Spring is here!

Easter basket ideas

Easter baskets are not a traditional British thing. Well at least I've never heard of them before over here but it's something traditional in the US and because we don't allow Mia to eat chocolate and sweets I thought this would be a nice way to give her a little something. Personally I think this is so much better than chocolate and it lasts longer!

 

Jelly shoes £3 Primark. I bought these for the summer for the beach or the paddling pool. 

Bubbles £1 poundland

Modelling clay £1 poundland

Giant chalks £1 poundland

Cardboard basket £1 poundland. I like this because after Easter I will use it to store her hair bands. 

Easter sticker book £1 poundland

My week in photos

New look

So I was getting a little bored with the grey and white look of my blog so I decided to brighten it up a little! My new banner I have made using a photograph Mia had taken when she did some online catalogue pictures. I love the photograph as it was when she was becoming confident standing and although you can't see in the photo those clothes were huge and pegged at the back and now they finally fit! 

I would like to try and group posts into pages like: pregnancy, Mia, food, home decor etc so any advice on how to do this would be much appreciated! I did try and follow some online instructions earlier but it didn't work :( 

Mia's 16 month update

Mia is now 16 months! How time flies! She is a completely confident walker now. This month we have started to do more outside in the garden and she loves it! I bought her a watering can and a little spade so she can help me to do the garden! I also bought a ball for outside which she is loving too! She is really

Into throwing things at the moment which for the most part is ok if it's a ball or something soft but sometimes she will throw instruments or other hard objects and I have to tell her no. She will cry now when I tell her no. I think this month she now realises that when I say no I'm not happy with something she is doing. 

She has had a rough month in terms of sickness. She had a sickness bug a few weeks ago which had her throwing up all night. She also has had a terrible heavy cold and cough which has lasted nearly 2 weeks now! 

She has a great new game where she loves pretending to talk on the phone. She will sit with her pretend phone for ages shouting down the phone with hand on hip! Haha! I wonder where she's picked that up from?!

She isn't saying any clear words yet. She says no although I don't think she knows what it means when she says it yet. She also says mumumum and dadadad. 

She is still in 6-9 month clothes although she will wear some 6-12 if they are dresses. 

TMI Tag

1: What are you wearing? 

Black trousers and a blue jumper!

2: Ever been in love? 

Yes

3: Ever had a terrible breakup?

Depends what you class as terrible..

 
4: How tall are you? 

5'5''

5: How much do you weigh? 

I actually haven't weighed myself for nearly 18 months now!

6: Any tattoos?

Nope I'm not a fan of tattoos

7: Any piercings? 

Yep, 2 in each earlobe and belly button - although I think it's closed now since I took the bar out after having Mia. 

8: OTP? 

Meaning one true pairing - yes I googled it! Not too sure what that even means by one true pairing?! I am in a happy, stable long term relationship if that's what it's referring to? Like a soul mate?! 

9: Favourite show?

Eastenders, coronation street or dexter. 

10: Favourite bands?

This is hard...I loved the spice girls growing up, now I like Bruno Mars

11: Something you miss?

My grandma who passed away :(

12: Favourite song?

The fray - how to save a life

13: How old are you? 

26! 

14: Zodiac sign? 

Aquarius 

15: Quality you look for in a partner?

Caring, considerate, kind and ambition

16: Favourite Quote? 

The greatest gift you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. 

17: Favourite actor? 

I like George Clooney and Johnny Depp

18: Favourite color? 

Purple

19: Loud music or soft? 

Bit of both 

20: Where do you go when you're sad? 

no where lol

21: How long does it take you to shower? 

15 minutes usually. I have to be quick because of Mia lol

22: How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? 

30 mins max! Again I'm on a tight schedule!

23: Ever been in a physical fight?

No

24: Turn on?

Going out the way to do something for others 

25: Turn off?

Teeth grinding 

 

26: The reason I joined Blogger? 

Originally to keep a record of my pregnancy 

27: Fears? 

Spiders, boats, horses

28: Last thing that made you cry?

Possibly being so exhausted with Mia refusing to sleep?!

29: Last time you said you loved someone? 

Today - to Mia

30: Meaning behind your Blogger Name?

It was to track pregnancy 

 
31: Last book you read?

It's terrible but I don't read

32: The book you're currently reading?

None

33: Last show you watched?

Born to kill

34: Last person you talked to? 

Adam

35: The relationship between you and the person you last texted?

 Mum

36: Favourite food? 

Pasta or Thai red curry

37: Place you want to visit?

Mauritius

38: Last place you were? 

At work

39: Do you have a crush?

Does Adam count?!

40: Last time you kissed someone? 

Mia before bedtime

41: Last time you were insulted?

Hmm not sure on this one

 

42: Favourite flavour of sweet? 

Strawberry and sour 

43: What instruments do you play?? 

None

44: Favourite piece of jewellery?

My engagement ring!

45: Last sport you played? 

Trampolining

46: Last song you sang? 

