Design Inspiration

Milka Interiors

One of the things I am loving is the amazing amount of talented interior designers that are around at the moment. Whether you are a DIYer or someone who likes to pay for a job well done, the ideas out there are endless.

Nest Design Studio

Here are a couple of inspiration boards that I've been lucky enough to be included in lately. The Gold heart cushion and gold love cushion both available in my store.

Little B Styling

Life with Three - Five Tips for Surviving the Early Days

Having trouble during nappy change time with a wriggly baby? Try BabyLove Nappy Pants - with no tabs to contend with, the 360-degree stretchy waist allows you to pull them up quickly and easily, so your active toddler can get back to action in no time! Request a sample.

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Six weeks in to life as a mum of three and believe it or not I'm still surviving! So far there have been a few little challenges, but it's nowhere near as overwhelming as I expected. I'd like to think that third time around I am a lot more laid back than I have been in the past and so much more willing to go with the flow.

I've put together a little list of things that I have found really helpful. Whether you're expecting your first or third (or even your seventh!) hopefully you'll find these tips useful, even if they just remind you that you're not the only one with an unsettled baby or a hyperactive toddler!

Every Baby is Different - I cannot stress this one enough, every baby is different from the last. Seems obvious right? It wasn't for me. When Lincoln was born I totally expected him to have the same needs, habits and routines as Max had. When he didn't I went into total meltdown mode. Instead of working with what he wanted, I tried and tried to get him to be like Max. And when he wasn't I cried (and screamed) and resented the fact that he wasn't a 'perfect' baby. I don't recommend taking that approach! This time around I expected Elliot to be different from Max and Link, and he definitely is. Almost every thing I'm doing with him is different and that's totally ok.

Go With Whatever Works - I am a huge advocate of doing whatever works, as long as your baby is safe I see no harm in giving them exactly what they want in the early days. Before Max was born I had a whole set of rules outlined for myself. He would always fall asleep in his own cot, I wouldn't give him a dummy, he would breastfeed for 12 months, I wouldn't spoil him by holding him to much (!!), no sugar until he was three etc etc.  How totally naive was I?!! I learnt very quickly that you need to throw the rule book out the window each time you have a baby. Giving your baby what he wants is the kindest thing you can do and it also saves your sanity. Lincoln hated the swing and preferred to be put down to sleep in a dark, quiet room. Max liked to be swaddled up really tightly and loved his dummy. Lincoln refused a dummy, but learnt to self settle as soon as he was old enough to find his thumb. Elliot loves to be held and rocked, during the day he alternates between sleeping on my chest in a sling or in his Fisher Price swing. He loves noise and sleeps with a white noise app at night (which I personally love too, I have never slept better!). Lincoln woke to feed every night until he was 15 months and Max slept through the night from 12 weeks. You get the point... They all want and need different things... Just go with it!



Say YES When People Offer to Help - Any guesses what I said when help was offered with my first baby!! I thought that to be a successful parents Sean and I needed to be able to do every thing on our own. Don't get me wrong, we still had family come to stay, but I micro managed everything. The grandparents had to follow my 'parenting rules', I stressed out when the dishwasher was loaded 'wrong', I felt like a failure when they settled Max for me, I even refolded all the clean towels after my mother in law left because they weren't done 'perfectly'. I laugh about it now, but really I was so tightly strung back then. Elliot was born six weeks ago and so far I have spent a total of four days on my own with the boys. Between my mum and mother-in-law staying with us, Sean taking annual leave and us spending time up the coast with Sean's parents I have had help the entire time. And it has been the best thing ever!! For the first four weeks I didn't have to cook a single meal or even wash my own clothes. The best part was that Max and Link had lots of attention and I didn't have to worry that they were missing out because of their new baby brother. When help is offered accept it graciously!! You won't regret it.

Listen to Your Mum (and Your Mother-in-Law) - I don't quite know where I got the massive chip on my shoulder from, but first time around I was convinced that I knew better than our mums. It didn't matter that they had both successfully raised two kids each, I was sure I knew more about looking after a baby. Turns out though they both had invaluable advice and were actually quite good at looking after babies and kids. Who would have thought!! Provided you had a happy childhood I highly recommend listening to your parents :).

Enjoy Yourself - Last but certainly not least, have fun. Enjoy the little moments! Babies and kids grow up so quickly. In the blink of an eye I've gone from having one tiny little newborn to having a four year old, an almost two year old and another brand new baby. No matter what you do, time will keep on keeping on, so make the most of the little moments. Enjoy your babies, they are little bundles of joy (even when they're screaming as you try to get the perfect photo!).

