Grrr
This is the first time I've been able to get into this stupid blog in months. Strangely, I'd been getting the occasional spam comment, but couldn't get into the blog to view them. How were the commenters getting in if I couldn't??
I'm baaaaack!
Glowstars very kindly sent me a message to ask where I've been. And Midwife's Muse sent me a similar email a few weeks back.
It is true; I completely disappeared off the face of the earth without so much as an "I'll be back". I have to admit that I just lost interest. I've been keeping this blog since I was trying to get pregnant with my first, who is now 4 years old, and I suddently realised that I was writing here more out of duty than for fun. I struggled to find things to write about and I simply no longer had the time or the energy to keep it up.
Kids are a full time job, as we all know, but Jake (4) is autistic and Abby is only 19 months old. She is very demanding and inquisitive and Jake needs constant prodding and cajoling to get him interested in the world around him.
Jake is changing, growing and definitely learning new things, but the changes are slow to come and therapy, visitors and funding can sometimes be overwhelming. Having an autistic child is hard work, and that's not only because they tend to be high-maintenance. The paperwork, the telephone calls, the appointments. The therapy, the meetings, the breakdowns. It's a rollercoaster ride.
But he's a lovely little boy, who loves his Mummy and Daddy's cuddles and has a smile that really and truly does light up a room. He's ticklish and has an infectious giggle. I'd wrap him up in cotton wool, if I could, and keep him with me 24/7.
Abby is growing up fast. Physically, she's just fine. And she's beautiful too. Mentally, well, she's brilliant. She can point to all her body parts when we name them and she's trying to talk. She can keep up with Jake and tries to shrug it off when he knocks her over.
I'm so proud of them both.
Anyway, I've been working and looking after kids and generally taking care of business. Life is ticking over nicely, for the most part. If you don't hear from me again for a while, send me a message... I like the attention. 
I hate winter
Winter has arrived in full force. Unfortunately, it has appeared a lot earlier than in previous years. Last year, for instance, we had a green Christmas (one without snow). We were into January before the snow fell and the temperature dropped enough for it to stay.
But, starting a week ago, the snow fell and, to my dismay, it stayed. And you know what? It has hardly stopped since then. It seems like every time I look out the window, the sky is filled with flurries. You can see it especially well at night, like now, when you look up at the street lights.
Pretty it may be, but it's also a huge pain in the ass.
Stephen and I have had to shovel the car out twice so far and I've had to scale a massive snow bank to get to work. By the time I got there, my boots had snow in them, my jeans were wet and I was all sweaty.
I hate winter.
20six troubles... again
I'm finding my 20six blog (this one, by the way) is not as reliable as I would have hoped. This isn't the first time that I've had troubles with it and I'm sure that it won't be my last. But this blog is so established that I'm loathe to leave it. Heck, I've been typing on these pages since 2003!
My problems are that, over the last couple of weeks, there have been numerous times when I could not access my blog. In fact, all of 20six was down, which is unusual. We occasionally cannot get into our own blogs or log in, but this is the first occurence when 20six.co.uk loaded with a completely blank page.
Is this a sign of what's to come?
I even contact the French 20six to see what was going on. They responded by saying that they could contact the tech team of 20six UK. That was after a full 24 hours of downtime. Again, unusual. A little while later, our blogs reappeared.
I live in fear of my whole blog disappearing for all eternity. And let's face it, 20six owe me nothing. I am using there services for free and have no contract with them.
So please, 20six, please hang around and host my baby blog. 
Supporting the Troops
The Gallery Collection, the leading mail order publisher of premium quality personalized greetings cards, are helping to make the world a smaller place for the men and woman of the United States military who cannot be with their families during the holiday season by joining forces with Soldier's Angels, who's mission is to provide aid and comfort to the military and their families.
The Gallery Collection have donated holiday cards to be sent to each and every soldier to wish them happy holidays and to thank them for the amazing job that they're doing. They are also donating a blank card and envelope so that each soldier will have something to send home to their families.
Both The Gallery Collection and Soldier's Angels are doing a fabulous job and they need your support. Please visit the Soldier's Angels website and make a donation and then drop by The Gallery Collection website. They have an awesome array of quality greeting cards for every occasion.
First Shiner
At the age of three and a half, Jake has his very first (and hopefully last) shiner and I am partially involved. I was going to write that I was partially to blame but I simply cannot accept any blame in this wacky scenario.
I made Jake his dinner and decided that I'd let him eat on the couch. (I was watching Dr Phil!) I carried a dinner plate full of food into the living and started sitting down on the couch. As I did that, Jake came running into the room in a very excited state. He squealed and, full of energy, ran right into the plate of food. The edge of the plate hit him right near his left eye and he immediately started to cry.
Ruth, who was with us, gasped and ask whether the fork had hit him. Luckily, no.
I quickly had a look at his eye and there was a tiny cut or scratch next to his eye that had a tiny drop of blood. Wow, I thought, not much damage. Yay!
Jake quickly recovered and ate his meal.
The following day though, he has a shiner. A purple bruise on his eyelid. Poor kid.
