Beach Boys

Weekly blogging seems to be the way to go for now. I'm busy on other nights watching TV stuff, ironing, going to active birthing classes and meeting up with friends. Sunday night is a bit of a nothing as I usually can't be bothered to do anything else. You should see the living room right now! It's filled with clothes drying, clothes for ironing and clothes waiting to be taken upstairs. I constantly feel like I'm living in a laundrette but I suppose that is just the way it has to be. I'm very lucky to have lots of space so it doesn't hinder the kids play area.

This week has been a good week. Ellis has been on top form and behaving really well and had good reports from school all week. He has started to dress himself more recently and he does his own socks and shoes. I'm sure he could have done it ages ago but I would rather do it so that we can get out the door in under 30 minutes! He asked me to take some pictures of him doing it, so here they are.

Leo is doing really well too. He has just suddenly started talking. He really tries to mimic any word that you say to him and he has a fascination with numbers. He can count to 10 with a little bit of help. He loves his number puzzle that Santa gave him and he constantly points out numbers to you like when you go into a petrol station or on some packaging etc. It's very cute.

On Tuesday my friend Sandra came down to see us with her daughter Ciera. The last time I saw them Ciera was a week old and she is now 10 months old. She is so cute and diddy. She got on really well with the boys but she was no where near as rowdy. Ellis and Leo struggled with the fact that Mummy was trying to have a chat with her friend and wasn't giving them their usual attention. This meant that they played up a bit to get some attention. It's strange isn't it how kids do something naughty to be shouted at so that they get some attention.

We all had lunch together and the little ones were very good. Ellis kept getting down from the table and messing around and then Leo and Ellis started shouting which upset Ciera a little bit as she isn't used to it. Little buggers.

They stayed for a nice long time and I'm really glad they did. It was great to see them and hopefully we will see them again soon.

On Thursday I put Leo down for a nap and then spent some quality time with Ellis. We did some reading and writing and played the shopping game and then we did some painting. We had a paint your own plant pot which Naomi and Iestyn bought for us ages ago so we decided to give that a go.

It worked really well and Ellis was really good and hardly made any mess. Makes me want to do it more often and Leo really should be doing it too. Messy times ahead!

Ellis swimming lesson went really well. His confidence is building every week and he is getting better about having water in his face. He still doesn't like it but doesn't get anywhere near as upset as he used to. I think the swimming on a Saturday as a family is helping.

Ellis slept for about 10 minutes on the way to Nanny and Grandad Rennolds' house but he couldn't get comfortable so he woke up and thankfully he wasn't cranky. He wasn't as good as the week before but he was still good.

Friday night I picked up Sarah and went to Sally's house for pizza and a chat. It worked out really well as Sarah bought the pizza and we cooked it there. There was one hell of a spread of pizza, garlic bread and coleslaw all for £2.25 each! Bargain. I took my birthing ball to sit on which I think most thought was a bit strange. It is comfy though.

We didn't leave until 11pm and after dropping off Sarah and chatting to Rob for a bit I wasn't in bed until late. Luckily Rob was doing the early shift on Saturday.

I slept in until nearly 11:30am! I must have needed the sleep as I never sleep that long. Thankfully Rob didn't mind.

We had lunch and then went out for our weekly family swim. I love doing it. Yes it is a bit of a hassle getting changed in and out but I just try to ignore that bit and enjoy the rest of it. We arrived a bit later than the previous 2 weeks so we were told that the baby pool was full and that we would have to go in the big pool. Apart from it being colder I didn't see it as a problem and we had made the effort to get there so decided to go for it.

As I was stood by the side of the baby pool I could see that it wasn't packed so asked the life guard on duty if it was okay for us to get in and she said yes that it was fine. Hurrah! So we all got in the baby pool which did actually get quite busy at some points but we just kept our big pool wrist bands out of sight and kept a low profile.

Leo loves swimming! The only thing is, is that I think the water gets into his ears and causes him problems. I used to get it when I was younger too. The only reason I think this is because he woke up screaming this morning. Not just crying a bit but screaming really loudly and then he had a bit chunk of ear wax in his ear. I think maybe he gets ear ache from trapped water. I might just be making that up of course.

We had told Ellis that we were going in the adult pool and I think he was a bit excited about it so when we got in the baby pool he kept asking about it. Rob took him over for a swim and I didn't see them for ages. They had a lovely time and Ellis could stand in the shallow end which is good to know.

After swimming we sat in the cafe for a bit. I had a slab of tiffin cake and the boys had some snacks.

Rob then ran home and I took a nice steady drive. I had dinner on by the time Rob got back and we sat and ate, watched a bit of telly, washed the boys and put them to bed.

Today I knew that my Mum and Sister were going to a local beach with their pony and horse for a walk and ride. I had the early shift and by 8:30am Ellis was acting out because he was just bored. He asked if his friends could come over so I knew he wanted to do something. I couldn't decide what to do but in the end I thought I would go crazy sat in and the kids would love to see the beach.

I packed spare clothes and shoes for everyone, a packed lunch, some toys, drinks and tons of coats and hats as I knew it would be freezing. It took me ages to get ready and then I was faffing about with maps etc so we didn't get on the road until a long time after I knew Mum had left.

It didn't matter though as we made good time and arrived at the beach early. We waited and waited. I tried calling Mum but it kept diverting back to Dad at home. So I sent her a text and eventually found out that she was parked up on a different part of the beach!

We made our way back down the beach and found her. I wrapped the kids up and we went for a little walk. Ellis and Leo loved it. They had a great time splashing in puddles, sitting on Polly (the pony), leading Polly, finding sticks and running around. It was very cold though and it was hard to get warm. We all certainly missed the horse lorry today which had recently been sold.

I tried feeding the kids but they weren't that interested and it wasn't too long before everyone was packing up to head home.

I put my 2 blocks of ice in their car seats and the fans on full and we were soon all toasty.

We made good time getting home and we just chilled out watching telly for the afternoon. Leo had another nap and I woke him up at just gone 4pm with a temperature. Boo.

I bathed the boys and put them to bed and Rob read Ellis' long story for him. Ellis didn't go to sleep until just gone 9pm as he was wide awake chatting and singing!

I've done this blog and ate my lovely Chinese dinner that my loving husband bought for me. It was yummy but I am now the size of a house, unable to breathe or move. Really could do with some crushed ice to crunch on but we haven't got any.

Baby is really pushing out tonight. Maybe he is trying to turn around! I have a midwife appointment on Wednesday so will find out then what position he is in. It's getting so close now! I've started to get ready which makes me feel better but I will feel a lot happier when it is all done.

I'm off to veg in bed now.