Dear Freddie,
Archive: September 2016
#BestTimesCaptured has been running for a few weeks now and our weekly giveaway with Popbook has been running for two weeks. Last week saw Emily's beautiful photo win their very own Popbook. #BestTimesCaptured is a new Instagram community where you share you best captured photos. Not only are you sharing your stunning photos, each time you use the hashtag you are entered into a giveaway where you could win yourself a Popbook.
Here is more information about the community:
Here is more information about the community:
I think I was kind of lucky that Freddie was born a day after the girls finished school, ready for the summer holidays. The holidays were tough but we were able to adjust to life with a newborn pretty easy and be lazy most days. As the summer holidays were coming to an end I knew I had to prepare myself for a school morning routine, which I wasn't looking forward too.
Shorts, Tees and skirts are out and the roll up necks, coats and jackets are back in. SimplyBe have currently got a new collection out ready for this Autumn season. There are many stunning jumpers, jackets and cosy pyjamas that are just perfect for this season. Here are just a few of my favourite items from their new collection:
SHOP THE LOOK
Park with detachable inner hood
Khaki/Black Padded Bomber Jacket
Lightweight Rain Jacket
Feverfish Waterfall Draped Jacket
Stripe Rib Jumper
Knitted Tee
Mini Cable Jumper
Joe Browns Carnival Jumper
Cold Shoulder Jumper
SHOP THE LOOK
Park with detachable inner hood
Khaki/Black Padded Bomber Jacket
Lightweight Rain Jacket
Feverfish Waterfall Draped Jacket
Stripe Rib Jumper
Knitted Tee
Mini Cable Jumper
Joe Browns Carnival Jumper
Cold Shoulder Jumper
* In collaboration with SimplyBe
My partner works full time during the week days, so when he is off work during weekends we try out best to go on some family adventures with the kids to make some memories. We live in a small village in North Wales and there are so many places to visit near by. We try not to spend a lot of money when we go out as there are so many things to do and places to go where we don't even have to spend money. If you're stuck on what type of little adventures you can do with the family, here are three ideas for you:
Kids can be the fussiest eaters and it's important to make sure they get a balanced diet through their childhood. Robin Crusoe is a brand new film that is currently out in store now, the film heavily features fruit. Watching this film can be a great way of encouraging children to get at least one of their 5-a-day into their balanced diet. Although kids can be fussy, there may be ways to encourage kids to eat fruit by making/baking fun things or even hiding it. Here are a few ways you can encourage fruit into your child's diet:
The girls and I love baking and when I saw a video on Facebook the other week, I really wanted to make these. It's perfect for kids during Halloween time instead of the full sticky toffee apple or you can just make them for a treat or snack. It was so easy and simple to make, but very messy! Here's a quick post to let you know what you need and what you need to do to make these simple but tasty messy Oreo chocolate and caramel sliced apples.
A few months ago I wrote my first thoughts on the Kiddy UK Evolution Pro 2 car seat and I was really looking forward to test it out once Freddie arrived. The Evolution Pro 2 car seat was the seat we used to bring Freddie home from hospital when he was 1 day old. We've been testing out the car seat for over 2 months now and thought it was about time I let you all know what I thought about the car seat. As I don't drive, we don't get to use the seat until the weekends when my partner is off.
I love watching my girls play with their toys and watching them develop and learn new things every day but I think one of the best items kids can play and learn with is a wooden jigsaw puzzle. My girls love playing with jigsaws and they have learnt a lot from playing with them. We were offered a wooden jigsaw by Wentworth and I decided to choose this 'I Know My 1, 2, 3' 40 piece puzzle because Elliw is learning her numbers and colours and thought this puzzle would be perfect for her.
Since my girls started to show interest in books and writing I decided to buy books and activity books that they would love but also learn from them. I think it's so important to help your child improve their reading skills and writing skills from home as well as school. There are many books and activity books around these days to choose from. We were given a range of Topsy and Time books by Ladybird to review and we were also given a couple of other books which the girls loved.
If you're a regular reader of my blog or follow me via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter you may have realised that I started an Instagram hashtag a few weeks ago called #BestTimesCaptured. POPBOOK and I have teamed up together and POPBOOK is now sponsoring the hashtag which is amazing. The first week hasn't been too bad but I do hope for a lot more supporters from next week.
