Yes this really is my 100th post. Time flies when you’re busy blogging! To celebrate, this post is dedicated to the two most amazing, beautiful, special little people in my life.
I’m aware that I’ve hardly told you anything about the Darlings. It’s not intentional. This blog is named after them after all, so I think it’s about time you found out a bit more about my two reasons for getting out of bed every day.
By the way… hello and welcome to all my new followers! I’d love you to leave a little comment to introduce yourself, so we can get to know each other!
So here are 10 facts about my little darlings.
The Darlings both have big feet! Oliver is a size 9 at 3 years and 3 months old! Lydia got her first pair of shoes back in January (she was 13 months) which were size 4.5. They were looking a bit snug so I had her feet measured last week and she’s gone up a whole size to 5.5. Bless my kids with their giant feet!
Anyway, I usually buy Lydia’s shoes from good old Clarks but the only pair I liked were too wide for her and there was nothing else that I liked.
Luckily, a few days later I received an email from a company called Topsy Toesy offering a discount off their children’s shoes. I like a bargain so yesterday I took a look at their website. Well I fell in love with all their shoes! They are just beautiful… I would describe the style as retro with a modern twist!
So I ordered the Peacock design by Livie & Luca. I chose the 1st class delivery option which their website says is 3-10 days so I was very surprised when they arrived the today!
Aren’t they gorgeous?! The quality is fantastic, they’re made of really soft leather and are very lightweight. I absolutely love them!
Note: This is not a sponsored post/review. Topsy Toesy have not asked me to write this post, I have written this as the shoes are beautiful , I wanted to show them off and let everyone know about the supplier!
We had a fairly sedate weekend at My Darlings and Me!
On Saturday we all had bacon or sausage butties for breakfast! I popped round to the sandwich shop for breakfast which was a very popular with the darlings {and hubby} who loved having a change from their usual weetabix and toast!
Then it was party time. We were invited to my best friend’s daughters’ 3rd birthday. It was being held at a soft play centre that I had never heard of and had no clue where it was, all I knew is that it was in a neighbouring village. So I was relying on the Sat Nav {which is never good for me!} I don’t think the Sat Nav lady likes me as she took us to a little Cul-de-sac on the opposite side of the village. I flipping hate Sat Nav’s, I’m way too much of a control freak to have a machine telling me where to go! I’m not using it ever again {I say that every time!} Thank god for mobile internet so I could find where we were supposed to be… we were only 20 minutes late!
Anyway, the Darlings had a blast. Lydia loved the trampoline. Oliver hurt his knee on the trampoline. I had a latte. They had lots of party food {it was quite healthy food for a kids party!} I had another coffee. But the toilets were disgusting!
Sunday was a quiet day. It was my turn for a lie in so hubby got up with the darlings {he’s not all bad!}
Later Oliver and I popped out to Argos to get some storage boxes to go under his bed. On the way home we called in at Costa Coffee. I love going for a coffee date with Oliver! We don’t often get any mummy and son time together so it’s always lovely to do something special for just the two of us. A friend of mine recently posted a photo on Facebook of her son with a Babychino in Costa, so I asked Oliver if he wanted one. It was so cute in the tiny cup dusted with chocolate. Well he spilled his first sip all down his t-shirt and got his face covered in chocolate but he loved it! And he ate most of my Tiffin slice – along with his own gingerbread Charlie Chick!
Me and the darlings went for lunch at my friends house today. On the way there we drove past a cemetery and Oliver asked ‘What’s that mummy?’ I think it must be the first time he’s noticed a cemetery, although we drive past a different one all the time, but it’s behind a very high wall so he’s never really seen that one either.
Anyway, I was a bit stumped as to what to say! I don’t really like talking about death with him as he’s only 3 years old and being the type of mum I am, I want to protect him from all the sad things that happen in life. I wasn’t sure he would understand it either and if he did, it might scare him as he can be a bit sensitive. On the other hand I’m a firm believer in answering his questions (within reason!), not ignoring or fobbing him off and I try to explain things in a way he can understand. So I said to him:
‘It’s a cemetery’
‘What’s a cemetery mummy?’
‘It’s a sad place’
‘Why is it sad?’
‘People go there when they die and when people die their family is sad that they won’t see them’
‘Oh right’
End of conversation!
Maybe I said the wrong thing? Maybe I said enough for now? I feel ok about what I said and Oliver was cool with it all. I’m sure there’ll be many more conversations like this in the future!
It snowed a bit this morning. So while I was at work I was trying to think of something to do with the darlings to get us all out of the house this afternoon. There was by no means inches of snow but it was freezing and I didn’t fancy going out in the cold today.
Anyway, I decided to go to a playgym, soft play or whatever you want to call it! So after a quick lunch (quiche with salad today) off we popped to Fizzy Lizards. We go to quite a few different playgym’s in the area but this is one of my favourites. It’s located in a huge complex called Cathedral House which also includes a coffee shop, book shop, conference facilities and 2100 seat auditorium!
