My Year in Review

Now you might be thinking, "hold up, it's a bit late to review 2015, it's almost March!" Well yes you're right, except I'm not exactly going to review 2015 for me. I want to review the last 12 months as Leo will be turning the big 1 year old on the 17th of March! So I want to look back and reflect on how this last year has been now that I have a baby!

Technically my life changed when I found out I was pregnant but that was more of an emotional change. It didn't seem real til I had my first scan at 12 weeks. Up until then I was convinced there was nothing inside of me! Anyway it wasn't really til I started to grow bigger and get tired more easy that things started changing. I had to stop working full time and slowly take my hours down as I got closer since my job at the bakery requires some physical work and being on my feet the whole time.

Fast forward to my due date the 14th of March and I didn't know how to feel I was nervous and scared but also so excited but mostly I just wanted the damn baby out of me! I couldn't get comfortable anywhere the couch, bed, car, you name it. I couldn't see my swollen feet and even though it was the start of Autumn I was still so hot ALL THE TIME! 

Due date 14/03/2015

Finally on the morning of the 17th my waters broke and it was full on from there. I won't go into much detail as I don't want to gross people out but it was definitely an experience I won't forget. I am so scared of needles so I refused to get an epidural and I just kept telling myself that even though I'm such a wuss when it comes to pain, millions of woman have done this and survived, how hard can it be? I got through it though with Clyde by my side and it was manageable. Don't get me wrong contractions are the devil especially to someone who has never had period cramps (imagine a mixture of cramp, needing to go to the toilet and someone twisting your insides)! He finally arrived into this world naturally at 2.55pm that same day!

He was here now in my arms my little Leo, but I was so much more scared now than I had been the entire 9 months. Out in the big wide world not safely inside me anymore. Was I holding him right? Was he hungry? Was he in pain? I couldn't sleep the first couple of nights as I had to make sure he was breathing 24/7. Worrying about every little thing! Unfortunately he wouldn't feed properly and I got an infection so we had to stay in hospital for 6 days and it sucked big time! I wanted to go home so bad that I almost discharged myself against doctors orders because I felt fine and was sick of being in the hospital.

A few hours after he was born 17/03/2015

When we got home I could finally relax and it was so nice to have my little family all together finally, but my boyfriend had to go back to work so the first few months I pretty much just stayed home where it was warm and safe, doing the same thing over and over again every day. It was good to be able to spend so much time with my new born and catch up on TV shows, being the middle of winter I didn't want to venture out in the cold at all.

In the blink of an eye he was 4 months old! Time went by so fast, he was growing so big and becoming more alert to things around him. Over the next couple months he started on solid food, learnt to roll over and sit up and play with his toys. I got asked if I wanted to come back to work but i just wasn't ready at all. I loved spending my time with my boy and could not even bare to think about someone else looking after him instead of me. I ended up helping out a couple of times to trial or train new people instead, just a couple of hours each time and it was so good to have some adult interaction. I always had such a sore throat after being at work from talking so much!

5 months old

The next thing I know he can crawl, boy was he fast! The house had to start being child proofed as I hadn't bothered to do so because we were planning on moving house but couldn't find the right one for us. Christmas was soon upon us and I made the decision to go back and help out at work 2 days a week so my boyfriend/Leo's dad looked after him at home on his days off while I went off to make some money. It was quite hard to do as I was still breastfeeding him, so I would rush home to see him every time as I was so full of milk I felt like I was going to burst! 

The week before Christmas he finally got his first tooth, make that 4 first teeth! and Christmas day he used a push walker for the first time like a pro. He got so spoilt by friends and family we were very lucky. Then it was New Years and I made the decision to go back to work part time so I could make some money and get out of the house and I love it, I still miss my baby like crazy on those days and I do need to get up at 4am to get ready for work but it is great!

11 months old

Now that his birthday is getting so close I have been madly planning his party. Usually the 1st birthday is more for the parents as a congratulations for surviving a year but I really wanted to put together a birthday bash for him and I will be putting up a post next week about his birthday and party planning! 

I can not believe that it has been an entire year that I have had my precious little boy in my life. I completely understand how women want more children and can go through the labour experience over and over again as the reward is truly the most amazing thing ever. I have never really been very emotional or emphatic towards people i know, like I'm not very close with my family but yet in a movie/show/book I will always get teary eyed so easily and feel the pain of these fictional people! When I met Leo for the first time and ever since I now have this immense love to give to him and it is so amazing! I don't know where it has been hiding but I would do anything for him. It actually hurts thinking about how much I love him! As much as I want a little girl in the near future I don't know how I can possibly love anyone as much as I love him.

I cannot wait to see what the rest of 2016 has install for us and all the new things Leo will learn and achieve. He can already walk several steps but he prefers crawling and I'm 100% ok with that. He is also finally get teeth number 5 & 6 too so that has been fun!.

If you have made it this far reading, congratulations and thank you! I know it definately isn't the usual average post content and probably wasn't interesting at all for anyone but me. I just wanted to record a summarised account of the last year for me to look back on whenever I feel.

I hope you are having a fantastic week so far, if anyone is a mum or if you're interested in being friends comment below with your blog so I can check it out :)

Cynta x

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Favourites

I had originally wanted to do a February Favourites post but I didn't really have any particular things I liked just in February as it is usually always the same things for me for instance CHOCOLATE! Now for those that don't know me I am probably the biggest chocolate fiend in existence! So I thought why not make a favourites post just for chocolate just to be a bit different! I hope you enjoy :)

#1 M&M Mini Eggs: These are my absolute favourite chocolate and are only available around Easter time. They're solid milk chocolate with mini m&ms inside and they are divine. I could eat these for breakfast, lunch & dinner.

#2 Cadbury Mini Eggs: These are another limited Easter chocolate edition. Solid milk chocolate with a thick candy coating on the outside. I only got into these last Easter & they are pretty darn good & you don't need to worry about having to unwrap the foil like the other ones which can be a downside as you can eat them so much faster! Weird thing is at my local supermarket they only had the small boxes which was rather annoying as they're demolished in a blink of an eye! So I found a bag of them when I was shopping at Kmart and they were revolting! I was so disappointed especially to find the gross ones were made in New Zealand!!!!! Were as the yummy ones were made in Poland! Looks like I'll be sticking to the little boxes from now on!

#3 Cadbury Energy Chocolate: Now I go through phases of binge eating and buying a certain block before I get sick of it & move onto the next flavour. I'm currently loving this one so so sooo much. Its only 40% cocoa so its not too dark and its lovely and creamy like Dairy Milk. It has been quite annoying being Summer here as the block is always warm and borderline melting but I refuse to put it in the fridge as I can't stand refrigerated chocolate.

#4 Chocolate Chip Cookies: Normally I bake double/triple choc cookies but this time round I wanted a bit less chocolate since I'm eating so much other kinds with Easter. I have only made this particular recipe once before to make a 'Gingerbread House' with and it turned out great and the little off cuts I had left over were delicious! So I baked these up & they were gone within two days as my boyfriend took a bunch to work with him! Might need to get my bake on and whip up another batch!

Anyway, that is it for my favourites. Maybe I will do Favourites posts for certain things or a Top 5 if you will, every month to mix it up a bit. 

Hope you enjoyed reading, comment below and tell me your favourite chocolate at the moment!

Cynta x

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