Monday 31 October 2011
Sunday 30 October 2011
Baby at the Wedding Night
We've found the hotel we want to spend our wedding night in, it's a gorgeous Tudor building with a very enticing four poster bed!
Fingers crossed the suite we want is available for our wedding night.
BUT it's led me to the part of the wedding I need to get absolutely right and that's what to do with Charlie. I think I'll be going to the Net Mum's chat room for advice as I don't have any friends in this situation. What do you do with your 21 month old during your wedding day and night?
We've left him with grandparents a few times, but that would mean one of the Grandmothers missing out on the evening part of the wedding. There really isn't an option to have him with us at the hotel (is there??) but I don't want him to get upset because the whole day has been about Mama and Daddy and we've not been fully focused on him. My current thought is my Mum and I take an hour off from the wedding to drive the 12 miles to their house, put Charlie to bed, and then get a local friend to babysit, so we can both come back to the wedding. Is this feasible, can the bride leave her own wedding, or would it be better to man up and get someone else to take him?
So many questions and at the moment no real answers.
Fingers crossed the suite we want is available for our wedding night.
BUT it's led me to the part of the wedding I need to get absolutely right and that's what to do with Charlie. I think I'll be going to the Net Mum's chat room for advice as I don't have any friends in this situation. What do you do with your 21 month old during your wedding day and night?
We've left him with grandparents a few times, but that would mean one of the Grandmothers missing out on the evening part of the wedding. There really isn't an option to have him with us at the hotel (is there??) but I don't want him to get upset because the whole day has been about Mama and Daddy and we've not been fully focused on him. My current thought is my Mum and I take an hour off from the wedding to drive the 12 miles to their house, put Charlie to bed, and then get a local friend to babysit, so we can both come back to the wedding. Is this feasible, can the bride leave her own wedding, or would it be better to man up and get someone else to take him?
So many questions and at the moment no real answers.
Friday 28 October 2011
This time last year - Halloween 2010
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| Almost 6 months old |
Wedding rings
We bought our wedding rings last weekend, having the rings makes the wedding feel one step closer and suddenly much more real! So far we've booked the venue, sorted out the registrar, sent out the invites and set up the gift list, BUT knowing that tucked away is my beautiful ring makes it so much more exciting. I keep having to get it out to check it still fits and is still perfect (!) Tom's will be joining it in a few weeks as the jeweller had to order his size in.
We bought the rings in Canterbury, they're 18 Carat White Gold with bevelled edges, so it matches my engagement ring. They look a little like this:
I love that we bought my engagement ring in York and our wedding rings in Canterbury. I love supporting independent jewellers rather then big chains, and I love how having the ring makes me feel. Since I was a child I've always known that I'd get married and have a wedding ring. Then I'd assumed it would look exactly like my Mum's (plain gold band) but now that I know what my wedding ring looks like, it's one more part of my day dreamed life as a child that's been put into place. In the same way that wondering what colour hair and eyes your baby will have, or what job you'll do, it's one more step into life, and the love and security that one little band of gold can create is amazing.
Now to decide what to engrave on the inside...
We bought the rings in Canterbury, they're 18 Carat White Gold with bevelled edges, so it matches my engagement ring. They look a little like this:
Now to decide what to engrave on the inside...
Monday 24 October 2011
My 17.5 month old - what you're doing
17 months is so fun, you learn something new every day. You're constantly chattering and copying whatever we say. Latest words include:
- Whale
- Tiger
- Sky
- Shapes
- Crocodile
You have a real opinion of your own, which means some tantrums, but you usually get over them quickly and are onto the next new, exciting thing. You run run run all the time, everywhere. You've starting running properly now, not just toddling but proper running around. You LOVE playing with Daddy, chasing, robots and rough and tumble are your favourites.
You're a size 4.5 shoe and we've got you some new blue diplodocus shoes from Clarks which you love. They go with your dino socks, cardi and dungarees.
You love traffic: cars, lorries, buses, vans, you point them all out on the road. Motorbikes are your favourite and you still love to see planes, you shout 'mlane' and point both arms to the sky, when the plane goes away you say 'bye bye'.
When we saw Nana last Friday, you ran to her shouting Nana Nana for the first time, she loved it.
You're fascinated by animals. Reuben the cat is 'Roo Roo' and you're best of friends, whenever we go to Nana and Grandad's you find Rueben's toys and throw balls, mice and fishing rods for him to play with.
Mama
xx
Sunday 23 October 2011
Weekend in Kent
It was my birthday this weekend so the three of us went to stay in Canterbury. Tom and I met at UKC 12 years ago. Here's some of the things we did:
- Took C-bear to UKC, we saw our old college (Eliot) and walked around campus.
