My night out with a couple of men.

Trust me when I say that date night is not often.

So when my brother offered (or did I volunteer him?) to babysit on Wednesday night we jumped at the chance.

Being sick coupled with having a baby and working from home makes life a little more interesting for me and for my family. I don't leave the house all too often and with that I sometimes get a bit of cabin fever - the same four walls is a bit boring after a while.

When Roman was new we would just take him out with us or would leave him with a trusted and close family member. Ro goes to sleep around 7pm so it's a "see you on the sofa for dinner" scenario between me and B these days.

Well, we went to see X-Men. If you're a child of the mid 90s you'll remember the Saturday morning cartoon version of the X-Men (Wolverine was so hot as a cartoon. Phew!). I know that it's also a comic, sorry 'graphic novel', but comics graphic novels bore me to tears. 

When I was 15 the X-Men movie came to VHS (wow I am so retro right now) and I have been a fan of every single X-Men or X-Men related movie since then. 

So last night we went to see X-Men: The First.

Scottish eye candy: James McAvoy. 

Can I just do my name dropping thing right here and say that me and Mr McAvoy (pictured above) used to live on the same street in London? And by street I mean two or three streets away. Oh yes and I saw him riding on his scooter one day. And guess what? It was at a red light. And guess what again? He WINKED and WAVED at me. I giggled like a school girl and ran away, of course, because I drop about thirty IQ points around cute Hollywood types. And he's married (and was married at the time.) Shameless or what! ;).

Anyway...he played a great Xavier. And Magneto was hot, too. And they both have wrinkles. I just wanted to point that out because I noticed that most, if not all, of the women in that film were smoothed to perfection - within an inch of their lives. Also, there  was a scene in which they were all wearing these camp yellow suits and of course the men were all zipped up to their chins but one of the women wore it practically unzipped to her belly button. Oh Hollywood, I love your not so subtle sexism.

Me and B enjoyed it; me laughing when the rest of the cinema was deathly silent (don't you hate when you do that?), us giving each other knowing looks when the film made reference to the older X-Men films (we are nerds!) and let's not forget the part where you get to see how Charles Xavier ended up in a wheelchair - really good stuff.


I'll say no more because I think I've *ahem* said quite enough as it is. 

Over all the film was pretty good - of course not a patch on the first X-Men film ;). 

A Few Of my Favourite Things: Nakd Raw Bars.

Nakd treated me to some Raw Bars last week in the post to review.

I'm still on my 'get healthy, get happy' kick - you can read about that here - and so I'm on the look-out for anything that will make being healthy fun as well. 

Raw Bars, to me, are like bars of sheer heaven. I honestly like them a lot. 

I first tasted these wonder bars (see what I did there? ha!) around Christmas 2010 when my husband stuffed a few into my Christmas stocking (never too old for a stocking at Christmas I say) and well, stocking fillers for peeps on a vegan diet can be interesting and sparse at the best of times. And yes he did slip in a bar or two of chocolate, but most of my 'treats' were raw bars.

The Roman seal of approval.

Since then we haven't been able to get enough of them and guess what? Roman loves them, too. I break off a little piece for him and he will happily sit and munch it down. I'm happy to feed them to him as a treat because I know they're made from nothing but natural vitamins and minerals. They're also 100% dairy free, high in fibre and are a very tasty whole food treat - for Mum and Roman. Dad also likes them, too, and he does not have a sweet tooth.

Yum! A selection of the bars I received. 

So what did I like the most? My beloved cocoa orange bar which happens to be Roman's favourite, too, of course and some other new tastes that were thrown in there; like the ginger bread raw bar (um, yum!) which actually tasted like ginger bread, minus the bread, dairy and processed sugars of course ;). For the first time I tried the cocoa delight bar and wow...it was great. It tasted exactly like a brownie. But without the calories, sugar and fat of a brownie.


 I can say hand on heart that when you eat these bars you don't feel like you're missing out on the riches of chocolate (which I have abandoned for a while now) or other 'treats' that aren't too much on the healthy side. I honestly think our supermarkets should replace the unhealthy, over processed chocolate bars they sell and put Raw Bars in their place.


For Raw Bars I would honestly and sincerely give them a 10 out of 10 product rating. Their packaging is superb; high quality and in attractive colours. Their product is of course supreme - and very, very tasty!

We Have a WINNER!

The Scratchy Cat Give-away is over and we have a winner!


Thanks to random.org I was able to pick a winner from the comments section. If this is your entry then you've won;

Congrats!

If this is you, please leave a comment here so I can award you with the prize.

Sweet Like Chocolate.

