Penwizard - Personalised Children's Book Review

The people at Penwizard kindly give me the chance to review there Peppa pig my daddy and me book. I had never even heard of penwizard book's before so i had a look on there website which you can view here and was very impressed by what i seen, they offer a range of children's character book's which are suitable for both boy's and girls that you can personalise with the child's details so that your child becomes a part of the story and is featured throughout the book.

Ordering are book was very easy you simply click on the book that you want and fill in your child's details and then you can customise your character with the same skin tone, eye colour, hair style and colour etc and you can also customise your child's daddy character too so that they look like your child and there daddy which was fun .Then you create an account and go to checkout and that's it , super easy and very quick it took me less then five minutes.

I ordered the book on the Thursday afternoon and it arrived on the Saturday which i was impressed with as it was so quick especially for a personalised book. The book is very good quality it is hardback and all the page's are really bright and colourful and full of pictures with big clear words which is great for children to read and the book is just the right size for little hands to hold. Although the page's are paper so you would have to watch that very small children do not rip the page's.

                                        

As i mentioned the book is called Peppa pig my daddy and me and the story is based on Peppa and her daddy and also Sophia and her daddy which is perfect as she is such a daddy's girl! I really liked the fact that Peppa pig and Sophia feature on every page which is brilliant if you have a Peppa pig fan child like i do. I found the book quiet funny as on one page it says "my daddy's favourite exercise is lifting the remote control laughs Sophia " which is so true of Sophia's daddy in real life.

But it is a really nice story as it all about daddy's and how much the child love's them which is perfect for a daddy's girl like mine to give as a gift for fathers day. I can not wait to see Sophia's daddy's face when he receives the book on fathers day and See's he has been turned into a Peppa pig type character and i think that the two of them will have lot's of fun together reading this book at bedtime for year's to come.

Sophia's little face lit up when she seen the book as she absolutely loves books and she loves peppa pig too. So this story is brilliant for children to read with there daddy's . The book is a little bit more expensive then a book you would buy in the shop as it is priced at £14.99 but it is a personalised book that features your child so you would expect to pay more then you would for a normal book. I think it is good value for what you get and also with a book like this it would be a perfect present for a birthday or fathers day and it is something that you can treasure forever. Would i recommend this book to others ? yes i think it is fab and couldn't find any faults at all with the book or with the service they were both brilliant . Would i order again? yes i defiantly would as i think they would make brilliant birthday presents for children.

* Disclosure: i was given a code by penwizard to create this book and receive it for free however i was not paid for this post and all opinions and words are my own honest view of what i thought of the product and service provided by penwizard.

Sophia's Best Outfit Of The Week

#bootd is best outfit of the day a linky by ickle pickle blog which you add your baby's best outfit too. I have wanted to join in with this since it started a few week's ago as Sophia has some gorgeous outfit's but i always forget to take her photograph and by the time i remember to take a photograph she is normally filthy covered in food and drinks. However last Sunday was Sophia's very first birthday and i took lot's of photographs of her in her pretty party dress so here is Sophia's best outfit.

I love this outfit the dress is from next and was £18 and i love the material of the skirt it is a proper girly party dress. The cardigan is also from next and was £10 and matches the dress perfectly. The tights are from boots mini club and were in a pack of three they are actually 0-3 month's in size but they just fit Sophia now and she is 12 months old as they are huge.     

    

We finished off Sophia's outfit with her new shoes which we got her a few week's ago as she started walking just over a month ago and now she wants to walk everywhere. Her shoes are from Clark's and were £32 and i love them as they are so pretty and girly and match all her outfits.

                                        

Puddle ducks baby swimming lesson review

A few week's ago i was contacted by the lovely people from puddle ducks Newcastle to ask if Sophia would like to attend a free trial lesson at one of there baby swimming classes . I have always wanted Sophia to enjoy swimming from a young age as her older sister has attended swimming lessons for the last few years and loves swimming and we thought Sophia would too as she loves bath time, but when we have taken her to the local leisure centre pool in the past she has screamed as soon as we put her in the water and we have had to take her back out again. However i had a look on the puddle ducks website which you can view here and i was impressed by what i read as they have lot's of classes for different age's and ability's and the reviews on the site seemed fab.

We were impressed that they offer classes in various locations throughout the north east on different days and times and not only do they do baby swimming lessons they also do aqua natal classes for pregnant women and lessons for older children too. Puddle ducks also have classes all over the country not just in the north east.We were giving the choice of various locations and classes to choose from and we opted to attend the class at woodlawn school which is in Monkseaton Tyne and Wear as this was close to where we live and was at a time that suited us ( 1pm on a Sunday) which was a splashers lesson aimed at baby's 6-15 months in age.

We arrived at the venue and there was male and female changing rooms and there was playpens in the changing rooms so you could put baby somewhere safe while you got changed and there was lots of benches so you could easily get baby changed too.Sophia's daddy was taken her in the pool as i don't feel confident in a swimsuit now i am 6 months pregnant , but other family members are free to watch from the benches at the side of the pool. But be warned it was very hot inside the pool area so make sure you don't wear a jumper! The class sizes were fairly small with only five baby's in the class and Sophia's daddy was pleased to see he was not the only daddy there there was a mix of both mum's, dad's and grandparents in the water with the children.

At the start of the lesson you pass your baby to the poolside helper while you get into the pool and then baby gets passed to you which is great if you are attending the lessons on your own with baby. The swimming instructor Julie was really friendly and great with the baby's in the lesson she explained that they treat each child individually and only do what that child is comfortable to do, which i think is great. Sophia seemed happy in the water and she didn't cry to get out which we were amazed at she was happy and splashing her arms around. I think this was due to the water being warm like a bath and it being quiet and only having other baby's there which she was fascinated by and kept laughing at.

