A new royal start

Jessy103

You are amazing Jess! You do such a good job looking after your family, just don't forget to look after yourself too 🙂

QueenJess

Jessy103 said:

You are amazing Jess! You do such a good job looking after your family, just don't forget to look after yourself too 🙂

Thanks 🙂 I don't feel like that normally and just see all the things I haven't done... In any case, Inn still just in survival mode right now as DD is only 7 weeks old! Just waiting it out for better times!

QueenJess

No baking today and not quite as much next week as I've fed the freezer quite a bit recently. Got a list of stuff done today though, which made me feel better. It's  also amazing the impact another couple of hours of sleep has. The weekdays are a huge struggle sleep wise for me.

Sorted out loads of clothes that are too small for DD already and put the big batches onto eBay. There's more to do, but done loads now.  Even got the next size of clothes down from the attic and put half of them through the wash. Some I am selling as are very boyish.

After my big stock up pre DD, I had kitchen food all over the place. Finally got round to rearranging the cupboards and consolidating it all. So I can now see what I have.

Got round to moving the shelves around in DSs bedroom so he can fit all his junk on his shelves. Looks much tidier now.  Even had time to play with DS and DD happily watched DS play too. She loves him!

Had some mini croissants for breakfast this morning as a nice treat. Lunch was pesto pasta with butternut squash and peas, followed by frozen fruit and yogurt. Dinner was leftover roast beef stir-fry and pudding was the last of the pear and raspberry crumble.

DH also informed me today that he intends to overpay the whole 10% mortgage himself come October with the money he's been saving up. Fine with me as he is way behind on overpayments and will bring us much closer. I will be redirecting my money to pension and ISAs instead to maximise my options once my maternity leave is over.

QueenJess

No baking done this week (which feels weird!), although I'm planning on making an apple cake tomorrow to go with custard for dessert.  Had 10 mins spare yesterday and so reorganised the freezer quickly and can now see everything we have. Hoping now all the food is organised, I can eat out of the freezer/cupboards as much as possible next week for a cheap food week.

Got into a bit of a routine with DD (until she changes it obviously...). Been concentrating really hard on improving sleep at night so I can feel human again. Early days, but some progress is being made. It's slow, but tomorrow will be her first jabs so all bets are off. I remember DS feeling really ill after those. Expecting to do nothing apart from cuddle a baby for a few days...

Quite accidentally I discovered my favourite chocolate was on offer online, so I have bulk ordered it. Should last at least 3 months as long as I don't go a bit mad... I ordered some dark chocolate for DS too (strange child) as a treat. Should arrive tomorrow. Also got a bit extra to melt into car shapes for DH for father's Day.

As I haven't been baking, I've been trying to tidy and sort out the total mess that is DD's room and the "selling" room. Got packaging, boxes and things to sell everywhere! Now I've moved the spare food out and made a few more sales online; it is looking a bit better. I've also gone through more than half of DD's clothes rearranging and listing online etc. Looks so much better! Hoping to be up to date with it by the end of June maybe. Just investigating my local buy nothing group now to get rid of some stuff not worth selling, but in good condition. Binned absolutely nothing, which is my aim. Everything going to a good home.

I would love to get into the attic and have a purge/sort out, but it's too soon for that. Maybe I will feel up to it in a few months.

Lunch today will be salmon and cream cheese bagels and frozen fruit for afters. Dinner is jacket potato and vegan chilli (beans for DS), with fruit, yogurt and meringue for after. 

Already pre prepared the pudding in glasses for later, tidied, put washing on and listed 3 bundles of clothes on eBay this morning. Time for a rest 🙂

Trying to be very restrained money wise and spend very little to get the joint account back in order. It's not too bad at the moment and only unexpected spends recently was the chocolate and I bought myself a book. Crossing my fingers that I can reach my target for this month!

savingholmes

You are doing amazing

QueenJess

Vaccinations were not fun as expected. DD did silent screaming and had to be poked because she went bright red and forgot to breathe. She "silently" screamed so loud that she burst some blood vessels in her eye. All forgotten and happy about 60s later.

