Created this last night, after being so jealous of a friends expertise at creating a card for us with a similar design just after Reagan was born. I have wondered how it was done for ages and decided yesterday to do some tutorials off the internet and hey presto I can now do it!
It now means I can look at some of the websites I edit and maybe add a little extra professionalism, at least in how they look, by adding a collage banner to them?
Jamie, as I say often in these blogs and will continue to say, is such a great mommy and Reagan really does flourish because of the time and effort she puts in to stimulating that young fresh mind. Things as simple as talking to Reagan all day and constantly involving Reagan in everything she does helps her development, reading to her and showing her the pictures in the book is fantastic see if you watch just how fascinated Reagan is what mommy is doing. Thing is mommy has to be able to leave her to amuse her self at times so that she can get on with things around the house and although she has hanging toys over her in her bouncy chair we have found CBeebies is a great Reagan sitter…it’s something that before becoming a parent I would have said is just a lazy way of avoiding actually interacting with your child but since Reagan came along and seeing just how many hours we put into making her life rich and fulfilling 30 minutes in front of the telly watching very colourful and at times educational programming can be a necessary distraction that allows us time to get stuff done.
I went swimming with the women yesterday, at the Lifestyle Centre where Jamie goes to work out, and was so proud of how confident Reagan was. We all got into our swimming gear and walked to the small family pool where Jamie got in and I handed Reagan to her then followed then in. It was interesting to see her lock her eyes on yours, just like bath times, trusting her whole life in you and being confident enough to kick and splash vigorously enjoying the experience even when water goes on her face. It was a wonderful experience for me to see what they do when I’m at work and I got so much from it I was also very impressed with the Centre itself too. (No photos because it’s not allowed)
I watched me first World Cup final last night thinking if I wait to see England in one I may never see one? My impression of the match was Spain were the better side and Holland should be ashamed of themselves for their bullyboy tactics choosing to kick lumps out of the Spaniards instead of playing football. I also think if we’d played Spain at any point in the tournament it would have been an even more embarrassing exit than it was at the hands of the Germans…! I will of coarse ‘believe’ again that we can win a trophy when the European Championships start in a few weeks time, that’s just what we do as England fans?
Woke up hungover after a nice get together at the Boars Head for Antony’s “leaving….oh no I’m not it’s all gone Pete Tong, see you Monday” do? Followed by a lovely “lazing in the garden coz it’s warm kinda lets have a drink” night with Jamie!!!
We went to Dunhelm Mill in Crewe to replace some chipped and broken pottery we have amassed since Jamie arrived….strange I never had any before hummmmmm? When we got there they had discontinued the pattern so we had to buy a new SET of plates bowls small plates and cups with a sphere design (do you want your dinner on ya spheres er go on then?) While in there I got that hungover type sweaty feeling you sometimes get when you need to eat because your body is about to kill you and thought I need to be near a bog very soon! We bought our new pottery and left the drive home was swift and uneventful but on arrival home Jamie was immediately left to sort out Reagan and the car….I’ll leave it there I think!
After sustinating me self with cheese on toast I got a little Reagan time and watched the Qualifying for the British F1 Grand Prix, while Jamie got ready to got to the Middlewich High School Summer Fair. The Fair was the first time I had returned to my last school in 20 odd years and when we found a unlocked door, away from the fair area, we went in and had a walk around the school. I thought it was amazing how recognisable it was although it had changed so much. I enjoyed explaining to Jamie where I went to classes and what I got up to in these places.
Texting my friend Foz photos asking if he remembers this part and that part and laughing at his reactions. We walked around for half an hour then went back to the door to get out and it had been LOCKED? I know we weren’t supposed to be in there but I went to try a few door but they were all locked, it was funny but I was beginning think about who I was going to call to get out of there lol We eventually found a fire door at the other end of the building and escaped through there so it ended well Phew!
