by iamcrabstix | Apr 3, 2018 | general parenting, Living Arrows
I am taking part in Donna from What the Redhead Said’s Living Arrows – which is a celebration of childhood!
We could all do with a little more celebration in our lives!
To quote Donna, “The project originally took it’s name from a poem by Kahlil Gibran,
“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth” and every Monday we share a moment (or a few!) from our week which captures a moment of childhood
Week 14
Little man has been on a roll this week. His talking has really come on and he is copying alot…. but he still prefers to sing! He seems to pick up the words to music after only hearing things for a few times., which is super cute. I made pancakes with him on Good Friday, I was hesitant as he hasnt been a big fan of our previous baking attempts, but he was so good at stirring this time. He gave it his full attention and was super proud of himself when the mixture went into the pan. I can’t wait to have next week off work with him!
In other news…
Living Arrows is the one post I promised myself I would post and link up with weekly, however early into the year we had some news, which made it really hard to write honest posts! I’ve got them all saved up in drafts and can now publicly announce that I am 15 weeks pregnant! It hasn’t been the most straight forward of pregnancies, in fact I have felt at my lowest point at times. My hormones took a dive in the early days and I was in a bad place. I’ve been much better since the 12 week scan (after crying my eyes out in the scan, I think it was all built up due to finding out we’d lost our first baby, in 2015, at that scan). I seem to be plagued with cysts, which I had convinced myself was ovarian cancer, but thankfully (but painfully) the cysts keep rupturing, and others keep growing! I’m on cyst 4 now, in the opposite ovary. Two ruptured last week, so I had what I thought was a bleed, which terrified me given my previous experience, but everything was fine with the baby thankfully. I’ve been terrified to tell anyone about it, in case something happens, but I can see now that this was doing my mental health no good, so we are now telling people and are trying to be positive about the little bumps in the road!
I’m still not sure if Mark actually reads this blog, but if he does, I’m sorry for how nuts I have been thus far! It’s absolutely insane how little I have felt like myself in so long. Thank you for keeping everything together and I can’t wait to see if we get another little mini you!
by iamcrabstix | Jan 30, 2018 | Living Arrows
I am taking part in Donna from What the Redhead Said’s Living Arrows – which is a celebration of childhood!
We could all do with a little more celebration in our lives!
To quote Donna, “The project originally took it’s name from a poem by Kahlil Gibran,
“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth” and every Monday we share a moment (or a few!) from our week which captures a moment of childhood
Week 5
Another week of being ill! These coughs will not shift! So not a lot to report here. Lots of watching The Wiggles going on. Is anyone else have a child who is a fan of The Wiggles? RLT is bordering on being obsessed. This image is of him watching them on the tv. He thought him and the cat were having a lovely bonding moment of watching them bash out another hit such as ‘Hot Potato’ or ‘Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car’ but what RLT isn’t aware of is the mouse that is hiding behind the speaker of the TV that the cat is waiting for. I put a humane trap down next to it and couldn’t do anything else as they TERRIFY me. They seem to hop around and I don’t like that…. but yes, joys of living next to a nature reserve, being a cat owner and letting said cat have a cat flap in the internal door of the house as well as the outside one. We think she is trying to teach the little man how to hunt, as they’re always alive. Gross but true. If you’re wondering why I don’t take more drastic action with the cat, you can find out why I’m so soft with her here.
by iamcrabstix | Jan 25, 2018 | Living Arrows
I am taking part in Donna from What the Redhead Said’s Living Arrows – which is a celebration of childhood!
We could all do with a little more celebration in our lives!
To quote Donna, “The project originally took it’s name from a poem by Kahlil Gibran,
“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth” and every Monday we share a moment (or a few!) from our week which captures a moment of childhood
Week 4
I spoke to soon last week, we are both ill again!
