"We Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside...."

Had a fantastic weekend away with Jamie's 'Girls' at Blakeney in Norfolk.  However, the weekend could have been terrible as just as we were leaving I trapped Jamie's fingers in the door.  I was so worried about him running out onto the road I didn't notice his fingers.....

Luckily after a few tears we were able to set off before 9.30am!!

Got back Tuesday and Jamie finally had a (long awaited) Poo!!

Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Nursery had a Mad Hatter's Tea Party this week on the village green.  As Jamie was not in nursery that day I left work early and met Jamie and Nanna there.  It was nice to see so many of the children and also their parents.  A lot had dressed up.  Jamie wore one of my old hats and his pirate gear.  The twins mum had made hats (note to self: must be more creative).  It was also nice that the sun came out!!

The nursery had placed various 'hatter' props around the park.  Firstly, the Cheshire Cat, then a tea pot followed by cups and then they had some cards hanging from the trees and the bridge.  There was a large hat (In This Style) and a rabbit hole, and of course there was a lovely tea party / picnic at the end for everyone to enjoy!!

That'll Teach Me!!

There I go, telling people Jamie is doing so well, and then Monday he firstly leaves a small puddle under the table when he is playing with daddy, and then later, when playing with Will, he tells us he is 'wet.'  That'll teach me!!

Resolutions at 6 months....

Over on my other blog http://theonlyconsequence.blogspot.co.uk/ I have written up my writing resolutions at 6 months. 

What I have come to realise in the last 6 months is that resolutions should act as a signpost only and not a weight around your neck!!  My son means the world to me and I am conscious that the time I spend with him at the moment is time that I won't get back. 

It is important to fill your life with only the things that really matter; things that bring you enjoyment and pleasure! Writing and sharing my poetry with others does give me pleasure. It also acts as therapy. 

However, I feel that easing the pressure off myself to succeed as a writer has been very beneficial. Whereas previously I found myself getting more and more stressed at having not written, I do feel that now I am more likely to feel happy when I do write something, and just shrug off when I don't. This attitude actually makes writing easier and means I don't take out the feeling of failure on my family!

Last Day In Nappies??

Here we are on the beach at Scarborough on the 11th July 2012.  Jamie wore his nappy that day, but he didn't really need to. 

He had been dry for a few days and asking to go to the toilet when he needed, but as we were on our hols we decided to play it safe.  But we need not have done.  He wore that swim nappy all day, travelled home in it and it was still dry when we took it off at bedtime.  He has been wearing pants ever since. 

No nappies at night and no problems!!

100 miles and hour....

....is the speed that life is flying past at the moment.  I seem to have no time to sit down and write my blog - or do much else for that matter.  It is also the speed that Jamie is as he charges through life!  It was 5.30am the other morning when he awoke and he was non stop til I dropped him off at nursery 2 and a half hours later.  I was glad to get to work for a rest.

Life with Jamie is a machine gun of questions.  'What you doing mummy?' 'What's that mummy?' 'Why you doing that mummy?'  interspersed with a series of random comments such as 'I'm gonna grow a beard'.

He has started counting things by himself - as well as along with Jake and the Neverland Pirates and their gold doubloons.  This leads to questions such as 'Why are there Two?'  This was about why we had 2 bottles of bubble bath!

Last week we all had the week off together, so we planned something for every day of the week. On the Tuesday we went to the National Railway Museum at York http://www.nrm.org.uk/ which is free to get in, but £9 to park the car.  It was well worth it and daddy and Jamie certainly had a brilliant day.  Then in the evening we drove over to Scarborough and stayed in a Travel Lodge for £29.  Mummy and daddy had previously stayed in the hotel when it was a lot grander, but that must have been about 18 years ago!!  The sun shone in Scarborough long enough for us to have a morning on the beach and an afternoon in Peasholme Park where daddy re-lived some of his childhood on the little train and the Dragon Boats!   On the Thursday I took Jamie and daddy over to Newark by the riverside where there is a lovely park built around huge sand pits.  Again, we were very lucky as the sun shone all morning. 

On Friday Jamie went to nursery and mummy and daddy got a bit of time for themselves - so they cleaned out the garage!!

The week ended with a trip to a couple of Summer fairs on the Saturday, and then seeing daddy 'in concert' on the Lincoln Brayford on the Sunday afternoon.  Kerry and the girls came along, as did Tilly and her mum, as well as numerous other people.  A couple more weeks and we hope to be back at the seaside!!

10 Weeks to the Wedding

In 10 weeks my cousin Anthony gets married to Emma and all of the family will be there - including my other cousin who lives in Australia and we have not seen in ages.  He got married in 2007 - a week or so after my miscarriage.  Consequently, I had a lot to drink and unfortunately look less than attractive in any photographs.  (We were supposed to attend all the day but decided while I was in hospital that the evening do would be enough - which it was!).

That was 5 years ago and I would love to be pre-pregnacy weight by Anthony's wedding in September.  This means I have been trying to increase my exercise while decreasing my calorie intake.  This is (pretty) easy when I am at work - and I have even started walking again during my dinners - but proving difficult at the weekends.  I have re-joined Weight Watchers - this time online only - and this is helping with the counting of calories (propoints).  I continue to attend Zumba and have recently added Total Tone to my Monday evening workouts.  Sad to say however, that I am struggling to get under the 11 stone mark.  Pre-pregnancy weight was 10,11

I have, however, been reading around the subject and have watched a number of interesting programmes on TV, including Secret Eaters.  One of the mantras they said is Bite = Bulge. Love it!!

Another piece of information I have discovered while reading about 'healthy eating' (as well as the fact that there is so much hidden sugar in everything we eat) is: 'The longer the ingredients label, the further away it is from nature and the less healthy,'  www.drfranklipman.com/   - makes you think, doesn't it?

10 weeks and counting.....