Aymie and Ben's Wedding




2013 is the year of the wedding it seems. At the start of this month we were invited to our first of four weddings (and not one of them is mine!) 
First up was my lovely mummy friend Aymie who was getting married to Ben, a lovely guy that I recognised from gigs in Bournemouth when I was younger!

It was in a beautiful little church down a beaten track and the service was short and sweet. 
Swiftly after we were all taken outside for photos and then to a secret location (the field next to the church) where we were all served with popcorn and candyfloss and served bubbly in a cute little courtyard. Max loved the candyfloss!


Surrounding us was an awesome carousel and a giant barn that was decked out in the most gorgeous carnival style props. We were sat on a table called the 'bearded ladies' with some lovely friends of mine and people that turned out to be bloody hilarious!


There were so many fun things going on that it reminded me of a carnival and I hope that the couple had as much of a blast as we did. Ben being in a band, performed a song for Aymie which was lovely. Congratulations again guys, can't wait for a family fun day soon!


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Living With: A Nuby Review


So about 4 months ago Nuby were kind enough to send us some products to test and review. Some of them were bath toys which we had a blast with straight away but other things I thought I should leave and post after we had properly lived with them. One of these things was a Nuby Flip It Beaker. 

Max drinks most of his drinks out of proper cups at meal times but on the move this beaker is the perfect one for us to take away. I was a bit hesitant about the straw mechanism that he would drink too much, spit it back or it wouldn't wash properly. All of those problems have banished though with their special straw that has a valve inside so not too much is sucked up and to clean it is as easy as 1,2,3 (it literally comes fully apart so I can scrub every bit of it!)

We have probably used it at least 50 times and the quality is still the same even after a few drops, spills and tantrum throwing! There has been no leaks but I'm careful to make sure that the lid is threaded on right as I can see it could be easy to leak everywhere if it isn't secure. 

The colour of it is fantastic and the fact that it is clear means that I'm not shaking it about to work out how much is left - what mum isn't guilty of this. The only problem is that if Max has greasy or wet hands then the bottle can become quite slippery. That probably means I should wipe his hands more often but it's something that we have noted when eating out. 

Overall though this is one of the best cups we have come across. And believe me, we have been through many! The highlights being the simple cleaning system that even dad's can put back together and the clear design that means you know when they are running out of juice. 


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A video


I thought this needed to be uploaded, no reason other than my kid is too damn cute!
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Depression, Teen Mums and Me

(Stacey Solomon and her kids)

Post Natal Depression is an illness where you feel you have no connection with your child, where you feel darn and negative about the world when it should be the best time of your life.  Stacey Solomon discussed this in a show that was on BBC 3 last night. 

I was six months pregnant when we found out that I was expecting Max. Being thrust into motherhood suddenly with less than three months to sort out living, studying and life in general was tough. I was overwhelmed with all the emotions. I was twenty and pregnant. Scott was my lifeline and he was so excited and happy about it all. He was prepared and seemed to know exactly what to do. When he was born I was so overwhelmed that I was in this bubble. Just us three. 

When Max was a month old I was diagnosed with PND. The bubble had burst, Scott was back at work and I didn't know what to do. I was there with this child that I knew was mine but I swore hated me and I felt so unprepared for what to do. How had I found out I was pregnant and ended up with a child in less than six months. I remember Max lying in his bouncer crying and me locked in the bathroom crying because I had no idea what to do. Most days I was beyond hysterical. I was scared that Max was going to get taken away. 

I've suffered with depression in the past, and I've discussed it in a previous post but this was something different. It wasn't just me, there was Max and Scott involved too. Scott got me a doctors appointment and the most judgemental doctor told me that being a young mum was the reason I was depressed. She threw a prescription at me and told me to leave. I had no idea what I was suffering was PND, I had no idea what the side effects of the anti-depressants were, I was just as lost with only Scott to help me. 

Taking the tablets didn't help much. There was no support groups to go to. I found it hard finding friends that had kids too. I didn't really know what to do. Returning to uni made it a million times worse. I had such a negative experience returning there that it spiraled me back into this dark place. My lecturers weren't supportive and infact told me to quit and said that having a young child wouldn't help to be a photographer. Max was always my number one priority. I loved him so much and I didn't want to let him down. I wanted to be a good parent for him. 

I finally moved doctors surgeries and my new doctor made things so much better. We spoke about everything and he told me that I was suffering from PND and my background with depression wasn't helping. Two years on and I'm off the tablets, graduated uni and I still get those days, I don't think they will ever go but I think thats part of my character. I'm learning of better ways to cope. Writing is the best thing to help me and it's one of the reasons that I started blogging. Me and Max have a great bond now. I know he will never resent me for what happened and I hope when we have a second child I won't suffer the same way. 

