bump

22 Weeks Pregnant

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

It's that time of the week again and it's been a pretty uneventful week! Apart from realising whilst at BlogCamp with Tots 100 this weekend that I am in fact smaller than I feel! After feeling huge leading up to it, I felt much better leaving BlogCamp seeing people a few weeks behind me with much bigger bumps and people being shocked when they found out I was almost 22 weeks. You can see my little bump below!



I've been feeling very 'normal' this week. Apart from small bursts of heartburn and a massive increase in movements from little miss, I have felt more energetic and motivated than I have in months. I'm managing to sleep again and my headaches have gone. If the rest of my pregnancy carries on like this I will be a very happy lady!

Being my third pregnancy and another planned c-section I am finding I am being left to it this time. There is much longer between appointments. In the whole pregnancy I've been given just two consultant appointments and only a few routine midwife appointments. This is giving me much more time to just enjoy my pregnancy and not run around with two kids in tow trying to get to appointments on time. Of all my pregnancies this is feeling the most relaxed, I just wish the time would slow down a bit! They do say time flys when you're having fun.

This weekend I will be travelling to Manchester for a blog event and will be celebrating the bank holiday with my family on Monday so will hopefully have more to talk about next week!

baby books

Review: Parragon Books 'Jiggly Giraffe'

Monday, April 28, 2014

Our latest book buddy item from Parragon Books was the 'Jiggly Giraffe Book and Rattle Set' from the little learners range. This is our third of these lovely soft toy/ book gift set combinations. This time the soft toy is a lovely bright giraffe rattle, easily held by little hands. The book is similar to the others, which just happen to be Zach's favourite books, it is a rhyme book containing lovely illustrations.




These books make the perfect gift for babies for any occasion we have had a quick look at ours and are saving it for our new arrival to be their first book and toy.

I am linking up with Mama Mummy Mum's Read With Me linky. You can join in or read book reviews from other blogger's by clicking the badge below.


Disclaimer
We were sent the book featured free of charge as part of the Parragon book buddies review club. All opinions are my own.

bump

21 weeks pregnant

Friday, April 25, 2014

I'm a few days late with my update this week. I'm finally having to face the fact that I need to calm down and look after myself a bit more. With work, housework, looking after the kids and trying to have fun days out with the kids, I am finding it is really taking it's toll on my body and the Braxton hicks have kicked in at exactly the same point as my pregnancy with Zach.


I'm also growing very quick at the moment. My bump still wasn't noticeable until this last week and I'm now struggling to fit into my normal clothes. After two pregnancies without buying maternity clothes I feel like I need to finally invest in a pair of maternity jeans. I find it such a shame that many high street shops don't stock maternity clothes in their stores as I haven't a clue what size or cut would be best suited! I have also finally invested in a nursing bra this week, like I said I would, from H&M and it is so comfy I can't believe I didn't do it sooner! 

The heartburn I thought I had found a lucky escape from this pregnancy has also reared it's ugly head! Luckily it is nowhere near as bad as last time yet although I am dreading the usual cycle of craving chocolate/chocolate causing heartburn/getting hormonal over heartburn causing me to want more chocolate to cheer me up! (I say this whilst devouring a huge Easter egg)

Baby's movements have been getting so much stronger this week. Both Andy and Gracie have felt their first kicks. Gracie's was whilst trying to cuddle me, she received a swift kick in the head which she found hilarious!

We've also been thinking names this week. Typically I had great suggestions for boys names this time and we are finding it difficult to choose girls names. Gracie has helpfully suggested Gracie, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie. Somehow I think we will keep her out of the desicion making process. So far we are agreeing to write a list of favourite names and wait until she arrives to make our decision so it will be a surprise to all of us.

I would love to know did you choose a name before your baby's birth? Did you stick to your chosen name?



A Happy Easter

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Well we have had a lovely few days. Was nice to have a break and spend some quality time with the kids. Was hard to keep away from the computer even at night time when the kids were sleeping but I somehow coped!


Over the weekend we had a trip into town with friends to do shopping and join a fun Easter hunt, a girly mummy and Gracie movie night involving pic n mix and Harry Potter. We watched Daddy play in a charity football tournament and had fun at the fun day events whilst there. Then yesterday the kids went to the park with Daddy and his friends while I did even more decluttering in the house.

