No smoke without fire// Welcome baby Rafe!

I had my baby!

It's been almost 3 weeks since I gave birth and now I finally feel like myself. It's been such a blur but I'm completely in love with my perfect little boy!

So without further ado, here is
Rafe Clifford Saville

born 01/06/14 at 11:40pm

weight 8lbs13oz

It was such a perfect and wonderful birth. According to the midwife I "hypno-birthed" which is where you go into kind of a trance and just get the job done. I used the birth pool and powered through without the aid of any pain relief. I feel very "earth mother" about the whole thing and I honestly know I wouldn't have been able to do it if it wasn't for the support of JS and the wonderful midwives.

So as a wonderful surprise, a lovely package arrived on my doorstep from the wonderful humans of SABBC.

I love the length and fit of the smoke cristal raglan as it helps hide my mummy tummy really well. The quality of the material is outstanding and it's buttery soft which is perfect for my sensitive skin. It makes it super comfy to wear as well. The colour of the vimto violet beanie is delicious!


Hopefully I should be able to do more blogging now that I've started to get into a routine and as I lose more of my baby weight I'll feel more and more comfortable doing outfit posts so watch this space!
As always, peace and love

1 month until the big day!

D-day is fast approaching! Today is officially 1 month until he is due to arrive and to be honest, I'm terrified.

I'm terrified of the pain, I'm terrified of not being able to cope and I'm terrified that I'm not going to be a good mum. 

I have had a lot of practice over the last 4 years, helping JS to raise Rdogg and all the challenges that comes with raising a child with "extra needs." However, I've never had to do this from the very beginning. I'm worried about how this is going to affect my relationship, I'm worried about becoming post-natal as depression is something that I've dealt with throughout my adult life and overall I'm feeling incredibly guilty for how this could affect Rdogg. He finds it increasingly difficult to cope with even the smallest changes to his routine and even tho we have a lot of strategies in place to help him, I worry about how well he will deal with not being the centre of our little world any more. 

As the day gets closer and closer, my worries are increasing as rapidly as my bump and that makes me feel even more guilty as I know that stressing isn't very good for the baby. Team that with the physical pains of sciatica, pelvic girdle (imagine having an iron rod metaphorically pushed through your hips) lace of sleep and braxton hicks contractions I'm surprised I'm not in tears 24/7. I know I should be floating around in a haze of pregnancy glow and don't get me wrong, I am incredibly excited and I can't wait to have that first cuddle with my little boy, but with every day that passes, I feel less and less prepared for the challenges I'm about to face.

That being said, I have been using my time off whilst on maternity leave to do as much research as possible, to do as much decorating as possible and to get on top of all the housework.I think if I sit and give myself time to actually think about everything, I may have a meltdown :)

Now onto today's outfit:

maxi dress - H&M

I love this dress so much, with the birth of the little man coming closer, I have to be aware of things that I buy to make sure they will be suitable for when my bump has gone. This dress is perfect as it is fitted on my top with more of an empire waistline. I love the side slits and the semi-sheer skirt.What was even better was that I got this for half price as there was a rip in one of the side slits which I have managed to sew up easily!

I also keep joking that JS needs to learn how to do my make up so that he can put my face on before any photos of me and baby are taken. Nice challenge for him there.

Peace and Love

I went up a mountain!-35 weeks

Bonjour!

Landed back in the UK after a week in the French Alps with JS and Rdogg. The sun shone, the snow fell and we all generally had a good time. Rdogg has learnt how to ski for the first time and I finally got to see JS on a snowboard after years of hearing about his prowess but never having a chance to witness it with my own eyes.

When I spoke to people about flying at 33 weeks pregnant, a look of pure horror would spread across their faces

"but what if you go into labour on the plane??!?" they cried. The truth is, the flight was so short that I probably would have still been in labour when we landed so I would have had a Swiss baby (we flew to Geneva) instead of a baby born in Huddersfield. Plus, I had my amazing mother law/midwife with me so I knew she'd keep me safe :)

I wish I had paid more attention to the  weather forecast as I packed many layers and jumpers and tights thinking it was gonna be freezing, only to be overheating most days in 20 degree heat!

Here's a couple of my fave snapshots from the week:

Now I'm back on non snowy land and officially on maternity leave (hoooray) I'm concentrating on planning my birth and getting all the final bits together for arrival of baby RS. Leaving the house is getting more and more difficult as the list of clothes I own that I can actually fit into is drastically getting smaller and smaller with each passing day. To add to this, I have a wedding to attend on Saturday and it's my birthday on Friday. I think that will be spent making myself depressed, dragging my egg-like self around the shops to find something suitable.

