Catching up with Little E's month...

Little E has been: visiting Hobbledown.

I recently bought an annual pass for Hobbledown children's farm in Surrey about half an hour from home. Little E absolutely loves it because there is so much to do. Themed around the magical world of the Hobblers, there is an giant outdoor sandpit play area along with giant bouncy pillows and a hanging swing. For slightly older children there is a play frame and tree top assault course. When it is wet the indoor soft play is one of the biggest we have ever visited. Calling it a farm is a bit of a stretch. There are quite a few small animals but they feel secondary to the play activities.

Little E loves the sandpit and spends hours playing. A change of clothes is essential because the sand pit also has water shoots! Wet sandy socks are the norm. Bestie also has a pass so Little E and Little B can play together which is fab.

Little E has been: wearing Elsa plaits

We are Frozen obsessed in this house. Little E has been insisting on wearing her hair in an Elsa style braid. Not easy to do on super curly hair but I am slowly mastering the skill! She has requested pigtail plaits like Anna so that is my next challenge.

Little E had been: playing at the park.

The warm weather early in the month meant the park was another favourite spot. We take a picnic and spend the afternoon running about. She seems to eat twice as much than when we are at home due to the novelty. The only stressful part of the trip is applying sun cream. I've never seen someone protest so much!

Little E has been: playing schools

Role play is the new favourite game at home and Little E loves to play schools and do her 'schoolworks'. My Aunt even bought her a school dress to dress up in. It makes me completely freak out to see her in it though and I have to remind myself it's ok, I still have another year before she starts for real!

Linking up to #letkidsbekids at letkidsbekids.co.uk #countrykids at coombemill.com #pocolo at vevivos.com and #binkylinky at twinmummyanddaddy.com

This week the scales have me at 83.9kg which is a loss of 1kg this week! That is 2.2lb. Very pleased!

Overall weightloss: 1.4kg (3.2lb)

Chinese for dinner tonight. Oh dear...

Linking up to #wobbleswednesday with www.autismmumma.com

It is week C in The Alphabet Photography Project and I am sharing a photo I took of Little E last summer

C is for clouds

Husband was throwing her up in the air and I was positioned on the ground, shooting up so I caught her at the top of the throw, looking like she was suspended up in the clouds. She was giggling like mad and the sound will stay with me forever.

Linking up with #alphabetphoto at podcastdove.com

And the Mad Mid-Week blog hop at superbusymum.net

I spoke too soon last week! Little I has started waking all through the night! She seems incredibly bunged up and is having trouble breathing through her nose. She has been a snuffly baby since birth so I am wondering if it is allergies. Husband has shocking allergies to just about everything so it wouldn't be a surprise.

Speaking of Husband, he and Little E have been having lots of fun playing with Little I now. From dressing her up to dancing together and playing hide and seek. It is like having three children in the house!

Little I has been desperately trying to roll but she just can't tip herself onto her side yet. It won't be long! She wears herself out trying and ends up having little power naps on the playmat.

And after sucking her fingers for the past few weeks she has finally found her thumb!

Linking up to #sharewithme at letstalkmommy.com and #babybabble at carsonsmummy.blogspot.co.uk

Here's a little round up of what I've read this month. I'd love to know what you are currently reading. I have recently joined the website goodreads.com which is amazing! You can link up with me to share what you are reading, username: All about a Mummy.

Falling by Emma Kavanagh

A murder, a plane crash, a loveless marriage, two grieving families and four people with something to hide. Written by a former police psychologist, this book weaves a story between two seemingly unrelated events slowly building connections leading to a devastating revelation.

I read this after a recommendation last month from Muttering Mummy and I was not disappointed. It is very clever and I am amazed it is a debut novel. I read it on my kindle app over three night feeds. My only slight disappointment was that I guessed the twist a little earlier than I'd like but that didn't stop me enjoying the book and I look forward to Emma's next novel. Highly recommended.

4/5

Alone the first book in The Girl in the a Box series by Robert J Crane

Sienna Nolan is 17 and hasn't left her house since she was 5. Her mother has kept her prisoner, locking her in a metal box when she steps out of line. One day her mother leaves for work and doesn't return. Two men break into the house and Sienna discovers she has extraordinary powers. She escapes but is pursued by more than one agency whose motives are not clear. What is she? Who is her mother? And who are these people trying to catch her?

I picked up the first three books in this series free from the Kindle store but there are about seven books in total. It is a bit of an odd one. It mirrors the Xmen and Heroes themes of genetic mutation, producing humans with unique capabilities, in this case 'meta humans'. I am enjoying it but the writing isn't amazing, the concept isn't particularly original and I can't stand the whiny teenage protagonist. So I should be hating it, but I'm not and I'm quite drawn into the next book to see how the plot develops (and if the lead gets any less whiny).

3/5

City of Glass the third book in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.

