Mama's Little Baby Loves...

12 Questions MeMe

2012-02-28T21:02:00.000Z

I was tagged in a meme recently by moors mummy blog and it’s just the kind of thing I need to give me a kick up the bum (I don't normally participate in memes but I felt the urge to do this one). As you may or may not be aware I have recently been doing lots of other bloggy type stuff – but sadly for everyone else’s blog except my own! Couple that with the fact I have a 15 months old baby and a 4 month old baby to look after... and we’ve all have Bronchiolitis/chest infections AND I have now the additional duty of looking after Pushchair Traders Facebook Page – I do not have much time for my own poor blog.

Anyway, without further ado, I was tagged in this Meme by the fabulous Moors Mummy, and the idea is (I believe) I answer 12 questions she has set me and two others, and then set my own 12 questions to ask 3 bloggers of my choice (12!!!). So, here we have the 12 she asked me (and my answers of course!):

1. What's the worst thing about being a parent?

The fear of the unknown - Having children ruins your life. Honestly. Don’t get me wrong, I love my children very very much – but I’m a born worrier – and the ultimate worry is children – they’re sick, they’re eating cat poo, they’re falling off the sofa, they’re running off down the lane, they’re spewing up all the milk you so carefully spent hours putting into them, they’re crying for no reason... fear of the unknown – that’s the worst thing – they could have wind, or they could have some horrendous tropical disease they picked up off that banana skin they licked earlier on.

2. What is your favourite book of all time? (kids or adult)

I love the “The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson” series – they’re a teen book that came out when I was an adult but honestly I have embarrassed myself so many times on public transport and doctors surgeries sniggering away, spitting tea out my nose and almost letting out a little wee. I lobe Georgia, Lobe her lots.

3. Holidays - sun or snow?

Holiday? What’s that?

4. What was your first job and how much per hour did you earn?

I was a horse riding instructor and I think I it worked out at about 7p an hour. I would have done it for free though.

5. Beer, Wines or spirits?

All... in no particular order (I should probably add though – having two children practically under 1 I have not drunk a drop of any of them for a very long time).

6. Which famous person do you wish you had sat next to in school?

School? Whats that?

7. Can you ride a bike, rollerskate and do the splits?

All at the same time?! I really love to have to admit here the fact that I can do none of those things. I can sometimes sit on a bike while it rolls down a slight hill in a straight line while I drag my feet on the floor. But I’d prefer not to. I guess if I had rollerskates on my feet and stuck my legs out sideways that might count?

8. Who was your first crush?

I can’t even remember – I think Philip Schofield when he was on Live and Kicking when I was about 6?

9. White, Milk or dark chocolate?

Errrmm Milk all the way. The other two are types of poison I believe.

10. What was the last thing you said to your partner/husband/wife?

“Come Back Soon” He was off to make a 8hr round trip for a 2 hour meeting (which should technically only take 5hrs but his companies green policy requests he use public transport so everything takes twice as long). We are all ill here so I wanted him to come back soon to look after us – although he has absolutely no control over when he actually gets back so it was a bit of a pointless thing to say really.

11. What was your favourite subject at school?

School? Eh?

12. What is your favourite pudding?

Ahhh now here’s a toughy NOT... Chocolate Fudge Cake always has been – always will be.

And now I have to formulate my own 12 questions and tag some bloggy pals. I think I will tag some of my new Pushchair Obbsessed Pals with the following questions to answer:

1. How did you tell your partner you were pregnant with your 1st child?

2. Have you ever thought of starting your own business?

3. Why did you start blogging?

4. Your all time favourite pushchair?

5. Most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?

6. Most trouble you’ve ever been in?

7. What’s your dream job?

8. What was the last news you heard that shocked you?

9. What film always makes you cry – no matter how often you watch it?

10. What do you think would be harder for you to do... go to work and leave your children home, or stay at home with your children?

11. What did the last text message you sent say?

12. Did you have an imaginary friend when you were little? What was he/she called?

So - if you fancy a go (no pressure though - I never normally bother) please step forward:

Tiff @TiandKay

Chantelle @mamamummymum

Kendel @The trials and tribulations of raising a family

Another day, another dollar...

2012-02-03T22:51:00.000Z

I’ve had a few jobs – a riding instructor, a waitress and a hydraulic modellor (I'll leave you to google that), and by far and away the toughest has been mummy (but it’s not tough in the same way). So now I have another job. I have recently become ‘Pushchairtrader Fiona’. It sounds exciting and amazing - and to me, it is. In actual fact I’m just helping out look after Pushchair Traders facebook wall – making sure that everyone plays nice and has lots of fun. It’s not too difficult but requires a little bit of independent thought and problem solving as you never know quite what people are going to ask and I love to solve problems. Since I’ve started my new job, I’ve become aware of how tough it must be for people with children who work to achieve that elusive mythical thing – the work:life balance.

It would it be easier if I could stash my children somewhere and do some work without them around but I can’t do that. I feel guilty even looking at my laptop when the kids are around as Isaac is already feeling hard done by by the intrusion of Oscar into our lives, so surely I should spend every spare second I don’t need to spend with Oscar with Isaac? That takes up all my time then, but of course mummies don’t get their own time right? Not to do what they want with anyway. That’s what happens when we decide to become mummies; we understand that it is the end of our own time. Is a job classed as my own time – I’ve always loved work, work of any kind, it’s sad I know but I loved doing a job and doing it well, I love to go the extra mile, do the extra hours and put in the extra effort, I love to think that my boss will see me as his ‘go to’ person, so, if my job is to be a mummy AND to have a worky job how do I do them both better than best? I only have 100% of me, doing both at at least 100% would make 200%, and that sounds tiring. I am tired. So what should I do? I want to do everything, I want to have it all, how would I do that, how would I start? I have no answer for that, and I fear I may get drowned just worrying about doing it all, let alone actually doing it all so I’ve decided to set some time aside for me to recharge myself.

I recently read a blog post by Sarah Maliphant and it's made me think that I need to take a step back from all this fretting and find a way to recharge. So, starting on Monday, this is what I’m going to do – when Isaac takes his nap and Oscar is quiet I am going to have a cup of tea. I am going to sit down by my patio window, with a hot cup of tea, poured from a pot of tea made in one of my lovely little teapots, and I’m going to drink it watching the little birds flitting up and down to the bird feeder. It's going to be a change, because usually I barely get time to wang a teabag in a dirty old mug and then leave it on the side and forget about it, let alone sit down for a few moments and do nothing much whilst sipping hot well brewed tea. But that’s how I’m going to start, everything else the whole rest of the day can be crammed and rushed and fraught as I struggle to give 100% to everything I do, but for as long as it takes me to empty that teapot, I’m going to give 100% to me and its going to be amazing, it’s going to be something I succeed at. One little thing that I CAN do, and I can do well. I may even get some cake to go with that cup of tea.

Big Bad Bully

2012-01-12T13:52:00.000Z

Hmmmm, I thought when I had children that it would be a few years before I had to deal with issues of bullying. Unfortunately I have recently witnessed some extreme physical violence in our household that can only be described as bullying. Luckily for my children the members of our household being bullied are our cats. We have two cats – Roary and Angusina (she was a gender confused Angus as a kitten) and we all love them very much. Isaac loves them a little too much, but that’s another story. So, when we recently moved from a cottage in the middle of nowhere, to a cluster of four houses in the middle of nowhere we never even considered our cats potential social situation.

Our cats are ‘outdoor’ cats, at the old house they used to come and go in and out of a porch area as they pleased, I often tried to tempt them into the main house but they were more than happy to roam the countryside looking for innocent mice/voles/rats/shrews/rabbits to torture, kill and eat. At the new house they were confined to quarters for the obligatory two weeks and during this time we had a little visitor. In our new lounge we have French doors out onto the communal garden and every night, round about the same time, a great big black cat would come and sit outside the door staring in the window. Roary and Angusina were HORRIFIED. You’d think they’d never seen a cat before. Anyway, the time came to release them from captivity and....they wouldn’t go. I thought, fair enough I’ll give them some time, maybe they’re nervous of the strange surroundings. So, I waited, and still no matter how often I opened the door, they didn’t want to go. So, in the end I put them outside and locked the door. Cruel? Maybe, but as the saying goes, sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, they’d like it once they got out there right? And it went okay, they were gradually stepping away from the door...until the black cat turned up and all hell broke loose. The black cat didn’t really do much in my opinion (after some initial biffing about the head he just sort of stood around looking menacing) but he obviously said something quite derogatory as both Roary and Angusina have taken umbrage and are now adamant they are no way going out that door. They are almost hysterical with fear when I make a move towards the door. And still, every night, the black cat sits outside the door, as if to taunt them.

