Festivities and Father Christmas

I haven’t posted anything in a while, not too sure why… It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say, because lots of thrilling things have been happening… but for some reason I just haven’t really felt in the mood. 

I decided I don’t want to be one of these bloggers that write stuff every other day just to write a blog, because then it would start to feel like work to me! And whilst I’m still enjoying my maternity leave I’d rather not commit to anything that involves too much thinking.

So I’m just going to touch upon a few little things, and to have a little natter about the whole festive season, because I absolutely blinking love Christmas more than anything ever ever ever.

Right so firstly… my little nearly 6 month old flower pot is sitting up unattended! Of course she still takes the odd tumble when doing so, and quite often plummets backwards when having an excited moment… but overall she’s doing it! Which is marvelous and I’m obviously super proud and telling most people I see. 

 

Thing is when it comes to showing off this new talent she chooses not to, but instead insists on standing by remaining stiff as a board when I try and sit her. I am sure she’s doing this to make me look silly… so I have taken numerous photos of her sitting so that I can prove to people that I’m telling the truth! So here she is sitting (and this wasn’t taken by sitting her, running with the camera and then quickly dashing back to catch her! This is real on her own sitting)

Now I know I wrote a blog a while ago about my worries regarding my return to work… those worries never went away. Despite many a kind word reassuring me everything was going to be ok and that I’d get used to it and so would she, I was driving myself mad with the dread of it…

So much so… I resigned from my current position of 37.5 hours a week and went and got myself a new job. I’ll be working 22.5 hours, covering 3 days starting in January and I can’t tell you how delighted this makes me! To have 4 days off a week to spend dilly dallying around with my daughter… it’s going to mean it will be easier to carry on breastfeeding, to enjoy days out and to carry on spending time just general larking around. 

So being so overjoyed at the whole new job malarkey we decided to take a trip to see Father Christmas in London to celebrate. My daughter, my husband and I packed up our daughter along with some readily prepared bottles, emergency bibs and a baby sling, and toddled off to London. 

Our plan was to go to Harrods... on a Saturday… two weeks before Christmas! Clever parents… obviously being first timers we didn’t think this through and ended up in a traffic jam of people in Piccadilly tube station with a little lady who really just looked totally perplexed at the whole ordeal.

We ended up giving up and headed home, attempting to take a few photos in front of some Christmas lights on the way so that it looked as if we’d had a Christmassy day out… 

Luckily with my mother being a super duper child-minding genius woman, she had booked for my daughter to see Father Christmas as the local playgroup. Now this Father Christmas didn’t sit on a gold chair and his beard was maybe slightly obviously fake but really I’ve decided that doesn’t matter! The kids were so star struck to see him the magic took over and quite frankly it was just glorious. Sure it was all a little manic and my daughter didn’t have the foggiest clue where she was let alone who this big loud man was… but if I’m honest I think I got as much pleasure out of taking her there as the other kids got receiving their gifts from the big man himself.

My conclusion being… becoming a mum does mean you have to grow up and do things like change you working hours, adjust your lifestyle and sacrifice a trip to Topshop in order to go and stand in the queue full of crazy children perfecting their best ‘I’ve been good all year’ face… but really being a mum means you get to be a kid again also! 

So therefore this year I plan to enjoy every Christmassy thing I possibly can… from mince pies for breakfast to tinsel in my hair! I will dance around my living room to Wham and possible wear a Santa hat whilst food shopping. Because now I have a baby I have a reason so why not… Hooray for all the tacky festive crap you can buy in Poundland! I plan to buy it all.

Merry Christmas from a sickly happy new mum with a superbly cute baby Santa person… Chin chin

13/11/11 #Silent Sunday

My Flowery Mother is Remarkable

My mum’s a hippy! She enjoys galloping through grass, running through streams, collecting leaves and sometimes lost animals, she prefers to go shoeless and opts for a summer festival rather than a holiday, the gardens full of clay mushrooms and adopted robins and her favourite snack is raw broccoli.

My Mother’s from Devon, she grew up by the seaside and only moved away when she decided to do her Art teacher training in the glorious town of Reading. There she met father who resembled Mick Jagger… They ended up falling in love, getting married and having me. Sadly I did not inherit my father’s big Mick Jagger lips but instead his over active imagination and his impulsive behaviour.

Anyhow… my Mother and Father both had a passion for creative things. Together they bought a derelict house, did it up and filled it with paintings, garden features, a bizarre mirrored shed and handmade toys for me. We had an allotment and multi-coloured gates… a treat for me was a walk along the river looking at the narrow boats, whilst my mother sang…. Yes she sang in public!

