My Baby Girl's Firsts so Far at Four Months Old #PetitsFilousFirsts

You know what, when you have a baby there is pretty much a first nearly every day. I knew this, but going through my pics I know it even more. I think it's one of the reasons I was so so moved watching the movie Room on DVD, as the star of the film has so many firsts, learning about the world, which poignantly reminded me of my current journey. Seeing the world anew with my lil lady!

So here are just a few highlights.
 
She was born on 25th January 2016, so that was her first day in the world. Luckily her first breastfeed was in the recovery room after a c section so she latched on no problem, which after Aaron's tongue tie in 2010 I did not at all take for granted.

Aaron asked lots of questions when I was pregnant, one of which being, "will she hold on tight to my finger?" and he was anxious to experience this early on. He wasn't disappointed, as lil lady gave this experience to him immediately upon meeting him. Her precious brother who never fails to make her smile. Their journey of doing everything for each other has begun. Already I can say I know that they adore each other. It's the biggest pleasure of having more than one child. Seeing their relationship form and develop. It definitely started in utero as Aaron was such an integral part of my pregnancy.

 
She was a very sleepy baby, so pretty much slept all the time. It felt like I didn't really get a glimpse at her, at her eyes, at her character, until she was 4 days old. You can hear the emotion of this precious moment in my voice. It's also the day my milk came in, which is notorious for providing a hormone and tears overload. It didn't disappoint:
 

My c-section was postponed, which meant that by the time 1st Feb rolled around, that was already Daddy's first day back at work after paternity leave, so despite it being my birthday I had to do the first school run that day, alone. Half of Daddy's paternity leave had been spent waiting for baby to arrive, as if we were having a natural birth.
 

So 1st February. Yes it was tough, but the new "enhanced recovery" after a c section means I managed. First time taking two kids to school. First time using the buggy. Baby's first time on the bus. First time, after drop off, in the school breastfeeding room. So so so many firsts, and even today now it's June, there are still some firsts.

But let's take them chronologically.

First time in a restaurant. We headed off to Beefeater to celebrate my birthday. Aaron loves it there. Yes she was young but again we managed. It's amazing how much more you do with the second. I didn't leave the house much with Aaron as a newborn and I adhered to my yoga tradition of staying at home for the first 40 days, despite it being a VERY hot Summer in 2010.

March 2016 was very exciting for the lil lady, meeting lots of relatives for the first time. Being invited to a movie screening meant she came along. And you know what, she was either breastfeeding or looking at the screen. She was no bother at all. So we've been to see two more films since then.

We haven't had the big milestones like first tooth or first step yet, so that's why the firsts I am sharing with you are slightly unsual to say the least. Like this next one for example. Daddy thought it would be funny to sit our lil lady in the driving seat. Don't worry she wasn't there long :-)

First time on her activity mat and she loves it. It's amazing watching her make a grab for things. The start of "playing" although she finds ways to play without toys, like blowing raspberries and making bubbles with her mouth for example. That often entertains her.

First time in the Jumperoo was 18th May 2010, but I think we'll leave it for another while as her feet are nowhere near the ground and it is missing one bit - the joys of hand me downs from a sibling eh!?!?!?

She has got into her door bouncer slightly younger than Aaron. He was 4 months and 13 days 28th October 2010 when he hopped in, whereas she was 4 months and 1 day. She's bigger though so I really had to loosen the waist on it a lot, despite him being 11 months old the last time he was in it:

Today Sunday 5th June, it's been really really hot so we spent a lot of time as a family in the garden. Only trouble is it was too hot for baby so we ended up under the apple tree at the bottom of the garden, in the shade. The tree acted as a very large very natural parasol :-) so this is lil lady's first tree climb.

Yesterday also meant, with the help of the self-timer on the camera, that we got our first family portrait together. As a family of four. Although I did book a professional one before Lottie was born which reminds me, I only have till she is 6 months to use it! Eeek. Best get organised.

