The new camera!! Hooray!!

I will use it as an excuse, but it isn't a very good one, that our camera broke back in October as the reason I haven't posted very many blogs recently! But we got a new camera last week and managed to take some adorable photos of the kids on the weekend at a friend's wedding. How sweet are they? How cheeky does Ollie look? So I hope this finds everyone insanely busy preparing for weddings and Christmas, but happy and full of the right spirit for this time of year. We hope you all have safe and peaceful car journeys and spend wonderful times together as families!!!

Why is it so much harder?

Ollie's First day of school!!!


It seems that the third child tips the balances in more ways than one. You need a bigger car, a bigger house, a big washing machine...now why couldn't that all come with a 28 hour day and an 8 day week to get everything done. Life is good, but I feel like anytime there is a second free I need to lie in a darkened corner and be quiet! Still at the same time I love it and wouldn't want it to be any other way. So I am going to post quite a few pictures, working backwards, representing all the fun we have had since July!!! Hope this post finds you all happy and well...
Ollie's first day---He doesn't look happy at all.

Katya's first day of Year 1

She's a cute serious baby!Notice the wet chin, its a recurring theme.

Trying to smile while Oliver looms.

She finally managed it!

One more of Katya's first day. In line with all her chums. The little girl in the pink polkadot coat is her best friend Hannah.

I can't claim to be the phtographer of this series of photos. That would be the magnificent Martin. We had a lovely day in Lincoln on our way home from an awesome visit to Uncle Richard in Grimsby!

More in Lincoln

Best friends in Lincoln

This is the cathedral in Lincoln. It is truly awesome and well worth the stop!

More cute siblings. Ella really is the perfect blend of Ollie and Katya. She has Oliver's face shape, but Katya's eyes and mouth.

At the National fishing museum with Richard. They make lovely fishermen!

On the open top bus in Grimsby. The weather was AMAZING!

At the seaside in Cleethorpes.

Again at the seaside, except did you notice what is missing... the sea! You have to walk at least a half a mile to find it at low tide!


Ollie at the Safari park. Pleased with the yellow vehicle.

Brave Katya let the giraffe eat right out of her hand at the Safari Park. If you have never fed a giraffe let me tell you their tongues are so rough and strong!!! It worried even me.

Annoying people at the Safari park with our melody pops.

These kids have the coolest dad. He drove them all the way to one of the highest points in Birmingham and let them stay up until the sun set at about 9:15. They loved watching it slip below the horizon.

Its Ella!

You gotta love the baby mugshot. The point of this photo is to demonstrate the similarities! Am I the only one who sees it? Even the haircut!!

How can you not love this. Ollie was SOOOO happy because Ella is laying in bed with him. I tell you that boy LOVES his sister. He kisses her at least 10 times an hour. So we have made some new kissing rules, but he seldom follows them! Stinker!!! They include no kissing when she is sleeping, no hard kissing, and no kissing if your nose is running!

Martin took these in the past few days and the just demonstrate the cuteness. She is smiling, but our camera is too slow to catch it. And they are only beginning smiles. There are a few hints in the following photos.

Can you see the beginning of a smile?

Just displaying the general chubby cuteness of Ella. He nicknames have started to develop. I call her "bean" from jelly bean, it modulated from "ellie bean" to "Ella bean" finally just to bean.

I love the floating asleep hand. She makes some pretty awesome moves in her sleep. Ollie says to me all the time, "Mommy she's so cute I have to hold her". Sometimes we are crossing the road when he says this. It is sweet!

You can definitely see the smile here!!!

Why is it so impossible to take a cute picture of three little kids. This is the closest we got last Sunday. I included the failure that makes me the saddest at the bottom if only Ollie hadn't pulled such a "sad" face.

Sisters!!!
This one of Mom trying to give her a baby mohawke! Behold the arm chub!

If only Ollie could smile at the appropriate moment. It reminds me of Trevor!!!

Ella Margaret Ward

That smile says it all! I know someone who is really smitten. Katya turned to me today and just said, "Mommy I really love Ella!". It is very sweet!

Just behold that chub!!!

The legs are very munchable!!! 10lbs 3oz 20.5 inches.

He is pretty sweet with her too. He worries when she cries and is a bit afraid to hold her, thank heavens. We are encouraging softness.

So the short of it is...being induced is not wonderful. Labour was still short at 1 1/2 hours, but it was so intense and painful. I will share the whole birth story at a later date, but for today we are glad to be home, safe, and well!

The Malvern HIlls with Daddy!

Daddy was kind to Mommy and took the kids along on the Aaronic Priesthood commemorative walk early this morning. I had the morning and afternoon off and it was LOVELY! It looks like they all had fun too! Here's Ollie getting a little help from some friends.

He doesn't look so sure!

Hold on!

She walked the whole 2 hours with NO help. Go 5 year old power! She also got her 25 meter swimming badge this week!

This face describes Oliver Cormac Ward's attitude to life about now! He is such a funny monkey!

Spring happenings!

I laugh when I notice the lack of blog updates this year! It is so indicative of a pregnant belly and feeling so tired all the time. But besides that I have been feeling good. We have had many exciting happenings in the Ward household. The weather has been quite lovely recently so we have had many adventures in the outdoors. I am sure that once Wardy #3 appears on the scene we will have many more and hopefully more frequent updates for all of you!


This was Katya's choice for dressing up for National Book Day. She and 3 of her friends dressed up like Dalmations. She made a mighty cute puppy!

The pictures got a bit mixed up, but this is one of many photos from Katya's party. We had gorgeous weather and luckily it could all be in the garden. I love how most of the photos the children are yelling and screaming!

Katya and Ollie preparing for a Sunday afternoon spring wellie walk with Daddy!

They had 5 minutes to decorate one of their team members as a mummy. Katya was quite pleased with the wrapping she received. Next to her is one of her best friends, Aleeha.

Oliver, unable to stay on his feet, in the giant silly trousers. They loved this dress-up relay!

More silly dress up antics!

More screaming group shots!

The other mummy!

Katya playing dress up on a day out with Daddy to the university botanical gardens.

I don't recognize these 2 do you?

Looking sweet, especially Katya's graffiti hat that she insisted on wearing. But still sweet!


The last of the daffodils, and Oliver's tongue!


Katya looks way too grown up in this picture. We made her M&M rainbow cake together. She was very proud of it. She blew her candles out halfway through the song. She had a great day!