52 WEEKS OF MEMORIES | 30 - HANDS

How cute are baby hands, I think the only thing cuter are baby feet. Its been fascinating watching her hands grow bigger and stronger. Just a few months ago they were foreign objects at the end of her arms and now shes discovered how to pick up toys, clap, turn pages in books, feed herself and of course the most important thing her hands have done to date is..... let her eat cake!!!  {In a very non-ladylike fashion!}

30 | HANDS

- She very quickly worked out how to use her hands to eat cake -

If you would like to join in 52 weeks of memories you can find out how to play here. Feel free to share with your friends on facebook or instagram, the more who join in the better!

You can follow me on Instagram and join in on Facebook. When sharing via Instagram or Facebook don't forget to use the hashtag #fmy52weeksofmemories so I can see your lovely photos.  If you have a blog feel free to link up your photos via the linky below and come back each week to link up each new prompt. 

Reminder - next weeks prompt is Watching.

Toni xx

Also sharing with 

Trish from My Little Drummer Boys 

Bree from Twinkle in the eye 

Raychael from  Ms Mystery Case

Linky rules

1. Follow Finding Myself Young

2. Add your post for this weeks prompt

3. Grab the button below and link it to the bottom of your post or sidebar or text link

4. Visit some of the other blogs and share some comment love (because its the nice thing to do)

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Mummy Must Have Review | Baby Bee Hummingbirds

When I look back on my journey to motherhood and the first few months, breastfeeding is one of the only things that worked for us without a huge battle. I had a difficult road to conceiving, a pregnancy plagued with problems and a complicated birth experience, but breastfeeding just seemed to work. At least for a couple of weeks until we had issues develop from her allergies. Still when I look back I have nothing but fond memories of our time breastfeeding and I will cherish and hold onto those memories for years to come.

I was recently contacted and asked if I'd like to review a breastmilk gem made by Baby Bee Hummingbirds. Breastmilk gems are created using breastmilk and resin to preserve the milk and then jewellery fittings are added to make it into a pendant, ring or earrings to create a one of a kind keepsake piece. It seems to be the latest trend in jewellery for mums, although is considered by some to be quite controversial.

I so wish I was still breastfeeding so I could've had a gem made for myself, but our breastfeeding journey ended quite a few months ago. I'm really intrigued by breastfeeding jewellery products though, as I'm sure a lot of other people are, so I enlisted my good friend Megan to trial the process for me and have a gorgeous gem created for her. Here's her feedback about the process and the gem.

I had been thinking about getting a Milk Gem made and was so excited when Toni offered me the opportunity. I was a little unsure how the whole process would work but Baby Bee Hummingbirds made it so easy sending out a very detailed Questions and Answers sheet and a step by step guide of what to do. 

The night before I pumped a small amount of milk (it was meant to be 30 ml but I was a little over zealous and had 60ml) poured it in a zip lock bag and the next day went to the post office to post it off. Then I waited for the gem to be made.

I received my beautiful Milk Gem pendant and it is gorgeous! I was very excited to receive it in the post. I love how it looks like a piece of jewellery but has such special meaning behind it. Every time I look at the gem it brings all sorts of memories not only of breastfeeding but how much my little boy has grown, how tough but incredibly rewarding the newborn stage is and as every mother knows how fleeting the baby stage is.

My partner was also fascinated by the process and how the milk gem is so flat and doesn't look like the gem is placed inside the heart, but looks like its all one piece.

I am extremely happy with my gem and would recommend Baby Bee Hummingbird to any of my breastfeeding friends who want a beautiful keepsake to treasure.

As you can see from her comments above, my friend was delighted with her gem when it arrived and thought the process was very easy and well explained. I have to say I am somewhat jealous that she now has a gorgeous gem to keep as a token of her breastfeeding journey and I don't (but I'm also really happy for her and glad I was able to pass the opportunity onto her). I know there are some who think that breastmilk jewellery is controversial or "gross" because the thought of wearing a bodily fluid freaks them out, but I see it as so much more than the literal, physical product. To me (and Megan) the gems represent memories, love, contentment and are a reminder of such an amazing time in our lives as mothers. I will definitely look into having one made in the future if we're lucky enough to have another baby.

