A Thousand Words

Guess who's back in town

noreply@blogger.com (Russell) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:05:00 +0000

Well, it's been a while since I posted. Sorry. I could give you all sorts of reasons for not posting as regularly as I'd like, but mainly they'd be cheap excuses.

I thought everyone would like this photo. I think it's brilliant, even though I didn't take it. This is taken from at about twenty feet below the summit of the Cobbler (Ben Arthur), near Loch Lomond.

Dad, Tim and I climbed the Cobbler a couple of weeks ago with the girls on our backs. We had a great day, with good weather all the way from the car back to the car. What made that even more satisfying was that we got rained on while we were in the car, both on the way to the mountain and on the way back.

In case you were wondering why we didn't take the photo from the top of the mountain, here is a photo of it. Both of these photos were taken from the same place, and there's a couple of hundreds of feet of vertical drop behind the summit. We didn't feel quite ready to try lifting the girls up that yet.

I don't know if everybody knows that Jennie was off work earlier this year with stress. She returned from her maternity leave with no pause for breath, at the end of the financial year, to a finance department that had almost 100% turnover while she was on leave. Jennie was signed off from April to June, and didn't go back to full time until after Keswick.

The only reason I'm telling this here and now is because we want to tell folks that she is a lot better. Jennie came home last week and told me that she was feeling happier than she has felt, probably since Naomi was born. Thank you everyone for your support and regular prayers. We could not be saying this just now if God's healing grace had not been clearly working in Jennie over the last few months. Now, who's for a party?

Nothing to see here, part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:23:00 +0000

Those of you with a good memory won't need this link. Basically ditto with this picture instead:

The downside of the tooth news is this picture of Chloe at around 4 o'clock this morning.......that lucozade energy is looking tempting again.

When I Grow Up

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:08:00 +0000

This picture was only taken a month ago.

She no longer fits the vest, the dress or the tights.
The raccoon has been lost
The coffee table is no longer that tidy
I've forgotten the carpet is that colour

But:
The cushions are not needed anymore
The smiles are bigger
The giggles are louder

Dream A Little Dream

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:31:00 +0000

I've been meaning to do this post since August, ie since I was 8 months pregnant. Unfortunately (or fortunately) a little thing got in the way and as that little thing gets bigger it seems to get harder to find the time. However, I'm back at work and have a whole 45 minutes at lunch to fill with all the various internet based tasks I can think of (like buying a dishwasher, woo hoo).

The other night we heard noises in the nursery and went to investigate. We discovered Naomi asleep on the floor, next to her bed. Mum and Dad will probably be thinking that she's definitely my daughter and she's showing enough obsessive behaviour to leave me in no doubt of that (as well as the fact that I definitely gave birth to her) So, this reminded me of photo fest I had planned of Naomi mainly from August 2007 when I think she could tell something big was about to happen.

It all started quite normally with a quick sleep on Daddy's back

But then in June she discovered Daddy's hands made a good pillow

And by July Mummy's tummy was big enough to win over everything else

But by August Mummy's tummy kept kicking back (oh how I don't miss those early days of Naomi and Chloe fighting, when I was literally stuck in the middle)

So much so that the kitchen floor was comfier

And so was being folded in half

And no she does not have tonsilitis, she's just either too lazy to make it down the stairs or too lazy to make it to bed.

And before you think we only have one child, here are a couple of Chloe:

The lovely days when I could do my puzzles without being headbutted on the nose. Was she really ever this small?

Catching a quick kip in her big sister's cot (now Chloe's cot)

Eating is such hard work. Here's a general tip, if they fall asleep in the highchair, leave them in the highchair. May sound like common sense but obviously isn't to an overtired mum!

Holiday

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:52:00 +0000

How did the holiday go I hear you ask. Well it was great if you ignore the sleepless nights, explosive nappies and endless rounds of washing.

For those of you who don't know we visited Andrew and Louise in Carrickfergus for a week.

Highlights were definitely:
the kids first trip on a boat
fresh, warm bread every day
pancakes for breakfast
outdoor climbing
the coastal road
visiting the farms
Russell getting to process photos
Louise taking the kids out for walks

Amusing/entertaining, for some of us, moments were:
Jennie trying to climb onto the harbour wall
Naomi falling out of bed and trying to climb back in before we noticed
Russell losing grip and swinging across the rock face
Andrew clashing with the pram in his orange jacket
Naomi's attempt at an Irish accent
Jennie forgetting to take the change bag out of the car on the ferry home.

A word of warning though, something strange seemed to happen to Chloe in this family photo!

Maybe it was because they didn't seem to appreciate the fine waterfront at Carrickfergus or maybe it was to teach us not to leave Chloe on random green boxes.

