Wednesday 29 July 2015

Unlikely Mummy Products : Makeup Revolution Redemption Pallet Icon 3

I got this pallet for Christmas and had totally forgotten about it until I was scrounging though my makeup looking for an eyebrow pencil and it called to me! Now what I would love is the UD Naked pallet but that isn't going to happen, but I'm seriously ok with having the Revolution Icinic 3 pallet as a substitute.



So what makes it a mummy product? I have found that with the second colour especially, really brightens my eyes : an essential when you are tired as hell but need to look presentable at work.
I have used this pallet nearly every day since its rediscovery and I intend to look at the other pallets available by Revolution.  There is such a great mix of colours that it can be day/night smart/casual. And each one has a great colour pay off, with good pigmentation and minimal fallout. 
If you like to carry makeup then this pallet gives you a lot of options when on the go. I think this would also be great for travel or holidays as it has warm, gold tones.
Revolution is an affordable and accessible brand with a focus on quality. So you don't need to feel like you are wasting your precious maternity money if you want to buy yourself a treat! The price on the Revolution website is £4 which is amazing value for the quality you are getting! 

http://www.makeuprevolutionstore.com/index.php/redemption-palette-iconic-3.html

Monday 27 July 2015

Quote of the week

I realise I have been forgetting these, ever so sorry about that!

I just saw this and it made me pause for thought so I thought I would share it :

"You are raising someone's husband and father"

That's pretty special huh! I love it and hopefully it will keep me mindful!


Saturday 25 July 2015

The most pointless meeting in the world ...

When Tom had his allergy appointment the paediatrician referred him to the dietician aswell, I didn't question it as he is the doctor. I had forgotten all about it until on Saturday I received a letter for the upcoming Friday. I didn't really know what I would get out of it but we had an appointment and so we would duely attend.
It had been a few months since Tom had his allergy testing and he had only had 3 reactions in that time so we have a pretty good handle on managing them. Prior to the appointment Tom was weighed and measured, FYI he is in the 99th percentile!
We then had our appointment. The dietician reported that she was happy with his size as it's clearly inherited - Mr B is 6"5. We had been asked to keep a food diary for 3 days, so we looked at that and she was happy with the variety and that what he eats shouldn't upset his  allergies. Then she gave me some fact sheets from the Allergy UK website. I had already seen them as I did a lot of research when Tom was diagnosed. And so that was pretty much it. The gist of it was, keep doing what you are doing, it's obviously working. 
So yeah, that was pretty bloody pointless. I'm not about to start slagging off someone's profession but I don't think that she really brought much to the table in our situation. I guess it would have been much better if it was closer to when he was diagnosed but at this point the advice "read the packaging" is a bit of a given. 
So there it is. I hope this post was helpful in some way! 

Wednesday 22 July 2015

You actually know you are tired when...

I recently read some bullpoop article on Netmums or the like, along the lines of you know when your tired when... You want to sleep when you wake up. 
Well sorry Netmums, I felt like that before I was a parent! So here is my real 10 things you know you are actually tired when...

1. You miss words out of sentences, written and verbal. Seriously, I think I've said a full sentence but 9/10 I've missed at least one full word. Worrying
2. You forget words, simple words. Like carrot. You try to remember the word by discussing "the orange things" with you toddler in Aldi. Awkward 
3. You go to the microwave with tea that has gone cold, to find the reheated cup of tea that went cold three hours ago *sigh* 45 seconds, try not to forget
4. You wake up but can't remember putting your baby in the cot so you frantically scrabble looking for a baby that isn't there. Cue being wide awake holding a 'pillow baby'
5. You can sleep anywhere, anytime. You will micro sleep in the bath. If you are still, you will sleep. Poo sleeps will become the norm
6. You want to punch everyone in the face, mainly the twats who say "I only slept for four hours last night" ... Only?!? Only four hours??? How hard for you
7. You consider phoning in sick to work once your baby is at childcare, but you have to work to pay for childcare. You then spend the entire day at work wondering if you can get out early to sleep before picking your baba up. 
8. You could sleep from 5pm through to 4:30pm the next day, sadly you will never, never get to test the theory 
9. You stare at your baby in disbelief and jealousy when he doesn't want to sleep in his cot, your fantasy is a snuggley bed with a nightlight! 
10. You never see the end of a film, or the middle, or the end of the opening credits ... Zzzz




I hope this was a bit more realistic! Let me know what extreme tiredness you have experienced?

