Picnic in the Park

Early start this morning. Ellis woke before 6am and I was up at 6:30am, feeling rather shattered.

We played for a bit before breakfast. Rob was up just after 9am as he was going out but before he did, he arranged for us to meet with Leighton, Jaidan, Sabriel and Jasper for a picnic in the park.

Rob went out and I put Ellis to bed. I was hoping he would go straight to sleep but he waited for over half an hour. I was in bed too but didn't go to sleep until he was quiet and then I was up 30 minutes later anyway.

Rob came home and he helped me to prepare the picnic.

The Wilsons arrived around midday and after a quick chat we decided we would hedge our bets with the weather and go to the park for our picnic.



After eating loads, getting cold and sore bums, we went over to the park for a play.





























We were a bit chilly after about an hour in the park so we went to Costa Coffee for a warm up.



The kids were well behaved, apart from Dollop who has been sat on my back for 2 days now.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing nothing. Rob went to bed for just over an hour and Ellis and I messed around. I gave him his dinner and then played some more before giving him his bath and putting him to bed.

Busy week coming up. Sing and Sign starts again tomorrow and we have a few extra things on that are a bit different from the norm. For example, we have a hair appointment on Thursday, we are meeting a new group of Mummy-to-be friends and we are going to visit an old friend. All this on top of what we normally do. I also have 2 additional evening things this week. Out with the girls on Thursday night for a meal, and my last line dance on Friday night. All exciting stuff.

Funky Dance

Friday morning was just so lazy! Ellis went to bed at 10am and didn't wake up until nearly 1pm! I had a couple of hours too which was great.

We had lunch and it wasn't long before Daddy was home and we left for Little Stars.

Ellis enjoyed swinging on the monkey bars with a monkey teddy, and walking along beams, building towers, playing skittles, going through the tunnel, riding on a rocking horse and doing rolypolys.

We went to Sainsbury's after and bought quite a lot of food before going home for dinner.

While I cooked I made the boys go outside to play. They didn't seem to mind and had tons of fun.











Saturday morning, Rob did the early shift and it was early. Ellis woke before six and I made Rob get up at about 6:40am.

I managed to sleep on and off until I got up around 10am, which is when Ellis went down for his nap.

Rob went out and I spent the morning pottering around. I think the house is getting there now. I feel slightly more organised and things are looking cleaner and more tidy. Nesting really helps.

Ellis and I were drawing with his chalks when Rob got home. We all had lunch together at the table and then took ages to decide what we were going do with the afternoon. It took so long in fact that we didn't leave until gone 2pm!

We just went to some shops, took some things back and bought some stuff. Namely, garden furniture, curtains, clothes for me and Rob, a soap dish that has to go back and a little shelf thing for the downstairs loo. I wasn't pleased with it at all, but it will do for now.

When we were out in the car, Ellis asked for his glasses and then proceeded to do a funky dance. I tried to get it on video but he became a bit camera shy.





We arrived home at dinner time so I prepared 3 different dinners, while Rob mowed the lawn and Ellis did some reading. It was so cute! He was looking at a brochure for the local gym.



Ellis then laid on the floor stating, "bed". I took this as a sign that he was tired.

We had a really good day with Ellis today. He was just so good all day and we were both very proud of him. His talking is coming on leaps and bounds and he is putting 3 words together quite often now. He knows a lot of colours, can count to 10, missing 7 and 8 and when I went through the alphabet with him today he finished it off with x, y, z without any prompting from me. I have no idea where he got this from as it was the first time I had gone through the alphabet with him. My clever boy.

Big Boys Chair

We had a nice lazy start to Sunday and then in the afternoon I did tons of washing. I washed all the baby clothes, blankets, sheets and bedding etc.



We also went for a nice walk down to the park and shops to pick up a few things. Ellis had fun wearing his glasses and I think he looked super cool.





When we got back from the shops, Rob went over to see Sharon's husband Stuart about some computer stuff and Ellis and I spent our time in the kitchen, me trying to prepare a roast and Ellis just getting in the way!

I eventually managed it and Rob was home in plenty of time to help me out with distracting Ellis and working out how long stuff should be in the oven.



Ellis sat in his big boys chair for the first time to have his roast dinner. It was so nice to see and he seemed to really enjoy it.







The dinner was delicious but not long after, Ellis was in the bath then bed.

Monday I had a midwife appointment in the afternoon which was quite good. My blood test results were good and the baby was head down.

Tuesday morning Nanny came over to take care of Ellis so that Rob and I could go to my last antenatal class. It wasn't that good unfortunately and when we returned home, Ellis hadn't been to sleep. Nanny had tried but he wasn't interested.

