I’m very excited to say we are getting ready to bring a new bub into our lives in the next few months. I fell pregnant alot sooner than expected, but I’m definitely not complaining! So now I’m organising things for the wedding (though most are done now) as well as thinking about everything we’ll need for the baby.

My gosh I had no idea how many things you need to buy for a baby – just check out this list of baby registry essentials at first-time-mama that I’m using to tick of what I need and create my registry for the baby shower. It sure is going to be expensive, but it’s kind of fun too. And this newborn essentials list isn’t even that big compared to some out there – the first one I came across had a tonne of things listed as ‘essentials’ that are clearly un-necessary, like a wipes warmer!?!?

Now I wasn’t totally clueless about what I’d need to buy before doing my research, like I knew I’d need a stroller, crib, car seat, bouncer, bottles etc. – but I didn’t know that there’s about 5 different configurations and a heap of really good strollers for newborns, not to mention the variations and things you need to look for in other products. Seriously, I thought I’d just go and choose one that looks good and fits the budget. The baby products world really seems a little crazy, there is a product for just about everything to make your life easier which can make getting down to the things you really need a bit more difficult.

If any of you are preparing for a baby and are feeling a little overwhelmed, my best advice is to go and get the check list I mentioned earlier and read the guides at first-time-mama.com!

Well that’s my little rant for now about baby essentials, I’m sure there’ll be plenty more over the coming months!

The wedding is getting closer now, and it’s time to start looking for our wedding rings. My fiance is an avid hunter, and he wants to have a camo themed wedding. My answer to that was absolutely not, but I do want to try and incorporate a little bit of camo into the wedding in a tasteful way. And, he wants a camo print wedding ring – now I don’t love the idea but he will be the one wearing it so it’s not really up to me to put my foot down on that one.

Not sure if he was joking, but he did try to get me to buy one of these pink bands for women on camoweddingguide.com – to that I said an absolute no way!

I’m more interested in a thin platinum wedding band with small diamonds all the way around from somewhere like bluenile to compliment by gorgeous engagement ring that he picked out so well!

It’s funny that the whole wedding day really comes down to the vows, and actually getting married, and the rings we will wear for life will symbolise that, yet it’s so easy to get caught up in all the other fun and frivolous things to plan for the day like the wedding dress, the bridesmaids dresses, the flowers, the invitiations, the entertainment, the photographer and the list goes on. Picking a wedding ring hasn’t really been given the attention I’ve paid to these other areas, so it does feel a little rushed organising them this close to the big day.

Why is it taking me so long to pick my wedding ring?

I think the other reason why I’ve put it off is that I couldn’t find anything I liked in local stores so I’ll more than likely be buying online from bluenile. While they have a great range and really good photos and other info to help make the choice, I am still a little nervous about getting the purchase right. I have made some shocking purchases online in the past, but I guess they didn’t get the same level of research that I’m putting into finding the right wedding band – after all, I will be wearing it for life so it has to be just right.

So wish me luck!

With all the extra commitments I’ve added to my life recently (wedding planning being the main one!) I’m finding it harder and harder to keep up with the house work and cleaning as well as dedicate enough time to these new commitments.

I’ve always taken pride in having a nice clean house – maybe I even strive for the sort of perfection you see in the house featured places like better homes and gardens? Well my house doesn’t quite look like them, but keeping it clean and tidy is a must for me! I find I can’t relax, or really get much done with a messy, dirty house. So I’ve hired a cleaner to take care of these things around the house for me. Namely, cleaning the bathrooms, mopping and vacuuming the floors and dusting mainly – if you are thinking of having your house cleaned for you once a week, check out this great house cleaner in Brisbane who I have had cleaning my house for the past month.

I have to say I was a little hesitant at getting someone in, you know, having a stranger in my house, seeing everything I have. I enquired with a number of places before I settled on Supreme Cleaning. Most were agencies, but I preferred being able to have an independent cleaner. That way I know that the same person will be here each week, and I can get to know them and they can get to know how I like things to be done. It’s also nice to support someone who is making a living on their own, rather than the low pay I imagine they earn through cleaning service agencies.

It’s been such a huge help and relief, I’ve stopped stressing about the place being messy, or trying to find enough time to do everything. As much as I like to think I can do EVERYTHING, there’s only so many hours in a day. Hiring a cleaner has been one of the best decisions I’ve made recently.

I confess – I am a total Pinterest addict! I started using it about 2 years ago now, and have been using it on and off since then. With the wedding planning, I’ve been using it an awful lot lately. I’ve come across a heap of awesome hair and makeup tutorials – they’re really great inspiratin to try something different with my look for once.

This is one of my favourite makeup boards – it’s full of eyeshadow tutorials showing you exactly how to achieve the look on your own.

Here’s to a refreshed hair, beauty and cosmetic routine thanks to Pinterest!

And here’s a good tutorial I found on Youtube:

If you’ve ever planned a wedding, I’m sure you can relate to the fact that for the year or however long you have leading up to the big day, wedding planning pretty much consumes your life. I personally quite enjoy it, mostly collecting all the pretty images for ideas and inspiration. Pinterest has definitely become by best friend for collecting all these images and discovering new wedding sites.

Now I do have a maid of honor, and the MOH would normally help out with lots of the organisation, particularly for the bridesmaids. But my MOH is even busier than I am at the moment, she studies as well as working full time so I completely understand that she doesn’t have time on her hands to help out much. We actually started talking about speeches for the reception the other night, neither of us are much good at public speaking. I guess it’s also not right for me to help her out with her maid of honor toast, I just want her to say what comes from the heart. I did point her in the direction of the-maid-of-honor.com for some help with it. Hopefully she’ll get some inspiration for the bachelorette party there too!

Speaking of writing, I’m starting to think about my vows. We’ve decided to write our own, and while I know the sorts of things I want to say and exactly how I feel, it’s really difficult to put it all down onto paper. Oh and I know I’ll cry when I say them, I can’t help it! I’m getting so excited just thinking about being at the altar!

I can promise you there’ll be lots more posts here about my wedding, as I said, it really is consuming my life at the moment. Off I go back to Pinterest for more beautiful images <3