Watching Movies

We love watching movies at our house.  It's great to be able to watch on our big screen at home, and although the quality isn't so good during the day when it's bright, it's still doable.

We recently got Toy Story 3 as one of our LoveFilm films and this has to be about the 4th time Cara has watched it, she loves it. She has a friend from school coming tomorrow to watch it with her too. I wonder if her friend enjoys watching films so much.

When we watch a film together, Felicity either potters around doing something else, or snuggles up close and falls asleep. Today, she did just that.. it was lovely, my little hot water bottle snuggled right up close, cheek to cheek enjoying the film, and then we both dozed off.. beautiful!

Unstoppable

The other night I came home from work to find out that Andrew had got us free tickets to go see Unstoppable, and arranged for a babysitter (thanks Hannah!). It's been a little while since I'd been to the cinema and it was really fun to go with Andrew and see a film that I had heard nothing about. I really enjoyed the film, which was based on (now found out quite loosely, more like inspired by) real events. I never really knew that much about freight trains so it was interesting for me just seeing more closely what these trains were like and the kind of jobs that people do. It was kind of predictable at the end, and with the stories of lives as the action plays on.. but it was all good. Not a film I would watch over and over but a really great movie to see at the cinema.

Beyond Monopoly!

I found out that York had a board game club not long after we moved to York (2 years ago), however it has taken until this week to manage to remember when it is, and be free to go. I wish I had gone earlier. Much of my childhood was spent playing games with my family, and while at university I accumulated many games of my own. I like all kinds of games, I'll play whatever everyone else wants to play, but my favorites involve thinking moves through and not too much luck.

I went on Wednesday evening to my first meet up with Beyond Monopoly! and learnt to play a great new game Mississippi Queen, and enjoyed the company of fellow game lovers. I wasn't sure if I'd make the day long play on Saturday as I knew Andrew had a lot of work to do this weekend, but he dropped me off around noon and said stay as long as you're having fun - so I did :)

On Saturday I played a real mixture of games some I'd played before, Perudo and Apples to Apples, and others that I hadn't. Really want to play Dominion again, Ticket to Ride, a really fun car racing game (think my brothers would really this - actually, who wouldn't?, but what was it called?), a fun little game aimed at young children, and an interesting card laying game with an Irish theme.

The club have so many games (above photo was just two of the cupboards), and they really are as friendly as advertised. Can't wait to play some more games next time.

Fun with Felicity

After we dropped Cara off at school, Felicity and I did some shopping followed by a little play at the park.

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Local Council Meeting

Tonight I went to the Heworth Ward Committee Meeting. I've been to 3 or 4 now since moving to York, and have always found them interesting and also poorly attended. Today, as I arrived I was greeted by one of the Councillor's, who obviously didn't recognise me as having been to the last few meetings, and almost assumed that I had come as I had a particular problem with something. I realise that not many people seem to come to these meetings unless they have some problem, or have asked to present something, but to assume that I think is quite sad. I really would encourage people to get to their local meetings, and maybe we can all be more involved in where money is spent and what is being done around us.

One of the presentations tonight was about the Magistrates Court. It was really interesting, I may even look into applying to become a Magistrate. I definately hope to get to the open day that they are having here at the York Court. While looking up this information I also found out about becoming a Councillor. I can't do it all, but I really hope to find something that I can do to really make a difference in my local community. On Friday I'm attending my first Partnership Board Meeting for the local Children's Centre. Should be interesting.

Nappies on the line

Nappies on the line, originally uploaded by Hedgen.

We've been using the re-usables for a while now, so I thought I'd do a little update. I am loving them. I absolutely love that we are not filling our bin full of used nappies, or wipes. (Our bins get collected one week for waste, and the next week for recyclables - we used to fill our bin in two weeks, pretty much to the top. Now, and we have started composting and recycling more stuff too, but we have just a tenth maybe full at the end of two weeks, feels so good!)