Tuesday 21 July 2015

TampON : TampOFF

So I have become a little bit political, and I want to explain the sitch. 
It started when I saw a picture on Instagram about an Australian initiative for providing sanitary items to homeless women. This blew.my.mind! It never even occurred to me that this would be an issue, which is a big part of the problem. This weighed heavily on me and I knew that I would do something, somehow but I didn't know what.
I discussed it with a female college who had a similar reaction to me. She also told me about the 5% tax on female sanitary items as they are considered luxury items. What the hell?! I'd rather have a Vivienne Westwood purse thanks!
She told me that she was part of a similar petition to ours many years ago and the genuine resound that they got is that they are a luxury as women could use old towels and sheets like they did in the war. Absolutely madness!  
So we mulled the situation and found ourselves both rather outraged. This led us to decide to BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD!  
Please sign it! If they pay attention then it's you that will gain! Do it for me, do it for sad tampon... 

And the homeless situation? We are planning to make care packages which we can give out! Make a change!

Sunday 19 July 2015

Camping with Tom : Part Un

So this weekend we went camping... Leading up to it I was really nervous and had cruised Pintrest more than one looking for 'camping with a toddler tips'. For the most I didn't find much that helped, it seemed to be for Americans who didn't want their toddler to be eaten by a bear, understandable but unlikely in Dover. So here is my version of this, but with less bears...

1. Company : We went as a group of 4 families, with children ranging from 7 to Tom as the youngest at one! What worked well with this is the communal living style. The children all played together, including Tom. And the adults could watch each other's children for loo breaks and a bit of mummy time. If you can, go as a group. I think I would have found it much harder of it was just the 3 of us, especially when the car ran out of battery! 

2 : Packing : I will do a separate post on what I packed as I think it would work better. What I will say is that you will not pack as much as you think. Consider how much you already carry around in your nappy bag, that's usually enough for two days in a pinch, so you are working from solid foundations!

3 : Lifesavers : 
A. Travel Cot : Tom slept in bed with me, so this was not used at night. However, during the day this was flippin great! Tom could play safely as we put up the tent, made food, when he was winding down or when he needed to be kept out of the sun. It was also a place for extra storage when not in use.
B. IKEA Torkis bucket : This is a 9 gallon oval rubber bucket, and it is so frickin useful! We used it to carry stuff from the car, washing up, a splash pool for Tom and again general storage. We was lucky to have great weather and Tom was really warm so it was great to have a way to strip him off and cool him down without having to inflate something, and it wasn't so shallow that he was climbing in and out. It could have also been a baby bath but we was roughing it! 
C. 0.5 tog GroBag : I found this helpful to put Tom to sleep in so he was covered in a warm tent in the evening and then when the night cooled I added an extra layer. At home Tom is currently just sleeping on pjs so this was a good equivalent as an extra layer to balance out being in a tent. I think this will be really good for out Spanish holiday next month for similar reasons.
D. Fisher Price Booster Seat : We borrowed this from one of the families we was camping with as their babies are not so much babies any more (sob). This was great for not having to bring a highchair with us or wresting Tom to stay still to eat. It strapped onto the benches we had rented and had a lap strap so his top half was free. Tom didn't seem to mind being in the seat and it made our lives much easier!

4 : Food : This is most likely what I worried about the most. I was aware of Tom's allergies and him not necessarily eating at the same times as everyone else, so I brought along a big selection of foods. I stuck with weetabix for breakfast as it was small and easy to pack. Then I had a big selection of snacks that could be make into a meal, these included crackers, individual cheese, raisins, Cheerios, individual positions of Nutella, fruit pouches and actual fruit! Tom did join some of the communal food but this was really handy! 

