Christmas 2014 / Welcome 2015!!

So it's that time of year where we start to pull down the Christmas decorations and find places for all the gifts. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year!

For Christmas this year Baby R & I spent Christmas Eve visiting family while Hubby had to work. Christmas day we spent the morning with my side of the family and the afternoon with Hubby's side of the family. It was a really lovely day. Watching Baby R sit and unwrap gifts (well sit on the lap of the person unwrapping the gifts for him) spend time with his cousins, aunties, uncles & grandparents really was magical. I was lucky enough to catch a cold from Baby R so by Christmas dinner I was starting to feel pretty rubbish. So on Boxing Day, Daddy took over Baby duty and Mummy rested. We got our first taste of a Christmas of purchasing more batteries than I've ever bought before. Should have taken out shares in V-Tech, Leapfrog, Fisher Price, Duracell and Energiser. I'd be a rich woman by now! Even the cat is less than impressed with the addition of multiple musical toys!

Originally we planned on spending Baby R's first Christmas at home just the three of us, but my sister, brother in law, niece and nephew who don't live close to us came to stay for Christmas and New Year. So we decided to make it a family occasion instead and I'm really glad we did. It was such a fun and lovely Christmas. For NYE we saw it in with my side of the family, as it won't be long and they will return home. We ate too much food, played party games and watched Baby R playing with his cousins. It seems like in the short time our family have been visiting, the little man has learnt and changed so much!

I started 2015 visiting both sides of the family again and also my best friend ... who is family to me, so I could have just said I spent the day visiting family, how verbose of me. I won't share the intimate details of all the visiting but needless to say it was a lovely start to 2015 and I'm hoping for many more family days and memories in 2015.

So what does 2015 have in store for Blogging Mamma...

Well in a few short months I will be returning to work. My little man will spend more time with his baby sitters than his mummy and that does make me a little sad.

I will be attending my sisters wedding, which I very much look forward to. I'm hoping my little man will be standing by then and manage a little dance with his Mummy.

My little man will turn 1 this year. Another celebration he won't understand, with the best of intentions I will not go over the top, but then will totally spoil him and probably write a blog post about how much of a disaster being sensible was!

Also in 2015 I look forward to spending time with Baby R's cousin who was born just before Christmas and his twin cousins/besties born just before New Year.

How did you spend your Christmas/New Years? What plans do you have for 2015? Let me know in the comments below and as always, thanks for reading! xoxo

Merry Christmas one & All!

Christmas is a time for family and for that reason Blogging Mamma will be taking a break from the blogging & the tweeting for a few days. I am going to enjoy some mince pies, way too much turkey and a truck load of chocolate over the next few days all in the name of Christmas. After two sober Christmas' (due to pregnancy) I am looking forward to a glass or three of wine!

Most importantly I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my little boy and his Daddy. For our little family this is going to be the first Christmas of many and I want to treasure every second and watch every smile, hear every giggle Baby R makes while being surrounded by his nearest and dearest. I want to look back on his first Christmas with fond memories that will last me a life-time, not frustration that my blog wouldn't publish or my tweets wouldn't send!

So Blogging Mamma is signing off, but before I do, I wanted to take this moment to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all have a lovely time, surrounded by those you love. I hope Santa leaves you everything you wish for and I hope the new year brings you happiness & health.

As my Christmas present from you to me, please go and read the following two blogs. Both mean a lot to me personally. Leave feedback, say hello, comments make me happy! 

Dear Baby R - Open letter from me to my son on his 1st Christmas.

Review of Paediatric First Aid Course - my review of a first aid course provided by Spearhead Training, partnered with Birmingham Childrens Hospital. A very worthy cause if you are looking to donate at Christmas!

Hope you enjoy the blogs above, and this festive time of year!

As always thanks for reading xoxo 

Love Blogging Mamma xxx

Snappy Sunday - Winter Warmer

With Christmas descending, and the days to deliver cards and gifts running out, it has been one very busy week in our little family. 

My week has been spent writing the last of my Christmas cards, arranging all the gifts ready to be dropped off and getting myself prepared for Little mans first Christmas. Yesterday we visited friends & family delivering cards and gifts. Today while Hubby was working me and the little man enjoyed a quiet day in the house. Once Hubby finished work we headed out to visit the newest member of our family born this weekend. What a little cutie she is. Baby R seems like such a big boy to me now! Nothing like a newborn to make a child seem so much bigger.

Once we got home I put the little man to bed and made myself a hot chocolate before settling down to youtube, catching up on twitter and my emails. 

One of my favourite things to do at Christmas is to have a hot chocolate, settle on the sofa and watch a film so I may have to have a 2nd hot chocolate once all my blogging and commenting is done tonight!

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. As always thanks for reading! xoxo

Babies First Christmas - How much is too much?

My Christmas shopping is all done, the Christmas tree is up, I've started the wrapping and I've written about 75% of my cards. All in all I'm feeling pretty smug prepared for Christmas. 

This year is my sons first Christmas and so far this has involved buying way too much sentimental 'First Christmas' bibs, baubles, PJ's, hats, door signs. The list goes on. Although I'm glad to have things that we can keep to remember his first Christmas (such as the tree baubles, and the wooden advent calendar personalised with his name), I can't help but wonder how much is too much?

