I think quite alot of the blogging, vlogging, youtube watching community will know who fleurdeforce is, sadly her beautiful spaniel passed away recently and as a fellow spaniel owner watching her vlog left me in tears. I cant even imagine losing Jessie. She went missing once after being spooked by another dog for three hours and they were the worst of my life. I paced the canals, the fields, the streets until it was dark but i couldnt give in, just when everyone else had given up hope (she's scared of strangers so no one would be able to read her tag etc) a lady called my OH and said she went to take her dustbin out and there was a litle bark from behind it. We raced over and there she was! Its made me realise that since having Rio she has taken a backseat on here and she shouldnt have, shes such a huge part of my life too. So for future reference when you see her face on here every now and again..this is Jessie..my little dog - a heartbeat at my feet!

My thoughts are with Fleur & Mike, Woofy was such a character!! xx

11 month update

When Rio was born and people asked how old he was, i loved being able to say it in weeks..but there comes a time when you have to start saying it in months. When next month comes i feel that i'm meant to move on and say "hes a year old". But i wont..i refuse! Its too general and sounds far too old..maybe if i say "he's 18 months old" etc, i can convince them (and myself) that he's still a baby. But he's not is he? He's a little toddler. Dont get me wrong i love watching him grow up, and cant wait to have a conversation with him but..wahh!

- He says things like "quack quack" , too adorable!

- He's a pro walker but refuses (even though he can) to get up from the floor when he's fell over, and crawls to the next object to get back up again.

- He's got super cuddly and loving, mainly for me :) hehe

- He's got 7 teeth with the 8th on the way

- He can understand everything you say and responds in the right way

- He's still ball mad, even more so now he can walk around kicking it.

- We chose his godparents

- He's obsessed with watching me flush the toilet, strange child

- Rio had his first hair cut, and needs another one already!

- He's started escaping during nappy change time.

- When you say "go nan nights/sleepies" he's put his head on the pillow and closes his eyes

- He finds you jumping in the air hilarous, i tend to leave this one to Craig.

 -We havent found a food he doesnt like yet
 

Sorry for the lack of posts and comments on yours..my laptop screen is playing up so im having to plug it into the tv, which is kinda cool but a major nuisance.

A year ago..

A year ago today i was full term with Rio, talking about how painting your toe nails whilst being pregnant is a chore, and telling you to not even get me started about blind shaving!! Haha. I recommended that cervix lighting should be renamed 'lightning' because thats certainly what it felt like. And i looked like this.  (this was actually took two weeks before but oh well)

Little did i know that i could let alone would grow alot bigger than this!

Looking back on it now makes me miss my bump. Miss my little baba kicking, wriggling and hiccuping inside me. But makes me happy that i started blogging. It makes me look at my 11 month old terror napping on the sofa with his daddy and think.. "god where has the time gone?".

If i could give an expectant/new mother any advice at all, it would be to take far too many pictures, especially of those first moments, because looking back..it is nowhere near enough!

'The' update

Other than the birth story, i think this is 'the' update in mummyworld blogging. Well other than getting pregnant again but i'm not planning that one yet.

Rio can walk!! Wahhh writing that makes me sad. Okay it doesnt, im secretly happy clapping inside and doing a little dance but still, i should be sad. My little baby has reached a major milestone. 'THE' major milestone.

^^ Where did he go, how did this happen ;)

Something just clicks in Rio overnight. One day he cant do something, the next he can. Everyday he knows something new. One day he couldnt sit up..at all! The next he could..like a pro! The same for crawling..well snippering..it took him a while to get out of that little stage ;) A few days ago, hell even yesterday, he'd only do 4/5 steps, then realise what he was doing and sit down! No amount of coaxing could get him to try it again. But today.. something clicked. Step step step step fall. Hear mummies praise. Get back up. Step step step step step fall. Over and over again, until suddenly falling wasnt a big deal. Then he got wise and started putting his arms out and up for balance, even stopping in between groups of steps every now and again to re centre. Yes sometimes he falls after 4/5 steps still, yes he still aims for the furniture or me. But he's doing it. And i guarentee by his first birthday there will be no stopping him. :) Wahhhh!!

He also has two new teeth, also over night..what a trooper!

