Mr and Mrs O's First Christmas

Around this time last year, we were preparing for our wedding...family members were landing left right and centre at Heathrow and Gatwick...and this country experienced the worst snow in a long while. Eeek! We live hundreds of miles away from our immediate family, so we planned to travel down on 24th December. Little did we know that Mother Nature had different plans. We were snowed under and could not leave the area, so around 12pm on 24th December, Mr O made an executive decision 'we were staying put!'. So, immediately Little Miss O and I went on a hunt for a turkey (!)....

'Excuse me, where are your turkeys?'
'hahahahaha, you want to buy a turkey on Christmas eve?! hahahaha'
'This is not a joke, I am getting married in a week, I am stranded away from my family who have all flown into the country for the occasion. All I need is a turkey!'
'awwww [looking embarrassed], well you can get a frozen turkey in the freezer section'
'I don't want a FROZEN turkey, they take 2 days to defrost! Tomorrow is Christmas Day!'
'Sorry love, I can't help you!'

: (

I was SO disappointed...obviously, there are no turkeys on Christmas eve BUT I wished that the shop would have reserved one especially for me, just in case...

So, we spent Christmas just Little Miss O, Mr O, Mr O's cousin and I. They all fell asleep whilst I cooked dinner and it was completely different from the Christmas that the rest of our families were having in London! I love hearing the story of how my cousins tried to convince older members of our family that Beyonce was in fact Beyonce - just with different hair and different clothes! ahahaha

So, this year, I am all set for Christmas...I am being a bit like Monica Gellar-Bing and will be trying to outdo/undo last year's Christmas!

We will be hosting 'Mr and Mrs O's First Christmas'. I am making a VERY big deal about it...about Jesus' birth, about the going to church (all of us together), about eating together and sharing gifts and having fun TOGETHER. I cannot wait!!!

Now I just have to finish off this advent calendar for baby girl, so that we can start counting down the days!

Bring on Christmas Day....

Mrs O
x

Christmas is coming...Mummy and Daddy are getting crafty...

Christmas for me is a time for love and a time for family; a time for giving and a time for sharing; a time for joy and a time for laughter and peace. 

I have always loved Christmas and just about everything that comes with it these days -  the special church service, the feast, the family, the gifts(!). Both Mr O and I have really fond childhood memories of Christmas time and we're keen to create warm memories for Baby Girl too. 

One thing that I always remember is the gorgeous advent calendar lovingly handmade by my elder sister during her textiles GSCE. It was over a metre long and had 24 Christmas themed pouches... there were Christmas tree pouches, present pouches, snowman pouches and the 24th of December was a Father Christmas pouch, if I remember correctly. Our parents filled each pouch with random confectionery and myself and my younger siblings took it in turns to retrieve the contents each morning and share them out. We loved our advent calendar!

Christmas is fast approaching and Little Miss O is constantly asking about her role as Mary in her nursery nativity play, talking about 'Baby Jesus' and questioning the whereabouts of 'Father Christmas'. So, Mr O and I feel that this year an extra special advent calendar is in order...

That's right, we have taken it upon ourselves to make (!) our gorgeous mini-we an advent calendar. Our brief is 'classic but cute, gender neutral, pouch style, advent calendar garland, with nativity not just 'Christmas' theme'.... 

Depending on the quality of the finished product and how it fares this year, we're hoping to use it year after year! Now, we're still in the making stage of our little creation but here are some of the advent calendars that have inspired us...

Source: philipsfab5

 Source: liltulip

Source: JennMatthews

 Source: pickles

Source: making the world cuter

Now, we can't promise that our 'version' will be as hot as these lovelies, BUT we still look forward to seeing Little Miss O's face when she sees her bespoke advent calendar garland next Wednesday morning...bring on the festive fun!

Do you remember having an advent calendar? Or is it just me?! ? : )

Mrs O

x

Little Miss O's stage debut!!!

Winter is 100% my favourite season. I can almost smell it coming in the crisp autumn air...

As though I wasn't already excited enough about Christmas being right around the corner... but I've just gotten even more excited!!!

Little Miss O has been chosen to be Mary in her first EVER Nativity Play. woooooo hoooooo! Now, don't get me wrong, I would have been excited if she were a shepherd, a star, even if she were cattle, I'd have been excited! But, Little Miss O is going to be Mary - MARY! I was so proud, I couldn't contain it and made up a song on the spot:

'go Mary, go Mary, go... go Mary, go Mary, go'.

Little Miss O joined in and it was an instant cause for celebration. I'm not sure the nursery has ever seen anything like it! You see, I was NEVER chosen to be Mary, and even though I never wanted to be the centre-stage, I always knew that was the role given to the best actress in the class. That Little Miss O has been given this role at such a young age, fills me with joy!

Being me, I asked the nursery why they had chosen Little Miss O...? I mean, let's face it, she doesn't look like the Mary in the Nativity Book we bought last Christmas. They said it was because she's the most confident - in the entire nursery - even more so than the 4 year olds! To top it all off, when Little Miss O and I were talking about her stage debut, she said that she wanted to wear her hair in 'afro-style'. I can;t help but think that purchasing Mary Hoffman's Amazing Grace was one of the best buys of the year so far!

