tattycrafts

Further to my last post where I decided not to be a frumpy mum, today I ventured into a personal shopper experience in Debenhams.  It's a fantastic service and I wish I'd discovered it sooner.  It was so easy to book an appointment.  The website asks for very straightforward information.  I do wish it asked for a little bit more info though such as your dress size, style preference, height etc as this could come in useful for your shopper later. Screenshots of the booking process:     I was 5 minutes early for my appointment and the girls at the paydesk called for my shopper to come down.  The lovely Sammy arrived about 10 minutes later. Sammy was lovely and welcoming and I immediately felt at ease.  The only thing that puzzled me at this point was being asked if I had booked my appointment.  I had in mind that they would be aware of all the bookings and know who they would be working with and when.  Very odd. Despite the ...

I've never been known for being fashionable or trendy. I've always gone for comfortable with a twist. The twist for the last 9 years has been my hair. I've always made an effort with my appearance and liked to feel 'pretty'. Since having a baby I seem to have lost my way.  My current day to day wear consists of leggings or jeans (which don't fit) either a vest and t-shirt/jumper layer because it's been nice and easy for breastfeeding on demand. Nine months have passed since the baby arrived and for nine months before that my wardrobe was severely limited by a large bump poking out front. I return to work late January, and as I look in my overflowing wardrobe I struggle to put together more than a couple of outfits I feel comfortable in. One of my problems is that I lack confidence in putting together an outfit that works. I struggle to visualise how pieces can go together and really don't understand what works for my shape. Holding my hands up in de...

As a first time older mum, the minute I knew I was pregnant, I couldn't do enough research into all the options available, and all the choices and decisions I'd have to make. Some of the choices I've made have raised a few eyebrows (babywearing and baby led weaning for example), but I've done my research and I'm comfortable and confident in those. So much so I generally don't even try to defend those choices when questioned. The one thing that is repeatedly asked of me though is why I give my child the food he gets, or rather why I don't give him the food I don't.  I believe in encouraging a baby to try as many flavours and textures as possible, as long as it's healthy.  That's not to say I won't ever let him have chocolates, cakes, chips etc, but there's a time for those and that time is not right now. The latest figures, for 2012/13, show that 18.9% of UK children in Year 6 (aged 10-11) were obese and a further 14.4% were overweig...

This weekend was the first time I've been away overnight from my little boy. He's 8 months old today and it doesn't seem 8 months since he came into my life. Ages ago however, in my naivety, I thought at 8 months I wouldn't worry about leaving him,  at 8 months he'd be sleeping through,  and at 8 months he'd be happily taking a bottle of expressed milk. Guess how many of those things actually happened?  None!  To be fair perhaps I wasn't worried as such but I sure as hell felt lost without him and would have preferred to have him and my boyfriend with me for the weekend. In the week leading up to the trip I have expressed milk like it was going out of fashion. On the plus side I now have a freezer of milk, which as a friend said, is probably enough to feed the street! On the downside, increased expressing means my body thinks there's increased demand when there isn't.  I planned for this and brought my breast pump with me and made sensible plan...

After a terrible night with almost non stop crying and a morning of grumpiness,  I thought it would be nice for Oscar to meet Pingu. We went with some friends and hung around waiting for Pingu to make his grand entrance. The crowd showed their appreciation as he worked his way round towards us. Oscar's pal Henry had a little stroke of Pingu's nose and then it was Oscar's turn. Pingu held out his flipper to say hello and Oscar turned down his bottom lip and let out a huge shout.  Poor old Pingu pulled his flipper back so quick! Poor Pingu.

The strange sound of an alarm woke me up. I've been so used to the yelling of the baby getting us up on a morning, that for just a moment I thought I was dreaming.  Then I remembered, today was the day we'd been waiting for and my other half was having surgery. The sound of the alarm gave us half an hour to get out of the house and hit the road. I left the Poomonster asleep on the bed while I got dressed and packed his bag with his clothes and all the food and milk I'd prepped the night before. The poor dog was very confused by so much activity at such a disgusting hour and deservedly gave me a filthy look when I put her breakfast in her kennel and put her out for the day. The car was loaded, toys were grabbed, and at the very last minute a sleeping baby was carried downstairs to be put in the car seat.  Operation Minimal Disturbance was activated. Poomonster woke briefly and looked a bit confused but happily settled into his seat and before we knew it he was out like a...

