a different start to the day

Evie has never liked being left in her cot while I have got on with things such as having a shower or taking the laundry out (I always tell her that I am not going out and having fun without her but she just wont believe me!).

Normally I would put a toy in with her and that would keep her occupied, but not anymore...

On Friday morning I gave her her bath got her dressed put her in her cot with a teddy and she was kneeling up holding the bars and was crying so much that I thought she was going to be sick.

So I ended up taking her into the bathroom with me and had my shower with her sitting on the bathroom floor!

And when I got out of the shower I had realised that I had forgotten to get a towel out :o(

I told James about this and his suggestion was to have a shower and take her in the shower with me...

...the thing is I still havent ruled that out as a possibility.

Anyway this morning I got James to make sure that I was awake when he left for work and I jumped into the shower and got that done with Evie still being asleep.

She will have to stay in the cot though while I take the laundry out and back in again as their really is no getting around that.

Have a good New Years Eve tonight ;o)

she cannot be a marmite hater

Ever since just after Christmas Evie has been sleeping under a cot duvet.

The cot duvet cannot be tumble dried so I decided to buy her a spare one for when the other one is in the wash.

So I went to Argos yesterday and the one that I wanted was out of stock (typically that one was on offer too) and I saw that this one was on offer and that if you buy the cot bumper you save £10.00 and as it only costs £9.99 you get it for free and save a massive one penny on the duvet in the bargain ;o).

Yesterday we decided to try Evie on Marmite spread thinly on a bread soldier - she kept on pulling the bits with marmite out of her mouth!

As no child of mine is going to be a *shudders* a marmite hater I am going to have to keep trying her on it until she blooming well likes it...

mummy brain

Since the babies have started turning one, I have been e-mailing the Mummies saying "happy birthday" as well as sending a birthday card.

This morning I e-mailed three of the Mums as there were two birthdays today and one tomorrow.

Hee hee I got an e-mail back this morning from one of the Mummies saying "thank you albeit your a day early"

So I replied back to all three saying that I have a "major case of Mummy brain" ;o)

merry christmas

merry christmas everyone ;o)

birthday & illness

Last Sunday was Evies first birthday ;o)

We had a great lunch at Frankie & Bennys, James brother bought down our two nieces from Wiltshire (the nephew had a the Norovirus) but the girls were supposed to be ok...

...on Tuesday poor James woke up with a bad stomach ache and had the squits!  Apparently the youngest Niece had it and nobody thought to tell us!

And then on Friday I woke up with a cold!

getting out the baby walker

Ages ago we bought Evie a baby walker but when we tried to get her to use it she would just pull her legs up!

As she has now started to try and pull herself up we thought that we would get the walker out...

...at the moment she is more interested in seeing how the bricks taste ;o)

Little Miss Reading

I have started reading the Little Miss books that I bought for her ;o)

She leans on my chest and looks at the pictures while listening ;o)

I was reading her Little Miss Helpful and I was laughing so much that I couldnt get the words out ;o)

getting stuck

Ever since Evie crawled through the tunnel she has been getting braver ;o)

This morning I put her on the floor so that I could use the pc and I heard Evie crying...

...so I had a look but couldnt see her so I walked around to where I left her and could see a stripey bottom between the arm chair and the sofa where she had got stuck between them!

up and through

Me & Evie went to Gymbabes yesterday...

,,,and as usual I tried to get her to crawl up an inclined piece of equipment (I call it a hill ;o)

So I grabbed hold of a mini bean bag to encourage her a bit and I was well surprised that she started crawling up ;o)

It took her a while but she did eventually get to the top ;o)

I then thought that as we are on a roll I will try putting her in the tunnel with me the other end furiously shaking a rattle and she crawled through that too ;o)

There was a little boy who wanted to go through too and kept on getting behind Evie trying to hurry her along...

...hee hee she is like me and does things at her own pace ;o)

we certainly dont stock that

I while ago I picked up the Boots Christmas gift guide.

I saw in there this body wash, but it was continually out of stock and also if you ordered online (and didnt spend over £20.00) you would get charged £1.49 (its the principal that I dont agree with) to have it sent to your nearest store!

So I complained to Boots I even told them that Superdrug (their nearest competitors) dont charge!

So I kept on going into the store to see if it was ins tock and finally a week ago it was ;o)

The woman taking down my order was very snotty and when she looked on the computer she said very snottily "we certainly dont stock that" like I was ordering something really weird!

I was told that the estimated delivery date would be Wednesday and ironically I got a text message to say that it had been delivered to the store on Tuesday (when I was halfway home).

I couldnt pick it up on Wednesday or Thursday (because of the snow/ice) and picked it up on Friday ;o)

I havent opened it yet to see what it smells like and hope it makes me feel hungry for Christmas cookies ;o)

stir crazy

Evie has this morning gone stir crazy after being indoors because of the snow!

Thank goodness the snow has melted as I will have to take her out today whatever the weather ;o)

snow & little reindeers

I woke up this morning and saw that it looked white outside

I have decided to stay in today as I dont need to go out, I just hope that I can keep Evie from being bored ;o)

Yesterday I dressed Evie in a little reindeer outfit ;o)

Christmas peas

Evie wearing a "have a happ-pea Christmas" long sleeved t-shirt ;)

kneeling

The other day Evie started kneeling...

...we now regularly see her kneeling up to get at things o)

christmas outfits galore

Since the Christmas ranges have come into the stores I have been on the lookout for cute cheapish outfits for Evie ;o)

I am hoping to dress Evie in something Christmassy every day in December and will dress her in her party dress on her birthday ;o)

I didnt hear the doorbell

Yesterday I was thinking to myself "I wonder wen my Christmas tasting box will arrive"

Anyway I was changing Evies nappy and thought that I heard a ding (as in the doorbell) so I put Evie into her cot and looked down the stairs but couldnt see anyone and then I looked out of our bedroom window and couldnt see anyone from there either.

I didnt think anymore about it...

...then just after James got home from work the doorbell rang and it was our next door neighbour holding my package of Christmas Chocolates!

The delivery man must have been very quick to decide that there was no one home :o(

seeing celebrities suffer

After hearing from my (now ex) co workers about how funny Im a Celebrity is I have wanted to watch but never did because I knew that I would get into it...

...well I decided to watch it this year and it is really funny especially how all of the (or rather most of them) bush tucker trials have been carried out by Helen Flanagan ;o)

And I have an upset stomach which may or may not be the Novo Virus :o(  I just hope that Evie doesnt get it.

finally got her...

