More rashes and doctors!

Last weekend was a really lovely weekend away in Centre Parcs. It had been planned for ages as a surprise for my mothers 65th birthday but of course it had to be kept quiet. Although saying that planning a surprise is/ was easier than it sounds! Everytime I had a quiet whisper to my Dad my mother would chirp up what you talking about!! Nightmare! Well anyway Martha and Millie were both on the mend and we were off to have a good weekend. Everyone managed to get there before my mother but typical of my mother she spotted my car in the car park on the way in!! A good weekend was had by all and the concensus is that we will make it an annual event. There is plenty of stuff to do there for all ages old and young, I think the highlight for everyone was the swimming pool. My Dad especially was a big kid going on all the slides. Martha loved being in pool and is so confident in the water. Millie was a little on the young side for the pool as it was a bit cooler than where we go swimming and by this time she had started to come out in spots!!! Yes spots, great big ones! I wasn't too worried to begin with as they were the same as Marthas but by the time Monday came round and it was time to go home they were more like big blotches and Millie didn't seem her normal self. When I got back to Ammanford I called straight in at the doctors. The receptionist saw the state of her but unfortunately I had to go through the system of waiting for a call back. So got home and settled and started to unload the car- guess what- phone call had to go back up to the docs!! Met this very stern doctor who started slagging off the doc for giving antibiotics to the girls for common colds!!! Millie had bronchitus and I wish he had seen her the Sunday before I took them both to the doctor. She was so pale and lifeless. Anyway he gave me some 'advice as a mother' then thought it was an allergic reaction too. I then had to go back upto the surgery either Tuesday if things got worse or Wed. Tuesday the spots had started to fade but there was still plenty. So decided to wait till Wednesday, I took her upto the doctors and by now a lot of the spots had disappeared. He showed me a picture and a description of what he thought it was. It was an allegric reaction to either the virus or the antibiotics but quite an aggresive reaction. I think persoanlly it was the virus as I had some spots appear on my belly at the end of the weekend. Plus in Marthas cylch last week they said some children had come out in spots- I bet they aren't all allergic to antibiotics!!
The good news is they are both on the mend now and hopefully will be ok for a few weeks. Well they had better be as next weekend I am home alone with the girls whilst Liam is on a stag do and then the following weekend we have a wedding. Its all go here in the Bennett house. Promise pics to be on the way soon. Especially after the weekend- Marthas first fancy dress party.

Busy few days

Since plodding along we have now gone to busy busy busy, more so with doctors and hospitals!!! Yes! Again! Martha and Millie have both had nasty colds for a couple of weeks and over the weekend both looked quite pale so I decided enough was enough and took them to the doctors. I don't normally go with colds but they had gone on long enough, plus poor Millie looked so ill. So saw the doctor and both were given antibiotics. Poor Millie had developed bronchitus, I knew she was coughing well but didn't think anythin of it, esp as Martha quite often sounds quite chesty but in the ast when she has seen doctors her chest has been clear. Shouldn't compare them! Monday afternoon Martha started to develop a rash and by the time 8.00 came she had had a couple of hours sleep but had woken up screaming complaining of a bad head and was covered in spots and had a temp of 40! A call made to primecare which resulted in a trip to yet another hospital, well actually I had been there once previously when preg with Millie. She was seen straight away and was told it could be viral but most likely a reaction to the antibiotics so was given some different one. Yesterday (tues) she seemed a lot better in herself but then in the evening the spots came up quite bad again and she had a slight temp. She was comfortbale in her sleep though so left her. I didn't sleep that well however! Today she was still covered and still running a temp so another trip to the doctor. She also thought it was an allergic reaction- i said I thought it would have gone by now but she said once its in the system it can take some time to disappear. Martha by this point was fine in herself and the spots were fading. So all good and keep a careful eye on them.
Martha and Millie both had a good sleep over lunchtime but when Martha got up the spots were huge and she was quite grizzly. I rung the docs and they had half day today- training. Again through to primecare. I had a phonecall back and the woman I spoke to said when they are running a temp and have a reaction like this, its quite common for the spots to be more prominent. Also she said if she is warm or cold it could make the spots worse. She said it could be an allergy to something completely different but it seems strange it started after starting the medication. It could also be just because she is unwell. Not long after I had spoken to the doctor the spots started to fade and she was quite well in herself. So fingers crossed! The doctor seemed to give me a lot more answers than any of the others and I was quite happy after the conversation. It seemed to make sense, especially as Marthas room tends to be on the warm side so could explain why the spots came up after her sleep. The doctor also said that the spots can come and go for upto 10 days after the last dose of medicine!! So we might have a spotty child for a few days yet.
Millie on the other hand is doing well and seems to be properly on the mend. Lots of smiles and giggles and less of the mucus from eyes and nose!
So hopefully I have seen the last of the doctors and hospitals this time around!! Oh its such fun being a parent of little children and their ongoing illnesses!
I must say a big congratulations to Jan and Murray on the birth of their little girl!! Well done, she will turn your world upside down, but its all great!
Will put some pics up soon, been a bit slack on the taking picture front at the moment so once I get snap happy again then I will be sharing with you too. Till then ttfn!

