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2017 a year full of a rollercoaster coaster of emotions. A year of so many firsts, The year my daughter was born but also the first year without my mum. This year has been a bit of a blur to be honest and it's also gone so quickly. Even being pregnant went so so fast for me which I suppose is a blessing in some people's eyes. Although my year has been so happy it has also been tainted with the loss of mum, it is not something you just get over and for a lot of people it can be difficult to understand why you don't completely move on, but then if you haven't experienced grief you are not to know. In 2017 I learnt to love my life and everything in it. I have what I have, and as I've said before I am so grateful for that. I write this with a smile on my face knowing I have so much to look forward to. People say not to look back or live in the past, mine are full of yes sad reminders but beautiful memory's that I wish to remember forever. I know 2017 has been so hard for some of my friends too and I wish them a happier 2018. This year I also started my blog ! I am really enjoying doing this and can't wait to continue throughout next year. I am so looking forward to 2018 , I know they will be full of firsts for my little Emelia and new memory's being made. It's definitely going to be a busy year starting off with Emelia's christening in the first week of January, and also juggling the baby work , life balance. My resolution for being more organised last year has definitely been put to good use! I write a lot of lists ! But it works well for me , I will definitely carry on list writing ! I have even got a diary for this year.. I know !! The reason I made the resolution last year was because of being pregnant and I knew I wanted to get myself organised for baby, also with all the midwife and hospital appointments I had I knew it was essential. It sounds funny but for someone who naturally hates not knowing what they're doing, but who finds organisational skills tricky ,teaching myself to be more organised has been invaluable and beyond helpful. I have to say I think at aged 25 I have learnt more about myself than I ever have , I know myself better than I ever have (no motherhood hasn't given me superpowers) I just think going through a lot has made me see so many different sides of myself , not all good. I have quite a few resolutions (well goals) for the new year that hopefully will be reflected throughout my year. I wish all of you ,my family and friends a happy new year and best wishes for 2018. Keep powering on! 
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Teething is horrendous it's awful and stressful and has left me in tears,mainly because I can't take the pain from her when she's screaming , and the fact she uses my boob as a teether. Its especially hard when your both shattered and she has lost all patience with the constant ache in her gums (I write this whilst trying to pacify my growling , yes growling 4 month old to sleep). What tips have I for a teething baby? to be honest not many! use scratch mittens as they claw at their own little faces in desperation fighting tiredness and sheer miserableness. I should put 3/4 months sleep regression to be honest. I don't quite know what happened to our bedtime routine. I honestly feel like we had a solid routine by the time Emelia was about 4 weeks old ! I knew when she would nap when she would have her feeds I bathed her everyday at the same time, and even if we couldn't quite do her routine to the dot due to being out she soon slotted back into it the next day ,and it wouldn't affect her at all. I guess it was a bit of a shock to the system when at nearly 4 months Emelia just stopped sleeping. It literally felt like some days she hadn't slept at all .. and I didn't know how such a little person could manage on no sleep never mind myself ! ..although I was still feeding at night she would of before happily been layed back down in her crib and gone back to sleep pretty much instantly, whereas now it is taking a lot more work to get her to resettle. Some nights she just wants holding. All night! I understand that there are many reasons as to why a baby stops sleeping , or seems unsettled but as there parent you are conditioned and made to fix that problem (whatever it may be). I can tell you now as a parent this impossible baby diagnosing thing is exactly that. Impossible, when you dont know the cause of the "problem" or why suddenly out of the blue this has happened. A manual would be handy. I'm not going to lie I even questioned wether I was feeding her enough or if she was half starving and I didn't realise (completely irrational but I guess somewhat possible if she was going through a growth spurt.) I sanctioned myself to just going with the flow and just seeing how things went and then on Friday of last week completely out of the blue I noticed Emelia's first tooth had cut through! I honestly couldn't believe it . I mean the signs were all there with the crankiness, dribbling and hands in the mouth, but I know how long other babies go through teething and nothing comes of it till much later on. Since 10 weeks we have had all the signs and symptoms and I've brought so many different things to help ease discomfort for her. I would say as a quick fix product Ashton and parsons teething powders seem to help so well and almost instantly aswell. I have attached a picture of the box at the bottom of this post just because it can sometimes be quite hard to find. But as soon as the tooth has cut it seems as though a switch has been pressed and she is so much more content, rather than being generally wingey and unsettled, These little toothy pegs have a lot to answer for ! I am so glad that I began to write this blog post before we had reached a resolution because it really does go to show that sometimes you really do have no idea where things are going! Teething really is hard work on baby and mum, especially if they are suffering with pain. This I think goes hand in hand with sleep regression because of the discomfort. On googling what a "sleep regression