baby

Don’t lose yourself now that the baby is here! 

I know everything changes when you have children and they become your whole world. I know that we as parents put their needs before our own and to be honest I truly believe we should. I know that we should be the ones that accommodate them into our lives not the other way around but I am a true believer in that we as mothers can still be us. We are still entitled to some reward for doing the best we can for our offspring. 

Now let me clarify I do not mean that if before kids your Wednesday to Sunday nights were spent out partying that you should continue on with that lifestyle. I do not mean if pre children you spent all your disposable income on unnecessary luxuries and lived off two minute noodles for the week that you should do the same now your baby has entered the world. 

What I mean is that every now and then, things are still allowed to be for you, you can still travel to exciting places with your children in tow, you can still buy something expensive and unnecessary. You can still have a day to yourself and not feel guilty because we all deserve it once in a while. The only difference being things may have to be planned for, budgeted for or talked about with your partner. 

When we become parents we change, knowingly or not, I’m unsure but it is inevitable and I believe necessary. We need to adapt to our new life and we can’t always be who we used to be. However we don’t need to lose ourselves entirely. I have changed since Rhemy and I am happy with that. You can’t be the same person when your baby comes as you become less selfish, more paranoid, guilt surfaces easier and your camera feed becomes filled with photos of your baby and not much else. 

While I say to not lose yourself entirely, I also say not to fight the changes in yourself either. They are happening because of your new addition and will help you on this new, exciting, sometimes scary journey of parenthood. 
Comment below and give me your thoughts xx 

📷 featured image: beautythroughimperfection.com 

Staying Organised

Two days ago I returned to work, I am only working two days a week, so I can guess technically it is now my weekend. The work and my colleagues were fine, leaving Rhemy was not! (but that is a whole other blog post)
I realised that in order to succeed in my 2016 New Years resolution which to be quite honest is more or less just to get my shit together, I am going to have to come up with a way to focus on being more organised. I am heading back to uni in March and with Rhemy, work and also this blog to contend with I would like to have a system in place before the start of the semester. 
I already have a diary/planner and I use it religiously for appointments etc, but I think I can tweak my usage of this, to help me organise dedicated time slots and ensuring I stick to them. I understand things change and it will not always go to plan but it can be used as a guide.

My plan is to begin with hourly slots and go from there. Obviously having a little one means that the time may need to be altered during the day, depending on her naps but if I know Tuesday is study day and Thursday is washing day I can stay more focused and see my way through the week. 
At the moment, I am using this Personal Planner, which is A5 and what can be customised to suit your needs and preferences. I wish I had chosen a vertical layout because after a couple of weeks of use of what I thought was a planner I loved, I realised everything I write and want to stay on top of doesn’t quite fit in this layout. We live and learn. I’m changing now to a ring planner so I can fit all the different parts of my life into one place, but this is still a great option and would recommend to anyone who wants to just simply track appointments or like me would like to become more organised. 

 

I’d love your input! What’s your organisation system? What allows you to stay on top of everything happening in your life. Comment below 🙂

My achievement list! 

Okay everyone knows what a bucket list is, what they want to achieve and conquer during their life. But I present to you an “achievement list” it is a catalog of what you have succeded, participated or experienced in life that you are proud of. That you can look back on and give yourself encouragement of how far you have come, when you are feeling down or just need a reminder of how great your life truly is! 
It’s not to be taken as bragging or to show off. It can be totally private, shared anonymously or shared for the whole world (online of course) to see. 

I would love to share some of mine with you all. The rest I will keep for myself, but here goes: 


Rhemy; duh my greatest achievement in life. No other explanation necessary. 
My marriage; an equal partnership. The only way I want our marriage to be. 
My relationship with my family; we are close friends as well as blood. I have their back, they have mine. 
My study; I have completed certificates in my chosen field and out of it. I’m currently participating in a university degree. My achievement is not what I have become qualified in but the fact that I continue to learn. 
Travel; I have seen many places with some of the most important people in my life at some of the most important times of my life. Hello 21st birthday and honeymoon! I have memories and stories from these trips to last a lifetime. 
There you are my achievements, not material but sentimental. Maybe not what everyone strives for but what I hold very close to my heart. 
Share yours with me or jot them down for yourself but do it! Look back, be proud of what you have already achieved! Dreams are wonderful, hence why the bucket list exists but what about the dreams we have already conquered? Don’t be so focused on what’s to come that you forget about them. 

The bond we share…

She’s six months old today, that’s right Rhemy Sharen is six months old! And what a wonderful, hilarious and beautiful six month old she is.

