Daphney's Christening

Hello Everyone!

I have had such a busy time since we last spoke.
Myself, Mum & John have been planning Daphney's Christening and we don't take planning parties lightly!

The christening was on Saturday 15th July at Tewkesbury Abbey which is near and dear to our hearts as we live in Tewkesbury and me and John got hitched there last February 2016. It was the most beautiful service I have ever been to and I was so happy but shocked at the number of people who attended the actual christening!

I ordered the invatations from Vista print, and we chose a baby pink colour, they looked so pretty (For all the companies I menchion I will try and find a link and pop it below *High 5*) The quality of the invites was high.

We had the after party at Tewkesbury Rugby club which was so easy to get to from the abbey and infact our house!

we had a homemade buffet after the service and my mother-in-kaw Jayne bought salads from the Cook Range in cheltenham which went down a storm (* Side note* if you are a new parent, sign up as you get 10% off your food for the first year your baby is born, and they even do baby/toddler ranges!!*) My mum made a lovely cooked salmon which went perfectly with the salads.

In the evening we also had a hogroast and sweet bar so there was a lot of food!!

As far as entertainment, we had 
Home-made coconut shy
Space hopper races
welly wanging *hehe try saying that with a few on board*
1 disco adult bounce castle
1 children's bounce castle
Disco
Time capsule to open when Daphney is 18!

I will do a separate post with photos and another of my outfit I wore.

What is you're favourite thing about a Christening?

Thank you for reading 
Elyssia x



List of suppliers we used.

Vistaprint invatations - http://www.vistaprint.co.uk/studio.aspx?template=2461311_AM2&ag=True&xnav=HSG_Design_Image&rd=1 

Cook Range - https://www.cookfood.net/

Bouncy Castle -/http://kingscastlehire.co.uk/

Indestructibles - Baby Books review

Hello Loves.

This is a quick review of the indestructibles books made for babies.
I bought mine from the Birmingham NEC Baby Show for Daphney, I believe I paid £10 for 3, the normal RRP is around £3.50 (I will leave the Amazon link below if you want to check them out!)

When I was looking at the books I do have to admit...I was a bit unsure as they sounded unrealistic but I take my hat off to the company…

THESE BOOKS ARE AMAZING!!!

The indestrucibles books are

• Rip proof
• Chew Proof
• 100% machine washable

There is a wide range of the Indestructibles books, which are beautifully designed, with bright colours which babies will love.

I know, I know sounds weird but it made me think...Daphney always tries to chew paper and books I suppose its the noise and texture but these books are so good! They don’t go soggy and gross and even better I no longer have to fish out bits of paper from her mouth! 

*BONUS!*

The books are designed to be used by babies to "read" by using their fingers and mouths (hence why they can be washed and are chew proof). They are printed on nontoxic material which feels like a wax paper...sort of(?)

As they can be washed they are great for teething/gumming, spills and being dropped or dragged across the floor.

I highly rate these books, Daphney loves them and I now always carry one in our changing back, I would give them 5/5, and you can pick one up from Amazon.

Thank you for reading

Elyssia x

Indestructibles books on Amazon -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Indestructibles-Baby-Faces-Kate-Merritt/dp/0761168818

Baby Recipe – Strawberry & Banana Smoothie

🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓

Hey people!

I thought I would share a breakfast recipe which Daphney has been loving, smoothies are a great way for your little one to try different fruits.

This recipe can be adapted to suit your baby’s taste, you can also use frozen fruit to help with teething *High 5*

The recipe makes 1 portion – if using fresh fruit you can freeze these in ice-cube trays!

25g strawberries

25g banana

30ml your babies normal milk

1.       Wash your strawberries well and chop the fruit into small chunks

2.       Add your baby’s milk

3.       Blend in a smoothie maker or a normal blender works just fine

4.       Let your baby enjoy!

*Please note, if you’re using strawberries or raspberries please sieve them first to remove seeds and pips*

What’s your favourite smoothie recipe?

Thank you for reading

Elyssia x
🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓

Avon review

Hello Loves

Being on maternity pay SUCKS! So I thought I would try some Avon products as a cheeper alternitive to my high end products.

My friend Gina sells Avon which is perfect so I didn't have to mooch around trying to find someone who sells it (Just search Love Avon with Gina on Facebook) 

With your first Order though Avon you also get 10% off! Plus they do samples, so I picked up a foundation and lipstick sample to try before I bought it - which I think is a good way to see if you like it before hand.

Avon sells everything from makeup to home goods but I thought I would start off with just a few things so I ordered -

• Mark Prep & Set spray £3 on offer (measuring up to my Urban Decay setting spray) 
• Eyebrow sissors - my eyebrows are like Wolverine so I thought these might be helpful! £2 on offer 
• Lip plumping lipstick £5 on offer (I've always wanted plumper, softer lips and I've read some reviews which says it's really good so thought I would give it a try 
• Strawberry & White Chocolate body spritz £1.50 on offer 

The products take between 7-10 days, I ordered by bits and bobs on Friday 26th so should be here soon.