Freddie is now 2 months old and becoming more aware of his surroundings. He recognises certain voices and loves to have a nose around. He's also becoming more aware of the TV with colours and lights and it's so interesting just watching his big blue eyes staring and taking in what he is seeing. I have been looking around to buy a play gym for Freddie for a while as the one I had originally bought wasn't that good as nothing was there to attract his attention such as colours and music. When I was asked to review the Fisher Price Rainforest Deluxe Play Gym, I said yes straight away.
I can't believe that Freddie is 2 months already. Life has changed so much within these 2 months for all of us. There's been a lot of ups and downs but it's also been just so amazing having Freddie around and in our lives at last. He really has filled a missing piece in our family that we didn't even know that was missing. The past 2 months have been filled with challenges, cuddles and excitement. Watching him grow each day is amazing and I feel so lucky that I'm the one who gets to watch him grow and help him. Most of all I feel super lucky that he is my son.
I've got one set of grandparents and I try my best to make as much effort as I can to make memories with them and for my children to see them as often as they can. I lost my Great Nain 9 days after I gave birth to Elliw, which was heartbreaking but I have written a post a few months ago about the memories I had of her which you can read here. After my Great Nain passed away something clicked to me that life really is way too short. Even writing this now is making me teary just thinking about her. I just feel so lucky that I have my Nain and Taid in my life still.
Hello! I hope everyone had a great week. I enjoyed reading all your posts from last week and I'm glad the linky is kind of slowly growing. Hope you all have a great weekend and week ahead. Look forward to reading your posts this week.
As always: This linky is for all bloggers. Link up any kind of posts but remember don't link and jump! Be sure to read the guidelines below before linking.
* PLEASE LINK UP A BLOG POST AND NO MORE THAN TWO POSTS*
* PLEASE LINK UP A BLOG POST AND NO MORE THAN TWO POSTS*
* G U I D E L I N E S *
1. You can link up one or two posts, no more
2. If you link up to #justanotherlinky, I'd really appreciate it if you could take the time to comment on the post just before yours and 2 others {and more if you can}
3. It would be great if you could comment on host post - but you don't have too!
4. Any topics/blogs allowed but must be family-friendly
5. Link must lead directly to a blog post
6. Remember to leave #justanotherlinky when commenting
2. If you link up to #justanotherlinky, I'd really appreciate it if you could take the time to comment on the post just before yours and 2 others {and more if you can}
3. It would be great if you could comment on host post - but you don't have too!
4. Any topics/blogs allowed but must be family-friendly
5. Link must lead directly to a blog post
6. Remember to leave #justanotherlinky when commenting
- Please do not link up more than two posts
- Linky is now open from Saturday until Monday 11.55pm.
* S O C I A L M E D I A *
TWITTER
- Feel free to tweet your post to me @lifeasmumblog and @mylifeasamummyx and use the #justanotherlinky hashtag, we shall re-tweet you
- If we are not following you, please leave a comment on this page and let us know Or tweet us!
- If you would like to be reminded on the morning of when the linky is open, do let us know
FACEBOOK
We do have a Facebook page. Which you can find here. It would be great if you could all join, pretty please! It's basically a support page and a page you can share you posts. I will do a weekly thread too. More details to come on the page.
POST COMMENTS
This week I will just be listing top 2 commenters as there are 6 people who commented 3 times with one person who commented 4 times.
Our top commenter who commented on 4 posts this week is
Jakijellz
Second, commenting 3 posts each are:
The Newby Tribe
DIYDaddy
RyanBickham
The Unnatural Mother
Syncopatedmama
Rtoats
Thank you so much to you all and everyone else who commented!
The more you comment the higher chance you have to be in the top 3!
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FAVOURITE POSTS
My favourite post from last week is from The Frenchie Mummy who wrote : How being an expat mum is not always easy
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Now all there is to do is, link up :) Enjoy!
Aldi's is the UK's sixth largest store. It is also known as the store with fantastic bargains and a store where you can save a lot of money compared to other supermarkets. On Thursday 22nd of September Aldi's is introducing a new baby range to the specialbuys. It will be in store and online but you best be quick as once these items are gone - they are gone! You don't want to miss out of their bargains. The new Babyrange has many items to get your started as a parent such as a high chair, pram toys, changing bag, car seat and much more. The prices are really affordable
Prices start from as little as 79p to £59.99. Some of the items that will be available are:
The elephant or chevron print high chair will be on offer for a fantastic £29.99 and the Graco Endure car seat for just £39.99 and there will soon be a review on the blog about the car seat. The fun toddler reigns bag packs will be priced at £7.99 and the buggy at just £34.99. Be sure not to miss it. If you go to store, buy a bag as all money is donate to RSPB.
