As many of you know, Arlo and Daphne are our first and second-born children. For nearly two and a half years these two were our main priority other than ourselves to the point that our parents have started to call them their Grandchildren. They are such a part of our lives that we made sure that they were a part of our pregnancy announcement. 

You will also be aware that Arlo has anxiety and it can be tough. We have days where every little outside noise triggers him and we're constantly trying to get him to stop continuously barking at them. Whenever something new comes into the house it can take anywhere from a week to a month for him to get used to it. A good example was when we got a new fridge. He refused to walk past it for two weeks without one of us being with him and him skirting around it, which made toilet training him a bit difficult. 

So when we knew that AJ was on the way, we also knew that we were going to have to put a lot of early work in to ensure that Arlo was as calm and untriggered as possible. We also wanted to do the same with Daphne because even though she doesn't have anxiety, she still needed time to be able to adapt to the changes that were happening in our lives. 

AJ's 5 Month Update

We're back here again and I'm a little more on time with this update. AJ is five months and we're seeing so much of her little personality come out!

Family Life

Things have been very hectic this month. T's work has ramped up which means that I'm home by myself with AJ until he gets home and then he tries to get other things done around the house once he's home. Over the past weekend I was feeling the burn out from being AJ's main carer for the past month and he took over the final bottle and bed routine. Made me feel all kinds of new. 

Arlo's anxiety has also been at a high lately, so we've had to go back to basic's with him once more to try and help him get through things. It's impacted things a little bit as it's been happening a lot more and it's sometimes waking AJ. We're getting there with him, it's just taking some time. 

AJ Four Month Update

I've blinked and already a third of AJ's first year has gone. It seems like this year has been going by so fast, even with the social distancing and the two of us staying mostly at home. This month has been so full of new developments in her life that I feel like I haven't been able to touch on all of them, so I apologise if I have missed any! And like usual I'm a little late getting this update up, so we can't really claim I'm not consistent with that.

Musical Mondays

For about 18 months before moving to Sydney and starting my career as a Nanny, I worked in a library and helped out with the programs like Story Time and Baby Bounce. I loved helping to organise everything and helping out with the programs as it was a lot of fun and I saw how much the parents and the kids got out of it.

One of the things that I was looking forward to the most with AJ while I was home was getting out and going to things like Baby Bounce at our local library. When AJ was 6 weeks old everything with COVID-19 started and two weeks later we were all on lockdown. It sucked. I was looking forward to those groups so much, especially as we were moving and it was going to give me a chance to meet other Mums and potentially make new friends. 

For a while I started to get upset what we were missing out on that and I let myself feel that. I knew I wasn't the only Mum who had had a baby early this year going through the same thing, so I wasn't alone. Then I remembered that this wasn't forever. We did very well at containing the virus early on and we're now slowly lowering restrictions. I'd grown up on a farm, I knew that while interacting with others is important this short period of time wasn't going to be too big of an issue. She'd catch up. 

4 Ways to Use your Breastfeeding Pillow

So you've bought a breastfeeding pillow and you're either no longer breastfeeding or you're looking for other ways to use it in order to get your money back. Well I've got 4 ways that the breastfeeding pillow can be used that can be beneficial for your baby or helpful for you.

Before I begin I'd like to put a warning in here that the uses that I have listed are all uses that you're going to need to supervise bub while doing. I know it should go without saying, but it's just something I want to throw in there just to make sure that no one reads this and thinks that it's ok to just leave your baby alone while doing these things. 

AJ Three Month Update

We’ve reached three months. The fourth trimester is over and a quarter of your first year of life has passed. It doesn’t feel that long ago that AJ was still a newborn but you’ve done so many amazing things thing since then that I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Family Life

Well it finally happened, we moved. I have been talking about it for a while but it finally came and we made the move from Sydney to just past the New South Wales and Victorian border. Everything was amazingly smooth. AJ and I headed out to my parents place after spending three days packing up what we needed to before the movers arrived. 

The Changeling

Have you ever heard of a Changeling? It's this human-like creature that you normally hear about in folklore. Depending on where the story you're listening to originates, trolls or fairies take a human child and replace it with one of their kind. It was often used as a way to explain diseases and illnesses that were happening during these times as a child, usually, a baby, would start looking very sickly. There are also stories where it's said they show great intelligence or barbed teeth.

The Changeling story is one that is very interesting and it's been brought to my mind recently because for the last three weeks it's like my calm and easy-going baby has been replaced by an unhappy creature that doesn't want to go to sleep.

AJ's Second Month Update

I said this last time but the month has flown by and already AJ is 2 months old!

This past month has been a real test for us because we have spent the majority of it with a very fussy baby, which is not like AJ at all. Most of it could be because of the first mental leap she went through, but we’ve also had a couple of other things happen in this month that could have caused it.

So without further adieu, let's get into this month's updates.

What is Motherhood?

I recently wrote an Instagram post that seemed to resonate with some people regarding what motherhood is. It all started with a post by The Southernish Mama; she was writing about what motherhood was to her and then asked the question about what it was to others. The question hit me because recently it was something that I had been thinking about a lot.

A few weeks ago, one of my bosses messaged me to check in and see how everything was going as AJ’s arrival had come earlier than we had all expected. We were chatting back and forth on how I was going and how her and her boys were going when she asked me if things felt any different. It was a hard question to answer as while I felt like it was different it was hard to put into words what it was that was different. Then AJ was admitted to hospital for abnormal breathing and suddenly I realised why being a mother was so different to being a nanny.

