Mummascribbles – Mummascribbles meets…Hi Baby Blog – Mummascribbles

This week we meet the lovely Hannah from Hi Baby Blog. Thanks so much for taking part Hannah 🙂

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your family
Hello! My name is Hannah, I’m 26 and I live in Belfast. Our little family is made up of myself; Matt, our daughter Luisa (14months) and our puppy Cali. 

Matt & I have been together for about 8 years now and we’re sick of the sight of each-other! Haha no, in all seriousness we’re pretty happy, extremely tired and becoming increasingly similar. I often joke that he’s left brain and I’m right brain.

We used to live together in Edinburgh but decided to move back home to Northern Ireland when Luisa was around 6 months old as we needed that family support (babysitting on tap). We both really miss Edinburgh as a city and the friends we made there but we do our best to stay in touch and visit.

What do you like doing to be you, when you are not parenting, working (if you do), or blogging?
Sometimes I have no idea who I am! Between blogging, work, parenting and general day to day survival there’s not much room for ‘me’. If I have the time I will either be catching up with a long list of TV shows or movies that I’ve been meaning to see or reading a book. 

I’m trying to get better at making time for myself but it’s not easy. Would you believe I still haven’t seen the Downton Abbey finale!? Grim.

What is your biggest achievement to date?
Ooh I’m not sure. Of course, having my daughter is up there! I think probably managing to breastfeed her for a year. It took a lot of support, advice and determination but I’m glad I persevered because we really had an easy journey compared to most.

From your own experiences, what do you find the hardest part of parenting and what is the easiest/most rewarding part?
The hardest part is not losing it. When you’re chronically sleep deprived and have 100 things to do, your patience wears thin. Of course it’s not the tiny baby’s fault & it’s not your fault either but it’s so hard to deal with all that frustration that has no direction or outlet.

The most rewarding part is when you realise that the latest challenge is over, what was once a major challenge has gone without fanfare. For example a sleep regression, teething or separation anxiety. When you’re in the trenches you think it’ll never end but then one day you realise it has ended, probably some time ago, and you breath a sigh of relief and feel proud that you’re still mostly sane.

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?
Honestly, I don’t. I struggle massively to find balance between being a good mum, keeping the house vaguely clean and tidy, earning money, being a daughter, girlfriend, colleague, friend, sister. It’s a war I’ll never win but if I can find a little more balance everyday I’ll be happy.

Why did you decide to start blogging?
When I found out I was pregnant I was in total shock – this was absolutely not in my plan. I started my blog as somewhere to vent and rant and find support.

Tell me a bit about your blog?
Nowadays I mostly share little bits of our lives for example news, updates, reviews and tips etc. I am a fan of the occasional rant – I find blogging to be very therapeutic. 

What do you want your blog to achieve and where do you hope to see it go as it grows?
If I can make one person read even one post and think ‘You know what, she’s right, this is hard and it’s okay’ then I will be a happy blogger. Most of the things I write about are pretty frivolous but the odd time I touch on something I’m passionate about like literacy, breastfeeding or just general ‘you can do it mama’ stuff. These are the posts that mean something to me.

Going forward I’m excited to be making more YouTube content as I just love how frank and real you can be on video. Sometimes I find it hard to really express myself on my blog, if I get a bit bogged down in the technical side.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about starting a blog?
Do it! Do it now. Whether it’s a hobby, a love affair, a fling or a career you’ll never know until you try.

If you could have dinner with three people (dead or alive), who would it be and why?
This is such a difficult question. There are so many people I’d love to meet and loved ones I’d love to see again but my first instinct says — Adele, Stacey Dooley and Barack Obama. They are 3 people I consider to be genuinely inspiring and I think they’d be totally hilarious.

Tell me three random facts about you

1. I go through phases of being repulsed by meat – I wish I could make it a permanent thing and be vegetarian

2. I can’t think of a colour my hair hasn’t been.

3. My family and I once got lost in kayaks on a German river and paddled for 10 hours before we were found.

Along with her blog www.hibabyblog.co.uk, you can also find Hannah over on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube