After 8 weeks of constantly being with Isabel, I found myself desperately craving some quality one on one time with Abigail. Abi has never moaned and whined about Isabel, in fact she misses her when she's not around her. But I could see that she was starting to react a little to constantly having her little sister around taking up most of the attention as a baby does. On the plus side of Isabel taking a lot of my time and attention, it has meant that Abigail has really created an even more special bond with daddy. I often over hear them playing and giggling away and when chris calls to tell me he's enroute home, Abi becomes so excited and can't wait to see him! Abi loves being pampered- from a back tickle to getting her nails painted, she can't get enough of feeling grown up and picking her favourite nail colours. So this week I arranged for her to have a very grown up manicure at the beauty salon, The Venue in Bournemouth. It's owned by Emily who I used to have my nails done with when she first started her business as part of level hair salon. The Venue offers a wide range of treatments including a long list of special treatments for children. I booked us in for a proper manicure and when I told Abi she couldn't wait. My mum kindly offered to have Isabel, which I'll be honest, I did think that Abi would get jealous at Isabel having one on one time with her nanny, but she really didn't mind at all. She was so excited and desperate to get down there and have her nails done. She even held my hand without prompting and right before my eyes, as we waited to be seen and as she drank her milkshake in her "grown up" cup, she turned into a young lady who was enjoying her Mumma time more than anything. As soon as we arrived, the lovely ladies at The Venue made such a fuss of Abi and made sure she felt amazing. They offered her an array of drinks- Abi was in her element! She of course picked a very bright pink nail polish and even insisted on sparkles. The manicure last 40 minutes and Abi sat perfectly still the entire time. The hand massage sent her into some sort of trance and I don't think I've ever seen her so relaxed. As soon as our manicures were finished, Abi quickly asked for a massage! They do offer children's massages and facials so of course, as soon Abi heard this she was straight to the desk to try and book herself in! I'm thinking we will treat her for her birthday! Abi has grown up ALOT in the last 8 weeks and it definitely upsets me that it's happened so fast and suddenly.
The hour we had to ourselves, just solid Mumma and Abi time was perfect and did us both beyond the world of good. Despite having me to herself for the first time in so long, Abi spent the entire time telling everyone about her baby sister and even asked if Isabel can come next time. I am so proud of my little love. She's the kindest little soul- even if she is the devil more often than not, and has a serious issue understanding the word no. She is always so kind and caring. I'm already so excited for our next visit to The Venue. They really are an amazing bunch of ladies who go above and beyond to make sure your visit is amazing and relaxing as it could possibly be. If you're in the Bournemouth or Poole area and fancy a relaxing and blissful pamper I would definitely reccomend the Venue. The huge list of treatments and great value prices means there really is something for everyone. I'm already dropping Chris hints for me to get a full body massage on my next visit! Jess X
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In the blink of an eye, Isabel is 8 weeks old. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am so much more emotional about her getting bigger than I ever was with Abi! Isabel has grown much quicker than Abi did despite her milk allergy. She's already wearing 3 month baby clothes which seemed to happen over night may I add!! One day she was in newborn, the next 3 months, It's like she skipped a '1 month' size stage. On top of her sudden growth spurt, she's now filling her sleepyhead deluxe at 8 weeks old instead of 8 months- she clearly misread the 8 month part! The last 8 weeks haven't been too kind, but I've either touched on Why previously or If i haven't there's a reason I'm sure. Last week saw us admitted to hospital because of her little cough and a slight temperature. Of course we arrived and Isabel was absolutely fine, but the horrible rash I mentioned in my last post did cause some concern. Thankfully, the doctor finally gave us some answers and her horrid skin was actually due to a reaction to the milk she'd been put on. After a week back on nutramigen her skin has approved amazingly and we almost have a baby smooth face- well almost rash free atleast! Now we are just a left with some pretty serious cradle cap but hopefully with the new dentinox cradle cap shampoo we will Notice an improvement. Since switching back to her nutramigen milk we have finally got a happy baby. Her once very serious and slightly upset looking face is gone and it's been replaced with a very smiley one. Abi is still as infatuated with Isabel as she was when she was first born. In fact she's even more in love. Now that Isabel is more awake and reacts to Abigail, I can really see that they are already forming an amazing sister bond. Since she was born, Isabel has been pretty strong and now she's almost rolling over. Already at 8 weeks I find myself blocking her in with pillows when I put her on the bed or sofa (which I only ever do for a few seconds unsupervised!) She has such a strong head and loves holding it up and looking around. I'm thinking it won't be long till we are switching from the carry cot to the seat for our pram because as well as being so strong, she's really nosey! Being a family of 4 now just flows. We have our routines and if I'm honest, I don't remember what it was like with only one little person!
