Q&A:ANSWERS

'Does Olivia sleep through, if so did you sleep train?'

Olivia has a very funny relationship with bedtimes. One month she will sleep through and then next she'll wake every other hour. At the moment she is having a bath at 6 then having a bowl of porridge and being taken to bed where she will be feed for around 5 minutes and then gets put in her cot where she'll sleep through until 4-5 then want feeding again. I didn't sleep train with her I was just very persistent. She never comes out of our bedroom once she's in there to sleep but I've never left her to 'cry it out'. As soon as she looks distressed (I have a video monitor) I go and see to her.

'How often does she feed in the day'
She has a feed when she first wakes up, then has a fruit puree for breakfast, at 10 o'clock I feed her again before her nap and some times again after her nap. She has a drink of water with her lunch (veg puree) and then will usually have one more feed before her bedtime feed!

'Whats the longest period of time that you've left Olivia for?'
The longest I've left her for was when I went Christmas shopping in Brighton. Me and my doughnut boyfriend left all the shopping until  4 days before Christmas so we had to leave her for around 8 hours as it wasn't very practical taking a 7 week old baby shopping in Brighton when it was so busy and we had to buy so much!

'How long do you plan on breast feeding for?'
Originally I was only going to feed her until she was 6 months old but now after realising how much we both love it I'm going to wean her at a year old. I'll probably still pump but just give it to her in a sippy cup rather than from me.

'Do you ever wish you didn't breast feed so that you could have a proper break?'
Honestly, no. Sometimes it would be lovely for Callum to feed her when she's having a bad night or clingy day but I'm not really into going out drinking any more and seems as she is usually quite good with sleeping I do get a break once she's asleep. 

'Do you ever feel like you're doing everything wrong and that you're not a very good mum?'
Hahaha, I think every parent must think this at least once, especially at 3 in the morning. 

'What was the best and worst part of your pregnancy'
I have a couple of best bits, the first being the first time I felt movement. It really does become a reality that you're pregnant once you starting feeling them move. The second best bit was the last few weeks when I could see and feel things like her bum or foot poking out.
The worst bit was definitely the first 15 weeks. Morning sickness was at its peak, I had a bleed which completely terrified me for months and with not being able to feel her move yet I just constantly thought I'd had a miscarriage! 



Thank you so much for anyone who took the time to ask me questions 
xxx

5 Month Update!

   

Every month so far I've said it and this month isn't going to be any different... where the hell is this time going!? Olivia is now 5 months old (well she will be on Tuesday!), 21 weeks! I don't understand how it's going so fast! I was looking at all of her newborn pictures the other day and I can't even remember what she was like as a tiny baby!

Olivia is now rolling all around the room as she has mastered rolling from her front to her back and her back to her front! She's started grabbing her feet and eating them and is starting to sit by herself for longer periods although she's never sat for more than about 5 minutes without flopping!

Food wise Olivia no longer is on Ella's kitchen as I bought her a tommee tippee blender! She eats a huge variety and her favourites so far are apples, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potato, butternut squash, strawberries and bananas. Usually she'll have some sort of fruit pureé in the morning, vegetables at lunch and for her dinner she'll have a bowl of baby porridge or rice. She has also started drinking water! Not something I'm overly happy about but the doctor said it'll help her poop and so far so good! I am mean though and rarely let her have it in a bottle and give it to her in a sippy cup instead.

This month we also bought Olivia a Jumperoo. Two words, bloody brilliant! I would recommend one to anyone who has a baby around Livs age! I only paid £20 for mine from another local mum and I can honestly say that I wouldn't of minded paying the £70+ for one now I've seen how much she loves it! I can now get my hoovering done without any whining!.. well nearly.

Breast feeding is still going strong and she's still a little monster for going to sleep. I swear she's bipolar when it comes to her sleeping patterns. One week she'll be super good, go to bed nice and early with no fussing and sleep for a solid 10 hours and the next week (or 3) she'll scream for hours that she's tired, refuse to sleep and keep me awake until I fall asleep with her in my arms. Saying that, she's still super for her nap times! (even if she still sleeps with her teddy!)

This month Olivia has also started babbling back when you speak to her, she watches your faces and listens and then tries to respond to you. She gets angry when you leave her alone in a room. Her poops are now proper human poops and she definitely takes after her father in the stinky arse department! (sorry Cal but it's true!). Her favourite thing to watch on TV is now The Hive and she still loves Peppa! Her favourite toys are either her VTech books, Sophie or her Bright Starts butterfly and of course the jumperoo. She still loves baths and has started having a bath with me most evenings and she now loves sucking her bottom lip! She hates when I do the washing up, being laid on her back and peas. 

Olivia is also transitioning into 6-9 month clothing and now fits in most of her shoes! Obviously I don't want Olivia to stop growing but all of this is going way too fast. 1 month until she's half a year old, where has my tiny baby gone?

My favourite Lush goodies!

Okay, okay I admit I'm a typical British girl. I love cups of tea, wooly jumpers, Starbucks and I got pregnant when I was a teenager, hahahahaha. Along with a lot of other stuff that most of us British gals love I absolutely adore Lush! I am a huge bath lover and I'm not afraid to admit that I spend probably a lot more than I should on their bath bombs, bubble bars, shower gels and just their general goodness really. I know most people do but I really love smelling nice. I love the compliment people give you when they say 'ooh you smell nice'. Back in the day all I had to do was spray on a bit of Fantasy by Britney Spears on and every girl in the school would be continuously telling me how amazing I smell! Now I'm a mum and have a slightly more expensive taste in perfume it's a lot harder to get that all day great smell as I don't wanna have to use half a bottle of perfume to cover up baby sick smells! 