This post is part of a Nuffnang native advertising series.

Having trouble during nappy change time with a wriggly baby? Try BabyLove Nappy Pants - with no tabs to contend with, the 360-degree stretchy waist allows you to pull them up quickly and easily, so your active toddler can get back to action in no time! Request a sample.

Elliot George Riley

If you follow me anywhere other than this (badly neglected) blog you might have heard that I had my third baby a little over a month ago. Elliot is seriously the sweetest thing ever and with his arrival I finally feel like my family is complete.

Elliot's birth was straight forward and uncomplicated, an elective c-section 3 days before my due date. He came out healthy and happy and started to feed while I was still in theatre. Just like with Max and Lincoln it was love at first sight for Sean and I, we couldn't believe how perfect he was! Towards the end of my pregnancy I was so sure that he was going to be much smaller than Lincoln and he definitely was. A tiny 7 pound 9 ounces (3.4kg). As soon as we saw him we knew he was little, but I think we were both surprised to see that he was less than 8 pounds!

  

Max and Lincoln came up to visit a few hours after he was born, something I was looking forward to so much. Max fell head over heels in love with him and has been amazing ever since. He loves talking to him, playing with him on his mat, tickling his little feet and singing to him when he cries. Such an amazing big brother! Elliot has started smiling back at Max in the last couple of days. My favourite thing ever!! 

Lincoln still hasn't quite turned two yet and I was really nervous about how he would react to Elliot's arrival. I don't think he really understood that there was a baby on the way or even that Elliot would be coming home from the hospital with us. When he first met Elliot, Link was surprised and curious, but if got too close to the baby he would yell out 'NO'. Although once we got home he got used to Elliot very quickly. Now he likes to kiss him goodnight, says 'hello bebe', pushes him in his swing and even tries to give him a dummy when he cries. Very cute!

The first few weeks at home were absolutely blissful, my Mum and Sean's Mum took turns staying with us for the first three and a half weeks and then Sean took 3 weeks leave so he could enjoy some family time too. Having the Mums here was exactly what I needed, I took heaps of naps, did barely any housework or cooking and was super happy knowing that Max and Link were getting plenty of attention. It was the best thing in the entire world.

These last couple of weeks Elliot has been having a bit more trouble settling both during the day and at night. He went from sleeping really well and only feeding once or twice per night to staying awake from midnight to 6am and fussing a lot during the day. We've invested in a sling and a baby swing and have also started using a white noise app at night time. It seems to be working and I'm happy to just keep going with the flow and switching things up as his needs change. All in all I am so happy with all three of my boys (and my sweet husband), being a mum is the greatest thing on earth and I am very lucky to have three gorgeously healthy boys.

A Beautiful Girl's Room by Bubkess

Every now and then a gorgeous new room pops up in my instagram or facebook feed and makes my heart sing. This nursery from the very talented Deborah over at Bubkess is one such room. I could be a little biased because she's included one of my gold love cushions, but I don't believe so. I genuinely think this is my favourite kids room reveal that I have seen all year!

There are a whole lot more photos of this sweet space over on the Bubkess Blog, so many gorgeous details to pour over (along with a few fun DIYs)!!

Lincoln Loves Treasures (plus a Giveaway & Nursery photos!)

 ** This post is sponsored by Nuffnang and Treasures Nappies - All opinions belong to me, and all adorable chubby thighs belong to Lincoln**

A couple of weeks back I was asked if I would try Treasures Nappies, a thirty year old, leading New Zealand brand that has just hit the shelves here in Australia. Honestly, my first reaction was to say 'thanks, but no thanks'. I tried out a few brands of nappies when Max was little, found the ones I liked and have stuck with them ever since. I didn't even bother trying anything new when Link came along, I just stayed with what I knew. Then I got to thinking, soon I will have two babies in nappies... Which means double the cost (and double the poo...). I figured now was probably as good a time as any to give it a shot.

As I heard a little more about the nappies I actually started to get excited about giving them a try. My sister told me that she used (and loved them) when she was living back home in good old NZ and I found out they come in at a lower price point than my current brand. A recommendation and the chance to save money, win win!

So here's what happened when Link and I took them for a test run.