Nanny did a great job ironing all of my cleaned baby clothes and we very much appreciate the help.

After we stuffed some lunch down, we took Ellis to Sharon's house as she was going to take care of him while I went for a hospital appointment. We put him down for a sleep in Sophie's bed as he would have been a nightmare otherwise. He eventually went to sleep after a bit of screaming and didn't wake up for 2 hours!

The hospital appointment was okay and we were given another scan picture.



We eventually made it back to pick up Ellis who had been playing with the girls, Anna and Sophie, in the garden. He didn't seem that bothered that we were home.

For dinner we went to our favourite restaurant which was a really nice treat. Ellis was a really good boy and was obviously hungry. He stuffed bread sticks, a bowl of black and green olives, garlic bread, pasta and a fruit a pot!

Wednesday morning we picked Nanny up nice and early and then went to the dentist as I had an appointment there.

We were in and out in a flash but Ellis did have the chance to sit on my lap with a little prod in the mouth from the dentist. He didn't mind at all and was rewarded with a Winnie the Pooh sticker.

After, we went to the shops and I bought a lamp for £3.13, a sun hat and some pyjamas for Ellis.

We then went up my Mum and Dad's field to see my sisters new chickens, which she calls "the girls". Ellis loved it but really wanted to get into the nesting box to see the eggs that we had already removed.



We had lunch at Mum's house then zoomed home to put Ellis in bed for a nap.

I had to wake him up in the afternoon so that we could go to our Music with Mummy class which was really good. They had to take it in turns playing instruments and then pass them on saying thank you. All very cute and Ellis behaved really well.

We had the usual drink and treat in Sainsbury's cafe before doing a bit of food shopping and then walking home.

Thursday was quite busy too. We messed around in the morning, doing books, letters, numbers, colouring, bricks and playing with the car garage before Ellis went for a quick nap, about an hour.

Once up he continued to play and at one point I caught him changing his own nappy, sort of.



We had lunch then took off in the car for the swimming pool.

It was amazing. So hot and only me and Ellis in the pool. I blobbed about and Ellis swam lengths, did jumps, played with the watering cans and buckets and got in and out of the paddling pool. It was so relaxing that we didn't want to get out.

We got out just before I had shriveled up completely and stopped for our tea and cake before going to Nanny's for dinner.



The horse lorry was open when we arrived and Chloe and Kamron were inside playing. Auntie Katie got Ellis out of the car and he joined them. They had so much fun.





The fun then moved to the garden and the Mums joined in too.



Auntie Katie left shortly after and we had our dinner, chicken fajitas, and Ellis did really well. He didn't like the red peppers but he still tried them several times. He ate most of the green peppers, onions, chicken and bread.

He was a really good boy and after we got down from the table, the fun continued in the garden until it was time to go. I didn't want to leave though as I was so comfy propped up on the sofa.



Ellis was given a quick wash when we got home and was soon in bed. I spent my evening doing this blog.

Baby number 2 is due in 28 days now and I am not sure how often I will be able to do blog entries once he is here. If I do, they will be a bit shorter I think. I will try hard to keep up with it, as I really enjoy saving all the memories like this. The early days will probably be spent doing my pregnancy and birth blog though.

Slide

I did the early shift today and it was quite early. Ellis woke up just after 6 but I managed to leave him until 6:45am.

We came downstairs and Ellis played for a bit before I made breakfast.

He sat his little rabbit up on the sofa and read to him which was so sweet.



I took a couple of pictures too.





Then at nap time, I went back to bed too and didn't wake up until 12:25! I couldn't believe it seeing as I put Ellis down at 10am and wasn't really feeling all that tired.

I woke Rob up and stayed in a bed for a bit reading my book while Rob got dressed and took Ellis downstairs.

I finally made it down and we had lunch.

We played for a bit and then we went out to the shops.

Time went by very quickly but I was determined to let Ellis have a run around and play somewhere. So at 5:15pm we went into a soft play area. I mention the time as usually Ellis has his dinner between 5 and 5:30pm and then is bathed and put to bed at 6:30 to 7pm. We were quite far away from home and we hadn't eaten yet so Rob wasn't too happy about it.

Ellis had a wicked time though. At one point he disappeared and we found him sat up on a bike that travels down a little ramp. It was so funny to see but I didn't get a chance to video it.

He went climbing with Daddy and down the slide with both of us. Bit embarrassing for me though as at one point down the slide, my bum got stuck!









