Canadian Invasion...

Well we're back from Canada and we had a great time. Annie is an absolutely amazing flyer and made it virtually stress-free for me. It was great! We spent time with Nana and Papa, Grandpa, Uncle Jeff and Kate as well as Sherrie, Nick and Jorja. It was so much fun hanging out with Sherrie and Jorja, although I still have trouble believing that we are both mums. When I think of the two of us, I still see us as were were 10+ years ago.

It was nice to hang out with my mom and Annie on Mother's Day and especially nice to have time to shower!! :) I also got to meet my brother's girlfriend Kate and she is brilliant! After meeting her, I understand completely why Jeffy is so happy. Hopefully next time we're over, we'll get to spend a little more time together but this was just a quick visit.

I've put all our pictures up. The link is on the right.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

One Step Closer...

I cannot believe it! It was just 5 weeks ago when we sent off our immigration forms and already things are moving! I received a letter yesterday confirming that I have been approved as Andy's sponsor and that his application for permanent residence has now been forwarded to the Canadian High Commission for processing. I'm amazed how quickly the decision was made. If I'm completely honest, I wasn't worried about Andy being granted a permanent residency visa - I was more concerned about being approved as his sponsor. I am so relieved that hurdle has been overcome. I haven't really allowed myself to get too excited about moving back to Canada just in case we weren't successful. But I can't help it now...I'm excited! I can't wait to get back there so Andy, Anya and I can have a fresh start. I'm still not going to plan anything though...best not get ahead of ourselves. But fingers crossed, we're on our way.

Anya hit a milestone of her own this weekend. Last Tuesday she turned 4 months old and Friday morning she had her first taste of baby cereal and loved it! She has half a bottle when she gets up, followed by cereal and then the rest of her bottle. And she is gobbling it up! My little piggy. She'll only have baby cereal until we get back from Canada and then I'll start introducing her to fruit and vegetables as long as she continues to do well on the cereal. She's changing so much now and is quickly becoming more like a little girl and less like a baby and I'm not entirely sure whether or not I like that. I hate that she's getting so big so quickly, but I love how social she now is. She laughs and chats to me all day long and it makes me smile every time she squeals at me. I am tired and worn out for the bulk of every day and I have never looked worse in my life, but I AM so happy with my little family and wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Outdoor Pursuits

My friend and I took Annie to Amerton Farm today. It's a strange sort of place, sort of a cross between a petting zoo, a craft centre, a garden centre and a play centre. We wandered through all the shops and she had very little interest in anything there. She actually slept through the craft centre, the shops and the garden centre. Then we went outside and headed towards the farmyard. There were chickens running all over the place and she didn't seem to mind too much. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of the chickens, pigs and lambs but she was especially perplexed by a particular old white horse. They stared at each other for ages so I had to snap a picture. I can't wait until she is a little bit older to take her back so she can pet and interact with all the animals. I think she would love it! The poor little girl was so tired after her day out, she passed out in the car on the way back. It's hard work being so damn cute. :)

I've added more pictures as well as the video for March...click the links on the right.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Homeward Bound...

It's been awhile since I posted anything, but life has kept me pretty busy recently. My darling little Anya is getting so big now. She was weighed a couple days ago at baby clinic and she is 14lbs 10oz! She my roly poly baby and I love her to pieces. She's slowly starting to get more of a personality as well. She loves chatting and laughing with mummy and daddy and it melts my heart every time she starts giggling. She is a beautiful girl and I couldn't imagine being without her.

Anya and I are going on our first flight next month too and to be honest, I am NOT looking forward to it. I am looking forward to seeing my mom, dad, brother and Sherrie and Jorja but NOT being on a plane for 7+ hours with a 4 month old baby. Oh lord! I am really looking forward to hanging out with Sherrie and Jorja though...our babies are only 3 weeks apart and I can't wait to see them playing together. I've waited 14 years for this and am SO excited!

We're all doing well though....just busy at the moment.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Oh Canada....

After months of filling in forms and gathering all the necessary paperwork, we finally sent off our completed immigration application on Wednesday!! Yay!! We're so excited. Now the hard part starts though. There's no guarantee that we will be approved and we may have to wait up to 9 months to find out. Apparently, most applications are completed within 3 or 4 months but it could take as long as 9! I really hope we don't have to wait that long though...I think I would go mad! So now we need to get our butts in gear and get this flat finished off so we can sell it. Even if we don't get back to Canada, we are going to sell the flat. It's fine now, but once Anya gets mobile it'll quickly get too small for us.

Just a quick one tonight. Applications are in...please keep your fingers crossed for us!

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Mummy's Little Angel...

