Hello! Hello!

So since my last post, I haven't fallen into a deep hole and sunk in it at all - don't worry! But I've been trying to think and figure out where shall I take this blog now over these next ?? months whilst I can't do the lovely Weight Watchers?....

I don't really want to make it a blog full of stuff about Baby O, so I thought I would make this blog - for the time being - into one about life - all of my encounters, my trips, emotions, everything, you name it (and I can then also talk a little bit about Baby O and not feel guilty!)

So, like an old fashioned story tale book, let me take you back to where I left off - which feels like forever and a day ago!

As soon as we found out that Baby O was growing inside of me, Mr O decided that the first thing that needed to get sorted was to find THE pram! This was mainly because it would then lead to us sorting out my car and getting me a new car sorted. We knew that I would need a slightly bigger boot and 5 doors rather than 3. After trying out lots and lots of different cars and getting them to BlueWater to try the pram out in the boot, we have finally settled on.... Another Swift!! Hhahahaahaaa! My swift has been such a great and reliable car for me that we thought, what's the point changing something when it works. So we have now gone for a Limited Edition version with 5 doors and the best thing is is that the pram fits in the boot!!

Now, if any of you know Mr O, you will know that he is a massive car fan and that he can tell what type it is by just seeing a wheel or something stupid. He can now do this with prams!!!

We decided to go to John Lewis to find 'The Pram' and we can not fault their brilliance in how they helped us. The lady spent a good 2 hours with us, asked us all the things we would require with it and also took Mr O's height into consideration and she then said that X, Y & Z prams were the ones for us. We then chose this one... A beautiful Limited Edition Countryman Silver Cross ...

I did, of course, also fall in love with this beautiful Silver Cross, but unfortunately it was a little out of our budget!!

Oh, and Baby O is growing nicely... To get this picture was a task and a half! After trying to get Baby O to stay still in one position for 30 minutes, I was then sent off to go and walk around for another 30 minutes and to drink a drink!

But Baby O is growing so much that I've gone from this... 

  

(The pic in the gold dress, I must have been about 8 weeks)

To this.....

(17 weeks)

Now as for my Mum and Dad (who have just celebrated their Pearl wedding anniversary)

They are becoming more and more the excited grandparents to be.... Dad is adamant that Baby O is a girl (maybe he should put money on it?!) And Mum has dug out all our old baby stuff! She has even already given me the crib that myself, my sisters and two of my cousins slept in as babies... Making Baby O baby no 7 to sleep in it when they arrive....

As all new expecting mothers do, I have been doing some research and grabbing bargains when I can.

This was a great bargain and it just needs the stickers peeling off, some sanding down and then a lick of paint. I bought it for £3 off a local selling site on Facebook!

And one of the things that I have researched is this little sheep..... It is definitely on Baby O's wish list as it seems to solve many problems with sleeping....

Now whilst we have been visiting numerous amounts of baby shops, Mr O and I have had a few giggles along the way. This one picture sums up the other day after walking around Ikea and Mamas & Papas....

The caption that went with this photo was 'Off his rocker'!

Enough about Baby O! So what else have I been doing apart from all this Baby stuff?!!

Well, firstly I have been enjoying time out with Mr O. We have been going places, seeing things, eating things, all to help us enjoy the time we have with just the 2 of us until we become 3!

We are always going past this pub that has been done up and we never really thought much of it so we never ventured inside until one Friday evening and we decided to try it out...

We now can't wait to go back in there!! This was the starter and oh! my! it was massive!! Just look at all those olives!!

Then came along my main....

Now you all know me well and know how I love my desserts! But I didn't have any room for it :( So our next plan is to go there for just desserts!

I warn you now as you will see a trend in the food I must be craving but I've only just realised how many different forms it could come in until writing this!!

So what have I been craving? Orange juice with bits or smoothies!! AND Spag bol / maybe just the mince!!

Mr O and I have enjoyed afternoons and evenings walking around London and sitting in little parks like this one off the back of Regent Street.

We stopped off in Hawkesmore to have some refreshments and I had this lovely milkshake that is made from cornflakes...

