Baby Girl Shopping + What I Need Second Time Around

Hey all you lovely people,

I have been doing some shopping lately for my baby girl. It has made me so excited to have a girl and do joint shopping trips with her. I hope to go to the spa and nails and shopping when she is older :).

She will be born in November which is mid winter. I have been buying round the season, especially in the BHS closing down sale and Mothercare sale.

What I Still Need? 

Unfortunately I still need a lot. My pram and travel system got left by a leaking washing machine and is completely mouldy. I need a baby monitor, feeding gliding chair, electric pump and changing dresser. 

What does everyone else need to buy? Anyone have any really good suggestions for baby bits especially a pram. I am looking for one thats not too bulky or heavy. 

24 Week Pregnancy Update and Alexanders 4th birthday

Hello everybody,

I have just hit 24 weeks! Here's whats new:

Appointments: I had a midwife check up which included the standard; urine sample, blood pressure, listening to bubba's heart, going through symptoms and concerns. Of course, my little girl couldn't keep still for the doppler and kept pushing the midwife off. Honestly, she is so super active - all day long. I don't know how she has that much energy. She has started kicking up into my lungs and I literally have to massage her out. What a diva! Maybe i should just call her Divanna!


Heath and Mental state: Unfortunately I have had migraines for the last week. Apparently it is quite normal. All I can take is paracetemol and gel sheets. They are so painful and make me feel really nauseous. Does anyone have any tricks? I feel so bad when I have one i just want to close my eyes which leaves poor Alexander really bored.

My mental state is good :). I am getting very excited now as getting closer. Until i had Alexander I didn't know it but all I have ever wanted is to have a family and feel so many different kinds of complete. Admittedly, it all happened a bit earlier than expected however I would not change that for the world as never felt so happy and that feeling that 'wow this is what life is about, this is my calling, my destiny, my happiness".


Cravings: I have always been one for smells- I cannot explain it but certain smells are so addictive for me such as:

the inside of a TR7, petrol,  smell of fresh washing and tumble drying, new car, the smell of rain, smell of spas, smell of steam, smell of heating, smell of air-con, tennis balls etc.

Well guess what- I get smell cravings. My pregnancy smell craving is once again the smell of hoovering. I can't explain it but i find it so pleasant and addictive. I have two vacuum cleaners are i enjoy the smell of both of them. It is totally weird although gets my hoovering about 3 times a day. My OCD nesting had returned as well - if i see any dirt I feel the need to go over the whole room again.

My other smell craving is the smell of heat in the car. I love getting into a hot car for that reason. I know its probably really bad for you. I am also loving the smell of the washing when it gets out of tumble drying. I literally walk round sniffing my clean towels and flannels. I think everyone had probably booked me a place at the mental institute at this rate.

Other things to note:

Alexander turned four! Yes a whole four years old. We celebrated by having a pirate party. and totally had treasure to find, party bags, pass the parcel, kids food, fun musical games. Seriously kids have the right idea of how to party.

 I got him an apple tree to plant as he has been going on about planting one all year. I also got him a cool smiggle pop out pencil case and some games. He got tonnes of presents from everyone - all of which needs storing.

Here are some pictures of my home cooking and party planning.

Please let me know what party themes are ideas you would have done for four year olds. 

Bridesmaid Proposal

Get ready.. for my first wedding related post.

The post is a DIY bridesmaid proposal box idea. I wanted to get these boxes out to my bridesmaids as soon as possible so we could have proper wedding planning sessions. We are just in the process of securing our venue too. Can't believe it is a whole year away though. I am sure the time will fly.

Here is for the boxes

I got the boxes from my local hobbycraft click here

I then painted the boxes (with three coats) of acrylic paint. I chose a pearly pink for the box and gold for the top. I then lined the inside with pink and gold tissue people and shredded pink tissue on top.

Sourcing what was going inside was the hardest part. Here is what I put in

- A bottle of prosecco each for morning of wedding

- Matching PJ shorts to wear for wedding planning sessions and sleepovers 

- Pink bath salts 

- A ballon filled with confetti and a message

- Popcorn with "he popped the question now its my turn". Attached to the popcorn was an envelope with a bracelet saying "will you be my bridesmaid". 

