Nursery Tour (Part 3)

The last installment of the Nursery Tour is finally here! Thank you so much for your sweet comments on Part 1 and Part 2! 

So today I'll go through what else is in the closet and how I've organised the chest of drawers (aka the nappy station!).

I decided that I wanted to hang all the onesies and sleeping bags in the closet, using the Ikea Wooden Kids Hangers ($1 ea). Originally I'd sorted them into summer and winter clothes but after washing them recently, I also sorted them by size (just to make things easier).

Under the clothes, I have a few random things... like my giant suitcase (as I have nowhere else to store it!), my bubba moe baby sling (second hand from gumtree), a heater, a laundry basket for bub's dirty clothes (target) and a nappy pail for dirty cloth nappies.

A couple of other things I keep in the top of the closet (for now) are my nappy travel pack, shape sorter and tummy time mat.

That's it for the closet! Now for the chest of drawers...

The top-left drawer has items for bub's bottom half - things like leggings, socks and shoes (although I haven't bought any shoes yet) and the top-right drawer has items for bub's top half - singlets, beanies, mittens etc.



I've organised the middle drawer using more of the Ikea Skubb Boxes ($10 for 6) to store clean nappies (cloth and disposables), cloth inserts, cloth nappy liners, washers, creams and a small moon shaped bucket to hold water (if needed).



and lastly.. the bottom drawer or as I like to call it... the smelly drawer (for dirty nappies)!

So I've got bags for the dirty disposable wipes, liners and nappies (which will be tied up and thrown away after each change), a couple of wet bags for the dirty cloth nappies, poo-pourri diaper odor eliminator spray (to spray the cloth nappies before putting them in the wet bags) and also an organic all purpose cleaner (in case things get really messy!).



I plan to wash the cloth nappies every second day. Once a wet bag is full ill throw it in the nappy pail (in the closet) until it can be washed.

So there you have it!

I can't wait to start using the nursery. I know it will continue to change over the next few months and I'm looking forward to seeing it grow!

I hope you guys enjoyed the Nursery Tour and it provided some ideas/inspiration to those of you who are setting up your own nursery. I'd love to hear what you think!

xx

What's in My Baby's Hospital Bag!

If you saw yesterday's post, you would have seen what I packed in my hospital bag for labour & delivery... and as promised, here's a look at what I've packed for bub.

I'm using this nappy bag that I bought from pink lining which I absolutely LOVE, it has everything I need in a nappy bag (and plenty of room for bub's things) plus I think it's the cutest thing ever. 

The Basics

Toiletry Bag
10x Onesies (5x sz 0000 + 5x sz 000)
Snappi Clips (as the hospital provides cloth nappies)
4x Newborn Disposable Nappies
Big Fluffy Baby Blanket
Security Blanket
5x leggings
5x socks
5x vests/singlets
2x muslin cloths
2x beanies
3x mittens



Toiletries

Baby Grooming Kit
Ayana Organic Baby Butter (sample)
Curash Baby Powder (sample)
Ayana Organic Baby Bottom Cream (sample)
Johnson's baby top-to-toe bath wash (sample)
Sudocream (sample)
Curash Nappy Cream (sample)
Huggies Baby Wipes

I think I may have overpacked slightly haha oh well it's better to be over-prepared than under-prepared I say! Plus it was so much fun packing this little one's bag... it makes me so excited!! I just can't wait for him/her to get here!

xx

What's in My Hospital Bag!

So I thought I would show you guys what I've packed in my hospital bag.. keep in mind that I'll be in hospital for 4 or 5 days (depending on whether I'll have a c-section or not). Also I've packed two bags, one for me and one for bub (I'll do a separate post on what's in bub's bag soon).

The bag I'm using is a workout bag I picked up from Colette ($45) which has double handles and a shoulder strap. It actually holds more than I thought it would, the only thing that may not fit is my fluffy dressing gown (but I'll most likely be wearing that anyway). So here is what I've packed...

