Pretty in Puddles

Amy / August 31, 2018

Autumn Wardrobe

Who doesn’t love Autumn? All the colours, the country walks, but most of all the new season in fashion!

I have decided I need to win the lottery, and quickly! There are far too many cute clothes around for Autumn/Winter this year, and its starting to feel cooler already. I usually like to get a few great staple things like coats and boots and then I just tend to layer up with basics, but this year its difficult because I still have lovely boots and coats from last year that would be absolutely fine to use this year, but I need new things!! Places like Zara, Topshop and new Instagram brands make it extremely difficult to resist!

I have started to pick up a few things for Emma from Zara and I bought her some basic long sleeve tops from Sainsburys which are great for nursery as they always spill things on themselves, so I tend to by cheaper things in bulk from places like Sainsburys or Asda, that way I don’t feel awful putting her in her “nice” things from Zara or Marksies.

A few things I got for Emma from Zara, and I have added the links too;

I also got her a few pairs of leggings from Next, just the basic Greys and Navy that will go with everything. There is so much more from Zara as well, lucky for Emma she grows out of things so she almost always has to get a new wardrobe…me on the other hand does not technically need a new wardrobe, I just want it haha.

I am not usually one to follow trends, I tend to just wear what I love, and what I think looks nice. I think the new AW collection in Zara is quite bold and you have to be brave to wear those things, I generally wouldn’t go as far as to wear matching or clashing prints but if it looks nice I will give it a go…probably with persuasion from my younger, more stylish, sisters! I am really loving the check trousers right now from Zara, again!

I love both of these, they are quite out of my comfort zone but paired with a plan T shirt and some trainers I think would look cool.

I am definitely a trousers/jeans and shoes kind of girl, I always struggle with the upper half! I tend to wear boots in the winter so I would love to get a nice pair of flats, I love these right now;

I also actually really like these, but not sure about the colour;

Image 5 of FLAT SLINGBACK SHOES from Zara

There is a girl I follow on Instagram called SomethingNavy and I have followed her for ages and love her style. She is now in the process of launching her new clothing brand SomethingNavyBrand, with Nordstrom and all of her things I have seen so far are sooo nice! The only thing is, it is from America so I am sure the taxes and duties will be loads on the delivery!

Zara have some great jumpsuits right now too! I have never been able to pull them off, they never seem to fit me properly, so instead here is my sister, Rachel, wearing one, of course she looks amazing in it!

Told you she was more stylish!

I mention Zara a lot but it is because the clothes are so stylish and practical but also such a good price, if I did win the lottery then I would still shop at Zara but also Whistles, Jigsaw, & other stories, Sandro, and many more, but until then its Zara, Topshop, Mango and other great high street shops, eBay is also great for bargains!

I am not the most stylish but I do love fashion, so I hope your have enjoyed reading!

Amy xxx

Amy / August 13, 2018

Thank Goodness for dry shampoo!

When I say thank goodness for dry shampoo I mean thank goodness for all the mummy life savers I have discovered along the way that have saved me from sticky situations, quite literally!

If I hear a friend is pregnant I can’t wait to share all the helpful tips I learnt when Emma was little, does anyone else feel this? I think back to what I did when Emma had colic or what white noise app I used to get her off to sleep etc, and I just love sharing this with new mamas to be, and you do genuinely feel you can solve their problems or worries with this advice! Not always true but nice to think it, haha! I bought a sleepyhead when Emma was little and although it was expensive it really was amazing, I would definitely recommend that to any new mums. It reduces the space in the cot so babies don’t feel overwhelmed by such a large area, and I found this really helped Emma to sleep as well. It was also great just for lounging around the house, I would just pop her in that whilst I got on with other boring things, like cleaning! I also love all NUK products, they are meant to be the best teats to replicate mamas boobie, so if you do combined feeding like I did they were great, the dummies are also amazing too.

Now Emma is 2 the things that save me are more like hairdryers, wipes and dry shampoo – the dry shampoo is for me! What would we do when you’re on the 3rd outfit change of the morning as they have basically tipped the entire contents of your kitchen over their outfits, or you almost lose the plot as you are about to leave the house and you hear, “mummy, uh oh!” Or you look down at your jeans to see a wipe or flannel has been squeezed onto your newly washed jeans… out comes the hairdryer! I don’t think there is anything I haven’t hair dried actually!? Why is it that toddlers find the only wet patch in the house and sit in it, just as you’re leaving the house?!

