Little I has dramatically cut down the length of her feeds and now we only have one 20 minute night feed. As a result my reading has suffered! At best I am managing to read about half an hour a day. So I have less to report this month!

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell - our latest Book Club read.

It is 1935. Gerry Durrell is 10 and his well off family consisting of Mother and 3 grown up siblings decide to up sticks and move to Corfu. And so begins Gerry's memoir of their five years on the island told through his encounters with the Greek wildlife.

I found this book incredibly funny. The stories of Gerry's latest animal finds causing chaos in the house are hilarious. My favourites include the 'Magenpies' trashing the party table and the water snakes in the bath. Oh and the baby scorpions in the matchbox. And the dog being carried everywhere on a cushion. I could go on...

The whole book must be exaggerated as his family seem like charactertures of people rather than real personalities but that only helped make it funnier. At times the book got a little slow with the descriptions of Gerry's encounters with the Greek wildlife but just as he was about to loose you he pulled it back to another hilarious anecdote about the family.

Overall the book was very easy to read and I was impressed with the writing and the storytelling. I'd like to know what happened to the family after they left Corfu and luckily there are 4 more books so I can find out!

4/5

Untouched the second 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?

These books are pretty short and I read the second installment pretty quickly. Sienna's powers fully develop revealing not only her super strength and regeneration powers but she has an exceptional power; she can suck the life force from people via touch (X-men Rogue parallel). Interestingly the soul of the people she kills somehow transfers to her body and she can hear them talking to her in her head. When they start to take control of her body she realises she needs to find her mother quickly to find out how to control this power.

The storyline is taking some interesting turns but the lead character is still whiny and annoying. I am finding my enthusiasm waning slightly. Hopefully the third book will pick up a bit.

3/5

On my Kindle app I am reading Soulless the third book in The Girl in the Box series by Robert J Crane

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

For Book Club we are reading my choice of book The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson

This post is linked to #ThisMonthIRead with mutteringmummy.wordpress.com #readwithme at mamamummymum.co.uk #triedtested with thefamilyfever.co.uk and goingonanadventure.co.uk and AllAboutYou with mama-andmore.com

6 weeks in and I'm a little frustrated at myself. Another week of staying exactly the same weight. I could look on the upside and say at least I didn't gain but on the other hand that is two weeks treading water. We have a wedding this weekend and I was hoping to have lost a lot more than 4.5lb. So my word of the week has to be stalemate...

I'm going to set myself a new target. I am currently 83.1kg. Our second wedding is on 1st August and by then I want to be 80kg. Possibly a little ambitious but a kick up the bum is needed.

Linking up to #WotW with thereadingresidence.com and #healthhop with pinkoddy.co.uk

Husband and I worked ourselves into the ground last weekend building the new addition to our garden; a playhouse for Little E (and eventually Little I when she can join in the fun)

We decided to treat and paint all the wood before we assembled the house. I insisted on painting inside too, afterall it's a house! We decided to keep the wood finish outside using a stain and paint the accents pink. Inside we painted everything white with a pink feature wall at the back. Husband laid sandstone slabs at the front to give her a little patio. It sounds simple but it took forever!

The big reveal was scheduled for 5pm on Sunday when Little E returned from a sleepover at her grandparents. At 4.45pm we were still working... Luckily they were half an hour late so we were able to finish the details and await her arrival.

A sleepy little girl arrived home and the adults were acting more like children with excitement. Even the neighbours who had witnessed our 2 day construction marathon were hanging over the fence to get a look at her face. She didn't disappoint. For a few seconds she just stared at the house, then she ran over, went inside and shut the door behind her. It was a very clear she'd moved in and we were all to stay out! She hung her little babuska doll on the door handle because it matches her house. For the rest of the afternoon and evening we were served cakes and treats from her kitchen wheeled over to us on the patio using her tea trolley. Definitely a hit.

My favourite part of the playhouse is the little planter outside the window. I chose colourful flowers to fill the wooden container and we finished it with a fun windmill which spins in the breeze.

Linking up to #HDYGG over at mammasaurus.co.uk , #letkidsbekids with letkidsbekids.co.uk #countrykids with coombemill.com #magicmoments at theoliversmadhouse.co.uk and #pocolo at vevivos.com

G is for ginger.