Fun was had by all and after a quick stop for some food, it wasn't long before Ellis was home and in the bath.

A very busy afternoon and I'm not sure what we are doing tomorrow. We shall see.

Horse Lorry

Today wasn't that planned but turned out rather good.

Ellis was a bit of a pain going down for his nap. I say a pain but he actually just played and chatted in his bed for about an hour before eventually falling asleep.

I knew we were going out just after 12 so would have to wake him up. He wasn't too happy about it and went from being hyper running around, to whingeing and crying at me about the simplest thing. We were going to a restaurant so I really needed him to behave.

As it happened, he was amazing! He sat in the high chair for an hour and a half and didn't complain once. He ate his snacks, garlic bread, pasta and fruit with no fuss and then did a bit of colouring while I cleared up and the bill was paid. What a star!

I had actually met up with an old school teacher of mine. I was a bit nervous about it but it turned out to be a really nice, relaxing lunch time.

We had to go to Mothercare straight after to get the buggy fixed and then from there we went to Nanny and Grandad Rennolds' house.

When we arrived, Katie, Chloe and Kamron were there so Ellis had a good run around and played nicely with Kamron.

They didn't stay long and soon it was just Nanny, Grandad, me and Ellis.

Ellis had loads of fun and attention. He played with Grandad in the conservatory and outside in the garden.









They also went into the horse lorry, had a look around and Ellis had a quick drive.







We all sat to the table and had a lovely dinner before we had to pack up and go home.

I managed to keep Ellis awake on the way home and after a very quick bath and story he was soon tucked up in bed.

I didn't do much with my evening and it was gone before I knew it.

Farm Yard

Another busy day, another long blog about to commence.

We arrived at the farm slightly later than planned but it actually worked out really well as nothing started until 11am anyway. In the reception was a measuring board and I tried to get Ellis to stand up tall but all he managed was his new favourite pose.



There was a puppet show on first but I really wanted Ellis to touch some animals so we went to Animal Village first so that he could hold a rabbit for the first time. He was so cute! Ellis of course, not the rabbit.





By the time we had finished looking at the other rabbits, ducks, guinea pigs and chipmunks, the falconry show was about to commence. I thought they were going to let them fly etc but it was basically one bloke holding up a bird and chatting about it. I think when the park is busy they do a proper show.





















It was then on to the stables for pony rides but as soon as we arrived, I read the rules and realised that Ellis was too young. We were a bit disappointed but he petted the ponies and had a look at some lambs.





We then set up the picnic blanket again and had some lunch and a loo break.

We walked off our lunch around the different paddocks looking at the various animals.

First up were some pigs who came running over to us for some food. Unfortunately we didn't have any.



Then it was some sheep with one cow.





The next paddock had more cows and Ellis was starting to get to grips with his cow impression.







We finally made it to the cow milking shed. It was all nice and new and there were different sections for different cows. They had a nursery for new calves, a maternity ward for cows about to give birth, older calves and a general milking cow section.







We were too early for the actual milking of the cows show, but that didn't stop Ellis.



We very slowly made our way back to the playground, via the birds and lamb feeding.



The playground was quite basic but Ellis really enjoyed sitting in the tractor. I didn't think we would be able to get him out at one point but Rob moved him on to the swings.







I think Rob enjoyed the swings more than Ellis though.



There was a really good slide too. It looked really steep and I thought Ellis would fly down it but it was actually quite slow.



Ellis was flagging so we decided to make a move. You have to leave through the farm shop and so we bought a few things. Scones, clotted cream, flap jacks, minted lamb steaks and fruit were on the menu. Came to £21!

Ellis was asleep by the time we left the shop and remained that way when we put him in the car.

I then asked Rob to go really slow home on a nice steady route. So of course we were taken through a windy forest road, over a cattle grid and through some very narrow, bumpy, windy country lanes. Not a very pleasant journey (apart from the scenery) and Ellis' little head was rattled all over the place.

We stopped in the shops for a few more things and following Anna's lead, we bought Ellis some sunglasses. He loved them at first, trying them on and then telling us to put ours on too. We looked like the Blues Brothers walking around Sainsbury's.

I took some pictures when we got home.









Ellis has a new way of telling me when he has had enough of me taking pictures of him. He tries to put the lens cover back on.



We had chicken fajitas for dinner and I think they were a bit too spicy for Ellis as he kept hitting his tongue saying, hot, hot! We gave him 2 yogurts after to ease the sting.

Rob gave Ellis a late bath and he was asleep by about 8pm.

Phew, I have done so much blogging over the last few days. Think I might take a little break.