2 May , 201621 December , 2017 - Sarah 1 Comment

A Family Portrait (April 2016)

I’m a couple of days late with this month’s Me & Mine post. I was away at Blog On (a blogging conference in Manchester) this weekend and we hadn’t managed to get a family picture through the month so we had to wait until I got home today.

Unfortunately it’s been another month of illness for us. Gabe has still had a cold and been teething again. He also managed to add an ear infection into the mix this time too. Barry and I both had some flu-type virus at the same time, and Gabe was really suffering, which led to me being told I should be enjoying my baby by a random stranger in the street. Toby managed to avoid the cold / flu thing but he ended the month with a sickness bug! It really hasn’t been a healthy month for us.

We have managed to squeeze in a few nice things though – I took Toby swimming for the first time in about 18 months and after a bit of initial reluctance he loved it. We also had a lovely walk in the woods, a picnic in the garden and a trip to the farm.

I took this quick selfie on my phone when I got home from Blog On today and actually I think it’s one of my favourite Me & Mine photos…I said it last month but I’m really hoping the illness is behind us now. We’ve got a busy month ahead with a trip to Center Parcs in a couple of weeks, my birthday at the end of the month and some very exciting developments for us as a family which I should be able to share with you very soon too – I promise I’m not pregnant again though!

Please send your healthy vibes our way and hopefully will have a better month in May!

28 April , 2016 - Sarah 1 Comment

My Wild Ones // A trip to the farm

So after last week’s sunny picnic in the garden we’ve had every kind of weather from rain to hailstones but at the weekend the sun made it out for a bit so we decided to go out for lunch. Not far from us there is a pick your own fruit farm which also has a fabulous farm shop and cafe. There isn’t any fruit to be picked at the moment but there some animals to see too and a great play park so we thought it would be a good place to go to let Toby burn off some energy.

After Gabe had fallen asleep on the way there we took a bit of a circuitous route so he could have a longer nap. There’s a great view over the Forth back towards Fife.

y the time we arrived it was time for lunch. It’s so much easier to go out to eat out now Gabe can sit in a high chair and have something too, and Toby can eat almost entirely independently too. He’s not that keen on having to wait for Daddy to bring his lunch though…

Toby enjoyed looking at the animals and then playing in the park, and Gabe was still feeling a bit under the weather so he mostly enjoyed being snuggled in the sling.

Hannah is on holiday in Italy next week (lucky thing!) so I’ll be hosting My Wild Ones – please do pop by and link up your posts.

25 April , 201624 April , 2016 - Sarah 8 Comments

Living Arrows 17/52 (2016)

It’s been a bit of a funny week here – we had some lovely weather and even managed to get out into the garden for a picnic but then towards the end of the week we had some tough times again as Gabe seemed to be having either a reflux flare up or a bit of stomach bug and threw up whole bottles all over me a couple of times. He seems to be OK again now, fingers crossed.

Toby is in a real toddler phase of pushing boundaries at the moment too so there have been a few tears and tantrums from him this week too when he doesn’t always get his own way. Bedtimes have been particularly tricky territory with lots of messing about and not wanting to go to sleep, but he does usually calm down and accept it’s time for bed when he realises he’ll be left by himself instead of one of us staying with him until he falls asleep like we usually do. I know this is totally normal for this age but it’s so frustrating when he’s been so good up until now.

Anyway, toddler troubles aside, yesterday we went out for lunch at a local farm and fruit picking place that has a great shop and cafe, and a fab playground too. I’ll probably share some more photos later in the week but for now I love these two close ups of the boys…

22 April , 201625 September , 2018 - Sarah 12 Comments

What Toby & Gabe Wore // Rockin’ Baby SS16

In this week’s post I’m featuring some fabulous outfits sent to us by the wonderful people at Rockin’ Baby. Perhaps best known for their slings and pouches, Rockin’ Baby have branched out to include children’s wear and the items we were sent come from the new Spring/Summer collection.

Rockin’ Baby is based in the USA and in 2011 they started their Mother-to-Mother programme – for every sling or pouch they sell, they donate another to a mother in need in Haiti or Kenya. When they launched their clothing collection they wanted to spread this help even further, so for every item of clothing they sell they will donate one to a child in need in China or West Africa.

So by buying Rockin’ Baby clothes you are not only making sure your own child is comfortable and looks fabulous, you are also helping a child in need somewhere else in the world.

