Blessed

*Another one of those personal posts that I share because I feel like its my therapy. I was reading this blog when I realised how much progress I have made in myself and I feel like when I get my blog made into keepsake books I want to remember patience and perseverance paid off!*

I have written here before about PCOS and how I felt about that - being a 20 year old relatively newly wed discovering having children might require medical assistance, dealing with my own personal feelings about all of that side of things. But really just how I felt complete and incomplete at exactly the same time.

Andy and I are made for us, by whatever force that is - God, Spiritual or fate. Whatever, Andy and I are just custom made for each other.

So when I fell pregnant in January and we started this whole new journey together I wasn't sure how to feel. Sounds crazy because having children was always on the cards for us, having children young was also very likely to be on the cards for us seen as we were married at 19. But this bit was supposed to be difficult, I varied between feeling scared and completely in awe of being pregnant.

Throughout my pregnancy I have talked about feeling ungrateful for this blessing I am carrying because its hard work. It is still hard work and I don't believe I will look back on my pregnancy with completely rose tinted glasses and say I loved it, but I love our child and that's what has made me realise as hard as it has been at times, I would do it all over again. I would change things, I would change my attitude towards certain aspects (!!) but when we finally meet our baby I know I would do it all over again and more if that was necessary.

How do I not feel completely overwhelmed by that?! I don't know, this acceptance just sits better than the guilt I have felt. Past tense now thank fully. It was a part of the process for me. Now I am ready to share so much more with Andy and experience a whole new aspect of our relationship and personalities. I am excited for christmas as a family of three, I am excited just to be a family of three! I know that whatever is coming its how it should be and I am so, so happy to be at this stage in my life.

FREE button swap

Since last month this little space has come on leaps and bounds! I have gone from 3 GFC followers to currently 78!! Which is amazing! I have had over a 1000 views this passed month alone so this is definitely a growing space to be a part of!

I have made a separate page that contains all of the information for you to browse :)

Basically the reason for me wanting to hold a button swap is that I get to find more bloggers out there with similar interests.

By using passionfruit ads I am taking the management out of it - best of all it is free to host an ad swap through them! How does it get any better?! By using code HBE at the checkout its all free!! I also have a post coming up about how to set a swap up - it is so simple, but if you do have any questions feel free to leave me a comment below!

So if you think it is something you might be interested in take a look at this page and we can go from there. If you would prefer to discuss things just leave me a message with your email address and I will get back to you. I am due the 11th of September so if things take a couple days to sort out my end please forgive me!!

Not a craving as such

I am kinda in love with cookies at the moment....

Not great considering baby doesn't need the gunk and I certainly don't after not being that active for 9 months.

Still, I thought I would share why I seem to be so obsessed at the moment.....

Potato chip cookies - I am such a savory girl at heart that the thought of these just makes me so excited!
Same for Emma's Chocolate chip and sea salt cookies. They just look so delish I want to eat them all!!

Trouble is I know if I make one batch not only will I eat them all, I know I wont be able to stop myself from making them.

I did give in and make a more traditional batch which turned into a tray bake!! Oooops.

Tasted good though!!

Impromptu date night

Last night, Andy and I put our laptops to one side and left our phones in the kitchen to have some us time. 

 

We ordered in pizza!!!!

(How naughty is that?!!?)

We ate too much, we then ate sweets and chocolate....

We watched We bought a Zoo and really enjoyed it! Luckily we don't live too far so we are hoping to go there once the baby is a bit bigger. I think we even have pictures of me as a toddler by the tigers of this zoo so it would be lovely to have something similar for our children. :D

My latest interests #8

I haven't been out as much this week because I am in a bit of pain with the weight of the baby in my pelvis now. So I have spent quite a lot of time finishing little bits and searching the internet! Yay for latest interests!

I have also been blessed with visits from friends and made my due date date so that I am not completely depressed should this baby not appear!! But I am making myself walk, hoover and bounce on the birthing ball as much as possible to get things going.

• Amazon Prime's free trial has been a great experience so far, I signed up to get hubbys books delivered before he starts back at College.. These college days (9am-7pm) will be the first time I am left alone with the baby!!!! As long as you remember to cancel it within the 30 day period you are not charged which means a month of free next day delivery!
• We have been invited to a Boden Party week after next week, it's poor timing for me because I am not where I want to be with my body so I don't want to be buying new clothes!! But their baby selection is so adorable its unreal. The first time we went to a Boden Party we brought these dungarees in grey so that they could be used for a boy with greens and a girl with purples. 
• Since being home I have been cooking a lot more and trying to keep us on track with our new budget. So I have been saving up glass jars. I am not entirely sure what to do with them. I know that I would like to give one to every family member decorated in some way at christmas just because I like them! I looked to pinterest for some inspiration and came up with a good set of ideas, Idea 1, Idea 2, Idea 3, I can imagine my sister having this in her house!
• I really love this idea for a print. I am sure I will be something with this for my home - our downstairs toilet wall is ready for these meaningful prints. Just got to get my butt in gear! 

Weeks 35 - 38

I have been enjoying the last 3 weeks of maternity leave, I can feel my belly changing shape and moving down lower. At my last midwife appointment I was told that baby was 2/5 engaged - I was really excited because first time babies don't usually come out from being engaged! I have been getting dinners frozen, house tidied and just the crafty bits I wanted to make time for done.

Luckily enough for me, I even got to have another scan to check the position of the baby for the home birth. The heart and spine were so clear it was unreal! There is such a massive difference between each scan that having one this late in my pregnancy showed an actual baby.... not like the little bean of 12 weeks. Chubbier than the little human at 20 weeks.

This week is my 38 week appointment so I am excited to know what is happening.It could be anytime now!! I am hoping its any time from September (to do with schooling in the UK)

But you will probably see things slow down a little around this space whilst I take some guilt free time away from everything and meet this mister or miss! I have things planned and obviously you can follow my instagram @njk12.

35 weeks - resting my swollen feet

36 weeks - daddy having some tummy time

37 weeks - full term! And feeling it

38 weeks - just looking forward to being able to bend again

So what do you think girl or boy?!

New cards

Over the weekend I managed to finally find time to make 2 thank you cards and a get well soon card for some sweet family that have sent gifts for the baby. So I wanted to make sure they felt appreciated!

This is the get well soon card, its for a man so I never know how much to decorate it!

We had a relaxed weekend, I had some back pain but it turned out to be nothing. Kinda disappointing!! Baby can turn up any time now so hopefully its soon!!