Cradle cap and baby

I didn't know what cradle cap was, until I realised baby had it! I'm not too sure how it feels for her but she does scratch it sometimes and when she does, some of it comes away but it also brings some of her hair with it! This can't be nice for her so on the advice of my mam we got her some olive oil to apply.

We apply it on a night time and wash her hair on a morning, although I thought we should apply it during the day and wash it off on a night to keep the bath as part of her bedtime routine but hubby knows best 😛

We have only been using it about a week, and to be honest I haven't noticed much of a difference so far but when we went to my parents for Christmas hubby also got some shampoo specially made to target cradle cap so I used that for the first time yesterday.

I am hoping that something helps with the cradle cap soon as I feel quite sorry for baby! It's not nice to look at or feel and it can't be nice for her and all I want is for her to be happy!

I will let you know if either the oil or the shampoo works 😀

Xxx

Sensory play

As you may know, baby goes to nursery on a Monday, and when we go to pick her up she is always in the sensory room. One of her favourite things in the sensory room is a vortex light which changes colour, the one at nursery also has plastic fish in it but I couldn't find any like that so we have bought a normal vortex light.

We have it in the loving room so that she can watch it while she's on her changing mat. My mam has said that we spoil her but I would rather buy things that I know that she loves than not buy them and her get bored

To go along with the sensory theme, I have bought lots of toys with different textures, lights, sounds etc for her to play with and have used ribbons off Christmas presents for her to play with as they have textures she hasn't come across before too.

She is so inquisitive and loves to feel materials she hasn't come across before, although she does end up putting everything into her mouth! She gets so excited and kicks her legs and squeals when there is something that she hasn't seen or felt before and it makes me happy to know that she is happy and is learning about the world around her.

Even the playmat she has has lots of different colours and textures, teethers,  mirrors, things that squeak etc. She is constantly stimulated and learning while she is awake and playing and I make sure that we read a book (at least one) every day and sing some songs too.

When I am reading to her, I point out the pictures to her and if there are animals I make the animal noises so that she can learn all about animals. I also point to the word that I am saying out loud so that when she does learn to read it will help her.

She seems to be coming on loads and has said her first word (dad) which I am super excited by and think that she is advancing because of all of the playing and sensory stimulation that we do!

xxx

Christmas with a baby

This was the first year that I had a baby at Christmas, and honestly I can't believe how much better it was! I have always loved Christmas, to the point where I get up at 3am and wait excitedly to be told I can get up and see if Santa has been (yes even at 25 year old).

This year though I was so much more excited as I couldn't wait to see what baby got, and to see her face as she was opening her presents! I know she is only 5 months old, and doesn't understand Christmas but she still had so much fun tearing the wrapping paper and then playing with her toys!

It took 3 hours to open all of her presents, and she got so many new things!she got a mixture of clothes and toys, and all of them were amazing! We are so lucky to have amazing friends and family that love her so much.

One of the presents was a high chair, which we used while we were having Christmas dinner and she was having blended Christmas dinner. She loved it! She loved sitting at the table with us, I think she felt like she was a grown up like us. She loved her food too! She wanted more! And my mam ended up giving her some of her mashed potato to try and she loved that too! I didn't want her to have too much though.

She had quite a few naps, as she was so active and excited that she tired herself out!

I do have to point out though that although she loved playing with her new toys and dolls, her two favourite things were the sky remote and the baubles on the tree!

It has been the best Christmas I have ever had and I loved every minute of it!

Xxx

12 days of Xmas day 4

I recently upgraded sky (again) to get the movie channels, and it got me thinking about what my favourite Christmas films are.

I have decided the following are my faves but I don't know an order ☺

🎄 the holiday
I absolutely adore this film! If you haven't seen it, basically two women want to get away from their lives for the holidays so they agree to swap homes for Christmas.  One is a massive house in America and one is a gorgeous cottage in England. I won't say more incase I spoil it, but there are romances and basically it is just a lovely feel good film! I actually really want to stay in/buy that cottage!it is so quaint and picturesque!

🎄 snow dogs
I'm not sure this is a Christmas film, but sky thinks it is so that's good enough for me!
Cuba Gooding jnr is a dentist who inherits some snow dogs and a home in alaska, and when he goes out there he tries to find out who is real dad is and takes part in a dog sled race.
It's amazing and has huskies in it which makes it so much better! This is another feel good film ☺

🎄 eight below
This is another film about huskies and has Paul walker in it,  which makes me a bit sad now!
It's a bit like homeward bound but better. Basically some huskies get left at a site in the snow and they break free and try to find their way to the other base. It's such a cute story but a bit sad at times!!

🎄 miracle on 34th street
I have to be in the mood to watch this one but it is still one of my favourites!
It is heartwarming and very Christmassy!

🎄 home alone
What kid didn't want to be left alone for the holidays after watching this?I don't think I could have fought off the burglars quite as well but I wanted a massive house to myself lol

That's my faves, I do like some more but not enough to mention them here ☺

What are your favourite films at Christmas?

Xxx

12 days of Christmas day 3

Yesterday I spoke about some of my favourite Christmas presents, so now I will talk about some of my more disappointing ones!

🎁 a Cindy doll
When I was younger I loved playing with cars and garages, and playing football outside in the street. What I hated was barbies! My friends had barbies and when we used to play with them apparently I used to spoil it by making barbie fall off doll houses etc (I don't remember this but both of my friends that were there do!) Everyone knew I hated barbies and so did my sister. But one year my aunt and uncle bought me and my sister a Cindy doll each. If you don't remember these, they were basically a knock off version of barbie.
Getting a barbie would have been bad but getting a cheaper version was just awful! Obviously because my mam brought us up well, we did smile and say thank you and pretended we liked them, but the only time we got them out of the box was genuinely to use their hair to dust our rooms!

🎁 a dear diary
If you were a small kid in the 90s you may remember a thing called secret diary. It was bright pink and was basically an electronic thing that you basically typed your secrets into and it kept them hidden with a password. It also told you your horoscope per day, and stored phone numbers etc. All of my friends had one, and I really wanted one too but what I got was, again,  the cheaper copycat version! I got a dear diary, which was lilac, didn't have as many cool features and everyone knew it wasn't a secret diary!
You may think I sound a bit spoilt here, complaining because I didn't get the more expensive one. It wasn't actually that it was cheaper that bothered me, I didn't really understand the value of money at the time and I didn't expect people to spend loads on me, it was more that my auntie had told me she had bought me a secret diary and I told all of my friends and then found out it wasn't one! If anyone can remember being a child you will probably understand!

🎁 a boys gift set
I am a girl. I may not have liked barbies, but I did like dolls in general, and playing mams and dads and schools etc. I was not a boy 
My uncle bought me and my sister one of those goodie bags you get in newsagents, but he bought us ones designed for boys. Yes I have admitted I liked playing with cars, but I didn't like robots and action men! What we got was action men stickers and a small toy robot that didn't move! Not cool.

That's actually all of the ones I remember, I mostly got amazing presents ☺

Have you had any disappointing presents?

Xxx

Tips for weaning a baby

Before I started to wean baby, I did Google whether it was too early.

My first tip is: never Google anything! There will always be someone who started their baby with food early (but past the 17 weeks mark) and someone will always have a go at them! One post I read told a young first time mother that because she had started weaning her child at 17 weeks, that child would become allergic to everything and have major gastrointestinal problems later in life. Just for the record, this probably won't happen. The reason for 17 weeks is because of the salt and sugar content of food, I was fed from 5 weeks (yes 5!) And I am neither allergic to anything nor do I have any problems at all, my cousin was fed from 6 months and has crohns disease so there you go.

Anyway, after dismissing Google, I spoke to the doctor who told me that baby seemed more than ready for food (especially as she kept trying to eat mine!) And to try her with a small amount of baby rice or porridge.