Baby Bee Hummingbirds is run by Amy who is a midwife and mother of three. Amy uses her individual preservation techniques to create unique and exclusive gems. She can create gems from breastmilk or encapsulated placenta/ umbilical stump and has recently added the option of including a personal photo within your gem. She can create a variety of different styles of pendants, rings and earrings. If you'd like to create your own gem you can use the code BBH20 when ordering at www.babybeehummingbirds.com.au to get 15% off all purchases. 

Would you ever consider getting a breastmilk jewellery piece made?

Do you think its controversial, or do you love the idea?

Toni x

*Disclosure - I was not paid for this review. All opinions expressed in this review are the honest opinions of my friend after personal experience with the ordering process and product.

*This post contains affiliate links which means I get a small % of the sale price if you make a purchase, but it does not affect the price you pay.

Linking up with Jess

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52 WEEKS OF MEMORIES | 29 - FAMILY

The one thing Ive always wanted to do is create my own little family. It wasn't a straightforward path for me with unexpected infertility, however, we finally got there. Now we are a beautiful family of three and hopefully in the future we can add to our family some more, but right now we're happy being a little trio.

29 | Family

- These two are my little family -

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What my mum doesn't know

[Pinterest]

Today I'm linking up with Ann, who's guest hosting I must confess. The prompt this week is things your parents don't know. There are  so many things I could write about for this post, but I don't want to ruin my reputation (if I even have one). Besides, things are secrets from our parents for a reason, right? In order to not be a complete piker though I'm sharing a story from my primary school days.

Tuckshop at primary school was a big thing. It was the holy grail of lunch time. I loved the days I got to hand in my brown paper bag with my money and food choice knowing something awesome would be waiting for me later on. You see I used to get teased a bit at school about my lunches. Mum used to send us to school with weird sandwiches. Things like corned beef and pickles, ham and alfalfa sprouts, patte or asparagus were regular lunch staples. I actually loved them, but the thing with eating food like asparagus for lunch, is that its green and smelly and almost certain to attract the bullies.

Sometimes, ok a lot of the time, I just wanted to fit in with the other kids. If that meant wasting money on junk food at lunch then so be it. Problem was I pretty much never had money. One day I came up with an ingenious idea to overcome my lack of funds.

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52 WEEKS OF MEMORIES | 28 - DANCING

Bub is very big on dancing. Shes been bopping her little bum up and down for months now. She can't help herself when she hears a beat she just has to move even if shes strapped into her highchair or carseat, nothing holds her back. Its not a huge surprise because I've been in love with dance music for years and listened to it a lot when I was pregnant. She used to groove along to it on the inside too. It's much more entertaining now though.

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Mummy Must Have | Owl my dream night light

If you've been hanging around here for a while now you'd be well aware that bub is a tad bit obsessed with owls. It all started with Giggle and Hoot. I'm pretty sure originally she just thought it was amazing that Hoot could talk and sing. Now she has a firm attachment to both Hoot and Hootabelle, and a soft spot for Jimmy Giggle. Shes now associated the singing, dancing and talking with all owls so now any owl is amazing.

I never really thought much about owls before I had bub and was inducted into the Giggle and Hoot fan club. I mean owls aren't really something that you'd think about on an everyday basis. Well apparently now they are. Pretty much all of my purchase decisions for bub now revolve around owls. Her clothes, her nursery decor, her toys and now her birthday party theme. I don't mind though because it turns out I've grown quite fond of the little guys (and girls, sorry Hootabelle). I'm particularly fond of our new addition, this little guy.

{I've named him Charlie}

Charlie has been with us for a few weeks now and, although he's technically for bub, I've developed a soft spot for him. He was my companion in the kitchen before moving to the nursery to join bub. We made cupcakes together (well he watched and provided the mood lighting while I slaved away). He's been a good helper in the kitchen, but I had to relinquish him to bub so he could fulfil his intended duties.

