Where has the week gone!?!?!?!?!

Hi ladies, I hope you're all having a good week. I can't believe it's Thurday again already!!! life just seems to be passing by sooooo quicking :S and yes, as others have mentioned, it really is nearly Christmas.....
Well, what a week! The weekend was well, not fantastic! i was really hoping for a bit of peace and quiet. Having been exhausted after going to uni all week (i cant remember how i coped when i was working full time, at college 2 nights a week, pregnant and looking after Et, my house, 2 cats and a dog..... hopefully something will jog my memory soon so i can once again become superwoman) Ben had started his new job and we were both very irritable through being sooo tired, and the kids (all four- so including Eryn) were BRATS!!!!!! no other way to describe them. They were rude, back-chatting, fighting, moaning, climbing the walls and ungrateful so and sos..... We went to the adventure playground and a party on saturday, as well as buying them some new clothes- and they didnt apprieciate any of it. Josh was the best behaved, but it was certainly a case of best out of a bad bunch!!! lol. I'm sure that if Ben and I hadnt have felt so knackered we could have dealt with it really easily, but it was just awful! but hey ho.....
On Sunday we went for dinner at Ben's parents, which was really lovely except his dad announced that he didnt think i'd last the first year at uni!!!! talk about supportive! I can kind of see his point though.... I've not been exactly positive about the whole thing!!! In fact my tutor told me I'm very negative!!!! Which is true..... lol but I'm determined to complete the 3 years!!!!!!!!!!!
On Monday it was Eryn's first proper day at nursery (well 4 hours) and she coped really well :D she had a few grizzley moments but other than that she was fine. Such a weight has been lifted knowing that she's ok there! I didnt haver uni till 6pm. and it was the biggest waste of my time!! the lecturer read off the power point presentation that i'd accessed (courtesy of my cousin being scarily organised!) at home before i went. so basically i could have just stayed at home!!!! grrrr
Tuesday was better though, 3 lectures and a tutorial, although one was on research methods and statistics...... i could even work my calculator let alone do the maths!!!!!! lol.... in my defence noone else could work it either.... but it didnt fill me with much hope! Eryn was in nursery from 8.20 to 5.50 and again she'd had a lovely time :) *massive sigh of relief* Ethan was at his childminder's and really enjoyed himself too..... makes me wonder if my children just dont like being with me!
Yesterday was my day off and i refused point blank to do anything to do with uni (altho i have A LOT to do) so my heavily pregnant cousin (38wks yesterday) came over with her youngest. Oh and Eryn projectile vomitted over herself, me and the floor in ASDA.... god knows what was wrong with her! shes got a bit of a cough and a couple of times shes puked when shes coughed, but she's fine in herself- just a bit snotty.
Today i was supposed to be getting an iphone4 delivered!!! im soooo excited, but im gonna miss the delivery slot because i've got to go to uni... ive rearranged for tomo but again, i've got uni so i dont know whether i will miss the time slot again :(
I'm hoping for a quiet weekend this week, Et is off to his dads and we've only got Josh and Harry on friday night. We've got Ben's parents stayng saturday night. They've not been here before so i'd better clean up A LOT!! (not that my house is dirty, its just messy!) I had to fill out a form for nursery called all about me. It was asking simple questions about family life etc. One of them was 'things i do with my family....' and this sounds absolutely awful but we couldnt think of anything we do as a family for her! Everything we do is for the boys, and she just has to either join in or sit on the sidelines.... i feel incredibly guilty!!! When Ethan was in his swimming lesson yesterday i took Eryn into the pool. She wasn't really that interested, but didnt scream :) but i think we realy need to do something for her. She loved swimming with Daddy when we were camping (again, maybe it's just me lol) so i think we mihgt take her saturday afternoon. What else can we do with a 14month old who can but wont walk.... although she is walking a bit more everyday :) any ideas let me know!
Hmmmm, most embarassing mummy-moments.....
1, my cousin always moans at me for telling Ethan that the 'lady part' is called a vagina. I always figured there was no point in lying to him, that his dad wouldnt discuss it with him and seeing as i wasnt going to have any more kids that i should just say it how it is. Anyway, we were round my cousins for dinner with our dog Talulah (god rest her soul) and they have a british bull dog called mr pickles.... anyway, Et suddenly announced mid mouthful 'mummy, mr pickles is licking Talulah's vagina' ..... nice, let the ground swallow me up!

2, Again, my darling Ethan.... we were discussing death and wills and stuff- like u do.... and i was saying that mummy has life insurance so if i die he and Eryn will have money etc. Not really grasping the concept i explained that, as an example, when my Nan's husband died he left my Nan his house and some money. He got the jist and i thought no more about it. My mum was looking after my two when i was a bridesmaid recently and she took them to my nans for a bit. Whilst there, my delightful Et turned to my nan and said 'My mummy says you're worth lots of money, can i have some?' ....... again, thanks for that child!!! Luckily she thought is was highly amusing and said maybe when she dies lol.

3, I had lots of moments when i was breastfeeding Eryn that my boobs leaked through the pads and on to my clothes.... that was embarassing!!!

4, When Ethan was younger (2/3) he used to call himself Adam..... i have no idea why, we don't even know anyone called Adam, but when someone asked him his name he would say Adam.... lol..... People used to look at us very strangely when i'd be calling him Ethan, and then Adam, then Ethan again...

Hmmmmm, i'm sure there are a million more, but my mind has well and truly gone blank!
Right, suppose i'd best sort myself out for uni, have a good week everyone xx

Me+alcohol+high heels= a cut knee

Hi all How are we?
Midweek last week was rather boring..Apart from Housework/washing and the odd trip to asda or the local shops/park,we've done nowt.Mr B was working in leeds so we didnt get to see him untill friday.Friday evening was my mums hen do,we went for an Italian then met up with the stag party after who had also been for a meal. It was great we all had a fab time..Well apart from my sister who was taken home at 1am for throwing up several times lol...1 to many sambruca's!!
Come 3am it was just me and my brother left,who made me walk the 10min walk back to mums rather then get a taxi. Me+alcohol+very high heels= a cut knee!! Just what i need when my bridesmaids dress is short. We normally go to Mr B's on a saturday but as the kids were already there i spent the day and night at mums.I felt like i was on a child free holiday,it was lush..I got to have a lie in,then we went for breakfast and a sunbed.Came back and chilled out all day.
Sunday Mr and the kids picked me up and we went to town to continue the hunt for Jaydons suit.Thankfully we found a lovely one in BHS and he looked gorgeous,so tall and grown up bless him.Found a lovely fur cardie for Skye to wear over her bridesmaids dress too.

Liz gave me the option to start the topic again this week,So thought i would change it slightly.A week ago 2 friends and i were chatting about this and it had us all in giggles so i thought i would bring it to you ladies too..What are your 5 most embarrassing mummy moments?? (feel free to add 10 if you want)

My most embarrassing mummy moments are...

1. When Jaydon was 4 we were in a lift with a rather large man,Jaydon started laughing so the man asked him whats funny..His reply..Your fat tummy!!

2. After bagging up my shopping in asda, i pulled out my empty purse to realise my bank card and cash had vanished..later to be found under Skyes pillow.

3.When my then 5 yr old Jaydon asked me why his willy gets bigger when he's in the bath.

4.Climbing up a spiral slide when jaydon had become stuck half way down,screaming so much that the whole play area just watched in silence.

5. looking at bra's in la-senza and Skye turning to the women next to me and saying.. They are for your boogies.

Have a good week, looking forward to reading your moments xx

Shoeboxes! Tiddles! Mommytube!

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh is the only word I cant think of to describe today. I should have known Lucies transformation to dream baby wouldn't last. Is it teething? Is it separation anxiety? Who knows? All I know is she doesn't like being indoors, she doesn't like going out, she doesn't want her bottles and is just basically being a moo. I'm on tenterhooks right now as she has finally gone to sleep (courtesy of Super Dad) and is stirring in her chair at the slightest movement. It wont last long so I shall be brief. (Or try).

Had a pretty good week last week. Actually a really fab week. The weather was gorgeous and I definitely made the most of it. Every day after school I took the kids to either Milton Park or Canoe Lake. My friend Emma and her daughter Phoebe who is in Brett's year at school came on Monday (we ended up staying for over two hours) and Tuesday. The kids brought their swim gear and had a blast running around in the 'tiddles' water jets. On Wednesday the lovely Elly and her little man Jacob joined us at Canoe Lake and the kids had a lovely play as usual. Jacob thought it weather appropriate to just lose the clothes altogether, bless him.

