Candyfloss & Dreams

Category: Lifestyle

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.

Felix at Two Months

I wanted to do monthly updates of Felix as he grows but that kind of went out of the window as things have just been so strange. Really we’ve just been soaking in that newborn stage but now things really seem to be falling into place and I can’t quite believe I’m sharing how he’s grown in the last two months with you. Firstly, my recovery is going well however I still can’t walk as fast as I did. I question if it’s just healing and the muscle damage from surgery was quite a lot but I’m trying to walk more and pick it up. I get tired very quickly when walking, I know part of that is my weight as well and carrying around excess fat whilst recovering from abdominal surgery was never going to be completely smooth sailing. Some friends have recommended getting some Physio and it’s something I’m going to look into!

Felix is doing really well. He has his 8 week jabs coming up in a couple of weeks and was last weighed at his doctors check. He came in at 11lb2oz and is following the 50th centile. I’m planning to get him weighed again just before Christmas to see how he’s doing but he’s outgrowing his 0-3 month clothes, is having plenty of wet and dirty nappies and is generally a pretty contented baby. I feel he’s taking after me a little bit, he’s an early riser and very smiley and happy in the mornings, but come the afternoons he has trouble getting to sleep and napping, gets quite grouchy and fussy then falls asleep around 8pm and then he’s done until 5-6am – this has been gradually getting longer since he was about five weeks old which I really did not expect. Evie was not good and it took until three months for her to sleep 11-5am which was her pattern for quite a while, and she seems to have decided to copy that pattern again now as she is once again in bed very late and up so early.

Felix smiles, makes lots of lovely cooing noises and gurgles and he can really scream. That seems to happen the most when he’s really hungry or he’s headbutted us too hard. He’s starting to enjoy playing and cuddling his soft toys now and likes following you around the room. We’ve put the Christmas tree up but he hasn’t really focused on that yet. He does seem to like music and is quite partial to an episode or two of Strictly Come Dancing (which I have become obsessed with).

December 4, 2018
BakedIn Baking Subscription Club for Kids

I’ve always loved baking and over the years I’ve had my fair share of brilliant bakes and utter disasters, usually because I haven’t followed a recipe or I’ve missed a vital ingredient. This want of cooking has passed on to Evie who is always asking to make cakes. Having had the opportunity to try BakedIn, a baking box subscription service, I thought this would be a great chance to try a new recipe and have some mother daughter time. My time has mostly been dedicated to Felix but now we are settling into a routine we were actually able to do something together and we made some pretty delicious Whoopie Pies. I’ve never made Whoopie pies, I’ve never used a piping bag and usually when it comes to something with a bit more effort than cupcakes I get a bit flustured. However, this was not the case with the BakedIn Baking box.

The best thing about the box is getting all the ingredients pre-measured and labelled. There are also really easy to follow instructions, with pictures, and as the ingredients are labelled you always use the correct thing at the right time. All of the dry ingredients have been provided for you and it clearly states on the recipe card what you need to include which is the fresh ingredients so things like eggs, milk, butter etc. However, as these are all staples most people have in their homes it is not really too much hassle.

We had a lot of fun making our first BakedIn box recipe which included all the dry ingredients for the Whoopie Pies. We decided to make halve and freeze the other half of the biscuit dough for another time. I have to say I have never made anything like this at all and it was really nice to do something together with Evie. I was so surprised with how easy everything was to follow. The only thing I didn’t like was getting stuck in with my hands to make up the dough but that is personal preference and is usually the nature of baking. It’s not a factor that would stop me using BakedIn and I am strongly tempted to sign up myself so that we can try a few more recipes together and share our bakes. Its a great way to spend time together in amongst the new baby madness.

You can sign up to BakedIn from £8 a month however using the code KAYLEIGH299 you can get your very first box for just £2.99 when you subscribe which is a complete bargain and well worth trying out!

Disclaimer: We received a BakedIn box in exchange for this review.

December 2, 2018
Heating The Home This Autumn

Heating the home during autumn usually means increasing your monthly budget to cope with rising energy costs. As a low income family and one that relies heavily on student finance to get us through each semester whilst Adam is studying, we really need to do everything we can to stick to our budget. I am already feeling the cold in the mornings when I wake up and now we’ve brought home a newborn baby so maintaining a warm temperature through autumn and into the winter months is high on our list of priorities. Finding the most cost-effective way to do so though, is a challenge.

Some families choose to do this by installing central heating pumps, which is an effective and efficient way of heating the home. A pump helps circulate hot water around the home rapidly, from the boiler to the radiators. This helps keep the home warm without breaking the bank.

