Hello my lovelies, I hope you've all been well and enjoying the beautiful sunshine that come and blessed us yesterday ? Ohh and half of today too of course, it's still out now, beaming beautifully, although today the sun is not as strong and it's not as hot as yesterday, it's still lovely to see some sun ay!? 

Everywhere I have been over the couple of days, everyone everywhere seem's happier, random smiles from strangers who may once look down at the ground or avoid eye contact, kids are out playing without coats on their lunch at school, Mum's rush to the supermarkets and buy sun cream, ice pops and other 'quick the sun is out' essentials. How I wish I had a garden, whilst shopping today I would of so purchased items for a BBQ for our dinner!

I took Spud's scooter to school with me in the afternoon, he come running out with his coat on saying you brought my scooter yayyy, I told him to take his coat off, I'm surprised his teacher let him leave with it on in this heat, I had to take it with me this morning though as it was so cold!

He scooted all the way back home, apart from roads of course, and he is now playing with his toys, Horrid Henry on the tv, windows open and a nice breeze passing through our home, ice pop left melting in a bowl, but all I can do is smile, one quick look at the sun and I forget about the hoovering that need's doing, the work which I should be doing, thank gosh I work from home and for myself, I can quikly catch up with lost work when Spud's in bed later.

Yesterday me and Spud went to the park about 20 miles away with our cousins, then we ended up at the Hungry Horse, our faviourite family pub where we had dinner in the garden, it was lovely! I also finalised my party next Saturday, the DJ and venue is all sorted, I'm excited!!

Well I'm off now, I may walk across to the park nearer to us, or even just go for a walk, as for all we know it could be raining tomorrow!

Until next time,
Jade x
It's my Birthday on Friday (the 26th) how old are you I here you say?

 Well I'm 22 at the moment, I will be tomorrow and Thursday too, but come Friday, that 2 at the end of 22 will change to a 3 making me 23, I'm excited because this year, unlike my boring night in alone last year, and my disastrous 21st, I'm celebrating!! Waheyy. 


Image source: The Spice Oven
My actual Birthday is on Friday as mentioned, on Friday I plan to go to my favourite local restaurant The Spice Oven a beautiful Indian/Chinese and plenty of desert buffet style restaurant with my family, I was going to include friends but I figured I'll let them save as much money as possible ready for our wacky and hopefully amazing night out the following night on Saturday!

I know I was not born in the 80’s, but I’m sure a lot of you have seen The Carrie Diaries, right?


Image source: Wikimedia
It would be super fun if my friends and I all dressed up in in fancy dress costumes from the 80’s and went out for a girls night on the town Saturday. I don’t know anyone that I could borrow any 80’s outfits from, I'm not sure anyone has any 80's outfits anymore, but It seems pretty easy to just find a lot of colourful mismatched items together and call it the 80’s..haha!

Otherwise, a friend of mine told me that they've used this online store called Fancy Dress Ball, as they’re quite cheap and have a lot to choose from as well. 


Image source: Fancy Dress Ball

I could for instance get this wacky outfit for example for less than 20 quid…easy peasy! The hard part would probably be to get my friends to don this garb as well…I don’t want to be the only one looking crazy, now do i…? I have some pleading to do I think!

On the Sunday I plan to get my good friends together and let them slave away in the kitchen cooking me a lovely roast dinner, I joke :) Ahh how it would be lovely to just lay on the sofa being cooked dinner for! 

Wishful thinking hey! 

Instead, my closest friends are coming around for a come 'wine' with me, they will be wined and dined in my home, the Disney movies will be playing away, hopefully a new one will be the first to be played as I have added the Sleeping Beauty to my Birthday wish list.


Image source: Disney
I hope one of my friends love me enough to get me it! They can share my chocolates with me, I promise!!

I am off to enjoy the sun now, whilst it last, hopefully it doesn't rain for my Birthday!! 

