May LOVE BOMBs The BIGGEST Ever!

Ahh Sisters, you well and truly made this one happen! Two weeks ago we sent out 31 Love Bombs, our biggest mission ever! Most of what went in them had already been donated, some we asked for specific donations (like grocery vouchers), other items were sent in at the last minute to be included.

Instead of writing out a description of each recipient and the contents of each love bomb (my 37week preggo brain just can't do that right now), I hope you'll scroll through the photos here and take a moment for your heart to swell with joy.

Trust me when I say that each woman (and one man!) deserved every part of what we could send. For some it filled a physical need (like the groceries), others an emotional need (us saying, "you are worth it, look after yourself"), and others more of a spiritual "you're not alone" need. Others were sent because we just wanted to celebrate the woman who is doing such an impeccable job and whatever it is she's doing!

Each love bomb was tailored to the description of the person and each came with a set of "I think she might appreciate..." ideas. We used those to create the best parcel we could. Some were jam packed, others were simple. It all depended on the person and circumstances.

31 LOVE BOMBs in total (only 27 shown here)

30 women, 1 man (single father of 3 young girls)

All donated by members of The Sisterhood or by local small businesses

Sent free of charge by Post Haste Couriers

Made up by 8 women in my lounge on a Saturday night

Feels like heaven!

Enjoy xxxx

Thank you to everyone who contributed, thought encouraging thoughts, nominated and helped to make these up! You are all such valued members of The Sisterhood and we wouldn't be where we are today without you!

Love, Sophie xxx

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Mamas Knitting

This week I'm showing off my own Mama's handy work. She's a knitter from way back, from that generation that just does it. They clothed their own kids with their skills, they didn't blog or instagram about it for recognition, they didn't look to Pinterest. Because of that she's not often told how amazing her handiwork is so I wanted to publicly praise her!

I am always blown away by my Mums knitting skills. She uses only the loveliest of wools and everything is of such exceptional quality. I am SO lucky to have her as my mum (I was a warm kid!) and the Nana of my own children.  

These are some of her latest creations for Baby Moo2, our latest creation due anytime in the next month. Most of these patterns we were dressed in as kids, my Mum remembers the patterns, they are classics and she can do them with her eyes closed. 

I particularly love the little newborn cardi in the top right of the photo below. Its so teeny and sweet, it looks like it was made for a little doll. 

And the booties. Oh the booties. Milla was dressed in the same ones so I requested them again.

Thank you Mama!! You are an inspiration! 

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Joining in with Show n Tell

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Preparing for Feeding

I had a great breastfeeding relationship with Milla right from the first minutes of her life. She latched straight away and continued to feed well over the next year.

I can see now that there are a few things I can do to prepare for feeding to make it as comfortable and easy as possible for both of us. Here's a few tips if you're planning to go down that road yourself:

1) Clothing: Your whole wardrobe is going to be based on accessibility for the next few months. As baby gets older and you're feeding less you can get away with wearing some trickier clothing items, but until then layers are going to be your best friends!

I have one of these new Breastmates Clip On Cami's that I can't wait to use! Its another in the Breastmates self designed and produced line, it clips on to a maternity bra so you don't have extra straps on your shoulders, you're not stretching down your ordinary singlet tops(!!) and you dont have a million layers over your boobs.

I love Breastmates clothing, the quality is so good and long lasting and this is no different. I'm still wearing my Glory Maternity Dress from earlier in the year and still loving it. 

Breastmates clothes are made from great materials, they wash so well and they fit!! I really can't recommend them enough!

I plan to wear this cami at night allowing for easy access and support from my maternity bras. They have a huge range of other styles of feeding singlets if you're in the market for one.

2) Nightwear
Consider what you're going to wear at night. You'll want to stay warm, especially in the winter months and feeding can often leave your chest and shoulders exposed.

This time around I've gone for flannel winter PJs so I can unbutton them at the front. I should probably have thought more about my colour choice but the range available at the time was disappointingly limited!

3) Hydration!
I did not realise how much I would need to drink!! So. crazy. thirsty! I'm normally a cup drinker, but having bottles around was just so handy! I would always have one in my handbag! Don't even think about leaving the house without water.

