Tuesday 27 February 2018

Primark Beauty 2018

EVERYONE loves Primark. Even if you don’t need anything, who can walk out of Primark empty handed?! Definitely not me. Whether it’s stuff for the kids, a new pair of shoes or some random stuff that I don’t actually need, they have such an array of products that are so reasonably priced that they’re fast becoming the one-stop-shop for everything you could need (apart from your weekly food shop, obvs).

One thing they’ve upped their game on is their Beauty department. Going from stocking a few cheap, basic items and a couple of sets of falsies to having an entire range of products and skincare items. I took a trip to my local store in Burton to see what they had and managed to grab myself some complete bargains. Take a look at what I got and what my first impressions of everything are... 

primark beauty products

primark beauty

primark unicorn beauty

First up, not exactly beauty related but totally acceptable - these cute little Mermaid shell and Unicorn lights! Just £3.00 each they come with batteries so they’re ready to use and they’re perfect to have as blog photo props! When I’m not using them, they’ll be used by Millie as she loves them and wanted them for in her bedroom. I really want to re-decorate her room this summer too and give it a bit of a makeover so it’s somewhere she can go and play or read. I’ve always wanted to make her a reading corner with some shelves and a little princess drape so that’s my plan and these will look adorable on the wall or on a shelf in her room! 

I also got a little trinket bowl too which was £2.50 again, perfect for photos for Insta and blog pictures but also it looks gorgeous on my dresser and is the perfect place for me to pop my rings and Pandora bracelet (and my lashes when I rip them off at night). 

Nails are something that Primark have had in for a while but again, it’s something that they’ve made better and better and now have a massive selection of styles and ranges including these amazing Unicorn styles. I found 2 different types but I’m not sure if there are more - the more gold looking ones and then the pink toned ones. They also have tonnes of Metallic/Chrome type nails which I absolutely love and I’ll definitely be going back to stock up on more of those when I get chance! 

primark mermaid light

primark unicorn light

primark unicorn nails

Lets move onto Lips! Primark already had quite a few different lip products with balms, lipsticks and glosses but now with their new Nude range, they also have Lip kits, matte liquid lipsticks, more glosses and Nude matte lipsticks too! The Nudes set of Matte and Gloss lipsticks is just £6.00 with the individual Matte lipsticks being just £1.50 each. 

The matte lipsticks aren’t too drying either which is great and the pigment from them is insane for how affordable they are! I’m not usually a lover of lipgloss either but they’re not sticky or tacky and look insane over the matte lipsticks! 

I grabbed one of the metallic lip kits which comes with a liquid lipstick/gloss and a lip liner - the gloss is great and a gorgeous metallic gold colour but the liner doesn’t show up as much and so probably won’t be used as much as the lipstick! A great buy though at just £1.00 (in the sale bin!). 

primark nudes lipsticks

primark nudes lipstick swatches

primark nudes lipsticks


primark nudes beauty range

primark nude lipsticks

primark nudes lipsticks

Now for the face! The things I tried to find were the glow kits - I came across one of them but haven’t been able to find anymore than the Pure Glow one. With the highlighting palettes being compared to the Anastasia Beverley hills Glow Kits, I was intrigued to see if they lived up to the hype and it’s safe to say, they do! With insane pigment, the glow kits are gorgeous and give an incredible highlight with just a few swipes of your brush (see below for swatches). There are 4 different shades in this Pure Glow palette - 2 being pale and 2 being golden and so I think it’s a palette that could work for everyone. You could even use the golden shades as highlighter! This palette was just £5.00!

The other range that has been compared to a higher end brand *cough* Too faced *cough* is their PS Chocolate palettes. They have other products in this range including lip kits, eyeshadows and a whole face palette but it was the cheek palette that took my fancy with blushers and bronzers included in the palette (which also smells like chocolate!). There is a lighter golden colour for bronzing, a contouring shade and 2 light blusher shades. The pigmentation isn’t amazing but it’s definitely buildable and blends lovely which is what you want from cheek/contour products! Also, did I mention they smell like chocolate!? You can grab the palette for £4.00

primark dupe glow kit

primark too faced dupe

primark glow kit

primark glow kit

primark chocolate palette


And now for everything in between... Not just beauty products but beauty accessories too! Primark have branched out and now stock acrylic makeup holders, organisers, makeup bags and now even Beauty accessories including brushes, nail sets, tweezers, face wipes and everything else you need to apply or remove makeup. I grabbed a set of their Nudes Beauty Blenders (2 for £2.50!) and also a set of eyelash curlers £1.50 (because I’m constantly loosing mine!). 