In My Hospital Bag

Slippers
Dressing Gown
Pyjama Pants
Black Nightie (for labour)
8x Old and Unloved Undies
Swimmers (in case I want to use the birthing suite bath)
5x Socks
3x Nursing Bras
Long Cardigan
Black Baggy Sweat Pants
Loose Aztec Print Pants
SRC Recovery Shorts
2x Bonds Nursing Singlets (Black + Purple Stripe)
5x Loose T-shirts
Towel
Face Washer
Laundry Bag
Eye Mask
Palmers Stretch Mark Lotion
Toiletry Bag
Batiste Dry Shampoo
Spray Deodorant
2x Packs of Maternity Pads
Prenatal Vitamins
Vitamin D Supplement
Pack of Nursing Pads
FemFresh Wipes
Avene Spring Water Facial Spray (for labour)
Handheld Fan (for labour)
Heatpack (for labour)

In My Toiletry Bag

Lush I Love Juicy Shampoo
Lush Veganese Conditioner
Tangle Teezer Brush
Lucas Pawpaw Ointment
Contacts
Foot and Hand Cream (samples)
Venus Razor
Miss Dior Perfume (sample)
Clinique Overnight Turnaround Serum (sample)
Strawberry Chapstick
Toothbrush + Toothpaste (travel size)
Bobbypins + Hair Elastics
Tissues
Mitchum Roll-on Deodorant
Akin Rosehip Oil (samples)
Meditree Cleanser (sample)
Endota Spa Cleanser (travel size)
Happy Rosewater Toner (sample)
Care You Love Face Moisturiser
WotNot Facial Wipes



And For Makeup...

Covergirl LashBlast Mascara
Revlon Lash Potion Mascara
Real Techniques Stippling Brush
Makeup Geek Blush Brush
Bare Minerals Matte Foundation
Maybelline Age Rewind Eye Concealer
Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer
Maybelline BB Cream
Benefit High Beam (sample)
3x Maybelline Colour Tattoo Eyeshadows (Bronze, Taupe & Creme)
Nars Deep Throat Blush
2x Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stains (Honey & Sweetheart)
Maybelline Baby Lips (Berry Crush)



I'll also pack my phone, camera, laptop (which will go in Rob's bag) and a some coconut water (for hydration & energy).

I hope this post was helpful/interesting for you guys! Let me know if you have any tips or advice on what else I should pack in my hospital bag :)

xx

OOTD: Workin' Bump

Mu. Mu. Maternity Top, Cotton On Black Singlet, Target Maternity Pants,
Pop Basic Necklace, Trenery Flats

Only 2 more weeks left of work - Woohoo! I cannot wait to be outta there and on maternity leave! It's not really a holiday though, I'll just be switching to a new job... as mummy! 

This is a typical maternity work outfit for me, comfort definitely comes first (so no high heels!). I tend to wear these black pants a lot so that I can wear my SRC maternity compression shorts underneath. They help with posture, back pain and pelvic pain. I picked them up on ebay for less than half the retail price and would recommend them to other pregnant ladies out there. I can definitely tell the difference when I stop wearing them for a few days (hello back pain!). 

I also got the recovery shorts to wear after birth. They claim to help you regain your pre-baby body shape faster and increase mobility and pelvic muscle function. I'll have to let you know if they work! I tried them on the other day and oh my god they are TIGHT! haha hopefully I'll be able to squeeze into them after bub arrives.

So glad this week is a short one as every work day seems to be getting longer and harder. Oh well not long to go now.

I hope you've all got amazing plans for this Anzac long weekend!

xx

Nursery Tour (Part 2)

Okay.. onto Part 2 of the Nursery Tour! If you haven't checked out Part 1 you can do so here. Now I know I said I would break the nursery tour into two parts.. but now it looks like it might have to be three (there's just so much to go through!)

As I mentioned earlier, this post (and the next) will focus on the storage and organisational aspect of the nursery. So let's start with the closet storage boxes...

 To make things as easy as possible, we organised the closet using Ikea Skubb Boxes (3pk for $30) and labelled each box accordingly (inspired by Allison at Utterly Organised). 

On the bottom-right shelf, we have nappies and 'bits & bobs'. As you can see we have a combination of both cloth and disposable nappies. We plan to use cloth at home and disposables when we're out... but we'll see how we go! In the 'bits & bobs' box we've got aromatherapy oils for the humidifier, dummies + dummy chain and a health care kit for babies from Kmart ($18) which includes a thermometer, medicine spoon, nasal aspirator & nail clippers.

On the middle-right shelf, we have 'toys & teds' and bath time. Toys and teds is pretty self explanatory; we've got all bub's toys in there including rattles and pram accessories. The bath time box holds all bub's bathing needs including shampoo, conditioner, lotions, creams, washers and cotton buds. We also got a bath thermometer from Kmart (which isn't a necessity but for only $8 we thought why not!).



On the top-right shelf, we have 'feeding' and bibs. The 'feeding' box has things I'll need right away like breast pads (I'm hoping I can breastfeed - fingers crossed!) and things I can use later on when bub moves onto solids. Most of this was given to us as gifts - although we did pick up the Ikea rainbow tableware for $6. At the moment we've only got 4 bibs, but I'm sure we'll have a lot more down the track.



On the top 2 shelves, we've got Hooded Towels, Blankets, Cot Sheets & Clothes that don't yet fit (size 1+). The clothes are just stored in a clear container from Big-W.

I hope you guys have found this somewhat helpful. I know that when I first started thinking about the nursery, I had no idea where to start and what I needed to get. I certainly didn't pull all this together overnight and the majority of these boxes remained empty until recently. 

If you're still interested and I haven't bored you to death already, keep an eye out for Part 3 of the Nursery Tour which I promise will be the last installment, where i'll go over what else is in the closet and how I've organised the chest of drawers.

xx

Surprise Backyard Wedding!

Wow what a massive day yesterday turned out to be! My brother and his fiance had decided about 5 months ago that they were going to elope in Fiji.. and although we would have loved to have been there, we were supportive of their decision. 

 So we all got together yesterday to wish them well before their departure to Fiji. What we didn't know and soon found out is that they had no intention of eloping and had been planning a surprise backyard wedding the whole time. The result was a flawless, emotional and magical day.

My brother announcing the surprise and everyone's reaction!

The beautiful bride and my brother's face when he first saw her.

It was the most beautiful ceremony, their vows to each other were so heart-felt and personal. It couldn't have been more perfect and I'm so happy that we were there to share it with them. 

Here are a few more happy snaps from the day...

We had such a great time and are so happy for those two lovebirds.

xx

Our 2 Year Wedding Anniversary!

2 years ago, I was lucky enough to marry the love of my life.. 8 years together and he still gives me butterflies and makes me laugh like no-one else.

At our wedding, we asked guests (immediate family & partners) to bring letters addressed to us instead of gifts. These letters (including ones Rob and I had written to each other) were placed in a box during the ceremony and the celebrant explained that we would open one letter every anniversary. I'm really glad we did this, as it adds another exciting element to our anniversary each year. 

We also included in the box, memorabilia from the wedding day (photos, music, small gifts) and a bottle of red wine to open on our 10 year wedding anniversary.

This year, Rob surprised me by delivering a bunch of beautiful red roses to my work (he's so sweet). We then went out to dinner at Flint in the Vines and opened one of our letters.



It turned out to be a letter from my mum's partner, Ian, who had written us a really beautiful and thoughtful letter. It was so lovely to read. Dinner itself was amazing too. I had the lamb backstrap and Rob had the braised honey pork loin.



After dinner, we came home and watched a little clip I made with pictures and video from our first 2 years of marriage (with sappy love music of course!). It's kind of a tradition I've started. It makes me feel so loved-up watching it, especially the part where we read our vows to each other - makes me teary every time!

Our world is going to change between now and our next anniversary. It won't just be us two anymore.. we'll be a family and I can't wait!

xx

Nursery Tour (Part 1)

I've decided to break-up this post up into two parts, as there's a lot to go through! I should also mention now that I am one of those annoyingly organised people (you'll see what I mean in part 2).

So before this room was a nursery, it was our spare room. To see pics of what it used to look like click here. We decided not to re-paint the room, as we still liked yellow for bub. Using yellow as one of the main colours, I decided that the colour scheme would be yellow, white, grey and turquoise. Turquoise is slightly more boyish, but I still think it can work for a girl. As for a theme.. I picked up a classic winnie the pooh book set at the markets in my first trimester and decided then and there that I wanted a classic winnie the pooh theme. I didn't want it to be over the top, just a few hints of it here and there.

Now that the colour scheme and theme were sorted, it was time for us to get the big ticket items (cot, mattress, chair, lamp etc). We wanted to build the nursery on a budget, so where better to go than Ikea! We don't have an Ikea in Canberra (yet!) so Rob and I made the trip out to Sydney and after 4 hours of shopping we successfully left with...

The Poang Chair ($249) which was one of the most expensive items we got but well worth it in my opinion, it is sooo comfy and I figure if I'm going to be feeding every 2 hours... I need a good chair! I also wanted to get a stool that was small enough to fit next to the chair so I picked up the Frosta Stool ($15) and we also got a floor lamp (Januari Base $40 + Umfors Shade $25).

The Gulliver Cot ($199) was another purchase from Ikea, as was the Vyssa Skont mattress ($89). Attached is a Tomy Winnie the Pooh Lightshow Mobile which we couldn't resist getting on Ebay ($34). It's the cutest thing when lit up and will come in handy over the next few years.