Charlie is actually a my dream night light designed for children (not mums who need entertaining while cooking). The night light is acrylic and comes in two pieces so there's no fiddly assembly required. It uses LED lights but runs via electricity not batteries which means it never stops working! Yay no need to replace batteries (or light bulbs) all the time. The LEDS are energy efficient using 0.6 to 0.1 watts depending on the setting chosen. It also comes with a remote control (so you have the power not the kids).

The night light has 13 different colour choices from plain white to different shades of colours. In addition to the huge number of colour choices there are also four cool function modes - sleep level, sleep timer, colour changing and side lamp mode. 

The sleep level button automatically lowers the level of the brightness to make it more appropriate for sleeping. The light normally gives off quite a bright light when in a completely dark room so I find for bub the sleep level is definitely better for bed time. The sleep timer mode sets a timer that automatically turns off the night light after an hour.

The colour changing function gently cycles through all 12 of the shades of colours from dark green to light purple. The side lamp function puts the light back to static bright white for reading. I tried to take a video of it cycling through the colours, but I didn't have enough phone memory (yes I take too many photos and videos) so below is one I'd already taken of me manually flicking through the colours.

My little buddy keeping me company while I cook cupcakes for bub.#obsessedwithowls #somuchcute #pretty
Posted by Finding Myself Young on Friday, July 11, 2014

The night light provides a good amount of light both in low light during the afternoon with her blinds shut and in pitch back dark at night.

{in afternoon light}

{in complete darkness}

Of all the night lights I've come across, this one definitely ticks the most boxes. I love that its so easy to assemble and the fact that it's made of acrylic and not glass is great when children are involved. Being flat its also quite compact so doesn't take up a huge amount of bench space like bulky lamps do. I'm also a huge fan of the fact that its not battery operated, both because it means the choking hazard is removed and my need to continuously buy and replace batteries is eliminated. Batteries are seriously the bane of my existence now that I'm surrounded by a million and one baby toys.

In addition to the safety benefits above, I also love the fact that there are so many different colours and functions to choose from. The only other colour changing night light we have is a tiny butterfly one (the size of a tealight candle) which just rotates through 3 pre-programmed colours. I love that this night light gives the user the power to control the colour choice (probably because I'm a control freak). The fact that all the buttons are on the remote and not on the actual light also means that little (touch screen skilled) fingers cant mess with the settings - or turn the light back on after you've set the timer. Overall I think this light is a win on so many levels for both parents and kids. If you aren't particularly fond of owls, he also has quite a few other friends you can choose from.

Which ones your favourite? 

Toni x

Disclosure - I was gifted Charlie, but was not paid for this review. All opinions are my own based on my personal experience.

Linking up with Jess

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Sleep - post baby

I used to have a great relationship with sleep. The only thing that really got in the way was work and the incessant beeping of the dam alarm each morning ordering me out of bed. I loved sleep. I wish we never broke up. Unfortunately cracks started forming in our relationship when I got pregnant and I was too exhausted to try and fix our relationship.

It started out slowly with subtle changes. I started waking up early. For some reason my body (and baby) wanted to be up bright and early in the morning. I don't know why, it's not like she could see the sunrise from inside my womb. Little did I know how many hours early mornings and I would spend together in the future. I've never been a morning person and I'm still not (yes I can hear you all asking "so why did you have a baby.."). As it turns out some of the lectures advice people gave me before birth turned out to be true. I should've tried to nap a lot more in those weeks pre-baby.

Once bub came along my relationship with sleep reached breaking point. There were way too many cracks, it was irreparable. In fact I think sleep cheated on me with T because they certainly spent a lot more time together than we did. Needless to say we pretty much broke up straight away. Although if sleep ever comes crawling back and asks to be forgiven I just might be weak enough to resume our relationship. 

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That time my phone decided to have a sleep over

Yea you read that title right. 

Turns out the other day my phone had enough of being in my boring old house construction zone of a house and decided to stealthily go on an excursion to my sister in-laws house for the night instead. No it didn't grow legs and run away by itself, it had help.

