Tuesday 31 July 2012

Me lucky ? - I'll let you decide ! part 1

My bout of bad luck started when i was 4 and well has never really stopped lol only kidding H x Its a long story so i will  be doing it in parts !

I was 4 when I went the doctors with tonsillitis again ( we were on holiday in the isle of white ) and the doctor gave my mum a funny look and said "did you know your daughter had a heart mummer! We came back off holiday and that's when the tests started and I had my first op the following April. being 5 I cant really remember too much of that time just the smell of hospitals, playing with the toys at the bottom of ward 2 in the old Birmingham Children's Hospital, and the train ride down to Birmingham on the old British Rail trains

At this time heart operations were not very successful and the doctors didn't know much about what they were doing. For this operation I had a metal valve put in  which meant I had to take wafarin tablets which I didn't enjoy at all.1 the weekly blood tests and 2 the time I had of school, I now know how damaging this was as my spelling and grammar are awful. 

Other than my ops and blood tests my childhood was filled with happy memories of  family holidays in Wales   and in our caravan and my dog Penny.  

By the time I was 10 the metal valve was too small as I had grown so much - ( which we now know was why i had the mummer in the first place ) so it was time for another operation and again i cant really remember much of this but i can remember the summer before my op - me and mum went to Birmingham on the train and it was a baking hot summer i think it was 1989 i was just going for some tests but we stayed over and all i can remember was the heat.

 The big op was in November and this is when i had my big stroke - it effected everything i had to relearn to all sorts of things like bladder control, eating with a knife and fork and the little stuff like doing up buttons and zips.  The biggest things I had to relearn were walking and talking- these are the two things i still struggle with today - I have still got week ankles which means I can not walk far with out support ( my pushchair is a life saver !) as for my speech well that's one I still struggle with despite hours of speech therapy - I'm just really shy and i guess years of bullying made me not bother speaking at all ! 




    

Tuesday 24 July 2012

My life 10 years ago .

My life 10 years ago, wow how my life has changed.

This exact day it was coming to an end of my adventure in America. I gained my Queen Scout award in the April and when sitting in St Georges chapel inside Windsor castle, there were loads of leaflets on all the seats and one of them was for Scout camp America. Well I looked at it and thought nothing of it until I got home and I looked at it again and I thought what if !

The application process was hard work with lots of forms and lots of phone calls - one of my pet hates, phone calls! I was amazed and stunned when I got accepted - and it cost a fortune! but it was always something I had wanted to do go travel into America. I used all my savings to pay for my flight and visas    and all the other little costs. At the time i had 2 part time jobs. I worked as a shopping assistant and a cleaner  - not very glamorous.

So off I went on my first adventure to America just 18 months after my 3rd Heart operation my poor mum was really worried but she couldn't stop me going! I was so pleased my Heart doctor let me go- we had some fun with the insurance company.

I ended up at Philmont Scout ranch and boy it was Amazing with a capital A - my placement was working at PTC which stood for Philmont Training Centre which is where all the American scout leaders got trained and we the staff looked after the children(5-18) and family of those getting trained. We took the children on hikes and adventures around Philmont crafts and they even had a small petting zoo. Philmont  is this huge chunk of land that was donated to the BSA from Waite Phillips an american oil tycoon. It is a sunning place to the north east of new mexico- near to a small town called Cimarron. The photos I have are on photo paper as digital cameras had only just come out and was really expensive, so they are in a box in my mum and dads loft along with other memorabilia from my amazing time there even wrote a diary - wow I bet that's a good read now !   

My time at Philmont was happy and sad , I got really homesick as I had never been away from home before but I did make some good friends and the friends I made there I'm still friends on Facebook. One day I hope I can take H and G to see the stunning rocky mountains and sing them camp fire songs.

This time 10 years ago I had no hope of ever finding or been in love and I was told I couldn't have children.
 look at me now, I have a beautiful son and we get married in 4 months time :) So for all you single ladies out there - there is hope.

Friday 20 July 2012

wedding wedding wedding !

So with only four months until our big day and all the little things are going wrong.....
yes the church and venue are all booked 

But its all the little things that are going wrong and instead of looking forward to our our big day I'm now dreading it :( we still haven't sent out invites and its not for trying - we have now tried two different people and are now at our wits end. At this rate we will be using vista print for our wedding invites - at least they will be cheap. But i don't want cheap i want stylish and elegant :( 

Then there is my shoes i made a bit of a woppsie and well got the wrong size and now they are out of stock so i've got to order a different style and i'm just hoping they are not to high as i cant walk in heals and my worst nightmare is falling down the aisle.  

