Friday 30 May 2014

Worst week of our lives

Haven't felt like blogging till now as we'll our tough week is nowhere near over.

A week ago Friday my lovely nannie had a fall at home and was taken to hospital. Monday my parents got a call that she had taken a turn for worse and by Monday night she had died.

I literally feel like my whole world has fallen apart, I'm just completely numb. I wasn't ready for this to happen. I'm glad I have my wonderful Andy and of course my cheeky monkey James to keep me smiling. But every time James asks for nannie I burst into tears. How to you explain to a 21 month old toddler that he's never going to see the nannie he adored ever again. 

I can take comfort knowing she is back with my grandad. Or as James put it when listing to come on you reds nannie is playing football with Georgie Best.

I saw my nannie virtually everyday as I worked from her house. She used to take me to and from nursery and school when I was a child. She saw James almost everyday of his life. 

The day she died James turned 21 months old.

I don't think it's going to sink in for a while and I know the funeral is going to be hard. I'm in car two along with my two cousins and of course Andy and James. 

All I can really say is RIP Nannie love you always and forever xxx

Sunday 25 May 2014

Hes getting there

At 21 months old James is wanting to feed himself more and more at meal times using his cutlery.

Today he gave himself some of his breakfast with the spoon. He still needs help getting his cereal onto the spoon but he can manage to get it into his own mouth.

Tonight was sausage pasta bake and he was fantastic he fed himself most of the meal himself and only needed a tiny bit of help from daddy.

How old were your kids when they started using their own cutlery to eat?

Silent Sunday

Saturday 24 May 2014

Boogie Wipes Review - Using the wipes

I have to start by saying these wipes are absolutely fantastic.

They rip open so easy and are brilliant for just slipping into a pocket when you are on your way out, especially if like me you take a massive changing bag out you then dont need to go routing through pockets to find one.

If you have a child like mine who hates having his nose wipped and always tries to wipe his nose with his hand its brilliant. James actually didn't run away and he kept grabbing the wipe and putting it back up to his nose then he tries to wipe my nose with it. When we try to wipe his nose with a baby wipe or a tissue he screams big time, kicks off and then runs away.

I will definitely be keeping a stash of these at home to use in the house and also out and about. 

They are also brilliant for adults to use as well especially when you have a cold and find normal tissues hurt your nose when you are blowing it.

Over all I give these a massive ten out of ten! 

Boogie Wipes Review - First Impressions

When I first openpackacket containing our samples I was very impressed. I was expecting the wipes to come in a packet like baby wipes but to see they were individually wrapped was brilliant. These would not dry out in my bag and I could put one in my pocket.

I love how the packaging was bright colours. This would deffinetly be something which would grab my attention when in a shop like Boots. 

We recieved the fresh and the grape scented wipes for this review and were sent 3 free of charge.

Thursday 22 May 2014

Bed Time Battle

Some nights its such a battle trying to get James into bed. If we are at my parents house then hes asking for his nana or his gaga. If we are at home hes asking for daddy, now thats fine if daddy is at home but if its a night like tonight when daddy is at work he gets upset n goes looking for daddy.

James used to like daddy holding him and walking round his room singing songs to him and that was the only way he would go to sleep. Now all he wants is to lie cuddled into mummy and listen to songs on mummies phone. 

Tonight though James kept getting up and wandering off, I could hear him playing in his room with baby tad or his Ewan the dream sheep. Then he would wander back into our room cuddle back into me and ask for song.

Eventually after an hour of this he finally settled down and dropped off with his head on my shoulder.

We have in the past tried putting James into his room awake (this was before we even thought about moving!) and returning him to his bed every time he got up. But he got so distressed with this method we had to stop. Plus it means he gets used to going to sleep in different places - not just in his own bed.


Where has the sun gone??

After the beautiful weather we had yesterday, I was looking forward to a nice walk this morning to our toddler group as its not that far and I thought the fresh air would do both me and James good. How wrong was I! We woke up to torrential rain! So as normal it was the metro then the bus.