The blenders feel really soft and spongey and are a similar size to the original Beauty Blender and the Real Techniques one - a great alternative if you go through your blenders like there’s no tomorrow! 

I also got the cute copper basket you can see peeping in all of my photos which again, is a great prop or a handy organiser for beauty bits or general crap you leave lying around! 

I’m so impressed with everything I got and can’t wait to try it all properly - I do want to try and get my hands on more of the Nudes range and I want the other highlighting palettes too (Primark, if you’re reading, hit a girl up!) but overall, I love everything and would definitely recommend checking in your bigger branches to see if they have any of the new products in and treat yourself! I’d definitely recommend the beauty blenders and the pure glow palette - but just get it all! 

primark beauty blenders

primark beauty range

Monday 26 February 2018

Full-Time Mum or Full-Time Job?

If you’re a regular reader or follow me over on Twitter, you’ll know that I’m nearing the end of my maternity period and I’m due to return back to work at the end of April *booooo!* I’ve known all along that I’ll be returning back to work, even before I left, the date was set and it was agreed that I would have the full year off to spend at home with Mylo but it seems to have come around so fast and I’m starting to plan the childcare arrangements for both Millie and Mylo, however, the stress of trying to sort this out is making the thought of going back to work sickening and leaving me with huge anxiety.

Why?! Because childcare is so expensive and an absolute pain in the arse to arrange!! 

full time mum or full time job

I work full-time, however just term time, at a local college and so my hours are fairly reasonable but due to the childcare situation we use, it means I still leave the house before 7:30am and I don’t return until gone 6pm most days. It’s knackering to say the least but, when I’m paying for it, it’s also expensive too. Luckily, to help take the weight off a little bit, my Mum will be having Mylo 2 days a week meaning he will only need to go to nursery for 3 days. This is fine and works for us however, Millie will also need some sort of childcare now too as she’s at school. Adam’s hours are a little awkward as he’s a personal trainer, his busiest hours are of course early morning and late afternoon (colliding with the school run!) and so we’re a little stuck as to what we can do which leads me onto the topic of this blog post...

Before and After school clubs are a great way to get your child to school and have someone look after them if you start work early or finish later than the school does - most schools have some form of club and Millie’s is no different, although it isn’t actually the best option for us. At just under £7.00 PER HOUR it means that if we were to use the schools club for the hours we require (approximately 16 hours a week) we’ll be looking at paying nearly £430.00 a month just for Millie - this doesn’t include snacks that she’ll need to take with her and breakfast in the morning! Mylo will be at nursery for 3 full days which works out at nearly the same price as what we’ll be paying for Millie - all in all shedding out a whopping £860.00 a month in childcare. 

So lets work it out, shall we?
 I only earn £1100 a month (after tax) so I’ll let you do the maths in regards to what I’ll be left with after childcare fees... Yeah. Not much. I also have bills to pay alongside this, things like Council tax (£110), Car/Insurance (£200), Phone bill (£40), TV (£45), Various insurances (£20) and food to buy (£100), not to mention nappies for Mylo and any bits Millie needs for school. 
£1100 - £860 = 240 - £110 - £200- £40 - £45 - £20 - £100 = 
MINUS £275.00
How ridiculous is that!? 

I understand there is a government scheme in place that gives most 2,3 or 4 year olds 30 hours of free childcare a week, that’s great! However, Mylo is only 1. I work full-time and Adam is self-employed meaning we don’t qualify for this. We don’t qualify for something that is meant to help WORKING PARENTS. Tell me how this makes sense?! How come those of us who bust our ass and go to work for 8+ hours a day yet still need to pay for childcare, don’t get any help or any hours free and those who DON’T work, get all the childcare free for no reason!? Why would you need to send your child to nursery when you’re at home all day? I just don’t get it and it makes me ANGRY. 

Then, there’s Tax Credits. GREAT! Tax credits entitles you to claim for up to 70% of your childcare allowances BUT bare in mind that this is an ESTIMATE and you may need to pay back what you have been given! I am currently paying back £35 a month for Millie’s childcare that apparently, I was over-paid!Again, for something that is meant to help working parents just puts more stress on whether it’s the right thing to do or will you be left even more in debt. 