One thing I've learned as a mum is that every baby is different.  This seems like an obvious statement but there are some things that some people don't realise. My little fella rolls, sits like a Champ, laughs,  giggles and chats away to me.  He enjoys his food but isn't a fan of breakfast but really loves satsumas. But then I have friends whose babies are a similar age and don't do some of these things. But then those babies will do things such as sleep through the night! Something Oscar definitely does not do. For a while now it's been difficult to see other breastfed babies sleeping through and wondering what I was doing wrong.  The long and short of it is that I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm frequently asked by family and friends if he's sleeping through and receive lots of suggestions of things to try. But then I read the information in this website: https://www.isisonline.org.uk/how_babies_sleep/normal_sleep_development/ As we all know every...

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Randall Terry This quote has often been on my mind in my lifetime and a recent dining experience brought it to mind again. Over the last six months my social life has been mainly limited to spending time with my "mummy friends". Don't get me wrong,  I love this and love spending time with them.  We started off meeting in the same place quite frequently, well it was summer, the sun was shining and most of us could walk there. It was perfect. Then the weather got less fantastic, boredom set in and so began the hunt for "baby friendly" venues to devour cake. Not massively difficult normally,  but there is always at least three of us, with babies, prams etc.... It ain't that easy. I foolishly assumed that if a place has highchairs they will be welcoming. WELCOMING and able actually. Wrong! One of the first places we went to wasn't too bad. The warm and friendly delight of Clervaux. We had a...

One thing I've done since I was a teenager is colour my hair. That's still the case, but in my late twenties I started to play around with my look and started adding pink and purple and blue into my hair. Not huge amounts, just a few strands. But it didn't feel enough. Then in 2006 I received a diagnosis which completely changed my outlook on life. I stopped holding back and decided to just go for it. I dyed my whole head atomic pink. I loved it, but never felt comfortable with the attention it seemed to get. While I'm chatty and bubbly and will talk to anyone, I'm not massively confident and don't feel comfortable being the centre of attention. At work I found myself interacting with more senior staff members and I wanted to be taken seriously.  I never really believed people saw past the hair. Consequently, I gradually started toning things down. Looking at old photos recently I realised I really missed it. The hair made me feel like I was being true to ...

My family are always asking for photographs of my little one. Who can blame them for wanting pictures of such cuteness? I was recently given an opportunity by PicStick , to review their magnetic pictures.  That was a "Hell Yeah" and we quickly received details for ordering them. These magnetic pictures come as a sheet of nine and only cost £9.50 with free postage.  Pretty decent! It was really easy to order, simply upload nine pictures, then drag and drop onto the template. The hardest part is choosing which 9 pictures you want! Once you've done that you can edit the picture placements to suit, and TADAHHHH that's it. They arrived really quickly and I was surprised at the high quality and how easily they split into single magnets. The family members have all received them but we couldn't bear to give them all away so we have kept three. Now you too can have PicSticks and at a bargain price. Just enter the code TATTY25 for 25% discount (for the next...

I'm a huge fan of babywearing.  I currently have three different baby carriers, and love having different ways to carry my little one.  I love the feeling of having him close to me to snuggle, and we have such a laugh and a giggle together when we're walking along.   In the main the comments we receive are positive but very occasionally we get the odd negative comment from people who mistakenly believe it is dangerous to wear your baby. What I get really annoyed about is the media getting it wrong. The latest example is the BBC programme "In the club", which showed this scene... This particular baby carrier is not safe at all. In a bag sling, there is no safe way to position the baby. They have to lie lengthways and the sling curves them into a C-shape, pushing their chin into their neck and can restrict their airway. The design of this also means that any air they can breathe is re-circulated air. There have been deaths associated with this sling. Wearing yo...

