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

Preparing Albie for the baby!

Hey guys,

So ever since we even thought about having another baby i have been worrying about how Albie is going to take and adapt to the fact he will no longer be an only child. He has always had mine and Hayden's constant attention and it has always been about him so bringing another child in to the equation is a big deal.

Anyway i have expressed my concerns to Hayden and to other family members and all of them have given me some tips on how to help him get prepared for the baby when she arrives and what to do when she is here so i thought i would share with you some tips.

1: Make him feel included in the build up
     - By this i mean, we have taken him to scans, let him help pick clothes for the baby, taken him to midwife appointments and listened to her heartbeat and let him talk to my bump and feel her kicking away.

2: Make the baby known
    - First of all when we found out we were expecting i tried not to speak to him to much about the baby because i thought it would make him feel sad and pushed out but i was so wrong. After our second scan when we found out the gender we told him hes going to have a baby sister, we told him her name, we showed him where she would be sleeping and sitting in the car just to make him aware that she will be around him when she arrives and so that a baby didn't just arrive in the car seat and bedroom next to him.

3: Let him help
   - This one works for both before the baby is here and after but more so afterwards, let him help pack the hospital bag, let him help get the nappies and feed the baby, just letting them help in general will make them feel so included and like they are not being left out and the attention is on them too.

4: A gift from the baby
    -  When you have a new baby you get a lot of guests that want to meet them and i didn't want Albie to feel its all about her so i am going to be making him a little gift bag of things from her that i know he will love for example, ive brought him some little motorbikes and dinosaurs and i am going to get him a few more bits to go inside just to make him feel that bit more special.

5: Albie and me time
    - Last but not least, although i now spend every minute of every day with Albie i have made sure there is an hour in the afternoons where it is just me and him and he picks an activity for us to do of his choice. I plan to continue this when the baby is born when she is napping just so that he still gets some one on one time with me.


So far Albie is really enjoying the fact he is soon going to be a big brother and is loving helping get the baby's stuff ready with us for her arrival. He is so loving towards my ever growing bump and throughout the day will just randomly pull my top up and kiss my tummy and talk to her. Just a few days ago we went out on a little mummy and Albie lunch date and i let him pick a cake and he said to the shop assistant my baby sister would like the pink cake. I had to explain she wasn't born yet but it truly melted my heart and has shown me that he is just going to be the most amazing big brother and i cannot wait for them to meet.

I really hope this post helps some of you guys if you are thinking about having any more children or are currently expecting.

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

I am pregnant!

So guys, ive been away again for a while and the reason if you couldn't tell from the title is I'M PREGNANT.

Now I know being pregnant in itself does not mean I should of neglected my blog but I have been finding it quite difficult. ( I will explain more in my next blog post about my first trimester)

So, we found out we were expecting another little bundle of joy around 8 weeks ago, so I was 5 weeks pregnant and it has been so hard trying to keep it hidden from everyone. A few sneaky people guessed from some of my tweets though. We are absolutely over the moon and Albie is also very excited.

So the exciting bit, when is the baby due? Our due date is the 30th September but this could all change as with Albie I went from the 24th of January to the 8th January but for now its the 30th September.

Do we know the gender? No, I am only 13 weeks at the moment so they couldn't tell but we are hopefully going to find out if we are expecting a baby boy or a baby girl. We will be more than happy with either gender, we just cant wait for baby Ballard to be here.

Do we have any names? Yes, we have a girls name picked out but no boys names. We always seem to struggle with boys names. We are going to be keeping the names quiet though until we are 100% sure and until we know the gender.

Is Albie excited? Albie doesn't fully understand but he does know that mummy has a baby in her tummy so he has to be careful and quite often he will lift my top/dress up to say hello to baby and stroke my tummy.

Anyway, I am going to be doing a full post on my first trimester to give you a bit more of an insight into how I am finding this pregnancy so make sure you keep your eyes peeled for that one.

Hope you enjoyed this post.

Take care.

Megan x

Home sick

Hey guys,

Bit of a different post today, I just wanted to touch on a subject that I have always struggled with and am going through at the moment. Feeling homesick.

So as you all know I moved house around 3 weeks ago, we decided to take the plunge and move away from our families. Only about 30 minutes away but we are both very close to our families so it was a big decision for us to make. I've always struggled with being away from home ever since I was younger and I still struggle with it now, even if I am going on a holiday for two weeks by the second week I have to have made contact with my mum. I think its just a home comfort thing.

