parenthood

Travelling with kids 

When we become parents we don’t wish to give up the opportunity to travel, however travelling with kids can be daunting and overwhelming to say the very least. Being a parent doesn’t mean you can’t travel, it just means you may have to travel slighlty differently. Taking the kids along on your holidays doesn’t have to be painful and I’ve got a few tips that might help! 


Personally we have only travelled by car with our little ones, they have yet to experience air travel. Travelling by car has its perks, in that we have an immediate way to get around the destination and we can stop whenever needed to give the kids a break. However just as car travel has its perks, it also has its negatives, such as the added length of time needed to reach the destination, the boredom the children face from being strapped in the car for hours and the lack of being able to move around without stopping and losing yet more time. 

I’ve found the best way to tackle travelling with kids has been organisation. It is impossible to have a smooth trip, without being adequately organised. I start packing days before we leave and have a huge checklist that I slowly tick off and even add to, as I remember other things we need. Having a 9 month old means we always take a portacot with us, it’s cumbersome and takes up a lot of boot space, however I don’t like relying on cots supplied from accommodation. It’s not always to our standards and is often forgotten. We pack bottles  half full of water for the car and a thermos of hot water to add to ensure the temperature is just right. I used to put formula into travel containers but found this unnecessary in the car, so I just have the whole tin in an easy to reach spot and add it straight from there. (I still pack our empty travel formula containers, to use while on holiday) 

We are lucky enough to have a dual screen DVD player in the car that was gifted to my eldest for her birthday and that thing has been a favourite since it was installed. It may not be everyone’s idea of entertaining children but it works for us. We also have toys in reach for the girls to play with and snacks upon snacks readily available at any given moment. 

We have a double pram and tend to pack that whenever we have the space, however an umbrella stroller and carrier can work just as well and take up much less space in the boot. Another thing we have found helpful when packing the boot is to pack the kids clothes in a small bag each and our clothes in one large bag, it allows us to make the most of the small available areas that always tend to appear when stacking a boot. 

Travelling with kids, toddlers and babies can be daunting and does mean that you usually travel with a lot of extra things but with a lot of organisation and smart use of the space in your car  it can be (nearly) painfree. 

We have yet to travel by air with the kiddies but the moment we do, I’ll be sure to share my tips on that too. If you have any tips please comment them below. If you have found my post helpful please like and share. 
Until next time 

BCM 

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The terrible twos! 

The terrible twos, we’ve all heard of it, a lot of us have experienced it and others are dealing with it right now. But how terrible are the ‘terrible twos’? 

I’m the latter, I’m completely in the middle of the terrible twos, we’ve got the tantrums and the blantant disregard of rules. But is it terrible? No, I don’t think so, I think there is a lot more to a toddler than we realise. 

I know a lot of people think this generation is too soft on their kids, but I think that is utter bullshit. We may parent differently than older generations but it doesn’t mean it’s the wrong way to parent – it’s just that, different.

I think the terrible twos are the time in a toddler’s life we they are beginning to learn about their emotions and how to handle and process them correctly. I know even as an adult,  this can be an extremely hard skill to master. (Some days I totally want to throw myself on the ground when I don’t get my way) Feelings are difficult to understand and toddlers are experiencing new ones all the time. It can be really overwhelming to feel extremely upset about something that they aren’t able (allowed) to do simply because they are too young or small. And that’s where pushing the boundaries begins to come into it, once they realise that they are aren’t allowed to do certain things, such as take toys off their sister (I wonder who does that?!) they want to find out if that rule applies every time and to everyone or only in that particular situation – I guess it really is the best way to learn. 

So I say that for the most part the terrible twos are not actually ‘terrible’, they are simply the phase in a child’s life where they are beginning to understand their emotions and that they have to behave a certain way, and sometimes it just becomes way too much!

Of course I’m not saying sometimes children aren’t naughty – because they are (don’t I know it) but I don’t believe in saying a particular age is terrible. Lets be real, children can be naughty at any age! 
Until next time, 

BCM

Baby names we love but won’t be using… part 2 

Hi again, 

Last year I shared baby names we love but won’t be using and thought that I’d do it again, seeing as we had another visit to the baby books for our newest baby and had to go through the naming process all over again. (Isn’t that one of the hardest parts of having a baby) 
1.


This was a name my husband wanted for Rhemy, I liked it, but didn’t love it. We revisited it for Miami as he still really liked it, but I couldn’t commit. 

2. 

This one I still love and my husband likes it too. It was a contender, but I guess Miami was just the winner this time.

3. 

This was our boys name, we found out the gender of baby #2 as well, so we didn’t look at many boys names. 

4. 

This was my baby girl name for as long as I can remember. I really don’t know why it wasn’t used for either girls, I guess it just never felt right.

5. 

Simple and elegant. I love this name, my husband loves this name. Just not enough. 

6. 

