taneytown

2008-09-11T09:34:00.002+01:00

this is where andy's brother and sister stayed their first week in america! their friend alice lives out in taneytown and across the way is her son and his family. there is lots to do there on the farm and we went over for a day to enjoy it too! the family were very nice and and the boys (big and little) enjoyed the day =) a lot!

the gold medalist of the trampoline!

*stranded*

corn fields

tractor?

a view while washing dishes...

micah really really wanted to ride it by himself!

jonah, 12 weeks

2008-09-08T14:41:00.003+01:00

can we believe he is 12 weeks already? nope...or that he has spent like 3/4 of his wee life in america?? very fun!

he is generally a happy baby as you can see. he likes to talk to us and laugh with us. he is very ticklish under his arms ;) and loves to stand...already! he is sleeping through the nights (and has been thankfully for the last almost 3 weeks, thanks to his little thumb that he finds in the night! and thanks to his NUK as well (aka binkey, dummy...)
last weighed on the 2nd he was 13lbs 1oz and 24 inches long so he is doing great! he had his first set of shots and did very well! i didn't even have to feed him straight away like i did with the others!

the boys still love holding him and touching him and hugging him and generally smothering him! but jonah usually takes it all in and its grand!

photos from baltimore and 1 cool video (no relation to me or baltimore)

2008-09-04T23:58:00.005+01:00

click here to see a slideshow of the photos i have up on Flickr so far. or click here just to view them as is (aka no slideshow). there will be more photos coming, BUT we managed to leave 2 memory cards in my dad truck! so they are being posted to us!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyGEEamz7ZM
i can't figure out how to get it on here...but its very cool (and i love the music)!

and one last item! we got a playhouse for the back garden!! it was passed on to us from a friend of a friend as they had gotten a new one =) its cool and the boys love it, though its just been raining raining raining since we got it!

help is needed!

2008-09-04T12:14:00.003+01:00

since being home i have the strongest urge to redecorate! not

that the money is that available, but i would love love love to have a country-ish front room. here is a photo of the front window and i am in desperate need of new curtains. i want something fun and maybe light in colour? any thoughts? its been so dismal here since we returned...rain, rain and more rain! so i need something to do =) to cheer up the place!

any thoughts?

(and sorry for the mess on the couches...i just moved them around this morning!)

micah's 4th birthday

2008-09-03T11:14:00.002+01:00

waiting for his cake to come

one more

sponge micah bob

home sweet home

2008-08-30T17:47:00.002+01:00

so we made it back yesterday evening and all is well. the flight went well, uneventful really. all boys slept. andy got some good sleep and i slept little as i was uncomfortable really, so i walked and stood a lot! but i watched oxford murders and really enjoyed it. we rented a car once we got to heathrow and it was a bit hard to drive a manual car after 3+ weeks in an automatic!! we had a nice vauxhall zafira i think it was...very nice! i didn't want to return it today! =(

we actually realized on the way out of london that we didn't know where our keys were! we couldn't remember seeing them when we were packing up so we stopped in redditch first to have a quick look, then called to see who had them last. our window trims were stained our downstairs hallway and upstairs bathroom were painted too while we were gone! it was great to come home to that...but because of that we had left 1 set of keys with some of our friends who sorted mail and stuff and then later on finished off the painting stuff that andy's mom and dad started so they had set 2. set 3 we thought we had taken them with us, but they were actually here in the house, sitting in the back door. hmmm, don't know what happened there! so anyway, we stayed at avril's house until pheobe got home from work as she had hold of them! so it was all good and we got in the house around 8;30ish. both boys were asleep, jonah i fed and put to bed and andy and i were asleep by 9:30. all 3 boys were up in the night. at midnight they were hungry and thirsty so they shared a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! we switched around in the night, you know, musical beds, but all was good and we slept till 8:30! that was super nice though we still felt a little out of sorts!

so thats all for now, will write again in a few days when i have some more photos complete!

more from baltimore

2008-08-20T04:25:00.002+01:00

still having a great time of course. sorry for not updating enough but this computer is slow and when i want to do stuff with my photos, it takes ages so...
anyway, noah had his tooth extracted today with ease. he was great and the dentists were prepared and they were in and out within 20 minutes! and noah even waved bye to the dentist when they left!!
lets see...thursday we went to the amish market then to silver spring mining company for a crab pretzel (yummy). took melissa to the airport then home with a storm brewing which caused melissa to have her flight canceled! she spent the night in a hotel and caught an early flight to NYC. friday hmm, i can't remember what we did. i think just a bit of this and that. nothing special. jen came over for dinner and we had rita's for dessert.
saturday we went up to lancaster area. to the outlets and the childrens store carter's. i did some birthday and christmas shopping, tax-free! stephen flew in that night and all was good. sunday we went to forge road bible chapel and it was very nice. i saw some people i hadn't really seen since high school, so that was fun! and there was a nursery for jonah during the morning meeting, then sunday school for the boys during the family meeting. i think we'll be going back on sunday too =)
monday we went over to carroll county to where jo and philip were staying. it was great. lots of fun stuff for the big boys as well as the little boys! it was a long day but very good. phil and jo were dropped off today and they rented a car for there last few days until saturday when they fly home. tonight we went to a bbq at a friends house and micah played with their little boy luke who is also 3.
well enough for now, here are some more photos from memo's birthday part!!

all my cousins on my moms side (and wifes' and husband...ok, and partners)

cousin lydia

jeremy's fam minus kilian who was sleeping

uncle lou and uncle pat, wondering what to do with noah

Queen Mums' birthday

85 years

so much going on!

