lifestyle blog posts focusing on home, lifestyle, parenting, pregnancy, family life and home and style. Home decor and working at home, working at home as a self employed freelancer and blogger. Family lifestyle blog posts including family reviews, family products and saving money as a family. Being a more eco friendly family.
Filter Free by Lauren Derrett celebrates and shares real life stories of real women and their struggles, trials and accomplishments. I’ve felt all the emotions whilst reading this collection of experiences and it’s really inspiring to read so many amazing and personal accounts from these women, many of which I could relate to. It was my secret santa present this year and it took me just a few hours to absorb.
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We need more stories like this, we need to share these accounts of lives of women who have experienced real hard hitting decisions. Who struggle but cope with their mental health. Who reach out and are passionate about sharing their struggles so other women can relate and actually look at themselves and think I’m so glad to read that it’s not just me.
That’s what I love about blogging really, I’ve been able to share personal accounts which I hope have helped others and I hope I continue to do so. Blogging also bought me the gift as I know my book was from a fellow blogger, I think I know who…
I urge every woman to read Filter Free as there is guaranteed to be a story you can relate to. The more we share, particularly the hard times where we feel we hit rock bottom, the more we can be open about just how hard it can be to make certain life changing decisions but actually knowing that it’s not just us and that we’re not alone, well, it certainly made me feel better.
Filter Free is available to buy on Amazon. The below link is an affiliate link.
One of my goals for 2020 is to read 52 books or around one a week. Some might be new, some are ones I’ve had for a while or been meaning to read, some I haven’t quite finished yet and some will be recommendations from others. You can see all the books I’ve read so far on my Good Reads 2020 Reading Challenge.
My baby is four months old already and he seems to be changing and growing all the time. I can’t quite believe we are four months post birth and my second c-section to be honest. He is absolutely more like a baby, or an infant, I suppose than a newborn in that he’s very interactive with us all and is surprising us often.
Socially he seems to be quite a happy little baby. He is very vocal when he’s not so happy and as most babies wants that instant gratification. He babbles and shouts at us a lot, he grumbles when he is displeased and reserves his best smiles and giggles for Evangeline. He’s very curious when it comes to new faces and gives off a great death stare if he doesn’t quite recognise you but he’s also very quick to smile if you give him a bit of a ruffle. He likes getting undressed and often has a lot to laugh at when it comes to rolling around and getting vests off.
Physically we haven’t had him weighed or measured since his 6 week check as I just haven’t managed to get to the one place that offers it on the other side of the town we live in. However, he is starting to stretch out the 3-6 month babygrows so I have a feeling we will be going up a size in those in the next few weeks. He has chins for days and you can really feel he’s getting heavier. His feet are almost completely touching the floor in his jumperoo and some of his tops are a bit of a squeeze getting over the head.
He has rolled from back to front and front to back a couple of times but prefers to get on his side and rotate his way around to see what he wants to see. He can push off on his feet on a hard surface and his kicks are really strong. He does the worm from time to time, particularly as a sort of wake up ritual which really makes me laugh. His neck muscles seem really strong and he wants to be sitting up on you now so he can see around. When he’s on his tummy his head is fully elevated from the floor and he can turn and look from left to right.
At four months he is showing great hand eye co-ordination and can get most toys with a good grasp which of course go straight to the mouth. He can sit fairly well with plenty of support but we try to minimalise that as it’s still better for him to be on his back laid flat. He is still in the basinet of the pram although whether he will be in it until six months I’m not sure as he’s very long and may not fit laying flat for much longer.
Teething is very apparent and he seems to have a few really bad days but most of the time good days. He dribbles a lot and blows bubbles so I am constantly wiping him up to prevent him getting sore. His most common teething sign is the flushed red cheeks and fighting sleep.
He seemed to be teething and having a growth spurt at the same time recently as well as, perhaps, a bit of that four month sleep regression as he started waking at 2am & 4am through the night, ready to start his day at 6am. For the most part he sleeps pretty well at night, usually going off between 6-8pm and waking between 4-6am. He can have a few restless periods throughout but doesn’t seem to fully wake up. He usually has a three hour routine of change, feed, sit up (because, reflux) change, play, nap and repeat throughout the day. His naps are usually 30-45 minutes with the few almost two hour naps every few days or so. I’m really happy with his routine but I do wish I had a bit more time during the day to get things done. 45 minute intervals just isn’t quite enough!
The hard days are the days where Adam is either at University or spending most of the day sleeping to recover from his night shift. I do struggle a bit as I’m still trying to find my feet but it’s become easier since we moved Evie into a different school which is much closer (and, so far, better) I am trying to take some of the pressure off myself though and have to remind myself that it’s not up to me to do everything all the time.
The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage is the first in a new trilogy by Philip Pullman. I first saw the His Dark Materials advertised in my school library when I was young and then went on to watch the film The Golden Compass. La Belle Savauge is a prequel to The Northern Lights book (The Golden Compass in the US) and I have really enjoyed getting back into the series. I first listened to the entire original His Dark Materials trilogy a few years ago thanks to Audible. *Contains Affiliate Links
I was gifted the first Book of Dust La Belle Sauvage for Christmas in 2017 but I have only just got around to reading it and it is the first book I am reading for my 2019 reading challenge. Below you will find what I thought of the book! People may be here for The Book of Dust review, I did not know it was a new trilogy until I was told but the next Book of Dust The Secret Commonwealth will be the second in the new trilogy.