Dry Shampoo is the ultimate saviour, and I am sure most mums will agree! I remember I used to wash my hair every other day, hairdry it, and style it nicely, but since the world revolves around our babies there is little, to no time for self maintenance, and so dry shampoo comes in really handy. I use Batiste and I don’t think it is too bad for your hair either, which is a bonus.

I am always looking for tips and new mummy hacks that will help everyday living with a toddler, so any helpful tips other mamas have please send them my way!

Thanks for reading,

Amy xxx

Amy / August 3, 2018

The Lavender Fields

I absolutely love everything about Lavender, I’m completely obsessed with it’s smell! It’s not only beautiful, but it also has some great health benefits too, which I learnt about when we went to the Lavender Fields in the Cotswolds.

They use a ancient traditional process called steam distillation to obtain the oil, and use rainwater they collect to turn into the steam, so no chemicals are added in their distillation process, making sure their oil is a pure essential oil.

I don’t claim to be an expert in this at all but a few health benefits we learnt about whilst we were there are;

Induces Sleep

I think this might be my favourite one! I recently purchased a Neal’s Yard Lavender pillow spray and use it every night, I think it is the best thing ever and it really has made a big difference to my sleep. You can also put a few drops of lavender essential oil onto your pillow at night and that also works. I often spray it around Emma’s room to help her sleep, It doesn’t always work on her though!

Relieves Anxiety and Stress

Lavender has a natural calming scent, so because of this, people who are struggling with anxiety or stress benefit from smelling the essential oil to allieviate their symptoms. It is said to improve brain activity whilst reducing mental exhaustion, great for exams and other stressful situations! Lavender oil is one of the best essential oils to reduce stress.

Improves Skin

Lavender also has a calming affect on your skin counteracting all the pollutants your skin is exposed too on a daily basis. Adding Lavender oil to your daily routine will help to cleanse your skin and protect it. It is also great for spots, it has anti-inflammatory properties so can reduce the swelling of the infected areas. The oil is also antibacterial.

Pain Reliever

Lavender essential oil can be used as a massage oil and has been found to reduce pain to swollen muscles and painful joints. Using this oil on its own or even combined with another oil would be extremely beneficial to relieve pain.

Eating Lavender

Lavender can also be edible, something I didn’t know until visiting the Lavender farm in the Cotswolds. Lavender contains Vitamin A which has many benefits, some of which include; maintaining healthy skin, eye health and preventing eye dryness, It also contains Iron. Lavender also reduces fatigue and nausea and is a great source of calcium. I’m sure we have all heard our parents say, “eat this, it’ll give you strong bones!” Well Lavender will certainly contribute to it.

So not only does Lavender smell and look amazing, its also very good for you!

I have included a few pictures from our first visit to the lavender fields when Emma was younger because our visit this time with a 2 and a bit year old was nowhere near as easy! She wouldn’t go near the lavender because she was petrified of the bees! She also screamed the majority of the time (lots of stares and judging faces) if you are a mum you know exactly what I mean! The only time she was quiet was when we were in the café and she was eating an ice cream…standard Emma behaviour haha.

I hope you enjoy reading

Amy xxx

Amy / July 27, 2018

Adventurer

We took a much needed trip to the seaside and to Emma’s new favourite place in the world…Peppa Pig World! I have lost track of how many times she has shouted “pig’s world” over the last week, she will even sit quietly and watch a YouTube video of Peppa Pig World she is that obsessed! I thought it was going to be hard work there, with the theme tune on repeat all day, the lines and screaming kids, but actually, it was so fun! The lines were in fact not too long at all, I think the longest we waited was 30 minutes for ‘George’s dinosaur’ ride. It was a lot bigger than I anticipated too with lots of things to do, not just rides but games and play areas too. I actually won a big princess Peppa for Emma, which I cannot believe as I never win anything like that, I have wasted many pennies playing those ‘claw’ games at arcades! This game you had to throw a ball into a bucket without it bouncing back out, as I watched no one was winning so I almost walked away, but something made me give it a try and I won! The game was £5 and in the shop they were £24.99!! So happy! Probably the highlight of the day…haha not really but it was a pretty amazing moment!