5 : Fun : (lame title, but couldn't find another way of putting it!) The joy of camping was letting Tom have a good roam of the field and just to practice waking and expel all that energy! It was an animal free site so no worries about poop or dirty ground. I really liked watching him explore his surroundings! Tom doesn't like dry grass against his legs so he crawls like Mowgli from Jungle Book, and it's hilarious!

If you are thinking about camping or are worried about it, then I would say, DO IT! You could easily overthink it and talk yourself out of it, or pack everything in your babies room, but in reality you don't need much and you will get a sense of simplicity in being with your little family with no electronic distractions. It's flippin great! And there wasn't any bears...



Have you got any good camping or travel tips?

Thursday 16 July 2015

My Parental Struggles : Part 1

All that best posts are written at 4:30 AM, when you are too tired to mediate yourself, but the downside is the spelling will be atrocious!

I decided to do a series of posts on my current parental struggles as they do change with Tom as he grows. I thought it was worthwhile as I find that especially online, people don't like to let on that something is difficult until they overcome it and then retrospectively they can sugar coat it a wee bit or just not quite remember how they felt at that time. So here is my current top five : 

1 : Sleep : Beeatsfeeding has generally meant I've not struggled to bad on getting Tom to sleep, but just recently he has started not falling asleep on the boob but rolling around on the bed trying to find his ideal sleep position (a bit like a cat!). Now I don't mind this per-say but when he does it for an hour at 4 AM (hence the post), it gets old quick. Which leads on  to ...

2 : Tiredness : I forgot the word carrot the other day. I'm frickin tired. So so so tired, all the time. Being back at work is great but that's it now, I am constantly on the go and it's exhausting. I know it's not forever but I'm due to start my counsellor training and it's going to be tough to have less time and more metal demands. We had done the cry it out/Ferberising but Tom had been ill a few times and we kept recapping it, but I eventually got to a point where I thought he is only a baby once and if he wants me then he can have me (I sometimes regret this)
3 : Walking : Tom is big for his age so people expect him to hit his miles stones early, Generally he has been on track and isn't behind on walking, he is just starting to, but I seem to be asked all the flipping time is 'Is he walking?', no, kindly do one. I guess I am conscious that he isn't and sometime a it feels like a reminder of that. 
4 : Parental comparisons : Because sometimes it feels like a competition. One I am loosing. I was helpfully informed the other day by a friend that a girl she knew was walking at 8 months, greeeaaat. It's great when a child learns something or achieves but sometimes it's really hard not to compare your own against the progress of others, often it not taking account ages gaps between children. And I can feel that I am not doing enough as a parent. I just want Tom to be supported and happy but I would be lying if I said I'm not envious of the potty trainers, walking, bilingual, back flipping, war and peace reading, fictitious 3 month old. 
5 : Food : Tom is generally a good eater  but I do struggle to think of what to make him to eat to keep things interesting and nutritionally balanced. I think I need to Google a list or something because more often than not I'm sat in front of a cupboard with mushy peas in one hand and a tin of kidney beans in the other feeling like a Ready Steady Cook challenge! On social media, you see these amazing mums producing fantastic food for their toddlers and it can make me feel like I'm failing Tom by not living to simeone else's standards.



I guess the theme of the post is my to compre yourself to others. I really will try but it ain't easy...

What are your current parental struggles or do younger any advice for me? Let me know in the comments below 

Tuesday 14 July 2015

Unlikely Mummy Products : Sketchers Go Walk

As the title suggests, this is not what you would consider a baby essential... Hear me out!



