you'd think the 30 day discipline challenge would've been enough to keep mummy busy for the next few weeks - but what can I say? she's a sucker for punishment! now that she's primarily at home she seemed to be  wistfully looking back at pix of herself back when she was working in an office and longing to get back into a pair of heels and dress up. thank heavens she snapped out of it & decided to embrace the season of life she's in!after all, she has school runs to look good for - i do not need her dragging my rep down!  she spied a 10x10 challenge on one of her favourite blogs - Style Bee - and decided to do it! Below are the 10 items she picked for this challenge. she went for items she already loves wearing and that should work well together, giving a polished but authentic school run look. well..that's the aim anyway!



1. Toffee Blazer available here  2. Black Knitted Top similar here, here and here; maternity option here  3. Denim Shirt similar here , here and maternity option here 4. Basic White Tee similar here, maternity options here and here 5. Breton Stripe Top similar here, here and maternity options here, here and here 6. Silk Blouse alternative here, maternity option here 7. Skinny Jeans available here , similar maternity option here  8. Colour Block Sandals similar here  or here  9. Black Ponyskin Lace Up Loafers similar here 10. Black Ankle Grazer Pants similar here, here, here and maternity options here and here
she's busy narrowing down her winter wardrobe wishlist after realising she was working with her budget, not the Duchess of Cambridge's. this has served as a really great starting point for her, helping her to highlight the gaps she has in her day to day closet. i don't know about you, but I am tired of hearing her  "I have nothing to wear" dramas whilst i stare into a closet full of "stuff"! over the next few days i'll be sharing with you the looks she managed to create from her capsule closet of 10 items!

(mummy says sorry the image is a bit rubbish - she spent ages pulling a collage together on photoshop only for it to be auto-resized by this blog template!! Arrgh!! don't worry mummy, i'll be sure to post individual items as i post each outfit!)


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Nothing breaks up a tense moment better than your kid saying the craziest thing. This is the latest in the MH-isms we have had the joy of experiencing over the last few months! Enjoy!

Mummy: Morayo-Hope, please eat all the food on your plate.
Morayo-Hope: Do I like chicken mummy?
Mummy: You absolutely love chicken!
Morayo-Hope: Oh yes, I do! Hmm...but I mean do I like this particular chicken?
Mummy: You're 3! Where did you learn about "particular"!!

footnote: I am totally enjoying this current phase of her asking me if she likes something! Bring out every vegetable and fruit under the sun and she'll eat it as long as i enthusiastically proclaim her undying love for it. 







Me: Morayo-Hope! Please be careful!
MH: But I am be carefulling!



Back home after an outing & someone refuses to take their dress off before settling down to Topsy & Tim.

MH: Oh dear mummy I spilt some red juice on my new white dress
Me: **Blinks**
MH: It's ok mummy, we can just use Vanish Oxy Action
Me: **Double Blinks** **Bursts out Laughing** (how can you get mad?)

Out Grocery Shopping

MH: What's next on the list mummy?
Me: We need to get some spray for cleaning the table & kitchen counters.
MH: Ah, ok. We better get Dettol Power & Pure Advance.
Me: **Double Blinks** **Bursts out Laughing**  No more Tiny Pop for you young lady! You are an advertisers dream!
**Proceeds to check out Dettol Power & Pure Advance - it's on offer, it's in the basket, it's in the house, well done Dettol marketing dept!**





MH: wake up mummy, it's morning time
Me: no
MH: mummy, it's morning time and i need my breakfast
Me: my back really hurts (because you insist on sleeping in our bed halfway through the night & i end up sleeping in a yoga pose) - daddy is downstairs, he can make you breakfast.
MH: oh dear mummy. what am i going to do with you?
Me: why?
MH: well, because your back hurts and i just love you so much and i just want to play with you....
Me: **sits up too fast and worsens back pain but ignores it in light of the words just pronounced**  oh MH you are such a darling & i love you too! let's go downstairs then.

so having now secured our house, mummy and daddy eagerly anticipated move in day. daddy had to go abroad with work the day we picked up the keys and mummy was left to survey the reality of what they had just purchased, blinkers removed. it was as she wandered room to room that she realised the house wasn't quite in move-in state.

the walls would definitely need painting for a start. then there was the bathroom. my mummy has a peculiar brand of ocd when it comes to bathrooms - i believe it is still being investigated by top neuro scientists. she took one look at the bathroom and decided it would have to disappear faster than Houdini.









she thought she might have an uphill battle convincing my daddy - so she left it. When he got back from his business trip and looked around his first comment was "that bathroom must go." Mummy danced, did a crazy clap and booked the plumber who had given her a good quote.  It would be done in a week - hooplah!
she speedily ordered the necessary items from here. the budget was tight so this was no time for fantasising about the claw foot bath tub of her dreams. the bathtub had to double up as a shower due to space restrictions. they found an ideal suite within the price range & mummy was already picturing herself relaxing in the bathroom! fast forward 5 weeks, we moved our stuff into the house and there was no bathroom! so....um...yeah. basically, the plumbers got going with removing the old bathroom and found the walls to be in a bad state. there was tissue paper stuffed behind tiles, bits of plastic, a bit of this and a bit of that. they had to gut the whole room, re-plaster, and then tile etc etc. oh, and the bathroom company forgot to deliver the toilet!










so we had a fun time going between the house & our old flat for bathing. mummy got me a mobile potty - potette -which was so useful in the interim. she highly recommends it for potty training & travelling with toddlers.  our bath was fitted 5 days after we moved in and mummy could've licked the floor, bathtub and blown a kiss at the loo! 2 weeks ago the final piece of the puzzle - a large mirror, was slotted in. then my awesome uncle and i painted the walls :-).









