31 January , 201621 December , 2017 - Sarah 3 Comments

A Family Portrait (January 2016)

Wow! I can’t believe we’re heading into our third year of Me & Mine. In the first picture we took Toby was six and a half months old, and now we’ve got another baby almost the same age!

We haven’t done much this month, and when we have been outdoors like when Toby had his first experience of playing in the snow, or when we went exploring our local park, we didn’t have chance to get a picture of all four of us.

So once again we ended up trying to grab a photo in our living room on the last day of the month! I thought it would be cool to recreate the first Me & Mine photo that we did, but this time with extra added Gabe…

And here’s the original from January 2014…

I’m really hoping the weather is going to improve in February so we can out on a few adventures and hopefully get a family picture that isn’t taken in our living room!

Before I go though, here’s an out take from today – Gabe is a bit obsessed with pulling my glasses off at the moment!

See you next month…

29 January , 201629 January , 2016 - Sarah 6 Comments

What Toby & Gabe Wore // Polarn O. Pyret

In last week’s What Gabe Wore post I mentioned my love for the Scandi brands, and when I was looking for Christmas pyjamas for the boys I found myself looking at Polarn O. Pyret. PO.P is a Swedish brand and it means ‘Buddy and the Little One’. I was initially drawn to all their stripes but when I was trying to find an all-in-one that they had in sizes to fit both Toby and Gabe I came across these stars…

Now they weren’t exactly cheap (£21 each if I remember rightly) but they should at least last a while. Both boys have got the the leg and arm cuffs turned up but as you can see there isn’t a lot of room left in the body for either of them. They both are on the 91st centile for height but it seems most of it is in the length of their bodies so finding sleepsuits/ onesies that fit can be a bit of a struggle!

(This picture was Toby pointing at the camera to try and make Gabe look in the right direction!)

The other fab thing about these onesies is that they have zips which go all the way down from the neck to the bottom of one leg. No more messing about with poppers but still easy access for nappy changes.

I know Toby and Gabe won’t let me put them in matching clothes forever so I’m going to take the opportunities wherever I can get them for now! Twinning is winning after all…

28 January , 201628 January , 2016 - Sarah 6 Comments

My Wild Ones // Exploring the Glen

Where we live there is a big public park known locally as the Glen; it has three different play parks, a cafe, a museum, lots of open space and then down the side there runs a burn which leads through the woods to the Abbey and the walk back to the car takes us past the ruins of the old Abbey too.

When Barry first moved to Scotland we quite often would go for Sunday morning strolls alongside the burn and up to town to blow away the ~~cobwebs~~ hangover but since having the kids, although we go to other parts of the park sort of regularly, we haven’t really been down by the water.

This weekend though the rain stopped for the first time in what feels like months and we decided to get out of the house and go for a bit of an explore. (And that’s Toby doing his tiger impression in the photo above!)

It’s always a bit of a mission to get out and do anything with both kids but Toby doesn’t really care where we go as long as he gets to wear his wellies and pick up some good sticks, and Gabe was happy having a nap in the carrier.

We really enjoyed our walk looking at the water and watching the squirrels.

And there are a few different bridges to go over and under, and steps to climb.

Even though I’ve walked this way loads of times before, Toby hasn’t and it was so much fun to see him enjoying himself and seeing it all for the first time.

Toby can happily walk quite a long way these days so it does open up the possibilities for adventuring a bit more. Hopefully the weather will start to improve soon and we can get out and about a bit more. He’s definitely happier running about outside than he is cooped up in the house. And Gabe will always have a good sleep in the carrier, and it’s actually much easier than trying to get him to nap at home!

We just have to be really careful we don’t tire Toby out so much that he has a danger nap in the car on the way home – afternoon naps these days can put bedtime off by a good couple of hours so we can’t go too far away for now at least!

