Day 9. What virtues do you value in yourself?

It's hard to see virtues in yourself (and very easy to spot the faults) to be honest, have you ever really sat down and worked out what your virtues are? So here's mine, particularly those I've learnt I've had since becoming a Mum.

- Confident - I've always forced myself to put aside things I'm scared of and appear confident. One of the girls from my NCT class said she knew I'd have a relatively easy birth because I was so confident about it all. I don't think I was particularly confident, but she was terrified so I must have appeared much more confident then I actually was.

- Optimistic - I'm a glass half full girl and will always look for the good and shiny things in people.

- Competitive - This is a family trait, some people would see this as not at all virtuous, but I love being competitive. I love a good game, I always play by the rules, hate cheaters and love the thrill of winning fair and square.

- Emotionally Strong - any new Mum can look back over the first few months and think, wow I'm stronger then I thought I was, how else do we get through the sleepless nights without drawing on an inner strength?



Day 1. I have a three month old and already I'm thinking, I'm going to miss him at this age. Have you felt that way, and what age do you miss the most?
Day 2. What makes you uniquely you?Day 3. A photo that makes you happy
Day 4. Style 31. Post a pic of you in your favorite outfit.Day 5. Write a blog thanking someone who has made your heart come alive.
Day 6. Your most embarrassing moment
Day 7. Do you believe in the "cry until he sleeps" method?
Day 8. Have a beauty secret (e.g. hair tip, make up tip)? Share, please!
Day 9. What virtues do you value in yourself?

Day 10. What are some of your favorite MAC products, and what foundation/powder do you wear?
Day 11. Post a recipe. Or if you don't cook, try a new recipe and write about how it turned out (pictures please!).
Day 12. Write about what wears you out as a woman.
Day 13. A YouTube video
Day 14. Style 31. Post an outfit pic!
Day 15. What do you wish for?
Day 16. How old was Carter when he started sleeping through the night and how did you do this?
Day 17. Write about 3 things that make you happy.
Day 18. If you could, what would you tell yourself before you had your baby?
Day 19. Write about your significant other
Day 20. Write about your job and why you love it or hate it.
Day 21. Write about your most vivid childhood memory. Post a picture of you taken over ten years ago.
Day 22. What did you do today?
Day 23. Who's your celebrity look alike?
Day 24. What is God teaching you presently?
Day 25. Style 31. Post a pic of your favorite comfy clothes.
Day 26. What do you hope your grandchildren will say about you someday when you are gone?
Day 27. Who are your favorite bloggers?
Day 28. Write about your insecurities as a woman.
Day 29. Your day, in great detail
Day 30. What do you think is going to happen to you after you die?
Day 31. Your favorite quote

Le Weekend

We had an extra long Bank Holiday Weekend, Daddy took Friday off so we all had four days together. This was foiled slightly by the boy getting nappy rash. Wow. He's not had nappy rash before, yes it's been a bit red and I've slathered on the Sudocrem, but this was something horrible, his poor little behind was red raw, he couldn't sit in the highchair and was all whimpery and morose :(
So the plan to take him to an animal park didn't go ahead, instead we went straight down to Kent to stay with T's parents and bought out Boots for remedies. The Sudocrem wasn't working, I googled cures and everyone seemed to have a different remedy, one person would say that one thing was fantastic and another not, and someone else would say the complete opposite. In the end we used Metanium (but also bought Bepanthen) and it helped clear it up. Four nights later it's still a little sore but much better.

That was the bad part of the weekend but on the plus side:

Charlie got his third tooth - top left
He started walking on his own, constantly testing himself with going a little further each time
Nana and Grandad have a new kitten (Reuben) which Charlie LOVED
Luckily the kitten seemed to LOVE Charlie too, and kept coming back to play
We went to a city farm and saw lambs, chickens, cows, a pony and more (another post for these photos)

And speaking of photos, my camera broke and it wouldn't focus properly. I was so upset I've had it for years and can't really afford to replace it, but luckily on the way to get it looked at I managed to fix it - yay! So hooray for magically fixing cameras and boo that I didn't get nearly enough cute baby and kitten photos.

 Reuben the kitten

 Little face in awe of the kitten - he kept saying "cat cat cat"

 Just after he learnt that kittens have claws (luckily no really injury, more shock then anything)

Fun fun fun

Gypsies, soldiers and bisexual poets

Nope these aren't the things I want C-bear to be when he grows up! They're the main protagonists in the last three books I've read, and seriously, all three books have been gems. Let's start with the Gypsies.

The Invisible Ones is the new novel by Stef Penney (author of The Tenderness of Wolves) and it's publishing this September. The book gives a small snapshopt of the life of English Gypsies (think My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding but not so OTT). It follows a private investigator who is asked to enter the secretive world of the travellers to find out what happened to a young gypsy woman who went missing years earlier.

Publishing in August, Blow on a Dead Man's Embers is the second novel from Mari Strachan (The Earth Hums in B flat) and it's set in Wales in the years following WWI. Beautifully written this book takes ordinary life and makes it shine. We follow Non as she tries to find out what's wrong with her shell-shocked husband when he returns from war full of secrets and dread.

The one I've been waiting for and am so excited to have a proof copy of is the new Alan Hollinghurst, The Stranger's Child. When I read the synopsis I immediately thought of Ian McEwan's Atonement, but it's a many more layered beast to read. The book centres around the short and seemingly brilliant life of Cecil Valence and the amazing impact he makes on the Sawle family when middle brother George brings him home for a visit from university. The book jumps decades and shows how the visit in 1913 has a lasting impact on those involved. Publishing in July, if you like a literary read, this is one not to be missed.

And don't you think all these jackets are great? I love the spooky, misty empty boat, the simple heart-melting image of the embracing soldier and the sheet clean-cut edges of the maze.

