Are we too busy to notice the beautiful things in life?

Ethan and I went to Madrid this weekend in celebration of his birthday. We only saw a very small amount of the city but it was amazing, the buildings are beautiful and the plazas (squares) were filled with entertainers like in London which was such fun!

With the heat and being 35 weeks pregnant, we took the occasional little break to sit down and rest our (my) tired feet. Whilst walking around the city we came across a group of four men playing the violin, keyboard, cello and double base. Together they played well known classical pieces which sounded beautiful so we decided we would have one of our little breaks and enjoy the music. We ended up staying for over an hour! (We probably would have stayed longer but they finished playing).

While we were enjoying the music Ethan and I also watched the different people that went by and both noticed something interesting. There were lots of families with young children that walked past and almost every time a young child would walk past they would slow down and only turned away from the musicians once their necks could not turn back enough to see them. Often however, the parents didn't seem to notice the child's reaction, let alone notice the music. This was the same for the majority of adults, they didn't seem to notice the beautiful music at all as they were too busy getting on with what they were doing (shopping for most people). The children, though being very young (often around 2 or 3) seemed to notice that something beautiful was being created by those musicians.

The difference between the children and adults got me thinking, I wonder if we allow ourselves to be so busy that we don't appreciate the beautiful things that our around us. Ethan and I were in no rush and the young children were not concerned about quickly going from one shop to the next. There were also a number of older people who would stop and listen for a while. 

I wonder if the busy lives that we lead in this generation have caused us to 'tune out' the beautiful things that the world has to offer, particularly with the distractions of mobile phones etc. I wonder if we have taught ourselves to get on with our hectic lifestyles rather than to slow down and be able to open our eyes and ears to all the beautiful things that we are surrounded by but don't let ourselves appreciate. I wonder what things I've missed out on that could have enriched my life just that little bit more because I was too 'busy' to take the time to notice it. It reminds me of the article I read* about a professional violinist who busked in disguise in a busy American metro. Normally people would pay a lot of money to attend his concerts, however out of the 1100 people that walked past him only 7 stopped to listen to this FREE performance. I bet there were a good few people who kicked themselves for not stopping to listen to him once it came out in the papers. It just goes to show what we miss out on when rush from one thing to the next. I know I'm going to try and take life a little slower (or maybe stay taking it slow, pregnancy seems to do the slowing down for you) and let myself appreciate the beautiful things the world has to offer :) 

* this is the article http://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2007/apr/18/joshuabellnoordinarybusker

This is a big post office apparently!

Us enjoying the music

Baby on a budget - maternity clothes

I don't like spending money on clothes, they always seem far more expensive than they're actually worth which is why a lot of my clothes are things that I've bought in sales. Call me cheap but there is something very satisfying about knowing that some of your favourite outfits cost less than someone else paid for just a top.

So pregnancy and a growing belly potentially posed a problem for me as maternity clothes are even more expensive than regular clothes yet I'm only going to wear them for like 6 months! However over the last 8 months of being pregnant I've discovered ways of having clothes that fit without having to break the bank, so I thought I'd share them :) 

1. Just because its not a maternity item doesn't mean you can't wear it whilst pregnant. 

In fact the majority of my every day clothes that I have worn throughout being pregnant have been clothes I already owned that happen to accommodate a big bump (right now I'm wearing all normal clothes just with the addition of a belly band). I actually haven't bought a single maternity specific top, although I did buy a top that was a slightly bigger size that I saw in a sale, I didn't need it but it was pretty :) 

Again, no maternity clothes, only a
belly band. I've the had shorts since
 I was about 14!

None of these are maternity clothes, just stretchy!

2. The essentials
In my opinion there are only a couple of items of clothing you really need in maternity size. The first is a belly band, it meant I could wear any of my normal trousers whilst having a big bump, and I'm still using it now at 8 months pregnant! (There is also something very liberating about walking round with your trousers undone and no one else knowing...). That said, a pair of maternity trousers or two are definitely nice to have, they are so comfy! With being pregnant over summer and in Spain I decided pretty quickly that I would need some cooler clothes than trousers (we've been in Spain nearly 3 weeks and I've only worn trousers twice for midwife appointments, (I didn't fancy lifting up a dress). So for me, and anyone else pregnant when it's hot, my essentials have been a couple of dresses, but again these don't have to break the bank if you check out point 3. Likewise if I was pregnant during winter a jumper or two would probably be my essential rather than dresses. I also thought I'd need things like a maternity swimming costume, turns out my regular one still fits fine (it's just a bit more effort getting on and off!). Another VERY important essential is a couple of maternity bras, my ribs would have died without them and they are 100x more comfortable than underwire bras when pregnant! 

Maternity dress, turns out I don't have a good photo of my favourite dress.

3. Maternity clothing still have sales! 

My two favourite maternity dresses I bought in the sale for literally a quarter of the price they should have been! I also got my favourite maternity trousers in the sale too. The only difficulty with shopping in the sale is that they are very time specific, which is where a little forward thinking can come in handy. We started 'trying to conceive' in January, the same time a all the big sales, so I thought why not have a look at some maternity things in which I found my 2 favourite dresses. There is always the risk of buying things in advance that you'll go off them or you'll buy more than you need etc. I guess it's all a matter of being realistic about what you'll need and not going crazy just because its a sale.

Maternity dress that was in the sale

Favourite maternity trousers for £10! (not that you can really see them very well)

4. You don't have to get maternity specific clothes.

With many clothes, particularly tops, you can just get a bigger size than your pre-pregnancy size and they fit over your bump a treat whist costing a fraction of the price! 

