My blog on Blossom Mother and Child

Source: Blossom Mother and Child

Just a quick note to let you know that my pregnancy blog is up and running on Blossom Mother and Child. I sat next to the head of marketing for Blossom at a Fashion Business Club event. We chatted for a while about the maternity clothing market and my loathing of in store shopping. A couple of weeks later she contacted me about blogging for them. I was thrilled at the chance to connect with even more mummies so accepted.

My first post is about test driving some jeans. After wearing one pair through the last trimester of pregnancy one it is nice to have a couple more at my disposal - especially now I go through a pair a day with messy Master R's sticky fingers.

Thank you to Blossom for the opportunity to write for you and Mamas, I'll keep you up to date with my posts.

I succumbed to the crocs

After berating these ugly things for months I have caved and bought a pair for Master R. We went to the shop today and I let him choose the colour. I was worried he'd select pink but luckily it was the yellow. The sales lady actually asked me 3 times if I was sure I wanted the yellow. But Master R wasn't letting go of the yellow ones. Couldn't even scan them!

I have to justify my purchase - with our garden he is running in and out of the house all day and the other velcro shoes are just too difficult to get on or off. They're also getting ruined on the stone steps. So I took the plunge and paid the £20 (!!!!) for a pair. They do actually look cute on kids. I just don't like the look of them on grown adults.

So Mama V when you come visit I'll be adding another pair of crocs to the list of things to bring. I hope you have an empty suitcase for all the things on my list...

Two delicious adult main courses

I really hope Mr M doesn't get used to this but the past couple of nights I've really outdone myself in the kitchen.

In NYC I was a big FreshDirect.com shopper and here I swear by Ocado.com - very similar as far as quality. What I love most is the recipes section where you can add all the ingredients directly into your shopping bag. Such a time saver! I tend to add a couple every time I shop. Most are just OK but these two were delicious!

Source: Ocado.com

Sunday night was the Beetroot Rosti with Smoked Trout. Normally we're not big fish eaters but I'm really trying to add more to our diets. These seemed like a quick and easy dish for a Sunday night when I don't really feel like cooking. It was really yummy and even Mr M wanted seconds after initially screwing up his nose at the smoked trout. The true test was the next day when Master R picked out all the fish and threw away the rosti. Mr M and I actually discussed it the night before and were 100% certain that he'd eat the rosti and throw the fish. Such a little carnivore.

Source: Ocado.com

Monday night (and leftovers Tuesday - hurrah!) was the Blanquette du Veau. However here in the UK it's really difficult to get veal as people don't think it's PC so I substituted with sirloin. I was running a little behind so I ended up simmering the meat and veg for 1 1/2 hours but I don't think it made much of a difference.

This meal was one of the top 5 I've ever made. I served it with mashed potato and it was truly devine. I just finished my leftovers now and I wish I'd made more. It was well worth the slaving in the kitchen that's required. It would also be a good crockpot/slow cooker recipe (Mama V, I hope you're using mine!). Just throw it all in and set to low and 6 hours later it's done.

Master R also loved it and ate all the veggies and meat! He also watched me peel, steam and mash the potatos continually saying "tato, tato, tato". So sweet!

My lost top found after 2 years of searching!

Attending the Madonna concert in Madison Square Gardens last year wearing the too small Louise Amstrup Bow Top, Amiee McWilliams leather trousers and a clutch by Ignes


Over 2 years ago I had a press request for the Louise Amstrup bow top. The press sample was already out at Elle Magazine so I reluctantly sent off my personal top. Sadly it vanished. Elle claimed it had been returned, my warehouse claimed they hadn't received it back and my PR didn't have it either. Luckily we did get press from it and very quickly sold out of all tops.

I was so upset. It really was my favorite top. I loved wearing it with white jeans and silver shoes as well as the leather trousers shown above. I even begged Louise Amstrup to make me a new one but she didn't have anymore fabric. But she did send me a size 8. It was OK, but it wasn't really long enough for me to wear comfortably with my skinny jeans. I preferred the drapy feel of the size 12.

We have just moved warehouses in the last couple of weeks and I have been personally overseeing the stocktake and packing of all my beautiful Brittique.com clothes. There was an odd box leftover that seemed to have damaged clothes and just stationary items so I just left it - until today. What a surprise I got when I unpacked it and right at the bottom was my beloved top neatly folded in the magazine's bag. I'm thrilled! But now I'll have to wait a few months post baby to get back into it.

Tricking kids to eat veggies

Fruit is no problem. Master R devours half a punnet of strawberries on the way home from the supermarket and stands screaming and pointing at the fridge for blueberries. But veggies are another story. He loves meat (really loves meat!), rice, pasta, bread, oats you name it but I do struggle to get him to eat even a cherry tomato. I worry that he's not getting enough vitamins and minerals and constantly think of ways to add veggies to things without him knowing.

For example his favourite meal is penne bolognaise. He scoffs down the mince like he was starving. So last time I made it as well as the onion, garlic, mushrooms and tomatoes I normally add I also grated a couple carrots and finely chopped a capsicum/pepper. The carrot was incredible. It just disintegrates down to nothing and you can't taste it. The capsicum/pepper made it a bit sour so I won't add that in the future.

I was thinking of other ideas today when I remembered this old favorite my mother used to make for us kids - corn fritters. We loved them and would smother them in tomato sauce/ketchup and gobble them up. The corn is so nice and sweet that your kiddies will think they're eating sweets. They're rather healthy too if you cook them in just a little oil in a non-stick pan.