I'm using reusable wipes too. So much easier, cos where do you put a used wipe if you're not throwing a nappy away? So use toilet roll for the mass that will be put down the loo, and then put water onto a cloth to wipe the bottom and throw it in the nappy bin with the nappy - tada. This also means no, whatever they put in those wipes that means they clean just about anything, on my baby's bottom.

It's made me think about how much toilet paper we get through.. and maybe we should be using reusable wipes too! :D Andrew's not so keen on the idea.. we have a stash to use up anyway.. but I'm definately thinking about giving it a go.. I'm doing lots of washing anyway - why not...? I'm sure I'll be posting more on other eco-friendly, cost-effective things we've been doing at some point.

My only problem with reusable nappies is when out, although lots of places these days have nappy changing facilities they don't always cater for 'real nappy 'users. We need a toilet and sink nearby please!

Luckily, Felicity tends to poo at a regular time each day at the moment so I haven't been caught too off guard. When it did happen once, I luckily had a disposable nappy bag still on me, and so I put the poo in there, in the bin... not too bad I guess..

I would highly recommend using reusables. They are a little bulkier, but not too much, and they are better for baby.. and although a big lay out to start, I haven't had to buy another pack of nappies or wipes.. yay! :D It helps having sunny weather to dry them, but these only take a couple of hours outside. I haven't had any night-time leakages (sleeping 12hrs plus) with the night-time booster which is huge.. but she's sleeping anyway, so all is good.

Andrew's Birthday

26, originally uploaded by Hedgen.

It was Andrew's birthday today, and what a fun day we had! The girls didn't get up to early, thankfully, and so after getting the cards and presents ready we all went to wake Daddy up. Cara likes to give kisses to wake people up, so it was lovely. We sang 'Happy Birthday' one of Cara's favourite songs to sing.. she always wants it to be someone's birthday.

Cara had made her own card for Daddy, which was very unique and lovely We got Daddy some lovely shorts - the ones pictured above, some walking trousers, that zip off to shorts, and some hand warmers.. not needed today.. but maybe for future hikes. We then played some games and enjoyed each others company before heading off to Grandma's. Andrew had more presents, cards and birthday wishes. Cara and Felicity spent the day with Grandma while Andrew and I headed off to Malham Tarn for a walk.

It was beautiful! We walked from the Tarn down to Malham Cove, which was my favourite. It was such a different landscape, walking over what they call the limestone pavement. It is seriously worth a visit. Seems that there is loads more that we didn't get to see. For part of our walk we were on the Pennine Way - maybe one day we'll do the whole thing together. It was just lovely to spend time with Andrew, walking in the lovely English countryside. How can you beat that. Love you Andrew!

Matt & Hannah

Matt & Hannah, originally uploaded by Hedgen.

What a great day! It was great to be able to be in the temple and witness my little brother be sealed to his wife Hannah. It is an amazing and wonderful blessing to be sealed to your spouse for time and all eternity and the blessings we are given in the temple are more than you could ever hope for. It brought back wonderful memories of my own sealing and was just such a special moment for our family. I love my family! My girls had a great time playing with their cousins too, which continued all the following week while we stayed at Nan and Grampi's house. What a lovely time we had, with great weather and wonderful company. Cara is really missing all her cousins as well as Nan, Grampi, Great Nan and Bampa, and all her aunts and uncles.. she loves looking at photos of you all, and always wants to visit again. Hopefully it wont be too long. Wish we could live close to you all! xxxxx

Pop-in Reusables

Pop-in Reusables, originally uploaded by Hedgen.

A little while ago now, I attended what was called a 'Nappuccino'. I had planned on using reusable nappies with Cara, and I although I did buy a few different ones, I never really did get into it. I thought I would go to get some advice and encouragement to use my nappies on Felicity. Actually, I ended up buying a couple of new nappies. A pop-in by close parent, and a tots bots pocket nappy. I preferred the pop-in, so decided this was to be the nappy I used.

