Baby Halloween!

I have never been a big one for Halloween. I usually spend the evening avoiding trick or treaters and maybe carving a pumpkin just for us. 

The Holy Grail of Parenting

 

How are they sleeping?

Do they sleep through the night?

How often are you up with them at night time?

The Kindness of Strangers

Yesterday our boiler went bang. It flooded out kitchen and dining room. It was scary and stressful. 

The Week That Was Spent Watching What I Eat

Monday 

Breakfast

Dippy eggs and orange juice

Lunch

Four chipolatas, spiced sweet potatoes, peppers and onion with salsa and guacamole (weekend leftovers)

Dinner

Two chicken thighs roasted with chorizo and potatoes with sweet corn

Home made Apple Pie and Custard

 

TotsBots Easyfits: Easy Does It!

TotsBots Easyfits 

Easy by name and easy by nature

Up and Down with the Ga Ga Theatre Company

 

I grew up enjoying the theatre. I have very fond memories of going to see panto when young, around my November birthday. I had a surprise trip to see Jason Donovan as Joseph in his Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat for my birthday and can still vividly remember sitting in the auditorium in awe.

Get Fit Mummy: week 2

Food has been on my mind a lot recently and healthy choices in particular. 

The Week That Was Spent in the Park

Autumn Walks

On our way back from Baby Bounce at our local library I was getting busy with my camera while L napped in her pumpkin hat.

Autumn sunshine is so beautiful.

I don't know if that is because the grey days are so grey and miserable that you properly appreciate the sunshine or if there is something actually physically different about the low lying autumn sun.

Here are a few snaps (taken on my trusty but much abused phone) from my walks this week.

 

L's Toybox 0-3 months

L is starting to widen her toy choices so before we move on I thought I would look back at what she has enjoyed and how she has played with it up to now.

Lamaze Freddie, Flutterbug and Kerry

Freddie featured in the What's in Your Changing Bag feature  over on Make Do and Push and it has been chained to her pushchair since we received it as a gift when L was just two weeks old. It is brightly coloured, multi textured and has different things to play with. A mirror hidden in his wing, a squeak on another, grab rings hanging from his body and a teething thingmy which tucks into a little pocket on another wing. He also has nicely knotted legs and smaller wings on one side all with different textures. Oh and Freddie is so popular that every child in my group of NCT ladies has him on their prams.

Nappy Kind Boutique Leg Warmers

I saw a shout out to review leg warmers from Nappy Kind Boutique on twitter and jumped at the chance to try some out at a reduced cost. I was curious as to when I would use them and if they would suit us as a cloth family.
Nappy Kind Boutique stock a wide range of baby products from cloth nappies to taggie gift sets as well as very cool looking leggings. They also have a wide selection of leg warmers at varying costs and it was these I was keen to try. I chose two girly but not pink designs of polka dots and apples! I thought these would go with the widest range of our current outfits. The Apple Burst retail at £4.99 and the Purple Polka Dot (as modelled below) retail at £6.99 (although they are currently in the sale at £5.99)

Keep Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling!

Just chilling out staring at my toys.

Oh look I am on my front! See you blinked and missed it.

The Passage of Time

At no other time in our lives are we so acutely aware of the passage of time. 

During pregnancy we count weeks and days. Contractions are counted in minutes. Labour is counted in hours. Once baby arrives and we count the weeks and months. 

L is 17 and a half weeks old. L is 4 months old. 

Free Books with Booktrust

Is there anything more magic than free books?

Not in my humble opinion.

Bookstart packs are given to all babies and nursery age children in the UK by the charity Booktrust. Booktrust are committed to helping inspire young readers as well as helping parents to help their children. 

We picked up out first pack last weekend at our local library, or if you are lucky your health visitor will bring your Bookstart pack to you! 

The Week That Was In The Life Of

A week in the life of L

The days you hug your baby a little bit tighter

I went for a walk today, the walk I did everyday in the last three weeks of my pregnancy. During those walks I would rub my belly and talk to Pip imagining what life would be like when 'he' was here.

Our birth was different to how I imagined it. Our feeding story is a bit different to how I imagined it (still working on that post). Her gender is different to what I was expecting! But what is just how I imagined it is the love and the fear for our baby.

Life is full of love and excitement and joy because Pip was born and is L and she is a delight and a wonder of life and energy. I love her. Our birth had some scary moments but she is here safe, I am here safe and fully recovered. 

We are loving family life.

And then something happens. You hear tragic news, you read a heart breaking story. You hug your baby a bit tighter and you thank whoever you wish that your baby is safe and well and that you can hug and kiss them still. And it gives you the fear.

Life can be cruel and take away the most loved people, be it adult, child or baby. These events shatter lives and when they come out of the blue suddenly they are all the more shocking. 

We need to hug our babies, kiss our partners and love with wild abandon, because life is also full of fear but we can't let it take over and rule our lives. 

Take each day as a blessing and remember those walks on the green dreaming big for our bump. Try and push the fears aside, be thankful and love. 

Autumn Book Round Up!

 

This week is children's book week. 

As a teacher it is only appropriate that I share some books and talk about the importance of reading with babies and children.

Morkus Family Home

Two weeks of packing chaos.

The Week That Was Instagrammed

This week I started work on my #autumnbucketlist by baking something. 

This week it was a Baked Cheese Cake with blueberries. It was my first cheese cake baking experience. 

It went a bit like this ...

 

Twelve Short Months

On this day last year I peed on a stick. 

 

 

It was positive.

Babies Playspace Makeover Pt. 2

L's new favourite thing is tugging fabric, be it her knees her muslin or mummy's top (this last one especially so when mummy is trying to feed discretely in public!)

Poorly Parent

There are no sick days, no supply and no other options when you are a parent who is poorly.