The Gallery: Portrait

This week's prompt is 'Portrait'. I took this picture of Piran at the zoo last week. I really love it as I have captured his more serious, thinking face. He really is a very smiley baby, and it is nice to have caught a different moment on film.

9 months on, 9 months.....oops!

So, this weekend our gorgeous baby is 9 months old. I know it is a cliché but the time has just flown by.

The magic nine months have gone and I realised this week that not only has my own deadline for shifting the 'baby weight' (why do they call it that? The 10lb baby is gone - the rest is too many cans of coke and cakes when pregnant weight!) has gone past but I have actually put on weight in the past two months instead of losing it. Dammit. I know why. I eat far too much crap. It is sad, and what is even sadder is that I had fallen into the trap of hiding what I was eating - buying things when out and about, eating cakes and biscuits during the day and not admitting it. Not that my husband would give me a hard time, but I was ashamed of what I was doing. Time to make a change, the first step is admitting it eh?

So, right now I am 170lbs. At the top end of a size 16.

Today I started with Slimming World. I won't be able to make it to a meeting, because it is on a night I will not be able to go, so I have joined Body Optimising online and over the next three months I am really going to try and shift the excess weight.

I didn't think I wanted to blog about it, but there needs to be no place to hide.

I am afraid. I am afraid of failing. In my life I have never even tried to lose weight, it has been a gradual increase from a size 10 to a size 16 over the last six years. I lost weight one summer, when I was working on my feet, outside and behind a bar, 60 hour weeks. You couldn't avoid losing weight under those circumstances. I stopped and the weight came back - no wonder sat in an office for 40 hours a week.

I don't like exercise. I am not one of 'those' people. I don't mind walking, and I do try and get Piran out in the fresh air every day so I will try and extend these walks a bit. I am going to dust off my bicycle, and try and head out once Piran is in bed.

Perhaps I will blog about how I get on. Perhaps I won't. But at least I have come clean, and can try and make a change.

Waterbaby

He has his little tongue stuck out in every photo! I had no idea he did that.

Ecover Review - Concentrated Non Bio

Initial thoughts: The bottle is much smaller than the normal laundry liquid from Ecover. 


We liked: I love the design of the measuring caps on Ecover bottles - anything left just drips back into the bottle with no leaks or spills keeping the outside of the bottle clean. The washing came out clean on a cool wash and smelt nice and fresh. I do not like overpowering scents in laundry products so that was great. The non bio was kind on Piran's skin but got all of the stains pout that he created!


We didn't like: The only thing I have a problem with is that it is not available for sale in the supermarket that I do my weekly shopping in.


Overall: The liquid is a little more expensive than my usual brand but it works out as the same per wash so that is fine. I would definitely switch from my usual brand as I prefer to use environmentally friendly products where available. However, I would not make a specific trip to a particular supermarket for one item so I will wait until it is available where I shop.


The official blurb:

Ecover launches the first truly ecological concentrated laundry liquid

Ecover have extended their laundry range to include two highly effective and truly ecological concentrated laundry liquids: Ecover Concentrated Bio and Ecover Concentrated Non Bio.

Offering exceptional washing results, even at low temperatures; more washes per bottle; 54% less packaging per wash and 68% less transport miles, Ecover’s powerful new concentrates mean you can tackle your dirty laundry with an even cleaner conscience this Spring.

A supremely effective wash

Performing in the same league as other well-known brands, the powerful new formulas are guaranteed to leave your clothes sparkling clean, making them a must for your laundry room.

A truly ecological concentrate

The formulas for these long-awaited products were put under the microscope by the Ecover scientists and after months of development Ecover has produced what they believe to be the most efficient and ecological concentrate on the market.

Everyone knows the environmental benefits conventional concentrated laundry products provide e.g. reduced packaging, reduced CO₂ emissions in transport and less water used during the production process. But, the biggest impact cleaning products have on the environment is what happens after they are used. So Ecover have worked hard to create concentrated Laundry Liquids which have much less impact after you’ve used them. Additional environmental benefits of Ecover’s new concentrates include: 

• No optical brighteners
• Minimum aquatic toxicity
• Fast and complete biodegradability
• No phosphates

What’s more, as Ecover use sustainable plant-based and mineral ingredients, you don’t have to worry about leaving behind residues of nasty (and unnecessary) chemicals on your clothes - or your skin - when you do your laundry either.