Everyday of my life now I have to take responsibility for someone else.  He's on my mind in everything that I do,  whether he's with me or not. He's even on my mind as I cross the road, making me more careful and taking less risks in life. This week, we made one of the first of many decisions relating to his care and wellbeing. We chose his nursery for when I return to work. In some ways it was harder than I expected it to be.   When we first started looking into nurseries I had a list in my head of key criteria and thought it was as simple as that. As soon as we looked at the first one I realised there were so many things that I hadn't even thought about which were so important.  With every nursery we looked at, more and more things occurred to us. We eventually narrowed it down to two. We were left with two final questions. Which one did we feel he would be happiest at, and which one did we feel we could trust to keep him safe, and care for him in the same wa...

Oscar is almost 5 months and although WHO guidance states weaning shouldn't begin before babies are 6 months old, we've been letting him, and encouraging him to taste food. Until recently we'd limited it to sucking cucumber, tomatoes and funnily enough lemons which he loves. Following a chat with the HV yesterday we were strongly supported to properly begin weaning. There tends to be two ways to wean, traditional weaning with purees at Stage 1, and Baby Led weaning. Baby Led is a more modern way of weaning.  Essentially is placing food in front of a baby and letting them feed themselves. One of the main advantages being that at six months, babies are more likely to be developmentally capable of feeding themselves without turning food to mush. I'm personally inclined to combining the two methods. Purees of combinations of flavours gradually increasing in texture and baby led allowing him to pick up food, feel the textures and decide for himself what he wants. He...

It's the last British Bank Holiday before Christmas, yay!! Its time to go all out and make the most of a day off... Oh wait. I don't get days off 😛 I woke at 6 and fed the wee boy, he dozed off until about 7, I didn't.  From 7 until half 8 the wee boy was wide awake and wanted to play with his favourite toy.  Me. At half 8 he fed again and zonked out for a nap allowing me time to get up and get dressed before rushing out the house for 9.20 to quickly run some errands. Don't worry the other half had just woken up and was keeping an eye on him. Errands run and the car filled with diesel we sat down for my first coffee of the day and breakfast at about 10am. Once done it was time to tidy up, hang some clothes out,  put another load on and tidy upstairs. Fed the wee boy again and put my hair dye on before spending the half hour cooking my hair and playing with the wee boy and practicing sitting and kneeling. Quick shower and rinse off the hair dye, then dry my ...

Oscar is now 19w and 6 and we're currently struggling with a change in his sleep pattern. To try and get my head round it and fix it I've been discussing it with close friends, family, and also generally having a bit of a moan about sleep deprivation on social media. Yes I'm aware, typing this at 5am is really not going to help me 😉 However I've got a new issue to deal with. when everyone has been so helpful with advice and talking about their own experiences, you become so swamped with ideas you don't know what to do for best! So... I've decided to stop . Let's just roll with it, keep following my own instincts and keep reminding myself, it ain't going to last forever. #sleepdeprivedzombie

Today, as I returned from the library I realised something. I am now and will always be, forever more, a student. Since becoming a mum I've attended various classes and talks provided by the local authority, and to further my own desire to know more I search the Internet and visit the library. Well I'm a clueless new mum, so what do you expect? But it doesn't end there does it? In years to come I need to learn about and research so much. There's just so much to learn, and everyday is a new lesson. It's fun being a student!

I'm not normally a fan of meme's, but there's one doing the rounds at the moment which has my full support. It's one that I firmly believe everyone should do, every day, even if they just do it in their head and don't share it with the world. The current popular meme invites people to post daily their three positives for that day for a week. My only problem is actually narrowing it down to three! I've always been a "glass half full " kind of gal but this really went into overdrive in 2006 when I developed a real appreciation for being alive and appreciating all the small things, and started to let go of the things that really don't matter. If you can't change it, or it's not in your control, just let it go. Every day I wake up happy and appreciative of my life, the things I have, and the people I share my life with. Of course there are things in my life which are not perfect, but even on the most miserable and shittiest of days I can loo...

Last night I did something I've never done before and was wracked with guilt. Typically it's not even something I consciously did, but the finger of blame is shouting at me in my head. Of course I know it was probably a one off, and no harm came of it...but THE GUILT! As many of you know I wear two hearing aids and BB (Before Baby), I took my hearing aids out for bed.  Obviously I can't do that anymore and have taken to just turning off the one against my pillow. I've occasionally rolled over in my sleep and as my active hearing aid hits the pillow the feedback prompts me to switch one off and the other on. I can only assume I was so knackered I just turned it off without switching the other one on. Of course this meant the sound of the baby waking went unheard,  the sound of hungry grumbles were unheard, but the sound of his wailing went on for long enough to eventually alert the OH to wake up and I was subsequently woken very abruptly by a shove. Of course he was...

