Me & Mine August

We just about managed a picture this month! I actually thought I had a few more than the couple I have but alas they will have to do. August has been an absolutely crazy month.
We had 2 family weddings, Luke had his first night in a hotel and only loved wearing a matching shirt and tie like Daddy. I've spent a lot of time at work so has the OH. Any time spent with my camera has been behind it and I have taken a record amount of pictures this month.
Luke has been so busy being a a toddler, he's not a baby anymore! He's grown and changed so much this month. He now has 12 teeth and has has a bit of a hard time with the back teeth coming through but nothing compared to those first 4, these seem like a breeze compared the them. He also got his first haircut this month, I will admit it was a bit emotional. He's got lovely little curls at the back but they had to be trimmed because they were beginning to get knotty. I have his first curl safely tucked away for his memory box.
Oh and August also sees the return of X Factor and I love this!
I honestly don't know where this month has gone but here's our family portrait:

This month Luke loves:

• Running, he runs everywhere these days
• Banging things, the wooden spoon, his hammer anything he can find
• Chasing Nanny's cat

This month Dad loves:

• The biggest bar of chocolate ever he got as a birthday present
• Turning 28
• Football matches

This month Mum loves:

• The X Factor starting again
• Buying Ugg boots in preparation for the in coming Winter
• Getting a lead for the dog that I can actually control him on and walk him

Christmas?? It's Too God Damn Early

So there I was yesterday, happily driving to work listening to the radio, Red FM in fact and all of a sudden I hear the word Christmas, yes that's right bloody Christmas! My first Christmas advert of 2014.
Now don't get me wrong I am a huge Christmas fan, my favourite time of the year even more so now that Luke is here. I'm excited for him, for us as a family to celebrate this holiday, to keep old traditions alive and to create some new ones. I look forward to the Christmas artwork that Luke will bring home during his school days and him being able to write his first Santa letter himself. I simply cannot wait but as much as I look forward to the festive season I draw the line at Christmas adverts in August....August for crying out loud!
I feel like every year the promotions, adverts, Christmas food/sweets is all beginning to happen that little bit earlier. Where's the fun in that eh?!

I know how about let's get Halloween out of the way, lets enjoy that, the dressing up and the trick treaters and the demolishing of sweets into the late hours on halloween night. Let November begin and the Winter set in and then start with the Christmas build up. Let's not have so much hype for so long before the actual festivity that come December we are either deflated or bored of Christmas before we've even had a chance to celebrate it!

Herb and Cheese Scones

I've been experiencing high blood pressure since Luke was born last year, well it actually started at 38 weeks pregnant and it hasn't returned to normal yet, in fact it's quite high. I'll have to wear a 24 hour blood pressure monitor next week to get a better handle on it. However in the meantime I'm trying to make some changes to help it as well like less stress (easier said than done!), more physical activity (thanks to our new family member, Murphy the dog this is going well) and changing my diet. I've switched to low fat / skimmed products and really have to watch my salt in take, I have a ridiculous craving for salt, its scary. This seems to be my doctors main cause for concern. It just so happens that my mum has a cook book for everything including recipes that are high blood pressure friendly. So I've been experimenting and wanted to share the recipes here in case there is anyone else who may find them helpful :)

Ingredients:

9oz Self Raising Flour
1/4 tsp Bread Soda
1 1/2 oz Butter
1 tblsp Snipped Fresh Chives (Or dried chives if you don't have fresh)
1/4 tsp Rosemary (or whatever herbs you prefer)
2oz Cheese, cheddar, mozzarella whichever you fancy but reduced fat
175ml Buttermilk
1 Egg White, lightly beaten

Method:

• Pre heat oven the 230 degrees celsius and line a baking tray with parchment paper or lightly coat with cooking spray
• Mix together the flour, herbs and bread soda in a large bowl
• Rub the butter in until mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs
• Stir in half of the cheese (I did a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella)
• Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add the buttermilk
• Mix with a fork until a soft sticky dough forms. I found I had to add a bit more buttermilk here 
• Drop heaping teaspoons of the dough on to the baking tray, or grab a small handful and put it on the tray like I did. You get about 15 scones out of this. I did them a bit small so made the next batch bigger and got 7 scones out of the mixture.
• Brush them with egg white and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
• Bake for approx 12 minutes or until golden 

These are lovely just out of the oven with some unsalted butter or served cooled down with a slice of ham.

Squishable Penguin - A Review

We recently received quite a large box in the post that contained the newest member of our cuddly toy collection, only this one is one with a difference!
This penguin is most definitely the most cuddly toy we now own and certainly lives up to it's name, Squishable. It's so squishy and cuddly!
Luke has taken to taking it by the hand and bringing it with him around the house or using it as a pillow on the floor. Katie thinks it's the best thing ever to cuddle up to on the couch, using it as a pillow too. I myself may have been caught using it as a pillow at some stage also! I love how soft it feels and it's the perfect size for flopping down on the couch with for some time out.

There are variety of types you can choose from, I wanted the hedgehog, the OH wanted the dragon so we somehow settled for the penguin. Although I have a feeling we will be adding to our collection of Squishable's and the hedgehog is definitely next :)

Go and get your very own with 10% off from the lovely peeps over at Squishable.co.uk