This post was inspired by Petits Filous's new product: My First Petits Filous.

Something lil lady will be ready for in a few weeks as she will be weaning onto solids at 6 months.

This post is an entry for BritMums #PetitsFilousFirsts Linky Challenge sponsored by Petits Filous.

My First Petits Filous is vanilla flavour and low in sugar - developed especially to introduce children to fromage frais from age 6 months onwards - perfect for the weaning journey. The main ingredient is milk and all ingredients are 100% naturally sourced, so you can rest assured there are no artificial colours, flavours, sweeteners or added preservatives. Not only is My First Petits Filous delicious, it has calcium and protein to help children develop strong bones from an early age. The low sugar content helps maintain a balanced diet during your child's weaning phase. My First Petits Filous is available from Morrisons and Asda RRP £1.59 for 6 x 47g. Available from Tesco from 6th June 2016 (TODAY).

Aaron adored Petits Filous when he was younger and soon moved onto the Big Pots, often eating 2 at a time. I used to buy two multi-packs every week for years. Despite being dairy free with our milk in this house, I do let him eat full fat dairy yoghurt and cheese. I know Petits Filous will be part of my weaning journey with Lottie. As much as I feel like crying everytime I see signs of her getting older, I actually can't wait to see her sitting in a high chair. She is SUCH a character, I know she will adore being able to do things for herself. Aaron was very young when he started to be able to feed himself with a spoon and actually was quite a tidy eater too. For newer readers who wouldn't have known us back then, this is him eating a banana. Too too cute!!!

Find out more http://www.petitsfilous.co.uk/our-range-my-first-petits-filous

Ideal Christmas Gift for Grandma - Photo Book

I have created a photo book, with Blurb, that includes photos of my Mum and Aaron that cover the period 2010 to 2012.  It means that as early as October my Mum's Christmas present 2012 is sorted.  Very pleased with myself.  Never ever been THAT organised.  As you can see I didn't just keep it to the two of them; I cheekily inserted some photos of myself :-)

This is what it looks like:

The reason it says "MM" is because my Mum had me at 18 so she has never felt old enough to be referred to as "Gran" or Grandma.  She invented MM and it means "Mum's Mum" - when I was pregnant I thought my baby will never be able to say MM, but like with many things, I was proved wrong and he has said it for a VERY long time and it rolls of his tongue very easily.

So this book is a dedication to my Aaron's MM, that will provide cherished memories, live on the page, via her Christmas present.  Hopefully as it is LARGE it will be like a beautiful coffee table book for her to cherish and I know she really really will.  What with us living in the UK, and her in Ireland, it is nice for her to have photos close to hand, that are not lazing around on my computer.  She has neither computer, nor internet, so her sharing images of Aaron via the likes of Facebook is not a possibility.

I am glad I got cracking and ordered it as it will take a fortnight to come, and that means I have time to enjoy it before I send it to her.  Doing something like this is not something you can leave until Christmas Eve, and until I had a baby THAT was when I did ALL of my gift shopping.  Even last year, due to a (sad) wave of redundancies at work, I bought Aaron's Christmas presents on 23rd December.  It is obviously not the done thing as Toys R Us was dead!  I felt gutted.  I will not be letting that happen this year.

I opted for the large landscape book, and I think she will love it as it covers all of her UK and Ireland memories with Aaron, and as I have never printed all of these photos, I'd say she's never seen the majority of them.

So lovely to bring photos to life and get them OUT of the computer hard-drive.  Also means she can share them with others.

I know what my Mum is like, she will spend hours looking through it and no doubt see something different/extra every time she does.

I was approached by Blurb to be an affiliate, and I must say I am enjoying it so far.  The beauty of doing a book with them is that you download "BookSmart" and basically get to create the book locally, offline.  It means if you want to upload photos it is incredibly quick as you are doing it locally.  So I uploaded my book in batches: 2010 photos, Summer, then Christmas, then Summer 2011 and so on.  If the book was being hosted online, this would have been far too time consuming.  It meant that designing the book was a real pleasure.  I went through phases where I was doing page selection and photo choices.  Other phases where I was concentrating on text inserts, and still more phases where I was substituting single photo pages for multi.  I got carried away and ended up with a 52 page book but I think my Mum is worth it.

