And relax

Now we cracked getting Layla to go back to sleep when she was waking up in the night. Next was trying to get her nice and settled before bedtime.

I was given something to try from Cussons Mum and me. If you don't know this company let me explain a little about them. Their slogan says designed by mums, developed by experts. They have created three different ranges : bump, new mum and baby. These are designed to help mummy's right from pregnancy til way after the birth. And the added bonus is that the baby range is paediatrician approved.

I was sent their baby sleep tight massage oil to try.

It comes in a nicely sized 100ml bottle, perfect to have at home, in your changing bag or even in your hand bag.

The packaging is simple yet effective. Plus purple is my favourite colour so this does sway me a little :)

I was happy to see that it is hypoallergenic, as all of my children have suffered with eczema so finding things I can use on them can sometimes prove difficult.

The oil is made with grape seed oil and peach so the smell is mild but really lovely.

It also contains a unique blend of jasmine and aloe vera which is there to help soothe your baby's skin.

All of this should hopefully encourage a good night's sleep for your little one.

I started using the oil last Wednesday, so I have been using it for about a week now. I have to say it hasn't dramatically changed anything but Layla loves been massaged, so it has introduced a nice element into her routine.

You warm it in your hands before starting and what I love about it is that it isn't greasy or sticky. It left Laylas' skin feeling nice and soft.

After finishing I wash my hands and my hands were left feeling soft too, no more need for moisturiser!!!

Priced at £4.99 I think it is great value for money as you only need to use a tiny amount, the bottle will last for a long time.

I would definitely recommend to others and I am now looking into buying the bath wash and baby lotion from this range too.

6 months on

I can't believe it, Layla is 6 months old today. People always tell you to enjoy them when they are young because it goes by so quickly, I can confirm that it really does fly by.

I'm a bit sad really because Layla is my last child so it is the last time I get to see all of the "first experiences". She has already started to feed herself and is currently pushing herself on to her knees, she just isn't listening to me when I say stay small!!!!

Just look at the difference 6 months makes :

So do you love your children when they are babies, or do you prefer it when they are that bit more independent?? Are you having anymore?? Would love to know.

xxxx

Silent Sunday

Yummy yummy in our tummy

Always nice when you open your post to find yummy treats inside.......

The kind people at Dr Oetker had sent us a selection of their baking goodies to have fun with. Now the tricky part was deciding what to make with it all!! The kids and I decided we would try and make something once a week.

Well here we are in week 1 and it just so happens that it is our Freyas' birthday on Friday so Gracie and I decided to make her a birthday cake. And it just so happens to be my 1st time making a cake from scratch, I usually cheat and go for the ready mixtures, who knew it could be so simple. Here is the recipe I used incase you wanted to try too : 

Ingredients for the cake

150g butter

150g castor sugar

110g self raising flour

40g cocoa powder

3 medium eggs

* Preheat your oven to either 200C/ 180 fan/ gas 6

* Cream the butter and sugar

* Then sift in the flour and cocoa powder

* Finally add the eggs and mix until smooth

* Divide into two greased cake tins and pop in the oven for arounf 15 minutes. 

* Put on wire rack to cool. 

Ingredients for butter icng

165g icing sugar

100g butter

35g cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* Cream all ingredients together, add water if necessary

I spread the butter icing on one cake and fruit jam on the other, placed the two cakes together like a sandwich. I then spread the remaining butter icing on top of the cake and Gracie helped me decorate the cake with the giant chocolate stars, sugar flowers and soft shimmer pearls from Dr Oetker.

Here is Gracie in action pouring, mixing, decorating and of course most importantly, licking the bowl :  

The cake will be taste tested tomorrow but here is the final product which I am  really quite proud of. 

Keep an eye out for next weeks creation :)

xxxx

Snow Days

So who enjoys the snow?? I personally am not a lover of it but the kids get so excited when they see it.
We even managed to get Daddy Hazelden out in it.

Why not leave a comment and let me know what you've been up to :)

xxxx

Silent Sunday

We have a new family member

Recently Layla has decided that sleep isn't always necessary of a night time, 3am seems to be the preferred time to wake up!!

The lovely people at sweetdreamers.co.uk sent me a Ewan the dream sheep to review and I was really hoping he would help. And last Saturday the postman brought with him a big parcel.

It was Ewan!!!

All of my daughters were very excited and couldn't wait for me to get him out of the packaging.

Straight out of the box he is lovely and soft, just right for snuggles.

I was also pleased that it was so easy to get him out of the packaging.
So many toys etc these days are so hard to break lose of all of the plastic that they are surrounded in.


It was nice and refreshing just to be able to undo a bit of cellotape around the lid and out he came.
The only other thing I had to do was snip the tag that was holding his legs together.

This lovely sheep came a with a set of clear and simple instructions that even my kids understood.

The first thing I had to do when I got Ewan out was pull the battery tab out of the sound module, this can be found in Ewans' tummy, this allowed for the sounds to start. 

