Cauliflower fried rice

Healthy Kids Community - week 2

Pasta alternative

Like most families, we have our fair share of pasta, spaghetti and rice dishes and you know why, they are soooo easy and quick to make.

So this week we chose a family favourite and shook it up!

I checked the web for pasta alternatives and saw something I had never seen before; people were suing cauliflower as a rice alternative! The poor veg that I always passed in the supermarket unless I fancied cauliflower cheese, had so much more potential.

I needed to tap into this secret world.

Just to side track a tad, hubby and I are BIG lovers of Tapenyaki and I am always so fascinated by how they prepare the rice, and I have long wanted to have a go at some fancy rice myself, now I had my chance, with the cauliflour.

Ingredients

1 cauliflower head

2 TBSP sesame seed oil

1 clove of garlic, diced

half a white onion, diced

1/2 cup of peas

4 carrots, diced

2-3 TBSP light soy sauce

2 eggs,

2 spring onions, chopped

Method

1) grate the head of your cauliflower to create 'rice'

2)pre-heat a large frying pan / wok add the sesame oil, garlic, onion, peas and carrots and gently fry until soft, move to one side of the frying pan

3) add the eggs to the free side of the frying pan, and fry unit cooked, creating a scrambled egg and mix well with the veg.

4) add cauliflower rice and soy sauce to the frying pan and combine all ingredients together. continue to fry until all cooked and tender (approx 5 mins)

5) add spring onions and stir through.

6) serve

Now, this was supposed to be a side dish to chicken or fish when we got back from the local festival, but the weather had other ideas for us, so instead this was a super delicious yummy lunch.

 

Healthy kids community

Something pretty amazing happened.. I have teamed together with a group of amazing mums around the World and we have become the 'Healthy Kids Community.'

Each week we are going to post some amazing alternative and healthy dishes to hopefully inspire other parents and also to keep insipiring ourselves.

I must admit, it was very easy to slip into familar old favourites when it came to cooking for my family, but now I have no choice but to shake things up, and personally I look forward to the challenge.


I hope you are all as excited as I am to get cooking and creating some super amazing dishes for our little tummies to enjoy.

Make sure you follow the whole group of mums on instagram, and some are also on Facebook and Pinterest too!

@katdillicious_kitchen
@cookingforgrey
@whatsbabyeating
@little_miss_s_
@sproutingyumminess
@toddlerandtoast

Plue we also have amazing giveaways happening from time to time :)

NOM NOM KIDS

NOM NOM KIDS!

I’d had a bad night and wasn’t having a particularly great start to the day, but then all that brightened up with the arrival of the postman.

I had received my delivery of NOM NOM KIDS pouches and they were every bit of gorgeous of what I had seen from Instagram.

The vibrant colours and cute animals soon got the seal of approval from Austin.

He loves animals and is getting pretty good at animal noises.

Instantly seeing the monkey and ‘uh uh uhing’ at him.

The pouches are fabulous arriving with an easy to read instruction guide.

The first clean was super easy, blow them up, open their side and clean.

They are easy to fill; attach the lid, open the side, fill to the guide line and zip lock shut.  

We put a couple in the fridge ready for immediate use once chilled and some in the freezer ready for day trips.

Get them out of the freezer in the morning and leave them to defrost during the day until they are ready to use.  

Our first smoothie was banana, frozen mango, frozen strawberries and cow’s milk.

I let Austin help put the fruit in the blender; he’s really good at that bit, one piece of fruit for him, one for blender, one for him, one for the blender...

 

Smoothies are a great way of getting extra nutrients and vitamins into our little people. I like to start my working days with a smoothie to keep me going until lunch, there are no nap times at work for me to have a cheeky ‘pick me up snack.’ Austin always wants to try my smoothie, but as it is from a glass, it’s something that he just hasn’t mastered without a smoothie shower.

I had resorted to doing frozen smoothie ice pops for him, but now, with these pouches he is able to join in with my morning smoothie ritual.

 

And you are not just restricted to smoothies, we've put yogurts and milk shakes in them too!

I highly recommend these pouches, they are in my opinion an essential for your baby weaning / feeding kit.

 

And excellent news, I am giving one lucky instagram follower the chance to win a weaning set of these amazing pouches, which includes 10 pouches, extra lids and a handy pen to keep track of what’s in which.

 

See my original Instagram post for full details.

 



Our first family holiday

I ummed and ahhed about booking a holiday for a while, we had not been in years, I wasn’t sure I could manage another year without a break away...

 

I researched and researched, somewhere close, short flight, somewhere familiar, somewhere safe.

 

We decided on Palma Nova, Richard and I have been there plenty of times, well more Magaluf, but those days are gone! So Palma Nova it was. Short flight – check! Somewhere familiar – check!

 

I found a beautiful family friendly hotel which was close to the beach. It had extras; free passes to the Katmandu Hotel & theme park – sold!

 

We flew out the day after Richards 30^th Birthday Party; thank goodness I got us an afternoon flight!

 

Austin was a dream for the take-off, he had a nap as soon as we got on the plane, woke up half way through just in time for some food. He needed a nappy change – absolute nightmare, there just is not enough room in there!