Given our nursery is quite small, we wanted to get an all-in-one change table/chest of drawers.  That way, down the track we can remove the change top and use it as a regular chest of drawers. I fell in love with this one from Ebay ($279) because of the open shelves. I also splurged on Etsy, buying a Chevron Nappy Caddy ($52) so we'd have all the essential at our fingertips (nappies, wipes, powder etc) and a Classic Winnie the Pooh Wall Sticker ($37) to add some character to the room. 

We also got a few other bits and bobs like this Cool Mist Humidifier from Ebay ($45) which doubles as a night-light. This sits next to the cot (behind the chair). I've been using aromatherapy oils (such as lavender, chamomile and orange) in it to make the room smell nice. This will come in handy at bedtime and after nappy changes. We also got a few baby monitors which we haven't yet set up. The first is the Babysense II Respiratory Monitor (which sounds an alarm if baby stops breathing) and the other is a standard Tomy Walkabout Baby Monitor (purchased used, both for $55 on Gumtree).

Once bub's born and we know the gender, we'll be adding more personalised pieces to the room. I can't wait for that! For now though, I'm pretty happy with how it's come together.

Keep an eye out for Part 2 of the Nursery Tour, which will focus more on storage (aka what's in the closet and drawers!).

xx

High Tea & OOTD

Yesterday, I went for high tea with the girls to celebrate my friend Alejandra's 30th. It was such a beautiful sunny day and the food was amazing.

Alejandra also announced at high tea that she was pregnant!! I'm over the moon for her and so excited that I'll have someone to hang out with during maternity leave. I'm a people person and if left on my own for too long I go crazy haha. So having friends that I can make plans with during the week is fantastic.. we'll have our own little mother's group!

This is what I wore to high-tea...

Boohoo Rachel Tie Back Border Print Butterfly Maxi Dress, Cardigan from eBay, Ipanema thongs

I absolutely love this dress, it's so comfy and feminine. I actually wore this to my baby shower (and got a tonne of comments on it). I love that it's not a maternity dress either so I'll be able to wear it later on. It was super cheap too, only $35 - bargain!

xx

April Native Box

If you haven't heard of the Native Box, it's basically a monthly subscription ($25/mth) to eco-conscious, healthy and safe products. I signed up a few months ago when I was feeling enthusiastic about using more natural beauty/cleaning products and eating organically (I must have been reading women's health magazine or something!). So far I've been really happy with the boxes I've received, especially with the beauty products (some of which I've already purchased full size).

So in this month's Native Box, I received:

Piranha Lime & Sea Salt Chicca Chips 

Norbu Natural Sweetener

Buderim Naked Ginger

Pure Food Essentials 

Organic Turmeric Powder

Sol Breads Spelt Hot X Bun

Wotnot Facial Wipes for Oily/Sensitive Skin

La Mav Antioxidant Rich Nightly Repair Nectar

& Probiotic Solutions Bathroom Bliss

Overall I'm happy with the April Native Box and am looking forward to eating/using these products... she says as she munches down on the Lime & Sea Salt Chicca Chips (yummo!)

xx

I'm Back!!!

I never thought I'd be writing another blog post again in my life.. but here I am!

Blogging is something I used to love doing and was a huge part of my life, I used to write about whatever made me happy whether it was fashion, beauty, food, lifestyle etc. Over time though I began to compare my blog to others and started to feel insecure about the quality of my blog posts. I felt like my posts were never personal enough or the photos weren't good enough.. so blogging became less fun and more like a chore to maintain.

I've really missed the fun side of blogging and that passion I used to have for it when I first started. So this time, I'm blogging for me. That means the quality may not be perfect and each post may not interest you.. and that's okay. I want this to be a fun and light-hearted blog, one that you can look forward to reading at the end of the day, snuggled up on the couch with a cup of tea.

I want to share a piece of my world with you including my routines, outfits, favourites, food, travel and most importantly my journey into parenthood (which is only 6 weeks away!).  Before I jump into the present though, I want to share with you what I've been up to for the last year..

I watched my beautiful sister get married in Fiji

I celebrated my first wedding anniversary



Rob and I volunteered at the pound every fortnight 



We celebrated Rob's 30th (I gave him 30 presents for 30)







My sister and I found out we were both pregnant and due 2 days apart! 
(what are the chances!?)



My brother got engaged to the love of his life (and they're eloping this month)




Rob and I went on our Babymoon...



...and had an amazing joint Baby-Q (a co-ed baby shower) with my sister and her hubby












What an massive year it has been and it's only going to get bigger from here as I become a mum and an aunty for the first time!

I can't wait to share the good, the bad and the ugly with you.. so get ready!

xx