I'm not the most confident of people which is mainly down to my own anxiety issues and I find it really hard to make new friends and to socialise so I get lonely quite quickly. I haven't actually done much to make friends since i've moved here but I have met the neighbours who are so lovely and I am planning on taking Albie to some local toddler groups where hopefully I can give myself a kick up the butt and say hello to some new people.

With feeling homesick, I tend to start hating where I am very very quickly and that is not a good thing. About 2 weeks after we moved I in I felt so down in the dumps and just couldn't bring myself to go out in the village or anything, but  found it really helpful to talk to Hayden and my mum. Both of them know me better than I know myself and told me I would end up feeling like this and both have helped me feel so much more at ease with moving here. I've been out exploring with Hayden and Albie just so I can learn some places and how to get home, haha and my mum has become a regular visitor which I love!

My advice to any of you who suffer with feeling homesick is always try to talk to someone, don't feel it alone and bottle it up otherwise you just dig yourself a deeper hole and find it harder to get out of. There are so many different solutions to helping you overcome it and to make you feel more at home and if you talk to someone about it, you can work some out together.

I am slowly starting to feel more at home now and I couldn't of done it without support from my family and friends so I am so grateful to them for helping me try to overcome this and to settle in to my new home and area.

Do any of you suffer from homesickness or any other types of anxiety?
Let me know.

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

Life update

Hey guys,

I'm so sorry I haven't uploaded a new post in a while, i've been so busy. If you couldn't tell from my last post, i've moved house.

What a stressful experience that was! I'm not the most organised person when it comes to writing things down on my calendar and ill only remember that I have a hospital appointment the day I am supposed to be there but with my house I am very organised. Everything has a set place and if its not there I start to freak out. I just like to feel stable and comfortable and living with all my stuff in boxes it takes me right of out my comfort zone.

Anyway, so yes i've moved house. We are nowhere near settled and it was stressful, the house needs so much work to the point, Hayden has been working 5 days a week at his job and then working all weekend decorating the house. We still haven't completely unpacked but its starting to feel a bit more like home now although me and Albie haven't stayed a full weekend here yet as we moved in on a Saturday and last weekend we stayed at my mums so we didn't get in the way of Hayden and his manly tools.

With all of this going on and caring for a child who has most definitely hit terrible twos and working, I have just been so exhausted by the time Albie is in bed that I have literally just been showering and going to bed at near enough the same time as him. But I have been planning some really exciting blog posts for the not so distant future and I cant wait for you guys to read them. I am trying to fully relax now that I feel I am finally getting some of my energy back, I promise there will be a new blog post every week!

Some of the exciting blog posts coming up are, a whole series of blog posts of before and afters of my new house and a special guest will be featuring on here very soon who I cant wait for you all to meet.

Hope this post has answered all your questions as to where i have been, it wont happen again.

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

Albies is 2!

Hey guys, sorry ive been so absent. As you can tell from the title its been a certain little mr's birthday this week and the build up has been hectic.

It only feels like yesterday that i was moaning about how 9 months of pregnancy was dragging and how much i hated it and i wanted Albie born and now hes 2? Really? How? It feels like hes been in my life forever but in the same way i cant believe how quick the past two years have gone. Hes gone from being an 8lb 11oz baby to a walking, talking toddler.

So i havent really updated any of you guys for a while on how Albies doing, whats he doing or anything like that so i thought his second birthday would be a great time to do just that.

Routine:
Albie has always had a routine, its forever changing and just when i feel like we have mastered one something changes. His day starts at around 7-8am and then in the morning i like to take him out to soft play or a toddler group or something to try and burn some of his energy. He has his lunch quite early around 11.30-11.45 so that he has finished by 12.15 ready to go down for a 2-3 hour nap. Depending on what time he wakes from his nap sometimes we will go for a walk to feed the ducks or to the park or something before Hayden gets home from work ready for dinner around 5. We then have family time after dinner before bath, milk and bed by 7pm. Albie has always loved his sleep and i am so grateful because i really do too. You know when you have new baby and they say 'make sure you sleep when the baby does' well i still do that haha.

