My day so far...

I decided to take the girls to the park as it was a cold, crisp morning. I got us all dressed in winter gear and off we waddled to the car. I drove to the park and just as we got out of the car, it began to rain.

Oh well, on with the raincover and on with our hats. We still managed to have a pleasant time in the playground but the rain got worse and worse and in the end I had to bribe Ellen with ice-cream (shouldn't it have been hot chocolate instead?) to get her home. On the way to the car she wanted to feed the ducks in the river, but as we had no bread I told her we'd feed them grass and sticks instead. She seemed happy with that and picked up millions of sticks on the way. Poor ducks paddling round in the rain, got their hopes up when they saw these two nutters on the bridge above throwing them some food, only to realize it was a few rotten sticks. Gee thanks....

Back home now, still a bit damp from our escapades, but fresh air does you good.
As we say in Sweden: There is no bad weather, only bad clothes... (in Swedish it rhymes as well...) So there!

Peppa Pig and Jelly

Ellen decided to submerge poor Peppa in her Strawberry Jelly. Oh to be 2 years old again, such fun.

Lyrics that hit hard

I went to the gym on Wednesday evening, and as always I have my ipod with my gym music with me. I'd bought a few more songs from iTunes and stepped up on the treadmill ready to start my workout. Without going into details about anything, let's just say a good friend of mine is going through a bad time at the moment and I've been trying to support her as best I can, the first song that hit my headphones almost had me sobbing as the lyrics became clear to me.

Kanye, what are you doing to me??? "Love Lockdown video here

I’m not loving you
'Way I wanted to
What I had to do
Had to run from you
I’m in love with you
But the vibe is wrong
And that haunted me, all the way home

So you never know
Never, never know
Never know enough
Til it’s over, love
Til we lose control
System overload
Screamin' no no no no no

I’m not lovin you
'Way I wanted to
See I wanna move
But can’t escape from you
So I keep it low
Keep a secret cold
So everybody else don’t have to know

So keep your love locked down
Your love locked down
Keepin’ your love locked down
Your love locked down
Now keep your love locked down
Your love locked down
You keep your love locked down
You lose

I’m not lovin’ you
The way I wanted to
I can’t keep my cool
So I keep it true
I got something to lose
So I gotta move
I can’t keep myself
And still keep you too

So I keep in mind
When I’m on my own
Somewhere far from home
In the danger zone
How many times did it take
Before it finally got through
You lose you lose

If only it was that easy

Yesterday I went to a playcentre with my two little pumkins Ellen and Jessie.
Ellen was playing with a little boy who was 2 years older than her. When his mum popped to the ladies he came up to me and asked:

- Is she your little girl
- Yes, I said, she's my daughter Ellen and she's 2 years old
- Did the doctors cut your tummy to get her out?
-....ehm.....no.....no, they didn't (???!!!)
- ...I think they did... (looking at me as if I was lying to him)
- Eeeehem....eh, no they didn't actually...
(The boy now looking very confused) - So what are you saying... that she just shot out on her own?!
Me: - ....Something like that yes...

Shot out...well, I wish!

Click!

Oooo I am so happy. My lovely lovely lovely looooovely boyfriend/husband-to-be gave me this stunning digital camera for my birthday. I can't wait to try it out when Ellen and Jessie wake up from their beautifully timed snoozes. I've had about 40 minutes to myself to play with the menus, buttons, self-timers and even got to read some of the manual. The rest is bedtime reading tonight I hope.

Here are two of the photos I just snapped. Many more to come!
Thaaaaank you Steve!

My little doggie asleep in the armchair

View from the bar with our wonky orange candles...

My new look - from New Look!

I look so chic I make myself sick! With my new coat and beret I strut my 6-foot-stuff around Tesco. Why loose your style just because you've got a baby. I am just so pleases with the coat, as I usually don't spend much money on coats. This one cost £40 from New Look and I love it.

What I love about shopping...

...is not only coming home with 3 pints of milk and a loaf of bread, but also a purple butterfly shaped wand that flashes and makes twinkly-tingly-wingly-noises!!! The beauty of going shopping with a 2 year old little girl. We were zapping everything in sight!

Oh dear

Last night it was a struggle to get Ellen to sleep. I brushed her teeth, put her pyjamas on and read her a story as usual. But when I left the room she went absolutely mental and screamed and shouted to come down. I kept my calm and went up to her every 5-10 minutes and simply said: Time for night-night, sweetie-pie
This kept on for about 40 minutes, with her crying and shouting: "Duuuummmy!" or "Doooogggie!" or "Muuuummmy, sick" while she was trying to make herself sick... I wasn't falling for any of it.
She finally started calling out for Daddy who she knows is a soft touch, but Daddy was at the pub, so no luck there either. I then heard a little voice from upstairs saying:
-Oh dear, oh dear.... blood pressure....blood pressure.......oh dear

Hmm...I am not falling for that one!!!

(Her favourite toy at the moment is a doctors kit including a stethoscope, a syringe and a blood pressure monitor...)

A pain in the...thumb

Not what I need at the moment - a sprained wrist. Bugger it hurts. Just been over-doing the lifting and carrying babies round and whizzing round like a nutter. So, last night my left hand decided enough was enough and the base of my thumb started to hurt like f**k.

Bollocks is all I have to say.

Creche

I used the creche in the gym for the first time today. I took Jessie in her little carseat and off we went. Lovely staff and a cute little room for the little ones. I left her in there for 1,5 hours while I worked out in the gym. Ooooooh, the freedom.

When I picked her up (all in one piece and happy as a 6 week old can be!?) she'd been sick on two of the staff. Nice... At least it saved me getting a white patch on my left shoulder. Worth paying £2 for eh!?

Food

Well I spent this time to myself in a productive way in the end. I made a bolognaise sauce with pasta and put it in small containers for the freezer, ready to feed Ellen whenever. I have been slacking in the cooking department lately. Yoghurts and sandwiches seems to have been on the menu for the last 4 weeks.

And finally my lovely tea set arrived. Not impressed by Whittards delivery but hey ho, its here now and I am sipping tea out of a loooovely big tea cup.

Its oh so quiet

Its 13.30 and all is quiet... *deep breath* ... Both children are asleep and both dogs for that matter. We went to Mothercare in the morning to get some bits and bobs and then we had lunch and read books. Jessie spent her morning asleep in the carseat, pooing, then eating and then burping.

When I've got time to myself I hardly know what to do with myself. Because I don't know how long the peace will last I tend just to hover around...

I am heading for the gym again tonight about 8ish. Went to Body Pump on Sunday morning and piled on the weights as I am used to from pre-pregnancies. My thighs and calves are burning today but all in all I feel ok. Not as unfit as I thought I was maybe. Tonight I will be spending time on the treadmill and the rowing machine and crunching those abs.

Autumn walk

England can do beautiful autumns too. Took a lovely long walk round the Hanningfield Reservoir on Thursday with my mother-in-law and my two children. Wonderful weather and the woods looked absolutely stunning with all the autumn colours.

Miss Independent

Liking this at the moment.

Miss Independent

Sisterly love

Goodbye Baby belly

Today I am checking out the new gym I'm going to join. They've got a cheche where I can leave the children if necessary so I can go whenever I want.

Can't wait to do a bit of Body Pump maybe once a week to sort of the last of the baby bulge.
Hurraaaah!

Tea for two

I am into tea big style at the moment. Drinking more tea than I've ever done before. Its due to the first cup of tea I had after giving birth to little baby Jessie in hospital. The morning after they offered me a cup of tea and it was the best cup ever! I am sure it would have beaten afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason! :)

So, here's my new tea set with tea pot and two lovely cups complete with milk jug and tea tidy.

Chin chin!

Mummy code

Went to Boots today to get some anti-colic drops for Jessie and while I was there I strolled by the fragrance section to have a little look (smell). I tried the Armani code perfume and ooooooh how nice! Usually when you spray a perfume on your wrist the scenario is as follows:
1. First sniff - The smell of alcohol over-powers you
2. Second sniff - The perfume fragrance sneaks in and you nod and sniff again
3. Third sniff - Now you're picturing yourself wearing this perfume in different situations
4. After the fourth sniff you put the bottle back on the shelf and think: I'll let the fragrance sink in a bit and see how I feel about it after having worn it for an hour...
And for me, that's usually it. After an hour I am either hating the perfume or finding it completely too sweet, too strong or too something else...

But this one...I got to the "I'll leave it for an hour" bit and left the shop. I took 5 steps outside the shop and already the little beauty had started to seduce me. I stopped and thought, shall I go back in and get it? No, that's silly. Go back to your car. So I did. In the car, sniffing my wrist again...ooooooooooooooooooh, niiiiiiiice! It smelled so sexy and seductive I was just smiling to myself.

Anyway, I've just been on Cheapsmells website and ordered myself a bottle. Mums don't have much fun, so maybe this will make me feel all sexy and flirty!

PS. I will of course be wearing a dress like above to the next Mother and Baby group!!

Snacking

I am finding it very hard to find time to cook a proper meal at the moment. I find myself eating breakfast ok - me and Ellen sit down with a bowl each of Kelloggs Special K (that she seems to love for some reason) and great, breakfast is done.

Lunch - its either just a Soda Farl with butter, cheese and cucumber - toasted of course or other random things I find in the fridge that is QUICK!
Quick is the word and my absolute favourite snack at the moment are these snack-bars. Go-Ahead Apple and Sultana or any other flavours they do.

Pantone 373C

My sinuses are blocked big-style! My whole jaw is aching, I have an awful headache and it feels like my eyes are about to pop out of my head. I keep blowing my nose every 4 seconds and have now established that the colour of my snot is Pantone 373C.

I thought you'd be pleased to know that!

Storms & Blackberries

Hmm...not my brightest idea - picking blackberries in a storm! Well, almost a storm - very strong winds anyway. For weeks now I've been eyeing up the blackberry bushes in our garden thinking I'd go berry picking one day. And today was the day I decided. I took my little plastic pot, popped Jessie in her pram and shouted "walkies" to the dogs. All set for some serious berry picking! And yes, it could have been serious...I could have lost an eye! The winds were so strong the bushes kept swaying back and forth and the thorns on the branches were swoooshing past my head. Just as I was about to grip one berry, the bush would move and all I got was a handful of air, or the opposite direction and I'd grip the whole branch and hurt my poor fingers on the spikes. I managed to pick about 4 dl and several scrathes later I am now back indoors...
What a stupid idea, why did I have to do it today. Its been lovely weather all week and I decide to pick berries just as bloody hurricane "Gustaf" takes a detour past Wickford. Nice.

No more maternity clothes

Finally getting to get rid of my maternity tops and stretchy trousers that I've lived in for the past 5 months. Its been so depressing having to wear the same saggy tops and ugly maternity bras, day in and day out. So I am loving looking at clothes again and luckily new babies are very portable and just lie happily in the pram snoozing, while I go browsing in the shops.
My long legs need never worry again. New Look's Tall range is a life-saver and I am so pleased little Wickford has got its own New Look store. Got myself a pair of dark denim jeans with a brown belt today - perfect! I also found these other two tops along the High Street.
Its amazing what a little bit of retail therapy can do for an old wrinkly soul!

One month in...

Who would have thought I'd be as calm as a cucumber one month into having two children.
Who would have thought I'd got lots of sleep during the night
Who would have thought I'd actually have time to get dressed AND put make up on?
Who would have thought I would have lost the baby weight apart from 4 kilos?
Noooooot meeeeee!!!

I am so proud of myself and pleased that everything has been so smooth up til now. We've managed one month!

Little Jessie is the cutest little thing and sleeps like a trooper. We forget she's here most of the time and when she's hungry she kind of meows... Suits me!

I've just had two hours to myself as they timed their nap-time beautifully. Ellen asked to go to bed, just as little Jesselina had dropped off. Bingo-Stingo!

So I've had time for a snooze, done some washing, tidied the house, eaten lunch and surfed round in the net of inter! I've just heard some grunts from Ellen's bedroom so I expect her to wake up anytime now.

Its raining loads today and I am not too keen to be outside. However, Ellen has just got a new umbrella (pink with a little princess on top) from a friend of mine and she LOVES it. She wizzes round the house shouting Umbrella, and then points to the door pleading: Walk, pees Mummy! Raaaain!!!
Hmm...bad timing to get an umbrella that makes her want to go out in the rain... But its only water, so I expect we'll be out there in an hour throwing pebbles in the pond as usual...

Anyway, making myself a cup of coffee before it all kicks off again. But I am a bloody great mummy I am!!! Brag brag brag brag!

Ellen dictionary

Our little Ellen is adorable at the moment. I thought I'd jot down a few little things she's saying at the moment.

Nook! = Look!
What's that noisy-noise? (holding one hand over her ear) = What's that noise?
Goggie = Doggy
Oh, nook! Whazzis here?! = Oh look, what's this!?
Mummy Daddy Mummy Mummy = Mummy
Daddy Mummy Daddy Daddy = Daddy...!
E-o = Hello
Ice gweem = Ice cream
Kicka = Kaka
Bummie pee Daddy = Brum please Daddy (Brum being her favourite TV-programme)
Tat = Cat
E-board = Keyboard
Atteries = Batteries
Basically, everything looses its first consonant in Ellens world...

Baby days

So....

Little Jessie Sara Newman came to the world on the 3rd of September 2008.
5 days early, which suited me down to the ground (looking back at the previous posting...) as I was getting stabbed and kicked from within and was thoroughly fed up with the whole thing.
The labour was excellent and I found it really amazing this time. My contractions started about 2pm on Tuesday and I was roughly timing them etc. I knew things were starting, I just didn't know when things would really kick in. About 4pm I felt the urge to bake...so me and Ellen whipped out our aprons and baked a chocolate cake and a sponge cake. Well, Ellen ate most of the mixture while I was baking, but she was good company anyway! As I haven't been baking since 1943 I thought it must be a sign that things were happening.
We went to the hospital about 10pm and things kicked in about midnight and I was straight on the gas & air. And many pains, laughters and tears later little Jessie popped out at 05.32.
She was sooooo beautiful and I am still in awe of this whole baby-making-thing today.

Life as a mum-of-two is great. It is hard of course, but so far so good. Ellen is really great and Jessie has been behaving herself at night, so we're getting plenty of sleep which is the most important thing. I am trying not to overdo things and have been hanging round the house a lot, not buzzing round to see too many friends. But a few walks and visits have been lovely.

Today is the first day I am on my own with the two of them for the first time. Its 14:27 and both children are asleep, the house is tidy, I am dressed and got make-up and hair done, dogs are fed and watered and asleep (of course) and all is surprisingly quiet... I am great I am!!!

Going to try to get into Wickford today to get some errands done. Need some wrapping paper and birthday cards, lightbulbs and batteries. Plus some fresh air would be nice.

So do your best children - I am ready for it - Bring on the madness!

Martial Art Baby

The guy on the right is me and the guy on the left is the baby in my belly...
Around 10.30pm the baby starts practicing its mae geri kick and I am in absolute agony from it. Sensei Baby, please stop...

Chicken Pox

I belive my little Ellen has got Chicken Pox (svenska: Vattkoppor). I found one big spot on her leg yesterday and today she's got another 3 on different parts of her little body. She seems as happy as Larry still, no temperature or anything like that, so all good so far. Hoping its going to be a mild one.
I'm not 100% it is, but 96% of my motherly intuition tells me it is...

So I will update later on to tell you all how we're doing.
Thank god I've already had it.

Oh Rennie my Rennie!

"You lift me up
And I'm touching the blue sky
You lift me up
I'm on top of the world
I'm getting closer to heaven
In every little thing I love
You lift me up"

Sleep

I find it extremely difficult to get comfy at night now. First I try my left side but after 2 minutes I get kicked in a spot just under my right rib, the same spot every time, and its got really sore now. So, with great effort, I move over to my right side...all quiet for a while, then BANG, a kick straight into that same spot again. I bounce up and try to lie on my back. After about 10 seconds on my back I start feeling dizzy and sick, and slowly roll over to my left side again... and it all starts over again...Left, right, back, left, right, back...
Then I sit up, swear a bit, chew another Rennie Dual Action heartburn tablet...and lie back down. Huff Huff Huff...

If anyone knows of a sleeping position that I haven't yet tried, please let me know. If there is some kind of contraption which lets you be suspended from the ceiling by your heels, so that there is no pressure whatsoever on any part of your body...tell me!

Exhausted

Let me tell you a bad combination - workmen in the house and a tired child!

I have had enough and just want to go to bed myself. My eyes are stinging and I am dizzy with fatigue. We've got a workman in the house sorting out a hole in the ceiling (where Steve almost fell through while moving some boxes in the loft) and he's making a hell of a racket up there. Meanwhile, downstairs, everything is covered in dust and bits of wood and Ellen can't really be let loose anywhere in the house without treading on something dangerous. So we've been watching a DVD all morning and she is now shattered. But because of all the noise she can't sleep. So I am stuck with a very grizzly child, while the house echoes with the banging of a hammer.

I've had quite productive morning though, before the madness began, and done lots of little jobs that I've been putting off forever.

Just had a huge portion of Korv Stroganoff and not sure what to do with myself now.
Please please sleep Ellen...

Aaah, I am so good

Today I've had sliiightly more energy than yesterday and I managed to clean the house, well half of it. Hoovered, mopped the floors and polished the wood surfaces with lovely smelling polish.
So now it smells nice and I don't have to walk on bread crumbs.

In the kitchen I've got a casserole cooking and I am just about to go and pick Ellen up from nursery.

I've even had a shower and done my hair! Can you believe it! I look half-decent!!!

Annexe - before & after

This is what our annexe bedroom looked like before we attacked it last weekend.



And this is what it looks like after!
I have now ordered a lovely bed set to go on the bed, instead of that horrid brown duvet cover. Then I'll hunt down some lovely decorative pillows and voila - a loooovely spare bedroom.

It helps being a Bitch!

What a morning! Its been such a busy morning with workmen and cleaners rumbling up and down the stairs - one making a mess and the other trying to clean it up!!
Anyway, the carpet was going down nicely in Ellen's new bedroom, when I got a call from the Carpet Showroom. They said they'd only quoted me for the bedroom, not for the stairs and landing...(when in fact the stairs and landing is part of the bedroom, like a little loft thing) and they were now telling me over the phone that to get the rest done it was going to cost me £480!!

But being a grumpy old hormonal bitch these days, I was having none of it, as it was definitely their cock-up and I was not going to pay double the price for an area that's tiny.
So I told them where to go and they rang back 10 minutes later and had chopped the price down to a mininum, which I was happy to pay.

Steve has had his fair share of grumpyness from me, and today it was the carpet company's turn.

Queen Bitch - hormones aren't all bad. They save me money too!

Chemical woman

This little bugger seems to be the source of all my troubles at the moment: Progesterone
The pregnancy hormone.

Reasoning with a brain that is pumped up to the max with this little fella, is like reasoning with a bloody tree trunk. No use what so ever.

New pram

I have been browsing around looking for a new double buggy. I came across this one and thought: Perfect!

Wide Awake

Yesterday I felt like this:
And today I feel like this:

A selection of Swedish horns...

This posting should have been posted a few weeks ago, about 90 minutes before Sweden got knocked out of Euro 2008. We had hope...
Steve pretending to be Helga!

Dakota posing as Ann-Marie.

And last but not least, Indy posing as Charlotta.

Things that makes me feel good

This lovely body butter makes me happy. I love the smell of it and it wakes me up immediately, if I am feeling drained.
Body Shop Monoi Moisture Balm from the Spa Wisdom range.

Washington DC & Babel

Steve is now on his way to Washington DC, British Airways style - flatbed style! I want to try one of those seats one day! He is back on Monday, so I'm on my own til then.


I wish I could have gone with him but I'm at home, looking after doggies and Ellen. We're going to have a lovely girly weekend (sorry dogs) with this film among others - Babel. That's my Saturday night treat.


Seeing Sarah on Friday and look forward to seeing their new place in Colchester. Barney touched down in Afghanistan yesterday evening and will be back in 3 months time, juuuust in time for the little baby!

Right, I am off to rest my eyes and my fat body for 1,5 hours, before heading down to Southend to see Clare, Ellie & Sarah.

Plaything

This afternoon I am picking up this jolly playcentre for Ellen. Have been looking for ages for something with slides for her, that she can climb on as well. Ebay had loads, but they are still quite expensive and I really wanted one for this weekend.
Luckily I bought the Wickford Gazette this morning and this beauty was being advertised about 20 min away for a fraction of the prizes on Ebay. Lucky Ellen! So at 5pm we're loading it into the car and should have it in the courtyard, all ready to rock, by tomorrow morning!
Hurrah!

Henry & I

We have just had our quality time for today, good old Henry and I.

I love it when he's been round the house and it now smells of Wood Polish and Grumme floor-cleaner.
I've also got my Summer Fruits oil-burner going and oooohhh it really is summer.

I can relax and concentrate so much better when the house is clean and tidy, which it is to 90% right now. Spotless no - Tidy yes!

Even the kitchen is sparkling. The only thing that's not sparkling right now...is me!
I need a shower badly and will grab one later on when Ellen's gone to bed.

Getting excited

This lovely changing station arrived today from Mamas & Papas. Ooooh I am getting excited now about the new baby but less excited about my evergrowing belly which is weighing me down.

Also, to go with it was this little changing mat. The one we've got at the moment I am going to throw away - it's seen too much crap!

The little toy chest and toddler bookcase arrived today as well, and I will ask my dad for help on assembling these pieces. I just can't bend!!

Just been out to water our plants in the garden (about 1,000 of them) and sweating like a hyena. My neck starts to hurt when I am on the laptop for too long, so I am taking regular breaks.

Lovely face

A quick update to recommend a few more products. Body Shop moisture lotion with SPF 15, combined with this one below:
The Vitamin E Moisture Serum, that makes my skin soo soft.
And before all this I use this lovely Body Shop Exfoliator Sponge together with my normal cleaner, which at the moment is a freebie tester from YSL, Rinse-off Foaming Water, which smells lovely too.

I am amazed that I actually have time to do this most mornings now. I usually have 5 minutes between hearing Ellen being awake in her room until she stands by her room-gate and shouts:
- Maaaammmiiii, hiiiilp!
And when I peer out from our bedroom door and she spots me I get a big smile and a:
- Heeeej!!!

Honey, snap out of it!

Love this new scrub that I treted myself to yesterday. Oooooh it smells soooo nice, almond and honey I think, and everytime I use it (yep, I've used it twice since yesterday) I want to take a big lick to taste it... I am sure that wouldn't be a good idea.
Anyway, my skin is now as soft as a baby's bottom.

Furniture and DIY

This beauty has just been ordered among other furniture for Ellen's new room, and the baby's new room. The chaise lounge is for the nursery, and I plan to spend many a sleepless night in it! I was "umming and errring" whether to go for a cheaper option, but this one is sooo comfortable it had to be worth it. If it saves me a wrinkle or two it's well worth it!

So a little toddler bed with matching bedside table, a lovely big wardrobe, a little bookcase in the shape of a dolls house and a little bookcase to keep all her little books has been ordered for Ellen's new room. The baby's room just needed a set of IKEA chest of drawers, a smaller changing unit and the chaaaaaiiiise loooounge... Wonderful.
I can sleep well tonight, knowing that its all on its way.
We've also got a date for the carpet fitting in Ellen's new room. In two weeks time it should be all done and we can start assembling the furniture, which I am sure will take another 2 weeks!

I've decided to get prepared earlier this time round, as last time I was pregnant, me and my mother-in-law were assembling Ellen's cot when I was 8 months pregnant, the summer was in full swing ie the nursery was about 100 degrees hot. God, we were both swearing at the bloody thing.
So this time, I am hoping to have it all done within the month...

So that was a typically boring blog post, showing what an incredibly interesting life I lead at the moment! But who knows, its Friday night...its the weekend, I might go crazy who knows!!!