Pineapple Head

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:41:00 +0000

Well, more like Carrot Head but Crowded House let me down on that one.

5 months have passed and hardly any posting has been done, in my defence our downstairs windows are shiny and clean for the first time in 3 years....

So to update any of you who haven't given up looking at this site, we started the weaning process again. Funny how with Naomi I couldn't wait to start solids but this time I was putting it off, the thought of all the puréeing etc. However, I finally read the instructions to my blender and woo hoo, it actually did its job!

Chloe's looking to follow in Naomi's footsteps and is being taught very well (that's Naomi's hand you can see attempting to fight for the spoon). So far it sounds like her little tricks are not going to be followed by an 'uh oh' but a very dirty chuckle.

Here's the smile that goes with the chuckle. If you've been a recipient of Chloe's horrendous screaming fits you'll be pleased to hear there seem to have been less of them in the last few days and more of the chuckle (long may it continue)

Congratulations, and Jubilations...

noreply@blogger.com (Russell) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 22:30:00 +0000

Andrew has been over from NI with his wife, Louise. He, Adrian and me, with our respective wives (and children) were all at Dad's on Friday evening, when the doorbell rang. Dad went to answer, and came back saying, "Boys, I'd like you to meet somebody very important; this is my fiancee, Susan."

Needless to say we were stunned, we didn't even know he had somebody special around. Many congratulations to you both. We're really looking forward to getting to know Susan better.

Bicycle Race

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:56:00 +0000

Oops, just found this unpublished post from August!

Although Naomi can't ride a bike yet she is quite addicted to them. She gets quite impatient if Russell is riding his bike without her on it and whenever Russell, Sophie & Callum cycled off the field without her she burst into tears. After 2 weeks of eyeing up Anna's bike she finally got on it on the last day.

To top it off she got to have a go on Tim's moped.

Hot off the press, well hot compared to August but probably more luke warm. Naomi fits her own bike at last, though she has to ride it Steve Peat style.

What's New Pussycat

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 23:08:00 +0000

Debbie took us to Sophie & Callum's school's christmas fare on Saturday. While I vanished to feed Chloe she swapped Naomi for this:

It made strange noises whilst pointing at its nose. Mainly these sounded like neeme meow or neemeeow.

But don't worry, it vanished overnight and Naomi returned so panic over.

I'm Only Sleeping

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:15:00 +0000

Ooh, the excitement again, Chloe's first swimming lesson. I was obviously more excited by it than she was as this picture was the result. She fell asleep with 5 minutes of lesson still to go. I felt the belly flopping into the water to 'humpty dumpty' went very well as she naturally falls forward when asleep (though how the splash didn't wake her I don't know) and the slow cuddle to 'twinkle twinkle' went like a dream as she was already nuzzled into my shoulder. All in all a good lesson, she even survived the underwater bit, she just looked a bit put out that she couldn't sleep yet!

Whilst Naomi is a bit of a charmer, alright, a big bit of a charmer, Chloe appears to like impersonating people inbetween smiles. Here's her impression of Grandad Hasson coming to say hi (it still takes a lot of concentration so the facial expressions are not a true representation of the person):

and this is Grandad Simpson coming to say hi:

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:01:00 +0000

However, She is Heavy, She's my Big Sister is a song that Chloe will be learning off by heart. I've lost count of the number of times I've had to rescue her hand/arm from under Naomi's bottom. Naomi is definitely the doting big sister and from what I've seen Chloe is gearing up to have her wrapped around her little, little finger. She already has Naomi fetching her her dummy, dribble clothes and even on occasion a blanket. Chloe also seems to have worked out when to smile sweetly at Naomi and when she can get away with pulling her hair.

Maybe I'm imagining it all, could someone so smiley be so devious.....

noreply@blogger.com (Russell) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:50:00 +0000

For one reason or another, Jennie gave me a lie-in on Tuesday. I even got breakfast in bed. She's lovely.

Anyway, after my shower, I came downstairs to find all three of my girls doing an exercise video. No really, they were all doing the right movements, in time with Davina (annoyance personified) McCall. Even Chloe. I was amazed; this is the first time I've ever seen Jennie doing an exercise video without me nagging.

Old Red Eyes Is Back

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 08:32:00 +0000

Woo hoo, we've found our camera! Though what a shock when the only photos on it were along this line, almost made me wish I hadn't found it.