Sunday night we went to see a wrestling show in Gosport. Stew had five tickets so we took Taylor too and poor Lauren looked after my 'gorgeous little screamer'! She said she was better this time though, albeit crying for the first two hours. We all had a good time at the show anyway, although one particular match was VERY bizarre with two seemingly bisexual wrestlers making passes at audience members (male and female - and myself included which Stew wasn't very impressed about!)and talking about showering together and rubbing baby lotion on each other as well as performing some very questionable wrestling manoeuvres. We left before the last match as it was getting late

As most of you know, I do usually post earlier on a Monday but there are three reasons why this is coming to you a bit later this particular day. Firstly I spent the morning in town buying goodies to put in my Operation Christmas Child shoebox (more on this in my personal blog - link in sidebar) and some general shopping bits. Town stresses me out, I was all alone (boo hoo) shops make me panicky and to top it off I had Lucifer screaming in my ear. I actually have to go back in the morning to collect my shoeboxes and a few bits I didn't get today but I'll make it a quick trip. Then, as Lucie was finally asleep when I got back I posted my first MommyTube video!!! It actually took me about four takes as my webcam only connects through Facebook or Youtube, I cant seem to access it otherwise, so therefore can't edit, but I think I did ok! Please check the channel out if you have a moment! And then as I've said Lucie has just been a terror the rest of the day!

Well I'm off to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End with hubby now - we've been re watching the series and I must say it has captured more of my interest than it did the first time I saw it.

Have a great week xxx

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, mmmm Roasts!

25^th September 2010

I’m cheating I have started writing this on the 25^th September! [yesterday]! 12 weeks and counting to the big Day – Christmas Day the best food day of the year!!!

Food – one of my favourite subjects and my father’s!, however, I may find that I am going off it. This evening [Saturday] for an example my son [bless him] has in his most charming voice told me quite categorically that “I don’t like mushrooms, I don’t like peas, I don’t like onion”, “I like rice” ooh thats good I say ‘cos rice is what comes with Beef stroganoff!  Then darling daughter tells me that “I don’t like chicken” I say “it’s not chicken”, daughter says “don’t like pork” I say “it’s not pork” she says “what is it then” I say “beef”, “oh she says “ I don’t like it” I say “ fine and then eat the wonderful bits of fillet steak beef I bought myself, Yes fillet steak! Granted only a small piece but enough none the less cut up very thinly and added to mushrooms, mixed veg, rice with soured cream.  Mummyrella dnd Daddy really enjoyed it!

I have to say though both have been very good with what has been put infront of them, I found that putting the yoghurts into bowls and varying works well, so that they don’t get stuck with one brand, I as mentioned earlier in the week, Monday, Tuesdays is easy night as husband is home first and starts the cooking – fishfingers, chips and something with tomato sauce on it, and the kids tuck into this really well, also just recently Daddy has started experimenting with sausages, onions, red peppers and gravy, with mash, mmmmm smells delish as I walk through the door and tastes really nice too!  So glad the maris piper potatoes are back my kids just would not eat new potatoes – don’t why it was, could get them past the lips, the lady at the butchers said the same thing, anyone else have that problem? Anyway mash is good mixes a wealth of other things together that they cannot see hahaha my likes this J .  I cannot give the kids enough fruit – they love it love it and some days I has to say – you’ve had enough or you’ll look like a piece of fruit, bananas, apples, grapes, oranges, lemons!!!, pears, strawberries, the list is endless, although the very first time I gave them kiwi, I had forgotten that they had had this and I thought they had both got some terrible disease, when changing their nappies! And then it clicked!

Sundays are usually my best food day of the week, as I lurv Roast Dinners, as do the family, although chicken is my favourite and husband will grin and bear it – prefers beef , or pork or lamb, even during the heat of the summer I have managed to have a few roasts! Mad you probably say, and yes this did cross my mind as the sweat was brushed from my brow and the 180 degree heat blew from the oven onto my already 90 degree hot face but the roast chicken was worth it, the kids love it too and especially everyone can’t get enough of the homemade Yorkshire puddings, so glad its Sunday today!!!

It’s now Sunday! and I have been up for 2 ½ hours and it’s not 8:30am ...... now it’s 8:10pm where has the day gone let alone the week! I get distracted easily now and find myself doing other things and forget what I was trying to do.  Anyway the reason it’s 12 hours later is that I have been to Mums for the day which now takes a good 2 hours  down the A1 what with all the paraphernalia that has to be put into the car, kids strapped in, dog strapped and then me strapped in, we’re away! And another good nosh up roast beef and homemade apple pie with the lovely added bonus of my great Aunty Margaret arriving on the doorstep to join us just as we are serving up.

My final thought before signing off – my last week of being 38! This time next week I will be 39 and 11 hours old! Have a good week everyone xx

Was I Being Punished?

I was really looking forward to James and Freyja coming back home on Tuesday. I had been keeping myself busy all weekend to try and take my mind off them not being here - I worked Saturday (which was insane) and on Sunday, me and a few friends went to the Tenth Hole. For the first time, we treated ourselves to High Tea - OH MY GOD - it's £25, but between us, it was about £8 each, but what you get is phenomenal - 6 slices of cake, a plate of sarnies, scones, tea and coffee - I couldn't finish it. I felt like royalty - everyone kept staring at us as though we were sophisticated, when in actual fact, we are the opposite - a bunch of cake crazed maniacs who wanted a treat. On Monday, I did loads of housework, then went out for some drinks of the evening - I thought I may as well take advantage of the not-having-to-be-up-in-the-morning factor. James & Freyja were due to land at about 2:30 the next afternoon, so my plan was to drive over to Southampton to pick them up, spend the afternoon with them, and then go to work in the evening. In actual fact, the plane was delayed for 3 and a half hours, so they landed at 6ish, and I had to just drop them off and whizz off to work. So I didn't get to see them at all :(

The next morning was hideous. Freyja screamed for half an hour after James went to work. She cried, didn't want to be with me, didn't want hugs, didn't want to play. It was horrible. I took her to Krazy Kaves which she enjoyed loads, brought her home, and she cried some more. She wasn't too bad after a nap, but wasn't the same until James came home. She flung herself at him as he came through the door as though her life had briefly ended when he wasn't there. The way she was being with me, it was almost as though she was punishing me for leaving her for 4 days. Alongside that, she was also going through a bit of separation anxiety with James. What a way to make me feel like shite?! I don't see my baby girl for 4 days and she cries at me. Not the nicest feeling.

As the week went on, she got better, and now she's pretty much back to normal. She still has a wobbler when one of us goes through the door, but she gets over it quick enough. We can't help having to go to work.

Onto this weeks topic of food. We try to give Freyja a home cooked meal everyday - it doesn't always happen though. We do have fish, veg and chicken fingers in the freezer, as well as a supply of meatballs. We also have tins of baked beans and things like that in the cupboard. Most of the time, if we have a home-cooked meal, we will stick some in the fridge - enough for Freyja to have for the next 2 days. She easts everything we make. She's the easiest kid to feed I've ever met - ever since she was 5 months old, she's eaten everything. She loves fish, meat, veg, salad, fruit, pasta, cous cous - she's a dream to feed. When she was younger, I used to puree things and freeze them in ice cube trays, then once frozen, put the cubes in a freezer bag and label it. Then each meal time, I would grab a few cubes of whatever I had, and heat them up. The other thing I couldn't do without were frozen vegetables - I have a stock of broccoli, spinach and peas in the freezer for when we don't have a homecooked meal for her. I'm hoping she doesn't go through a faddy stage (although she probably will) - she's been a dream for the last year!

Have a good week xxx

Trumpeting the end of an era

Apologies that this didn't show on Friday. I scheduled to appear, but must have not done it correctly ...

What a week!

Disappointment and confusion, followed by illness, sobbing, blankets and hot water bottles for one; unconfined joy and chatteriness for the other.

Firstly, child one. (*Parental advisory: do not allow young children to read this blog post. The reasons why will be clear in just a moment*)

The C-word came up last weekend – no, not that one, I mean Christmas.

This is because the Argos catalogue has arrived at Howarth Towers, so there will be endless thumbing of pages for the next few weeks before the list for Santa is written.

But therein lies the rub: the letter for Santa. Dort is 11 and in senior school (read last week’s posting). On Sunday, she sidled into the kitchen – thankfully away from her younger brother – and asked the question I’ve been dreading: “Mum, does Father Christmas really exist?”

