First night out - What I Wore

Last Friday I got to go to my Friend Abbie's 30 birthday bash. I couldn't go to all of it because they went for a meal starting at 6.30pm and I had to be home to feed Fred before bed.

I did manage to have time to straighten my hair, put on some make up, choose my outfit and paint my nails. It was luxurious!

It was lovely to get out to see people I haven't seen for a while and do something completely unrelated to Fred. But of course everyone just wanted to talk about him. Its funny people often complain that mums only talk about their children and are very boring, but most people bought the conversation around to him!

Oh well it was still enjoyable, and I got to have a REAL cocktail!

My challenge to myself this year is to only buy fairly traded or second hand clothes. 

This skirt is from People Tree, it was in the sale before Christmas.

 I LOVE IT. 

There are so many good things about the skirt.

 I love where it sits on my waist, that I can manage to fit a cardigan underneath it, that it is the perfect length for picnics, it has lovely deep pockets, and it doesn't need ironing!

We don't have a huge amount of money to spend on clothes, so both Jamie and I try to buy things that we will keep and wear for years to come. 

I don't follow fashion too closely, I just wear clothes that are comfortable and make me feel pretty. 

The cardigan pictured I have had for 7 years (I know that is probably taking it a bit too far) I have had to mend hole in it and re-dye it. Finding the perfect black cardigan is so difficult that I gave up and mended the one I had. 

It has seen better days.

Fairly traded clothes can be expensive, for the obvious reason - everyone in the supply chain is being paid a fair wage. To make my money stretch further I often take advantage of the end of or mid season sales. I have just ordered some Jeans from Monkee Genes that I found in their sale section, they were a steal at £15!

These photos have made me realise I need some new pumps, they are a state.

Fred 6 months update

So Fred us now 6 months old! 

He is fun now, he giggles and dances, and is learning to clap. 

(he hasn't quite got it yet, but he is trying)

We got Fred some sunglasses, he loves them!

I went and got Fred weighed last week, he is 17lb.

His current favourite foods are crumpets, asparagus, mango, and apple.

In the last couple of weeks he has grown his two lower front teeth, which has completely knocked his sleep off kilter. He still has two naps, one longer 2 hour nap in the morning and a half hour nap in the afternoon. He is generally asleep by half 7 but has been waking up 3 or 4 times before he gets up between 6.30 and 7.30 am. Its tiring but it isn't half as bad as it was!

This month as well as learning to dance and clap (sort of) Fred has learnt to sit up, grab his feet and pull his socks off. He is happier now that he can sit up and look around.

Swimming lessons are going so much better now,

 He even swam under water last week!

 My parents came to visit last weekend, it was so nice to have extra help. We took Fred in his first boat trip, and we all went swimming. 

This month we made up a new game called baby fishing.

Thankfully we haven't had any illness this month. 

Lets hope it continues!

Ordinary moments:- Getting to grips with food

For a couple of weeks now we have let Fred play with some of our food. He isn't yet 6months but he was almost snatching the food from out plates so we decided that he was ready to have a go at eating. 

We are doing baby led weaning, this means Fred feeds himself chunks of food and we don't use purees. It is comforting to know that because Fred is in control of what and how much he eats, he wouldn't be eating unless he was ready.

He is definitely eating! We have even found some food his nappy. So far his favourite foods are cucumber, crumpets, apple, tomato and porridge. He is not such a fan of broccoli and cauliflower, he pulls some great faces as he gets to experience we tastes and textures.

Although fun, food is very messy! This morning he managed to get weetabix inside of his coverall bib, as well as all over his face, high chair and floor.

I have linked up with Ordinary Moments over at Mummy daddy me again this week.

Baby Fred at 5 months

Our cheeky little monkey is growing fast! I can't quite believe he is 5 months old already.

The last month has been a bit of a blur - thanks to the lack of sleep. 

Since sleeping more Fred now giggles a lot more and his balance has improved considerably! It may just be a coincidence but I think it's related.

Fred now sleeps loads better. He generally has two naps a day one much longer than the other. Over night for 4 of the last 7 nights he has gone to bed just after 7, woken once for food and slept until the morning. It is amazing! I feel like a whole new person. Although now that some of the fog of tiredness has lifted I am noticing how much I HATE my hair. (something I am going to be sorting out today!)

Currently Fred's favourite toy is Terry the Triceratops. Terry is bright, jingly, crackly, squeaky and even has a chewy ring. 

Last week we started swimming lessons. He hated it. He sucked my shoulder the whole time. I have been told we will like it better this week. We shall see!

He is nearly rolling over, but he would prefer to be able to sit himself up. He spends most of the time that he is on his back doing a baby version of crunches.

We have started letting Fred play with food, currently he just gums bits of cucumber and sucks out the juice, he is really enjoying it though. As we are going to do baby led weaning I feel it is OK to let him explore food now so that he will start eating when he is ready. 

