3 June , 20154 August , 2017 - Sarah 2 Comments

Review: Trespass Edwin men’s waterproof jacket

Living in Scotland we are always in need of good waterproof jackets – you just never know what the weather is going to do up here! I have a coat from Trespass that I wear almost every day (and it still goes over my baby bump just about), so when Trespass got in touch and asked if we’d like to review something from their website I decided I would give the honour to Barry and let him get a new coat to try out (and try out some of his catalogue poses for the photos too!).

He chose the Edwin men’s waterproof jacket in khaki (RRP £149.99, currently £49.99 on the Trespass website). This coat is rated as TP100 which means it has the highest technical specification that Trespass offer. It is waterproof to 10000mm, breathable to 5000mvp and is also windproof and has taped seams which prevent rain from entering the jacket through the stitching. The adjustable hood is removable and the coat has 3 outer zipped pockets and two inside pockets.

I’ll hand you over to Barry now so he can tell you what he thinks of his new Trespass jacket…

The outer material is waterproof, though I haven’t been caught in rain heavy enough to really test this, and the lining is thick and warm enough for typical chilly mornings without feeling heavy. All the seams and zips are cleanly stitched, which should further add to the waterproofing.

The hood is snug and can be detached easily, and there are plenty of pockets for everyday use. The standard exterior pockets are deep enough, though perhaps could use slightly wider openings for bigger handed customers. There are also pockets beside the zip and in the inside lining, for waterproof storage.

The only problem I had with the coat was the initial stiffness of the exterior fabric. Bending over would cause the material around the waist to crumple and poke out in unusual rigid folds. However after a few weeks of occasional wear the material has softened a lot and the effect is already far less obvious.

This really is only a minor niggle, to be honest. Overall, this is a comfortable and well-constructed coat and I’m sure it’ll get a lot of wear throughout the coming year.

**Disclosure: We were sent the Trespass Edwin men’s waterproof jacket in return for this review. All opinions are our own.

1 June , 201520 December , 2015 - Sarah 3 Comments

Living Arrows 22/52 (2015)

It’s been another quiet week here in the Toby Goes Bananas house. It was my birthday on Thursday but with no babysitter and work the next day anyway we didn’t really do anything – I was suffering with a sore arm after having my whooping cough vaccine in the afternoon but we did have a chippy tea and sticky toffee pudding and ice cream for tea though!

We don’t really get much time together as a family during the week, by the time we’ve got home from work and picked Toby up from nursery we only see him for a couple of hours at most in the evenings. Weekends are always filled with chores like washing and shopping but we have been trying to make sure we get out and do something together every weekend. It’s easier now Toby only has a nap in the afternoon, as long as we are up and about early enough (although 5 am on Saturday was a bit too early thanks Toby!) there’s plenty of time to go somewhere or do something before lunch.

This week we decided to go and have a look at the Kelpies, two giant horses head statues in Falkirk which is not far from where we live. I had been before but Barry hadn’t so we drove over for a look. We managed to get our Me & Mine photo taken in front of the horses (before Toby decided he really didn’t want to be in the buggy any more) and then he had fun walking around whilst I tried to make sure he didn’t fall into any of the water surrounding the statues! There was a grassy hill where he was safe enough just to run around by himself and he was loving climbing up to the top then running back down to me for a big cuddle. He’s such a bundle of energy so our weekend adventures always try and include somewhere he can blow off some steam. How happy does he look here?

1 June , 20151 June , 2015 - Sarah 2 Comments

Which? Birth Choice (and giveaway)

Deciding where you would like to give birth is a big decision when you are expecting a baby and there are lots of different factors to consider. There is a lot to think about when you are preparing to have a baby, whether it is your first or you’ve got a whole brood at home already. To make the decision about where to give birth a bit easier the consumer group Which? have put together the Which? Birth Choice website (they do more than just review washing machines you know!) to help you decide.

There are several different options available, although as a first time mum you might not be aware of them all. I know when I was pregnant with Toby I didn’t really give it that much thought. I just assumed I would give birth in hospital. My local hospital doesn’t have a maternity ward any more so I had to go to a hospital about half an hour away. As I was considered ‘low risk’ I was able to give birth in the mid-wife led unit which is part of the maternity unit. I know the decision isn’t always as straight-forward – you may have a choice of hospitals or birthing centres, or there is always the option of a home birth to consider.

The Which? Birth Choice website includes lots of helpful information about the different options of where you can birth, as well as expert advice on things like water births, pain relief and who might look after you during labour. There is also a unique birth choice tool which can help you make your decision. By answering a few simple questions and giving your postcode the tool will give you the options which may be best suited to your circumstances.

