I have been very slack with the updates but having 4 kids under 5 years of age is a good excuse! We are all doing ok – just a bout of colds hitting the kids. So here is the kid update:
Eleni turned 5 years old on Jan 31st and she had a snow-delayed cupcake party with a few friends. Her favourite things are unicorns and rainbows which she draws surprisingly well. She just loves drawing and crafts.
Leo remains un-potty-trained. At least now he will sit on the potty – a very recent achievement. He is talking in sentences a lot more, knows his numbers and letters really well but goes into a world of his own when playing with his cars.
Sofia remains fearless. She loves animals, is very athletic but remains our little drama queen. She loves to ride her bike and play on the swing.
Max is just a joy. He is the happiest little guy and very easy. At 4 months he is a big lad (17lbs). He is getting close to rolling over but hates tummy time so it could be a while. Unfortunately, he has bad eczema and cradle cap so we are trying hard to get on top of that. He has the most beautiful smile which we see a lot of.
Christos is busy with work and currently in San Diego. He is banned from taking on any more house projects for a while as these keep him too busy. He did a fantastic job with our new fireplace in the basement – framing it, doing the electricity and installing the tile surround. This fireplace saved us when we lost power in the big snow storm for 5 days. We all camped in the basement and were warm and toasty as it runs on gas!
In Dec – Jan we had my sister Anne and daughter Helena come to visit from Australia. We sure turned the snow on for them. It was a record breaking 55 inches this winter. Helena and Max became firm friends and it was so nice to have the extra pairs of hands to help with all the kids. We did not get out a great deal but Helena got a taste of sledding and just loved the snow. We also had a recent visit from Elaine (Christos’s sister) and her family. It was just a few days but the kids loved having their cousins visiting and it was so nice for us to have family around. It is very hard when all our family are so far away.
We are planning Max’s baptism for 15th May in St Louis so whilst I am dreading the 12 hr drive, it will be great once we get there. May is not too hot so we are planning to go to the zoo and a few other attractions with all the kids.
Christos and I celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary on 4th April (the UK wedding). It is hard to believe that we now have 4 kids. I am hoping we will get out and have dinner together. Luckily we have a deal with our neighbours where we babysit each others kids for the occasional night out. I am getting hungry just thinking about it!
The big news of course is that we are expecting baby number 4 (sex to be a surprise for all). I am now almost 28 weeks so about to hit the third trimester. All is going well and we are very excited. Our big challenge is coming up with names we both like.
Sofia is doing great with her potty training and is now in big girl underpants. She is a talker and still a little diva, but very entertaining (except during the tantrums). She like to ride her bike (with training wheels) and is constantly asking me “what are you doing?”, or “what is that?”. She just soaks up new things like a sponge.
My little Leo had his first hair-cut this week. His beautiful ringlets were hanging down into his eyes so had to go. He has always refused to have his hair combed so we knew it would be a tough call to take him to the barber. So, Christos did the hair-cutting deed whilst he was in the bath. He screamed as every strand was cut – like he was in pain. So now he is like a shorn sheep but still very cute – Christos did a great job considering he was working the scissors with a moving target.
Eleni is about to go into pre-kindergarten at school. She will be one of 17 kids with 3 teachers. She has to do some State assessment in September and then again in May so they can work with her strengths and weaknesses (goodness – she is only 4 years old!). One of the teachers (Miss Theresa) is supposedly wonderful, especially with arts and crafts so this should suit Eleni. Eleni has also discovered jigsaw puzzles and I am amazed at how good she is at them. She has a real eye for detail and loves to sit on our bed and do one after the other as fast as she can.
Christos had his birthday on 6th August and has been busy with work trips – San Diego and also New Orleans. I am just busy looking after the kids and wishing it would cool down so I can get out into the garden.
April was a very sad month with the death of Mum on 18th April. We were all at her side when she passed away and whilst it was a blessing for her to go pain-free and quickly, it was still very sad and very difficult. I have posted the eulogies etc at the link “mum” at the top of the page as well as some photos of Mum. It is still just so hard to believe.April was also a time for celebrating with the birth of Kiara Armstrong – to Tony and Julie. Their beautiful little girl was born a week before Mum died. Unfortunately, Julie had to have a c-section but both her and baby did well. Kiara was a healthy 7lb 8 oz and is now making her presence felt in the Armstrong home!
