I just can't love my post-baby body yet...

Recently, I have read a lot of great posts from fabulous Mummy bloggers who are celebrating their baby bodies and embracing their tiger stripes and battle scars as signs of what their bodies went through to produce their precious babies. 

I am in awe of these women. They are brave, honest and inspiring. 

My thoughts though? 

I'm not there yet. I'm just not ready. I'm not ready to love my battle scars and the after effects of what carrying my beautiful baby did to my body. I can live with it yes, but love it? No. 

Call me shallow, vain or superficial. I don't care. Because you know what I realised? I realised that it's ok too. I don't have to love my baby body just yet. I hope that in time I will but, right now, I look in the mirror and what I see just doesn't fill me with the warm fuzzies. 

When I look in the mirror I see a saggy tummy that is wrinkled with stretch marks from my belly button down to my c-section scar and to the tops of my thighs. I still yearn for my before pregnancy body. For the tummy that I thought wasn't flat, when in actual fact it pretty much was. For the boobs that were small but perky and are now flatter than ever. For the thighs that I once thought were massive but weren't really and are now marked with stripes. 

I regret the things I thought about my body before. I should have embraced my body. I should have loved it, not criticised it. We seem to go through a roller coaster of body image issues as women. Through the teenage years and young-adulthood with the body that we hated and criticised to the next phase of our lives as adults and Mothers who yearn for that body back. We face a different set of challenges - learning to love it for what it created not for what it looks like. 

As with everything, it takes time. It takes time to learn to love ourselves and how we look. I think it takes even more time to learn to accept and embrace the changes that we have no control over. In time it will happen, I know. When I look back on the body that created my babies - who will no longer be babies - I know that these scars will serve as a warm reminder of the precious gifts we were blessed with. 

But right now though? I need to stop being so hard on myself. Trying to force myself to love a body that I'm just not ready to love. To learn to stop torturing myself with what was. To stop comparing my body with those that haven't yet born children or those that have and are just blessed with bodies that bounce back. 

Love takes time. It's ok to not love those battle scars straight away but I hope in time that I will learn accept and embrace the sacrifices my body made to produce such a perfect, precious little human being. 

Want to read another great post on body image after babies? Charlene of Teacher by Trade - Mother by Nature wrote a great post about how she feels about her body. You can AND SHOULD read it here.

LIFE UPDATE - Our exciting news?

No, I am not pregnant..before you ask!

You may have read in my last update that I have exciting news.

Well, today is the day I share it. It's probably not hugely exciting news for you but it is for us. It's exciting, scary, life-changing, nerve-wracking and insomnia inducing news.

As some of you may or may not know my Husband is a pilot. He's been training and hour accumulating ever since we first met, that's coming up 7 years (in December) of dedicated hard work. Finally, it's paying off. 

He's just got the call that will change his career and our lives for good. Up until now he's been teaching other people how to fly and training them through their flying licences.

Now though, he's landed his dream job as a commercial airline Pilot for New Zealand's leading airline, flying domestically. As you will know Pilot's move around... like a lot, they get based where they want you and we are definitely no exception.

We are currently based in a beautiful, rural town north of Auckland, New Zealand. Now though, with this exciting new career opportunity we are being moved to Christchurch on the South Island!

This is huge for me. I have never lived out of Auckland. I know, "what's the big deal?" you may ask "it's not like you're moving countries", but with both our families around us where we are now, including Ella's Grandparent's, it's going to be a huge adjustment not having family support so close by.

On the brighter side though, it is exciting, it's a big change and a new adventure. We are also hoping - with house prices down there being a lot more affordable then the extortionate prices of Auckland currently - we might be able to get onto the property ladder for the very first time! And the added bonus? Christchurch is a very beautiful part of the Country!

So, what's the plan?

Tom starts training on the 24th of August in Christchurch, followed by a further month of training back in Auckland. After that he's making the move to Christchurch. Ella and I are staying in Auckland and we will be following Tom down in late February/ early March.

Why, you may ask, are Ella and I not moving the same time as Tom does?

Basically, I haven't gotten my head wrapped around the whole idea of moving. We need to work out the logistics of this whole thing, for example, where we are going to live? are we going to rent or can we buy?

Also, there is a lot going on back here that makes me want to stay until the new year. Such as Ella's first birthday - rapidly approaching - this year, my brother-in-law and his fiance are getting married in February of next year and I am her Maid of Honour plus a lot of the family are coming from England for the wedding - all of whom Ella has never met before including her great-grandparents.

