A wonderful weekend in Bristol

Last weekend we managed to fit a lot in. We visited one of our favourite people, caught up with a lot of Jamie's family and got to celebrate with Vicky and Graham on their wedding day.

Unfortunately my camera is playing up and my phone ran out of battery half way through the wedding so I haven't got many photos but I can work with what I've got.

We drove down Thursday night after putting Fred to 'bed' in his car seat. Our plan was fool proof, Fred would sleep all the way and then seamlessly transfer in to a ready travel cot when we arrived. Unfortunately he woke up when we got there. That night he woke up a few times and couldn't cope at 5am when it was unexpectedly light. (he has a black out blind in his bedroom) from 5am he spent the next 3 hours in our bed. 

I got pushed out, but I didn't mind. 

He is cute enough to make up for it.

On Friday Fran took us on a whistle stop tour of Bristol. 

I wanted a selfie on the Clifton suspension bridge, it took a few takes.

We enjoyed lunch outside in the sunshine. I particularly enjoyed listening to the conversation of the impossibly posh couple on the next table. Bristol is VERY good for people watching.

Saturday was the day of the wedding.

Vicky (Jamie's sister) wore a beautiful pe-loved gown and her Grandmothers pearls. She looked stunning, and Graham knew it. Neither of them stopped grinning all day.

The wedding was at Goldney Orangery, the gardens surrounding are beautiful.

 Fred enjoyed exploring and playing with his Dad and Grandpa on the grass most of the afternoon.

 

I was kindly lent my dress by one of Fran's housemates. 

It was lovely to feel so glamorous for the day. The only draw back of the dress was that I had to take it off to feed Fred. It was a nightmare!

Fran lives in a massive 5 storey house with over 20 others including two families. They eat together most evenings and are committed to living in unity as a Christian community. It was wonderful to stay with people who are purposfully putting others before themselves and trying to serve each other everyday. I think it would be great to live there as a single person but I really don't know how the couples and families manage, they must be blessed with a lot of patience!

Fred - 8 and 9 month update

It has been two months since I last blogged. I can't believe it has been that long!

Fred has grown up so much, he is now non-stop.

He talks (babbles) constantly and all he wants to do is walk, unfortunately he cannot walk on his own yet.

It is back breaking wandering around with him hanging on to my hands. I am doing everything I can to teach him to crawl, he is nearly there though. I have been using a bubbles container as motivation.

Fred now weighs 21lb and has officially moved up a whole percentile since starting solids. His eating has now been further helped by the introduction of his two front teeth.

 Weaning is going really well,  he now helps himself to his dinner out of a bowl.

Some of his current favourite foods are; sweetcorn frittas, crumpets, bananas, pears, eggy bread and chicken tagine.



 We have done so much in the last couple of months.

We have had 2 visits from Grandparents and one of his Great Aunties.

We have started to go on more summer days out. We have been to the zoo, gone to longer walks and to the beach. Fred loves being out side, thankfully we have had so much good weather that he gets to play in the garden or go on the swings in our local park most days.

He really enjoys being in the garden exploring. He strokes leaves, pulls the heads off dandelions and regularly tries to eat mud.

Sleeping, over the past two months, has been very up and down. For a while he was reliably waking once a night for a quick feed - then teething happened in earnest. We had a couple of nights where he woke up 4 times.

 He seems to have settled back in to a good sleeping pattern now.

 Thank goodness.



Some of his current favourite things are; cleaning his teeth, having his legs massaged after his bath, reading books, bubbles, bouncy and rattling balls and of course practicing his pout, but it still isn't quite as good as his dad's.



Monkee Genes; A Review

I have wanted a pair jeans from of Monkee Genes for a couple of years - ever since I discovered that such a company existed- but I assumed I would not be able to afford them. 

Monkee Genes makes organic, fairly traded unisex jeans and trousers. 

The Monkee Genes slogan and promise is: 

NO BLOOD

NO SWEAT

NO TEARS

This is exactly what I am looking for when buying fairly traded clothes. A company that cares about every part of the manufacturing process and can honestly say that every person involved in making their clothes is paid a fair wage. Something else I look for is good quality, good looking and comfortable clothes (also ideally not too hippyish). Monkee Genes fit the bill.

My photos don't quite do them justice (my photographer could do with going on a course - or he could buy me a tripod!)

My new jeans are purple, made of bamboo and fit really nicely. The bamboo gives them a nice stretch and a relaxed fit, they stay in shape all day.

Monkee Genes have a big choice of fit and colours. 

Prices range from £50 -£70 which is a reasonable for good quality jeans.

 My pair were a freaking steal! I shopped the sale- naturally. 

I paid £15 and £5 postage. 

I would buy another pair in another colour but I think I should probably wait until Autumn as I don't wear jeans that much over summer.

I got really confused about the sizing because the size is in man sizes, but there is an easy conversion chart on the website, I followed its advice and they fit great.

The only thing I'm not too keen on is the length of the front pockets. I think it's because they are unisex, my phone and change get lost half way down my leg. In the grand scheme of things this is just a niggle.

T-shirt- Wombat, Jeans- Monkee Genes, Pumps- Newlook

I hope that next time you want to buy a pair of jeans you will look at the Monkee Genes website and see if you can find a pair you like. If you are going to spend the money on jeans anyway, why not try Monkee Genes.

