Dad's Birthday

This weekend was my Dad's birthday, so we went down to Reading to spend some time there. Oh I miss Reading. It was my home town for so long that it still feels like it is.

 We had some present opening, and then all went to Coral Reef - super retro childhood memory-inducing fun! It's a swimming pool, with rapids and slides and jacuzzis. We had a whale of a time (no pun intended!) and it was Henry's first swim. He adored it, and stayed in for over an hour, when mum got out with him and Rich and I got to play with the biggies. They both went down the water slide, Ethan 3 times, despite being scared. Sam had a lot of fun sitting by the tipping bucket and watching it dump a load of water on people, which he thought was hilarious.

 Ethan got on well with his arm bands, with a third one used as a float. Handy really, as he and I got separated in the rapids :S It was horrible, really awful. He got out of the 'current' for want of a better word, and I didn't. There was another parent there who saw and tried to help me out, but I ended up just asking him to watch Ethan while I swam round (panicking the whole way) as I couldn't swim back. When I got round, he was gone, and the man said he'd floated just around the corner... which he hadn't. In my head, he had already drowned. Luckily, he's made of sterner stuff than me, and had spotted Auntie Jess and was trying to swim towards her. Meanwhile, Rich had found me and we were both panicking when I spotted him and Jess got to him just as he was starting to get a bit upset. He is fine about it, not bothered at all. I feel sick when I think about it, and wouldn't wish it on anyone. It's done now though, and over. 

 After swimming we had party food picked by dad with the kids in mind, on muppets plates and cups, and had this surprise Kermit cake made by mum and Jess. Please excuse the pyjama clad legs. 

Sunday brought church and a chance to see friends, albeit fairly briefly for most, as the rest of my little clan are all for leaving immediately. Delicious dinner with more desserts and it was time to pack up and head off again, but not before Sam found Grampa's ear. He's got a bit of a thing for ears, especially when he's tired.

Then came the long trek home, which wasn't too bad actually, and we are back to the routine of Ethan at school, Sam begging to be allowed to go to school, and Henry just being a great big gorgeous sausage.

Life is good :)

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

September

School has begun again, new term, new start. But what's this?

 I appear to have a full on child of five. How did that happen then? Look at that teeny 3 year old on the left, surely that was only yesterday, when he was heading off to nursery and then coming home with a painting of a yellow digger and asking where the tree was on HIS jumper mummy, eliciting a midweek trip to the uniform shop.

He has a lovely teacher again this year, who I handily know a little from outside of school, and can therefore skip the authority figure awkwardness at parents evening next month. He's enjoying it so far and hasn't yet complained at the conspicuous lack of toys in his classroom - a fairly big change from reception last year. His reading ability is improving which is brilliant, we have far fewer frustrations when he's sounding out (a...n...d............ I stop myself from snapping AND. It's AND.) and he can actually remember the beginning of the story at the end, because it wasn't half an hour ago. I love books and I want him to love books too, so I try and let it be a fun experience.

We've had some fun baking. I found a cake pop baking tray in our farm shop yonks ago and thought we'd finally try it out for a spotty cake.

 Not bad, though I'm not sure quite why that red spot rose quite so much. I slightly over filled the cake pop tray, and this greeted me when I took off the top half:

There was a bit of carving involved! the problem is there's nothing stopping the top rising away with the cake. I might have to bodge some sort of fix for it. We made rainbow fairy cakes too, super easy, and if you line the bowls with a sandwich bag before adding mix and colour you don't have ti wash up a millionty things and you have a makeshift piping bag to squirt the layers in so it doesn't make a huge drippy mess on the tins.

 Also best tip - use paste food colouring. that yellow layer in fact has green liquid colouring in it as a test. I might as well not have bothered.

Last weekend we went to Leeds on the train. The boys were in their element and Sam almost passed out in Leeds train station, to be surrounded by trains and lifts and escalators was just his idea of heaven.

Other news, Henry finally let me take a picture of a full on grin.

