Luka's First Birthday Ideas

Planning on purchasing some block numbers and having them as some of her party decor

Ah! I'm so glad I'm finally getting around to writing this and getting things rolling round for Luka's First Birthday in 4months time!

Seriously 4months!!! This year is going way too fast.

So I'd thought I'd share some of my ideas for her birthday celebration that I got off my Pinterest account which you can check out here

I'm very keen on having a shot like this taken!

At the moment we have sorted a spot and a theme. The theme is just a casual Summer Garden Party with a BBQ, so happy that her birthday is in summer, which Andrei and I will be hosting at a top secret location for now.

Below are some of the cake ideas I like.
The first cake is a raw coconut strawberry layer cake, the second cake is something that I'd like to have for guests . I'm big on Luka having a healthy lifestyle with not much processed foods in her diet so I'm very much considering getting her a cake made with all natural ingredients if I can help it, especially with the plan of her doing a cake smash.
I'm wanting to get her cake from this cool little wholefoods store called Mondays that pride themselves on good organic foods.
Plus, their cakes aren't too big just incase Luka would rather have a small bite of the cake rather than fully dig into it. But I think at this stage with her eating she'll dive right in :-)

I'm planning on ordering a book from Printstagram, a cool website which takes the photos on you're Instagram account and makes them into magnets, albums etc and I'm really keen on taking the photos of Luka and making it into a book for guests to sign and leave a note for her on each page.

I'll be making a Pinata for the older guests to have a whack at!
It'll have party favours on the inside :-)

Planning on making some DIY paper flowers too.
I've made pom poms before so this should be a breeze

I'd like to have a chalk board displaying what Luka has achieved in her First Year.



 

Below are some shots that I would love taken of Andrei, Luka and myself.

I have a friend that is a hobby photographer as well as my dad so I'll get them to take some shots of us, our guests and have some non-choreographed ones throughout the day.

 

 

 

 

So that's it so far.

It's nothing too strenuous. I have planned, for party favours, to make up little candy bags and put them into the piñata. I've also collected Luka's baby food jars and will be putting cake mix into them and baking a cake in the jars to hand to guests after the party.

I'm wanting to also either hire or buy a bubble machine for the kiddies to have fun with :-)

I've done her invites which I'll post after her birthday as it has all the info of the party and that is really just for guests at this point in time.

 

Until next time!

 

XOXOX



Luka Anya - 7 Months Old!

Luka turned 7 months last Sunday, and this last month I have definitely noticed a wave of milestones being reached with her that I'm very excited about!

She's started showing a huge interest in crawling, she gets up on her hands and knees and starts to rock then lunges herself forward onto her belly then repeats as well as the occasional scooting around and even getting up on her hands and tippy toes. Honestly I leave her on her playmat one second and she's off it and at the other end of the lounge the next!

We've started with baby proofing and purchased some baby gates thanks to my lovely mother in law who also brought Luka a teething necklace that has worked a treat, we're yet to buy a play pen as she's still not that mobile enough to worry about, but none the less she's keeping us on our toes!

And boy can she talk, she just loves to babble away at her feet, toys and us and and grab and look at everything in sight.

She has this old keyboard that she loves to tap away at, so as I'm typing this she's typing too :-)

She's so curious and active and I'm just in awe of her and how far she's come from her early days of having colic and being so restless (still working on the restlessness) and I look back on her newborn photo's and measure how small she was then to how big she is now, she was soooo tiny and sooo scrummy!
Watching the T.V show One Born Every Minute brings back so much old feelings and memories.
One memory I recall the most was after she was born and as I was being stitched up she was laying on my chest looking up at me and suckling on her fingers and the birthing room we were in overlooked the beautiful Auckland harbour as the sun was rising, it was a truely gorgeous moment that I hope I'll never forget.