The lesson started off with some nursery rhyme songs, daddy blowing bubbles and splashing in the water which Sophia loved. And then she was getting dunked in the water , jumping off floats on the side of the pool into her daddy's arms ( with help of course )and paddling round the pool with a float chasing a rubber duck . Everything was explained and demonstrated clearly by the instructor and they only made baby's do things that they knew they would be comfortable with and there was lots of fun activity's and songs throughout to keep baby's attention.

The lesson lasted 30 minutes and it flew over and Sophia really enjoyed it as did the other baby's in the class not one of them cried they all looked happy and were smiling and laughing. When the lesson ended the staff once again helped parents out of the pool with the baby's. After the lesson Sophia's daddy said that he really enjoyed the lesson and it was really nice to do something with Sophia just him and her.

The lessons are quiet expensive at around £13 per half hour lesson but i defiantly think that they are worth it as Sophia loved it and her daddy loved it and they teach baby's to be confident in the water and have fun in the water. We have already enquired about booking Sophia onto some lessons as we would love her to return as she absolutely loved it .I would highly recommend these lessons to anyone who wants to take there baby swimming as they are so much better then taking your baby to the local leisure centre as the pool's are warm and clean and the lessons are fun and aimed at your own child's ability's and they are a great way to spend some quality time with your child whilst getting your child used to swimming.

* disclosure: we were invited to attend this swimming lesson for free by puddle ducks Newcastle however we did not have to write this review unless we wanted to. I was not paid for this post and all opinions and words are my own honest view of puddle ducks and the lesson we attended.

Letter to Sophia on your first birthday

To my little princess Sophia Ella

I can not believe that you are now one whole year old, the last year has gone by so fast in some way's it feels like you have been here forever and have always been a part of are family and i could not imagine a life without you, but it also does not seem very long ago since you were born. I still remember the day that you were born like it was yesterday you came into the world at 11.48am six day's late and after putting me through 40 hour's of labour ( you little tinker) from the moment you were born you have been a daddy's girl as soon as you heard his voice when you were born you stopped crying and your eye's followed him around the room and now you still always want your daddy and your face light's up when he gets home from work.

You also look so much like your daddy everyone comments that you are his double. You also love your big sister Chloe and always want to play with her and be around her even though you always pull her hair and pinch her thing's and annoy her but she love's you so very much and the bond and love between the two of you is amazing to watch.

You are such a happy little girl and you are always smiling and laughing even at people you do not know everyone comments on what a happy little baby you are when we are out and about. We have been very lucky that you have always been a good sleeper from the day you were born although we are still waiting for you to sleep all night as you often wake up during the night for a drink.

So much has happened in your very first year of life you got christened when you were four month's old and lots of people came to your christening and we had a lovely day, we celebrated your very first Christmas and you were very spoilt. And on Sunday we celebrated your very first birthday party and you had a lovely day at soft play with all your friends and you loved your birthday cake and all your lovely presents.

We have watched you grow from such a tiny little baby into a lovely little toddler you first smiled at 5 weeks you were rolling over at 12 week's you were sitting up at 5 months and crawling at 7 months you took your first steps at 9 months but did not start walking properly until the day before you turned 11 months and you now have your very first pair of shoes as you like to walk everywhere. You have eight teeth and your hair is starting to grow, you are learning new word's all of the time and you are starting to play with your toy's and you love watching doc mcstuffin and Sofia the first on t.v. you have got such a lovely little personality and are always smiling and laughing and giving us hugs and kisses and dancing. You never really cry unless you are tired or hurt. I really couldn't have wished for a better baby then you , you really are no bother at all.

We have had a fantastic year with you with lots of lovely days out as a family you have loved the baby groups you have attended you have been to baby massage, baby yoga, baby music and toddlers and now you love baby swimming. You are even going to be a big sister in 3 month's time which is scary as you are still my baby girl but i think once you get use to having a new brother or sister you will love them just as much as you love Chloe and you will have a little play mate which i just know you will love as you adore playing with other children .

We love you so very much Sophia you mean everything to us and we are so lucky to have you in are life. We have loved every second of this last year with you and i can not wait to see how you grow and change in the next year i just know that we are going to have another fantastic year with you.

lot's of love, love from mummy xxx

 1 hour old with your sister

Pregnancy Week 25 Update & Glucose Tolerance Test

I am now 26 week's and 3 days pregnant so i am a bit slow in posting my 25 week pregnancy update, now that i am 26 week's pregnant i am going to try and start to blog weekly about my pregnancy but knowing me i will probably forget as i am so forgetful lately with baby brain!

I have been quiet on my blog lately as i have just been so busy we are busy sorting out Sophia's first birthday which is soon and i have also been so busy trying to get everything sorted for Chloe's holiday as she is off to Marbella in Spain with her grandad this weekend it is a last minute holiday so i have been trying to arrange passport renewal's for her (what a nightmare) and holiday clothes shopping etc. And both the girl's have been so busy with activities the last two week's and i have had midwife and hospital appointments and i just feel like i have not had time to do anything at all even my poor little house is a bit neglected lately as the housework is starting to pile up my laundry basket is so full its overflowing and there is a layer of dust forming on the t.v stand. ( i hate having a messy house )

Baby is defiantly so lazy compared to Sophia the only time it kicks is after i have eating, when i am in the bath and when i go to bed. I am still feeling really great the sickness seems to have vanished (touch wood) i still have heaps of energy and I'm not grumpy or emotional any more i feel totally normal and not at all pregnant. My hair is still lovely and glowing and i have noticed i don't need to wash it as much as normal as it is not looking greasy after a day like it use to, my skin is still nice and clear too.  And i have no sign's of stretchmarks yet either which is great but my scar's off my operation to remove my gallbladder have gone all horrible there really hard and stick out as scar tissue has formed on two of them I'm guessing its because i fell pregnant so soon after surgery and my skin is stretching with my bump.