Along with these 'momentos' is the mountain of gifts. I tried to be sensible and buy things he needed anyway. Instead of him receiving clothes and toys as he hits the 9-12month marker over the next few months he'll get them for Christmas. Instead of buying the toy box I wanted and using it now, it's been saved for Christmas. Yet as I wrapped the mountain of funny t-shirts, cute socks, trendy trousers, bath toys, books and endless musical toys that will drive me crazy by 9am Christmas day, I couldn't help but worry I needed more while telling myself off for having too much!

I even decided the usual wrapping paper wasn't good enough for his gifts. Oh no. 'Baby's First Christmas' paper was needed. You know? Just incase me or Hubby forgot it was his first Christmas. The wrapping paper would remind us and we ... no there is actually no reason why I needed that wrapping paper.  At 7 months my son will not understand Christmas, he definitely won't remember his first Christmas and isn't likely to suddenly disown me because I didn't get him enough or his wrapping paper was the wrong one!

People keep telling me the first Christmas is (much like the first birthday) more for the parents than the child. I have no doubt that is absolutely true. I am definitely looking forward to watching and helping him open his presents, before he decides to spend most of the morning playing with wrapping paper. I find the whole idea of starting our little traditions absolutely magical. As one of the biggest kids and Christmas lovers out there, I can't wait to share this with my son as he grows and starts to understand who Santa is.

I finally decided last week that I definitely had enough. No more santa hats, Christmas bibs, baubles, PJs, stocking fillers or gifts were needed. I have many years ahead of me to fill my house with cheap Christmas themed rubbish magical Christmas themed decorations.

Luckily for this 1st time parent, my child won't know whether they have been given too much or too little. So I'll retreat from my blogging go back to wrapping and obsess over how much stuff I should or rather shouldn't have bought!

Let me know below how you decide how much is too much when it comes to gifts for your nearest and dearest. Mums, did you feel the same on babies first Christmas? Did you succumb to the never ending novelty items available? Was Christmas V2 easier?

As always, thanks for reading xoxo

Show some appreciation for your other half! (Wedding Gifts)

In the run up to your wedding day it's very easy to get lost in the last minute arrangements and appointments. It's easy to get stressed out, and panic that things won't turn out exactly as you have planned them. It's equally as easy to loose track of the most important part of your wedding - your husband/wife to be. After all your wedding day is about making a life long commitment to each other, acknowledging the love you have for each other and making a union in the eyes of the law and, if you are religious, in the eyes of your God.

I think it is very important to make sure you take some time out for each other in the run up. Go for a meal together, or have a quiet night in watch a DVD and just enjoy each others company. Remember why you are doing this. As lovely as your dress, make-up, flowers, cake, venue and so on may be, they aren't or at least shouldn't be your motivation for the day.

A mixture of forward planning and my husband kept me very grounded and relaxed in the run up to the wedding. I wanted to continue this laid back approach in the last few days when the final touches were being put in to place and it would have been easy to get very stressed. So my husband and I tried to spend as much time together before the wedding as we could. Nights curled up on the sofa watching DVD's, talking about the future and just generally enjoy each others company. Our budget couldn't afford nights out, but we managed a bottle of wine and some quality time. I think it's important to do this as it brings you back to earth & stops you getting too riled up and bridezilla-ish.

What we also did, that a lot of couples do, is bought each other a gift. I didn't know he was buying me anything & he didn't know I was buying him anything but on the day of our wedding we both received a lovely surprise!

My husband bought me a pearl neckace & earrings, which funnily enough I was going to borrow off my Mum so it worked out very nicely! You can just about see them in this lovely picture of me & my hubby. He also wrote a lovely card which just made my morning. Reading the card he wrote for me & receiving such a thoughtful gift meant the world to me. It left me buzzing with excitement all morning and I felt like a Queen wearing my pearls all day.

For my hubby I had a card made for him with pictures of our special place, first date, and other things that meant a lot to us, including the picture of us that we had put on our save the dates. Inside I wrote him a lovely message that was very long, but I knew would be appreciated. For his gift I selcted a pocket watch.

On the back I had it engraved saying "No more waiting, Love Rachel". The reason being that it is common knowledge amongst my family & friends that my hubby fell for me before I knew it, I kept him in the friend zone waiting for a long time and when we eventually got in a relationship he would remind me that he had been waiting a long time for me haha! I'm a lucky girl that he did wait for me, not many men would have the patience he had with me and I felt it appropriate to acknowledge how lucky I was with this little momento.  I also gave him cuff links the same as the rest of the groomsmen and he keeps both momentos in his little man cave - aka our spare room!

If your budget can't afford a big gift then get a card and write a personal message that will mean a lot to them while they are getting ready and the nerves are beginning to kick in. But if you can factor a gift in to your budget, such as cuff links for men, jewellery for women, flowers, or just something personal that your other half would appreciate then do it. When you can't see each other until you get to the aisle it's a big comfort to know your other half is thinking of you and went through the effort of getting something for you. 

Basically this little post is just to remind you that so long as your wedding is legal, and so long as your other half turns up then all the other stuff is just an added bonus. So if you can put the time in to arranging flowers, food, cakes, cars etc then don't forget to put some time and effort in to making sure your other half feels like a King/Queen on their big day. Spend time with them in the run up, because every moment counts.

The Wedding is a bonus, your marriage is what counts.

I hope you enjoyed reading & that you will enjoy picking out something special for your loved one. 

As always thanks for reading xox