Free From Ranges

Now, I appreciate that Free From ranges have to have some other scopes then just nut free, dairy free, gluten free, wheat free, egg free etc. There seems to be a great abundance of gluten free things (some things you can get on prescription if you are a celiac! )and not alot for everyone else.

We got some vouchers via Orchard from Tesco for their free from range and thought it would be a great chance to get the eldest in some bits that would be good for her. She is adament she wants some mince pies... try finding a mince pie without any nuts in or nut traces! it is impossible! we are going to have to  make our own. Oh woes es you, you are all most likely thinking, and as much as i enjoy cooking and baking its just the inconvenience of not being able to just pick up a box or have one whilst we are out and about as a treat. It's a pain in the bum!

We recently lost a chain of cakes, Fabulous Bakin boys, as they are going to start introducing nuts in their cakes, where as previously they have been very specific and special with their nut free environment.  Now no longer. Now think on, unlike some our eldest is not use to not being able to have cakes, up till March she was able to have anything within reason and now try telling the 7 yr old that she isn't allowed something. Que.. some emotional issues as it is so hard for her to understand and get her head around why so many things have may contains or nuts in!

Every single cake in the Free From range in Tesco either had nuts in or may contains, how is this helpful for people like her? it isn't! it's not fair. Even cereal can be hard to come by and as I have stated previously I will not chance it with cereal, biscuits, cakes and things as there is a higher chance of cross contamination.  Makes me sound like the over  active parent and I suppose I am, but I would rather not have the alternative.

In the end with the Free from vouchers we got some oven bakes that are gluten free for hubby to try with his digestive issues. If only everyone didn't focus so much on Gluten free!

If anyone finds any nut free mince pies/ christmas cakes etc ( that means no may contains too!) i'd love to know! in the mean time i shall be baking !

Northerners on the South coast!

Well tomorrow marks 6 weeks since we moved to Bournemouth! .. a 250 mile journey from the old house to the new house.. according to googlemaps anyway! To say it was a hard journey is a understatement. We moved away from family and friends and the area we had all grown up in ( give or take a couple of miles!) I am not sure how people do the whole moving to Oz thing! because sometimes the distance between us and home now seems huge! When it isn't too bad. But as my mum says any move is too far. Having the ability to just pop around for a chat, brew,  advice is what makes it hard. Friends well we didn't meet up very often and i speak more to my friends via Facebook then I did in person. Busy lives and all that. I could write a huge list of what I miss  but I best not or I will start crying!

We couldn't not come however, the chances and possibilities here where big compared to at home, hubby got a new job, more money and better position, a job he had tried to get back at home and couldn't. He would have had to move jobs at some point to progress and it was a chance find to see this job advertised. It was me who told him to go for it. I said, if he didn't he would always be asking.. what if. We had always talked about moving but who would have thought it would happen!

The big thing was our daughter, her treatment and her health. It was harder then I imagined leaving her dermatologist. A woman who had done so much for us it was un true!  and yes now i'm crying.. ( and yes i was before.. ) Here we are struggling to get the referrals she had back at home, dermatologist is on the cards but no sign of physio yet and the gp said no to a rhumatologist and a allergist for my atopic child.. ? yeah some of these things do no compute!! But i will fight if i have to. And always will for her rights. if this physio app doesn't atleast pop though the door soon I am going to try and chase it up. We can't wait around when a child is in pain. But we moved down here for it to be warmer and cleaner environment, clean seas to chuck her in for her eczema!!

We did get a school sorted for her though which was a big thing of course, she seems to like it and loves being able to learn french, i like the fact they sit and read with the child most days and the fact that they were shocked at her reading ability and have lovely comments most days coming home about her comprehension and expression.  ( one less stress!!)

Can't say we have had much lovely weather, sometimes it seems we pulled down most of the Manchester weather with us!! its rain so much and so many thunder storms in the last few weeks. We hardly had any back home and the big one we did have we stood up and watched ( it was like 2 am lol)  Had a few small ones here but more then we ever had at home in Leigh.  Daughter keeps talking about Snow for christmas and i keep telling her that it never snowed at all last year and i doubt being so close to the sea that we will get any but we will have to see what Winter brings.

