Sunday 30 December 2012

The best present ever ???

Well as you may or may not know our little G has been a none walker and well we had both given up ( me about 6 months ago ) and was considering what colour wheelchair to get our little G :(

On  Christmas day we had first steps we just could not believe our eyes and we both burst into floods of happy tears - and the next day he was running up and down the lounge.

Everyone kept saying oh he will do it when he is ready but what a day to do it on :)

It really was the best Christmas present ever.  

Sunday 16 December 2012

Christmas eve - the day i dread !

Christmas oh how I love Christmas its a time for family to gather , to eat and be merry. Which to be fair christmas day / boxing day / the week after generally are :)


But I now dreading with a passion the Christmas eve dash - the buying of the other half's cards cus he forgot, the running around ASDA trying to find cranberry sauce. Or doing a 50 mile round trip to deliver presents. 

I do try to plan ahead, I do ...... but then H always gets ill (man flu) 2 days before, it happens every year. lol 

 This year i have a plan - not to leave the house - but even the best laid plans go to pot. So I'm sure Christmas eve will be spent running around like a mad person. 

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Cold feet ??

So Winter has definitely arrived this past few weeks with temps outside not reaching much above freezing. When its this cold we don't go out much the cold air knocks it out of my lungs and so we stay inside. I really feel the cold especially in my feet, something to do with my heart I guess.

I was asked to review Heat Holder socks and boy they didn't disappoint. I may never have to use H as my feet warmer again.


They really do do exactly what they say on the packet ! Not only do they hold in heat they don't make your feet sweat just keep you very tostie warm ( thats a stokieism as H would say )

They come in all sorts of funky colours - I have the Fuchsia/ raspberry strips and I love them.



 These are going to make wonderful stoking fillers - With an rrp  from £6 for the classic to £12 for the wellyboot ones. theses really do make the ideal Christmas gift.

I have two pairs to give away - 1 black pair and 1 pink ....


a Rafflecopter giveaway

SO its been a while


in fact its been nearly two months .......................

I had some nasty comments made on my blog by someone I know - they hid behind the anonymous - but I love technology and I know exactly who you are - and the police will be informed shortly !


Anyway rant over - its been a very busy few months planning a wedding that nearly didn't happen - G got ill ten days before he had a scan on his heart and they found he had fluid around his heart. We came so close to  not getting married and going on honeymoon.

The day itself was just perfect - we even got sun. But wedding day is for another blog post  :)

I'm now going to britmums which is a blogging even in London , I  cant wait.

Trentham Estate (Gardens)

As i mentioned before for our anniversary we went on a day out to Trentham Gardens. This place in my eyes  is one of the best places in Stoke on Trent - second only to my mum and dads home of course! It's a place that means a lot to me because me and H had one of our first dates.


Trentham gardens is a wonderful place for all the family to visit. The Italian Gardens are amongst the first things you see at Trentham as you walk into the entrance over the big bridge. 






There is so much to do to keep your little ones busy include the mile long lake and acres of woodland to explore and a huge play area to keep them busy, which is set on bark chippings within the gardens, within this area there is  a 'Hide and Speak' Maze which has kept my niece and nephew busy for many an hour. There are also huge sandpits to keep the toddles entertained. There is a cafe situated near to the park which has a large glass windows and a patio area which offer wonderful views over the lake.





This place has amazing children's facilities loads of places to eat and drink both inside and outside the gardens. Loads of changing areas and the disabled facilities are amazing but the walk around the lake is not always accessible by wheelchairs / buggys due the surface been very uneven and it gets worse if its been raining - in my eyes this could be improved with a little bit of investment. But If you get to tired at the half way point there is a cafe and a  'Miss Elizabeth' passenger boat trip back to the other end of lake.
The prices are listed below and for all that you get i think its not too bad but if you are close enough by you can get an annual pass which means you can go as many times as you like and you also get discounts of special events such as summer nights and bonfire night (we went last year, it was amazing)
Hear is a link to the Trentham admission prices is HERE. 


A family pass also makes it a little cheaper. 



The prices are linked above  and for all that you get i think its not too bad but if you are close enough by you can get an annual pass which means you can go as many times as you like and you also get discounts of special events such as summer nights and bonfire night (we went last year, it was amazing) 

Become an Annual Ticket Holder to Trentham Gardens and enjoy:






Sunday 14 October 2012

4 weeks and counting

So four weeks yesterday until our big day where has the time gone ?

My bridesmaid has finally got her arse in gear and is asking questions about the big day.

