Sunday 31 December 2017

2017 Reflection and What's To Come

I probably say this every year, but how quick has this year gone? So much has happened for me in 2017 that I truly don’t know where to begin.
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Thursday 21 December 2017

Cute Nico Changing Bag Review


When I found out that I was pregnant with Florrie, I knew straight away that I wanted to make the most of baby wearing and to do that I needed a suitable changing bag. A regular shoulder bag just wouldn’t cut it as I needed something a bit more practical; a rucksack type bag would definitely be more suitable.
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Monday 18 December 2017

Drowning in the Parenthood Puddle

Is it just me or do any other parents currently feel like they are drowning in the parenthood puddle, or maybe ocean is a better word? The ocean in the grips of a horrific storm with fifty foot waves crashing down over you every time you break the surface for a gulp of air?
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Thursday 7 December 2017

The Children's Chariot - Yippie Yo Review


   
Living in Wales, we are very lucky to get to experience a variety of different landscapes; we have the cities, the beaches, woodland walks and mountain terrains. Now that Aoife is older, we want her to explore exactly what Wales has to offer. 
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Friday 1 December 2017

The Second Born Bond

The bond between a mother and their child is said to be instant, natural, unbreakable. A lot of people find it hard to believe that this doesn't always happen straight away. I will openly admit that I was one of these people, who always wondered "how?"; how can a mother not bond with their child straight away after going through the trials of pregnancy, the processes behind adoption or surrogacy. Just how can they not feel that overwhelming love and connection to their little one?
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Tuesday 28 November 2017

Lifecake Review

I have always been obsessed with photographs; when I was in my teens there was nothing I didn’t enjoy more than taking photos on a disposable camera with friends and getting them developed. There was always something so special about holding a physical photograph in my hand and being able to keep them; back then there wasn’t a huge social media presence for photographs to be uploaded. Facebook and Instagram didn’t exist; the most we had were MySpace and Bebo which were filled with grainy webcam photos.
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Thursday 23 November 2017

Xmas Gift Guide for Children - 0 to 5


 
I always find children hard to buy for, especially younger ones who aren't too sure on what they want. Also, you never know what they already have which makes things even more harder! I've narrowed down a few gift ideas for children aged zero to five to help you out this Christmas.
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Thursday 16 November 2017

Winter Woodland Style with me&i- Review



If you know me, then you will know that I am a huge fan of "fast fashion" and wouldn't bat an eyelid at spending £50 on several items from Primark over one good quality peace. This is doing nothing for my bank balance as I get sucked in each time high street stores have new stock and end up having to replace items quickly as the quality is never the best.
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Wednesday 15 November 2017

Xmas Gift Guide for Men

I don't know if it is just my husband, but he is horrific to buy for. Everything he needs or wants he just buys for himself, so when it comes to Christmas there is nothing for me to get him. Every time I ask him what he wants, his response is "nothing" which isn't very helpful at all.
If your husband, father, brother or any man in your life is the same, then I hope you get some inspiration from this guide!

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Saturday 11 November 2017

Xmas Gift Guide for Mums and Mums to Be

Now that Halloween and Bonfire Night have passed, we can finally start thinking of the dreaded C word! There's nothing worse than buying Christmas gifts last minute or having no idea what to get for your loved ones. 
With this in mind, I have compiled some Gift Guides which I hope will help a few of you. The first is for any Mums or Mums to Be in your life; a few of these would actually work for any lady!
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Wednesday 8 November 2017

The Facebook Birth Groups

When I found out that I was pregnant with Aoife, I downloaded a pregnancy app where I could chat to other women who were due in the same month that I was.
This led to a secret Facebook group being created to ensure that everyone was who they said they were. We had everyone you could think of; the nervous first time mums to those who were on their eighth child.
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Friday 3 November 2017

JewelleryBox Review and Giveaway

I was recently contacted by JewelleryBox, an online jewellery retailer, to see if I wanted to test out a few pieces from their range. I'm a big jewellery person, but with two little ones I rarely treat myself to any new sparkles.
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Tuesday 31 October 2017

Inspired Wallpaper Review


If I could have any job in the world it would be as an interior designer; there is nothing better than shopping for new homeware bits or to browse Pinterest for inspiration. When we bought our house back in February I couldn't wait to redecorate and put our own stamp on it. 
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Sunday 29 October 2017

Turtle Bay Swansea Review


When it comes to eating out, I'm pretty easy to please and much prefer a pub lunch over a tiny à la carte meal. However, I am also a creature of habit and don't like to stray too far from certain eateries or foods that I know I like. With that in mind, I was slightly apprehensive when we were invited to review the menu at Turtle Bay which has just recently opened in Swansea. The furthest I tend to go with trying dishes from another country is ordering a Chinese takeaway, so I was slightly nervous with trying out Caribbean cuisine.
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Thursday 26 October 2017

What's in a Name?