Saturday was an interesting day. Chocolate bagels for breakfast are always fun - I broke a piece off my bagel for Roman because all hell breaks loose if you don't.

Today I thought a lot about babies and how sweet it would be to have another one; oh how this memory of mine fools me into false senses of security constantly.

I wrote a whole post about baby-dreaming. I wrote about the fact of how sweet another little bundle of squiggly joy would be. Then I reminded myself of something; I am seriously ill, it won't happen. I have gone through my whole life reminding myself of that and somehow we knew to have Roman. We knew we should do it, no matter that the doctors were prodding and poking me from all angles to tie down specifically what my body was putting me through.

So many options were put to me and all I could feel in my mind, burning into every thought was this; HAVE A BABY NOW. I didn't think it would happen, so I went with it, completely trusting this feeling. Knowing all good things led to it. 

So many things happened leading up to the pregnancy and so many things happened as soon as we found out. We were both unemployed within days of each other. We lost a whole lot of money because our Government screwed things up with our unemployment money - which I never claimed in the end. So many people made things difficult for us around me. I was so miserable and so very sick.

But I knew all good things led to this pregnancy. This one burning feeling, this one sure thing I had known throughout. 

Things have changed dramatically since that time in our lives. It was a bleak period but we survived it. We needed it and we needed to survive it because now I know how much I can truly endure. Unemployment, sickness, poverty, being a carer. I can do that. I might not be very good at it, but I can do that. Not much can take away from my confidence any more.

So, back to babies. I love my son so much. I guess I'm like a lot of good parents; I want the good things in life for him. I never want his life to end up like ours was for that year and a half, but then I don't want him to be spoiled by never experiencing real life.

Life seems so easy when you have it good and when it's bad you just want it to stop. Or for something to happen to make it all better.

I think the reality is that you have to face the facts of your situation and deal with what you can deal with and forget what you can't.

I shouldn't worry about never having another baby, if it's meant to be it will be. If not, that's okay. I'll be okay with it. And not because I have to be okay with it - but because I trust that feeling, that little prompt, the thoughts that burn through to everything I think and I will know if it's right or not. 

Until then, I'm soaking up everything in life.

Don't forget my give away ends this Tuesday (7th June.) To enter, go HERE.

All good laptops go to Laptop Heaven.

I am writing this from my husband's laptop.

My own one DIED in the afternoon. It all started last night when I kept asking him to bring me a glass of water. "In a minute," he kept saying, meanwhile I dehydrated further. I wasn't being a diva, I was ill. Otherwise I would have hauled ass into the kitchen myself. So he got annoyed at me asking for liquids and in a huff he slammed it down next to me when he brought it through. Water went everywhere. 

    Next, I was nearly electrocuted. Luckily I thought fast and got that battery straight out. We tipped it upside down and panicked. Yes, B did panic. 

   

Can't remember what happened next. Probably lots of swearing. It helps, okay. Anyway, moral of the story: drink out of bottles, dehydrate in future and one splash and it's ash!   Needless to say I haven't drank anything since then. I am worried what will happen next. A new laptop will have to be purchased - which will be a hardship I am sure, right? It sucks as I was saving that money for a camera. B has said to me 'get both.' Nothing like a guilty conscience ;). 

Top 5 Myths of Child Rearing: Baby Edition.

Roman at 23 weeks in the womb.

When you become a parent/pregnant you become public property.


And with that will come a World of advice. So, how you should you handle these pieces of advice? And what's accurate and what's not? First of all, every piece of advice should be handled with grace. Thank people for their advice, then decide if it's relevant to your situation. If someone is persistently handing out poor advice find a way to move them off the subject entirely. Talk about a TV programme or the weather. Despite what everyone thinks not all pregnant women are baby obsessed - they have other interests.


So, what's accurate about having babies? It depends on how you want to parent. However, I have thrown together 5 Top Myths of Child Rearing, specifically geared towards parents with babies.

1. Babies change your whole life. Yes, they do. There isn't really anyway of getting around that. But they are also adaptable to your lifestyle. Once your baby is born or the ink has dried on the adoption papers you can adapt to life as a parent - and your baby adapts to you. They are full on at first because they are learning to adjust; newborns are learning that their food isn't constantly on tap and the difference between night and day and adopted children are adjusting to a completely new environment. When people say this, they aren't really thinking about the implications of their words. It used to scare me senseless because I already knew my whole life was changed when pregnant and I worried about what was ahead. Truth is having a baby was a whole lot different - and in some aspects easier - than I thought it would be. My life was changed, but not for the worse. 