It's my hen do next weekend and its a spa day at Alton towers and then a meal out. I'm really looking forward to my hen do but really disappointed that some people are not coming.

As for the big day - everything is coming along just nicely and now we just have to pay for it all. I'm not stressed yet and have got no big worries apart from the public speaking at the service it self -- eeekkkk

And as for the nasty comment which i have just deleted - Its there loss at the end of the day....

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Blog sale CENTRAL Cheshire

so I've got a few things to sell - well if you ask H we have a whole house full - so I thought I'd make a start before we move house ( hopefully next year ) and raise some money for last minuet wedding bits !

1. i have £350 of huggies gift vouchers im selling for £200



2 - a brand new in the box obaby condor 4s buggy with carry cot it has a black frame and is black in colour.  The RRP is £399 i would like £175



3 - I also have a Reebok I cross trainer for sale as I can no longer use it - I used it twice while I was at uni and its sat in the garage ever since - I would like £ 100 for this. I cant get any photos as its in the box in the garage .

4 - A fisher price baby swing £20

5 - A fisher price rain forest play gym £ 20 - sold





As the items are so big collection only I'm afraid- from Winsford Cheshire

That's it for now - but I've also got bags of boys baby clothes i need to sort and go through.

Autumn fun

This is just the best photo of G ever - it was taken last autumn on 10/11/11 it was a year to go until our wedding which is now just a few weeks away 10/11/12. That was the reason for our visit to the park - we wanted to see if it would look ok for wedding photos :)

It was G's first time on a swing and as you can tell from the HUGE grin on his face he loved it. We really hope in our next house we can have a garden , so that we can have a swing for G.

We have this photo on a canvas hung up in our hallway - we love it so much.

This blog post has been written as an entry into the Tots100 competition in association with Boots Mother and baby.

This blog post has been written as an entry into the Tots100 competition in association with Boots Mother and Baby

Monday 8 October 2012

feeling very isolated and sad

So as I sit hear typing I'm in floods of tears ... I'm starting to feel embarrassed and ashamed of my beautiful boy.

He's still not walking or talking and no one seems to give a shit about him.....apart from me and H. I've tried the health visitor and he thought I was depressed cus i was upset about his non walking.

Been to the GP and oooo just give it time ............well how long before they do start to give a shit about him 4-5-6. Will he be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life ?? and if one more person says ... well my brat was or 18 months until he was walking im going to explode in a rage of anger.

im sorry but at 20 months and still not walking something is just not right :(

Friday 5 October 2012

wedding help

Ok my lovely blog followers - I need your help with wedding gifts ideas.

No not for us lol but for our bridesmaids best man , flower girls and parents ect

We have a 32 year old bridesmaid , a 14 year old an 8 year old, 5 year old page boy best man , and two ushers and we have no idea what to get them.

Our budget is about £20 per person any ideas ???

Wednesday 3 October 2012

Me lucky ? part two !

So I was 10 and just had a stroke, not your normal kinda thing hey ..... my poor mum and dad. Well after fighting to get me back into some kind of education ( I was home schooled for a while ) my mum managed to get me back in to primary school and that's where I met my first bully.

Now don't get me wrong I can see why my mum wanted to get me back to school - I must have drove her crazy. But the bullying got out of control and well I just didn't want to go.

And then there was high school - now looking back I really wished my mum would have let me go to a special school. Even the teachers bullied me with there nasty little comments and the PE teacher was a right B1TCH. she made my life hell for 2 hours every week for 5 years, knowing full well I had heart problems she had me doing all sorts.

As for boyfriends no chance I was the tall freak who talked funny. Teenage boys can be nasty but wow teenage girls are bitchy and nasty I think I could count my friends on one hand through the whole of high school. Then there were  the friends who weren't really my friends - you know the kind who use you because your mums an Avon lady but then you never get invited to there party.

I felt so held back - since leaving school , I've discovered I'm dyslexic and I have an IQ of 136. I left school with a handful of rubbish GCSE's and well I went to uni 5 years ago as a mature student and did very well :)
I would love to go back to my old school and say look at what I've achieved.