26 January , 20165 August , 2017 - Sarah 8 Comments

Review: Designz bedding from Snüz

I first heard of Snüz a few years ago when I noticed lots of people talking about how good their Snüzpod bedside crib is. If you’ve never seen the Snüzpod you should definitely have a look – as a 3-in-1 crib it’s incredibly practical and it’s lovely to look at too. Unfortunately for us when it came to choosing a co-sleeper crib for Gabe the Snüzpod can’t be attached to our bed as we have an unusual bed frame so we didn’t get one in the end.

However, Snüz (which is part of The Little Green Sheep) have recently launched their Designz bedding collection so we were still able to have a little bit of Snüz loveliness in our lives. There are three different ‘Designz’; Rootin’ Tootin’, Little Tweets, and the one we were sent, Cloud Nine.

I love all three of the designs but I couldn’t resist the grey and mustard colour scheme of Cloud Nine. Gabe is still sleeping in our room at the moment, and when he does move it will be into Toby’s room so I’ve not had chance to decorate a nursery for him so it’s lovely to have something just for him. Hopefully we’ll be moving house in the not too distant future and Gabe will get his own room – I may well use this bedding as the inspiration for Gabe’s room!

Although Gabe is still in his co-sleeper crib we actually got the cot/ cot bed sheet as he’s probably only going to be in his crib for another couple of months and I wanted to make sure we would be able to get plenty of use out of it. The sheet is cleverly elasticated all the way round rather than just at the ends like most fitted sheets which is why it can be used on a cot or cot bed. Our crib is actually quite wide so I just need to fold the excess length under the mattress. There are also crib and moses basket/pram sheets available in all three designs.

We were also sent the Cloud Nine reversible blanket which is made of lovely thick 100% cotton jersey. I just love the design of the blanket and it’s the perfect size to use in the crib or to cover Gabe when he’s in the car seat or pram.

All the Designz bedding is machine washable and tumble dryer safe which is essential for anything for a baby in my book! The cot/ cotbed sheet has an RRP of £19.95 and the blanket has an RRP of £22.95. The full Designz bedding range is available from Amazon.

**Disclosure: I was sent the featured products in return for this review. All opinions are my own.

25 January , 2016 - Sarah 1 Comment

Living Arrows 4/52 (2016)

Another week gone already and it’s been just a normal stay at home, go to nursery, run a few errands kind of a week. This week’s Living Arrows pictures were taken at home at the weekend while we were all just chilling out. Toby was having a snack in his tent and Gabe was just having a wriggle on the floor (he’s sooo close to rolling back to front but he’s still not quite there yet).

I’m still enjoying playing with our new camera lenses – these ones were taken with the 50mm; it’s my new favourite!

I love both of their big grins in these photos!

23 January , 201622 January , 2016 - Sarah 5 Comments

My Wild Ones // First time snow fun

I can’t actually remember if it snowed last winter, if it did it definitely wasn’t enough for Toby to go out and play in. So when it started snowing on Saturday night we were all hoping that Sunday morning would bring enough snow in the garden to go out and play.

We didn’t have much in the end but there was certainly enough to play in so we got Toby bundled up (although I was putting Gabe down for a nap at the beginning and so wasn’t there to make sure he put his hat on) and out he went…

Even though you can’t see his face I think you can still see the look of wonder as he saw the snow up close for the first time.

Then came the circles and looking at his footprints.

And the beginnings of a snowman.

For some reason, even though he’s normally really good at throwing, every snowball went behind him. He even managed to hit himself in the back of the head!

Just enough snow for a tiny snowman (I think it looks like an owl though) and every day since Toby has come downstairs in the morning, looked out of the back window and said ‘snowman melted away’.

And lastly, just look at that face! How did we make such pretty kid? One whose childhood photos will all feature a wonky fringe cut by his mum!

22 January , 20164 June , 2017 - Sarah 5 Comments

What Gabe Wore // Maxomorra & JNY

One of my new found loves when it comes to the boys is ‘Scandi’ fashion – clothes by Scandinavian brands. These brands are stocked by quite a large selection of UK independent retailers and their clothes are known for their bright colours and fabulous prints.

