Happy 2nd Birthday Freddie

Happy second birthday our darling boy.

Today you turn two years old and it has literally been the fastest two years of my life!

It really does not seem five minutes since you were this tiny newborn sleeping on my chest and now you are this tall, blonde haired, blue eyed, cheeky little boy.

Your speech is not as good at two as James was, but then you spend a lot of time with kids where as James was around adults a lot more!

Your favourite words to shout are up there and look! If you see a dog you will shout dog and the same if you are a cat! You adore our neighbours dog Archie and you try your best to say his name when you see him!

You are starting to wear some 2-3 clothes, but the majority are 18-24. You wear a size 4 pull up and a size 6+ nappy at night. 

You absolutely adore your big brother and you hate taking him to school as you miss him so much. You got to go in and see him last week and boy did you enjoy it! As soon as you saw him you went running over to cuddle him. Your favourite part of the day has to be when James comes home from school as you have your partner in crime back and you have someone to play with!

We have also taken the side off your cot and turned it into a bed, and so far you have taken to it pretty well! The first couple of nights it did take a few hours to get you to settle but you seem to have cracked it and you are definitely sleeping so much better which means so are mummy and daddy!

We have so many plans for the next year. We are going to Surrey in February to see Nanny and Pappy, we are also hoping to spend a day in London sightseeing with you and James as James has been doing about the Great fire of London at school so he is desperate to go and see all the sights! and then our first family holiday later in the year which I know you and James will love!!

You were the jigsaw piece which completed our family Freddie Bear and we all love you so much.

Happy birthday my gorgeous boy

Love always 

Mummy 

xxx

School Week Two

So week two at school is over! The first day of the half one pick up was so odd and I did find myself clock watching a little bit to see what time it was for pick up as I was so used to the 1200 pick up from nursery last year! I have had to remind myself after my groups to go home as I would normally have just waited around till pick up time. 

The full class of thirty have been in this week and James has made a lot of new friends! I was worried about how he would cope with the noise and his ears. He seems to be doing ok, but both his teacher and the TAs know the signs to look for if they causing him problems. He has started leaving me in either at classroom door or even one day left me in cloakroom! I'm hoping this will progress to him leaving me in the yard as the school are wanting reception to do independent entry from after October half term holiday. 

We are still struggling to get an interest in his reading book or his key words. I know he is the youngest, but it's such a struggle to even get him to look at his school stuff.

I think it's been a pretty successful week on a school meals point. He has not been coming home at half one wanting food. I think because Newcastle City Council have the rolling menu online I can tell him what there is so he knows what to expect. 

He has been absolutely exhausted with the half one finish so I am fully expecting lots of tears from tiredness on the full days pick ups. I will be attaching the buggy board back onto the pram to get him home quicker. Poor boy has been asleep by half seven at the latest and slept till at least half six every morning although Thursday it was after seven when he woke up! It was after half seven again on Friday morning, but I think that was more due to the disturbed night he had had with a massive thunderstorm waking us all up and keeping us up for a good couple of hours.

We have had a lot of tears after school due to pure exhaustion! Its been an extra two hours from the first week. Next week will be a full day with a three fifteen finish. So I am fully prepared for an exhausted little boy!

I am really stumped for ideas for an after school snack though for next week as we normally don't have our tea till about five o'clock and reception are taken to have their school lunch at twelve. James does like apples, but not the skin! So any ideas please let me know! 

Freddie at Two Months

Freddie you are now two months old! Its crazy how fast the last two months have gone! 

You started your second month with a stay in The Great North Children's Hospital with a bout of bronchiolitis. It was a long three days & nights for mummy, daddy & James and of course nana & gaga too. You had to be fed by tube for 48 hours & you were also on 0.5 litres of oxygen. Mummy never left the hospital while you were in. It broke my heart seeing you so poorly.

You are just going into 0-3 size clothing although you are still in newborn vests & also sleep suits from mamas and papas. Just like your brother your feet and legs are growing out of sleep suits before your top half! You are in size two nappies. When you were weighed at six week & five days old, Mummy was shocked to see you were 9lbs 13oz! You seem to be hitting the same weights as James did but a week or two before he did. Then when you got weighed a week later before your injections you were 10lbs 7oz! No wonder I thought you were heavy! 