I remember that day all too well, it was the day when I finally realised that Naomi could reach things on her highchair tray. She kindly demonstrated this by spreading the yoghurt she hadn't wanted to eat all over the living room and then pretending she was upset by this. That was the quickest turn around we've ever had to get out of the house. Imagine a nine month pregnant woman pushing a crying baby up the hill whilst chuntering away to herself, nobody stopped me to coo at Naomi that day. I cunningly stayed at my friends house until I could be sure Russell had made it home from work and cleaned up the yoghurt.

Catch 22

noreply@blogger.com (Russell) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 22:24:00 +0000

Chloe seems to chill much easier if you swing her gently in her car seat or cocoon. The problem is, if you are swinging her, you have no hands free to carry out essential maintenance on bikes. I found the ideal solution to this problem, but now I have to hold my bike steady while I work on it, leaving me with to few hands to do the work.

Hmmm...

Too tired to write nice

noreply@blogger.com (Russell) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 09:50:00 +0000

Chloe Louise Simpson
5th September 2007
7lb 10oz

Very, very tiny. (views stated are subjective)

Everybody Needs A Bosom For A Pillow

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 11:36:00 +0000

Ok, so she doesn't seem to know the word bosom but belly does start with the same letter (and it is huge so rather hard to avoid).

This year I introduced Naomi to the annual ritual of paddling in a freezing cold lake, we'll build up to swimming in it. She didn't seem to happy at first (the leg in the air kept getting shaken) but soon seemed to get the idea and had to be stopped from going deeper than her knees (good job Granny Anne was there to think about things like pulling her skirt up!)

As you can see we had some stunning weather in week 3 of camping which made it much more toddler friendly.

The discovery of third week was pockets and boy was she pleased with that discovery. She strutted her way across the field and back all day, only taking her hands out to show she could still master the slides.

So there you have it, photographs galore.

Fields of Gold (or muddy brown)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:44:00 +0000

We survived! 2 weeks of camping later and we're all still in one piece, just. The camp went up, though in a not so organised order as usual. We had blazing hot sunshine and torrential rain, though having both every day for 6 days was a bit wearing. Naomi found her field legs after 2 days which resulted in Jennie being the most active 7 month pregnant person and Russell being the most nagged person (Jennie - "will you watch her, I can't catch her any more"). Russell seemed to recover from tonsillitis by throwing himself into erecting tents etc. Jennie perfected using variations on the 'Naomi is 11kg, you don't stop me picking her up' theme.

Debbie's insistence on us getting this clip on chair made itself well appreciated this year:

Check out the wellies, they were well used too and very much loved. Dad has a great picture of her in her all in one waterproof and wellies (which she lived in for 3 days on advance) which I'll get a copy of later.

We finally had some amazing sunsets at the end of our second week. This picture has not been altered at all, it really was that colour.

Also, we've no idea why we've never thought of taking this picture before; I think its really cool.

Jump Around

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:18:00 +0000

Silly me forgot to do a bump update. Well the photo to the right would make it look a rather large bump that doesn't quite fit on that seat thing, let alone trying to squeeze on with Naomi (and yes, I did need a couple of push starts) Anyway, baby mkII survived the recent trip to East Links family park and has been given a clean bill of health. It has a good, strong, easy to find heartbeat and is the correct size for my stage in pregnancy (contrary to what people keep telling me). It is also allowed to fly to Northern Ireland on friday which is good as I don't know how I would have flown without bump.

Bump also seemed to enjoy the trampoline, though me being on it at the same time as Naomi meant she couldn't stand up by herself because of the slope.

Bad Day

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 13:15:00 +0000

She still likes getting her picture taken but if you don't show her the back of the camera quickly enough this is the result! Don't worry, it's easily rectified, you just turn your digital camera to the view option and let her point at all the pictures of herself (mind you she did start crying again when I got to this one)

can't think

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:16:00 +0000

Hey guys, sorry about the lack of bloging recently, June/July are horrendously busy months for me usually and I've managed to add finishing up work and a family wedding into the mix (not that the family wedding is a chore, I think that will be the breath of fresh air needed). For those of you who haven't seen me for a few days or more, I've only 6.5 working days left, woo - though more than that of work left to do.

I have a distinct lack of new photos at work but in the next few days I'll probably post a fairly lame blog of just photos and not much talky bits - which may be an improvement, who knows.

As always, don't hold your breath......

I've gotta get out of this place

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:13:00 +0000

I'd forgotten I meant to put this picture up months ago. What do you think of Naomi's new play pen? She wasn't overly pleased with it.