Toby and Gabe are building up quite a collection now, mostly things that I’ve picked up in sales as they don’t always come cheap but they are well made and hold their value well. Anything I buy for Toby I will keep for Gabe and then I can sell things on as Gabe grows out of them.

So anyway, on to this week’s outfit…

Gabe is wearing a bodysuit by JNY which I got in a mystery box from Little Footprint Boutique. I love the forest print – especially that moose!

The dungarees are by Maxomorra (probably one of the most well-known Scandi brands). I got them from KyNa Boutique – and I have to give a mention to Jenny who owns and runs KyNa because she’s just so lovely! She’s always happy to answer any questions and her packaging and super speedy (and free!) delivery is just brilliant.

Anyway, these dungarees were also bought in a sale a while ago. I love them so much I have the next size up in red for Gabe too. I just really like the velour – it looks so comfy and it reminds me of clothes from my childhood. My only complaint with these dungas is that they don’t have poppers on the legs so I have to take them off completely to check or change Gabe’s nappy.

The last item that needs a mention is Gabe’s Snoodie dribble bib from Mama Designs (which is incidentally also where I got the orange cellular blanket that Gabe is lying on). Gabe is quite dribbly at the moment so he really needs bib on all the time. The trouble with traditional bibs or the bandana dribble bibs is that if he’s lying down or in his chair then he tends to flip them up over his face and then can’t work out how to get them down again. The Snoodie avoids that problem but still works to catch the dribble. As an added bonus I also realised that they make great neck warmers for Toby in this cold weather too!

That’s it for this week – I’ll be back next week with a ‘twinning is winning’ post from both boys.

Linking up with the lovely Hannah at Make Do and Push and Alex at Medicated Follower for Funky Kid Friday.

20 January , 201627 January , 2016 - Sarah 2 Comments

Gabriel is five months old

Five months old! Time is just absolutely racing by – I can’t believe Gabe is five months old already. I thought it went quickly when Toby was a baby but with Gabe it’s absolutely bonkers! I’ve just been having a read of Toby’s five month update and I know I shouldn’t compare them but it’s surprising how similar my boys are at this age.

I haven’t had Gabe weighed since he had he last set of immunisations at 19 weeks but he was 15lb 4oz then. That puts him between the 25th and 50th centiles which is pretty much where Toby was too after they were both born between the 9th and 25th. Gabe is definitely long like his brother too – he’s currently 69 cm and is wearing nearly all 6-9 month clothes already.

After a four month sleep regression Toby was back to mostly sleeping through the night at five months – I don’t know what happened though because he doesn’t sleep through any more! With Gabe his sleep hasn’t really changed much. Most nights he sleeps from about 6:30 pm until between 4 and 5 am. Sometimes he wakes up early but I can usually get him back to sleep with a little help from Ewan the Dream Sheep and a rub on the back. I’m usually up for about an hour with him early morning and he’ll have a bottle and a clean nappy then it’s back to bed, if I’m lucky for another hour or two but sometimes only half an hour or so until he’s back awake again. Having said that the last two nights he’s woken up again within an hour of going to bed, and then again in the early hours of the morning. I don’t know if he’s having a growth spurt or a leap or what but I hope whatever it is passes soon.

Gabe is still sleeping in our room in his Chicco Next 2 Me co-sleeper crib whereas Toby was sleeping in the big cot in his room from being 6 weeks old. I don’t know if this makes any difference to Gabe’s sleep. Perhaps he is disturbed by us sometimes but it also means I can resettle him if he stirs. With Toby he would have more chance to get worked up to a full on cry before we heard him on the monitor and it would usually need a bottle to get him back to sleep. I think Toby was napping better than Gabe at this age too but that is really just a result of the circumstances we now find ourselves in. With Toby I could stay at home and but him to bed when he looked like he needed to sleep but now Gabe has to fit in around nursery runs and other errands. We do usually manage to get him to have a nap at home in the morning and for the last couple of weeks he has slept for a couple of hours most mornings. I’m really lucky that Toby is so well behaved and doesn’t get up to much mischief so I can leave him downstairs whilst I put Gabe to bed. Afternoon naps for Gabe usually happen either in the car or buggy, or sometimes on my lap at home whilst I watch TV.