So on my trek to smell beautiful I found that lush products, ugh amazing! Not only do the smell like angels they are so beautiful to look at too! Since the beginning of January I have admittedly spent about £100 on products and then received another 5 bath bombs as Valentine's gifts (all that have already been used, oops!) and although I've always been a bit of a lush addict I've now found myself using a bath bomb either every day or every other day. Not only do they make me smell fab, they put me in such a good and relaxed mood! So here's a list I've put together of a few of my favourite lush products! Enjoy! 

Golden Wonder

Golden wonder is one of the Christmas bombs but it is by far one of my favourites that I have ever used. The bomb has a citrusy smell which I loved.  It also left the bath a beautiful turquoise colour with gold shimmery swirls. Before using the bomb if you shake it, it genuinely sounds like a real present rattling around inside! I am certainly looking forward to Christmas this year!

Twilight

So... not only does it leave your skin nice and shimmery... smell like lavender AND go pink and white and frothy in the tub it then starts spurting blue out into your bath as well! I love using twilight, it always leaves me smelling nice the next day and completely relaxes me whenever I use it. It's so pretty to look at and doesn't leave stains in your bath either. 

Granny Takes A Dip

Although I'm not completely sure where the name granny takes a dip comes from I can only assume that it's from all the vibrant colours and the design of the actually bath bomb as it looks quite 'hippy'. I find this one super fun to watch as there is so many colours all at once. I also find this moisturises my skin so well and I genuinely never want to leave the bath when I use it. It smells quite fruity and looks like a rainbow when its dissolving. I LOVE IT!

Dragons Egg

Hands down my favourite bath bomb, possibly ever! It's citrusy, it's shimmery, it's mesmerizing AND it has popping candy! The colours are so relaxing and mystical. I would genuinely recommend this product to anyone. It leaves my skin so soft, I could genuinely sit in the bath with it for hours! 

Creamy Candy

What's better than a pink, bubble bath? Oh yeah, nothing. The smell of this bubble bar is amazing! It's kind of like candy floss mixed with heaven. One of my favourite ever products!

No Drought // Dry Shampoo

I'll be the first to admit that although I can easily spend a fortune on Lush bath bombs, bubble bars and soap, I don't tend to buy a lot of their other products. Nothing to do with whether I think they're good or not I just have certain products and brands that I like using for different things. I was slightly skeptical on ordering this product as before I've spent a fortune on things from lush and they've turned up in riduclously small bottles but at less than £4 I thought I'd give it a go. Ever since dry shampoo became a big thing I've always just used Batiste, partially because that's the one that everyone used so I thought it must be the best but also because a lot of places sell it so it was easy to get my hands on if I ever forgot mine. The problem is that it's over priced and doesn't leave my hair fresh for long at all but this is fantastic! I only purchased it the other day and have used it both days since (don't judge me, i'm a mum not a scruff). It keeps my hair refreshed for hours, it smells amazing and its easy to take anywhere as the bottle is small!

  

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10 Signs That You're A Mum

So apart from the obvious child clinging to your ankles, hips or boobs here are 10 for sure signs that you're a mum! 

1. Rather than getting excited for topshop deliveries and nights out you get excited over getting to drink your (cold) cup of tea, a five minute child free bath and being in bed before 9!

2. Spending the day at home no longer means copious amounts of junk food and watching Netflix but means a day of picking up toys, deep cleaning and maybe having a 5 minute sit down before having to pick up after someone... Again.

3. Accepting the fact that the hour you used to spend doing your hair and make up has disappeared for the next 18 years and that even just brushing your hair and teeth before mid day is an achievement. 

4. 'Going shopping' no longer means spending your afternoon having a stroll around Bluewater but means rushing around Tesco avoiding everyone because you're wearing stained leggings and the same jumper you've had on for 3 days. 

5. Not only do you know every Peppa Pig character, you know exactly what they're going to say and do in every single episode...

6. Meal time is no longer something pleasant but rather a mini world war where you're battling against baby rice spit sprays and carrot purée spoons getting slapped out of your hands and sprayed across the carpets. 

7. As nice as the idea of having people round for dinner is at the time you invite them, it soon ends in over excited babies who won't go to bed (which is always 1000x worse when you have guests) and a tonne of washing up.

8. Making a walk to your local co op a day trip after realising the week before that trying to juggle town, a baby, getting your nails done AND having to clean a home all before bedtime is just far too much.

9. Embracing those yoga pants/leggings! Yes okay, we may sit for hours admiring women on instagram who are able to look after a small child, wear white jeans and heels AND still manage to post pictures of themselves on the internet but lets face it... are we comfy? Yes. Are we seeing anyone today? No, so white jeans that will probably be ruined by 10am are hardly worth the effort.

10. I'm gunna call this one 'the snort' which is basically the little laugh I do whilst I'm choking on my cold tea on my 5 minute facebook break when I call bullshit on the SAHM who reckons that they've done baking, pinterest inspired crafting, cleaning AND  have had time to shower and put make up on all in one day.