Because Boys Can Indeed be Beautiful - The Photo Gallery

When I was trying to conceive, it was with a girl in mind.  Right up until the 20 week scan we thought we were having "Lottie" and then boom, it's a boy!  We named him the same day as the scan and he's been Aaron ever since.  EVERY time a colleague spoke about my bump thereafter, I would stroke my bump, and always, somewhere in the ensuing sentence the word "beautiful" would appear.  Normally I would just have a wistful gaze and say "he's beautiful".  It was like the more I said it, the more likely it was that he would be.  I was already a proud Mother of a bump.

If you'd told me pre-motherhood (and I believe you are a mother from when you fall pregnant, rather than from when you give birth) that boys can be beautiful I would not have believed you.  BUT I always referred to my tummy Aaron as a beautiful boy.

When he went through that colic phase, I would pace the corridor, with him over my shoulder, stroking his back, singing a song called "beautiful boy" that I made up (words and melody) - I hope I can one day find the recording of it.  To me, he really is beautiful.  If you are a girl Mum you may not understand it.  Here is a photo that doesn't strike you as "beautiful" at first glance, but look more closely.

I just love this photo for so many reasons, many of which I can't even put into words.  This photo was taken at Paradise Wildlife Park.  We spent a whole day there on 1st November with Aaron's cousins, and despite only being 3 years of age, he didn't get tired as he traversed the whole park on his trusty bike.  I am not even good at photography, but this photo to me is strikingly beautiful, I think because the camera stepped up to the moment.

I feel like, in this photo, I have captured the very essence of him.  The fact that something interesting will literally stop him in his tracks, like the world's stood still.  His balance as he concentrates is awesome.  He is better at making adjustments for posture, or weight, or reach, or comfort than me.  So very self-aware.  He has total 100% faith that we will wait for him, and that he can enjoy his moment.   He really is beautiful.

He effortlessly coordinates his clothes with little effort from me or him.  I have started to see a pattern, but my seeing it has only happened retrospectively.  I now see, that Aaron has a seasonal colour.  It is like he draws that colour to him.  I'll grab things from the wardrobe and only later notice how incredibly coordinated he is.  We went to Ireland for a wedding in September, and the lining of his hood matched the colour of his (pretend Primark) "converse".  He is always stylish; always beautiful.

My boy!

The Gallery Dads

It's Wednesday so that means it is time to link up with The Gallery.  Theme this week: Dads.



We didn't make a conscious decision regarding what we would do for Father's Day as it was Aaron's birthday on Saturday and his all time favourite place to go is Thomas Land.

We decided we would treat him to two full days there instead of a party (I have never forgotten the £700 his Baptism party cost me).

Anyway it meant that come Sunday, we found ourselves in Thomas Land on Father's Day and you know what, it was right.

There were lots of sons and Dads there.

My two men enjoyed way better quality time than they would have done at home.

Liska

xx

The Gallery - Inspirational Women

God took you quick because you were ready
You'd learned all there was to know

Once you'd spent some time with all whom you loved
He knew it was time to go

*

Your time on Earth, it was always precious
Lived life with a vigour that's rare

Your smile's everlasting, your memory alive
Our feelings we've all laid bare

*

We'll all soon be going to an event that you loved
A conference you would not have missed

But don't you worry you won't be forgotten
Your name's already on the list

*

You won't have a name badge nor a goody bag
We won't see you for real on the day

But thanks to computers the ones that you loved
Your image will come alive that way

*

So you see, you'll still be there, in a way
that's as real as the memories that we all share

We'll never forget you or what you taught us
Because we all still care

*

So you'll always be with us, inspired we remain
For you were a shining light

When an angel lives upon this earth
The star that twinkles is BRIGHT!



Linking up with Prose for Thought

The Gallery - Drink

Tara this week gives us The Gallery prompt of DRINK.



This was a drink that made me cry last night.

You see, even though Aaron will be 3 in about 3 weeks, he still drinks bottles and he still drinks FORMULA.  As it is dairy free I tried to move him to a carton version, that is made by Alpro, and it is even especially made for toddlers with all that they require... but it tastes too different (it's even a different colour) and he won't drink it even when he is starving and/or thirsty.... so we are yet to leave the bottle or powdered formula behind us despite his nearly being three.  THE ONLY thing we left behind was the steriliser and we only use one bottle, not the previous 6-8 that we used prior to weaning (although I breastfed for 13 months, we always topped up with bottles as I had low milk supplies).

Anyway I digress.  We spent Monday out house hunting (only to find that what we could afford was NOT NICE) and on the way home, the husband popped into Morrisons while I stayed in the car with Aaron who was asleep in the car seat.

The husband got one of these:

Only he did not realise that the red plastic clip was missing from the front.

I only had cause to open it, more than 24 hours later, i.e. at 23:30 last night - yes Aaron was still up.  He has been doing something really odd the last few days.  Sleeping from 1800 to 20:30 and then staying up till 1 a.m.! and this despite having grown out of afternoon naps...

Anyway I digress AGAIN.

I opened it last night.  My heart was in my shoes because FIRST the red plastic clip was missing from the front and secondly the tinfoil inside was open.

My "baby" boy ALWAYS has a bottle last thing at night AND first thing in the morning and I knew he'd have neither.

I thought he would get distressed so instead of waiting for that to happen, I got distressed, so much so that he said "what's wrong Mummy?"

When I told him he said "don't worry I will have BENA" (which is what he calls Ribena).

He had it in his normal 12 oz Tommee Tippee bottle (which you can only get online), and drank it in bed and fell asleep as normal as if it was milk.

While he drank it, I said "but Aaron there will be the same problem in the morning" to which he again promised he would have BENA, and I asked if he would cry and he promised he wouldn't.

This morning I woke before him, dreading him waking to no bottle, but he stuck to his promise and climbed on my knee to drink a bottle of BENA.

If you could see my big strapping two year old who looks like a 4 year old you would not believe he is still on bottles.

Anyway, I was thrilled by Morrisons, who sent me this lovely tweet when I alerted them to the problem:

@newmumonline Hi Liska, we're really sorry about this. Could you please DM us your full contact details incl. telephone number and e-mail?
— Morrisons (@Morrisons) May 22, 2013

The Manager on duty when I popped into the store this afternoon could not have been nicer and did a no quibble exchange, despite not being aware of the agreement on Twitter - he could not have been nicer.

Last night I was so mad at the husband for buying it when he should have noticed the seal broken, but Aaron and Morrisons both being so understanding more than made up for it.

A Mum must have opened it instore to steal some.  It is the only explanation I and a Twitter friend could come up with:

@newmumonline Why do people do stuff like that?! Do you think they filled up a power dispenser? #selfishpeople
— My Two Mums (@MyTwoMums) May 21, 2013

Liska xx

The Gallery - Self Portrait

I don't really know where to start with this post.  Tara has set us the prompt of self portrait this week.

I can't use old photos as they are all on my Apple, and it is broken at present (well since Xmas Day to be precise) and wasn't fixed by PC World's KNOW HOW in January despite them having it for 12 days and my paying them £9.99 GBP a month! GGgggrrrr.

Anyway back to the task in hand: The Gallery



Okay, so with what I have access to on this computer this is the best I can do.

Of course it HAD to include a pic of Aaron as HE is my BABY!!!!

I'd actually turned my computer off, when I realised it's Wednesday and The Gallery tomorrow.

I turned it back on to do this ;-)

Please look back though as this is my 4th blog post today.

Liska xx

The Gallery - HAPPY

I am spoilt for choice with photos for this week's The Gallery Prompt = Happy.

Tara wrote her intro with regards to the sun coming out, so that was the theme for the below :-)

As you can see from the below, getting washing OUT on the line and bringing it in DRY makes me happy.  Sadly I got a glimpse of this in March and then the weather turned worse and I had another April glimpse.  Can't wait until it is a little more consistent, and we can finally STOP putting the heating on (had it on THREE times today Ggggrrrr).

Aaron is VERY happy when he is feeding the juicer - I chop and pass to him.  Never a problem as he simply loves it. Making and drinking it!

 I am very happy in the great outdoors and when there is washing drying weather!

Aaron happy when climbing. Happy when with Daddy!

Aaron's very happy to be going swimming. This was last Tuesday (a week ago today).

At the moment he loves nothing more than picking up pebbles and THROWING them = HAPPY!

The good weather makes us both happy :-)

Come on Summer, come on sun. You know you want to shine and see all our teeth shine, as we open our mouths to SMILE.

Liska xx

THE GALLERY - C is for Chickens

The prompt at The Gallery this week is "C is for"

Well when I dropped Aaron at nursery yesterday, one chick had been born two hours before.

When I collected him 5 hours later, it had been joined by 2 others and there were three of them in total, surrounded by eggs that had not yet hatched.

The longer they are out of the egg the flufflier they get.

We spent so long just watching their every move.

What a great idea.  The children love it

In the evening there was a yellow one and two brown ones, so I assumed the yellow one was the oldest and enquired as to whether the brown ones would turn yellow as they dried off, or got older, but was shocked to hear that the brown ones are male and the yellow ones female.

As confirmed here:

Color sexing is the newest method of determining the sex of a day-old chicken. In 1975, commercial breeders were developed and the chicks of these breeders can be identified as hens and roosters by the color of their plumage. The plumage on hens is generally white while the plumage on roosters is brown.

It was so interesting watching them, and also seeing the marks on the unhatched eggs, where soon to be new arrivals are tapping, with a view to getting out soon.

Aaron already knows that he was once in my tummy (he's seen all the photos) and now he knows where chicks come from too.

I have updated the post this afternoon to show that when I went back there at 1 p.m., all ten of them have hatched now and there are 2 girls and 8 boys:

The thing to note about this photo which makes it particularly cute is that when they lie down they ALL lie down and when one pops up, they all hop up, to standing. Look closely and you'll see both in the photos :-)

And here if you'd like a better view - they huddle together so beautifully and they are standing stronger on their legs now:

You can see the full size version of all of the photos in my G+ album here

Update again at 18:45 tonight, that by pickup school run tonight, they were moved into a straw bed and are now old enough to be held.

There's literally HOURLY progress with these guys:

If you think that your school / nursery might like them, there is information here: >> Living Eggs
Liska xx

The Gallery - Boys

The prompt over at Sticky Fingers for this week is Boys, for The Gallery.

This couldn't be more perfect given that we spent all day Monday out.  A family day.  Me and my boys.

Husband on the bike.  Aaron on the scooter.  Aaron had NEVER seen his Dad on his bike before, so it was a massive novelty for him.  We both have bikes but haven't been out on them since he was born.

We did not come home until the sun set.  It was a classic case of red sky at night, shepherds' delight.

We were all very hungry and all three of us had very cold hands when we got in, but it had been very sunny and glorious before it turned cold.  Not as hot as today was, mind you (as shown in my blog post earlier today).

So here are some snaps of my BOYS

They were all taken this Monday (18th February 2013).

The only wheels I had were the buggy that I was pushing.

Liska xx

The Gallery Noses - Happy 25th Birthday Comic Relief

This weeks The Gallery photo prompt is NOSES.



I had all sorts of ideas where I would crop pics of me and Aaron so that you could only see our noses, but I wasn't making a good job of it so I decided to dig out a fundraising snap from Comic Relief 2007 instead.

The below cheque was the result of very last minute spontaneous fundraising I did at work, with colleagues for Red Nose Day 2007 and was the inspiration for us becoming an Official Supporting Partner for Sport Relief 2008, a project I thoroughly enjoyed.

We are all so very proud of the incredible parent bloggers that have just got back from seeing #GoodWork in Ghana.  Find them over at their team website Team Honk.

Happy Birthday to Comic Relief who is celebrating 25 years of GoodWork this very week.

Liska xx

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I just HAVE to join in with the Gallery this week, given the theme, and given that we put up our decorations, lights and tree, on Monday.  The first time that Aaron has helped with it, and understands it.  He has such a spring in his step in the morning, when he walks into the sitting room and sees this.  Beautiful.



So here is our collage of him helping and the final result (yes I KNOW I need a bigger set of lights for the tree - I am on the case LOL)

But that's not the end of the story.

Much, is yet to be done, if Mummy can stop looking at her shoes...

Liska xxx

Also linking to: http://www.frugalfamily.co.uk/2012/12/the-nosey-bloggers-christmas-tree-linky-ill-start.html

The Gallery - Colour

I think I will have to put a reminder on my phone as I OFTEN forget to take part in The Gallery and today's prompt (colour) is perfect after how very blue the sky was on Sunday in Folkestone.




Must uplifting colour I have seen in a long time :-)
These photos have not been altered in ANY way - the sky really was that blue!

