Wedding sneaky peek - the tiara...

So I said I'd do a few posts with a sneaky peek into the wedding! Tonights post is my tiara!

I tried on about 20 different tiaras and fell in love with another one, which was double the price of this one. The tiara I liked was one that went right around my head, but since I'm having my hair mostly up for the wedding, I needed something smaller...

...My neice was with me when the tiara was picked, and she chose this one. She said I looked like a princess, so that was good enough for me! SOLD!

Wedding Stuff!

Well...it's all sorted now...Everything apart from the rings that is! I've added a wedding countdown application to my iPhone...And it currently stands at 5 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes, 9 seconds! Wooo!

Since I'm all out of inspiration, I thought I would do a few posts over the course of the next few weeks that are kind of like a sneeky peek into the wedding!

So...Here is the first sneeky peek - Our wedding song. Amazed, by Lonestar. Here are the lyrics:

Every time our eyes meet

This feeling inside me

Is almost more than I can take

Baby when you touch me

I can feel how much you love me

And it just blows me away

I've never been this close to anyone or anything

I can hear your thoughts

I can see your dreams

I don't know how you do what you do

I'm so in love with you

It just keeps getting better

I want to spend the rest of my life

With you by my side

Forever and ever

Every little thing that you do

Baby, I'm amazed by you

The smell of your skin

The taste of your kiss

The way you whisper in the dark

Your hair all around me

Baby you surround me

You touch every place in my heart

Oh, it feels like the first time, every time

I want to spend the whole night in your eyes

Chorus

Solo

Every little thing that you do

I'm so in love with you

It just keeps getting better

I want to spend the rest of my life

With you by my side

Forever and ever

Every little thing that you do

Baby, I'm amazed by you

I've been busy because...

...I'm getting married!!

The big day is September 5th, 2009, which according to my ticker, is 6 months and 13 days away! Holy crap - that will creep up on me fast!

The church ceremony is booked for 4:00pm on September 5th, at my parents local church. We're not having a sit-down meal, but a buffet at the reception straight after. The hotel where we're having the reception have held all their rooms for my guests and have given us the bridal/honeymoon suite for free! Yay!

My dress was bought and paid for on Tuesday. It's beautiful! A bit more than I wanted to spend, but it was cheap for a designer dress - especially one that is new out this season! And in the grand scheme of things, £630 is nothing!

I've still not got the bridesmaids dresses sorted out or the colour scheme, which means Des can't order his suit! However, I'm going to a wedding fair on Sunday, so hopefully we can pick out a dress then! Once that's picked, we can sort the colour scheme and Des can order his and his best mans suit!

My neice, Emily is being my flowergirl, and my nephew, Thomas is being the ring bearer! Des' twin brother is flying back from South Africa to be the best man and all the plans seem to be going okay for now. It's quite stressful though!

Talking of stress, I'm still waiting for my period to bloody arrive! I must be stressing majorly! Day 37 and no sign! I seriously cannot be pregnant when I get married because I'll never squeeze into my dress! It's already a snug fit because I plan on dropping 3 dress sizes (minimum) before September - They can take the dress in, but they can't let it out! LOL! I need my period to come so I can temporarily go on the pill!

So...The ticker...

Happy 2nd birthday little man!!

January 26th marked my nephews 2nd birthday! He's changed so much in the past 2 years it's incredible to watch!

We visited yesterday to deliver his card and some money for him...And we also picked up an 'In the night garden' balloon on the way! The balloon was a hit and Tom found it hilarious to punch! Heh!

Uncle Des is now a firm friend of Tom's after playing with him non-stop for the entire day!!

My little man is 2! Yikes! Makes me feel really old!

Ah, crap! They're so alike, I can't tell them apart!

For the past nine weeks, I've been extremely proud of myself that I can tell my twin nephews apart. Well, not anymore!

The way I could tell was by their hair specifically. Euan has always had really smooth hair, whereas Ethan has had fluffy hair. Well in the 7 days since I last saw them, Euan's hair has gone EXACTLY like Ethan's! Yikes, I cannot tell who is who...And I'm not stripping them off each time I want to know who is who to find Euans birthmark!

There is still only a 1lb weight difference between them, but it's not noticeable unless you're holding them.

Zoe, Thomas & I took the twins to have their baby portraits done on Thursday. This same studio did Emily & Thomas' portraits when they were only a few weeks old. Zoe has one of each of the kids in her lounge - It's a black background with the baby wrapped in a feather boa, which is the one she wanted of the twins too.

