I will be the first to admit I almost fell for every gimmick that was going. Awesome pregnancy pillow check, birthing ball check, prep maker well you get the idea so this time around I was like screw it I am sticking to basics. I have been a lot more chill this pregnancy because I know not to listen to the gimmicky crap they try and lure new parents into and was like well J didn’t use this so do I really need it this time. Here are some things I won’t do this time.

Brand new everything
So I am a tiny bit of a second hand snob sort of but hear me out I didn’t want to buy everything second hand and only have hand me downs for baby J the first time. I quickly realized that baby J really doesn’t care where his bed came from or who bought/ gave us his clothes and we ended up with so much crap we didn’t use which I have no stored away ready for baby H (yes he has a name). so this time I am so much more laid back we have bought everything so much cheaper because why spend over £500 on a double buggy that will get puked on everyday and a load of new clothes he won’t wear very much because they grow so bloody fast!
Not take enough to the hospital
With baby J I was in the hospital for 5 days. I was naive thought birth would be a lot easier than it was and struggled with it to the point we had to be transferred to another hospital. I hadn’t brought enough with me so we ran out of clothes and everything pretty early plus I was bored stiff in the hospital so with baby H I am preparing for a long stay in hospital bringing my tablet with me for lonely nights if I need it and taking as many baby clothes and everything for baby H as we can do. I definitely learnt my lesson.
Ironing clothes before they are born
So I did some reading the first time around and read that it is a good idea to iron the babies clothes before they come as it sort of sterilizes them for them. You are supposed to do this for 6 months but my god when J came I was like how do I find the time to iron so many clothes I had to wash because they got sick on them? I quickly realized it just wasn’t going to happen to this time with H I was like right sod the bloody ironing the clothes will be washed yes but ironed forget it!
Washing clothes separate
just like with ironing I thought it would be nice not to mix our clothes with J’s clothes and do separate wash loads how naive was i right? well that quickly stopped as J’s basket built up and up and I found it incredibly difficult to switch between baskets as I seemed to always have piles of washing that needed doing whether it was ours or baby J’s so this time all the clothes can be washed together.
Don’t panic about sleep
This one might still happen but when J came out of hospital those first couple of days I would barely sleep as I was so worried something would happen to him. This time I will of course worry but I don’t think it will be like before where I was literally not sleeping because I thought he would randomly stop breathing.
Don’t worry about peoples advice
Don’t you hate the line I did this so yours will be okay well no everything has changed since then and you might want to do things different. So this time I don’t care what you did for your screaming child or when you weaned them we will do things when we do things as we have some experience we aren’t shrugging off the advice it is just not needed thank you very much.
No more mittens
The hospital said you have to put mittens and hats on the newborn babies because it is cold (born in February) but I say sod that. Mittens are an absolute nightmare they don’t bloody stay on and like socks you lose one of them in the wash and then have loads of odd ones just hanging around the house. So this time I am like sod mittens and possibly hats but not as much but mittens are definitely not going to be a thing for baby H.
Visiting people
With J when we got home and days after we had visitors and then we would arrange to go to other peoples houses to see them so they could see J but this time I can’t be bothered and if people won’t make the effort to see us I am not going out my way to see them with two car seats a toddler and a newborn plus the dreaded nappy bag so either see me in my home or basically f off and don’t bother.

so this is the first time taking our 8 month old baby anywhere like this before and I was excited. I didn’t know how J would be with the animals so this would be interested.
we had thankfully let J nap first so he was in a really good mood when we got there plus the sun was out so it was a lovely day little nippy though.
the first things we saw were the rabbits and the people working at the farm let us hold and touch the animals. I was slightly worried J would try to pull the animals fur or something but he seemed a little hesitant to touch when he did though with encouragement he was grinning.
we then went to see the horses they were massive and really kept mostly to themselves they came over once but J wasn’t really interested in them he didn’t touch them or anything.
One thing he really didn’t like were the goats. They were so friendly and came up and the husband gave the goat attention but when it came near J he would start crying so I don’t think he was overly keen on the goats.
We then went to see the sheep and J was watching the hubby touch the sheep’s head but didn’t want to touch them himself he was definitely a little wary of the animals but he still seemed to have a good day.
The cows and pigs didn’t really come over so J was just watching them from afar he seemed to enjoy just watching the animals instead of trying to touch them when he is at home he loves trying to grab at everything and feel everything so that’s what we expected.
lastly J’s favourite part of the whole day was the chickens out of everything he squealed when he saw them and was bobbing up and down excited that’s the only thing he reacted to the whole time we were there and we spent a good maybe 20 minutes just watching them as J was content and happy enough.
overall a really fun day out with J