One of the best "new Mama" gifts I was given in my first week with my first born was a couple of bottles of flavoured water. I was told at the time "water can get pretty boring when you're drinking so much" and I didn't really comprehend how true that was until it hit me!! Flavoured water quickly became my treat friend. This time I've been slowly stocking up so I can have my water-treats on hand.

4) Feeding friends
I found it so hugely important and encouraging to have breastfeeding Mama friends. First time round I had 3 close friends who all had babies within a few months of each other. Each of us breastfed and it was never ever a big deal. It was totally normal to us. I'm so thankful for that! I'm also thankful for a Mum and Nana who tell it like it is and fed each of their children (my mum had 5!). They are hugely encouraging (and honest). And a Dad who told me to get "over it" and "just feed my baby forgoodnesssake". Its so vital to have encouraging supportive people around you, whether they are feeding at the time or not.

Here's to a successful feeding relationship with my newest daughter! I can't wait to have that bond with her and be able to provide, sustain, soothe and connect with her all at once! 

READ MORE:
Breastmates Glory Maternity Dress Review
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Baby book reviews for 21 month old

Millas Baby Books

This week on The Blog I'll be focusing on preparing for a new baby! Thats where my mental focus is at right now; Planning our second home birth means we need everything prepared for 37 weeks ready to go for whenever labour comes on. Things need to be gathered, made and put aside!

My main focus is on preparing Milla for a little sister, we're reading her books on babies, having intentional play dates with babies around, talking about her little sister all the time and what a great big sister she'll be.

We've been doing all the theory with her, but I'm still not sure how she will respond when she wakes up in the morning (or comes back home) and there's a little baby all of a sudden!

We dont plan to have her at the birth, I'm not the most graceful birther and I dont think she's old enough to understand that Mum's still okay. In saying that, we want to keep things as normal as possible for her so we'll be trying to avoid an over night stay anywhere and anything completely out of the ordinary. It will mostly depend what time of day I go into labour and how quickly it progresses. We'll call it as we see it but Nanny Moo is on hand to come over and keep Milla entertained.

Millas favourite baby book: 
My New Baby by Stella Gurney & Fiona Freund

As soon as we came across this book in the library Milla has been obsessed with it. The pictures on each page are bright and engaging, there are little cartoons that are perfect for Millas stage and development to draw her attention to a page. She loves finding the flowers, hearts, sunshine, guitar, birds etc. 

The words are mostly in caption form, short little sentences that I will pick and choose what to read. Milla knows the book completely, she'll see the page with the baby scan on it and will point up at our wall with our scans on it and say "baby". 

On the page where it says "Grandma will come and look after me when the baby is coming" she says "Nanny!"

She sees the little boy kissing his little brother and she leans forward and kisses the book. 

The book says a few random things, like babies looking like aliens and the baby not being able to each icecream or lollies (Milla doesn't know what either are) so I swap and change words as we go. I also add in "Mum and Dad" because the book doesn't mention any dad throughout. I want Milla to understand that the whole family is getting a baby, not just her and not just me. 

I highly recommend this book for your 1-2 year old! 

Mums favourite baby book:
Hello Baby by Jenni Overend

This book is way above Millas head, its wordy, the pictures are (beautifully) hand drawn. It would suit a child older and more developed (Milla is currently 21 months old).

However, I love love love this book. When I first bought it online ($11!) and it arrived and I read it I cried my way through it. 

It is a beautiful, realistic and detailed account of a normal home birth. 

(put this picture in for kicks, MrMoo said "wow, a family show" when he saw it)

Its a story of a new baby being added to an already established family. Each member has a part to play, they lay out the clothes, stack the fire wood, help mum through her contractions, Dad is encouraging and available, the midwife is just another member of the family, she is kind and professional and fits in perfectly. The sister arrives for the birth bringing flowers and food. The family lays out bedding infront of the fire and tucks in together when its all over and are thankful for their Little One. 

 Its a beautiful home birth and just what I am hoping / preparing for ours to be like. I am enjoying just reading the book for my own encouragement and edification.

Do you have any tips on helping us help our soon to be 22 month old meet her little sister? Leave a comment and let me know! I am so encouraged by your words of wisdom and experience! 

