Well it's that time of year again! The time of year i'm not keen on. I didn't even like it that much when I was younger but maybe I did like getting all the sweets! However, the past few years I think Halloween has changed so much. I remember cutting a hole in a bin bag and wearing that with a witches hat and broom for my Halloween Costume and nowdays everything is so expensive. Mia is scared stiff of Halloween if we take her out to parties. So I have decided to do a little party of our own at home, I've invited a friend and her two children and that is all, I don't want anything big but I wanted to do something so she didn't feel left out.
So I hope you all have a great day and all your kiddies get all the sweets they want!

Take care and have a good day//night!

With just less than 2 months to go until Christmas, most people are either sorted for Christmas, starting or planning what to get for the kids. I've nearly finished, still got a bit to go but nearly there after a few more shopping trips. I love first Christmases and I hope to experience that in future with another baby (maybe). We will see, maybe one day. I used to love shopping around for 'First Christmas' presents and look around online for 'First Christmas Present Ideas'.
What kind of presents have you or will you buy your child's first Christmas?

Personalised Booties. | Personalised Bauble | Bib | Sleeping Bag.

If you have been following my blog since I started it then you might know that I do Slimming World. I've been struggling for quite a while now but this week I have really put my head down and concentrated on it. 2 weeks ago I got my 3.5 stone!! But I was off to Chester for the night with my partner I wanted to enjoy myself and I was totally off plan that whole week and I gained 4lbs which isn't bad with the amount I ate. Wednesdays are my weigh-in days so on Thursday morning I have been 100% on plan. My main target for Christmas is to loose another stone which will put me in the 12 stones and I will have lost 4.5 stone! So I really hope I can do it, there is just under 2 months to go until Christmas.


You can check my foods over on my Instagram here. One thing that has helped me is, when I take the girls to school I make sure I leave my purse at home so then I'm not tempted to buy any junk from the shops as I am passing!

Do you have any weight loss tips?

I was asked by Catriona if I would make some Cupcakes for my nephews first birthday party. Of course I said yes! I haven't baked cakes for a while, in fact the last cake I baked was for my Taid's 60th which was in July. I'd been away with my partner for the night so when I came back in the afternoon the next day I decided to bake the cakes and I had decided to try and bake blue cupcakes. I've never done a coloured cake before so was quite nervous but looked forward to it too!



Things you need:
Blue food colouring.
Vanilla extract.
250g Self Raising Flour.
3 eggs.
200g caster sugar.
200g butter.



Recipe:
Pre-heat oven at 190.
Beat butter and caster sugar.
Sieve in the Self raising flour.
Add in the eggs.
Add the food colouring and vanilla extract.
Mix all together.
Put in cupcake cases.
Bake for about 20-35 minutes.

I'd burnt a little on the outside but I guess it wasn't bad for first time baking coloured cupcakes! They tasted yummy too and other people liked them too!

 

Check out my Instagram this week;

beth_slimmingworld

 

When I was pregnant with Elliw I always wondered what kind of personality she would have and if her and Mia would be similar or totally different. From when she was born she was totally different to Mia. She took roughly 7-8 months until she slept for a full night, she would cry if she was held or seen a man and she was a very hard baby to settle at bed time. Elliw's development was totally different to Mia's, here is a bit of their development.
Walking - Mia started walking 2 weeks after her 1st birthday and Elliw started walking around 15 months old however she wouldn't walk outside until 18-19 months old.
Crawling - Mia was around 8-9 months and Elliw was around 10 months.
Talking - Mia started saying a few words such as 'dada' etc at around 8 months if I remember and Elliw was around 11-12 months, however she is still learning to talk at the moment.

As they're growing up their personalities are so different. There is only a 2 years and 3 months age gap between them and it is quite mad how different they both are. Mia is a shy girl if she hasn't met someone before or if she is in a big group with people she doesn't know, when Elliw is very confident with anyone but cant get shy sometimes but not like her big sister.

