Mamatography 4 - Me and Mine

This post is part of a blog link up hosted by Lucy at Dear Beautiful Boy.

Not a particularly brilliant photo! But it's rare that we all four appear in the same picture these days, so it has to do :)
We were just about to embark on the long journey home from York where we had become the godparents of my best friend's twins. A great honour and a wonderful responsibility.

This month:

The Hubby has enjoyed...

Snuggles with B when she climbs into our bed at night
Blue-veined Brie
Not being a January-gymmer
Not going to Orlando with work and being able to spend time with the kids instead

I have enjoyed...

Watching Father Brown on iPlayer

The SNS which is enabling M to get her supplements at the breast

Our Close Caboo carrier

Seeing how much B loves M

The huge smiles M gives to B

B has enjoyed...

What Does The Fox Say?

Satsumas

Cuddling her little sister

Stickers

M has enjoyed...

Her big sister
Smiling
Breastfeeding

This post is also part of the Mamatography 2014 Project with Diary of a First Child and Momma Jorje.

We are taking (at least) a photo a day, a collage or a picture each week to keep a record of our year. Join us at any point during the year and start sharing your own daily photos!

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Mamatography 3 - Overcoming Fear

This photograph represents something huge. I passed my driving test in 2007, but drove very little after that. I became more and more afraid of driving, and I didn't need to do it because the hubby had a car and could drive me. Otherwise, most places were accessible by walking or public transport. 

When B was born, there was absolutely no way I was going to risk her tiny little life by driving her around myself. We were blessed by others offering lifts. However, when she moved up into her extended rear facing car seat, it was much more difficult as it didn't fit in many cars. We became a bit isolated. I came to the realisation that with baby number 2 on the way, I had to do something about my fears, or we would be stuck at home. 

I decided to try hypnotherapy. Natal hypnotherapy had got me through my first labour, so I was pretty confident that it could help me with driving too. I found a lady nearby who was recommended by a friend. We had one session together. We talked about my past, things that might have affected how I view myself or that had knocked my confidence. And we worked on turning negative thoughts into positive ones. How to see myself as a careful driver, rather than incompetent and hesitant. She did a visualisation with me and sent me a recording to listen to at home. I listened to her soothing voice telling me that I was careful, reminding me to think about successful drives in the past and to look forward to driving in the future. That was in the early stages of my pregnancy. I drove a couple of times when I was pregnant, but only with the hubby next to me, and they were short, simple routes. Fast forward to last week. I drove by myself for the first time ever, both girls in the back. I didn't enjoy it, but I am so proud of myself. I have fought my fears, overcome them and achieved freedom. 

This picture is of my awesome parallel park!!

This post is part of the Mamatography 2014 Project with Diary of a First Child and Momma Jorje.

We are taking (at least) a photo a day, a collage or a picture each week to keep a record of our year. Join us at any point during the year and start sharing your own daily photos!

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Mamatography 2 - Smiles

This week I have managed to capture M's smile several times. She's been smiling for a few weeks now, but, as is the habit of all children, she has very often refused to perform for the camera. Her biggest smiles are reserved for B and Daddy, and I have the mixed blessing of the nighttime smiles when she is content to grin and gurgle and refuse to sleep.

And, as a bonus, you get a rare photograph of me! 

This post is part of the Mamatography 2014 Project with Diary of a First Child and Momma Jorje.

We are taking (at least) a photo a day, a collage or a picture each week to keep a record of our year. Join us at any point during the year and start sharing your own daily photos!

Click Get the code here below to add the blog hop to your blog and join the fun. (Also sign up to be added to a comment group!)

Siblings - January

This week has seen the return of the tantrums. I think B has come to the realisation that the baby is staying, and a bit of jealousy has sprung up. But, despite that, she still clearly loves M. She keeps telling me how beautiful she is, and helps to wipe her sick with a muslin; she's keen to cuddle her and kiss her. And when she was giving her a cuddle the other day I caught this lovely moment when she picked up a book to read to her baby sister. So precious. 

This post is part of a blog link up hosted by Lucy at Dear Beautiful Boy. 

Mamatography 1

I thought I'd start the year with a look at my little family. Last New Year there were only three of us, and now we are four. B loves her little sister. M was grizzling when I put her down on the playmat, but as soon as B lay down next to her, and said, "Alright, little girl," the way I do, she smiled and chilled. The rabbits are B's and M's; presents from my sister. B has had hers for two years, and now M has a matching one. And I love this photo of the hubby with M - they have the same facial expression.

