REVIEW Vanish Stain Remover - My New Best Friend

I always new that weaning would be a messy business however I didn't anticipate how disappointed I'd be when outfits got ruined because of strawberry stains! That was until I remembered about this little gem hiding in my cupboard. I'm pretty sure my mum bought this as an 'essential' when we moved into our flat and its one of those things that has sat quietly in my cupboard minding its own business, until now. There's always at least one thing in my washing machine that has been treated to a bit of Vanish.

Its really simple and quick to use. Give the bottle a quick shake, spray on the stained area, it advises to spray on both sides of the stain for best results. Leave it to sit for a minute or two then chuck it in the washing machine with the rest of your wash and voile the stain should be vanished. I say should because I've yet to try and remove every stain in the world and sadly it did not completely work its magic on an unfortunate Chicken Chasni stain on a white vest top. However I think had I treated it immediately and washed it quickly it probably would have came out, but I was at my mum at the time and by the time I was home I couldn't be bothered sticking a washing on. So I guess its my own fault I'm left with a faint orange stain.

I thought I'd show you the wonders it works on a mushed in banana stain. As beautifully modelled by my lovely assistant! 

The baby grow was a gift and one of my favourites so I really didn't want it to be ruined and as you can see its as good as new!

 When every penny is precious, especially in the run up to Christmas, its great to know clothes haven't been ruined my a little food. Vanish Stain Remover - something every mother needs in her arsenal.

Do you recommend any other stain removers that are even easier? Or that you find work wonders? I'd love to know

Kirsty x

My ASOS Wishlist

Very often when I feel my wardrobe needs a revamp I spend a lot of time on ASOS trawling through the site to find all the stuff I like, anything that I like I will add to my Saved Items till it grows to quite a collection that I could never afford. Each time I go on I will go through the saved items and eliminate things that I don't really like anymore or realise probably wouldn't suit me. Until I whittle it down to some great key pieces that I really want. Then eventually they'll go out of stock or I'll delete them all realising I cant afford it and I probably was never going to buy it anyway!

However I though I would show you some of the items on my current wishlist:

1. Asos Jumper in Stripe

2. Sweatshirt with Crotchet Collar

3. Asos Top with Curve Hem

4. Peggy Strap Ankle Boots

5. Asos Tall Chunky Jumper

6. New Look Relaxed Mom Jean

As you can see its pretty autumnal with the chunky knit jumpers. The Stripe Jumper as been on my wishlist for a long time, I've just never got round to buying it. I am in desperate need of a new pair of boots for winter but I'll probably wait for the first sign of snow before I buy a new pair. I'm sure my wishlist will change by next week because I will realise I'm never going to buy any of it!

Does anyone else do this or am I the only one that makes imaginary wardrobes?

Kirsty x

Sisterhood of The World Blogger Awards

Firstly I want to thank Amy at The Smallest of Things for her nomination!

The rules:

- Thank the Blogger who nominated you

- Put the Logo on your Blog

- Answer the 10 questions put to you by the Blogger

& I kinda cheated I dont have ten blogs to nominate but I really wanted to answer Amy's questions so here they are!

1. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

Hate. I despise unnecessary hate. I don't mind bitching (as a woman, sometimes we have to) or when people need to moan about things, but I despise when people have to voice there horrible opinions where they are not needed or wanted.

2. What is your favourite must-have beauty product?

Collection's concelar. Its the one product I don't like leaving the house without it

3. Who is your blogspiration?

Zoe Sugg, Hannah Maggs, Anna SacconeJoly, SprinkleofGlittr & Fluer DeForce.

 

4. What is your usual daily routine?

Get up at 7, feed Logan, play with Logan, feed Loga, put Logan down for a nap, Logan probably wont nap so play some more, feed Logan, take Logan out for a walk, feed Logan then hopefully by that time Gavin's home from work and I might get to sit down for 5 minutes. As you can see my day revolves around my adorable son.

5. If you could have any career, what would it be?

A mystery/secret shopper. I've worked in retail all my life so I really enjoy shopping elsewhere and judging people on the service they give.

6. Where is your favourite place to visit?

My parents house. I love taking my son and going to visit his grandparents and it means I get a sit down with a cup of tea!