Heating The Home Effectively

Using a central heating pump is an effective method of heating the home but it isn’t always an option for all households. We have night storage heaters and we only have one energy bill to worry about however we do notice a significant weekly increase when it gets colder. As we use electric when it comes to heating our home, like other families do, there is an option to get a smart meter installed, which helps record the exact amount of energy we use. There are also plenty of apps available that help you keep track of how much you’re spending and even how to cut down on this amount.

When it comes to heating the home we try to limit which heaters we turn on. I usually start with turning on the one in the hallway as that is the one that makes the biggest difference in the morning. It’s much nicer walking out of the bedroom into an already warm hallway. Often, the heat has had time to warm the other rooms too. Luckily, living in a flat, it doesn’t take long to warm up and this helps us keep the costs down. We also make use of a halogen heater for the living room. Keeping the living room door closed, and turning this on for just a small amount of time, heats up our living room very quickly. Ideally, I try to find ways of heating the home that are also energy-efficient.

I find using a slow cooker rather than our oven a great way to save a money and energy whilst heating our home. Plus, there is nothing better than smelling a delicious stew or soup cooking throughout the day, especially if I can dip into it a few times during the day! Hot food really makes a difference in keeping me warm. I am also a fan of all things soft and fluffy so we have plenty of throws and blankets to use. I use these in the living room to cosy up on the sofa with the kids or to put a few extra layers on the bed at night. I am a big fan of layers of clothing too. Big, warm fluffy socks and a soft dressing gown after a hot bath can make a huge difference in keeping us all warm at the end of a cold day.

So there you have it, a few money-saving methods of heating the home that I like to use. How do heat your home while keeping costs down?

October 24, 2018
Breastfeeding Just Hasn’t Worked Out

Breastfeeding hasn’t worked for us.

I think we all prepare for pregnancy with the absolute best intentions, wants and wishes for our baby and that always means making informed decisions on how we will parent. I really wanted to breastfeed Felix. I managed ten weeks with my daughter and I really wanted to get past that stage with Felix because it was going to be great for him, good for me and, best of all, free. I got the clothes, the pumps to help, stuff to boost my supply…everything you can think of to get me off to a good start with feeding my baby but actually, nothing prepares you when the circumstances are against you and so, it’s with quite a lot of sadness that we have stopped breastfeeding and moved over to bottle feeding with formula. I felt incredibly guilty whilst I was making that decision although he has had a few good feeds from me, which I’m really happy with, and I wish it had been longer.

Breastfeeding is not easy

I think the first thing that was against me was my blood loss during my c-section. It left me feeling incredibly weak and drained and the lack of blood and fluid in my body, despite the absolute gallons of water I was drinking, the iron tablets when I came home and all the breastmilk boosting teas, foods, vitamins my milk just didn’t come in. My boobs didn’t ‘fill up’ as they did with my daughter and whilst there was clearly stuff there from hand expressing and some pumping there just wasn’t enough stuff to satisfy my son. The support I had in hospital was fantastic, they really tried everything with me but I have to say the equipment I had – big boobs, lack of mobility and “soft” (I was told at hospital) nipples it just seemed like a combination of things that I couldn’t really battle against.

The exhaustion was also holding me back. I knew I needed to sleep to recover with the blood loss but I was knackered after well over 30 hours of being awake from labour and then that weird adrenaline baby gaze buzz you have after. Adam had gone home to get some sleep and the midwives in recovery were amazing and helped me with everything as I was waiting for the spinal block to wear off. I feel like I’ve now caught up on sleep but I’m still tired because you just are with a newborn, because sleep is broken through the night and when you have an older child “sleeping when the baby sleeps” just isn’t really possible. Especially when you fall asleep on the sofa and they keep waking you up because they want a hug, or a drink, or a snack, or have a question, or want to watch TV, or want to go to the shop…it’s very hard to get in rest when you have a family.

I was totally overwhelmed with Adam going back to University and Work, he starts his first shift tonight at his new job and will be working from 11pm-7am for four nights, then have four nights at home. I was starting to get really worried about how I would physically and mentally cope with such a big lack of sleep whilst I was still recovering from my c-section and so soon after the birth. I hate that dads only get two weeks off as paternity leave. No wonder so many breastfeeding mums decide not to continue because the sheer pressure of doing it all on your own is really hard. I felt that actually, the more routine of bottle feeding – despite doing it on demand, would hopefully work a lot better with the school run in the morning. I have to leave the house at 8am to get my daughter to school for 8.40am, and then it’s a good twenty minute walk back, longer at the moment with a pram and whilst I’m still building my stamina up. I am hoping that we can get into the routine of a 6.30am breakfast and then when we’re back at 9.15am we can get another bottle ready.