Tip number 2: always have a bib!
This seems obvious but for some reason I just didn't put one on her the first time we tried her with food, and she didn't spit any out so when I tried her with carrots I didn't put a bib on. Big mistake! She was immediately covered in orange!!

Tip number 3: follow baby's cues
Again this seems obvious but hubby tried to feed baby peas, which she hates, and kept trying to give her them even after she turned her head away and shouted at him! She ended up batting him away with her hand. I know that it takes a few times for baby to like some foods, but once she's had a little bit and decided she doesn't want anymore, don't try and force her.

Tip number 4: don't replace milk with food immediately
Hubby thought that once we tried her with food we could replace one of her milks, but I have found that she actually wants more milk! This is good for her as she wasn't having the 'recommended amount' for her age,but has now upped her milk intake by about 3oz a day. She isn't putting loads of weight on too quickly though she is still healthy!

Tip number 5: try giving water
When you first start giving baby food, they may become constipated a bit. I was told to try boiled water cooled down, but she refused it so we are trying her with Hipp baby water which is flavoured but isn't too bad for the baby. My mam also suggested I try fresh apple juice with cooled boiled water in a 50:50 ratio as apparently this helps.

Tip number 6: raise baby's knees while she poops
If baby still won't have water, and she (or he) is straining to poo, undo her nappy, put your thumbs under the back of her knees and push them up to either side of her tummy. (Obviously not too hard). This helps the bum to open and trust me it makes it easier for the poo to come out! I have had to do this a couple of times (I have spoke to a doctor and they said constipation is common and she isn't distressed or in pain so it's fine) and the poo has come out so much easier! I will say it's a bit disgusting and you may get called weird names by your hubby for basically watching your baby poo while you hold her legs open!

That's all the tips I have for now other than  wait 3 or 4 days between trying new foods in case baby has a reaction.

Hope this helped someone (or maybe not)

Xxx
#fromtheheart

12 days of Xmas day 2

Although this blog is mostly about baby and parenting, I thought because it is Christmas I would do a few of my favourite things. What better way to start off than to talk about my top 5 Christmas presents that I have received as a child, and what presents I would love to get baby when she is older?!

🎁 toy kitchen
I got this when I was about 5 years old, and I can still remember the excitement! My sister had a toy McDonald's  (complete with grill!) And I got the kitchen, so we used to play with them together! We had so much fun and I would love to get baby something like this one day as I think she would love it!

🎁 bike
I actually went with my parents to pick my first ever bike up, but they didn't tell me it was for me. I did guess though when they made me sit on it to make sure it wasn't too big, and kept it in the airing cupboard next to my bedroom. There is actually a video of that Christmas, where my sister and I have opened all of our presents and my dad pretends there is nothing else and I say yes there is dad my bike is still in the airing cupboard! My dad tells me that Santa took it to which I reply no he didn't it was there last night! The look on my parents face is hilarious! I was about 6 years old. I loved having a bike though as my sister had one and when I got older and passed my cycling proficiency test my dad used to take me on bike rides to south shields.
I can't wait for baby to have her first bike! I am going to bring my bike (obviously not the same one) from my parents house to my house so that when baby is older I can take her on bike rides too!

🎁 dumbo toy that smells of wonder
I'm not going to lie, I got this when I was about 22! But i wanted to incude it as it is meant for children. It is one of those cuddly dumbo toys for small babies from the Disney shop, and it was one that had a scent called wonder. It smells amazing and it is so cute, I have actually given it to baby and she loves it too!

🎁 my very first Walkman, and my second Walkman
I am including two together here as they are kind of the same!
If you weren't a child or adult in the 90s then you may not know what a Walkman is. It was basically a portable cassette player (please tell me you know what a cassette is!) You could also get cd ones like my dad, but mine were cassettes.
The first one I got, was blue with polar bears on the front, like 3d polar bears! It came with a little bum bag with a polar on the front to keep it in. This one didn't have a rewind button for some reason, so to rewind a tape I had to turn it over and fast forward it! I did love it though as it was my first one and meant I could listen to music in bed past my bedtime without my parents knowing!
The next year my parents cos got me a Walkman (which my dad actually still has now!). It was three shades of grey, and had a rewind button. It also has the radio! I thought it was the best thing ever invented! It was using this that I discovered night house on 97.1fm on a night- it's basically a radio show where people phone in and chat but I loved it!

These may not be my favourite all time presents, but they are the ones I remember absolutely loving and ones that I can buy baby in the future!

Xxx
🎁

12 days of Xmas day 1

I have decided to try and do one post every day from now until Christmas as I only have revision to do for uni now :)

For this post I wanted it to be quite Christmassy, so it's all about the outfits we have for baby for Christmas.

There is a few, and I know some people might be reading this and thinking that I have bought her too many and I agree, but every time I see a cute little Christmas outfit I can't resist buying it!

So the first outfit that I want her to wear on Christmas eve, when we are driving to my parents house, is a cute little elf outfit. On the front of the best it says give me presents or elf which I thought was so adorable! The vest looks like a little elf outfit and comes with matching tights, I think I got it from mothercare.

We also bought her a Christmas pudding outfit, because who doesn't want to dress their child like a Christmas pudding while they are still young enough to let you get away with it! I'm not sure she will keep the hat on as she hates hats!

The latest one is a little girl Santa outfit from asda, which I only bought last week! It is a little red dress with white fur (fake obviously) around the hem, matching tights and little white writing on the front which says mummys Christmas cutie which I thought was the most adorable thing! We have bought some little red shoes to go with it.

She has a reindeer onesie which I think we got from next but I'm not sure. It's a pale red colour with a little reindeer on it and I want her to wear it as pyjamas on Christmas eve night.

She has a snowman onesie which I think was bought for her. She is probably going to wear this Christmas day night as it is so cute and snuggly!

For Christmas day we have bought a cute dress which isn't actually Christmassy at all but when I was a child (and still now actually) my mam used to buy me a dress or outfit especially for Christmas day but one which I could wear after Christmas too.

I think this is them all but there are still quite a few! She may not wear them all at Christmas but as long as she wears them over the Christmas holidays it will be fine :)

Xxx

Baby's favourite foods so far

After a month of weaning baby, we are now at the point when she has porridge followed by her milk for breakfast, and food followed by her milk at tea time.

We haven't yet tried every food available for 4-6month old as there has to be 4 days in between each new taste which is actually longer than it seems. But she does already have her favourite foods and foods she hates!

She loves:
Hipp organic carrots
Hipp apple and cranberry breakfast
Cow & gate banana and strawberry porridge
Ellas kitchen organic carrots
Heinz chicken and veg
Cow & gate fruity porridge
Heinz beef and sweet potato mash

And she hates:
Aptamil baby rice
Cow & gate first taste peas
Ella kitchen mango
Cow & gate first taste cauliflower

As you can see by the list above, I haven't actually followed proper guidelines by introducing vegetables alone first then in combination then fruit etc. But there has been new guidelines suggesting that beef and chicken be the first foods to be introduced.

In a funny way she is actually more likely to eat the foods in combination rather than by them self with the exception of carrots. She hates peas but she loves the taste of peas with chicken, and I did taste the chicken and garden veg and it did have a taste of peas.

I have pureed carrots and stored some in the freezer to give her rather than keep buying food but it was easier to buy food initially to see what she liked and what she doesn't like.

I know that people say it takes so many tries before a baby will like some foods, and so I am going to try her again with some of the food she doesn't like,  but I'm not going to force her!

Xxx

Weaning baby

Baby is 19 weeks old, which is over the 17 weeks old limit for weaning. I know that a lot of babies are not ready for weaning so early, but every baby is different and there were a lot of signs that baby was ready so please don't have a go at me for weaning so early as so many people have done.