I couldn’t keep up the pretence any longer and the truth spilled out. I couldn’t bear the thought of the ribbing she would get from older pupils if she mentioned Santa.

She looked confused. “But who did we see when we went to Lapland last year? I thought it was Father Christmas.”

We had a whispered chat and she accepted it all in very good faith – although she was told that if she said ANYTHING to her younger brother, all her festive activities and presents would be cancelled. Full stop. She nodded gravely. She understood alright.

I’m sure the two things aren’t related, but she went downhill quite quickly afterwards – it was almost like she was Tinkerbell and someone said they no longer believed in fairies anymore (oh, the tooth fairy thing was also tackled).

There was nausea, stomach cramps and headaches. Two days off school and a very slow recovery. Being Cruella de Ville in disguise, I sent her to school, but was called by the school nurse within two hours to fetch her. Apparently, children are dropping like flies with this bug.

But there was some good news; good news for son (8) anyway. Not so much for the rest of us in the house. He has secured the instrument he wanted for music lessons at school: a trumpet. I painted on a smile as he babbled happily about his good fortune and I couldn’t help but wonder how many eggs we would have to eat in the next three weeks so that we could use the boxes to sound-proof his room.

If all else fails in his life, at least he could become a rag and bone man, trumpet in hand to sound his arrival. “Aaaaaany old iron!”

hmmmmm really don't know what i'm doing!!!

Hi ladies, I hope you're all having a great week, and just want to say welcome to our newbies :D

Well, what a week!!! i think I've been through every emotion known to man! Scared, excited, nervous, denial to name but a few!! i never imagined becoming a student could be soooooo physically draining!! and I've not really learnt anything yet! Leaving Eryn with the childminder on Monday was awful, she just cried an cried..... and apparently she's just been really grizzly every day :'( i feel like the worst mum in the world, and I'm soooo bloody knackered when i get home i just don't want to do anything :( It's been, errrrr, interesting at uni.... mainly interesting because i have absolutely no idea what they are banging on about!!!!! on Tuesday i panicked and convinced myself that I've chosen the wrong subject!!!!!! but I've since found that I'm not the only one who hasn't done a psychology A level so I'm not the only one who knows bugger all :) but I've definitely got my work cut out. Ethan seems pretty ok though, which is great so its just Eryn I've got to be concerned about. She starts nursery on Monday so more change for her :( I've got a mouth full of ulcers, and one on my tonsil of all places, a sore throat and generally feel like crap..... not a good week really :(

Anyway back to the weeks events.... Friday night Ben, the boys, Eryn and I went to 'the shed' (i know, I'm there again!!) and saw a great band.... but they were so young the couldn't get served at the bar! lol.... but they're music was fab..... but i don't actually remember much - talk about bad parents but both Ben and i were hammered! :S terrible i know, and it was only the next day that Ben announced that he always buys me doubles- hence why i always get soooo drunk..... not amused!
Saturday, after my head stopped pounding i went shopping..... I HATE SHOPPING!!!! but i decided i needed some new clothes for uni, oh and a book lol....but i ended up spending more money on Eryn than i did on myself (and i got bits for Et too) talk about Mummy Guilt.... she has now got some beautiful new clothes ;) Ben took Josh and Harry to watch Southampton play, which they loved, although it was a draw ;) It was Harry's first game and he was sooooo excited bless him.... oh, he got into a fight at school this week (he's only been there a week!!) and managed to split the other lad's lip :( but in his defence the other kid hit him first and he was defending his 'girlfriend' ;)....
Sunday we went to my nan's for 'afternoon tea' where my delightful family basically told me that going to uni is a complete waste of time, that it's a cop out and the only reason i got a place is because i was a single mum and they needed to fill their quota..... great, thanks for that!!!!! i can always rely on my family for support when i need it........
Tuesday night my wonderful die-hard-saints-fan-boyfriend took Ethan to watch POMPEY play at home!!! I'm so grateful :D bless Ben, he is wonderful :D Ethan loved it! he's been before but he was a lot younger and cant remember it, so it was lovely that Ben took him. And last night Ben and i went on 'a date' My friend Laura and her hubby came over to babysit, and they were both petrified, but the kids were asleep and stayed that way. We only went to Gunwharf for a bit, had dinner and went bowling (and i got a student discount!! :) ) but it was soooooooooooooo nice to be out, without the kids, and not at some one's wedding! lol
We've got the boys all this weekend and I'm not quite sure what were up to. My friend's son is having a birthday party on Saturday that we're going to, but that's all we're doing so far.... I'm hoping the weather picks up a bit because, well, we're skint (Ben started his new job on Monday and has gone from weekly to monthly pay- so no wages for a month eeekkk!!)so I'm hoping to be able to go to the park or something.

This weeks topic.... well, when Ethan was little he'd have home-cooked meals every single day, but as he's got older I've relaxed a bit more. He loves his fruit and is pretty good with veg, and i do cook things from scratch at least 5 times a week. But, since Ben, Friday's is 'junk-food-Friday' where the kids have something like pizza, nuggets etc and we have a take away (although not for the next month- it will be soup and bread i think lol) and i do keep things like dippers and fish fingers in the freezer 'just in case'. I don't buy chips or waffles etc. The way i look at it is it's just as quick to bung a potato in the microwave or boil some pasta as it is cook chips in the oven. Ethan doesn't really like chips, and his favourite meal is macaroni cheese (home cooked, not out a tin!) and Eryn will eat pasta till it comes out her ears (and she doesn't really like potato!) Ethan used to eat things like lentils and cous cous and rice when he was little, but wont now, but Eryn loves rice and cous cous lol. Eryn, much to my dismay, was a madame with her food- and even now she wont eat anything (except weetabix) off a spoon!! so she never had purees, and just finger-fed herself. I really didn't want to do the baby-led weaning, but that's what it ended up being! lol.... but she eats pretty much anything, except potato's, and as long as it's not on a spoon.... weird baby! lol....

Right, i've rambled on again, so i'll leave it there, have fun everyone xx

the sun's back woooooooo!!!

hiya!

how nice has this weather been!!! its like summers back i LOVE it!!
i feel like my mum sometimes though, as soon as the sun is out i do loads of washing haha! think every mum is the same!

we've had a good week so far, the boys party was lots of fun on saturday! kids loved it, would def recommend hiring krazy kaves to everyone, so easy!!
we went to my parents after cause it was my brothers birthday, loads of family and all our friends were there, it was bril!! my mum and dads house is a total party house. everyones always really welcome and people always comment on how 'hip' my parents are pmsl!!

sunday we went for lunch at my sisters house everyone went again and watched the football BOOOOORING, couldnt agree more with Becki, it is just a game hahaha!!

this week so far we've just caught up on house work and played in the garden. i cut the grass today for the first time ever - quite proud of myself HA HA HA!! poor finley had a nasty experience with 2 spiders though, dont think he'll be going in the garden for a while haha!!
first time i think he walked through a cob web, i turned round to his almighty scream and this MASSIVE spider running up his arm! he quickly calmed down from that one but then an hour or so later he got into his car in the garden and again he let out a huge cry and scream then shouted spider at the top of his voice when i got to him it was running up and down his back poor sausage!!! he was so freaked out, he was shaking and everything!! hes fell asleep now, so i have peace for an hour or so!!

on to the topic, my kids are really fussy!! i dont no why they have turned out like that cause when i was weaning all they ate was fresh veg chicken fruit the usual you make for them, cause finley was such a big baby i was really worried about the food he had, he never had crisps or choc - well thats gone out of the window now cause he cries when taylor has it so its not really fair, taylor never had crisps, juice or sweets till after he was 2 i've done things completely different with these 2!!! neither of them eat an awful lot, their fav is spag bol or mince and mash! they do eat veg and fruit, not with every dinner but they always have some during the day, grapes/bananas/water melon/tomatoes!! when i make proper dinners i always have at least one veg with it, taylor will only eat broccoli and carrots recently hes started eating sweet corn and peas again. its a big effort to get them to eat most of the time so we make sure they have something we no they're going to eat!!! the do have pizza and chicken fingers/dippers and waffles like most kids!

gonna crack on with some more washing now! see you all next week :-)

Its only a game...!!!

