Hand-Me-Downs And Ice Cream

 

Something I've discovered more so through being pregnant than before, is a great appreciation of gifts and hand-me-downs!

 

I actually sat down and started to write a list of everything we'll need for our tiny, extra family member. I've only covered feeding and cleaning so far and already the list is huge!

And there's so many brands to choose from!

I've never done this before, and it's all getting a bit overwhelming

"which is the right one?"

 

But at least I'm being saved some of the big decision - thankfully!

 

My wonderful parents have saved so much from when me and my sister were babies and they have offered them for myself and Lewis to use for our little bump!

I am SO thankful!

 

We have a cot all sorted, needs a bit of a clean and possibly a re-paint, but this cot was my dad's when he was a baby and has travelled around all of the family babies, so it's definitely a hardy piece of workmanship!

 

We've also got a lovely pram that they had saved.

 

 

Isn't it adorable!

We might have to get a new buggy as well, but it's good to know that we have this if we can't afford the buggy straight away.

 

So many things to buy, and we're running out of months and pay cheques.

It's all whizzing along so quickly!

 

Before we know it, it'll be November and little bump will be on the way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before I get too carried away by the madness, it is still summer!

It's lovely and warm out there,

but I'm getting rather big now and nothing summery fits me any more.

(More shopping to be done!)

 

Without being too much of a grump though, there is one brilliant thing about this

summery weather....

 

Ice Cream!!

 

The ice cream van visits us at work now, and I've never been so overjoyed to hear that twinkly tune of childhood fun!

And best of all, this ice cream van sells my all time favourite ice cream/lolly

 

 

 

Mmmm!

 

I love Zzapps!

 

 

Lewis went for the classic 99 flake

 

I think it's fair to say he rather enjoyed it too!

 

Mmm, the best thing about summer I'd have to say!

And everyone has their little favourite, be it an old classic or one of those rather

glamorous new ones you can get,

 

 

What's yours?

 

 

Enjoy the sunshine folks!

x

 

 

 

 



 



An Omelette Fit For A King!

 

Now, those who know me, know that I can barely boil an egg, let alone cook an omelette!

So I won't try and lie and pretend this is me, but having an ex-chef hubby-to-be comes in super handy sometimes!

 

For anyone who can visually tell the difference between a slice of butter and a slice of cheese 

- apparently, I can not - 

this is for you!

 

 

The first step to omelette awesomeness is preparation:

 

(For 2 people)

 



Here we have:

~ 5 eggs (we're a greedy pair!) mixed with finely cubed, salted butter, some milk, black pepper (adjust to your preference) and a small amount of cream cheese
~ 2 portions of hard cheese, cute into small cubes for easy melting

~ 2 small portions of ham cut into thin (but not too thin!) slices

~ A mixture of healthy spinach, plum tomatoes (room temperature apparently)

 

 

Then on to the cooking!

 

~ First heat the pan. You don't want it scorching hot, but a little more than just warm.

(Lewis tested this by slapping his hand against the pan. I'm not sure what this does, and I personally wouldn't advise it!)

 

~ Pour the egg mixture into the pan and jiggle the pan around to make the mixture settle nicely.

Give it a gentle stir with you spatula too, this helps to melt the butter into the mix.

 

~ Add 1 of the portions of cheese while the mixture is still quite runny so that it melts into the mixture.

 

~ As the egg starts to cook and the base starts to set, make some holes through the cooked base with your spatula and jiggle the pan around. This will let the uncooked egg on the top through to cook.

 

 

Then we come the good bit...

 

~ Add the rest of the ingredients onto the top of your omelette (try to get an even spreading if you can).

 

Mmmm!

 

 

 

~ Cook the omelette for a while longer to cook the egg through and brown the bottom.

 

Now at this point you might want to call it a day with your lovely omelette, but as I reminded Lewis that we are growing a small child, I need my eggs to be cooked all the way through.

Much to his dismay, he popped the omelette under the grill for a minute or 2 to 'obliterate' the eggs into a thoroughly cooked state.

 

To continue...

 

~ Using your spatula, fold your omelette in half like so:

 

 

and cook for another minute.

 

 

And unless you're being REALLY greedy,

 

~ Cut the omelette in half

 

 

 

 



And that's all!

 

Just serve with a few slices of buttered toast

 

Perfection!

It really was a delicious dinner fit for omelette loving kings!

I know that most of you know how to cook an omelette of wonderfulness like this, but to anyone who isn't sure, I hope that this helps.