The street is nice enough, friendly enough neighbours, just a few issues with parking as there is limited space as its a cul de sack. so a bit of tetris some days! ( more so on the weekend!)  we are close to parks, and wooded areas, and a frequent bus service to Bournemouth and the local high street. Can't complain ( though i do miss being able to walk to the main shops i liked, like home bargains! suppose it saves me some money lol)

Not everything has been great, like losing our rabbit Lucy to a fox. Which was not a circumstance we even thought of happening. It will be some time before we consider anything for outside or actually inside, since we can't have dogs or cats due to allergies and the private rented property. A fish might be in order!!  But I am not sure we will get over what happened atleast us the parents. it has hit us harder then we thought as she was the first family pet and it is such a traumatic way to die and find. Thankfully i am just glad that madam hadn't gone out to feed her and i went out. One small saving grace!

In two weeks we travel back up North to visit family, celebrate hubbies birthday and to see the Manchester Christmas markets! It will be a whirlwind trip travelling up after school on the Friday and back on the Sunday evening! we won't get as long as we like but least we will get to see people.

Right so that has brought people up to speed with the last few weeks. Being a Northerner down here isn't so bad, no one has mentioned it apart from a lady in Pizza hut on daughters birthday who thought we were on holiday! We still find tastes of home like Uncle Joes and staffy oat cakes.. nothing will take the Northener out of me. Wigan girl at heart, feeling just a little home sick for family xxx

The Times they are a changing...

There is a lot about to happen in our house, moving 250 miles being one of them!  It's a bit of a shock and it's taken some serious talk between myself and hubby! It all started when  he saw a job advertisement in a magazine and pondered about taking it, the catch? well that it is in Poole, Dorset.. a place where we normally go on holiday!! He ummed and ahhed over it for a while and I asked if he went for it, he said no, so we had a talk and he decided to give it a go.

So before our holiday he was asked to come for a interview, (que fast booking of a hotel room and time off work) That went fine and we then went on our holiday not knowing if it was a ok or not. After coming back we find out that he had passed the interview and they wanted him to do another task ( we were worried he would be asked to come back down again!)  After doing another task via email he got a phone call a week or so later giving him the job. Que omg moment!   I am so proud of my husband, he has tried to progress in his job in his current employment with no avail and basically been told he would have to look at other avenues if he wanted to move on..  and so he did!
His new job wouldn't want just anyone to have to move so far surely? he must have really impressed them, or else they would have gone for someone closer to home!

The hard part was telling family, having no family or friends down in Dorset it seems like a crazy decision  but could we really refuse a better job? a better place to live and better environment for  our eldest and her health? It is a scary prospect,  I won't have that  ability to pop round to my sisters, or have our parents drop in, or have the play group my youngest is use to.   We won't have the dermatologist that has helped us for 6 years. Or the doctors that have finally started to help us.

But that is something we have to face, we have said we will try and come up at least once a month and people can come down to visit if they can/ when they can and there is the internet with Facebook and skype etc that we will try and use!

We went down to Dorset a few weeks ago and were able to express our interest in a rental property ( also ouch on their rental prices) and have got the go ahead after references etc have gone through! So it's all go here!  We have just over two weeks before we move and so much to fit in, its silly. But i have the job of packing... oh fun! and trying to find eldest a school and then prob sorting out bills...that is never fun :(  I have to see if the hospitals and specialists will transfer hospitals for us.  or else we will have to wait for the referal process again -_-


There is no denying that it is going to be hard all round and my latest worry/ fear is that it won't fit onto the van! it's not like we can do several trips!!

Okay the time for panicking is not now!

This is a great new start for us all.

When a holiday isn't quite all you expect

Well we returned from our holiday to Norfolk on Monday and we are glad that we did, to say the least it wasn't a great holiday, don't get me wrong we had some nice parts but there were so many little parts  that made the whole experience just so exhausting!

We went to Kelling Heath in Norfolk, somewhere  we've not been for 10 years! and I think i might have imagined it a lot different to what it was or it has changed.

When we arrived it wasn't too busy, turned out that the schools in the area weren't off yet so to expect it to be very busy by the weekend! fab but to be expected. When we had visited in the past it hadn't been as busy as it got by the end of the weekend and there is one big pet hate.. and that is noise! Rules on site is that people have to be quite when its 11 but there was a big group that arrived and they were so loud well past 11! no regard to other people in the tents! I honestly felt like shoving the toddler in their part at 6 am! Also we weren't given any security numbers so had to go and get them the next day, surely the park should give that out when you get there as a given?