7. Where is your favourite place to shop for baby clothes?

H&M but I've recently spent a bit more time in Zara and I'm really loving their baby stuff. Think it might be where we get the majority of Logan's new stuff.

8. What is your biggest traffic source?

Twitter, Pinterest & Bloglovin

9. Why did you chose your blog name?

When I was pregnant I bought an abundance of baby socks. I couldn't believe that I was growing something that was going to be that small. I bought way too many pairs of little blue socks!

10. Ketchup, mayonnaise or brown sauce?

Ketchup! On all things. I love ketchup.

BOOTD

Today's Outfit:

Cardigan: H&M £12.99 (could only find it in dark grey)

Vest: H&M £3.99 (do H&M never have the same things online as they do in the shop?)

Trousers: Zara £14.99

Animals & Babies

When I fell pregnant with Logan I found myself being asked 'so what will you do with the cat?'

At first I thought this was a most peculiar question. What did they expect me to do with the cat? Why should I be doing anything with the cat? After all she was here first!

However upon thinking about it, would I be putting my new born baby at risk by having a cat in the house. Was there a chance she could hurt him?

Before I continue I feel like I should introduce you to our cat.

This is Minnie. Or Minerva Helen if you want to use her proper name. Gavin bought her as an early Christmas present in November 2012. So technically she's my cat but secretly I think Gavin is her favourite. She's always been in an indoor cat and we've had her since she was 8 weeks old. So you could say she is my original baby.
On a lot of forums I read of parents who had gotten rid of their pet because they were expecting a baby. People were apprehensive of their animals and what they could do to their children. Some talking about getting nets for their Moses baskets to stop cats jumping in and some going as far as to get rid of their pets. That wasn't really an option to be considered lightly so I knew I would at least see how Minnie reacted to our baby before taking such drastic actions.

In hindsight I don't know why I worried! I had been in the hospital for 6 days and Gavin had spent pretty much all day every day with me in the hospital so she had been pretty lonely, my mum had came in to feed her and spend some time with her after she had been up to visit us, but apart from spending her nights with Gavin she'd spent a lot of time alone so I worried that she might feel a bit neglected when we finally came home but she was fine. We sat Logan down in his car seat and let her have a sniff about. After sniffing around his chair for a moment she wandered away and hasn't ever really shown that much interest in him. She will go for a wee sniff if he's lying on the rug or on the bed and she's sat still enough a few times when he's went to clap her, and by clap I mean smack her on the side. He even once tried to pull her fur out, all she did was look a bit angry and strutted away in a huff.


Before considering getting rid of a pet to accommodate a baby its best to give them the opportunity to prove you wrong. There's no need to take drastic action when you don't know how your pet will react. I know you see horror stories in the news of dangerous dogs and such like but if you take the right precautions and don't leave a large, powerful animal alone in a room with a newborn baby there should be no need to worry.

BOOTD

Today's outfit:

Vest: H&M £4.99 (couldn't find the same ones on their website)

Trousers: Zara - £9.99 

Sleep Training - Week 2 & 3

I thought I'd combine these weeks because after week 2 I realised I didn't have much to update you on as it was pretty similar every day and then week 3 became much of the same. I'm quite glad to say every day in the past 2 weeks he has went into his cot for a nap. I thought after a few days of him going down in his cot but not napping, I'd give up and sop but I'm glad to say we have kept going.


Most days he has a nap of some sort, they aren't always in his cot, and they aren't always for very long, but they are naps at least. He has got into the habit of sleeping on our bed after he's been fed in the afternoon and most days he seems to have a nap around 5/6. We moved his bed time from 9 to 8, but I'm considering moving it forward another hour to see how that goes down.


Hopefully this coming week he might go for some more naps in his cot instead of our bed, but when he falls asleep at the end of a feed I find it easier to just leave him sleeping rather than risk moving him and wakening him up. I think a nap on our bed is better than no sleep at all, right?


How does your little one sleep? Are they good nappers or not? Any napping tips would be really appreciated!


Kirsty x

Tough Days

Do you ever get to the end of one of 'those' days? When you're in the middle of said day and all you want to do is lock yourself in a room, alone, and just cry? Or yell? Or scream?

