February is here - woe is me

I have a feeing February is going to be a bitch.

Life is about to smack me in the face as I am back to work next week, not that I am completely sure what I'm doing when I go back, it's all a bit of a stressy mess.

Mother Nature also decided to remind me that I am woman so my already frazzled emotions are going extra haywire.

Today was a fabulous day full of giggles and fun which I have loved to bits but at the same time has made me sad as life is going to be manic for a while.

I am trying hard to think of the positives:

1. The pennies so we can buy a house with a garden and a room for everyone.
2. I will be able to eat my breakfast and lunch without interruptions or a little sneaky smiler wanting to steal some.
3. Adult conversation!
4. Being able to sit down for more than 15 minutes.
5. Having a hot drink WHILST hot haha preferably during number 4.

So there is a few to keep me going.

So January is over so let's look at my resolutions.
1. Weightless FAIL
2. Ham in coke - done and it was yummy
3. 30 bags I got a third of the way through this so better than nothing.
4. Sort wardrobe - done this was fun trying on all my old clothes :)
5. Manicure DONE but managed to ruin it in about 15 minutes haha

I only have 1 resolution for February and that is it survive :)

Well time to get some sleeps as off to Panoramic tomorrow for afternoon tea, exciting :)

getting no where fast

Well my January resolutions aren't going too well, life somehow just seems to keep getting in the way! Poor Will was unwell for a good while and wanted constant cuddles poor boy :( this meant no time for sorting and clearing.

As for the losing weight then I was doing OK but I think this week I have eaten enough sugar to get diabetes :/ it has hit home that I am going back to work soon and I am finding comfort at the bottom of the biscuit barrel. I am a little nervous about stepping on those scales... we shall see how it goes!

As for cooking the ham and a manicure they are on the calendar for next week. William is spending 3 whole days in nursery with Olivia so that I don't freak out on my first day at work worrying if he is going to be OK. I am using this time productively as I shall be shopping for new work clothes, hoorah to losing enough weight to need new clothes! I am also going to see Les Miserables with mum and mum in law, sooo looking forward to that.

I did get a taste of some me time this morning as I left Will in nursery for his settling in session. He did wonderfully and I had a nice long bath, sadly it wasn't long enough to dry my hair properly so it looks a bit weird now.

The next week and a half is going to be so up and down. Both babies in nursery full time because I have to go back to work NOOOOOOO! But the cinema and shopping will be great and then a fabulous afternoon tea at Panoramic 34, I hope that the cakes are as good as the photo that they posted on the facebook page, sooo excited for that.

It's too close to bedtime so I shold eb getting ready, how on earth do working aprents find the time to do anything? I have had all day and not really done any of my bits ont eh to do list so christ knows what will happen when I am out of the house for 9 hours and still fit everything in haha (slightly manic laugh there!)  

2013 – The Year of the Happy

At the start of every new year it is common for people to make resolutions that are promptly broken within a week. Despite this I am going to do the same. I have also set up a little side bar as my resolutions will be smaller more achievable ones on a month by month basis.

There are some big ones that will take longer to achieve or that are on going so need to last all year.

One of the big ones is to sort this house and get it on the market! I am really starting to hate this house. The next neighbours aren't great (unless you're thinking of buying the house our next door neighbours are wonderful!) to be fair the other neighbours are nice. We have also completely outgrown the house, a little 2 up 2 down does not work with the 4 of us, a big pram and all of Tom's computer bits :) we desperately need a garden so Olivia can run wild without me having to wander the streets and every day.

An on going one is to take better care of myself and my family. This means I am going to have to get super organised, have good routines and make sure that we all have some family time and personal time.

As for the month by month goals well let's start with January.

1. Lose 5lb. This one all ties in with taking better care of myself and the family. To be fair the weight has been leaving me without much effort but that is because I have been running around after the babies. God help me when I go back to the cake central office.

2. Cook Ham in Coke. This recipe is just talked about so much and I guess I just have to try it. Nigella Lawson scares me slightly but if she is a domestic goddess then hers is the recipe to try.

3. Do 30 bags in 30 days. To help with the decluttering of the house I am taking part in this challenge. It is a simple idea, you fill 30 bags with things you don't want or need any more. They can then be binned, recycled, sold or sent to the charity shop. The bags can be any size the bigger the better I guess. Today I counted out 30 carrier bags to try and start there.

