I'm Back, And Better Than Ever!

Hey!

Oh how I have missed this!

It's been around a year since I last wrote here, a year where I have battled with so many demons in my head, I would repeatedly think I'm going to give blogging a go again, and would quick as a flash convince myself I was not good enough, utter pants and give it up again.

But not this time! for YEARS I have loved reading other blogs, watching women and families vlog and create content on YouTube, once the children were in bed it is how I chose to spend my time, I lost count of how many times id say to Steve, 'I'll do that one day', then let my lack of confidence, and the fact that I'm not a size 8 nor do I look like a airbrushed supermodel stop me. But now, I have decided that none of that really matters, I have a passion, and sure I might end up being no good at this, but I will never know if I don't try, and I don't want to get to 50 and regret not giving it a go.

So this is the first post of many, and along side some of these posts you'll find a link to my shiny new YouTube channel!

I'm still working on a schedule, but I am so frigging excited to do this! I hope you'll come along for the ride x

check back soon for a fresh post, and if you fancy you can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and now of course, YouTube....just search All About Jemma.

Much Love

xoxox

Baby's First Birthday!

 

The last update I did on Isabelle, or as she is now know, Belle, was way back when she was three months old.

She has changed so much, obviously!

 

She has been walking since shortly before she turned ten moths, says a few words here and there and has the attitude of Grammy award winning Diva! She's bloody fantastic.

 

Her first birthday was a lovely day, a quiet one spent with family and a few close friends, just as we wanted it to be.

She was of course, absolutely spoilt and our living room resembles a pink toy shop! I LOVE it!!

 

 

We had a lovely, small tea party for her, she was completely overwhelmed and a bit confused I feel, but she loved playing with her little friends and paying hide and seek!

 

 

 

As is the norm with me I went totally over the top with décor, I went with baby pink and gold as our theme, Belle had no idea and with the exception of the 60 balloons around the house noticed nothing! I wasn't bothered though, i think at one most things a parent does like this are for them, for the memories, of which I now have copious amounts.

 

 

I loved her outfit, and spent weeks putting it together, i am of course supposed to think so but in my opinion, she looked like a perfect tutu wearing princess!

 

 

I have loved completely immersing myself in her over the past 12 months, but as she gets older and enjoys more independent play.....and less time on my boobies i'm excited to get back to my blog, I hope to grow my little ramblings into a fun and exciting community.

So, please check back for more posts in the very near future!

 

Much Love

xoxox 









Happy Wednesday! 

As I'm sure most of you know, today is International Woman's Day.
 

A day I've always been aware of, but never really taken the time to think about, this year though, as I've sat feeding my very own woman of the future, I've thought about the women around me I admire, I realised none of them are famous or doing huge things to change the world, they're just women and all mothers.

 

Firstly, my best friend Tania, a mother of five, two of whom are just a few months apart in age, her eldest son suffered a stroke late last year, so she is juggling his rehab, two babies, a teenager and a 9 year old, she is always immaculate - as is her house, she's an amazing wife and in all honesty the best, best friend anyone could hope for. I've never know anyone hold their shit down the way she does, she is. AMAZING.

 

Secondly, my Mother In Law, the reason I have my family. She raised her son to be the wonderful man I call my husband, my Father In Law passed away when Steve was just 13, so the man he is really is down to her, I am great-full beyond words.

 

Next is a friend I was once very close to, we lost touch but have recently made contact again. When I was having my sons she was having issues with fertility, it must have been so hard for her to be around me as I had my children, she never made this apparent though and was always very excited for me. She has worked for years in a role helping young people, making a real impact in her local community. she has recently let me know she and her husband have adopted a child, a lovely little girl.

My heart is full of love and joy for her as she begins a new adventure.

 

Finally, two women who are to thank for me! My grandmothers, one unfortunately no longer with us but someone I talk about and think of all the time, both strong women who I respect and love hugely x

 

I only hope to be just a little bit as amazing as all of these women, and that in turn I too will raise a strong woman, as well as two men who will allow the women in their lives to be strong and understand women are equal.