 

The decent was not so dreamy, and he started crying, holding his ears and crying, I wanted to cry my poor little baby was in pain, he wouldn’t take any snacks or drink his water to help himself. He calmed down as soon as we landed and he saw the trucks and buses!

 

We went to baggage claim and waited over an hour for all our bags and his pram, Austin wasn’t phased, he was just enjoying running around the airport in the new surroundings.

 

We had a bit of a drama checking in and searching for a shop open at midnight to get Austin some milk, in the end I took him to the bar to fill his milk up, then straight to bed ready to start our holiday!

 

I absolutely love that we have done BLW with Austin; it made eating with him on holiday so easy and stress free.

 

We went for breakfast our first morning, getting fry ups and fruit and yogurt for us all to share, ready to head to the beach.

 

Oh did I mention that it had been a heat wave! Like a paranoid lunatic mum I spent the majority of my time chasing after him with the factor 50+ and putting him in the shade or the beach tent!

 

We had so much fun playing on the beach and lost track of time (mummy burnt too busy worrying over Austin!) So quick showers all round and out for tea.

 

Our first night we went to a beach BBQ restaurant, daddy ordered steak (too rare to share) I order chicken kebab skewers with veg and rice, and garlic bread (which features a lot on our holiday!)

 

Austin was restless, it was too late for him, and so we ate and took him back to the room for him to sleep. Mummy and daddy chatted on the balcony with a few beers/ ciders / wine.

 

The next day we had breakfast in the room, I took my ‘Organix cereals’ and we had fruit and toast and headed to Marine land to see dolphins and sea lions. It was an amazing day; I was kissed by a sea lion! Austin loved the dolphin show clapping and dancing along.

 

Other activities included; the Katmandu house, which he loved, pressing all the buttons, we took him again later on in the holiday to the soft play centre – it was 42degrees, he needed somewhere cool and shaded to play and run.

 

Pirates family show – amazing as always, this was more for us, Austin got fed up by the second half, but I let him have some ice cream so this certainly cheered him up!

 

We had a pool day, letting him float in his new rubber ring, more beach days, including mummy being stung by a jelly fish, having a giant nose bleed.

 

It was a great time, some stressful times, but mostly amazing and fabulous memories made which will last forever.

Gangnam Style

This week has been a difficult week, for a couple of reasons, one day I will write about it, but not now...

 

We have had a great week of delicious food and amazing weather, we actually got to sit in the garden eating homemade burgers on Thursday. Note to self - must buy a barbecue!

 

Last night me and hubster went to a wedding, a great night for us to be with friends, drinking, dancing, and spending time with each other. Eating without having to share with the baby! It was perfect!

 

Now it is tradition, of sorts, that I request ‘Gangnam style’ at weddings, I did it to the last 2 weddings we went to and because everything comes in threes, you can see where this was going!

 

But I was beaten to it; it came on, without anyone requesting it!

 

Amazing, although, I haven’t heard the song for a while, I couldn’t actually remember the dance routine, so just proceeded to dance round the dance floor on my imaginary horse.

 

But like the last time I went out, I am up again early! Early! If anyone has any tips on how to sleep in when there isn’t a baby in the house, please do let me know!

 

I am off on a girl’s day out today for a friend’s birthday, so I need to get myself ready. But the rain has started pouring, thus putting a dampener on my outfit choices. Don’t let the word ‘choices’ fool you – there are only 2, jumpsuit or jeans... I am thinking jeans, or jumpsuit, I still have time to decide.

 

I am missing my boy, I don’t like him not being here, and I will miss him today. I am a tiny bit envious of him and the hubby spending the day together having a boy’s day.

 

Roll on Sunday for mummy baby time.

On Wednesdays I make lists

I really need to start being more proactive with this blog thing...! Especially now I have over a 1000 followers on my instagram page! Yey!

It’s Wednesday, on Wednesdays I make lists...

I do the shopping on a Thursday, but I like to go prepared!

First I check what’s in the cupboards, fridge and freezer that I can use up.

Then, I write a meal plan, well I plan what days we can all eat together, (since sometimes Daddy works evenings and we don’t get to eat together)  then I decide what were having and when.

Then finally, I write my list of what we need to buy.

I only shop at Aldi, but I do go to Tesco for my nut spreads.

I also like to write my list in order of the shop, does anyone else do that? I start with cereals, then breads, fruits & veg, meat, eggs, frozen, fridge bits, nappies and tills – you all do this, right?!

A personal choice, I like to buy fresh meat, fresh fruit and veg, I’m not against frozen foods and do get frozen pizzas, a salmon wellington, onion rings etc... But I really enjoy making my meals from scratch, I like to know what’s going into the food that I feed my family.

This is a reason we chose BLW (baby led weaning) so I could take this food journey with him, I could start trying new foods and stop being so darn fussy, because I do not want Austin being a fuss bucket like me. And I love it; I can’t believe I’ve denied myself all these foods for so long.

And who would have known that I would like cooking, and that I would be good at it!?

I prep a lot of our meals the night before where possible and this is also factored into the planning, when the baby goes to sleep this mama gets busy in the kitchen!

Maria

My poorly baby

I loved have an extra day with Austin, getting Bank Holiday Monday off.

The sun was shining so we headed out to the park.

Austin’s’ walking has come on leaps and bounds, his favourite thing is running the length of the field in the park, it is beautiful to watch him giggling and laughing while he runs, chasing me or charging at the ducks.