Ecover Concentrated Bio Laundry Liquid – RRP £5.69 (500ml) – This is the first time Ecover has produced a bio laundry liquid and it’s their best laundry liquid formula to date. The popular fragrance ‘Under the Sun’ was a natural choice to help evoke the sense of summer whatever the season.

Ecover Concentrated Non Bio Laundry Liquid – RRP £5.69 (500ml) – With the fresh scent of lavender, Ecover’s Concentrated Non Bio Laundry Liquid offers exceptional washing power and performs comparably to Persil Small and Mighty across a wide range of stains.

Clare Allman, marketing manager, Ecover UK comments: “Launching concentrated products has been a long time coming for Ecover, but we had to put the leg work in to ensure our concentrated liquids were not only as effective as those currently on the market, but also truly ecological. As ecological pioneers, we always strive to ensure our products go that extra mile and although making a concentrate is a great first step, many concentrated products do not go far enough. Our new range is great at cleaning the clothes you love and offers all the traditional environmental benefits of a concentrate, but the real triumph from our point of view is that is has much less of an impact on aquatic life than other concentrates.”

Where to buy?

Ecover’s new concentrated laundry liquids are currently available in Waitrose and online from Ocado. For a full list of stockists visit our ‘Where to Buy’ page on www.ecover.com

Disclaimer: I was provided with free samples of the Ecover product for the purpose of this review. 

The Gallery: Wrath

The prompt for this week's gallery was the seven deadly sins. I have had neither the time or the energy to find pictures for all seven but this photo popped into my mind when I first read what Tara had in store for us this week.

Piran's first ever hair wash!

Cancer Research Raffle

The lovely Abby from Mutterings From The Moor has set up a raffle for Cancer Research. I read a blog post recently (I wish I could find it) that inspired me to do more to help people with cancer. I am sure that every single one of us out there has been affected by cancer in some way. I know I have more times that I care to remember already in my relatively young life. So, for starters when I saw the post on Abby's blog I knew that I could help.

Abby has made the gorgeous bear from pink ribbon fabric. Isn't she lovely? I have pledged to make one winner a tea cosy, and Amber has made a beautiful cushion.

Now we need help from all you lovely people out there! Please,

- if you have a blog, please write a post about this and add a link to our Just Giving page where people can donate and enter the raffle. Ask them to please read the blurb carefully as there are a couple of important points there regarding Gift Aid etc. According to the rules, as this is a raffle, it is NOT seen as a freewill donation so Gift Aid CANNOT be claimed. So please make this clear otherwise donations may be returned and the charity will lose out.

- if you blog about it, ask others to blog about it too. Feel free to use any photo or text from this post if you want.

- make a small donation. Even if it’s only £1, it all goes to a fantastic cause.

- if you are a maker, crafter, photographer…consider donating a prize towards the raffle. It doesn’t have to be huge, just something you have made. If you can offer something, please email Abby at abby@bubsbears.com

- tell all your friends on Facebook, Twitter or any other site you belong to about our raffle.

You can find the fundraising page if you click this link:

http://www.justgiving.com/Abby-and-friends

Thanks everyone, let’s try and make this a great fundraising blogging event! Abby has set a target of £200, but let’s see if we can beat it! The draw will take place on 23rd May.

Plastic Joy Award

The delectable Miss Leslieanne has tagged me in one of those meme thingy-me-bobs, and as it is Sunday night, and I have finished the studying part of my OU course (just the final assessment to write) I am celebrating with a frivolous blog post. I have had blog withdrawal over the last week - I managed to tread yours and comment occasionally but mine needs some love and attention. I have plenty to do this week, but I also have plenty to say as well.....

But first, my own personal eye candy.

Simple this one - pick the five fictional characters that you would like to um....spend a nice evening with?

It actually took me a while to put this list together, seems these days I only have eyes for Mr C, but for you dear bloggers I spent long hours dreaming up my top five *ahem*.

Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds - the captain of Serenity from the series 'Firefly', played by Nathan Fillion. If you have not watched this series, you must. It quite simply, rocks.

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The Doctor (the David Tennant version) - the best looking 903 year old I've ever seen.