 

 

 So, that's my first post in about a million years done!

Thank you for reading,

Much Love
xoxox

Three Month Old Baby Update!

Welcome back to All About Jemma!

 

Today I'll be sharing a look at my baby girl Isabelle and her development as she turns three months old!

 

 

Isabelle was born on 27th February 2016 so is exactly three months old today! The last three months have absolutely flown by, it feels like I just gave birth, but in the same breath I can't remember life before she arrived!

 

Isabelle was born weighing 9lb 12oz, and although I haven't had her weighed since she was 6 weeks i can tell by just looking at the little chunk that she is growing well, she will next be weighed at her 4 month check. We decided after speaking to our health visitor to not have her weighed between development assessments and trust our own judgement as third time parents.

She moved into her 3-6 month wardrobe around 3-4 weeks ago, like her brothers she is quite long and everything in her 0-3 wardrobe was becoming way too short!

 

She has been smiling since she was a few weeks old and now laughs when funny faces are pulled or crazy noises.....admittedly it's Daddy who gets the most laughs from her!

 

 

She is so alert now and notices noises and things/people moving around her, she recognises different voices and gets excited when she see's people she may have not seen for a while, like her brothers at the end of the school day. She has only slept through the night once, but goes to sleep around 9pm, until 3am when she has a short feed then goes back to sleep until 5am when she will feed again and usually sleep until at least 8/9am. We are still exclusively breastfed and its going fantastically for both of us, we don't have a set routine and I feed on demand, so far it's working well for us, although I am now pumping and storing with a view to introducing a bottle and sippy cup when appropriate, purely because I EBF Harry until he was 11 months, when I tried to wean him I struggled to get him to take anything....lesson learned! I plan to feed her myself until she is around 1year old.

 

Physically she is just like her brothers and developing super quick! The evening before she turned 3 months old she rolled over for the first time! The next day she showed us how she can roll from back to front, and back again.....at three months old! I feel she will be like her brothers and be walking by the time she is 10 months old. She loves being held up on her feet, with us taking most of her weight, and hates being flat on her back, unless she's having naked time, the girl just loves her naked time! 

 

 

 Bathtime is always a bit hit, ive never seen a baby kick and splash so much, she's a little water baby just like her daddy which is just adorable to watch! It's one of our favourite times followed by a massage and tummy time, and lots and lots of chatter!

She is teething and dribbling lots, along with lots and hand and thumb chewing!

 

Overall she is doing wonderfully, and has bought nothing but joy into our family! I will probably share a little update on her every three months here, but if you'd like daily snippets of her cuteness use the links in the sidebar and follow me on Instagram, Facebook and  Twitter, I can also be found on Snap Chat under the username 'Boomtaaa'.

 

Next on All About Jemma will be my baby must haves, for the first three months, things I have loved and found really useful so far!

 

For now,

 

Much Love

xoxox

Medela Swing Breast Pump - Review

Hey again!

 

Today I thought I would share a little review on my new favourite toy, my Medela Swing electric breast pump.

 

I'm a third time mummy, my first son I gave up breastfeeding pretty early, my age, lack of confidence and support led to me putting him on bottles within a few weeks. When his brother arrived 22 months later I was determined to breastfeed, that determination paid off and he had breast milk until 11 months, I didn't pump really and struggled to get him off the breast when I was ready for our journey to end.

So, skip forward 7 plus years and we have our third and final baby! As with Harry I am a confident breast feeder, but I do have an excessive supply and would like to have a stash of milk frozen, so that when Isabelle weans she can use a sippy cup but still drink my milk. I did hours of research into pumps, and overall I was drawn towards the Medela, great reviews, seemed easy to use and a great price, I paid just £99.99 for mine direct from Amazon.