This post is part of the Mamatography 2014 Project with Diary of a First Child and Momma Jorje.

We are taking (at least) a photo a day, a collage or a picture each week to keep a record of our year. Join us at any point during the year and start sharing your own daily photos!

Click Get the code here below to add the blog hop to your blog and join the fun. (Also sign up to be added to a comment group!)

Happy New Year

My Resolutions:

1) Less screen time

2) Institute family prayer & Bible time at least 3 days a week

3) Drive my car and stop being afraid

4) Blog more

5) Drink at least 3.5 litres of water a day

6) Return to meal planning

Jesse Tree 2013: 16th December - John the Baptist

Jesse Tree 2013: 14th December - Joseph the Carpenter

Our activity today involved wooden pegs, as a tribute to the man who brought up Jesus - the carpenter, Joseph. Pegs were the closest I could get to doing a wood based craft, without requiring dangerous tools!

We decorated the wooden pegs with sequins and glitter glue, and stuck magnets on the back to make useful fridge magnets, perfect for holding art work or recipe cards or my calendar. 

Whilst these magnets are decorative , their main role is a supporting one, a bit like Joseph. We know very little about him, but without him the nativity would be very different. He had such an important job. He may not have been Jesus's natural father, but he was His earthly dad, and a good and loving husband. 

Father God, help us to live our lives without worrying about who notices. 

Jesse Tree 2013: 13th December - Solomon

King Solomon. The wise king. He was clearly on the road to wisdom before God granted his wish to be oh so wise, as he knew enough to ask only for wisdom. In return for that, God also have him huge riches. I sometimes think it was a bit unfair of God to give him that burden disguised as a reward. Solomon, despite God's gift of wisdom, was still pretty unwise when it came to women, and his massive wealth allowed him access to more women than was wise. Perhaps Go was using Solomon to remind us that no one is perfect. At the very least no one can be as wise as God. Which enabled us to look at Jesus and see the perfection, the divine wisdom ofour Saviour. 

Our activity today was to make crowns. Wisdom is a big ask for a 2 year old, but gluing jewels onto a gold crown is right up queen B's street.  

Daddy and B really enjoyed this activity, and she's not stopped wearing her crown. 

Help us, God, to treasure wisdom like a crown. 

Jesse Tree 2013: 18th December - O Adonai

O Lord, and Ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and gave him the Law on Sinai, come to redeem us with outstretched arm!

Today we made a picture of the burning bush by sticking red, orange and yellow scrunched up tissue onto a drawing of a tree. B really enjoyed tearing and scrunching the tissue. 

Father God, help us to hear your voice. 

Jesse Tree 2013 - 7th December: Jacob

Today we took a trip to London to visit the Christmas Market on the Southbank. Train journeys are much more relaxing than car journeys when you have children. I was able to feed the baby whenever she wanted, and B was entertained and happy, not least because she got given an activity pack at the station. It had a gingerbread man in it, which kept her occupied for most of the journey. And the excitement of being on a train took care of the rest. Those activity packs were a lovely little touch. It's so rare in this day and age to find people thinking about children. And if it's just a marketing ploy to get people with young families to use the trains more, then it worked on us!

The activity for today was meant to be handprint angels, to represent the angels Jacob dreamt about, but we didn't have time, so I'll probably get the hubby to do those with B tomorrow. 

Jesse Tree 2013 - 6th December: Isaac

As Isaac was the beginning of the fulfilment of God's promise to give Abraham countless descendants, we did another star based activity today. 

We made salt dough stars to create a mobile, based on this: 

However, yet again, it didn't go quite to plan! Blame the sleep deprivation from having a 3 week old baby, but I misread the oven temperature in that blogpost. It's American and therefore in Fahrenheit. I baked those little things at 170 C and they burnt. Fortunately we can salvage with a bit of paint, but we'll try again next year to make one to keep. B enjoyed playing with the special play dough, and I resisted the urge to tell her not to eat it. She would try it either way! She put a bit in her mouth and found it disgusting, so that worked without me having to nag!

