Winging it with two boys

Saturday, 30 December 2017

If I knew

If I knew it would be the last time

That I'd see you fall asleep,

I would tuck you in more tightly

and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

Our Christmas Traditions

When I was growing up with my brother we had two things we would do on Christmas Eve, and we did them every year without fail.

Busy B Calendar Review

To be honest for stay at home mum I’m surprised at how busy I actually am.

We started our Elf on the Shelf last year with the boys, and they absolutely loved it. We start our Elf off doing mischievous things around the house on 1st December (so coming up with something different for the elf to do every day is challenging!).

Technology and my kids

My eldest is four years old and my youngest is three years old and up until now my two boys have had very limited access to a tablet device.

Baking with kids

I absolutely love this recipe from BBC Food for Vanilla Cupcakes. The are great to make with kids, quick and I have discovered you can add your own twist to them!

Our Christmas on a Budget

Since having children, we have had to cut back with how much we spent on each other at Christmas.

So we agreed to a spend limit, with a twist - buy as much as you could for the other person without going a penny over the budget.

Potty Training Truths

There’s a lot of stuff that Parenting books don’t tell you - they seem to sugar coat everything and make you believe that your parenting journey is going to be this easy amazing experience if you follow their full proof plans on how to get stuff done with your children.

And then there were two

When I fell pregnant with our second, my eldest was only four months old.

In all honesty we didn't expect to fall pregnant that quickly as it had taken us ten months to conceive our eldest.

A poem for Rhys

You're my littlest son

And you're so much fun

Our vows

Alan’s vows to Hayley:

I will give my love an apple without ever a core

I will give my love a house without ever a key

I will give my love a palace wherein she may be

And she may unlock it without any key

A poem for Charlie

You're my eldest boy

And you fill my life with joy

Marriage is a full time job

If my first marriage taught me anything its that you have to work at the relationship and that it's not the fairytale that all the movies portray.

Shopping with daddy

Hayley asked me to write a blog about when I take our boys, who are two and a half and three and a half years old, food shopping as it is often met with amazement as to the way I do it.

Our wedding on a budget

It's our seventh wedding anniversary next month and our wedding was done on a tight budget - we spent a total of £3,500!

REALLY?!

Being a mum to two boys with a small age gap (13 months) seems to attract attention - the comments even started while I was pregnant - here's just a few of the things people have said:

Open letter to my husband

September will mark our seventh wedding anniversary - and in our seven years of marriage we've been through a lot as a couple.

#bloggertakeover - 3 top tips for bringing books to life

Welcome to the third of Winging it With Two Boys #bloggertakeover series. This blog has been written by Jenny Rumney at Rabbit Ideas. She's written a blog with her three top tips for bringing books to life.

#9 Reasons why I love Wales

We relocated to Wales last year, and I'm loving it here! And here's why:

An open letter to my dog

This month marks three years since we had you euthanised.

I remember the day we went and picked you out, you were only 5 weeks old.

Tried and tested - butterfly garden

We've just released our butterflies from our Insect Lore butterfly garden.

I have to say this was a fantastic project to do with my two boys, who at almost four and three were totally enthusiastic about this having read The Hungry Caterpillar lots of times.

My weight gain battle

I see so many blogs about people trying to lose weight but what do you do when you're trying to go the other way and you trying to gain weight.

Carrot Apple Muffins - Tried and Tested

I found this recipe for Carrot Apple Muffins on Pinterest from healthylittlefoodies.com - and I made them as they contain no added sugar!

These are great for toddlers but are also great for little ones being weaned.

Parenting with a chronic illness

My 2017 didn't get off to the best start, I was diagnosed with ME/CFS and osteoarthritis- which is in addition to my hypermobility syndrome (which I was diagnosed with in 2011)

#bloggertakeover - My top 5 ridiculous misconceptions before I became a mother

Welcome to the second of Winging it with two boys #bloggertakeover series. This guest blog has been written by Muffin Top Mummy on her top 5 ridiculous misconceptions before she became a mother.

Moving house with toddlers

We took the massive decision to move home last year.

In August we packed up our house and two toddlers (they were then aged almost three and almost two) and we moved.

Vlog #2 - sunflower and caterpillar update

Here's my second vlog updating you on our sunflower and caterpillar progress!

Banana and Orange Oaty Bites - Tried and Tested

I found this recipe for banana and orange oaty bites for the boys on Pinterest from myfussyeater.com, and they immediately appealed to me as there's only three ingredients and they were quick to make (and they were cheap too!).

Making mum friends

I felt like I was thrown into a completely different world once I had a baby - I went from working a full time job (as a Personal Assistant) to being a stay at home mum. I was used to going out socialising, staying out late, drinking, having lie ins etc.