Hi everyone,Well this week has been an expensive one.Its just under 2 weeks untill my mums wedding,so i had to find both Skye and myself a pair of silver shoes each.Aswell as a suit for Jaydon which has been a nightmare,he has the waist of a 4yr old and the height of a 9yr old.So trying to find trousers is ARRRGGHHHH!! They are either to short or so big around the waist that even a belt doesnt help,so the hunt continues.
On top of that expense there is the hen night on friday,but im really looking forward to that :) I cant remember the last time i went out.
Sunday Skye had a birthday party,the parents were full of praise,telling Mr B what a wonderfull little girl she is and so helpfull.She had a lovely time.Mr B not so much as he had to miss the football to take and collect her.. It was too far for me to walk.He wasn't to impressed with my "Its only a game" comment lol.He sulked the rest of the day!! ( Guess its my own fault for marrying a die hard Man united fan)Infact a die hard sports fan in general as the wedding falls on the weekend of the Ryder cup( a 3 day golf thing) so you can imagine he isn't impressed,and will no doubt be moody all day.I'm not painting a very good picture of my husband am i?Hehe.

I thought feeding the family and healthy eating would be a good topic for the week as im sure we all struggle at some point to get the kids to eat something healthy.With many working mums out there and hectic lives running around after the kids its not always easy to cook a well balanced meal that the whole family will eat.There has been times ive cooked 2 or 3 different evening meals to fit around all our likes and dislikes.
I mentioned last week about my passion for cooking so i don't mind so much but it can be costly.
My 2 arnt to bad with fruit and veg theres a few they don't like but plenty that they do like so i don't bother them with there dislikes.Jaydon loves cauliflower but skye doesn't so he will have her cauliflower and she will have his broccoli as she loves it but he doesnt.
As im a SAHM im lucky enough to have the time to cook and experiment with different dishes,some good some not so good lol. Last year i made a sausage casserole,Mr and me didnt like it but the kids loved it.When given the option to choose what they want for dinner its normally top of the list,Contains 5 veg too. Onions,mushrooms,carrots,swede and red peppers.
Altho i dont think its always about timing,the best thing i ever brought was a slow cooker.I normally use it to make stews,casseroles, pot roasts etc so 1st thing in the morning or last thing at night i bung in all the ingredients,put it on low and forget about it for 8-10 hours.
A couple of nights a week we like to have a simple dinner,the kids get to pick something from the freezer normally fish fingers or dippers.If Mr B is here then i'll do us something with pasta,or if its just me then i'll make do.(Or sometimes order a sneeky kebab or pizza)hehe!!
I dont think its bad for children to eat the likes of fish fingers,dippers,waffles etc sometimes because these days they are forever being improved..Less salt,less saturated fats,100% chicken breast and added omega 3 to fish fingers etc.
The kids used to eat from the freezer alot and i would just cook homemade meals for Mr and me.But when skye started paying an interest in eatting any left over spag bol or stew for her lunch the next day that i started giving them more of what we were eatting.
Jaydon has hot dinners at school so its good to know he has had 1 good meal a day for when we decide to have a not so healthy KFC on a friday evening followed by a big slice of chocolate cheese cake :)

Thats it from me for the week..Have a good one xx

Yes, yes, yes I'm a terrible mother!

It feels like it been the longest week EVER! Don't really know why though... Maybe because I've just been so super busy (isn't that supposed to make time go faster?) or maybe because I've been working super hard to get the new Mummytube channel up and running. Thats a working title by the way, I am not going to go ahead and give it a number seeing as it's been such a nightmare getting seven people to write a blog every week, but luckily all my 'vloggers' seem pretty enthusiastic so fingers crossed. I'm trying not to get too excited about the whole thing but I have been having fun in the meantime posting vids to my personal channel and chatting to the other mums I have enlisted. Its shaping up to be a pretty international group with three Aussie mums, a US and New Zealand mum and of course me holding up the Brit fortress all by myself. Oooer.

So as I said it's been all systems go this past week. I had a much more successful week of school runs - on time every day, no broken shoes. Tuesday morning I saw my health visitor for the first time since Lucie was about 7 weeks old :O. Almost everyone I know who has more than one child say they dont attend baby clinic nearly as much as they did with their previous child/children. We discussed weaning (I'm planning on going with the baby-led method and waiting until 6 months to start) and Lucie was weighed, she is nearly 14lbs now so almost double her birth weight and has gone from the 9th to the 25th centile which both myself and Letitia (HV) are very pleased with.

I'm going to go back to my goings-on in a minute as while I'm kind of on the subject I wanted to talk about this weeks topic and its all about food (one of my favourite subjects). Now sorry to dissapoint anyone who just read that and thought 'yay we're going to be talking about doughnuts all week!' but the theme is healthy eating for our families and I'm really glad Becki chose it actually as, as I said I am fast approaching the weaning stage and really need to start thinking about what kinds of foods I'm going to be giving my little lovebug. So the questions she asked are (copied and pasted from her original message!) Do you make home cooked balanced meals every evening? Make sure your little ones have there 5 a day? or give in to
chicken nuggets and chips for dinner?

Well I'm not going to lie, we could and in fact should feed the kids better. They have their fruit daily, apples, bananas, grapes etc but most of their evening meals do consist of things like chicken nuggets, fish fingers, potato waffles, beans etc and it's not because they wont eat healthy foods, Courtney especially in fact is quite the opposite, I've seen her devour handfuls of sprouts when we've been to my mums for a roast dinner before. Brett on the other hand is a little more fussy but he likes carrots (they have to be done a certain way though, and I'm not quite sure how that is...) apples, bananas, grapes and strangely, pineapple. There are a few reasons why we dont have things like roast dinners, shepherds pie, stews or any kind of home cooked meals really except the occaisional spaghetti bolognese (cooked by Stew) and the first is that I cant cook. At all. Don't get me wrong I'd love nothing more than to be able to have a nice steaming pot of beef or chicken stew ready and waiting for Stew and the kids when they get home from work or school and be a proper 1950s housewife but I just havent a damn clue where to start. I do feel really bad about this but one thing that makes it a bit easier and reason number two is that the kids have school dinners so I know they have had a main meal during the day that is healthy or at least been offered it. And number three is simply, that neither myself or Stew have the time to cook. He works six days a week, I have a right madam of a baby keeping my hands tied all day and it really is all to do some evenings just to throw a few fish fingers in the oven.

Obviously I'm facing a dilemma now as I can't (and wouldnt) feed Lucie those kinds of foods so I'm hoping I can start to incorporate the foods she will be eating into the kids meals as well. When Brett and Courtney were babies my mum and older sister used to freeze pureed portions of their home cooked meals for them but as I'm hoping to skip the purees this time with any luck it will be easier to merge meals. Then its just going to be a case of working out how to cook all these vegetables and potatoes. I know I must sound really dense and like a terrible mother but my kids don't have sweets and crisps every day, they dont have fizzy drinks and they have plenty of milk, cheese and yogurt in their diet so its not all bad. Theres just alot of room for improvement.

So briefly back to the past week as I've wittered on a bit there. I had my first Netmums meetup as Southsea chairmum on Saturday - it did not go well, not one person turned up even though I had alot of interest, but on the plus side as I was sitting there on my todd with the baby, older two in the play area I noticed a child I recognised walking past who turned out to be my nephew Ronnie, closely followed by his siblings Leia and Harrison and my big Brother Graeme (their dad) and sister in law Corrina so we ended up joining them for a spot to eat which was lovely as I'd not seen them for ages and its always nice for the kids to see their cousins. Then later that night we went to Taylors birthday party which was good fun. Needless to say the kids slept well that night!

Yesterday we went bowling again. And I came last again. I'm really, really bad!

So until next week, love to all :) xxx

Oh and I almost forgot welcome to our new mummies!

Have a great week! x,

Hello - it's Sunday!

Its 8:40 in the morning and I am having an argument with my 3 ½ year old which sounds like a teenager rant about how she is not going to put her knickers on, we now have the tears and the flinging around and the weeping this I don’t mind so much it’s just the whining and shrieking at high pitch.  I’d like to think I am winning.  This hasn’t helped me this morning either as I have woken up from hardly sleeping a wink after watching about 30mins of Zombieland sorry Woody, I think you’re a great actor but I get scared so easily and had to switch off, paid the price and had a very disturbed nights sleep and work up with either stomach bug or suffering from dodgy prawn in my Chinese meal, all this before 9am on a Sunday must sound familiar to many of you too!

Anyway I should like to start my first blog with 7yummymummies by saying a big thanks to the ladies for letting me join in their blog and introduce myself ....  my name is Mummyrella and I am soon to be 39, redundant and have a non stop house full of mayhem and madness as can see from above.  We have two beautiful children our daughter who is 3 ½ [going on 13!] and our son who is 2 ½ [going on 59!] 2 cats [one who is neurotic and talks to me, the other one rules the house!] and one dog Poppy dog our border terrier who is just about surviving in the madness.

