thinking too inside the box

The other week one of the NCT girls suggested that we go out for a pizza and some wine (without the little ones obviously ;o)).

I being too old school was looking at the menus of Pizza Hut and Pizza Express and had decided to get a pizza without cheese (as I dont like cheese).

Then the girl organising it suggested Prezzo (more upmarket and nicer food) so that is where we are going to go.

I have just remembered that and me & James went to one in London when we had afternoon tea at The Ritz ;o)

my scarf so far

I have been knitting my scarf on and off (mainly when Evie is watching her programs ;o)).

Here is the scarf so far (measuring 23 centimeters)

I still have a long way to go!

here is a hole

all the best scarves have holes in them

and my scarf has a wonky edge! ;o)

a wonky edge ;o)

a fun time was had

We got to Hylands Park for the 3 foot festival about half an hour before it opened so we had to queue...

Once we got in James Mum & Dad (who we went with) wanted to get a coffee so I let Evie play some football ;o)

Evie picking up a football so that she can throw it

We went into one of the dancing tents ;o)

head shoulders knees & toes knees & toes

One of the tents were letting children colour in face masks ;o)  Evie chose a pirate one ;o)

she chose this instead of the princess one

Evie couldnt quite get the grasp of putting your head through a hole ;o)

I am not going to put my head through that hole

so she ended up sitting in front ;o)

I would rather sit in front if you dont mind

Evie wouldnt have her picture taken with the bear

Evie wouldnt have her photo taken with him

I couldnt find any of these places (and they werent in the guide book either ;o))

couldnt find these places anywhere

I searched high and low for them

I was devestated that I couldnt find the chocolate pond

the kids werent allowed to climb on this

why have this at a childrens festival if they cant climb on it

Evie enjoying her nannies ice cream ;o)

enjoying an ice cream

and Evie was too tired to play on this by the end of the day

I should have let her have a play when she had the energy

were going to the festival

We are going to the 3 foot people festival today ;o)

I think that I am more excited than Evie ;o)

Since my operation and having the clips taken out I have had a bit (or rather a lot) of leakage like I dd after my c-section but luckily it seems to have stopped for now ;o)

they both enjoyed it

Yesterday Evie did Tumble Tots with James while I sat and watched ;o)

Before the session even started i explained the situation to eh people who run it and they said that they can help me with any lifting next week so that is good.

First of all Evie lead James so that they sat down for the chat (about what they did at the weekend) and the song, then they were broken up into groups of 4 children (there were only 12 there this week), and James sat there with Evie listening to what they had to do...

...hee hee Evie still tried to run off to do other things (like she does with me) and I saw James run off after her ;o).

Then there was the end song and then sticker time ;o)

Evie didnt seem to miss me and had a huge smile on her face when she came back to where I was sitting ;o)

I have to go back to the hospital today to get my clips taken out.

sitting and watching

James is working from home today so that he can do Tumble Tots with Evie as each week there seems to be some lifting involved!

I will also ask today if next weeks class will involve any lifting and I can then get James Mum & Dad to come with me (I have already put them on "standby" ;o)).

I can just sit and watch which will be nice ;o).

scarves and glasses

On Friday we had Evies eye appointment...

...we got there and the person doing the eye test first of all put eye drops in to dilate her pupils then we had to sit outside in the waiting area for 20 minutes.

We were then called back in and he was shining lights in her eyes and filled out her prescription for lenses.

Her eyes are almost as bad as mine!

We were then called in by the person who will actually fit her for some glasses...

...because of how small Evies face is there were only three pairs that she could chose between, she wanted green ones but has ended up with some purple ones (we have to wait a few days for them to be ready).

Last week we were passing The Works and saw that they had a load of "for dummies" books so I picked up the knitting one ;o)

James said it should be called knitting for Amber ;o)

As James was getting bored yesterday afternoon and Evie didnt want to sleep we decided to pop out to the Chelmer Village Retail Park and we went into Hobbycraft and I bought three balls of wool (mainly because they were 3 for 2 and were only £1 each) and some knitting needles.