Gabe rolled from his front to his back a couple of weeks ago but just like his brother he did it about three times then hasn’t bothered since! He certainly wriggles around plenty when he’s lying down so I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s rolling all over the place. He’s not sitting up yet but he’s fairly stable and just needs a little bit of support. I can’t believe we’ll be starting weaning soon, although I’m not in any huge rush! I think weaning will be different this time round as Gabe already tries to eat everything he gets his hands on where Toby never really put anything in his mouth and it was a good month or two before he really started feeding himself.

Gabe’s personality is starting to come out more now. He’s pretty chilled out these days and will quite happily sit in his bouncer or lie on the play mat for quite a long time while I get on with looking after Toby and getting stuff done. He’s absolutely fascinated with his big brother and saves most of his smiles and giggles for him. Toby for his part is becoming much more interested in Gabe now he’s realised he can get him to react, and he also helps by putting his dummy in for him or pulling his bib down off his face when he’s managed to flip it up for the fiftieth time that day! He still tries to get him to stop crying by saying ‘stop Gabe’ which isn’t always that effective! I can’t wait to see their relationship develop though and I’m sure it won’t be too long before we see them playing together and getting up to mischief!

I think that’s probably about it for this month. Another month and my little baby Gabe will be half a year old!

18 January , 201617 January , 2016 - Sarah 8 Comments

Living Arrows 3/52 (2016)

I’m actually going to manage to get my Living Arrows post out on time this week!

Yesterday we had had a bit of snow overnight so Toby was super excited to go out and play in it. I think we might have had a tiny bit of snow last year but not enough to play in, and he probably wouldn’t have remembered anyway! There wasn’t much in the garden but Toby had fun running around and throwing snowballs.

And as for Gabe, he got a chance to try out his super snuggly pram suit this weekend. It’s supposed to be 6-12 months but as I seem to have produced another baby with a ridiculously long body he’ll be lucky if it fits for the whole winter!

15 January , 201623 October , 2019 - Sarah 3 Comments

What Toby Wore // Tobias & the Bear

In Toby’s first year and a half most of his clothes came from either Tesco or Asda. He had a few bits from places like Next and Marks and Spencer, and he was lucky enough to have a Nana who lived round the corner from a Jojo Maman Bebe shop so he had lots of things from there too. Generally though he grew out of things so quickly that it just wasn’t worth spending a lot of money on them. However he started wearing age 2-3 clothes early last year and he has only recently started moving into the next size. His clothes still get a bit of a battering with the amount they’re worn but he doesn’t seem to get quite so messy at nursery any more so I feel happier spending a bit more on clothes that are well made and will last.

I thought it was about time I started sharing some of Toby’s outfits with you (and I’ll probably post some of Gabe’s too at some point). I also like to support independent retailers and small manufacturers where I can these days and there are so many fabulous online shops now so I’ll be sharing some of my favourites with you as we go along.

I think I need to get Toby to work on his modelling poses though, and find somewhere better to take pictures of him too!

The sweatshirt is from Marks and Spencer. It was another gift from Nana which she gave to Toby probably six months ago but he’s only just got big enough for it. He doesn’t really wear jumpers that much but it’s been so chilly lately that this one has come in useful. I love the colours on him too.

I love Toby in leggings, he’s got loads and he always seems so comfy in them. These are new ones from Tobias & the Bear. The material is a little thicker than some of the other leggings he has so they’re perfect for this wintery weather we’re having too. And I think £16 is a very reasonable price for something that is designed and handmade in the UK.

I’ll try and work on my photography and outfit putting together skills for next time (maybe some shoes would be good?)