Bargain hunt

So this weekend me and hubby have been quite busy. 

On Friday night we had a lovely night in watching films on netflix (we have the first month free trial and are trying to watch as much as we can before we cancel the subscription!) 

Nemo and my hubby always have huggles in the evening and Nemo loves to fall asleep with him in the rocking chair, it's really sweet :) 

I noticed this (whilst making another veggie roast!) about a head of garlic:

I was amazed how the head looked like a flower and the cloves' skin looked like petals. I love art and think when I have some time away from taking care of a baby I may try and create something around this.

On the Saturday morning we went to a second hand baby sale in a local school. I have got a lot of Nemo's clothes this way, he grows out of things so quickly I couldn't imagine the cost of buying all his clothes new! We came out pleased with the bargains we got. 

3 trousers for £2

2 jump suits for £1.50

2 vests for £1

3 sleep suits for £2.50

A fleesey suit for £1 (new with label!) and mothercare dungarees set for £2 

We bought a little treat for Nemo /us and got Nemo a Ralph Lauren sleep suit for £2.50!  

 Nemo wore it today but wasn't in a posing mood! 

We also brought is wooden toy, we both weren't sure whether to buy it as it was £10 (negotiated to £8!) but I spent some time cleaning it up and it looks lovely now. So Pleased we bought it

After the fare we went for a walk along the canal with our dog Poppy in Bathampton. Unfortunately this walk was a bit short lived then we would have liked as the weather somewhat turned! But it was still lovely. I noticed this boat on the river with a cat flap! 

  

Poppy was nicely tired out, she loves to go on different walks as unfortunately her usual walk is our local playing fields! 

We went to our church this morning but unfortunately Nemo needed feeding during the service so I missed another sermon (so far I've only sat through one whole service since having a baby!) I still enjoy talking to the other parents in the nursery though. 

We went swimming this afternoon and I was able to show my hubby Nemo swimming up to the surface all on his own. It's amazing to see! 

Getting into character

Nemo is fast developing into a right little character at the moment, it's a pleasure to see :) 

He loves interacting with people and has learnt to blow raspberries (this is now his favourite trick and he will spend ages doing it constantly!) this means he loves mirrors 

He also loves interacting with his big sister our lab Poppy 

Nemo is such a curious little boy he gets so frustrated if he sees something but cannot reach it and wants to pickup everything and put it in his mouth! 

He's also showing himself to be a little mischievous, after trying him with peas once and getting this response: 

The second time I tried he did this: 

Nemo is just so fun to be around 

It's a real privalide to see him grow , I can't get my head around the fact that 6 months ago he was just a little bundle in my belly! 

So whilst Nemo has been growing into his own little person I have been growing into this new housewife/ Mother role. Having worked full time in a role which I found challenging but fulfilling I thought I might miss work, I have as yet to miss it! I have found such pleasure in making yummy cheep meals for my husband (maternity pay ending soon means we are on a tight budget now!) we have gone vegetarian to help our food costs and I have been living from a vegetarian cook book I got given as a student. My husband is coping well without his meat however found it hard to have a roast without it!  

I have also really enjoyed making Nemo's food (I know this must be sad right?) you have no idea how I enjoyed realising that the latest batch of purées kind of resembled traffic lights 

And all of a sudden I realise how domesticated I'm becoming. I have applied to work part time but feel overwhelmed by the desire to stay at home with Nemo. I visited a child minder on Monday and felt so sad with the idea of paying someone else to care for him. That's not to say that I have any objections to other mothers working but for me personally I'm struggling with it. Life is also easier for us when im at home. My husband works full time and does several hours of revision for his CFA exams on top and my job is pretty busy and stressful and I would often feel drained by the end. 

On one hand I want to be a person of substance and worry that quitting work will make me boring and dull but on the other hand leaving Nemo with someone else for 24 hours a week feels like a lot and I am just enjoying looking after him soooo much! 

At the moment I have resided my fate to the decision of my work at the moment as I don't know if they will even offer me part time, but in the meanwhile I am left waiting and wondering what I should do! 

Confused

So little Nemo has decided that sleep is uninteresting and that waking up frequently at odd hours is a much more exciting to spend his time. Cue very sleepy zombie parents. This is pretty usual for parents of a 5 month old however Nemo had lured us into a false sense of security by sleeping through the night from 5 weeks old. This has been going on for about 8 weeks now, and the search for some answer which was meant asking health professionals, other parents, and reading information on infant sleep has left me more and more confused! I recently read a post which summaries my feelings perfectly:

http://www.today.com/moms/exhausted-new-moms-hilarious-take-expert-sleep-advice-goes-viral-6C9559908 

I feel like we have tried almost everything but have learnt that we're just going to have to find our own answer through instinct/ trial and error. Nemo is insanely cute which means you just can't feel anything but fortunate to have him, however sleep deprived you are! (I'm sure this is a survival skill of babies!) 

I have really enjoyed trying out Nemo with different purées and especially enjoyed the rather interesting faces he pulls, so far he has tried: sweet potato, carrot, butternut squash, pear and apple. The vegatables have gone down well, whereas the fruits have been outrightly refused on most occasions! My best achievement has been filling all 3 levels on my steamer in different veggies/ fruits and making 20 portions for Nemo in an evening:

Since my last post on this Nemo was taken off his inhaler by one doctor and put back on one  by another doctor (although this time he got a much less scarey one!) 

It even has a bear on it and is much easier fit on his face! Nemo's chest is finely getting clearer (yay!) but as he was described by the last doctor Nemo is a 'happy wheezer' and he has continued to be is usual fun self. 

And just because I couldn't leave without putting a cute picture of Nemo on here he is causing mischief and pulling down his baby gym! 

Crochet endeavours

So for Christmas I asked for some crochet things, I have been knitting for a few years but decided after watching other people that I would like to give it a go. 

I got some lovely crochet hooks in awesome colours from my mother in law:

 

We went to my Parents for Christmas and my mums friend started me off:

This was my first attempt, as you can see I started off somehow decreasing in double crochet however it steadily got better and I started some treble crochet. Then my Mum taught me granny squares

 I have since attempted to do a mug warmer, I did the granny squares in half treble however I couldn't get the hang of the edging around (think I'll have to wait to my next visit home!)

So sticking to the granny squares I decided to do some for a blanket

Funnily enough I received a lovely hat for Nemo in the post from a health visitor I used to work with who now lives in Bermuda which is crocheted 

Hopefully I will be able to make something this good in the future!