Month: March 2018

A LETTER TO MY DAUGHTER …

4 Comments

To my gorgeous baby girl,

You have touched our lives with so much happiness, so much laughter, countless memories and irreplaceable moments over the last 7 months.

When you were born, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew that we already had a connection because I guessed that you were going to be a girl – and I was right (mummy’s always right). You have been the best thing that has happened to me. You are my reason. My reason for everything. For every smile. Every laugh. For every night of interrupted sleep. For every burst of love. For every goal that I want to achieve. For why I want to be successful.

You, my gorgeous girl, are my motivation. My devotion. My dedication.

At the moment, your favourite thing to do is pull my hair, get sick on me, wake up countless times during the night, and keep mummy and daddy on our toes. You fart continuously, burp in my face, throw your toys everywhere and you love your morning cuddles. You’re my biggest challenge, but my favourite reward, over and over again.

My favourite part of every day is waking up to your infectious gummy smile and to hear you gurgle and try talk throughout the day.

I love watching you grow. I love the way you never give up on what you want. Whether it be a bottle, a toy that you’re trying to reach, or your dummy that you so lovingly throw across the room. I love being able to get you dressed every day, watching you chew your big toe and listening to your endless conversations with yourself.

I wake up, looking forward to what each day might bring with you.

Best friends!

I will be there every time you need a best friend and whenever you are feeling down. I will be there for every smile. For every laugh. For every moment. I will always support you, tell you when you are out of line and watch out for you. I will always lend a helping hand when you need it. I will always be there to catch you. I will always try my best to make you feel better. To comfort you. To guide you. I will always want the best for you, and always try my best to give you just that. I will never give you less than you deserve, and I will always make sure that you are loved like no other.

I will always treasure every cuddle together, every time someone compliments you to tell me just how gorgeous you are. I always treasure whenever you need me to help you fall asleep or when you need a hand on your chest for reassurance. I treasure every smile you share my way. I treasure all the love that I see in your eyes, and I will always treasure the unbreakable bond that we have.

You have shown me what it’s like to have a love like no other and to feel unconditional compassion, patience and indescribable amounts of pride for such a tiny human being. You might be the smallest thing around, but you certainly do control an awful lot of everything.

You are already such a gorgeous, kind hearted being. You are gentle. You are loving, and you are extremely clever. You don’t fear anything. You trust absolutely everyone and you are already so determined. This, I wish for you to carry with you throughout your life as you grow up and flourish into a strong but delicate little girl. Someone who is so colourful, but has the presence of an angel.

I want you to never settle. I want you to always compare every boy that you meet to Daddy. I want you to never settle for anything less than how daddy treats you – like a princess. A worthy, beautiful little darling. A gift. A blessing. An absolute angel!

You are exquisite.

You are loved.

You are the definition of joy.

You are my biggest achievement.

You are special.

You are the brightest colour in my life.

And you always come first. Everytime.

I love you unconditionally. I love you forever.

Love Mummy xxx

Happiness is being with you!

WHAT’S IN OUR BABY BAG?

1 Comment

Have you ever wondered how and why the tiniest little human takes up the most luggage and space? In the car, in the house, everywhere!

Seriously, sometimes it feels like you need an entire task force just to get baby, and all the things that they need into the car. And believe it or not, that’s JUST to get to the shops, never mind a day out around Town, or a holiday away.

Our amazing Naty baby bag – so spacious, heavy duty renewable material and SO user friendly! Love the quality about this delicious bag!

Here are our ESSENTIALS:

  • A change of clothes and a warm jersey– you never know when you might need them.
  • Bottles, bottles and MORE bottles. Trust me when I say that it’s always best to take spare bottles. Our car randomly broke down, and boy am I glad that we had bottles with water! Phew – happy baby means happy parents! We are currently using Dr Brown’s bottles.
  • Pre-measured formula – we use our formula stacker. Parenting hack 101!
  • A burping towel – what a lovely little friend this is!
  • A spare dummy – no explanations needed with this one.
  • Teething gel (Harper is teething at the moment. We are using a natural non-medicated gel at the moment from Pure Beginnings – marshmallow and liquorice flavour. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t stolen some before!
  • Nappies – We have gone green, using Naty Nappies which are super friendly and bio based.
  • Wet wipes – I could not highlight this more. Nappy changes, dirty faces, dirty paws, messy tables – you name it, and it can probably be wiped clean. We are using Naty unscented sensitive wipes. They’re amazing and are kind to our planet.
  • Nappy bags – Yes, at first I hated using these as majority of them are made out of plastic and to be honest, I kind of gave this a skip until we discovered Naty biodegradable and compostable nappy sacks. These have saved so many situations where there haven’t been any bins in the bathroom.
  • Nappy cream – Yes, yes and YES again. There’s no better feeling than knowing your baby has a fresh, clean bottom. There’s nothing worse than nappy rash too, and for this, we use the Naty Rash Cream which is all natural, forms a thick barrier and of course is the green choice for a happy planet.
  • Toys – I can’t decide which is more of an essential – nappies or toys. These two saves lives! Spare toys always help anti-tantrums out in public.
  • Baby change mat – Oh, but of course. It’s always great to have your own changing mat, knowing that only your baby’s bum has been on the mat.
  • A spare blanket – There’s nothing better than being the warmest and cuddliest little thing around. You never know when you might need it.
  • Nasal spray – We always keep this in Harpers bag. Different places that we might go could have different air, which has sometimes left our little girl congested. We use Sterimar Nasal Spray – it works instantly!

