Little Brother


I love it when the School Holidays arrive! It means that we all get to see my little brother Sean, who lives in South Wales. I love it when he comes up to visit us. The girls absolutely love their Uncle Sean! Mia always asks for him when he's gone back home in South.




When he comes up North to my Dad's we all try and go out somewhere together a few times through the holidays. In the Easter holidays we went out to a park that was about an hour away from my house. We were there about 2-3 hours, I got a little bored but the kids really enjoyed themselves and I think the big kid that really enjoyed themselves the most was my Dad ha ha! 



You can probably see who the big kid is in these photos ha ha! It was a really good day - and we were lucky that the weather was good for us too.



Do you have family who live really far from you?

Easter Breakfast


This is a late post - since we had no wi-fi over the Easter weekend because we have moved home. Mia was in her Dads from Saturday until Monday Bank Holiday so Tuesday morning I thought I would do an Easter special breakfast for both of the girls. It wasn't much but they loved it as it was a change for them.


Mia got really excited when I told her I was going to do dippy eggs! For their breakfast they had runny eggs with toast cut to dip into the egg and they also had chocolate mini eggs! Elliw didn't eat the dippy egg, she only ate the chocolate mini eggs and half the toast, oh and she decided to put one of the chocolate mini egg inside the real egg and it melted ha ha so good job she didn't eat the dippy egg!

How was your Easter? Did you do anything special or was it just a normal day?

My Baby Is Growing!


The past couple of days I have realised how much Elliw has grown. She was slow in walking, crawling and talking but every child's development is different isn't it? Plus she is the 2nd child so Mia, her big sister, did a lot for Elliw. So in a way Elliw was a little lazy ha ha! These past couple of weeks she has changed so much, she understands more things even though she makes out to us that she doesn't so she can try and get her own way ha ha.


She loves posing for the camera! In the past two weeks Elliw has been coming up to me and saying she has done or wants a poo!!! Since she is scared stiff of the potty I have been taking her to the toilet and she loves it when we praise her. She hasn't done anything on the toilet yet but it's a start isn't it?


She is still a little madam at bed times. She will not settle in her bed. When we put her to bed she will still run around her bedroom and play a little and look at her books. Eventually, she will sleep on the floor by the gate and we will take her back to her bed and she will sleep all night some nights and she will wake up some nights for juice.


What I've also noticed recently too is how close Elliw and Mia are getting - I love it! I love seeing them cuddle up together on the sofa whilst they're watching TV. But to tell you the truth, they do argue much more than they cuddle and play together so seeing them so close is really nice too see sometimes. I've noticed that Elliw loves playing with figures and baby dolls. She will sit down sometimes with two little figures, one in each hand and play with them. It is so cute!


You might remember me posting about Elliw starting small school? Well she absoloutley loves going there. She goes every Fridays 9am until 11am and in September I have booked her in to go there 3 days a week 9am until 1pm so she will be in dinner clubs too. She runs in there the minute she is at the door.

Family Visiting.


I really do love it when my family visits me. I don't think the realise how much I appericiate that they take the time and effort to come and see me. Nearly 3 years ago I moved around 30 minutes away from my family to live with my partner. I am really gutted I don't see my family as often but I love the times that they come to visit me, my partner and the girls.



My beautiful Nephew, Osian Wyn came over to see us on Friday. I absolutely love seeing him! And my brother Nathan and his partner Catriona of course!


Osian was a right little poser when he came over. Full of smiles and sticking his tongue out loads ha ha. So adorable.


Later on my Dad came over as he was going to help me tidy and clean our old house. I don't see him very often and it's really nice when he comes over. This photo is the first photo he has of all the grand-children :-)

We Do Not Remember Days We Remember Moments Linky.

' We do not remember Days,
           We remember Moments'
                                                     - Cesare Pavese

I love this quote said by Cesare Pavese! It is so true. We never really remember the days we just remember the moments. So I have decided to do a linky with your most memorable photo OR photos! All you have to do is do a post with a photo or a few photos and explain what happened - even if it is just one word, a few words or even a full paragraph! It doesn't matter how short or long your post is. After you've finished just link it up below and if you can read and comment other people's posts too. Simple as that :-) Enjoy!
Looking forward to reading your posts.