This year has been a major life changing experience for us [my husband and I] as we are currently going through the process of adopting our two and whilst everyday is a new experience for us it has been an eye opening experience for the past 3 years from the moment of making our decision to adopt to getting us to this day and still having to await for legal proceedings.  But like all of you reading this our life with two toddlers must be just the same.  We have climbed some huge mountains to get where we are today and there will no doubt be many more to climb in the future days, weeks, months and years!

So this week, let me see a fairly average week to start with, however has got slightly more stressful as the week went on, you see I’m not very good with medical things as I have been known to faint at the opticians [I just get very nervous – always have been] but daughter was due for her 2^nd  set of immunisations and bless her she was so so good, I decided not to tell her until we got to the surgery and It had helped I think because earlier that morning we had to take our Poppy dog to the vets for her booster and we had all gone in together.  When we got to the doctors my daughter had asked was “mummy unwell” and I said no the nurse is going to give her some medicine a bit like Poppy Dog got this morning, “oh” she said “a needle” and went a little quiet and so I whipped out my bribe a Chocolate Hellokitty lollypop and the promise of McDonalds for lunch straight after, this she was very happy about but worried that her brother wouldn’t be coming as I managed to get him in nursery for a couple of hours so had one-2-one with her.  She was so brave and by the end lots of hugs and more hugs and two plasters one for each arm we kind of carried ourselves out of the surgery as I had gained a huge stress headache from the guilt of taking her and should I have told her beforehand, but it was over and whilst the pain from the event itself was still there in her little arms, I hope that I hadn’t scarred her from going to the doctors in future.

If anyone has Digital TV did anyone watch Discovery HD – Extreme Bodies on Dwarfism, I am in great awe at how people cope with their disabilities but when it went on to explain about bone extensions and showing the operation, that was enough for me as I explained above - not very good with medical stuff, so had to turn over, but the little girl who was a ¼ size of a normal 13 year old touched my heart and went out to her family. 

Saturday night we held a farewell / good luck party for our friend G who is going to University, I let the kids stay up a little later and we had Chinese and a cake with sparkly candles on them.  We wish G the very best of luck and I thank her for being a great help to me in the past 12 months, the kids adore you and we look forward to seeing you very very soon x

My son is a little super star and at only 2 ½ his bestest sentences this week have been

“ooooo mummy a big boys cup, am I a big boy now”

5:45am Thursday [through the monitor] “mummy I don’t want to wear a party hat!”

“look mummy, look at my hair bunchies!!!”

Hopelessly trying to potty/toilet train him but not pushing him, I find that as they are so close in age 355 days apart! They are both trying to do the same things at the same time a bit like having twins, I do see differences as my daughter is more aware of right and wrong and my son is just a little charmer with his long long eyelashes [what is it with boys with long lashes].

Signing off for now – hope you have enjoyed my week if you want to follow me further click to http://thoughtsfromavillage.blogspot.com/ hope to see you next Sunday!

Have a good week all x

5am Is Not a Nice to Time to Be Up

I'm not used to this early morning rising lark. Freyja has been sleeping through the night for so long, that the early morning days have been long gone. Until this morning, when, after a 7 hour shift at work (finishing at 2am) I had to get up again, at 5am, to take my gorgeous fiancé and my precious Freyja to the airport. They are off to France for 4 days today, without me *sob* - in fact they are there by now, so I'm hoping Freyja was the lovely well behaved toddler she can be, rather than the not-so-well-behaved part-demon she chooses to be on several occasions.

Anyway, my week has been fairly uneventful - other than having visits from a couple of bunches of friends during the week, I've been taking advantage of the dry weather and getting my mountain of washing done. I didn't realise we had this much stuff! I worked Friday night/Saturday night/Sunday night last week - which is nice when you see the pay packet roll in, but knackering at the time. I love working there though, so I can't complain, and it seems as though the boss' are happy with me being back working for them. Worked again last night, which was crazy-busy - we had an offer night, where rum was 99p, so you can imagine the amount of people we got through the door. Today, I'm working again - this time it's Southsea Fest, an annual charity music festival that goes on in various venues around Southsea - the Deco being one of them this year. We're hosting some of the alternative/metal bands, so I'm going down a bit earlier than my shift starts to watch some of them before I start having to run around like an idiot. I've got nothing better to do with my day, so I may as well!

It's weird not having James & Freyja here - I'm at a bit of a loose end. Today isn't so bad, because I have stuff to do, but Sunday to Tuesday, I have no plans at all - if I don't make any, this house is going to spring-cleaned to the max - James isn't going to know what's hit him when he comes home!!

Anyway, time to continue drinking my naff cup of tea - we have no milk, so I'm using skimmed milk powder. Ack. Then I think I'm going to pop into town for a bit, then head to work. Have a lovely week ladies xx

The long journey (or a short bus ride) to growing up

Hi - I'm Jayne. I live in the West Midlands with two children (11 and 8), two guinea pigs and one husband. Life can be hectic and there are plenty of ups and downs, some of which will make it onto this blog ...

September has been a month of change in Howarth Towers. I don’t mind change, usually, but this time I have been a bit wobbly.

The reason is very simple: P (my 11-year-old daughter) has gone to secondary school.

She looks very grown-up in her smart uniform (five bars on the tie – or else, apparently) and is keen to establish herself as an independent young lady.

Except for one thing. She won’t walk the just-over-one-mile trip to school by herself.

This has required very careful manoeuvring. I’ve acknowledged how the move from primary school to secondary is a huge one.

We’ve talked through the 15-minute route: one straight, main road with two small side road crossings and how safe it is. I pointed out the ponies in the field she can talk to ("hello Mr and Mrs Pony and foal!" I wittered, as she looked witheringly at me).

I’ve walked part of the way there with her (five minutes) and watched her disappear down the road, with her huge bag – and seemingly the world – on her shoulders.

But to no avail. She says she doesn’t feel safe.

Bang! She got me with a killer comment. It ripped my heart to shreds because it made me feel that I was forcing her into a dangerous situation.

But I have refused to relent – I will not take her to school in the car. I nearly wobbled, but no. I stood firm. Ish.

The problem is that her friends are being driven. That’s their parents’ choice and I am not criticising them for it. But I will not, unless there are exceptional circumstances, drive her to school.

She assures me that nothing has happened en-route that has frightened her; no one has approached her or bullied her.

So, I’ve compromised. She must take the bus, even though it is a ridiculously short journey.

It means leaving the house earlier than if she were walking and it obviously costs more, but she is happier.

This week, I and her younger brother have accompanied her to the bus stop (how I managed to drag him away from his DS is a miracle) and waited for it to arrive. Next week, she is doing it by herself. I want to see this independent young lady emerge from her infant cocoon.

I hope she comes to realise that my refusal to take her in the car is not an act of cruelty or the actions of an uncaring mother. I want her to fly; I don’t want to clip her wings.

Only time will tell if my decision has been the right one. I have my fingers crossed.

argh last week as sahm!!!! :(

Hi ladies,
hope you are all well. Im gonna try and keep it short and sweet this week! (first time for everything and all that lol)

Last weekend was lovely, except Et got punched in the face by some kid at krazy kaves.... although my boy hit him straight back :D i was very proud!! Sunday we went to Staunton country park and Eryn LOVED seeing the animals :) cows go mmmmmmmmmmmmm apparently- so cute :D
Monday she had her first settling in session at nursery. it went really well and she had a fab time showing off talking all the time, shes got another one this afternoon, and im actually leaving her there today- which im dreading! she'll be fine, but im not sure i will be! :'( I cant believe im starting uni on monday!! im absolutely s***ting myself- and i really, really, really dont want to leave Eryn..... but i chose to go so i'd best just get on with it i suppose!
Tuesday and this morning we went to baby groups, it was really nice to catch up with people and there little ones, its amazing how much the kids have changed when i've been 'out of the loop' for just the summer hols. I really hoping i'll be able to keep up going to some of the groups while studying tho!
Other than that we've not been up to much else really. We're going up to Ben's mums for the weekend. He's gonna take Josh and Harry (Ethan is at his dads) to the football while Eryn and i go 'uni clothes' shopping.... hmmmmm, i can see this becoming a regular pattern in the years to come! lol..... might even get my nails done ;)
oh oh oh, bit of exciting news..... Ben is moving in! (properly) on sunday! hehehe cant wait :D..... Life's good ;D
right, i've actually managed to keep it short and sweet :) till next week..... xx