Even though I'm quite desperate for time to slow down a little, I'm also so excited for what being a family of 4 has in store for us and all the adventures we can enjoy together! Jess X With Isabel's CMPA comes horrific skin. Abi only ever suffered with a mild case of cradle cap which was sorted with some olive oil (weird but true!). Isabel, like everything else, is a completely different story. I won't bore you with the entire story of her skin issues. But these pictures should give an indication... Luckily, the rash only covers her entire head and down to her chest- I say this with a hint of Sarcasm and a feel of genuine luck. I can't imagine how much more it would bother her if her entire body was covered. When Abi was a baby we used johnsons and Tesco own brand equivalent, in fact we still do. But neither agree with Isabel's sensitive skin so I've been on the search for some new products at affordable prices for a few weeks. Her skin is entirely down to her allergies but with it being an eczema like rash, products that come into contact with her skin obviously have an effect on the state of the rash. After reading what felt like a million reviews and asking opinions from lots of people I decided to give the aveeno range a go, along with the kokoso coconut oil as an alternative to nappy cream. Even though her nappy rash is non existent since switching over to a cows milk free formula, I'm super careful on what I put on her sensitive little bum so that she never has to suffer through nappy rash like it again! I'll get straight to the point and say that the kokoso coconut oil is amazing. I'm a big coconut oil fan anyway but this premium baby specific product is great for the sensitive skin of a newborn. It all completely natural and her little bum is finally "baby soft". And for us parents- it smells amazing! It ranges from £7-£8 and at first glance you may suspect that it's a lot of money for what it is but we've been using it for 3 weeks and it's barely scratched the surface. A little really does go a long way with a good quality coconut oil. The aveeno baby range is also fantastic. It's £6 per a product which is quite a bit more expensive than some of the other baby wash products but it's definitely worth the price. Like the coconut oil a little goes a long way! I chose 3 aveeno products, the daily care cleansing milk, the hair and body wash and the moisturising lotion. The hair and body wash is great, it smells lovely and it doesn't react with Isabel's skin at all! It also has a handy pump so you can do it one handed! The moisturing lotion is definitely the best lotion I've ever used, on a baby and myself! It's not greasy at all and leaves the skin feeling so smooth and soft. And of course- it smells so nice! The final aveeno product I chose was the cleansing milk. You can use it every day without the hassle of a bath- which is a hassle when your baby has such sensitive skin and constant washing makes it even worse. You just have to apply a little of the milk to some cotton wool and wipe over the skin until it's clean. It's really subtle and it hasn't irritated Isabel at all! It's also really handy because having such a horrible rash, Isabel does sometimes look dirty (harsh as that sounds) and just brushing a little of this milk over the worst of her rash means it's keeping her nice and clean- avoiding any risk of infection which is common with these rashes! All the above products have been our heros of the skin care world! The smell and results are amazing and judging by the smiles after our first bath using them, Isabel is a big fan too! Now that we've cracked our skin care routine, I'm
Hoping the milk she's been put on will also help her sore skin! I would highly reccomend giving both the aveeno range and kokoso coconut oil a try- especially if your little one suffers with dry skin! Jess X I've read a lot of these posts recently and I love them as much as I love a birth story. Why is it that once you have a baby you enjoy stories of every stage so much?
