 Hello, welcome. So you are probably wondering why I have picture of a puzzle. That is because it is Puzzle Day, according to the website: https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/puzzle-day/ Check it out, you'll be surprised what weird and wacky holidays there are. I am having a chillax Friday morning as I am back to work at the weekend, and this evening me and my hubby are having a night out, and having a few drinks. Boy it is well needed, I can tell you. I think both my husband and I have found it tough the last week or so, as we have both hand colds and flu, and been feeling so tired. I have now published my books again, see my home page for details. To all mums, including mums-to-be and new mums, I would if you have not done so yet, check out the Play Cafes,  Picture from http://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/family-fun/Fun_and_Biscuits_Soft_Play_Cafe/8059 See picture of an example, I went to one on Monday when taking Henry to Gymboree, and you do have to pay for your little one to play, but it is great because you don't have to be with them all the time. The prices are different in each Play Cafe, and differ depending on the age of the child, but I really like them. I also took Henry to one near where we live and they are great, an alternative place to take your baby or toddler, when it is raining or too cold outside. You can have a drink, something to eat and meet up there with another mum or adult. There were parents there who were having playdates, with their children, so their babies could have some playtime whilst the adults chatted.  One of Weebly.com own images. I have also been sorting out my home again, part of my Winter Clear up I do, and have managed to get rid of some clothes, a pair of trainers and more paper work.
I am revamping my spare bedroom and it is my goal to complete it this year, preferably at the beginning, and having a spending fast, where I really control what I am paying out and only buy items that I can add or will contribute to using other items I have in my home. When going to the shops, if not shopping online, I am paying by cash only. I really think before buying, do I need it and how will I benefit from that item? I am certainly guilty of spending money on items I don't really need. I used to be so good with money, and was always a saver which I try to be still, but I just get that buzz from buying items like a chocoholic does when eating chocolate, a high from having those items, but then look at my bank balance and think, why? I didn't need that? It really is helping me control my money and I can happily say that most of the bills this month have been paid and only ones left are my mobile phone bills. I would recommend to give this a go. having a spending fast, it really is refreshing and making me use what I have got and not wasting money on items that I don't really need. If I do want them, then I add to my wish list and if I have spare cash to buy those items I will. Quick tip: Got debts, and bills. If you can pay these first when you get paid before spending money on anything else it truly is a huge load lifted off your shoulders and I am going to be doing this every month from now on. See you next week, and have a fab weekend everyone, Carrie X
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 If I said it's been a heck of a week, it would be an understatement, with my son no longer wanting to be put in his pushchair even before we have left the house or sit in his highchair at meal times. We do let him walk, but he has no concept of where anything is and goes in the opposite direction, so until he starts to learn to go where we are going, then he does have to be in the pushchair. The "Terrble Two's" are a testing of patience to see how calm you can stay until you start to want to have an "Adult tantrum" of your own.  You know you should stay as calm as possible, but then its as if you want to find the switch to turn off your child's tantrum but can't find the button to press. In the end you find your self exploding too. Then you both end up in tears and want to chuck yourself on the floor. I have been trying the Jo Frost approach (from the series Supernanny) of:
Following in these steps have helped, but wish to know more as like so many other mums who are probably nodding to these blog right now, that I can't help loose control when my son decides to swipe the spoon out my hand, then it becomes a battle of getting the food into his mouth without him knocking the next spoonful out of my hand. I have ordered the Jo Frosts book "Toddler Rules" and I will see what else I can pick up and I will do a blog and video to review the book once I have read this. If you are reading this and know of a good book you could recommend then please let me know. See on the right side of the screen as you are looking at it, the link to my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts and my email address, or please leave a comment below of any books, other blogs or websites that will help me with the toddler tantrums. All support and advise is truly welcomed.  Image from Amazon.co.uk The one thing we have achieved this week is move Henry onto a cup, and no longer drinks from his bottles. Tip: You do have to be careful at this age or when they have teeth as we did notice that some of the teats had started to split, because of him biting on them, another reason why we had to change. It was a good time to do it. We had tried before numerous times but he would just knock the cups out of our hands or turn his head away. However we felt he was ready and can drink from the cup without the spout, and loves it. With parenthood you do have to be persistent and never feel defeated if your baby or toddler doesn't move onto things well at first or straight away. The one thing I have realised they decide on when they are ready, not us. We have now also begun moving him from, is from the Readymade meals 12+ meals onto eating our own food more. We will use them for holidays and for when he is having his lunch or dinner at Nannies, but apart from that he will have more of our food now.  One of the many meals I make, beef stew. It will make life so much easier now we don't have to measure out formula anymore or worry about finding somewhere, where we can heat up his food.