2008-08-14T14:28:00.002+01:00

last week was a nice relaxing week. saw a few friends, my dads' mom and sister flew in, saturday was a party for memo so lots of family came over for a bbq. it was really nice to sit and chat with everyone and the food was yummy! my friend melissa flew in on friday night and it's been so nice just hanging out with her. she leaves today for a weekend in new york city!

monday we spent the day downtown baltimore. it was a beautiful day to walk around. we visited the constellation, a tall ship dating back to late 18th century. we met up with a friend who was in england the same time as me, angie and her husband mike. ate lunch then some went on the paddleboats, then to the aqaurium. that night we went to jeremy's again for a bbq. aunt cathy brought some boudin with her... its a specialty from louisianna =) its a sausage, stuffed with rice and meat and it was very very good!

tuesday aunt cathy and (great) mimi flew home and noah had a little accident! he fell into the bathtub and chipped his tooth! well fractured it really as it goes up above the gums and has to be removed on tuesday morning. yep, so much fun! tuesday night we went to dinner at another friends house from college. he and his wife have 3 kids, the youngest being 13 days younger then jonah!

wednesday we just went to the park. melissa got a ride on the motocycle =) it stormed as we left but wasn't too bad here. then melissa, andy and i went downtown for a meal out at Ruth's Chris which is expensive dining! very posh and OMG so yummy! since melissa works for them over in Indy, we got a discount and we also got a tour! it was really cool and we saw 3 other restaurants/clubs as they own them all. it was really cool.

so far:
we met kilian

here's jonah at 2 months

mimi with her 2 babies

leah n amber, my cousins, holding maddie, my other cousins little girl

and micah got to ride on pop-pop's motorcycle too!

lovely baltimore

2008-08-05T14:06:00.002+01:00

so here we are in baltimore once more! sorry, no pictures to add at the moment! haven't downloaded anything! and actually haven't taken many photos. just a few yesterday of andy hard at work with my dad building the steps for their deck! promise to take some more photos and put them up!

we had a great flight on sunday, no glitches or anything. all the boys were great and andy and i were able to watch one full film each and i started a few others! jonah slept most the time and feed 3 times. on taking off, on landing and once inbetween. micah was very good until he got tired then finally slept and noah was pretty good, though definitely didn't like staying in his seat as much!

yesterday we didn't do much (except for andy and dad). we stayed around the house then went to jeremy and kellys for dinner. we met kilian for the first time and their new greyhound named milton! the boys and andy swam in the pool and jeremy bbq some delicious dinner!! it was nice though we were so tired by 8 o'clock. so off home with 3 sleeping boys who slept through till 7 this morning, and jonah woke at 4 and 6. an improvement over monday morning....noah and i woke at 4:30 and couldn't go back to sleep. mom and micah joined us at 5:30.

todays the day...

2008-08-02T08:45:00.003+01:00

we are leaving in an hour and a half to make our way down to london. its hard to believe the day is here, but we are very excited and cannot wait. our suitcases are pretty well packed and there are just little bits to go in. its all good! here are some photos to share from the past week... we had a bbq last night and i don't think we took any photos whatsoever! oops =)

Gordon/Papa did *A LOT* of gardening for us!! we are very very thankful to him and Valerie for doing so much for us this week! they are awesome =)

the ring leader

for all the rest of the photos, you will find them here

oh my goodness gracious!

2008-08-01T12:32:00.002+01:00

i can't believe that today is our last day at our house!! wow...seems like so much to do =) the gang is out in weoley castle to do some tracting/surveys. then the majority of them are going to stratford for the afternoon then back here for the bbq. though it is rainging hopefully it will clear up!
i'm staying in to finish off the packing and getting bbq stuff ready!! then off tomorrow morning to london for the wedding, spend the night and then to the airport for our 1o'clock flight. unfortunately our plane is a small one... 2-3-2 is the seats going across, so we can't all sit together as we need 4 seats!
well i have to run quickly to go to the bank. more maybe later!
oh any if anyone wants to email me about our get2gether it'll be in the comment section! =)

perry hall girls

2008-07-30T10:53:00.003+01:00

*edited* thanks meghan for replying!! i forgot that you are a teacher too! my moms a school nurse so hence her starting work too. ok. i don't want to miss out on anyone so...what about wednesday the 13th? hmmm? =)

ok girls... i'm thinking the week of the 18th for a get together. the monday or tuesday? would that work for everyone? ~Erin i believe has offered her house for the get together. so ofcourse it will have to suit her...but let us know what you all think and we can then arrange times and food? and what nots!!

can't wait to be home again! i can't believe that it is just a few days away!!! jonah's passport came on saturday, his seat is booked and we are almost all packed! yeah =)

some photos for mom and the latest...

