Day Zero Update – week 1

Today I went to London for the day with some playgroup mum’s for my first ever afternoon tea. It was glorious – away from Little Tiger and Tinks for the day and spending time on myself.  It was number 43 of my Day Zero List Items so I’ve also managed to tick that off and we’re already talking about next year.

What was even better – I wore make up (first time in over 11 months that I have) did my hair, wore a dress and I felt fab. I found the most amazing pair of tummy sucking in tights and they made me feel better.

My Witches Cauldron Cup Cakes

I also managed to make some cupcakes this week which is Number 49 on my list. I made witches cauldron cupcakes with Little Tiger and his friend which are delicious according to Mr Toddling into Madness and the children that we had for a Halloween party last week.

Which speaking of Halloween Little Tiger and Tinks dressed up for the Halloween party. A little Witch and a Vampire – so very cute. Tomorrow I will take them out trick or treating to some our neighbours which I will pre-arrange during the day as it will be early evening but I hope that LT will enjoy it.

So here’s my Little Vampire and Tiny Witch.

Tinks

 

Little Tiger in his scary pose

 

Listography – Top 5 toys for Kids

Kate over at Kate Takes 5 is running a special Listography this week – top 5 toys for kids either from your own childhood or that your children enjoy and then will be compiling a list of the Top 10 toys in preparation for Christmas and it’s getting closer and closer now.

So here are our Top 5 toys

1. Fisher Price – anything Fisher Price. Whether this is the original Fisher Price garage and plane from my childhood – or the Jumperoo that we brought Little Tiger for his first Christmas anything by Fisher Price has been a huge hit with myself, my brother and our children. This Christmas we are looking at getting Tinks the Fisher Price Tea Set and undecided whether to get Little Tiger some of the Fisher Price Imaginex stuff.

Original Fisher Price Little People Plane from my childhood

One of Tinks christmas presents

2. Railways – At the moment this is the most asked for toy by Little Tiger, as he gets up in the morning he wants his “Choo Choo Train“, he asks for his “Track Train” and will play for the longest with any of these. I personally like the wooden railways from Brio or the wooden Thomas the Tank Engine sets. We’re going to be extending the set that we have for Little Tiger this Christmas with a few other pieces as it’s so succesful and is maintaining his interest really well at the moment.

Little Tiger playing with the Brio Railway

3. Musical instruments – yes we are officially crazy but last christmas we brought Little Tiger a drum with various musical instruments within it. It’s great fun and he loves getting it out from behind the sofa and playing with it. I remember from my childhood getting a keyboard with my brother for christmas. It was really special as it was late in the day and mum and dad handed us an envelope and we had to go on a treasure hunt. We eventually got to the present and the keyboard was in the car in the garage. It was such a great present and a brilliant way to give a gift for us (we were in our teens at the time I think).

Bruin Drum Set for Toddlers

4. Stacking Cups – yes it’s a classic for children, we’ve had hours and hours of fun with them – they are stacked, put together, laid out. We’ve used them in the paddling pool, in the sand pit, pretended that they are cups, rockets and even stilts. Today we got then out for Tinkerbell to play with for the first time and Little Tiger was on them in a bound – he’s recognising some of the numbers (thanks to Cbeebies Numberjacks!) and was telling me the numbers and colours as he was stacking them together.

Stacking Cups

5. Craft stuff – anything crafty from paints and pencils, to paper, glitter, glue, soft stuff – it doesn’t matter what it is but it provides hours and hours of fun. Little Tiger loves getting messy, we paint, glue, draw and make regularly and craft stuff will always be a favourite. As children get older the stuff can change from my first sets, to easel and paints and even as an adult I have been brought paints and a canvas for Christmas to create a picture with. The possibilities are limitless with what can be made.

Little Tiger using some of his christmas craft stuff

We’re off to link up to Kate plus 5′s listography and have a look at others lists to see what they are saying and gain ideas for Little Tiger and Tinkerbell for this Christmas.

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Weight Loss journey so far

Left picture June 2011 and Right Oct 2011

It’s been a while since I’ve done an update on my weight loss. Since I wrote the post on the 8th August 2011 I have lost 24lbs in total. Over my body I have lost 22inches in total. My BMI has gone from almost 32 to 28. So no longer am I obese but I am now considered Overweight.

I went shopping with a friend today – something that I have been excited about and also dreading to some extent as I have always had problems finding clothes to fit.