It just makes more sense. Tom will be incredibly busy during training and when he officially starts work he will be all over the place learning to fly different routes so he won't actually be around all that much. 

When he's completed his training and officially starts work we will have more of an idea as to what his rostered hours will be. From there he will fly back on his days off or Ella and I will fly down. After all we will need to have a good look around as to which areas we would like to live - or can afford to live - and to consider what options we have when it comes to buying or renting a house.

So, that's our news. I hope to continue blogging regularly but as I am going to pretty much on my own I may be pressed for time trying to look after Ella and keep my house in relative cleanliness and order - I can but try!

I will be posting more life updates in the near future so keep an eye out if you are interested in following us on this exciting new journey. You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram - where I post regularly. 

Thanks for reading!

 

#Thursdaythrowback - My wedding dress

#Thursdaythrowback

I can't believe this will have been almost four years ago (in December), time flies so quickly. Life goes by and things change - who would have thought back then we would have a daughter almost, exactly, three years later!

Photo credit Dan Mason Photography

I chose my dress from a wedding magazine, as soon as I saw it I fell in love with it and as soon as I tried it on I knew it was "the one". Bought from Alma J Bridal Boutique it was a gown from the Essence collection.

Photo courtesy of Dan Mason Photography

A sweetheart neckline, fitted waist, mermaid style and ivory silk dress with a train. It had buttons all the way down the back with a a champagne coloured belt and diamante detailing - it was literally perfect! I added a long ivory veil which I wore over my face. I felt amazing in it!

Photo courtesy of Dan Mason Photography

You read see our full wedding story here :-)

#Tuesdayten - 10 foods I could live off if calories or nutrition didn't matter...

As I mentioned in yesterdays post, #Tuesdayten is going to be a weekly feature on the blog. This is a blog link party hosted by bloggers The Golden spoons and The Lieber Family.

Each week a topic is chosen and the task is to write about that topic. Today's topic is... Ten foods you could live off if nutrition and calories didn't matter.

Oh how this is a fun topic to write about. No doubt I am going to make myself very hungry, by the end of this post, just thinking about it!

So, here goes...

In no particular order:

1. Pasta - I could literally eat pasta everyday. Spaghetti Bolognese, Lasagna, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Fettucine Alfredo and Carbonara the list goes on. This for me is major comfort. I fell in love with Italian and pasta when we went to Tuscany for our honeymoon - although I am yet to find pasta as good as the Italians make it over here!

Easy Fettuccine AlfredoRecipe courtesy of Lil-luna.com

2. Garlic bread or anything with garlic in it - Random I know but I. JUST. LOVE. GARLIC. I put garlic in everything and whenever I order steak I order garlic butter to go with it. Nothing beats buttery, garlicky, oozy garlic bread. Poor Hubby and my garlic breath.

3. Ribs - Are my current obsession - I go through phases of craving certain foods, even when I am not pregnant. You just can't beat sticky, saucy, ribs that are falling off the bone.

Slow-cooked sticky BBQ ribsPhoto and recipe courtesy of The Stay At Home Chef

4. Peanut Butter - As you may have noticed, the past couple of recipes I have posted have involved peanut butter - why? because I love the stuff. I could eat it straight from the jar by the spoonful it's just that good!

No-bake Peanut Butter slice

5. Donuts - The next few things were pregnancy cravings - big time! A lot of my friends can vouch for the fact that I ate donuts every day at one point- so bad! I just love them though, what I wouldn't give for a chocolate glazed donut right now.

6. Sausage rolls - Oh yea, that classic kids party food. I get so excited whenever I see these and I can't help but eat too many of them. Yet another, bad, pregnancy craving! I'm surprised Ella wasn't made out of donuts or sausage rolls really.

7. Cinnamon rolls - What's not to love? Bread, Cinnamon sugar and a white icing glaze. Even better served warm.

One-hour Cinnamon RollsRecipe courtesy of Lil-luna.com

8. Chicken Parmigiana - Another Italian dish I love. Breaded chicken, tomato and parmesan cheese - what more could you want? I normally add a cheese sauce on top too just for added liquid cheesy goodness.