We had a lovely sunny day this week so Toby and Gabe were really able to put their outfits to the test out in the garden. Toby was sent these lovely anchor print joggers and amazing walrus tee-shirt.

Toby is just moving into age 3-4 clothes and these have plenty of growing room. I did think that the joggers have a slightly odd cut – they are really baggy round the bum but then have very tight ankle cuffs. They look great though, and most importantly they didn’t fall down despite Toby’s skinny-ness! The tee-shirt is a combination of print and embroidery – I think the walrus looks awesome, and I like the little details like the embroidered green star on the sleeve.

Toby definitely seemed very comfortable in his new Rockin’ Baby outfit and had no complaints when he was chasing bubbles around the garden!

Gabe’s outfit is just perfect for summer – I love the stripes and applique ice lolly tee-shirt. Like most of Gabe’s clothes his new Rockin’ Baby outfit is 9-12 months and I would say it is pretty true to size. The tee-shirt has handy poppers on the neck making it easy to get on and off and the trousers had plenty of room for his cloth bum.

Gabe seemed very comfortable too – although he wasn’t such a willing model, especially to begin with. This picture may look like Toby and Gabe are looking at something interesting in the bush but I mostly chose it because you couldn’t see Gabe’s very grumpy face!

He did cheer up a bit later though and I was able to get a few better pictures!

Both boys were loving the bubble in the garden and Toby had such fun with the bubble machine – it can be a bit fierce sometimes though!

I think he enjoyed it more when he was carrying it around – although I had to keep reminding him not to blow bubbles right in Gabe’s face!

**Disclaimer: We were sent the featured products in return for this review. All opinions are my own.

Linking up with Hannah for Funky Kid Friday and Bex and Sarah for Weekend Tot Style

21 April , 201620 April , 2016 - Sarah 5 Comments

My Wild Ones // A first picnic

It would seem spring has finally sprung up here in Scotland, or at least it has for a few days, no doubt it won’t be long before the rain is back! But yesterday the sun was shining, and it was actually warm so seeing as it was Wednesday and we didn’t have to rush through lunch to get Toby out to nursery on time I decided we would eat in the garden.

I think this was probably only the second time Toby has ever had a picnic in our garden, and it was definitely the first time Gabe had. I got Gabe’s Snug seat out, and put the parasol up for a bit of shade (it really was quite hot in the sun) and we had our lunch off our fab Munchkin apple plates.

As it happened Toby was much more interested in chasing bubbles and playing on the slide than eating his lunch but he did manage some apple and his ‘present cheese’. Toby didn’t eat cheese for ages, then one day we realised he would eat grated cheese, and then when I gave Gabe a stick of cheese one day Toby decided he wanted one too, and he’s eaten pretty much any cheese since. And for the last few weeks he’s really been loving his Babybel – he loves unwrapping his present!

I think Gabe enjoyed it though, once he’d got used to the novelty of being outside.

He really wasn’t convinced to begin with…

I just hope we get some more sunny days now so we can get out in the garden even more.

19 April , 201618 April , 2016 - Sarah 3 Comments

Gabriel is eight months old

It’s time for another monthly update already and I’d love to say it’s been a happy one but since last month’s update Gabe has continued to be ill pretty much constantly. He’s had another cold, conjunctivitis again, and although his cold has started to clear up in the last few days he now has an ear infection too! On top of all that he’s got another three teeth since last month making for six in total. No wonder the poor kid has been miserable!

Despite the ear infection though (which the doctor thinks is just external and has given us ear drops to clear up) Gabe has been much happier in the last week. He’s got his appetite back and his sleep has improved a bit too. We’re still getting a lot of wake ups most nights but we have had the odd night without him waking up until 4 or 5 am again which is about the best we can hope for from Gabe at the moment I think. His morning naps are mostly back on track as well but afternoons are still all over the place.

We did decide to put Gabe’s cot in our bedroom in the end. He was just getting too big for the co-sleeper and although there’s not much room in our bedroom now I think he is better in the cot. And as much as I loved the co-sleeper I am enjoying being able to get out of bed without having to slide down to the bottom first!

I really hope Gabe’s sleep starts to improve now he’s feeling better and there are no more teeth coming for the moment. Toby’s sleep was great when he was Gabe’s age but went really rubbish when he got to about one. He’s only been consistently well since Christmas so with that and being pregnant and then Gabe not sleeping I reckon I could count on one hand the number of really good nights’ sleep I’ve had in the last two years! I seriously can’t remember the last time I wasn’t tired.