It has been an amazing time and would not change it for the world, I will keep working on the tantrums to deter them before they start. Last night I managed to do that, as dinner time was a lot better, he did kick off a little because he wanted to get out of his pushchair at I started to boil up too, but then bought it back to being calm and managed to distract him most of the time and make his dinner time fun. It certainly made us both feel better afterwards too, not wanting it to be over as soon as possible. I made sure I didn't have my husband tablet near me, so I'd get distracted by Youtube or my phone, and made sure that all my attention was making sure he enjoyed and ate his dinner. I watched his actions, to know when he wanted a break in between eating to allow him to digest his food and made sure I had his water near by too. We sang nursery rhymes and did the motions he has learned from Monkey Music and so when he did eat without a fuss gave him praise. I have realised that social media can play part in Henry having tantrums when he is having his dinner and so I have now made sure when I have a meal in front of him, whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner I am not watching YouTube or checking Facebook but setting a good example to teach him this how you eat your dinner. The next step will be having meal times at the table as I do think being someone who did that as a child, myself, my brother, dad and my mum when they were married the one thing we always did, is sit around the table to eat rather than on the sofa in front of the TV. So when mother and baby books say about no distractions at meal times it is true. The one other thing I have learned and have mentioned before, is that they learn a lot by our actions and examples of what we do, that they pick up, rather than on what we say, and so it is the case of, if I want my son to learn to sit and eat his dinner not wanting to get up or want to play with his toys, then I have to show him that when I eat. So from now on all tablets, phones and computers are band at meal times. Have a great weekend people. Carrie x  Yes, we are here at the end of the week again, and first of all I would like to pay my respects to David Bowie and the Actor who is well known for his Character Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films, Alan Rickman, to their family and friends, they were so iconic in what they did, David for his music and films he was in like Labyrinth and Alan for his great acting not just in the Harry Potter films but he was also brilliant in the film Love Actually, aswell. I wanted to write about "Claims to Fame" when I saw mine performing on TV during the New Years celebrations. It is amazing how these people who we don't even know personally can have such an explosive effect on our lives. I love the David Bowie and Queen song under pressure with many others they both did, because whenever I hear the song it takes me back to the 80's which is my favourite decade and makes me think about the holidays we used to have in Menorca as I remember my dad playing the song during those times.  Image from: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001898/ My "Claim to Fame", well one of them is Bryan Adams who was the one performing on TV on New Years Eve. I spoke to him over the telephone once when I worked for a computer company in Middlesex and he would order some music products from us, and I answered the phone to him. He even politely asked for my name as I had spoken to his agent before, as I would take calls on behalf of the Marketing team when they were on the other line. I still remember it so clearly now as if it is playing out right in front of me, and he was so friendly and down to earth that I kind of forgot who it was for a second. I think he liked the fact that I acted professionally but friendly, not just because of who he was, and that's why after that when I would speak to him again it was always very comfortable and he knew that he could trust me when I answered the call to pass him onto the Marketing Department. Since then back in 1998 I became more of a fan than before. The fact that he was so nice I think increased my feelings towards the guy who makes such great music. I did have a height of expectation, like you do when you see famous people on TV, and I imagined how he was going to be if I ever did met him and when they are nice to you as you hoped, it is a relief. The worst thing is to find out they are actually horrible in real life. You hope the image you see on TV matches the one you meet in real life. My friend works for the BBC and she got the chance to work with David Jason on Open all hours and one of my other "Claims to Fame" well it's more my mum's, Bradley Walsh because he was the warm up man at a TV recording at the BBC some years ago and I remember her coming back home and telling me about this warm up man called Bradley Walsh. He picked on her friend she had gone with. so I heard of him before he became famous and now he hosts the TV quiz show the Chase, on the British channel ITV on week days at 5pm. He is also a comedian, an actor, who was in Coronation Street and played a Detective in the UK version of Law and Order, aswell as being a TV presenter.  