it's been a fun journey - ish ... mummy had a few meltdowns after rogue traders gave crazy quotes and is now feeling very prepared for any future building projects they may have.

anyone who has faced any kind of challenge will know how comforting it is when someone close says "we're praying for you." whether they go on to do so or not doesn't really matter, in that moment you just feel like someone's got your back. now, when someone you aren't especially close to comes up to you and expressly says "how is judah? we've really been praying for him and believing for him to be well.",well, then tears flood your eyes and you hop from foot to foot like an irish dancer and try to keep it together. you look at that person, you want to give them a million hugs. you feel the weight suddenly fall off your shoulders and look back at your boy and think "my goodness, we're going to be just fine! look how many people are rooting for us!". that's what happened the day we were decked out like this to church :).

So, as I mentioned in the last post, it's been a hectic & emotional year thus far. We've had a total of 4 deaths in the family in a 5 month period and to say it's been tough is an understatement. However, my motto is if we learn nothing from the lives that have ended either too soon or those we deem to have been well lived, we do ourselves a huge disservice. With this in mind, I took a look at my life and looked at what I was placing the most value on. A simple marker is where the most money goes. And the most time & effort. As I stood in an antiques shop negotiating the price for a chest of drawers I had a eureka moment. What did I need these drawers for anyway? To store the "stuff" I had accumulated & therefore now needed to house. What a vicious cycle we create for ourselves. So...I had spent all this money on "stuff", and now this "stuff" was forcing me to buy more "stuff". I decided to leave the chest (gorgeous as it was) and go back home to examine the stuff that so desperately needed these drawers.

I'm sure you're thinking - heck! I've never seen so many blog posts from this site in such a short space of time! Lol - change is afoot! Well, I was up at 5:13am this morning - no alarm either! Just me super excited and ready to get on with this challenge. A few girls have decided to jump on this ship and come along for the ride - I couldn't be happier! Whilst chatting to one of them, Segs from LotionsPotionsMe, I got thinking that perhaps I needed to really make this challenge even more suited to me. As good as the 11 areas that related to me were on the original challenge I found here, I felt there were other areas I could incorporate to make the 30 Days truly work for me and produce the results I want.

Having read through his workbook again, the major thing I see the author drum in is that it's all about coming out of your comfort zone. Theres no point in giving yourself a task that doesn't push you. That's not a challenge. Hence the cold water showers for 30 days. It takes discipline to do something you don't want to do but have to do - even though no one's making you do it. Make sense? Self discipline. There are things I definitely have to do if I want to achieve the goals I have set for myself. So I decided last night to go to bed early, and get up this morning on a mission to set out what I was going to achieve over the 30 days.


What do I need to give attention to?

1. My health & wellbeing
As a mum, the tendency is to put yourself at the bottom of the priority list when it comes to these areas. "I'll eat once he goes to bed.", "I'll exercise as soon as they are both in school & I have a bit of free time", "I've had this pain in my back but I think it's nothing, heck childbirth makes everything nothing!". And so on we go.


2. Hair & Skincare, Personal Grooming
Yes. Let's just say, from caterpillar eyebrows to gorrilla legs I know my husband must really love me. 3-step skin what? Wash off make-up before bed? Yes, honestly - this body is a wilderness.

3. Money Management
As a stay at home mum who has just bought a house - money sure isn't flying around. Infact as a working mum before buying a house money wasn't flying around! Yet somehow I managed to fritter the little I had on some unnecessary purchases. Time to reign in the madness and get financially fit because if I can't manage a few pounds, I sure can't manage a million.

4. Blog
Need I say more! Keep it updated :)

5. Business
I have dreams. Big ones. They need to become a reality.

6. Confidence
It might surprise you to know I'm not the most confident person around. I used to hate having my picture taken (self esteem issues!). Clearly snapped out of that. Now onto really feeling worthy - it's a sore spot but I have to be confident if I'm going to raise confident children.




7. My walk with God
Prayer, reading the Bible : always on the to-do list till trouble strikes! Then I'm on it like white on rice. Not after this.

8. Wardrobe
The jump from working full time to being at home full time has certainly got me in that weird zone where you want to look good but the outfit has got to be practical for chasing a 2 year old boy around. Oh and the school run.
9. Home Management
That last minute clean 30 minutes before guests arrive, stuffing things in closets and locking them so they shut will be a thing of the past! Yeah!

10. Time Management
I really believe if you can manage your time, you'll manage your money better too. Again, for me it seems to be symptomatic of motherhood & putting others needs first - because you kinda have to at a certain stage. However time must be found for me too.




So, those are the areas I wanted to give attention to, and from there I have my 15 habits for everyday (that escalated pretty fast!).

So there you have it! I'm ready and raring to go. Would you like to join me? Are there any tips / fantastic websites you could give me on any of the areas above to help me on my journey? Leave a comment below, I'd love to hear!

All new parents are ever eager to hear their child talk / see them walk / watch them run for the first time. I am yet to meet a parent who eagerly anticipates the day their child will disturb them mid long awaited steak dinner to announce "I need a poo poo." But this is the one thing our little princes and princesses are ever eager to do. Morayo-Hope is surely top of the leader board on that front. I feel like she has some kind of chip that activates as soon as I settle to any meal I've been eagerly anticipating. It doesn't matter the time of day or night. Doesn't matter if she's just successfully completed a session accompanied by her dad. I must still be invited to partake of my daily torture.