I know a lot of you are fans of Instagram which, would you believe, I am yet to use.....  :-0

So if you would like to turn those shots into a book, go here:
                                                                           
                                                                                                    
 
                                                               
I doubt if I have any foodie bloggers following me, but if I do, this is for you:
                                                                           
                                                                                                    
                                                                I know EVERY blogger is a wannabe writer so THIS IS FOR ALL OF YOU:                                                                       
                                                                                                    
                                                               
But this is the button that does it for me.  A book about my baby:                                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                    
                                                               
                                                                                        
When you order your book, you can get an ebook free and you can pay to order a PDF.  I ordered a PDF of the above and I am already enjoying flicking through it again and again and can't wait till I have the real thing in my hands.

I have made many a photo book in my time so I feel qualified to say that my experience with Blurb was great - I spent every spare hour I had at the weekend making my book and it really got my creative juices going - like I said above it is so quick as you are creating it offline on the BookSmart software that you download.  It does mean when you are ready to order the book, you need AT LEAST 30 minutes to spare to upload it.
                                                       
I guess I will only be able to completely review the process when I can comment on the quality of the book, which I will have in just over 10 days (as I opted for the cheaper delivery timescale option).

Bye for now, Liska xxx

P.S. Here is the "blurb" about Blurb ;-)

About Blurb
Blurb is a creative publishing platform that unleashes the creative genius inside everyone. Blurb's platform makes it easy to design, publish, market and sell professional-quality books. Blurb's bookstore and online marketing tools enable customers to market and sell their books, and keep 100% of the profit. Blurb's social and community features allow customers to create and share Blurb books among friends and colleagues with ease.

What's unique about Blurb?

• More than photo books. In addition to photo books, our product range extends to notebooks, cookbooks, weekly diaries, novels, Facebook photo books, Instagram books and more. Books start from just £1.75.
• 500+ ways to customise your book. Personalise your book with a huge range of paper types, cover options, endsheets, templates and books that go up to 440 pages (that's 300 more pages than the other guys).
• Free Design tools – no matter what your skill set. Select your design tool - Blurb Bookify™ for easy online bookmaking, Blurb's award-winning BookSmart® programme or Blurb's PDF to Book workflow for the pros.
• ebooks. For just £1.49 you can also create an ebook.
• Share your book. Share your book using the Blurb BookShow™ widget, a book preview that can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and websites.
• Sell your book. Sell your printed books and ebooks in Blurb's online bookstore keeping 100% of the profit.

Service

• Books are delivered 7-10 business days from date of order to your door.
• Excellent customer service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, available in 7 languages.                                                                            

My Mum Tum on Display

Hi

The ladies who participate in my weekly mum tum Mumentum Monday blog hop will know that I am a bit of a slacker and yet to get into the weight loss zone, despite having successfully done so in the past. But then it was 10 years ago this year that I lost 3 stone and maybe I don't have the same discipline.

Anyway, every girl needs an incentive and I would say this photo is a good one. It is one of hundreds of photos that were taken in Ireland - me and Aaron went for 16 days as all of my family are over there.

Anyway, this photo perfectly demonstrates my Mum Tum and even shows the c-section "ledge" or "shelf" at the bottom of it. THAT is what I hate. That gives me a certain degree of self-loathing.

Here's the pic:

As you can see, I have slim ankles, slim wrists, slim feet, even slim shoulders, but then it is like a balloon that someone's inflated certain parts of. Like I am wearing a body suit that does not belong to me.

I need to lose it..... I need to get motivated!!!

My gorgeous gorgeous Aaron.  This photo makes me want to sing:
BECAUSE YOU'RE GORGEOUS I'D DO ANYTHING FOR YOU........!