Jesse Tree 2013 - 5th December: Abraham

Genesis 22

Whenever I see stars in the sky I am reminded of two bible verses. The first is, "He also made the stars," from the creation account. Such a throwaway verse for something so perfectly beautiful. The second is God's promise to Abraham: "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky..." (Genesis 22:17a NIV)

Today's activity acknowledged that promise, in that we made star jars. I pinched the idea from The Imagination Tree.

However, they weren't as successful as the various ones I'd seen on the internet. I was expecting the glitter and stars to float through the water, snowglobe-like, but everything basically stayed in a big blob at the top. Still, B enjoyed sprinkling the stars into the jars, and she wasn't bothered by high expectations or the need for perfection like I am, so to her the jars were lovely. 

Thank you, God, for fulfilling our need for perfection, and for keeping your perfect promises. 

Jesse Tree 2013 - 4th December: Noah

Genesis 6-7

Noah was one of the easier themes to come up with activities for, though as B gets older I expect I will have to be a bit more inventive in order to make it teachable and relevant. She has several Noah's Ark related books and toys, so we read the story and played with her wooden ark. 

Daddy and B did some painting together, making a picture of the Ark ready for sticking animals onto. They painted a piece of paper with blue paint to be the sea, and then made an Ark out of paper plates which they painted brown and red. When that was dry, B stuck loads of stickers of animals on to the boat, and added rain clouds and rain drops to the sky, as well as some sea creatures to the water. 

I really love this picture. And B loved painting and sticking. It was brilliant to watch her doing an activity with Daddy. They had a lot of fun together. 

After this they painted rainbows onto two halves of a paper plate and I added streamers and string before sticking the plates together to make a mobile. I pinched this idea from http://megduerksen.typepad.com/whatever/2010/09/craft-thursday-9.html

There was a rainbow in the sky the day that B was born, and so I always think that God has special plans for her. I really hope so. 

Thank you, God for keeping your promises. 

Jesse Tree 2013 - 3rd December: The First Sin

Genesis 3

B can be very wilful and stubborn (I wonder where she gets those qualities from...) but she isn't yet at an age where she can be held accountable for her actions. We don't use punishments or rewards, but use a mixture of explanations and logical consequences in the hope that she will learn to choose right actions, rather than being "good" out of fear of punishment or simply because she will get a prize for doing so. As a result, today's theme is quite a difficult one. In a few years' time we will be able to discuss how we've upset or hurt someone and choosing to say sorry to people and to God, but for now I've chosen to concentrate on the fruit in the story of the first sin. 

Today we made some apple shaped tree decorations out of apple sauce and cinnamon. You can find the instructions here: http://www.momto2poshlildivas.com/2012/12/easy-cinnamon-and-applesauce-dough.html

The key was stopping B from eating the dough, which smelled pretty tempting, but is inedible. And there, I suppose, is the teaching point! Some things look great, but aren't good for us, and God, like our mummies and daddies, wants only the best for us, even if that sometimes feels like we're being deprived and disappointed. A tough lesson for a 2 year old, but no easier for a 30 year old!

Jesse Tree 2013 - 2nd December: Adam & Eve

Genesis 2

Yesterday we made an effort to appreciate the beautiful world God created for us; today we were acknowledging that God made us too. This is a difficult, and therefore important, topic for me, especially at the moment when I am once again struggling to feed a baby with my faulty body. For the sake of my daughters, I need to get a much more positive view of my body, in order that they can grow up loving they way they look, etc., so remembering that God made human beings - including me - and declared us "very good" is vital. 

The first activity we did was to put all four of our handprints on a canvas - always an interesting activity with a baby!! The first time I tried with B they looked like monkey paw prints!

 I love this canvas. It's a beautiful reminder of our precious family and how little our girls are. I think we will repeat this every year. 

For lunch we made pizza faces. This was a lot of fun, especially because we had some friends round and they joined in too. B really enjoyed decorating her pizza and I was surprised at how accurately she placed the facial features. Her highlight though, was eating a large number of olives straight from the jar!

In the afternoon I drew round B on a big piece of paper, with the intention that she would colour it in and be able to add features, or some semblance of them. I definitely overestimated what she would manage! Instead, she enjoyed sticking stickers on the paper, so while we didn't achieve what I planned, B still had fun and wasn't asking to watch Mr Tumble! I think this is an activity that will work better when she's a bit older, so I'll try and remember it for next year. 

