My latest interests #12

I am finding my feet a little more now and think that the blog is going to be a hobby but not something I put lots of pressure on myself to organise. I love having an interest that is for me that I can do from my sofa/bed depending on Belle. I also appreciate having something else to talk to Andy about, whilst I might not find time for craft or baking as much any more I think that finding the ideas and keeping them ready to go when I am able is very practical for me!

Belle is a lovely soul but she isn't into a routine just yet, breastfeeding takes up most of our time and I am getting better at doing things one handed! Belle is someone who likes to be held and in the middle of the action, she is holding her head up more and more (4 weeks baby girl - slow down!) she is also having more and more awake time where she is alert and interested in our faces and the world around her. It has been a pleasure helping her grow this far and I am overwhelmed by how quickly she changes and time passes.

• I am very interested in creating something from these for christmas. Seems that christmas is creeping up on me quicker than I would like!! 
• This forms another part of my christmas gift idea, anyone sensing a slight theme?!?!
• Now that Isabelle is almost 5 weeks old I am keen to step up my exercise plans, I have this 30 day shred dvd that I keep meaning to do, I read some great reviews and I just need to get my butt moving. I am hoping by being publicly honest about not doing this yet I can motivate myself. I have done well so far just by watching what I am eating and trying to get in at least 1 walk a day - big or small. 
• I started a patch work quilt for Andy back in 2010 (??!?!) I got it out when I was about 38 weeks pregnant and couldn't get around on the floor comfortably enough to finish it, so with his birthday/christmas coming up I am hoping I can get to it soon. I really like the colours of this one, but I did choose a similar block pattern to this one, the one I am working on is also bigger than a double I would guess its more King/Queen size. Andy wanted it big! Maybe one day I will be able to make each family member a quilt too. I love quilts. 

Currently ... adjusting

So whilst I get used to this new little lady and the way our little life is turning out I figured I would take stock of how I am coping and opening up the discussion for ideas....

As I am breastfeeding for as long as possible I am sat in the house quite a lot, at first it drove me insane not doing anything. So I got into Vampire Diaries a little later than everyone else I admit but it was in my on demand as the full 3 series so I knew if I liked it I would be able to spend a few days obsessing over it!! Now that series 4 has started here real time, I have to wait a week to get my next fix. Which is kind of nice, my weeks aren't really broken up other than Andy being around at the the weekend.

I have completely lost my appetite since giving birth, I don't know why or whether it's normal but eating is something I actually have to fore myself to do. Having quick food around - soups and pre chopped veg has been a necessity. Most days I don't get to breakfast until 11am because she is on off feeding and dozing. So I am all skewed with timings of eating. I have definitely found that I can cope more now that I am making eating a priority, feeding Isabelle has also become a little easier since my body is getting the energy it needs.

My wardrobe has also become quite limited to stretchy tops, button down tops and vest tops to make feeding easier. All of these just get paired with jeans so I don't feel very inspiring at the moment! I would like to get into more dresses but one job I really need to tackle is my wardrobe, I have so many clothes again at the moment it is ridiculous. As I am trying to loose weight I am not keen on doing much just yet but like I said I don't wear a lot of what I have because of feeding. Hopefully around christmas time I will have more of an idea!

I am mostly adjusting to my new lack of independence, it has been very strange accepting that Isabelle is mine and relies heavily on me. Everything I do is in Isabelle's best interests and will effect how and who she develops into. Such a crazy massive responsibility!! I love it. I love her.

Continuing MIA

I am still enjoying every new second with this little miss.
She makes the funniest noises and we can already see her personality coming through.

Isabelle is even trying to hold her head up - she is 3 weeks old!! It's not fair, my little baby doesn't seem to stay a baby baby for so long.....

We are still finding our feet with breastfeeding. We have made it this far so I am very pleased with myself but for us it's something we review all of the time! It is hard going!

I am still learning to juggle everything at the moment so this space will continue to be maintained in small doses for now. Just until I know what I would like and how much of me I can get back!!

Definitely worth it though, she is a love.

The responsibility of choosing a name for our baby

Choosing a name for our child has been the most difficult task for so many reasons. I am trying to take  the task seriously because we have to be happy with the name for the rest of the child's life, but also our child needs to like their name really too.

Reading this article got me thinking about the names we were considering and it made me look into it a little more.

The summary of this article is that names are not a guarantee to any sort of life, but there is research that would suggest a name can make things easier for them.

So what does that mean for us, choosing a name?!

Most successful boys names
Most successful girls names

Obviously the lists above are only from one source. Fortunately we have names on birth of these lists, but will I let this influence our decision?

How do you choose a baby's name?!

Pre-Baby Bucket List round up

You might remember my original Pre-Baby bucket list from back in July when baby's arrival seemed like a long way off.

Now that baby is here I wanted to revisit my intentions and see what we got up to over the last few months!

Eat out
We didn't do as much of this as I would have liked but we did enough! I think my next challenge will be getting out with the baby in tow.

Visit the cinema
We went once to see Brave and it was quite funny, unfortunately there wasn't a lot in the cinema we even fancied seeing and with the cost of it these days I wasn't happy doing it for the sake of it. We did watch quite a few DVD's and films at home though - no pausing, so I feel this was achieved!

Sort the Garden
We made progress but truthfully it's not completely sorted. We will keep plowing on but its going to take time!

Decorate/Personalise the baby room
Obviously we still didn't know come the end what gender our baby was, through the nursery series I feel like I added a few personal touches that I would still like to add to now that we know the name. 

Build the blog plans
Interestingly I have used my maternity leave so far to make a lot of progress with the blog and building its readership, however I am reconsidering what I actually want this space to be about and I think this is something I will continue to debate for a while because I can and dont need to make a decision yet!

Hold a baby shower
I didn't even manage to have the mixed barbecue I was considering because I didn't get myself organised and I just felt like it wasn't something I would actually like to do. 

Wedding cards
Anyone following me on instagram knows I have been successful in finding time to do this and I am so relieved it is done! 

Overall, I think we did pretty well to achieve the things we wanted to. I think I might like to make another little bucket list type of thing for my intentions with the baby - trying baby sign and massage for example, but I think for now getting to know each other is the best priority.