So, here goes how we found out we were expecting baby No. 2... When we decided to try for another little one, we stupidly assumed that it would happen straight away... I was planning dates in my head and thinking how wonderful it would be to have another summer baby! But after a 8 months we weren't having any luck. I'll admit I became pretty obsessive and now completely understand how trying for a baby completely consumes some women because I completely took over my life. I would imagine how I would tell Chris and how we would tell our families. For 8 months I was unbearable! In May, on the night of Abigail's 3rd birthday I decided I wanted to enjoy our life again instead of solely focusing on another baby- like I said it consumed me and now I look back and it did kind of ruin 2016 for us. Clearly it wasn't our time and I needed to except that. We went on holiday to Croatia the following week and spent our holiday exploring, eating and enjoying the occasional glass of wine- I never drink so it was a massive rareity and showed just how relaxed I was. When we arrived home we received a bonus from Work and decided that now we had stopped trying for a baby, that we would book our wedding for march 2018. We viewed a few places and within a week we had provisionally booked our wedding for march 16th 2018 at the Italian villa. On July the 1st while I was at work I received the email confirmation of our deposit and I excitedly screenshotted it to send to Chris. As I was writing out my excited text I noticed the date on the picture... Cliche I know. It was the classic "that date can't be right" scenario, because according to the email it was July 1st and I was 4 days late. I hadn't been late once since coming off the pill. But unlike every other month when I'd genuinely thought I could be pregnant, I wasn't experiencing any symptoms at all. For the last 9 months I'd been convinced I was pregnant every time I had achey boobs or felt sick. This month, nothing. Other than a 4 day late period. I rushed off and sneakily purchased a cheap Tesco pregnancy test, ran back to the toilets and waited- not that I had to wait because within 30 seconds there was a line clear as day staring me in the face... I felt a weird rush of very mixed emotions- I was so excited I could burst but also terrifed at the realisation of another baby (not that I hadn't spent the best part of a year planning it all) I then quickly remembered that we had just booked our wedding and quick calculations told me that baby was due march 2017- exactly a year before our wedding. I was suddenly terrified of telling chris as the cost of a wedding, a baby and a new house and car would ruin us. After spending so long planning the exciting ways I would tell Chris that we were expecting I instead Called him, in tears of panic, in the work Car park. But hearing the excitement in his voice was still perfect (he then of course remembered the wedding and made a quick sarcastic remark about me bankrupting him but we laughed and it was all lovely!) I did wee on several other tests the following morning to be sure after spending the night worried it was a false positive. If you've read my previous posts you will know that from 5 weeks pregnant I unfortunately bled throughout the first trimester and most of the second- and I did wee on god knows how many tests everytime I bled just to constantly check! (Chris didn't know this so if he's reading this then yes Chris, I did spend a fair amount on unnecessary pee sticks!) Now, here we are, 9 months later... 2 beautiful girls, a wedding on the way (albeit a year later) a new car and in the middle of searching for our new home! Admittedly chris is turning grey I'm sure but it's all so worth it... Atleast I tell myself this every night when we are crawling into bed knackered! Jess X I can't believe it's been 6 weeks already, and guess what- I'm still an emotional mess!! I've said it before and I'm going to say it again- Isabel is ALOT different to Abi when she was a baby. It's amazing really. The last couple of weeks haven't been kind to our littlest love though. Just after her 4 week milestone, she caught a horrid cold that Abigail had also caught from nursery. I didn't cope well- Abi didn't get a cold till she was 5 months old so a 4 week old with a blocked nose and bogeys galore was a shock to the system. She was really good though and didn't really gripe much, she had her days where she was more cuddly than usual but other than that she was ok. As she recovered from the dreaded cold she then picked up a horrid viral infection. Isabel has been a sicky baby since birth- which Abi never suffered with, but Monday she was a lot worse, along with being quite sleepy. Sunday night she had kept me up ALL night- not crying or feeding, just wide awake! So at first I put mondays sleepiness down to her party animal ways. But decided to get her seen Tuesday just in case. The first doctor I spoke to said he thinks she's suffering with reflux as well as her milk allergy but the doctor we actually saw said it was a virus. She had a temperature of 38 degrees but to be honest seemed fine in herself other than tired and would only settle on me all day. After a couple of days she has settled and seems back to herself. As she is only 6 weeks old, we've made no attempt at any sort of routine just yet. And I'll be honest, the idea of trying to get her into a routine when we have a toddler is actually quite daunting. Abigail never had a specific