Thank you, God, for making each one of us. 

Jesse Tree 2013 - 1st December: Creation

Genesis 1

B is old enough to appreciate more structured activities now, so, with that in mind, I set about organising crafts and other activities to do with her based around the Jesse Tree that I made last year. I also want her to have fun things that she can do with any visitors who've come to see the baby, so that she doesn't feel neglected and ignored.

The first theme on our Jesse Tree is Creation, so we went for a walk at our local forest centre. B was given the task of searching for interesting things to collect and take home. She really enjoyed looking for red leaves and berries. Her particular highlight was some acorn cups and a large pigeon feather. We decided not to collect any berries, for fear of them being consumed(!), but also because from the amount that we saw, it's going to be a pretty severe winter and the birds are going to need as much as they can get. Instead we took photos of the berries, and also of some teasels which were too prickly to pick. We printed these off as soon as we got home. 

B absolutely loved making a collage with her findings. Her Aunty sat down to help her make it, which was wonderful for B. Since M was born two weeks ago, we've been in and out of hospital, having to sort out supplementing and sterilising, etc. and B has been having a hard time of it. She loves M and is ever so gentle and kind towards her, but she's definitely feeling the strain of not being our one and only anymore. She's also become a bit addicted to using people's phones and watching telly, as, at times, I think we've all found it easier to pacify her with screen time, rather than deal with another melt down. So it was wonderful to see her doing something creative without a screen in sight, and to see her delighting in the activity. I think a highlight for her was being allowed to use big scissors to cut the sticky tape!

I explained to her that every thing she had stuck onto her poster had been made by God for us to enjoy or use. We also read the Creation story in her Children's Storybook Bible. 

I really appreciated the walk and getting a childlike view of creation, especially after being cooped up in hospital rooms and at home waiting for midwife visits. I think too that it was important for us to look for good and God in our day after feeling so angry with Him over the past days. 

Thank you, God, for making a beautiful world.

Free to Choose

"I want my child to be free to choose his own religion."

It's something I've heard parents say so often. Right before they announce that in order for that to happen they're going to keep their child in ignorance of what different religions teach and believe. Which is where their desire for their child's free choice disappears. 

There is no such thing as choice if you don't have all the information necessary to make a choice. 

And it's funny, but I find that the majority of people who talk this sort of nonsense are the same ones who make a huge fuss if they themselves are expected to make decisions without having access to all the knowledge they need. 

Is it really a free choice to leave your baby to cry it out if you've not been told of the psychological and physical dangers of the method?

Is it really a free choice to formula feed if you've only been given false information about its similarity to breast milk and received no support to do otherwise?

Is it really a free choice to vote for an MP who hasn't provided honest answers to questions on policy?

Is it really a free choice to eat what you're given at dinner simply because you've been told there is no other food in the house?

And that's what this comes down to - dishonesty and coercion and mistrust. If we want our children to grow up to freely choose their own religion or lack thereof, we have an obligation to allow them to meet and mix with members of all sorts of religions and none; to learn about beliefs that differ from our own; to trust that they will follow their own hearts and to allow them to do so. Depriving our children of information and experience is to make them ignorant, and we live in an age where ignorance is unforgivable, for there is no end of information at our fingertips.

I want my children to choose to follow Christ, as the hubby and I do, but I do not want to force that upon them. They will experience life in a Christian family, but in order for them to have the free choice, I will ensure they have ample opportunities to discover and explore the teachings and beliefs of other religions. 

When God created us, He gave us free will. It was a dangerous move. With that one decision, He enabled us to choose to live without Him. But He also ensured that all those who love Him do so through their own freedom. Love that is forced is not love.

Can we not trust and respect our children in the same way?

Silent Sunday

Review: Pregnancy Planner App by Sanoma Media Netherlands B.V.

Disclaimer: This app was gifted to me, free of charge, by the people at Pregnancy Planner, to be reviewed. However, this review is my unbiased and  honest opinion of the product.

