The juice cleanse review DAY 1

So I decided to do a 3 day juice cleanse. I have done the Forever Living C9 in the past and really enjoyed that (okay I HATED the aloe vera) but enjoyed the 9 day process.

This time I thought I would do a 3 day juice only cleanse. Not for weight loss but apparently to clear all the toxins from my body (mental note: stop the smoking!) and hopefully re-set my body a bit.

I have previously read about many many cleanses and never attempted one. To be honest, who would enjoy the thought of having no solid food for three days? However this week, I was googling and found one that looked good to me. The lovely people from Just Juices will deliver 15 bottle pf cold pressed juice to my door for £60. Now for those who have looked into juice cleanses before, they are not cheap. So £60 I thought was a bargain.

So for three days you have 5 juices as well as hot water and lemon, at least 2L of water and decaffeinated fruit or green teas. The water is still a struggle for me as I have never been one to drink lots. The green tea is fine as I have been drinking 2-3 cups of it every day for about 2 weeks. This is what Just Juices claim the detox does:

'Just Super Cleanse is a simple way to bring yourself back to the basics of life and to the basics of food – incorporating all natrual, easily-digested, nutrient-dense juices into your daily routine in the most convenient way possible. This flawless cleanse program is designed to restore and heal our most prized possession — ourselves. By giving our bodies a break and cleansing our systems, we are able to repair our pH balance and create a healthy alkaline environment free from fatigue, headaches, insomnia, aches, pains, digestive problems and unhealthy skin.'

When my lovely refrigerated pack arrived I was very excited to see inside. All the bottles were packed to keep fresh. I was a little disappointed about the information that came with it as it was just an A4 piece of paper with a double sided photo copy on it  of what you're supposed to do. I expected more on this really.

In the Super Cleanse pack you get all the 5 above for 3 days. That's a lot of fridge space!

DAY 1: I woke up so hungry. Not a good start. I knocked back my hot water and lemon which is recommended every morning and at 9am had my first juice. Its funny but knowing you can't eat anything that day makes you a bit miserable. Just a trip into town made me grumpy, that me and the boys couldn't have lunch in the cafe like we do at least once a week. The afternoon dragged, I didn't look forward to tea time and all I wanted to do was go to bed early and wake up on day two. It amazing how much your day is focused on what and when you are going to eat.Everything smelled amazing. Walling down the street, the boys dinner cooking. Cheese strings! EVERYTHING was teasing me. It also didn't help that when looking through facebook and instagram, most of the post seemed to be about food!

But I did it. Okay I did have one tiny bit of chicken. Like the size of my little finger. That's not bad considering I'd spent all day STARVING!! I thought these cleanses were supposed to make you full and not hungry. Hmm well lets see how day 2 goes.

Wish me luck - OH AND BRING ME CHIPS!!!!!!

Fraternal or Identical

After two-and-a-half years, we have found out the true origin of our twins. We were convinced from the day that we found out I was carrying twins that they were fraternal.

"Around two in three sets of twins are fraternal. Two separate eggs are fertilized by two separate sperm, resulting in fraternal or 'dizygotic' (two-cell) twins. These babies will be no more alike than siblings born at separate times. The babies can be either the same sex or different sexes, with the odds roughly equal for each."

 When we had our first scan at 9 weeks (I was very impatient), we were told they were non identical twins, which was the safest combination of twins you could get. So fast forward two and a bit years later and we have just been told that they are IDENTICAL! So it looks a bit like this..

So the boys came from one egg and split very early into two. This means they get their own sac and placenta and will appear fraternal.

The funny thing is, all the people that were like "are you sure they're not identical?" or "well they look very similar", "have you had them tested?" can now say to us "see, I told you so". However that's only based on that they cant tell them apart facially. Yes I agree that they do look very similar, but they do also look very different. Even down to their face shapes.

But, we decided to get a chorionicity scan last week which consists of a swab of the cheek for each of them and they are tested to see if their DNA is the same. It really didn't matter if they were or not, I mean, it doesn't make any difference to anything, but as so many people couldn't tell them apart, we thought it may be worth just checking.