 

This one is more of a sob story blog post rather than a rant like usual. I just want to express how lonely it is having a child. so I will start with all of the congratulations that you get when the baby comes and of course if you are in hospital for long like I was you will get visitors. All of my family and friends said oh congratulations he is beautiful when I gave birth to my son and my sister in law and mother in law and husbands aunt came to see us when we were in hospital. it was lovely
but then cut to getting home with a newborn which is daunting enough and suddenly everything changes. With us the husbands family came over to see the new baby the first week and the midwives came to check me over after I had to have stitches and baby J over because he had a touch of jaundice. after that zilch it was like going from one extreme people coming over to suddenly no one really caring yes everyone still likes all of your photos online and comments aww we should meet you soon but it doesn’t really happen. days turn to months and your baby changes everyday and all you think is if you really cared you would make more of an effort to see them. my parents haven’t ever met my son and the guilt I feel about that is tremendous because I want them involved it just annoys me that they don’t seem to care enough.
we make the mistake of going to see everyone else which enables people to not come and see us we always get the we will see you soon that never happens and I get it we work they work its hard to find time but they find time to meet up with their friends and everyone gets time off work we shouldn’t always have to make the effort especially since we have to cart around the baby and the bag with the car seat as we don’t have a car when they mostly drive and do not have the baggage so it would be so much easier.

You then get the people that have heaps of mummy friends and I have to admit I’m jealous of those I would love to have mummy friends to drink coffee with and whine about parenting the kids have someone to grow up with but I literally have no friends. We go to rhythm time once a week but hardly anyone talks and its so busy and awkward you don’t know what to say to each other but i would love to have friends and family surrounding us all the time constantly seeing baby J and watching him grow up, maybe even giving us a night off (sounds amazing) but we don’t have anyone and no one visits us I just feel like we are very much alone and it’s not very nice for us or the baby.

Gift ideas from the kids/baby for Christmas
If like me you ask the husband(your wife) what they want for Christmas and they reply they don’t know which can be really bloody frustrating! I have found some gift ideas that aren’t necessarily a need in a persons life but will definitely make them smile as they are all personal to you. I love getting personalized gifts and always do this for the husband who isn’t overly sentimental but loves when I do him something with our son on it. Check these ideas below there’s got to be something for even the fussiest gift receiver.

Calendar
Start the new year with a photo calendar full of photos of the family . You can edit text and add photos from your phone for every month.

https://www.photobox.co.uk/shop/calendars-and-diaries Photo Box
They start at £12.99

https://www.funkypigeon.com/gifts/calendars   Funky pigeon
They start from £5.99

Key ring
A little memory for wherever they go why not make a photo key ring of the family.

https://www.gettingpersonal.co.uk/gifts/personalised-keyrings.htm Getting Personal
£7.99

https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/fashion/mens-accessories/keyrings Not on the highstreet from £2.99
Cake
Who doesn’t love cake right? You can add photos of your family and the price starts at £14.99 for a letterbox cake.

https://www.bakerdays.com/products/personalised-cakes/christmas-cakes Bakerdays

Frames
There are some super personal frames you can get. These can be photos, words and even characters from movies.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/616382056/handmade-3d-personalised-picture-frame?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=superhero%20frame&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1&bes=1

superheroes from Etsy around £23

https://www.prezzybox.com/personalised-wooden-frame.aspx wooden family photos from Prezzy box £15

https://www.chatterboxwalls.co.uk/personalised-prints/personalised-christmas-gifts/personalised-christmas-gift-for-dad-word-art-picture word art canvas

christmas ornaments
This can be for a christmas eve box or a special ornament for the tree from the family. You can get photo ones or ones that just say special words on them.

