Smear Campaign!

No, it's not a post about slander and scandal.  Just simply wanted to say that I had a smear test yesterday and remind all you ladies out there how important it is to have them done.  It only takes 2 minutes and may just save your life!  Nuff said.
Well, after the joys of Bubba loving his first real taste of solid food courtesy of the fab products at Ella's Kitchen he decided to celebrate with a monumental sleep which lasted from 8pm last night until 6.15am this morning without waking.  I had to squint at the alarm clock to check I wasn't seeing things!  He's been a happy bunny this morning too and enjoyed some of this:

 

Don't forget to enter the competition to win some free pouches of Ella's Kitchen!

On a different note, I got the notion yesterday to make pasties.  I have no idea why as I don't really eat pasties but I'm so glad I did.  I would show you a photo of the little blighters but I made four of them and they're all gone!  It was easy peasy as I used Jus-Rol shortcrust pastry ready rolled, cut it into 4 equal rectangles, lined them with some cubes of cheese and chopped, fresh spinach then filled them with a pre-cooked mix of mince, onions, mushrooms, garlic, a spoon of gravy granules and the usual seasoning. Brushed them with beaten egg and sealed them up before cooking for about 20 mins.  Delicious!  The filling possibilities are endless and they're so quick and easy to make.  Perfect for picnics now the summer is coming again...hooray!

Bubba is being babysat by the Jumperoo so I'm gonna whizz round doing some washing, pour away his bath water and make a brew.  I need to get myself geared up for the arrival of the treadmill I won last night on Ebay.  I am sooooo sick of being 2 stone heavier than my pre-baby weight.  Even then I was 10 stone so I'm aiming to lose 3 stone in total bringing me back down to a weight I haven't seen since my early 20's.  I knew I kept my favourite size 8 Levi jeans for a reason....now I just gotta run, run, run!  I'll keep you posted on my lack of progress.....eating brioche and pasties for breakfast is not a good start!!  Hey-ho :) xx

Bubba loves Ella's Kitchen - I'm giving away free samples!!

Here we go, another post about the minefield that is baby weaning!  This post, however, is a very positive one in which I will share with you my new love of Ella's Kitchen baby foods.
I had a dilema, do I use the convenient jars of baby food which contain ingredients that an adult shouldn't be eating let alone a small baby?  Or do I endure all the faffing about involved in making baby food myself?  I don't have a blender and also have an, (albeit unfounded), issue with freezing and defrosting food to feed Bubba. What will I freeze it in?  Probably small tubs with lids.  Are there any chemicals in the plastic of these tubs that could pass into the baby food?  Who knows!  I have all sorts of other questions about using a microwave, (free radicles and all that), as well as the availability of fresh fruit year-round.  I could go on and on...but I won't!

After writing my post about when to wean?, the lovely lady at QWERTY Mum commented that she had posted a review of Ella's Kitchen baby foods where I could watch a video of her son being fed 'normal' baby rice as well as Ella's Kitchen baby food.  You can see that the baby's reaction to the different foods says it all!!

I didn't think much more about it until I was in Sainsburys yesterday where they have a third off all baby items, (except baby milk but don't get me started on that!), so I swiped a few sachets of Ella's Kitchen Stage 1 into my absolutely ENORMOUS trolley, (the one where you place the car seat on top but then can't see where you're going...I bumped into quite a few people), and thought I'd give them a try.

It's not until I got them home and actually read the packet that I realised they don't put any of that chemical nonsense in there....just fruit and veg 100%...no additives, sweetners...nothing!  The banana, apricot and rice sachet contained organic banana, apricot and brown rice.....nothing else at all.  This range of baby foods are my saviour, they will not only give Bubba the very, very best nutritional start in life but also save me precious time and as a new mum I couldn't ask for anything more.

You won't find me slaving over the kitchen counter, chopping, boiling and blending away my weekends...I shall instead be relaxing with a good book and a glass of vino........who am I kidding, probably doing yet another load of washing and dancing round like a loon to entertain his majesty but it's certainly one less thing to worry about.

To top it all off, as if I hadn't had enough baby food related excitement for one day, Bubba absolutely LOVES them.  We *heart* Ella's Kitchen, we really do.

In order to spread the love to other families I am going to give away two sachets (120g each) to five lucky individuals.  To win them, all you have to do is:

- FOLLOW this blog by clicking the follow button on the right, (if you follow already then just leave a comment), 

AND

- Leave a comment at the end of this post telling me which stage of Ella's Kitchen you'd like to win, (if you're unsure then just leave the baby's age and I'll get the right ones).

The competition will end on Saturday 9th April at 23:59 and I'll draw 5 entries out at random.

GOOD LUCK!!

NB - This post is not sponsored by anyone, it's my own personal opinion and the prizes will be bought by myself :)

Unleash the Talons!

My son is a face scratcher and has been since the day he was born.  I'm looking forward to the day that he doesn't have to wear mittens but, for now, his talons are only unleashed at selective times during the day.  He has good control of his hands and arms now, reaching for toys and pulling them into his mouth but when he starts to get a bit cross or sleepy he claws at his face in a frightening manner.  One time he drew blood and I almost cried, it looked sore but he didn't appear bothered at all.  He won't let me near his nails to cut them so I have to clip them when he's asleep....I hate doing it as it requires so much concentration and I'd feel awful if I ever hurt him.  So far so good although I should cut them more often.
Here he is the day he was born and the only day he's ever gone without mittens:

I had assumed they were just normal and he'd been born with them but no, he did this to himself!

Well, today is round 2 of his injections and I'm not looking forward to it.  It's not so much the jabs themselves, (he really only cried for a few seconds last time), but the worry about any side-effects like high temperature or just being off-colour.  I know I'll worry about him for at least a week afterwards but I guess that's all part of becoming a parent.
I wonder if I'll be allowed to have a shower today.....just one of the small luxuries I took for granted before having a baby!!

Central Heating Wars.

Perhaps it's just in my house but the central heating and control thereof seems to turn this house into a battleground on an alarmingly frequent basis.  To set the scene, (and try to sway you onto my side of the arguement!), I'm on maternity leave and at home all day as well as being the payer of the energy bills so I have more than a vested interest in the central heating.  Scottish Power also decided last month that they were increasing my direct debit from £75 per month up to £121 which is smashing news when you have dropped to less than a quarter of your wages thanks to the generous maternity pay!!  Anyway, back to the battleground.
Me and my partner have very different views about heating the house, it makes no sense to me that I'm so hot in the day as it's glorious weather outside and yet I'm having to open a window because the heating has kicked in too.  I usually tolerate it for 2 days then I go and start fiddling with the radiator settings in each room, (why oh why does the radiator in the spare room need to be turned to maximum??), as well as resetting all the little clicky things on the boiler timer to reflect better the actual requirements for heating.  Now, this sabotage will go unnoticed as long as the weather remains roughly the same, however, on random cold nights such as yesterday the tell-tale comment, such as "stop fiddling with the effing timer on the boiler", lets me know that I've been rumbled.  I suggest to him that he simply switches the heating on for a while but usually end up being lectured on the most efficient way to heat a house.  And so the cycle continues.  Hey-ho.
On a lighter note I have happened upon the worlds greatest Disney film, if you haven't seen it then I suggest you do - it's absolutely brilliant!!

The film is called 'UP', the start will make you cry but it's such a wonderful film.

Hope you remembered to do your census forms xx

Who Switched on the Elephant?

Why is it that as soon as Bubba is sleeping and we need to be quiet we seem to turn into noisy, clumsy elephants?  Doors crashing, floorboards creaking and the general collisions of one item into another....I actually just did it there...mid type I drove my cup of tea into the edge of my porridge bowl with a clatter.  Fortunately the wee beastie is wide awake and engaging in his daily bout of smashing his gym animals hard in the face.  I'm operating a round-robin system for toys at the moment as he gets bored VERY quickly.  He's only 12 weeks and already I feel like I've done a few rounds in the boxing ring at close of play each evening....how the hell will I cope when he's on the move?  Hopefully I'll shed one of these extra bellies I've accumulated!

Bubba had a go in his Bumbo chair this morning and he looked so teeny weeny in it (he actually weighed 14lb 6oz last week) :

He looks a bit naughty, think that's a face I'd best get used to!
I also introduced him to Ollie, the octopus I made over a year ago.  I'm so glad I didn't give it away after all.

I'm having withdrawal symptoms from sewing at the moment.....our house has just gone up for sale and to get it close to normaldom we had to put pretty much all our surplus stuff into storage...my sewing machine, my overlocker, my fabric *cry*.  To make it worse I still get Sew Hip! magazine delivered every month and am itching to have a go at some of the patterns...this month they had a dinosaur cape which I will have to make.

Farewell sewing room, thankyou for awakening a creative side I never knew I had :

This was taken on a fairly tidy day but still looks like the elephants have been in! xx

My Son is Crackers!

He bloody loves his Jumperoo, I had to take this short video to prove it!!  Money well spent as I get at least 30 mins peace a day when he's in it :)

It's amazing how quickly he's learned how the features on it work....when the music stops he has to jump to restart it.  I can't stop laughing when he's in it and it's amazing to watch him learn and grow.

Your Mothers Music.

Can you hear that?  Listen a bit closer......that, my friends, is the sound of a well rested mum and let me tell you....he's asleep as I type too!  Yes, dream feeding has officially been thrown out of the window as it seems to disturb his sleep pattern and cause him to wake up 2 or 3 times in the night.  Instead we just let him do as he pleases which, fortunately, involves sleeping from 8pm until 4.30am...I then spend an hour feeding him and trying in vain to get him back to sleep before giving up and trudging downstairs for a brew.  It only takes about another 30 minutes before Bubba decides that he does want to sleep after all....so here we are!
I had a strange idea a while back to compile a list of legendary albums that have influenced me/shaped me/saved me over the years and plan, on his 13th birthday, to give my Bubba an iPod with these albums pre-loaded onto it.  As a teenager once myself...long, long ago....I have felt the power of music at times when the world was a dark, lonely place but I had to discover Frank Zappa, The Ramones etc for myself.  Through fear that Bubba will never stumble upon such awesomeness I would like to hand him them on a plate.....it's then up to him if he likes it or not. 
The length of this list could spiral out of control so I am limiting myself to 10 albums.  I'm just throwing band names around at this stage and will whittle the list down later....just holler if you think I'm missing something important....doesn't have to be your favourite band, just an iconic one :)


Here goes (in no particular order - much like my mind):
- The Ramones
- Jimi Hendrix
- Bob Marley
- Nirvana
- Rage Against the Machine
- Frank Zappa
- Pink Floyd
- Queen
- Michael Jackson
- The Eagles
- Willie Nelson
- Tracy Chapman
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Battlefield Band
- Queen

The list could go on and on.  To make it even more difficult, I think I'll select just one song from each band too...if he likes it then he can listen to the whole album in his own time!
It's a good job I have quite a few years to sort this out...this could take a while!

Anything I've missed?