So when I have a free moment

I am enjoying reading a series of blogs at the moment, in between baby raising, keeping the house clean and my mister fed. This is what I find myself drawn to once I am free

Bright wishes
Eight days a week - which made me a little broody .... err hello 10 week old missus (?!?!)
As always, Smile and Wave
Sunny with a chance of sprinkles

And my friend's blogs
Katy - who just had a baby with her husband James. Aside from my baby girl of course, she is my favourite new friend for Belle. Our household has a cough cold at the moment so I haven't met Olivia yet but I know that when I do I am going to be amazed at the size difference.

Plus of course, my little sister. She is back at uni for her Master's degree but she came down last weekend to meet Belle and it was so beautiful. There is something so heart warming seeing the people you love together. I am positive Belle loved having someone else around to look at - plus Stacey takes so many pictures I get to remember bits I might have missed.

Some more thoughts on babies

I didn't think I was the sort of person to go back to work after having a baby, but I am beginning to understand more why people decide to.
At the moment, my life is completely Belle and I am ok with that for now. As she grows I am getting more and more time to do things - that's just cleaning for now.
In her morning nap the other day I ordered all the grandparents presents, which was good timing otherwise they might not have made it!!!
I am not sure what made me talk about my thoughts, possibly this is for future me thinking things are tough and remembering the nice developments I see everyday. To remind myself it's never as bad as you think and tomorrow really is another day.

My baby is 2 months old

How did that happen?!

I have read a lot of mummy blogs that discuss the passing of time with their children as being so quick and almost unreal. I mean I remember so vividly being overdue with Isabelle and thinking I would be the world's first 10 month pregnancy! Yet here we are, starting to sleep well at night and developing so much everyday.

At the moment Belle is asleep, she is fighting day time sleeps and getting more of her personality each day. We now have a stroppy cry and an angry suck on the dummy. She pretty much has control of her head now until she gets tired and then its just laziness!

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?!