tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86546146155774717232024-02-08T03:42:19.300+00:00Gem's Scrapbook Stories & Other TalesGem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.comBlogger164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-72315591983421726802012-08-18T20:46:00.001+01:002012-08-18T20:46:22.359+01:00The One About More Scavenger Hunt Photos . . .So I've got a few more photos to share, we've been doing quite well!<br />
<br />
2. A clothesline - or a whirly gig as it's known in our house!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UYh-_jKhvAQ-CvJB8HZaR0YCITt4YIkfJOyNJFN5d5T0HUS2VOxnWe_V6qTYegKESXAHuxzZf-wjJ-TDjP_9jX4Ng4456w12HGHe38qekMd0xTrE9ZFQfJUmg-buQN7BQiqgzQg88qw/s1600/P1000166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0UYh-_jKhvAQ-CvJB8HZaR0YCITt4YIkfJOyNJFN5d5T0HUS2VOxnWe_V6qTYegKESXAHuxzZf-wjJ-TDjP_9jX4Ng4456w12HGHe38qekMd0xTrE9ZFQfJUmg-buQN7BQiqgzQg88qw/s640/P1000166.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
5. A train</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiS_Xi9OlrRhKvsRwTzjoyoamWDug9j4hCqIhyphenhyphenpwCJ-CJsXVMe5DqVsjtYsFvRIyykQ-HIRAyJP2M0At64oPStIxs6v9SX6ZXYiFT0m4titDt9amdunk6pPSgVoWoGaRL5QueOvDUNLng/s1600/2012-08-12-178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiS_Xi9OlrRhKvsRwTzjoyoamWDug9j4hCqIhyphenhyphenpwCJ-CJsXVMe5DqVsjtYsFvRIyykQ-HIRAyJP2M0At64oPStIxs6v9SX6ZXYiFT0m4titDt9amdunk6pPSgVoWoGaRL5QueOvDUNLng/s640/2012-08-12-178.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<br />
7. A Person Playing a Musical Instrument - Another one from the trip out to the park, a whole band playing instruments!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxAaFnheyZqduoSzXDaBo84l45efMs9_yxOyqrUrLhvQeirap8RbQPk0O0yvpln49Sp_rj8dM5BAt1qR9hVXjeXaZzD_BHEiHxbyUGp5uoHQ3Rc-_ecS3PDzBG90Iegtd7zjXTskTgrc/s1600/2012-08-12-179.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBxAaFnheyZqduoSzXDaBo84l45efMs9_yxOyqrUrLhvQeirap8RbQPk0O0yvpln49Sp_rj8dM5BAt1qR9hVXjeXaZzD_BHEiHxbyUGp5uoHQ3Rc-_ecS3PDzBG90Iegtd7zjXTskTgrc/s640/2012-08-12-179.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
13. A Library - My friend needed to go to our local library so I decided to tag along, borrow some books (so much cheaper than buying them! And it keeps Mark happy as I don't clutter up the house!) and take a photo.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmgYG1lmZAEhBqQab_51iGkDKSDUu8YGq3jje5G77CFAIMhfuwaTukuKqZZ6FSCOwDJ1dYbPpcm0-FOSop1NSBtWP59OOcRHitBA6HkThg2cjDoXzqUvwv_mr3aIsZw3l6BwlJs4wbYk/s1600/2012-08-10-173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmgYG1lmZAEhBqQab_51iGkDKSDUu8YGq3jje5G77CFAIMhfuwaTukuKqZZ6FSCOwDJ1dYbPpcm0-FOSop1NSBtWP59OOcRHitBA6HkThg2cjDoXzqUvwv_mr3aIsZw3l6BwlJs4wbYk/s640/2012-08-10-173.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
14. A Person Playing with a Ball - I finally caught Alissia on camera playing with a ball in her class yesterday morning!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ylt3vQIgJx2Zv41etFqD9312tg4aiSZeBv6XL7BgwVKBxrDcMtskUkLyTb22Lvr2JVMUCYzx-9GClT3jMgJHxM7C9wkKoyL4w56brJrFl2gp0Rdh7ztg62aK1YGR0H5beDcjb707CXo/s1600/2012-08-17-186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ylt3vQIgJx2Zv41etFqD9312tg4aiSZeBv6XL7BgwVKBxrDcMtskUkLyTb22Lvr2JVMUCYzx-9GClT3jMgJHxM7C9wkKoyL4w56brJrFl2gp0Rdh7ztg62aK1YGR0H5beDcjb707CXo/s640/2012-08-17-186.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
16. A Bride - Mark and I went to this big card and party warehouse to pick up some things for Alissia's Naming Day at the end of the month, and I found this bride in there!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhreguj39IU-qNN-7K4qHP0QiKIyixEws5aJx-9G4FYF35Mr7K5BiqXYNj-6hl461D4eZfz3wdYG079zEwZ3Ymm4i96POT1OSpaRJWNEGQjxOB-mw5GAMiyBKLLks7TMv6VYiuTClmM2mA/s1600/2012-08-14-182.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhreguj39IU-qNN-7K4qHP0QiKIyixEws5aJx-9G4FYF35Mr7K5BiqXYNj-6hl461D4eZfz3wdYG079zEwZ3Ymm4i96POT1OSpaRJWNEGQjxOB-mw5GAMiyBKLLks7TMv6VYiuTClmM2mA/s640/2012-08-14-182.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<br />Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-10362779306655802822012-08-14T14:00:00.000+01:002012-08-14T14:00:00.133+01:00The One About Alissia at 6 Months . . .I can't believe that Alissia is 6 months old now, where has the time gone? She's come along in leaps and bounds in the last couple of weeks (apart from the gastro bug that has now completely cleared thank goodness).<br />
<br />
We've started weaning Alissia and rather than pureeing everything, we're going down the baby led route, where we just start her on solids and she feeds herself. We had to stop while she got over her tummy bug, so we're going to start her on lunch and dinner this week if we can, and if I can fit it in round all our outings, the milk feeds and nap times!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcZ8YMw2a7UsbU0crYsT-TmkPSAMOBszSpMR2eTC19tZGP9mv_Ji_Nz4Ba0xmd8l68yYhy_odMKD1TBFtLxp5jSwjFx5FmPY_sxWJFllxpajAcBgbgEp1ZkXJwk5tTVRn1jhBG0LFhA8/s1600/P1000128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMcZ8YMw2a7UsbU0crYsT-TmkPSAMOBszSpMR2eTC19tZGP9mv_Ji_Nz4Ba0xmd8l68yYhy_odMKD1TBFtLxp5jSwjFx5FmPY_sxWJFllxpajAcBgbgEp1ZkXJwk5tTVRn1jhBG0LFhA8/s640/P1000128.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alissia's first taste of toast</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Alissia is so much more stable when she's on her tummy, and she's very rarely sick either now. She sometimes rolls over too, from her tummy onto her back, and she always giggles after rolling.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxcPacGNP-wmZO1-hBdbdWAtSssQnzaxRgd11N5d3wuSG4V6VWNRU9ugpFUOFm9Nlxl5C6RZueNwzsNezrFwcHD16hxK5xCkdSKtLnRd59rXPB2PR6wym_PIxfSthm8DYm0BEpanQrsg/s1600/P1000138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUxcPacGNP-wmZO1-hBdbdWAtSssQnzaxRgd11N5d3wuSG4V6VWNRU9ugpFUOFm9Nlxl5C6RZueNwzsNezrFwcHD16hxK5xCkdSKtLnRd59rXPB2PR6wym_PIxfSthm8DYm0BEpanQrsg/s640/P1000138.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like being on my tummy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Alissia is also more stable when she sits up, she can't sit by herself yet, but can with the aid of cushions or someones legs!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLgdu4NzYvGtFNjA4bbjU5Wsr5ImnGq0ZCSvqRkkk1Mt91S3rxHjhtmC7v2zi1CSmOyloL7YWgxDHdzn1XxSyKuiEWugslZC_CgynXoENr2RqJmPRBXwBu-BNIwLWPy69b0aWJufszpTI/s1600/P1000143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLgdu4NzYvGtFNjA4bbjU5Wsr5ImnGq0ZCSvqRkkk1Mt91S3rxHjhtmC7v2zi1CSmOyloL7YWgxDHdzn1XxSyKuiEWugslZC_CgynXoENr2RqJmPRBXwBu-BNIwLWPy69b0aWJufszpTI/s640/P1000143.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm reading about nursery rhymes!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the last week I've started taking Alissia on the swings. Our children's centre has a park attached to it and one of the swings is designed especially for babies, and looks a bit like a car seat, so she went in that for the first time the other day and really loved it. Then last weekend she came on the swing with me.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9CC5I8koSXzbpgKY7DHa_KeWyTUKgd7uSGQdQm-2mPV97cc94mOwBUSUeMbjDvnZQKPxa1boX2AN2G19P16RWmDarz_DgAsSOqLD1qDWijC5DA_FKzQ7JLT2qC3Bv1yH9hrz8yXY29dU/s1600/P1000163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9CC5I8koSXzbpgKY7DHa_KeWyTUKgd7uSGQdQm-2mPV97cc94mOwBUSUeMbjDvnZQKPxa1boX2AN2G19P16RWmDarz_DgAsSOqLD1qDWijC5DA_FKzQ7JLT2qC3Bv1yH9hrz8yXY29dU/s640/P1000163.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Go faster Mummy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-50746404657648437612012-08-12T12:44:00.000+01:002012-08-12T12:44:10.714+01:00The One About More Scavenger Hunt Finds . . .Last Weekend Mark and I took Alissia for a walk, and on the way managed to get a couple of the Scavenger Hunt photos:<br />
<br />
8. An Angel<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5uGgQFs24stbUqcwOeKrZ92ODtd2nOo5jxkDDNUKydD83aS1B39DTM6BxN1IGTkidFS3PymkQH6lFyOIzvcjbvY3Im7DEyFE3yJv_MY95fbT8NoxKbnwPy9wobxyXQGkYGHsNfNiKsw/s1600/P1000159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC5uGgQFs24stbUqcwOeKrZ92ODtd2nOo5jxkDDNUKydD83aS1B39DTM6BxN1IGTkidFS3PymkQH6lFyOIzvcjbvY3Im7DEyFE3yJv_MY95fbT8NoxKbnwPy9wobxyXQGkYGHsNfNiKsw/s640/P1000159.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
11. A Shadow<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGcAeE7FwdNvdA57NFWgAOsacDCU6ekNIMf20-O-iCA1t_lPvz7LoGP5vVIR7YHU2NHHKHTOZOhyspVJmj7wQ1A2m8Zv21Ow9I7WWNEdtlDSwTa_bFcV2pXZk9-40JNW_7L_UfT-kOCw/s1600/P1000156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGcAeE7FwdNvdA57NFWgAOsacDCU6ekNIMf20-O-iCA1t_lPvz7LoGP5vVIR7YHU2NHHKHTOZOhyspVJmj7wQ1A2m8Zv21Ow9I7WWNEdtlDSwTa_bFcV2pXZk9-40JNW_7L_UfT-kOCw/s640/P1000156.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It had to be me and the pram!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-21949210197669709902012-08-05T14:00:00.000+01:002012-08-05T14:00:03.482+01:00The One About a French Tradition . . .For those of you that read my blog regularly you'll know that I spent nearly 8 years of my childhood in France. We were very lucky on where we lived because there was a good British community in our village, and several families with children of similar ages to us that lived very nearby. We never really celebrated any of the French Traditions privately at home, but some of our friends did. My sister and I were invited round one afternoon, on Bastille Day to celebrate with our friends. Well it was all completely new to us, we were probably 7 and 9 years old ( me being the eldest), and we were wearing hats round the table like you would at Christmas. Well our friends Mum brings out this special cake and says that there is a coin inside and whoever gets the coin gets to make a wish! We were quite excited about this having never heard of it before! Unfortunately because it was such a big cake , and there was only four of us none of us found the coin!<br />
<br />
This memory was triggered a few weeks ago (and I can't remember why now), and at the time I couldn't remember what we were celebrating. Then someone mentioned Bastille Day in passing - and thats when I put it all together and decided this was going to be by next Story for <a href="http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.co.uk/">Sian's Storytelling Sunday</a> this month! Make sure you pop over to her blog to read some other great stories!Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-27068753058932146882012-08-04T21:00:00.000+01:002012-08-04T21:00:03.171+01:00The One About My Scavenger Finds So Far . . .Despite not having a great holiday, we did manage to have a couple of days out where I got some photos for <a href="http://gallorganico.blogspot.co.uk/">Rhinda's scavenger hunt</a>:<br />
<br />
1. A Pier - one of the ones that I thought I'd have to make a special trip to get, but accidentally found when we took a slight detour on the way to the aquarium whilst on holiday.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7H2ruVpkzVQKww4_UFy_EtZaDbsTebpD_08J463yV0HuEJStI37QGVOwwAvdGqNAdBgpb1IekNbMxAXTklDUX-Qh0DgxR1RAX7MDAIu-J0fgCIhrLyK7X-cMBJx0e_L3SQSJ9v5AH0Pg/s1600/P1000025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7H2ruVpkzVQKww4_UFy_EtZaDbsTebpD_08J463yV0HuEJStI37QGVOwwAvdGqNAdBgpb1IekNbMxAXTklDUX-Qh0DgxR1RAX7MDAIu-J0fgCIhrLyK7X-cMBJx0e_L3SQSJ9v5AH0Pg/s640/P1000025.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
3. A Border - I got a couple of pictures for this, but I'm going with the flower border as that's the first thing I thought of when I saw this entry in the list!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6MreZsPpMeMAD2HiFLEKG6_ZqyLVpfHlO-RpWEIbF-kFSSxH6_XxG3Xeq-Ojs1T3qmDiQsw0QYtsCpZkIasdcY4A6IL-tR0LYtCkO_MFcHCZbAVburhHPq35q9kN1V43U9ODjwmIE78/s1600/P1000080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6MreZsPpMeMAD2HiFLEKG6_ZqyLVpfHlO-RpWEIbF-kFSSxH6_XxG3Xeq-Ojs1T3qmDiQsw0QYtsCpZkIasdcY4A6IL-tR0LYtCkO_MFcHCZbAVburhHPq35q9kN1V43U9ODjwmIE78/s640/P1000080.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
6. A Historical Landmark - I think Siezergh Castle counts for this! We had a lovely peaceful morning there, just the three of us.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXAeYFVe1eU6ThGRehL5OXVMWgY9XwzhFn3KMV_JYLrje_jsB05svl1S_I46aYAraSFNFfCJpnznAtyZvkdARR8xniWgxjxh9bCJCGnnGV4uDaXjxaLPKHJlkDDRnbNZRqwMqlJX4mkU/s1600/P1000077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXAeYFVe1eU6ThGRehL5OXVMWgY9XwzhFn3KMV_JYLrje_jsB05svl1S_I46aYAraSFNFfCJpnznAtyZvkdARR8xniWgxjxh9bCJCGnnGV4uDaXjxaLPKHJlkDDRnbNZRqwMqlJX4mkU/s640/P1000077.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