Your feeding has been crazy due to your hospital stay as your feeds were reduced to only two ounces so it took a couple of weeks to get you back up to the four ounces you were on before you were ill. You are generally sleeping from 8 or 9 at night till normally around 3am, then back to sleep till around half seven. Because of this you are feeding every two hours in the day. You can also be such a fuss pot when daddy is giving you a bottle, you will take an ounce & pretend to fall asleep so daddy will pass you to mummy, then suddenly wake up & want the rest of you bottle.

You had a lovely first Christmas, despite being ill & got spoilt off our family & friends! Your favourite presents were your bean bag from nana & gaga, your baby gym from nanny & pappy and your lullaby owl from mummy & daddy.

You seem to sleep better when there is either noise around or when you are in your pram, so when James is at nursery you are normally wide awake! You have started smiling a lot lately mostly at mummy or James. You can never take your eyes of your big brother. James still has finally given you a quick cuddle & he has started stroking your head when you are in your basket. I think now you are getting bigger and vocal he's not as scared of you. 

You went to a birthday party for our friends daughter turning one, you got a nice kiss and cuddle of the birthday girl! 

You went with James for his pre school injections, he was pretty upset, yet you slept through his crying. When it was yours the week after you screamed, which mummy wasn't surprised with. You also had your eight week check at the same time & you were showing off your smile.

I wonder what you will be doing next month

Love you Freddie bear 

Love mummy xxx

Pregnancy update 38 weeks

Well I have made it to 38 weeks and I'm not going to lie, the last two weeks have been totally and utterly horrendous pain wise! I now have just two weeks until his due date but if it's like last time it will be three weeks! 

Last week at 36+6 had to phone midwife and the assessment unit due to the amount of pain I was in sitting, standing, walking in fact everything I did caused pain. Was given the advice of paracetamol and a bath. All ok when you have someone in the house but I hate taking painkillers when I'm at home alone with James and I have been like that since he was born. I don't even like having a bath when I'm home alone with James at the moment, in case I can't get out. I can't even read James a bedtime story as I cannot get comfortable on his bed. Poor Andy has been getting home around half past six every night and been having to do bath time & bedtime as its impossible for me. 

Then on Saturday at 37+4 I was even worse with pain trying to get around, it got to the point James was having to help me up the stairs, so again spoke to midwife who wanted me to go into assessment unit, but low and behold their answer was go see GP, which I haven't been able to do as all the triage appointments would leave me unable to get to the school in time for James.  

Baby is doing good though, he's head down and a proper fidget. He has been moving his body from side to side which has been a big source of my pain. I don't have any fat on my stomach so I feel ever little movement which at times is agony. He's a very big squirmer and likes to poke his bum & feet out! It feels like he's going to have big feet like his big brother! I just hope he does not have smelly feet like James! 

I'm back to midwife on Thursday so hoping she will refer me back to consultants to see what can be done to help me. I really don't fancy going over due again as it was hell last time as I was in slow labour for a week & no one knew when my waters actually went therefore I ended up back in hospital with a five day old baby, but add James into the mix this time that would be even worse - having unsettled baby & unsettled three year old, especially now James is at nursery.

James has been pretty unsettled due to how mummy has been, even acting up in nursery which is not like him at all. I really hate how all my pain and lack of being able to move around is affecting him. I'm so hoping baby comes sooner rather than later so we can start being a family of four and going back out and about without me struggling. 

But over all we are so ready for this boy to come! His pram is ready in the kitchen, his Moses basket has been moved into our room so James can get used to it being there and yes CB bear has already had a sleep in it on more than one occasion! 

Half Term Holiday - We Survived!

Woo hoo as I write this James is back at nursery on the countdown to Christmas! This week is his nursery rhyme challenge on Wednesday which mummy is really looking toward to. Will be keeping my legs crossed to make sure baby stays put till after its finished!

I'm not going to pretend that the weeks holiday was easy, as it was far from it! Being 36 weeks pregnant with a energetic three year old to entertain was hard work! So much so me & James ended up going to stay with my mum & dad for a few days as after one day of no nursery I was worn out & exhausted!

