My Anniversary.

Yesterday was our 4th Wedding Anniversary. Four Years ago we trouped to the registry office with just our parents in tow.

We had a big white affair organised but it soon became a case of too many cooks spoiling it (and I don't mean my parents), so after a bit of a hard few days for us and a massive bereavement for me I phoned Hubby at work and said that I was going to the registry office to book a date to get married and we weren't telling a living soul. He agreed it was a good idea for where we were at that time in our relationship so off I went and spoke to a lovely registrar. She had a cancellation exactly 2 weeks to the day so I booked it and paid our £80 and posted our bands.

After a bit of contemplating we decided we should tell my Mum and see what she thought about our idea and we knew she would be supportive no matter what. She was, massively and said it was up to us how we did it and it was about us and no one else. We decided to tell both sets of parents and ask my Mum and Hubby's Dad to be our witness's. We thought it was a nice gesture. My sister and her Husband were supportive too and were happy to be involved or not, whichever we felt comfortable with. Not everyone in the immediate family was as understanding and as per usual there were a few people happy to make it as much about them as they could but we stood our ground and kept it just us and parents with Sophie.

As the day approached there was no stress, no nerves, no flapping or interference. My Mum and Sister took me for a lovely girls lunch out the day before. On the day, I went to work to tidy up some stuff and then for a sunbed and to buy some Mothers Days gifts to give to our Mums and Hubby's Gran later that day. Then, I came home and had some lunch with him and Dad picked us up at 1pm. The two sets of parents had chipped in for a weekend away for us after it and told us to pack suitcases so we did and set off to the wedding. Mum had made me a lovely bunch of Flowers to hold and Sophie was taken out of school and dressed up by her to look cute and had flowers too.

The service took 15 minutes and was perfect. We had cut out any vows that weren't required by law and our sisters arrived soon after and my sister took a stack of photos. Then Mum said all back to her house for some Champagne so off we went.

When we got there Mum had a gorgeous buffet and lots of Champagne and soon all our relatives arrived from all over. Mum had told each one individually to come for lunch and so they had no clue, neither did we and it was lovely.  At dinner time my Uncle and Aunt ran us to the Hilton in Glasgow where our parents had booked us the presidential suite for 3 days 2 nights all inclusive and it was wonderful. We met a lovely couple there who were from Wales and we spent the weekend eating and drinking with them and had a fabulous time.

In the end it was the best way to get married for us and I loved every second of it. I wouldn't change it for the world.

In the August of that year as we had my dress already ordered and they venue booked for our original wedding we had a lovely blessing and party for all the our family and some who hadn't managed to our wedding in March and I didn't enjoy any of it at all. My proper wedding day is the one that holds the best memories for me and I'm so happy to have them.

So yesterday with Hubby being away on his course with work I thought I would spend my 4th Wedding Anniversary alone, but Hubby surprised me and phoned at lunchtime to say he was down and come to meet him then told me he was coming home for the night and although we spent the evening at Parents night it was still lovely not to spend it without him.

Happy 4th Anniversary Hubby.

A Perfect Day for a Tiny Boy

Today I woke up in a dark mood. It was like having a stinking depressing hangover. Sore head, feeling sick and generally down and fed up. So we decided to go for a walk to blow off the cobwebs so to speak.

I packed up the boy and the pram and off we set. We walked to the supermarket and picked up something for dinner and met lots of people we knew and chatted then as we were walking along the main street Caleb informed me he wanted to go to the water (sea) so off we went.

When we got to the prom I lifted him out and let him run around wild. It was cold and windy (just how I love it) and I chased him with the pram while he ran giggling. If that doesn't lift your mood nothing will. Then, we saw 3 tractors further along the beach clearing up the sand. So we ran along at top speed and went to watch them.  It was the best fun that boys had in ages. He just stood for about an hour watching the men hard at work. Every now and again they would drive the tractor up to the wall and wave to us. Caleb was in his element.