(Picture from www.medela.com)

I was instantly impressed with my purchase, the packaging was bright and attractive but simple. I have to admit I was a bit anxious about having an ELECTRIC pump on my boobie, it seemed far more intimidating than the little piranha that is my daughter! But that was short lived, everything was so simple, the instructions were step by step and easy to follow, I was able to assemble with ease and loved that I could plug it into the mains rather than have batteries in it. I'm not that savvy when it comes to technology so something only I was using had to be simple!

Another concern I had was the size of my boobs, they are pretty damn big! I was worried this would be an issue, I shouldn't have at all, I had no problems easily pumping using only one hand, it was overall a very comfortable and rewarding experience.

The various degrees of suction do to a certain extent mimic that of a baby, and obviously do the job, as you can see from the picture below, taken after just half an hour of pumping!

 

 



The only slight negative I would have is that it is a little noisy, not hugely and definitely not enough for me to either stop using the pump or not recommend it.

 

So overall, a great product, worth every penny and ideal for someone not wanting to spend a huge amount of money but still get decent results!

 

Now to just get Isabelle to drink from anything other than mummy!

 

Enjoy the rest of your week!

 

Much Love

xoxox

 

 



New-born Photo Shoot

Hi Guys,

Welcome back!

Today I thought I would share a peek at the result of Isabelle's new-born photo shoot. We booked her session a few months before her due date, we had seen so many of those adorable, squishy pictures of shiny new babies, and decided as we plan on Isabelle being our last baby, that we would capture the moments professionally, something we didn't do with our eldest children.

Isabelle was just 7 days old when our chosen photographer Nicky visited us at home, this was amazing in itself as many of you will know, the last thing you want to do after having a baby is lug yourself and your entire brood to a studio, she came along with her entire setup and seriously cute props! We found the entire thing very relaxed, even when Isabelle took a while to settle, and then ended her shoot by pooping in the basket prop!

We also loved that our sons, Evan and Harry were involved, they loved having pictures taken with their brand new baby sister, but were clearly very pleased these were done first so they could run off upstairs and continue their Saturday gaming! This left our little lady, who I didn't imagine would co-operate! Watching her be moved around and positioned by a professional was amazing, she didn't flinch!

Within a week we were sent a link and password to our photos, we were able to browse the pictures in our own home and place an order online, we couldn't pick just a few images so decided to go with buying all images on a USB.

So, all in all our experience was hugely positive, and I highly recommend splashing out on something like this to expectant parents, especially if you're local and can take advantage of Nicky at Nicky Peter-Nel Photography, her website can be found here. You can see from the few pictures I have shared how talented she is, I can't wait to add them to our home!

I hope you have enjoyed having a peek and reading about our experience, have you had any shoots for your little ones? Feel free to share your experiences and the final results!

For now, I hope you have a great weekend, don't forget to pop over to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and give me a like and a follow just search for All About Jemma or use the links on the sidebar!

Take care my lovelies!

Much Love

xoxo

What I Ate Wednesday

Hey Hey! 
Happy Hump Day.
 

Welcome back and as promised, to a new what I ate Wednesday. 

Today wasn't a usual day, I had such a huge meal at lunch time I couldn't stomach an evening meal. 

I started my day with a pint of water as usual, along with a decaf Neapresso, a banana and the breakfast of champions, 50/50 toast with plastic cheese! Not good for you but yummy! 
 

And of course, a blob of ketchup!

Steve and I decided to head to Dorchester, initially to look at some house hold stuff, but decided to go for a quiet childfree lunch while the boys were at school.
Nando's was the restaurant of choice! We had a hankerin' for some chicken!
We started with hummus, warm pita bread and piri-piri drizzle, delicious!

Our starter was followed by the butterfly chicken for me, with chips and piri-piri salt and coleslaw, Steve had the Churrasco burger, with piri-piri salted chips and garlic bread, we both went for the medium spice option, a little kick but full of flavour!

We were both stuffed after this, but had some time to kill before the school pick up, so of course it would have been rude to not indulge in desert! I'm so pleased we did, it was so so good! Neither of us could move after but it was well worth it, Caramel Cheesecake, Steve had cream with his....this was probably the best cheesecake I've had in a long time! It was of course finished with an Espresso for me and Double Espresso for Steve, we love our coffee!

 

Yum! A lovely impromptu day date with my man! Something about the sunny weather makes me want to get out and about and today was perfect for it!

That's all for now!
Have a great rest of the week, ill be back on Friday with a look at a new summer outfit I recently purchased from Yours Clothing.

Take care lovelies,

Much Love,
xoxox

 

A Lot of Love, A Boatload of Determination and A Bubble of Crazies!

Hey Hey!

 

Happy weekend and welcome back to All About Jemma.

This post is very special, and one a year ago I didn't think It would be one I would write. In May of 2014 my mum suffered two huge strokes at just 47. It came as a huge shock to everyone, and unfortunately Mum was badly affected by the damage done. We were told during week one of recovery there was a one in three chance she would die within the next few weeks, she didn't, weeks later we were told she would never be able to look after herself again or walk, well....that was all rubbish! And this week we celebrated as a family of 10!

 

We packed up the cars and headed out for the day, a boat ride and lunch, lots of laughs, it was a really lovely day.

 

 

Mum certainly had a lovely day, her smile says it all! Her favourite thing in the world is to have us all together.

The boat ride was from Poole Quay, around Brownsea Island and back again, it lasted around an hour and was ruddy freezing! Beautiful though and was nice to be with everyone.

 

 

Steve and I have done this trip a boat trip a few times, you should definitely give it a go if you're ever in Poole!

I love Poole Quay, it's beautiful and really chilled out, a great place to spend a leisurely afternoon and celebrate someone we all love making it to a stage so so many people said she wouldn't.

 

As a family we have our differences, we bicker and fight, disagree and sulk with each other, we also love each other unconditionally, going through all that we have this last year has just confirmed it. It was really important we celebrated not only our little Ma making it, but all of us too, Stroke kicked our asses big time!

What is it they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?!

 

 

Well, let me tell you, it's absolutely bloody true!!

 

That's all for tonight lovelies, i'm off to have an early night!

Check back on Wednesday for a "what I ate" post and a "Fashion Friday" on you guessed it, Friday!

 

Take care,

 

Much Love,

xoxox

 

 

Mommy Monday - Sunday Funday!

Hey Hey Ladies and Gents.

 

I'm back with a short but in my opinion (because it contains pictures of my sons) sweet Mommy Monday post.

After the last few weeks, i could have crawled under my duvet and not come back out, but i decided the best way to get things back on track was to pick myself up and stop feeling sorry for myself!

It actually turned into a really lovely day, we took a drive a little further down the coast to a place called West Bay. I have great memories of walks along the harbour followed by fish, chips and ice cream with my grandparents when I was much younger.

To say it was cold was an understatement, it was ruddy freezing! That didn't stop the boys enjoying an ice cream though! I really enjoyed being out and seeing them laughing and being silly.

We ended our day with very impromptu drinks and laughs with our friends, our sons met at school and love spending time together and luckily we live just around the corner from each other. It was definitely a night Steve and I needed, I felt able to talk about what had happened and how I felt without feeling like I shouldn't be, I feel very grateful to have such great friends who allow me to vent :0) It felt great to laugh and 'forget' for a few hours, it really was a lovely night, although Steve is suffering today after one to many falling down waters!

 

What did you get up to this weekend? Time spent with family and friends? Duvet days? Whatever it was I hope you had a blast and have a wonderful week!

Posts will likely be fewer than usual at the moment whilst I'm still not quite 'me', definitely look out for a special post next week though as I share how we will celebrate my mums 1 year post stroke survival anniversary! I believe we have a day in Brighton planned with the family, all 10 of us!

 

For now though take care,

 

Much Love,

xoxo