The signs for weaning are that the baby can support themselves sitting up- which baby had been able to do for a few weeks. Having good support and control of their head- which she has had since birth.
Taking an interest in our food- for about 2 months baby has screamed if we have been eating, which resulted in us eating one at a time but when I was alone with her she would try and get at my food. Being able to pick objects up and put them straight to their mouth- which again she has been doing for a least a month

Altogether she was showing pretty much all of the signs so we decided we would try her with a little bit of baby rice that she didn't like. So about a week later we tried her with cow & gate banana and strawberry porridge which was an instant hit! She loved it so much she wasn't waiting for me to get more on the spoon before opening her mouth and trying to move forward for the next mouthful! At first she would only have half of what I made- which is 1 spoon of porridge and 8 spoons of baby milk- but after a couple of days she was eating it all and having her milk afterwards.

After about a week of porridge we decided to try new food with her. I was a bit dubious about this as I wanted to stick with porridge and did ask hubby to get some different flavoured porridge but he came back with jars of food instead.

We tried her with Hipp organic carrots which she absolutely loves! She likes her food being warmed rather than having it cold or at room temp though, which isn't a problem at all and not at all unexpected as she likes her milk a specific temp too!

We tried her with cow & gate peas which she didn't like, but I'm not sure whether this is the flavour she didn't like, or the consistency as so far she had been used to more liquid consistencies. The porridge was basically the consistency of her milk, and the carrots were quite liquid too whereas the sachet of peas was more like a paste. I tried adding baby milk to it but she still wasn't interested so we left it.

When I am feeding her I only give her a small amount, I used half a first tastes sachet of peas and she only had one mouthful, and a third of the jars at one time as I know she will only eat very small amounts at first.

Currently I am not looking for her food to replace any of her bottles of milk, and so far this is not the case as straight after she eats she has her usual amount of milk. The only difference being that she is less likely to be sick after she has had food! I listen to her cues and if she looks like she really doesn't want food, or doesn't like that type of food I do stop trying to give it and just go on to milk.

We have a lot of sachets of food by cow & gate and ellas kitchen which I might try when she gets a bit more used to food as they seem to be more paste than she is used to despite these being made for first tastes. We have a few different types of jars by Hipp, which seem to be really good so far and there are so many options available for 4+ months!

Once she discovers what she likes and what she doesn't like (and yes I am going to try each food more than once) we will start to make her food ourselves with the baby blender we have. We didn't do this initially as I wouldn't know how to prepare the food initially, and I would find it disheartening to make the food and her not to like it so it was easier to determine what she likes and doesn't like with jars or sachets first.

We also wait 4 days between each new taste as recommended so that if she has a reaction to one of the foods we will know which one it is.

I will keep you all updated on the foods we have tried and which ones she likes and doesn't like ☺

Xxx

Baby's first chest infection

For about 5 weeks baby has had a cough, I have taken her to the doctors a few times and each time they told me it was just a cold, and told me to go back if it got worse. Each time I went it was a lot worse than before but they didn't seem bothered until the last time I went when a different doctor told me she had a chest infection and needed antibiotics.

She went off her food completely, kept getting a fever and just wasn't herself. I know I'm a first time mum but I honestly believe that you can tell when there's something wrong with your baby.

Baby is always smiling, giggling and wanting to play. But for the past few days she wouldn't even smile,  which is why I took her again to the doctor. The night u took her to the docs I was tempted to take her to hospital. She had a fever, she was tired and just seemed completely not herself and her eyes looked vacant.

Luckily my parents were there and my mam told me that she would be better after a day of antibiotics so I stayed awake all night to monitor her and her temperature.

Baby did wake up and wanted milk which I took as a good sign even though she only drabs 3oz which is 2oz less than normal, but more than she had been having. She seemed a bit brighter and even smiled at me. I can't explain what I felt when she smiled after a day of not smiling. It won't seem like a big deal to sone people but honestly it was!

She has still been sleeping quite a bit during the day now but I think that's just her way of getting better.  She's still coughing loads and bringing up phlegm, but the antibiotics seem to be working already.

I would just like to point out that the antibiotics are bright yellow which amuses me as when she spits some out it makes her bibs and clothes yellow 😂

Her symptoms were fever,  crackling chest which we could hear and feel, cough with phlegm, coughing and making herself be sick, irritability, sore throat (we think as she winced when she swallowed and her eyes kept watering like mine do when I have a sore throat).

I will keep you updated on her progress with her antibiotics.

Xxx

5 disgusting things I have done as a parent

Before I had baby, if anyone was sick on my clothes or if anyone sneezed on me I was left feeling physically sick.....I even threw up once when someone with particularly sweaty hands accidentally touched me! But since having a baby I have done some things that previously would have made me sick...

👶 sniffed baby's bum to see if she pooed.
I'm pretty sure every parent has done this at some point while their child was still a baby.  It's much easier than undressing baby to check the nappy, but is definitely a bit disgusting!

👶 gone out with sick in my hair.
This might just be something I've done, but baby is often sick on me and it is usually just as we are about to leave the house, but usually we have time to change and wash. But when I was getting her ready for nursery she decided to projectile vomit all over my newly made up face (!) My clothes and my hair. I had just enough time to change her and me and towel the sick out of my hair but not to wash it! So I had to go to uni smelling of baby sick!!

👶 sucked snot out of her nose
Again this might just be me, but she was having trouble breathing and I didn't want to put saline up her nose so the next best thing was to suck it out! Not the most pleasant experience!

👶 had baby sick in my mouth.
I was playing with her and held her above my head just as she decided to be sick, it fell directly into my mouth and was really warm! worryingly I didn't think it tasted too bad (although I did spit it out don't worry!)

👶 take a picture of baby's nappy and send it to my mam.
This was to check if the poo looked normal (although I have been known to send a pic to her dad if she's done a massive poo). My mam was not impressed and said she is going to tell baby when she is older that I sent a pic of her poo!

Those are probably the 5 most disgusting things I've done as a parent so far! Have you done these?

Xxx

A sorry I'm a bad blogger post

Hi guys ☺

I feel like I've been such a bad blogger lately but life has just taken over!

As I've probably mentioned far too much, I'm at uni one (sometimes two) days a week doing my part time masters while I'm on maternity leave, so with all the work I have to do for that and looking after baby and doing housework etc my blog has taken a bit of a back seat.

Last time I wrote a post like this I promised to post more but it just isn't feasible at the moment. 

I am going to keep posting when I can and I do have a few reviews and other posts written, but as this is just a hobby and not many people read my blog anyway, the posts won't be regular.

I am very sorry for this and I am hoping that one day in the future I will be a better blogger and have my life more sorted out!

I am still reading everyone else's blogs though so if I follow you on bloglovin or twitter chances are I'm reading what you write so keep up the good work 😘

Xxx

Baby's 4 month update

Baby had her third lot of injections while she had a cold (I did tell the nurse but was made to feel stupid as 'it wouldn't affect it'), initially she was fine and didn't cry once I'd given her a cuddle. She was fine until about 5 hours after the third lot of calpol  (which is all they recommend to give) when I woke up and realised she felt hot so took her temp and it was 38.3°C! She has never had a temp before so I did panic, but we took a layer off her, and gave her milk and calpol. This brought her temp back to normal but I was still really worried!!

She loves her bouncer and loves playing with toys that make noise! She's not that interested in the piano on the bouncer that lights up, she prefers the little frog toy that's on it and all he does is spin round when pushed lol. She also loves wrist rattles although she does try to eat them! And she loves her teething book we got her which makes rattling noises when you touch it, a bit like a crisp packet.

She doesn't like tummy time atm, after about 5 minutes she starts to cry and wants to be sitting up again! However when she does have tummy time she has started to take a few steps (is this the right word) crawling before she forgets to move her hands!I was so excited when she first did this!!

She is sleeping pretty much the same as last month, although we have started to try and give her a proper bedtime routine (ruined when hubby makes me pick him up at the time that I should be putting baby to bed!)