It’s so surreal when you look down at your baby and you realise that you have created something so gorgeous. It is amazing what the human body can do and what the end result is. 

Watching Rhemy grow and change everyday is what it is all about. I already loved her with everything I had before she born and I knew no matter what, I would do anything for her, to protect her and to be there for her. 

What I wasn’t as prepared for, was the bond we share at such a young age. We are already little besties, the way she looks at me, the trust she has in me and myself for her is out of this world. 

Knowing I have a very close relationship with my mum, you’d think I would have been expecting it, and I definitely was to some degree but not while Rhemy was so young, but here we are. 

She has such a big personality, she makes me laugh on the daily, her smile lights up my day, she’s as stubborn as they come and very persistent in what she wants (I wonder where she got that from?). She is my very best little friend, my heart wandering out of my body! 
Ask me about our bond when she is sixteen, when she is still stubborn and persistent in getting what she wants! 

New year, new me? 

It’s approaching! It is that time of year when we begin to hear all the promises from people to become a better version of themselves in one way or another. It is also when out come the critics, having their say on how stupid they believe new year resolutions are.

What camp are you in? Are you for resolutions of against? Myself, I am for them and I make them, I think they are great incentive to try and stick to something or to change a habit that you are unhappy with. I don’t always follow through but I try and I find no harm in that. 
This year in fact, I truly hope to become a more organised, together woman. I feel like my house is always a mess and my head in the clouds trying to work out what way is actually up! 2016 brings part time work and study so I will have limited time for everything and I know that being organised (or at least attempting to be) will help me stay on top of it all, so I am truly inspired to try and stick to my resolution this year. 
I have always had a diary/planner. I am normally very good about knowing what I have coming up and filling in the days accordingly but since Rhemy come along that has gone out the window, so 2016 I am coming for you! 
What’s your New Years Resolution? Or do you think they are just a waste of time? Let me know below! 

Featured Image credit: http://www.mumcentral.com.au

Do you use a baby bag? 

Anyone who knows me, would tell you I am massively into handbags. Some might say, I have an actual problem! So naturally when I fell pregnant the idea of getting a nappy (diaper) bag excited me! 

I began searching forums and reviews to find out what one would best suit my lifestyle. In the end, I purchased a beautiful Oroton bag which I believed to be functional and the perfect accessory for when my baby arrived. 

Fast forward 10 months or so (I bought it very early on in my pregnancy) and it isn’t getting the use it deserves or that I imagined it would. When I was breastfeeding I used it a lot. I put nappies, a change of clothes, spit rag, etc in and off I went. Now I am bottle feeding I seem to carry more bulky items that struggle to fit comfortably in the bag. 
The nappy bag is too big for the basket under my pram so I have to carry it when I have the pram and to be honest I find that to be a massive inconvenience! So now I just put a lunch bag (holding multiple bottles and formula powder) and a large clutch (with nappies, wipes, spit rag and a change of clothes) in the bottom of my pram and away I go. 

I know so many things on the many, many lists of what you need for a baby are not necessities but I truly didn’t think a nappy bag would be one of them. At least not for me! 
Do you use your nappy bag? Did you waste money on anything with your first born? 

Comment below and let me know I would love to feel better about myself haha! 

Transitioning a swaddler! 

Our five month old, has just began rolling and can even sit for small intervals. We are so proud of her milestones and it is so wonderful to see our little offspring develop and progress daily. 

What we don’t want is our cub to roll in her sleep while still in her Swaddle Up. So a week or so ago, we began the tedious task of transitioning her. The transition swaddles from Swaddle Up are genius and have made the whole ordeal much easier then we thought it would be. 

That doesn’t mean it hasn’t been without its complications. The first few nights after we removed the first arm we had a very interrupted sleep, with Rhemy waking herself up constantly. It was tiring but a success so we moved onto the second arm and that is where we are  right now…

3.30am and wide awake, talking to herself and truly doing anything to keep from drifting off to the land of nod. While I know past experiences have shown me after a couple of nights of this, we will be through the worst of it. I can’t say I’m not missing my sleep or a little grumpy that my little miss has decided that 3.30am is not only when she will be wide awake but so will her Mumma. 

How did you transition? What tactics worked? What didn’t? 

Let’s share and compare, below in the comments. 

Baby name trends! 

Naming our baby was a much harder task then either of us expected. My husband likes names slightly more conservative and myself, a little out there. We “vitoed” each other so many times, I thought that was going to end up being her name.

We settled on multiple names, to then change our minds a week later (okay my mind, I changed my mind)! There really was some goodies in there, so we have no intention of sharing, you know just incase the next one is a girl.