We had a really good time this morning even thought we did leave a bit early as James was starting to get tired and wanted a nap. It was our helper Amy's Birthday so there was cake for the kids and birthday cake for the parents.

James played again with the little tikes cars so I think we may have to invest in one as an early birthday present for him. He also made a sunflower with lots of glitter and tissue paper! 

Theres no toddler group on next week with it being the half term holiday so we might go to the soft play instead up by nana and gaga's house so they can come with us!

Since we got home James crashed out for a nap so mummy got a chance to go on computer and update stuff on the blog and join tots100! 

Wednesday 21 May 2014

More Sun

Well another glorious day and a day in shorts!

James and me spent the day at my parents house and well their garden is such a sun trap.

We had the none napping James out for a long walk to see if he would nap and no surprise he refused.

He went to keep nana company with gaga at the dentist and as normal he had to be bribed to walk back with going in the garden.

Tomorrow is toddler group then maybe into Newcastle to have a look around the shops.

Tuesday 20 May 2014

0530am thanks James!!

Yes that is correct. My darling son decided after having his nappy changed he wasn't going back to sleep!

We had stayed at my parents house last night, so while I wad getting all the changing kit together my lovely dad was leaving to play golf!

After the nappy change, James then decided if he was awake everyone else had to be awake. He then proceeded to go wake up his 93 year old great nannie and then his nana.

I would love James to sleep a bit later. Any tips? Tweet me @mrshockallz

Monday 19 May 2014

Garden Day.

Wow the heat today as been unreal.
Me and James spent most of the day in my parents back garden.

James was literally running round none stop all day. The puppy that lives next door -Lou- was in her garden and kept poking her head through holes in the fence to say hello!

There was even time to play toot toot trains!

Now I'm planning an early night as James has passed out.

Sunday 18 May 2014

What a day

How nice weather been this weekend!

I had to jump on the metro into Newcastle this morning as James only had one pair of shorts! So mummy and boo went to shops while daddy stayed and finished cutting and raking the back lawn.

I'm back working on my candles tomorrow so me and James are staying at my parent's house tomorrow night as I have appointments on Tuesday so I won't be rushing around after James.

James in mummies tshirt! 

Silent Sunday

Saturday 17 May 2014

Warm day

Wow how nice has the weather been! As I write this on the blogger app I'm sitting in my back garden while Andy tries out our new lawn mower, which by the way has a short cable!!

So while Andy was at work this morning, James and I went to spend a few hours with my parents and my nannie.

James absolutely adores his nana, gaga and nannie so he was very pleased to go and see them.

My parents live in a lovely little fishing port right on the coast so seeing as it was a nice day we took a walk down to the harbour car boot sale. Although James decided he wanted to be carried there and back!

There is also a town square which has an amphitheatre which James had fun climbing on.

Now we are spending family time in the garden.

Toddler Night Terrors

Well last night what can I say apart James living up to his little monkey nickname and taking ages to get to sleep meaning mummy and daddy didn't get tea till nearly 9pm, we had the worst over night we have seen for a long time.

It startes with us waking in our room after we could hear James babbling in his room next door. Then the babbling turned to a cry, so Andy went through and picked him up.

By the time he was back in our room he was howling and inconsolable. We tried to give him what was left of his milk but he kept pushing it away. And if we tried to cuddle him he was pushing us away too. It was so horrible.

Eventually we got him to take his milk and  he relaxed enough for me to cuddle and he fell back asleep in our bed. But me and Andy were awake for a while after.

Has anyone else experienced this with a toddler? If so tweet me @mrshockallz

Friday 16 May 2014

Friday shopping

Well ita Friday and our day startes with our normal trek to the supermarkdaddy lolo the weeks shopping.

As I said in an earlier blog we try and stick to a list and only buy what we need.

Apart from three things that were actually forgotten from the list we did pretty well and only spent just over £30.

Downside was a major tantrum from James in the middle of the shop. Poor lite man was tired and he is also teething.

The photo below was taken as we waited for the metro to the shop when he was in a semi good mood.

Once we were home James crashed for two hours and erm so did mummy and daddy.

Thursday 15 May 2014

My home office area.