One thing they are very much alike is they are both very caring children. If they see you cry then they will come up to you and give you lots of kisses and cuddles. On the other hand Elliw's temper tantrums are awful. She will hit, scream and kick Mia if they are arguing, luckily she is slowly coming out of the stage of randomly hitting Mia out of nowhere. As she is still struggling to learning to speak proper words (she is getting there though!) she gets very frustrated and starts tantrums often as we don't understand what she wants/needs.


Mia would rather sit down with her pen and paper, cuddle up and read stories. Whilst Elliw loves to run around, play with her toys, sing and dance! She will cuddle up and sit quiet for a bit but not very often.

In the weeks time, on the first weekend in November me and my partner have decided we are going to go out for the day to Ikea! Hopefully we can finish nearly all of our Christmas shopping then too. We really want to get the living room and our bedroom sorted out by Christmas time. Our bedroom is decorated we would just like it to be more cosey for us! Also going to try and do something to Mia's bedroom soon too, hopefully make it like a Frozen theme, we will see!

I went to have a look on the IKEA's website and there isn't that many stuff online so I am hoping there are more stuff in store. I would like a side table in the living room as it would be really handy for when we have our food I can put my drink on the table instead of the heater or the floor! I'd really like a nicer colour rug in the living room than the one we got now. The one we have now is a grey colour and I think a nice brown would suit the room better. A mirror in a living room makes the room feel a bit bigger and makes it more 'homely' I think. Going to buy a few shelves for the bedrooms and the living room. I think it would help with storage and making the rooms look much nicer!

White Side Table. || Rug. || Mirror || Wall Shelf. || Basket. || Easel. || Toy Till.

Last week of school for the kids this week until Half Term next week! We haven't got much things planned yet at the moment because the weather is a bit disappointing however we have been given tickets to go to a theme park and the review will be up for you all too see soon! I'm quite lucky that my job is only term time so I don't work on school holidays. It's so easy for the kids to get bored at home so i do try and take them out daily or atleast every other day.

Activites at home.
If it is raining you could do some colouring, painting, play-dough or even baking with the kids! There are quite a lot of indoor activities you could do with the kids that they will love. If it's painting, colouring then they would be great for Christmas presents to relatives maybe?!

Outdoors.
Take the kids outside to play, even if its a raining a little i'm sure the kids would love the 'Jump In Muddy Puddles' as that famous Peppa Pig says! You can take them for walks or to the park.

Meet Up.
Maybe you have friends who have kids of their own? Go meet up with them, let the kids play and keep them busy.

Swimming.
You could take the kids swimming. Some swimming pools let kids have a free swimming hour. You can check you local Council website for more information.

Movie Day.
Stay indoors, put a movie on with some snacks on the side! Every child would love this. Bring the duvet down and have some bonding time with your child(ren)!

What will you be doing this Half Term?

Whether your a single parent or weather your a couple with a child/children, every single parent deserves a break. Whether it is a break on your own in the evening/day or going away for a night or two as a couple or with a friend. As much as I love my children I don't understand how some parents cope with never having a break but don't get me wrong I put my hands up to them! I don't get a break often, in fact my break is when I go to work or if my partner takes Elliw out whilst I keep the shopping. Mia goes to her Dad's every Saturday - Sunday evening which is handy but Elliw by herself is still like having two children! It's mad how one child is totally different to the other isn't it?
I do try and get Mia's Dad to take her for longer when it comes to school holidays as I do think i deserve a break now and then. As a parent we have to plan our break in advance don't we?

Find a Babysitter.
You will need to find a babysitter if you are planning to go away or just want a few hours to yourself. Ask a friend or a family member but it would be best if that child knows the person(s) too. The last thing you want to do is leave the child with someone they don't know properly and then you get a phone call later on saying they won't settle.

Plan your date.
The date of your 'break' will need to work around yourself and your babysitter. Choose a date that both of you are free, if you are booking a hotel it is best to book in advance or last minute.

Where
You don't want to go way too far from where your child is. However, i have known people who go abroad without their children. If i ever did that then the longest i would go for would be 2-3 days and i would have to go back home to them. Otherwise the place me and my partner go is Chester. You can read about our recent getaway here.