Will you be visiting store or looking online?
Prices start from as little as 79p to £59.99. Some of the items that will be available are:
The elephant or chevron print high chair will be on offer for a fantastic £29.99 and the Graco Endure car seat for just £39.99 and there will soon be a review on the blog about the car seat. The fun toddler reigns bag packs will be priced at £7.99 and the buggy at just £34.99. Be sure not to miss it. If you go to store, buy a bag as all money is donate to RSPB.
Will you be visiting store or looking online?
* Originally posted on 1st July 2015 *
Taking your child to school for the first time is a big step for parent and child. If you are one of those parents who has just started taking your kids to school or if you're going to be in future then you may realise that sometimes taking your child to school can feel like you're back at school yourself sometimes because of some parents on the school yard. You realise just how many type of parents there are once you start doing school runs.
THE DO WHATEVER MUM...
Those Mums who just allow their child to do whatever. For example; if there is a school play, then that parent doesn't care if her child {who should be watching} runs around all the parents and go near the stage. Yup this actually happened last year in the Christmas play.
THE LOUD MUM
There's always that loud one isn't there. The one who always has to try and get attention by shouting out 'bye' or 'hello' to her children. And no, there is nothing wrong with the child's hearing. But it sure does annoy the hell out of me. Oh, and when everyone can hear everything she talks about.
THE FAKE MUM
Those Mums who just love to pretend they are much better than everyone else.
THE JOLLY ONE
Oh yep! The happy ones, the ones who always say hello to you and maybe even start a conversation some days. These are the ones I like.
THE ONES WHO TALK...
Hmm... Some people surely can talk...and talk... and TALK! Especially on the days when you just want to go home to a peaceful house, or go off to work.
THE SNOBS
I'm sure we all know one of these. The parents who think they are better than everyone else. The ones who try to dress 'posh' and never say hello when they pass. Hmm... They make me laugh.
THE QUIET ONES
I'm probably one of these. I don't like to make a huge fuss when I am in the school yard. I just go to pick up my children and off home I go!
THE COOL DADS
Us mums have to admit that the Dads are a lot more laid back than us. They {most} always say hello or give a smile. Yup. Dads are cool.
THE BOSS MUM
I got one of these in my daughters' school. Annoy the hell out of me. Just because you are a part of the committee does not mean you are the boss or even the headteacher of the school - GOSH!
PYJAMAS MUM
I'm sure we all know a Mum or two who are still in their cosy pyjamas when they take their kids to school, right?
Can you relate to any of these?
It's hard to believe that Freddie has been with us nearly 2. Life sure has changed for us all but in a good way. We all love having Freddie around and it has been really nice seeing the girls bond with their little brother. I have found Mia very motherly to Freddie. She loves holding him and picking him up when they're both lying on my bed. She has tried picking him up in other places but I have to tell her she isn't allowed to without me in the room because she is too young but she gets really upset over it, bless her.
Since day one Elliw calls Freddie, her Freddie Flower or Georgie but Freddie Flower is what she calls him every single day. I'm not sure where she has got that nickname from but it's so adorable. She isn't as fussed about holding Freddie like Mia is which I guess is kind of good in a way otherwise they will both be arguing over who gets to hold him just like they argue over everything else.
The summer holidays were hard. They argued a lot and I do think they were ready to get back to school and start a routine and as sad as I am for Elliw starting full time school I do think she was ready for it now. Out of the three, she really is the hardest work. She is full on 24//7 and her tempers are unreal, but yet again Mia's attitude stinks most of the time too. But isn't it mad that they can really put you down and make you struggle - yet you love them so much and you wouldn't change a thing because at the end of the day their personality is what makes them, them!
{ oops , please ignore the blurriness of this photo! }
I have struggled since having Freddie but he is starting to get into a little routine lately which is making it easier to do a few things. He wasn't able to get into a routine any sooner because the girls were constantly around trying to wake him up all the time. The girls still come into my bedroom every morning to give Freddie a kiss and a hug, which is lovely and those kind of moments are just priceless.
Although it's been a tough 2 months, I wouldn't changed them for the world. They drive me nuts nearly every single day but I love them to pieces and one day I know I am going to want to go back in time and re live those moments because they're growing up too fast.