Yesterday I had one of those days. Logan was just in a grumpy mood, all day. It didn't matter what I tried, what toys we played with, what stories we read or what way I held him he just wasn't a happy baby and I never really worked out why. Usually I know or at least I can make an educated guess. However yesterday I had no clue.

In the midst of this bad mood, all I wanted to do was tear my hair out. I felt like a failure. Nothing I was doing was cheering him up. What sort of mummy was I if I couldn't even make my own son crack a smile? So last night I went to bed grumpy and exhausted.

However today I've woken up and wondered why I was getting myself so worked up over nothing. Goodness knows the amount of times I've woken up in a foul mood and not been able to explain why. So why is it any different for him? I will mark yesterday down as an off day and today will be a better day.

On a totally separate note, I got the new iPhone 6 yesterday. (Don't think I'm one of these techy geeks that always has the latest gadgets) Every 24 months my upgrade falls when the new iPhones come out! :D wooooppeeee! And I must say the camera is great!!

REVIEW - Rimmel Wonder'full Mascara

I will start by saying: this is not my domain. I don't pretend to have an above average knowledge on anything regarding beauty/fashion/skin care anything from that genre. All I can offer is my opinion on any products I use and enjoy or don't enjoy.
That being said I recently bought the Rimmel London Wonder'full Mascara. Why did I buy it? Because it was on special in Asda for £6.99. I like Rimmel, and I use a lot of their products. I don't particularly like spending a lot of money on make-up therefor I like a brand that is relatively cheap but does a good job.

And a good job it does. It has a new formula with Argan Oil which claims to give you a lightweight, voluminous look without the clumps. I can sometimes find mascara quite tricky. I hate clumps, I prefer a natural look that doesn't really look as of you're wearing mascara at all. However I also have hayfever and my eyes can get pretty runny which results in a lot of transfer onto my under eyes. I prefer a non waterproof mascara however because I always find these really hard to get off. So I was really happy when this one didn't appear half way down my face after a few hours.

The lightweight formula helps give a really natural look and the ultra-soft bristles are really great at keeping your lashes clump free but fully coated.

If you are looking for a cheap, easy to use lightweight mascara I would definitely recommend the Rimmel Wonder'full Mascara!

Banana Baby

A few weeks ago I told you about Our Weaning Experience So Far and I thought I would update you on the progress we've been having. At that stage I had only been giving Logan Baby Porridge and Baby Rice which went really well. So we thought we'd up the game and try him with some actual fruit and vegetables. 

I though I would go with a Baby Led Weaning approach as I liked the idea of Logan exploring foods himself and learning early on how to feed himself. I wanted to give him banana as his first taste of 'real' food but in hindsight banana isn't really the easiest thing for a baby to hold especially when he has no idea what he's supposed to be doing. I chopped the banana in half and peeled half of it so he still had a little handle to hold on to but he wasn't sure what to do with the handle or how to hold and it and I think it was a bit heavy so he kept dropping it so I mashed it up instead and I spoon fed him it. With the first spoonful I don't think he has looked more disgusted in all his life (until he tried carrot that is)

However once he got used to the taste he really enjoyed it, so much so that today we encouraged him to eat the banana himself and he managed to hold the little peel handle and eat it himself. He didn't drop it too many times.

After the initial taste, Logan is really enjoying exploring new flavours and textures. I think from now one I will purée everything till he has familiarised himself with the taste first then allow him to attempt the foods for himself. Who knew eating fruit and veg could be so much fun.

Kirsty x

5 Month Update

Weight: 16lbs 3oz. A whopping 7.35kg! You are totally in proportion though. Not tubby in the slightest. Just perfect.

Height: I still haven't measured you. I took you to get you weighed and the health Visitor didn't seem interested in measuring you so we'll just say you're long

Food: We introduced you to food this month and it seems to be going really well. I thought we would go with Baby Led Weaning at first but the few times I tried to give you chunks of pear and banana you didn't seem to like them in chunks but the minute I mashed them up you love them. Banana is definitely your favourite. Your'e really enjoying the Aptamil baby cereal and porridge too.

Routine: Not much has changed here. You're still feeding every 2 hours but we're now trying to nap. So every day around 1 you go down for a nap. We've brought your bedtime forward an hour so Daddy gives you your bottle at 7. Then mummy feeds you then puts you to bed at 8. Usually you're up to start the day at 7/8.