P.s. If you can please copy and paste the code of the badge below to go onto your post too! Thank You :-)!


It will not show up this big on your post - It will only be thumbnail size like below! :-) Thank You.

HTML Code -



 
 

We Do Not Remember Days, We Remember Moments LINKY


I love looking back at photos. Especially ones that mean something. Pictures are great memories to keep, I love hanging photos on the walls and I have loads of photo albums and also photos ready to be put into photo albums.


I love this photo. Even though I do remember the date, I only remember the day because it was taken the day after Mia was born. Mia is my first born and I was only 17 years old. It was a really scary time and also I was a single mother - as her Dad didn't want nothing to do with her at the time. I love this photo.

This was the first time my beautiful Great Nain (in the blue cardigan) met Mia. Sadly she didn't get to meet Elliw. Elliw was born on the 5th March and my Nain passed away on the 14th March. I was so upset and so gutted. She passed away a couple of days before we had arranged to take Elliw to meet her for the first time. I will never forgive myself for not taking her sooner. I really love this photo, as it's a 5 generation photo.


This photo was when Mia did her first time. I really can't remember how old she was - all I remember is it was in January (I think!) My Dad made her smile for the first time.

This was the morning Elliw was born as you can probably tell. They had put her under my nighty for over an hour for skin to skin so it was really nice holding her for the first time.


This was taken when I first met my beautiful Nephew. I'll never forget it.

There are so many photos I can upload and talk about the memories - but it will take too much time! So i'll stick to them for now. Hope you all join in with the linky!

New Look, New Us!

I decided to do a little-ish make over for the blog today! What do you all think? I'm trying to get used to the width of the blog but I think it looks much better than it did. It feels more like me too. Anyone who knows me, they know that I love photos and that is what I've tried to do on my blog make over! I hope you all like it!


I absolutely love this photo of the girls. I decided to choose this photo cause it shows how fun kids can be and it reminds me of this day. It was only taken a couple of days ago but we all loved the walk and we all had fun. The girls were singing 'Ring a Ring a roses' and dancing to it too! They were spinning around whilst walking too ha ha. They're so funny.

Also, I'm not sure if you have realised but I have now decided for this to be a UK Parenting Lifestyle & Food Blog. I decided to add Food because I have done quite a few recipes and a few Slimming World Posts so I thought, why not?!

Life-As-Mum will turn 1 Years Old May the 5th so keep a look out for the surprises I have been planning for my lovely readers who have made this blog what it is today!

Spring Walk

On Thursday the weather was quite nice! Blue skies and pretty warm. As you probably know, we have recently moved. We are not total opposite side from where we lived before. I absolutely love it here. One thing I really like living here is it is a really quiet street and when we went for the walk the girls only had to hold my hand until the end of the street just incase any cars came and then they could run off straight onto the cycle track. I wore a leather jacket which I really regretted wearing with the sun out!


Mia and Elliw love going out for a walk. It will be even easier now with the path being 2 seconds away from our home. Our walk contained; walking, running and rowing! We walked half way and I thought i'd better turn back or the girls won't walk back - because it is quite far. So anyway, Mia was happy enough to turn around and go back home because her little legs started to hurt. However, Elliw was totally different. She sat her bum down on the floor and started screaming crying. Other times I would say 'ta-ta' to her as in to say bye and pretend I am walking away, and she would stand there with a huge smile on her face and say bye back! Little madam. Oh, and every time a bike came towards us she decided it would be a great idea to run towards the bike or run after the bike - that is where I had to run.


 
So other than chasing Elliw down the path, we had quite an interesting and refreshing walk! The back view you can see in the photos are the views I have from my back bedroom - love it.



When we walked back Mia distracted Elliw by singing 'ring a ring a roses' and instead of walking, they were holding hands skipping round and round then there bums on the floor singing! It was so cute.


I have noticed, When it is just me and Elliw going for walks she will want to hold my hand but if Mia is with us then she feels more safe. They loved holding hands together when we go for a walk - and I love seeing them like this too.