When you are expecting a baby you want to be sure you buy the safest and best items for your soon-to-be daughter/son. SleepCurve is a mattress for a moses basket - which many parents buy for their baby. SleepCurve mattress prevents baby from overheating because the airways are open more than a flat surface and it also prevents acid reflux. SleepCurve mattress is also helpful when baby has a cold because of it's airways which doesn't allow baby to over heat.
The unique 'curved' mattress maintains a cool temperature for baby which helps baby have a long and more comfortable sleep. The SleepCurve was invented by Philip Owen D.O. who is an internationally-renowned paediatric and cranial osteopath. Philip has spend over 20 years understand baby and children's sleep problems as well as studying and treating tension in babies' skull bones. This is where Philip and the team came up with the new mattress, SleepCurve. It will prevent flat head syndrome and can help baby have a very comfortable sleep during nap times and night time sleep.
We were given a SleepCurve mattress to review and Freddie has been testing it out for the past few weeks. Freddie doesn't have flat head syndrome and seems to have a very comfortable sleep when he is in his moses basket sleeping on the SleepCurve mattress. The mattress isn't a thin mattress like most moses basket, as you can see in the photos in this post, the mattress is quite thick and also comfortable. You can also see the curve shape which supports the head.
The price for this mattress starts from £49.99 over on their website SleepCurve. The price can be a little steep for some but if you want your baby to have a comfortable and safe sleep, I would recommend this mattress.
* I was given this item free of charge in return of an honest review.
All words and photos are my own.
Freddie is my third and last child. He is also my first child that I have breastfed. I have never said anything bad against breastfed mums in the past and I have always admired how well they have done feeding their baby the natural way. I have now been breastfeeding for 8+ weeks and Freddie feeds really well which I am so pleased about. I don't plan to stop feeding until he weans himself off, hopefully 12+ months.
If you're not following me on Instagram yet then you can follow me here. I post many photos a day on my Instagram and at the moment my feed is mostly filled up with photos of Freddie with a few of the girls too when they let me take photos of them. If you do follow me then you may have noticed I started a new hashtag not long ago, #BestTimesCaptured. On the first day of starting the hashtag I got a message from POPBOOK saying they would like to sponsor the community hashtag. I thought this was perfect and I am so excited to announce it to you all!
I love this time of year. The boots are back out and so are the browns and orange colours of autumn. The evenings of listening to the wind through the chimney of our log burner and cosy up in front of the TV with a hot cuppa or hot chocolate and cream is just perfect. Seeing as summer has gone it's about time I start looking for new clothes and I just love looking online for new clothes and seeing what's new out for the new season. Lyst have a great collection of clothing for this time of year. These are just a few of my favourite items from their site:
Shop the look:
Boohoo Roll Neck Shoulder Chiffon Black Dress
Boohoo Sophie Turtle Neck Rib Knit Bodycon Dress in Green
Boohoo Emily Marl Cowl Neck Cold Shoulder Red Swing Dress
Barbour Millfire Knit Grey Jacket
River Island Long Line Bomber Jacket
Dr Martens Boots
Brown Leather Chelsea Boots
Do you like any of the items I chose for my wishlist?
Shop the look:
Boohoo Roll Neck Shoulder Chiffon Black Dress
Boohoo Sophie Turtle Neck Rib Knit Bodycon Dress in Green
Boohoo Emily Marl Cowl Neck Cold Shoulder Red Swing Dress
Barbour Millfire Knit Grey Jacket
River Island Long Line Bomber Jacket
Dr Martens Boots
Brown Leather Chelsea Boots
Do you like any of the items I chose for my wishlist?
* In Collaboration with Lyst
One of my favourite things to do this time of year is sit in front of the TV watching my soaps with the log burner lit, a cuppa and a cupcake. Cupcakes are great for gifts, especially personalised cupcakes. I was sent a couple of cupcakes a few weeks ago and was really looking forward to receiving them as they were delivering them via post. Cupcakes I've had before I haven't received through the post so I was really interested in how they would taste and look like after being handled many times through the process of getting delivered to me.