- Jelly beans 

- A card with a message about what the person means to me and how much I want them by my on my wedding day. 

What did you do for your bridesmaid proposals?

BlondeHairBrownEyes: Pregnancy Announcement Ideas

BlondeHairBrownEyes: Pregnancy Announcement Ideas: We found announcing to our friends and family one of the most exciting parts. Check out the blog for inspiration and please feel free to add your own ideas.

Gender Announcement Ideas

Hello,

So following on from my pregnancy announcement ideas I am doing a gender announcement inspiration post. We actually did a couple of these for different groups of friends.

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Alexander loved getting involved. Click here for our actual announcement with gender theories. 

My friends loved eating the cake we made with pink inside. It was delicious as well!

Please let me know your gender announcement ideas. I've seen some really clever ideas. 

Love and kisses 

Pregnancy Announcement Ideas

We found announcing to our friends and family one of the most exciting things. Last time announcing was full of uncertainty and most people did not know I was pregnant until the baby came. This time i wanted to get quite creative with it.

Here are some ideas below: 

We decided to go with the bottle idea at the bottom. Please let me know your ideas and suggestions :) 

Toddler Boy Room Ideas

We all had so much fun doing Alexanders room- it was the first room we did. After painting it blue we ordered loads of fun things for him and his room including a bed with a slide!

Our theme was based around the world and the sky. Other themes that I considered were:
Jungle
Forest
Beach
Garden of Eden (girly)
Space


Here are the pictures:

His room - including massive world map which he loves to stare at

Chest of drawers and shelf for toys

Hot Air Ballon

Homemade trunk with seat and more toy storage

Under his bed. The little sofa folds out into a bed for friends to stay on

His slide

Which he loves using

Baby powder reed diffuser from home sense. I love the smell of baby powder and his room always smells so nice :)

I hope you enjoyed seeing his room. What ideas do you have for toddler boys room? We still need to get more storage and some book shelves for him to complete it. 

Kids Activities In The Summer And 22 Week Pregnancy Update

Hooray, the sun finally came out! I started to believe that it would never happen as the weather here in the UK has been awful.

To celebrate the sun I took Alexander strawberry picking. This is such a fun inexpensive thing to do with kids. He loved rummaging through the plants to find the big red strawberries. For those of you local to Tunbridge Wells I went to Dowingsbury Farm in Pembury. They are a wide range of fruit and veg to pick. I love seeking the best fruit, the freshness of it and supporting local business.

We also attempted some gardening this week. I am useless at gardening however it is very therapeutic. Alexander loves to help me and gets fully involved. He did some painting too in the garden which actually turned out to be quite artistic.

The bump is certainly growing. This pregnancy turned out to be a completely different experience for me. With Alexander I was so stressed doing my final exams, late nights in the library and facing my pregnancy entirely alone. I was constantly worries about and didn't connect with Alexander the bump until he was Alexander the Maximus! I refer to life as BA (before Alexander) as at the time i was completing my BA Broadcast Journalism degree. I can remember feeling so alone when all my friends were out partying/clubbing and I was totally embarrassed to walk around uni with my bump so wore baggy clothing/tried to hide the bump. I didn't tell anyone on my course I was so embarrassed.

This pregnancy is a breath of fresh air. I am connecting with my bump and now afraid to show it off. I feel so excited and already want to start doing the nursery ( with Alexander I didn't buy anything unless i had to just before he was born). At night Jack and I feel my bump and he helps me out with Alexander/ doing things when I feel exhausted.

What I take from the experience of Alexander was I couldn't love my boy more. No one should feel embarrassed and alone whilst pregnancy as you are never alone. Enjoy the miracle of life whatever situation you are in as it is truly beautiful! I wish I could have told my twenty year old self that and that everything would be ok.

Please let me know fun things you do with your kids? We love being outdoors when we are not baking and think it is super important.