Peace x

Crochet Bear Hat

Lets just all stop for a moment and appreciate how freakin' cute my daughter is. Yup. I make pretty adorable babes.

Anyway, Milla HATES hats so I was reluctant to buy her any for this winter. Instead I wanted to make her one, then I would feel proud but wouldn't feel bad if she wouldn't keep it on. That was my theory anyway. Now that I think about it, if my plan didn't work I would have been heart broken. BUT. My plan worked.

I'm starting to have to be a bit more intentional with Milla, explaining to her what we're going to do when we get somewhere (say hi, share etc), the same goes with clothes and hats. "Its cold outside so when we go in the pram we need to wear our hats!"

She's coming 'round to the idea and wore this hat the whole walk to Toddlerock (breakthrough!)

She thought the ears on this hat were pretty cool. When she put it on to show her Dad she cupped her hands under her chin and pulled the cutest grin. Can't imagine what I mean? Just think cute.

Details:

• Free crochet pattern for flap hat with bear ears
• Easy peasy pattern to follow! 
• Made on chunky merino wool from my stash (thanks Rachel!) super hard to use because I couldn't see the holes, lots of stitches will be wrong but you can't tell because its so fluffy (yay!)
• Linking in with Show n Tell at Leonies
• Baaaaaa! 

Fearless

Preparing my mind, body and spirit for what lays ahead. 

There's something completely fierce about child birth, when I have felt my most strongest, weakest and feminine all in the same moments. 

I know what lay ahead and this time around I am embracing it and doing all I can to be prepared, educated and equipped. 

Fearless. And joyful. 

LOVE [bomb] Making

On Saturday night 8 other ladies come over to my place for dessert and to help make up LOVE BOMBs for The Sisterhood.

I was completely humbled by this. I so wanted to have everything organised before they got there, to have all the Love Bombs done and read to send, to be able to show them that I was superwoman. But I'm not *sigh* I'm just Sophie. Heavily pregnant, tired, human Sophie.

Instead of making Love Bombs I vaccumed, printed and organised so that these generous 8 COULD help. And they did. They helped so much. Each of them so enthusiastic about doing so, I was well and truly blessed to have them care so much about The Sisterhood and the women (and man) we were bombing.

Thank you to Michelle, Roz, Miriam, Amy, Amanda, Treena, Rachel and Holly! I couldn't have done it without you. And if you couldn't make it, or live in a different city, thank you for your kind thoughts and willingness to help. I really did feel your presence on Saturday night. I felt wrapped in support. Thank you! 

(the chocolate aisle at HQ)

Each of the ladies were given at least two nominations, they were given a few details about who they were making the Love Bomb for and then they went about "shopping" for them. I had all your goods layed out (soooo much when it was all pulled from The Shelves and displayed!!) so they were accessible. 

I flitted around between everyone answering questions, printing off more poems and finding addresses. 

Throughout my flitting I heard ladies suggesting items for others, caring about all of the nominations not just their own. "Oh! This will be perfect for your Mums son!" etc. It touched my heart that they were taking their Love Bomb role so seriously.

Miriam lay on the floor most of the time writing out heart felt cards. She had a pained knee at the end of it, that woman sacrificed herself! 

Once goodies were collected they took them down to the HQ room, photographed, boxed and wrapped them up with the addresses. There they were stacked, 29 of the in total (and more to add over the next few days)

Michelle bought me muffins for my freezer (for post baby!) and did my dishes for me when the night was over.

Like I said, I felt well and truly blessed. The Sisterhood was blessed. 29 women around the country were blessed.

I can't wait to show you the photos of all of the LOVE BOMBs and to tell you a little more about the recipients. 

Just think, in the mean time a courier could be knocking at your neighbours door, delivering a parcel just for her. A parcel that needs no thanks, just acceptance, because we wanted to love and appreciate. Women all over New Zealand pooled what they had so they could do that loving and appreciating. So we could say "you aren't alone" or "we can see what you do" or "kia kaha"

Thank you for making that possible. Be back in a few days with more LOVE BOMB updates

Thanks to Post Haste for the free postage! Phew!

(beauty aisle at HQ)

PS - Sisters, have you entered the jewellery giveaway happening on my blog right now?