Due to the plot settings ours was a bit odd and set back, so much so that another little one could go in front and by the end of the week they did!  they were so close it felt like we had zero privacy and vice versa! ( try keeping a 2 year old quiet at 6 am when a tent is so close that basic talking would cause a disturbance! )

I think part of is it that we have been spoilt by our time at ParkDean in Dorset, where we got security numbers, large pitches, any issues were dealt with quickly.  Also in Dorset there was alot to do in the area. It felt for Norfolk we had to travel to get to the big things to do.

We went to Norwich which was lovely, lovely churches and cathedrals and castles, we went twice, due to the fact we couldn't do everything first time round because of Eldests issues with her joints. Which is another issues every day of the holiday she was in pain, that in itself was exhausting, I never expected her pain to disappear but to be every day sometimes with barely doing anything she was in pain. It's not a holiday if you can't even do a simple walk about the park!  It was so draining. Don't get me wrong i love her to bits but when you are trying to get out and explore and shes in agony its just not worth it. But we are not the sort to sit and do nothing on holiday.

But as you can see we did find some times that were hurting and some places to have fun! the first picture is from National Trust Felbrig hall.. where the children had more fun outside then in due to  there being lots of outdoor toys outside!  The bottom picture is youngest on a little climbing frame whilst waiting for big sis and daddy whilst at the Muckleborough collection, they went on a ride that he couldn't go on.  ( he was rather good at this wall though!)

I think for our holiday next year we are either going to go back to Dorset or along that way, we can't get bored of Dorset. If we do travel back to Norfolk we will be going further down the Coast. ( more tractors and road works to deal with though :( )

I have never come back from a holiday feeling like i need another holiday to recover and i'm not sure people will understand or think i'm just being silly. But again it's a whole new thing for us to deal with as well as eczema and chest issues flaring. I feel like i could happily go for another trip away.. just to actually rest.

Finally we are getting somewhere

It's been a month since my last vent, and i feel like i shouldn't leave it so long. Not that i want to vent now generally things are going ok. We are finally getting somewhere with all these appointments!

Though I'm still not happy with how the physio treats us i do feel this will slightly change when we go to see her next. We had a Rheumatolgy appointment today for our eldest and in minutes it was confirmed she had joint hypermobility syndrome and that yes her knees are lax and the wouldn't be doing all the freaking things they do if they weren't lax!!

As you can see here, knees are not suppose to be like that!! 

And here her elbow is not in a very natural position ( i apologise for the silly face!  but the ice cream was a "safe" treat! )

So we were told today that her ankles and knees were hypermobile!!  they shouldn't be moving as much as they are well thank goodness that someone has finally sat down and listened instead of telling me its bloody growing pains!! her elbows yes do flex a bit more then they should but its her lower half we are talking about. Now this is probably something she is going to have to deal with till she is atleast 18 ( fingers crossed)  Poor love on the way home from the hospital asked me if it is something she can deal with... see sometimes i think all this is too much for a 6 yr old to deal with!! 

Dermatologist is suppose to be referring us on for some family counselling but heard nothing just yet ( and i will be checking up on this) and i know it sounds extreme but i think we could really use it! I can't cope with the mood swings, her going from being a lovely caring little girl to being a tired, whining, angry person. It's extreme! 

Eczema hasn't been terrible, i think it has something to do with the half decent weather we have been having. Don't get me wrong its there, its sore its on her neck back, chest , arms and knees but its "ok"  both the kids are getting tans!  ( and even me.. yes me, miss blue has colour!!)

We go camping in just over two weeks and i can't wait to have some time away. We are going to Norfolk! its been 10 years since we were last there ( ... that is a scary thought in itself!!) And look forward to it. I just hope madams hayfever/allergies etc don't kick off and that we don't have too much pain whilst we are out. 

Two weeks till holiday, two weeks till summer holidays and my baby going up into year 2!! Won't be long before the youngest is going to nursery either. where is time going?

where do i start?

I want a ramble, a ramble to put all my thoughts down, some i can't as some  people won't want to read my rants about certain individuals and i'm not that sort of cow to be honest. i'll just be the one seething away behind people or closed doors and letting it all out later on in life to a counsellor!

I appreciate what we are going through with my daughter is not the end of the world and not as bad as some families/ people go through. With some people i think they must look at me like i am a paranoid mother or that i'm trying to make up excuses/ labeling my daughter.

No.

