March Round Up

home made mothers day card - mary berry cake fail - sunny kitchen

hot cross bun break - afternoon walk - summer wheels

forrest's favourite spot - more baking - my evening view

Here we are again, another month gone and another bunch of resolutions down the pan! I really don't know where the time goes, even though this month has seemed to drag a bit I've still managed to get nothing done. Well, nothing that I planned. Never mind, it's been a pretty good month anyway ...

Early in the month we had to take Forrest to the hospital for blood tests. These blood tests were ordered in October but we've made numerous appointments and had to cancel them due to him being ill - he seems to be ill A LOT! We finally made it this month but despite being there over an hour and despite two nurses trying, Forrest was not giving up any blood whatsoever. Not a jot. There were six of us in that room, including a 'play therapist' (to help us distract him), Matt and I and three nurses and whilst Forrest lapped up the attention, it was a bit of a fail on the blood front. We've rebooked him for April and are keeping everything crossed that he's healthy and feeling generous ...

We fitted in a couple of visits to the park on our trips into town, Forrest likes feeding the ducks but his real love is the swings. So much so that he screams bloody murder when it's time to leave. We have definitely hit the stroppy toddler stage now and the little fella knows how to make his displeasure known! I try to distract him if I sense one coming and ignore him once he's underway but it can be extremely wearing. He hates having his nappy changed at the minute and that's something I just can't avoid!

Matt took a couple of days off work mid-month and suggested we take Forrest to The Deep, over the bridge in Hull. I thought this was a fabulous idea (and was rather miffed that I hadn't thought of it myself) but it turned out that I enjoyed it far more than Forrest did. I thought he'd be fascinated by the fish but in reality he enjoyed the soft play area and flirting with the group of old ladies we met far more! We also took him for his first Pizza Hut (he loved the stuffed crusts!) and his first Chinese meal (he loved crispy duck and fortune cookies and had a great time banging the table with a pair of chopsticks!) Not our finest hour culinarily speaking but a nice little treat.

I managed a couple of Forrest free days and spent them with my sister, we met in town for a coffee - well, I may have put away a full English whilst waiting for her to show up too - and a bit of light shopping. It was so good to spend time with her with no children around! Not that we don't adore them but as she succinctly put it 'I actually heard everything you said today!' It was so good that we arranged childcare and scheduled a trip to Meadowhall at Sheffield for the following week! That was a brilliant day, I spent some of my Advantage Card points on makeup, sniffed Jo Malone scents and bought new clothes for Forrest before chowing down on a delicious lunch. We've agreed to make sure we do it more often, it was a brilliant day.

I don't know if it's the change in seasons but I've not been sleeping brilliantly lately, I've found myself waking briefly a few times during the night and feeling a little zombie-like the next day. I've made a few changes - less screen time for and early nights - and I'm feeling so much better for it. I went to bed at half past eight one night last week and felt like a different person the next day! 

I still rely on my morning coffee to help me through the worst days though, so I was delighted when Lincolnshire Co-op sent me a bag of their new local coffee to try. It is a Fairtrade Arabica blend made by Stokes and was developed by canvassing customers' opinions on existing blends at last year's Lincolnshire Show. I love the idea of a company really listening to what its' customers want. The coffee is delicious, smooth and just the right strength for my taste. I drink a lot of tea and coffee so I've enjoyed sampling a new flavour and if you live in Lincolnshire I strongly recommend you seek it out at your local Co-op.

The final, bittersweet thing that happened in March is that we completed the sale of the cottage yesterday! After a lot of backwards and forwards over 'did you get planning permission for the extension?' and 'has the house got an electrical certificate?' and unbelievably 'how big is the extension?' (er, you're living in the house, why don't you tell us - and how about paying the rent while you're at it??) the money hit the bank yesterday and Matt waved goodbye to the little house he bought when he was just 21. It felt like the end of an era - we did so much work to that house and spent some wonderfully happy years there. We were sad to leave it and since we moved out we've both consciously taken a different route in and out of the village to avoid having to drive past it! But in the grand scheme of things it was the right thing to do and we've now got one less thing to worry about.

Oh wait, I lied. The very final, bittersweet thing that happened in March was that Forrest started using his big boy car seat. My baby is growing up, sniff!

How was your March?