But despite all this, and despite the fact that actually I feel we’ve made the right decision to stop breastfeeding because the evenings Adam is here, and during his nights off, he can help with a few night time wake ups which allows me the time to recover. I no longer feel like I won’t be able to cope or scared of being home during the night alone. I know longer feel like I’m completely ignoring my daughter to meet my sons needs. The guilt is still strong and I am still really sad. Having a baby brings about so many hormones and changes, having a c-section can make you feel guilty for not doing it properly. so I’ve cried some tears over it. I’ve been reasurred by the health visitor who said it is okay to feel sad about it and to feel like I’ve missed out but actually we still get lots of lovely snuggles and bonding time and that actually he really isn’t fussed because he’s fed and sleeping and clean. I still feel guilty. I feel like I’ve let myself and my son down a little bit for not persevering. I do feel like I could have tried a bit harder but then I think if I had I’d be struggling more emotionally with feeling so overwhelmed and I know I wouldn’t have been able to take care of myself as much recovery wise if I had stuck with it.

Breastfeeding or bottle feeding: Make an informed decision and go with it

I have always believed in making informed decisions based on what is best for the big picture; for the whole family, but most of all I am an advocate of fed is best. Not because it’s the bare minimum, because I know breastmilk is best for babies, and because all of us just want our babies fed regardless. But I think fed is best stands for that bigger picture, for a mother and baby’s post natal well being and because we all just want to be the best parents we can be. For me, that means being tired but functioning and mentally well for both of my children, and my partner, who has just witnessed me going through major surgery to bring his son into the world, become a father and is now coping with University work and a new job. He has a lot on his plate, and the last thing he needs is a girlfriend that isn’t coping with her mental health.

No matter how you feed your baby, you are doing the best job, you are doing the right thing and you have made the best decision for you. You, your mental health and your well being is just as vital and important because that is what will help you cope with the transition into motherhood.

October 21, 2018
My Tips for Writing a Book
I’ve been writing a book on my pregnancy and now I’m in the final stages of editing it so that I can get it ready to publish. It’s been a lot of hard work especially since Felix was born but ultimately I had to wait until he had been born to share that final part of the story.

I’m writing about having a high risk pregnancy because of my BMI and after doing some research found lots of other women felt guilty and that they were forced into making decisions they didn’t fully want to commit to. This lead me to writing a book on how BMI really affects pregnancy and the fact that just because you are high risk does not mean your maternal rights are relinquished to the powers that be.

7 Tips For Writing a Book

Writing a book about this experience has involved a lot of time, research, edits, tears and doing this all the time whilst pregnant and having a newborn baby. Most of the work was done pre baby but there’s still a lot to do before I’m ready to publish. However I wanted to share some top tips on things for those that also want to write a book and I hope that these help you.
1. Set yourself a publishing deadline. This will make you work for it. I have mine set for 30th November as I felt that was enough time to research, write and edit. I knew I would have to finalise my book with a newborn and that pushed me to getting most of the work done before he was here.
2. Do your research and make sure your sources are credible if you’re writing non fiction. I’ve made it very clear in my book that it’s all about sharing my own personal experience having a high risk pregnancy. The book is more about the importance of I individualised care and I in no way recommend any medical procedure as I am not qualified to do so. I do however reinforce the fact that women have rights and can accept or decline any decision based on informed consent and discussion.
3. Set yourself a daily word count. This will ensure that the content gets done and the hard work can be done during editing.
4. Edit a chapter at a time. I found editing a whole book a bit intimidating and overwhelming so I am going through a chapter at a time, sometimes a couple in one day but making sure I take breaks away from the words so that I’m editing in the best way possible.
5. Get a proof reader. This is next on my to do list and I’m hoping to have a couple of people proof read what I have to help me further the editing process.
6. Print and read. Before I do my final draft ready for publishing I will be printing and reading the book myself so that I know it makes sense. I always find its easier to spot mistakes on paper than on the screen although I intend to only make a ebook and kindle version of my book. I still want it to be right.
7. Next up I need to learn all I can about self publishing so that I can officially launch and hopefully at least one person will buy it! I’m excited about being an author even if it’s in a different direction than I ever thought but still, an author all the same, it’s a bit of a dream come true really!
October 19, 2018