Nothing new really happening, just felt like posting a new picture of my lovely lil' bean and having a quick mushy moment about her. We are all doing brilliantly and are finally starting to settle into being a family. I know that sounds odd, considering Anya is 12 weeks old, but it's just now starting to feel comfortable and natural. I look forward to waking up in the morning so I can go into her room and laugh with her. She wakes up in the morning and chats to herself and then cracks the biggest smile when I go in and greets me with a laugh. I love her 11pm feed because she is sleepy, warm and cuddly and still smells of her bath. I love sitting her on my lap and having a "serious conversation" with her one minute (I swear, she talks to me) and then erupting into fits of giggles with each other. I love changing her nappy and letting her lay naked on the change mat. She loves this and kicks, smiles and laughs for as long as I let her stay naked (may prove worrisome in her teens!). But my absolute favourite part of being a mum is bathtime. My little girl is a fish at heart and is never happier than when she is in the tub. She has a quick wash and then she kicks and splashes for as long as she is happy to do so. I invariably end up soaked but it doesn't matter because it makes her happy, and that makes me happy. At 30, I finally feel like I know why I am here and what I am meant to be doing. It's simple really, I am here to be Anya's mum and all I need to do is love her. And that is so very simple to do.

When you become a mother you stop being the picture and instead become the frame.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Well Hot Damn, the Girl Can Sleep!

Our little Anya is now 11 weeks old and has been going through a few growing pains lately. She is getting very difficult to settle and we have found that the only way to calm her is to let her sleep on my chest. May not sound like that much of a hardship I know, but it means I am stuck on the sofa all day every day. The housework has been piling up and we needed to find something that would settle her. So today we went shopping and I used my birthday money to buy her a new bouncy chair. It bounces, it rocks, it vibrates, it has a pressure sensitive foot rest and a light up toy bar that attaches as well. It plays music and nursery rhymes but more importantly...SHE SLEEPS! Yay! Best damn birthday present I ever got! LOL

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

First Mother's Day!

Well, in the UK anyway. My first mother's day...I can't believe it. It still sometimes shocks me that I am a mum and Anya is 10 weeks old already...surely it will sink in soon. :)

We're all doing beautifully though. Anya is rapidly piling on the pounds. She was 7lbs 8oz at birth and is now 12lbs 2oz...and it shows too! She almost out of her 0-3 month clothes already. Although that is partly due to her length. She's grew 8cm in the first 8 weeks! Or for you Canadians out there...that's just over 3 inches. It looks like she's going to be tall...thank god she inherited the Cashmore genes rather than the Phillips genes! :)

She had her 8 week check on the 21st and everything went well. The doctor was happy with her progress and amazed at her growth! She then had her first immunisations and mummy cried almost as much as Annie. It was horrible and the poor little lady was so upset. It broke my heart and I have to take her back for round two in another two weeks. :(

We're also finally getting moving on the immigration forms. Andy's police check came back last week and we have been filling in all the forms and getting all the necessary paperwork together. What a bloody job!! I can't believe how time consuming it has been. I have to do some photocopying tomorrow (and by some I mean hundreds of pages...eek!) and then hopefully it should be getting sent off by Tuesday or Wednesday. So please, cross fingers, toes, legs AND eyes for us that everything goes through ok. :)

I've also posted February's video on YouTube. The link is on the right.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

Fat Bottomed Girl...

...you make the rockin' world go round!!

It's official...our daughter is a fatty! We were in to baby clinic today and she weighs in at a hefty 11lbs 4oz!! That's a gain of 1lb 2 oz in two weeks. I can't believe it. The midwives at clinic were impressed with her progress though so I guess she's still within the normal range.

She is doing beautifully though. She smiles and chats and is more alert every day. The colic is still fairly bad though and she spends a good portion of the day grumping and crying. But she quickly settles with a cuddle. We bought a sling last week too and she loves being in it while I potter around the house getting work done. Although the biggest news is that she is now sleeping through the night!! For the past week and a half - the day after my last post actually - she has been sleeping from 11pm until around 7:30am. It is amazing and I am finally starting to feel human again. :)

I've added a couple more pictures, mostly off of my mobile phone. Click the links on the right.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx

6 Weeks Old...

...and her personality is starting to come out. She has been chatting and smiling for awhile now but she's finally looking at us like she knows who we are. It's so nice to go into her room in the morning and to have her look up at me, crack a huge grin and start cooing at me. It makes my heart melt every time she does it.

I think we're also getting close to sleeping straight through as well. She used to wake every four hours through the night, but she's now going almost 6 hours. A couple more weeks and she may even go a full 8 hours! Ah sleep!! :) I cannot wait.

She was in to baby clinic last Wednesday for a weight and health check and she is a little porker! She was 7lbs 8oz when she was born and she's now 9lbs 15oz. Almost 10 pounds!! Good lord! I knew she was getting bigger though...I had to pack away all her newborn clothes last week. The health visitors were all really happy with her development though. She's holding her head up for longer each day, looking at her hands and feet and focusing on toys when we hold them up to her. She's doing great and Andy and I are loving having her with us.

Lots of love
Summer
xXx