Liska xx

Weekend in Derby with Baby - long car journey with baby

Hi

I am writing this post in order to link up to:



I went to Derby for a long weekend 8th 9th and 10th July, with Aaron and the husband.

It was my husband's best-friend's girlfriend's 40th - do you follow? :-) Still with me?

She wanted to celebrate in style with a posh weekend away in a stately home type venue - I THINK it had 16 bedrooms, and I can't remember how many of us there were, but most people had kids.

Well getting ready caused arguments, as hubby didn't have any sense of hustle on, so I took it slow. Which he didn't object to, until it was time to leave and he got VERY angry that we left so late.

He responded to this by errrrr spending half an hour in Tesco without telling me he was doing so.

First stop was within 5 minutes of home to get petrol (he never ever does it the night before, or during the morning while I am packing - ggggrrr) and then he decides we need food for the journey, so goes to Tesco and doesn't tell me how long he'll be. So I am playing in the car with a baby and time is going on and on and on. Because Aaron can walk, when he came back, he said I shouldv'e taken him out to stretch his legs, but I didn't dare, as I thought he'd be quick and that he'd be cross if he had to wait while I loaded Aaron in again.

So it was late when we got on the M25.

We got to the venue in Derby either just before or just after midnight!

We'd been on the road for just over 6 hours......!

And to be fair, Aaron was an absolute angel. He loves the car. I know, I am lucky. We did stop at services about 2 or 3 times. If you are doing a car journey with a baby for the first time, do factor this in, because if you stop for 40 minutes like I do, your journey will be loooong, plus we experienced a bit of a tailback at one point. So a 2.5 hour journey took 6 hours........

Anyway when we got there, it was an amazing house, with an amazing kitchen, decor and grounds.

Used the Trunki for all of Aaron's non food stuff - love it!

Still baby wearing at what was nearly 13 months

Amazing kitchen we had there

The grounds were spectacular

Stunning venue we stayed at

Aaron loved the open space and being able to run around. He started walking a few days after his first birthday and is quite good on his feet now.

This is a little video of him enjoying the open space - he doesn't often fall onto his hands like that.

I want to share a video with you of us doing a bhangra workshop on the Saturday afternoon, me dancing (with everyone else) with Aaron in the Moby Wrap (sling), but it is 3 minutes and 37 seconds, so too long to upload.

I know I could put it on You Tube and imbed it but I cannot get my New Mum Online You Tube account to work.  Ben trying for about 6 weeks.

I'll leave you with a short (32 seconds) video of the Trunki, as I was well impressed with it.  Used it for all of Aaron's non food items.  When I went to Xmas in July (organised by UK Mums TV) our goodie bag was the Trunki! and it was full of freebies.... a real goodie bag!

Bye for now, Liska xxx

CHURCH - and how I have Surprised Myself...

Hi

Anyone who knows me knows that despite being raised a Catholic I am spiritual rather than Christian.  I would rather do a meditation and yoga than go to church.

BUT

A few weeks ago I went to church to ask about getting Aaron baptised and the priest said I would need to go to Church as that is where I would get the newsletter that would announce when the course was, which was a prerequisite to having the baptism.

I have been going for the last few weeks. But the first time the course was announced it was announced for 10th July which clashed with our Derby weekend away (which I still haven't blogged about).

Anyway I have carried on going and there are usually 7 hymns during mass, all of which I sing at the top of my voice. Me and Aaron go and I am starting (despite myself) to LOVE it.

The first week I went, everytime I sung I cried - it was like the singing or the words or both, touched my soul. So I always sit next to the choir and sing alongside them.

Sadly there is no choir for the Summer school hols, and this was the first week without them, but I just listened to all the words during the mass more.

I have been feeling terribly lonely lately (my PND is back) and so on the way to church this Sunday I said to myself God if you are listening, let me get talking to someone outside Church. I knew it'd be a challenge for the big guy cos being London everyone just rushes out and heads off. This isn't Ireland where people stand around having the craic for 30 mins outside mass.

