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Dear Daisy, It is your first day at school...

Making memories, the simple things...

If you read my blog regularly you will know that I am lucky enough to have a day off a week (other than the weekend) with my precious girl, Daisy. I know not everyone has this option so I really do feel grateful and like to make the most of them as much as I can!



We go swimming and have done for over a year now and it is something I have always loved doing with her, and also think benefits her in many other ways too! you can read a post on that here. But the main selfish reason is that I get that time to just focus on her, away from distractions at home etc, it is just quality time for us to spend together.

Unfortunately it is bang in the middle of the day and so that really does wipe out the afternoon usually as she is so worn out afterwards that she tends to just snooze away the rest of the day!

She has finally got to a point where she no longer naps in the morning before the class so we have been able to start making the most of our morning together. Obviously with it being winter it has been tricky with the weather, cold I can do but the wet isn't good for either of us! However, we have had a nice few chilly, frosty yet sunny mornings to enjoy. Hopefully we will get a few more of these to enjoy over the next few months too.

Last week we went to the towns park and had a lovely walk by the river to say "Hello" to the Quack Quacks and a little wonder around. The little things really do amaze toddlers, the amount of times we have to stop for her to pick up a stick, or lay out stones in a line or say "Wow" to the grass where Jack Frost had visited or at the dog whizzing around the playing field! It really is the little things that make their day, and in turn make ours.







Lots of love,
Hayley xxx


Bump #2 Pregnancy diary: Weeks 18- 20

Well these past two weeks have absolutely flown by.

Work has been manic since returning back from the Christmas break and well things have just felt busy, maybe it is the whole getting back into a routine thing. I am not sure, but either way I am finding that this pregnancy is absolutely whizzing by me, I am sure he will be here before I know it!

So the biggest news this update I guess is that we had our 20 week anomaly scan last week and thankfully all went well. Baby boy was awake and lively, and the sonographer was able to do all of her measurements and checks and all looked as it should be. We were able to see his face this time, for the first time properly and I am pleased to say all looked good there too. For some reason it has been playing on my mind that there may be something wrong, I guess I am just expecting the worst after our news when I was expecting little Daisy. It is only normal, I hope.



I am sure when you see my bump you will think I have just gone POP! this past few weeks, I feel that way, and my clothes are certainly feeling it too! It seems to have burst from nowhere. Some days it is definitely bigger than others. I have had that feeling of a heavy bump return, I now remember what it was like at times with Daisy. For some reason or another sometimes it just feels really hard and heavy, maybe when I have eaten too much!!! Or it could be the babies position perhaps.



The sickness has subsided and I had about 4/5 days without any and I truly thought things were on the up and I was well and truly over it, but nope... This past few days I have been waking around 4/5am to run to the bathroom. Glamorous! Luckily in the day I don't feel too bad, except for if I go too long without food or if I get too over tired. So my appetite tends to be quite good! I need to slow down and watch it really as I am pretty sure my face is starting to resemble one of those puffer fish things.

Other things I have really noticed is my skin has really dried out, especially on my hands where they look quite chapped and well, haggid! I am using my Crabtree & Evelyn moisturiser which does seem to help but they can still get really sore by night time if I don't apply it several times in the day. I don't remember having this with Daisy, but I do get quite dry hands in the winter. It may not be pregnancy related at all!

Movement has picked up a bit and I feel him throughout the day now on and off, I have also seen my tummy twitching at times too, usually bedtime! It is so reassuring to feel! The movement can only get stronger too!



Lots of love,
Hayley xxx

Creating bedtime habits (good ones)!

At the moment we are going through a stage of trying to create some good bedtime habits for Daisy. I will be the first to admit I have molly cuddled her for the past 6 months or so, but now is the time to get her in a habit of realising her bed is her own, it's Daisy's little safe place where she can snooze the night away happily, it's just getting her to the stage of actually being happy in there!

She actually does love her bed, she is happy in the day to play in there and often asks to be lifted in to play with her babies (teddies) but getting her to stay in there all night can be tricky at times. I have to say this never used to be an issue, she used to sleep merrily in there for 10 hours straight, but it seems teething and become a rascal of a toddler have played a part in changing her mind!



The first place I started was getting her to drop off on her own when we put her to bed. I was happily cuddling her to sleep in my bed every night when I was feeling yuck with pregnancy sickness and when she was asleep I was transferring her. I don't regret it, I loved every second of those cuddles and the way in which she dropped off in less than 5 minutes every night told me she was content and loved it too. But for me I needed her to get into the behaviour of settling herself at night night time in her cot. 

It actually took probably 3 nights of a few tears and paddies before she just started saying na night and getting into bed and dropping off within 10 minutes. The first night she cried for about 15 minutes which really did break my heart, but the next night is one 10, and the next 5 and now nothing! I didn't leave her to cry, controlled crying isn't for me, I've not got the staying power or heart for it. Nothing against it, in my opinion what ever works for you - do it! As long as everyone sleeps and gets rest and is happy then that's your business :) This is just what we have done and my thoughts on it!