Normally he spots the camera and goes into a serious brow furrow, which is frankly hilarious. He's currently 15 weeks, and 18lbs 9oz. He's quite a heft, but I still get to snuggle hands free, and I have a new carrier, thanks to kind birthday donations.

Why yes, I am a geek. What makes you ask ;)

I will really try to be better at blogging, but in the interest of keeping it real, having 3 children is HARD. Especially with one potty training, and the wee one having a cough/cold that keeps him up. This morning I was pouring out milk. I opened the bottle and poured, and nothing. Nada. So I looked at it in puzzlement and shook the not-empty bottle. It took me about 30 seconds before I realised I hadn't taken the foil off. It's a real shame Sam no longer naps.

I do have plans to try out these five recipes from Rachel's blog. I think it'll do WONDERS for my diet, but I'm in a baking mood, and it's unstoppable. Sorry waist.

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

Family Holiday Episode Two - the countryside

 On their way to the holiday house, Mum and Dad found this gorgeous little river, full of waterfalls, so on the Friday when the weather wasn't really good enough for the beach they took us back to it. It was completely gorgeous, and fun for my little rock hoppers!

 There was a sign above the door on this wheelhouse that said open, though we didn't find out what it actually was. I just thought it was completely gorgeous, townie that I am.

 The boys were incredibly excited by these holes in the bridge, as you *might* be able to tell. It was actually a handy holding place as they couldn't get down to run off!

 See, good rock-hopping spot! Though it was pretty much only accessible by...

 This rather ordinary looking, but quite scary, bridge. It was only maybe 10 feet from the ground, but incredibly narrow. The gaps were quite big, so you had to look at your feet, and I had Henry on my front so you sort of have to plan 3 steps in advance. Mum refused to cross it altogether.

It was heaven, especially as no one fell in. We took a short walk upstream, Sam was excited by several passing dogs and Ethan had great fun throwing in stones with Daddy and sticks with Grandma.

The garden at the house was incredible, perfectly made for small boys. It was deceptively large, with trees and bushes, large rocks and a bridge, brilliant for hide and seek and playing monsters with Uncle Jonny. The house itself was also lovely, enormous (fairly necessary, as there were nine of us), beautifully furnished, and a better equipped kitchen than mine, seriously, the oven needed a degree to work it. We never really figured it out, something about telling it what you were cooking?!

All in all, we had a pretty fabulous time. So much fun and good company, I'm still on a comedown!

 

The way home was very peaceful ;)

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

Family Holiday episode one, the beach!

 We had a wonderful family holiday this summer, In Aberporth, near Cardigan in west Wales. We were really lucky and had two glorious days and one very good day to be spent on the beach. It was a teeny local beach and quite quiet. We arrived in town on Saturday and had a quick shop stop, and back to the lovely house we were staying in, Then on Sunday after church and dinner we popped down to check it out.

 Sam loving it with Aunty Jessie

 Ethan exploring with Grandma

The boys were ecstatic, sand and sea, it was all they desired! The beach also had a small stream running down the side so they had a nice shallowish place to play.

 This was my view several times a day as I fed the Hen-beast, and it was lovely. I really believe that a day at the beach is pretty unbeatable for feeling content. It's like letting out a big breath you didn't know you were holding. I think there's a piece of me in the sea, I crave it. Jess and I swam out twice, the first day we were there it was pretty bracing, but still good. The second time the sun was streaming down all day and the water (well the top foot or so of it) was actually fairly warm, and we swam out to the last buoy and back and had a lovely chat doing it.

 Here you can see the remains of several dam attempts. It was blocked off successfully several times to let the stream fill, but moving water (and small children) will not be stopped.

 They spent all day running around and wearing themselves out, building and splashing and digging and laughing. It was wonderful.

It also meant they were exhausted by bedtime. So much so that several times in the week Sam actually asked to go to bed, where they snuggled up to watch the ipad and then fell asleep.

