Exhaustion

At nearly 22 weeks pregnant I am becoming extremely frustrated with the continuing exhaustion!  I thought that the second trimester was supposed to be when energy returned and I felt at my best!  Last night I fell onto the sofa at 5:30 and didn't move for an hour, I just couldn't!  Thankfully my lovely husband managed to feed and bathe Livylu and I peeled myself off of the sofa to put her to bed.. only to fall back onto it immediately after.  I don't remember making a baby being such hard work! 

So from here on out it's early to bed for this mama!  I'll continue with my pre-natal vitamins, healthy eats and try to incorporate more exercise into my daily routine.  With the days becoming longer and the weather warmer it should be no problem at all! 

Finding Time for me.....

As modern women it's easy to get caught up in the different rolls we play and often times the people who miss out most are us!  I think it's so important for our health and well being to allow time for personal reflection, relaxation and fun!  The two hats I tend to wear most are Working Jo hat and Mommy hat.  One I don't mind at all, the other I am looking forward to casting off when baby Marshmallow arrives.  Work has become increasingly stressful and at the end of the day I find that all I want to do is come home and sleep, playing Mommy and wife is something I find harder on those days.  I've tried to make things easier for myself, I have instituted quiet time, 20-30 minutes right after we get in where we either close our eyes or do something in silence.  I pack lunch while getting dinner ready, dinners are as easy and quick as possible, and weekends are for resting and catching up on sleep.  Thankfully my 4 year old is still happy to climb into bed and nap with Mommy!

I also make time to go out for dinner or drinks with friends and have a girlie day out of shopping and lunch.  My absolute favorite though is my Sunday night Pilates class.  I look forward to it all week and feel amazingly relaxed after it.  If only I had time to do Pilates every day!  In two weeks I'm heading back to the States to visit family and friends.  I'll have no end of babysitters and loads of time to catch up on me time.  Best of all, I have a fabulous vacation to look forward to with 3 of my best ever friends.  We're heading to Puerto Rico for 5 days of fun, sun and relaxation!  Nothing like a girlie vacation to refresh and rejuvinate the soul. 

All of this helps to keep me a happy and balanced person.  Of course I wish that I had more time to do things and hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to work in gardening, sewing, meditation etc. into my life.  But for now, I am one happy and content mama.

Here's a picture of the beautiful house I'll be staying at in Puerto Rico!
http://villalomas.com/

Spring is here!

Yesterday was an absolutely perfect English Spring day and thankfully, my day off! One of the best things about the job that I currently have is the fact that I only work 4 days a week.  Although I would have loved to have spent the entire day in the sun, there was far too much to be done in casa mia.  I don't know what it is about a beautiful day, but it automatically gives me more motivation and energy to get things done!  I managed to cross everything off of my list and therefore was able to enjoy the afternoon at the playground with Livylu and 2 of her friends.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Summer finds England this year, without my annual trip back to the States planned I'll have to rely on the weather to bring Summer to me!

Today James is picking up my newly purchased stroller, I'm extremely excited as I managed to get a brilliant deal on Ebay, therefore allowing me to splurge on the stroller of my dreams!
 

I'm planning on going for lots and lots of beautiful sunny country walks with Livylu and Baby Marshmallow with the help of my fantastic new toy!   Gotta lose the pregnancy weight somehow, why not enjoy the scenery with 2 of my favorite people in the process! 

Fingers crossed for a beautiful Spring/Summer!   

Head in the clouds, dreaming away!

This week so far has been fantastic!  I was at work for 2 hours yeterday before leaving to go to my 20 week scan with James.  We managed to sneak in a lunch date, which was an added bonus.  I saw the consultant this morning and was given dates for 3 more scans, at 28, 32 and 36 weeks, just to make sure that Baby Marshmallow is growing! 

All of this time off from work has me thinking about maternity leave and how I plan to spend my time off.  Obviously Baby M is going to get loads of cuddles and attention but I'll need some project to keep my mind from turning to Jell-o.  What better idea than making things for baby!  Etsy is an amazing site with loads of great project ideas and fabulous handmade items for sale.  I love the idea of making my own blankets, burp cloths, clothing and toys for my little one and just hope that I manage to find the time to get started before baby arrives! 