I finally managed to video motion picture Evie crawling ;o)

Blogger wouldnt let me upload the video motion picture directly!

more finger foods

I took Evie to see the health visitor yesterday because she is always being sick and she suggested that we give Evie more finger foods so that she can fill up at her own pace.

When I said that Evie just tends to throw them onto the floor she said to give them to her before her food as "she needs to learn to feed herself"

So from my dinner last night I saved her a couple of potatoes and a couple of broccoli florets to give her tonight and I will buy some apple slices while we are out today too ;o)

four teeth

Me & Evie were sitting on the floor in the library yesterday for Rhyme Time and Evie started sucking on my arm with her teeth! ;o)

The marks stayed on there for a good couple of hours.

Its a good job she only has four teeth ;o)

what does he think we do after?

We have been upping Evies food after the health visitor told us to.  It inevitably results in her being sick as her eyes are bigger than her belly ;o)

As she has been sick every day since I upped her breakfast I decided yesterday to give her a smaller breakfast to see if that helped...

...unfortunately she was still sick while eating her big dinner.

Perhaps today I will try cutting out her mid afternoon snack and will see if that helps.

Going back to the post title James said to me yesterday as I was giving Evie her last feed "try not to make her sick after" hee hee does he think I throw her up in the air after I have given her her feed?

we didnt have to rush our lunch

Us Mums from our NCT group decided that we should have a pre Christmas girly lunch...

...yesterday was the only date that we could all make (we made it a Saturday afternoon so the Dads    could look after the little ones ;o)).  As it was it ended up being just six out of the eight of us as one had started back at work (she only works Saturdays and this would have been her third one so she didnt want to take holiday so quickly after going back) and the other one couldnt get a babysitter as her hubby was working.

We went to the Bay Horse and had a really lovely time...

...and the best bit was that we didnt have to rush our lunch ;o)

maybe I will get it later

First we had Evie going around in circles ;o)

Then she was crawling backwards....

...and this morning she actually crawled but when I got the camera out to video motion picture her she stopped and wouldnt play ball (I wasnt trying to get her to catch a ball dont worry ;o))

Maybe I will get her later ;o)

from twinkle to dumpty

A few weeks ago we bought Evie some number four nappies...

...this morning I finally opened them ;o)

A while back (just after Evie had moved up to the number three ones) the design had changed to nursery rhymes ;o)

The number three ones were twinkle twinkle little star and the number four ones are humpty dumpty ;o)

 its a shame that they changed the design to late for us to have all of them!

big girl dinner

As Evie cant eat slop for the rest of her life, we decided to try her on some baked beans ;o)

And I bought some fish fingers too ;o)

She probably ate most of the pot of beans and 3/4s of a fish finger - she was having too much fun knocking the bits of fish finger onto the floor!

is the romford restaurant no longer there

Me & James have been discussing what to do for Evies first birthday...

...we have settled on going out for a lunch somewhere ;o)

We had decided to try Outback Steakhouse but when I tried to book the number was unobtainable for the Romford one so I tried Basildon got an answer I made the reservation and then I said "is the  Romford restaurant no longer there"  The bloke then said "oh you wanted Outback Steakhouse they went into liquidation in the UK" and then said "we are Grand Central" so I asked what there menu was like and (unsurprisingly) he said that it was fantastic!

So I told him that I would think about it and get back to him if I wanted to keep the reservation.

We didnt really want to go to Basildon so I decided to book Frankie & Bennys instead ;o)

They even do baby food ;o)

another try

I had an e-mail on Friday saying that you can register to be a giver for 2013 world book night.

So I have given it another try...

...the books that I have gone for are

Treasure Island

The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency

The Island

And interestingly enough a Graphic Novel has been included in the lineup ;o)

hee hee if it wasnt weird enough my Mum reading a football book last year we will have to see what she thinks of Judge Dredds antics ;o)

I wasnt picked last year so fingers crossed...

sitting in the shopping trolley

Ever since Evie has been taking more notice of whats going on around her I have wanted to sit her up properly in the supermarket shopping trolleys.

I have been wary of sitting her in there as she wasnt too good at staying upright.

Today we decided to give it a go...

...and she absolutely loved it and was holding onto the handlebar for dear life ;o)

Infact she enjoyed it so much that she cried when we put her back in the car ;o)

iplunger

Me & Evie were looking around Primark yesterday...

...I was just having a look around before we heeaded home ;o)

I ended up buying some Christmas socks for Evie ;o).

As I was in the queue waiting to be served I saw these and bought one each for me & James ;o)

more meerkat for Christmasses

Ever since the first Compare the Meerkat adverts came out in 2009 I have been hooked on waiting for Aleksandr and Sergeis next adventures ;o)

A couple of years ago I bought Aleksandrs autobiography A Simples Life hee hee I was even reading it with his Russian accent ;o)

Last weekend I had an e-mail from Amazon advising that a box set of Meerkat Tales is out ;o) so I ordered them ;o)

I had an e-mail this morning saying that they have been dispatched so Fifty Shades is going to have to wait ;o)

no going back

I e-mailed my bosses this morning telling them that I wont be going back...

...I said that I was enjoying being a Mum too much and didnt want to miss a minute of Evie growing up ;o)

Although I did think about going back just to spite them and both James and my Mum would agree that that is a definite thing that I would do ;o)

So no more thinking about whether I want to go back or not although the answer was always no.

houdevie

I was just thinking to myself "what am I going to blog about today?" and I looked down as Evie was making some "look at me" type noises, only to see that she had escaped from her gymbaroo!

It was lucky that I saw her on the floor as she could easily have been wheeled over by the chair I use while on the pc :o(

I dont want anymore incidents! ;o)

I am now going to have to make sure that the gymbaroo is placed further back.

feeling put out

I have just received an e-mail from a colleague of mine after I sent her the link to this photo and I noticed that the address on the footer of the e-mail had changed!

My bosses had told me that the company had been bought out by a larger one but they never bothered to mention the office move!

I am feeling quite put out :o(

sliding and falling

So far this week Evie has not only slid off of the sofa but has fallen off of our bed (both on my watch too).

Luckily they have only been a drop of a foot or so but have still been enough to make me feel bad, and after a cuddle from me she has been smiling and laughing after so no harm done.