Thats seven now. Sometimes he uses them seven teeth to bite now too! i guess this is one of those bad habits you have to learn children not to do. *sigh* .. even though it was midly amusing when he clamped onto Craigs nose as he was nodding off..for me anyway ;)

Sunshine; take two

The sun was out again this weekend, still bitterly cold.. but does that matter? If the suns out in England, you go out! Although if your one of those silly sausages that go out dressed all set practically for a beach, then shame on you! I can see your goosepimples from across the street. What is it with us? A bit of sunshine and we all head outside, in shorts and sunglasses. A bit of snow and we cannot leave the house! Everythings at a standstill.

Destination of choice?? The petting farm. We took Annalise along as Rio isnt really old enough to do any 'petting' safely, without losing a finger or two anyway. This place was no "white post farm" but we all enjoyed the obstacle course & pedal carts none the less.

 

Ooh yes! Even i attempted this bad boy, but from the other "rock wall" side. 

Your all looking at it thinking, well that isnt daunting, even the little girl is having a go.. yes because she has trainers on and someone to catch her.  Craig was filming me so i bet he'd happily see me slip a little...which i very nearly did! Note to self: Slobby pumps are not correct climbing footwear!

 

Making the most of the sunshine

It's no secret that sunshine in England is as rare as _______.. i want to say rocking horse shit am i allowed to say that on here? Urm, fill in the blank with something rare of your choice. So when it made an appearance today i popped Rio into his pushchair and took him on his first trip to the park. I know i know, 10 months old and hasnt been? What a bad mother. This one even has ducks..bonus! Two birds with one stone and all that.

 

 



We both had such a lovely day :) ..baby group tomorrow if we are up and ready in time. Why do they make these things so early and at the other end of yonder?

Im giving out medals

Yep..im giving out medals to all you mummies that can feed your baby and not get food anywhere. My dad can..oooh he sits there and perfectly disposits the food into Rios mouth leaving him all clean and pretty. Me? Pshh i just pile it in,and wipe off the excess with the spoon..sometimes he'll even clamp his lips and turn his cheek to me so i get it on there too!! Its worse when you having nothing in the house thats 'baby edible' and have to use one of those jars..bright orange food making your baby look like a simpson when you wipe it off!

 

Oooh thats better!!

2/52 (project 52)

My baba's photogenic

Rio's a terror. He's getting pretty good as scooting around, so good that when you go into the kitchen to pop the kettle on you come back to a card covered floor..those cards 'were' attached to the door! Cheeky child.

It was mad friday yesterday, the world didnt end btw ;) the only thing 'mad' about my friday was the christmas asda shop. Yep food shopping and indian takeaway is as mad as it gets in this house.

Normal Fiance's buy you flowers. I've been asking Craig for ages to get me some, hey if you dont ask you dont get. What did he turn up with the other night? A poinsettia, a bloody christmas plant! Oh well its the thought that counts eh, ungrateful biatch!

It was text santa last night on tele, i got a text santa hat whilst in asda, i tried making Rio pose with it for a photo but he wasnt having none of it. Never the less he says 'text santa' everybody ;)

Ooooh i knew i was forgetting something, only joking and last but no means least!! A collage of some of our family photoshoot photos :)

Here it is..

the update i predicted a few posts ago. Little Rio has done some over night learning again, last time it was sitting up and this time its crawling. Well one legged snipper crawling but still..super proud mummy right now :) He now has an obsession with crawling upto the bathroom bin and pulling it over though..hmm! Craigs been trying to learn him to stand with the sofa because when you grab his hands he stands hiself up. He does okay for an 8 month old, when he's not bouncing that it! I swear this child isnt going to walk he's going to bounce around everywhere like tigger!

Rio's made me a calendar

I've started taking Rio to 'playgroup', yes he's a little young for most of the activities but nowerdays alot of parents take their babies along to 0-3 groups etc, so i thought id join in. I was quite shy most of my life when it came to meeting new people and making new friends up until i started working in retail, and even having Rio..but being a mum is a talking point! I dont want Rio to be like that, being social is great. So off i went expecting him to only be able to sit there playing with toys but nope!