I'm planning on trying these products for a week or so and giving you an honest review of what I think after so keep an eye out for that post coming soon! 

Have you tried anything from Avon?

Thank you for reading 

Elyssia x

Aldi's Mamia 100% Organic breakfast

Hello Lovely’s

I thought I would do a quick review of the Aldi’s own brand Mamia 100% organic baby food – specifically their Breakfast range.

The range is suitable for babies just starting on the weaning adventure, stage 1 from 6m+ like I said earlier is 100% organic and for only 59p for a 100g pouch is amazing!!

Aldi do a small range of baby food ranging from fruits to spag bowl.

So back to the review…

There is only 3 of the breakfast pouches and I’m happy to say Daphney has loved all of them –

Mango & Peach

Apple & Banana

Apple & Blueberry

All the breakfast pouches contain yogurt and rice with a super smooth consistency, which again is great for weaning.

There is no added sugar (all sugars are naturally occurring), No added water or thickeners, No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

The sugar content is something I have been wary of in baby food and although there is naturally occurring sugar most if not all are under 10g per 100g pouch.

Overall we would say these are a Aldi MUST HAVE and I would rate them 5/5 easily!!!

Have you tried them yet??

Thank you for reading

Elyssia x                                                                      

Birth of my beautiful baby girl

Hello Lovely people

This post is going to be about the birth of my daughter….if you are squeamish don’t look at the photos as there are some of the birth.

So starting from the beginning, my daughter was breech from 21 weeks, we got told we might have to have a C-section if she didn’t turn but the midwife was convinced that the baby would turn,needless to say she didn’t turn by herself so we were booked in for a ECV (External cephalic version) which is where they injected me with something to relax the uterus and try and manually turn the baby from the outside…it was so uncomfortable and failed so we were booked in for a C-section on Friday 11^th November.

We went in for a pre-surgery meeting about a week before my section was booked where I had bloods taken, questions answered and I got re-scanned to see if the baby had moved(she didn’t) they then gave me some tablets to take the night before the surgery and the morning of (I think their like anti-acid tablets) and I got told what I could and couldn't do in regards to eating/drinking and wearing.

The morning of the surgery we had to get to Gloucestershire woman's hospital by 6.45am and we were shown into our private room where a midwife came in and gave us a rough idea of what would happen thought out the day, I also got re-scanned as I got told I wasn’t aloud to have a C-section if the baby had turned but again she hadn’t which by this time I was glad as I had hyped myself up. 
I was so nervous as I have never had any type of surgery before.

We dressed in our surgery clothes and the anaesthetist came in and again explained what will happen and also inserted the canola into my hand, which I think looking back hurt more than anything! I cried - John took photos...It was great fun...

The midwife who came to see us earlier in the morning came to get us, me and John walked to the theatre, it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, id watched so many videos on what happens but I never expected it to look the way it did. Everything was so sterile and shiny, there was a bed in the middle of the room with massive lights above with all these woman looking excited at me.

I hoped onto the bed and the I had to hold my knees close to my chest whilst the anaesthetist gave me the local injection to numb the area, once that was in I had to hold my knees close to my chest for them to put the spinal tap into my back which took around 30 minutes every time they missed the gap in my spine it felt like small electric shocks which just felt a bit weird and uncomfortable. Finally they got it in and I was told to lie down on the bed.

Once that was done they started to put up a sheet so I couldn't see what was going on and I was hocked up to loads of machines and a blood pressure machine. 
The anaesthetist tested how much I could feel with an ice cube and I couldn't feel anything from the collar bone down, we were talking for a while to the anaesthetist who was stood to my right and John on my left.....I was getting a bit impatient and asked how long it would be till they started and to my surprise she said the baby was nearly out!!!
Moments later I we heard a swooshing sound and that was my waters being broken and sucked up, I was told I might feel a slight pulling sensation, I wouldn't have noticed if they hadn't told me!

Seconds later John was told to stand up and take photos as our baby girl was out... that is where things when wrong...

I could hear the nurses and surgeons talking and then all of a sudden "CODE BLUE" was being shouted across the room.I will never forget what happened next...The anaesthetist said "there is nothing to worry about your daughter just isn't breathing" she needed extra help and was placed on the breathing station with the little mask to help her breath. My heart stopped and then the room got very busy, around 7 Drs ran into our room then its all a bit of a blur after that, the same lady who told me she wasn't breathing was talking to me telling me what was happening but I wasn't listening, just praying my little baby would be ok. 

The Drs walked out and everything returned to being calm and our precious little girl was ok and breathing on her own. John walked over and cut the cord and she was placed on my chest whilst they finished the surgery.

The surgery in total lasted around an hour, she was out within 7 minutes and the rest was sewing me back together.

We named our little beauty Daphney Ann Stephens.

Daphney was born at 1.20pm on Friday 11th 2016 weighing 8oz 11lb