Saturday, 5 January 2008

And finally, some pictures








Amie and Noah on Christmas morning. Santa Claus did bring her a recorder, I think Mrs Claus thought it was a bad idea, and I think Mrs Claus has been proved right.




This photo is for Emma to prove that yes, I did in fact wear my new clothes on Christmas Day. Rich organised for me to go to House of Fraiser with Emma and a personal shopper to get me into some decent clothes. I had a great time trying on loads of lovely things.. .and a hard time picking out exactly which ones to buy. I had an even harder time fighting the feeling I should bring back most of the clothes and run into the nearest Next store and buy LOADS of clothes.. rather than the 3 trousers and 5 tops I came away with. I'm glad I didn't do that, as I do like them, and it's nice to have something to feel a bit special in (not in the sense of the word you would think of Eoghain!) With it being Christmas I couldn't resist a red cardigan. The reason I look so nervous is because it's a handwash only cardigan...not really what you want to have on holding a drooly baby. Sorry you can't see the shoes Emma, but I did have them on :)


I wasn't the only one to get new clothes, Amie got this lovely coat from Nana and Pa.


And a very cute blouse from her Great Aunty Sandra



It's great to see some of Amie's old toys coming out of the attic now that Noah is a little more into playing with things... of course, old toys have never looked more attractive to a 2 year old than when someone else is playing with them...


..but to his credit Noah wasn't giving up his new found spoils easily.


However, some hand me downs are more desirable than others... cannot wait to get this photo out when Noah brings his first girlfriend home. In my defence it was very cold out, and I couldn't find a blue hat.


Noah isn't the only male in the house to be in touch with his feminine side. My friend Beth brought me this beautiful bunch of roses, and and as per usual Neo had to get up beside them to get his photo taken.


It's been a bit of a struggle to live up to the new year resolutions that I haven't actually made. If I dont' make them, I can't break them.. but somewhere in my mind I do have the intention that THIS year I'm going to be more organised, efficient, not to mention slimmer and less addicted to a certain substance made from the coco bean. Anyway, as you can see, almost a week into 2008 and I've finally sat down and updated this blog page, with I might add, a big bar of chocolate in my gubby mitts. I hope you enjoy the photo's and that I can be a little more frequent with posts this year :)


Amie and Jack always get on well when they meet up with each other, he's only 6 weeks older than her and was delighted to show her all his toys.


Noah was a little cheeky and opened his christmas presant from Emma a little early, but with a face that cute who could give out to him?


We had a lovely time this Christmas as we got to visit both sets of grandparents. It meant a stopover in Manchester before catching a plane to Dublin, but it all went very smoothly. Until we hit the traffic in Dublin that is. But still, we all got there safe and sound and had a lovely time. Noah got to meet his Great Granny Keegan for the first time, who supplies him with lovely jumpers. He was rather taken with her tights though, I think he'd found a kindred spirit.. and was trying to tell us he's ready to move onto the 15 denier variety.


Amie meeting a certain senior for the first time. She was a little lost for words, but her daddy was there to shout out her name for her.


Noah is now 11 months..and still only has 2 teeth. He likes to clap and wave, and his first word is "Hiya" which he says while holding a phone (usually upside down) to his ear. He stood on his own for the first time on Thursday, so I imagine it won't be long till he's trying to walk on his own.

Sunday, 9 December 2007

Eoghain and Tanja visit


Neo catching some winter sunshine






Amie working on her best photo face (that's a raisen in her teeth btw, not a cavity :)


On the train to Hamburg


This weekend we had a visit from Eoghain and Tanja. We took them into the Christmas Market in Hamburg on Saturday. The weather was cold, but at least it wasn't raining (as we forgot the raincover)

Christmas Markets are really nice, they're full of...

Gluwein..


..food..


..fairground rides...


..and bright lights




The only bad thing is that they are pretty cold! Lucky Noah and I had matching hats



I think he carries off this look better than me


On the way home after a tiring day

Wednesday, 5 December 2007

Time flies




He'll kill me for this when he's older :)

Sorry that it's been awhile since we last posted. Been having some camera/pc issues. But they're talking to each other now, so that's ok. Well Noah is exactly 10 months old today, I cannot believe how time has flown.. where is my 'ickle 'wickle baby gone? He's crawling about the place, walking by pushing chairs around and generally being a very happy laid back little chappie.. thankfully.
Amie with her stickers on her nose.

I think Noah is going to be a super hero when he's older, mostly because he wears tights (only when I dress him, Rich refuses to see the logic.. think it's a man thing) but also because he's going to have a super immune system. That can be his super-power, Immune System Boy. The reason he has such a good immune system (don't read this if you're eating) is because he seems to think the downstairs loo is put there especially for him to gum on, and generally try to climb into. Considering I have to take him into the loo with me sometimes, it's become a bit of a competition to see who gets to the bowl first. I have to be pretty quick to sit down before he gets to it, while also being careful not to actually sit down on the little guy, and give him flashbacks to his birth or something. It's all good fun being a mum, how I look forward to the day I can go to the loo without an audience :)


We had Sally and Tjeerd here to visit us last weekend, it was so nice to see them again and they had a blast in Hamburg. I was trying to get a nice photo of Amie and Sally together, but Amie was being very 2 at the time, and not co-operating.


Also, I've been trying to upload videos on here, there's some nice ones of Amie on the pony and Noah with his walker but so far I don't seem to be able to. I'll put some up as soon as I figure out how!

Wednesday, 17 October 2007

Back to Holland




Amie tells Gerda something funny about life in Germany..


Amazingly Amie's actually had her first hair cut. It's the fastest 6 euros the hairdresser ever made... but thought it'd be good to see how Amie reacted to having her hair cut by a professional, rather than me just attacking her fringe with the scissors. She seemed to enjoy it, and sat very still.


Amie looking very happy indeed to see her uncle Eoghain...


.. and aunty Tanja

We travelled to Haarlem this weekend to see all our friends there.. or at least as many as we could in 1 full day. A 4 1/2 hour drive that took us around 5 1/2, so not bad going. We were based in Haarlem because we were very lucky that one of Richard's friends let us have his appartment, THANK YOU again Sander... very nice man! The roadtrip was a huge success and we plan to go back soon and catch up with all the people we didn't have time to this time. Amie's magic armbands and homeopathic tablets worked a treat, and she didn't even complain of feeling ill once. Normally we need to change her clothes at least once when we go out in the car because she gets sick, so even though I didn't believe they would make a difference, they did. Proves that I'm wrong sometimes, I guess (don't tell Rich I said that)


The last time we saw Vera she was still crawling, and now she's walking around with a lot of hair looking very grown up. Amie eventually noticed this and said "Look mammy, Zera's walking!" Here she is checking that Noah's comfotable enough in her highchair.




What a cutie!




Katrina, Walter, Zoe (Vera's mum) and Amie

Walter was very very happy to see Amie again. He's been in love with her for a long time now, wooing her with bits of food at playgroup, and taking her for romatic rides in his bakfiets.. and he still sees her every day and gives her food according to his mum. Nice to know that a little distance isn't going to get in his way!


Samatha and Cylvana, Amie's best friends from our old neighbourhood were delighted to spend some time with Amie again.


A flying visit to see Milo, who was 3 on Saturday. Happy Birthday! I'm not sure what Valetina is doing...but having 2 young children can do strange things to a person (see next pic)


(sorry Val ;)


Noah very kindly helped with the packing, by packing himself!


Sally and Amie had a bit of a wild rumpus, while Tjeerd looks on bemused.


Teaching them everything she knows...


Aunty Sal.. aww, cute pic :)