We still do not have a baby name for a girl we have mentioned a few we like but non that i am totally in love with the other half really likes a name and i like it it's a name i nearly called Chloe but i just don't love it. We still have not started baby shopping either i really must start looking for double pram's so i can get it ordered and delivered in time before baby arrives. I have not had any midwife appointment's this week but i did have a glucose tolerance test at the hospital.

Glucose tolerance test in pregnancy

I had to have a glucose tolerance test to check for gestational diabetes as diabetes runs in my mum's side of the family both my grandparent's had it and most of my mum's brother's and sister's had it (she was one of eight) and some of my cousin's also suffer from it so this put me at increased risk of it. I had the test done last year when i was pregnant with Sophia which was negative but i had to get it done again in this pregnancy just to be safe.

 I had a appointment at 10am at the hospital. I was not aloud to eat or drink anything from 10pm the night before apart from water on the morning of my test and i was starving and so hungry. I arrived at hospital at 10am was taken to a room and had blood's taken and then i was giving a measured amount of glucose to drink ( it was approx 2 plastic cup's full) the drink was awful it was meant to be orange flavour but it just tasted of a really weak very sweet drink and was horrible to drink on a empty stomach it made me feel really sick .

The test had changed since i had it done last year as i was giving lucozade last time and i was aloud to drink water in between blood tests. I then had to go and sit in the waiting room for two hours and i could not eat or drink anything not even water so i was stuck with the horrible glucose taste in my mouth and it made me feel so thirsty. Sitting on a hard hospital chair for two hours when pregnant is not fun i was all stiff once i stood up i had taken magazines with me to read but it was still very boring. 

When the two hour's were up i was taken back into a room and given another blood test and then aloud to go home. I was told i would only receive a phone call within the week if i was found to have gestational diabetes and it has been a week now since my test and i have not received a call so i thankfully do not have gestational diabetes. 

I felt a bit funny for the rest of the day i felt so thirsty of the drink and i felt a bit light headed and tired which i suspect was off the drink as i do not normally have anything sugary. Also a few hours after the drink i had a really bad tummy sorry for tmi but i thought it best to warn people in case they too have to have this test as i was told this can be a common side effect. But i was back to normal the next day so i can only presume i felt a bit funny due to the huge sugar rush on a empty stomach.

How i am feeling this week.

As i have mentioned i am still feeling really good i am really enjoying this pregnancy and it is still going really well and straight forward. My baby brain is still in place though and i seem to be getting more forgetful all of the time i keep repeating myself and muddling my words up which is slightly embarrassing at times. I am sleeping much better now and not waking up loads during the night which i am making the most of because i am sure it wont be much longer until i am too big to get comfortable in bed and i am frequently making trips to the bathroom during the night.

 I still have a lot of energy but i am starting to get worn out a lot more easily now, it gets to tea time and i am ready for my bed after a day of running about after a toddling baby all day. I still get the odd bit of pain from my sciatica but baby seems to have moved up a bit now so that is starting to ease a little which is great and i have not had any more pelvic pain . I am still getting a bit of lower back pain when i sit down for more then half a hour and when i am doing housework.

I have been getting braxton hick's all week too which is so strange as i never had a single one in my previous two pregnancy's my bump goes so tight and it is a bit like a tiny mild contraction but without the horrendous pain of actual labour. I still have no cravings at all this week which is slightly disappointing i would love to have a really nice craving for something like cakes or Chinese foods so the other half has to treat me but no such luck baby is happy to eat anything. That is about all that has happened this week pregnancy wise, another great pregnancy week with no complications and i am loving every second of this pregnancy and it is still so far my best and easiest pregnancy.

Sophia At 11 Month's Old

Sophia will be one whole year old soon, i can not believe that my baby girl is going to be one in a few days and i can not wait to celebrate her very first birthday with her. I can not believe how fast this year has gone by but it seems like she has been a part of are family forever and i could not imagine life without her now as we all love her so much.

 As she approaches her first birthday and will soon be 12 month's old i will post a quick update on what Sophia was like at 11 months old. I still have not taken her to get weighed recently as we have just been so busy so i have no idea how much she actually weighs now but she is wearing 9-12 month clothes still as her 12-18 month old outfits are still to big for her and she is still wearing size 4 pamper nappies.

She still has the same routine as always she is waking between 6-7am and comes downstairs gets changed and then watches t.v for a bit then has her breakfast and spends some time playing before having a bottle and a nap at 9am for around a hour. After her nap we normally go out to a baby group, the park, shopping or to visit family/friends she then has lunch and has another nap at around 1pm for a hour she then wakes up and spends the rest of the afternoon playing then has her tea around 5pm a bath at 6.30 then she goes to bed for 7pm.

Now she is a bit older Sophia loves her food and she will eat anything you give her she is eating the same meal's as us we just chop them up a bit so she can feed herself she still loves cheese and she also loves yogurts and carrots, roast dinners are still her favourite meal. Although she is still not  eating meat she just spits it out if we try her with it. She is still saying 'mmmm nice' if we give her something to eat that she likes which is so cute. Even though Sophia is almost one she still loves her bottles and calls them her ' nang nang nangs ' she especially likes her bottles to go to sleep i think it is a comfort thing we have started giving her cow's milk during the day to slowly introduce her to it and she doesn't seem to notice the difference between the cow milk and formula. She also loves drinking juice out of her beakers and she will ask for juice if she wants a drink during the day.

