I currently have peanut M&M cookie bars baking in the oven. Fingers crossed they turn out okay. I don’t think I used enough butter but I didn’t want to mess it up by adding more. If not, I’ll know for next time. They looked gorgeous before I put them in the oven though . I’m making a chicken tikka masala for dinner with naan bread, onion bhaji’s and vegetable samosa’s. I love curry. I might make some shortbread or rice pudding later. I have been wanting to do some baking for ages and I’ve finally gone and bought some flour and things to make what I want to make. Whatever turns out okay, I will be taking photo’s of so keep an eye on my Flickr account.

The title of the blog says “excited!” because I cannot wait for Christmas! I bought some more presents today (Meghan’s Christmas Day outfit, a book for her, a DVD for Emelye and some silver and red baubles for the tree) and its just got me all excited. I have loads more to buy but I LOVE Christmas shopping so I can’t wait until Alex gets paid so I can get it all done.

I went for a tour of the primary school where I was thinking of sending Meghan this morning. We only just made it in time because I had to wake Meghan up. The day she decides to have a lie in, I need to be out. Anyway, the school is lovely. I really got a great feeling when I was in there and I’d feel very happy sending Meghan to that school. I need to phone the playgroup up that is on the school grounds as its actually separate from the school itself. She can start playgroup at two and half and then she’d start nursery at three. Thats less than two years away! I think it will be really good for her when she starts as she will be interacting with other children more than she does now. They are sending me a prospectus and application form in the post so hopefully Meghan can get a place as there isn’t that many.

As of yesterday, Meghan is now on cows milk. She had her 7-9 month check-up (yes at 12 months) and the health visitor advised me to change her over to cows milk as she will start gaining too much weight on the formula.  You wouldn’t even know I’d changed her milk as she drinks it like she drank the formula. Only problem now is that I’m getting through milk really quickly! I went shopping today though so I bought six pints of whole milk just for Meghan.

Right I better go and check on the cookies and start on Meghan’s dinner.

You’ll never guess. Alex and I had a night out on Friday! I haven’t been out with him since about June and the whole night I was deciding whether to go home or not because Meghan wouldn’t go to sleep. Friday, she went straight to sleep for me and didn’t wake up at all the whole time we were out! Amy babysat with her friend Nikki and I had such a nice time. We got home at about 11.40PM but I wanted to stay out later. Alex was hungry and tired so we just got food and then got a taxi home. We’re gonna go out again when he gets paid at the end of next month. I think we might just got to the cinema instead though next time.

Saturday we went into town to get Halloween costumes for Emelye and Meghan. We got a female vampire costume for Emelye as thats what she wanted but we couldn’t find anything for Meghan. I might have a look on ebay and see if anything is finishing today so it will get here before Wednesday. We also went for a meal at a bar/restaurant called 15 Cairo in town. I had a calzone (which was HUGE) and Alex had spaghetti bolognese. We also got a garlic bread with cheese to share and some chips for Meghan (she’d already had her lunch but she would have just wanted ours if we hadn’t have gotten her that). The food was really nice and it wasn’t that expensive. For all that with two drinks of coke each it came to just over £25. Can’t wait to go again.

We picked Emelye up after going into town. She’s just gone home now.  Alex is working today so I’ve had since she woke up this morning. Meghan’s having a nap so I better go and do some housework while I have the chance.

Before I do anything else I thought I better blog. I keep trying to and then getting distracted and now its been four days so its been long enough.

Well, I finished my book, and I’ve also finished the rest of Lord of the Flies. The Abortionist’s Daughter was really good but I’d pretty much figured out who was the one who killed her near the beginning. Lord of the Flies did take me a while to get into but I’m glad I read it. Thats another off my list of books I have to read before I die. There’s not actually a list, more of a mental list but its there. I’m now reading Getting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon. It looks funny and its started off pretty well.

Meghan and I went into town yesterday to meet with my friend Aimee. I hadn’t seen her since Meghan’s birthday party and obviously with it being a party, I couldn’t spend any proper time with her. She’s back at university next week (its half term) so I don’t know when I will see her next. She hardly gets time between university, homework and spending time with Pete, her boyfriend.

I started watching Underworld: Evolution earlier while I was putting Meghan to bed and I’m going to finish it off when I got up to bed. Alex is practicing tonight and its not his thing so I’ll finish it off before he comes home. We’re a bit slow on watching 24 at the moment. He’s been too tired after work and with him working six days out of seven (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) the only thing he wants to do when he gets home is sleep. He’s practicing three nights a week too since they have their own room now.

Well, I better wash up before I go to bed. We have a gas fitting coming in the morning to come and look at the fitting in the wall for our new cooker (which has been sat in the kitchen for the past two months) to give us a price as to how much it will cost. We also have a skip being delivered to finally get rid of all the crap we have in the back garden and so we can take our bedroom carpet ready for Alex to fit the wooden flooring. We phoned up about ten places today to price a skip up and for the size we want, one place was asking for £180 and we have gotten one for £75. Its ridiculous how much some companies can charge.

I really should. I’m tired and I did plan on having a bath but now I don’t think I can be bothered. I just want to get in bed and read my book (which by the way I am half way through already, I love it) until Alex gets home from band practice. I won’t tell you what I’d like to do next. My mother reads this .

When I bathed Meghan tonight I didn’t put her in her seat, I just sat her in the bath itself. She’s one now (dear God) so I don’t think she really needs a seat to make sure she doesn’t fall over in the bath. She absolutely loved it! She loved being able to move about as she wanted and although she was wary at first, she soon got into the idea. She stood up most of the time and walked along the side of the bath talking away. She got a couple of Dora bath toys for her birthday (some off Amy and some off Emelye’s mum) so with not being in the seat, she could actually play with them properly.

The story before bedtime is still working. I don’t know whether its just a Dora story that works or just a story full stop because I’ve only been reading from her Dora book. I’ll try a different one tomorrow night.

Like I said, I love the book I’m reading. Considering I started it two days ago and I’m half way through already that says it all. Its not a very long book but most of the books I’m reading haven’t been very long but they’ve taken me ages. I haven’t touched Lord of the Flies since last Monday but I’ll pick it up again once I’ve finished this. I’m hoping to get it finished before I go to the library on Tuesday.

Just thought I’d blog quick before Alex gets back with the band. I can’t blog when there’s other people around other than people I really know. Its like reading my diary and I know everyone who has access to the internet can read my blog but its different when your being watched when your typing.

I went up to Mothercare today to pay off the remainder of the pram. I wish I hadn’t have put a deposit down now because the offer is still on and I could have just bought it today and walked away with it. I only put the deposit down because they couldn’t give me a definite date for when the offer was on until. I would have been more annoyed if it was full price when I went to buy it though. I also got the first of Meghan’s Christmas presents – a pair of Dora The Explorer pajama’s and a matching dressing gown. It was buy-one-get-one-half price on the bedtime wear so I got them while I could. After Mothercare I went into town to go and change the bulbs I bought the other day for the kitchen because I got the wrong ones. I also got some bulbs for the living room since one of three lights in the chandelier now works. I’ve only gotten the wrong ones for that now. The kitchen looks lovely and bright and the living room is so dark. I’m not gonna be in town until probably Wednesday now so we’re just going to sit in the dark until then.

Meghan went to bed the same as last night, screaming and crying and being hysterical. She goes to bed at 7PM and by about half past I went in and gave her some Calpol and decided to read her a story out of one of the Dora books I got her for her birthday. She went straight to sleep when I put her back down. Just goes to show you that it does help to have a bedtime story. Lets hope it carries on this way because I’m going to start reading to her from now on.

I gave up reading Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. There’s way too much about fish and the way they breed etc. etc. I know the title really should have given it away but I thought I’d try it anyway. I started on The Abortionists Daughter. I’ve just read the first chapter and I already love it. Its sort of Jodi Picoult style which is probably why .

Its been so long since I last blogged I have no idea where to start. I really want to blog yesterday but Alex has been online A LOT recently and I’ve hardly had a go. I hate it when I don’t blog every day because it really makes me not want to blog the day after and so on. Anyway I’ve changed the theme back to this one. I still support the Pink For October I just really started to hate that theme and that wasn’t helping.

Saturday 13th: We had Emelye and Meghan’s birthday party today. I spent all morning and afternoon cleaning the house because it was such a state and then everyone came and messed it up again. Emelye’s mum was late bringing her by an hour which really annoyed me and Alex, my friend Aimee was late and my mum and Amy only came when it was nearly over. Meghan had a great time though which is all that matters. She got some early birthday presents from Amy – Dora Talking Backpack and some Dora toys for the bath – and she got a present from us – two Dora books. Emelye got a pink Nintendo DS Lite from us with Nintendogs, My Sims and Purr Pals. She’s hardly been off since she got it. Keeps her quiet though.

Sunday 14th: Had Emelye all day and didn’t really do much as she was glued to the DS anyway. Had to drag her off while we walked to the cash machine to get some cash for Manchester the following day. After Emelye went home, Alex had band practice and Amy came round and stayed the night.

Monday 15th: Amy and me left for town at about 11AM. We were in Manchester just after twelve. We had such a great time. I wanted to stay longer but we both ran out of money and there’s not much to do when you don’t have any money. I got a new bra, PJ’s and a winter hat which there is a photo of on my Flickr. Amy got a new pair of trousers, a hat and loads of underwear. After dinner Alex went with the band to see about renting a practice room as the place they are going to now is rubbish and its too expensive to go more than once a week. This new room they can go when they want and have all their own gear in there all the time.

Tuesday 16th: We had Emelye most of the day as she got sent home from school after being sick. I left Alex with the kids while I went into town at around 2PM as I had an appointment at citizens advice about my debts which is now getting sorted. I also went for an appointment at the opticians to get some contact lenses again. They are going to be a lot more expensive than my old ones because the old ones haven’t been doing my eyes any good. These new ones are a lot comfier and they don’t start to blur once I’ve had them in a long time. Its so nice to have the option again about whether I want to wear my glasses or not.