Anyway, the playgym is really light and bright, having floor to ceiling windows along the full length one wall. It’s really spacious which is a big plus for me as I tend to feel a little claustrophobic in some playgyms when all the tables are tightly packed together and there are no open spaces! The cafe is brilliant too, with a really good choice of food for both adults and children… paninis, jacket potatoes, baguettes, kids meals… all yummy stuff! It also has a fab outdoor play area which is lovely when the weather permits! The only negative about the place (in my humble opinion) is it’s quite pricey. £3.50 each for entry and the food is a bit expensive too. So by the time I’ve paid for them both, bought drinks, snacks, a coffee for me, I’ve spent well over £10…. I don’t mean to sound tight because I’m not (well not much!) but I’m just comparing it to other playgyms we visit that are cheaper.
The darlings love it too! The actual playgym bit is quite small which is great for their age group as Oliver feels confident to go in by himself and Lydia can even manage to do a bit of climbing (with my help). There’s a lovely baby section too that is great for the really young ones. I must admit that I love going in too! It’s such a great workout! I’m sure I burn loads of calories climbing round after the darlings.
So what do you think about playgyms? Personally I love them and wish they’d been around when I was a kid! I do however think there’s pro’s and con’s to these places. I’m a firm believer in getting the darlings out in the fresh air and enjoying as much time as possible outdoors so I would never go to a playgym when it’s nice weather, we prefer to go to the park or playground. We had a brilliant time this afternoon though and the darlings were both tired out and fast asleep by 7pm and I’ll be in bed very soon too!
Today was a very average day. Work this morning was nice and busy, I’ve recently taken on a bit more responsibility in my role and I’m just getting to grips with it but really enjoying the new challenge. When I got home, hubby was collecting Oliver from playgroup so I got changed out of my work clothes and had a quick tidy round (is there any point? No. But I’m a bit of a tidy freak!) before they all arrived home.
I then made lunch for the darlings and me. They had bagels followed by fromage frais and strawberries and I had chunky veg soup. Yum! I had a quick hoover round the living room, sorted out the washing, then spent the next couple of hours playing with the darlings. About 4pm we went to my parents house for tea (chicken hotpot and Yorkshire puds!) came home at 6pm, bathed the darlings and they were both in bed asleep by 7pm!
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| This afternoon’s masterpiece! |
So now it’s time for me to relax and chill out. Hubby is at work till 10pm so I’m going to watch some telly, have a shower, straighten my hair and have an early night with my book!
I forgot to mention yesterday that Saturday is my weigh in day! I’ve lost 9lbs in the last 3 weeks and yesterday was my 4th weigh-in. Well I stayed the same this week which was a bit disappointing but I’m still feeling positive and motivated to lose lots of weight this time.
I’ve tried diets in the past (some successful, some not!) I was lucky that I didn’t put on too much weight during both my pregnancies and any weight I gained disappeared almost as soon as I gave birth! But I was overweight before I had the darlings and have wanted to lose weight for a long time but just didn’t have the inclination or motivation… until now!
My sister lost a lot of weight a couple of years ago using the online food diary service Nutracheck so I thought I’d give it a go. I won’t go into great detail about it but it’s basically calorie counting. I’ve found it easy so far and have made a few changes to my diet… mainly swapping to lower calorie/fat versions of what I already eat and eating smaller portions. I’ve also been trying to do more exercise and have started going to ‘Aqua Zumba’ once a week. I was a bit skeptical about it at first as it seemed a bit too good to be true but 9lb lost in 4 weeks proves that it really does work!
In other news….! I took the darlings to a 3rd birthday party this afternoon. It was a pirate and princess themed party so Oliver was dressed in his pirate pyjamas and Lydia had the cutest ever little princess dress. Don’t they look adorable!
Tomorrow I’m having a spa day and I absolutely can’t wait! I think it’s the first ever time I’ve had a whole day to myself since before I had the darlings and I’m going to thoroughly relax and enjoy it. I’m even planning to have a little nap in the relaxation room after lunch!
Wow my first ever blog post. I’m quite excited about all this!
I’ve been thinking about starting a blog for a few months and have finally taken the plunge tonight. I’ve been using Twitter as a bit of a mini-blog recently… just tweeting about my everyday life and thoughts, so I wanted to sort of expand on that and create a proper blog. It’s taken me an hour to choose the name and design; I’m happy with it for now but I’m sure it will change in the coming weeks because that’s what I’m like! I chose the blog name as it’s mainly going to be about mine and my children’s everyday lives. I just want to create a diary of what we do on a day to day basis and have a place to record my children’s developments.
So a bit about me! I’m Debra, 36 years old, married to Ben and we have two beautiful children, 3 year old Oliver and 1 year old Lydia. We all live in a ‘too small’ house in West Yorkshire which we have been trying to sell for nearly 2 years! I have a degree in Marketing but I currently work part time as an administrator for a financial services company. I absolutely love being a mum and my children are my life but I love working too so think I’ve got a really good balance at the moment.
Well I’ll leave it there for now or else I’ll be rambling on about myself for ages!
My Darlings and Me 