Many symptoms come with pregnancy but one thing not many people talk about is incontinence. Incontinence is a term that describes loss of urine that can happen during pregnancy and bowel/wind problems during pregnancy. These symptoms are the symptoms that are not talked about much during pregnancy because people can be embarrassed by the symptoms and although they are embarrassing and uncomfortable, they are completely normal. Hartmann have done an infographic showing statistics and information about the link between pregnancy and incontinence which you can see below:
* In collaboration with Hartmann
Life has changed a lot since I gave birth to my third child, Freddie. I do think going from a Mum of 2 to 3 is much harder than going from 1 to 2. Saying that, I wouldn't change it for the world. I love all my children, so much. Before I had Freddie I used to blog for a good few hours each day but since having Freddie I've only managed a day here and there and about an hour max some days, which isn't enough for me to catch up on work. I have been really behind on blog work recently but I am trying my best not to stress out too much over it because at the end of the day, Freddie isn't going to be this little again and neither are my girls.
Hi everyone! I hope everyone had a great week. Hope all the kids enjoyed their first week of school too! My girls loved their first week. I really enjoyed reading all your posts this week. Hope you all have a great weekend and week ahead.
As always: This linky is for all bloggers. Link up any kind of posts but remember don't link and jump! Be sure to read the guidelines below before linking.
* PLEASE LINK UP A BLOG POST AND NO MORE THAN TWO POSTS*
* PLEASE LINK UP A BLOG POST AND NO MORE THAN TWO POSTS*
* G U I D E L I N E S *
- When you link up be sure you are linking up a blog post only
- If you are taking part, make sure you comment on the post before you AND two other posts
- When commenting be sure to leave #justanotherlinky at the end of your comment
- Feel free to leave a badge or link at the end of your post, but I would appreciate it somewhere on your blog {eg. on a linky page, side banner etc}
- ANY kind of post can be linked up
- ANY kind of blogger can link up and join in
- There is no theme to this linky
- Please do not link up any giveaways, UNLESS it is a part of a detailed post
When you comment on other posts remember to add #justanotherlinky at the end!
When you comment on other posts remember to add #justanotherlinky at the end!
- Please do not link up more than two posts
- Linky is now open from Saturday until Monday 11.55pm.
* S O C I A L M E D I A *
TWITTER
- Feel free to tweet your post to me @lifeasmumblog and @mylifeasamummyx and use the #justanotherlinky hashtag, we shall re-tweet you
- If we are not following you, please leave a comment on this page and let us know Or tweet us!
- If you would like to be reminded on the morning of when the linky is open, do let us know
FACEBOOK
We do have a Facebook page. Which you can find here. It would be great if you could all join, pretty please! It's basically a support page and a page you can share you posts. I will do a weekly thread too. More details to come on the page.
POST COMMENTS
Each week I will link 3 people who are our top 3 commenters.
This week there was only one post that had no comments. So much better than last week.
Our top commenter who commented on 8 posts this week is
The British Maple
Second, commenting 5 posts is:
Remier and Ruby
And third are these 3 bloggers who had given out 4 comments each:
DIY Daddy Blog
The Frenchie Mummy
The Newby Tribe
Thank you so much to you all and everyone else who commented!
The more you comment the higher chance you have to be in the top 3!
___________________________________________________
FAVOURITE POSTS
My favourite post from last week is from Nige who wrote : Do Children Need Boundaries/rules?
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Now all there is to do is, link up :) Enjoy!
Freddie turned 7 weeks old on Saturday and it's flying by so quickly. He has changed so much since he was born and he's turning out to be just an amazing little boy with such a beautiful smile. He really is a cuddly baby and loves to be rocked and cuddled tightly. He also loves to know that I am there. I have also noticed that he loves putting his head against my chest and he will settle there if he's upset or sleepy.
You may remember me writing a review about some pregnancy cookies a couple of months ago. They also sent me a pack of Boobbix Breastfeeding Cookies which I couldn't wait to try out because I am breastfeeding this time round. These cookies are to help increase the breast milk supply for breastfeeding mums. The cookies are as natural as possible with no added preservaties and they use organic and free-range ingredients, so they are healthy for mums.
Breastfeeding can take away a lot of your energy and these cookies can help boost your energy and get you started for the day. A great snack during the day if you are feeling you want a snack or even with a cuppa. These cookies will keep fresh as they are induvidually packed which is great to pack one in your bag if you're going to work or going out for the day as you can still have a cookie whilst you're out and about or on your lunch/snack break.
It is recommended that pregnant women do not eat these cookies as they contain Fenugreek but as said above, they have their own pregnancy cookies available for you pregnant ladies. These breastfeeding cookies are great for any new mum who are wanting to breastfeed. Boobbix have also won a gold award for their Lactation Cookies from Loved By Parents.
* I received this product free of charge in return of an honest review.
All words and opinions are my own.
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