Jade x
Some of you may remember me mentioning Spud's hernia operation in his 7th Birthday letter I wrote to him here, if not, if this post makes no sense to you, I really do recommend you reading that post first, otherwise this post may seem like I'm talking another language. Briefly, Spud had a emergency hernia operation when he was 3 weeks old, my local hospital (which I am truly grateful for I am) couldn't operate on Spud as he was born 7 weeks early (at 33 weeks) weighing a small and very tiny 4lb at birth, still at 3 weeks old weighed a very small 4.3lbs, being under 5lb in weight, my local hospital couldn't operate on him. Spud was rushed via ambulance to John Radcliffe Hospital, a hospital I say thanks to on a daily basis, for they saved Spud and also my cousin in 2011 (for legal reasons I can't talk about this incident) who was on death doors.

On leaving John Radcliffe, sometime in April 2006, I was told the discharge procedure, I was told one of Spud's two testicles was still lodged up high and had not proceeded to drop into the testicle sack, I was told to regularly check for the second testicle to drop, and that if it had not dropped within 2 weeks to take Spud to our doctors. Well the second testicle didn't drop, and never has, I took Spud to the doctor's when he was around 5-6 weeks old, 2 weeks after his operation, I told them about the missing testicle, I carried on telling them about his missing testicle at every opportuntiy, his 6, 12 and 18 month check ups, with the childhood illnesses he had that led to us needing a doctor's appointment, I told them at every chance possible. 

Spud's 7 now, my perfect beautiful little boy, my life, my entire world, the reason why I smile through what ever rubbish (I've written this sentence plenty of times, I really want to write where rubbish sits a swear word beginning with s and ending with t!!) life throws at me, the child I couldn't be more proud of, to not care about others children who are so good at this they get medals, who go to sleep in a perfect routine every night, who is excellent at this, that and this, I couldn't care less, I'll argue with you till the pigs fly, my son's excellent, perfect, amazing, beautiful and best of all he's all mine. If the sperm donor favours his other off spring before the child that keeps him in this country then so let him, he's the one who misses out,day in and day out, because our MY child is perfect to me.

But the doctor's would argue otherwise you see, the very same doctor;s who I've been telling for the last 7 years, now they want to listen, now they want to take action, the trip started with a cure for tonsilitus, next Spud's being reffered to the hospital! Baffling and confusing, your telling me! On Sunday, Spud become very clingy with a temperature of 39.3, I immediately stripped him down to his vest and pants and gave him calpol, Spud was very clearly not well, changing from a happy energetic little bouncing bean to a poorly prince who just wanted to lay down and cuddle his Mummy all day . On stripping Spud down, he started shivering and shaking, crying he was cold, crying he wanted a blanket, you feel evil don't you!? You know for the best, your child needs cooling down asap, you want to place a cold flannel on their foreheads, strip them down to their underwear and open every window in the property, but the infection that has decided to kidnap your child's body is confusing your child, the body naturally tries to fight the infection, that's making your child so hot, but your child develops a fever and think's their freezing cold, a catch 22, the time you close your eyes and wish it was you taking the infection instead.

Monday morning comes, I originally had my alarm set for 7am, it was meant to be Spud's first day back to school after having the Easter holidays off, he couldn't wait to return to school, couldn't wait to tell his friends about Easter, Chesington, Lego, our holiday, Lego, the train rides he's been on, Lego, Lego and more Lego, but that horrid infection has prevented this, whilst not Spud's fault but the infection had kept us up most of the night, sore throat, ear aches, head aches and feeling sick, so the alarm got moved back an hour to 8am, no way was Spud to go to school in his condition plus being majorly tired. I got an emergency doctor's appointment, Spud was given the doctor's diagnosis of tonsillitis and a ear infection and whilst there, I once again mentioned the second testicle missing and once again Spud was examined on the DR's bed only this time, the DR told me something I had not heard before, in 7 years of telling these DR's that something was not right, this particular DR agreed.

