Well what did yer get?

Well I never got the flavour shaker BUT I was lucky I never went on a full on Jamie Oliver rant because my Mum in Law did get the Italian book and some of his food ingredients for me. yum yum, will start to have a read and make some of them over the weekend.

Got an amazing set of saucepans from my Mum as well, as I said I do love cooking, the pans are really nice and called Stellar Lamina Tri-Ply Copper, here is a picture:



I will now hopefully be able to increase the collection.

What else? well I got lots of other things but my other main present was a Line6 toneport UX1, I can plug my guitar into it and connect it to the mac to make all sorts of noise :-) I still really need to sit down and play with it because I have only managed to have a very quick go on it due to people coming and going at our house. Will take a photo of my "rig" tomorrow.

Have Fun,

It's been a while, MERRY XMAS

Merry Xmas to everyone and a big ALL THE BEST to all those that know us in real life and those regular bloggers that also look here.

Been really busy as you can guess but I have been a bit slack getting the blog updated. Well my new year resolution will be to make sure I keep this updated at least every couple of days. Easier then giving up the beer !!!

So who has asked for Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker? I have not but I do love my cooking so I have to be careful because I am going to hate myself for blogging about it and then getting one ! BUT I'm going to stick my neck out and think that most people will think the same as me and say "What the hell is that about?"

From the description:
Features

* It crushes, grinds, blends, mixes and more!
* The Flavour Shaker is a fun, quirky and highly original food preparation item
* Invented and endorsed by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver
* More versatile alternative to the Pestle and Mortar
* Creates lovely flavours in seconds
* Lightweight and easy to use
* Dishwasher safe (top rack only)
* Made from high grade thick core polycarbonate for strength
* Comfortable non-slip grip for safety
* Includes a ceramic ball for crushing ingredients

I use a pestle and mortar and it was quite an expensive one ( I hope, thanks Mum in -law !) because it's not a wooden one but a kind of stone one. It's great and I have to give it some force to get everything into a powder. Now I can not see that a little ceramic ball in a plastic container can "crush and grind" the way my pestle does but I would be interested to hear from anyone that gets one.

Personally there is no way I would spend £20 on it but I guess lots of people have because it is sales rank number 2 on Amazon.co.uk I will wait for the reviews to be added to the site so I can see.

Quick Question: How do I see what the top sales are on Amazon.co.uk, could not see a link

Quick Tip: Lightly fry your spices before crushing.

This is Max playing with his new play mat that his Uncle Matt got him yesterday. I'm not sure what he is trying to tell me but look at his fingers in the mirror !!!!


Have a good one and I will blog tomorrow. Happy Xmas all.

James, Faye and Max
x

2 weeks old today

Max is now 2 weeks old and we are coping quite well. Seems like he has been around longer then that and he is getting bigger and bigger.

Personally Im still struggling with the fact that my sleep is in stages. It's strange because I probably have only had about 6 - 7 hours sleep a night for quite a while but now it is broken with feeds it is harder. I used to go to bed about midnight and then be up around 6am, now I'm trying to sleep earlier. say 10pm and then use those 2 hours for feeding, changing etc.

I'm still off work so it's not too bad but I have to try and get this sleeping thing sorted by Monday. Work are really good, I get 2 weeks off paternity but I also do compressed time so I get a day off because of that and I need to take 2 days holiday and I will of had almost 3 weeks off in the end :-0

We managed to get out and go to Brent Cross (shopping centre) yesterday. We were very chuffed with ourselves and even managed to to do a nappy change in the little changing rooms that they have.

Apart from that we have not really managed to get out. I did manage a trip down Selhurst to see the Palace (Fayes mum was round so I never left her) Its a lot harder then we thought it was going to be and even a small trip down the local shop is a task and a half BUT it is getting a lot easier for us now.

This is a photo of Max in his probably the best baby in the world t-shirt. One of my fav bits of clothes on him and a present from Fayes work colleagues.

PS Thanks for the gmail account Jane and also Laura, gutted I can not have Palace Fan but oh well. Looks really good but I still need to play around with it.

Gmail invite

Can anyone help me get a gmail account?

Just been reading up on this new feature and it looks quite good and I would like to have a play.

Thank you.

What is 'Web Clips'?
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Here's how to customize which Web Clips are shown in your account:

1. Log in to your Gmail account.
2. Click Settings at the top of any Gmail page, and open the Web Clips tab.
3. Browse popular clips by selecting a topic link along the left. Search for feeds by entering topics that interest you -- use this feature like you would Google Search. Or, enter specific feed URLs.
4. Click Add next to the clips you'd like to see in your Gmail account.

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When you got to go, you have to go

Happy birthday Max, 1 week old :-0

The joys of parenthood. Today while changing Max from his moist and dirty nappy he decided it was time to go again. Now when he first started a couple of days ago actually having a poo we were very excited and kept saying good boy, we are not too sure now if we should of been encourging him all the time.

Anyway, So I'm there all happy thinking good stuff all done, baby clean and dry, I turned to get a fresh nappy and throw the old one, I come back and he turned himself into a water feature and sprayed everywhere. OK another clean but then he farted and not just any fart but a full on poo fart all over the mat, his clothes, himself and me :-(. He then did it again straight after !!! Faye heard me scream and came running in but just laughed at me.

Here is a picture of Max in his Palace gear taken this morning for his grandad and uncle.

Tired

Well what can I say other then I have the greatest son in the world and a wife that is brilliant and so so good with Max BUT we dont seem to have sleep anymore.

I might get Faye to write about the labour as she saw it and I also will at the same time and we could see how close they are to each other ! So I wont go into it all BUT he was born at the Royal Free in Hampstead and had a view of the Crystal Palace tower. I never knew that until we went in the birthing room because we had not been able to see that birthing room (had the pool) during any of visits to the hospital. As I looked out I thought "this is just meant to be" :-)

He was helped out by the ventouse method in the end so his head has quite pointed but he already, to us, has got his shape back and the only signs of the delivery are a couple of small bruises.

This is a replica of the bags under my eyes:


Today is going to be our first day truely on our own so really looking forward to it. It has been great having all the family round especially getting clothes as presents. We only bought a few cream / white things and have yet to venture out so have not got all the blue clothes.

We should be able to email people we were meant to tell about Max and also try to reply back to some, sending some photos out, thanking people for the flowers and presents. Sorting out my printer so I can become one of the people in the office with a photo on the desk.

I always said that I would not be one of them office people with their life posted all over the desk in pictures. I do have a couple of concert tickets lying around but thats just to prove to myself that I have seen some bands this year. Not sure why you would need the whole family in pictures on your computer monitor. I'm going to be going home to them in the evening and if need be I can actually look at my blog. So I might just keep a picture in my desk.

Thanks again for all the comments and nice to see some friends posting a comment. I dont get too many comments and hardly any from people I have actually seen and drank with.

And the name change of the blog I guess will be happening soon. Didnt really think about that did I !!

Anyway enough about me here is Max at 24 hours: I will take some in daylight later !!!! He tends to be more awake at night though.


This us playing on the Mac using front row and glow as the setting:

Welcome to the world Chosen One

:-0

What a marathon, thanks for the comments and emails. It was really hard on Faye and I will hopefully blog more details laters. We went to the hospital after the last update but got sent home and went back again yesterday at about 1pm. A few problems happened but nothing too major. I stayed last night in the hospital because a) they are nice midwifes and B) it would be dangerous for me to of drove home.

I'm going back soon to bring them home.

Anyway the bits you want to know.
Sex: We are going to wait quite a while before doing that again !!! Oh, its a boy. Get in there. Just what I wanted.
Name: Max James Simmonds aka The Chosen One
Weight: 7lb 8 (Think that is about 3.2kg)
Date and Time: Wednesday 30th November at 23.48
Picture: This is Max at 8am this morning. He has not really cried at all and just seems to stare out at this new and amazing world.