I Love Weekends!

Sometimes the working week feels like it goes on for years when you've got 2 kids and 1 pair of hands! Come the weekend, I am ready for some family time!

This weekend we've been to watch Disney's Frozen on the big screen outdoors at Shugborough Hall. It was brilliant. The rain held off, we took a yummy picnic, snuggled under the blanket together and joined in the crowd rendition of "Let it go."

Then Moo had a play on the funfair whilst Woo slept on my back in the mei tie.

I really feel like we've spent some quality family time together. I love these days. These are the days i'll remember when the girls have flown the nest.

Woo, Me, Daddy, Moo

Woo and Me

Moo and her "hook a duck" prize

Me and Moo

Becoming a Work at Home Mom

I'm really working to get my little cloth nappy selling business going at the minute.

I started Material Mama in July 2014 in the hope I could indulge in my obsession of cloth nappies whilst also making a little money to cover my loss of wages since becoming a stay at home mum. I'd love nothing more than to be able to do the school runs, be there to serve them their breakfast and dinner and yet still be able to "work" in the money making sense.

I guess that's the dream for all of us?!

I'd really love to be able to have my own brand of nappies manufactured and sent to market, and it's something i'm currently looking into.

But for now, business is really picking up. We're coming to the end of the first month and I've really enjoyed it.

It feels great to be making a little money and do something that allows me to be me rather than somebody's mum, ya know?!

I love my girls to the moon and back, but sometimes you need to do something none mum related to unwind and refresh. 

So if you ever need cloth nappies, please remember us. Please try and support us British mums!

Many thanks to those who have purchased from me and made my first month a success.

<3

Cake Smash!

My husband loves photography and I love baking. For Woo's first birthday we merged the two and did a cake smash!

It was great fun! 

Cake was made by me, nappy is from my shop material mama.

Here are some of the finished photos taken by my hubby!

#ican campaign

I've been fortunate enough to be involved in a new breastfeeding campaign. As you know it's something i'm really passionate about and I love to help new moms meet their breastfeeding goals and avoid the disappointment of switching to formula like I did with Moo.  I took part in a photoshoot a few weeks ago, and on 1st August 2014, the beginning of world breastfeeding week, the Ican campaign was launched.

Here's my poster. It's dotted around local children's and health centres with the hope to making the campaign bigger. It's aim is to let other mothers know that there are other breastfeeding moms out there willing to help you. Seek them out! Don't listen to the "I couldn't breastfeed because..." stories. They're so unhelpful and disheartening when you're pregnant, and actually make you less likely to meet your goals. You can do it, you just need to seek out the right support. Even as a second time mom who didn't manage first time around, like me! I'm so glad i gave it another shot, and luckily I found the support I needed!

Don't hesitate to message me or the support group I help run if you need help or advice. And don't forget to like the #icancampaign faebook page. Even if you don't breastfeed, you can still support moms who do so that they can meet their goals!

Thank You!

Material mama

I failed! I haven't been keeping my blog up to date have I?

Having 2 young kiddies is hard work and totally time consuming!

We've had a busy year, Moo turned 3 in April, we went on our first family holiday in May and Woo turned 1 in July. I also set up a little business selling cloth nappies. You can find my Facebook page here. 

It took a while to come up with a name, but I hope to be able to start selling mama cloth etc so I wanted it to aim it more towards mamas than babies. I update stock regularly, and all nappies are shipped from the UK and are posted next day the latest so no waiting for shipping from china!

I love cloth nappies. I didn't realise how much I would love them or how addictive they become! In fact, most people warned me off them. "It'll be too much hassle to keep washing." Even yesterday, after I've been using them over a year somebody labelled me as mad, "I couldn't be doing with washing nappies."

Here's some myth busting about cloth nappies:

*I wash twice a week. Not every day. Not every other day.

*I have mostly pocket nappies and so they dry super quick. If i line dry in the sun they dry within a couple of hours, if I air dry inside, they dry overnight.

* I often use flushable, bio-degradable liners. I just chuck the poop down the toilet and flush.

*They contain poop really well.

*It doesn't cost more to keep washing than to buy disposables. I wash nappies twice a week. I wash clothes every day, sometimes twice a day, yet nobody ever suggests disposable clothes (might invent them though!!)

*They do cost a lot less. Even stocking up on top brands costs less than regularly buying cheap supermarket nappies.

*But they're addictive. Hence why I started buying cheaper pocket nappies. And they're such good quality.

* They're better for the environment. It's estimated that each disposable will take around 400 years to decompose.

*They do look super cute. Even now, I still love looking out of my window and seeing a line full of nappies.

I can't recommend cloth nappies enough! There are no disadvantages. If you'd like any more info on cloth nappies, please message me. I'd love to be able to help.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe we're back in January already! Hope you all had a lovely christmas and New Year, I know we did. It seems to have flown by! In fact the whole of 2013 flew by. It was a great year for us!

Tomorrow is our first wedding anniversary and we're going back to the Moat House where we got married for a nice meal. It's going to be lovely, I cannot wait. Our wedding day seems like only yesterday, and yet here we are a year on with an extra addition to the family.

I was 11 weeks pregnant with Woo on our wedding day. It was the day we announced to everyone we love that we were expecting! She's brought us closer as a family, particularly after her eventful birth. She has her first developmental check on 3rd Feb and although we don't think there are any issues, its hard not to wonder what if? We're hoping to get her christened soon too, but it'll likely be more low key than Moo's in hope of avoiding family dramas.

It's also Moo's 3rd Birthday in April. She's Minnie Mouse mad at the minute so there'll be plenty of minnie mouse baking and crafting.

We've booked our first family holiday for May. We're taking the girls to Spain for the week. We can't wait for the break away from home. The hotel has lots of kiddy water slides so i'm hoping hubby will be playing with girls whilst I relax haha!!

Then it'll be Woo's 1st Birthday in July, hopefully we'll have some sunshine for an outdoors party!

I guess before we know it it'll be christmas again. 

Have an amazing 2014

<3

We're so lucky...

Today I had one of those "we're so lucky..." days.

My mom had Moo overnight last night, so it was just me and Woo this morning. She likes a lie-in (for now anyway) and so when we got up, Jeremy Kyle was on. Disclaimer: I don't ever watch Jeremy Kyle, usually we're at playgroup or something by then. But lazy morning =trash TV so...

Today it was a christmas special. There were several children on the show who had done amazing things. And then a clip came on of a beautiful little girl with cerebal palsy. I listened as her mom talked about what life was like for their family and how she had exceeded expectations just by talking and walking.

Now I've always responded to claims that Woo's birth and the following days was traumatic with a big No! It wasn't. The labour was perfect, her birth was an amazing moment, she exceeded expectations from very early on just by staying alive. But I never doubted that she would. Probably through naivety, but still I never doubted her. I did entertain the idea of a disability though, but not realistically. I repeatedly told my husband that if she were disabled, then lucky her for being born to parents who would go above and beyond to help her reach her potential. Everything was positive in my head.

To be honest, I think i was in complete denial and by the time I had chance to process it all, we'd had a lot of 'all clears'. So, no, Woo's birth, and what followed, was not traumatic for me (although I can't say that for my husband).

But this morning i had a real life insight into what life could nearly have been like for us. There was talks of cerebal palsy when Woo was born. My beautiful baby could've been so different. I could've been that mom talking on the tv. I have no idea if the treatment she received after birth helped in preventing this, or whether she recovered all by herself. I have cried a lot today. Some tears for that mom who is living a life she never expected she would. Some for the life I very nearly lived. Some for the life we are living now. Some tears for emotions I'm not even sure of.

Alls I know is, we're so lucky.