When I first got the nappies out of the box, they looked so cute all rolled up. They are one size fits all, so fit Cara as well as Felicity. (Cara wore proper pants all day today though - there were lots of accidents, but hopefully not for too much longer). I bought the Dream Dri version as opposed to the Bamboo. They are very quick drying, especially if it's nice out, which I needed seeing as we only bought a box of 10. It'll be lots easier now Felicity is the only user - I had been doing lots of washes the last couple of weeks.

So far...

• I really like that we don't throw away a load of nappies
• that I wont have to buy disposables again
• I don't mind the bulkiness too much, and it will only get less so as Felicity grows (they didn't seem much different in size on Cara)
• I don't mind doing more washes, and I throw everything in altogether, they wash great, only problem is drying if it's wet out.
• Both girls have had quite red bottoms, though, not really nappy rash, but I guess just red from being wet a lot. I have to say I don't seem to smell a number 2 so easily through these nappies, could be a bad thing as well as a good... Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the nappies, and myself for sticking with it. Yay!

Cara Walks the Walls

Cara Walks the Walls, originally uploaded by Munzerr.

This was on the start of our long walk to church. It was such a lovely day we thought we'd make the trek, and as Steve was visiting he got to make it with us. It turns out that it takes us quite a while. I did really enjoy the walk home especially. We didn't have a timescale to get home, we were discussing all that we had heard at church and it was just a lovely day. Here's to more walking, and less traveling by car.

Why?

Why?, originally uploaded by Hedgen.

I was just looking for a photo in my flickr stream.. and came across this. It's my writing.. but I don't even remember writing it, let alone taking the photo and posting it to flickr.. Why?

Sharing a bedroom

So.. tonight is the first night that our girls are sleeping in the same room together.  So far, so good.  Felicity seems to like it in the cot, (she was definately getting a little big for the Moses Basket,) we set the cot up in Cara's bedroom a couple of days ago so that Felicity could nap in there to get used to it, and so Cara could get used to the idea too.  Cara loved the cot, and wanted to sleep in it herself.  I don't think she realises Felicity is in with her.  She went in early evening just after Cara had gone to sleep, she made a few noises before she settled off, but it didn't seem to disturb Cara, so all is well.. we'll just have to see if Felicity wakes any more during the night and who wakes first in the morning.

It feels great to have our room back to ourselves -yay!

Beningbrough Hall

We went to Beningbrough Hall today, our second National Trust visit, and we've already saved money.  The weather wasn't very nice, so we didn't get to see much of the gardens, but we'll definately be back, there is a great kid's play area outside, and lovely surroundings.  The house was very geared to children with lots of fun dress up places and the like.  They also had this Virtual Portrait thing.  We answered a few questions, such as, how many in your group (1-3), indoors or outdoors and whether we were male or female.. then we had to position our faces for a photo and out popped our Portraits.  Here's a sampling:

Cara and Felicity

Me and Cara

Me and Andrew

Top Cash Back

I just went and checked my details on the cashback website that I use, and I was impressed with the cashback that I have earned. So far, I have earned £309.21 cashback. Wow! Most of the time this is money I would have spent anyway.

For those who don't know how these websites work. Retailers will give money to the website for showing their products - a way of advertising - and this website claims to give 100% of that money directly to you, as they have adverts on the sides of the page which earcn them money. I find TopCashBack to be great! There is no admin fee and they have a lot of retailers with offers. Some only small amounts, but others considerable. You are never guarenteed the cashback, which is why we only use it when we'd pay for it without the cashback - it's just a bonus.

If you were to sign up to TopCashBack using one of my links and earn yourself £5 I would also get £2.50 - woohoo!

Here's some of my best deals.. although some are no longer avaliable:

Car Insurance with Lloyds TSB - £90 cashback (the years premium was £120, cheapest we could find without the cashback - so actually paid £30 for a years insurance)

National Trust - £40 (signing up online for me and Andrew with an Annual DD - this is one we maybe wouldn't have done without the cashback - but it's been great so far!)