When I first found out I was pregnant in 2014, I already knew what I would call the baby had it been a girl. I've never had any favourite boys names but I always fell in love quite easily with girls names, particularly the one I had in mind for my eldest.
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Wednesday 25 October 2017

Sarah Debnam Birth Photography Review

 "Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still" - Dorothea Lange
I am a firm believer in that photographs can speak a thousand words and capture a persons raw emotion. Our home has photo frames and albums scattered everywhere, filled with photographs of our memories as a couple and then as a family.
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Monday 23 October 2017

The Perfect Parent Brigade

From the moment you are born, you are set out to be judged; from when you are a newborn and people ask your parents if you are a "good" baby to your choice of hairstyle in high school.
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Tuesday 17 October 2017

ToddleBike 2 Review

I'm not too sure about anyone else, but it seems that our toddler has a slight obsession with trikes; we currently have approximately five stored away in our shed. Now I have nothing against trikes, but Aoife is now of an age where I want her to progress to a two wheeler.
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Saturday 14 October 2017

Water Confidence

When I was younger I was a real little water baby; I was obsessed with swimming and the best part of a holiday for me was the swimming pool.
As I got older, my love of swimming lingered, however I sadly pushed it aside due to body confidence issues. It is one of those things that I truly regret and I vowed to make sure that my children were never scared of the water.
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Saturday 7 October 2017

SRI Toys Review

When it comes to children's toys, I love traditional wooden ones which help their imagination thrive and can assist with their learning too.
SRI Toys are a company which specialise in wooden toys of which encourage your child's fine motor skills, social interaction and speech development - these in itself make the toys perfect to be played with others or by themselves with their imagination.
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Sunday 1 October 2017

Part Time Prejudice


Before Aoife was born, I worked full time in a twenty four hour contact centre for an airline. My shifts would range from 7am to 11pm, seven days a week. I enjoyed my job and had a tight knit team of whom I had developed friendships with over the three and a half years that I had been working there for.
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Sunday 17 September 2017

Roco Clothing Paisley of London - Review


A couple of months ago we were contacted by Roco Clothing to test out and review a couple of items from their Paisley of London collection. As I knew we had a family wedding coming up later on in the year, I jumped at the chance as their childrens clothes were absolutely beautiful and I knew that it would be easy for me to find the perfect outfit for Aoife.
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Wednesday 13 September 2017

3 Reasons Your Kids Will Love An Aquarium


Aquariums are truly awesome things for anybody to have in the home, especially children. It’s like having your own mini eco-system inside of your own home. Kids love having pets, which is something that you are probably all too familiar with as a parent. You might not want to get a dog or cat for various reasons.
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Sunday 10 September 2017

My Birth Story


If you don't follow me on social media, then you may not know that we welcomed our second daughter into the world on the 18th of August; hence the lack of blogging!
My first daughter arrived two days early and naively I thought that this one would also make her way into the world earlier than planned. However, little Ffion had other plans and kept us waiting so that I was two days overdue; certainly not the worst situation but it felt like an eternity.
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Saturday 26 August 2017

100 Toys - Review


 
I hate to say it, but I can be a bit of a toy snob. If I had my own way, Aoife would only ever have had lovely wooden or fabric toys. But, when your child is absolutely obsessed with Peppa Pig you can't help but give in to their endless requests for the matching merchandise.
So far, my need for traditional toys has only gotten as far as a rocking horse that we got for her first Christmas, so when 100 Toys contacted me to take a look at their products I jumped at the chance.
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Tuesday 15 August 2017

Nursery Nightmares

I have previously touched on Aoife's nursery experience on my blog; she started attending a day nursery when she was only five months old and has always loved her time there. That is, until recently. Over the last six months we have had tears during ninety per cent of her drop offs.
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Tuesday 8 August 2017

Bluestone Day Three: Soft Play, Camp Smokey and Fairies.

