I‘m quickly approaching my 25th week of pregnancy and it was at a similar stage with Ettie that we started to think about a Babymoon! We wanted one last chance to get away in the sunshine before being thrust into a life of feeding and baby poop for the rest of the summer and because it was likely to be our last holiday as a two for a while, we wanted to choose somewhere really special and memorable. I’ve put this post together as a ‘Babymoon Complete Guide to Santorini’ as we didn’t really know much about the island before we arrived (other than the fact it was beautiful)… and I thought it would be useful for others to have an insight into what to expect, particularly if you are pregnant and looking for a special holiday. There was soo much to see and do in Santorini that I’ve split the post into two parts. This part covers the best time to travel, together with recommendations on where to eat and sleep. Then the second part, covers Our Top Ten Sights on Santorini Island. All my recommendations are based on the fact that I was 28 weeks pregnant at the time we visited Santorini, however I’ve added in additional comments here and there to make them suitable for non-pregnant folks too (after all Stu enjoyed himself just as much as me, and he definitely wasn’t pregnant!) Hope you find it useful… Deciding on a destination… Santorini is somewhere we’d wanted to visit for a long time, however it wasn’t our first choice for a babymoon. Looking back now, that seems ridiculous as I couldn’t imagine a more perfect destination. However as had always been the case in the past, we initially overlooked Greece (and the rest of Europe) in favour of…
One of my favourite things about decorating Ettie’s bedroom has been discovering all the little handmade treasures that I’ve been collecting up over the last two years to make her room feel really personalised and special. My absolute favourite of these ‘treasures’ is actually one of the first things I bought when she was just a few weeks old. What I am talking about is the beautiful hand-painted and personalised wall banner, lovingly created by Amy at Daydreams and Dandelions. I discovered Amy’s account during a late night Instagram scroll when I was well into the ‘nesting’ period of my pregnancy with Ettie. Have you ever seen something and fallen so completely in love with it, that it feels like you kind of own it already? Well that was how I felt about the banner – the colours, the font, the shape of the little flowers, it was exactly what I’d been searching for – without me really knowing what I was trying to find. I knew instantly that it was something I wanted for my daughters room (even thought she didn’t actually have a room at the time because we were yet to buy our house!). There was the small matter that Amy lived in Australia, whilst I was in England, however I was in such a crazy nesting phase at that point, ordering all sorts of baby bits from random countries throughout the world, that Australia didn’t seem to be a problem (Instagram you have a lot to answer for!) … and actually it wasn’t! Fast forward a few weeks and our beautiful little daughter was born, all 7lb 11oz of her with a fuzzy coating of dark brown hair. Initially we’d wanted to call her Mollie or Annie and so we thought we were pretty sorted with…
To my beautiful cheeky monkey Happy 21 months to you! We’ve had such a fun month together this month with so many great adventures. I’ve been using up some leave from work so we could spend more time together, and the baby in my tunny finally let me have some energy back – hoorah!! So we’ve had lots of fun and it’s lovely to be able to write this letter without having to apologise for being so tired! At the start of the month you experienced snow for the very first time and I’m not sure who was more excited because we were up, dressed and out playing in the back garden by 8am – which wouldn’t even happen on a day that Mummy goes to work usually! I think you found the whole experience quite daunting at first, wondering what all the fuss was about. After all to you, it must have seemed very strange having lots of cold white stuff covering the floor. We showed you the snow through the window with Daddy initially and you just wanted to eat it which was very funny! Then when I took you outside, you stood very still with a concerned look on your face, not wanting to walk any further. Snow is very cold after all! Following your lead we took a walk down the street and it only took you a few meters for you to build up your confidence and stomp in the snow with your wellies. Before long we’d taken a big loop and were back in our back garden. You found it ever so funny when Daddy started throwing snow in the air. I love how you find him so funny. This was also the month that we told you all about the baby in Mummys…
Over the past week I think I’ve managed to breathe deeply for the first time since getting those two little lines on the pee stick and I’m slowly beginning to take time to bond with the tiny little human that’s growing in my tum. Aside from not really wanting to talk about the pregnancy for the first four months in case I jinxed it, I also felt absolutely horrendous!! If I’d wanted to write a blog documenting my experience I don’t think I would have been able to keep my eyes open long enough to write the title. To provide some form of comparison, when I was pregnant with Ettie, I was one of those annoying, glowing pregnancy people. Posting bump updates on social media every few weeks and actually finding the time (and energy) to keep a detailed weekly journal of how things were progressing! I swam, ate my greens and attended pregnancy yoga like a class ‘A’ pregnancy student! If there were a school for pregnancy people, I’d have been the Hermione Granger of the class! This pregnancy… I am Ron! (no offence Ron) This pregnancy, I’ve pretty much lived on cake, cockles and bread and managed to snap just one picture of my bump at 16 weeks where I looked so awful, that if the poor baby ever does manage to catch a glimpse of it, then it will probably think it was the spawn of Darth Vader some other dark eyed, deathly looking creature. Annoying pregnancy person when pregnant with Ettie! So what have you missed? Well I think I can sum up the first four months of this pregnancy in three words… cockles, cornichons and sleep!! Food wise, I pretty much lived on cake, cockles or those tiny little cornichon pickles you sometimes find on…