So no more leaving Evie on elevated surfaces...

...I know as she gets more mobile and older we are going to have loads of scrapes and falls :o(

bobbin hands

For the past few days I have noticed Evie rolling her hands like we do in the song Wind the Bobbin Up ;o)

At least it shows that she really is getting something out of our Library visits ;o)

Happy Halloween everyone and Happy birthday Eileen ;o)

Sunday night vs last night

On Sunday night Evie didnt sleep very well because she had a blocked up nose...

We put her to bed as usual after her feed at 9 pm and at just before midnight we were woken up by her crying, James went in there and was cuddling her back to sleep (everytime he put her back in her cot she would cry again!).

So at midnight we gave Evie some Calpol and I took her downstairs with me so that James could get some sleep.

She finally went off into a deep enough sleep just before 1 am so I put her back in her cot and went back to sleep myself.

Evie then woke up at 3 am and I got her back to sleep while James stayed asleep!

Then she woke up at 6 am.

When James got home from work yesterday he had bought some vapour rub, so I rubbed some on her chest and under her chin yesterday afternoon just to make sure that it didnt bring her up in a rash or anything, and she was ok.

Just before I gave Evie her last feed I rubbed some more vapour rub into her chest and back and she slept until 6 am ;o)

no-one can catch a cold that fast

Yesterday we met up with James brother his wife and their three kids...

...just before we left to see them James said "no doubt one of them would have a cold and Evie will get it".

We got home yesterday afternoon (after having a good day) and a few hours later Evie did a massive sneeze!  It was clear (and it still is if you are interested - if your not then you might as well not read this bit ;o)),

James then decided that her cold must be his brothers fault!  I told him that she couldnt catch a cold from them THAT fast...

...if you allow a cold three days to arrive then that puts it to being caught from the library (which is much more plausible).

we want more of april

Me and Evie went to Tots Tales yesterday.

The person taking it was a "guest" and her name is April...

...my was April energetic ;o)

We Did the Grand Old Duke of York and April was marching around the Childrens area of the library ;o)

She also did this book and after letting the little ones who were at the front lift the flaps she then let the kids who were sitting with their Mums have a go too ;o)

She even asked for Evies name because she had a cheeky grin on her face (while I was doing all of the actions to the songs for her) ;o)

she didnt even apologise

Yesterday morning I wanted to pop into Mothercare not only to use their facilities but also to buy a toy car for Evie ;o)

So I walked upto the doors and saw that there was a woman sitting outside waiting for the store to open, so I looked at the sign on the door and it said "we will be closing at 10.15 am for stocktaking and will open as usual the next day" I looked at the time on my mobile phone and it said 9.51 so therefore the store should still be open!

So I ended up using the toilet in Marks & Spencer and then hung about in Starbucks to kill some time.

So on my way back home I was passing Mothercare and saw the automatic doors open so I went in there to get Evie a toy car and ended up getting her a wooden racing car ;o)

So I told the assistant what happened and her response was "the sign actually said we will be opening at 10.15 but we didnt open until after 12 anyway" so I told her what the sign did say and I was well surprised that she handed me a customer feedback card, so I duly completed it naming the girl who served me too ;o)

I would be funny if I did win the £250 for telling them of my experience ;o)

I didnt think that she would want anymore

Evie woke up just before 5 am this morning...

...I was just about ready to go into her and James was already coming up the stairs (as he was already up) so I let him see to her...

...anyway 10 minutes later she was crying on and off and her crying was frantic, added to the fact that as soon as he put her down after getting her off she was really crying again.

Evie was obviously hungry so James did her some milk formula and she then went back to sleep until 7 am.

So I did her some breakfast and let her have some of my crumpet and I decided to do her some more milk (as she has it with her breakfast) and I was surprised that she took a bit more ;o)

finally Mama

For a while Evie has been gabbling...

...first it was Dada - which wasnt my first choice for some reason (as Harry Hill would say "I cant think why" ;o)).  But James does look after her too so that is fair enough ;o)

Then we had Nana - blooming cheek on saying Nana before Mama - still *sniffs* I wont take it personally.

Then last night Evie actually said Mama - and James heard it too so it wasnt just me imagining it ;o)

To say that I was well happy is an understatement ;o)

booking up up and away

For our birthdays a couple of years ago James brother bought us a Virgin Balloon flight.

I was set to book it last year in the summer but then found out that I was pregnant, so I contacted Virgin and they told me that the tickets would be extended to expire nine months after my due date.

The tickets were extended until 8th October, and as I wanted to leave booking the flights until as late as possible I asked Virgin at the end of September that if they had any flights for next year.  I was told that the 2013 flights come out in October (but they couldnt say when), but if I wanted to extend the expiry date by four months it would cost us £20 (for both tickets).

As the dates for Essex come out on Fridays at 3 pm (on the Friday before our tickets expired) I was online and ready to book but no new dates appeared.  So I rang Virgin on the Saturday and they said that no dates had been released for Essex so I was going to have to extend our tickets (which is what I did).

So last Sunday I checked to see what was available and the date that had already been released had been fully booked!

Oh no!

Was this my one and only chance before the tickets expired again?

No of course it wouldnt be!

So after forgetting to check on Friday (after e-mailing my Sister-in-Law to let her know ideas for presents for Evie) I checked yesterday and have been able to book a date for March next year ;o)

13 ounces

I took Evie to get weighed yesterday after her disastrous weight gain two weeks ago...

...let me explain...

A month ago I was told that Evie only needs two bottles of milk a day now so I cut her milk down over two weeks.

I obviously hadnt upped her food enough as she had only put on one ounce.

So we upped her food loads, and we have been giving her packs of food as it is more calorific than the stuff I was making and whole packs instead of half too.

So I took her to get weighed yesterday and was expecting five ounces (I thought that that would be a decent gain) and was well shocked to be told that she had put on 13 ounces ;o)

tomorrow

Tomorrow I have to go back to Broomfield Hospital for my follow-up echocardiogram.

I have been feeling ok in myself but am still worried that something will be picked up.

My brain is going in overdrive wondering if when I am tired out pushing the buggy up the hill that its my heart, and is the tiredness because of my heart etc.

I know deep down that they are because of Evie and every new parent is tired out and doesnt get much sleep.

Oh well at least I will know for certain soon.

I like you even more than I did before

We were doing the food shop this morning...

