TwinMum

Another week to kiss good-bye to! They say that as you get older, the years go by quicker and I really think that they are right! Crikey.. I'm going to be 34 soon!! EEK! And the boys are going to be 4  I don't know where the time has gone. It will be christmas before we know it.

This week the boys have had a good time at kindy. The weather has been better so they have ridden their bikes. I bought them little bike rings to put on the handlebars and no doubt it will drive hubby mad!! I bought them some Wall.E t-shirts and will be putting them in their christmas stockings. The stores have christmas trees and decorations in them!!! Can you believe it!! The boys kind of have an idea about  Santa but I'm not really sure they have the proper concept yet. We did our "operation christmas child" boxes this week and got them sent away. They will be such a joy to some under-priveledged children (we did 2 boxes). The boys had a great time helping me choose gifts for them and they were very proud to announce that they were helping "poor people"!! LOl If you are interested, check out….. www.samaritanspurse.org.nz  It's a wonderful cause.

Stephen enjoys telling everyone he has "farted". He has become quite good at drawing "rollercoasters" and apples! Matthew is also doing well with his drawing and has some good ideas mapped out… he likes drawing people, trees and the grass! They are still obsessed with Wall.e but they have also discovered some other programmes they like. They enjoy watching Lola and Charlie DVDs. And the biggest thing this week is the CD storybooks. They LOVE to listen to CD storybooks when they go to bed. No more reading stories at the moment as they are not interested in this at all. Boo!

Only 3 weeks until I go to Aussie….. can you tell I'm excited?!!! LOL 

This weekend we had a lovely visit from Great-Nana, Nana and Grandad. The kids loved spending time with Great-nana and getting into bed (or rather squishing into a single bed with her). We went shopping and to the Riccarton markets. We also went to a new McDonalds restaurant and played in the playground there. Great Nana and Grandad went home sunday but Nana stayed on for a few more days and the boys thoroughly enjoyed spending time playing with her and reading books in bed in the morning.

 The weather has been fab the last few days and we've been out biking and walking every evening. The boys are enjoying their new summer pyjamas… beetles and centipedes. They love having breakfast in bed every morning (they share my toast LOL). Because we're up early, we go to bed early… at 6- 6:10pm!!! The boys have taken a shine to playing games on the computer.. they particularly like Mickey Mouse playhouse. However the Wall.e games are also popular!

Talking of Wall.e, it opens at the movies here in 2 days time. We are definitely taking the kdis to see it (it will be their "first" proper movie). They are sooooooooooo excited! We will go and see after the school holidays and when things are a bit calmer!

Hard to beleive, but it's only 4 weeks until I head away to Australia to see Mum & Dad. Hard to believe it's come around so quickly. I'm feeling very tired lately so I think I'm in need of a break!

So, what can I say except that it has taken a lot of hard work to re-find my blog after our computer crashed and I now have year's worth of stuff to write about. It's quite unbelievable to think that my boys will  be 4 years old in a few month time. Where have my babies gone??

Having said that, we are in such a neat phase.. they love to talk and ask questions! We have just hit the "what's that mummy?" phase! I guess I should go back to the beginning though and update what has happened in the last 12 months.

The boys had their 3rd birthday party.. a very low-key affair with their cousins at Nana's house. They had a Cars cake and a Buzz Lightyear cake, kindly made by Nana. Chistmas was a blast…. they got lots of nice things but they had the most fun with the bubble machine!

On the 8th february 2008, they started kindy. That was their due date, so it's easily remembered!! They started attending the Spreydon- Hoon hay Private Kindy on Lyttleton Street. They attend 2 afternoons (tuesday and friday) a week, 1:15pm- 3:45pm. They absolutely love it and are still going at the same times currently.

In April, they had their dental check. Stephen opened wide for the dental nurse,  but Matthew had his mouth firmly shut. He has developed an irrational fear of the dentist and the hair dresser!!! He screams before you even get in the door to the hairdresser. This is till going on and the only person allowed to touch it is me and Nana. And that is with much bribery! We need seasame street plasters on our hands as a bribe. Ugh!

In May, we spent a 2 week holiday in Australia. We had 5 days with Nana and Grandad in a motel on the beachfront at Palm beach. They loved the water and had a blast! We then spent 9 days with Grandma & Grandpa. We went to Dreamworld.. what a fab time. The boys were intially overwhelmed by all the sights but soon settled and were so very excited. To this day, we still talk excitedly about going to Dreamworld and seeing Spongebob and Patrick! And all the rides… well, they just loved them! They also had 2 visits to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and had much fun there.

Stephen became toilet trained in February (except for ngihttime) and Matthew beacme toilet trained in July (except for nighttime). In August they both became dry day ad night and were initiating getting themselves to the toilet for both pee and poop. WOOHOO!!!! We have never looked back!

