A year later, and we’re back with the monthly edit. I’ve been rather quiet on the blog lately, and there’s a reason. Life has been “life-ing” really hard and a lot has happened. We got pregnant late last year, moved houses and furnished our new place from scratch. We also got married and of course welcomed our baby boy this summer. In between all this I also got a promotion at work, which is always exciting and rewarding. Right now tough I am on maternity leave and will be for quite some time. So I thought I would keep up with the blog during this time, to keep my creative juices flowing.
The whole year – but especially the summer – has been super busy. I was in my third trimester during summer and although I had an overall great pregnancy, you can’t escape some fatigue and discomfort here and there. Add to it all that we wanted to get done before the baby arrived and it was a perfect mix for getting constantly tired and overwhelmed. But we managed it all and now since baby boy’s arrival, we’ve been enjoying the newborn bubble, and it’s been the best. We’ve been blessed with a wonderful time so far and since we are both on parental leave for the first two months, we’ve been a dream team. I’m enjoying early motherhood to the max and I’m so excited for everything that lies ahead.
Summer recap
We started off summer by moving houses and it feels like it took forever to get things in order. Aside from moving our things, we also had to furnish from scratch while sticking to our budget and doing the handover of our old flat. In fact, we still have a bunch of things that we want to do for our new place. At this point however we are taking it very slowly. We managed to squeeze in all the big things before the baby arrived and just some finishing touches are missing now.
Aside from that, we also eloped this summer and got married in Denmark, on the beautiful island of Aero. It ended up being a mini vacation since we stayed for a few days and we had the best time. I did not ever think I’d elope while 9 months pregnant, but it’s the way it happened and it was absolutely perfect. Looking back, I wouldn’t change a single thing. It was a wonderful pre-baby getaway and I am so looking forward to return to the island for future anniversaries.
With the move, the pregnancy and the marriage, there was also a lot of paperwork involved. And this also sucked a tonne of our energy this summer. And it still is since we also have to sort the baby paperwork now. I guess that means we’re officially #adulting now so can’t do much about it at this stage anymore, but I am looking forward to finish everything.
Things I’m looking forward to
While I am enjoying this early motherhood stage a lot – which involves a lot of newborn snuggles, being trapped on the sofa breastfeeding or napping, waking up and not knowing what day is nor caring to know, taking walks and just enjoying the (not always) quiet newborn bubble in three – there are also a few things I am looking forward to doing soon.
Working out. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but although I stayed fairly active throughout pregnancy and continued with a pretty consistent weight training schedule, post birth all my muscle mass melted. And that almost from one day to another. So I can’t wait to be able to start exercising again and slowly return to some weight training. And I have to say it’s purely for health reasons. Sitting all day (and night) long in mostly non-ergonomic positions is taking a toll on my posture and my back. On top of that I also need to slowly rebuild some of my core strength to just be able to survive daily life.
Travelling with the little one as soon as we can is also high on my experiences wishlist. I am so happy we squeezed in a baby moon to Gran Canaria right before the third trimester started, and now I am looking for a bit of a city break in three this time. I am not sure where we will travel first but would love to do Paris or London at some point since they’re both among our favourite cities to visit.
Mastering the perfect easy cake. I love a good sweet treat, and currently I am playing around with baking when I can squeeze it in. I am starting with this vanilla sponge cake recipe that I tried out this week, and I can’t believe it’s so easy to make and so delicious. My ambition is to turn it into the perfect, easy to make Victoria sponge cake so cross your fingers for me and my sweet tooth.
Work thoughts
I am enjoying motherhood and maternity leave to the max so far. All that to say that I am not missing work at all at this stage. I am however excited to navigate life, motherhood and career once I will be back at work. While I am not in a rush to think about work too soon, I already shared some of my thoughts regarding going on maternity leave in this post. So if you’re curious, do give it a read and let me know if any of it resonates with you.
What I bought: pregnancy favorites
My whole philosophy throughout the pregnancy has been to only buy the absolute necessary in terms of clothing and avoid pregnancy clothes at any cost. And I’m proud to say I managed quite well. Luckily, I could rely on some of my wardrobe staples for the most part, and only got what was necessary or I could wear afterwards too.
Clothes. The one thing I got and would recommend is a pair of maternity leggings for the 2nd/3rd trimester. I got two pairs, one short and one long and I wore them a lot. For working out, lounging around or going for walks and hikes. I’m proud to say it’s the only item of pregnancy clothing I got and I think it’s worth it. Other than that I only got a few things that I can wear after as well such as a couple of linen trousers, oversized shirts and summer dresses.
Shoes. I only got the Birkenstock Boston Clogs in a bigger size to see me through the end of the pregnancy, and I’d almost dare say they are a must buy. Always stylish, easy to slip in and out of, comfy and they can grow with you until the end. They’ve definitely been my favorite and most worn purchase this year.
Skincare. Throughout the pregnancy I tried to heavily reduce the amount of products I use and substitute them with cleaner formulations that are pregnancy friendly. The products I relied on have been the Byoma moisturising cream and the Biossance Plump & Hydrate Set for skincare. I loved both for a gentle and clean skincare routine. For the body and especially the belly I used the Biossance Squalane Oil and the Caffeine Toning Body Cream. Although I found them pricey I absolutely loved and would recommend them.
Haircare. For the hair, I also switched from Ouai to BrioGeo, which I had wanted to try out for a while and I’ve been very happy with the brand. I got the Charcoal Scalp Revival Shampoo, the Don’t Despair Repair deep conditioning mask, and the same line’s Super Moisture Shampoo.
What I’m reading & watching
Honestly, reading has been a challenge this year. I was never quite in the mood for it. I suspect it was somehow related to the pregnancy, but I barely managed to squeeze in a few books this year. Whenever I picked up my Kindle I could never quite focus on reading. Of course, I read a lot of pregnancy, birth prep and baby care related books/resources. Most probably that also filled my head enough not to leave room for anything else.
First of all, I’d like to spare you the trouble of reading “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue“. I tried reading it at the start of the year and I do not recommend it at all. I made it through 60% of the book and it was pure torture to do so. It revolves around a very boring character that lacks any development nor anything that would move the plot forward. I rcently finished reading “Olga dies dreaming” which I really liked and would recommend. Now I started “Confessions of a forty-somethin f**k up” which I expect to be a light, funny read.
Since I spend a lot of time on the sofa either breastfeeding or being nap trapped, I have been watching a bunch of shows. “Envious” is an Argentinian show on Netflix that I totally recommend; it’s really funny and heartwarming for the most part. We also caught up with the latest season of “Clarkson’s Farm”, which is a favourite in our house and would 100% recommend. Now we finally started “Downton Abbey” since we had it on our list for a long time and this seemed like the perfect time.
Thank you for reading and stay tuned for the next instalment!