Scottish Power - £124 (swapping to Scottish Power once in Bristol and then in York)


PS.. Scottish Power are now giving an £80 cashback for swapping dual fuel.

Crafty, crafty, crafty...

This blog post is a little like chain mail.. but it's nice, and you only have to take part if you want to.. so here goes...

Here are the rules:

The first three people to comment on this post will get something homemade by me! I guarantee you will love it (I'm not so sure I can guarantee this - but I'll try my best), or at least that you will tell me you love it regardless.  It'll be done this year at some point.

The homemade gift could be anything (the air of mystery is what makes this thing exciting!) It may be a story. It may be poetry or a pasta. I may draw or paint something (though you would not wish me to). I may bake you something and post it to you. I might even cut a CD of my own lovely voice singing a selection of my favourite numbers. Who knows? Not you, and at this point, not me either.

Last but not least, you must continue this little game by reposting the offer of a secret homemade gift to the first 3 people who comment on your blog. The first 3 people to do so win a homemade gift by you that money can’t buy! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it (so those who weren’t fast enough to win can be horribly jealous).

What fun!  I wonder who will want something made by me... :S

Time to Sleep

Time to Sleep, originally uploaded by Munzerr.

We decided that we'd take some photos of Felicity, like the ones we took of Cara at a similar age. Suprise, suprise - Cara suddenly wanted her photo taken. She was very cute. We were taking the photos on our bed, and she decided that she wanted to be under the quilt and said she was going to sleep.. I thought I'd join her.

We all had lots of fun doing this photo shoot, and got lots of lovely photos.

Food, activity and obesity in childhood - does it matter?

This week is York Festival of Science and Technology. I found out about it from leaflet at the library, and decided I would like to attend a few of the things mentioned. It all sounded great! I love Science and Technology, and I love learning - it seems like I haven't been to a lecture in a LONG time.. and Andrew gets to go to University all the time. I know, I've had my time as a student already.. but hey! If I can go to free lectures while Andrew stays in with the children - woohoo!

So.. off I went to the Lecture entitled, 'Food, activity and obesity in childhood - does it matter?'. It turns out this was the last in a series of York University Public Lectures around the topic, 'Are you what you eat? The science of food'. I wish I'd known about it earlier.. but now I know I'll be looking to see what's available next term.

Dr Ashley Adamson a lecturer at Newcastle University presented her research on this topic. She started by stating that 60% of adults in the UK are overweight or obese. That this problem is really in need of a societal change, it can't be tackled just by the individual. She likened the problem to that of climate change. We can't change it alone. It's true, although I can do my bit for the environment, or I can stay a healthy weight - that wont effect what will ultimately happen to our world because of these problems. Lots of diseases and health issues are associated with being overweight and this means the NHS is inundated. At the moment the NHS is just about coping, but what will happen in 10 or 20 years if these figures increase? This article predicts that by 2050, 60% of adults will be obese.

One of the references on a slide that was used was for http://www.noo.org.uk - this is the National Obesity Observatory - who knew this existed? There is so much information available online.. wow! I keep getting distracted from the notes that I wrote from this lecture and all the extra stuff I'm finding now.

The lecture went on to talk about changes in food intake and exercise done, so to understand why obesity is on the rise. One of the studies analysed was the Gateshead Millennium Study. The most interesting things for me, was that although the amount of food eaten, and time of day food was eaten had not really changed the type of food eaten had. Food that was previously eaten as a snack (crisps, chocolate etc) is now eaten as part of a meal. She gave studies to show that children who were overweight became adults who are overweight, and links to show a higher frequency of overweight children to those parents who were overweight.

The most interesting thing was what she had to say about our perception of child obesity. Most parents surveyed assumed that their children were doing over 2 hours more exercise per day than they really were and gauged their child's weight on whether they fit clothes of the age that they were. Apparently children's clothes sizing has changed considerably as our children's sizes have. So, just because you are average weight in your class for example does not mean that you are not overweight, because of this many parents do not realise that their children are not a healthy weight. In one study 86% of parents had a child who was overweight, but 25% of the parents of children who were obese, thought that their weight was normal - obese, not just overweight. A lot of people don't like to talk about weight issues, but really we need to start to.

