Shovel List

I got the idea of the Shovel List  from @mummycentral.  I'd like to share my top 5 hates and would gladly give them a shovel to the face if given the opportunity

1. Baby Beaters

If you don't feel you can give a child the love and care they deserve then don't F***ing have them.  I don't understand why these cretins think they have the right to lay their hands on innocent children this way.  If I was Queen I would put them all on a big ship, send them out to the middle of the Ocean and beat them beyond recognition with a shovel - enough said

2. Fag Ash Mums


Why would you cause harm to your baby before it is even born?  If you can't give up for 9 months for your kid then shame on you.



3. 4X4 Drivers

You may have a car bigger then me but that doesn't mean you own the road!


4. People who abandon the trolley in the middle of Supermarket isles.


It's rude and inconsiderate - stop doing it please



5. People who Say "Don't worry he's friendly" - Yes I'm talking about Dog owners.





I keep my dog on a lead as I know he's not always the most sociable around other dogs.  It really does annoy me when other people let their dog run up to mine and stand there and shout, "It's OK he's friendly"  I have found my self shouting back, "That's nice but how do you know if mine is?"  Please don't assume that we all want to be friends with your dog because we really don't.



I found that I could actually go on and on with this list but thought it best to stick to the top 5.

Who would you have on your list?  Give it a go you'd be surprised what comes out.......

Silent Sunday

The Littlest Lighthouse Keeper Book Review

    

This book review is for one of Little H's favourite books. 

It's called The Littlest Lighthouse Keeper.

                        

This is a story about a mouse who lives with a lighthouse keeper in his lighthouse.  Once day the little mouse is left alone and has to turn the light on to guide all the ships that are sailing in the storm.  However, he is so small that he doesn't know how he will ever make it to the top of the light house.  When he does get there is finds there are more problems and how will such a little mouse be able to solve them.  The little mouse is fortunate to have some very good friends who help him along the way and with a bit of team work they all get the job done.

Mummy Thinks: It's a lovely story that teaches children that A) even the smallest of people can make a big difference and B) anything is possible with a little help from your friends.  It's a nice bedtime read and Little H loves to hear about the problems and then hear how they all overcome them.  It has lovely illustrations the whole way through and I really do support the message to subtley gives out.  I like the way it has a good number of words on each page and so it's easy for kids to follow as you read.

Little H Thinks: "Mouse has lovely friends, just like my friend Olivia, although she's not a spider"

My Breast feeding Story - The Good, The Bad and The Bitten Boobies

As some of you may know I have two little munchkins of the ages 3 1/2 and 17 months.  As a mum I'm proud to say that both my babies were breastfed.  I have to say that I totally agree that breast is best and it would always be my first choice.  This doesn't mean however that I judge mums who chose not to breast feed their babies.  As well as being a big advocate for breast feeding I'm  an even bigger advocate for doing what you think is best for not only your baby, but mum as well.

I had no problems at all when I started feeding my first born.  She was great.  Fed every 3-4 hours, no reflux, slept well and didn't seem to need to feed on me for comfort.  

Then came baby no.2.  When I found out I was pregnant the second time round I knew straight away that I would breast feed and after the first experience I was quite looking forward to it.  I love being able to have baby all to myself  while they fed and get that lovely bond going.  I couldn't wait.

Mr Moo was born in the early hours of the morning and we were both shattered so he didn't have his first feed until about an hour after he was born.  This is when I realised things weren't going to be as smooth this time round.  The problem was he wouldn't latch.  I couldn't blame him really as we seem to think that babies are born knowing what to do when it comes to feeding but why would they?  The midwife on call at the time gave me some support in the form of pushing my nipple into his mouth and holding his head there!  To be fair to her it was just what he needed to get the hang of things and after that he had no problem latching.  

After coming home with him I joined the local baby group and they had a breast feeding support worker there.  I thought this was a brilliant service.  She would watch him feed and give me really friendly advice and tips on how to make it a bit more comfortable.  I got the chance to get out of the house and we both loved going to group to play with other babies and drink tea with other mummies.  I thought the problems were over and other than the fact he wanted to feed every 20 minutes, they were - until.............

At 4 months old Sam started to get his teeth!

At first this wasn't too much of a problem.  Then during one feed Sam bit down on my nipple and drew blood.  I swear to god it was the most painful thing I'd felt since childbirth.  I took him off and put him on the other boob and he was fine so I thought it was just a one off.  At the next feed I put him back on the bitten boobie and he did the same again.  He drew blood again and it was pretty much in the same place as the first bite.

Because I wanted to keep feeding him myself I decided to put up with it.  It wasn't that easy though.  Each time he fed he was biting and it was usually getting me in the same place.  This meant that the bites were never healing and with him sucking so hard it was agony.  My nipple started to swell and I found it unbearable to even wear my bra.