So we moved almost a month agopictureres taken till today to set up my desk in our dining area.

The house is three bedroomed but husband claimed the small third room I his man cave meaning I have a corner of our dining area for my home office.

As you see in the above picture I really do have just a corner and I have to share it with the boiler. But at least I can stick things to the boiler with magnets. I'm hoping to get the desk jazzed up a bit, so if anyone has any ideas tweet me @mrshockallz

Pandora Rings

Must people know Pandora for their gorgeous charms and bracelets, but have you seen the gorgeous rings they do??

I have two from their stacking ring collection. I have the October birthstone in memory of my great aunt who died earlier this year. I was bought that one by my parents. And I have just purchased myself the August birthstone for James.

The rings fit together really well and look gorgeous together.


**These are my own rings bough for and by me**

Parent and Toddler Groups

Since we recently moved I have started attending Brunton Park toddler group on a Thursday morning with James.

We have been three times now and James and myself absolutely love it. It gets us out of the house for a couple of hours and it gets James mixing with other kids his age and also older and younger kids.

At the session we were at today there was play doh, jigsaws, little tikes cars, plus a play kitchen, a play house and a play shop. James had a ball. We also got our popolo ceramics back from a few weeks ago.

There is also a snack time where the kids get a drink and either fruit or this week it was biscuits. James loved his custard cream.

I can say since we started attending James has come out of his shell alot and his speech is getting better.

Overall best decision I made was taking him there.

Mamas and papas armadillo Review

Out of all the buggies we have had for James, and yes we have had a few! The armadillo has to be the best one!

We purchased it in February this year when James out grew his smaller buggy and he got too heavy for us to push in his sola.

Its tag line from mamas and papas is "the little big stroller" and it is just that. James has plenty of room to grow in it and even when hes asleep and lying flat he don't need the leg rest down.

When the pushchair is reclined all the way the hood does not move as the material at the back goes down.

The colour we have is described as coral pink but its more red hence why we chose it for a boy.

I feel very confident traveling with James on my own with this pushchair as I am able to hold James and fold the pushchair up with one hand and carry them both on board a bus.

Wednesday 14 May 2014

Bloglovin

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Fitbit Flex Review

Fitbit is one of the latest things to hit the UK. honestly say on their website www.fitbit.com that taking 10,000 steps a day can help you be healthier.

I have had mine now for nearly a months and I can honestly say I think it has made me more healthy. I am trying to walk more every day with my son to try and hit the 10,000 steps. 

I have only hit the 10,000 steps twice in the last month and those were the day I moved house and the day after I moved.

On average I am hitting roughly 6-7 thousand steps a day. Most of them are chasing after an energetic toddler.

I love that the flex is a water proof band so it means I can wear it all the time. 

The best thing for me is that monitors my sleep so whwn I sync my band first thing in the morning I can see how restless I was over night and how many times I was awake.

Overall I am totally impressed with my fitbit and can see myself wearing it for along time to come.

**I wasn't paid for this review and the fitbit flex was bought for me as a birthday present**



Tuesday 13 May 2014

Self employed mummy

Is being a self employed mummy easy? Nope not one bit. At times I think its probably harder than being a working mummy away from your child on a daily basis.

Im a web designer and also a candle maker. Trying to put a website together when you have a toddler causing mayhem around you or trying to melt wax and add colour and fragrance when you have the toddler demanding your attention is so hard.

Today I was in Berwick upon tweed for a business show to try and make contacts. My son obviously had to come with me and my parents as I work along side them. Lucky the show was at a leisure centre so it wasn't too big but some of expos we go to are massive and it gets so overwhelming for him.

So tomorrow its back to making the candles lets hope the toot toot train set can keep James occupied long enough for me to get some made!

Monday 12 May 2014

Toddler tantrums

Well my gorgeous little baby boy has hit his "terrible twos" with a vengeance.

The last five days have been nothing but him kicking off and screaming every time he didnt get his own way.

Everywhere we have been we have had tantrums, worst being in the middle of w h smith's in metro centre when he was basically lying on the floor kicking and screaming.

