The one with the crochet

So yesterday, was a mad hatters cleaning day Nathan had gone to the Yorkshire Dales with his parents to help clear the snow which still blocked driveway to their weekend house. 

Today, I was planning to start to learn to crochet. Is it just me who has a new found crafting bug?? I just want to start something which keeps me busy that I can put down and start again. I tried felt making, that was good but not very challenging ( I can always incorporate it with something else too) I have tried drawing, I like drawing but it's not grabbed me, I have a fab sewing machine and love sewing so I tend to dabble in that too. I love vintage, always have done since I can remember, I love crochet and knitted 'stuff'. My mums a fantastic knitter. I don't think she knew how good she was until she started knitting things for Jack and my nephew, she is amazing. Any pictures on here which have been knitted are a creation of Grandma. (I have put on a picture today on Picture in Time - that's Grandmas Easter present to Jack, it's gorgeous)

So I have my needles and yarn ready, a really good step by step book, so here we go....I think a coaster might be a good start. Or actually, I might just learn the steps first!! Jumping in at the deep end again! There are some lovely people out there, I posted on the local f/book selling page that I wanted some crochet needles, this lady got in touch she gave me a pack of needles, two balls of yarn and a book - how lovely is that. A random act of kindness, to a stranger - me! I'll have to knit her a coaster too!!

The one with the swimming

There's a couple of days in the year when things are much more acceptable. For instance, having a glass of wine at 10 o'clock on Christmas morning and gauging yourself in chocolate on Easter Sunday and Monday when you don't have to explain yourself to anyone. Those, I find, are the only two days of the year when these are deemed acceptable!

We had a great day on Sunday, one of those days when you're laying in bed trying to scratch your brains what to do today, and for some reason you can't think past the nearest town. Especially as it was Easter Sunday, most shops and places are shut for the holiday. So we looked to see if our local swimming pool was open and luckily it was. All geared up in his Buzz Lightyear swimming suit he went swimming with daddy. 

We've only been swimming once before, Jack was about 16 weeks old and unfortunate to say that the second taste in Jacks life was.....chlorine!! He loves being in water and his bath yesterday he found that if he kicks his legs really really fast and hard it makes splashes and it's really really fun. Nathan was absolutely covered in water, Jack was screeching with excitement as the waves splashed back and bubbles went everywhere!

The swimming baths was really quiet, I managed to get out of swimming and watched on the sideline. I really don't mind swimming but I just need to be in the mood for it, and I think it'll be lovely for Jack and his dad to go swimming together - it can be 'their thing' together. (any excuse to get out of wearing my rather unglamorous swimming costume!)

After swimming, and Jacks dinner, we all went to the mucky pub for a fab pub lunch. We had a lovely meal and sticky toffee pudding for afters yummy. Today we went over to mums where she had all the family for a fabulous meal.

You can't beat a weekend of food and chocolate! xx ttfn xx

Silent 'Easter' Sunday

The one with the box

Yesterday we went up to the 'in laws' for the day, Jack was really bad with his teething - his cheeks rosy, chomping on everything and anything he can pick up and transfer into his sloppy chops. I hadn't tried Bongela until yesterday, it seems to have worked really well - but he still wasn't a happy chappy. 

Nathan said he would get up for the morning feed so I had a couple of cheeky glasses of wine. Only to find this morning after Jack waking at 5.30 they both went downstairs he had a bottle and they went back to sleep till 8.30!

I'm sure they have a conspiracy going on between them both, every time Nathan offered to do the early early morning feeds, Jack would sleep through! and I would never get compensated with an offer of another night off!!

It seems much harder now waking up at 5.30 than it was before, when I was breastfeeding and on the bottle (not me on the bottle - Jack!!) he'd wake up at around 3am. The one thing which got me through the night was 'Come dine with me'!! I had never watched them before, but they the perfect length of time and the narrator Dave Lamb always makes me tummy laugh - he makes it. My box watching has changed completely, when I was carrying Jack after around 24 weeks I had severe SPD and ended up in a wheelchair for the last six weeks or so. As I was housebound for most of my third trimester I found myself watching,dare I say....Jezza! I need not say anymore, but thankfully I have outgrown that phase! All I can say is thank goodness for Baby TV and the Jamaican dancing ants!!

The one with the radar

Sat in the doctors today, we were happily minding our own business then he came.....the noisy stranger who wants to know everything. I have this radar, and this sticker on my forehead which says 'If you are drunk or rather strange please take a seat, I really want to talk to you!' I always get the smelly drunk person on the train, and today I had a bizarre conversation with an older gentleman who wanted to know why I was sat in the doctors reception with my son. Bless, he did everything to find out why I was sat there! 'He doesn't look poorly' 'He has a good complexion!!' he was saying 'He's very alert' then he came out with the 'I am just curious, I have a curious nature' er no, curiosity killed the cat! Does anyone else bear this sticker?? There's also another radar I've found in babies. They have this sense of when their bibs are removed, at that very second that you disconnect the fluffy velcro from the claw velcro - at that very second they puke up everywhere and I mean everywhere! They must wait for the sound in their ears, and think 'that's it, this is my moment'!!

There's also the moment when your in the shower, not when you just step into the shower - that'd be far too easy. It's just that moment when you start washing your hair and lather up the soap. At that precise moment is when you hear the top soprano E sharp scream from downstairs coming from the jumperoo! Quickly putting the robe on rushing downstairs (still with the hair full of suds, which have, at this point run into the eyes - so rushing downstairs with that feeling you get when having your eyelashes tinted. You know that intense sting, that if you squint it makes it even worse - catch 22) to find actually now he is laughing at the Jamacian dancing ants! 

