Recap

I'm back!! It seems like forever since I last posted but after a week of relaxing and spending time with my parents (who flew over from the States) I am ready to get back to the blog world ;-)

Last week was fab! The boys both really enjoyed their visit from Grammy and Grandpa and have been recovering ever since. Lots of cuddles, walking, talking and showing off really takes it out of them.

I really miss my parents already and wish they could have stayed longer but they were over for as long as they could be and at least we got to celebrate Thanksgiving with them and even have a mini Christmas too!

Turkey coma!

One thing that the husband and I really appreciated were the two date nights we got to go on while my parents were over. It was so nice to have some quality time together, just the two of us. We got to see the new James Bond, which I loved (husband not so much) and then had another date into Leeds where we had some drinks and went for a very spicy Mexican meal (which in the UK is very rare). Thanks Mom & Dad!

Since I am in the recap mode at the moment I thought I'd share a little disappointing news (for me anyway)...I have not exercised in 3.5 weeks!! I know I'm bad. The first of these weeks the boys were both sick so I was up a lot in the night and didn't really feel like waking early to exercise. The second week I was not feeling great myself, post pregnancy issues (don't worry I'm ok now) and then last week I wanted to really enjoy each moment with my parents and the boys so I just didn't bother. I did bother to have plenty of chocolate though so I am in definite need of making up for some of that ;-)

Also, my mom brought over my bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding in Feb and let's just say I have a little way to go before comfortably fitting into it. Apparently both my sister and brother have just lost 30+ pounds for the wedding and to get healthier. I don't have quite that much to lose but I do still have about 20lbs pregnancy/chocolate weight to shed at some point. My sister lost her weight on Weight Watchers while my brother just cut out all sweets and started going to a gym (which was right in his apartment complex-pretty handy indeed). I needed a bit of motivation and I think their weight loss and the Women's Health magazine I bought at lunch today should do it ;-) So with that said...here's to getting back in shape!

Have any of you ever tried the Pro Points Plan at Weight Watchers? Any good? 

Enjoying A Break

Hello! Sorry I haven't been posting as normal. My parents are visiting from the US and we have been busy catching up and enjoying time together. I will be back to regular blogging next week but for now I am taking a little break.

Have a good rest of the week and for all my American readers I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

See you next week!

Colour

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend and a good Monday (since I am posting this so late)! My weekend was pretty busy. Husband went off camping with some friends so I was alone with the boys. We went on a couple of nice walks taking the very excited pooch with us, played with blocks and stacking cups, attempted some pillow forts and then generally relaxed- oh and Dylan did lots of tummy time ;-)

Last week Dylan was diagnosed with bronchitis so we are still taking it easy until he starts to feel better, poor little guy. By the way, I totally hate giving him his antibiotics. He starts out all smiley and giggling but it always ends in screaming tears. Thankfully today is his last day on the antibiotics - fingers crossed.

So when the boys were in bed and I had the place all to myself I got up to some much needed and anticipated girlie pampering. I guess you could say I got to grips with Fall/Autumn colours.

First I painted my long neglected nails in OPI Romeo and Joliet - Gorgeous! I absolutely love OPI and this colour doesn't let me down. I bought it about a month ago thinking I would invest in a nice colour and skip a professional manicure but it took me this long to finally get around to it.

Then on Sunday I coloured my hair. Now for 33 years I have had the same light blonde hair and have maintained lovely highlights but since I have been pregnant off and on (if you can say that) for about 3 years, I haven't really wanted to keep up with my highlights and that is when the dreaded roots set in. Let's just say it wasn't pretty! So I did some research and chose a home colouring kit in dark blonde thinking it would be about the same as what I have but slightly darker. Ummm....not so much! My hair is now pretty much brown. It is certainly different and I know I have to get used to it, but not sure how long it is going to stay. I think it is a good option for Autumn/Winter, but this will not be my Spring/Summer look that's for sure.
Anyway, I tried to take a pic of it so you could see, but today was another dark and dreary day here and the lighting was a bit off so it didn't really come out. I shall try again for another post.

So that is how I put some colour into my weekend. Did anyone else foray into the world of hair colour this weekend?

Post Pregnancy Shopping

It has been almost 3 months since the birth of my gorgeous little boy Dylan. I can't believe how the time has flown by. Everyday I wake up and smile at both of my little ones and am so grateful. I also wake up each morning and still put on maternity clothes :-( 

When I had Francis, it took me about 9 months to get my shape back and I probably still had about 5 pounds to lose, but I looked more or less back to my pre-baby shape. It was at that time I found out I was pregnant with little Dylan. This second pregnancy took my belly to a whole new level. I was massive. People didn't just ask if I was having twins but whether or not I was having triplets! Anyway, with that said and knowing that it has only been 3 months since Dylan's birth it is no wonder I am still a bit round. I am not really in a rush to get slim again but I would like to be on my way to it as I have my sister's wedding in February and I am going to have to fit into a pre-pregnancy sized bridesmaid dress! 