 We are getting married in a church, its the church close to where i was brought up its were i was baptised and we also had our G baptised there to. G was baptised on 9.10.11 and we are getting married on 10.11.12.


We are trying to do a wedding on a budget  as i can't work its been hard saving for a wedding,  but there is so much to think about presents for bridesmaids best men and parents. The costs are mounting up.  


I would like a play corner for the children with a playduvet (which is amazing please look them up on Facebook and twitter)  and some nice new toys, As there will be about 10 under 8's going including G. But money is tight and it looks like its just not going to happen as every time i save up for special things it gets eaten up by something else wedding :(  


Then there is the cost of the flowers its shocking - We are trying to make cutbacks where we can with out missing out. I'm going to be doing our own table decorations. Will tell you my ideas for those soon. 



I will keep you all informed of our plans and disasters .  



Thursday 19 July 2012

Return my Ted Review

I'm sure we have all had that heart stopping moment when we have lost our little ones favourite toys and a little old lady has ran out with ted in arms and a big smile. What would happen if that didn't happen what would you do ??

Well this is monkey he doesn't mean much to G at the moment - it was given to G when he was born by a friend of mine who lives in Bedford. G has started taking monkey out- and I was getting worried until I found 'Return my Ted'.


'Return my ted' it a tag for your teddy / monkey / blankey. Its so easy to use 1st step is you Buy a tag - its only costs £12.99 which in my mind is a bargain for the peace of mind that it brings. You attach the tag to your toy which is so easy to do as it's elasticated. I made sure that H did it as sometimes i struggle with knots and fiddly things.

Once the tag is attached it can be washed at 40 degrees and the ink wont run and it won't fall apart. The only concern i had was the size but i guess it has to be big to be seen by passers by :)



2 nd step is to register you owners ID which is unique to your tag. This can be done by phone via a freephone number or online.

Then if you misplace loose your teddy in the park and someone finds it- they can go to the return my ted website type in the number on the tag enter their details- they get sent a free post bag so there is no cost to the finder- talk about a good idea. Then return my ted will match the number to your unique number and send it back to you. Amazing idea and you get a lot for your money as your childs toy is irreplaceable can you really place a price on finding it again ?  

you can find return my ted on facebook  and twitter ReturnMyTed
and their website  http://www.returnmyted.com/

Wednesday 18 July 2012

competitions

i love competitions a great place to find them is FIND ME A GIFT which can be found on facebook and twitter x

Friday 13 July 2012

Our holiday in Cymru and wishbone bike

I love competitions and I'm always entering them in the hope that i will win, but, deep down my self confidence has been knocked over the years and all self belief has gone, so I was over the moon and jumping for joy when I won the most amazing prize. the competition was run by Babi Pur and Trawsfynydd Holiday Village,the two companies are  local to each other who partnered together for this amazing competition.

Babi pur is a company which is based is North Wales who sell ethically sourced and fair trade products, both of which are close to my heart.http://www.babipur.co.uk  Trawsfynedd log cabin holiday based in Trawsfynydd. http://www.logcabinswales.co.ukThe prize was a weekend holiday in a log cabin and a Wishbone bike.


H was brought up in Anglsey so he knew the area quite well and I can remember many a happy holiday on the stunning north Wales coast with my mum, dad and siblings. 

The log cabin was booked from Friday night till Sunday morning , I decided to book a travelodge for 1 night so we could make the best of our time there and H took another day of work. We got a very good deal and only paid under £20 for a brand new Travelodge in Caernarvon next to the Victoria Dock. 



On the Thursday morning we set off to Wales, when we arrived at Llandudno  the sun was out, but I wasn't feeling to well and there was a cold wind. We had parked on the front which is full of beautiful old Victorian  hotels. We walked to the pier and then right to the end the pier which is a stunning bit of engineering. When we arrived at the end of the pier I was in need of a warm cuppa (panad! if you are local!), muffin and a comfy seat.  Luckily there was a cafe right at the end of the pier. Once we had all finished we had a wonder back into town. Llandudno town is stunning Victorian seaside resort with lots of independent shops and the usual stores.  For the historians and interested it was developed by the Madoc family who still influence the town and surrounding area.  We found a small cafe and had our lunch.  We then carried on walking a little further down the town and found a large retail park with all the main shops and some places to eat. H could not believe how much things had changed and yet it still felt the same. 



Then we went to Beaumaris on the Isle of Anglesey (Yr Mom Mam Cymru - The Mother of Wales according to H)  . Beaumaris is where H was brought up so lots of happy memories for him, he got to show me his old school and house, then we had a wonder down the pier which has just been rebuilt on the end.




