PREPPING FOR CHRISTMAS

Hello and welcome back. Who's feeling festive? I can tell you I certainly am and I can't wait to start decorating the house for Christmas this year! We haven't quite got the tree out yet... but fingers crossed by the end of this weekend we will have! But.... just because the tree isn't up doesn't mean I haven't been sneaking in decorations elsewhere! 

I have was lucky enough to attend the Wilko 'Christmas in July' press event this summer and after visiting that I have been so excited to see their Christmas range go live in store and online! Let me tell you, you won't be disappointed. From their bulk packs of beautifully coloured baubles to the their individual stunning selection there are plenty to choose from!  

I have chosen a selection of my favourites to share here with you and how I might use them. They are such good value for money with the average price of just £1 for the individual baubles and packs of 38 for only £6 plus its 3 for 2! To visit the website to see for yourself click here.

Decorations gifted from Wilko 

B R E A K F A S T

I am sharing this super easy breakfast idea which is far less effort than it looks! Ingredients and what I have used are listed below.

* Pack of part baked rolls (I usually shop at Aldi so would pick them up there but the ones in this photo are Paul Hollywood crusty part bake rolls)
*Fresh coffee
*Homemade berry jam
*Orange Juice ( decanted into glass bottle)
*Butter

Really it's that simple! I put the rolls in the oven for about 8 mins and whilst they are baking i get set the table and get the coffee ready. Stress free and it gets all the family round the table eating the same thing for the first meal of the day.


Table mats, knives, plates, cups and tea towels from ikea. 
Caffettiera Bodum

BELGIUM

 

Well we have been home from our sunny holiday in Belgium for one week now! I did say I would write a blog post on our time there so here we are. I have been travelling over to Belgium all my life as half of my family come from and still live there. It’s a wonderful place to go and visit. We stay in DeHaan and we have family to accommodate us. I do know there are plenty of places, hotels, villas and holiday parks actually in DeHaan itself  which would be lovely and ideal for a family.
It’s so flat there and everything is close and very accessible, so we take scooters, bikes, skateboards or walk almost everywhere. If you are a walker and enjoy walking for long distances this really could be your place to visit! There are walks you can do which take you from coastal town to coastal town (you can even walk along the beach from town to town). Walks can take you through beautiful country lanes or equally as scenic woodlands. Let’s now get to the beach... we are a family who loves the beach and this really is some beach! It’s miles long with plenty of activity from a great wooden pirate ship sunken into the sand for kids to play, volley ball nets set up all along the width, sun loungers for hire, a beach library, little cafes and bars set up in beach huts (not to mention the cafes  and bars along the promenade above the beach) they even have people walking along the beach with big coolers selling ice creams and fresh custard filled doughnuts! The tide goes out really far and feels like you could walk for miles leaving behind big shallow pools of water which the kids all play  in.  You can take dogs onto a specific area of the beach too which sand dunes back onto! Win win!
There are plenty of other things to do if the beach isn’t your thing. In the centre of town you will find a big park which is home to two play areas for kids  separate one for younger and older, a mini golf   course, a cafe restaurant, boules, tennis courts and quite often throughout the summer this is home to  evening entertainment of music, dancing and kids discos. Surrounding the park you will find cafes,     bars, ice cream parlours (which we visit on a daily basis without fail) go carts for hire (which can  be used in the park) even a carousel.
We have so much fun every summer here and my children are already looking forward to going next  year! Please leave a comment if you have any questions, I’d love to hear from you!

Lauren x

Birth Story

 

My birth story


So now Casper is 14 weeks old and I’ve finally had time to sit down and write! I’ve decided to share my birth story. Scary! By no means is it pretty or perfect but the end result is what matters. When I was pregnant I loved to read real birth stories from other mums, especially those who would be in a similar situation to mine.

My previous birth experiences had been very hard, two shoulder distocia deliveries, both babies got stuck and it was quite touch and go. I was extremely lucky twice! So this time my only option was going to be a c-section. I had issues with this from the start. I was extremely emotional about it, the thought terrified me! I knew at the end of the day it was the right thing for the safety of the baby so I  slowly got my head around it. I did a load of research into what would happen during the process,  and spoke to my midwife about all the worries I had and read other mothers birth stories after having a c-section delivery.  