For me this month has been hot and cold, Luka has been teething like no ones business.
Dribbles and runny noses, colds and sleepless nights, Andrei and I snapping at eachother due to broken sleep..... It hasn't been the best of months but in saying that I have enjoyed it the most because Luka's really started to become more interactive and a real little person!
I've also been back at work comfortably for a month (having to take one day off to care for bub while she was sick) its been great having that time out for myself and having my own money again.
I've slacked off the gym which I'm quite bittersweet about. I stopped going because A} I don't have enough income to support payments towards my membership and B} I noticed a great decline in my breastmilk production as I was going and C} Finding the time and energy is really quite hard! I walk heaps and I have noticed my clothes fitting better so I've decided to cut myself some slack and enjoy my first year with bub without worrying about my body till after her first birthday and when I've stopp b/feeding by then and when I'll increase her time at daycare.
I'd admit, though, I take my hat off to those fit mums on Instagram. I'd compare myself to them and feel really lazy, but I had to snap myself out of it and realise that every person is different.
I was in the best shape of my life before I fell pregnant and I still have that goal of getting there again with a lot of hard work in tow, but maybe just not at the moment.

I love spiking her hair up!

Weight: She was just weighed today by her Plunket nurse and is now at 6.11kg. Not too great but she has grown 6cm and is now 66.5cm long and head circumference is 41.6cm! I think due to her having a bad cold and going on a huge hunger strike a few weeks back just messed with her weight gain so I'll be focusing on that for the next few months till her next check up.

Sleep: One word HORRIBLE! From having a bad cold to teething and the like it has been broken sleep for the last month in a half. She has a pretty good routine down and sleeps great during the day but it's always the night time that gets us down. I just hope it gets better soon...

Diet: So far she's on 40% breastmilk and 60% formula. My breast milk has decreased like I mentioned in her 6 month update but that only because my pump broke and had to be sent away to be fixed which took a good 1.5weeks.
I ordered a fantastic breastmilk tea which increased my supply, and right when I needed to pump it wasn't working boo!
So I had no choice but to give bub the breast and also bottle feed at too, but because she's taking more formula than b/milk it's dropped so I'm hoping to get it back up again so I can pump and store milk away again.
She's eating solid food, fruits, veges, baby muesli, baby pastas and custards and also bit off our plate but it's been a struggle as she still hasn't completely kicked her cold in the butt (snotty noses and food don't mix well!).
So I'm hoping (praying) that this gets better in the next month.

Routine: Luka is awake approximately 2-2.5hours after each sleep/nap time. During that time she eats, drinks, plays etc. Her sleep varies and after each wake period she can sleep from 45mins to an hour in a half. Her biggest nap is usually at 3pm when she sleeps for an hour and then will be awake till 6 which is followed by her dinner time and then a shower then bed.
She still needs to be fed b/milk or formula to sleep, but is that doesn't work the ol' cry it out method works a treat.
I'm big on her knowing when it's her bed time, I don't want her to walk over Andrei nor I as she gets older so the sooner I introduce the rules the better.

Social: She's incredibly sociable and smiles a lot at people and talks a lot to the people she knows.
She's so cute, when you talk to her she coyly smiles and hides her face or if she's really comfy with you she'll reach out for you're face and try to give you a big mouth baby kiss :D
When we play at times she'll lay on my chest and give her big scary eyes and she'll just laugh away, Luka's also started taking an interest in suckling on my mouth and when I'm at work she suckles on Andrei's arms as if he had boobies!
They have bonded so amazingly since I've been at work, last night they were lying on the bed and Andrei was making her laugh doing the big scary eyes at her it was just tooooo cuuute!
Her laugh is adorable, I have daycare to thank for her being so amazing around people, she has the best caregivers that adore her.
We went on a playdate the other week and she was trying to suck on the other babies feet and head it was hilarious!

Their bond is magic

Likes:

• big scary eyes
• sharing my fruit juice popsicles and water bottle
• anything that she can put in her mouth
• her Jumping Joey and exersaucer
• her bottle, yay! It was such a mission to wean her onto it.
• the swings at the park
• Our cat Lulu, but Lulu doesn't want anything to do with her :-(
• being naked
• shower time
• going for rides on mine and Andrei's shoulders
• me singing her to sleep, she ends up just smiling and talking to me, too damn beautiful

Milestones: Well yesterday she was having fun chomping on my nipples during a drink so I popped my finger in her mouth to gnaw on and low and behold I felt a tooth!!!
It's the bottom right hand one coming through, I told the Plunket nurse and she said that I'll find the second bottom one come up in a week after that one does, It's so exciting!!!
And as written above, her crawling and babbling and becoming very interactive.