is" it is simply explained as when a normally well sleeping baby suddenly starts to wake regularly for no apparent reason. Emelia's was definitely down to her teeth, and on speaking to other mums whose babies are similar ages this seems a common trend. Honestly toothache is bad enough for an adult so I can imagine how uncomfortable it must be for little ones even when they are just starting to descend. As Emelia approaches 5 months I am getting her settled back into a night time routine, she has her bath and then feeds before settling back down. Her second tooth has just cut and we had a slight regression again however it seems to be panning out. My top tips would be.. Have something that they really love to chew on handy, funnily enough Emelia has several teether toys but her favourite is the nose of her blue elephant ! Poor guy! Anbesol liquid/bongela, good to apply before a feed if your breastfeeding Ride the storm and keep busy, this helps you both keeps you sane and distracts baby. Remember its just a phase and you will turn a corner. Thankyou though for all the great tips people sent me about teething though because they really have worked well. Robyn x   So I don't know about you guys, but we have some Christmas family traditions that we always do! It's just something every family does, right !? I thought it would be nice to share with you a few of the ones we do every year, and that I can't wait to do with Emelia this year. My mum absolutely loved Christmas, and it soon became one of my favourite times of the year too. She did so many family traditions with us, and so its even more of a reason as to why I want to keep them up. Mince pie making: As I've mentioned in previous Posts I love to bake, and christmas is the perfect excuse to make loads of different things! Growing up we would make festive flavoured cupcakes, shortbread, peppermint creams and gingerbread just to name a few, and of course mince pies. On several occasions over christmas we would bake batches of homemade pies and also on Christmas Eve. They would never last long hence why we would make them so much, there just isn't anything better than a homemade mince pies. They are so so easy to make, you can use ready made or even ready rolled pastry and just fill with the mince meat once rolled and cut out. I do like to make my own pastry which just adds the homemade feel to it that little bit more. (I also tend to add some orange and rum to the mince meat too!..) Sweet Pastry: 10 oz of unsalted butter 15 oz of plain flour 5 oz caster sugar 1 egg, Rub Flour and butter to make into a crumb, add the sugar and egg and mix. Bring together the mixture and wrap and chill for 20 mins. Roll, use cutters to cut and place on a greased cupcake tray, add mincemeat to the centres and place on lids and brush with milk and sugar.  Christmas stocking: So once we had done the whole mince pie carrot and milk/Brandy on a plate for FC we would take our stocking from the fire place and put it at the end of our bed. Mum would then read us "the night before christmas and then we would go to sleep. (after a long while!) I use to love waking up to see if he had been yet and whether my christmas stocking was full ! This was always the first thing we would open before going under the christmas tree. Amongst little presents, there was always sweeties like chocolate coins and an orange! I still have my stocking from when I was a baby and it has been used each year. I have just brought Emelia's and I can't wait to put it at the end of her cot.  Christmas pyjamas: Fact, you have to have new pyjamas at christmas, and they have to be festive! At home we would typically get these on christmas day. Ive already got Emelia's and although I'm not going to do a christmas eve box for her I will lay her pjs and the "night before christmas" book that me and my sister had on her bed. My sister is staying over christmas so no doubt we will get some aswell!  Camembert and Mulled wine So me and reggie started this little tradition when we moved in together, it was just a nice christmasy thing that we decided to do one year, and have just carried it on. Camembert just tastes so nice with warmed crusty bread, and we love eating it alongside a glass of warm mulled wine. Christmas film on the tv, and there you have it, christmassy feelings to the max.  Christmas Decorations: Oh so lovely are Beautifully coordinated christmas trees but I do love adding those little personal family touches to them, I think it just means so much to look at your tree and see decorations that have a story behind them. The santa bellow was my first ever christmas dec, my disney bauble from a trip to paris and my baubles for my mum and lauren.  Elf on the shelf: I have to say there is one tradition that we won't be starting with Emelia. Me and Reggie just find it a bit creepy! The elf on the shelf. Those creepy little elves remind me of something from a horror movie! I'm sure its good fun and I know quite a few parents do this tradition for there children, and it helps them behave in the run up to christmas. But personally, I like the idea of putting fake presents, christmas wrapped cardboard boxes on the fire instead, every time she's naughty! (#meanmum) Everything else : Visiting a christmas market or fair. The perfect place for festive atmosphere, food and drink. Going to a christingle service or a carol service on christmas eve. Christmas Music for the whole month of December, yes really, nothing else will do! Favourites are of course classics like "last christmas" and Mr buble (much to Reggie's annoyance) . Christmas films. I do think having horrendous morning sickness this time last year has left me with some sort of association sickness to christmas films! I spent most days curled under a blanket asleep catching occasional blinks of christmas films in the background. But my must watch favourites have to be "the Polar express", "Elf", and "Miracle on 34th street". Reggie favourites are "Home Alone".  Please comment and let me know of all your family traditions. I love to hear what other families do.
Robyn x |
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