...a nice lady who likes to coo over Evie told me that I was looking slimmer ;o)

I said to her "do you really think that I am, because I havent weighed myself in absolute ages" and she said to Evie "you are going to have a skinny Mummy" and I said (to the lady and not Evie) "I like you even more than I did before" ;o)

It reminded me of the lady that came upto me on my way to the train station yonks ago ;o)

I have been in a really good mood all day ;o)

teeny party dress

I have been on the lookout for a party dress for Evies first (or rather her second) Christmas.

In Sainsburys they had 25% off TU Clothing but I couldnt see anything that I liked.

The other day I was in Mothercare using their facilities and decided to have a look to see if they had their party dresses in yet...

...and they did ;o)

I ended up buying her this next I had to decide what size to buy?

She has just started in the past month wearing her 6-9 month clothes so 9-12 month would have been ideal.

But thinking like a Mum I went for 12-18 months so that she can grow into it ;o)

more feet to wall

In the antenatal classes we went to we were told that Evie should be sleeping feet to foot in her cot.

This morning I went in to check on Evie and found her lying not "feet to foot" but more "feet to wall" ;o)

She had managed to turn 90 degrees in her sleep...

...so I gently turned her around and then she woke up a minute later.

I couldnt take a photo of her like she was because it was dark outside and using the flash or putting the light on would have woken her up :o(

from bouncy to snug

In the past week Evie has cried whenever I put her in her bouncy chair...

Mainly I would just put her in there if there was something that I needed to do such as her dinner, and after a while she would stop and would play with the rattles but then would start again if she saw me!

So I had a look at chairs and ended up buying this...

...she likes it so far and because she is sitting up I think that she finds it preferable ;o)

looking around at me

Evie has now started to look around at me when she is sitting in her stroller...

...I still go around to the front to check on her.

Its funny that she is checking that I am still there also ;o)

she had a sleep instead

Yesterday lunchime we were in Starbucks (hee hee not only did I have a pumpkin spice latte but I also tried the salted caramel mocha)...

...just after James went back to work I put Evie back into her stroller (she is too small to fit into the high chair there) so that I could give her her lunch.

I had given her about three mouthfuls of her potato and cauliflower concoction and she started really crying (with real tears) and James came back over (as he was still in earshot buying himself another coffee) and said that perhaps I should give her her milk.

So I took her out of her stroller to give her a cuddle and she started nuzzling into me like she wanted a sleep.

So Evie had a sleep...

...I let her sleep for just under an hour and clipped her into her stroller again and she ate her food and then had her yoghurt with no more fuss.

second time lucky (so far)

As I will be seeing the health visitor on Wednesday (to get Evie weighed) I thought that I would make a final concerted effort to get Evie down to two bottles after what happened last time...

...on Saturday I bought Evie some yoghurt tubes for this very purpose.

Yesterday after her lunch I squeezed the yoghurt tube into a bowl for her and she ate it ;o)

And we had no screaming for milk ;o)

I just hope that today goes as well as yesterday did but I shall take a spare bottle with me just in case...

the wrong wrong number

On Friday I went to get James prescription filled at the pharmacy in Boots.

I handed in the prescription and they went to check the stock and was told that they had 38 tablets (the prescription was for 56).

So I told them yes that was fine and they said that the prescription would be ready in 20 minutes.

So I went back after having a pumpkin spice latte (yes we finally have them here in the UK ;o)), and was given the prescription together with an IOU for 18 tablets.

There was a woman in the queue in front of me getting quite angry because the woman behind her  got served first.

I double checked the prescription as I had a funny feeling about it and saw that the box of tablets said that there were only 30 so we were 8 short!

So I marched back to Boots and the angry woman was back in the queue for handing in the prescriptions (there are two queues one for handing them in and one for collecting them) they had lost her prescription!

So I told them that I had been given the wrong number of tablets and that they should check it with the IOU against the prescription, they then went off and just gave me another IOU saying that they now owed me 26 tablets.

So I asked why they had told me that they had 38 tablets and she said that they had checked and there were only 30 in stock - so does this mean that the other eight are not accounted for?

Needless to say that have I not only complained to Boots but also to the GPhC as they cannot get away with doing this.

she isnt even walking yet

I had an e-mail this morning from Clarkes advertising their shoes for babies from 9 months!

The range is called pre-walking!  Are they taking the p1ss?

I really dont want to make Evie wear shoes until she needs to ;o)

And besides she still isnt crawling yet...

last year I would have been panicking

I checked my e-mails this morning and have had my first countdown to Christmas e-mails...

If I had got an e-mail like this last year then I would have bern really panicking.

I will have to ask my Mum

In the last few days Evie has started to talk when she is crying...

...its mainly to tell me that she is hungry.

I dont remember Brother #2 or my Sister doing this when they were babies.

I will have to ask my Mum ;o)

race for life

Last Sunday me and my friends finally did our Race for Life after it got rained off in July.

Me & Evie went with James Mum & Dad (while James went and did the food shopping).

We arrived at Hylands Park as we wanted a drink before the start we found somewhere to sit down that happened to be under a gazebo, and that was where they had decided to stay for the entire time!

While we were drinking our tea I saw someone that I thought that I recognised and sure enough she had recognised me too - it was someone that I had worked with 23 years ago (that makes me feel so old) how funny it that ;o).

I did think about bringing the baby carrier so I could take Evie around the course with me but thought better of it ;o), and decided to leave her with the grandparents along with instructions of where her food was etc...

...I had my phone in my hand just in case I got a frantic phone call saying that Evie wouldnt stop crying, but no...

...when I got back I found Evie asleep in her Nannys arms where she clearly didnt miss me at all ;o)

It took us 1 hour and 2 minutes as we were doing a slow walk and as we chatted the whole way around it went really quickly ;o)

it went spectacularly wrong

On Wednesday after going to the cinema to see ParaNorman I took Evie to get weighed at the Doctors Surgery.

I asked the health visitor when I should start increasing Evies food and decreasing her milk, and she said that Evie should only be having two bottles a day now (one on the morning and one at night) and to replace the others with water, she currently has four (one with each feed).

So that evening with her dinner I gave her water instead and I didnt get any screaming for milk (so all was going well) ;o)

Yesterday I gave Evie some milk after her porridge and crumpet and then at lunchtime I gave her her water and she drank some of it (still no screaming) but then two hours later she started to really cry so I though that she must be thirsty so gave her some more water...