She still loves the bath and loves to kick her legs really hard in the water to splash me in the face! She finds it hilarious. She loves having her hair washed and will smile while I'm washing it then splash about excitedly after.

She loves swimming but only when the water is warm. She gets a bit cranky if the water is too cold so we have to take her out and warm her up. I'm not sure if I mentioned in the last baby post that we had a photo shoot in the pool with her the first time we took her swimming. The pictures are amazing and she looks so happy in the water!

She loves me reading to her, and her favourite at the minute is spots first picnic as the pictures are big and really colourful. It's a bit boring for me but then I'm not the intended audience 😂

We have had to put her onto cow and gate milk as she was becoming constipated with aptamil. She has been fine since we swapped though.

She loves nursery, and seems to play with a lot of toys there.  We did receive a bottle that wasn't hers though which makes me wonder if they are using her bottles with other kids and giving her someone else's or if they just got mixed up when putting the bottles into the bags. She also had a scratch on her face that she couldn't have done herself but as there are babies from about 7months old onwards it was bound to happen accidentally eventually as she is the youngest there. 

She has been to the doctors as the cough she had with her cold got worse and sounded very chesty, so we have some medicine for her now which will hopefully clear it up. The doc said that the more viruses she gets at this age, the better her immune system will be so there's a bit of a silver lining.

She definitely knows who I am now and looks for me in a room if she is playing with her toys or with someone else, and she cries if I leave the room and smiles when I come back.

We have had to ring the health visitor to get her weighed as there are no clinics for us to go to and my dad thought she had lost weight. My doctors surgery say they can't weigh her as they don't have the proper baby scales so the health visitor is coming out next week.

She loves chattering to herself, and to me! She even talks to me on the phone which is so cute when I am on my way to uni! She sometimes sounds like she is saying mama when her daddy has her but we think it is coincidence rather than her actually talking, like the more she talks the more she will randomly make noises that sound like words.

That's it for the 4 month update I think ☺

Xxx

Halloween

As baby is only 3 months old (well 15 weeks) I was a bit worried about her being scared of people dressed up.

I had to go to work to see a colleague as she was retiring and she was such an amazing person that I couldn't not go and see her. But the day she was retiring was the day that everyone at work were dressing up for Halloween. 

The past two years that I have been there for Halloween, everyone has dressed up really scarily and with really realistic face makeup so I was very worried about baby's reaction.

I needn't have worried. The first person we saw was very scary with full face paint and contact lenses and all baby did was giggle! That was her reaction to everyone!! I was so proud of her and I know everyone else was a bit shocked!

I don't think she realised that it wasn't their usual face, but she also didn't associate it with anything scary. This could be because she has never seen anything scary so has no reason to find them scary, or if they all just looked funny to her but either way it was super cute!

Friday favourites #3

Hi everyone ☺ hope you've all had a good week and are excited for Halloween!
Here are some of the things I have been loving this week;

☺favourite baby product
Little Einstein baby bouncer baby loves it so much and so do I!

☺favourite TV show
Criminal minds is back and is better than ever!!

☺favourite clothing
My Calvin klein t shirt is cute and super soft! I love wearing it!!

☺ favourite moment
When baby put her hands at either side of my face and leaned in for a kiss (or to eat my nose lol)

☺favourite beauty product
Estee Lauder double wear foundation is better than the previous foundation I was wearing

What are your favourite things of the week?

Xxx

Swimming with the baby

Before I moved to Yorkshire and started work as a biomedical scientist I was a part time lifeguard, and because of this I love swimming!

My parents took me swimming when I was 6 weeks old and just threw me in (apparently this is a thing and loads of people did it!) But I hated it apparently so I didn't go again until I was 8years old.  I didn't really get into swimming properly until I started dating a lifeguard which is who got me to become one.

I wanted my baby girl to have a better initial relationship with the water, so we took her for the first time last week and again this week, I think we are going to try and make it a regular thing for a Sunday morning.

It was £16.20 for baby, hubby and me for 2 hours, although babies are only meant to be in the pool for a maximum of half an hour as they get cold really quickly. There is a designated toddler pool which is open to the public from 11:15-3:45 and we tend to go for it opening. 

The pool itself was meant to be warmer than the normal pool but it has been cold both times we have been, which hasn't been very good for baby!

We dressed her in a swimming costume, we do need to get her a baby wetsuit, and no armbands or floats as they are all too big for her!but holding her works just as well!

Last week she got really excited immediately and started laughing and kicking her legs and splashing in the water, we were so impressed with her! We lasted the full half an hour before we took her out and she cried when we did get out. But this week the water was colder so she took about 5 minutes to start kicking her legs, and then after about 10 minutes she started crying. She was cold so we took her out, although I did offer to go and get her warm while hubby went on the slides in the other pool or did some proper swimming but he said no.

We did discover that the water is warmer in the middle of the pool but that is where all of the older babies play and baby doesn't like getting splashed loads!

Hopefully next week it will either be warmer or she will have a wetsuit to keep her warm :)

When did you take your babies swimming?

Xxx

Friday favourites #2

I have had a bit of a hectic week and it seems to have flown by! I hope you have all had a fab week and here are what I have been loving:

☺ favourite TV show:
The sheriffs are coming. As I am on maternity leave atm I watch this every morning and I have to say one of the sheriffs (kev mcnally) is very fit!

☺ favourite birthday present:
Michael kors rose gold bangle with diamonds.
I got this off my daughter and it matches my watch perfectly.

☺ favourite clothes:
Ralph Lauren long sleeved top.
I got this last Sunday from York designer outlet and it is so comfy!

☺ favourite baby item:
GAP onesie.
This is made from their hoody material and is so snuggly for her and she looks super cute!

☺ favourite activity:
Singing to my daughter.
She now loves being sung to, especially Disney songs!

So that's my favourite things for the week, what are yours?

Xxx

My birthday

It is official. ...I am old!I am now in my late twenties (26) !! But I am not too old for presents 😂

So here is what I got:

I got a filo fax off my parents, I've wanted one for ages and my mam saw a gorgeous purple one with pink spots!

I got ted baker pyjamas off my sister. I've been calling her a pyjama snob for months as she will only wear ted baker ones, but I fully understand it now! Not only is the design gorgeous, they are so comfy to wear too! I will only be wearing ted baker pyjamas from now on (well if I win the lottery anyway).

My mam also got me some yankee candle melts as I can't buy them in the town I live in, I have to go to meadowhall if I want some.

My mam also got me a new look voucher so I bought three pairs of jeans ☺ this came at the right time as the jeans I got from next are too big for me now!

Hubby bought me a clinique gift set which was a lovely thought as I do love clinique and I haven't bought any in ages! He got me the turnaround collection which I'd never seen before but have been using the last few days and I love it!

Hubby bought me something from baby too which I thought was cute! I got a rose gold Michael kors bangle with diamonds to match my rose gold and pink Michael kors watch. It is absolutely gorgeous and probably one of the most thoughtful and pretty presents I've ever been given!

My best friend got me some vouchers to get my nails done too as I hardly have any time to myself now that I have baby and have started my part time masters, and she thought I deserved some pampering time! I thought this was so thoughtful too as no one really notices how hard I actually work (I know all parents do!) But it's nice to know that someone does realise. (On a similar note I had a bath the other night and hubby gave me baby after five mins so I couldn't even have a bath in peace ha was lovely though).

That's what I got for my birthday, and some cards :) I didn't get a text or card or anything off the people from work though which I was a bit gutted by as I remember their birthday!but I'm 26 years old and shouldn't be childish enough to be bothered ha.

Xxx

Baby's 3 months update

I can't believe EmJ is 3 months old! It doesn't seem two minutes since I brought her home from the hospital, but at the same time I can't remember ever not having her!!

