1. That magical moment when Ottie falls asleep in the car, and I get to switch over from The Gruffalo audiobook to a podcast! Current favourites are At Home With by Lily and Anna, and Giovanna Fletcher’s ‘Happy Mum Happy Baby’!
2. Pickling, jamming, and jarring! Getting a bit obsessed over here with seeing my cupboards slowly fill with homegrown, freshly preserved produce for the winter months. Pickled beetroot was my latest venture, and next up I’m planning some courgette chutney!
3. Rain! Sweet, sweet rain! I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see a storm roll in and the heavens open. Blessed relief for this overheated pregnant Mama!
4. Wednesday playdates with my sister in law and my niece and nephew! Ottilie is obsessed with her cousins, they children play so nicely together (mostly, we only have to wade in and referee the girls every 15 minutes or so ;), and two adults to three children makes everything a million times easier! A couple of weeks ago we put them all in the car, drove around until they all fell asleep, then went to a McDonalds drive through for fries and milkshakes. It was totally amazing…
5. Five sweet, ripe raspberries eaten straight from the canes in the garden. I planted them in the most stupid spot this year and am in the process of putting together new raspberry beds ready for next summer, but the few we’ve had are just delicious! Already excited for next summer’s (hopefully!!) bountiful crop!
6. Being kicked in the ribs, and feeling little tiny fingers tickling behind my hip bones. So weird, so wonderful.
7. Putting together a little stash of lovely gifts ready for Ottilie’s birthday! Can you believe she’ll be 2 in a month’s time?! I’m sure it was only a couple of months ago I was planning her first birthday! I’ve been a bit obsessive about getting everything organised ultra early this year since her birthday is less than a month before my due date, so now I’m done getting sorted for her birthday I’m moving on to Christmas. Not even kidding..
8. Seeing little baby butternut squashes growing on the vines down in the vegetable patch. So very exciting!
9. Beginning our online hypnobirthing course! We’re using The Positive Birth Company’s digital pack, and loving it so far. SO amazing to be able to follow along with it at our own pace, in the comfort of our own living room where I’m hoping to give birth come October.
10. Ottilie-isms: ‘Peel my toast Mummy’ (she wanted the crusts taken off…), ‘I love purple/dinosaurs/chocolate cake/Elsie/(literally anything!), dat my favourite!’, and her current obsession with playing ‘midmife’ and measuring my bump with a tape measure <3