I then I had to switch it from "try me" mode to

"normal" mode.

There are two things you need to do to get him ready to work his magic.

* Firstly you have the option of adjusting the volume, there are 2 levels, I picked the quieter level.

* Secondly you have to decide whether you want him with his light on or off, we opted for off. 

Clever little Ewan has a tail that can be velcroed over the rails of a cot. I actually found the tail too short to do this on Layla's cot so I placed him inside of her cot but as the instructions suggested, not near her head.

Ewan got put to work the first night he arrived. Now in each of his legs is a button, each one when pressed plays a different sound for 20 minutes or until you hold the button down again to stop it. You have the choice of harp music, white noise, waves and sounds from a mothers womb. We quickly established that Layla much preferred the sounds of the womb but I was so happy to find that it worked!! Within 5 minutes she was asleep again, she never normally goes back to sleep, well not in her own bed anyway.

The next night was a little different it wasn't her waking up that we had to deal with, it was putting her to bed, she just didn't want to settle, well Ewan was up for the challenge. We popped on the womb sounds and again within 5 minutes she was sound asleep.

Admittedly on Tuesday night Layla just wasn't going to go back to sleep but all the while the sounds were playing she was quiet, it is just when they stopped that she started to cry but I think this just showed how soothing the sounds are.

A week on and this fluffy little sheep has become a much loved member of our family. We wouldn't be without him. You can buy him for £29.99 and I think that is a bargain for the peace that he brings.

Window Shopping

I would like to say that now Christmas is out of the way, that I can take a break from the present buying, I wish!!!!

January, February and March are my busiest months for birthdays, not forgetting Valentines and Mothers day and I always struggle with what to buy seen as I have only just bought gifts for these people.

Well I recently came across a handy little website called GiftsOnline4U. This site offers gifts for all occasions, for babies right through to grandparents and prices start from just £2.99. And they offer free UK delivery!!!
I like the fact that the site is easy to navigate, ie. you can pick the gift by type, by person or pick out a specific price bracket.

So while I was looking at what to get my lovely family members, I was drawn to their range of engraved gifts and personalised gifts as I always like to give people things that are unique to them, more meaningful I think.

I would definitely like to receive something along those lines and it is my birthday this month, my favourite item was a silver finger print heart pendant, hint hint daddy Hazelden ;)

You can also find them on facebook and twitter where you can be kept up to date with all their latest deals. 

Why not take a look, you may just find something you like!! 

xxxx

The great weaning debate

So I am now going through my 4th time of weaning and every time I have done it guidelines have changed, there is new advice and it seems to get more and more confusing.

Now I am a firm believer that every child is different so must be treated as individual so guidlines are just as they say guidelines.

My 1st and 2nd were weaned around 3 and half months as adviced by the doctor because they were such hungry babies and the amount of milk they were taking is ridiculous. I went down the root of starting with purees. However a lot of you will read this and think I must be a bad mother for not sticking exclusively to milk for 6 months. Both Elise and Freya are happy and healthy and will eat anything and everything given to them.

Then I have my 3rd child, my lovely Gracie. She was weaned around 6 months but it was a very difficult process. She was never a fan of her milk, I always struggled to get her to take it and she was exactly the same with her food. I decided to try BLW (baby led weaning) mixed with a bit of mashed food. To this day (she is almost 3) she is a very fussy child, picks and chooses when and if she likes something. Still the amount of people I have heard say if you wean early you will get a fussy eater, well it seems to be the opposite in my house.

Then I have Layla. I started to wean her at 17 weeks because again the amount of milk she was taking seemed to be excessive and more often than not she was sicking some up. I started with just mashing food up and now at 24 weeks she is already eating the same food we are just cut down smaller. She is also beginning to pick up food and feed herself.

I can say that all of mine have always been fed with fresh homemade foods, I know not always convinient to do for all families but I am lucky to be a SAHM and I have the time to do this.

As you can see, my children have all been different but all of them are happy and healthy, I think some children are just destined to have allergies, problems with food. I don't think this necessarily depends on when and how you wean them.

So what is everyone elses thoughts, what route have you gone down, have you done the same thing for every child?? Let me know your thoughts as I am genuinely interested.

xxxx

Silent Sunday

Say cheese to Zulily

So if you didn't know already Zulily UK is a daily deals site bringing you the best products for mums, children and babies at fantastic prices. The items are sent direct from Zulily and sometimes the wait can be up to 14 days as some items are imported. The only snag is that these sales often have limited stock and normally only run for 72 hours so you have to be quick to grab that bargain!!!

An added bonus is that for every friend that you recommend and signs up to Zulily, you get £10 to spend when they make their first purchase, how generous is that!!!!

And if that wasn't enough to persuade you they also run a monthly competition called Zulilys cuties where you can win some fantastic prizes, this months prize includes £100 to spend at zulily!!!