Save.
If you're planning to go away for a bit then it is always nice to save money aside for you to treat yourself (and your partner). or maybe get something small for your child(ren) too.

Organised.
When dropping your child off to their babysitter it's best to make sure you pack everything and ask them if they need anything such as a Travel Cot, Saftey Gate or a Saftey bar for the bed. Always pack extra clothes, nappies, wet wipes etc and pack clothes for all kinds of weathers just in case. You could always give a spare key to them for your house just in case they need something that you forgot to give them.

How often do you go for a 'break' from the kids?

Happy First Birthday to my Beautiful Nephew, Osian Wyn!

I can't belive a year has gone by already. I don't see you as often as I like since we live quite far-ish from each other but I do try to see you as often as I can and your Mammy comes up here when she can too! Such a special little boy! You've grown to be such a handsome, cheeky and clever little boy. I love that cheeky smile and laugh of yours. Plus you're nearly walking by yourself too! Look at what your Mummy wrote about your First Step here. It's so hard to believe that today last year was when you were born. I remember getting so excited waiting for the text! I had a long-ish first labour with your Cousin Mia so I wasn't expecting you to come so quick. I was watching the end bit of something on TV and my phone went flat and I thought 'Catriona won't give birth by the time I put my phone on charge' well guess what! You did! Whenmy phone was on charge and switched on you were already born! I nearly cried that I missed the phone call but I had happy tears that I was actually an Aunty for the first time! I've always wanted be to be an Aunty and I'm now a proud aunty to a one-year old little boy! Looking forward to these next few years to see what kind of little boy your turn out to be! So exciting. You really enjoyed your First Birthday Party and we all did too! Your Mummy did a fantastic job with the organising and all the food. It was really nice that we had most of the family together under one roof!

Here are a few old posts I had written when you were born;
I'm An Aunty! || Best Of 2013 || Being An Aunty.

Here are a few photos from the past year!

As we all know Christmas will be here before we know it! I love dressing my girls up in nice dresses or even Christmas dresses so I thought I would give one lucky reader a chance to win one of the outfits shown below in the photo. All clothing is from NEXT so get entering to win one of their beautiful outfits. Please make sure you read the T&C's.

Terms & Conditions.

1. One winner will be chosen at random via Rafflecopters.

2. The winner will choose one of the outfits in the photo below.

3. Winner will be chosen within 48 hours of giveaway ending.

4. Winner must reply to e-mail within 7 days. If winner does not reply within that time then another winner will be chosen.

5. Giveaway starts 10pm 21st October 2014.

6. Giveaway ENDS 11.59pm 15th November 2014.

7. No cheating - I can check on Rafflecopter if you have not entered properly.

8. All cheaters will be disqualified.

9. Winner will be announced via e-mail and Social Media sites.

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The last time me and Iwan went on a break for a night in a hotel was when I was pregnant (early weeks) with Elliw and that was back in 2011. We went to Blackpool for my birthday! We couldn't do much as I used to get terrible nausea and pain every evening. Over last weekend just been we went away to Chester Friday until Saturday afternoon. We go to Chester to do Christmas Shopping and we have done this for 3 years now in a row. We love shopping there! (Yes even my partner does!) He was even a bit more excited going to Primark than me too. I think we were both more excited to have a break, going somewhere where it was just me and him. Mia was in her Dad's house and Elliw was in her Nain's house. It was actually really nice being able to go shopping and having no pram to push, having to keep your eyes on your children just incase they run off or throw a tantrum. We really enjoyed ourselves.
We decided to go to Cheshire Oaks first before we went into Chester itself, it was quite disappointing! No idea why we went there because we didn't get anything last year either. We only got a few bits this time, but I guess it is better than nothing. Our check in time for the Hotel was 3pm and we had finished in Chesire Oaks about 1.30 so we decided to waste time by going to Audi and Porche garages. Yes we sat in the cars and looked at every single car on the sites ha ha! It wasted just over a hour or so. We then decided it was time to go to our hotel and st*pid me only typed in the postcode of the hotel so no wonder we were going the wrong way! We went around the same round about 5 times! We finally realised my mistake and typed in Travelodge Central on the Sat nav! and we finally found it. We were quite gutted we had to park a bit further down from the hotel and we had to pay £9 (that was with 20% off with Travelodge!).
That evening we decided to go out for food and we chose to go for Thai Food! It was pretty hot for me but I did enjoy it. We then went out for a few drinks, it was a really nice change. It felt really weird going into a pub with my partner to buy drinks because we hadn't done that before only to the local pub which was probably about a year or so ago! It was such a nice change. It felt like our first date ha ha! We didn't know what to say too eachother ha ha!
We really enjoyed ourselves and we can't wait to do it again. We've decided that we might do it on the weekend of our 4th Year Anniversary but maybe somewhere different, we will see.
Saturday, I was up just before 8am!! I was wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep. Why is it when you have no kids with you, you still wake up so damn early! Ha ha. We both got ready by roughly 10am and we went out shopping into the centre.
We were back home by 3pm-ish. I was quite gutted we were back home but don't get me wrong it was really nice to be back home with Elliw and I was picking Mia up the Sunday morning from her Dads. It was a really nice and well deserved break. I think every parent deserves a break now & then.

