Mom on a Budget

Today is a very special day. It's my daughter Emmas first birthday and also the day she died and was revived. I had Emma at a birthing center with a midwife and doula, my water broke the night before at 11pm, we rushed off to the birthing centre and waited it out.  The midwife checked and all was fine, she'd dropped and was in the correct position (to come out head first) but things changed without us actually knowing. Apparently Ems was swimming around in "the biggest placenta" my midwife or doula had ever seen, which was filled with tons of ambionic fluid. Which is great except this meant that over the course of the night she flipped around. All of a sudden I was in active labour and I kept saying it felt as though she was kicking her way out. Everyone just assumed that she was hitting or punching. Anyway as I start to push, I look down (I was sort of standing/squatting) and I see feet coming out of me, not a head.  It was terrifying, she had turned and was coming o...

 Happy Friday Lovlies! This weeks Feature Friday is on mompreneur, Hayley Van Rooyen, who has started her own side hustle: Smashing Piñatas, while also working and raising 2 beautiful daughters! So basically, I'm profiling super women this week..... Hayley actually didn't intend on this becoming a business at all, she simply loved throwing birthday bashes for her daughters and instead of outsourcing, she started making everything from scratch. Its amazing to think that her business was started by making 1 piñata, 4 years ago for her daughter.  Here's her story, Hayley started her business, Smashing piñatas, when she was put on reduced hours at work due to lockdown restrictions last year. And instead of binge watching Netflix and eating too much (like I did) she decided to keep herself busy by creating uniquely designed and crafted piñatas. Which she then started advertising on Facebook.  So how did the idea of making piñatas come about? Well, about 4 years ago Hayleys you...

This isn't my first rodeo, I weaned my son off of his night bottles, in 2 nights! So I think, I've done it once I'll do it again. Easy Peasy lemon squeezy.....WRONG! I wasn't prepared for the battle I was about to endure, I was bringing a SIPPY CUP into a knife fight.  Night 1 I decide I'm going to stay up all night, I've prepared myself for this physically and mentally (ok all I'd really done was drink 18 cups of coffee, that's preparation enough though right?) I think, I'll get tons of writing done for my blog, read a few NON fairytale books and watch some motivational stuff on YouTube.  Then it began.... 9pm: The first wake up or as I now refer to it- the first battle begins. I offer the sippy cup with water in it, you'd swear I was offering poison. Here's how the next 2 and a half HOURS go, Sippy cup offered - refused - she's screaming at me, walk her around get her to pass out, put her into her bed, she wakes up, I offer sippy cup - ...

 Hi mommys, If you can't afford a bump to baby shoot, go and have a look at Pinterest for cute pics to imitate and get dad to take the pics for you. What happened to us was, we actually were in a position to pay a substantial amount of money for a bump to baby shoot in February last year. I'd followed the photographers page for over a year, she was listed as a credible business on the Mommy Facebook groups, ect, so I thought she was legit and so we went for it and did an immediate payment planning to do the shoot in July. Literally the very next day, said photographer (I am not going to name her or her business because I don't want to give her anymore attention than she's already got) was outed by numerous women for either never actually doing the photoshoots or if people were actually "lucky" enough to get theirs done, they'd never get the pictures!  The really sad thing is, she targeted pregnant women, women who'd just given birth and women who neede...

 Hi Lovelies, Its Friday, which means its time for this weeks mompreneur feature! I'm so excited about this weeks one because not only is Jessicas work beautifully and immaculately made but she is also an absolute sweetheart and a dream to do business with.  I first heard about her business on one of the mommy Facebook groups, someone had mentioned a lady that does these name signs with hanging icons, with all of the babys birth details on and I thought WOW that's so unique and special. So I contacted Jess immediately after having my son 2 band a half years ago. She's done these signs for both of my kids over the years. The signs can be done in a mirror finish or any colour of your choice. These beautiful signs complete both of my kids rooms, hanging over there beds and I will keep them forever, they are just so special.   But this isn't all that Mia Bella Creations makes, Jess has expanded her business and does wedding and events decor, personalised gifts, printing on ...

Coconut oil! Uses : - Body moisturizer - Add sugar = luxurious body scrub - Pour straight into bath (time saving tip here too, as you won't need to spend time moisturizing after your bath.) - Great for your hair, leave in over night and wash out the next day. - Can be used for cooking - If your significant other is acting up, throw the tub at him. (This one's a joke, don't do this....) - Helps with stretch marks. Really there's so much that you can do with coconut oil. And the great news is, it's not expensive and a 1 litre container lasts me about a year.

  COLIC!!!!! (What C word were you thinking of? Crayons, cars, crumbs?) I have 2 kids who are 18 months apart, both babies experienced colic. Here's some advice that worked for us, take from it what works for you, all kids are different (as I learnt) what works for one wont necessarily work for another....                                                     1. Swaddling: my son hated it, my daughter loved it. Follow babies lead. 2. Colic meds: Tried it all with my son and eventually found colic calm that worked for him. With my daughter, Bonnison worked for 6 weeks, then out of the blue, stopped working completely. Switched to Buscopan on the advice of a mommy friend and bam! Colic reduced immediately . What works for one may not work for the other. 3. Find a mommy friend who you can go to for help in these moments for advice or even just to vent to. So...