 
Back to work for me Tuesday and Wednesday so Austin and daddy can have quality time together.

I look forward to Thursdays so much, my time with him for 4 days.

But Thursday he woke up with a cold, it looked like a radioactive slug had been set free on his bed and over his teddies.

He cried, was clinging, screamed and refused to nap.

I took him with me to vote (lucky him) then for a walk in the hopes that the fresh air would help him nap.

No such luck.

He slept in my arms on our return, but the spirit level in him knew when I attempted to put him down, which meant the screaming restarted.

Whilst he was screaming the house down, we had a surprise visit from my parents!

Worst timing ever.

They stayed while I attempted to rock him back to sleep, which was not going to happen so I gave up and brought him down stairs.

He was falling asleep in his food so an early night was on the cards.

I foolishly thought, no nap means a full night’s sleep, how wrong was I?

He woke screaming the house down at 3 am, I tried to calm him down, but he was in so much pain that I had to give him calpol and rock him back to sleep.

He woke at 5 am, I rocked him back to sleep and he was up again at 6am, this is when our day started...

 

Friday was much the same at Thursday, crying, screaming, clingy, refusing to nap, it was also raining so no chance of any fresh air, so we bought him a ball pit in the hopes that that would cheer him up. He is not interested in it right now, but I have high hopes for when he is better.

Saturday; Hubby and I were supposed to be going out on a double date to see the band I have booked for Hubbys 30^th birthday party (which I still am NO further forward organising!?), but due to Austin being so unsettled I cancelled, I didn’t want him staying out in this state. As tired as I am (and believe me I am tired) I need to be the one that he sees that can make him better.

The sun briefly came out Saturday so we took him to the park for some fresh air and for a run; we didn’t know that there was anything happening but when we got there a little festival was happening, with food stalls, beer tents and dragon boat racing on the canal which was fun to watch.

In the midst of his cold, he is also cutting a new tooth, which explains his behaviour.

He refused to sleep Saturday night, it has been a long time since I have had to rock him to sleep, but Saturday, I had to.

Sunday, today, he has been clingy, tired, falling over because he was too tired to walk, but I got a few smiles and giggles out of him.

Today we just sat and watched Rio on TV, we NEVER watch TV, I never have a need to turn it on because he is so happy playing and entertaining himself, but today he just wanted to sit with me and I had read him EVERY book he owns multiple times over the last few days, oh, did I mention I am full of cold too and my throat is so sore? No? Well I am, so I took the TV option.

I don’t want to make a habit of watching TV with him, but I absolutely loved watching him watching TV, pointing at the characters, brumming along with the cars and planes, copying me saying ‘wow’ and clapping when Blue learned to fly – my heart actually swelled with pride!

He refused to nap this afternoon and didn’t eat much of his food so he went to bed early, luckily no screaming and fighting tonight.

It has been a tough few days, actually reminds me of the early days, before today I couldn’t remember the last time I had showered, I am exhausted, I really looking forward to going to bed, and actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow so I can have a rest.

 

But in exciting news, a post I did for Fourth Trimester Magazine website which is live today!

Bottle feeding

Bottle feeding mamas – I need your help!

As Austin is now over 12 months, I wanted to start the transition from bottles to sippy cups for his milk. He is fine drinking water out sippy cup / sports bottle.

He has been to the health visitor for his 12 month review and booster jabs and she mentioned that he needs to be off bottles as they are so bad for his teeth (which I knew anyway!) but said we probably won’t be able to get him off bed bottle...

He has 2 bottles of milk a day, one at 7am when he wakes up and one at 7pm just before bed.

This week I have started giving him his milk in a sippy cup (tommy tipee 4+months cup) but he is just not interested in drinking milk from it, he would rather paint my floor with the milk instead.

I have tried him in the Nuby sports bottle, but he just doesn’t seem interested in it unless it’s in a bottle!

I have resorted to feeding him his milk in his sippy cup so he can’t throw it everywhere, but I never wanted this kind of relationship with food or drink with him.

I have bought a new cup today to try in the morning – Munchkin 360 miracle cup 100% No Spills! Except that he has figured out how to sprinkle the water everywhere!

Does anyone have any advise, any bottles/sippy cups that you swear by.

Or kind words of “he’ll just get it in his own time.”

Maria

INSTA WEAN TEAM - Avocado

On Friday 10th April I was invite to take part in the Avocado #Instaweanteam challenge.

Avocado is a 'new' food for me, something I usually only have to hold my prawn cocktails, but once again, being a mummy has opened my eyes to something new.

Austin loves avocado, but I'd only spread it on toast or put it in a cream sandwich, time to freshen things up..