Winter was fairly kind to us.. we initially had a lot of coughs and colds but then the boys immunity kicked in and things have been good since. They got new bikes in July.. proper 2 wheel bikes with training wheels. They have coped so well and are now expert riders!! The road sense thing is still not so good but we're getting there.

And here it is in September! Heading into spring again. Hard to believe! The year seems to go so very quickly now. I have been back at work almost 18 months and Warren has been a SAHD all that time. I am working towards dropping my hours next year so that I can start being home in the eraly afternoon (at around 1pm) and this in preparation for when the boys go to school (february 2010) and I need to be at home when they get home from school. It's so very exciting that we are entering this phase. It's all very sad… I realise we only have 1 more year of the boys being truly ours only… once they hit school they will have friends and after school activities…. *sigh*.

So, the boys have grown and developed so much. They speak so well and are started attempts at writing their letters. They know their numbers up to 13, know the alphabet letters, shapes, colours and are just learning what colours are created when you mix them together… e.g. blue and yellow makes green.

They ask all teh time if we are having a baby… they are obssessed with it. LOL!! Unfortunately mummy's tummy doesn't work so good… and their answer to that is to get it fixed and to go to the hospital to make it better! Oh, if only that were so easy!!

Stephen loves talking about nipples!!! LOL He always tells me mummy has big nipples and nipple covers (bra)!! It's quite funny. And of course we're always talking about "doodles"!! Typical boys!

What a year… and it's only going to get better as we go along. I promise to update this blog far more regularly. ANd thanks for reading if you ahve got this far!!!

Well, what can I say.. I haven't visited my blog since March. So muc has happened and life has been so very busy. Since then, we have to been to Australia to visit my parents (May), I got the job adn started work on 14th May (fulltime). Hubby resigned from his job and is now a SAHD.  Winter has passed us by and it's now SPRING! Crikey!!

The boys are great…. Stephen is toilet training and "dry" during the day with regular toiletting. Matthew doesn't have a clue yet!! LOL They are both chatting up a storm and Matthew's latest and favourite saying is "let's do it again"!!

*sigh* My boys will be 3 years old soon. Wherever has the time gone?? I can't believe it. It's also been almost 4 years since our first son passed on. I cannot believe that either.

Well, I will endeavour to get back here more often. With working fulltime, life is busy and computer time is limited. Thanks for stopping by.

So, there is a distinct chill in the air and it's cooler at night. You can't mistake the feel of autumn. Daylight Savings ends here this weekend (well tomorrow actually). So, we're well on the way to counting down to winter. They (the weather experts) say we are in for a VERY cold winter this year. I just roll my eyes at that one though because they said we were going to have a VERY hot summer and yet it was one of the coldest summer's on record!! LOL

So, we have an extra blanket on the bed and the boys are back in winter pjamas. I have been winter clothes shopping this week too. I was hoping to buy the boys' winter wardrobe in Aussie (we go on teh 30th April) but I'm afraid we can't wait that long. So, they have new socks, new thermals, new trackpants, new long-sleeve t-shirts and new jersys. They still need a jacket each but I'm looking around for one….

So, I mentioned last time abut this little car prang I had. Well, this lady hit me.. we were at a "T" intersection with lights. The lights were red and I was in the left lane indicating left. The other lane is the right lane, which turns right….. so, as the lights turn green we all start moving off and this woman in the right lane decides she wants to go left… but I was right there already and she clipped my wing mirror (or rather ripped it off) and scraped my front fender. I sat on my horn. Grrrr. It gave me such a  fright. I saw her angling her car in to the lane but I couldn't go anywhere because there is a bus stop on the footpath there and people were in the bus shelter.. couldn't exactly run them down  and I had nowhere to go. So she hit. UGH!

Then, we go around the corner and she approaches and is very apologetic (as she knows she was in the wrong) but her parting comment was "I guess we all need to learn from these sorts of things and be more careful". WTH??? All I could think was that I was in the correct lane, doing the right thing.. you weren't and you hit me… what do I need to learn??? Grrrr. Anyway, everything is all fixed up and it was pretty minor but it definitely gave me a fright, esp. with having the boys in the car.

Not much else to report really. I've been very busy helping with friedns who are having/ had babies and being very domestic. Oh, and how could I forget.. I went for a job interview last wednesday.. it went well so now we just have to wait and see……

Okay, so I have about 10 days worth of info to catch up on!! LOL

Firstly, our achievements since we wrote last……. the boys have tranistioned to toddler beds. It's been fairly easy (despite the bed swapping and keeping one another awake for a bit longer than normal at naptime) and they have not yet fallen out of their bed . We can say "A,B,C" and count from 1-10 (repeating what I say of course) and we know our main colours… red, green, blue, yellow, orange, brown, black, purple etc!!! They have started pointing at things and saying "green" or whatever colour it is!!

