Laura Elizabeth

So I am starting to get pretty darn excited as in a few weeks time the builders will be starting an extension at the back of our house :-D although, I’m not too excited about the dust, mess, lack of a kitchen and general stress!

The one part that really has my brain buzzing with ideas is the kitchen. I have dreamed for years of having an amazing ‘party kitchen’ where we can have friends and family over for drinks, dinners, nibbles and of course a bit of dancing with a disco ball making the room sparkle with amazing squares of light!

My problem is I’ve known what I wanted for so long and have had the exact kitchen in my head that when I started looking in the shops IT DIDN’T EXIST. Until finally I found it and was completely over the moon... then I looked at the price and all my hopes were dashed. The search is still on but with the build starting so soon we are running out of time fast!

It’s been a while tumblr. Life. A wonderful, magical gift. I get so wrapped up in the day to day and rarely remember to take a step back to appreciate everything. 

While I was on maternity leave I had more time to contemplate the brilliant things around me - in particular my little boy who had just arrived and was all new and exciting (and also tiring, draining, difficult etc...).

I always love blogging as it gives me chance to stop, think and write down my thoughts... good or bad!

So I plan to be more active here... lets see how I get on!! :-s

I know millions of Mums & Dads have lived through this before and they tell you all about their experiences of when their toddlers decide to go crazy... but you just can’t imaging that your little angel will do it! 

That is until the day they spend the whole day freaking out about the most random things and you spend the day tearing your hair out because you have no idea how to make it better... whilst also trying to do the “right thing” so that you aren’t bringing them up to be a spoilt brat! 

It was a Friday... my lovely Friday off work where I look forward to spending the day with my amazing happy little boy. However, this Friday he had other plans. From the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep in the evening, everything was an issue, everything was making him stomp his feet and ball his eyes out. Talk about exhausted... It’s been nearly a week and I still haven’t recovered.

So our son is only 16 months old and I guess he has hit the terrible twos early. Oh and I am not enjoying being slapped around the face... what makes them want to do that?! Maybe with all the moaning & telling off I’m doing it’s his way of telling me to shut up :-( 

Last month my husband ran the Robin Hood Half Marathon to raise money for Parkinsons UK - a charity that is very close to us because sadly my father in law and uncle both suffer from Parkinsons and we would do anything to find a cure. This was the first big run he has done and ran it in an amazing 2hours 5mins... so proud!!

This month is going to be our son Harry’s first sponsored event... a 500m fun run at the Parkinsons UK Spooky Sprint on Halloween. We have got him a skeleton costume so that he looks the part. Last Halloween was a little different as he wouldn’t have been able to walk for a start!

Well what a week so far and it's only Wednesday! It's Harry's Christening this Sunday so I've been busy making bunting while he has his naps, organising the food for the buffet & my evenings have been filled with making practice cakes as I'm attempting to make a 2 tier Christening cake.

Well last night I'd had enough and started trawling the internet for ready made sponge to decorate... this is all because I couldn't find baking times for large size tins. Sure there are plenty of guides for increasing the amount of ingredients but no one tells you how long to leave the things in the oven for! As I found out if you open the oven too early the bloomin' things sink in the middle never to be rescued!!

So tonight is the night, I found that I actually have a book with a madeira cake recipe in it and it also has all of the amounts AND baking times for each size tin... ta daaaa! So I have my hopes up and all my fingers and toes crossed that this will come out well and I will be a baking supremo :-D

Today we decided to try something new and went for a taster baby sensory class... Harry was so engaged through the whole thing and did plenty of smiling. I also chatted to some lovely Mums so it was a thumbs up all round. We have now signed up for the next 5 weeks and can't wait to go again - especially to the class where all the babies dress up as pumpkins... AMAZING!! 

This month our baby is going to be baptised and I have decided to make his Christening cake! I looked at having one made but they cost an awful lot of money which I didn't want to pay when I think it is something that I am probably capable of. It would also be so lovely to do it because my Mum made a cake for me so its always nice to carry on a tradition.

On searching for images of boys Christening cakes there were some gorgeous ideas but they are all white and pale blue... I want something a bit brighter & different so I'm going for a white, grey, turquoise and orange combo! 

I had lots of fun today visiting a cake decorating shop in Nottingham today... it was such a treasure trove of cake paraphernalia but thankfully the assistant helped me with everything I needed because I would have been completely overwhelmed and totally baffled.

Tonight I've had a rare opportunity, an evening on my own on the sofa in PJs with a glass of wine and catching up on a couple of my favourite TV shows. It's been a much needed break following a day with my beautiful but clearly unhappy (teething) baby boy.

I am on maternity and Harry is now 4 months old, he is amazing and has made my husband and I so happy but there is just no rest from being Mum. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE it and would not have it any other way but I am tired beyond belief, just all of the time... make up - what is that! A fantastic thing happened last week, Harry rolled over onto his tummy on his own for the first time... the reality of this amazing new skill is that I need ten more pairs of eyes and cannot leave the room to even pop to the loo in case he face plants the floor and loses the energy to pick up his head!!! This week was the first week I thought... ooh yeh I could do with a day back at work :-s

Teething... oh the joy and I'm sure its only going to get much worse but its turned our usually calm and happy baby into a wining, moaning, slobbering little monkey!

So with all of this going on its so easy to forget that I am a 30 year old woman with friends who like to party and dance and catch up over a good meal. I also have a husband who I want to spend quality time with and not just time in the evening talking about baby poo, sick, napping and how many oz of milk have been consumed!