Ruby and GINGER – Cosy Car Seat Cover

2012-01-05T11:37:00.000Z

Okay, it’s been a little while since I’ve written a review (well one for my own blog anyway) and what better way to start the New Year than with a review of something I really LOVE (prepare yourself for some gushing). As you may be aware I had a new baby recently, Oscar is about eight weeks old now and is growing at a rate of knots. This time last year I had a new baby too, Isaac was born in October 2010, and shortly after we had one of the coldest, snowiest winters seen for many years in the Scottish Borders and I was forever chucking blankets and snow suits on him, then having to strip him down when I got in the car so he didn’t overheat, before trying to dress him back up again when we got to our destination. Quite frankly it was a nightmare and we spent way more time getting ready and faffing about with clothes and blankets than we did actually out anywhere. So, this year, with Oscar due in November I thought I’d give something else a try, and when I spotted the Ruby and GINGER Cosy Car Seat cover I fell in love and knew I HAD to have it. After failing to win one in several competitions I entered I bit the bullet and purchased one myself and boyohboy am I glad I did!

The cover comes in a range of colours and patterns of fabric, all of which are unusual and lovely. I’m a big fan of gorgeous things (who isn’t?!) and I really love the fabrics used for all Ruby and GINGER's products. My personal favourite is ‘wallpaper’ but as I have a bright red pushchair, and wanted to use my car seat on the pushchair occasionally I opted for the ‘Berries’ because I thought it would ‘go’ better. I’m pleased to say it looks even better in real life than it does on the website. When it first came I was impressed at the thickness of it – I’m obsessed with tog ratings (comes from living in a draughty old cottage that costs the earth to heat) unusually for something other than a sleeping bag Ruby and GINGER give a tog rating for the cover of 3+, which is perfect and gives a great indication of how warm baby will be. The elastic is nice and tight so it stays on even in gale force winds (and believe me I’ve tried it!) and the peephole window is perfect (it’s great to be able to shut it over as you nip out of the car into the house if it’s raining, no cold rain drops falling on a sleeping babies face! I’ve had nothing but compliments from other people about it, it’s easy to put on (even Isaac can help me stretch it over the car seat) and it leaves the handle of the car seat completely free. I have used it with a blanket underneath in really cold weather to stop stray draughts, and because it’s not over tight I’m sure there will be plenty of room for a larger baby to kick their feet around without kicking it off, though I have yet to try this. It’s machine washable which ticks a big box for me (I have washed it and it didn’t shrink or fade) and it also comes in a handy carry bag (which is so nice I’ve used it as a tote style handbag a couple of times when I’ve had to go somewhere without my changing bag – I have two babies and only one changing bag!).

Customer service at ruby and GINGER is also great but as the product is such great quality I’ve not had the need to seriously question anything, I do know they have a great website, a lovely friendly Facebook community and I would recommend following their Twitter feed. I’m trying to think of something you might not like about it but I honestly can’t think of anything. I really love this and out of all the things I’ve had to review recently this one has really stuck with me. I like it lots and wish I had it last year for Isaac, so, please don’t delay if you’re considering purchasing this! Oh and don’t forget to check out their other stuff... great ideas, a range of prices and lovely fabrics... all perfect as little treats for yourself or lovely gifts for mums to be!

GO FASTER...SLOW DOWN!

2012-01-04T20:45:00.000Z

I’m what I like to call a speed birther. Once I get started I can’t stop. With my first baby, Isaac, I felt my first contraction at 9am and he was born the same day at 5.30pm. With my second baby, Oscar, who came almost exactly a year later, I felt my first contraction at 6am and he was born just after 10am. This would be great, only I live about an hour and a half away from the hospital and unfortunately for him, my other half has acted as chauffer on both occasions.

For my first birth poor old daddy was at work in town, an hour away on the bus, by the time he got home Isaac was thinking of making an imminent appearance, but, not having given birth before I didn’t realise. I walked down the lane to meet him off the bus just a few hours before Isaac was born. I thought there was something funny going on, I even stopped to chat to the postman on the way down but neither of us realised the urgency of the situation; if you fancy a giggle you can read that birth story here – my ignorance to the situation is fairly amusing. With Oscar there was no hanging about, Ben practically threw me into the car at the first twinge and it was pedal to the metal along winding country lanes and rural A Roads all the way to the hospital. Ben is usually quite a careful driver and during the later stage of my pregnancy I was very uncomfortable so we had been going VERY carefully, especially around bends. On this particular day we started off in a similar vein... until a strange sensation came over me...and I began to realise... THE BABY WAS COMING - NOW.

So then started my hysterical demands on poor old Bens driving skills... I’d shout “GO FASTER we need to get there the baby is coming out!!!”... so he’d speed up... as soon as he’d got going I’d get a contraction and shout “What do you think you’re doing – SLOW DOWN IT HURTS YOU BOOB”, by the time he’d slowed down the contraction had passed and I’d yell, “GET GOING – THE BABY IS COMING NOW”... this went on an on with me alternating my instructions and shouting abuse at him for doing it wrong for most of the journey, as the contractions got closer together so did my requests... the car looked like a learner driver was at the wheel, bunnyhopping the clutch all the way down the road, but my lovely Ben never questioned my demands, just shut up and did what he was told.

Eventually we did get to the hospital and Oscar was born just half an hour later... but I’m still not sure who was more pleased to drive into that hospital car park; me, the car or Ben!

Stimulating Simultaneous Snoozing

2012-01-02T22:23:00.000Z

I have two children now. It's come as a bit of a shock. Isaac’s 14 months now and we have a lovely routine. I love routine, I used to have a horse, you learn with a horse – routine is king, want an easy life and a happy hoss? Get a routine. I was pleased to find this worked with babies too. Oscars 8 weeks now and up until very recently he’s done exactly what he wants when he wants. But I’m working hard to gain the upper hand. I know from last time Isaac wasn’t a ‘good baby’ to start with... Isaac became a good baby when I ‘manned up’ and realised that I’m the mommy, and until he knows better, what mommy says - goes. So, from the age of about 3 months Isaac had a routine... I forced him into it, he hated doing it. I hated doing it. But we did it, and by the time Isaac was 4 months old he had become sweetness and light and slept 12hours a night without fail, and we both lived happily ever after. Until Oscar came along that is. Oscar messed up our routine. Oscar didn’t play ball (literally, no matter how many times Isaac has bashed him on the head with one), and Isaac and I didn’t like it, we we’re ‘put out’. So, we’ve started doing something about it... we’re getting Oscar into a routine... a key part of this routine is getting the nap situation sorted out. If we’re at home Isaac naps in an afternoon without fail. Usually after his lunch (taken between 12 and 12.30pm, he goes up to his room, I put him in his cot and he goes to sleep for between 1 and 2 hours (depending on what time he got up and what he’s done in the morning). Now, a couple of times I’ve fluked Oscars nap to coincide with Isaacs – and it was AMAZING! I had no children annoying me for about an hour! Can you imagine – a WHOLE hour to myself – I didn’t know what to do with my time, I felt lost, well until I sat down with a HOT cup of tea and a bit of chocolate that is. Now I’ve had a taste of a child free afternoon hour I want more. I’m going to get this sorted. I’m going to fix it so I can feed Isaac his lunch without Oscar screaming blue murder, and I’m going to get that hour of freedom in an afternoon even if it kills me (and believe me – it may just do that).

Right, so, here’s the plan (for your info - Isaac is 14 months and Oscar is 8 weeks):

6.40am - Daddy goes work

7am – Oscar Milk and back down for a nap

7.45am – Isaac up, dressed and breakfast (he often wakes earlier but luckily I cultivated a ‘wait for mommy’ mentality so he’ll chat happily in his bed till I get him)

8.30am – Isaac play and Oscar play/nap/cuddle mummy

10.30am – Isaac snack

11am – Oscar Milk

12pm – Isaac’s lunch and While Oscar naps

12.30pm – Isaac naps

2.30pm – Isaac up (if he’s not already) and snack

3pm - Oscar Milk

4.30pm – Go get daddy from work

6.00pm – Isaacs Tea

7.00pm - Oscar Milk and Bed

7.30pm Isaac Milk and Bed

8.00pm – Collapse on the sofa

11.00pm – Oscar milk and collapse in bed

So – hands up if you think this will be a success – I need it to be, I’m gonna go crazy otherwise. When things are getting on top of me I just have to chant my inner mantra - I AM THE MOMMY I AM THE MOMMY I AM THE MOMMY... aren't I?!