'If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise'
Jimmy Kennedy
Our third day at Bluestone brought about even more glorious sunshine; enough so that Aoife had the chance to get her legs out - something that certainly doesn't happen too often in Wales!
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Thursday 3 August 2017

Perineal Massage with the Natural Birthing Company


Something that I haven't fully discussed on my blog is the results of my labour and delivery with Aoife; the gorgeous 7lb 10oz bundle left me with a third degree tear and, what I recently discovered, a three unit blood transfusion as a result of a 2.5 litre postpartum haemorrage. The aftermath initially put me off of a vaginal delivery again and I even queried about an elective c-section for any future deliveries.
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Tuesday 1 August 2017

You're Going To Be A Big Sister!


I'm sat here writing this as you sleep next to me; I would like to say peacefully but that would be a lie. Even when you are sleeping, you still create so much noise with your snoring, grunting and thrashing around - I've ended up with quite a few bruises from you kicking out in your sleep over the last couple of years.
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Thursday 27 July 2017

Group B Strep with Strepelle


July is Group B Strep Awareness month and also marks the month where I turn 35 weeks pregnant; before this point, testing for GBS is not accurate in predicting if I will be carrying GBS at the time of labour.
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Monday 26 June 2017

Fed is Best.


I'm pro breastfeeding, I'm pro bottlefeeding, I'm pro SNS feeding; long story short, I am pro feeding. I believe that fed is always best, regardless of how it is established.
What I don't believe in is women being belittled for their feeding choices; it is something of which I have been seeing more and more of recently and it disheartens me.
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Monday 12 June 2017

Pregnancy and the Terrible Twos.

Within three weeks of having Aoife I was broody all over again; the new series of One Born Every Minute had started and we already had an extra addition to the family too. 
I always knew that I wanted more than one child, preferably with a small age gap too. I genuinely think that if I had been give the green light, I would have tried for another baby before Aoife was six months old; it's so true what they say, pregnancy and being a mum is like nothing else.
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Friday 2 June 2017

Busy B Pregnancy Journal Review and Giveaway.


When I was pregnant with Aoife I did my best to keep a pregnancy and baby journal to document my whole journey; the journal that I chose to use was absolutely huge and I am still adding bits to it over two years after she has been born. I know that once it is finished it will be lovely to look back on and an amazing keepsake, but I certainly do not have the time or the energy to complete anything like that again.
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Wednesday 17 May 2017

Is My Child An Introvert?

'Solitude matters, and for some people, it's the air they breathe'
Susan Cain
Something has been playing on my mind for a while now; something that I never thought I would question, especially this soon on into my daughter's life. Is Aoife an introvert, a loner (don't shoot me for using that word!)?
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Saturday 13 May 2017

Bluestone Day Two: Blue Lagoon, Park Life and Ducklings

'If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere' 
 Vincent Van Gough
When we woke on Tuesday morning, we were met with glorious sunshine which seemed to stay with us all week!
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Monday 8 May 2017

Bluestone Day One: Arrival and Accommodation

'Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower' 
 Hans Christian Anderson
I have always fancied the idea of a UK break to a cabin in the middle of the woods; peaceful country walks and cooking food over a BBQ has appealed to me for quite some time. However, with the uncertainty of British weather and my husband's job, meaning that we have to plan holidays ahead of time has always put us off.
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Saturday 22 April 2017

My Surrogacy Journey | The Birth of an Idea.


I recently shared my intentions of becoming a surrogate on social media; I genuinely was not expecting the reaction I received. There was so much love and positivity surrounding a topic that is not really openly discussed, which was fantastic to see.
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Wednesday 15 March 2017

This Time Around.


It's common knowledge that all pregnancies are different; I am definitely aware of this! My biggest hurdle this time round has definitely been sickness and nausea - something of which I didn't experience during my pregnancy with Aoife.
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Monday 13 March 2017

The Next Chapter.


If you follow me on social media then you will already know the latest news; Then There Were Three needs to rebrand as there is another bun in the oven!
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Thursday 9 February 2017

Girls Compete; Women Empower


Take yourself back to the 90's: The Spice Girls (my most favourite band ever) were bursting into the spotlight and "girl power" became a worldwide phenomenon.

More recently, everyone seems to have become a feminist, demanding that women are treated equal to men (which I am all for) and vocally expressing their support for other women.
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Monday 6 February 2017

The Silence Of A Loss


Loss: noun
The feeling of grief after losing someone or something of value.
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Thursday 19 January 2017

An Open Letter to my Almost Two Year Old.

Two years old. When on earth did that happen?

This time last year I was planning what to do for your First birthday and the year before that I was 29 weeks pregnant and getting more and more impatient by the day.
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