We didn’t leave home last weekend with exception of walking around to the nature reserve behind us to see the snow. Took the little one on a sledge for the first time. He understandably couldn’t be bothered. Got off, refused to move.
by iamcrabstix | Jan 19, 2018 | Travel
Cuba is one of the very last places on earth that I was desperate to go with immediate effect! With Fidel Castro dying last year, his brother standing down from power next year, it was important to me to experience Cuba before the end of that era. There are many things to do Cuba that make the long flight worthwhile! Here is my must do list for things to do in Cuba if you are lucky enough to visit soon:
Visit Old Havana
The tourist resorts in Cuba do not give you a feel for real Cuba, to get this you must experience the older part of Havana. The architecture, winding streets, hustle and bustle and cute pieces of history such as hotel which Hemmingway stayed in on and off for months make this a must. If you just want to go to Cuba for the all inclusive experience – you could go somewhere closer and cheaper. Havana really should be on your visit list.
Hotel Nacional de Cuba, Havana
I’ll be honest. This place creeped me out, but I’m glad we experienced it. Over the otherside of Havana, or La Habana as the locals call it, this hotel has all of the art deco touches from when it was built in the 1930s. It is operated by the Government, as so many of the hotels in Cuba are (they’ve only recently let private companies in to run selected hotels) and the story behind the hotel states that it was the location for the biggest mafia meet there has ever been. Apparently Frank Sinatra played a concert at the hotel as the cover for the meeting. There is a bar which has pictures of all of the famous people that have stayed there, fascinating. Beware that the cocktail prices are the same price as home rather than the rest of Cuba, but they do make an excellent Mojito!
Watch a Buena Vista Social Club gig
Buena Vista Social Club are the most popular cuban export ever and it is easy to understand why. The music is awesome. Beautiful classical guitar and latin rhythms, although the original band are cracking on, new members have been recruited to carry on the legacy and they are well worth seeing. We organised this through our hotel rep, we paid for a vip package with a meal at a mansion, classic car and a meet and greet with the band (we weren’t aware of the meet and greet and it was a bit ridiculous as the man above with Mark was an absolute diva) but the meal in the mansion made it worth the extra money! The band perform wherever possible – sometimes in conference centres, so don’t be expecting a nightclub where you can dance, but it is still a good experience!
Varadero Beach
This beach is simply stunning and the aesthetic changes drastically based on the weather. Looks out to Florida, which is about 90 miles away. This beach is absolutely beautiful. If you stay in Varadero, you may be fortunate enough, like we were when staying in the Iberostar Tainos, that this is the beach your hotel backs on to. It will always have a special place in my heart as this is where Mark proposed!
Ride in a classic car
This is an absolute novelty. But totally worth doing as you never see cars like this at home anymore. Although I wouldn’t recommend long journeys as there are a lack of seat belts, so it maybe worth just paying the driver for a photograph, if like us, you have small children with you.
Drive a speedboat
There are many organised trips you can do and one to look out for is the one which allows you to drive a speedboat around a large stretch of river just outside Matanzas. Gives you an awesome feeling of being feel in nature! There is a bridge above, which you may also get the opportunity to stop on the side of and it is crazy to be above circling vultures as it is so high!
by iamcrabstix | Jan 15, 2018 | Living Arrows
I am taking part in Donna from What the Redhead Said’s Living Arrows – which is a celebration of childhood!
We could all do with a little more celebration in our lives!
To quote Donna, “The project originally took it’s name from a poem by Kahlil Gibran,
“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth” and every Monday we share a moment (or a few!) from our week which captures a moment of childhood
Week 3
Finally over illness this week, so little man has had his appetite back and therefore more energy. Unfortunately back to work means less time with him and he’s been very reluctant to go to bed on his own, he wants one of us there at all times. In particular his Dada! His Dada has a three hour round-trip daily commute in a job which revolves around the news cycle rather than a shift pattern, so this isn’t always possible. So he’s stuck with me alot, much to his disappointment! To try and do more fun things with him rather than just being the one that makes him brush his teeth and get his nappy changed, I bought a load of play-doh and I taught him how to roll it out and make shapes. This seemed to get me back into his good books and he instigated getting a picture by pointing at my phone and saying ‘cheeeeeeseeeeee’. He then started pulling funny faces, which I managed to capture. So I think that was his way of saying that we needed to do more fun stuff together. So as I sit and type this, I am feeling pretty bad about working full-time and not giving him as much of his attention as often as he would like. Finding it pretty hard to find a balance a the moment. I also look at them and realise I haven’t dyed my hair in around six months from the look of the colour. I clearly don’t even look at myself anymore to recognise that. I feel I need to focus a bit more on the little man and me!
