Friday 30 January 2015

Some days just don't go to plan

Some days don't go to plan and today was one of those days!

We were off out with my lovely friend Sam and her daughter Eva to Westonbirt Arboretum for our weekly stroll around the trees so the kids could run and release some energy. I was going to be taking the pushchair this time for Noah (as he's had a horrible cough the last few days and I didn't think he was up to walking), so it was just Finley on the loose this time.

He usually loves it as he can run wherever he likes and be free for a few hours. But today, after 20 minutes, he wanted to go on the buggy board (very out of character!). I tried to get him to walk a bit more by distracting with 'oooh what's that over there' and 'can you get to that tree before me' but this just seemed to cause a meltdown so I buckled and let him go on the buggy board.

We walked the long trail which is about 2 miles. About 10 minutes after choosing the long way round as we thought Finley was ok on the buggy board he started to moan. He was hungry, he was tired, he wanted a cuddle - just general toddler winging. So as we got to the café at the end I sighed with relief and the (not so) relaxing walk was over. I stopped to wait for my friend as her little girl was walking the rest of the way and Finley broke down 'DON'T STOP, KEEP GOING, DON'T STOP!' screaming and crying. By this point I was so ready for that cup of tea and some lunch.

We got into the café, all sat down, purchased lunch and began to eat. Finley then started to shout as I had asked him to eat his sandwich as well as his crisps (at this point I just thought he was getting tired so we muddled our way through lunch). Then all of a sudden he started to cry in pain and saying his ear hurt - knowing from his cry that this wasn't just another toddler tantrum. He then led his head on my lap crying whilst I called the doctors asking for an appointment. I was told they would call me back at 2 to see if they could book me in. It was now 12.30. I hate seeing my babies poorly, so we starting packing up to go home.

Then the smell...

It came from Noah's direction and as I got closer, I knew it was Noah and knew it was a bad one (sorry TMI!)

We were all packed up so off we headed to the toilets, Finley screaming that his ear hurt and wanting a cuddle and me feeling awful that there was nothing I could do. We got into the toilet and I put Noah on the changing table, Finley still crying, and as I went to take off Noah's trousers I saw it, it had gone EVERYWHERE. I have to strip Noah down to change every item of clothing so he's screaming. He hates being naked. Finley is also screaming and saying his ear is hurting and I am very close to tears myself.

We finally get out of the toilet alive and only just sane. Car all packed up and Finley dosed up on paracetomol, we head home. 5 minutes later he is fast asleep.

Once home the doctors call and book us in for 3.20. He woke up in a much better mood, still looking a little peaky but saying his ear was better. I still wanted to get him seen to.

Off we went to the doctors, yes he had an ear infection and his ear was very red so they wrote a prescription but told me to keep an eye and if he still complained that evening to get the prescription tomorrow. WHY WHY WHY would I wait until tomorrow if he had an ear infection and for him to maybe tonight have the same crying episode??

So I went and got the antibiotics as I wasn't going to risk him being in that much pain later on. First dose has been given so fingers crossed they kick in soon and get rid of the silly ear infection!

That was my what was supposed to be a nice day with the kiddies and friend. Lets hope tomorrow is better - it's Saturday after all and the hubby is home!

I did get some lovely pictures before it all kicked off though and my friend also bought me a lovely sign that made me cry.

 
 

Thursday 29 January 2015

My Captured Moment #3


This photo was taken on our holiday last year to Majorca. I love this photo so much it. I think it captures just a snippet of the love I feel for Finley.

#mycapturedmoment


Running in Lavender

Wednesday 28 January 2015

Finley and sleep are not friends

Before Finley was born I thought babies slept all the time. I knew they woke at night for a feed but I thought I could cope with that as I'd be so excited to hold my newborn baby. Little did I know that from the day Finley was born I would never sleep the same again!

Poor Finley had acid reflux and colic so was a very unsettled baby. He didn't sleep for long periods, 4 hours max, and that was on a good day. The one time he would sleep was in the car or out in the pushchair, but then as I was out with him I would not be sleeping myself!!

I had friends that told me that their children didn't sleep through the night until they were 3 (I laughed at this and thought they were pulling my leg) and there were the friends that had children that from the day dot they slept like angels. I was hoping that once the reflux and colic disappeared we would get the angel sleeper, but oh no!!