I'm sending a referral to the hospital the DR said, I held Spud's hand as the doc pressed down, moved around and tried unsuccessfully to find Spuds second missing testicle, ''and you've never seen it?'' the doc asked me twice, never I replied, hence why I've told every DR I've seen. Only this appointment was an emergency appointment, and we managed to get in with the head doctor, finally we have a lead, somewhere to start, after the DR couldn't find the second testicle, instead of telling us like the other DR's it was fine, the DR has referred Spud to the local hospital for a ultra sound. 

Why oh why has it took 7 years I'd like to know, for now, that can wait, I am just happy that after 7 years of waiting we have finally got somewhere. For now we wait patiently for an appointment letter to arrive from the hospital, we wait and see what the verdict is. To be honest I don't know what happens next, I do however have a list of questions I'd like to be answered.

I'd love to hear from anyone else in a similar experience? Please do leave a comment or get in touch.

Jade xx

I will be the first to admit, I'm one of those Mother's who tries to wrap my child up in cotton wool, and if I could afford human length cotton wool for the rest of Spud's life, which would have to be really thick, believe me I'd do it. The smallest things like Spud falling over and grazing his knee, something that all children do through out childhood makes me say to him I wish you was more careful, you need to look after your body. There are the accidents that can be avoided with a little more concentration, like the time Spud walked into a wheelie bin and ended up with a big bump on his forehead for lack of concentration (he was watching the children across the road) then there are the injury's that can't be avoided, the illnesses that creep up on us, infect your child for a few days, maybe a week maximum then they leave.


Meningitis isn't a common one is it though? You always hear one of your Mother friends complaining their child is ill, snotty nose, coughing, sneezing, fever, sore throat, mild headaches, all the signs and symptoms of a cold, we know the horrid stomach bug's don't we? The ones with the really bad sickness and dioreah, that doesn't seem to never end and makes you think where the hell is it all coming from because my childs been off their food but they are pooing like no tomorrow. But wait.. What about Meningitis who knows about it? Do you know the symptoms for it? Do you know what to look out for? The tell tale signs? If you answer no, your not alone, and don't feel bad about not knowing after reading the rest of this post.



A woman I know is in hospital now at her Meningitis infected babies bedside, she has been there for the last 10 days watching her baby fight and battle the horrid illness, her baby nearly died, the journey's along one, its been an emotional journey to watch as an outsider, someone I just say hello to at the school, watching this Mother's status updates of her baby girls journey has been heartbreaking and overwhelming, the community has once again come together to offer prayers, support & well wishes, the community have come together to moan, to bad mouth the local hospital, to yet again say how sorry we are for our local hospital is getting worse..again.



The baby girl just a few months old born February 2013 was admitted to hospital via ambulance and sent home by A&E staff in the early hours of the morning, but with her Mum's instincts, not long after baby girl was back in hospital, being poked and prodded, drugged up with medicine and being tested for meningitis, why did it take so long? Why didn't the staff who are trained, who learn of such deadly illnesses at university, notice the baby had critical symptoms of the illness that has taken so many lives? We may never know, for now, we pray for the baby girl, for her Mother & Father, for her siblings and family, we pray she keeps fighting as well as she has, we pray the Lord is with her guiding her every step of the way to recovery. Thank God the Mother trusted her instincts, thank God she sought medical help again.



Its always better to be safe then sorry, to seek help when we have a funny feeling in our stomachs or not, I'm pretty sure being a Mother is the best cause for a heart attack, just today Spud fell onto the Sofa arm, coated by leather with thick heavy wood inside, I called the out of hours doctor's, at the time thinking who do I call!? My mother first, then the emergency doctors? NHS Direct? Or 999? I settled with the emergency doctor's, who quickly gave me a call back. I called them again 20 minutes later when Spud had developed sensitivity to light, seem dazed and confused, after a little over the phone test, the DR diagnosed a mild head injury, I was told to keep Spud up for as long as possible, to keep him close by, possibly in bed with me, and to wake him up every two hours and ask him a question until I got a reply, something simple like what's the name of your school, to stop Spud slipping into concussion, or into concussion any further. Always always trust your instincts, yes I may be loosing out on sleep tonight, but at least I know my baby will be safer and I won't be sorry.



