Getting to Know Bow...

He loves to be swaddled. He'll only feed when he's hungry. He likes the vibrating chair. He doesn't get very windy. He has awake spells mid morning and early evening. He has dry skin that we're trying not to bath very often. He' growing hair quickly and it has a cows lick at the front same as Steve, Euna and I. He can't bear the slightest hint of cold and can only be put down if he's super snuggled in a blanket or two. He likes quiet and frowns a lot in his sleep when Euna is having a screech. He feeds about every 2 hours in the day and every 3 to 4 hours at night. He's super quiet in the evenings. He doesn't like total darkness so we have to keep the landing light on at night.

Oh and he's loved... So so SO loved... 

A Sneaky Piccie Post...

Just a quick piccie post as I sift through some pictures from an impromptu photo shoot at home the other day... 1 x dirty bath towel, 1 x blanket, 1 x sofa pouffe (totally had to Google the spelling for that) and a slightly brighter November day = ...

The rest are to follow!

An Ode to My Bump...

Call me crazy but by and large I love being pregnant... Granted, I probably love it a lot more retrospectively but at least it is very cool... The cake, the scans, the stretchy clothes, baby shopping, nursery crafting, the big boobs, awesome baby kicks, the gender guessing... There's a LOT to love. 

Beyond that I have really loved taking time out every week to record my bump and the pregnancy. It really helped me to absorb it all and enjoy everything about this journey... So here's a little ode to my bump and my bump's photo journal... 

If you want to read about my pregnancy week by week you can check out my pregnancy page here and make sure you've read my birth story here!

Finally... If you've read all the way along... Thank you!! It's been so great to share! :D :D :D

The Essential One's Unisex Baby Grow Review

I've made no secret of my little The Essential One obsession. What's not to love? Quality, essential items, well made in plush natural fabrics. Their focus is on supplying the baby and maternity items you need and making every item them do so well done that each becomes your instant favourite and "go to". 

In addition to such a solid ethos they focus on super fast delivery and satisfy my love of needless packaging... 

So what's inside the packaging? (These and these.) Unisex beige and white baby grows/sleepsuits. When it comes to tiny babies it's baby grows all the way in this house. Comfy, cotton, moveable, breathable baby grows. I have little interest in waistbands, fussy fabrics, stiff embroidered detailing or anything close to a real "outfit" before a couple of months old at least. I just want baby to be comfortable and these baby grows are so worth shouting about because they are sooooo comfortable.

They're made from 100% "superfine cotton" this means they're a natural and breathable fibre and according to the product description the "superfine" part is why they are so soft. They have popper fastenings down the front and inside the legs. The popper spacings seem reasonable; not so many it's annoying and not so few you have any gaping. 

I really like the beige and white colours, they're truly unisex and I really like light colours on newborns. The stripe, logo, star, spot and plain designs are simple but sweet. My favourite is the plan with small logos all over. They have built in scratch kits which is very handy for me as I seem to be the owner of one scratch kit eating washing machine, though you can get mits to match if you prefer. 

These baby grows are £19.99 for a pack of 3. To me this is great value for the quality you're receiving especially as they come in sweet little matching drawstring bags (which make them ideal for gift giving). £19.99 puts them cheaper than the real premium brands like Jojo Maman Bebe (from £14 each) but around £3 more expensive than Next and Marks & Spencers 3 packs. I'm more than comfortable with this positioning on the market as they whilst you can get cheaper these are just that little bit more special and unusual. 

Besides... Baby Bow seems to rank them oh so high on the snuggability scale... :D :D :D 

Finally, in addition to the mits, you can also get hats and vests to match! All equally fantastic quality and value for money. Although unfortunately it's too chilly for me to snap a piccie of Bow in the vests with out him wobbling the bottom lip!

If you missed baby Bow's birth story make sure you go catch up! 

Note: I was sent these products free of charge to review, though all opinions and ideas within this review are 100% my own.

Post Paternity Leave Panics...

Today marks the end of Steve’s paternity leave.

What a fortnight… Wave after wave of visitors, far more than expected feeding issues, a fair few midwife visits, imaginings of new routines, a bout of mastitis, quite a few tears and, of course, a lot of smiles. 