Since having Tom I have been waking more and more. I'm a non driver (bus wanker, I know!) and I used to get nervous taking my pram on the bus in case there was other prams. My solution was to start walking and now I walk pretty much everywhere, even to work! One of the things I quickly discovered is that I wear cheap and nasty shoes and it just screws up my feet. Either they wear through, or I get blisters or they get skanky. So I made the decision to get some grown up shoes as at this point I was wearing Hello Kitty Vans.
I did some internet research and came across the Sketchers Go Walk. The trainers are literally made for walking, they are ergonomically designed, such as allowing the foot to flex as you walk and the toes to spread as they would if you was barefoot. They are made with a breathable mesh so you can go sock-less, and they are really light! The lightness lends well to people with arthritis, and this has been a factor in my mum buying some too! 
I have had mine for around 4 months, so I feel ready to give a pretty fair review. I call them my ugly trainers, yup they aren't the most sexy of footwear but as I wear them so much I can say that they just blend in, but in used to the aforementioned Hello Kitty trainers, so they just aren't my usual style. I pretty much live in these bad boys. I wear these trainers all the time, I wear them for work, I wear out with Tom, they are neutral enough to go with everything. 
The trainers are really great, I cannot stress enough how comfortable they are,it's the closest I have found to being barefoot which is some thing I like as I walk with my feet at a funny angle and most trainers are too narrow to accommodate it, but the Go Walk give my feet the space they need. 
What makes them a mummy essential? They are comfortable, you can slip them on and off (no laces), you can run after a toddler in them! They are lasting well and they make it possible to walk long distances comfortably! I 100% recommend these if you are looking for some grown up trainers! 
I bought mine from Schuh for £49 (http://www.schuh.co.uk/womens/skechers-go-walk-2-black-trainers/1914087070/), but my mum go here from Sports Direct.con (uuuukkkk's number 1!) for £39, it pays to shop around! (http://www.sportsdirect.com/skechers-go-walk-riv-shoes-ladies--275634?colcode=27563403)

Have you tried the Go Walks? do you have any non baby essentials? 

Sunday 12 July 2015

Screen Time Junkie Results

So I've done my time, I set my challenge a week ago aiming to reduce my screen time and the results are in (drumroll) ... I FAILED! Miserably I might add.

I'm a screen time junkie and I like it funky 

But, through my failure I did learn, so not a total waste. In fact, not a waste at all.

Whatsapp : I have turned off my notifications and off they shall stay. I've been much less involved in long conversations and although I have felt 'not in the thick of it' I've also not felt pressure to maintain pointless conversation rather than actually talking to Mr B or my work mates face to face. I feel more balanced.

Notifications in general have been turned off : I had found myself checking my phone and I realise that often when I thought I was checking the time, I was actually looking for notifications. This seems a bit pointless. Now I check the time and if nothing is going on around me then I will unlock phone and see what's occuring. If not then check the time and the phone goes away, there is nothing compelling me to unlock. 

Social media : I struggled most with Instagram. I love Instagram and have started to make some new friends on there. It's easy to use and is visually enjoyable and instantly engaging. When I have had screen time I have gone to Instagram first and I have also enjoyed it the most. 

I have found less social media hard as I try to regularly drum up interest for the blog as well as finding inspiration for posts. I feel that I need more regular access to do that, but I've defiantly looked at the trade off in time and what I am sacrificing. 

The biggest change is defiantly when I choose to acces. I am consciously putting my phone down more when I am with Tom and Mr B. I've not totally kicked the habit but I am working on it. I think if I did the challenge every now and then, it would serve the purpose of putting my priorities straight. I am more plugged in  than I want to be but this week has started a change. I would recommend trying your own challenge, even in failure there is much to be learned.

Quote of the week : 8

Dutifully provided by Pinterest (again)

Life is short,
If ever there was a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, 
The time is now


Have a nice week y'all 

Saturday 11 July 2015

Vlog : Kawaii Box June 2015

I finally received my Kawaii Box today so I filmed the unboxing, and yes it was worth the wait!