La Belle Sauvage Review
La Belle Sauvage is the prequel to The Northern Lights and really sets up the scene for Lyra’s adventures. The main character is a young boy named Malcolm and his daemon Asta. He is an inquisitive, likeable and hardworking young boy that doesn’t really want to get himself into trouble but seems to be quite good at getting himself into some sticky conversations. La Belle Sauvage is very much an adventure story primarily set in Oxford in The Trout Inn and across the river in The Priory. Many characters from the His Dark Materials series are mentioned and introduced so it’s great to hear a bit more about them and their background.
For those familiar with the series Lyra is in La Belle Sauvage but instead of a scrappy, witty and courageous young girl we find her in The Northern Lights she is instead a young baby. However, for those that haven’t read the other series it really shows how important she is and how many people are really interested in her. The book also goes in to the exploration of Dust and what it is, talking about stream of consciousness and all sorts of other interesting things.
The book reads very easily and is a great adventure story for pre teens and those that loved the His Dark Materials trilogy. It’s a great read for parents to read to older children too although it’s a good 500+ pages so perhaps not one to do in one night. It actually took me around a week to read a hardback copy amongst parenting and family duties that I have to keep up with.
The book has a very pro secular stand point and quite anti-religion. There was a particular chapter in the book that introduces The League of St Alexander which really made me feel how children can turn against an authority very quickly if being told what they’re doing is God’s work, despite it not being morally good, just or kind. Morality is a strong theme throughout the story and doing what is right vs what is good is often what Malcolm feels he has to choose between.
2019 Reading Challenge
One of my goals for 2020 is to read 52 books or around one a week. Some might be new, some are ones I’ve had for a while or been meaning to read, some I haven’t quite finished yet and some will be recommendations from others. You can see all the books I’ve read so far on my Good Reads 2020 Reading Challenge.
With a new year we often want to start making new plans. This could be anything from moving home, a new hobby or a holiday. I like creating my goals lists so I have some focus on what I’m doing with my blog and home too. I find this really helpful.
Some people, however, might want to look at starting a business or turning their hobby into a business but might be lacking the funds to do so. This year I am planning on making more money as well as paying off more debt so that I can be more financially free and I am glad my business did not require much investment to start as I already had an established blog and following. However, for others that are more creative and make products a small business loan might be a better option if funds are low.
I have recently seen so many small businesses creep up for homemade clothing, resuable wipes, eco friendly kits and journals which is amazing however they all had to start somewhere and that start often requires money. When it comes to loans you always need to make sure you can afford the monthly repayments and don’t borrow what you can’t afford to pay back. The first year of business is usually quite tough if you’re starting completely from scratch.
When it comes to changing a hobby to a business and you already have a bit of a following getting your audience on board is usually a great idea and can really help give you some feedback. You will usually have your first customers or consumers from your following too and the best part is you probably already have your ideal customer which, hopefully, means that you wont make a loss in your first year of business.
I think changing things up each year is healthy as long as you do it with care, consideration and responsibly.
This year I’ve decided to split my goals up into monthly blocks so that I can, hopefully, do and achieve more. I’ve tried to make them manageable but also a little out of my usual comfort zone so that I can really work towards something I want.
I’ve decided against resolutions as such but I do have a word of the year. My word for 2019 is:
This means in 2019 I want to do more of the things I love rather than giving up or stopping things. I will be swapping things around a little bit and I’ve given myself a few monthly challenges for the year to hopefully help me get healthier, happier and enjoy my time more.
My goals for January are:
Lose 1 Stone – I’m not going to do weekly weigh ins for this as I think that’s counter productive for me and I don’t want to focus too much on numbers but I equally know I need to get rid of some excess fat. So I am going to weigh in and measure on 1st January and then do it again on 31st January to see if I’ve made some progress.
Eat More Veggies – alongside this we are challenging ourselves to try more Vegan and Vegetarian meals as well as cutting out dairy and gluten. I’m inspired by Veganuary and I think this will help me be more creative with my meals and try more things. As for the dairy and gluten I just want a lighter month on the food front, I’ve been trying more plant based milks recently and I kind of want to ditch cheese.
Swim More – I love swimming and I am hoping to get out and use the Gym membership I haven’t really used since August due to pregnancy and then recovery. I want to swim at least once a week and plan to go in the evenings when Adam is now home to be here with the kids.
Dance More – another bid to make use of my membership and hopefully help with losing one stone so I am going to give Zumba a go. I really enjoy it when I do it and I think it will really help!
Earn £500 – more of a business goal but I really want to work on making a full time income from self employment. I’ve steadily grown since becoming self employed in 2015 and despite not working as much in 2018 I have done fairly well. I’m going to focus on having more structure to my working day and seeking out more opportunities.
Increase my Instagram followers by 25% – I want to do this because I really like Instagram and I want to get better at taking photos. I’m going to become much more active on there in January so I can hopefully, by the end of 2019, be at that crucial 10,000 followers mark. I’m going to look for photography challenges to join in with, get more active on stories, find more accounts I want to follow and just generally be much more active on there.
What are your goals for the month or the new year and what are you doing to keep track of them?