Liska xx

Yellow - The Gallery

I haven't managed to take a "yellow" pic on purpose so for this week's "The Gallery" I have had to go through the archives.

All I can say is that YELLOW seems to add joy to whatever photo it appears in.

Thankfully, now that I am juicing everyday, I have a lot more yellow in my life = joy! I hope the equation works...

Liska xx

The Gallery - 8 p.m.

In our house we tend to eat at 8 p.m.

Now that the weather has taken a turn (quite frankly I am ffffreeezing) we are now eating warming food naturally!

So our 8 p.m. looks a bit like this:

Liska x

The Gallery - Breakfast - JUICE - a liquid breakfast AKA liquid sunshine

The prompt over at Sticky Fingers this week is: breakfast!

At the moment, JUICE is breakfast.

Today it was me experimenting:

• 4 oranges, 
• a quarter of a pineapple, 
• a decent chunk of ginger, and 
• half a grapefruit.

The grapefruit and the ginger gave it a bang! Very refreshing and a sure way to wake you up without caffeine!

All juiced in my KT 100 juicer (my new toy) - love it!

Yes there are only 3 oranges in the photo but I did use a 4th after taking the pic.  The jug shows how little pulp came from all that.   What did come, was a hell of a lot of juice!  Pure liquid gold!  That's why a good juicer is invaluable, as you get a higher yield for your produce.  Yes the outlay on the juicer is a lot but you get it back in juice!!!

Yesterday it was OJ with a kick (page 55 from Jason Vale's The Funky Fresh Juice Book).

Please excuse the blurriness of the photos but they are photos of pages in a book! Not sure what I did wrong there!

Jason says of oranges:

"You must peel before juicing, as the oils in the skin of oranges are indigestible to humans. When you do, leave as much of the white pith as possible - most of the nutrients are found there and it makes the juice taste creamy (he's right!)  You really have never tasted fresh orange juice until you have juiced one with the pith on! (right again!).

I am sure some of you have juicers and you probably use them for hard fruit and veg like carrot and apple.  Take Jason's word for it on the oranges - I have had them two days in a row now - delicious!

Only trouble is I think I can do better as the oranges were from Tesco and yes the creaminess is there, but the oranges themselves are lacking flavour, so next oranges I buy will be from a market!

By the way my chopping board picture above is to show that I did leave a decent amount of pith on.  I seem to achieve this when I peel them with a knife (too much comes off when I peel by hand) but maybe it is just me.

Liska xxx

The Gallery - Sky

I wish I'd known yesterday that the prompt for this week's The Gallery would be sky!  What a superb prompt.  I would have done this post first thing this morning had I have known.



So *runs off to flip through photos*

Drumroll :-)

Upon perusing my photos from my recent trip to Ireland, the above sky photo appears to be the only one I have.

It is my Mum in the photo, at my Uncle's house, but the reason I took it was due to the row of birds.

EVERY evening they do this.  They all land at the same time, fly off at the same time, fly back at the same time and so it goes on.  Like a game.  You could just sit and watch them for an hour.  And the lines go as far as my eyes can see too, and there are 3 rows of them.  Click on the photo to big it up and you can really enjoy them :-)

The following photos are of chemtrails and I could not believe how many of them there were on the day we returned from Ireland, hence I took the photos:

The Gallery - Planes Trains and Automobiles

The theme for this week's The Gallery is: Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

I have to say I am gutted because Aaron LOVES PLANES, and we just spent from 7th to 16th July, but as it was so stressful getting on and off the plane with buggy, toddler and hand luggage (and I was travelling alone) I did not stop to take a photo of the plane :-( and maybe the security staff would have objected anyway?

So I will have to interpret the prompt as transport and instead share a picture of Aaron on a tractor in Ireland which he simply adored and thanks to my generous cousin he was on there for about an hour and a half.

The vehicle was NOT stationery as it would appear below; I just grabbed the chance for photos when it was.  They were shooting up and down the lane, helping a farmer move bales from one field to another.  I won't bore you with the video footage ;-)

After the tractor, he had to make do with the below, bless him!

I totally forgot that I have photos on my phone as well as on my camera.

In Ireland Aaron was on a fun fair ride, which was a PLANE, so I can now properly contribute to the Gallery prompt:

Photo taken with my Samsung phone on Sunday 15th July - one day of good weather we got whilst in Ireland