It must be ages...right?

2011-12-24T15:33:00.000Z

So, here it is... after a month of no blogging (gave birth...moved house...no Internet...Christmas time) I'm ready to share my second birth story with the world (well technically it's my third I guess as I was born myself once upon a time, but I'll save that doozy for another day). My previous pregnancy with Isaac came to an abrupt and rapid end two weeks early, (you can read about it here) so this time I had my mom on hand to watch Isaac (now 13 months) well in advance... little good it did me though... this time I was two days late! As much as I would like to share with you a long and agonising labour story, striking fear into the hearts of all mums to be, mine was actually quite short and sweet (well, okay, it was short anyway).

So, here we go...

I was woken up at 6am as usual by Isaac chatting away on the baby monitor... after a few minutes I felt what I thought might be a contraction so I woke up my man and told him. He (sensibly) asked if I wanted to get up, to which I (stupidly) replied "naaah I've only just felt one its probably a false alarm and if not I'll need all the rest I can get anyway because who knows how long it might last, it must be ages right?".

I went back to sleep. 7am - I woke up and was sure I was having contractions about 10 minutes apart lasting about a minute. Got up, got dressed, got ready, phoned labour ward (and told them I was on my way whether they liked it or not - no hanging about this time). Left the house at about 8.10am... now if you don't know from reading my previous post the hospital is over an hour away down rural lanes and A roads. I spent much of the second half of that journey helpfully shouting either "Go faster... it's coming!" or "Slow down...it hurts!". By the time we got to the hospital about 9.20am I felt like the baby was falling out at every contraction, although as my waters had yet to break I was sure it must be ages yet right?

I got up to the labour ward and was informed I was 6cm dilated - still far from the magic 10cm... must be ages right? As I'd requested the birthing pool they were starting to fill it, and the lovely midwife said "it'll take a while to fill, so just try and relax OK?" I then began to get the feeling I may not have a while to wait for it. I tried to communicate this to the midwife but she wasn't having any of it. She wanted to put a line into my arm - I'd had low Iron levels during my pregnancy and she wanted to be sure she could top me up during or after the birth. I got the feeling that her doing this task was very important but every time she went to put it in I had a contraction, I got tired of her saying "let me know when ones coming and I'll wait" (eventually she just gave up although I didn't register this at the time). I also tried to request some form of pain relief at this point, but there seemed no hurry for this either - and the general lack of any kind of haste calmed me, as no one was in any rush and of course, my waters still hadn't broken so I must have ages right?

I finally got my first go on the gas and air at 9.50am. This is when my suspicions about the speed of proceedings were really aroused - the gas and air made me dizzy but made little or no difference to the pain...I remembered this from last time and I could recall it happened quite close to the end. BUT Still no sign of waters breaking... no desire to push and birthing pool still filling... so MUST be ages yet right?

WRONG. At 10am I started to push, and once I'd started I couldn't stop, waters or no waters I was gonna get that baby out. And I did. 10 minutes of excruciating pain later baby Oscar McArthur Smith popped out, all pink and wriggley and perfect, weighing in at 8lb 8oz (a whole 2lb heavier than Isaac was!). Daddy cut the cord and Oscar weed on me. The midwife congratulated us and then turned off the taps on the birthing pool... I guess I didn't have ages right?

I've got a man living in my house

2011-11-12T21:40:00.000Z

Don't get me wrong, I do know him. He's Isaac's daddy and my... ummm... my what? This is the problem I face you see. Because I'm not married to him, he's not my husband (although we live as man and wife). He can be described as many other things, but I find none of them fit quite right for the relationship we have. I cringe when describing him as my boyfriend as we seem a little old for that kind of thing... but then he's definitely not my manfriend as that just sounds weird. We're engaged so he should be 'my fiancee' but hes technically still married to someone else, and I'm not so keen on using 'my fiancee' as I seem unable to say it without sounding like Del Boy from Only Fools and Horses - "my feeeonsaaay". He's my co-habitee, but that's a bit functional and makes me feel like I'm involved in some kind of benefit fraud. He's my significant other - but as opposed to which other others, I'm not running some kind of man harem here. I usually call him "my partner", but when using that during introductions I always tend to feel the need to clarify that I'm not a lesbian, but by doing so I get a feeling that people are think "hmm the lady doth protest too much". Sometimes in a relaxed situation I use the phrase "other half" which is probably my favourite as that's what he feels like to me ... when I'm not with him I feel like I've lost something, so maybe its my other half that I've lost? Whatever he is... he's alllll mine and I love him very much... even if all my yummy mummy pals that have never met him think he's a she ;-)

The Lovely Lovely Love List Of Loveliness

2011-11-09T15:57:00.000Z

1. Cake or chocolate – discuss.

Ummm is Chocolate Cake an option? Because if not, it really should be. Here is a picture of a chocolate cake my other half and son made me for mother day. It has very cheery blue icingagogo on it. How’s that for a lovely start.

2. Your most embarrassing memory. Of. All. Time.

Hmmmm I hate to say it but I spend most of my time in a constant state of embarrassment. Randomly I think that the MOST embarrassing time was when I wiped my grubby hands on a towel in a public toilet only to be given a tirade of abuse from an old woman who had hired said towel in order to use the shower facilities. I really had never heard language like it or been called such names before or since (I was age 12 at the time). Neither had the other people using the facilities judging from the sniggers I could hear emanating from behind the cubical doors. This doesn't sound very embarrasing but I can clearly remember being mortified - I think 12 must have been a difficult age for me.

3. What’s your claim to fame?

Ermmm I once took a blow to the head at a Muse concert when Matt Bellamy threw his guitar into the audience giving me slight concussion. In my panic to hold onto the guitar I managed to gouge my fingernails deep into the back of a guy who was trying to get the guitar off me, creating a wound which (in his opinion) required stitches. I was interviewed for Radio 1 but they couldn’t use it in the end in case a) I later sued Muse for having a guitar thrown at me, b) The guy sued them for me gouging a hole in him, c) I was so over excited you couldn’t make out a word I was saying anyway. I got to go back stage and meet the band though although they were somewhat wary of my blood stained fingers.

4. Would you rather lick Brad Pitts armpit or Johnny Depps foot?

Well now this is a tricky business, because I think I’d really prefer to mix it up a bit and go for Brad Pitt’s Foot as I’m not really a fan of anyone’s pits, not even Pitts Pits.

5. What is the worst chat up line that has ever been said to you?

“I’ve lost my teddy bear – can I sleep with you tonight instead?” It did not work. I think I may actually have run away. And I never run if I can help it. This guy had also just told me he had previously shot himself in the head with a BB gun to see if it hurt – which apparently it did.

6. What is the worst chat up line you have ever used?

I’m sad to say I have never used a specific chat up line in my life, I think I will have to rectify this immediately. Okay, having had to resort to the internet I think my favourite worst chat up line would be “I may not be Wilma Flintstone, but I know I can make your BedRock”. I will aim to use this at some point in my life (not just now though as I’m two days before my due date and the only bed rocking that is likely to take place is when I get in and it buckles under my stupendous weight).

7. Shag, Mary, Push off a cliff: Jeremy Kyle / David Hasslehoff / Louis Walsh

Ohh good lord what choices?!

Shag = Jeremy Kyle (though only if I were supplied with a gag – and no not for use in a kinky way – just to prevent him sharing any judgmental anecdotes at crucial moments).
Marry = The Hoffmeister – just for the soundbites I could collect
Push off a cliff = Louis Walsh, sorry Louis but someone’s gotta get it – and it turns out it’s you.

8. If you were skipping gaily in a meadow of sweet buttercups what would you rather stop to pet – a fluffy bunnykins or a little baby mole whose little pink nose was emerging from the ground?

Fluffy bunnykins everytime. Though we have two cats here so the chances of seeing a fluffy bunnykins are limited (they’ve dispatched more than I care to think about).

Here they are when they were little kittys...
don't be fooled by their cuddly exterior though... they can kill

9. What biscuit is the best biscuit?

Tunnochs Caramel Wafers. Grrr.

10. If you had to sniff a fart would you rather it was the fart of Brad Pitt or Lady Gaga

Good grief what a question! I’m not a fart sniffer, and if you lived with my other half you wouldn’t be either, I’ve learnt the hard way - sniffing farts can seriously damage your health – be warned.