I went a little over the top with my prep, I wanted to create a full meal out of avocado, which lead me to:
Coconut chicken with avocado sauce, with a side of avocado fries:

recipe & method

coconut chicken 
1 packet of chicken breast strips
1 bowl of plain flour (enough to coat the chicken)
1 egg beaten in a bowl
1 bowl of desiccated coconut (enough to coat the chicken)
2 tbsp of coconut oil

• Dip the chicken in the flour, shake off the excess, dip into the egg, then dip into the coconut.
• Repeat for all chicken strips.
• Gently fry the chicken in the coconut oil, turning frequently until all sides are slightly browned.
• Place on a baking tray and cook for 20-25 mins 200 degrees until completely cooked, drizzle excess coconut oil on top for extra crunch.

avocado sauce
2 garlic cloves
handful of fresh basil leaves
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 avocado
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp cold water

• Blend all together in a food processor, serve immediately
  

avocado fries
1 avocado, cut into fingers
1 bowl of plain flour, enough to cover the avocado
1 egg beaten in a bowl
1 bowl of panko breadcrumbs, enough to cover the avocado
1 tbsp of unsalted butter

• one at a time, dip avocado finger into the flour, shake off excess
• dip in the egg, then the breadcrumbs
• repeat for all avocado fingers
• gently fry in butter until golden on all sides, turning frequently
• bake for 10 - 15 mins 200 degrees until evenly cooked, turning half way through

Enjoy! 

Salmon Fishcakes

Recipe - Salmon fishcakes   

Using left overs -  no waste!

1 portion of salmon
1 and half potatoes, mashed
1 tbsp of plain flour
1 egg beaten
1 bowl of breadcrumbs (I used Paxs golden breadcrumbs)
1 tbsp unsalted butter

Flake the salmon and mix with the mashed potatoes, add a little of the egg.
Flour your hands and form into rounds.
(I made 4 rounds)

Dip each round in the egg, then the breadcrumbs, repeat for all rounds.

Gently fry in the unsalted butter until golden, flip and fry the other side until golden.

I will reheat the next day for 15 - 20 mins 200degrees until warmed through.

Options:
Perfect dish to hide veggies in!
Add 1 tsp of herbs and a splash of lemon juice.

Silence is golden

Silence is golden, or is it?

So hubby is away on a (long!) stag weekend in Prague, I’m trying not to look at the pictures that are appearing on Instagram and Facebook, they’re not bad, if that’s what you’re thinking! I just want him to tell me about it (if he wants to) when he gets here, without me saying “yeah I saw that...”

I have major night out envy; luckily my dolls came to the rescue and suggested tapas and drinks. Perfect.

I now love tapas, being the picky eater that I once was, I remember the first time I went for tapas, with my narrow mind, thinking it was just olives and paella (which I also thought I didn’t like!) so I thought I wouldn’t enjoy it. How wrong was I!? It is delicious and the perfect way to try new foods, lots of little portions to share, so much fun! Before Austin was born we went for every family birthday, whenever we had a free night... the staff started to recognise us! I have missed going there.

Last night the sangria was flowing, the conversation was ridiculous with much laughter, until the waitress tried to take my food away when I hadn’t finished! I almost bit her hand off telling her no. ‘Joey doesn’t share food’ springs to mind!

To the next venue for more drinks, we had to get a taxi, someone (not me!) had ridiculous shoes on, which meant we couldn’t walk the 10 minute journey...

It was such a wonderful night, almost like we were abroad, sipping prosecco and gossiping about anything and everything.

Like all good things, the night came to an end.

I quickly logged into Facebook when I got in, and even more exciting news, the sneak peak pictures of Austin’s cake smash photo shoot had gone live! They are gorgeous, just absolutely perfect. I cannot wait for the full set of pictures and to start filling my house with them.

To bed, ready for the most epic lie in. This didn’t happen. Who wakes up at 7:15 when there is no baby waking you, me, that’s who!

The house is silent.

There is no baby babbling, playing, and being a mischief.

The house is silent.

There is no hubby.

I don’t like it; I don’t know what to do with myself.

Normally Richard and I go out together so he is normally here if Austin sleeps out.

I don’t remember what I used to do with myself before Austin was born, I probably slept, because I could and my body wasn’t conditioned to get up at ridiculous o’clock.

So far I have watched E! News, had a boiled water with lemon, had a bowl of cereal, now I’m flicking through the sky planner, counting down the hours until I get my baby back. I should probably do something more productive.

Well I’ve at least wrote this.

 

 

Dear Austin

So much has happened, my baby turned 1! I now have a 1 year, a perfect boy that I have shared a year with, and it has been an absolute pleasure.

It has been a very different and difficult at times, 12 months, but I have loved every second. Even the times when I saw 3 am a little more than I wanted to.

On 03/04/2014, I woke up, thinking it was just another day, I did the labour dance and went about my usual day, we watched ‘The Intern’ and laughed and laughed... real belly laughs.

The weather was nice, and we wanted to spruce the garden up (have I really just used the word ‘spruce’ !?) so we headed to B&Q after tea. We arrived and some pains started, I ignored them, thinking they were the Braxton hicks again, but they were getting stronger, especially when I was in the queue, the only thing to help was to rock back and forth, I might add that no one offered to let us go ahead of them!

On the drive home, I had a big show; the pains were still coming, so I rang the hospital, they asked me to come in for a check over, in all the excitement I hadn’t noticed if Austin was moving.

We got to the hospital at 10pm, the midwife confirmed all was fine, but did say I was in slow labour, she told me to go home, get myself comfortable because I was going to be in for a long night!

Things really stepped up a notch when we got back home, so I took her advice of a bath and took the time to shave my legs ready! I tried to have a paracetamol, more advice, it was cruched into jam on toast – this did not help.