...she drank it and then started really really crying so I did her her milk as I could tell that she wasnt going to stop until she got some.

Then at dinner I gave her water again and she was ok and then I gave her her last feed just before we went to bed.

At least I cut out one bottle, I shall ask the health visitor when I see her in a couple of weeks time how I should go about it.

sympathetic snot

On Thursday or Friday last week we had real tears with Evie and when I felt her gums I could feel that her top two teeth are coming through.

Anyway yesterday we both woke up with runny noses (with clear snot) which hasnt got any worse.

James was texting his Mum yesterday and she said that it might be to do with her teeth, this makes me think do I have sympathetic snot? ;o)

I hope that she is ok today as I want to take her to the Newbies showing of ParaNorman ;o)

see t'illuminations

As James is back at work now I can get back into a routine ;o)

So here goes about the holiday...

...after quizzing the other Mums and the Health Visitor about when it was best to do a long drive with a baby we set out at 9pm on the Sunday evening so that we would do most of the journey while Evie was asleep.

We hired a car because James Mum & Dad were come with us, James and his Dad sat in the front seats, me and Evie were in the middle and James Mum wedged in the back with the luggage (because of her bad legs she wouldnt get out at our toilet stops (she said that she was quite comfortable in the back anyway).

At 2.30 am we stopped at Charnock Richard and as we were only 40 minutes away from Blackpool we decided to stay at the Days Inn Hotel.

The next morning (after a much needed rest) I was about to wash Evies bottle and was going to use some of the shower gel out of the dispenser and nothing came out so I lifted up the covering and saw that the bottle was completely empty (good job I checked before actually having my shower) so I used the hand soap instead.

So I went down to reception to tell them that we needed some shower gel and the lady handed me a bottle to go into the dispenser, so we were sorted.

After having our breakfasts we set off for the last stretch to Blackpool.

We got into Blackpool just before lunchtime and James stayed in the car o have a rest while the rest of us went to a cafe so that I could feed Evie ;o)

By the time we were finished it was getting onto the time that we could check in.

We get to the hotel and check in (when I booked the hotel I asked for a cot in the room and was told that it would cost £7.50 per day, I declined their offer as we already have a travel cot and it cost less than it would be to hire one!), when we enter our room we saw a travel cot (allbeit broken and covered in duct tape) at the bottom of our bed (James thinks that it was an oversight on their part) if we had been charged for it then I would have refused to pay for it.

I ended up seeing the illuminations by tram and that was fun ;o)

I even got to try a barm cake (after hearing them being constantly being ordered in Roys Rolls) ;o)

back from the pool

Were back now from a few days in Blackpool ;o)

Will tell you about it later ;o)

a wee break

Im having a blogging break for a few days...

..but will be back

question mark latte

We were in Starbucks yesterday and ordered myself a venti skinny sugarfree vanilla latte and when they bought it over for me (because I had Evie in my arms) it had a question mark in the froth ;o)

having some crumpet

Last week I was eating some crumpets for my breakfast with Evie sitting on my lap and she was looking at it so I broke off some bits for her to eat, and she did eat them, I felt bad afterwards because the bits she had didnt have unsalted spread on them.

So this week I have made sure that I have used unsalted spread on them so that Evie can have some.

On Monday I cut a crumpet into thirds for her and she ate a quarter of a third (which is still quite sizeable when you consider how small her tummy is ;o)).

from ginger to grey

no not my hair colour but my reading material ;o)

I have just finished Chris Evans biography that James picked up as a bookcrossing book from Starbucks, that reminds me I will have to decide where to release it ;o)

And I have just started reading Fifty Shades of Grey LOL I am now on page 5 and I havent got to any of the "good bits" yet ;o)

first night out

On Friday I had my first night out since having Evie...

...it was a night out with some of the other Mums from my NCT group.

We went for a Chinese Meal at San it is an all you can eat restaurant - although its not a buffet as you order what you want from the menu which means that the food isnt standing around getting all manky.

We were half expecting to get loads of text messages from the Dads (looking after the babies) but there was only one (not from James) asking where the bottles were now kept ;o)

I got home just after midnight (three hours later than my normal bedtime) and consequently had trouble sleeping!

getting back to sleep

Up until about a month ago if Evie woke up in the middle of the night (before 6.30 am) then I would do a feed for her...

...now either me or James (me normally) will rock her back to sleep.

This morning she woke up at 4 am so I was sitting on our bed trying to get her off to sleep but she seemed more interested in trying to see James in the dark!

She eventually went back to sleep, and then woke again just before 6 so I got her back off again and then she properly woke up just before 7 ;o)

going around in circles

Evie is moving around now on her front but still isnt crawling...

...she tends to pivot around in a anti clockwise direction ;o)

The going around in circles is in four videos (I couldnt upload the first three)

video 1, video 2, video 3, and video 4...

a total waste of time

So I managed to get me & Evie ready for yesterdays Rhyme Time in record time and ended up leaving just before 10 am as had some bits to get first from Tesco for James.

We get to the library and I park up the buggy and get Evie out and notice that the chairs arent set out in their usual pattern.  I couldnt clearly see where the people running it were going to sit so we sat at the back so that we could have a good view of everything.

At about 10.45 (15 minutes before it is supposed to start) I ask a library worker if Rhyme Time is still on and she said that it wont be starting until September (because of the school holidays) so I said on the website it says that it starts today and she then spouted the same thing again.

So we waited until 11am and when clearly it wasnt going to start we packed up our stuff and  there was another Mum there witth her little one and she asked if Rhyme Time was on and I told her what the lady told me.

Needless to say I have e-mailed 4 Children them and told the that they werent 4 Children as they were unreliable as their website still said that the sessions would be staring on 21st August!

leaving an hour earlier again

Today the Rhyme Time sessions restart at Chelmsford Library - they (for Tuesdays only) are being run by 4 Children.

So instead of me & Evie aiming to leave here to get into town by 12pm (to meet James at lunchtime) this means that I have to be ready a whole hour earlier!

At least Evie will have fun going there again ;o)

too hot for em

With it being the V Festival this weekend I would have expected Chelmsford town centre to be teeming with festival goers.

But no it seems that the nice weather has stopped the majority of people from venturing out of Hylands Park.

We were talking to a barista in Starbucks this afternoon, and she said that yesterday was quiet but today there had been a steady stream of people.

