It’s been a really long time since I’ve written a family update, so I figured it was time to bring everyone up to speed with what we have been up to.
It was a bit of a whirlwind when Elijah was first born, he suffered with colic and reflux and to be completely honest it was really hard work. It was exhausting because he was so unsettled, I was trying so hard to keep things as consistent as possible for Oliver, Mr. C was working every hour under the sun to make up for the time he had off while I was pregnant because I was so poorly and we don’t have much support. Life whizzed by as a blur, until one night shortly after I started weaning Elijah, I combust and had a mini meltdown. Thankfully one of my close friends and her partner came to save the day and since then it’s all been uphill.
We started weaning Elijah earlier than the six month mark because the reflux was just unbearable. I couldn’t watch him scream after every feed and then throw up most of what I’d just fed him. It was slow going, but after a couple of weeks the weaning took off and now the child eats anything I give him (or anything the toddler drops on the floor that I haven’t had a chance to clean up yet). Here a few snaps of Elijah’s weaning journey.
As many people are aware, Oliver’s 2nd birthday was in April. I have absolutely no idea where the time has gone, but my biggest boy is now two *sobs*. He was spoilt rotten as usual and got his usual birthday party (glorified playdate with food and cake), as well as his family afternoon tea (which most of my family didn’t turn up to… as usual). However, my Nan made up for the lack of the rest of the family by running around with him all day, emptying the toybox, slipping him extra pieces of cake and buying him the entirety of the Paw Patrol section in Toys ‘R’ Us.
Despite most of my family being a no – show (again), they did all send up some very lovely presents that Oliver loved. Elijah has even been allowed to play with them without too much fuss, so that has been nice.
They both took very well to the piano my Dad bought them and it seems to have been the catalyst for a multitude of different musical instruments entering the house. Below you will see Elijah’s rather wonderful performance on the recorder. They did also have a clanger’s whistle for a while. It was actually quite a hot favourite for the short amount of time it was in the house, but it appears to have got lost. My money is on Mr. C having a hand in that.
My Mum bought Oliver a lovely water table, which the whole family has enjoyed playing with on hot, sunny days. They are both obsessed with water play, so this keeps them both entertained for hours.
Mr. C’s parents did come to the family tea party and gifted Oliver the Paw Patrol lookout tower, which complimented the Paw Patroller we bought him and the various different pups and vehicles my Nan bought him. These are among the most played with toys in the house and we have lots of fun creating different scenes and scenarios, where Ryder and the pups save the day.
Just after Oliver’s birthday, we were lucky enough to be invited to Bluestone Wales for our first holiday as a family of four. We all had a wonderful time and are so thankful to them for offering us the chance to review their resort. You can read all about our holiday here.
The last time I wrote an update I mentioned the house renovations and how we had begun work on the garden. We organised Elijah’s christening and arranged for the after celebrations to be at our house, so it had to be finished by July and despite several arguments and a lot of stress, we did it! Just in time. I see the garden as another room to the house, so we knocked through our dining room wall and installed some very large patio doors. It’s made my life a lot easier as I can now wheel the pushchair in and out easily, which means getting out of the house is a much less stressful ordeal. The boys love having an outdoor space to enjoy and it has been great for entertaining as well. We recently had some friends to visit and we all got a bit tiddly in the pergola, having a real good catch up. You can read more about our garden renovation project here.
So onto Elijah’s christening. The day was just lovely and it was wonderful seeing so many of our friends coming together to celebrate such a special day. Our church is just beautiful and the Parish Priest makes it such a warm, welcoming and calm place to be. We kept it small, with just a few close friends and family (again not many of my family made it), but my Dad and Nan did and the boys really enjoyed seeing them. It was also nice for Mr. C to see the boys with their little friends and we got to catch up with a few people we haven’t seen in a while.
In other news, I attended my first blogging conference recently and although it wasn’t quite what I expected, I did gain a lot from it. The conference made me think more about travel blogging and we are now planning a European road trip to Norway next year, more on that at a later date though. It also pushed me to really focus on a project I’ve had on the back burner for a while now and that is to write a series of children’s books. They may get rejected by every publisher and they may never make a bookshelf, but I think it is time I gave it a shot and put pen to paper.
So there you have it, a quick summery of some of the biggest events over the last few months. It’s been a whirlwind, it has taken nearly ten whole months to get back into the swing of things and we are still practising sharing, but seeing the boy’s sibling bond grow is one of the most amazing experiences and I’m so glad we get to have so many adventures as a family of four. I’ve added a few of our family moments you may have missed on my social media, including Elijah’s first fairground ride, Oliver’s first time flying a kite and some sensory activities we have been up to.
Hopefully you won’t have to wait as long for our next family update, but I can’t promise anything. But until next time you can keep up to date with what we get up to on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and of course The Blog.
Emma x
Our Fairytale Adventure 