6 month update!

Hey guys

Its been a while hasn't it, 6 whole months to be exact! Life has just really taken over, trying to find a balance between working, doing the house up and being a full time mum to two children now, my blog has been on the back burner. But fear not, just because i haven't been here doesn't mean i dont have lots of new ideas and posts coming up but today i'm going to start with Evalyns 6 month update.

6 months!!! How is my baby 6 months old already?! I feel like it was only yesterday i found out i was pregnant and now here she is at 6 months (nearly 7 months). She has really started to get her own little personality now, shes very quiet and chilled out, nothing really phases her at all. The only time she cries is when she wants feeding, which brings me on to another subject - weaning, i do have plans to do a full post on this but oh my life this girl can eat, if you've got food in your hands you can guarantee she will try to get it. Greedy monkey and her growth is really starting to show this as shes now on the 75th percentile and weighs a whopping 17lb 3oz.

We are still breastfeeding but with me going back to work and not being able to express, we are slowly weaning her off of me which i'm so disappointed about but she needs to be fed. She doesn't currently sleep through the night and is waking two to three times which is exhausting but shes so worth it. Shes a very bouncy girl and is always excitable about everything which i just love! She has the craziest hair ever and everybody always comments on her hair.

She can now sit up and roll everywhere, i leave her on the floor playing in one room and the next thing i know shes in the next room with me, shes mastered it to a tee and is fast at it. Crawling - shes now getting herself into the position to crawl and is rocking so i dont think it will be long until she is crawling but for now she finds it easier to just roll everywhere.


So that sums Evalyn up and what shes doing at 6 months and i'm honestly so in love with her. My next post will be a breastfeeding one due up on friday so make sure you come back to check it out.

Take care
Megan x

The gender reveal!

Hey guys,

So on May 12th, we had our 20 week scan to check that the baby was growing and developing well and thankfully everything was perfect which we are so pleased about and at the end of the scan we had been asked if we wanted to know the gender, which of course we said yes! Some people prefer not to find out but we found out with Albie and i am terrible with surprises so we had both agreed if they asked then we would.

I was convinced i was having another boy all throughout my first trimester and early second trimester just because my gut was telling me 'its a boy' so when the sonographer said we were expecting A LITTLE GIRL i couldn't quite believe it, in fact i didn't. I asked her to triple check and asked for a second opinion ha, it was just a shock. Now dont get me wrong i would of loved another little boy but i was so excited to buy for a baby girl as it was something i had never done before what with having 3 brothers so it was a whole new thing for me. Hayden said he knew it was a girl although every time i had asked him prior to the scan his reply was 'how am i supposed to know', typical bloke response but he is delighted at the fact we have been blessed with a child of each gender.


So we have decided on the name 'Evalyn' for her and we had decided on this before we even knew the gender, we just love how pretty it sounds and that its a name that sounds perfect for any age.We announced the gender to our family at a gender reveal party that Haydens family hosted for us and we had made little picture cards of blue and pink baby boots and which ever we had the most of was the correct gender, they was all so confused at first as we had made it an even number and hid Albies and then said 'Albies turn' and he revealed the pink baby boots with her name written on.

We feel so grateful to be able to have children and are beyond excited for our baby girl to make her appearance into the world. 10 weeks and counting!

Hope you liked this post, take care!
Megan x

How we first met

Hey guys,

So what with it being valentines day this Sunday, I thought I would do an extra little post for you all about how me and Hayden first met.

It all started in January 2010, my mum moved to Crawley, a small town in West Sussex and I decided to move with her. It took me six weeks to be accepted into a new school up here and half way through my exams it felt like forever. I finally started school on March 8th and I met Hayden in our geography class on the 15th March.

Some pictures of us when we first got together

I asked my friend who he was and then added him on Facebook, good old social networking. We started talking over MSN and went on some dates and officially started dating on the 3rd of April. So i had known Hayden just over two weeks and now look at us.

Hayden hasn't changed, he's always been so determined and always works so hard to achieve everything he puts his mind to. He has the funniest sense of humour and he never gets grumpy haha. I'm so grateful to be able to call him my husband and for him to be the father to my child.

I cant believe that almost 6 years on we have moved out, got married and have our beautiful little boy. I genuinely feel so lucky to be where i am and to live the life I do.

Some more recent photos of us

How did you meet your partner/husband/wife?
Let me know in the comments.

Take care
Megan x

5 tips for moving house

Hey guys,

So if you follow me on twitter, you will know that I am moving house this weekend and how stressed ive been about it. I'm one of those people that hate being disorganised and unsettled so the fact my entire flat is turned completely upside down and that there are boxes everywhere is really start to get to me but i know soon it will all be over and I cant wait. Anyway, enough ranting I thought I would do a post on some tips for moving house and things that have come in really useful for me and helped with my stress levels.

Tip number 1: Labels.

We brought some labels from eBay which you put on the boxes to remember what's in them and what rooms they need to go in so that we don't have random kitchen boxes in our bedroom haha. They have actually come in really handy as they also come with content stickers so you can write a short description of what's in the box. You can find the stickers here, they are quite cheap for how practical they are so I really do recommend them.