How often do you go out for a break?

I was brought up in a bilingual family. My Taid is fluent welsh and even though my Dad is fluent welsh, we all spoke English at home and to this day I have no idea why! But I always speak Welsh to my Taid. Ever since I fell pregnant with Mia I knew I wanted her first language to be Welsh but also knew that I wanted her to understand and speak English too as I knew more people speak English than Welsh these days. Since I moved to the village I'm at now everybody speaks Welsh and their school is fluent welsh too which I am glad! I don't know why but I feel like its quite important for my girls to speak and understand both languages but mainly welsh. Maybe because I am welsh? I do think the welsh language should be spoke more around Wales as I know so many people who live in Wales and don't understand Welsh.

From day one, I always spoke welsh to both Mia and Elliw and since I have moved to where I am now for the past 3 years I speak Welsh daily to other people and my partner.

 

Do you speak any other language in your household?

 

 

 

 

 

I'm so excited for Christmas this year, but before that it is Mia's 5th Birthday on the 5th of December! I'm really excited and I cant wait to see her face. I've been trying to think what we can do for her birthday. I wanted something different so I have decided to have a small birthday party at home on the Sunday which will be 2 days after her birthday. I really hope she will like it! I am only inviting 10 children so hopefully it will be less stress. I've booked a 'Glitz Pamper' for them and going to try and make the room as 'frozen' as I can! I've bought a few bits and bobs as you can see in the photo above and the links below. As usual/normal I will be doing a 'family' tea party for her on the actual day of her birthday.
The only present I have so far for her is the Elsa Dress. She already has one but it is too small. I will be going to chester this week on Friday until Saturday so I will find a present for her there!

What did you do for you child's birthday party?

1. Elsa Dress.
2. Square Paper Plates.
3. Frozen Table Cover.
4. BOGOF Personalised Frozen Banner.
5. Frozen Sticker Party Filler.
6. Fairy Cake Toppers.
7. Personalised Thank You Stickers.
8. Blue Party Bags.
9. Frozen Badges Party Bag Filler.
10. Snowflake Ceiling Hanging Decorations.

We have had such a lovely summer this year in the UK and we all know the weather has turned to the worst the past few weeks. Christmas time can be one of the busiest times on the road with people wanting to do their Christmas shopping. Some people stay local and shop in the local towns and some people would rather go for a day out somewhere to go Christmas Shopping. Since I got with my partner we have gone to Chester every year to do our Christmas Shopping, in matter of fact we are going next week but this time we are going for the night too so we will have two days there. It takes about 1-1.5hours to get there. With the weather changing it’s always important to make sure you plan ahead if you are heading out for a road trip. 