After my last successful try with the sewing machine (my bunting!) I've been comissioned to make 10 meters of festive bunting for the village's street party to celebrate the Royal Wedding.  I'm just waiting for my red, while and blue fabric to arrive and then I'll get started! 

Also on the project list is a soft cuddly toy for Baby M.  I stopped in a shop yesterday looking for a present for my baby bump and found an abundance of gorgeous cuddly toys, all at insane prices.  When I looked at them my first thought was, I can do that!  So that's just what I intend to do!  This little guy was my favorite.  With some fleece fabric and a ton of creativity I think I can come up with something cuddly for a fraction of the price! 

Who knows, perhaps all of this creativity will pay off and I'll start a career of selling my creations.  A girl can dream... can't she?

Aren't these elephants just adorable?  They make me smile!

20 week scan... which team?

So, this afternoon is my 20 week anomaly scan.  I'm so excited that James can come with me this time.  Unfortunately last time I got a peek at Baby Marshmallow he was away for work so I went solo.  Not something I would recommend.  I spent the whole time in the waiting room worrying about what I would do if there was a problem with my baby.  Thankfully Baby Marshmallow has 2 arms and legs and was busy kicking away! 

The 20 week anomaly scan is used to check that the baby is growing and developing properly in the womb and to check the location of the placenta.  Many people also like to find out the sex of their baby at this time..... which leads me to the big question... Do we find out?

Livylu is desperate to know if she's going to be a big sister to a little bro or sis (she's hoping for pink!) and the more I think about it the more I think that I want to know this time.  I was so convinced with Livy that I was having a boy (the nursery is still painted blue and decorated with fish) and was pleasantly surprised when they announced that my 5lb 6 oz baby was a girl! 

So... what will it be?                      TEAM PINK?  OR    TEAM BLUE?  

My little secret!

I'm not sure why I haven't told many people at work that I'm pregnant, I just haven't.  My bosses know, my close teammates know, and that's it.  None of the kids have any idea and my other co-workers are just as clueless.  I know that it's only a matter of time until people start to catch on and I become the subject of work place gossip.  I work in a large school with 1500 students and over 80 members of staff.  I know most of them, teachers and students alike but short of sending out an email, which is an insane idea and would be flagged up immediately as improper use of school email, how am I expected to tell everyone? 

To me it's become a game now.  I like the idea that I have a secret that most others don't know.  I like guessing how long it will take people to get suspicious and start asking questions.  I'm 20 weeks today and so far I haven't noticed any whispering behind my back.  I'm fairly certain that I can keep it up for another 3 weeks, with careful wardrobe selection.  This would mean that I finished the term and would return after a 2 week vacation nearly 26 weeks pregnant and by then I should think that it will be fairly obvious. 

I know that my little experiment is silly and serves absolutely no point other than self amusement, but to me it's fun.  :)

Decisions

Although it's not quite decision time (I still have 20 weeks after all!) I am starting to think about certain things with regards to Baby Marshmallow.  With Livylu I was very much like a deer in headlights.  I was grateful for any and all advice I was given and questioned very little.  I had some opinions and preferences but with very little experience in the world of baby I didn't have nearly as much knowledge as I do now on the subject. 

I really wanted to breastfeed with Livylu and did for the first month, but on advice from my GP and health visitor I switched her to formula after that, she just wasn't putting on weight and it was getting kinda scary and frustrating for all.  Hungry babies aren't very much fun.

I also briefly considered reusable diapers but reconsidered when the ones I bought were too big for my teeny tiny baby.

I was given clothing, pram, car seat, cradle and many other items either as gifts or on loan and therefore had to buy very little.  Lucky me! 

This time I'd really like to persevere with breastfeeding.  The only point that makes me nervous is that breastfeed babies aren't known to be as good sleepers as bottle fed ones.  Livylu is a star sleeper and I don't know if I could cope with a sleep-depriving little monster.  I'm still going to try and see how I get on. 

