#LITTLELOVES: Introducing Poppy, the Easiest Strawberry Tart and Babywearing

This is my first LittleLoves blog post since giving birth to our second daughter, Poppy, on the 14th June 2017. You can read my birth story here if you missed it. It's been so incredible welcoming Poppy into our lives and adapting to life as a family of four. Isabella has become such a loving and fiercely protective older sister, always offering kisses and cuddles.

No time for this I'm afraid. I can't wait to have a long bath and read again, but I fear that won't be for a while yet.

Binky and JP's Baby: Born in Chelsea. As I've just given birth and been in that whole pregnancy/labour world I absolutely love watching anything newborn baby related. I've been catching up on One Born Every Minute and was so excited for Binky's new programme to start, especially as we were due at such similar times. I had to catch up with it the day after and timed watching it to perfection, as Poppy slept through the whole thing!

The squeaking of Poppy. I had completely forgotten that one of the nicknames we gave Isabella as a little baby was squeaky because of those cute newborn sounds she made. Poppy has inherited this nickname, as she's constantly squeaking away! I forgot how much time can pass just spent staring at your baby and having the Babybay* makes that possible.

Strawberry and Blueberry Flan. This is the easiest sweet treat to put together for guests or a family meal. It is also really affordable and has impressed everyone I've made it for recently (and that's a lot of people!). All it is is a shop bought flan base (around 90p), the Green's Red Quick Jel (85p for 2 pack), 25g sugar, 200ml water and fresh berries of your choice. It takes about 10 minutes to make and 20 minutes to set, so in half an hour you have a deliciously fresh, summery dessert that is best served with thick double cream.

Ergobaby 360 Baby Carrier*. I've pretty much lived in this for the past week, as it has been the easiest and most convenient way to carry Poppy around. I honestly can't speak highly enough of this baby carrier, the sun shield has been an essential recently because it not only protects Poppy from the sunshine, but it also provides some privacy for breastfeeding. I've managed to breastfeed wearing the 360 Baby Carrier quite a few times now, in fact every time I've been out wearing it I've needed to. It makes parenting two children by myself a lot easier, as we don't have to stop to feed Poppy and it means I have both hands free to help Isabella.

Poppy is now 3 weeks old, so I thought I would share a few pictures from the past few weeks. If you want to see more of photos then head over to my Instagram, as I share lots on there :) I can't believe Poppy's now been in our lives for 3 weeks, it's flown by and has been such a special experience. I forgot how magical it is welcoming a new member into your family and adapting to life as a bigger family. I've been on my own with Poppy and Isabella for about 5 days so far (you can read all about what my first day was like here) and it not been anywhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be. It's stressful at times, but so far has been manageable. Phew!

What have you been loving this week?

Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)

Helen x