I don't know who was more embarrassed me and Andy or my parent's who were with us. That one kicked off because gaga had to put him down to pay for his stuff in the shop.

He may look like an angel but looks can be very deceiving.

Sunday 11 May 2014

Heart of a thousand crystals

So what is heart of a thousand crystals?? Well it is the gorgeous new chandelier that is currently being hung in the new platinum mall at intu metro centre.

The name of the chandelier comes from the fact its made up of a thousand individual crystals.

The customer service desks are selling replicas of each crystal for £20 to raise money for chuf. Chuf is the childrens heart unit fund at the freeman hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne.

We are proud owners of number 583 :)

For more information on the chandelier please visit http://intumetrocentre.co.uk/Whats-on/Latest-News/Platinum-Mall

For more information on chuf please visit http://www.chuf.org.uk/

Family weekend

Wow I'm actually doing what I said and writing on here.

Been a nice weekend with Andy and James. Andy is off work on a Friday and only works every other Saturday so this weekend was one of our three day weekends together.

Friday is always our shopping day. Once we all dressed and fed we hop on the metro to our nearest tesco and do our weeks shop.

Since we moved we have done this every week. We take our list and try our best to stick to it. This past Friday we went with our list and stuck to it! We didn't buy anything that wasnt wrote down.

Saturday we had a busy day planned. We were off to the metro centre to meet my parents. We had to take our pushchair back to the store to get chassis replaced after 3 months as handle had split. We also bought our Heart of a thousand crystals. We then popped into the other big tesco In Gateshead to see if they had the bits we couldnt find in our tesco. We then got soaked in a down pour as we went back across to the metro station.

So that brings us to today, Sunday. Well today we went to a Baby & toddler nearly new sale near where we live. Got James a few bits then came home and sorted out his clothes case with all the stuff we buy in sales in the next size up.

How to contact me.

Twitter is the best way to get in touch and see more photos @mrshockallz is the name to follow.

I also have instagram and again the user name is mrshockallz.

Silent Sunday

Saturday 10 May 2014

Meeting Peppa Pig at Royal Quays

Like most kids his age James is Peppa Pig mad. So when we saw online that Peppa and George were going to be appearing at Royal Quays at North Shields on the May day bank holiday Monday we decided to take James along.

We have only recently moved to Gosforth so thought it would be good to explore via the metro.

Before we went I checked how to get there via the metro and it all looked simple enough so off we went.

James being the typical toddler in his "terrible twos" started kicking off in his pushchair half way to monument where we had to change from the airport line to the coast line. So once we were on the right platform we put his back pack reigns on and let him toddle up and down the platform with daddy.

He soon cheered up once we were on the metro and he was able to climb on the seat between us and spot cars and buses which kept him amused till we got off the metro.

Once he was back in his wheels we put our footdown and walked to Royal Quays. They tell you on thw website to get off at the percy main station but once you are off thats it no signs directing you till you get to the dual carriageway at the bottom of a long road.

Once we were there we had a quick loom round some of the outlet shops then I thought we should get James a Peppa balloon as he had seen other kids with them and tried to make a grab. The ballon was a fiver!!!!! But it did come with a weight on it so big up hallmark cards for being sensible n providing them as well.

James was over the moon to see Peppa and George. He patted George on the nose and hand but his highlight was giving Peppa a kiss!

He then spend the rest of the day playing with his Peppa balloon in our lounge. And even now almost a week later hes still obsessed with the balloon n spends hiurs playing with it.

**all views are my own**

New at this!!!

Well after reading so many mummy bloggers since my almost 21 month old son was born, I thought it was about time I gave it a go and joined in.

Where to start.....
Ok I'm Vicki, I'm 29, live in Gosforth Tyne and Wear, been married to Andy now for just over 3 years and mummy to our cheeky monkey James.

I'm a website designer by trade (www.ivweb.co.uk) and I have also just started getting into candle making and also starting to sew.

James is a typical boy of his age - into everything and anything he can get his hands on. He's like a little sponge at the moment soaking up everything and learning new things and words all the time.

Ok so thats all for my introduction. Going to try and post on here every day if I can!!