Planning, blogging, updating.

and a new name. I wanted a fresh start (oh hello perfectionist) it was begining to feel cluttered and annoying. So I've removed some posts, Archies pregnancy and my birth story. I plan to spend the weekend re-writing them before uploading. I'll also be adding Eva's pregnancy too :) for now though, my computer is being annoying - keeps crashing - and I haven't slept well for the past few nights so my brain is kind of a big bag of mush. Please let me know what you think of the new look, any tips on improving it would be most helpful.

The British Tag.

I found this tag over at A mummas time out, (follow her here - her blog is lovely) and thought I'd give it ago.

1.  How many cups of tea do you have a day and how many sugars?
I don't like tea *insert monkey hiding eyes emoji*

2.  Favourite part of your roast?
Oohh toughy, I love it all whats not to love about a roast 

but if i had to guess I guess it would have to be roast tatoes

3.  Favourite dunking biscuit?
Mc Vities Digestives and I'll only ever make a tea so I can dunk them.

4. Favourite quintessentially British pastime?

Being as ditsy as I am I had to google this one and I'm still pretty lost for an answer 

 

5. Favourite word?

Now that's got me thinking :/

Now this I'm a proper common as muck Londoner I have a mouth like a sewer *hides eyes in shame*

6. Cockney rhyme slang?

I had to ask Andy this one (god I'm failing at being british)

Score - £2O

monkey - £5OO
Hank Marvin - Starving

7. Favourtie sweet?

 Ooohh.. now that's a toughy 

Rhubarb and custard, rosey apples, butter mints to name a few 

8.What would your pub be called?

I don't drink alcohol and would never own a pub because the minute I see drunk people I end up having a panic attack but if I had to it would have to be something like Oz and decorated in a really tacky wizard of oz sort of theme with a Tim Burton twist

9. No.1 British person?

 Again I had to google this and the main one that stuck out to me was David Bowie 

1O.Favourite shop/restaurant?

Primark,H&M and Cath kidston and Nandos,Beefeater and Toby Carvery

11.What British song pops into your head?

Bee Gees - Stayin alive

12. Marmite?

Nooo.. Used to be a yes but I had some on toast not so long ago and it wasn't what I remember :( 

It seems pretty safe to say I pretty much fail at being British 

I Tag anyone who'd like to take part!

- See more at: http://www.amummastimeout.co.uk/2014/07/the-british-tag-how-british-am-i.html#sthash.Jo2FOkRe.dpuf

1.  How many cups of tea do you have a day and how many sugars?
I don't like tea *insert monkey hiding eyes emoji*

2.  Favourite part of your roast?
Oohh toughy, I love it all whats not to love about a roast 

but if i had to guess I guess it would have to be roast tatoes

3.  Favourite dunking biscuit?
Mc Vities Digestives and I'll only ever make a tea so I can dunk them.

4. Favourite quintessentially British pastime?

Being as ditsy as I am I had to google this one and I'm still pretty lost for an answer 

 

5. Favourite word?

Now that's got me thinking :/

Now this I'm a proper common as muck Londoner I have a mouth like a sewer *hides eyes in shame*

6. Cockney rhyme slang?

I had to ask Andy this one (god I'm failing at being british)

Score - £2O

monkey - £5OO
Hank Marvin - Starving

7. Favourtie sweet?

 Ooohh.. now that's a toughy 

Rhubarb and custard, rosey apples, butter mints to name a few 

8.What would your pub be called?

I don't drink alcohol and would never own a pub because the minute I see drunk people I end up having a panic attack but if I had to it would have to be something like Oz and decorated in a really tacky wizard of oz sort of theme with a Tim Burton twist

9. No.1 British person?

 Again I had to google this and the main one that stuck out to me was David Bowie 

1O.Favourite shop/restaurant?

Primark,H&M and Cath kidston and Nandos,Beefeater and Toby Carvery

11.What British song pops into your head?

Bee Gees - Stayin alive

12. Marmite?

Nooo.. Used to be a yes but I had some on toast not so long ago and it wasn't what I remember :( 

It seems pretty safe to say I pretty much fail at being British 

I Tag anyone who'd like to take part!