Now when I was very young I thought all this was fabulous! I had such a colourful life and it wasn’t until I reached school that I realised I was different. 

They didn’t use environmentally friendly toilet paper at school and I was introduced to the fish finger and shop bought scrunchies. I of course went to school in my home made replica uniform, labels sewn into my socks and a packed lunch full of fish filled pita bread and garden picked cherries. 

Every day I was picked up by my Mother/Father and our dogs, we would walk along the river back home and my Mother would sing. In the summer I was allowed to skip home and in the winter snow I was pulled on a homemade sledge by my mother who wore a multi-coloured ski suit… we had no desire for a car.

It really wasn’t until I realised other children were holidaying in Spain and Disney land etc, and I was holidaying at the world of music and dance festival, held in a field… 20 minutes away from my house that I became aware of their alternative ways… or when my school friends were being taken to Mac Donalds or going to the cinema whilst I was being taught how to juggle or walk on stilts in my garden.

I became actually quite sorrowful at school… childhood bullies would tease me about my lack of ‘cool stuff’ or about my dad having long hair. I was taught to remain quiet if any confrontation came my way, to walk away and think of something nice… but the kids at school just ridiculed me for being so quiet and I often got referred to as the girl with no tongue.

I had a few close friends, one who had hair she could sit on like me and her father wore a cowboy hat and had long hair, our fathers were friends so I would say I felt lucky to have her in my year. I had another friend who I loved to pieces, she was a tom boy and without her I would have been pretty lost. Then I had another friend… the only one I’m actually still friends with, she had a bob which I was desperately jealous of, her mum and dad seemed so normal to me and I was always so envious of her shiny new shoes and packed lunch full of ‘normal’ food.

So the years went past, lots of stuff happened… my father moved into the shed in our garden where he meditated and got lost in his own world of jimmy Hendrix, tapestry and joss sticks. 

He slowly became more and more distant to us and finally moved out when I was 13, he wanted to build his own life on the river with his dog and promised to buy me a boat to make up for my loss... sadly I never saw that boat.

My Mother carried on as any mother would, teaching me everything I know today… how to spot the red labels from at least 4 metres away in Waitrose, how to rise above those who put you down, that it’s easier to run on the grass without shoes on… and how to treat a bee sting effectively if you were to get stung whilst running without shoes on.

I realise now how silly I was to feel jealous of those who appeared to have a ‘normal’ life, that really MacDonalds isn’t actually that nice after all and that staying quiet and thinking of a happy place maybe completely mental to some but perhaps it saved me from becoming an angry person.

Now that I have made my own little girl I have to begin the journey all over again, which is exciting! And I can honestly say that my daughter will have to endure a bit of juggling in the garden, a lot of arts and crafts and maybe even some public singing! 

So I guess the sayings true… you do become your Mother… (Apart from the environmentally friendly toilet paper bit and I will always wear a bra!) Plus i'm sure the parents of any school bullies will get a good telling off from my Husband...

But overall I’d say I’ve definitely inherited the hippy gene… after all who needs to have ‘normal’ material things when ‘with our love we could save the world’ go George Harrison!

Thanks Mum.

My opinion on smacking

Now I know that this is a risky post, and that many people will disagree with me here...That many people who do, or have been smacked believe that it’s a necessary action to take in regards to discipline. But I just honestly can’t get my head around the idea of smacking my child… The thought of inflicting any kind of pain at all, towards my daughter makes me feel rather uneasy.

I have quite a strong view on smacking, I am aware of this; most probably this has been passed down to me from my mother… so of course I have been influenced in my beliefs, as will those who have been smacked and feel that it’s acceptable! So I’m in no way trying to push my opinions on others… but I can’t help but want to air my views on the matter… and maybe get some responses on why others do in fact condone smacking.

So as a child, not all but I believe most of us were taught, either at home or at school that violence is bad? We are taught to respect others no matter of their age, race or background. Most parents will agree that it's unacceptable for their child to hit another.

Therefore when it comes to punishment why would a parent contradict themselves? Surly this would just result in a very confused child?

To punish you’re child for hitting someone… by hitting them just seems completely ludicrous to me. Surly that’s giving a message to them that it's okay for you to hit, but not for them? So therefore doesn’t that cancel out all meanings of equality and having respect for everyone no matter their age?