All my life I've known that if I had the chance to have a baby I was going to do my damndest to breastfeed. So there I was, pregnant. Determined . With boobs. Ready. Midwife: How are you planning to feed baby? Me: Breast Midwife: Marvellous! Make sure you go to the parenting class to learn everything you need to know. *at parenting class* "Breast is best.... No faffing about in the night... Less to carry...drink plenty " Marvellous says I! I know everything I need to know. Right? Nuh-uh. They don't talk about flat nipples, leaky boobs, how many muslins you need, and that breast fed babies still get wind. And they definitely don't tell you how long baby may feed for. Ok in the main it's about 15-20 minutes,  but then you get the occasional marathon session. Setting times to go places and meet people are loosely made,  friends begin to realise that you're either going to be late,  or arrive and lob a boob out before you'...

With a young baby in the house it can be hard to find time to relax. It's also a bit tricky to get the baby to relax for bed, especially when Daddy works late and arrives home and the baby gets excited!  I kid you not, he may only be 9 weeks old but the minute Daddy walks through that door he's all smiles and giggles for him, no matter if he's been Grumpy Baby all day. I've been looking to find ways to settle him down on an evening and build a routine for him including, bath, massage, feed, cuddles, and eventually sleep. As well as trying to work out the order of each of those things to suit both us and Oscar, I was also a bit clueless how best to massage a baby. There are all sorts of videos available on places like You Tube, but none that I can see by any professionals, or that are particularly instructive.  I was recently contacted by the New Stork Time s to review their downloadable "Massage for Happy Babies Routine".  It's on special offer at the...

Being on maternity leave has freed up so much time, I can bake, get my house in order, finish all those unfinished projects, right? WRONG ! So many people assume that my life now consists of coffee mornings, baking, and watching box sets on Netflix, and that I'll be home anytime they decide to drop in, or that if am at home it will be convenient to call round and cuddle Oscar. I get to have an afternoon with the girls once week to catch up, exchange hi's and lows and show off our babies. I have appointments at breastfeeding clinics, doctors appointments, shopping to do, a never ending mountain of washing, drying and ironing to do, amongst lots and lots of other mundane tasks. Oh and I have a baby to feed and look after throughout all of these things. It isn't easy. He doesn't sleep and feed according to my schedule and around things I need to do, so I've become an expert at multi tasking and can even hang out washing while holding the baby. It's bloody hard...

I recently signed up for the opportunity to be a #MorrisonsMums along with lots of other bloggers.  Over the years I've shopped at a number of different supermarkets, and tended to favour two of them in the main, swapping between them depending on offers available, and how flush we are!  When I told my OH what I was doing he got rather excited. He's fairly unique in his species in that he generally doesn't mind going to the supermarket, but he got a bit excited about this, especially when I showed him that Morrisons have permanently lowered the prices of over 1000 every day foods.  For a Bank Holiday shop we would probably normally have taken ourselves to one of the other favoured supermarkets, so we were interested to see how successful this shopping trip would be. I'm a frequent shopper at Morrisons and can generally predict how much I'll be paying at the till by glancing at the contents of my trolley.  OH and I took the opportunity to treat ourselves a little...

A while back,when boobs first started their pregnancy bloom, I struggled with finding nursing bras in those larger sizes, and that were also pretty, and affordable.  Following Oscar's arrival, the post baby bloom arrived and the search was on once more. My friend Annie who shares similar traits to me sent me a link one day which brought a ray of hope.  She suggested I look at an online shop, very appropriately called nursing-brashop .   At first glance I was immediately impressed by the set up and the very clear indications that it catered to sizes across the board, including those elusive larger sizes. As well as browsing by size you can also browse by brand, and by type. I was impressed with the variety of types of bras available.  Far better than I'd been able to search for elsewhere. I quickly placed an order for two bras, one plain and simple, and one pretty one as a treat for myself.  The shop made me even happier when I discovered free UK deliv...