So after having been working out for a bit and having lost 3 more pounds since the initial pregnancy weight came off,  I was feeling quite slim and wanted to shop for some new clothes- after all I am now pretty bored of my maternity kit. This is what prompted my trip to the mall this past weekend. 

However, I found when I started trying on clothes none of them fit- and I was trying on clothes two sizes bigger than my pre-pregnancy size! It wasn't so much that I had gained weight but that my shape had definitely changed too. I now have a fuller chest, bigger hips and a lot of loose skin on my belly. I was finding that clothes where either made to fit the slim or the more voluptuous girl but not a woman who had recently given birth. 

So, I gave in to the fact that my purchase of two pairs of leggings and some long tops was going to be the extent of my shopping that day. At first I felt disappointed and not particularly attractive, but then I remembered I have just had a beautiful baby boy who I love with all my heart and my body did me proud <3 !  I am still breast feeding Dylan and I am only just getting back into shape. There really is no rush. After all a bridesmaid's dress can be tailored to fit! 

images from H&M and Dorothy Perkins 

Sometimes You Have Days Like This

Yesterday was quite a day. I got up and looked at my calendar and saw that the Health Visitor was due to come around for her final check on me and Dylan. She told me that she would be over at 11am. With that said I got up out of bed and started the getting ready for the day. By 10am I thought I was pretty much on track, just needed to shower but both boys were ready to go. And then the doorbell rang. It was 10:10am and the Health Visitor had arrived.

I know they don't expect you to be perfect and I don't pretend to be, but I at least like to be out of my pjs and have my hair brushed when they come round. So now the dog is going mad, Francis is trying to escape his high chair and Dylan thank goodness is the only one still smiling. 

After a few minutes chatting I let Francis walk around the kitchen as he clearly wasn't happy being in his high chair (after all breakfast had finished ages ago). However getting Francis out of his high chair set off a bizarre chain reaction- the dog went crazy again and Dylan began to scream. So I moved the dog out of the room and picked up Dylan all while chatting with the HV and keeping one eye on Francis who had decided to turn the oven on! 

It was at this time the HV told me off for having Dylan in a bouncy chair on the kitchen table. She said 'He's so big he might just bounce himself off the chair and off the table.' Oh dear! Fail number 1. 

She finally decided to leave and I was pretty happy because I had a feeling things might take a turn for the worse. That is when she asked how long Francis had been walking. 'Only a few weeks' I said (he was a very slow walker). 'Oh well don't worry he'll have lots of bumps and bruises' she says whilst staring at Francis' forehead which is currently sporting a giant yellow bruise from his fall a few days ago. Arrgh! Fail number 2.

At that point Francis decided to climb on top of a box we had in the kitchen (from an Ikea run the day before). I could foresee him falling off it and just as I did there he went. I leapt across the kitchen with Dylan in my arms (dog howling in the other room), grabbed Francis right before the fall (YES! A point for me.) but then I was only holding Dylan with one arm and of course that is when he decided to flail out...Oh Lord! Fail number 3.

I turned around with both boys safely in my arms to see a look of complete horror on the HV's face. 'Well time to go then' she said. 

With the door shut and locked I breathed the biggest sigh of relief ever - hair dishevelled, bathrobe half on, and that was just my morning! 

Has anyone else ever had a morning like this? Super Mom; reality or myth?

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee, Coffee

Well, it seems like forever since my last post and I have definitely not kept to my unspoken plan of  writing at least two posts a week, but I'll get there. I guess I am still getting used to a routine with two little ones.

This past weekend seemed to go by in a flash. I love weekends more than ever now because it means family time. During the week my husband is out all day and gets in late at night but on the weekends he is usually in and it is nice for me to have some quality time with all of my boys :-)

This weekend however I went out on my own which was a much needed and very rare occurance. I ended up going to the mall on Saturday to pick up a few things (which I'll probably go over in another post soon) and while I was there I did something I hadn't done in awhile...I ordered a coffee!

Now don't get me wrong, I have coffee all the time but recently it has just been instant decaf - boring. This coffee was a salted caramel latte from Costa and it was good! I took it all around the mall with me and then had some on the drive home too. I savoured every last sip!

I guess the slightly naughty thing of all was that I had already had two fresh coffees that morning before I left the house! And then, you will not believe it but I had another cup when I got back home!

Saturday was a truly caffienated day and I loved every sip!

Have you ever had a day with way too much coffee? I guess I was lucky that 3 of the 4 coffees were decaf ;-)