9. A Fountain - I was going to take a picture of the fountain at the Trafford Centre for this one, but then we came across this fountain whilst at the zoo on holiday.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw4Wyms9xgHlSdIWDCeK7AUXKhGbFnkRI4HNEeDH8G4lPi8ln0yRmHuDIGhF4INC9aXy-c19kcmkN-JvjxRLFxBrLdVysuwt6FWPwo1a8bwYXSnXTYOF1lGh99PTfYf3VupzjJFVJxfIY/s1600/P1000055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw4Wyms9xgHlSdIWDCeK7AUXKhGbFnkRI4HNEeDH8G4lPi8ln0yRmHuDIGhF4INC9aXy-c19kcmkN-JvjxRLFxBrLdVysuwt6FWPwo1a8bwYXSnXTYOF1lGh99PTfYf3VupzjJFVJxfIY/s640/P1000055.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
10. A Horse - I actually got two pictures for this but the first one wasn't very good as it was taken through the car window. The horse and its rider were coming towards us down the country lane, and as the road was quite narrow going under a bridge, Mark stopped the car to let it pass -and for me to take my photo! The horses in the photo are from Lakeland Maize.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlpKnzd9n4fYyqyPpfCEC-Z_vE9Gg9JI-JOBzStqfblmOpsZj0cYWwuCWqXZEL1E5ikrLTQ_8p4DVC7Vakn9ueO6yObkWl5OPCvUl0uWgM7WBANJBvVX1H7KKiPZVG5qBwZ4jXwrt4AS0/s1600/P1000123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlpKnzd9n4fYyqyPpfCEC-Z_vE9Gg9JI-JOBzStqfblmOpsZj0cYWwuCWqXZEL1E5ikrLTQ_8p4DVC7Vakn9ueO6yObkWl5OPCvUl0uWgM7WBANJBvVX1H7KKiPZVG5qBwZ4jXwrt4AS0/s640/P1000123.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
12. A Maze - we made a special trip for this one. We were going to take a trip to Muncaster Castle but it was 90minutes drive away. So when we saw a sign for Lakeland Maize we were intrigued, and went to investigate. It seems a farmer had used his fields and animals to put together a tourist attraction, the main attraction being his maze made of maize!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnnsRoKAww18xl6QQXADKtwVrmet1eRZSBckn1upQVZt4lZt3smciOFfV_oGViEi6Pz6a9GFW2FigNWUZdKBp094dJU6mHJs2n0f4fBlnk4ikm1132qA0HkpHN5ChSDmn5kC-Zv_1AGI/s1600/P1000108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnnsRoKAww18xl6QQXADKtwVrmet1eRZSBckn1upQVZt4lZt3smciOFfV_oGViEi6Pz6a9GFW2FigNWUZdKBp094dJU6mHJs2n0f4fBlnk4ikm1132qA0HkpHN5ChSDmn5kC-Zv_1AGI/s640/P1000108.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKkgFcg6QMjglUvbC3PBHpZmGpfwLexqKQMLeXVAGkMZTidi8eTF2cm7NaS9iPmRFOAIN6jnR_imJFA9pISQm0_Y08ZYYEl7uCK9uC7hbdGkHNK-QaWBeM-gt8IDo4nHlIGG9Q7CaQP8/s1600/P1000115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKkgFcg6QMjglUvbC3PBHpZmGpfwLexqKQMLeXVAGkMZTidi8eTF2cm7NaS9iPmRFOAIN6jnR_imJFA9pISQm0_Y08ZYYEl7uCK9uC7hbdGkHNK-QaWBeM-gt8IDo4nHlIGG9Q7CaQP8/s640/P1000115.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
17. A Church - Mark stopped the car so I could jump out and get this photo. We saw some far pretties churches whilst we were away, but didn't get a chance to photograph them.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0n0GOR9l24piW479Kr831bPeST4zMOmhqige1B2YL5PJl_zGgNXzNPwwJ09NJRpUsgbfap_1g9i0XFKSPpMEdnf0jyfXU4y__n-6hN2-f-5pgMq0cSloaNpmFqcjnENMCjmmOCYRREWs/s1600/P1000007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0n0GOR9l24piW479Kr831bPeST4zMOmhqige1B2YL5PJl_zGgNXzNPwwJ09NJRpUsgbfap_1g9i0XFKSPpMEdnf0jyfXU4y__n-6hN2-f-5pgMq0cSloaNpmFqcjnENMCjmmOCYRREWs/s640/P1000007.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
19. An Outdoor Stairway - Siezergh Castle had a lovely outdoor stairway, plus can you spot anything else?!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9EWkBdhTf17cjBhUV-gwoD0ydsBRLV00UDmkIklBn6X0fHK-Rbkjj6L2TtEzGITDuv8BqZP7NvbFa7i4IymTeSJpv0AGtQF_Zuf8gzx49V_WJqbhpmQbUM3hzABk3B01ZJdhqapO9H8k/s1600/P1000096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9EWkBdhTf17cjBhUV-gwoD0ydsBRLV00UDmkIklBn6X0fHK-Rbkjj6L2TtEzGITDuv8BqZP7NvbFa7i4IymTeSJpv0AGtQF_Zuf8gzx49V_WJqbhpmQbUM3hzABk3B01ZJdhqapO9H8k/s640/P1000096.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
With the movies poster already found, I make that nine entries so far. So I've still got a way to go before finishing! I still think the bride will be the tricky one!Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-489026299143658652012-08-03T21:05:00.000+01:002012-08-04T19:40:50.018+01:00The One About Our Lake District Holiday . . .Last week we went on holiday with Mark's Dad, sister, her husband and twin boys. We were staying in two adjoining bungalows in Teebay. The holiday started off with a traffic jam, a ten minute journey took about 40minutes, then the motorway was on and off between national speed limit and slowing right down to 40mph. But we got there eventually, and while C, P and the boys were exploring the area Mark and I decided to get the travel cot put up and everything unpacked and put away. The lady who owned the bungalows also ran a B & B, and was hosting a tea & cake party that afternoon, along with a raffle. Mark and I got there for the tail end of it, and bought lots of cupcakes for 10p each! <br />
<br />
The nearest supermarket was a good twenty minute car journey away, and although we knew we were going self catered we'd decided to wing it rather than come prepared with food. So Mark and his dad went off to the motorway services off junction 38 of the M6 which has a farm shop attached to it while I stayed behind while Alissia napped. I've been told that the shop has won awards, but I couldn't comment because I never actually went.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikB7DaVxAJn-PeD18cUY8VLu1bbFZawL9SR_uGTKGbSKiCvBPkXH_cfp_8v6DU5X6hyphenhyphenXD3VlMj2juA8NC10xxJHicXqdHx5UDGl2xebaaWD1xb_K9jDJYDF_8jPHs9_bWWrACAEkyWu1g/s1600/disable3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikB7DaVxAJn-PeD18cUY8VLu1bbFZawL9SR_uGTKGbSKiCvBPkXH_cfp_8v6DU5X6hyphenhyphenXD3VlMj2juA8NC10xxJHicXqdHx5UDGl2xebaaWD1xb_K9jDJYDF_8jPHs9_bWWrACAEkyWu1g/s400/disable3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark and my room - the four poster was lovely but the men kept banging their heads on it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Not long after it was bathtime and bedtime for Alissia, and considering we were in a new place, and she was sleeping in a travel cot in the same room as us, she went to sleep fairly easily. All that was left to do was to enjoy a nice glass of wine and meal and just relax. I think that was the only time on the holiday that we were relaxed, because of everything else that followed.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8KABMgyzgttHAwICYFYnN7MfYK1EeN7MBKLRsxYApV-oWDxrIhFw4mNivSIa8ehHZGfeiLAH5LSa5Heu4l4SHpTtA1YZlPlYgLrUhOoKLnqPA_N_caq-qf8mHYrzNU0v0LipY1EtZhS4/s1600/disable5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8KABMgyzgttHAwICYFYnN7MfYK1EeN7MBKLRsxYApV-oWDxrIhFw4mNivSIa8ehHZGfeiLAH5LSa5Heu4l4SHpTtA1YZlPlYgLrUhOoKLnqPA_N_caq-qf8mHYrzNU0v0LipY1EtZhS4/s400/disable5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lounge where we spent an awful lot of time those first few days<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Half past midnight that first night Alissia woke up, which for her is very unusual because she's been sleeping though for weeks, and of she wakes up its generally after 6am. Well she'd had a very explosive nappy, which I was very surprised about, again never happens at night. So we sorted everything out, tried to get her back to sleep, but she just kept on pooing. It took us a couple of hours to get her settled and back to sleep. I thought it was just the change in water and that if we got her some Evian water everything would settle down. Boy was I wrong.<br />
<br />
The next day, her tummy got worse, she became very unwell, alternating between screaming or just lying listlessly in my arms, which for her is unheard of. If she's awake she is usually alert and into everything. The next day (Sunday) we decided to ring the out of hours doctors, and were told we could take her in to be checked over. Because I was worried she would become dehydrated, and she was completely off her milk. So off we went to the minor injuries unit for out of hours patients, where the doctor checked her over, said she had a slight temperature, and just said to keep offering her fluids. Perculiarly she seemed a bit more alert and perky at the hospital, so while we were there we decided to have tea and cake in Penrith rather than driving straight back. Then as we did get bak she seemed to go downhill again, and later that evening just after we'd had dinner, she started projectile vomiting. It was the scariest thing ever, and we went straight back to the same minor injuries unit as earlier in the day. Again she was checked over and we were told the same as before, she'd picked up a gastro bug and we just had to ride it out and just keep an eye on her fluids.<br />
<br />
That next night neither Mark or I got any sleep at all. Alissia would only sleep if she was next to me on the bed, I didn't sleep for fear of rolling over onto her, and Mark didn't sleep because he had no room on the bed. Monday, and Alissia was the same, with very frequent dirty nappies, which was making her bum incredibly sore, so bad that it was nearly bleeding. We told Marks Dad and sister etc to go out for the day without us as there was no need for them to miss out on enjoying themselves. Because she was very pale and because her bum was sore we made an appointment for her with a local doctor who gave us some strong cream. That night she went off to sleep in her travel cot, and we got a bit more sleep despite being up every couple of hours for feeds and nappy changes. <br />
<br />
The next day, Tuesday, Alissia seemed to be a bit more like herself, so we said that we would meet the others for a day out at Trotters World. That day, Wednesday & Thursday morning were good days (and I'll blog about them with photos next time). But Thursday morning we notices that the fontanelle on Alissia's head (which is the soft spot on the front of her head) had become a bit swollen, but didn't think it was anything serious, and just decided to keep an eye on her. But Thursday afternoon she became very sleepy and quiet again, and projectile vomited again while we were out. So we decided we were coming home, being on holiday was just more stressful. The next day we took her to see our own doctor, who checked her head and said it was nothing to worry about. Then later that afternoon the doctor called us back in because he wanted a second opinion. The second opinion was to go to hospital to get her checked over by a proper children's doctor. So at 5:30pm last Friday evening that's where we went. More examinations, more questions about the feeds and nappies and sleeps and everything else, a nearly failed attempt at getting a urine sample, and four hours later we're told we can take her home, not really any the wiser. They weren't sure why her fontanelle swelled, and just wanted us to get her head circumference measured every couple of days to keep her monitored.<br />
<br />
So, that was our holiday, which actually wasn't a holiday at all, and we came home more stressed than we were the week before. Thankfully Alissia seems to be over most of the sickness bug, and her fontanelle is no longer swollen, and the measurements are all coming back the same. So nothing to worry about now, but goodness we were worried silly this time last week. If I mention anything about going on holiday again, remind me to think again.Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-90700089934465968342012-07-18T09:00:00.000+01:002012-07-18T09:00:05.786+01:00The One About my First Alissia Layouts . . .Not so long ago, when Mark was out at the rugby and Little Miss was asleep in bed I managed to do two layouts for Alissia's album. These two are of those first few days with her. I've got a lot of catching up to do, she's now five and a half months! Where has the time gone???<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdpiBzmyCx1IGmUioKlkQ7JffKLdqRjyVgTad0D4RUq-sYn4dEd6j_LLd53hS83VkPTH1sTL3B2Z-4U52QjY9CYOOGPQai3ZCJPAAl_HBFFlwckN5ydHIb4j2mwAZC1vsVsCroVtR5zlk/s1600/IMG_2725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdpiBzmyCx1IGmUioKlkQ7JffKLdqRjyVgTad0D4RUq-sYn4dEd6j_LLd53hS83VkPTH1sTL3B2Z-4U52QjY9CYOOGPQai3ZCJPAAl_HBFFlwckN5ydHIb4j2mwAZC1vsVsCroVtR5zlk/s640/IMG_2725.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP9rnCORpEE9c5eK2dB761NTNnT90SvURBPybSApKy1Mr0kFT3UeV435Nthd4hTJLUBCRpqUPopnFP-ErmXJZk5FenVJAED3BrMynkdVTiUG8cJfbVJWXeAN3MDQsMQoTe7aaTreZCq9Y/s1600/IMG_2727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="598" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP9rnCORpEE9c5eK2dB761NTNnT90SvURBPybSApKy1Mr0kFT3UeV435Nthd4hTJLUBCRpqUPopnFP-ErmXJZk5FenVJAED3BrMynkdVTiUG8cJfbVJWXeAN3MDQsMQoTe7aaTreZCq9Y/s640/IMG_2727.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Mark is doing overtime this week, and won't be getting in till late, so I might get round to doing some more :)Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-39579539049209261712012-07-16T10:10:00.003+01:002012-07-16T10:11:44.019+01:00The One About the Scavenger Hunt Number 18 . . .So when Rinda announced the start of her <a href="http://gallorganico.blogspot.co.uk/">Scavenger Hunt</a> this summer I jumped at the chance to join in! However, because my point and click camera has died I've not really had the chance to take any photos, (that will be rectified this afternoon) but today I can share my first photo for the item Movie Poster! We're off on holiday next Saturday so I'm hoping to get quite a few then, especially if someone else can be responsible for Alissia and I can run about with the camera!