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 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

20 week scan, the big reveal!

Two blog posts in one day (aren't I spoiling you)

The big day finally arrived!

After much waiting and bitten nails and trips to and from the hospital, we finally got to see our new baby for the second time. We had been saying from the beginning that we didn't want to know the sex of the baby but pretty much as soon as the midwife asked, we agreed to find out.

So I am very happy to reveal that:

I can't begin to explain how happy I am. It's such a nice feeling to know who's in there wiggling away every day. He didn't stay still for the scan and the midwife struggled to take all of his measurements. Looks like he's got his fathers aptitude for kicking/punching. (JS trains MMA)
There were many smiles, lots of tears and lots of phonecalls to relevant grandparents.
Now the fun can begin, I can start shopping for tiny boy clothes and decorations for the nursery as well as drawing up a list of names!
R-dogg suggested "River" as his favourite baby name so far and we really like it too. I think we will stick with the "R" theme we have going for our growing man cubs. It's so nice to be able to call him a "he" instead of an "it." It makes it much more real.

Off to trawl ebay for cute boy stuff!

Happy 2014 - 19 weeks

Welcome to the first post of 2014!

Sorry for the silence over the festive period, but as anyone who has small children will know (I have a 6 year old) Christmas time is a whirlwind which leaves very little time of anything other than seeing family and making sure everyone manages to get, at least, some sleep.

But regardless, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year!

Me, JS, R-dogg and the bump got incredibly spoilt this year and I was again left feeling overwhelmed by peoples love and generosity. Here's a few photo highlights:

1.Hung out with my niece for a few days - 2.Got a new toy - 3.R-dogg surrounded by gifts in the car

4.Wore my iridescent pine/black lace dress - 5.Instax of me and JS on boxing day - 6.Reds date

7.Bit of light new years reading - 8.Gorgeous cats eye glasses from JS

So January is all about one thing - SALES! I had a wonderful day yesterday waddling around the sales in Leeds with my Sister and niece, trying things on whilst trying to entertain an 18 month old. Which was no easy task.

I managed to get a couple of gorgeous finds in the Topshop sale which hopefully I will be able to wear right through my pregnancy and afterwards as well :)

My favourite find was this amazing velvet and lace midi dress which I got for an outstanding £15!

It fits so well and has these lovely lace cut out bits in my rib area and up the sides as well. Just the right amount of sexy which means I can dress this up or down. I've really fallen in love with it.

For this look I've teamed it with my red and blue velvet tasselled kimono, my black lace socks and chunky black boots.

Something very exciting happened over Christmas, we started to feel the baby kicking! It's got such a vicious kick and has taken to booting me in the bladder in the middle of the night. What a rascal.

so at 19 weeks:

My tummy measures: 90 cm / 35.5"

My waist is: 80 cm / 31.5"

I have lots of energy and just want to eat and eat and eat, which after chirstmas is a bit of a problem.

The baby seems to kick more when I'm listening to music. Me and JS went to see Alcoa last night and the baby kicked and squirmed all the way through. It was wonderful.

Hope you had an amazing festive time! has anyone else found any good sale bargains?

Lady in red - 16 weeks

So here is my first post on the new blog!
Silly old me forgot my password/e-mail address/everything about the last one so I'm doing a fresh start.

Since my last post a couple of things have changed.
1. I'm not a redhead any more.
2.My lovely fiancé put a baby in me!

Basically I decided that the best way to document my expanding bump and how its affecting me/life/clothes choices would be to start up a blog again.

Here's todays outfit:

Tartan dress - eBay

Lace shirt - H&M

Rings - eBay

Snood - Laura Ashley

Coat - Oxfam

I'm trying really hard not to buy maternity wear and just wear the things I already have. I feel like over the last 3 weeks however, my bump has exploded outwards so trying to wear jeans/pants in general is super hard. Although I am excited to go shopping for a great christmas outfit that will show off my newly developed boobs - Thank you pregnancy!