SIT SAFE ON YOUR ROAD TRIP
It's is really important to make sure all passengers have seat belts. If you have children, then make sure that the child or baby is in the right car seat. A child should be in a child car seat or booster seat until they are 12 years old or at least 135cm. You can check the latest car seat designs for all ages on Toys R Us

WINDSHIELD WIPERS AND WASHER
As you have no idea what the weather is going to turn out like it is very important to make sure the windshield wipers are in good condition. They must be replaced if the blades have worn. Also it is always a good idea to have some high quality no freeze fluid in your windshield washer, as one never knows what mother nature will bring to you!

CHECK YOUR TYRES
Another important thing to check before you head out on a road trip is to check your tyres. They should be replaced every 6 years with or without wear. Moreover, if you take a look at your tread and if they are uneven wear or insufficient tread then the tyre must be replaced. You can access the Point-S website to browse car tyres online 

PLAN AHEAD
It’s always a good idea to plan your trip, such as check the weather forecast, the road conditions and the traffic. The last thing you want to do is go on a road trip without checking the weather and road and then a massive snow storm or pouring rain starts! Do not rush to get to your destination, take care and take as many stops as you can if you are going a long way so you don't get tired. Bringing some snacks on your road trip would also be a good idea. Making sure you have enough fuel in the car is a bonus unless you know some petrol stations on the way.

I can't believe it isn't long until Elliw turns 3 years old! Where have these months/years gone? Soon I will be planning Elliw's birthday. I'm so proud on how she is growing up to be a little lady even though she can be a right little terror at times too.

Dear Elliw,
I'm writing this a little later as I was quite busy the other day so I thought id write it now whilst I have the time. Whilst I am writing this you are in the living room playing and watching Doc McStuffins. You can be a right little madam at times. Your temper towards Mia has calmed down a little bit, as you always used to grab her hair, punch her, hit her, kick her and scream at her! You still do it sometimes but not as often thank god! You can drive me nuts at times with your high pitched voice but I try to ignore and just get on with it. Your speech is coming along quite well and you have been booked to see a speech therapy so you should be seen before Christmas hopefully so we can get these sentences coming along. Mam tries her best to do the housework and working from home too but it can get so stressful with you not letting me sit down for long ha ha! I guess you will grow out of that soon though (hopefully).
You love playing with your baby dolls.
You love dancing. Your favourite song is Only Fools & Horses theme song and Frozen Let it Go.
Your friends are Mia and Aishah.
You love screaming on the top of your voice when you don't get your own way!!
Your having trouble with toilet training at the moment because youre getting a little too lazy going to toilet.

You're growing up to be such a sweet little girl. Even though you have your tempers, you're a sweet beautiful little girl otherwise. You can be so kind and hilarious with the things you do.

Until next time,

Love Mam xxxx

3 years ago to this date I moved in with the love of my life (as cheesy as it sounds!). I couldn't of asked for a better partner and father to my kids (Step-father to Mia). I actually remember feeling so stressed as I hadn't even finished packing everything ready to move. My Dad was a little bit moody but looking back he was probably just upset that I was leaving home, and it wasn't exactly close either. We moved into our first house which was a private rent, in the same village that we live in now. It was down the road from his mothers house and around 25-30 minutes from my family so it was a big move for me as I knew I wasn't going to see my Dad every single day like I was used to for the past 20-ish years.

It felt really weird moving into our own home, I was excited to have my own house though. I could put anything wherever I wanted, do what I want and buy what I want. The most shocking part to us when we moved was how much all the bills and rent etc cost. I was used to paying half rent and council tax in my Dads but then adding all the other bills, including food etc on top it made a big difference. Plus our rent was higher than my dad's house, but we worked it out and we have managed pretty well. We only had a 6 month contract with our first house, the landlord tried her best to keep us and get us to take another 6 or 12 months but the house was way too small for the three of us and especially that Elliw was due soon too. We found a bigger house in the same village and I fell in love with it straight away. Looking back now, I don't know how I managed to fall in love with it straight away either it was so old fashioned and I was never keen on big long living rooms! But we did manage to live there for 2 years until we bought our own home. It was a really exciting time, looking around for houses to buy! We've been living in our own home now for a good few months, its perfect for us. We still live in the same village just on the other side. It really is mad how much things can change within 3 years.