Of course I understand that as a parent your child should respect you... And when you say no they should value that. But surly keeping calm as a person and punishing/teaching them in a non-violent manner can only result in ultimately them understanding their faults better… and perhaps them being less fearful of you, and most likely to come to you with their problems in the future?

My mother always said to me… you wouldn’t hit your friends, you wouldn’t hit your parents, and you wouldn’t hit your pet… so why would you want to hit your child? The one you created the one that should really mean more to you than anyone or anything you know!

I’ve also heard a lot of people say that they don’t hit their children as such… but they may give them a tap ‘to scare’ them if it was totally necessary. This to me of course sounds more reasonable… but I have to admit I still don’t quite get it. You are then giving your child the message that, no it’s not acceptable to smack, but it’s ok if it’s just a little one? Surly that’s still giving the underlying message that problems cannot be resolved by merely confronting them by talking or clearly saying no and explaining why?

  

Now before anyone jumps in and say’s… how would I know I only have one child and she’s only 5 months old, I have no idea on parenting, who am I to cast judgement…You’re completely right! I am fully aware that when my daughter becomes a toddler she will most likely test my patience... but surely if you ignore behaviour you don't like, it is less likely to be repeated?

I have just been brought up with these opinions so I can’t shake them! I was never hit and I believe I most certainly know right from wrong! A firm no was enough to stop me in my tracks and I truly believe I have benefited greatly by this! Because after all a teacher or a boss can't smack you can they... So I learnt from a young age that discipline and respect came from a combination of being taught, being listened to and understanding the messages behind all actions taken.

 

I’d be really interested in people’s feelings and experiences on the matter and why they think it’s acceptable to hit their child or children.

So please all opinions for or against welcome

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

So as advised to me by some very brilliant knowing other mummy bloggers, I have popped across to Britmums to be prompted on what to write...

Changes... what’s happened to me over the past year? Now I could go on for ages about this because quite frankly this has been the most exhilarating year of my life, really it has…

Therefore I will opt to cover a few of the bigger events that have taken place during the big 11, I did all the grown up things you’re supposed to do pretty close together really, not one to do things by half.

So in 2011 I got married, had a baby and moved house… I’d started my new job in December so I was the newbie of the ward, naturally this meant I was really supposed to impress everybody... Show my skills as such! So dropping the old bombshell “by the way I’m pregnant, also can I have time off to get married and please can I start my maternity leave early so I can look for a house” went down superbly as you can imagine…

My boss is no longer working there, I’m afraid I may have led her to leave with the copious amounts of paper work I produced in the short time me being there! Risk assessments, mat leave forms, annual leave authorisations blah blah... To round it up I was a bit of a hindrance I suppose!

Nevertheless I tried my best, I worked through my baby bladder kicks, my horrendous all day sickness in the attempt to convince at least one person, that I was worth employing...

Although I don’t feel completely guilty, because I was clearly punished by what I’d caused by being made to work all through Christmas... let me tell you, arriving home from work on Christmas eve at 10 only to go back to work for 7 on Christmas day, then again boxing day, right up to new year’s is no picnic. I adore my job but by golly that was pretty dismal. And I know I am to expect bad hours as a Nurse but nobody can deny I received the short straw on that occasion.

So I got married in January, a winter wedding! Which was ideal really, I had red roses and lots of red things, perfect January sale buyage!! We managed to leave most of the purchase buying until after Christmas so we could bag all the bargain red Christmas stuff for the big day! 

It was a delightful day, despite many a disagreement with the family... Arguments over the guest list and such sort. I was extremely emotional as if you’ve managed to work it out... Yup I was a pregnant bride! Sickness, stress, new job and wedding planning are a brutal mix! I pretty much lived off chocolate during the months running up to the wedding as I couldn’t drink so it was a desperate attempt of a substitute.. It worked, a little! But not really! What I needed was wine!! 

Well I got all married and became a wife and stuff, I’d sort of settled in to the new job… next thing on my list was to get a little house for a little family to live in…

The little house didn’t happen, all a bit heart-breaking really but I won’t go into that. We ended up staying in our little student flat that we rented whilst my husband and I were studying together, I won’t lie... this was hard! All I wanted was a little room for our baby, to be able to decorate and not have to live amongst the crazy amounts of baby stuff, and wedding gifts we had building up in our living room. Being pregnant and all crazy and sensitive meant I cried about this a whole heap. 

I believe at one point my husband probably didn’t want to return home from work, as he’d usually find me in a ball sobbing over something or other and being all negative! I ended up making a corner in our room dedicated to our baby; it resembled a crazily crowded fairy grotto, I was determined to get as much pink and sparkle into one corner as humanly possible. Poor kid.

