The A-Z of Me!

I have been tagged by the lovely Motherhood The Real Deal to produce an A-Z of Me. Which i found surprisingly easy! Enjoy..

A is for Ashley

The man i am marrying, Betsy's Daddy, my rock!

B is for Betsy

My frustrating, irritating, whiney but beautiful girl. The love of my life.

C is for Clumsy

I am the most clumsiest person. This is fact. Just the other day i stood up from the sofa, barefooted, and in a spectacular fashion slide across the carpet landing on my knee which was bruised and carpet burnt as a result. 

D is for Depression (and anxiety)

A massive rubbishy part of my life.

E is for Eating

 I love to eat, i am at my most happiest when i am eating. Especially if it is chocolate. 

F is for Flowers

I love having flowers bought for me. Luckily Ashley seems to like buying them for me too!

G is for Glasses

I am shockingly short sighted without them!

H is for Housework

I absolutely despise it, which is plain to see the second you step into my house!

I is for In-laws

I have the loveliest in laws ever. I feel very very lucky!

J is for Jelly

I try my hardest to like it but i just don't. And it makes me so sad!

K is for Kitchen roll

Bit of an odd one, but i get through an alarming amount of kitchen roll. I use it for everything in the kitchen.

L is for Labour

I hate the think/talk about it, i don't care what anyone tells me, i will never forget about that!

M is for Migraines

I have awful awful migraines, i hate them so much!

N is for Notebooks

I love notebooks. I am very old fashioned in that i prefer writing something down on paper then typing it into my phone etc.

O is for Organisation

I am shocking at being organised. I like to think i am amazing, but i'm really not.

P is for Phone

It is always with me, i rely on it a ridiculous amount!

Q is for Quavers

Since having Betsy i am never far from a bag of them!

R is for Reading

I love reading, i used to read such a lot when i was younger but, apart from blogs, i rarely read anything now! I would love to start again.

S is for Sponge

Sponge is one of my favourite words. It is just such a good word. Sponge. 

T is for Tea

I love a good cup of tea, it solves everything.

U is for Umbrella

I once had one shut on my head in front of everyone at a crossing. I am always wary of them now!

V is for Vaseline

This stuff is magic. It can be used for so many things, from sorting out unruly eyebrows to getting a too tight ring off of your finger!

W is for Wedding

Mine will be taking place in December!!

X is for Xylophone

I'll be honest, i really couldn't think of anything for X. It's a tricky word! Although i did buy Betsy one for Christmas, so actually it could work...?

Y is for YouTube

This has saved my life so many times. In the night garden, Baby Jake, Mr Tumble.... The list is endless. I owe so much to this website!

Z is for Zzzz's

I love sleep, but i definitely do not get nowhere near the amount i should. I think i would sacrifice almost anything for sleep.

And that's me! 

Now i nominate One of each kind, Mummy in training, Something crunchy mummy, Crafty mama and Mums blind love.

A is for Anxiety

The last week or so, my anxiety has been sky high. It has been triggered by one thing, but it is affecting everything. It is constantly there, from the minute i wake to the minute i sleep. And even then, its still there. It causes me to have the most vivid dreams. That Ashley has left me, that i have done something unforgivable, that Betsy has been harmed. Awful dreams that mean even when i am asleep I've still not escaped it. I don't wake up feeling rested and refreshed, regardless of how much sleep i have had. 

It is so hard for me to explain my anxiety. I feel like depression is a lot easier to put into words. I don't really talk about my anxiety much, simply because i feel like i just sound ridiculous. Like whoever is listening is just wanting to tell me to get a grip. It is so exhausting; the constant knotted feeling, the racing heart, the breathlessness, the sweatiness, whenever i am in a situation i am not comfortable with. 

Betsy and the toddler bed

If you read my post about how i had everything pinned on the big move, i am sure you are eagerly awaiting an update. Is she still in with us? Does she actually think our bedroom no longer exists? Do the neighbours hate us?

Well, here is where you will find your answers. 

The cot is history, instead we have converted it into it's cot bed form. I felt like the cot was the issue, i'm not too sure how i would feel about sleeping in what is effectively a cage to be honest. I felt like we both had too many negative associations with that thing. Even though the toddler bed is of course just the cot in disguise, i felt like was enough of a change to fool Betsy.

She seemed to like it when she saw it. We made a big thing about this being BETSY'S bed, etc. She climbed onto it and laid down and jumped about. 

The first night she went down like a dream. I couldn't believe it. Had her bottle and then climbed into bed without any fuss at all. It seemed too good to be true, and it was, though in fairness not necessarily down to her. I came down with a horrid sickness bug that first night, just after putting her down. She is going through a bit of a funny (bloody annoying) phase at the moment of only allowing me to put her down. If Ashley attempts to she goes wild. And she usually wakes up at around 9pm for a bit more milk. Which meant that as i had my head down the loo Ashley had to go into her, and I'm sure you can imagine what she though of that. There was no way he was going to be able to re settle her, so into our bed she went. Who knows how that first night may have gone if i hadn't of so selfishly became ill!