routine- she just went with the flow and still does so when I think about it, how do you even get a baby into a routine? That being said, we do seem to unknowingly have a bedtime routine going on with Isabel and it's working out quite well- like I said, we've only had 1 up all night kind of night in 6 weeks so we can't complain. I mentioned before she has quite dry skin and it's still quite dry. I've tried all sorts ranging from johnsons (despite recent reviews of their products and ingriedients, we always used them with Abi and never had a problem!) which hasn't helped at all and has actually made her worse. We have also tried the classic baby oil but no help at all really. I even tried my Liz Earle moisturiser but again it didn't seem to help. Isabel's main problem area for dry skin is her ankles and forehead - her forehead being the worst. So this week i did a lot of research and decided to give the kokoso baby coconut oil a go. We have used it for a week now and the difference is amazing... plus the smell is to die for!! I will do a full review after a couple of weeks using it but so far I am in love with it. The last 2 weeks also saw Isabel finally move from her little baby bath to sharing the big bath with her big sister- much to sisters delight, she's been asking for it to happen since she was born. Bath time has been an ordeal since Isabel was born- she would scream till she was blue and kick and throw herself around, not in a good way! So putting her in the big bath (which I only did because I couldn't handle the flooding that comes with the baby bath that evening- lazy mum over here!) when I did was a god send. She was a different baby and actually smiled, splashed with happiness and loved having her big sister there to help me wash her. Unlike Abi, Isabel has quite a serious face- it's quite similar to my resting bitch face (it's a gift and a curse...) but when she smiles its heart breakingly cute. And she tends to save all her smiles for her big sister. At 5 weeks old she already notices when she's not around- we get so many smiles on a Tuesday and Thursday evening after picking Abigail up from her day at nursery. The last 6 weeks have gone too quick but watching Isabel become her own little person is amazing.
She has her 6 week check next week and I'm hoping they say that her talipes in her feet have improved. That's been quite a worry for me as even though I can see a mild improvement, her feet still aren't right. But we will see! We also have to change her milk again as there is a supplier issue with her current one. I'm hoping it won't upset her as I've been told it could but we will see! It took a while but I've finally adjusted to being a family 4 and I genuinely can't remember what it was like before Isabel's arrival. Getting your head round 2 children's needs that are so different Is a lot harder than I ever anticipated that's for sure but even when it's hard, I love it. Even if i do moan about the mess and the sick in my ear! Happy Easter weekend everyone! Jess X Our family adventure didn't go as we planned this week... And no, it wasn't because of Abi and her devil behaviour (I know, I was shocked too!) We spent our Saturday house hunting- I had forgotten how stressful that is! And Abi and Isabel stayed with my mum and dad. It was my first time leaving Isabel and I definitely wasn't ready, but it was so lovely to have some quality time with just chris. We even had time for a spot of lunch! I'll talk about our house hunting adventures another time though... We decided that on Sunday we would pack a picnic and head to Bradbury rings for a long walk. Saturday night the girls both slept like absolute dreams, Isabel had a feed at 9pm and woke up the following morning st 4.30am. Then Abi slept in till 7.45!! It was amazing. So our day started pretty well. Picnic packed and car all ready to go with pram and baby carrier, we set off. But when we got there it was shut because of a point to point event!! Bradbury rings is just up the road from Kingston lacy so decided to turn back and spend another afternoon there. Even if we just had our picnic on the green it was some much needed fresh air and we could make the most of the weather. I should mention we of course used our annual passes so it was another day out making the most of them which was an added bonus in the end. When we got to Kingston lacy we realised it was the start of the Easter trail in association with cadburys! So after our picnic we paid £2.50 for our special map and set off. The trail consists of 7 things to find with 7 questions along the trail and at the end you got a prize of chocolate. The questions ranged from 'how many people do you need to be able to hug this tree?' And 'what sort of animal would you find in this nest?' So quite easy questions that the whole family could get involved in. This was one of Abigail's favourite stops and she answered the question all by herself without any prompt. It was all about the colours you can see. On one of the stops, the question was 'what animals live in this forest?' And you had to walk into a little enclosed bit of the wood. It was inside a big sort of bush and Abi loved going in. It was quite dark and spooky and Abi's answer to the question was a gorilla... I was just as confused as you probably are reading this... While at one of the stops Abi and Chris became Wildlife saviours ans helped a ladybird that had gotten stuck. That quickly became Abigail's highlight of the day!