Fred 7 month update

This month my little baby has turned in to a tiny boy. 

I am stupidly sentimental about the little baby we were blessed with 7 months ago but I am also really excited about all of the new things he is learning daily.

Fred is now continually inquisitive. He wants to explore everything, it is amazing to watch him discover his world.

Fred now weighs 19 lbs, he has put on an impressive 2 pounds in a month!

He has suddenly got a little belly and deliciously squidgy thighs. 

We have been having so much fun with food recently, some meals Fred doesn't eat much, more food ends up on the floor then in his mouth.

One of the baby led weaning mantras is 'food before one is just for fun' I try not to worry about how much solid food he is eating but some days I put humous on everything just to make sure he eats some. 

As you can see from the pic below, food is most definitely fun.

This month we have had a few 'firsts'...

Fred's first Easter and subsequent Easter egg hunt 

(we had our exploring hats on).

Fred's First Wedding, Which was also the first time he has been properly embarrassed by Mummy.

Yes we took his highchair but forgot his bib, that's just how we roll.

Fred continues to Dance and has mastered clapping. In the last few weeks he has found his voice. He screams and yodels really loudly just to experiment with his voice. It is fun but sometimes I worry what the neighbours may think. 

Sleeping is still only OK, we are working on making it better though.

Fred loves being followed, every time we go upstairs one of us holds him while the other follows. It gives him so much joy. 

He also now gives us proper hugs and has started kind-of kissing me. 

An unexpected and welcome bonus of Fred dancing is that Jamie now plays his guitar more often.

We are really blessed to have a generally happy boy who is easily entertained.

First night out - What I Wore

Last Friday I got to go to my Friend Abbie's 30 birthday bash. I couldn't go to all of it because they went for a meal starting at 6.30pm and I had to be home to feed Fred before bed.

I did manage to have time to straighten my hair, put on some make up, choose my outfit and paint my nails. It was luxurious!

It was lovely to get out to see people I haven't seen for a while and do something completely unrelated to Fred. But of course everyone just wanted to talk about him. Its funny people often complain that mums only talk about their children and are very boring, but most people bought the conversation around to him!

Oh well it was still enjoyable, and I got to have a REAL cocktail!

My challenge to myself this year is to only buy fairly traded or second hand clothes. 

This skirt is from People Tree, it was in the sale before Christmas.

 I LOVE IT. 

There are so many good things about the skirt.

 I love where it sits on my waist, that I can manage to fit a cardigan underneath it, that it is the perfect length for picnics, it has lovely deep pockets, and it doesn't need ironing!

We don't have a huge amount of money to spend on clothes, so both Jamie and I try to buy things that we will keep and wear for years to come. 

I don't follow fashion too closely, I just wear clothes that are comfortable and make me feel pretty. 

The cardigan pictured I have had for 7 years (I know that is probably taking it a bit too far) I have had to mend hole in it and re-dye it. Finding the perfect black cardigan is so difficult that I gave up and mended the one I had. 

It has seen better days.

Fairly traded clothes can be expensive, for the obvious reason - everyone in the supply chain is being paid a fair wage. To make my money stretch further I often take advantage of the end of or mid season sales. I have just ordered some Jeans from Monkee Genes that I found in their sale section, they were a steal at £15!

These photos have made me realise I need some new pumps, they are a state.

Fred 6 months update

So Fred us now 6 months old! 

He is fun now, he giggles and dances, and is learning to clap. 

(he hasn't quite got it yet, but he is trying)

We got Fred some sunglasses, he loves them!

I went and got Fred weighed last week, he is 17lb.

His current favourite foods are crumpets, asparagus, mango, and apple.

In the last couple of weeks he has grown his two lower front teeth, which has completely knocked his sleep off kilter. He still has two naps, one longer 2 hour nap in the morning and a half hour nap in the afternoon. He is generally asleep by half 7 but has been waking up 3 or 4 times before he gets up between 6.30 and 7.30 am. Its tiring but it isn't half as bad as it was!

This month as well as learning to dance and clap (sort of) Fred has learnt to sit up, grab his feet and pull his socks off. He is happier now that he can sit up and look around.

Swimming lessons are going so much better now,

 He even swam under water last week!

 My parents came to visit last weekend, it was so nice to have extra help. We took Fred in his first boat trip, and we all went swimming. 

This month we made up a new game called baby fishing.

Thankfully we haven't had any illness this month. 

Lets hope it continues!

Ordinary moments:- Getting to grips with food

For a couple of weeks now we have let Fred play with some of our food. He isn't yet 6months but he was almost snatching the food from out plates so we decided that he was ready to have a go at eating. 

We are doing baby led weaning, this means Fred feeds himself chunks of food and we don't use purees. It is comforting to know that because Fred is in control of what and how much he eats, he wouldn't be eating unless he was ready.

He is definitely eating! We have even found some food his nappy. So far his favourite foods are cucumber, crumpets, apple, tomato and porridge. He is not such a fan of broccoli and cauliflower, he pulls some great faces as he gets to experience we tastes and textures.

Although fun, food is very messy! This morning he managed to get weetabix inside of his coverall bib, as well as all over his face, high chair and floor.

I have linked up with Ordinary Moments over at Mummy daddy me again this week.