After our faberuni 45 mins wait in the docs it meant we missed bounce and rhyme :( Jacks also been really bad teething today so bongela has now been applied and he's wide awake (as he slept all afternoon), I'm currently trying to get him to burn some energy off! 

Speak again Saturday xx ttfn xx

The one with the menagerie

Ever so slightly googlie eyed today after lil man decided at 5.30 this morning was the time he wanted to wake up! So I thought, maybe he wanted some milk, after 30mins of feeding there was no sign of sleepiness on his behalf. Today has been abit of a blur, I can never sleep through the day anymore, I never had a problem with it before having a little eye shut on the settee - but those days have long gone. I also think he now has a snuggle, never realised it until the other day but he has a small crochet blanket he sleeps with on the settee during the day and loves to play with it getting his fingers entwinded in the crochet holes - I dont mind though. I dont think I ever had a snuggle, I had my favourite teddy aka 'Ted' but not a snuggle. Not very good with names really, I had a guinea pig called Baxter who turned out to be a girl, a 'Velvet' a black rabbit and 'Bonny' another rabbit we bought at a local agricultural show - Bonny turned out to be a boy!! Now we have a Tracy the tortoise and two guinea pigs which still go unnamed. Nathan wouldn't let me call the tortoise Shelly, not too sure why I got away with Tracy really but it's stuck! 

We also had hamsters when we were growing up, 'Nibbles' for the obvious reason he/she was my sisters, you always needed to wear gardening gloves when you entered it's territory. Nibbles had one of those amazing hamster cages it was one you connected extra parts on each month when you managed to save pocket money up. When Nibbles stopped nibbling Pebbles arrived on the scene. Pebbles was my hamster, he was gorgeous, a dalmation hamster very cute and never tasted human!

Looking back we had lots of lovely animals growing up and some funny and expensive stories, our most beloved was our chocolate labrador 'Ela' aka 'Elabella','Bella' etc she was the best dog we could of asked for, in her mind she was slightly above me in the pecking order. Snored like a bear! Snuggled like a bear too. She was so devoted to us we loved her dearly and miss her everyday too. She was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and left us 8 August 2012, Jack was due on her birthday 12 November and they would have loved each other. More Jack would love Ela, Ela would have loved peace and quiet. 

We were discussing about getting another dog, but we'll wait until he's older and can help looking after and grow up with it. I think it's really good for children to have animals. It gives children the importance of looking after, feeding, cleaning, the commitment as well as the understanding of 'death' - sorry couldn't word that any lighter. We must have an animal grave yard in the back of my mum and dads - well actually my mum and dads neighbours (teehee). They always went 'under the apple tree' and I always did a farewell ceremony. Tortoises live for about 100 years so Tracy will be just fine, she is so funny. They have their own personality - she's very noisy and loves being out and about. In the summer she goes in the garden and in the cold (all the time) she lives in the kitchen rummaging around the place. She has her uv and basking light often and after she's been basking she's like speedy gonzarles. She has a little tail like a dog, and regularly wags it whilst she's happy on a mission.

Tracy Trouble our family tortoise

 

We'll have to see if Jack likes animals, so far he loves bugs, snails and dancing Jamaican singing ants!! (from Baby tv)

Speak again tomorrow xx ttfn xx

The one with the bag spotting

After getting passed the scary gap between the train and the platform, the mountain of stairs and a rather rude lady in the elevator - we survived. My sister, my nephew (who's 13 weeks old), Jack, myself and my mum who's birthday it is today 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM' all packed up and headed to Leeds. It's the first proper day out really since before Jack was born. Well, my sister, Jack and I went to Mothercare and Asda when lil man was about eight weeks old, but we don't count that, as it was spent mostly nappy changing or boobie feeding! I think we managed about 20 mins of shopping in the total of three plus hours. It's how it is at the beginning - you really don't realise how long things take to get done and then it's time to start again!!

We're both Pink Lining addicts, and we we're like mad women obsessed spotting bags around the centre! In total we spotted about seven different Pink Lining bags, and regularly found myself saying 'Oh, you can tell she hasn't looked after that very well' It's funny how your love of things changes. Before Jack, I was a shoeaholic and wouldn't come home shopping without an accidental purchase of a new pair. Well that's all changed, my love is now changing bags! Who would have thought you could have obsessions about baby changing bags! I haven't got the pram bug yet - thank goodness really as the changing bag obsession is costly enough! I always find myself looking for the baby changing bags on prams, what do they have? do I like it better than mine? Is that definately going to be my next purchase? or not!!

Waiting for the train, with our lovely bags - babies aren't too bad either!! teehee

Jack wasn't too keen on the train, I suppose it'll be really scary for a baby sat trying to understand what's happening. When he's older I want to take him on a steam train. They run them from Settle to Carlisle, I've never been on myself but would love to go, either that or I believe there's a Thomas the Tank train museum over York way. I'm sure he'll get use to it.


Tomorrow buster and I are going to baby massage, then picking us his next car seat (he won't be in it for a while - but I like to be prepared) and then picking up some musical percussion instruments for Jack. Not sure whether I'll live to regret it, time will tell.......they might end up at Grandmas house!!

Will pop back on tomorrow to show you our new purchases xx ttfn xx