You see for over a decade, I was in a job that I loved. Sure, it had its down points but overall, I loved being a nanny. I loved getting out and doing things with the kids like going to the zoo or playing in the park or just going down to the local café for a milkshake after school. I loved helping them get out into the world and discover new things about it and themselves. I loved helping their parents raise these amazing little humans during happy times and supporting them through challenging times. I created bonds with so many of the families that I work with that I still keep in contact with them over Facebook so we can keep up to date with our lives and let me just tell you it is shocking when you see your first nanny kid start high school!

BABY ORGANISATION Nappy Change Stations

Being organised when preparing for a baby is something that ensures that you’re as prepared as possible when your new addition arrives home. While being organised once you are home is just as important as it can make times like the witching hours a lot easier when you know exactly where everything is as you go down the list to things that maybe causing your baby to cry.

Even with a decade of child care under my belt, I can at times be extremely unorganised. You can ask T and he will gladly tell you that out of the two of us he is the one that ensures that everything goes back in its place a lot more than I do. That’s not to say I don’t do those things, he’s just the one that ensures that it is done promptly and not three days later. Hearing that, you would probably be surprised to hear that I am actually a planner. When something big is about to happen, I make sure that I am on top of it as much as possible in the lead up to the event. T is also a planner as well, so between the two of us we can usually get things done promptly.

Apps for Baby

These days you can get apps for just about anything for your iPhone or Android. On my phone, I have apps for things that range from social media to comic books as my phone is one of the few things that I have on me at all times.

When it comes to caring for children, it makes sense that there are apps that you as a parent or as a child care educator may have on your phone to make it easier to keep track of things or to have reminders easily on hand. With a few of the families that I have worked for, I had access to a tablet that worked as a communication book between me and the parents so they could keep as informed as possible regarding what was happening with their children.

As a new Mum, I had a number of apps in mind that I was planning on downloading to keep on my own phone. Some of them are simple tracking apps while others hold a more educational focus, but they all allow me to ensure that I have the information that I need on hand should I ever need it and there have been times when having it on hand has helped me a lot.

AJ's One Month Update

Time has amazingly flown. It feels as though I have just blinked and suddenly AJ is a month old.

I would like to say that it has been all smooth sailing but it hasn’t. Even with over a decades worth of child care experience, I’ve found myself challenged like never before with this tiny human and while I knew that having my own was not going to be the same, I’ve found myself in this funny middle ground where I know what I’m doing but at the same time everything is new.

This is why I wanted to document this new journey. I wanted to be able to share what life is like and show the journey that we go through as this year is going to be a big one and that’s not just because AJ was due. We’ve got a number of big changes happening in the next couple of months alone.

So buckle in as this is a long one!

A Wet Valentines Day

My first Valentine’s Day as a Mum started off very interestingly. 

If I’m completely honest, I totally forgot that Valentine’s Day was coming up. Since AJ’s birth, my days have all kind of blurred together and I’ve only looked at a calendar when I needed to know a date for some paperwork. So I didn’t know that it was Valentine’s Day until I came downstairs at 8am to feed AJ and was scrolling through Facebook. I didn’t feel bad that I forgot. T and I don’t really do Valentine’s Day. I’m not one for flowers, I prefer to get a plant than cut flowers, and neither of us really feel like going out and doing things.

As I scrolled through Facebook, my sleep-deprived brain forgot about the day before and the vomit filled day we had had. For the past week or so I had been noticing symptoms from AJ that made me suspect that she had a mild form of reflux. Not bad enough to disrupt her sleep but enough that if we didn’t do certain things during her feed it would result in her bringing up part of it. However, if we broke up her bottle and burped her multiple times during it, then kept her upright for 20-30 minutes afterward the vomiting wouldn’t occur. We may have to contend with some spit up but she would look a portion of her meal. 

I'm Back

It's been a while since I last posted anything on here and honestly I wasn't sure if I was going to come back. At the time I stopped, I had some things happening in my personal life that I needed to deal with and since then things have changed a lot.

When I last talked with you all, I was working most of the week, studying the other days and just enjoying my time off with my dogs and T. Well that's not exactly happening anymore.

I'm no longer studying psychology. I have plans to go back, but due to me missing some very important emails that went into the wrong files I am currently not enrolled for the next 18 months. I have plans to go back but I have to wait out the time. I can't blame the Uni, they did try and contact me a number of times but due to the emails going into the wrong place making me miss them and me still having access to my classes, I had no reason to contact them and see what was going on. Until I went to find out about exams.

5 Great Toys for Your Baby Under $10

Preparing for a baby can be expensive. Between getting a cot and clothing them and ensuring that you have everything else that you're sure you're going to need, you can often find yourself in a pit of wondering where all your money is going. Thankfully, there are a lot of places out there now that give you a wide range of price options, so if you do have a tight budget you can still ensure the safety of your little one while you're at it.

One of my favourite places to go to find little gems is Kmart. While it is usually my go-to place to stock up on craft items they also have a lot of toys at cheaper prices that meet safety standards for your little ones. The toys in the Anko brand also tell you what they are to help in relation to skills so if you are a new parent (or even on your second or third child) you know what the toy can be used for.

OUR TRYING TO CONCEIVE JOURNEY Part 1

This is a topic that I have been going backwards and forwards on whether to write about, especially as it's really just the beginning. What is really stopping me is that other than a couple of close friends and our doctors, no one else knows that T and I are trying for a baby at the moment. 

10 Signs of a Teething Baby (and how to help your baby through them)

This post contains links to affiliates. 

Teething is something that every baby has to go through. Looking at it as an adult and remembering what it is like when we got out adult teeth, it doesn't seem as if it should cause babies as much discomfort as what it does. Instead of remembering it like you were a child, remember instead what it was like as an adult getting your wisdom teeth. It was painful. Then put that pain in the head of a baby and you can see why babies get as upset as what they do.

It can be hard sometimes to know if your baby is teething or not which I why I put together this list of symptoms to help.