Right now I am. . .

Reading The Hunger Games Trilogy.  Are they the best books I have ever read?  No.  Are they interesting enough to keep my attention and be thought provoking? Yes.  They are the first books I have finished since J was born so that says a lot.  I use to read 2-3 books a week before she was born but I also had at least a two hour commute everyday on a train so that was easy.

Enjoying the fact that the first of the British strawberries are in season.  I always get excited when they arrive in the shops and really never do get tired of them even though I tend to gorge myself on them.  J doesn't like them, I just don't think she knows what she is missing.

Trying to do my nails at least once a week, I use to do them quite often when I worked in London and do love a nicely manicured set of nails.  Even when I can't get them polished I am trying to keep them trimmed, filed, and cuticles maintained.  I am really loving Kristina Werner's blog Daily Something I have followed her crafting blog for many years and am loving her new nail blog.  Last night I gave the gradient manicure a try with some purples I had in my stash, need some practise but love the look.

Amazed at how much J is learning, she loves to get her self dressed in the morning and only needs a little bit of help.  She is starting to be so independent and like to help choose what she is wearing, put her own shoes on, help with tasks around the house.  I sometimes forget that while it might take longer to have her help at the moment by putting the time and effort in now I will have a child who is much more self sufficient in the future.

Trying not to make excuses for not doing things just because everything take 20 times longer with a toddler.  I really need to get J signed up for swim lessons in the fall but the first 2 terms are Mommy and Me classes and the thought of all the effort to pack the swim bag, get us both in our suites, do the class, get us both dry and changed, and committing most of an afternoon as the dressing and undressing is a slow process is some times daunting.  I don't however want J growing up never doing anything because it is an effort on my part.

Wearing purpose made pyjamas.  I know it sounds silly but after J was born while I was loosing the baby weight I just wore yoga pants and a tank top and when these got too big I started wearing old leggings and a  tank top and when the legging got to thread bare I started stealing Philip's boxers with a tank top.  With a trip to my parents looming and the certain knowledge that neither my parents nor my teenage sister want to see me walking around in my husbands boxer (really never as cute as when you see Jennifer Aniston do it in the movies) I bought a pair of pyjamas.  Nothing special but they make me happy.

So excited about the above mentioned trip to see my parents.  It has been 18 months since we last saw them and this will be the first time in over 5 years that Philip will be with me when I go home.

Almost everyday I am consitantly reminded how quickly J is growing up, clothes that fit fine last week hardly fit this week, how she can now stand in the shallow end of the pool, the number of words she now says, but for some reason being able to pull her hair up into a ponytail really got to me. My baby is not a baby anymore.




It definetly beats the alternative curlhawk stlyle!

Sesnory Tub

I came across the idea for a sensory tub on a blog when J was about 4 months old and filed it in the back of my head as something cool to do as she got older. After what seemed like an eternity of J putting everything smaller than the kitchen sink in her mouth I decided it was time to have a go at the sensory tub idea. After an extensive search in my Google blog Reader account I couldn't find the original idea I had seen but just Googled the phrase sensory tubs and came up with lots of cool idea. As it was Easter time and I knew I would be able to pick up lots crafty bits on the cheap I decided to make it the theme for my first attempt. I used the rice dying technique from Pink and Green Mama (seriously how cool is the whole blog I am in awe of people who think up all this amazing stuff and thankful the blog it so I can shamelessly steal there great ideas for J). I went with Yellow and Purple, I could give you some great story about how it was because I wanted to introduce J to contrasting colours but to be honest of all the colours I had these seemed the most Easter friendly.



Yes that is kitty thinking "hey this looks a lot like my litter box"

I originally had the plastic "grass" that goes in Easter baskets but J was not impressed with it and the first thing she always did was pull it all out and throw it to the side.

The original contents of the box included some plastic eggs, felt shapes (eggs, rabbits, chicks), small satin flowers, and small silk flower. I have also now added some feathers I found after I made it that are in Easter colours.

I had one of those I can't believe I didn't foresee that happening moments J is not that interested in keeping the rice OVER the tub which lead to a bigger mess than I anticipated. By bigger mess I mean I had to vacuum the whole living room instead of sweep up a small area. It cost me a whole extra 10 minutes and it was well worth it for how excited she was.

After our first go with it I invested in a vinyl table cloth to use as a drop cloth and now 99% of the mess stays on the drop cloth so I can scoop it back into the tub after J is done and just shake the drop cloth in the trash with the rest.

At the moment J's favorite activities are filling the eggs with rice so they make a nice sound and burying different items so she can dig and find them. Seeing her excitement with the tub has made me excited to think of new ideas for changing it up as the season changes and new holidays approach.

Making Hay While the Sun Shines

On Saturday a lack of desire to “get things done” i.e. housework, errands, gym sessions and the years first truly amazing weather led to a snap 7am decision to take J to a really amazing park about 45 mins drive from us. Philip was sent off to the gym to get his work out while J and I made our picnic lunch (actually I made our picnic lunch while J ate us out of house and home) and made a quick trip on foot into town to buy a sun hat as all of J’s were too small (found on clearance for 50p bargain, then forgotten at home, yes J can blame me if she gets skin cancer) and a fresh bottle of sun cream for this summer.