Ahhh Lovely...

The TFK Twinner Twist Duo – A Lengthy Review!

2011-11-08T22:26:00.001Z

I originally wrote a short review to become a long term pushchair tester for Pushchair Trader website, and I thought it might be useful to share it with you (in a slightly expanded form!). Trends For Kids (TFK) are a relatively new brand to the U.K. and I found it difficult to find information on them when I was looking into buying their side by side double pushchair - the Twinner Twist Duo. So, here you are, these are some of its key features and my initial opinion on it (will be sure to let you know how I get on with it when baby number two eventually makes an appearance and we put it to good use).

What is it?
This pushchair is a side-by-side double travel system suitable for off-road, sports and urban use. The basic pushchair comes with two good sized seat units attached to a lightweight frame and a shopping basket. The Twinner Twist Duo really comes into its own though when you consider its versatility. Extras available include soft and hard carrycots, car seat adapters, raincovers, UV sunshades, footmuffs and many more extras are available as options, the TFK catalogue for 2011 can be found here, the wide array of extras can be found at the back (you have to check out the mamaboard!). The best part is that the Twinner can be both a great a twin buggy with two car seat or two carrycots on at the same time, and a great sibling buggy - with any combination of these. I'm going to be using the pushchair for my 12month old and a newborn, so I have the car seat adapter and the hard carrycot to put on one side and the seat unit will stay on the other side.

What I like about it...
I personally bought this buggy because I found it more manoeuvrable and neater than many of its competitors. I also liked the compact fold for a buggy of this size; it's far smaller than the mountain buggy. I needed something that could go off-road but that I would also be able to use around town. The suspension, combined with the really chunky air tyres and the hand brake mean this is a great off-roader, but the swivel wheels and the short wheel base and width mean it’s easy to manoeuvre through shop aisles. The disc brakes work really well and you can easily amble down even steep hills with a heavy load with just one hand on the brake. The pushchair looks smart, with nice details such as the black wheels and reflective trim (which is really handy for winter nights). I LOVE all the pockets, especially the Velcro ones on either side of the frame which you can fill with your purse and phone and then just Velcro off if you need to go into a cafe where you can't take a pushchair for example. The basket is really spacious although it has a bar splitting it which makes it hard to get single large items in, but there’s still plenty of room either side. The seats are tall and deep, and bearing in mind the need to keep the buggy narrow enough to fit through a standard doorway are plenty wide enough. I also love the recline on this pushchair, its zipped which I thought would be fiddly but as TFK have attached little tags to all the zips they’re quite easy to catch hold of, but the best part is the recline is really flat and you can adjust each child’s footrest individually, even making an almost horizontal bed of about 1m length if you need to - great for proper naps!

What I don’t like about it...
My main niggles with this buggy are the hoods which provide very little shade to the seat units, especially for a younger child who’s head doesn't reach very far up the seat. The seats are quite reclined even in their most upright position, which I was worried my little one wouldn't be keen on (especially after I have been using the TFK Joggster Twist as a single which sits much more upright. Initially the Twinner did feel a bit like a tank to push, but having tried some other similar pushchairs I realised that for its size it’s far superior, it will just take a bit of getting used to I think. It's a little annoying that the cable from the handbrake runs along the handle bar so you can feel it, but this is a minor thing. When using the car seat on one side it does tend to overhang the seat quite a lot, but I do prefer this to it overhanging the other side and making the buggy wider.

The extras:
I also purchased two footmuffs (we live in very chilly Scotland and footmuffs of some sort are a must) after incorrectly quoting me the price of the Twinner over the phone before we went to try it out the retailer offered me one for free so I thought what the hell, let’s get both (although she didn’t have one for me to see they weren’t extortionately priced for an ‘own brand’ footmuff so I didn’t think they could be too bad...boy oh boy was I surprised when I saw them! You can see what I thought of them here... but in short – they are amazing!). I also got the carrycot which I was very impressed with – the attention to detail is lovely, there are little side pockets, you can collapse it flat, the ventilated hood clicks satisfyingly up and down and it has a shade and fly net that cover the opening. It’s really lovely, and comes with a comfy mattress as standard. It’s easy to slide on and off once you get the idea, and you can keep the adapter bars in place when you fold the buggy which is handy.

The car seat adapters caused a little confusion... but only in a good way. I had a Cybex Aton car seat already, and was surprised to find that TFK list this as one of the car seats they have adapters for (only Mamas and Papas sell the Cybex in the UK so usually only M&P pushchairs cater for them). My retailer was having none of this though (even though I had investigated this thoroughly before hand!) but in the end a quick call to the UK distributor cleared it up. You can get adapters that fit both the Cybex Aton and Maxi Cosi Pebble/Cabriofix and also adapters for Romer and Recaro. There are also adapters for Graco and Peg Perego but I think these are US only. You have to remove the car seat adapter to fold the pushchair – I think hinging the sticky up bits of the car seat adapter itself might have been a good idea as it’s quite an unwieldy piece of metal to be honest.

I’m currently trying to buy the UV sunshades for next summer as I was disappointed by the hoods, the only other thing that initially annoyed me was that raincovers weren’t included, but then when I came to buy them I understood that the amount of different combinations of raincovers people might want make it much better to have the buggy cheaper and pay extra for exactly what you want. So for example I got: A carrycot raincover, a single seat raincover and a double seat raincover. One of the things I like about TFK’s raincovers is the size of the ‘pop hole’, you can get the child in a and out through it without having to take the raincover off and its really handy for our showery British weather as you can open it up and flop it back leaving lots of fresh air to circulate so you don’t end up with a greenhouse effect roasting your child!

To conclude...
I would definitely recommend you look into the TFK Twinner Twist Duo if you are after a side by side double pushchair that makes a great travel system and is suitable from birth. TFK as a brand have some amazing innovative products, and are beginning to make inroads into the UK market. I am so thankful I managed to see a Twinner in 'real-life' before I decided on my final purchase because I wasn't expecting to be impressed by it and I really was. I'm sure as I use the pushchair 'in anger' so to speak I will find out more and more things I like and dislike about it, but currently the TFK Twinner is my 'forever' pushchair and I just can't wait for new baby to turn up so I can take it for a proper spin!

P.S. I bought my TFK pushchair off my own bat and have never recieved anything from them and I don't work for TFK either (although I sometimes think I harp on about them enough that they must owe me something ;-) )

Wot Yow dooin (a very pacific post)

2011-11-03T09:32:00.000Z

I often cringe when I hear people use the word ‘pacifically’. Now, I don’t have a personal vendetta against this word in particular, in fact it would be ironic if I did, as I believe it means to do something peaceably or in a peaceable manner. I can also imagine it means to do something in the way of the Pacific Ocean, but I doubt that anyone would ever do something in the way of the Pacific Ocean (as we are not oceans, we are people) so I don’t think that can be an official meaning. What I dislike so much about pacifically is that more often than not the person using it actually intends to use the word SPECIFICALLY. Which has a lot less to do with peace OR oceans. Having started to write this post I just had a mini panic that maybe I’d missed something and when people wanted to convey that they meant ‘something in particular’ the word to use WAS in fact pacifically, but the all knowing interweb tells me no, so I think I’m good to continue without excess humiliation. I wonder how hard it can be to use the ‘s’? Can people not hear the difference? Maybe it’s like me with my singing... I sound like a great singer to me but have been reliably informed many times that I am in fact completely tone deaf with no musical ability whatsoever. Now you may think I’m over reacting about the specifically thing, and maybe I am, I’m not great at spelling myself and although I take pride in attempting to use grammar correctly, I’m not going to pretend to be a great grammatist (I may have even made that word up). I went to your bog standard comprehensive school where we had more lessons on how not to get pregnant than we did on the correct use of the apostrophe or even how to spell ‘cat’. I think I have developed this dislike of pacifically specifically because pacifically is not a made up word, it’s the wrong word, it means something else, it’s rude to specifically (who I can almost hear crying out every time someone says pacifically when they mean specifically) and I think pacifically maybe getting too much of an ego. Pacifically doesn’t deserve his new found fame, he hasn’t worked for it, he has stolen it, stolen it from poor old specifically specifically.

