Our week in pictures #3

Hello all welcome to another week in pictures! As promised, I did more this week than just sit around in my pyjamas and take selfies! 

We started off our week with a trip to baby gym class with a mummy friend and Luke's best buddy Ted. It is so much fun for the boys, and us mummies had a wail of a time on the trampolines (they're the sort of thing that you find extremely exciting when you're a mummy!) 

They are getting so grown up now, it's hard to imagine they were once tiny newborns with floppy heads! 

I also had quite an emotional week. While writing a blog post on being a preemie mummy, I scrolled back through all my photos of Luke as a newborn. I have to say it hit me harder than I expected and I got all blurry eyed looking at my little boy in an incubator and realising how far he has come. 

Our week has also been filled to the brim with mummy play dates this week.  Although it is mainly so us mummies can keep some degree of sanity and gorge on obscene amounts of chocolate, I also feel it's really lovely for the boys to have some bonding time (and I think they enjoy seeing something other than mummy's boring face!)

Despite the gloomy weather today, our week couldn't have had a more perfect end to it. As my husband has been away a lot this week, we decided to have a family trip into Bath and wonder round the gorgeous Christmas market. I had the most wonderful time, keeping myself toasty with an all important glass of mulled wine and I am now finally getting into the festive spirit! I was also spoiled rotten and my darling hubby got me a new iPhone as an early Christmas present! Mine was rapidly dying and I had been angling after the rose gold one ever since it came out (My wedding ring is rose gold so of course I needed a matching phone!) 

We were cold and damp by the one we arrived home so cooked and devoured a delicious roast - I think I have decided it's my all time favourite meal. Sunday's are the best :-) 

Lastly, we hit a very important milestone this week - exactly one week before he turns 8 months, Luke is sitting up by himself! So I am an extremely proud mummy. 

Be prepared for a very festive 'Our week in pictures' this coming week - we are putting the Christmas tree up, making hand print decorations and blitzing the Christmas shopping! Expect tinsel, baubles and obscene amounts of fairy lights! 

5 tips for returning to work

I recently had my first weekend back at work. As you may know if you read my post about returning to work, I was extremely nervous. However I actually had a really wonderful couple of days (and sold a rather expensive ring which made the boss happy!) In a way it felt like I had never left - a perk, I guess, to only taking 7 months maternity leave. However it was also very different - I found myself worrying about Luke throughout the day, I got major baby brain and forgot what I was saying half way through talking to customers and by about 3 o'clock I was starting to flake.
Here are a few tips from me to you other working mummies out there to help your return to work run smoothly.

Get a coffee machine:
Before I was a mummy I didn't drink coffee. Now I live off the stuff (she says while sipping her deliciously strong espresso!) As well as being an essential mummy item, it also came in handy for my first day back at work. I have a Nespresso machine which my wonderful parents got me for my birthday this year. I love it because it makes espressos (the perfect mummy drink - all your caffeine in about 2 sips!) or you have the option to add water and make a full sized coffee! Fab for returning to work as it saves me spending silly amounts on Starbucks and usually making myself late waiting in the queue!

Wear a pair of killer heels:
Obviously I'm not talking 6" platforms, but I find wearing a pair of heels automatically boosts my confidence and makes me feel like I can conquer anything that is thrown at me. Having a little bit of extra confidence will make your return to work that little bit easier.

Buy a new handbag:
It sounds ridiculous, but one of the things I was most excited about on the day I went back to work was taking a handbag! Not a changing bag full of babywipes, bottles and various brightly coloured toys, but my beautiful, shiny, grownup Ted Baker handbag. I felt like the fanciest person in the world strutting through town clutching it! Of course to everyone else I just looked like an ordinary person carrying an ordinary handbag. But to me it felt like I was queen of the world!

Throw your whole self in (This feels like the start of the hokey cokey...):
If you decide as a mummy to return to work, whether full time or part time, my advice to you is to go for it with everything you've got. I have found that when I am at work I need to distance myself from being mummy Laura and throw myself into being work Laura. This way I really enjoy my days at the shop. Ok it helps that I get to spend my time selling diamonds and sparkly stuff (and of course trying all the beautiful jewellery on just to make sure it looks as nice on as it does off is an added bonus!) but I find that if I think about Luke too much, I miss him and it makes me sad which in turn means I don't enjoy my day. So I get on with being work Laura in the knowledge that I will have a whole 5 days of the week to be mummy and get all the cuddles I can to keep me going through those two days without.

Do something you love:
Ok, I am aware that this is not always possible - sometimes you just need something that pays the bills. But as a mummy, its surprisingly hard to leave your little one for a whole day especially when you are used to being with them all the time. If you can go back to doing something you enjoy, it makes leaving your baby for the day a whole lot easier and dare I say it... you might actually enjoy the break.

Those are my tips for going back to work - have you got any words of wisdom to share?