Anyway I got talking to TWO people and one of them because she has the identical pushchair to me. Now that is rare as in 13 months of Aaron's life I have not seen anyone with that pushchair and I look at everyone who walks passed us.

So, is that a sign that he was answering my prayer? Maybe as we both went to the 12:30 mass and we BOTH nearly went to the 11 o'clock but neither of us did :-)

I like most people haven't liked a lot of what has been going on in the church in recent years, and I never expected to suddenly start to enjoy attending church but I am going to go with it and see where it takes me.

I have blogged a lot less lately as the husband in Derby and the days before and after made lots of snipes that I blog too much BUT, you know what, me blogging less has not at all increased the amount of time we have together....... in fact it has just highlighted to me how much time he spends on computer and reminded me why I started blogging in the 1st place.

I made sure we had a "family" day today though and we took Aaron to the soft play area followed by swimming, followed by a walk in the park and I really enjoyed it.

Swimming is a big deal as it is only the 2nd time I have taken Aaron but it was a piece of cake so I will be doing it again very soon.

Liska xx

NHS Hospitals, Babies and Paediatrics

Hi

Well the next time a Doctor says, go to hospital to be on the safe side, I won't necessarily be saying yes please.

Yesterday was a horrid horrid experience which I am in no hurry to repeat.

What was wrong ...?
Well it was an ordinary day.  Needed some Cow & Gate so decided to walk to town. After buying it, I realised I hadn't had lunch yet and was starving, so ordered a beautiful salad in a cafe, just before they closed, at 4:55 p.m.  Half way through my salad Aaron got grumpy in his push chair so I passed him an Organix Rice Cracker (he's had them everyday since January) and he devoured it, and then half of a second one.  Few mins later got grumpy again so I took him out so he could stand and hold my lap.  Finished lunch, he was okay. Paid he was okay.  Walked to a mobile phone accessory stand.  While there he started to SCREAM like nothing he has ever done in a year.  I took him over to a seat in the shopping centre and gave him calpol in case it was teeth.  He was touching his jaw bone etc... Then as it was dinner time gave him 2 spoons of solids (Hipp Organic) - he had 2 spoons and rejected the rest.  Carried on screaming.  Picked him up and consoled him.  Put him in a £1 toy machine that you sit in and he went mental.

Then walked along holding him and pushing buggy, he was inconsolable, and really distressed screaming.  I kept repeating Aaron I will take you to the Doctor. At one point his lips looked tinged blue and he was coughing trying to clear his throat and screaming. Couldn't carry him any longer so put him in in pushchair and started running for the Doctor which is a 15 min walk away.

Aaron kept screaming and holding his jaw/face but the calpol wasn't kicking in and he was acting like there was something in his throat, even though I knew he hadn't put anything odd in his mouth, so the only thing I could think was that it was an allergic reaction.  He lay back into the buggy and screamed all the way to the Doctor's, which is very very very unlike him.  He cried so much he made all of the area around his eyes all red and puffy which has never happened - he is not a baby that has tantrums.

When we got there he screamed so loud reception couldn't even hear me, and the Dr had to see him immediately, which still took 10 mins as he was with a patient, who was undressed on his couch.

Nothing would sidetrack Aaron from screaming and I was 100% positive something serious was wrong.

The Doctor took his temperature via his ears which upset Aaron more. Listened to his chest. Looked at his throat. Put this electronic thing on finger to measure oxygen. And could see he was still distressed so decided to call an ambulance in case Aaron had consumed a foreign body and needed an x ray.

We waited about 30 minutes for the ambulance during such time that Aaron stopped crying, started putting weight on his legs on my knee and started touching things, looking at things, talking baby language and smiling... I said to the Dr shall we cancel the ambulance. He said no.  He wouldn't even let us leave the room so he could see other patients, as he wanted to "keep Aaron under observation".