As well as using the Birth Choice tool, the lovely people at Which? also sent me three birth boxes, each containing things I might need or find useful in each of the different birth settings.

In the hospital birth box there were all sorts of things that would definitely make a hospital birth more comfortable; an eye mask and ear plug set for those noisy maternity wards, an iTunes gift card to fill my phone with music or movies for those early stages of labour, the all important charging cable – no one wants a dead phone when it’s time for those all important announcements! There were also flip flops for those swollen feet, a fan, lip balm, snacks and a very handy water bottle with a built in filter. If you give birth in hospital you may have to stay in for a day or two and all these things would really come in handy.

In the birth centre box there were hair bobbles (very useful for most people but not something I’m likely to need!), a hot water bottle to help ease those labour pains, or equally the after pains you get for the few days after the baby is born, a dressing gown and slippers to keep you nice and comfortable for both during labour and after the baby is born, and lastly a spring water spray to keep you nice and cool whilst you are in labour.

Lastly, the home birth box contained a birthing ball – I loved my birthing ball during my last pregnancy for helping me to get more comfortable and it was very useful in the early stages of labour too. There was also a waterproof mattress cover – essential to keep things clean when you are giving birth at home, a lavender aromatherapy room spray which can help to relieve tension and stress, and lastly a lovely receiving blanket for after the baby is born. In this box there were also some extra Cowshed products, such as moisturisers, stretch mark oil and body washes for both me and the baby as an extra gift from Which?

There is so much great advice on the Which? Birth Choice website and I would definitely recommend you take a look if you are unsure about where you would like to give birth. And as for me? Well, unfortunately for me it isn’t quite as straightforward as just deciding for myself. In three weeks I will have another scan to see if my placenta as moved away from my cervix. If it hasn’t then I will have to have a caesarean and this will be in the consultant-led unit of my nearest maternity unit. If the placenta has moved enough to allow a vaginal birth but is still close to the cervix then I may be able to give birth in the midwife-led unit where Toby was born. And if at has totally moved out of the way and there is a low risk of complications then I might still get the home birth I was hoping for, and which the Which? Birth Choice tool also recommended for me.

The lovely people at Which? are also giving you the chance to get your hands on three birth boxes worth £250. All you need to do is test your knowledge of the different birth choices by answering the questions in the widget below (Hint: Take a look at the Which? Birth Choice website if you aren’t sure of any of the answers!)

31 May , 201521 December , 2017 - Sarah 8 Comments

Me & Mine: A Family Portrait (May 2015)

Hurray! I actually managed to publish my Me & Mine post on the right day for once!

May saw me have two Mondays off work, an abandoned holiday, more teething, hit and miss sleep from Toby and finally my birthday. I also moved into the third trimester of my pregnancy, I can’t believe I’ve only got 11 weeks to go, and perhaps even less if this one decides to make an early appearance like his brother.

Toby is still being brilliant (most of the time), he’s learnt lots of new words this month, including ‘thank you’ which I am very happy about. He’s started counting and learning some of his colours too. He’s understanding more every day, I’m loving this stage in his development and can’t wait until we can have a proper conversation. He’s also started telling us when he has done a poo – the first step towards potty training perhaps?

This month’s Me & Mine picture was taken yesterday at the Kelpies in Falkirk, which is not far from where we live. I know you can’t see us very well on the photo but I think it’s worth it to get the horses in too!

28 May , 201527 May , 2015 - Sarah 6 Comments

37? How the hell did that happen??

Today is my 37^th birthday. Three years off 40 and I really don’t know where the last 10 years have gone!

I spent the first half of my 20s mostly living and working in France. When I was 25 I moved to Scotland but continued to live the party life, out drinking every weekend and spending most of my Saturdays and Sundays recovering from hangovers. I honestly forgot how old I was for a while and was convinced I was 26 for two years. When I turned 28 I had to sit and actually work it out to make sure I was right!

I was quite happy turning 30. I owned my own flat, had a half decent job, and plenty of friends around me. I did have a bit of a niggling feeling that my life wasn’t really going anywhere though. I had been single for 7 years. Although I quite enjoyed my job it didn’t pay especially well and there were few prospects for promotion. I took the plunge and left my job for an even lowered paid one but doing something completely different and where there seemed to be more opportunities for career progression. But after 18 months working for one of the major high street banks the crash happened and suddenly my prospects didn’t look so good.

So I decided to take an even bigger leap and do something I had thought about since I was at school. I resigned from my job at the bank and took up a place on a PGDE teacher training course. Thanks to a very generous loan from my dad I didn’t work for a year but instead completed my training to be a French teacher. And that was when everything about my life changed.