Tip number 2: Boxes.

We have so much furniture and to buy the amount of boxes we needed would work out so expensive so we (as in we, I mean Hayden) went into our local supermarkets and shops and asked if we could have any of their boxes. Sounds so cheap but it has saved us so much money and we got so many boxes and its all for free. Moving house is such an expensive time so anyway you can save money always comes in useful.

Tip number 3: Bubble wrap.

I have a love hate relationship with this stuff. It is definitely  needed for the more valuable and expensive things in our home but its just so time consuming and I hate the feel of it. It can work out so expensive too but we managed to get 100 metres for £16.75 which seems quite expensive but i would much rather pay that than have to pay out for a new television or sofa.

Tip number 4: Enlist help.

What has really helped us the most is the help we have received from our family and friends, they have been so supportive and we genuinely couldn't be more grateful. I've got a terrible back at the moment so I cant do to much heavy lifting so it has come in so helpful that we have a lot of help around us. I know not everyone is fortunate enough to have a lot of family and friends around to help them but if you do, try to enlist as many as people you can. It makes the whole thing a lot less stressful.

Tip number 5: Get a babysitter.

Now some of you wont have small children but we do and i love Albie being around but the poor soul has no idea what is going on. All his toys and his comforts and feeling secure and stable have disappeared so our family members have been looking after Albie some evenings so that we can pack without him being under our toes and asking what we are doing or throwing a random toy car or motorbike into the bathroom box (he's tried). Albies auntie is 7 months pregnant so she has kindly offered to babysit Albie for the big move and he will be staying at my mums that night so we can get his room all ready for him for when he comes home so that its not too daunting for him to come to a new house and a new room without any of his stuff unpacked.


Hope this helps some of you when you're moving house, good luck!

Megan x

Joie Gemm car seat review.

Hey everyone,

Albies safety when we are out and about is always my main priority and always has been from the moment we welcomed him into this world. Trying to find the perfect pram and car seat took up a lot of time and a lot of research as i didnt want to just buy anything. I wanted him to feel comfortable, be safe and practical at the same time.

After doing all this research Hayden and i finally decided on the Joie Gemm 0+ car seat which lasts up to 13kg which is around 12-15 months. For practical reasons this car seat ticked all the boxes, it was light weight, it fits onto our pram using adaptors so that if he was to fall asleep in the car we could just pop the car seat out the car and on to the pram without disturbing him. It is compatible with most pushchairs if you use the maxi cosi adaptors (we did) and also fits on to the Joie pushchairs without the need for any adaptors.

The best part about this car seat is its safety features. It comes with a 5 point safety harness which meant Albie would be securely strapped in and has an adjustable strap so you can adjust it with just one pull. Safe and convenient. Top marks. This car seat has side impact technology to give ultimate protection if were to happen. It has also undergone a lot of strict safety testing which really did help us make our decision.

The car seat has a lot of padding but not to much that your child is squashed. It has a newborn cushion which is perfect to stop their little necks from being moved to much. It also has padded harness and buckle which means that they wont cause any rubbing on their neck. Albie was very comfortable in his car seat and i kind of wish they made adult seats that were just as comfy.

All parts of the car seat are machine washable which came in so handy when we had nappy explosions or any vomiting.

Overall, i am so glad we chose this car seat for Albie and strongly recommend it to all our friends and family. You can purchase this car seat from mothercare, kiddicare, joie and other baby retailers.

Thankyou so much for reading.
Speak soon
Megan x

Dealing with an invisible illness.

Hey everyone,

So ive been thinking about writing this blog post for a long time because although there is a lot of information about my illness on the internet, there isnt many posts from people giving there view on living with it.

So since the age of 18 years old i have been living with a condition called Hypothyroidism, i had never heard of a thyroid before so i was shocked to find out that i had something wrong with mine.
Hypothyroidism means that your thyroid gland doesnt produce enough of the hormone needed which can cause you to feel tired, depressed, to have dry skin and hair, sensitivity to the cold and may cause your muscles to ache.

A lot of people dont realise they have this condition as they ignore symptoms or dont realise they have them. I was the same. I had all these symptoms but i had no idea until one night my vision completley disappeared and my eyes started to shake, i was rushed to hospital but with no conclusive answers i was sent home that night. This happened three more times before i finally went to my local GP who decided to run some more in depth blood tests than i had done at the hospital which showed up that my TSH levels were normal but my T4 levels were abnormal which led to me being diagnosed with this illness.

I currently take 50mg of levothyroxine daily and have done since i was first diagnosed which although its a small dosage makes so much of a difference to my life. I always thought i would live this energtic life running round, chasing Albie, playing sports with him but sometimes i find it hard to even have the energy to get out of bed but i do and he really is the reason i get out of bed and do the things that we do together.

People always say to me you look so well and happy all the time, but they dont see how hard some days are, how exhausted i can be and how drained i am if i dont take my medication. Some days are harder than most but its something ive learnt to deal with and although i do have bad days i also have really good days where i do feel that there is nothing wrong with me. Taking my medication doesnt mean my life is back to normal and i do still experience episodes wear i lose my sight which doesnt happen to all people with this condition but it does to me.

