The Eccentric American Mama in Cumbria

Gotta love Hobo in the background. This weekend was completely unplanned and ended up being one of the best we've had this year. I didn't have my phone on me for the majority of it but I did manage to snap a few pics before it came crashing to an end Monday night with a very sick husband. Friday was spent in our normal fashion, rock climbing at Eden Rock followed by a pint and caffe frappe in the sunshine before we had to pick Cyril up from nursery. Cyril went straight to bed while we sat outside devouring our supper, a rack of ribs and a dozen BBQ chicken wings, it truly was a meat feast. When the sun finally went behind the houses at 830pm, gotta love British Summer Time, we retired to the living room to watch a film. Saturday we spent the morning cooking breakfast, playing in the garden, and completing some household chores. Before we knew it Cyril was ready for his nap so we decided to rest hard in the sunshine. Even Hobo couldn't get enough

The differences between this pregnancy and Cyril's are quite astounding. I assumed each pregnancy would feel somewhat the same but I'm either doing everything differently or there really is some truth to feeling different with a boy and a girl. With Cyril I had morning sickness that lasted until 26 weeks. Then when I finally started to feel a little bit better I developed pelvic girdle pain that made it difficult to do the simplest of tasks and ended up wearing an ace bandage around my midsection until D-Day. I also had a ton of food aversions even after the morning sickness subsided. Looking back at my blogs I couldn't eat any meat or pizza and my only cravings were milk and yogurt. Sleep wasn't great, in part due to Cyril's kicks and hiccups but also because of the pelvis pain. I had to stop upholstery when I developed the pain in my lower back/hips at 26 weeks and I finished work 6 weeks early. With baby girl the morning sickness was severe in t

They say a photo is worth a thousand words so I'll keep this brief and start by showcasing the first picture, somewhat blurry but the laughter sums up the weekend. On several occasions I thought my pelvic floor would give in on me but fortunately I managed to keep it together. Experimenting with the selfie stick in the taxi, cue hysteria as we nearly blinded the driver because the camera was facing the wrong direction, fortunately at the last minute I managed to press the button and capture this gem. Ruth and I are still unsure why Jess is choking herself. 26 weeks on left with baby girl, 24 weeks on right with baby Cyril. Both photos taken in Tenerife, both holidays worth the money. Every morning I snuck out of the room before the girls were awake and had my first breakfast with the birds and my knitting. An hour or two later I'd return to the room, get ready for the day and join the girls for second breakfast, lol. Starting to get

Every morning when I get Cyril from his crib I tell him what we're having for breakfast and what our plans are for the day. He's usually extremely excited for breakfast which I  chalk down to breakfast being the one meal I actually feel confident as a cook. I tend not to use recipes for breakfast, which makes it more fun, and it's actually one of my favourite meals. However, he was beyond excited when he heard me say we were having cookies for breakfast, I've never seen him want to get out of his sleeping bag and crib so quickly. He ran downstairs and sat the entire meal without one cry of protest and kept repeating "Cookies!" So without further adieu here is the recipe which I adapted slightly from this recipe on the  Minimalist Baker's  blog. I use a lot of her recipes as guides because she uses minimal ingredients to achieve tasty meals quickly which is a must when you have little ones around.  We're not a gluten or dairy free family, in

Unplanned weekends are the best! We started discussing our weekend plans over a pint and tiny, but amaaaaazing, glass of Chablis while Cyril finished his session at nursery. Josh had just completed another stressful week at work so his only priority was getting a surf. I'm too large to surf at this point but am always up for a beach day. Fortunately one of his buddies lives right on the coast and was willing to take us all in for the night, even our poorly toddler. Friday night Cyril was up most of the night crying and wanting cuddles from Mama and Dada. I had no idea what was wrong with him so just went in for frequent cuddles when he demanded it. In the morning his nose was full of green snot, something I hadn't noticed in the dark of his room, and it was obvious he was sick. I debated staying home and then decided if we stayed home every time Cyril was sick we'd never do anything so we packed up the truck, filled up a mason jar with apple juice and headed to the coas

Will add a bump pic to the post when Josh wakes up :) How far along?   24 weeks and 1 day Total weight gain/loss?   17.6 pounds, gulp ... Maternity clothes?   Yes my bumps tend to be really low down and all in the front so I can't get away with any non-maternity clothes without looking ridiculous. With the exception of my maxi dresses, thank goodness for a Summer baby. Stretch Marks?   I haven't noticed any, but I'm also a little afraid to look because the bump is starting to spread out to my sides, which never happened with Cyril, must be all the burgers I've been eating. Sleep?   Not great, is it too early to be nesting?! Yesterday I woke up at 4:30am and just had to finish the anniversary/father's day project I've been working on for Josh. It's still 6 weeks away but after 5 hours on the computer it is finally finished, can you tell I'm not a procrastinator? Last night I stayed up late rearranging the clothing in our drawers, to clear out a

"Cake! Apple juice!" Can I just start by saying that this is one of the cutest ages and quite possibly my favourite stage since he was born. There are a few morning tantrums thrown in there to keep me on my toes but otherwise we are having one hell of a time over here in this glorious sunshine. Cyril has finally started using multiple words and phrases and I just can't get enough my favourites are: "Hobo, give rest!" (When Hobson is barking I always say "Hobo, give it a rest man!") "I Nevah ..." (Only Josh, Benny and Matty will get this but the tone is spot on.) "Baby girl, shhh sleeping" (Today he put his head on my tummy and tried to listen to her, he seems to grasp the concept that there is a baby in there but I still think it'll be a bit of a shock when she arrives.) "Oh poor dada" other variations include mama, hobo, rabbie, doggie, you get the gist. "Mama, cuddle." (This will never get old