https://www.gettingpersonal.co.uk/gifts/personalised-baubles.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIs6PPkrys3gIVYb7tCh09MQxGEAAYAiAAEgJyqvD_BwE Getting personal from £9.99

https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/sophiavictoriajoy/product/personalised-first-christmas-decoration Not on the High street £4.95
Chocolate and sweets
So your family member has a sweet tooth? Well here are some ideas for presents for them that can be personalised.
personalised owl chocolate

https://www.personalisedgiftsshop.co.uk/personalised-chocolate-bar-mrs-christmas-owl.html personalised gift shop £5.99
personalised Belgium chocolates

https://www.gettingpersonal.co.uk/gifts/personalised-chocolate-box-chocolate-full-picture-and-message.htm Getting Personal £9.99

christmas sweets https://www.gettingpersonal.co.uk/gifts/personalised-haribo-sweet-jar-christmas-sweets.htm Getting Personal £9.99
jewellery
lastly a bit of sparkle for mum or dad from the kids this christmas

Mum necklace

https://www.ernestjones.co.uk/webstore/d/5196396/chamilia+gold+electroplated+mum+treasure+necklace/  Ernest Jones £35

Dad bracelet

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8621553 Argos £14.99

Dad watch

https://www.inscripture.com/shop/personalised-black-watch/ Inscripture £40

I hope these gift ideas have helped you out a little this year as christmas can be hard to buy someone that has everything! I know I have to do this every year for my husband but this year I will definitely be doing a couple of personalised gifts from the baby. I will do another blog post with what I bought my family for christmas so keep an eye out for that.

 

​Getting my 8 month to sleep is a task in itself when he fights it like rocky balboa. Here are my stages of bedtime.

At 6pm bath time we realised quickly that bathtime settles him and so we put this into our bedtime routine.
6:10 dry him

This is where he has a tantrum because he hates being dry, to the point we have to get him milk to do it in peace as he will literally scream his head off the whole time.

Then he will sit and watch in the night garden mostly chilled out until it finishes then he will whinge again and this is where it starts!!

The first stage is

Patience

At first I was afraid… no but seriously I am patient loving and calm with him. I’ll usually stroke his head and give him kisses and he will whinge the whole time.

Frustration
A little after when he is still awake after 8 I get frustrated come on J go to sleep and all the while my dinner goes cold on the table.

Impatience
Okay its bren at least 2 hrs now come on go to sleep child!come on lie down we kniw your tired! He is still whinging at this point but is turning to sleep every so often.

A little anger and maybe tears

I just want to eat my dinner for god sake!!

Relief

Ah finally peace now watch the noisy toys don’t make a sound and be careful moving him to his own bed..
This is usually how a J night goes as well as sometimes waking up in the night which can be a whole different story but lets have a breather

Rant over..

The Mum Conundrum

Welcome back to my blog post. Today I am going to talk about my thoughts having another baby so close to J. Now I will tell you the new baby wasn’t planned and when we found out J was only 4 months old. I remember the day very well it was a Monday morning and I was late so we nipped down to the chemist and then we went into our workplace afterwards which we had to hide the tests and then a couple of hours later we had rhythm time. Now though we have gotten used to the idea and it doesn’t seem as daunting but here are my thoughts when we found out.

What are people going to say?
This is a biggy and this is why we didn’t tell anyone really until we were about 20 weeks. We were so worried what people would say since J is only 8 months old now and will only be about a year when the new baby comes but everyone was actually really nice about it so we didn’t have to worry.

2. How will I cope with a newborn and toddler?
This is still a thought that crosses our minds how will we cope? I am excited to have a toddler and a newborn but I know it will be also hard work so hopefully since hubby and me are well prepared we will be OK.
3. How will j react?
This also still worries me since J has been the focus of our lives for 8 months he knows we love him loads he is such a happy well loved baby by not just us but everyone else so how will he react to half the focus being on a new baby this worries me so much I will feel mum guilt probably everyday.

4. How can i look after j when I feel like death?
Morning sickness. Just those two words bring on stories from many mums sharing their bad times and with J I had it really bad and I have had it occasionally with the new baby too to the point where the hubby had to take J for the night because I developed a migraine and couldn’t stop being sick. I have had to let J cry every so often so I can finish puking and it is really hard work.

