Back Again!

I really have been neglecting my blog, and for that I am sorry! I have been a busy bee, busy with nothing interesting enough to blog about!
Christmas is coming and the decs are up, this year we have a beautiful advent candle which I am hoping to keep as a tradition, instead of chocolate calenders! I am starting to get excited for Christmas now, the presents are starting to pile under the tree, the snow has come and gone again, but is promising to show its face again before Christmas day!

For months we have been saying, Louie will be walking by Christmas. At 9 months he started but swiftly gave up on the cause, refusing to even stand up or walk with help! The stubborn mule! However, just as I was talking to his Nana about it, he decided to show off, he can walk! And rather proud of it he is too.

Look at those tegs!

My big boy, 10 Months old

Mama's toys are the best toys!

All of my Christmas gifts have been completed now, wrapped and given to their recipients. I am a bad blogger and forgot to take photographs of the finished articles. But hopefully I will get some photos on Christmas day, although I won't be around to update for a week or so.

Winter!

Winter has certainly been thrust upon us this year! I absolutely adore all this snow, I could really get used to it. However it is on its way out now, and I can't wait for some more to fall.

It certainly has been feeling wintery and we haven't been going out so much, just staying in all cosy in the warm. Yesterday we had a big kitchen clean up and Dan suggested that we needed a bag to put our rags in. So last night I put together a little bag to hang under the sink for all of the dusting cloths. I used a scrap of muslin I had lying around and some ribbon, it took me the best part of an hour.

Today I have managed to get the sewing machine out *Praise the Lord!* and have sewn the pockets on to the pinnies. I have cut the waistbands for them too, but not sewn them on yet as our machine is so noisy and little man is fast asleep.

I have been desperately searching for a big oversized cream coloured knitted jumper at no avail. Well I saw one I loved in Gap that was £70 so that was out of the question. But I did find what I wanted eventually online and treated myself. I figure it will last me a life time, and I will definitely need it if the weather is going to stay sub zero much longer! And as the next day delivery was only a pound more, I treated myself :)

Tomorrow Dan, Louie and I are going to the Clarendon Park Christmas Market. I wanted to go to the Matlock Victorian Christmas Market but with the weather as it is, I didn't want us to go all that way to have to turn back because of bad roads. But it should be a good day out. We are going to Lockwoods for our Sunday lunch afterwards too, as we are in that neck of the woods. I am hoping to get a nicely crafted decoration for Louie to give to his Nana for Christmas.

I could really get used to the snow! It is so beautiful, especially when there is a constant flurry outside your window. Louie thinks it is fascinating :) He seems to love it just as much as I do.

Yesterday we had a nice cosy day. The snow was falling outside and I made a pot of beautiful veggie soup, baked a loaf and we enjoyed a beautiful home made lunch. Then Louie settled down for a sleep and I got crafty and made some more little gifts.
Then a spot of late night shopping (as late night as having a baby allows!) in town, which was lovely, makes a change for us to go out for a wander!

Repairing Nappies

The other day I noticed my Real Easy was looking a little slack. It turns out the elastic became unstitched from the seam. I emailed HipHip Baby and asked them to repair it, the replied saying they would send a new one out to me, not a problem. So I decided to take it upon myself to have a go, as I didn't have anything to lose!
So here is a bit of a tutorial, incase the elastic goes in any of your nappies and you don't know where to start.

 As you can see, the first nappy is nice and taught, the second nappy is just flat and baggy.

 Firstly you need to lay the nappy out, and find where the elastic is. On this one, it was about 1/3 of the way in.

 Then using an unpicker, carefully unpick the seam at the end (where the elastic has come undone) and where the elastic now is. If you were wanting to replace the whole of the elastic, you would need to unpick each end. Make sure that you unpick enough to be able to work inside the hem.

 A new use for a nappy pin! Attach the nappy pin to the end of the elastic and push it through the hem.
Then you need to sew the elastic back into the nappy. The elastic had come from the seam, but I attached it to the back of the nappy. Being a minky fabric, you can't see any of the needlework. You need to make sure you sew it really well, over and over, so that the elastic doesn't break away again. Then all you need to do is sew up the seams and voila! A fixed nappy!

As good as new!

As you can see, it is taught and ready for use again. You can't see any of the repair work either!

Christmas Presents, A finished product!

Here are some of the lavender bags I have made. I am still making more but these ones are ready for gifting. Most have loops to pop onto a hanger, and one is for inside a drawer.

Fluffy Love!

Fluffy Heaven!

Today I visited Laura, the owner of Fill Your Pants  I popped by for a natter and to buy some (boring) bits from her. Only some more wipes, solution and vest extenders! Laura is lovely, and I got to meet her husband and her little boy Walker, who is gorgeous!
It was very tempting being around all those nappies though, I did spy a Birdcage Mini La La, but I have enough... I have enough!

Went round to the breastfeeding support group afterwards. It was PACKED! 13 Mums there! I felt awful as Louie is into everything, crawling, walking and literally terrorizing everyone and everything, so we sat in a corner on our own :(. We are now the most experienced breastfeeders in the group, rocking up to 9 1/2 months and counting!

This week!