Young parents get grief for being young parents when in fact PND affects more young parents than older ones. In most places there are no support services out there for these mums, myself included. With all these budget cuts I don't think there ever will be the right services for mums which is heart breaking. It's a complete postcode lottery with the support that you will get and that needs to change. 
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Max's Closet //001

Max has some amazing clothes, I'm incredibly jealous of some of the cool things I get to dress him in each day. So I thought that I should share some of these with you in a weekly post called 'Max's Closet' (original eh!) 


This week I thought I would start with some of his music related tops. Being an avid music lover and still mentally going to hundreds of gigs a year I knew that Max would be kitted out in some awesome band merch. It's actually been surprisingly easy to source a lot of them as it seems to be the next big fashion for kids with this aztec/90's revival. I team most of these tops with jeans or coloured chinos and his classic vans.

The above top was given to us for christmas from a dear friend of mine, Jess and her family. They are massive Kiss fans so I loved opening this and seeing this adorable pug in a Kiss style!
Next up are the collection from Next funnily enough. They are doing an amazing range of band/movie tshirts that everyone is familiar with. Every child needs a Nirvana and Run DMC top and he rocks out listening to them wearing his tops (we've taught him well). His Run DMC top is really grubby now from us taking him to Camp Bestival in it but it's way too cool to throw away! There's also A Kasabian one as Scott is a really big fan of them - me not so much as they really disappointed me at T in the Park a few years ago. And finally there is the lovely Rhianna top bought by my best mate Jess (yes another one!) River Island seem to make really thin tops so this is being saved for summer so he can wear it with some swag - that's what you say right?


Finally we found this amazing Foo Fighters top on Ebay, it isn't a legit branded one but it sure looks like it could be! Scott played Max Foo Fighters loads when he was little and still to this day he loves listening to them and rocking out. 

Max is a massive music lover so we know in a few years when he can tell us he will appreciate us covering him in these awesome clothes. And not only are they great bands the tops also look really cool too!
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So what's #pbloggers?

Well last night the twitterverse blew up with a brand new chat. 

#pbloggers is the brand new parent chat hosted on a sunday evening between 9pm and 10pm. 

I had such a blast last night chatting with like minded parents about things from juggling work, family and blogging to obsessing over stats and eating cake (mmm cake)

I never realised how many parents there were that blogged with some amazing posts that have kept me glued to my laptop all day today! We even trended last night it was that awesome.

See thats so cool for our first night!


So if you are a parent, then join in with the new #pbloggers chat every sunday night from 9pm-10pm.
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Farmer Palmers Had A Farm!

We absolutely LOVE our local farm. So much so that we have annual passes so we can go whenever we want. And seeing as it's only March and we have been 10 times already I'd say we enjoy it. 

Today we decided to pop down for a few hours to kill some time. While we were there I let Max play on his camera (it's an old bridge camera of mine from about 8 years ago so I'm not bothered what happens to it) and here are the best ones.


Max is pretty scared of the adult sheep so he was sat on my knee baa'ing at them whilst he took this photo. He loves the lambs however and always strokes them calling them baby fluffys haha. 



The pigs are Max's favourite. At the start of the year these piglets were born and they were so tiny and cute. Watching them grow up is lovely.


Again Max is pretty scared of the goats. I think it's because they are really loud compared to the other animals. 

A short but sweet post. I love that Max has taken a real interest in cameras. May be something to do with me always pointing mine in his face to take a photo! I'll give a proper post about the farm when I take my camera next. 



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Max loves music


Max is obsessed with music. Everything from chart stuff to heavy metal. We recently bought him a ukulele with some of his pocket money and he's done nothing buy play it and sing us songs. He's happiest with music. Probably something to do with all the gigs and festivals I went to when I was pregnant. Can't wait to take him to the next festival we all go to.
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What I Read - Feb


Working in a bookshop has it's perks. Along with being able to sift through those amazing books and finding something new it's also reading something new before everyone else at times and being able to recommend something to someone. I read a ridiculous amount each month, along with these books I read about four on my Kindle too.

Dash And Lily's Book Of Dares - Cohn and Levithan
I LOVED this book. If you are a John Green fan then this is definitely up your street. It's the tale of Dash and Lily and their adventures across NYC through a book hidden in a book store. It's a lovely story and I really enjoyed the writing style (each chapter by each character so the story is a fast paced as the dare sending)

Ketchup Clouds - Annabel Pitcher
I really wanted to love this book. Her last one was amazing but I just couldn't connect with the character and I seemed to work out the story in the first few chapters. It's the story of a girl who is writing letters to a man on death row. In her letters she is admitting to a terrible crime but the way it was written made me think that the girl was a bit of a jerk.