As well as doing my teacher training I lost three stone in weight and then feeling much happier in my own skin, I took a trip to London when I had finished my course where I met the man who was going to become my husband.

When we met I had just turned 32. Barry is the same age as me and we had both been single for a long time. To be honest I had resigned myself to a life on my own, where the children I had always imagined having didn’t exist.

But just 8 months after we first met Barry moved to Scotland to live with me. Three months later he proposed, another three months after that we had bought our first house together. A year after getting engaged we were married and six months after that I was pregnant.

Now, I’ve been a teacher for five years, happily married for three, Toby is going to be two in a few months and a few short weeks after that our second baby boy will join our family.

And despite all that, I don’t know where the last 10 years have gone, I still feel like I should be 27 not 37! Heading towards 40 doesn’t scare me though – in fact I think my 40s are going to be awesome. Our boys will be 5 and 3 and hopefully the real adventures of our life as a family will just be beginning.

27 May , 201520 December , 2015 - Sarah 3 Comments

Living Arrows 21/52 (2015)

I don’t have much to say with this week’s Living Arrows photo seeing as it was only a few days since I posted the last one! This photo was taken on Saturday – we’d been round to my friend’s house in the afternoon and Toby had been playing in their garden so had his hat on. When we got home he didn’t want to take it off so wore it to eat his tea in. He’s getting really good at using his fork now; I love how wide he opens his mouth though to make sure he gets everything in!

24 May , 201520 December , 2015 - Sarah 1 Comment

Living Arrows 20/52 (2015)

I’m even later than usual this week – so late in fact it’s almost time for next week’s post!

Last weekend we attempted to go on holiday to a caravan park only about 45 minutes drive from home. We went after picking Toby up from nursery on Friday night thinking by the time we got there he could have an hour playing and getting used to the caravan and then go to bed. We were attempting to get him to sleep in a bed for the first time, which perhaps was a bad idea, and he was also still in the midst of teething with all four of his back molars. The upshot of all this was that he screamed whenever we took him near the bedroom and was still up running round the living area of the caravan until 10 pm when we finally managed to get him to calm down enough to go to sleep. He did then sleep without any trouble until he woke up at 4:40 am and refused to go back to sleep! For a boy who normally gets at least 11 hours sleep a night, 6 hours was definitely not enough! We made it through the morning and he had a nap in the buggy for about an hour, but the despite going out in the car in the afternoon in the hope he would have another nap that was the only sleep he got.

We then went to the pub on site for our tea on the Saturday night where Toby refused to go in the highchair and even sat on my knee only ate about three chips and one piece of carrot. We gave him some cereal back at the caravan but when, for the second night it was after 9 pm, he was still screaming when we went near the bedroom and I was on the verge of a complete breakdown, we decided to give it all up as a bad job and come home!

Toby proceeded to fall asleep the second we put him in the car seat, slept all the way home and then until 9:30 the next morning! Although it felt like we were wasting money coming home it was definitely the right thing to do for everyone’s sanity.

We had a couple of disturbed nights during the week too, but having slept through for the last three nights I’m hoping the worst of the teething is now over. I just keep telling myself that at least these are the last baby teeth to come and it means we’ll avoid having two babies teething at the same time!

Anyway, this week’s Living Arrows photo was taken at about 6 am last Saturday when Toby had already been awake for an hour and a half and was happily colouring, whilst wearing his daddy’s hat.

15 May , 2015 - Sarah 4 Comments

From poppy seed to pumpkin: 27 weeks pregnant

I’m a bit rubbish with these pregnancy updates aren’t I? It’s been a month since my last post – I am now 27 weeks pregnant and entering the third trimester! This pregnancy still seems to be going very quickly compared to my first.

I’m still feeling OK although I seem to have the boniest, pokiest baby in my tummy at the moment. He is always poking me and it’s really painful! They aren’t kicks, more like being prodded really hard from the inside. I was just reading that apparently the level of amniotic fluid has reduced by this point meaning I can feel the baby’s movements even more. I don’t remember it being this painful with Toby though – although with him the placenta was on the front of my uterus and I think that can provide a bit of cushioning!

My bump is definitely growing, and although I don’t think Toby really understands what’s going on he does now point at my tummy and say ‘baby’ (or more like ‘babby’ actually) and he gives it kisses too. It’s adorable! Although it’s actually more burying his face in my bump and saying ‘mah!’ I just hope he’s as sweet when his little brother is actually here.

Last weekend I went to my friend’s house and we sorted through all the baby clothes that Toby and her twins had. I had given all Toby’s stuff to her when he grew out of it as her twins are three months younger so we had to sort it all out to see what I was going to get back again and what we were going to sell when we do a baby market in a few weeks. Seeing all Toby’s old clothes again was quite emotional (or maybe that’s just the hormones!) and I can’t believe how tiny his newborn stuff was!

