Things I am grateful for #3

1. Monthly Milestones. Yay we’ve made it to 5 months! It’s so amazing to watch these little people grow and change. I still feel amazed that he’s all mine and I made him! I feel so privileged to be his mother.

2.  Maternity leave. I am so grateful for this wonderful time off I have had to be with my son. Even though we have very tough days where I want to pull my hair out … I really can’t complain as just this week we have spent our time walking on the beach, attending baby yoga, swimming, chilling in cafes and enjoying messy play at our PEEPS group.

3. Foodie baby. The weaning process so far has been a real adventure, challenging at times but mostly good. Touch wood, Arlo seems to have eaten all the fruit and veg we have tried him with (although some mealtimes we have had to put on ‘pause’ only to continue later due to his mood). Hopefully this means we have a child who will be fuss-free about food in the future!

4. Thoughtful touches. My husband sometimes does little things that can brighten my day like making me a coffee, sharing his muffin with me (even though I’ve already had one) and listening to my worries. After a bit of a meltdown at the start of this week he reassured me that I am doing OK at this whole motherhood thing. I tend to doubt myself. A lot. It’s nice to have someone who believes in you.

5. Simple cooking. Sometimes the tastiest things can be the most simple. Antony and I are always searching for dinners that are quick and easy to make especially now our time is more limited. This fortnight we tried tortilla pizzas. I just part-baked some tortillas in the oven to create a crispiness and then we chucked on a load of ingredients including: tomato paste mixed with herbs as a base, mozzarella balls, chorizo, spinach and peppers. It took less than 10mins to cook and was delicious!

6. Cute outfits. I feel sad when we have to move Arlo into the next size up of clothes. It’s only a few short months of wear out of some adorable ensembles. I love these skinny jeans with braces that we got from H&M. At least I have lots of exciting 6-9month outfits to look forward to!

Hope you’ve got lots to be grateful for.

 

Linking up with Mummy Mondays

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Things I am grateful for

Life can be challenging and becoming a mother means a lot more challenges have been thrown my way! When you are stressed you find yourself concentrating on all the negative things which means you can miss out on some of life’s joys. Therefore, it was my New Years resolution to become a calmer, more positive person who (attempts to) look for the good in different situations and let go of everything else. This is definitely easier said than done (especially when sleep deprived). One thing I am trying is to think of at least three things I am grateful for each day. I was surprised to find that even on a bad day I could manage to find something. Even it was something small, if it made me feel happy, I was grateful for it. Gratitude is a wonderful thing as I believe part of being happy is being content with what we do have rather than what we don’t. I have kept a log of gratefulness in a diary but would like to share some of it on my blog in hope that it may inspire others to think about what they are grateful for. I don’t want to overload you therefore to begin with I will share just six things I am grateful for each fortnight.

This fortnight I am grateful for (in order of photos – left to right):

1. Naps with Arlo. Arlo has never been a great sleeper (as you might of read on my first post). Therefore I spend most of my time walking around like a zombie trying to function like a normal person. Usually he naps when I am out and about and he sleeps in the car seat or pram but a few times  over the past two weeks I have managed to snuggle with him on our bed and catch a few z’s. Just enough to make me feel human… for a short while anyway!

2. Lovely scenic walks. We are lucky enough to live in a beautiful place near the New Forest and beaches. I have tried to get use out of our slings (baby wearing- another new year resolution) and get Arlo out in the fresh air. Sometimes with friends and family and sometimes just the two of us.

3. Snow! It was only a sprinkling but I am so glad Arlo got to experience snow for the first time.

4. New toys. Arlo can be a bit of a fussy baby due to his wind / colic / reflux / possible teething and wants to be held most of the time for comfort and because he is more comfortable when upright. Aside from using slings I have been purchasing anything that he can sit up in/ stand in. So we have bought a Bumbo and a Fisher Price Jumperoo. The Bumbo is great for getting him to hold himself but I think he feels a bit restricted so won’t stay in there long. However, the Jumperoo he absolutely loves and can entertain him for a while. So at least I can grab some lunch or have a cuppa! It’s so funny watching his face as he bounces. He’s not quite got the hang of it yet but he’ll get there.

5. Yoga. This is my new yoga teacher – David. I have started a course with him for absolute beginners and I’m pretty excited about it. It’s a bit of time each week just for me and I’m hoping it will help with my aches and pains developed through pregnancy and carrying Arlo around!

6. My lovely husband. To be honest I could write this down every day in my gratefulness diary (sorry for the cheesiness, ha). Since Arlo was born he has been a shoulder to cry on, the calm in my storm and he has supported every parenting decision I have made, not questioning me when things go wrong or if they don’t make sense. He has been amazing at comforting Arlo at night too even though he usually has work the next day! This week in particular he managed to get Arlo to take a bottle (he’s normally a boob guy and has been refusing bottles) and get him to sleep when I attended my yoga class. It was lovely to have the baby in bed and the dinner made when I got home. Although it didn’t last long as Arlo was up plenty that night!

So much to be grateful for, I am very blessed. What or who are you grateful for?  I’d love to hear about it.

A little more about us…

So my first post was about sleep as that’s pretty much my obsession at the moment! I mean I’m actually embarrassed for my pre-mama self. Eight or more hours I used to have most nights and I even had the cheek the say I was tired when waking at 6.30am for work. Ha! I didn’t know the true meaning of tired then! Honestly I feel I should’ve have been a more productive person with a whole nights rest behind me and no baba to care for 24/7! Seems a waste really… Anyway I thought I’d take the opportunity to give a bit more background about our family before I dive into more posts about life with our babe.

Antony and I met at school and have been together since. We got married two years ago in a beautiful chapel followed by a reception in some awesome tepees overlooking a lake. Pure magic. We enjoyed a year of married life but we always knew our dream was to start a family. We wanted to be young parents with the energy to keep up with our child. We basically weren’t trying to fall pregnant but we weren’t preventing it either! And so, after just a few short days off the pill – BOOM there was a baby. My husband thought there would be a lot more fun with trying but of course we were so happy and excited (and a bit nervous).

To summarise my pregnancy; beginning – BLEURGH! Middle – aah how lovely, end – WOAH! Arlo was on his own schedule and came 10 days before his due date. It was a relief as I was absolutely huge and I knew he was going to be a big boy. My 5″3 frame could no longer take the weight. I developed SPD and had major swelling. It was definitely time.

At 4.47pm on 30th September 2014, Arlo came kicking and screaming into the world weighing 9lb7. It was the most wonderful moment of my life to date. I wish I could bottle up that feeling so I could experience it again and again. Pride. Joy. Love.

Since then we have been bumbling our way through parenthood. I swear we could give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money as most of our time we act like detectives trying to figure out why he’s crying, what do these symptoms mean, how can we make that better, why did no one warn us about this???? We have battled severe nappy rash, tongue tie, colds, reflux, teething and more, all in four short months. But I can’t imagine it any other way. We feel so lucky to have this little person in our lives, I sometimes think I might just burst I love him so much. Like I said before; I didn’t know the true meaning of tired but I didn’t know the true meaning of life either-until I met Arlo. He can be very tricky and so frustrating, but he is also absolutely perfect.

Please feel free to share your pregnancy or birth stories. I’d love to hear from any readers.