- See more at: http://www.amummastimeout.co.uk/2014/07/the-british-tag-how-british-am-i.html#sthash.JnbihJia.dpuf

 1.  How many cups of tea do you have a day and how many sugars?
Normally, one first thing in the morning and then between 3-4 cups over the day. I love my tea! I have four sugars, I know naughty naughty. I blame my grandad for that one, he used to lace my tea with so much sugar.

2.  Favourite part of your roast?
I has to be roast potatoes. As a child we used to go over to my grandads after swimming for our sunday roast. I used to hate the meat so me and brother would swap, I'd have his roasters and he'd have my meat. Of course nobody made roast potatoes like my Grandy, it's something I wish now I'd have asked him about before he died.

3.  Favourite dunking biscuit?
I hate soggy food, biscuits are not meant to be a wet mushy mess. Urgh. No I am not a dunker. I will have custard creams with my tea though.

 4. Favourite quintessentially British pastime? 

Countryside walks, I'd say that was as British as I get. I am lucky enough to be just a stones throw away from the Cotswold's, living in a tiny little market town just near to the Cotswold village of Broadway. We spent many weekends out exploring, Eva loves it.

 5. Favourite word? 
"Tally - ho" and "Chap". I love real british words, I think that's why I get called posh quite alot.

6. Cockney rhyme slang? 
"Adam and Eve" - Believe it.
"Apple and pears" - Stairs.
"Brown bread" - Dead.
 "Dog and bone" - Phone
"Loaf" - Head
And that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Though I'm not cockney,I've picked up alot of this off my faviourite British sitcom, Only fools and horses

7. Favourtie sweet? 
I'm sure I like any british sweets, I mean I like rock, but I only buy it when I go to the seaside.

8.What would your pub be called? 
I have no idea what so ever. I'm rubbish at naming things (other then my children that is)

9. No.1 British person?  
Other then my children, it has be Twiggy, she's just so pretty, and talented of course.

1O.Favourite shop/restaurant? 
It has to be a little county pub near me called The teddington hands.

11.What British song pops into your head? 
"Moonshadow by cat Stevens" I remember my mum singing this to me as a child. 

12. Marmite? 
No. just no!

1.  How many cups of tea do you have a day and how many sugars?
I don't like tea *insert monkey hiding eyes emoji*

2.  Favourite part of your roast?
Oohh toughy, I love it all whats not to love about a roast 

but if i had to guess I guess it would have to be roast tatoes

3.  Favourite dunking biscuit?
Mc Vities Digestives and I'll only ever make a tea so I can dunk them.

4. Favourite quintessentially British pastime?

Being as ditsy as I am I had to google this one and I'm still pretty lost for an answer 

 

5. Favourite word?

Now that's got me thinking :/

Now this I'm a proper common as muck Londoner I have a mouth like a sewer *hides eyes in shame*

6. Cockney rhyme slang?

I had to ask Andy this one (god I'm failing at being british)

Score - £2O

monkey - £5OO
Hank Marvin - Starving

7. Favourtie sweet?

 Ooohh.. now that's a toughy 

Rhubarb and custard, rosey apples, butter mints to name a few 

8.What would your pub be called?

I don't drink alcohol and would never own a pub because the minute I see drunk people I end up having a panic attack but if I had to it would have to be something like Oz and decorated in a really tacky wizard of oz sort of theme with a Tim Burton twist

9. No.1 British person?

 Again I had to google this and the main one that stuck out to me was David Bowie 

1O.Favourite shop/restaurant?

Primark,H&M and Cath kidston and Nandos,Beefeater and Toby Carvery

11.What British song pops into your head?

Bee Gees - Stayin alive

12. Marmite?

Nooo.. Used to be a yes but I had some on toast not so long ago and it wasn't what I remember :( 

It seems pretty safe to say I pretty much fail at being British 

I Tag anyone who'd like to take part!

