Navigating Pregnancy with a Toddler: Confessions of a Mediocre Parent

I'm sure many people can relate to the ridiculously high standards you set yourself as a parent with your first born child. From the moment you find out you are pregnant you start developing what I now retrospectively look back on as 'notions'. These 'notions' are the things you are certain you will never do when you have your own baby. They are the sugar coated goals you aspire to, as the perfect parent. You have a strict set of ideas about how you will do things, what your choices as a parent will be and are very definite with yourself that you will never do 'this' and never do 'that'. Ah yes, this all sounds very familiar to me, I was that soldier. I was filled with these said 'notions'. I was sure I'd stick to my guns and everything would play out just as I had planned. Oh how wrong I was. I have to say I admire naive, pregnant for the first time me, so oblivious to the reality of the journey ahead. Then of course to top it all off, 10 months in I decided to do something to make things that much easier on myself, I only went and got pregnant. Genius.

8 Things I Wish I'd Known When Having a Baby

So I find myself in the familiar position of lying on my left side on the couch, doing a pretty good impression of Moby Dick the last few days. Sleeping more than is acceptable during the day. Eating like a starved gremlin and frankly I've taken my resting bitch face to a whole new level.....I, ladies and gentlemen, am 39 weeks pregnant and frankly need baby No.2 to get his act together and move out. 

Pregnancy is amazing. Hands down, it's one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced, and second time round is no exception.

Chronicling Baby Moments & Memories

So as hard as it is to believe, Luke is going to be 10 months tomorrow. As I near the 17th of each month (Luke was born on St.Patrick's Day) I get excited about doing our signature milestone photograph to mark the month gone by. Since Luke was born the focus of my camera lens seems to have made a shift from mouth watering food to an 'aw' inducing baby. With this shift has come lots of cool ideas, challenges and rituals which I have been pretty good about keeping up in the last 10 months. 


Chronicling the journey of a little person is a big responsibility and not one I take lightly I'll let you know! I have such fond memories of growing up with countless photo albums of my brother and I, as my mother was constantly photographing us as kids. As a newbie mother in the digital camera age I now have such respect for her commitment to the task. Preserving memories is an important task that requires commitment, time and effort. That said it is also one of the most fun and rewarding things I now get to do in my day to day life!

This evening I thought I'd share some of my photo tasks which I set myself from week to week. Below are the 3 photo tasks which I have been really committed to since Luke came along.

1. Milestone Picture Cards
2. Month by Month Montage
3. Lifecake

Christmas at No.3

Anyone who knows me, knows my obsession with the festive period and how I like to go all out to create a winter wonderland in our home. This has really been a running tradition since I moved out of home at 17 and went to university. Since this time I have been collecting all matters of Christmas paraphernalia to, quite literally, deck the halls with. This year is a very special year in terms Christmas as although it's our second Christmas in No.3 last year the house was in a semi-state of construction which took from my efforts a little. This year is obviously Luke's first Christmas too and it's so lovely watching his little face light up at all the sparkle and twinkly lights. This evening I decided to take a few photos of my efforts along with some of my favourite Christmas finds this year.

What E-D Does Now

Incredibly a whole year has passed since I last posted and to say a lot has happened in that time would be an understatement. Life as I knew it is a distant memory and Michael and I have been lucky enough to move into our new, very old house and welcome the best little person imaginable, Luke. 'E-D Does It' has been a part of my life since 2012 and the last few weeks I've really been thinking about all the work and effort I have put into the site over the last few years. With that in mind I feel it would be a pity to hang up the oven gloves just yet. So I'm back, but perhaps in a different way this time around. Given the significant changes in my life since my last post, my content will be reflecting my new found priorities and passions as well as my love for the kitchen. So as it happens E-D Does a lot more than cooking these days and so I will be sharing insights into parenthood, my life with Luke, home, interiors, our adventures in photography as well as my culinary escapades. Thanks for your continued support in my year of absence and here's to what E-D did next.

Fresh Lemony Lemonade

So I'll go ahead and state the obvious that it has been more than a little while. Life has been getting in the way for the last few months and without saying too much with a mini Molly on the way in March, things have been hectic. Minimal baking, cooking or creativity to be reported and to be quite honest 'E-D' hasn't been 'doing' too much in the kitchen at all. But the haze of eternal sickness has now lifted, energy levels are beginning to recover, I can happily report, I am alive, feeling great and reporting for duty.

I blew the dust of my Canon at the weekend, dug out my tripod and re-familiarised myself with a supermarket, I am happy to report, it felt good getting back in the saddle. Why Lemony Lemonade in November you ask? Well although I would agree it is indeed more of a summer sizzler thirst solution, red wine isn't on the cards at the moment, and anything drinkable that activates my taste buds is a welcome distraction to the absence of alcohol at Sunday lunch.

Spotted Zebra Birthday Cake

This evening I thought I would share this funky 30th birthday cake I put together for a friends birthday a couple of weeks ago. Shopping, fitness and fun were what I was given as a brief and here is what I came up with. This cake is made up of an 8inch base, 5 inch middle tier and 3 inch top tier. I opted for red velvet as the bottom and largest tier and chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing for the other two. 

I created a zebra print effect on the bottom tier by layering black and white fondant. Using a circle cutter and 5 shades of purple I went for a polka dot theme on the second tier. The board is a large 13inch board which allowed me to add a birthday message and additional fondant
decoration which reflected the birthday girls personality.