 "If the division into two embryos happens in the first three days after fertilisation, the twins will develop their own placenta and membranes. They will look the same as non-identical twins on a scan."

 So you can see the confusion and we had no reason to doubt this. But as fraternal twins are more common, it was assumed that that's what they were and were happy with that.  So we originally thought our twins were the same as image E. Two eggs fertilized to make two embryos. As it turns out, they are the same as C.

 Anyway, non of this matters at all and we are very very lucky to have our boys.  Im actually really pleased they are identical. 1. it means they are closer than we thought and their bond should be tight for the rest of their lives. 2. Its not a genetic thing, which best of all takes us to 3. my chances of having twins again has been dramatically reduced as  identical twins happen completely spontaneously! Woo hoo!!

Ok, I'm a little bit upset about that. Because if were were to have another a baby, I actually wouldn't mind having twins again. Honestly I wouldn't. I mean look at these faces - special or what!

The dummy fairy arrived!

 Sammy has had a dummy and his cloth since we went to Australia back in 2013. Remarkably, so far, I cant see that his speech  has been affected. His teeth however had suffered slightly and this is something that we will need to get looked at at some point soon. So I made the decision that the dummy had to go!

So yeah, I have mentioned the dummy fairy on a few occasions, but Sam really hasn't been keen on the idea. However this time when I mentioned it in passing (after being sick to death of seeing this pink bit of plastic stuck in his mouth), he said yes! So i grabbed hold of that yes and rolled with it.

My plan of action for that day was to clearly explain, over and over that the dummy fairy would come when he was asleep and take his dummy away and give it to the little babies that needed dummies. In return for being such a brave boy, the dummy fairy would leave him a present. A simple concept that both Sam and Fin seemed to understand. I even showed them a picture of who was coming and said how happy she was that Sammy was giving up his dummy.

So at nap time I said that this would be the last time he would sleep with his dummy and that when they woke from their naps, we would go and buy some special bags for them to decorate which we would put the dummies in and hang on the door ready to be collected. I made sure that Fin was involved in this too because if Sammy got a present and Fin didn't, I didn't think it would be that fair. So Fin took on the role of helper to remind Sam where he dummy was when he asked for it.  They decided they each wanted some chocolate coins and a dinosaur. A phone call to Mark and £30 later, the dinosaurs were purchased and I managed to find some coins left over from Christmas.

Now I really wish I had gotten picture of the preparation stage but I didn't. Sam had a pink shiny gift bag and Fin chose a red one. They happily decorated them both with Peter Rabbit stickers and sparkles.We phoned Daddy and told him what was happening and we also called Nana and told her who was visiting that night. I though it would help to seal in the deal.

That night, we went through what would happen at bed time so there were no surprises. We had our stories, hung the bags on their door and waited in anticipation for s**t to go down! Now amazingly, there was no crying, no fussing. Sammy did ask for his dummy as soon as he got into bed (I think the realization set in) but he was OK about it. I had to sit in between them and tell them how happy everyone would be without dummies whilst stroking their hands.  It seemed to do the trick and we had a full night sleep with no disruptions.

The next morning I got up really enthusiastic and excited about what the dummy fairy had bought in the night. The boys jumped up and bought their bags into our bed. They were thrilled with their presents and Sammy didn't  seem to miss his dummy. Fin got his present for being such a good helper and I was so proud that my plan had been so well executed.

 These were the best pictures we could get!

 A week later and all is mostly well. Nap times have really suffered unfortunately but Sam hasn't really asked for his dummy. We have noticed that he is very very grumpy in the mornings and whether this is a result of not having his dummy, we don't know. But night times are completely fine. He sleeps all night without a hitch. Best of all, I can see his lovely face all the time now!

Camping with lots of kids!!!!!

Well we survived (accept for the bacon - dont ask!). A two night camping trip in the Cotswolds with two sets of twins plus two others. I can honestly say that it was great fun.

Welcome to....

We had a great corner plot that allowed us to have our living/kitchen area behind all of our tents. This meant it was safe for the kids and sheltered away from all the other campers. I wont rabble on too much about the weekend as really it was a lovely break and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. The weather was great and on night one, all of the kids were asleep by 10.30pm, and the second night it was about 9.30, so not all that bad.

