Never, ever, ever again am I holding a children’s birthday party in the house without professional help! Why on earth did I think that ten three year olds would happily sit down to play pass the parcel, or follow the rules of musical statues? It took me twenty minutes to gather them all into a circle – every time I went to grab another escapee the others started running off! In the end I just left everyone to fight over the new toys and dance to Abba. I think they had a great time! At the end Gracie handed out the carefully put together party bags (I think that nowadays children judge the success of a party based on the contents of their party bags) and said goodbye to her friends, while I was left to survey the carnage! Most of it proved to be superficial – I still have a sticky patch of chewed up, stamped in fudge on the carpet, which is proving trickier than chewing gum to remove, but other than that we are nearly back to normal.

Gracie was very lucky to receive lots of lovely presents. I think this birthday will always be remembered as the Pepa Pig birthday – she must have the whole range of merchandise now and is completely thrilled. Gracie also loves dolls so Nana and Granddad bought her a babbling, crying Baby Millie doll. We quickly learnt to turn the thing off at bedtime though, as the first night Mark and I were woken at 1am by a crying dolly – Mark got up to settle her which made me laugh as he didn’t once do a night feed with Sonny! We bought Gracie her first proper bike. It is exactly the same as Alicia’s so there could be no fighting!

Now that she’s a little bit older it seems as though someone has flicked a switch in Gracie’s brain, and all of a sudden she is chatting away and singing songs. A few weeks ago we were proud if she strung together three or more words but now there is no stopping her. It really has happened over night and I couldn’t be more relieved. My Mum said that she would eventually catch up but I still had concerns over her speech development. Her pronunciation needs some work, but the difference is staggering. We have an appointment with the speech therapist for our next assessment in March so it will be interesting to hear what she has to say.

Gracie and her new bike:

Gracie getting to know noisy Baby Millie:

Gracie’s birthday cake:

We had a foot of snow on the ground for almost the whole of last week. It looked absolutely beautiful and has been such fun. The last time I saw snow like this was when I was small. My Dad took my Sister and me sledging in a nearby field, only taking us home when we were so wet and cold we could no longer feel our fingers or toes. Mum was waiting with hot chocolate and towels. I hope the kids have great memories of their snow fun too…

Gracie didn’t really know what to make of the snow to start with. On the first day of snow we were playing out with my neighbour’s children. Gracie didn’t really like it so my neighbour suggested that she sit in her car whilst we enjoyed the snow. About fifteen minutes later I opened the car door to check Gracie was OK – she was fine but had done an enormous wee! I was, and still am, absolutely mortified. As the days have gone on by Gracie has begun to enjoy the snow.

One street nearby had made a brilliant effort with snow sculptures – one house had a large snow snail, a snow gentleman leaning against a lamppost and a fabulous snow dragon. I was so impressed, but secretly thought we could do better! I embarked upon an ambitious igloo but Gracie thought it hilarious to keep kicking it down. I then started a Mickey Mouse sculpture only to turn around and find that the children had had enough and were waiting by the door for me to let them in!  

The wintry weather has also brought with it problems. The paths and roads are so deep in snow that I couldn’t push the buggy on the school run. Thankfully we bumped into some school friends who took Alicia for me. She had great fun sledging to school with her friends.

My online grocery shopping delivery was cancelled as the vans couldn’t get through the snow. By Thursday my cupboards were so bare that I only just managed to scrape together a leftover meal. When Mark came home that evening the snow had subsided enough for me to drive to the supermarket to do a weekly shop. Thank goodness I did because as I was driving home the snow started again and by Friday morning was deeper than ever.

The snow came down so thick that on Friday I decided to keep Alicia off school so that she could enjoy it before it turned to slush. I felt quite guilty but was soon relieved to find out that the school has been shut anyway. We had a lovely day.

Alicia and a friend sledge to school:

Our snow family:

 Alicia and her snowman:

My nephew, Jake Stephen Cooper, was christened this weekend. Family and friends travelled from far and wide for the church service and celebration. The service itself was in a modern church with a very modern approach! The vicar even showed a section from Shrek on big screens to illustrate part of her sermon. It was lovely to hear Jake’s godparents pledge to look after him and commit to helping him follow the right path. The church had a play area and crèche so after the ‘important bit’ I took the kids out as they were starting to get restless. After the service 80 of my sister’s family and friends helped celebrate with wine and food. It really was lovely.

My husband is not at all religious and categorically did not want our children to be christened, feeling this was a decision they should make for themselves when they were old enough to do so. I on the other hand, whilst not a devout Christian, do believe in God and therefore wanted to have them christened. I felt it was important to appoint godparents to guide them and be there for them. There were a couple of reasons for this: firstly I wanted each child to have someone special to turn to if they felt that they could not come to us, and secondly – in the event of anything happening to us – I wanted people who knew us very well to be there for them. However, I felt it unfair to ask Mark to go ahead with a church ceremony that he did not believe in, it would be meaningless and hypocritical. Instead we held a ‘Special Day’ for Alicia, Gracie and Sonny. We organised a meal to celebrate our wonderful children and invited close family and friends. We asked our closest friends – who we know will always love, care and be there for our children no matter what – to be ‘Special Parents’ to each of them. It was like a christening without the church ceremony. We are happy with our decision but it can be very hard when two parents have completely different ideas on something so important!