So, do I return to work and have less money than I would if I were to stay at home!? I can earn around £500-£700 a month from my blog and freelance work (when I put my mind to it) and whilst I’m off I’ve had my maternity allowance too, which is a significant amount MORE than what I’ll actually be bringing home when I come to return to work but the dread is ever-looming and the thought of not having a regular income to support us as a family isn’t worth thinking about. Of course, I won’t be earning this when I do return to work as I simply won’t have the time to put in the hours required to take photos, write blog posts and cover social media but, I am planning to request flexible hours to start in September and hopefully this will tie-in with childcare arrangements taking the strain (emotionally and financially) off both of us but until then, we’re stuck and will have to fork out the costs of childcare if needed. 

It’s a touchy subject for those who aren’t in this position and get free childcare but for those who know exactly where I’m coming from and are experiencing the same thing, you’ll be nodding your head along with everything I’ve said. 

If you’re in a similar situation to me, make sure you check out all of the helplines the HMRC offer, there’s all kinds of support for anyone that is returning to work, looking to become self-employed or if you don’t know what you’re entitled to once you’re on maternity, there is the maternity allowance helpline too. All the numbers are on the HMRC contact us page of their website.

(Sponsored post)

Friday 23 February 2018

Elegant Touch Glue on Nails

I love having my nails done but I don’t have either time or money at the minute to spend on them and so to save my little sausage fingers looking completely like stubs, I live for false nails. I’ve tried pretty much every brand out there from Primark to Home acrylics but there’s only one brand that wins time and time again and that’s Elegant Touch. 

With lots of different designs suitable for everyone and everything, their nails are also one of the few that actually fit my fat fingers and still leave me with a few spare! I love the glue that comes with too as it doesn’t dry up and I know that if one unexpectedly pops off, I can still use it and not have to battle with a crusty, dried up stick of glue. 


elegant touch stick on nails

Launching a new collection which has 4 different designs, the Nocturnal Dreams collection is a beautiful range of both dark and nude nails which all have a little added something to the nail. My favourite have to be the Twilight Dreams Nude Crystal nails which are perfect everyday nails yet the accent nail gives it a little sparkle and a little added extra if you like to add something else to your nails. 

There are 2 other designs that I’m yet to try and I’m dying to get my hands on the Midnight Blues set which is a gorgeous duo-chrome, Blue set - right up my street! And there is also a grey set too so there really is a colour for anyone. 

The application of the nails is super easy too - you get a small nail file included and then 24 nails which range between 10 different sizes to make sure there is a size that will fit all nails. Like I said, I have quite large nails so I usually struggle to find ones that fit but these fit absolutely perfect and they’re super quick to apply. I firstly sort the nails into the sizes I need for each hand and then I buff my nails using the file and shape my natural nails a little so they can’t be seen at all, I apply a little glue on the false nail, wait a few seconds then press onto mine and voila. Done. 

I’ve had my set on now for 10 days and have only lost my thumb nails (which are usually the ones to come off first regardless) but I’ve reapplied them and they’re all still going strong! You can buy these nails from most Boots or Superdrug stores or online from Feelunique

elegant touch stick on nails

elegant touch nocturnal stick on nails

(Post features a PR sample)

Tuesday 20 February 2018

What to watch with the Kids during Half Term

The February Half Term is strange - half the country had last week off but we seem to be a week late and have this week off. So along with planning our days for the rest of the week, it’s nice to know that we can relax a little bit when we’re all out of steam and pop the TV on. It’s good to have a backup plan too incase the weather isn’t kind and it decides to rain off our outdoor plans. 

We’ve had an arts and crafts day already (because it meant that I could tidy up after and the house would say relatively tidy for the remainder of the week) and we’re also off trampolining, to the farm, swimming, soft play and we’re also going on a Gruffalo hunt too! But for a bit of a chill out time for the kids (or me) in-between we’ll have a living room picnic and stick some television on. Of course, it’s nothing like being at the cinema and we don’t have a fancy 4K Panasonic Television to watch in awe, although I do wish we did, we’ll stick to what we’ve got a choose from a range of shows and films that are suitable for us all.


We’ve all got our favourites so I usually give Millie an option and she can choose what she wants, with the help of Netflix and an ever-growing DVD and Blu-Ray collection, we’re never short of things to watch! 