Richard put TV on while I paced through my contractions, stomping through room to room, swaying, rocking, breathing... I ranged the hospital, they said it was still soon to go back in and asked me to wait until midnight and call back.

I didn’t make it to midnight, the same midwife answered the phone when I rang back, I didn’t even manage to say my name, but she knew, she told me to come in.

That car journey, to the hosptial, I watched the clock, knowing as the time passed what was coming. But also getting mad with myself because I knew much worse was coming, so I needed to toughen up!

Richard parked far away from the hospital, and since it was late, the main door was shut, far too much walking than I was capable of, but I managed it. I was unable to say my name to check in.

It was a long night, I was swinging from the roof on the ropes, demanding my back be massaged (poor Richard), pacing the room, asking to for the air and to go into the water – I got my wish, in I went.

I was in the pool for a long time, all I remember is the smell of cheese and onion crisps – Richard made his way through many packets...

It was time to push...

And push...

The head was out, I touched him, it was amazing, but terrifying, it was what I needed to get the rest of him out.

12:16 04/04/2014 – Austin was born.

The most amazing feeling, my son entered the world. I loved him, I knew I would love him, but I loved him a million times more than I thought I would. He was perfect, I just held him in arms, staring at him, feeling a million different emotions all in one go. I looked at husband and I felt so much more love for him, my family was complete.

Much more yukiness followed:

The delivery of the placenta - I needed the gas and air.

A few grazes - I needed stitches.

My baby needed feeding – I had no milk.

My baby needed feeding – he refused a bottle, I still had no milk.

I wanted to go home – I wasn’t allowed.

I finally discharged myself at 10 pm, much to the midwives disapproval, but I needed to go home. I needed to rest, but I was not going to get any rest. Not for the next 12 months...

It has been the most incredible, amazing year, watching him grow and learn. Seeing his first smile, hearing his first laugh, watching him roll for the first time, and scaring the bejeezus out of me when I saw him face down on the baby monitor! Watching him learn to crawl, learn to cruise, learn to walk, hearing him babbling. His sheer joy and excitement at everyday objects that we take for granted. He has opened my eyes to see the world again, through his eyes and I love him even more for that.

To my darling baby boy, I love you.

Happy first birthday xxx

 

The Laydees

I saw some blogs recently where the writers had written a letter to their 15 year old self. I loved them! Looking back, 15 was an amazing age and I wanted to jump on the band wagon, so I got my best friends together, who I met when I was 15, and we all wrote to ourselves...

Maria, 15, what an age, you were so worried about moving bands (classes) at school, worried you wouldn’t make new friends, well you needn’t be worried, because those girls that you met, they are the best friends you’ll ever have and dare I say it, you’ll never shake them off!

You fancy yourself as a bit of ring leader of this group that you will affectionately name ‘the laydees’ in a few years time. Wasting time in classes planning ‘the Laydees Street’ or drawing mushtashes on your face really isn’t cool! Stop it now! Pay a little more attention, stop giving your teachers attitude, although you really don’t need your GCSEs, it would be nice to get some decent grades.

You thought you were so cool, running around school swapping shoes with Lucie and wearing knee high socks, but I can tell you now, it’s really not a good look. But you didn’t care, you were so free spirited and arrogant at times.

Some of your happiest times will be with these girls, just sat at Mr C’s house making up dance routines to anything that came on MTV (hard to believe your really 15, right!?).

At 15 you re-connect with a boy from your past, who will become your first proper boy friend, you will end up spending 3 years of your life with him, I don’t want to tell you that you wasted your life with him, but things come to an end, it’s difficult to deal with and some days you think you won’t be able to move on. But trust me you do.

You go on to study fashion design, which you excel at, but you don’t take it any further, because you do meet the love of your life, the man you will marry and you will have a baby! In 13 years time who would have thought that you would be responsible for another person, an amazing little person who lights up your life.

There will be some really difficult dark days that will come up in the future, but I know you are strong enough to get through it.

Stay strong, stay amazing, stay funny, stay original, love yourself, you are pretty amazing, even if you don’t tell yourself enough.

Yours eternally, Maria, 27.

**********************************************************************************

Dear 15 year old Kenzie,

Heres some friendly notes on life from someone who loves you.

Don’t say that you hate yourself and try not to think it. I know that others have things you want or are taller/ prettier?!/ richer than you but you have a lot to be very happy about.

You have family all over that no matter how little you see them love you all the time. You have amazing friends that need you just as much as you need them and will still be around 10 or 20 years from now!

You have loads to look forward to, even things you never knew you wanted.

All you think about is bloody boys! Don’t think that you will fall in love and ride off into the sunset with whoever! Your love won’t run out and if someone brakes your heart it will mend by itself pretty fast. You can invest everything you have on someone who seems right but if they are not willing to invest everything they have on you, move along.

I’d go so far as to say forget about boys all together, at least until your about 25… They are still as clueless about feelings but know a lot more about sex :)

If you were to get some upsetting news, say for instance… you might not be able to have kids. Just research it you can answer your own questions by picking up a book. On that note read as much as possible, you love reading so should do it more than you do!

Don’t spend so much time worrying about your weight. Your happiness is so much more important. Get out more, eat less crap and drink more water.

See you soon.