Recently I have been wondering a lot about language, diction and dialect. Isaac is a fairly quiet baby and doesn’t really say much, I chatter away to him all the time and he interacts well with his pals, he just doesn’t seem to feel the need to vocalise much. When encouraging him to speak I want to a) make it easy for him and b) start off as I mean to go on. So that’s best done using ‘proper’ English right? Should be easy enough, after all I am English myself so how hard can it be? Well, now I’ve started noticing things I’m saying and words I’m using and it turns out my English is pretty far removed from that which I imagine it should be, with or without my feelings on the correct usage of specifically/pacifically. I was born near Birmingham and grew up in an area close to there known as ‘The Black Country’, which initially has lovely connotations of the industrial revolution, lovely that is until you realise there was nothing romantic about the industrial revolution and certainly nothing romantic about the many recessions and subsequent declines in the manufacturing industries that give the area much of it’s ermm ‘charm’.

When I grew up I never knew I had an accent and I never heard any of my friends speak with an accent, sometimes when I was on holiday people would laugh at my ‘brummie’ accent, which was confusing as I didn’t live in Birmingham so obviously wasn’t a brummie. My everyday conversational interactions would include phrases such as “wot yow dooin?” (what are you doing?) “youm saft yow am” (you’re silly), “om gonna lomp yow” (i’m going to hit you), and the slightly random “ooo it ay arf black ova bills muvas” (it looks like it may rain, or sometimes, it looks like there may be trouble). I found that as I didn’t hear these at home (my parents being from Yorkshire and Scotland) I could easily drop and pick up the dialect depending upon who I was speaking to, which I have found useful since moving out of the area, although people ‘in the know’ will still sometimes pick me out as a ‘Yam Yam’. I rarely use these phrases now but I do still have the accent and occasionally (especially when ‘het up’ about something I slip into a bizarre mixture Black Country Scots. I didn’t realise until I was fairly old that I had collected some ’non-standard’ words from my mother’s Scottish heritage. I kid you not; I didn’t know that these weren’t the actual words for these things until I was surprisingly old. I did and still do use ‘slater’ for a woodlouse, ‘oose’ for some fluff or lint, ‘peely wally’ for someone who is peaky or pale looking. Add to this the fact that Isaacs’s daddy uses some completely random words like ‘woogley’ for a daddy long legs and ‘stotie’ for a bread roll and it’s no wonder Isaac isn’t too chatty. My guess is he’s probably waiting to hear the queen’s speech on Christmas Day in order to get some clarity in the language department. I’m going to be paying attention too, but only so I can ensure the correct usage of poor old doomed specifically.

Its the final countdown... duddleduhhduhh

2011-10-29T00:01:00.002+01:00

So, here I am... 2 weeks or so left till birth and I’m bored. Bored of waiting. It seems like everyone wants to share their birth story with me at the moment, they seem to relish providing me with the gory details with a look on their face that says ‘thank goodness I aint doing that again’ which is fine, only errmm I AM doing that again so can you please either lie and tell me how ‘it was a breeze second time round, the baby practically fell out’ or maybe just not say anything at all? I understand the desire to share though. I had a few classic moments during my last birth and thought I’d share them with you (see... we women can’t resist, now I’m at the whole sharing thing), anyway these were a few of my favourites. (Just so you know, Isaac was very co-operative in his timings, I felt my first contraction at 9.01am and Isaac was born the same day at 17.28pm... just like a regular working day!).

I had numerous helpful conversations with the labour ward during the day, here is an example of the last one I made where I finally got fed up (this was made at 3.00pm after having contractions since 9am!):

Me: “Hello, it’s Fiona, I called earlier about being in labour”

Labour Ward: “ahhh yes, how’s it going?”

Me: “Well the contractions are 3 – 4 minutes apart, lasting over a minute now”

Labour Ward: “Oooh that sounds good”

Me: <long pause> “Ermmm shall I come in now then?”

Labour ward: “Oh, Well you can but you’ll probably be ages yet what with it being your first, and its caesarean day today so we’re quite busy, did you have a bath and go for a walk yet?”

Me: “Yes I went for a walk but now I can’t really walk because the contractions are too strong and too frequent. Do you think I can come in now please because you’re over an hour in the car and I don’t want to leave it too late, oh and can I have the birthing pool filled please?”

Labour ward: “Ohhh right then well of course you can come in if you want to, we’ll see you in an hour or so, the pools free so we’ll start filling it up for you when you get here.”

Me: “Rightyo, see you soon.”

At 4.00pm we arrived at Labour ward, I sit down and my waters break ... all hell breaks loose. Midwives are scuttling in dragging various bits of equipment, alarms are going of everyone is dashing in and out. I’m now very confused, did I do something wrong? Am I in the wrong place? Is something wrong with the baby? “Do you feel like pushing?” asks one midwife, “ermm no I’m fine thank you...” is that the correct response? “Would you like some gas and air?” asks another, “ermm yeah go on then” (I’m up for anything – it says so in my birth plan, not that they have opened my notes yet as there is still much rushing about going on).

Anyway, things kick off with a bang now, and I feel like I’m dying -“Keep breathing the gas and air” the midwife says, ohh yeahh believe me I will do, because there’s NO chance you’re getting that off me again now, it’s my lifeline, I’m pretty sure I’d DIE without it, “bring on the serious pain relief” I say, relishing the thought of some serious medication, but what’s this... she’s telling me “you can’t have anything stronger now, it’s too late”... “Too late? TOO LATE” I say, “what do you mean too late?! That’s not fair, YOU were the ones who told me not to come here, and now I am here and you tell me I’m TOO LATE? Right, well - I want to get in the bath now then”, I demand “ermm well actually you can’t do that either because we won’t have time to fill it now” “ARE YOU JOKING?! You’re telling me I can’t even get in the bath because I’m TOO LATE?”... “errmm Yes”.

At 4.30pm The midwife turns to me and says “great job with the pushing but what I think would really help is if you stopped screaming so much and used that energy to help with even better pushing”... I nod and then as she walks away I turn to Ben and say “Did you hear that? She says I’m screaming too much... I’m not screaming at all, what’s she talking about? How rude is that? She’s a LIAR”, looking back now I can clearly remember Bens face at this point, and I can see the indecision written all over it, to give him his due he very kindly nodded and agreed with me, “Rude” he said. Anyway, the next contraction I thought I maybe COULD hear a noise... an animalistic guttural roar of pain, a shocking sound, whoever was making it must be scaring the other moms-to-be waiting out the early stages of labour half to death the selfish cow... oh hang on a sec, that sound is coming from somewhere really close by... hang on... that sound is coming from... ME! Damn it, and I thought she was just being rude.

At 5.00pm I went through what I have since found out is the usual denial/change of heart stage:

Me “right well I’ve had enough of this now thanks, I think I’ll be okay without a baby to be honest... in fact I’m pretty sure anything that hurts this much can’t be a good thing anyway, it’s probably best if we forget about the whoolleee thing and I just go home now?”

Midwife: “It doesn’t work like that; you don’t get a choice now. The baby is on its way”

Me: “Well I’m afraid we’ll just have to cancel the order, I didn’t sign up to this, it’s not ‘as described’, I won’t even ask for a refund – you can keep the last 9 months too how’s that sound?”

Midwife: “Ready to push again then?”

Just after this the midwife said to us “I think by 5.30 we should be done here, just before my shift ends, perfect timing” I thought “jeez I don’t think I can keep this up for another 12 hours, I’m exhausted already” and I said as much to Ben, Ben said “err I think she means half five as in about 30 minutes?”, at which stage complete panic set in as I “HAVENT HAD ENOUGH TIME...IT’S TOO SOON... HE CANT COME YET...IM NOT REEAADDDYYYY”

At 5.28pm Isaac was born and all was well with the world... then I had some tea and toast, and then I threw it back up.

Anyway although they say it’s the "quickest forgotten pain” I was still adamant that I was NEVER doing that EVER again... well until Isaac was 3 months old that is and I found out I was pregnant again...

Beware the Lodge, (especially the West ones)

2011-10-24T23:11:00.000+01:00

When we moved here from Birmingham just over a year ago, I was completely smitten with our new little home; West Lodge. The rent was fabulously cheap, the walls were fabulously freshly painted and the house was fabulously empty and ready to go. See where I’ve written ‘fabulously’ there? If I’d known what I know now you would have read them as ‘suspiciously’... more fool me, eh?