As for Meningitis, I think the government should do more to alert parents and guardians to the signs and symptoms, everyone thinks of the dreaded hard to hide rash, its the first thing that pops into someone's head who is familiar with the word meningitis, but what about other's who aren't? The people who have never heard of it? The people who have never read up about it? There are plenty of symptoms to watch out for, I won't tell you any here, because I do not feel comfortable in someone taking note from my blog (because I am not a professional , however you can find symptoms online.



Take care and remember its always better to be safe then sorry! I am no expert but the people over at the many Meningitis UK based websites are, for more information check out the Meningitis Trust website but please do note I am no expert, and if you think your child has meningitis to call 999 immediately.



Jade x

One of my very lucky readers or visitors are going to have a whole lot of fun very soon because one of you will be receiving a family ticket (valid for up to 2 adults, 2 children OR 4 people) to The Blackpool Tower, not only will you receive entry to the Blackpool Tower, your also receive entry to The Blackpool Tower Eye, The Blackpool Tower Ballroom, The Blackpool Tower Circus and Jungle Jim’s (for kids). Just by answering a simple question one of you lucky readers will get to enjoy the sights yourself! 


Whilst there you may as well make a day of it, considering there are plenty of fun things to do in Blackpool, the tower even has a circus! All those attractions in one place, sound's very easy from a parents point of view, and from everyone's point of view it sounds very very fun!

For your chance to win 4 tickets to The Blackpool Tower enter the competition via the Rafflecopter form below.

Cheaters be warned, I monitor the IP addresses of entries, my rules state one entry per household, please do not cheat, because I will exclude you from any future competitions.
  • If your posting as anonymous please leave a email address with your comment and a way I can link you up to the Rafflecopter entry!
  • For a bonus entry, like and share the picture on Facebook, and come back here, leave a comment telling me your claiming a bonus entry with your Facebook name!
Good luck everyone,
Jade x
Spud is becoming quite a huge Lego fan, as most of you are aware, his 7th Birthday has just recently passed, he received lots of Lego for his Birthday and spent any money he had received all on various Lego sets, I feel my boy is now becoming too old for Mickey Mouse, and as his Disney's teddies get pushed aside, let me introduce you to his newest love, Lego.

We picked up an orb at my Mum's old cottage! How scary!
The lovely team at Lego, and believe me they are lovely sent Spud this set about a month ago, it may of been  even longer then that if I'm honest, the reason why it's took me so long to get the review up is because Lego have very kindly offered one of my lucky readers/visitors a chance to win a huge Lego Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle set! You can find out more about the competition at the end of this post, so I thought if I waited til April I'd let the competition begin!

When I was a child, me and my siblings loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (shortened to TMNT), we was regular viewers of the show. The show contained 4 turtles (below) who battle with evil enemies, their destiny is to fight Shredder (the foot soldiers leader), the turtles are friendly and nice helping other's along their way.

Michelangelo - The orange turtle - The wild one!
Raphael - The red turtle - The muscle one!
Donatello - The purple turtle - The brainy one!
Leonardo - The blue turtle, also the leader of the pack!



The set contains around 90 pieces, and comes with 2 figures, Michelangelo, (the orange turtle), and a foot soldier (that's what they are called, the black mini figure) and 1 character Kraang, the pinky/purple octopus!


Spud has just started watching the Nickelodeon show and it has quickly become one of his new favourite program's, he can often be found standing in front of the tv mimicking some of the ninja turtles moves!