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Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You - as played by Heath Ledger. He has the cutest sprinkling of freckles across his nose that make me weak at the knees.

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Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother - as played by Neil Patrick Harris. Awesome!

This could be a long running obsession, as when I was a teen I may have had a picture of Doogie Howser on my wall. 

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Seth Cohen - The O.C. - as played by Adam Brody. I always have a soft spot for a geek, and Seth is one of the best.

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As usual in these things I am meant to tag people. This is the bit I always struggle with so I tag.....

...you! *

*lame I know but it's late and time for bed*.

**that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

The Gallery: Joy

Just dropping in to share my Gallery submission this week. The theme was 'Joy'. Piran brings joy to my life everyday, but this time I have gone with the moment of my life that I felt so happy, that  didn't know whether to laugh or cry (I did both in copious amounts).

I walked into that church a bundle of many emotions, nervous, happy, overwhelmed, certain, relieved, excited. At the end I turned, held my husband's hand and walked out overflowing with joy. Pure & simple and beautiful.

A flying visit

My Mum is due to arrive to stay in less than three hours. I am so very excited, although from the outsid you may not notice as I am dead tired. An interrupted night's sleep on Wednesday, a trip to Ikea with a grumpy baby yesterday and a baby that would not sleep last night have rendered my brain completely useless, and I am wandering around in a daze attempting to tidy up, but really just moving stuff around.

Piran is full of beans of course, it seems being awake and alternating between crying and playing for three hours between the time of 11.30 and 2.30 has no affect on him at all. I however am so completely out of practice. How did we ever cope with a newborn? In the end last night I fed him, which probably means that now we will be back to night feeds all over again, after two glorious weeks of him sleeping from 7pm to 7am. Just when you think you have a handle on things.........

Anyway, Mum does not know about this blog, and although I am seriously considering 'coming out' over the next few days I am not 100% sure, and so I don't stress myself out too much I am going to have a week off, and just enjoy her company, and her complete delight in my baby boy.

However, in my last few moments I wanted to share the following with you. I have been tagged by two wonderful people - Mum Versus Kids & Insomniac Mummy to share seven things about myself. I am sure I have done something similar to this before so last night in bed I asked Mr C for a list of 7 things that he would like to tell you about me. Here they are:

1. I am an amazing mum to Piran
2. I am his best friend in the whole world
3. I give the best advice
4. I am a good cook baker. He changed his mind on that one. Apparently I am still a good cook but a better baker of cakes!
5. I look beautiful when I am asleep
6. I am brilliant at making him laugh
7. I stop the 'gardening madness' - what this actually means is I am his gardening conscience, I stop him spending all of his money on plants.

I am also meant to be tagging seven people. I have no time as I hear Piran stirring upstairs. Perhaps I will come back at a later date or please feel free to volunteer in the comments section. I will add a link to your blog!

The Gallery: Ugly

I suspect that Tara has been the reason for a number of headaches in the blogging community this week. Because this week's gallery prompt was the ever so tough "Ugly". I have been pondering all week and finally inspiration hit late last night. This is one of the most ugly things I have ever seen.

Three years ago at Easter Mr C and I finally moved into the house that we had bought 7 weeks earlier. The reason for the delay in moving in was that there was a lot of work to be done on the house so we worked our bottoms off every evening and weekend for those 7 weeks to turn it into somewhere nice to live. This monstrosity took up a huge part of the living room, and it was the first thing to go. Oh it was so ugly, it didn't have a single redeeming character. You can see us destroying it here, it was the first thing we did! Hard work but good fun.

In fact, the whole inside of the house was ugly when we started. Green walls and carpets, orange bathroom and red kitchen. I blogged about it all.

Peter Pan week - Great Ormond Street Hospital

The most surreal and difficult time of my life was the 5 days that Piran was in SCBU after he was born. When your child is sick you feel so lost and helpless and scared. The hospital staff were wonderful and we were so lucky and Piran got better and came home with us. I hope that we are never in that position again. Some children are not that lucky and they need hospitals like Great Ormond Street to look after them.

Great Ormond Street Hospital needs £50 million pounds a year to do what it does best, look after sick children, they do this by fundraising throughout the year and you can help.