Anyway, West Lodge is a cute three bedroom dormer cottage, with a large kitchen, a lounge diner, downstairs bathroom, utility and large porch. It also has a massive rambling garden where I visualised our (at the time) unborn child running around filling his lungs with the fresh countryside air. “Fab”, I thought. “Living the dream” I said. Right, well, here we are just over a year later and I have experienced such joys as mushrooms growing in the hall, frogs living in the bathroom toilet and mould growing on the inside of windows. The gas for the central heating costs an arm and a leg and resides for surprisingly short amount of time in a tank in the garden before making a very brief appearance in the house as an asthmatic cough of heat before it disappears through the entirely un-insulated leaking roof. It’s cold, it’s dark and it’s miserable, the TV doesn’t work because of a tree in the garden which we can’t chop down and it’s ever such a long way to the toilet from your bed in the middle of the night when you’re 8 months pregnant.

There’s no shop within walking distance... that 24 hour Spar at the end of the road in Birmingham is a distant memory. Tractors go over the horrendously squeaky cattlegrid on the farm track opposite at all hours of the day and night, whereas before I’d only occasionally be woken by a speeding joyrider. The power goes off all the time; and the electricity company says “it’s cows rubbing up against the poles and tripping the switches” whereas it used to be metal thieves risking life and limb for some cabling in Birmingham. When I walk out of the back door at night nip to the car, it’s so dark I’m scared I’ll get lost on the way, whereas in Birmingham I never even saw the dark. But maybe, at the end of this ramble where I set out to warn you of the pitfalls of living in a rural ‘Lodge’, it turns out that living in our damp little Lodge isn’t all that different from living in a Birmingham Semi. Only the thing is... it is, in fact... it’s perfect here and I wouldn’t go back to good old suburbia for all the mains gas in the North Sea. And who could blame me... right?

Leibster Blog Award...

2011-10-21T18:56:00.000+01:00

How exciting... my very first (and potentially only!) award. I’ve had a tough week this week, I’m over 8 months pregnant and Isaac has chicken pox, so instead of wishing the new baby would come out now, I’m back to praying it stays in. A newborn with chicken pox would not be good. Anyway, after a week of solitary confinement I was very pleased to learn I had been passed on the Liebster Blog Award from Musings of a Stressy Mummy. I’m actually a little disappointed because Stressy Mummy is one of my favourite Blogs and really I’d like to nominate her back, (in fact I think her “What do you call your lady bits?” post may have dampened my own ‘lady bits’ a little!), but if I did that we may be stuck in an endless nomination loop which could potential lead to the end of the world... or maybe not.

The Britmums Blog Prompt on 'My 5 Favourite Blogs..." for this week fits in nicely here too, because I love to share, and as well as just list you my fave new blogs, I thought I'd tell you a bit about why I like them at the same time. Check me out, I MUST be on top of things, killing two birds with one stone... multi-tasking... ahhh now if I can just rememeber where I left the baby...

So, it appears the Liebster Blog award is for Blogs with under 200 members (I would say relatively new blogs but for me to get 200 followers seems like an impossible task potentially taking many years!) anyway, the rules are as follows:

1. Thank my Liebster Blog Award presenter (s) on my blog

2. Link back to the blogger (s) who awarded you

3. Copy & Paste the award to your blog

4. Nominate 5 blogs to receive the award

5. Let them know of their nomination by leaving a comment on their blog

So, without further ado, and in no particular order my favourite newish 5 blogs to date are:

1. 12 hours to bedtime

These posts make me smile and are ones I can really relate to (we have a daddy countdown too), I especially enjoyed reading 'Lance comes out of the closet’ as I personally found it very difficult to sleep in the same room as my baby but felt like a terrible mother for not seeing out those 6 months the midwives suggested might save Isaacs life. I think actually getting some sleep might have saved my life so hey ho you live and learn.

2. Mamma Mummy Mum

I love this blog because it has lots of short but sweet treats about day to day family life. I like to keep a close eye on it because as a mum to three cheeky girls Chantelle has a wealth of experience on the day to day things which are likely to completely flummox me when I experience them.

3. You’re not from round here

I met this blog via Love New Blogs weekly showcase and enjoyed reading her personal views on the never ending debate about breastfeeding. I struggled a lot with coming to terms with bottle feeding and it’s nice to hear that I wasn’t the only one. As a soon to be new mum again I can already feel the pressure building on me to ‘perform’ this time round.

4. Amsterdamummy

A new blog like mine that I think I’m going to be following closely as I’ve been finding recently the more time I spend home alone as a mummy, the more I worry about things like ‘making friends’ and ‘fitting in’. I’m relatively new to the area I live in but I eventually I made a lovely group of mummy friends thanks to Isaac being born. One year on and they’re all heading off back to work... whereas I’m stuck at home about to go through the whole thing again...

5. The Bling Buoy

This is another blog I only just spotted and the first post I read was all about her missing cat (I don’t want to spoil it for you but in case you’re of a delicate disposition I can tell you the cat was found safe and well!). I have two cats that mostly live outside; I got them to keep mice out the house. Sadly, the cats have other ideas and spend most of their time bring mice into the house. They also bring rabbits in which is no mean feat as the rabbits are about the same size as them and the cats have to get in the house by jumping through a small window. I wouldn’t be without them though and they’ve been very good at helping me show Isaac how to ‘be geennttlleee’ in preparation for the arrival of his little brother (it’s all good as long as Isaac doesn’t catch them napping, because then for some reason he either wants to stamp on them or pick them up by their botty holes... neither of which I think his new brother would appreciate).

So, thats it, I hope you enjoy having a peek at these other family blogs as much as I do...

Pay Attention Mummy!

2011-10-18T16:18:00.001+01:00

Today (as you may well be aware) is Tuesday and last Friday night I found some spots on Isaac’s feet and hands. I didn’t really think much of it, he sometimes get spots, bites or rashes and they usually clear up in a few days without causing him any hassle (I know I already sound like the BEST mommy don’t I? Not). Anyway, Friday was also Isaac’s first birthday and we’d had a little party with some of his chums at a local soft play centre, lots of fun was had by all, even when the bigger kids raided the little kids section (you gotta love half term).

Over the weekend Isaac got more spots, all over his face, arms and legs, but he didn’t seem that bothered, he wasn’t ill, no temperature that the completely irrational digital thermometer could detect so I still wasn’t worried. On Sunday night Isaac’s Daddy said he thought I should take Isaac to the doctors, which in itself is unusual as although as parents we both attend the school of “Bah... he’ll be fiiinneeee”, daddy comes top of the class. So, today is Tuesday and I’ve just been to the first available appointment at the doctors, (well Isaac has but obviously he can’t take himself so we went together), and it turns out he has Chicken Pox. Hmmmm now I feel guilty; think I might have to enrol at a new school – “how to be a better mom”. I thought chicken pox made you really very sick, could it be that Isaac has been very sick and I just didn’t notice... I’m starting to doubt my mummy abilities... surely I would have noticed if he had chicken pox? Wouldn’t I? Obviously not.

As if I didn’t feel bad enough, I’m over 8 months pregnant now so as the doctor said I “should be on high alert for this kind of thing” should I? hmmm I’m obviously failing in the ‘high alert’ department as well. Honestly, these days I’m never on high anything, I’m just trying to survive each day one at a time. Luckily when I had my bloods done early on in pregnancy they confirmed I’d already had chicken pox and so should be immune now. All I got to do now is keep my fingers (and legs!) crossed and hope that all Isaacs spots clear up before the new baby arrives... oh, and I should probably tell the other mummies that were at Isaacs birthday party to watch out for spots... especially the one who is getting married on Saturday... I don’t think Chicken Pox all over her gorgeous daughter would make for good wedding photos ...

If I could have one whole day to myself...

2011-10-16T19:43:00.000+01:00

I would drink a cup of tea whilst it’s hot... hmmm make that drink a cup of CAFFINATED tea whilst it’s hot.

I would eat my breakfast at my own pace, not that dictated by the daily highchair hysterics.

I would have a long hot bath whilst daddy played with Isaac (and by play I don’t mean daddy plays on the wii whilst Isaac examines the contents of the log burner).

I would sit down and look at things on the Internet without being poked with toy cars, whined at or having to get up every five seconds to have a wee.

I would eat Parma ham, pate, brie and runny fried eggs all washed down with copious amounts of wine, followed by a little vodka.

I would stay in my dressing gown all day long, and not feel like I was a bad mother when the postman knocks the door at 12pm.

I would chat on the phone for hours on end without having to say ‘ooo hang on, Isaacs got his head stuck in a colander... I’ll call you right back’ but then never getting the chance.

I would dance the night away into the wee small hours without a care or responsibility in the world, instead of sitting at home every night wondering what to watch on TV with my ear glued to the baby monitor.