... try again!!

aaaaarrrrgggghhhhh i just wrote a reeeeeeally long post and it disappeared! so annoying!!

well anyway hi!!

we've had a great week so far!

the weekend we had a lazy one, again! didnt do anything apart from Taylors friends party saturday night!!!

monday i went shopping and got the kids some new clothes! i could spend a fortune, there's so much nice stuff out and i want it all lol!! i have turned into a shopaholic.
tuesday was my big boys birthday! cant believe he's 6 already! crazy how time flies!
he had a bril day! he was so excited when i put him to bed i thought his head was going to pop off! he woke up in the middle of the night and then got up stupidly early, him and finley had breakfast in bed, then got ready for school (i'm mean and made him get dressed before pressies lol) we spent the next hour opening presents, which funnily enough finley was really interested in and wripped loads open (last week on his birthday he wasnt interested at all) Taylor was so greatful for everything which was really nice to see my hard work shopping since july had paid off haha!! we dropped him off at school, he wasnt best pleased about that but when we picked him up he was in a really happy mood (very unusual for Taylor!!)
we came home got changed and headed straight to playzone! which annoyingly shut at half 4, so they had half an hour play then off to my mums for dinner, more presents and of course cake!!!
we left there about 8 and i felt so ill i went straight to bed! the kids went to bed with a film and phil had thought they were both asleep but when he came to bed at half 11 Taylor was still awake watching his film - he'd turned his tele back on! cheeky monkey!!
when i got him up this morning he was a mess! sooo tired! i've kept him off karate tonight so he could go to bed early and be refreshed tomorrow, he was in such a foul mood!

tonight i have put him to bed with no pull up!! i need some help here... he is now 6 and still having a very full pull up every single day! i'm so frustrated cause we have litrally tried everything. he sleeps so deaply when we try and wake him when we go to the loo he doesnt wake up! i don't no whether to make a docs app just to have a chat or 'leave him be' like these websites i've just googled say. i told him 6 year olds aren't allowed to wear pull ups which i now feel slightly bad for cause the sites say not to pressure them or make them feel guilty in anyway!! and that they just grow out of it, but to me 6 year old shouldnt be wet every day! i don't no what to do!!! someone HELP!!!!!!!!!

today i havent done an awful lot, i think i have the flu so i'm feeling pretty rotten!! i managed to do my food shop with a very moany Finley whos decided he doesnt like sitting nicely in a trolly anymore and wants everything thats in sight!!!!

the rest of the week is going to be quite manic - apart from tomorrow which i'm going to spend cleaning, fun!!
friday we have a child free night so are going to go for a curry at bombay bay (if you've never been go its lush) then saturday the boys cakes are being delivered ready for their party saturday night! i cant wait, just hope people turn up hahaha!! my borhters home from france and phils family are down so it will be a big party weekend i cannot wait! monday we are having a big family portrait done. theres going to be 10 adults and then the boys so i'm looking forward to that!!

for the 2nd time tonight i'm going to go and try and sleep before my soggy child wakes me up haha! the one thing i'm worried about is they sleep in bunk beds and if taylor has a huge wee it'll go onto Fin's oops lol!!

anyway wish me luck! see u all next week :-) xxxxx

Short and sweet but with a Thanks...x

Hi everyone..
Sorry i didnt realise it was my topic this week untill i read liz's post yesterday,so i'll have a think ready for next week.
This week has been pretty dull,getting back into early mornings/school runs etc.Skye is in nursery every morning now.Which is great but makes it difficult to do much with my day,as i drop Jaydon to school for 8.50 then Skye to nursery for 9.00 and back to collect her for 12.So i cant really go to far out of the area as i dont drive, then need to collect Jaydon at 3.20.
Im really struggling with his behaviour lately, He's always been hard work but has got worse since the summer hols..Refuses to do as he's told,bullies Skye and geuninly thinks he can do what he wants when he wants.Im just waiting now for the gray hairs to show!!
Im rather pleased we addressed the issue of mental health as our topic last week,(so thank you too liz)i spoke about my problems with anxiety and panic attacks.So on friday i braved it and went to see my GP about it.I had never dreamed off telling anyone about it untill now..He was lovely and really sympatheic..He gave me some relaxent tablets i can take when i feel i have a day that may trigger my anxiety,which are non addictive too as that was my biggest worry about prescription meds..so far so good!!
Saturday we chilled at mr B's like we do most saturdays,its bliss because its like im the visitor so i dont have to worry about running the household(altho i do help out) And do all the cooking,i really love cooking and become the nagging wife if he doesnt cook or prepare something my way.So he is more then happy to leave me to it in my happy place-the kitchen lol.The washing up is another matter,he is welcome to that!!
Sunday my dad had the kids for the afternoon.My dad and i dont speak(long story) but i would never stop the children from seeing him and its worked out well for me as he has them for a sunday afternoon once a month,which he never did before. So Mr B and i went out for a drink and then did my food shop in peace :)

Sorry my post is later in the day then normal,Skye has been full of cold today and not left me alone for a min to focus.
Have a good one guys xx

Just Blog It!

I'd like to start this week off by saying a massive thank you to the ladies who shared their mental health stories last week, I really wasnt sure how that whole topic would go down so its much appreciated!! I've just realised it was supposed to be Becki's topic this week but I forgot to ask her if she had any ideas as the weekend just flew by so I think I'll just give you all a break this week and we'll just blog and Becki can take over again next week!

I've had a pretty busy week, as I said last Monday the kids are back at school so its been back to early mornings! To be honest, as much as I dislike having to get up so early it actually makes life a bit easier as once I'm up and washed etc. I feel fine anyway and once I've dropped Bart and Lisa off me and little Maggie can get up to whatever as we are ready for the day. (Got to love the Simpsons reference there, I should have really named my kids after them!!) I have had a week of nightmare mornings though, Wednesday, Courtney went to put her brand new shoes on for the second day and they broke, Thursday it poured with rain and I didnt have the rain cover so Stew had to come back from work to take the kids to school as I obviously couldnt take Lucie out (its days like those I really need to be able to drive - must book lessons soon!) and every other day we were either really rushed or late. Today was much more successful though, even though I was still super tired when I got up. We were out of the house at 8.30 on the dot and when I got to the bus stop to go to town the bus was there waiting for me! I met up with Netmummy Jessica and her bootiful baby boy Billy and we grabbed a bit of brekkie in Debenhams. Yum! I also Bought Courtney some new school shoes and even got a pair for myself :).

I've also been feeling really unusual lately. I'm sure some people will disagree with this but I typed my symtoms, which include feeling dizzy and faint, nausea, abdominal cramps (NOT pregnant before anyone says!!) a stiff neck and generally feeling odd, it came up with a multitude of ailments ranging from migraine to heart attack(!!) but I concluded that it must be something called Labyrithitis which is something to do with your middle ear as it matched all of my sypmtoms and it also said that its common after a cold (or flu), which I had had recently. It basically said (that if it is indeed that) it would just clear up on its own but as I still feel really strange I think I'm going to go to the doctors anyway just to be on the safe side. I'm sure its nothing, I am still standing afer all!

When I first started this blog I intended it to be a video blog (vlog) or to incorporate vlogs into it as well and I actually made a video at the weekend so if anyone is interested in seeing me blabbering nonsense and generally making a fool of myself you can check it out on my YouTube channel, the link to which is in the sidebar. (I apologise for the awful camera quality!) My aim now is to make a collab channel similar to this blog to run alongside it so if anyone owns a webcam and wants to take part please let me know. I am a member of the vlogging group on BMB so I'm going to ask there too so watch this space!!

I recently took on the role of Chairmum for Southsea Netmums and I have my first meetup on Saturday so I am very excited to see who (if anyone!) turns up. I have had a few people interested that dont attend the Portsmouth meetups because they have children at school so hopefully it will go well. Again, please let me know if you live in the Portsmouth and Southsea area and wish to attend :) Wish me luck!! We also have Taylor and Finleys birthday party at Krazy Kaves later that day so will be another busy weekend!

I feel inundated with birthdays at the moment, Courtney had two parties at the weekend, Brett has one on Friday and then the boys on Saturday. Luckily I love buying presents and always manage to find a bargain! Only 15 weeks until Christmas apparently (read it on someones Facebook status the other day!). I cant wait to start shopping but I'm just saving the money at the moment as I bought Courtney a couple of Disney dolls and couldnt wait for her to have them so I was naughty and gave them to her straight away! This way I can just go out and hopefully get the bulk of it done but with three children of my own, hubby, 16 nieces and nephews to buy for as well as my Mum and Dad and other miscellaneous family members to buy for its going to be quite a feat!

