Harry's Room Re-organisation...

Hey

So yesterday I decided that I needed to organise Harry's room as we got his new furniture all ready and built and it just needed putting into place and filling with clothes.

So I popped Harry in his little soft car and he sat and watched while I did the cleaning, sorting and organising of his things. I managed to hang most of his clothes in the wardrobe, and pack away his clothes in the drawers.  I've also sorted all his cloth nappies, added inserts to them and got them ready to use. He's got a few that are still too big and I could really do with some more inserts for the smaller setting on the nappy.

When I was bought the nappies I was given a few different kinds. I really liked the pocket nappies so bought a few more of those and thats what I have been using. I was also bought some prefold styles with wraps, but I just coudln't get along with these so I have decided to sell them on. Seen as I need more inserts and seem to have about 20 of the nappy inners for the wrap nappies I'm gonna use a handful and make some inserts for my pocket nappy using them. Gives me an excuse to dig out the sewing machine and means I don't have to buy anymore.

So now all Harry's toys and clothes pretty much have a place and his room looks a lot better for it. His cot can actually be used when he's ready to move in there now as I've found a place for all the things that were put in there to get them out of the way after Christmas.

I have to pay for fuel? What!!

Here's a little picture of Harry yesterday sat in his car next to his fuel pump wardrobe. He didn't seem to happy about having to fuel the car though!!!

Donna
x x

First Jabs and Early mornings...

Hey

Well I never thought that I'd ever be a morning person. I don't think I truely am a morning person still but I'm slowly getting used to the idea of being up and about before 6am.

This morning I've managed to do a load of washing and clean the kitchen all before 6am, as well as feed Harry and myself. The only downside to this is I'm pretty much knackered by 7pm and want to go to bed!! This is around the time that Harry is having his bath and settling down for the night, so I try keeping myself occupied until his 9pm feed and then we both head to bed for a few hours sleep.

Harry had his first jabs on Tuesday and his 8 week check up. His immunisations involved 2 jabs, one in each leg and an oral vaccination. He seemed to like the taste of the oral vaccination. There were 2 nurses so they did the jabs at the same time. He seemed OK until he realised they'd jabbed him then cried for a couple of minutes. All in all it wasn't as bad as I expected and he didn't seem to be traumatised by the event. The following day he was really cranky and I didn't think I'd ever get him settled though.

He also went to get weighed yesterday at the baby clinic. He's now 8lbs 14oz, he's dropped a line on the chart and only put on 2oz in the last 3 weeks so I have to take him back nextweek to keep it monitored, but they assured me it was nothing to worry about at this stage. So hopefully by next week he'll have put on a little more and be back on track.

Well I'm going to go get us both washed and dress ready for baby group and finish tidying up before we head out for the day.

Donna
x x

Baby Swimming Lessons

Hey

David and I decided that we wanted Harry to get used to the water and swimming as soon as he could so that he wouldn't be afraid of the water and also because we both like to swim so didn't want him to miss out.

I looked into our local pool and found that they do baby lessons on a Tuesday morning, so I rang to find out what we needed to do to get him in the class. All we had to do was turn up and pay the fee on the day (£3.25). So we went a couple of weeks ago, all three of us set off and got down to the pool. Unfortunately the teacher was off ill so we didn't actually get to do the lesson but still had a dip in the water. Harry wasn't too sure at first but he seemed to settled down and we even dunked him under a couple of times.

So I couldn't go last week as I was at the doctors, but we went again this morning and the teacher was there. We did some floating on their backs and then on their fronts with a little teddy float under their chest. Harry did so well and was the youngest baby there by about a month, he did start to get a little tired towards the end and I took him out of the pool after 20 minutes, the lesson is only 30 minutes long and the teacher did tell me to take him out whenever I thought he'd had enough. I'm looking forward to next week and hopefully doing more in the water with him.

For his swimming lesson I've got him some Huggies Little Swimmers nappies and also a Happy Nappy swim nappy to go over the top of that. He then has a little water babies vest to keep him a little warmer so that he can stay in the water for a bit longer. We found that the first time we took him swimming he slept for the majority of that day and this time hasn't been much different. Poor little mite is tired out.

I've been told by a lady at the baby group that Water Babies is supposed to be the  best swim class to take babies to so I may have a look into the price and things of those classes and see about possibly enrolling him into those.

Donna
x x

First Immunisations...