It was a really interesting lecture, but best of all it just got me thinking. On my walk back home afterwards I was thinking about research in general. How interesting it is to be finding out things that are new, to be linking it in with other people's studies, and then using that research to do good in the world. Maybe when I return to work I will be involved in research of some kind.

Together at Home

Together at Home, originally uploaded by Munzerr.

A family photo that we all like... well Felicity didn't say much about it, but the rest of like it! To be fair, Felicity doesn't look too happy here.. but her little pouty lips and cute toes are adorable. It's harder work than I thought being a Mum to two little girls - but it is sooo great! Look how cute they are!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!, originally uploaded by Munzerr.

Another year... What will happen in 2009? For the last few years something major has happened for my family..

2005 - Met Andrew
2006 - Married Andrew
2007 - Cara was born
2008 - Felicity was born

What will happen in 2009??

The Birth of Felicity

Mummy, After Everything, originally uploaded by Munzerr.

*** Please note, if you don't want to know massive detail about my birth experience, please do not continue to read this post. ****

So, it all started on Sunday, or very early hours on Monday 15th December. Andrew and I had stayed up late, even though we've been meaning to get to bed early in preparation for our new babies arrival. I had videoed Cara earlier and wanted to upload a Birthday message for Alan's birthday. Anyway, we went to bed, and I could feel my tummy harden, I said to Andrew that maybe our baby would come tomorrow, that we needed to go straight to sleep just in case. Andrew went straight to sleep, and I tried. I did get sleep, but was woken throughout the night feeling contractions. They weren't too strong and definitely weren't regular. Early hours of the morning, I couldn't help but wake Andrew to tell him about me having lots of contractions, that this really did seem to be the day. We stayed in bed as long as possible, trying to rest, and then when we got up, Andrew arranged to miss his Uni seminar, and we warned Grandma that we may need a babysitter for Cara. However, the contractions seemed to ease, and it seemed that maybe they weren't proper contractions after all.

By early evening I was pretty sure that they were proper contractions, but they were still very irregular in timing. After putting Cara to bed, I decided to take a bath, but before long, I was uncomfortable and pretty sure we should start the process of getting ourselves ready to go. Grandma and Granddad came over to stay with Cara, while we went to hospital. I think this was around 8pm.

The midwife that was with us was wonderful. I really think that the midwife makes such a difference to how the birth experience is. I am so thankful for A.M. - thank you. Contractions were getting strong, and I had been coping by leaning forwards, but now I needed to be examined laying on my back and then strapped to a machine to monitor my contractions and baby's heartbeat (these are precautions because of having a previous C-section). I really didn't enjoy this, it seemed to make the contractions so much more powerful. I don't think it was long before the midwife suggested I use some gas and air. I wanted to have as natural a birth as possible, but I didn't mind using gas and air, I just hoped that would be all I needed. My initial examination showed that I was 7cm dilated. I was so glad that progress had been made despite my irregular contractions. Andrew was great at being positive and upbeat, reminding me that even though I was in pain, all was going to plan.

I did use gas and air when I laboured with Cara, but I didn't really use it that long before I had an epidural, and I really don't think I got it completely, this time I could really see the effects of this drug on me. It was such a weird experience to be in pain one minute and then just in wonder at what this drug can do to your body. When my contractions were really bad, I guess I was taking some pretty deep breathes and on a few occasions it really felt like I was having an outer body experience. My conscious mind was very active and felt real to life, but I could see my body doing things that I didn't necessarily ask it to do. A couple of times it weirded me out so much that I stopped breathing it, not because the contraction had finished, but that it felt too weird.  At one point I really tried to describe this to Andrew, but he said I sounded really drunk.