She has had 2 lots of injections now, and luckily didn't have a reaction to the second lot! She was so well behaved and only cried briefly this time

She sleeps mostly through the night now, and has even gone 10 hours! I did ask the doctor if I should wake her for feeds and was told that I shouldn't wake her for feeds during the night I should let her sleep. She usually wakes up about 3 or 4 then sleeps till 7. She doesn't sleep during the day very much, and only has a few 5 minute naps. This is good for her but means I can't get any housework or homework done!

She loves babbling away to herself and to me, she can't say proper words yet but she does seem as if she's having proper conversations as I will say something then she will babble as if replying and does this for about 10 minutes at a time!

She loves looking in the mirror and often talks to her reflection! Although sometimes she must argue with herself as it makes her cry.

She has rolled over a few more times now and still tries to crawl and walk. I really don't think it will be too much longer before she is crawling!

She still loves kisses and cuddles, and smiles and giggles when she knows I am going to give her a kiss!

Stay tuned for her 4 month update :)

Xxx

York designer outlet

While I was still pregnant, hubby and I went to York designer outlet and he bought loads of clothes for himself, but as I didn't know what size I was going to be after giving birth I didn't buy any for myself.

On Saturday we decided to visit there again, and this time I drove to make it easier than getting a train and a bus like we did last time. It's actually really easy to get to and we went there for it opening so there was loads of free parking spaces!

If you haven't heard of York designer outlet (I hadnt) it is basically a shopping centre with loads of brand names for cheaper than their normal stores, like Calvin klein, Ralph Lauren etc.

Hubby loves the polo shirts from Ralph Lauren so he bought loads of them, and Calvin klein t shirts.i got a Calvin klein t shirt and a long sleeved Ralph Lauren top. 
EmJ got a Ralph Lauren dress, a dress and tops from next, and loads from GAP. I don't usually go into GAP but hubby went in while I was feeding EmJ and he saw loads that he thought would be good for her. She needed some winter clothes as for some reason when I was pregnant and we bought 3-6 months clothes we didn't think of the weather being cold!

We spent about £150 in GAP and got some gorgeous things! My favourite being a bright pink onesie made from sweatshirt material with baby pink letters as this matches a hoody I got a while back. She looks super cute in it and it keeps her so warm! We got her a few pramsuits, jumpers and leggings which should keep her kitted out until after Christmas now!

If you haven't been before I highly recommend going as you can get a lot of bargains! There is even a makeup shop selling MAC, clinique, Estee Lauder etc for cheaper but not all shades are sold so you have to be careful!

Have you been here before? What did you think of it?

Xxx

Friday favourites

I love reading these types of posts so again I thought I would do my own! I first saw a Friday favourites type post on the Lauren conrad site (I love her so much since laguna beach and the hills!), and thought it was such a good idea!

☺ favourite diary:
My mam gave me a purple and pink spotty filofax as an early birthday present and I love it!

☺ favourite person:
My daughter, she is 12 weeks old and surprises and amazes me every day.

☺ favourite book:
Hellfire by Chris Ryan.

☺ favourite baby item:
Mother care so loved bear playmat.

☺ favourite drink:
Costa coffee hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream.

Hope you've all had a really great week and have a fab weekend!

💖 xo

Coping with uni with a small baby

So stupidly I agreed to do my masters this year part time. This means I go to uni on a Monday, for the next few weeks EmJ will spend the day with her dad but after that she is going to nursery.

The first couple of weeks was fine as I didn't get any homework and hubby brought EmJ through to Sheffield so I could see her on my breaks.

But last week I got home work, which I couldn't do until the weekend anyway because my sister came to stay for a few days. But the weekends are the only time EmJ hubby and I get to spend together as a family so we like to do family things. This meant that I only really spent Sunday on my homework!

This week I got twice as much homework, and I intended to do it while EmJ was sleeping but the little tinker hasn't been sleeping more than 5 minutes a time during the day and she's at a stage where she wants to play all of the time.

Hubby finished work late too so I couldn't rely on him to look after EmJ while I did some work. He is going to try and watch her if he finishes earlier but he never knows when he is going to finish until the day.

I am sort of regretting choosing to start my masters now, I thought hubby would have been around more to help me, and I thought EmJ would sleep during the day more so that I would have enough time to do homework.

I am hoping that as she continues to grow she will be able to play with her toys alone for half an hour to allow me to do some homework every day.

I have exams next month and I am really keeping my fingers crossed that I am able to revise for them!!

Has anyone else done their masters while looking after a small baby? How did you manage it?

Xo

My advice for the week:join a baby group

Since having EmJ 11 weeks ago, I have been through a lot. Having a fit after the birth, having a biopsy (which I still don't have the results for), starting my masters degree, raising a baby etc and all in a town where I have no family.

You might be wondering where I am going with this post, but bear with me :)

Through all of this, my friends who I knew before having the baby haven't really known how to help me through the bad parts, and as my family are so far away I haven't really spoken to them about any of the bad parts as they can't do anything.

The people that have got me through the bad times (and yes I know it's only been 11 weeks) is the people I have met at a baby group.

I go to a baby group every Friday morning for 3 hours, and sometimes go to lunch with them after. They can't really understand some of what I have been through but most of it at least one has been through the same thing (even when I found out hubby had been sending messages to other women asking for sex while I was looking after EmJ ), and it helps so much to know that other people have been through it.

The best thing though is that if I am worried about anything regarding EmJ I have people I can talk to. We have a group on WhatsApp so even if it's not a Friday and I need advice they are always there for me. There is always someone who has been through the same thing with their baby and can offer advice, and what I love the most is that there is always someone who has had a worse week with their child than you.

This might sound nasty to say, but I will say that knowing that someone else's child has played up more than yours is a very nice feeling! And when EmJ is very well behaved (which she always is) at the baby group and someone else's baby is screaming for no reason it does give me hope that maybe I am a good parent and my baby is happy and thriving. 

So my advice is make time to go to a baby group.  You will get invaluable advice about anything you could ever ask about having a baby, and maybe even get good mates from it too! There is one woman who I would count as being my best friend now and I wouldn't have thought I would have met my best friend the day after giving birth!

What is your advice for this week?

#advicefromtheheart
Xo

A little explanation as to my lack of posting

Hi guys,

I feel like all I have done lately is say I will publish a post, not publish it and then apologise! I haven't meant for it to be like this, especially for it to have gone on for a couple of weeks!
I am aware that I haven't been the best blogger, and I have lost followers because of that but I would like to say a massive thank you to those of you who have stuck by me 😘
There are reasons for this, and I would go into them but they are quite personal to me so all I will say is that I had to have a biopsy taken, my marriage might be over and EmJ is a lot more active now.
I know these aren't really giving much away, and don't seem like they could affect me much but honestly most of my time has been taken up with crying, or trying to entertain EmJ and then by the time I then get round to publishing a post I realise I haven't taken the photo for it! I have been trying to take a photo of the perfect prep for about a week now but every time I go to do it something else happens that distracts me and takes my attention away.
I am going to work harder in the next few weeks to try and post all of the content I wanted to post.
I hope you all understand that I am trying hard to still post but I have been distracted.
I love you all

Xxx

9 weeks update

If you follow me on Twitter, or have read my last blog post, you will know that EmJ had her injections last week. Since then she has had a viral infection/reaction to the injections which made her have a rash, diarrhoea, a cough, put her off her food and made her more sleepy at first and then she didn't want to sleep at all.

She has still been smiling and giggling a lot more though, and her favourite game is for me to throw a blanket on her and for her to kick it off and then giggle! We spent about an hour playing this the other day before I had to go and do something else!

She rolls over properly now, and can roll herself back which is so cute! And she is still trying to crawl. She managed to move herself forward by one movement a few days ago, but then forgot she had to keep moving her arms so just kept kicking her legs! She gets quite frustrated with herself that she can't move as much as she wants to but I think she will be crawling properly before the end of next week!

