Monthly Archives: September 2014

Losing that baby weight

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I’ve just had a baby! 7 months on and I don’t think I can keep using that excuse! I am the first to admit that I am carrying an awful lot of excess weight and the whole just had a baby line is not really cutting it. So today I have made a conscious decision to start losing ‘the baby weight’.

There is one problem though… I don’t know where to begin. I know the basics – I need to eat less and exercise more. That’s fine in theory. However in practice not as easy. I always have a fairly healthy tea (because Mr K cooks it!) but breakfast and lunch are often a bit hit and miss. It often depends on how frazzled I am that day and if baby boy decides that it is ok for me to take time out to eat. Therefore quite often I snack! Not always healthily I might add! I need to start stocking up the cupboards with healthy snacks but do you know how much they cost these days! Fresh fruit and veg is extortionate!

Now, about the exercise. When baby boy was about 10 weeks old I joined a local pram fit group. I went to a few sessions but felt a little bit alienated to be honest. Everyone in the group seemed to already know each other and I felt like I didn’t quite fit in. I stopped going which I do regret and I have never managed to pluck up the courage to rejoin. As a positive step I have started swimming once a week with a friend. We go to a ladies only session and it is nice and quiet. I enjoy this but I know that I need to do more.

Increasing my daily activity such as going for a walk with baby boy either in the sling or pushchair is a goal that I have set myself. We live near a big park so really I have no excuse to not go for a walk. I also plan to eat 3 meals a day and cut out my unhealthy snacks. I will start with these and see how I get on. I am very impatient and want to see results quickly but this is going to take time and I have to just stick at it.

Do you have any tips for losing the baby weight?

Image credit – http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Which pram?

Posted in Parenting by

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One of the best bits of being pregnant is choosing a pram for your baby. There are so many choices! 3 wheeled, 4 wheeled, carrycot or lie flat stroller, travel system, coloured or patterned? I loved trying out the prams in the shop, pushing them down the aisle and imagining that I was pushing my baby in the park. The problem was that we couldn’t really afford a new pram.

We were very lucky and a kind relative offered us the pram that they had used for their daughter. It was a silver cross sleepover with a classic chassis. I was a bit unsure about it at first if I’m honest. It looked big and bulky and I thought that it would be difficult to manoeuvre. How wrong could I be! The first time I used it I was very pleasantly surprised. It has great suspension which made kerbs and the fact that it had to be lifted slightly to turn a doddle! Baby boy was extremely comfortable in it and despite it being a chilly February he was nice and cosy inside. Then disaster struck! The pram broke. My mum, who is very handy, took a look at it but decided that it couldn’t be fixed. I was gutted.

Reluctantly, I bought a second hand obaby zezu from eBay. Again I was pleasantly surprised. It was lovely to push with its air filled back tyres and front swivel wheels. We have turned it into the pushchair now rather than the pram and it is still lovely. However, I have recently found myself dreaming about the silver cross. Although my mum originally thought that it couldn’t be fixed, a week later she had a go and managed to repair it. She kept it at her house to use when baby boy visited. I think about how classic it is and how cosy baby boy would be now that it is coming up to autumn. I am torn between the two prams!

I love the ease of use of the zezu but I long for the classic look of the silver cross! What should I do? I’m going to have to think about it a bit more and probably discuss it with Mr K. Oh the dilemma!

How did you choose your pram?

Image credit – https://britishtoymaking.wordpress.com

Back to work

Posted in Parenting by

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Yesterday was my first day in my new job. It went well and I will admit that I enjoyed it. However at the same time I absolutely hated being away from baby boy. It was as if I was being pulled in opposite directions. I am only working part time so it is not as if I have to leave him everyday but just knowing that I had to work and couldn’t just go and get him if I wanted to was excruciating!

I dropped baby boy off with my mum before work and was all ready for a tearful goodbye (baby boy not me). The reality was the opposite! Baby boy happily sat and started to play with my niece and I made a hasty retreat to go and sob in the car.

As I said though, I actually enjoyed the time I spent at work. It was nice to interact with adults and use my brain to learn something more complex than a nursery rhyme. Now please don’t think that I am dismissing nursery rhymes because I can sing ‘the grand old duke of York’ with the best of them and my rendition of ‘Mary Mary’ is top notch! It was just nice to learn a new skill that didn’t require singing.

Today is a day off and even though I have a lot of housework to get done I am trying to spend as much time with baby boy as possible. In fact I might be going overboard as when I tried to play row your boat for the tenth time he launched a plastic stacking cup at my head! I’m back at work tomorrow and I’m sure that it will be just as hard. I’m hoping that this feeling will pass with time though because it will be difficult to do my job well if I am constantly thinking about baby boy.

How did you feel about going back to work!

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I Lions and Tigers and No Bears

Posted in Lifestyle by

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Baby boy and I went to Knowsley Safari Park today. We went with my Mum, niece and her friend and I must say we had a lovely day.

We arrived just before 11am and after an hour in the car, instead of driving straight through the safari we took the opportunity to park up, take a toilet break and see some of the animals on foot. There is a giraffe viewing platform which allows you to get so close to the giraffes you could almost touch them! Baby boy was fascinated and couldn’t take his eyes off them. The sea lions were another favourite of his. He watched them swimming for at least 10 minutes!

The drive around the safari took us about 40 minutes. There were plenty of squeals from the girls in the back of the car when they saw an animal up close and an ominous moment when they realised that there was no fence between our car and the lions! We were very lucky for the most part as the animals played ball and wandered close to the car. The drive through the monkey area was hilarious. We attracted a fair few monkeys on the car with one sitting comfortably on the bonnet for a good while. Another scrambled up the side of the car and proceeded to stare at itself in the wing mirror. We laughed as the car in front had its aerial chewed off and it’s rear wiper bent in half. It was only when we parked up again that we realised our front number plate had been lost to the monkeys (the kind rangers retrieved it for us luckily)! The highlight was probably when a lioness walked straight down the road directly towards our car! Amazing!

After a spot of lunch we watched the sea lion show. This was enjoyed by everyone except baby boy. The girls were allowed to choose 2 rides to go on before an ice cream, a visit to the gift shop and then a final drive around the safari (where we picked up our number plate from the rangers).

I can honestly say that I enjoyed every bit of the day and would recommend the park for a fun, family day out. My only gripe is that if we had gone last week we would have paid about £20 less for us all than we did today. For some reason it was cheaper in the school holidays. Great for families with school aged children but not so great for those with younger children looking to avoid the busy holiday crowds. All in all though I was impressed with the park and its facilities.

Where would you recommend for a family day out?

This post was not sponsored by nor endorsed by Knowsley Safari Park in any way.

Image credit – https://www.knowsleysafariexperience.co.uk