Friday Round Up

catching up on my reading - preparing meals for forrest - bank holiday traffic, ugh

a bird pooed on forrest's pushchair - pimms in the sun - national eat chocolate day

fancy new cushion - flowers in the hedge bottom - late night supper

instagram - madeupoflittlethings

Another Friday Round Up published on an actual Friday? I know, I know, I'm on a roll!

Last Friday was spent enjoying a family day out in Harrogate, we had a lovely day together. The sun was shining (rare on a bank holiday, non?) and everything was perfect. Until a bird did a poo on Forrest's pushchair, that was not so cool. Thank the lord for baby wipes

We also spent an awful lot of time watching seasons 1 and 2 of Homeland on Netflix. Perpetually late to the party, I'd avoided this like the plague because of a long-held grudge against Damian Lewis (have you seen The Forsyte Saga??) but we're now hooked in, totally and utterly. I've also been watching season 1 of American Horror Story, which Matt says is too weird for him. I kind of see where he's coming from ...

In other news, I'm LOVING weaning Forrest! We began with nervousness on my part and complete confusion on his but after a couple of days we both got the hang of it and he now LOVES his food! He's a proper greedy guts, sometimes he cries between mouthfuls if I'm not quick enough with the next spoonful and his mouth seems to be permanently open, waiting for more. He's tried all kinds of different foods and loves everything. Butternut squash, sweet potato, cauliflower, leeks, peas, carrots, tomatoes, salmon, beef, cod, chicken, cheese, apples, pears, mangoes, banana ... I think he's going to be a really good eater. He seems to prefer food to milk! I've been using his long lunchtime naps to prepare meals from my Annabel Karmel book that I can freeze in portions for him, so far my record is four different meals in an hour and a half

Today it's raining, dull and dreary (although the birds don't seem to have noticed, they're still trilling away out there) so I've just lazed around the house with Forrest, we had a lovely deep bubble bath together before his lunchtime nap and I'm now sitting in the kitchen with my back to the Aga, enjoying the peace and feeling warm and cosy. I was supposed to be taking him to a toddler group today but after some particularly vigorous chiro treatment last night I'm staggering about feeling bruised and battered so I'm opting for rest instead. Today is one of those days which is exactly how I imagined maternity leave would be. I just found a casserole of braising steak and onions in the Aga which I put in yesterday and forgot about, so tonight I need only whip up a batch of buttery mash and dinner is served!

Speaking of buttery mash, this was the week I decided to finally face facts - I haven't lost my baby weight yet and I'm going to need to do something about it. I've never had a problem losing weight before, I've always stuck around the size 8-10 mark and if my clothes started to feel a bit tight I'd just eat smaller portions and cut out chocolate/cheese/McDonalds for a few weeks. I'd naively assumed the extra pounds would fall off once Forrest arrived but I was wrong. My old tricks aren't working and I'm sick of having no clothes that fit me. I still look four months pregnant and I'm still wearing maternity jeans - that's just wrong when my baby is six months old. So next week I start dieting for the first time ever. I can't exercise at the minute as my chiropractor has put me on strict rest so I have to start eating a bit more healthily. Wish me luck!

Finally, I'm sure you'll join me in congratulating my gorgeous blogger buddy Rosie on her engagement! It might be strange to feel so chuffed for someone you've never met but I can't help it - Rosie and Jason are a lovely couple and deserve all the happiness :)

Have a great weekend!