And after school I had a handful of rubbish jobs on very low pay :(
To put it simply my teenage years were hell

Tuesday 2 October 2012

such a good day

Today was my birthday and its been a good one :-)

Another year older and my last one with my surname - feels very weird and a little bit sad, I've even got to start to think about changing my signature. Its going to be a lot of change all for the better I know, but still a little sad to loosing my name. It's been with me since birth and it's going to be really odd ( I wonder how many times I will say the wrong name when I order stuff or filling in forms )

Thursday 27 September 2012

to our evening wedding guests


Wedding money poem –
For a couple of years we’ve lived in sin, 
we have a toaster, a kettle and a stainless steel bin, 
saucepans and towels we have many, 
corkscrews and flannels we don’t need any, 
we just want you with us to celebrate our day, 
but if you insist on a gift anyway, 

What we’d really like is a gift of money,
we hope you don’t think we’re being funny! 
We’ll put it all together and buy something that’s best, 
as a reminder of our day and our wonderful guests.

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Fed up of the same question

I'm now getting a little fed up of been asked the same question - so when are you having another baby ??

Well I would like nothing more than to have another baby tomorrow - if I had the chance :( But the doctors have said no, it would put to much of a strain on my heart.

And then there are my friends who are having more babies and this breaks my heart cus i would love G to have a brother or sister. But deep down i know and I am very grateful that we have G at all and i wouldn't want to risk my health to have another. 

Sunday 16 September 2012

8 weeks to go :)

Oh my, only 8 weeks to go until our big day and I'm so excited - the stress or nerves haven't kicked in yet and I don't think they will. 

On Friday night we had a treat - my mum and dad looked after G and we had a night out at our wedding venue. It felt good to get all the little details sorted out. They were also preparing for a wedding the next day, it felt a bit strange I was having butterflies for the bride as she rushed around making sure the room was sorted out. All the time we were sat having dinner I was thinking that's going to be me inn 8 weeks time :) 

Then on Saturday  morning we went to the travel agents to book our flight tickets. H is petrified of flying so I'm not looking forward to the flight at all, it will be like having two toddlers. One sat crying and the other wanting to crawl up and down the Elise. I also went to get my self booked in for my dress fitting. 

And today we have been to get the rings engraved with the date we get married - its 10.11.12 . 

Just the little stuff to do now........ and pay for it all :( 

Wednesday 12 September 2012

tired of been tired

So these past few weeks i've been finding things getting harder and harder - i've been getting out of breath really quickly even changing G's bum & walking up the stairs.

Deep down i know i should call Birmingham QE and go for a check up. But truth be told i'm bricking it -so close to the wedding. i don't want to risk having to postpone the wedding.

I'm a little worried it might even be endocarditis again :( that i really couldn't handle - been stuck in hospital for 6 weeks been pumped full of drugs that make me feel yuk - even the thought of that depresses me :(

On the plus side we went the hospital with G on Monday and his thyroid problem is still there, which may be causing a muscle enzyme problem which may be causing the non walking. Mummy always knows when something is wrong. :)  And he's still not walking .........

Thursday 6 September 2012

Back to normal

I say back to normal -what  i mean is the kids are back at school so all the baby clubs are back on. We love going to our local playgroup its so nice to get out of the house.

I even went to our local sure start centre today on the recommendation of my health visitor , but i didn't enjoy it at all. Me and George just sat on our own and played away by ourselves :( we tried to interact with others but I don't know I just didn't feel comfy or happy there. Oh well we will try it once more and see how we get on.

Its playgroup day tomorrow and we cant wait its at our local church hall but its not chuch led at all - all the people there are friendly and say hello. We will even walk there as its going to be sunny :)

Tuesday 4 September 2012

Sorry its been a while

Sorry its been a while since I last posted I've been very busy with wedding plans and G is teething again its his big teeth at the back and he's in s much pain.... so that has been keeping us very busy.

We have also been to the baby show and we now have lots of products to review :)

The preparations for the wedding are going well H has had his suit fitting and he's now just waiting for the others. to do theirs . other than that just the little stuff we can't do until a few weeks before.

Also my camera has broken so that's something else to save up for once the wedding ( and house move ) are out of the way. So i apologise for the poor photo quality of any products i review :(

Friday 24 August 2012

My pocket buddy review



I was delighted to be asked to do a review on "my pocket buddy" spray pen. 
I've got a thing about germs - they freak me out big time. I have had endocarditis twice now -its a not nice infection of the heart which i'm very prone too as I've had valve operations.


So keeping my hands clean is very important to me, my pocket buddy comes in a pen size tube which fits on your pocket, lunch box, baby bag . 


There is no nasty smell to it and no residue. Its alcohol free so it doesn't strip your hands of its oils. I have eczema on my hands so I have to be careful of the products I use and I've had  no reaction which is a Bonus :)   






Yes there are lots of other hand sanitizers out there but they can not boast the following .....