Not been up to a lot this week, not much to note anyway! I have put my name down to do the breastfeeding peer counsellor course which I am really excited about. On Thursday, I met Nade in Loughborough and we took the little men to Mini Monsters, a soft play cafe. It was fun :) Louie and Emmanuel really enjoyed themselves. Look how beautiful he is!

 On Friday we went to tiny talk and then on to Anna's mums house. Louie was a fantastically good boy and wasn't daunted by it being a completely different place. He was very confident and was venturing around the rooms happily! I was so proud of just how confident he was. He really does love Anna, he crawled straight over to climb on her, which is unusual for him! He only usually does that to me, Dan and his Nana. She has always been there though, she was one of the first people to visit us in hospital, when Louie was only just a day old. Louie is lucky to have such a lovely lady in his life! So we went to give Anna her birthday present. I borrowed an idea from another blog, to wrap using a tea towel rather than paper, to reduce the amount of waste. We must throw away so much paper just from wrapping. Perfectly good paper that just goes straight in the bin. Luckily, I found the perfect tea towel, which was the perfect present. Anna LOVES (well thats an understatement) the Moomins and this Moomin tea towel will be a perfect addition to her new kitchen!

And some beautiful photos of my sleeping Louie!

Isn't he just the cutest!

I'm back!

I haven't been around for a week or so :(
Last weekend I was very poorly, I think it was a bug, but I couldn't move or I would throw up. It was very glamourous! So Dan and my Mom looked after Louie for me and I managed to get some well deserved rest. They have the bug now though! Its rubbish!

Christmas Presents, Part Five

I got a bit of time to craft yesterday and managed to make a lavender bag. I used some old muslin to make a little pouch of lavender. Not to be confused with a tea bag!!!! Anyway, I got the whole thing finished in about an hour. I was very pleased. Got a few more of these to make now, at least I know they don't take long.

The finished article

Louie decided to help me. He loves playing with my little sewing pouch. Its just got bits of ribbon and lace in it but Louie thinks its the best. He also LOVES playing with the sewing machine (in its box, in the corner) he has tonnes of fun flipping the handle!

Controversial Parenting

I recently have been subjected to some abuse over the parenting styles I have chosen. I am perfectly happy in the choices I have made, and firmly believe that I am doing the best I can for my son.
I was accused of having more money than sense. This has been bothering me profoundly. How can choosing to live a more natural life possibly be more costly than a consumer based lifestyle. My collection of slings combined with my pushchair still wouldn't add up to the cost of her solitary pushchair.
I have no problems with the way other people raise their children, as they are their parents and they know their children best. I do have a problem with people being closed minded about other styles of parenting.
I used disposables for the first few months of my sons life, due to lack of knowledge about a) the nasties in disposables and b) about how easy it would be to get into them. I have been accused of being 'disgusting' and 'cruel' for using them. I would never dream of saying that about someone using disposable nappies. In my opinion, I can advise of the advantages of cloth, but would never say 'you're a bad parent for using disposable nappies' or even look down my nose at them.
I have also been abused for my opinions on breastfeeding. How I feed my son is my choice. I want to bond with my son through nursing, whilst providing comfort and love. All the health benefits are just a massive bonus. If a mother wants to formula feed from birth, thats her choice, which she is entitled to. I do believe babies are born to breastfeed, and that why shouldn't we use this fantastic resource we are given to its advantage, but if they don't see it that way then thats fine.
When I was pregnant, I planned to breastfeed but if it didn't work out, then I would give formula. Thankfully it has never come to this, and I plan to feed for as long as Louie wants. He has now dropped all his day time feeds, and just feeds through the night. I had hoped to feed him until he was three but I'm not so sure that that is what he will want. I will stop when he wants to stop.

What is wrong with following your babies cues? Or wanting to hold your baby close to you rather than push them in a chair? Or wanting to nurture them through nursing?

I don't question what is seen as 'conventional' parenting, so why should I receive such negativity about how I raise my children?

Halloween

Twycross Zoo

Yesterday we visited Twycross Zoo, it was Louie's first time at the zoo. We went with Anna, Sam, Nade, Paul and Emmanuel. It was the first time we had ALL been together since Emmanuel's christening when Louie was 6 weeks old.
We had a lovely time, the weather held out for us and we missed the rain. Dan wore Louie in the ergo for the first time yesterday. He complained a bit but was happy over all :)
We took a beautiful picnic of the treats I made on Saturday - soup, bread rolls and cookies, and had such a nice day.

Keeping warm!

Sleepy

Dan, Louie and Sam

Snuggling meerkats 

Best Friends!

Sleeping in the Ergo

On a train!

Fighting prairie marmots

Today I have been a very busy housewife!
I made some yummy soup for our picnic, bread rolls and white chocolate and apricot cookies (which are HEAVEN SENT! I will put the recipe up as it is easy peasy and great for the small ones!)
Dan went to the supermarket to get some bits and pieces and came home with a surprise for me. A pumpkin!
I had planned on getting one, but didn't fancy carrying it home from the market. So whilst the bread was baking in the oven, I scooped the guts out and carved my pumpkin. Here is my little buddy, pride of place on the mantlepiece for the next few days. I love halloween, I always have.
Louie has been a spectacluarly wonderful little boy today and let me get on with stuff and played beautifully. He rolled the pumpkin around the kitchen, played with pots and pans all sorts :) He is a joy.

So cute!

Jack O Lantern 2010