We are so so blessed to have a daughter who oozes confidence (you should see her wiggle) and actually wants to wear her hair as it grows out of her head! I know plenty of grown folk that couldn't say the same and this makes us feel like we're doing something right - hooray...!

This is a joyous time in our household, we're looking forward to our first Christmas as Husband and Wife, our First Anniversary and now we've got Little Miss O's stage debut to look forward to as well.

Bring on December!

Mrs O
x

Hallelujah!

Wow - the past 12 hours have been go-go-go!

Firstly, work was just a comedy of terribly unfunny errors, then baby girl started wheezing at nursery, we collected her and headed straight for A&E, it appears she may have asthma! : (

Baby girl stayed home with Daddy and I had to shoot back to work (gotta love a Daddy that steps up to the plate!). I was totally worried about Little Miss O (who wouldn't be) but she was home, playing with Mr O, having fun and not really understanding what that prescription on the kitchen counter meant. Mr O convinced me that this little hiccup gave them an extra half-day of daddy-daughter bonding time, and that if I stayed I would be depriving him of it!

Hmmm, so I went back to work. I did that 'compartmentalising' thing..... you know that thing you do when you feel you just HAVE to get something done, despite a gazillion other things going on at the same time....

...anyway, so I managed to get some stuff sorted at work... headed out of work, lost my swipe-card, found my swipe-card, grabbed a packet of crisps for emergency energy, ran for the bus (I wouldn't never usually, but I wanted to be there to put Little Miss O to bed), found a spare seat and started proof-reading chapter 6 of my 10 chapter thesis (whilst eating hula hoops!)...got off the bus...popped into tesco for provisions requested by Mr O - meanwhile, filling my sister and Mum in on the days hectic events

I walked the 10 minute walk from the tesco to our home, readjusting my handbag, shopping bags, file and phone as I went! I got home.... (yey!) played with and read to Little Miss O, got her ready for bed and stayed with her till she fell asleep....returned downstairs to Mr O with a headache(! - now it was his turn to need me!), searched for paracetamol, found paracetamol, returned to lounge, Mr O asleep!. So, I dried the laundry that I put in this morning before work! inhaled my dinner (lovingly prepared by Mr and Little Miss O during daddy-daughter bonding time, watched a TV programme about a Nigerian family, sent emails to the team for tomorrow (in anticipation that I will oversleep!), finished proof-reading chapter 6, checked my blogger account...started writing this post after realising that this has been one he$% of a day!

I kind of like recording days like this - because it helps me to appreciate the straight-forward and uneventful days! If ever there was a day that I was SURE that the big JC carried me through - it is today! By reciting the serenity prayer and by JC putting the right people in the right place, at the right time - all has ended well with the day.

Hallelujah!

Mrs O
x

Serenity Prayer

I'm sure we've all heard the short version of the serenity prayer in some form or other...

This is the prayer that I recite to myself sometimes...usually when I am scared, disappointed or facing some sort of life challenge. But this week, I am saying it, all day and every single day! This is the week that I plan to resubmit my thesis! Eeeek! As the prayer goes... 

God, grant me the...

Serenity to accept things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can, and the

Wisdom to know the difference

Patience for the things that take time

Appreciation for all that I have, and

Tolerance for those with different struggles

Freedom to live beyond the limitations of my past ways, the

Ability to feel your love for me and my love for others and the

Strength to get up and try again even when I feel it is hopeless.

I just find this such an amazing piece to keep in my head and it has comforted many people when I've shared it with them too.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs O

x

Little Miss O says the not-so-FUNNIEST things...

Little Miss O: Mummy, I'm scared...
Me: Why are you scared?
Little Miss O: ..because that lady is fat!
Me: (shocked and convinced I had misheard) WHAT did you say?!
Little Miss O: I'm scared because that lady is FAT!
Me: But you can't say that sweetie pie, the lady might be upset, because people don't like it when you call them fat!
Little Miss O: (looking very confused) But I'm scared...

Oh dear!

Luckily on this occasion we were in the car, so no offence was caused, but I'm a tad concerned as this isn't the first time that she has announced being 'scared' of a person. The first time was in the supermarket.

It went like this:

Little Miss O: Mummy, I'm scared...
Me: (really worried, as this was the first time she had ever said that!) Oh no sweetie pie, why are you scared...?
Random-heavily-bearded Man (pops out of nowhere!): I think she's scared of me.
Me (trying to escape the aisle!): Oh no, I'm sure it's something else...
Little Miss O: I'm scared Mummy (this time pointing up at the man!)
Random-heavily-bearded Man: ahahahaha
Me: I am SO sorry about this, maybe if you just flash her a smile then!
Random-heavily-bearded Man: (*smile*)
Little Miss O: (*smile*)

I love her innocence and I love that she is confident enough to say exactly whatever she feels BUT I think my cutie pie and I need to have a little chat about political correctness and timing perhaps! : ) Eeek!