The car was pack up and we set off, J napped in the back while we took the scenic route (not on purpose) and she woke about five minutes before we arrived. The weather was amazing and this park truly is spectacular it has a small amusement park, a splash park, two huge play areas with equipment to appeal to many ages, two massive sand boxes and it backs right up on to a lovely walking path along the estuary up to town.

After a picnic lunch ( I still get a kick out of seeing Jocelynne sitting at picnic tables it just doesn’t seem like she should be old enough) J dug to her hearts content in one of the sand pits. Who knew a sand pit, bucket, and spade could provide such long term entertainment?



Once the excitement of the sand pit wore off we made out way along the estuary to the ice cream stalls and J was treated to her first experience of a Flake 99 (soft serve ice cream) considering it was her first attempt the mess was minimal.



By this point we had worn J out enough she went in the push chair with out too much trouble and Philip and I were allowed to have a wander around the town which much to our delight had a number of “mom and pop” shops as well and independently owned fish mongers, green grocers, and butchers. It was lovely to see heirloom varieties of cauliflower in the green grocer as well as fresh local mushrooms and blood oranges. A quick latte later the sun was getting lower in the sky and the breeze cooler and we headed home all nicely warmed by the sun and a lovely afternoon together. I look forward to taking J back to Maldon this summer when the splash park has opened I think she is at the perfect age to really appreciate it this summer and goodness knows I am never opposed to an ice cream or two!

I once was lost

I have been gone for a while, a long while. Life took over. Everything seemed to hit at once. J turned one, I went back to work part time, my non mobile baby became a mobile toddler no longer content to sit on a blanket and play with the toys around her. J’s two naps dropped to one. She still didn’t sleep more than 4-6 hours with out waking. I put my foot down and refused to nurse during the night, we both survived, just. J decided that she was going to “sleep through the night” read only wake 1-2 times and go right back to sleep after being offered some water. We finally got a bed time routine down that worked for everyone. I decided to wean J, she didn’t really care after the first morning. J had her first trip to A&E for a dislocated elbow that we have no idea how it happened. She was happily singing and playing with Philip and I and then she wouldn’t use her arm or hand. We decided to put our flat on the market. J had a second trip to the A&E for doing a 2 ½ pike with head dismount down the stairs, I was right there but couldn’t grab her when she fell, I almost lost my lunch I was so scared, upset, worried. She was fine and wanted to run around like nothing had happened before the paramedics could get here. A trip to the hospital and some material on what to watch out for and less than two hours later we were back at home. In between it all many trips to the park, sea side, soft play, story time and song time at our local children’s center.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that I lost myself for a while, not to worry I am slowly finding myself again. Each day if not better than the last is not worse and we are slowly find our rhythm again.

Time Goes On

This poor blog has been neglected and I am not sure it will get better to come. As with everything else the day seems to be over before half of what I want or need to do gets done. It is not to say that our days are not rich and full.

Jocelynne continues to grow and each milestone seems to happen faster than the last. Creeping around furniture quickly turned into tentative steps and now she toddles as if walking has been something she has done all her life.

First shoes were purchased and quickly out grown. Chattering seems to be turning into recognizable words here and there.

Eating and feeding herself goes well and I am glad every day that we chose to do Baby Led Weaning.

Teething continues on an almost daily basis and only a few remain to come through but they seem to be taking their time and causing both Jocelynne and all those around her as much grief as possible.

Jocelynne's ingenuity never ceased to amaze me and her lack of fear and self preservation give me fear EVER SINGLE DAY.

Some of her favorite things are to help me empty the washing machine, we have a front loader and she has figured out how to open the door and pull the laundry out or if the drum is empty leave me presents to find when I go to add the next load. She also loves to hand me clothes to hang on the rack to dry. When all the items to be hung are on the rack she very much enjoys pulling stuff off and handing them to me so I can hang them again.

Philip continues to love his job and we are so happy he has a job that allows him to be home with us every weekend. Almost unheard of in his trade.

I have passed my Weight Watchers training and have taken my first meeting and right now this tends to drain much of my free time. Just before I started training I reached my goal weight of 140lbs and am trying to learn how to maintain at that weight.

I also joined a gym which has nursery I can use while I work out allowing me to work out during the week while Philip is at work. I have really enjoyed the gym and love pushing myself and seeing the progress I am making. It still excites me when I think that last year I would be lucky to do 10 "girly" push ups and can now do 15 "real" push ups and am starting to push myself by doing them on the Power Plate or balanced on a fit ball.

Life moves quickly but is never dull and at the moment I just try to savour each moment even if I can't share it on the blog in the way I hope to.

Practice Makes Perfect

With Madame's cousins visiting this weekend we thought it would be a good time to grab some cupcakes and head down to Grandma Kay's house so they could help Jocelynne celebrate her birthday a little early. As Jocelynne had her first go with a cupcake it made me laugh that she was not overly impressed.

Getting some pointers from Mummy



" Really I'm suppose to like this"




Think the grass might taste better

Really I am not impressed

Maybe it will taste better if I put my foot in it

No definitely no better after putting my foot in it

Let me give it another go

Hmmm this might just be edible

Always important to coordinate your cloth diaper with your food