If I ever DID get a whole day to myself though, I know I would miss my other half, my baby and my bump very very much... well maybe I would ...I suppose it is only a DAY after all...

You have to be cruel to be kind... the ‘Trap-A-Snack’

2011-10-13T17:21:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago Isaac started to show a real interest in feeding himself; he usually has a spoon of some description to hold while eating (Mister Spoony is always a welcome dinner guest at our table!) and has started trying to jab it either in the bowl I’m feeding him from, in my mouth (yumyum), or in his own mouth. Isaac also gets through lots of finger foods (mainly because he likes to swipe everything off the highchair onto the floor – our floor has usually seen better days when it comes to hygiene so those snacks then go in the bin).

With this in mind we decided to invest in Vital Baby’s Unbelievabowl. There are a few of these types of ‘stick to anything’ bowls around but having had Vital Baby products before I knew they’d be fab. So off we trotted to John Lewis (“honest Ben, it’s really the closest place to go to get them, and I NEED to see them in ‘real-life’ before I buy them...”), and purchased said bowls. Unfortunately for us, after we’d got home, opened all the packaging and heated Isaac some lunch in one we discovered that the Unbelievabowl didn’t stick to Isaac’s highchair. Don’t get me wrong, the ‘stickability’ of the Unbelievabowl is errrmm unbelievable; we had great fun sticking it to windows, worksurfaces, cats (just kidding), even the bath tub... but the tray of the highchair... no. Turns out the particular finish of our highchair’s tray let’s air sneak under the seal and Isaac can pretty much pull it off before 30 seconds are up. Annoyingly, it worked perfectly on anything else, including my chum’s babies highchair, and none of us could get it off the window no matter how hard we tried!

Anyway, the long and the short of it is I thought I’d let vital baby know about the fact it didn’t stick just in case there was a special button to press when you use it on a highchair (i know that sounds completely implausible but I AM pregnant with serious baby brain so I thought I’d best check!). Lucky for me the service and people at Vital Baby turned out to be lovely, they were really helpful and understanding and suggested some great alternatives. In the end they very kindly replaced the bowls with one of their newest products the ‘Trap-A-Snack’.

The Trap-A-Snack (in case you can’t imagine!) is a little bowl with a handle that has a sort of perforated lid on it, so little ones can poke their hands in and grab a snack but if they drop the bowl or (as Isaac likes to do) throw it around the room, the snacks stay in and the dirt from my kitchen floor stays out! Fantastic idea eh? Right, well we’ve had the trap-a-snack a few weeks now and although its great Isaac seems to have a mental block with it, he is only 11 months but still... how hard is it to poke your fingers in a hole and pull something out? He does this ALL the time with things he shouldn’t... the wet wipes, the storage baskets in the bathroom, the bin ... but for some reason he’s been a little slow grasping the trap-a-snack concept. I’ll tell you what though, for a busy mummy its worth its weight in gold for this reason alone, as he will spend agggeesss trying to poke his hand in and get something out without getting the trap-a-snack stuck on his hand. It’s also very entertaining to watch him trying to work it out, you can really see the cogs turning - I know, I’m one mean mommy right?I reckon sometimes as a mommy you have to be cruel to be kind though and I’m sure it’s doing wonders for his mental agility...honest! I think the problem lies in the fact getting snacks out is a two handed operation, one is needed to hold the pot and one is needed to get the food out; for Isaac this would involve putting Mister Spoony down for a little while - which doesn’t really seem to be an option at the moment!

SimplyLily

2011-10-10T11:06:00.000+01:00

Well today I have started packing my maternity bag... somehow it’s a lot less interesting than first time around... and in fact is actually just a pain to try and do whilst keeping control of an adventurous 11 month old. Luckily I kept my list of things I packed last time to refer to (I say ‘refer to’ as there are many things on that list that never saw the light of day and won’t be getting packed this time.... but that’s another story). One of the things that were on my list last time were breast pads... not the most glamorous of subjects I know, but little did I know first time round that they would be one of my best friends and greatest foes for the weeks after Isaac was born that I was breast feeding.

First off, let’s be clear on this... I NEEDED breast pads; there was milk everywhere no matter what I was doing, where I was, or the time of day or night. Ohhh the unrivalled stench of slightly soured warm breast milk that seemed to follow me around like a dark cloud during those first weeks... even now the smell of any milk brings some horrendous memories flooding back. I also must have spent an arm and a leg on disposable pads (of various brands) and couldn’t afford to buy enough washable ones to see me through from one wash to the next, I was glad when those dark days were over let me tell you.

This time I have a plan... no more will the local cats be following me around thinking I’m some kind of giant kittykat milk providing goddess... I’m going to use SimplyLily’s LilyPadz. For those of you who haven’t met them yet, they are described as an “alternative to traditional breast pads combining such unique features as flexibility, breathability, invisibility and 'sticks to you ability'to provide the kind of protection every expectant and nursing mother needs. LilyPadz reusable non-absorbent breast pads are the only breast pads that adhere to you and not your bra. LilyPadz unique design maintains pressure on the nipple and forms a non-absorbent barrier to prevent to prevent breast milk leakage.” Basically, they appear to me to be super softy silicone cups that stick to your breast and keep the milk in rather than soaking up that which comes out! Sounds great? I think so!

Anyway, I bought them yesterday from Boots, and I’ll be honest, they were an impulse buy. I’ve been following SimplyLily for a while now, since they first came to my attention in a competition on Pushchair Trader's website, and I really love the idea... but as a technically unemployed mother of soon to be two I’m loath to spend money on any potential pregnancy/baby ‘gimicks’ (I already have a cupboard full of them from the first time around!). I’d read all the testimonials and looked at the on the website and decided to ‘leave it for now’, wait and see how my milk supply went eh? That was fine until I was faced with the product in the store that is! I think as I was purchasing many of the other toiletry items needed shortly after birth (you know what I mean ladies!) I was reminded of how grim those first few weeks could be... and so... into the basket went the SimplyLily LilyPadz for £15.99... I’m now praying that they are going to be worth it (not least because my sanity may depend upon it!)... one thing I’m sure of though, I’ll be letting you know how I get on when the time arrives...

My Top 5 Tips on Buying a new Pushchair!

2011-10-05T22:44:00.000+01:00

Ahhh there’s nothing quite like choosing a new pushchair. And I LOVE getting into all that nitty gritty boring detail about pushchairs. When I found out that I was pregnant again I was so excited about choosing a new pushchair I sometimes thought people were congratulating me on that basis rather than the fact I was once again with child. I knew selecting the pushchair of my dreams would be no easy task... I had already had my fingers burnt on my purchase for my first child – a gorgeous Mamas and Papas Mylo... which I bought when I lived in nice smoothly paved suburban Birmingham. Sadly, at about 6 months pregnant we upped sticks and moved to the very rural Scottish Borders.... where there aren’t even any pavements, let alone smoothly paved ones!

With this in mind (and finances considerably tighter!) I worked long and hard in my search for ‘the perfect double’ and to be honest I’m not sure it exists but I reckon I’ve got as close as I can get (although I haven’t used it in anger yet!).

Here are the 5 steps I followed to find the perfect buggy:

1. Make a list. I know, it sounds dull right? But I divided a piece of paper into 4 and wrote 4 headings: “Must have”, “Mustn’t have”, “Would like”, “Wouldn’t like”. Think carefully about what you need and what you want...

2. Research, Research, Research. Go crazy on the internet, read trade magazines, ask others (it was during this process I came across Pushchair Trader website and their very friendly and informative Facebook Page). Get a budget in mind, but don’t rule anything out at this stage as deals and offers often crop up and even buggies far out of your financial reach might have a good feature that you hadn’t originally thought of which you may be able to find on cheaper models.

3. Make a shortlist. List your favourites and highlight any compromises you might have to make on features or important things you want to see in ‘real life’. Find your nearest store that displays your choices, preferably try and find a store that stocks as many of them as possible so you can compare them side by side. When you go to the store there should be lots of questions you want to ask like... “Can you machine wash the fabrics?”, “Does it come with a raincover/bumper bar/puncture repair kit etc?” “How wide is it?” “can you fold it with the carrycot on?” “Can you fold it with the rear facing seat on?” These are just some examples but try and think of as many as you can, lots might be covered in a demo by the staff, so be sure to take a pen and note down any interesting answers. Also, make SURE you get the staff to show you how everything works, and then have a go yourself... at everything (not just folding), even down to asking to see the raincover and how it goes on. Don’t forget to take a tape measure to measure widths and things (remember to measure the boot of your car and the opening aperture of the boot door first) if you’re buying a side-by-side double measure any doors you need to fit it through before you go too!