So there we were in our little flat when I went into labor, early stages I must say… but nevertheless I was on my all fours, ready to push. Little did I know those contractions were the twinges and I in fact had a long old heavy-going ride ahead of me. That told me.

Out popped our daughter Cassie, at 13.59 on Saturday the 18^th of June. She looked very confused and almost elf like, she was tiny… weighing only 5Ibs 13, her skin was way too big for her but she was positively the most charming little person I’d ever seen… and I adored her instantly.

Off we went home with our new car seat all proud, seriously holding up traffic of course. I remember every speed bump being torment and all I wanted to do was hold her! I still believe that every new family should have two days locked away, just them so they can fully enjoy what they’ve created! But of course I know we all have families and excited Granma’s are not to be messed with.

Now everything was honky dorey, life was all lovely from then on really! We found a place to move into in September and we’re all settled now... Our daughter has her own room which she doesn’t go in but that’s not the point… and I’m now able to walk into Windsor with ease, which pleases me greatly as I make no secret of my hatred for Slough…

So yes, those are my changes this year… pretty impressive year I’d say!

The only thing I would change if I could to be honest would be the fact I had to wear a bloody maternity wedding dress bleurgh! All I ever wanted was an ivory fishtail, blasted water retention… but after an emotional year I’ve learnt to remain positive and think well a maternity wedding dress wasn’t so bad, as it of course meant I could dance freely, eat masses of cake and whip it up nice and easily for toileting! Every cloud has a silver lining.

My on & off relationship with Mr Fake Tan

So Mr Fake Tan and I have had our good times, our bad times and our horrifically embarrassing times! No matter how many times he fails me I can’t help but carry on trying him out, in the hope that one day he’ll pull through and give me a gloriously long lasting natural looking tan. 

This is a bit different; I’m not going to talk about being a mum in this post because this is about me. I know I have a new baby and I shouldn’t really have time for this but she sleeps! And it’s when she sleeps that I get the mitt out and begin my personal fake tan review time.

Of course I cook and clean as well but quite often the hovering has been done naked, legs firmly apart so not to rub… drying off my tangerine glow, praying that no random visiting people turn up for an un warned cuddle with my daughter. 

Right so I’m going to talk about a few products if you’re interested? If you’re not then at least you totally didn’t waste your time because you now know that I hoover naked and orange and if you can picture it that should make you chuckle... However apologies if I’ve made any of you feel at all sick at the thought. 

I’m going to review 8 products! I know that’s an awful lot and you’re probably thinking of for goodness sake don’t blogs usually only review one or two… but I promise to keep it brief and get right to the point.

St Moriz

So first off I’m going to talk about this famous mousse which is the tan that claims to be exactly the same as ‘St Tropez’ however unlike ‘St Tropez’ it’s only £2.99 from Savers! 

This tan is amazing! For £2.99 you can’t go wrong! I do however look like a muddy puddle whilst I’m waiting for it to develop, and it does come off all patchy… but it’s £2.99! And really and truly it is no different to ‘St Tropez’! It’s not orange it’s brown but it does smell like biscuits! But I’ll say it again… its £2.99!!!

Fake Bake

Next up is this instant matt tan; to be honest I don’t know why I bought it because I’m scared of wash off tan! If you get wet or your sweat or you cry… you’ll look like a wolly.

However it is great if it’s already 7pm and you suddenly have to go out and you look a bit dead and you need some colour! Like a tinted moisturiser kind of, I wouldn’t trust putting it all over because the back of the knees can sweat and that can only lead to disaster. Bit orangey too if I’m honest, wouldn’t rate it more than 4/10.

SunKissed

Ok next up is this tan mousse… I bought this because I thought the advert for it was cool.

It’s really runny! But in a good way! The colour is brown not orange, it only costs £3.99 and it it’s really just the same kind of thing as the ‘St Moriz’ but easier to apply! Only thing I found with this one was after 2 days I looked like a snake! Not sure whether that was down to my own exfoliating negligence, but even so I’m not willing to attempt for a second try as I’ll probably just look like a snake again.

GOSH

Next up is this self-tan, now I have this in the lotion and the mousse, but here’s a picture of the mousse.

When I saw this in Superdrug I was extremely excited! I love ‘GOSH’ and I love their ‘darling’ lip stick (even though it makes me look ill) it looks nice on everyone else! But any how this tan was yellow! I looked jaundice! If you have more of an olivey complexion then this could be lovely as it provides an even coverage but for the pale porkies like me it’s a no go.