I was nervous but getting used to the idea. I’d seen the consultant and  discussed a date which would  be safe for both myself and baby. He booked my date in the diary early on and I had a couple of months to get used to it and count down. At no point did I ever feel confident with it but I was starting to feel more comfortable. One week before I was due to go in I hadn’t heard anything still  from the hospital so my midwife made a phone call to see what was happening. I recieved a letter a few days later to find out that my date had been moved and to make things worse it had been moved to Friday the 13th! Now I’m not normally that superstitious but I did not have a good feeling about it, in fact, I had a bit of a teary moment. I was even more apprehensive and nervous about it now!

I had a scan a few days before and although baby was looking big everything seemed to be okay.

Early hours of Friday morning I thought I’d started to feel different.... like early labour! Although I was very nervous so couldn’t be sure. Sam woke up and got out of bed first that morning and made me a coffee in bed, which was lovely. I couldn’t have predicted what was to come next! He really is the sweetest man, he produced a small box, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! Of course I said yes. So as we packed the car up ready to go the hospital I started to relax ever so slightly.

We arrived at the hospital to find we were first on the list, I can’t tell you how relieved this made me! Nerves started to kick in and I had a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach that something wasn’t going to go quite right. Heading down to surgery and I kept reciting the routine which was about to happen in my head. I had the spinal block and they prepped me for the surgery. Next the surgery began, it became apparent to the doctors that baby was stuck. They first tried a few manoeuvres to try and release him from the position he was in, which unfortunately didn’t work. Next the forceps came out and they tried the same manoeuvres with the help of forceps. It did take longer than anyone expected and although I had a spinal block I could still feel how hard the doctors where trying to get him out. There was a slight panic around the room after baby was delivered as I’d lost quite a lot of  blood. Sam left the room to sort out baby with the wonderful midwives leaving me to get stictched back up. It wasn’t pretty and there were a few complications (one being the feeling starting to return because of the unexpected delay) but once we were out of that room I instantly felt like a weight had been lifted. We were wheeled round to recovery and holding this little bundle of life made me realise despite not having the best c-section experience, it was 100% worth it!

We spent the next day and night in the hospital until we were able to come home and introduce him to the rest of the family. Unsurprisingly everyone is as in love as we are with our new addition, baby Casper.

Well there we have it. Not everyone has an amazing birth experience, and you certainly can’t plan for these things. If anyone has any questions or wants to talk about their own birth experiences do get in touch.

Until next time x    

                

       

Welcome Back

Oh my! Well it’s been a long time, nearly two years in fact since I last shared anything on this little space. If you have hopped over from Instagram you will see a lot has happened in a short space of time for me and my growing family! Truth be told I have been meaning to get back to this for quite a while so I thought when better to start than now....

Welcome back.

Here is a quick update on me if you are new here or need a refresh..

Hi, i’m Lauren. I am twenty nine years old and mother of now three boys. I live in Kent with my lovely (if not slightly annoying at times) best friend and fiancé. We are lucky enough to have been blessed with a beautiful baby boy on April 13th of this year. His name is Casper and we are all completely besotted. I have two other boys, Jack who is ten and Remy who is seven. All together we live in our little house with our little pup. Right now life is great, and I can’t wait to include you on our journey.

Lauren x

                                  

Rocamadour

If you are ever able to visit this part of France i would highly recommend this beautiful historic site and town!

I have been trying to sort through the thousands of photos i have of the summer and get some of them posted on here. We truly loved our time spent in France, the Dordogne region is beautiful and there are so many places to visit and see!

Sarlat La Caneda

I think this was the prettiest little place we visited in our time in France. Sarlat La Caneda is a beautiful market town busy with locals and tourists. We walked through the bustling market side of the town first taking in all the wonderful stalls. We then headed over to the other side where streets where quite and empty and we had free reign to walk down the cobbled paths and take oh so many photos.