Development:
Albies personality in the past year has really grown. He is talking so much now to the point he will have a full on conversation with us and tell us about his day when we ask him. His favourite word at the moment is 'no'. Everything we ask him is no until he thinks about what we asked him.He has very recently started to get a sense of humour, he has started to do things to make other people laugh and will giggle away at the most silliest of things before telling us how funny it is which makes my heart melt.  He is also now fully potty trained during the day and has been from around 19 months, we have the odd accident every now and then but its bound to happen.

Relationships:
Albie has always had a very strong family unit around him and hes really starting to form bonds with other family members now which is so cute to see. He now knows what all of his aunts and uncles are called and what his grandparents are known by and when we drive past their houses he knows who lives there which truly baffles me as to how he can remember stuff. Lately, hes been really enjoying playing together with other little people his age and we have some he sees weekly and is always asking about when we are going to see them next.

The past two years have completley whizzed by and my baby is now a little boy with a cheeky personality coming along, before i know it he is going to be a stroppy teenager. I love watching him grow and seeing him learn something new daily. Being a parent truly changes your view on life and the things that used to matter before you became a parent dont and the things that didnt matter, do.

Do any of you have children of this age? Id love to hear or read about them, leave a comment in the comments section below and ill be sure to check your blogs out.

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

Memories #2 - Albie

On the 15th january 2014 my whole world changed. I had given birth to what felt like a pumpkin. Albie was born into this world weighing 8lb 11oz. Now to me that seems and sounds massive but to other people that sounds arround average.

Life as a mum was difficult at first, i was so tired everyday but i never wanted any help from anybody. He was my baby and me and Hayden were the only ones i wanted to look after him. He was just so precious that everytime someone held him, everytime he got a little mark or rash, everytime he  would cry i would be at his beck and call.

As the days went by, my love for Albie grew stronger and stronger and every little milestone Albie would reach i loved being there to watch. I have endless amount of photos and videos of him, some of him sleeping, some of him crying, some of him playing. Every little emotion Albie went through, i wanted to capture it all.

As the months passed, i watched Albie growing into the cheekiest little boy. Every day his personality was growing and changing, as were his clothes! People always told me how quickly they grow out of things but id love an outfit on him and by the time i had got through the mountain of washing, he had already grown out of it.

Albie is now a blossoming walking, talking cheeky little one year old and every day is a joyous, treasured memory. The best part about him growing up is how much stronger the bond between us and the level of communication that he shows. If hes unhappy he will try and show me why, if he wants a cuddle he will just come over to me and snuggle (this is a rare one but still a great one)

Overall, being a mum to my beautiful little boy is truly the best experience of my life and although hes growing and learning so fast, i am too. Every time i think i have this whole mum stuff figured out Albie shows me i havent.

Albie is my world and there is nothing i would change. Being a young mum doesnt mean my life ended, hes given me a whole new one. Because i had him young, means ill hopefully get to love him longer.

Megan x

Memories #1 - my wedding day!

On the 9th november 2013 i got married to my best friend, my soulmate, my childhood sweetheart. The day was everything i had dreamed of and so much more.
I live in a small town in sussex and we had decided the ceremony would be held in a small local church and it was just close friends and family invited.

When i arrived at the church i genuienly felt like i was going to be sick, to say i was nervous was an understatement but as soon as i saw Hayden all the nerves vanished and in that moment it felt like it was just me and him in the room. It wasnt, there was around 150 people just staring at me but the only person who had my attention was him. He looked so handsome in his suit.

Once the ceremony was over we had our pictures taken and headed off to our reception. For this we hired a small hall and some decoraters. Me and Hayden had no idea what the place was going to look like so when we walked in we was amazed at how well they had done, they had listened to our requests and met every single one of them.
We hired a hog roast company rather than a sit down meal as we wanted a more relaxed feel and to be honest i think it was the best choice we could of made. All the guests loved it, we had vegetarian options too and different meal options for people who preffered to have someone else.

We brought our cake from marks and spencers, we received so many compliments on the taste but I was so full up that I didn't even get to eat any. I had a big enough belly anyway :) 

Being 7 nearly 8 months pregnant i thought i would struggle but i was so glad i was because although Albie wasnt born yet, he was still very much visible in the pictures and throughout the day.

Overall, the day was an amazing success and i couldnt of picked a better person to spend the rest of my life with.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing a little glimpse into our special day. Let me know if you would like to see more posts like this in the future

Megan x