Heatwave!

We've had the most wonderful day here today. This morning Ray went for a bike ride with Rose in her bike seat down to the canal where they fed the ducks and watched the boats going up and down the canal. He sent me a video of Rose watching a boat going by whilst they were calling over 'Good morning!' and she looked completely fascinated by it all. It also meant that I had a good hour where the house was a little quieter with just Arthur and I in. Fortunately I managed to get him down for his morning nap quite quickly which meant that after getting dressed, I actually had a little luxury Saturday morning knitting time! Always a bonus!

We went down to a Fun day fair thing that was happening just out of Chichester but returned pretty quickly as it was heaving with people and Rose, who would have enjoyed it much more than us was actually sleeping in the buggy. So after a quick wander around, we returned home (stopping off at the shop for a few picnic goodies) and got everything together to head down to a really beautiful gardens that is a short walk from our house. Unfortunately there was a huge gust of wind through the house as we were about to head out the door and our hallway door slammed on a couple of Rose's fingers. The look on her face was just awful, it must have been so so painful. Luckily there wasn't too much damage and she's just scraped a little skin from above her fingernails on two fingers. But this meant that the walk round to the gardens was a bit stressful with me pulling Rose along on her scooter while she wailed away to herself. No amount of cuddles seemed to make her feel any better, so I ended up singing a Very long version of 'Old MacDonald' to her which she just couldn't resist telling me which animals to sing about next, it didn't stop her crying but we had a little pause between the wails at least!

I'd actually choose to have a simple afternoon in a park any day over a big busy event like the one we went to first of all. It was so lovely to spent some quality time together, just us. Rose was soon distracted from her sore fingers by running around the gardens chasing her ball with either myself or Ray (a little chocolate cake may have also helped here!). It was also peaceful enough that Arthur had a huge nap in the buggy and woke up a very happy chap. I could sit and knit a few rows of Rose's cardigan and have some lovely conversations with Ray.

Apparently the weather is supposed to be beautiful and even warmer tomorrow, so I plan to spend most of my time outdoors if possible!

xxx

How 7 months has flown by...

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Arthur is already 7 months old and I can't quite believe how quickly it has all gone, Rose's first year seemed to go by quite slowly looking back but with Arthur is feels like only yesterday that I gave birth to him. He's a very chunky boy now and sometimes I almost forget about what a tiny poorly baby he was, back when he was only a couple of weeks old. He's very laid-back compared to what Rose was when it comes to rolling...sitting...crawling... he's quite happy to just, lay there really! Rose will roll him onto his front and he's happy as anything giggling away with her but he hasn't quite managed to go over by himself yet. Rose goes and gives him a toy when he's upset, so I think he knows he can get away with being a bit lazy!

I seem to have finally found some motivation now when it comes to trying to lose my baby-weight. According to the scales I've lost a couple of pounds this week which is a good start, I just need to stay away from those sweet treats! I don't have a huge amount to lose... but it's so frustrating not being able to wear any of the nicer clothes in my wardrobe that I feel like putting on. I already have a limited choice of what I can wear due to breastfeeding, so it would be nice to be able to wear a few different things that I've not worn since before I was pregnant with Arthur.

The garden has gone completely wild. Everything seems to have doubled in size within the space of a couple weeks and I'm so behind on keeping on top of it all. I find it a really hard thing to get done at the moment, Rose is okay playing with me out in the garden but as we have a courtyard garden, there isn't a soft lawn to be able to lay Arthur down on and if I pop him in the Bumbo seat, he always seems to be able to reach over and grab things that I don't particularly want him putting in his mouth. My Nan is coming to stay for a few day's nearer the end of the month and she always helps me out a Lot in the garden, so I'm really looking forward to getting a bit of advice from her and finding out how to control the huge giant plants that have grown out there.

I've cast on Another knitting project... (I know, so unlike me!) and it's the Granny's Favourite cardigan from Ravelry. It's a lovely pattern, now that I've got the hang of the pattern. There is a LOT of writing to get your head around and with the huge range of sizing options, it can get a little confusing as to which numbers to actually concentrate on. I'm sure it doesn't need to be a whole Ten pages long...

A heatwave has been predicted in this part of the world over the next week, which would be a Very nice contrast to the wet weather we've had for most of the last few months. Hopefully we'll get down the beach again while the weather is nice, as Rose absolutely adores it down there... the sand does just get Everywhere though! 

xxx

A little photo round-up post...

