Seasonally

Last weekend.

Time with my daughter, my husband, my god daughter, my best friend and her lovely husband.

Some old friends.

A significant baby purchase and the return of some of those baby loans which has got my backside into action... If you missed this post you'll remember that I was struggling to get into that mindset.

My first proper girlie night out (even if sober) since E was born. (Look here if you want to know more, but approach with caution - FABULOUS!)

Staying up until 2am.

A glorious autumnal walk, feeding the ducks, a big chill, a roast dinner.

That's what it's all about. Making the most of everything. Spending some more time in the moment. Reflecting on how we've all grown up. Together. Individually. Call it a throwback.

Here's just some of it. Can you guess what I bought? I seized the opportunity to have two little test drivers...

23 weeks pregnant...

Silent Sunday

Oh. That storm.

Picture this, if you will.

It's the evening that the clocks go forward, back, forward, spring forward fall back back. E has slept in in the morning, napped later and is still merrily watching telly 90 minutes later than normal meltdown time. We anticipate great things for the following morning and stay up a little later than normal.

Reality:

Just after 5am this morning, circa 90 minutes earlier that 'normal' wake up time, taking into the account the clock changes, a little face appears at the door. No milk or talk of bedtime is convincing this one she's going back to bed. Infact she's like a Duracell bunny who's eaten 3 sherbet dipdabs for breakfast. Marvellous.

The consequence of this was that by the time the clock said 8am the morning had felt exceedingly long and my brain was already confused as to what was actually going on. Activities were needed. Here follows a huge photo dump. 

Activity 1: Bake off

Between daddy and daughter. Daddy is the official baker in this household. E's first experience of baking, and in nothing but a nappy, and daddy still in his pjs. And the biscuits are delicious. Aaaaaaand they cleaned up after themselves.

Don't forget your hired help to clean up your biscuit crumbs! 

Activity 2: Autumn walk

In light of the fact that it was sunny, despite the weather forecast I decided that we needed to get out a) because E had new shoes to test drive and b) because it's highly unlikely we'll be going anywhere in the storm tomorrow. So we popped down to the boating lake and collected leaves and acorns, shouted at the ducks and explored their almost empty park. I couldn't quite fathom why on such a lovely day the park was so empty. It seemed that the rest of town knew what was about to happen. Hats and coats and camera and bag of acorns are dumped on a bench while I'm being pulled down slides that my backside doesn't fit on and then out of nowhere a precursor for tomorrow appears. The sky turns black, the winds pick up to the point where E can't stand up and it buckets down. Marvellous. 

And by the time we got home, it was blissfully sunny again.

Oh. One for sorrow. Sigh.

Our afternoon was, thankfully, non eventful and normal service has resumed.

Stay safe in the adverse weather folks and see you on the other side! 

In pursuit of the peacock

One of the things on the pre-baby bucket list was to get out and about as much as I possibly could with E. She treated me to a bit of a lie in this morning, allowing me a cup of tea in silence after D left for work... Bliss... So I treated her to a slightly damp (OK, it ended up pouring with rain, we were pretty soaked if truth be told) treat out to Kirby Hall to search for conkers. I was more excited than her about this, obviously. 

We gave up our National Trust membership in favour of English Heritage membership at the end of the summer for two reasons. Firstly, we're lucky to have a lot of EH nearby, and less NT. Secondly, more EH properties are "ruins" and therefore there are no expensive vases to be pulled off tables and broken by overexcited toddlers. Kirby Hall is undoutably my favourite locally, because of it's versitility. When it's dry there are gardens to explore and grounds to run around in. What remains of the house makes for a great game of hide and seek with nooks and crannies to nosey around in even when it's raining and there are always some super confident peacocks to pursue, if you're 18 months old and think they're oversized chickens. And, luckily for me us, there is an avenue linked with conker trees, for your conkering pleasure. And it's all free when you're a member. Fantastic.