Sleep: We had a problem with sleep regression half way through month 4. At first I thought it was down to changing your bed time. But after a week I thought it might be down to something else. You would go down to sleep between half 8 and 9 o'clock but you would wake up crying, anywhere between 12 and 2, after a feed he'd go back to sleep till 6/7. After this went on for 10 days I thought it might be due to you learning to roll from your back to your front. Finally after 12 nights of interrupted sleep and one child genius who learned to roll over, you slept through the night again! Lets hope it continues!

Napping is the big change, for 2 weeks now you've gone down every day for a nap. At least 5 of out of the 14 days you have napped successfully, so we will keep going and hopefully it will become the norm.

Clothing: You have gone into 6-9 months clothing on the top half and baby grows but your tiny little bum is still in 3-6 months trousers, or 4-6 months if its from H&M.

Likes: Playing the drums. Your new thing recently is banging on everything, you spent a good 15 minutes one afternoon just banging away on my arm.

Dislikes: Naps still are not your favourite, but we are getting there. Being ignored, if you get left on your own for too long you will make everyone aware you wants attention. Being too warm. You cant stand being warm, the second you get too warm you sure let us know.

Milestones: You finally learned to roll from your back to your front. It took you a few days and you must have been dreaming about it, but finally you did it and you were oh so chuffed when you managed it. Hopefully this will be the beginning of you learning to sit up on your own. When youre on your tummy you put in a lot of concentration into pushing yourself up with your arms and pushing your legs around, but you've not quite got the crawling business down yet, hopefully wont be long though.

All in all you seemed to have grown up a lot in the last month. You seem so much bigger and you have so much control of your limbs and your back and neck.

Love Mummy

x

Sleep Training

You don't appreciate how precious and difficult sleep can be until you have a baby. From the day we left the hospital I have nursed Logan to sleep. Before you judge me: I now know it was a huge mistake to make. However at the time, it's just how it happened. I think even in his first few weeks I knew I was creating problems for myself by allowing it to happen.

While he was still a 'newborn' he did nap during the day but once he left this stage the naps ceased. Wouldn't matter what I tried, he would rarely sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time. It was completely to his detriment. When he would get up in the morning he would be a delightful little guy, as the morning wore on you could see him gradually get grumpier till it hit the afternoon and he would be a full on terror. Don't get me wrong this wasn't every day, but it started to become more often that not. Regardless of how tired he got however he just would not sleep. At first we just assumed that he'd grow into it, that he'd magically begin to nap. As the weeks passed I began to realise this was never going to happen. I'd have to teach him to fall asleep.

Last week I decided to try sleep training. I wasnt 100% sure how I was going to do it but I knew consistency was the key. Ive never been one for parenting books. Iv'e never bought one and I don't intend to. I think all babies and most situations are different and I think any help or information I need I can find online. So I cant say I am following a specific formula or set of instructions on how to teach Logan to fall asleep on his own during the day but I will tell you what we are trying and how successful/unsuccessful it is.

Kirsty x

Sleep Training - Week 1

Day 1 - What better time to start than the beginning of the week. I fed Logan at 2 o'clock, and at 3 I've just put him down in his cot. I stayed with him for a little while and he seemed pretty calm but not overly tired. His monitor is on and I left the room. He started grumbling so back in I went to soothe him, I didn't pick him up, I just left him in his cot. He calmed down again and I left the room. This happened another twice then I decided when he started grumbling I would just leave him to 'cry it out'. Eventually his grumbling turned into crying and I left him for a full 15 minutes before I couldn't take it anymore. By the time I went back into his room he had gotten himself so worked up that he was sobbing and his face was red from crying so hard. There and then I decided letting him cry it out would not work for us!

Day 2 - I decided to start a bit earlier this time and take a different approach. After his second feed at 11 o'clock I put him down in his cot. I read him 3 books, put the dreaded dummy in (the dummy story is for another post). When I thought he was calm enough I left the room. When he started grumbling I went straight back in to soothe him then left the room. When he began grumbling again I went back in and decided to stay in. I proceeded to put his dummy in every time he spat it out. I stayed nice and calm, keeping my voice low, chatting away trying to keep him calm. I could tell he was getting drowsy so decided just to stick with it and while stroking his face with one of his blankets, he finally drifted off to sleep! I felt like the messiah. I honestly was so pleased with myself. It was the first time he had ever fallen asleep in his cot and I couldn't have been more pleased with myself. It might have been a minuscule victory. But it was a victory none-the-less.

