Author: Deborah

This is my breastfeeding story. It’s taken me ages to film as I was far too emotional about it all. I had a low milk supply and I wasn’t able to express. In the video below I explain everything we tried and what the midwives/health visitors/breastfeeding counsellors advised us to do.

Next bunny print dress

The one thing I wish I’d been told while pregnant was how hard breastfeeding is and it doesn’t matter how much you want it, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. In my group of mummy friends only 2 are still breastfeeding exclusively and they have had so many issues as well. I don’t know anyone who has had an easy journey with breastfeeding. It’s supposed to be one of the most natural things in the world, but it is so hard.

I put a hell of a lot of pressure on myself to breastfeed and I’ve learnt my lesson. We’ll be starting weaning next month and I am planning to go down the baby led weaning route. But if breastfeeding has taught me anything, I need to lower my expectations and accept that things might change. So I’m going to take Eleanor’s lead and feed her how she wants to be fed.

What’s your experience of breastfeeding? Did you face similar struggles?

Author: Deborah

In last week’s Wonderful Wednesday, I said how glad I was that I was over my cold. It must have just been a Wednesday thing as it’s still here and now Eleanor has got it really bad. She’s not feeding as much (but luckily still enough), coughing and very very snotty. I literally have snot all over my jumper when I forget to wear a muslin. Anyway, she’s still happy most of the time so I’m hoping she feels better soon.

snowdrops in the frost

Snowdrops

I saw some snowdrops poking their heads up in my parents garden. I love how they poke their way up even if it’s frosty outside.

Rolling rolling rolling

Eleanor is proper on board with this rolling thing. She just doesn’t stop now. She’s a little mover and just keeps rolling over and over until she’s reached the other side of the room! I found it hilarious when she first did it, now I’m slightly annoyed as I can’t leave her on her own for even a minute now. Must stop wishing she’d do the next thing!

IKEA meatballs

We went to IKEA on the weekend and I had some yummy meatballs with mash. Do you go for mash or fries? I also had a chocolate muffin which I really didn’t need. We bought some lovely bits for the nursery and some things we have to take back – an excuse for more meatballs right. Maybe more daim too!

Premiere Pro

Now Eleanor goes to bed at a decent time, I’ve had a bit of me time in the evenings to learn Premiere Pro. I love experimenting with video and learning how to do things via YouTube. It’s been so much fun having a play around to see what I can do. Also, it’s nice to have a bit of time to myself.

Don’t forget to check out everyone else’s Wonderful Wednesdays here: Sally, Michelle, Kate, Helen, Jo, Cat, Emma, Laura, Kerri, Sarah, El, Jasmin, Mimmi and Sam. And follow the hashtag #WonderfulWednesday on Twitter.

Author: Deborah

Eleanor’s nursery is a blank canvas decoration wise. It’s been painted a pale green but apart from the big furniture items and my homemade crochet bunting there’s nothing else in there. So we headed down to IKEA to pick up a few items.

Annoyingly Eleanor has the smallest room in the house and it barely fits anything in it. That means I can’t go over the top with decoration otherwise it’s going to look so cluttered and messy. We already have an IKEA Malm chest of drawers and a STUVA wardrobe in there. I really wanted the matching cot but my mother in law kindly bought us a cot bed, which we’ve just put up this weekend.

The cot bed is HUGE. I can’t imagine Eleanor in it as she’s going to look so tiny in it. My plan is to do day time naps in there to get her used to her room.

IKEA plant

The problem with IKEA is that you go in for one thing, in this case a spice rack, and you come out with half the shop! It’s my own fault though. We went to IKEA knowing full well that the spice racks were out of stock. However, what I didn’t know was that anything that isn’t screwed down you are allowed to buy. So we took two ex display spice racks to the discount corner and they took 50% off! They were only £3 to begin with but it’s still a bargain. I’m planning on using the spice racks as bookshelves. We’ll have a bookcase on the landing but the shelves will be for special/current reads.

And can I just say, IKEA Southampton has really good baby changing facilities. They even had a bottle warming station which I was shocked about. We’d tried to get a coffee and give Eleanor her bottle in John Lewis but they refused us any hot water to heat up the ready to feed milk. So we headed over to IKEA and were able to heat it up. John Lewis was annoying as they had a bottle sign next to the baby changing room, but when you go into the room labelled with a bottle it just contained 2 toilets! Bizarre.

You can find out what else I picked up from IKEA in this video.

Author: Deborah

When I was asked if I’d like to try out the Oh Happy Days Card Kit* from Stampin’Up!UK I jumped at the chance to see what the kit was like. I’d heard of Stampin’Up!UK before as a friend used to do it. I’ve also recently been eyeing up their Project Life collections.

In the box there is a leaflet showing you how to make all the cards. You can either follow the instructions or use your imagination.

Oh Happy Days card kit

With Valentine’s Day approaching I decided to do a card with “love you” on it. I was planning to make a birthday card for my mums birthday but I’ve been so full of cold lately I haven’t had the energy, so hubby gets a card instead.

The kit includes cards and envelopes, chipboard shapes, stamps and ink, gold foil sheet, twine and lots more. It includes everything you need to make 20 cards for a variety of occasions. I really like the variety of things that you can stick onto the cards like the little dots. You could also use some of these supplies for scrapbooking too. I’ll definitely be using the stamps in my Project Life album (when I eventually get the photos printed).

Oh Happy Days card kit

It was really easy to create the card I chose and took me less than 5 minutes to do so. You can see how I made it in the video below, which also shows you all the parts that come in the kit.