So we threw on our crocheted hats for their debut trip out, warmest jumpers and wellies and set off. On arrival we were greeted by a peacock, who, it would seem was named Tyler. (Tyler is E's best friend at nursery, I think. She talks about him ALL THE TIME) So, after a slightly nervous chat with him, we started looking for autumnal treasure. It wasn't hard to find, the place was littered with them, but E was really curious and fascinated about what I assume is her first experience of conkers. She enjoyed picking some up that had already parted company with their little shells and popping them in a bag to take home. She disliked the really spiky shells, but we soon found some that were smoother that she was able to pop open to discover what was inside. The novelty however was certainly in how many she could find and put in the bag. While counting isn't quite on the cards for us yet, this would have been a fabulous opportunity to do so... The spiders at home are packing their bags as we speak.

By this point however it was pouring so we got inside to have a run around. Interestingly the only other visitors were also mums with their toddlers! There were lots of big windows to look out of and lots of stairs to climb (each one anticipated with readyyyyyyyyyyyy, steadyyyyyyyyy, gah!), so it by no means felt that we had had a wasted journey. Conker collecting had taken longer than I had anticipated due to the sheer number of them for the picking, so we were soon headed home for lunch. At least I thought we were heading home, but E had other ideas as we have to repeat the conker search on the way back too, this time with less concern about spiky shells and giving a couple a taste test. Needless to say we were pretty mucky by the time we were almost back at the car, and the rain was coming down in sheets. Nevertheless, E took it upon herself to chase 'Tyler' around the car park for several minutes in the rain before eventually choosing a snack over him. Thank goodness we had a welly bag and some wet wipes in the car! 

Before I had E, one of my biggest hang ups about doing the parent thing was having to go out in the rain, my hair going frizzy and getting filthy. I've always hated having dirty hands, even as a child not much older than E, and I can't STAND it when the back of your trousers gets soaked though. Its another of those things that I've had to embrace, especially now she is bigger and soaking wet with frizzy hair and soil all over hands and face is the name and the game... But what I've realised is that she doesn't care if my hair looks a state or if my mascara has run down my face, and she doesn't feel like she's being judged for eating stones or conkers while sitting in a pile of damp leaves. She's having a great time and some of the best memories are made this way. We can go home, dry off, and put our pj bottoms on after the fun has been had, and she benefits far more from exploring outside than going to softplay again because the weather's a bit miserable. Even if my jeans are damp, she's loving spending the time with me, and I am loving the time with her... This is what childhood is all about right?

It's funny because now I look back at the last 18 months and there have been some awesome parenting moments... I miss that squishy little new born, and am excited about doing that bit again soon... But some of my best parenting moments have been days like today, and I'm so looking forward to E being able to take her little brother and sister back in two autumns time and for her to start teaching them what it's all about too.

And anyway, I totally rock frizzy hair. Fact.

Autumn

Without doubt my favourite time of the year. The changing colours, the cosy evenings, the crisp mornings with hazy sunny days, the run up to Christmas, the knit wear, the slow cooker.

E and I took the opportunity to get out and enjoy just some of that yesterday. Not too cold you needed a coat and sunny enough for the leaves to be crunchy and the grass not too damp.

Although she was been walking for nearly nine months (hold up, that's half her life?!) we're only just at a stage where she'll walk most of the time we're out and about, which is a good job given how much she weighs now and my increasing belly! Her understanding is phenomenal, and she got so much of what we were talking about yesterday as we wondered around the park looking at the leaves changing colour and jumping in the crunchy ones that had already parted company with their trees. We enjoyed sitting in the last dregs of the sunshine watching the ducks and chatting about what she could see. Fair to say, tantrums aside I am loving her company at the moment! 

What struck me though, was how well I am feeling. 17 weeks today, and I am totally experiencing that second trimester energy, the sickness has gone and Gaviscon takes care of the heartburn. I never got that buzz when I was pregnant with E and struggled to walk the dogs of a weekend, never mind chase around after an inquisitive toddler. I am sleeping well most of the time. Baby is wriggling away and has a clear dislike already for the waistband of my jeans...That sounds familiar. My hips are niggling but I'm trying not to think about that at the moment. Now that everyone knows and I'm not trying to disguise my midriff in tents I am totally loving being pregnant. I don't think I ever said that last time.

Maybe I was too self indulgent last time... I could have sat on the sofa for 40 weeks until she made her appearance. Maybe I've just got a different attitude this time, and someone who wont settle for later pulling at my trouser legs to go and do something. Maybe I'm just sucking it up! Meh. I'm enjoying sucking it up. Long may it last. It's whizzing by!