Of course, whilst visiting my Mum's place yesterday, I heard all the jokes that I knew would come: Are you beating him? Has your Mummy been knocking about? Poor Jake; you can come and stay with Nanny!
Oh well. I hope Jake will be careful around dinner plates from now on!
Neat & Tidy Cottage
We did it! We went out and bought the Neat & Tidy Cottage (from Zellers, instead of Wal-Mart) as a Christmas gift for Jake and Abby. It's a great little toy house that I would have loved to have as a kid. I'd have had my tea cup set in there, perhaps hung some curtains and then invited all my friends round.
But instead, my kids are a bit too young too do any of those things. Jake likes to climb on the roof and through the windows whereas Abby is mesmorized by the doorbell and telephone that comes with the house. I must admit that they are pretty cool. The telephomne rings and beeps while the doorbell really does chime.
Our biggest hassle with the Neat & Tidy Cottage is that it wouldn't fit into out car. Even once we'd unpacked it from its box. You see, I figured that there would be four walls and a floor. Each piece would be flat, I thought, and we'd be able to slide it in front of the back seat of the car.
Instead, there is a base that is absolutely huge and no matter how we tried we could not get it into our car. You'll see what I mean in the pictures below.
Oh, how we miss our minivan!
A Trio of Birthdays
We went to my Mum's place yesterday in Montreal to have a birthday celebration. Who's birthday? Well, there were a few. Firstly, mine was November 9th. Then my brother-in-law is today, November 19th. And then Abby will be one tomorrow, on the 20th. So there were three of us opening gifts there yesterday, which made it a pretty good day.
On top of the gifts I got on my birthday on the 9th, I got new pjs, a couple of books to read, and some bath smellies. Abby got lots of new clothes (you can always count on my Mum for that!), toys, books and even furniture for her Princess-themed room.
My stepfather made Abby a big wooden toybox, just like the one he did for Jake. It even has a plaque on the front that says "Abby's Toy Box". As always, he's done a fabulous job!
I got to see my niece, Kailyn, again, which was really nice and definitely overdue as I haven't seen her since she was a few days old. She's now 2 months old! She's growing into a darling little thing with deep, dark eyes. She seems alert and even shared a few precious smiles with her Auntie Nicola, who was pulling all kinds of faces at her just to get her to crack a grin. My hard work paid off in the end, I'm pleased to say.
Here are a few piccies from the fete...
The birthday girl, laying on the floor and eating a cracker:
Pretty Kailyn:
Me, in my new pjs, taken in the bedroom mirror:
Unidentified Spider
I hate spiders. They make my skin crawl and my body shiver. As I type this, I'm itchy. I swat the imaginary bug from my face or leg and can't really believe that I'm doing a blog entry about spiders of all things.
I would go so far as to say that I am arachnophobic.
On my way to work this morning, something caught my eye as it made its way across the pavement. I got a little closer (just a little) and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a spider with an absolutely huge, well, body, I guess. Or perhaps it was a big bum. It was so hard to tell because I simply couldn't get any closer without possibly fainting!
Out came my handy camera and I took this picture:
Is that not just the most horrible looking thing you have ever seen? I've gotta say that I can't remember seeing worse! It measured approximately an inch and a half long, which is way too big for my liking.
I got to work and had a hard time getting this spider out of my mind. It makes me shiver just thinking about it.
Anybody know what kind of spider that is or why its bum is so big? Could it be pregnant?
My Birthday and Endless Noise
It was my 35th birthday the other day. I had a pretty good day and received loads of gifts. My Mum and Stepfather had given me so,me money as a birthday present so I spent the morning shopping. I got news jean, tops, bras, make-up, everything! Stephen had Abby and Jake with him so I even got to make numerous trips into the dressing room - a rare treat for me.
At my request, my birthday cake was a carrot cake. I love the creamy icing...
As I type, Jake is driving me crazy. We've had a terrible few days with him. He simply hasn't stopped moaning and his lack o communication from him is proving to be our biggest issue. Stephen feels that Jake's mood is caused by frustration. He feels that Jake wants to communicate but doesn't know how.
I thought that Jake was unwell, but now, four days later, I don't know what to think.
Right now, he is in his bed and he is supposed to be going to sleep. Instead, I can hear him crying and moaning. But I don't know what to do for him. Believe me, we've tried it all. Food, drink, pain killers - I wish that we could solve his obvious problem, but I don't know how.
I feel very, very frustrated and upset by it because I want more than anything to soothe him, to calm him. I hate seeing him upset.
Is it autistic behaviour? Is it an illness, tummy ache or ear ache? Is it frustration because he wants to talk but doesn't know how to even try? Or is it simply naughtiness?
I'm so tired.
I have to laugh because this started out as an entry about my birthday, but soon got sidetracked by the racket coming from Jake's bedroom. He looked exhausted before he went up there so I'm hoping that he'll fall asleep soon and the moaning will cease until he wakes tomorrow morning. Actually, to be more precise, I would prefer that the moaning would not start again in the morning.
We'll see.