I feel so much better after having some family fun, getting time to relax by myself watching films in the evening and I'm really proud of all the stuff I managed to part with yesterday. 

Of course no Easter is complete without a silly amount of chocolate. The kids got well and truly spoilt and Andy managed to grab some bargain chocolate yesterday for us from work so we are not left out! Zach actually got to eat his first ever Easter egg yesterday which he really enjoyed!



How about you? What did you get up to this Easter?

gNappies new girls collection for Summer

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Just when you think gNappies couldn't get any cuter they announced their new summer collection for girls. It is called 'Gingham Girl', It is a beautiful design, perfect for summer. I can't wait to get hold of it! The collection features the 'Gingham Girl' gPant and matching dress. I'm definitely glad to be having another little girl now so we can invest in some beautiful girly sets.




Isn't it stunning? I love the colours, this pant is currently top of my wishlist.

You can buy this set from www.gnappies.com and other retailers including Ocado. The pant is £17.95 and the dress is £24.95.

20 week scan

20 week scan: We are growing a...

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

So as you may know already we had our 20 week scan today. Baby is fine and looks perfectly healthy. It was the first scan Andy had been allowed in to see as we left the kids at home (with supervision of course). We were so excited to get to see this scan together.

Like I said before I'm way to impatient to wait and find out babies sex. I like to be organised and so we found out.

Here is Baby:



...


And SHE is another little girl! 

:D


pregnancy

20 weeks Pregnant

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Today I am 20 weeks pregnant. The weeks seem to be passing by quicker and quicker. Later on today we have our 20 week scan so wish me luck! Hopefully we will get to find out baby's sex once we've checked everything is ok. Gracie is determined it is a girl, I also have an inkling it may be a girl and Andy has voted boy just to be different, so let's see who is right this time.


I have been very busy this past week. I've had a week off work so have been in nesting overdrive. Trying to get all the big work done in the house before baby arrives. I've decluttered majorly both in the house and garage. I've gutted the garden and have been enjoying starting from scratch planting lots of new plants. We've picked wallpaper and accessories for our bedroom and are planning a complete renovation of the bathroom. Hopefully my other blog www.theforeverhousecharm.com will have lots of new posts and material soon! 

I am at the stage where I can't seem to stop eating! No matter what the time is I find myself raiding the cupboards. Our food shopping was extortionate this week and i keep finding that no matter how much I eat I still feel hungry. This could probably explain why I have big babies!

I am also finding that the dreaded 'baby brain' gets worse each pregnancy. So have had to try and get my life organised by carrying a notebook and pen EVERYWHERE! I've been writing lists and reminders for everything and it seems to be working very well for me to the point I'm enjoying the satisfaction of getting everything done. 

Last week my midwife recommended I started taking my iron supplements again. I feel really ill with Iron in tablet form and so always use Spatone which is a liquid form. Yes that sounds nasty but if you mix it in orange juice you can barely taste it and amazingly orange juice helps maximum absorption of the Iron so it's a win win. I'm feeling much better already and so will now have it on prescription to save me a few pennies!

Now I feel like I'm waffling a bit. I'm full of nerves and can't stop talking so I best go keep myself busy and will let you know how I get on with my scan later today! 

Thanks for reading 

X

child friendly gardening.

Making Gardening Fun With Kids

Monday, April 14, 2014

This week one of the main jobs I wanted to get done was the back garden. Since we moved in in September it hasn't been touched. The borders were full of weeds growing between the flowers, the grass was overgrown and add in the pile of floorboards we have been waiting for the time to take to the local tip, it didn't look pretty!

The poor overgrown garden

Our biggest problem was although Zach will happily have a long nap in the day, we still had Gracie to keep busy so I came up with a plan to get her involved. I wanted her to have fun in the Garden but without being told constantly what to do. Last summer we let her grow her own plants but they were lost when we moved house shortly after. So we popped to B&Q and I bought a few little plants for myself and spotted some single Strawberry plants and thought what better idea could we have than letting her grow her own fruit plant? She loves Strawberries which is why we chose that particular plant. I bought a big plant pot and her own little set of gloves and she was very excited to get out in the garden.