Hey

So today was Harry's first immunisations and I really wasn't looking forward to it. He got his little letter with the appointment on last week and so off we went to the doctors today.

We went in to see the doctor first who checked him over and measured his head. He also checked his hips etc and everything was perfect. Then he sent us on to the nurses who did the immunisations. One oral and two, yes TWO jabs, one in each leg. They did one leg each at the same time. He was all quiet, then bam he screamed!! He settled down after a few minutes and was calm again after that.

The doctor said he may get a little grumpy and crabky this evening and may even have a bit of a tempurature. He's currently got to the cranky/grumpy stage and is napping on and off. I'm catching up with some blogging and computer bits while he's napping. I feel this could be a very long night. To top it all off I'm feeling ill too. I started last Thursday with a sore throat and it's progressed to a full on cough and cold. This could make it an even longer night!!

Donna
x x

Fisher Price Discover 'n Grow kick and play piano gym...

Hey

I've got another little review for you today. This time it's the play mat that Harry was given for Christmas by my mum. She bought him the Fisher Price Discover 'n grow kick and play piano gym. There's the fabric playmat with a piano attached to the bottom and an arch with dangling toys.

View from top showing piano

The piano can be kicked at for babies and the turns so that when baby is old enough they can sit up right and play the piano. Whilst laying down they can bat around at the toys hanging from the archway and theres also a nice big mirror in the centre. the four dangling toys can be removed and change the order or added to a pram etc if you want to take the toys elsewhere. The arch will also lay at the top of the mat for tummy time play.

The little piano can be set so that the individual keys play a note or play a tune and there's also flashing lights on this part. It's very well made and I can see this lasting a very long time.

Harry absolutely loves this and it's one of the best things he's been bought. It's a handy place for him to have some tummy time and then move him on to his back while he bats around at the toys. He's taken much more of an interest in the toys and piano recently as he's become more aware of the things around him. He sits and stares and giggles at himself in the mirror and squeels when his feet hit the piano and it makes a noise.

From bottom showing the toys

The mat can be removed from the frame to be washed and is nice and soft for baby. It's also got a lovely design on it.

I would really recommend this for any new baby as Harry does seem to enjoy it a lot and I can see the older he gets the more aware he will be that by him kicking his feet it causes musci to play etc.

Again this was bought for him, I think it came from Amazon and was around £35.

Donna
x x

Fisher Price Woodsy Friends Bouncer...

Hey

Today I thought I'd do a little review on the bouncer chair that we use for Harry. I looked into a lot of bouncer chairs before he was born and added this to my wish list as it had some great reviews and I really liked the look of it. We chose the Fisher Price Woodsy Friends bouncer. It was actually bought for us in the end by my Dad and his wife, so I'm not sure on the actual price they paid but it is still on Amazon for around £35.

Woodsy Friends Bouncer

I really like the design on the fabric and it's really soft and snuggly for the baby. It has a 3 point harness to keep the baby secure so they don't fall out or escape, which comes in handy now my little guy has started getting quite wriggly!!

The chair has vibrations to soothe the baby, Harry wasn't so keen on this to start off with but over the past few days he doesn't mind it as much and it will settle him back to sleep when he starts to stir.

The toybar can be removed, so you can get baby in and out easily and just clips into place when ready. It's a sturdy fitting and has been removed and put back in many times over the last 8 weeks so I'm very cinfident this will last and won't easily break. There's an owl toy on the end, which when pulled hoots and then plays 2 musical tunes. Next to this is another dangling toy and then another on the side. The 2 other toys have removable bits as well. Now Harry's that little bit older he is starting to bat around at the toys and taking an interest in them.

The head rest part can also be removed by a velcro tab at the back so you can lower it or raise it depending on where babies head rests.

It's also obviously a bouncey chair and the frame, although it looks quite thin is very sturdy. Overall I'm really pleased with this chair and would deffinately recommend it to other mums and mums to be. Harry seems to approve of it too and has spent many hours happily sat in there whilst watching us get little jobs done.  The cover is also machine washable, a must for all baby products I have found as they tend to dribble and spit up over everything!!

Donna
x x

New furniture...

Hey

Yesterday me and Harry have had a day out with Grandad. It's was a lovely day, I do enjoy our little days out with grandad.