JM Barrie gave all the rights to Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1929, and this was later confirmed when he died in 1937. Since then, the hospital has received royalties every time a production of the play is put on, as well as from the sale of Peter Pan books and other products.

On 14 December 1929, at Barrie’s suggestion, the cast of a London production of Peter Pan came to the hospital and played out the Nursery Scene for the children, the first of a long tradition. Great Ormond Street Hospital now holds a Peter Pan Week. 

Peter Pan week is 26^th -30^th April. It's a week of Peter Pan themed fundraising activities. On Friday 30th April at 9:15am a Guinness World record attempt will take place for the largest number of people dressed as Peter Pan. How cool is that? I wish we were part of a school or club that is taking part, Piran would look so cute as Peter Pan.

Some links with more information: 

Get some fundraising ideas here

See how to make your own Peter Pan costume 
Find out how you can get involved

The weaning rollercoaster

Weaning is by far the hardest thing I have had to do since having Piran. It is a complete rollercoaster ride, and one that some times I just wish I could get off.


In January we started the baby led weaning when Piran was 24 weeks old. I blogged about the first two weeks here. Things seemed to be going well to start with but we certainly have had our ups and downs since then. He is now 34 weeks so we have been doing this for 10 weeks now. We usually do two meals a day - breakfast and dinner.For breakfast he usually has toast with cream cheese, crumpets, a rusk and fruit. Dinner is usually whatever we are having, unless it is unsuitable when I will give him cucumber, rice cakes and cheese or something similar instead.

We have good days and bad days. Some days he will not put the food anywhere near his mouth. If he is not interested he just picks it up and drops it all on the floor. If you put it back in front of him it just goes back the same way. That is also how I know he has finished, he deposits everything off the table and starts playing with his bib or the table cloth.

On the better days he will pick everything up and put it in his mouth. Now he has five teeth he can easily bite parts off, although most of it ends up falling back out of his mouth. You can see that he can swallow food occasionally, usually with great pantomime! We have got over the worst of the gagging incidents and it seems that he understands what he can and can't eat. He loves vegetables and sucking on meat but he is not so keen on fruit.

All of this makes it sound that he is actually eating. Occasionally he is, but I would say at the very most he eats perhaps a dessert spoon of food a day, probably less. This is the part that I find the hardest. I see my friends with babies that are three months younger and that are weaned from 4 months on purees and the like and they are eating more food in a day than Piran eats in a week.

A few weeks ago I was so worried that I caved in and tried to feed him a couple things with a spoon. On the few occasions that I have tried it he either cries, refuses it completely or tries to push it out of his mouth by gagging and ultimately making himself sick. So, I obviously stopped it pretty sharpish. Part of me feels a little better about this, it means that I have made the right decision for him, this is the way that he wants to learn to eat. The other part of me sees others eating so well and then I feel guilty, that perhaps because I didn't start weaning at 4 months, that I waited too long. If I had started then would he be happy to eat from a spoon? Would that be better in any way?

He has just dropped his night bottle, but still has 4 8oz bottles during the day. So he gets plenty of milk. He is a cracking size, 22lbs on the 91st centile as he has been since birth. He is happy and healthy and well. 

Some days this is fun. We sit at the table all together and he smiles and eats and blows raspberries. Other days are so hard, demoralising really. I know the things to bear in mind - food for under one's is just for fun, that he gets everything he needs from his milk, that we are letting him learn and taste and try everything out. But oh some days are so hard.

I feel like I am being judged all the time, although it is probably all in my head. Every time someone asks me about weaning I try and make excuses, telling them that he won't eat off a spoon. Why do I not have conviction in my choice to wean this way? I had no idea how hard it would be. I worry about what will happen when he goes to nursery, but luckily he is only doing afternoons so most of his meals will be given to him by us or his Nanny.

I see people on Twitter talking about how much they love baby led weaning. I read the blog posts that people write and I wonder what it is that I am doing so wrong. Why do I find it so much harder than everyone else? Why does Piran not eat as much as these other babies? Then I wonder if this is just the good side. Are they just celebrating the triumphs, and feeling like I am in private? I will admit, that when we have a positive meal, or he really likes something then my first instinct is to share it on Twitter with my friends. So perhaps I am guilty of the same.