Cheap Proffesional Photos

These photos may not be very professional, they were taken by me. But it is a good idea if you are skint and don't have that much money to get your photos taken by a photographer maybe this way is a good idea for you?


These photos ive taken will always have that personal touch because I have edited them the way I like and I was the one who took them. I'll never forget that day I was taking these photos.



There not the best photos, but I love them. If you're thinking of doing the same, then its very simple and so so cheap! All you have to buy is; white sheet, fleece/blankt for the floor and an outfit/props for the photos.

Do you take photos of your little ones instead of taking them to photographers?

Minnie Mouse Inspire Bedroom

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I don't usually like character themed bedrooms but the only character I do like is Minnie Mouse. I love the colour pink too so I decided to a Minnie Mouse girly room for the girls' new bedroom. I have the same wallpaper as shown above. I absolutely love it! There are so many different things you can get with Minnie Moue, wheather it is dark pink, light pink or red.
 
What kind of bedroom do your little ones have?

Slimming World Update

I've found it quite stressful and difficult this week since I had a big loss last week (4.5lbs loss) from being ill. I think I stressed out too much and wasn't concentrating on what I was eating and miss counting syns. However, I decided to go to an early Slimming World group (5pm instead of 7pm) as needed to carry on painting in the new house.

I really thought I was going to gain atleast 3lbs. I got weighed and I only gained 1lbs :)

Very happy about it, I'm back on track, very determined to reach a 3 stone loss by June! Hopefully i'll be able to get my 3 1/2 stone by June though! We will see.

Check out what I eat daily on my Instagram which you can find here.

Do you or anyone you know suffer from IBS?

IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) can ruin people's lives in a way. It is a horrible painful discomfort in your stomach. Having IBS, it can make some people not enjoy there life as they are in so much pain. However, if you or anyone you know suffers from IBS then you could look at Bimuno. Bimuno support people who suffer with IBS, digestive health concerns and symptoms such as bloating or digestive discomfort. Biumo is a unique complex carbohydrate that helps to support your 'good bacteria' which is a supplement powder but now with the great success they have extended their range to help specific health benefits.
Mrs. Crawford suffered bad IBS which ruined her sex life and even ended up in hospital and now since she started taking Bimuno powder she can enjoy her life again. Read up about the article here.
Bimuno has 'Excellent' reviews which you can read here.
      
''I have been taking Bimuno for only few months and, already, after a lifetime of very bad digestive problems, I at last have peace.''
 
Bimuno can help increase your Bifidobacteria (good bacteria) levels. This helps you maintain a healthy intestinal balance. Bimuno reduces the bacteria that contribute to bloating by giving good bacteria too you (by using Bimuno) and also helps manage long-term bowel health.
If you are an IBS sufferer then why not start to enjoy your life, by taking Bimuno and reduce those pains and bloating!
 
 
* This is a sponsored post.

Update of our house

So then, here is an update of our very own home! We've been working really hard in the past few weeks. I've been busy wallpapering, cleaning, tidying and painting with my Taid. Whilst Iwan and his Dad has been busy building and getting the log burner ready!
Since these photos were taken, there has been carpets put down. But I will do an update once all of upstairs has finished :-) Can't wait too show you all.
 

This is mine and Iwan's bedroom. We decided to go for this black and gold tree wallpaper as we thought it was a little different than the others we had seen in the shops. We were very lucky to choose this because when we went to the shop to get the paper the price had gone all the way down to £1 each! How great is that?! We only needed 2 rolls so we only spent £2 for our feature wall.

 
This is Mia and Elliw's bedroom wallpapered and painted! From the start I said I didn't want a character based bedroom but this wallpaper caught my eye and I just had to get it. It's also very girly and natural with the light pink colour. I have also bought them new wardrobes since their other ones have broken. This will be the first time they are going to share a bedroom so it should be quite interesting!

Being An Aunty

These past few months have been very different! I've noticed how different times have changed. It's weird. The most different thing that I still haven't got 100% used to is; my brother being a Dad and me being an aunty to such a beautiful little boy called Osian.

