Kaelyn's first birthday 21st November 2010

I know this is more than 4 months late, but I always say, better late than never, especially with scrap booking, blogging, crafting, hobbies, etc, which inevitably get prioritized to the back of the queue in these busy days!! Our sweet girl turned one on the 21st of November 2010. It has been a simply wonderful year watching her become a very active, happy, loveable little person. She loves her big sister so much it is amazing to me and she loves every animal on the planet and has a unique way of trying to hug them all!! She is literally never still unless she is unwell or sleeping! We just wouldn't be without out Little Miss Kaelyn Rose and we had a wonderful weekend for her birthday. Normally, I am of the school of thought that believes, that a one year old doesn't know it is their birthday, and any celebrations are for the adults only, however our Kaelyn absolutely loves opening presents and LOVES other children. So we decided to have a couple of our friends over who have similar aged children for a lunch party on the Saturday and then have a small family buffet on the Sunday after church. Kaelyn absolutely loved both her parties and soaked up all the attention!! She thoroughly enjoyed the party food also and pretty much ate her body weight in the stuff (not terribly hard as she doesnt weigh a great deal!!) Here is a photo of me and my lovely one year old opening one of her presents. This was a huge hit, a musical princess book with a wand!! Here is Kaelyn, covered in obligatory birthday chocolate having cuddles with her doting daddy

I love this photo of us all when we were singing Happy Birthday to Kaelyn. I felt so bad because I ran out of time to make a cake so we had a shop bought one! Major guilt trip for the mother! Everyone was telling me to get over it, the things we do to ourselves!!

It will be her 2nd birthday before we know it!! Though maybe I will be up to date on the blog by then! Or maybe not?!?!?

School Picture September 2010

This is a picture of the girls, once Isabelle was back at school, after the Summer. (I still can't believe she is in Year 2!) They always take individual photos in the Autumn, and class photos in the Summer. Luckily, this year, we had the opportunity to include Kaelyn in the photo too! They all turned out really well and needless to say, Christmas presents were sorted for all the family! I love these two little treasures!!

Just a cute photo

There has been a serious lack of blogging in the Gray household of late. I could come up with various excuses; we moved house in August, when we started back at school we had a MUCH longer walk to school, I started a new job at the local cinema on a couple of evenings a week, our 11 month baby is very much on the move and gets into EVERYTHING, etc!! The list could go on and on!! In reality, Mummy just needs to get herself in gear!! So, no more excuses, and I thought I would start again with a cute picture of our girl, 'helping' us pack up ready to move house!! She was actually more of a hinderance, but gorgeous nonetheless. And I promise to post some pictures of the new house ASAP, though, hopefully on a good, tidy day!!

Our road trip to Paris

Our Summer holiday for 2010 was a road trip to France and specifically Paris. We started by driving down to my Grandma's and spending the weekend there with family, then driving to Folkestone for the Monday night. On Tuesday we travelled to Dover and got our Ferry to Calais, then onto Amiens for Tuesday night. Then on Wednesday we drove to Paris, via Chantilly. We spent 3 nights in our wonderful Magic Circus Hotel and then for Saturday night we went to Lille. On Sunday we got our ferry home and made our way back to Grandma's, to then travel home on the Monday. It was exhausting but incredible, and we have some amazing memories.

Here we are all packed up and ready to set off!

We took Grandma to Whipsnade Zoo on the Saturday, however, it was literally pouring with rain! We were brave and soldiered on. It was still a lovely day! Here is Lee getting close and personal with a Lioness.

Here we are saying goodbye to the best hostess ever, my wonderful Grandma!!

On our way from my Grandma's to Folkestone, before our Ferry the next day, we stopped in Canterbury for some lunch. Unfortunately, it was a bit rainy, but it was still a lovely town and we would love to return again and see the cathedral, as we didn't have enough time. Lee caught a lovely photo of Isabelle sat with some brave summer flowers!!

We found a really amazing attraction called 'The Canterbury Tales Experience'. We had some time to kill, so we went through. They do a journey, like pilgrims, and you stop at various points to hear the stories. It is done through a mobile phone device, and they even have a kids version and let the kids dress up! Me and Lee thoroughly enjoyed it!!

This is a picture of a beautiful catherdral in Amiens. We went into the town centre to find something to eat and stumbled across this cathedral. It was free to get in and was virtually empty, so we took some time to marvel at the incredible architecture!

On our way from Amiens to Paris, we went through Chantilly. We stopped at Domaine de Chantilly, which was lovely. I was feeling under the weather, so it was hard work, but still breathtaking!!

This is mine and Lee's bed in the Magic Circus Hotel near Disneyland. It was wonderful and we enjoyed our stay there. We would recommend it to any family and would try and return.