We started straight away firstly with clearing the borders. Gracie feeling all grown up, grabbed her choice of garden tools out of our bucket and set to work helping me remove everything. As I wasn't sure what was a good plant and what wasn't, we decided to completely gut it all except my small Rose bush and start from scratch. She loved helping, pulling out weeds, raking the soil and filling the waste into our bucket. We were at it for almost three hours with absolutely no complaining!! So as we had nearly finished it all we left Daddy to finish the last bits while we re-potted the Strawberry plant. 
Gracie's very own Strawberry plant

 I gave Gracie the pot and a small spade to fill it with soil herself then together we took the plant out of it's original pot and I showed her the roots and told her how she needs to water her plant everyday so it'll grow nice and big. She chose a little spot in the Garden to keep it and immediately watered it. Just as we had finished Zach woke up right on cue and she was so excited to show him what she had done and has been remembering to water her plant each day. She also keeps asking to go do more plants with me so the plan has obviously worked.

 If you haven't tried it I would definitely recommend as a nice fun activity. It has got us all interested in making the garden look really pretty.

 I'd also love more tips for fun in the garden if anyone has any? 

easter

Great Gizmos Easter Gifts

Sunday, April 13, 2014

We have worked with Great Gizmos a few times now, our most recent being Great Gizmos Christmas Gifts. We always enjoy unpacking our parcel to see what lovely goodies they have sent us to test out and this is our favourite yet! They have sent us a selection of their products that are perfect for Easter from Plan Toys and NICI. Our parcel contained a Jolly Amy cuddly sheep from NICI, Plan Toys My First Baby Book and Plan Toys Chicken Puzzle.



Jolly Amy- NICI RRP £17.99 

I will always say the same about NICI cuddly toys, you are paying for quality. We actually have Jolly Logan the male sheep too. These cuddly toys are such lovable characters in fact you can see that Gracie loves Jolly Amy from the picture below, she's even been joining her in bed every night since she arrived. Gracie decided that out of our toy bundle that was her toy. Like I said before the quality is fantastic and is what attracts me to this range as a parent. The price is high for a cuddly toy but more than fair when considering it will last long and is suitable for all ages. Perfect for an alternative Easter gift for children. 



My First Baby Book- Plan Toys RRP £25.95



This is a lovely book with wooden cover and thick fabric pages. The book is full of different textures, there's a mirror, pop up rainbow, a Velcro ladybird that can stick on any page and comes with an attachment that can be used to secure it to a pushchair or car seat. Although not sure I would pay the RRP for this product I do understand that it is made from high quality materials like all Plan Toys products and I do genuinely like the product itself. I definitely think if you are looking exclusively for wooden toys for your children then this is a great one to add to your collection. It is lovely for small children, Zach has enjoyed playing with it and I'm sure when baby no3 comes along they will too! 

Chicken Puzzle- Plan Toys RRP £14.95



This fun chicken puzzle is perfect for Easter especially if your little one is suddenly full of questions about eggs! It has educational qualities for all ages. It encourages coordination in younger children and encourages them to really think about where each piece goes. Then for slightly older children you can add in  explanations of where eggs come from and how baby chickens then hatch from the eggs etc. We've been playing with this a lot, both kids are very interested and we have had lots of fun putting it together and talking about chickens. I think this game is definitely worth the price tag as again it is fantastic quality, has encouraged educational play and would make a perfect gift this Easter.




You can find out more about Great Gizmos and their large range of products at http://www.greatgizmos.co.uk/ or you can visit them on any of their social media pages:
Great Gizmos Official Facebook Page
Great Gizmos Official Twitter Page

 Disclaimer
We were sent the products featured free of charge for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.

children's clothing

#TheOuttakes A Happy Smiley Gracie.. Not!

Saturday, April 12, 2014

This week I have another photo for Mama Geeks 'The Outtakes' linky. 

This photo is of Gracie trying on a lovely dress and headband we were sent for her to review. She loved the parcel and was trying it on so I thought I'd take a quick snap. Gracie had other ideas, she didn't want her photo taken for once and so pulled this happy smiley face especially. Usually I would delete a photo like this but thought it would make a fab outtake photo!


I'm linking with Mama Geek's 'The Outtakes' linky you can join in or have a laugh at the other entries by clicking the badge below.


the outtakes

diary

19 Weeks Pregnant

Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Today I am 19 weeks pregnant and this past week has been what can only be described as a mixed bag. The first half was mainly spent at work so I'll miss out that bit.