Kawaii box is yet another subscription box service but its niche is that it's from Japan/Korea where you get 10-12 items sent to you. The items are super Kawaii (cute) and are usually stationary, little teddy type plushies, weird candy and stuff you hang off bags etc - squishees! I have the 3 month plan which totalled around £30 ish.

I am pleased with the box, it is indeed Kawaii and I'm already looking forward to my next box! 

Stay Kawaii! 


Thursday 9 July 2015

Vlog : Approved Food

I've posted a video on my YouTube channel with my unboxing of my Approved Food order!

Please check it out, hit like and subscribe! 


Let me know if you want me to keep on this, or if you think it's a pile of crap!



Hipster baby : Courgetti

So I saw the spiralizer bandwagon and I admit I was intrigued. However, I was not £30 worth of intrigued, so I bought a handheld julienne peeler from China via eBay for 99p.
The peeler came within 2 weeks and that led to today's experiment. Now I admit that Tom doesn't particularly like courgette or spaghetti, so I expected the courgetti to be a failure. Mr B just stated "Is there no bandwagon you won't jump on?" Answer, "Nope".
I nipped to Aldi and bought a bag or courgettes (69p, very reasonable!) and I got peeling. For Tom I used one courgette and with my peeler it took about two minutes. I don't really think £30 would have been well spent as it was a piece of piss with my peeler. Once peeled I realised I made a bit much for his wee tummy so I only used half the mix. I didn't really know what to do with the courgetti as I  hadn't really thought much past using the peeler!
I decided to stir fry it with a bit of pre-cooked chicken and a drizzle of sesame oil at the end. It looked ok to me, smelt good, so next was the taste test. 
As I said earlier, I had low expectations from Tom, well I was wrong! He wolfed the lot! I think he liked that he could play with it, it held its shape well, the flavour wasn't particularly strong so not offensive or off putting and it wasn't stodgy. 
All told, I'm saying this is a fad I can get on board with! I am even looking forward to trying other stuff, but I don't know what! I don't think I could justify buying a special machine, but my lil peeler is great and if you are fancying it then I say go for it! 



Have you tried the courgetti trend? Do you have any recommendations to try next?

Monday 6 July 2015

Screen Time Junkie Challenge

I have a problem. I think I'm an addict. I'm a bit ashamed to say... 

I am addicted to my iPhone. I use my phone constantly. If I need to know something I'm on Google, if I want to buy something I check eBay, I blog and use Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. It doesn't really end.

It's been bothering me for a while and Mr B has made some not so subtle hints. I don't want Tom to just picture me with a phone in my hand, or a screen in front of my face and I feel like I am missing things for something that just isn't worth it. Now I've started getting a sore wrist from holding my phone at the same angle whilst breastfeeding and last night I woke up and had been dreaming about using my phone as I was holding an imaginary phone and putting in my passcode!
So a change must occur...

I'm setting myself a challenge, I am going to dramatically reduce my phone screen time. I'm giving myself a week of strict rules with the intention that hopefully either some good habits will stick or I will at least be more aware of bad habits. 

1. I have already turned off my banner notifications. When my phone is locked I do not know what is waiting for me. I am hoping this will be out of sight, out of mind?
2. No eBay, at all, for a week. Might save money too, two birds one stone!
3. Check email once in the morning, once before bed. No emails will be that important that it can't wait.
4. Whatsapp. No long ass conversations. I can message someone if I need to talk to someone but all conversations must be kept short and sweet.
5. I can have 1 hour screen time a day, whenever that may occur, this would cover Facebook, Twitter and blogging. 

I've tried to make my goals realistic, I am not suddenly going to not use my phone but I hope to have a better balance on how often I am using it.



I will do a pots at the end of the 7 days on how I have coped! Wish me luck! 

Sunday 5 July 2015

Quote of the week 7 :

Another Pinterest beauty :

"There is no angry way to say bubbles"

I bet you tried it... I did

Have a nice week y'all!


Friday 3 July 2015

10 friendship changes when you are a mama

I had my bestie over today, we have known each since school and have gone through lots of life changes together. I was having a think about how we have the new dynamic of me being a mama and the things I did now as a mum that wouldn't have ever happened BT (Before Tom) ...