Some of our favourite DVD’s are: 
The Lion King
Tangled
Despicable Me
Toy Story 
Beauty and The Beast

Some of our favourite films on Netflix are:
Matilda
Shrek 
Jumanji
The BFG
Annie 

Some of Millie’s favourite programmes to watch are:
The Furchester Hotel (available on cBeebies and Netflix)
Paw Patrol (NickJr + Netflix)
Bubble Guppies (NickJr + Netflix)
Dora the Explorer (NickJr + Netflix)

What we’re going to watch this week on Netflix:
Night at the Museum
Trolls (The beat goes on)
Nine Lives
Rise of the Guardians 
Tarzan

kids netflix shows

(Collaboration with Panasonic)

Friday 16 February 2018

5 Money Saving Tips for Mums

There isn’t a right time to start saving but it’s good to know that you have a little stash of cash put aside for all those things that happen all at once, you know, the MOT fails, the kids need new shoes or a coat, the dog eats a teabag, yeah, those. I’m sure I’m not the only one to admit that I struggle to save money if I don’t have something in particular to save for... Book me a holiday and I’ll pay it off in a few months, yet tell me to put money aside and I’ll find it difficult not to dip in it every now and again.

Now I’m a Mum, I do find that saving money is a little easier knowing there’s 2 little humans relying on me for various things and it’s just a peace of mind knowing there is a little bit of money set aside incase we need it. I’m useless at the whole credit card thing and have quite a bad credit score, which I *think* is what most people would use if they had money issues and even though some companies offer loans for those with bad credit which can help you out if you’re desperate but, I wanted to share some everyday money saving tips that we can all do to help save money in the long run and make it aimed more towards Mums or Mums - To - Be. 

money saving tips for mums

1 - Buy second hand
If you’re a first time Mum then you will probably have had a lot of help from friends and family in regards to buying all the things you need but, if not, a great way to save a lot of money is to buy second hand. There are some great shops and second hand boutiques out there that have the more expensive items in for a fraction of the price! I bought Mylo’s travel system and saved over £500 yet it looked brand new! I think the term ‘second hand’ tends to put people off but if you look around enough and find the good bits, you can really save yourself some dosh! eBay is a great place to start and to save more money, narrow your search results down to your location so you don’t need to pay for P&P! You never know what someone around the corner is selling! 

2 - Bulk cook meals from scratch 
It’s easy to take the easy way when it comes to cooking - whether you’re cooking for your weaning baby or your picky 5 year old, it’s so much cheaper to bulk cook and make food from scratch. We’re lucky that both kids will eat almost anything but a lot of the time, it’s some sort of pasta dish that’s being made. I try and feed Mylo the same as us or as Millie but if not, I boil some vegetables up and pop them in the fridge so that he has something to eat on an evening if he doesn’t eat the same as us. You can also bulk make and pop into the Heinz/HIPP jars and keep them in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you’re struggling for recipes, just use the same ingredients as what you’d find in the jars if you were to buy them from the shops! It’s easy to do and cheaper too! 

3 - Use Loyalty cards 
A lot of places these days have some sort of loyalty scheme, whether it be Boots, Superdrug, H&M (this is new but it’s pretty good if you buy their kids clothes, which are fab!) or Nandos, using the loyalty scheme will often mean that in future, you get discounted products or, quite often, money to spend. Boots is a great one as you get 10 points for every £1 spent with 100 points = £1 to spend in store. If you join their parenting club, you also get seasonal vouchers sent through too which can again, save you a heap of money on all of the essentials. 

4 - Free activities - Use your community 
Rather than splashing out on trips to the Zoo, Meals out, take advantage of your local community. More often than not, there are community centres that run family activities whether it’s for babies, younger children or youth clubs for older kids, there’s always something to do even if it’s just a couple of quid. Get out and about and visit the park more too! Millie loves running around the park and although it’s a little boring to sit and watch, it’s burning their energy and gives you a little ‘you time’ too! Plus, doing this you’ve saved yourself money and are using the community too! 