Postpartum: Apart from being back at work. coming to terms with not going back to the gym till early next year and still on my breastfeeding mission I'm doing pretty swell!
Today is mine and Andrei's 7year Anniversary (WOW) so I'll be heading out to get some ingredients to make a cake for us. I can't believ it's been 7years already, I still remember the first day I met him :-)
I've also had an idea of buying Luka a baby swim seat for the pool and as the weather warms up we'll go swimming were fitting in her playtime and me exercise time before I hit the weights again!
I'm a NZ size 10-12 whereas pre pregnancy I was an 8-10, I haven't been too careful with my eating either which is going to change! Plus my water consumption would be better too. I really have to thank breastfeeding for keeping weight gain at bay, so I'm going to get back into a pumping routine and shift the weight that way until my exercise plans come into proper perspective.
Afterall there are still clothes I want to fit into!
2015 resolution GET FIT or die trying.... I'll probably die at this rate....

Until next time!

XOXOX

Luka Anya - 6 Months old!

My girl is officially 6months old!

I never though she'd make it to this stage and begin filling the clothes she wears now and outgrowing the others, it's just too surreal!

The milestones she's achieved and how much she's bloomed since my last post on her 4months (sorry I skipped 5) have been a joy to watch :-)

She really has and always will be her own little person.

I love her like nothing else in this world, even if her wilful tendencies drive me a little crazy as well as her stubbornness and temper, but shes my baby and I am so proud of her!

I could only think back 6months and think that it'll be forever until she finally gets to this stage.

I just always saw her as my little newborn, but as the months went on and she improved with her colic, mobility, feeding, sleeping, sociability and overall independence I've changed my mind about each of my favourite ages of her and I'm slowly learning to accept to just love her as much as I do every single day and that no matter how old she is, she will always be mine and Andrei's baby.

Now that the 6month mark has been reached this makes me very excited to start pulling ideas together for her first birthday!

So far I've planned a summer garden party (as her birthdays in summer here in NZ to all my overseas readers) with a BBQ and plenty of DIY celebrated with those that closest to Luka I.E family and a handful of friends.

I can't wait to get started, first off I'll be doing the invites and I have this awesome app on my phone, Rhonna Designs, that I'm using to do the invitations.

I'll do a post of my birthday ideas for Luka later.

In the mean time, here's an update of Luka from the last two months :-)

Weight: When she was last weighed for her 5month vaccines she tallied in at 6.1kg! She wont be weighed again till her 7month check up with Plunket but she has been growing so quickly from filling in 000 clothing at 4months to now almost filling in 00!
Her hair is growing, it's so cute and fuzzy and oh so blonde :-) and she's getting much more stronger.

Sleep: So sleep has been all over the place the last few weeks from her waking up once during the night to waking up, say, 3 times.
My body's more well adjusted these days, but with it being winter now it sucks having to get out of a nice warm bed -_-
Oh well first world problems, I'll keep monitoring her sleeping patterns and hope it'll change soon or it could just be to put a new routine in place.

Diet: I'm very excited about this because Luka is now having a good balance of breast milk, formula and solids!
I've had to give her 50/50 of b/milk and formula because my b/milk supply has been running low, from pumping 4-6 ounces a day to barely an ounce and not many let downs; it is very disheartening but I have been trying to remind myself that I have done the best I can and Luka is so happy and healthy and that is more than I could ask for :-)

Even as much as I wanted to keep giving her my b/milk exclusively for her first year, there's just things in this world you can't change, I've never been opposed to formula (even though I'm strong believer in breast is best) but at the end of the day it is what's best for Luka and I sure as hell won't let her starve!

But in saying all that, I purchased a breastfeeding tea from Artemis (a natural remedy company in NZ) so to increase my b/milk supply.

And so far I have noticed a change :-)

It's my 4th day drinking 3cups each day and I feel my breasts filling up more and I've been pumping 2.5-3ounces and storing it away. You have no idea how elated I am!

I'll keep you up to date on that journey.
Otherwise, she's having either S-26 Gold or Heinz Nature Gold+ Formula and has been guzzling it back like a champ!