Chicken ParmigianaRecipe courtesy of Lil-Luna.com

9. Pork pies - A British favourite, I discovered this deliciousness on a holiday to the UK to meet my Husband's family - who introduced me to it. Unfortunately, they are so hard to come by over here so I have to make sure I get my fix whenever we go back.

10. Devonshire Cream Tea - Another traditional British favourite, it has a different name depending on which part if the country you are in and there is debate over how you eat it. Basically, it's nice big, fluffy scones with clotted cream, jam and accompanied by a pot of Tea. Not that I drink tea, but you can't beat a big scone smothered in copious amounts of clotted cream and jam. Unfortunately, once again it's practically impossible to find a traditional cream tea in New Zealand - much to my dismay!

See, I told you - I knew my mouth would be watering by the end of this!

What are some foods you love and just couldn't live without?

This post is part of #Tuesdayten a blog link-up party
hosted by The Golden Spoons and The Lieber Family.

Monday minute - what we are getting up to this week

Just a bit of an update on what we are getting up to this week, I'm trying my damnedest to keep to some sort of blog schedule and blog regularly. 

So, each week I'll be doing Monday minute - a quick overview of what we will be getting up to during the week, Tuesday 10 - a link up to another blogger Mumma's page and Friday's I'll be trying a new a recipe and uploading it to the blog. The days in between will either by a day off for me or if something important comes to mind that I feel the need to blog about I will upload.

I'm not going to only be blogging those things each week - that would be bloody boring otherwise - but these days are the only days I have alliterative names for! So, anything else will be spontaneous titling. Haha

What are little Miss Ella and I getting up to this week?

Tuesday - Is a Mum's and Bub's movie session at our local cinema. We are going to see Inside Out with some of our Mum and baby friends, I am so freaking excited to watch this movie - the trailer for it looks so cool and I'm a big sucker for animated movies.

Wednesday - I am heading off to work for the day so one of Ella's Grandmother's will be looking after her. I'll probably use the opportunity to go to the supermarket and also to get a few cake decorating supplies!

Thursday - I need to get started on making Ella's baptism cake! I've already made the little fondant figurines to go on top I just need to make the actual cake itself. I will probably film a video on assembling the cake and post the recipes I use for the actual cake and the buttercream filling. A friend suggested I do a video on how I make these little figurines,  would that be of interest to anyone?

Friday - Is the same thing we do every week - swimming! It's Ella's second term for her swimming lessons and will be her first lesson in the "advanced water babies" group.

Saturday - Will be a lot of baptism prep - cake decorating and finger food making! My Sister is also coming up from Wellington to be apart of the baptismal ceremony, so we'll be catching up with her as well.

Sunday - Ella is being baptised at our local Catholic church followed by afternoon tea. This is what I will be making the cake for. I was baptised Catholic and went to Catholic schools throughout my schooling life so I want her to have the opportunity to have a faith if that's what she wants. I will probably to a blog post with photos and a run through of what we got up to during the day.

So, there you have it a brief overview of what we are getting up to this week - I will be blogging about some of what we do this week, so stay tuned for these posts or videos sometime soon!

Get ready with me!

I thought I might switch things up a little on the blog. I've been desperately researching and trying to find things to write about or do on the blog to keep it current and interesting.

Before I became a Mum I trained to be a Make-up artist - I love make-up but I have very little time to do it. I did however get a chance to get a bit dressed up for dinner the other night and I decided to film a "Get ready with me" video - on fast forward.

I'm not sure what the point of these videos are - I used to love watching them on youtube - just to see what other people get up to I suppose and how they do their make-up? Oh well, if you liked watching this I might continue to do them if I get a rare chance to dress up and go out.

I also thought I might start vlogging once a week. Not sure how it would work or if it would even be popular. My life is not hugely exciting, normally I'm just muddling through the day at home but it's something different and could be of interest to those who want to watch "a day in the life" , style video, of a stay at home Mum.

(P.S I'm not pulling the fingers at you! Bloody youtube wouldn't let me change the thumbnail!)

There you have it, my go-to make-up (for a night out).

I left out my hairstyling as I seriously need a haircut and my hair is looking so gross at the moment. I'm getting it cut and coloured this week before Ella's christening - woohoo!

Would you be interested on seeing what I get up to during the day (once a week) in a vlog?

No-bake - Chocolate Peanut Butter Slice

If you saw the "3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies" I posted on my Facebook you might guess that I have a bit of thing for peanut butter - much to my Husband's dismay.

