Things I Wish I existed

Bit of a random post here today, but every now and then this mummy finds herself thinking about non-baby related things. Shocker I know! Have you ever thought 'I wish that was an actual thing I could get my hands on somehow?'. I regularly think this, and not one of these are baby related! Just weird little things that make me happy!

1. A 'Loaf' of bread made up entirely of the crusts. I love toasting the crusts. Covering them with butter or scrambled egg. I'm beginning to drool just thinking about the possibilities. There is something about the crust that is just so much nicer that the rest of the loaf! You can buy crustless loafs... so stick the crusts in a bag and sell them. I'll buy them!
2. All the over cooked, almost burnt crisps. The really brown crisps in a crisp packet are the best bits. Once again, separate them from your 'normal' crisps, bag them and sell them... I'LL BUY THEM!
3. A bag of just the red/black wine gums. OK so it's getting a bit food crazy over here. But if I'm going to count calories, and only have a treat here and there then when I do have a treat I want the best bits. 
4. Bed clothes that constantly have that 'new bedding' feeling. See I'm not 100 % obsessed with food! I love that fresh smell and cool, fresh almost crisp feeling of fresh bed linen. I want linen that feels like that after a few nights not just the first night you climb in! 
5. While we are at it, a self cleaning house (especially the bathroom!). In the realms of complete fantasy here now, but hey. It's one of the things I wish existed. If I didn't have housework and laundry to do I would have so much more time to waste on twitter... #justsaying!
6. Keys for my front door that operate like a cars central locking system. So when I get half way down the hill and can't remember if I locked the door or not I can just turn around and point the keys at the house instead of having to walk back up the hill and try the door.

That's it for now, but let me know down in the comments what weird and wonderful things you wish you could get your hands on. If you happen to be able to make any of the above happen for me, well you are now my new best friend and can get in contact using any of the ways listed on my Contact Me page.

As always thanks for reading! xoxo

5 Things You Don't Need To Tell Pregnant Women

Having had my first baby 7 months ago, something has really been playing on my mind. I'm sure I'm not the only woman or even blogger who has noticed or discussed this topic. But here goes.

I don't know what happened to the sisterhood but when it comes to having babies this sisterhood seems to be replaced with competitiveness, a need to terrify and give advice whether it's wanted or not. This doesn't apply to all women of course, but enough women to get on your nerves when you're pregnant and hormonal or a new mum still adjusting to all the changes your little one has brought with them.

It seems there are a few common things that people like to say to pregnant women and new/1st time mums. Here are 5 of my favourites and why they got under my skin so very much.

• Enjoy your sleep while you can, you won't sleep for a long time once baby comes. This used to annoy me as I felt like it was only ever said if I expressed excitement of Baby R being born. It seemed to be used as a bubble burster. I didn't go in to pregnancy thinking having a baby would be easy, and one of the things I assumed would be difficult was the lack of sleep. That being said I had less sleep while pregnant while making those 1am and 4am dashes to the bathroom. I know I'm lucky, Baby R is a good sleeper. But why tell someone they'll never sleep when all babies are different. Your experience isn't necessarily going to be the same as mine. Not all babies wake up during the night. Of course it's not just sleep you are warned to enjoy. Enjoy 'you time', enjoy dates, enjoy eating out. So apparently your life ends when you have children. You can't do anything except change nappies and feed the baby. You MUST sleep when baby sleeps, although they will never sleep so good luck sleeping... Urgh utter nonsense. Yes I've only had a handful of child free days and even fewer child free nights, but mainly by choice. Baby R's grandparents would take him if I wanted some time out. But realistically I want to be with my baby, I miss him when he's not around. Despite numerous hints from his grandparents it took me a while to leave Baby R and go for a day out without him. I just didn't want to. Life doesn't end when baby comes, it changes, and along with those changes you will have a whole new idea of whats fun and important.

• MY PERSONAL BUG-BEAR - you're going to gain all that weight you lost and more now you're pregnant. There's no pleasant or nice way to take that. I was lucky that I didn't gain baby weight. I remained the same weight through my entire pregnancy and about 3 weeks after he was born I was 1 stone 9lb lighter than my pre-pregnancy/during pregnancy weight. But even if I had gained weight, what would have been the problem with that? I don't see the need to make a woman feel any more uncomfortable with her constantly changing body that already feels alien. Weight gain isn't a bad thing during pregnancy, it's plain nasty to use the weight gain knowing she will already feel pretty insecure.

