I had these ideas of grandeur, I thought 6 weeks off for the summer I am going to read all the books on blogging Jo kindly got me for my birthday and I am going to put some serious effort into getting my blog looking amazing! There will be content everywhere and I will build on my loyal 5 readers! By the way, thank you all 5 of you.
Ok, so we are now 3 days from my return to work, I have read none of the blogging books (but I have read Gill Simms ‘Why Mummy Swears’, hilarious. I have also ready ‘The Unmumsy Mum’ by the wonderful Sarah Turner, equally hilarious), I have lost my all-important blogging notepad (with about 20 unwritten blog ideas in it) and I have logged into WordPress about 3 times.
In my defence I have been focused on loving time with the boys! I have written short, Instagram and Facebook supported blogs but nothing major.
So Mike is kindly holding the fort for me right now while I drink my third coffee in the local coffee shop and get some serious work done.
I have so far written 3 blogs I have had planned for a while and I have also popped to smiths to replace my notepad but I thought a little catch up with us and what we have been up to might be in order.
Celebrations and jubilations!
Arran will be hitting his first birthday at the end of this month. I am both excited and terrified by this. Where has a year gone?!? We are throwing a tea party to mark the occasion, neither of us are big party planners so fingers crossed all goes well.
We also have lots of visits to make making sure all the family get a look in. I am planning a blog about some of my favourite memories of Arran’s first year as well as a look at the pressure of hitting milestones.
This is something I didn’t worry about with Dylan but with Arran I found following his 12 month review I started stressing he wasn’t doing this, that or the other even though I know he’s exactly where he should be.
Can I go to the park with my friend?
Following giving Dylan a little freedom on holiday to take himself to the ball court and him discovering some of his school friends living round the corner I have found he’s asking for more and more freedom to take himself places. He’s 9 and will be 10 in six months, he’s about the enter his penultimate year of primary school and he has massively hairy legs all of a sudden. But I can’t help the dread I feel when he asks to go somewhere where I can’t see him from one of the house windows.
Not to mention he has no phone (he’s desperate for one but I keep saying no) and then there is all the games he wants to play because his friends play them but I say no because they are violent. But then I let him play Star Wars battlefront, full of blasting people. Am I holding him back or at 9, actually he’s too young to be going off on his own, even if it is only round the corner? Anyway, a blog coming on how he will have shattered my nerves completely by the time I’m 33 coming soon.
Day Trips, holidays and friends
We’ve had some lovely days out and an amazing first holiday as a family of 4! I plan to review these and recommend some of the great places we have been but to name just a few there was the strawberry picking, the Richard III centre, the funfair as well as some great times at home just making time as a family.
I have also frequented the soft plays of Leicester and this has left me with mixed feelings of these places. Again another blog coming on the joys (and not so joys) of the dreaded soft play or indoor play centres.
Work is calling
For me it’s all about the anxiety of starting a new job. I am excited to finally be getting back to a line of work that I love but at the same time I can’t help but put myself under pressure to be absolutely amazing at what I do and want to impress.
I am usually bored come the end of the summer and excited to return to work but this summer I have not found I am bored at all, quite the opposite. Time has seemed to fly past so quickly, and I would happily have a few more weeks.
Not to mention I need a more office-based work wardrobe and I can’t fit my huge baby belly into anything! So good luck to Dylan tomorrow who will no doubt have to entertain Arran outside a changing room listening to his mother cuss and cry as she tries on her 70th pair of trousers and find they won’t do up. My post baby body is far from ideal even a year down the line, there is some mixed feelings on this too so you guessed it; yes a blog in the pipe line.
Eat well, feel well
In a bid to look and feel better Mike and I (well more I, who dragged Mike along on the journey) have decided to embrace some of the slimming world practices to eating food. I also treated myself to the Pinch of Nom food planner so I could keep better track of ‘syns’ and such like.
If you know me you will know I don’t necessarily buy into the who ‘syn free’ and can eat as much pasta as you like that slimming world seems to preach but I thought lets give it a go. But just to be on the safe side I also called in the old friend ‘Fitness Pal’ to keep an eye on the calories as well.
I did a full week and no word of a lie I felt great! I was less bloated, clothes sat better and I couldn’t believe how much better I felt after only 7 days! Then we went on holiday and Mike offered me Ice Cream and cakes and I ate the most disgusting jacket potato of my life (I don’t even know how you make a jacket potato grey and hard on one side and slushy on the other)! Yep healthy eating out the window.
But back at work from Friday and hoping to get back on track when I am back in a routine. I shall keep you updated on our progress. And I would say if you don’t already own it; the pinch of nom recipe book (available in most supermarket book sections) is one of the best gifts I have ever been given! Homemade Tandoori Chicken, the most amazing Chicken and Mushroom stir fry, a beef stew with a Cuban twist and a lemon and thyme roast chicken all major weight loss programme (they have been told they aren’t allowed to affiliate with named brands anymore. The named brands loss if you ask me) compatible. Then there are the super simple but super tasty Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches. Yes an indulgence but a worthy one!
So you are all caught up…
But for the time being keep those peppers on the page as I have 3 blogs written (I have been in this coffee shop for hours, I will have to leave soon people are staring) and ready to publish as I get everything back on schedule after a wonderful summer soaking up my amazing boys!
Outnumbered 