There was another little boy ,Finlay, who's Gran had him out for a walk, arrived while we were there too so he stood with him for some of the time and laughed and played. It was so lovely to watch. Caleb isn't around kids his own age very often and it was nice to see that he knows how to play and interact.

This was a good day for my little man.

Sunday and Sushi with Parental Circle and Friends.

Yesterday a few of us blogger mums met up with the lovely guys from the 'Parental Circle' website. Their website is a Q&A forum for parents needing shared advice and tips from other parents in the same situation as them. On twitter a few of us had decided to meet up with them to hear more about their business and give them some feedback from us too.

We decided on Ichiban in Glasgow City Centre and I am ever so easy to persuade to go on a day trip back 'home'.

On the Train

I travelled up on the train with the gorgeous Laura from Yummy Mummy Flabby Tummy , whom I've met a couple of time when out and about before as we both live locally to each other. Was great to catch up and have a chat enroute.

When we arrived we found the restaurant quite easily and the guys from ParentalCircle.com  arrived just after us. We were soon joined by @Ellen27from bundance.blogspot  and @Melaina25 from Transatlantic Blonde. We had some introductions and a chat just before @susankmann from susankmann.com and @lauracmcintyre from allaboutmummy.blogspot arrived too.

Lovely Parental Circle lads. 

Ellen and Susan

Miss Melaina

We had great food, great chat and great company. It was a really lovely day. I think we all enjoyed it and the consensus is we can't wait to meet up again soon. Thanks for a great afternoon out guys.

@lauraCYMFT @Julesey10 @Ellen27 @SusanKMann @lauracmcintyre @Melaina25 @ParentalCircle. 

Three by Nine Meme

I have been tagged by the gorgeous Kate over at What Katies Kids Did Next with a new meme!

The rules are fairly simple, simply post your answers and tag your blogging buddies, so we all learn something new about each other!

Here we go;

Three names I go by: Julie, Jules, Mummy.

Three places I've lived: Glasgow, Paris, London

Three places I've worked: Hairdressers, Bars, Paul Costello

Three things I love to watch: Greys Anatomy, Private Practice, Keeping up with the Kardashians ( I know I know but its addictive hilarity)

Three places I have been and love: Menorca, Cornwall, Brittany


Three people that email me regularly:  My Dad (he cant text so often emails me from work), My cousin in USA, the lovely Carol. 

Three things I love to eat: Lobster, Scallops, Cod, (basically any seafood)

Three people I think will respond: Laura, Susan, Michelle

Three things I'm looking forward to: More kiddies, summer, my kids futures- happy and healthy god willing. 

That's it! I'd love to read a three by nine meme by Laura, Susan,Michelle and anyone else who wants to join in!



Thanks for the tag Kate. Mwah. xxx

I'm All DIY'd Out

Since Hubby's been away with work I've been trying to catch up with some jobs needing doing since the big room move and redecoration.

Last week I started attempting to make Caleb's new room (our old room) a bit more of a little boys room without major redecoration. So i invested in some wall transfers and a new blind. That was all well and good but it still wasn't cutting it for me.

His favourite wall with Buzz on. 

starting to take shape

When we had the wall moved in the room to create a larger box room last year we added some IKEA stick on mirrors to the wall to help give a feeling of space. Since Caleb's been in there they just looked wrong and generally spoiled the whole place. So yesterday I attacked them. Possibly stupidly but I got the bug and went and hauled the off the wall. Unfortunately I pulled half the plaster off the wall at the same time, so needless to say I have spent the last 24 hours doing as good a patch up job as I can on the damn thing.

Mirrors on the wall

Luckily I had some of the wall transfers left and we had bought a shelf at the weekend to see what they looked like up so I have hidden the worst of my plastering attempt under them and strangely I don't think its at all too bad. We'll see what hubby says when he gets home but I'm thinking another couple of the little shelves and I'm done with the naughty wall. Phew. No more stick on mirrors ever again.

No Mirrors and a patch up. 

I'm now thinking the bed needs a new headboard and some new furniture then what can I attack next?????

