new year plans and miscellaneous

Having survived the rare visit to my FIL, we are now getting ready to visit Z's closest friend for New Years. I love visiting them, not least because with 2 young boys in their house, everything is already kiddy proof and I don't have to worry too much about the destructive duo wreaking their normal havoc.

The wife has also just informed us she is unexpectedly pregnant again and I think now all my german friends are pregnant or have just had a baby in the last month! Even the non german friends are falling like skittles! I wish them all the best but wish that I could skip the next year or two!

JS had her baby girl last month and is having a hard time this time round as the baby is colicky. Last night we met up for an evening out in the sauna and she started whinging about how "it was hell at home" and she "didn't want to go home". After hearing that for the third or fourth time I'm afraid my leash on my tongue slipped and I had to remind her that a year ago she was crying on my shoulder because she wasn't pregnant, she wanted this child so now she must pick herself up and get on with it! It really irritates me because she knows how much I want another child (we discussed it often and at length last year when she was trying for this baby) and now she comes to ME to whine about how hard she has it with 2 children! People can be insensitive sometimes...

a belated Merry Christmas to all

A wonderful quiet Christmas at home was just what the doctor ordered! This Christmas was the first time where the girls opened their presents alone and were actually more interested in the presents than the wrapping paper.



Our christmas tree. Please note no glass ornaments, only felt, wood and silver decorations on the tree and just as well! The girls are constantly fiddling with the deco- the string of shiny beads only lasted 24 hours on the tree, now they are in a pile on a window sill as Ciara was convinced they were a (her) bracelet.

First presents

What can I say the girls LOVE smar.ties

Planes; train and automobiles was the theme this year

Enya and the police car

Daddy and his girls

The things kids say

Ciara and Enya are still very firmly in the 2 word sentence phase but they have a couple of quirky things that they say.

Ciara calls a belly button " a peter button", and as far as both girls are concerned other small children are called Anna. As in when we are looking at a book and there is a child illustrated there, it is pointed to with an emphatic "anna". I have got them to give a little on this point and when I say it is a boy, they will then grudgingly call it "neenus" (a friend's son is called Linus). However when we are out and about and see another child in a buggy, calls of Anna still resound. I think a continuation of this is that they refer to each other as Enya, it sounds kind of similiar and as often as I call the wrong name they feel it refers to both.

Any other moms out there who have the same problem, i.e. continually refer to their children by the wrong name? I know who I'm talking to and the name I want to say, unfortunately it is often not the name that comes out! At least I don't have any pets so can't call them by the pet's name like my mom used to do to us.

So how was your Monday?

I was playing on the computer while the girls were having their midday nap when I realised I could hear water running (it sounded like a tap running). As I walked past the bathroom door I realised it was coming from there and when I opened the door I discovered it was raining from the ceiling.

We'd had -20 C (with a balmy -12 C during the day) over the weekend and some pipes in the flat upstairs had frozen, the expected thaw set in yesterday and the pipes burst. No one was home upstairs so it only got noticed when I heard the rainfall in the bathroom.

Fun was had by all, especially when we discovered water running down Z and my freshly painted bedroom walls! We are now waiting for the insurance representative to come and check out all the damage and to find out if the bedroom walls are going to need stripping too. The ceiling has already been dismanteled and we now have a warehouse look going in our bathroom- open joists and dangling open bulb.

Can I skip christmas this year please!!

Winter Wonderland

Playing with the frozen ball

Snow splashing Ciara

Eskimo Enya

So much for the snow starting on Sunday! It's been lightly snowing all day today. Hopefully they are aqually wrong about the thaw coming just before Christmas as I'd love to have a white Christmas.

The girls loved the snow although Enya doesn't like the cold wetness on her hands. She kept slipping her mittens off and then crying when she touched the snow. I had to fight to get them to come back inside after about three quarters of an hour outside. If the snow keeps up we have a snowman building day coming up this weekend.....

Day 4...

...and still no shouting !

I've had a really relaxed day with the girls at home. After an unusually warm November we finally had a few snow flurries today, unfortunately the snow didn't really settle despite below freezing temperatures. The girls were quite intrigued by it though and kept saying "snowing" while peering out the window. I'm looking forward to this weekend as they are predicting proper snow that stays on the ground, I can't wait to let the girls loose on the snow, their reactions will be priceless (either horror or delight!), hopefully I remember to film it. Some of the weather services are even predicting a white Christmas which would be a first for me.

Christmas spirit rising

Slowly I'm getting more into the christmas spirit. I've only a few more gifts to go (we'll just ignore the fact that I STILL have to send them to England where most of my family and friends live). I gave into my du.plo urge again and now after christmas the girls will be running all public services in the City of Z (we're only missing the police!).

Shopping was fun with the girls today as Ciara has taken to serenading us, she sings: "lalalala light lalala bus lalala star" as she sees things she can identify. When we are at home she will often come into the kitchen and ask for the "music" (radio) on. She definitely doesn't take after me in this regard! Enya has become a real cuddle bug and will often come and press herself against our backs nad rest her head on our shoulders if we are down on the floor playing with them both. Enya has also taken to greeting us in the morning with a kiss when we lift her out her cot, these displays of affection are priceless, especially as they are completely spontaneous.

In the meantime Z is limping along on crutches after spraining his ankle on Friday night (I told him not to go to volleyball, would he listen though!! Instead I get a phone call at 22:30 to be told he's being taken to hospital and will be home late). I get to be chauffeur for the next few days but am getting my revenge by administering the anti-thrombus injections- my infertility experience pays off, sub cutaneous injections are easy.