I mean shouting 'look Mummy, that's a WILLY' as we approach the sausage section in the supermarket is one thing, but I just have no idea what she is going to say next - and worst of all, who she is going to say it to!

Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing? If so, what is a Mum to do (apart from snigger quietly to myself)! 

Mrs O
x

All will be well...by God's grace!

I have FINALLY finished a final draft of my thesis following my examiners feedback.... dun dun dun....

Thanks be to God for giving me the energy, creating the time and space for me to think through things...to enhance my thesis. Really, I should be saying thanks for the opportunity! Thank God for providing Mr O, who is ever supportive. I really couldn't wish for a better husband - Mr O - you rock!! Thank God for Little Miss O - that she always -ALWAYS brings a smile to my face..even on the the roughest of days. Thank God for my Mummy who is always there when I need her...helping with maintaining our home whilst I am busy with work/study/Liana. Mummy dearest, you're officially the best. I wish that day by day, I could grow to have your patience, grace and kind heart.

I'm pressing 'send' today on my thesis resubmission email, and I pray that God helps my examiners to understand where I am coming from, and for them to pass a favourable opinion of my thesis and let me graduate (lol)!!!! Ultimately though, I surrender this situation to the Lord Almighty...there is no point pretending it's all down to me... it isn't...

Now I'm off to spend the weekend with some of my favourite people - sorting out our house(!), playing and chilling with my beau, we may even chuck in a Disney movie...!!!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs O
x

Mummy-Tummy-Ness...

So, it's no secret that I'm a Mummy and surprise surprise my body is not the same as it was before I had Little Miss O and I'm quite OK with this. Funnily enough, I put on very little weight during our pregnancy and my bump was always really small. I hardly ate anything for months due to morning sickness and I had really 'healthy' cravings for things like satsumas and Waitrose apple juice (it really only was Waitrose that I could drink)! I have horrible memories of Mr O force-feeding me tomato soup (bless him). From the back, I was convinced that I didn't even look pregnant, though I'm sure the obligatory 9-month waddle gave the game away!

When Little Miss O was born, I lost a lot of weight - and quickly. We were both doing really well with the breastfeeding and coupled with the stress of organising our wedding over 200 miles away, plus trying to complete my PhD, I was burning off the calories from my food as it was being prepared! I actually dropped below my pre-preg. weight....BUT there was one thing that didn't budge - the bulge (aka 'the pouch')- you know that soft Mummy-tummy-ness that is all too familiar to anyone who has had a baby (even if you got rid of it, you would've had it atleast for a day!). Well, I still have it and if caught under the wrong lighting, at the wrong angle, I could easily look as though I am at the start of my second trimester (eeek!). With little time/energy/motivation/or even care(!) to exercise, I sought quick fixes. I don't go as far as yummie tummie gear, but I regularly do a whole host of other things...

- well fitting and tailored clothing. The shops that I find good for dresses and tops - without breaking the bank are: GAP, Marks and Spencer (their limited collection is actually really nice), Armani Xchange, Dorothy Perkins (yes really!), French Connection and I hate to say it, but...TopShop (my former clothing nemesis!). I can walk into these shops and usually I find stuff that fits...

- magic knickers. I am not ashamed to admit it! These are an absolute God send! I did try the spanx brand, but I wasn't so keen...it's Marks and Spencers own brand all the way for me! I think I have 4 varieties (again, I am not ashamed to tell cyberspace!) and when I need instant lipo, I don't leave the house without them...

- waist belts - to be used with caution though girls, they can create muffin tops. You've been warned!!! : )

- anything with a bit (but not too much) stretch/lycra/spandex...

This is me - 3 months post pregnancy using all of the above tips and wearing my 2nd favourite dress!

- accessories that detract from the mummy-tummy-ness, like statement jewellery, my trademark pashmina, a pair of cute heels...anything!

- limiting unhealthy foods and alcohol - this sounds obvious, but a bar of chocolate/cake fix a day is probably not helping my case! I have a real sweet tooth, so I too find it hard to deny myself, but I'm trying...

- then there is exercise... I plan to start doing some real scheduled exercise (and I use the term loosely). Why bother now though? Well, truthfully,  although I accept my mummy-tummy-ness, I will probably accept my soon-to-be yummy-mummy-non-tummy-ness just as readily!

I guess that these tips would apply to anyone who feels they could work on their mid-region...but especially to us gal's whose bellies have (beyond our control, I might add!) expanded, near exploded and then snapped back into roughly, but not quite, the same shape!

So let's raise a cupcake (!) 'carrot stick' to well tailored, stretchy but not too stretchy garments, accessories, magic knickers, cute heels and (*cough*) exercise...

Mrs O
x

My new favourite song! 'I love my hair....'

...I just stumbled across this video and I HAD to share!



I can't wait to share it with Little Miss O tomorrow - what a way to kick off her day!
'I love my hair...I really really love my haaaaiiiir!'

Hooray for Sesame Street - it's almost worth getting SKY for! : )p