I've made this "No-bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Slice" quite a few times now and I am slightly addicted, if I didn't control myself I could quite happily down the whole lot in a day.

So, if you're a fan of peanut butter like me I would suggest giving this recipe a try. It's foolproof really and requires very little time and energy - which is right up my street!

I found this recipe on Sally's Baking Addiction a great blog with so many yummy recipes I can't wait to try. I've adapted the recipe ever so slightly to use Digestive biscuits instead of Graham Crackers - a product we don't have in New Zealand - you can use practically any biscuit you like though.

NO BAKE - CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER SLICE

INGREDIENTS

- 1/2 cup melted salted butter
- 1 cup digestive biscuits (or any you prefer)

- 1 cup Icing Sugar
- 3/4 cup smoother peanut butter

TOPPING

- 1 cup cooking chocolate (Dark, Milk or White - whatever you fancy)
- 2 tablespoons Peanut Butter melted

METHOD

- Line a 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dish with aluminium foil. 

- Place biscuits into a ziplock bag and crush (I used a wooden rolling pin, quite therapeutic if you need to take out some anger or frustrations.)

- Place biscuits into a bowl and add melted butter, peanut butter and icing sugar. Mix until combined.

- Spread the mixture into your baking dish.

- In a small bowl melt your chocolate with the two tablespoons of peanut butter and combine.

- Pour the chocolate over your peanut butter biscuit mixture and spread evenly with a rubber spatula.

- Put in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours. Allow to sit for 10 minutes on the bench before you cut into squares.

ENJOY!

Throwback Thursday - The first time my Dad held his Granddaughter

Throwback to the very first time my Dad held is Granddaughter, in the hospital.

He is the best Dad and the best Poppa to Ella. It's also his birthday today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Being a stay-at-home Mum - the PROS & CONS

Being a stay-at-home Mum has it's advantages and disadvantages, I think the "pros" are fairly obvious but sometimes the cons are not so obvious - obvious to those of us that are actually SAHM Mums, but perhaps not so obvious to those around us (in order to not have to keep repeating myself we will use SAHM instead).

Being a SAHM can sometimes be a major adjustment for those of us that were working full time up until giving birth to our precious little bundles. It's only now the weight of what my "job title" involves has hit home. I am a Mum - first and foremost, a cleaner, a caretaker, a cook, a bill-payer and sorter, a personal shopper, a taxi-driver, a laundromat and a blogger - the list is endless! None of these tasks are paid, my time is all "free" not to mention the fact that I have no annual leave, sick leave or scheduled lunchtime breaks. If I do get some "annual leave", so to speak, I have to make sure every single moment when I am not there is organised from nap times down to the last scheduled bottle feed. I can't even begin to think what it would be like to try and juggle all those tasks and throw in a full time job -these women are super Mum's for sure!

Don't get me wrong. I love being a SAHM so much! I am lucky enough, at this stage, to continue to be one for the near future. For me, the benefits of being allowed to be a SAHM far out way the "cons" of not being one. 

Sometimes, though, being a SAHM is tough and I miss the ability to just scoot off to work and be someone OTHER than Mum. So, if you like me are a SAHM Mum and can relate or maybe you are considering being a full time Mum rather than going back to work or, perhaps you are working full time and considering being a SAHM then I hope this post may be of interest to you.

PROS

1. Witnessing milestones, this is fairly obvious, but being SAHM means you are certain to not miss out on those exciting milestones a child goes through as they learn and develop.

2. Being able to enjoy their company without times restraints and trying to cram mummy time into a few hours after work.

3. Just being there. For everything, seeing them grow, playing with them, singing to them and generally having fun.

4. The ability to be involved with their schooling, going on school trips and watching school plays and shows.

5. Having time to go out and socialise with other Mums and babies.

6. Not having to look "respectable" for work. I.e the ability to wear pyjamas all day and not wear make-up with out anyone commenting on my, generally, dishevelled appearance.

7. Not having to work for a, potential, tyrannical employer. Although, the baby or toddler is pretty much the tyrannical employer sometimes.

8. Not having to work in a job that you don't enjoy or really don't want to be doing.

9. No office politics other than toddler tantrums and epic meltdowns.

CONS

1. Never being able to leave without organising a military operation, that said though I'm sure it's even harder when your a working Mum.

2. No breaks from the children. There is no start or finish time, with no scheduled breaks in between and definitely no sick leave.

