Food Friday

So I have decided to start a new series on my blog called food Friday. This will help me to blog regularly but also I enjoy blogging about Mia's diet and recipes so this is a fun way for me to do this. 

Basically I have photographed everything Mia has eaten today and I will include the recipes where necessary. 

Breakfast 

Muesli made with whole milk. 

A cup of whole milk. 

Lunch

This is the first time we have tried thus. I normally hate packet meals etc for Mia but there was only good ingredients in this. No sugar or salt. 

For dessert she had an apple and strawberry purée smoothie and some blueberries. 

She also had a cup of water. 

Dinner

Homemade pitta pizza

Blueberry and banana organic yoghurt. 

Mia also had water to drink. 

Before bed Mia has another cup of milk which I usually warm a little to help her calm down ready for bed and sometimes I give her an organix biscuit which has no sugar, salt etc. All natural ingredients and uses grape juice to sweeten. 

Hope you enjoyed our food Friday. What food do you feed to your toddler? Is there anything they don't like? 

Mia's new shoes!

We had a lot of trouble finding Mia a pair of walker shoes in the right size! These are a size 3, width D. They are by start rite and are the only pair of shoes that are made in that small a width size! 

They are very cute though and Mia walks really well in them. 

The cardboard box

It's the simple things like a cardboard box that can keep them amused for hours... 

Clinique high impact lashes

For Christmas I received the Clinique high impact lashes gift set. I love the Clinique mascara and had run out so was expecting I might get a new one for Christmas. I was not expecting this fab gift box though! The gift box itself looks like this:

It comes with a small makeup bag, a black mascara, black eyeliner and a eye serum that's supposed to help with tired eyes. 

I haven't pictured the bag but these are the three makeup items in the box. 

The eye serum I was very sceptical of. I don't believe that a liquid formula is going to stop my eyes looking tired especially now I have Mia because when my eyes look tired they really look tired! However it does feel really light to apply and it feels refreshing which is really weird to say but it does. I don't think it necessarily stops bags and tired eyes but it does make me feel more awake. It's a rollerball serum so really easy to apply and it smells quite nice too. 

The second thing in the box was a eyeliner. I was using a bourjois eyeliner and I also use a Rimmel one, both I was quite happy with but the Clinique one is amazing! I would never of thought to buy a high end eyeliner and that it would be worth the extra money but it's such a lovely eyeliner. It glides on so easily, it's really pigmented and stays on all day. I just love it! It looks quite shimmery but it doesn't go on shimmery at all which is great as I want an eyeliner for day and evening use. 

I would and will definitely repurchase this. 

The final item was the mascara. Now what can I say about that?! I love this mascara, I've always loved it. I love the brush, it doesn't clump together, glides on easily, only requires one quick coat and looks great every time! It lasts all day and is easy to apply to both top and bottom lashes. I have the Dior mascara also which is quite a lot more expensive. I think it's about £25 whereas the Clinique is maybe £10-£12 and personally I prefer the Clinique. It's the only mascara I have found that doesn't clump on the brush after a while and doesn't dry up. 

I would recommend this to anyone looking to try a different black mascara. I don't think they do it in brown, or at least they didn't a few years ago but if they ever do I will be sure to buy it. 

What's your favourite mascara? 

Rimmel Scandal Eyes Liquid Eyeliner

I have recently purchased the Rimmel scandal eyes liquid eyeliner in black. I got it on a special offer in boots 3 for 2. I think it's around £6 on its own so it's reasonably priced. I've wanted to try a liquid eyeliner for ages for my upper lids. I've always struggled with getting my upper lids how I want them with a normal pencil eyeliner and have always wanted to try a liquid eyeliner. I decided to opt for a felt tip style liquid eyeliner as I thought it would be easier to apply. 

I LOVE this eyeliner! When I bought it I didn't know what to expect but since I have been using it I wouldn't go back to using anything else! It's really long lasting and is so easy to apply. It also is really pigmented and thin so you can have a thin line or build upon it for an evening look. I would definitely recommend this eyeliner to anyone. I think for £6 it's worth trying and definitely something I would buy again. 

Healthy toddler meal

I made our own pitta pizzas the other day. You can either use pitta or pizza bases and just a thin layer of pizza topping and cheese. You can chose to make your own pizza sauce or buy one and I only use a thin spreading of cheese. 