2. Babies are expensive. This is total nonsense and really annoys me. Babies only become expensive when you buy them unessential equipment or buy into every toy that will somehow make them the next Einstein - Little Einstein's anyone? I'm not opposed to these types of products but what I will say is that they are not essential. So what do babies need? lets break it down into bullet points:

• Food - Free for the first 4-6 months*.
• Nappies and wipes - if you're using cloth it's one-off payment (usually around £170 or so, coupled in with your washing and electricity charges) or you can buy nappies at around a £6.50 per week and wipes at anywhere between 36p (yes I am talking about Tesco Value wipes) to £3 odd for the most expensive wipes per week.
• Clothes - Depends where you shop and what you buy.
• Somewhere to sleep - Can cost anywhere between £69 for the cheapest to £200 for a better quality if you feel you need it.
• A couple of blankets and sheets - These were surprisingly pricey. Depends where you shop but I would recommend Mothercare for quality and the fact their sheets and bedding are hard wearing. 
• Towels - Two good quality towels that are soft and baby friendly for after bath. 
• Baby shampoo - Something kind to their skin. I got told that water works just as well (from a midwife.) 
• A few toys (although this is optional in my view.) - Cheap as you like. You can shop around at charity shops, car boot sales, second hand toy shops etc or go to larger chain toy shops.
• Bumbo/some kind of seat for them - and for you to be hands free - A Bumbo will cost you around £40 for the chair and tray. Alternatively you could borrow one from a friend who no longer needs it and pass it onto another Mama in need.
• Pushchair/Buggy/Pram - something to get around in for times where you don't have your car. We are a car free family so our buggy was a definite must. Buggies can be bought new or second hand - I would say buy new if you're going to be using it a lot and second hand if you're only going to use it now and then. 
• Car seat. This is a must. Don't listen to older generations who might say to you; "oh but we never had car seats and we were fine!" yes, but years ago people also used to feed unpasteurised milk to babies, put straight alcohol into bottles to 'calm' them and leave babies outside all day. It doesn't mean that it was better in the 'good old days.' Most countries will legally require you to be fitted with a car seat and most hospitals won't let you take a baby home without one. Our first car seat was as part of a travel system and I would recommend buying new - you never know what kind of trauma a car seat has been through when you buy second hand.

If you're breastfeeding you won't need to worry about tins of formula, bottles, a bottle warmer, steriliser. *As I haven't bottle fed Roman ever I don't know the cost involved. If you're considering pumping milk I would recommend an electric pump - hand pumping is hard work! 

Clothes, food, nappies and wipes will of course be an on-going cost as well - hence why I plan on getting my boy onto the potty ASAP and why we use cloth nappies sometimes - but the cost of clothes needn't set you back a huge amount, either. I get clothes from friends whose kids have outgrown stuff, I buy from eBay and we get plenty of gifts from family that include clothes for Roman. Babies don't cost a lot if you keep things simple. 

3. It's not a 'good time' to have a baby. Health issues aside there is never a good or a perfect time for it. If there were then we wouldn't be able to get pregnant like we do. Now I'm not telling anyone to rush into this decision or to not think about it, of course you should because it is a monumental decision to make. If you're scared to give birth, that's okay, but don't put off having a baby because of it. My labour was fantastic, there were a few tweaks here and there I'd make, but overall it was a great experience. However, if it had gone bad I would still be sitting here telling you the same thing. Don't put off having a family - or anything in life - because of your fear. Don't let fear or any other emotion control you and what you want from your life.

4. I'll lose my identity when I become a mother or a father. Again, this is your fear speaking to you. There are definitely people who've felt this and gone through this experience when they had their kids, but it is a matter of resetting your priorities and arranging who you were into who you're going to become - you would have to do this anyway with or without kids. Sounds simple on paper, but it's harder in theory. It does take time for some people to adjust to adding to a family and for others they take completely to it. Accept that everyone is different and adapt accordingly to what suits your family.

5. You'll never sleep again. Yes you will. Some parents take home their newborns and never have a troubled night of sleep, some parents are up every 30 minutes. It's all variable. Despite the fact that you might have sleepless nights ahead in the first few months, eventually your baby will settle down into some pattern of sleep and waking. Roman took 5 months until he was completely sleeping through the night with no wakeful periods but even now he's waking up a few times a night every so often - usually when ill or teething - but it is not the intensity it was at of those first few months. You will sleep again.

I hope this post helps dispel some myths. It sure would have been useful if I could have read something like this while pregnant. So, what are some of the myths you've come across? 

P.S Check out the give away I'm doing! HERE.