The paramedics arrived and were lovely and put us and all our stuff in the back of the ambulance.  As they were doing all of that, hubby arrived as I'd called him too and he'd walked out on a night shift (oh dear).  I told him to go home and get resources (more mile, more bottles, more nappies etc...) as I'd only popped out and as a result did not have much with me.

The paramedics said they hadn't taken a long time due to being with someone else. They had just started their shift and we were their first customers.

Hubby then met us at the hospital after popping home.

I had the whole journey to chat to the paramedic while the other one drove.  She could tell that everything was okay now, and said she has 3 children of her own.

She got us to sit down and she booked us in at the hospital. At this time it was about 7:20 which is crazy... where had 2 hours already gone....?

Then 2 things happened (1) she must have said it wasn't an emergency and (2) she had a letter from the Doctor.  He had addressed it, "To Whom it May Concern" which apparently is the reason we ended up being there for HOURS.  When we eventually saw the Triage nurse about an hour later, she said we would have been seen much sooner if it was addressed to Paediatrics.  She criticised every sentence of his letter, and the things he had said to me.

Although she examined him, she said we would need to be seen by a Doctor.  Like the GP had measured his oxygen with an electronic device on Aaron's finger, she did the same, but via his big toe. She also took his temperature and listened to his chest.

She said she would move his card to the emergency section.... it didn't turn out to make a difference.

At 8:30 p.m. we were told we only had 2 people in front of us.. I still put Aaron to sleep in his buggy as I knew it might still be a while and he was grizzly - thank God I did.  At 9:35 we were told we had 1 person in front.... I then saw that lady and her little boy leave very soon after (with his arm in a sling) yet over half an hour later I went into the emergency section and they said our file was no longer there, which is why we weren't called "next".  It took 10 further minutes to pin down the file (which had been moved to another department without the nurse on duty being informed - she was as cross about it as me) and we got seen at ........( a couple of my tweets are missing so I am now not sure what time... my battery was low so they must not have posted).

Asleep in hospital at 8:45 p.m.

Anyway when we did get seen by a Dr I had to wake Aaron up, but he woke up talking before opening his guys and was really excited when he saw his surroundings.  The Dr examined him and then insisted on his seeing a Paediatrician so we would have to wait - again.  They let us stay in our curtained cubicle so I heard his phone call to her.  He explained everything and said he didn't have enough experience with children to feel comfortable discharging us.  It was the FIRST time that Paeds had been told of our case.  While we waited Aaron insisted on walking up and down up and down the corridor... and everyone who saw him loved him but I first took the opportunity to change his nappy:

By the time the Paediatrician came he was then exhausted and again getting a little bit grizzly.  But he did cheerfully allow her to examine him.

She fully examined him and he was happy but when she wanted to look in his ears he went mad and I struggled to hold him down.  I then couldn't hold him down enough for her to look in his throat so I went out to the corridor to get Dad so he could help.

She decided he did not need an xray (which was the whole reason we were there).  She was absolutely lovely, but did say we had grounds for a complaint in how it'd all been handled.

She gave us permission to go at 11:42, but by the time we drove out of the carpark it was exactly midnight.  In the carpark we met a lady and her little girl, who had both been there just as long as us.

Crazy crazy crazy and I would not be in a hurry to go through it again.

In the carpark at midnight... poor baby

The lit up window in the distance is the room I was in after Aaron was born (can be seen from the carpark) *nostalgic*

Liska xxx

MUMenTUM - Monday Mum Tum

Hi

It's that time of the week once again. Mumentum for ladies with a Mum Tum.

I load this on Sunday in case anyone wants to do their Monday post a day early, or tonight.

Since I started saying that this blog hop is open to anyone with a Mum Tum, we've had quite a few new members. And they are lovely ladies too.  I think we had 14 participants in the linky last week, and we have a few new ladies since then.

I add each person to the #Mumemtum list. There's a thing on Twitter called Lists and everyone should be on there.  It means for a new person that you can follow all of us in one click by following the list (I think).