She is still a little chatterbox and she trys to copy what you say and her speaking is coming on great and she can say so many words now. We have been teaching her different body parts and if you ask her where something is like nose she will point to it. She still loves dancing if she hears music , and she will give hugs and kisses now if you ask and she is always cuddling and kissing her toys which is super cute. She is really starting to play with her toys now her favourites seem to be small soft toys she loves them and Carry's them all over with her and has pinched so many of her sister, her favourites are her small Doc Mcstuffin teds that she got for Christmas.

She still loves the park and giggles away on the swings. We also took her swimming to a baby swimming class this month which she absolutely loved we had taken her swimming before a few month ago and she hated it and screamed to get out but this time she loved it and was splashing about having a great time so i think we will be booking her some baby swimming classes after her birthday. She still loves bath time as well and is obsessed with her little bath toys still too.

baby swimming lesson

Sophia still loves Doc Mcstuffin on TV and Sofia the first and she also now likes peppa pig too and i think she understands them as she laughs at funny bits and dances if music comes on. She is still a total daddy's girl and he is the only one that she will cuddle up to and who she wants if she hurts herself.

 The big news this month is that Sophia is properly walking all over now, she has been toddling and taking a few steps on her own for a while now and would walk holding hands or with her walker but she suddenly just started walking all over and now she wants to walk everywhere it is so strange seeing her walking about she still looks way to small to be walking. She has been walking a few weeks now so we have went and brought her very first pair of shoes from Clark's and she is a size four and a half f she is a bit unsure of her shoes though and would rather try and eat them then walk in them.

She is really starting to look like a little toddler girl now and not like a baby she is looking so grown up walking and her hair is starting to grow at last and she has such a lovely amazing funny laid back little personality. She is such a happy baby and she will wave and talk away to anyone and is still not at all clingy. We have had a brilliant month with Sophia with no problems at all. I have lots of birthday posts coming up in the next few days as we celebrate are little princess Sophia's first birthday.

Week's 23 & 24 Pregnancy Update

I am now 25 week's pregnant, i really can not believe how fast this pregnancy is going by! I have totally forgot to take any bump photo's lately - i am blaming baby brain! so here is a quick update on what week's 23 and 24 of my pregnancy were like.

I have had my fortnightly midwife appointment and everything is fine my blood pressure is still normal thanks to my blood pressure medication and we got to hear baby's heartbeat which i love. Baby is getting so much more active now i get really big kicks and i can see my belly move i even feel when baby has hiccups. Baby is defiantly getting into a pattern of kicking , normally not long after i have ate i will get kicked for a while i think it must like being fed! Bath time is always fun too as baby likes the bath and wriggles and kicks lots and also when i go to bed it thinks it is play time and kicks non stop for about 45 minutes.

 I actually am starting to feel pregnant at last which is crazy as i have a bump and have felt baby moving inside me for age's but it just did not seem real until recently and now i really do feel pregnant and i am really starting to look forward to baby arriving.

We still have not picked a baby name though we have a boy name but no girl name at all as we have gone off the few names that we had picked out. We haven't started baby shopping yet either but i have made a list of what we need which is a start i suppose. I cant wait to start baby shopping and buy lots of cute baby things it is one of the best parts of pregnancy i just love buying for my children they are better dressed then i am these days. I am really starting to enjoy being pregnant lately after having two horrible previous pregnancy's this one has been so lovely and straightforward and enjoyable.

How i am feeling

I am feeling pretty great i am loving every minute of this pregnancy. I have had the odd bout of morning sickness but on a night time not a morning ,but fingers crossed it seems to be passing. My skin and hair are still looking better then ever and i have loads of energy. I haven't had any craving's and no mood swings or tears.

Although i have been getting more stressed lately of thing's that would not normally bother me such as we applied for Chloe a passport renewal a few weeks ago as she is meant to be going away on a last minute holiday to Spain. But it hasn't come back yet and it is impossible to get through to Durham passport office to see what is happening and i have been worrying about it non stop which i wouldn't normally do. Also when i resigned from work they have put the wrong day on my p45 so i don't know if i will qualify for maternity pay and this has been worrying me a lot as well. I think i need to try and relax more, i have been thinking of going for some kind of pregnancy spa day but that's probably just wishful thinking i can do something like that with two children to look after.

I am still suffering from sciatica pain but thankfully it is nowhere near as bad as it was in my last pregnancy and i haven't had any more pelvic pain so hopefully i wont develop spd again this time either. I have been feeling a little bit dizzy now and then but i think that is probably just down to my blood pressure medication .I am still getting the odd cramp in my leg's and foot but walking a lot and keeping my feet up when resting are helping as i have not been getting them as much as i was.  I think i have been quiet lucky so far in this pregnancy as i have sailed through it with no problem's at all i really hope i don't regret saying that.

May Bank Holiday As A Morrison's Mum

A few week's ago i received an e-mail from Britmums inviting me to be a Morrison's mum for the May bank holiday weekend which meant i would be sent £80 worth of Morrison's vouchers to do my grocery shopping and then write about my shopping experience and the quality of the food. Of course i jumped at the chance as i love shopping at Morrison's it is actually where we always go for are food shop , i even use to go to Morrison's every weekend food shopping with my mum when i was a child. Morrison's have recently announced lots of new price cuts on everyday items so i was keen to see if i would notice a difference in my shopping bill. 



I arrived to do my food shop on Friday the 2nd of may at the Killingworth store in North Tyneside, which is where we always go as it is close to where we live. The car park was very busy but we managed to find a parent and child space close to the store no problem which is always a bonus when you have a 11 month old with you and you are almost 6 months pregnant. 