Well Zulily were feeling extra generous this month and have challenged bloggers like myself to share our top three tips for taking photos of our children, so here goes :

Tip One - Your phone is your friend

I always used think oh I wish I had remembered to bring my camera, not one of those things you always grab on your way out!!! The camera phone is the best ever invention, now I never miss a moment.

Tip Two - Candid is best

You can spend hours trying to get your kids to pose in a certain way, one of them is always looking in the wrong direction!! When you catch them unawares the magic happens, no awkward smiles, just a beautiful picture.

Tip Three - If all else fails, say cheese

An oldie but a goodie. Pictures don't have to be perfect, it is the memory that you are capturing that counts. 

Now thats what works for me, do you have some tips, why not let me know!!

I have entered this into zulilys bloggers competition. If you are a blogger why no take a look, http://zulilyuk.tumblr.com/post/39667556532/blogger-photo-competition . The prize is £100 to spend with them.

Snoozing with snoozeshade

Have you ever struggled to get a parasol to fit your pushchair, or just get it to stay in the right position to block the sunlight?? I certainly have, I have had many battles with many parasols and I have to say the parasol has always won!!

Then I discovered SnoozeShade

If you haven't heard of them let me explain a little. This company sell a range of sun and sleep shades that can cover your pushchair,travel system, car seat or travel cot.

Now I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of their award winning snoozeshade original deluxe versions. It is made of a premium breathable silver fabric that protects your child from 97.5% of UV rays (UPF 40+) and they say that one size fits all pushchairs, travel systems and 3 wheelers.

I was able to give it a thorough testing as I am someone that owns quite a few pushchairs. I tested it on the iCandy cherry (pushchair and carrycot), the mutsy evo (pushchair and carrycot) and the maxi cosi noa and I can tell you that it fit every single one.

I really wish I had found SnoozeShade earlier. I had my 4th child in July 2012 and it was a god send last summer!! It comes in a nice small net bag which can easily be placed in your pushchair basket without taking up any space when not in use.

At this stage I had Layla in a carrycot and the shade was so easy to put on. It is elasticated so I literally just had to place it over and it stayed in place, no more worrying about the wind blowing the parasol off!!! It kept her in the shade and cool but best of all she slept!!!. Here is it fitted to the mutsy evo carrycot

There is a handy zip at the front which you can have open to allow your child to see or closed when you want them to nap.

Now the pushchair I thought I would struggle to attach it to was the noa, as following the normal instructions I couldn't get it to work. However they have a handy channel on you tube which shows many videos on different ways to attach the shade, using the 3 wheeler video I got it to work.

Here is Gracie in the Noa

I would recommend the SnoozeShade to everyone, I am looking forward to taking it on holiday with me this July! Prices start from just £17.99 for car seat sized and it would defintely be money well spent in my opnion, a must have for any parent. The particular version I have reviewed is available for pre order now, available in March this year, all other versions are available now!!!

We win :)

I love entering competitions and so when Parent Dish put up a tweet asking us to tweet to win on #freebiefriday, I thought why not and I won!!!!

Well they only contacted me yesterday and I received my prize this morning, my girls are going to be so happy when they come home later look what they won :

Thank you Parent Dish.

xxxx

The dreaded school run

Now I may be the total opposite to some parents but I do not like it when the kids go back to school, for one it is far to quiet when they aren't here but the one thing I really hate is the school run.

Now I am very organised but I really dislike having to get up and dressed early morning and then trying to get all the kids to follow suit. There is always one of my children who has to be difficult each morning, it is normally my darling Gracie who refuses to eat her breakfast or drink her juice and my kids should know by now that mummy hates being late!!!

xxxx

Silent Sunday

Weight loss, what really works??

So 3 days on and I am still sticking to my resolution of losing weight, go me!!! :)

What I want to know is how does everyone else go about it?? There are so many fad diets out there, do they really work or are they all just quick fixes??

I personally don't stick to a diet as such, I just try to maintain a healthy balanced diet along with exercising when I can. I think a little bit of what you like is healthy as I find if I try to cut the junk food out completely I only want it more. My major downfall is eating of an evening time, so I am trying to have things like nuts, carrots sticks etc handy just incase I decide I am a bit peckish.

It is the exercise I struggle with most, with 4 kids to look after I struggle to fit it in, although I find wearing my youngest in a wrap/ sling seems to be a workout in itself.

So any tips for me?? Anything that definitely doesn't work?? Let me know.

xxxx

New year New me

Well hello 2013, happy new year to all.

Can't belive that I haven't written on here since October, well that's all going to change this year!! I am going to make a conscious effort to keep my blog up to date this year, so many memories I need to keep, that is new years resolution number one.

New years resolution number 2, I will get myself into shape. I think if you ask people what their new years resolution is, majority of people will say they want to lose weight but it is one of those that most of us just don't stick to. I am very determined to do it this year, Layla was my last baby so no excuses there and I'm going to Ibiza in July so I would really like to be able to wear a bikini and not feel fat!!!

So what is everyone elses new years resolutions or do you not make any??

xxxx