We also bought a new pushchair which I was very excited about it! It’s an Uppababy Vista which can be used as a single or a tandem so we can start using it straight away and I’m going to sell our old one at the market too.

Other than that, I’m trying not to get too stressed at work, which isn’t always easy when dealing with uncooperative teenagers. I do find it harder to keep my cool when I’m pregnant, even though I know getting wound up and shouting isn’t very good for me or the baby. Only six weeks to go until the summer holidays (and maternity leave) at least so it’s not all bad!

I’m finding it a bit odd this time round that I don’t to see the midwife very often – apart from the two scans I have had I’ve only seen the midwife once and won’t see her again for another two weeks yet. I’m not sure when my next appointment will be after that, probably the next thing will be the scan at 32 weeks to check the position of the placenta (keep your fingers crossed that it’s moved please everyone!).

14 May , 201525 November , 2018 - Sarah 150 Comments

Review: Serenata Hamper

Serenata are perhaps more well know for their fresh flowers but did you know they also sell a large selection of hampers as well? When I was given the opportunity to try a hamper from Serenata it took ages to choose which one to get. Had I not been pregnant I might have got one of the hampers with wine and other treats but seeing as I’m not drinking at the moment I decided to treat Barry with the Trio of Ale and Cheese hamper.

The hamper contains:

Cheese Board Chutney 105g
St Peter`s Golden Ale
St Peter`s Organic Best Bitter
St Peter`s Ruby Ale
Hand Waxed Whittington Oak Smoked Cheese 170g

It’s worth mentioning that this is different cheese and chutney to that in pictures on the website, and the cheese was also different to the one listed in the details on the website. This wasn’t a problem for us but perhaps something to keep in mind.

When the hamper arrived it was well packaged with cellophane and straw, it also had a little card inside and if you order from the website you can choose your card and a personal message to put in it – great if you are sending the hamper as a gift.

Barry was very pleased with the contents of his hamper. The cheese and chutney go very well together and are a great complement to the organic beers. All the products certainly seem to be high quality.

The Trio of Ale and Cheese hamper has an RRP of £34.99. If I’m honest, I felt this was a little expensive given the actual value of the products included in the box. For this price I was expecting to receive more of an actual ‘hamper’ of some kind, or perhaps a more decorative presentation box, rather than the products just packaged inside the postage box. Having said that I still think the hampers would make a great gift and you do get free delivery – even free next day delivery for orders made up to 10pm the night before (or you can pick a delivery day that suits you) which is brilliant service!

**Disclosure: I was sent this Serenata hamper in return for this review. All opinions are my own.

11 May , 201520 December , 2015 - Sarah 2 Comments

Living Arrows 19/52 (2015)

It’s only been a few days since my last Living Arrows post but I thought I’d try (again!) to get back on track. This weekend we bought a new pushchair which was very exciting. Well, exciting for me at least…It’s an Uppababy Vista that can be used as a single or a tandem so we can start using it with Toby straight away but then we’re also all set for when the little one arrives in August. We then had a trip to the park and the farmer’s market. We took Toby’s Smart Trike to the park – we bought it for his birthday last year but if I’m honest he hasn’t really had much use of it so far. He was definitely enjoying it on Saturday too. We did have two tantrums on Saturday though – it seems if we try and get Toby to go somewhere he doesn’t want to go, or to leave somewhere before he’s ready then he’ll have a complete meltdown. The first one was when we were trying to leave the pram shop, they had a few toys on a little table by the till that Toby had been playing with so when it was time to leave he just started wailing and we had to manhandle him into the car, where he screamed all the way to the park, and then stopped as soon as we got there! It was a similar story when it came time to leave the park. I guess these toddler tantrums are just par for the course…better get used to them!

On Sunday it was chucking it down so we decided to try out one of the soft play places near us. I have a theory that if Toby doesn’t get out and burn off some energy during the day on Sunday then it can be one of the things that contributes to the multiple wake ups we often get on a Sunday night. Believe it or not we’ve only ever taken Toby to soft play once before and that was a while ago now so I was looking forward to seeing how he got on. The place we went was massive but it did have a dedicated small area for under 4s and Toby loved it! I did go in with him for a bit but mostly I just let his Dad chase round after him for an hour – I think he was more exhausted than Toby was! Anyway, he only woke up once on Sunday night so maybe it did help wear him out a bit.

I snapped this week’s Living Arrows picture on my iPhone but I really like it. You can certainly see how much fun Toby was having…