We left the fair and sat on market field to change and feed Reagan and while we were there a bird shit on Reagan which is supposed bring you luck well as I write this we haven’t checked our lottery ticket so who knows? We hatched a plan whilst there to have a Mexican night because Jamie had a Margarita craving so decided to go the whole hog and hot mexican chicken and tortilla chips with salsa and guacamole dips too
We walked to Tesco and then bargain booze to pick up supplies and decided to walk home a long the canal calling at the Kings Lock for refreshments on the way All in all a good day and on our arrival at home set about preparing the food and drinks WOW theose Margaritas were fantastic and very moreish lol The food was spicy hot and the the relaxed evening was fantastic even doing some internet shopping while we drank and talked
Unfortunately I have to announce that since Saturday Jamie has been taken ill, with the incurable disease of Beriberi and believe I can pinpoint the infection down to our visit to Northwich on Saturday
Since then she has turned into a full blown Crackberry addict!!! Her new purple Blackberry takes up all her time configuring SMS to ding, G-mails to dong, BB IM to ting and BB E-mails to tong sorting out contacts into files so that each person only has on file with all their info in one file.
She now finds it impossible to put it down and is constantly organising her and Reagan’s whole lives in the calender part and creating lists in the memo part, playing music in the audio bit and taking photo’s and video’s to keep her mom upto date with Reagan’s progress
Now she’s found BB App World who knows where all this will end? I bet she does, I bet it’s marked as a date in her calender with a reminder set that bongs 30 minutes before it happens hahahahahahaha!
BLACKBERRY’s they are seriously addictive, you’ve been warned!
P.S. Glad you like it though dude!
During pregnancy Jamie regularly went to “Pregnancy Yoga” and got a lot from it on how to relax and enjoy the whole experience. We took Reagan at 10days old to show her off to Alison and the class and while we were there they had a photographer taking photo’s for a new website.
If you follow this link:
http://wendymoranphotographic.com/home.html?lb=e47930f8850cfb3
I will start by saying “it’s getting easier”!
Tonight Jamie planned to go to the gym after tea so it was just me and Reagan for the evening, and even though I knew a couple of days ago that it was Dad doing bedtime again there was no anxiety at all at the prospect! I came home from work and spent some time with Reagan while mommy finished off her Chicken Chasseur extravaganza (it was actually ace, really tasty and I loved it!)
Jamie left at 19:10 and so did Reagan and me, our plan was to take Jack for a walk and get some fresh evening air in our lungs and then return home to chill together for a while until bedtime. We walked into town, waving at mommy as she drove by, and enjoyed a lazy stroll along the canal. It was warm but I put Reagan in a hoody and tucked an aunt Sandi blanket around her legs just to keep her cozy and we meandered back home where Reagan napped for a while and I washed the pots and then we went upstairs and posted the last couple of posts together.
At twenty past eight I started the bath running and got Reagan ready for it wrapping her in a towel to keep her warm. The bath was just about perfect when I tested it and only tested it once now getting a bit of confidence with the old ‘elbow test’ so I placed her carefully in. She stared straight into my eyes the whole time, while I put her in the bath, a sort of “I trust you dad, even though I know this could get messy, just don’t drop me” kind of look!
Once in there she loved it and her favourite thing is pushing herself off the side off the bath which she is so strong at doing…! This time I was pretty confident with the whole thing and remembered soap which I forgot last time I was so stressed but this time Reagan got time to play as well as a good wash before it was time to get her out and keep her warm! So once in the towel again we went straight to the bedroom where I dried her off and put a nappy back on and then moisturised her all over so she actually smelled nice too, her mommy would have been so proud to see that! Next I put her into her PJ’s and put her into her sleeping bag leaving on the bed while I went to make her a bottle and although she fussed she didn’t cry!
She ate some of the bottle but she very quickly lost interest in it so I read her “The Ugly Duckling” (can I just say how RACIST it was and that those other ducks should be brought to book for that kind of behaviour towards a defenceless minority!) anyway a bit of thumb sucking and the story sent a very tired Reagan off and with a careful lift from bed to cot she was happily dreaming of seeing mommy again in a few hours
Went for a walk on Sunday morning as a family and did “our walk” which before Reagan was born we did a lot but this was Reagan first time so we had to show her all the sights, first of all the ducklings, although if I honest we were only five minutes in to the walk and she’d nodded off already?
The next stop is ‘Norman’s Wood and a bench where we usually stop and watch the world pass by for a while a lovely spot to just chill in the sun (when it’s out) and Reagan took to that concept very quickly!
We then asked a passer by to take one of all three of us and we got this one which we all like when we saw it!