Finley would be up every 3 hours in the night for a feed, some nights every hour. Once the night feeds stopped Finley would still wake up. Before he could talk he would wake up crying and need settling back to sleep. This would involve rocking him and stroking his hair (my fault as I had done this since he was newborn). This would happen on average 4/5 times a night. We were exhausted! Luckily we have lovely parents and as Finley was the first Grandchild on both sides they would love having sleep overs with him so we got to catch some z's for the odd night here or there.

When we had nights away we wouldn't be thinking about which bar to go to next we would be thinking about getting back to go to bed and sleep! How times have changed.

As Finley turned 1 and started walking we had hoped that this would use up his extra energy, make him tired so he would sleep more. But no, still 4/5 times a night waking up. Then as he learnt to talk he would wake up asking for a cuddle. Well when you have your 21 month old shouting cuddle you cant really ignore him can you, he pulled on my heart strings!

Our second baby was due when Finley was 22 months old and his sleeping was still erratic. The other problem that we had was that he wouldn't go to sleep at night unless we were in the room. So he would have his milk and have a book read, then we would have to sit there until he was asleep and creep out of his room. But if you hit a creaking floor board you'd had it and were straight back in that room until he was asleep again. We tried the cry it out method, once, and it made me cry. I'm too much of a softy. But with our second on the way we knew we needed to do something because if my husband wasn't home at bedtime due to work there was no way I could sit in Finley's room waiting for him to go to sleep with a newborn baby.

So we googled things we could try. The one thing that did work was getting closer and closer to the door as the nights went on until we were outside the door shhhhhing over the monitor.

When Noah was born we had a few nights that Finley slept through! Hallelujah we thought. But no it was short lived. Then one day he said to my Husband 'you can go now Daddy' and from that day bedtimes have been a dream with him. Yes we have the odd off night where he has had a nap in the day due to a car journey or pre school tiring him out but on the whole we are very lucky.

With the night waking it is slowly getting better. My husband and I do get a nights sleep more often than not. But he goes through phases. For a week or so he will sleep 7.30pm - 6.45am no problem, then we will have a few days of really restless nights.

He used to come out of his room and into our room to try get into bed with us, we would then need to carry him kicking and screaming back to his bed. So we tried a stairgate on his door. I couldn't cope with this as the thought of him feeling trapped made me feel dreadful so that was taken off after a few days.

He will now stay in bed but shout 'Mummy, Daddy, Cuddle' for us to get up cuddle him and go back to bed ourselves.

We got a Gro Clock when he was younger to use as a night light. Now he is older he understands about the sun coming up so we set it to 6.45am (which is his limit) and he will stay in bed, chatting some days from 6am, until the sun comes up. I also use a lot of bribery at 4am in the morning like 'if you stay in bed until the sun comes up you can have chocolate with your breakfast' and this works and gets me some sleep.

So as he gets older Finley and sleep seem to be bonding but I really can't wait for the day for them to be best friends! Noah on the other hand can sleep for England - thank goodness!!

The Twinkle Diaries
Best of Worst
Living With The Mess

Wicked Wednesdays #3





#wickedwednesdays 

brummymummyof2

Sunday 25 January 2015

Watching their friendship grow

When I was pregnant with Finley, my eldest son, we decided to join up for the NCT classes. This was one of the best things we did as we met some lovely people that were taking the same journey as us. This is where I met Kerri. We had our two boys 10 weeks apart and when Harry, her son, was born this was when two very special friendships began. To me Kerri is one of the most amazing friends and we are so alike and always have conversations that include 'you too?!'. So our friendship of course was a great foundation for our boys friendship. With us both on maternity leave we would meet up once or twice a week for a play date and each week the boys would interact with each other more and more and we would see a bond growing between them.


One of their first photos together


Not too sure on Mummy's choice of messy play

When we both went back to work we still made the effort to see each other. Finley and Harry are so alike it is scary sometimes. They have nearly always got to each milestone together, whether this was because they saw so much of each other or a coincidence it was lovely to see. They started walking around the same time and this really was great to see two 1 year olds finding their feet and learning together. They also started potty training at the same time. We were having a play date at our house and Finley sat on the potty, did his first wee and harry followed, from that day they both took the potty journey together and became potty trained. When we have plans to see Kerri and Harry, Finley is so excited and really can't wait to get on with the playing. 


Lunch together is a regular occurrence 

And the odd cup of tea

Yes they have their days like any children, a bit like siblings, where they do not play well. They will fight over the same toy, they will push for no reason and just generally be toddlers that don't fancy interacting with another toddler that day! But the days they do get on, which thankfully is most of our play date days, they play lovely.