5. What will I do if I go into labour?
This one still hasn’t been figured out. I am hoping the hubby sorts it so I don’t have to stress about it but I will feel the guilt again leaving him since he has never been left with anyone else before.

6. What if the new baby is born on J’s birthday?
The new baby is due the same day J was due but J was born 6 days early but everything so far has been exactly the same so they could have the same birthday and if I am in labour I have to miss his birthday. I will have to deal with the massive amount of guilt that will bring. Hopefully I will be there the night and home the next day and we can celebrate his birthday then but i hope the new baby comes earlier or later than J’s birthday so he gets just a little attention.

7. How will I find the space for the new baby things?
This is a hard one also we live in a small house and J’s things already take up a lot of room so we aren’t going all out I mean we only need a few things this time but the bed is the one we are going to have the biggest problem with.

8. Do I actually need to get this again?
We were naive buying everything last time we didn’t need some of the stuff we bought it has just been collecting dust in the house so this time i am down to the basics as long as the new baby is fed and watered (not literally) then that will do.

 

Hello again Jodie here now I know the big C word s just around the corner and with kids involved it can get very expensive. I am going to reveal some of the best deals for toys out at the minute.

Sainsburys
Sainsburys are currently doing a toy sale a weekly long sale from Wednesday 17th October until the 24th.

Hot Wheels city Super Sets play-set was £23 now £11.50

Barbie Sister Snow Fun set was £51 now £25.50

Tesco
Tesco are also doing a sale on toys half price on Lego, Barbie and Hot Wheels from Monday 15th October
Lego unkitty Bucket was £40 now £20

 
Disney Princess Petite Princess was £50 now £25

 

Thomas Minis Twist And Turn Gift Set Assortment was £50 now £25

Smyths
Smyths toys are doing a half price sale on some toys this half term so you can stock up for Christmas.
Fisher-Price Dance & Groove Rock-it was £35 now £24.49

Imaginext Ultra T-Rex Blue was £79.99 now £39.99

Shimmer and Shine Teenie Genies Floating Palace Play-set £29.99 now £14.99

Asda

Asda are doing a big toy roll back.
Leap Frog Scouts Get Up & Go Activity Centre was £49.97 now £34.97

V tech Toot-Toot Drivers Garage £39.97 now £27.97

Baby Annabell Mia So Soft was £39.97 now £30.00

and finally we have the Early Learning Centre. They have half price on selected toys

ELC Musical Activity Station was £75.00 now £31.88

Cupcake Dolly Collection Set was £40.00 now £20.00

 

 
Big City Wooden Garage was £60 now £30

 

So hopefully if you are stuck for toys this Christmas, this post will help you out.

You know the popular TV show In the night garden? Someone said to me once and I had to admit I hadn’t even heard of it before but since my 8 month old son religiously watches it I have to put up with it and my gosh it is an annoying show.

Here are 10 thoughts I have when watching in the night garden

1. why does Makka Pakka wash everyone’s faces
why does he have an obsession with washing faces and why does everyone let him when he doesn’t have water?

2. why do the Tomliboos not fit through their door actually in fact how does anyone fit anywhere?  all the proportions are wrong and they literally have to squeeze through the door why don’t they make it bigger?

3. why do they ride the Ninky Nonk and Pinkponk when its so unreliable?
every episode someone rides either of them and they break all the time why do they need it anyway?

4. Why does everything fart?
The Ninky nonk, the Pinky Ponk when characters move just everything farts!
5. Why do the Pontipins go to sleep the same time as their children?
Why do they share a bedroom? Surely the kids would keep the parents up all night and how did they manage to create the kids when they sleep in the same room?

6.Why don’t the Wottingers get much showing?
You know the blue Pontipines they live next door to the red ones yet we hardly see them.

7. what are the Haahoos and what is the point of them?
Are they for decoration because no one interacts with them.
8. why is the tomliboos toothbrushes bigger than them
Why don’t they have normal size toothbrushes for their mouths? Don’t they realise they aren’t brushing their teeth?
9. where does Iggle Piggle live?

Does he travel to the garden every day and then leave at night?
Does he live in his boat? How does he find the time to come back and forth to the garden?
10 what is with the Tittyfurs

Do they live in the garden? how do they know its bed time when it doesn’t get dark? Are they the only birds there and how do they know the tune and when to play them?

