I am proud of myself...

I have been teaching myself to sew in the evenings while Gareth studies. And to explain my sewing ability, well lets just say that they only subject I failed in school was Needlework, its not a talent that I have. But today I finished my first project all by myself from start to finish.... and this is the result.....

Now we are trying to convince James that he needs to take the romper off. As you can see, there are some threads still hanging off of it, but he loves it. It is a bit wonky and lopsided in places, but I have learnt a lot. Next project is finishing off a Cape for James and then I am making him a Monster Protection Blanket because he has been scared of them a lot lately, and this fear seems to be growing.....

Helping the change

Change

I do not believe in New Years Resolutions, I have tried them and I never stick to them, but I do believe in change,especially if it is for the better. And I have been thinking of ways that I would like to change our lives, how could I improve them? And these are the small changes that I wan to make:

Household-
1) Instead of using harsh chemical products, I want to start using green, friendlier homemade products. i.e. use bicarbonate of soda, lemon and vinegar more, leave flat Coca Cola in my toilet for 1.5 hours to get rid of limescale, make a solution of 450ml water, 55ml white vinegar,1/4 teaspoon tea tree oil and 1/4 teaspoon lavender - use wherever a disinfectant spray is needed, etc.
2) Clean the kitchen before I go to bed at night. Its so much nicer to wake up to a clean kitchen than leaving the dishes for the next day while James has his nap.
3) Start reusing my shopping bags
4) Start doing the washing during the week and not leaving it for Gareth to do on weekends
5) Start making more of our foods. I already cook almost all our foods from scratch, and I make all our bread, but I also want to start making things like our tomato sauce and jams from scratch. I will evenually also get a pasta maker and start making all our pasta's from scratch too.

Personal-
6) Eat breakfast everyday
7) Only eat a chocolate once every two weeks
8) Only spend an hour a day on the internet (thanks Abby)
9) Take my vitamin everyday

James -
10) Have an actual activity planned for everyday
11) Have a new word a day for him to learn
12) Go to the play groups so that he can interact with other children more
13) Give James his vitamin everyday

Financially
14) Save all our loyalty points (i.e. Boots, Tesco, Nectar, etc) for Christmas time as then Christmas should not cost us anything extra.
15) Be accountable for all purchases that I make.

So there are no new drastic changes, just small changes that should make our lives run a little better and give me more time to spend with Gareth and James.

Mission Abort, Mission Abort

James was doing so well, he even asked to use the potty when he needed to wee on day 3, but I have decided to stop and wait for the summer time for 2 reasons. Number one - his eczema has flared up terribly. Its all raw and has spread to his bum. And no, its not just from the wee going down his legs when he wee's in his pants. It is on the outside of his legs as well. My Mother In Law thinks that he might be reacting to the carpet, as he was not wearing any trousers, and I think she may be right. Reason two - my house was starting to smell damp. Where James managed to get wee on the carpet I was scrubbing with water and disinfectant, but this stays damp for a while and with it being -5C outside it is difficult to open the windows, especially if your son is only wearing tops and undies. So, summer time it is, but we are still offering him the option of going to the potty.

Today's word was 'Leaves'

Today went better than yesterday.... no weather conditions, except for bright and sunny were felt in my house. James learnt to say leaves today. We went to the Woodland Walk this afternoon and must have spent a good 45 minutes throwing leaves in the air and chasing each other. We then took the actual walk, crunching the leaves under our feet (and using it to get rid of the dog poo that James had stood in) and spying on squirrels that were running up trees. We plan on going back tomorrow to collect some leaves and bring them back home to make a picture. Tomorrow's word is going to be clouds (assuming that there will be clouds in the sky - this is England after all), so hopefully tomorrow night I can display a picture made with leaves and cotton wool (clouds).

On the domestic front things went well. I even managed to do 2 loads of washing, and I hung them up to dry - that's impressive for me. Something I did learn today was that when your self esteem is at a low you should not sort of your clothes wardrobes.... um, yeah. I now realise just how much clothing I have, but how little actually fits me......... Its time to get back to those scales.