Day 3 & 4 - Were pretty much the same. After my victory the day before I wasn't doing to get cocky. I knew fine well this day would be a fail, there was no way I would be lucky enough to have two good days in a row and I was correct. After an hour of persevering I could tell it just wasn't going to happen and we abandoned the nap for the day. Day 4 followed the same routine. However I was still taking these as victory's. He may not have slept but he spent an hour in his cot. He wasn't getting nearly as upset as he was the first day. He was content with lying down for an hour.


Day 5 - Another fail but this was our fault this time. We had an engineer come to install Fiber Optic, and he had to turn up just as we'd put Logan down for a nap. So we abandoned it pretty earlier on, but I paid for it that evening. I took him up to my mums for a while and he was just a little grumpy arse all evening. So even though he hadn't been sleeping during day 3 & 4, lying down for an hour had definitely helped his mood slightly.

Day 6 - Was our biggest breakthrough. We followed the routine: feed, into his sleeping bag, into his cot, 3 books, a little shushing then we left the room. I went back in to soothe him once, Gavin went in to calm him a second time then left the room and after about 10 minutes the monitor went very quiet. I thought it was too good to be true but I quietly poked my head through the door and sure enough he was asleep. Only problem was he had his blanket covering his face. Sensible Mummy overrode Mummy-that-just-wants-her-baby-to-nap and I gently pulled it off his face and he didn't even notice! He stayed asleep for a whole 90 minutes! Maybe we can make this work?

And someone was a very happy boy after his nap!

Its day 1 of week 2 and I am currently typing this as we have a napping baby! Surely we haven't nailed this in only a week? Better check back next Monday to see how this week pans out!

Kirsty x

Social Media

I have to say I am a fan of Social Media. Going by the amount of different outlets I have: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Blogger, YouTube to name a few and the shear volume of time I spend on them each day I would have to say I'm a fan... but actually I hate it.

A friend (when I say friend I obviously mean someone I went to school with and haven't physically spoken to in 6 years) had a little boy the other day. I noticed when a comment congratulating him and his partner appeared on my Facebook news feed. He hadn't put up a status or any pictures at this point and I never really thought much of it. Until today. 

Today he put up a few pictures accompanied by a status that really cemented my hate for Facebook. I won't copy the status word for word but it followed the lines of 'here's my baby, never been a happier, mother and baby are doing fine now, had a few complications to begin with so didn't want to paste it all over Facebook, but seeing as some people can't keep their mouth shut, here he is'. Obviously it was worded better but you get the idea.

The bit that annoyed me the most was 'I didn't want to' but somehow he felt obliged. Now I don't know the ins and outs of the 'complications' and don't know the severity (from the pictures the handsome little chap looks great) but regardless, does Facebook put that much pressure on us that we feel obliged to share a very personal experience, like the birth of your first child, with a bunch of people you barely know anymore? 

My baby was born on the 9th April, I didn't put a picture of him on Facebook till the 7th May. Why? Because why should I? Everyone that deserved (yes he is that precious) to see my son came to visit him once we were out of the hospital. Or those that couldn't visit, I sent a few photos to them. Why should I feel like I have to share pictures with people I don't really care about? 

Moreover there is not one picture on any form of social media, of me in the hospital, before or after I gave birth. Because I looked horrendous. I really can't fathom why women want pictures, for the whole world to see, of them half naked/looking like they've been dragged through a bush backwards/no make-up/sweaty bed hair to appear on social media. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with these pictures and I am not for one moment trying to imply that you should look your best right after giving birth, infact I'd say there's something wrong with you if you do. But why do you want to share these precious, personal moments with Facebook?

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe that's just what you're supposed to do these days. Maybe I'm different because I have a fairly small group of friends and even smaller family, that these personal moments are easy enough to share directly with the people that matter. But I'd say these precious moments are just that: precious and I dislike that we live in a society that puts pressure on us to share these moments before we are ready. 

Kirsty x