Tomorrow I’m going it alone and today I feel quite overwhelmed by the prospect. The thought of feeling so torn, constantly overstretched and seeing too many tiny people’s tears when I can’t do anything about it is quite scary. I don’t want to see either of my babies wait. I don’t want to not have enough arms/eyes/time. I just don’t feel ready… 

But here we go ready or not. It’s only two days. I have friends and family. I have caffeine. I’m fairly sure if I can just scrape us all from our beds and get downstairs we’ll survive. Deep breaths… I don’t need to do it well, I just need to do it. Not a concept I’m a huge fan of, but this was always going to be a steep learning curve. 

Luckily it's already worth all the grey hairs, eye-bags and tears I'm sure to be due...

Meanwhile here's a rather random selection of pictures with baby Bow settling in...

Daytime dozes...

Lil' fist sucker...

She whispers little "whisp-whisp-whisp" to him...

I die...

Little bear ears on baby boys should be mandatory...

My Dad... How he loves my children...

Lazy mornings wriggling on Mummy's bed...

Euna's Top 5 Books for 1 Year Olds...

We love books here. I was brought up to love books. I was raised on Roald Dahl and some of my fondest memories of being a kid are being read to by my Dad. Then later I was old enough to read to him. Then a bit later collecting the "Goosebumps" books. Then later still I was begging my Mum to let me read her books. 

Much later on when I was tutoring English I saw the link between a love for learning and children who read for pleasure. 

So Steve and I made a promise to ourselves that books would be king in this house. Our children will never be denied a book. They can never be spoiled with too many books. We will always show an enthusiasm for reading and when ever it is possible we will make time for reading to our children... Even if it leads to ALOT of cold coffee!

Now I don't blow my own parenting trumpet often and the odds are I had no real hand in this myself and she would always of been this way regardless… But Euna does love books. She loves looking at them. She loves to pretend to read them. She loves being read to and I quite sure she LOVES my whale voice in "The Snail and the Whale" ;)

We spend a lot of time reading in this house, suffice to say this girl knows what she likes and I can certainly testify to her investment in research. So here it is, in descending order, Euna's top 5 books for 1 year olds…

5. "Animal Hide-and-Seek" Illustrated by Stephen Cartwright, Usbourne

Beautiful quality, hard pages and what one year old doesn't like farm animals?! This is a great example of a touch and feel texture book, with flaps and every opportunity for interaction. There's little text but you can have a really great play and learning time with this book. The proof is in the pudding and my girl pulls off a wicked quacking duck thanks to the hidden ducks on every page of this book.

4. "There's a House inside my Mummy" by Giles Andreae and Vanessa Cabban

This book should come with a warning sticker for hormonal pregnant women; it will make you cry. Lovely pictures illustrate an easy to recite rhyming poem about a little boy who's expecting a sibling. Seriously sweet. Probably not majorly relevant unless you are giving your baby a sibling, otherwise could lead to a line of questioning you don't want to go down. As it is we love it, we call it her special book and it's been a lovely way to mark this pregnancy to her.

3. "Millie Moo" Priddy Books

This is just the best example of a "touch and feel" book you can find. Awesome quality, gorgeous rich textures for a baby or toddler to enjoy and the narrative is fabulously wacky and creative. 

2. "Calm Down, Boris!" by Sam Lloyd 

I think the whole point of reading at this age is to show your toddler how fun books can be and no book can be brought to life better than this one! Even the most subdued of children's readers can jump into this one and engage a little one, the Boris puppet and the leading narrative make you play! It's really clever and so interactive. And not least it has a lovely little moral story.

1. "Stick Man" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

I restricted Julia Donaldson's appearance on this list to just one entry but truth be told, we could have a top 20 and it would all be her stuff. She's just bloody brilliant. My personal favourite is the whimsical "The Snail and The Whale", Steve's is "Zog" and I know my niece and nephews have all adored "The Gruffalo" as they grew up. All of them are classics. All of them have beautiful and interactive illustrations. All of them are so multi-dimensional and have great topical morals I can imagine discussing in further detail when she's a bit older. All of them are creative, refreshing and genuinely entertaining to adults. 

And of all of them "Stick Man" is Euna's clear favourite. She demands it is read to her a minimum of 4 times a day. I can recite in my sleep and even did recite it whilst driving down the M4 to Devon without even having a copy in the car. (Word for word… Mummy high five?) I love that every page half a dozen animals to find and do an impression of. I love that Santa makes an appearance. I love that the characters and narrative gives it genuine heart. It's the literary theme to her toddlerdom and has such a special place in this family. 

HAPPY READING!!!