A Perfect Saturday

This Saturday while my hubby was home for the weekend we were looking for things to do with the kids as a family. I Googled things to do in the West of Scotland and the first thing to come up was a place I'd never heard of Amazonia in Strathclyde Country Park just outside my Daddys old hometown of Uddingston.  So off we went without a clue what we were off to see. 

When we got there it was basically just a big humid room made out like an amazon forest with butterfly's and birds flying around and displays of monkeys, spiders, ants and generally animals you would find in the amazon. It was fab. Caleb the butterfly obsessive was in heaven. Although its not huge or anything like a zoo or anything of the sort we really enjoyed it. 

busy hanging out with his monkey friends

Scary looking softie

Love the monkeys

OHHHHHHHHH

Can I touch it daddy???

BUTTERFLIES

Cute lizard

ITS A FIIIIIIISHHHHHH

Calebs other favourite were the fish

The cutey pie monkeys loved the kids and I think they all felt the same.

some of the birdies flying around were so cute. 

Mummy made another friend.

We bought tickets for the animal handling experience too but one of the animals was a tarantula so I had a quick shot of the gorgeous snake Eva and made my departure. I don't generally like spiders. I regret it now and wish I had. 

The most gorgeous snake ever.

It was a very enjoyable day out and not overly expensive. 

Tommee Tippee Digital Movement and Sound Monitor

Product: Tommee Tippee Digital Movement and Sound Monitor

Using DECT interference free technology, the monitor relays every sound and movement made by the baby to the parent unit, and also looks ultra-modern too, bringing mobile phone styling to monitoring. Easy to set up and operate, the monitor uses a highly sensitive sensor pad which fits under baby’s cot mattress and is then connected via a cord to the unit in the baby’s room where a back-lit night light – adjustable with a remote control feature  – casts a warm glow.

The parent unit uses rechargeable batteries and is charged as it stands in its docking station. The easy to read LCD display shows the temperature of the nursery, and the baby’s sounds are conveyed via a series of ascending bright blue lights. It also has two-way talk back with volume control to reassure and soothe baby from another room.

If no movement is detected from the baby over a 20-second period, an alarm sounds to alert a parent. Once the baby has been checked on, the alarm can be reset. The closer to nature Digital Movement & Sound Monitor has a long-distance range of 300 metres and an out of range indicator.

Most parents benefit from the sensor pad when their baby is a newborn, however once the baby can move freely around the cot – parents can choose to remove the sensor pad and use the monitor as a stand-alone model, with all its many benefits.

Price: £99,99  with sensor pad/ £64.99 without. 

Available from: Most baby equipment retailers

Suitable From: . Birth upwards

Score out of 5:  4 out of 5 with the pad, 5 out of 5 though for the monitors for sound only. 

Initial Reaction: Initially I was quite daunted but all the bits and pieces as I took them out the box. Setting it up I felt a bit of a novice as it felt quite complicated. 

Pros: No interference from the monitors. The design is so cute and looks fab in your house. The thermometer is a great feature and gives you piece of mind. It incorporates so many gadgets in one so keeps the nursery neat and means you need less cables.

Cons: The movement sensor isn't as simple as it sounds and if you have a heavy sleeper who doesn't move around much the alarm is a bit of a pain. The alarm is very loud in the nursery. The night light could be slightly brighter. 

Value for Money: Overall I think great value for money. 

Overall Reaction:  When we initially tried to set up this monitor with the movement sensor pad I was a little baffled. The pad is really for smaller babies than Caleb but we thought we'd give it a go with it. Unfortunately at his age and as he's quite a deep sleeper it went off a few times waking him up, but fortunately its very easy just to switch the pad off and unplug it for older children. As a baby monitor for sound this is genius. We absolutely love it. The display unit is neat, compact and very  funky in design. It really does have no interference at all and when your baby makes noise it is very clear. You can keep an eye on the nursery temperature easily with a very visible temperature reading on the parent unit and the night light in the nursery is super handy and meant we could take out Caleb's night light. The set up instructions were slightly hard to follow at first glance but after a good read helped me understand the unit a bit better. Overall we love this monitor and would recommend it to anyone.