We just went for a wander round a nice garden centre at Barton Grange and stopped for a cuppa and a cake (and a bottle of milk for Harry). Then on the way back we called in at an auction shop place that David and I went to a couple of weeks ago. While we were there before I saw a little furniture set that I really liked and wanted for Harry's room. It's a wardrobe, tall set of drawers and a little bedside cabinet, all done out like a fuel pump/toolbox type thing that would go with a racing car bed. They didn't have the bed in the shop and obviously Harry is far too small to even need a bed for quite a while yet so we went back yesterday to see if it was still there.

Luckily for me it was and we bought it. So it's upstairs now ready to be built up and arranged in Harry's room. At the moment in his room is his cotbed, a small storage bench, set of pine drawers and a bookcase. So the drawers and storage bench are coming out to make room for his new furniture. The new drawers are quite deep so even though there's only four drawers there will be plenty of room for his little things. It's also got a wardrobe to start hanging his little clothes up, I've been starting to run out of room and a wardrobe would come in handy. Theres a little rail at the top and a couple of shelves underneath, then his little bedside cabinet. So plenty of storage for his ever growing possesions.

So today I'll be making them up and moving things around in our spare room to accomodate the other chest of drawers. Then I can load up his little drawers and wardrobe with all his tiny little clothes. I'll post some pictures once it's all ready and in place.

Donna
x x

Packing for Harry's first weekend away

Hey

So today I've been thinking about this weekend. I'll be away for the weekend and obviously taking Harry with me. I'll be going on Friday and coming back on Sunday afternoon. So the longest I've been out with Harry is a day at the Trafford centre and I had both my mum and David there with me.

So I'm having that little panic about what I'll actually need to take with me, as I've never stayed away with him over night! I've decided seen as I'll be away for 2 nights that I'll use disposable nappies, otherwise I'll have to take a load of nappies with me and have smelly dirty ones hanging around in my bag until I get home.

That's nappies easily sorted, obviously need wipes and nappy bags. But what clothes do I take, how many of each, how many outfits will he possibley go through? I'm sure if I don't take way too many he'll end up having loads of accidents and making loads of mess so I'll run out. So I'll need sleep suits, vests and day time outfits. Bottles and formula, blankets, pram, bedding for mums moses basket, sterilising stuff for the bottles and the list goes on...

My poor little car is gonna be full of baby stuff and probably wont have room for me and Harry!!! Well off to pack a bag for tomorrows outing with Grandad. Takes lots of planning this taking a baby out for the day.

Donna x x

Feeling very happy right now...

Hey

So just a random post today. David's gone off to work so I've been in all afternoon, just me, little Harry and Biscuit the cat!

Today is Harry's second day on formula and he seems to be taking it very well, he's settled so much better even though he did have an unsettled night. He was fussy but not hungry through the night though so I can't really blame that on switching him to formula. With him being more settled I've managed to get stuff done round the house.

He's been happy watching me from his bouncer or playing on his playmat. He's really become more alert recently, and was whacking at the toys on the arch over his playmat today. He was also looking at himself in the mirror on there and smiling at himself. It was really funny watching him pull faces at himself. He even grabbed hold of the detachable toy from his bouncer and was holding on to that too. I'm so pleased he's happy and coming along well. I felt to happy earlier just watching him kicking around, it makes everything else seem so trivial and I just want to give him the world.

Speaking of giving him the world, I may have gone a little mad on eBay with stuff for him. Today I have bought him a swim body wrao to keep him warmer when we go to his swimming lessons which we'll be doing hopefully from next week and also a Mamas and Papas tummy time cushion. This is to help when he is having tummy time which builds up the strength in their muscles and neck etc.

He was really hodling his head up early too during tummy time, so with that in mind I've been watching some jumperoos on eBay, one which ends tonight. Hopefully I'll win that and can pick it up at the weekend as it's over near my mums house and I'm heading over there this weekend. This weekend Stacey is picking up her wedding dress and we are having our bridesmaid dress fitting. So bit of a girly weekend, and I'm sure Harry will be spoilt with all the girly attention too....

While I wait for this jumperoo auction to end I'm going to list a few of my own items on to eBay. De-cluttering the house is such hard work and so time consuming!! Hopefully a lot of it will sell and it will a) make some space in the house and b) make us a little bit of extra money, and I'll try my best not to spend it all on eBay buying things for Harry!!

That's all for now, Harry's sleeping at the side of me so I'm off to get these listings and bits and bobs done before he wakes up wanting his next feed.