Harry has called Finley 'Pippin' right from when he learnt to talk which I find really sweet but as he is getting older and learning new words he is using 'Finley' more and more. But Finley always remembers that Harry called him 'Pippin' and I think he always will. When people ask Finley who his friends are he will always start with Harry and tell them that Harry is his best friend.

Both myself and Kerri have passes to our local arboretum so summer or winter we head there for the boys to run and explore. And here is where you see the best of them. They will run after each other and call each others name and really depend on each other to make their way through the woodland.


A couple of months ago we went to the cinema to watch Postman Pat with them both and Finley remembers this so well and will always be a memory of him and Harry.

I really do hope that their friendship will continue to grow, with mine and Kerri's help of course until they are old enough to keep this friendship growing.
 
The Dad Network

My Sunday Photo #2


This photo was taken in July 2006 on my travels with my now husband. We were on a boat trip in Sydney at sunset and captured this photo of Sydney Opera House & Sydney Harbour Bridge. So many incredible memories from our travels but this really sticks in my mind.

#mysundayphoto


OneDad3Girls

Thursday 22 January 2015

A very fussy eater - from the word go!

I have always been used to my eldest son Finley eating so well. Right from when we started weaning he would eat anything I gave him and really enjoyed food. He would love snacking on raisins, would eat all of his lunch which was mostly always sandwiches and loved fruit!

 
Finley loved a sandwich
 

No problem with spaghetti
 
Noah, my youngest, on the other hand is completely different. He is so stubborn and knows what he wants and if it isn't what he wants he won't have any of it. They are both very different in the fact Finley will eat the whole of something he is given, where as Noah will eat what he wants and leave the rest. There is never much wastage of food with Finley.


When we started weaning he was very much like Finley with the purees that he would eat whatever we gave him until it came to start on the more textured foods. He would take the first mouthful and if he didn't like it he would pull it out his mouth and not take another spoonful. So I would go to the cupboard and get a puree out and let me have this instead (This may have been where I went wrong). Then came the finger foods, I found this stage one of the hardest as he will NOT each sandwiches or wraps or pitta bread or anything like that! He lives on baked bean, spaghetti hoops and scrambled egg for his lunch. I have tried again and again but he will not eat anything sandwich like and ends up throwing it on the floor.

When it comes to fruit he will eat strawberries and tinned peaches. This is our limit. Blueberries get chewed then spat out and a banana doesn't even get tasted before its on the floor.

 
 
Noah wasn't sure on the taste of raspberries

At tea time he will happily eat chicken nuggets, turkey bites, potato waffles and all these finger foods. He will also eat spaghetti Bolognese, lasagne and cottage pie no problem but anything else you have to tread carefully. I make a lot of casseroles and I like us to all eat the same and together. I have to mash up the casserole so it has no lumps and distract him with the ipad for him to eat it. But if he all of a sudden decides I'm not eating that we're stuffed, lol!! So what I did the other day was I told him if he ate a spoonful of pork casserole he could have a spoonful of ice cream, and it worked! So this is how the meal went and he ate it all. So we now have to use bribery when Noah refuses to eat. I'm hoping it is just his age and its just his way of being in control but I am so not used to this.

I never thought feeding a child would be so hard! And sweet stuff, no problems there!!  
 
Even Finley having a little word with Noah didn't persuade him to eat a sandwich!
 



My Captured Moment #2




I captured this moment between my son Finley and his Dandan (my father in law) while we visited my husbands parents at their house at the sea side.

To me this photo captured a very special bond in which they share and the love of eating ice cream even when it's freezing out! 

#mycapturedmoment

Running in Lavender

Monday 19 January 2015

We all have THAT friend

We all have THAT friend. The one that is always there for us whenever we need them. They don't judge anything we say or do and are just there. Whether we see them every week or whenever we can, we all have our person.

I am very lucky to have that friend. I have only known her for just over a year but it feels like we've been friends a life time. We met through my sister in law on her hen do and we both have children the same age. My son Noah & her daughter are born 8 days apart. We met again at my sister in law's wedding and set up a play date as we thought it would be lovely for the babies to get together. And from that play date our friendship has grown. We are both born within weeks of each other in the same year and have so much in common. She really does make me smile when I'm feeling pretty rubbish about things. We can sit in a room with the kids running around like crazy loons not saying a word but both feel completely comfortable in the silence (our silence as the kids are NEVER silent!). This to me has got to be one of the greatest qualities of an amazing friendship.

We get together at least once a week, sometimes twice, for the kids to play and for us to drink tea (lots of tea), eat cake and chat (LOADS!).