It's 6am, of course he's fast asleep after his latest feed and I'm knackered but wide awake. There's a faint smell of dirty nappy in the air as I can't quite see where I put that last wet nappy and I'm certain I'll find it when I roll over shortly.  I'm so tired this morning and I'd love to go back to sleep, but of course it's that awkward time isn't it? Too early to be up and about, and almost time to be getting on with the day.  After all he's going to need a feed again shortly, and if I want the opportunity of looking half decent by a reasonable time, and having everything ready to enjoy a full Saturday out I should probably start now. But it's a toss up between looking half decent and being really organised, but feeling like a zombie on their final lurch; or looking like crap because I grabbed a couple of hours extra kip and end up rushing around at the last minute. There is of course the third option which I can see myself hurt...

It's been 4 weeks and one day since this blog was last updated. Ordinarily I'd begin with an apology but quite frankly I have the best excuse in the world.  On 31 March, D and I welcomed Oscar into our lives. The last four weeks have taught me so much, and brought so much joy.  There's so much I could say and I'm trying hard not to become mummy bore! Now that Oscar has arrived I'm hoping this blog will be a mix of entries about him, us, things we do, things I've learned, family life, and stuff which isn't about being a parent. If there is a particular subject you'd like me to write about do let me know.  Writing begins in earnest tomorrow!

Happy Mother's Day for those of you in the UK.  Today I had hoped to be one of those mums gazing at their creations in awe thinking, "I made that!". Looking unlikely isn't it? Its actually a really tricky period. I'm now 10 days over my due date, so I can confidently say that in less than a week our baby will have arrived, but, it does mean that I have lot of interested parties keeping a close eye on me.  It's weird to think how many people are waiting for news and at times it can feel a little overwhelming. I have this miracle growing inside of me that appears to be reluctant to make an appearance; and I have a large group of people practically willing it to make an appearance on a daily basis. How many times over the last 2-3 weeks I've heard, 'you should try...' and 'have you tried...?'.  Yes. I've tried them all and lets face it baby isn't going to come until its ready. People seem frustrated by the lack of ...

Today is the day before my due date.  As I've progressed through this pregnancy I've had the pleasure of getting to know other mums-to-be, some of who I just know will be part of my life for many years to come. It seems as each day passes and I get closer and closer to meeting Wrigglebum, those friends I've made are all having their babies. Of course I'm so pleased for them, but I'm starting to get impatient now. I always said that I expected to be overdue, and unless something happens quickly today/tomorrow I'm thinking I'm right! Midwife appointment today confirmed my suspicion of a growth spurt, and baby has grown 4 cms in the last fortnight!  That seems massive to me.  We were talking at my appointment about what weight baby might be, and of course length is not an indicator of weight, but my lovely midwife reckoned it might be at the top end of 7 pounds.   My initial guess on the board at work was 7lb 8oz I think with a due date of 27 March.... ...

A couple of friends and I recently found ourselves debating the question of just how old is too old? When I think back to being a child and my hopes and dreams for the future, having a child in my late 30's was definitely out of the question.  But as the years went by, the opportunities have been numerous, but they never felt right. It was never the right person or the right time,and it's important to me to have both of those factors right. As such I find myself approaching my 38th birthday and just about to have my first child.  Do I have any regrets?  No.  It does mean I'm extremely unlikely to have the big brood of kids I always hoped to have, but it means that I can be the best parent I can possibly be to the one I do have. In terms of age, yeah in comparison to other first time mums in my area, I'm definitely older than the average.  But, I don't feel old.  I'm glad I'm doing it now though, I think much longer and I might have started to worry th...

I was recently sent two different belly balms to try out, and provide feedback on. Quite often when I'm asked to trial two products I don't really identify any major differences, nor can I say that I massively favour one over another. Normally....  this time is very different.  The two products I had to test were: Jason Natural Care Vitamin E Oil and Baby Stella's Butter The first main difference between the two is one is an oil and one is a butter.  Ordinarily I'd favour the oil in terms of application, but not so with these.  I found the oil to be so thick it was really difficult to apply, it dragged across my skin during application, leaving it looking quite red.  The butter was a dream to apply, tiny quantities go a long way, and it seems to melt into an oil the instant it touches my skin.   It just melts over, and into my skin. Generally I'm left unsatisfied with products like these.  They feel wonderful going on, but within an hour it...