Beaumaris is a well known historic town on the Menai Strait with its medieval castle dating back to the reign of Edward I and its Victorian pier, gaol & courthouse. There is a good selection of shops, restaurants and public houses in the town and all local amenities are within easy walking distance from the castle. We were hoping to see kate or wills  shopping oh well !!


Then it was time to go to Caernarvon , we found the Travelodge and settled in putting up the travel cot. Then it was finally time for our evening meal. We had a lovely jam packed day and I was so excited to be heading off to the log cabin !


The next morning was a bit of a blur as we were super tired but once we had breakfast it all went a little better. We headed of to Caernarvon castle witch is a beautiful fortress built by king Edward 1st . We had G in a backpack which H had on his back it was a little difficult to manoeuvre around the castle, it would have been even harder if we had took the buggy! 
We spent a good 2-3 hours wondering around and we then had food as G was getting niggerly and so was H he loves his food. 


We then went to Babipur to collect our wishbone bike - the bike is amazing. We had won the special edition Apple a day bike.  Even the box is stunning. When you open the box its amazingly decorated and the bike is all laid out. 


It was so easy to put together even G helped. It only took 10 mins and G was away. His feet only just touched the floor put he was off - the build quality of the bike is amazing and I'm sure it will last G until he is 5.


The best thing about this wooden  bike is that it starts out as a small trike ( three wheels ) then it turns in to a small bike then it flips over into a big bike talk about money savings.  Amazing. The RRP of this bike is £199 that was because it was a special edition, the normal wishbone bike was £179. As it lasts so long we thought it was well worth the money. We had started to save for one of these since G's first birthday so we relived when we won it and the money went to the wedding fund ! I would give the wishbone bike 5/5 



It was so nice to meet the BabiPur team , we had a cuppa or panad in the warehouse  which was amazing to see all the nappies and toys i loved the nappies. I spent more than i said i would H was not happy lol 




Then it was time to set of to Trawsfynydd holiday cabins. It was literally in the middle of nowhere ( maybe 15 mins from porthmadog)  but that's just what we needed the setting was out of this world.  We arrived just b4 the reception area shut .... talk about good timing phew.
Their was a small shop on site which was perfect for all the essentials bread milk pasta etc  
We were given the keys and a map with directions to our log cabin. When we arrived at the cabin we were amazed - there was what looked like a brand new kitchen and bathroom, the bedrooms ( all 3 of them) were nicely furnished and the lounge was very welcoming with a tv dvd player, two very big sofas. The towels and high chair we ordered were there waiting so that it saved us some room in the car couldn't ask for more. 

We soon settled in and G went to sleep almost instantly which was a huge relief as we were both so tired. The only down side to the bedroom was the light in the morning , they really need to put in black out on the curtains.



On Saturday we went to Borth-y-Gest in the morning we had a wonder down the coastal path but we didn't get very far as we took the pushchair and we encountered some steps so we turned back and headed for a small cafe got warm and had a cuppa. 







We  then got back in the car  and headed for pwllheli, this place holds happy memories for me , as i used to come here as a child. We used to stay in the butlins resort which is now a haven resort. We went into town which was a little bit run down so sad to see it full of charity shops. We then took a short drive down to the marina and we we had a little wonder down to the seafront, with G in the backpack my ankles were all over the shop :( we soon headed back to the car and an hour drive and we were back in the warmth of the log cabin for our tea. 






The weather had not been kind to us the whole weekend :( but the sunday blew us away with wall to wall sunshine ! So we heading to the coast this time we went to Barnmouth. When we arrived it was 18c . Barnmouth 









looked like the med with the palm trees and sunshine :) We had a picnic for lunch on the beach but i don't think G enjoyed the sand too much. 


It was really sad to leave we both were not looking forward to returning home. We had such a nice time and the log cabin was so welcoming.  

Friday 6 July 2012

More about me


So this is me , at Caernarfon castle in may. I am able to walk all be it a bit slow ( even have oap's over taking me) but its not until you take a closer look or talk to me you would realise there was anything wrong with me. 

If I wasn't wearing my body warmer you would see the scars down my chest and neck(skin cancer)  - and i have even more scars that no one else can see.  Over the years I have learnt to show them off more. As a teenager I hated my scars and always wore jumpers or t shirts to cover them up. In my 20s my confidence grew and and I now wear what I like and if people stare - I'm not bothered if they want to ask they can.
They are not red and healed quite well I guess I've seen lots of nasty heart scars so i count my self quite lucky.


As I'm quite shy I don't talk to many people but that doesn't mean I am  rude I'm just shy and over the years I've become a good listener. But if I do talk to you well you might think (due to my stroke) that I had a few pints or I'm just stupid so I now have a fear of telephones -- well I'm far from it I have a very high IQ of 136.