Lego say's: Give the villains the slip with a hot slice of turtle power! The Kraang has Michelangelo locked tight in a laser-shield prison inside his lab. Use Michelangelo's leftover pizza to turn a sticky situation into a slick escape! Slide the pizza through the prison bars to make the Foot Soldier slip and fall! Then activate the explosion function on Michelangelo's cage to escape! Once he's free, battle The Kraang in his awesome mech walker with dual laser flick missiles. Be ready for a wild ride through the city sewers when The Kraang detaches the mech walker's legs to create a flying escape pod! Don't let him get away!


Spud's defeated the foot soldier, now its his turn to defeat the evil Kraang!


Overall we found the set very easy to set up, the little green bars did however annoy Spud every time one knocked down, but otherwise it's a great little Lego set with 2 collectible mini figures one being a turtle. The set took between 5-10 minutes to build, we are getting better you see ;)

Suitable for ages 5+, Available to buy with a suggested RRP of £9.99 from Toys R Us, Amazon, Debenhams, Tesco, Smyths, The Entertainer, Asda and many more places.

For more information on the Lego Batman DC Super Hero's range check out the official Lego website.

Until next time, 
Jade.

To be in with the chance to win your very own Lego Turtle Lair Attack worth £50 enter the competition here


Dont forget to follow 

It's that time we've all been waiting for! It's time for the Lego Turtle Lair Attack competition, the fantastic Lego prize worth £50 will shortly be making its way to one of my lovely readers/visitors homes! You lucky person!

The Lego Turtle Lair Attack is another set from the fantastic Lego Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles range, we have just reviewed the Lego 79100 Kraang Lab Escape. you can read the review here.

For now though, the Turtle Lair Attack competition! 

The 488 piece set is worth £50 and would be a fantastic surprise for any Lego fan! To enter the competition, fill out the Rafflecopter form below. 

Cheaters be warned, I monitor the IP addresses of entries, my rules state one entry per household, please do not cheat, because I will exclude you from any future competitions.
  • If your posting as anonymous please leave a email address with your comment and a way I can link you up to the Rafflecopter entry!
  • For a bonus entry, like and share the picture on my Facebook page.
Good luck everyone,
Jade =D

Stop Watch Please!?

by Jada, April 04, 2013
Wow, where oh where has the time gone? Last Friday was Good Friday (aka Easter Friday) where we ate fish for dinner and said our prayers.

The day after, my beautiful son turned 7 years old, a day I want to keep private but a day I know he enjoyed.


The next day was Sunday, Easter Sunday, where we feasted on loads of chocolate, got together with family, had a huge roast turkey and lamb dinner, remembered the reason for the season (Jesus, I will not bring my religion into this post) and sang Happy Birthday to Spud, then presented him with his Mickey Mouse cake. Me and Spud also made Easter cakes, and the kiddies took part in a Easter egg hunt! 


On Monday we entered April, the fourth month of the year ALREADY!! Monday was a very exciting day for Spud, as me, Spud, my sister in law and oldest nephew Big Boy went to Chesington World Of Adventures (a theme park) for a VIP Lego Chima Event, I will write up about the event as soon as we are home (read on to find out where we are). We all had a fantastic time, the kids loved everything Lego wise, the Lego Chima movie and meeting the characters, they loved the rides and loved seeing lots of different animals.


On Tuesday, me and Spud woke up early for the 7th day in a row, excited, extremely excited as it was the day of our holiday!! Not only the day we went on holiday but the day we got to see our Mum/Nanna, little sister/Auntie and G again, ohh how we have missed them. Our train arrived at our nearest train station delayed, but we didn't care, as long as we got here! Two train rides lasting 3+ hours and an hours car ride and we finally got to my Mums, I will be writing a post up soon about our 'holiday' but in the mean time, I hope all my lovely readers and visitors have had a lovely Easter and for all you parents I hope you and your children are enjoying the Easter half term!


Why don't you leave a comment telling me of your Easter event's or any plans you have made! I'm not nosy  I promise, I'm just intrigued =D

Jade x
© Unique Young Mum · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS