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Gareth Ellis
- Jan 11, 2021
- 2 min
The Woes of Children’s Clothes
I’m pretty sure whoever invented children’s clothes doesn’t have children themselves. I love dressing the children and making them look their best, but sometimes it takes so much effort to put the clothes on that I’d rather they wore something that you can just pull over their heads. Take this morning, for example. I put Emilia’s vest on – easy, even putting tights on is fairly easy (easier than I imagined, anyway) but then I got to the dress and it’s just a pain. Who in thei
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Gareth Ellis
- Jan 5, 2021
- 3 min
The Fun of Feeding Two Children
When you have to feed one child it can be difficult, feeding two can be hectic. We started feeding Rupert solid food when he was around six months old, starting with mashed banana, and advancing to things like Weetabix and sweet potato. For the most part he fed really well. He was one of those children who you couldn’t shovel the food in fast enough, he was just ready with his mouth open for the next spoonful. As most of you will know, all children are different. So, some chi
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Gareth Ellis
- Jan 1, 2021
- 6 min
Review of the Year: 2020
This year has been a strange one. Dominated strongly by one thing, we’ve seen the best and worst of the human spirit as people battled through tiers and heartbreak with laughter and strength. It was a year where we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Emilia, to our family and she made us feel complete, yet we weren’t allowed to meet up with family so they could share in our joy. Here’s a rundown of life in the Ellis household in 2020. January: Rupert walked for the first time ou
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Gareth Ellis
- May 18, 2020
- 3 min
Two Under Two: Expectation v Reality
We have officially had two children for six days now, and I have to say it’s begun with mixed results – albeit most of them positive. Some of them are positive because of the baby Emilia has been so far, but a lot of them have been good because I expected them to be much worse. So, I wanted to run through a few of my expectations v reality moments that we’ve experienced thus far. Although I first want to caveat it with the explanation that these are personal to me and that th
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Gareth Ellis
- May 13, 2020
- 4 min
Our family is complete!
At 8.11am yesterday my life became complete as our baby made their arrival – just two days early. After a comparatively short labour, nine hours compared to 54, suddenly we had our baby and our little family was complete. Jess felt the first pangs of labour at 11pm on Monday (the 11th) but decided not to wake me until she couldn’t wait anymore, around 5am. So we did the usual, we timed the contractions and they were just under 10 minutes apart, we had ages, or so we thought.
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Gareth Ellis
- Sep 10, 2019
- 3 min
Teamwork makes the Dream Work
I’m a very lucky man. I’ve currently been with Jess for just over seven years (married for two) and we have a beautiful son together. We live in a lovely home and have wonderful family, even those watching over us. But I’d be lying if I didn’t think that sometimes having a son can put a serious strain on your relationship. Now before I go into this I have to say that I am as happy with Jess now as I ever have been, this is not a ‘Dear Jane’ blog for her. But sleep deprivation
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Gareth Ellis
- Aug 25, 2019
- 2 min
9 Months In, 9 Months Out
This month, J and I have worked out something rather weird – our son has been in our arms as long as he was cooking in Jess’ tummy. I suppose it’s an odd way of looking at it, but I couldn’t think how else to explain to people just how quickly this last nine months has gone. In that time Rupert has gone from our cuddly, squishy, hungry little monkey who never wanted to sleep to a clever, funny, hungry little monkey who never wants to sleep. The time for other people has gone
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Gareth Ellis
- Aug 19, 2019
- 3 min
Anti-Social Media
Social media when you have children is both the best and the worst thing. It’s the best because we can share little milestones that Ru is hitting with friends and family that otherwise wouldn’t see it. That is, without us relentlessly messaging them an endless stream of pictures and videos. I love being able to share little snapshots of what we’re doing with Ru and memories we’re making, but within that statement comes my biggest criticism of social media. For those with chil
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Gareth Ellis
- Feb 15, 2019
- 2 min
Valentine’s Night….with a baby
Valentine’s Day is a day for love, where loved up couples, sit across a table gazing at each other over dinner, while they talk about their lovely lives together. That is until you have a baby. To be fair J and I did all of that, we just had a distraction every now and again. Let me take you through our Valentine’s night – and please, parents, tell me if it sounds at all familiar. So I had it all planned out. There was a three course meal (lovingly planned by myself – I even
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Gareth Ellis
- Feb 6, 2019
- 2 min
Pictures: Is Sharing Caring?