I struggle with the little things like opening/closing  G's zips and opening a new milk bottle but over the years I have learnt to cope with the little things so sometimes G may not have the odd button done up its only  or it may take take me a while longer to make you a cuppa. But no one is perfect are they ???



Anniversary time !

So yesterday was three years since me and H met 5th july - and wow how my life has changed all for the better :)
Soon we are getting married,  just four months to go now and the panic and stress are stating to kick in but that's for another blog !

As it was a week night we did not go out , but I cooked H his favourite meal and he then washed up (which makes a change).We have plans for the weekend tho- we are leaving G with his Nannar and Granddads and we will have a whole day to ourselves. Our plan is to go Trentham Gardens which is in Stoke on Trent ,pizza hut for lunch and then the cinema.

Oh how I miss the cinema - we have not been since July 2010 when i was pregnant and I'm really looking forward to it. No idea what we are going to see.

I'm going to miss G so much but I'm also looking forward to spending time alone with H as we dont get to spend any time together with out G and he is now 17 months. We are even taking G on our honeymoon - not traditional we know but the thought of leaving him with family for a week or two makes  me feel quizzy.

Any way to my H who puts up with me and cant wait to be celebrating 30 40 50 years of marriage   xx

Thursday 5 July 2012

loving today

Today its been a lovely day me and G went to Stafford for the day to see one of his friends. It was my best friends daughters 3 rd birthday last week so we went to give presents and we also went to the park.

Stafford park is stunning so much to do and for all ages, it been a long time since i went to the park and its had a really good makeover. There is now a water park with splashing  and squirting water jets which were so much fun on a day like today, there is a huge sand pit which even had a digger ! It had a skate /bike pit for the teenagers to 'hang out' and two really well kitted out parks with loads to do for under 5s and the bigger kids too.

Then a short walk along the river and over a small bridge takes you to the gardens bowling green and Avery with all sorts of birds in it.

The only downside is the facilities with no loo's to be seen and no refreshments   


Stafford park gets a 4/5  

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Review news !

So today has been a very good day - I've been approached by 3 different companies to review their products (one of which i already own but ....) not bad for a blogger that's not even being going for a week :)

I will also soon be doing a review of a holiday and a wooden bike for G that we won.Its going to be a busy few weeks.

If you have a product you would like me to review / test for you please let me know x


  

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Brave not me.




As an adult who has been in and out of hospital since I was a small child I'm often told how BRAVE I am, im never sure how to take it, I don't feel brave at all. In fact i would say its quite the opposite now as i'm terrified of needles.

As a child you were often rewarded with stickers or sweets to keep you well behaved. I can remember being wheeled down to theatre in floods of tears then freezing when i got to the big plastic swinging  doors and having to leave my mum and dad standing and watching their daughter have yet another operation.

I don't consider myself brave at all , my brother is brave for the job he has ( he's a police officer ) and people who fight in wars are brave but me ............... naaa 

Monday 2 July 2012

Real nappies


In our house we love real nappies or cloth nappies.

We love the fact that we are not contributing to landfill and we are not putting any chemicals on G's bum. As you can see real nappies are far from the boring white of disposables This is just a small collection from our stash in fact these are the ones we bought in this years real nappy week or RNW. The tag line for the week was real nappies are real easy. 

H loves the money savings as i'm sure you know if you have a baby nappies can take up a huge chunk of your weekly shop. We still use disposables at night which means we can buy 2 big boxes for £20 and it can last us about 4 months ! We are going to use real at night time soon it's just that G is a supper Olympic wee-er at night.

As i'm a stay at home mummy it is easy for me to do , but we do 2 extra loads of washing a week which we do in the evening when G is in bed and then it just takes 5 mins to peg them out they will dry in a few hours if the sun is out then just 5 mins to fold/ stuff them . 

We also use cheeky wipes but that's for another blog !      

Sunday 1 July 2012

Where to start !

Mum mum heart

Welcome to my Blog mummumheart and explanation-

Well this is G my beautiful son  who calls me MUMMUM who is now 17 months and the arm that's my fiancĂ© H we are getting married in November 10/11/12 cool date ....... he will never forget lol

As for the heart bit well I've had loads of heart operations 6 in total and 2 strokes. I also ave dyslexia which means my spelling and grammar is awful lol but i went to uni for three years so it cant be that bad .....

My blog will hopefully give you an insight into life with hidden disabilities and i will also give you my thrifty tips and keep you up to date will baby /toddler competitions

If you own a baby/toddler product and you would like me to test it for you i'm willing to review it for you 


Hope you will enjoy my blog

Emma