When people say I have anxiety most people will roll their eyes but anxiety takes up all of my brain and most of my day. I feel like it affects my parenting as well as I come across as being ignorant or lazy but when I say its because I have anxiety people don’t believe you.

Here are ways in which anxiety affects me.

1. I cant say people’s names. I don’t know why or what it is about it but the thought of saying someones name leaves me red faced and embarrassed

2. I won’t try new things
I struggle to do anything I haven’t done before and often opt out or ask for help because I don’t have the confidence to do it myself this makes trying things like putting baby J in his car seat hard and learning to breastfeed I admit I could have probably tried a little harder.

3. Rhythm time is my ideal hell
Sat in a room of parents terrifies me lucky I have my hubby there but I still cant relax or join in singing in case I get judged or laughed at.

4. I constantly doubt myself
I can’t do anything without second guessing myself I feel like a constant failure even though my boy loves me and is developing fine I feel like I don’t give him enough love or I don’t help his development enough and some days I really can’t be bothered.

5. Feel stupid singing to him
I feel like he will judge me even though he absolutely loves being spoken to and sang to I feel silly doing it.

6. I find dealing with him crying hard
I sometimes feel Like its my fault and I panic trying to calm him to not wake anyone else but he cries longer because of this then I feel nervous and don’t know what to do I basically freeze which isn’t good.

7. I take the criticism people give personal even if they are joking I feel everyone is pretty much judging my parenting and someone has something to say but I feel it personally like its my fault or I did something.

8. When we go around someone house I feel constantly judged on my parenting. So when we go to visit family usually the husband takes over or if I change the baby its in a different room because if I do it in front of people I feel they will all judge how I do it and say its wrong.

Through the nappy changing and sleepless nights you realise quite a few things as your child gets older. Everyone says it gets easier (yeah right!) but I have found these 7 truths since becoming a parent.

1. There’s always guilt about everything

I feel guilty about literally everything. I sleep at night wondering if I spent enough time with j have i helped his development enough? Have I given him enough love today and then there is the housework I feel guilty for not doing it and now I feel guilty for going back to work

2. It is boring .
Don’t get me wrong i love my son but wow I find playing with him boring I know it sounds mean and i feel guilty for this but sometimes I wish he would just entertain himself so I can just watch a bit of TV. I really hate I feel this way but I find myself counting down the hours till its dad time.

3. Its a lonely time
Going on maternity you realise your days are filled with a baby surrounded by nappies bottle and sleepless nights friends and family bother for the first week but then your on your own. You don’t have time to socialise and going to mummy baby groups are daunting. We go to one and no one really interacts with each other so you end up kind of lonely

4. What is personal hygiene?
Without sounding like a tramp I often go out forgetting to brush my hair and go days without showering because I just dint really have the time and the time I get I want to spend watching TV in my pj’s I really want to be clean its just hard to find the time and therefore my hygiene suffers. Also the housework suffers and the wash basket is always overflowing with clothes.

5. Everyone puts their two cents in
After hearing the phrase I did… my kids were always fine you start banging your head against a brick wall everyone including the postman wants to give you advice on how to look after your baby it does get really annoying when you just want to learn and parent yourself and everyone has something to say. We now just politely smile and listen and then do our way which has worked for the last 8 months

6.babies test you
Whether you have the patients of a saint or are in the most loving relationship going you will be tested. Lack of sleep can do wonders to your brain and make you groggy which affects your attitude and relationship. Me and hubby would find having arguments over the smallest things because of lack of sleep and stress but we feel now we are better then we were because we got through it.

Lastly 7. Napping becomes your best friend
I recently went back to work so I get tired and the baby doesn’t enjoy sleeping at night so when i finish at 9 pm he wakes up whinging his dummy fell out and then wakes for a night feed which can then take up to 2 hrs to get him to sleep so in the morning I feel like a zombie. Then his dad takes over mid afternoon and i get a 3 hr gap before work I can nap and baby j inst my problem if he wakes and whinges so I have the most amazing naps I ever had in my life and it keeps me going. Yay for naps!

Rant over..