What a nightmare! Ethan was so good during the session, but Euan was pretty much crying constantly! What would probably take about half an hour with one baby took more like 2 hours, and Euan still wouldn't have an individual portrait!

My back was agony after the shoot - I had to kneel on the floor with my body leaning kind of behind the reflector and one hand under the material holding Ethans head, and the other holding his bottom in place. 2 hours of that = not fun!

Zoe wanted a pic of all 4 kids, but Thomas and Euan weren't happy with that! Although the photographer did get one of Emily by herself. Since Thomas will stay still and pose for me, we did have a backup plan that I would take my camera along too and if he got fussy, I would pretend I was taking the pic! Yeah, it didn't happen! He will not have his picture taken by anyone else, and he knew I wasn't really taking a picture because I wouldn't show him the picture I had just taken! lol!

Zoe is getting all 7 pics (7 in 2 hours - that's it!) and the one of the twins wrapped in feather boas is being made big like the canvases I have of Tom & Emily - And she's giving it to me! I'm excited to get it, as I can't yet set the babies up outside and get a picture of them against a nice background because of the cold weather! I will definitely be getting them outside in summer though!

After the ordeal of the photographs, we went to the local pub/restraunt with an indoor soft play area. I've always wanted to take pics of the kids in the ball pool, but I've been afraid to because of all the other kids around! I'm a wierd like that and don't want anyone to think I'm photographing their kids.

The meal was nice, and afterwards we went to the play area for an hour! Just my luck that there was a kids party going on - so there were like 30 kids running round in there! Anyway, I dragged Emily into the toddler area (the kids party was full of 6-7 yr olds) and got her in the ball pool to get my picture! Tom was too busy using the curly slide in the big kids area! Next time, I'm getting a pic of Tom in the ball pool!

I've not really had a chance to sort through the pics yet, but I'll get there eventually! Here's a couple of the kids:

Another day at the zoo!

This time, in -1 degree weather! It's the coldest zoo day I've ever had! I had picked up a friend from work, his wife and their 15 month old son first thing. As they don't drive and I was going anyway, I thought it was nice to ask them along!

Since I had a child in the car, I didn't go over 60mph the whole way there, so a normal 1 hour (max) journey took me close to 90 minutes! Ah well, the important thing is that we got there safely!

Anyway, the zoo was so quiet so we went in straight away & met one of my friends cousins there. We wandered round to see the elephants, the bat house and a few other animals and then we settled for our picnic! We sat outside eating our food and it was just so cold! We had to then rush to the cafe to get a hot drink! Heh!

We then spent a while wandering round leisurely letting Leon (the 15 month old) walk himself. We saw the elephants again, the littler monkeys, the caotis and some others.

The zoo has a new butterfly enclosure located behind the condors and next to the caotis but before the cattle and giraffes. My camera was steaming up something terrible, so the one photograph I got was blurry! Ugh! As we were in the butterfly house and walking through admiring all of the beautiful colours, I spotted a blue butterfly on the ground struggling to fly. Its wing looked damaged, but I thought that because of the humidity and the fact that a bit of water had gathered on the floor, it was just stuck and would walk onto the tree bark and dry off. Anyway, that butterfly died =o( Only took like 5 seconds. But the keeper scooped it up.

Next stop was to see the jaguars, but they were sleeping so we didn't catch sight of them unfortunately. Nor did we see the tigers who were our next stop. Our last big enclosure of the day was the lions. I had talked the whole way about photographing Chakra (the new lion cub) so I was really excited.

As we approached the lion enclosure, there was a sign saying that Chakra had to be euthanized on Friday January 9th due to a developmental disorder. I was just gutted...Asha (Chakras Mum) was nowhere to be seen, and Asoca (Chakras Dad) just looked really sad lying down. Poor things. I got all choked up and we didn't stay there long.

On our way back to the exit, we went to see the frog exhibit, which is another new one. We also saw the komodo dragons and tropical things and finally the reptile house. We also dropped by the chimp enclosure, but we only saw a lot of chimp bottoms as they were in the back being fed by the keepers. The Orangs and gibbons were also out of sight - they must have been sleeping!

All in all, it was a good day despite a lot of animals not being out and the weather being atrocious! I learnt how to take macro photos with my camera, and finally got the hang of photographing through glass, so it was a bit of a learning curve for me! And since Leon had walked around almost the whole day (impressive) he slept all the way home and didn't even wake up when we carried him inside! It was a peaceful drive home!

