A sneak peak of our playroom

About a month ago I shared our nursery, so I thought it about time I also shared our playroom it's fast becoming one of my favourite rooms in the house.

We wanted to create a space that could be played in, but would also transition into a bedroom easily once our little/s are big enough. Luckily we have quite a large space to play with so have been making the most of it and we're really happy with the progress. Approximately 90% of the room is Ikea, but then who doesn't love Ikea?

We love hanging out in this space and planning out the future, thinking about all the little indoor adventures we're going to have - because let's be honest the British weather means we'll have a lot of indoor time in the years to come.
I've loved decorating this room, and I have to admit Pinterest has really inspired many elements here (you can see my playroom board here).

^^turns out our sofa bed from Ikea is actually quite comfy, a total bargain and fab for sleepovers. The cats also seem to like it.^^

Homely dinners at the Balmoral Inn Beefeater

I'm a definite food lover, and I really love homely pub-grub style foods, nothing to complicated, just tasty and filling! When we were recently invited to review the newly re-furbed Balmoral, Beefeater* in Southampton I was really excited as it brought back memories of my childhood family trips to Beefeater's for special occasions. We always went to our local one for big birthdays or large family get together's and we always had an amazing time.

We went along on the Friday before Henry was born (unbeknownst to us at the time, I was actually already in pre-labour!) for our last dinner out as a two.

The restaurant has the cutest theme, obviously being a Beefeater, they focus on beef and cows, but it's in a family pub/farm kind of style which I love. Check out the awesome cow cuts board!! The decor all round was like a modern day country pub which I loved.

PARENTING: Welcome to the world Henry

I've finally got my bum in gear enough to share the news here....on the 12th June 2016 at 10:28 my little baby boy of 6lb 6oz entered the world at the New Forest Birth Centre in Hampshire.
Meet Henry Gordon Ian Bradford.

He arrived 8 days early much to our surprise, but I'll share details on that in a blog post in the future. For now we're enjoying that newborn smell and getting our fill of cuddles and sleep.
We're so in love!!

BABY: A late pregnancy update - weeks 37 & 38

I wrote this post at the beginning of week 38 with no idea that at 38+6 I'd give birth to my gorgeous baby boy Henry. I'm going to keep the copy as I intended so it's as open and honest as possible!!

I honestly can't believe I'm 39 weeks pregnant this week (on publishing - I started writing this post at 38 weeks). I know the end is in sight, yet it still doesn't really feel completely real.
Even with increased braxton hicks it still isn't completely in my head that I'm going to give birth soon, like in a maximum of four weeks!

BABY: What's inside my hospital bags

We're getting so close to Bee's arrival and we are ready and waiting!!
As with many expectant parent's we are planning on a hospital birth (at home just sounds like extra hard work) so have been busily pulling together hospital bags for myself and Bee.

Personally I've loved ready other people's hints and tips on what they have packed to take with them, so hope that anyone reading will also find this useful.

So a bit about my birth plan (yes I know it could very well completely change on the day, but always nice to have a plan if you can). I'm hoping for a water birth at the New Forest Birth Centre, or at the very least spending some time in the birthing pool as I love being in water. I want to at least try and do it as naturally as I physically can with as little intervention as possible (fingers crossed guys and gals).

So this of course has added to what we needed in our hospital bag.
We've got two bags to keep us organised and make life easier, one for me - the wheeled mini suitcase, and our changing bag, for Bee's stuff.