But I was overjoyed to find 15 dresses to try on and 1 that I have come home with as well.

So what am I doing differently this time that I haven’t done before. I have joined Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness club and go once a week to a weigh in and exercise class normally Zumba (which I LOVE!). I have Zumba for the PS3 and wii which I use if I haven’t done any exercise during the day. But mostly it’s I’m walking when ever possible pushing the double buggy, walking the dog and playing loads with Littler Tiger and Tinks.

Next step and one of my Day Zero List is to establish a proper exercise routine. Now I can’t afford the gym at the moment so it’s going to have to be done at home. I’m really hoping that My Mummy Can Lose Weight can help with this as at the moment I have no clue what will work on my different areas that I need to have sorted out.

Day Zero Project

Thanks to Mum of One for inspiring me to do this. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do write a list of things I want to complete in a set amount of time and get ahead and do them.

So today I finally finished my Day Zero List of 101 things to do in 1001 days. It’s taken me some thinking to write down everything as I wanted to be realistic.

 

 

 

So here it is. My list:

1. Learn to crochet
2. Knit a sweater for myself
3. Knit a hat
4. Sew a quilt
5. Bake a christmas cake
6. Make a christmas pudding
7. Make a cheesecake from scratch
8. Organize photo collection
9. Run a mile
10. Fit in a size 12 dress
11. Grow my own vegetables
12. Grow my own herbs
13. Paint the children’s rooms
14. Hang up all the pictures we have
15. Make all birthday cards
16. Make curtains for the bedroom
17. Make a gingerbread house
18. Sort out the gardens
19. Work out a style
20. Make my own jam
21. Make pizza from scratch
22. Clean out/organize my closet
23. See an opera, play or ballet
24. Start a business
25. Make something with my sewing machine
26. Make and fly a kite
27. Have photos done of us as a family
28. Design and make my own dress from scratch
29. Take a cake decorating course
30. Make a quilt
31. Make a piece of clothing for myself
32. Sew a skirt
33. Have a hot stone massage
34. Reach a healthy BMI
35. Make a workout routine and stick to it
36. Go one month without eating fast food
37. Get down to my ideal weight
38. Reach my goal weight
39. Go to a yoga class
40. Get my eyes tested
41. Learn yoga
42. Take the children to the beach
43. have afternoon tea in London
44. Dye Easter eggs
45. Give someone a handmade gift
46. Knit myself a scarf
47. Have fruit for breakfast everyday for a week
48. Try two new cookie recipes this Christmas
49. Bake cupcakes
50. Host a dinner party
51. Eat 5 things I’ve never tried before
52. Make rainbow cupcakes
53. Bake a homemade pie
54. Make homemade lemonade
55. Make a custom recipe book
56. Make guacamole
57. Make an apple pie
58. Make breakfast in bed for someone
59. Learn how to make bread
60. Bake bread from scratch
61. Make cookies from scratch
62. Learn to make tiramisu
63. Get my hair highlighted
64. Find the perfect pair of jeans
65. Have a friend choose a complete outfit for me
66. Cut someone’s hair
67. Develop a skincare routine
68. Get a facial
69. Get a professional manicure
70. Make Christmas cards for my friends and family
71. Have a Christmas tree
72. Throw away all my underwear and start again
73. Visit California USA
74. paint pottery
75. make soap
76. make candles
77. Sleep under the stars
78. Watch the sunrise and sunset in the same day
79. Influence a person to make a day zero list
80. Buy a pair of killer heels
81. Get eyebrows professionally waxed or plucked
82. Sort out my wardrobe and donate any old clothes
83. Buy a new bikini
84. create a piece of artwork for my bedroom
85. oragnise the DVD
86. create a wall art for T’s room
87. knit a throw
88. make pillows for the couch
89. do a scrapbook for J’s first year
90. do a scrapbook for t’s first year
91. walk everywhere for 1 week
92. take the children to visit santa
93. make chutney
94. make flavoured oils
95. cook a recipe from each recipe book I own
96. sell my old university books
97. update my make up bag
98. Wear a skirt or dress every day for a week
99. Learn to salsa dance
100. say I love you every day for 1001 days
101. Take a photo each day for a year

So here is my list. I can’t wait to start on them

A wave of light

October 15th Wave of Light

This evening I sat and as I surfed the net checking on my facebook page I watched as more and more pictures of candles lit appeared in my news feed in remembrance of the babies that have wings and left us whether before birth or after.