Even though the store was busy there was lots of staff on the shop floor and all the shelves were fully stocked and nothing on are list was out of stock. The thing that i love most about Morrison's compared to other supermarkets is there market street it is the only supermarket i know that has such an extensive range of fruit and vegetables, a fishmonger, a salad bar, deli counter, hot pie counter, hot snack counter, bakers and butchers all with staff behind the counters to serve you. 

The new price cuts were clear to see as there was lots of yellow I'm cheaper signs dotted all over the store on many everyday items but i was pleased to see that even though they have the new price cuts they still had a huge selection of special offers in store also. Another huge bonus for me was that a lot of baby items were a lot cheaper and on special offer too Johnson's baby wipes were only 89p and we got 54 pampers baby dry nappies for £9 when they are normally £12 everywhere else, we even found the baby milk to be cheaper then anywhere else.

Morrison's also stock some lovely children's clothes in there Nutmeg range which i have brought both my girls aged 11 months and 11 years old in the past and they really are affordable and wash lovely.

I spent just over £80 on my shopping but we had enough food to last us the week plus nappies, baby milk and baby toiletries and lots of extra treats that i would not normally buy so i have to say that yes my food shopping was alot cheaper then it normally is as i normally spend about £100 on a weekly shop.

trolley full of treat's

The other half was working most of the bank holiday weekend and we were out at a family christening on the Sunday but we still had a lovely family bank holiday weekend and made some lovely meals with are shopping from Morrison's. We started off are bank holiday weekend with a fry-up of bacon, sausage, egg, bean's, hash browns, mushrooms and toast. For the three of us ( Sophia is to young to eat this) it worked out at only £1.37 per serving. The Morrison's pork sausages were lovely and meaty.

perfect start to the weekend

We had planned on going to the park for a picnic , but living in the north east the weather is often not great so we opted for a indoor picnic instead with some party foods we had brought.This worked out at £7.82 for all the food shown on are indoor picnic.

indoor picnic

yummy steak

We also had steak with Jersey royal potatoes, peas and mushrooms with onion rings with some steaks i picked up on special offer in store and this again was a fairly cheap meal at £2.27 per serving .

I am not a great cook and as i am often so busy taking the girls to various activity's i also brought a few ready meals we got fresh pasta and sauce which was £3.00 for the pasta and sauce and the portion was huge and we got some fresh pizzas which were really nice and a big hit with the 11 year old at 2 for £4.00 . We had the pizzas with some snacks to watch Britain's got talent and had a lovely relaxing Saturday night in. We also got a few Mkitchen chicken tikka & rice ready meals as they were on offer at only £1.90 each i am not normally a fan of microwave meals and tend to avoid them but this was such a lovely curry the rice was nice and soft and the curry sauce was so nice and i was shocked to find that there was at least 10 big pieces of chicken in each meal normally you hardly get any meat in ready meals, i will defiantly be buying these again.

We picked up a enchilada kit in store which was only £1.99 , i don't normally make this but it was so easy and quick to make we just added chicken and cheese and served it with a side salad and oven chips it tasted so nice and we had clean plates all around so we will be stocking up on these again in the future also.

And lastly my oldest daughter is always asking to bake as she loves baking and wants to be a cake maker when older but i am useless at it so i brought her a box of Morrison's red velvet cupcake baking kit which was £1.69 it was super easy and she actually made the cakes all by herself with no problem and they tasted delicious.

Chloe's cake's

We had a fantastic bank holiday weekend and some delicious food thanks to Morrison's . The new price cuts certainly reduced are shopping bill and we will continue to shop at Morrison's as we love the quality of the food .

The only negative thing i can say is please hurry up and bring your on line home delivery service to the north east as when i have baby number three i will sometimes struggle getting to your stores and will need to rely on online shopping.

* Disclosure : I was kindly sent £80 worth of Morrison's vouchers for the purpose of this post but all words and opinions in this post are my own honest account.

Gallstone's In Pregnancy

I have been meaning to write this post for a while now as ever since i suffered from gallstone's people have been asking me about it. I will start at the beginning when i was 32 week's and 2 days pregnant with Sophia in march 2013 i suffered my very first gallstone attack.

I had been to hospital for a routine 32 week growth scan earlier that day and baby was fine and healthy we stopped off for some lunch on the way home and i made the most of being able to eat for two while pregnant and had burger and chips covered in mayo ( mayo was one of my pregnancy craving's) after lunch we had planned on doing some last minute baby shopping but i felt really uncomfortable like i was winded and just wanted to get home, i felt a bit uncomfortable for the rest of the afternoon but just thought it was down to being heavily pregnant.

I went to bed that night feeling fine but i had only been in bed about a hour when i was woken up with a sharp pain under my right ribs and i just could not comfy so i came downstairs thinking baby was just lying on a nerve but the pain started getting worse it was spreading right around my back and over my bump and felt like a tight band. I could not get comfortable at all and i was even finding it hard to breath as i felt so uncomfortable, i tried painkillers but they didn't even touch the pain so i got in the bath thinking that would help but the pain was just getting worse.

I have never felt pain like it and i have giving birth twice once was a painful induction, but this pain was a lot worse then labour. I couldn't move , i started being sick, i was struggling to breath. I honestly thought i was going to die. The other half was begging me to go to hospital as he thought i was in  premature labour , but i knew this wasn't labour pains they were constant and nothing like contractions. But i just couldn't leave the house to go to hospital i was in too much pain and just wanted to stay curled up near the toilet being sick. Eventually after about 5 hours of non stop pain it started to ease off , under my ribs felt tender but other then that i felt fine so i went to bed as i was so tired.