I mentioned it to the support worker next time I went to group and I was totally shocked at her advice.  I showed her what he was doing and told her that it was getting so painful that I was thinking of putting him onto the bottled formula for 2 months until it was time to wean him.  That way my boob could start to heal and Sam didn't need to fear being flung every time he fed.  She turned to me and said "oh no you shouldn't do that.  Part of being a mum is putting up with the pain and carrying on so he doesn't suffer by not having breast milk"

I went home and cried.  I sat on my settee and cried.  If anyone ever wanted to make me feel like a failure then she just did.  I cried. I'd tried so hard to do what was best for Sam and I knew it wasn't his fault for biting but I also knew I couldn't carry on.  My other half came home and found me in a state and we sat down and talked about it.  He told me he was so proud of me for being able to feed him for as long as I did and that he would be fine going on formula.  It was such a hard thing for me to accept but together we did it and I'm glad I did.  It helped that Steve backed me all the way and he constantly re-assured me that Sam had had the best start and I done everything I needed to do for him.  It was great to have this support from Steve but shouldn't I have been getting this from the professionals??

The bottle meant that Sam could now having bonding time with his Dad and my nipple was finally starting to heal.  Sam thrived on the bottle and was as happy as he'd ever been.

I tried to go back to the group to catch up with some of the other mums and babies that we'd bonded with for the past 6 months but I was told that as I was no longer breast feeding I would have to attend another group!  Needless to say I never did go back to the centre after that!

I totally understand that these support workers, midwives and health visitors have the interests of baby at heart but surely they need to start thinking about the mums.  The fact I was so tense and in so much pain while feeding Sam couldn't have had any benefit to his feeding experience with me surely?

I tried my best and as mums that's all each one of us can do.  Situations change and so do mums and babies and as mums we have to change what we do to best fit the new environment, and if that means not breast feeding then so be it.  We have the right to be supported by these professionals whatever method we decide to use.  As parents we constantly feel guilty about decisions we make when we shouldn't and I don't think that health professionals should add to that guilt.  

I am pro breast feeding but I'm also pro supporting parents - no matter what.

My Weekend In Pictures

 Mummy showing Mr Moo how we cut our biscuits

Mr Moo finding baking a funny business.

 Little H getting ready for a good day at Rugbytots.

Daddy showing Mr Moo how to build a tower.

 Mr Moo showing Daddy how it's done!

 Little H having a bit of peace and quiet with a good book ( girl after my own heart )

 Messy play.

 Mummy and Mr Moo running the ferret tunnels at Cannon Hall Farm - peepo

 Auntie Linz with the Boyz.

 Making friends.

Little H Enjoys Book Giving Day

When I heard about Book Giving Day I told Holly about it and asked her what she thought.  She thought that giving books to little boys and girls that don't have any books was a lovely idea so we put our heads together and thought about how we could help.

Holly decided that she would be in charge of finding the books we were going to donate.  She went through her book box and her book shelf and pulled out some nice books.  She then took it upon her self to go through Sams book shelf and take some of his books to be donated!

I then had the idea of taking them to the Childrens Ward at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.  I explained to Holly that poorly boys and girls sometimes have to stay here and it may be nice if they had some new books to read.  Well, the idea went down a storm and she couldn't wait to help the poorly boys and girls.  

I've always tried to teach Holly the importance of giving to people who aren't as lucky as we are and to help people whenever we can and I think it is now starting to sink in with her.

The proudest moment for me came when I had a look through the books she had pulled out.  I nothiced that "Snuggle Bunny" was in there.  Now this has been her favourtite book for a long while so I doubled checked with her to make sure she knew this was in the pile.  When she said that she knew I asked if she was sure she wanted to give her favourite book away and word for word she told me:-

"Mummy I love this book so much that I want the poorly children to love it as much as me. It's good to share"

My heart melted there and then and I just pulled her close and gave her the tightest hug.

When we took the books to the ward on Thursday 14th Feb she was very excited.  She gave them to the nurse and had the biggest smile on her face.  The nurse said she was very pleased to get the books and was sure the children would like them.  Holly made sure she knew that "Snuggle Bunny" was the best and the nurse said she would let the children know

Holly about to take her books into the Childrens ward.

I'm really pleased that we got involved in this day and that I could share such a special moment with my special little girl.

My Body Has Never Been The Same Since Baby No. 2

My first pregnancy was great.  No sickness, easy time, natural delivery and healthy baby at the end.  I couldn't have loved the experience more.  Little H was breastfed and I was back in size 6 jeans after 3 weeks.  I was glowing and I loved it.