She is always there for me when I need her and she always has a hug ready for when I need it. But most of all I can rely on her. We can both sit there and winge the whole time we are together but still go away having had a lovely day. She's what you call a best friend. I know I can call on her day or night and she will be there to help or to just lend an ear. We laugh about the silliest of things and are both as bonkers as each other. I'm very lucky to have found her and that I can call her my friend.


Mami 2 Five

Saturday 17 January 2015

Pre School and being an emotional mummy

My crazy lovable first born had been going to nursery one day a week since he was 9 months old. I've always hated leaving him at nursery but it's something most of us have to do right?! As he approached his 3rd birthday I thought it was time for me to start looking into pre school's.

I knew his nursery had a pre school room within the setting but I wanted him to go to a dedicated pre school so all the children did the same hours - so they all went in at the start of the day and all left together at home time. After I researched lots of pre schools in our area, I managed to find one that both Finley and I loved and I signed him up to start in September last year. As he turned 3 at the end of September he was going to do 6 hours a week, 8.45 - 2.45 on a Monday.

I cried on his first day! Even though there was no change to me leaving him as I already did every Wednesday at his previous nursery this seemed real, like my baby is growing up - too fast I may add!

We soon got into a lovely routine of a Monday being pre school day and me getting boring jobs done, that was always a nightmare with two in tow and much easier with just Noah. Then January came when his 15 hour free entitlement. This is the time I had been dreading when he went from just one day a week to two full days plus a Thursday morning. I am one of those emotional mums that with every milestone in their life is a huge one for me, I am just an emotional mummy!

So the week came where he would be at pre school Monday and Wednesday 8.45 - 2.45 and Thursday 8.45 - 11.45 and I felt completely lost. Even though I have my 1 year old, Noah, I felt surplus to requirements. But Finley LOVED it! And on the days he didn't go to pre school he asked to go, which I tried not to take offence at, lol! He has been going full time pre-school hours now for two weeks and we are already in a nice routine. Plus, I manage to get my housework done while Noah naps which then gives me more time to play with the boys on a Tuesday and Friday. I'm still adjusting to my eldest being at pre school but as he loves it that's all that matters to me. 

One of the most emotional days of my life (over dramatic, yes!) :-)
Mami 2 Five

Thursday 15 January 2015

Why Something Crunchy Mummy?

A bloggers name most of the time means something to them. So when I was thinking of a name for my blog I wanted it to be something personal to me. It of course had to be linked in some way to my children as they were going to be the main focus of my posts. Here's a few I thought of before coming to my final decision:

Mummy to the devils
Mummy Constable
2 boys the hubby and me
Outnumbered by boys mummy
Pops and nono's (my son's nicknames)
Mummy wants sleep please

The list goes on.

The other night me and the hubby were led in bed swapping names which I could call my blog, then it came to me 'Something Crunchy Mummy'! This is what my eldest son always says to me when he says he is hungry and I ask what he would like. Finley is always hungry so I hear this on a regular basis.

So this name just felt perfect for the blog! Simple but meaningful.

And that's how I came up with my blog name, not the most exciting of stories but explains the beginning of 'Something Crunchy Mummy'.

My Something Crunchy Monster

My Captured Moment





Walking with my Daddy

#MyCapturedMoment


Running in Lavender

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Wicked Wednesdays #1


There was Marshmallow in his ice cream cone
#wickedwednesdays



brummymummyof2

Welcome to our Chaos

Hello

Firstly, thank you! Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Here's a little about me. I'm Kirsty, 27 and a stay at home Mummy. I have two gorgeous boys, Finley who is 3 and Noah who is 1. They drive me potty most of the time but they are my entire world - along with my incredible Husband, Mark. We have been together over 10 years, married for nearly 3.

We live in a 3 bedroom mid terraced house in Wiltshire and I love it, it's our home. As much as I love it, I can't be inside for too long and if we are I can't sit still for long. I feel the need to be out and about, I walk everywhere that I can - my husband thinks I'm mad!

I love tea and cake, expect lots of tea and cake.

I have never really written before, except from a Facebook post or a tweet. I've read so many incredible blogs and these have made me want to write my own. Please bear with me as I find my feet as I'm not that great with computers either! Got to start somewhere don't we.

This blog will be all about me and my family and what we get up to. I'd love to throw a little bit of fashion in there (what I wear, so I cant really call that fashion but sounds good doesn't it!) so I'll do my best.

Lets go!

Kirsty x

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...