2008-07-29T19:28:00.006+01:00

some photos from last wednesday.... (one of each so not to waste space!!)

we have had gorgeously hot weather from last wednesday till today really. last night the heavens opened up and it poured, thundered and lightning-ed all night! it was absolutely wonderful! it was our first proper *storm* and i loved it!!
gordon and valerie are over at the moment, as well and philip, his girlfriend deborah and stephen. we started out outreach on monday with some surveys out in weoley castle. the early evening was reserved for the childrens work, but it was rained out and so was tracting. today was more surverys, childrens meeting and now tracting. we've had lois, jemima, lizzie, sophie and pheobe come to help out as well. good fun! i've had fun making huge dinners too =) lots and lots of food!
micah has loved having everyone around. on sunday he found a friend in deborah as she *fought* with him ;)

11ish days to go

2008-07-23T18:09:00.002+01:00

yesterday was andy's last day of school...and he went to put his key in the ignition and it wouldn't go all the way in. so he wiggled it a wee bit and...it broke! the key broke! we have such bad luck with keys =) so he got a lift home and today he cycled from here to there and everywhere. he took noah to the doctors on the bike. then he took micah to the grocery store. then he had to cycle to school to get the broken bit out, cycle back here to weoley castle to get a new key cut, then back to school to see if it worked. thankfully it did! and now our car is back home with us!
today has been a warm, overcast day! we had our friend clare over with her little girl charlie and they played away outside in the garden and we had a picnic. then we walked to the park. it was very nice.
i don't know if i have mentioned before or not, but micah is in love with charlie and lola! his new favourite show that we watch on the computer! so when we said that charlie was coming today he was like...hmm, (you could see him thinking) charlie and lola??

12 days and counting...

2008-07-21T22:17:00.005+01:00

i bought a baby swing off of ebay last week and it was delievered today! so much fun! i think jonah liked it as he sat in in for quite awhile without crying...

yesterday we photographed a wedding for a friend who works with andy. it was good fun and a lovely day! here is a sneak peak =)

so 12 days to go! we can't wait and are so ready for a long holiday!! in-laws are coming wednesday night, 2 brother-in-laws are coming saturday night. they are all staying throught till the weekend we leave... next week we are having an outreach week, talking to people on the streets (around weoley castle) and passing out gospel tracts to the homes. possible doing something for the children as well? we'll see.... hopefully it'll be nice weather!

speaking of weather, its only in the 60's/ low 70's here so i know that being in baltimore is going to be a total shock to the system...

well i gotta go, noah is coming down the stairs crying... we all have summer colds. not fun!

beauty

2008-07-15T09:07:00.003+01:00

had some fun this morning with the morning sunshine! i was actually still in my pj's =)

we have finally had some proper summer weather yesterday and today! yesterday i went out with the boys for the first time on my own! i took the double buggy as it was just easier and i knew we'd be out long enough that noah would get tired. we went into the city center to primarily get jonah's passport photos taken...it took awhile, but we finally got him with his head facing straight into the camera and arms down. though it took the use of a soother to pacify (he he) him and so in his photo he has puckered lips!! we went into GAP to visit a few a the girls who are still there that i worked with, then to Boots to return an outfit we had gotten and buy a few things. then to marks and spencers to get lunch! they have nice sandwiches and stuff =) then to mothercare to feed, change and use the toilet, then back to the bus and home! we got home around 1:30/2 and had left at 10, so not too bad!! jonah slept almost the whole time.

then today we went to the post office to send off the passport application. then to sainsbury's for some bread and diapers. today we took our new (well, we bought it at christmas time but haven't used it) stroller that is just for the new baby. he looks so lost in it, but its a great stroller as i can push with one hand! noah had his frog reigns on that micah held onto most the time and then i could hold his hand too. it went pretty well...so the boys got a treat when we got to sainsbury's! mini doughnuts! yum =)

thankfully its a nice day so that the boys have mostly played outback this afternoon and even jonah slept in his stroller outback for a hour and a half! clothes dried quickly and i got 2 loads done so that was nice too! i just need to get it all folded and put away now! jonah is up to 9lbs 14oz (at 4weeks) and is doing well. still are times that i am feeding quite a bit, but then other times and at night time he goes the full 3 hours inbetween and longer in the night!

to my perry hall girls =)

2008-07-13T22:50:00.002+01:00

hello girls! i hope you are all well!! *i am coming in 3 weeks and cannot wait!!!*
so i have a few questions!
*first when shall we meet up and where?
*do you know where we can find money off coupons for days out, like the zoo, aquarium, science center and so on?

also i am wondering if i need to bring my own stroller or if anyone has one that i can borrow for the 4 weeks we are there? mostly for jonah who will be 7-10 weeks and a little bit for noah who is 2 and gets tired =)

again we are flying in on the 3rd and out on the 28th. weekends we are pretty busy and the 8th, 14th and 22nd are booked... but if anyone wants to come to the ironbirds game on the 22nd, we are doing micah's 4th birthday there and still have a few tickets left as we need 20 people and i think only have 15 people...so let me know if you are interested! tickets are i believe $9.50-ish!

and any thoughts of a must to visit, either for the boys or as a date night for andy and i!!!
thanks!

our family photo =)

2008-07-10T12:39:00.006+01:00

i couldn't find just the photo, so here is the layout i did with the first family photo in 2004

our second family photo in 2006

and here we are now in 2008! my how we have grown!!!

feeding, feeding and more feeding!