- Went for a late afternoon walk in Whitstable, C fell asleep in the buggy and T and I watched the sunset over the harbour and ate fresh hot doughnuts.
- Took C back to Whitstable in the morning and played on the pebbly beach with the bucket and spade.
- Went to Howletts zoo, C miaowed at the tigers and loved watching the gorillas.
We also bought our wedding rings in a little independent jewellers. We got my engagement ring two years ago in York, so I'm happy our wedding rings have come from Canterbury. I love that they come from the place T & I met and that just helps make them extra special.
It was the first time we've taken the boy with us to stay in a hotel, things weren't perfect but he was pretty good. We only had the one room, so put him down in his cot and hid round the corner (!), there were some tears, but only for 5 mins then he slept through. It did mean I had to get up at 6.15am on my birthday, but I suppose that happens with having kids.
- Took C-bear to UKC, we saw our old college (Eliot) and walked around campus.
- Went for a late afternoon walk in Whitstable, C fell asleep in the buggy and T and I watched the sunset over the harbour and ate fresh hot doughnuts.
- Took C back to Whitstable in the morning and played on the pebbly beach with the bucket and spade.
- Went to Howletts zoo, C miaowed at the tigers and loved watching the gorillas.
We also bought our wedding rings in a little independent jewellers. We got my engagement ring two years ago in York, so I'm happy our wedding rings have come from Canterbury. I love that they come from the place T & I met and that just helps make them extra special.
It was the first time we've taken the boy with us to stay in a hotel, things weren't perfect but he was pretty good. We only had the one room, so put him down in his cot and hid round the corner (!), there were some tears, but only for 5 mins then he slept through. It did mean I had to get up at 6.15am on my birthday, but I suppose that happens with having kids.
Thursday 20 October 2011
"Don't stand on the sofa"
Bed time
Saturday 15 October 2011
Comments MIA
Sorry if I've been silent on the comment front recently, Blogger is driving me crazy about not letting me post comments. I've looked up loads of solutions, signed in and out but still for some blogs I can no longer post comments. When I have more energy I will try and sort it out but for now, but be assured I'm not giving you the big freeze on purpose!
Friday 14 October 2011
What pram?
I recently heard that a friend is pregnant and it got me thinking. If I was to do it all again, as in have a first baby rather then a second (!), what would I do differently? And my first thought was prams! I did tons of research before buying ours but had no idea really what to get, having had no experience of prams, buggies or pushchairs since I was in them 30 years ago! So when I made my decision, I reckoned I'd made the best choice and I was happy, but for city living I think where I went wrong was size.
We got a Pliko Pramette in grey polka dots, and I loved it (I still do) The info on the Mamas and Papas website says:
The Pliko Pramette is the original and the lightest pramette. Transforms from a pram into a pushchair without adding or taking anything away, making life easier for you as a parent and making every moment with your baby one to enjoy.
And it was great that it did so much, no separates for us, our Travel System was a pram, pushchair and car seat all in one. It was much smaller then what I remembered from the 80s, yet still safe and secure for a newborn. But now I've seen a lot of my friends prams, I think the crucial bit of advice I was missing was that size doesn't matter!
Long story short if I was to do it again I'd go with a Sola. When I first did the research I dismissed it because it wasn't a pram, but actually the additional carry cot works just like a pram, and for the life of the system, the pushchair part is brilliant. It also faces both forward and backwards as a pushchair which the Pliko didn't do. Small and light (perfect for buses and trains), bright and cheerful I love this little pushchair, and it's what I'd recommend to anyone starting out!
We got a Pliko Pramette in grey polka dots, and I loved it (I still do) The info on the Mamas and Papas website says:
 |
| Pliko Pramette Polka |
And it was great that it did so much, no separates for us, our Travel System was a pram, pushchair and car seat all in one. It was much smaller then what I remembered from the 80s, yet still safe and secure for a newborn. But now I've seen a lot of my friends prams, I think the crucial bit of advice I was missing was that size doesn't matter!
 |
| Sola |
Tuesday 11 October 2011
Monday 3 October 2011
Losing the Baby Weight - Take Two, this time it's serious
Back in July I wrote this post about finally losing some baby weight. As with lots of good intentions, mine slipped. I did the Slim Fast part fine, but then we went on holiday and I took a break which lasted a little too long. But we've now set the date for the wedding (25th February 2012!!) and with the big day fast-approaching it's finally the inspiration I need to seriously lose the baby belly.
Ideally I'd love to be my pre-pregnancy size 12 for the wedding. Before I started my diet and fitness regime 3 weeks ago I was a borderline size 18 (mostly a 16 but in some shops an 18). This is the photo that made me realise it was time to do something about it. We went to a friends wedding and I had to buy a new dress because I didn't fit any of my pre-pregnancy ones.