She can support herself sitting up for a few seconds now, which I was very impressed by! And she likes to be held up so she can walk! I think she is going to be a proper handful very soon!!

I have had to start giving her formula milk as well as breast milk as I had an operation on one of my breasts and it has made it very awkward to feed her off that one, so I try to give her as much as I can from the other one but it isn't enough. I use the perfect prep machine to make her bottles which I will be reviewing shortly, and we have Aptamil formula. I do feel a bit guilty giving her formula but she wouldn't get as much food if I didn't so it is better for her.

She likes to suck and bite her hands, and even favours this over her dummy! We do try to keep her hands clean so that she can bite them as I have given up trying to stop her! It is easier just to let her but clean them.

She has grown again, and some of her clothes are going to be too small for her very soon! We do still have a lot of 0-3 month clothes that still fit her though, and even have some that are still too big! Has anyone else noticed that sizes vary massively between shops?!

She doesn't like having her photo taken and I'm sure she knows if I point my phone in her direction that it means I am taking a photo as she will be posing for me then as soon as I pick up my phone she either hides her face or looks away! She has her own little personality already and she is so cute and cheeky! She knows when she is going to do something cheeky like spitting her dummy out on me or going to poo on me and she grins or giggles before doing it and then again after!

She has started to sleep in her crib a bit  better now which I am pleased about! We finally put the stand up for the moses basket downstairs but she will have grown out of it within a month as there isn't much room left in it for her!

She likes stories to be read to her but she does look at the pictures, especially each peach pear plum! It was my sisters favourite book when she was younger and Emily loves it! I am still reading a little princess to her while she is going to sleep, a chapter at a time, but she isn't as interested as there is no pictures but she does still like to listen to my voice.

I think that is it for this week!

Xxx

EmJs first injections

On Thursday, EmJ had her first injections. The nurse started off by giving her some liquid immunisation which she had to swallow,as she decided she was hungry just before we went in, she devoured this without complaint despite it apparently tasting awful!
Hubby held EmJ while she was getting the injections as I can't bear her being in pain! She had 2 injections in her right leg, which she cried with but hubby managed to soothe her quite quickly. But she had the meningitis injection in her left leg and she screamed and went bright red. It was absolutely awful and I have never heard a scream like it!one of the nurses in the room ended up crying too as well as me as it was so heart breaking to watch! Hubby couldn't soothe her after this injection so I cuddled her. We couldn't leave the doctors surgery until she had had some baby paracetamol, which we couldn't give her until she calmed down in case she choked so we had to go back into the waiting room and try to calm her down. She cried for about 10 minutes before we could even attempt to give her the calpol, but once she had it she went to sleep in her pram.
As she was hungry we did try to feed her straightaway so I did wake her up, but she was fine and giggling with us and smiling. 
About 3 hours after she had the injections she started screaming again, and we couldn't give any calpol for another hour so I ended up putting her in her pram and walking around the estate with her. This worked and she went back to sleep but woke up as soon as I went into the house again. She didn't calm down until about an hour after we gave her her second dose of calpol.
She didn't have as much milk as she usually would, which got me worried but she was producing enough nappies so hubby said she was fine.
We gave her her third and final dose of calpol and she went to bed.
It was the worst thing I have been through so far, and I kept trying to check her temperature to make sure her fever didn't get too bad!
She was a bit cranky the day after, but that is to be expected.
On Saturday night I noticed a little rash on her tummy but we couldn't decide if it was a rash or just where she had been sleeping on me. On Sunday morning I noticed that it was a rash and had spread all over her body so we rang the NHS 111 service, who got in touch with the out of hours GP.  He rang us back straightaway and asked us to take EmJ to the out of hours GP in the hospital.
He told us that the rash was caused by a virus, and was either a cold (which I have) or a reaction to the injections as some babies do develop viral symptoms a couple of days later. The treatment for both of these things are the same which is basically nothing,we asked about calpol and he was a bit reluctant for us to give her any but did say we could give her some if her temperature became too high.
He told us she would get diarrhoea, and told us to monitor her wet nappies and how much fluid she was consuming as if either reduced we would have to take her back and she might end up on a drip.
When we got home, she fed a few times on both breasts withing 2 hours, but as I can't see how much milk is coming out I'm not sure how much she actually had but she did have a few more wet nappies.
I tried to take her temperature a few times but she doesn't like the thermometer being under her arm so kept moving. 
I am a bit worried about her becoming dehydrated and us not realising, or her getting a fever :(
She had two diarrhoea nappies which smelt awful, and we had to change her clothes as the first lot came out of the top of her nappy. 
She did take a while to settle, and Saturday night I had to stay up all night because she wouldn't go to sleep anywhere else but on me. She slept a little bit on Sunday, and was laughing and giggling a bit with us but she did keep crying too.  She went to sleep at about 9pm, and slept through. Hubby stayed up till about 2am and I got up then so he could go to bed and I could watch her. I was debating with myself whether to wake her up to try to feed her to make sure she was getting enough milk, but she usually sleeps through now and is fine so I wasn't sure whether that was a good idea as she needed her sleep. I ended up waking her up at 4am as I had to put her in the car at half past to take hubby to work, so I changed and fed her then. Her nappy wasn't as heavy as it normally is but it did have wee in it.
I will keep you updated on her progress.

Has your little one had their injections?were they okay?

Xxx

Don't listen to others: you know you're child

I posted a tweet on Wednesday saying I had taken EmJ to our first baby group and we had been judged by some of the women. The reason they were judging me was mainly because I express milk and give it to EmJ in a bottle if we are out, and they all said they would never give their babies a bottle (despite it still being breastmilk) and kept telling me I wasn't doing what was best for EmJ  as if she was having milk from a bottle then we wouldn't be bonding.
I disagree with this as I still cuddle her into me, I still talk to her and look into her eyes while feeding her and she can be fed by her dad too. The reason I started expressing more was because it was painful for her to feed directly from the boob one day and if I hadn't expressed then I would have just given up and gave her formula. Because I could express and it didn't hurt, it gave my breast time to recover and it meant I was still giving her breast milk. I also don't think they have any right to comment, as surely as long as the baby is getting milk it doesn't matter if it is from breast directly, breast milk from a bottle or formula. I was only given formula and I turned out fine as did my sister!

They also told me off for giving EmJ a dummy,despite me being advised to by the health visitor. EmJ used to comfort feed, as she just wanted to suck something but ended up making herself be sick. So we gave her a dummy. She is happy with it, and we don't give her it instead of feeds we give her it when we know she definitely isn't hungry. They all told me that we were doing a bad thing as babies shouldn't have dummies and they would never give their child one.
I would like to point out that I also had a dummy when I was a dummy and I am fine, and I have perfect teeth so it didn't affect me badly at all. We know when EmJ is hungry and when she just wants comfort,and it means she doesn't make herself sick which can only be a good thing! She won't have it forever, and as soon as she starts getting teeth we would try to take it off her.

I was also criticised for going to EmJ as soon as she starts crying as they let theirs cry unless they start choking from the crying. They said she would grow up to be spoilt and clingy and it wouldn't be good for her.
I know I probably shouldn't go straight to her but I have tried not doing that and she just cried louder. She also doesn't cry unless there is a reason, even if occasionally that reason is just that she needs a cuddle (she actually doesn't often cry for a cuddle). I don't think she will grow up spoilt, I think she will grow up knowing that I am always there for her and she can depend on me. I would rather cuddle her than let her scream and cry and think that I don't care. A lot of babies would probably be fine not being picked up when they cried and would stop crying but as I said she only cries when there is a reason.

There was more things that I got criticised for but I know my child, and I know what makes her happy and what upsets her. I know what is best for her, and for me. She is growing perfectly, she is putting on the right amount of weight, she laughs giggles and plays and she loves when I sing and read to her. She loves to cuddle her blanket, and she likes being in her swing chair. She can hold and support her head and has been able to since she was born. She loves tummy time and tries to crawl. She tries to talk and babbles away to herself. The health visitors are very pleased with her progress and have said she is quote advanced for her age.
When she had her injections she was very upset but as soon as I took her off her dad she snuggled into me and went to sleep. She did whinge a bit later but she calmed down when I cuddled her. This is because she knows I am comfort, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. 