The second night she became ill. High temperature and an awful cough, just not herself. Really whiney and upset. She was beside herself when i tried to put her down, i knew she wasn't right so didn't push it. I still felt horrendous myself anyway. So she stayed in our bed. 

This continued for the next couple of nights. She had a nasty chest infection which we might have possibly caught earlier had there not been so much going on with moving house. She had had a cough all week and without us really realising she had gotten worse and worse. It was particularly bad in the evenings, she would cough and cough so much and get frustrated. She was so hoarse. I didn't mind having her in with us, i felt confident that once she was better she would go in her bed. 

Now she is better. And not much has changed. Put her down at 7pm, no problems. She then wakes up a couple of hours later for a bit more milk and just won't resettle. Or if she does, she is waking continuously, until i break and bring her in with me. Tuesday night i was determined not to give in, and lasted over two hours up until about 4.20am. But I'm just too bloody tired!

What baffles me is that she has been having her naps in her bed everyday absolutely fine...

We have a bit of an issue with her bottles at night too (yes i know she shouldn't be using bottles anymore, but she does). She still has her second bottle in the evening, usually 1.5-2 hours after bedtime, which i have been hoping will drop soon, but it hasn't. And since moving she has started waking in the night too for milk, something which i really struggle with as often she takes a while to settle back down. I don't know what to do about it. I have tried and tried to resettle her without milk but she just won't, she gets herself so worked up that its impossible to settle her. 

Nighttime from start to finish is all just a bit shit. I'm trying to remain optimistic by keeping my fingers crossed that either the issue sorts itself out, or some kind soul opens a boarding school for disobedient toddlers. 

A new house, a sickness bug and a chest infection.

So.

As anyone who has interacted with me in any way shape or form over the last couple of weeks will know, this week we moved house. After weeks of ignoring it and pretending it wasn't going to happen, it happened. We packed up and moved every single thing we owned in a record breaking two days, due to our incredible lack of organisation and motivation. 

Monday: I awoke with a sense of impending doom. The packing could no longer be put off. I remained in denial for as long as i possibly could, right up until Betsy went down for her nap at 10am. The kitchen was first. We went around cupboard by cupboard, chucking it all in boxes, then putting the boxes into the car. Once the car was full, we went to the new house and unpacked it all. Once the kitchen was done, we moved on to the lounge. Then Betsy's bedroom, then our bedroom, then the bathroom. My mind was blown by how much stuff we had accumulated. Bloody heavy stuff.  I was pregnant when we moved last, which therefore meant i sat and did nothing. I have now declared that under no circumstances are we to move again, unless i am pregnant. Which is not going to happen, ever. 

I was so exhausted by the evening that i went to bed without tea, having no energy to even be hungry in the first place, let alone eat. I got into bed with Betsy, telling myself that at last the final night of sharing a bed with her was upon us. For tomorrow, we would be in our magical house, the answer to all of our problems (MORON).

50 Happy things

Thank you Kirsty over at Something Crunchy Mummy and Morna at Awesome Austerity for my 50 happy things nomination!

At first i was a bit concerned that i wouldn't be able to think of 50 things that make me happy.... Which sounds a bit bad! However once i got started i found it hard to stop at 50!! Which i was pleasantly surprised at!

So here are my 50 happy things! 

1. Betsy (except when she is being a monster)

2. Ashley (except when he is being a monster)

3. Family

4. Friends

5. Chocolate

6. Blogging

7. Flowers

8. Tea in lovely mugs 

9. My Karcher window vac (truly life changing, if you haven't got one - get one!)

10. Shopping

11. Clean bedding

12. Baths

13. Candles

14. Instagram (everything looks so pretty)

15. Painted nails

16. Pizza

17. Sleeping

18. Frogs

19. Sweet chilli sauce

20. My wedding dress

21. The smell of Flash bathroom cleaner 

22. Socks

23. Lovely new notebooks and pens

24. My iPhone

25. Biscuits

26. A good book

27. Eating out

28. Good hair days

29. Feeding ducks

30. Ikea

31. Old songs....... like this one! (Don't judge me!)

32. Disney films

33. Cake

34. Washing drying on the line 

35. Long drives

36. McDonalds

37. Winter

38. Betsy's nap time

39. Date nights

40. Photographs

41. Pasta

42. Family days out

43. Taylor Swift

44. Buying house stuff

45. Cuddles

46. Betsy being happy

47. A tidy home

48. Jumpers

49. Cushions

50. Cake

Now i nominate 

Lianne at One of each kind

Rachel at Mummy in training

Georgina at Little feet big adventure

Talya at Motherhood real deal

Bug Brush toothbrush - Review

When i stumbled across the twitter account for Bug Brush, i was amazed. It felt like the answer to my prayers, as a mummy to a toddler who has a strong aversion to brushing her teeth. I worry about ensuring they are cleaned, as i desperately don't want her to end up with bad teeth. Especially with the unavoidable amounts of sugar and badness in a lot of foods nowadays. So to me, something like this that has been designed for babies to use themselves, is perfect. A fun way of improving oral hygiene without your little one even realising! So i was very happy when i was sent one to review!