A Few Of my Favourite Things: Graze.com.

The fantastic Graze.com sent me a treat in the post this week.

Do you recall when I said I was going sugar-free and on a personal journey to be a healthier person all round?

Well, I have definitely been sticking to that goal. But I think we all know what happens when you make a pledge with yourself; you suddenly start noticing all those foods you're avoiding. And you really want to snack on something very unhealthy (Or plant your face right into a vat of chocolate bars/crisps/cakes/whatever food vice you have.)

Well, I have been staving off those pangs with more healthy alternatives; dried fruit and frozen fruit smoothies at the end of my meals. I have also upped my intake of nuts; protein, good unsaturated fat and calories, which we all need to fuel us. So long Atkins, hello healthier food choices.

I was so excited to get my little brown box of healthy goodies (above image) today and I felt good about the selection I was offered in my well being box; plenty of nuts, plump moist dried fruit and of course some very yummy dark chocolate coated cocoa beans.

The inside of the box was split into four generous compartments and inside these compartments was an individual box of healthy antioxidant rich snacks. 

I just want to add this wasn't the box I was sent - no olives for me!

Inside the Box:

Eldorado was by far by my most loved selection; a mixture of chocolate covered cocoa beans, cranberries and hazelnuts. When I eat the punnets I like to mix the flavours together by eating a few pieces of fruit, nuts and beans together - it was delish! 10 out of 10!

Lost was my second favourite. I say second because I'm not much of a fan of banana in general and this had banana 'coins' (dried circular banana shapes) in the mix. However, for the interest of trying everything once in life I gave them a go. I was very surprised as they're about the only dried banana thing I would eat ever again; they were moist and I had expected a crunchiness. Mix up the banana with some coconut and jumbo raisins and you're laughing. Okay, you're not laughing, you're drooling because it is very yummy. One of these boxes is one of your five a day! 9 out of 10.

Love Mix is in a close tie breaker with the Lost selection. Good points; tastes brilliant with the most moist dried cherries I've ever had and the fig like taste of the goji berries but I'm not too keen on the apricots. This didn't matter because the cherries were a-maz-ing! Seriously. Why can't dried fruit you buy in the shops taste like this? Graze definitely have a superior quality when it comes to these healthy snacks versus the supermarket brands. I was quite surprised to find out that one of these boxes was two of my five a day. No effort required other than enjoyment. 9 out of 10. 

Rock The Casbah. I rate this lower than all of the other three boxes because I really do have a sweet tooth after all and this mix was definitely more of a nutty mix with walnuts and pumpkin seeds. It did have dates in the mix which are probably one of the sweetest fruits going in terms of taste and this gave it a nice sweet kick. One of your five a day, too! 8 out of 10.

I've bought Graze boxes in the past and have always proclaimed that they were pretty amazing. I'm also happy to recommend them to everyone who will listen. The only downside to Graze is that they only deliver in the UK! Keep everything crossed they'll smash the European/rest of the world market.

My favourite features of the Graze box itself is that the box, little booklet and napkin you receive can be recycled. The punnets are individual and are completely sealed so it means you don't have to eat everything right away (although I dare you not too.) When you choose a selection on their site you can see what you're buying - and trust me when I say there is a huge selection on there. 

What I loved was that their fruit was so soft but juicy. The nuts weren't hard to chew and when you mix all the flavours together you really get a full on flavour experience party in your mouth ;). Lovely! 

The thing I like about Graze.com is that they care; about the environment and they also have a Graze school of farming that teaches students how to grow, maintain and then harvest fruit from their orchards. This is to help the local people improve their nutrition and create sustainable sources of income - absolutely love the scheme. 

Graze were fantastic and put this box together especially for me as they know how hard I am working towards bettering my eating and nutritional habits - they are lovely like that! The selection is huge and varied. As you all know, we are a vegan household. So I enjoyed snacking on healthy vegan treats in my box, but you can tailor your box to fit whatever needs and dietary requirements you have.

YUM! Ro gets stuck into the coconut shreds from the 'Lost' punnet.

Not only did they send me a whole box of healthy snacks free of charge, they've also done you readers a fan-dabby-dozzy deal! Just for you lot they're going to give YOU a free box, too! And, there's more; if you order another box they'll give you it half-price.

Just use this code:

3YL768K

When you order you won't need to wait in for delivery of the box, it fits straight through your letterbox. You could even have them deliver it to your work; better than running to the vending machines for a Kit Kat, right? Or do you know someone who needs a little healthy snack pick me up? Pop one in the post and take advantage of free postage. 

I do love free postage and lush healthy goodie boxes!