She's started to slowly take more solid foods than pureed and has a mix of of fruit, vege and meat baby foods.

And they all taste pretty good!

Routine: I've gone through two different routines suitable for Luka's age and how long she can stay up for.
In her 4th month she would awake for 1-2 hours and have 3-4 naps during the day.
Now it's awake for 3-4hours and 2-3 naps during the day.
She goes to bed around 7-8 and wakes up around 7 but is waking up 3-4 times during the night!
I think a new routine could be in order so I'm going to start getting her to bed by 7pm then she'll most likely wake around 5-6am and from there she'll have her breakfast, play time and then have her first nap, and then do her thing as the day goes on.
I'll be starting that as of tomorrow due to me working tonight so she'll be a little unsettled with me not at home.
Let's hope it works once I get started...

Social: Luka has surprised me with how sociable she is! She's also surprised me with just how much she's changed since going to daycare (yup she's been going for a month now), she's always happy and now smiles at people when before she would just stare at people, which she still does, but going to daycare and not relying on me I have noticed a huge improvement with keeping herself entertained too.
The kids at the daycare love her and always run up to the stroller and talk and play with her when we arrive and the same with when we leave.
Also when I go to pick her up she gives me the biggest yummy baby smiles and then gives me the biggest yummiest baby kisses. It's so worth it :-)
Her caregivers are amazing and adore her, she goes Monday's, Thursday's and Friday's from 8am to 12pm.
I'm thinking of increasing the time or adding in an extra day as I'm wanting to pick up extra shifts at work, but we'll see how we go.

Likes: Luka loves interaction with people, she loves her cuddles and loves it when I play with her I.E. rough and tumble, tickling her tummy, peek a boo etc. She has a laugh that just makes my heart swell :-)
She also loves her new Jumping Joey (similar to a Jolly Jumper) and squeals with delight when she's jumping around in it.
She loves floor time too as she's becoming more active and beginning to crawl and sit up by herself.
I've been taking her to the park a lot lately and she has a play on the swing and we go on the slide, she loves it :-)
She loves grabbing things and putting them in her mouth, which has made trying to read to her quite difficult because she literally wants to devour the book!
She loves daycare, having morning sleep in's and cuddles with me, making a mess during her meal times (hehe), shower time and yeah.

Milestones: She's starting to figure out how to crawl and sit up by herself!
I'm amazed at how mobile she's becoming, I leave her on her play mat one minute and when I come back she's at the other end of her play mat and completely around the other way!
She's funny wee thing and has started making this growling noise, Andrei and I do it back to her which puts a huge smile on her face.
She's rolling around...everywhere! She's really figured it out this time and it makes it so much fun for me when attempting to dress and unclothe her as well as trying to put her nappy on!
But she's happy, what more could I want?

Postpartum: I am back to work and the gym which has been bittersweet due to my b/milk production lacking. But like I stated in food, it's something to work on.
I found out that I only have 5kg till I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight (60kg) and boy, the trainers have me on this gruelling routine!
10mins on the treadmill with running intervals, 15mins on the crosstrainer at 10-12 intensity (or kg), 30kg squat lifts, 10kg lunges the list goes on!
But, I have noticed an improvement, not with my weight yet but with how I look, my arms are more sculpted and everything else is starting to tighten back in (yipee). I have this dress that I brought during pregnancy that doesn't look too great on at the moment so by the time Summer rolls around it'll fit like a glove, can't wait :-)
Being back at work has been good too, it feels amazing to be earning my own money again, even if it is only one shift a week and for 4hours. I missed my work colleagues and having new things to talk about, next month I'll be looking at increasing my shifts as I'm trying to save towards getting my own car.

Otherwise that's all I have to say for now.
I could go on but I want to have things for more blog posts, and try and blog more...

Hope you liked reading and you'll hear from me soon :-)
In the mean time, here's an adorable video of Luka having some play time with me and her daddy.
**please excuse my shit videoing skills and also the fact you can't hear the audio. It's still pretty cute ☺️

XOXOX

Our weekend in Dunedin Part 2

Heya!

So here's part 2 from the first post which you can read about HERE.