:)

 

I would like to point out that I took no part in the making of this lovely piece of omelette awesomeness, and the credit goes solely to Mr Lewis for saving me from my inability to cook anything!

 

 

But seeing as how we will be having a small human sharing our lives with us soon, I think I'd better learn how to cook edible food sharpish!

 

 

Hopefully in the near future I will be sharing my cooking attempts with you all, Lewis has bought me a cooking book called "How To Boil An Egg" which sounds like it'd suit me to the ground!

I'll try recreating this dish soon to test my skills and then on to the cook book!

 

 

 

Wish me luck folks!

 

 

 

 

 



Pregnant In Dungarees

 

 

Whenever I dreamed of myself being a pregnant lady, I always imagined myself with my hair up in bunches, wearing a pair of blue, denim dungarees, pottering around being all happy and eating continuous bowls of cereal.

- not the most glamorous of dreams, but to me, perfection!

 

So, on my little to-do list of things to do/get whilst I'm pregnant, along with get an exercise ball and find my local swimming pool, is to buy a pair of dungarees!

:)

 

And I've come so close!

 

 



A dungaree dress still counts right?

 

I am still on the hunt for a pair of trouser dungarees though. Any advice on where to go?

 

Etsy have a few good finds

 

£24.37 from Vaux Vintage

 

£32.49 from Groovy Girl Garb

 

£40.61 from Memory Vintage
I LOVE these!

 

 

 

But I think I'd rather be able to try them on before I buy, I'm not exactly sure what size I'll need with my ever growing bump!

 

 

...The hunt continues!

 

But the dungaree dress has come in handy now that the weather is/was getting warmer, and bump fits in snugly

 

 

Yep, that's scan number 2!

Eap!

 

 

 

A little demonic looking... but still awesome to see what's wriggling around in there!

It really is starting to feel real now.

We're 20 weeks in as of yesterday and starting to feel some movement now.

 

We decided not to find out the sex in the end.

I love not knowing who's in there. It might sound weird, but not really knowing anything about the little human I'm growing makes everything all the more exciting!

I have no plans for it based on it's gender and all of my little wonders and hopes are completely neutral, and that, to me is so important.

 

I can't wait to meet my little bump!

 

x

 



New Pheeple Brooches

 

 

They're coming back...

mostly in the form of wall art pieces, but now in easy to wear brooches too!

 

 

 

The Pheeples are always there, nagging at me to launch them into the world, and I keep telling them that they're technically not allowed out there to reek havoc as they are.

But they've sussed a loophole...

brooches!

 

And in fact, this works out much better for them anyway.

They're fascinated with humans and what we get up to, so what better way to stalk our day to day lives than by sitting on our jacket or bag and constantly watching us on our adventures?!

 

 

 

http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing

 

 

 

 

The little Pheeple brooches are also available in simple face designs too

 

http://folksy.com/shops/RebeccasEmporium

And I have a feeling the Zombie Pheeple brooches might be multiplying quite quickly!

 

fluuurrrffff!!

 

 



They're sure that you'll love them to bits

(no matter how many times I've told them otherwise!)

So keep your eyes peeled, and try not to let them near any jammy dodgers...

you'll regret it!

 

 

 

Have a lovely day folks!

 

x

 

 

 





Starting A Herb Garden

 

 

In one of my previous posts

Planning A Garden

I mentioned that I really wanted to grow my own little herb garden so that we could use fresh herbs with our cooking.

 

Well, we now have the beginnings of our herb garden!

It's not a great variation of herbs for us to use, but it's a start and it was so much fun to put together.

 

 

A little trip to our local garden centre, Englefield Garden Centre and we're ready to get planting!

 

We had a lovely little patch of bricked earth in our garden that was just full of weeds and stones, so we cleared everything out, tidied it up and filled it with a lovely big bag of compost to feed our new herbs.

 

 

 

(making sure not to slice up any worms while we're digging!)

 

 

We did have to use our imaginations a bit when we realised that we didn't actually have any gardening tools.

But as it happens, we had some kitchen utensils that we were going to throw out and they worked just perfectly!

I do wonder what the neighbours might have thought when they heard me ask Lewis if I could borrow the spatula though...

 

And seeing as we were raiding the kitchen for useful things to help with our new garden, I found a use for one of our old saucepans too.

 

 

My new pot of lavender looks quite lovely in this shiny saucepan. I am debating whether to keep the handle on it though, hmm, and what to plant in the other 3 saucepans?

 

So, now we have a lovely plot of Basil, Rosemary and Parsley and a saucepan full of lavender.

