Happy 30th Birthday to my Husband

Phew, what a weekend! Hubby turned 30 last Thursday and this weekend was the celebratory meal with all our family and friends. He is from Somerset so his family travelled up Saturday morning before we went out together in the evening. All together we were 17 in the restaurant, including 3 children, and it went fantastically well. Myself and my sister-in-law were prepared for any eventuality with the kids, with snacks, magazines, books, colouring equipment, and warm coats if they wanted to go outside for a walk around.

Thankfully they were all SO well behaved, I'm sure the other people eating didn't even realise that there were small children in the room. Granted, it was busy and the noise level was high anyway, but there was no screaming or tantrums. Poppy was so funny and ate what seemed like a weeks worth of food in one sitting, moving from one part of the table to the other when she'd had enough of my pasta and fancied a bit of medium-rare fillet steak from her uncle's plate. And she looked gorgeous in her hot pink party dress with little fake-fur stole. She loves dressing up as much as I love dressing her!
After the cake was brought out, birthday 'This is Your Life' style album presented and laughed over, said cake cut and eaten, and the last of the drinks swilled down we all headed back home to carry on the party. The kids got into their pyjamas, had a little play for a bit, then headed up to bed all partied out and ready for some peace and quiet. My aunt, who lives an hour away, even got to put her up to bed with me and tuck her in, which I think was the highlight of her evening.

Now you could tell this was a 30th birthday celebration, as once the guests had left we all settle down to watch the X Factor. Rock and roll. But we were all happy, hubby had a nice cold beer and a comfy seat, all of his family around him. He said he enjoyed his birthday and was very lucky with the gifts he received, mostly being US Dollars to go towards our NYC trip next year. New York baby!

Teething sucks!

Title says it all really, had an unhappy baby overnight and most of the day but hey ho that's life. To save all our sanity Daddy took her to the shop to buy milk when I was trying to cook dinner, as we were about to throw ourselves from the upstairs window onto the patio if the constant, piercing, whinging didn't stop. That half hour of peace (she didn't make a sound in the car) did as intended and we all enjoyed a dinner of saute potatoes, rocket and parmesan salad (not Poppy - green stuff? yuck..), steak for Daddy and Poppy and fish for Mummy and Poppy. As you can see Poppy just eats pretty much whatever we've got which makes life much easier. Although at one point she did spit out a piece of half eaten steak to sample a pea, much to her fathers disgust.

The birthday party was a huge success on Wednesday. The birthday boy had a great time, despite a chest infection and a few bumps to the head down to some adventurous exploring. Poppy also enjoyed immensely, apart from a nasty accident after trying to climb onto a baby ride-on when my back was turned - she went headfirst onto what is possibly the hardest floor ever and ended up with a bleeding mouth. As this was the first time she had ever had an accident that caused her to bleed, panic set in and I wobbled over to my friend who abandoned her sons nappy change to look for the wound and get Poppy's drink and dummy. Ever practical, B, the mum of the birthday boy, found a first aid kit but not much could be done except wait for her to calm down and for it to stop bleeding. Which it did in a few minutes, although it took a lot longer for my heartrate to resemble normal and the threat of tears to subside. Lesson learned-make sure that you carry baby with you everywhere when you cannot see them from where you are going, even though she was right behind me when i turned away and crossed the floor to the vehicle in what seemed to be warp speed.

No swimming lesson this week, has been cancelled, so we're spending the day at Nanny and Bampa's house to a) see them, obv b) get out of the house so hubby can sleep after night shift c) give my back a break by giving someone else a turn at walking her about. Although I have ordered a nifty gadget from the U.S that promises to give your back a break. Lets just hope it arrives in time before I pop a disc.

Sunny day

The weather has been lovely the past few days. I made the most of the sunshine this morning by taking Poppy for a walk on her trike around the local lake. She loved watching all the bird life, especially the madness when someone fed them some bread! Got back just in time for the Tesco grocery delivery too. Then had a busy time during her nap baking a batch of the sweet potato muffins for my friends little boy's 1st birthday party tomorrow. Was good timing as the last lot I made just ran out so did a batch for us too. I'm also in charge of jam and dairylea sandwiches (not a combination, two different sets) so my plan is to make those fresh tomorrow morning during her morning nap, as the party starts at midday.
This is the first in a long line of 1st birthday parties! Already got invites to another two, then Poppy's herself, and know of another one at least she's invited to. Then over the next few months all the younger babies we know will also turn one, although with me back at work perhaps not seeing them at babygroups will mean we lose out on an invite ;-) Who knows what to buy them all, I'm sure they've got plenty of toys already! Perhaps some clothes or Argos vouchers?
Definitely having an early night tonight, got carried away on the internet looking at cloth nappies last night until gone 10 - late night for me, that...