• Oh so he's not (insert some sort of activity or milestone) yet? Not a pregnancy one, more of a new mum/first time mum. You get a constant barrage of 'oh he's not crawling then?' Yet when you ask about their children it turns out theirs weren't crawling at two weeks old either... funny that!? I exaggerate, but you get the picture. What irritates me more is the next time you see that person you preempt their questions and say 'He's still not...' they come back with the reply 'Well he is only 7 months, don't rush him'!!!

• My labour was horrific (insert worst story imaginable) - To a first time Mum this is the worst kind of cruelty. I had no idea what to expect. I was hoping for a baby at the end and that I would manage the pain in whatever way worked for me. At any stage in my pregnancy I did not want to be thinking about all the worst things that could happen. I get that you want to share your story, but if your story involves telling a heavily pregnant woman about forceps and an episiotomy it's probably not the right time to share. If people ask or start the conversation on labour, then by all means tell them, otherwise just no. Also if you end your story with 'But once they are in your arms it's all forgotten' please know that this doesn't undo the horror story you just told, it won't remove the look of disgust and fear from my face. It just makes me wonder how you told this incredibly detailed story if it was all forgotten.

• You have to breastfeed/bottle feed, use a dummy/not use a dummy, give them organic/give them what they want, (basically do what someone else thinks is best) - I get it. You had a child, you think your way was the best way and that's awesome! This baby, however, is my baby and I will do what I think is best for him. Please don't take me the wrong way, advice is always welcomed, but usually I will ask for it if I need it. I don't understand the need to give advice on every aspect of child rearing. Especially from those who have never even had children! I genuinely do not judge anyone for having different opinions and making different choices to me. My school of thought is that every child and every mother is different. So long as your child is happy and healthy DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. Yet as a new mum, I am getting used to the constant 'Oh so he doesn't....' 'Oh so you let him...'. That's right, he's happy and healthy. Tell me, why should I change how I look after him?

I could go on with the 'advice' I was given, the comments of my weight that soon became 'Oh that's not healthy, why haven't you gained anything?'. What I ultimately learnt from being pregnant and subsequently becoming a mum is that you can't please everyone all of the time. So I do what works for me, Baby R and our little family.  I really have lost count of the things I was told during pregnancy and the unsolicited advice I get as a mother. So I thought I'd share that with you, let me know down below if any of this sounds familiar to you. How did you deal with unwanted advice, birth horror stories etc?

As always thanks for reading my bit of a rant, but it feels good to have gotten it off my chest! xoxo

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

The New Year Tag!

I've been tagged by the lovely Mummybexm to do the New Year Tag so here goes :)

Image courtesy of noppasinw at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What was your highlight of 2014?
Most definitely the arrival of Baby R. 2014 was the year of preparing for Baby R, him arriving and then 7months of creating memories. He was the highlight of my year!

What are you most excited about for 2015? 
Watching the little man learn and grow. He's changed so much in the last 7 months. It's hard to imagine how different he will be this time next year. I'm also looking forward to my sisters wedding, it's going to be an amazing day! The little dudes 1st Birthday. Just so much to look forward to and memories to make! 

Any New Years Resolutions?
Two at the moment.
1) Especially once I return to work, I want to make a conscious effort to enjoy quality time with my husband and son. It's easy to sit together, watch TV together etc. But I want to make sure we spend quality time enjoying each other and making memories we can look back on together.
2) 2015 I will get to my goal weight! Over the last few years I have been on various diets and have lost 9 stone in total so far. This year I want to loose the final 2.5 stone to reach my goal. This year I will do it. Ending the diets and embarking on a lifetime of healthier eating.

Blogging High?
I just enjoy blogging. I find it very therapeutic and I'm just enjoying putting my thoughts in to posts. So my blogging high is that I'm doing something I enjoy so much!

Picture Of The Year?

A picture of me hugging my little man while he slept. He was only just over a month old in this picture. I have loads of pictures I love of my little boy (of course) and nearly all of them are my 'fave'. This Christmas I got quite a few to add to the bunch, but my Hubby & I are wary of sharing pictures of him on my blog. He is referred to as Baby R, and his pictures don't reveal his face. New to blogging and parenting we are trying to find the balance of how much to share with you. As he's snuggled in to my neck we figured this was a nice picture to share with you while maintaining the privacy we are trying to preserve for him.