Loreal

This is a self-tanning mist… it has a cool nozzle which I don’t believe makes any different but I think it’s cool anyway.

This is my saviour tan! I only use it on my face; it’s something I use when my other tans fading and I need a bit of a boost! I wouldn’t use it all over because if I did that then I’d end up using the whole bottle and I’d probably miss bits anyway because it’s not an instant colour. But definitely a gooden, I like it a lot, and it doesn’t smell.

Marks & Spencers

I used to get a fake tan from Marks & Spencers and it was magnificent! Although they seem to have stopped doing it! So when I went in to re stock I found this sitting there instead...

Its Tess Dayleys gradual self-tan. Now I’m guessing Tess Dayley herself doesn’t use this as its glittery and makes no difference to your colour whatsoever. If you want to go to a party as a fairy then this is great! But otherwise no… and it smells a bit like bread.

St Tropez

Now I have tried the whole ‘St Tropez’ collection… I used ‘St Tropez’ from the age of about 18 to 22! So a pretty long time! I actually swore by it… 

I’m not too sure why I swore by it? I think it’s because it’s so expensive! And when things are expensive it makes me believe it must be good... I’m a sellers dream. But really and truly it’s not all that! I think you pay for the name, but honestly I see no difference between the 'St tropez' mousse and the 'St Moriz' mousse, or this gradual tan and the supermarket 'Cocoa Butter' gradual tan! colour wise anyway.. I know which one smells better!

Vita Liberata

Finally... I thought I’d leave this till last because it’s sensationally amazing!!! I’ve got it in the extra rich silken chocolate gel…

I seriously can’t love this product anymore! It’s reasonably priced at around £17, its organic, it doesn’t smell, you can look normal whilst it develops… I could go on and on. I’d heard people talk about it, as it’s all natural ingredients and stuff so I thought I’d give it a go, I opted for the extra rich colour as it actually say’s on the box ‘if you have very pale, hard to tan skin then this is your product’ and like the geek that I am I thought yippee that’s me! But yes it’s sensational and I’m a convert! I shall be sticking to this one indeed.

So after a rather long up and down relationship with Mr Fake Tan he finally pulled through for me. Mr Vita Liberata is a stud and I found him in Boots… Hurrah to finding love at last.

Anxiety, Returning to Work and Rabbits

So now I’ve done a few blogs, now you know a bit about me... I’ve touched upon my body issues and some of the pregnancy related things I’ve been through... So what now? Is it normal to feel a bit unmotivated once you’ve written the initial posts you wanted to write? I sort of feel a bit unsure now as to what to touch upon next?

I’m pretty sure nobody wants to re-read about my breasts or post pushing piles, nobody really seems overly thrilled about the whole fashion attempt (understandably as I do realise that can get a bit mundane, especially as 75% of my clothing collection consists of florals) So unless anything spectacularly magnificent happens in my life tomorrow like I become pregnant again or I lose my job then what is there to write about? 

Therefore I have decided to just write a bit or motherly nonsense. 

So to start off with a bit of nonsense… when I breastfeed, ever since I started breastfeeding... For the first 2 or 3 minutes I get this really weird anxious I must write a list, as I have so much to do feeling! Is that normal? Because I’ve never heard of this before! It goes away pretty quickly but it’s really intense! To describe it best would be that feeling you get when you’re in a meeting, or at Uni or something... and you can’t get out but you’re pretty sure you left the gas on and your worried you might kill you’re dog, or worse you're mother or somthing.

I haven’t discussed it with anyone as I figured it was probably just a hormonal thing, but all the same am I weird for having these feelings? Not sure.. Will those emotions pass down to my daughter? This troubles me...

Now off of that subject and on to another, working mums... Now I’m a working mum, well soon to be! I’m due to go back to my full time job as a Nurse in January. Over the past 4 months my daughter has clearly become very used to me being with her 24/7 and being at her every beck and call. So this has resulted in her having a bit of the old stranger anxiety problem...

My Husband has a humungous family, so she is very much used to being passed around... Although when she gets tired or just a bit grouchy she only wants me, there’s no way anyone else can calm her like I can. She sees her dad as a fun machine, he’s there to blow raspberries with, and roll around on... but it seems when she needs comforting only her Mother will do.

So I’ve been told I should allow others to attempt to calm her, to let her be passed around more and to leave her with people and go out? Now that’s all very well and good but my argument is...