I love this name for a girl, my husband wouldn’t budge! 

7. 

We talked about Rosie, it has sentimental value to us, but I just didn’t like it with our surname. 

8. 

I loved this for a girl, my husband didn’t hate it, but just wasn’t as big of a fan

9. 

This was a high contender for Miami, we both really liked it, and then I changed my mind! 

I’d love to hear your names that you love but won’t be using, post them below in the comments. Share around with your friends and see their names, it can be a great source for names for other parents. It can be fun to see what a couples baby could have been named, etc.

Until next time 
BCM

Mummy guilt! 

I know I have talked about this on a lot of my blog platforms in one way or another but it is one that is most relevant to right now. One I think most (if not all) of us feel at one point or another. Mummy guilt! 

It’s a bitch! It creeps up on us when we don’t expect it too, when we are going about our every day, when we are working, when we are trying to sleep! 

I feel it a lot – I feel it for Rhemy and how quickly she had to grow up. For the moments she needs me and I can’t be there for her because her sister needs me more, for the times I realise I expect her to be older than she really is and for making her share us before she really had too. I feel it for Miami because she doesn’t get the attention she deserves, because I feel like I haven’t got the time to give to her like I gave to Rhemy, I feel it because I can’t always be there when she needs me to be and that she always has to share us. 

I blame myself when Rhemy is naughty – even though I know it’s the naughty twos! I blame myself when Miami isn’t crawling – even though I know kids do things in their own time! I blame myself when they are hurting and think of ways I could have prevented it – even though I know I really couldn’t have! I blame myself when I miss things when I’m at work – even though I know being at work means I can give them more.

Let me tell you though that mummy guilt subsides when I see them playing together, Miami laughing so hard and Rhemy being so kind. When Miami lights up when I see her and Rhemy tells me she loves me. When they hold hands because they want too or when Rhemy tries to show Miami how to crawl. 

Mummy guilt is a bitch but deep down I know I’m doing this mama thing right! 

home is where the heart is…

When you become a parent, there are certain things, memories or feelings from your own childhood that you wish to recreate for your own children. Something that always made you feel comfortable, safe or happy.

For me the thing I most wish to recreate for our girls is the security I always feel in my parents home. I have not lived with my parents for 10 years, however their house is still without a doubt one of my favourite places in the world. The comfort in their four walls is something that I cherish. Their house is home, no matter where I live. As a child, coming from a close knit family, meant I enjoyed movie nights with my family, hanging out on Sunday afternoons or playing the nintendo until bed time (even though I truly sucked compared to everyone else). We created fond memories and they still radiate in the walls of their home. The familiarity of everything in that house calms me and is my happy place if I ever feel like I need picking up.

I want this for my girls, I want to create a safe haven, a cosy home for them to cherish. I want them to love being here with us and to feel the same warmth in our home, as I feel in my parents’. I want us to be their security, for our house to hold our family memories and for it to comfort them when they need it.

I want the photos on our walls to tell one story and the familiarity of our rooms to tell another. I want them to feel at peace here. I want to pass on the feeling of being in a strong family unit. I want this house to be their happy place and for it to be their home no matter where life takes them.

All that I am, all that I’ll be – I owe to my mother and father. (and I hope one day, my kids say that about us)

What do you want to pass on to your children? Or even what do you not?

 

Until next time,

 

BCM 

An open letter to the random man in the Doctor’s waiting room

To the random man in the Doctor’s waiting room,

Somehow we have both managed to be sitting in the same waiting room for the obstetrician. You are here with your partner and I am here with my entire family. We don’t live in this town you see, so we do not have the luxury of having our children minded, they have to attend whatever appointments we have. Seeing that the obstetrician we are seeing delivered both of our babies, I don’t think she will mind too much that they have accompanied us today.

You seem to be bothered though, my eight week old is happy enough but does demand some attention, to be honest what eight week old doesn’t? My sixteen month old has travelled six hours in the car and then been made to wait for an appointment half an hour longer then we had hoped. She is restless but well behaved, she wants her parents to read her stories and to play with the older children in the waiting room. She only wants to say hello and then she moves on. She is a young child, a baby even, a simple hello and then continuing on with conversation is all that is needed, not snide remarks about how close our children are.

You see, random man in the waiting room, it’s really none of your business how close they are. You do not have to have children close together, you don’t have to have any if you choose. That’s the thing with freedom of choice, its one we all have. We are parents of a young family, who are treading through the first few years of being Mum and Dad. We are happy and our children are loved, supported and provided for. Their age gap is really none of anyone’s concern, especially someone like you, someone we have never met. I didn’t need to hear your remark to your partner and to be honest neither did anyone else is the waiting room. Your partner seemed uncomfortable like she knew I had heard, but you didn’t seemed concerned at all.