 

Parsley

 

Rosemary

 

Basil

 

I also found some lovely slate markers in my local flower shop which look just perfect next to our new baby herbs.

And I thought I'd brighten up our little garden space with this beauty

 

 

I can't remember it's name, but isn't it gorgeous! I'm hoping this will climb all over the place and spread little, yellow pom poms all over our garden.

 

 

All done!

 

I hammered a few nails into the fence to keep our new garden tools to hand, and a great thing is, they'll never rust and they will always be reachable when there's a weeding emergency.

 

 

And of course no garden is complete without a garden gnome...

... or a Playmobil man riding a giant snail.

 

 

 

I can't wait to get some more herbs to fill our little patch up and some pretty little plants to spread around the garden. Fingers crossed that they will grow like crazy and we'll have lots of lovely, fresh herbs to use with our roast dinners.

 

 

x

 

Going To A Gig When You're Pregnant

 

Different people experience pregnancy differently, it's a well know fact.

So when I was umm-ing and arr-ing about going to the Green Day gig at the Emirates Stadium in London as I was settling into my 2nd trimester, different people had different pieces of advice for me.

 

In the end, I felt I'd be fine, just so long as I was sensible with myself.

Besides, we've all got to go out and have some fun!

 

 

 

So, with the festival season upon us, I thought I'd share some advice myself.

 

 

 Firstly - what on earth to wear?!

You and you're little growing bump are going to be in these clothes for the whole day. I was getting a lift with some friends, so had to consider being sat down for a long time and then walking to the stadium and standing and dancing away to Green Day. Whatever I was going to choose, comfort had to be top of the list, but it's a gig! I didn't really want to rock up in baggy trousers and my other half's hoody. So comfortable but fun...

 

 

I decided that prego pants were a must! (H&M)

They're way too big for me at the moment, so I roll down the tops, but they're so comfy to wear, I knew that I'd be just fine in them!

A simple, black strappy top to keep me nice and cool and sneakily cover the rolled down top of my maternity trousers (H&M) and a pretty, light shirt that was a 'hand-me-down' from my sister. It's a wonderful light colour covered in cute, bright owls! I love it!

 

 



 

And if you're going sensible with the clothing, you absolutely have to brighten yourself up with jewellery and accessories!

 

 



 I went for a bright flowery necklace that I picked up from Accessorize a few years ago and a corded, rose quartz pendant, a few bangles and rings and I was set.

 

Except for one very important little treat for myself...

 

 

New summery Converse!

*swoon*

I LOVE them so much!

 

So, feeling good and ready to go, but I am a pregnant lady, and there are a few things I need to remember when I'm at a gig.

 

 Food - make sure you eat during the day. Now food at these places isn't going to be great, so I packed my bag with little snacks and lots of water. Some places don't allow you to take food and drink in, so make sure you can find places to get bottles of water from (keep hydrated!), and try and use your common sense when buying food from a stand.

 

Seating - If there is seating, great! Listed to your body, when you're tired, have a rest, don't push it. No one's going to mind if you're the only one sitting and I think it's best to play it safe rather than tire yourself out completely. If you're not in a seating area, find a space at the back where it's not so crowded and sit on the floor. Make sure you're not hidden though, you don't want people falling over you!

 

Toilets - Yep, you're a pregnant lady, you know how it goes. Make sure you know where the nearest toilet is.

 

 

And above all, enjoy yourself! You've got a wonderful little someone growing away inside you, and they're probably enjoying the gig just as much!

 

 

 



An Interview

 

 

 

I have been interviewed by the lovely Cris over at

 

 

 

 

She's such a lovely lady, and the interview was full of lots of interesting questions

that got me thinking.

www.koalitacraft.blogspot.co.uk

 

 

 

~  "What keeps you motivated"  ~

 

was a great question! Especially at the moment, with getting used to being pregnant and looking forward to being a parent, at the same time as moving house and trying to push my own little Emporium along. It's great sometimes to be reminded, even by yourself, of how you normally keep on top of things!

 

I've been working on my new working space in our spare room since we've moved.

It's taking a while now that I seem to get out of breath from simply moving a box around, but it is sparking my little imagination and really making me want to dive in completely and leave the 'normal' world outside the door!

 

 

 

It's still very much in the developing stages, and I'm not even close to making it my place yet,

but I'm starting to really love it!

 

 

So, from the very embarrassing this:

 

 

 

 

 

To the much more inspiring this:



 

 

 

 

It's still not there yet, you might have noticed the not-so-organised stacking of books on the shelf to the left!

But it's a lovely light, little work space and it's all mine until the little newbie is born!