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWPBMr0lx0eyNA-I6qFNuln080ForzkLJHkkgmZ-4-XnUSl-I55EUOwzt8_faqoj5IjnSan-OqPGRcWSNOFowRenGAH8XqnkVxLolxlh03_IONcDTJFu4-sYlZABf2eRHy7OCdiF92ekY/s1600/IMAG0217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWPBMr0lx0eyNA-I6qFNuln080ForzkLJHkkgmZ-4-XnUSl-I55EUOwzt8_faqoj5IjnSan-OqPGRcWSNOFowRenGAH8XqnkVxLolxlh03_IONcDTJFu4-sYlZABf2eRHy7OCdiF92ekY/s640/IMAG0217.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was taken with the help of my other half Mark who is joining in with us too! (I hope that's not cheating?)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I think that I'm going to struggle with photos of the Bride (I may have to go lurking one sunny Saturday - if the sun ever comes out again that is!) and of the pier (maybe a day out to Southport can be arranged!) The things we do!!!Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-34677811762000318312012-07-14T19:02:00.000+01:002012-07-14T19:02:06.160+01:00The One About the Giveaway on Life in the Craft Lane . . .At the beginning of June Kirsteen from <a href="http://lifeinthecraftlanek.blogspot.co.uk/">Life in the Craft Lane</a> was having a give-away for her 100th blog post. I was very lucky to win the give-away, and a voucher for <a href="http://www.craftisland.co.uk/catalog/shop.php">Craft Island</a>. My goodies arrived this week, all pink or alphabets or baby related to be able to get on with my Alissia album (which I've completed two LO's for, they'll be in a different post later in the week). Thank you Kirsteen for my voucher, and for brightening up my day when I found out!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-_VpsJjG_gIp_E0wWMtkLHgHDoe8u8RmhMuKSDvcdWcZpz1Fc3fQJ9FEs-bnBFEnz8QaGnj7BFhqnHVssoghzbghFIPPfqtYZRTsu1Pe6GFzsrbCpVp10-Y0qd3GhJ1l6O8ncB3snh4/s1600/IMG_2728.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-_VpsJjG_gIp_E0wWMtkLHgHDoe8u8RmhMuKSDvcdWcZpz1Fc3fQJ9FEs-bnBFEnz8QaGnj7BFhqnHVssoghzbghFIPPfqtYZRTsu1Pe6GFzsrbCpVp10-Y0qd3GhJ1l6O8ncB3snh4/s640/IMG_2728.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-81516246739977125052012-07-01T08:00:00.000+01:002012-07-01T08:00:14.689+01:00The One About Our First Date . . .In the January of 2009 I read an article about online dating, more specifically Sarah Beeney's website, <a href="http://www.mysinglefriend.com/">My Single Friend</a>. It made sense, you write an online profile, but a friend of yours writes something too, you upload a couple of photos, and then if men looking at it like what they see they can send you an message through the site, and you can reply if you want to. At the time I was working at a place where I wasn't going to meet anyone, and my group of friends didn't socialise with any single men, and I'm not the sort of girl who goes out on the pull in a bar or nightclub. Plus, I'm actually quite shy and lacking in confidence. It took me two months of thinking and deliberating before I broached the subject with my best friend, who then said she was going to suggest it to me but didn't want to upset me! My mum took a little longer to convince, but I explained how safe it all was and that you get to know each other over email first, then can arrange to meet up if you want to.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfw32BQSysKnt4L7uGUqei9jJgheIIZN9yWHYH1vHLfajynR-rlzQuovRgHjoGNf-CBERUZ6yOqA7hNhMcsR-ukkBHrzdBKKC-XJ9SDIAwhW7-U7bOMNzVgp2PJMNF-NPUq8pRxvPQIZA/s1600/P1200121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfw32BQSysKnt4L7uGUqei9jJgheIIZN9yWHYH1vHLfajynR-rlzQuovRgHjoGNf-CBERUZ6yOqA7hNhMcsR-ukkBHrzdBKKC-XJ9SDIAwhW7-U7bOMNzVgp2PJMNF-NPUq8pRxvPQIZA/s640/P1200121.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Glastonbury exactly a year later - two days after we'd moved in together</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After a couple of dates with men that I just didn't have that spark with, Mark's profile came up on the site. I emailed him first, and got a response back within a day! We seemed to have a lot in common, and were messaging nearly every day. It got to the point where I was excited to get home in case he'd sent me a message! After 6 weeks of this we decided to meet up, (we would have met sooner but he went off to the music festival at the Isle of White).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKpsIEWdiXfV6_ipa8kSmgAU3U1TzoFfso69ERb6RvZKJCSh-OXDUTKX7ac_WlajOdEv4F_J9Hgjh4e5CX9gThbLRSJFQTUJxdgBJGBO0wE94EC0IvPBLbeqeVfYzroO-tXp3UD_1aa7w/s1600/P3270285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKpsIEWdiXfV6_ipa8kSmgAU3U1TzoFfso69ERb6RvZKJCSh-OXDUTKX7ac_WlajOdEv4F_J9Hgjh4e5CX9gThbLRSJFQTUJxdgBJGBO0wE94EC0IvPBLbeqeVfYzroO-tXp3UD_1aa7w/s640/P3270285.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Mark's friend's wedding</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Mark suggested that we go and play Crazy Golf at the Trafford Centre. Now, at the time I wouldn't drive motorways because I was scared of them, and had only driven on them once myself before. But as the only route to the Trafford Centre was by motorway, I asked my best friend to teach me how to negotiate them before I met up with Mark (that's how badly I wanted to meet him!) We met up at 11am, and went for a coffee first, and just generally chatted. All I can remember from that initial meeting was how nervous I was, and Mark telling me how his sister was pregnant with twins and showing me the scan photos! Then we went off to play Crazy Golf. Now I'm not very good at Crazy Golf, and needless to say I lost, but we had a giggle! When we'd been round the course we decided that we weren't hungry for lunch yet, so went and played pool. I'm even more rubbish at pool, but with this you can always ask someone else to help you line up the shot. Which I did on a couple of occasions, just to get close to Mark! I still lost though!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOybNnAvfprulaqoBcnM6LnHOmFWLHlBgqhEAs-gf8fFXktdzlEI8347HaZZkuryMaH9FjuTYAKl6SLVzu9L3mD_cQsCfsbCoM0G8HVnMMkVeBEgEZuw_uQDUnftDitXzNNbgbNvVKjdM/s1600/P8210054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOybNnAvfprulaqoBcnM6LnHOmFWLHlBgqhEAs-gf8fFXktdzlEI8347HaZZkuryMaH9FjuTYAKl6SLVzu9L3mD_cQsCfsbCoM0G8HVnMMkVeBEgEZuw_uQDUnftDitXzNNbgbNvVKjdM/s640/P8210054.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mark's 30th birthday 'M' party - I was Morticia, Mark was Megatron - and yes he made the costume himself!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then it was time for lunch, at Pesto, a little Italian place which serves up small dishes like at a tapas restaurant. Which was new to me as I'd never been to one. Well, I turned to the dessert menu first, which is something I always do when out - well how else do you know whether to have a starter or not because you want to save space for dessert! And as I was looking the waitress came along and asked whether we wanted any garlic bread while we waited, which we did, and then we got talking about my love of desserts, and the waitress suggested that we just get a couple of dessert choices rather than a main meal. And my eyes lit up! I was being allowed not one, but three desserts, well that was it then - it had to be desserts all the way. And because Mark could see my enthusiasm he agreed, (I later learnt that he's not actually a big fan of desserts - ever the gentleman). He let me choose all three so there would be at least one that I like, and he still does this now, if we're out and the menu looks quite dodgy Mark will let me pick two main courses and if I don't like the one I'm given we switch. (We've only had to switch the once when I ordered the curry in a pub, and it was far too spicy for me, so I had his lasagne instead!) (Oh and whilst waiting for the food I went to the ladies and sent the obligatory text to Mum & best friend to say that yes I was ok and yes it was going really well).<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZUaQxK21qu1wTa_zqNNldip_xGdy5hgAyh1Ogevx4cOBTPhZYbQqGzBG8Q86OTn3tobgzBm2asqnflINkHhtsXIpYiq3d5WuGoibplYjwfi8ksvWTM-rNoxV9_aPQrBf2asgCVKebyk/s1600/P9170312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZUaQxK21qu1wTa_zqNNldip_xGdy5hgAyh1Ogevx4cOBTPhZYbQqGzBG8Q86OTn3tobgzBm2asqnflINkHhtsXIpYiq3d5WuGoibplYjwfi8ksvWTM-rNoxV9_aPQrBf2asgCVKebyk/s640/P9170312.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At my friend Catherine's wedding</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After lunch, because neither of us wanted the date to end, Mark suggested that we walk round the shops for a bit, because he needed a Father's Day pressie and card for his Dad. We ended up choosing his Dad a T-shirt in Debenhams, and do you know what? His Dad still wears that T-shirt now!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ky8z-qwC4HMtP3E8SWD5O2LaziitCkehUQy2WeTB2mjPW7_KVeo3-3MVoWLMBuHeRyLTJvd7Dq4AcboKN5jQt0-UfsJWMV4TsDsdsYiss7OE08rAz4eTZxsiXX7iU6cjHh0hZYvdmA4/s1600/PA220019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ky8z-qwC4HMtP3E8SWD5O2LaziitCkehUQy2WeTB2mjPW7_KVeo3-3MVoWLMBuHeRyLTJvd7Dq4AcboKN5jQt0-UfsJWMV4TsDsdsYiss7OE08rAz4eTZxsiXX7iU6cjHh0hZYvdmA4/s640/PA220019.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At my sister's wedding</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We then went for coffee in Carluccio's, and then it was time for me to go home - I was going out for dinner for my Mum & sister's birthday, otherwise I think I would have stayed until we were kicked out of the Trafford Centre! Mark walked me to my car and we discussed what our next date would be. And did he kiss me??? Well I think I might just keep you guessing!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi97qZ1UDWwOiieBYP1dWC1ewksNkSHd52E7U-XoCMPfco_EduhqxlwRQhTkV6C9ebta47sGctJHGb8V4guojtj4Fnavr0_2BXopCeBU8L5tT1LZHzuIlUe7lhg2BF0765cJEYZWTN_pnI/s1600/PB180100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi97qZ1UDWwOiieBYP1dWC1ewksNkSHd52E7U-XoCMPfco_EduhqxlwRQhTkV6C9ebta47sGctJHGb8V4guojtj4Fnavr0_2BXopCeBU8L5tT1LZHzuIlUe7lhg2BF0765cJEYZWTN_pnI/s640/PB180100.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On holiday in Madeira</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This post was brought to you for Sian's Storytelling Sunday, why don't you pop on over to <a href="http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.co.uk/">her blog</a> and read all the other stories for this month?Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-30532944379030160752012-06-26T16:52:00.000+01:002012-06-26T16:53:10.379+01:00The One About Blackpool Zoo . . .Last Wednesday was our three year anniversary from the day that we met, so as is tradition Mark booked the day off work and we went to the zoo. The first year was Chester Zoo, and last year was Knowsley Safari Park (which given that I was pregnant and suffering badly with morning sickness, being in the car was a good idea), so this year we went to Blackpool zoo. But with an extra little one in tow! We had a really lovely day, the sun was out, it was warm (and me being silly thought it wouldn't be hot and left her sunhat at home, so had to buy one that said Blackpool zoo on it!), we saw animals that we hadn't seen before and Alissia was really well behaved and happy throughout. The question is where do we go next year???<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwzEnYvx1vQ3FLWOB5e29yAyPSeZAIaiImgOpzlONEXPnXfOwzeaJlCJfR66aS8tSY7aBzRAYdRKGQEzvMQsrmULymEfDwoFM2no7pbH3q36eFoVeGdiZo0QY2xOyq7bgSltC4MffIwo/s1600/2012-06-20-141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixwzEnYvx1vQ3FLWOB5e29yAyPSeZAIaiImgOpzlONEXPnXfOwzeaJlCJfR66aS8tSY7aBzRAYdRKGQEzvMQsrmULymEfDwoFM2no7pbH3q36eFoVeGdiZo0QY2xOyq7bgSltC4MffIwo/s640/2012-06-20-141.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An anteater, which I'd never seen before!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQStT6yZOP02TAJz5NpgAd6eciZ9w7MIUlQcnZsI1HaqAtnqPw3Pg6qXxIzgXi5In0bBTLhMW5TJGnmJIrzlSMPLSDAwjlcV8TCPvnrLnpLYsZs6qjB-XVzOpsodbd_rOH9_Z51JyaqA/s1600/IMAG0193.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQStT6yZOP02TAJz5NpgAd6eciZ9w7MIUlQcnZsI1HaqAtnqPw3Pg6qXxIzgXi5In0bBTLhMW5TJGnmJIrzlSMPLSDAwjlcV8TCPvnrLnpLYsZs6qjB-XVzOpsodbd_rOH9_Z51JyaqA/s640/IMAG0193.jpg" width="382" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wX9reI6tWX972g_WEeQOBBP_J7PyIhAf7q89z9r0FEmwCOeYps9XrtWiZ6V_dJ2dbDHFzEBFMfvLt2mB3JoLAZdXyBuyh0LLXsssnzWAE24af78a2Gd0BPU0E8c24cXZ4zQChvqT75U/s1600/IMAG0195.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wX9reI6tWX972g_WEeQOBBP_J7PyIhAf7q89z9r0FEmwCOeYps9XrtWiZ6V_dJ2dbDHFzEBFMfvLt2mB3JoLAZdXyBuyh0LLXsssnzWAE24af78a2Gd0BPU0E8c24cXZ4zQChvqT75U/s640/IMAG0195.jpg" width="382" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We were really lucky to see all the wolves out, as it was a nice sunny day they decided not to hide! I think they were my favourites!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc0mKNSkYKNc-IKEzVjMEI5MhcCy7sc5PsRvhg1OZ2pz4hTwjTTZNlOiBLdUkePJZz9u9FGz2iwOrtGWRnI5TMNelxNlxM1k-9i2LKjh2FlMQ4eyAGFdKE24hqg8NdRhgsZZ8fiUfX688/s1600/IMAG0199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc0mKNSkYKNc-IKEzVjMEI5MhcCy7sc5PsRvhg1OZ2pz4hTwjTTZNlOiBLdUkePJZz9u9FGz2iwOrtGWRnI5TMNelxNlxM1k-9i2LKjh2FlMQ4eyAGFdKE24hqg8NdRhgsZZ8fiUfX688/s640/IMAG0199.jpg" width="382" /></a></div>