Donna
x x

Baby Jumperoo

Hello

Harry was 7 weeks old on Friday and he's a lot more alert and quzical now. He doesn't seem as content sat in his bouncer chair and much prefers to be on his playmat whacking his toys, but even his playmat seems to gte a little dull for him now.

He's not overly keen on tummy time either so he's either in his bouncy chair or laid on his back. So he's been a bit more cranky when he's playing as I think he's getting bored. Yesterday he was only happy when I was holding him bouncing him up in the air as if he was jumping. He was all full of smiles whilst I was doing this, but after an hour my arms were killing me and if I carry on with it I'm gonna have arms like Arnie!!

With this in mind I've been looking into jumperoos. They seem to say in the guidlines touse them once baby has full head control. I think Harry is pretty much there with his head control. We don't really worry about making sure we're holding his head anymore and he quite happily lifts his head at tummy time and looks around when we are holding him. So I think it's about time we look into buying one for him. This means I've got a lot of looking at reviews and prices ahead of me, the ones I've seen so far really don't come cheap! Who knew tiny little people would need so much stuff and the stuff they want is never cheap!

Any recommendations, please leave a comment on ones I should take a look at or avoid!

Donna
x x

Bottle or Breast...

Hello

So today I'm thinking a lot about feeding Harry. So far I've breastfed him pretty much excusively, with the odd bottle when he just wasn't getting full or I was exhausted.

Over the last few days he's become quite fussy when feeding and screaming when he's feeding so I'm wondering if I should move to formula. I gave him a bottle last night and then another this morning after feeding him myself and he drank the whole bottle so was obviously still hungry. He seems much more settled after having the bottle.

I did consider expressing and using that in abottle but having tried expressing yesterday I don't think that would be an option. I only managed to express 60ml and he took a 120ml bottle!!

Shall see how it goes over the next few days and probably combination feed for a while to ease the switch over. He deffinately seems happier on the bottle though. He had his bottle this morning and another about an hour ago and now he's snoozing in his bouncy chair. Not looking forward to telling the health visitor that one, she seems very pro breastfeeding and dead against the bottle!

Donna
x x

Ebay Addiction...

Hello

Is it just me out there that has an eBay addiction? Please tell me it's not just me. Well it can't just be me can it, as people keep having bidding wars against me!!

I'm currently on the look out for a new changing bag. I got the freebie one from joining the Boots parenting club and I also got one that matches my pram. The Boots one is far too small to carry all the things needed for a newborn and the one that matches my pram is loverly and a nice size but the top flaps over and fastens with velcro. This velcro doesn't hold very well if you start filling the bag and ends up coming open. So I'm looking for a nice sized bag with a good zip or buckle type fastening that won't come open if I fill the bag!

It's a shame as I really like the fact that my bag matches my pram :( there is one that is a bit bigger with a zip that also matches but I'll be damned if I can find one for sale! A lady at the baby group i go to has one that she got free with her pram about a year ago. Now nowhere has one grrr.

So off to ebay I go to find something nice without a huge price tag. I've also been looking for little clothes for Harry on there. They grow so quick that I don't want to go spend a fortune on cool little outfits that he'll only wear once or twice before they get too small. So far I've bought his cloth nappies and a couple of bundles of jeans and tops on there for him.

My watch list is starting to get too long to keep track of. Good job I like hunting for bargains. If I had to buy all this stuff at full price I'd be bankrupt!

Anyway, I have items ending soon that need some last minute bids placing....

Donna
x x

Harry's Birth Story

Hello

So I've seen a few blogs dotted about the web mentioning birth stories. As this blog is intended to be about my cards, craft projects and babies (well baby for now!) I thought I'd share my story.

My original due date was the 23rd November, this came and went! Over the last week of my pregnancy I'b been having spikes in my blood pressure so was been monitored every couple of days, I was also booked in for an induction for 3.30pm on Friday 29th if I hadn't gone into labour by then. I actually started having contractions at about 8pm on Wednesday 27th November. As this is my first baby I wasn't really sure what to do so I called the delivery suite and was told to let them know when the contractions got closer together and more regular. They were about 3 in 10 minutes by around 2am on the Thursday morning when I rang the delivery suite again. They advised us to go in to be checked over, which we did. Unfortunately I was only 2cm dialated so they told me to go home and rest.

We did come home but I didn't rest very much. It was finally happening and I was going to have my little boy sometime soon. The actual birth part didn't worry me at all, I think the biggest worry was that I wouldn't know what to do with him when I brough him home!!

