Mamatography: Week 11

12/3 Big Sis and Little Bro!

13/3 Playing together

14/3 First bath - loving it!

15/3 Eden coming home from preschool with the robot she'd made - I was so proud!

17/3 So satisfying having cloth nappies on the line drying!

18/3 Mother's Day with my 2 babies

18/3 A little bit in love with my new sling!

That's all for this week. Mamatography is hosted by Diary of a First Child. Check out other Mamatography blog posts here

Toddler Craft: Exploring Textures

We did a quick craft this morning - I wanted to explore textures, Eden wanted to make a flower - this was the result! 

I keep a big box full of all sorts of materials and boxes for craft activities, so the first thing we did was have a rummage through to pick out different textures to use in our collage. Eden picked out some blue card, and I drew a big flower shape on. She then stuck on the scraps of different textures and I introduced some new words to her to describe them.

 The finished 'masterpiece'!

Mamatography: Week 10

I've got a bit behind with my Mamatography project - it's been a busy few weeks in the run up to, and giving birth... However, I want to catch up, so this will be quite a long picture post, bear with me...

13/2 My 37 week bump!

18/2 Eden helps clean the car!

19/2 The result of a walk to church this morning - Eden rarely naps anywhere but in her bed, let alone at 10:30am in the morning!

21/2 Pancake day!

23/2 10 minutes before this picture, I'd tidied all her kitchen toys away - didn't last long!!

24/2 A trip to the zoo with the grandparents - watching the birds of prey display

24/2 Eden's Great Grandparents came to visit, and Eden decorated this photo frame all by herself to give to Great Grandma

27/2 Slightly missing the point of a trip to the library!

1/3 Some of the bluebells beginning to come up in the corner of our garden: spring's on it's way

4/3 So proud of Eden who for the first time walked to the top of our local hills all by herself!

5/3 Happy due day to me!

6/3 Asher Benjamin is born at home in the early hours. Here's his first look at Mummy 

7/3 Where's the baby gone? (Unintentional matching sleepsuit and change mat!)

8/3 'Good morning' from my gorgeous girl and beautiful boy

9/3 Seed planting with Daddy

10/3 Last week we made Eden her own little garden, today she was doing some watering

10/3 Cuddles with Mummy

11/3 We're a fan of cloth nappies but not nappy changes at the moment!

Phew - sorry for the long post! Well done if you made it to the end!

Check out more Mamatography posts this week here

How driving safely can reduce your car insurance

How to reduce risk when driving, thereby minimising chances of collisions, insurance claims & points, and keeping your insurance costs down: A guest post by Sainsbury's Finance

  Reduce your car insurance premium by driving safely

Driving safely saves you money. Not only will it reduce the chances of being involved in a collision – potentially saving the no claim discount on your car insurance and keeping your premium down – it could also reduce the wear and tear on your car. 

Novice drivers

New drivers in particular can benefit from building up a no claim discount, as they generally pay the highest prices for their premiums. Completing a further training scheme like Pass Plus can boost their skill levels and might also bring down the cost of their car insurance policy.

Speed kills

RoSPA research suggests that inappropriate speed accounts for a quarter of all fatal road traffic collisions. By going easy on the accelerator, you reduce the chances of being involved in an accident. And remember that your safety record feeds into the calculations of risk that determine your insurance premium. 

Driving slower is also more fuel efficient, saving you money at the pump, too.

Remember that the speed limit is not a target. Always drive at a speed appropriate for the conditions and slow down if you need to.

Distractions

Anything that distracts you from the road ahead can cause an accident. Don’t eat and drink behind the wheel, and remember that using a handheld mobile phone while driving is both dangerous and illegal. 

There are more subtle distractions to be aware of, too. For young drivers, too many passengers can be a big distraction. Similarly for adults, the demands of small children can be an issue, particularly if driving without another adult or older child to look after little ones. 

If you are unsure where you are going, make sure that you stop in a safe place before attempting to read the map. Better still, a sat nav can take the stress out of driving in unfamiliar areas – but don’t fiddle with it while at the wheel. 

Servicing

Do make sure that you keep your car well maintained. As soon as you become aware of a fault, get it fixed. Regular servicing helps to pinpoint problem areas before they affect the safety and performance of the vehicle. Early repairs can help to prevent bigger bills later. A safer vehicle is less likely to be involved in an accident – keeping you and your car in one piece and saving on your insurance premium.

Mileage

Only drive when necessary. Some insurers offer special deals for low annual mileages. Walking for short journeys can save you money and is a healthy option, too.

Stay safe

Keeping everyone on the road as safe as possible is the best motivation for showing caution behind the wheel – but if it also cuts the cost of car insurance, then so much the better!

Asher Benjamin is born!

Very happy to be writing about the arrival of our baby boy, Asher Benjamin. He was born at home at 2:14am on Tuesday 6/3/12, weighing a healthy 9lb!

My due date was Monday 5/3/12, and after a walk I spent the evening bouncing on the birth ball, with a few strong tightenings, not particularly painful though. I went to bed at 10pm, and half an hour later the tightenings were getting stronger so I thought it was best for Luke to maybe inflate the birthpool just in case. I got up too and had a little walk around the house, trying to stay active. The tightenings pretty much dwindled away, so we headed back to bed at 11:30pm. I was dozing, and an hour later at 12:30am I had my first contraction - a *really* strong painful contraction and said to Luke if I had another one I'd have to get up. A few minutes later it happened again, and I knew I was in labour.

We rang the on call midwife, who arrived about 1:15am. Luke was busy filling the birth pool and I was leaning over the kitchen counter, focussing on my breathing. It was all very intense and happening quickly. The midwife took one look at me, and rang for the second midwife, before even examining me. At 1:30am I was 6cm, and got into the birthpool. With my first birth, the water had provided amazing pain relief - I found this time it just about took the edge of the pain, but didn't give me the same relief as last time.

A few minutes after getting into the pool I was already feeling the urge to push. As my waters hadn't gone yet, the midwife said this would be the feeling of extra pressure. I was worried it was too soon, having a few minutes before been at 6cm, but the midwife said to just go with what my body was telling me. I tried to not push for as long as possible, but started pushing just after 2am when I couldn't hold back any longer, the second midwife arrived around this time too, and my waters finally broke. I was so grateful to my midwife who helped me through the crowning stage as I was worried about tearing - she did a fab job guiding me.

Asher Benjamin arrived at 2:14am - 1 and 3/4 hours after my first painful contraction. I was so relieved it was over - it was a much more full-on experience than with my first! We had lovely cuddles in the birthpool, followed by his first feed on the sofa, and were tucked in bed as the midwives were leaving. So pleased to have had another successful homebirth!

First look at Mummy!

A few hours old

Asher is very different to his big sister. He's 3 days old now. He's latching on really well, settling in his Moses basket, taking a dummy - all the opposite to the early days with Eden! He's seems on the whole to be very chilled out, and has white blond hair - just like all the male babies have had on his Daddy's side.  

Eden is being a great big sister, she keeps checking on Asher, likes to show him her toys, and is keen to help out with nappy changes!