Belated post from November!!! (need to add some photos!)

I can’t believe its November! (actually December now as never got round to posting this!!!)


First half term at school complete…. Bethany and Callum have settled brilliantly into their respective school and pre school. Mummy took about 4 weeks to settle in to the new routine!!! There is a lot of admin for us Mummy’s – I’ve decided its finally time, aged 34, to accept that I need a diary!

After a hectic first term it was time for a long anticipated trip to Singapore to see Martin and Louise. We had a fantastic time, making lots of use of all the pools at Martin’s condo. Despite the heat and humidity the kids coped amazingly and we managed to visit the Botanical gardens, the bird park, a water park, East coast park, the Macquarie reservoir, China town and whilst Martin and Lou took the kiddies to a soft play area, Mark and I (plus a sleeping Elsie) enjoyed several cocktails at Raffles, including the famous Singapore Sling.


Having not seen Martin for 18 months, it was great catching up properly and we really enjoyed the insight into Martin and Lou’s life over in Singapore which we loved. Thank you Martin and Lou for putting us all up

Super husband of the year award goes to Mark – he kindly agreed to fly home with Bethany and Callum, allowing Elsie and I to visit Sarah (my friend from University) in Sydney for 3 nights. We did lots of catching up over the odd glass of wine and also managed to cram in lots of touristy excursions….
Gran, Grandad and Hamish stayed in Reading with Mark, Bethany and Callum so I’m not sure they even noticed I was gone! Elsie proved to be a brilliant travelling companion and was her usual calm and smiley self throughout.

Elspeth loved the swimming pools at Martin’s and in the 2 weeks that we were away went from not being able to sit up at all, to being able to sit unaided for a few seconds. She confidently rolls around the room and is now able to manoeuvre herself pretty much anywhere using a backward wriggle and roll combo. This weekend she has managed to lift her tummy of the ground (no small feat, given her weight!). She certainly has the same determination that her brother and sister displayed.

Elsie is now eating 3 meals a day and its barely necessary to use a bib – nothing escapes! It’s a joy feeding her. In fact all the children have done brilliantly with exploring new flavours and tastes. When we were in Singapore the children ate Chinese, Indian and Mexican food.

This week was the first time that Elsie showed true recognition of Mummy – she greeted me huge smile when I came back from food shopping. At the table when Callum and Bethany were being silly she started giggling… needless to say ‘she is growing up so (too) fast’.

Now that the jet lag and colds have gone we are excitedly starting to plan Christmas…