2008-07-09T15:23:00.003+01:00

all night last night i feed jonah...thankfully he slept from 12 till almost 6 (ok 5:15 but i was happy)! though at also 5:30 micah woke up wanting proper apple juice (as opposed to squash [a concentrated juice drink]) so first andy got up to get him some apple juice, then tried to come back to bed. noah then woke up and wanted to go downstairs, so i took him down and we had our toast. i got into the spare bed to sleep and put in a 101 dalmations for noah. i went back to sleep and noah eventually did too as i woke at half 7 to andy bringing jonah into the room as he was hungry.
jonah's been feeding all day today and not settling too much in between! so i've been holding him a lot and feeding a lot and not getting much else done! we have some people coming over for dinner too! yikes =) and its been rainging all week so i haven't even been able to really get out of the house. not that i am looking forward to venturing out with the 3 boys and me. i am missing not being able to drive...running to the store turns into a half day event sometimes. getting ready to go, going, waiting for the bus, the bus trip, getting to the shop, shopping, stopping for a potty break or now feeding jonah, back to the bus stop, waiting for the bus, the bus trip, walking home...
so i can't wait for in 25 days or so, we'll be in the states where we'll have access to a car or 2, shops nearby, babysitters (thanks mimi!) and so on! and also seeing all our friends and most of the family! and swimming in an outdoor pool...so novel!
gotta run... more later!

the tummy tub!

2008-07-08T11:04:00.002+01:00

our friend janet actually gave this to karen and an outfit to me, but karen already had a tummy tub, so we traded! so thanks karen and janet =)

i have wanted one for awhile but just never bought one! they are just so sweet!!!
this next one i love as andy took it from the outside of the tub looking in...so so cute!! but he sat so quietly and really enjoyed it, then he went on to sleep for a few hours, letting me go to church and he slept through the whole meeting!!

coming out of the tub.

and really, who can resist a babies feet?

our nephew zach

2008-07-06T19:09:00.001+01:00

born 29th may, here he is at 1 month:

more photos here:
Charis Photography

happy 4th =)

2008-07-05T12:53:00.003+01:00

my lovely cup of tea

2008-07-03T12:20:00.002+01:00

i bought 2 of these sets...i've been wanting something fun and a little funky for awhile =) got these at the whittards outlet =) loving it!!

and micah's been singing his ABC's this morning!

home again

2008-07-02T23:27:00.006+01:00

we had a great week in belfast. though it rained a lot, we were able to get out and about...not too much, but enough to relax yet not get bored! we were able to see a good amount of friends and family, so it was successful and fun.

i'll not bore you with details...just show you some photos. i haven't had much time to 'play' with the photos yet, but i'll get around to it!

jonah and zach, 2 weeks and 1lb between them!

and the beautiful sarah joy (9 months)

all the grandchildren! (i guess that this is what happens when you have like 10 adults in the room...who do you look at!)

bullets:

2008-06-23T23:02:00.002+01:00

i am so tired
i need to go to bed
i haven't started/finished packing yet
we are suppose to leave "no later than 9:30"
...a.m.
jonah fed for like 2 hours straight tonight..
or so it felt
noah has a fever and yucky cough
someone has hired us a car for the week to drive over to belfast in
God is good to us
i can't wait for august (to fly to baltimore)
jonah now weighs 8lbs 4oz
(that's 4oz in 4.5 days!!)
i'm going to bed now?

a small recap with lots of photos

2008-06-23T11:14:00.002+01:00

hello gang! sorry for not posting any updates, but i'm sure you all know how it is with babies and toddlers in the house!! we are all doing pretty well. noah has a slight fever/cold that could have possibly come from nana (who has since gone home) or from whatever. but he's been sleepy and cuddly, so it hasn't been too bad really. micah is fine and raring to go...wherever!

andy was super husband yesterday morning and took both boys to the morning meeting (church). usually its just micah we take as he is able to sit quietly and draw or observe. where as noah doesn't quite understand the whole sitting still bit ;) but he is only 2!! but andy took them both as noah really just wanted to go out in the pushchair so andy drove so far then walked the rest of the way with noah in the stroller. he just sat in it and fell asleep eventually during the meeting and micah was very good too! so thankful for little things =)

then noah slept again after lunch, not that he ate anything, but i took him upstairs into our bed so that i could sleep too! it was nice, then andy took micah up for a nap and noah woke and joined them and they all slept a wee bit too! then jonah woke up for a feed...but it was a nice afternoon.

i haven't been taking so many photos these last few days, but i do have a few to show you all!

all the boys on my bed

noah taking a bigger interest in his baby brother

andy's cousin rachel (and auntie ann) came for a visit

micah loving his new baby brother

micah took a photo of mommy and jonah

beautiful jonah

and cutie patootie noah!

more photos =)

2008-06-19T15:44:00.003+01:00

i just did this one small as i didn't do a good job on the photos. jonah was weighed this morning and we always get photos but i had the wrong lense on so didn't get a good photo! but jonah does now weigh 8lbs. so whether he lost a wee bit and is now just past his birth weight of 7lbs 15.5 oz. the stocks (and pheobe, jane, lizzie and jo) all came over monday night to cuddle jonah.
here is jemima with him.

noah had a chocolate hobnob while watching peter pan this morning..he tends to try and eat the choc first!

micah just can't hold jonah enough! he loves him!! noah too has come around and has asked (gestured) that he wants to hold jonah, though i have yet to get a photo!!

life with jonah, micah and noah

2008-06-17T13:46:00.003+01:00

hello! so day 5 with my 3 boys. i am very thankful for valerie and glad that she is here to play with the boys, tidy up and cook dinner =) don't know how i would cope without her! but we are doing well....i was a bit tired yesterday and a bit sore, but feeling better today. jonah is doing well though feeding doesn't seem to be as easy as last time. once he is latched on, he's fine but latching on can sometimes be a problem...
nights have been hard. from 10 till whenever he finally settles down and then we are ok. but its just figuring out what his schedule is. =) but still micah loves jonah. always checking in on him and wanting to hold his or our baby. noah is slowly coming around. this morning for the first time he held his hands out to hold jonah, which he did for about 20 seconds before pulling back. he doesn't seem to be too jealous unless its time for his (noah's) nap or if has hurt himself. so all is good.
andy is pretty stressed and tired with school work as they are being inspected again tomorrow and thursday so they have been planning away and marking all the books. plus they are to be doing their reports for end of year. not much fun...so he has been sleeping in the boys room so that jonah isn't waking him up and if the boys wake up its minimal as he is right there! so hopefully soon we'll get into a routine and back to some what normal =)
and ofcourse, i can't post without putting up any photos right?

jonah

2008-06-15T15:15:00.002+01:00

some more photos from hospital:

from saturday:

i'm here...