The trail was a great way to get Abi walking at a pace that didn't matched a tortoise. She was also really eager to answer the questions herself and it was amazing to see her out of her comfort zone and really thinking hard about her answers. I said it last week, but I really love Kingston lacy. I have a feeling that we will be making the most of our passes there for sure. The Cadbury trails are on till Easter Monday and I would hundred 100% recommend it. They are a perfect family activity and so much fun. It's £2.50 a map and each map you have you get a prize! Our Easter weekend adventures at the moment include more house hunting and On Sunday we are looking forward to a picnic in the new forest. I hope everyone has a fab weekend- with loads of chocolate! Jess X Despite Abigail's sometimes questionable behaviour, she is an extremely caring and loving little girl. So we knew she would be a fantastic big sister. Through out the pregnancy she was constantly asking questions and loved seeing scan pictures and feeling baby move. Isabel arrived and straight away she was better than we could of ever asked. She dotes on her baby sister and will tell anyone she can about her baby! She has been naughtier than usual, but still after 5 weeks, she is more obsessed with Isabel each day that passes so we can't complain to much. I haven't helped her behaviour much as I've been snappier than usual because I'm obviously tired but today I spent my afternoon rocking a poorly Isabel and thinking about Abi and how I've been since Isabel was born. It dawned me that me taking out my tiredness on Abi through my lack of patience was making her worse. SO when I picked her up from school and she was a bit of a pest and not listening to me I remained calm and told her she was naughty but otherwise ignored her behaviour. When we got home, our neighbours children were playing outside but as it was bath night and late I said no... She had also been pretty naughty when leaving nursery and after an afternoon of a poorly new born I was picking my battles. I also don't particularly trust Abi to play outside when she's being so naughty at the moment!! She kicked off pretty bad- screaming and shouting but unlike I usually do over the last few weeks (tell her off and send her straight to bed- only when she's really bad mind) I actually spoke to her like I used to. I explained why she wasn't aloud out and why she'd been naughty and she actually apologised. Our night was then perfect- she had a bath, with Isabel as i finally braved putting her seat in the big bath with Abi! Got dressed and cuddled before a bedtime story and sleep. The bath was great as after being poorly all day, Abi made Isabel smile and coo and for the first time since she was born, Isabel actually liked a bathtime. Tonight was what I needed as I've really felt guilty the last few weeks. I've felt like I'm letting Abi down a lot and like I said, I've had no patience for when she's naughty and I truly hate myself for it. My little epiphany this afternoon made me see that I'm trying to rush too much in order to take on too much and I realise now that I've been foolish as this means Abi and Me have often missed out our favourite things like bath time and a bed time story. Abi is naughty- but what 3 year old isn't. 9/10 she is a dream. So loving and caring and so intelligent. And evenwhen she's naughty, Abi will always jump at the opputunity to help me- between insults that is! She is always on hand before I've even asked, armed with a nappy and bepanthen. My mum always used to say that having a daughter Is hard work because they have all the attitude of an teenager from birth and god was she right! I thought I'd post some of my favourite pictures of Abigail and Isabel. I have tonnes but a few favourites definitely stick out for me. I always dreamed of two daughters and I love the bond they already have after such a short time. When I was growing up I always wished I'd had an older sister to be so close with and I'm so happy that now I have my daughters who can have that relationship. So here goes... My favourite pictures of my whole world! Abigail's first cuddle! Mothers day Even Abi loves the smell of a freshly bathed baby! No words for this one. I just love it. I actually feel quite emotional looking at those pictures!