4. Sort out my wardrobe. I did this not so long ago but still kept things that I am never going to wear again on the basis that I just might do or when I am back to that size. Some of the things I just won't wear even if I they did fit again. Although I am back to the same dress size now but my body shape is different so they don't fit anyway :)

5. Treat myself to manicure. This is all part of the taking care of myself and getting more me time. Nice hands and nails are a good way to make me smile :)

So 5 mini resolutions to do for this month and some good ones for the rest of 2013. it will be a great year as long as I have the right attitude!

Happy New Year everyone xxx

2012

So as 2012 draws to a close the internet is full of blogs and forum threads with people giving a round up of the year, as I am rather unoriginal I thought that I would join in :)

Sat here thinking about 2012 I am struggling to think of the year much.

Clearly the best part of the year was the birth of our gorgeous boy, Will, and seeing how wonderful my two little people are together. It has been hard but so worth it.

The year started with me being pregnant and hating it, I never get those people who *love* being pregnant. People often ask me when I'll have another but seriously NO, I can not do pregnancy again haha

Work was shite and someone I had stuck up for in the office turned out to be an utter, utter bitch but karma seems to have played its part there. Not really dreading going back either. (OK ask me if I am in 3 weeks!) Although I am kind of assuming that I am going back to my half arsed floater role but we shall see.

Then March and April were the next stages of Olivia's operations. She always does so well with her operations, I am very proud of her :) I hope Will follows in his sisters footprints on that point.

Then came the gorgeous boy. It was fabulous having our boy with us finally. The birth was quick and I can look back and smile at the labour, although at the time I was in complete shock and struggled a bit. The 7 months since the birth have been a whirlwind. It has been lovely but hard. People repeatedly told me that 2 is easier than 1. I never quite got the logic behind that comment and it isn't bloody true at the baby stage. Yes, maybe when he is old enough so play with O but fark me breastfeeding a baby and trying to entertain a toddler is hard work. Hopefully I'm doing an OK job at it!

This round up post is rubbish really. I have had so many up and down days lately that there isn't really much to post, I plan to remedy this in 2013! More focus on family and happier times. Even if it will be a manic life come February and I am in work full time *Sooooooooooooooooob*

So yes, 2012 operations, baby, struggles with ups and downs haha

2013 more operations but happier me 

Knowsley Safari Park

It was August Bank Holiday Monday and it was dull and we hadn’t made any plans.  Olivia is a child that needs to be out of the house all of the time or she will go insane (this is why we have to walk for hours and I am losing weight quickly).

 

Tom came up with the bright idea of jumping in the car and shooting over to Knowsley Safari Park to go and have a nosey at the animals.  Quick mad dash to pack sandwiches and get the bag ready and off we went. 

 

As we got to the Knowsley Express Way the heavens well and truly opened.  There was a minute of talking about going home as we weren't sure what it would be like in a downpour.  We carried on driving and there was a queue of people to go in so we decided to go for it and we were so glad that we did.

 

The rain didn’t stop but it turned into normal rain rather than the monsoon we had driven through.  The only animals that weren’t playing were the tigers who were clearly smart animals and were were sleeping in their house, ask Olivia she will tell you about the sleeping tigers.

 

I remember I went to the safari park when I was a child but don’t really remember much about it.  As an adult I loved it!

 

Save for the tigers the other animals were all within sight for Olivia to have a look at.  I have to admit that for the first 15 – 20 minutes she was more fascinated by the grass, rain, puddles and her reflection in the window haha.

 

But she soon started to enjoy it when there were birds walking between cars, the lions were right by the side of the road that you could probably have stroked them if you were stupid enough to dare to try it and the monkies were playing on the cars. 

 

I thought Tom would have taken us through the monkey safe zone to protect his car but he took his aerial off and we got close and personal with a monkey.  They were very well behaved but that was probably because they were trying to warm up using the engines so not wanting to destroy their heat providers.  Friends went not long after us on a sunny day and had their wipers broken so maybe the wet weather is a good time to go!

 

After we had driven around we got to other attractions, I don’t remember them being their when I was a child.  Thankfully the rain had stopped at this point so we got to keep dry.  We had lunch and we have a fabulous pic of Will looking very surprised at something, I think he was excited that he might actually be getting some real food, hard luck dude.

 

We then went to the bat house which made me freak out a bit, I didn’t like it and Olivia wouldn’t go in without me as she wanted both Mummy and Daddy that day. 