I have always wanted to be an Aunty. But I never thought I would have been an Aunty now! I thought I would have had to wait years and years until my little sister (who is 9) was much older and had children of her own. As I never ever thought my brother would have children. Hearing the news that him and his partner were expecting a child - I was over the moon! No words could describe how I felt. I actually had tears in my eyes! I couldn't believe that I was going to be an aunty and I couldn't believe that my LITTLE brother was going to be a DAD!

I have to say, the mother of Osian is one of the best mothers I know. Ive known her for a good few years and my girls have been brought up to knowing her with my brother Nathan too. Catriona (my brothers partner) is one lovely girl and trys her very best to be a great mother to Osian - which she is 100%! She also has a lovely blog which you can read here.

I was so excited to find out what they were having, you would actually think it was me who was pregnant ha ha! I had already had a box full of baby items such as clothes, newborn nappies, hats and so on ready for the little one. When the 20 week scan came, I couldn't wait! And it was a BOY! I was so SO happy for them! Maybe a tad jealous because I've always wanted a baby boy ha ha! But I was over the moon for them both.

That special day came - The day Catriona went into labour with Osian! 22nd October! I made sure my phone was on. However, it came around 9.45pm and my phone went flat! But I was just watching the end of a programme that was on and that finished 10pm and thought 'she won't have given birth by then!'.. But oh how I was wrong! I went to bed and it was around 10.15pm - 10.30pm I had missed calls and texts saying Osian had been born at 10.04pm weighing 7lbs 13.5oz! I couldn't believe I had missed the first call, I am still gutted about it!

I remember the very first photo my brother had sent me;
I cried happiness when I saw this photo on my phone! I was so happy and proud of Catriona and Nathan.

I couldn't wait for the first cuddle of my first nephew. We all went to visit him in hospital the next day, however Mia and Elliw weren't allowed in because of some rules! Mia was really upset! But anyway, I went in and I couldn't believe how tiny he was! I had big babies (8lbs 9oz and 9lbs 8oz) so it was so weird and a big change seeing such a small little baby.

I grabbed the chance to have a cuddle. I couldn't wait.

 I love this photo of Catriona, Nathan and Osian. It just shows how times have changed that my brother has his very own little family, and I am so proud and happy for them both.

1 Year


I can't believe on the 5th of May my little blog will be 1 Years Old! Where has the time gone?! I have loved every minute of it. Met some lovely people. Read and discovered fantastic blogs along the way. Most of all I have been very lucky to work with some fantastic companies. I started this blog as an online diary for my girls to look back at when they are older. But over the past few months it started to be something else too, I started reviewing products for great companies, doing sponsored posts and writing tips and advice to other parents out there. My blog wouldn't have come this far if it wasn't for all my fantastic readers out there! So yes, I do have something planned for all you special readers :-) But you will all have to wait and see!

5th May 2013 I wrote my very first blog post which you can read here. My first ever product review was with Stardust Kids. You can find the review here. I remember getting that e-mail saying that they would like me review for them, I was just so excited. I've always loved writing ever since I was a child. For Christmas I would always get pen and papers and they were always my favourite presents! So blogging was the perfect thing for me! Even though I'm not the best at spelling and explaining things, I just write what I think and what I want!

I also have to thank a friend of mine, who you all probably know! It's Kerry who blogs over at OhSoAmelia. The amount of times I have messaged her asking her things about blogging - i'm sure she is fed up of seeing my name popping up on Facebook ha ha! My brother is best friends with her brother and I had the lovely chance to meet Kerry and the gorgeous little Amelia a few months ago!

Whilst doing this post, I am looking at my stats and I am really shocked and very happy that I have people reading my blog from the other side of the world! I haven't blogged much in the past few weeks, because I've been moving house etc! But I will be back to normal very soon!

So far I have reached 29,200+ page views in total!
I would love to reach 30,000 by the 5th of May!

My most read posts are;
Hello Kitty Review
Do Advice Pages Really Help Us?

Keep a look out for what I have planned for all my great readers!
Also, keep a look out for posts coming soon where you can know a lot more about me.

Once again, Thank you very much to all the fantastic companies who have given me the chance to review their products and to all my lovely readers! :-)

Slimming World Update

I apologize for the lack of posting recently, I have been so so busy with the new house and the past two days I have been very poorly. I was lucky enough to have been able to go to Slimming World Group last night though, I just felt achey but otherwise I was ok. I am glad I went as I -

Lost 4.5lbs!