We also had our 2 year well check. The results are as follows:

Stephen weighs 26lb4oz (18th percentile) and is 32.6 inches long (less than the 3rd percentile ) Matthew weighs 28lb4oz (41st percentile) and is 33.4 inches long. (6th percentile).

So, we have 2 little shorties in the family No srprises there though, given they both have only just come out of size 0 pants (at the age of 26 months!!!) I am thrilled with Stephen's weight gain.. last time he was in the 3rd percentile, to a jump to the 18th percentile is FANTASTIC for him!!!!

We also had to buy baby gates this week as the little guys discovered they could pull open teh doors interconnecting the living room and dining room/kitchen. *sigh* We have survived for 26 months without babygates so I guess we've done relatively well.

I have been a maniac selling stuff on eBay this week and I made $130!! WOOHOO!!! That helped pay for the babygates I was hoping to be able to "splurge" on something *eyeroll*

Other big news for me is the possibility of me returning to work. I was busy this last week getting my paperowrk for the registration board sorted and my CV done. My CV has gone and the interviews are supposedly next week. I am offically freaking out!!!! Hubby will be at home fulltime to look after the boys (he will resign his job). I know he's going to do an awesome job of looking after the boys BUT my heart aches already about leaving them during the day. BOOHOO!! And I haven't even got the job yet!! LOL Anyway, if I don't cope at leaving the boys at home while I work, hubby can and will go back to his job. So,  we are lucky in that respect.

Well, that sums it up.. except for the little car prang I had (well,actually a lady ran into me) but that's another story I'll keep for the next update….

Apart from saturday (which was grey and drizzly) we have had a beautiful week. It's alos been really hot… today the kids and I were in shorts and singlets by 9am!! We have been hanging out in the backyard, with buckets and the hose!! LOL They LOVE mucking about with the hose, so I leave it running on a trickle when we are out there.

On Sunday we took the kids to the Domain.. we fed the ducks.. which they aboslutely loved. Stephen got the hang of it really quickly but Matthew was trying to eat the bread (as only a 2 year old would do!!) Ick! We then had a play on the playground and came home in time for lunch and their nap. In the afternoon we spent time out in the backyard with the hose, buckets and spades and a sprinkler!!

We also went to a birthday party on friday. It was fun… the kids loved the cake and while the birthday boy was spending alot of time in "time out" my boys enjoyed playing with the "new" toys!!!

We are also cutting teeth The boys have been miserable with this off and on all week. Stephen tends to whine all day while Matthew tosses and turns and keeps us up all night with his crying Those 2 year molars are coming in. Teething sucks!

The boys achievement for the week was getting themselves INTO their cots!! They took themselves off to bed the other night! That was a shok! They can't climb OUT yet though. But I am now planning ahead for moving them into their own beds shortly. I would hate them to do damage to themselves and Stephen kind of throws himself in……..

So, there goes another week……..

This week has just been fantastic weather-wise and we've spent alot of time outside playing. The boys really love to "dig" in the garden and help me "weed" (which really means pulling leaves of bushes and ripping up blades of grass!! LOL). We had multiple birth playgroup today, which the boys always love. We had to come home a little early because Stephen "lost the plot" as he was very tired. I had to carry Matthew out who was kicking and saying "no, no, no"!!!

The boys have a birthday party to go to tomorrow, which is very exiciting for them. I am trying to teach them to say "happy birthday" but they say "day"… oh well. We have bought the birthday boy (who is turning 2) some clothes and  a really cool colouring in book with a set of crayloa's "my first pencils". Hopefully the weather willl continue to be kind so we can be outside

Nothing much planned for the coming weekend. I have to get my CV sorted out and updated if I want to look at returning to work soon!! That will be the main task. And hoepfully we'll get the miniature trains this weekend!  

Well, another week down. I'm not sure where the time is going. I know, I know.. I say it every week but oh my….!!!! So, this week's achievements were throwing away the sippy cups for good!!! We use open cups at the table or a drink bottle if we are out. We've had lots of spills and accidents (and some non-accidents where my boys are experimenting with what happens when you tip the cup upside-down). Oh well.. it's all part of learning! It's bittersweet really… all these "baby" things are fast leaving us!

The other transition was buying new 5 point harness booster seats for the boys. We decided on the Nania Booster seats and they are fantastic. I've done so much research on the booster seats and of what is available here in New Zealand, this was definitely the best seat. My guys look so small in them!! LOL Anyway, I'm pleased we now have them installed. They will be there for the next 7 years or so! Hard to believe!

It has been very hot here and we had a great day yesterday washing the cars… lots of soap suds and buckets of water and hose spraying. The kids just loved it! No time to go to the trains unfortunately.. maybe next week.