 Fin getting in with the ladies

 

 

 Movie time! Yes yes I know we were camping and there's no need for TV but late afternoon when we are preparing dinner, sometimes its good to give the kids an opportunity to chill out whilst the adults cook.

 My little Fin enjoying the grass

 Bread anyone??

 Airbed fun.

 Faces. Happy.

 Tongue!

 Kiss

 Bleerrgghhhh

 Sleepy time.

  

 Our tent

 Bikes and buckets.

Trying to get all 8 kids to sit nicely on this log was a bit of an issue. There would always be one running away, one crying, two fighting, one smiling and the others just looking around!

 Randomness.

 Dinner time!

Such a lovely time and all adults and kids were very well bahanved. The campsite was great and I would highly recommend it.

Cotswold view is set near a village called Charbury. It has a little shop, tennis court, games room, three playgrounds, and very clean facilities. It has lovely walks around the site where you can see pigs, sheep, donkeys and horses. The fresh break in the morning was a lovely bonus!

Dotty

This is Dotty.

 

 She (it's a she!) has been in our lives for pretty much two years. We got given her by Marks mum when the boys were born. She didn't actually become an integral part in our lives though until Fin was about 9/10 months old. Since then, she has NEVER left his side.

 Now let me tell you, when we first got Dotty, she was plump, pristine Jelly Cat toy with her blue and white stripes easily distinguishable from each other and every thing intact. Fast forward 2 years later and we are left with a saggy, faded toy that once resembled an animal. The stripes have faded, one ear is considerably stained from all the sucking and she has had minor surgery along the way. She has endured many trips the washing machine and has been dropped in and smeared with ... well I don't even want to think, but let me just say that im sure there's not even cures for the diseases that donkey is carrying. Oh yeah, by the way, its a donkey. (Ok its actually a Zebra, Twibble Zebra to be exact, but to Fin, its always been a donkey). She ended up with the name Dotty because Fin first couldn't say Donkey, so it kinda stuck.

 

Now Fin has always chewed dottys ears for comfort. Every. Single. Night. She also is with us during dinner, when watching TV when having a bath and generally every where Fin is.

She has travelled with us everywhere. She has been to Wales, the Cotswolds, Sydney, Melbourne, London, Nottingham, Birmingham, and will be coming to Lanzarote in October im sure.

 

Its always been a fear of mine of losing her. I cannot even imagine the total destruction that would occur if we didnt have Dotty at bedtime. It give me chills thinking about it. It worried me so muich that I did try adn look for another one. Guess what? Two words - LIMITED EDITION! F*****g great! I must have spent hours and hours googling every single shop in the UK and Europe amd further ashore looking for this creature. It was sold out everywhere. I put a plea out on facebook for anyone that has one, or knows of one or that could just look for me next time they were shopping. But sadly that was fruitless. Until one day....

I found it on Ebay. FINALLY!!! I thought all my dreams had come through, until I saw how popular it was. Yeah there was quite a lot of interest in this thing. So i out my bid in, I cant remember how much the initial bidding started at but it went up and up and up. So much so, that I was outbid in the final seconds and This damn Zebra/Donkey hybrid went for £52.00!! It cost just £12.00 when it first came out so you can imagine the relief on mark face when I told him I had not just spend £52.00 on a stuffed toy. However, minutes later I had a message from the seller saying that she actually had another one available and that I could have it for my last bid which was £49.00. Unbeleivable! I had another one on the way. If we lose the original I can just Present this new one and all will be well.

No. It didn't happen. The new one arrived and we showed her to Fin. He was having none of it. Wont go near her. Wont even contemplate hugging her. So we have a disgusting dotty and and a lovely new one at home. Luckily Sammy doesn't mind new Dotty so he will occasionally take her to bed with him. So all is not lost!



 Dotty has never EVER not been with Fin in bed at night. I imagine that her will eventually grow out of her or she will become so rancid and thread bare that she will no longer stand up but I'm happy for her to stay until that happens. After all, she looks pretty happy.