This has been a bit of a long ranty post and for that I am sorry but I don't like the fact that some mothers judge others for doing something different to what they do. In my opinion as long as the baby is happy and healthy and being loved then it doesn't matter if they have a dummy, or if they are breastfed or bottle fed. Basically the point of this post is to say that you know your child and you know what is best for your child. Ignore anyone who criticises or judges you, and keep doing what is right for your child.
If I had had EmJ a few years ago, I would probably have changed the way I was parenting thinking I was doing it wrong because of what the women said to me. But now I am a bit older and a bit more confident I know that my baby is thriving and is happy and healthy. I'm not going to change the way I parent and if I end up giving EmJ formula as well as or instead of breast milk eventually then there will be a reason for it and it will be in her best interests.

Has anyone judged you for anything?

Xxx

Tommee tippee perfect prep

When I was still pregnant my sister bought us this incase I couldn't breastfeed and needed to use formula. For 6 weeks I managed to breastfeed fine, but the past week I have had a bit of trouble with pain so decided to express milk. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to express as much as EmJ needed so we ended up giving her a bit of formula milk.
I thought this would be the perfect time to use the perfect prep as we only gave her the formula during the night as I didn't manage to express enough to feed her in the night and she wouldn't sit and wait while I expressed to feed her straight away. Getting up at 3am to make up a bottle is not the ideal thing to do, and I know that if I had had to make it up myself I would have got it wrong.

The perfect prep is actually easy to set up as it does come with step by step instructions on how to set it up and how to do a cleaning cycle which needs to be done before using it for the first time. This takes about ten to twenty minutes but it really simple to do! After the cleaning cycle it is ready to use.
There is also step by step instructions on how to make a bottle, which even hubby can follow!
Basically, you set the amount that you want the bottle to be using the dial on the top of the machine, and press the giant button in the middle of the dial. The button will flash red while It dispenses a small amount of hot water into an empty bottle that you put under the nozzle. When the hot water has stopped flowing the button will go a solid red and the machine will beep. You then add the required amount of formula to the bottle, put a lid on it and shake until the ppwder dissolves. You then put the bottle back under the nozzle and press the giant button again. The button flashes green and the perfect prep dispenses the correct amount of water and makes it to body temperature so that it is ready for the baby to drink immediately. When the water has stopped dispensing the button will go a solid green and the machine will beep again.
It genuinely couldn't be more easy to use and it does make it to the perfect temperature for EmJ and she is very fussy! What I tended to do to make it a but easier during the night was to measure the formula out before I went to bed and put it in a storage pot so that I didn't have to faff about at 3am trying to accurately measure it out.
I would recommend this product as honestly it is so easy to use (as I have mentioned) and takes the stress out of making up bottles. It is a bit expensive but there are always deals on, and my sister got us the black one for £60 while it was on offer! I think it is only available in black and white currently. It is worth the money especially if you only feed your baby formula as it would save so much time compared to other methods of making up bottles, and if your baby is anything like mine she won't wait for the bottle to cool down so having it at a perfect temperature straightaway is brilliant!
Also the initial shot of hot water ensures that any bacteria that might be present in the formula is killed so baby won't get ill (hopefully). I have read a few reviews online about the perfect prep with people saying that the initial shot of water wouldn't kill bacteria but of course it would. It doesn't matter what the volume of hot water is as long as it is enough to let the formula dissolve and it is above 70°C which is the lowest temperature required to kill the bacteria.
Using the perfect prep also reduces the risk of scalding yourself as you aren't holding a kettle of boiling water and trying to pour it into the bottle so as long as you don't drop the bottle when you go to add the formula, you won't get scalded which again is really useful for the middle of the night or if you're holding the baby like I have to sometimes!

Have you used the perfect prep?what did you think?
Xo

August favourites

I haven't done a favourite post in a couple of months I don't think, so I thought I would do one this month as I love reading what other people love!

💖 revlon lip butter in peach parfait
This was actually chosen by hubby, but the colour is perfect for me and it is so moisturising!it doesn't last very long on me so does need to be reapplied probably more than I would like. I think we got it in the revlon deal that was 2 for £10 so was quite cheap really!

💖 johnsons baby bedtime lotion
I love this for the baby! It is meant to help the baby to sleep on a night, but for us or doesn't seem to make her sleep any better or longer than normal, but we do love the smell of it! It is also so moisturising and EmJ seems to like it being massaged into her after her bath.

💖 little angels baby wipes for newborns
I love these wipes! We have been using these since EmJ was born, and I honestly believe they are just as good as using the cotton wool balls and water. They are specially designed to be used from day one, and EmJ was fine using them. They are quite cheap, I think we got a box of them for about £9, so we got loads of boxes. They are asdas own make but I find them better than the better known brands like pampers and johnsons. They are thinner and they are easier to get out the packet, which also has a plastic lid on to prevent the wipes from drying out.

💖gossip girl
I mentioned this in my 'things I've loved this week' post but I have to include it here too! I forgot how good this show is, and I am already onto series 2 (I only started watching it a few days ago!)

💖 Chris ryans Danny black series
Again, I mentioned this in the weekly post but I recommend anyone to read this series. It is completely believable,and probably does happen in real life as most of his books are based on his experiences or someone he knows experiences in the SAS.  The newest book in the series only came out a few days ago, so I still haven't read it yet but it's seemingly about ISIS and some people who do things for them and the SAS people who have to deal with it.

💖 nothing to declare
This is usually on TV after EmJ has woken me up to feed her and then gone back to sleep, leaving me wide awake. I love the Australian one as they are so strict and I think we should more strict than we are! I find it fascinating what people do to hide what they are bringing into the country like drugs or food (Australia don't allow certain foods that could pose a threat to the plants or wildlife).

💖 clinique take the day off balm
I love this as it takes off my makeup,including waterproof mascara, really easily and gently. I also use it to clean my makeup brushes and it leaves them so clean and soft!definitely a product worth having.

What have you been loving this month? Xxx

Wishlist: Primark September 2015

I haven't bought myself any clothes since my maternity pants I got when I was pregnant. Unfortunately, nothing fits me anymore, I'm too thin for my maternity clothes but I'm not thin enough for my pre-pregnancy clothes.
We don't have much money as everything we get goes on bills or EmJ so as much as I want all of the new season clothes in River Island, I have had to make a Primark wishlist instead.
I love Primark because a lot of the clothes are very similar to the new season clothes in other shops but a lot cheaper (obviously the quality isn't as good but it lasts a while still).
I have quite a few things picked out including bootcut jeans, skinny jeans, new boots and dresses (hubby doesn't like the dresses).
I am going to be buying the clothes on the 16th September when hubby gets paid, as I need a new wardrobe that fits me before I start uni later in the month.

Do you like any of these clothes? I can't wait to buy them all!
Xxx

Ps I just want to point out that this is not a sponsored post, I just really like Primark.

Don't get taken in by hype

When I was pregnant, I bought a few things that I probably didn't need, or at least had cheaper alternatives, all because of the hype surrounding them.
So my advice for today is never buy something just because of the hype, or because it looked cute or cool.

An example of this is the tommee tippee sangenic bin. I was in mothercare and saw these bins on offer, and the hype around them made them seem great and a must have!the sales assistant told me they were really popular and I would regret not getting one, so we got one. In pink. Don't get me wrong, this bin does what it says, it stores nappies without making the room smell. But so does a nappy bag. I don't always change EmJ in the same room, so unless we carry the bin about with us, or carry dirty nappies around, I end up using normal bins too. Nappy bags are much cheaper than the cartridges for these bins, so i would recommend for people not to get one of these.

Another thing I got was the Gro Egg. This is a room thermometer that also acts as a night light....or its meant to. I am actually disappointed by this as it sometimes doesn't give the correct temperature, and it isn't bright enough to be a night light. The orange also looks quite similar to the red so it's harder to tell the temperature unless you actually look at the digital display which defeats the object of having colours displayed. I saw this in the baby club magazine from boots and it was described as being a must have product, which is the reason we got it, but honestly it's not worth the hype. You can get much cheaper room thermometers that probably work better.

These are just two examples of things I've bought just because of the good advertising surrounding the product, and I think that if I do get pregnant again then I will choose what I buy carefully and decide whether something is actually necessary before buying it. I will consider if there is a cheaper alternative that will be just as good, and not waste money on pointless products.

Have you bought anything just because of the hype surrounding them?

Xxx

Tommee tippee sangenic bin

If you haven't heard of it, the sangenic bin is meant to save you from constant trips to the outside bin to dispose of nappies without the house stinking. There are cartridges that hold 70 something nappies depending on the size of them, and the bin itself holds about 28 before it needs emptying. There are three colours: pink, blue and white.

I'm not going to lie, I didn't read the description properly and just thought that every cartridge held 28 nappies rather than just the bin so I didn't realise that I would have to cut the bag and re knot it every time the bin got full! There is a blade on the underside of the lid to cut the bag with, although it did take me a couple of attempts before it actually cut through the whole of the bag. You then tie a knot in the top of the bit that you're throwing away, and the bottom of the unused bag so you can continue to put nappies in it. I hate emptying the bin as it really smells, the smell is contained within the bin so until you open it your room won't smell at all which is really good, but once you open the bin it is disgusting! I tried washing the bin but the smell sort of stays ingrained into the plastic 😐 I have ended up putting a plastic bag into the bin for the nappies to go into to make it a bit easier to transfer the nappies to the outside bin when the sangenic bin is full as although the nappies are all contained in what is effectively a large nappy bag, it isn't pleasant carrying the long nappy sausage out.

The sangenic bin does reduce the number of trips you make to the outside bin, and it does contain the smell really well but honestly I don't think it is worth getting. It is just as easy to use normal nappy bags and putting them in the normal household waste bin in the kitchen then emptying that when it is full as the nappy bags do tend to keep the smell in quite well and we empty the kitchen bin regularly anyway. I did get taken in by the hype and it is a cute bin but I don't think I would buy another one if this one broke in some way.

Have you tried this bin? What did you think of it?

Xxx

Parenthood and relationships

When I was still pregnant people told me that it doesn't matter how strong your relationship is, it will struggle to survive once you have a baby. I didn't really listen as I thought that people were exaggerating, but honestly they were right.

You will get tired and cranky with each other, when the baby cries for seemingly no reason and you have checked all the usual (hungry, needs changing, tired, wind etc) you will blame each other for not being able to soothe the baby. But if you're anything like us, you will have a little argument then realise it's silly and only because you're tired and then apologise to each other and have a big family hug.  I'm not saying that we argue all of the time, but there are occasions where you will think your partner could do more to help or something, and they will think they do loads and you will end up having a discussion about it but it won't last forever and you have to remember that it is normal.
I think it would be less normal to not argue when you're both tired, more tired than you've ever been. I have worked some pretty difficult night shifts in the hospital and even then I have never been as tired as I have been with the baby so it is logical to get tired and stressed out and take it out on the people closest to you.

I will also point out that men get jealous. Not all men probably, but definitely my hubby. He asks me for cuddles now because he gets a bit jealous that EmJ gets loads of cuddles and he doesn't think he gets any. He especially likes me to cuddle him to sleep because night time is probably when I spend most of my time watching the baby to make sure she's not sick in her sleep or something and every little sound she makes I'm awake and watching her, so he feels like I don't pay him enough attention now. Luckily he has told me about this, and does ask me for cuddles, but if he hadn't we could easily have ended up splitting up because he felt I wasn't giving him enough attention, and I have seen people split up for this reason. So my advice is talk to your partner and if you or him feel left out then tell them so you can work through it. There are some statistics out there That state that men are more likely to cheat when they have a young baby at home because they feel left out and just enjoy the attention given to them by the other woman.  I can see why this is true as if I hadn't started showing more affection to hubby he probably would have sought it elsewhere.

Have you got any advice about parenting and relationships?

Xxx

EmJ 6 week update

So its been another week..It seems to have flown by!!

EmJ smiles and giggles loads now, especially at my mam!as soon as my mam walks into the room EmJ has the biggest smile on her face!! She is a bit ticklish and giggles if you tickle her tummy ☺

She hated lying down now, she prefers to be sitting up or standing (with our support). She loves walking up my tummy still, and loves being in her baby chair.

She cuddles her comfort blanket now which is super cute. She holds it with her right hand usually, I don't know why she won't hold it with her left hand much but she plays with her dummy with her left hand so we aren't too worried.

She grabs her dummy and pulls it out of her mouth then cries if she can't put it back in again, it's quite amusing to watch!she's such a cutie! We only give her a dummy to comfort her when she eats her hands but isn't hungry (we do check ) but people have already made comments to me about babies shouldn't be allowed dummies. In my opinion if it makes her happy then she can have it, she isn't given it all of the time and won't have it for more than 6 months or a year depending on what advice the dentist gives when she starts getting teeth.

She had her first few hours away from me and hubby when we went out for a meal for our anniversary. My mam looked after her and she was really well behaved!she didn't cry once and accepted my expressed milk off my mam. My mam used the foam bath support which we haven't used before and she loved it, my mam was splashing her and making waves in the water and EmJ loved it! We have since tried this at home and she giggles and kicks her legs to make a splash so we have stopped using the baby bath.

EmJ has grown out of one sleep suit which I was surprised at but it shows she is growing which is good! We still have some 0-3 months clothes that are too big for her but most of it fits her now.

She has started eating more out of the bottle, she takes 5oz not 4oz now which makes me wonder if she is getting enough when I feed her directly from the breast as when I express I can only ever get 4oz out! I don't know if this is why she wants to feed more when I do feed her from the breast as she isn't getting enough.

We have a toy for the car seat now which she looks at out of the corner of her eye, as if she is suspicious of it, then giggles at it then goes back to looking suspiciously at it. She hasn't actually played with it yet but I think this is because she doesn't quite understand why it is there now.

She is awake a lot longer now and gets cranky as she fights her sleep. I think she doesn't like to miss things so if we lie next to her with our eyes closed she will close hers and go to sleep, but if we were clearly staying awake she fights her sleep.

Xxx

5 things I've loved this week #1

I love these posts so thought I would do one of my own ☺

💖 the first thing I have been loving this week is gossip girl. I know this has been finished for ages but I never actually watched the final series, so thought I would start from the beginning and I am loving it! I'm still only on series 1 but the drama is so exciting, I just wish I had gone to a school like that!

💖I have been loving the Danny black book series by Chris Ryan.  I love his books as he doesn't over exaggerate things like some authors do, and I think that this is because he was in the SAS. His new book in the series came out yesterday, so I haven't read it all yet but it is about ISIS so far, which shows how on point he is.

💖I had my favourite dessert lemon meringue pie when I was at my parents house at the beginning of the week. My mam made it and it was amazing! Homemade desserts are always better than shop bought ones.

💖we have just moved EmJ onto bigger bottles as she is having 5oz of milk when I express now, so the bottles we were using are too small. I love the bottles we are using now as we have two pink, two purple and two green ones. They are so pretty and make it easier to keep track of which expressed bottles need to be used first as I do pink then purple then green.

💖the last thing I have loved this week is EmJs new 1.5tog sleeping bag. We got it from asda and it is pink with bambi on the front which makes it so gorgeous.

What have you been loving this week?

Xxx