Charlie - what you're like as a one year old

My little one year old is so fun to be around, he's almost always smiley and just wants to be involved in everything.

Immunisations? He's had his 12 months jabs - 3 injections, 1st was fine but tears for the 2nd and 3rd.

Eating? He's become a bit fussy but that's mostly to do with frustration at not being able to feed himself. At nursery he no longer has pureed food supplied by us, but eats the same as all the other kids. Today he had:

Breakfast - Weetabix
Lunch - Fish fingers, green peas and mashed potato
           - Yogurt
Tea - Sandwiches - chicken and ham
       - Cucumber, oranges, bananas and pear

When he gets home we have toast and marmite and then just before bed we have porridge or yogurt. He has three 250ml cups of baby milk a day along with a mixture of water, watered down orange or apple juice or watered down smoothie. He loves homemade chicken lasagna and petit filous yogurts.

Sleeping? He is finally pretty much sleeping through at night, sometimes he wakes up really early - 5am, but usually it's 6.30am.

Speaking? He says Mama, Dada, Cat, Nonono

Walking? Soooo close, he cruises everywhere and takes a few steps alone. We play a game in the evening where Mama and Daddy sit opposite each other with legs stretched out an toes touching and Charlie takes stumbley steps between us.

Toys? His favourites are the foam numbers from our hopscotch floor tiles, ELC cars to play with in the toy garage, birthday plane and digger, and the xylophone. He's gone off the blue cow a little, he no longer carries it around with him, but when he spots it he will play with it.

Blue

We're linking up with the Paper Mama's Photo Challenge: Blue

This is one of my favourite pictures of C-bear, we used it for our birth congratulations thank you cards. He still has the blue blankie, it's so soft and snuggly we use it all the time.

Ssshhh Mummy's tired

I am exhausted, who knew having a one year old could be so tiring?? I expected the first year to be tiring, lack of sleep, midnight (1am, 2am, 3am) feeds and recovering from the birth, but now it's a whole new level of exhaustion. Yes he sleeps through most nights now, yes I hardly breastfeed at all (just one bedtime feed and we're phasing that out), yes my body has had a year to repair itself from the stress of pregnancy and birth. I'm getting more sleep then I did this time last year, but I'm using up so much more energy. C-bear is v nearly walking, he can do a few steps by himself and is constantly crawling and cruising - who knew a crawling baby could be so nippy? I'm constantly watching him, running after him, calling him back and he just doesn't seem to stop. He naps for an hour at most and then he's up and at them for the rest of the day. I love this phase, he's so excited by everything, I could just do with more time to sleep and time to sit down and have a coffee.

P.S. The answer to my 'who knew' questions - I guess every mother out there knows, you just don't appreciate exactly how tiring having a baby is until you've got one.

P.P.S. But I just can't resist doing absolutely anything for this little face.

New project

I've been thinking about doing this for a while but am now about to start making Charlie a 1st year scrapbook. I've kept loads of things - all the scans, birth congratulations cards, newspapers from his birth day, even things like the wrapper from his first Easter egg and a leaf he played with in the Autumn.

At the moment I have all of this in a box, but I've bought a big heavy scrap book, printed off a load of photos and am ready to start.

What have you done with your baby's first year bits and bobs? Any tips would be much appreciated!

Scarecrows 2011

Here's the photos I promised for this year's village Scarecrow festival. The theme was adverts, there were 51 scarecrows and these were my favourites! I just loved the Citreon car transformer.

Day 8. Have a beauty secret (e.g. hair tip, make up tip)? Share, please!

After having a baby any makeup to make you look less tired is a must! My favourite find is Garnier Dark Circle cover up, it's thicker than normal concealer and perfectly hides those tired looking eyes!

Day 1. I have a three month old and already I'm thinking, I'm going to miss him at this age. Have you felt that way, and what age do you miss the most?
Day 2. What makes you uniquely you?Day 3. A photo that makes you happy
Day 4. Style 31. Post a pic of you in your favorite outfit.Day 5. Write a blog thanking someone who has made your heart come alive.
Day 6. Your most embarrassing moment
Day 7. Do you believe in the "cry until he sleeps" method?
Day 8. Have a beauty secret (e.g. hair tip, make up tip)? Share, please!Day 9. What virtues do you value in yourself?
Day 10. What are some of your favorite MAC products, and what foundation/powder do you wear?
Day 11. Post a recipe. Or if you don't cook, try a new recipe and write about how it turned out (pictures please!).
Day 12. Write about what wears you out as a woman.
Day 13. A YouTube video
Day 14. Style 31. Post an outfit pic!
Day 15. What do you wish for?
Day 16. How old was Carter when he started sleeping through the night and how did you do this?
Day 17. Write about 3 things that make you happy.
Day 18. If you could, what would you tell yourself before you had your baby?
Day 19. Write about your significant other
Day 20. Write about your job and why you love it or hate it.
Day 21. Write about your most vivid childhood memory. Post a picture of you taken over ten years ago.
Day 22. What did you do today?
Day 23. Who's your celebrity look alike?
Day 24. What is God teaching you presently?
Day 25. Style 31. Post a pic of your favorite comfy clothes.
Day 26. What do you hope your grandchildren will say about you someday when you are gone?
Day 27. Who are your favorite bloggers?
Day 28. Write about your insecurities as a woman.
Day 29. Your day, in great detail
Day 30. What do you think is going to happen to you after you die?
Day 31. Your favorite quote

Our Sunday

Charlie and I went to the farm and the play park. We hung out in the sandpit, went on the swings and hugged the big blue dinosaur. Back at home Charlie played with his new aquadoodle and had a fun time with Daddy.