Today marks the end of the Miscarriage and Baby Loss Awareness week and I have read posts by fellow bloggers about this but really wanted to post about this as well.

In June 2008 we lost our bean – our first pregnancy that we were so excited about, we had found out the week before that we were expecting and were so excited about it – we told our parents, our close friends and then at 3 in the morning on Father’s Day 2008 I woke up in pain and bleeding, I was terrified I really didn’t know what was going on (well I did but I didn’t want to believe it). I called a dr and he said nothing they could do and just let nature take its course. It was a complete miscarriage at around 6 or 7 weeks but the sadness I felt was immense. This week a great friend of mine went through the sadness of finding out at a scan that their much loved baby had gained wings and left this world. I don’t think anything prepares you for the sadness of losing a baby whether it’s one that you have held in your arms, felt kicking in your womb or only a tiny dot that you know and have such dreams and expectations for.

Miscarriage and baby loss is such a taboo subject – no one ever talks about it until the moment that you say what has happened and then you find more and more people that you know and love have been touched by this as well. The statistics say that 1 in 4 pregnancies end in a miscarriage so 25% of people that have been pregnant will have experienced a loss – that’s 1 in every 4 of your friends.

When it happens you feel so guilty, what have you done wrong, did you not want the baby enough for it to happen, were you too busy to focus on the baby. In reality there is nothing that you have done or could have done to stop it it’s heart breaking and no matter what people say to you along those lines you don’t believe them, over time you start to realise that maybe their right and it’s not your fault.

In my case I wish that bean had made it but without the miscarriage I wouldn’t have Little Tiger – he was conceived 6 months later and my life wouldn’t be the same without him, I have also made some amazing friends because of the miscarriage that it is unlikely that I would have made otherwise.

This post is in memory of bean and all the other angels out there and the families that miss them. As well as for my friends that have shared in the sadness and sorrow of knowing what it is to lose a baby.

The end of a breastfeeding journey

Tinkerbell

On Wednesday morning Tinkerbell woke up hungry for a feed – this was unusual for her as most mornings she wakes up and chats to her toys in the cot. I sat in my bed and fed her, she fed beautiful – one pause in the middle to look up and smile at me and then back to the feed. I held her close and enjoyed that special time with her. It was such a nice feed, something that hasn’t happened for a long while. As she finished the fed and gave me that milk drunk look it was with no regrets that our breastfeeding journey has come to an end.

I set myself the target of 6 months the same length of time that I fed Little Tiger for and just before I returned to the dr’s and asked for them to help me sort out my toe nail – 3 years of living in the jungle has left me with an infected toenail which before I fell pregnant with Tinks I was having dealt with but the medication is horrid – I had to have a blood test to check my liver function to see that I was healthy enough to take it so continuing breast-feeding whilst taking it is not an option.

So I started to swap feeds for bottles, she took the bottles with ease and slowly our feeds dropped, for 3 weeks she has been on night feeds and first thing in the morning. I stopped feeding night feeds a week ago instead giving the bottle and have been finding the right moment to stop altogether. Then Wednesday it was perfect.

It has not been an easy journey – I have hated the majority of feeds as it’s caused real problems with Little Tiger – he’s bitten, hit, scratched, thrown stuff, and attacked us for every feed that has happened during the day at home. It’s been painful with thrush and an oversupply issue. The only feeds I have liked have been the night time feeds the ones when I can relax and not worry about what is going to happen next.

I’m so glad that I got this far and didn’t stop before we were ready to – but now I can’t wait to get a real bra on again without clips and wear normal clothes again without having to think about how easy it is to feed in.

Wot So Funee – Week 3 what you see at the zoo

It’s that time of the week again (ohhh I do love this). We’re linking up again to Wot So Funee on Actually Mummy.

So here is this weeks Cracker (we have 2 but I’m saving the second one for another week)

This week we visited he zoo – getting ready for the zoo in the morning Little Tiger and I had a lovely little conversation.

“LT, what animals are you going to see at the zoo?”

“Crocodile in the pond” – must explain we always see a crocodile in a pond where ever we go

“What else will you see”

“Rhinos, Helephants, Giraffes and Husbands”

“Husbands?”

“Es Husbands in the pond!” In a slightly irritated voice as of course that’s where husbands will be found and Mummy is obviously very stupid not to realise this in the first place.

We visited the zoo – and I am still none the wiser what Husbands are (apart from the obvious of course)