Organising Mia's books and room

I love how we have made Mia's room as cute as we have. The biggest problem is as Mia gets older she accumulates more toys and this is turn leads to lack of storage! Mia has a loads of books. We had a lot given to us by family friends who's children had grown out of them and quite a few were mine as a child too. Mia loves books. She would sit and have you read to her all day if she could! She has a shelf downstairs full of books and a shelf in her bedroom full of books. We also have a shelf in our hall which has books on which are a little too grown up for her at the moment. 

Today I organised her bookshelf in her room. 

Above her books is her peter rabbit collectables, again the hexagonal money box, cup and first two sets of books were mine. We bought Mia the other money box for her first Christmas, my sister bought Mia the puddleduck when she was born and the large peter rabbit book collection was bought by Mia's great grandmother for Christmas. I wanted to move these to the top shelf as I am worried about the ornaments getting broken. 

This is the view of the bookshelf from afar. I feel like I need to organise her toys somehow and make them neater but it's not easy when the roof of her room slopes and therefore there isn't many places to put storage units. 

This so the one storage unit I have in her room which contains instruments, her wooden train, shape sorting toys and miscellaneous toys. I wish I could fit another one somewhere in the room but at the moment there is no space!

Once we stop using this changing unit more space will become available for another toy storage unit. 

I have thought about moving the bed to free up some wall space but because of the sloping ceilings there's really no where to move the bed too! 

If anyone has any clever storage solutions please let me know! 

Our week in photos

How to make a diaper/nappy cake

You will need:

•Around 60 nappies

•ribbon (1.5m)

•elastic bands in all different sizes

•toys/clothes to decorate

•cake base

•hot glue gun

First you need to roll your nappies into cylinder shapes. Start rolling with the open end first. 

Using elastic bands secure the nappy, you will need lots of bands in all different sizes

Get your cake base ready to start assembling your cake. I like to use a bamboo stick to keep my layers together but you don't have to. 

Once you have a few nappies rolled (see below)

You now need to start placing the nappies together slowly building them into a circle and using a large band to secure. 

Eventually you will end up with this. 

You then need to continue rolling and securing nappies to make the second layer. 

Now for the top. 

You can then decorate your cake with toys and clothing. 

Place your cake topper on the top. A cute teddy works well. Then attach your ribbon. You can use a hot glue gun to do this. You can make these cakes as big or small as you wish. You can do a 4-layer cake or a 2-layer. 

Baby Boden

I have never purchased anything from baby boden before but how cute are these! 

And when they are on clearance for £10.40 each that's a steal! They usually retail for £26 each! I can just imagine Mia in these with a long sleeved vest underneath and tights or paired with a short sleeved top in the summer. 

Check out the mini boden website for their other great clearance items!  

Fun at the farm!

Healthy Toddler Meal Ideas

Another food post...this definitely seems to be a reoccurring theme! Haha!

Beef sausages, mash potato and peas. 

Fish fingers, sweet corn and cheesy mash potato. 

I like simple meals that are quick and easy to prepare. I make the mash in big batches and freeze into individual pots ready to defrost for meals just like this one. We try to give Mia the same meals that we eat as much as possible so that we can all eat together and as she gets older she will enjoy the same meals we eat as a family. There isn't much Mia doesn't like. Egg is the main thing at the moment she isn't keen on. She's a very good eater in terms of the variety of dishes she will eat. She's just a bit of a picker so she tends to pick throughout the day and doesn't eat huge meals at meal times. 

Indoor activities for a baby/toddler

Soft play

Love soft play. The only thing I would say is make sure you being hand sanitiser because I'm not convinced these places are always as clean as they should be. Mia has picked up colds and sickness bugs from these places in the past. 

Play cafes/toddler groups

If you live near to a cafe designed for children use it. It's now your best friend!

Baby/toddler classes

The choice of classes is huge! There is dancing, music, swimming, art and movement classes and many more! A lot offer free trial classes too.

Sing and sign class April 2014

iPad apps 

There are so many great apps out there for young children. The fisher price ones are our favourites and they're all free!

Arts & crafts

If your like me and don't like making a mess in your house with paint and glitter you can simply use crayons or pencils and a colouring book. You can use glue and crepe paper too to create sticky masterpieces. 

Feeding your baby/toddler sugary treats

Sorry this is going to be a bit of a rant because there are some issues that need addressing. 

What's the obsession with giving small children sugary treats?? Cake, chocolate, sugary juice?! I don't get it! 

They have their whole adult lives to pig out on chocolate and fizzy drinks if they want to so why are people so obsessed with giving small children these treats? Some believe that if you don't allow them some sugary treats they will go crazy at other children's birthday parties with all the sugar...first off not all parents are going to provide a birthday feast of only junk and second of all this is just rubbish. I didn't have any sugary treats until I was 4 and did I go crazy on sweets and cake? No. In fact I don't really like cake very much at all. I'm not a dessert kind of person at all. I like a few things, rice pudding, jam roly poly, custard, jelly. But I'm not a big sweet tooth person and maybe that's due to me not eating these treats as a toddler. 

I have had random people in shops make comments and it really gets to me. People say things like: 

'why can't she have a bit of cake?' 

'Aww I feel sorry for her being not allowed to have some'

Sorry, you feel sorry for her? Why? Because she eats all her meals because she doesn't fill up on junk during the day? Or is it because she is very happy with some fruit for dessert rather than a slab of cake? In society we push for adults to eat healthily. We have a big push on losing weight but when it comes to young children people seem to be obsessed with pushing parents like me into giving their child junk. It's my choice as a mother to decide what my baby (let me reiterate BABY) eats. A baby does not require sugar and junk in their diet. They require nutrious, healthy food which will help them to grow. 

I've never been one to comment or judge others who chose to give their children junk, sweets and chocolate from a young age. That's your choice as their mother so please don't judge me for not wanting to introduce cake and sugary treats just yet. I'm not hurting anyone by doing so and I feel I'm doing what's best for my family. Mia is growing healthily and happily without sugary treats so I have no reason to introduce it.

Rant over....

Summer Activities for a baby/toddler

The park

I try to take Mia to the park most days during the summer as it's free and she loves it! Most parks where I live also have a children's playground so I take Mia to play on the swings and climbing frame. I can tell when it comes to bedtime if we haven't been out that day as Mia doesn't sleep as well as if we spend time outdoors. 

The garden

If you have a garden it's like having a mini park! Our garden is small but there's enough room for a sand/water table and a small climbing frame with slide. Mia enjoys playing outside in the garden and it's nice to also give your toddler lunch outside. 

The farm

We have a few farms where I live. They are also full of not only animals but outdoor play equipment, ride ons and soft play. They make for a brilliant day out but they can be a costly day trip. The ones near here cost £9-14 per person and under 2's are free. I would suggest taking a picnic to save money. 

Arts and Crafts

This is a great activity for indoors and outdoors. If you are worried like me about the mess in could cause inside the house you can take the activity to the garden. I am planning on buying Mia an easel which she can do painting on in the garden. A simple colouring book and crayons is enough to keep Mia entertained for a good 30 minutes. Toddlers also love stickers. 

Tents and Tunnels

Babies and toddlers love tents and tunnels. We bought Mia a tent and tunnel from Argos for £15 but you can make a play tent with a sheet using the table.