Tuesday 26 November 2013

Ben's 6 month update

Long time no post, I'm sorry about that. Ben has kept me very busy! Plus we've been on holiday. So I thought my first post back would be Ben's 6 month update - I'm hoping to do these regularly from now on, every month. Well we'll see if I do.


Ben is actually 7 and a half months old now - his 7 month post is in the works.. I don't know how much he weighs or how long he is. As haven't had any need to take him to the doctors, but you can tell he's growing. And isn't a chubby baby, perfectly proportioned I would say.


I'm still breast feeding which is going well, the next mission in that department is being able to pump enough for when I go back to work - which shouldn't be that hard, as I should need 4 bottles a week, 5 if there's a football game. I have started him on solids, a bit earlier than the 6 month mark because every time we would sit down to eat, he would be all whiney and grouchy, because he wasn't getting any (even though I'd just fed him). He was constantly biting things & watching us eat. I started of with just baby rice. He got all excited of the first aspect of food, kicking his legs & smiling. I kept him on one meal a day for 2 weeks - which I gave him at lunchtime. He is now on 3 meals a day, having porridge for breakfast, then normally fruit or veg for lunch and dinner. He has had all fresh puree's made by me. I don't want to give him jar food as it's not meant to taste good & I wouldn't want to eat them myself so don't want Ben to. I purchased Annabel Karmel's New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner, I'm just using it for the recipe's and information not for the planners. He likes everything he has tried so far.



He currently has one tooth, slowly creeping up out of his gums (it seems to be taking ages - don't know if this is normal). It took ages to actually poke out of his gums too, he has been teething since he was about 3 months! The week before it appeared he was super grouchy & really clingy. Every time I put him down he would cry.

He rolls over like crazy! All over the lounge. He's not crawling yet, but will kick his legs when lying down and then get annoyed because he doesn't move. So I can't see it being that long till he is. He can sit up by himself for a few seconds at a time, he is definitely doing it for longer periods than to begin with though. And now knows where his balance point is, and will stop himself from going too far backwards sometimes.


He loves to stand & bounce, which can get tiring on the arms, as we didn't buy a bouncer or anything similar. He also loves being thrown up in the air (obviously not literally but you know what I mean). I can drop him from a small height on to the bed & he'll giggle away. Think he's going to love rollercoasters when he's older, just like his daddy (I hate them!).


Tuesday 14 May 2013

1 month old



Hello everyone,

As you probably gathered I have given birth to my beautiful baby boy, called Benjamin David. He was born on April 14th at 5:40pm weighing 7lb 8.6oz. Exactly one week overdue. I will be doing a labour and delivery post, so I won't go into details.



He has changed so much already, and the past month has gone so fast. But both Steve and I love him so much. Steve looks forward to finishing work and coming home to us so much. I would say he's rather a good baby, although does have his grouchy moments. He doesn't really cry just moans, when he has wind or is hungry. He'll quite happily lay there with a dirty nappy (can't understand why!).


It's quite hard to find time to do things, but it has got easier since he got older. He likes his rocker chair to sit/lay in, he love that it vibrates! The past few days he's started looking up at the window, and he'll look at lights as well, which must be because he's eyes are developing. Still can't figure out what colour eyes he'll end up with though. Mine are blue and Steve's are brown, at the moment they look like a mixture of the two.

We're still living in the flat, completion date for the house buying is next Thursday, so we'll be moving sometime in June and I can't wait. The only thing that is annoying me right now is having no space and the flat being a mess! I know when we move the house will never be totally tidy, but it will be a lot better than our flat now!

Thursday 11 April 2013

Haul #2

I've recently bought a few new items for my Spring wardrobe, that's if it ever does warm up a bit.




Starting with a couple of light weight shirts, both from Primark around the £10-£12 mark. I purchased these mostly because they'll make breast feeding easier, as I can just undo the buttons. Plus I haven't actually got any light weight shirts/blouses. I'm thinking these will look really nice with a pair of skinny jeans once I can fit in them again.


Next I bought this dress, for £10 (which you can so obviously see from the sticker on the dress). Again I wanted something button up to make life easier. and it's really cute, and can just chuck on a cardigan with if it's chilly.


These were just £5, I have quite a few pairs of ballet flats but they're all darker colours apart from one pair. So I picked up these to add a bit of colour to any outfit.


I've been wanting a faux leather jacket for a while now. I picked this up from Miss Selfridge for £52. I've only worn it a couple of times so far because it's been so cold. But am thinking I may just embrace the cold and wear it anyway with one of my lightweight scarves.