 When i woke up i felt great and back to normal so again i just thought the pain had been something to do with the way baby had been lying. I made some toast as i was starving and about an hour after eating the pains started again but they were not as bad as the last time but i was being sick, this time i knew i had to go to hospital as something was wrong. The journey there was awful i was crying in pain i arrived at a&e and they sent me to the maternity assessment unit where i was seen straight away and hooked up to monitors to check baby and i had my urine, blood pressure and bloods checked. Thankfully baby was fine but the doctor thought i had the start of pre-eclampsia as i had protein in my urine, high blood pressure and my blood enzyme levels were elevated but as the pain was wearing off he sent me home and asked me to come back in two days to check my blood again.

 So i went home and i felt fine i had no more pain however on the day i was due to go back into hospital i ate some cheesecake and within ten minutes of eating it the pain started and it was horrendous the other half was at work it was good Friday and i couldn't get a taxi so i got the bus to the hospital it was the longest worst bus journey of my life i don't no how i managed it i was in agony.

 I arrived at the hospital in tears begging for pain relief to take the pain away, they give me codeine but it didn't even touch the pain. They checked my blood pressure and it was dangerously high so they give me blood pressure tablets and hooked me up to monitors to check baby's heartbeat but i just couldn't sit down as the pain was so bad and i started to feel really ill i was burning up my skin was tingling i felt light headed and then i fainted as the blood pressure medication had dropped my blood pressure to much. The doctors came to see me and give me medication and i was told i needed to be admitted to the ante natal ward to find out what was going on.

 I was admitted to the antenatal ward where i spent five days and they didn't no what was wrong at first they thought i had pre-eclampsia but i had no swelling and my blood pressure kept returning to normal so they ruled that out then i was tested for obstetric cholestasis a pregnancy liver disease as my liver enzymes were 280 and a normal persons is under 40 but i wasn't itching so they ruled that out.

 I was in pain and being sick every night and begging the doctors for pain relief but due to being pregnant they couldn't give me much in the form of pain relief i ended up on a mixture of paracetamol, codeine and tramadol which made me feel like i was very drunk and totally spaced out.

Being in hospital was horrible i was giving blood clotting and anti sickness injections every day i had to wear uncomfortable surgical stockings and was bed bound and bored. I couldn't sleep as all you could hear was helipcopters landing on the hospital roof and women screaming in the birthing centre below.

 During all this baby started showing signs of distress and i was hooked up to heart trace monitors for hours every day as they couldn't get a clear reading as she was kicking and moving non stop. I really thought i was going to lose her and there was even talk of her being born early at 32 weeks by emergency c-section.

I was so scared and upset and in so much pain eventually after begging the doctors to just kill me as i couldn't take the pain any more (how embarrassing) i was sent for an emergency ultrasound scan as they thought i had something wrong with my liver. They would have done it sooner but because it was Easter bank holiday weekend everywhere was shut and they only had scans available for emergency cases. When i had my scan they found out i had lots of little gallstones and some of them must have came lose and been stuck in my bile duct and that had been what had caused me pain .And my liver was slightly inflammed.

I was sent back to the ward but i wasn't told anything about gallstones other then don't eat any fat and there was nothing they can do when i was pregnant and i would have to wait until baby was born to see what they would do about my gallstones. I was sent home the next day non the wiser to what gallstones were, when i was younger i remember my mum saying her brother and some of her sisters had there gallbladders removed (she was one of 8 children) and i knew someone who had gallstones and someone who had just had there gallbladder removed but i still didn't no what they were.

 I searched the Internet for hours to find out what i could and found it is really common in pregnancy or in the first few months after you have a baby due to pregnancy hormones aggravating the conditions and it also runs in family's and women are more likely to get it then men and gallstones attack happen after eating fatty foods.

I was so scared to eat in case i ended up in pain i actually lost a stone while i was in hospital which is crazy in such a short space of time. I searched on the Internet and found that anything less then 5% fat was normally ok to eat , i followed this and thankfully never had another gallstone attack during my pregnancy.

 It was really hard not eating much when pregnant,so much for eating for two and indulging in pregnancy cravings i lived on salad ,chicken and fruit but i only gained 7lb while pregnant and when Sophia was two weeks old i actually weighed over 2 stone less then before i got pregnant so on the plus side having gallstones is a brilliant diet.

Thankfully after everything i had been through Sophia was fine and healthy and weighed 8lb2oz so it never harmed her at all and i had a normal labour.

I suffered another gallstone attack which also lasted a week when Sophia was two weeks old and when she was four months old i had my gallbladder removed through keyhole surgery. I was so scared to have the surgery to remove it but I'm so glad i had it as i was in and out of hospital that day and i only have four small scars on my tummy and i can now eat whatever i want again and best of all i will never experience that awful pain ever again.

the day after my surgery - only tiny scars

The Liebster Awards

I have seen people mentioning the Liebster awards on twitter but as a new blogger i did not really know what it was. However a few days ago i got a tweet from the lovely Emily at EmilyandIndiana who had nominated me and my blog in her post. I loved reading Emily's post on this and i have been meaning to do my own post for the last few day's but i have just been so busy with my girls with it being the bank holiday weekend ,so sorry it is a few day's late.

 As i did not really have a clue what the Liebster awards were i thought i better find out and found that it is a award given to a blogger by another blogger who likes there blog. It is a way of finding out a bit more about your favourite bloggers and also it is a way to promote other blog's that you love and also promote your own blog at the same time. The rule's to the Liebster award are as follows:

• Promote the person who has nominated you and link there blog in your post.
• Answer the question's giving to you by your nominee, then create a new list of 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
• Nominate your own 5-11 blog's that you feel deserve the award
• Inform them that they have been nominated for The Liebster Award and provide a link to your post so that they can learn about it

Here are my answer's to the question's that Emily asked me:


                                         1.) Why did you decide to start blogging?