3. Being expected to have the house clean, the dinner cooked and the child entertained and looked after for when the "other half" gets home just because you're at home all day.

4. There are no promotions or bonuses. There is no well done you've done an amazing job, here have $100.

5. Being the "default" parent. You are the go to when it comes to decision making, clothes buying, food making - in other words, everything child related, or often house related, is your responsibility.

6. Your job title is Mum. You give so much of yourself that your not even sure who you were beforehand. Getting to go work claws back just a little bit of the life you had before children.

7. You are brainwashed with the constant sounds of Dora the explorer, nursery rhymes and fairytales and you crave adult company and conversation.

8. Having to do all the boring day-time things such as grocery shopping, taking the car for a warrant of fitness and housework.

9. If your baby is having a particularly grizzly day, there is no escape, you are stuck dealing with constant grizzling and tantrum throwing until HOPEFULLY your significant other can take over and relieve you.

10. Nap times are a constant battle of do you A. sit down, have something to eat and relax or B. clean the house, do some washing and prepare dinner in advance or C. none of the above.

Let's be honest, being a Mum is hard work regardless of whether you are a stay at home Mum or a working Mum. It's a thankless tasks that very rarely gets acknowledged or praised. We plug away at the millions of things we have to do on a daily basis because we have to, because it's the life we've chosen to live, because we love our children no matter what we suffer through and because we'd do anything to make sure they are cared for, nurtured and loved.

So, I put it to you... if money was no object and you had a choice would you be a SAHM? or would you choose to work?

Disclaimer

Ahh...I feel like I need to constantly add disclaimers to my blog posts. I have been fortunate enough to not have had any negative feedback on my blog posts so far but I know if I don't cover my arse then it'll probably happen the one time I don't - let's be honest though, it's going to happen anyway! I am not trying to gloat about being fortunate enough to be a SAHM nor am I dismissing the plight of a working Mum. I am just trying to shed light on the, sometimes, unsung heroes that are SAHM's! 

Preparing some meals in advance

It's amazing what you can achieve when your child is in a better mood. I've basically spent the whole day preparing and cooking meals, mostly that can be frozen, for the week.

I decided to blog about some of the meals that I have made which can be prepared and frozen, they are pretty much suitable for us and Ella to eat.

Firstly, I made a classic bolognese sauce with mince and sausage that I've used to make a lasagna (which I will freeze in two portions) and portioned the rest into two freezer bags for a quick spaghetti later in the week if Ella is not so easy.

I've slightly adapted this "Best ever marinara sauce" recipe from The Cafe Sucre Farine by adding beef mince and some grated veges such as Zucchini and carrot - you can basically add any veges you want, it's a great recipe for disguising veg as it's slowcooked over 5 - 6 hours or in my case overnight in the slow cooker.

SLOW COOKED BOLOGNESE SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

4  cans of whole peeled Italian tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 chopped onion
500gms Italian sausage (or any sausage you want)

1 kg beef mince (or you could use 500gms each of pork and beef)
1 tablespoon dried basil
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon salt (omit the salt if you are intending on feeding to a baby which is what I did)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
8 leaves fresh basil leaves, finely chopped (I didn't have any basil in the cupboard, so I left this out)

INSTRUCTIONS

Drain tomatoes, reserving the juice. I used a stick blender to crush the tomatoes and removed any excess skin and tough cores. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan over medium-low heat. Add sausages and sauté until nice and brown on all sides. Remove sausages and drain on several thicknesses of paper towel. 

Add mince into the pain and cook until brown, remove any excess fat and set aside. 

Add onions to pan and saute for 5 minutes or until translucent and soft. Stir in garlic, basil, oregano and salt and saute for an additional 30 seconds.

Add tomatoes and reserved juice and bring to a boil. Cut up sausages and add to sauce along with all of the mince.

Tip the whole lot into a crockpot and turn on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

WANT TO TURN IT INTO LASAGNA?

I made a cheese sauce, one that my Mum taught me, in the microwave or you could do it on the stove top.

CHEESE SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons Butter

1 cup Milk

2 tablespoons Flour

1/2 cup cheese (I used Tasty)

METHOD - For the sauce

Melt butter in a microwave proof bowl or on in a saucepan (if you are using a stove top)

Whisk in flour and return to microwave in 30second intervals for 1 minute.