Today's outfit is one of my only dresses that actually fits without me having to wear tights under it, which, now the sunshine has returned, is a good thing really.

This is the amazing velvet and lace dress I got in the Topshop sale and I have teamed it with my trusty leather jacket and SheInside sunglasses. (similar here)

Counting down until baby RS appears - 5 weeks left!

As always, peace and love

A good old honest pregnancy blog post

I am now 32 weeks pregnant. 32 weeks!!! Where has the time gone?

I'm going to be honest, as much as I have loved being pregnant, I can't wait for it to be over now. It's been physically one of the worst things to ever happen to my poor broken body.

I am now well and truly into my final trimester (or the third stage of pregnancy) and it's given me a chance to reflect on how everything has gone so far.

First trimester

This was undoubtedly the worst of the three. Apart from having to keep my mouth shut about the fact I was pregnant, which I was rubbish at because I can't keep good news to myself, I was incredibly ill. I had to be signed off work for like 4-6 weeks with what was basically intense morning sickness, exhaustion and dehydration. If I wasn't asleep, I was being sick. I couldn't keep anything down apart from tiny mouse sized gulps of water. I spent more time with my head inside the toilet than I did with JS or R-dogg and our relationships suffered as we didn't want to tell R-dogg too early in case something went wrong. To top this all off, I had a pretty intense kidney infection, which was loads of fun. Going back to work and trying to do normal shifts and work until 2/3am was almost impossible but somehow I dragged my sorry bum through it and finally reached the...

Second trimester

This one was loads of fun. I was actually looking pregnant, we got to find out who was in there, my morning sickness dissipated and I was gifted with a whole bunch of energy. Not to mention my skin cleared up, my hair got thicker and I started to feel those awesome first movements. I was in love with my new, rounder shape and we could actually celebrate the upcoming arrival with our friends and family. It wasn't without it's downsides. I developed sciatica and pelvic girdle, which has made standing for long periods of time, rolling over in the night and generally being putting any pressure on my lower back/hips so terribly painful. My appetite went into overdrive and the cravings for chocolate kicked in big style. I was sending JS out to the shops for emergency cream eggs every night.

Third trimester

Everything is going well so far. My energy is slowly disappearing, but I think that's more to do with how much effort it is to actually move my huge frame around now. I'm getting more and more panicky about the actual giving birth and I'm adamant I do not want to be in a hospital. All going well I should be able to pop him out either at home or in our local birth centre, which has water birth facilities and is more of a home away from home. Trying to not have a melt down about the fact that the baby doesn't have a decorated room yet and keep having dreams about my waters breaking in work. BUT MATERNITY LEAVE STARTS IN 8 DAYS!!!! So I'm super looking forward to being able to nap throughout the day. Hooray for time off!

I'm also finding it harder to find clothes which are actually comfortable in this trimester, my maternity jeans are getting a little too tight as they are "over the bump" ones and they squeeze me a little too much now, so stretchy pencil skirts have been the way forward.

Shout out to my amazing sister for "lending" me the one I currently have on today. You're the best Em <3

it's not easy being green - 27 weeks

I'm getting more and more round and I LOVE IT!

The bigger my belly gets, the happier I get which as someone who has worked hard their entire adult life to be "thin" I can't believe this has happened.

The past few weeks seem to have flown by and I can't believe there's only 5 weeks left until I go on maternity leave from work. (woohoo)

Here's today's outfit:

Cropped jumper // motel

Snakeskin vinyl skirt // Topshop

I feel like the world is really trying to be in Springtime but it's still so chilly so the tights have stayed on and the fluffy, snuggly goodness that is this jumper made yet another appearance.

I don't know what the etiquette is for wearing cropped tops/jumpers when you're as whale-ish as I am but I've done it anyway and I love the contrast in texture between the jumper and the skirt.

I'm also a bit of a green head at the moment as I have done a wash of Alpine Green dye through my hair to give it a green shine. Forever wishing I was a comic book villain obviously.

As always, much love

A Valentines trio! 24 weeks

First off I'd like to apologise for the complete lack of blogging over the last couple of weeks. Things have been manic over here at Costa Del Sav with our lodgers moving out and me working 6 days a week and trying to re decorate two bedrooms. As a result of this, I am on bed rest today (and possibly tomorrow) under orders from the doctor as I am massively run down and have broken out in hives. Yeeeey!

ANYWAY, onto nicer topics. Valentines day! It's literally a week away and even tho we don't really celebrate it here (me and JS are loved up enough the rest of the year) I did see a cute idea making its way around the blogs which I thought I would try out yesterday..

