Also known as Amy, but the majority of the time it's 'Mammy'. I'm Mammy to my little munchkin Oskar (born Oct '10) a little diva, Erika (born Mar '13) two cats; Sid and Nancy and three fishies. I'm partial to a spot of leopard print, Hello Kitty and anything cat related. I love the sea and want to live right by it one day. Rock and Roll is my music of choice, and I enjoy a glass of wine, or three. Taking photographs and eating cheese and olives are also very important.

Saturday 29 December 2012

My New Year's Resolutions/2013 To-Do List.

*Oskar*
1. Take him to the cinema before Erika is born.
2. Take him to Flamingo Land in February to see the animals.
3. Go to the park more often.
4. Buy him a 'big boy' bed.
5. Try to have more patience with him.
6. Have him fully potty trained before baby arrives

*Erika*
1. Try to enjoy the last stage of pregnancy, as it's probably the last time I'll do it.
2. Try my best not to have a c-section.
3. Breastfeed for at least 6 months.
4. Take a daily photo in the same place every day.
5. Hold off weaning until 6 months old.

*Me*
1. Resist the chocolate cravings.
2. Get back into shape within 12 months of giving birth.
3. Have a 'date night' once a month with Shaun.
4. Wear more self tan so I look more alive.
5. Drink more water..

*Home*
1. Keep on top of cleaning/washing.
2. Food shop at Aldi to save money.
3. Take up the carpet on the stairs and paint them.
4. Get a new blind for the bedroom.
5. Get a blind for the bathroom.

*Misc.*
1. Make friends with Oliver the stray cat.

Thursday 27 December 2012

'Erica'

It doesn't matter of its spelled differently, it's still a 'flower' name!

Crick-cricks Time 2012

The day before Christmas Eve Oskar mastered the potty! He was taking his toy story pants down and sitting on the potty when he needed to go! Then Christmas happened and it's all gone a bit downhill. On Christmas Eve we went to Grandma and Grandpa's in pants and trousers, we must have been there 10 minutes and he got over excited about the chocolate coins and weed himself, so I put a nappy on him and he's still in them now - the day after Boxing Day, but we'll get there! He's so close!
I think Oskar was a bit bewildered by the whole Christmas thing, we went to Shaun's dad's house Christmas Day and Oskar didn't say a word, he spent the day being a cat and meowing, and refusing to open any presents, it's a good job Mammy likes to open them!
Erika is growing by the second, and he kicks are feeling bigger and bigger, I love this stage of pregnancy! No one can believe I'm 6 months pregnant already, it's gone so quick!
It's New Years soon and I'm gonna set some resolutions this year (and stick to them!) but I'll get back to you with those..

Friday 14 December 2012

Another Shooting.

I'm keeping this little munchkin extra close tonight after today's horrible events in Connecticut, USA. 26 people (and counting) have been shot dead by a gunman in an elementary school- the majority of them being 5 year old children.

I thought the presidents words were so sad:

"The majority of those who died today were children -- beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them -- birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers -- men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.
So our hearts are broken today -- for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost. Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children's innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain."

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Some rules to live by...

I stumbled across this list on Pinterest of how to be a calm parent (I need all the help I can get in the department..) I think it has some really good suggestions and I'm going to try and put them into action right away.

Own your Nos.
There are times when I say no without even thinking and then one no leads to another no and soon we’re in a vicious cycle. I’ve learned that by really thinking before I respond I feel authentic power when I do say no — or yes. Try hard to not rush to saying no to your child just because of inconvenience.

Be open to Yes.
There’s a ton of power in the word YES. Y-E-S. Conscious Yeses are beautiful. Conscious Yeses transform families. Conscious Yeses are cause for celebration.

Read.
Read everything you can that makes you feel good and that reminds you to remain calm. For me, it started with Momma Zen by Karen Maezen Miller but it’s hardly ended there. I have a whole nightstand filled with books that I pull out when I need a pick-me-up or as a reminder to remain calm and relaxed as a parent. Some are parenting books. Some are inspirational books. Others are just beautiful and get me thinking creatively, which is the best way to parent, in my experience.

Solitude.
I suspect that many of us who struggle with staying calm in the chaos also struggle with noise. Some people — extroverts — are happy with a ton of noise. I am not. Silence is often the medicine we need to replenish and rejuvenate ourselves and yet it may be the hardest to make happen. There are many other ways to stay at peace.

Take a deep breath.
Never ever punish when angry. Just don’t. Heed this advice and you’ll always be a calm parent. Separate the kids and then walk away. Step outside. Or, go to your room and close the door and lay on your bed until you are calm. Run down to the basement. Put on some music in your ear buds. Something. Anything. Just breathe and calm down before you even attempt to react.

Get up early.
Having time to yourself is absolutely essential. Period.

Go to bed early.
Being fully rested is key. You can’t be a good parent if you are too tired to think, too tired to come up with creative responses and solutions or too tired to ignore the small things.

Get a hobby.
I write therefore I am. For others, it’s cooking or sewing or quilting or crocheting. Even more are finding a love in photography, baking, blogging, or gardening. We all have that one thing that just fills us up, that gives us a different purpose in life. Devote yourself to yours.

Energize yourself.
This is my all-time favorite thing to do in my day. Choose the things that you love and that make you happy and do them every day. In my e-course, I’ll share my own list.

Ignore the small stuff.
What’s that book say, it’s all small stuff? I don’t know about that. But I do know that some parents — myself included — can get wrapped up in micromanaging their children and their every move. Delegate some of that worry and stress to the Universe. this includes NOT arguing back with a child.

Think of the Big Picture.
A few mentioned this on the Facebook page as important and I agree. Will this tiny infraction of behavior like drinking the bathtub water and spitting it out matter in the long run? No. Will it delay bedtime, yes. So what. Move on. Nothing to see here.

Clean.
When your children are frustrating the bejeezus out of you, clean. Do those things that you need to do and work off the frustrations by cleaning. This is the only time that I stress the importance of cleaning. It gives you something productive to do instead of micromanaging the children. While your at it, think of the chores they will have to do as a result of their bad behavior. Some call it an uh-oh chore. I just call it a chore to help fill my bucket back up.

Speak your mantra.
Each of us has phrases that give us comfort, sayings that we can say over and over again in our heads until the difficult moment passes. Some of you suggested mantras like “I am the adult” or “Mommy is the greatest!” I have a whole list of mantras that I use.

Exercise.
Walk. Do yoga. Run. Whatever you can do to feel good on the inside will make parenting from the heart a lot better.

Slow down.
Don’t plan a ton of things because the minute you want to get a long list of things done is the very minute that you will find things blow up. Stress is what causes us to lose our cool so the less we have to stress about, the less crazy we’ll become.

Get silly.
I’ve said this before but doing something entirely out of the ordinary is a great way to turn things around quickly. Tell jokes. Just act nutty. You’ll laugh. SING. DANCE. Laugh. Deal with the consequences later, when everyone’s thinking more clearly.

Talk it out.
Establish a talk-it-out rule. In this house, we talk out our problems with soft words, not our hands and not by yelling. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Role model.
If you want your children to grow up calm, cool and collected than keep that in your head at all times. What you say to your children becomes what they hear in their heads. That’s powerful stuff to consider.

Eat.
There have been many times when I’ve been starving and not taking care of myself. Stop and make sure you’re not feeling the result of low blood sugar.

Set your rules.
This is a really big deal and something I didn’t really do early on. The sooner your establish your household rules the better off you will be as a parent. Our rules are on our refrigerator so that when a rule is broken we can immediately point to it and say look here, you’ve broken Rule No. 2, keep your hands and feet to yourself. When you are confident about the rules in your house, you are confident in enforcing those rules.

Don’t set too many rules.
Seriously. Children are still learning and experimenting. We can’t expect them to never make mistakes. To stay calm, stick to no more than five rules at a time and make those the important ones. Let little infractions go by with teachable moments rather than discipline.

Change your routine.
If you find yourself in a stressed out rut, perhaps it’s time to change things around and do something exciting and different. A change in fresh air or environment is enough to keep me feeling calm and peaceful a lot longer than going through the motions of the same-old, same-old.

Be Grateful.
Many of you mentioned that reminding yourself of how special it is to have a child is the best way to calm yourself down. Savoring the little moments. Being grateful for the time we have with our children. These are all big, heart-filled reminders of what it really means to be a parent, even when times are challenging.

Replenish your spirit.
For some this means prayer or meditation. For others it might be sinking into a hot bath at night. Taking care of your spirit is as important as taking care of your body. Whatever you use to de-stress and center yourself, do it often.

When all else fails, hug it out.
I love this one that came up on the Facebook page. Too often what our children need — and what we need in return — is that close connection and touch of the ones we love. My very spirited daughter responds positively to touch and so we snuggle often. So, instead of yelling or hurting, hug it out. If only we could pass this tip along to the rest of the world, right?

I have a few more that I'd like to add which apply to myself and Oskar;

1. Try to understand why he is playing up or doing something and talk to him about it instead of raising my voice straight away.

2. Give myself plenty of time, I'm most stressed out when I'm in a rush.

3. Limit the time I spend using technology, it's not good for either of us.

4. Treasure the little things, as kids don't stay little for long.

5. When Erika comes along, try to give equal amounts of attention.

Tuesday 4 December 2012

'Crick-cricks' Time and Wet Pants

It's officially Christmastime, or 'Crick-cricks' as Oskar calls it. We've put the tree up and Oskar helped Grandma decorate hers. He loves it, I caught him singing 'simply having a wonderful crick-cricks time' today. We got a Playmobil calendar where we get a bit of Playmobil everyday and it makes a dinosaur hunting scene (very Christmassy, I know) Oskar doesn't understand the concept of one door per day, he wants it all. Now.

In other news Oskar has mastered the potty, but only when he has no nappy or pants on. He'll use it without fail, but as soon as I put some undies on him, he'll sit on the potty but won't pull his pants down so we have a lot of wet pants going on at the minute.

Saturday 1 December 2012

I love eBay!

Today I have won some bargains on eBay! Firstly I won a full Next outfit for £9, which is still in the shops for £20. And it's only been worn once! Then I won a set of three pyjamas from Next for £2.70, which were £15. And then this Mothercare dress for £2.50...

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Sorting out Oskar's stuff.

This morning I started selling Oskar's old clothes through Instagram/Paypal. I've only posted a few things and so far made over £50. So it's going pretty well. I've kept stuff that could be unisex like some T-shirts and hoodies but other than that its all up for sale. It's quite sad seeing some of my favourite stuff go, but it's pointless hanging onto stuff because after Erika is born I'm done having babies! I have about three boxes of stuff to get out of the loft so hopefully going to make a few more pennies for new Oskar and Erika stuff. I'm hoping I can sneak the Xmas tree out the loft at the same time (it's ALMOST December!)
Oskar has been 'helping' me when I've been sorting his bedroom out, and of course he suddenly gets attached to stuff he hasn't paid a blind bit of notice to since he was about 6 months. I've been sneaking stuff in the charity bag when he hasn't been looking.
This morning we were talking about his bedroom and how it's tidy and not 'scary' anymore, and he informed me that "friend's gone now.."
He's had a 'friend' called Jack for the past couple of months, at first he liked him but one night he woke up screaming and refused to go in his bedroom for almost 2 weeks. So hopefully this is the end of 'Jack' and he'll sleep happily in there, as much as I like having him in bed between me and Shaun.

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Girly things...



A little sister for Oskar

We've just found out that we're lucky enough to be expecting a little girl and so far she looks perfect! I never thought we'd be lucky enough to get one of each, and this has made this rough pregnancy seem a little more worth while! Although a little brother for Oskar would have been lovely, a little girl is just perfect and completes our family!
Her name will be Erika. Just so I can spend more of my time telling people "with a 'K'" like I do with Oskar.
When we went in for the scan she was in a very awkward position so we couldn't tell what sex she was. I had to have a walk around to try and get her to move, and eventually, just at the last minute, she decided to move her foot and show us that she definitely didn't have any boy parts. It was one of the most exciting moments of my life!