Here I thought I'd updated when Ellie went to School! You'll have to forgive me I'm pregnant!!! Can't use the excuse for much longer though!!

Well folks sorry about this I honestly thought that I had updated in September!! Oh well I'll fill you in on what we have been up to for the last 6 months!! Not much really - going to Canada to surprise my Dad, starting school, heading over to Ireland for our last holiday in goodness knows how long, organising 5 year old's birthday parties and surprise 40th wedding anniversaries - oh and yeah trying to get ready for Christmas as well as a new addition to the family! I'm glad to say most things went off/going off without any hitches except the getting ready for the new arrival because that just doesn't seem to be getting anywhere!!

Let's start with where we left off - July - we told my dad that we were going on a family holiday to France and we thought that dad was a little suspicious as he was always asking Ellie where she was going for her holidays (to which by the way she was never caught out on not sure I'm so keen on what a convincing liar she is! But it was for a good cause so...). Little did he know that we were actually going over there to surprise him. I went out earlier than David, because as everyone knows, teachers get amazing holidays and only ever work from 9-3. So I went out with the two and a bit kids for a month and David joined us for the last 2 weeks. We had an amazing time -especially when we went to the cottage with the family. Noah spent hours running up and down the beach filling up his bucket and dumping the thimbleful that he was left with by the time he toddled back up to his play area! I have included a photo of the two kids chillin out on the hammock.

We all loved our trip to Canada and since coming back we have been very busy. Ellie started school. She absolutely loves it! On her first day both David and I took her and she ran off with her Year six buddy we had to ask her to come back to give us a kiss good-bye! She is doing really well and next week we will be watching her very first school nativity play!

During the October half term we decided that we would have one last family holiday while it was still relatively affordable!! And of course with number 3 on the way we figured we wouldn't get away for a while. We stayed for a couple of days with Jim and Mary in Dublin and then travelled to Castlebar via the south stopping at Kilkenny and Tipperary. Unfortunately we were cursed with torrential rain all day long on our sightseeing leg of the trip to Castlebar! We had a great time with Jim and Mary despite the fact that we had a diarrohea bug!! I'm not sure that Jim and Mary want us back though! While down in Castlebar we stayed at Uncle Marty's and Aunty Breege's and as well as catching up with some of the relatives we made trips out to the Cliffs of Moher and Connemara. We had a great time and the kids loved travelling around. We saw lots of tractors, big buses, moo cows and baa baa sheep!

When we came back from Ireland it was full steam ahead on preparations for Ellie's 5th Birthday and David's parents surprise Ruby wedding anniversary function. Ellie had all her class and her friends in the church hall with a childrens entertainer. To quote Ellie " It was the best party I've ever had". She may well have thought that but we're not too sure the parents enjoyed two hours of noisy mayhem. The 40th wedding anniversary surprise do went off really well with neither of them having a heart attack from being too surprised and more amazingly not resorting to divorce papers ourselves (although it was touch and go for a while there!)!

Well, just to keep everybody on their toes, we took the step this weekend of moving Noah into Ellie's bedroom in preparation for baby #3. The first night they were really good, but the last two mornings they have woken up far too early. Maybe we should have got a four bedroom house before child #3!

Anyway folks it has taken me about 3 days to get this blog written so I'll sign off now. We are t minus 6 weeks and 2 days till DDAY and even better t minus 3 weeks till I finish work!! Hopefully I will be able to blog around Christmas or shortly thereafter as I will have some time without kids and husband(usually more trouble than the kids) when on Maternity leave - that is if baby #3 is cooperative and doesn't come early!!

Until then hope you are all well and Happy Christmas from the Stotts!