An Abundance Of Katherines - John Green
A re-read of one of my favourites that I read up on the journey to see him talk. If you haven't read it then please do!

The Terrible Thing That Happened To Barnaby Brocket - John Boyne
This book is actually one for 9-12 year olds but being a book of the month at work I felt like it needed a read. And Oliver Jeffers doing the illustrations swayed it too. It's a lovely simple book about a boy that has superpowers. Something that was quick to read and easy to enjoy.

Requiem - Lauren Oliver
The final book in the trilogy. I don't want to spoil it but if you haven't read this series then please do! It's probably my favourite book of the series. As far as I'm aware it's out in the UK now but oh my god it was amazing!

Penelope - Rebecca Harrington
Penelope is about a girl who goes to Harvard, but she doesn't really fit in so has to learn to talk and find her place in life in a place that is actually far worse than what school was. I really enjoyed it and have been recommending it left, right and centre.

Along with these books I also read a few Pretty Little Liars books on my kindle and re-read the Delirium series too.

4 out of these 6 books were gifted to me via the publishers for work. 
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Max's Favourite Apps


We love our Ipad in our home. Along with using it for daily tasks, blogging, social networking and shopping, Max has fallen in love with some of the apps on there. We try and restrict his access to 10-20 minutes every now and again as a treat if he has behaved but I feel that the educational aspects of the device are amazing! Our case is a Speck Iguy case and Max loves to hold it and its rubbery enough that it would bounce if he dropped it.

Here are a few of mine and Max's favourites:

 Toca Boca Band and Hair Salon 2 are ultimate favourites of ours. Toca Boca create really fun and colourful apps that are specially designed for kids. The two here focus around music and role play. Max is a massive music lover and he really enjoys creating beats and rhythms with this app as every combination is different. Hair Salon 2 took him a bit more time to get the hang of it as you have to select what you would like to use to create the hair such as scissors, razors, hair dye and even bows and hats! Max likes to fill up my photo albums with images of crazy half bald people.


 Mibbilo is a musical story app that is fairly new. Once installed you get to pick one story or song to start you off and the others have a small charge.
 We picked the wheels on the bus as it's one of Maxs favourite nursery rhymes. The song is upbeat and catchy and not at all annoying!
When it starts you have a variety of instruments to play with and change to play along with the song. Max seems to love it and the visuals are really cute.


The Heart and The Bottle is a favourite book of mine and this app is superb. It tells the story of the girl who puts her heart in a bottle so it doesn't get broken and each page is fully interactive. One page you can draw your own picture which you then see later on nestled amongst another page! Max loves this but he does find some bits tricky. I however am obsessed with Jeffers so I knew that this was a must.

 Elmo Calls is a fully interactive app for kids. When they start it up they can select a catgory and either Elmo will call you or Facetime you with something funny or educational. Max is a bit obsessed with Elmo so this is definitely at the top of his list. The calls can be a bit repetitive but what kids things aren't? As with most apps the first few messages are free but to unlock a bigger range you need to purchase them.


Press Here is a creative book by Herve Tullet. It's one that won countless awards and has now been turned into an app. Full of mini games and activities to spark the imagination of all kids and adults it is one of my favourites. And Max is starting to love it too. He's just hitting the age where his imagination is so vast and I can sit there for ages watching him pretend play with his toys. This app takes that onto the Ipad.

What are your children's favourites?







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Tilda Rice for Kids

I sometimes find it hard to find something quick and easy for Max to eat for dinner. I get fed up of making the same things or it taking ages to make something wholesome. So when me and Scott came across these kids rice packets from Tilda we jumped on them!
Containing rice flavoured with veggies and all that other healthy stuff we knew it would fill Max up and hopefully he would love it. The packets are quite big, we found that Max can eat most of it and he's a big eater. 
There are 4 different varieties: mild and sweet curry, sweet vegetable with wholegrain rice, sunshine vegetable rice, and cheese and tomato. Each pack contains one of their five a day and only takes a minute from cupboard to plate (thanks to the help of a microwave)
The great thing about them is the lifespan is ages (as they are cupboard products) and they literally take less than a minute from the packet to the table.
Max seems to love them, he wasn’t so keen on the curry one, this is probably because he prefers my curry (I would like to assume!) but the cheese and tomato is his favourite. We either give it to him as it is with a side of fruit for a lunch or we will add some extra veggies or some meat to it to make it a more wholesome dinner. Maybe try the curry packet with some cut up chicken pieces or Quorn for the veggies here. Or the tomato one with some meatballs and a sprinkle of extra cheese on top!