So despite being ill and not having much of an appetite some days Gabe is continuing to grow at quite a pace. I haven’t actually had him weighed or measured him this month but he is comfortably wearing all his 9-12 month clothes now. I think he might be even bigger than Toby was at this age so who knows what he’ll be like by the time he’s a toddler! I’m not surprised though because he does love his food – we’ve probably been spoon feeding more than we did with Toby and Gabe is definitely having more shop bought baby food whereas Toby only really ate the same as us. We’ve got an exciting collaboration coming up soon that I can’t wait to share with you so I’ll be writing a lot more about Gabe’s weaning experience over the coming weeks and months.

As far as movement goes we haven’t got any crawling yet but like Toby at eight months Gabe is quite adept at spinning on his tummy and shuffling backwards. He’s managing to get up on his hands and knees but still isn’t really near properly crawling. I know I shouldn’t really keep comparing them but Toby was 10 months before he started crawling properly and to be honest I’m quite happy for Gabe to still stay more or less where I leave him for the time being!

I think that’s probably about it for this month. I really hope that over the next month we can have a lot less illness and a lot more sleep!

18 April , 20165 August , 2017 - Sarah 1 Comment

Review: Tots Bots Happy Mat

You might have seen that we recently got chance to try out the new Tots Bots EasyFit Star, well for Real Nappy Week (which is this week if you didn’t know) Tots Bots have another new release – the Tots Bots Happy Mat.

This changing mat is made from waterproof PUL on one side and super soft absorbent minky on the other. The mat is called the Happy Mat because it takes the tears out of changing time – no more lying on cold, sticky PVC! It also has ties so it can be easily rolled and stored or popped in your changing bag.

We were sent a Happy Mat in the new Red Riding Hood print which is backed with brown minky. The mat is also available in the other newly released Rhyme Time prints and has an RRP of £14.99. The mat is a great size – Gabe can lie on it completely and it’s still big enough to change Toby too.

We have only really been using the Happy Mat at home. We have a standard changing mat upstairs but for the moment most of our nappy changes happen on the living room floor, because otherwise I would be constantly up and down the stairs! It’s great to have a changing mat that can just be rolled or folded and popped out of the way when we’re not using it. Before we got our new Tots Bots mat we were just using a thin plastic mat, which I think came in the Bounty pack when Toby was born so we were definitely due a replacement!

Although I think the mat is designed to be used with the minky side up so it absorbs any wee incidents we’ve actually been using it with the PUL side on top. Neither of my boys tends to wee when they have their nappy off any more (Toby was terrible for it when he was a baby and on one memorable occasion managed to wee in his own eye!) and so it’s more useful to be able to wipe off anything untoward which if it got onto the minky side would probably necessitate a full wash. On that note though, the Happy Mat is machine washable and it’s super easy for me because I can just chuck it in with our nappy wash.

I love our new changing mat and I’m sure the boys appreciate having somewhere nice and soft and warm to lie when they have having their nappies changed!

**Disclosure: I was sent the featured product in return for this review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

18 April , 201617 April , 2016 - Sarah 10 Comments

Living Arrows 16/52 (2016)

There have been some improvements this week; after Gabe’s sixth tooth cut through last weekend his cold has finally started to clear up too and we have a much happier boy on our hands. There’s still some work to do in the sleep department but we’re definitely heading in the right direction. Gabe’s main problem now is that he really wants to crawl but he can’t quite get all his arms and legs moving in the right order yet!

Toby has been his usual lovely self with just a couple of minor toddler dramas this week – mostly about not being allowed to play on my phone or having to put his shoes on for nursery. A major topic of conversation this week has been about who in our family has a willy. We have established that Toby, Gabe and Daddy all have willies but Toby is still not entirely convinced that mummy does not despite regularly following my to the toilet!

Toby is just generally pretty hilarious these days. His language is still developing so quickly and he comes out with the funniest things. He’s just such a cheeky chap…

And just yesterday I overheard something that almost made me cry, and it made me realise what a lovely caring big brother Toby is becoming. Both boys had just finished their tea and I was popping back and forth to the kitchen tidying up. Gabe gave a bit of a cry and I heard Toby say ‘It’s OK Gabe, I’m here’ – just too adorable for words!

15 April , 201615 April , 2016 - Sarah 6 Comments

Siblings // Toby and Gabe in April

I sound a bit like a stuck record with these posts but not much has changed with Toby and Gabe’s relationship in the last month.