2008-06-14T15:25:00.003+01:00

safe at home since last night. oh so nice to sleep in my own bed, and yes, i did to sleep!! jonah kept me up for awhile (until almost 2) though i did doze inbetween feedings and during some feedings! but he was definitely making up for not feeding at the hospital!! but he slept from 2 till 6, brought up some mucus, dirtied a nappy and went back to sleep until quarter to 9! i got up at 6, had a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice and then crawled back into bed! it was nice!

the birth did feel long, but was ok. gas and air was wonderful this time around and i really feel like it helped. we had a student midwife who was almost qualified who was my main midwife and she was wonderful! i only pushed a few minutes though it did feel like longer, but i do realize that once we started i don't remember stopping inbetween. i didn't use the gas and air for the pushing even though it hurt like heck, but that was just not possible! jonah cried a wee bit when he first came out and they put him on my tummy, but then it took a bit of rubbing to get him crying again. he has fair hair =) a first for us... the other midwife went and made us some tea and toast and the toast was literally the best thing in the whole entire world! oh my gosh! that will probably be my favourite memory =) (oh and no stitches!! hurray!)

i got a shower around 7:30 or so then moved up to the ward around 8:30/9. jonah slept once upstairs so i slept as well off and on as there was one other mom and baby in our room and her baby kept crying. lunch was nice and then i slept a wee bit more till finally some visitors came at 3. micah, noah, nana, andy, becky and peter (they are from church). they left then i had dinner and then went home as well!

i'll leave this as is and write more later. i need to go and make some hamburgers for dinner i think =) yummy. we missed out on a bbq last night, so tonight we are having our own!!

A Long Night

2008-06-13T09:55:00.002+01:00

We arrived at the hospital at 10pm, but didn't go to the delivery suite until just after midnight.

From then until Jonah was born just before 6, Janelle had contractions almost every 3 minutes. The only way she could get some comfort was to kneel on the bed, but after being like that for an hour or so, her knees got sore.

She did very well though, and in true Janelle style only used gas and air.

With Micah and Noah, her waters broke early on in the labour, but with this one, they didn't break until 10 minutes before Jonah was born.

Mother and Baby are fed and watered and resting in the ward. I've come home, and now I'm going to bed.

Hooray!!! Jonah is here!!!

2008-06-13T09:34:00.003+01:00

Introducing Jonah Edward Mullan.

Born 13th June 2008 @ 5.57am BST.

Weight: 7 lbs 15.5 oz

Length: 56 cm

Both Mom and Baby are doing very well.

Jonah seems quite a contented wee baby.

A proud father!!

getting stronger

2008-06-12T20:46:00.001+01:00

every 5-7 minutes but still not really bad.... so maybe tonight is the night!

still here

2008-06-12T17:02:00.000+01:00

but...i am having contractions. mild but they are there! will let you know =)

yep yep yep

2008-06-11T16:19:00.002+01:00

i.am.still.here.

no twinges or anything. just still uncomfortable. oh the joy. do you know thought that originally before my dating scan i though i was due june 13th? and what's today? hmm... we'll see =)

also, andy's cousin paul and his wife erin are having a scheduled c-section tomorrow. not fair! i'm suppose to have mine first...

anyway, yesterday and today i have had a nice afternoon nap with noah and micah. atleast an hour or so. very nice! i cleared off a table in our bedroom last night and made it into a changing table/corner with everything there and ready. and i cleaned out my maternity clothes from my wardrobe and made that the baby's shelf with vests, wee socks and baby grows. b/c really? i only have a handful of items that actually fit and are comfortable!

my sister-in-law esther goes home on saturday, so if i have to be induced, she won't get to see the baby either! simon's already missed out when he was here last weekend! oh well =)

so...nothing!

2008-06-10T09:14:00.003+01:00

i had a sweep yesterday morning while at the hospital and absolutely nothing has happened since. i'm so sad! i really want to baby to come now...am 6 days over the due date! why me!? =) i am a lot more uncomfortable, especially at nights having to turn over and getting out of bed are terrible!
so if nothing happens before saturday then i go in to be induced. not at all looking forwards to that! so please pray hard that this baby comes...now! though andy has a field trip tomorrow that is a good distance away. he was going to try and get an extra teacher on the trip so that he would be free to drive himself incase he has to leave early! what fun....

saturday andy and simon went to their cousins stag do which involved karting and a chinese buffett. andy and simon were teamed together and they won! they were so excited!!

and this is dan the groom-to-be whose brothers made him dress like this!! what a good sport!

off to appt

2008-06-09T06:59:00.001+01:00

so i have a 9am hospital appt. leaving boys at home with valerie and my friend becky is meeting me to be my moral support! so hopefully this will help to start things off =) will write later!

