Weight lose has made me feel better about myself

So take a good look it doesn't happen often and you proberly wont see another photo of me, But since I have dropped a dress size and lost weight I feel happier about myself, I haven't been eating healthy and I haven't really exercised apart from the school run that I do every week day, But what I have been doing is Wearing my Zaggora Hot pants/Capri Flares, Since wearing them my jelly belly (as me and my husband have always called it since having our kids)has got firmer and flatter and my stretch marks have faded lots too, I have herd that they work better with exercise so my husband has kindly brought me a dance game for his Xbox so as soon as it arrives I will be using that, I still have 4lbs to lose to get to my ideal weight so not to far to go.

And the best thing about losing weight and dropping a dress size is that I got to go shopping for new clothes, I have decided to stay away from what I would normally wear which was plain vest tops and jeans, I have even decided not to wear trainers all the time too now, So with all this I now don't feel ashamed of the way I look when I go to pick my daughter up from school as I always felt people were looking at me, They proberly wasn't and it is proberly all in my head.

My Boy

Towards the end of last year my son had his 2 and a half year check with our health visitor she told me he was at the stage they expect every 2 and a half year old to be, Even though she told me that I have been sat here worried ever since because of his talking, He can say some words but when he wants something he normally points and makes a noise, To which he gets frustrated because I cant under stand him and then I get frustrated because he cant tell me what he wants.
So I finally plucked up the courage to ask for help on how we can get him to say more things after listening to this advice we got his flash cards out again and to mine and my husbands surprise or son has come out with lots more words than he ever has, Of course we had to give him a treat after as we was so impressed.

Me and my husband have now decided we will get the flash cards out every day for an hour or so with the progress he has done today we are hoping his speech will improve a lot more over the next few weeks.

I will post more updates on this so you can all read how well he is doing with this.

SnoozeShade Plus

I was sent a SnoozeShade plus to try out and review, Sadly I have been unable to test as much as possible, As since it has arrive the weather has been non stop raining, But I have tested it out as best as I could and when the weather gets better I will be following up on this review,
The SnoozeShade plus is deigned to help keep your babies sleep routine and keep your baby protected by the sun, Its designed to fit all pushchairs and I tired it out on a Quinny Zapp Xtra, I found it very easy to put on to my pushchair, There is elastic straps for you to fasten to your pushchair.

You might not be able to see it from the photo but there is a look out panel for baby to see out of when they are awake and it still keeps them protected from 80% of UVA and UVB rays, There is also a zip where you can open it up to check on your baby without disturbing them.

I was a little worried my little girl wouldn't like this on her pushchair as shes used to seeing me but she didn't seem to mind one bit, This is definately something I would recommend to other mums, As its so much easier and better than draping a blanket over the hood of the pushchair.
To find out more about SnoozeShade you can visit there facebook page here
And also there website can be found here

Keep and eye out for an update to this review on how well it does when we have some sun.

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday

Im so happy

Last month I was lucky enough to win a pair of Zaggora hotpants They arrived new years eve and right away I put them on under my jeans, After a few days I had to keep pulling my jeans up when I was walking around as they was getting a little lose on me, Well today I have been wearing them for two weeks with a few days off in between to wash and dry them and I'm happy to say I have dropped a jean size already I used to be in a size 12 now i'm a size 10 finally back to the size I was before I had my children,
Not only have a dropped a size but my jelly belly has also got firmer and looks a lot flatter than it used to, I never thought I would get rid of my belly so this have made me very happy.

I also want to add that I haven't really done anything I wouldn't normally do, So i'm still eating my normal foods, Although I did do a work out Dvd one day in them but it nearly killed me so I haven't tried it again.

I have since gone out and brought some new clothes and have ditched the plan boring vest tops and jeans for much different clothes that I wouldn't normally wear as I was always worried how big my belly would look in them.