 

We then went to look at the Meer cats which Olivia loved.  One was stood at the top of a tree and Tom was explaining to her that he was  the look out and that if he saw danger then he would shout to the other Meer cats, she was clearly listening with great interest as she keeps telling us that the Meer cats shout :)   Tom also got his car insurance through Compare the Market so we got a Meer Cat that arrived a couple of days later, perfect!

 

Tom then took Olivia on the choochoo train yaaaay.  Olivia loves trains so she was loving this adventure with her Daddy.  Will and I waited at the platform for them although will was asleep so just missed it all.

 

After their return from the train ride we went on the hunt for a ‘raffe for Olivia.  Following the foot prints we made our way over to the giraffe house and Olivia loved it, even though it did smell which was something I did know about giraffes.  After watching them for a while we walked up to see the elephants.

 

Then it was time to go home, booo.  It really was a fabulous day out and I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.  We can’t wait to go back when Will is old enough to join in and I can play on the train too :)

 

Click me to find out more.

 

 

Updatearama

It has been a few weeks since I last updated this and what a fun few weeks it has been.

There has been a trip to Knowsley Safari park which I think deserves a post of it’s own as it was so much fun and Olivia is still talking about the monkey that sat on Daddy’s car, he was a cheeky monkey apparently

There has also been a trip to the new Museum of Liverpool which was fun.  We spent the day with my mum, Mum in law and Nephew.  The museum was fab from what I saw.  We arrived just as the Little Liverpool play session was starting.  Olivia and Cameron seemed to like that a lot and spent most of the time fishing.  I missed most of the museum as Will has hungry so we went off to have a feed. 
We met up with the gang again to watch them play with the building blocks of the three graces, well Cameron and other children were playing with the blocks whilst Olivia was just bouncing on the crash mats. 
It will be good to go back when Will is older so that I can have a good look around as well.  I also want to take Liv to the World Museum to show her the dinosaurs RrrRaAAarRR hehe

After the fun of the museum we went for a Ferry ride which Olivia loved, especially when she went upstairs to watch the water properly.  Will on the other hand did not like the ferry.  Every time the engines were going he screamed his little head off.  As the ferry pulled into a stop, was stopped and pulled away with the quiet engines he was happy, however that was only about 10 minutes of the hour trip, sorry other passengers!  He did have a cheer up when grandma wrapped him in her cardi and took him for a walk.

Will has also been for his first over night stay at Alder Hey.  The plan is the same as it was with Olivia in that they are happy that he is able to see at present, so it is a case of eye drops each day and we go back in November when he is older so that they can do the reaction tests with him to see how well he can see and then look at when / if they will remove the cataracts.  He was such a star and although he is quite a cry baby at home he was a star in hospital and just cooed and slept.

It was also my birthday at the weekend and oh my goodness was I spoilt rotten.  I was all for ignoring it and pretending it wasn’t happening due to a mix of not wanting to leave my twenties and the fact I feel like a hag at the moment but I am sooooo very glad my gorgeous hubby wouldn’t let me ignore it as it was such a brilliant day.  He also bought he a shiny new laptop (which I am using at present!)  My old one is a wreck so it was a truly awesome gift.   I think I have eaten enough cake and sweeties to give me diabetes It was brilliant time and Olivia is still singing Happy Birthday Mummy xx

On a final note as it is Wednesday and I knew I had to step on the scales this morning, I was dreading it due to the cake and sweets mentioned above but I have actually lost 2lb!   Breastfeeding really is awesome and also the walking for hours is obviously very helpful.  So today I am 12 stone 2.5lb so still over weight but without actually trying (yes, still lazy fecker) I am getting there.  I really need to get some healthy but tasty ideas for meals especially as the colder whether coming in. 

I was sure that there was more I wanted to say but I have forgotten and my gorgeous boy is waking from his half hour nap so time to go and play.

Weight Loss Wednesday–Kick me up the arse please

I clearly jinxed myself by saying I was cruising along on the weight loss because the 3rd week running I am 12 stone 4 1/2 lb.

This means one thing, I am going to have to put some effort into this which is rubbish!

I am a lazy sod who needs a kick up the bum.  I need to be fit and healthy for my family, this should be the only motivation I need but I am just crap at resisting a snack or two.  I keep saying I won't buy them but then I have the days when I feel sad my morning walk rakes me into the shop and I manage to spend £8 on unhealthy sugary nonsense just so I can come home and an e numbered pick me up.  I ultimately feel crap again an hour later with added guilt

Vicious circle of a snack fiend!

I think I need to put photos of my babies on the biscuit tin and fridge and some fat photos.  I did shift the trick or treat tub to stop hiding cake :)