<br />
One of the enclosures had these tiny monkeys running loose, and you could walk through and watch them, and look for the other animals that were meant to be in there, different parrots and birds. Luckily Alissia was protected because I put her UV sun cover over her in the pram, plus there was a man going round squirting the little monkeys with water to make sure they didn't jump on anyone walking through. It didn't stop me from squealing though when any came near us! Of course we got to the end of the walk through and Mark decided to turn round and try to get pictures of them, leaving me with Alissia, they were very fast movers, running along the fence and in all the trees and plants.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0ivuyxkKex8Rubdf4aiIs9X5A1znMhWyTS53Ixl9drQ-tU7N2q0G3Iib7jcmS7ejQA1VDyOxVe1McwSgFKi1igetaIk2WHHKwAz4dXJ64r6d0gLqNYvdLCMgj_SvqN75qFbEk-eoD4g/s1600/IMAG0185.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0ivuyxkKex8Rubdf4aiIs9X5A1znMhWyTS53Ixl9drQ-tU7N2q0G3Iib7jcmS7ejQA1VDyOxVe1McwSgFKi1igetaIk2WHHKwAz4dXJ64r6d0gLqNYvdLCMgj_SvqN75qFbEk-eoD4g/s640/IMAG0185.jpg" width="382" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_qrAzJFanm6AGumT_vQJ-tU4BlLP2Vo3RBhVLUz6zLVQSiWc-7E0hPpbkl-MSU9VNAXK9eg1jyIbVr9Ky1j7Z1kMPAndcjASeCfVWNzwrWgHTOPJj4zNTX2ZOCNULDHfPciFo7c46p0/s1600/IMAG0188.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_qrAzJFanm6AGumT_vQJ-tU4BlLP2Vo3RBhVLUz6zLVQSiWc-7E0hPpbkl-MSU9VNAXK9eg1jyIbVr9Ky1j7Z1kMPAndcjASeCfVWNzwrWgHTOPJj4zNTX2ZOCNULDHfPciFo7c46p0/s640/IMAG0188.jpg" width="382" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVGtiRknNXrA_3paZh9X5uFxOVL_W8AxAPbE1fXVTK-C90DJr2j7gEZXsitPCfJwWd-yrR-QFVZqXZWZWthse0uEOxn1DK0l1kwlN91Z6wq07FwxAPP9WhfksR0s7vsiCHcjBI-BDb_RQ/s1600/2012-06-20-151.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVGtiRknNXrA_3paZh9X5uFxOVL_W8AxAPbE1fXVTK-C90DJr2j7gEZXsitPCfJwWd-yrR-QFVZqXZWZWthse0uEOxn1DK0l1kwlN91Z6wq07FwxAPP9WhfksR0s7vsiCHcjBI-BDb_RQ/s640/2012-06-20-151.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm busy chewing my gums Daddy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-83914408393843855622012-06-24T20:35:00.001+01:002012-06-24T20:35:16.801+01:00The One About Arley Hall Garden Festival . . .The garden festival is held every year on roughly the same weekend. We've been nearly every year since Mum moved to Wincham. We missed last year because I was suffering badly from morning sickness, so I really wanted to go this year. Mum & I have been watching the weather forecasts all week to see what it would be like today, and made one final check this morning, where it said that it would be dry today.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZuDpYVT5ru5y5IaFfwQNVjfe_9B6XHJmjD4bQis6jqPqsltZ4pcvaxP5xaSid9JK4mLm0xxusIIPS7uctpz15OP2DrVygfnPZBkhNQtHLdswFs7ffsDli_3IvTa8zmmkG7hV3PlBAuY/s1600/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZuDpYVT5ru5y5IaFfwQNVjfe_9B6XHJmjD4bQis6jqPqsltZ4pcvaxP5xaSid9JK4mLm0xxusIIPS7uctpz15OP2DrVygfnPZBkhNQtHLdswFs7ffsDli_3IvTa8zmmkG7hV3PlBAuY/s640/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+007.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKvBj3BRFlAHy-fJp6pQSamzuQdj7bHsV9m3II0aSKlWeMP_P5plcbVs_1k11CPVlahWIBtigQqoOkZRudvVpQfZ8MvjQBYUkecdi61jqm8TTBF89GBB8aC3FCttt5uzRBfGM4iz1st8/s1600/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKvBj3BRFlAHy-fJp6pQSamzuQdj7bHsV9m3II0aSKlWeMP_P5plcbVs_1k11CPVlahWIBtigQqoOkZRudvVpQfZ8MvjQBYUkecdi61jqm8TTBF89GBB8aC3FCttt5uzRBfGM4iz1st8/s640/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+008.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
I don't know if you've ever been to a garden festival or flower show, but the majority of it is just on grass. So when we got out the car we asked one of the car park attendants whether we would be able to push the pram round the festival. He said it would be fine, but a little muddy. A little muddy was an understatement! We got through the paying bit, got a couple of feet in and turned round and went back to the car to swap the pram for the baby carrier!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshrMLftVHLwCFoOfTH2UKaediWOGdX6CHCJpUnt3eK1Z2QJzzc-kzuWd9a6svXnyxuIcx41lCEhNEzZDnUP_m-ljaZS5-I3hlA_YiFR2kp_I5_V5Y0Bk0irQhtBIuAqqtv1t-LOcAeJM/s1600/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhshrMLftVHLwCFoOfTH2UKaediWOGdX6CHCJpUnt3eK1Z2QJzzc-kzuWd9a6svXnyxuIcx41lCEhNEzZDnUP_m-ljaZS5-I3hlA_YiFR2kp_I5_V5Y0Bk0irQhtBIuAqqtv1t-LOcAeJM/s640/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+011.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4GUPb9mJ9ltt5r5gAmV_1onOqCxRhogxYQSkWEN0eJQlbgkBRE7kRqrBVRQF_HTrNIcL5Qdq2sNG-hC4qjhfYkDo1g1JqXG08IxKtNDBRXdbcj82Dv9E0OlYgM4Ln7GqHCzfAueSPVk/s1600/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4GUPb9mJ9ltt5r5gAmV_1onOqCxRhogxYQSkWEN0eJQlbgkBRE7kRqrBVRQF_HTrNIcL5Qdq2sNG-hC4qjhfYkDo1g1JqXG08IxKtNDBRXdbcj82Dv9E0OlYgM4Ln7GqHCzfAueSPVk/s640/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+015.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlu_pTXr2P4IJdi3XbodYOCIqRSnHoWxdOkdhSpj1ZHSdb6Ejd6d0hCHcO0qRlhTMdt0_MQoIcBRceLNFDjQo89u4Me3yU4MqbBhitbCLynC70mU0fwJX_bjY2iTBySG93JHZ5fsJaDw/s1600/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlu_pTXr2P4IJdi3XbodYOCIqRSnHoWxdOkdhSpj1ZHSdb6Ejd6d0hCHcO0qRlhTMdt0_MQoIcBRceLNFDjQo89u4Me3yU4MqbBhitbCLynC70mU0fwJX_bjY2iTBySG93JHZ5fsJaDw/s640/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+016.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDp-ptw0lpuXmaUu0lW9i8Ny25HIIJNZQ0Rxg8FjQQZiBHx8nMX0cGJYPMecbUKNQyQFpTZnqtPrQo7ue1wF0hlz__4K7j5Gb-_Uk1ff0G-JMu7QjSLsdj3Y7BgeWo5Yi3YYh6TBSsuM/s1600/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDp-ptw0lpuXmaUu0lW9i8Ny25HIIJNZQ0Rxg8FjQQZiBHx8nMX0cGJYPMecbUKNQyQFpTZnqtPrQo7ue1wF0hlz__4K7j5Gb-_Uk1ff0G-JMu7QjSLsdj3Y7BgeWo5Yi3YYh6TBSsuM/s640/Arley+Hall+24th+June+2012+017.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Anyway once that was sorted we had a lovely walk round the gardens, the show tents and the plants that were for sale. And it was a good job we didn't have the pram because we'd never have got it down the narrow paths or up and down all the steps, which were really quite steep! I held onto Mum going up and down them because I didn't want to slip with Alissia on me! She quite liked being in the carrier, and she was that comfy in it she fell asleep! We didn't take a photo though in case the camera noise woke her up. We needn't have worried because whilst she was asleep a loud speaker announcement was made, and she twitched a little and that was it! My little girl seems to be able to sleep through anything! It was a lovely day out, and especially nice because it was something different, not just going round the shops!Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-42152561392268132512012-06-19T19:53:00.001+01:002012-06-19T19:53:42.808+01:00The One About Father's Day . . .We started the day off by bringing Alissia up to bed with us after she'd woken up, so that she could give her Daddy his card and pressie, an Avengers T-Shirt which he wore on the day! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLufwWoRVw3HhVXvCL8prLEBsfUNBzg07FY7AWu8ThYtbc_27IZiiX1QmNGU1FttkiJ537pgTeJ47MhMrWB7ewxl-I35j2DsC9a2t9n4D2VI0vNWygD3A0VnB5tGU8UCLew8WthWKywdM/s1600/IMAG0127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLufwWoRVw3HhVXvCL8prLEBsfUNBzg07FY7AWu8ThYtbc_27IZiiX1QmNGU1FttkiJ537pgTeJ47MhMrWB7ewxl-I35j2DsC9a2t9n4D2VI0vNWygD3A0VnB5tGU8UCLew8WthWKywdM/s640/IMAG0127.jpg" width="382" /></a></div>
<br />
For Father's Day we were going to take Alissia swimming, but with her exzema getting worse we thought we'd give that a miss and go for a walk instead. I'd always wanted to go to Queen's Park in Bolton, and I was really glad that we did because it was lovely. It was really well looked after, there was a large enclosed playground for children (making a mental note for when Alissia is older) and lots of hills to push the pram up! Excellent for losing some of this extra weight!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPwOrj9n6fXcGWOlCYpTvlJy62ThgX8LE3F2NChT_CBogBP5kpQ1V_568CS0mMcbNGvzliOlizET1PrZ7nKr3-KO0Ob2oZyqrosIpbzg64_RV5kltyfIBjsee7d1kURaxIe5WQ5GxBV5s/s1600/2012-06-17-134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPwOrj9n6fXcGWOlCYpTvlJy62ThgX8LE3F2NChT_CBogBP5kpQ1V_568CS0mMcbNGvzliOlizET1PrZ7nKr3-KO0Ob2oZyqrosIpbzg64_RV5kltyfIBjsee7d1kURaxIe5WQ5GxBV5s/s640/2012-06-17-134.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLOxmUovi9JSoY-qj9Fx-kwoApHGejz8FVtUFs_kM1XHnj9AYiZkSG9FGcN8DBM49Vcs5Xwf7u7I0xvQ5emzvmVGFA_8p42wTithclmy9Znlnyqb7dupxzpye86SHpv3ZYryY3-OtZI24/s1600/2012-06-17-135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLOxmUovi9JSoY-qj9Fx-kwoApHGejz8FVtUFs_kM1XHnj9AYiZkSG9FGcN8DBM49Vcs5Xwf7u7I0xvQ5emzvmVGFA_8p42wTithclmy9Znlnyqb7dupxzpye86SHpv3ZYryY3-OtZI24/s640/2012-06-17-135.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8r4JK-OA5nrHSVYxoF7UkREoSjaNIHVmL05Erj0jP5i8RZ8AnkfnlwCDgDhm5yIPUdq8pKumaGNJtWDD1cALGkJUAxpQO65ONviIV-cBmXvrPyUK_w0I7cj2tarHYJh2a-Oehj_U83c4/s1600/2012-06-17-137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8r4JK-OA5nrHSVYxoF7UkREoSjaNIHVmL05Erj0jP5i8RZ8AnkfnlwCDgDhm5yIPUdq8pKumaGNJtWDD1cALGkJUAxpQO65ONviIV-cBmXvrPyUK_w0I7cj2tarHYJh2a-Oehj_U83c4/s640/2012-06-17-137.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Well it turned out to be more than a walk, and more of a rescue mission because when we got to the top of the park Mark spotted a gentleman in an electric wheelchair who had keeled over. He' tried to get up onto a grass verge and obviously it was too high, and it tipped him backwards. Mark went off to get someone else to help lift him back up because with my back I wouldn't be able to help with any lifting. Between Mark and the runner that he found they managed to lift him upright again, but the battery had come loose in the process. It took Mark 10 minutes to reconnect all the loose cables, but thankfully the chair started working again. I'm just glad that we found him when we did, it was really quiet at the park on Sunday and he could have been lying there for a long time.<br />
<br />
We didn't stay out much longer because we were meeting Mark's dad for lunch. We went to The Harvester where they let you eat as much salad as you like. And because I've decided to be healthy now, I had quite a sensible (but yummy!) lunch of grilled salmon, runner beans and baby potatoes in a parsley sauce. And after all that there was no room for dessert!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyiMu3G2vPSRrkZdYhHCWPPdjU4UhU7Xcppt5w6UJZ-8l5rh-YBcRRlhAfbMn3pyOFngb8XgDEm7Nf7zCuyBPrx6gkvMANrv65Svdcpurm6ECK6giwyKQBD8sMHfXnMczZa5yGjBcwbqg/s1600/IMAG0171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyiMu3G2vPSRrkZdYhHCWPPdjU4UhU7Xcppt5w6UJZ-8l5rh-YBcRRlhAfbMn3pyOFngb8XgDEm7Nf7zCuyBPrx6gkvMANrv65Svdcpurm6ECK6giwyKQBD8sMHfXnMczZa5yGjBcwbqg/s640/IMAG0171.jpg" width="382" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And an action shot!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFUT35Dph_i8uvJvul8yMqBTcF8CfyZLUaE8MxV2UspQ-yY2WJ_F8Zr4Ff5hzsAr-MliFYbpJ4SnuY-2hvsyNGbUartNp4gFsuo8rr3v9d08fljj5ub9ZAukD5hMwPy2hLHTcPeSulok/s1600/IMAG0175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFUT35Dph_i8uvJvul8yMqBTcF8CfyZLUaE8MxV2UspQ-yY2WJ_F8Zr4Ff5hzsAr-MliFYbpJ4SnuY-2hvsyNGbUartNp4gFsuo8rr3v9d08fljj5ub9ZAukD5hMwPy2hLHTcPeSulok/s640/IMAG0175.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Then it was back home for us and a visit from Mark's mum, where we sang songs with Alissia. All in all I think it was a good father's day and I think Mark thought the same!Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-33186286330684435332012-06-16T19:23:00.002+01:002012-06-16T19:23:59.757+01:00The One About Saturday . . .Today has been good, because Mark has been home, and because Alissia has been having better daytime naps and feeds. We've worked out that the eczema has spread to her eyes and has been irritating her, but that Calpol helps settle this. We've got an appointment with the doctors on Monday for her because I don't really like giving her Calpol so often, and the creams aren't working.<br />