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

Summer fun

So I decided this summer we'd do some creative activities. We actually only ended up doing 2, but they lasted a couple of days each and we had a family holiday to fit in as well. First, Ethan and I made a Harry Potter wand for him (same as here), as he's been asking for one for a while now. Due to the amount of glitter glue he decided to use, it took over the night to dry so it rolled into two days.

We didn't get a picture (and I've no idea where it's gone now!) but the thing was so sparkly it looked like it might actually be glowing. He loved it, of course!

Next we have Babies Breaking Bad!

Kidding! We did tie dye. They thought that rubber gloves were the best things in the world, thank you 49p for 2 pairs at Sainsbury's, and managed to stay clean. We did tub dyeing rather than in the machine so they could actually do stuff, and we did it outside. 

 Rinsing with the hose was a hit, though they love the hose in any form.

 If you can't tell, these are their excited faces.

We also did red ones, though they came out sort of pink. I'd definitely recommend it, they thought it was fun because it was a bit messy, and it was also easy peasy, mix dye with water and salt, and chuck in the rubber-banded clothes, leave for an hour, stirring occasionally. Rinsing was a bit of a pain, but no big deal really. It was also pretty cheap, basic t-shirts £3 for 3, and some cheap white baby sleepsuits. The dye was only a few pounds a packet, and we only used half of the blue.

Not bad for a messy day of productive fun!

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

Why I carry Henry in 'That Thing'

This is a stretchy wrap. Specifically it's one of these, though mine was a gift. It is very comfortable, and you can almost not feel it at all, even with a big chunker baby in like mine. It is slightly unusual still to see someone wearing one, though I still don't expect the odd responses I sometimes get. Luckily the nice comments usually outweigh the bad.

Today specifically, while taking Sam to the toilet in town I heard "oh, she's carrying a baby in that... thing..." with a tone bordering on disgust. It made me laugh, as I walked hands free and able to help Sam, and go to the toilet without having to disturb Henry, while said woman struggled to hold her littlie and stop her toddler running off, while also trying to get a bottle ready. And no judgement on that, because who hasn't been there. I wasn't smirking at her, it would have been nice had she returned that courtesy. But back to 'that thing'.

Many people carry babies. When we had Ethan I started with a BabyBjorn, which attracted no comments, but was incredibly uncomfortable. I have heavy babies, and I couldn't carry him for long, and once he got to about 5 months I couldn't carry him at all, and before then I didn't carry him much anyway. That's when you stopped carrying kids, when they were too heavy, as I wasn't interested in a big frame carrier, and what else was there really?

When I had Sam, a friend sold me this sling - a tricotti - which is simple, but this is Sam at 8.5 months and actually the last time I carried him - he seemed happy enough but I decided it couldn't be right to have him all squished up like that anymore - he's actually cross legged in this picture, and not just a photo-shopped on head! So we stopped again. But it was so much more comfortable than the BabyBjorn because the weight was spread out rather than the skinny straps. Very helpful with my big chunkers!

In between Sam and Henry I learnt a lot about slings, particularly the ones you tie yourself. The ones I was looking at were scary expensive, but my lovely friend Harriet pointed me in the right direction and in fact bought me the blue one up there, and has lent me a non-stretchy woven wrap for Sam and when Henry's a bit bigger. I'm currently saving up for my own woven wrap as Harriet will be needing hers back at some point, but they're a bit expensive to just pick one and buy.

In the interest of keeping it real, I've left this photo as is. Please excuse bathroom detritus and toothpaste-y mirror.

There's evidence out there that suggests wrapping is good for avoiding hip dysplasia in little ones too, as a wrap supports all the way to the knees rather than having legs dangling. I also think it must be more comfortable to have a sort of seat of fabric. There's also stuff out there about bonding being easier among baby 'wearers' but I don't think that's something that can really be quantified really. More practised mothers can even breastfeed without taking their baby out.

So, sneery woman in the baby room, why do I carry Henry in 'that thing'? Well, I do it because it means he's close to me, he almost always falls asleep, and my hands are free to deal with my two dirty great cheeky monkeys, one of whom is a flight risk. But most of all, I do it because I want to. And when it comes to my children...

In other news, Henry is 8 weeks, and has been checked over and declared fine, and huge. School holidays are upon us, and we are actually coping quite well. This week Ethan and I made a magic wand for him, which he decorated with so much glitter glue that we had to wait all afternoon and overnight for it to dry. Next week - tie dye! I am apprehensive to be perfectly honest - last time I dyed fabric I was in secondary school, but we'll wear old clothes and go with it. Sam has developed a healthy obsession with ice-cream vans and runs to the window to watch them. He hasn't yet connected the fact that he went to the ice cream van at the park and actually got an ice cream, and that the ice cream van on our street also sells them, so we've not got to the "muuuuuummy can I have an ice cream?!" stage thankfully, as it's been coming every day recently. They are both very excited for our holiday (2 weeks to go!) as are Rich and I. Henry is blissfully unaware of any surroundings as long as he has a light fixture to stare at and boobs on tap, so I think he'll take it in his stride :)

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

While you weren't watching..

Sam has been a complete monkey.

 Cough medicine while I was in the shower. Thankfully it came out pretty easily and he missed both Henry's nearby blankets, and my nearby bag.

Again, while I was in the shower. Talc EVERYWHERE. Again, not too bad, hoovers up easily enough.

Then today, he found the chocolate spread. Thankfully the jar was almost empty so instead of being a horrendous mess it was just funny. Also note the odd shoes. He's a weird little dude.

Also I somehow missed that Ethan is a ginormous boy now, he had sports day this week.

Skipping, backwards running, bat and ball and space hopper. In 6 weeks he starts year one at school. Though that can't be possible as surely only yesterday we were finishing Christmas, and how has he had 5 birthdays? I still remember the very first so clearly.

My niece turns five next month too, but holidays and things mean she had her party yesterday. Look at the awesome cake my sister Amy made!

 She's very talented!

 While I have been watching, the boys have been absolutely gorgeous to Henry. They both completely love him to bits, which is pretty handy. Although Sam does take it a bit far occasionally. He likes to touch. Especially when Henry is sleeping. Usually when I'd like him to remain sleeping. If that's the worst I have to put up with though, I'll take it gladly.

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

Four Weeks On

I can't believe it's been four weeks!

In all honesty there's not a huge amount to be said, we've not done very much! We had two lovely weeks with Rich at home, which was absolutely brilliant. He did the school runs, and the cooking, and basically all the big boys' stuff while I fed and fed and fed the mega-Hen. Then he had to go back to work which was not fun, but his team did buy Henry this brilliant vest, and his team manager arranged for him to have an extra 2 days holiday time as he'd done some work while at home, so not too hideous.

 Bazinga!

We then had my lovely mum up for a week who washed and ironed and cleaned all the things and also did morning school runs and most of the afternoons too, cooked our dinners and entertained small boys. Then she too had to leave and I was ALONE. Unless of course you count (and I do!) 2 weeks of meals from lovely church friends - score - and uncle David (Rich's brother) offering to take Ethan to school in the morning for the rest of the term. They live on the same road as us and still have one son at the same school, so it works out pretty great. I am incredibly grateful to be surrounded by lovely friends and family.

So now I am back to by myself in the daytime, and it's not bad. I am coping ok, though it is harder to protect things from Sam when I've got Henry seemingly permanently attached.

This Thursday I had my lovely friend Harriet come to visit, bringing delicious food, clothes for Henry, and 2 baby wraps. One as a gift for me and one to borrow. Here's mine:

 And oh my goodness, it's so comfortable. Henry likes it all squishy and warm, I have my hands free and my back and shoulders pain free. Harriet also brought William, her 9 month old, who is so cute and lovely, and quite frankly, his eyelashes turn me green with envy. It was lovely as we've not seen each other for far too long considering we live 30 minutes apart!

Henry is doing pretty well, he wakes 2 or 3 times a night and the last few nights, touch wood, he has gone right back to sleep as well.

And at 2am, this is a really welcome sight.

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!