It arrived super quickly, and came with a card full of facts and information all about teeth. It was an interesting read, I learnt that everyday in the UK 20 children under 5 have a tooth extraction under general anaesthetic. I was totally shocked by this. To me this seems like such a horrible ordeal for someone so small to go through, when really tooth decay is preventable with something so simple as regular brushing. Obviously it is just not possible to brush a child's teeth every time they have eaten/drank something, as a parent there are 1001 other things that need to be done at the same time! So having a Bug Brush means you can simply allow your child to do it themselves, with no fuss, while you get on with your never ending parent to-do list!

It has a fun eye catching colourful design, and is small enough for little hands to easily hold. With the bristles literally covering it, it really doesn't matter which way it is held. Betsy is 16 months, and like most little ones, everything she touches end up in her mouth! So there was none of the usual trying to prise open her mouth to get a toothbrush into it, it went straight in there! She's into different textures and colours at the moment, so it was love at first sight! 

From watching her with it i couldn't find any issues with using it, it is such a simple but effective little thing. It was reassuring for me to know that after she had eaten i could give her this and know that any food and plaque build up would be effectively removed in a way that didn't annoy her like having her teeth brushed usually does! The Bug Brush means that we can all relax a little bit when it comes to those little naughty things our children eat, which is definitely a good thing! (Though not for one second am i saying give your little one coke and chocolate all day everyday!)

The Bug Brush toothbrush is £12.99 (including VAT and postage) which in my opinion is a very reasonable amount to pay for something so beneficial to your child. 

The Bug Brush toothbrush can be purchased directly through the website, which is here: http://www.bugbrush.co.uk. You can find lots more information on the website, as well as the benefits of using the Bug Brush toothbrush and what the experts say have to say about it! 

It can also be found on Amazon and JoJo Maman Bebe. 

You can follow Bug Brush Twitter page here: 
https://twitter.com/bug_brush

And you can like the Bug Brush page on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/BugBrush/1469416029989061?fref=ts




I received a free Bug Brush toothbrush in exchange for an honest review. All views and opinions are my own.

25 things learnt in 25 years

1. Don't put off going to the dentist, even if you hate it.

2. Have an epidural

3. Being a mummy is the most wonderful thing in the world 

4. Open a pack of Weetabix over the bin. Always

5.Things change

6. Don't get silly tattoos on a whim

7. Never attempt to be cool and go really high on the swings without holding on

8. Always trust your instincts

9. Some people are just assholes that will not change

10. Don't believe everything you hear

11. Always have adult supervision when opening a can of corned beef

12. Having Depression doesn't mean I'm a bad person

13. Neither does suffering with Anxiety. 

14. It's fine to not wear any make up. No one cares

15. Not religiously doing what parenting books tell me to do doesn't make me a shit parent

16. Karma is an actual thing. What goes around really does come around

17. I  am what i am. Wishing i am something i'm not is completely pointless

18. Being an adult isn't all its cracked up to be

19. Never underestimate the amazingness of tea and biscuits

20. Sometimes (only in exceptionally rare cases) I'm wrong

21. A good nights sleep can make a huge difference 

22. Jealousy is so ugly

23. You can't ever predict what is round the corner

24. Don't put chocolate spread in the fridge

25. Nothing is as bad as it seems

Overwhelmed

I have been so rubbish with my blog recently. I keep willing myself to come on here, i write things in my blog notebook, ideas for posts, notes. I take pictures of things and i start posts and i get myself organised. But i just cannot do it. There is always something bothering me, preventing me from concentrating enough to finish my post. 

I feel like i have so much going on at the moment. I haven't really, i am just letting little things overwhelm me. I know this, but i feel as if i have no control over any of it, over the way it is all getting to me.

picture credits

The big move. I cannot wait to move, i am so excited about it, i am. But i am also so anxious. Anxious about the packing (which we still haven't started with just over a week to go), the settling in, the amount of stuff we will have to sort out. The grown up stuff like changing addresses. The promise i have made to myself about getting Betsy to sleep in her own bed once and for all. I don't want to do any of it. I feel so stressed out about it all, even more so then i did when we moved whilst i was pregnant. It all seems like such a mammoth task, one that feels like it won't end.