Big week this week, changing hospitals after the disasters of last time at our local hospital and heading out of county. Meeting my new consultant and hopefully making a plan...

23 weeks to go. E can't stop pointing at prams and pointing out babies. She has a curiosity about my belly and suddenly the overwhelming desire to elbow me in it as much as possible. 

My family of four. We cannot wait.

17 weeks

NappyKind Boutique Leg Warmers review and GIVEAWAY!

I jumped at the opportunity to review some leg warmers from NappyKind Boutique... The weather was clearly picking up that hint of autumn, so my attention had turned to winter wear for E, and what we would need this year that was different to last year.

Last winter was so different: She wasn't walking until just after Christmas and even when she was it wasn't far, so she spent a lot of time in the pram or carrier when we were out with the dogs. The pram was no biggy. We had a sheepskin footmuff for her that kept her toasty, and chunky snow suits for the trips out in the carrier to keep her warm.

But this year we have an explorer. A girl who loves to run ahead, splash in puddles, pick up leaves. A girl who can actually walk in wellies, as apposed to just have them on her keep when she's in the trike. So those fluffy snow suits of baby-hood are no longer practical, and she doesn't want to sit in the pram, however warm in might be. And if we're walking for a long time, she might want to walk for some, but be carried for the rest. Her legs are still diddy really, at 18 months old. So we have to put a little more thought to her remaining warm in the carrier, but a little cooler when she's moving herself. And my first thought was leg warmers. It couldn't have been more of a coincidence that NappyKind were looking for some reviewers.

A friend of mine mused about how they were cute but what was the point? Well, leg warmers can be taken out in your pocket or bag and popped on if it's chillier than you thought. Or the other way round if it's actually warmer. Leg warmers keep your legs warm in the carrier if there's a bit of a breeze and your jeans aren't of the skinny variety. Leg warmers make a pair of leggings warmer. Leg warmers are good with wellies, which despite being good in the wet have a tendency to be cold on the feet. And most importantly, leg warmers are really rather cute.

I picked two different designs for E. A giraffe print pair (we talk about giraffes a lot and she pretends to chomp on leaves) and a more girlie stripy pairs in pinks and reds. I had read that these leg warmers fitted a really wide age bracket of legs and was a smidge skeptical, but was impressed with the stretch on them when they arrived. And not only are they stretchy, they seem well made and they're super soft too. 

My concern was that they wouldn't stay up well, but E has spent the morning tottering around in them today, up stairs, down stairs, climbing on furniture, and even on her chubby thighs they've resisted falling down. The only battle here is that she loves removing her socks repeatedly, and it would seem leg warmers are just as much fun. I'm sure it's just a phase... I popped some trousers on over the top of them too and the leg warmers stayed in place just fine, and didn't look bulky under them. They're not so thin, however that you'd feel they weren't doing anything for warmth. 

Most importantly they do look super cute. E loves to potter about in her nappy and a t shirt when we're at home and that combo, particularly if she's got cloth on, topped off with leg warmers looks even my scrumptious. We're long past crawling but I wish we'd had some of these to give her knees a bit more protection... I guess a baby learning to crawl in warmer weather could really benefit from these on their knees! 

The stripy number retails for £5.99 a pair, while the giraffes retail for £6.99. I cannot see any difference in quality for that extra £1 and can only assume that the weave of the giraffes is a little more complex than the stripes and that's reflected in the price. Looking around this seems about the average price for some toddler leg warmers. I've seen some cheaper and some more expensive. They perhaps feel a tad over priced if you consider that you can pick up some woolly leggings on the high street for around £6 a pair, but then again, NappyKind Boutique are an independent retailer, and I'd expect their prices to be a little more.

So overall, a neat little product that does what I want it to do, while looking very cute. A pair will certainly be living in my bag over the winter just in case it gets a little chillier and those legs could do with an extra layer!

NappyKind have kindly provided me with an pair of unisex leg warmers to give away... To be in with a chance of getting your little one's legs in them this winter, all you have to do is plug myself and NappyKind on some of our social media sites using the widget below and I'll pick a winner at random next weekend! Hurrah!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NappyKind Boutique kindly provided me with these leg warmers at a discounted price for the purpose of review, and one pair for free for the giveaway, however all opinions are my own and completely uninfluenced by NappyKind Boutique or any other party.