He had a go at feeling different textures and especially loved the tray of cornflakes and rice crispies (when he wasnt trying to eat them) so im going to go out and buy the cheaper version for him to play with. It encourages him to pick up things with his finger and thumb too. I spotted the older kids playing in glitter paint and making calendars, and the lady in charge of that area spotted me being nosey haha, and asked if id like Rio to make one. He loved his hand painted and sqwelched it about. The aim was to get his first hand print but he wasnt having none of that, ooh no it was far more fun making a mess :) Proud mummy moment. Rio's first picture, aged 8 month.

No cheese please!

Rio's sicky, pretty sure cheesey food doesnt agree with him. The smell of sick is vile, but cheesey sick? wowzers!! Inbetween he's still his cheeky little self though, so i cant complain.

We've gave in and got him a baby walker. Originally the health visitor did convince us to not get one as they can cause children to use the wrong muscles and end up having to have insoles etc later in life. But Rio is at that stage where he cant quite crawl, but wants to be up and about. So like a naughty parent i gave in and he absolutly loves it!! Jessie (our dog) doesnt though, Rio is obsessed with her so he follows her about like a little lost sheep. The way i see it is aslong as you dont just dump them in there and use it in moderation its fine.


 By doing this he has also learnt to clap. When he learnt to move it forward we clapped and said "clever boy" so now when we say clever boy he claps hiself. Its pretty adorable.

Weight wise, he's 16lb13oz and 70cm. 7months old & still in 3-6 month clothes..infact alot of them are still to big.

The coca-cola advert was on last night, i didnt watch it.. im going to try put it off abit longer as im not quite feeling the christmas spirit yet. Bah humbug. I did go christmas shopping to meadowhall the other day though but theres nothing jolly about christmas shopping with a pram! Hectic!

^^ "I'ma get you" ... "Noo, come back Jess Jess"

 

Happy halloween, pumpkin of the year.

Today is halloween. This time last year my Rio was in my belly.. looking at him now i think how the hell did i fit you in my tummy little man? Though of course i didnt give birth to a 16/17lb baby..youch that would be a..urm..miracle.

Obviously he wont be going trick or treating, though in all honesty i think if i pushed him round in a pumpkin outfit or something id have plenty of goodies to munch on but i wont. Instead he's just got a little halloween sleepsuit and bib and we will sit in the house handing out treats to all the other little monsters. Though i am warning you.. if anyone comes to my house dressed as a slutty schoolgirl i will be sending them away. Oohh when did i become so old so young. Haha.

Me and Craig had a pumpkin competition last night, we actually did..maybe theres some youngness in me there somewhere eh? I say he won, he says i did. We've both agreed our 3 year old neices can have the overall title. Lets call it pumpkin of the year shall we?

Annalises..obviously i did the knifing she did the scooping.

  Mine & Craigs

The downside of parenthood

What a horrible blogpost title eh? Before this week i would of said "there is no downside of being a parent", me and Craig have never been ones to go out partying, yes sometimes for friends birthdays etc we let our hairdown but were the kind of couple that would prefer to have a natter over a nice meal. Older than our years and all that haha. So there wasnt any kind of 'downside'.

Then this week i got ill. Blergh.The downside to parenthood is that when your ill you've got to soldier on! Yes in between projectile vomitting you've got to soothe your little one and check that their okay, until, if your lucky enough, your OH comes to your rescue and takes over. Luckily for me mine did as my bug left me drained as i stuggle with my iron levels anyway, and with horrible stomach pain for days.

Today he is back at work, it cant be helped their short and we're losing out on money, which since its nearly christmas, jeez louise!! How did that happen? we need so it cant be helped.

Dont get me wrong im still a walking zombie but im putting on a brave smiley face to keep Rio-saurus entertained. Secretly id love to just lay in bed with a hot water bottle and crap daytime tv and snooze but that isnt going to happen. I've trudged on with colds before but Rio was the same so we got to be little nappy lazybums together but this bug malachy is a whole different story!!

Image from weheartit/tumblr

Sick in his eyes

Yep, you read the title right.. last night i heard Rio coughing on the baby monitor so i went into his room to check he was okay. Just in time to see him cough once more and projectile vomit..in his eyes!!

