Mother's Day took on a whole new meaning to me when I had Little E three years ago. It made me appreciate my Mum and everything she did to bring me into the world and the love she has shown me everyday since. Choosing the right Mother's Day gift for her is very important to me. Here's my roundup of my favourite Mother's Day gifts: New mums Aside from the god awful world of nursing bras, the most distressing fashion problem when you have a baby is the inability to wear jewellery. I have recently been introduced to the world of baby-proof jewellery and I am addicted. I so wish I had known about this first time round! These nursing necklaces from GUMIGEMS are a great gift idea for new mums and serve a dual purpose as the silicone pendants are dentist endorsed teething safe. My favourite is this purple heart design... GUMIGEMS traditional heart pendant £12.95 www.gumigem.co.uk Or if you'd prefer to pamper the new yummy mummy, Cusson's new Mum & Me range includes New Mum Firming Butter and New Mum Boob Firming Serum. 75% of new mums noticed a difference after using them so it is certainly worth a try to reverse some of the baby damage. Cussons Mum & Me New Mum Firming Butter and New Mum Boob Firming Serum £9.99 each exclusively at Boots www.mumandme.com And as every new Mum will find there is never anything in the wardrobe to wear because the maternity stuff is now too big but the pre-baby clothes are still too small! So why not treat her to a great breastfeeding top or a maxi dress with sleeves which can be worn all year round. Fancy a cuppa? Mums My Mum loves tea. She is slightly obsessed and can't go to bed without cuppa. If your Mum loves a brew, try treating her to some speciality real leaf teas from Teapigs. Their pick 'n' mix sample box lets you choose 12 different blends from a Everyday brew to Chilli chai to suit your Mum's taste. Teapigs pick 'n' mix sample box £15.00 www.teapigs.co.uk If the kiddies want to get involved how about throwing Mum an afternoon tea party at home. Nothing better than a cucumber sandwich and a scone with your brew. Homemade or shop bought you can make it really special for Mum with some tea party decorations. Choose from vintage rose party poppers, floral bunting, birdcage cupcake stands and more from the great selection available online from www.littlecupcakeboxes.co.uk Charitable Mums Royal British Legion real poppy jewellery starting at £24.99 www.poppyshop.org.uk Or perhaps your mum prefers a lie in, a week off from the laundry or a chat on the phone each day. I promise is a great website which sends your mum beautiful little promise cards with your bespoke promise printed on. They donate £1 from each sale to Kids Company helping vulnerable inner city children so your promises go even further. 3 personalised promises sent to your mum £9.50 www.ipromise.to Snap happy mums Photo obsessed mum? Then look no further than this nifty device. The Olloclip is a 4in1 lens which simply clips onto your iphone turning it into a pro camera with telephoto, fish eye and two macro lenses. Perfect for Instagram and Pinterest sharing. The Olloclip for iPhone £59.99 www.olloclip.com Or how about sharing your photos with Mum by creating her a custom photo book. My favourite photobook company is Blurb whose books are stunningly beautiful and, in my opinion, superior to other photobook companies. You can create any kind of book you like, photo books are really popular but perhaps you have a novel in you or a family history. Make something personal, special and beautiful for your Mum. Download the software to create your book online at www.blurb.com Out and about Mums If that sounds a bit like hard work then a relaxing spa day might be more up her street. Spabreaks.com is a handy website to help you find a spa in your area. You can book directly through the site and get some great deals on spa day packages. And she can't go on her own so you'll have to book yourself a place too! Book online at www.spabreaks.com Eco-Mums Naturalmente Shampoos and Conditioners £9 for 250ml www.naturalmenteuk.co.uk Or for Mums who like to upcycle how about a visit to one of Mary Porta's Living and Giving for Save the Children high end charity shops. You can find one off vintage and designer gems at a fraction of the normal price with all proceeds going to the world's poorest children. There are currently 11 stores open with more planned this year. Find out more at www.savethechildren.org.uk This post is linked to the #PoCoLo linky each Friday at www.vevivos.com and the #triedtested linky each Tuesday on Twitter Some of the products included in this gift guide were sent for review purposes but all opinions are my own.