The Naty biodegradable compostable nappy bags

And that’s it. Such a little human but so many things.

P.S I totally sneak my own things in bubi’s bag. My purse, lipstick, concealer and phone fit comfortably in our Naty baby bag! We love how spacious and user friendly it is.

Happy traveling with your little one and all their things in the BIGGEST bag in the car!

Until next time,

Mycaila – Jade

xxx

FITNESS UPDATE: MY POSTPARTUM WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY FEBRUARY 2018

Leave a comment

This month’s journey has been an interesting few weeks of trial and error, making space for room to grow (well not literally – we’re trying to shrink in size LOL).

I’ve been on this journey for EIGHT short WEEKS!  When I realised how long I have been on this journey, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad, thinking that I should have lost at least a minimum of 8kg this far. I had a pity party moment, sulked, might’ve eaten a Cadbury’s crème Egg (or I might not have), and read back over my progress chart to try and figure out where I have gone wrong.

And besides for the Cadbury’s Crème Egg, I realised that I hadn’t really gone wrong anywhere! I’m not going to pretend as though I’m a Positive Percy 25/7 (25 (not 24/7) because wannabe over achiever).

Thank heavens for the progress chart, because that ended my pity party very quickly. Although I have had a month of crazy toy – toying with my weight on the scale, my measurements have really fly kicked through what I thought were feelings of disappointment of thinking that I could do better. Only losing 1.6kg this month can send one into a state of such thought, especially after losing almost 5kg the month before.

January 4th 2018 to the left and March 4th 2018 to the right.

So, what’s going on? Why is the scale playing with my feelings like this?

First things first, anyone who is on a weight loss journey should know that the scale is NOT a true reflection of how your body has changed for MANY reasons – especially if you’re a lady, but more of that for another day.

I have always used the scale to measure my “success”, but have also let the number that reflects back at me control how I feel when it’s not what I want to see. For this reason, I have made a big decision going forward, which is to DITCH THE SCALE and my weekly weigh in and only go by measurements.

I’m doing this because for the last month of hopping on and off the scale every week, with minimal results and fluctuations more disastrous than the stock market, I have been second guessing my progress, feeling somewhat demotivated. I will be doing a casual weigh in once a month to keep myself in check and relying mostly on the progress of my monthly measurements results.

THIS MONTHS UPDATE

Although I have only lost 1.6kg, I have also lost a total of 13cm – which backs my decision even more to ditch the scale.

This brings my total weight loss over the last 8 weeks to 5.8kg with a total of 29.5cm lost all over. My measurements have gone done the most around my “mum pouch”. I have lost 11cm around that area so far, which makes my little heart very happy as this is a VERY difficult area to lose from and a total of 6.5cm around my waist.

January 4th 2018 to the left and March 4th 2018 to the right.

Throughout this month, I have also tried to put my fear aside of exercising my abdominals after my C section – and I have managed to do an abs session at least twice a week now. I can feel that this area is getting stronger, slowly but surely. Abs have always been one of my favourite exercises to do, which is now becoming more of a reality again since having Harps – and I AM SO FRIKKEN EXCITED!

January 4th 2018 to the left and March 4th 2018 to the right – Not the best look, but small victories count!

So, if you are on this journey too, and you feel like you are taking one step forward, and … you guessed it – 2 steps back, then try and find the denominator as to why this is. Mine was the scale which was tugging at my heart strings ever so viciously, but I’m hoping that this new strategy going forward will help change the mind-set to get where I (you) want to be.

Until next time,

Mycaila – Jade

xxx

 

5 WAYS TO RESET YOUR WEIGHT LOSS MINDSET

2 Comments

Trying to get yourself in the right mind frame when losing weight can be more exhausting than squeezing your bottom into lycra gym pants on a hot day. Losing weight is more than just wanting to see the number change on the scale (not that the scale is always the best option for this process). It’s a person seeking a happier outlook on themselves and what they see in the mirror.

While on this journey myself, I thought I’d share my top 5 tips that help my outlook on the entire process, lycra gym pants and all. These changes have helped shift my energy to a more positive way of looking at things, and to allow myself to not be as harsh on myself as I have once been before.

Sometimes it’s best to remember that weight loss is a JOURNEY and not a race. Slow progress is better than no progress.

SET REALISTIC GOALS

I cannot underline, emphasise, and shout this point out loud enough to all the fellow bottoms trying to lose weight. Setting unrealistic goals for yourself is welcoming failure with open arms, and with a glass of champers on arrival!