- See more at: http://www.amummastimeout.co.uk/2014/07/the-british-tag-how-british-am-i.html#sthash.Jo2FOkRe.dpuf

1.  How many cups of tea do you have a day and how many sugars?
I don't like tea *insert monkey hiding eyes emoji*

2.  Favourite part of your roast?
Oohh toughy, I love it all whats not to love about a roast 

but if i had to guess I guess it would have to be roast tatoes

3.  Favourite dunking biscuit?
Mc Vities Digestives and I'll only ever make a tea so I can dunk them.

4. Favourite quintessentially British pastime?

Being as ditsy as I am I had to google this one and I'm still pretty lost for an answer 

 

5. Favourite word?

Now that's got me thinking :/

Now this I'm a proper common as muck Londoner I have a mouth like a sewer *hides eyes in shame*

6. Cockney rhyme slang?

I had to ask Andy this one (god I'm failing at being british)

Score - £2O

monkey - £5OO
Hank Marvin - Starving

7. Favourtie sweet?

 Ooohh.. now that's a toughy 

Rhubarb and custard, rosey apples, butter mints to name a few 

8.What would your pub be called?

I don't drink alcohol and would never own a pub because the minute I see drunk people I end up having a panic attack but if I had to it would have to be something like Oz and decorated in a really tacky wizard of oz sort of theme with a Tim Burton twist

9. No.1 British person?

 Again I had to google this and the main one that stuck out to me was David Bowie 

1O.Favourite shop/restaurant?

Primark,H&M and Cath kidston and Nandos,Beefeater and Toby Carvery

11.What British song pops into your head?

Bee Gees - Stayin alive

12. Marmite?

Nooo.. Used to be a yes but I had some on toast not so long ago and it wasn't what I remember :( 

It seems pretty safe to say I pretty much fail at being British 

I Tag anyone who'd like to take part!

- See more at: http://www.amummastimeout.co.uk/2014/07/the-british-tag-how-british-am-i.html#sthash.Jo2FOkRe.dpuf

Bath time.

google image

 Leaving a child alone in the bath is okay when? In my personal opinion never. Okay, so I don't mean older children (10+) I mean younger children who are not mentally mature enough to take responsilby for themselves in a bath full of water. Eva is five years old, and even though she is aware of the danger's of water I don't think she is ready to be left alone, for one I'm far too scared of something happening to her plus the fact she probably wouldn't bath herself opting for just playing instead. 

It's so easy to drown in the bath, it takes a matter of seconds, the time it takes to answer the front door, the time it takes to answer a phone, the time it takes to run out the room to get that towel you forgot. Yes, okay Eva can swim, but what does that matter in a bath? That skill is made void by the fact unless you are 2 inches tall or a fish, swimming in the bath is impossible. Of course I could kit her out in a rubber ring, arm bands and anyother buoyancy aid, but let's face it, that's a little bit over the top.

So when is the right age to leave a child alone in a bath tub? Many pediatrician's say that a child between 8-9 years is mature enough to be left alone, and I have to say I agree with this. Of course that's not to say all children are of the correct mental maturity, some may need a parent / carer in with them beyond this, but on the most part this seems reasonable. It's around that age that some (again not all) children begin puberty and I believe they should be given some privacy to bath in peace. I'm sure we already remember that awkward age and not wanting anyone looking at us naked while our bodies were changing.

So when do think a child is safe to bath alone?

Nine months.

Nine months. That's 3/4 of a year old, three months until he turns one. Oh gosh, time does fly. So where are we? Well lets start with weaning. It's been hard. He does love his food however I'm finding getting him to eat anything with a little bit of texture hard work. He makes himself choke before he has the food in his mouth and will then proceed to vomit up all his food. It's fustrating - I never had this with Eva. We have his nine month review on wednesday so I shall ask about this while I am there.

As of yesterday morning, 3am he is no longer a breast fed baby. I came naturally that we should stop. We were both ready for it. He's very happy to have bottles and I'm happy not having him biting me during a feed (Yes OUCH!) He has over the day, 3 feeds. I am trying to avoid giving him milk in the night as I don't want him getting used to that, so if he wakes I tried to settle him with his dummy (the only time he has one) or just humming to him. It's working well so far.