Biogs
The ladies who have given me their biogs (by email) are also all listed here, with a bit about them that they've each written themselves. The great thing about Mumentum is there is something for everyone. Karen at Would Like to Be a Yummy Mummy is the driven type: exercising properly and eating properly and making FABULOUS progress, so if you are looking for a role model, she's the gal. Then there's Wendy, who's had 5 children, yet has managed to lose 2 out of 3 stone.... I could go on, but their stories are in their biogs so go take a look. We are such a mixed bunch of girls, there really is a friend for everyone.

My problem is candida and I know the weight will drop off when I start fully tackling my diet and the Dida that I bought from Holland & Barrett is really helping.  (I posted about it last week).  I have drastically reduced my bread and coffee intake this past week.  Since taking Dida I have noticed that coffee now makes me feel rubbish so it is obviously detoxing me.

Now, on the horizon, quite a few of us have something called Cybermummy coming up........ Now for this we want to look our best, but it is now - since yesterday - only 3 weeks away, and in the last few weeks I have lost pounds ZERO, so I need to take things a tad more seriously in the next few weeks.  Now some of the comments on Mich's Mummy From The Heart recent post said "what's all the fuss about?" but it is a pride thing rather than a caring what anyone thinks thing. I am not saying that going to Cybermummy is the equivalent of going to a wedding, but I would have liked to have looked like my onscreen self, and not the 7kg extra that I currently am.  I had lived with being 88kg for the last few years, but now I am 95kg and that's not cool! Hi Mich by the way.  I know you are joining us this week and I am looking forward to having you with us.

Just to prove I am not expecting to be a supermodel, above is July 2009, and I was a size 16 (compared to the current size 18) and I like how I look.  I am not a person who expects to be wafer thin.  Far from it......

I would love to write inspiring posts about all the exercising I am doing, but I am just not.  Not getting the chance either....... Trying to think of a way of fitting yoga back into my life as I taught yoga from 2004 to 2010.  Even taught it while I was pregnant until I was 36 or 37 weeks... I should just try doing it with Aaron in the room and see what he makes of that.  It's not as if I have even tried.  He may enjoy clambering around trying to copy me.  I owe it to myself to at least give it a try.

I may just go and re-read all of Karen's posts to see how she manages to exercise with two little girls, after all there is only 2 weeks in the difference between her Rosie and my Aaron, and her fitness posts are easy to find as they are all listed here.  As you can see there, she's been at it for 18 weeks and is self-disciplined, so no wonder she has seen results.  Another one who is managing to get some exercise in is our very own Claire at Grumpinator.

Mumentum is managing to attract the attention of companies. A few of us were invited to the Nivea Your Shape event, and we are all being given free Hot Pants.  We love Hot Pants but are desperate for them to arrive.......... please Hot Pant man get them in the post, so we can see results before Cybermummy.  Hot Pants are even sponsoring Claire.

This is a blog hop, so if you are participating feel free to grab the code for the bottom of your post.

I don't really do rules, but if you are entering the linky, it should be with a link to a post, that is relevant to Mumentum.  Say hello on Twitter or in the comments.

Have a good week.

Bye for now, Liska xxxxx

Baby: Living in a Flat

Hi,

How about you live in a flat, and you are having a baby, for the first time...

Do you run and decorate the nursery?  Not necessarily, and not if you are me.

Our 2nd bedroom is a study and is full of 2 bookshelves, sofabed, desk, computer etc... etc...

And we knew baby would be in a bedside cot with us for 6 months anyway, so what did we do?
I asked hubby if we could decorate our bedroom instead because it had always been the only room in our flat that I hated - I hated the decor we'd inherited from the previous owners.

This picture shows the "gutted" room on 13th May 2010 (and Aaron was due on 7th June 2010 although he was later than that)... As you can see the new curtain pole is up, the feature and other walls have been painted etc.... Next comes new carpet, new bed and new wardrobe.