Hello there, I thought I’d come on here and share a little update as I haven’t really written any personal posts for the past few months. You may have seen on Instagram recently, but the main reason for this is because…… I HAVE A BABY IN MY BELLY!! Yeyyyy!! :0) We are so unbelievably happy about this and cant wait to welcome a new little recruit into our family, in fact we already feel like a family of four (five). But its only really been in the last week that we’ve allowed ourselves to relax into the pregnancy and get excited. (For those who aren’t long term readers, we’ve experienced heartache in the past which is why we were a bit more wary this time). As of Monday, we had the 20 week scan where everything appears to be growing as it should so we finally feel able to spread the news! Aside from not wanting to jinx things by telling you all to soon, I’ve also found it really difficult to think of things to write about which weren’t in some way pregnancy related! Most people, use their little space on the web, as a sort of online journal to document life, but when there was a huge secret dominating my life that I wasn’t quite ready to share, I didn’t want to feel like I was lying by keeping something from you, so I found it easier to write nothing at all (plus I felt horrendous!!!). So even though at 21 weeks, you’d think the excitement would have died down by now, for us it’s actually only just begun. So what can I tell you…?? Well I’m 21 weeks pregnant now meaning our little one will be here in just a few months’ time!! Our due date is…
Hello little baby inside my tummy, This is your Mummy. I’m currently 19.5 weeks pregnant and this is the first time I have written anything to you, but please don’t think it’s because we were more excited for your sister to arrive (you’ll know that I’d filled out her baby book for 20 weeks by now!), actually the main reason I haven’t written is because I couldn’t bear to connect with you and let my heart love you, then have you taken away from me like what happened to me with your oldest sister, and again with a little baby before you which we don’t know was a girl or a boy. I still can’t explain the pain I felt during those times and so I wanted to make sure you were ok before I opened my heart. Today we had our 20 week scan to check that everything was ok with your development. I’ve learned by now not to get to excited at the 12 week scan because problems can still occur so today was a pretty big deal for me. The lady doing the scan took all your measurements, whilst Daddy and I watched her holding our breath. She showed us both of your little legs and tummy, then as she was scanning your hands you gave us a little wave. It made my heart flutter when eventually she said that everything was ok and I wanted to let out a big cry. I’d been so so worried. We are so unbelievably happy and excited to meet you. I couldn’t concentrate when I got back to work, and even now its 11.30 in the evening and I can’t sleep. Daddy is fast asleep next to me, but I am up writing this because I’m too excited and…
To my beautiful, amazing, loving, caring, gorgeous little girl I haven’t been able to really write to you for the past two months as I’ve felt soooo poorly, but now I’m feeling better I have so much to say, I’m sure you’ll fall asleep by the time you finish this letter, so I will try to keep it brief. I’ve probably said the same thing to you every month that I’ve been writing these letters. but this month has definitely been my favourite age by far! You’re just so cheeky and funny, but also really loving and caring too. Your speech is getting better by the day and you’re always shocking us with how many words you’ve learned. Your favourite phrases at the moment are ‘What you doing Mummmmmmmmmyyyyyyy??’ (or Daddy) and ‘Mummy draw circles….’. I don’t think you really want to draw circles all the time, it’s just what you say, but you do absolutely love drawing – although only with pens! If we give you a pencil or something that might be easy to clean then you brush it away and say ‘No’ very sternly with a little pointed finger!! You definitely know what you want, but you are good and if you do accidentally make a mark on the floor or table, then you tell us straight away so we can clean it up. You also absolutely love to cuddle, asking for cuddles all the time, and when we pick you up, you give us big lovely bear hugs, where you wrap your little arms tightly around our necks and rest your cosy head on our shoulders. It’s absolutely my favourite thing in the whole wide world and I could stand and cuddle you forever! Your little hair tickling my nose!!! I feel so lucky you want to cuddle me…
To my beautiful daughter I held off writing your 18 month letter because I was feeling so poorly, I couldn’t really think of anything to say that I hadn’t already said – other than to say how much I absolutely love you with my whole entire heart. Honestly every time you reach up to me and ask me for a cuddle, or nestle your little face close into mine for a snuggle, I feel like my heart could burst into a million pieces. I know people talk about the ‘joys of motherhood’ but no one could have prepared me for the way you can melt away all the pressures of the day with a little smile or a giant hug. I’m sure you’ll read these letters someday when you’re all grown up and cringe a little at how soppy your old Mum could be, but I always want you to know how much you’ve changed my life and made my heart so complete. You make me smile even on the lousiest of rainy horrible days, and I can’t wait to get home from work to give you a cuddle. When I arrive to collect you from nursery, you run over to me, arms open wide shouting ‘Mummmmmmmmy’ so excited, our bodies collide and I pick you up to give you the biggest hug!! Secretly I am just as excited to see you but I think the girls at nursery might think I’m a bit mad if I run into the playroom shouting Etttttttttttieee!!’ We had Christmas last month and spent it back in Cumbria with Gran Gran and Colin. It was such a lovely break and you had a great time running around their house asking for chocolate. You definitely have them both wrapped around your little finger, asking…
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