Image from: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/4311581/Actor-Bradley-Walsh-in-The-Chase-for-America-success.html I have followed his career from that first time. No I am not a stalker just to clarify that, but because of the amount of times I have watched him, he has made me laugh to the point my belly would ache, and has been in some great programs playing some great characters. This created an impact for me making me laugh until I would be crying with laughter, taking me away from everyday life for 10 or 30 minutes or so. It was the same for my friend who worked with David Jason who starred in the comedy Open All Hours and the other most famous comedy Only Fools And Horses, because even though it was about real life, and quite sad a story really when you watch it, it would have you crying with laughter, and his character was played so well that you felt you knew him and Del Boy (the name of his character) truly existed.. My friend was so amazed of how nice David Jason was and looked in shock every time she spoke about working with him, as you don't imagine for one second that you will ever meet anyone famous let alone work with them, and created that impact that she will be able to treasure, for the rest of her life and be able to tell for all eternity. It is something that makes you stop and smile on how even though they are just human beings like us, they created something that made us stop what we were doing for half and hour or so, and will always be there in your mind.  Image from: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-09-14/can-you-name-the-only-fools-and-horses-character I know there are sometimes negative things about celebrities at times, because they have big houses, gorgeous looking partners or spouses who may also be famous too, and travel abroad, but there are those I would say few that really impact us and create a phenomenon that no else has created. I do think the word celebrity is often abused at times, and for me it is someone who was the boy or girl next door who created their art and put it into the world for us all to love and give us such joy too. When you think about those who have made iconic music, the characters they have played so well, dramas they were in or even a footballer who scored the best goal you've ever seen in the most memorable football match you've ever watched, it makes you heart leap and it will always when you think about them creates that impact that very few create and those memories stored with you forever.  Please share your "Claims of Fame" I'd love to know whom you have met and if they were what you thought, and how they impacted your life.
Many thanks for reading, have a great weekend, Carrie X Yes the end of the week, but for me it is my last day before I am back in at work, doing my two days, whilst my hubby is looking after our son. So today I have been doing some filming, and cooking my sausage casserole which I put together this morning to cook in our Slow cooker, which is one of my most Kitchen essential item aswell as my food mixer, as it makes life so much easier. I would definitely recommend if you don't have one to get one. I used it the last two days to make a Chickpea & Pilaf Rice dish and Malaysian Mango Curry yesterday. Both were delicious, and no I am not just saying that. I would definitely recommend "100 easy slow cook recipes" book which my husband bought from the Book People who came to his school. I use my slow cooker hence why my hubby bought it for me and it just helps inspire me to make more meals via the slow cooker. It is my favourite kitchen appliance, along with my food mixer. I do treat them as if they do have feelings, I know that may seem sad, but it is true.  These kitchen appliances are my friends and have been good to me.
The videos of me making these meals using my slow cooker will be up on Youtube and on my website soon. I edited my Christmas in Lincoln video so this will be added shortly on my website; It was so good to look back and I have started to upload my post Christmas videos too along with my Autumn clear up so they will be added to my website as soon as they are done aswell. I even managed a spot of cleaning. So have a great Friday people and I wish everyone a good weekend. Carrie X |
AuthorFridays mean take away and in my case getting ready for work at the weekend. Archives
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