My second pregnancy was much different.  My hormones changed everything in me to the point where I didn't bond with my bump and it caused a split in my relationship for a number of months.  It's fair to say I hated the whole 9 months.  Of course the minute I held my son in my arms I knew I would do it all again and me and Steve got back on track in no time.  Unlike my first pregnancy not everything went back to the way it was.  My skin didn't get any better, my gums were still bleeding and I was carrying baby weight that I hated.  Mr Moo was also breastfed and although it did help with losing some baby weight I was still carrying a lot of flab around my middle. I never really got my confidence back and would often wonder why my family put up with me and the new changes in me and my body.

I thought that going back to the gym would change everything and that I would soon have my size 6 body back in no time as well as my old confidence, but alas this is not to be.  Don't get me wrong I'm certainly tonning up but losing the weight is not as easy as I thought.  I've also made changes to my diet and lifestyle and I'm totally feeling the benefit of this on the inside but when I look in the mirror I don't really like what I see.  I've cut down on sugar and sweets and I'm eating far more fruit and salad every day.  I'm being sensible with my portions and having more control over when I eat and it is making me feel great health wise, but I still had no confidence and hated the way I looked.  Not just the flab but the bad skin, dull hair, tired eyes and so on.  I love my son more than life itself but hate the effects his pregnancy is still having on me.

My view on things changed in a recent gym session.  I was on the bike in the middle of one of my 13.5k sessions when a stunning looking young lass got on the bike next me.  She was very tall, long blonde hair down to her arse and a figure to die for.  She gets on the bike next to flabby old me who is sweating like a pig on a spit roast!  I think to myself "so that's why you are so fit, you cycle a lot" and sure enough when she got on she started peddling with almighty speed.  I felt so disheartned that I just put my head down and thought about concentrating on my session.  

To my surprise after what must have been only 2 mins, she just stopped dead.  I was watching her out of the corner of my eye and wondered what she was doing.  She seemed to be messing with her music so I thought she'd just stopped to change track.  When she started peddling again she went very slow indeed and then only cycled for 10 minutes before she stopped and walked out of the gym.  Well I was jumping for joy inside.  I may be flabby and old but I still got stamminar.

On the walk back to my car I suddenly realised the following: My body is not perfect.  My belly will never be a belly that will fit into skinny jeans again and will never be seen in public again or be seen in anything with a number 8 on it again but it is what it is.  It may never be perfect for any of the above but it was perfect to carry the two most precious things in my world so it doesn't get more perfect than that.  Pregnancy may have changed me and my body but I have to remember why.  It changed me in order for me to give birth to my gorgeous boy with the most stunning personality.  I always thought that if I kept myself fit and healthy that age would never catch up with and it turns out that it hasn't, it didn't need too as pregnancy got there first. 

My family don't see me as I see me.  They see their mummy as a mummy who looks after herself and who is getting Triathlon fit to help the people who helped look after their Nanna.  They love me for who I am and I finally think I may start to as well.  It's not always easy accepting the changes are bodies go through after pregnancy but when I look at my children I realise that it is totally worth it.  As well as physical change there is the emotional change and this is in some ways is the hardest one to deal with.  The Triathlon training is certainly helping with the mental state and so is all the love and support from my ace friends and family.  I'm always amazed how women are able to carry a child and produce a new life but I'm also amazed how many people don't realise that things don't stop when a baby is born.  GP's have told me that it could take between 18-24 months for some things to return to normal and maybe longer for others.

I'm still battling with the hormone changes that the pregancy left me with but I know I have the full support of my family and God Bless them for all they have put up with.  All I can do is keep fit and healthy and teach my children to do the same and if some things go back to normal then brilliant.  If some things don't go back to normal then the world won't come crashing to an end afterall. My body may not be perect but it is just perfect for me!

When I think about Mum I think about.........

I lost my Mum nearly 3 years ago and I miss her every day.  I used to think about her and it made me sad but now when I think of her it's usually the things that make me laugh out loud.  She was a one-off and so I thought I'd share some of the magic moments that I was lucky enough to share with her.

I Miss.......

The way she would listen to music through headphones and sing as loud as you like as she thought we couldn't hear her.  It was always Whitney Houston "I Will alway Love You"

The way I could talk to her 3 times a day and never run out of things to say

The way she never judged me and supported me no matter what.

The way she would send me notes in the post that simply said "Hi" or "I love you" because she said it made a nice change from getting bills.

The way she taught me to bake.

The way she added canned fruit to every pudding to make it "exotic"

The way she liked to eat food with her salt.

The way she couldn't travel anywhere without her emergency sweet bag (not even to the local shops)

The way she was the head hanging over the fence at the end of every race I ran. Cheering me on right over the finish line, screaming my name as loud as she could.

