Mummy Friends - Blogmas Day 7

Today was really lovely. I worked this morning but then got ready to meet my 3 mummy friends in Newcastle for our Christmas lunch. Mr B had Henry for the afternoon and they (bravely/stupidly) decided to go Christmas shopping while I was out. We had the set Christmas menu in Carluccio's and I washed it down with a few bellinis too; a perfect Sunday afternoon treat. It's definitely different to the days of meeting up in M&S cafe with a baby balanced precariously on each of our knees as we desperately attempted to sip our lattes without scalding the babies!

I met my mummy friends at our NCT classes and although they were expensive, it was worth every penny simply to have a group of like minded friends with babies exactly the same age. I never thought I'd have to pay to find friends but there you go!! We all get on so well and I feel that despite knowing each other for less than two years, we're all really close. There are things I'd tell them that I wouldn't tell any of my other friends and lets be honest, none of my other friends really want to chat about nappies, boobs and 5am wake ups. Even a few months makes a huge different in babies' development and it's lovely that all the boys are the same age and when we're really excited about a new word, a new trick or another tooth, we all get it. We're just as excited for one another. I used to think people were crazy to be proud of their child for doing boring little things but I totally get that now, and it's nice to be able to chat about that with my mummy friends rather than bore my single baby-free friends with such boring tales. After all, it's only a couple of years ago that I only really got excited about a new pair of Louboutins or a new Mulberry, I totally understand why my baby doing the Hokey Kokey won't interest anyone else. Oh how times change.

I think it's lovely that Henry has 3 little baby friends too; conveniently we all had boys. I really hope that we'll stay friends for years to come and we can tell our grown up boys all about the times we used to meet up when they were tiny babies and they can all roll their eyes together at their annoying, nostalgic, emotional mummies.

(No photos from lunch I'm afraid. We were way too busy chatting and eating)

My advent calendar treat for today is a Kiehl's moisturiser. I didn't realise before but noticed today that there's a new Kiehl's shop in Newcastle which looks super posh. May have to pop my head in next time I'm baby-free! 

Vintage Inns - Blogmas Day 6

We went for lunch today to a local pub, The Church Mouse, which is owned by Vintage Inns (which is apparently owned by the same company that run another of our favourites, Miller and Carter). Anyway we've been a few times in the last few weeks because their children's menu is great. It contains smaller portions of their normal adults menu and is pretty much the only place we've found where Henry can actually have a dessert (orange jelly with mandarins).

Today he had fillet of salmon with a lovely fresh tomato sauce served with peas and chips. It actually comes with mash but Daddy swapped that for a few chips which Henry can eat more easily without us having to feed him (or having food up the walls and in the carpet!). He then had his orange and mandarin jelly and a juice, all for £6.99.

We had another Vintage Inns pub within walking distance of our old house and we loved that just as much. I just wish there were more in the north east. Anyway, I definitely recommend them if you have one nearby.

And Day 6 of my advent calendar brought this little bottle of Lancome La Vie est Belle perfume. I can't believe it's only 2 and a half weeks until Christmas! 

Our Daily Routine - Blogmas Day 5

I'm always interested to read about other people's daily routines and I like reading back over our old posts to look at how much our routine has changed as Henry's grown up. It'll definitely be helpful for when we have baby #2 too. This is our routine for during the week, weekends are much more laid back.

6:30am Henry usually wakes up around 6:30. If we're really lucky on a weekend he'll fall back to sleep with a little cuddle in bed so we usually get a bit longer on a weekend. I need to be up and dressed by the time Henry is up or it's a huge disaster! Luckily Daddy is usually on hand for the days when Henry is up early or I'm not quite sorted.

7:00am Once we are sorted, we leave the house to drive to my Mum's house.

7:30am I leave Henry at Mum's and he has his breakfast after I leave for work.

7:45am-1:00pm I'm at work on a morning every day (and one afternoon) so Henry stays with my mum at her house. They go to a different baby group every day: music class, messy play, toddler group etc. Henry will usually have a 20 minute nap at some point during the morning. When I get back to her house to pick Henry up I have lunch there which is always a treat.

2:00-4:00pm Henry's nap time. I should get some housework or school work done in this time, but the reality is, I very rarely do. Most days I have a nap too or at least a little sit down and chill out on front of the TV. Having an afternoon nap for the past year has meant that despite having a terrible sleeper, I've never really had to live in that horrendous exhausted haze that so many new mummies talk about. Afternoon naps are totally the way forward.

4:00-5:30pm Recently Henry and I have tended to pop out during this time once he's up. We might just pop to the shops for a wander or for some coffee and cake in Starbucks up the road. In the summer we might just go out for a walk or whatever. I really love this time of day and love spending quality time with my little one when I would have previously been working.

5:45pm Tea time. We tend to all eat together, as long as Mr B is home. Henry usually eats the same as us, as long as we're not eating anything too spicy.

6:00-7:30pm Play time. During this time we watch tv, play with toys and read books.

7:30pm Henry has bath time with his Daddy every night. During this time, I tend to run around like an absolute lunatic and get all all the jobs done that I should have done at nap time!

7:45pm Henry's bed time. I tend to take him up to his room and feed him in there before putting him down.

8:00-10:00pm Peace! Adult time. As much as a adore Henry and my life as a mummy, this time is so precious and I love it.

Then we get up and do it all over again! Our routine is totally flexible. I will never be the type of person whose life is governed by a routine and if we want to meet friends on an afternoon, Henry will just have a longer morning nap that day. He's generally such an easy, amenable child, he just goes along with whatever we do. Our routine looks so boring written down like this, but I can't tell you how much I love our very simple life. I love working part time and being able to spend extra quality time with Henry, even if what we get up to isn't hugely exciting!

And day 5 of my advent calendar was a Shu Uemura skin purifying oil which smells amazing!

TBT - Blogmas Day 4

Just casually eating ice cream (upside down in my case) and rocking our Christmas outfits. I was 1 and a half and Simon 2 and a half. 

And my advent calendar treat for today was this Lancôme cleanser.

What I Ate Wednesday - Feeding a cold - Blogmas Day 3

As the title says, I have a cold AGAIN! I'm thoroughly fed up of being ill and even more fed up of not being able to take any good, hard drugs..well Lemsip anyway! I've now been pregnant or breastfeeding for 2 whole years and I definitely miss having total control of what I put in to my own body. Henry is also ill and he's feeding loads which is obviously not helping me get any better but at least I know I'm helping him which is obviously the most important. Here's my WIAW...

Breakfast - 6:30am

Cheerios with Koko milk, a glass of Tropicana and a Berocca.

Breakfast #2 - 8:30am

Oh the joys of breastfeeding and being constantly starving, having a baby that doesn't sleep and being constantly tired and then adding a cold on top. Today was the type of day that required a stop at Sainsburys on the way in to work for a second breakfast. I had a smoothie, a tangerine and an oats and chocolate cereal bar.

Snack Time - 11am

A cup of lemon and ginger tea, an apple and 2 Oreos.

Lunch - 1pm

I always have lunch at my Mum's and today she'd roasted some duck legs so I had 2 shredded duck rolls. I would never make myself more than one sandwich which is exactly why my mum does. Apparently I don't look after myself, especially when I need to feed Henry too. Love my mum.

I then had a cup of tea with a piece of 'free from' rocky road.

Snack Time - 4pm

Once Henry and I had woken up from our nap, I had a carton of Ribena Plus Calcium which I have every day. I also ate half of Henry's mandarin which he had with a few Marmite rice cakes.

Dinner - 5:45pm

I made a big pan of bolognese for all of us which was just what I fancied. Proper comfort food. Henry and I then had some fresh pineapple and some pomegranate seeds for dessert.

Snack - 8:30pm

Once I'd got Henry to bed and Mr B had gone out to play football, I made myself a sofa nest and cracked open this little treat. A good way to end the day.

And that's it....an awful lot of food! Thank god for those breastfeeding calories. Let's hope we're feeling better in the morning.

Days out with a toddler - Beamish - Blogmas - Day 2

On Saturday we visited Beamish which is an open air museum in the North-East. We've been many times in the past but it was the first time we've been with Henry and he absolutely loved it. Beamish is basically a small town set up to resemble what it would have looked like in the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian periods. You could spend days there looking round: there's a mine, shops, a farm, a railway, a manor house, a school, fairground, various modes of transport...the list goes on. Luckily when you buy a ticket you are able to visit again as many times as you like in the year so you don't have to rush around.

This weekend we focused on the Christmassy aspects of Beamish and it really is a magical place to be at Christmas. We ate fish and chips with our fingers (all fried in beef dripping over coal fires), we ice skated and drank mulled wine outside around coal fire pits, we ate roasted chestnuts, fed the reindeer, watched old fashioned sweets being made (and obviously bought some to try), wandered around a Christmas market, listened to a band playing carols in the bandstand, and of course, visited Santa himself. 

Henry absolutely loved all the twinkly lights and riding on the old fashioned bus and tram. He loved watching the band play carols and feeding the reindeer. His older cousins enjoyed watching the sweets being made and were interested in the history of Beamish. There really is so much to do and it's perfect for all ages; I can't recommend it enough.

And for Blogmas Day 2 - today's advent treat was this...

I'm excited to try this out tonight. Henry was very impressed that he was allowed another chocolate before 7am! Ahh got to love December.

Blogmas - Day 1

So here is my attempt at blogging every day until Christmas...I'll certainly try my best. Some days I might just do a really short blog post and I think I'm going to aim to do a 'What I Ate Wednesday' and 'Throwback Thursday' each week too. Who knows how it'll go, I've definitely been neglecting my blog a little recently so hopefully it'll get me back on track.

Throughout Blogmas, I'm also going to share with you what I got in my advent calendar each day. I would usually have a Thornton's advent calendar to munch on, but because I can't have any dairy this year I treated myself to the Selfridges advent calendar instead. 

Today I received a small bottle of Opium by YSL. I was really excited to try it but lo and behold...it smells very strongly of old ladies (sorry for anyone who loves this scent...it's just not very 'me' at all). So not the best start ever but I'm still excited for the next 23 gifts in the run up to Christmas.

Henry has a dairy free chocolate calendar and a lovely Gruffalo one with pictures behind the windows and he loved opening both of them today.

Today also saw our dog baby turn 6! I can't believe we've been actual responsible dog owners for all that time, it's scary how quickly the years pass. I remember when we had George as a puppy so many people would say 'just you wait till you have a baby' if we complained about being tired or about how hard work it was. All I can say is, they were SO wrong. Our first week with George was ten times more fraught and difficult than our first week with Henry; mainly due to the fact that newborns can't really go anywhere when you put them down whereas dogs can get bloody far in 10 seconds and destruction usually follows. 

Anyway, minus the first crazy weeks, we've loved every second of our crazy dog friend. He's the most loving and loyal boy and I love him so much more now I've seen how gentle he is with his baby brother. When Mr B goes out to play football on a Wednesday, George takes himself up to Henry's room and sleeps underneath his cot, it's just his little way of protecting him when our other protector is gone and it melts my heart every time. When I've had a bad day, he can read my mood and I often have a wet nose in my lap to try to cheer me up...or just looking for a stroke. We love him so much and our family wouldn't be complete without him. So a huge happy birthday to our gorgeous George Juan Antonio Spudgun Barker....6 today! (Don't ask where the name came from....just call him George!