Who do you tag?

I tag anyone who wants to do this tag! Leave me a comment or tweet me if you've done this tag so I can read your answers!

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. Have a Happy New Year and see you all in 2015! 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

Review: Paediatric Emergency First Aid course by Spearhead Compliance Training

There is nothing worse than seeing your child ill or injured, except maybe not knowing what to do in an emergency.

Like most parents, I want to be able to keep Baby R safe at all times. I don't want him to ever be ill, to get cuts or bruises, to choke on anything or to ever get in to scrapes. Unfortunately babies and children will at some point in their lives be ill or experience an injury of sorts and I want to be prepared. That is why I jumped at an opportunity to complete the Spearhead Compliance Training Paediatric Emergency First Aid Course.

**Disclosure** I was allowed to complete this course for free in return for a review and in return for helping to raise awareness of the Birmingham Childrens Hospital Charity fundraising. This review is my honest opinion, being allowed to complete the training free of charge has not affected my opinion.

About Spearhead Compliance Training -  Spearhead is a company that delivers compliance based training to organisations nationwide. It was founded by two Directors who served with HM Forces delivering training in hostile environments. Spearhead now comprises of more than 65 ex-military trainers who all possess the skills required to deliver these training courses.

They offer a wide range of courses from Health & Safety to Food Hygiene, from Teacher training to first aid. There are both face to face sessions & e-learning available (dependent on the course you wish to partake in).  Their courses are for individuals and workforces a like.

About the Paediatric Emergency First Aid Course -  The aim of the course is to give you the knowledge to be able to provide immediate care to a child who is ill or has been injured prior to the arrival of qualified medical assistance.

The course costs £20 per person.

Spearhead are supporting Birmingham Childrens Hospital and so 50% of the training course fee is being donated to this worthy cause. It is estimated that more than 3000 babies/infants died in the year ending April 2014. Spearhead want parents to learn the vital First Aid information that could save a babies life, as well as helping to fundraise towards a charity that deals with sick or injured children.

"Every year, over 257,000 sick children from across the UK are treated at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Many face incredibly difficult circumstances.  Their stories of courage, determination and hope are truly amazing. The medical and nursing teams provide the best possible treatment and the very highest standards of care, but want to do so much more for the children who rely on them. You can help by completing our course or donating on their website HERE"

They have a goal of raising £10,000 towards this cause and hope to achieve this by getting 1000 people to complete the course by May 2015.


My thoughts on the course - The course provided me with a good basic knowledge of how to administer first aid to babies, infants and children. It highlighted how the care required changes as a child gets older.

I found the course easy to follow. Sometimes online courses can be very long winded, full of complex terms and hard to take in given the amount of information thrown at you. This course was broken down in to 11 easily managed modules. There was a range of text, pictures and videos to aid your learning. You are also able to mark each page (with a manageable amount of learning) as completed so that you can go away and come back to your learning later on, learning at a pace that suits you.

I was shocked with some of the statistics given as part of this e-learning. For example -

• Choking is the 3rd most common cause of infant death in the UK after road traffic accidents and house fires, killing on average 24 under 5's per year in England and Wales.
• 50% of the population doesn't know what to do if someone chokes.
• You have 3-4 minutes from when the child starts choking before death can occur.
• Only 50% of the population would do back blows (the correct procedure) while 10% would attempt to stick their fingers down the childs throat which could push the blockage further down, worsening the situation.

I particularly like the videos of how to administer CPR & First Aid. They were easy to follow, not too long and weren't accompanied by overly long text explanations. Once you have completed all the modules one of the co-founders, John Loveday, has left a video thanking you not only for completing the course but for your contribution towards their fundraising effort. I thought this was a really nice personal touch.

After the message from Mr Loveday you are given a test, once you have completed & passed the test you are then able to print off a certificate to show you have completed the training.

I found the course very easy given the clear and concise nature of it's learning material. I left feeling more knowledgeable and comfortable that I would know what to do in an emergency situation involving a baby/infant/child. On top of this personal gain you get the added knowledge that you have contributed to such a worthwhile cause.

Final thoughts - I would highly recommend this course to parents, grandparents or anyone looking after a child on a regular basis.