5 - Don’t be afraid to buy non-branded items 
There is SO MUCH stuff out there for babies and children, a lot of it made by the big old brands but, some of our favourite products have come from home brands including nappies, baby formula and even snacks! You will notice a considerable difference in price with a lot of necessities, one being baby formula. We actually use Aldi’s home brand of baby milk which is £4 cheaper than the alternative (read my comparison post here)

Do you have any great money saving tips that could be added to this? Let me know in the comments below or Tweet me @emmaloub_ 

(This post was in collaboration with CashLady)

Monday 12 February 2018

Buckley London Jewellery

Whether it’s a treat for you or a gift for someone else, jewellery is always a good choice. I’m quite picky when it comes to jewellery, not really owning or wearing much of it apart from my Pandora bracelet and my gold triple stone ring, earrings are usually my own from Pixel Stones and that’s about it. I think it’s usually because I forget to take it all off when I go to bed and then either loose it or break it but if I do get something or wear something new, I love to show it off and keep it for best.  

Buckley London have a huge and gorgeous range of jewellery that suits all budgets! If you’re looking for a certain thing for someone else or fancy buying something new, you’ll definitely find something over on their website. With Valentines  day and Mothers Day  coming up, it’s also a great time to have a browse and see if there’s something on there which would be great for someone else too! 


buckley london necklace

I’m a huge lover of gold - I don’t usually wear silver as I just prefer the look of gold against my skin but with a mixture of the metals, I can wear them both. My Pandora bracelet is the rose gold version so with it being mostly silver, there are subtle rose gold aspects to it and I love it. The same with this Angel Feather Pendant Necklace. The perfect split between the gold and silver, with the additions of the gorgeous gems, it’s a cute necklace to wear to give any outfit just a little something different. It’s also the perfect length chain and I think it would make a great gift for Mothers Day as the feathers could symbolise Mother and Daugther/Son. Any jewellery on Mothers day is going to be a winner but something as beautiful as this will really give you top marks! It also comes beautifully packaged too with a little hook on the box so that it can be hung and doesn’t get tangled! 

If you’re more into bracelets and bangles, the Pimlico Rose Gold bracelet is just the thing. Its elasticated so will fit most people and the beads are a gorgeous rose gold colour with 5 added beads that are crystallised with gems. The beads sit on a grey rope which I think is the perfect contrast of colours and works so well together. I wear mine daily as I think it can be dressed up or down and usually double it up with my Apple watch which is on a Rose gold strap. Such an affordable item too at just £15.00 - if you’re looking for ideas for Valentines day then this is the perfect thing! 

There’s so much more to look at on the websites with gift sets, bangles, earrings and more - you can definitely bet that you’ll find at least one thing you love so make sure you tab the page and drop a hint if you’re looking for something sparkly! 

buckley london bracelet

buckley london jewellery

(This post featured a gifted item)

Thursday 8 February 2018

Family Holiday Destinations

I just can’t stop thinking about them... No, not those! Summer Holidays! I’m gutted we won’t be getting on a plane this year but I am excited that we’re heading back to our favourite UK holiday place - Cornwall. It’s somewhere we’ve re-visted over the last 4 years and it’s become our little home away from home too! It’s perfect to explore Cornwall and great if you’re a small or large family - you can even take the dog!! 

But, if you’re looking for somewhere to take the family this year I’ve got a couple of other suggestions for you too - just because I can’t jet away doesn’t mean you can’t! 


The Canary Islands seem to be our go-to destination when we’re in the need for a bit of sun. I think because it has good weather all year round, we have a good chance of having a weeks worth of sunshine whenever we do decide to go! Our first trip was back in 2012 when we first met and we stayed in a gorgeous hotel called Marina Suites which was on the harbour in Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria. Even though we didn’t have any children at the time, the hotel was family friendly having a playground for children and a separate shallow pool for kids too. It was in such a great location being around 10 minutes walk from the local shopping centre and the same to the beach with the gorgeous sands of Amadores beach another 20 minutes away. The hotel itself was perfect which huge rooms and a self contained kitchen - the perfect thing for any family. 

If you want to venture to the other side of the islands, you can head to Lanzarote. We went here for our first family holiday when Millie was 1 and it was a lovely break. We stayed in a hotel and was All inclusive so we knew that we had food whenever we wanted it however, I think that we would have been best self-catering as there were times Millie didn’t eat and we quickly got bored of the food available too. The hotel was fab though with a little in-room kitchen to use if you needed and 2 pools, one being family friendly with a separate pool that was closed off for families. 



Gran Canaria is most definitely our favourite place to go and I think when we next visit, we’ll look at getting a Villa instead of a hotel so that we can really enjoy relaxing and do what we want, eat what we want and have the luxury of having our own space rather than being in a hotel. I think when you have children, Villa’s are great because its a small enough space that you can relax in and the kids can take advantage of the pool or inside areas to escape the heat from the sun there’s nothing to worry about when you have to go to bed early too - I’m not sure if you’ve had to do it but there’s nothing worse than having to lie in the bedroom in silence at 8pm because the kids are in bed!?

A lot of places have villa’s scattered all over the island so there will be villa’s tucked into the mountains and villa’s closer to the beach so be sure to have a good look and know where you want to be based. Clickstay have a great variety of villa’s available in Gran Canaria, the more central ones being in the capital, Mogan and then the ones nearer the beach being in San Bartolome. You can pick and choose between large villas with their own pools or villas that are in resorts like the one below that is in the Golf Resort of Salobre Sur. 

You really can’t go wrong when you choose a villa holiday so I guess it’s just up to when you want to go and who you’re taking with you! 



(Collaborative post with Clickstay.com)

Tuesday 6 February 2018

Baby-Led Weaning

Mylo is now 9 months and we’re well into the whole ‘baby led weaning’ stage - it’s something we did with Millie and it worked really well so we knew we were going to do the same thing with Mylo too! Although it’s quite a scary thought for a lot of new Mums, we find Baby led weaning so fun and a great way for your baby (and you, sometimes!) to explore new tastes, different textures and also get to grip on their hand/eye co-ordination. 

We use a mixture of baby led and spoon fed, depending on what he’s eating, but we’ve found the older he gets, the more independent he is too and also, the better he can eat his food meaning he takes the lead with most of his meals now. He also eats such a wide variety of things and so for anyone starting out or wondering what to give your baby, this post should come in handy for some of those un-answered questions or worries! 

baby led weaning

So we started weaning with Mylo at around 18 weeks (4.5 months) because he took to his milk so well, it just seemed like the right thing to do. The guidelines state that your baby should be 6 months old but it can start from 4 months depending on your baby - please remember that all babies are different and you should do what is best for your baby. 

We started on Baby rice, just a few spoonfuls each night before his bedtime bottle and then we added in a little after his morning (breakfast) bottle too. I do think it’s important to have an established bottle routine or else weaning just isn’t going to work how you want it. In the end, you want baby to fit in with your dinner times, not be making food at different times so ensure you have the bottle feeding sorted first and then move on to weaning. Mylo was having 4 bottles a day at 6months meaning we could establish his food times around these, they looked like this:

7:30am - 7oz Bottle + breakfast 
11:00am - 7oz Bottle 
3:30pm - 7oz Bottle 
6:30pm - Dinner + 7oz Bottle 

After a short while, we got rid of the 11am bottle as he had more breakfast and then brought in lunch instead. We started at 11am and then gradually pushed it back and his lunchtime now is between 12/12:30pm. The same with his evening meal, it started late but we gradually brought it forward and its now anytime between 4:30/5pm the same time as Millie eats. We spoon fed his breakfast which was simply baby cereal or fruit puree and then would give him some sort food afterwards for him to eat/play with, perfect breakfast foods to start with are:

- Banana 
- Mango 
- Strawberries 
- Avacado 
- Scrambled egg 
- Toast (usually he would just suck on it and then I took it off him)




At around 8 months old, we had a good, established feeding routine and started to properly incorporate everything he needed such as dairy and protein. We still spoon fed him at times, for example if we jar fed him a meal or had puree, we did it because it was easier but he always had something to eat himself afterwards. 

Now he has dropped his 11am bottle, his feeding routine now looks like this:

7:30am - 7oz Bottle 
8:30/9am (after school run) Breakfast + sippy cup with water or juice 
10am - 11am Nap
11am Snack 
12/12:30pm - Lunch (Protein based so make sure you include Meat here!)
1pm - 3pm Nap
3:30pm - 5oz Bottle 
5pm - Dinner (no meat) + Pudding (usually yogurt or jelly)
7:00pm - 7oz Bottle 

This is pretty much what each day looks like. We had a solid routine nailed since he was around 6 weeks old and we stick to it whenever we can (we notice a massive difference in his mood/behaviour if we don’t!) and it works perfectly for us. I’m not saying to follow this completely, but find something that works for you and stick to it! It makes life so much easier knowing what’s going on each day, especially if you are planning on putting baby into childcare in the future. 

So, with everything else covered, here’s some examples of the food Mylo enjoys for his breakfast now he feeds himself:

Porridge (spoon fed), soft cereals dry, toast/bagel with spread (Nutella, jam, Philadelphia, lemon curd, marmalade, butter), Pancakes, Oat cakes 

Some ideas for Lunch and Dinner if you want to do more baby led meals are:

Vegetables (cook until soft and cut into pieces large enough so they can hold) - Carrots, parsnip, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, baked beans, pasta with sauce, fish (cook until soft), rice cakes, cucumber chunks, oranges, pear, blueberries (squish them first), jelly, yogurt, cubes of cheese, fairy cakes, biscuits, wotsits/skips. 

Of course, there are so many more foods you can try - these are just items that are easy and quick to make and keep and things that Mylo eats really well. Pasta is a favourite at the moment whether it’s tubes or spaghetti, he loves it! We also make our own jars of food if I know we’re going to be out at some point in the week but I simply cube vegetables and add some small pasta shapes, add a little passata and some chicken or tuna and portion into tubs or jars. We buy Heinz jars as they’re usually on offer and wash these out so that we can re-use them!

 I’m not against spoon feeding or jars as sometimes it is usually quicker and cleaner so it’s great to have the option but I think allowing babies to explore food, they are more likely to be good eaters when they get older. Millie loves everything, she isn’t put off trying new food as she ate whatever we did when she was younger - she can actually eat a chunk of Lemon now too because we used to give them to her as a baby haha! 

So if you’re weaning your baby and looking for ideas, I hope this has helped! Don’t be scared to have them try something new - as long as it’s soft enough, most babies will mush most things up and they also have a really good gag reflex so will cough something back up if it’s still too big! 

baby led weaning

Saturday 3 February 2018

5 Exercises for Mums

Since having Mylo, I made it my aim to start working out more but since it was my second C-Section, I had to be careful when and how I started. Obviously, the first thing I did was grab some new workout gear, because everyone needs an excuse to buy new clothes, right? I grabbed a couple of leggings from Fabletics, some basic leggings from MyProtein, some casual t-shirts from Primark and also got a few bits from UK Lingerie too, including a pair of Flexi-Fit Leggings and a Cute Pink baggy, open back top. 

I’m still on the look out for a good pair of ‘squat proof’ leggings though as most of mine just don’t pair well with my big booty. Anytime I squat or bend over, you can see pretty much everything. The Pink Top from UK Lingerie is great though as it’s long enough at the back to cover anything up but the leggings are just too see-through the wear without a cover - super comfy and soft, just not all that for squatting!

uk lingerie gym wear

5 exercises for mums

Walking
I know everyone walks but I made the conscious effort to get up and move! More importantly, I began slow and low and gradually worked my way up to working out regularly. So to start with I simply walked daily. Getting Harry gave me an excuse to get out of the house more and also helped with my fitness levels too - I didn’t feel like a total post-section mess. 

Kettlebells
A great item to have in the house as you don’t need to do too much to get a great workout from Kettlebells. You can use them to squat, lunge, press and swing. They’re a great way to up your strength without being put off by heavy dumbbells and you can do any of the exercises in the living room or garden so you can keep an eye on the kids!

PiYo
If you prefer going to a class, Piyo is a great place to start. A mixture of Pilates and Yoga, Piyo is a strength based workout which helps to develop your core and overall stamina. It’s not an easy workout but it definitely helped me get my strength back after having a section. I actually felt my core and could really feel it working, something I hadn’t felt in years! Search for your nearest class or speak to your Yoga instructor as they may have classes. 

Swimming 
It can be a lot of effort to begin with but swimming is great if you’ve got kids. It’s relatively low intensity but really does give you a full body workout. Try and choose a pool that is warm for baby and pop them in an inflatable ring and do some lengths pushing them along. It’s a great way to stay active but also a great bonding experience too! Some pools have Mother and Baby classes so be sure to check with your local baths. 

Gradual core work 
All mums will say there is one area in particular they want to ‘get rid of’ and thats the dreaded Mum-Tum. There are 100’s of ways to help tackle this part of the body but the main way is to build up your core. You can do simple, easy exercises in the middle of your living room and even use baby to help. Exercises such as sit-ups, plank, lunges and lots of stretches can assist in the development and strengthening of your core, both things that will help to get rid of that Pouch!

(This post featured a gifted item)