Hee hee I wonder if it was just the more affluent festival goers not venturing out and if Greggs and McDonalds had the same lack of the festival bite of the apple.

was it the fish

For a while now James has said that we should give Evie some fish to eat...

...remembering what Nurse Julie said and that I had a tin of tuna I said that I could giver her some of that...

...James thought that it would be too strong tasting and to try her on cod instead so we bought a small piece of cod and cooked it on Tuesday night for her to eat last night.

So I fed her the smooshed up cod, potato, asparagus & broccoli and she ate absolutely loads of it (I always do too much just in case she is extra hungry), as my Mum would say "my eyes are bigger than her belly" she actually says "your eyes are bigger than your belly" but you know what I mean ;o).

About an hour later Evie was sitting in her bouncy chair and I gave her a piece of watercress to play with and the next thing I know she is being sick so I whisked Evie upstairs to get her changed and left James to clear up her bouncy chair and the carpet.

As he had put the bouncy chair cover in the washing machine I got out her gymbaroo and let her play in that as we were both about to have our dinner...

,,,James then gave Evie a piece of bread to eat (I almost said to him "if she is sick again then you can clean her up" but didnt because it sounded negative) and sure enough she was sick again so I whisked her upstairs again for a second time for another change and James put the gymbaroo playmat in the washing machine too.

Luckily she wasnt sick again last night and I have jsut given her some porridge and apple puree so hopefully she will be ok.

We will try her on fish again next month and will see how she does.

London had elephants...

Me & Evie were walking home after meeting James at lunchtime and I saw a decorated giraffe and it reminded me of the elephant parade back in 2010.

I asked the bloke what its about (thinking that I wanted to take a photo more than anything).

To celebrate Colchester Zoo's 50th anniversary they for 10 weeks having giraffes roaming around Essex (mainly Colchester) and then the giraffes get auctioned off for charity.

As they are looking for sponsors of the giraffes I e-mailed my bosses (as they are both from Essex) ;o)

getting v ready

As the V Festival is this weekend coming, Chelmsford is gearing up for all of the weirdos festival goers who are a coming.

We were in High Chelmer yesterday and Republic have a display with a tent, wellies and all in one suits in the middle of the store.

If you were a store in Chelmsford or Weston-under-Lizard (yes really!) you would be silly not to stock up on the bits that the weirdos festival goers are going to need.

This is another reason as to why I am so glad that I dont have to travel on the trains on Friday or Monday ;o)

a too hasty Mummy

Way back in March I bought Evies nice weather (I would say Summer but we all know that its more rainy than not) clothes in size 3-6 months I then worked out that she would probably grow out of them by August so bought her some 6-9 month stuff.

Well it is now August and lets just say that Mummy was too hasty as there is absolutely no danger of Evie outgrowing her 3-6 month stuff and I washed the new stuff so cant take it back for a refund.

So this morning I decided to put her in her bigger stuff so at least she will get some wear out of them ;o)

managed to get a photo

Hee hee we managed to get a photo of Evies first teeth ;o)

here is the flickr link so you can see it at the original size.

When I have tried to get a photo for the last week she is usually covering them with her tongue.

They are getting quite sharp now, I just hope that James gets bitten hard enough to draw blood before I do ;o)

perhaps she was going for a fly

Yesterday me & Evie were sitting in Starbucks waiting for James to start his lunch hour...

...there was a group of women sitting next to us and I saw Evie waving at them ;o)

So I told them that they were the first people that Evie had ever waved at so they were really lucky ;o)

By the time James had arrived Evie had fallen asleep but I told James and he said to me "are you sure that she wasnt just going for a fly?"  blooming cheek!

Anyway she woke up just as he was going to go back to work and he tried to get her to wave but she wouldnt have any of it.

When we were leaving she then started waving at an old couple and they were waving back at her ;o)

We were then walking back from town and Evie started waving at people (she was very much like the Queen waving at her subjects ;o))

I tried to video motion picture her but she just started to touch her ear (as she tends to do a lot of).

James was waving at Evie this morning before he left for work trying to get her to wave back but as always she didnt do it until after he had left.

I am sure that he will see her do it tomorrow when we are out ;o)

first tooth

After I had been to the dentist last Monday, we were sitting having a coffee and Evie started crying real tears (a sure sign that something is up) and when I felt in her mouth sure enough you could feel something sharp.

Everyday since then I have been checking her mouth for the tooth to appear...

...and yesterday it did ;o)

LOL I have tried to get a photo but she wont move her tongue out of the way!

little miss bargain hunter

Since the school holidays have been on there have been loads of bargains on things for school aged children and as Evie is still a baby I cant usually get the benefit!

For the past couple of weeks I had been meaning to go into The Works as they had an offer on Mr Men & Little Miss books.

So I took a note of the books that I already had at home and went in there with my chip & pin card at the ready...

...I found the display of books and picked out all of the ones that we didnt have...

LOL I ended up buying 46 of them - they even used a 10% discount card (that they normally give you after you have made the purchase) to save me more money ;o)

Unfortunately they dont stock all of the books so will make a note of the ones that we have missing.

I used to really love reading the Mr Men books when I was little (The Little Miss ones didnt come out until the 1980s and by then I was too old for them).

Its hard to read to Evie at the moment as her attention span isnt quite upto it ;o)

we both got tennis players

The theme with this weeks Project Flickr is The Olympics.

With the theme in mind I was looking out for any Olympics type photos that I could take...

...and I saw the Team GB lego mini figures.

My first thought was to take a photo for the project then I thought that I could get one for Evie.

So I ended up buying three one for me and one for James too (otherwise he would only feel left out ;o)).

So I got them home.

I told James that we had bought him a present ;o)

He opened up his one and he got the tennis player, and when I opened mine I got the tennis player too!

Well at least they could have a game together ;o)

a date not a year

Yesterday I had my dentist appointment.

I had a raging headache as I was walking into town (but I put that down to nerves).

We got there and I used Evies lightweight buggy as I had to lug it up a flight of stairs.

So we got up there and I gave them my name and had to fill out a new patient form (the dental assistant saw that I had Evie with me and asked if I needed a hand I told her that I was ok ;o)).

So after I filled in the form I was called into the examination room and sat down on the examination seat, Evie was in her buggy in front of me so that she could see what was happening.