Product: Pregnancy Planner iPhone App
Price: £1.49 - Available from the iTunes App Store
Age Range:
Manufacturer’s Description: Pregnancy Planner is a comprehensive pregnancy app for soon-to-be parents. Be informed and entertained during the pregnancy and share your baby's development with friends & family over Facebook or Twitter. Extensive tips, daily & weekly tips and information and high quality 3d imagery make this the complete package!
Features include extensive information on the baby's development daily & weekly, pregnancy time tips for sports, sex, nutrition, travel and more, and a list of baby names to pick & share to your family & friends.
Rating:   (3/5 stars)


Review: I'm currently about 34 weeks into my second pregnancy, and so, while I consider myself to be somewhat experienced in the art of surviving pregnancy and all it entails, I was still keen to try another app that would take me through the joys and trials of growing a small human being inside me.

When you first open the app, there is a quick tutorial that takes you through what each section of the app does. And you can easily access the tutorial again by tapping the 'i' button. Inputting your due date is very straightforward.

As you can see, your pregnancy's progress is shown at the top of the page, not only in weeks and days, but also showing how many weeks, days, hours and seconds are left until your due date. I found it very easy to remain in denial about how quickly this pregnancy was progressing until I saw the scrolling countdown! Not sure whether that's a positive or a negative though, I'm afraid.

 Beneath that you will see the average size and weight of your baby, and it is this information that is sent if you choose to email your progress to daddy//grandma/friend. So, not a huge amount of detail in the progress sharing function, but enough to satisfy a bit of curiosity.

Tapping the size/weight area takes you to the weekly update on the baby and you. Last time around I used some free pregnancy apps - I'm always reluctant to pay for apps, when there are free ones available! I've reinstalled them onto my iPhone this time, but have very rarely looked at them, due to the amount of time they take to read. With an active, no-nap toddler to run around after, I just don't have the time for the detail they provide. Therefore, it has been a pleasant experience to use Pregnancy Planner, as for a second-time pregnancy I have found it both quick and simple to use. There is just enough information to reassure and remind me, and because the development status is refreshed weekly, rather than daily, there is no need for me to feel bad or behind if I don't manage to open it up each week. I have found some interesting information in this section, and some that I already knew, and there have been a few helpful weekly tips in there too.

Each week has an artist's representation of a baby at your current gestation would look like, accompanied by a weekly tip or piece of information about the baby's development, just a sentence long.

The daily tips do change daily, but these too are only a sentence long. As a second-timer, I appreciate the brevity of these, but if this was my first pregnancy I would be a bit miffed, as some of the weekly tips require a bit more independent research, and others seem a bit irrelevant or even unhelpful at times. As someone who is supposed to be keeping an eye on their blood sugars, I didn't relish the tip that stated, 'Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate'! Also, some of them are a bit odd. One day I was told to 'Check your papers' expiry dates.' No idea what papers it was referring to, so I can only assume the app was originally intended for users outside of the UK.

In addition to the tips and information on the Calendar page, there is a Tips & Questions section, providing answers on various subjects:
Nutrition - useful if you can't remember what types of cheese are banned, but not particularly detailed. So, again, not highly useful for a first time pregnancy.
Sports - a bit more detail here, including lists of sports/exercise that are suitable and unsuitable during pregnancy.
Health - information on various pregnancy related ailments and tips for dealing with them. I haven't found the Heartburn section to help me in any way, but the tips in there are the sensible, normal ways of dealing with it!
Travel - Some helpful tips in here.
Sex - One of the more helpful sections, as it's less embarrassing to read the information in an app than to have to go Googling! Again though, if you've been pregnant before, it's likely you managed to alter your sex life the previous time and I haven't found any new information or tips in this section.

The most helpful section in the Tips & Questions area is the Checklist, which I've found to be a helpful reminder of things I need to locate or buy before the baby comes. It's also been useful just to read through to reminisce about what I bought last time and didn't use!

There is also a list of baby names to browse through. They are easy to add to a list of names you like, and you can also manually add names that don't appear on the lists, but I was disappointed that they didn't provide meanings to go with the names.

This app is quick and simple to use. It has an uncluttered layout and it's easy to navigate. For a second timer, I've found Pregnancy Planner helpful and I've enjoyed the brevity of the information provided. I already know what I'm going through, and the odd reminder here and there has been useful. It's also been handy for checking how many weeks I am, as I haven't been keeping such a close check on dates this time around. However, I don't feel there is enough information in here for a first pregnancy, when you're full of questions and worry.

Although this isn't an expensive app, I would have been disappointed if I'd paid for it, as there is much more information available in many of the free apps available on the App Store. I think if I'd bought it for my previous pregnancy I would have been much more disappointed though.