At 36 weeks I'm now really starting to tire. I can't sleep properly, I'm never comfortable, and my tolerance of other people's crap is virtually zilch. On the flip side, I've never felt happier, more attractive, or more content. I've never been a good sleeper, always late to bed with continuous broken sleep, and an early riser.  That certainly isn't going to change!  On the plus side as soon as I finish work in just over a week I can start napping during the day.  Ah silver linings eh? My pelvis hurts, I'm constantly uncomfortable.  However, the physiotherapist has arranged for a support belt, which I'm hopefully picking up this morning, and the exercises do help.  I shan't let this SPD stop me being active in these last few weeks of my pregnancy. My patience is wearing thin. Yeah well, we all have crap to deal with in our lives.You do what you can about it, and just try to make the best out of what you're left with.  I've got so ...

As we go through life, only the very few and the very lucky can say they are not affected by major health problems with either themselves, their family, or their friends. Like many people out there I've had my fair share of hits and near misses with the Big C in its many devious forms. Its something that can strike even the healthiest of people and have devastating impact. I've fundraised numerous times for Cancer Research and for Think Pink events, and once for testicular cancer. Yesterday I was made aware of a charity I hadn't heard of before who are working hard to fight a cancer that more than one of friends have unfortunately been affected by in recent times. The Brain Tumour Charity are raising their profile and trying draw support and awareness of the various ways this can affect people while working hard on treatments and cures. Their big day is on 7 March for which they are encouraging people to wear a bandana. I probably won't wear one as I'll probabl...

The one thing that has struck me throughout my pregnancy is just how happy others are for me. It really blows me away and sometimes it comes from the direction that you least expect it. Today's very ev ide nt glee at the late discovery of my pregnancy came from Tom the wineman. The title may give some clue as to why he was unaware that I am preggers. No, I don't mean he's a wino, he's the man who I get my wine from and have enjoyed many an evening with  him propping up his bar. So, obviously, I haven't seen him for the last 8 months. When he spotted me today through the window of his bar his face was a picture and he ran out of his bar to give me a hug. Bless, I think he may have been as pleased as I am! 33 weeks and 5 days.....

Make no bones about it,  I've been bloody lucky with my pregnancy.  A little morning sickness which stopped about week 16, and now some sciatica. That's it.  I know I've got off lightly.  No swelling,  a neat bump (albeit getting bigger by the day), and generally feeling pretty well. It got me thinking about how everyone's experience is different,  but for women to keep going through this, some of us multiple times,  there must be things we really enjoy about being pregnant.  Moments we savour,  little things which create excitement, glee, and bring a smile to our face. I realised mine today.   I'm in love with my pregnant body. I don't have full length mirrors at home and rarely see anything but my head in mirrors.  But, at work, I have to take the lift up to my floor now, and it has mirrors.  Oh boy!  Whenever I get out of the lift I'm beaming from ear to ear.  I find myself giving my belly a rub and saying a...

At night when I can't sleep,  I try to relax and clear my mind but I can't seem to shut my brain down.  I'm forever thinking of all the things that I need to do and the list just seems to get longer and I wonder why I'm wasting time trying to sleep.  Sometimes just writing everything down and putting a date that I'm going to complete it helps. My current list is missing completion dates.  I'm trying to determine need vs want and prioritise everything.  I'm not wonder woman and I don't have vast sums of money in the bank so I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself.  I'm looking forward to the feeling of satisfaction in crossing them all off. .. Only problem is for every item I cross off,  two more get added on.

In our bid to do the nursery on a budget it's time for a project! Over the summer we acquired one of these from Freecycle: Only... ours doesn't look like that.  It had been kept in a chicken house for some time and is in very poor condition.  We also got a pine cotbed second hand from a friend, and the wood of the two items is very different. But you know beggars can't be choosers.... and I do love a craft project. Watch this space to see what we end up with!   *fingers crossed*