When the dentist lowered the chair this would be the telling sign if Evie was going to "kick off" luckily she was ok ;o)

I was then asked a load of questions about my health and if I had any pains (well nothing except for James of course ;o)), and then came the "when was the last time you had been to the dentist" so I said 1986 the dentist then said to her assistant "you are going to have to work that one out" so I said it was 26 years, and the dentist then said that she was expecting a date not a year.

Then the dentist started checking my teeth telling her assistant what teeth I had and which ones had been removed and that the gaps had closed up, then she said that they would do some x-rays just to make sure that nothing evil lurked within and if nothing came out of it all that I would need was a clean and polish.

They had to take Evie out of the room while they did the x-ray (I was asked if I was ok with this and I was) the dental assistant stayed in the corridor with her ;o)

The clean & polish was then done (I was quite nervous when the dentist and her assistant got out the eye protection ;o)  I know that I said that I had had a bad experience when I was 14!

I then rinsed out my mouth while they checked the x-rays and they said that they were all ok ;o)

And that I was lucky that all that I needed after 26 years was a clean & polish and that I must be doing something right ;o)

I was then told that I could leave but if I wanted to experience having a filling then I was more than welcome!  Er no thank you you are alright on that one ;o)

I had to book James another appointment because his teeth are still giving him some gyp.

Throughout the whole appointment I kept on thinking to myself be brave for Evie you dont want to freak her out, but luckily it went better than I had expected ;o)

Both the dental assistant and the receptionist asked if I needed a hand going back downstairs (I had already accepted the offer from the dental assistant and she gave Evie a cuddle when we were downstairs (she has a little boy whos first birthday is tomorrow).

big baby little baby

Last night we decided to move Evie into her cot, as she is now almost filling her moses basket.

We washed her bedding at the weekend so the smell would be familiar for her.

I tried putting Evie into the cot yesterday after her afternoon nap just so that she would familiar with it but she just wanted to be fed.

So last night after her last feed at 9pm I got her off to sleep and then put her in the cot I then switched on the baby monitor and went to sleep myself (hee hee I cant do late nights anymore ;o)).

She looks so small in her cot now, we kept on checking on her in the night and she was stretched right out (which is something she couldnt do in the moses basket anymore) and slept right through to 5.30 am.

She woke up and had a little whinge but whether that was because she had just woken up or not I dont know.

Anyway she is sleeping again in her cot ;o)

thank you Evie

Thank you Evie for being born and not making Mummy go to work during the Olympic Games.

I just know that travelling into London on the train would have been a complete nightmare especially as all trains stop at Stratford (where the Olympic Park is).

Evie decided to cheer on Team GB on the day of he opening ceremony ;o)

Babies in the office

Last night I finally got to watch Babies in the Office as I had sky+ it ;o)

I can see the whole concept of taking Evie into work with me as being both great and stressful.

LOL when I told my bosses that I was pregnant they said that they would work out where to put the creche, so I e-mailed them saying that I could set up a playarea at the back of the office for Evie...

...for some reason I havent had a reply yet ;o)

tooth hurty

For the past few days James has had bad toothache...

...last night he was in absolute agony.

Neither of us has been to the dentist in years - for me I havent been back since they took my braces out when I was 16!  I had a bad experience when I was 14 - they had to take out some teeth  while I was awake (because I have a small mouth and hearing my teeth crunching really freaked me out).

As Evie is now on the scene I thought that I might as well register myself with a dentist at the same time as getting James done.

James has an appointment today at 12 and I for my troubles have one on Monday at 10.30 am.

I am absolutely dreading it!

they are calling them Summer opening times

We were in Marks & Spencer yesterday and saw a sign about their Summer Opening times, this must be the relaxing of the Sunday trading law that i heard would be happening.

So with this tidbit of information I decided that we should see if Sainsburys would be open earlier too, lol I even made James go home via there yesterday ;o)  There was nothing on the door and when I asked at customer services they said that they were open at the normal times 9.30 am to 4pm but you cant buy anything until 10 am.  I really think that Sainsburys are missing a trick here especially with their locality to Stansted Airport and the people who are going to fly to that airport thinking that its in London!  Sorry that is one of my many bugbears.

We are now in the Summer Holidays and six weeks of there being no activities for babies!  Its not like babies dont ever get bored is it?  I popped into the cinema to ask about the Newbies screenings and they told me that they arent being shown during the school holidays as they cant fit them in!  Thats total rubbish and just because with the few people that attend they can make more money out of the school kids - just be honest about it!  They did suggest that we go to see the kids club films instead and they are showing every day during the school holidays.  So I had a look at this weeks offering and it is Diary of a Wimpy Kid which I dont really fancy.

postponed

I got an e-mail yesterday from Race For Life saying that our event has been postponed until 16th September because of the weather (the car park is waterlogged).

I did a search to see if there was another one that I could go to instead but all of the other ones in our area have already taken place.

At least with it now being in September it means that Evie will be that little bit bigger for when my friends see her ;o)

Hopefully the weather will be ok that day.

eating better

It has always been a struggle getting Evie to eat very much...

...usually if we are out then she is too distracted by whats happening around us and will only eat a few spoonfuls before she starts crying.

On Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes we were out and on both occasions she ate most of what was in the little pots of food that I had prepared ;o)

She is also eating here a lot better too ;o)

adding some meat

While out getting the food shopping yesterday I bought some meat that I will be able to add to Evies food.

I bought some chicken thighs, pork shoulder steaks, and lamb rump steaks.

Last night I had 2 chicken thighs, asparagus, sprouting broccoli, sugar snap peas and potatoes for my dinner, so I saved a tiny piece of chicken, a potato, a sprouting broccoli, and an asparagus spear  for her to have for dinner tonight.

I whizzed it up in the mini blender and added some mango to give it some sweetness.

Hopefully she will eat it ok ;o)

I ordered the wrong size anyway

In April me & my friends entered Race for Life in honour of our friend Emma.

We each bought a t-shirt to wear for our event (which happens to be next Sunday) but none of them turned up.

I asked for a refund of mine and one of my friends tees (as I had registered both of us together).

So this morning I went into the Cancer Research shop in Chelmsford High Street and found the size I had ordered (but when I held it up it looked too small) so I bought the biggest size that they had (hee hee Im blaming it on the baby weight ;o)).

My other friend had re-ordered her one and it arrived a week later (it was cutting it a bit too fine for me to do the same thing).

But at least I have it now ;o)

something she actually liked

It has been a real struggle to get Evie to eat more than a few mouthfuls most of the time.