The contractions gradually got worse and worse and by about 5am on Friday morning I was in agony. David rang the delivery suite and told them I was coming in, (no asking this time) and off we went. It took us about 30mins to get me up and into the car as the pain was really bad at this point. Luckily when we got to the hospital I was already nearl 5 cm dialated so I was there to stay. A lovely midwife called Jeni came in and really calmed me down and helped me with some breathing techniques and even brought us some toast for me and David to keep our strength up. David rang my mum who had come over the night before so she could get to the hospital. She was going to stay just up until near the end so David and I could be the only ones there when our little boy came into the world, but towards the end I really didn't want her to leave so she stayed through the whole birth.

I managed for a little while without pain relief and then asked for gas and air. My intention was to have as little pain releif as possible, with an epidural being a real last resort. I lasted most of the way through the labour on just my gas and air and very near the end asked for the remi drip as I really needed that little extra. This was a god send and really did the trick.

David noticed that the monitor kept showing a drop in the babies heart rate inbetween my contractions, so after a chat with the nurse, she went off to get a doctor, and then another doctor. Before I knew what was happening I was being told that the baby needed to be delivered within the next 2-3 pushes or they would have to assist. I really didn't like the sound of them assisting and managed to push the baby out myself after a couple of pushes. It turns out I had an infection, so they wanted the baby out as quickly as possible to make sure he either didn't get the infection or could be treated straight away if he already had the infection.

David cut the cord and after a few cuddles from me, David and my mum baby Harry was whisked off to be given antibiotics as a precaution and to make sure he didn't develope whatever infection I had. After a clean up and nice shower, Harry was back with me and we were taken up to the ward. I stayed in for a couple of days and was allowed home on the Sunday.

We had a fair few visitors at the hospital and it felt great to finally be home as a new little family. We seemed to have settled into quite a nice routine now and althought everything doesn't always go to plan, things are running quite smoothly. We manage to get up and dressed each day and to all our appointments on time so we must be doing something right! I.m even managing to keep the house somewhat tidy and the washing is being done too...

David was with us the first week and then had to go back to work so my mum came over for the second week to help out. Then David had time off over Christmas so it was lovely having those first few weeks together watching him grow and he changed so much. He's still changing everyday, I can't believe how much he can change in the blink of an eye!!

So that's the story so far, I'm sure there will be lots more tales of Harry and what he's been getting up to, but I'll leave it there for now. Here's a little picture of him when he was born...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harry just after being born 29/11/13

He had to have a canula put in his hand for the antibiotics, hence his arm being all bandaged up. Poor little mite. This has to be one of my favourite photos taken on the day he was born. He just looks so tiny and cute!

Donna
x x

Cloth reusable nappies

Hello

So since I found out I was pregnant with Harry I was really keen on trying to use reusable nappies. With a search of google I found a lot of information on cloth nappies and how they've become so much easier to use than in previous years.

Whenever I seemed to mention my plans to people they frowned and said it would be too much work with a new baby. I wasn't really put off by this but more spurred on to prove them wrong. I looked into a lot of different brands and styles of nappies and was intending on going to a nappy library after Harry was born so that I could try a few different kinds and see which ones would work best. However I was lucky enough to be given quite a few nappies as gifts from relatives so haven't actually needed to buy them after all.

When I came out of hospital I used disposables for a few weeks as Harry was quite small and most cloth nappies that I had were to fit from 8lbs, so they were just too big. Over Christmas I tried them again on him and they fit much better so we gave them a go. The first couple of nappies did have a bit of a leak but I think this was because they were still a little too big around the leg area.

After using the nappies now for a few weeks I really like them. I will be continuing to use these pretty much full time, with the odd round of disposables if we go away or visiting etc so that I don't have to worry about the washing and carrying around dirty nappies for a few days.

I had a few wrapstyles/ prefolds and pocket nappies and found that I really do prefer the pocket nappy. This is a good thing as I seem to have the most of these. Most of the ones I was given are known as 'the ebay cheapies' as they come from ebay and are quite cheap! But I found these really good and actually prefer them to some of the more expenisve brands.

A small selection of my pocket nappies

So above is a selection of my cloth pocket nappies, I have quite a few different patterns. I also just received a parcel yesterday with anoth 6 designs!! These are the ebay cheapies and I really do like them, they have the poppers so they can be made smaller for newborns and grow with the child. With this type of nappy you use inserts and pop them inside the pocket part of the nappy. The you simply put them on as you would a disposable and popper them up round the waist.

