As soon as I saw you...

As soon as I saw you I knew a grand adventure was about to happen.

AA Milne - Winnie the Pooh

And what an adventure we've had so far.

Mummy's Boy

I love him more everyday 

Birchbox Review - September 2014

I can't believe it's that time of the month again! Here is the details of my September Birchbox...

This month I received:

Agave healing oil treatment - A really small sample bottle of hair oil that apparently boosts shine and colour. I usually use argan oil on my hair after I wash it, so it will be interesting to see how this compares.

Benefit 'It's Potent' eye cream - I generally really like Benefit products and an eye cream that promises to banish the dark circles and fine lines sounds good to me. The pot that it comes in is super cute too.

Skin & Co Sicilian light serum -  A daily face serum. I'm not hugely excited by this but I'll definitely try it out. I do tend to prefer serums to face creams as they don't tend to be as greasy and therefore I'm less likely to break out in spots because of them.

ModelCo power lash mascara - I like that we had a choice over which ModelCo item we received in our boxes this month, I'm really short on mascara so it'll be good to try out a new one.

Beautyblender & beautycleanser solid - I've wanted to try this for ages but could never justify spending £26 on a makeup sponge! It looks really interesting and comes with a solid cleanser that is used to clean the sponge after use.

(Lifestyle) Urban Fruit dried pineapple - Sorry that this is ripped open in the pics, I was starving so tucked in straight away and it was sooo good! I looked on the information card to see where I could get it, but was shocked to find that it costs £13.20 for 6 packs! Over £2 a packet is way too expensive for dried fruit so I'll probably be giving this a miss unless I find it cheaper elsewhere.

(Lifestyle) Birchbox Happy Days photo clip - I have to say, I was really disappointed with this item and it'll be going straight in the bin. A cheap plastic photo clip isn't the sort of thing a married mum of one has in her house, I'm not even sure my 13 year old self would have been impressed with this item. I understand that it's an extra...but it's just pretty pointless and cheapens the brand a bit in my opinion. 

Anyway I was pretty impressed with this month's box. Like I say, I really liked the option to choose a product and I hope that Birchbox will do this again. I also really liked the colours of this month's box compared to the usual brown, very bright and summery. I'm going to do a September Favourites post in the next few weeks so hopefully I'll be able to tell you more about some of these products if I'm impressed with them.

No Moo - dairy free cake

Since giving up dairy and egg because of Henry's allergies, the things I've missed most have been yogurt and cake. I have yet to find a decent yogurt alternative but I have been experimenting with vegan baking at home. What I really miss is just being able to pick up a tasty cupcake or brownie while I'm out in town or at a farmers' market. I used to really enjoy buying a little treat if we went out on a Saturday and saving it to eat on the evening once Henry was asleep. God, I'm so rock n roll aren't I?!

Anyway, I discovered something amazing this week. After reading about loads of amazing vegan bakeries online (which are nearly all based in London), I finally found one near by. The north east isn't great for 'free from' items in general, the supermarkets don't stock a huge range; I just don't think there's the same demand for it up here as there is down south. I discovered Yo Moo dairy free cake company on Facebook and finally got a chance to visit their stall at a food and gift market at South Causey Inn in Stanley. It's a monthly market and I'll definitely be back next month, in fact I'll probably do a longer blog post on it then because it was great. 

Yo Moo sell dairy free cakes and brownies and some dairy free chocolate too. They had chocolate cupcakes and brownies that also were egg free, my idea of heaven at the moment.

The lady at the stall was so helpful and really lovely and I bought some brownies to put in the freezer, as apparently they freeze really well. I also bought 2 cupcakes and they were so so tasty, you'd never have guessed that they were egg and dairy free. 

So if you're a vegan or egg/dairy free and living in the north east, I really recommend tracking down No Muu, if you follow their Facebook page there's all the information on there about their stockists and markets they'll be attending soon.

Mummy to the rescue

I found myself cuddling and reassuring a poorly baby at 3am this morning. He'd just been really sick all over us both, the bed, several towels, the sheets etc. and he was so upset. I told him that his mummy was there and so nothing bad could happen to him. I cuddled him tight, kissed his hot sweaty head and he eventually settled.

I didn't settle though; I felt sick, sweaty and dizzy myself. Luckily for me it wasn't only Henry that had his mummy in the house, my mum had stayed over too. And thank God that she did. It wasn't the original plan, but with Mr B away with work and Henry being so poorly yesterday evening, she decided to stay over. So Marmar slept with Henry while I lay next to the en-suite in case of any mad toilet dashes. Not the best night of my life, I can assure you.

We've spent the day at Marmar's resting and being looked after. I can't count the number of nappies we've changed or the tiny feeds I've had to keep giving Henry to keep him hydrated. All I know is I have THE best mum in the world. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her.

Actually I lie, I do know what I'd do without her. This morning I would have just been sitting in my living room crying with a poorly tummy, surrounded by sicky towels, a crying baby and dog sick (I kid you not...George decided to throw up his entire breakfast just for good measure) and I really wouldn't have known where to start!

So not one of our best days, in fact one of the very worst. But like I told Henry, when Mummy is there nothing bad can happen, and it turns out that's true at any age. Thanks, Muma xxx

Poorly mama and baba on the way to Marmar's this morning 

Working Mummy Guilt

I was making my porridge at 7 this morning when Henry crawled over to me and was sick all over the floor. We had a quick cuddle to stop the tears, the antiseptic wipes came out for the floor and I changed Henry into clean PJs before getting him in the car to drive him to my mum's like usual. I felt sick with guilt; if I hadn't been so busy I would have been crying too. I felt awful at having to leave my little boy when he was so poorly.

He spent the morning being sick, being washed, having his nappy changed (I'll spare you the details), having his PJs stripped off and new ones put on (4 lots so far), cuddling in and sleeping on his Marmar's knee. I should have been doing those things but I was teaching 10 year olds how to partition decimals and find evidence from the text when reading. I know I'm so lucky to have a mum there to help on sick days and I know Henry couldn't have been looked after any better than he was this morning. But the guilt was just awful. I don't think there was a minute where I didn't think about him, I must have checked my phone a hundred times and I raced out of school at lunchtime.

We're now snuggled on the sofa at home, PJs on, towels at the ready in case of more sick. Let's just hope he's feeling better tomorrow, poor baby boy. Being a mummy is really hard sometimes. 

Quote of the day...

This quote says it all. It's the reason I'm happy to still breastfeed and for Henry to come into our bed at night. It's the reason I'm happy to use a sling and cuddle Henry to sleep. Yes, babies can be needy, but that's how it's supposed to be and it won't last forever. I'm treasuring these very precious days rather than wishing them away.

"It is the nature of the child to be dependent, and it is the nature of dependence to be outgrown. Begrudging dependency because it is not independence is like begrudging winter because it is not yet spring. Dependency blossoms into independence in its own time."

Peggy O'Mara,

Editor, Mothering Magazine