I’m a sharer. I love sharing pictures of what I’ve been doing, where I’ve been, who I’ve been there with and pretty much anything else I can think of. However, since Rupert has arrived I’ve had to make some important decisions. How much do I share? Who do I share it with and how often? I started this blog because originally I wanted to get my feelings out and write about whatever came to my crazy head. Then when we found out we were pregnant I changed the blog from ‘Ellis in
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Gareth Ellis
- Jan 25, 2019
- 3 min
Sunday, Monday Nappy Days
So recently Russell Brand came out and said that he doesn’t change nappies because his partner is better at it. Seriously, mate? Come the f’ on. Get a grip and change a nappy, it’s not rocket science. Sometimes it’s a shitty job (literally) but you do it because your little one is uncomfortable if you don’t. I assume/hope it’s all a joke, meant to make us all gasp so he fills some column inches for a while, because seriously if he’s not kidding then his child can’t be left al
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Gareth Ellis
- Jan 17, 2019
- 2 min
What Makes a ‘Good’ Parent?
What makes a good parent? Right now I think Jess and I are doing a bloody good job but every now and again people ask us a question and I for one find myself wondering what the best response is. I know a few people out there who have kids who are also doing a damn good job and I wonder if any of you have fallen foul of the following questions. 1: Are you still breastfeeding? (Asked to Jess of course.) Now this is a fairly standard one but one that gets asked of Jess a lot (ei
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Gareth Ellis
- Dec 5, 2018
- 3 min
Thank you to the NHS
Today marks a significant day as Rupert turns 12 days old. Not a particularly big birthday I know, but it means that today he has been at home as many days as he had to stay in hospital. Not many people know but Rupert and his Mummy had to stay in hospital for 6 days as they both had an infection. Now, after a 9-month wait, followed by a 54 hour labour, the last thing you want to hear is that your wife and your new son will have to have a course of antibiotics and a stay in h
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Gareth Ellis
- Nov 28, 2018
- 4 min
Welcome to the World
On Friday morning, 9.42am, on the 23rd of November something truly magical happened – Jess and I became parents.
Our little boy decided that he didn’t want to wait until his due date and instead he wanted to come and say hello a few days early.
After what seemed like a long, 9-month wait, we were then greeted with a labour that started around 54 hours before he finally made his first appearance – but more on that later.
Let me take you back to the start. It seems like fore
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Gareth Ellis
- Oct 9, 2018
- 2 min
It’s Time for a Change
So, after seeing the image of a man having to change his 1-year-old son on his lap in a toilet I’ve been inspired to write this blog. That Father was appalled by what is a lack of services for Dads while they are out and about with their children and as a soon-to-be Dad myself I have to admit I’m worried, but also similarly appalled. Throughout J’s pregnancy I have heard a lot of people say to me ‘oh when you’re looking after him,’ or ‘you can babysit and let J go out.’ For s
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Gareth Ellis
- Oct 1, 2018
- 2 min
Hospital Ready? It’s in the Bag
So, what does a man put in his hospital bag? Should he even have one at all? The answer to one of these questions I’m certain on, the other I’m doing my best to sort out. In my opinion I think it’s important for a man to take a bag to the hospital. My role on the ‘big day’ will be to assist J I any way I can. If that means I need to be alert so need to have drunk two Red Bulls then so be it. I really don’t want to go unprepared though. It’s hard for me at the moment as J is s
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Gareth Ellis
- Aug 30, 2018
- 2 min
Bring on The Third Trimester
This weekend we passed a major milestone on our pregnancy journey. On Sunday our little bump turned 6 months old. Now you may be thinking, and one of my friends even said today ‘Wow hasn’t that gone quickly?’ and for other people, I guess it has but for us, it seems to be going quite slowly. For those who don’t know, 6 months means we’ve entered the third and final trimester. We’ve gone through the sickie, worrying first trimester, we’ve dodged the hormone-filled landmines an
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Gareth Ellis
- Aug 23, 2018
- 2 min
Baby Brain is a real thing
Baby Brain is a real thing. People often say that when women get pregnant that they get that condition and that it affects their heads. I always thought it wouldn’t happen to my lovely wife as she was far too clever. However, recently she’s developed a hint of BB and in fact, it’s been quite amusing – for both of us, I must say. It started about a month ago. J told me we had to go and pick up a package that she’d had delivered to a shop that’s close to the station. So we set
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Gareth Ellis
- Aug 8, 2018
- 2 min
Decorating the Nursery: Part 1
So recently J and I have been decorating the nursery and this weekend we made some amazing progress in little man’s room. However, before I get to that I want to tell you all about the journey we took to get to that point. When you think of decorating your baby’s room you think it will be so easy and that you’ll settle on a colour scheme before naturally and easily getting on with it. I did anyway, I thought it would be as simple as looking at paint, buying it, then coming ho
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Gareth Ellis
- Jul 25, 2018
- 2 min
When Do You Start to Feel Like a Daddy?
Recently I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about being a Dad. Mainly what does it mean to become a Dad and as cliché as it sounds when is it that you actually feel like a Dad? For J, she feels him every day. Our son will kick away at her and today he even had hiccups. As cute as it is I sometimes feel a little left out. I know I am due to be a Dad and, don’t get me wrong I am SO excited, but I’ll be honest, sometimes, when I’m not with J, I can actually forget for a second or
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