Gaining Confidence...

Being a parent has to be one of the most challenging things I have ever done. I have never doubted myself as much in my life as I did when I became Mummy. Am I doing the right thing? Are they too hot? Too cold? Should they be feeding more? Why are they crying? Are these nappies OK or should I be using the big brand ones? Can I do this?

As our mum journey continues whether you decide to have more children or not, you start to trust yourself a bit more. You realise that so far you've managed to keep the kid(s) alive with no major fuck-ups so you're not doing too badly at all really. You have more confidence in your decisions and you know which direction you're headed a lot better than those first few exhausting months. Other mums even come to you for advice because you've done it before, you now have experience.

I began this blog about a year and a half ago. I did it really as something for me, I'm a SAHM and that can be very overwhelming at times and I needed a release. Suddenly I was pregnant with my second child and my friends were coming to me for pregnancy and baby advice - and I had advice to give (I'm no guru but I've been there you know?). So I started Mum Still Standing as a way to vent my mum frustrations almost like writing in a diary but also and more importantly to show other mums that they're not alone. That it's alright to feel a bit shit sometimes, I do too, it's normal.

I had never been a creative person. Art was certainly not my strong point in school, textiles and sewing was something I enjoyed but I had to do extensive research to find what I wanted to make, thinking off the top of my head was not something I felt at all comfortable with - so with this in mind, the thought of laying myself bare, of showing a very honest and frank account of my life, being creative with writing and putting it out there for all to see was terrifying! And this was one of the reasons I chose to keep our names and faces anonymous, I didn't want people to know it was me and criticise. I didn't even tell some of my friends that I was doing it.

But with time that passes, just as you gain confidence and get stronger as a Mum, I also have gained confidence as a blogger. I get real joy out of this project of mine. Yeah a lot of the time I'm having a moan but that's because I'm talking amongst friends and I feel comfortable to do so. But I also try and share the good points about our lives as well and so I'd like to introduce you to us...

(Sort of - the other half isn't thrilled about putting the kids faces on the internet and I have to respect that, but it doesn't mean you can't see my ugly mug. Lucky you!)

So...Hi! I'm Liz, I'm 29 (eeek!) and I'm NOT married to Lee, still waiting for that ring. Lee is 35 and has his own business. We live in Bristol with the sprogs and you kind of know everything else about me - although if you have a question you've wanted to ask go ahead, I'm an open book so to speak. (sorry that's a dreadful pun!)

Had to go back a while to find a nice snap of us both together, this was me pre-third baby and slimmer!

The boys are Finley who's almost 4 and Louis who is 1 and a half (don't ask me how many months, I'd have to count them on a calendar). Finley goes to pre-school and loves it! We are looking at schools for him to start next year, scary! Louis goes to nursery and enjoys coming home covered in paint, he is much more of a rascal than Finley was but I think that's a second child thing. They are both super cuddly boys and I love that about them.

And The Baby is Ivy. She's now 4 months old and huge! Milk guzzler to say the least! It's been well blogged about that she was our surprise baby and although the small age gap between her and Louis (15 month gap) has brought challenges, she has slotted into our family like shes always been there and we all dote on her, especially Finley who wants to cuddle her all the time!

So that is us. No more The Man or The 3yr Old and so on - I was finding it hard to keep track of all that anyway!

Speak soon x