This is the size I'd like to get back to. I doubt I'll do it before the wedding, but I'm going to try.
So I joined a gym, not a proper-scary-full-of-stick-people type gym but an old lady gym near the station. It's called gymnophobics, is cheaper then LA Fitness or Fitness First, and designed for women who want to lose weight but don't have much free time. Perfect. So I do my 30 min sessions 3 times a week and am already feeling so much better. On Saturday I even ran part of the way home (we live at the top of a MASSIVE hill, so my goal is to be back in enough shape to run it all without stopping).
To go with the gym regime I've started a diet. In the end after much decision I decided to do Diet Chef. It's a little more expensive then some, but I know it works and for someone with little time the meals are perfect. You basically get all meals delivered and just have to buy fresh veg, fruit and skimmed milk. The meals are vacuum packed and really yummy.
So hopefully it will finally be bye bye baby weight and hello yummy mummy!http://www.gymophobics.co.uk/
Ideally I'd love to be my pre-pregnancy size 12 for the wedding. Before I started my diet and fitness regime 3 weeks ago I was a borderline size 18 (mostly a 16 but in some shops an 18). This is the photo that made me realise it was time to do something about it. We went to a friends wedding and I had to buy a new dress because I didn't fit any of my pre-pregnancy ones.
This is the size I'd like to get back to. I doubt I'll do it before the wedding, but I'm going to try.
So I joined a gym, not a proper-scary-full-of-stick-people type gym but an old lady gym near the station. It's called gymnophobics, is cheaper then LA Fitness or Fitness First, and designed for women who want to lose weight but don't have much free time. Perfect. So I do my 30 min sessions 3 times a week and am already feeling so much better. On Saturday I even ran part of the way home (we live at the top of a MASSIVE hill, so my goal is to be back in enough shape to run it all without stopping).
To go with the gym regime I've started a diet. In the end after much decision I decided to do Diet Chef. It's a little more expensive then some, but I know it works and for someone with little time the meals are perfect. You basically get all meals delivered and just have to buy fresh veg, fruit and skimmed milk. The meals are vacuum packed and really yummy.
So hopefully it will finally be bye bye baby weight and hello yummy mummy!http://www.gymophobics.co.uk/
Sunshine toddler
The weekend was so hot! It was beautiful and felt like a couple of special stolen summer's days (apart from the fact that the sun went down at 7.30pm and it was very cold at night). We spent our Saturday afternoon in the park:
At almost 17 months Charlie is a joy to be around. He's so happy and loves learning new things. This week's tricks include putting both hands in the air and shouting 'mlane' whenever a plane goes over above. Listening and pointing out birds and motorbikes. Repeating whatever we say. Playing robots with Daddy (including powering down) and twisting on screw caps - luckily he can't twist them off yet!
The flip side to my happy boy is the tantrum pulling, screeching fussy eater we get at some meal times. C-bear has decided he no longer likes porridge or ready brek, on Saturday he made himself physically sick after swallowing two mouthfuls. I'm trying lots of tricks (getting him to smell it first seems like a good one) but I guess it's just a case of repeating and repeating with the foods he won't even try. I've also got him some soft toy vegetables and we match them to the pictures in his book. I even got him watching Mr Bloom's Nursery on Sunday to get him to try a radish.
On that, we started watching Abney and Teal on Cbeebies i-player. Charlie loves it, and I love the fact that it's set on an island, in a lake, in a park in a city. I can't wait to take Charlie to Battersea Park again to point out the islands there and link it with Abney and Teal.
At almost 17 months Charlie is a joy to be around. He's so happy and loves learning new things. This week's tricks include putting both hands in the air and shouting 'mlane' whenever a plane goes over above. Listening and pointing out birds and motorbikes. Repeating whatever we say. Playing robots with Daddy (including powering down) and twisting on screw caps - luckily he can't twist them off yet!
The flip side to my happy boy is the tantrum pulling, screeching fussy eater we get at some meal times. C-bear has decided he no longer likes porridge or ready brek, on Saturday he made himself physically sick after swallowing two mouthfuls. I'm trying lots of tricks (getting him to smell it first seems like a good one) but I guess it's just a case of repeating and repeating with the foods he won't even try. I've also got him some soft toy vegetables and we match them to the pictures in his book. I even got him watching Mr Bloom's Nursery on Sunday to get him to try a radish.
On that, we started watching Abney and Teal on Cbeebies i-player. Charlie loves it, and I love the fact that it's set on an island, in a lake, in a park in a city. I can't wait to take Charlie to Battersea Park again to point out the islands there and link it with Abney and Teal.
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