Here we are in Disneyland!! Needless to say we were all mega excited! Here is Isabelle at the Mad Hatter's tea party in a spinning tea cup. As you can see, we were very lucky with the weather. It was stunning!

Lee and Isabelle trying on silly hats, everyone does it! You know you do!!

The eagerly awaited 'Disney Princess float' in the parade. It didn't disappoint!! Though we all commented that the characters must be baking in their full costumes!!

Here is our day in Paris City Centre. We did all the sights, (and a few more), sampled snails and crepes, got hot and sweaty, spoke french very badly and had an absolute BLAST!!

Obligatory photo 'holding' the eiffel tower!! Has to be done!! Though it took a few shots to get Isabelle to stay still!!

Here is Isabelle in front of the Notre Dame cathedral. Unfortunately we didn't see the hunchback, but there was an obscene queue to get inside, so we were satisfied with just taking photos outside.

This is a wonderful picture that Lee took of the Arc de Triomphe. We took an open topped tour bus and it was wonderful to come down the Champs Elysee and this tall structure at the end. Though the French are crazy drivers, I was glad I wasn't driving!!

This is Isabelle in front of the Louvre museum after we came out. We were able to go in, and see the famous Mona Lisa portrait. We could take photos, but they were very dark. This was our last stop of the day before we went to get the train home. We were very lucky also, as it was only 6 Euros after 6pm AND anyone under 26 got in free!! So we only paid for Lee!! Best bargain of the trip!

As we checked out of our hotel on the final day in Paris, we went to Disney Village to do any last shopping. This is how Kaelyn spent the time!!

Isabelle was in a playful mood and thought she would pose with Sleeping Beauty, no less!!

We stayed in Lille on our final night in France and went to church on Sunday morning. The members there were very kind and translated for us!!

Here is Isabelle on the ferry on the way home. You can see the white cliffs of Dover in the background. As you can see, it was quite windy, though, ironically, we left pouring rain in France and returned to glorious sunshine in England! Incredible!!

We ended up back at my Grandma's house on the way home. It was lovely to see the family again. This is my grandma, and her sister, Triss, with the girls.

We had a wonderful holiday, but we were ready to get home and sleep in our own beds!! What an adventure we had!!

My three favourite people

Ok, I admit it, I am biased, however, I think many people will agree with me, that these three are quite special!! I managed to catch this shot on a morning, which in our house, is CRAZY. Trying to get ready and out of the door. On some days we manage to look presentable as well!! Luckily, I took a moment away from getting breakfast, washing and dressing the kids, doing laundry, doing dishes and getting myself washed and dressed. I feel, I caught a perfect moment, where my loving husband was taking the time to give his girls a cuddle, before getting dressed for work. I love each of them sooooo much!

Teeth are disappearing!!

Isabelle started with a wobbly tooth, about a month before Kaelyn was born, in October. She was very excited and started planning what she was going to do with the money she received from the tooth fairy. The conversation went something like this:

Isabelle: Mummy, guess what I am going to do with my tooth fairy money.
Me: I don't know, buy some new teeth?
Isabelle: No silly, if I get 60p, I am going to buy a garden, BUT if i get 70p I am going to buy a garden AND a dog!! (Slight explanation needed, Isabelle said she wanted a dog and was told that when we have a bigger house with a garden, we may consider it.)
Me: Well sweetheart, unfortunately, gardens and dogs are a few more pennies than that, but what a fantastic idea.

Anyway, her tooth came out the day before my due date, she was excited and we all hoped that maybe her sister would follow suit, unfortunately she waited another 3 days!! Needless to say, Isabelle was excited to get money from the tooth fairy and is growing some very fine adult teeth. She decided to spend the money on some chewing gum, as she is desperately wanting to try all things grown up. She is five going on fifteen, seriously! I cannot believe my baby is losing her teeth!

She has lost her bottom two front teeth within a couple of months of each other, so she was struggling to chew and talk for a while, luckily, the adult teeth have grown very quickly.

Sisters

My gorgeous girls are getting big so fast. Especially Kaelyn! She got weighed a couple of weeks ago and she was 12lbs 8oz and on the 50th centile. She seems to be sticking to the average line but still has plenty of rolls.Here are some cute pictures of them together. They are so cute together and chatter away to each other. Sometimes, Isabelle can settle her, when Lee and I can't! They are truly sisters and I hope that their relationship carries on like this! I am sure we will have a few upsets and arguements over the years though!



This is the closest I could get to matching dresses, though I didn't think I would go for all of that!! They do look quite cute really!!




Isabelle took this picture herself, while I wasn't looking and I am amazed at how well it came out.
Though Isabelle has a tendency to close her eyes in photos, so she was in the process of closing them at the time!!

This is the girls in their co-ordinating christmas outfits, we went for practical sweater dresses so they looked cute, but were warm, as we had plenty of snow at christmas!!