Alcohol free 

Allergen free 
Contains Aloe Vera  
Its made from 100% natural ingredients
It dries super fast with out leaving a sticky residue 
Solvent free, non-toxic and non-flammable
The pen its self is made from recycled material and can be recycled its self 
No chemical nasties 

It comes in 3 different sizes - 


8ml spray pen perfect for kids lunch box or school bag 

50ml foamer for adults 
and a 500ml perfect for the office or home 

The spray pen and foamer are available from my pocket buddy


We love "My Pocket Buddy"spray pen  and will definitely be ordering more from MY POCKET BUDDY 

 the price is amazing the 8 ml is only £0.96 + p&p 

Thanks for reading my "my pocket buddy" review 


Emma x 




Sunday 12 August 2012

NCT catch up

Today was our nct catch up - I never would have thought this time 21 months ago that we would all be such good friends. Even the men lol

All of our babies were due a month apart , I was due last at the start of March but i had G first - i was induced at 36 weeks. Then the other 3 came all within a week. 
At first we met each week which was difficult for me as we lived so far away (long story ) But as the others started going back to work we met less and less and now it's every 6 months :( . Its lovely to see how all the babies (now toddlers ) are growing and changing.
I was saddened to see G sat on the floor while the others ran circles around him , But his time will come.

I'm the only stay at home mummy amongst my Nct girlie's and while i know I'm very lucky to be one I'm slightly envious of them - the time they have to them selves and the money they have. But I'm sure they are envious of me and all the time i spend with G.

Cant wait for our next catch up which will be our wedding !!! 3 months to go yay

Thursday 9 August 2012

Good news on G

G my little monkey has had me really worried - his non walking has been driving me round the bend.
with months of  "oh he's not walking yet " well i was in tears almost every night. Our health visitor has been almost useless telling us its normal - what normal about an 18month old not walking ? how many do you know - my answer 0. All the babies and toddles I know were walking at 12 - 13 OK maybe 14 months.

I've been at my whit's end trying to encourage him but  finally  we have discovered why-  its the hard laminate flooring in the lounge/ diner ! He has always been so cautious

We had a baby walker for Christmas and he used it once fell over  and has remained untouched ever since in the lounge. Anyway I hid it upstairs as the health visitor was coming round, and tonight he grabbed it and literally ran across the landing ( which has nice lush soft carpet )

So at last we have a little walker ( nearly not quite ) but its a start and its  such a weight of our shoulders !




Sunday 5 August 2012

news

i now have a facebook page !

http://www.facebook.com/MumMumHeart

hopefully i will be getting lots of new followers xx
hint hint

Friday 3 August 2012

3 months and counting

Only 3 moths to go until our big day and we think we may just make it - we are refusing to go in debt for our big day as I know so many couples who are still paying for there wedding day 6 years later ! And i know others who earn double than we do and had a very no frills wedding.

So we have been saving very hard and yes it is hard we only have one wage coming in  - I wish I could work but even if I did the majority of what I would earn would be taken up by childcare costs and we would only be £50 better off. I quite like been a stay at home mummy but the guilt eats me up sometimes - when H comes home from work super stressed :( But even if I did work, my quality of life would be minimal because I would be so tiered.

Any way rant about money over

The shoes are now brought (and they fit) &  invites on the way so one less thing to worry about. H broke a table decoration at the week and we cant find any more in-store or on-line good job i got one spare - he cant brake another or we are in big trouble.

I have my playduvet for the children's corner - its stunning and the quality is amazing. I'll do a review on that soon. All we need now is some nice toys to go with it.

Cant believe our big day is nearly hear - I guess we girls all have a dream of the big dress and church wedding. I really did think that it wouldn't happen for me - with all my problems I never thought I would find my love.
I'm so lucky to have H , he is my best friend sole mate lover and the the best thing that has ever happened to me. I cant wait to be married to H xx

Wednesday 1 August 2012

mummumheart one month old today !

Well  my little blog has been going for a month and I've had just over 850 views. Not bad, but I think I need to widen my net and get a Facebook page and organise a little competition ! Will keep you all informed x

Tuesday 31 July 2012

Me lucky ? - I'll let you decide ! part 1

My bout of bad luck started when i was 4 and well has never really stopped lol only kidding H x Its a long story so i will  be doing it in parts !