I have started to knit an ultra unique scarf (any dropped stitches are supposed to be in there ;o)), I have bought three different colours (brown, lilac and green), LOL I am not going to do stripes like on a traditional scarf, but will just until I have used all of the wool and will then start on the next colour ;o)

the book together with the other balls of wool and my knitting so far

my scarf so far

a close up of my "handywork"

hee hee I may even knit a scarf for Evie (when I have finished my one and she can chose the colour).

When I was a kid and I knitted my teddybear I remember my Mum saying that you can see how good your knitting is if you need to untangle it (my first attempt yesterday untangled just fine Mum so I cant be doing too badly) ;o)

her bed came into its own

Yesterday James went back to work for the first time following my operation...

...the main things that I was worried about was lifting Evie up and down when changing her nappy.

But luckily Evies new bed is low enough that she can climb onto it, so I just lay her changing mat on her bed and she would lie on there for me ;o)

Today James is working from home as we have Evies eye test this afternoon.

Tuesday was operation day

I was supposed to go in for my operation on Tuesday afternoon, but I got a phone call on Monday at 6pm asking me if I could go in on the Tuesday morning instead at 7.30am (at least it would mean less waiting around ;o)) so I said yes that would be fine.

So Tuesday morning I got up and got Evie up just before we were due to leave and asked her to make sure she let James know if she had done a poop (as he cant tell otherwise).

So I got to the hospital and told them that I was there for a hernia operation and they showed me to my room ;o)

wide door for beds to fit through

a one way window

toilet and sink

shower

narrow wardrobe

hospital bed

I was then seen by a nurse who asked me a load of questions and took my blood pressure and my temperature (I am guessing to make sure that I wanst ill).  I asked her what time she thought my surgery would be and she said that I was in the middle of his list and she reckoned I would between 11/12 o'clock. She also plonked down on the bed a gown, some modesty knickers and surgical stockings and to put the stuff on after I had seen the anesthetist.

knickers, gown and stockings

I was then seen by the surgeon and was asked if my hernia was still there and I said that it was.

I was then seen by the anesthetist and was asked about previous operations etc.

I then got myself dressed in the gown and watched tv and waited...

finally just before 12pm I was told that they were ready for me...

in the waiting area just outside they made sure I was who I was supposed be, then they said that I was getting anesthetized and the next thing I knew I was waking up in loads of pain...

after being given more pain relief I was taken back to my room and was bought in some tea and toast.

After a while I was seen by the surgeon who said that it had gone well and that I have to go back in a week to have the staples taken out, and that I would be able to go home soon.

About half an hour later a nurse came n to see if I was able to get up and go to the toilet, I then got dressed and waited for her to come back with the discharge papers and medication.

I finally got home just after 4pm and kept on saying to James that I would like a cup of tea and I had to wait three hours for one!  He clearly wont make a good nurse maid!

I found it quite hard the first night to get in and out of bed but I think last night it was slightly better.

James was supposed to be working from home for 2 weeks but got told on Tuesday that he cant for the whole time now!  So he will be the days that I need to do stuff!

sleeping in a big girl bed

Yesterday James put Evies new bed up ;o)

Unfortunately the headboard has some damage to it!

the damage from the back of the headboard

the damage from the side

I have e-mailed them to complain and have included what happened when the bed was delivered too!

Here is Evie lying in her new bed with her Thomas bedding (that she chose herself ;o)).

Evie lying in her new bed

A few weeks ago when I was buying Evies new pj's we popped into Hobbycraft and I bought James this for Fathers Day ;o)

the front of the package

the back of the package

Hopefully he will make it with her ;o)

LOL when we got it out of the ottoman Evie was shouting out "Daddy Mister Maker giraffe" ';o)

white bread

Ever since Evie has eaten bread I have always bought seeded or wholemeal bread...

...yesterday James suggested that we try her on white bread (as he had bought a jam sandwich (on white bread) for his lunch from Boots).

So last night we bought a loaf of this bread ;o)

So this morning I did us two slices of toast from the white bread and surprisingly enough Evie ate most of the slice ;o)

I am not sure if it was the white bread or the fact that she was engrossed with watching back to back episodes of Baby Jake ;o)

So at lunchtime I will try her on a jam sandwich.

they didnt call

On Friday I ordered Evies bed ;o)

On the order confirmation it clearly said that they would call me to organise a delivery date...