4. Shop around. Okay, get the prices from the store, and toddle off home with your favourite in mind and research prices like crazy, but bear the store you went to in mind if they were helpful and go back to them for their ‘best price’ it’s only fair!

5. Spend Spend Spend and Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy!

I hope you find this advice a little helpful, once I had selected my ‘dream buggy’ – the TFK Twinner Twist Duo, I did a review of it as part of my application to become a long-term pushchair tester for pushchair trader website. You can watch it if you like J

The Walk of Shame...

2011-09-30T11:08:00.000+01:00

When I was at university (in the dim and distant past) the phrase ‘walkof shame’ was used to identify someone who had woken up the morning after a‘heavy’ night out on the tiles in somewhere other than their own bed... Thisperson would then have to dress in what was usually completely impracticalgoing out clothes from the night before in order to walk home through thetown... hence, the walk of shame. These days ‘walk of shame’ has a whole newmeaning to me and that is thanks to one of our regular baby activities... Mini Music Makers!

Mini Music Makers is a lovely group activity for young children andbabies run by the National Youth Choir of Scotland. Now, our group is run by anice lady for who the crime of lateness frowned upon and although I try very hardto get out of the house on time for some reason when it comes to Mini MusicMakers I’m often late. Being late to mini music makers involves a long walk ofshame across the room whilst desperately trying to avoid eye contact witheveryone, lest comment be made on your tardiness.

The point of this post (and yes, there is one) is to tell you a bitabout Mini Music Makers. This is the one and only group Isaac and I go to thatwe pay for, I like to fill my week with as many activities to get us out thehouse as possible, as such many of these need to be free otherwise I’d be stonebroke. Isaac and I started mini music makers in the 0 – 12 months class when hewas just a few months old, and we’ve been back each term since then. The costis currently £35 for the term, which includes 7 sessions of 40 minute duration.It’s well worth the £5 each session costs (especially as there is the gorgeousGreen Apple cafe next to the one we attend at the Lamancha Hub!).

Isaac working on his percusion skills!

Essentially mini music makers is another way of causing publichumiliation to a group of adults who have been brought together by the singlething they have in common... their children. I have to say though that thechildren seem to love it! There’s lots of singing with actions, use of fabrics,ribbons, puppets and shakers. The songs are varied both in content and vocalrange (I have to say I find the tune of ‘baa baa black sheep’ a little taxingon the voice so being led through an operatic version of “Viva la compagnie” infront of strangers can be a little tough going at times!). Mini music makers isgreat for adding to your song repertoire though... we have such gems as “MnnMnn said the little green frog one day” and “Pop a little pancake into the pan”both of which are lifesavers for quietening down a bored baby on long carjourneys! I think we must have sang them over a hundred times on the long driveto and from France this year!

Anyway, thoroughly recommend it not least as a way of meeting andgreeting other parents and children in the local area... but for losing some ofyour social inhibitions...

Mini Music Makers: www.nycos.co.uk/Mini-Music-Makers

Listen Very Carefully...

2011-09-23T20:52:00.000+01:00

...I shall say this only once!

Well ok, it’s so exciting I’ll more than likely tell you again whether you want me to or not! Some of you may know me as a mild mannered law abiding citizen (well, I’m a citizen anyway!) but little do you know I am actually a secret agent and have recently been involved in a top secret mission. I know, I know - all the signs were there right? The late nights? The mysterious bump under my coat? The frequent trips to the ‘toilet’? What can I say; they were all part of my disguise (well, either that or I’m an exhausted, pregnant mother of one... you decide).

So... what’s all this nonsense actually about you may ask? If you sneak a peek here you should see what all the fuss is about. Pushchair Trader (www.pushchairtrader.co.uk) is a great place to buy, sell and win used and new pushchairs, prams, buggies, spares and accessories. It also has a news section for the latest pushchair gossip and along with a comprehensive range of technical in house pushchair reviews it has ‘real mum’ road tests that give an honest view about the pushchair, pram or buggy in which you may be interested (I am lucky enough to be testing the TFK Joggster Twist for them at the moment – so keep an eye out for that too).

I’ve been following Pushchair Trader through their website, Facebook and Twitter for a few months now, and they and their fans have come to feel like part of an extended family. Pushchair Trader are very publically driven, providing a great forum for help, advice, support and general banter, they also have fab competitions to both win goodies and to ‘get involved’ just like the one to become a ‘secret agent’. In this competition fans were asked to submit an email stating ‘why they’d make a good secret agent’, a little cryptic but as I sometimes find the joy of being a full time mum a little mind-numbing I thought I’d give it a go!

Thankfully it wasn’t too long before I passed the demanding physical testing phase (involving extended use of the finger muscles during lengthy Facebook sessions) and my new status was confirmed as a ‘secret agent’. Our mission details involved me, along with about 130 others having a sneak peek at the latest enterprise from the Pushchair Trader Team... a pushchair accessory shop! Questionnaires were provided, and, as you can imagine I had lots of fun trying out various bits of the shop, to answer questions on both the aesthetics and the functionality (ok ok, so actually I just pretended like I had a million pounds to spend and went crazy hypothetically buying things...). There are some fab products to be found in the shop and I love the fact that some of these things were previously hard to source, or were items commonly asked after on the Pushchair Trader Facebook page... obviously the bigwigs at Pushchair Trader had been listening!

Anyway, thanks to all the hard work of the Pushchair Trader Team, and the secret agents (it was often a life or death situation) the shop recently went ‘live’ and now it’s just my credit card that has to live dangerously!

I’m still technically a secret agent, so I’m keeping the wig and the fake moustache at the ready in case of further missions (what’s that you say.... “You thought I had a great moustache anyway?” hohoho how very funny).

So, all in all I reckon that as the pushchair is the most expensive and important item that you can go wrong on when buying for a new baby, please take my advice... first - check out Pushchair Trader for news and reviews, second - see if there’s anything good in their advertisement section and thirdly - don’t forget to pimp your new purchase with the gorgeous items in the Pushchair Trader Shop! It’s as easy as errrrr 1, 2, 3!

La chaise bébé s'il vous plaît?

2011-09-20T21:44:00.000+01:00

Just back from 2 weeks in fun filled France, and have to say it was an eye-opener for me... I sometimes think how poorly catered for we are in the UK with regards to baby facilities... no longer shall I deride them - compared to France we seem to be amazingly accommodating!

I'm 7 months pregnant now, and if I'm honest I could do without changing a wriggling 10 month old on the floor of a rather smelly public toilet, but it seems that that was the height of baby changing facilities in France (maybe I was just unlucky?!). There was a baby changing area at the zoo we went to... essentially a bus shelter with a shelf in it... nice and open to the elements... and casual observers!

Anyway, given the sparsity of baby facilities we were very pleased we took our 'Totseat' with us (www.totseat.com). I lost count of the number of times a request for a highchair was met with 'non' and even if they did have one it usually looked about 40 years old and a complete deathtrap! So I can honestly say THANK GOODNESS for the totseat! I'd only used it once or twice in the UK before we left for France (though we did buy it specifically for travelling) and I wasn't really that impressed as Isaac seemed uncomfortable in it and I seemed to spend longer faffing about with buttons and straps than I did feeding him. Out of necessity we used it LOTS in France, and as we got used to the various adjustments that need to be made to it fit on different chairs (thank goodness you can fit it on lots of different chairs!) it got easier and easier to use. Isaac got used to it quickly and enjoyed sitting on a chair next to us and didn't try to dive off every few minutes which I thought he might. Now we are back all I need to do is bung it in the washing machine and stash it in the changing bag... won't be leaving home without it from now on.

My Very First Post!

2011-08-31T19:25:00.000+01:00

This is my very first post as a 'Blogger'... since I first set this blog up (and then never wrote anything in it for ages!) I've had some changes come about... but one thing's for sure ... my bump has got waaaayyy bigger... my due date for baby number two is 11/11/11 and it's approaching at high speed.

I'm hoping to use this blog to keep a record of the things I got up to when I spent all my time at home with a baby and pregnant... I also hope to review some of the products I use and abuse on a daily basis so other new mummies and daddies can see what I think.

There's one thing you should know... I'm completely pushchair obsessed, so expect lot's of chatter about that!

Just so you know the gang... there's Me, Baby Isaac, my partner Ben and Bump Number Two!