I'm afraid that once again I have no idea how much he weighs, just more. He has nearly grown out of his 3- 6 month sleep suits. 

I am hoping that this month his sleeping continues to improve, we avoid illness and he learns to like swimming.

AWOL - Struggling

 Sorry I have been missing from this blog for a couple of weeks. We have been having a difficult time and suffering from a severe of sleep. We are now doing a lot better, but it is always hard to find my blogging mojo again after a couple of weeks off. I have many blog posts planned - I am nearly a week late with Fred's 5 month update! 

As I said we are now doing loads better. We have even managed to catch up on some sleep! I wrote the following post at the height of my sleep deprivation. I think it is important for me to publish it as it is part of my story and it is only right that I blog about some of the hard things of motherhood as well as the good things.

Struggling

So this is what sleep deprivation looks like. 

What it feels like is drowning in tiredness, exhaustion and emotion.

For 5 nights now Fred has been waking too many times for me to cope. He has never been a great sleeper. I have become used to a mild amount of sleep deprivation and a manageable amount of tiredness.

 Waking 4 times a night now seems a luxury compared to this week. Last night has so far been the worst nights sleep since Fred was born. He slept for less than an hour at a time. A few times his slept for less than 10 minutes before he needed settling again. It is soul destroying.

I honestly feel that if I don't get more sleep soon my body will stop working. How can an exhausted body feed a ravenous baby? 
How can an exhausted body rock him to sleep yet one more time? 
How can an emotionally drained Mum love him as much as he deserves?
How can an exhausted Dad help over night and still manage to go to work?
How can you help a baby to learn how to sleep when you aren't even sure you remember how?
How many times do I have to say if he slept life would be perfect for it to happen? 
How many times can I be expected to pray for sleep before giving up?
How can we make this better?

Top Ten Tips for shopping at Charity shops

My challenge to myself this year is to only buy second hand or fair trade clothes. This is already difficult as all of my clothes are too big! My bum has disappeared so even my smallest pair of jeans are baggy. I never used to like my big bum but now it has gone I miss it!  So I need some more jeans and trousers. Unfortunately I have only bought one successful pair of jeans from a charity shop but I have bought many tops, cardigans and dresses that are now well incorporated in to my wardrobe.

For our day out at the Harry Potter studio tour I wore two of my favourite charity shop finds.

My red jeans I bought from a charity shop in Manchester for £5.99. I was pregnant so it was a bit of a gamble as to whether they would fit me or not. The gamble paid off I LOVE them. They are one of the two pairs of trousers that still look OK on my small butt. My top is my most recent charity shop buy. My friend Jen found it and made me try it on. I wasn't convinced when I saw it on the hanger but it really suits me, it is good for breast feeding and makes me feel a little fancy. It cost £4.99.

I have been shopping in Charity shops for clothes for 8 years now so I have gathered some top tips:

1. Go with an open mind - Every time I shop knowing I need a certain item I come home disappointed, but if I go just to see what I can find I find some lovely things.

2. Try before you buy - too many times I have decided that an item of clothing will fit me without trying it on. Second hand clothes may have been stretched or misshapen and you wont necessarily notice unless you try them on.

3. Set yourself a budget - Just because your spending money in a charity shop doesn't mean you are saving money. I have spent too much before and didn't notice because I was only spending a few pounds in my favourite charity shop every couple of days.

4. Take Cash - Most Charity shops now take cards but it is easier to keep an eye on what you are spending when you use cash.

5. Only buy things you love - It is not worth even a pound if you aren't going to love and wear it regularly.

6. Take a friend - It is good to have a level headed friend who knows your style and size as he / she may spot something that you wouldn't have noticed and they can keep you under control if you get the urge to splurge.

7. Make a day of it - If you have time it is worth taking an afternoon or a day every now and then to properly explore all of the charity shops in your town. 

8. Make friends with the volunteers in your favourite charity shop - Since having Fred it has been so much easier to start conversations with some of the older ladies in one of my favourite charity shops. They are happy to keep an eye on Fred for me while I try things on and they will give me their opinion if I don't have friend with me.

9. If you have the chance it is always worth travelling to a posh town or village and finding their charity shops. They often have better quality, less worn clothes.

10. Donate your own clothes - if people don't keep donating good quality clothes charity shops will not have good things for you to find. I like to think I have some friends that I have never met who are my size and share my style. We are effectively swapping clothes whilst donating money to charity. 

Ordinary Moments; Playing With Daddy

One of the best things about being a mum is getting to watch Jamie being a dad. 

Fred adores him. Jamie gets more smiles and giggles then everyone else. 

Hearing and watching the fun they have together makes all of the sleepless nights worth it. 
I also know it is going to get more fun. I can hardly wait!

I am linking up with Katie at MummyDaddyMe again this week.

 Don't forget to have a look at the other lovely posts.