Okay when i saw him i had a little eek moment. Me and Craig were both like "how the hell do you get sick out of eyes?" i mean.. have you seen that one in the baby book anywhere? nope, neither have I. Instinct just kicked in and i wet a burp cloth with some luke warm water and rinsed them out the same as i would if i got shampoo in mine. Im new to this crazyness.

All cleaned up i put him down and he started whining a little..he never whines..so i picked him up and he instantly snuggled into me. Turned and did the biggest cheesey grin at Craig, then snuggled back again. Cheeky little sausage. Craig said "he's not silly is he". To which i put him back down and he fell back to sleep til 7 this morning without another murmer. Bliss.

Splish splash does your baby like the bath?

Some babies like the bath. Some babies hate the bath. With Rio you never know which your going to get.. he changes his mind constantly. Sometimes he's so content your convinced he could lay there for hours and turn into a little prune. Others, well your washing him at the speed of light..shouting at your other half to "just fetch me a towel".

Today was a good day. Quickly snapped these pictures before he'd pulled the towel off and turned it into a toy. Thats another of his little things.. he loves playing with his bib, sleepsuit etc. Craig put the washing next to him the other day and he was on it like sonic. He doesnt have a dummy but ive got a little gut instinct that he may want to trail a comfort blanket around with him later in life. Hmmm!!

Don't get me wrong, minus the baths he is the most content baby in the world..never cries or gets grumpy..we're pretty lucky and people comment on it all the time.

Bathed, blogged, bed!

Injections

Took the little man for his injections the other day. The women looked at him and announced "its three today Rio". I was in shock, someone could of prewarned me.

Apparently its something to do with them not giving them the sugarlump or drops on the tongue anymore?  First one was fine, second one was okay just little cry.. third one he pretty much screamed "why isnt this over yet? am i a pin cushion lady".  It is heartbreaking, but sooo worth it in the long run. I always hear people say "nasty nurse", or "i could of slapped her for making them cry".  But its got to be done. Simples. I may of cooed Rio a few times to stop his tears by saying the first though. Hehe ;)

So..i took him out of the room and gave him his bottle and he was babbling away and smiling to
the people in the waiting room in no time.  He seems fine now too. Abit warm but i blame the english weather.. not that im complaining. Mr england needs to invest in some more sunshine! No more til he is around a year old too. That sounds a long way off, but he is 4 months old tomorrow so i know for a fact that it will flyyy by.

He's loving his porridge, and sleeping through longer than ever. He now has a 'favourite toy'. And is just generally LOVELY!!

Note to self: Dont wear white on injection days, you will get covered in blood and look like you've got your period.. cringe!

Rio's gunna win the match ;)

Its no secret that i no longer really like football. That phase well and truley went out the window yearsss ago. I know i know i should show more interest because of Craigs involvement but nope..sorry not for me. I just gaze at the tv or the pitch and dilly dally daydream hehe. But i couldnt resist this post.. it just tickled me hehe.

England have decided to let 'rio' play afterall ;)

Ten weeks

Im not normal

You'd of thought after the lack of sleep for the last 2 months that given the chance id sleep straight through right? wrong!! Last night Rio slept from 9-5 (instead of waking every 3 hours) and i was awake waiting for him to want a bottle, everytime he murmered i shot up, only for him to nod back off! What-a-wolly.

Am i cheeky?

Little man is awake but i just couldnt resist posting this so its a very quick on today.
Never saw such an appropriate item of clothing in my life. I actually hate the outfit but you know.

Day 5

Day 5 of my 30 day shred and i swear nothings changed even though ive been exercising my butt off! Haha i want results too fast thats my problem.. impatient cow!! .. honestly though, its my nephews christening on the 1st so i would like to look okay at least. Thinking of getting one of those dipped hem dresses (short at front long at back) as i cant pull off a full maxi as i am a total short arse.

Big brother is back.. its my guilty pleasure!! No matter how crappy i just have to watch it else i feel like im missing out. Granted i will be watching it online though most days,  9oclock is normally bottle sterilising etc time and getting ready and heading to beddy byes. Yawn!!

Best include abit of Rio in here eh? ;) He's been cheeky grinning at me every time i look at him and i cant resist. He's going to get away with murder this one i think.