I Think I Might Be Pregnant | Two Under Two?

There is not a longer thirty seconds in life than the wait for the result of a Clear Blue. Whether willing for a positive or willing it away, it's hard to relax whilst you wait. I've done four since Harrison was born. Four times in five months I've sat waiting, wondering if my life will change forever again. One surprise baby has been hard enough, but two? Two under two is unimaginable to me, and if I could shake the fear of an unplanned pregnancy right now my life would be significantly less stressful.

Half A Year With Harrison | The 6 Month Update

We've had 182 days with Harrison. 4331 hours, and more minutes than I'll bother to count. It's been a journey, an amazing one at times, but also one that felt like an uphill battle for the first few months. It's taken time, very little blood, but a lot of sweat and a tonne of tears, but we've made it to Harrison's half birthday and we could not be in a better place. I feel like I'm turning into the girl I used to judge for celebrating the little milestones: I never thought I'd be one to even recognize a half birthday, but at 6 months, it feels like we're celebrating so much more than half a year. 6 months has marked a major turning point for him, and an even bigger one for me. This month, I lost my phone. I lost 6 months of pictures, of videos, of ridiculous feed updates in my notes. I lost my google search history, my favorited websites of irrational and quite frankly ridiculous suggestions on how to get your baby to sleep. I have the DSLR images I take, but those probably aren't the ones I'd miss in the long run. I want the dimly lit 5 second snapchat videos of the first night he smiled, or giggled, or the aftermath of the first poo explosion. I've been criticized for taking so many pictures of my child, for celebrating the mini milestones that aren't really milestones, for oversharing, and recently I've forgotten about the reasons I done those things in the first place. Losing the pictures and videos just confirmed in my head that I do want them, I miss them, and if I didn't have a blog of written updates, I'd have been much more upset. I want to remember the little tiny moments, the ones that don't justify the big camera, the ones that matter. I want to document the half birthdays, the silly days that don't mean anything to anyone else but us, the hard days and the ones that may otherwise go forgotten. 6 Months is a milestone for us, and will forever hold a place in my heart. At 6 months, motherhood became what I always wanted it to be.

A Flood Of Guilt and Needing More Than Mum | The Return To Work

I never imagined going back to work to be difficult. Is that bad?  Yes, it probably is.  This week, I was given my back to work date. My maternity leave will finish on the 8th May. I'd applied for an April start date, so returning this soon should not have been a surprise, but I'm now reeling. It's only hit home now. I'm reeling because I don't want to leave my child with someone else. I'm reeling because I don't want someone else to watch his 'firsts'. I want to be there for it all, and the guilt is overwhelming right now. I knew fine well all along that at some point I'd have to start sharing the firsts, I'd have to leave him and he would be perfectly ok, but suddenly the thought of it has become one that does not sit well with me.

Our New Project | The House Before The Home

And, we have a house! I've made no secret of my frustrations over the last few months: finding a home is no mean feat, buying one is another kettle of fish completely, but low and behold we've made it through the process, and came out the other side, albeit missing a very large chunk of our savings. Now that I'm in a position where nothing can fall through, I felt it was time to update on our new home, and what we plan on doing in it. I've been slightly overwhelmed by it all. The first home I owned was supposed to be a flat. I'd always had it planned it out. A one bedroom, small flat, just for me and nobody else. A small space to decorate and to call my own. I never did quite manage that, but Jordan was a happy addition to my living situation. Add in a 6 month old baby though, and suddenly everyone needs that little bit more space. Consistent with everything else in the last year of my life, my one bed flat didn't go to plan. Last week we got the keys to our new family home. A 3 bedroom, do-er upp-er. A renovation waiting to happen, and for us, right now, a building site.

I Stained My Baby Yellow | 5 Things I Wish I Knew About Milk Bath Photography

Milk Bath Photography has always been popular for maternity shoots, but more and more I've been seeing baby shoots crop up. It's plastered over Pinterest, and each image I came across seemed unique and beautiful in there own right. In my mind it would be easy, milk bath photography would be done by filling a bath with water and baby milk powder, then personalizing with different amounts of flowers or greenery to add a little something to the shot. It seemed simple, and having read Katie's post on capturing young babies, I felt I was more than able to capture the image I had in mind, and have a fun little experience with Harrison. Had I bothered to research more, I may have found that there can be a lot more to milk bath shoots than meet the eye, and it was maybe not going to be quite this simple. Whilst it all started off well enough, it very quickly went downhill. We had a bouquet of flowers left over from Mothers Day, a full tub of baby milk that Harrison never liked, and a bathtub - little did I know I would end our morning with a yellow baby, a smelly bath-tub and an overwhelming desire for a glass of wine. This could have all been made slightly easier, had I known a few key things before.

First Impressions Of An Expensive Highchair | Is The NOMI Evomove Worth It?

 If you had asked me to name the product I'd expect to find most useful from birth while I was pregnant, I'd have chosen my Moses Basket, or a Baby Carrier, our Sleep Nest, maybe our Perfect Prep - never in a million years did I think a high chair would ever have even factored in. Our high chair has been more than just a high chair for us though. The NOMI High Chair is unlike any other high chair on the market; it’s more luxurious, with a focus on minimalism and style while still being durable and long lasting. It’s a dream chair, put bluntly. Before Harrison was even born, I’d spied the chair on Ash’s Instagram, and I was determined that this would be the one we would buy. This is no mean feat, Ash could sell ice to a polar bear if the ice was picture d with either of her children, but alas, the ball was now rolling. After settling on the chair, the big step for us was weighing it up with the price tag - which in comparison to the Ikea best which happened to be number two on our list, was hefty.