Before Lottie, I was time rich. I took for granted the small things that made me feel good like getting my nails done without risk of baby smudging, having a nice shower or bath for longer than two minutes and reading a chapter of a book without interruption. The first few months of motherhood were a huge adjustment. Between changing nappies, cleaning the house when Lottie was sleeping, changing more nappies, mowing the lawns when Lottie was sleeping, changing more nappies, cooking meals when Lottie was sleeping, oh and how could I forget, renovating an entire house irrespective of whether ..read more

Cooking using both limbs for more than 10 minutes straight is a thing of the past for me. Unless I am cooking when Lottie is sleeping (which is generally never around a meal time or close to – who invented babies?), I have no hope of cooking an extravagant meal, let alone enjoying cooking like I used to. That’s ok though, I don’t have time to eat a hot meal these days anyway so what would be the point? With my inquisitive little being demanding that she be seated on my left hand hip more often than not, my skills in the kitchen are somewhat limited. Things like buttering toast and peeling p ..read more

Dear Mum, If I could tell you what I am thinking this is what I would say. You don’t like your teeth so you hide them when you smile to people we don’t know. When you smile properly that makes me feel happy because I know that everything is ok. I love your teeth just the way they are. You don’t like that your arms are bigger than they used to be. Your arms are nice and strong so you can carry me each day. I can’t walk and rely on you to help me get to where I need to go. I love your arms just the way they are. You think your boobs are less perky and saggier than they used to be. Your boobs hav ..read more

Flying with a baby. We all have experienced this whether as a mother, or an innocent passenger seated at the window barricaded by an anxious travelling mess who is restraining her little excitable jack in the box on her lap. Contrary to the popular saying, it is absolutely not the journey but rather the destination when it comes to infants in the air. We had a family trip to Australia planned shortly after Lottie was born. We booked the tickets through Air New Zealand because we actually wanted to get there. Once I got over the initial shock of having to pay 10% of our fare for Lottie’s seat ..read more

The Hapu Cleanse is unlike any other cleanse I have used before. It is free, produces amazing results (a healthy baby) and all it takes is two to tango. Let me take you through my journey with this product. Being an avid lover of alcohol, coffee and soft cheeses made the thought of being pregnant an unenjoyable experience. I often wondered if it would be possible to cut these staples out of my life as they featured prominently in my daily routine: Morning: Coffee on the way to work (normally a caramel latte or a dirty chai depending on the mood that morning). Midmorning: Second coffee of the ..read more

4 August 2019 Mr G Gin Gordon’s Gin LONDON Dear Gordon, I have been “brewing” about how you left me fearing following my first proper night out since conceiving Lottie 18 months ago. You do not deserve the courtesy of a face to face serving of my opinion. Probably best too because I have too much to “wine” about for someone even as strong as you to “beer” in person (#pungamestrong). As I’m sure you will agree, we have always had a real love hate relationship. We can be the best of friends and the worst of enemies. When we spend time together, our relationship is the strongest from 5pm to mid ..read more

I have always been one to have a project on the go, whether it be as simple as painting a picture frame, refurbishing furniture and planting a vegetable garden or the soul destroying beast that is the renovation of an entire home from the start of a pregnancy through to having a four month old baby. I get immense satisfaction from making something out of nothing.  Perhaps this is because, without naming names but courtesy of my paternal grandmother, I have always been frugal (the classier version of “tight”) and not one to max the credit card on things that I could make myself.  I admit tha ..read more

Don’t we all know the feeling when you wake up and things are a bit off? Perhaps you are missing a sock, your favourite coffee cup smashes or you can’t remember the password to any of your accounts. And, more often than not, these days do not get any better. In fact, in my experience they get far worse.  18 July 2019 was one of those days in our household. I woke up at 7.00am. Lottie normally sleeps a 12 hour shift (on a good night) from 7.30-8.00pm. I always bank on those 30 mins or so in the morning for some “me time”, whether this is a quick (and somewhat pathetic) 2o minute workout in a ..read more

My standard day these days is a hell of a lot different to what it used to be. In my previous life as a solicitor, I would be up by 6.00am to head to the gym or complete an at home workout. I would normally be at work by 7.30am to use the quiet time in the day before the phones started at 8.30am to either dictate or work through my endless emails.  During the day I would be seeing clients, drafting affidavits, letters and file notes, attending Court, round table meetings and mediations and fielding calls and emails from more often than not distressed and frustrated clients. This was the bi ..read more