I’ll be honest, I keep writing these happy lists and then never getting round to posting them, and by the time I come to put them live they’re so old not relevant any more! Newborn Mama life, hey? I wouldn’t say I’m in the newborn fog over here so much as just being so busy with every aspect of life I feel like I barely sit down all day long. It’s a hectic season of life that’s for sure!

1. Mince pies. Every year I forget how much I love them! Especially when eaten midway through a busy afternoon looking after the children, when I’ve barely had chance to eat all day and am completely and utterly ravenous. That makes them taste all the more delicious!

2. M&S 3-wick rhubarb candles. They’re my absolute favourite at the moment, they throw out so much scent and at £9 each? A total bargain!

3. Personalised stockings with my babies’ names on. There’s something about seeing their lovely names printed out side by side that makes me so happy!

4. Arlo’s double chin. I made that!

5. Baking and crafting with my sweet little girl. Over the past couple of weeks we’ve done Christmas biscuits, painted baubles for our tree, visited the pottery cafe…it’s the best! (Let’s just not talk about my epic fudge failure this week…it’s the most disgusting thing I’ve ever made!)

6. White noise. Because it helps my baby go to sleep…and because after 9 weeks of listening to it I now find it so relaxing I can’t sleep without it. Basically, I’ve sleep trained myself!!

7. Breaking into the courgette pickles I made earlier in the summer, to eat in a delicious wrap alongside veggie ‘pulled pork’ and hummus. The best lunch! (p.s. have you tried the veggie meat by a brand called Vivera? So good!)

8. How easy having children makes it to connect with new people. I feel as though I meet so many lovely people when out and about these days, and it’s never felt easier to make friends. It’s a positive I never saw coming ahead of becoming a Mama, and I love it!

9. Ottie referring to whispering as ‘little talking’, because she didn’t know the word. My heart melted!! <3 <3 <3

10. Tuesdays with my Mum. She comes each week to lend a hand, before Arlo was born it meant I could crack on with work but nowadays it just means there’s a person per child which makes the day go by so much smoother, haha! Forever grateful for her love and support.

1. The joy of a baby sleeping in my arms. I’d forgotten how wonderful it is to while away an evening with a newborn snoring quietly on your chest <3

2. Smoothies! Salads! KALE! After craving nothing but cake, pasta, and biscuits for the final couple of months of my pregnancy, my body has finally started asking for healthy stuff. And I’m more than happy to oblige! Though it’s been four days now since I stopped gorging on biscuits every waking hour of the day and I’m not yet back in a size 8, which is totally outrageous.

3. Tea tea and more tea. I can’t get enough!

4. This week’s thunderstorms. Nothing makes me feel cosier than listening to heavy rain falling when I’m laying in bed at night.

5. Seeing my two babies in the bath together! Ottie’s always been a water baby and it seems her brother is the same- he’s so relaxed and peaceful in the water, and his evening bath chills him out so totally he always crashes right after. Right on cue for an evening of him sleeping on my chest on the sofa (refer back to point one)…

6. Season two of The Sinner! Have you watched it yet? Jason and I loved the first season so much we binged it over the course of a couple of evenings earlier in the year, and the new one is shaping up to be pretty great too. I get genuinely excited to watch another one when Ottie goes to bed each evening!

7. Homegrown cabbage! I could eat it until I turn green, honestly. With a little butter and salt, there’s nothing better!

8. Buying little boy clothes. The cutest! Zara Baby is killing it, as per! Just don’t get me started about why the vast majority of high street shops seem to put trucks/diggers/trains on 95% of their boys’ clothes…

9. Spontaneous baking with my little girl! She asked to make a cake late on Sunday afternoon, and we had a chocolate cake baking in the oven half an hour later! It was truly delicious.

10. New PJs. Candlelit evenings. Cosy dressing gowns. Loving every second of this season, so far…<3

What’s made you happy this week?

(p.s. That photo above? Ottilie’s concentrating hard on stomping in a big pile of rabbit poo. Delightful…)

1. Finally having my birth bag all packed and organised! Ready when you are, baby…

2. Having a husband who came home from town a week and a half ago to tell me he’d booked me a pedicure for last Friday morning. The best gift ever for this Mama whose feet are so tired and sore by the end of each day!

3. Cake. Cake for morning treat, cake for an afternoon treat, cake after dinner. Basically cake eaten at any point during the day is a winner in my book, because sugary carbs are aallllll I want to eat these days…

4. Swimming with Ottie. I’d not been with her in ages, and she’s just as much of a fish as ever! She’s decided she likes using arm bands now, and is swimming by herself when she wears them which is amazing to see!

5. Slow cooked garlic runner beans. The recipe idea was from a River Cottage cookbook, and it’s so delicious!

6. A super chic ensemble comprising a pair of maternity leggings, one of Jason’s T shirts, and an oversized supersoft jumper. Bliss!

7. Taking the dogs for an evening walk, with a bag in hand of course for blackberry-picking on the way! It feels so good to blow the cobwebs away with some crisp evening air, and lovely to see the dogs bombing around so happily too.

8. Big bowls of pasta for dinner, eaten with tons of sautéed kale and Swiss chard from the garden.

9. The start of the new school term bringing with it the reopening of playgroups and toddler classes, plus a quietening down of soft plays as so many children return to school. Win win!

10. Ottie’s frequent exclamations of ‘I love you baby! I want to kiss you baby!’ which make my heart melt into a puddle <3

1. Seeing how extra cute Ottie looks in all her trousers now she’s wearing pants instead of a nappy! Potty training wasn’t exactly high on my agenda of things to do in the final month before having a baby, but Ottie was totally insistent and who am I to argue! She’s doing so well (though we’ve had our fair share of accidents, of course!), and it’s very surreal not to be changing/washing nappies for the first time in almost two years!

2. Homemade chocolate and beetroot cake. I kind of made up the recipe, and it’s been one of the tastiest cakes I’ve ever made! I didn’t write the recipe down though, so let’s hope I can remember it for next time…

3. Runner beans, picked fresh from the garden and simply boiled until tender and tossed with a little butter and salt. They’re just so delicious!

4. The look of total joy and wonder on Ottilie’s face when we sat down to watch ‘The Gruffalo’s Child’ together the other afternoon. The Gruffalo books are her absolute favourite, and so being able to watch the film just blew her mind! It was raining outside too and kind of chilly, which made the moment all that much cosier.

5. Erm…BAKE OFF! I can’t tell you how pumped I am that it’s back, it’s my favourite TV show ever! And I also love that it signals the count down to giving birth, because I really vividly remember watching it whilst heavily pregnant and then also whilst in labour with Ottilie this time two years ago, and we’re rapidly approaching D-Day again now!

6. Sowing the final few seeds of the year! Winter lettuce, turnips, cabbages for next spring, and some spinach too…

7. Breakfasts of warm creamy porridge with generous spoonfuls of apple and vanilla compote stirred in.

8. Picking tomatoes with Ottilie in the greenhouse. I love seeing her snack as she picks out the reddest fruits to fill her basket with, and how she knows to feed any split or damaged ones to the dogs. It’s the sweetest thing!

9. Cooler weather, leaves changing colour, hedgerows packed with berries ripe for the picking…I’m getting serious autumnal vibes these days, and loving every minute of it!

10. Taking some time out a couple of times a week to listen to the pregnancy and birth affirmations that come as part of the Positive Birth Company hypnobirthing course we’re following. It makes me feel so calm, peaceful, and E X C I T E D about giving birth!