32 Weeks Pregnant

Where does the time go? I am certain that this pregnancy is going faster than the others. I feel like I should be around 24 weeks now, not 32!

I'm happy to say that I am currently enjoying my pregnant state. All is going great, bump is measuring just right (though I feel pretty big!) and as of my last midwife appointment he has turned head down. Sure, i'm getting tired and brisk walking is turning into something of a shuffle but I really can't complain. Hopefully i've not just jinxed myself!

I'm doing lots of sitting on my birth (ahem, gym) ball to encourage him to stay in the right position.

Am I ready? Well, in terms of "stuff", absolutely not. Being my third child I don't actually need a great deal as you can imagine. It's just a question of sorting through the stuff in the loft to see what can be used....quite dull really. I do envy that first time joy of buying brand new. Though I *may* buy a new pram......We need to clear a room to make way for a nursery and I have no idea of a name but i'm sure we'll get there!

Mentally am I ready? Hell yes. I cannot wait to meet my new little man and see how the dynamics of my family change. Yes, I know it's going to be hard but i'm sure we'll find a pattern that fits us. My children, especially GourmetGirl are so very excited. At 5 she is ready to be a mother hen and is so interested in the pregnancy and how big baby currently is. I'm looking forward to teaching her that birth is a beautiful thing and her learning all about how I will feed my baby. I hope that my homebirth goes to plan so that they can see their brother in his fresh, just born state as soon as he is born.

Exciting times ahead for the GourmetFamily!

A sneak preview of the little man:

A Rite of Passage-Organising a Birthday Party!

This weekend saw GourmetBoy turn four. We toyed with a couple of ideas of how to celebrate this. When GourmetGirl turned four we did the standard party in a play gym with her nursery friends which we all enjoyed but it didn’t feel very “personal” if you see what I mean?

So we decided that we would host a party at home with (gulp) his friends from nursery. Now, we’ve always done little tea parties for the children with family to celebrate birthdays but we’ve never done a party for nursery/school friends.
As his birthday is the middle of May and historically the weather has always been good on this day I felt confident in booking a bouncy castle. That way, all the kids can be outside in the garden, eat in the garden, play games in the garden. So no mess in the house, perfect! That was the theory...
We chose this Ben 10 Bouncy Castle:



With our final guest list sorted and replies in we were suddenly aware that we would have 15 children in our home plus their parents. Panic set in!
Firstly, we’re not known for being overly house proud. I’m the 1st to admit that I don’t enjoy cleaning and we’re not the neatest of houses. Life just kind of gets in the way and chores don’t seem to get done!

I was suddenly aware that I was going to be having parents of children whom I have never met in my home and was suddenly very conscious of how my home looked. We decided hastily to decorate the dining room with less than a week to go so that we had a room that looked presentable and it did! GourmetDad did a wonderful job! We worked hard to clean the house well and I’ve got to say, I do enjoy being in a tidy house but would love to know how we’re going to keep it this way!

Saturday arrived (Party Day!!) and foolishly, though we’d baked the cake the previous evening we still hadn’t decorated it. Lots of stress ensued as we both flapped around the kitchen doing our various jobs, baking and decorating cupcakes, making the food, sorting drinks etc. We did have my parents over to “help” but that’s a different blog post... ;)

But, in our usual last minute style by 12.25 we were all ready for our guests to arrive, all decorations were up, games organised and food sorted. AND! Though it the ground was wet it WASN’T raining!! Whoop!
Here is a picture of the party food before it was demolished!



I decided to be quite traditional and did a mix of sandwiches. Usually white bread is not allowed in our house but I made an exception for a special birthday treat! A cocktail sausage hedgehog, carrot sticks grapes and Quavers. I also cooked a few pizzas for the grownups.

I was worried about how GourmetBoy would react to his party as I was worried he may be a little overwhelmed by the attention, but he was a superstar and greeted all his little friends nicely. It was so very cute!
I am a (ahem) little bit of a control freak/over planner and so I had written a schedule for the party. It sounds stupid but I was worried I’d forget a party game or forget to do the cake but I’m pleased to say it really did work and the time from 12.30 until 2.30 went so fast. We had traditional party games: a treasure hunt, musical bumps, a piñata and of course pass the parcel. If anyone is also an over planner like me, i'd be happy to share my schedule!
The Treasure Hunt in action:



And of course the cake! We always make the birthday cake ourselves and at the time it seems so much effort and so time consuming but it’s always worth it in the end. I hope my children grow up and do the same for their children. I don’t know why but it just seems to mean so much to us. We chose a Lightening McQueen cake. Despite selling an array of cake tins, we find hiring character tins cost effective. GourmetDad made a the cake using a fool proof Victoria Sponge recipe
Here is the finished cake!



Overall, we all had a fabulous party. It WAS a lot of work, but it felt so rewarding. I enjoyed meeting the other mums whom I never see at pick up time from nursery as we all collect at different times and it was lovely to see my little boy interacting and playing with his peers. Whilst the weather wasn’t perfect and we weren’t able to eat outside or play the games outside, the rain held off and we got our moneys worth from the bouncy castle Without question, a party at a play gym would have been easier (and most probably cheaper!) but I definitely don’t think it would have been as rewarding or as much fun. Parties at home are definitely the way forward for us!
The Birthday Boy. Happy 4th Birthday gorgeous boy xxx

To Pic Or Not to Pic

I've been having a scout round on other blogs and I really do love reading blogs with pictures on....pictures of little ones etc. What worries me is the potential for picture to fall in the wrong hands.

I don't want to be an over protective parent and I would truly love to share my pictures of my family (because personally, I think they're rather beautiful!)....but what if they fall in to the "wrong hands". Does this even happen? Or have I been conditioned to think this?

Another part of me thinks why should I, in effect, sensor my posts? I do put pictures of them on Facebook and make sure they're private so only my friends can see, but I bet they're not "truly" protected. If I want to share pictures then I should be able to shouldn't I?

As I'm totally new to blogging, I'd be really interested in knowing what your thoughts are on this. Do you post pictures of your children? And if not, why not?

I've done it!

After months of "not quite getting around to it" I've finally created a blog! I adore Twitter and love reading other people's blogs so thought it was time I joined in with my own!
So.....who am I?!
Well, I am a working mummy with two very beautiful children and another on the way in July. Life is pretty hectic, I work with my husband and often work from home. This means I have never ending guilt that there is always something else I should be doing. If I'm working, I'm thinking about the washing, if I'm doing the washing I'm thinking about all the work I should be doing! However, I know that I'm lucky. My husband and I have weekends off and I can always be available for the children at a drop of a hat. Life right now is pretty good.

Cooking is a huge passion of mine. Food is constantly on my mind, and feeding my family great meals is so important to me. Cooking relaxes me and seeing my children eat good food makes me the proudest mummy. I could do with a kitchen fairy to come and clean up after me though, then life really would be perfect!
As I am in the fortunate position of running my own business I have a good supply of prizes so will hopefully be running some competitions on here ;)
I wouldn't be human if I didn't of course do some occasional shameless plugs for my own online shop, so please do forgive that!

I would love for you to comment and point me in the direction of your own blogs, so I can follow you. I don't really have a clue how Blogger works so if you have any tips on how to get the most out of it I'd be very grateful!
Much love
Susan (@GourmetMummy)