Lots of love,

Kenzie x

*******************************************************************************

 

15 year old Lucie, where shall we start?

Lets start with school because lets face it, you absolutely HATE it and hate it even more when people tell you you'll regret not learning when you're older. Oh how you thought they were crazy! But let me tell you, you will completely regret it! So please try your best, you are capable of doing so much better.
I'll let you into a little secret, in 10 years time when the internet is apart of your every day life you'll see the 'brainy' ones aren't anymore brainy than you, so get your head down!!

Stop judging yourself so much. There are lots of people out there who like you. It might take 5,10 or even 20 years to find them, but you will.
Please don't feel you have to sleep with every single lad that shows you the tiniest bit of interest because let me tell you, it ends like you could never ever imagine and it is no fun at all. Do not cheat on the man you love and don't sleep with married men - neither end well.

You really need to try your best at not being shy and go out with friends even if you don't feel like it. You'll end up pushing them away and that could end up with you in counselling in the future. There's nothing to be ashamed of but you can so easily make that never happen.

One thing I am very proud of is how you don't feel pressured into 'fitting in'. You wear what you want, when you want, even if people mock and laugh at your outfit choice. God, remember when you wore boys boots and patterned tights with a skirt? Everyone laughed but a year later every lass was wearing them! Big fat lol ;)!
Remember how happy and care free you were when you and Maria wore odd trainers to walk to school in. I'm glad you've kept that fashion sense up.

Anyway, I better go, I'm working very hard on loving every bit about you and its exhausting, even confusing at times but I know I'll get there.

Bye xxx

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Curls my love,

If I could meet u now I would slap u in the face and give you a shake for the things you're gonna regret. However one thing that will always be there are the friends you've made. I know you worried and still worry about people moving on and just disappearing from your life. You will worry about what Becky will do when she finished school because you're scared to death of being left behind. Please believe in yourself more. Because in later years you will realise that three people believe in you. Those three people will truly touch your heart. Love like that never dies so you need to hold on to that. The people who disappear weren't worth it. Stop worrying about what irrelevant people think. The people around you.....the laydees.....they think you rock. Never did I see imagine finding three of the most amazing weirdos as Murg, Ken and Lulu.

It's ok to not know what u want to do. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself. I swear to god if you carry in like this you will make me bald and the victim of a heart attack in my later years.
I want you to not be so naive. I don't want you to be taken for a ride. Stop seeing the best in everybody. You have the most amazing friends. You need to listen to them. You're gonna get taken for a ride which will in a way feel like your life is over. But when you've come to terms with it some other things are gonna happen. That will be like a slap in the face. You'll realise just how much a certain person loves you. You always knew you were friends and would always try and be there for each other but there's gonna be a shit storm in your later laydee years. Trust me this will happen for a reason. You will be a stronger person for it and it will lead to only happiness and positive things from then on. I know it's shit but I think it's what you needed. You'll have an epiphany trust me.

Apart from all the heartache. Please remember on the background those three weirdos will always be there. Maybe not over the road or in Morrison’s doing as little work as possible. But they are there. They are in your heart forever.

Haircuts........all I can say is my goodness. You're gonna go through all sorts of phases. Most of them are gonna involve you looking like a penis/man boy. But I can assure you after your 'epiphany' you find yourself. And the hairstyle most suited to you.

Basically all you need to remember is that he following are the most important things ever:

Always be true to yourself
Never put someone else's happiness first
Never doubt how much those three weirdos love you. They love the bones of you. And you love the bones of them. You would stop the making of tea and cheese for any of them
Tea and cheese and Chinese/burgers with any of the three weirdos make anything feel better

One more thing. You're gonna be one of theeee proudest people ever in many years to come when two midgets enter life.

Everything happens for a reason. Some things are fucking terrible but I pinky swear you will come out of that shit storm covered in glitter.

Grandma curls x

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Thank you to my best friends for taking part and being so honest, I love you all more than you could ever imagine

 

 

Crying & Steps!

The day started with a trip to Mothercare, the pram has broken, I haven’t even been using it for a year yet, but I’ve certainly put it through its paces, crossing my fingers for a brand new one.

I have bought a nice new one anyway – that I love! Its a dream, so I could do with getting some money back on the broken one to cover the cost of the new one...

Then to the supermarket, which is just a pain some days, since hubby works there, is takes forever to get round if Austin is awake, with everyone cooing over him, which normally I love, but he needed a nap and was getting cranky.

Since we were all home together, the plan for today was to go to a play centre, hubby has never seen Austin with other children and I wanted him to see how amazingly Austin does in the play gyms, and with other children, plus the food is delicious!

So off we all trotted, it was a nice day and as little man hadn’t napped, he could sleep on the walk.

We got there and it was surprisingly quiet, I was so excited for us all to get in there!

Even though it was so quiet, a boy still managed to fall into Austin – crying, take 1.

He then slipped trying to climb up the slide, bit his lip, blood – crying, part 2.

I put him in the ball pool, the safe place, no ‘big kids’ allowed, but, a girl, decided to do a high dive into the pool, yep landed on Austin – crying, part 3

I found out a lot of info about this girl, she was 4 and liked Frozen; she was waiting for her friend to arrive. She took a shine to hubby, not to me and not to Austin once she found out he was a boy!  