Now this final photograph I took is of my friends 15 month old son. The light was terrible as it had started going dark, and I wasn't able to take the picture properly with a wiggling 15 month old trying to climb of the tortiose statue! Anyway, it's his wifes birthday soon, and I was thinking about enlarging the photograph (I like his smile on it), even though I know it's not really that sharp...What do you think? Would you be happy receiving it large & in a frame as a gift? Also, any photoshop pro's that read this - Can I make it any sharper? I'm thinking his facial features don't stand out that much...

I spent the day with my nephews today!

It was a fun day, as usual!

I got there for around 11am to a house full of screaming babies! Heh! Didn't take long to get them quiet though! The babies just wanted cuddles, and Tom just wanted to watch CBeebies! An easy fix in a few short minutes!

After everyone had calmed down, I carried one of the twins upstairs and Zoe had hold of the other, and Tom, Ethan & Euan had a bath! There was a bit more crying from the babies and lots of splashing from Tom! He's the funniest kid I've ever come across!

After the bath, it was picture time! Tom is such a poser! Heh! Apparently I'm the only person that he allows to take his picture! I hope that the twins love posing as much as Tom when they get a little older!

Anyway, the twins are 8 weeks old today, and they're looking even more alike as they grow. The only difference is their 1lb weight difference, their hair, and Euan has a birthmark on his chest! So, with being 8 weeks old comes their very first injections =o(

Zoe and I took the kids to the doctor so that they could see the health visitor and the doctor and have their injections. The stats are as follows:

Ethan: 8lbs 11.5ozs...He gained a whole pound this week alone! I forget the length of him and head circumference, though!

Euan: 7lbs 11ozs...He gained a whole pound last week and I think 3 pounds this week! Again, I have forgotten his length and head circumference already!

After the health visitor checked them, we moved into the next room to see the doctor. He examined them and determined them to be fit and healthy enough for their injections!

The poor babies had to have a jab in each thigh. Yeouch! They took it like true champions though, and only cried for a few seconds per injection. Euan was first to have his jab, and whilst Ethan was having his done, Aunty Claire was on hand to give Euan his much needed cuddles and kisses! I got the little man dressed and cuddled him lots and lots!

Next stop was the pharmacy for the twins' vitamins and folic acid. Everyone was making a fuss of the babies, so Aunty Claire kept Tom occupied and entertained...And he fell asleep after a few minutes!

A woman followed us out of the pharmacy and chased us down the road to have a peek at the twins! As we were getting them in the car, she had gone and grabbed her daughter to come and have a look!!

When we got back, I decided it was time for me to go so I could miss some of the rush hour traffic. I shouldn't have bothered as the traffic was awful - so I decided to go and visit my parents instead of coming straight home.

Now I'm home and preparing for tomorrows day out...At the ZOO!! I hope you're looking forward to the pics of the zoo, as I'm sure there will be hundreds!

January 12th, 2009

Marks the 5th anniversary of my first miscarriage. I still can't believe that 5 years have passed me by!

The day was pretty crappy, as all of my plans went tits up. I just kept thinking that tomorrow is a new day, and it got me through.

Of course, there were a few emotional moments and some moment of "I wonder what s/he would be doing today?" etc.

Fingers crossed that next year will be better and I have something/someone else to focus my attention on (I say that every pear and it never happens, but oh well)!

New Years Goals

I have a few goals this year. Those of you that read my blog or know me in person, will know that I've been trying for a baby for over 5 years now...All of my goals for this year I've centered around my dream to become a mother.

1) Quit smoking
2) Lose weight
3) Keep pestering the doctor for fertility treatments
4) Save more money
5) Randomly act out of kindness wherever possible
6) Take some photography classes

So, I do have the beginnings of a plan in place to put all of these into place.

Quitting Smoking:

Many of you will know that I did a stint of not smoking for 6 or 7 months back in 2006/2007. I started smoking once again after my mum, sister and dad were all hospitalized within a period of 2 months.

I also started my newest quit plan on December 1st, although I've had a few stresses that have made the goal hard to acheive. I know it's just making excuses...Next year WILL be different.

I have a supply of nicotine patches from when I went to the smoking clinic at the beginning of the month, and also some nicotine losenges. They'll be handy when I quit from January 1st.

Losing Weight:

My weight has never bothered me too much. I've never had any type of illness from being overweight, I don't have issues with blood pressure or heartbeat, I can exercise and walk for extended periods of time without falling down from exhaustion and I've always been comfortable in my own skin. However, I know that this could be one of the factors preventing me from conceiving.

