I always have good intentions when it comes to exercise and start off well, it slowly dwindles though when boredom sets in and no results on the baby belly I’ve been left with can be seen!

I know there’s no guarantees we’ll even get a place in London next year, but for the next 5 months until we find out in October if we have or not, I’m going to act like I have and train my (not so little) butt off.

So, watch this space.  My training has officially started tonight and god help anyone that gets in the way – this ladys on a mission and won’t stop until her legs tell her too!

Wish me luck! :0)

When it arrived, (and very quickly it did too,) I couldn’t wait to open it.  I’ve never been one to get parcels or packages in the post often so my 2 eldest boys had a look of shock on their little faces that mummy was opening something that wasn’t for them for a change!

My gifts came beautifully wrapped up and was finished with a ribbon and tag attached from Mich @michlan.  Inside was not 1 but 3 things just for me! :0)  A fantastic ‘River Cafe Pocket Book’ of puddings, cakes and ice creams, which has since been drooled over and studied numerous times ready to create a dish, 3 clever little magnetic measuring spoons and chocolate extract which is ideal for my love of cake making!

All I have to say is a massive thank you once again to Mich for the thoughtful gifts.  Sorry it’s taken so long to write this post. I promise to be better next time :0)

Im hoping my gift for Janet at Baked Bean Jubilee arrived in South Africa safe and sound. From the sound of things not everything has in the past so I’ll keep my fingers crossed.x

We should be experts by now and know exactly what to do for a long blissful nights sleep.  In actual fact though we’re the total opposite.

Our 11 month old refuses to sleep at night unless in our bed being cuddled by one of us.  Shattered doesn’t even describe how tired my husband and I are.

The nights are always the same routine.  They start off promising with a milk to go to sleep then straight in his cot.  After that though you can literally set your watch by him before he wakes again – 45 minutes to be exact!  The rest of the night then consists of him being wide awake until we decide to go to bed too.  If he then falls asleep and we try to transfer him to his cot he seems to know instantly and screams the house down!

The controlled crying technique has been attempted but usually ends up with him throwing up, and screaming so much he stops breathing and starts turning blue!  My heart just stops when that happens and I end up shouting at him ‘breath, breath!’  Getting him to sleep after that happens is then the last thing on my mind!

Maybe we’re just meant to have awkward kids with regards to sleep amongst other things!  My eldest 2 aren’t exactly the best at going to bed still, and usually get up at 5:30am even in the winter when it’s pitch black outside.

Don’t worry, I shall be reminding all 3 when they’re teenagers, (and I’m having to drag them out of their beds in the morning,) just how much hassle they were!  In the meantime though I’ll continue to walk around in a zombie-like trance, looking like death with lashings of make-up on to conceal the truth! ;0)

Any tips or help gratefully received for just one nights peaceful sleep!

My little man wide awake at midnight!

The one that’s there until we’re old for all eternity.

To let us know how much we’re loved with every breath they take

And to make our hearts beat fast with every move they make.

To bring us flowers when we’re down and know just what to do

To make us laugh and smile again at times we’re feeling blue.

They know the way we think and feel so know just what to say

To make even the cold dark nights seem like a bright new day.

Don’t worry if you’ve not yet found the one thats right for you

Somewhere in this big wide world they’re searching for you too.

With five of us in the house now, my once lovely wicker laundry basket is showing the strain, and bits are falling off under the weight of dirty clothes.  Generally speaking if the washing up baskets full, it’s because so is my ironing pile!  As far as I’m concerned what exactly is the point of doing more washing because when it dries where does it go?!  Oh yes, on my already overflowing, ready to topple heap of creased clothes of course!

The cycle is endless!  I wouldn’t say I’m a lazy person but the never-ending whack of my darling hubby’s shirts is enough to make me wish I was Edward Scissorhands at times just so I could snip away so there were no more to iron!…  Sound good to you too?  I bet it does!

Each shelterbox costs £500, and the contents contain the following urgent supplies:

• A ten-person tent with privacy partitions that allow its occupants to divide the space as they see fit
• A range of other survival equipment including thermal blankets and insulated ground sheets
• Life-saving means of water purification
• A basic tool kit containing a hammer, axe, saw, trenching shovel, hoe head, pliers and wire cutters
• A wood burning or multi-fuel stove that can burn anything from diesel to old paint
• The box itself is lightweight and waterproof and has been used for a variety of purposes in the past – from water and food storage containers to a cot for a newly born baby.
• And lastly, but  just as importantly, each box contains a children’s pack containing drawing books, crayons and pens.  For children who have lost most, if not all, of their possessions.

So,  please make a donation.  No matter how small, every little bit  raises more money to help send to Haiti the supplies they so urgently need to survive.  Please click here to donate.

So here they are

My Antiguan Paradise

This photo always makes me smile. Its of my husband and son in Antigua a few days before we got married over there.  Just looking at it again makes me smile because I was with my little family in a stunning location with everything to look forward to for the future, and about to become a wife!

Me and my boys

And this photo is my future.  My 3 gorgeous little men… need I say more?!