It all just seemed too much today, not the glorious picture I usually paint it to be, so we decided to leave, at which point Austin was sick, and yep you guessed it, cried some more.

He fell asleep on the walk home, poor little sausage; it must have been a bit much for him.

But it really has been such a beautiful day; we took some toys and play mats to the garden to play in the sun.

Oh, so I haven’t mentioned it yet, I suppose I should – he walked yesterday, actual unaided steps, purposeful steps towards me. Amazing spontaneous steps, he got up let go and walked right to me. I was so proud I could have cried! I tried to capture it on video but I couldn’t on my own, I got some shaky footage that I forwarded to hubby, but he wanted to see it for himself.

So treating Austin like he is a performing monkey, we have tried to get him to walk all day. He is having none of it!? I’ve put it down to him having a difficult day in the play centre.

But after tea, after his bath, in his PJs we were playing in the kitchen, and he walked from daddy to me, from me to daddy, it was so amazing, like I was seeing it again for the first time. I am so proud of him.

What an amazing early birthday present, taking his first steps a week before his birthday. Well done my little man.

 

 

Watch this space

Oops - how do so many days pass by and I have haven’t had chance to post…

Today I have made a conscience effort to write something because I am so darn excited!

I have finished work (yey!) ready for the big birthday celebrations, and because hubby is going on a stag the weekend after, I am practically taking 3 weeks off! It will be so good to spend some proper days with my boy, taking him to play groups, I think he’s missed them since I have been back at work.

Other exciting news - I received an email today, I don’t want to say too much now and ruin the surprise, but I have been invited to join as a guest in the #instaweanteam / #tastytoddlermeals !

Yes! Are you kidding me - this is so exciting!

I am taking my responsibility so seriously, luckily it’s a food that Austin enjoys, but now I need new and exciting ways to prepare it.

So I will be spending most of nap times in the run up to it researching what I’m going to do, but I already have a few ideas.

So, watch this space!

Thank you for following our baby led weaning journey

Wow!

I have over 100 followers on my Instagram account, that is amazing to think that so many people have decided to follow me to see what I am feeding Austin.

I hope I have been able to provide some inspiration to other parents out there, whether they are just starting on their weaning journey or looking for new ideas.

Why did I choose baby led weaning?

I had never heard of it before I was pregnant, and when you are pregnant you receive a tonne of 'helpful' advice and tips from other mums...

Well, a woman at work, told me to read up on BLW & Gill Rapley, I started reading her book whilst I was pregnant, but it seemed almost 'too soon' to be reading up on how to feed my baby when he wasn't even born yet.

I kept scanning it, putting off properly reading it. But one thing that stuck with me was that a baby should be fed only milk for the first six months of their life, something that is echoed on NHS websites etc, so imagine my surprise when people started suggesting I give my son baby rice when he was 4 months old.

Time to properly read the book, and it made so much sense! When I looked at my new baby son, he was so independent and so eager to learn, I knew that he would want to master a new skill, to feed himself.

He was so eager to take toys to his mouth exploring them, that I started giving him food about 5 and a half months, he didn't eat anything for about a month but he was learning to handle new shapes and textures that toys didn't give him.

I am amazed at how brilliantly he has taken to eating, and that is what inspired me to start documenting his journey, thank you for joining us on our journey.

A quiet few days...

So... a quiet few days, except really they've been any thing but!

Austin's first birthday is fast approaching and the plan for the day has been formulated! The gifts have been bought and we know what were doing! I think I am going to create a photo album just of his first birthday to show him how much effort we actually went to for him!

Then there is the hubby's big 3.0! The room is booked, a band has been booked, catering still to do, plans are forming, ideas are getting created ... it is going to be amazing!

5th wedding anniversary (wood) come on down!... so I would love to do something special for this but with having the baby & hubby not having weekends off etc... it is not looking likely.

And I want to book our first family holiday! But when to go? Where to go? Will Austin cope with a flight? Will it be too hot? Will he get bored? So many questions!

So, yes, quiet here, not so much in my head!

Today has been a lovely day, one of my oldest friends celebrated her daughters first birthday this week, we were invited to the birthday tea party.

She is now a single parent, me and my friends didn't want her to miss out on any mothers day celebrations, so we got her a little something, a card and a gift and hid it in her bedroom - she is very cheeky and has opened it today, when mothers day isn't until tomorrow!?

Tomorrow is my first mothers day, I am excited, but hubby is working all day (so I don't know when I will get my card / gift) but the most important thing is that I get to spend the day with my boy.

Surprises, Celebs and Bananas

What a lovely surprise!

I came out of a meeting today, to a message that I had missed a call... I knew instantly that it must have been the hubby :)

Excited and nervously I called back wondering if all was ok. It was, but even better, he was in town!

My hubby & little bear had popped into town to do a bit of shopping (about time since Mothers Day is this Sunday! My first I might add!)

A surprise lunch date with my two favourite people in the whole world.

Where else would we go, but for a trusty burger.

A packed lunch was provided for Austin so he could still have something healthy and baby friendly - Avacado on toasted bread and a Clementine, which he devoured. He then started eyeing up my sweet potato fries with such lust in his eyes, pointing "more! more!"

Who am I to deprive my son of a sweet potato fry or two, or three... heck we practically shared them!