baby #3

2008-06-07T16:04:00.002+01:00

is taking their time in coming! i know i am 'only' 3 days over my due date...but that is 3 days longer then ever! but alas, all is well. i'm fine, i'm just tired. and thats about it! so i am off for a kip while the boys are out at the park with nana.

more of noah

2008-06-06T20:41:00.002+01:00

midwife appointment

2008-06-06T12:44:00.003+01:00

appt was just a normal appt. nothing was done to move this baby along. so if nothing happens this weekend then its to the hosp appt on monday for a sweep...

tonight noah will get the rest of his presents since andy will be home with us for dinner. so i'll take lots of photos =) tomorrow (andy's brother) simon, esther and sarah are flying in. simon and andy will be going out for their cousin dan's stag do (off go-karting and to a chinese buffett). that is in lichfield up on the other side of birmingham, so not too far away incase he needs to be called back =)

sunday we are having a big lunch at the hall (church) as there are a lot of us who want to see simon (who flies home that afternoon) and none of our houses are big enough for 20+ people to have dinner at! esther and sarah are staying on for a week which will be nice!

yep. i'm still here!

2008-06-06T09:21:00.002+01:00

i love the waiting game! what fun =)

all is well...we had a quiet day yesterday, valerie is still recovering and i am feeling quite tired these days. imagine that! andy is busy with school reports to write which takes up a lot of time. last night valerie, the boys and i went down to redditch for dinner at the stocks. the boys played lots with jemima which was nice for me and valerie =)

noah is so funny! still not talking but i love when he goes to leave the room he waves to everyone he walks past! so cute!

i have a midwife appt in an hour, i have no idea what if anything will be done. i also have a hospital appt on monday which is the pre-planned post due date appt. i'll update you all later!

Happy Birthday Noah!

2008-06-05T08:28:00.002+01:00

My wee little man is 2 today! I can't really think of much to say at the moment....so i'll just post some photos =)

due day

2008-06-04T09:41:00.003+01:00

yes, its my due date and no, nothing is happening! it is only 9:48am so i have all day to go...and we'll just see how it goes.
unfortunately, last night was a yucky night for everyone. micah and noah both have the wonderful colds of coughing and flem stuck in their throats or whatever. so they were both up lots and then ended up in our bed. not nice at all, didn't make for a very comfortable sleep or continuous!
andy and i are colds free, but andy's mom who is still here with us is not feeling very well either. though hers is more of a sore head and tummy i think. she slept lots and lots yesterday and is still sleeping or laying in bed now. so hopefully she'll feel better soon and before the baby comes! yikes, what fun!!
though looking back on this post, both micah and andy were sick with a fever the 2 days before noah came...so maybe this is just another indication that things will happen soon!

some photos from yesterday

2008-06-04T08:37:00.004+01:00

yesterday i gave noah some sprinkles to eat/play with...it was very funny to watch!

here is micah and his writing! had to take a photo since its my name!!

if anyone is wondering...

2008-06-02T20:41:00.005+01:00

i'm still here. tradition has now broken! micah and noah both have come on the first day back to school after a holiday. so its quarter to 9 and nothing happening, so i think we're safe! just had a day of cleaning this and that and i went shopping in the morning on my own, which was nice though i was exhausted afterward and i hadn't even been gone 2 hours!

here are some more photos from the beach and one of the sunset when we were almost home! enjoy =)

a beautiful saturday

2008-06-01T22:08:00.003+01:00

we went to weston-super-mare which is south of bristol, down the m5. just south of wales too (just under 2 hours drive). it was very nice but when we actually got to the beach, that you just drive up onto it, it was really misty. you couldn't see the sea or past the next line of cars! you definitely needed to stay with your children. not that we had to worry as noah didn't like the sand on his feet!! he started off with sandals on, but didn't like the sand inbetween the toes so we tried taking them off and i held his hand and walked with him to where the ball was but he kept going back to the blanket. then we put his normal shoes on and he was fine! rolling in the sand, digging in the sand and everything else! micah loved every bit of it too!

finally around 3 the mist lifted and we could see the sea and walked down to it. it was actually really warm though muddy i think from recent flooding. neither of the boys wanted to go in it but enjoyed me splashing them while they threw seashells at me!
i am burnt as i forgot about lotion for myself, but got the boys done. though i think we did it too late on noah as his cheeks are pink too!

still here!

2008-05-30T13:40:00.002+01:00

not that i am impatiently waiting or anything. i'm still more or less comfortable and not at all fed up. though now that kilian and zach are here, i'm more then ready to be next!! today i got a moses basket and stand for £10 and later on today someone is coming to pick up a bag of maternity clothes for £10 so really the moses basket is free =)

the weather has been very iffy lately. its gotten slightly warmer from the rainy and cold weather we had on monday...as in yesterday afternoon was beautiful and mostly sunny. today is overcast but dry and looks like rain any moment! we are trying to go out tomorrow...andy wants to go to the beach. i on the other hand am not so keen to drive so far! my legs get so restless and so on =) we'll see anyway what the weather is like!

Zach McCauley

2008-05-29T22:36:00.004+01:00

Here are some photos of baby zach. him and mommy are doing well. and big brother luke is well chuffed with baby zach too!

another nephew!!

2008-05-29T08:31:00.002+01:00

my sister-in-law karen gave birth to a healthy baby boy this morning! zach was born at 4:55am weighing in at 7lbs 11oz =) thats all we know so far, so don't ask what or if zach is short for anything, because we don't know!!!

but i will post photos as soon as we have some! i do know that karen went to hospital around 11 last night, so she made good time!!

congratulations paul, karen and luke!!

bank holiday weekend....