Now what post would this be without a mention of Lidl?! They had a special week on the other week and one of the things they sold were these amazing coconut ice creams. They just reminded me of being on holiday!

Oh yes and Mr O bought an exercise bike... Need I say anymore?!

This last week I have celebrated 25 - or as my sister put it 'half way to 50!' 

You can tell how well my Dad knows me, Mum said that he picked this card out for me....

My lovely superintendent made these cakes for me at work....

And they gave me this lovely bunch of flowers...

So this last week again all I have done is eat out!!

Friday night started off with a lovely meal out with my bestie - Mr Ding Dong.... We went to an American style restaurant. Lovely food but as the night went on, it just got so noisy in the restaurant. You could tell that the waitresses were used to the noise as when she came to take our order at the beginning of the night the lady's voice pierced my ear!!

Then on Saturday night we went out with a load of my friends to No.22 Street in Clapham.

We went for the set menu, but as nearly all the things on the menu for the starters had things in them that I couldn't have I opted for a main and a dessert... 

I had a pulled pork burger for my main and then....

... for dessert I had banoffee Pie - which came with a song of Happy Birthday!

 Then on the Sunday Mr O treated me to Ikea's famous meatballs!!

On the Monday (my actual Birthday) Mr O and I went out for a lovely meal at a local restaurant called Apperfield Inn... I had a beautiful dessert which made me very happy :)

At Christmas we received a trip on a boat down the Thames and we finally got round to using it on Tuesday. It has to be one of the best days out that I have had in a long time. This week off was supposed to be a week away on holiday but we decided to put that on hold because of Baby O. So we made the most of the day by being tourists in London...

We saw the big hippo in the Thames... As well as many famous London landmarks. I even learnt a few things about London that I didn't know about!

We went on the trip on just the right day. Not just because we got to sit on the boat for nearly 4 hours in the lovely sun and get a good tan, but also because it was the final day of the boat festival in Greenwich. We arrived at the last stop just as all the boats went and did their parade down the Thames and past us. We got sights such as the sea Cadets saluting to us then doing a Mexican wave and then sounds of the cannons going off in what must have been in the Naval school in Greenwich.

On Wednesday Mum and I went on a shopping spree to get me a coat for my birthday.... We found this one and I fell in love with it but I needed a waterproof one with a hood! So I had to pose for a picture with the matching hat!!

Thursday I spent the day cleaning and nesting!! Then yesterday (Friday) I spent the morning at the doctors surgery then went shopping in Bromley.... People like my Grandad gave me vouchers for my birthday. He knew I wanted a new dressing gown from M&S but there was no way he would be able to have got that in the post to me!! So I went into Bromley to go and get these items.... I ended up getting big items in there like a dressing gown, new lamp shades, a full length body pillow (to help me sleep better) and a few other bits. 

Near the end of my shopping spree I decided I needed a drink and some lunch. However, as I sat down in Starbucks I felt very lonely. It made me miss my friends and family that lived near by. Normally if I was to go shopping on my own it would be for key things, not to just go shopping for the sake of it. It also made me want Baby O to hurry up and make an appearance as then at least i'll have some company. I hope and pray that I meet new friends to meet up with once I have Baby O so that I don't feel so on my own down here in Kent.

Anyway, if my hands didn't feel like they were going to fall off by the end, my feet certainly did!! I ended up with blisters on my feet as well as one that looks like a bruise too! 

I finished off the day curled up on the sofa with my new dressing gown on and a mug of Whittard's white hot chocolate. Oh and I will easily admit that I went round the whole of M&S testing the softness of all their dressing gowns!! And this one won!!!

So now as I go back to work this next week it feels like I'm going back after a summer holiday! But it's got me all excited about having my maternity time off to look after Baby O.

Hope you all have a lovely week 

Love, Mrs O x

CATCH UP!

I saw this picture the other week and I it was the complete opposite to how I was currently feeling..... 

I haven't had a moment to spare to sit and write, but for once it's a good thing and a good feeling as my life has just been so fun! So this week's post is a catch up on the last few weeks and you'll see why I haven't been able to blog....

I had a lovely evening out with Mr O, Mr Ding Dong and his friend Emma ...

I fell in love with this... (but I can't find the packets anywhere only in £1 land....)

As usual I took photos of some yummy food that I ate.....

In sad news, I had to say goodbye to my favourite pair of PJ bottoms... I quite literally put my foot through them!...

Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th February ...

This weekend I spent the week up in sunny (yes, it really was sunny!) Glasgow... I was away this weekend with the Staff Songsters, I tried to keep to WW but it was really hard. So, I had decided to just try my best over the next week and that when I got back from my time off work I would start afresh on WW....

I did very stupidly manage to leave my shirts back at home, so I luckily managed to borrow a few shirts of my Mum's but they were rather big on me...... !!

Monday 17th to Friday 21st February ...

So on the Monday I travelled down to Bournemouth and met Mr Ding Dong along the way... 

Tuesday's outfit.... (hahahaaa! I'm such a poser!!)

(very annoyingly this dress has now shrunk in the wash :( )

And what week to TYC would be complete without a Shakeaway?!.... So I decided to have one very naughty shake called a Dave which is made up of ferrero rochiers and kinder buenos.... ummmmmm. I decided to go for a medium though and that was my only one for the week....

My inner child came out in me on the Wednesday when we spent an afternoon learning how to take notes by doodling... It also reminded me of how much I love pens! Especially Sharpies!!

  

All us staff members were given a little spot dot sticker to put on our little fingers to remind us of one of the students for that day and to remind us to pray for them all day too.

On the Thursday we decided to have a Christmas evening...... Why? Because you can! The Christmas tree and everything was up! 

The randomness also continued on that night when we all changed into our onesies....

(This is my lovely friend who I am so proud of :) Love you hun x)

And on the Friday we had the final festival - my 'cool group' wanted a picture of all our shoes... looks like I need to get myself some converses!!! (I'm the one with the full length boots!!)

And after the long tiring week I had to drive back home which took us over 3 hours to get back thanks to silly road works on the M25 :( But luckily I had my bestie beside me to keep me awake as we chatted about life and our reflections on the week.

This song is the song that spoke to me the most. On the Thursday night after the 'emotional devotionals' we all stood around the room singing this song. It was lovely to see the confidence on the faces of everyone as people were hugging each other and just being there for each other. (Thanks Len for this beautiful song)

So, when I came home on the Friday night the place hadn't burnt down but there were daffodils on all the window sills at home :) However I did find some burnt items which were these lids that had been melted together as they were by the hob (at least it shows that he didn't live off take aways all week!)

So I have to admit something here... I weighed myself on the Saturday morning only to find that I had put weight on ... but it's OK because I knew I had put weight on as I had not stuck to plan at all!! So we decided to enjoy our food that weekend... 

We had a lovely lunch out at our local farm shop / cafe ....

Mr O made some lovely focaccia bread... 

And as you can see in the corner of that last photo I get my chef's hat on and started preparing food for the week... 

So I made a lovely butternut squash and red pepper soup, and I also made this lovely banana bread as I had bananas to use up.... Recipe to follow but it's only 5pp per slice :)

I then chopped it all up into 12 sections (kept some out to eat that day) and then popped it in the freezer so I couldn't eat it all in one go....

So this last week I have been enjoying being back on WW as much as I can - I need to build up the 'good habit' inside of me though... I know it takes 2 weeks for it turn into a habit so I am really pushing myself on it... 

I'm trying out new ways of enjoying my breakfast...

 I'm still keeping my lunch box prepared the night before so that there are no excuses!

Still loving the jelly - but experimenting by putting unusual fruits in with it...

Enjoying cooking dinners again :) I've missed this whilst I've been staying in hotels 

And lastly ... coming home to these two silly boys and finding out that they have had a right old party without me each day! 

So, now lent is upon us.... What are you going to give up or take up? Mr O and I have decided to give up take aways - we can eat out but we can't eat on the go or bring it back to our home.... 

Love, Mrs O x