Thursday, January 22, 2009

My poor wee man

...is still suffering an awful cough!  It got a little better and then all of a sudden it got worse again!!  I was up for AGES the other night trying to settle him because he woke up every time he coughed!  Quite a shock to the system considering he has been sleeping through the night for a very long time!  Last night was much better... he woke up at 1.00 but James just gave him a little pat and he slept the rest of the night.

He is really developing his own little personality now... and he has learnt how to growl... he growls all the time!!  He also loves blowing raspberries, letting the dribble fly everywhere!  He is so sturdy now and loves standing up holding onto the couch or my hands.

He seems to have been going through the seperation anxiety here and there... but it is not so bad anymore.

His two teeth right at the front are getting so big now too... it's hard to put teething gel in his mouth because his little jaws are so strong!!!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Yay!

I can feel Ollie's second tooth cutting through!!  It should be up for the weekend!!!

Monday, January 5, 2009

7 months today!

O0o0o0oh my goodness how fast the year is going!  I can't believe that Ollie is now 7 months old.  He is changing so so much everyday.

He is becoming so much more interested in his toys rather than chewing EVERYTHING.  The music makers (jingly thing and a shakey thing etc) I got him for Christmas are going down a treat... he knows to shake them to make a noise.

Ollie is getting so so strong... he can sit completly unaided and reaches forward and striaghtens himself up without falling over.  His legs can take all his weight but he is so wobbly.  No interest as yet in crawling and he does not like to practice as he hates being on his front!!

Weaning is going really well... Ollie is off purees now and onto lumps.  He didn't fancy them at first but now is really learning how to chew.  He has had a go at some toast and biscuits and little slices of cheese.  He loves finger foods... think he likes the independence!  He has eaten such a wide variety of foods... even homemade salmon fishcakes I made mashed with milk.  He really seems to like fish and he loves cheesy pasta!  He won't drink so much milk anymore so we are making up for it with Petit Filous yoghurts which he adores.  I tried him with scrabled egg for the first time today but I think I cooked it too rubbery and it was quite hard for him to manage!

Ollie's repertoire of 'words' (babbles) is getting larger every single day.  Sometimes I think he knows a foreign language!  I sometimes repeat his words back to him and this really makes him smile!  I make an effort to talk to him as much as possible and talk about the things around us!

Tonight we have started to try controlled crying... totally our own fault, but Ollie had started only sleeping when one of us rocked him to sleep and the other night was the last straw when he wouldn't even sleep with rocking!  It was so hard... I went in after 2 minutes and then 5, 8 and then 15... it took him from 8 - 8.45 to fall asleep.... so so so hard but he has to learn to fall asleep on his own.  Fingers crossed this is it now for the night and he does not wake up very upset again.

We have not yet had an real problems with seperation anxiety which normally happens around this time.  He is very used to other people and stays overnight at grandparents a lot!  There was an instance though that during the day I had been playing a game where i hid behind the door and peekabooed after a second... I did this a few times.  Later that day I went over to the shop and when I came home James said as soon as I left Ollie stared at the door and when I didn't peekaboo, he started to cry!

He is finally getting over his sickness (bronchiolitis and THEN a cold!) and his appetite has picked up again...

Oh!  and it looks like he might have his second tooth by the weekend!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

About Me

Hi!
My name is Emma and I am a 26 year old stay at home wife and mum. My husband is called James and he is 30. We have a son who turned 2 years old in June and he is called Ollie.

My dreamy husband and I had the opportunity to relocate with his job to Dublin in January 2006. We had never lived together before and we were both excited about our adventure. I must have been doing something right in the 4 months of living together because he asked me to marry him in April 2006, just a month before our anniversary of being together 2 years. He proposed at a music festival with a jelly in place of ring as it was spur of the moment… he even got down on one knee.

Our wedding day was superb and the weather was fantastic. We got married on 26th May 2007 in the beautiful Belle Isle Castle in Enniskillen. Our ceremony and reception was very intimate with only 35 guests and everyone stayed for the weekend. I’m pleased I was lucky enough to have a weekend wedding rather than a wedding day because the day itself went so fast.

My husband and I were ecstatic to find out on 6th October, that I was pregnant with our first baby. I had an easy pregnancy, with no real problems and I gave birth to Oliver Charlie James Hughes on 5th June 2008 at 8.49pm. He weighed 8lbs 1.

We moved back to Belfast at the end of August 2008 and bought our first house in May 2009.

We found out we were expecting baby number 2 in October last year, but sadly we experienced a missed miscarriage and lost the baby on the 8th November 2009. We are currently trying again though getting frustrated and worried as to why it has not yet happened.

My interests include reading, cooking, cleaning (a relatively new interest!), films, crafts, i love dogs, painting, keeping my blog and I adore a lot of different music whether on the speakers or though my ipod, painting, eating out and travelling.

On a final note, I hope my blog is of interest to some and if you have a blog that is in anyway similar in topic, leave me a message because I’d love to read yours too.