Our new (Ikea) wardrobe.... (It's a beast).  Hated the old ones.

Bedside cot and new bedlinen to go with new decor.

All this decorating and purchasing of new curtains and new bedlinen actually happened last Summer. We did it just before Aaron was born, so it was probably some time round about now as Aaron will be ONE in a couple of weeks.  Maybe that's why I am feeling nostalgic...

So we decluttered which saw me give EIGHT Ikea bags of clothes to the charity shop - THAT charity shop did very very well as there was a lot of Monsoon clothes in there to name but a few...

I had my heart set on an Ikea wardrobe with sliding doors (pictured above), where you design the inside yourself.

It has enabled us to accommodate all of Aaron's stuff in our wardrobes.

They say Barack's car is a Beast, well this wardrobe is a Beast. We are talking like 3 metres wide (half mine half hubby's) and I can't remember the height but it's floor to ceiling.  It's like having a fitted wardrobe.

Anyway I am giving you a sneeky peek into my home now, but the bloody thing is so big I couldn't even stand back enough to get the whole thing in:

Daddy's side on the left with fabric shelves hanging for Aaron's stuff

Vests are on top, then next shelf is PJs, then jeans, then bibs which he no longer uses, then muslins which he no longer uses and finally a shelf of bedding.  Above all of this is a wardrobe shelf and below is a wardrobe drawer (neither of those have Aaron's things in).  I told it... it's a tall wardrobe.

Aaron has his own rail below mine. Excuse the mess!

Dad's side's on the left behind the sliding doors.

Close up of Aaron's rail which also shows the built in drawers...

The only mistake we've made is that because all of this works so well, we never did get round to clearing the second room to do as a nursery. When we did our room, we thought we've got SIX long months to do Aaron's room. Needless to say those 6 months flew and as a result Aaron is still in a bedside cot (although half the night he is in with us) and the second bedroom IS STILL a study........!

Oh dear, he'll probably still be with us when he goes to University - joking!!!!

Liska xxx

MOMenTUM - Monday Mum Tum

Hi All,

Anyone is allowed to join us.  All you need is a blog and a Mum Tum, and you can jump on our bandwagon.  Please write a post in keeping with the theme: losing your Mum Tum, and link to it below.

So ladies this week it's over to you.  I am not setting a theme or any questions.  So invent your own subject.... mine is:

What's your problem?

So I took the photos below today in readiness for this post...... as my main problem is that in weeks I have not cooked.... I graze on nibblies instead and hence the pounds have piled on.  I said last week that I would cook every day this past week - I didn't....... I know...... I failed, but the first step in progress is admitting you failed right?

I use Aaron as an excuse not to cook...... to be fair now he's mobile it is harder.....

But tonight I cooked and that is what I need to do if I am going to shift this weight.

In December I was lighter and slimmer than I am now, as I spent the whole Summer last year cooking.  My Mum was here for 9 weeks when Aaron was born, so I used to make healthy dinners for us all.

Everytime I go to Working London Mummy's blog I feel terrible, as I know this is one of my biggest issues currently and she excels in that area.  I promise to do one of her recipes one of these days......

Anyway today I made a meal and luckily hubby was able to eat it before going on a night shift, so it's nice to know he has gone off with a full tum :-)

I didn't make diet food, I made what we happened to have in:

Dolmio sauce with fried fresh onion and fresh tomatoes

Basmati done in a skillet which tastes like a rice cooker.

Fragrant fluffy rice - delicious! Turned bowls onto plate for the presentation effect!

 

The stew and rice and 2 steak burgers and stuffed vine leaves.

So, at the Nivea and Xbox event I found out that my candida is back, and the lady I saw there, recommended that I give up coffee and sugar.  I will try and make an effort with that this week.  I know that's urgent as she said I have high blood sugar and to be honest I don't feel myself.

But at least I have broken the "no cooking" thing I had inflicted on myself....... that's progress.

Over to you...