The willing accomplice was none other than my darling ninja child who somehow managed to steal my phone and deposit it into my sister in-laws bag when they were visiting. Of course none of us saw this stealthy little ninja move take place so a little bit of panic ensued when I realised my phone was missing when I hadn't even left the house.

I checked her normal hidey holes. In the basket under the pram - no phone, but I did find a spoon. I looked behind the seat part of her fold up couch - no phone, but I did find a spoon. I checked under the couch - no phone, but yep you guessed it, I did find a spoon. Funny I didn't even know the five million spoons were missing. She really is a stealthy ninja baby.

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52 WEEKS OF MEMORIES | 27 - PERFECT

You would think the obvious choice for this weeks prompt would be a pic of bub because all parents think their kids are perfect, right? And lets face it pretty much every week shes in a photo because shes my muse for this challenge. However, I thought I'd keep you on your toes and not have a photo of her. What's that I hear.... disappointment? Don't worry she'll be back next week.

This week I wanted to share her first birthday party invitations with you all because they are indeed perfect! The invites were made by the extremely talented Talya from Made with Love - cards and crafts. As you all know bub is obsessed with Giggle and Hoot so I definitely knew we were going to go with an owl theme. I didn't want to use the mainstream mass produced birthday merchandise though. I wanted to go in a more individual and unique direction with her decorations and theme so while its based around Hootabelle I'm getting a lot of stuff handmade or making my own items. I'm super happy with how the invites turned out and I highly recommend Talya's work. If you'd like any personalised handmade cards or invitations you can see her other work on facebook or online.

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Is this normal? Am I doing it right?

This post is in collaboration with Medela

Although our breastfeeding journey went relatively well there were definitely some hiccups along the way. There were so many moments where I found myself thinking is this normal?

Having never breastfed (or had a baby) before I just resigned myself to going with the flow. All I knew about breastfeeding was limited to what the videos had shown me in antenatal classes. I was hoping she would be one of the talented babies who just knew how to find the boob and latch on as soon as she was placed on my chest (like the babies in the videos).

We didn't get to do skin on skin or breastfeeding straight after birth like I'd hoped. Thanks to my emergency c-section she was taken to recovery with her daddy while I was stitched back together in theatre. It was forty five minutes before I got to see her and hold her (yes I was watching the clock the entire time). Once I did see her she was immediately put on me to have a feed and to my surprise she knew exactly what to do. Which was good because I was so out of it from the operation. The nurse had to help hold her on my chest because I was still numb from the spinal.

Even in my dazed, holy-crap-I-just-had-surgery-now-I-have-a-baby state I was amazed that this little person just instinctively knew what to do. Luckily for me she continued to be quite good at latching so I went home quite confident in my ability to breastfeed her. Although it was more her leading me rather than me showing her what to do. I was still very much winging it.

I demand fed her rather than following a strict feeding schedule. I figured she was the best judge of when she was hungry so I let her tell me. The first two weeks this worked well. She basically fed and then slept on continuous rotation. She hardly ever cried except when she woke hungry. At the risk of being cyber slapped by all of you, I'll admit I actually found it quite easy. At least for the first two weeks. After that cracks started to appear (and not just in my nipples).

My angel baby disappeared. She started crying screaming most of the day. She was awake and unsettled for up to seven hours straight. She was only happy when she was feeding. As soon as I took her off she would scream. I started to question my supply. I naturally assumed my supply was diminishing. She wanted to be feeding all the time so I figured she just wasn't getting enough milk. The thing I found hardest during our breastfeeding journey was not knowing whether she was getting enough milk. I wished I could see how much she was drinking so I could be reassured she was getting what she needed. I even started doing some express feeds just so I could see how much she was actually getting. I got mildly neurotic about it.

She also went from feeding fine on both breasts to favouring my left. This became an issue because I was initially only offering one breast per feed and alternating each time like the midwives told us to do. I started getting lop sided at one point so I switched to offering both each feed like my mum suggested. Back in the day they were told five minutes on each side whereas the midwives told me a minimum of ten minutes because the "good milk" didn't come out until then. It was completely confusing. I didn't know whether what I was doing was right or wrong. I spent many feeds wishing bub could speak and tell me what was going on and which way she wanted me to do it so I could get it right.

