I normally start off these posts but saying how I can’t believe this month is over and it’s all gone so fast but you know what, October is a beast of a month for me and it’s felt like it this year.
There have been so many important events and celebrations but I’ve also had to deal with my anxiety and stress which lead to me being signed off work by my doctor which wasn’t a great place to find myself but the month is done and there have been some truly amazing moments that I’m grateful for.
Some of those special moments have made it into my favourites this month so let’s get cracking:
Amelia’s First Birthday – This one was obvious wasn’t it, how can I even talk about October without gushing about my little girl and her big special day. I’ve written a blog post all about it already (check it out here) so I won’t go into too much detail other than to say it was the most amazing day. So bloody stressful in the run up with only getting home with the food and balloons 15 minutes before the party started but once everyone arrived and I could relax and enjoy the day it was the best. Amelia had a great time, her little friends came to play with her and we ate the most delicious cake ever!
iPhone 8 Plus – This one is lucky to make it into my favourites because for a while I was so upset and disappointed in it. As mentioned in a previous post (here) this was actually my mum’s upgrade and she did me a huge favour by taking out a higher contract so that I could have the newer phone and finally get my hands on the portrait mode camera.
Only to find that my photos were terrible, blurry, fuzzy, noisy and dull. Honestly I’ve never been so disappointed in a product, I watched countless Youtube videos thinking I must be doing something wrong because everyone else’s photos looked so good. In the end I booked myself an appointment at the Apple Store with a Genius and guess what…my camera was faulty all along.
After a super quick side by side test the staff could see straight away that it was faulty and offered to replace the camera unit for me whilst we went for lunch. Now that I have it back and it’s working properly I am in love! Honestly I have all the heart eye emoji’s for this thing now. The camera is amazing, the portrait mode is working as advertised and I’m loving having the larger screen again.
I do need to give a mention to the new gold colour here too, in all the promo videos I kept saying “oh no, they’ve gotten rid of the pink (rose gold) so I don’t want it” but I must eat my words because this new gold is beautiful, it’s such a shame that we need to cover our phones these days to protect them because they are stunning on their own. I’m covering it though, god forbid a scratch…
I’ve even ordered myself a Popsocket, if you don’t know what this is then keep an eye on my Instagram account, I’ll be sharing it as soon as it arrives next week, to help me hold the phone and take photos without feeling like I’m going to drop it.
Achieving my pre-pregnancy weight – Oh yeah! This I am so excited about this and it’s a personal victory for me. Ever since Amelia was born I’ve wanted to lose the baby weight and did nothing about it. I kept saying to myself how great it would be to say that I lost the extra weight within the first year but when it reached August and I was still no where near getting started I thought it most likely wasn’t going to happen.
Then I decided to give calorie counting a try and as you’ll know from my previous posts and constant spamming on Instagram that I am loving calorie counting and it’s really working for me. It’s actually working the best out of every lifestyle/diet plan I have ever tried and as Amelia’s birthday approached and my weight continued to drop I actually started to believe I might do it.
The week before her birthday I needed to lose 2.5lbs with my last weigh day being the Saturday before her birthday on the Sunday. I wanted to do it so badly but didn’t want to be disappointed if I didn’t make it. I only went and did it! In fact I lose 3.5lbs that week and surpassed my little goal.
It’s not a thing I intend to brag about, I don’t care if someone else is still working on losing their baby weight, or isn’t working on it at all, it doesn’t matter if your baby is 4 months old or 4 years old. This is simply about me, being able to be proud of myself for having a goal and actually achieving it.
It also meant that I felt my best on Amelia’s birthday, the best I have felt since she was born and was able to wear a lovely new top and feel confident in my appearance.
Evie Michelle ‘Amazing Mama’ Bag – I’m such huge fan of Michelle and her little shop. I’ve bought bows for Amelia in the past and we love them, such great quality and amazing materials. I also love that she’s so supportive of us mamas too, and she’s taken it one step further recently with the launch of her new ‘amazing mama’ bag featuring her ever so popular and empowering message ‘you are amazing mama’. As soon as I saw the launch photo on Instagram I was on it, straight to her Etsy page to get me one and obviously I had to choose the pink print tag because I love pink.
It arrived super quick and for a second (only a second) I considered using it for a nappy bag or spare clothes bag but then the selfish part of me kicked in and I thought nope, I’m keeping this beauty all for myself. It’s massive and fits so much stuff inside, in fact I probably need to carry more things to make proper use of it but it’s a great excuse to take more ‘essentials’ with me.
I’m currently using mine for all the extras that go in my handbag; make up, hair brush, deodorant, pens, diary and a whole other bunch of random stuff I’m constantly rummaging around for. Now it’s all in one place and super easy to find.
The last time I saw the bags were sold out but you can follow EvieMichelle on Instagram for updates on stock or check out her Etsy page if you want one for yourself. P.S. you need one!
Amelia’s First Steps – She did it! Our little girl has started to walk. She will only walk between us at the moment but she’s getting more and more confident each day and we are able to move a little further apart and she will take a few more steps. I’m so proud of her and shared a couple of videos on Instagram of her first few wobbly stumbles.
As a new mum I get excited about every single milestone she reaches but I think this one might be the one I’m most excited about. I can’t wait for her to start walking and exploring. I can’t wait for us to be able to take her on little walks around the neighbourhood to practice or when she can toodle around and please herself. Eek, I can’t wait! Better baby proof the house a bit more as she’ll be unstoppable soon…
N.B. Excuse this terrible photo, it’s a still from a little video I took of her. Have you tried to snap a photo of a stumbling fumbling baby, it can’t be done!
So that’s me for October, as I said above it’s been one heck of a month with the most amazing highs but also some pretty sucky lows for me and I’m kind of glad to see the back of October and get into a fresh month.
Rachel xx
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