I wont tag anyone for this, but if you would like to do it go ahead.  It’s lovely to look back on photos to brighten your day, especially with the bad weather we’ve had!

The special ‘big boy’ pants that were left in his sack by him for Christmas day worked wonders, and there is now no need for pull ups in my house!  Yes, you heard me correctly… at 3 years and 8 months, and after the blood, sweat and tears from a year of unsuccessful attempts we’ve done it!!!!!  I honestly didn’t think it would ever happen.  I had images in my head of having to explain to the education board,  how there was no way he could possibly start school in September, unless there was a willing teacher to take charge of the wet wipes and nappy bags to do the clean up job when called upon.  I’m sure that conversation would have gone down a treat!

As you can imagine I’m so happy with him.  I thought now that was done I wouldn’t have to be worrying about toilet issues again for at least another 2 years with baby number 3.   The thing is though, I’ve now encountered a new problem…  Wee!  The smell of it hits you as soon as you walk into the toilet or bathroom when little man has been.  I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where it was coming from.  I made sure the toilets were flushed, his trousers were still dry and the floor had no puddles either.  After still being none the wiser I was totally confused.  As he’s only just new to this toilet using lark, he’s a sitter rather than a stander for the time being.  This should theoretically mean no mess from the sprinkling winky!

After puzzling over the problem, I decided to find out the old-fashioned simple way and spy!  He’s not one for an audience when he’s on the toilet, so it wasn’t an easy job, but now with the smell of wee seemingly embedded in my nostrils,  I have my answer – he’s a side sitter!

Instead of moving his step to in-front of the toilet so he can reach, he just leaves it on the side where it’s normally moved to by his older brother.  Therefore when he’s sitting he’s facing the wrong way which means he has got a sprinkling winky which is aiming straight for my tiles, and being the helpful child that he is, he seems to be giving them a wash for me in the process!  As thoughtful as this is of him, I’ve explained that he needs to make sure he sits on the toilet straight.  Boys being boys though, I may as well talk to myself!

So there you go, now you know why my toilet smells of wee…  Anyway, must dash. If you need me anytime soon I’ll be the mad woman with the dettol spray and kitchen roll on hand waiting to spring into action to catch the drips!

This year I’m going to concentrate on me.  Yes, I’m a mum of 3, and my boys will still come first no matter what, but after that it’s me, me, me!

I’m a totally unsociable cow – there, I’ve admitted it.  If people invite me out I already have an excuse stored in my brain to give them straight away without even thinking about it.   A lot of friends  just don’t bother asking me anymore because the answer has always been no.

One of the reasons for this among others is I just hate leaving my children.  I could count on my fingers the amount of times in 5 years I’ve left them.  I’m like one of those obsessive mothers I promised I’d never be.  I know deep down they’ll be fine without me, but my stubbornness of people thinking I may need help, or the guilt of leaving them stops me everytime.

Another reason is I’m a complete and utter hermit which I know doesn’t help.  I go out if I have to, and try not to if I don’t.  Yes, I do the school run, go to the shops, take the kids to the park, but anything apart from that I rarely do.  It’s not that I don’t want to or anything but I have an irrational fear of doing new things.  I get a sicky feeling in the pit of my stomach when situations are slightly different to me or the unknown.  I’ve always been the same since I was a child.  I’ve fainted in exams, been sick in inappropriate places and had panic attacks too.   For these reasons especially I know I have to push myself this new year and  make a change.  I think it’s about time I remembered that before I was a wife and mum, I was a friend, and that’s something I still want to be if they’ll still have me…   So for my sanity wish me luck because 2010 is going to be a less scared, more sociable me for everyones sake!

The fun started Christmas eve when our 3 year old decided bedtime really was not an option for him.  When making a sneaky run for it out of his bedroom, he slipped on the wooden floor and went head-first into the corner of the stair-gate.  The bump on his forehead emerged before our eyes, and the screaming of ‘Leave me alone’ and crying went well on until 11pm.  When he finally drifted off to sleep I sat next to him with a bag of frozen peas on his head in the hope it would lessen the lump and bruising for the photos Christmas day.  That was pointless looking at his poor head now!

Anyway, the fall obviously didn’t effect him too much because both boys were up at 5:30am.  The magic of Christmas through a child’s eyes is lovely to see.  The look on their faces was a picture in itself when they saw the treats left for Santa had gone, and Rudolph had taken a bite out of his carrot.  By the time they saw their sacks filled to the top my eldest was literally shaking with excitement!

Half an hour later with paper strewn everywhere along with cardboard galore and instruction manuals aplenty, we had 3 very happy little men.  With my DH doing the cooking this year, it was up to me to make up all toys for 3 boys at the same time with them getting increasingly frustrated that I didn’t have more pairs of hands! By 10am I was ready for bed again!

It’s now been only 2 days since Christmas day and already the familiar phrase, ‘I’ve got nothing to do’, has come from one of my little mens mouths. With a playroom full of new toys I didn’t expect to hear that for at least another week! Nevermind, with Christmas now over, I’ve  got my 5 year olds birthday party to organise for January.  With the thought of amusing 27 of his classmates at the front of my mind, I reckon the stress of Christmas was a breeze!