Happy Monday

Happy Monday today.......really. I'm happy today because:

1. I'm at home with my little man
2. At the moment it's me time as he's having a nap
3. Chocolate and a nice hot cuppa by myside watching loose women

Ah! the simple things in life.

January is always hard for most after all the spending and chaos at Christmas so no money until the first pay comes in at the end of the month. I don't see how it makes a difference because it only goes on the next round of bills.

January is a funny month as you expect its going to be the year for you but realistically nothing changes unless you make it change. Some years i've been excited like last January I was thinking about the arrival of my baby (due 9th April), my big 30th birthday (March) the thought of having months off work to spend at home with my baby, Starting my own business from home (http://www.fish4clicks.co.uk/) the hope for big changes to make life better for us and less stressful. 

A year on I think we are more stressed than ever, i've cried so much already this month through loss of family, the thought of leaving my baby with someone else and fear on what will happen financially in the coming months, but I have my gorgeous baby boy who has put endless smiles on my face and made life happy for me, my husband and many relatives throughout difficult times.

Just want to cry

This year is turning out to be the hardest yet. Hubby had confirmation he will be made redundant possibly sooner than we thought in March so god knows what we will do, I've tried to be positive for him and encouraging him saying it's a good thing as he never liked the job anyway and it's time to start over. He has so much potential but he's so unmotivated to do anything about it, It's incredibly frustrating as he doesn't realise the pressure he puts on me as I'm heart broken at the fact I have to go back to work full time and leave my baby who I have cared for 24/7, it's like losing part of your body.
I had a letter of confirmation this morning and as soon as I saw it I had a lump in my throat - it's hard for me too.

Changes Happening Already

I've been taking Ollie to mum and baby groups since he was 4 weeks old, that first time I was incredibly nervous I almost didn't bother, but I did go and ended up being the first to arrive so felt a bit of a spare part but the staff were very friendly and made me feel welcome. The first mum walked in with her child and friend I smiled and they ignored me and sat on the other side of the room - okay is it going to be like that then, I thought at that point i'll never go again. More mums arrived a couple on there own like me so I plucked up the courage and spoke to one that looked friendly enough and we shared strories of our babies. Another lady recognised me from the antenatal classes and began a conversation so my thoughts changed and definatly thought I would go back.
Eight months on i'm still going to the odd group but unfortunatly I haven't seen those mums on my first visit again. I have made some really good friends after going on other classes such as 'Reality Strikes' which was a god send with a group of mums talking through experiences and troubles - Just what I needed. Baby massage mlittle man wasn't so keen on and just cried through it and Rhyme time he fell asleep the first time I went and now he's not interested in the slightest and crawls around exploring all the toys.
Now my baby is 9 months old i'm finding the groups have changed as mums who had babies around the same time as me are preparing or have gone back to work so groups are now filled with new faces and young babies, so i'm starting to feel my time is up which is really sad as my time being at home with my adorable baby is nearly up and hard times will begin.

Sleeping & tummy trouble

I haven't read much of the sleeping book yet as it's a nightmare to even try when the little one is around as he grabs it and wants my constant attention, which I give him as i'm now thinking my days spending with him are numbered as work is getting closer, about 9 weeks left at home boohoo!

At the moment I have found he falls asleep in his jumperoo in the morning for about an hour so i can quickly get in a shower, chores or sometimes just me time although I tend to be straight on the computer writing this blog or checking if anything has happened with my business venture Fish4Clicks.

Since Ollie has been on solids he's had constant tummy troubles but lately it has gotten worse
 lasting a week or so, it's horrible to see him in pain straining, turning bright red and screaming the house down as it's to solid to pass. I think he is very scared to do it now so he tenses his whole body, I try and bend his legs but he is so strong and I don't want to force them incase I hurt him.
The health visitor advises more fluid, fruit and veg (don't you think I do that), it's a struggle to get him to drink water as he only likes baby milk so I increased the water in his milk as advised which did work the first time, also tried watered down orange juice, prune juice which again all worked the first time but hasn't since.  Off to the doctor I went yesterday and he's been given laxatives to dissolve in water (aggghhh it's difficult to get him to drink water) it's taken him approx 16 hours to drink 5 oz of it. Very frustrating so i'm just going to put it in his milk.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any advice would be appreciated.

Baby Offers & Freebies

While pregnant I signed up to all the baby sites I could as you can get so many offers, money off vouchers and freebies out there. The first month my little man was born I didn't have to buy any nappies at all.

Some of my favourites:

Free Changing Bag: If you sign up to Boots Parenting Club, wait for your welcome pack and receive a voucher for a free changing bag worth £30 when you buy pampers nappies. It's brilliant as it has many pockets and a changing mat inside.

Free Nappies: If you sign up to Asda Baby you can download a voucher for a free pack of Huggies newborn.

Aptamil baby club: If you join you will recieve A free abc guide to infant nutrition, Regular information and advice about nutrition and feeding for you and your baby, sent by email or post, plus lots of information and advice on the website but best of all you get a free polar bear teddy.

Advice & Vouchers: Join the Sainsbury's Little Ones Baby and Toddler Club for great free samples, magazine and more, toddler club welcome pack, free quarterley Little ones magazine and money off coupons. Tesco do this too.

Weaning guides: If you sign up to the baby food sites such as Hipp, plum-baby, Ellas Kitchen, Heinz Baby etc they send you advice and vouchers. The one I have found most useful is Cow & Gate as they send you a free 5 step weaning guide. I've found it invaluable when my baby turned 6 months as I found it rather daunting plus you get coupons at each stage.
http://www.cowandgate.co.uk/order_weaning_plan

It is also worth readng through the Bounty packs given as they have plenty of coupons aswell.

What a year so far

What a horrible start to the year ... a funeral, possible redundancy for the other half and my first day back at work is getting closer so my little bubba will have to go to someone else :-(

Well my little man is now 9 months old (can't believe it) he is standing holding onto everything and it seems much easier for him to get up and down which is making me wonder how long it will be before he tries to walk.
We had to rush off to France again last week due to a grandparents funeral, No wonder really Ollie hasn't settled into a good sleeping routine as we are always disrubting him with travel, staying over at friends and family houses or having people over.
 I have just got a copy of the book 'Good night, Sleep tight' by Kim West the sleep lady-It's a rather large book so will try and tackle it and take action once and for all as I have until 4th April (first dayback at work) dreading it. So I will keep updating.

Welcome 2012

Now 8 and half months old, I can't believe how quickly the little man changes he can now stand pretty well by holding onto anything in sight, he has some funny new faces at the moment and has become very loud and
chatty plus his appetite has grown so much.
He is also incredibly clingy at the moment which can be a bit wearing at times but I have to keep telling myself there will be a day when he will not want cuddles and kisses especially at silly o'clock in the morning. I first thought it was due to having so much attention over Christmas and New Year from relatives and friends and now it's just him and I again in the day but I've been told most babies around 9 months go through this.
Bedtime is still hit and miss and we still have a few wake ups so i've been looking into best routines to get in and looked at the crying down method as I read the Gina Ford book but I can't see it working as I find Ollie does not stop and gets in such a state that it just wakes him up further but I have tried to pick him up less when in his cot but it's so hard not too. I've been reading other peoples thoughts on the matter on Facebook Precious Little Ones threads so its changed my mind about leaving them to cry too long so I'm trying to relax and go with the flow but Ollie didn't fall asleep until 11pm last night - I would like some free time in the evening.
I thought it was suppose to get easier not harder but this year will be very trying year as come April I'll be going back to work full time and will have to sort a whole new routine juggling childcare, work, finance and missing my little man - really not looking forward to it.