Age: 10 Months (Wk 43)

Our beautiful bouncing baby Gabriele is at last ten months old and I feel like a zombie-extra from a horror film, as he’s decided to mark this occasion by teething like a sabre-tooth with his sixth tooth and screaming the house down every few hours throughout the night. Does this boy never run out of energy? We’re treading a fine line each night over whether to go to him or not when he screams in the insanely early hours. We give him teething gel, milk, a nappy change and a wind before putting him down to sleep; but out of nowhere at all he wakes up, springs onto his feet and shakes the bars of his cot screaming and locking his arms and legs with anger. Whaaaat!?

I’m really hoping that this is a phase that will soon pass, but worst case scenario, when Gabriele is seven years old I will sit him down and ask him to stop it! Hopefully by that time he won’t be ten feet tall and crush me like a grape. I would love to meet just one more parent on this earth whose child is putting them through the same kind of nighttime torture and sleep deprivation at the age of ten months. Just to know if there is an end in sight or a time frame for the sentence that I have left to serve. My beautiful son is a blessing and I love both my children more than anything in the world, but I’ve never known anything like it when it comes to bed time and he flatly refuses to switch off and go to sleep and stay down until morning.

On the other side of the scale, our adorable Millie has been very helpful and kind as always as this weekend she made some cakes for her grandparents. She was so excited to be able to mix up the ingredients and put on the toppings and she asked if she could make a cookery video for our Dizkis channel on youtube to show other children how to bake cakes. She’s taken such a liking to being on camera over this last year and she makes a great little presenter. I’ll always support her in whatever she wants to do in life and at the moment her attention seems to be focusing on performing and singing and she’s determined to become a rockstar. I find her singing in her bedroom mirror and strutting from side to side down the stairs and it melts my heart to see her so happy and passionate about what she’s doing. I realise she’s only five and will possibly want to be a zoo keeper tomorrow or an astronaut next week, but how amazing is it to see your child really and truly love something so much that they live and breathe it everyday, we could all learn so much from little ones!

I am now halfway through my gruelling Insanity Workout 60-day routine and by far in the best shape of my life. I have muscles in places I didn’t even know existed and I have recently welcomed my first ever four-pack abs, only another two to go until I have a six-pack! When I look in the mirror after having had two children I see my toned body and muscles gleaming back at me and I think “woah, that’s never my body is it!?” and it seems so surreal as I’ve never been like this before in my life. But at the same time I have put so much hard work and effort into working out, it’s been a massive challenge and something that I’ve wanted to test my stamina and commitment over and I’m extremely proud to say that I’ve achieved it all manually, no surgery, no dieting and no quick fix. If we never push ourselves in life than how will we ever know what we are truly capable of? And I want my children to know that nothing in life is unachievable, if you’re prepared to work hard and put in the time and effort you can have whatever you want in life and nothing and nobody can stop you. So I lead by example and like to think that they will both grow into very grounded and positive thinking individuals.

My eyes are healing nicely following my laser surgery just over two weeks ago now and I can at last wear makeup again. My skin absolutely adored being bare to the world for two whole weeks and free from the encasing mask of daily makeup, but the sleeplessness and never-ending Mummy role has left me looking and feeling like a worn out dishcloth with Gabriele’s most recent bout of teething tantrums at night. I wish that I looked like a supermodel without makeup, but I’ve come to accept that I am who I am and I look how I look. I feel more confident when I’m wearing makeup but regardless of if I’m in a ball gown or rags I am and always will be me. I am so fortunate to have my good health and family but I wish my spots and dark circles would take a weekend off every once in a while!

If anyone can find a cure to make your face look as smooth and blemish free as the skin on your arm then I would gladly make you tea and cakes everyday for the rest of my life without fail. I love my life and I love my babies, but why do our bodies have to betray our age and exhaustion? A stiff upper lip is whats needed and to grow old gracefully! Or perhaps visit a health spa for an afternoon of pampering.