Fantastic...

Fantastic...
Originally uploaded by finkangel.

...honestly? It's like we never left! Flight and transfer were easy,
kids were good as gold... ;)

Poppy is excited too!!

Smiling away!!

Yay! Holiday!

Someone is just a *little* bit excited... ;) We're off on holiday to Spain on SUNDAY (by way of celebration thanks to impending new employment)! Don't think any of us can quite believe it... :) Thomas has been absolutely bouncing off the walls since we booked it, hurriedly explaining (to anyone that will listen) at 400 words-per-minute all about how we are all going to be flying-and-he-will-get-a-sweet-and-his-ears-will-pop-and-then-he-will-get-ice-cream-and-go-swimming (etc. etc. etc.)...it's all very sweet, just getting a little bit exhausting now! Can't wait to actually get there and unleash him on the holiday village (it won't know what hit it)... ;)

Netflix 4OD No Sound Xbox 360 LG TV - Fix

So, ever since Netflix and 4OD came out I've been having this odd problem whereby the minute you launch any video - ALL - the sound on the Xbox stops working completely (until a re-boot).  Before these apps I'd never had a problem at all, all games and apps have worked flawlessly and Netflix was something I'd been really looking forward to trying out.  I'd tried various things to remedy the situation - fiddling with the audio and display settings on the Dashboard and playing with TV settings, even trying different resolutions and TV settings, turning the TV off and on after playing the video (that just made matters worse - causing a fatal playback error on the app when the TV came back to life).  Thankfully, yesterday I found a solution, on my LG TV at least - so, to fix the issue -

1. Go into the Netflix or 4OD app and launch the video you want to watch as normal (starting off silently as usual)
2. On the TV remote control hit the "Menu" button
3. Use the arrow keys and the "OK" button to choose the "Picture" option from the list
4. Do the same to choose the "XD Demo" option
5. Hit the right arrow or "OK" to launch the XD Demo
6. Hit "Menu" to close the XD Demo and enjoy the video with the sound working  (if you don't have XD Mode on your TV try changing the picture mode to "Standard" and then back to "Dynamic" - should do the same thing)!  Note - When you want to watch another movie/TV show you'll have to repeat the process, but at least the apps are now usable!

Ultimate Kinder Egg Toy!

This *has* to be the ultimate Kinder Egg toy (a lucky find from an Easter treat just after eating lunch at my folks today)...a (roughly) 17cm long drag racing car (see untouched egg for size comparison)!  Complete with *metal* fly-wheel powered by a toothed plastic pull strip (like those old Evel Knievel super stunt cycles I used to play with as a kid)!  Absolutely amazing they managed to get everything inside that tiny plastic pot to build it!  Can anyone beat that?  ;)

Happy Easter!

So after a lovely day on the farm yesterday (more on that later if I find the time) meeting the Easter Bunnies -

- excitement was great when Thomas awoke on Easter Sunday for the pre-prepared Easter Egg hunt (scattered around the living room in not-too-hard-to-spot locations)-

- he scuttled around excitedly until he had found the required amount, then Mummy rang up the Easter Bunny to find out where the presents had been hidden (which turned out to be under the dining table) -

- which Thomas quickly tore open, and then...(yes)...

...tried his first bit of chocolate(!)-

It's all downhill from here! ;)

Poppy is 8 weeks old

Our beautiful little girl is already 8 weeks old..! Wow...! Where did that go? She has changed so much already and is gaining weight at an incredible rate...Last week, she weighed in at 13lb and has grown so much that I've had to pack away the 0-3 month clothes and move onto the 3-6 month outfits that don't look too big either!

It's hard to remember a time when Poppy wasn't in our life and she is such a good little girl slotting straight into family life. We are so lucky that she has been sleeping well, down at 8/9 - up again at 4 for a quick 5 minute feed then down till 6.30/7 so I feel fairly 'normal' ... Thomas has grown to love her and accepted that she is here to stay... OK, she gets cuddled a bit too tightly sometimes, but his heart is in the right place. I simply melted after a "nearly new" sale where he was bought a new toy, when asked what he chose for Poppy, his reply (after an awkward moment's thought) was 'Oh dear - nothing - can she share my new toy mummy?'

It's absolutely wonderful to watch Poppy grow and start to communicate with us...I had a 5 minute conversation with her earlier, just cooing/smiling and watching the birds in the garden...

I'm so happy and proud to be a mummy to my perfect, beautiful children, Thomas and Poppy :o)