I've just found out that my local council is starting a 'free real nappy lending scheme' this spring.  It contains examples of the different types of real nappies so that parents can try before they buy.  I think this is a brilliant idea and plan to give it a shot.  I think there is also a small grant, about £40, available for parents who decide to invest in real nappies.  The contact for this scheme in the Daventry District Council Area is Jo Beau-Mont 01327 871100. 

Buggies, Prams, Strollers- whatever you want to call them!  I went through a few with Livylu.  I borrowed a Silver Cross pram from my sister in law.  It was great in the sense that it had a detachable cot which was brilliant for daytime sleeping either at home or out and about.  The bad part was that it had a 2 mile turning radius and was completely impractical if you had to go anywhere in the car.  I then had a cheap Hauck 3 wheeler, which was fine but very annoying to push.  In the end I bought a Mclaren Quest, which was great for Livylu when she was a toddler.  It folded up small, was relatively easy to push on pavement and while shopping, besides, she seemed pretty comfy! 

This time I'm looking at travel systems that include a carry cot, car seat attachment and the possibility for some off roading action!  We live in the country and I love walking through the fields!  My Mclaren just will not do for that!  By far at the top of my list is the Bugaboo Cameleon.  A friend has one and it's a dream to push! They are way out of my price range so I've been scouring the pages of Ebay and hoping to pick up a used one at a good price. 

So many decisions for someone so small!  Thank goodness I have a few more months to get my act together!  Hopefully I'll get my act together before August.  20 week scan on Monday!  Watch this space for more pictures of Baby M!

These are a few of my FAVORITE things!

I've been trying to think of ways to simplify my life and de-clutter my house for awhile now.  Not that much has been done, but I've been thinking about it!  Old clothes and books need to go to charity shops, special baby Lulu things need to get organized and stored carefully and once Baby Marshmallow has grown out of clothes, toys, books, equipment it's all getting given away or sold!  All of this thinking about clear outs and de-cluttering has made me think about what things I can and can't do without and just what is important to me, material things that is.  So here is a short list of a few things that I probably could live without but that sure make my life easier and happier when they are in it!

1. Redbush/Rooibos tea.  I started drinking it over a year ago and haven't looked back!  Just as good with or without milk, I would hate to start a day without a cup of redbush! The best part is that the tea is packed with antioxidants and is purported to assist with nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems.

2. Zap It! Facewash.  Some people are lucky and are blessed with glowing skin during pregnancy.  I on the other hand find myself with a complexion reminiscent of my teenage years.  Zap it is gentle and works brilliantly! 

3. Pizza.  I am fairly sure that without pizza in my life I would be a very sad person indeed.  I prefer to make my own.  See my previous post which includes a recipe.

4. My Uggs. Last Christmas James gave me a pair of Whooga boots.  I wear them as slippers in the house and they keep my feet cosy and warm!

5.  Flights back to the US of A.  I love living in England but I am an American Girl at heart.  Life always looks a little brighter when I have tickets to go back home and see family and friends. 

6. My Tempur-Pedic Bed.  We've had it for 7 years now and it's by far the best purchase we've made.  As much as I love going back to the States, when I do, I sure miss my bed. 

7. My Engagement Ring.  I don't consider myself a materialistic person but every time I look at my engagement ring it makes me smile.  Some might suggest that it's because it reminds me of how much I love James... and I do..... but it sure is pretty and sparkly! 

8. Scarves.  I like wearing scarves.  I have quite a few now.  They are both pretty and functional.  What's better than an accessory that instantly enhances your look and keeps you warm at the same time. 

Yes, I could easily live without all of these things but they do make my life just that tiny bit happier. 