...well about 10 minutes ago the doorbell rang (I thought that it might be the mattress coming early, it is supposed to being delivered between 12pm and 2pm) but no it was the bed! ;o)

Despite telling the woman that I have a hernia she left the package so that it blocked the stairgate, still I managed to inch both of the packages so that we can get up the stairs and into the hall.

And James can lug them upstairs later ;o)

lists and tests

Next week at Tumble Tots the man who makes the dvds is in again ;o)

As each dvd takes five minutes to film and there can be anything upto 24 children in our class, I was wondering how they would do it?

Well at the end of yesterdays session they said that the dvd man would be in next week and as each dvd takes what it takes, and they will do a list of who wants to do the dvds and that not everyone will be able to get it done...

...so after Evie got her sticker I ran with lightening speed (making sure that I didnt send any toddlers flying) to the desk and Evie is number two on the list ;o)

As it is we always get there early so hopefully the bloke will be able to do us before our session even starts ;o)

Yesterday afternoon I had to go for my pre operation blood tests, and an ecg (because I had open heart surgery) at least they are making sure that I will be ok which is good ;o)  I had to also have mrsa swabs done as well.

no recipe cards

On Friday I picked up my new glasses ;o)

My glasses may not have come with recipe cards but they did come in a flashy case ;o)

the unassembled case (outside)

the unassembled case (inside)

the assembled case (inside)

the assembled case (outside)

Hestons logo

and it has been "signed" by Heston

Here I am wearing my everyday glasses

and here I am wearing my reading glasses I am reading Eds Egg ;o)

I did actually use my reading glasses today and the very first thing I read about was the CIA having a twitter account in the Independent ;o)

On Friday when me & Evie got home from getting my glasses I saw a leaflet on the doormat about the Tour de France coming to Essex

she chose a Thomas one

Me & James have been talking about getting a bed for Evie...

After (virtually) trawling around the different bed websites and we have chosen this one ;o) and its not too "little girly" either so it wont embarrass her when she is eight or nine if she has friends around ;o)

We decided against getting a toddler bed as we would then have to buy a bigger one in a few years time!

We have also ordered this mattress too.

I wanted to order this duvet set (as its online only) and they havent got any in stock yet!

Knowing that we would be ordering a bed for Evie in the next few days we showed her the bedding while we were in Sainsburys and Evie chose a Thomas the Tank Engine bedding set ;o)  I was hoping that she would go for something girly...

...but as long as she wants to sleep in the bed thats the main thing ;o)

university challenge it aint

I was just doing the washing up and walked in to Evie watching Buzz & Tell ;o)

Its a toddler version of University Challenge ;o)

no more shutting the door

I normally shut the door in the lounge when I have the oven on (so that Evie doesnt go near the oven if its on)...

...Evie is now finally tall enough to reach the door handle and kept on opening the door.

We tell her not to touch the oven door but like all toddlers/children she does it anyway!

going through the pre school mine field

Yesterday at Tumble Tots (when they were getting ready for Evies session to start) was asking if Evie was at Nursery yet?

I said no and that I as going to start looking in September (after our holiday and no I havent got anything sorted out for that yet either), she then said that we should start looking soon as we might not be able to get her in anywhere!

Here in England (not sure how it works in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales) you get 15 hours free childcare per week after the age of three until they start school just before they are five.

So I am now going to have to read through ofsted reports just to make sure that we are sending Evie to somewhere half decent!

I fully expect them to say that she will have to start early to "secure" her place which was why I really wanted to wait until nearer the time.

squeezy yoghurts

Just recently (in the last couple of weeks) Evie has been enjoying squashums - she will now quite happily sit watching telly eating one ;o)

So while we were doing our food shop this morning I bought Evie these fromage frais in pouches and I also saw these, as well as the strawberry flavour I got the peach & apricot one and the tropical ones too ;o)

It will be interesting to see how she gets on with them.

I always look at the toys too and saw a sizzle sizzle cooking set, Evie enjoys watching I can cook, so she can cook along with Katy now ;o)  And as it is she loves stirring anyway ;o)

She always wants to join in when the children wash their hands (we squirt some hand sanitizer on her hands) ;o)