Kate and Stephen Cooper with Baby Jake and his Godparents:

We all loved Christmas this year, the children were at a perfect age to innocently enjoy the festivities and all really believed in Santa. Sonny can even say ‘Santa’ and ‘ho ho ho’ – so cute! I cooked my first ever Christmas dinner – I felt so grown up and very proud as I have to announce it was a complete triumph. I always knew I was a secret domestic goddess but have never had the chance to prove it before as having been pregnant or breastfeeding for years it was always a perfect excuse to relax on Christmas Day! Next year I won’t use as many tea lights on the dinner table – three kids, crackers and tea lights really don’t mix – thank goodness Granddad was quick enough to douse the burning cracker before the Christmas Pud really was flaming!

On the 28^th December we encountered what I have now termed as ‘Christmas Meltdown’. The kids were awful, the girls were actually coming to blows, complete with hair pulling and hitting! I can’t even use the fact that Santa may be watching anymore and it is a little early to threaten them with the Easter Bunny. I’m sure the sweets and treats were taking their toll. Sonny keeps saying ‘mmm pies’ and can demolish a whole mince pie in a matter of seconds. I’d feel a whole lot better if he would point at an apple with the same gusto! All sweets are now banished to the treat box only to reappear for selection on treat day (Saturday) if the kids have been good!

We struggled deciding what to do to celebrate New Year this year. Having had a recent baby sitter charge us £7 an hour for a normal Friday night (I know – I nearly fell off the chair, my babysitter cost me more than my entire night out!) we decided to stay in our own. We made it special by cooking a lovely meal and spending the evening together, which we really needed and enjoyed. Three kids and a hangover weren’t such a good idea when hubby went off to play golf on New Years Day though!

My New Year resolution last year was to at least brush my hair and apply a small amount of make up every day. I am pleased to announce that I fulfilled this resolution bar a few days… so on to 2009:

1 – I will not shout from one room to the next, I will instead walk to the room of the person I wish to engage communication with and speak in a normal manner.

2 – I will remember my motto ‘a child needs your love the most when you think they deserve it the least’. Alicia has become more challenging and spirited, she is very clever, but also very emotional, and I need to find a way to help her channel her emotions and show her that I love her.

3 – I will definitely get my finances in order – as we have our own business it is more important than ever this year that I stick to my budget and reduce my overdraft!!!! I know I will find this really difficult as the majority of my monthly allowance goes on food shopping – the quality and freshness of which I am not willing to compromise!

Wish me luck!!!!  

There is so much to write about each week that I have been stockpiling a few ‘topics’ and events. With three children there is always something going on…

Recently Alicia and eight of her friends celebrated her 5^th birthday by making their own pizzas at Pizza Express. The kids really enjoyed themselves and it was so well organised that even the Mums managed to have some fun! Originally I wasn’t going to have a birthday party for Alicia – mainly due to the cost of it all – instead I planned a quiet evening with friends and family dropping in. However, during the run up to her birthday Alicia attended a few parties thrown for children in her class. They were fantastically well organised but hugely expensive events held at local gyms, soft play areas etc. One little boy had a disco for the whole class with games, sweets and piles of party food – it was great. I didn’t want Alicia to feel left out and came to realise that they are only young once.

Now that Alicia is at school I have been enjoying my time with Gracie and Sonny. Alicia is quite a loud character so it has been nice to give the other two my full attention. Gracie has really come out of her shell and is definitely speaking more. The speech therapist said that this would happen when Alicia started school. We attend a weekly Music Bugs session, which both the little ones love. It has been nice for Gracie to make some friends of her own and really interesting to watch her form relationships. We always sit in the same place and as it falls over snack time we usually have a little picnic with the Mums on either side of us. We sing songs and use the instruments – it is a very interactive session and will help to further develop Gracie’s speech. Gracie also loves her swimming lessons. The coaches are great and stay in the water with the group of about four children. All in all Gracie’s confidence is really growing, and I am sure that she is enjoying having more one-on-one time with me. I can’t believe that she will start Pre School after Christmas!

Finally, after 15 months my lazy little toad Sonny has finally started walking. He is very proud and gives himself a round of applause when he reaches his destination! My little baby is now a toddler and, whilst I am very proud, I also feel sad that the baby years are over.

Alicia finishes school for the Christmas holidays this week. She is very tired and I am looking forward to spending time with her. I had been called in to see the teacher because Alicia isn’t listening or doing as she is told. The teacher thinks it is because she is very bright, so she picks things up straight away and then gets bored. I think it may also be to do with the fact that Alicia is strong willed and independent – she likes to do her own thing (a bit like her Mum!). Either way it is something to work on!

Alicia and her friends enjoy her Pizza Party:

Gracie being a sleeping bunny at Music Bugs: 

Gracie joining in at Music Bugs:

Gracie gaining confidence at swimming: