Synchronization of Us

This year i made a promise to myself I WILL loose weight, i was blogging about it weekly but i got caught up in uni and blogging and like so much else it fell by the way side.

I have both succeeded and failed at my goal. I wanted to loose 4 stone for holiday and i am no where near that. I was doing great up till exam time in May and just failed (not exams thankfully – those i passed ), i have struggled both mentally and physically since then to get back to it . In total i have lost about 2.5 stone , which i am super pleased with. I do feel better and have managed to look at a few pictures of myself lately without wanting to delete them straight away but i still have a good way to go before i can shop the Huishan Zhang collection.

I seem to have completely given up just now, trying to not eat to much but failing terribly and i have not been to the gym in weeks (been to busy playing Zelda on the Wii) and i am terrified i am letting myself down and i will gain the weight back. I have set myself a goal for the summer and that is to not to gain back all the weight i lost. Its sounds simple and hopefully doable. Im going to try and not stress to much till after holiday, after all American portions are not known for being small although im hoping the hours of walking/swimming will equal out the calories.

When home again im not planning on dieting till schools start back , we go out for lunch/picnics way to often and i would just be setting myself up for failure but im going to try and choose healthy options and do what i can to not gain. I will hopefully be able to go to the gym a few times during the week aswell (meaning i get some me time which can be missing during school holidays).

Come August i will be back on it, i would love to end this year 5 stone down. So another 2.5 to go from here…

No idea what diet to go for next , i loved weight watchers and found it worked but i disliked the class . I do find i need the class though but could not help comparing it to the slimming world one which was supportive and helpful. I found the WW one boring and stopped sticking around for it just going to weigh in and leave..

Alot may depend on my uni time table to but would love to know what everyone favorite diets are…

A few days ago i was getting upset about my babies not being babies anymore and trust me i still very much feel like that. Here we are on my sons last week at nursery and every little thing threatens to make me cry.

I need to stop for a second and remind myself that life is not all bad , we actually have a good few things to look forward to in the future . I need to focus on all the good coming rather than what has been.

Holiday

Only a few weeks and we will be off,two weeks in Florida with my favorite people how can i not be super excited over that? .Plus when we return we still have a few weeks till schools go back so plenty of family fun to come.

Baby

Im not sure i have mentioned on my blog yet about the new upcoming addition – don’t worry not me – but my lovely sister. She is due with her second baby ( a BOY – finally a playmate for Ru) in September and we are all looking forward to newborn snuggles again. I am particularly look forward to all the baby fun without all the handwork (sleepless nights ect) , this of course means my sister will be heavily pregnant in Florida but she made sure to pack plenty of maternity swimwear so she can enjoy days by the pool rather than rushing around at parks everyday.

School/Uni

Isn’t is silly how something im dreading is also something im excited about ? But it is in a away , i look forward to seeing my boy starting school and all the excitement that brings. He is ready for it and i have a feeling he will do so well. Its going to be bittersweet sending all my babies away every day but i will be back in Uni in September and the extra study time will come in so handy.

Birthdays/Christmas/Halloween/Fireworks and everything else

September sees the start of birthday season and the fun of the autumn season. The weather i hate but im already excited about planing parties , dressing up and all the fun of December.

Possibilities

Who knows what else this year will bring? Hubby may find that perfect job, this flat may finally sell , i may loose more weight. WE WILL have many laughs and amazing moments , the tantrums and fighting may grind to a halt ( one can dream lol).

And that is just a few of the things, each month something exciting and fun is happening and i cannot wait for all of it.

Fathers day is almost here, the time of year again where we get to say thanks to the wonderful daddies in our lives and shower them with gifts.

It may be your looking for something different this year ..i know we always are.

To celebrate ASDA have launched an exclusive Daddy Pig product range which goes on sale at stores nationwide from 3rd June to 17th June 2013. The exclusive range of all-new Daddy Pig products includes a My Daddy book (£5.99) and Champion Daddy Pig DVD (£5) for the little ones and for the Dads there is a wide range of merchandise including Father’s Day cards (£2) and giftwrap, cufflinks (£5), ties, handkerchiefs, lounge pants, pyjamas, trunks, slippers (£10), mugs (£4), keyrings (£1) and boxers (£6).

My husband IS Daddy Pig , really the resemblance/likeness is uncanny and the kids all agree that the show was based on us . We were sent a copy of the DVD and My Daddy book to review and they were both big hits.

The DVD is your usual fun collection of Peppa episodes, all well written and fun for kids . With 10 episodes it can keep them quiet for hours.

The book though was the hit of the house…

The girls enjoy it because they can read it themselves and the boy just adores it…it has replaced a much loved book as his bedtime read .

This year has hugely changed my son and his dads relationship , not that it was ever bad but with my at uni and dad doing part of the childcare he and the boy have developed a much tighter bond and for the moment Ruaridh wants all daddy all the time. For him getting daddy to read his bedtime story is a highlight of his day and reading about daddies just makes it even better.

We would recommend this book 100%

Life is a changing peeps.

Kids are finishing up school for the summer , the boy on single figures of nursery days. Becca moving from “infant” in school to the bigger kids. Onwards and upwards and growing every day.

I look at them and wonder where it went? When did my babies become big kids? . Ruaridh has been going out to play for short times with his sisters and i watch them with tears in my eyes.

Im just not ready for it all ,i want to go back in time and hold the babies and take each day painfully slowly and just appreciate it so much more. I would do nothing but play with them , talk with them and ignore the world around us.

Sleepless nights…screaming babies…nothing would matter and IN everything i would find joy.

I love watching them grow and spending time with them now is wonderful , we can visit castles and parks , go out for nice dinners , read long books and play games . We can go out biking riding and to the movies and generally love being together. I just wish for a day i could hold my newborns again …

This summer is the last before the boy starts school , we have many plans and we are determined to make it the best yet. I need to move past the grief i feel over the lost babies and concentrate on my wonderful big kids.

Pre kids I have no idea what lack of sleep really was. Sure I went through times when I felt tired and some nights I missed sleep but I had no idea what sleep deprivation really was. I could always catch up with naps and early nights/long lies
My eldest was an ok sleeper , she fed 3 hourly for the first few years (yes years) but it was fine , she co-slept and we breastfed and it was really no big deal . Second daughter loved sleep and with only a few rough patches slept well. In fact she was sleeping through the night before her big sister.

Then came my boy , my lovely wonderful son who seemed to hate everything accept for mummy milk for the first 18 months of his life. He just would not sleep , he liked to feed hourly and if I tried to do something like sleep with him in my arms or sleep while he fed world war three would break out. Its was the hardest and most depressing time of my life, I was so exhausted every single day that everything else in my life (including the girls who were only 3 and 1) became second best. I remember sitting once and actually working out how much sleep I had over a space of 5 days and came to roughly 6 (broken) hours. Two of those nights I had no sleep at all which left about 2 hours per night on the others . Sadly that was a common week for me at the time..
Things improved when he was around 18 months and he went to 3 hourly feeds , things got even better around 2.5 when he finally decided he wanted to co-sleep and I managed to easily night wean him . From that moment on he has slept wonderfully..

A few years down the line and I still appreciate sleep and love nothing more than collapsing into bed and knowing I will get to sleep for many, many hours uninterrupted.

Did you know that last year Silent Night carried out research which showed that 75% of adults are not getting a good night’s sleep? I do wonder how many of them are parents struggling as i did? , Or maybe its just as simple as needing a new bed or mattress? Have a look at these Silentnight stockists in Manchester and possibly think about changing your current sleeping place , i know from experience that a new bed or mattress can make a huge difference in how you sleep..

I am lucky i now sleep fine ,all night, ever night (well mostly ). Although i do sometime struggle getting to sleep . I have a hugely overactive imagination at times and i can lay for hours letting the thoughts go around and around my head. Silent night are currently researching into sleep aids and if they can help aid a better night sleep. I was sent an amazing gifts set from Crabtree and Evelyn and some lovely lavender drops to put in my pillow to try for a week.

I am a firm believer in routines , not just for children but also for adults . Just as my kids have a bedtime routine so do i and a hot bath features most nights, the bath product was amazing and the smell was heavenly…after a long soak i covered myself in equally lovely body lotion before adding the lavender on the pillow and finally collapsing for the night.

Every night i feel asleep easily , surrounded by pretty smells and feeling great. Im not sure if it is the products or the bath..i always find a bath helps me sleep at night but either way i had a lovely week of great sleeps.

Do any of my readers have some tips to offer? What helps you to drop of at night?