I know about 2 pound loss of that was because of me being ill but on the other hand - I got my 2 and a half stone award!!!!! I am so happy, I also got Slimmer Of The Week AND I have reached another stone bracket. I feel much much better today, also from now on I will be blogging a bit more. (Another post to come about this)

What have I been eating this week?
Check out my Instagram page here.

For the first time I am going to start saying my weight when I started and what I am now and also what my target is; Why? Because I feel more confident and I don't care what others say anymore because I am actually loosing weight and feeling happy.

Start Weight : 17 stone 3.5 lbs.
Current Weight : 14 stone 10.5 lbs.
Target Weight : 9 stone.

Slimming World Update

This is so late sorry! I have been extremely busy with the new house and haven't been on my laptop nearly all week. So yeah back to the point; I've stayed on pla 10% again last week. Got weighed Wednesday and I..

Lost 2lbs!!

YES! 2lbs again!! Past 3 weeks I've lost 2lbs each week. I am so so happy. If I loose another 2lbs this week then im in the next stone bracket. No words can describe how happy I am.

I was looking back at old photos and I came across these photos (the 2 left photos) ;


The top and bottom left photos were taken on my 21st birthday last year (2013) in August. I really can not believe that just over half a year ago I looked like that! And I thought I looked ok?! Don't understand how and why I thought I looked fine, maybe cause I had already lost a stone by then maybe? I can't wait to loose another 2 stone and see the difference to what I am now to what I will soon look like.

I have no lost;
2 stone 2 and half pounds.

Easter Ideas

Are you stuck on what to do this Easter? How about do something a little different this year. I'm stuck on what to buy my girls. Should I take them for a day out somewhere, buy them chocolates, money in the bank, or buy them something useful - as in clothes maybe? Up to now, I am thinking buy them an outfit each and a small Easter Egg, as they will be getting lots of Easter Eggs off other people anyway won't they? Also, Mia will be off school for 2 whole weeks! How am I going to cope?! Ha ha! I will be fine if I just keep myself busy.

Book a weekend away
A last minute getaway would be lovely! Especially if the weather is nice too. Spending a couple of days away from home can be great sometimes I think. It relaxes you more, then once you're home reality kicks back in again, ha ha. But it's also a great way to spend time with your loved ones and a good way to bond too.

Day out
Maybe you don't have the money to spend on a hotel or travelling, maybe you could spend the day somewhere? If it's nice, how about the Zoo? Or maybe a play centre if it is raining. Even swimming would be fun! You could also go out for food too!

Save money
Want to save money and still do something fun with the kids? Well, you can! You could easily go to the park in your area, go for a walk and take a picnic with you. Or maybe take a football too a big field and have a run and kick about with the kids. They will love it and I am sure you will love it too!

Stay at home
Maybe it won't be a nice day and it'll be a rainy miserable day, so maybe you could spend your Easter weekend at home with the kids with different activities? A post for different Easter Activities will be up soon so keep a look out :-)

What are you planning to do Easter Weekend?

The Naughty Sheep Jam Review

 A few weeks ago we were sent 3 marmalades to try out. I was surprised that I was sent 3 different marmalades! I couldn't wait too taste them, I've not been 100% keen on marmalades to be honest but I thought i'd try it. Unfortuntley I didn't like them (but only because i'm not a big fan on marmalade). My partner and his parents loved them! They loved the texture and the lovely taste of the marmalade.

I was then kindly sent a Strawberry Jam and Rasberry Jam to try out. Oh My! They were so yummy! I really liked the taste of the strawberry. There was a lovely strong taste of strawberry and lovely texture too. Both my girls and my partner love both of these jam's too. Suprisingly again, I was given two big jars of these jam's. I was over the moon when I tasted them and I loved them! Deffintley a must buy if you are looking for tastey jams to put on your toast in the mornings!

You can buy these here! :-)
Hope ewe buy them and try them!

* I was kindly sent these for free to try out in return of an honest opinion. All photos and words are 100% my own.