Gradually whisk in milk and return to microwave in 30sec intervals until thickened to a consistency you want, too thick? add more milk.

Add grated cheese and return to microwafe for 30secs to a minute until melted.

Season with salt and pepper to taste (if not being fed to a baby)

For the lasagna

Layer mince, followed by oven ready lasagna sheets and then cheese sauce. Repeat until your happy with how many layers you have.

Bake in oven at 180 degrees celsius for 30 - 45mins until pasta is cooked and top with more cheese.

I left mine without cheese on top because I'm intending on freezing it. When I defrost it and heat up in the oven I'll add cheese and then serve with salad or veges.

Next I decided to try out a couple of recipes I found on My Lovely Little Lunchbox a amazing blog with recipes specifically for baby led weaning. Ella is on a mix of pureed food and baby led weaning finger foods so these recipes are perfect for her.

Generally, she has pureed fruit with baby cereal or porridge in the morning, finger foods at lunchtime and pureed vege and mince (such as the bolognese above) for dinner.

So, I was looking for a couple of nice finger foods, suitable for freezing, she can have at lunchtimes. I decided on, for now, the Vegetable Fritters and the Potato, Cheese and Onion Frittata.

First up,

VEGETABLE FRITTERS

INGREDIENTS

1 medium carrot, grated

2 medium zucchini, grated

1 small sweet potato, grated

1 x 420 gram can of corn kernels, drained

a small handful of basil leaves, finely chopped ( I left this out)

zest of 1 lemon (I left this out)

1 cup (125 grams) plain flour

4 eggs

olive oil, to fry in

tomato wedges and fresh basil leaves, to serve

METHOD

Place the carrot, zucchini, sweet potato, corn, basil, lemon zest, flour and eggs into a large mixing bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined. Heat a non stick frypan to low – medium heat and drizzle in a little olive oil. Take heaped tablespoons of the mixture and place into the frypan. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until golden, flip each fritter and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Place the cooked fritters onto a plate lined with kitchen paper and continue to cook until no batter remains. Serve alongside a simple salad of tomato wedges and basil leaves.

Ella certainly enjoyed these with her lunch today! Next up is this Potato, Cheese and Onion Frittata, without the onion, which I stupidly realised I didn't have! Again from My Lovely Little Lunchbox.

POTATO, CHEESE and ONION FRITTATA

INGREDIENTS

3 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 onion, thinly sliced

4 sprigs of thyme

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 eggs

11/2 cups milk

3/4 cup parmesan grated, plus extra to top frittata

rocket and tomato wedges, to serve

METHOD

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (390 F). Arrange potato and onion on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Top with thyme sprigs, drizzle with olive oil and roast for 30 minutes or until the potatoes and onions are cooked and slightly golden.

Meanwhile, place the eggs, milk and parmesan in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

Place the cooked potato/onion in a fry pan lined with baking paper, pour over egg/milk mixture and top with a little extra parmesan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the frittata is cooked, puffed and slightly golden.

Serve alongside a simple salad of rocket and tomato wedges.

So, there you have it a few of the the meals I created today. I literally spent the whole day in the kitchen slaving away in the hopes of making dinner and lunchtimes a bit easier on me.

What are some of your favourite, easy, freezable go to meals? Let me know in the comments so I can give them a try!

Q&A - Get to know me a little better #1

I asked you all yesterday on Facebook to ask me a few questions - about anything - personal, blog related or other. I may even make this a regular thing if it gains much interest.

I've decided to start a few regular features on the blog, with the aim in having a bit more structure in my blogging and hopefully it might help me through the current struggle of coming up with good, regular content. Stay tuned. I've got a few ideas about regular features thanks to my fellow kiwi Mummy bloggers who've have given some good advice.

Anyway, I've got a few questions to answer - so here goes nothing.

1. What are some of the things you said you wouldn't do and are now doing?

Oh dear, practically everything I said I wouldn't do before having a baby - whilst in my naive little bubble - I have done or I am doing now.  Ideal: I said I would breastfeed for at least the first year of my baby's life. Reality: I stopped breastfeeding after four months and put her on formula, not to be helped unfortunately as I didn't have enough milk to keep her going. Ideal: "I hate dummies, I will never use a dummy" Reality: I still hate dummies but a dummy has turned out to be a saviour for my sanity and for my hair, I'd have ripped it all out by now if it wasn't for the beloved dummy. Ideal: I would NEVER rock my baby to sleep or let it sleep on me! Reality: Hah! For the first 3 months, at least, that's the only place she slept and that's the only way I could get her to sleep. Either that or I'd feed her to sleep. I spent many hour stuck on the couch with a sleeping baby on me, petrified of moving incase it woke. Oh sweet naivety!