Brief update on things learnt in the land of Naomi in the last month:

* If you stick your figures inside a snail's shell they come out flourecent yellow/green.
* Snail is really difficult to wash off a toddler's hand.
* Not having the shoulders straps on in the pushchair may allow for being more nosey but also allows for the moving wheels to be investigated.
* It also makes it difficult to get off buses as a toddler leaning forward means you can't tip the pushchair back.
* You can never tire of trying to turn the carpet white with your milk cup contents (though it is easier now you don't have to squeeze it out of a bottle teat)
* Milk tastes better out of an egg cup.
* Egg cups really do look better with chips in them, no really they do.
* The bramble gin bottle fits perfectly in a toddlers hands.
* A four pack of baked beans can be carried but aren't pleasent when dropped on feet.
* Head, shoulders, knees and toes only warrents the toes action.
* Toddlers have the same ability to sense where the biscuits are as my dog Misty did.
* Adults are not allowed in the play house (and trust me, it's not comfy anyway).
* Blowing kisses gets big smiles from adults and a lot of praise so is well worth attempting.
* Thank you sounds better with a mouth full of biscuit.
* Why climb down stairs when you can be carried.
* Why climb up stairs when you can be carried.
* Playing with the high chair when it's folded up hurts.
* Cornflakes are the best breakfast ever, closely followed by muesli (that only loses out because it takes so long to chew) and mum's shreddies.
* Painting has to involve getting paint in your hair or it's not proper painting.

Best stop there as lunch is up, I'm sure I've missed some important milestones but these will have to do.

I Like To Move It, Move It

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 08 May 2007 12:11:00 +0000

Baby mkII must be a boy, only a boy could be so annoying.

We went for a scan last thursday to have a look at it's heart and baby mkII was in the one position that the doctor didn't want as he really couldn't see anything. We had to be sent away for half an hour with strick instructions to drink caffeine, eat chocolate and take a brisk walk to try and get it to move. As you may know I don't do coffee, so a bottle of lucozade and 2 bars of chocolate later saw me skipping around the hospital with Russell adding the occasional sudden change of direction. Man did I feel sick. But I wasn't worried as I could feel the baby moving so I was sure it was working (and it's not often you get a doctor telling you to eat chocolate)

Hmmm, you can guess it didn't work, we did however get to see that the cheeky little thing was just enjoying itself doing a few press ups. Three times we got sent away, each followed by a slightly more vigorous walk (there's a nice hill at the back of the hospital, lovely view from the top). The winner in the end was running (and I use that word quite loosly) up and down a flight of stairs 3 times (3 or 4 floors worth) much to Russell's amusement. Thursday, however was a complete write off for me as felt sick, had a headache, was a tad hyper and craved caffeine for the rest of the day. Luckily yoga was cancelled as I probably would have exploded.

Anyhow, all is fine, the baby is well and I have finally got over my caffeine come down.

New Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 08 May 2007 12:02:00 +0000

I've decided it's official that I'm a sad mum. Not only do I find myself enjoying dressing Naomi up (something I swore I would never do but I think it's to do with her having nicer clothes than me) I have been incredibly excited about buying her her first shoes. In fact, I've probably nagged Russell about it for 2 weeks now. So finally, on Sunday, Naomi got her new shoes and rather aptly Clarks was playing the above mentioned song. They're lovely little pink things which nicely top off the seventies chick outfit that we keep sending her to nursery in (we're going to miss those orange flares when her bottom gets bigger). Anyway, please be excited for us as this appears to be a highlight in my life, I think I need to get a hobby. Just a 'nice shoes' comment next time you see her will do, that is if she's wearing them. For now, I'm just going to continue driving my work colleagues mad by humming new shoes all day.

DND

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:56:00 +0000

You wouldn't believe how long it took us to work out what DND stood for, I seem to remember someone at youth alpha had to explain it. If you know the lyrics (it's a Semisonic song) you'll realise just how stupid I felt when we were told (notice, I'm not telling you in the hope that someone is as clueless as me!)

Breaking news a week late: THE COT IS FINISHED. Whew, what a relief that is to me and anyone who's been avoiding coming over in case they were handed a paint brush. You are now safe to visit, it's up, has been decorated with transfers to match the walls, has a mattress and plenty of cot toys which are finally doing their job. Also, it's been christened by the top end so you're safe to babysit in the evenings too.

The more observant of you may notice that she's awake (this is due to me being too scared to take a photo while she's asleep in case I wake her up). You may think it's the eyes being open that give this away but actually it's the positioning of the body and a few other pointers. Notice the fact that her head is at the head end, there are no limbs sticking out of the cot at any point, both dummies are still in the cot, the blanket isn't scrunched up in a ball at the bottom of the cot, she's still almost on her back and, if I had a sound bite thingy, there would be no sound of snoring. Is anyone getting the hint yet, DO NOT attempt to share a bed with Naomi. She doesn't steal the duvet yet but that's only because she doesn't have one!