I’m a strong girl, and to be honest, I really couldn’t give a shit, what others think of me or my life choices, but others may. I have bounced back from my pregnancy and giving birth well, but others may not. Words hurt random man, and I hope you think twice before expressing your opinions of another so they can hear in the future.

 

Regards,

BCM 

 

Photo of the week!

Here at Being Called Mum we have decided to introduce a new series! Every Wednesday I am going to post a photo (or two if I can’t decide) from the week that has been. It’s a great way to showcase us as a family and what we do day to day, week to week. Spoiler alert it isn’t much! Hahaha. 
So up for our very first ‘Photo of the week” is my lovely baby bump! I felt like most of my photos I show, will be of Rhemy (and why shouldn’t they be) but this week I actually pulled my finger out and took a photo of my 27 week baby bump. These past few weeks have been crappy, we have seen more midwives and had more scans then I would like but when I feel the little baby kick, it makes it all worth it. The love you feel for someone you have never met is insane and I can not wait to be a family of four and to be a mama of two beautiful little girls. Bring on the adventures, the laughs, the tears and the love! 

See you next week for another photo of the week, we are actually off on a family holiday so we may have more than one photo!

In the meantime, I am working on a review of my new tablet, the iPad Pro. I use it for uni and day to day activities and found it difficult when researching before the purchase to find any decent reviews. Please let me know if this is something you would like to see in the comments section. 
Until next time,

B xx 

ABC Baby name tag

All over YouTube is a tag known as the ‘ABC baby name tag’! Basically you pick a name for a boy and a girl for each letter of the alphabet that you love. I thought this would be a fun tag and might help some of you who are in the process of naming a little one. 

I’m going to be a little bit cheeky and not add in any that I am still considering (code for trying to convince my husband) for our own little bundle. Here goes: 

                  Girls                             Boys 

A:            Amity                              Axel 

B:          Brinley, Brielle              Blake 

C:          Charlotte                         Coby

D:         Delilah, Dylan                 Drey 

E:          Eliza                                  Emerson 

F:           Freya                                Freddie 

G:          Gretel                              George

H:          Hartley                           Henry 

I:           Indigo                              Ira 

J:           Josephine                        Jax

K:        Kinley                               Knox, Kamden

L:       Lilac                                    Luca 

M:     Milla, Matilda                 Maxton 

N:      Noah                                  Nico

O:      Odette, Olive                   Oliver

P:        Peta, Petra                      Paxton

Q:       Quilla                                Quinn 

R:      Rhemy, Reese                  Rocco

S:       Sloane                                Silas

T:        Trixie                                Tennessee 

U:      Ulyana                               Ulwyn

V:      Vivienne, Valentina      Van 

W:     Wren                                 Wyatt 

X:      Xanthe                              Xander 

Y:       Ysabel                                – 

Z:       Zuri                                    Zane 

Until next time, 
B 🙂 

Halfway! 

Today marks 19 weeks in my pregnancy, as I will be having an elective c section at 38 weeks this is half way! I can not believe it is already halfway, it feels like we only just found out. So many people say your second pregnancy seems to go quicker and they were right! I’ve been so busy with Rhemy turning 1 (still can’t believe it!) and our weekly day to day lives that the days really just turn into weeks in the blink of an eye! 

Next week we are heading to Adelaide for my obstetrician appointment and 20 week scan, we are going to try to find out the sex of the baby. I’m really interested in what this little one is, but I’m pretty sure I already know! I’ve had a strong feeling since the day we found out we were expecting, so I’m keen to see if my ‘mothers’ intuition is right! I haven’t bought a single neutral piece of clothing this time, as I never put Rhemy in them, so I am hanging to go shopping for baby things after our appointments on Friday! Whether it’s more dresses or little chinos I’m busting to know.
What team are you? Pink or blue? Share below! I’d love to hear what people think we are having! 

I’d love to share my reasoning for another c section and for why we are finding out. Would anyone be interested in reading a post about that? 

Until next time
B 🙂 

New room for baby and me.

Since our family is expanding we are doing a shift around in our house. We are hoping we can accommodate our new addition without completely breaking the bank.

We have decided that we are going to move into our spare room, Rhemy is going to go into our room and the baby will go into Rhemys nursery. When we did her nursery we made it gender neutral, so other then removing her name from the wall, we don’t have to do anything else. 

Now comes the fun part, decorating the two rooms. Rhemy’s is easy, we are doing Disney princesses, we have purchased a wall mural and the other walls can stay white. I’ve got a beautiful bookcase my parents painted with fairies when I was a child, that I am passing down to her and I’m hoping to keep everything else  minimal and fresh. 

Our room is a bit trickier! I’m not sure what colour scheme I want to go with. We know we want a king size bed, huge built in robes and honestly that’s as far as we have gotten. Any inspo you guys might have for our main room, feel free to share! 

I’m excited to share our progress with you all once the work begins.

Until next time, 

B xo