2008-05-27T22:58:00.004+01:00

right. i'm still here and no baby yet! thought i would get that out straight away! and karen is still without new baby!! i'm feeling fine. a wee bit tired, but that is to be expected right?! my mother-in-law is here and we are slowly getting all the needed things done. well, maybe slowly on my part! she likes to stay busy =) unlike me! but i'm enjoying the time that she spends with the boys and keeping them occupied so i can either relax or make dinner or whatever.

saturday we spend at the lickey hill park which was tons of fun for the boys. sunday was just a relaxing day as it was slightly wet outside. and monday andy and i nipped off to worcester and the cotswolds with our friends jon and anthea. it was a wet day ofcourse, i mean it was bank holiday monday and all, but it was nice and drove through lots of small villiages and stopped for a wee bit of shopping and a wonderfully filling cream tea! yum!

the boys behaved for nana and all was well. though noah was waiting up for us when we got home at almost 10! he was so excited to see us it was sweet =)

a photo of kilian

2008-05-24T11:19:00.004+01:00

he's a cutie!!!
he looks a lot like jeremy i think!

kilian alexander

2008-05-22T07:02:00.001+01:00

he's here! kilian was born at 6:11pm baltimore time! 7lbs 14oz and 21in [going to like maths maybe? multiples of 7 ;) ]
no pictures yet to post here as my mom sent me 2 but they aren't very good at all....

my nephew

2008-05-21T11:00:00.004+01:00

my brother and his wife are having a boy...and he should hopefully be coming today! kelly is being induced today, i have no idea the time line, but hope that it is short and sweet!! i so can't wait for my brothers' first child to be here and see a photo of jeremy holding baby kilian!!
so kelly or jeremy if you read this, we are praying for you over here in the UK!!
**edited** at 7:30 my time kelly was 7cm =) he's almost here!!

and other things:
we put micah to work last night, earning his keep:

or in colour? or mixed? i can't decide!

and this morning he wanted to make muffins/fairy cakes:

pumkin chocolate chip cookies

2008-05-21T10:11:00.002+01:00

yum!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup canned or cooked pumpkin
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. combine flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon; stir into creamed mixture alternately with pumpkin. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-13 minutes or until lightly browned.

*you may want to add more oats or flour? mine were very moist and falling apart...though super duper yummy!!

recent things...

2008-05-20T14:04:00.002+01:00

saturday while i was at the baby show, andy took the boys to what was suppose to be a tolkien day (who wrote lord of the rings). [tolkien is from birmingham, where we live.] this was near to where andy works, but thankfully he said he didn't run into any of his students! here are some people dressed up, though i think as vikings? and ofcourse if there is a train ride, the boys must ride it! but atleast andy got a good photo as they are both looking and smiling! fancy that! it was a wee bit bet this day, but not too bad!

micah tried his hand out at archery! loved it though wasn't very good at it he told me as he is not a big boy like daddy...that is what he says about lots of things..."when i'm a big boy like daddy, i can do that!" his also favourite response to 'micah, don't do that' is; "but i Love to do that"...whatever it is =) so silly.
here is micah playing some thomas games on the computer. he likes that a lot and for some of it, i don't have to be sitting there with him, so that is nice for me too =)

today i have a very sore foot? a question mark b/c i have no idea why. its the outside of my right foot and sore enough that i am limping everywhere!! yuck. in good news, my brother's wife is being induced tomorrow!!! so baby kilian alexander lane should be with us soon!!! and andy's sister karen is due on sunday... and i'm still thinking its going to be a girl ;) so we'll see!! karen was almost 2 weeks late with luke, so that runs into my due date on the 4th....maybe we'll have our babies on the same day! wouldn't that be fun??

my first...

2008-05-16T22:18:00.002+01:00

my first proper baby shower happened last night!! we were just going to the stocks (our friends house) for dinner last night with some others, but it was in fact a baby shower! my third child, but first shower!! avril had actually planned one when i was expecting micah, but since micah came at 36.6 weeks, we infact missed it!! so anyway, i don't have any photos as neither i or andy knew that it was a baby shower so we had no camera with us. i think someone (jemima?) may have taken a few but i haven't seen any proof yet =) so will add some later if there are in fact some!!

in other news are sunny weather has faded into light showers. i do love spring showers though b/c they smell so lovely! yesterday we went again to treasure island where the boys enjoyed an hour and a half of playtime and i got to sit back and relax, read some celebrity type magazine where i don't know most of the people b/c they are all british something or others... =)

and today was rainy as well, so we stayed inside and watched movies most the day till becky came! becky and i cleaned the kitchen, washed the dishes then baked cookies! pumpkin chocolate chips ones...though yummy and almost gone, they didn't turn out like normal. hmm, i am not having the best run at baking =) i think i'll uh, blame it on the pregnancy brain!!

tomorrow becky and i are going to the baby show at the NEC. should be good fun =) i just have to remember not to spend too much! there is always temptation there as they sell everything and there are offers on everything baby...form diapers to toys and clothes, bags, everything!

not too much

2008-05-14T07:59:00.003+01:00

there isn't really much going on at the moment...we are still enjoying beautiful weather, though it has cooled down, its still sunny =) monday we stayed home all day and i got the boys room cleaned out and vacuumed. we really need to get some more book shelves for them, they are overflowing with books! and we'll have to think of moving them when the baby is out of the moses basket, around 3/4months. the baby will go in their room and the then maybe bunk beds for the boys in the bigger room? that is all micah talks about so we'll see!!

