I hate AOL!

As you can see, it's been an awfully long time since we provided any updates on our blog (over two years, in fact!). The reason for this is quite simple, AOL (our ISP) and Google (our blog provider) are not happy bedfellows. As a result it is nigh on impossible to actually sign into our own blog because AOL blocks us. In order to get into it, I have to use a proxy server, which is a bit of a pain. So, that's why. I'm not just being a lazy cow!

I see that the last update was June 2009. There's been quite a lot of stuff happen since then; we took the kids to Tunisia in September 2009 for a family holiday, Tabs started nursery one day a week in May 2010 (and absolutely loves it, just like Ellie did/does), we had the back of the house rendered, the front and back painted, the veg garden is going great guns, the fruit tress are nicely established now, Tabs started Tumbletots, we bought the two acre field by the house (ready for ponies!), Ellie started ballet (which is quite hilarious!), we got neighbours (finally!) in December last year - who are very nice, we went to a lovely place called Pagel in France last month for a really great holiday, Tabs has finally moved into Ellie's room (we were too lazy to move her cot!) and they are happily ensconced in some new bunk beds...and that's about it I suppose.

The biggest news we have this year is that we are unexpectedly pregnant again (due 11/11/11) and we paid for a private scan yesterday to find out the sex so that we can make plans for storage/bedrooms etc. IT'S A BOY!

Due to this rather shocking news we are going to have to do something about bedrooms. Although the house is quite large, we only have three bedrooms and Jono needs one of them for working from home. So we are getting some plans drawn up for an extension that we can hopefully get built in the next two or three years. This will give us a much needed larger hallway and a fairly large family room downstairs, with a double bedroom and a single bedroom upstairs. It will also involve getting rid of the very unsightly electricity pole outside (courtesy of the electric company) and having our electricity (and the neighbours') run underground instead, like most normal people have!

Right, an emergency stinky nappy calls and so I'll post some pics again soon I hope!

Tummy Troubles

Well, after the relatively easy time we had with Ellie as a newborn, it's been a bit of a shock having Tabbie! She appears to be suffering with colic (having been wonderful for the first week) and so cries an awful lot, and doesn't sleep a great deal. This has resulted in very sleepless nights for us all (except Ellie, who seem impervious to Tabbie's screams in the night!). It's all been a bit fraught and stressful for the last three weeks but we're muddling through. Luckily Ellie has been a little angel.
Having said that, last night was actually not too bad, so I am feeling more hopeful. I went and got Tabs weighed today and she's following her 25th centile nicely. She is one month old tomorrow and weighs 8lbs 8oz. Still not up to my chunky monkey's birth weight yet, but she's growing fast!

Speaking of my chunky monkey - we had great cause for celebration two days ago, as two of Ellie's top teeth finally broke free. Woo hoo! Now she has 4 whole teeth. I think the next week or so will herald the arrival of lots more teeth, as they've all been thretening to break through but have really taken their time actually cutting through her gums.

No more photos just yet, haven't had the time to take any lately!

An extremely belated update!!

Well, as the title says, this is rather belated. It's due mainly to the fact that since we moved to the sticks and had to switch to AOL for our broadband, the cheeky buggers keep blocking access to our blog host.

So, what's been happening? Ellie has had her 1st birthday party, attended by lots of her friends and family. It was absolute pandemonium for a couple of hours but a good time was had by all.


Here she is congratulating herself for blowing out all (one) of her birthday cake candles!!


I returned to work, and then left again to start maternity leave! It was quite nice to have a break from looking after Ellie all day but I really missed her too. It was nice for her to spend lots of time with her cousins and Nicola. She still goes to nursery once a week - she absolutely loves it there and barely gives us a backwards glance when we drop her off!

Ellie took her first steps on my birthday and now walking is most definitely the preferred way to travel! She's had her first shoes, which she really loves and spends all day toddling about all over the place.


Here's the little darling looking a bit pensive about walking on the grass!









We had a terrible shock in March when my step-dad Paul passed away suddenly in his sleep from a heart attack. Obviously this was totally unexpected and has been very hard for all of the family, especially my mum of course. The funeral went really well, as far as funerals go, and was extremely well attended - over 200 people were there. We shall miss him a lot and it's very upsetting that he didn't manage to meet his two new grandchildren - our new bean and his daughter Nicola's baby who is due in September. My sister and I were very lucky to have had him as our dad for 16 years. Rest in peace Paul - we'll be thinking of you lots.





Here's one of our favourite pics of Paul, taken at Lake Vyrnwy in 2007 with Sophia. Grandpa loved his grandchildren and was really looking forward to the next two.



Speaking of the new bean - Tabitha Rose was born on May 4th (her due date!!) after a rather speedy and intense labour. She was the spitting image of Ellie when she was born - so much so that given two photos of them, I couldn't actually tell them apart! She was 7lbs 5oz, much smaller than her big sister, but is very gorgeous and is settling into the family nicely. She is feeding very well and our only niggle is the fact that during late at night she gets a bit colicky, which is a bit wearing on our nerves but hopefully it is just a phase that will pass soon. She kept us up until 3am this morning!


Here's Tabs, having just been born. We don't have too many photos of her yet, as it's been a bit manic around here, what with Ellie too!





That's it for the kids - I shall try to do a house update very soon. There's been a lot of change around here in the last few months so I think it deserves a post all of its own!

First Christmas

Well, it's certainly been a hectic last few weeks!

Christmas was lots of fun, Jono and I hosted this year for my family. Christmas dinner was a big success and Ellie enjoyed having everyone around. She got lots of pressies, mainly clothes or books, but her favourites were her percussion set and her Tinky-Winky!


