Sea Life Center Birmingham

Recently we visited the Sea Life Center in Birmingham, This was a treat for Kellyn after doing so well at school recently. It was not an easy trip at first, The center does not have its own Car Park we were directed too was a multi story car park which does not have a lift on every level. After struggling down stairs  with the pushchair its then all on one level.

 There is lots to see there and you can get round here in a morning which does make the entrance fee's expensive making it around  £50.00 for a family. There are some interesting sea life on display here including Sea horse's, Tropical Fish, Ells, Rays and our favorites the Otters and Sharks.

 We all enjoyed the Shark Tunnel it gave Arrianna some thing to look at as the goes right over head. This is a very easy place to visit with pushchairs as its all flat and there is 2 lifts provided, Just a shame about the price.

Easter 2011

This was Arrianna's first Easter and what fun we had, The older children had an Easter Egg hunt and found lots of yummy Chocolate left by the Easter Bunny and Arrianna was not left out too she had a little Bunny Rabbit. 

Great fun Time. 

Countrytastic Show, Malvern

Heading off early this morning we headed down to Malvern to the Three Counties Showground for the Country tastic show this was to be Arrianna's first show and what a fab show it was too, There was so much for the children to see and do through out the show and we came away with lots of goodies too. Arrianna stayed awake through out the whole show she was very excited to see the animals and both the girls loved the horses the most The white one shown below was Ceienna's favorite.

Kellyn and Ceienna made Dragonfly's with the RSPB.

 Taking a Quick Nap but it didn't last long.

St George's Day 2011

Today we Celebrated St George's Day as it was a beautifully Sunny Day we settled down for a picnic and then Story time i Told the 3 children stories about St George and Kellyn made up his own stories for us. It was a lovely time celebrating our national heritage.

Isolation of Deafness

As i am hard of hearing myself and i am currently waiting for further tests with Arrianna to see if she too will have hearing problems i feel it is a good time to share my experience with you. I have been deaf since birth, When i was 8 years old i was given hearing aids, this for me was to late as i had already adapted to life with out them. My deafness meant i had to have a lot of time off school which left me falling behind everyone else and i never really caught up, At school i never had many friends i attended two different primary schools the first one was not a nice experience it was a small country school with three classes, as i reached the final class which was taught by the head of the school i was given additional equipment in the form of a radio aid these are now called listening devices, It was a very heavy piece of equipment made of two parts one i had to wear and the other was supposed to be worn by the teacher. My teacher at the time refused to wear it, one day i forgot to put on my part of it equipment and she told me off in front of the whole class, it was a very embarrassing and humiliating experience which i can still picture today.Eventually the bulling became so bad i was moved from the school to another school, Again i was singled out never making friends and i spent my break times following the dinner lady around as i was just so scared of being on my own and did not know how to mix with other children. I was given a smaller device by now but again it still left me with head aches and feeling very tired. When i left the primary school and went on to secondary i was put with those who used to bully me at my first primary school, this brought back the problems faced at the first school but also made new ones to. If i wore my hearing aids i would get pinched in the head, Shouted at, people would come up to me and flick my hearing aids, i was hit with bags and pushed down the stairs, Going home on the bus i would have coins thrown at me stuff put in my hair as well as name calling being tripped up and other forms of physical and mental abuse. I just hated school and no helped me, teachers did not want to know and dismissed this as school life. This has effected me in two ways now 1. i find it very hard to make friends or to talk to people 2. has left me with a fear of my hearing aids. Having problems like this makes going out hard if there is a crowd hearing is hard, going out to a restraunt too can be tricky everyone  talking at once, there are so many times when its an issue you never really free from it, even at home you miss to hear the door bell, phone and the TV is a pain with out subtitles. Worst of all for me is not hearing the children, Talking in the car is extreamly hard work and i try to avoid it. On the other side it can be hard to communicate with someone who is deaf, here are a few tips Always talk clearly, stand in front of them be patent and calm. repeat what you say and never say it doesn't matter,  With Arrianna i am hoping for good news we are going back to hospital this week for further tests, so we will no more then. in the mean time fingers crossed.

Arrianna's First Trip to the Sea Side

 Recently we have visited lots of places. One of our trips out was to Llandudno, a Seaside town which was enjoyed by the Victorians. This was Arrianna's first trip to the sea side, It was such a beautiful day as you can see from our photo's Arrianna sat in my coat watching and listening to the waves crashing on the beach and taking in what Kellyn, Her Brother and Ceienna, Her Big Sister were doing. after a short spell on the beach for a picnic and usual beach time antics we settled to watch a very traditional Punch and Judy show. Fingers Crossed we will be back at the Beach again soon.

Arrianna's Exercises

 I have been working with Arrianna recently to build up her neck muscles and also helping her senses develop by placing her on different types of materials and encouraging her to touch them. We had a great time the other night with Muzzy our dog he was lying by Arrianna's feet and Arrianna was moving her leg to feel his hair underneath her foot. Each time she moved Muzzy lifted his head up which Arrianna thought was funny. On Sunday we purchased some great toys for her from the Car Boot Sale, It was a lovely Sunny day and it was great to get out there once again with my wonderful 3 children, We bumped into some familiar faces and we Showed Arrianna off with pride.

