I am so sorry for lack of posts..........

I am very sorry to all my devoted blog readers. I have been very unwell these past few weeks. Self inflicted I might add. I am around 9 weeks pregnant with very bad morning day and night sickness combined with a couple of urinary tract infections. I am one of these very unlucky ones.........

Thankfully my beautiful mum is coming down tomorrow and will be taking the girls and I up to stay with her and my dad for the week. I did the exact same thing when I was pregnant with Maisie.

On a good note our site is up and running. The amazing Tea has come up with something very special. Nick and I are so happy. I am so glad we crossed paths..... But that is another story......

www.mpvw.com.au

I will be back very soon with some great updates on our 3 beautiful girls.................

Don't worry about the croup! Look at the swollen cheeks....

Last night was rather eventful in our house in downtown Canberra. Maisie has had a little cough for a couple of days, just when she wakes in the morning. Once she's up it clears. She has had no temps and no other symptoms. I put her to bed last night and as usual she made no fuss. At around 3am she woke and was rather distressed. I went straight into her room to find her struggling for breath.

It took her straight up to the hospital. A young Irish Dr came and saw us immediately. His first words were 'OMG her cheeks are very swollen. Are they normally this big?'. He was really concerned. I said 'Yes they are. This is very normal. Big cheeks run in the family'. Ha ha. Don't worry anything else just the enormous cheeks. Like her elder sister Jess she has inherited the most beautiful squeezable cheeks. And we love them.....

Jessie would you like a new baby?........

This morning I was in the bathroom and Jess came in. I said to her "Jess would you like mum to have a baby". Jess says "Yes mum. I would like a brown one please". She then goes on to say "And I will be the grandma ma". Righto............... Out of the mouths of babes eh..........

Maisie's favourite things........

As Maisie is only 10 months old her possessions are limited. However since starting Child Care she has become particularly attached to her comfort bunnies named 'Marshmallow' and 'Bobbin'.

I have been putting Marshmallow in the bed with her since she was 5 weeks old. And Bobbin was a present from Santa which automatically went into the cot for sleep times. I knew she loved going to bed with these toys; but had little knowledge of how attached to them she had become. I think it's nice for a child to have a particular toy or item which gives them comfort and confidence to face the real world. The lovely ladies who look after Maisie give them to her if she get's upset; she instantly calms.

A few of Sophie's favourite things.......

Sophie a hoarder of junk like my mother. She has many favourite items. Some of which are rather quirky. I have taken some pics of a couple of them as there are too many for one post.

I will start with the wardrobe. I have bought Sophie many nice things and hand made some very nice things. But good old Sophie will always go back to the same few items she loves to wear. I was the same as a child. A complete dag. Included in these favourite things are: three brown skirts, a pink dress with an embroidered miss Polly, a butterfly t-shirt and her 'sparkly jeans'. She also loves her pink Clarke's sandals. She wears these with knee high socks pulled up. I wonder if she will remember these items when she reads this diary in 20 years time.

A few of her favourite toys are: Rosie the doll (grandma picked up at a fete), brown doggy (which belonged to me as a child), squeaky doll (another bought at a fete and has a bad arm that squeaks) and a fairy doll mum bought her for using the toilet. All but one of these toys are second hand. Why is it that children love pre-loved toys so much. I have bought her some beautiful toys but she always goes back to these.

She also has a little note book for drawing in.

Sophie has several fairy dress up outfits which she loves to dress up in.

Sophie's favourite movie is BMX Bandits. I have no idea why. She calls it the 'Bike Movie'. I am pretty sure it was one Nick picked up cheap and played it one day. For anyone who doesn't know it was a classic kids movie from the 80s. One of the main character is played by Nicole Kidman. I think most children from the 80s pretended they were a BMX bandit at one point. I know I did.

It will be interesting to see how her habits progress as she grows. I love the fact she can take an old biscuit box and make it into something using her imagination. I will never need to spend much money on her. She is more than happy to make do with things around the home. Or bought at fete's by her grandmothers.

This Week's Book......

This week were are reading the classic fairy tale Cinderella. I loved this book as a child. I have never read this to the girls so it will be interesting to see if they know the story. I am sure they have been exposed to many fairy tales at preschool.

Nick and I have set time aside each night for Sophie and Jess to do some homework. We hope this will get them in good habits before they start school next year. They will be younger for their year so we want to give them as much help as we can. I do believe they will be more than ready to start school. The time each night is spent reading and writing and playing a special education game Nick bought the other day. It's a little like twister and helps them with getting to know lefts and rights.

I plan to have a 'book of the week' starting each Monday.

I have taken some pictures of the book for you all to enjoy. Unfortunately the pictures do the book no justice. The book itself is Circa 1947. I am a keen collector of vintage children's books.

Maisie's lost doll.....

Well we didn't even realise it was lost until this morning. Nick walked down to get some milk and noticed a doll sitting on our neighbours mailbox that looked very much like Maisie's first doll. That being a beautiful Corolle.

Yesterday Nick took her down to the city in the pram. The doll who has no name as yet always goes in the pram with her. I am guessing she threw it out somewhere around here. A kind person has picked it up and sat it near where it was lost.

Ahhhhhhh nice to see there are still lovely people in this world. The doll is worth $60 so I am happy I didn't have to replace it.