Pregnancy Must Buys

Aside from quite literally the thousands of biscuits, sweet treats, chocolate bars, comfort snacks and carb heavy meals these are the things I couldn't live without during pregnancy:

1) Make-Up Essentials. (My own personal de-zombiefication-kit.)) At the beginning when you could sleep for England and towards the end when you are bloated, blotchy and wheezing with breathlessness you need long lasting cosmetic products that take second to apply and make a big difference.

My two must haves are Yves Saint Laurent's Touche Eclat highlighter (I use a number 2 shade) to ride me of bags and touch up any blotches. It just makes you look that much more bright eyed and bushy tailed and I'm a great believer in if you look like it you will feel it...

Second is an all important splash of colour. A bright colour. It'll pick up your whole face and outfit, even if your outfit is your scruffiest, oldest, stained "fat joggers" and a funky 80's-esc pineapple hair do... I do think the assumption is if you've managed a full lip stick then it must all be intentional. I use a bright red and I just feel better for it. Max Factor Lipfinity is my favourite, it lasts all day and doesn't rub off for toddler kisses and this "Hot" shade works with my slightly paler skin tone...

2) Leggings. What better time to rock a bump than at such a time when leggings are in fashion?! Stretchy, comfortable, black, essential leggings. There isn't a more flexible wardrobe essential than a black pair of leggings, for in or out, dressed up or down, prenatal yoga classes to date night. You need leggings. I got by the last 9 months in these The Essential One Maternity Leggings.

(Clearly they Photoshopped in a picture of me as this lady's body double... Villans. :P)

3) H&M stretchy vests, tees and dresses. Non maternity ones. Like these and these. From £3.99 to £12.99, they've saved me a fortune, they're super stretchy and long so cover bump a treat and as they're not maternity they will do me after the birth as well. I have only had to buy 1 dress size up from my usual size too.

4) "Hypnobirthing: The Breakthrough Approach to Safer, Easier, Comfortable Birthing" by Marie Mongan. Seriously, this book has changed my whole perspective on pregnancy and birth. Not to mention it has rid me of 99.9999% of my pregnancy and birth related anxiety. For reading it's theories on "fear-tension-pain-syndrome" I have a whole new perspective on my birth with Euna, the social context of childbirth and what an impact expectation affects women's experience of birth globally. Since reading it I have learnt to love my pregnant body, be excited for birth and learnt solid relaxation techniques that I believe I will carry forward long after childbirth. I can't recommend it enough...

5) Theraline Maternity & Nursing Pillow. In my last pregnancy I made do with a £5.99 v-shaped pillow from a cheapie bed sheet and bath towel shop in town. I swore by it and couldn't for the life of me understand why people spent £40-90 on a specialised maternity pillows. Then about 3 months in to this pregnancy I was really struggling with sleep and Steve insisted I at least gave it a try. It cost £44.95 from John Lewis and worth it's weight in gold for getting me comfortable in bed for the last 6 months. Better than any normal foam pillow because it doesn't flatten over time as you lay on it. It's full of tiny beads that mould in to position and stay there. Great support resulting in great less rubbish sleep.

6) Bath smellies. Baths were made for pregnancy, I am sure of it. Aches and pains, stresses and worries, tiredness and even early labour pain can all be relieved in the bath. It's good bonding time with your bump and I find essential to get to know and accept your body as it changes. Needless to say I rank a bath up there with things you should have a little splash out on and pimp with some luxury smellies. These Neal's Yard products have been two of my favourites...

7) Bravado Maternity & Nursing Bras. I actually bought when Euna was newborn and they have been repurchased and repurchased over the last 18 months. They are my favourite. They give a great shape, great support all around and they're sized to expand and retract with ever changing pregnancy and breastfeeding breasts. More than anything they're particularly a great purchase to have ready for after the birth and the logistics of making it to a bra fitting are a little complicated.

From the Baby Fumes...

The newborn haze is still too thick to really put in to words how much this little face means to me. How much having a son means to me. To really articulate everything I'm feeling and experiencing with the arrival of this little wonder. He's beyond precious and these days are like gold, gold dust just slipping through our fingers... Such anticipation, such build up... It feels a little like a cruel joke that once they're here time just rushes away and we're too drugged on baby fumes to really find a way to stop and make it savour it. 

Not that any length of time would be enough. I don't think I'd be able to smell this little head enough times. I'm certain there would never be too many mini blasts of baby breathe on my neck whilst he nuzzles in. His hands won't ever curl around my finger enough times. Ever. It'd always be too fast, too fleeting and too little.

The camera... What a wonderful invention.