So here it is, the blog post that has taken me weeks to get the courage to write. I suspect that in a few months I will write a post about how great weaning this way has been for us. When Piran starts to eat a significant amount and things fall into place I am sure that I will be much happier about the whole process.

But for now, while I am smack bang in the middle of everything I want to record how I feel. This is my opinion. Baby led weaning can be great. But it can also be hard. If you are starting out, and if this is your first time, work out how hard you think it will be then triple it. And add a bit more if you are having a bad day. It is not simple. But I ultimately hope it is worth it. Good luck if you are starting out, please don't let me scare you in any way. I just wish that when I started out I had realistic expectations and then perhaps I wouldn't have lost so much sleep over it. Perhaps if you listen to what I say, and find it so much easier than we have then you will pleasantly surprised.

This is a mixed up post, and I am sure it could have been written in a much more coherent manner but I feel better for getting it out. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on the subject.

Piran examining his broccoli very carefully!

Parcel joy

The post turning up has been all very exciting these past couple of weeks. Last week I received this month's Secret Post Club parcel from Mrs Yappy Dog.

It was very secret when it arrived as she had accidentally added my card in with another parcel but it was forwarded to me a few days later. My present was this lovely little collection of items.

Then on Thursday my parcel arrived from Mum@TheMadHouse - we had taken part in the flower swap at Sew Scrumptious. This was the wonderful pile of presents I received. It felt like my birthday!

I happily tore off all the lovely flowery wrapping paper and inside I found some wonderful things.

Forget me not flower seeds - already passed to the gardener for planting.
A gorgeous lavender bag in the shape of a tea bag (she knows how much I love tea).
A mini flower photo album.

A flowery bangle, which Piran loves!
A button heart which is perfect for my new inspiration board that I am planning.
A fat quarter of flowery material, perfect for adding to my stash.
A pin cushion. I am totally in love with the fabric it is made from.

A beautiful handmade apron that makes me feel like a domestic goddess. How nice is this fabric?

A quilted laptop case to keep my MacBook all snug and protected when it leaves the house. Perfect.

Flowery cleaning cloths (I saw these in Tesco 2 weeks ago and stopped myself buying them as I had plenty of boring cloths at home. I love them!)
Chocolate lollies. There may have been 4 of them when the parcel arrived. *ahem*

You can visit her blog to see what I sent her! I really enjoyed taking part in the swap, think I will keep my eyes open for more.

Inside my head

Well it would appear that the blog issues I was having started when I installed Disqus. It has all been fixed thanks to Violet Posy & her wonderful husband but I'm not sure what to do re comments. As it is fixed and Disqus is working & I like it I think I shall just leave everything well alone for now.

The whole experience has given me real food for thought though. I was shocked by my reaction to it not working, about how much it mattered to me. I will hold my hands up and admit that I have heard other people in the past going on about their broken blogs on Twitter or in posts and I can remember thinking that they should get sone perspective, lighten up a little. I have now been in their shoes and understand that when it happens it can feel that bad.

I have come to realise recently that the inside of my head can be quite a twisted and judgemental place. It makes me sick to my stomach if I am honest but it is true. I hear something someone says and I think it cannot be that bad, or they shouldn't do it that way, or get frustrated at someone because I think their opinion is wrong. I never say these things out loud, I never act in any way that would hint to my feelings or opinions on the matter. I regularly tell myself off internally for the bitchy thoughts and judgemental nature I seem to have developed.

I know this has always been part of me in some way or other but since becoming a mum it seems to have gotten worse. Perhaps there is just more fodder for this side of me these days? Decisions on how to raise a child, how they eat or sleep. Routines and styles of parenting. We make these choices every day, and what works for one child will not work for another. All of this gives us a million subjects everyday that we feel we have a valid opinion on.

I am learning to be more tolerant I hope. Some days I have to step away from Twitter or blogs because the things I read makes my blood boil. Stupid, inconsequential things that are not worth any kind of time or effort on my part. Who am I to judge how others choose to live their life?

I wonder if it is just me, or if other people's internal monologues can occasionally tend towards the unacceptable? Do you have any internal traits like that? Do you censor yourself or are you exactly the same on the outside as the inside?

Note: seems the settings on my blog are not quite right so I have blogger comments on this post. I'm writing this from my phone so can't get Disqus to work tonight. Not sure what to do now!