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After spending the past 3 weeks shuffling around the house in yogapants and vests, this week I took a look at my post baby/post C section/breastfeeding wardrobe as I didn't want to venture out of the house looking like one of those mothers who wear pyjamas (or heaven forbid a onesie) to Tesco. The result was a little depressing. Most things don't work well with a healing C section scar so I am limited to maternity leggings and the yoga pants. This isn't too bad as I have lots of dresses to wear over the leggings but here comes the second problem - breastfeeding. Most of the necklines just don't work when feeding and I'm loathe to hoike the whole dress up round my neck in public. I have a fair amount of breastfeeding tops but nothing to pair them with on the bottom because there is no way I'm wearing a short top with leggings because of problem three - the post baby tummy. I have managed to cobble together a couple of outfits utilising cheap cami dresses I have been wearing during pregnancy underneath my clothes. They allow me to wear leggings with slightly shorter tops because they come down to my mid thigh streamlining and hiding multitude of sins underneath. I reckon I can alternate these two outfits for a couple of weeks as Husband is returning to work on Monsay so I'll be housebound again until the 6 week no driving ban is over. By then the scar will hopefully be happy enough to allow me to wear a pair of jeans. Here is today's outfit for a trip to the beach for ice creams on the front! This post if linked to #WotW over on Twitter each Friday @readingres www.thereadingresidence.com Introducing a little more of our family this week. The women in my family all had their children in their early 20's (I bucked the trend and started later!!) and as a result I have young grandparents. The girls are really lucky and have five Grandparents and four Great-Grandparents. Here they are with their Great-Grandma and Great-Grandad (my Mum's parents). This post is linked up #FamilyPhotoFriday over on twitter with @oneformybaby12 What a week! So much has happened I don't know where to start. Firstly Little I's jaundice has been improving so the midwife was happy to discharge her at the end of last week. She has also put on a ton of weight and is now 7lb 9oz, an increase of 6oz! Makes all the night feeds feel worth while :-) The health visitor has been to visit and she is the same lady we had with Little E. She is pretty inoffensive. Nothing really to report as we've heard it all before but she did check her hearing and all seems fine so that is another tick in the box. My scar is healing, albeit slowly. But I did manage to set myself back by falling down the stairs late at night. Not entirely sure how it happened but I think I slipped in my socks and ended up crashing down four or five steps on my lower back/coccyx. OMG the pain. I am now walking like a cripple and the Dr says it could take months to heal BUT by coming down on my back I protected my scar and haven't done any damage there. I just keep thinking how much worse it could have been if I'd had Little I in my arms... Breastfeeding is going well in the sense that Little I is getting lots of milk but my nipples are killing me. I went to the breastfeed clinic aptly named 'Baby Cafe' and was observed for a full feed. The prognosis; nipple thrush. Great. We both now have medication to try and clear it up. Lastly sleep. Well it seems when the baby sleeps the toddler can't sleep and when the toddler is asleep the baby can't settle. So I am averaging about 5hrs which is just about survivable! This post is linked to the Come share with me linky each Wednesday at www.letstalkmommy.com Little E enjoyed decorating some gingerbread men last week. This little kit was from the bakery department of Sainsbury's but you could easily DIY yourself with homemade gingerbread men which would be yummy. The kit contained a tube of green icing, sprinkles and multicoloured smarties. The icing acted like glue which appealed to Little E's obsession with glue sticks. She was very excited by the novelty that she could actually eat this glue... Despite a lot of the decorations being eaten en route, they all got decorated for a short time (just long enough to take a photo) before Little E picked off all the smarties and ate them... This post is linked to the #letkidsbekids linky on twitter via @karenattwinlife www.letkidsbekids.co.uk This week I am sharing a piece of collage art Little E made for her Nanna. In the spirit of the Spring weather it is a flower garden created using Baker Ross art supplies. Yes, I actually let her hold the glue stick... I'm getting there, slowly! This post is linked to the #minicreations and #creativechallenge linkies each week on twitter. @BecomingaSAHM www.becomingastayathomemum.com @kidGLloves Craft supplies sent by Baker Ross as part of their Blogger Network programme. All opinions expressed are my own. If you spend as much time on a smartphone as I do it is probably mistaken for an extension of your arm. Because I use my phone so much I need it to be protected from drops and scrapes and it needs to look good and reflect my personality. This is why I love customisable skins and cases. With the arrival of Little I my case featuring Little E was out of date, so I was excited when Wrappz.com