Ahh, motherhood. While it can be one of life’s greatest joys, it can also require a lot of time and energy, and, unless you have help full time, caring for your family can be a bit overwhelming. Many mums, particularly those who are new mothers or have multiple children, find it difficult to balance quality time with their families and making time for themselves. Toss in holding down a full-time job and focusing on your studies and the odds of having spare time to yourself is even less feasible. Activities such as enjoying a cup of coffee while reading the newspaper are no longer simple routines. Shopping with little ones in tow can be much more trying than it was before you had children, and shopping for yourself is almost impossible and not the pleasurable endeavor that it used to be. And forget about intimate dinners with your spouse or a spur of the moment night out with your mates—if you’re a mummy with younger children you have so much to do to prepare to go out that it’s often be more of a hassle than it’s worth.

In addition, many mums find daily beauty rituals that single women take for granted not easily attainable. From applying makeup to doing your hair, making time for basic self-maintenance when you’re a busy mum is virtually impossible. With all the tasks that come with motherhood, working, and studying you also become quite forgetful, and even simple, everyday routines, like remembering to remove your Acuvue contact lenses before bed, require a reminder. Any good mother is so preoccupied with caring for her family that she forgets to take care of herself. So what’s a mum on the go to do? Here are a few tips that active mums can use to optimize any free moment they may have in order to make time for themselves.

Get up and Get Going Early

Rise an hour ahead of your family for some quiet, alone time. Spend this hour engaging in a relaxing, soothing activity such as yoga or jogging. Exercising or partaking in yoga or any type of meditation allows you to workout both your mind and body. It also offers the opportunity for some time to reflect and mentally prepare yourself for the busy day that awaits.

Keep an Account of How You Spend Your Time

Whether you record your day-to-day tasks in a diary or journal, keeping a record of how you spend your time and what your most time-consuming activities are is a great time management tool and way to figure out how you can make time for yourself. Determine what tasks can be done as quickly as possible and how you can maximize your time doing these activities in order to allow a few spare moments for yourself. Use this extra time to participate in a favourite hobby, such as knitting, or just relax and indulge in time alone—something you couldn’t do otherwise.

Devise a Calming Bedtime Ritual

Your children have a nighttime routine and so should you. After getting the wee ones settled in for the night, take the opportunity to wind down yourself with a nice, tranquil bath, a movie or television show, a good book, or lengthy chat with a friend. Whatever activity you choose, make sure it’s something that is yours and makes you feel relaxed: remember you have another busy day ahead of you.

Hello…I have not ran off although from the lack of posts i would not be surprised if all my readers have..

Yeah life hit the busy button for a while, Uni on hyper speed with exams,reports,presentations …but now im DONE. Today was the last of it and im free till September. (Unless i have resits which im confident about not having ) . Im exhausted, im relived and so proud to have made it through the year . I have plenty of posts running around my head but for tonight im going to celebrate

I really cannot believe it , 9 weeks tomorrow till we go to Florida.

It’s all coming together now , everything that can be booked is booked and paid for . We leave on the Friday and travel by Train to London , then we spend the night there before flying out the next morning.

The fact that this is a real big family holiday makes it even more exciting , it sure is funny how things come full circle – 10 years ago going on holiday with my parents would of been a big no no but now it sounds wonderful . Having 3 children means we (the grown ups) are outnumbers but on this holiday the grown ups win 5 to 4 , it will be nice to be away and not worry about keeping an eye on all three by myself all the time (hubby is wonderful but easily distracted and often walks away to look at stuff)

Honestly I’m just looking forward to two weeks of sunshine and spending time with all my favorite people , I am a little nervous about the heat and the craziness of the parks … But still that is all park of the experience right ? I am so glad that when we get back that its the summer holidays and we can spend days relaxing and getting back on UK time , im pretty sure its going to be a wonderful two weeks and i cannot wait to take the kids to all these amazing places.

Another good thing about a holiday is the clothes, i mean every holiday needs new stuff right? Especially when you know you are going somewhere warm and live in a less than warm country so have very little suitable clothes already in the cupboards.I have spent a small fortune already on the kids clothes , around £150 just in shoes for the girls . I really wish i had thought about this better and applied for some interest free credit cards to help spread the cost. I could of went shopping without cutting our spending money (drastically opps) . The girls are pretty much done now , they have so much new clothes and new shoes that I don’t think they will get to wear them all . Ruaridh is almost there and Craig and I just need a few new things .

Shopping and preparing just make it feel so real , In heading into crazy (exam ) time with uni and I’m pretty sure thinking of the holiday will be the thing that gets me through it… and every time i step out in the freezing cold April rain i think about the sunshine and feel warm for a while.