Mia loves these and the great thing is they can be eaten hot or cold! Great for on the move! 

Mini toddler haul

A few bits we picked up in the JoJo maman bebe sale! 

All of these are in 12-18 or 18-24 months and should fit Mia next autumn/winter. 

I love this cute pink blouse. It will look lovely with leggings or underneath the next piece. 

Purple looks lovely on Mia and the pink blouse above will look lovely paired with this. 

We thought this might be good for those early autumn days before it gets too cold. 

A coat for next winter. Reduced from £35 to £12! These coats are waterproof, reversible, has clips on the sleeves to clip gloves too and not to forget it rather cute! Mia has this coat already in pink with pink and purple flowers for this winter and it's a brilliant coat! I might do a proper review on this soon. 

Around our town

Not a bad walk to the train station really...hehe! 

Parenting Styles...

When I was pregnant with Mia I had ideas of the kind of mum I wanted to be. 

Some of the things I remember that I had decided were: 

I wasn't going to cosleep. 

I wasn't going to let her watch tv as a baby or toddler. 

I wanted her to only eat fresh meals. 

Since having Mia my idea on how to be a 'good' mum has changed. 

We have co slept pretty much from birth. Co sleeping doesn't work for everyone and isn't something that everyone wants to try or do. We weren't planning on co sleeping it just kind of happened one night and we have enjoyed it every night since. I have a post about cosleeping safety if you want to check it out. If we were to have another baby would weco sleep  again? Not necessarily. It has worked out this time around but I'm not anti cots or Moses baskets. Far from it. I believe every parent has the right to parent in the way that works best for them. 

TV - this has definitely been something that I have battled with. Mia didn't watch any tv until 10 months old and even then it was hardly ever. Since she has turned one I let her watch peppa pig in the car on our journey home. It's like her calm down time before we get in and it's time for bed. I actually now think tv is ok in small doses. I wouldn't personally have it on all day as Mia would probably just watch it all day rather than playing. Haha!

Mia's diet has been something I have been very strict with. I only give Mia home cooked meals. I don't use any baby jars. I personally wouldn't want to eat a jar of pasta that looks like slop so why would my baby? I don't judge people who use them. It's just not for me. It would definitely make life easier to use them but also I think jars cost more than cooking your own food. I also have a post about storing fresh food for your baby or toddler. 

Mia's 14 month update!

Wow I can't believe how quickly the month went between Mia turning one and now she's suddenly 14 months! 

This month has been an important one! Mia has taken her first steps! She has been cruising for months using the furniture to walk around the room but last Sunday we really tried to encourage her to walk between us and she did. She just did. All by herself. And looked very pleased with herself may I just add! 

She is now wearing 6-9 month clothes mainly with a few 9-12 month depending on the brand. 

We are also only having cows milk twice a day now and only from a beaker. The days of bottles are behind us :(

Mia has also started to throw tantrums. Full on toddler tantrums. Sometimes in public. Embarrassing yes. But also a little funny. Terrible I know. I shouldn't laugh. Actually I've started throwing tantrums at her when she starts and it makes her laugh and makes her stop so maybe she realises how silly she looks. Haha! 

I have started taking Mia to classes as well like baby ballet and sing and sign which she has been loving. I really want to encourage her to mix with other children of a similar age now and she loves being around other children and adults anyway. 

Healthy Vegetarian Toddler Meal

We are trying to expand Mia's meal variety by combining different combinations and trying to get her to eat eggs. She's never been a fan of eggs -

Omelette and scrambled have never gone down well so we thought we would try hard boiled. 

We try where we can to give Mia the same as what we are eating so that we all eat as a family and it makes it a lot easier than preparing lots of different meals. 

Tonight we cooked red Thai curry - this would be too spicy for Mia at the moment so instead of giving her that we gave her the rice, a hard boiled egg and some sugar snap peas. I was surprised as she actually ate all the egg and rice but didn't like the sugar snap peas - it's the first vegetable she doesn't like!

For pudding I gave her a yoghurt and some raisins. 

Mia is not a vegetarian just to clear that up before any questions are asked haha! She eats all meat and fish apart from pork. But we do cook some vegetarian meals each week. 

Pregnancy truth vs lies

A funny truth vs lie pregnancy picture that was shared through my Facebook. I thought it was very true...the lie side I mean! Haha!