I was 4 when I went the doctors with tonsillitis again ( we were on holiday in the isle of white ) and the doctor gave my mum a funny look and said "did you know your daughter had a heart mummer! We came back off holiday and that's when the tests started and I had my first op the following April. being 5 I cant really remember too much of that time just the smell of hospitals, playing with the toys at the bottom of ward 2 in the old Birmingham Children's Hospital, and the train ride down to Birmingham on the old British Rail trains

At this time heart operations were not very successful and the doctors didn't know much about what they were doing. For this operation I had a metal valve put in  which meant I had to take wafarin tablets which I didn't enjoy at all.1 the weekly blood tests and 2 the time I had of school, I now know how damaging this was as my spelling and grammar are awful. 

Other than my ops and blood tests my childhood was filled with happy memories of  family holidays in Wales   and in our caravan and my dog Penny.  

By the time I was 10 the metal valve was too small as I had grown so much - ( which we now know was why i had the mummer in the first place ) so it was time for another operation and again i cant really remember much of this but i can remember the summer before my op - me and mum went to Birmingham on the train and it was a baking hot summer i think it was 1989 i was just going for some tests but we stayed over and all i can remember was the heat.

 The big op was in November and this is when i had my big stroke - it effected everything i had to relearn to all sorts of things like bladder control, eating with a knife and fork and the little stuff like doing up buttons and zips.  The biggest things I had to relearn were walking and talking- these are the two things i still struggle with today - I have still got week ankles which means I can not walk far with out support ( my pushchair is a life saver !) as for my speech well that's one I still struggle with despite hours of speech therapy - I'm just really shy and i guess years of bullying made me not bother speaking at all ! 




    

Tuesday 24 July 2012

My life 10 years ago .

My life 10 years ago, wow how my life has changed.

This exact day it was coming to an end of my adventure in America. I gained my Queen Scout award in the April and when sitting in St Georges chapel inside Windsor castle, there were loads of leaflets on all the seats and one of them was for Scout camp America. Well I looked at it and thought nothing of it until I got home and I looked at it again and I thought what if !

The application process was hard work with lots of forms and lots of phone calls - one of my pet hates, phone calls! I was amazed and stunned when I got accepted - and it cost a fortune! but it was always something I had wanted to do go travel into America. I used all my savings to pay for my flight and visas    and all the other little costs. At the time i had 2 part time jobs. I worked as a shopping assistant and a cleaner  - not very glamorous.

So off I went on my first adventure to America just 18 months after my 3rd Heart operation my poor mum was really worried but she couldn't stop me going! I was so pleased my Heart doctor let me go- we had some fun with the insurance company.

I ended up at Philmont Scout ranch and boy it was Amazing with a capital A - my placement was working at PTC which stood for Philmont Training Centre which is where all the American scout leaders got trained and we the staff looked after the children(5-18) and family of those getting trained. We took the children on hikes and adventures around Philmont crafts and they even had a small petting zoo. Philmont  is this huge chunk of land that was donated to the BSA from Waite Phillips an american oil tycoon. It is a sunning place to the north east of new mexico- near to a small town called Cimarron. The photos I have are on photo paper as digital cameras had only just come out and was really expensive, so they are in a box in my mum and dads loft along with other memorabilia from my amazing time there even wrote a diary - wow I bet that's a good read now !   

My time at Philmont was happy and sad , I got really homesick as I had never been away from home before but I did make some good friends and the friends I made there I'm still friends on Facebook. One day I hope I can take H and G to see the stunning rocky mountains and sing them camp fire songs.

This time 10 years ago I had no hope of ever finding or been in love and I was told I couldn't have children.
 look at me now, I have a beautiful son and we get married in 4 months time :) So for all you single ladies out there - there is hope.

Friday 20 July 2012

wedding wedding wedding !

So with only four months until our big day and all the little things are going wrong.....
yes the church and venue are all booked 

But its all the little things that are going wrong and instead of looking forward to our our big day I'm now dreading it :( we still haven't sent out invites and its not for trying - we have now tried two different people and are now at our wits end. At this rate we will be using vista print for our wedding invites - at least they will be cheap. But i don't want cheap i want stylish and elegant :( 

Then there is my shoes i made a bit of a woppsie and well got the wrong size and now they are out of stock so i've got to order a different style and i'm just hoping they are not to high as i cant walk in heals and my worst nightmare is falling down the aisle.  

 We are getting married in a church, its the church close to where i was brought up its were i was baptised and we also had our G baptised there to. G was baptised on 9.10.11 and we are getting married on 10.11.12.


We are trying to do a wedding on a budget  as i can't work its been hard saving for a wedding,  but there is so much to think about presents for bridesmaids best men and parents. The costs are mounting up.  


