I’ve always been a big fan of Turtle Bay. As soon as one opened close to us, it became a favourite go-to place for cocktails with the girls. The decor and ambience are always spot on and the cocktails are always delicious. One thing I’d not ever really tried at Turtle Bay was the food, so I was delighted when we were invited to try out their new menu at the Winchester branch. I knew that if it lived up to the standard of everything else that I know and love about Turtle Bay then I wouldn’t be disappointed. It was also the perfect excuse for Dan and I to have some toddler free time together, to enjoy some adult conversation and hot food while Ernie napped in his pram and Darcie went to the aquarium with her Granny. (more…)

Dear Ernie,

You are eight weeks old and this is the first time I am writing to you since you have been born. These eight weeks have been a whirlwind; an amazing, breath taking whirlwind with you at the heart of it all. But throughout the flurry of visitors, your sister’s craziness and the inevitable daily debris left by two children, you – my beautiful boy – have been the calm amidst the storm.

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Please excuse the quality of some of the photos in this post, we filmed bits of my labour and so some pictures are screenshots of that footage. The lighting was kept dim too which reduced the quality some more.

Let me set the scene.

It’s the third of July 2018, we’re in the middle of one of the most severe heatwaves the UK has seen in years and I am nine days overdue. I’m hot, swollen and becoming increasingly annoyed by the poor time keeping skills of my second child. It had never occurred to me that Ernie would be later than Darcie was, if anything I was expecting him early and had therefore been on the edge of my seat since about 37 weeks pregnant. Five weeks later and I was beginning to lose my cool, literally. (more…)

Boobs. Some people’s favourite subject but even though I own a perfectly good pair, it’s really not one of mine. I’ve always been quite ‘anti-boob’ (is that a thing?) and generally found them to be pretty annoying; they get in the way, don’t look how I want them to in certain outfits and worst of all is bra shopping! Trying to find the perfect bra that fits well, is comfortable and looks good has always been mission impossible to me. And pregnancy and breastfeeding has only made things worse! When Carriwell offered to send me the Seamless GelWire Nursing Bra to try out, a mixture of thoughts ran through my mind. The first was ‘thank god! I don’t have to physically go out and hunt for this bra!’ and the second was ‘but how on earth am I supposed to know which size I am?!’ After some careful consideration I chose my size and it turns out I needn’t have worried! It fits like an absolute dream and is honestly the most comfortable and supportive bra I’ve probably ever worn. I mentioned this bra in my post on Preparing for Postpartum & Breastfeeding | The Products but now that I have tested it out I thought it was time for a full review.

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Recently I’ve been struggling with Darcie’s behaviour, so has Dan, and I’m sure that Darcie herself is struggling with it more than the rest of us put together. The only person who remains completely un-phased by it all is little Ernie snoozing away in his Moses Basket. He can sleep through the loudest shouts of ‘no’ and high pitched screeching known to man kind, he’s a modern day miracle really. Anyway that’s beside the point. The point is that things have been really difficult. Not all the time but just generally things are harder than they have been before. Don’t get me wrong we still have really good days and we have other days which are mostly good with just a smattering of toddler terror. And then we have the days which make me question literally everything I have ever done whilst raising her, trying to figure out at what point exactly I went wrong. (more…)

Despite Darcie only being two years old, I have to admit that the world of newborn still seems a little alien to me. Her newborn days feel like a distant memory and as much as some elements have come flooding back, I’m also having to relearn some things. One of the things I’d forgotten was just how hard it can be to entertain a new baby. When they start to be more awake in the daytime, you have to find ways to keep them stimulated and entertained without also accidentally overstimulating them in the process. As Ernie is more awake now, we’ve been trying out the Fisher-Price Deluxe Kick & Play Piano Gym and it’s been a hit so far.

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