I thought I'd just share a few photo's that I'd uploaded the other week of recent goings on around here before it's way too late... I just didn't get round to it before and I'm now running behind on things I need to share with you all.

Rose is getting bigger and bigger every day, she's starting to grow into those big feet of hers! She's now 19 months old and I'm 24 weeks pregnant with this little bubba, he's been kicking like a good'un lately!

We've been enjoying time outside when the weathers been nice, thank goodness we've finally had some sunshine!

The gardens looking... okay-ish! It took a bit of a battering with the awful weather we were having and now it's just been so dry. This wouldn't be such a big problem if I actually remembered to water the garden! Our little courtyard garden is so sheltered which is lovely most of the time because the wind never bothers us out there but the soil does tend to be quite dry as the rain just doesn't reach some parts of it very easily.

 I try not to do the watering when it really hot in the day but then when it comes to the evening I'm focused on sorting Rose out for dinner then bed, then our dinner... and then I just completely forget to go out and do the watering. Can I blame it on baby brain and the fact I have an awful memory at the moment!?

This is only a very small post as I'm currently writing another about my crafty makes at the same time... keep an eye out for the next post soon. :-)

xxx

Best £2.50 ever spent.

A few weeks ago I was helping out at our local NCT nearly new sale and I bought a few things for Rose, mainly things for future Christmas/Birthday gifts which included a bargain priced doll that came with a baby bath and a bottle. She spotted the doll as soon as she came through the door with Ray later on that afternoon and even though I had originally planned to put it away until December for Rose, she was so happy sat playing with her new baby doll that in the end I just let her have it that day.

I then realised it's probably a good idea to get her used to playing nice and gently with the baby doll in preparation for our new arrival in December, although it has got me a little worried when I see her doing things like this... apparently the baby wanted to bounce on the trampoline as well!!

There are plenty of lovely moments to watch as well though when she shows the baby some affection...

This baby has a serious thunder thighs problem, check out those hips!

  

Generally the baby is being smothered in slobbery kisses though, the baby on it's way doesn't know what's going to hit him/her! I actually caught Rose straddling the doll the other morning trying to shove a toothbrush in it's mouth... apparently it needed to have it's teeth brushed too! Somehow I think the new baby will have to be carried around with me wherever I go, otherwise goodness knows what Rose will be getting up to when she's out of my sight!

We're having a very lazy afternoon here watching the tennis (it's more background tv for me!) and I've been spoilt with a roast beef Sunday roast from Ray and he's just brought me in strawberries and cream... yum!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Oh! Almost forgot to say, one of my favourite bloggers Nelly has just restarted blogging again and has begun a lovely new blog... please go and have a look here: http://notjustnelly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/at-last.html#comment-form

Fox's are really going for comfort these day's...

Hi everybody,

It's been a little while since I've shown you a few photo's of what's happening in the garden so  I thought I'd do a quick post with a round up of what's growing out there at the moment.

Due to the mainly rainy and windy weather, it's been quite difficult to get out there to do any real gardening as I can't have Rose out there with me when she's going to get cold and wet.

Last week I was able to spend a good few hours doing solid weeding out there and it was starting to look tidy and under control until we started to get a little (actually quite big!) visitor every night/early morning.

A few mornings ago I came downstairs and opened the curtains at our french window doors to see a huggee fox sleeping on our sun lounger! I tried to scare it away but within a few minutes it returned completely un-fazed by my crazy self jumping, waving and shouting at it. It then began to dig up my flower beds right in front of my eyes! Since then, every morning I come down to find huge holes in my flower beds where it's been digging up my plants and masses of soil knocked down onto the paved ground - just perfect for Rose to traipse back in through the house! (we have cream carpets, very practical! haha)

So I was just wondering, has anyone else has problems with pesky foxes? Is there a way to discourage them from coming into our garden, we don't even have any bins out there for it to be attracted to... I guess I'm just wary of letting Rose go to play outside in the mornings like she usually does when it wasn't scared of me At all! Especially after hearing these kind of stories a while ago...

 

I've finished the mini quilt that I've been making for my nan's birthday present, so I will try and get some photo's taken today before I send it off to her and get a post together showing you the results. :-)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Oh how time flies!

