Some Photos From My Weekend

We had a very busy weekend here! Celebrated Francis' 2nd birthday and Mother's Day.

Still Here...Sort Of

So sorry I have been missing in action for so long. Things have been crazy to say the least. The kitchen renovations are done, we went of to America for 10 days and I got horrendously sick with the worst sinusitis I have ever had. Needless to say, that is why shamefully I have not been blogging. That and the fact that my computer is still not set back up and I am slightly technologically challenged. I struggle posting with my phone or iPad but I will get better at it...I'm sure 😉

Anyway, I definitely have a lot to update you all on so with any luck I'll be back to a normal blogging schedule by the weekend.

I hope you have all been well and I'll see you back here soon!

XX

Long Time...

Well, things here have certainly become crazy! The kitchen renovation has begun and we are currently living in a construction site. No kitchen, no anything at all on the ground level of our house. As I type this the boys are napping and the electrician is on his way. We are just crossing our fingers we'll be allowed to keep the kettle and microwave plugged in. Due to all the chaos and my computer being unplugged and put away I have not been able to post. I am doing it now from my iPad, which I have never done before so I hope it doesn't look a mess.

We are also getting ready for our big trip back to the US. Right electrician is here so better go. Hopefully I will be able to post intermittently in the next couple of weeks, but if not will be back when I'm back up and running.

Xx

Observations

Hi everyone, I hope you have had a great weekend!

We have had a busy one over here. Finishing off some major purchases for the kitchen and making some final decisions too! We have also been out to start getting some things for the boy's room change (i.e. the big boy bed is on its way!).
We have lived in our house for 2.5 years and when we first moved in we didn't have anything with us furniture-wise, we also didn't have any savings left to buy or improve anything either so it has been a slow process of getting things when we can and saving up to get a few things done. It feels good to get our house more up to date and in our style after living with what the previous owners deemed stylish (some of it is ok but other things whomp whomp...a big thumbs down). I think that you get that with any house really, unless you build it yourself to your specs of course. I also realise that our taste may not suit other people's either so when and if we ever move I fully expect the new owners to ask 'what were they thinking' with a few things anyway ;-)

diy.com

So in the course of the weekend of housework (and going to the gym...Yes!) I have made a couple of random observations:

1. If you claim to be the largest tile shop in the area, don't fool us by only having 2 aisles of tiles for the bathroom only.
2. If the computer says you have something in stock, then please have the shelves stocked...no, I don't really fancy coming back on Wed.
3. If you go to the gym to work out, don't just stand there in your gym kit on your mobile taking up space...work it baby!
4. If you are at the gym and look like a body-builder, don't announce to the entire gym that you need to tone up!
5. Women like to help others out...thank you to the nice woman at IKEA for asking me if I needed help lifting a new bookcase :-)

Random I know but just some thoughts to keep you entertained!

Have a good night!

What I Ate Wednesday- Not Forgotten

Oh dear! I wrote this post last night and then feeling slightly under the weather forgot to finish it up and post it. So without further ado, here is my WIAW post...

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a good week so far. Not too much going on with us over here except that both of my boys are teething! Francis is getting in one of his final top teeth, which doesn't seem to be bothering him too much and little Dylan is getting a tooth or two somewhere in the front. Poor Dylan is struggling and that has meant a few sleepless nights for the both of us, but I know he'll get relief soon.

Today, like most of my Wednesdays I have been busy running around so here are some of my quick grab eats (albeit probably not the healthiest of choices):

Breakfast: Cup of tea and cup of coffee with a Magdalena

Lunch: Sparkling water with a BLT (no mayo just a light Ranch dressing). I had a bit of a working lunch at the computer.

Snack: 9 bar and cup of tea x2. I have never had a 9bar before but this was gooood!!

