Little Bit About Me....

Hey loves!

So to restart my blogging journey I thought I’d start off with a little bit about me and my life!

My name is Tab, short for Tabatha and I’m 38. I'm married to my childhood sweetheart, Leigh! We’ve been together since I was 16 years old; we moved in together when I was 17 and married at 18, and we will be celebrating 20 years of marriage at our next anniversary! Honestly, it’s not always a bed of roses, we can bicker like 2 kids, but that’s just us....we are the best of friends, spend all our time together and in over 20 years we have only spent a few nights apart, which was when I had my op and Louis! 

I'm a first time Mammy to a beautiful boy called Louis, and as cheesy as this might sound, he is a true miracle!  We started trying for a family in 2004, but sadly it took till 2015 for our dream to become a reality! I fell pregnant in November 2015; not 100% sure whether the operation I had to remove cysts off my ovaries was the reason I fell pregnant or the 8.5 stone weight loss (which I'll discuss more another time), or even a combination of both....but finally after what felt like a life time we got the dream we always wanted - to be parents! Louis was conceived naturally, just for those curious bods out there...my weight loss was the beginning of my journey towards IVF, but I was very lucky and conceived without going down they IVF route!
 

I had the absolute best pregnancy ever, no complications, no swollen feet, no heart burn....I know lucky cow, I hear you say lol....I  felt the best I’d ever felt in my entire  life! For me carrying a baby was the most magical experience ever; I loved having my Louis all to myself for 9 months, I loved to feel him move around (and boy did he move; he never stopped) When I look at him it actually blows my mind that he was the same baby moving around inside me...honestly just Blows.My.Mind.  I would love to experience it again, probably won’t be the same next time round with a wee one on the outside too lol but I really, really want to do it again! Over the years, I imagined so many times what I would look like pregnant, and I never thought I would have a nice neat round bump like I did! That lovely bump gave me so much confidence; I felt so good and loved to show it off!

Louis has brought so much joy and happiness to my life, he gave me a purpose....before I knew of his existence, I just felt like I didn't know where I fit in, in this world...and I quite simply adore him, he made me the Mammy I always wanted/dreamed of being! I honestly can't believe how lucky I am to have him, and I can’t believe how beautiful he is either! (There’s a lot I can’t believe lol)

Louis isn’t the first child that I’ve cared for...we fostered children between the ages of 0-4...back in 2010/2013....it’s an experience that I will never forget...a very difficult experience, and watching those children leave you, is truly heart breaking... especially when we didn’t have any of our own! So as a result of the fostering we have already experienced potty training, weaning, crawling, teething, all in abundance....but nothing really prepares you for going through it all with your own child...sometimes I feel like such a novice and you wouldn’t think Louis is the 12th child I’ve experienced it all with lol, trust me, I wing it along with everyone else! I used to look after students from our local college too, but that’s another story for another day lol...I loved doing that too!

(No pic, I'm afraid, as I can't share images of the foster children)

I’ve got two adorable and super cute Shih Tzus that are my babies too, Teddy and Hettie. Teddy is 7 and Hettie is 3. I get major dog mum guilt as I can’t spend as much time with them as I used to! But my evenings are for them, and they know it, bless them! Hettie thinks that she is Louis second Mama, she would lick him to death if I let her! Teddy, on the other hand, is not at all bothered by Louis in the slightest, he ignores him the majority of the time, but he is the first at the door to get him up from a nap...so I think he does love him really lol  

In 2014 I embarked on my Slimming World journey, and by 2015 I'd lost a whopping 8.5 stone! Slimming World has absolutely changed my life, actually scrap that, it’s given me a life! Still now, 2 years on, I catch sight of myself and think...OMG, is that me! The novelty that I can now buy clothes in any shop (well apart from Top Shop and Miss Selfridge, cos my ass is still too big for their excuse for a size 16) just blows my mind...Also, I followed Slimming World throughout my pregnancy too; there were times I did fall off the wagon, I won’t lie lol, but on the whole I stayed on plan throughout! 3 weeks after having Louis I was back at my pre pregnancy weight! I was so worried I'd put the whole lot back on, especially when I developed an addiction for Murray Mints and Pic 'n' Mix sweets.....oh and lets not talk about the bubble-gum ice lollies I became addicted too lol

I run my own business, called Tabby Craft Designs and have done since 2009! I create my own crochet patterns and with them I make unique, one of a kind, keepsakes for your home! The first pattern I wrote was for the mice, and to date they are still my best seller.....I'm so fond of them! Recently I've also gotten into creating personalised goods like bags and zipped pouches too.  Link to my website HERE and my Facebook Page HERE

I LOVE to bake so much, just wish I could eat as much as I could bake without ending up the size of a house again! I bake as much stuff as I can for Louis though, so that helps get the baking bug out of my system! 

Cornwall is my happy place, I've been more times than I can count....I desperately want to live there, and I've been so close to doing it so many times, but each time something happens that stopped us! The last time was finding out I was pregnant with Louis lol....but once all the cards alined again, i.e hubbys job, house etc etc, we shall be gone! I actually don't care where abouts I live down there either...I just want to call Cornwall home!

I had a horrid cancer scare back in 2015, which lead me to have an operation, and one of my ovaries and tube removed. Those 8 weeks from when they found the cyst to removing it, changed my life and I still now find it hard to process it all. I honestly and truly thought I was going to die, and it makes you see everything in such a different light! Finding out I was pregnant with Louis after all that I went through was just incredible, especially when I thought our chances of getting pregnant were even slimmer than before!

Finally, I’m addicted to Pepsi Max, it’s my jam and I bloody love it! I'm ashamed to say that I get emosh when I drink it if I've not had any for a bit (like a day lol)....that’s so bad, I know lol....

So, that's me and mine in a nutshell, I’m going to do some separate posts to tell you more about some of the things I’ve talked about above, but this kind of gives you an over view!
Hope you’ve enjoyed reading my waffle lol, sorry for any typos or grammar errors! I tend to write how I speak and so sometimes my my’s gets swapped for me’s etc but that’s just how I roll...common as muck, me!

Lots of love

Tab x