I could really feel the difference between this labour and that with Cara.  There was almost 2 years in between, and until it came to labour I didn't think I remembered how labouring with Cara felt, but when I started getting the really strong contractions and getting ready to push, I knew I hadn't felt this before.  I knew the moment that I needed to start pushing, although, as the midwife wasn't there at the time, I didn't want to push unless it really wasn't the time, and trying to indicate to Andrew to push the button for the midwife mid-contraction while breathing gas and air seemed like quite a feat in itself.  The mid-wife confirmed I was at the stage for pushing, and I was just amazed at how our bodies work.

I am so grateful for a mid-wife who really wanted me to respond to my own body.  She really wanted me to go with what my body was telling me.  This active pushing was such a different experience to when I was pushing with an epidural with Cara.  It hurt, lots!  But it felt right, if that makes sense.  Andrew and the midwife gave me lots of encouragment and told me I was doing great.  It seemed like it was taking forever, and with each contraction I was really trying to push with all my might, that maybe, this would be the one.  I could feel Felicity's head, although it did feel rather strange, not really like a head, more like a water-filled strange feeling balloon.  

When her head was properly out, I knew that it wouldn't be long now.  But it was really painful, nothing can prepare you for that pain and stinging, and the not so nice midwife told me to push, even though my body wasn't saying push.. so I did.. Felicity was born, but I ripped pretty bad, 2nd degree for any who know what that means, and I couldn't help but think if I had held on just a little longer, for the feeling to push, would my tear not have been so bad.. who knows?  Felicity did come out with her hand up by her head, so maybe it would have happened anyway.  I'm pretty sure there will always be moments during labour where you look back and think, what if?

***  A break in the commentary - above was all written pretty soon after the birth.. but then I forgot about my writing this.. and so this latter part was all written quite a bit later, so may not be so accurate ***

The feeling when Felicity was actually born, was the weirdest feeling ever - just a complete rush of warm slippery stuff, and such a relief to my body, and it wasn't so much smooth as a bumpy ride, if that makes any sense.  I think you have to experience this to really understand.  Felicity was pretty much passed straight to me, onto my chest.  That was great!  So, so different to when Cara was born.  It was great to have those first precious moments, and Daddy got to cut the cord.  Felicity was really strong.  She was laid on me pressing up on her arms and moving her head around.  One of my biggest reasons for wanting a 'normal' birth, without heavy drugs was that I hoped this would aid with breastfeeding.  I had seen videos just the week or two before of new babies, an hour old, moving themselves onto their mothers for feeding.  It looked like Felicity was going to be capable of this.. however, she really didn't seem to want to be feeding.  We tried for quite a while, but she didn't really seem bothered enough to actually feed.

This isn't the end of my labour story though.. my 3rd Stage of labour, deliving the placenta, wasn't as easy as I had been told.  I opted for the managed third stage, however the placenta was not coming away.  The not so nice head midwife, said that I may need to go into surgery to have it removed.  I couldn't believe it!  I had just had my baby 'normally' and avoided another C-section, but I'd still have to have surgery - I felt awful!  Cheated!  All that pain, for nothing.. I was thinking.. I'd always said I'd prefer a planned C-section over an emergeny one, and this is what ran through my head.  A whole day of contractions, and these last hours in hospital in lots of pain.. all to avoid surgery... anyway.. while she went out to prepare things, the other, much nicer midwife that had been with us the whole time, said that she thought I could help her to get it out.  She got me to push, and this hurt a lot, just as much if not more than Felicity.. but I did it.  I didn't need surgery - I was so grateful!

Apparently, I lost a lot of blood though.  One of the things I had to wait for before I was allowed home, was a blood test, as I was told that I may need a blood transfusion if my iron levels were too low.  They weren't, so all was good.

Wow - what an experience.. my next big blog post will probably be all about my experience with breastfeeding this time round.  Oh, and for anyone who is now scared of giving birth, just know that although it feels like the most pain in the moment, it is all completely worth it when you look back.  

Felicity Marie Munzer, born at 23:46 on the 15th December 2008, weighing just 6lb 6oz  :D