Talking about sleeping / night time. We've also quit co-sleeping (yes alot is going on this month, Archie has been in his own cot since last Friday (YAY) and so far so good. We've only had one bad night and that was night two. All the rest of the time he is sleeping through which is just fabulous. He never slept through while co-sleeping; although he never woke up, he tended to 'dream feed' which woke me up. I hadn't realised how much of the bed he took up! and now he's back into his own bad, it's heaven. I do miss morning snuggles with him though!

 His speech is coming on slowly. He can say - Dada, Nana, Mama, Hi & yes. He does say "mama" too, mainly when he's upset. The rest of the time he's speaking in "baby speak" gruggling and making super cute noises. 

At months he can now : 

• Crawl - army style most of the time but he can do it on his knees. 
• Pull himself up to stand. Normally the sofa or someones leg. 
• Stand for a few seconds alone. (longest being 15 seconds)
• Sit from laying down.
• Walk with help / or while holding on to the sofa.

50 Questions.

1. What's your favourite candle scent? 

I'm not a big fan of candles (shocker), However at chirstmas I do buy the christmas scented ones simply because I adore the smell of christmas.
2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister?

I can tell you right now one I would hate to be my sister and that is Miley Cyrus, yes she has alot of fans but honestly every time I see her I just want to tell her to "Put it away love". As for being my sister, there's not one I look at and think "I wish you were my sister".
3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother? 
Will Smith, just because.
4. How old do you think you'll be when you get married? 
Around 27-30 years old.
5. Do you know a hoarder? 
*waves* ME! and my mother.
6. Can you do a split? 
Nope.
7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike? 
6 or 7 I beleive.
8. How many oceans have you swam in?
One.
9. How many countries have you been to?
One. At least I've never left this one.
10. Is anyone in your family in the army? 
My brother was, he had to leave due to medical issues. I remember the day he was sent to Afgan, my mother was so upset I just remember being so excited for him. I don't think I was aware that there was a war going on or that alot of people had been killed out there. My grandad was also in the Army, he joined just after the second world war ended.
11. What would you name your daughter if you had one? 
If I had another one, I'd call her Afia or Molly.
12. What would you name your son if you had one? 
Boy's names are the worse! For another boy though, I do like the name Ostin.
13. What's the worst grade you got on a test? 
I believe I got a D in R.E which is fine by me, it's not like I need that subject in my life.
14. What was your favourite TV show when you were a child? 
Friends. I still adore it now.
15. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight? 
I have never dressed up for Halloween, ok I did one year but I was about 12 years old then and I dressed as a devil. Mainly because I owned alot of red clothing.
16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series? 
I have read the first Harry Potter book and all of the Twilight series.
17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent? 
British. Although I do love the way American's pronounce some words.
18. Did your mother go to college? 
Yes she did.
19. Are your grandparents still married? 
My mother's mum died when my mum was only 6 years old, my grandfather never remarried or even dated anyone. He remained in love with her until the day he died. On their grave are the words "mum and dad together again".
20. Have you ever taken karate lessons? 
Nope.
21. Do you know who Kermit the frog is? 
A green frog.
22. What's the first amusement park you've been to? 
Does west midlands count?
23. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in? 
I would love to learn Indian.
24. Do you spell the colour as grey or gray? 
Grey.
25. Is your father bald? 
No.
26. Do you know triplets? 
I know some twins..
27. Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook? 
Titanic, although I've never watching the notebook (Insert shocked faces here)
28. Have you ever had Indian food? 
Real Indian food, nope. The kind Indians have realised us Brits love, yes.
29. What's the name of your favourite restaurant? 
Teddington hands.
30. Have you ever been to Olive Garden? 
Nope.
31. Do you belong to any warehouse stores (Costco, BJ's, etc.)? 
Not that I am aware of no.
32. What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender? 
Carl. My mother honestly believed I was a boy, when I was born minus the man parts she just stuck a Y at the end I become Carly.
33. If you have a nickname, what is it? 
I have many. Beany, or Bee are the main ones. They are used so often my boss doesn't even call me by first name anymore.
34. Who's your favourite person in the world? 
*people. Eva and Archie, my children. They are my favourite mini people.
35. Would you rather live in a rural area or in the suburbs? 
I love london, but I live in a market town in the country and I love it here more.
36. Can you whistle? 
Yes.
37. Do you sleep with a nightlight? 
Nope.
38. Do you eat breakfast every morning? 
I try to, but find it hard to eat anything in the morning. I tend to drink tea instead.
39. Do you take any pills or medication daily? 
Nope.
40. What medical conditions do you have? 
None at all.
41. How many times have you been to the hospital? 
I go in 6 times a week for work. For medical reasons, I don't know.. over night stays. 3 times - once when Eva was born, again a week later when she needed phototherpy and last year when I was admitted when they thought I'd had a stroke.
42. Have you ever seen Finding Nemo? 
Of course.
43. Where do you buy your jeans? 
New look, Asda. Anywhere that sells my favourite skinny jeans.
44. What's the last compliment you got? 
"You hairs looks nice"
45. Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning? 
I dreamt I was wine tasting for my wedding.
46. What flavour tea do you enjoy? 
I love "fresh" tea, or Earl Grey.
47. How many pairs of shoes do you currently own? 
Alot. But not many, I mean I have few pairs but I only wear one or two pairs of them.
48. What religion will you raise your children to practice? 
I'm not religious at all, but my daughter talks alot about god and Jesus. I have no problem with that and certainly won't tell her there is no god, just because I don't believe in something doesn't mean it's not there. Children should be able to choose if they want to take that path in life.
49. How old were you when you found out that Santa wasn't real? 
9/10 years old. I remeber being more upset that I wouldn't have a stocking that year, rather then finding out he wasn't real if I'm honest.
50. Why do you have a Blogger? 
It's my place to come and moan, to talk and share my thoughts. My own personal little world that I don't have to worry about someone judging what I say. What ever is on my mind I can write about, I'm learning it's just alot of fun.

Funny things.

Eva : What is a swear word mummy?

Me : A swear word is a word we don't say, it's a word that afends others so we must not say it.

Eva : Well, I don't like the word no. It affends me, you can't say it any more.

I walked right into that one. I love the things children come out with, they haven't yet learnt that sometimes you shouldn't say what your thinking and that you should think before you speak. Eva is a perfect example of this. If she she's something "interesting" or new she'll point it out and ask me questions. Infact I love that she does, well sometimes, other times I am trying to hide my red face and stop myself from giggling at the things she comes out with.

Eva : Mummy why is that lady sitting in that chair (wheel chair)

Me : Because some people need a speical chair for when walking get's to hard to do anymore.

Eva : Is she poorly.

Me : Something like that, yes.

Eva : What about that man? Why does he have hair growing out of his nose?

Being a mum is a mixture of fun, laughter and sometimes those red cheeked moments. 

So, what funny things has your son / daughter come out with that have left you red face?

Mr Nobody

I know a funny little man,

As quiet as a mouse,

Who does the mischief in that is done

In everybodys house!

There's no one ever sees his face,

And yet we all agree

That every plate we break was cracked by

"Mr Nobody"

'Tis he who always tears our books,

Who leaves the ajar,

He pulls the buttons from our shirts,

And scatters pins afar;

That squeaking door will always squeak

For, prithee, don't you see,

We leave the oiling to be done by

 "Mr Nobody" 

He puts damp wood upon the fire,

That kettle cannot boil;

His are the feet that bring in mud,

And all the carpets soil.

The papers always are mislaid,

Who had them last but he?

There's not one tosses them about but

 "Mr Nobody"

The finger marks upon the door,

By none of us are made;

We never leave the blind unclosed.

To let the curtains fade;

 The ink we never spill; the boots

That lying round you see

Are not our boots; they all belong to

"Mr Nobody"

(Author unknown)