Mummascribbles – Mummascribbles meets…Bringing up Georgia – Mummascribbles

Today we meet the lovely Kelly from Bringing Up Georgia. Thanks for taking part Kelly 🙂

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family
I am a first time mum to baby Georgia who is now three months old and we live in not-so-sunny Northamptonshire with my husband, Dave.

I was born and raised in Essex, but I wouldn’t describe myself as a typical Essex girl! After choosing to go to University in Portsmouth, I met my husband and the rest as they say is history as first came love, then came marriage, then came a baby (although there was a house bought and 2 cats adopted in the middle there)!

What do you like doing to be you, when you are not parenting, working (if you do), or blogging?
I actually started blogging to be me – I love content writing and do it as a day job too when I’m not on maternity leave, so keeping my hand in by blogging allows me to express myself and have some ‘me’ time. When I’m not blogging though, I love getting stuck into a good book and baking – although I’ve not done either in a while!

What is your biggest achievement to date?
My biggest achievement to date – other than giving birth to Georgia which is an obvious choice – is probably getting my degree in Biology. I remember my final year being quite grueling, having missed reading ‘normal’ books, but I enjoyed every minute of it and it allowed me to get my first job to jump onto the first wrung of the ladder.

From your own experiences, what do you find the hardest part of parenting and what is the easiest/most rewarding part?
The hardest part of parenting for me is the uncertainty of sleep. With Georgia being only three months old, we’re still at a stage where she may, or may not wake up in the middle of the night for her dummy. The other night we were up every half hour between 1 and 5am which was very testing!

The most rewarding part of being a mum is seeing her learn something new. For me, this is lifting her head off of the floor, grabbing items etc. Simple things, but lovely to see.

Parenting in itself is no mean feat; how do you juggle everything you need to in order to get everything done on a daily basis?
I find that being a mum is like plate spinning. For a certain time, everything will go to plan – all plates will be spinning nicely, but when plates start to slow down, it can be tough to keep everything going. I’ve accepted that it’s okay for plates to drop from time to time. But, on a weekly basis, I’ll make a to-do list of things that need doing that are achievable. I’ll then spread these out through the week to make sure they get done at some point.

Sometimes though, this does result in a mammoth ironing session after putting off this particular ‘plate’ for a while!

Why did you decide to start blogging?
I started blogging to keep my identity as a writer, to share my thoughts and feelings with others as well as to document Georgia’s early years.

Tell me a bit about your blog?
I hope that my blog is a mixture of being inspiring, enlightening and amusing for parents to read. I write about Georgia’s journey and developments, sharing the hints and tricks that I’m learning along the way. I also write about my bugbears from parenting as well as my own journey with post-pregnancy.

What do you want your blog to achieve and where do you hope to see it go as it grows?
I’d love my blog to be read by a larger audience and for people to laugh, cry along or feel inspired to share their own stories after reading mine. I think there’s a great solidarity that comes from parenting and I really hope that other parents reading my blog can relate to the articles I write.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about starting a blog?
I would tell them that blogging isn’t just about the writing, it’s so much more. It’s about the sharing, joining a community of like-minded parents as well as a hell of a lot of techy bits behind the scenes to make sure everything runs smoothly. The writing is just the tip of the iceberg, but I’d tell them that if that doesn’t scare them, then jump in.

If you could have dinner with three people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?

1. My Nanna, she died before I can remember but I’d love to ask her what my mum was like when she was growing up and hear her funny stories.

2. My Dad, he always makes me laugh and is still to this day playing practical jokes on my mum – he’s also never steered me wrong with advice.

3. One of my best friends who lives in Brighton – I don’t see her often, but when we get together it’s like no time has passed.

Tell me three random facts about you

1. I volunteered on Whale and Dolphin boats in Tenerife for 3 weeks when I was 19, which involved taking photographs of dorsal fins for identification as well as noting down the species to track migration patterns. It was an amazing experience and I even got to see baby Whales and Dolphins, who were still learning to swim (it involved lots of splashing!)

2. I have insanely mad curly hair. It’s natural, it’s not a perm. You’d be amazed at how many times people have asked me that in my life.

3. I am very determined. Once I put my mind to doing something – usually after careful research – I put in a lot of effort to make sure it happens.

You can find Kelly over at www.bringingupgeorgia.com and also on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.