Corn Fritters
1 cup unbleached flour (you could also use wholewheat)
1tsp baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1tsp vegetable oil
1 cup corn kernels (I just cooked some frozen corn)

Mix all ingredients except corn until smooth, add corn. Heat non stick pan with a little oil or butter. Fry in batches.

Yum, yum. I made up a batch this afternoon (shown above) and ate a couple for an afternoon snack.

Now the issue of hiding veggies in your cooking is hotly contested. I discovered this when I nearly bought Jessica Seinfeld's book Deceptively Delicious. A few dieticians/nutritionists (can't find the links now) were saying how bad it was to hide vegetables in food because kids don't learn to eat them. Instead you should allow them to see what they're eating and learn to love them. I wonder how many of them were just jealous of Jessica's success? Her book was bound to be a success given who she is! Of course Oprah would endorse it. She's Mrs Jerry Seinfeld afterall.

I can see the point though. If they don't like carrots and don't know they're actually eating them in my bolognaise how will they know they're eating them? So I didn't buy Jessica's book but I think I have my own solution. I'll hide veggies in things half the time and give them to him openly the other half. Eventually he'll learn to love them as much as I do - well that's the plan anyway.

Men must be born with the competitive gene

Today was Master R's first sports day at nursery. I was told during the nursery tour that the parent race is a bit of a highlight so I'd prewarned Mr M. We were a little late to the sports day as I had an osteopath appointment (my poor back is so sore!). But we arrived just in time for the legendary parent/toddler race.

Mr M was a bit late lining up as Master R didn't want to part with his juice. So the front line were already in formation ready for the "go!". So Mr M didn't even wait for the go and sprinted on the "set" as did the rest of the pack. At the first bend there were three clear leaders (see first picture). There was jostling, pushing into shrubs and even tripping! One father was too intimidated by Mr M’s size and backed off leaving two leaders. Mr M was leading until the other father cut the corner (see second picture). Then Mr M pushed for the finish line and eventually won.

As you’ll note in picture 2 Mr M had very little regard for the wellbeing of Master R and my poor little baby was being thrown around while Mr M, fueled by masculine aggression, fulfilled his ambitions of a 1st place. Mr M was genuinely surprised at the end that Master R was not as thrilled as he was. It was all I could do to stop Mr M doing a Ricky Gervais “The Office” style victory lap singing “We are the champions… no time for loosers…”.

Needless to say Master R only wanted mummy for a couple of hours after that race and was not interested in any kind of celebrations. I meanwhile was mortified and am not sure that I can take Master R to that nursery anymore. Think I’ll have to go on the waiting list for another.

Is it a boy or a girl? The odds of each gender

Source: Knockedupcelebs.com

Sometime in February before I left NYC I remember walking along the Hudson with Mamas A and V (all of us boy mamas). We somehow got on the subject of what sex we had hoped our first baby would be and what our husbands had hoped for. I can't remember the specifics but something Mama A mentioned that she'd read something that said that the odds of your second child being the same sex as the first child are actually higher - so you're more likely to have a boy for number two if your number one is a boy and same for girls.

If you look around at our group alone Mama LS (welcome our newest blogger!) has recently had her second boy, another friend V is having her second boy any day now and our own Mama J is expecting her second boy in September. All my friends here in London are having two boys! I'm not making this up. All of them! Strange...

We've decided not to find out the sex of our baby. Mr M wants another boy because he "won't know what to do with a girl". He thinks this baby is a girl. I'm fine either way. A little boy would be a nice playmate for Master R as there's only 18mths between them. But a little girl is just beautiful. All the wonderful little dresses I could knit/crochet/sew for her! The ribbons in her hair and the pretty mummy and me outfits - ok, that's a bit crazy... Now I'm thinking maybe we should have found out? The wait is killing me...

So after pondering the odds I stumbled upon this fantastic research by InGender: The straight truth about gender selection. The numbers are all a little off because of the fact that of all births in the US 51% are boys anyway. So this needs to be taken into account when you look at subsequent births.

You'll need to look at the site to get the full gist of the stats. But interestingly the odds of having a girl seem decrease after having each boy, but only very slightly. Even after 3 boys, you are only 6.4% more likely to have a 4th boy than a girl. The odds of having a boy seem to increase after having girls, except after 2 girls, when a 3rd girl is more likely.

"The bottom line: Although we often hear the "statistic" that you are 30% or even 70% more likely to keep having the same gender, this is just an old wives tale. It is NOT a fact. The truth is, your odds stay pretty close to 50% for each child and only vary slightly. If you have had 2 or 3 boys, you are only about 2% to 6% more likely to have another boy. If you have had girls, you are slightly more likely to have a boy next."

Hmm so there's a 2-6% chance I'm having another boy. Mama J do you still think I'm having a boy?

Book review: Lowboy by John Wray

Source: Amazon

Normally if I read a book review I don't read the book. They tend to spoil the plot for me. I prefer to start a book with only a vague idea of what the book is about. Lowboy was different. I read the review in the New Yorker and was intrigued. The after reading the NYMag's review I knew I had to read it.

I can't really add much to the fabulous reviews out there but to say that there is a subtle twist towards the end that it brilliant. The book is simply written and gripping. Apparently Wray wrote the whole book on the subway! I was a touch confused about the ending and had to reread the last couple of pages a few times but after reading this review I now understand.

Highly recommend it for your next book club - it's an easy page turner!