Now where was I? Ah yes, since we were lovingly woken up by L at 5am I was straight into action!
She had her feed, nappy change and a play while I used the time to have breakfast and get ready.
The wedding didn't start till 10 but having a small child makes getting ready in a certain time frame a huge mission, so I was kinda glad to be up at 5.

Here was my look..

I went for a simple/natural look with a light golden eye to bring out the hazel colour and a natural lip.
I used Benefit and M.A.C makeup to achieve this look.

And here are some pics taken of me, L and Andrei...

I wore my green ASOS maternity dress, a gold necklace and little gold earrings. 

It was a really gorgeous day, it really was!
The bride look beautiful, the groom very dashing (as did Andrei if I do say so myself) and everything was done to perfection!
The ceremony was a traditional Catholic setting, very heartfelt, and a lot of family input.
The reception was held at the gorgeous Glenfalloch Restaurants and the whole place is surrounded by beautiful gardens! I went for a few nice strolls with L, but she was sound asleep pretty much all day if not waking up for feeds and a bit of play time.
The reception was a wee bit noisy so I tried to stay in one spot the whole time, which made me feel bad for not socialising with the guests. I felt like a snob but I was trying to do best by my baby.
Otherwise it was a fantastic day! The food was great as well as the atmosphere and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't tear up because I so did! I've only been to one wedding before this one and I got there late, it was literally the end of the ceremony, so I didn't feel the celebration as much as I would've liked to so I was very happy to have been part of this one.
The bride and groom are so very much in love and I wish them the best :-)

The next two days after were very full on! Plenty of socialising and getting out and about around Dunedin.
There was one place I'd be dying to visit again since last time was Rob Roys Dairy!

Here's why...

I am a HUGE ice cream/dessert fanatic and there ice creams fit my appetite perfectly!
I think this two scoop serve only cost $3 but I can't remember :-(
Oh well, guess I'll have to make another trip to find out...and maybe buy another one...
Sad part about this pic is that the ice cream fell off while we were walking back to the hotel! But Drei was kind enough to give me his, I'm so lucky :-)

That day we had lunch at the Speights Ale House, said our good byes to guests and family, did touristy things like go see the Train Station, The First Church of Otago and before we knew it the day was over!

My dinner at the Ale House. Lamb shanks and in season veges mmmmm

On our last day L, Drei, my mother-in-law and Drei's aunt travelled out to Larnach Castle.
Due to it being summer I packed a dress and a light denim jacket thinking it'll be as warm in the South Island as it would be in the North.
Um, WRONG!
It was freezing outside as it was in.

It wasn't a dress kinda day...

The castle was beautiful, if not a little creepy.
It has a very sad history and you could feel it in the place.
I've had my fair share of spooks in the past (trying not to sound crazy here) and I could definitely feel eyes watching me around the place!
The castle was made beautifully though, very intricate and pieces that had taken years to design, the gardens from what I saw looked incredible but it was too cold for me to have a look around!

After our tour we had lunch in the castles cafe and headed back to the hotel to get ready to go home.

The flight home was good, Luka was completely over the trip and Andrei and I were pretty exhausted ourselves.
Overall it was worth it, it was a lot of fun and we got to see faces that we hadn't seen in years.

I can't wait to go back to Dunedin, and who knows, maybe the next wedding invites to be sent will be from me and Andrei......
Until next time!

XOXOX

Luka Anya - 4 months old

I am in huge denial of how fast this year is going already.
How can it be that my wee babe is 4 months old already!

And this last month has brought plenty of milestones for her, I am so amazed and blessed to have such a 'go-getter' baby :-)
Last night she rolled over for the first time! I was so lucky to have seen and so lucky that Andrei was there to tell me she was about to roll over.
I literally left her on her tummy during her playtime so I could go and charge my phone, then I come back into the room and she's on her side about to roll!
Seriously the one time I didn't have my phone capturing everything, luckily I ran back to get my phone and caught her rolling over just in time :-)
We placed her back on her tummy and she did it again! AMAZING!
I honestly can't brag enough of how proud I am of her, you can view the short version of Luka rolling over on my Instagram account (@loveshaleya).