Gabe still absolutely adores his big brother and is always looking to see what he’s up to. Toby still likes making Gabe laugh and smile, but still spends a lot of time saying ‘no Gabe, that’s mine’. We’re working on the sharing though and Toby will do it but only on his own terms. We were sitting playing with his Duplo the other day and Gabe was trying to grab all the bricks. I got one and asked Toby if Gabe could play with it. We got the usual ‘no, that’s mine’, but then 30 seconds later he picked a different brick and gave it to Gabe with a ‘Gabe have this one’.

Toby has also recently started saying ‘I love you’ (I love you mummy melts my heart every time) and if you ask him who he loves he’ll tell you ‘mummy, daddy and Gabe’ – it’s too cute!

Toby has also taken it upon himself to become Gabe’s official spokesperson. He likes to tell me that Gabe is tired, but this is mostly because he wants me to take him upstairs for a nap because that’s quite often the time I let him play the CBeebies app on my Kindle. Or when I’m getting Gabe something to eat Toby will inform me ‘Gabe doesn’t want it’ or ‘Gabe doesn’t like it’ but there doesn’t seem to be any ulterior motive for that one!

I’ve not really managed to get any good photos of Toby and Gabe together this month. Gabe has been ill for weeks now and unfortunately not really in the mood for photos most of the time. I took this one on my iPhone the other day and it’s a bit blurry but Toby wanted to play Ring O’Roses with Gabe and he seemed to think it was pretty good fun too!

And although Toby doesn’t look too convinced about me interrupting his breakfast look how excited Gabe is to be sat near his brother.

I thought I would try and grab a few more pictures this morning but it didn’t quite go to plan! Gabe is very ‘grabby’ at the moment and was getting a bit overenthusiastic in his cuddling….

15 April , 201619 March , 2017 - Sarah 13 Comments

What Toby Wore // Everyday clothes

I thought I’d do something a bit different in this week’s ‘What Toby Wore’ post – in previous posts I’ve focused on one item of clothing or outfit and these have definitely been some of Toby’s (and Gabe’s) better, and more expensive, clothes. So this week I just took a quick snap of Toby on my phone every day and I’m just going to show you some of his other clothes.

Three of these were on nursery days so I tend to put Toby in things that I don’t mind getting messy, although to be fair he doesn’t get anywhere near as mucky at nursery these days as he used to so I don’t just stick to supermarket clothes like I did when he was smaller!

On Monday he wore these green Maxomorra joggers – I probably wouldn’t have chosen this colour myself but I got them in a lucky dip box from Little Footprint Boutique a while ago and I actually really like them. The top is from Morrison’s and I got it ages ago – it’s actually getting a bit small but Toby hasn’t really got anything else that goes with these trousers at the moment! I think I’ve mentioned Toby’s boots before – they’re from Bobux and he loves them, especially because he can put them on by himself.

Tuesday was this dinosaur t-shirt from Next which Toby loves. It was a Christmas present but he’s only just started wearing it because I’ve just swapped nearly all his 2-3 clothes for the 3-4 stuff I had been accumulating. Everything is still a bit big but the smaller size was getting too small and also he’s been wearing most of it since he was 18 months and I was getting bored of him wearing the same things all the time! The navy joggers are from Joules – a gift from his Nana. Trousers are a bit of a nightmare on Toby at the moment as he’s so skinny they all fall down – we have to try and get ones with drawstring waists but then he doesn’t like having them tied. These joggers aren’t too bad though and stay up pretty well.

Wednesday isn’t a nursery day for Toby so he was wearing leggings from The Princess & the Frock who I’ve featured before, a t-shirt from Little Bird at Mothercare which I bought over a year ago but it only just fits him, and his hoodie is from Lilly & Sid. Oh, and his socks were in a multipack from Asda – can you believe he’s wearing size 9-12 socks at two and three quarters? I think he’s going to have big feet like his dad!

Thursday was another nursery day and as you can see Toby wasn’t that keen on having his picture taken! His top is another from Maxomorra. As much as I love all their prints, the Maxomorra basics are fab too. Toby has a couple of other t-shirts from the basics range and you can really tell the difference in the quality between these and the cheap supermarket clothes that I always used to buy. They aren’t that expensive either and my thinking is that the better quality will mean they will last better for Gabe to wear them too. The jeans are from H & M and he’s had them ages. They are 2-3 and starting to get a bit short and I’ve actually got him another pair in 3-4 but they’re huge!

And that’s it for this week. Does your little one have different weekday clothes or is it just me?