My Little Boy’s Next Step

Tonight I’ve been to an information evening at the pre-school where Oliver is starting in September. Hubby is on lates so I had to go alone, but my best friend was there as her daughter will also going there.

My brain is a bit mashed with information overload now. They told us all about the nursery. When he’ll be starting. Who his key worker is. Showed us a video of all the activities they get up to. Showed us round the nursery. There’s so much to take in.

I hope he settles in alright. It took him a while to settle in to playgroup when he started. There were lots of tears {from both of us}. I think he’ll be fine though, he’s much more confident now and makes friends easily.

God, it feels like yesterday that Oliver was a newborn, feeding all the time and keeping me up all night! Now he’s ready to go to pre-school. I just can’t believe he’s grown up so fast.

And I’m not oven going to think about September 2013 when he’ll start proper school *eeek*!

How did you/do you feel about your children starting school or pre-school?

My Little Darlings – 100th Post

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.

Oliver…

1. Oliver was born in January 2009.
2. As a newborn he didn’t have the ability to just lay down and fall asleep. He wanted to be rocked, bounced or fed to sleep.
3. He woke for a night feed until he was 10 months old. When I was due back to work and stopped them!
4. He loved crawling and didn’t walk until he was 17 months old.
5. He was breastfed until he was 18 months old. It was a mutual decision to stop as we were both ready for it.
6. He’s confident, headstrong and stubborn. He’s 3 years old with the attitude of a 14 year old! He’s also really cheeky and loves making people laugh with his little sayings.
7. He has loads of teddies. His two favourites are called ‘Baby Chloe’ and ‘Girl Teddy’!
8. He’s a 3 year old gadget geek… he loves playing games on my mobile and laptop. I can tell he’s going to be miles ahead of me in the technology stakes!
9.  His favourite toys are his cars, he especially loves the big ones like lorries, tankers, buses and anything with a trailer!
10. He loves his bedtime stories… his favourites are The Gruffalo, The Troll, The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Gingerbread Man.

Lydia…

1. Lydia was born in December 2010 {yes I have two nearly Christmas kids!}
2. She was a dream baby… fed well, slept through at 11 weeks and was really happy.
3. She was breastfed until 9 months old when we both got thrush and it was really painful for us. I still wish I’d not given up so easily and we’d got through it and carried on.
4. She’s easy going, laid back and such a happy soul.
5. But… she has a right temper. When she gets mad she shouts, screams, stamps her feet, the works {luckily it’s not very often}
6. She loves her dummy {which she calls mummy!} and her elephant teddy called Ellie.
7. She loves reading books and will sit quietly for ages looking through them. Her favourites are ‘That’s Not my Puppy’, ‘Choo Choo the Little Train’ and ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’.
8. She sings when she’s eating… and boy does she love to eat! Strangely though, she doesn’t like crisps.
9. She hates having her teeth brushed and goes absolutely mental when I brush them for her. She’s so independent that she wants to do it herself.
10. She adores her big brother and copies everything he does.

Tell me a fact about your little Darlings. Do our children have anything in common?

A Monster Called Tom

Oliver can be infuriating and wonderful in equal measures. But he’s got a brilliant imagination. I think listening to endless Julia Donaldson stories at bedtime has helped to develop his story telling skills. 

Here’s a funny conversation I had with Oliver while driving home from Asda the other day.

Oliver:  Mummy one day there was a little monster in my bedroom and it pushed me out of bed
Me:  Was it like little monster off Justin’s House?
Oliver:  Yes.
Me:  What did you do?
Oliver:  I kicked it out of bed
Me:  Oh. how did it get in your bedroom?
Oliver:  It came in the door and came upstairs
Me:  But I lock the door so nobody can get in
Oliver:  It had a magic key. It was called Tom
Me:  Tom?
Oliver:  Yes and it had a baby called inga lund
Me:  Do you mean England?
Oliver: Yes. And the mummy was called Albania
Me: Oh right. 
Oliver:  And the daddy was called Zero Arctic
Me:  So the monster was called Tom, the baby was called England, the mummy was called Albania and the daddy was called Zero Arctic?
Oliver:  No the boy monster was called Tom
Me:  Silly me
Oliver:  And they all went on holiday and stayed in a black caravan

THE END!