These photographs were taken during her exercises She is doing fantastically well and remains very strong and developing excellent control of her head

Arrianna's 6 Weeks Old

Now Arrianna is 6 weeks old. She is doing really well though it is a bit of a roller-coaster Though Arrianna continues to gain weight she is gaining it slowly, So the Doctor has prescribed he High Nutritional milk . to see if this will help her gain weight more rapidly, We are still await the Downs Syndrome Growth Chart so really we dont know for certain how well she is doing, i have had to fight with my professionals to get this chart. The other recent news is We visited the Audiology department at Wrexham this week, it was a very time consuming appointment as this test can not be carried out when a baby is awake, Arrianna had elect-robes attached to the top of her head and behind the left and right ear this was to check the signal being sent by sound to the brain, the test results show there is no damage to the nerves in her ears but there is congestion behind her ear drums so we will be visiting the hospital again very soon to check if this a perminant  condition on one that will improve in time.

 

The other good News is Arrianna's facebook page has now got 200 followers a fantastic achievement. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has joined and supported the group it means allot to me. This is the start of a wonderful journey we have started to meet wonderful people looking forward to the future.

An evening by the lake - Lake Vrynwy

Today we took advantage of being a single parent family and after school we headed to the Beautiful Lake Vrynwy which is located close to where we live. This afternoon the weather was stunning and it was wonderful to take full advantage of it. 

Firstly we drove around the lake as all the children were tired stopping at various points round the lake. dotted around the outside the lake are these pretty little waterfalls. Kellyn remembered the last time we were at the lake when we had the last bad snow fall we went off roading in the 4x4 we had then enjoying various views around wales.

During one stop at a picnic area i was able to get lots of shot of these beautiful Chaffinches. I was totally chuffed to bits.

As we head away from the lake Kellyn wanted to know about why the lake was here. The lake is actually man made and even today the original village of Llanwddyn. The lake serves Liverpool with its water supply. Today the surrounding area has recently been put up for sale.  Today was such such a clear day we could see Rhiwargor Falls in the distance another place well worth a visit. 


After our drive around the dam we visted the sculpture park its great to visit with small children and the footpaths make the area very accessible with a pushchair. The sculpture trail is a series of various wooden sculptures which our children love to spot and talk about each one is different. and the children interpreted them in different ways. 

There is just so much to do here it make a really nice cheep day out.there are also trails provided by the RSPB and children usually get prizes at the end. 

Llanymynech Rocks

 Today Arrianna Muzzy our dog and myself headed to Llanymynech Rocks Nature Reserve. This area used to be a limestone quarry up until the First World War but now the land has been reclaimed by nature and provides a wonderful place to walk.

For me it was fabulous to get out and about again. while i was pregnant with Arrianna i suffered from an illness that meant on some days i could not even walk up stairs with out being dizzy and having to stay home sent me into a state of depression as i could not do to things i loved Walking and Photography. But today here we were geared up and ready to go. Muzzy was on his lead which is very unusual but after his recent accident he still is in recovery with his leg and i didnt want to loose him as when he is in pain he sulks and runs away.

 Llanymynech Rocks is a wonderful place to visit if you love walking and history as i do. Dotted around the site are the iron figures shown in the pictures above which along with information boards tell the story of the site when it was in use.

 This is a good place to visit but very bumpy with a pushchair if you take a baby like i took Arrianna you will need a good head hugger and a pushchair with good wheels i use a Mothercare MY4 which handled the terrain well also i would not recommend visiting with young children as it is a hill and steep for little legs and if wet the site is slippery under foot. However the car park is good, its has some bike tracks and for older children lovely to spot plants and birds. 

Hope you enjoy the photos i have took them all myself to of my hobbies in one here, Photography and Walking, what more could a girl ask for.

Arrianna's New Toys

After selling a few things from around the house on Arrianna's Facebook page i have brought her some news toy with the money raised from the sales. Arrinna now has a New activity Gym this helps her with hand and eye co ordination. I invested in a gym which is easy to transport so that if she need to have more hospital visits  the gym can go with her to give a bit of home comfort.

 We also have a Sit me Up Cosy now This will help Arrianna to buld up her mussels in her back at this early stage she loves the feel of the mat in this. This particular item will grow with her as she will be able to use it for support sitting up too.

Huge Thank You to Everyone who made this possible by buying from our page. 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arriannas-Special-Selling-Page/106978542705319

Llyn Coed y Dinas

For Mothers DAy this year the children and i headed to Welshpool to visit Llyn Coed y Dinas a Nature Reserve just a few miles from where we live. The weather was terrible occasional rain showers but the breaks brought a lovely sunny day. Kellyn and i both took our camera's and had fun chasing each other to get pictures. When we arrived the rain was heavy so we went in the bird hide first. Kellyn and Ceienna love watching the birds and Kellyn is building up a good knowledge of different birds now, even though the weather was bad there was still plenty wild life around.
http://www.montwt.co.uk/dinas.html

 Eventually the rain  gave way  and we headed out the hide it was still slightly drizzling but Kellyn and Ceienna carried on regardless and Arrianna was snuggled up warm under blankets and had the rain cover over the pushchair. 

After a walk around the reserve We headed back to the car picked up our picnic and then went to sit in the hut by the pond for our lunch. The children were very happy. After lunch we knelt by the pond and took a good look in the water we found some frog sporn Kellyn and Ceienna have been doing projects on frogs so it was good to see it in a natural environment.

  The 3 children were getting tired now so we walked back to the car loaded up and headed for home where we made bracelets together and had a fun evening doing lots of activities. Bath time was fun too as we had a water fight. Great fun together. 

Llyn Coed y Dinas is an ideal place to visit with young children especially if they have just started walking the footpath is easy to use as it is flat, The reserve is not very big but the use of space is wonderful. For older children there is a trail where they need to find different wildlife in carvings around the reserve Kellyn and Ceienna both enjoyed this too. There is a good sized Car Park here and it is easy to get too once you know where it is. We all recommend a visit here.