Ollie Had A Haircut!

Just a couple of photos showing my little boy's new hair cut :) He looks such a cutie!

Paint Me A Picture

Yesterday I got out the water colours and Oliver and I did a little painting. Now we don't really do things like this, my mum isn't really a fan of messy play (a little OCD)  and it really rubbed off on me when I had Oliver. But as it was freezing cold outside I thought we'd give it a go.

It started off well apart from Oliver being a little more interested in putting his paint brush in water, but after a little while (probably a few minutes!) he started to instead paint the cars on the newspaper! We packed up after not too long to go and see my sister, but we will give this activity a try again soon.


Has anyone got any ideas for a mama who is quite new to the whole messy play thing? Would be much appreciated!

Christmas Tag

I saw this tag over on They Grow So Quick and as I'm a huge lover of Christmas I thought I'd join in!

1. What is your favourite thing about Christmas?

The atmosphere, I love the feeling of everything being so merry, all the family together.

2. What is your favourite make up look for the festive season?

I'm pretty much a smokey eye girl all year through but at Christmas there will be an addition of glitter and red lippy!

3. Real or fake tree?  

Fake tree as the real ones cause so much mess! Plus you can use it again and again :)

4. Giving or receiving presents? 

Everyone does love receiving presents and I won't deny that I do too, but I just love seeing people's reactions to the gifts you buy them, so giving.

5. Do you open your presents in the morning or evening? 

In the morning! First thing when we get up (after the required cup of coffee of course!)

6. Handmade or bought Christmas cards?

My sister makes her own handmade cards and actually sells them, they're brill, so unfortunately if I did make mine by hand they would pale in comparison! So bought!

7. What is your favourite Christmas film?

Elf and The Muppets Christmas Carol

8. What is your favourite Christmas food?

The whole Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings :)

I tag everyone who hasn't already done this! Link me to your posts in the comments section! Hope you're all enjoying the festive build up!

Sometimes I just look at Oliver and tear up thinking ''how did I ever make somebody this perfect'' <3

Quick Update- Macbook Issues!

I'm sorry about the lack of updates, my macbook seems to have malfunctioned and I currently have minimum usage of my mousepad. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the operating system but zilch, nada, must be a laptop fault. I am planning to contact apple about it as I have no idea what to do!

Anyway, I will try and post but like I said, the mousepad is being very glitchy. I may try and temporarily use a usb mouse but shall see!

In the meantime I will instead fill up my me time after Oliver has gone to bed with lots of Christmas films and old school TOWIE. Perfect!

x

First Weigh In

I had my first weigh in this week at slimming world, to see how I did please click here to be taken to my weekly weigh in post on 65 To Target

:)

Meal Planning Monday: 12/11/12

Second Meal Planning Monday post, whoop. I pretty much stuck to last weeks, just moved some meals about due to anything that came up. Had a cheeky carvery last night instead of cooking a roast, naughty naughty ;) Anyway have just done my food shop today, all slimming world friendly! So let's have a look at what's cookin' this week...

Monday- I had my dinner at my mums, a lovely chicken stew, Oliver loves it too and he's brought some home for tomorrow :)

Tuesday- I'll probably be having a salad for lunch while Oliver has his stew again, then I'll be making cheesy stuffed jacket potatoes for dinner, yum yum yum.

Wednesday- Dinner will be pork medallions wrapped in bacon with broccoli and carrots, Oliver will most likely have some potato with that too.

Thursday- Weigh in night so will be having dinner late, Oliver will be having his with his Grandad. I think dinner for me will be rump steak baguette, yummmmmmmy.

Friday- Will be chicken in a thai green curry paste, with rice and vegetables.

Saturday- Slimming world chips with cheese, beans and bacon :)

Sunday- Pork, roast potatoes and vegetables. Probably some mash and gravy for Oliver as well.

Linking up to At Home With Mrs M again, please check out her post and add your Meal Planning Monday to her linky list :)

What is everybody cooking this week?

My New Weight Loss Blog

I have a new weight loss blog!

Please follow 65 To Target to join me on my journey to lose 65lb with Slimming World.

There will be daily food posts and much more!

Please check it out :)

Is anybody else on a weight loss journey? Link me up to you blogs/ posts.


xx

I'm Too Gorgeous For My Hat

Olive has just decided that this is now his favourite hat. He loves wearing it around the house with pokemon stickers on his face, while rocking the messy hair look. What a little beauty <3

P.S, he has also got re-attached to his dummy, bless.

Meal Planning Monday

As promised, I give you my first 'Meal Planning Monday' post. I have seen this idea used on 'The Mini Mes and Me' and 'They Grow So Quick' so full credit to these really fabulous blogs, please check them out.

As I've said, I'm trying to be more organised. I never plan meals which ends up costing more money when I have to go and pick things up from the local shop, and usually me flapping round the kitchen searching the cupboards for ingredients. I am actually really excited about this and am hoping I will be able to stick to it.

Monday- As it's bonfire night, Oliver and I are going to my parents house where they will be doing a few small home fireworks for us to enjoy. We'll be eating burgers and hotdogs. Yum yum yum.

Tuesday- I am supposed to be going out for a meal with some of the girls from my old job so i will be eating out at Hickory's Smokehouse if this is still going ahead. I will most likely tuck into their delicious baby back ribs! Oliver will be eating before I go out, most probably a little cottage pie.

Wednesday- Pasta bolognese tonight, Oliver loves mummy's homemade bolognese sauce!

Thursday- I'm rejoining slimming world tonight and I won't be eating until afterwards as I'm staying at my mums and she has a treat afterwards. She's lost an amazing 7 stone in just a year on this plan, she looks fab! We'll probably be treating ourselves to a pizza and a bottle of wine, can't wait! Oliver will be eating earlier and I will probably make him a little pasta bake.