Emma x

101 in 1001

Start Date - 1st August 2009

End Date - 27th April 2012
Tasks completed - 8/101

  1. Lose 21lbs (8/21).
  2. Have another baby.
  3. Go on an un-planned road trip.
  4. Read 75 Novels (1/75).
  5. Learn 25 new recipes (16/25).
  6. Level and seed the front lawn. (post coming soon)
  7. Level and seed the back lawn.
  8. Plant flowers. (post coming soon)
  9. Get wooden floors in the hall, living room and dining room (0/3).
  10. Make a will.
  11. Sew something and use it.
  12. Join a library. (?)
  13. Go camping with Ollie and James. (post coming soon)
  14. Get another tattoo.
  15. Have at least 5 dinner parties (2/5).
  16. Get new doors for every room.
  17. Decorate living room.
  18. Tile kitchen.
  19. Decorate our bedroom.
  20. Decorate spare room.
  21. Have the hall and landing stripped and painted.
  22. Learn to drive.
  23. Go to 15 concerts (3/15).
  24. Get 5 portions of fruit and veg everyday.
  25. Splurge on a bag!
  26. Make a list of 101 things that make me happy.
  27. Complete an alphabet photo collage for Ollie (0/26).
  28. Take a photography class.
  29. Give up all junk food for a month.
  30. Drink JUST water for 2 weeks (1/2).
  31. Donate blood.
  32. Find a penpal and write once a month.  (post coming soon)
  33. Make a birthday present for someone.
  34. Try 10 new foods (5/10).
  35. Have a luxury bath once a week (30/143).
  36. Learn how to do bento for James, Ollie and I.
  37. Go on a long haul family holiday.
  38. Create a realistic schedule.
  39. Have a wedding anniversary getaway.
  40. Buy 2 goldfish.
  41. Paint my nails once a fortnight (15/72).
  42. Do not buy takeout for a whole month.
  43. Get a passport for Ollie.
  44. Make and follow a budget. (post coming soon)
  45. Organise and label photos.  (post coming soon)
  46. Blog everyday for a month (0/30).  (post coming soon)
  47. Develop a habit of taking vitamins!
  48. See a musical in the theatre.
  49. Plan a special date night once a week (12/143).
  50. Take a family photo once a month (3/33).
  51. Get a new hairstyle.  (post coming soon)
  52. Compile a family scrapbook.
  53. Make 5 new friends (3/5).
  54. Find a way to earn money.
  55. Use the slow cooker twice a month (8/66).
  56. Organise and de-clutter cupboard under the stairs.
  57. Make a treasure box/ multi sensory rainy day box for Ollie.
  58. Make a blog post for every finished goal (10/101).
  59. Learn first aid (specifically child/ baby first aid).
  60. Find 2 good babysitters that are not family members (2/2). (post coming soon)
  61. Go to a music festival and take Ollie.
  62. Create a photo wall.
  63. Organise and de-clutter my flickr account.
  64. Go on a spa break with bff.
  65. Visit my internet friend in Liverpool.
  66. Paint a giraffe height chart on the wall in Ollie's room.
  67. Complete Ollie's first year book.
  68. Get last year's 365 printed in a book.
  69. Make a piece of jewellery.
  70. Send happy notes to friends and family (0/50).
  71. Buy a good mobile phone.
  72. Read to Ollie everyday (0/90).
  73. Keep on top of the laundry by doing at least one load a day (0/90).
  74. Go to the dentist twice a year (1/6).
  75. Make cupcakes for hubby to take to work.
  76. Get measured for bras (I have no idea what size I am).
  77. Sell something I made to someone I don't know.
  78. Buy nothing on the credit card unless it is an emergency.
  79. Get out of overdraft and back in credit (and stay there)! (post coming soon)
  80. Watch 101 movies (40/101)!
  81. Hand make all Christmas Cards next year.
  82. Make jam.
  83. Make fondue (possibly for a date night).
  84. Get a bikini wax.
  85. Grow sunflowers.
  86. Paint front and back door and the door of the shed.
  87. Buy 3 new sets of lingerie that make me feel fabulous.
  88. Start an emergency account (3 x salary).
  89. Private*.
  90. Get engagement ring and wedding ring rhodium plated and polished.
  91. Organise important documents.
  92. Walk the Lagan Towpath to Stranmillis and back.
  93. Start a family tradition.
  94. Buy presents for people 'just because' (0/5).
  95. Cut out Coca Cola for 10 weeks (not consecutively) (8/10).
  96. Take part in the shoebox appeal every Christmas.
  97. Try geocaching with hubby.
  98. Do 30 day challenge on EA Sports Active (Wii) (0/30).
  99. Do 1 thing a month that James likes that I wouldn't normally do (2/33).
  100. Paddle in the sea with James and Ollie.
  101. Take a photo of 30 of my favourite things and frame as a collage (0/30).
* Click any of the completed tasks to see the blog post about it!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

oooh... more resolutions

as well as my number 1 resolution:

1. Get back to wedding weight by our 2nd Anniversary..

...I have a couple more:

2. Be a more RELAXED mother and stop worrying about things so much.  I really do over worry.

3. Keep on top of the housework more so that I have more time to spend playing with Ollie.

4.  Blog more!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's to a wonderful 2009!  We had a lovely night out at a bar called the Cloth Ear.  We went with friends and enjoyed a lovely 4 course dinner with champagne and got a little the worse for wear!

2008 was a great year with so much happening!  James and I celebrated our 1st anniversary and Ollie arrived one week later... James passed his driving test at the start of August and we made the move back to Belfast from Dublin at the end of August!  Weve moved into a house we love which we plan to buy in the summer... and we had Ollie's first Christmas at which he cut his very first tooth.  I've been going to mother and baby group which I love and have made a super dooper mummy friend just a few doors up from us!

Having little Ollie has changed my life forever and I can't imagine what life would be like right now if he had not been born!  I'm having so much fun (and yes there are bits that are super stressful... but it's never boring).  James and I think to ourselves sometimes... what did we do before we had a baby!  We find ourselves being so so busy right now we wonder what we filled our time with before!

I hope 2009 can be as exciting and rewarding as 2008...

...and as for my resolutions... well... still thinking about a couple of them but the main one is to get back to my wedding weight by our 2nd anniversary (which is just 4 months and a bit away!).