Back here the kids are doing well. Eleni is at pre-school 2 days a week. We originally took her out of school over winter as she was getting too many colds. Well the first week back she got a stomach bug and was throwing-up all night. She loves going to school so we are hoping the illnesses will stop soon. We also have a babysitter for the twins for 2 days a week (4 hours a day). This gives me a precious few hours to do things with Eleni (we went to the park and plant nursery today but I am hoping to start ice-skating and swimming with her!). The swimming should be interesting as she hates getting her head wet when I wash her hair!
We are also gearing up for Leo and Sofia’s first birthday on 27th May. To think a year ago I had a huge belly with 4 arms and legs wiggling around like mad. They are both standing-up now and can wave bye-bye. Dadda is a common word from them both and I get the occasional mamma too. We will have a small celebration for them at home and I will post some pictures too.
I am back at work doing some consulting for Standard Chartered. It is great to get the brain going again and to earn some money! Next week we go to DC for 2 nights. Christos has to attend a conference and has finally convinced me to come on one of his work trips with the kids. I am dreading 3 kids in a hotel room but we will see how they go. The twins are now in the same room for sleeping with mixed success. They take longer to go to sleep due to their “talking” to each other. The worst thing is that Sofia has started waking anywhere from 5.30am on and waking up Leo as well! This has got to stop as we seriously need that extra hour sleep.
We are still busy putting in a bathroom in the basement – it should be great when it is finished but it does seem to be taking a long time. We have also been doing some garden work and Eleni is getting good at helping me pull out weeds. I often think of Mum when I am in the garden as I liked to keep her updated on what was blooming and growing well. Our willows are doing great but I found out our two beautiful river birches have aphids (sprayed the little buggers today!). I have planted some roses (super hardy ones that apparently can’t be killed) and also some day lillies. I have also finally gotten around to planting two Clematis vines on the trellis against the retaining wall. They are actually blooming! We still have lots to do but it is fun watching things grow (well except out basil and a couple of tomato bushes).
That’s all for now…. until next time – ciao.
I feel as though I could be repeating January here. All the kids and I have colds again. This time Leo and Sofia both have ear infections as well. It is a constant stream of runny noses and me giving out doses of antibiotics and infant Tylenol etc. So we have made the decision to take Eleni out of preschool so that she does not keep bringing all these germs home. I have actually found a nice college student who will come in three times a week in the mornings to do some arts, craft, music, dance etc with her so that she still gets to do some of the fun things she liked from preschool. Eleni also had her Easter photos done at preschool (with live bunny rabbits) so we can’t wait to see the pictures.
Leo and Sofia are both babbling away but interestingly, it is Leo that “talks” the most. He is still fairly stationary though – he sits and plays quite contentedly and when he wants something he either lunges or rolls there to get it. Also – still no teeth for Leo.
Sofia is crawling and now has 3 1/2 teeth. She is going through the whole separation thing with me now – if I leave the room she crawls after me sobbing. She is starting to pull herself up on things but not sure if she will match Eleni’s feat of walking at 10 months.
Christos is doing well. He as a well cultivated beard now (and has had no kisses from me lately) which he insists on keeping until Spring. It does look nice but boy is it scratchy!
We have finally started on the bathroom in the basement. We had our plumber in to move some of the pipes and yesterday Christos and I filled in the holes with concrete. Chris is now busy doing the framing. We are also looking at underfloor heating as it does get cold in the basement. On the other side of the bathroom we will fit out that part of the basement with a kitchenette – just the basics but good for when we have visitors staying.
We had Christos’ mum, Toni, here for a week whilst he was up in DC for work. Unfortunately, we were all sick and a bit miserable but it was great to have her here with us. Our next visitors will be Dave, Elaine and the family who will be here in mid-March. It will be their first visit to us here so we are really looking forward to it.
Recent Comments