So we seem to have cracked that bit, which will certainly help in a few months time when her baby brother comes along. Although I am prepared for a little unsettling, it would only be natural. 

Daisy will sleep right through some nights but others she is up about 2-4am and just will not settle herself in her cot. She will cry and moan until we go in there and that's where the fun really begins! She will thrash around, scream, kick, throw things and cry shouting down!! Meaning get me the hell out of here!!!!! And I'll put my hands up again and say of course I've followed her bossy little demands several times (okay maybe more than that!!!) and she's ended up in our bed! Again I don't really regret it, so don't start saying you made a rod for your own back and all that crap!!

It is going to take some perseverance and persuasion to get her to enjoy her own bed all night and not the cuddles and warmth of our bed! I can't really blame her, our bed is pretty comfy! 

It's proven that co sleeping when done sleeping actually makes happy, content babies who actually show developmental advances to those who may not. Believe what you like, I did it purely so we could all sleep! And 2 out of 3 nights that she may be with us for part of the night she goes straight to sleep and we have a good lie in too! Not many people with a toddler can say they get a 9am start most days!!!

The other thing I have started to introduce is a GroClock. Basically it is training your little one to understand night and day, when the sun goes down off the monitor and the moon pops up they know its time for sleeping. And again in the morning when the sun pops up they know its day time and they can get up. I think Daisy may be a little too young for this yet but she does wave to the moon and say "na night" to it and "hiya" to the sun in the morning, so she is getting to understand night and day at least. Even if the understanding isn't quite there to stay in bed until the sun pops back up! I think we have a few months yet until this happens. But for me it is all about building habits and routine, she will become familiar with the clock and that can only be a good thing. I have heard some great feedback on it and couldn't wait to test it out.

This is what the GroCompany say about it:

How do you get your children to understand when it's time to get up? SIMPLE "stay in bed until you see the sun!" The Gro-clock uses fun images of the stars and sun to communicate when to go back to sleep and when it's time to get up. Due to popular request, this 2010 version of the Gro-Clock has a new feature allowing parents to choose whether or not to display the digital clock during the usual ‘stars to sun’ countdown. So for older children, they can now start to learn digital time, as well as look for the arrival of the sun!



Image Source: www.Johnlewis,com

Let me know if you have had success with it, I would love to hear all about it!

Lots of love,

A sleepy muma xxx

We were kindly send the Groclock in return for our honest feedback

Bump #2 Pregnancy diary: Weeks 14-18

With the Christmas break my blog also decided it would have a little rest too, so this time my pregnancy updates have been grouped into a four week catch up!

To be honest not much has changed really, nothing dramatically anyway. The one thing I must tell you, well shout to you is that I am starting to feel more like myself! I am much less sick, much less tired and generally am starting to feel a little more human that before. Which is such a relief, I just can't tell you how draining it is!!

DID I TELL YOU WE ARE HAVING A BOY?????????????? Yes a BOY! A BLUE ONE! 

I am still in massive shock, I am not sure if I will get my head around it to be honest until I see that teeny little man in real life. I really do need to start getting things sorted for him as I guess I am pretty much half way now. Everything I currently have is very, very girly! 

I still get tired easily and if I'm off or able to then when Daisy naps I will join her for half an hour, lazy bones I know! But hey if you can't beat them, join them! 

I am actually able to stay awake past 8pm now and am now going to bed normal time again for me, around 10pm. I  even managed to stay awake past midnight on New Years Eve, yeah go me!! Although I did wake up the next day with a non alcohol induced hangover, how is that fair? 

Food wise, I do have my appetite. It comes and goes in size but the only plus is that I am still really enjoying fruit and actually have found myself really wanting more veg in my meals. I really need to kick start this healthy eating so this couldn't have come at a better time, cue ordering a fruit and veg box from our local supplier! Along with a good appetite also comes a thirst, sometimes I just can't quench it. Which is great really because if I'm not thirsty then I just won't remember to have a drink, I know, terrible.

The worst thing for me this past few weeks has been this dreaded "pregnancy cold", I just couldn't shift it. I must have had it for at least 6 weeks and I just felt disgusting! Even the good old vitamin weren't making much difference, although I am not very strict with them so maybe I should get right back on the Centrum pregnancy vitamins that I took last time. The only thing that has helped much at all is putting Vicks on my feet at night under socks (an old wives tale that seems to help for at least an hour or so!) and drinking as much water as I possibly could. I tried not to take anything if I could help it and only took paracetamol on the one night when my throat was on fire. I would just rather not if I can help it. I must admit I did actually use Daisy's Calpol Saline spray for a few days to try and ease my sinuses too, it seemed to work!