Luka's also smiling more and is slowly starting laugh which is so so cute, I can't wait to hear it in full blast. As well as laughing she's talking, a lot. She just babbles away to herself and to Andrei, my mum and I and talks herself to sleep most of the time which is great as that's her way I guess of 'self soothing'.

Daddy and daughter time. She's a big Daddy's girl :-)

It's honestly like looking at a mirror, she's so much like him.

Loves her play time

Dress// Pumpkin Patch // NZD$21.90 from $42.90

Baby Bloomers // Charlie & Me // Brought in early pregnancy, can't remember price

Cable Knit stockings (can't see them) // Pumpkin Patch // NZD$12.99

Lace cuff socks (two in a pack, pink and white) // Pumpkin Patch // NZD$4.49 from $8.99

Long Sleeve Top // Gift

Weight: Luka has grown tremendously in the last month and is now weighing in at 5..24kgs! Length is now 58.5cm and head circumference is the same at 38.8cm. She's still a tiny little bub and a lot of people think she's still a newborn!
she's now fitting size 000's to 00 clothing and is in infant nappies, we like to use the Huggies brand as they're a lot softer on her skin, I have reusable nappies on the way to me so that'll be good in regards to saving money.

Sleep: She has a good sleep pattern during the day, a wake period of an hour to two hours then a nap for 30-45mins. Night time she goes down about 7:30 and either wakes at around 9-10 or 1am for a feed then back to sleep. But she's waking more frequently now so after the 1am feed she'll wake again at 3am, then 5am then 6am.
I'm thinking this may be due to her teething (you heard right) and that she'll settle more as she gets older. Oh sleep, how I miss thee...

Diet: She's still on breast milk and we've slowly started introducing solids, we give her half to a full teaspoon of solids at a time. We're using Watties Stage 1 puréed baby food like rice and carrots, carrots and pumpkin, apple and prune juice. She's really enjoying it but I haven't been giving her as much lately as I'm getting her weaned back onto the bottle.
She's doing well, today is the 4th day and she is quite irritable, yesterday she took two ounces, she would've taken more but I didn't have my pump on me and we weren't home, it was awesome.
My routine with that is to start at 9 or 10am and give her the bottle for 5mins, then she plays and mucks about for an hour then another 5min feed then sleep; and when she wakes its the same thing then her next wake period she gets the breast for the rest of the day.
I'll increase the time and the amount of milk as she gets used to it, it's been hard and a lot of tough love but who said parentings easy right?

Routine: A normal daily routine for us is that she's up at or around 6am, I give a feed, cuddles a nappy change then she goes on her play mat for playtime, I use that time to get myself breakfast and when that's all over it's time for her first nap of the day, she then wakes 45mins later and it's the same thing really but without a nappy change and no breakfast and the rest of the goes on and by 4-5pm it's the dreaded 'witching hour' when Luka doesn't want to nap at all, she's just a crying whining grumpy mess so around that time, or by 6pm if I can help it, she either has a bath or a shower with me and then goes down for her nap.

Social: I'm hoping in the next month or so I can get Luka into daycare so she can start to socialize, at the moment it's only me, Andrei, my mum, Andrei's dad and his partner so I'm leaning on that plus getting out more so Luka gets used to being around people.

Likes: Luka loves her playtime and has started grabbing toys! She also likes it when it's time for her nappy change as I leave her half naked for a bit, she also loves going for walks and loves it when I tip her upside down (holding her head and body of course) and sucking at her chin, she giggles, it's adorable :-)

Milestones: Luka's doing so much and so quickly! She started teething after her 3rd month which I thought was a bit strange giving her age so I did my research (good ol' Google) and found out that babies can start teething from as early as 2 months and that teeth should start coming in at around 5 months onwards.
She's taking it quite well, not fussing too much, and we use Bonjela to help ease whatever she's feeling.
Of course her smiling a lot more and starting to laugh is another huge one as well as talking heaps :-)
She's grabbing her toys more too and taking plenty of interest in them, even taking them to her mouth! But I think that could be her teething.
She's bringing her hands together as well :-)
Rolling over has lately been the biggest and she's been doing great with getting herself to sleep.
My lovely mother-in-law also brought Luka a new pram as our other one was a bit rickety and uncomfortable for her. We upgraded from a Capella 4 wheeler to a Jolly Jumper Elite 3 wheeler. Luka, Andrei and I are really enjoying it, it's comfortable for Luka and the storage tray is so much easier to get to as the Capella stroller had this tray that was hooked under the pram and you had to unhook it to get to things, very impractical but it served it's purpose.