Just because somebody looks well and happy, doesn't necessarily mean they are. Never judge someone by what you see on the outside because you never know what is happening on the inside, always remember that.

Hope this helps some of you who have an invisible illness or know somebody who does. Let me know in the comments if have an illness and what it is and how you deal with it.

Take care

Megan x

Becoming a working mum!

Hey everyone,

I wanted to write a post about an issue most mums go through, going back to work after having your baby.

When i decided i was ready to go back to work, i felt like my heart was ripping in two. The thought of leaving Albie for any amount of time was awful, i had never felt anything like it. I went back when he was about 9 months old to work in a shop, it was only for 15 hours a week but it meant i was missing out on putting him to bed and family time on the weekends which to me was really important. So i found a new job working early mornings at a school, it meant Albie would be at the childminders only one hour a morning and the rest of the day i would be with him, i never want to miss out on anything with him so this works well for us as a family.

The first time i left him, i sat in my car and cried but the more i did it the easier it got. He was so content at his childminders that i knew when i was leaving him he would be safe and happy and the reaction i would get when i went to collect him was like no other, his face would light up at just seeing me and i know it sounds silly but i think he appreciates me more now.

Mum guilt is a thing all new mums experience and something that through time does get easier, although you think it wont it does.  Never take time with your little one for granted as each day is another day that they are growing up and you wont ever get it back. Before you know it they will be stroppy teenagers.

Some mums need to go back to work for financial reasons and some mums just want to go back to work, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a stay at home mum and there is also nothing wrong with being a working mum, all that matters is that you are there for them when they need you and are always being the best mum you could be. Never feel guilty for trying your best and for doing what you want to do.

I really hope this helps your mum guilt ease just a little and helps make you feel a bit better about your decision to go back to work.

Megan x

5 things nobody tells you about when your about to become a parent.

There are so many things people just dont tell you when your a parent which if i had been told, would of helped so much. Sometimes all you needs are some tips and advice so i thought i would do a little list of things i wish i had been told before i became a parent to Albie.

1) You become so paranoid and anxious. Now i have always suffered with anxiety but the level it reaches when you become a parent is at a whole new level, i was worried someone might drop him if they hold him or if i was doing something wrong. Every little thing i did i questioned whether or not it was the right thing to do and every little bump or illness he got i was ringing my mum or the doctors. I was your typical first time mum but it is okay to be anxious and it is okay to worry, as soon as your child is born you become very protective and it is just your protective side showing through when your worrying. What i will say is always trust your instinct, as a parent you always know what works best with your child and if their is something not quite right, you will always know.

2)  You will compare your child to others. No matter how much you say you wont, you will. Especially if you have friends with children around the same age as yours. I live by the saying every child is different and they will all reach milestones at different times so treasure them while they are young. Dont worry to much about if your friends child walked at 10 months and your child still isnt walking at 14 months, they will get there they all learn things differently. 

3)   It is 24/7 for the rest of your life. Now im quite lucky that mine and Haydens family's are so supportive and are always offering to baby sit Albie but even when hes with them and we are out on a date night or out with friends, my mind is on him continuously. I am wondering what hes doing, if hes being good, did he eat his tea, the list continues. Now Albie isnt even 2 yet but im sure it will never change even when hes moved out, it might ease off and i wont be thinking about him all day but im sure he will cross my mind and ill be wondering if hes okay or if he needs me. You become so selfless that all your focus is on them sometimes you do have to put yourself first but your childs needs should be your main priority.

4) No books will ever tell you how to be the perfect parent. I read book after book after book when i was pregnant with Albie and although they gave me plenty of tips, ive hardly used any of them. The best way to be a parent, is to quite literally be a parent, what works with mine may not work with yours and as long as what you think your doing is right for you and your child thats all that matters. Sometimes mistakes are made but as long as your learning from them thats the main thing.

5) There is no better job in the world. Being a parent is like being in a full time job, you just never get to clock out. It is so much more rewarding than any salary you could ever get. When your child does something or learns something new you will burst with pride. Its so hard to describe the emotions you feel when you become a parent but it is a love like no other, some days you may want to scream at the top of your voice but you will always look at them and just feel a rush of love. They can put a smile on your face in the darkest days and they will become your best friend.

Becoming a parent is the best thing to ever to happen to me and im sure is the same for most of you. I feel privelleged that i have Albie in my life and that i get to watch him learn and become the perfect little person he is. I wouldnt change it for anything. Let me know if you guys have any tips that you wish you had been told before you became a parent. 

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Megan x

Welcome to my blog.

Heyy. Im Megan-marie. Devoted mum and wife. I have a one year old little boy named Albie who is perfect beyond words. I have really wanted to have somewhere that i could write down precious little milestones that Albie reaches and memories we share as a family. Im awful with diaries so i thought i would try my hand at blogging. My blog will be based around being a mummy and special memories that i want to treasure and look back on in years to come.  I really hope you enjoy reading my upcoming blog posts about life with my little family.

Megan x