parenthood

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

I hate baby teeth! 

I hate baby teeth! I really, really HATE them! They have a lot to answer for, and what’s worse is we haven’t even seen one yet!

I want my baby back, the one who isn’t grumpy, grizzly or in pain! The one who isn’t drooling profusely, difficult to feed and has bright red cheeks! I want to be able to help her more, bongela and sometimes baby Panadol are my weapons of choice, both not overly well recieved by the baby (can’t work out for the life of me why 😝).
Her red, inflamed gum appreciates it and her hands too, so at least they get a break from being constantly chewed! However Rhemy doesn’t care, it tastes gross and it seems a much better idea to try to spit it out! To be completely fair I don’t blame her, I hate medicine too!

How do you deal with a teething baby? Have you lost your sleep? (luckily I have not) or your sanity? (somedays, I have been close) How does or did your baby deal with teething? Was it a long drawn out process without the tooth erupting? (Rhemy’s experience so far) Or one day no teeth, next it’s there? (lucky baby, lucky parents and baby!!)

Let me know below!
Also what do you think of our new look? Did you notice?



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