Good Food Part 2- Eating Healthy

Eating Healthy has been ingrained in me from an early age.  My mom was the original health nut, something I am eternally grateful for.  Healthy eating has always been a part of my life.  I still remember going to a friend’s house for lunch when I was about 6 and having full sugar peanut butter for the first time, what a treat!  Incidentally, I now prefer all-natural peanut butter.  Mom recognized the health benefits of whole grains way before it was trendy.  No white bread or rice in our house!  She was also wary of chemical additives such as aspartame, MSG, artificial coloring and took all precautions to remove them from our diet.  I remember being livid that I wasn't allowed coco pops as a kid for breakfast or potato chips in my lunchbox.  Mom stood fast and as I got older I recognized the reasons behind her healthy madness and started making healthy choices for myself.  I packed my own lunch all through high school.  Yogurt, wholegrain crackers, fresh fruit and a carton of milk, nearly every day.  I continued this through my college years and even after and am now sharing the same healthy eating habits with my daughter.  It comes naturally now, and after a lifetime of healthy eating I find that fatty foods actually make me feel ill, nothing like that to make you think twice about ordering a BigMac and super size fries! 

Another thing that mom taught me was how to cook.  Not how to follow recipes, although she has a great stash all filed away, but how to mix ingredients intuitively.  I know which flavors work together and can throw a great meal together at the drop of a hat.  This skill has allowed me to keep clear of the prepared food section of the supermarket, why buy overpriced, unhealthy and tasteless food if you can make it yourself? 

In my opinion healthy eating is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and our children.  There are so many fantastic foods out there that are not only healthy for us but taste great too!  From the time I started giving Livylu 'real' food she's been eating the same as my husband and me.  I have no doubt that this is the reason she's such a good eater.  Yes, we have the occasional fuss over an unusually large chunk of onion and she even went through a phase where she refused to eat veggies.  This was never going to fly in my house so I persisted, for what seemed like ages, but it's paid off in the end.  My child who 3 weeks ago would turn her nose up at a pepper actually requested that I buy red peppers at the store! 

Living the Good Life with Good Food Part 1

I've recently had a conversation with a friend about 'buying local' and it got me thinking about lifestyles and life choices. There is so much that I want to write about so I think that my next few blog entries will be dedicated to this topic.

 As a pregnant woman I am now starting to think about the financial impact having another child will have on my family.  Thankfully I live in a country that recognizes how important it is to both mother and baby to spend that percious first year together.  I will be paid, granted at a much lower rate, for the first 9 months of my maternity leave and will still be guaranteed job security up until a year after the birth of my child.  Much better than the appalling 6 weeks I was offered at my job in the US during my first pregnancy!  Even though I will be receiving Statutory Maternity Pay for 9 of the 12 months, I will still be earning significantly less than I currently am.  This added to the cost of purchasing baby products, especially diapers and possibly formula is testing my mathmatically challenged brain to the max!  It's made me take a very close look at our spending habits and family budget. 

Food is an obvious place to cut back and I've found some fantastic sites, especially Sainsbury's Feed your Family for a Fiver page.  Netmums Cooking on a Budget is also a fantatic source of inspiration.  Some of their top tips that I have fully embraced include:
1. Make it yourself
   prepared meals and processed foods are less nutritious and contain much higher levels of sodium, sugar    and chemicals than fresh whole foods.  Yes it takes more time and effort to prepare things yourself but in the end it costs less and is better for you.  Make it fun and include your kids!  One of my daughter's favorite meals is pizza.  At least 3 times a month we make pizza together .  Not only is it a cheap and healthy meal, it's also fun and easy to do.  Here is the recipe I use for Whole Wheat Pizza Dough . I've also started making my own stirfry sauces.  When you look at most ready made stirfry sauces they have a ridiculous amount of sugar.  To make my favorite sauce I use
            soy sauce- about 2-3 tablespoons
            jarred giner- about 1 teaspoon
            1 clove of minced garlic
            1/2 finely chopped chili pepper
            1 tablespoon ketchup or tomato puree (obviously the ketchup makes it sweeter.  if you like the    sweetness but don't want to use ketchup try adding a drizzle of honey)
            sometimes I add lemongrass or sesame seeds, depends on what's available really! 
           