Just when I thought the day could not get any better... Karl Pilkington! walked in! Well it wasn't him, I don't think, but man! He was the best doppelganger I have ever seen. I felt a little star struck to be quite honest.

I wanted to get a picture but he must get it all the time, so I just tried to enjoy my food and not stare. It was hard. I did stare.

I didn't want to go back to work after our lunch, but I had to, but it was so easy to do knowing I had had such an amazing time and knowing that we would all be back together again soon.

I was so full after my lunch that I couldn't face any tea, so Austin had an aubergine, mushroom and cheese omelette finished off with a banana and blueberry smoothie ice pop.

While we're on the subject of 'banana' I might add, that Austin is currently on banana strike! Strike imposed by me, not him, he loves them and can actually say banana; he would eat them all day if he could. Well yesterday he did...

Daddy gave him a banana for breakfast

Granny gave him a banana for dinner

Mummy gave him a banana for tea!

Daddy didn't tell Granny and Granny didn't tell Mummy until it was too late and Mummy told Daddy when he got in and found out he had given him a banana at breakfast!

So naturally, I went to Google: "can I my son have too many bananas?" Google provided the obligatory scare stories 'potassium poisoning in the elderly' 'constipated babies.'

So I have now decided that I need a 'Yumbox' and that he needs a break from banana.

The perfect balance

I am a working mummy, a part time working mummy. I am very lucky that I have family who can watch the little bear on Mondays when I am at work; hubby doesn't work Tuesday & Wednesdays so he can get quality daddy-baby time too.

I knew I had no choice in the matter; I had to go back to work. We simply cannot afford for me to be a stay at home mummy.

When little bear was born, I loved it. I loved watching him, staring at him, holding him. I was 100% completely head over heels smitten in love with him (and I still am).

I absolutely dreaded the thought of returning to work, it made me sick. I didn't want to leave him; I wanted to spend all my time with him! Irrational thoughts entered my head, "what if he forgets about me!?" "what if he hates me for leaving him!?"

But as ridiculous as it sounds, I was lonely too, I craved a conversation that didn't revolve around how many poops he had had that day.

A part of me needed to go back to work, to see different faces, to talk about different things. Mostly I listen to other peoples conversations, because my only interest is my son. And I hate the thought that I have turned into one of them really annoying women those ONLY talks about their children.

But that's the reality, my world starts and ends with him. He is 99% of what I talk about, and even when I don't mean to, I will still steer the conversation back to him.

I have 'got used' to going back to work now, and part of me is enjoying it. But to say that out loud makes me feel so guilty, I can sense I am being judged for enjoying time away for my child - I probably aren't, but it’s those irrational thoughts again.

Today was one of the days I really didn't want to go in, I felt sick in the shower thinking about leaving him; I put off leaving the house until the absolute last minute so I could spend a little longer with him.

I got through the day, looking at the clock and counting down until we were home together.

He was being dropped off at 5:30 today.

As soon as the clock struck 5:30 I kept peeping out of the windows to see if he was there... the longest 5 minutes of my life!

I have no idea why I felt like that today, I knew he was safe, I knew he was happy, and you know what he probably needs to see a face that isn't mine too!

I know that he missed me; he pointed to me as soon as he walked through the door, gave me a snorty huffy blow (to tell me he was mad that I left him) then reached out to give me the biggest cuddle.

Everyone is different and everyone does what's best for their circumstances, but I have got my perfect balance.

Count down to nap time...

When a bad day turns good!

5am! 5AM!? I thought the days of seeing 5am were long gone! But it turns out that today little bear decided 5am was his rising time, luckily for me he happily played until 6am, when he started getting bored and called for some company...

So up we get and the day beings and I start my countdown for the first signs of tiredness so we can nap!

It always amazes me how someone can have sooo much energy when they have zero caffine in their system!

He spent time running around with his walkers, checking the cupboards that dont yet have locks on (its a new cupboard!) running around with his walkers some more, climbing the TV unit, running around with his walkers, climbing through the tiniest gap in bookcase/unit before actually getting to his regular toys!

Finally - breakfast! Austin had the following:

Half a grapefruit (not keen, at all)
Handful of cornflakes
Slither of crumpet
Scotch pancakes with peanut butter

We made a beautiful video for my friends, and boom! There it was - the yawn!

TO BED!

Almost two hours, two delighful hours of rest and we are ready to take the day, again!

Lunch:

Half a tortilla wrap with ham & guacamole
Half a tortilla wrap with cream cheese & guacamole
Banana (his favourite & he can say it too!)
Apple & Cinnamon pinwheel

We met up with our friend L and her baby L and went for another lovely walk and gossip along the canal to the park, to a random undiscovered playground where the babes got chance to have a play on the swings and slide.

An obligatory trip to the coffee shop for a pick me up and snack for the babes. Then a trip to the supermarket for essentials.

Home for tea:

Homemade macaroni cheese with tomotoes
Strawberries in natural yougurt

Eek the mess! But Austin did amazingly dipping his spoon, it is crazy how much he amazes me everyday :)

Bath, book and bed for him.

Maria news - I have had my first request /contact for help with some foodie ideas for babies, which is a lovely compliment to receive and so exciting! I have been thinking and can't wait to get sharing!

Over and out - Maria