While I loved breastfeeding I found all the conflicting advice very confusing. As soon as I started having issues I blamed myself, like most mothers probably do. I assumed everything I was doing was wrong because my baby wasn't doing what everyone said she should be doing. I ended up getting quite depressed about it and convinced myself that my supply was low and I couldn't feed my baby enough. It didn't help that she was also diagnosed with her cows milk protein allergy and I was diagnosed with PND all around the same time. In the end I (along with the drs and nurses in hospital) decided it would be best to switch her exclusively to specialised formula for her allergy. While she has thrived wonderfully on formula and it has eliminated all of her dairy related allergy symptoms, there's always been this little voice in the back of my head wondering what it would've been like if I continued breastfeeding.

After attending the Medela Australia talk at the PBC Expo recently I really wish I had've stuck it out longer. I think if I had more support (and people encouraging me to continue breastfeeding rather than telling me I couldn't) then I definitely would've had a better chance of continuing for longer. At the talk they provided us with findings of recent in depth research of breastfeeding babies. It was so enlightening. Basically everything we experienced on our breastfeeding journey (apart from her allergy related screaming and pain) was normal. There is no black and white, straight down the line normal when it comes to breastfeeding babies (contrary to a lot of advice I received). Each baby's breastfeeding needs are as individual as our babies are. I really wish I had've heard about these findings while I was still breastfeeding because it would've given me a great confidence boost; so I'm passing on the info to you guys in the hope that it reaches those mums who are currently breastfeeding (and maybe doubting themselves).

Image: Medela

Medela provides real solutions for breastfeeding mothers to get over any hurdles in the early days and to support their long term breastfeeding goals. Through its extensive range of breast pump products and other breastfeeding products, Medela is committed to promoting the benefits of breast milk and encouraging long term breastfeeding. For more information visit: www.medela.com.au I www.facebook.com/medela.au



GIVEAWAY

I have a $50 Medela voucher available for one lucky reader. 
For your chance to win simply:

1. Like Finding Myself Young on Facebook
2. Leave a comment below with your feeding advice for a new mum

*Giveaway commences 6:00am Monday 7th July 2014 and ends 10:00pm Sunday 13th July 2014. Open to Australian residents only. Winner will be notified by email (please ensure you enter your email address when commenting). Winner has 48hrs to respond or a new winner will be redrawn.


Toni x


*Disclosure - Medela provided me with gift vouchers in exchange for this post (one of which I'm passing onto you guys).


Linking up with Eva, Kirsty and Alicia

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Building blocks (including Playgro giveaway)

We had a few Playgro toys before we became toy testers, but I never really knew just how extensive their range was. I only really saw them at Coles and Big W before and didn't realise that they were also stocked at so many other places (including Target, Baby Bunting, Myer, Toys r Us and Bubs). Its been so awesome being a toy tester because I've got to try toys that I've never even seen in the shops before. 

The latest one we've been trying is the My First House Blocks. Who doesn't love a set of soft blocks? They're like a right of passage for every child. I have to say these ones are uber cool.

The blocks stack up into the shape of a house and have a cool house print on the front. They also have different prints on each side. There's numbers, letters, real animals, cartoon animals and black and white patterns (including a mirror). All are designed to visually stimulate bub. She seems to like the cartoon animals best.

The blocks are a good size for babies to pick up and keep a hold of (they're also nice and soft for when she chews on them). She has no trouble holding onto them and is an expert at knocking them down. Shes not so much interested in stacking them as she is in picking them up and moving them around (or throwing them). She gets quite annoyed when I build them up in a stack in front of her and will pretty much immediately knock them down again (hence it was incredibly hard to get in focus photos for this review). I'm not sure whether shes just annoyed that I'm touching her blocks, or perhaps she thinks Im just doing it in the wrong order. I'm sure she'll inform me once she can talk properly.