Plodding along!

So the another month of birthdays is upon us! Last week saw a few, including Liams and my mothers 65th! Not sure why March is so popular!! LOL! Last week Martha, Millie and I went and spent the day with my mother as a surprise for her birthday, so that was nice. Liam then had his birthday on Saturday, I got him breakfast in bed and then got back into bed for a lie in- cheeky or what! He was going to get up as he wanted to plant the grass seed in the garden so I didn't feel too bad ;) That night I had arranged for my parents to babysit so that Liam and I could go out. We had a great night out and had quite a few drinks, we had a little chat about the girls but then most of the rest of the evening wasn't about the girls and we had a really good time. Its been awhile since we have both been out together without the girls and both been able to drink.
Sunday we went out for lunch with my parents, Peter and Anna, which again was lovely. All in all a really nice weekend.
Martha is doing really well with the potty training now and instead of her going when we want her too, she actually asks which is great, she also uses it for both wee and poo! (sorry TMI!)
Millie really enjoys her food and is now on three meals a day, can't believe we are there already, its so scary! This time again and she will be one! She is really coming on now and has rolled over a few times and is a proper chatter box! Its lovely but already she is no longer a little baby that I can just hold in my arms! I loved her being small, in fact I love small babies. A few friends of mine are due to give birth in the next couple of months and even though those first few weeks are tough new born babies are so cute and tiny. You just want to wrap them up and keep them safe. Which leads me to wishing Jan all the best for next week, it will be all be fine I am sure.
So things are good here and we are plodding on with things, nothing too exciting planned for the next few weeks, so it will probably be the same for a few weeks. Martha got invited to her first birthday party today and its fancy dress! Gives me an excuse to get her the Upsy Daisy costume I saw awhile ago. Then Easter weekend sees us in Liverpool for a wedding. I see another drunken evening coming, we don't know anyone at the wedding other than the bride and groom, I don't even know the bride!! Fun fun fun!
Anyway we shall carry on plodding on for now!

Big milestones

So not been great with the blogging still but wanted to get last week over before writing on here- the reason? We have been potty training! Martha had a week off Cylch last week so I decided to give it a go. Previous to Millie being born Martha was showing signs of being ready to be potty trained- I was soooo not ready to do it then, although when Millie was born Martha took a few steps back and I was quite glad of the extra time. So now Martha goes mornings to Cylch we are bit more restrained as to when we can do these things so given the week off last week we gave it a go. Millie spent the first couple of days with my parents so I could concentrate only on Martha. So the first day went pretty much like this, lots of sitting on potty, nothing in potty and lots of accidents- great start! Second day- 2 wees in potty one I think was lucky and one she asked my Mum when she was here for a wee, still lots of accidents. Thursday we had a couple more wees in potty and I really felt like I was getting somewhere. By Friday it was back to like Tuesday (first day), didn't even know there was wee coming. Firiday night and I didn't know whether to carry on or not and felt like the week had been a waste of time. Saturday morning though Liam managed to get Martha to wee in potty, they went out and then when they came back Martha was going to sit on potty but asked for her trousers down and as soon as her pants were off she did a wee, not sure if that because she was going to sit on potty or because she knew she needed to wee. That afternoon she was in the park next door and wanted to come home, when she did get in she sat on the potty- coincidence we are not sure. Sunday she had an accident in the morning but we have managed since then to get her to wee on the potty by 'squeezing one out! lol!! Bless her. She has continued to do this for wees and just after lunch today she even did a poo! I am sure this blog is great reading!!! Well anyway I think we have cracked it- watch this space.
Millie has now finally started on solids, I have been putting her off as we had a weekend away in London last weekend so I didn't want to have to take food with me then too. We did have to put her onto hungry milk because she had started waking again in the night but that seems to have worked. She had her first taste of baby rice on Saturday and wasn't sure but enjoyed it yesterday, today she has had pear and again not sure but no doubt before long she will be having a range of tastes and I will have forgotton life before weaning!!!
So as mentioned earlier we had a weekend in London, Liam, Martha, Millie and myself all in one room in a travel lodge- it wasn't as bad as what I thought it was going to be so that was good. Both Martha and Millie seemed to sleep well, and we managed to catch up with quite a few people so that was great!
Photos on Liams website have been slow going on because we have a problem loading them on, plenty have been going on facebook though but will try and get Liam to look at it and see if we can get it working again.
Feeling good about things at the moment, still have good days and bad days but decided to try and get out a bit more and not worrytoo much about Cylch, at the end of the day its not compulsary so it doesn't matter if she misses a morning. Hopefully that will make a difference.

Martha and Millie

Snowy days and Iggle Piggle

Here are some pics of the snow we have had yesterday and today and the lovely Iggle Piggle!

Pics finally!

Playing the piano!

First stamp at Nursery

First swimming lesson

Snug

Marthas first day in Cylch (pre Nursery)

So a whole load of firsts here then!!! LOL! I am actually as we speak trying to upload Liams picture website with a lot more photos but not having much luck.