I would like a play corner for the children with a playduvet (which is amazing please look them up on Facebook and twitter)  and some nice new toys, As there will be about 10 under 8's going including G. But money is tight and it looks like its just not going to happen as every time i save up for special things it gets eaten up by something else wedding :(  


Then there is the cost of the flowers its shocking - We are trying to make cutbacks where we can with out missing out. I'm going to be doing our own table decorations. Will tell you my ideas for those soon. 



I will keep you all informed of our plans and disasters .  



Thursday 19 July 2012

Return my Ted Review

I'm sure we have all had that heart stopping moment when we have lost our little ones favourite toys and a little old lady has ran out with ted in arms and a big smile. What would happen if that didn't happen what would you do ??

Well this is monkey he doesn't mean much to G at the moment - it was given to G when he was born by a friend of mine who lives in Bedford. G has started taking monkey out- and I was getting worried until I found 'Return my Ted'.


'Return my ted' it a tag for your teddy / monkey / blankey. Its so easy to use 1st step is you Buy a tag - its only costs £12.99 which in my mind is a bargain for the peace of mind that it brings. You attach the tag to your toy which is so easy to do as it's elasticated. I made sure that H did it as sometimes i struggle with knots and fiddly things.

Once the tag is attached it can be washed at 40 degrees and the ink wont run and it won't fall apart. The only concern i had was the size but i guess it has to be big to be seen by passers by :)



2 nd step is to register you owners ID which is unique to your tag. This can be done by phone via a freephone number or online.

Then if you misplace loose your teddy in the park and someone finds it- they can go to the return my ted website type in the number on the tag enter their details- they get sent a free post bag so there is no cost to the finder- talk about a good idea. Then return my ted will match the number to your unique number and send it back to you. Amazing idea and you get a lot for your money as your childs toy is irreplaceable can you really place a price on finding it again ?  

you can find return my ted on facebook  and twitter ReturnMyTed
and their website  http://www.returnmyted.com/

Wednesday 18 July 2012

competitions

i love competitions a great place to find them is FIND ME A GIFT which can be found on facebook and twitter x

Friday 13 July 2012

Our holiday in Cymru and wishbone bike

I love competitions and I'm always entering them in the hope that i will win, but, deep down my self confidence has been knocked over the years and all self belief has gone, so I was over the moon and jumping for joy when I won the most amazing prize. the competition was run by Babi Pur and Trawsfynydd Holiday Village,the two companies are  local to each other who partnered together for this amazing competition.

Babi pur is a company which is based is North Wales who sell ethically sourced and fair trade products, both of which are close to my heart.http://www.babipur.co.uk  Trawsfynedd log cabin holiday based in Trawsfynydd. http://www.logcabinswales.co.ukThe prize was a weekend holiday in a log cabin and a Wishbone bike.


H was brought up in Anglsey so he knew the area quite well and I can remember many a happy holiday on the stunning north Wales coast with my mum, dad and siblings. 

The log cabin was booked from Friday night till Sunday morning , I decided to book a travelodge for 1 night so we could make the best of our time there and H took another day of work. We got a very good deal and only paid under £20 for a brand new Travelodge in Caernarvon next to the Victoria Dock. 



On the Thursday morning we set off to Wales, when we arrived at Llandudno  the sun was out, but I wasn't feeling to well and there was a cold wind. We had parked on the front which is full of beautiful old Victorian  hotels. We walked to the pier and then right to the end the pier which is a stunning bit of engineering. When we arrived at the end of the pier I was in need of a warm cuppa (panad! if you are local!), muffin and a comfy seat.  Luckily there was a cafe right at the end of the pier. Once we had all finished we had a wonder back into town. Llandudno town is stunning Victorian seaside resort with lots of independent shops and the usual stores.  For the historians and interested it was developed by the Madoc family who still influence the town and surrounding area.  We found a small cafe and had our lunch.  We then carried on walking a little further down the town and found a large retail park with all the main shops and some places to eat. H could not believe how much things had changed and yet it still felt the same. 



Then we went to Beaumaris on the Isle of Anglesey (Yr Mom Mam Cymru - The Mother of Wales according to H)  . Beaumaris is where H was brought up so lots of happy memories for him, he got to show me his old school and house, then we had a wonder down the pier which has just been rebuilt on the end.




Beaumaris is a well known historic town on the Menai Strait with its medieval castle dating back to the reign of Edward I and its Victorian pier, gaol & courthouse. There is a good selection of shops, restaurants and public houses in the town and all local amenities are within easy walking distance from the castle. We were hoping to see kate or wills  shopping oh well !!


Then it was time to go to Caernarvon , we found the Travelodge and settled in putting up the travel cot. Then it was finally time for our evening meal. We had a lovely jam packed day and I was so excited to be heading off to the log cabin !


The next morning was a bit of a blur as we were super tired but once we had breakfast it all went a little better. We headed of to Caernarvon castle witch is a beautiful fortress built by king Edward 1st . We had G in a backpack which H had on his back it was a little difficult to manoeuvre around the castle, it would have been even harder if we had took the buggy! 
We spent a good 2-3 hours wondering around and we then had food as G was getting niggerly and so was H he loves his food. 


We then went to Babipur to collect our wishbone bike - the bike is amazing. We had won the special edition Apple a day bike.  Even the box is stunning. When you open the box its amazingly decorated and the bike is all laid out. 


It was so easy to put together even G helped. It only took 10 mins and G was away. His feet only just touched the floor put he was off - the build quality of the bike is amazing and I'm sure it will last G until he is 5.


The best thing about this wooden  bike is that it starts out as a small trike ( three wheels ) then it turns in to a small bike then it flips over into a big bike talk about money savings.  Amazing. The RRP of this bike is £199 that was because it was a special edition, the normal wishbone bike was £179. As it lasts so long we thought it was well worth the money. We had started to save for one of these since G's first birthday so we relived when we won it and the money went to the wedding fund ! I would give the wishbone bike 5/5 



It was so nice to meet the BabiPur team , we had a cuppa or panad in the warehouse  which was amazing to see all the nappies and toys i loved the nappies. I spent more than i said i would H was not happy lol 




Then it was time to set of to Trawsfynydd holiday cabins. It was literally in the middle of nowhere ( maybe 15 mins from porthmadog)  but that's just what we needed the setting was out of this world.  We arrived just b4 the reception area shut .... talk about good timing phew.
Their was a small shop on site which was perfect for all the essentials bread milk pasta etc  
We were given the keys and a map with directions to our log cabin. When we arrived at the cabin we were amazed - there was what looked like a brand new kitchen and bathroom, the bedrooms ( all 3 of them) were nicely furnished and the lounge was very welcoming with a tv dvd player, two very big sofas. The towels and high chair we ordered were there waiting so that it saved us some room in the car couldn't ask for more. 

We soon settled in and G went to sleep almost instantly which was a huge relief as we were both so tired. The only down side to the bedroom was the light in the morning , they really need to put in black out on the curtains.



On Saturday we went to Borth-y-Gest in the morning we had a wonder down the coastal path but we didn't get very far as we took the pushchair and we encountered some steps so we turned back and headed for a small cafe got warm and had a cuppa. 







We  then got back in the car  and headed for pwllheli, this place holds happy memories for me , as i used to come here as a child. We used to stay in the butlins resort which is now a haven resort. We went into town which was a little bit run down so sad to see it full of charity shops. We then took a short drive down to the marina and we we had a little wonder down to the seafront, with G in the backpack my ankles were all over the shop :( we soon headed back to the car and an hour drive and we were back in the warmth of the log cabin for our tea. 






The weather had not been kind to us the whole weekend :( but the sunday blew us away with wall to wall sunshine ! So we heading to the coast this time we went to Barnmouth. When we arrived it was 18c . Barnmouth 









looked like the med with the palm trees and sunshine :) We had a picnic for lunch on the beach but i don't think G enjoyed the sand too much. 


It was really sad to leave we both were not looking forward to returning home. We had such a nice time and the log cabin was so welcoming.  

Friday 6 July 2012

More about me


So this is me , at Caernarfon castle in may. I am able to walk all be it a bit slow ( even have oap's over taking me) but its not until you take a closer look or talk to me you would realise there was anything wrong with me. 

If I wasn't wearing my body warmer you would see the scars down my chest and neck(skin cancer)  - and i have even more scars that no one else can see.  Over the years I have learnt to show them off more. As a teenager I hated my scars and always wore jumpers or t shirts to cover them up. In my 20s my confidence grew and and I now wear what I like and if people stare - I'm not bothered if they want to ask they can.
They are not red and healed quite well I guess I've seen lots of nasty heart scars so i count my self quite lucky.


As I'm quite shy I don't talk to many people but that doesn't mean I am  rude I'm just shy and over the years I've become a good listener. But if I do talk to you well you might think (due to my stroke) that I had a few pints or I'm just stupid so I now have a fear of telephones -- well I'm far from it I have a very high IQ of 136.

I struggle with the little things like opening/closing  G's zips and opening a new milk bottle but over the years I have learnt to cope with the little things so sometimes G may not have the odd button done up its only  or it may take take me a while longer to make you a cuppa. But no one is perfect are they ???



Anniversary time !

So yesterday was three years since me and H met 5th july - and wow how my life has changed all for the better :)
Soon we are getting married,  just four months to go now and the panic and stress are stating to kick in but that's for another blog !

As it was a week night we did not go out , but I cooked H his favourite meal and he then washed up (which makes a change).We have plans for the weekend tho- we are leaving G with his Nannar and Granddads and we will have a whole day to ourselves. Our plan is to go Trentham Gardens which is in Stoke on Trent ,pizza hut for lunch and then the cinema.

Oh how I miss the cinema - we have not been since July 2010 when i was pregnant and I'm really looking forward to it. No idea what we are going to see.

I'm going to miss G so much but I'm also looking forward to spending time alone with H as we dont get to spend any time together with out G and he is now 17 months. We are even taking G on our honeymoon - not traditional we know but the thought of leaving him with family for a week or two makes  me feel quizzy.

Any way to my H who puts up with me and cant wait to be celebrating 30 40 50 years of marriage   xx

Thursday 5 July 2012

loving today

Today its been a lovely day me and G went to Stafford for the day to see one of his friends. It was my best friends daughters 3 rd birthday last week so we went to give presents and we also went to the park.

Stafford park is stunning so much to do and for all ages, it been a long time since i went to the park and its had a really good makeover. There is now a water park with splashing  and squirting water jets which were so much fun on a day like today, there is a huge sand pit which even had a digger ! It had a skate /bike pit for the teenagers to 'hang out' and two really well kitted out parks with loads to do for under 5s and the bigger kids too.

Then a short walk along the river and over a small bridge takes you to the gardens bowling green and Avery with all sorts of birds in it.

The only downside is the facilities with no loo's to be seen and no refreshments   


Stafford park gets a 4/5  

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Review news !

So today has been a very good day - I've been approached by 3 different companies to review their products (one of which i already own but ....) not bad for a blogger that's not even being going for a week :)

I will also soon be doing a review of a holiday and a wooden bike for G that we won.Its going to be a busy few weeks.

If you have a product you would like me to review / test for you please let me know x


  

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Brave not me.




As an adult who has been in and out of hospital since I was a small child I'm often told how BRAVE I am, im never sure how to take it, I don't feel brave at all. In fact i would say its quite the opposite now as i'm terrified of needles.

As a child you were often rewarded with stickers or sweets to keep you well behaved. I can remember being wheeled down to theatre in floods of tears then freezing when i got to the big plastic swinging  doors and having to leave my mum and dad standing and watching their daughter have yet another operation.

I don't consider myself brave at all , my brother is brave for the job he has ( he's a police officer ) and people who fight in wars are brave but me ............... naaa 

Monday 2 July 2012

Real nappies


In our house we love real nappies or cloth nappies.

We love the fact that we are not contributing to landfill and we are not putting any chemicals on G's bum. As you can see real nappies are far from the boring white of disposables This is just a small collection from our stash in fact these are the ones we bought in this years real nappy week or RNW. The tag line for the week was real nappies are real easy. 

H loves the money savings as i'm sure you know if you have a baby nappies can take up a huge chunk of your weekly shop. We still use disposables at night which means we can buy 2 big boxes for £20 and it can last us about 4 months ! We are going to use real at night time soon it's just that G is a supper Olympic wee-er at night.

As i'm a stay at home mummy it is easy for me to do , but we do 2 extra loads of washing a week which we do in the evening when G is in bed and then it just takes 5 mins to peg them out they will dry in a few hours if the sun is out then just 5 mins to fold/ stuff them . 

We also use cheeky wipes but that's for another blog !      

Sunday 1 July 2012

Where to start !

Mum mum heart

Welcome to my Blog mummumheart and explanation-

Well this is G my beautiful son  who calls me MUMMUM who is now 17 months and the arm that's my fiancĂ© H we are getting married in November 10/11/12 cool date ....... he will never forget lol

As for the heart bit well I've had loads of heart operations 6 in total and 2 strokes. I also ave dyslexia which means my spelling and grammar is awful lol but i went to uni for three years so it cant be that bad .....

My blog will hopefully give you an insight into life with hidden disabilities and i will also give you my thrifty tips and keep you up to date will baby /toddler competitions

If you own a baby/toddler product and you would like me to test it for you i'm willing to review it for you 


Hope you will enjoy my blog

Emma