i'm doing ok =) 37 weeks today! hard to believe, but i am definitely feeling it! not sleeping as well, although last night i was only up once so that was an improvement! i had been waking up around 5ish for the past 3 mornings, but not this morning either!! so yea for me. yesterday as the boys played out front on their bikes and i sat and attempted to do a bit of weeding. out little garden in a mess! i think i only did about a square foot if that so i guess we'll let the boys out front again today and do some more! i can only reach so far while sitting down =)

we've also enjoyed getting to know the neighbors a bit more. warm weather brings everyone out and in good moods =) next door use to be a single man, but his girlfriend and her daughter (17) moved in over the winter. the GF likes to do gardening, so we chatted quite a bit out the back and micah enjoys it while she's out as she talks to him too =) and another man across from us likes to stand outside his house sometimes to have a cigarette and others, just to stand and observe...enjoy the weather! so we chatted a bit about the goings on of the neighbors (the house next to him had been reposessed or something) and he also played ball with micah for a bit!

i am going to the baby show this weekend of which i cannot wait as i'll without the boys!! yippee =) my friend becky is going with me so lots of free stuff and special offers. so it should be good! maybe some photos in a wee bit!

still nice weather...

2008-05-09T14:46:00.002+01:00

its practically a miracle...all this nice weather we are having! though i don't remember last may as much, i do remember the may before noah was born and it was equally nice! i remember being outside a lot with micah before noah came =) its been in the upper 60s and lower 70s with tomorrow and sunday getting even warmer!! woo-hoo =)
here are the boys today (thanks mimi for their outfits, everything fits perfectly and was perfect timing!!)

there was only enough water really for just paddling with your feet but the 2nd time noah got in he slipped and we thought, well, might as well =) so soaked they were and absolutely loving it!!

see post from yesterday

2008-05-07T09:53:00.003+01:00

*2 posts down* to see the photos i added =) finally got around to it!!!
(these are from friday)

enjoying some mr potato head =)

noah fell off a chair and cut his eye and coloured it nicely!!!

a slideshow

2008-05-06T22:50:00.001+01:00

for tim and naomi's wedding...just finishing up the processing =) hope you enjoy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/charis_photography/sets/72157604214007653/show/

a beautiful morning...

2008-05-06T09:52:00.005+01:00

so i am sitting here...yes, i know, at the computer where i probably shouldn't be. but as i sit here, it is a beautiful beautiful spring morning! its around 16 degrees c or 61 degrees f!! so its perfect =) we are all in our pj's even though it is almost 10 o'clock, but we have been productive! i have hung out laundry that was washed yesterday and have hung out washing that i did this morning already AND the 3rd load is in the wash now!!! cha-ching! look at me =) atleast i have a little rest now from that as i have no more room on the clothes line!!

i should probably get dressed and go out as i need to go to the library with 2 over due books and we don't have any bread for sandwiches...BUT it is too nice to spend the time on the bus and its money i don't care to spend. so i think we might walk to the wee shops here buy bread and play at the park...i think that is more worthwhile!!

i am also wanting to work on an album design so to have a sample wedding album that people can view in person. its so hard though as we lost the majority of our photos due to our external hard drive failing. very sad. all the we have are the photos that we have blogged and or put on flickr. so that is a whole years worth plus =( but we've not gotten upset and just let it go...but shame!

i also failed to mention last week that i lost our car keys...yeah. andy had to purchase a new ignition barrell thingy and key, which we now have, but can't figure out how to get the old one out completely. so at the moment we can start the car, but the steering wheel is locked so you can't drive it!! ha ha. so we've been carless for a week now, always interesting!

i'll add a few photos in a moment of the last few days, that are mainly just us playing with our new lense and trying to figure it out. we have a church to photograph this saturday and then a wedding july so we need to make sure we know exactly how best to use it.

edit: we just stayed at home, almost set the kitchen on fire while grilling sausages for lunch =) thankfully i remember my mom having a wee grease fire once and using baking soda!! so yea for me, i didn't panic, shooed out the boys and got it under control! what fun!
(from monday)
micah and i were fighting the dandelion monsters =)

(from today)
taking the laundry off the line

not wanting to get dressed

round and round and round

sleeping...not

baby 3 updates

2008-04-30T17:41:00.002+01:00

had my scan today...she gave a photo to micah for being well behaved!! so here is sleeping baby #3

if you can't tell, number 2 is the top of his/her head and number 1 the babies right eye...you can see the nose as well, but then the left eye is in the shadow...

all was well, only the tummy measured big, but everything else was fine, so hopefully all maybe well for our birthing options. i think though we may just go for the birthing center again, as it will be the cheapest option really. i do want a water birth, so if we go to the center then we don't have to even think about hiring a birthing pool and all that stuff!

our newest arrival.

2008-04-29T10:15:00.003+01:00

not that one...

but a fun new toy just arrived this morning and i am soooooooo excited!!! its a beautiful new camera lense (14mm and 2.8) :

for picture 1 and 3, i was standing in the exact same position. so the same distance away from micah (except that he stood up for the second one.) so that is the vast difference between ournew 14mm lense and our old 50mm one. and picture 4? i was leaning against the back door and that is literally our whole backroom! with our other lense you wouldn't be able to see that wall to wall... wow! i am so loving this!!! we found it on ebay for about £300 cheaper then buying it new =) i can't wait to play some more!!!