It was great being able to relax as James only wanted his nana & gaga to play with him! He has them wrapped round his little finger! Whatever he asks for he gets lol! 

On Friday we took a walk to our new aldi, which has only been open a week as we needed to get some fruit. We then came home, had lunch & spent the whole afternoon watching Thomas films till it was bedtime! 

Saturday we got up & went back to aldi to do our weeks shopping. We then went home put it all away then went into town as we needed to get a present for James nursery friends birthday. We also managed to get a present for James to give his baby brother when he's born! We went to a little cafe in granger market for coffee, well latte for daddy & hot chocolate for mummy. Oh and yummy cake which James demolished as we think it will probably be the last weekend we get out just the three of us before baby arrives! 

Sunday James had a birthday party to go to at half past three, so we cooked a roast for lunchtime and chilled out for the day watching football till it was party time. James had a brilliant time at the party which was at the local sports centre near our house in their soft play! 

We also had a major breakthrough over the holidays - James stopped using his potty & started using the toilet instead! He also now asks for the toilet, which is a huge milestone as just a couple of weeks ago he was petrified! Daddy bought him a Jupiter from fireman Sam as a well done present! 

So he's back to nursery! Hope he's having fun and behaving! 

What's in my hospital bag?

So I'm now 36 weeks pregnant, so I thought it was time to pack mine & baby h's bags for the hospital.

At the very top of my bag are my notes! These will go in at the last minute as obviously I will need them for appointments before I go in to have baby h! 

My bag is a cheap holdall from primark. In that I have packed the following: Old tshirt for giving birth in, Pjs for after birth as it will be winter, Sleep bra & Normal bra these are from primark, Socks To keep my feet warm, Big pants again from primark, Maternity pads, Home outfit which is joggers tshirt & hoody, Phone & charger, Straws & my Wash bag. I also have a blanket for baby and his first outfit. 

In the wash bag I have toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, lip balm, hair bobbles, deodorant and shampoo.

For baby h I am using our Babymoov style changing bag. In his bag I have packed: Nappies, Wipes, Nappy bags, Small sudocreme, Vests x3, Sleep suits x3, Hats x2, Blanket which was actually one of James when he was newborn, Teddy, Going home outfit, Dummies x2, Bibs x3, Muslins x3. We have chosen to bottle feed straight from the word go like we did with James. So the baby milk is in my baby along with two bottles in our bottle bag. 

I'm hoping I haven't forgotten anything important, but since the hospital is like ten minutes walk from the main shopping area in Newcastle I'm sure my mum & dad can go pick things up if we need them! 

I really should have taken photographs but James was pestering me and running off with the camera as normal!

Pregnancy update 34 weeks

So I'm now 34 weeks pregnant with baby boy two! Cannot believe he is due in six weeks! The time seems to have flown by so quick! But we have been so busy I'm not surprised. What with moving out of rented house, into mum & dads for nine weeks, then into our house it's been a crazy time.

I'm getting lots of movement from baby boy, normally when I'm eating or trying to relax! James voice seems to send him crackers. He is also such a fidget like James was. He seems to like poking out limbs when I'm trying to go to sleep at night.

I'm still suffering really bad insomnia at nights. A few times I have been awake for the day at 3/4am. Lucky James has had a few naps after nursery so I have been able to get some sleep in too. Once baby boy is here I'm guessing the tiredness will be worth it as will be up with him rather than lying wide awake in bed on Facebook.

Nursery is an on going situation with James. He's done a couple of days at full three hours but he seems to have a phobia of using the toilet at school so has been picked up in tears a couple of times as he's been that desperate but scared to go, that being the reason he can't stay I. For full three hours as teachers do not want him holding his wee in that long. Hoping this week we can try and take him into toilet before he goes into the classroom see if that helps him. Other than that he absolutely loves it and gets very grumpy when it's the weekend and he can't go! 

This last week we have been practicing fitting the car seat into my parents car with the seatbelt as the base we used in their old car can't be used in the car they have now. 