Are your children good story tellers? What’s the funniest story they’ve ever told you?

A bit of baking

Me and Oliver did a bit of baking this afternoon. I’m not going to lie… we used a cupcake kit! My kitchen is the teeny-tiniest in the world so I don’t have the cupboard space to store baking ingredients and my worktop space is the size of a postage stamp!

Anyway, I’ve been meaning to do some baking with Oliver for a while, so we just threw the box in the shopping trolley when we were at the supermarket!

Easy peasy cupcakes!

Oliver mixing it up!

Ready to pop in the oven

Cooling down before icing them

The finished cupcake… very yummy!

I’m very impressed with how they turned out… really light and fluffy, and the icing is delicious. Oliver loved helping to make them and loved eating them even more!

I hope I didn’t spoil it by being an OCD mum… they were allowed one each and I made him and Lydia eat them in the kitchen, hovering with my dustpan and brush to sweep up of all the crumbs!!!

Bottom of the list

I was getting the darlings ready this morning… got them dressed, washed, teeth brushed, hair brushed and there was me still standing there in my nightie! I said to Oliver ‘my turn now!’ and it made me think that I’m always last… bottom of the list!

Obviously this isn’t a sudden revelation! Yesterday, I made omelettes for lunch. Hubby and the darlings sat at the table devouring them (they were very popular!), when they’d finished I cleared everything away, cleaned hands and faces (the kids, not hubby!) and finally sat down to eat my lunch! Another example of me being last.

Now I might sound like I’m moaning about being bottom of the list of priorities but I’m not, because it’s MY list of priorities. I really don’t mind being last. I had 33 years of doing whatever I wanted so now it’s time to put others – namely my children – first.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a martyr and I’m FAR from the perfect mum! I occasionally do things just for myself too. I’m having my hair cut and highlighted on Thursday afternoon and I can’t bloody wait! Two whole hours to myself, to read a magazine and have a cup of tea in peace!

A difficult conversation

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!

The joys of the playgym

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!

An Average Day

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!

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!

Balancing Act

Hubby is on the late shift this week which means he works from 1.30pm till 10pm. So he stays at home with the darlings while I go to work from 7.30am till 12.30pm. We kind of do a quick swap over when I get home, then he goes off to work! When he’s on the early shift (6am – 1.30pm) my parents look after the darlings. I realise we’re VERY lucky to have this arrangement so that we don’t have to pay for childcare.

Work was nice and steady today. The company I work for is a network of independent financial advisers and my department investigates complaints about them! My job is to do the admin for the department, so I deal with correspondence and requesting information from various different parties so that we can investigate the complaint. 

Me at my desk a few years ago!

This wasn’t originally my career of choice but various events have led me to where I am today! I graduated from uni in 2000 with a degree in Marketing. Shortly after graduating, I went to work for a carpet manufacturer as Marketing Assistant but a couple of years later the company closed down and I was made redundant. Luckily I was offered a job with the parent company in customer services which I took as a stop gap until I found another marketing job. Well I ended up loving the job and stayed there for 5 years! I left there to work for a bank call centre which only lasted a year as I hated it! So in January 2007 I started work for the company I’m with now, firstly as a Complaints Co-ordinator and then as Complaints Administrator when I returned to work part time after maternity leave when Oliver was born. 

I enjoy my job and work with a fab bunch of people, I feel like ‘Debra’ for a few hours a day instead of ‘Mummy’! I love the darlings with all my heart but I feel that the balance between my work and home life makes me a better, more relaxed mum!

Diminishing Debra!

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!