Well I'm sure Lucie buggle will be waking up soon as she's been asleep over two hours. Bless her she must have needed it!

Have a great week xxx

It's been a while...

Wow, It's been a while since I last posted, although considering it has been almost 2 weeks, I don't think that much has gone on...

I've taken Freyja to Krazy Kaves/Fuzzy Eds/Mobys once each - I love the soft play places when it's a little quieter, so taking advantage now the kids are at school. Although, my experience of Krazy Kaves wasn't that great because a 6-year-old was in the toddler bit and threw himself into the ball pit straight on to Freyja's face. She wasn't impressed.

On Monday, we went up to Stoke to visit my um for a couple of days. James had to stay here, because of working, so I took my best mate up with us. We met up with some friends I hadn't seen in a while, and bought some new clothes/piercings while I was there. We went for lunch at the Toby Carvery I used to work at, and then came back to Portsmouth on Wednesday. The main aim of the trip was to sort out my nan's garage - it held a lot of my stuff from when mum moved, so needed to sort through bits and see what is car boot-able.

Other than that, I've not done that much really. Last weekend, I worked Friday and Saturday evening, and this weekend, I have Fri, Sat and Sun evenings. Last night was hectic, which is great but I had a killer headache to tackle as well. Got home at 2am. Needless to say, I was zonked and have only just got up!!

On to this weeks topic of depression etc. I@ve never suffered from it really, but I remember when I first had Freyja I had a bit of the baby blues. I remember doing one of them tests and I was only a mark or 2 off depression. I would cry all the time, I would think I was a bad mother - I just didn't know what I was doing. I would be on the phone to mum all the time crying, and all I had was a helpless little baby needing me. Eventually, the baby blues went away, I bonded completely with my daughter, and everything has been perfect.

Right, I'm in need of a brew and some jam on toast. We are going to visit the in-laws today so I should get a move on. Hope you all have a lovely week xxx

life is getting back to normal!!

hello everyone!!!

well life has started going back to normal! day to day routine is slowly getting back on track and school is back :-( i am so sad Taylor's back at school!!! i cant get used to it! he loved his first day thank god, for the last 2 weeks of summer he moaned about not wanting to go back and worrying his little pants off BUT he has enjoyed it!! Finley keeps getting upset when we drop him off think he's abit lost without his big bro around!!

it was Finley's 2nd birthday Monday, he had a lovely time. wasn't at all interested in presents but loved all the sweets he was allowed!!! Taylor opened pretty much every present he had and got really excited by it but Finley just wasn't bothered! think it was all a little bit overwhelming for him! he kept singing happy birthday to himself which was quite cute!!

we finally got our house sorted and love my new living room! the middle rooms been turned into a dining room/ toy room so the kids are happy and its nice having a room that is toy free!!! never had that so its been nice!!

Liz said about PND and depression on Monday, that's something i have no idea about, i didn't really get the baby blues after either of the boys, i remember being in the bath once and crying cause i was so tired but that's as far as it went! hopefully ill go through life being the same!

have to go now i'm looking after a friends little girl this afternoon and she is bringing Taylor home!!

:-) x

one of those weeks

Hi ladies,

Hope you're all well and having a good week! Mine has been, well, one of those! :S
Last Friday my cousins and our tribe of kids went up to Queen Elizabeth Country Park for the day. It was a lovely day, although the idea to actually go for a walk was quickly forgotten and we ended up just sitting in the same spot for 5 hours!!! but the kids were off playing together happily and it was a really nice end to the holidays :D. Friday night Et went to his dad's for the weekend, and Ben was on-call (and had loads of call outs) so the boys didn't come and stay so it was eeriely quiet at my house! Saturday morning Ben was called out at 7.20am..... seriously, who uses a bloody lift at that time in the morning!?!?! and that was the last i saw of him all day because damn people kept breaking lifts! grrrr lol.... so me and the baby desended on my mum's house for the day. I wanted my hair dyed in preperation for the wedding reception i was going to on Saturday night, and dying my own hair just leads to me getting very stressed and covered in dye, so i insisted my mum done it for me- which she did.... we also tried curling my hair, but, well, it was a disaster so we soon gave up. My mum, step-dad and brother were looking after Eryn Saturday night at my house while Ben and i went to the wedding reception. We had a fabulous time!! :D My friend Julie who got married looked AMAZING and it was such a great night :D However, Sunday, i was proper, proper ill!!!! I didnt get dress all day and I swore to myself i'm not drinling that much again!!! I did however catch up on loads of crap tv i'd recorded lol.
Ethan came home on Sunday night and started crying when i put him to bed. He was soooo upset because his best friend has changed schools and he was worried that he wouldnt have any one to play with on Monday. I felt sooooooo sorry for him, it makes my heart ache when he is so upset over something i cant do anything about. I was dreading Monday morning, but he was actually full of beans and went off to school without any problems, i'm so proud of him! He came home Monday saying the year 2 is exactly the same as year 1 and he has one level of reading books to complete, then he's up to junior school level and can read any book in the school :D im soooo proud!!!!!!! Also on Monday I finally got my timetable for university! I paniced at first, but i'm now thinking that it could have been worse.... so i've started on a mission to find childcare for my darlings. I'm viewing a nursery for Eryn today and meeting a childminder for Ethan tomorrow, so wish me luck! I also found out that i won't be getting half terms off, with is a right pain because now Ethan will need childcare for them too :( but i'll have to deal with that when it happens i suppose.
Tuesday I went to see my friend who i haven't seen for months (i really am crap at seeing people!) so we had a good catch up. And in the afternoon my cousin popped over with her eldest. He's 12 and he's taller than me now!!!!!! and i'm near-on 5ft 9in!!! i felt very old and very small! lol
2am Wednesday morning Eryn started crying, i didnt think much of it but 10mins later she was still going, so i kicked Ben out of bed to see to her (she cries more when i go in there! lol) She'd been sick and done the most explosive poo ever, it'd leaked through her nappy, sleepsuit, sleeping bag and on to her cot sheets and she was really really upset. We ended up bathing her because i just couldnt get her clean. There was sick in her hair, all over her beloved 'cat' and everywhere else. It was vile..... bless her, all she wanted was a cuddle but she stank to high-heaven! Her crying woke Et up, who scared me to death by appearing on the stairs as i was getting her out the bath (damn downstairs bathrooms!) and then she was pretty much awake all night after that. She spent half the time on me, the other half on Ben, but she was sooooo fidgety neither of us slept properly after that. I got up at 8 and sorted Ethan out for school while Ben dressed her, and she promptly feel straight back to sleep in my bed. Which is pretty much where she stayed all day. She woke up and had some water, went back to sleep, threw up the water, i changed her, she went back to sleep and that was pretty much it :( bless her heart. She only spent about an hour awake during the whole day.
Ethan had his first proper swimming lesson and had a fab time. He was a bit disappointed my dad wasnt there though- funny since 6wks ago he couldnt stand my dad! lol
Thankfully Eryn is back to normal this morning! Grumpy, but she's eaten and kept it down :D
This weeks topic is one very close to my heart. Having spent a lot of my life battling with depression i feel it really is important for people to talk about it, and Liz is right, people do think it's a 'taboo' but it really shouldn't be...... lol, one of the reasons i wanted to study psychology was because i thought it might help me work myself out! lol.
My buliema started when i was 11, because i was fat. plain and simple. My mum was 5 months pregnant when she married my step-dad, and i was fatter than her in the wedding pics. That's what started it all anyway. I went through bouts of it for years, and, i really dont know how, because i wasnt trying to make a secret of it, but no-one noticed. After a couple of years it stopped being about weight, and more to do with things in my life. When i felt things were out of control, i'd eat and be sick- because i could control that.... for instance, i had to leave home at 17 (for reasons beyond my control) and i had 'an episode'(lasting a couple of months) then. When my marriage broke down, and when i was desperately trying to get a divorce that took what seemed like forever, i had 'recurring episodes' ( i'd be ok for a week and then it would start again, repeatedly, for the duration of my divorce lol)
But the bit that got me most was after i had the ectopic, followed closely by the miscarriage. I truly was at rock bottom, and i really didnt know what to do. i wasnt eating so that i wouldnt make myself sick, and when i was eating i was sick, i was suicidal, and just basically couldn't function. My family and friends knew i was depressed, and had always know that i'd suffered bouts of depression, but no-one knew what was really going on. I'd been trying to be so strong, but i just couldnt do it any more. Et used to ask me why i was always crying, and i wasnt coping with anything. It was just awful. And i felt soooooo incredibly guilty because it was affecting Ethan too. So i went to the doc and got some anti-depressants, but unfortunately they made me worse. I was displaying signs of bipolar (and this had previously been mentioned years before) and i was scared stiff. So my anti-depressants were changed and slowly, very slowly, things picked up. I went to see a counsellor about 'my demons', and a psychologist about the buliema, and although i only attended a few sessions with each, they made a real difference. I was still making myself sick occassionally when i fell pregnant with Eryn, but as soon as i found out i was carrying her i stopped. And it's not started again since :D (go me! lol) I was soooo sick when i was carrying her, and i still have random days of sickness now and i have to convince people it's not due to pregnancy or buliema! my mum reckons i've done myself some sort of irrepuble damage lol.
On the subject of baby blues i didnt suffer at all with either of the kids, but i look back now and feel the first 6 months with Eryn passed in a complete blur, and i was probably on the boarderline of depression. Not to do with PND but just the other things in my life (and lack of them) Once she got to about 5 months i realised that i had to do something about it before things got any worse, and started attending baby groups and i've met some really lovely people, and that's helped get me back on track. And if i'm honest, i'm happier now than i can ever remember being before, so something has gotta be right ;) xx I've also learnt that some things just don't matter. I used to get myself worked up about soooo many silly things, but now, i know my kids are happy and i'm happy and that's all that really matters.