Cooking with my 5 year old

On Wednesday I decided I would let my 5 year old daughter cook dinner with me, As my husband is on late shifts this week the kids eat on there own and I eat with my husband when he gets back, So it was a great chance to get my daughter involved in her own dinner, I chose something simple for her to help me with, It was pasta with a tomato sauce,

The Ingredients are:
1 tsp oil
1 onion (although we added more as my kids love them)
1 garlic clove
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
ground black pepper
and the pasta

It was really quick and simple to do all you need to do is cook the onions in the oil until soft then add all the other ingredients (apart from the pasta)and then simmer gently until the sauce has thickened while waiting for the sauce to thicken we cooked the pasta up.
When it was done I put some on my kids plates and the rest of the sauce I put in the fridge to use the nest day for them.
My daughter was so impressed that she helped cook it that she at every last mouthful and said it tasted very yummy.
This will be something I do more often with my daughter as she always asks to help me but I thought it would take to long with her helping but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Also for those of you out there on diets you would be pleased to know that its only 343kcals per portion.

Silent Sunday

Money saving and no wasting food Up date

So if you read my post about my plans for 2012 you will know what i'm on about, So far thing are going great, We had a whole chicken new years day and I saved any leftover chicken (and there was a lot) and used it Monday to make a chicken stew this went down very well with all the family and there was even enough left so I could blend some up for my youngest.
We also now have a new rule in place for my two oldest children so now if they don't eat all there dinner they know they wont be allowed any sweets or snacks later, Which is going down well with my 5 year old and she is now making sure she eats all her dinners just in case she wants something later, My two year old though doesn't seem to really care.

Now onto the money saving, I have been slowly having a clear out and any unwanted items that are still in good condition I have been selling and instead of spending the money it is sitting in my purse just being forgottern about, I have also started using a site called Approved foods I came about this site because my sister was getting large amounts of sweets for my kids and I asked her how she could afford huge boxes of them, So since then I have placed and order and had it arrive already and last night from using what I had brought I managed to make a large meal for the 4 of us for just over £3 it went down very well with my husband as he loves to have lots on his plate to eat.
My 5 year old is also doing her bit at saving money by selling all her double Moshi Monters she has and what money she has been getting he has been buying the ones she needs, I have also noticed a huge difference in in the price I pay for my washing powder as I have switched and now use soap nuts so no longer need to buy washing powder and conditioner and the soap nuts cost me £8.50 for a big bag on Ebay and I have had this bag for about 4 months now and there is still loads left.

2012

My plan for 2012 is to be more organized and not to waste food and try to save money, So after speaking to my husband we have decided that from now on we will not leave buying people birthday presents till the last minute, So if we are out shopping and see something we know someone will like we will buy it then and there and put it away till needed, For example last year we would be out shopping and see a Disney cars car that are son didn't have so we would buy it for him and just give it to him, Now if this happens we will buy it and keep it for his birthday or if his birthday has already been it will go away for Christmas, This will also help us save money as we wont be buying the kids toys for no reason.

With regards to the wasting food normally if we get a chicken whats not eatern on that day just goes in the bin, But now what we will be doing instead is using the left over chicken for a stew or something, This only came to our minds today while we was having a roast chicken for dinner and saw just how much was going to be chucked in the bin, So I spent 15 minutes just peeling the chicken off the bones and put it in a pot ready for tomorrow.

The saving money will be hard for us but we have to do it so while out food shopping I will be looking at all the special offers and see what we can save on them and when it comes to clothes shopping for us and the kids we will shop around and look on the sale rails, Hopefully one day we will be able to save enough money so my husband can visit his dad in texas and of course me and the kids will go to as none of us have ever met him.

I will keep you all updated on how well I'm managing with these

Silent Sunday

Looking back at 2011

2011 wasn't a bad year for me, I started the year off pregnant with my 3rd baby and because we knew that she was a girl we spent most of the first few months of the year buying lot of pink clothes for her and sorting out where she was going to sleep, we was very organized this time round mainly because she was are 3rd, So for me the first few months flew by and before I knew it April was here and it was my sons 2nd birthday (3rd April) We didn't do much for his birthday as I was very pregnant by now (Baby was due 29th April)

As soon as I was 37 weeks pregnant I started getting some terrible pains down the side of my bump So I called the midwife Just to get checked over to make sure everything was fine with our baby, For us to find out our baby was breech so I was sent off to the hospital to double check it with a scan and then they told me they would try turning her, Sadly this didn't work so they booked me in for a c-section not what I wanted and was in tears when I was told, My c-section was booked for the 27th April so I had time to get used to the idea or so I thought.