Dinner: Home-made crispy beef with sweet and sour sauce and basmati rice (sorry so hungry forgot to take the photo)

Snacks: about a hundred cups of tea as my throat is starting to hurt and my nose is running. Trying to fight off this horrible cold that is undoubtedly on its way :-(

 Have a good day!

Snow and Kitchen Stress

Hello! I hope you all had a lovely weekend! We had lots of snow the end of last week and into the weekend so we were very much enjoying it and happy that it wasn't as bad as it could have been which would have cancelled all our weekend plans (birthday parties and family visits).

Francis playing in the snow!

The past week or so we have been busy designing and sorting our our new kitchen which will be installed in a few weeks time. It has been an on going project for about 6 months. We knew we wanted a new kitchen as even though ours looks nice it really isn't usable and is quite old, but finding a company that could design a kitchen around our needs proved almost impossible and in the end we designed the whole thing ourselves. We have spent the evenings in the last week firming up all the little details of the kitchen renovation and boy has it stressed me out! 

On Saturday morning the builder who will be in charge of the whole renovation came over to get an idea of what he was going to be doing and it all just felt so overwhelming. I have never had to be in charge of such a massive renovation before (the hub of family life is the kitchen after all) and I would hate for it to not turn out right.

Thankfully we'll not have to live in the house while the renovations are taking place as I really don't know how we would be able to do it especially with the two little ones.

So in the next few weeks in addition to getting ready for the big trip back to the States for my sister's wedding we are also getting ready for the big overhaul in our house. Not to mention the possible 'Big Boy Bed' change over for Francis!

Any of you ever done a massive renovation on your house while also planning other major things (holidays, giving birth, etc...)? 

What I Ate Wednesday

I know I totally missed posting WIAW last week, but it is something I would like to do regularly so if I can going forward I will be around the end of the day Wednesday with a heads up on what I ate!

Wednesdays for me are always a bit rushed and I eat a lot on the go. It is the only day of the week that Francis is at nursery and I get a day with just Dylan. Although my intention is always to spend the day cuddled up with Dylan, it always ends up being a day doing things that are far easier to do with one little one than two (like taking the dog to the vet). Don't get me wrong, I do get to spend quality time with Dylan on Wednesdays but I also use the time to get a few little things done that day too.

Anyway, today's eats are as follows:

Breakfast: Coffee with semi-skimmed milk and 2 teaspoons of light condensed milk with a piece of Burgens soya and linseed toast buttered

Snack: Wildberry Yu! Bar with Coffee and semi-skimmed milk

Lunch: Weight Watchers Salmon and Broccoli wedge melt with sparkling water and a bag of prawn cocktail crisps

Snack: Coffee with semi-skimmed milk and 3 chocolate biscuits

Supper: Left over spicy jalapeño pizza with salad

A couple of cups of tea were also had through out the day.

Sorry I didn't manage to capture all the items on camera but I was either on the go or just to hungry to take the snaps!

Hope you all had a great Wednesday!

Shape-Wear

Hello to all my lovely readers! I hope you have had a wonderful weekend. The past week was a good but busy one- catching up with friends and family, doctors and vet appointments and generally trying to relax and enjoy home time since coming back from all our travels.

I know I haven't written about it in awhile, but I am still going to the gym. I had to have a little break from it before the holidays as we were all ill but I have been back in action this past week! That said I am also down 3 whole pounds...YAY! And I am currently wearing my 'Dylan pre-pregnancy' jeans...YAAAAYYY!!!

I am pretty excited about my progress and it is slow and steady which truly is the best way and most likely way to keep it all off so I am feeling great!

I do however have my sister's wedding fast approaching and a bridesmaid dress that still doesn't fit comfortably. This week I need to make a final decision as to whether or not a tailor needs to step in and help or if I will be able to do it with a combo of working out and eating healthily. Oh and a little thing called shape-wear! ;-)

I have heard loads of people talking about the beauty of Spanx and although I have never tried them I was intrigued. I did a bit of research and decided to get some. Also, I'm not sure if anyone knows about this but shape-wear is supposed to be beneficial for your tummy after child birth- I heard this from a friend and have no reason to doubt her but seriously have never heard of it before.

