FAVOURITES: August 2015

 
I can't believe we've already come to the end of August - where was the summer? Here's to hoping that September offers us some sunshine. August has been a lovely relaxing month filled with meeting friends, family get togethers and watching Isabella grow into a little human being.
I've got a real mixture of favourites this month, so here are my favourite things/moments of August...

1) Choc Shot - This stuff is seriously incredible. I had been eyeing it up for months but the £3.50 price tag was putting me off. I finally gave in and bought it a couple of weeks ago and have been having it everyday since! If you're not familiar with what Choc Shot is it's a chocolate flavoured hot chocolate sauce that is only 14 calories per teaspoon. You don't have to just use it as hot chocolate, it's so versatile. I've been having it on fruit and with ice-cream, but you could also have it with pancakes, porridge - anything really! 

2) Preparing for weaning - I'm so excited and nervous to start the weaning process with Isabella. It all seems so overwhelming with lots of different advice and guidelines out there. At the end of September/early October we are going to start weaning Isabella as she will be around 6 months old. I'm quite an organised person, so I've enjoyed writing her a meal plan for the different fruit/vegetable purees she's going to have over the first couple of weeks. I'm sure the plan will go out of the window after a day or two but having a plan is helping me feel like I know what I'm doing. 

3) BT Video Baby Monitor 7500 Lightshow - This month saw Isabella move into her own room. Gulp. I was not ready for this but it was unfair on her, the moses basket was far too small. The first night was hard, there were tears, but it's been fine ever since. I have been so thankful that we have this video baby monitor - the image quality is really clear, it has a zoom feature and the screen is big enough to see exactly what Isabella is doing. It's given me a great peace of mind during the transition to her own room.

4) Sweet and Salty Popcorn - I've been trying to snack less throughout the day, I'm such a grazer. Biscuits have been banned from our house, so to have that sweet treat I've been enjoying sweet and salty popcorn. My favourite is the Tryells Poshcorn, the balance between salt and sugar is perfect.

5) Great British Menu - Evening tv has been pretty rubbish over the summer, but as we are approaching autumn there are finally some good things to watch! I love a good cooking programme, so watching Great British Menu has been inspiring and seriously made me want to have a good cooking session. Another favourite tv programme this month is Great British Bake Off - I watch the same episode about three times throughout the week! #needtogetoutmore

6) Aussie Mega Shampoo - For years I've been in a shampoo rut, always buying the same one and not being happy with how my hair felt. So when my husband nipped into Tesco for my shampoo (while I feed Isabella in the car - oh the glamorous life of parents) I was faced with a bottle of Aussie Mega Shampoo. Having never tried anything from the Aussie range before I didn't know what to expect, but I'm in love. It made my hair feel so refreshed and soft - everything I wanted a shampoo to do. I'm so thankful my husband picked up this shampoo and not my usual one!

7) Isabella's 4 month check - This isn't a 'thing' instead more of an 'experience'. Our last Health Visitor appointment was when Isabella was 12 weeks old and she's now 21 weeks, so it had been a while! I was so excited to get her weighed and generally check over - I couldn't believe how much she now weighs...15lb 10ozs! Where's my 8lb 3ozs little baby gone?! We also had a chat about weaning, as that's just around the corner - scary stuff. 

8) Emma Bridgewater Photo Albums - When Isabella was born I was determined to not only take lots of photo's but also get them printed and put into photo albums. It's so easy to take photo's nowadays that we so rarely actually get around to printing them off and putting them into photo albums. This is such a shame in my opinion, I love looking through my childhood photo albums and I wanted the same for Isabella. These Emma Bridgewater photo albums from Boots are so pretty and you can quickly slide the photo's into the spaces. There's even a space to write next to each photograph. So far I've kept up to date with Isabella's photo albums - during August alone I put over 600 photos into her albums!

9) Cable & Cotton - These string fairy lights aren't new to us but had been sitting in a box since we moved house back in December! While doing a bit of sorting I rediscovered them and have loved having them around the fireplace. I like the fact that they look pretty during the day and night, unlike standard fairy lights.

10) YouTube - Maternity leave is filled with a lot of 'time', some of which I fill with watching YouTube videos. They are quick to watch and often very entertaining! Some of my favourite channels are... The Michalaks, Lilmisschickas, Sarah Willox Knott, Mrs Meldrum, ViviannaDoesMakeup, Lily Pebbles, Coppergardenx, Alice and Amelia New Young Mum, Niomi Smart, Fleur DeForce, Dolly bow bow Murnane, Jacyln Hill, Kerry Dyer, HelloOctoberxo and EmilyJack andIndiana.  

What have been your favourite things this month?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x