To the right is our staged "Ellie at Christmas" photo. It's really cute and she did manage to keep the hat on for more than 4 seconds, just enough time to take the photo!

















Here's Ellie and Daddy, in their matching dressing gowns. Ellie did spoil the moment rather, by picking her nose, but I love this photo anyway!








We managed to get down to Wiltshire between xmas and new year to see Jono's family and it's good that we did because Jono's Nanny got to see Ellie again. Unfortunately, last weekend, Nanny died from pneumonia, which had come on quite suddenly. It was a very sad start to the new year but we all got to see her one last time and we have nice memories.

Mark, Katie and Alice came up for New Year and we all had a nice quiet celebration - just the one firework! Jaime Oliver lent a hand for our NYE dinner, and very delicious it was too!

In other news, I started back at work on Monday - 2.5 days a week. My sister will be having Ellie all day on Mondays and half a day on Thursday, and then Ellie will go to nursery all day on Wednesdays. Today was Ellie's first day at nursery and she was as good as gold. So much so that the proprietor and baby room leader both said she was the best baby they'd ever had there. Not a tear or a winge all day apparently! I'm sure it won't last - she's probably just overwhelmed with all the new things to look at! It was good that Ellie felt happy at nursery, but all the same, it would have been nice for her to have missed us just a little bit!!

I can't believe that Ellie is going to be 1 this Saturday! It doesn't seem like a year has passed at all. It just goes to show how precious these first few years actually are because they pass in a blink.

December Update

Well, as usual, we've been terribly busy and haven't managed to get on here and do any updates recently!

First of all, how's Ellie doing? Well, she's doing grand as it happens. She's on the move in a major way, to the point where no plant or paper product is safe anymore (she adores eating magazines and paper!). She isn't quite walking yet but she won't be long I don't think. She's just started cruising around the furniture and crawls after Figaro, much to his disgust!

We have recently had to switch back to two part nappies (nappy with a waterproof wrap over the top) as Ellie seems to have such an enormous bladder that her pocket nappies were having to be changed every hour or two. These new ones are so much more absorbent and fluffy!

Food-wise, Ellie will eat pretty much anything we give her. She has a particular penchant for chile con carne (obviously her father's daughter!), beef stew/steak pie and cheese sandwiches. She isn't terribly keen on sweet stuff, except for her yogurts and fruit, which I'm perfectly happy about. She did, however, take a liking to my bacon flavoured Wheat Crunchies the other day!

Here's a pic or two of Ellie recently:












Ellie looking very cheeky (above) and with all her cousins (right): Isabel, Sophia and Charlie



We had our 20 week scan today, for Bean 2, and everything was fine. He/she was quite a bit smaller than Ellie was at the same stage but I suppose that's to be expected, as I haven't been well since the start of this pregnancy and still haven't put any weight on. Hopefully I'll start to put some on soon!



Here are the two pics we got today. They're not very good really, and the one we got of Bean's face looks more like a skeleton than a baby!

It's been a while...

Well, here we are for a major update. It has been a long time since I last did one and a lot of water has flowed under the bridge.

Ellie has of course been growing up fast. Her latest exploit, today in fact, was to stand up on her own, using the coffee table as support, and then to start clapping her hands, hence balancing on her own. She’s so much happier to be able to get around a bit more now that she can crawl and sit and roll. The last few weeks have been a bit frustrating for us all with Ellie’s whining and moaning because she couldn’t get anywhere but wanted to explore. Her swimming classes have been getting better with more and more adventure and underwater action occurring. I’ll try and upload some videos that I took on my phone of the instructor chucking her in to the pool.

The house has come along quite a bit over the summer. There are still some gaping holes (quite literally) in the infrastructure but we are making progress with getting them sorted. Highlights include the christening of the shed that didn’t have the best start in life due to high winds when being built. I got a call from our ‘neighbour to be’ whilst on the M5 to say that the shed was trying to attack his tractor.

To cut a long story short I managed to get her back into shape and am now the proud owner of a solar powered lighting shed, 4m x 3m.

The loft is getting some insulation soon too. I went for a deal from B&Q, £200 all in regardless of size of house. We already six insulation rolls in the loft, left over from building the house and stud walls, but seeing as the main insulation job is being done for a fixed price they were better off with the other neighbour than in our loft so we sold them for £50.

We’ve steadily been crossing jobs off the list on the fridge but there are plenty more to do still. Sam’s latest was to sand down and oil the wooden worktop. My latest was to add the last of the door stops and make a wooden threshold between the kitchen and the dining room.

We commissioned our driveway having decided we’ll have enough money in a month or so. I had a largeish sale at work and should get enough commission to pay for the work. Again, our neighbour will doing the work which involves chopping down some hedge and removing stumps, levelling and making a nice rounded driveway area, creating two land drains and gulleys, making a soakaway, destroying the shed, moving a load of top soil and finally adding 48 tonnes of MOT to the driveway to make it nice and smooth. We can’t wait for this to be done as getting from the parked cars to the house is a major drama right now. We currently have to negotiate rubble, breeze blocks, bricks and mud. Not good with a pregnant wife and a young child!!

Work for me has been hard recently but a flurry of activity has seen a few hundred grands worth of sales and the same expected before Christmas. The credit crunch is biting but life goes on for some industries so I’ll focus on those and hope to ride out the tougher times. Here’s hoping I hit target and can hold my head high at work.

Well, there’s plenty more to say but it can’t all be said at once. Perhaps I’ll try and update more regularly and cover some other subjects. That said, this is a Cantlop Grove and Ellie blog and I’ve said quite a bit on those subjects.

Scan Pics