I'm so proud of how amazing Abi is- even when she's naughty and I want to lock myself in the bathroom with a bar of chocolate to escape her rampage! She is the greatest big sister we could of ever asked for my heart hurts a little everytime I watch her love her baby sister. Jess X As the weather gets a bit better (well as good as British weather can get...) we have become quite obsessed with making the most of Chris's days off and getting us all out and about for some much needed fresh air. I'm in charge of making plans for our days out and when it comes to actually thinking of what adventure to embark on that day I become pretty stumped. Not because I can't think of anything because I can't fathom paying the pretty high prices that everything seems to cost these days. Other than the beach and the new forest - nothing is free anymore. God I sound old. Anyway... This past weekend the weather was beautiful and I woke up Sunday with a very much set in stone idea of what I wanted us to do, and that was to visit Kingston Lacey. Its a large stately home set in hundreds of acres of beautiful gardens and woodland that you can spend all day roaming around and exploring. It's part of the national trust so you do have to pay on entering for your visit. On the way there I was getting quite angry at the thought of our walk costing us £28 but was so desperate to enjoy the weather somewhere other than the beach or new forest so I kept telling myself it was a one off. When we went to pay we were asked if we had considered becoming national trust members. I'll be honest here- up until recently I had always thought of my gran when anyone mentioned being a national trust member but since having Isabel and trying to decide on fun and different days out I had looked Into it. Once the membership was explained it was a no brainer really and we signed up! It's cost £95 for the year for myself and Chris as the girls are currently free. Basically we just have to visit 3 national trust sites to get our money back so it's definitely beneficial. We also get free parking at all national trust car parks which is also really helpful. So we embarked on our Sunday day trip around Kingston Lacey. We chose to do the woodland walk which was lovely and very beautiful. Abi was of course a a little turd and I would be lying if I said we didn't have a full blown family debate/argument because it had taken us an hour to walk a mile... But once we had all apologised and declared our love for each other we were back to our fun day out once more. The paths of the woodland walk were suitable for the pram which was a massive bonus for me and there were plenty of benches and tree stumps to perch on if any littles legs got tired- as you can imagine our turd of a toddler had many "my legs are broken" moments so those benches came in handy! There's a pretty cool woodland play area which Abi spent quite a while running around in, as well as little areas off the path were people have built some pretty amazing stick dens to play in. The walk was full of daffodils and even some bluebells! We stopped in a little garden for our picnic where we found a cute bench that was under cover- perfect for some shade while feeding Isabel! Despite it being quite busy there were plenty of places to set yourself down for your picnic! There is also the stable cafe at Kingston Lacey if you didn't fancy a picnic, as well as a little hut that sells ice creams an hot drinks in the kitchen garden. As you walk around it's not difficult to play a spot the wildlife game as there are so many birds and insects that call the grounds home. They also get a lot of deer through out the year. On top of that there's also pigs and cows that you can see and of course, Abi loved that bit best!! There is so much Space for little ones to run around and burn of some energy - although Abi was more interested in pushing the pram by herself than running around! Over Easter, Kingston Lacey are taking part in the cadburys Easter egg hunt so we are already planning on returning to have a go! Despite only visiting one national trust site we know we made a great decision and I'm already planning our next adventure this weekend!! Now to hope the weather improves! Jess
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