           
2. Plan Ahead
   Believe it or not I have turned into a meal planner!  I still pride myself in my ability to come up with a fantastic meal based on the ingredients found in the fridge and cupboard but planning meals has been a lifesaver!  Not only does it save me money at the grocery store but it's also really nice to come home after a tiring day at work and know that I have all of the ingredients for a quick and healthy meal.  It also gives me a chance to plan more labor intensive meals for days when I have a bit more time and save the quick meals for busier days. 
My 2 Top Tips on meal and shopping planning are:
         1. Check the offers and sales and plan meals around that
         2. Buy store brands- the price difference between canned tomatoes for example is astonishing.  In my local grocery store name brand canned tomatoes cost 99p a can while the store brand basic ones cost 33p, a third of the price!  No contest there really!

This month I am also going to keep track of every penny that I spend on food and at the end of the month I'll take a close look at my spending habits and see where cuts can be made.

Young Picasso

My daughter is a budding artist, much like her mommy at the same age- or so I'm told!  She keeps herself entertained with paper, crayons, scissors and a glue stick for hours on end.  It's her go-to activity and any free time is spent making cards for friends, tiaras and bracelets for herself or her dolls and any other creating that takes her fancy. 

I've allocated an entire drawer in the kitchen to arts and craft supplies.  Livylu is really good at helping herself to appropriate materials and with a bit of reminding, is quite good at cleaning up too.  Unfortunately, all of her creations also get thrown into the drawer and after awhile we can't find crayons and glue through the paper. Here's where I struggle... what do you do with all of the precious drawings?  Surely keeping them ALL becomes a fire hazard after awhile!  

I've looked into a number of options, under bed boxes, wall hangers for displaying purposes, cork boards, plastic wallets,  scrapbooks... all are good options and I think that a  combo of all is my plan of action.  I've found a great wall hanger that displays 9 A4 pictures
I like the idea of allowing my daughter to choose her favorite pictures to display. 

I also like the idea of collecting special drawings and craft projects and sticking them in a scrapbook.  I'm hoping to start one of those so that in years to come both Livylu and I can look back and see how her artistic skills have progressed.

I've toyed with the idea of installing a wall of cork board in Livylu's room, but the idea of having thumbtacks in a 4 year olds room scares me, so I think that if I do use cork board it will be in the kitchen.

By far one of my favorite ideas comes from my fabulous friend Foxy Milk.  I wrote about it in a previous blog.  Getting those Artistic juices flowing!  What better celebration of a child's talented artwork than to frame it and display it with pride on the wall!  For irregular shaped artwork check out Blissfully Domestic


For more ideas on what to do with an over abundance of precious artwork Small Notebook. is worth a visit.

Happy creating, and who knows.... maybe we're nurturing future artistic geniuses! 

A week off

One of the benefits of working in a school is having school holidays off.  While people who work outside of schools often scoff and pass comment on how easy teachers have it, I promise- the time off is well deserved.  That being said, I was absolutely looking forward to my week off with my little girl.

Since she is still only 4 and in her first year of school I often feel as though I get the worst of her at the end of the day.  She's grumpy and exhausted by the end of the day.  All of her patience, concentration and obedience is spent at school.  The prospect of a full week of just the two of us is so exciting to me!  So we planned a day with Grandma, a train trip with friends, a trip to the farm, pony riding with her cousins and had a lovely week of it until we were both struck down with colds.  Nothing too severe mind you, runny noses, coughs and mild fevers but enough to make even the most enjoyable task seem like too much effort.  By Friday we were both exhausted and in desperate need of a duvet day. 

I'm not sure when kids start to appreciate duvet days but the concept is pretty much lost on my child.  Despite feeling lousy she still wanted to cut and stick and create.  So we created! Painting, playdough, cupcakes, we did it all... mixed in with naps, short TV breaks and frequent nose blowing.  It was brilliant and we have some fantastic creations to show for it.

Looking back, I'm not sure which half of the week I enjoyed more.  Getting out and about and keeping busy or staying in our PJ's and taking it easy.