Do you see animals like Tigers or Cows going off and leaving their cubs or calf’s with other random animals for a night out? No you don’t! They have that baby and that’s their baby and they feed them and protect them and that’s their motherly instinct! So why are humans made to feel like they’re doing something wrong by forming a natural bond with their child? you're damned if you do and your damned if you don't.

That brings my point back to working mums... Now I understand we have to work, I am in no way going to rely on the government to feed me when I have a perfectly good qualification I can use! I have a job waiting for me and I love my job, but I’m in a bit of a pickle because it’s like I’ve now formed that tiger motherly instinct feeling and I don’t want to leave my baby (tear rolls down my cheek as I type).

So what do I do with this time left? Start breaking away so she gets used to me not being there? Or spend as much quality time with her now whilst I have the time off? I’d be really interested in any coping mechanisms other working mums out there have or have used in the whole going back to work predicament...

So that’s all really, got a couple of things off my mind, feel a bit fresher now! Think I’m sort of back in to the swing of things blogging wise.. Bravo

Also one last thing, if anyone has a rabbit and child experience please let me know… the good and the bad, as my husband won’t let me have a dog but has said yes to a rabbit so even though I don’t really want a rabbit it’s the closest thing to a dog I’m going get, so I’m exploring the idea… all I know is that rabbits eat their brothers and sisters? That puts me off a bit but I’m willing to overlook that if it means I can have an animal and call it Humphrey (which is what I wanted to call my son if I had one but I’m not allowed).

Thanks, have a good fireworks night all.

A Mothers Body Blunders

So again I’m putting out a warning to all the pregnant women out there.. Stay away from this blog if you want to keep all those glorious body changes as a surprise. 

Now magazines make it a well-known fact that having a baby transforms your body... But really they only talk about weight gain and loss (because their annoying like that), but being all knocked up means it’s an inevitable fact that you’re going to pack on a few pounds. Then after you’re going to lose some... Some people lose more than others of course, but what I’m trying to say is… that’s not all that happens to your body, there are a few more shockers I’m afraid.

When I became pregnant I was ‘an average sized girl’ not obese and certainly not thin. When I saw those two pink lines, those lines telling me I was about to have my very own Chahul I decided right away that it was acceptable to eat copious amounts of food… because after all I was pregnant and that’s when you’re socially allowed to get fat!

So I put on 3 stone during those 9 months, about a stone of that in the last week before labor.. I think that was my body preparing for those 2 days of working my back side off in order to deliver a baby.

I think I burnt about 800 calories an hour just by the amount of screaming I did as when I got home I had lost a stone and a half! My Daughter only weighed 5Ibs 13 so I’m pretty sure the rest of that wasn’t all blood and liquid! It was worked off by pure screaming effort!!

In regards to my weight now.. I have to be honest; even though I am fully aware I am ‘one of the lucky ones’ I’ve lost about 50 pounds in 4 months. Now I know that’s a hell of a lot and I’m actually a lot smaller than I was before I became pregnant.. But this is why I’m spreading the love for breastfeeding!! 

I utterly thank breastfeeding for my weight loss, ok please don’t hate me you ladies that haven’t lost weight, I know you will anyway.. But I’ve managed to carry on eating like I’m pregnant and still the weight just drops off. Now before you shout at your screen thinking that I’m just showing off... I am fully aware that once I stop nursing, the weight will more than likely come back with a vengeance! As I am just quite frankly totally adapted to eating like a pig now and I’m not mentally prepared to stop that I’m afraid.

Now I’ve mentioned weight.. But what else had happened to my body with the delights of pregnancy I hear you ask? 

Well I now have no bum! My mother told me that once she had me, her bum migrated round to her waist and has stayed there ever since. Despite not believing that would ever happen to me, my bum would surly never disappear! Well what a shocker.. It has. My husband reassures me that it is not flat just ‘perky’ but I know that’s because he loves me and is trying to see a positive in the situation.

Another hindrance would have to be constipation. For me constipation appeared towards the end of my pregnancy, I don’t think constipation is seen seriously enough! People laugh when you complain of constipation but believe me… It’s no joke! 

So I was quite looking forward to giving birth so that my constipation difficulties could be behind me.. But little did I know that after an hour and a half of heavy intense monster pushing and some serious dehydration my bowel complications had only really just began.

So out pops my daughter and along with her come some haemorrhoids… or piles as their known to most. I’m sure those little buggers have moved into my rear end for the rest of my existence! No amount of cream or positioning or stool softeners will destroy those troublemakers.