Friday- Homemade tomato soup.

Saturday- Cheese and bacon stuffed baked potatoes, particularly looking forward to this!

Sunday- Will most likely be a Sunday roast.

Linking up to At Home With Mrs M who has a linky list for anyone who writes 'Meal Planning Monday' posts. Go check out what other people are cooking this week and add your link in there too!

A Cheater's Coq Au Vin

You know those days, where you're searching through your cupboards trying to gather ingredients to make an acceptable dinner? Then behind all your jars and spices you spy a cheeky Colman's sachet of Coq Au Vin and you remember those chicken drumsticks that you've got in the refrigerator. The prospect of a hassle free meal is just too darn tempting so you retrieve the sachet and get to work!

All you need to do to make this delicious meal is to mix the sachet with 425ml of cold water ( or if you're feeling like a little tipple then substitute 300ml of the water for some red wine). As I was making the Coq Au Vin for both Oliver and myself I opted to use all water. You can also add onions to the sauce if you should desire.

You need to lay out your chicken portions in which ever dish you are using. It is completely up to you whether you use drumsticks, thighs, breasts etc. The Colman's recipe recommends removing the skin from the chicken but I left mine on. When you're chicken is laid out then pour over your Coq Au vin sauce, making sure to cover all of your chicken.

Cover the dish and cook at a temperature of 180c or gas mark 4 for 90 minutes.

And bon appétit!

As you can probably see, I cooked some green beans and then added them to the dish once it had came out of the oven. This turned out rather well as the green beans were delicious covered in the sauce and went well with the meal.

I served my Coq Au Vin with mashed potatoes but it would also be very tasty with new potatoes, baked potato or whatever you fancy really!

All in all this was a very delicious stress free dinner and while I will definitely be attempting a homemade Coq Au Vin sauce sometime soon, I have to say Colman's have nailed it.

Being bad has never tasted so good...

Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things

Once again, I have been neglecting this blog. I know that I make excuses all the time but all that I can say is there have been quite a few distressing things going on other the past couple of months. I'm not going to tell you the long long story about everything that has been happening but things are definitely starting to look up.

I will DEFINITELY DEFINITELY be updating more regularly. I have vowed to become more organised and I am going to be making time to update this blog as it really is something that I enjoy doing. I'll be including more regular posts like 'meal planning monday', recipes etc as I am now choosing to focus this blog on being a full-time mummy. So expect lots more of Oliver, and lots more of mummy trying to be a domestic goddess.

It's good to be back :)

A Couple Of Recent Pictures

Literally, two recent pictures of my little prince. Very gorgeous, as always.

Once again I'm a full-time Mummy!!!

As the title suggests, I've recently made the difficult decision to leave my 40 hours a week job to once again become a full-time Mummy to my beautiful 2 year old. 

I'm still trying to get everything in order at home but I can't wait to start spending more time with my little angel and become a Mummy again. I know there are lots of Mums out there who work full-time and are absolutely smashing Mamas but it really wasn't working for me. I was dropping Oliver off at nursery every morning and coming home every evening to put him to bed, it wasn't fair on him.

But, lots of good times to come I hope. Also looking forward to getting this blog active again!

Hope to see you again soon!

Ask Mummy

Describe Motherhood in three words 
Exhausting, exciting, challenging

Does your experience differ from your Mother’s – how?
My mum gave birth with just gas and air and had a natural birth, I had gas and air, diamorphine and an epidural and an emergency c-section. My mum was married to my dad as well, I went into motherhood as a single parent.
What’s the hardest thing about being a mum?
Finding the time! Finding time for the smallest tasks can be really difficult and you will wonder if you'll ever be able to get something done. Also, as a young mum I worry whether I'm doing things right and always hope that I'm giving Oliver everything that he needs. I feel guilty about working full-time, but hopefully that won't be the case for too much longer.

What’s the best thing?
The absolute miracle of birth and then this little baby growing up into a young man! Plus the amazement at falling more in love with this little person every day <3

How has it changed you?
I am more mature, I had Oliver young and before I became pregnant I was probably quite a selfish person. I feel i'm a better person after having Oliver and much more caring.
What do you hope for your children?
I want him to be as happy as he can be.

What do you fear for them?
Everything, I just want to wrap him in cotton wool but I know that I have to let him be his own person.

What makes it all worthwhile?
The smiles, the kisses and the cuddles. Seeing that beautiful face every single day <3

Oliver's 16 Month Update

I promised to update soon didn't I? I thought no better comeback post than my baby boys 16 month update. I've never done one of these but I love reading others so I thought, why not?

Oliver James Fearon-Young

You started walking on the day you turned 16 months.

You are very independant when it comes to eating and get annoyed if Mummy tries to help you.

You love to play 'Mummy's coming to get you' and giggle manically when we play it.

When Mummy sings 'round and round the garden' you will do it on your own hand.

You absolutely love home made scotch pancakes, they are your favourite food in all the world. 

You love baths and hate when it's time to get out.

You hate having your nappy changed and always try to scurry away.

When you are sleepy and ready for your bed, Mummy picks you up and you wave to everybody in the room.

You love to pretend to chat on the phone.

If you find a pen, you must track down some paper to have a doodle.

Your smiles melt Mummy's heart.

When Mummy goes to work she misses you dearly. 

Every single day Mummy cannot believe how lucky she is to have you.

Oliver James Fearon-Young, when you were delivered, you gave me the happiest day of my life. Now, 16 months later; you make me even happier <3

Lots of love, 

The proudest Mummy in the world

xxx