These day's are just flying by at the moment, I'm shocked every time I look at the calendar and realise we're almost at the end of June. I am now officially 16 weeks pregnant and have a midwife appointment in a couple of day's which I'm really looking forward to as it should be when I hear the babies heart beat for the first time. :-) It's strange not having heard it yet as I had the chance to hear Rose at just 11 weeks last time, after having a bit of a bump in the car and going to A&E to check everything was okay.. which it was thankfully!

Rose is looking so so big these day's... she's even totally got the hang of doing a proper 'high-five'! Sorry about the state of my hands, I'm desperately attempting to grow my nails again but they're still pretty stumpy looking!

We've been enjoying a couple of day's of sunshine in the garden, I'm so grateful we have that outdoor space for her to play in even if it's not a lovely big lawn to roll around on! That day will come along soon enough and at the moment I'm just happy we at least have our little courtyard garden... it must be very difficult when people live in flat with no outdoor space. I think I'd start feeling quite cooped up very quickly..!

Rose is now 17 months old and seems to be going through a phase of early terrible two's behaviour, usually she's such a happy cheerful little girl but recently has been playing up rather a lot. 

My close friend has a little two year old girl that I look after quite regularly (we take it in turns to give each other a little break) and usually the girls are great and play together perfectly so I actually get to relax a little because Rose has someone to play with and isn't bored by herself. 

But then the last two times Rose has been so unlike her usual self, she's been so overly protective over her own toys and not sharing at all, chasing her friend and hitting out/pulling hair - I will add that she wasn't the only one misbehaving at times - I find a lot of the time recently that I just don't know how to deal with her in the right way and for her age. I don't want to be shouting and telling her off all of the time but then also, I don't want to not discipline her enough and then she'll carry on behaving in that way. I mean, how do you make a 17 month old really listen to you and understand that what their doing is wrong. Is it a phase that most children go through? 

It's strange because I was never ever worried about being a good mother when it came to giving birth, caring for a newborn, breastfeeding, being up alllll night... but now that Rose is growing up into a proper little girl I've really started to question what kind of parent I want to be, especially knowing she'll have a brother or sister by the end of the year! I don't want to be a miserable moaning strict mother but then I don't want to be so soft that she doesn't respect me or listen to a word I'm saying. So many things to think about...

Okay, right! Rant over... That's my therapy session over for this evening!

I hope you're all doing well out in blog-land. Tonight I've set my mind to catching up with email replies and blogs that I need to read and comment on.

Lots of love xxxxxxxxxx

An update on what's happening in the garden and Rose has been meeting a few more animals!

Here are a few photo's of what's out in the garden at the moment... there was a sunny spell in between all the rain the other day and so I popped out to take a few pics to show you all. 

I'm particularly happy with my tulips, the ones I had in the garden last year were okay but they weren't as pretty as these ones. I really love the intense pinks in these flowers...

I've got so much to do out there but as the weather has been soooo bad lately, there just hasn't been a long enough dry period where I've had the time to go outside with Rose and get loads done. It doesn't help that every time I try to do any weeding, Rose continually keeps trying to climb into the flower beds beside me!

I was back in Dorset for a few day's at the end of April and while I was there, Rose and I took a little trip to my friend Kelci's family farm to see some of the animals.

We were so lucky as the weather was just perfect, gorgeous sunshine. Rose enjoys meeting two Very friendly sheep, I couldn't believe how tame they were! They happily let Rose feel their fleecy coats, she loved scrunching up her fingers in the fleece feeling the different texture.

I was amazed at how unfazed she was by the two sheep, she was a little more unsure of the horses as they were so much taller and bigger than she is but the sheep are a little more on her level I think.

Meet 'Tink' the horse, I thought it was a girl but it was actually a male horse!

See! Verrryy friendly sheep..!

She even had her first pony ride! :-) He was actually a Shetland pony, that's why she looks so massive on him! haha

Nan looked after Rose for me while I went away on a hen weekend, well it was just the one night but it was the first time that I had left Rose overnight anywhere and I was actually really worried about it. But I think Rose loved having some quality time with her Great Nan and Grandad and when I returned she was being so affectionate towards Nan, it really was lovely to see. Nan said she didn't show any signs of being upset when I wasn't there when she woke up on the Saturday morning, she was just happy to be given her breakfast... even if it wasn't by me! haha... She obviously loves her food just as much as I do!

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