When I found out I was having our little boy I was excited about the prospect of using reusable nappies instead of disposables. I've seen them being used in centres I've worked at and I was hopeful in doing my little bit for the environment. With all the media coverage at the moment around plastic and the damage it's doing (and this past month being plastic free July) I got motivated to try and go 100 percent reusable. It's a learning curve It's taken us a while to get there because like everything in motherhood- there's a learning curve. We started out by trying some of " The Nappy Ladies " recommendations when our baby was about 4 or 5 months old. I had three different types and every one of them seemed to leak on us. I got pretty disheartened and was about to give up when a friend of mine suggested I watch some Youtube tutorials. Great suggestion! Turns out I was putting two out of the three on wrong (the leg holes weren't done up tight en...

In the last week I have seen 3 people on 3 different occasions park in the 'baby parks' who didn't have babies or children! Yes! 3! You know the parks I mean, they are the ones allocated for people with buggies and little ones in carseats. These carparks are really awesome because they are usually wider (meaning less chance of you scratching the car next to you when you are getting baby in and out) and undercover or at least a bit closer to the supermarket making your already long day just a tiny bit less stressful. Last week it was pouring with rain and I circled my supermarket parking lot hoping to find a park undercover. Sadly I was out of luck but then I saw a lady getting out of her car (parked in the pram park) with no baby. She strolled into the supermarket toasty warm and dry. I on the other hand had to park way down the lot and run in torrential rain with my rather heavy 14 month old on my hip.  Now, I know this doesn't sound like that big of a deal but...

Last month we celebrated our sweet little boys first birthday and it felt like such a huge milestone! Not just for us but for our families and friends too. It's one of those moments where it's so far off for ages that it feels like it's never going to come and then all of a sudden 'Bam!' We have a one year old and I realised we are no longer newbies at this. I also started to feel incredibly grateful to have had so many supportive people in our life. They offered us kindness or encouragement even when we were so exhausted and over it  (trust me we had our fair share of those days). I truly feel thankful to have such a great village around us to talk to, to bring us meals and to moan to on those days where I didn't want to Mum anymore.  Looking back on this year has made me realise I've learnt so much! not just about my baby and my husband but also about life in general. Here's just a few things I wanted to share. Take advice with a grain of sal...

Starting solids is yet another one of those highly debated and hotly contested areas in motherhood. I personally felt like there was so much information out there and so much advice given- it's really confusing to know what is the right fit for you and your baby! To puree or not puree? Organic homemade or store bought baby food? What about gut flora and fauna? (for the record I had no idea that was even a thing before becoming a parent) How much iron does he need? What if he doesn't like anything? SOO MANY QUESTIONS!!! Recently some of my friends have been asking me how I have such a confident eater and the thought occurred to me. He is really pretty awesome at eating now but how did we get here? What I realised is that it was mostly all lead by him. We just helped him along by offering him lots of choices and opportunities to experience food in a positive way. I thought I’d share a little bit about our journey into solids so far and a bit about what I’ve learned in...

I recently had the absolute pleasure of attending one of The Heart Schools workshops. I’ve been to one before as a teacher but this one was titled ‘Time for Toddlers’ and with my little one transitioning fast into toddlerhood I couldn’t resist going along.  The presenters spoke about lots of things that they think toddlers need like space, freedom and nature but what I think I really took away from it was the importance of unhurried time. It really opened my eyes to the importance of slowing down with our children (especially our toddlers). Listening to their body language with your heart instead of your head all the time and that helps to understand their big emotions. They spoke about creating connection instead of disconnection by not rushing around and being ‘busy’all the time. They encouraged the idea of creating deeper connections by just simply being. I for one am extremely guilty of bring constantly busy. I always feel like I’m never finished with my house work or ot...

Lately I’ve been feeling a bit sad but for the longest time I just couldn't figure out why? I’m 99 percent better from all of my many birth complications and I really feel like I’m starting to get the hang of this mum gig so why do I feel like something is just not right? Last week I was pushing my sweet baby boy in his swing when it hit me! I realised that what I’m feeling sad about is really like a type of grief. I’m grieving for the natural birth I thought I’d have but was brutally ripped away from me. If you don't know my birth story then that’s probably a good thing. It was all very traumatic I’m not sure I’m even ready to tell that story just yet but what I am ready to talk about is grief. Grieving for a moment lost in time... Having to let go of something you imagined for so long is really painful. It’s like saying goodbye to a little piece of your life that you thought you’d have. You really thought it would be one way but now it’s all weird and different a...

Yesterday we celebrated 9 months of our little human! I think that's a pretty cool milestone because now he has officially been earth side for longer than he was mummy side if that makes sense? This last month has been one of the hardest for me. I wasn't really sure why but after some reflection I think I've worked it out. 8 months was the month of movement for us, okay more like speed crawling. The month of my little snuggle bug actually started zooming around our house and has now became quicker at crawling than I walk most of the time. Something really changed for me this month! I guess I thought his new found movement was going to mean new found independence but actually what I've encountered is a weird type of regression. It's almost as if now he can move around where ever he likes he's decided he doesn't want to that much. Instead he just wants to attach himself to me at all times like a little limpet. It hard, it's physically and mentally dr...