<br />
So back to today . . . Our local Surestart Centre put on a special event this morning as it's Father's Day tomorrow. Really it was for older children, but we didn't make it until 11am because Alissia had a long nap so it didn't matter too much. We made a card by inking Alissia's feet and stamping them on, and we made a 'World's Best Dad' certificate. Now I didn't know what the event was going to be like at all so we brought Mark with us, well I thought it would be nice for him to do something nice with Alissia other than going to Tesco! We all had a lovely time, and poor Alissia was shattered by the end!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-wU08Y8SSugDcS8uU1U1_fgYsZJVpzAC1n_t1vK1E_7xtLEc-JjgfsuHjpL21yfF2UP0fHCtPxL7Oqi__p76roDYjhbWeEzXZi9pJtZxevEbq1oQkrYYq43eW8r4krLisSyW7xT1kUk/s1600/2012-06-16-124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe-wU08Y8SSugDcS8uU1U1_fgYsZJVpzAC1n_t1vK1E_7xtLEc-JjgfsuHjpL21yfF2UP0fHCtPxL7Oqi__p76roDYjhbWeEzXZi9pJtZxevEbq1oQkrYYq43eW8r4krLisSyW7xT1kUk/s640/2012-06-16-124.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DBg6ElfBgSETWD-N9zUmOrAskEzq9elRNVsCe5oBL-KQfPGwcBUCrWaUdZDgZ9iCGPJW44sxeBakAcHgPV87ta2TF9d_zmkWn0KcTL5VKyTUwU-yTFr36NSFawhlnPS2Sb8WjAwcXmk/s1600/2012-06-16-125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DBg6ElfBgSETWD-N9zUmOrAskEzq9elRNVsCe5oBL-KQfPGwcBUCrWaUdZDgZ9iCGPJW44sxeBakAcHgPV87ta2TF9d_zmkWn0KcTL5VKyTUwU-yTFr36NSFawhlnPS2Sb8WjAwcXmk/s640/2012-06-16-125.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<br />
Once Mark and I'd had lunch (from Subway - well there was nothing in the fridge and the weekly shop wasn't scheduled till this afternoon) we took Alissia to the library. Really it was so that Mark could look at some design magazines, but whilst he did that Alissia and I read some stories.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2WVgOIR-0bD8kgkc69ny9mrTjRSF7HxHrcqZ4Re8n6OVKcT7v3lYLuZc2hLSwpaGj6kwqemHWoMxxFMLLmTkfs6dtAWMbAduLQs5lLBU50MZveeWhOhp6MWConauQ5RxaDIhPn7m7i8/s1600/2012-06-16-130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2WVgOIR-0bD8kgkc69ny9mrTjRSF7HxHrcqZ4Re8n6OVKcT7v3lYLuZc2hLSwpaGj6kwqemHWoMxxFMLLmTkfs6dtAWMbAduLQs5lLBU50MZveeWhOhp6MWConauQ5RxaDIhPn7m7i8/s640/2012-06-16-130.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Then came the boring weekly shop. Every Saturday I make a meal plan for what we're going to eat every night in the week, then buy everything in for the meals. Because I refuse to go to Tesco every day! Plus it makes more sense this way, I know that if I didn't have anything in to cook, I'd probably just turn to a take away! We've been doing it this way pretty much ever since I moved in, I used to do the shop on my own, but now that we have Alissia Mark comes too, or if Mark is busy working on the house I take Mark's Dad. So how does everyone else plan their week of meals? Oooh and does anyone want to share what they have - and give me ideas for meals? I'm always on the look-out for new ideas!<br />
<br />
So we came home, and Alissia and I chilled until bathtime, whilst Mark went to the Trafford Centre to get a new charger cable for the laptop. It's been steadily getting worse all week, to the point that the laptop was about to die and had no way of charging it. I've only been without it for a day, but have felt completely lost. It's made me realise how much I actually use the internet to check things! Who else would be lost without their laptop/PC? Anyway, Mark is currently making homemade curry, and we're hopefully going to watch a movie this evening, and then an early night to make up for last night! (We'd been asleep an hour when someone got up, and woke me up to tell me they were going to the toilet, and then doesn't even remember it today!) Fingers crossed we have a better night tonight! And tomorrow will be the last instalment of my Week in the Life, I hope people have been enjoying reading what we get up to!Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-10821523771488766862012-06-16T08:57:00.000+01:002012-06-16T08:57:14.911+01:00The One About Friday . . .After all the gadding about we've done this week I decided we would spend the morning at home, with no rushing about. I hardly took any photos yesterday, well I think my mum friends have decided I'm a bit odd taking photos all day, plus it's difficult to take photos when there are other babies around that we don't know, and we'd need their permission to post photos. Anyway we were that lazy, I didn't get dressed until 11am! Alissia watched some CBeebies and had a nap, and I caught up on reading blogs. After some lunch we were ready to go out to music class, which is put on by a company called Rhythm Time. The class has just been taken over by a different lady and I don't think it's a good as before. There's a lot of the teacher singing by herself rather than listening to tunes on the stereo and us all singing along. We've only got another 4 sessions then thats it for the summer, so we'll have to see whether we go back in September (well we'll only be able to go if I can get flexible work from home one day a week - which I must get myself in gear and apply for asap!)<br />
<br />
After music class we met up with my friend Evelyn and her little boy Conor for tea and cake, at Applewood Farm pub. Although I was very good and didn't have any cake. You should have seen the size and selection of cakes though, they were all in this glass case and it took a lot of will power to avoid it! I've decided I've been eating too much cake and chocolate and it's time to diet. I want to get back into my regular jeans again, plus we're having a naming ceremony for Alissia in September and I want to look nice in my outfit, and not feel uncomfortable and frumpy which is how I always feel at the moment :( Anyway, the pub was really good for children as they had a designated area for kids to play in, and whilst I was feeding Alissia I realised they're put toys and streamers on the ceiling too, because Alissia kept looking up at them!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nUZo0TtjLhLSxfykeMSb-8Ngl8U90PnNPXsZQEKf_SGL-d0Box7tWTEeA3DB216Yzh4SlRKf2yhXCuZ2D2ONYoQSbz6GxGzfXgWlMPZHK5U3yjfpE1IBB6d_oextc8drd93qcfF7LV4/s1600/exterior2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nUZo0TtjLhLSxfykeMSb-8Ngl8U90PnNPXsZQEKf_SGL-d0Box7tWTEeA3DB216Yzh4SlRKf2yhXCuZ2D2ONYoQSbz6GxGzfXgWlMPZHK5U3yjfpE1IBB6d_oextc8drd93qcfF7LV4/s320/exterior2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZAyzsnStpw4HYG0fKH2wf1dSQT8DECGajlN84yJUqpEuOITdZ0a_4Og5P4SI4GlmliIW-10LJdX3vcy8T8kgySkZoKpAkirvXPqXX5tNmcb21zwVFuAn0DV084Gu44rsh99nXHc62Kak/s1600/playarea1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZAyzsnStpw4HYG0fKH2wf1dSQT8DECGajlN84yJUqpEuOITdZ0a_4Og5P4SI4GlmliIW-10LJdX3vcy8T8kgySkZoKpAkirvXPqXX5tNmcb21zwVFuAn0DV084Gu44rsh99nXHc62Kak/s320/playarea1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Anyway at about half 3 we decided to head home because both babies needed naps, and were more likely to go off in the car. Alissia was asleep as I turned the corner out onto the main road, so I decided to take a detour home, so we went on a magical mystery tour (so called because I knew vaguely where I was going, but not exactly, I only had to turn round the once! We used to go on lots of magical mystery tours with my mum when we were little!)<br />
<br />
Last night we went out for a drink with Marks friends, Mark needed cheering up as work is a bit rubbish for him at the moment, so I thought it might be nice. Plus I knew that once Alissia was asleep she'd stay asleep until the early hours. I had my first drink since being pregnant, and it went straight to my head, so I only had the one! I'm very glad I didn't have any more because when we got up at 3am with Alissia I felt quite sick - I'm just not used to drinking anymore. Or to the late nights, I was ready to come home at 10pm! But we stayed out longer, and had a lovely time. I'm sure that I'll suffer for it today though & fall asleep on the sofa early this evening!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxyJ_u8LhFgmYZQ2_kpF4kgQVvtyleH2mhCaG-eov3kqniyGImwc7Zss_bJRjFiE8G7jTVT8FPVaHbhgnlMkg7u-n1tn9TC_XnzesA3IRpDlfxaQbSYYlYBTvqk8pmqwPZoPlxAQQouo/s1600/2012-06-15-123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxyJ_u8LhFgmYZQ2_kpF4kgQVvtyleH2mhCaG-eov3kqniyGImwc7Zss_bJRjFiE8G7jTVT8FPVaHbhgnlMkg7u-n1tn9TC_XnzesA3IRpDlfxaQbSYYlYBTvqk8pmqwPZoPlxAQQouo/s640/2012-06-15-123.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<br />Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-60999014352830403462012-06-14T20:17:00.004+01:002012-06-14T20:17:45.945+01:00The One About Thursday (And Last Night's Scrapping!) . . .So I'll start with the scrapping from last night, I actually finished my Christmas Journal! I still can't quite believe it because it's been on the go for so long. But I've got so many unfinished projects that I was determined to finish this before starting any Alissia LO's. So I've done Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, and the front cover. Not all last night - over the last week, but finally completed it all last night! Hurray!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEginKUkLv46_jnRk4_5iIbDk2K3suRaJvOYkVM1C1KXwJfWmyIChZQzbfZtEzyWpHu_XMgYVfsrSJf-cVsSbV7VIh8NmIVS8XnC5KZHfg2cXmT6yhDXegv3GG11VzZZXR6skGGY3IJ_ULo/s1600/IMG_2717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEginKUkLv46_jnRk4_5iIbDk2K3suRaJvOYkVM1C1KXwJfWmyIChZQzbfZtEzyWpHu_XMgYVfsrSJf-cVsSbV7VIh8NmIVS8XnC5KZHfg2cXmT6yhDXegv3GG11VzZZXR6skGGY3IJ_ULo/s640/IMG_2717.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front Cover</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJtXOBFuIcQ0xxZf6NjcNBA-lZd2fMpj2zLwTnamwPiSB1ImXdKVeQVsGqGQIyYswKt5ZrwiKABzM23BIj-jrRN1AaDf1aqGjBlgK94uxxDxizBumZjzO-lhwFhoKreZqBtXoKb36RSr0/s1600/IMG_2718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJtXOBFuIcQ0xxZf6NjcNBA-lZd2fMpj2zLwTnamwPiSB1ImXdKVeQVsGqGQIyYswKt5ZrwiKABzM23BIj-jrRN1AaDf1aqGjBlgK94uxxDxizBumZjzO-lhwFhoKreZqBtXoKb36RSr0/s640/IMG_2718.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas Day</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzEAOZXn3gaZkiFYv2A8XzG4ZuElyn3jsmtaGg8Oy8pPgjqL3U5C9pGluvI12eDwXyqD8fedDeSNpklVVQU5nCk5MZ0omD6LkmfKP1-CzLpyYCG__tN3clSPIu9LPP8Un3vsRZUtWPKuw/s1600/IMG_2719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzEAOZXn3gaZkiFYv2A8XzG4ZuElyn3jsmtaGg8Oy8pPgjqL3U5C9pGluvI12eDwXyqD8fedDeSNpklVVQU5nCk5MZ0omD6LkmfKP1-CzLpyYCG__tN3clSPIu9LPP8Un3vsRZUtWPKuw/s640/IMG_2719.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boxing Day</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXPWv41_5bdj-dhkMOZqVbIMfindJQi8msbJW5bSegdjhCfT7RRy8LLHBDKE6GZrxIUVsyjayOtaUHljanYseFXPhXtoThqCIPp_zsTnhqJxGVtU_zTLpyLKbbQDzmf5TA9hGAEw6ZZY/s1600/IMG_2720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNXPWv41_5bdj-dhkMOZqVbIMfindJQi8msbJW5bSegdjhCfT7RRy8LLHBDKE6GZrxIUVsyjayOtaUHljanYseFXPhXtoThqCIPp_zsTnhqJxGVtU_zTLpyLKbbQDzmf5TA9hGAEw6ZZY/s640/IMG_2720.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Year's Eve</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHc6jqB-_g9jZMUMMsRR6HdlL-sXoMuBLECHzF0QhZ182gOULzlRaRfINPYDgwvPoHaNGxqbEVmCm8zm4j8Ejt-QNMIRPGE0uJmStwWXR4ckUP_6On3-SoPMvy8bvOy2JfesFGZr6B8k/s1600/IMG_2721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHc6jqB-_g9jZMUMMsRR6HdlL-sXoMuBLECHzF0QhZ182gOULzlRaRfINPYDgwvPoHaNGxqbEVmCm8zm4j8Ejt-QNMIRPGE0uJmStwWXR4ckUP_6On3-SoPMvy8bvOy2JfesFGZr6B8k/s640/IMG_2721.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Extra photos under the flap</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So back to today ... this morning I went to my pilates class at Tyldesley Community college. It's the one hour a week I get some time to myself, the rest of the week I'm Mummy! It's certainly helped to tone up my muscles, and my abs, but I've not lost any weight (but that might be due to the cake that we eat!). Alissia is looked after by her Grandad whilst I'm out, and she loves it, he always does lots of different things with her, playing with different toys, and doing flash cards and things!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19fuW4e_UfQI6WzcIo6GBRyPTgB_QjMeFoplGw8HXzBYbXL-lfEsaHlKJyoiYm9FshwS3aOsN15hHTwdjv-bsB-scMdXz3AiJCtemqW4_AAC9twRme8_EMyhZZx6rjuTFZqMF2ASaHmk/s1600/2012-06-14-118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19fuW4e_UfQI6WzcIo6GBRyPTgB_QjMeFoplGw8HXzBYbXL-lfEsaHlKJyoiYm9FshwS3aOsN15hHTwdjv-bsB-scMdXz3AiJCtemqW4_AAC9twRme8_EMyhZZx6rjuTFZqMF2ASaHmk/s640/2012-06-14-118.jpg" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watching the fans on the ceiling before her sleep</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPSBDDodoEPEVzy_W_hKlp7xiSBEBSzraifBgkUIliLMJX_bp4CU04AsU8RHWZyPgMCWSTDNYB9QoJ33GBfLGck4IA0Kkrbb1twHQi0s4bl5nJ-kKcRFWY1Et9PJr30YjsYr7e4BLRYY/s1600/2012-06-14-119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPSBDDodoEPEVzy_W_hKlp7xiSBEBSzraifBgkUIliLMJX_bp4CU04AsU8RHWZyPgMCWSTDNYB9QoJ33GBfLGck4IA0Kkrbb1twHQi0s4bl5nJ-kKcRFWY1Et9PJr30YjsYr7e4BLRYY/s640/2012-06-14-119.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