Oh my goodness I am struggling with this series and it has taken me over 3mths to get through this book! The storyline is quite compelling; demons exist and plague the earth. A race of half human, half angels called Shadowhunters protect the human race and keep the secret of the underworld hidden from the world. Vampires, werewolves and fairies (Downworlders) walk among us in a fragile accord with the Shadowhunters but when one rogue Shadowhunter tries to eliminate the Downworlders the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

So we have a compelling storyline but the writing is absolutely dreadful! The characters are constantly telling each other to 'shut up' and the dialogue is atrocious. I put the book down several times in annoyance and vowed never to pick it up but curiosity got the better of me and after a few weeks I reluctantly tried again.

There are three more books to complete the series. I don't know if I can cope with reading the rest but I may give it a go.

2/5

On my kindle app I am currently reading My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell which is our latest Book Club read.

Also on my Kindle app I am reading Untouched the second book in The Girl in the Box series by Robert J Crane

In paperback I'm reading The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

This post is linked to #ThisMonthIRead with www.mutteringmummy.wordpress.com and #AllAboutYou with www.mama-andmore.com

During May Tots100 and Center Parcs have challenged us bloggers to get outside with the kids and photograph the best of what nature has to offer in our area. The first bank May bank holiday was beautifully warm and the perfect opportunity for us to go on our first adventure as a family of four. We had heard great things about Tilgate Park in Crawley, 15 minutes down the road but we had never been! So whilst Husband packed up the car, Little E and I visited the Center Parcs blog online to see what tips Rich, their seasoned snapper, had to help us with our outdoor family photography. We were inspired by two of the tips for our trip to Tilgate:

Take some springtime selfies of you and your family enjoying yourselves on a walk in your local park. 

Squirrels, deer and swans are all residents at Center Parcs – why not see what nature is living right on your doorstep?

We arrived at Tilgate Park and were amazed at how beautiful it was! Picnic packed into the pram and off we went for a walk around the beautiful lake...

Little E was on duck patrol and loved spotting all the wildlife on the water. We found a sign telling us the kind of wildlife we could expect to see around the reedbed and Little E was completely freaked out when she saw there were snakes about! (Husband didn't look too happy with that idea either!)

But the snakes were soon forgotten and they were off rambling in the woods leaving me to stroll in the sunshine with the pram. 

Little E loved exploring the area and had a go at climbing trees and walking along fallen tree trunks. 

And she ran everywhere!

She loved sniffing the flowers and we decided this very old tree was our favourite in the whole park.

She was pretty exhausted as we came to the end of the walk and sat down for a breather by the lake so Husband gave her a lift for the last leg.

Little E was far too busy exploring to take many selfies but we actually managed to get one with three of us in...

Completing the family let's not forget the littlest adventurer, Little I, who spent most of the walk having a little snooze in her pram...

We had an amazing day out at Tilgate Park and will be returning over the summer for more photo snapping and nature spotting. PS. It is free to visit Tilgate Park, you just need £3 change for the car park (and plenty of ice cream money!)

Linking up to #countrykids with combemill.com, #letkidsbekids with letkidsbekids.co.uk and #magicmoments with theoliversmadhouse.co.uk

Firstly, I'm excited to be featured as Hannah's favourite photo from last week's Family photo Friday linky. Thanks Hannah!

Today we have been doing the rounds visiting family and the girls have had a great time with Uncle C (my Brother) and Great-Uncle Stupots (my Uncle). It is my Brother's 30th birthday meal next Friday so hopefully I can get a picture of my whole family all together to share. But shhhh! It's a surprise!

Linking up to #familyphotofriday with @oneformybaby12 over at thursdayschild-fridaysthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/

Last week I bared my soul (my weight) with you all in an attempt to commit to my healthy eating regime. I have some success to report. I have lost 0.4kg. That is just under 1lb. I was hoping for more and was expecting to see a lower number on the scales yesterday but at least things are moving in the right direction!

This week I am starting to listen to Slimpod which is a 10minute audio download designed to help change your behaviours and relationship with food. I've heard lots of positive things about it so hopefully it'll help support my healthy lifestyle changes.

Linking up to Word of the week #WotW with thereadingresidence.com

This is my second breastfeeding adventure. First time I fed exclusively for 9mths and this time I am focusing on the 6mth mark and going from there. Essentially all you need to breastfeed are your boobs but there are lots of products out there claiming to help make breastfeeding easier. So to mark National Breastfeeding Week 2014 here are a few of the things I have found genuinely helpful during my breastfeeding experiences:

I need to shame myself into sorting out my garden. The front looks great. It has to because our neighbours shame us with their beautifully tended landscaped beds. But the back is another story. One border in particular has run riot and the weeds have taken up residence. This is the offending patch...

I've been putting off making a start on it because it is so bad. I've instead tinkered with my pots and made them look beautiful to distract guests away from the weed colony.

So now I've publically shared my border from hell hopefully next week I can share the 'after' photo. It is bank holiday weekend afterall!

Linking up to #HDYGG over at mammasaurus.co.uk