Severe eczema flares, asthma hick ups, allergy queries and daily pain, sleepless nights and a cranky 6 yr old that is acting like a 16 yr old is taking its toll. I want to scream. Personally if it was me in pain etc i would probably bottle it all up like i do with everything else. I will silently worry away else where or not want to pester people with my issues but even now i'm sitting here in tears as i feel that sometimes people just don't understand! Or that i'm doing something wrong. makes me feel like an awful parent, and i know i do my best but i'm not labeling my daughter or being paranoid.

She couldn't even manage a soft play centre for two hours,  without being in pain and tired and being grumpy which to be fair we all would be if we were in pain esp at 6. But it is so hard to handle. Tonight trying to get her to read for her home work was hard work because she was tired, but we get into this cycle of ok not tonight tomorrow and then it gets to Tuesday night with books back in on Wed and we are trying to catch up! No i don't force her homework. Just get tired of the same thing every week.

She scratches without going to ask for help. she doesn't go to her dad for help its all mummy!  complaining at me that she hasn't seen him but not going downstairs to see him as she is tired O_O

I don't even know what to say sometimes. I don't want to bore people with our troubles, but i'm struggling to cope the daily changes are exhausting we are never clear of anything and its hard to remember all the stuff we need.

I need a better routine to handle the crap!

Tired of waiting for appointments, tired of physio's looking at me and talking to me like i have three heads and like its all my fault she has these issues in the first place.

When people ask, how are things and are things ok? what can i say apart from yes? without going into the tirade of all this? no i'm not ok.

I think i need to get someone to come talk to us, or someone to talk to my daughter so that we can start digesting these things more easily, be able to talk to each other without shouting and getting cranky with each other.

I'm sorry but i needed to vent

Must learn to drive... now lets raid the money tree!!

On Tuesday we had a Doctors appoint at Manchester Royal children's hospital, and due to everyone i know  with a car working or busy, i had to travel by bus, not a big deal.. ( she says carefully) would have helped if i could find that elusive bus pass! but alas it is gone.  So we had 3 buses to take just to get us to the appointment. Laden with a pushchair, toddler and 6 year old, two lunches, stuff to keep them busy and my handbag oh and madams medicine bag !  How the push chair didn't tip over i'll never know, toddler in it or not! Though madam did carry her rucksack with medicine in it to help.  Anyway!  we left at something to 9 and got to the Childrens hospital at 10:45, obviously waiting for buses and walking are included in that,

The dr was running a hour late.. it i a good job the hospital is child orientated though mine spent most of the time eating their lunches. When we finally got called in,  the dr took all of two minutes to say he hadn't had the bloods from Wigan and couldn't access them, ask how madam was didn't bother to look at her and said well i'm referrering you on to rheumatology and thats bout it. Didn't even try to ring Wigan to check even though I said they were ready as I had asked the day before. ( though didn't know the answers to any)

All it seemed to be was that he was trying to get us in and out as quick as possible as we were one of the more moveable appointments. But seriously? practically two hours to get there and an hour waiting to get told he is passing the case on. A phone call could have told us that!!  A waste of a day out of school, a waste of money up there and a waste of time.  I asked if it could be joint hypermobilty and he said it looks like it but without a firm diagnosis he couldn't say, i asked if there was anything i could do as the day before she had been in agony just from playing on the park after school ( and not for long) and all i get told is painkillers.. well er duh!!! i'm doing that already. I felt so deflated and the fact that i had to then make the journey back home was just daunting. Thankfully the toddler fell asleep and was asleep for most of the way back so gave me time to get myself some lunch and a quick ice cream for madam as it was rather warm.. and guess who was wearing a jumper!! i really hope the referral comes through soon, I have since been told the blood results were satisfactory.. so er i assume her vitamin d levels are ok? will wait and see what the pediatrican says!

Just makes me realise i need to drive ( though i know parking had been hell at the hospital, not good when you have a child who can't go long distances) its just  the whole cost and i genuinely feel scared about learning to drive!  i feel my own problems will hold me back, silly i know but  its my issue.

Eczema still not good esp after a warm day yesterday at school madam came home a bit of a mess, think we might need to invest in a fan for her  in school but due to the age of the kids i feel it would just be messed around with.  its things like this and worries like this that make it seem so much bigger to deal with, its little things, things that no other parent even needs to worry about :(

nice holiday.. miracle money? time to plant the money tree it could really come in handy!!