Anyway, today I went to buy some Spanx and was disappointed that my size was not in stock. Boo! So I went with some shape-wear from the store I was in. I got home and tried that on with the bridesmaid dress and liked some aspects of it but still wasn't to impressed. So, I have ordered some Spanx online and should have them within a week. I am really looking forward to trying them out and fingers crossed will not have to search any further for another solution or head to the tailors.

What is your experience with Shape-wear? Any good or all hype? 

American Boy

Happy Tuesday! I hope you all had a great weekend and hopefully not too bad a start to the week.

We have been a busy family once again. This weekend we spent recovering from our travels doing the ever so glamorous house cleaning, food shopping and laundry! Then on Sunday we went down to London for Dylan's American Embassy appointment.

It was about a 4 hour journey in the car but both boys were pretty happy to nap a lot of the way which is a huge bonus. We headed over to one of my good friends' place and visited with her and her family which was fantastic and long over due. She is pregnant with a little boy who is due in April so seeing her pregnant was lovely especially since I was in Texas for her first pregnancy.

After that visit it was off to our hotel and then out with two of our other good friends for some drinks and a curry. It was a great evening and both guys were wonderful with the boys- keeping them entertained during dinner and even letting Francis ride on their shoulders! We are so lucky to have such great friends ;-)

It was early up on Monday morning to check into the US embassy. Luckily they seem to have stream lined the process a little since we got Francis' American stuff done so there was no queuing outside in the cold and straight in for our 3 interviews and to submit all our paperwork. I have to admit it is a little hard going sitting in an office building with 2 little ones for 4 hours, but the boys behaved and we were a little better prepared this time with snacks, drinks, toys, books and nappies!

There was a little issue with Dylan's passport photo but it got sorted and the rest went smoothly. When they said 'Congratulations little Dylan is an American' I could finally breath a sigh of relief! PHEW!! Honestly it shouldn't be this hard to register my children as American but I'm sure it is one of those things where along the way someone ruined it for all the rest of us. Oh well, it is done and the good news is that we'll even get his American passport in time to head off to the States for my sister's wedding in Feb!

The rest of this week will hopefully not be too eventful, but you just never know ;-)

Have a good one!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. I know we did! It has been difficult for me to blog recently as we have been so busy with holiday things. We also all ended up with conjunctivitis the week before Christmas so that was a bummer. Oh and how could I forget, we also started redecorating our living room, which has been quite the task!

We had a lovely Christmas bouncing around visiting friends and family. I consumed more than my share of chocolates and got away with having very little Christmas Pudding which I am not a huge fan of. Let's face it, anything that you have to douse with a half bottle of alcohol and light on fire is not really going to be a tasty treat is it ;-)

After Christmas we had a little family get away to Sweden to visit some friends for NYE. It was a wonderful trip and I really enjoyed it. The people in Sweden were so friendly and they know how to have a conversation which I am finding is a real skill. We were also amazed and humbled by the fact that they were all fluent in English and whilst we were in their company would speak English even if we were not a part of that particular conversation. It was a very friendly and welcoming thing to do. It also made me feel a little ashamed of the fact that despite 7 years of studying Spanish I am nowhere near fluent or even conversational at this point. I guess if you don't use it you do lose it!

We hired a car while we were in Sweden and did a little bit of travelling around whilst we were there which was great. It is always nice to get out of the touristy places and see the 'real' side to a place. The only bad points of the trip was that Sweden is expensive and the boys didn't sleep that well really and so neither did I.

I have actually spent the last few nights trying to catch up but it is hard.

Well, better get off. It is getting late and I need to start taking down some Christmas decoration :-(

Have a good weekend and I'll be back soon with a fitness update.


Any good New Year's resolutions out there? I haven't quite figured mine out yet!