The way she texted me all through the night as I was doing Shine 2010

The way we would buy books from the charity shop and always swap them when we had finished.

The way she always had a hot bath and spare pyjamas whenever you needed them.

The way you could never leave their house without being fed and watered.....EVER!

The way she wanted a slight curl in her hair so opted for the tightest perm and then wouldn't leave the house for a week until it had calmed down.

The way she would fart in a shop and then walk away and leave you standing there to take to the blame.

The time that she pooper scooped up after the dog and got it on her fingers.  She then had a cigarette and left a dog doodo moustache on her face and then couldn't understand why she couldn't get the smell of shit out of her nose.

The time she asked me what the attraction in thongs was as she found them the worst things ever.  Turned out she'd been wearing them back to front.

The way I could talk to her about ANYTHING.

The way we fought like cat and dog but always kissed and made up.

The way she was my biggest supporter.

The way she was my best friend. 

The way was she was my Mum.

Triathlon Training Week 3 - Blummin Heck

Well week 3 should actually be my week 4, however my traing for last week pretty much amounted to zero.  It was largely due to the weather and the fact that I had 2 children hanging off my anckles that I was able to get out.  The snow also killed my poor car which meant I wasn't able to get to the gym.  I am going to count snow ball fights as excercise as both Steve and Holly had my running around a fair bit trying to dogdge their throws as they chose to gang up on me.


So this week is my first week back in the gym after doing not a lot and to be honest it feels good...

Tuesday 29th Jan

I decided to throw myself right back into it and put up with whatever pain came my way.  Surprisingly enough it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would and I was secretly smug at thought that I am actually starting to get fit.  I was so smug in fact that I even upped the level on the bike to force me to put in a bit more effort.  So this session I did my 13.5k on the bike as a start.  Previously I'd done this on level 1 and my time was 28m 25s.  This time I went up to level 2 and completed a time of 29m 56s.  I can honestly say I was well chuffed as I aim to keep my time less than 30mins each session and even upping a level I was able to do it , big yey for me.

I then finished with a 20 min walk.  I tried to go straight into a run, as I would have to in the Triathlon, but my legs gave me a virtual middle finger so I had to opt for the walk.  It felt good and I was sweating like you wouldn't believe but I was happy that I was able to do so much after having a week off.  It is true what they say that once you get the blood pumping it becomes addictive and I've soon gotten back into the feeling of "need to go to the gym"  Not a bad start me thinks!!

Thursday 31st Jan

My aim today was to get to the Gym before work but my little monsters had other ideas and i didn't get out of the door in time so I went after instead.  I got in there about 5ish and it was rammed.  It was so busy that was only able to get on the bike so I thought I'd have another go at level 2 and see what time I could get if I worked my ass off.  So I did and with the help of Slash on the iPod I managed 26m 59s.  Needless to say i walked out of that Gym with a very big smile on my face.  it bloody hurt like hell but that was a great time for me.

What I have discovered is that the first 1.5k is really bloody tough.  My calves tighten as soon as I start peddling and they feel like lead for the first 1.5k.  After that they start to loosen up and I found it helps if I take a drink of water at around 5k.  I'm ok to keep going then but for some reason then I seem to hit another wall at about 7k and this last a bit longer to about 9.5k.  All I can do is peddle through as I've not found a way yet of stopping this wall from hitting me like a speed train.  

After this bout of "stuff this i'm stopping here" my legs seems to suddenly loosed up and then I can go like the clappers.  I get to 10k and I get this burst of energy and I find that my rpm's have gone from 80 to 101.  When it comes to actually doing the triathlon and I'm down on time in the bike section, I feel pretty confident that I can nail it in the last 3k.  What I am mindful of is that I don't want to push myself too hard as I have to dismount and then do a 3k run!  Still I'm still pretty smug about my time!!


Friday 1st Feb

Today I decided that I was going to do my usual 13.5k on the bike and then go straight into the 3k run that i would have to do in the competition.  I wasn't going to push the bike and just stayed on level 2 rather than upping it.  even at a fairy steady pace I did t in a time of 28m dead on.  I then went onto my run and this was not fun.  My legs took a while to register the difference between peddling and running and I think I looked like a drunken soak running to catch the last bus!  I did manage to do it although my run was not in a good time.  

However, I am sat writing this with a hot water bottle on my thigh as I am in complete agony.  It feels like i've pulled the muscle at the very top of my thigh and it's not pleasant.  Looking back I probably took the run a bit fast and maybe I should have cooled down a bit longer.  I did do a 20m cool down but it could be that's not long enough.

I'm still planning to be back at the gym on Monday after a weekend of resting it, as I think I need tokeep it going.  I finally feel like i'm starting to make progress in my training and that I might not look like a total fool after all!