Wednesday 10 April 2013

40 weeks & 3 days Pregnancy Update

Hello all,

So my due date has been and gone, it is frustrating to say the least. He'll come when he wants to come I suppose. I did however have back ache (like period pains) all last night, although that has eased off this morning. I woke up so many times last night, and was laying in bed this morning & just had to get up, I was fed up with lying in bed! I also think I may have had my show, but you can have this a month before or a few days before, or during labour itself.

I did buy a couple of sheets, and a blanket on Monday after my midwife appointment. Along with a little dog soft toy, that I'll be taking to the hospital with us. It said suitable from birth on the tag, so it's safe to be near him when he's first born.

I am super tired now though, must be the lack of sleep. I was going to do a bit of housework today, like yesterday. But I'm just going to relax, watch youtube videos and do some cross stitching. Although I will have to do the washing up before Steve gets home from work.

One thing I do hope is that we get released from hospital quite soon after birth. I know they can release you from 6 hours after. So in some ways I'm hoping I labour overnight, give birth in the morning, so we're home by the evening. Not that things work the way you want it.

I am so looking forward to holding him and the skin on skin, with just the 3 of us for about an hour after birth.

So on Monday, I was still 3/5th's engaged, same as two weeks previous, I didn't have a sweep done, as wasn't experiencing any tightenings (and still am not) and my midwife says it was a good decision, as she wouldn't either. I am booked in for another appointment on Tuesday, this is just another check-up (the last few appointments are pretty repetitive) and to book my induction if needed - although I'd much rather go into labour naturally. We'll see what happens. Hopefully my next little update will be after he's born.

Sunday 7 April 2013

Haul #1



I thought I'd do a haul post on some beauty bits that I have picked up recently.



Starting with some nail products. I've been using OPI Nail Envy, on my nails forever. I use it as a base coat before I apply my chosen colour of nail varnish. It did improve the quality of my nails. But with the job that I do I can't wear nail varnish at work, so it's limited to when I can use it. Ever since I got pregnant though my nails have just got super strong & grow really quickly. I still however use it under my nail varnish, now I'm on maternity leave. I needed a top coat and had heard good things about this Sally Hansen Insta-Dri so decided to pick it up whilst in Boots, as I always smudge my nails and will have even less time to paint them once I'm looking after my son.


Next I picked up some back-ups. These are products I have now repurchased at least 3/4 times now. Firstly I use the Rimmel Clear Complexion Powder in translucent. I love this powder and it's only £3.99. My go to foundation is L'Oreal Paris True Match Foundation, I use the shade N1 Ivory which is my Winter shade. I've actually started using this already as my other one ran out. Lastly the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in the shade 2 Light, again this is my Winter colour. Although I normally stick with the same shade throughout the whole year & just blend it out more when I'm tanned.


I also wanted to try out this Aveeno Positively Radiant Serum as it's meant to help even out your skin tone and get rid of scarring. I have a lot of acne scarring and hoping this will help with it. So I'll have to see how it goes. Also looking to invest in the eye cream in the same line as well.

Lastly I picked up the Batiste Dry Shampoo, I got the bigger can so it lasts me longer. I use this when my hair is looking oily and I haven't got time to wash it. Again I will have less time when my little boy is here.

So that's all the beauty products I've been buying recently. What have you been buying, and would you recommend them? I'm always looking to try new products.

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Pregnancy Update


Sorry about the wild hair in the above photo, oops!

My bump has got a lot bigger, but still pretty small compared to others at my late stage in pregnancy.

So my due date is on Sunday, I thought I'd be more nervous than what I am. In fact all I really want to do is go into labour! I'm fed up of waiting for him to arrive if I'm honest. Also I'm really uncomfortable & want to start getting back to normal as soon as possible. The good thing is it doesn't seem like I've put on any weight anywhere apart from my bump and my breasts have obviously got bigger. So I'm hoping that with breast feeding I'll be able to get into some size 12 jeans that I have a couple of weeks after giving birth. I was a size 10 before I was pregnant.

Health wise I'm feeling fine, I've had a pretty simple & easy pregnancy compared to others. Just had a few aches and pains.

My last midwife appointment was last Monday, he was 3/5th's engaged although it does feel like he's dropped a bit more since then. She also asked me if I'd experienced any Braxton Hicks, that answer is no (and still none a week later), but she did give the impression that I may be experiencing them and not feeling them. That makes me feel a bit better about labour & maybe the beginning of it & the contractions at the beginning won't be too bad (here's hoping). I'm experiencing a couple of pre-labour symptoms & have been for about 10 days. Although no one thinks he's going to come on time.

I'm trying to do a bit of housework each day just to move around a bit and keep the flat tidy and dust free for our little boy whenever he arrives. I know it's best to rest, but you're also meant to walk. But it's so cold outside and I'd much rather walk around the flat. Plus I don't want to go out on my own just incase I go into labour when I'm out.

Monday 1 April 2013

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What I'm Looking Forward to in April


1. Meeting my son
2. Completing the purchase of our first house
3. The weather warming up & being able to wear Spring clothes (finally)
4. Looking after my son (what an amazing feeling that will be)
5. Our families meeting our little boy
6. Taking lots of photos of our son ready for his scrapbook & photo albums
7. Being able to wear things other than tunics, leggings & maternity clothes (well hopefully - I have some size 12 jeans & was a size 10 before getting pregnant)

Friday 8 March 2013

Update



So sorry, long time no update. This post is just basically an update of what is going on in my life at the moment.

Firstly, pregnancy. It's all going fine, got a month till my due date, which is kind of scary, but on the other hand I can't wait to meet my little boy and actually feel comfortable again. It is so hard to get comfortable whether I am sitting down or laying in bed at night trying to get to sleep. My boyfriend Steve told me last night I had started to waddle - which is meant to be a sign that your baby is engaged. But I'll see what my midwife says on Monday morning when I next see her. I am now on maternity leave, and basically living in leggings and my yoga pants from Matalan which are so comfortable.

So what have I been doing since I finished work? Basically cleaning, housework, laundry, watching youtube videos, reading blogs and cross-stitching. I view the flat as a complete mess though, because of all the baby things around the place. And I have my clothes sitting on the floor so my little boys clothes can be away in a drawer. So we've bought some more baby stuff. I have put away my breast pump, bottles and steriliser in a kitchen cupboard. Steve and I have also been looking at houses, which brings me on to my next subject.

We have had a bid accepted on a 3 bedroom house! It's lovely, basically we're able to move into it straight away there's only one thing we want to do before we move in, which is perfect, as we don't want the hassle of having to sort things out with our little one due so soon. So we (or shall I say Steve) has been ringing up Solicitors, I did arrange an appointment with our mortgage consultant, and she has found a really good mortgage for us. Just got to get some paper work together to drop into her before she can actually sort out the mortgage for us. I would definitely recommend getting a mortgage consultant. There's so many mortgages about & they have a database that accesses all of them. So things are moving forward at a rapid rate. Good job too, because I'm getting rather fed up in this flat, as it's only one bedroom & pretty small really. And we are limited with storage space.

Right, I think that's all for now. Hope everyone is well & achieving what you all want to achieve.

Thursday 10 January 2013

What I got for Christmas 2012

This is going to be my what I got for Christmas 2012 post that I promised, I know it's late, but I took the photos a while ago & only now having a nice relaxing day off from work. I worked over Christmas, so it's nice to just relax afterwards before worrying about having to do other things. So although I've had the weekend off just gone, Steve & I spent it not doing much just the essential clothes washing. So from Monday it was back to housework etc.



This is what I received from my parents, a lovely Amazing Grace Philosophy set & some Shavata tweezers. The scent of Amazing Grace is lovely, in the set you get the 3-in-1 showergel, bubble bath & shampoo, hand cream, body lotion, a 60ml perfume and then a handbag sized perfume.


This is the rest of what I received. Socks, money, gift cards/vouchers, Babyliss Curling Wand, Urban Decay Naked 2 palette, The Vampire Diaries Season 3 and My Fight With Life by Leon McKenzie. Also not pictured a mini Philosophy cleanser & Hotel Chocolat chocolate lolly.

I hope everyone got some lovely presents this year.

Tuesday 1 January 2013

Happy New Year!

I spent New Years Eve working, then because I'm always so tired, I was in bed watching a DVD by 9PM. So I didn't see the New Year in. Today Steve and I are off to his parents for another lovely roast dinner, with more friends & family. Then back to work tomorrow.

Everyone's doing Resolution posts at the minute, I don't really like to make any, but as this is a big year for us I want to just have some aims, that will be on-going not just for this year.

Be a good mum - with our boy due in April, we both want him to have a good up bringing, not be too spoilt etc. We're already talking about teaching him things from books for when he gets older.

Be more organised - I've bought a massive diary for this year, so I can organise my life. It's mostly for when our little boy gets here, to help me with getting the housework done & fitting in a bit of 'me time' as well. I also need to organise all our paperwork (bills, receipts etc.)

Save up for an ipad - everyone has these & I really want one, so it will take a lot of saving.

Buy our own house - Steve and I are looking at houses, we haven't actually viewed any yet, but our plan is to own our own house by the Summer.

Lose my baby weight - Now I haven't actually put on that much, but everyone has their belly to lose after giving birth. My plan for this is breast feeding, walking & playing on my Xbox Kinect.

I hope everyone had a wonderful night last night & a lovely day today. Happy New Year!!