It’s simple, if you set unrealistic goals, you have a higher chance of not reaching them. Not reaching that goal will set you back into an even bigger level of annoyance and demotivation, which will only result in wanting to double achieve the first unrealistic goal. This then becomes even MORE unachievable. This is such a quick way to get yourself down. We want happy spirits during this process, not demotivated ones.

Losing weight should be the result of your small goals. Shift your attention to your short-term goals, rather than just focusing on losing weight. Rather set few smaller goals which will help you reach your end result.

Pace yourself!

RETHINK YOUR REWARDS

Often when we lose weight, our first way to reward ourselves is with food, or a “cheat meal”. Rather than highlighting this meal(s) as a reward, rather work it into your eating plan or weekend as if it’s the norm, and not as something forsaken and only allowed on special occasions. Build a healthy love relationship with food.

Try rewarding yourself with something like a few items of clothing for every 3kg that you lose, or a new item of make-up for every goal that you reach.

Treat yoself, girl!

 GRAVITATE TOWARDS POSITIVITY

What’s a successful day without your Positive Pants on? It’s time to purge all the negativity surrounding yourself, whether it be the dead plant living in your kitchen, a messy house, or a bad routine that leaves you feeling more drained than anything else. A simple clean out while purging of the negative things surrounding us can work wonders!

Get yourself up in the morning with a clean, tidy house. It’s time to get those curtains open, feel the sun through the windows and get every day on this journey off to a positive start!

Coffee is classed as positivity, right?

CONSISTENCY

Being consistent never came easy! This is a vital step to making a big change to a happier you. Without consistency, we don’t have any structural routine. Consistency builds this part of our journey. Follow through every day when it comes to eating healthy and sticking to your workout routines. Skipping one day could have a domino effect for the rest of the week, month, year(s).

Get it done!

 PATIENCE

As with many things, be patient with your body. This is one of my most difficult tips to practice because as like everyone else, I WANT RESULTS. And I want them NOW.

Eating 2 salads and going for a run around the block is not going to get you where you want to be. It might nudge you in the right direction, but don’t expect to have your end result after eating well and exercising for a week. Patience, my friend. This is the biggest key to success.

Let’s all practice these tips together. Uplift yourself and other people who you know might be on this journey too. Empower yourself and others. Reach your goals. Put in the effort. Don’t do this half-heartedly, and wear your lycra gym tights with sass!

Until next time,

Mycaila-Jade

Xxx

ECO-FRIENDLY WET WIPES BY NATY

Leave a comment

And just like that, we are wiping away another month of 2018, a squeaky-clean wipe to be exact, one with a choice of lightly scented, unscented, or an Aloe Vera swipe of pure hygiene. If you’re struggling to choose, let me take you down the road of eco-friendly baby wipes and explain just how happy they could make your baby’s bottom, along with a few other uses for your everyday family wipe.

Our family have been using these wipes for a couple of months, and so far, our daughter has come out with a squeaky clean, irritant free beeeehind, while being super kind to mother nature and her planet.

Below is the range that Eco by Naty have to offer. They’re all sensitive towards our little ones skin and are both unscented and lightly scented. These wipes smell fresh, are gentle and have the softest texture!

Naty baby wipes are fully biodegradable, which leaves us mums with a happy heart and our children with happy bums! They don’t contain any harmful chemicals, are 98.5% water, totally chlorine free and perfume free (besides the lightly scented wipes, which has a SLIGHT but almost minimal fragrance) and are “OK Biobased“. An added bonus besides being made from 100% natural and renewable material is that these wipes are also cruelty free! Always a winner in my books!

I have found that these wipes are quite a bit thicker than the other brands that we have tried in the past. I much rather prefer the thickness because they almost seem more absorbent and the actual wipe folds out into quite a big size. That may sound silly, but when you’re changing an explosive situation, you might find yourself counting your lucky stars because you have a bigger wipe to work with.

Being a young mum, it has become a motherly desire to lesson our environmental footprint by using greener products to better our daughters future. We go through nappies and wet wipes like it’s nobody’s business, which is why we decided to switch to eco friendlier products.

I have also found a few other great uses for these wipes, which you can try too. Besides for our daughter, these wipes also come in handy with removing make up which is super gentle on the skin and doesn’t burn, cleaning around the house, cleaning Harpers toys, cleaning our kitchen bin, food waste bucket and the inside of our recycling bin pod, and can also be used as a toilet paper substitute because Naty have FLUSHABLE wipes too! How exciting and convenient for all the potty training mums out there – we’re not at that stage just yet! These flushable wipes also come in handy if you find yourself sitting on the bog with an empty toilet roll staring at you in your face (thanks, kids AND husband!). Always keep a spare pack of these in the bathroom to spare yourself havoc and potential family fueds!

Thanks so much Naty, for being kind to our planets, our baby and from saving us from embarrassing bog experiences!

P.S You can find Naty wipes on the shelves of Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose for around £1.80 for 56 wipes, or online at Amazon and plenty of others.

Until next time and happy wiping,

Mycaila Jade and baby

xxx