One of my new designs

Above is one of the new designs that arrived yesterday and is a minky type fabric on the outside with the cute owl pattern. These ones are dudeybaba nappies and I really love this brand. From all the ones I've tried these have been the best to keep everything in. It all really depends on the size and shape of your baby though as theres some nappies that fit better on different kinds of body shape.

These particular nappies were £13.40 for 5 nappies and when you bought 5 you got one free, so I actaully got 6 nappies for this price. The postage was free and you did need to buy the inserts, I didn't need any more inserts (just more pretty nappies) but if I had they would have cost a little extra.

I've washed all the nappies I have a few times now and they've come up really clean and dry really well hung over the airer over night. The inserts can take a little longer than over night to dry but as I have quite a few of these this hasn't really bothered me. By the time I've run out of inserts the next lot has been washed and dried and ready to go again.

I find it easiest if I popper the nappies and add the inserts as I take them off the airer and then they go on the shelf in the babies room ready to be used at changing time. Otherwise I'd be fumbling round with a wriggly baby whilst trying to stuff inserts into a nappy. Not a good look!!

If anybody is thinking of going down the cloth route I really think it is worth a go. The start up costs aren't that big, especially if you look around and with the ebay cheapies you really can't go wrong. Plus with the cost of disposable nappies these days it doesn't take long before you've made a saving. I have bought a few packs of disposables while I was waiting for Harry to grow into them and for a box of asda own brand was around £6. They only lasted about a week!!

So here's to keeping up with the cloth and saving some pennies whilst helping the enviroment!

Donna
x x

Sock Monkeys and Bears...

Hello again

So following on from this mornings post about crafty projects, here's a couple more that I'd like to make/give a go.

I've made a couple of bears in the past and would like to get back into making them. I used mohair for the previous bears and got some really good results and the people I gave them to seemed to really like them. So that's a must on the list of 'to do's'. I've still got a fair bit of fur left so thats something I can make a start on sooner rather than later as the only thing i'd really need to get is probably a few joints for the arms, legs and head. I already have a few though so would be able to make a start. I've done a couple of small bears and one bigger bear and even though they are quite fiddley I did find the smaller bears easier to make!

I'm hoping to have a bit of a handmade Christmas this year so bears would be a good make for the ladies (bar 2 who already have one) so I'd better make a start on these in order to get them all made in time without any last minute manic sewing going on.

Sock monkeys are something I haven't done before but they do look really cute. I've found a few tutorials on various websites and they don't look incredibley hard to make so that's another thing I'd like to have a go at. Maybe sock monkeys would be a good idea for some of the blokes? Obviously I can make them out of mens socks in manly colours, or even in their favourite football club colours with a team pin badge on them and a nice bottle of beer. I think that would make a really nice gift packaged up in a nice little box, it's also something a bit more personal than a boring pair of socks or box of smellies that the blokes in our lives normally get!!

I'm trying to put a lot more thought and effort into Christmas this year (I know it's only January and we've just got over Christmas, but if I'm making things I need to start early) as last Christmas was all a bit last minute and I felt I didn't put in the effort that I should have. To start with I'm normally sorted, shopped and wrapped by  the end of November, but with little Harry due at the end of November Christmas took a back seat. Then when he arrived on the 29th, Christmas took another step back, so present buying and wrapping was all done in a bit of a rush as I was a bit snowed under  with baby duties.

These last couple of posts about crafty projects are probably more of an online 'to do' list than a blog subject but it'll be interesting to look back on this time next year and see how far, if at all I got on with these plans. Here's hoping that I manage to get through most if not all. It's all about setting goals and working towards them after all.

Donna
x x

Crafty projects on the 'to do' list ...

Morning People

I've already been up a couple of hours so thought I'd type up a post and actually try my best to keep this blog going and up to date!

So being on maternity leave has given me a little thinking time, inbetween changing nappies, feeding and changing more nappies!

When I first left on my maternity I had 3 weeks before my due date, I couldn't do much as I felt like a whale and got exhausted very quickly inbetween my bursts of cleaning frenzies. I also went a wekk over due so had a bit of free time to browse blogs and crafty sites for ideas. I came across quite a few baby related craty projects that I really liked the idea of.