My challenge, if I chose to accept it, was to create 3 looks for valentines day occasions;

• Dinner Date
• Meeting the parents
• Casual coffee Date

So here is my offering:

Dinner Date

Iridescent lace Dress//Primark

Heels//Nasty Gal

I know what you're thinking. Where is the red? The pink? The love hearts? Well you won't find any of that nonsense here unfortunately. I may be many things but colourful I am not. I love this dress so much and if I was being taken out for dinner this valentines day, this is exactly what I would wear. I love the iridescent shine the lace has and the scalloped edge on the bottom of the dress gives the whole thing a lovely finish. Plus, with it's cut out back, you can flash some flesh without flashing too much. I teamed them with my Nasty Gal heels, which I definitely shouldn't be wearing yet as one tumble in these bad boys and it's game over.
What I really like about this outfit is that it's understated and sexy and leaves lots of room for playing with make up/hair/accessories. As I was dashing about yesterday, I didn't have too much time to do extravagant make up so this is really the basic's of this choice.


Meeting the parents

White lace collar blouse//Vintage
Polka dot tshirt//Vintage
Leather studded skirt//H&M

I have a confession. This skirt does not zip up, like, at all. My 24 week pregnant baby bump just is having none of it so I had to disguise the open zip with some clever folding and tucking et voilà! I thought this was a fun and flirty but not too over the top sexy outfit for meeting parentals. It's been a long time since I've had to do any of that stuff (meet/impress parents) but this would be my choice. I layered the two vintage tops to create a more formal but girly look and the leather studded skirt adds a bit of an edge. 

Casual Coffee Date

Black eyelash jumper//H&M

Dungarees//Ark

This is my favourite outfit of the three. Mostly because it took me all of about 5 minutes to put together. I think that's the best type of outfit tho, don't you? One where you don't over think it too much and just go with your instinct. I would literally wear these dungarees all day every day if I could. I spent hours and hours trawling the internet for a pair that weren't denim/boring and Ark finally answered my prayers. With the freezing temperatures/rain we've been having, my beanie has been my go to headwear and would help to keep you looking and feeling hot. I'm actually wearing this right now because it makes me feel so good, even when I'm a poorly girl.

24 week update
So as you can see from the above pictures, my baby bump has EXPLODED outwards. JS keeps looking at me and going "you're so pregnant." He's definitely not wrong.Heartburn has started coming back with a vengeance and the sleepless nights have begun. It's so hard to be comfortable when you have another person karate chopping you in the bladder every few hours. Hence the awful bags under my eyes.
I am in love with my new body shape however. This is honestly the most confident I have felt about my body ever and I'm pretty sad that in a matter of 16 weeks, I'll probably go back to trying to hide my belly instead of wanting to show it off.

Measurements:
tummy: 100cm /39"
waist: 84cm /33"

No sign of stretch marks either. HOORAY!

What is everyone else wearing for valentines? Have you taken the 3 outfit challenge? Post in the comments below :)

Motel Daisy jumper review

It arrived!

To be honest I was shocked when I answered the door to the postman this morning in my lion pyjamas and he handed me a bundle of packages.

Seeing as I only ordered this jumper on Wednesday, I am literally over the moon with how fast the delivery was!

Anyway, onto the jumper.

It is literally the softest thing I have ever felt. As soon as I took it out of the packaging, all I wanted to do was bury my face in there and I immediately threw off said lion pyjamas and threw on the jumper.

It fits just like a dream, although I'm glad I went for the medium rather than the small as I feel it would have been too short (even for a cropped jumper.) The neck, although it is a high turtleneck style isn't too tight and makes me feel like I'm having a soft furry cuddle. The quality of this jumper is superb as to be expected from Motel.

I'm so so over the moon with it and I know I will be able to carry this right through even until after my pregnancy. Bravo Motel, bravo.

This is what I styled it with:

Mysterious beanie that appeared in my house//Motel Daisy Jumper//Zara sheer maxi skirt//Grey Plaid shirt (stolen from Will at work - I will give it back one day!)

I also received a gorgeous faux fur stole which I purchased from ebay what feels like a million years ago, which unfortunately, didn't survive the school run today and must have been unknowingly ripped from my shoulders as I collected R-dogg.

Anyone who's ever stepped foot in a primary school at collection time knows just how much of a circus it is, so even though I am absolutely gutted it's gone, I'm not totally surprised either.

Speaking of ebay, I am selling a few bits and bobs that either don't fit anymore or I just can't wear now that I am expanding at the speed of light.

If you're interested, go and have a gander HERE, and maybe pick up a bargain!

Peace and love