1. Performs dance from lets play, it was on fleek
2. Ranks hotness of CBeeBies presenters, because we all have crushes right? Right?
3. Gets overexcited at the prospect of her having children. Without a doubt Kay and her fiancé will make great parents and I'm really looking forward to sharing that period of her life with her (and finding out if she is more of a Sid or a Mr Bloom)
4. Absentmindedly picks things off child whilst chatting, but knowing she won't judge (she told me where I missed a spot!)
5. Realise you have spent most of the day talking about children in some capacity. I'm sure this is dull as hell to most people, but besties suck it up, one day I will be listening to her!
6. Do a synopsis of your parenting style, proceed to justify all parenting decisions. To be honest I don't know why I do this as I never feel judged by Kay but it's like a parental knee jerk reaction 
7. Both covertly eat biscuits to hide from Tom who can't have them (eggs, grr). She has this parent skill down!
8. Try to justify house being a pit despite then watching your child play Godzilla, again no judgement received but we are British, we must apologise! 
9. Explain how funny a specific episode of a kids TV show is (Buzz & Tell). Consider YouTubing it, remember that if you have slept well for the last few year you probably won't find it that funny
10. Watch child ram ankles with walker, politely ignore.



Basically my best friend came over to a pig sty house, with a mad sleep deprived mother talking nonsense whilst being rammed in the leg by Tom! That is true friedship!

Thursday 2 July 2015

Top 5 Toys for 9-12 months

Mr B suggested a post on Tom's top 5 toys, so here it is! I wrote this post a while ago and it's about the toys he played with this in the 9-12 period as he is starting to play with other things. Here they are in no particular order:

1 : Mamas and Papas Octopus Playmat (£49.99 Argos) : This was a present from Toms great grandad (and his namesake!). Tom has had several playmate but no doubt he loved this the most (including the Fisher Price Rainforest Deluxe Baby Gym). Due to his age when we got this, we rarely used the overhead bars, but the mat was always down. Each tentacle had a different texture and effect such as a bell or a rusting sound. Tom would quite happily sit and play with the different legs even now as a low key chill activity.



2 : V Tech Tiny Tot Driver (£15.99 Ocado), this is a toy that we keep in toms bedroom and he plays with it whilst I'm getting dressed or doing upstairs stuff! Tom seems to get a lot from this, as it practices fine motor movements and it has multiple functions for the themes - animals, numbers etc. 



3 : V Tech Play and Learn Activity Table (£24.99 Argos) Tom got this for Christmas from Mr B's parents, and he loves it! I currently don't have it set up wit the legs as Tom is still trying to lean on it and it think he needs to be a tad more steady on his feet. (UPDATE: Legs have been on since Tom's birthday) Tom will always make a beeline for this when its out and especially enjoys turning the pages of the plastic book.



4 : Lamaze Captin Calamari (£9.99 John Lewis) Tom has had this attached to his car seat from newborn and has used it for comfort due to the variety of textures on the tentacles. Tom has chewed the heck out of his and his face will light up when he sees it. The best moment is when he is asleep holding its hands/tenticles!




5 : Pull along and blocks (30p - pull along, £2 - blocks : boot fair) We bought the pull along and blocks separately at a boot fair and only out the blocks in as a storage solution but he seems to have really taken to it. Tom particularly likes to top it out all over the floor (not as fun for me!). At the moment Tom isn't at the stage of building but he likes to play Godzilla and destroy any towers that are being built!



Bonus : Baby Walker : This was lent to us from a friend who's twins are 2 years older than Tom so they had truest done their time onthe walker. Tom got a lot of use from this but now is just too tall, he now uses it for furniture waking. I am aware that some people do not agree with baby walkers and that's fine for them but I know that Tom got a lot from using it And I would recommend using it to others. 

What are your little ones favourite toys? Do you have any recommendations of toys for 12+ ?