I found a really nice way of storing baby cards, gather all the cards in size order and cut them all in half down the crease line. Punch 2 holes in each piece and add a couple of binder rings to make them into a lovely little book. I'll be making that one shortly as it seems nice and easy and can fit in around looking after Harry. All thats really needed is a front and back cover. So I just need to buy a couple of binder rings and I can make a start.

The other project I found really appealed to me and I can't wait to get started but unfortunately I'm going to have to wait a little longer before I can make a start. I've always wanted to make a quilt, its been on the to do list forever. It's something I decided long ago that if I ever had a child I would make them a quilt that they could keep and hopefully pass on to their children if they ever have them. Thus becoming a really lovely family heirloom. So when searching for inspiration I found a few people that made a lovely quilt from their babies clothes. I think this is a fantastic idea as it will actually be made from the fabric of the clothes my little boy is wearing right now. All those really nice little outfits that I really don't want to part with but don't really have the room to keep and store will be made into a perfect practical and useful item. It can be laid on babies bed during the day and snuggled up with on a night or for cosy days on the sofa wrapped up watching DVDs. My minds going into over drive with which little outfits I want to use, all the little characters that I can add to it. This little project is obviously not going to be finished (or even started) any time soon as I need to get a good selection of clothes ready before I can do it. I've already enlisted the help of my mum though to give me a hand with making it, she's much better with a sewing machine than I am.

Saying all that it's been a bit emotional this morning as I've sorted through Harry's little sleepsuits. I noticed over the last few days that his little legs have got too long for the newborn and tiny baby sleepsuits that he has, they just don't fit him anymore! I can't believe my tiny little baby doesn't fit in them anymore. How did this happen? So newborn and tiny baby items have been set aside and put in a box, all ready for when I've got enough of  his clothes to sort through and pick out all his special cute items to make the quilt. Then on to a mother and daughter sewing session to make up the quilt. I hope he'll like the fact in years to come that mummy and granny made the quilt for him and mean he keeps hold of it and passes it on. If I have anymore children I'd love to do the same thing again for each one.

I'm quite impressed with my typing skills, all this post one handed with a sleeping baby in my other arm!!

Donna
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Introduction

Hi

Here's a brand new blog to mark the start of a new chapter of my life. There's a lot of things changing in my life at the moment and lots of new and exciting times to come so I thought that a new blog would be a great way of recording them. It's also a good way to be able to easily look back and remember the things I felt and what happened.

So I recently became a mum for the first time. David and I had our first child, little Harry. He was born on Friday 29th November 2013 at 14.43, weighing 6lbs 7oz. He's changed both our lives quite a lot. I didn't realise just how much he would change my life and my whole perspective on life!

Harry is now almost 7 weeks old and the time has just flown by. I'm currently on maternity leave so spend all my time with the little guy. He has a better social calendar than I do, I don't think there has been more than a few days that he hasn't had something going on. Baby groups and appointments.

We decided that we would like him to learn to swim and be confident in water from quite a young age so yesterday intended on taking him to his first swimming lesson. Unfortunately the instructor fell the day before so the class was cancelled, but we did take him to the pool instead. He wasn't so sure at first and did have a few little cries but all in all he seemed to enjoy himself. We dunked him under a few times and he didn't really seem to phased by this either. Infact I think I was more bothered about it than he was. They do say babies can swim when they are born and will swim to the surface if they go under water, this did seem to be the case. David did do most of the dunking at first and I nervously had a go towards the end. The class is on again next week so we shall see how he reacts on the second go, hopefully the instructor will give me some good tips!!

David started a new job for the new year, we have little Harry and there's lots of things we're looking forward to this year. We're hopefully going on our first little fammily holiday, little Harry will be getting Christened and my best friend is getting married.

I'm maid of honour at my best friends wedding, so got a hen party to organise, dress fittings and all those other little duties that need doing. With this in mind I have decided that this is the year that I sort out my weight and get my fitness under control. Lots of walking with the pram should help. The wedding is in August so I'm hoping to use this as a big motivator. To kick start this I joined Slimming World just after the new year, last week was my first weigh in and I lost 2.5lbs, next weigh in is in the morning, but I haven't done as much walking this week and not eaten quite as well so not sure what to expect. Whatever the outcome, next week will be better and I will be slimmer and fitter for the wedding and ready to run around the park and beach after Harry.

Well I think thats a long enough first post so I'll leave it at that. Feel free to follow the blog if you want to see whats going on in my small world.

Donna
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