An old school friend of mine Samantha has a blog northeastfamilyfun and i followed her blog on face book and really enjoyed reading it (if you haven't checked it out then do its great and has even been nominated for a mad blog award) Even though i enjoyed reading her blog i did not know anything about blogging and never even thought of setting my own blog up. However from reading Samantha's blog i found lots of other blog's about pregnancy and as i had just recently found out i was pregnant i thought these were brilliant way's of recording pregnancy and childhood to look back on in years to come. I thought about it for a while and then in march 2014 i decided to set up my own blog so i could record my current pregnancy and my two girls childhood and i absolutely love it.

                                      2.)What gives you your inspiration to write?

My blog is all about my current pregnancy with baby number three and my two girls Chloe and Sophia and are family life so everything i have written has either been a pregnancy update or a update on my girls or a day out that we have been on. I want my blog to be like a family photo album and a record of what we have been up to so that we can all look back on it in years to come. So my pregnancy and my girls are what inspires me to write.

                                       3.) How would others describe you (in 3 word's)

I asked the other half and he said i am honest, friendly and huffy ( i blame the pregnancy hormones lol)

                                         4.) Would you agree with the above?

Yes i would i think i am very honest as i don't think you should lie or mislead anyone although maybe i am a bit too honest at times. I like to think i am friendly and unfortunately i am quiet huffy at the moment but i am so blaming the pregnancy hormones for that one.

                                          5.)What's your best moment in life so far?

Without a doubt the best moment in my life so far is when i had both my girls, the day they were both born was the best day's of my life and i don't think anything can ever top the day's your children were born as it is so amazing and changes your life forever.

                                          6.) Do you have any quotes / sayings that you live by?

No i don't have any although I'm thinking that maybe i should , so i will have to think of one someday.

                                          7.) What is your earliest memory?

Building a snowman when i was about three years old , i think that is my earliest memory any ways.

                                          8.)What's your dream's for your little ones

All i want for my girl's in life is to be happy, as long as they are happy and healthy that's all i care about. I want them to do what makes them happy whatever that may be and to enjoy life and achieve whatever dreams they may have.

                                            9.)If you could live anywhere where would that be?

I am really boring and i just want to live in Newcastle / Northumberland still. Just in a bigger house in a really nice area with lots of space for the girls to play as are house is tiny and there is nowhere for them to play other then the garden. I wouldn't want to move abroad or anything as i like being close to my family and i want my girls to grow up going to places me and the other half went to as children.

                                          10.) Anything in life you regret?

I think everyone in life has made mistakes and wishes they had not done things but i really believe that everything happens for a reason and that you should not dwell on the past and you should live in the here and now.

                                             11.) Tell us something about you we might not know?

I am double jointed although i never even realised that i was until i had physio in my last pregnancy and they told me as i just thought everyone was as bendy as i am.

That's my answer's to Emily's questions and now maybe you all know me a bit better. I now nominate
Hannah at buddingsmiles
Lisa at kidandcapers
Kristy at bump-and-me-plus-three
Samantha at northeastfamilyfun

my 11 question's to you are

1.) Why did you start to blog?
2.) what gives you the inspiration to write?
3.) what do you love about blogging?
4.) which one place would you love to visit?
5.) what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
6.) what is your greatest achievement in life so far?
7.) what has been your most memorable meal?
8.) what is your favourite book?
9.) where do you see yourself in five years time?
10.) your most treasured possessions?
11.) describe yourself in five words.

I look forward to reading your answers.

Week's 21 & 22 Pregnancy Update

Week's 21 & 22 pregnancy update

I am now almost 24 weeks pregnant and realised that i have not done a pregnancy update for a while now so i thought i would do a quick update on what week's 21 and 22 were like. As i mentioned in my last pregnancy post i now only have to have appointments with the midwife every two weeks instead of weekly, to check my blood pressure as i am on blood pressure medication as i am at risk of pre-eclampsia.  So i went to see the midwife when i was 22 week's and everything was fine with my blood pressure and urine and we got to hear baby's heartbeat which was perfect. 

The midwife said that baby feels very big for 22 week's though and there was me thinking my bump was tiny i just know i am going to have a 10lb baby this time. My bump is defiantly more noticeable now some days i think my bump is huge and some days it looks quiet small i think it just depends what clothes i am wearing.

 Talking of clothes i finally got around to going maternity clothes shopping and i now have lots of lovely maternity outfits mostly from New Look as there maternity clothes are lovely they do not look at all frumpy as so many maternity clothes do and they are very affordable. I also got a few things from Primark too , its great that they now do maternity clothes as they are so cheap as like many people i don't want to spend a fortune on maternity clothes when i am only going to be wearing them for a few months. We still have not brought anything for baby yet i think we are going to wait until after Sophia's birthday at the end of the month and then start baby shopping.

 We still  need to pick a name too we have a boys name picked but we can't agree on a girls name and i have a feeling baby is going to be another girl. Baby is moving loads now i feel movements all the time especially when i am in bed trying to go to sleep but all the movements are still really really low down and sometimes you can see my tummy move when baby kicks and Chloe and Lee can feel baby kicking now too.

bump at 21 week's

How i am feeling

I am still feeling pretty amazing with lots of energy. I am eating normal and have not gone off anything and i don't have any cravings any more. I have been snacking a lot and having a few small meals rather then big meals lately as when it gets to tea time i find that i am just not hungry at all and when i do have a big tea i normally end up being sick soon after. Baby does not seem to like take aways though as we had a Chinese last week and as soon as i ate it i was being sick non stop for an hour.