2. If you were able to parent anywhere in the world where would you choose to do it (money and citizenship no object) and why.

Probably, the UK without a doubt. I love England, especially London and if for some reason we decided to live outside of New Zealand it would be there. My Hubby is originally from the UK and most of his family are still living there so it would be nice for Ella to see her other family on a regular basis including her great-grandparents. As an added bonus the shopping is amazing, the countryside is beautiful and there are some great job opportunities over there and not to mention that its such easy access to the rest of Europe as well.

3.What are your biggest hopes and dreams for Ella, and the biggest lessons you want to teach her?

I would tell her to... live life to the fullest. If you want to do something then do it, don't hesitate and don't regret anything in life.

I would love her to go to University or better still do something she loves. I'd make she she travelled the world and experienced new places and cultures.

I'd want her to never settle for second best, she is so important and worth so much and not to listen to anyone who tells you otherwise and doesn't treat her the way she should be treated.

4. What are the best thing(s) you have bought for Ella so far? What did you buy when you where pregnant thinking this is great and have never used?

The saviour for me, when she was newborn, was the ability to attach her capsule straight to the stroller - it was awesome to not have to wake her up when we needed to go somewhere. Also, having a base for the capsule that stayed in the car and you just clipped the capsule in and you were good to go.

Silver Cross Surf Buggy with Maxi-cosi adapter clips

Maxi-Cosi Mico AP Capsule and Base

The only things that I regret buying are too many clothes. I was very overexcited, as you may know, with buying clothes and I bought way to many newborn clothes and clothes that were cute rather than practical such as two pieced outfits when in reality she lived in footed onesies or all in ones! I should have bought more 0-3 months clothing than Newborn as she grew out of it so quickly, some of it was only worn a handful of times!

I also had a stretchy Moby wrap that I didn't end up using that much - which I thought would be great - I found it really difficult trying to wrap her. I have an Ergo now which I love, so next time I will probably just get an infant insert so the next baby can wear it from birth - it is so much comfier and easier to use!

Well, there you have it! Your questions answered!

I hope it was interesting or useful and if you thought it was worth reading and I should do another one then let me know in the comments below .

Thanks for asking me your questions! xxx

Ella's 7 Month Update

So, it's that time again. 

Ella has reached 7 months and we are officially over the half way mark!

It's probably a bit boring and a bit repetitive but it's time for her monthly update.

I am rather time poor at the moment so this makes for an easy post, I am working on a "novel" post currently it's a little bit ranty so I'm taking my time to make sure it makes sense. Stay tuned.

I am:

- Eating solids three times a day 

- Breakfast is normally porridge and fruit, lunch is finger foods such as pieces of fruit, sweetcorn or vege fritters, bits of cheese, scrambled eggs and vegemite on toast, dinner is pureed veg and meat such as mince (Bolognese), pork or chunks of whole chicken or beef.

- Down to four 200ml bottles of formula per day

- Sleeping through the night still

- VERY clingy to my Mum, she can't leave the room to go to the bathroom or anywhere to be exact.

- Getting really annoyed when I'm on my stomach, I can't crawl or get on my knees yet.

- I can sit unassisted.

I love:

- The cat and dog, I like to try and pull their fur on anything I can get a hold of really.

- I love going to wriggle and rhyme with my friends

- I LOVE eating food.

- I could sit and look at myself in the mirror for ever, it's so funny. (See the video below)

- Saying "Da-da-da-da-da-da", Daddy thinks it's great...Mummy not so much.

Ella's been very clingy for the last month or so to the point where I can't leave the room so it's proving difficult when I need to go to the bathroom or if I have to do anything else.

She's got such a little personality - a very strong one at that - and it's great to see her learning new things and becoming more and more interactive and aware of her surroundings.

She's such a little blessing and I'm so lucky to have a little girl like her - she makes me laugh and smile on a regular basis! We've also been very lucky with her sleep of a night, not so much during the day, but I'll take what I can get!

I'm excited to see what the next few months will bring as she grows more and more into a little person - it also makes me a little sad as she is no longer my tiny little baby!