{She left a stack standing for long enough to get a quick pic}

{the five millionth time she knocked them over}

The prints of the blocks are nice a vibrant and eye catching. They include lots of different colours, patterns and shapes to attract and hold attention. The blocks will continue to be useful as she gets older as I can use them to help teach her how to count, how to learn letters and how to name different animals. Such a great learning tool as well as a fun toy.

They're guided for 6mths + and I think thats about right. At 6 months babies would probably only be picking them up and putting them back down but as they get older they will be able to use them for much more. I'd say we'll be using them until shes about 18 months old (hopefully by then she'll let me build stacks with her). I'd definitely recommend these blocks to other parents and they also have a set of Grip n Stack soft blocks for sensory play. To purchase these blocks just email sales@playgro.com.

The lovely people at Playgro have put together a great giveaway so that you can all join in the toy testing fun and try out a Playgro toy for yourselves.

GIVEAWAY

I'm excited to be able to offer 6 Twirly Trio's for six lucky Finding Myself Young readers to win. To enter all you have to do is follow the prompts in the rafflecopter widget below. If you know anyone who would love to win one feel free to let them know about the competition too. You can read my review of the Twirly Trio here.

GOOD LUCK!

Toni xx

*Disclosure - as official Playgro toy testers bub and I are sent age appropriate toys for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed in this review are based on our personal experience with the products.

Linking up with Grace, Kaz and Bel.

Terms and Conditions

Entry is open to Australian residents, excluding ACT. Competition commences 6:00am 4th July 2014 and concludes 11:59pm 14th July 2014. This competition is a game of skill and will be judged as such. The 6 most creative answers to the blog post question as deemed so by Finding Myself Young and Playgro will be the winners. All mandatory options must be completed to constitute a valid entry. Winners must make contact within 48hrs or prize(s) will be redrawn. Prizes will be distributed directly from Playgro Australia and cannot be delivered to a PO Box. Finding Myself Young takes no responsibility for the prize delivery. This competition is in no way associated with, administered or endorsed by Facebook.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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52 WEEKS OF MEMORIES | 26 - EYES

I've been blessed with a blonde haired, blue eyed girl. I'm not sure how she ended up that way, I was expecting dark hair and brown eyes but clearly daddy's genes won. I'm glad shes kept her blue eyes though because I've fallen quite in love with them. The photos I got this week dont really do them justice so I've cheated and used an old pic.

26 | Eyes

- I am so in love with her blue eyes -

If you would like to join in 52 weeks of memories you can find out how to play here. Feel free to share with your friends on facebook or instagram, the more who join in the better!

You can follow me on Instagram and join in on Facebook. When sharing via Instagram or Facebook don't forget to use the hashtag #fmy52weeksofmemories so I can see your lovely photos.  If you have a blog feel free to link up your photos via the linky below and come back each week to link up each new prompt. 

Reminder - next weeks prompt is Perfect.

Toni xx

Also sharing with 

Trish from My Little Drummer Boys 

Bree from Twinkle in the eye 

Raychael from  Ms Mystery Case

Linky rules

1. Follow Finding Myself Young

2. Add your post for this weeks prompt

3. Grab the button below and link it to the bottom of your post or sidebar or text link

4. Visit some of the other blogs and share some comment love (because its the nice thing to do)

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An InLinkz Link-up

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Why I write {blog hop}

Image Source

For me writing is cathartic. I can work through my feelings a lot better when I see them on a page (or screen) in front of me. Its like a huge brain dump and god knows I need a bucket load of brain dumps having been through what I have in life.

I write to record my memories. In a way my childhood was cut short the moment that dad died when I was 10. Unfortunately we didn't spend much time with our parents before then because of school and their business. If I had've known something horrible like that was going to happen I would've tried so hard to make more lasting memories. The thing I miss most in life is not having many memories of dad and not having many memories of us together as a family. My relationship with my mum has also been strained and shes not huge on talking about the past or being affectionate so I feel I've missed out there too. I'm determined to write my memories down so that in the future if they happen to fade I have a place to go where they can be brought back to life. It's also a backup if, god forbid, something ever happened to me my daughter would have a record of my thoughts so she wouldn't need to go through life wondering what I was like, the way I have with dad.

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