Next we had to negotiate the hill down into ‘Norman’s Wood’ which can be tricky without a pram but Jamie managed just fine ….”and nobody died” lol
Once in the wood Jack and me got a photo taken. A rare thing now Reagan’s on the scene taking up all the limelight 😉
Off then down Coal Pit Lane stopping photo’s and briefly to pet the horses
Down by the tip and onto Croxton Lane we walked to the “Welcome to Middlewich Sign to add Reagan to the growing list of people who have a photo peering over the top of it
Last weekend we went to look for a new car because we were still driving one borrowed from the garage that condemned our old Vectra and we were ready to purchase the new Forster vehicle. Apart from a house, a car is one of the biggest purchases you make in life and its a lot of money if you get it wrong, so we had been looking on the internet for a week or so and seen a couple of possiblities but had been told about a Mondeo at the garage where our old one was and it sounded good so we had a look.
First thoughts were that it was a nice looking car and the main driver, Jamie, was impressed but we needed to look deeper even though the guys at the garage had told us that two of them had owned it and the last one had only sold it to Ron (the garage owner) because his wife didn’t like driving it because it was too big. They also told us how well looked after it had been only having three previous owners and the first had always brought it back here for servicing, then the two mechanics had owned it and both knew what it had done recently like new tyres, cam belt suspension bushes etc.
So we now knew its history and that it had always been looked after we took it for a test drive and again it ticked all the boxes with a smooth ride nice clean interior and although Jamie mentioned its “lack of performance” I reminded her that her days of drag racing the local “Chad’s” are over now she’s a mommy with responsibilities…it’s driving Miss Daisy not driving like crazy, now!
The garage owner was away on holiday until Thursday so we took it back to the garage and asked that they keep us in mind first if anyone else looks at it and we will talk to Ron on Thursday. We left knowing that if he was asking the right price we had just driven our new car, so the search was over at the first car!
Thursday came (yesterday) and it was time to open negotiations, something I never feel comfortable with because they are doing that sort of thing all day everyday and I get the oppertunity once or twice in ten years? I rang and after pleasantries just said “How much are you asking for the Mondeo?” when he said £1200 I just replied “OK, we will come up there later today to talk about it” and bid him good day.
Jamie and me then spent the day plotting our tactics, we rang the scrap dealer to find out how much we could get for our old car if we drove it up and signed it over to be crushed and the best price we got was £140 so we knew even if we pain the garage the full asking price we drive the old car around the corner and get 140 quid back straight away but figured we could use that knowledge in negotiotions at the garage later. Next we checked the Auto Trader website to find similer cars of the same spec and standard to see what the market price was and it came out from £900 to £1500 depending on criterea so he was asking about the right sort of money but we thought £1200 is his top end so we need to offer low so we decided to offer £900 plus the Vectra and see what he says… We would also take cash, every car dealer loves cash they can do a lot with cash …
I was nervous all day knowing this is way out of my comfort zone but Jamie kept reassuring me that the worst he can say is “No!” which is right but I have to stand there and be a man with big cahonies and barter with the guy. We decided to take Reagan to tug at any heartstrings there may be (LOL) and we practiced what I was going to say and how I was going to say it too! When the time came Jamie picked me up from work and we drove to the garage with £900 pounds in cash in an envelope, paperwork for the Vectra and a phone number for the insurance company so we could get instant cover if we can drive it away if successfully buy the car.
It went something like this:
“Your asking £1200, would you take £900 + the Vectra?”
He takes sharp intake of breath through gritted teeth
“I don’t think I can go that low!”
I stay silent, letting him comeback with his next offer…
“I could give you £150 for the Vectra?”
I bet you could, I thought, knowing its scrap value! So I rubbed me chin a bit and said
“Give us a couple of minutes then and Let us have a think and talk about it!”
My thoughts were he has only knocked £10 quid off so let’s say £1000 (which was probably our limit anyway) + the Vectra and if he says yes, we have a deal.
So back to the office and our last offer, I placed Reagan on the chair between us:
“Will you take £1000 in cash plus the Vectra?”
A little hesitation before
“Alright then..” and the deal was done.
Jamie and I were happy with the outcome, which I believe is the only thing that matters because when all said and done if you are happy with the deal it doesn’t matter what the deal was! I was personnally pleased too because I had carried out our plan and stood me ground a bit in the process so I went out side to call the insurance company while he and Jamie did the paper work, and 20 minutes later drove away in our shiney new Ford Mondeo 1.8L LX Zetec 5door “family” hatchback!
After filling it with petrol at the local station we decided to go out for dinner at the Salt Cellar and celebrate our purchase! Happy Days!