Wednesday 17th: Meghan’s 1st birthday. When she woke up for the morning we sat her in bed with us and opened all her presents. She was so excited. She didn’t get as much as I would have liked at all. I wish I could have bought her more. Its not like you have your first birthday every day. We had Emelye again even though she was fine. We went into town and went into a pub for lunch. We all got an ice cream from Scoop afterwards and we let Meghan have a taste which was the worst thing ever because she kept screaming for more . It was a better reaction than last time though when she was sick. We got home from town at about four and Alex got straight in bed.  His mum came round not long after followed by his dad. Alex got up just as his dad left. After Emelye had been picked up and Alex’s mum went home, my mum came round to give Meghan her present. Amy stayed again last night too.

Thats basically it. I wanted to write a really long post yesterday about how my little girl is one and how big she is etc. etc. but now I just can’t be bothered.  She slept in bed with me this morning. She woke up at 5.45AM for a bottle and she usually goes straight back to sleep but she just kept crying. I got a bit annoyed with her and just brought her back into my bed where she slept for about a hour. I got woken up by being hit in the face though. At least I got some sleep. I’m so tired now though.

I finished Keeping Faith the other day. I’m now reading both Lord of the Flies and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. I couldn’t decided which I wanted to read so I’m reading both.

I had loads to say and now I’m here, with WordPress open I just can’t think of a thing to write. I guess I’ll just start with my day.

Well I woke up feeling like crap and I still feel crap. I have some sort of cold/sore throat/cough/feel like shit thing going on. I’ve had for about three days but today I really feel like crap. 9AM came and Meghan woke up and I just wanted to pause time so I could stay in bed until I felt better. No such luck though. Amy stayed the night last night because her boyfriend is being an idiot (she was supposed to be staying at his but he made other plans) so she was on the couch when I came downstairs. She somehow managed to sleep until about 11.30AM even when Meghan was screaming her head off because she couldn’t do something or I wasn’t in the room. You know, terrible things like that.

She’s suddenly become this evil child who screams constantly and smacks me in the face. Yes, I look after her all day every day and I get slapped by her. No one told me this was in the contract I signed when I gave birth. When she’s not being this evil child, she’s lovely. She makes me laugh, she plays on her own, she pretends to talk on the phone, she says “woof” to any animal even if it doesn’t look anything like a dog and she gives me hugs. She’s cutting her two top teeth too at last so I’m hoping thats the cause of these awful moods. Lets hope.

I forgot to mention that the other day when Alex and I planned to go upstairs and catch up with Prison Break online on the laptop, the screen went kaput. Literally, we were watching the first couple of minutes of the first episode, season three and it just went black. The computer part still works, just not the screen. One of Alex’s friends is an IT technician and he thinks its the bulb thats gone and it might cost us £100 to fix it. We only paid £50 for the laptop to begin with so we’re not too bothered about the money. I just want my laptop back. I never realised how much I used it.

Because we couldn’t watch Prison Break, we started on 24. I forgot how good it is. I’m gonna finish off here so that we can go and start watching it. I can’t wait to get into bed.

The dreaded red letter of doom has just come through the post this morning. Meghan’s 12 months immunisations. They are a week on Monday which also means Alex will be working so he can’t come with me. Whenever she’s had her injections, he’s always held her while they do it because I can’t cope with it. I guess I’m going to have to. I hate them.

I also got a letter about Meghan’s 7-9 month health check… they do realise that when the appointment is, she will be 12 months by that date? They are just a little bit behind. I don’t mind. I’ve been meaning to go and get her weighed and just have a chat about things with a health visitor for ages.

I better go and tidy the living room. I’ve just gotten Meghan to sleep after her lunch and changed mine and Alex’s bed covers while I was up there but I’ve come down and the living room is a state. I’m going to town in about an hour when my Mum picks me up so I don’t want to leave the house a mess.

Yep, I read 100 pages of my book last night. It took me about two hours but I actually did it. To be honest I couldn’t think of a punishment severe enough so I thought I’d better just do it so I don’t have to conjure one up from somewhere. The last three pages took me so long. I kept falling asleep sat up and while asleep I’d think “Whats just happened in the book?” and it would wake me back up again. I re-read those pages this morning because they didn’t make much sense at all last night. Its really good though, my book. I’m really enjoying it. Its not one of her best books but its still great. I just want it read so I can read Lord of the Flies!

Alex is out getting a KFC for dinner and I can’t wait. I’ve not had KFC for so long and I’m SO hungry its hard stopping myself from eating the whole contents of the kitchen. When he gets home we are putting Prison Break on. We’re starting season three tonight. To be honest I want to get this series up to date so that we can start on 24. We bought it last week and still haven’t watched any of it yet. Alex I don’t do a lot together anymore (going out wise) but at least we spend time together watching all these series we love. Its ‘our’ thing and I really enjoy it. Lost season three comes out in about two weeks! I’m hoping its as cheap as 24 was so I can just buy it.

I’m just posting before I go up to bed because I am planning on reading at least 100 pages of my book. If I don’t read 100 pages before I go to sleep I will be severely punished (do you know I had to look up the spelling of severely? I’m so thick sometimes). I don’t know how but I better not find out!

The cat is currently asleep in Meghan’s pram. He’s so cute.