Your song

47: Favourite chat up line?

None

48: Have you ever used it?

No

49: Last time you hung out with anyone?

My mum at work today lol

 
50: Who should answer these questions next?

I tag eleanorsusan! 

My week in photos

Moving to a toddler bed

As some of you who are regular readers will know we moved Mia into a toddler bed back in January when she was only 14 months old. This was not a particularly well thought out decision it was kind of just what we knew would work best when transitioning Mia from cosleeping to her own room. Since we had chosen to cosleep with Mia she was used to sleeping in a bed. There had been times when we had transitioned her into her cot in our room and then into our small back bedroom back in August but it had only worked for a short time. Unfortunately there is a large building project going on at the back of our house and this affected her sleeping in that room as they would start work at dawn until dusk. Obviously meaning she couldn't nap in there etc. Sadly she never really took to the cot either and just didn't seem to enjoy being in there. 

We did take a lot of thought into her bedroom and making it a place she would want to be. Remember we were not just transitioning to a toddler bed but also to a brand new room and her no longer co sleeping! That's a lot of transitioning all in one go!! I actually feel it needed to be done in one hit though, Mia was a toddler now and needed her space as did we. 

We had bought a bed guard for our bed for when she slept with us and I put this on her toddler bed. The bed guard is by Tomy and I bought it from Argos. It's definitely one of our ultimate baby buys. We have used it since the day she was about a week old!! I know they say 18months plus but I rolled a small muslin cloth and wedged it between the guard and the matress to stop her limbs getting caught.

We are fortunate to have a spare bedroom right next to Mia's new room and so at the moment Adam and I have moved up there to sleep while she's still getting used to her room. I was hoping to of moved back to our room by now but in February/March she's had the chicken pox, a sickness bug and a really heavy cold and chesty cough - which we are still getting over now a week later! So the transitions been a little slow! 

The moving into the toddler bed itself hasn't been too bad. We always do exactly the same routine which I think os key. We read 2 stories, one of which always stays the same and is the one we read before he light goes out called Goodnight Moon. The other I change each night. We also turn on her fisher price soothe and glow seahorse while I'm getting her changed for bed as well. I then after the stories and lights out sit next to her bed and turn my back to her. We also let her play in her room a lot so she gets used to the surroundings. Another thing which for us has helped is putting Mia in a sleep sack. She hated these in our bed and always got too hot but in her own bed they are perfect for keeping her warm. She moves around a lot in the night so she was waking constantly as she had kicked all the blanket off but now she can't do that! 

YSL Touché Éclat Luminous Radiance review

So for my birthday my sister bought me the YSL touché éclat in 1 luminous radiance. You can apply this under or over makeup to give your skin a fresh, radiant look. I use this to cover up my mummy bags under my eyes! Haha!

It has a brush applicator which is easy to use and is a nice compact size to fit in any makeup bag. I also really like the gold packaging. It is quite pricey at £25 but if it hides my eye bags I'm happy! I also have the Dior version of this which is also really good but I think I am leaning towards the YSL one as I only need a really small amount of product on each application whereas with the door product I have to use slightly more because the consistence is runnier. 

Mia's February/March Favourites

I haven't written one of these posts in what feels like forever! Mainly because since Mia's birthday and Christmas she has received so many new toys etc that she has been playing and enjoying everything (as children do when things are new and exciting!) and only in the last month or so have I really been able to see what her favourites really are. 

Toy glasses from the bear factory - random I know! But Mia has been obsessed with putting glasses on since at our sing and sign class the teacher bought in some children's sunglasses to show the children (we sung a song about it being a sunny day) She tries to put them on herself and then when that fails comes to either Adam or I to help her! She looks so funny and cute with them on! Haha! 

The second toy she has been loving are these series of books santa bought her for Christmas. I had seen these books before in a nursery I did a work placement at and all the babies loved them. I have just photographed one of them. 

In the series Mia has there are three books. The one above, one about caterpillars and one about tadpoles. She loves touching the little animals as they stick out from the page. The books are all counting books and count down from 5-1. They also all rhyme and are great, quick bedtime books. I often read one of these followed by Goodnight Moon which I have spoken about in a previous post!

Mia's other love this month has been Art. I have let Mia use crayons etc in the house for a while now but I've always been nervous of paint. But recently a local soft play centre has started to do an arts and crafts morning on a Thursday and I took Mia along. She loved it! I have never seen her so quiet and engaged with anything before! 

The final love of Mia's this month is fruit! Mia is loving pears especially at the moment. Since she's been getting her molars through she has been really fussy with food. She doesn't want to eat anything hot and will only eat soft, cook things. These pears are very juicy at the moment though, so I don't blame her for wanting to eat them! Haha!

What have been your recent favourites? 

Mia's First Art Experience

My Beautiful Surroundings

Healthy Vegetarian Toddler Lunch

Carrot sticks - I cook them to soften them as she's still getting her molars through. 

Tortilla with hummus - a thin spread of hummus on a white warm tortilla.