Husband is ginger. Husband is also gorgeous and great. Plus he wears glasses.



We aren't sure if Baby I is ginger yet but she's gorgeous and great too!

Husband took this picture to represent ginger.

Linking up to The Alphabet Photography Project at podcastdove.com #alphabetphoto

Recently I have replied to a lot of questions on twitter from new mums about their breastfeeding routine. The question usually starts 'Is it normal for my baby to...' (Feed from both sides, one side, hourly, not at night, for long/short time etc)

So when Medela sent me this very handy graphic illustrating the vast range of 'normal' breastfeeding behaviour I had to share to reassure mums that each baby feeds differently. What is normal for one differs from baby to baby.

I am currently actively experiencing this as my 4mth baby's 'normal' is different to how her 3yr old sister fed. I'm writing up my breastfeeding stories and will be sharing my 'normal' next week.

Linking up with Brilliant Blog Posts at honestmum.com and The Breastfeeding Diaries at zenas-suitcase.co.uk

A breakthrough this week! Little I took 2oz of expressed milk from a bottle. Hurrah. Admittedly it was reluctant but she has now taken something so we can build on that. After trying seven different bottles she took the milk from an 80p basic bottle with a fast flow teat. Typical!

The rolling has continued resulting in her first tummy sleep. It was so cute. She rolled over and had a look about then closed her eyes and had a little sleep. Little E thought this was so sweet and stroked her face.

She seems to be favouring sucking her middle fingers over her thumb. It makes her look like a rock star!

She laughed for the first time today. I've been trying to get her to repeat it for Husband but she refuses to perform!

Linking up to #sharewithme at letstalkmommy.com #MMWBH at superbusymum.net and #babybabble at carsonsmummy.blogspot.co.uk/

Little E and her Bestie Little B played wonderfully together this week. It was a welcome relief after a year of sibling style bickering from the two of them, often resulting in tears and tantrums. They played make believe together upstairs and calmly read books to each other. Then they were in the garden stealing raspberries from the bush while playing in the playhouse. Popcorn and Peppa Pig finished the play date. Fingers crossed they have turned a corner!

Linking up to #FamilyPhotoFriday at http://thursdayschild-fridaysthoughts.blogspot.co.uk/ and #pocolo at www.vevivos.com

Not a lot to say this week. It was Father's Day. We threw a BBQ. I ate BBQ food for three days. Amazingly I stayed the same weight. I am going to see that as a win!

Diet hat on this week :-)

Linking up to #healthhop with pinkoddy.co.uk

F is for fingers...

A grainy iPhone image taken when Baby I fell asleep with her fingers clasped around mine. One to keep forever.

Linking up to The Alphabet Photography Project at podcastdove.com #alphabetphoto, The Better Photography Project at loveallblogs.com #betterphotosproject and The Ordinary Moments at mummydaddyandmemakesthree.co.uk #theordinarymoments

My little bundle has been so much fun this week. Her smile is infectious and she is on the verge of laughing. We keep blowing raspberries on her tummy and she is only a breath away from chuckling.

She is still point blank refusing to drink expressed milk from a bottle or cup. Her Grandparents tried at the weekend but no luck. When Husband tried she chewed on the teat but didn't actually drink any. At least she didn't scream the place down this time and infact she fell asleep with it in her mouth and ended up like this on the sofa:

Little E has been playing and reading to her lots this week which is very sweet

However, I did accidentally catch a shot of this (see below) I was expecting to take a cute photo but instead I unknowingly caught the little sister cheek squeeze.... At least we now have a record to show Little I what she had to put up with!

The Doctor has diagnosed croup and possibly upper respiratory tract problems explaining her snuffly baby issues. It could also be allergies such as hayfever or even possibly to something I am eating. We've been referred to a paediatrician but in the meantime we have bought a cool air humidifier to help stop her airways drying out at night and to help the croup. Review coming soon...

Today she has mastered rolling properly and can release the stuck arm after a bit of grunting effort. However, she then gets stuck on her tummy and can't roll back so I have to rescue her every 5 minutes!

4 month weight: 14lb 6oz - exactly double her birth weight!

Linking up to #sharewithme at letstalkmommy.com #MMWBH at superbusymum.net brilliantblogposts at honestmum.com and #babybabble at carsonsmummy.blogspot.co.uk/