Yesterday I was doing Evie a batch of apple puree and decided to add some to the half a potato and a couple of thin asparagus spears that I had saved for her from my dinner last night.

When I gave her her dinner (of this concoction) last night she really enjoyed it.

I shall have to make sure that I start adding some fruit to all of her meals as that may mean that she  will start eating more

Although one of the NCT Mums said that she read that "food under one... just for fun".  I know that I shouldnt really obsess about how much she is eating as she is putting on weight ok and is still her normal happy self ;o)

LOL the concoction that I gave her yesterday reminded me of the "recipes" as me & my brother would call them that Mum used to make when we were kids - I cant exactly remember what they were (and probably werent weird at all) but I am talking thirty years ago now...

...I feel mega old now thinking that it was that long ago ;o)

a local food bank

The other day James picked up a leaflet about a food bank opening in Chelmsford and that there is a donation point (for this week only) in town.

Anyway yesterday I made sure that I left early enough so that I could pop into Tesco to buy some food for the food bank.

There seems to be several different lists of what stuff they need and one of them mentioned nappies and baby formula - so I bought a packet of nappies (size 3 that Evie wears) and a freebie carton of formula (its a different make to what we normally use).

I think that these food banks are a great idea and I am sure that it is something that my Mum would  have needed to use (when me & my brother were kids) so I am more than happy to donate to them  and to help someone in need.

eating finger foods

When I took Evie to get weighed the other week the Health Visitor told me to try her next on finger foods.

So we have been giving her slices of apple, carrot batons and bits of bread which she has happily sucked on until yesterday.

Yesterday I cut up a peach to eat and when I realised that it was nice and sweet (the last one I tried to feed her on was under ripe) I gave her a slice to hold and she was sucking on it and when I looked closely she had actually managed to bite gum some of it off and eat it ;o)

Then last night I had done myself some pasta with my dinner and gave Evie a piece to hold and I was really surprised that she managed to bite gum some of that off too, I took the pasta off of her after that as I am not too sure if she is able to have it yet.

So I gave her an asparagus spear and saw that she had again bitten gummed some off and when I came to undress her she had loads of it around her neck (but I couldnt see any of the earlier peach or pasta).

I shall ask the health visitor when I see her on Wednesday - James thinks that if Evie is happy to eat it then to let her ;o)

cashing in

I was in Starbucks yesterday after going to the cinema (we saw Snow White & The Huntsman).

And I saw a sign up saying that on Saturday (as the olympic torch goes through Chelmsford) that our store will be open from 5.15am!  I didnt get a chance to take a photo as I was holding Evie (but it did make me smile that they are cashing in.

It seems that the torch is staying overnight in Chelmsford,  It wouldnt surprise me if it stays in The County Hotel or perhaps if they are strapped for cash then it will be more likely be at The Premier Inn

I doubt that we will see the torch as I think that the high street will be rammed with people and as Evie is now sitting up like a big girl I dont think that she will like all of the crowds!

she will enjoy it more in September

I have just called the lady at Tumble Tots but because Evie is unable to sit unaided or to crawl then Evie wont be able to get the most out of it.

So we shall go in September then and Evie will be moving about like a goodun ;o)

why is everything just in term time?

The sessions at the library have ended now until September (a couple of weeks earlier because the library staff are telling the kids to read during the school holidays).

It seems also that the cinema wont be showing its newbie screenings either (if the half term in June was anything to go by).

As Evie has now reached being 6 months old I thought that I would try and get her into going to Gymbabes but again from the literature they e-mailed me through that its in term time again!

Do these places really not think that babies need stimulation during the school holidays too!

aaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh!

trowelling it in

Yesterday James offered to feed Evie her lunch of pureed sweet potato ;o)

I gave him the bowl and hot footed it upstairs before he could change his mind ;o)

When I came back down 10 minutes later James had a huge smile on his face saying that he had cracked "the whole feeding Evie!"

So I watched him and lets just say that he fed Evie in a way not dissimilar to a cavity in the wall being filled!  But on the plus side she did take all of her food and she was smiling ;o)

I missed seeing her more than she missed seeing me

After Evie was trying to sit up on Monday I decided to try putting her in the buggy without the car seat.

So I had a look on the web to see what the advice was and saw that if the buggy is suitable from birth then were good to go, but if your baby cannot sit up without toppling to the side then to use a neck support.

As Evie cannot sit up yet a found the spare neck support (as there is one in the car seat already being used), and fitted it.

I then sat Evie in the buggy and she didnt seem upset by not seeing me.

Although everytime we were stopping to cross the road I would check that she was ok and I would make her smile ;o)

I also made sure that if it felt like I as treading on something that it wasnt something that she had dropped.

becoming a big girl

Me & Evie were coming back from town yesterday...

...she has a travel system baby buggy and is still in the car seat, but she tried to sit up so that she could see what was going on.

So I will try and sit her in the push chair today minus the car seat ;o)

I cant believe what a big girl she is becoming ;o)

girls lunch out

Me & Evie met with some friends yesterday for lunch ;o)

Knowing how nosy Evie can get we requested a high chair for her so that she could see everything that was going on ;o)

She managed to sit in there ok and was aided with a cushion for some extra support.

Luckily she let me eat my lunch of slow roasted belly of pork and she even fell asleep in the high chair with her head leaning on the table (I put a napkin between her head and the table so that it was a bit more cushioned).

Her little eyes lit up when my dessert of creme brulee turned up - it will be so much fun when she can "help" me eat my food ;o)

She was very well behaved and my friend added that you wouldnt have known that we had a baby with us if it werent for the high chair.  LOL she was worried that Evie would spend the whole time screaming.

health check

A couple of weeks ago I went for the blood tests for my health check.

Yesterday I had my appointment with the nurse.

She asked me if I had any concerns and I mentioned my friend Emma and how I was now paranoid about getting breast cancer, and she told me to limit myself to checking once a month and to do it when having a shower.  And that if its caught early then the chances are good.

I had to take a urine sample in with me which was clear ;o)  The only thing that the blood tests bought up was that my cholesterol was slightly high.  Other than that my chances of anything nasty developing is low ;o).  I should cut out sausages, pies and pasties, and I should start eating fish.  I used to eat tuna so will buy a tin of it next when we are out shopping.

I do love my sausages (thank goodness that the sausage lady doesnt do them anymore ;o)).

And that I should try to learn to Swim that Evie doesnt pick up on my fear.