Belly-ache & babywearing...

I'm so hungry. Like, seriously hungry. I don't know how much longer I can keep up with this vegan diet. It's at a point where I'm convinced I can feel myself fading away slowly. On the upside, it does appear to be working. At the weekend we ended up having dinner with the in-laws but didn't contact ahead concerning the fact I was meat & dairy free. It was so good to eat meat properly again but painkillers were necessary. Later on that night, my Mum was ordering Chinese food so I decided I fancied some pancake rolls. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware that there was meat in said pancake rolls. Cue me laying in the bath, rolling around like a harpooned whale in distress in tears, regretting ever eating those damn rolls. This thankfully is the last week of my elimination diet so hopefully we can get somewhere with the doctors. Never thought I'd be so excited to visit the GP!! I think I'll celebrate with a steak & a chocolate gateau!!

But no chocolate & steak tonight. Instead it's apples & oranges, cross stitch & telly. Old before my time? Possibly. But at least I'm at least halfway to happy.

This past few days since my last posting have been pretty non-eventful if I'm honest. Apart for some nice-ish weather on Friday, it's been pretty dull. Although I finally got a chance to take Ollie out in the sling properly on my back. The weathers always so miserable that we're wearing so many layers, I'd need a wrap 2 sizes bigger to be able to wrap us both together!!! It was strange though to see just how rare babywearing is in this area. People either looked totally confused or seemed really surprised & awed by it. The unfortunate thing is though, I kinda feel like I stick out like a sore thumb & for an anxiety sufferer that's not the most comfortable of situations. But the act of carrying in the sling itself is so awesome, I really have to do it more often. Ollie really seemed to enjoy the nursery run from a different perspective plus he was so happy snuggling into my back enjoying the sunshine. In fact, he was so happy, he wouldn't even accept the chocolate buttons I was trying to hand him over my shoulder. Definitely going to make a bigger effort when it comes to carrying when (IF) the weather brightens up in the summer. 

My mission before then is to buy myself a longer wrap & practise as many carries as possible so I can be a babywearing goddess in the summer, wearing nothing but a bikini & a toddler on my back. Probably look more like a pork roast with the strings done up too tight but in my head I'll totally look like a supermodel!!

No use thinking of sunshine though as unfortunately we have yet another week of rain ahead of us. All the outdoor activities I've been hoarding on Pinterest are bloody pointless now I'm back to square one trying to come up with some fabulous ideas of indoor activities to keep the monsters occupied. Wish me luck!!

- M

Dough, wraps & little white lies...

Well, first nursery run after the 3yr olds poorly spell last week. Ended up so early we went into the room too soon & got asked to leave & wait in the cloakroom. Oops.

The end product of our clay models from yesterday turned out pretty well. Everyone had fun & we were left with rather cool keepsakes to hold on to.

 W decided his smiley face was best black & yellow & has decided that although intended for Daddy, he's planning on taking it to nursery tomorrow to show his teacher. Be prepared for tears if the bloody thing breaks.

Check out the epic moustache on my rather fetching paperweight. Now *that* is a tash & a half.

Ellie decided to mix up her own colours as she preferred pastels & Charlie decided on bright & fabulous.

In all, it ended up a fail-win if there is such a thing. Yeah the clay models might not have ended up exactly what we had hoped for but we all worked together & the kids had a blast.



Between nursery run & painting, we had a borderline nervous breakdown in the middle. I bought a wrap after selling my Close Parent carrier (Ollie was getting too big for the stretch) & decided that I was going to brave a back carry up to the nursery to pick up Wilbur. Not a good idea to decide on such a thing 20 minutes before due to pick said child up. After faffing around, finally getting him on my back & done up properly, pleased as punch that we were ready to go... the damn tails weren't long enough to tie. Sweating & out of puff, on the verge of a full toddler-style tantrum, it was time to admit defeat & put him in the pushchair. In the midst of all this, I neglected to keep an eye on the clock, ending in a power walk, partway uphill in rather blustery winds with the rain threatening just around the corner. Not a good look turning up at nursery looking like you have a birds nest on your head, sweat pouring down my face, breathing like I've just ran a marathon. Attractive.

Moral of that story, practise wrapping more thoroughly before acting like a smart ass & thinking you're 'the shit' when really you're just shit >_< (YouTube videos on different carries are definitely the way to go & make sure the carry you're doing is compatible with the length of wrap you're using!)

Then, whilst making dinner for the kids, I notice the baby is behind me & is way too quiet. Now I don't know if any of you have had any experience with Moon Sand or Moon Dough but it's an acquired taste. You either love it or you hate it. Well, up until tonight, I damn well hated the stuff. It's messy & a total pain in the arse. To the point where we stashed it beside the fridge out of sight of the children until the end of time. BUT since the youngest has eyes like a hawk & Inspector Gadget-esque extendable arms, he espied it while my back was turned. Turning slowly, unsure as to whether I really want to see what's going on behind me, I found this:



Now, my first reaction in my head was 'F************K', my second was to usher him into the living room & hoover/sweep the lot up. But I thought to myself, what the hell are you doing? It's not doing any harm, it's a bit of mess that can be cleaned up, stop being such a miserable cow & join in.

So it turns out that Moon Dough is actually kinda awesome. We were able to mould it into balls that were super hard & we could throw off the walls etc but crumbled into nice fluffy dough with agile little fingers pressing their way inside. Also, with such a young child, it's pretty hard to keep doughs etc of different colours separate so it all inevitably ended up smooshed together. But instead of going mucky brown like Playdoh, because it's a grainy, sandy texture, it all swirled together & made a rather awesome multicoloured swirly material. Ultimately, after dismissing it so suddenly at Christmas 2012, I can now admit that actually, it's pretty awesome. He ended up occupied, the two of us playing together for a whole half hour on the one activity. A record for the most easily distracted child who has ever walked the earth. For any parents contemplating purchasing it, I totally get your hesitation but if you don't mind clearing up a bit of mess, go for it. Was easily scooped up, put away & swept up any straggly bits laying around.

On the whole, a relatively quiet day from what I'm used to so a welcome moment of tranquillity in what's typically madness & mayhem.

- M

PS Amusing moment of the day would have to be lying to the eldest about his baby brother peeing on his bed so he wouldn't throw a wobbly at bedtime. I'm going to hell. For the record, I didn't make him sleep in it & wasn't a total lie, I just said the bed was wet because Ollie sat on it once we came out the bath. He's currently curled up in the other bed blissfully unaware of the atrocity that his poor matress experienced, but I feel rather guilty for my little white lie. All to save myself having to get the baby back to sleep incase his brother's potential drama king reaction woke him up *hangs head in shame*