Things you love to do!

Darling Kay - Daddy is in the air as I type this, on his way home from London. You are in bed, fast asleep after a busy day of playing, walking and generally expanding your little world and mind! I am sitting here with my feet up, with a cup of tea waiting on Daddy and looking forward to our weekend ahead together. This is his last trip for a few weeks so we will be thoroughly spoiled having him here!!

Your latest favourite thing to do, wee love, is play with my make-up bag. I don't have much in the way of make-up, and don't use it every day (although I am endeavouring to make more of an effort with it and stop looking like a slummy Mummy!!) but you are fascinated by the little pots and brushes and will happily unpack them, put them in the bag, take them out again, roll them around and generally make sure that you have researched every possibility of mischief with them!! Who would have thought such little make-up would stretch so far!!
There are so many other simple things that give you so much pleasure:-

• Dropping little stones that you find outside down the gratings;
• Cheese on toast for lunch, with little cherry tomatoes and cucumber sticks;
• Doing the actions for 'jelly-on-a-plate' while I sing it when you are having your dinner;
• Putting on Mummy's handcream - you are costing me a small fortune in Molton Brown, but you have the most moisturised hands in the land!
• Going round pointing at things and saying 'Am-mah's.....', like 'Am-mah's hat' or 'Am-mah's shoes' when you see something that is yours. In fact it doesn't even have to belong to you, if you like it then it becomes 'Am-mah's!'

The list is endless, and changes everyday, but you are a joy to be with because you fill our lives with love and happiness by giving us the chance to share your wonder and love of life x x

A hint.....

......that Mummy isn't sweeping up as often as someone else thinks she should be!!

Beach, and hats, and stones and coffee!!

Darling Kay, we have had the most lovely weekend together with Daddy! We had lots of rushing about to do on Saturday - we had to pick up the tickets for Daddy's trip to DeMoines in November, and then off to M&S for some lunch and some grocery shopping. The weather was great all weekend - very bright and fresh and dry (for a change!) and you loved being out and about, walking around, getting carried by Daddy, going in the trolley, and just generally taking in the world about you!

On Sunday morning we got up and ready and headed off to Newcastle for the morning. It was another gorgeous, bright day, and we had you all wrapped up in your lovely red coat and warm, fleecy hat! The last day we went to Newcastle was on your first birthday, 6 months ago. That day you were in your pram and quite happy to sit and soak it all in - now you needed to be up and about and moving under your own steam!! We walked along the front, and you picked a wee daisy which you carried about with you, until you discovered some pretty stones on the beach which you decided you would rather have! We have brought 2 home with us for your keepsake box so you can see them when you are bigger and we can remind you of this wonderful day.

Eventually it was too breezy for walking, so we slipped into a wee cafe for some coffee and buns to warm us all up. You were absolutely pooped from all the fresh air and walking, and you were asleep within 10 minutes of getting back into the car. Daddy took some great photos of you this weekend, and it takes my breath away how grown up you are getting! Next time we head to the beach I am pretty sure we will have to bring a change of clothes, because you were showing plenty of interest in the pools and puddles, and very soon you'll be dipping a toe in whether we'd like you to or not I suspect!!

Welcome Home, Daddy!!

Darling Kay, tonight Daddy came home from Poland and you were so happy to see him! While I finished making the dinner you and he managed a quick stroll around to the park to play on the swings and pick up some stones and leaves along the way! You have had such a tiring day today - lots of playing at home, and walking to and from the Post Office, so it's no surprise that you were asleep within 2 minutes of Daddy feeding you and settling you in your cot with Moo. Now it's only one more day until the weekend, and we will all be spending the whole time together - bliss!

All growed up....

Darling Kay, every day it gets harder to get a photo of you which captures who you are right now and what you are doing. As soon as the camera appears you drop whatever it is you are involved in and make a breakneck speed dash to get the camera. As far as you are concerned it looks like the World's Best Toy, even better than Mummy's phone (which you used yesterday to call my dear old colleague Adrienne in Lincoln, Nebraska!) or the remote control (the real one, not the old one we took the batteries out of and which failed to amuse you!)

But every so often something catches your attention and I can get a snap of you which sums up what you are like around the house (apart from the all action shots when you are dashing towards the camera and which come out in a fuzzy blur!)

Today I had to call Nanny and Granda in Tennesse, where they have gone for a few days to celebrate Granda's 65th birthday (at the Grand Old Opry no less!) and while I was doing that you managed to grab the landline phone. I am not sure whether you were trying to work out if it was a remote control, or a mobile, or something in between (since you seldom see us use it!) but it captured your attention for long enough for me to get this wee picture of you. This is how you stand up against the sofa when something on the TV catched your eye, or when you sidle up to someone and look up longingly and say 'Up-pah!', or when you lean against my leg when we are out and someone kneels down to talk to you, and you are trying to decide whether you are going to smile at them or not!!

For those wonderful people who leave such lovely comments about you, this is the little girl that you will see when you make the trip over the pond to Northern Ireland to see us! And for those of you who keep us in your prayers - you know who you are, and you know why - my humble and most sincere thanks and appreciation to you all.

New additions....

Darling Kay, over the last few days there have been several new additions in the house - namely the stair gates at the bottom and top of the stairs, and a new bright pink potty! The stair gates have baffled you - but they do the job! The potty has been a big hit! We are getting you used to seeing it and sitting on it before the real work begins - even though you seem a little bewildered about the fuss! We leave it in the downstairs loo, but you have taken to going and getting it and carrying it about - Daddy took this photo of you sitting in front of the TV on it - a very serious business as you can see!!

En vacanes!

Darling Kay - last night Nanny and Granda looked after you so that Mummy and Daddy could go to Belfast for the evening. Daddy had been given an invitation to the preview evening of the RUAS exhibition, and when we were offered a baby-sitting service for the evening we decided to go for it! It was a lovely evening, and you were a darling for Nanny - you took all your bedtime milk and went down to sleep just as easily as if it had been me or Daddy tucking you in for the evening. You were very excited this morning when you got up and they were still here, especially since it meant you could spend most of the morning out in the garden with Granda!

While Nanny was here she dropped off some photos that were taken last month when we were all away for the weekend in Abersoch. There are some amazing ones of the family, but this one is my favourite - you, Nanny and Baby M - all cosied up in an armchair together ready to head off to PortMerrion for the day! This photo really makes me smile, because it is exactly the wee natural smile you do when you are NOT posing for photos, instead of your photo-cheesy grin face!
Baby M will be 1 year old next month, which seems so hard to believe! I remember when Auntie C came to see you after you were born and told me she was expecting - it only seems like a blink ago! We can't wait til Christmas when they are coming back to spend it here this year at Nanny's house - so hopefully we will get lots more pictures of us all together!