Postpartum: Since the stroller upgrade I've been out with Luka a lot more, she doesn't fuss too much in the stroller like she did in the old one so I find it better to go for walks with her and most importantly RUN!
I've been doing a lot of running with the Jolly Jumper and it has been fantastic. My fitness levels still aren't what they used to be but that's just something I have to work on.
I weighed myself for the first time in months the other day and clocked in at 68kgs, I've lost a total of 4kgs since giving birth which isn't bad and this will give me a good indicator of my goal of 58kgs which I'm giving myself a year to get to.
With weaning bub back onto the bottle it gives me hope that I'll be back at the gym again soon as well as work so I'm going to continue to focus on that.
It may sound a bit narcissistic but going to the gym is really makes me feel good about myself physically and mentally.
Just recently I created a stroller group for mothers with children on Facebook, I tried to look around online for groups like that but I didn't find anything so I created one called Mammaz and Strollaz!
It's a once a month get together group at the Auckland Domain (I made it there cause I have friends that live all around Auckland and made it kinda easy for us all to get to. I don't have a car just yet and catch the train there, so if I can do it anyone can!) and after, say an hour of walking, running and stretching we go get a healthy lunch and gossip. Sounds good eh?
Plus it's good to get out of the house, I start to get a bit of cabin fever after a while and need some 'adult' conversation. Don't get me wrong, I love baby babbling with Luk but you gotta do something for yourself too.

That's pretty much it at the moment, I can't wait to see what this next month will bring!

XOXOX

My week in photos!

Mmmm chocolate bunnies!

Last week was a mix of busy and crazy!

There was so much going on I'm not at all surprised it went right past me 😱

At the start of the week Luka and I had a small catch up with the women from our antenatal classes and their new babies.

It was a lot of fun and great to talk to each other about our birthing and parenting experiences plus get the kids socialising which I think was more beneficial for Luka and melody as they were the oldest ones.

Sooo cute though!

Luka having a bit of 'nappy free' time. She loves being naked, I'm sure she'll be one of those babies that love to streak!

We'll be catching up again in a few weeks to go to a special 'mums with bubs' movie session. You can take you're baby with you into a movie and not have to worry about them screaming, win win right there!

The next day I took Luka to a local pre school that's literally around the corner from where I live. Due to her getting bored quite easily and being very hyperactive I finally decided to take a walk up to the pre school and get the 101 on the place.

So far I'm impressed! It's very education, tidy, clean, hygienic, lovely hands on staff and plenty of constructive stimulation for the kids!

Luka was so me mesmerised by everything that she fell asleep very quickly after spending an hour there.

I'm still having a look around though, and I still haven't gotten Luka back on the bottle yet, so I'm giving myself a month or two to get this underway.

I think this will be very beneficial for Luka, she needs stimulation and more social activity, I think more than anything she CRAVES it!

And as for me, I can have some time out ( i do at least 3 walks a day with her!) and focus on getting back to work and help to provide a good life for me and my family :-)

One of my fave shots of her this week. She's so beautiful!

By the middle of the week everything calmed down and was cruisy.

Friday night my mum and I went Easter egg shopping!

The department store we went to, The Warehouse, was packed! Luka didn't know where to look, and that tired her out so she had a little nap in the baby seat on out trolley while mum and I had a browse.

All wrapped up in mummy's jacket

Playing with the bunnies!

Saturday was a quick trip out with Andrei and finally Sunday was Easter!

Unfortunately Luka didn't get any chocolate this year but she will next time.

I want to be quite strict with what she consumes in her first year as it's the most vital year for her growth so I want no processed foods to be consumed.

I think it's fair and she gets a good wholesome diet and a good view on food, hopefully.

But anyway I managed to get some cute snaps of her with an Easter egg with the help of Andrei distracting her and getting some of her beautiful smiles!

Hope you had a great week everyone and happy resurrection of our saviour Jesus Christ!

XOXOX