I have read so many articles relating to the trends of baby names, but I have to admit this this last trend has taken the cake. According to Baby Center  #instagrambabies is now a thing! Parents are naming their children after Instagram filters and other related editing apps. Now while some of the filter names are usable, Willow anyone? I am interested to see where our next naming inspiration comes from.

I completely understand the attraction of using a name from somewhere the majority wouldn’t expect, but I do have to wonder where do we begin to look next?

Now I have to say, I support everyone’s decision to name their child whatever their heart desires, it has long been the case that what one couple thinks is beautiful, another does not!

So I ask you, what do you think?

Is your next baby going to be called Valencia or is there somewhere else we can look for the names of future children?

Comment below!

What would your 10 year old self be proud of? 

When you look back on your life, what can you honestly say your ten year old self would be proud of? It doesn’t have to be ten years old, it could be thirteen, eight or even sixteen. It signifies a time when you had an idea or a plan of what your life would turn out like. When you weren’t afraid to dream and when you weren’t jaded from experiences in the ‘real’ world. 
I have given this a lot of thought and my ten year old self would be proud of a few things: 

Firstly, Rhemy! I know, I know how obvious but I always knew I would become a mother, I always wanted a daughter and I had to be young enough to enjoy her. So ten year old me, we did it 🙂 

Next is University. Not necessarily because I grew up knowing what I would be, but that I would study and continue learning throughout my life. I wanted to be educated in as many things as possible. Online learning has been a major reason why this has become a reality for me. I have done tafe certificates but deciding to go to Uni as a mature student is something I know ten year old me would be very proud of. 

Last but not least, my travel experiences. Now I haven’t seen everywhere, and there are so many places I am still dieing to see but I always wanted to see the world and I am certainly slowly ticking off all the cities and countries I want to visit. 

I’m sure there are many things in my life that ten year old me wouldn’t approve of, that as a child was not in the plan. But we can save those for another day. 
Now it’s your turn, comment below – tell me ! What would your ten year old self be proud of? 
Until next time 🙂 

Review: Closer To Nature Electric Steam Steriliser 

Today I thought I would review a product that is used in our house daily, our electric bottle steriliser! 

Made by Closer to Nature and purchased from Big W here in Australia for $199.00. The steriliser came in a set that included a bottle warmer, a dummy (pacifier for our USA friends), insulated bags for a single bottle and formula containers that hold enough powder for one bottle. 

The “extras” I could have lived without and I don’t feel like we needed to spend the extra money on the set and instead should have purchased the steriliser on it’s own. A single insulated bag is a waste and so are the formula containers. I use a lunch bag which holds multiple bottles and a third party formula container which holds three lots of powder. 

We do not need a bottle warmer! I don’t know about you, but have you ever been heating a bottle at 2am and have a screaming baby who does not care for the 4min wait for the water to be warm? I’m sure a lot of you have, and a lot of you probably have more patience than me! We were done with the warmer after a week and instead use the microwave to warm up her bottles! We heat the water first, add the formula and then shake well to minimise hot spots! 

I did my research and there was nothing that showed me enough evidence to say I shouldn’t use it! (Waiting for comments to say otherwise) So I did and I have to say 15-20 seconds has been a much more reasonable wait for little miss! 

Back to the steriliser, it has been a great buy and one I do not regret making. I did a lot of research before buying (can you sense a trend?) and wanted an electric one rather than a microwave one. 

Let’s start with the pros: I like that we have the steriliser set up all the time and that it is easily accessible while being out of the way (we have a lot of unused bench space). 

It holds 6 bottles and uses minimal water (80ml) a cycle and takes about 4 minutes to sterilise the bottles. We only use 6 bottles in a 24 hour period, and because Rhemy was EBF for the first 3 months we have never needed more. It’s easy to clean out, simple to use and even to move around, if required.
Now we will move on the cons: first and foremost, it is expensive! It is not a purchase every one can make or justify. Without the bench space we are lucky to have, it could be in the way and a pain to put away and get out as needed. You also need a spare power point which we know can be difficult to find. It is a steam steriliser so can be a hazard if you have older children and they must be aware of not opening the steriliser straight after cycles have finished. 

At the end of the day, you know if you want a steriliser, you know if you want it to be electric and you know what you can afford to spend. But if you are looking at the Closer To Nature one you will not be sorry. 

I have included a link for purchase if you are interested. https://www.bigw.com.au/product/closer-to-nature-electric-steam-steriliser/p/WCC100000000005675/ (please note it is also available from Target)

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me and I will endeavour to help you as best I can! 
Feature image credit to Big W online