After the class, we went for lunch with Grandad to Frankie & Bennies, which was very yummy, but I have since realised that I need to order meals that can be eaten one handed now, and spag bol is just not one of those meals! Alissia was shattered and needed a sleep but wouldn't go off unless I kept rocking the pram, hence one handed eating!<br />
<br />
We'd come out to a retail park, with the intention of looking at travel cots for our holiday to the Lake District at the end of July. After quick visits to Asda and M&S, we ended up in the toy shop Smyths, because they have a baby section upstairs. Well I couldn't make my mind up about the travel cots, but we picked a large playmat, and then I looked at the high chairs (because that's what I've been doing for the last month), and one of them was half price and was exactly what we needed. Whilst looking at the highchairs Alissia decided to scream for a feed, and I mean proper scream, so what did I do? I asked for a chair and fed her right in the toy shop! We were in there for an hour! But we did get the highchair, and it was a good job too because it was the last one in stock.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0467iCPxQZfP3J3NluZex1qzRmPGXvxWcS4FpiMiykjbIJE1XtSfPwzwUjuMj03dIe4CuFeUsAmVqTV-jJ4JcUqtMGg2TlosoEs_eIEqhtrq7uF1pEADlYcyakHuLVm1p7CAVoDrnhB4/s1600/IMG_2724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0467iCPxQZfP3J3NluZex1qzRmPGXvxWcS4FpiMiykjbIJE1XtSfPwzwUjuMj03dIe4CuFeUsAmVqTV-jJ4JcUqtMGg2TlosoEs_eIEqhtrq7uF1pEADlYcyakHuLVm1p7CAVoDrnhB4/s640/IMG_2724.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our new highchair - not that we'll be using it till the start of August once Alissia is 6months old. We've decided to go down the Baby Led Weaning route - I'm already looking forward to the mess!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Back home, and Alissia seemed to like her new mat, now I just need to encourage her to start rolling! Tonight dinner was cooked for me, which was nice, bangers & mash! And now it's time to work on the invites for Alissia's Naming Ceremony, and chilling in front of the TV.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0KPsLIHxtmsrfMBaLxmdoevJA3GGLq-PBuJcgdVWAh_mhGWSwiSqONPxtB4CC-fOY5KBKGY5RTrSavEDBI0F-V_0LsnVn9ZdwWdlVtDhvRzng9fC7jmwrBSM49kXratgEjERHYpas8Ow/s1600/IMG_2723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0KPsLIHxtmsrfMBaLxmdoevJA3GGLq-PBuJcgdVWAh_mhGWSwiSqONPxtB4CC-fOY5KBKGY5RTrSavEDBI0F-V_0LsnVn9ZdwWdlVtDhvRzng9fC7jmwrBSM49kXratgEjERHYpas8Ow/s640/IMG_2723.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-56928495576068639652012-06-13T20:01:00.001+01:002012-06-13T20:01:17.310+01:00The One About Wednesday . . .So last night, or rather very early this morning, we got woken up at 1:50am. Surprisingly having to get up at this time for a feed then go back to sleep till 7:30am worked better for me than the 5:30am feeds. I felt much better and was up and ready on time today! (Well we were ever so slightly late because someone decided to do a smelly nappy just as we were about to leave the house!) I wish I knew why Alissia has decided to go from 5 feeds a day and sleeping through to getting up in the night for the fifth feed. Nevermind, we've just got to go with how she feels!<br />
<br />
Today was the first day of a new baby group that they've set up because we'd all complained about the lack of classes for our baby age group at the children's centre. There was a class on Thursdays but they've decided to limit the numbers and run it in 6 week blocks, so basically we have to wait for our names to come up in the list before we can go to that. So it's just as well we have found the Tuesday baby yoga class, and go to music class on Friday's otherwise we'd have nowhere to go! Anyway, there was no set plan for the new group, so we get to choose. I think they're going to do something different each week, with one a baby sensory class, and some nursery rhymes another week. It should be good! Oh and they'd brought lots of toys down for today, but we'd been there long enough for the hello song then Alissia went to sleep! Unfortunately my phone decided to die while at the class so I had to ask my friend to take a picture for me! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOeghn7r8Izp6Z1QF34u-JX3NnppIYopgt98T8ESxj9ve4obMLdFbR_OZgjmkTo4W2AhI9mKQfv3BsgIjs8uExYpnz2fz888i8r3Bm6RTHSSlHrjxzR6Xnpbv_6dH_Gg-M6l_3Bi4uLM/s1600/459071_10151036216160281_1371212883_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigOeghn7r8Izp6Z1QF34u-JX3NnppIYopgt98T8ESxj9ve4obMLdFbR_OZgjmkTo4W2AhI9mKQfv3BsgIjs8uExYpnz2fz888i8r3Bm6RTHSSlHrjxzR6Xnpbv_6dH_Gg-M6l_3Bi4uLM/s640/459071_10151036216160281_1371212883_o.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<br />
I'm also having problems with my point and click camera, I'll upload the pictures I took this morning, and if anyone has any advice I'd be really grateful! I've tried it on every setting possible, both indoors and out, and all the pictures are just coming out too white. The ones below are what I took when we all went out for coffee and cake after the baby class. I've made some really good mummy friends over the last couple of months and it's nice to go out and have a proper natter! Unfortunately I didn't get any cake because Alissia wanted a feed! (I made up for this later on!)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpm7Y9_JBmdzZ2mLV7SGwHOSz8TRufwE1cQNgMesl3xcL6sIwKg65_8otk_fxOdYlU2CITVGM3W6dckOpFKSgCRMpTtQ3RJTJDR72BVKUJn0tyf8U101mumXzcDXoDYG2e5X_Xg3s8-8/s1600/P1100353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpm7Y9_JBmdzZ2mLV7SGwHOSz8TRufwE1cQNgMesl3xcL6sIwKg65_8otk_fxOdYlU2CITVGM3W6dckOpFKSgCRMpTtQ3RJTJDR72BVKUJn0tyf8U101mumXzcDXoDYG2e5X_Xg3s8-8/s640/P1100353.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't work out why the photos are so bright, or why there are lines across??? Is there something wrong with my camera??</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9By-dYjfeXuDqRh37KLludO2lDuranJXDCDmp_MK6Kusn1LsTe9WDShvRt5-kOZ3rtAzJ5d_Et11h1GDg1-YFThD_AathBej7pJatGBkAuiLSQ8KSFqz97s1bL3tANT20FuUQEcCABC4/s1600/P1100354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9By-dYjfeXuDqRh37KLludO2lDuranJXDCDmp_MK6Kusn1LsTe9WDShvRt5-kOZ3rtAzJ5d_Et11h1GDg1-YFThD_AathBej7pJatGBkAuiLSQ8KSFqz97s1bL3tANT20FuUQEcCABC4/s640/P1100354.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Mark was on a half day today because he wanted to give blood, so after we'd had lunch, and Alissia had a sleep, we went out for a walk for some cake! <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPRDGPANVy68IVnA-piOe2nUj0VKeHsNBhZbP2t0H7-GvO23vb0ZXw6Pci74cWX_tQTR7Z__AuK9KWArlHullxINjzbSHLSqP5FjLAyDsmuFuMxW7BHJTsjg9LSjU_SPnqFGwZQZI9mo/s1600/IMAG0153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPRDGPANVy68IVnA-piOe2nUj0VKeHsNBhZbP2t0H7-GvO23vb0ZXw6Pci74cWX_tQTR7Z__AuK9KWArlHullxINjzbSHLSqP5FjLAyDsmuFuMxW7BHJTsjg9LSjU_SPnqFGwZQZI9mo/s640/IMAG0153.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note the new pink hoody from Monday! I wish Alissia's bald patch would go!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HrLZ-bCZFzfKpaWx4t4OzFcBxC2oXDsjS7GPtTghz0OHtrmOrVgVC9lnQDBIPk3BnGPOtFUoqgkBtU20u8mRIknPP49bIqLY7RoaSuiLs2qClUdFudRUwDLM-gC5A0WKjDLjCioe1r0/s1600/IMAG0154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HrLZ-bCZFzfKpaWx4t4OzFcBxC2oXDsjS7GPtTghz0OHtrmOrVgVC9lnQDBIPk3BnGPOtFUoqgkBtU20u8mRIknPP49bIqLY7RoaSuiLs2qClUdFudRUwDLM-gC5A0WKjDLjCioe1r0/s640/IMAG0154.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Mark had Alissia in the baby carrier because he much prefers that than pushing the pram! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_qvgVP7-ian9_MdZsukbyJEBaedFVxnZr2851C25KjohGqX1RCCUc5_rAPkJiy07Ibk8TBj6Tck7Mh85WbKE55O0xt6FMcl9cOd3eEBcNbtSr8c0kIqak29K8TR4-WPmtHA9KjV7JPI/s1600/2012-06-13-117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_qvgVP7-ian9_MdZsukbyJEBaedFVxnZr2851C25KjohGqX1RCCUc5_rAPkJiy07Ibk8TBj6Tck7Mh85WbKE55O0xt6FMcl9cOd3eEBcNbtSr8c0kIqak29K8TR4-WPmtHA9KjV7JPI/s640/2012-06-13-117.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
After the walk Alissia fell asleep on Mark so I got to do some scrapping - yey! I'm hoping to finish my Christmas Journal (I know it's June and I'm still working on it!), I did the last two pages this afternoon, and this evening I just need to do a front cover (while Mark is off out at the cinema with the boys, watching Prometheus, something I really didn't want to watch given I really hated the Alien movies), then I'm all set to start on Alissia pages, which is what I've been wanting to do for so long now! If I get finished I'll put photos up tomorrow!Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-73710648618717853042012-06-12T20:39:00.003+01:002012-06-12T20:39:26.902+01:00The One About Tuesday . . .Today we were woken again at 5:30am, and because of the time, Mark fed Alissia so that I could go back to bed. At that time of the morning he would rather stay up because if he goes back to sleep he tends to feel worse for it. So, I'd rung up yesterday afternoon to see if we could book a place on a baby yoga class this morning at 10am. I hadn't heard back yesterday, but thought I'd best get up just in case we got a call this morning. So I set my alarm for 7:30am, but stupidly turned it off and went back to sleep until Alissia woke me at 8:15am! First thing I had to deal with was her smelly nappy and get her dressed. Then at 8:30am I get a call to say I'd got a place on the class and they would see me later. Major panic! Alissia to feed, me to eat breakfast, have a shower & wash my hair. Well there wasn't enough time for all of that, I had to forego washing my hair and just jump in and out of the shower in record time! I put pigtails in and hoped that no-one would notice about my hair!<br />
<br />
We got to baby yoga right on time and had a lovely time. We sang songs, learnt three yoga moves (which were really little exercises for the babies) heard a story that used the yoga moves and other actions, and played with lots of sensory toys.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnEe48MztMrkjMdC4j6Ew2sQ6SXgt-djuVNf8yhf2yvWliY6KAnpF0RNxjffBd7rJkyb_Sg7pPMXr1ngXaJ3NkLWOVmA5M6V38iGZKJt7Mfys8I81oiPy0oZznemQJx88AlJphDcUjEM/s1600/BFandHFCCImage.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnEe48MztMrkjMdC4j6Ew2sQ6SXgt-djuVNf8yhf2yvWliY6KAnpF0RNxjffBd7rJkyb_Sg7pPMXr1ngXaJ3NkLWOVmA5M6V38iGZKJt7Mfys8I81oiPy0oZznemQJx88AlJphDcUjEM/s320/BFandHFCCImage.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
And afterwards, Alissia slept for well over an hour, which is unheard of for her! The sat nav got me to the class just fine. Coming home was another matter! At one point it wanted me to go down a road 'unsuitable for motor vehicles', well instead of turning round, which in hindsight I really should have done, I took a detour. Big mistake! This road had major potholes down in that were so deep I was in first gear all the way down and very worried about the suspension. Alissia, bless her, slept through the lot! Next week I'll have to try to remember how we got there and just do that backwards!<br />
<br />