Admittedly before writing the post I thought I had more points than just 4, but they are 4 quite useful points in my opinion. They just go to show that being pregnant doesn't have to cost the earth. In a few months time I may do another 'Baby on a budget' about things you need to buy in preparation for a baby as that is something that people go way over the top with when they don't need to, however I figured I should probably wait until baby dragon arrives otherwise I will probably end up adding to it or changing it slightly. So you have that to look forward too! ;) 

Sleep!

Over the last couple of weeks I think I have given the impression that I dislike being pregnant. Obviously it isn't quite a comfortable as not being pregnant, but I don't actually dislike it. I think it's treated me very kindly so far in all aspects such as not being sick, not having weird cravings, not being too achey etc. bar one... Sleep!

The problem is sleep seems to then affect all aspects of life. Since the beginning of summer when we had the long beautiful heat wave in the UK I think I've averaged about 5 or 6 hours sleep a night, which is a bit less than I'd like really. For some reason as soon as my feet get hot (which is VERY easily) I can't sleep, no matter how tired I am.

So being in Spain has provided some sleeping issues. I now count falling asleep at 3am a goodnight sleep, there is definitely something wrong with that! In the last week I had 4 hours sleep, followed by 3, which turns out is not enough to keep you emotionally stable... I ended up spending the next two days in tears over anything, often for no reason at all which was quite confusing for Ethan!

The good news is my body seems to have adapted to getting 5 hours sleep a night and I actually function pretty happily and normally the next day on it. So I figure that as frustrating and tiring the non sleeping is, I am getting good practice for when baby dragon arrives. And who knows, maybe I'll actually get slightly more sleep when he arrives because my hot-feet-that-keep-you-awake-all-night will hopefully die down once I'm not pregnant, so although I'll be waking up at all times of the night I might actually fall asleep between feeds etc! (Although I can admit now that it is quite a high hope thinking I may get more sleep...)

Resting on the beach seems a reasonable substitute for lack of sleep during the night!

Pregnancy glow? I'm not so convinced...

Everyone always talks about this pregnancy glow where your hair looks thick and shiney and your skin is glowing. It's a time when you embrace the natural wonders of being female as your body changes beautifully to create a new life.

However I don't feel like that. My feet ache all the time and I'm constantly exhausted as I can't sleep during the night. I can't even put my shoes on properly as I can hardly bend to reach my toes! I definitely don't feel like I'm glowing in anyway.

We've been making the most of the beautiful sunshine here by going to the beach quite a lot, which I realised led me to have a 'pregnant lady moment' yesterday. This involved me having a little break down over the fact that I felt like a beached whale compared to the rest of the world, particularly because literally all the Spanish females could be swimwear models (bar the old ladies that sunbathe topless) then there is me with my big belly who can't even lay on the beach properly!

After my little break down Ethan reassured me wonderfully but it did make me decide that pregnancy really doesn't feel as beautiful and wonderful a people like to claim it is. Since being pregnant I've put a couple of photos online of my bump in which people have said I look great, glowing etc. but in reality that is 3 photos to cover 7 and a half months. We've taken a lot more photos of me and my bump and I look as rough as I feel in them! Yes it's a miracle, but not an attractive feeling one.

This is more how I feel!

This isn't how pregnancy feels

Vivo en Espana

We are in Spain!! It was so weird getting on the plane knowing the next time we will be in the UK (Christmas) we will have a little baby with us!

Our apartment
 Is amazing! We knew it was going to be quite big from online but it's about triple the size of our old flat in Cardiff! But it's perfect because it means when our family (and friends) come to stay with us there is plenty of room :) For the last 4 months we have been nomads basically, moving from one place to another and staying with other people and so it is SO nice being able to have our own space again and be able to actually unpack our belongings :) The 4 flights of stairs haven't been half as bad as I was expecting either. I thought I would have to have a break half way up but it turns out they really aren't that bad, although you can feel they are good for the thighs...

Heat + pregnancy is not the best
It is still so warm here, particularly as the heat seems to rise up to our flat! For some reason the heat seems to make my feet really restless at night which keeps me awake, this was bad enough in the UK heat let alone Spanish heat! However I discovered if I go to bed with a wet towel over my feet I manage to fall asleep after a while. I've also discovered I have sweat glands in places I never knew existed... Ethan and I often go for walks in the evening and by the time we're back having scaled the 4 flights of stairs you feel like you've just been swimming! (Nice...). The heat has also made my feet swell a little bit which is a strange feeling. But other than that the temperature is awesome! We went to the beach on Saturday and it was so nice to be able to relax in the sun and the sea was such a good temperature with amazing waves!

The beach! (well next to it as you can tell from the rather unclothed man...)

The language
I had a very gentle ease into the language as we were picked up from the airport by a Ukrainian man who didn't speak Spanish too well so he spoke quite slowly and used words that I could understand so I was feeling quite confident in my understanding of Spanish. However, we went to church yesterday and they spoke SO fast! All their words blurred into one pretty much. But that's just something to get use to, I'll be fluent in no time ;)

Baby Dragon
We managed to bring almost everything over, car seat, carry cot, 0-3 month clothes etc through a company Send My Bags which was SO much cheaper than taking it all as luggage on the plane. The boxes were also padded out with nappies from the gorgeous nappy cake that Amber made! (Check out the baby shower post for pictures). We were also able to get all our health care sorted today without any problems at all which was a relief! We are now registered at a Health Center (like a GP Surgery) and met with the midwives who gave us an appointment for an antenatal check up straight away! The people were all so lovely and made everything very straight forward and easy. They also said the hospital that we come under to give birth is the best one in Valencia, so it's all looking pretty good so far! :)

My bump as of today, 32 weeks and 3 days