On the 21st April my son was struggling to breath (a normal thing for him when he gets a cold) So I rushed him off to the doctors to get checked out as he was on a nebulizer I felt a contraction and thought to myself it was just another false alarm (I had been having them all week and kept getting sent to the hospital to make sure I wasn't in labour) My son got put on stroids and given another inhaler to take and then the doctor said she wanted to see him back at 6pm the same day to see if it was working or he would have to go to hospital.
By 3pm My contractions were getting worse but all I could think about was my son, So I rang my husband to get him to come home from work, He got back by 4pm and I was still in denial that I was really in labour, In the end my husband rang the labour ward and they said we had to go strait in, But my mind went staright to my son and what if he has to go into hospital and the thought he wouldn't have his mummy and daddy with him, Lucky for us my sister said she will have him and if he needs to go to hospital she will be with him.

By 6:30pm I was at the hospital when all hell broke lose as my husband had forgot to tell them on the phone that I was carrying breech and booked in for a c-section, The next 30mins was a blur to me and by 7pm we had our beautiful baby girl in our arms weighing a tiny 5lb 3oz, When I was in the recovery room I said to my husband I wonder if my sister inlaw has had her baby yet as she was due 2 weeks before me but was a week late, Little did I now she was having mild contractions and cursing me because I had already had mine but on the 23rd April she had finally had her baby girl.

Before I knew it was May and time to start thinking of what to get my oldest daughter for her birthday, She knew she wasn't having a party this year as I was still recovering from my c-section but she was ok with that. Then finally the day she had been waiting for 18th May and her birthday was finally here sadly for her it was a school day but we let her open her presents before going to school and she couldn't wait to get to school and tell her friends what she got.

Then as quick as May had arrived for us it was soon gone and we was onto June my birthday month I never do anything for my birthday and never really ask for anything for it either, Yet people always still managed to buy me things I like.
Before I knew it, it was school summer holidays sadly we didn't have the best weather this summer so half of the things I planned for the kids to do just couldn't happen but I still managed to keep my kids entertained.

Come August it was mine and my husbands 6th wedding anniversary so we got my mum round to look after the kids while we went out to the pub for a few drinks although I don't drink alcohol I still managed to have a good night away from the kids. Also in August I had already started to think about Christmas I never normally do and tend to leave it till the last minute but knowing this year I had 5 nieces and nephews to buy for plus 3 of my own children I just knew we had to start early, So when I would see things in the shops that I thought would be a great present I would buy it for them and put it away, Come September I had already filled up one big box full of bits for presents, Then it was time for my daughter to go back to school I was worried at first how she would react as she would be doing proper work this time round but to my surprise she loved it.
And then before I new it December was here (for me 2011 had flown by) and it was time to put the Christmas decorations up, Lucky for me this year I was prepared for Christmas so wasn't worried about anything as we had finished all our shopping in November, Which mad it possible for me to buy my husband an extra special present his Kindle.

This year we have had are ups and downs, With finding out about my oldest daughter and my son both having eye problems which the hospital had first thought it could possibly be more than
just eye problems, But lucky for them they got the all clear after having lots of tests done
But I would have to say 2011 has been a great year and I just hope 2012 can be just as good.

Now I'm going to post a few of my favorite photos from the year.

My lovely little boy who loves to cuddled up on the sofa

A rare moment with my son and daughter having a cuddle together

one of my all time favorites of my son

The first ever photo of my daughter with her glasses

Finally taking our new daughter home

One of the hotest days we had

My little girl having fun in her jumperoo