I was thinking to myself that if I wanted my dream to come true so much, then I would do whatever it takes. If losing weight may help, even just the slightest bit, it's worth doing. And besides, it would possibly mean that any pregnancy would be healthier anyway, so that's a good way to look at it in my opinion.

At the MoA forum, a group of regular posters are going to lose the weight together and help each other out. Jane has had an idea which I am going to steal from her...Her goal is to walk to Magic Kingdom by the date her daughter, Freja's, isolation period is finished.

I don't know where I want to 'walk' to in terms of distance, but I think it's a good way to do things, and something that will personally motivate me! I'll be going shopping for a pedometer at some point this week!

Pestering my GP for a fertility clinic referral/fertility treatment:

This is not going to be an easy feat. My GP has told me that he wouldn't be looking to refer me to a fertility clinic till I'm 30. I've decided that if he doesn't want to refer me, then I will wave goodbye and try to find a different GP who is willing to help me.

My personal opinion on this whole age thing, is that if a patient is mature enough, stable enough emotionally and financially, willing to go to any kind of length to have a child etc, then they should not be telling them to wait 8 years to get help. That is ridiculous. He wouldn't even offer me treatment for the PCOS, other than going on the birth control pill to regulate my cycle and make it lighter.

We'll try wholeheartedly for a baby over the next 12 months, and if we can get a referral to a fertility clinic, great, if not and we've tried different GP's, private healthcare etc, then we'll consider our other options. First on the list would be paying way over the odds to go to the private hospital and getting a consultation for IUI/IVF/whatever they recommend, secondly we'd look at the possibility of surrogacy and adoption. I'm not sure how those options would work for us, but we will cross that bridge if and when we come to it.

Save more money:

Pretty easy one, but something we need to work into our lower budget. It may take a couple of months to get some steady savings going, but I want to have £1,000 saved by the end of 2009.

Randomly act out of kindness wherever possible:

I've seen this kind of thing on TV and online, where people will go to the McDonalds drive thru, for example, and pay for the person behind them to eat...Or go to a coffee shop and pay for the next persons coffee etc.

I like to think that I do sort of do random acts of kindness already by taking my neice/nephew out for no particular reason, or helping someone in the family. Heck, even offering to pick my friends up from town after a boozy night or whatever. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I want to branch out a little...Act kindly towards a stranger...We'll see how that works out as I don't really have a clear cut way of how I'm going to do this!

Take some photography classes:

For the past 6 years, since I've left school and worked full-time, my weekends have been taken up with working. Every other Saturday I work between 1pm and 9pm...and I HATE IT! Finally, I'm doing a 'normal' 9am - 5pm shift, and after January I won't be working weekends anymore, so I have two days in a row off work every week!

I planned to do some online classes for photography with the Open University in May, however, the money I put aside for it had to be spent on house stuff, so I never took the classes afterall. Next month I'm going to have a look at some local colleges that offer weekend classes, and I will be looking to sign up on Saturday mornings. I'd like to learn the ins and outs of my camera, learn about photoshop and also about studio set ups and lighting. That should keep me busy for a while, and if I get good at photography, I might even be able to earn some extra cash on a Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning!

So, those are my goals. And I'm really willing to change my entire lifestyle to accomplish them!

On a slightly unrelated note...My sister-in-law messaged me on Facebook and asked if I could e-mail her some of the photographs I took of the kids this year...I sent about 200 edited shots to her of Emily, Thomas, Ethan and Euan, and she put them on memory cards for everyone in the family both on her side and her husbands side.

I went to my other sister-in-laws Christmas/New Year/Anniversary/Birthday/House warming party yesterday, and she was displaying all of the pics on her HUGE digital photo frame and they were getting lots of really nice comments...That made me feel so good!

I'm going to offer my 3rd sister-in-law my not-yet-so-great services and put together a maternity/baby scrapbook or photobook if she decides she'd like me to do it. I'm not really that close to her, but she's 20+ weeks pregnant with her first baby and since I do this for my sister-in-law, Zoe, all the time, I think it would be nice to offer to do the same for her, too!

Christmas Eve

We did the annual "Santa run" today, dropping off all the Christmas presents.

First we dropped off gifts with my godmother. I bought her a No.7 gift set and a bottle of wine, I got her son a nice Beano pen and mechanical pencil set, and her boyfriend (I've only met him twice), a box of chocolates!

Next we went to see my sister-in-law and the kids! We bought a mini skateboard for Emily, play dough for Thomas and an outfit each for the twins from the disney shop!

Finally we went to Des' parents. We planned on not buying presents for any of the adults this year, but we did see a pepper grinder with 3 different colours of peppercorns in them that we knew they'd like - They're well into that decorative fruit/veg/etc stuff for their kitchen!

I have to go back out later on to drop off Sarah's Lindt gift, and then we're off to my parents overnight...We're spending Christmas day with them!

I fed Ethan and Zoe fed Euan...and Des kept Emily & Thomas occupied! Ethan has a pretty bad cold right now and Euan is starting with one, so they've got a prescription for nose drops - which will be fun for poor Zoe!

Emily & Thomas are looking forward to Santa visiting them tonight! They already have a ton of presents under the tree, but there's loads more to come tonight! I would love to watch their faces opening presents, but that won't happen for at least a few years anyway...So Zoe promised to have her camera charged and be sat in the lounge before they walk in so I can see their faces! Yay!!

One of Zoe's elderly neighbours bought the kids a selection box each, and since Uncle Des made Emily cry, Zoe let the kids open their selection boxes and eat a bar of chocolate...so I got one pic of them opening one of the boxes!

It was so nice spending time with them again, and we even played outside on the trampoline since it wasn't raining or windy!

In un-Christmas but kid-related news, Thomas failed his hearing test. They *think* he is deaf in one ear and has moderate hearing loss in the other. He can say a few words, but he is behind the 'average' in that department.

Anyway...Some pics!

Emily:

Thomas:

Ethan:

Euan:

The twins are identical...but I can already tell the difference! I'm so impressed with myself, as I thought it was going to be impossible during their first 6-12 months at least! They're 5 weeks old and I've visited 3 times...AND Zoe is still dressing them identical until evening time...So yeah, I'm impressed I can tell them apart!

I can't call you my "baby sister" anymore!

21 qualifies as an adult, so from now on, I promise not to call you "baby sister" unless you're not around!

I know your real birhday isn't till Thursday, but have a great birthday week, and don't get too drunk and break your other ankle!!

Love you lots!!

Today, I feel sad.

I'm having such a down day today and I don't even know why. There's been a constant lump in my throat and I've been on the brink of tears for almost the entire day.

I've been feeling so awful that I've not even started my Christmas shopping, I have no idea what we're doing over the Christmas period and we don't even have heating because it's too expensive. We are seriously spending around £40 a week on gas and the radiators are giving off the smallest amount of heat possible. Our fire hasn't been fitted and I'm sure we're getting a draft from the chimney and also around the doors and windows.

I'm just so fed up, and tired. I want to sleep away the days until I feel better.

I've been thinking about why I'm feeling this way. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the horrific week just gone and the anxiety over my sisters birthday party tomorrow, but I also think that a lot of the problem is just the fact it's Christmas...and our 5th one childless since we began trying for a baby.

Around this time 5 years ago, I was the happiest person alive...This year, I feel like the unhappiest person alive. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for everything I do have, but I'm also feeling sad about the one thing I don't have. The one thing that would make me complete. The one thing that would make me happier than I've ever been. That one thing is a child...My very own family. Christmas, for me, is a time for family and togetherness.

As the date fast approaches that I lost my first baby, I feel numb. How can 5 years have passed me by so quickly? How can 5 years of trying for a baby result in nothing but heartache?

I always think about the way things should have been. I would have had a child in school now, a child that would have been excited to see Santa. A child that would call me "Mummy" and make everything better with just a hug, or a giggle. Instead, I watch everyone else experiencing that joy. Everyone except me.

Going into 2009, at least I'll have some answers. I know that I have PCOS and that is what's preventing my dreams coming true...I'll never understand what I did wrong to have to deal with this crap though. I just wonder that whether we have to take the surrogacy route, or the adoption path, if all the waiting will make me a better mother? I certainly hope so!

What Makes A Mother?

I thought of you and closed my eyes

And prayed to God today

I asked "What makes a Mother?"

And I know I heard him say

A Mother has a baby

This we know is true

But, God, can you be a mother

When your baby's not with you?

Yes, you can he replied

With confidence in his voice

I give many women babies

When they leave it is not their choice

Some I send for a lifetime

And others for the day

And some I send to feel your womb

But there's no need to stay.

I just don't understand this God

I want my baby here

He took a breath

and cleared his throat

And then I saw a tear

I wish I could show you

What your child is doing today

If you could see your child smile

With other children and say

"We go to earth to learn our lessons

of love and life and fear

My mommy loved me so much

I got to come straight here

I feel so lucky to have a Mom who had so much love for me

I learned my lessons very quickly

My Mommy set me free.

I miss my Mommy oh so much

But I visit her each day

When she goes to sleep

On her pillows where I lay

I stroke her hair and kiss her cheek

And whisper in her ear

Mommy don't be sad today

I'm your baby and I am here"

So you see my dear sweet one

Your children are okay

Your babies are here in My home

And this is where they'll stay

They'll wait for you with Me

Until your lessons are through

And on the day you come home

they'll be at the gates for you

So now you see

What makes a Mother

It's the feeling in your heart

It's the love you had so much of

Right from the very start

Though some on earth

May not realize

Until their time is done

Remember all the love you have

And know that you are

A Special Mom

Author Unknown

My hair

It's my sisters birthday party on Sunday, so I decided to dye my hair. I wanted it really dark so I left the colour on for 2 hours...but it's still not as dark as I wanted it to be *sigh*.

Ah well, I may buy a black colour before Sunday, if I don't manage to get out, then I guess it will do.

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree!

We put our tree up a little earlier than usual this year.

Normally I'd wait until December 19th, which is the day after my little sisters birthday. She hates sharing her birthday and Christmas, but since she doesn't live here, I decided it was time to go into the attic and drag out the decorations!

Des was out of the house at 6am and didn't get home till after 8pm. He does one long day at work every three weeks, so I decided to surprise him!

The photographs I took didn;t turn out great, but I'm working on using the manual mode on my camera, so that's to be expected, I suppose.

I'll probably take some more photographs over the next few days, but here's a couple for you to enjoy for now!

They grow so fast!

I'm just so glad I'm close enough to my sister in law that I get to see the kids often...That way I see them growing up myself, instead of seeing it through photos. So here is my update on all of them:

Emily: How did my little neice become 7? She'll be 8 in March, and that is just crazy! This year, she's lost almost all of her teeth! The dentist removed 9 all at once - but the tooth fairy only pays half for rotten teeth, so she has stopped eating so many sweets and is looking after them now!

Emily also became a big sister for the 3rd and 4th time, and she's so wonderful. She's a great help to my sister in law and she looks after Thomas & the twins so well!

She's doing great in school and she still calls her best friend, Christopher, her "boyfriend"! So cute! Christopher is a Liverpool FC supporter and Des was hoping he'd get Em to support Liverpool too, but she's still into Manchester United!! Uncle Adam obviously got to her first, so Des is now hoping Thomas will be a Liverpool supporter like him!

Thomas: My baby boy will celebrate his 2nd birthday next month. TWO?! I can't believe he grew up that quickly! It seems like just yesterday we met him for the very first time and took him on his first Zoo trip when he was 3 months old. After that it was the aquarium, Welsh mountain zoo and lots of other fun places!

Tom now has a full set of teeth and is saying some words. He's a little behind in talking so is seeing a speech therapist. He's also off for a hearing test next week to rule that out! His favourite word is "Nemo"!

Thomas is always happy and laughing, and whenever I go round he gets excited because I take my camera. He will pose like there's no tomorrow, and laugh and giggle through 100 or more photographs! This is great for me because I'm making another scrapbook for my sister in law, so I need all the photos of the kids I can get! Funny thing is that he never smiles for him mum when she wants to take pics of him! LOL! It's our thing!

Thomas also became a big brother for the first and second time this year. He doesn't like it though, so we have to make sure we make a huge fuss of him whenever we visit! Don't worry though, it's not hard! He loves reading and he loves igglepiggle, so we play with igglepiggle and read and it's all good!

Ethan: is 3 weeks old on Tuesday. In his 3 weeks of life, he's become a great sleeper during the day and a great wide-awaker at night! He's doted on my his big sister and is now weighing almost 5lbs!

Ethan looks just like his Dad, which is wierd because although him and Euan are identical, Euan looks more like his mum! It must be the hair! He's kind of bald on top and he has tufty hair around the sides! Heh!

I think Ethan is going to become a fan of the camera, just like his oldr brother, Thomas!

Euan: will also be 3 weeks old on Tuesday. He's a great sleeper at night and likes to be asleep at night time! He's weighing over 4lbs now and is home from the hospital in time for Christmas. The miracle twin really is a miracle!

Euan is a smaller version of his identical brother, Ethan. His nose is so tiny but still a little crusty from having the feeding tube in for so long. His little hand is also black and purple where the hospital took blood from him before he came home.