My bump has popped out a little, sometimes it looks much bigger than others though. I guess it must be his position to how it looks. Visually I haven't changed much at all to be honest, I am still too small or not pronounced enough to wear any of the maternity wear I have purchased, the only thing I can get away with wearing is this top from ASOS and even that is still not fitting perfectly, another few more weeks and I am sure I will be rocking that maternity wear! Other than a rounder tum and boobs the only difference visible to me is that my hair is growing rapidly and my skin is better. To others they may hopefully be starting to think I don't look quite so rough as I have been trying to make more effort this past few weeks what with having a tiny bit more energy and some special occasions thrown in there!



Movement hasn't got all that much stronger yet really, I do feel him more often than say 3 weeks ago but it certainly isn't a KICK KICK yet, more of a gentle poke. I am looking forward to the day I can actively encourage it!

I did a video update this week too to go along with this update, you can see it here:


Lots of love, 

Hayley xxx

Daisy's 20 month update

I haven't done one of these in bloody ages, I set out to do them every 3-4 months but I guess time has just whizzed by as usual and it's fallen off the priority list at some point. I'm kicking myself really because I love looking back and reading these and I know I will even more when our little boy comes along too.



So where do I start? Well Daisy is an independent little madam! She is definitely her own person and no one stands in her way, or that's the way she likes to think it is anyway! She won't be fed very often, only when she is feeling lazy, she hates to get dressed and have her bum changed, again only when she's worn out and doesn't have the energy to fight you off, she doesn't want to sit in the push chair, basically she likes to do most things herself!

Eating isn't so wonderful. We really hit a wall at around the 15 month mark and it doesn't seem to have sorted itself out. When weaning and after that Daisy ate anything we fed her, she would have off days but generally I could say she was a good, non fussy eater! Now is a different story! She will not eat vegetables, meat in its natural state and well she won't eat anything that she can't pick up with her fingers that isn't fruit, breaded, cold, or a snack! Lovely home made food, think again. It is so frustrating! I have many a time walked out of the room while she is screaming and throwing it at me but I can't force her! As much as I'd love to at times!!



I really don't want to make food an issue and am just hoping if I keep giving her new things then she will remember she likes them! But who knows! 

She is obviously running around, climbing and being a monkey easily now, it seems they go from wobbly, chubby little babies to little dare devils in just a matter of days. 

Daisy's speech is brilliant, she can probably say close to 30ish words now such as Dadda, Mumma, nanna, banana, tea, juice, night night, hello, hiya, hot, milk, book, car, cake, tree, birdy, ouch, down, please, good girl, star, sun, moon, dark, no, yes etc! She is pretty much picking up new words and behaviours daily.



She recently got her first swimming certificate, which was a nice little milestone! 

Daisy sleeps well at the moment although she does wake most nights around 2-3am, usually I can pop her dummy in or just rub her back and she will drop off again. She does however like to come into our bed when she can, as much as I complain I do like the cuddles and know they won't be on offer for ever!! Also if she  does manage to wangle herself into our bed then she does tend to have a lie in, which is always welcome!!!! 

Lots of love,

Hayley & Daisy xxx

Toddlebike2: Daisy gets her first set of wheels!

Over the past month or so we have been testing out the Toddlebike 2 with Daisy and so far, so good!!


I was a litte unsure if it was bit too early for Daisy to be scooting aorund on something like this as when it arrived she sat on the seat and couldn't really reach the handles without stretching really far and making herself a little unsteady. Of course we have to remember Daisy's right hand doesn't give her the grip ability that the other does so that does come into play slightly. 

However she has proved us wrong, she just scoots along the frame and pulls herself in closer to the handles and can whizz around on it. Obviously with the weather like it is (it is winter after all!) we haven't ventured outside on it as much as I would have liked to, but we do have wooden and tiled flooring in our house which makes for some super speedy racing about! 



When I first received this bike I was surprised at how light it was but how sturdy it was at the same time, which makes it really easy to move around and put away etc. I am sure in the spring it will be getting hooked under our arm while we go off down to the park with it, or it could be put into the boot of the car with ease to be taken to the grandparents house for a spin! 

I have been so pleased with this product and would highly recommend it to anyone with toddlers who are still too young for balance bikes but want something a bit more exciting than a standard trike, it is a great stepping stone up to the balance bike. 

A few snippets from their webpage:

Toddlebike – a unique “Pre-Balance” bike suitable for Toddlers as soon as they can confidently walk (usually around 18 months)

Widely accepted by cyclists and the cycling media as being THE BEST first step towards independent riding

Indoor AND outdoor use so LOADS of practice time without pressure or frustration at the pace of each individual child

Super lightweight – just 0.8kg – 3 times lighter than most balance bikes, scooters or ride-ons

As you can see Daisy loves it! I will be featuring it in one of our YouTube videos soon too :)

Lots of love, 

Hayley & Daisy xxx

*We were kindly sent this in return for our honest opinions