First Up - The Acid Test
The nappies arrived just before Link's naptime, so I figured that was as good a time as any to get started. I changed Link's cute little butt into one and put him down for his nap. Two hours later I heard him calling out 'Mum, Mum, Mum, Poo Poo, Poo Poo (as he does!). By the way it kills me that he's dropped the 'Mumma' and switched to 'Mum' so young. I'm sure Max was still calling me 'Mumma' when he was three! Anyway I went in to pick him up and was hit with a wave of poo so I knew it was going to be a bad one. And it was! It was one of those explosive poos that go all the way up the back, and the front of the nappy. Not great, but a perfect chance to see what Treasures could handle. I was seriously surprised (and impressed) when there was no leakage at all. Not one tiny bit. The entire mess was completely contained in the nappy. We were off to a very good start!

Round Two - The Overnighter
Feeling confident that the nappies could handle such a big poo, I decided to put them to the overnight test. Link still isn't a great sleeper and often wakes up in the night wanting a bottle. When he does I don't change him because it gets him too alert, I just feed him and get him back into bed as quickly as possible. Good for my sanity, but it does mean a really wet nappy in the morning. The two things I was hoping for would be that the nappy wouldn't leak (obviously), but also that there wouldn't be a really strong smell. Some of the other brands I tried with Max were terrible for that. When I went in and picked Link up in the morning the Treasures passed both with flying colours, they easily contained everything and there was no nasty all night wee smell. I've used them every night since and am loving them!

Last Up - The Pants Test (aka my baby has a big butt)
Link is a little chunky, in the good way that some babies are. He has deliciously chubby thighs and a big butt to match. Once you add in a bulky nappy some pants can be a bit of a tight squeeze, especially since a lot of his clothes are hand-me-downs and Max always looked best in slim fit clothes. As soon as I put the first Treasures on him I knew they were going to be a perfect fit. I actually found them to be a lot less bulky than our usual ones and I had no problems getting his pants on to his squishy little behind. Three out of three!

So even though I started out quite skeptical and very loyal to another brand I have definitely been won over. Their quality is on-par with the more expensive brands, they're cheaper and I actually like the look and feel of them more than our previous ones. Totally convinced! Plus they're stocked at IGA stores, which is super convenient for me as we have one just down the road from us.

Click the photo to visit the Treasures Page and find out more

Now here's the extra exciting part! I have a Treasures Nappies prize pack to give away valued at over $75. All you have to do is leave a comment (and your email address) sharing a personal tip on how to keep children sleeping through the night with the hashtag #sleepingtreasures. The winner will be drawn after 5pm AEST on 9 April 2014, announced on this post and contacted by email. Don't forget to share your experience with Treasures on facebook, twitter, instagram etc using #sleepingtreasures. Let's get the word out about these great little nappies!

{Click here for the full terms and conditions of the competition.}

Three Times the Charm

So the thing is, when you neglect your blog you may also neglect to share the most important news you've had all year. You may have already seen this seeing as I did post it on instagram and facebook, but just in case you missed it...

We're expecting baby number three!!

I'm 16 weeks along now and thankfully most of the first trimester symptoms have passed. To be fair though, the pregnancy itself has been a lot easier than last time. I think it's been more about having a baby and a preschooler to look after and a growing business to run that have left me super exhausted.

In the last couple of days I've started feeling the little peanut moving around, which I love so much! Each night when I go to bed I'll just lie there for a while hoping to feel it move. Oh and when typing that I automatically wrote 'him' and had to go back and change it to 'it'. Sean and I both automatically think of this one as another little boy, it's so hard to imagine anything else! A couple more weeks and we will know for sure though :).

Thinking it's a boy hasn't stopped me from daydreaming about decorating a girls room! I have so many ideas that if it is a girl I have no idea how I would actually narrow things done to one design! I'm sure I won't have to worry about that though, and with Sherry and Katie recently sharing two very gorgeous boys rooms I'm definitely not short of inspiration for another bouncing baby boy.

Max is excited about getting another brother (he refuses to believe that it could be a girl too!), part of the excitement comes from the fact that Link won't be the baby anymore because he can't wait for Lincoln to grow up enough to play with him. He asks me all the time when Link will stop being a baby and turn into a 'real kid'. Poor little Link has absolutely no idea what's going on. He will be about 21 months when the baby arrives and I'm not sure that he will really understand until he actually sees the baby come home with us. That's probably what I'm most nervous about, Link is still my baby and I don't want him to feel replaced.

All in all everything is great over here in the Riley household and I promise I will be back sooner rather than later with another post!

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