After a mammoth sleep and then an even bigger feed, and some lunch for me, we walked up to see Alissia's cousins Jack and Danny. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7mA4tDOp1rYeki4NdfZA_jKmldQLhwpaJwbgJyEne6nKEPGzgy-jDfW6WAICHQ2RGe-4Wm6h8AVhyUMZfxkM1-5SDCY5Fww9pCIvPMqIFXr2V8yP9j4s1_jaPIro2TdWCrftfe-Oxass/s1600/2012-06-12-104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7mA4tDOp1rYeki4NdfZA_jKmldQLhwpaJwbgJyEne6nKEPGzgy-jDfW6WAICHQ2RGe-4Wm6h8AVhyUMZfxkM1-5SDCY5Fww9pCIvPMqIFXr2V8yP9j4s1_jaPIro2TdWCrftfe-Oxass/s640/2012-06-12-104.jpg" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alissia in her new coat!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We walked down quite a busy main road, which we don't normally do, and Alissia was transfixed by all the cars! We had a nice afternoon with the twins, and her Auntie Carole & Uncle Patrick, & Grandad, and then walked back again. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxi_0KxeUWyj9UOAK63wGr4FW5uP-zBMC0jNMTmg2YDBYt8ccpq00ZJlC57IE2SHP4mrny2s7JjkQiCGiycaH0_jUiTkc8Ke4fvkQt5KrYqSHhj5DdVauHrhxQG_e93mnF5dqviJoAABI/s1600/2012-06-12-107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxi_0KxeUWyj9UOAK63wGr4FW5uP-zBMC0jNMTmg2YDBYt8ccpq00ZJlC57IE2SHP4mrny2s7JjkQiCGiycaH0_jUiTkc8Ke4fvkQt5KrYqSHhj5DdVauHrhxQG_e93mnF5dqviJoAABI/s640/2012-06-12-107.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alissia & I with Jack. Danny didn't want to sit with us!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZNFa3v-1NhKXfXDU3amAN5aYqVLdJ8qTKzvr-So2qPwpeWA253TpStZNwIMZ0HQeK33xUI7eJxfk3W9G9rxic-Nn_QFquupcJn3LGLmU2q0HLVv6ro77gshBm0JH62gDHiomQVSbAPI/s1600/2012-06-12-108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjZNFa3v-1NhKXfXDU3amAN5aYqVLdJ8qTKzvr-So2qPwpeWA253TpStZNwIMZ0HQeK33xUI7eJxfk3W9G9rxic-Nn_QFquupcJn3LGLmU2q0HLVv6ro77gshBm0JH62gDHiomQVSbAPI/s640/2012-06-12-108.jpg" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alissia with her Auntie Carole</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2HddaMxuhMhOygPrN-9RBzCjttt1Po_1K1qmTYgdTsd9qgeX5M0T7a6jUnCvbThkBp_8wOiWvGTNI2QWO6hxxr_wsAfJKd8MXLDHmdnBef8rJV4cdSxy3Jg0z-XgfxPiiFdYvDJJtHtE/s1600/2012-06-12-110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2HddaMxuhMhOygPrN-9RBzCjttt1Po_1K1qmTYgdTsd9qgeX5M0T7a6jUnCvbThkBp_8wOiWvGTNI2QWO6hxxr_wsAfJKd8MXLDHmdnBef8rJV4cdSxy3Jg0z-XgfxPiiFdYvDJJtHtE/s640/2012-06-12-110.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOUDnxwohR_Z2sXYgnECORt7W64D4R-HR1H3Qwo8zFRRPHRMo8BTm8pAy8St36kdJPv06e6vRwaA_J6yNUWLKyUs_X-wCbnXehOJ3WBpDFynEHJQkQvOSo9qUbRijORcZLlofmTosRms/s1600/2012-06-12-111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOUDnxwohR_Z2sXYgnECORt7W64D4R-HR1H3Qwo8zFRRPHRMo8BTm8pAy8St36kdJPv06e6vRwaA_J6yNUWLKyUs_X-wCbnXehOJ3WBpDFynEHJQkQvOSo9qUbRijORcZLlofmTosRms/s640/2012-06-12-111.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizDI83vx9wdULC4zDjMP1M7aN0H6GaVpcUrndkWlWY4tP33NM1WJzMWIlu_v-vdcQoeUNiHu9L4bnljI_1a2owP0dSpOkR5aawifavM728zyeCoFa9ANPnulQNHrCU06JLNhV4Oza2PrQ/s1600/2012-06-12-113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizDI83vx9wdULC4zDjMP1M7aN0H6GaVpcUrndkWlWY4tP33NM1WJzMWIlu_v-vdcQoeUNiHu9L4bnljI_1a2owP0dSpOkR5aawifavM728zyeCoFa9ANPnulQNHrCU06JLNhV4Oza2PrQ/s640/2012-06-12-113.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alissia with both Danny & Jack</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After a snooze on the way back, and some chilling and some more singing, and playing peek a boo with her new octopus Oliver, it was time for bed. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfCxmwlOozBD0-QqniD61txvYjnN8WCADnNr6xCgRg7dWwvq7W_IG9QIU7jSRJXuUBDj5nY1ykKebMYsGO7GtCiSvoo0NwYrBRfwv8e-PVEZa5QCMmzuZqq918oDDJOhd5XWfwFBomLw/s1600/2012-06-12-103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfCxmwlOozBD0-QqniD61txvYjnN8WCADnNr6xCgRg7dWwvq7W_IG9QIU7jSRJXuUBDj5nY1ykKebMYsGO7GtCiSvoo0NwYrBRfwv8e-PVEZa5QCMmzuZqq918oDDJOhd5XWfwFBomLw/s640/2012-06-12-103.jpg" width="358" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Action shot! See how my arms and legs move Mummy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After all the excitement of the day Alissia went straight to sleep without any problems! Tonight's dinner was homemade pasta bake with bacon, and salad. <br />
<br />
Note to self, tomorrow get up earlier to get to the new class on time!Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-43977976978984535562012-06-11T22:13:00.000+01:002012-06-11T22:40:50.412+01:00The One About Monday . . .This week I thought it might be fun to blog about our week, and it might give Mark an idea of what we get up to when he's not here!<br />
<br />
Today we were woken up at 5:30am, which given that Alissia went to sleep last night at 7pm isn't bad at all. It just felt a bit early because over the weekend she was sleeping for 12 hours till 7am. As I'd gone to bed last night with a really bad headache and it was still sore this morning Mark offered to do the feed so I could go back to bed. So back to sleep I went and we didn't get up till 8am! Today we were going out to the Trafford centre with my Mum, because both Alissia and I needed new jackets. Alissia had grown out of hers and mine has got holes in it!<br />
<br />
Mum got here at about twenty to ten, and after a quick visit to the petrol station we arrived. We had lots of time before Alissia was due another feed, and we made it round quite a few shops. Alissia kept putting her feet up on the bar of the pram, and every time I put her foot back she would just put it on up there again, so in the end I gave up!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJHWKPiwPRrqPufK0P3_z5una2zQztci8R-dsyoofbjh0l0IQx1tVZFjO85EM2X7Titw9EC4-DLzOHjROhsatvWC-7ZCO0U4iXeg0oYJK3DYL0g6hNwse1WI_EqYJvS7ttZxNDhftneE/s1600/2012-06-11-091.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIJHWKPiwPRrqPufK0P3_z5una2zQztci8R-dsyoofbjh0l0IQx1tVZFjO85EM2X7Titw9EC4-DLzOHjROhsatvWC-7ZCO0U4iXeg0oYJK3DYL0g6hNwse1WI_EqYJvS7ttZxNDhftneE/s640/2012-06-11-091.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
We didn't find me a jacket because everything in the shops is just this for the summer and waterproof. But while I need waterproof, especially at the moment with this weather, I need something warm, everyone who knows me knows that I am always cold. That's why I love my current jacket, because it's fleece lined inside. But I did find this lovely pink hoody, which means I won't have to wear Mark's as often which he'll be pleased about!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3kaRWznoFY_6e0wZxwHafJyj6FVIAyTBhWIKGCBgzexCOp4CigLVJjvDCkCuZcH4b0nj7uUN5jgD-aO1NnYxTxvSR5KDCDnBUlh1GwDrF1B6iacOFRXc74xOHmH7GZ_msg3rKx45Q3I/s1600/P1080332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs3kaRWznoFY_6e0wZxwHafJyj6FVIAyTBhWIKGCBgzexCOp4CigLVJjvDCkCuZcH4b0nj7uUN5jgD-aO1NnYxTxvSR5KDCDnBUlh1GwDrF1B6iacOFRXc74xOHmH7GZ_msg3rKx45Q3I/s640/P1080332.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Luckily we found Alissia a lovely little pink jacket in M&S, and I bought her a little pink top too. Alissia decided it was time for her feed at 12pm, bang on three hours from the last one - I don't think we're going to have much trouble with teaching her the time when she gets older!!! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglg6jhWUF1_MZg0T2_6ZiInjxgii1Sgh2gA6Et02A-NSgxgJGLFETl35buPQW8mUf2xtuUKbakXkqVaKEsLnWkQGJFgGttrYUczG8ueMyuzajXYUPOaD6u-IQ322XcDLFNsuh3AUIb1fI/s1600/2012-06-11-093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglg6jhWUF1_MZg0T2_6ZiInjxgii1Sgh2gA6Et02A-NSgxgJGLFETl35buPQW8mUf2xtuUKbakXkqVaKEsLnWkQGJFgGttrYUczG8ueMyuzajXYUPOaD6u-IQ322XcDLFNsuh3AUIb1fI/s640/2012-06-11-093.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Anyway, Mum decided to feed her, then off we went to Pizza Express for our lunch, where I have a taste card for and get buy one get one free on meals! Alissia was as good as gold and went to sleep all by herself, all I had to do was give her the dummy and drop the pram down a notch and she was out like a light! I think it was all that shrieking she'd done as we'd gone round all the shops!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW63_jmhxnVBCurfPsqH4iByrlpYeQaLxFDRf4nl7ekhH0rjQK0-TMJsOw8I98tGtzo1jRGa5uBpeJWTbRbkwsqowB3wLWxJOkXVsBbF2v14Dm-LbtVPlL3cOLp2dyp8P6vdTGieXG3I8/s1600/2012-06-11-094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW63_jmhxnVBCurfPsqH4iByrlpYeQaLxFDRf4nl7ekhH0rjQK0-TMJsOw8I98tGtzo1jRGa5uBpeJWTbRbkwsqowB3wLWxJOkXVsBbF2v14Dm-LbtVPlL3cOLp2dyp8P6vdTGieXG3I8/s640/2012-06-11-094.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1w3ul4wQSn_OXxJ-NexWq_igDQ3xLjoTaYGbPQsV7eqmzsM_zE_u2-tctYJIGUfWngksgQlAXVsdFgHN8eR-K9ByF2oc8mqE5QCTgqc1Mq9vmDTwjUQtfcjfapIf4mVSM7S5An5fdns/s1600/2012-06-11-096.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1w3ul4wQSn_OXxJ-NexWq_igDQ3xLjoTaYGbPQsV7eqmzsM_zE_u2-tctYJIGUfWngksgQlAXVsdFgHN8eR-K9ByF2oc8mqE5QCTgqc1Mq9vmDTwjUQtfcjfapIf4mVSM7S5An5fdns/s640/2012-06-11-096.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laughing at Nanny Ann!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNeL2THQzZRNgdvgEt_88Zh3b-H7xReED288TISys67dN_fkrgUGj0YOK42FU7wbPCzgZOTKb5C1AL1fKfXJVNvLnuC-XEQCC9T4mS9OG-J8YVv4_wF7iK0YbiwIh-DRP2eYzOj0AQgMg/s1600/2012-06-11-097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNeL2THQzZRNgdvgEt_88Zh3b-H7xReED288TISys67dN_fkrgUGj0YOK42FU7wbPCzgZOTKb5C1AL1fKfXJVNvLnuC-XEQCC9T4mS9OG-J8YVv4_wF7iK0YbiwIh-DRP2eYzOj0AQgMg/s640/2012-06-11-097.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5kwDgGIw8VypyszYlDEci35f1YnNDGMTmd6ybAgG3X19xR-9iYZOJx_aouLa8vR800_Q5UVzD-_A71-9baBhjqczhynbL4oXDn7NKwoy3t6JvUhxruu1oREEs1FBh5MpE8ddYTQUkWI/s1600/2012-06-11-099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5kwDgGIw8VypyszYlDEci35f1YnNDGMTmd6ybAgG3X19xR-9iYZOJx_aouLa8vR800_Q5UVzD-_A71-9baBhjqczhynbL4oXDn7NKwoy3t6JvUhxruu1oREEs1FBh5MpE8ddYTQUkWI/s640/2012-06-11-099.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fast asleep!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After lunch we tried a few other shops for jackets but didn't find anything. But we did go in Mama's and Papa's to look at seats for the bath, but Mum ended up buying a couple of toys for Alissia instead. We held the Octopus in front of Alissia and squeaked its leg (or should that be tenatacle!) and it made her giggle, so how could we resist! (I want a bath seat because at the moment Alissia just kind of floats on her back in the bath and I want her to sit up a bit more).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji40eCnGTAvJGYF0rlNmYnBGJ2rFhiH3gKa-PA1aXRZdf9i16cw2-EOuL2ynR8lLLaHiC0MvrRVCKoMnG2hAhQ9qUsQAXHkR7UNrPRVXRR-dUYEvwjvTDHwoeancNTb0wakHwVK-d8rO4/s1600/P1080326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji40eCnGTAvJGYF0rlNmYnBGJ2rFhiH3gKa-PA1aXRZdf9i16cw2-EOuL2ynR8lLLaHiC0MvrRVCKoMnG2hAhQ9qUsQAXHkR7UNrPRVXRR-dUYEvwjvTDHwoeancNTb0wakHwVK-d8rO4/s640/P1080326.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
We got home from the Trafford Centre and had a cup of tea, while Alissia chilled in her bouncy chair while watching CBeebies! After Mum had left I did some singing with Alissia and read her a Postman Pat story until it was bathtime at 5:30. Alissia is in a routine now where she has a bath, then her bottle, then goes to bed, and it's the same every night. Tonight she was asleep for 6:45pm, we'll have to see when she wakes up tomorrow! After bedtime, it was off to the kitchen for me to cook dinner (salmon in a creamy white wine sauce with mash) then a chance to relax on the sofa in front of the TV. However the TV watching was interrupted because Mark wanted to solve his Maths problem. Have you been watching Dara O'Briain's School of Sums? Well at the end of every episode they set you a maths challenge, and the most recent one was driving him mad, until he solved it about 5 minutes ago!!!<br />
<br />
I'm going to try to keep up with this every day, but we'll have to see!<br />
<br />
Ps The daily posts probably won't be as long or as detailed as this every day - our days aren't that exciting at all!Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-62815011722795710102012-06-07T10:30:00.000+01:002012-06-07T10:30:03.656+01:00The One About Some Cards . . .In my previous post I mentioned that we went out for my Mum's and sister's birthday. Well rather than buying birthday cards I wanted to make them myself. So on Saturday afternoon Mark took Alissia out so I could do my crafting without worrying about entertaining Alissia!<br />
<br />
For my sister:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAc0lPmKY1fSEvzNq_r_i8TlCPIVx96X8OXjLSp85YY7cq5nm2R0ovfQr__lTSytuXvl0paR2fFz7QiWLPVbxrtZhiTnEfJKpwMK4gIY8rtNXmlnp7oxcfsj36G3R6Pb9wSxpZtfHdWYE/s1600/IMG_2707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAc0lPmKY1fSEvzNq_r_i8TlCPIVx96X8OXjLSp85YY7cq5nm2R0ovfQr__lTSytuXvl0paR2fFz7QiWLPVbxrtZhiTnEfJKpwMK4gIY8rtNXmlnp7oxcfsj36G3R6Pb9wSxpZtfHdWYE/s640/IMG_2707.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mainly yellow's because my sister doesn't like pink!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
For my Mum:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAivBb5gA8-oTqkgZcoKiRDxQuMrljBBKCTZxCpXEDYFd7l8dltqg862Kud44WsKU-AKIx4yx9FqRSGDjb_wh5ZgXcYDbKdmSj_5mgv9W8WcDtRq67jUtqPw7ymwFbQqoYdQGFJrOtPr8/s1600/IMG_2708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAivBb5gA8-oTqkgZcoKiRDxQuMrljBBKCTZxCpXEDYFd7l8dltqg862Kud44WsKU-AKIx4yx9FqRSGDjb_wh5ZgXcYDbKdmSj_5mgv9W8WcDtRq67jUtqPw7ymwFbQqoYdQGFJrOtPr8/s640/IMG_2708.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Purples for Mum as it's her favourite colour!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
And a new baby card for my friend that I made back in April:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwqzNVv6JsGoVgiaWLyEm6huSPpjlOgIN8f6HQIEMoMHbZFcRqPPXMZb-0SBA1akDROLc2XBk7WvN8QuFc7oj7hKAX_zEWpCgIGgTN2iN0DrebHaxztEo9ku10Q42YjbkkSJlCMUk4ryA/s1600/IMG_2705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwqzNVv6JsGoVgiaWLyEm6huSPpjlOgIN8f6HQIEMoMHbZFcRqPPXMZb-0SBA1akDROLc2XBk7WvN8QuFc7oj7hKAX_zEWpCgIGgTN2iN0DrebHaxztEo9ku10Q42YjbkkSJlCMUk4ryA/s640/IMG_2705.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-13792251831266876432012-06-05T09:59:00.001+01:002012-06-05T09:59:59.382+01:00The One About Pizza Express . . .As my Mum and Sister have their birthdays at the beginning of June, and my sister and her husband are off on a very belated honeymoon the day after Mum's birthday we celebrated early this year. We decided to go to Pizza Express for lunch because it's so much easier with Alissia than going out for dinner, especially as she likes to be in bed early, sometimes even 6:30pm!<br />