Go along, improve your knowledge and don't be the 50% of people who wouldn't know how to cope with a choking baby or child. I have in the past found e-learning very boring and fruitless but can confidently say I learnt a lot from this course.

I will leave the links for the training down below, along with the links for the Birmingham Childrens Hospital Charity incase you want to read some more about the amazing work they do or want to leave a donation.

As always thanks for reading! xoxo

Spearhead Compliance Training Website
Online Paediatric Emergency First Aid Course
The Birmingham Childrens Hospital Website
The Birmingham Childrens Hospital Donation Page

Dear Baby R - Open letter

Dear Baby R,

This year is your first Christmas and it's time to start some family traditions that hopefully one day you'll excitedly look forward to and love sharing with me, your mummy. One of the traditions I want to begin for you, is to write you a letter every Christmas and save them for when you are older. We can read your letter together on Christmas eve and look back on the past year together, how loved you are and what I look forward to in the next year. This year as you are too young to understand, I will read your letter for you and put it away safe in your baby box for when you are able to read them yourself.

One year ago Mummy was 19 weeks pregnant with you and was waiting for her 20 week scan. I couldn't wait to see your tiny heart beating again, your arms & legs waving and I was even hoping to find out if you were a boy or a girl. You had other ideas for us though and decided we would have to wait, making sure the ultrasound technician couldn't tell. Stubborn from day one!

We had no tree up for Christmas last year as we were in the middle of moving to our new family home. There was no tree, no lights and no mantle piece full of 'babys 1st Christmas' cards! I was already looking forward to this Christmas and imagining what it would be like with a 7 month old, but what I imagined wasn't even close to how magical this Christmas has seemed with you here.

In January 2014 we moved in to our new family home, and through January, February & March we settled in and started preparing everything ready for you. In April we decorated your nursery (which was and still is my favourite room in our home) and Mummy went on maternity leave. The first four months of 2014 were me excitedly waiting to meet you. You weren't my little boy then, you were the unknown, but I couldn't wait to meet you and I was already head over heals in love with you.

In May you made your appearance and what an entrance it was. Once you decided to shift you weren't waiting around. You had mummy, daddy, the midwives & the Dr's all in a tizz! Yet despite the commotion once you were born and eventually placed in my arms you were calm and quiet. You slept peacefully that night in the hospital and I lay wide awake counting my lucky stars that you were mine. My precious little baby boy. I was thankful and so proud to be your mummy.

Since then you've met your family, shared countless kisses & cuddles. You've made me laugh and you've made me cry tears of joy.  You've grown so very quickly from my newborn to my 7 month old and just as quickly I went from a 'new' mum to mummy who couldn't imagine or remember life without you. Every little thing you do, things I can do & take for granted, suddenly brought me so much joy. Your first smile, the first time you grabbed and held on to something, the first time you rolled over or sat up on your own and the first little babbles of conversation.

Every day you amaze me, you make me smile and you bring so much joy to my life. I want you to know that you were loved before you were born, before you were held in my arms. Each day you and your loving, cheeky personality make me love you more than I ever thought possible. I love watching you learn and grow. Your willingness to try new things and adventurous nature inspires me. Over the next 12 months I can't wait to see you learn more and that personality of yours grow and blossom even further. I look forward to your first birthday, although it also scares me how quickly it's approaching. My newborn is a baby now, and before long will be a toddler. I'm trying to treasure and savour every moment with you, while encouraging you to learn and grow the way I know you must.

I also look forward to seeing you enjoy time with your family, and watching you build friendships with the new babies that have been and will soon be born. I look forward to being mummy. I'm proud, blessed and over the moon that I'm your Mummy.

This year, although the christmas tree lights, the decorations and the cards seem to peak your interest you are too young to understand Christmas. You don't understand about Santa, or even why Mummy & Daddy are so overjoyed that this Christmas will be better than any Christmas we've ever had. Santa, the gifts and the countless festivities mean little to you today. While you nap and dream away, I write this letter for an older boy who hopefully will know how loved and treasured he is.

Baby boy, you are mummy's miracle in more ways than one. You have enriched my life beyond belief. I am blessed to have you. I am rich beyond measure to be loved by you. Have the best 1st Christmas ever, and I look forward to all the Christmas's and all the letters we will get to share together.

I love you to the moon and back Baby R.

Lots of Love, Kisses & Cuddles
Mummy xxx