contacted me to review a personalised phone case. The online software is really easy to use. Simply choose your phone make and model (in my case an iPhone 4S). Upload the image (or images) you want on your case from your computer or social media. Scale the image to fill the case outline and apply any special effects or text you want. You then click done and process your payment. The image I chose wasn't a high res image. It was just a photo if the girls I snapped on my phone but I love it. I chose to apply the black and white filter to the image to make it more dramatic (plus Little I was looking a little yellow from the jaundice!). I love the way the image wraps around the side of the case making it look really bespoke and high quality. Speaking of quality the case is really well made with a lovely glossy finish. The print is very clear and looks fab. Also I should mention that the case fits the phone perfectly. Whilst this should be a given, so many cases don't fit right and look rubbish. For example Husband ordered me one for Xmas from a different company but when it arrived it didn't fit properly not to mention that the image had been printed off centre. So the perfect fit of Wrappz cases really should get a big thumbs up! I have already dropped the phone twice on my kitchen tiles and it has survived so far so the case is doing it's job well. Reader offer! Wrappz also make custom phone skins which are high quality vinyl transfers which stick to your phone protecting it from minor bumps and scrapes. Husband prefers skins because they keep his phone streamlined and light. Wrappz.com are offering All about a Mummy readers a free custom phone skin! Simply create your custom skin online at www.wrappz.com and enter the code freeskin at the checkout. All you pay is the postage. If you prefer a hard case like me you can order your own personalised iphone case for £18.97 + postage here: http://www.wrappz.com/cases/personalised-iphone-4s-case.php This review is linked to the #TriedTested linky each Tuesday on twitter via @FamilyFever & @Lollinski This phone case was provided free of charge for review purposes but all opinions are my own Husband and I have a very special song. It was our wedding song and it is now the name of our newbie baby girl. The song is by American band The Goo Goo Dolls and most people say they have never heard of it but when we play it they usually recognise it from just the first few bars. The Goo Goo Dolls rarely play gigs in the UK but back in 2010 they played a gig in Kentish Town. I was heavily pregnant with Little E and Husband was adamant I wasn't attending the standing room only gig. Instead I stayed at home and waited for his phone call to listen to our song together at opposite ends of a phone line. He was so close to the stage I couldn't hear anything but static... Last year I heard they were back in the UK with one London date at the Hammersmith Apollo. The gig was in seven months time and we were trying for baby number two... Without consulting Husband I jumped online and found what I was looking for - seated tickets. They were immediately booked. Two weeks later we found out I was pregnant... Fast forward seven months and I'm waddling slightly but I'm at the gig with Husband, firmly planted in my seat. It was amazing and we sung along to every number at full volume, probably annoying the hell out of the people sitting in front of us. Little I kicked more during those few hours than any other time during the pregnancy so she obviously enjoyed it too. Hearing our song live together brought back memories of our wedding day and how special that number is to us. No matter where we are or what we are doing when that song plays we take a moment just to listen and remember what this journey we are on together is all about. This post is linked to #WhatsTheStory linky each Monday on Twitter with @The_Doves podcastdove.com and #MagicMoments with @oliversmadhouse theoliversmadhouse.co.uk My Mum has been staying with us on and off over the past couple of weeks helping out since Little I arrived. She has been a godsend. Never has my house been so tidy, my washing basket so empty or my fridge so organised. She has entertained Little E when I'm feeding and given her breakfast to give me an extra hour in bed. When I fell down the stairs at the weekend she was the one picking me up and dosing me with painkillers. Everything feels better when Mum is around but to her this is all ordinary and normal. It is just part of being a mum. She is going home today and we won't see her for a couple of weeks. Whilst I know we will cope ok I am going to miss her reassuring presence so much. I anticipate lots of phonecalls and emails and thank goodness for facetime so she can keep track of Little I's rapid growth and 'scar watch' as I like to call the monitoring of my healing progress. Thank you Mum xx This post is linked to the #mysundayphoto linky with @OneDad3Girls and #theordinarymoments with @MummyDaddyMe Finally a photo of our family of four! Link your favourite family photo of the week each Friday on Twitter via @oneformybaby12 #FamilyPhotoFriday and monthly via @dear_beautiful_ #meandmine |
Welcome!Artist, Baker and Blogger. Mum to my two beautiful, cheeky girls. Muddling my way through parenthood with equally cheeky Husband. Categories
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