If you like card making but don’t have much time then a kit like this is a really good idea. You could create all the cards at once in an afternoon and then have them ready in case you need one. Does anyone else have an emergency card stash or is it just me?

*I was sent this product free of charge in exchange for an honest review. As always all opinions are honest and my own.

Author: Deborah

Let’s get on with some wondefulness this Wednesday.

Getting out of the house

Twice this week I’ve ventured to baby groups and it’s only Wednesday! I’ve been bad and haven’t been to many before but I was determined this week to give them a go. Last week I found myself feeling quite lonely and I feel so much better for getting out. On Monday we did Rhymetime at the library and yesterday we did jiggy wrigglers! Lots of singing and dancing and making a fool of myself. But that’s ok because so does everyone else!

Sleep

Eleanor has slept for 10 hours a few nights this week which means we get 6-7 hours too. I feel so good having a few extra zzz’s!

Winter walks

breastfeeding Eleanor in the New Forest

We headed out to the New Forest on the weekend for some fresh air and a wander around Bolderwood. We didn’t see any deer and Eleanor cried for the majority of it but it was good to get out. It was really peaceful sitting on a bench staring out at the trees while feeding. I did freeze my tits off though!

 

Swimming

Our Waterbabies classes started again this week. Simon went in the pool this time and it was fun to watch them swimming and singing.

Coffee cake

I’m not a coffee lover but I can’t resist a good coffee cake. We popped over to my mums after swimming and devoured a humongous slice of cake each!

Don’t forget to check out everyone else’s Wonderful Wednesdays here: Sally, Michelle, Kate, Helen, Jo, Cat, Emma, Laura, Kerri, Sarah, El, Jasmin, Mimmi and Sam. And follow the hashtag #WonderfulWednesday on Twitter.

Author: Deborah

For a wonderful Wednesday post it’s been a pretty sucky week. I’ve been ill for most of it with a cold. Every time I coughed I’d wake Eleanor up if she was napping on me. I’m relieved to say I’m feeling much better now. It’s about time I think about some of the better aspects of the week.

Wonderful Wednesday stock photo

Slow cooker stew

I’ve hardly used my slow cooker over the last few years so I was determined this winter to get it out! There’s nothing like a delicious beef stew on a cold rainy Sunday evening. Plus with the leftovers I made soup! Next time I need to make some a fresh crusty loaf to eat with it.

Sleep

I got 8 hours sleep!!! I know it was only because Eleanor had her 16 weeks jabs, but she slept for 10 hours straight. I definitely needed those 8 hours and it felt sooo good! And on the subject of sleep, Eleanor is going down to bed between 7:30-8:30 now instead of 10pm gone. It’s nice having some of my evening back now to relax in front of the telly.

Holding hands

I met up with a few mummy friends at the end of last week and we laid all the babies out on blankets on the floor. Eleanor held hands with the little boy next to her and it was so adorable. I always dreaded the idea of coffee mornings, but catching up with friends is some of the best hours of my week.

Minimalism

I’m starting to declutter. I saw muchelleb‘s 30 day simplify your life challenge and I had to do it. I’m not doing it every day as that’s far too much pressure when the only free time I have is in 20 minute segments 2-3 times a day. Basically she set out challenges to do each day to simplify your life. It starts with physical objects and then moves on to more mindful stuff. I’ve managed to donate some books and lots of clothes and I feel much better for it.

Don’t forget to check out everyone else’s Wonderful Wednesdays here: Sally, Michelle, Kate, Helen, Jo, Cat, Laura, Kerri, Sarah, El, Jasmin, and Mimmi.

Author: Deborah

I always make a new year’s resolution that I don’t keep, so for the last couple of years I’ve written goals. I then break these goals down into ways I can make them happen. This year I have 5 goals and each month I will do something towards them.

Goals for 2017 - sparklers

To be honest I know which one will likely be forgotten – I don’t think I’ll ever learn a language! But one of the nurseries I looked at for Eleanor had a French lesson each week, so I thought that might spur me on to learn it.

Run a 10km in under one hour

I set myself the challenge of running the New Forest 10km race in September to lose some of the baby weight. LINK!!! To do this I’m going to do the couch to 5km program again and then following the up to 10km app. I’m also going to do the occasional parkrun.

Create a capsule wardrobe

I feel like this was on my 2016 list but then I fell pregnant and it went out the window. I’m going to try and invest in key pieces this year and have a clear out of all my clothes. I have a whole drawer full of pyjamas when I only really wear a couple of them so I must say goodbye to some.

Hit 1,000 subscribers on YouTube

I’d love to reach 1,000 subscribers on my YouTube channel this year. I started making videos while pregnant with Eleanor and I really enjoy it. This year I really want to capture more of her growing up as there are so many milestones to remember.

Complete Eleanor’s Project Life album

I bought some bits to do a Project Life album of Eleanor’s first year and I haven’t started it yet. I did an album for our wedding and honeymoon and it’s really special to look back on. I’m going to get photos printed often and try not to be a perfectionist with it. Previously I’d write everything in pencil and then go over it in pen, which I really don’t have time for now.

Start to learn French

Learning a new language is always on my list and I never do it. I’ve downloaded the Coffee Break French podcast and also a couple of apps that I can use while Eleanor is feeding. I’m also going to hunt out some French YouTubers to watch; if you know any please comment below.

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Hi there, I’m Deborah. I live in Hampshire with my husband and spend my time baking, making and getting out in the fresh air. Find out more or get in touch.

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