On Sunday I felt babies first big kicks. Andy was at football and I was watching a movie with the little ones and whilst lying on the sofa I suddenly started feeling those amazing first movements. It is amazing that after two babies I still felt like I'd never felt it before! A truly magical moment.

On Monday I had a hair cut. Not a normal hair cut but just around 10 or so inches off! I figured it'll be easier to manage and get dried the shorter it is. I guess only time will tell. I also had thoughts about dairy intolerance in pregnancy. Whenever I have anything with fresh milk in, from cereals to a cup of tea, I get awful stomach cramps and I discovered it is a possibility it's an intolerance to dairy. Another thing to add to my long list of moans for the midwife!
               
Yesterday was my birthday. As birthdays go it wasn't the best. But then I'm not a big fan of birthdays. We went out shopping to a designer village where I felt I was 'too fat' to even walk in many shops and those that I did go in the dresses reduced to just £300 ish were most definitely out of my price range. Then on our first child free night in over 15 months I had awful back pains and had to leave the cinema before we were even half way through the film I was excited to see after an attack of sickness. I also didn't get Birthday cake. Yes a pregnant lady without cake on her birthday is tragic. 

Today is all about decluttering the house in aid of getting it ready for when baby comes. I actually have a few days to get as much done as possible and today is when it starts! I also have a Midwife appointment today a slightly late 17 week appointment! Crazy that I still know so little about pregnancy when I should be a pro by now. I still have long lists of questions whenever I see my midwife.

One thing I can say about this week is my insomnia is slightly easing meaning I'm getting a bit more sleep than the last few weeks. I'm definitely starting to enjoy this pregnancy a lot more now and can't believe I'm almost half way through already. 

Next week we have our 20 week scan to find out if baby is healthy and maybe even the sex too!

Did you find out the sex of your baby during pregnancy?


family life

Be Thankful

Monday, April 07, 2014

Having a bit of a moment. As the news hits of the unexpected death of Peaches Geldof at just 25 years old, leaving behind two very small babies, it really makes you realise you just never know how long you have got. We all think about the future. I often wonder what my children will look like as adults? What job will they choose to do? How many children will they go on to have if they choose to have any at all? I never really think will I will be around to see all that?


As parents we spend our lives nurturing our children and watching them grow. Today's news has got me thinking and it is definitely one of those moments that you realise you need to make every minute count. I am 23 tomorrow which I know is very young to have two children and another on the way and when I've been criticised for it I've always thought 'well at least I love and care for my children and have plenty of years to enjoy them' but all too often we are reminded how short life is and that there is no guarantees in life. Whether you are rich, poor, healthy, unhealthy you never know what is around the corner.

I think it is so important to show those you love how much they mean to you on a regular basis. I also decided this year to spend more time independently with each of my children and to do more things for myself and so far it is going well. The kids are loving spending time alone both with me and their Dad and I am enjoying being me again and not just 'Mummy'. 

I keep thinking of all the little things that make my life so perfect. The happy faces I wake up to each and every morning, the laughter I'm surrounded by daily, the cuddles, kisses and 'I love you's' that will never grow old, bedtime stories and watching my babies sleep each night. 

Today is a day to be thankful for everything you have and not dwell on what you don't have.




bump

18 weeks pregnant

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Wow the time is flying by now! This week I've had a bump suddenly appear out of nowhere, I'm starting to look pregnant rather than fat. Yay! The sickness that consumed me the first three months has completely disappeared. Although has been replaced with some kind of pregnancy related Insomnia, if that is even a thing. No matter how tired I am I am finding it a huge struggle to sleep at night which is so frustrating. I'm getting a max of 4 hours sleep per night. Luckily the kids still nap in the day so I'm managing to have a quick power nap each day with them giving myself energy for a few hours.


I'm finding I'm getting a lot more aches and pains this pregnancy especially in my bump and my back. My consultant has suggested this is my scar tissue from the previous C-sections stretching and that I should perhaps try to find a support band to help. Of course having two kids means resting is a no go so I'm on a mission now to find a suitable support band this week.

Also on my to do list over the next week is get fitted for a bra and invest in a maternity bra. I hate getting measured as like a lot of women I'm very insecure when it comes to my boobs! But I'm just not comfortable any more my current bras are too tight and restricting so I'm going to treat myself to a new one.

I would love it if anyone has any suggestions on support bands or maternity bras? Having used neither I'd love to know which have worked for others!


Instagram