Liebster Award

Woohoo so I was nominated for The Liebster Award for discovering new blogs!
This was from the blog Flab-Fit-Fab and you can check her out here...http://flabfitfab.blogspot.co.uk/

So part of this is answering some questions, so here we go...

1) Why did you start your blog?
To connect with other mums and hopefully show them that they are not alone out there!

2) What do you most enjoy cooking?
Ooooh this is a hard one because I really love cooking...I will go with the Smoked Fish Pie from the Chelsea Winter "At My Table" cookbook

3) What keeps you awake at night?
My baby not sleeping...actually, that is getting better so I would say my job. I do a lot of professional development with teachers and I find this quite daunting so am often thinking of ways to stay in the game!

4) If you could have one super power what would it be and why?
The ability to redo certain moments of  my life - I have a lot of regrets!

5) Who's the better villain Harley Quinn or Poison Ivy?
Poison Ivy - she owns it!

5) If you were invisible for the day what would you do?
Go and spy on what goes on in my nieces classroom - I worry about her!

6) Cat or dog?
Dog. Even though my one is rather useless...

7) Who's the most inspirational person you know and why?
An old colleague called Brendan Lee. I have never met anyone who cares about his students so much and works so hard to better their lives, while setting himself amazing goals.

8) Are you a morning person or night owl?
Morning person - I find it hard to stay awake late these days!

9) If you won the lottery what would you buy first?
Our own home!

10) What makes you smile?
Sounds so cheesy but going into my boy's room when he has just woken up from a sleep. He looks at me like I've been gone for months!

Now, because I am new to this whole blogging thing and don' follow too many blogs yet, I was hoping you could help me out and, if you read this, answer the questions! Then let me know the link to your blog so I can follow!

So, my questions are:

1. What is your favourite hideaway spot?

2. If you could try any extreme sport, what would it be and why?

3. On a child free weekend what would you do?

4. What TV show relates best to your life?

5. If you could visit any country in the world what would it be and why?

6. What quote sums up your personality?

7. Pizza or pasta?

8. A question you would ask the president/prime minister?

9. Favourite movie and why?

10. Aspirations for your blog?

Answer away amigos 😃

The trouble with sleep...

Ah, sleep. The number one topic on all parents mind. I can guarantee that whenever somebody new meets my bundle of joy, I will get the questions, "How's his sleeping?" Not that I have an issue with this at all because I am excited for the day that I can say, "Oh, he sleeps from 7 til 7, no problem!" Note - this has not yet happened!

Finn asleep in his hospital cot. This was a very rare experience.

When I was pregnant, all my friends who are mums told me, "Start banking that sleep!" and I, foolishly, smiled and nodded. You see, I knew there was going to be sleep deprivation. Everybody knows this. However, I can honestly say that I was in no way prepared for the true reality of this. For all of you non-mothers, imagine your normal sleep. Then, pretend that every three hours you get woken up by a car alarm that goes on for at least an hour. It finally turns off, and then you have the slow slog of trying to get back to sleep. And then it begins again.

So, here are three photos of my darling boy asleep. Asleep on Daddy, asleep on me and asleep in his swing.

"But," I here you ask, "where is the photo of him asleep in his cute little bassinet?"

Well, my dear friends, there are no newborn photos of him asleep in his bassinet. And why? Because he simply refused to sleep in it, unless he was super exhausted from a night of feeding and crying and then he might drop off for a couple of hours. Maybe.

Heard of the fourth trimester? Those first 12 weeks Finn just wanted to be close to me or my partner. And why wouldn't he? He just spend the last 41 (yes, 41+2!!!) weeks in the comfort of my womb (isn't that an awful word?!), so why would he suddenly want to be apart? But, expect to hear this:

"If you let that baby sleep on you/in the swing/on the rug/snuggled up next to you on your boob then how do you expect him to sleep in his cot?"

Well, I will tell you this - my boy slept in all of the above places more than in his bassinet, and he sleeps fine in his cot now. He just wanted to be close to his mama, and I wanted to be close to him.

Don't stress about your baby's sleep in the beginning. As long as they are sleeping, be happy. This is the advice that my midwife gave me, and I chose to follow it. Yes, after 12 weeks I slowly transitioned Finn into more of a routine, and it is working fabulously. However, I wish I had spent less time in the beginning stressing about sleep, and more about being close to my bub. Maybe if I had just let him sleep next to me more, I would have had more sleep myself, and not gone a wee bit crazy from sleep deprivation.

I am still incredibly sleep deprived. Today I napped twice. Twice! Once at 8am during his first nap, and the second when Alex got home from work and I passed out on the couch, drool and all. And I am STILL TIRED.

A typical night for Finn is down to be at 7, wake up anytime between 1.30-4 (okay sleeping until 4 has happened twice but it was miraculous both times and I choose to reflect on those beautiful times with a smile on my face), and then back up anytime between 6-7. At that time, he comes into my bed and we have snuggles, he normally chats away to me and I hover in that awful sleepy/awake phase. Luckily, having boobs works in my favour and sometimes he will fall asleep again on my boob.

So, what is the point of this? Sleep is a precious, precious things that should be savoured forever. I sometimes dream that I have had a whole night of sleep and then I wake up and it's 2.30 and screams are happening in the room next door. Enjoy it. Love it. And, when your baby comes along, prepare to spend every second of your day hoping for more of it.

I am preparing for one time, the first photo will be him asleep at 7pm and the second being him awake at 7am. 

Dreams are free, right?!