Emma was so great all day, I’m sure it had something to do with the fact she was so distracted with everything going on, she didn’t even have a nap! There is a little train that runs along the outside of Peppa Pig world and some more of the park which was so fun, Emma absolutely loved it and now keeps insisting we go on another train ride. It was overcast and a bit chilly the day we went which was actually perfect because I don’t think we would have coped as well if it had been as hot as it is now because there is not much shade when you are waiting in line for the rides. There are buggy parks where you can leave the pram, but I would definitely recommend taking some water and maybe a snack for the little one because I found it quite difficult to keep Emma distracted in the lines.

We ventured around the park a little more and we came across the dinosaur area where there are quite a few ‘grown up’ rollercoasters so we took it in turns to go on by ourselves (losers) I watched Emma while Clyde went on, then we swapped. I was sat next to a little girl who was also going on by herself and she was as calm as a cucumber so I had to pretend I was so cool with it and not scared and second guessing myself… “I have a child, I shouldn’t be riding a rollercoaster!” Anyway I put all that to the back of my mind and went on. As we started the ascent I thought, oh this is so tame, no worries at all! Then it got to the top and I thought, what the hell am I doing! Then it was too late, within a split second the ride was over…so glad I did it haha!

After a long day we left the park and drove to our Hotel, I chose Bartley Lodge Hotel, this was from a list you could choose from when I booked Peppa Pig Short breaks. The hotel was so lovely, I booked it mainly because it said it had a pool so I thought it would be lovely to take Emma swimming. The room was lovely too and so were the grounds surrounding it. The pool was quite small but perfect for what we wanted.

The next day we headed out to Bournemouth as it’s so close to where we stayed it made sense to make a day of it! We did have free return tickets to the park but I definitely think one day was enough, for now anyway! Emma absolutely loved the beach! She wanted to strip off immediately and get in the water. I was so surprised seeing as this was her first visit to the beach! The day was perfect as well, not too hot, so we could stay on the beach without burning up. We ate lunch at a restaurant on the pier called Aruba, it was so lovely! The food was amazing and if you get a seat next to the window, the view is great too. There is an arcade on the pier too, not my kind of thing but it was packed, and my husband is obsessed with arcades so we had to spend some time in there too. Unfortunately my luck didn’t carry on from Peppa Pig World, we didn’t win anything!

Our trip home was so easy, and Emma had been so great the whole trip. I love going away and seeing her so happy it makes it all worth it. It’s just so annoying that it goes so fast, our trip was over in the blink of an eye, so I am busy planning our next one….Caribbean….haha I wish, somewhere in the UK probably!

Hope you enjoyed reading.

Amy xxx

Amy / July 13, 2018

At least you don’t work!

This is a phrase I have struggled with since becoming a mum, “at least you don’t work”, or “Yea but you don’t work”, or “you’re so lucky to have all this time to yourself”. I get it, the pictures and the videos look like we are having the best time and to be honest we are, but it’s also extremely hard work. The days out and the mummy meets are great fun and are always beneficial to Emma, we always go to a ‘baby-friendly’ place, with a kids menu, a playground or soft play are and better yet, animals! So you can imagine the grown up talking is very much limited by interruptions from our little ones. I am so grateful for my mummy friends, to have someone you can talk too and who are going through everything at the same time as you is so comforting and lets you know you are not alone in this incredible journey. Being a mum is definitely a full time job, I generally start my day early and don’t sit down until 9:30 at night, on a good day, and we also have to take into the account the amount of time Emma wakes up in the night, so when someone says to me “at least you don’t work”, it’s confusing because, actually I do work! Motherhood is the hardest but best job of all.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my ‘job’ and count my lucky stars that I get to wake up with this little beauty everyday, however, there is no instruction manual or training guide before your baby comes into this world, there is no one to tell you just how hard it is or how lonely it can be at times, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Emma is 2 now and I do two days a week of work to cover the cost of her nursery, but I am getting to that time now when I am thinking should I be working more now? What do other mums do at this point? I know circumstances are different for everyone and some mothers have no choice but to work to support their family and they, for sure, have the toughest job of all! I have all the respect for the single mums out there who are doing it all on their own, girl power!! A few single mamas I am following right now are Mama_unexpected, Thesinglemumsdiary, and Everthedaring such a bunch of inspirational mamas 🙂 They have shown that even facing adversities they blossomed and have become the best mums to there little babes.

Raising Emma has literally been the best thing ever, it has definitely had it’s ups and downs but I wouldn’t change a single thing, as long as she is happy I am happy.

Thanks for reading,

Amy

xxx