She was feeling unwell and is over it now. Had so little sleep looking after her that I started to hallucinate at one point 😬. Going back to trying to get her to sleep not on a person at night now. Keep hoping it will work. Trying the cot rammed right up against the bed tonight so she can see me right there. Hopefully that will help.

Feeling a bit rubbish as I just don't spend enough time with DS and he is brilliant about it (which makes me feel worse). Had a little time today where DS played with DD and even stroked her hair and gave her cuddles! I would resent her if I was him, but he seems to take it in his stride. Today out of the blue he told me I was really kind and am his hero! 😍😭 He also told me he loved the lunches I made him this weekend and he wants me to do all the cooking. Must be doing ok then?!

Three more things sold today, so I will package them up tomorrow. Also lots of interest for something I posted up on my local buy nothing group. Making some really good progress with the piles of stuff now! 

jennystarpepper

Laughing at your comment about DS and his like of dark chocolate, he sounds like a wonderful little boy.   Hope your DD eye is on the mend soon.  

I've seen your other comment about paying for help with sleeping, (hope it was you and i'm not going daft).  My sister's local GP had a sleep clinic to help with this, we are talking about 20 years ago, but it just made me think about things we have lost / not being funded which are a helpline for lots of people.  Nothing worse than not having enough sleep, have you looked at anything that can be 'smelly' to help with sleep.... not something i've tried, but have seen things which are supposed to help / aid sleep?

themadvix

QueenJess said:

Feeling a bit rubbish as I just don't spend enough time with DS and he is brilliant about it (which makes me feel worse). Had a little time today where DS played with DD and even stroked her hair and gave her cuddles! I would resent her if I was him, but he seems to take it in his stride. Today out of the blue he told me I was really kind and am his hero! 😍😭 He also told me he loved the lunches I made him this weekend and he wants me to do all the cooking. Must be doing ok then?!

You are doing better than OK by the sound of it! He sounds like a wonderful little boy! You're doing the best you can and these days are so hard - you will get through it and there will be time to play with DS. DD is still really tiny - be kind to yourself. x

QueenJess

jennystarpepper said:

Laughing at your comment about DS and his like of dark chocolate, he sounds like a wonderful little boy.   Hope your DD eye is on the mend soon.  

I've seen your other comment about paying for help with sleeping, (hope it was you and i'm not going daft).  My sister's local GP had a sleep clinic to help with this, we are talking about 20 years ago, but it just made me think about things we have lost / not being funded which are a helpline for lots of people.  Nothing worse than not having enough sleep, have you looked at anything that can be 'smelly' to help with sleep.... not something i've tried, but have seen things which are supposed to help / aid sleep?

I am first going through all the things I was told for DS as DD is the polar opposite in everything, so they might work! Then will have to branch out to other things... 

Apparently DD is in a leap at the moment so she's supposed to be more fussy. Probably won't help!

I did use a sleep expert with DS as he was a complete nightmare and had very severe reflux. Was the best money I ever spent! He also had trouble feeding which turned out to be a tongue tie. The only reason that every got sorted and fixed was due to local charities (which I now pay into) - I was in a terrible state and would have ended up with depression without them.  It feels weird that the NHS tell you to use them. As you say - why isn't that funded?

QueenJess

Been a busy week of baking to use up lots of things. Made an apple and raisin cake, roasted veg (with harrisa and cumin seeds for lunches and lots more for the freezer), made chocolate Tiffin, candied some orange peel I save in the freezer then used it with cinnamon and raisins to go into a loaf. Used the leftover syrup from the candied peel to make an orange drizzle cake.

Was making great progress on reducing the joint account debt and was beating my target. But didn't realise we had to put down a refundable deposit for DDs nursery even though she's doesn't go until Jan. So right back where I started again 🤦🏼‍♀️. Bit depressing when I tried so hard. Need to get rid of this debt and build a bit more space into the budget.

I am waiting for DD to drop a feed or go for longer between feeds at night. I think that will vastly improve the sleep situation.  There is one in the night I thought she might drop as it's only a quick snack, but she has decided to go a bit longer during the day instead 🤦🏼‍♀️. She likes to keep me guessing...