<br />
We had a really lovely meal, and took lots of photos. The only downside was that for some reason the restaurant did not have any baby changing facilities which I found completely ridiculous considering they had high chairs and obviously expect babies to visit! I have written a complaint and will keep you posted!<br />
<br />
It was nice to be able to get all dressed up for a change, even if it was only lunch!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKDaGF9-p1p3_HYnxtDrqWoyYGh1M1HhfmD3re9TNJ13n6MjuUjIFqTTb6VCotSLxkkWTe2I39PsXiHGyRKKTfJ2unPMcerg5p_DlMrhXDx8uUNDwCdfSoV0hrNpzY1QI76sO7hI9aCM/s1600/Alissia+May-June2012+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLKDaGF9-p1p3_HYnxtDrqWoyYGh1M1HhfmD3re9TNJ13n6MjuUjIFqTTb6VCotSLxkkWTe2I39PsXiHGyRKKTfJ2unPMcerg5p_DlMrhXDx8uUNDwCdfSoV0hrNpzY1QI76sO7hI9aCM/s640/Alissia+May-June2012+013.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Learning to read the menu at an early age!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tvJNR0xtE01yJxdGJo7rBSFqTMKSCHQ7CijWeB-kSMuEY9wJiQCeadbCYALXWOXJWoPiBSWPWQu2jItjxfHx-OrYUqV12GVyzTmVrIr8sI_UT9nNKjyEe2pgx0-DRrKCqCddrx4i_Cg/s1600/Alissia+May-June2012+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tvJNR0xtE01yJxdGJo7rBSFqTMKSCHQ7CijWeB-kSMuEY9wJiQCeadbCYALXWOXJWoPiBSWPWQu2jItjxfHx-OrYUqV12GVyzTmVrIr8sI_UT9nNKjyEe2pgx0-DRrKCqCddrx4i_Cg/s640/Alissia+May-June2012+015.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2t1kkCmBaC6h6jGHSlBKDYi7wh2us42d3fg6ZK-8RiTvlmeMfN1WQSfLAvNNAMY8huaCnEnPPEmdPrtmlws7ZkDFfEu4ylJInoIYS6oOYxS9FkXK8uZZbf0PFDRE8Xp8Ourmm57h_w64/s1600/Alissia+May-June2012+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2t1kkCmBaC6h6jGHSlBKDYi7wh2us42d3fg6ZK-8RiTvlmeMfN1WQSfLAvNNAMY8huaCnEnPPEmdPrtmlws7ZkDFfEu4ylJInoIYS6oOYxS9FkXK8uZZbf0PFDRE8Xp8Ourmm57h_w64/s640/Alissia+May-June2012+016.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR0xUJIKzo7AJLcd2nrF1seBsmd0YWMNWySeIJ-vn35-nd7VbjMFJqK0QHGiP61iCadQiFcO1kDxvhxrmcwPXP0f0rqhAhQ0cDgXL1EXlSMii9QSpT3P2sSIZ-S_BRqugK7KwsKwARW0o/s1600/Alissia+May-June2012+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR0xUJIKzo7AJLcd2nrF1seBsmd0YWMNWySeIJ-vn35-nd7VbjMFJqK0QHGiP61iCadQiFcO1kDxvhxrmcwPXP0f0rqhAhQ0cDgXL1EXlSMii9QSpT3P2sSIZ-S_BRqugK7KwsKwARW0o/s640/Alissia+May-June2012+017.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to capture Alissia smiling, and me not being successful!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-89154550135906030552012-06-03T19:28:00.001+01:002012-06-03T19:28:19.830+01:00The One About the Keys . . .Back when I was in sixth form, oooh over ten years ago now, my Mum and Dad went on holiday with my brother and my sister and I stayed at home. Well at 17 and 15, we felt we were too old to be going on holiday with our parents, so instead we had two weeks where we just chilled at home, oh and looked after our cat Poppy. Oh and before you ask, no there weren't any mad parties.<br />
<br />
Mum left us with a fully stocked cupboard and fridge of supplies, but we needed to go out one morning to get necessities like milk and bread. So because it was a nice day we decided to walk into town to the supermarket to get them. As we were getting ready to go, as the next day was bin day I emptied the kitchen bin and put the rubbish out. My sister, being sensible put the alarm on the house and pulled the door shut behind her . . . big mistake! She thought I had the house keys, and I presumed she had them! Unfortunately we had one of those doors that once it's closed it's locked tight and you can't get back in. So, we were locked out!<br />
<br />
We did the only thing we could think of . . . we walked round the corner to my mum's friends house and explained our predicament. They got out their yellow pages, and let me use their phone to ring a locksmith. (This was well before I started carrying a mobile with me wherever I went - in fact that didn't happen until I went to university!) So we went back to the house, sat on the doorstep and waited for the locksmith. Did I mention that it was a nice sunny day? It would have been a lot worse I think if it had been raining, but then if it was raining we probably wouldn't have been going out in the first place and none of this would have happened! You could think about things forever going 'what if?' couldn't you?<br />
<br />
When the locksmith arrived, his best suggestion was to take one of the window panes out of the dining room, the bay window at the front, for me to climb in to turn the alarm off and get the key out of the front door. As it was the only option, we had to go with it, and because I was the eldest, naturally it fell to me to do the climbing, although my sister was smaller than me at the time (she's taller than me now!) and perhaps she should have gone in! Luckily my Mum had left us with emergency money so we were able to pay the locksmith. And when our parents next rang to check in on us, they weren't too cross as all about what had happened. Probably because with two teenage girls on their own for two weeks, we could have got up to a lot worse!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKS5f465idnsaKiPMfXAgsxpn9tWy4wWNRFCBMDyBi3Ziyzviuu41H0RScAV0OEaI5T9a0k3vlGzLodr2-1fUWBlSbn02F1qw7HFJy4yRdXyvSxIu7dqnr93iZzE65LbG4RqhS6PYS8Cg/s1600/Northwich+Road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKS5f465idnsaKiPMfXAgsxpn9tWy4wWNRFCBMDyBi3Ziyzviuu41H0RScAV0OEaI5T9a0k3vlGzLodr2-1fUWBlSbn02F1qw7HFJy4yRdXyvSxIu7dqnr93iZzE65LbG4RqhS6PYS8Cg/s640/Northwich+Road.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Thanks to my sister for reminding me about this story today, because I had been really struggling to think of anything to write!<br />
<br />
This story is brought to you as part of Sian's Storytelling Sunday. Why don't you hop on over to her <a href="http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/storytelling-sunday-2-words-pictures.html">blog</a> to read lots of other stories today.Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-73387278525901380592012-05-24T14:18:00.001+01:002012-05-24T14:18:25.249+01:00The One About Alissia at 16 weeks . . .I thought it might be an idea to update on here because I still haven't managed to find the time to do any scrapping of Alissia photos, and I don't want to forget anything before I do get round to it! <br />
<br />
So at 16 weeks:<br />
<br />
Alissia went in her special baby carrier with her Daddy round the Trafford Centre, and particularly liked looking up at all the light fittings in the different home stores<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7IkqaNHBYiKtkFJ6ZuUEDhdzXmlr69NPEb4-jVBmPMqP4HznEf-97n4iqTIlM-_XTI0aIwtWpRKruJUlSTYb3AQgoueQKHgQCpCMFZK-lzKcElt77XVywf39iW2gIBYKLmw2wrTvVLc/s1600/2012-05-20-059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq7IkqaNHBYiKtkFJ6ZuUEDhdzXmlr69NPEb4-jVBmPMqP4HznEf-97n4iqTIlM-_XTI0aIwtWpRKruJUlSTYb3AQgoueQKHgQCpCMFZK-lzKcElt77XVywf39iW2gIBYKLmw2wrTvVLc/s640/2012-05-20-059.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Alissia is now sleeping in her cot at night in her own room, and generally is sleeping through until 6am<br />
<br />
Alissia has grown out of the carry cot and is now going out in her big girl pram, and loves it, particularly resting her feet on the bar across her lap (which is the sort of thing her Daddy would do!)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuhp9PeW_LHyX06RT8Ki0pEKNShX2woqCpsL8t-mHExAhiqYFlAoP_GuOAgVLZYQ17pOl_BWZBczXpY5INT6A4BVKL8FEEOB_GBRdrAmbaBI5AtR6zxT5qAbImeSl1RaMu9qqS8oQY_c/s1600/2012-05-23-066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuhp9PeW_LHyX06RT8Ki0pEKNShX2woqCpsL8t-mHExAhiqYFlAoP_GuOAgVLZYQ17pOl_BWZBczXpY5INT6A4BVKL8FEEOB_GBRdrAmbaBI5AtR6zxT5qAbImeSl1RaMu9qqS8oQY_c/s640/2012-05-23-066.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
We tried her in the Jumperoo! She's still not sure about it, and doesn't tend to stay in longer than 10 minutes, but she's slowly learning to bounce!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxRfipus7ofc2CIUlWzf95bOmQPAZA8DdOmlCR2XrVU3MG5qbxBpjS1RQHFYCFe3JaSBz-izTKyekkIN4hRVUBO6EA6pgdFM4g5vXQ5Wf72GrKCuUwM7MkzdAtu4bG9o1xOiORSe4uSac/s1600/2012-05-21-061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxRfipus7ofc2CIUlWzf95bOmQPAZA8DdOmlCR2XrVU3MG5qbxBpjS1RQHFYCFe3JaSBz-izTKyekkIN4hRVUBO6EA6pgdFM4g5vXQ5Wf72GrKCuUwM7MkzdAtu4bG9o1xOiORSe4uSac/s640/2012-05-21-061.jpg" width="358" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Alissia is really good with her head control, and will go on her tummy more, especially if she is high up, like on our bed, just not on her playmat!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLA81BPWjJWSJg3AjMkuxGgSxWSCnSi6mbjA3H3h8a43-eARzle7z7AP7BWCNA9GI9FzXSdHInO3tdi2bGqpW_cqN1xEiiXQA-BDUgFQKia5GW7zV6fxEu-C5BCF3gOAbt6Sn_eLgZApk/s1600/2012-05-18-055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLA81BPWjJWSJg3AjMkuxGgSxWSCnSi6mbjA3H3h8a43-eARzle7z7AP7BWCNA9GI9FzXSdHInO3tdi2bGqpW_cqN1xEiiXQA-BDUgFQKia5GW7zV6fxEu-C5BCF3gOAbt6Sn_eLgZApk/s640/2012-05-18-055.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
She's holding toys that we give her, and anything that she can grab is going into her mouth! Bib included!<br />
<br />
Oh and she's started with the teething, and so she drools all the time! So now she just lives in her bibs!<br />
<br />
And in other news a big thank you to Jane for my award, and I will be back another time to talk about that!Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-83994269148216615202012-05-06T09:10:00.000+01:002012-05-06T09:10:40.773+01:00The One About the Surprise Visitor . . .A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine came to visit, and to meet Alissia for the first time. We had a lovely time catching up, then all too soon it was time for her to go. I opened the front door, and there was next door's dog who tried to get in! I have never liked dogs, or when they jump at you on your legs. But with Alissia in her bouncy chair in the front room I had to do something, I couldn't have the dog getting to her. Millie kept trying to push her way through the gap of the open door, but I managed to keep her at the door, and eventually got her out onto the pavement outside. Then I started hammering on for next door to come and fetch the dog because I couldn't look after her all day! Next door eventually came to the door, and said she didn't even realise the dog was out! It's quite lucky that I opened our front door when I did because we live on a busy street with some little shops, and there are always cars pulling up outside. Normally the dog is only allowed out in the back yard which is completely fenced in. So we still can't work out how she got out in the first place! I really hope that she doesn't try to visit again! When she's been in the back yard before, and I've had to put the rubbish out she's got in the house and run round the kitchen, and into the front room! I wasn't best pleased that day, especially as I was cooking dinner at the time. I have also caught her peeing on my flower beds before now - so she isn't my favourite animal. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1mwOCf1njh3kaF1ll11XrKFWGdWFQ5CbW1A_VUfgOaVHIR8qsRMNibFUTIHhZCwB-wJY16CDfvqMlRrpezPSRgpnJx0DgkiOtTob3pCLzy5t9_TQ8ISOWnaT8neuB4XPLjt9t9jZUwk/s1600/id124_beagle_jack_russell_h02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE1mwOCf1njh3kaF1ll11XrKFWGdWFQ5CbW1A_VUfgOaVHIR8qsRMNibFUTIHhZCwB-wJY16CDfvqMlRrpezPSRgpnJx0DgkiOtTob3pCLzy5t9_TQ8ISOWnaT8neuB4XPLjt9t9jZUwk/s640/id124_beagle_jack_russell_h02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
This story is brought to you for Sian's Storytelling Sunday. Make sure you check out her <a href="http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.co.uk/">blog</a> where they'll be lots more stories!Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654614615577471723.post-45691750740890910482012-05-01T17:09:00.000+01:002012-05-01T17:09:22.512+01:00The One About The Baby Card . . .So my friend had her baby two weeks ago Saturday, and this weekend while I was at my Mum's I managed to make her a new baby card. Hopefully I'll be able to do some scrapping soon too. I'm itching to some Alissia pages!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOMy_24pRPODZTY2arxeoR4rvLSMCzhO7YnE789uXfn5CEdYuvAngyaXXvOrAPzPFCJ44y1SdgBJApwZVkmpTBhKnEpUqBG9LSvaSh5mH7sMrn2zuBoUGbYlXL5P0ldUgdl8Pcw_REFGE/s1600/IMG_2705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOMy_24pRPODZTY2arxeoR4rvLSMCzhO7YnE789uXfn5CEdYuvAngyaXXvOrAPzPFCJ44y1SdgBJApwZVkmpTBhKnEpUqBG9LSvaSh5mH7sMrn2zuBoUGbYlXL5P0ldUgdl8Pcw_REFGE/s640/IMG_2705.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Gem's Craftshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18309234162208734617noreply@blogger.com3