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! 

I am thankful for wine.

I was talking to a friend recently and we realised that we are not thankful enough for the things we have and how lucky we are to have them. It is so easy to focus on the things that aren't right and the things you don't have in your life and while doing that, we forget all the wonderful things that we have in our lives. Big or small, I think it will do me the world of good to focus on the positive things, be more grateful and realise actually how lucky I am. So here goes... What am I thankful for?

My husband. Yes sometimes he does my head in. Yes he doesn't always do what I'd like or help as much I want. And sometimes I swear I'm going to commit murder. But then I actually think about it and realise how lucky I am. 

He is always on my side. He hugs me when I'm sad and buys me chocolate when I'm really sad. He dances around the kitchen like a lunatic to make me laugh. He works his butt off to give us a good life. He de-ices my car on frosty mornings so I don't get cold hands. And he buys me my favourite wine when I've had a stressful day. He's not always perfect but I think I need to appreciate more often that he's actually pretty bloody good. 

Wine. Ok it sounds cliche and maybe a bit desperate. But seriously can you think if anything that beats sitting on the sofa after a long day which started at 5am full of nappies and sick and crying, and taking that first sip of delicious, tummy warming wine. Mmmmm I can't...

My dog. She steals nappies and tries to eat the contents. She wees on the floor when she gets excited and she barks at anyone who comes within a mile radius of our house. She steals my pants and takes them to bed with her. But she is the most loving dog I've ever met. She gives me cuddles on the sofa at the end of a hard, tiring day. She is always excited to see me, no matter how much of a grumpy cow I'm being that day. She sits with Luke and doesn't bat an eyelid when he grabs her fur. And she has a mega cute wrinkly face which makes the world a better place. 

My mummy friends. My mummy friends have helped me through one of the toughest and most challenging times in my life. They've seen the hysterical tears (sometimes of joy, but mainly of desperation!). They've seen me looking exhausted, disgusting, un-showered and covered in sick. We have talked about poop, labour, sex, useless husbands and lady parts. There are no boundaries and yet they continue to love me and be there for me no matter what. And I think that's amazing. I honestly couldn't live without them. 

My parents. I am lucky enough to have my parents close by. That doesn't mean they have to help. But they do. Whenever they can and without question. Yes sometimes they interfere when I wish they wouldn't and I find myself wishing they lived in Australia. But they've enabled date nights to happen, sleep to be caught up on and most recently for me to be able to return to work. And I can't thank them enough.

Mascara. Because let's be honest - it doesn't even bare thinking about what I'd look like without it. All I can say is Lancôme, I love you. 

My little boy. My beautiful, healthy smiley little boy. It's sometimes hard to be thankful for babies. Of course we are, but when it's 3 am and they've been screaming for the past 2 hours it's hard to be thankful. And when you give everything you've got and it still doesn't seem to be enough for them it's hard to be thankful. 

But then I think, and realised how blessed I am to have a baby who is healthy and happy. 

He smiles when he sees my face first thing in the morning. He gives me kisses (well he kind of licks/eats my face - that counts right?!). He snuggles in to me when he's sleepy and gives me amazing cuddles. He coos at me and has the most amazing giggle. And he makes me feel so full of love that sometimes I feel like I actually might pop.

It is so easy to forget the wonderful  in life, no matter how big or small they seem. This next week I want you to do something for me. Every day write down 3 things you are thankful for. It can be as important as your husband or as trivial as your favourite lipstick. But give it a go and I think when the week is up, you will be amazed at how many wonderful things you have in your life that maybe you didn't realise or appreciate until now. Let me know below what you are thankful for. 

When being a mummy gets a bit too much...

As a mother, you encounter more than your fair share of laugh or cry moments. I have found that in order to steer clear of becoming a sobbing mess on the kitchen floor, it helps to make a joke out of it and share it with the world (the main reason why I am so in love with the Unmummsy mum's Twitter feed!) 

Ok so maybe not the whole world but at least a close mummy friend who can sympathise and laugh along. 

These experiences are usually shared via text message at ridiculous hours of night, dictating the appalling amount of chocolate/wine you have consumed and are filled with an obscene amount of profanities!) 

There was the time I'd slept so little the previous night that I couldn't quite bring myself to get off the floor, but was greeted by a reply that made me laugh so much I managed to perk up and find the strength to get through the night shift!

The day that everything decided to go tits up all at once and my lovely friend got bombarded with messages while I tried not to have a mental breakdown...

The day our incredible business plan began to take form (we are still working on it and I will inform you when we take the idea to Dragons Den)

And then the day where I seriously considered giving my cat away at 5 o'clock in the morning...

It may just be my experience, but I have found that even at 6 months the hard days by far outweigh the easy ones. However having someone to laugh and joke about it with is what gets you through it all and out the other side (the other side being 7:30pm where there is wine and chocolate and a big squishy sofa you can curl up on) 

Stay strong fellow mummies. And if you ever need someone to have a mini-mental breakdown at, I am always at the other end of my emails :-)



 

The importance of mummy friends.

One of the things I worried about most during my pregnancy was how and where I was going to meet other mummies. As the first of my friends to have a baby, I didn't have anyone who was going to be in the same position as me and with my hormones raging and my brain being completely irrational, I was of course convinced I was going to be a hermit mummy with no friends at all.

I toyed with the idea of NCT courses which thankfully we decided not to do, as Luke's early arrival would have meant a huge waste of money and no classes! I subsequently decided I was just going to go to every available baby group in our area and surely I was bound to make some other mummy friends.

In the end I needn't have worried at all. I have met all my wonderful fellow mummies through friends of friends. Someone you know will always have a friend who is pregnant or has a new baby and they will be dying to introduce you, as chances are that mummy to be will be equally worried about being lonely.

I am very blessed to have a wonderful and ever growing group of gorgeous mummy friends who join me at baby groups, drink obscene amounts of coffee with me and sympathise and commiserate when I am running on only 2 hours sleep. I have one particularly special mummy who I message a ridiculous amount, at every antisocial hour of the day and who has seen me at my very worst - looking like hell and sobbing like a toddler in the middle of an epic tantrum. Despite the fact that I have known her for a mere 6 months, I count her as one of my closest friends and I know that she will always be there if I need her and I will do the same for her. Being responsible for miniature, teething dictators gives your friendship a special bond that only a fellow mummy can truly understand!

So pregnant or new mummies, try not to worry. No matter what your age or job or stage in life, you will make mummy friends who will support you and help you through one of the hardest times in your life. I have met mine through friends, in hospital, at baby groups and even re-connected with one of my old school teachers!
When you have a baby you will make the most wonderful friends and trust me, they will be some of the most important and wonderful people to ever step into your life.