All we need to buy now is the baby milk for the hospital bag and they are all sorted! Still a few practical bits to get for example a changing mat and bedding for Moses basket! I'm hoping we haven't forgotten anything important! But then again hospital is a short walk from Newcastle city centre and all the main shops!

Pregnancy update 32 weeks

So eight weeks till due date! We are getting sorted slowly.

I'm feeling large and very tired! Really hate not being able to pick up James.

Speaking of James he's finally started nursery school. If you follow me on Twitter you will already know this has not been a great start. Poor boy has been picked up in tears and dropped off in tears. This has not been good for mummy and her stress levels. Still we have eight weeks till baby is due to get him sorted.

Have finally packed my hospital bag this last weekend, still have a couple of bits to get and put in but it's mostly sorted. Baby h has his bag all packed too. 

I'm starting to run out of clothes that fit so living in trackies when in the house and my comfy maternity jeans and jumpers when out and about. 

Getting out and about is really tiring now. Went into Newcastle over the weekend to meet Andy from work and by time I got back I was exhausted and in bed asleep by nine. Was glad to get some sleep as I still have the dreaded insomnia between three and four most mornings! The furthest I tend to go now when Andy is at work is the nursery & shops. I can't even take James to the park anymore as I can't lift him into swings :( 

Mum and me had our tour of the hospital last week which was great! Fingers crossed he comes after 37 weeks so can use birthing centre! But on a whole I loved the whole hospital so if had to use delivery suit I wouldn't mind.

Next update in two weeks at 36 weeks! It's getting closer to d-day! 

Hospital Tour

So yesterday mum and me had our tour of Newcastle Birthing Centre and also the RVI delivery suit in preparation for the arrival of baby h!

What can I say about from it was fantastic! Me and Andy have certainly made the right choice in choosing to have baby h at this fantastic hospital!

From the comfy waiting area at the birthing centre to a lovely waiting area at the delivery suit I knew straight away I wanted to have baby h at the birthing centre! I knew from having James what I don't want to happen. I felt like the hospital I had him at were too quick to give diamorphine and also insisted on me being on the bed hooked up to monitors where as the people at birthing centre said even on a drip u can still move around the room. They also only let two people into the room with you so when I asked to see my dad my mum had to leave the room! The birthing centre does not limit the amount of people in the room with you which for me is great as I know I will want to see my dad and James pretty much as soon as I can after having baby h! 

Sadly Andy had to miss the tour as he should have been at work, but had actually been ill. But there is a video on YouTube he can watch!

Just under nine weeks now till due date and I'm feeling very calm especially now I have seen the facilities! 

Now all we need is for baby h to come of his own accord after 37 weeks!

Birthing centre 

http://www.newcastle-hospitals.org.uk/services/maternity-unit_wards-and-clinics_newcastle-birthing-centre.aspx

Delivery suit 

http://www.newcastle-hospitals.org.uk/services/maternity-unit_wards-and-clinics_delivery-suite.aspx

Pregnancy Update 28 Weeks

Argh only 12 weeks till due date! Yes panic has set in as we have a list as long as my arm of stuff we still need to get for little man, his bedroom & not to mention the rest of the house!

I'm feeling really really big! I haven't been able to see my feet since about 18 weeks hence why last night I ended up misjudging the freezer, stubbing my toe, then shutting freezer door on my foot. I'm now sporting a nice purple bruise on my left big toe! 

Think it's time to start slowing down a bit & remembering that I'm pregnant & only have a few weeks left to go! Im still baking crazy & made a four layer piñata cake covered in sweets for James birthday! Now all I need to do is decide on Andy's cake for his birthday in a couples of weeks! 

The biggest thing to happen since 25 weeks is James has turned three & finally started potty training! He starts his nursery induction on 16th September so that will keep me busy a few weeks! Especially as the first full week without parents being in is 5th October! 

James seems to be getting excited about his little brother & Christmas lol! We have to keep reminding him that before Father Christmas comes, his little brother will come first! 

Baby boy's movement has got even stronger this last week! The kicks are starting to hurt a little bit, especially when they are around my hips or ribs! He spent the whole of my friends wedding service booting me in the ribs so I spent the rest of the day in agony! I seem to get a lot of kicks and wriggles on a night still when I'm settling James in his bed. Baby boy seems to react to his big brothers voice quite a lot!

Braxton hicks have also started up this week. Exactly the same time as when I was having James. Forgot how uncomfortable they were! 

The nursery is looking pretty good. The cot is together, we just need to get a mattress and some new sheets. We have the chair that was in James room as a baby in ready for when little man moves into his own room. I'm hoping he will be in with us a bit longer than James was. James was in his own room by eight weeks as he had out grown the carry cot we had. 

Next update will be 32 weeks! 

23 weeks pregnancy update

So I'm now 23 weeks pregnant so have 17 weeks left till we meet our baby boy or if he's like his big brother add on another week (James was 1 week 1 day late)!

So in the last couple of weeks we have started to prepare stuff as we worked out that Andy won't have another big chunk of time off till baby arrives. Andy finished painting the bedroom that will be babies. We bought the wardrobe and sorted clothes that a friend gave us.

We have started buying bits and pieces of clothing mostly sleep suits and vests. We picked up our changing bag last weekend. We went for the Babymoov Style after I read review from Jodie at http://www.lifewithpinkprincesses.co.uk 

James is starting to take more of an interest now we have chosen a name for little man, so has started saying good night and good morning to my bump.

Mummy is feeling rather large. Looking back at photos of when I was 23 weeks with James I'm definitely bigger this time. The bump is definitely starting to get in the way when cooking and especially bathing James. 

Baby boy has started getting very active over the last week and moving constantly as one minute the kicks are on my left hand side then next time they are on my right hand side. Hopefully he won't be like his big brother who spent the last 8-10 weeks of my pregnancy constantly on my left hand side and very low making walking and sitting very uncomfortable.

We have started gathering bits together for my hospital bag ie my wash bag as that was the part I left till last minute last time and forgot stuff. Have a rough idea about what I'm putting into babies bag.

So will update again in a few weeks!!!

Its a boy

So if you have me on Twitter Facebook or instagram you will have seen the news that baby two is a healthy little boy!

We are all over the moon to be having another boy and James seems thrilled to be having a brother!

Now all we need to do is agree on a name!

Family Update

So it's been a while since I did a in depth post into what we have been up to!

March found us celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary & then finding out baby two was on the way! We were also packing up our old house and arranging storage for all our furniture.

April we moved out of our rented house when I was eight weeks pregnant. I was showing quite alot already so trying to hide the bump while moving. We moved into my parents house while we were waiting to complete on our house. We also had my 30th birthday which was literally days after moving out of the house.

May was a big month but also a sad one as we had the first anniversary of losing my nannie. We had our 12 week scan and announced baby two was on the way to all our friends as family already knew. And the best part of May was collecting the keys to our house on the 27th!!

So that brings us up to June. I'm now 18 weeks pregnant & counting down to finding out the gender of baby two. We both think it's going to be another boy, but are seriously struggling to think of a boys name we like! James got registered for nursery school in September. Can't believe my tiny boy is growing up and almost three! We moved the big furniture the house on 1st of June & slept here for the first time on 3rd of June. The best part of June though had to be the arrival of our best friends Michelle & Richard's gorgeous little boy Jayden. So proud of them having this gorgeous little man and we know they will be brilliant parents as we have seen them with James who literally adores them. 

So what does July hold for us, well first it's the 20 week scan! So Excited to find out if it's a boy or a girl! Although we do think it's a boy! 

Baby two weeks 12-16

12 Week Scan was brilliant. Saw every little detail even saw the babies brain which looked like a butterfly. 

20 week scan is booked for 7th July. Really looking forward to it and finding out if James is getting a brother or sister. He keeps changing his mind as to which he wants.

People have asked if we have a preference of girl over boy, but I say girl would be nice but boy would be easier as we already know what we are doing with a boy.

Nausea is finally disappearing but not the tiredness. I guess most of that comes from having a toddler running around and the fact it's been raining so been confined to indoors at his nana's house without the majority of his stuff.

Should be into our house in two weeks time so we can start trying to get James back into a good bedtime routine. I'm really missing the time I used to have once he was in bed to just chill out and sort stuff out.

James isn't sleeping too great, so neither am I. The whole being in one room is driving me mad.

14 weeks and we have our house keys woo hoo! Weekend had been spent painting what will be the nursery. All being well we will be sleeping there in a few days time! 

15 weeks saw the midwife to get all blood results before going to register at new gps. Heard baby's heartbeat which was 154bpm. Should be in our new home for first night soon. 

In our new home and love it! James has settled down at bedtime really well. So proud of him. 

Been getting odd cravings ie ham and salad sandwiches and cucumber lots of cucumber!!!

16 weeks two days bump! 

Baby Two is on the way!

So by now if you follow me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook you will have seen our exciting news that baby two is due end of November! 

Have a big post lined up with the first 12 weeks but for now will leave you with baby sproglets first photo!

What's in our Changing Bag?

I have been meaning to do this post for ages but yep kept forgetting or as I was getting the bag to take photographs, James would run off with it.

I'm crazy about keeping the bag organised hence stuff being in ziplock bags pus it stops stuff getting messy.

There are six ziplock bags in our changing bag.

Bag one this has a spare stuff in, ie vest T-shirt pants and socks. Quite often if James does a wet through when we are out he tends to need a full outfit change.

Bag two this has his spare trousers in. 

Bag three this houses the pull up pants normally about three pairs as I sometimes forget to add more to the bag.

Bag four houses the calpol sachets. I never go anywhere without them especially when the boy has molars coming through.

Bag five the neufophen sachets again these go everywhere. If the calpol does not cure the teething pain then neufophen normally does.

Bag six has the dentenox eye wipes in. These are a god send especially if not just James gets sore eyes but the rest of us. 

A packet of Tesco baby wipes. These are the current ones.

Our skip hop wipes case which I actually use for nappy bags so I don't lose them.

There is also my old pink draw string bikini bag, which I use for throwing the wet clothes in as it can be hung on the pushchair handles, meaning it gets taken straight into the kitchen for washing. It may be odd using that, but I haven't found anything else as good for wet clothes.

So that's what I carry around for a two year old everytime we leave the house.

You might wonder why no drink or snacks? Well these normally go in the buggy basket so they are easier to grab when needed. 

My little baby is two.

If you follow me on twitter you will know my gorgeous little boy turned two yesterday (26/08).

What a day we had. It started pretty early as we were going out for the day with my parents and we wanted to give James his presents before we went off for the day.

We got him a children's Henry Hoover as he is totally obsessed with our Henry or as he says daddies Henry. Hen there was a peppa pig noisy book, a new Thomas backpack, some building blocks and a trunki snoozy head for when he's in the car or on the bus. We also took him to see milkshake live party party the day before (25/08).

 

So for James actual big day we decided to take him to York as he is mad on trains and Andy has never been there so we thought a nice wander round the streets trip to the Minster then up to railway museum before heading back up home for tea and cake.

First off the park and ride system York has is amazing. We parked at Poppelton Bar which is a new site for 2014 and what a site it is. Beautiful waiting room with toilets and baby changing, a massive car park and even electric buses. It runs every ten minutes into the city centre and drops off by Clifford's Tower, round the corner from the Hilton hotel and next to old fire station. From there is was a short walk into the city centre past Jorvik. We took James to change his bum and by time we got out of Marks and Spencer's he was so tired he asked for his dummy and blankie and swiftly passed out.

So onto York Minster. Now I haven't been to York for about six years and neither have my parents and what a change, they now charge £10 per person to get in, which means it would have cost our family £40 to visit. Needless to say we swiftly left and paid a quick visit to the shop but again didn't actually buy anything.

James had been given £10 from a neighbour of mum and dad for his birthday so we brought this along for him. James woke up literally just after we arrived at the railway museum which he absolutely loved. We did have a few tantrums when he had to get off certain things or couldn't touch things but mostly he was a really good boy. He got a new teddy with his birthday money.

We then took a nice walk back into the city centre and went and got frozen yoghurt at yogi which was so nice. I had strawberry and mum had mango and yes James sampled and loved both. 

The day was rounded off by stopping at tesco to grab a small birthday cake and a number two candle.

 The birthday boy was bathed and fast asleep on mummies shoulder by half past seven.