Again, i've written loads!!!!! sorry!!!! i'll try and keep it short and sweet next week! lol, hope everyone is well x Nolly xx

Like father like daughter...

Hi everyone..



Liz said on saturday about you know your a blogger when you find yourself wanting to make notes,or in my case needing to write in my diary what ive done daily and comments i want to make on our topics..Mainly because i had spent an hour a few weeks back trying to remember what i had been upto the previous week.My memory is getting worse with age lol.

Im not sure if anyone remembers but a month ago i adoped a 3rd cat who after 3 days escaped out of a window and there was no sight of him untill wednesday that was.Someone had found him and took him to the local vet.So off i went to collect him,i was unsure what to do with him,if he run off again it wouldnt be fair for the children who had already became attached to him .His previous owner has changed there number so i cant even send him home. Luckly so far he's been going out and coming back so far so good,and he seems to have taken a liking to Jaydon and sleeps with him at night which Jaydon loves.
Thurs we had to wait in for the day as i had someone coming from the warm front team to see if im elegable for loft instalaion-which i am :)
Friday was a lovely day we went to my mums in petersfield,my auntie who lives in London was down with her 3 children for a few days so they came over too.Mum has a hottub in her garden and the weather was so hot so all the kids had great fun having a splash about while we chatted and sunned ourselves.We dont get to see mum and her partner paul that offen so when he came home they offered for us to stay over and get a mac d's for the kids and a curry for us..it was a lovely evening but i did end up rather drunk hehe!!
Saturday we went down town to get a few last min uniform bits but couldnt find anything apart from trousers for Jaydon so gave up and went back to Mr B's.
Sunday we went to asda to try and get the rest but again had nothing in Jaydons size.Mr B is the worst person to go shopping with,he just stands around huffing and puffing it drives me nuts.We went to materlan(that went down well-NOT) Thankfully they had what we needed but then Skye chose to start screaming and crying because she didnt want to wear her wrist strap or hold hands,she layed down in the middle of the car park and just screamed...Between Mr B being moody and Skye kicking off,i got back in the car and just wanted to cry.I managed to stop myself and then the rest of the day didnt turn out to bad after a couple of glasses of wine ;)
Yesterday was Jaydons 1st day at junior school and Skyes 1st morning back at preschool so it was lush to have a couple of hours me time!!



Liz wrote yesterday about mental health issues and her own struggles with them,i was lucky enough that i didnt suffer with PND or baby blues when having either of mine.Altho i did go through a belt of depression for a few months before i fell pregnant with Skye.We were having marriage problems, and i found myself in doors day in day out,hardly getting dressed unless i needed to go to the shop and that was a struggle in its self,and rarely doing the housework.My mum who had battled with depression for years dragged me to the doctors where i was given Anti depressents.I refused to take them... 1,because i saw my mums struggle to stop them after 10 years of being on them, and 2, i really didnt beleive i was depressed..It hasnt been untill this last year that i realise now how depressed i really was.I just couldnt or maybe refused to beleive it at the time. 4 days after that trip to the doctors i found out i was pregnant with Skye,not only was i thankfull i didnt start taking the tablets but focusing on my pregnancy was what pulled me out of the depression.
Altho i do suffer with anxiety.I struggle to be in a situation i cant get out of without looking stupid or letting someone down.Like a school show or a long que in the supermarket.The only thing that stops it is haveing a couple of drinks before...And if i had a couple of drinks everytime i had to face a situation that makes me anxious or have a panic attack i would be an alcoholic lol!!

Well i best crack on,ive a mountain of clean washing to put away.Have a good week guys x

Highlighting an important issue

Hey ladies its Monday. I put a post on our Facebook page this morning, just a general wonderment of who is following our blog as we now have close to 100 'likes'. The link is in the sidebar so please pop over there and give us your feedback!!

As you can probably tell by my shiny new bagde (also - sidebar!) I have recently become a member of the British Mummy Bloggers (BMB) which is basically what the name says it is and its great to read other blog posts and share ideas etc. Hannah is also a member. So I was browsing through some blog entries the other day and came across one in particular that touched on what I think is a very important subject matter, mental illness. I'll put a link to it in the sidebar and I urge you all to go and have a read as some of the stories are really eye opening. I think most if not all mums at some point have experienced at the very least, the 'baby blues' or at the most, post or pre-natal depression or even pueperal psycosis in the more extreme cases. It also hits very close to home with me as I have suffered with depression on and off for pretty much most of my life and had issues with self-harm and being suicidal as well as mild alcoholism. Its also still a very taboo subject, but one that I feel needs to be addressed especially as alot of mums feel they need to just 'snap out of it' or 'get on with it' or are even told this by narrow-minded people. But 'mental health' as a whole is a very broad spectrum and I would really appreciate my fellow 7yummymummies sharing or discussing any experiences they have had with any aspects of mental illness this week, whewther it be themselves personally or someone they know.

Looking back, I think I probably had post-natal depression (or just very extreme baby blues!)with Brett but didnt really realise at the time. When I had my 8 week check and had to fill in that survey the health visitor gives you to determine whether you're depressed or not I remember saying to the health visitor that my anwers would probably have been different if I had filled it in a couple of weeks prior. I think by that point things were starting to get a bit easier but I'd had times before when Stew would be at work or football and Brett would be crying and I would be crying because feeding him was so painful and I couldnt get him to settle or go to sleep. I hated him sometimes and it was such a releif when Stew got home or we went to my mums and I could hand him over and get some peace. My mum would say "you wouldnt be without him" and although she was right I still felt resentment. Come to think of it, its any wonder I wanted any more after him!! But although having him was hard work, I dread to think what would have happened to me if I didnt have him as before I got pregnant I was nothing less than a complete mess! I'd suffered a miscarriage two months before I fell for Brett and having been depressed as it was before that, it came close to tipping me over the edge. I resorted to self harm which I already had a history of but I didnt dare go on anti-depressants as I was so desperate to get pregnant again.

But despite everything having Brett was actually a great turning point in my life and even my midwife said he was "the making of me". I did (and still do)continue to suffer bouts of depression on and off over the years, sometimes caused by things that were happening in my life at the time but sometimes caused by nothing at all. After all depression is an illness and can strike anyone at any time. During another bout that I had, probably about two years ago now, I went to see my doctor and remember telling her that I was afraid to get better because I wouldnt feel like 'me' anymore, like feeling depressed had actually become part of my identity. Luckily I've been feeling a great deal better of late, although the first couple of months after Lucie was born was a bit touch and go.

Well I have to go and collect Brett from his first day at his new junior school shortly! I cant beleive he is now in year 3!! Hopefully he is settling in and making new friends. Then we are off to Pirate Petes to celebrate little Finleys second birthday :) Happy Birthday Finley!!

Have a great week xxx

PS I've been writing this since about 11am and its now nearly 3pm!! Whats wrong with me?!!!!!