I am still having really vivid dreams on a night time and i still wake up during the night and find it hard to get back to sleep and i am waking up early in the mornings, i cant seem to sleep past 7am even when i get the rare chance to have a lie in. I still have lovely smooth skin and shiny hair which i am very happy about but i think i am starting to get the pregnancy mask some women get , i had it in my last pregnancy it looked like i had loads of freckles around my eyes and nose but they disappeared soon after Sophia was born and it has started again around my eyes.

I have also started to get sciatica again which is shooting pains in my bum and down the back of my thigh which makes walking and standing up quiet painful and difficult at times but thankfully it doesn't seem to be as bad as it was last time. I think i am also starting to get the start of spd again which i also suffered from in my last pregnancy sorry for tmi but it sometimes feels like i have been kicked by a horse between my legs - not that i have ever been kicked by a horse there mind and nor do i want to be. It is so painful to walk and to roll over in bed i have started sleeping with my pregnancy pillow to try and see if that helps as i just feel so stiff and sore a lot of the time I'm just hoping it does not get to bad this time around that i end up on crutches.

 I have also been suffering from sore arms they just feel like a dead weight and ache and i keep getting pins and needles and i also get really bad cramps in my calf's and in my feet they are agony and wake me during the night and last for ages a few people have recommended massaging the area , foot sprays and keeping my feet up so i have been trying theses to see if they help.

 I am also suffering from massive baby brain lately too i am so forgetful i keep forgetting to take my medication for my blood pressure and i keep repeating myself or forgetting to do things and it is so frustrating and annoying. Apart from all that though i am still feeling pretty great and i am still finding it hard to believe i am actually pregnant and so far this is still my easiest pregnancy so far.

Sophia's 10 Month Update

Sophia turned 11 month's old last week just one more month until she is one whole year old ! Time really does fly by when you have children. Since starting this blog just over a month ago i decided to write a monthly update on what she has been like so that i can record her milestones and have a lovely record to look back on in years to come, this post will be looking back on what Sophia was like at 10 month's old.

 I have not been to get Sophia weighed for a while now so i have no idea what she weighs but she is defiantly getting a lot bigger. She is wearing 9-12 month clothes but she still fits into most of her 6-9 months too, she received some 12-18 month clothes for Easter and i thought they might fit her but they are far to big a top she got was like a dress down past her knees.

 She still has the same routine as always she wakes around 7am and she comes downstairs gets changed and sits in her jumperoo and watches Doc Mcstuffin for a bit on t.v then she has her breakfast and spends some time playing she has a nap around 9am for a hour after dropping her sister at school and then we either go out shopping/park/baby classes we return home for lunch and has another nap at around 1pm for a hour and a half she then spends time playing before picking her sister up from school and then spends time playing with her sister then its tea, telly, bath, story and milk and bed by 7pm. She normally goes to sleep no problem when we put her to bed but she has been taking ages to fall asleep lately and thinks its play time when we put her in her cot - I'm blaming the light nights.

Sophia's eating habits are so much better now she eats three meals a day and she eats most things,we just give her whatever we are eating now she still loves cheese and carrots and she seems to like broccoli ,roast dinners are defiantly her favourite meal. We have not tried her with meat yet though as she doesn't have many teeth to chew it with. She is actually taking food off a spoon now which is a break threw she loves yogurts and custard and will say "mmmm nice" if you give her these she deffinatly has a sweet tooth. She still has baby milk but she only has bottles to fall asleep now so we just make them up when we need them which is so much easier. She has juice to drink between meals in a sippy cup and she loves that and will drink whatever flavour you give her.

Sophia still only has eight teeth four at the top and four at the bottom . Her speaking is coming on great she is such a little chatterbox , a lot of it is still just baby talk but she try's to copy what you say and she can say mam, dad, Lee( her dads name) Chloe gets called eeee Sophia is yayyay and she can say cat, hiya, yes,bath, juice, cheese, doc (for Doc Mcstuffin) see saw, bear, sock, peg (she loves pegs) bum bum (if she wants her nappy changed) there it is, wow, nice, and hey( if you are ignoring her) she shakes her head no and nods for yes waves hello and bye, claps her hands and points at things. She will kiss you if you ask for a kiss and she dances if you say dance or if she hears music by waving her arms about and wriggling from side to side. if she wants her bum changed she will say bum bum or she will go and sit on her changing mat and wait for you to do it.

She loves playing peek a boo, books, Doc Mcstuffin and Sofia the first,she will actually laugh at them if they are on the telly we also put frozen on and she loved it and sat staring at the telly and dancing along to the songs. She loves going on the swings at the park and she loves playing with her toys she actually plays with them now she kisses her teds and trys to give them a drink out of her play cups. She loves toddling along with her baby walker and she still loves her jumperoo. She has a strange obsession with socks she pulls hers off and collects them out the laundry basket and she will walk around with a sock in her hand. She also loves pegs and if she gets her hands on a one when i am sorting the laundry she will keep tight a hold of it for the rest of the day.

 She still shuffles on her bum and crawls sometimes but she spends most of her time on her feet now cruising along the furniture and walls and she has actually started to walk she can walk right across the living room but she normally just takes a few steps and then sits down i don't know if it is because we have laminated flooring and she feels a bit wobbly on it or if she is just being lazy.

starting to walk

There is probably loads more things that she has done this month that i have missed out as i have really bad baby brain at the moment. Her personality is really grown now and she is such a happy funny little girl , she still hardly ever cry's and always has a smile for anyone she sees and she is not clingy or afraid of strangers or anything she is turning into a proper little toddler now and is not really a baby any more, i cant wait for her birthday next month.