4 months postpartum and I still can’t go to the toilet without a few deep breaths beforehand, a cuddly toy to squeeze and at least half an hour scheduled for the whole occasion! It’s a burden on my life! And what makes it worse it that I have to take my daughter in with me as half an hour without me time can only result in trouble, and most probably a huge amount of tears and tantrums.. So now I’m worried if she’ll be affected by this at all? They say babies can pick up on anxiety and pain and stuff don’t they! Not to mention the facial expressions they mimic. 

Ok so the next thing I’m going to talk about, because quite frankly I have to don’t I! As we all know where babies appear from when they enter into the world! Now I’m a Nurse so I have no issues with the word vagina. But I know a lot of people do for some reason or another... So for you I’ll call it Lavender. My Lavender does not resemble the purple flower in anyway but it’s a pleasant flower and I don’t know anyone by the name Lavender therefor I can’t offend. 

So my Lavender went through quite the ride during labor, and ironically it did actually turn purple... but I want to talk about postpartum Lavenders... Now for me personally, I had stitches… So that area was really sore for about 2 weeks, not so sore I couldn’t function but just sore enough for me to consciously avoid sitting on anything without a big cushion. But on occasion i'd forget and get a fright.

After to immediate swelling and soreness and hard seat dodging… things started to get better, and to be perfectly honest with you, everything now seems to be back to normal! The body is amazing at repairing itself, although I can still feel the stitches it’s nothing compared to the horror stories and myths you hear.

One thing I didn’t expect was that I became pretty much hairless during my pregnancy; I hardly had to shave, and my hair growth slowed right down. Now I must say I got pretty used to that luxury and it now seems that now I’ve gone and out popped a baby my hair has realised… and is growing at the speed of lightening! Must be something to do with hormones but to be honest at least its winter now and the extra layering kind of helps.

Finally I want to talk about teeth! Oh my word did I mess my teeth up! After 9 months of demolishing cartons of orange juice and kit kats in the middle of the night, those damn cravings have a lot to answer for… Apparently pregnancy can weaken your teeth... another glorious surprise for me hurrah. But the great thing is all dental treatment is free for 12 months after pregnancy so I’m going to have a nice gloriously sedated root canal treatment soon..

And another post pregnancy bonus is that if you’ve given birth you’ve pretty much experienced the most amount of pain you’re ever going to have, and you’re now a hard core warrior when it comes to pain! So what’s a root canal to me now? Nothing! Because I’m now diehard and nothing can break me okay!

So there we go weight loss, constipation, flat bums, piles, root canals, increased hairyness and altered Lavenders and I’m still standing! I guess I’ll now just have to wait for the next surprise... will the outcome of breastfeeding result be in my saving up for a boob job to fix my newly lower positioned breasticals... who knows?

Another Autumn Wardrobe Rummage

After last week’s fashion blog I received a bit of feedback, my mother told me that I should be putting things together.. Showing for instance how one dress can be worn in three different ways. I totally agree with her! I think that would maybe make better reading? Although I do feel as if I’d sort of be claiming to be a bit of a Gok… I don’t want people to think I’m claiming to be a fashion icon? 

This blog isn’t about teaching people how to dress, it’s just about showing you things that I like.. Things I find pretty! I’m doing it as more of a little weekly collection of items then next year I can look back on and this oh my god what was I thinking! Or oh I forgot I had that hooray.. And so on. 

I’ve never been one to listen to advice and feedback, so to show that I do listen to my Mother… sort of… I will add in my favourite outfit of the week. That way I’m putting an outfit together, but I’m not giving how to dress a cardigan in 5 different ways tutorial. 

So I’m just gonna go with it this week and scrap the template stuff. This week I’m just gonna let my creativity flow so to speak and see where it takes me, rummage as I go.

Crikey there are sales everywhere at the moment! Personally I think this is an outrage! It’s far too close to Christmas to be temping me with lovely things! Half of me thinks I should get out there and buy everyone’s presents while there cheap, but then I hate buying presents too early because I just get impatient and give them to people as the suspense is just too much..

However, being on maternity leave n all I can’t deny that I have poked my head in the shops a few times just to make sure there’s not anything that I’m desperately missing out on.. and of course there was!

So I have to say hurrah to River Island! They have a fabulous sale on at the moment! I found this glorious sheer shirt in there for £12, it’s got all those lovely autumn leafy colours on it and it’s super versatile! 

This I also found in River Island, again for £12.. It’s really floppy and comfy and big! I sort of had to buy this because my Husband is getting fed up with me wearing his to the extent that I do, obviously I still prefer his Levi one but I think this is a smashing buy for £12!