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Recently I've had a conflict of some sorts. I posted this photo up on facebook and immediately had my mums partner telling me he would be embarrassed if a picture like this of his was posted. Why? Because Max has a hair clip in.

Me and Scott as parents have never hid Max away from what is classed as 'girly' things. He has dolls with pushchairs, dress up beads and scarves and as you can see in the photo likes putting clips and bows in his hair. Never has this been an issue before. My child is two years old and doesn't know the difference between a girl thing and a boy thing. He is learning how to live his life through the objects and people around him. He copies me putting on makeup with some of my empties because he finds it fun but then puts it all down to run around with a football with Scott.

I hate gender stereotyping. Yes we do dress him up in boys clothes and let him go out with a bow in his hair if he wants. There is nothing wrong with that at all. An elderly lady once asked if Max was a girl because he had his doll with him when we went out shopping.

I never want Max to grow up thinking that because he is a boy he isn't allowed to ask for a Barbie doll for his birthday. I remember growing up playing with my brothers toys and preferring them to mine most of the time. All I want to instill in him is a sense of pride, respect and confidence in himself and his life. I want him to thrive in however he feels he needs to.

And if that means wearing a bow to the office when he's 40, as long as he's happy then so be it.
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Happy World Book Day!

Today is probably one of my favourite non gift giving holidays. Working in a book shop means that we have been buzzing about this for months and talking about books our whole lives. 

World Book Day is a non profit organisation to promote reading and books to children and adults alike. It's most well known for handing out £1 book token vouchers at schools and nurseries for children to trade them for special World Book Day £1 books to begin their reading journey or just to try something new. 

This year is no exception with some really crackers of stories for children from age 2 up to teens. 


Today something special is happening on the World Book Day website. The biggest book show on earth is a free online festival running from 11:00 am til midday teaching you all about writing and how to start creating your own stories. Having always wanted to write myself I am definitely going to tune in and hope to learn a few things.

So tonight. Grab your children and turn off the TV and read your favourite books whether that be the Gruffalo, Harry Potter or The Fault In Our Stars. We definitely will be!
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Lush Preview Evening


Last week I got the opportunity to head down to my local Lush store and see what they had done to the place. Being the original store it was a pretty big thing in the world of Lush to see the revamp of the store and Spa. I was off work with a migraine and hoped that the evening would relax me and maybe the amazing smells would ease of the tension that a migraine causes me. 

I love the company, their products, the homely feel of their stores and the spa (yet to have a treatment though!) but the night was hectic. There was so many people that it was really crowded and you could hardly move in the store. I would have preferred to have had some time to talk to people about the spa treatments and the products that they were offering but there was too much noise and crowding that I ended up standing in a corner for about 10 minutes trying to take it all in.

 The awesome things I managed to spot and see however were:

  • The Gorilla Perfume display was in a gorgeous corner with adverts and pictures pasted all over the wall with a record player. It really showed the spirit of the fun and fresh new store.
  • The Spa was showcasing all the treatments and I'm desperate for each of them (shame I don't have the money!) the Comforter is something I've been lusting over for ages as it seems like a chocolate heaven in a massage! And having experienced the essence of the synaesthesia treatment by it's creator - my mums friend. It was great to see it in practice. It felt like someones home in the spa as there was a row of teas and comfy seating that made me feel comfortable and at home!
  • The layout of the store looks so good with the bath bombs all up against a wall and the fresh face masks jumping out at you as soon as you walk in. 
  • The exclusive products for their store. 29 bags, perfumes and badges made the store that bit more special. I snapped up a bag because it was so adorable and I have an obsession with tote bags as they are so handy (especially for days out with Max)
There was also a special treat. The Poole store is the only store that stocks the whole retro range. Seeing as some of those products are my favourites, especially Sonic Death Monkey and the Happy bubble bar so I'm so pleased to see that I can pop into my local instead of waiting around for days for them to arrive.

I picked up a few things, including some bath bombs for Max and some Whoosh for me and got given an adorable goodie bag that included some pink FUN. If you haven't tried it then do. It's mouldable soap/bubble bath magic.

Overall I found the event enjoyable. It was nice to see things that had changed in the store but I left after about half an hour because the crowds were a bit too much for my migraine. I'm definitely going to head back in a week or so to check it out again.


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