Knitwear is amazing!! I love knitwear! I live in cardigans and this is lovely and warm and neutral.. This too was from River Island for £15, which to be honest I think is dead cheap as Primark are now trying to sell their knitwear for the same sort of price! Which in my opinion is robbery? The Primark people need to review their recent rise in prices I think.. It’s not on.

I also got a few bits of jewellery this week , It wasn’t on one of my loner shopping sprees but when my Husband and I wondered into Windsor, he wanted to get some new earrings from Topshop ‘man earrings’ which are indeed from the ladies section but are still very manly all the same. So when picking those up I grabbed a few bit for myself also..

So obviously I have an obsession for birdie things, so this was dangling in the sale section down to I think £4 at half price.. I had to have, because you can just never have enough birdie things in my opinion.

I love these Grannyesk old jewellery box earrings, I’m not a dangly earing kind of girl nor am I particularly big on studs, so I tend to opt for something like this. I love the dark green ones in particular because I have greenish eyes so yup there a winner.

Now you know when you go to Boots and you spend like £10 or over or whatever it is, they give you a voucher for No7 for £5, so I’m usually really bad at saying thanks.. stuffing it in my bag and forgetting I have it! So I thought seen as it’s a voucher I really should use it! So I got a new nail varnish, £7.. so It worked out at only £2! Bargain! No7 have those amazing brushes which are wider and easier to apply, and I adore this matt greyish colour! Very wintery, very classy.

As I just posted about a nail varnish I’m gonna make this flow and move onto lipstick! So I am a huge Made In Chelsea fan! The only way is Essex is good.. but I much prefer the girls in Made in Chelsea, their style anyway! Problem is I live in Slough not Chelsea… So I have to sort of try my best at attempting that look like them but on a budget. Therefor I was super happy to find this lipstick! By Kate Moss Rimmel, No.4 It’s a deep purple colour, very similar to the lipstick Louise Thompson wore on Made in Chelsea! Love it so much! Plus Rimmel have a 3 for 2 offer on in Boots at the moment, and their nail varnished have those cool wide brushes too!

http://madeinchelsea.tumblr.com/

Now I’ve spoken about my bargains I’m going to move onto my two outfits of the week, the first one being mine which I wore yesterday, and the second being my daughters.

This for me is one of those comfortable outfits, not too bright.. Something I could eat a big lunch in and still feel good. The dress is from H&M’s current season, it’s got little cats all over and I believe it cost £12.99 or around that price… the shoes are some old Topshop sale brogues which I wear all the time! The scarf is an old River Island January sale piece.. It’s huge so it’s great for breastfeeding coverage! The jacket is from Miss Selfridge and the bag in an old vintage pass down, it’s a real Chanel bag I am proud to say, my Mother was given it by a friend about 11 years ago and it’s still going strong!

This cute little outfit is so lovely, the dress is from a recent Gap sale for £4.99, the jacket is a soft blazer type coat which is still in the Gap sale now for £6.99, tights from M&S and the little brown booties are from Mothercare in the sale for £4! So this is quite a bargainous little outfit, it’s just a shame my daughter seems to be growing at an obscene speed at the moment so these too will soon be hand me downs for another lucky little girl. 

So I reckon now I’ll finish off with my wish list, I’m feeling all festive and sparkly this week, due to the freezing cold weather! Therefore I am adoring all things metallic and sparkly! Here are two things I’m desperate to get my mitts on.

This skirt is from Oasis and is leather, so it’s £80! Which obviously is quite a lot of money so I won’t be running out to buy it sadly.. But nevertheless the still want it and I reckon it would be a pretty staple piece; I’d wear that day or night! Magnificent.

These are absolutely delightful! There little baby girl brogues! And they sparkly! I need them! I found these in Zara and there £17.99, so if we get invited to any Christmas parties you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be taking my daughter in these.

Finally, my Husband often says I dress like a Granma, I personally take this as a compliment as I think the Granma style rocks!! Dot Cotton has the best dresses! I’ve found this beauty on www.beyondretro.com. It’s a gorgeous crimson & white 1980's vintage polka dot dress with a sailor collar and a matching belt! For £22!!! Amazing! There’s loads of cool retro clothes on this website, but obviously it’s pot luck whether the piece you like will be in your size or not.. But this one is and I intend to purchase it.

So rounding up this week’s fashion blog with an array of words would be; River Island, knitwear, Autumn, Metallics and sparkle, cool lipstick and retro. 

Beautiful charming stuff!